Leaderboard

I don't know if it's animal magnetism but I don't put up with rude behavior regardless of gender.😁 Patent & trademark it.😁 Homies call to conduct business & the wifey or kids roll up & start a whole conversation in the background. N8gglet doesn't have enough sense to shut them down. So, I help him out by hanging up. Call me back. My folks..anybody around me knows not to start bumping their gums if they see I'm on a call. Wait your turn to talk to me.😁 I almost dropped outta school in the 2nd grade. Teacher tried to make me participate in recess along with the other kids. I told her azz I don't play.🤣 I've been a grown azz man ever since I was a little boy.😁😎

As quiet as it's been kept, I produce the nation's most comprehensive bestsellers list featuring books written by Black people, The BLK Bestsellers: https://blkbestsellers.com/ Frankly, nothing has ever come close to a list like this. In a media landscape not dominated by a handful of white male billionaires, this would already be a big deal... but I digress. Using sales data provided by Circana BookScan, the goal of the BLK list is to highlight books written by Black people that are selling well but are not getting the attention they deserve. Only a handful of the BLK Bestsellers ever make the NY Times or USA Today lists; the BLK Bestsellers list helps to improve the discoverability of books by Black writers. My challenge is identifying the books written by Black authors to rank. There are no metadata fields I can query because no one really tracks an author's ethnicity (or so-called race). One of the things I've noticed, especially in the children's book space, is that the bestselling books featuring Black children are often not written by Black writers. IMHO, there is nothing inherently wrong with white writers writing about Black people, but in practice these writers often enjoy structural benefits that Black writers do not and it's just another way Black stories by Black people are suppressed. While working on this month's BLK List the #23 ranked book (image below) turned out to be My First Juneteenth Book for Toddlers by Ambsachi Nila. I was not familiar with the author which surprised me because I know the top selling children's book authors. The book was identified based upon the book's subject (Juneteenth) and its relatively high sales. So, I do what I normally do and researched the author, while authors included on the BLK Bestsellers list must be Black, I would certainly consider them for inclusion on AALBC.com. A web search for Ambsachi Nila revealed nothing about the author who is presumably also the illustrator of the book. It is not unusual for an author to hide their identity, but this is not typical for a children's book author, because classroom visits are an important source of income for many children's book authors. Ambsachi Nila didn't even have a website. So, I resorted to AI to see what I could learn about this writer/illustrator. At this point I'm still operating on the assumption that Ambsachi Nila is human. Gemini reached the same conclusion I was beginning to suspect, stating that "the books published under the name Ambsachi Nila were likely generated by AI or assembled using rapid automated content-generation tools." It also identified several additional warning signs I had overlooked (see its full response at the end of this message). Even without AI, I was definitely not going to add the book to AALBC or the BLK List, but the fact that it sold so many copies during Juneteenth, for lack of a better word, is fu*ked up--seriously. One of the top-selling books about Juneteenth was a subpar book likely created by a rapid automated content-generation tool. Hundreds of people were duped into buying this book. This is what happens when tech billionaires control book discoverability and sales. As with everything else, we (Black people) suffer the most. I maintain lists of quality Juneteenth books for kids (nonfiction and fiction). When it comes to Black culture, trust lists curated by Black people who have your best interests in mind—not algorithms designed to maximize revenue. Other, "AL slop" titles by the same "author," Ambsachi Nila: Gemini Confirmed My Suspicions: It is highly likely—somewhere in the 90% to 95% range—that the books published under the name Ambsachi Nila are completely generated by AI or assembled using rapid automated content-generation tools. When you look closely at the data trail left by these books on retail platforms, they display all the classic "smoking guns" of the synthetic book-packaging mills that have flooded Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) over the last couple of years. The Evidence Breakdown 1. Grammatical "Hiccups" in the Core Text AI text generators and non-native automated scrapers often stumble over fine syntax and pluralization rules. If you look closely at the official publisher's synopsis uploaded to book databases for the Kwanzaa Book for Toddlers, the text contains glaring grammatical errors and typos: "Kwanzaa Book for Toddlers was especially designed for young kids and write in easy-to-follow language..." "This educational book explain the seven principles..." "...full of colorful, bright and eye-catching ilustrations..." (spelled with a single 'l') A genuine children's book author or an established publishing house employs editors to catch these fundamental errors before pushing a book live to global distribution networks. Automated book-generation setups skip this step entirely. 2. Extreme Keyword Stuffing Human authors title their books for artistic resonance or clear branding. AI-driven operations title their books strictly to trick search algorithms. The full title registered in global databases reads: "Kwanzaa Book For Toddlers About Culture and Principles of Kwanzaa Holiday to Learn and Celebrate for Kids - Kwanzaa Books for Kids" This is not a title; it is a search string designed to capture click traffic from parents typing generic holiday terms into search bars. 3. The 36-Page KDP "Template" Layout The book's physical dimensions are listed as exactly $8.5 \times 8.5\text{ inches}$ with a page count of precisely 36 pages. This is the absolute standard automated template footprint used for print-on-demand children's books generated via Amazon KDP. A script or a prompt tells Midjourney or ChatGPT to produce roughly 15 consecutive square image blocks and matching simple sentences, which are then poured into an automated formatting tool and uploaded in a matter of minutes. Anatomy of a "Book Mill" Since the explosion of generative AI models, a massive global side-hustle industry has emerged. Operators use tools to: Generate simple rhyming text or basic holiday overviews using LLMs. Generate matching stock vector images or clip art using diffusion models. Publish the books under a completely fabricated, ethnically ambiguous pseudonym (like "Ambsachi Nila") to appear authoritative to unsuspecting buyers. The Bottom Line These types of books are commercial entities generated to mine search data for passive revenue. Because they lack a real author, they also lack any real cultural depth, nuance, or authentic lived experience. This trend highlights exactly why curated networks like AALBC are so important. In a sea of algorithmic noise and synthetic content, finding and vetting real, human Black authors who pour their actual souls and heritages into their books is the only way to protect authentic literary culture.

