Mel Hopkins

2 hours ago, Delano said:

am not certain if the is always true.

Sadly Twin, you’re right.  Folks are letting Fox media do their thinking. 

1 hour ago, daniellegfny said:

Biden is responsible. You made assumptions and assessments. Which have nothing to do with my statements. Biden caused inflation by causing Gas Prices to rise. That hurts Black people. If you want to be in denial that’s you. It doesn’t change reality. 

Obamacare was a horrible policy for working class people on the cusp of breaking out poverty. It placed an invisible choke collar on aspirations. Deregulation and the tax cuts are what boosted the economy. 

If you don’t see how lower Black Unemployment helps Black people stay delusional.

Delusion: 1a: something that is falsely or delusively believed or propagated

WHERE’S YOUR EVIDENCE! 

WHERE ARE THE FACTS,  FIGURES,  DATES, EXECUTIVE ORDERS, LEGISLATION that will support your assumption?, 

Surprise me with something factual.  So far all you have is another a baseless opinion.  

19 minutes ago, Delano said:

I don't know whether you are overly optimistic or generous.

Guilty! Blame it on my love of learning!

Human perspective is the true super power.  

 “No one is as smart as all of us!”

12 hours ago, Troy said:

yes make your books accessible wherever it can be sold

I  only want to test the apple program. You know I like to go straight to the source for my investigations. lol.   My first distribution choice to sell my books is through my website and AALBC.

8 hours ago, daniellegfny said:

The Biden Hike doesn’t refer to the Federal Reserve Rate Hike although it is clearly there is no real independence when ideology is in alignment. The BH is a reference to the Reality Tax the Biden policies inflict upon the American people. 

You made the false equivalence statement the topic of this thread. You wrote, "Biden makes America unaffordable for Blacks," then attributed it to the federal reserve rate and inflation. Both of these statements are false. 

So let me help you with your "argument" - Somehow, you got it in your head - 45's policies are better for Black Americans. If this is your statement - then you sound like a member of CULT 45.  

Let me share with you how government works. We elect people to work for us. We don't need to love them or even like them. They aren't our friends. We hire them for what they know and how their knowledge will benefit us. And as my mom says, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating and tasting." 

When 45* took office, Black Americans were finally doing well financially, physically, and in some cases, mentally -thanks to the policies of The Obama Administration. By the end of Trump's criminal enterprise masquerading as a presidential, Black Americans were once again circling the drain in all areas where the Obama Administration helped us gain. I grew up in NYC, and I know Trump was never a statesman or a legislator. -His business practices are shady -and he makes money by running businesses into the ground. He exploited social programs earmarked for the impoverished to enrich himself and his friends. One such program is the so-called opportunity zone. In Georgia, Sean Hannity helped himself to Opportunity Zone property thanks to his connection to then HUD Secretary Ben Carson.  

"Hannity, a former talk-radio host in Atlanta who has become one of the nation's most popular television and radio conservative commentators, has amassed a real-estate portfolio worth about $90 million, most of it rental homes in Georgia and six other states. HUD, the agency that Carson now heads, guaranteed about $22 million in loans on two of Hannity's apartment complexes in Georgia."

Provide proof of how 45* policies helped Black people - if not. I'll consider this topic "false" and moot. 

16 hours ago, Troy said:

They won’t even give me an affiliate program, so i have no incentive to sell their products (a gross error in judgement in their part).

I agree. Back when am*zon started their affiliates program , they mentioned an am*zon author would get an automatic yes. Back in the beginning (2006) they made it easy for authors to gain fees from selling their own books.  I'm going to publish an digital book and upload to apple - and see if they invite me into the affiliate program.  I'll share what I learn. 

note2self: am*zon am*zon am*zon

19 hours ago, Delano said:

Since there is less public information available. This is where having a good nose is invaluable.

@Delano, One of my first clients introduce to me to the private equity market. I'm working on his equity crowdfunding campaign from the product marketing angle. I'm also reading a "The Private Equity Playbook" by Adam Coffey.  You're correct.  It is absolutely tricky.  I have a nose for news so it helps me to do the market research.  I research the product(s) but also the product's utility. I look for licensing potential and who else might be in the market for a similar product.  It is exciting to me because I'm out of my depth here lol! 

1 hour ago, Troy said:

arrogant ignorance: people who refused to acknowledge they my not actually know something when it should be clear that there is information out there they are missing.

Yes, THIS!!!

13 hours ago, daniellegfny said:

Wrong it was supposed to be you aren’t a taxi driver so you don’t realize the effects the Biden Hikes are causing the Black Community.

No president including President Biden makes or raises rates.  THE FEDERAL RESERVE controls the rate hikes
 

Here is the background. https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/structure-federal-reserve-board.htm#:~:text=The Board of Governors--,positions by the U.S. Senate.

"The Board of Governors--located in Washington, D.C.--is the governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is run by seven members, or "governors," who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed in their positions by the U.S. Senate. The Board of Governors guides the operation of the Federal Reserve System to promote the goals and fulfill the responsibilities given to the Federal Reserve by the Federal Reserve Act.

All of the members of the Board serve on the FOMC, which is the body within the Federal Reserve that sets monetary policy.

