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inevitably-johnlocked · 3 years

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Hi Steph, you’re amazing at what you do. I just want to know from a true connoisseur, which 3 fics do you think you’ve read and re-read the most number of times? As in, 3 ultimate comfort fics.

Hi Nonny!

Ooof, I’ve been asked a similar question here a couple weeks ago, but hmm, this is actually something I never really had to think hard about! EXCEPT CAN I GIVE YOU 5? Because 5 immediately came to mind. Is that okay?? OMG I’m so sorry. Plus 5 is a number I like better than three, sorry :P Another weird tic of mine.

No surprise which is my first, hahah:

A Promise Made to Be Broken by PlantsAreNeat (E, 37,018 w., 7 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Pining, Slow Burn, RST, Eventual Relationship, POV Sherlock) – A young John makes an ‘if we’re still single at 40, we’ll get together’ pledge to a woman who ends up all wrong for him. She keeps reminding him of the promise, and won’t let go of it. John asks Sherlock to pose as his boyfriend at a family wedding, so as to dash her hopes permanently. Sherlock, who has at last acknowledged his feelings for John, reluctantly agrees despite knowing how painful it will be to ‘have’ John, but not keep him.

It’s just such a joy to read every single time, and I never skip any parts at all. Start to finish EVERY TIME.

Iris by slashscribe (E, 11,948 w., 1 Ch. || Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Post-S3) – Sherlock does his best to make John happy when John comes back to 221B with his new baby after the events of Season 3, but Sherlock has a track record of getting things wrong in this area. This story is an exploration of their gradual shift from friends to lovers, told from Sherlock's perspective, full of a lot of pining and lack of emotional awareness.

This was my first Parentlock fic I read and it’s why I now do read Parentlock. Still one of my favourites, and it’s short enough to read in one sitting. It’s just so sweet, and Sherlock is SO precious, and GAH I LOVE it. Another start-to-finish. Which then brings me to this one:

Albion and the Woodsman by Glenmore (NR [E], 54,437 w., 50 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post S3, Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Angst, Family, Drug Use, Depression, Sherlock POV, Light Humour, Reconnecting, Declarations of Love) – Sherlock and John are devastated after Mary Morstan makes her final moves. Sherlock relapses at the crack house, John walks around the world … and a lot happens in between. Parentlock, in the good way.

I REALLY like this fic because it’s Sherlock POV and it’s him learning about his feelings for John. THOUGH I feel bad admitting that lately, rereads usually start around Ch. 30, because I love John showing up all BAMFy in Ch. 34 and essentially tells the social workers to piss off. And Sherlock is RIDICULOUSLY adorably in love with John so much in this fic. I’ve reread the whole story enough to know what happens before Ch. 30, and all the smoopy stuff happens after that. BUT DON’T think I don’t love this story. I DO. A LOT. I just... Sometimes need certain parts of a story RIGHT now, and that one singular scene is one of them, and I always just keep going from there. :P

Classified(s) by blueink3 (E, 36,153 w., 4 Ch. || Wedding Date AU || Fake Relationship, Jealous, PIning, H/C, Idiots in Love, Happy Ending, Mary is not Nice, Escort Service) – Clara's American father is the ambassador to some such territory that Great Britain probably used to own, but she (and Harry’s undying love for her) is the reason John is getting on a flight at 12:30pm, flying across the second largest ocean in the world, and pretending to be in a perfectly happy, healthy relationship with an undoubtedly perfectly coiffed stranger. See, Clara is not only American (and wealthy to boot), she's also best friends with John’s ex-fiancée. Whom she's placed in the wedding party. As Maid of Honor. And John just happens to be Best Man. Bloody brilliant.

I just really love this one. It’s painfully sweet and OH GOD I love how much they fall for each other and HARRY IS TWINSIES AND SHE’S AWESOME. Love it. It’s such a feel-good fic with a great ending. Love it.

And:

Corpus Hominis by mycapeisplaid (E, 47,709 w., 12 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Case Fic, Fluff, Romance, Frottage, Angst, Anal, Blow Jobs, Rimming, Spas / Massages, Shampoo, Jealousy, Fake Relationship) - John knows the human body intimately. He’s had plenty of opportunity for study as a doctor, soldier, and lover. There’s one particular body, however, he knows very little about. When Sherlock launches himself head-first into a new obsession and they get sent on a case in an unlikely location, the pair discovers each other’s bodies with confusing yet delightful (and sometimes hilarious) results.

THIS FIC. GUH. Just, the way John pieces together how much Sherlock pines for him is ACHINGLY beautiful, that all comes together in a really tender scene in a pool. It’s the pool scene we should have had. UGH. AND SHAMPOO. And best friend Lestrade essentially telling John he’s a moron, LOL. LOVE this fic. I’m SO glad I finally remembered this one was the one with the Shampoo and the spa day.

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THIS IS ABSOLUTELY not my only always reads. In fact:

Top 30 Read-Again Fics (March 2019)

Top 30 Read-Again Fics Pt. 2 (Sept. 2019)

And I could TOTALLY do another 30 EASILY. The second one, I remember whittling it down quite a bit, LOL. These are just the first five that came to mind right away. I could also add these five:

a good old-fashioned happy ending by darcylindbergh (E, 32,731 w., 26 Ch. || Christmas, Frottage, Comfort, Est. Rel., Fluff, Insecure Sherlock, Frottage, Nightmares, Sleepy Sherlock, Marriage Proposal, Humour, Fluff, Dancing, Cooking, Happy Ending) – For Christmas this year, Sherlock wants to get John something special: something every fairytale deserves. Part 2 of things fairy tales are made of

Coventry by standbygo (E, 52,020 w., 26 Ch. || Dollhouse AU || Case Fic, Slow Burn, Sci-Fi / Fantasy, First Kiss / Time, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, BAMF John, Falling in Love) – “Let me get this straight,” John said, wondering when his life had become a science fiction film. “Some guy orders up a personality, a person, to his specifications, and they program this into a real live person, who has consented to do this, and she goes to this person and acts as his wife, or lawyer, or Royal Marine, or Navy Seal or what have you, and she has all the skills, all the knowledge, everything? Then you say the magic words, and she follows you back to The House, and they erase it all until her next appointment?”

Perdition's Flames by i_ship_an_armada (E, 63,435 w., 21 Ch. || Treklock AU, Est. Rel, Genetic Engineering, Angst & Fluff, BAMF!John) – Sherlock would do anything to save him. Risk anything. Give anything. His money, his life. His soul. What he does, though, is change both of their destinies forever. Genetic re-engineering is the only option left. It turns out researchers underestimated the life expectancy and potential abilities of genetically re-engineered subjects. The British government and what would eventually become the United Federation of Planets, however, had not. Part 1 of PF Universe

Shatter the Darkness (Let the Light In) by MojoFlower (E, 109,683 w., 23 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Genie/Djinn AU || Magical Realism, Kidnapping, Genie Sherlock, First Kiss / Time, Case Fic, H/C, Angst, Clubs, John Whump, Mild DubCon, Hand / Blow Jobs, Torture) – Fairy tales are for those who remember how to dream; not John Watson, broken and hiding from his bleak future in a beige bedsit. But then he discovers a lamp and finds himself in the dangerous riptide of an enigmatic man whose very existence is unbelievable, murder charges against his sister, and the growing pains of feeling alive once more.

Midnight Blue Serenity by BeautifulFiction (E, 151,907 w., 19 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Gay Bar / For a Case, Drugs, Pining, Case Fic, UST) – When Sherlock infiltrates a club in order to track down a serial killer, his altered appearance is enough to make John question his assumption that Sherlock is beyond his reach. However, is he the only one who appreciates his flatmate's charms, or is Sherlock at risk of becoming the next victim?

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OKAY I NEED TO CUT HERE or I will go on and ON and ON. Hope this answers your question alright <3

#steph replies #johnlock fic recs #my fic recs #read again fics #fave fics #Anonymous

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inqilabi · 3 years

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sorry maybe i misunderstood but in one of your posts when you said "Stalin and Mao killed millions" was propaganda, what did you mean? like did you mean Stalin's repressions/purges/ethnic clensings weren't real or...?? cos i'm Russian and there's hardly a family here that wasn't affected by that, including my own. It's all still in living ppls memory, it's not something we're just told by the government lmao. It's actually extremely insulting to suggest otherwise. Like literally ask a person from an ex-USSR country and 9 times out of 10 they'll tell you of an ancestor/relative that was executed/sent to gulag/forced to flee the country/etc during Stalin's rule. Esp if you ask a jewish or other ethnic minority person.

Not sure if you’re genuinely interested in the perspective, if so I can provide resource reccs. I don’t think it’s insulting to ask people to consider that the history they have known may be entirely wrong and to question the common narrative/claims they hear.

Especially considering the fact that CIA was literally created to fight USSR first and foremost, and then any other emerging socialist states thereafter. And the fact that Britain had been at it long before that. The Allies literally supplied troops for the ‘White Army’ to as Churchill put it “strangle the [Bolshevik state] at its birth” in 1917/1918. Formation of NATO itself is an alliance of capitalist anti-communist states. Not to mention that post WW2, when CIA formed, it absorbed existing Nazi and fascists into its CIA & NATO operations to terrorize any leftists orgs in Eastern Europe (Operation Gladio) because of how great they were at terrorizing, infiltrating and sabotage. And in the USA itself, Ukrainian fascists were incorporated into various intelligence orgs. A NSC directive (4A, 1947) stated the following:

The campaign against the Soviets would include “primarily media related activities, including unattributed publications, forgeries, and subsidization of publications. Political action would involve exploitation of displaced persons and defectors, and support to political parties’ paramilitary activities, including support to guerillas and sabotage”

It is in this context that I understand the USSR. I may have criticisms of the CPSU, though it wouldn’t matter now. For us now, even though the exact conditions that the USSR faced will not be repeated again- I think it is necessary to learn from the successes and failures of the first socialist state founded amidst WW1, fall of Tsarist rule/semi feudalism/civil war, rise of Nazism and being surrounded by fascists, WW2 in which America & Britain both directly and indirectly let Germany destroy USSR as much as possible before getting involved, and the USSR was also dealing with a Japanese invasion threat in the east. To me its a feat that the people rallied behind its foundation, that there was fervor of the masses at that time- I can’t imagine it today. There were nearly 2 million party members in 1930. Some 3-4 million people enrolled to take classes with the communist party in 1933.

Yes the repressions, Yezhovshchina & reallocation of people were real. Repressions of the Kulaks and other class enemies was real. And to define class enemy, the kulak case is an interesting one: we’re talking about a class who regularly exploited peasants, & when a drought reduced the grain harvest, raised grain prices so the soviet government couldn’t afford to buy the grain to feed people (and this is where the rationing came from). The government in response encouraged peasants to form collective farms (kolkhoz), which was actually a youth peasant movement and grain harvest from these kolkhoz was soon as much as the kulaks. The kulaks then realizing that they can no longer control the markets, started murdering people in these kolkhoz. And this is the point where the Soviet gov decided to seize the kulak wheat, expropriate kulak land (dekulakization program as is known in the west) & give the land to the kolkhoz. In response, the kulaks burned their wheat, and killed their own livestock in the millions. And despite this, most of them were only exiled, forced to reallocate or sent to the gulags. Also, forced reallocation of probably millions of people from the east to prevent Japanese invasion, and from the western region as Germany was invading did happen.