It's ABOUT TIME somebody posted something I can sink my teeth into, lol. I was getting kinda bored for a minute. I log on to AALBC on a smooth Saturday morning looking for about 5 or 6 threads I can chop it up in and see the only one who has been posting since yesterday is ME. Usually ProfD has dropped SOMETHING profound by the time I log on, now HE comes up absent.....lol. Sheeeyit....... I don't even know WHAT Mel said yet and already gave her ass a trophy just for posting something I can respond too....lol.

My other "Twin" HeyGen AI-ed this one of our Flexx promotional photos taken in the 90s. She updated us I'm on the right. 😄

Well enjoy your vacation @Pioneer1

Facts. For a number of reasons, it's better keeping one's cards closer to the vest. People make a huge mistake trying to impress others by spilling their bizness. Then, wonder why they got robbed in one way or another.🤣😎

I've learned that one of the better moves to make when first meeting others is to DOWN PLAY one's qualities. If people see you at what they believe to be your worst and still want to be with you, then you know the relationship can only get better as you reveal more of your true self.

An abridged digest of this famous speech. ### What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? by Frederick Douglass Delivered at Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. I trust, however, that mine will not be so considered. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. The little experience I have had in addressing public meetings, in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing on the present occasion. The papers and placards say, that I am to deliver a Fourth-of-July oration. This certainly sounds large, and out of the common way, for it is true that I have often had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor me with their presence. But neither their familiar faces, nor the perfect Gage of the Hall, can free me from embarrassment. The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable—and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight. That I am here today is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. This, for the purpose of this celebration, is the Fourth of July. It is the birthday of your National Independence, and of your political freedom. This, to you, is what the Passover was to the emancipated people of God. It carries your minds back to the day, and to the act of your great deliverance; and to the signs, and to the wonders, associated with that act, and that day. This celebration also marks the beginning of another year of your national life; and reminds you that the Republic of America is now seventy-six years old. I am glad, fellow-citizens, that your nation is so young. Seventy-six years, though a good old age for a man, is but a mere speck in the life of a nation. Three score years and ten is the allotted time for individual men; but nations number their years by thousands. According to this fact, you are, even now, only in the beginning of your national career, still lingering in the period of childhood. I repeat, I am glad this is so. There is hope in the thought, and hope is much needed, under the dark clouds which lower above the horizon. ... Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very moment... Can hardly wait for the fireworks tonight.

@aka Contrarian ...I did drop the ball on those noteworthy events. 😁 Tony Brown was smooth as silk on his Journal show. Mother Khadijah Farrakhan was married to Minister Louis Farrakhan for 72 years. The word is that she was a strong matriarchal figure. Stay busy having fun with AI & being able to travel by simply closing your eyes. That's exactly why you're still here with us.🤗😎

@richardmurray I think you would be who could best fufill my request to print Frederick Douglass' famous 4th of July speech. I never tire of reading it. Its message is as timely today, as it was when he first delivered it.

