Stefan

Well, it looks as if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have defeated would-be dictator Donald Trump yet again. The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, Dec. 12, swatted aside the Trump campaign’s desperate attempt from the Texas Attorney General to invalidate the 2020 election. In effect, legal experts concluded that Justices determined Texas has no business trying to dictate how other states conduct their elections. According to the NBCnews Website: “Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said the court had no authority to refuse a case filed on its original docket, where one state files to sue another. But they said they would not have granted Texas any other relief and expressed no view on any of the issues raised in the lawsuit.” This means the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s hopes by a 9-0 margin. Of course, this will not stop the most ardent, angry and heavily armed Trump acolytes who have sworn vengeance on those who promote and believe in Free and Fair elections. Already, there is slowly coalescing movement for some Red states to secede. And guess who is the leader of this clown movement in Texas? Former Army Lt. Colonel and House Representative Allen West. I am certain Moscow and Beijing are watching this mess with keen interest and barely suppressed laughter.

Delano, I believe that nothing is going to change this economic system except a sustained push for fairness. An honest reckoning of this country's awful history and serious attempts at redress. Whites control most of the property, they control the currency and can alter its value when they want to. Our people have yet to survive Trump because he deliberately ignored how this pandemic was ravaging minority and poor communities. Our death toll is not final. And it may not be for many more months. What Biden and Harris can do is ease up on the pounding that has been delivered by Trump and his racist supporters. But permanent damage has been done. And it's not over. We could still be facing organized violence from die-hard Trump supporters who believe they can secede.

Delano, "Speculative Fiction." Never heard that phrase used to describe Sci-Fi. But it is a cool definition.

Pioneer, You sound quite disturbed.

Delano, I always think of the poor, the homeless and the downtrodden. Being in financial journalism for 10 years solidified my belief that too many of the needy are really decent people. I am not a Socialist. And I will forever despise the idiots who were too butthurt to accept Bernie's loss for the Dem Party nomination in 2016. Because they decided to vote for third party candidates who had no chance of winning. Their stunning immaturity and betrayal is what helped elect Trump who preceded to make things ten times worse for the decent. We are stuck with the economic system that we have and it's not going to change anytime soon. And since so many Blacks are of the belief this Covid-19 vaccine is the result of racism, (meaning it's guaranteed to kill us), we're going to lose thousands of good, intelligent and hard working people from our community. We cannot change the system from without. Those who hoard the wealth control the news media and will never be shy about using unequal distribution of resources, legal discrimination or riot police to keep themselves on top. I taught for one reason: To teach Blacks, Latinos and Asians who somehow got through their young lives without properly learning how to write. I showed them through examples why is it is necessary for them to learn to write. If they join the corporate world, I cautioned my students, they may find themselves asked to respond to a customer complaint by email, a query from upper management in writing or they may want to author a memo carefully laying out why their proposal is a good one. I volunteered to write resumes and cover letters, used my photography talents to replace photos of some families who had lost all of theirs due to evictions or fire and tutored my students until they were ready to take their finals. One cannot do that if they're going to quote their boss all of the time. I believe in helping and not criticizing those who are in need. Blacks are not necessarily going to do so much better economically under Biden and Harris. But at least we won't be facing a continuous barrage of racist and unfair government policies from a president who never thought much of us.

Now if we can get back to the subject matter of this thread and end this long-winded polemic against me, I believe many Blacks many not be in a position to do well under a Biden administration. Since millions face an end to pandemic financial relief programs during the last week of the month, hundreds of thousands of families face eviction for failure to pay rent, an end to beefed up unemployment benefits and an economy that is still moribund and in some places still sinking. My immediate thoughts are how can we help those who are in desperate straits.

I do not know why Biden failed to choose a civilian. But it might have something to do with trying to find a competent and acceptable civilian who is immune to criticism from Israel. While a POTUS ultimately makes the big foreign policy decisions, Israel is a constant thorn in the side of the U.S. government because of its incessant demands more aid and political cover for its assassinations and attacks against its neighbors. Picking a fight like this spells trouble for the incoming Biden administration.

Ad hominen personal attacks are for the lazy, the desperate and the jealous. No one forced me into retirement. I declined to keep working full-time and used the extra time to volunteer. I was also a photographer. But keep up your insipid envy.