Yezhovshchina of 1937-1938 was excessive. Here they replaced their normal voting process (e.g, Trotskyites were voted out with a vote of 700,000 against to 6000 for) with a 3 person tribunal who just handed out sentences like candy- in this period alone, I think there was some 300,000 sentences handed out. Though they were responding to Nazi infiltration among their party. Eventually the party committees got a handle of it, overturned half of the sentences. Many of the remaining sentences were never carried out because there wasn’t that much infrastructure to do so. But certainly innocent people were caught in the cross fire here. But imo the typical perception in the west that this purge was to eliminate any political opponents or to consolidate power is not true. It was primarily to eliminate Nazis in the party and any other counter-revolutionary who would have essentially handed USSR to Germany. There were definitely executions. There’s a quote from Ludo Martens on his study of the USSR that indicates a bit how unequipped USSR was to handle sentences of Yezhovshchina:

"Grigorenko, a well-known Rightist general who defected to the West, stated that, to escape the Purge, it suffice to simply relocate to another city."

There’s also interesting notes from Hitler (via Goebbel’s journal)and Churchill’s WW2 memoir that Hitler had hoped to take advantage of these antagonisms, defeatist tendencies and fascists sympathizers within the Red Army, but Stalin had succeeded in making sure via purges that the Red Army could not be taken advantage of.

But to address what is actually your main point: to assess history based on lived experience. What you stated is not reconcilable with the following examples:

Frankly I think the further breakdown of the 35+ would yield even more interesting insights. Also its expectedly low in Lithuania, Estonia & Latvia. What do we know about the history of these three countries that would help us understand that? There’s also this interview and this one specially about Stalin & the gulags, which sounds different from the experiences of your family.

Here is a quote from Ludo Martens book:

‘But how is it possible', asked a friend, `to defend a man like Stalin?' There was astonishment and indignation in this question, which reminded me of what an old Communist worker once told me. He spoke to me of the year 1956, when Khrushchev read his famous Secret Report. Powerful debates took place within the Communist Party. During one of these confrontations, an elderly Communist woman, from a Jewish Communist family, who lost two children during the war and whose family in Poland was exterminated, cried out:

`How can we not support Stalin, who built socialism, who defeated fascism, who incarnated all our hopes?'

And also, Normal Finkelstein stated that his parents, both of whom survived concentration camps, would refuse to listen to any criticism of Stalin and called anyone who criticized him a traitor.

So how do we parse through these different lived experiences? What helps us understand the differences in these lived experiences?

#the answers here are based on getty martens furr #either way regardless of your political beliefs one must study & examine ww1 ww2 cold war #as it is necessary to understanding the current stage of capitalism & therefore necessary to understanding anticommunist currents #asks #communism 101 #propoganda #us empire #stalin

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werevulvi · 3 years

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Would you like to explain the nordic model of prostitution? Like what is it, why you dislike it and how it compares to the australian?

Uh, this is a big question, and it was a while ago I read up on those two models. So I had to sit with it for a moment before conjuring up a reply. I don’t know exactly what kinda info you wanted here, so I’ll just overwhelm you with everything I’ve got! Which... isn’t all that much, all things considered. I really don’t have any sorta energy to start digging for sources of it now or anytime soon, but I can ramble on a bit about my past findings and the conclusions that they led me to:

First off, what those models of prostitution are: are essentially sex industry laws that regulate buying and selling of any kinds of sexual services. They're what decide whether it's legal or not to sell/buy and to what extent you can legally do what, in regards to brothels, porn, being your own boss, etc. America has a completely different system of such laws, detached from both the Nordic and the Australian, which is probably one of the most dangerous such systems of laws, for the prostitutes. Although I'm not like SUPER familiar with its exact laws and regulations, I pretty sure it's illegal to sell sex there, which makes it very risky for those who do. In the Nordic model it's legal to sell (but with quite some caveats which I will shortly get into) but illegal to buy. In the Australian model it's legal to sell AND buy, but with safety restrictions regulating the how and to what extent.

Secondly, some highly relevant background info about me: Some years ago, I was actually interested in becoming a sex worker myself, because well, my trauma sought a new, exciting thrill... However, I wanted to do it as legally and safely as I could possibly manage. I also wanted to sell physical sex acts, not just sell foot pics on the internet. So basically I did a ton of research on how to be legal full service prostitute in my country, and to my sheer frustration, found that the Nordic model has so many flaws and contradictions in it that there's no way I could possibly sell sex without running into some serious trouble.

Although PLEASE keep in mind that I'm no longer interested in making prostitution my career!

But also to prove my point (before having even made it yet): even IF I'd still consider becoming a sex worker, I would feel safer doing that in the Netherlands, or possibly even in (certain parts of) America, and most definitely in Australia, than I would in Sweden. Of course it's good if the shitty Nordic model prevents me from starting up such a business, but if that's the only focus here, then you're completely missing a very important, in fact crucial, point: The reason it prevents me from doing so is not because it makes sex work seem more unappealing than it already is, but because the laws around it are unnecessarily FUCKED. That is the literal law putting me in danger, possibly even more so than the john's would, which is a huge failure on part of the government. The government's job should be to protect, not kick and step on people who are already fucking lying down, for daring to lie down to begin with, which the vast majorty of whom did not choose to.

Now, let's get into the issues with the Nordic model that I stumbled into during my research:

1. Although it's technically legal to sell sex, it's illegal to do it at your own home, the client's home, hotels, outdoors, literally any imaginable physical location. Which means prostitutes run a risk of facing eviction and getting arrested for the location (which is every location) they perform their services.

2. You have to pay taxes for the money you earn, like any other "job." However, the catch here is that the only way you can to do this is if you apply for starting your own business as a sex worker, which you're not technically allowed to do (???) by applying for something called an "F kassa" which is basically a form of private company financial set up (very Sweden specific, bureaucratic bullshit) which is the "lowest" and most difficult form of it to work with. Basically by that system, you have to manually calculate your taxes by yourself every month, which has a VERY high risk of fucking it up accidentally, which gets you at a very high liability for accidental fraud. It's also an extremely mentally taxing (sorry for the bad pun) way to pay taxes, unless you're a mathematician. Due to this, most Swedish sex workers do not pay their taxes, which you can probably imagine how living under that kinda stress could do to a person.

3. Because buying sex is still illegal under the Nordic model, prostitutes still have to stay quiet if something bad happens with a client, because giving up clients to the cops hurts their business, as well as increasing the risk of the cops finding more of their clients to bust, and fewer john's wanna go to a prostitute who is not trustworthy.

4. Trafficking is still happening a lot, even in Sweden. But problem is that because any and all such activity is strictly illegal, including brothels and the like, they hide underground and are not found out about until after having done severe damage for many decades... if at all. Pimps etc in Sweden are extremely skilled at keeping their business secret because duh obviously?! Hidden trafficking gets discovered all the time, but they get better at hiding, thus harder to discover.

5. There were a ton more issues I stumbled into, but these were the most concerning ones that really leaped out at me. Other issues includes: not being able to get safety stuff like condoms covered financially unless you go through hell and high water to record for every little rubber you buy and use and what exactly it costed, etc, but even then it's still pretty much impossible in practice. Not allowed to keep your income on a bank account because of the legal issues of where those money come from. The extremely high risk of keeping contact with clients without getting caught, whether you use a phone, e-mail, snailmail, etc.

Conclusions: In my opinion, the Nordic model only makes shit a hell of a lot worse, in an attempt to protect sex workers. But the result is that it only forces people to go underground and hide from the law to protect their business, which goes for both trafficking as well as individual prostitutes with their own businesses. It tries, but fails hard.

Basically, the law says you have to abide by things that are not actually possible to abide by in actual practice. I wrecked my head for months trying to figure out how to be a law-abiding prostitute, but to no avail. It made me not just frustrated for myself, but also worried about sex workers in my country, whether they're trafficked or otherwise forced, or choosing to do it on their own volition. The Nordic model makes sex work dangerous, not only because of the clients possible (or likely) abuse the sex workers might face, but because of the law itself. And that's where I personally think the law has gone very, very wrong. It should protect sex workers, not punish them further and putting them in even more danger.

(Also, although my knowledge of the Nordic model is very Sweden specific, I got the impression that it's flaws are quite similar in other Nordic countries, aside from a few details here and there.)

The Australian model, I have far less knowledge about. I basically just watched a few youtube videos about it and skimmed through maybe half an article, buuuut... what little I heard of it seems to do a far better job at both protecting individual sex workers who work for themselves, AND reducing trafficking, which really spoke to me. Yes, the Australian model allows far more, but that is not at all necessarily bad or dangerous. It allows the shit (trafficking) to float up to the surface much more easily, makes pimps far more careless with their businesses (ie easier to bust them) and can offer a far better safety net for those who (more or less) choose to do it on their own volition. But what exactly is and isn't allowed in that model, I'm admittedly unsure. But a lot of stuff pertaining to prostitution there has been de-criminalised, NOT legalised, and that's a very important point to keep in mind.

But also, I understand that the Australian model cannot possibly be "perfect" by any means. It's probably more so that I understand the Nordic model to be so horrific that whatever the Australian model does differently pretty much cannot possibly be worse. That's how badly I think of the Nordic model. It seriously angers me to the bone, how horrible it is. And thus, I can't help but getting very wrapped up in my emotions about it when I hear radfems praising the Nordic model, when all it does is brushing the inconvenient dust under the carpet, while the Australian model has already done quite some impressive actual cleaning, in the few years that have passed since they de-criminalised prostitution stuff.

The actual real life outcome should matter more than how nice the model looks like in theory. Sweden offers an absolutely terrible living situation for sex workers of any kind in actual practice, despite having such a "nice" system that's "meant" to make it safer for sex workers and reduce trafficking, which it absolutely does not do. Australia literally proved their "more allowing" system actually works in practice to improve the safety for sex workers and to reduce trafficking, despite it looks morally corrupt and too allowing in theory, and that's what matters to me. The outcome. The lives.

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san-lorenzo-shop · 3 years

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wisqcrafts · 4 years

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19 Home Quarantine Boredom Busters!

Bored? Bored??? Complain about your neighbors, your family, the government, the sky, anything else. But I never wanna hear or see anyone complain about boredom. Sorry not sorry. There's so many masterposts of things to do and free online resources. Here are just some of my dork ass ideas:

1) Free (yes FREE) online college courses from, you know, Yale, Harvard, MIT, etc:

https://www.coursera.org/

https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/find-by-topic/#cat=engineering&subcat=nuclearengineering&spec=nuclearsystemspolicyandeconomics

https://www.edx.org/school/harvardx

https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869/?fbclid=IwAR1a9qAE6IcqmcQpPaTmXH6q63QBCA95rntnZPY0ah_U80d8u0wa9wAIYhc

What, like it's hard?

2) "Tattoo" practice - This is a personal idea of mine. Basically, you just take some non-toxic markers to draw on yourself or whoever youre in home quarantine with that wants a fake tattoo. This isn't the best time to be getting real tattoos but you can have fun seeing what youd look like with a one. If you dont really draw, you can print designs to cut into stencils.

3) Bento "stories" - I got this idea from the mom that went viral for the creative bentos she makes for her kids. I think, for even just one meal a day, it would be cute to tell a story with each bento. So if you're living with someone, they need to wait til the next day to find out what happens next! If you live alone, make them for yourself and post your bento story online.

https://www.boredpanda.com/creative-bento-food-art-samantha-lee/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

4) Karaoke - By yourself or with others, doesn't matter, make it a party! Just search for your karaoke sobgs on Youtube. And anything is a microphone: hairbrush, remote, piece of fried chicken.... Good for you if you have one of those bluetooth mics tho.

5) Professor Day - Okay this one is really nerdy but it's more fun than it sounds. Pick a random topic, anything at all, and prepare a "lesson" or presentation on it. It could be one of your interests, an intro to a new language, or something you always wanted to learn. You can keep it to yourself, share the file online, or better: Dress the part and call your home quarantine buddies in for "class." If you live alone, teaching a class of inanimate objects would make for a silly yet informative video on your topic. Hey maybe this can catch on! Everyone can be an expert of something they're passionate about and should share their unique take on it, who knows who will be into it.