Fam...I just stand on my block when it comes to being a no nonsense man but still a clown, er, with a sense of humor.🤣😎

@ProfD you really sound like an interesting person. A genuine, bona fide, cool dude who is his own man. 👍

Sista @Mel Hopkins it's always great to have your presence in the proverbial coffeeshop. @aka Contrarian (Cynique) has been on an AI tear lately. She's jet-setting through pics.🤣😎

I’m talking about women across the board in general all ages including our age but as they get older than us not so much. I remember years ago I was out to dinner with a group of people in Brooklyn next to me was a writer who is very well known now and her face was buried in her phone and I asked what she was doing. She said she was on Twitter. I asked her what that was and she explained you you just read the posts when you’re bored and need something to do; I was like “you mean as in right now.” she understood what I was saying and put her phone away. Today, if I’m with someone one-on-one, I will wave my hand between their face and the screen if I think they’re devoting too much time to it rather than our conversation. Younger women tend to be in their screen while watching TV. I was at a comedy show recently, and the person was in their screen during a comedy show. I just never seen guys do this. It’s always women. Now, of course, I’m not saying all women do this and I’m not saying guys who never do it. I’m just saying that the vast majority of the times I’m observing it it’s women not men. Well, you have that animal, magnetism, women, love, and men envy.

There is no way a woman hanging out with me would have time to be scrolling & watching videos on her phone. She would be too busy talking to &/or listening to me.😁 Admittedly, I don't like younger women so that probably helps too. If a seasoned woman exhibited that type of behavior...she wouldn't be a passenger in my truck.🤣😎

@Pioneer1 and I had a meeting of the minds about Black Gen X, and I'll add Black Gen Jones men (born between 1955-1965): either avoiding marriage or staying married once they say, "I do." Now, we've agreed on a lot of the points made in this video presented on YouTube. But here's where we diverge in our perspectives. (see the topic "Search Engines and Aggregation Websites LOVE AALB to read the rest of the exchange) From my experience, Black people have different mating rituals than those who established Western civilization. When Black families come together, from birth to death, it is often a proverbial Thanksgiving, cook-out, brunch, or some type of eatfest. That is usually how you know two people are about to unite—case in point, my response to Pioneer's observation. When I met my firstborn's father in college, it was at his insistence that I come to his house for dinner. It wasn't our first encounter, but by the time he was really interested, I knew he was bringing a brontosaurus steak to win me over. On the flipside, I've gotten proposals from my cooking. In fact, one suitor ate all my homemade almond-flour cookies after he said he didn't want any. Black men will PROPOSE something if you cook for them!!! 😆 That's our courting ritual. As I said, Black men will also cook for Black women, and if they can't cook, they will take their date to some linen-cloth table restaurant with waiters ready to wait on the table. And creepy as this sounds, they will do this for the woman they want on the side too, so she knows he wants to keep her too. Also, I've learned that if a Black man wants to take you to his family reunion, you'd better get off your booty and go! He is really serious about that woman. On the same token, if a Black woman wants a Black man to meet her sister-girls, that is a huge hint! Those are our courting rituals. So, stop watching Hallmark movies to get a clue and watch us, what we do naturally, and then see what comes next and how quick we connect. Ok, so, that's what happens in my Black tribe. Has anyone observed something different in their tribe?

To me the evidence is overwhelming..... My interest in this topic goes back the early 80's Not really..... I have vague memories....

You'd be surprised at the many different Creative ways Black people...both FBA and African...have when it comes to fighting with eachother. Willie Lynch could sit back and TAKE NOTES and revise his letter, with some of the shit some of these niggaz do to eachother. Talk about Black folks killing eachother over religion or tribal affiliation.....imagine them fighting over a red rag or blue bandana. Black folks beefing over which coast they hail from....Pacific or Atlantic. Negroes in Somalia fighting over how hard or how soft and curly one's hair is. In Rwanda if you're Tutsi with a long narrow nose....you're running around calling yourself a "caucasian" and thinking your better than your Hutu brother. I went into this Soul Food joint a couple days ago to get some food. ....one of the few days it's actually open! After a brief conversation about the staff...who are her co-workers.....this dark skinned sista with a ring in her nose go lean in closer to me darting her eyes around and say, "I'm not like these other niggaz around here. See, my family.....we (something she called herself but I forgot). We related to the Gypsies. See, look at my nose. We is different, see. That's why I can't relate to these other ho'z around here. Hee hee......." Sista looked just like India Arie, talking about SHE ain't like other Black folks. ((shakes head))

