ProfD

Many lessons have been learned since the last stock market crash. Economists have implemented moving goal posts,, er. fail safes to insure that it doesn't happen again. That's why they like to play with interest rates and debt ceilings. Again, former POTUS GWB Jr. called it a house of cards. I agree. Currency isn't backed by anything nowadays. It's all in the cloud.😁😎

I like to believe I'm a fairly knowledgeable person. But, I cannot recall a single time in America's history when it was great or better. Throughout America's history some group of people has been slaughtered, oppressed, marginalized, etc. The American people have been anesthetized and desensitized to the inhuman conditions and burdens placed on others but sh8t has never been sweet for some folks. 😎

Yep. Unfortunately, instead of hanging out at Dunkin Donuts and pulling folks over for stupid sh8t, the police wil be sitting in the parking lot of Dollar Stores and Walgreens waiting for Trick or Treaters, er, shoplifters. 😁😎

Part of Bill Cosby's downfall was mentioning that he wanted to buy a network TV station. White folks didn't forget about it. They play the long game. Waited about 20 years to bring those old charges against him. Many n8gglets aren't watching broadcast TV and they're definitely not listening to the radio neither FM nor AM...what's that to them. Nowadays, AM radio is the equivalent of what a rotary phone with a cord on it would be to a generation of folks growing up with smartphones.😁 However, your point is taken. We should be purchasing all forms of bandwidth like it's a cheap stock and using it to program messages that inform, unite and uplift our people. 😎

Cynique, with Chaka, Isee your "Through the fire" and I raise with "Everlasting Love": Rest assured that regardless of how long we're allowed to exist on the planet, it's borrowed time. We can only make the most of it. 😎

Technically true. However, race lines were drawn a long time ago. We have deal with the reality of how it's being used. IMO, folks need to wrap there minds around the fact that there are only white and non-whites (people of color). Firstly, that will eliminate any confusion regarding race. Either you're white or non-white. Then, we can tackle the real issue of racism.😎

I'm totally fine with my position. Not all medicine is good for all patients. As black folks, we shouldn't run around doing everything white folks do.😎

Yep. I think that's as good as it's gonna get until we buy a cable channel. 😎

Nope. I would hope that Michael B. Jordan would turn down such a role.😎

Prison doesn't make a heterosexual man gay. The experience might make him a victim. But, he's still a man unless he chooses to stay that course. Otherwise, every man who's ever had a prostate exam or colonoscopy could be considered gay.😁😎

Denzel Washington, Lawrence Fishburne and Samuel L. Jackson would beg to differ. Their body of work shows range and balance too. 😎

Cynique, it really doesn't matter to me how the black man looks or where he comes from as long as he's not cast to be effeminate, ignorant or stupid. I just want to see us as winners instead of losers. We don't need more negative images of black men on screen. There's enough of that sh8t with the real life boys in the hood mentality among some of our folks.😁 😎

Surely, I could look at the world around me and cruise down the road of pessimism. But, I can only envisage that it would lead to more darkness. So, I choose to be eternally optimistic because I don't see any joy in the alternative. I also have the opiate of music that allows me to tune out the noise. As I look back over my life, it's been a great ride so far. I have no aches or pains literally or figuratively therefore I really have no reason to complain. Now, if the Supreme Being decides to snatch my black azz off the planet within the next minute or two, that's cool too. 😁 in the meantime, that doesn't preclude me from having opinions about everything. I'll continue calling balls and strikes as I see them.😎

Fair enough. Just providing a perspective. Keep your head on a swivel and do whatever it takes to stay safe. 😎

That's easy...these are 1st world issues/problems. I do not believe any of it is a matter of life or death for you personally. There are folks dealing with far worse in the form of debilitating illnesses, being dumb/stupid, despair and poverty, etc. So, in my eternal optimism, there is no reason for you to bid this world goodbye. Our time will be up soon enough. No need to expedite it. I also enjoy reading whatever is on your mind. Besides, you've watched the movie this long. You might as well stick around for the credits. 😁😎

Mzuri, calm down. Breathe. Relax. 😁 Some of the question to ask: 1) Why are people fleeing their own countries? 2) Why is their destination the US instead of another nearby country or the islands? 3) What role does the US play in the conditions of their home country? 4) Why can't the border patrol stop them from coming? America cannot have it both ways. We cannot police the world, finance greed and corruption in other countries and not expect blow-back. The people from [insert a country here] are coming the US because they are leaving the greed, corruption and poverty for better opportunities in America (US). They've seen the pictures on the internet and heard all about it from family members and friends that are already here. There is a lot of menial and manual labor work that needs to be done in the US. The average American is unwilling to do it because minimum wage is too low and unions dictate that skilled workers have to make a certain hourly wage. I believe they are allowing a certain amount of illegal immigrants to come here and do the dirty work whether it's harvesting grapes to make wine or cleaning people's houses. If the US wants to wants to stem the tide of what they're calling illegal immigration, it has to be honest with itself and do the following: 1) Hold the leaders of those countries accountable to insure the money being sent to them is being used properly to build and maintain the infrastructure in order to faciliitate a robust economy (jobs, housing, healthcare, food, products, services, etc.). 2) Stop allowing US companies to benefit from cheap labor both domestically and abroad. 3) Increase the US minium wage so that citizens can make a living from the work they do. As long as money is going into the pockets of a few corrupt leaders and business folks who don't give a d8mn about the multitude, there will be problems. The Afghan immigrants are a great example of how the US plays both sides against the middle. The US spent billions of dollars fighting so called terrorism and under the guise of nation building. The Afghan government took US dollars and military training and equpment with zero accountability or so it would appear. As soon as the US decided to turn off the spigot, the Afghan government and their military folded like an ironing board. The former Afghan president stole so much money while fleeing the country, he couldn't stuff it all in the cars and helicopter. Hundreds of thousands of US dollars were left on the tarmac. So, the US felt an obligation to bring the Afghan people here who worked to secure US interests rather than allow them to be slaughtered by the new regime. There could be bad seeds in the Pomegranate but that's par for the course. Mzuri, I don't believe you're in imminent danger from the Afghan immigrants. No need to relocate. I'd be more concerned about the legal citizens. They're wearing masks and shoplifting and sh8t. 😁😎