6) Miss Going Outside? Bring the experiences indoors! Like the family that made a home grocery for their grandma, you can make part of your home into something you miss from the outside world. Museum? Plenty offer free virtual tours. Cinema? If you don't have a big TV, you can make a projector for your phone with a shoebox. Camping? Hello, pillow fort and blanket tent. Roast marshmallows on the stove. Play relaxing nature sounds on your speaker. (Try the free app Relax Melodies, I love the mixing feature) Get creative with your space and what you have to make something you want. When you're really bored and missing the outdoors, Youtube or Google Streetview somewhere you wish you could go.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/75809/12-world-class-museums-you-can-visit-online

https://www.relaxmelodies.com/?utm_expid=.P1gqxCs8TYuGTBlAbE0VkQ.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

https://newsvideo.su/video/12560164

https://www.instructables.com/id/Build-A-Smartphone-Projector/

7) Room Makeover - No better time to do it! It's good exercise and it's a creative experience.

8) New Hair Dont Care - This is the best time to try an outrageous haircut or color since you're stuck at home. If it doesn't turn out ideal, no one has to know. If you love it, great! You can try any look you normally wouldn't wear outside or at work.

9) Safe Science Experiments - emphasis on the word SAFE. Safety first, always. There's plenty of free resources online for instructions, esp on YouTube.

10) Consume All The Free Movies, Shows, Music, Books, Audio Books and even Comics Online... it's endless! So much free... And now not so little time. You won't run out of things to watch, read, or listen to.

https://www.epubor.com/10-best-sites-for-free-comic-books.html

https://www.bettercloud.com/monitor/15-classic-video-games/

http://www.loyalbooks.com/genre/Non-fiction

https://www.digitalbook.io/search-audiobooks-ebooks.html#!///history

https://documentaryaddict.com/

11) Make a Short Film - Get creative or just be silly! Try stop motion with old toys, get yourself or someone you're home with into acting, or make your pet a star.

12) Tea Party - Be a kid again and dress up for tea... but put whatever twist you want on it! Wear an old Halloween costume or something! If you live alone, video call your friends or family to join you for tea.

13) Spa Day - All the pampering you didn't have time for when work/school wasn't from home? You have time now. DIY facial. Bubble bath. Nail art. Really soak in every little act of self love.

14) Practice drag makeup, styling, and performance for fun. Your gender or sexual preference doesn't even matter here. Its all good fun! Be a drag queen or king for a day. Lip sync for your life by yourself or make it a drag race with your home quarantine mates.

15) Mystery Day - Create a fake crime scene and have your friends/family solve it! Doesn't have to be a big mess and you don't have to make it so complicated for yourself or your home quarantine fam. You could also just write a simple mystery/riddle online for friends to solve if you live alone. You can even assign roles like accomplice, police, detective, etc. Work your brain, the goal is to kill boredom right?

16) Scrapbook - or Burn Book, Spell Book, pop-up book, revolutionary manifesto, whatever. Use anything you have as a base even if it has writing: an old phone book, something missing pages, a faded magazine, whatever. Then stick any pics, stickers, printouts, tags, wrappers, etc you want. What kind of book will it be?

17) Art Therapy - Even if you dont consider it something you're "good" at, use art to express yourself. It doesn't just have to be drawing, painting, or sculpting... You can pick up a forgotten musical instrument you may have lying around and just keep trying. Youtube is life. Countless tutorials for everything.

18) Crafts Crafts Crafts - Theres so many simple crafts to try at home. 5 Minute Crafts on Youtube and various other channels offer some great yet easy ideas. Try going about it in this order:

a) Look around your house for stuff you don't need. Set aside for craft pile or donate pile.

b) Look around again for any ways you can improve you home. You need mor storage? Is your shoe rack broken? Are you always missing something? Then search online for crafts specific to that.

c) Set up a neat work space with your craft pile and some tools you can use. Note: Never use kitchen items for crafts if you still intend to use them on food. You may be able to wash them but you can't undo any damage from crafting trial and error.

https://youtu.be/AROj7nkH2LQ

19) If you have any skill that can possibly help frontliners during this crisis, do see what you can do without risking your own health. If you can sew, donate masks or even PPE suits as there are guides online for the right patterns and materials. Even just a few pieces are helpful. If you sing, sing for our frontliners. If you write, write about them. Do your research about the situation in your town. Health workers, sanitation workers, grocery staff, and other essential workers are all putting their lives on the line. All we have to do is stay home but we can make the most of it.

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1-Xr-67gs2qw0o44-hy-INb89I9m-wcLD?fbclid=IwAR2q0JV6uqgDW5e_m5X5ABLv86rXdQodXh4x5fYDg9_WRsMe0hQwki9PUTk&fbclid=IwAR3Oofo8FIjzwZOoLepnGxYTrST_zV1dRf6NMtoWVRQVSuho1nnqwG5esUE

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/coronavirus-face-mask-what-you-need-to-know-about-making-a-covering-at-home/

#own post #covidー19 #covid 19 #covid19 #covidquarantine #cdc coronavirus #coronavirus #social distancing #isolated #isolation #quarantine

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intoxicatingimmediacy · 6 years

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The Essential Blindspotting Insists That People, Cities and Movies Can’t Be Reduced

With apologies to Gertrude Stein, there actually is a there there in Oakland. In fact, that polyglot city pulses with a mad glut of there, one there butting against another butting against theres still to come. There’s so much there there that to capture their town’s complexities, this summer’s two bold Oakland features — first Boots Riley’s scabrous capitalist satire Sorry to Bother You and now Carlos Lopez Estrada’s street-level city study Blindspotting — both dash to the rocks the established rules of genre and dramatic naturalism. Riley’s film risks losing viewers with a lurch from consciousness-raising workers’ comedy into paranoid science fiction, but how better to suggest the craziness of a city known for revolutionary fervor — all those anarchists’ bookstores and black-power bakeries — getting swallowed by “visionary” tech bros?

And now, here’s the superb and daring Blindspotting, a thrilling, riotous, language-drunk elegy and celebration for this most unfixed of cities. The film, like Oakland itself, is forever evolving, always becoming some new thing just when it at last seems to have revealed its full self. Like Riley, the film’s writers and producers dare to demand that audiences give them poetic license, in this case literally.

It takes a lot of movie to get at Oakland’s truth. Blindspotting is, among other things:

1. A tender and hilarious character study of two neighborhood friends — played by the film’s writers and producers, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal — who work for a moving company, try not to run afoul of the law, have strikingly different reactions to gentrification and process everything bewildering or beautiful or upsetting in their lives by spitting casual, exploratory rhymes toward each other. Their friendship is a vital, endless freestyle. Collin (the electric Diggs) is a black man with braids living in a halfway house as he nears the end of his parole for a felony assault; he kind of likes the $10 kale juice now stocked at his local bodega. Miles (an explosive Casal), a white boy wearing a grill and packing a pistol, disdains change in Oakland, especially once the hipsters start taking him for one of them rather than a town lifer who is treated, by his friends and life partner Ashley (Jasmine Cephas Jones), as almost honorarily black. They refer to him by a word that he wisely doesn’t speak himself.

2. A piercing melodrama about race and class, identity and expectations, about what the world sees and expects when it looks at you, about how hard it is, when you’ve been raised in this culture and steeped in its pathologies, to see people as who they are rather than who you expect or fear. At times, the broke-ass speechifying gets old-school theatrical, Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan meet slam poetry, especially in a bravura confrontation between Collin and Miles about everything the other hasn’t considered about what it’s like to be a black dude with braids — or a white dude who projects as “black” — in Oakland.

3. An impassioned city symphony that toasts and laments an Oakland that’s already passing, alive with blazing street photography and attuned in its incidental encounters to contradiction and irony. We meet a white artist, played by Wayne Knight, whose work honors the people displaced by gentrification — and also the oak trees cut down to pave the Oakland that’s now being lost. And witness the priceless moment when Collin’s mother (Margo Hall), whose home is bedecked with African drums and photos of Angela Davis, vows not to join the exodus of longtime residents outpriced by tech execs: “I’ll be damned if I move out of this neighborhood now that they got good food and shit.”

4. A theatrical throwdown in which the stars and writers — both mainstays of innovative stage and spoken-word communities — liberate themselves from cinematic convention and audience expectation. To bull’s-eye Oakland reality, they break with blinkered and limited movie realism. They’ve penned elaborate dream and performance sequences that feature the leads soliloquizing in ferocious verse. The first of these is a searing nightmare, a burst of music-video horror on the subjects of police brutality, mass incarceration and a government that only wants to hear from men like Collin when they are offering “verbal acknowledgment” of that government’s instructions. The second is more complex, a fireworking display of Diggs’ virtuosity that occurs within the story’s everyday reality and arrives just when audiences will be braced for a more traditional climax — likely a bloody one. Instead, they get rhyme. “That would never happen in real life,” a viewer groused afterward, the second time I saw the film. Of course it wouldn’t — and don’t think the filmmakers are unaware of that. A much more fruitful line of inquiry is, “Why does it happen here?” and “Why is it easier for audiences to buy fantasies of killing than fantasies of truth-telling?”

Blindspotting is all these things and more. Much more: It’s wild and singular, often beautiful, a feast and feat of self-definition through verbal dexterity. It’s shaking with laughter, teeming with insights and tense as hell when the police roll up. (Cheers to director of photography Robby Baumgartner’s lensing of mini-marts and new condos, of gutted homes and neon vegan burger joints, of lifted baller cars and sunrise jogs through a cemetery.) Focusing on its leads’ neighborhood and their day-to-day hustle, it doesn’t seize all that’s there in Oakland, but it gets more onscreen than most movies ever could. And if you find yourself resisting its occasional flights into the symbolic or theatrical, let me ask this: Would something more like every other movie be any more satisfying? Isn’t the most Oakland thing of all to do it their way and dare us to keep up? Blindspotting brilliantly surveys its creators’ home turf while also breaking new ground.

#blindspotting

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happystressedmuffin · 6 years

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Among the articles I wrote for our school newspaper these past three years, my most successful ones have been on the topic of education / the education system. As a person who has increasingly become disillusioned with the way school’s operate, I have a couple of thoughts. This may end up a little vague and I may go back to explore these ideas in more detail when I have more time.

First things first, my parents used to be teachers back in Belarus, and they often tell me about rules they had and how their schools worked. A lot of my thinking is influenced by them and their stories, in addition to personal experience.

Communication

One thing that American schools as a whole seem to lack is effective communication between teachers. I have seen this again and again, and it’s a shame considering that It’s an issue that can be fixed without bureaucratic measures. Why do teachers still have a difficult time communicating with one another? Countless times, I’ve had teachers schedule tests and quizzes on the same day, leaving students studying for three whole different topics, rather than focusing on carefully understanding one. My dad said when he used to teach, he would talk to the other teachers and they would plan their schedules out in accordance to one another to ensure that the students would not have an overload of work. While I cannot attest that lack of communication is a problem in every single individual American school, I can certainly say that just a couple weeks ago, our IB coordinator walked into our TOK room because our class snapped under pressure and some students were on the verge of tears. When we told her about the mountain of projects and tests, she seemed surprised, and even our TOK teacher decided to move one of her deadlines, because she was previously unaware of the pressure we were under.

Personally, communication between teachers is probably one of the biggest problems in any school system. Teachers should talk with one another and plan their assignments out; if not, at the very least, be ready to change the dates of certain assignments.

