Mel Hopkins

Thanks for the tag. I read through your essay, and while I don’t agree with a lot of the conclusions, I do think you’re raising an interesting point about the difference between what officials want to do versus what they’re actually allowed to do. The part of your argument that does land for me is the structural piece: — The mayor can’t set private-market prices, — but can shape how NYC agencies function, including the NYPD. That’s a fundamental distinction and a solid place to build from. Your part about packaging sizes and affordability is also an interesting angle. It reminds me of "five-cent loosies" from back in the day. That’s something you could actually dig into with data, separate from the political side. For me, I try to stick to the parts of an argument where there’s a clear legal or economic grounding — it keeps the conversation from going in circles. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts. It will be interesting to see how Mayor Mamdani differs from the mayoral candidate Mamdani.

I stumbled on this one and "mind blown." The featured man is a Nigerian from the Yoruba Clan, but grew up in Russia.

Agree! I think this is why you, I, and the rest of the AALBC fam meet up here. We freaking READ! We read our history and study our lessons! We don't let anyone feed us what they want us to know. You can't be sold on anything when you Know Thyself! But without that knowledge, somebody can sell folks an Easy button.

If the NYC mayoral race were a novel, I'd deconstruct its architecture. From one election to the next, the narrative appears to shift away from focused policy debates, instead centering on the influence of religious groups. The major religious factions—Christian nationalists, Muslims, and Jews—each appear to compete for cultural and political dominance within the city. Amid this religious competition, the African diaspora in the U.S.—a powerful and often underestimated voting bloc—continues to be overlooked and taken for granted by both the candidates and the dominant religious groups. It sometimes seems as though these competing religious groups neglect the African diaspora’s influence. Ironically, the roots of these religions trace back to African science-based spirituality, yet this connection receives little attention in political or religious discourse. This dynamic played out in Election 2024: Christian nationalists—including evangelists, southern Baptists, and likely Catholics—rallied strongly behind DJT. Media and external influencers shifted the conversation away from local policy and toward polarizing international issues, like the U.S. stance on Israel and Palestine, further affecting how voters chose among domestic candidates. When reviewing 2025 election results, I noticed Mamdani was not the only Muslim elected, which raises the question of whether heightened coverage of Gaza led to greater sympathy and increased Muslim representation—a trend potentially extending into the midterms. Don’t misunderstand—I bear a grudge against all religions. Religious study should bring wisdom, spirituality, and growth, yet it often has the opposite effect. Religions lead to violence instead of joy and peace. Add patriarchy, and it’s chaos. Returning to the story's structure: Is this a narrative of democratic socialism rising in the heart of Wall Street? Consider Manhattan—the FINANCIAL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD—and its boroughs. Is the city that never sleeps really ready to move from capitalism to social ownership? Notably, NYC is the largest property owner according to Curbed.com, and the mayor administers these assets. Perhaps social ownership is the underlying story arc behind recent shifts. So, in this story—call it Project 2025 (S)—the central figure is a young millennial poised to challenge the reigning power and reclaim Manhattan for the people. Behind the scenes, religious struggle, human trafficking disguised as immigration reform, and pervasive surveillance set the chaotic stage for change in the city. Meet the Muslim and Arab Americans who won in US local elections Jews vote for Andrew Cuomo over Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayoral race | The Jerusalem Post "In addition to the Jewish vote, Mamdani lost the Catholic vote by a significant margin: 53% supported Cuomo and 14% backed Sliwa, against 33% for Mamdani. A decisive 75% of voters with no religious affiliation supported Mamdani." Here's a past look at Manhattan when DJT began buying up NY property in the early 70s(?) a look back at Palestinians, Israel, Libya, etc.

Powerful observation, Brotha ProfD! Many women in the industry feel the same way - but again, look who runs the industry. I wonder how the music industry would look if people from the African diaspora were at the top?

I love this performance. Maxwell was supposed to battle D'Angelo in Verzus, but he didn't show up. D'Angelo went on and did that damn thing anyway. Then H.E.R. showed up to do this duet - and it was heaven. Thank you, D'Angelo, for sharing your beautiful talent! May beautiful music follow you as you continue your journey. D’Angelo, Grammy-winning R&B singer, dies at 51 | AP News

This "podcast" is really good. I feel like this is next-level promotional collateral for authors to promote their books!