ProfD Right. There are many of us who cannot be bought for any amount of money to compromise ourselves. I know. When I was homeless and staying in the shelter, I met some of them....lol. They never compromised. Except at 7am when the shelter attendants told them to get their ass out of the building and don't come back before 8pm. Thankfully, there is nothing on this planet that I want so badly I'd be willing to do anything to get it. Guess that means I'm blessed. Perhaps. Or since you're still living (and as Neely Fuller Jr. would say "still learning") it COULD mean that you just haven't MET that something or someone yet who will FORCE you to do what you never thought you'd do...lol.

What does it profit a man to gain the world & lose his soul.🤣 Many people have a price at which they can be bought. It's usually less than thousands or millions of dollars.😁😎

Mel Now, we've agreed on a lot of the points made in this video presented on YouTube. But here's where we diverge in our perspectives. See, that's why you and a lot of women ain't married right now....lol...yall don't know when to stop. You SHOULD have stopped on our agreeing....and left it alone, LOL I don't know how many times I've gotten into argument with women while sitting on the couch. The conversation is going fine....until she drops a "But, see....." with a smirk on her face, then I KNOW the shit is about to go sideways like a jumbo jet with one engine....LOL. I start staring at the carpet, after that. From my experience, Black people have different mating rituals than those who established Western civilization. Facts. I've noticed this since I was a teenager. We just have different natures from them. Not only are our mating habits different....by nature....but so are our tastes and our psychological make-up in general. Even when we try to imitate them, it usually doesn't work out. We really should take advantage of the limited amount of "liberty" we are offered in the United States to break away from the old religion-colonial based marriage and social systems that were forced on many of our Ancestors and develop our own. We have the "liberty" to experiment and find out what works. Like you said, we have our own rituals....we should focus on those that work and avoid those that don't. When Black families come together, from birth to death, it is often a proverbial Thanksgiving, cook-out, brunch, or some type of eatfest. Yes. Because eating is a SENSUAL activity. A healthy appetite signals a healthy sex drive. Just like dancing is also a SENSUAL activity. If you're good at dancing, it usually means (usually...lol) that you're good in bed. Black men will PROPOSE something if you cook for them!!! 😆 That's our courting ritual. Facts. I did myself. When I was 28 years old I proposed to a 78 year old Mexican woman down in Tuscon Arizona strictly because of her cooking, lol. She couldn't even speak English and I didn't know Spanish...but I found a dude walking down the street to translate for me. Also, I've learned that if a Black man wants to take you to his family reunion, you'd better get off your booty and go! This is true. But sometimes the OPPOSITE is true as well. I know some bruthaz who's families are so fucked up and dysfunctional that keeping her AWAY from his family is a sign that he loves her and wants a more serious committed relationship with her. If a man doesn't mind bringing you around his drug addicted mother and crazy ass sister and insist yall can still have sex down in the basement (where he still lives) because his dysfunctional ass family don't care one way or another....that's a sign of what he thinks of YOU, lol. If he doesn't want you to see any of that, that means he actually values your opinion of him and doesn't want to scare you away. if a Black woman wants a Black man to meet her sister-girls, that is a huge hint! You're right, however most Black men don't need hints like that to tell if a woman is interested. Even the DUMBEST bruthaz can tell if a woman is interested in him instinctively. Just by deduction alone....lol. If you go through your day with most women not even looking in your DIRECTION let alone saying anything to you, it doesn't take a lot for you to get the message if one finally DOES show some teeth when she says hello. The main issue with men is either not having the confidence to respond or simply not being interested. What many sistaz need to learn is to take a hint when a man IS NOT interested, no matter how many hints she drops. I try to tell my female relatives, don't make TOO big of a fool of yourself dropping too many hints for a man who is obviously not interested. There's only so many times you can drop a pen or napkin and bend over infront of him before you start embarrassing yourself AND him...lol. So, stop watching Hallmark movies to get a clue and watch us, what we do naturally, and then see what comes next and how quick we connect. Fam, I ain't watched the Hallmark channel since they showed that damn "Holiday Heart" movie! Got big ole' muscle bound Ving Rhames portraying some cross dressing sissy giving little girls advice in a shrill voice. What kind of shit is that? I did my OWN personal boycott of that channel....lol. Ok, so, that's what happens in my Black tribe. Has anyone observed something different in their tribe? My tribe vs your tribe? You're starting to sound like our brother richardmurray now....lol. Next thing, you'll be talking about how DOSers be getting married vs the Staten Islanders, lol.