Of course, some things cannot be helped -- teachers cannot move standardized test days, and sometimes the speed of the lesson needs to quicken in order to have time to cover all the right material. Of course, that leads to another problem.

Standardized testing // allowing teachers to teach what they want

Standardized testing. A lot has been said on the topic already. Some countries such as Finland manage to get amazing marks without a lot of standardized tests; other countries get equally impressive marks with a lot of these tests (China). Whether or not standardized testing works depends on different factors, such as how the government operates, how the tests are structured, etc.

For example, the United States is a federalist form of government, meaning that power is shared between the federal and state governments. Largely, education has been a state issue, meaning how schools prepare their children for these tests and even the tests they take differ.

In terms of how the tests are structured, let’s talk about my friend who I will call “V.” V is in higher level classes. V has passed multiple AP tests. V wants to work in the film industry. As we all know, the SAT tests people on math and reading. Now, tell me, what does math and reading have to do with working in the film industry? English is not V’s first language -- he speaks Hindu and Spanish. He is not so bright in math. But if you’d seen the videos he produces, the editing work he does, even the scripts he writes, you could easily tell that this is a bright kid. His SAT score is certainly not bad in the slightest; in fact, it would probably be considered in the upper quartile. Nonetheless, in comparison to most our peers in this particular program (IB), his score seems a little...weak, to say the least. Some colleges rejected him as a result of his testing, which does not reflect the skills he will use later in life. Why should we consider this fair? Obviously, all people should know rudimentary math and reading; however, why should they be judged solely in those two categories?

At the end of the day, the real question we are trying to find is whether or not the state should give more control to the teachers in the classroom. Standardized testing limits what a teacher may teach due to time constraints.

Bad teachers / respect for teachers

And now, let’s bring our focus onto teachers. I have become highly disillusioned with teachers, especially this year. Here are a number of things I have witnessed:

1. A teacher “predicting” what our grade will be on a test and putting it in the grade system as our final grade for the assignment (essentially giving us a grade for something we have not actually done; and she wasn’t kind about it either; I got a C)

2. a teacher claiming we have to learn six chapters in three days and proceeding not to do a single thing to help us learn in class; instead he gave us a pop quiz and told us to read the book (hint: if we can replace you with a plant and have it not influence the class in the slightest, perhaps you need to do some teaching!)

3. A teacher telling us that the highest we can get on an assignment was a 70 and if we wanted something higher, we had to an “optional assignment”

4. A teacher taking off an entire letter grade because a student wrote the wrong class period on the header.

5. A teacher pausing a student in the middle of a presentation to yell at the student for seeming “too nervous” (how does yelling and humiliation help?)

6. One of my teachers accidentally taught the wrong curriculum for an entire three quarters before finding out that what we were doing was wrong. (I don’t blame the teacher too much -- this was actually a rather complicated situation).

7. A chemistry teacher who sat at her desk eating snacks while she played videos of her teaching, rather than teaching in person.

Now, all of this makes us students want to bang our heads against the wall; especially number 2 and number 6. The same teacher from #2 never read a single one of our essays (problematic, considering this is an AP / IB class) and instead has us peer score every single time. Nobody studies for his class because he curves every assignment so that a student with a D gets an A.

Should students not demand better? One of the issues with teachers, I believe, is that one does not necessarily need a teaching degree to teach; just a degree in the particular subject area. But at the end of the day, knowing a subject does not mean knowing how to teach it. Some people may disagree. Some people may say, a true sign of knowing is being able to teach. But teaching in itself is another art form. It involves communication. It involves a little bit of psychology. It involves knowing how to explain concepts in ways you may not have thought of before (A visual learner may not think to incorporate auditory details, for example). A person may be an awesome biologist, but that same person may not be an excellent communicator (outside of a research paper, that is). A person may be an awesome biologist, but that person may understand little about how an art/literature student may learn concepts. Knowing a subject well does not mean teaching a subject well. To say so insults the very art of teaching.

Another problem when it comes to teachers is a lack of overall respect for the profession. My AP Gov teacher (a really awesome man) was telling us a story about attending his wife’s party with her co-workers.

Someone asked him, “Hey, what do you do for a living?”

He said, “I teach high school government!”

That person frowned. “I’m so sorry!”

“Why are you sorry?” my government teacher asked, confused. “I love my job!”

And that story conveys a giant problem. People in general assume that teaching is a bad job. That we should feel sorry for those who teach. If you look at the amount that teachers get paid, you can tell that the job isn’t as highly valued as it should be. Teachers are entrusted with the entire future. They are tasked with educating future politicians, future surgeons, future historians, future writers, future academics, future working class people who may change living standard for the better. Why should we not pay teachers more? Why should we not make it harder for people to become teachers (increase the required training or make it better) while at the same time paying them more?

Students do not respect teachers too much either. That may be a sentence young people do not like to hear, because we feel cheated in the education system many times. But it’s true that many students do not respect teachers. I am a student; I have seen how the worst of us can behave. My favorite teacher (I’ve had her for all three years now and will have her next year too) talks quite frankly with me, and she always talks about students who put in no work all quarter and then have the audacity to call her and blame her for their grades.

I am quite lazy -- I really am. But I do my work, and I have never had anything below a A in her classes; and the one I’m taking at the moment is an IB class.

However, respect is a two-way-street. To say that students are respected would be a lie. Otherwise, we would be listened to more when it comes to problems that directly affect us.

The ultimate point is -- respect for teachers needs to increase, but we should also cut down on teachers who don’t know how to teach. These solutions seem obvious, but implementing the necessary actions to put them into place certainly isn’t.

Taxes / wealth

A big point to mention -- taxes. I had any power in this government, I would not have schools be funded by taxes. In order to learn, students should have the resources to do so. How can an underfunded school possibly compete with a suburban, rich school? The education system creates cycles by constantly valuing the rich and punishing the poor.

If you have money, here’s all the things you can do:

-Live in a nice area with well-funded schools

-Buy a tutor for the SAT

-Have enough money to be well-fed; no worries about food

-Buy all kinds of educational programs (rosetta stone, etc)

-Buy more books

-Get invited to go to interesting educational summer camps, and go

-Clubs (basically no clubs are free)

All these things contribute to college applications and success. But what about the student who struggles in math and cannot afford a tutor? What about that student who lives in a poor area and struggles to learn because of underfunded and stressed teachers? What about the student who has to turn down many opportunities simply because that students cannot afford it? What about the student that can’t afford to pay a fee to participate in dance club?

What about those students?

Is it not evident then that those students are put at a disadvantage, and that they never had equality to begin with? Is it not evident that those students will have a harder time getting to a brighter future?

Here’s some ideas I have seen around that I have not thought too much about, but I do want to look into:

- Religion’s affect on schools (the US has a long history of Protestantism / Evangelicalism; those who structured our schools may have been influenced. It would be interesting to see how religious thought has played into our education system)

-schools shaping students for labor / a career rather than education / useful life skills

- I would really love to learn about an anarchist’s point of view of the education system. I believe that most anarchists would be pro-education, but they typically are anti-system (anti-authority), right? How would people be educated in an ideal society? (this is mostly curiosity)

#education system #problems of the education system #teaching #student #school problems #school #education #long post #standardized testing #respect for teachers

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word-of-sanjana · 4 years

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CA Propositions 2020

Researchers

Sanjana and her brother Aditya

all opinions are Sanjana’s

Resources Used

Ballotpedia - best for all the details

San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters - just found these people, but I really like their research and perspective!

SF Chronicle Endorsements - solid summaries, but way too centrist for me; even if we agree on a vote, it’ll be for different reasons oftentimes

Progressive Voters Guide - also just found this org; they have a “common misinformation” section that is useful

Short Guide:

14 - NO stem-cell research may be important but this money has better uses

15 - YES corporations shouldn’t be taxed like people, and this is one step in that direction

16 - YEA race/sexuality DO matter and should be considered

17 - YEP parolees get to vote

18 - YEE fairer election process for people who are 18 during the general election but not the primary

19 - NO, I GUESS... it’s a complicated property tax law- one loophole closed and one opened. I also recommend you SKIP this one unless you decide to read through the pros/cons and make your own decision

20 - HARD NO if you believe humanity matters more than the prison system, then please vote no on this effort to put more people behind bars for longer

21 - YES lets local governments pass rent control laws

22 - N.O. ride-share and delivery drivers are supposed to get basic benefits and protections, and Prop 22 wants to cut those protections down

23 - YES is to support healthcare workers who work in kidney dialysis in their efforts to improve the care in dialysis clinics

24 - NAH privacy protection intentions are good, but the law itself is a mess

25 - very begrudging NO honestly, my heart is broken that I’m saying no, which is on the side of, ugh, bail (barf). However the replacement for the bail system is to put more power in probation depts and judges, and as much as I liked the original SB10 bill, these additions pushed it too much into the hands of the criminal justice system for me to feel comfortable with. Sigh... it’s a real loss of a chance to get rid of bail tho. But we deserve stronger criminal justice reform that doesn’t play into the hands of police/court forces, and this wasn’t it.

Long Guide:

Prop 14: State spends money for stem-cell research by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). I’d say NO for this one, just because CA’s funding would be better saved for other things right now. (It also feels like it doesn’t make sense to fund stem-cell research more than any other kind of research, unless there’s something I’m missing?)

Prop 15: Commercial properties are taxed according to current market price. Exceptions: agriculture, property owners worth $3 million or less. It’s a hard YES from me- this law challenges the “corporations are people” mentality by treating corporate holdings as a different situation than ordinary people.

A potential drawback is that if corporations are taxed more, then they would potentially raise rents on small businesses; however, I’m pretty sure they’re raising rents already, and not passing this law won’t suddenly make corporate real estate treat its renters ethically. We can’t refuse a good law out of fear of what corporations will do. If a corporation can’t function when its tax loopholes are closed, then it’s really dumb to say that we as a state need to keep tax loopholes to protect them.

Prop 16: Restore considering race/sexuality in gov/public institutions, aka restore Affirmative Action for disadvantaged groups. There is a federal standard for this, but CA banned looking at these qualities in 1996 (while still looking at qualities like class, disability, etc). For those of you who feel uncomfortable with Affirmative Action, I suggest you watch CA Assembly Member Evan Low talk about this amendment. While you watch, try to think about whether denying equitable treatment to others for the sake of your group’s power is the way you want the world to run.

Basically, a YES would let the state acknowledge that race/sexuality matters to someone’s experience. Only a coward or a selfish bastard would not be able to admit this is true. I hope CA voters will act on conscience and not on their base fears. Do the right thing and vote yes.

Prop 17: People on parole can vote. YES. Fun fact: the one dude on the opposition side was like, now sodomites will be able to vote!! which I thought was hilarious. Like, sodomites are already voting in droves, this would just let the ones on parole vote too :)

Prop 18: 17 year olds that will be 18 for a general election can vote in the primary elections. YES because it’s more fair. Major elections are a two part process- primary and general- and it’s not fair for someone who can vote in the general to not be allowed a say in the primary.

Prop 19: Ok, this one is really complicated. Essentially, it’s a mixed bag of pros and cons, and how you vote will depend on which side you think weighs more. (For a more complete explanation, here’s the League’s explanation or this CalMatters overview.)

1. PRO- It makes it so so that multiple houses can’t be inherited with a tax break, just the primary residence- this closes a loophole exploited by landowners and developers. The law would push rich house hoarders to sell. The League (see sources above) explains that this will encourage people to move and free up housing, but the SF Chronicle points out that it will only reshuffle the deck of existing housing, which does not give a break to new homebuyers who can’t afford current prices. However, this is a pretty big loophole to close and potentially open up more housing, especially in urban areas that need existing housing opened up for use, even if they also need more than just that.