The first chapter identifies Paschal as Black, even though the author, D. Amari Jackson, chose not to explicitly identify him by ethnicity. (He did) But the message is clear because Law enforcement authorities put no effort into investigating his manner of death. After all, to them, what is another dead Black man to the establishment, right? To Americans from the African diaspora, however, it means buried history. In this historical fiction account, we immediately meet a character who is willing to share the backstory with us, but I suspect he, too, will be an unreliable narrator. But that's America. But I digress. Still, I thought that was a powerful statement to set the tone. I do wish, however, that Amari had developed the mystery further in the first chapter. Not for the reader's sake but mine. I've launched and published two editorial reviews so far, titled "The First Chapter," in which I discuss how great I think the book will be based on its first chapter. I think I have enough material to work with in the first chapter of "Mirroring Lincoln", but I will have to mine it carefully enough to get the reader excited about taking the journey. Oh, I preordered the Kindle version. @Troy Will you release an audio version?

OMG Troy, Yes! They would have a blast together! Seriously, fireworks, laughter, and partying! Thank you!

I could have sworn we chatted about DEC, but maybe you mentioned Wang Labs when I mentioned DEC. My bad. I won't forget again.

O/T. Twin, this method seems to mirror the pattern of your career journey right after you obtain your degrees (maybe even before). Am I correct? I still giggle that we both worked at DEC, but in different capacities. The reason I ask is that I recently mapped out my Modus operandi, and it aligns with my life map.

You misunderstood me. I know it's inappropriate for others to ask personal information. BUT It happens to me so often that I just answer the question to set the record straight. This way, I feel that no one can claim I've misled them, or they can claim ignorance. But I agree with @aka Contrarian . I'll wait for someone to share their information with me. If they choose not to share, it is their right. I won't ask. For example, we've engaged in conversation on this board for the past 15 years, but have I ever asked you to share a photo, describe yourself, tell me where you live, what you do for a living, if you're poor, wealthy, married, single, white, Latino, First Nation, or Black? Nope, because I respect your position to remain anonymous. Hell, I don't even know your name! Stiil, I answered you because of who you are and how you present yourself. By the way, my ex and I used to wear a lot of plaid shirts for a while . His hair is now gray, but he's a straight, Nordic-type, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man, standing at 6 feet 2 inches.

That's the same thing that happened to me. The information comes from your DNA! You know what you know! I believe with all my heart that we have all the information, but we're afraid to know how we know, so we dismiss it. But try this -(don't believe everything you think. just let the thoughts flow.) For example, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how my grandpups understood what I was saying. Or any other non-human species for that matter, but today, I watched my grandpup Scott nose wiggle while I was speaking to him -- and do you know that little furbaby sniffs to understand my message? He can smell me, tell what I mean, and actually acts on it. So, there is intelligence in "knowing." through all our senses! Most of the time, I feel the message or I put my finger on the answer. I'm not special! We can all do this! Trust what you're feeling and be fluid with iit. The last part means to let the information flow in and out - don't be wedded to it. Just use it as you would when reporting a story. Don't fear correcting yourself later - information is fluid. The more open you are open to letting the information flow, the more the answers you need will come, and as they come, you can build on them and build your knowledge in any discipline.

If I remember correctly, it had to do with how they repeatedly attempted to get the results. For example, if you try to measure my foot at the end of the day - it is always going to be bigger than in the morning. Once I come across the claim I'll follow up wiht a post.

I didn't think it was in poor taste! Thank you for checking me! I'm so accustomed to people inquiring about my actions that I forget that it is inappropriate. Thank you so much!

Yes! This is what I was thinking. I don't believe it is their fault. Still, when they combined esotericism and science into their study, the establishment (Catholicism) made the natural philosophers stay in their lane or face execution. Therefore, the scientists (natural philosophers) were unable to reference God or Spirituality in their work. It is impossible to leave God out of science - but they were forced to do so. 0/T (off-topic) In fact, they deliberately misinterpreted the Aether (the fifth element), as evidenced by the Michelson-Morley experiment; they were ridiculed and chastised if they ever mentioned the element again. The Ancient Africans knew the fifth element existed. They called it the "Net" (Consciousness - THE Omnipotent, Omnipresence, Omniscient, i.e., THE ALL in The All), and they also knew how to work within consciousness to guide their lives. Today, we've returned to the concept of consciousness, and many researchers are realizing that it isn't connected to the brain, but rather exists all around us.