Lol, you're not talking about those "passport bros" are you? For some of them cats, their ONLY goal is to have sex with non-Black women. If they aren't attractive enough (for any reason) to pull non-Black women here in the United States....they tend to go overseas and use their relative wealth and status as American citizens to pull them.

The Chat GPT and Gemini allow you to do that too. Google calls the feature Gems. The difference is you can have many of these things across a broad spectrum of domains not just text editing. Again, it is just a matter to time for Grammarly they can only get away with this consumer knowledge gap for so long... Sure, mediocre educators will, because change is hard, requires work and a willingness to grow by challenging old idea. That and the fact the education infrastructure is slow moving and rigid. I presume you mean a "small" fraction. You may be underestimating what one learns in school. Many of the lessons are outside the classroom. I use AI as a search engine. The only time I use a search engine nowadays is if I'm looking for a website as a primary source, say an author's official website. Finding websites should really be the only function of a search engine. Providing answers scrapped from websites, is how Google helped screw up the web. Sure, AI screwing up the webs in the same way, but AI provides answers more efficiently. Yeah, I usually bail once I detect a video is AI. The reason is these videos are so easy to manipulate you can't tell when something has been changed. I'm already very wary of sources I do not recognize, so I always look sideways at an AI generated video by an unknown source. This makes books from reputable publishers a very important source of information. Yeah, this has been done for some time. I know someone who was paid for her image to be sold to be as an avatar in video advertisements. Del pointed a cloned Feynman video in which he had a British accent. I came across that video myself. Since I know what his voice sounds like I could not watch that video without question what else has been changed... deliberately or otherwise.

Twin, it is. A lot of times folks like me write the copy but use an avatar or a clone of our voice 🙋🏽‍♀️ to narrate the script 🙃. Yes, some folks you see in these videos exist in real life but they have cloned themselves to deliver a better presentation. Want to see?