2. CON- It allows qualifying homebuyers (mainly over 55s) to move three times, even across county lines, while still keeping the tax rate from their initial property. This is a bit excessive, and has two concerns that I can see: 1. counties would not make enough property tax and 2. under 55 homeowners would be responsible for the bulk of property tax. I don’t think giving a broad tax break to over 55s is the best plan, because while it would be great for low-income seniors, it gives an unnecessary break to wealthy seniors, who should be contributing to the community in property tax the way the rest of people do.

In the end, is it worth it to close one tax break (for inheritance of multiple properties) just to open another (certain groups can keep tax breaks after multiple moves)? After a lot of consideration, I’m going to say NO simply because I don’t think the revenue from the first will make up for the loss to counties from the second. Neither or a Yes nor a No vote will fix problems for low-income seniors, for problems with California housing, or for counties most in need of funding; a No vote seems, to my layperson’s eyes, at least a bit more fiscally sound.

Prop 20: This HEINOUS prop wants to turn certain misdemeanors into felonies, require DNA samples collected for certain crimes before 2014, and reduce parole. It basically wants to beef up the prison system, treat people like chattel to be shunted into cells, and make it harder for them to get out. If you have a heart, it has to be a NO for this one.

Prop 21: If you believe in rent control (which I do) and/or in local governments having some self-determination in housing laws (which I think is reasonable) then it’s gotta be a YES. (Bonus: there’s a lot of history behind rent control in CA that is interesting, but I don’t have the time to explain it now, sorry!)

Prop 22: Would make app-based drivers into independent contractors, not employees. Labor protections would not apply to these drivers (e.g. minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation). Uhh, it’s a definite NO. (Fun fact: Uber, Lyft, Doordash, and others have spent $184M on getting this passed, to allow them to continue to benefit off of under-compensated labor. Imagine if they put that money towards drivers’ benefits and protections instead, hmm.)

Prop 23: Ok, so on the surface this prop is about better care for dialysis patients, including requiring a physician on-site and reporting data on clinics to state groups, which is enough for a YES. However, there’s a larger backstory here about the fight between Big Dialysis companies and the healthcare worker union SEIU-UHW West. You may remember a similar bill about dialysis from a few years ago, which was also a fight between these two groups. Essentially, the dialysis industry wants to keep costs low, even at the expense of patient care. The union wants better patient care and better treatment for dialysis nurses and doctors. They haven’t been able to come to an agreement privately, so the union has been bringing some issues to the public vote. The League writes “Some critics see the ballot box as off-limits to unions, while they turn a blind eye to corporate lobbyists who fund state lawmakers by the millions. This seems myopic to us” and I agree. Since I don’t have piles of money to lobby with, I want chances to share my support for workers through my vote. I just hope other people will see it the same way...

Prop 24: On the surface, this prop means to create better online privacy for users, but in its details... well, it’s honestly very murky. This is gonna be a NO because there are several loopholes and exceptions that make it the wrong next step in data privacy protection. From what my research (the League, SF Chronicle) is saying, it would allow for “pay-for-privacy” schemes where companies can charge extra for consumers wanting to opt out, among other details. There’s a lot in this prop and I’m not equipped to go through all of it, but it looks like it doesn’t have the teeth to do much, while also introducing some potentially unwanted variables into privacy protection.

Prop 25: Ok, so California has had an abysmal record with criminal “justice” in the past several decades, but in the past couple of years, there have been some advancements in putting people before prisons under the law. One was the recent Senate Bill 10 which removed the bail system in favor of a risk assessment program. Prop 25 wants to repeal SB10 and bring bail back.

Returning to a bail system would put undue emotional and financial strain on low-income folks, so it seems like an automatic Yes. However, what does a risk-assessment system entail?

Here’s my brother’s statement: “This referendum on Senate Bill 10 would put into place a “risk algorithm” that depends on systemic racism-impacted metrics like arrest history, employment history, residential stability, and education levels to determine whether someone should be incarcerated pre-trial. Hard NO. This algorithm does not have full transparency or accountability, and cannot be appealed. Statistical B.S. that reinforces the biases of the police/judges/system, but under the guise of science. Last minute amendments to the bill also found ways to increase funding for law enforcement. Human Rights Watch opposes Prop 25. Reject this prop and get the state government to try again with better bail reform.“

However, I’m also worried that a return to bail is, well, real bad. I’ve been mulling over this one pretty hard, especially since I’m attached to what SB10 had originally promised to be. But as said in this opinion piece on Knock LA, “While the cash bail industry does exploit the hellscape that is mass-incarceration, it does not drive mass-incarceration.” You know who does drive mass-incarceration? The criminal justice system. Bail bond companies suck, big time. But putting more power in the hands of the criminal justice system doesn’t bode well for the future. The new system will be run by probation departments, and from what I know about probation departments, I DO NOT trust them. This “risk-algorithm” has no incentive to not be racist/classist, and as far as I can tell, there is only a mandated “review process” of the data, not actual protections in place.

I wanted SB10 to make great changes, but that’s not what it turned into in the end. And though I hate to side with bail, because again, bail is a horrible horrible practice that needs to go away right now- I’m gonna say NO on Prop 25. We need a different solution instead of going from the frying pan into the fire. (UGGGHHHH I HATE THAT I HAVE TO SAY NO. I DON’T WANT BAIL AROUND. BUT THIS REPLACEMENT IS TOO SHADY TO BACK.)

Conclusion

This years crop of props was mostly straightforward, with a couple of doozies on there. I hope I made the right decisions... honestly, with voting, you do your best but don’t always know. If in the next few weeks I hear something game-changing, I’ll change my recommendation here, but as of now [Oct. 10, 2020], this section is done!

#california #ballot #election 2020

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stephenmccull · 4 years

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Must-Reads of the Week From Lauren Olsen

Hiya! I’m Lauren Olsen, your new Newsletter Editor. That’s right — the totally official, no more fill-ins, always-here-for-you Newsletter Editor. As the replacement for editor extraordinaire Brianna Labuskes, I’m here to tackle all your health news needs.

Why yes, you’re right — a pandemic is a heck of a time to take over this job. I’d argue, however, that it’s the best time, because who doesn’t need a hand sorting out all this craziness? So far, 2020 has been like trying to paint the “Mona Lisa” while riding a unicycle in a rainstorm — in other words, a sloppy mess teetering on disaster — but, with any luck, when it’s done we might all manage to smile.

In the meantime, I won’t Louvre you in the lurch. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Be sure to read each day’s top health news headlines in KHN’s Morning Briefing, compiled by yours truly. Please subscribe, if you haven’t already — and tell your colleagues and friends, too. Have a comment about the Briefing or the Breeze? Send me an email at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.

A Gift for You, My New Friend

Because we’ve just met, I’d like to offer you a token of friendship: Today’s Breeze will do its best to have a positive spin. Things are dreary enough in the world right now — you don’t need me to blow more gray clouds your way. In the words of Helen Keller, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

What’s Donald Up To?

Today, let’s play a game called “What’s Donald Up To?” You won’t win any points or money. What you will win is the knowledge that there are 180 days until Inauguration Day! (I suppose your real prize will be if “your guy” wins, whether it’s President Donald Trump, Joe Biden or Kanye West.)

So what is Donald up to? He began his busy week of tweeting, mask-wearing and name-calling with a feisty interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace on Sunday. In it, he lamented increased COVID testing (“I’m glad we do it, but it really skews the numbers”), called Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s infectious diseases superstar, an “alarmist,” boasted about the sagging U.S. economy (“I built the greatest economy in history, I’m now doing it again”), reasserted his opinion that the virus will “disappear” and downplayed the potentially devastating physical effects of COVID-19 by saying some people just have the “sniffles.” When asked about the nearly 1,000 deaths a day in the U.S., Trump said it “is what it is.” On the positive side? Well, the interview was only about an hour.

The critiques rolled in, and for most of the week we saw a kinder, gentler version of Trump. Maybe it was because he was happy he supposedly aced the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, a test that detects early signs of dementia. Or maybe it was because he’d passed “multiple” COVID tests a day, according to his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany. (“I don’t know of any time I’ve taken two in one day,” he clarified a few hours later.) Or perhaps he was simply feeling generous, providing $5 billion for struggling nursing homes, resuming COVID task force briefings, renewing the national public health emergency and even (gasp!) tweeting a pic of himself wearing a mask. But I think the real reason may have been because two White House cafeterias closed this week after a staffer tested positive for the coronavirus — providing another excuse for him to keep eating McDonald’s. (Just a theory.)

Even so, Trump’s good mood subsided by the end of the week, probably because he had to cancel the GOP convention in Jacksonville, Florida, amid the state’s rising COVID cases. (Not to mention that the Duval County sheriff did warn him about not being able to provide security.)

Wondering what Biden, Trump’s probable Democratic rival in November, was up to? Well, this week he released his massive “caregiving plan” for Americans — $775 billion over 10 years. (That certainly would buy a lot of Care Bears.)

California and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

California, the most populous state, on Wednesday surpassed New York as the worst-hit state for cases (tallying 413,576 as of that day). The increase of 12,112 was the biggest single-day increase since the pandemic started. At the national level, there have been 4 million cases — it took only 15 days to jump from 3 million to 4 million — and the death toll stands at 144,000. Unfortunately, the rise in cases is outpacing the rise in testing, with The New York Times explaining: “About 21,000 cases were reported per day in early June, when the positive test rate was 4.8 percent. As testing expanded, the positive test rate should have fallen. … Instead, the positive test rate has nearly doubled.”

The number of COVID cases is likely 10 times higher than what we thought, experts now say. On Saturday, the FDA approved the use of pooled testing, essentially allowing the testing of many more people using fewer tests. But the White House, not to be outdone, announced it would push to phase out funding for testing from the COVID-relief bill in Congress. (More on that in a minute.)

In the “oops” category, 113 people in Rhode Island, about 90 in Connecticut, 26 in Kentucky and dozens in New York were told they had COVID-19 when in fact they had tested negative. (Does that qualify as positive news? I’m not sure, but I’m happy those folks are fine.) Conversely, in The Villages, Florida, one of America’s biggest retirement communities known for its golf and rockin’ house parties, is seeing a spike in positive cases, jumping from the single digits last month to at least 29 last week.

Scientists delved into the big question this week: Can you get reinfected with COVID? And the absolute, no-doubt-about-it answer was: Um, not sure. But it’s unlikely, they say. Scientists did determine that mosquitoes most likely don’t spread COVID, and they’re testing whether UV light, which can kill many nasty germs, can kill this virus, too. As a bonus, the CDC now says that if you do get sick, you should isolate for 10 days, not 14. (But severely ill patients should isolate for 20 days.)

So Much for Vacation

Congress returned from a two-week summer recess Monday to begin work on the fifth COVID-relief bill of the year, and it played out like a real-life version of Chevy Chase’s “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” starring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as Clark Griswold, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the Ferrari-driving Christie Brinkley and Trump as the security guard at Walley World who basically ends their fun. (My goodness, can’t you just envision it?)

Republicans had a $1 trillion agenda that included funds for schools and COVID testing, a payroll tax cut, direct checks for individuals and $600-a-week stipends for laid-off workers. Senate Republicans seemed near a deal with the White House on Wednesday as the Griswold family station wagon chugged along. But the car crashed Thursday when the two groups failed to reach an agreement on the unemployment issue. (Mind you, the Democrats haven’t even gotten involved yet.) Republicans vowed to have a new deal next week. As all this was going on, smooth-driving Pelosi left tire tracks all over Trump while speaking on CNN’s “The Situation Room” on Tuesday, calling the coronavirus the “Trump virus.”

Let’s Make a Deal: Which Vaccine Is Behind Door No. 1?