Thank you! The happy couple is so creative! My son-in-law even came up with the idea for a hotel flag - They designed it, got it made, and the hotel staff even put it up in front of the hotel!

Thank you. And that's funny! But nope, the ex is French/German.

I share this sentiment, but could you please define 'delusional' and 'success'? I'm currently reading Don Quixote - and dude was financially successful, but it was not enough for him. He felt like a failure and then lost his mind, becoming Don Quixote. At the end of his journey as Don Quixote, he found success, but it had nothing to do with "things." He found success through his inner transformation.

Got this one last night! I forgot. The photographer owns this copyright. I removed it from my YouTube channel.

This is a powerful suggestion! Especially one that any of us can do and be successful! Thank you! That is, instead of, for example, getting off scot-free after your small business steals millions of dollars from Medicaid/Medicare. And then, of course, freeing you up to run for governor and U.S. Senate and winning in the state of Florida. But I digress

I know I trust my visions, and they always play out in my timeline. The key is understanding the symbols in the vision. - Daniel had visions of a smaller star breaking off from a larger star and entering the solar system then, we would need to understand Daniel's story and what those symbols meant to him. Please don't take my words as disagreeing with the interpretation; however, if we don't examine Daniel's life and times, we may miss a broader message intended for us. Also, I'm not religious, so I don't fear a physical death, especially since I've been there and done that...Long story short, we don't die. But I do find cosmology fascinating, and it was the Dogon people who brought this line of study to civilization. Was Daniel from or ever connected with that lineage? If I were going to try to uncover the symbology, I'd dig for context through Daniel's journey. (It is how I can see the hidden) But sometimes I use Google as a shortcut. A funny thing about AI is that it is trained on a lot of information, but it can't help but offer connections if prompted. Now, take this with a grain of salt, because the following response isn't the gospel truth. I read and study too much, and I can fill in the gaps if I'm pushed to remember... But look what Google's AI mentioned There is no verifiable evidence of any direct connection between the biblical figure Daniel's lineage and the Dogon people of Mali. The idea is largely based on speculative theories that link the Israelite Tribe of Dan, rather than Daniel's specific lineage, with the Dogon through shared themes of migration, serpent symbolism, and advanced astronomical knowledge. Why a connection is unlikely No historical or archaeological proof. There is no textual, genetic, or archaeological evidence connecting the ancient Israelites to the Dogon. The Dogon's own migration stories point to an origin in the Nile Valley, not the Levant. Differing Dogon origins. While some Dogon oral traditions reference origins in the Mande kingdom, their languages, culture, and architecture reflect influences from diverse groups who settled in the Bandiagara escarpment in Mali between the 14th and 16th centuries. Contested astronomical knowledge. Much of the speculation linking the Dogon to other advanced civilizations relies on their knowledge of the star system Sirius, including the existence of Sirius B, which is invisible to the naked eye. However, scholars like Carl Sagan have argued this knowledge may have come from contact with European astronomers in the 20th century, not ancient, independent knowledge. Limited information on Daniel's lineage. The biblical book of Daniel does not provide the lineage of the prophet Daniel, only that he was of noble or royal descent from the tribe of Judah. Other figures named Daniel exist in the Bible, but none are linked to the Dogon. Confusing two biblical figures. Confusion may stem from esoteric theories that link the Tribe of Dan—one of the twelve tribes of Israel—to the Dogon, often based on interpreting Jacob's blessing of Dan as a celestial serpent. However, this theory is unfounded and lacks direct historical support. The speculative theories The claim of a link between the ancient Israelites and the Dogon people is confined to esoteric, or fringe, circles. The speculative argument often follows this pattern: Shared symbolism: Proponents point to similarities in serpent symbolism found in both cultures, such as the imagery used in Jacob's blessing of the Tribe of Dan and the serpentine Nommo figures of the Dogon. Advanced cosmology: They claim the Dogon's sophisticated astronomical knowledge, centered on the star system Sirius, was transmitted by the Tribe of Dan during an unrecorded migration to West Africa. Ambiguous fate: These theories play on the ambiguous fate of the ten lost tribes of Israel, which included the Tribe of Dan. These proposals are not supported by mainstream historical or anthropological evidence and are better explained by coincidental cultural similarities or the independent development of mythology. So, in conclusion, we must reject conclusions from Western Scholars

Did y'all see the big lightbulb, aka "The moon", early this morning? It lit up my entire backyard like someone forgot to turn off the lights!

I feel you, twin!