From 119th Congress the H. R. 6644 The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act "is a comprehensive piece of federal legislation designed to increase the national supply of housing and improve affordability through diverse regulatory reforms and pilot programs. Structurally, the Act addresses the housing crisis by modernizing building codes, such as guidelines for single-stairway buildings, and streamlining environmental reviews for infill development to accelerate construction. Key themes include the promotion of manufactured and modular housing parity, the establishment of small-dollar mortgage initiatives to help low-income buyers, and the creation of an Innovation Fund to reward localities that successfully expand their housing stock. Furthermore, the text outlines a Whole-Home Repairs program and a temperature sensor pilot to ensure the safety and habitability of existing federally assisted units. Ultimately, the purpose of this legislation is to reduce regulatory barriers and provide the financial and technical frameworks necessary to foster attainable homeownership and rental opportunities across urban, suburban, and rural communities." Within this affordable housing package that is expected to increase the U.S. housing supply is Sen. Raphael Warnock's highest-profile housing proposals that according to CBS News has officially become federal law, marking a significant policy change aimed at slowing corporate ownership of single-family homes in Georgia and across the country. This, in my opinion, is a huge slam dunk for the two term senator whose seat is up for election in 2028. The law prohibits "large institutional investors" from purchasing, or entering into a contract to directly or indirectly purchase, any single-family home Under the law, a "large institutional investor" includes corporations, investment funds, limited liability companies, and partnerships that are in the business of investing in, owning, renting, or managing single-family homes and control at least 350 single-family homes in the aggregate. To enforce this prohibition, the Secretary of the Treasury or the Attorney General can bring an action against a violating corporation for civil penalties of up to $1,000,000 per violation, or three times the purchase price of the property, whichever is greater. ### The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a comprehensive legislative package designed to increase the supply of housing, modernize federal housing programs, and expand homeownership opportunities across the United States. Beyond the restrictions on corporate homebuyers and the publication of zoning reform guidelines discussed earlier, the legislation contains several major components aimed at reducing development barriers, supporting vulnerable populations, and updating financial regulations. Spurring Housing Supply and Development A core focus of the legislation is accelerating the construction of affordable and attainable housing: The Innovation Fund and Build Now Act: The law establishes competitive grant programs to reward local governments that demonstrate objective improvements in housing supply growth. Furthermore, it adjusts the allocation of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, offering bonus amounts to jurisdictions with extremely high housing growth rates while decreasing funds for those lagging behind. The RESIDE Act: This establishes a pilot program providing grants between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000 to convert vacant and abandoned commercial properties—such as old malls, factories, and hotels—into attainable housing. Streamlining Environmental Reviews: The Act removes duplicative environmental review processes for infill development projects and provides categorical exemptions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for certain HUD-supported housing activities, particularly those involving up to 15 units. The Accelerating Home Building Act: This provides grants for communities to select "prereviewed designs" (pattern books) for structures like duplexes, townhomes, and accessory dwelling units to expedite the permitting and construction of mixed-income housing. Advancing Manufactured and Modular Housing To diversify the types of homes available, the law fundamentally updates federal standards for non-traditional construction: The Housing Supply Expansion Act: This modernizes the definition of a manufactured home, directing the establishment of new standards for manufactured homes built without a permanent chassis to put them in parity with traditional manufactured homes. The PRICE Act: This creates a competitive grant program to fund infrastructure improvements, home repairs, and resilience upgrades in manufactured housing communities, prioritizing resident-owned communities. The Modular Housing Production Act: This directs a review of FHA construction financing to eliminate barriers and create alternative draw schedules for modular home developers. Modernizing Housing Assistance and Preservation Several initiatives focus on maintaining existing housing stock and assisting low-income families: The Whole-Home Repairs Act: This pilot program awards grants to implementing organizations to provide financial assistance to eligible homeowners and small landlords. The funds can be used for accessibility modifications, weatherization, and habitability repairs. Landlords receiving these funds must agree to specific tenant protections, including capping rent increases and extending leases. The Helping More Families Save Act: This creates a pilot program for HUD-subsidized families that establishes interest-bearing escrow accounts. As a participating family's earned income increases, the corresponding increase in their rent is placed into this escrow account, allowing them to build wealth and achieve financial independence. Reforming Disaster Recovery Act: To better manage future crises, the law establishes the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund and permanently authorizes a CDBG Disaster Recovery Program to allocate funds via formula to areas impacted by catastrophic major disasters. Supporting Veterans The Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act: This addresses a critical gap in assistance by requiring that specific VA disability benefits be excluded from income eligibility calculations for supported housing programs, ensuring disabled veterans are not disqualified from receiving housing assistance due to their benefits. Military Service Disclosure: The law requires the Uniform Residential Loan Application to include a military service question to explicitly alert prospective borrowers that they may qualify for a VA Home Loan. Banking Reforms and Financial Access FHA Small-Dollar Mortgages: A new pilot program will be established to increase access to mortgages with original principal balances of $100,000 or less by incentivizing originators and providing direct grants to borrowers for down payments and closing costs. Promoting Bank Formation: The Act streamlines the application process and provides mentorship programs to encourage the formation of de novo (newly chartered) regulated banking institutions, particularly to serve rural and underserved communities. Central Bank Digital Currency Limitation: The legislation prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) directly or indirectly to the general public, though it preserves the ability for open, private digital currencies to exist. President Donald Trump did not sign the bill into law. The Presentment Clause- Article I, Section 7, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution states that if 2/3 of the Senate and 2/3 of the House approve the bill, but the president doesn't veto or sign the bill within 10 days, it becomes law. I've attached a link to the 139 page legislation in this post. I also uploaded it into my Google Notebook which provides direct answers to questions about the legislation's contents.

This could be a great piece of legislation to increase homeownership in the USA. The comedic source material that jump out at me is manufactured modular housing: That is a fancy way of what is commonly called trailers.🤣😎

ProfD There's no benefit to shooting heroine regardless how high or good it makes a person feel. Lol....THOSE ARE the benefits! Sometimes the only thing a person wants IS to get high and feel good. They don't care about their health or future. Got them pill dudes here who work nice jobs & would rather play video games instead of chasing snatch box. That's because they've been so accustomed to it that they're better at using SOMEBODY ELSE'S "joy stick" to have fun than at using their own....lol.