Am I the only person who can’t keep track of all the vaccines and treatments in play? Chinese group Sinopharm said it will have a vaccine ready for the public before the end of the year. (Woohoo!) British pharmaceutical firm Synairgen announced a breakthrough nebulizer treatment that reduces the severity of COVID-19, and Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine AZD1222 showed promising results in human trials, too. Meanwhile, behind Door No. 2, the Russians are insisting they didn’t try to steal British coronavirus vaccine research.

Back in the good ol’ U.S. of A., five pharmaceutical giants testified to Congress on Tuesday that they wouldn’t cut corners when developing a vaccine. And Wednesday, as if on cue, Pfizer and German firm BioNTech made an unusual $1.95 billion deal to supply 100 million doses of a not-yet-finished vaccine to the federal government, which plans on giving it to Americans at no cost. (Not to nitpick, but there are 330 million people in America. I’m not great a math, but still …)

Meanwhile, behind Door No. 3, the Department of Justice indicted two Chinese nationals this week on charges that they hacked and stole research from companies working on COVID vaccines in the U.S., the U.K., Sweden, Spain, Australia and other nations.

The REALLY Important Questions

Sure, all of that stuff has big implications. But here in the real world, we’re worried about simpler stuff. For example, when can I watch NFL football? (Not for a while.) Has baseball started? (Yes!) Can I travel to the Bahamas (no), Niagara Falls (yes) or New York (maybe)? If I live in California and need a haircut, where can I get one? (Outdoors.) Should I buy my teen some condoms? (It’s up to you, but more adolescents are improvising with plastic wrap — shudder.) Does it hurt to get shot with a less-lethal projectile? (Um, HECK YES.) Should I wear a mask in Atlanta, at a Marriott hotel or when buying jeans at the Gap? (Yes.) How about at the bank? (Yes, as long as you promise not to rob the joint.)

That about wraps it up for me. Hope you enjoyed my inaugural Breeze. Keep smiling! Until next week,

— Lauren

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Must-Reads of the Week From Lauren Olsen published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years

Text

Must-Reads of the Week From Lauren Olsen

A Gift for You, My New Friend

What’s Donald Up To?

California and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

So Much for Vacation

Let’s Make a Deal: Which Vaccine Is Behind Door No. 1?

The REALLY Important Questions

That about wraps it up for me. Hope you enjoyed my inaugural Breeze. Keep smiling! Until next week,

— Lauren

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Must-Reads of the Week From Lauren Olsen published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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dinafbrownil · 4 years

Text

Must-Reads of the Week From Lauren Olsen

A Gift for You, My New Friend

What’s Donald Up To?

California and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

So Much for Vacation

Let’s Make a Deal: Which Vaccine Is Behind Door No. 1?

The REALLY Important Questions

That about wraps it up for me. Hope you enjoyed my inaugural Breeze. Keep smiling! Until next week,

— Lauren

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

from Updates By Dina https://khn.org/news/friday-breeze-health-care-policy-must-reads-of-the-week-from-lauren-olsen-july-24-2020/

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vsplusonline · 4 years

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High mortality among Black and Asia doctors treating Covid-19 in UK raises alarm

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/high-mortality-among-black-and-asia-doctors-treating-covid-19-in-uk-raises-alarm/

High mortality among Black and Asia doctors treating Covid-19 in UK raises alarm

Call it irony or poetic justice the two nurses Prime Minister Boris Johnson extended heartfelt thanks to for saving his life are immigrants while Brexit, for which he stands, had anti-immigration as one of its core policies.

Most of the health professionals who have laid their lives fighting Covid-19 at the frontline in the UK are from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) group, including three Indians. It’s been reported that the first 10 doctors to die in the UK from Covid-19 were all BAME – with ancestry from regions including Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

People of BAME background constitute 44 per cent of the medical personnel in the NHS. In this context, Dr Chand Nagpaul, who heads the BMA, said the fact that the initial 10 deaths were all from the BAME was ‘extremely disturbing’.

The British Medical Association (BMA), as well as British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) both, have urged the British government to investigate the matter.

Writing to the NHS bosses, BAPIO expressed its concern about the death of doctors and other healthcare workers (HCWs) from Covid-19, whilst in the line of duty especially about the disproportionate number of doctors from BAME backgrounds.

President of BAPIO Ramesh Mehta said, “At this moment of the national crisis, we have expressed our solid support to the government. However, inadequately equipped soldiers in front line worry us a lot. Death of health care workers is a real matter of concern to our members, many of whom have had the first-hand experience of the effects of Covid-19. We have offered our assistance to the CMO and Public Health England to research into causes of increased mortality amongst the BAME group so that preventive measures can be taken.”

Joining BMA and BAPIO in urging the government into action is also the Labour party which now has a new leader – Keir Starmer.

The lack of personal protective equipment has been quoted as thecase that led to these deaths. Prof Parag Singhal, BAPIO Secretary said, “It is regrettable that PPE has not been provided in time to save some of these frontline doctors from either the ravages of the illness or death. The government and employers have a duty to ensuring that we have a fit and healthy workforce, and that HCWs are not lulled into walking into a death trap from having poor or no equipment”.

Ramesh Mehta further told India Today that in the early stages very limited number of “PPEs were available” to the doctors and the impact of it is being faced now and will be faced in the future too.

Pictures of NHS nurses having to wear bin bags, clinical waste bags on their hands, feet for protection as emergency rooms filled with sick patients or while cleaning up were widely circulated.

Even now, despite the government’s promise, NHS staff are having to work without the essentials. Only recently, Kingston hospital in south-west London is reported to have run out of gowns. On top of that two cabinet ministers, Home Secretary Priti Patel, as well as Business Secretary Alok Sharma, fell short of apologising for the government’s failure over the lack of PPEs. Alok Sharma just managed to say, “Sorry for the loss of any life during this pandemic,” while Priti Patel said, “I’m sorry if people feel there have been failings.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, though recognising the number of BAME deaths, has ordered the government to “look into it”. He said that he was, “Particularly struck at the high proportion of people from minority ethnic backgrounds and people who have come to this country to work in the NHS who have died of coronavirus.” He also added, “We should recognise their enormous contribution.”

Another contributory factor to such incidents is recent research, though in early stages is that Asian and Black communities as a whole might be more susceptible to Covid-19. This spells caution in big way for the entire BAME communities.

The latest data (up to the beginning of April) from Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, ICNARC reveals that “of 2,000 critically ill patients, 35 per cent were non-white. Asian people made up the largest ethnic group in all the critical Covid-19 cases confirmed to ICNA up until April 3, with 272 of cases, while 268 were black.”

BAPIO said, “33% of the current ITU admissions are those of BAME which is above the national demographic of 14 per cent BAME population. A matter of concern to our members and our wider communities is whether race and ethnicity are linked directly or indirectly to the disproportionate morbidity and mortality.”

Explaining the reason for this, chair of London Assembly Health Committee, Dr Onkar Sahota told India Today, “The Asians and the Black communities have a greater incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease and also in the Asian households we have the inter-generational households that means grandparents, parents living all together that makes the spread between the elderly and the young people much easier.” In the same breath, Dr Sahota added that “this data needs to be interrogated further.”

Owning to such new emerging research and the risk that Covid-19 poses to the health professionals, BAPIO in its letter to the NHS has suggested health professionals should undergo, “comprehensive risk assessment”, undertaken by their employers in order “to provide a safe working environment”.

Read | Warnings, drone monitoring, spots for buyers: How cops enforce social distancing in Delhi mandis

Read | Coronavirus: Doctors clash at overcrowded LNJP Hospital

Watch | Lockdown 2.0: How to balance jaan and jahaan?

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lefishe · 5 years

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Trump is a genius

A genius??? What in gods name did you just say?

Ok hold on. First, uhh, hello again! Sorry I've been gone, been writing, but not on here. So I'd thought I'd pass by and show you what I've been up to! Here is an essay I wrote for my American Politics class which I think gives a very good overview of how Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. I hope you enjoy, and I've left all my sources at the end in case you need some more light reading. Enjoy these 4000 words, free of charge.

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The United States today finds itself in a position that it has never been in before. A country-wide sentiment of animosity, divide, and ultimately hate is one that is highlighted and propagated by the media worldwide. Although it may seem blown out of proportion in the eyes of foreigners, the division that is present in the socio-political world of the United States is one that goes far beyond the presidency that has taken the office by storm. Understanding the climate that the United States finds itself in today is a topic that one could analyze for an eternity but in the present time, it would be more effective to explain how we have gotten the presidency that we face today. Explaining how Donald J. Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race is a challenge that goes far beyond placing the result on good timing, the fragility of the party system, or the “culture of America”. To truly comprehend how Trump managed to sweep the election, a systematic, 3 pronged analysis can be conjured: how Trump managed to rise initially and in the Republican party, how he managed to defeat his Democratic counter Clinton, and how his personal character and philosophies took over America.

Born into a family of father Fred Trump, a real estate monster of New York, and starting off his path own path into the real estate world with an infamous loan of “1 million dollars” from his very father, Trump built his family name and Trump Organization into one plastered on hotels and towers, fueling his celebrity rise (BBC, 2017). From owning America’s favorite beauty pageants, creating his own shows, and writing books, Trump’s enterprises and hands in all markets of America brought him a net worth of over 3.5 billion, according to Forbes. As for how Trump got into politics, well his interests were rooted for a longer time than may be initially apparent. His first recorded interests started in 1987-1988, where his struggles with debt in his gambling enterprise branches put him off, until running as a Reform Party candidate in 2000, receiving 15000 votes in California’s Primary (CNN, 2018). His true involvement in politics did not flourish though until 2011-2012, where early primary polls saw Trump as the most popular candidate for the Republican Party, but regardless, in the end, he decided to give his endorsement to Mitt Romney. Throughout this election campaign, he also appeared as the new leader of the birther movement, a strong attack against President Obama and the country’s questioning of his actual birthplace (CNN, 2018). This, in addition to the taking over of the US Congress by the far-right Tea Party Movement, all culminated into the first clues of Trump’s path towards his political campaign of 2016. Making outrageous public claims on television, or otherwise, Trump began his populist movement then, and no one was realizing it. These steps all led to Trump first announcing his run for the US Presidency of 2016, where he first took over the Republican party.

On June 16th 2015, Trump officially announced his run for the presidency at his very own Trump Tower. His first speech, a foreshadowing to what was to come from his campaign, included his first talks of reforming the economy for the workers of America, the “made and bought in America” slogan, and his first mentions of a rigid immigration policy, going just as far as labelling Mexican immigrants as "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people" (CNN, 2018). Trump set the tone early that he was not going to be like any old republican, or conservative nominee seen before, and his message sent waves across the US media, and through the existing base of the Republican Party. Running against a total of 17 candidates in the Republican Party primary nomination, including Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich as his biggest opponents, Trump went from the least favorable candidate, to gaining serious grounds over a 10 month period, winning first New Hampshire with 35% of the vote, followed by Pennsylvania and Delaware (Sarlin, 2016). During his rise to grander influence in the Republican Party, the “stop trump” movement was launched by a multitude of Republicans within the party at all levels, including his fellow opposition in the race to the primaries Jeb Bush, Kasich, and multiple other candidates, all portraying a deep divide in the party against Trump, many going as far as leaving completely.