Troy, Like most things in this country, Journalistic and Writing standards are based on what is best for White people. For Black people to make it as a magazine or news writer, they have to learn what is important to White people and use that as their starting point. Regarding your point and eating pretty good food, as I get older, I am wont to leave out words. That's why editors will always be needed. I am not harsh on the writing of others because so few people in this discussion actually WRITE. They simply fill up a comment box with quotes from people who can actually write. That is what I am harsh about. It is kind of funny that those who can't write, but think the use of endless quotes of someone who can is getting them somewhere. Yeah, it is. To a good laugh. Leaving out words such as prepositions is a mental typo but the thought is there. Quoting someone ad nauseum without delivering your own thought process and self-defeating. Because the one who quotes has not advanced their view. They've buried it. Now, when I used attribution, it came from a professional news website. One cannot become an accomplished or well paid writer without doing that.

Delano, Time is a hard concept to describe. But an easy thing to waste. I prefer watching films about time travel or time displacement. But that's Sci-Fi entertainment.

I guess in the next life or next planet or next galaxy we will learn the truth about the Origin of Earth Man. Personally, I could care less since most anthropologists subscribe to the belief that the earliest of men were not the same to what they refer to as modern man. I'll be patient and wait for the books and movies from the aliens. Or the angels. Or the Creator.

Well, the good general has been nominated and introduced to the nation. And already, Democrats who claimed that they like him are going to oppose a waiver that would allow the General to head the Defense Department. I bet a number of Republicans say the same thing. At issue is a waiver from Congress that would allow the General, who retired in 2016, to take a job that is reserved for a civilian. In order to avoid needing a waiver. Gen. Austin had to be retired for at least seven years. People in this country demand civilian leadership of the Defense Department. As if Biden is as crazy and incompetent as Trump.

I was a full time staff writer who got to travel, eat some pretty good, took my son with me on many trips, filed expense reports and had health benefits. But that's only if one is on staff. Yes. freelancers are treated pretty badly at many publications. But not all. Depends on your writing talent and personality. I was always a staff writer and later staff editor. My value as a fluid writer who could generate multiple sources for each news story and my friendly and outgoing demeanor made me a positive asset. This is why an innate talent for writing, being personable and able to ignore obvious racism was crucial to surviving as a Black Journalist. Sourcing is iron-clad proof of one's ability to back up what they write. When I posted snippets or links from news stories from reputable news websites to prove my contentions, those supported my ledes. When I said more Blacks were voting for Trump, I posted news stories which said the same thing and that was the proof! It is amazing that certain ones couldn't figure this out. Some of you could be excellent writers. But do you know what you need? An Editor.

I just love the insecure egomaniacs in news forums. especially the ones who CANNOT WRITE! Always on the attack. Never with something new. A constant with the negative. Because Hope rejects their view.

First of all, Pioneer, I am not crying. You are. Remember when you labeled me "ignorant?" There is supposedly a GED teaching section on this forum, I taught English Composition. This Bud's for you:

Troy, We are a nation of TERRIBLE writers. People can call themselves what they want to. But the proof is in the sum total of their output. If they've made a habit of not writing much themselves but are wont to quote others, then they're not writers. Name the opinion or Op-Ed writers at major publications who quote others every five or six sentences? Do you know of anyone at any major publication who does that? Don't tell me to lower my expectations. I demand excellence. Or at least a faithful and honest try. I know most people will never be professional wordsmiths. But they can improve their writing ability. I created this meme about 10 minutes ago as a critique of those who think quoting someone every six sentences should be the norm.

Daniellegfny, Certain people in this forum fancy themselves as well informed and in the know. A few are. But some are faking it and get really ticked off when they are shown up. There is one basic rule of all Discussion and News Forums: The goal is an actual discussion of news events. But if all a person is going to do is quote someone else throughout their own comment, I tend to ignore such comments. That original poster knows what he or she wrote. What they're looking for is a written response to their opinion, minus quotes of their original short comment. A commenter's job is to stay on point, not get so off topic that all they do is go after that person's opinion. Once they do that, they've already lost. Their views are lost through the haze of someone else's words. I attacked you for supporting Donald Trump. I joined a wolf pack and was so sure I was correct in doing so, I focused on only one thing: Skin color. So, please accept my most humble apology. Because I knew more Black people. and Latinos, were flocking to vote for Donald Trump in this election. Despite the childish comments from those who don't know their arse from their elbows. And I did prove that I was right. I believe you support Donald Trump for old fashioned ideals that we as Black People have gotten away from: 1) Personal Responsibility 2) Pride in supporting education 3) Financial Illiteracy 3) Pride in supporting and celebrating our offspring's success 4) Love and Respect for our Women 5) Rejection of charlatans, phonies and grifters in our communities Now, I could be wrong. Daniellegfny. But since you remain so calm and aboveboard, that I was why I believe you love hard work and cheer those who make it through their honest, creator-given or learned talent. And not through misdeeds or cheating.