Harder to do especially when eating in a restaurant or buying fast food.😁 Places like Taco Bell are messed up right now.🤣 Thankfully, at least around these parts, Chipotle places the lettuce on the bowl last. If needed, another option is to ask for the produce on the side. That makes it easier to sanitize as well. Most welcome sista @Mel Hopkins . We have to remain vigilant on so many levels. D8mn shame if they don't have a few Port-A-Pottys out in the farm fields. That way, employees won't be dumping & adding their own fertilizer to the crops.🤣😎

AI is such a profound threat is so many ways. @gio74's tactic may not be that "funny." Whose else would be better at detecting--it take one to know one. It has come to a point that I can't tell with 100% certainty. Many of the tells that I used to use are going away or are being edited out. One thhing gets on my nerves is AI's love affair with emojis. If you ever see written text with more than a handful of emoji's assume it was written by an AI.

Mel Not an improvement in the way you think. Yes, your assessment is consistent with what I meant. There are a lot of women of color....not just Black but Brown and even Yellow who want their children to come out looking closer to White and less like them not just because they think Caucasians are more attractive....but because they feel being closer to White will make their lives easier. Mulatto offspring of White slave owners had it easier in the house than the Field Negroes. The Meztizo offspring of the Conquistadores had it easier than their Indigenous mothers Besides forced rape, women have a history of linking up with the male oppressor...not for her own sake but for the sake of her progeny. I remember when one daughter said her suitor was from Egypt. She was turned off when he jumped because her pit bull 😄 Ofcourse, Most Arabs and other Middle Easterners...like most Africans...don't have a love affair with dogs like they do in the West, lol. In the East, dogs are used to hunt and protect the house....they aren't kept as beloved pets INSIDE the house. We learned that shit from White folks because dogs were THEIR best friends, lol. Arabs and Africans.....because they tend to have more of their cultures intact...maintain their distance from dogs and keep them outside. You'll almost never see an Arab or African smooching and kissing dogs on the mouth like they do in the U.S. or Europe. As far the 1%, I can't say it was business transaction. Attraction probably came first. But from my experience it seems like white men are quick to marry - not necessarily quicker than Black men, but white men are going to step up anyway —because patriarchy. When it comes to marriage with Black men, it feels like they are signing up for partnership. And that takes a lot of contemplation on their part. I could be wrong, but at least that's how I felt when Black men talked to me about marriage. Honestly, there was a lot of I want to marry you but I need you to ...blah, blah because I'm not a traditional-type woman. Even my dad told my mom I was a handful lol. With white men it felt like they were supposed to do it and did, well at least they were quick to ask. ((Pioneer1 jumps up and down in excitement)) Oooh oooh....I got a GOOD video for you, I was just watching this morning! It's only a few minutes. When you have time check it out and tell me if it resonates with what you've experienced and observed.

I know this was addressed to sista @Mel Hopkins but I'll chime in anyway.🤣 Nowadays, some folks are so busy in their lives that they don't have time to meet people in their daily routine. Another thing is if a common friend thinks two people may be a match but won't meet each other under normal circumstances, that common person will set them up. I'm an old skool caveman to the the point that I don't believe in dating apps or set-ups or anything else. I prefer to meet women out in the wild & let nature take its course.😁😎

It could happen, but he would have to be a MASCULINE gay man....not an effeminate acting one.

Well, at this point....we have what Barack Obama calls a "fundamental disagreement".....lol. There's no misunderstanding of our positions. We both understand clearly the direction the other is coming from on this issue. Any further points I would make to counter your argument on this particular matter would simply be redundant.

Poor ol jive ass country nigga Pioneer Sho wish I could become a pimp so I could beat up womem and sell crack on da street. I ain't makin nothin from slappin my ol lady around. But at least I still got my secret peep hole in the ladies room where I can jack off while watchin dem Afrikan women pee.

Refugees from South Africa should get asylum in the United States. If the Trump Administration wants to limit immigration to ONLY refugees who are fleeing persecution in South Africa, instead of the White Afrikaners.....they should first accept the BLACK AFRICAN immigrants who are currently being harassed and persecuted in there. Give them priority refugee status. I don't recall hearing or seeing anyone else on the internet suggesting this. So remember the idea came from ME.....lol.

Yes, I know who Umbrarchist is.....I recognize the name. But Cynique is saying bye to some dude named Uberchist????? What is he the religious leader of Uber drivers or something? Is an "Uberchist" someone who belongs to the Uber religion?