Shoplifting in the Big Apple and Beyond Apparently, with a pandemic on the loose and unemployment up, there's a shoplifting crisis in major cities across America: https://nypost.com/2021/10/14/eric-adams-talks-tough-against-nyc-shoplifting-crisis/ Former NYC police captain and mayoral candidate Eric Adams says he's going to handle it if/when elected. I just figured the store shelves were bare because the shipping containers were stuck in the water. Now, you've got folks walking into stores wearing a mask and walking out with a trash bag full of stuff. I guess every day is Halloween out in these streets. 😁😎

I read the articles. I have an understanding of NFT. Just tied in my brush wirh crypto.😎

You're on the right track. Lincoln did not want the institution of slavery to spread from the South upward into the North and West. The South threatened to secede from the Union. It was like keeping a drug dealer from expanding into new territories. The South wanted to go big and felt like the North should mind their business especially since they were benefitting from the goods and services the free labor of slavery produced. Lincoln stuck to his principles of keeping the institution of slavery as a Southern thing and not letting it expand. The Southerners bucked. War was declared. Black folks benefitted indirectly. 😎

A few cats mentioned something to me about investing in a crypto-currency. So, I'm thinking I could break these chumps off with some change wtih an understanding of how much I could make at some point in time. Well, it wasn't quite that simple. It was more like entering the 36 Chambers of Wu-Tang. I didn't even bother to follow up. It could have been related to some NFT sh8t or something similar. Oh well, I'll never know. I've still got the fungi-colored money in my safe and underneath the mattress. 😁😎

Yeah mayne. VB has been out of the closet for several years. Again, in my mind it goes back to having non-threatening black men on TV. They don't want a black man who looks like this spilling the tea. 😁😎

Civil War. A total of about 500,000 dead from the North and South. White folks fighting for real over a principle...slavery. Illusion of division. Afterwards, one of the primary successes of Reconstruction was restoration of the Federal Union and limited reprisals against the South directly after the war. Former slaveowners were given reparations. White folks will kill each other like it's nothing and when the dust settles, they're back to drinking and playing cards like nothing ever happened. Every World War is indicative of it. The one thing they are united in is maintaining racism. 😎

Yessir. I remember many years ago, a dude was over in Singapore putting graffiti on the walls. The US tried to intervene. Nope. They whupped his azz. I bet that dude can't stand aerosol spray paint, magic markers, crayons, pencils, pens, etc. Thank goodness for computers and smartphones. He can type whatever he has to say.😁 Corporal punishment (flog, cane, waterboard, amputate, stone, etc.) would reduce crime immediately. But no, that would be bad for businesss here in the US. They need to warehouse black folks. The prison industrial complex is a cash cow that props up the economy in many ways. The more f8cked up enforceable laws we have on the books, the better chances they have of throwing folks into greater confinement. I just heard a news report the other day that black folks are locked up 5 times more than white folks for similar crimes. Latinx folks are locked up 1.3 times more than white folks for similar crimes. I'm not surprised. Do yourself a favor and hang out at the courthouse one day. You will see black folks going to prison for drug offenses. White folks going to time out, er, drug rehabilitation class for the same offenses. Don't get me started on the n8gglets who enforce the laws (judges and prosecutors). They lock up the black folks and set the white folks free. 😎

Troy, thanks for your effort in trying to provide me access to start a thread but so far it's still a non-starter. I'll try it again when I get to my laptop. Again, I appreciate this dialog space you've created. Thanks for allowing me to contribute. In the meantime, until I can start a thread, here's my latest musing: The Masked Driver As Cynique mentioned in another thread, laughter is the best medicine. I've always been a natural born clown. I can find humor in almost everything. That's probably why I'm not a drunk or drug addict.😁 So, regardless of where one sits on the fence regarding mask wearing, this sh8t right here cracks me up: Feel free to explain to me how and why it makes sense to wear a mask while driving alone with the windows rolled up.😁 If the Rona is in your ride, you're already f8cked.😁😎

Nope. It still doesn't work for me. I have a few credit cards, er, IP addresses. Let me know which one is good to use.😁😎