The problem with the “stop trump” movement was that it was doomed to fail. Without a strong candidate in the primary ballot polls supporting it, most that endorsed the movement like Marco Rubio, were forced to resign without having a meaningful end to Trump’s dominance (Cassidy, 2016). In reality, Trump’s only real opposition was in the form of Senator Ted Cruz, who through his “extremism on social issues turning off many moderates and independents” (Cassidy, 2016), didn’t seem to grab a hold of the Republican voter base like Trump did. What Trump managed to do differently from his opposing candidates was his change in focus of Republican policy promises. Instead of targeting the middle-income whites of America and promising them policy changes that cut taxes for the richer, the following of more “laissez-faire” economics, and the usual Republican bases, he instead targeted the same people, but offered them immigration crackdowns, and a focus on policies helping the common American worker, that promised more safety and money in their pockets. Trump has essentially changed his message to appeal to the workers of America, seeing the advantages of a populist economic movement, and appealing to the grand majority of Republicans that rather a candidate that screamed about the possibly controversial social changes like illegal immigration, rather than “conservatively” being conservative. In the end, Trump’s opposing candidates ended up dropping out of the race, including Ted Cruz, and finally finished his campaign with nearly 50% of the delegate vote, while he lead his campaign at a steadily increasing 20% of the votes. Trump was yet to finish his race for the presidency, but throughout his primary election process, it was clear that his reform of a party he essentially grabbed control of, had a great effect on the next leg of the race.

By the end of the Presidential run, Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the electoral college 306-232, a sweeping victory from what was expected. Winning the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes, Trump managed to play the election the way it was supposed to be played; not by pleasing the most, but just enough to win him the key states he needed. Although the reasons for why Trump won the Presidential race against Hillary are innumerable, the totality of arguments can be summed up in a single statement; Trump did not win the election because he was the best candidate for the Presidency, but rather because Hillary was a candidate bound to lose.

Even before her entry into the race against Trump, Hillary was not the candidate that America wanted, and neither was her party. With Obama leaving the stage of America with two terms of unending controversy and problems ranging from government shutdown, to racial shootings, the Democratic party had a lot to pick up on very quickly to face their divided nation. With outgoing vice-president Joe Biden, and a handful of senators left defending the democratic flag after the 2014 midterms, two candidates including the populist left motivator, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton rose above the rest as the hopeful rejuvenating faces of the Democratic Party. As we know of now though, from leaks by former chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Donna Brazile and many within the Democratic Party, the DNC had chosen it’s candidate long before any other candidates could take a stand. Although the primary election was not technically rigged, the influence of an “invisible primary” within the elites of the DNC chose Hillary Clinton because “As Barack Obama’s presidency drew to a close, the DNC was deep in debt. In return for a bailout, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz gave Hillary Clinton’s campaign more potential control over its operations and hiring decisions than was either ethical or wise” (Klein, 2017) essentially giving her reigns to drive her nomination forwards, and was also chosen because of her longtime involvement in the Democratic Party as an iconic figure within the First Lady, Senator, and Secretary positions, favoring her endorsements, media coverage, and capital raising advantages. The result of this favoring within the elites of the party was that even before the primaries, Hillary was bound to win, and that was apparent. Candidates like ex-vice president Joe Biden passed upon the opportunity to run for the primary, and in the end, only 5 candidates were part of the first Democratic debate of 2015, including Bernie Sanders. What is interesting from this apparent existing bias is that although it eliminated the existence of multiple candidates like the 17 present in the Republican battle, it was of advantage to Bernie Sanders. Sanders, representing the populist-liberal left wing, with a message “that the powerful and connected were rigging the systems of wealth and influence against the powerless” (Klein, 2017) found himself with the perfect base for his message of corruption, his own party. With very few debates to showcase the Democratic candidates, and the invisible hand of the DNC, Hillary eventually won the primary election with 2807 delegates to Sanders’ 1893.

With the Democratic primary election almost decided ahead of time, it comes at a surprise that their choice of candidate was so weak. As a candidate that stood for more of the same, on the repetitive focus of the minorities of America rather than the majority common folk, the focus on education reform versus a conservative targeting the education less (Zurcher, 2016), and the lack of emphasis on giving concrete economic reforms for the better, Clinton was the wrong move against Trump (Roberts, 2016). Against a populist leader, Sanders, managed to rally all those that had lost faith in the political system and the Democratic Party, and rallied crowds of all ages, including the usually non-participating youth of America. In the end, Sanders was beat to the position of leader before he knew it, and the Democratic Party had chosen to keep politics about the party, and not about the leader. In many ways, Sanders was exactly like trump; A populist ideologist, a firm believer in the failure of the structure of America, and the voice of a leader when America needed it most as he stood for something different. The failure of the Democratic Party to realize who they were up against, and to post up an opposing, but similar leader, led to the supporters of the Democrats to divide instantly. This resentment in the DNC’s lack of fairness in the primaries led Hillary to lose the vote of the young and to essentially fail to recuperate the support of half of her own party. Upon this blunder, and a list of many more, Donald Trump swooped in for the kill.

The problems as Clinton as a candidate versus Trump did not end there though. As a candidate with seemingly no base for her promises and goals for her Presidency, Clinton “always appeared as a cold woman…, as a member of a political establishment rejected by many people” (Savoy, 2017) and a leader of a controversial time in politics. With a record of controversies with her Clinton Foundation, her time as Secretary of State under Obama being stained with issues like the apparent non-action and retention of knowledge that US allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar funded Isis (Cockburn, 2016), and the baggage of her ex-President husband Bill Clinton, and his fair share of controversy during his time in office. The stain on her name was immediately to the advantage of Trump, who in numerous occasions took the liberty of showing his followers the corrupt infection of his opposition. Essentially, Trump had the advantage over Clinton of having a name in the public lexicon associated with wealth and celebrity nature, while Clinton was left with a name in controversial politics, in a “system” that has never been too popular with the majority of Americans. The final controversy that rocked Clinton’s chances at the Presidency had to do with the learning of New York Times Reporter Michael Schmidt that during the Benghazi investigation of 2012, where the US consulate of Benghazi was overrun while Secretary of State Clinton was apparently aware of the incoming terrorist attacks (Graham, 2016), “Clinton had used a personal email account” using a private server, “and her staff decided with emails to turn over to the State Department as public records” and destroyed the “personal ones” (Graham, 2016). Through the divulging of this information to the media and to America, Director of the FBI James Comey stayed back for a while in July of 2016, but eventually testified that the FBI was investigating Clinton’s email scandal, 2 weeks before the general election (CNN, 2017). Although the conclusion of the investigation had no consequences on Clinton legally, the mere fact of the discovery of this news, added to onto her Clinton name, meant that she was to be portrayed as part of the mistrusted politicians of America, and Trump jumped on it. The rise of Trump seemed to coincide between Comey’s two letters where during electoral speeches, to his massive rallies, Trump ridiculed and used Hillary as the type of politician he hoped to replace.

Trump seemed to feed off of Clinton’s mistakes. Without a seemingly interesting or original plan for America brought to the table, Clinton spent her campaign trying to counter Trump, without making a plan of her own. From controversially calling Trump’s supporters “deplorables” and by selling her candidacy merely by being “uniquely qualified to become president” (Roberts, 2016). “Some of those folks – they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America” (Jacobs, 2016) Clinton said in a speech, not realizing that even if she doesn’t see them as America, the voting system still counts them if they show up. Clinton’s “stronger together” campaign and overall message seemed to only try to counter Trump’s success in divisiveness, and “ensured the battle was fought on Trump’s terms” (Roberts, 2016). What’s more, Clinton couldn’t compare to the campaigning battle fought by Trump even if she tried. Starting as a candidate almost 2 months before Clinton, Trump tackled 302 different rallies, compared to Clinton’s 276, but which doesn’t include his rallies before his official race began, and the rallies he continues to do as President (Smith, 2016). With under half of overall money raised (258-502 million), and with a large chunk coming from his own pocket, Trump managed to campaign in 45 states to Clinton’s 37. Although in the end, Clinton won the popular vote by a large margin, tactical mistakes in her campaign, such as the focus on states like Ohio and North Carolina which she lost by 51.8-43.7% and 50.5%-46.8% (CNN, 2016) instead of “spending time shoring up the famed blue wall, those 18 states that have voted Democrat for the past six elections” (Bryant, 2016). Trump’s final claim of Florida during the live election seemed to seal Clinton’s fate, as he had played the game of the electoral college well, and had rallied intensely throughout states he shouldn’t and was told he couldn’t win like Wisconsin and Michigan, but had rallied with a message. As not a “natural campaigner” with “flat and somewhat robotic” (Bryant, 2016) tones, Clinton lacked the ability as a candidate to spark the anger and the energy of her voters. Amid her scandals and the lack of trust from America as a whole, Clinton was fooled by a polling system that saw her at the driving seat, while she lost her a majority of her vote to the divided nature of her party with Bernie Sanders, and the vote recuperated by independents Johnson and Stein. During all of this, Trump kept chugging ahead, while Clinton tried to get some sort of message out.

Amid the Democratic Party’s failure in choosing a worthy opponent against him, Trump played a nearly genius political campaign that has secured his seat as the most controversial leader of our time. His strategy can be broken down into three small subsections; how he timed his rise, how he targeted the right people, and how he used the structure of America to his advantage, like social media. He first started with the timing of his rise, staying a lingering and hidden part of the political sphere of America for a long time. By endorsing Mitt Romney, and by starting the idea of the “Birther Movement”, Trump essentially started campaigning and getting his name out there in politics, long before his announcement of running for President. When he did announce his running in the race, he seemed to have picked no better time. America was in a state of division that had not yet been seen before. From the controversies and issues riddling the Obama presidency, primarily during the overturn and shutdown of the House of Congress in the 2014 midterms, Trump had chosen a time to run in which a majority of Americans were fed up with the same type of politician, with the same type of results after their time in office. Trump “was also able to tap into many Republicans’ anger, some of it tinged with racism, about President Obama and his policies..., and into a general disgust with professional politicians, some of which was brought about by the G.O.P.’s own obstructionism” (Cassidy, 2016) and essentially, as an outside candidate revolutionizing the divided and stale Republican Party, was able to spark his “make America great again” message and target the Americans that were left behind for so long.

In addition to choosing the perfect time to run, Trump also chose the right people to target with his ideas. By “ignoring every norm of American politics and hoping to reflect the silent majority” (Savoy, 2017), Trump placed himself as the propagator of sincerity and authority by ignoring the conventional political “politeness” and saying what he had on mind. Through “verbosity, egocentricity, and pomposity” (Savoy, 2017) Trump became the ideal populist movement motivator, and in turn, became what America had been lacking the most in their divisive nature: A leader. Appealing to the left behind of America, the deplorable white men (most that were uneducated) that made up the of the population, that had been left behind in past Republican ideologies. Trump used his flaunting of wealth, his boast of economic prosperity and oppositely “about his debt because it reduced or eliminated his income-tax liability” (Calmes, n.d.) which he inturn spun around to favor his “intelligence”, he targeted the fear in Americans when it came to immigration, the dangers of globalization, and the terrorism threat as he “sensed that his illiberal proposals would prove popular with ordinary G.O.P” (Cassidy, 2016), and finally targeted what middle America cared the most about “religion, liberty, marriage, sexuality, abortion and gun rights” (Krieg, 2016) and he wasn’t scared to voice his un-pc opinion about them. He targeted the America that was said to have “white privilege”, and in turn spun his policies, and those of the Republican Party, in promising to give them the privilege they were accused of having through putting America first in world politics and ideology by limiting free trade, and through the protection of conservative rights of the masses. Upon further analysis of the statistics, of which are well presented in Benjy Sarlin’s analysis of the Trump voting base, it is clear that he succeeded in his mission of targetting the invisible America as higher distressed white Americans drove in waves to vote for Trump. What’s more, the opposing wave of critics To Trump and his supporters only pushed the hypocrisy further as the “white wave” had seen and expected so many qualified candidates before Trump, but had seen nothing out of it. Essentially, as an outsider, “Trump positioned himself closer than other candidates to where the average voter was on these issues” (Mutz, 2018) and in return, only managed to connect with more voters that never quite saw their Republican vote being used properly by prior candidates.