I respect your position but know that your contributions to the forum are not a waste of time. I look forward to reading your posts. Every birthday, your personal holiday, is a milestone to celebrate. We're thankful that you're still on this side of glory. Please do not take offense that I'm unwilling to accept your resignation.🤣😎

...and that is cool too. You never know, take enough shots you will eventually score.

Ddddamn

How gratifying that some times you don't even have to try and gaslight a fool because he saves you the trouble by driving himself more crazy than he already is. When such a person has become so possessed by his strawman alter ego that he can no longer process reality, and descends into meltdown mode over ordinary activity that he desecrates with his slime ball mentality, -when he goes "bananas" over pictures that, contrary to his distorted narrative, appear nowhere else on the Internet, only here where they are doing good to draw 50 lurkers, then it's time to expose this nutcase case. It's actually funny how he is so guilty of the same activity he accuses others of. And how, suddenly, he's trying to come across as the epitome of righteous indignation when he ain't nothing but a sorry-ass loser.💩 One thing all of this does substantiate is that the threat AI poses is real because the world is full of gullible folks misled by what is too good to be true. Getting my vitamin D 💓

Too bad Black folks didn't buy those clinics. Yep. The former baseball player made a fortune with that Pizza! Pizza! sh8t.🤣 That's what happens when people spend money on garbage instead of investing in the future. 😎

High quality people you’re hanging out with. In the moment, appreciating the people they are with and apparently not addicted to social media… a blessing.

ROTFLMMFBAO! I don’t know why I found that so funny I guess just because it’s so extreme lol coming from a little old lady who just shared so many pictures with her new boo, but still finds the time to lay into @Pioneer1 You didn’t ask me, but I think the former is far more healthier than a latter. I’ve been obsessed with using AI to improve my website for the past six months. I know I need to pull back… but it’s hard right now because I’m accomplishing so much. it’s not all that complicated man most people are pretty superficial, a cute face big titties big ass. You’ll have no problem with attracting a dude. You could be semi retarded and don’t even speak English doesn’t matter. Or you can have a lot of money that pretty much trump‘s everything including looks. Short of that everyone else just settles, People who are really interested in getting to connect with someone on a deeper level independent of wealth or appearance are relatively rare they exist, but they are more anomalous rather than the norm. If people get bored with each other it is because they’re not listening — people are fascinating with interesting stories.

None of the 4 in that photo above is actually in Trump's Administration. Like you said, Scott Turner....the head of HUD is the only Black person currently in his Administration. Funny how they pick a Black man to oversee how the housing projects and Section 8 programs are ran, lol.

@Delano. That's funny. So "you". Actually, for me, a boring person can sometimes be an interesting challenge. "Still waters run deep," 😉

Can't speak for others, but I "think" I know you well enough to presume that you're not an alcoholic. Atleast you're not posting pictures of yourself all over the internet drinking liquor half the time.....lol.

I've heard mixed reviews. Folks enjoyed the opening ceremony & really dig the library. Some of the residents aren't so happy feeling like the library is an eyesore & will increase their property taxes. Either way, the library is there to stay. Folks may as well pull up & enjoy the significance of it. If/when I'm back in Chi-town, the Obama presidential library will definitely be on my list of places to visit.😎

Say what you will about Obama, his privately funded new presidential library, located in Chicago is very impressive and a good time was had by all attending the opening night reception there. "The Audacity of Hope" 😘

I had not considered there may be gender component to doing this. I’ve known so many women, over so many years that post so much personal information on social, that I have long since given up even commenting about the activity to them. That behavior will not change anytime soon, as social media creates all types of incentives for people to share as much as possible about themselves. It’s one of the reasons I deleted my original Facebook account. But going back to the point of this conversation 🙂 I’ve considered the fact that something that I, or someone else, has written here could be taken out of context and come back to bite me in the real worl. I’m not anonymous, because it takes some effort to do it, and I’m too lazy to maintain anonymity. @Mel Hopkins I might stop short of the word “love.” but if you consider the fact that AALBC.com is almost 30 years old with the boatload of content and there’s increasingly less competition from other website, AALBC really should rank high in search be referenced by aggregators. But I still feel that Google search has done more harm to the web than it has to benefit it. I think AI will do even more harm so much more that it poses and existential threat to the WWW we know today. I’m not confident what we get in return will be better than what we have today.

Well sista @Mel Hopkins ...you must be a better writer or more substantive than myself. I just sit in this proverbial AALBC armchair giving my opinions about everything. 🤣😎