Hoo boy, a lot of Conservatives, especially pro-war hawks, are not gonna like this development one bit: President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate retired four star Army General Lloyd Austin to become Defense Secretary. He'll be the first Black man to hold that role if approved by the U.S. Senate. Oh, yeah! I can hear the grousing and gnashing of teeth now. Onward and upward for our people! . . .

Daniellegfny, I admire you because you always express honesty. You do not try to denigrate anyone. However, I am a professional writer. And I am personally disappointed with the writing in this forum. Because I am witnessing several adult Black people who can't seem to author two or three stand alone paragraphs on their own. But the worst part about this is too many of them think this is okay. It's not.

Troy, Give it up. You are NOT a writer, dude. You're not even close to being one. No wonder you believe inserting quotes of what someone else has penned is a proper mechanism for responding to a point. I taught Writing. And not once in any of my Writing classes did I instruct a student to include a quote from someone else's paper. For the last time, since you refuse to believe your own eyes, I proved my point.

Delano, The Black executive at Merrill Lynch & Co. you are referring to is Stanley O'Neal, the bank's former CEO and chairman. Not only did O'Neal run this storied Wall Street bank into the ground, (he presided over the largest quarterly loss in Merrill Lynch's 93-year history), O'Neal was a bit of an azz hole. That quarterly loss totaled $2.3 billion. As far as his personality, financial publications referred to O'Neal as being acerbic, which means caustic when it comes to dealing with others. But you know what else O'Neal was responsible for? Being part of the subprime mortgage crisis wherein bank managers approved hundreds of million in mortgage loans to individuals they knew might default. And default they did. Which was one of the leading causes of the 2007-08 financial meltdown which eventually morphed into the Great Recession. The government was so ticked off at what Merrill Lynch did, they ordered the bank to pay a $8.4 million fine. Oh, but what happened to Stanley O'Neal? Why, the board told his light skinned butt to leave in 2007, but gave him a nice $161.5 million severance package. As my older friends in Journalism used to joke all the time: "Nice work if you can get it." You have an attentive mind, Delano.

There were a lot of Black people who actually believed Obama was their Messiah. Not in the religious sense. But in a political terms. And they were quite reasonable in their everyday life. Most Obama detractors refuse to accept that Barack Obama possesses a massive intellect. He's beloved not just because he was Editor of the Harvard Review. Not just because of he's adept at producing soaring oratory. It's because Barack Obama is able to articulate our angst, our pain and our dreams with such academic prowess, he ticks off those Blacks who are jealous of his communication talent. And some Blacks brag about not voting for this country's first African American President whom the world admired and celebrated? And whom many in our country would like to see back in the White House? There was no one else Black who could have won over the U.S. Not one Black person who ban boast Obama's communicative skills, his penchant for negotiation instead of war and his global likability, except in nations with hateful leaders. There must be many closet haters of their own race in here.

Delano, There is a huge difference between the quality of writing and reporting in daily general circulation newspapers and business and financial publications. And are you talking about publications with a paywall that limits access? Because the writing is much better when there are good editors in a news room and a paywall increases an owner's revenue. This means they can hire talented editors. Weekly and monthly publications usually have fewer permanent staffers and rely on freelancers or long time correspondents. But at daily publications, reporters are up against deadlines and some of them force reporters to file their stories in the late afternoon. What most people don't know is that at legitimate publications whose quality and accuracy is rarely questioned, reporters usually have to fight to get their stories into the publication. Those stories must have dependable attribution and good sourcing. That's because there are so many reporters on a staff who are also good writers and good reporters. I've known and managed both. Good reporters who were not good writers. And good writers who were not strong reporters. Now, imagine yourself a Black man in a sea of Whites some of whom resent you for being in their midst. Think that Black person can be incompetent and keep their job for long? There are times when a source cannot be named, which we editors call using a quote without the attribution, because the source might get fired for revealing information. If the editors are of poor quality, then you're going to get poor quality writing. And this is also true with teachers. If a teacher does not how to write well, their students will not learn how to write well either. ---------------------------------------------------------------- I am not sure if anyone who posts in these discussion forums believe they have the right stuff to write for the print news media. But if you do, take a gander at this analysis piece: https://toughnickel.com/self-employment/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Writing-Magazine-and-Newspaper-Articles

You are a Republican. Most Republicans have a dim view of Blacks.

Umar Johnson is nothing but a con artist. Intellectual? He's as phony as his head is the size of a mini-Cooper.