Last, but not least, Trump managed to time and target the right people through the right propagation of his message. From the very first speech, his controversial opinions on non-pc topics like illegal Mexican immigration were propagated across the news. Through insulting decorated war veteran John McCain, and offering a “half-hearted apology when the secret video surfaced of his boasting about making unwanted sexual advances towards women” (Krieg 2016), Trump quickly became the laughing stock of the American media. As the fool of the Republican Party, Trump used the media attention to his full benefit, and through his numerous controversies, actually gained support in his message of going against the “normal” and usual politician. As the destroyer of political correctness, a wave of “ideology of shame” was propagated by the Democratic Party and the American media, only further fueling the followers that understood Trump as the self-funded and politically untouchable candidate that was not influenced by any external factors, because he managed to say exactly what he wanted. The more he was controversial, including his ongoing problems with the Mueller investigation and the possible meddling of Russia, the more his name got out there, and the more people showed up to his rallies in waves. Through controlling the preexisting structure of the “hawking” media, that strikes on any story, and through his revolution in the use of social media, Trump was capable of spreading his message, as no other candidate had done before. By being controversial constantly in person, to taking a break to be leud on Twitter, Trump never stopped his train of influence.

In conclusion, in 2016, America had to chose between two Presidential candidates that were unloved by most Americans. On one hand, America could choose a long time, experienced political actor, but with a baggage of controversies and a lack of message behind her name and campaign. On the other, a braggadocious, often leud and rude celebrity billionaire, with a never before seen rise in political stance through the rallying of the “deplorable” and left-behind middle America, with a strong message of empowering those that never had their voice. These were America’s options, and in the end, America chose change through the election of a long-lost leader figure to the most important position of power in the world. How Trump really did it could be analyzed for years and years to come, with no real definitive answers. But regardless, he may just have been a genius for it.

Refrences

-BBC News. (2017, January 20). Donald Trump’s life story: From hotel developer to president. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35318432

-CNN Library. (2018, September 18). Donald Trump Fast Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/04/us/donald-trump-fast-facts/index.html

-Cassidy, J. (2016, March 3). The problem with the “never-trump” movement. The New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-problem-with-the-never-trump-movement

-Cassidy, J. (2016, May 4). How Trump won the G.O.P. nomination. The New Yorker. Retrieved from

https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/how-donald-trump-won-the-g-o-p-nomination

-CNN. (n.d.) Presidential Election Results 2016. Retrieved from

https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/president

-Zurcher, A. (2016, November 10). US Election 2016 Results. A Democratic Part in disarray. BBC News. Retrieved from

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37930473

-CNN Politics. (n.d.) Democratic Primary Results. Retrieved from

https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/primaries/parties/democrat

-Klein, E. (2017, November 14). Was the Democratic primary rigged? Vox. Retrieved from

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/14/16640082/donna-brazile-warren-bernie-sanders-democratic-primary-rigged

-Cockburn, P. (2016, October 14). We finally know what Hillary Clinton knew all along – US allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding Isis. Independent. Retrieved from

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hillary-clinton-wikileaks-email-isis-saudi-arabia-qatar-us-allies-funding-barack-obama-knew-all-a7362071.html

-CNN Library. (2018, April 17). James Comey Fast Facts. Retrieved from

https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/03/us/james-comey-fast-facts/index.html

-Graham, D. A. (2016, Novemeber 6). From Whitewater to Benghazi: A Clinton-Scandal Primer. The Atlantic. Retrieved from

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/tracking-the-clinton-controversies-from-whitewater-to-benghazi/396182/

-Jacobs, B. (2016, Septemeber 10). Hillary Clinton calls half of Trump supporters bigoted 'deplorables'. The Guardian. Retrieved from

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/10/hillary-clinton-trump-supporters--bigoted-deplorables

-Smith, C., Kreutz, L. (2016, November 7). Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump's Campaigns by the Numbers. Abc News. Retrieved from

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trumps-campaigns-numbers/story?id=43356783

-Bryant, N. (2016, November, 9). Hillary Clinton and the US election: What went wrong for her? BBC News. Retrieved from

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37922959

-Roberts, D. (2016, November 9). Why Hillary Clinton lost the election: the economy, trust and a weak message. The Guardian. Retrieved from

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/hillary-clinton-election-president-loss

-Calmes, J. (n.d.). Donald Trump: Life before the Presidency. UVA, Miller Center. Retrieved from

https://millercenter.org/president/trump/life-presidency

-Savoy, J. (2017, August 16). Trump’s and Clinton’s Style and Rhetoric during the 2016 Presidential Election. Journal of Quantitative Linguistics, 25(2), 168-169. doi: 10.1080/09296174.2017.1349358

-Sarlin, B. (2016, June 20). United States of Trump. NBC News. Retrieved from

https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/donald-trump-republican-party

-Mutz, D. C. (2018, August 5). Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(19), 4330-4339. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1718155115

-Krieg, G. (2016, November 10). How did Trump win? Here are 24 theories. CNN Politics. Retrieved from

https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/politics/why-donald-trump-won/index.html

-Zurcher, A. (2016, November 9). US Election 2016 Results: Five reasons Donald Trump won. BBC News. Retrieved from

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37918303

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blackchristiannation · 6 years

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LISTEN: Whyte House Family Devotions: A Prayer for the Family, the Church, the Nation and the World #320 (Friday, April 6, 2018): “Know the Bible,” by Billy Graham

https://soundcloud.com/danielwhyteiii/whyte-house-family-devotions-prayer-for-the-family-church-nation-world-320-4618

[caption id="attachment_40916" align="alignleft" width="156"] Daniel Whyte III[/caption] My family and I have had morning devotions, or family altar as some people call it, every day ever since my wife, Meriqua, and I were married 30 years ago. We have prayed and read the Bible together as well as other devotional books as a family, and it is the only reason why this family has stayed together, and the only reason why God has blessed our family and used our family in ministry all of these years. We read Ephesians 5 and 6 every morning as it relates to the role of each member of the family and how that we need to put on the whole armor of God to fight against the devil who is seeking to destroy our family and all Christian families, churches, and Christians. So, now after 30 years of doing this in our home, we are opening this up to others who don't have a family to pray with, who don't have a spouse, or who are single by choice, and to encourage all families who are still intact to go back to the family altar and have devotions together every morning. In these devotions, you may hear me deal with a temptation I'm facing in my life, you may hear me rebuke my wife about not doing what she should be doing, or you may hear me get on one of my children's cases about something they're doing. Don't be shocked; this is real life. SING "DOXOLOGY" Praise God from Whom all blessings flow Praise Him, all creatures here below Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost Amen Billy Graham said, “We do not fail to enjoy the fruit of the Spirit because we live in a sea of corruption; we fail to do so because the sea of corruption is in us.” ------ RECITE: "THE NEW APOSTLES CREED FOR TODAY" I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead; He was seen alive by Mary Magdalene and the other women, the disciples and over 500 other brethren; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. ------ EPHESIANS 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So far, we have discussed how fathers may provoke their children to anger by capriciousness, unreasonableness, favoritism, and selfishness. Steven J. Cole writes in his commentary on this passage, “Fathers may provoke their children to anger by criticism without praise. Some fathers are just negative and critical, no matter how well a child does. The child cleans his room, but there are a few things not quite right. The dad climbs all over him for the few things that are wrong, rather than praising him for the overall good job and then gently coaching him on how to make it even better. I always liked what Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson wrote in The One Minute Manager, 'Catch them doing something right' and praise them for it. I have tried to apply that to our children. Rather than criticizing them for things that weren't perfect, catch them doing something right and let them know how much I appreciate it.” ------- PRAYER ------- DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE: Psalm 122:1-5 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. 2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. 3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: 4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. 5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Regarding this passage, Matthew Henry writes: “The pleasure and profit from means of grace, should make us disregard trouble and fatigue in going to them; and we should quicken one another to what is good. We should desire our Christian friends, when they have any good work in hand, to call for us, and take us with them. With what readiness should we think of the heavenly Jerusalem! How cheerfully should we bear the cross and welcome death, in hopes of a crown of glory! ” --------- PRAYER FOR THE ESTATES 1. Clergy (church) 2. Government 3. People (citizens) 4. The press (media) 5. New media/Online journalists PRAYER FOR CHURCH LEADERSHIP - For all pastors, church leaders, denominational leaders, Bible teachers, missionaries, and ministry workers. GOVERNMENT LEADERS 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." President Donald Trump and his administration Vice President Mike Pence First Lady Melania Trump Second Lady Karen Pence All White House staff including: Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Justin Clark All leaders of federal agencies including: Federal Reserve System Chairman Jerome Powell All state governors including: Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts All city mayors including: Bay Harbor Islands, FL, Mayor Robert H. Yaffe All members of Congress including: Florida Representative Carlos Curbelo All law enforcement officials including: Bay Harbor Islands, FL, Police Chief Sean Hemingway All military leaders including: Defense Secretary James Mattis / General Joseph Votel, Commander of U.S. Central Command Leaders of nations around the world including: Madagascar’s President Hery Rajaon and Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly For the peace of Jerusalem PRAYER FOR THE PEOPLE / CITIZENS PRAYER FOR THE MEDIA PRAYER FOR CURRENT EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD - For protection, provision, and salvation for the hundreds of people fleeing violence and crime in Honduras who are making their way to Mexico and the U.S. - For the recovery of the 4 people wounded in a shooting at YouTube’s headquarters; for the comfort of the families affected - For the comfort of the families of 7 people who were killed in a bus and truck crash in Egypt; and for the recovery of the 11 people who were injured. PRAYER REQUESTS Gary please save his wife; please heal him of his disability, chronic pain and memory loss Martina please have Nick C. to come to know You as his Saviour, please improve his hopeless situation and touch his heart Bill please bless him with a pastoral opportunity if it be your will THOSE WHO HAVE ACCEPTED CHRIST AS SAVIOR Trusila Hynes Bitengo THOSE WHO HAVE RECOMMITTED THEIR LIVES TO CHRIST Pascal Lineo Dorcas DEVOTIONAL READING: “Know the Bible,” by Billy Graham Isaiah 34:16 says, “Search the Book of the Lord...” A knowledge of the Bible is essential to a rich and meaningful life. For the words of this Book have a way of filling in the missing pieces, of bridging the gaps, of turning the tarnished colors of our life to jewel-like brilliance. Learn to take your every problem to the Bible. Within its pages you will find the correct answer. But most of all, the Bible is a revelation of the nature of God. The philosophers of the centuries have struggled with the problem of a Supreme Being. Who is He? What is He? Where is He? If there is such a Person, is He interested in me? If so, how can I know Him? These and a thousand other questions about God are answered in this Holy Book we call the Bible. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Now, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, allow me to show you how you can place your faith and trust in Him for Salvation from sin and Hell. First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God's law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death…" Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Now that is bad news, but here's the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will. Romans 10:9 & 13 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your Salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen. If you just trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, and you prayed that prayer and meant it from your heart, I declare to you that based upon the Word of God, you are now saved from Hell and you are on your way to Heaven. Welcome to the family of God! I want to congratulate you on doing the most important thing in life and that is receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read "What To Do After You Enter Through the Door". Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." Until next time, May the Lord Bless You!

Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books including the Essence Magazine, Dallas Morning News, and Amazon.com national bestseller, Letters to Young Black Men. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University's Rawlings School of Divinity (formerly Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary). He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica since 1987. God has blessed their union with seven children.

#christian #devotions #family #pray #prayer

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