Board Appointment

Each member of the Board of Governors is appointed for a 14-year term; the terms are staggered so that one term expires on January 31 of each even-numbered year. After serving a full 14-year term, a Board member may not be reappointed. If a Board member leaves the Board before his or her term expires, however, the person nominated and confirmed to serve the remainder of the term may later be appointed to a full 14-year term.

The Chair and Vice Chair of the Board are also appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, but serve only four-year terms. They may be reappointed to additional four-year terms. The nominees to these posts must already be members of the Board or must be simultaneously appointed to the Board."

13 hours ago, Greg said:

I am an actual trader. I am 100% serious. I do NOT think stocks have hit bottom yet. Earnings estimates need to come down. The federal reserve is being very aggresive and they need to keep raising rates.

Oh snap! There you are...

1 hour ago, Cynique said:

Does this mean that our lives are predestined, and - are just  laid out in front of us to either catch up with or double back to when we get stalled, or collide with somebody's else's trajectory - all as part of a grand plan where trial and error pay a role.

@Cynique determination or free will? I believe it’s both.  Which is why we carve out time to reflect during our journey.  The weird thing is we’ve spent about two years  dormant. The Global pandemic gave us all a moment to reset and reflect.  I spent those years reviewing my journey.   But here’s the thing, I don’t believe in linear time.  When I “died” or “transitioned” I came back because I   told THE ALL  I had something to do. It was almost like I remembered when I rejoined “The All. Then I skedaddled. The highest level of creation is   “ Kuumba.  It is the Swahili word (bantu etymology) for “divine creation” meaning create something out of nothing.   So maybe determinism is nothing more than choosing to create  our journey before we arrive in this dimension.  Some of us remember exactly what we came here to do - and begin when we are infants (old souls). Some of us forget - and we follow bread crumbs that we’ve left ourselves.  Maybe one of your projects is to create a new project - while you’re in your corporeal state.

53 minutes ago, ProfD said:

OK. I'll shut up and write less

Please don’t! You share a rare perspective that shows what’s behind the curtain! 

4 hours ago, ProfD said:

ome of us just move to the suburbs. Depending on where we shop, work, play, etc., it feels like  we're in another country.

Truthdotcom! 

I live in my head most of the time! So peaceful here

9 hours ago, ProfD said:

From a money perspective, it's apparently an acceptable amount of loss in the course of doing business. Otherwise, the gun lobby wouldn't be so adamant in protecting it.

I’ve been so naive!  Like I wrote I live in my head.

 So, let’s look at the proliferation of guns and technology as an untapped market.  You mentioned people come here and send money home.  What if their fam is in Ukraine, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea?  It may not be easy to get weapons there.., but anyone can get weapons here.  We don’t even need a license.  Voila.. all of sudden that $63 B industry is worth a lot more off the books.  

The U.S. doesn’t even have dirty their rep by getting involved with arming other countries anymore.  We’ve become unwitting independent contractors.

4 hours ago, Troy said:

 you may not appreciate that the average consumer does not really have to time, energy, inclination, or even ability to effectively fact check news sources. 

@Troy I do appreciate that the average news reader lacks interest in verifying what they read. I get it. What I don’t understand is why they consume what they don’t care about.  Late last week a family member tried to engage me with the news of Japan’s former prime minister’s assassination.  I stopped them.  I don’t have the bandwidth to invest time into getting myself up to speed.  I don’t follow politics outside of the U.S.  If it doesn’t originate here …I won’t mess with it.  I followed China (PRC) when I was flying  for United because it was my reserve Line of Flying.  Their policy was my need to know. I wasn’t trying to be anyone’s international incident lol!  Seriously though, i’ll never let anyone off the hook for not following up on what they read.  I have no patience for ignorance. 

On 7/10/2022 at 8:16 AM, Pioneer1 said:

One of the problems with the main stream news is that most of them get the news they're reporting from the SAME source....the AP

There is some truth to this - but Associated Press, Owned and Operated Networks, Network Affiliates, and Independents have a symbiotic relationship. They feed each other. I've had a few AP credits when I reported for CBS affiliate and IHeart Media (Formerly known as Clear Channel).

But there's also CBS Newspath and CNN Newsource, to name two with whom I've shared stories. And then there are also independent feeds that provide packages to the stations and print publishers. Sometimes reporters get lazy and run as is without fact-checking. News reporting always comes down to one fundamental challenge "FACT CHECKING. " Some publishers do better, and some don't want to pay for additional time and personnel.

On 7/9/2022 at 2:10 PM, Pioneer1 said:

She's like fine wine, she ages gracefully.

Jennifer Lewis and my mother are one in the same lol. It's kind of scary.

35 minutes ago, Delano said:

Time markers is my classification system to qualify moments of time in the future.

Yes, I think I'm getting more clarity into your system. I seek to understand your creation. 

Communicating the benefits of someone's product/creation is what I've done in my career. So, last night (my last night), when I realized I turned to you for validation of my knowledge of finance - It hit me. You embody facts, figures, dates, movement, longitude, latitude, and more beyond my scope of intuition. I relate your inherent skills to the earliest known mathematicians in Africa (Swaziland) ... http://www.taneter.org/math.html. Is this realistic? Not a clue, but I don't need proof to trust my intuition. I just trust it.  

I channeled the post I wrote. It began as a trigger right here in this forum. Troy said something was unknowable...and I went into a trance, and that's what I wrote. So, yes, I feel you're correct. Thank you again for bringing clarity.

.  

40 minutes ago, Delano said:

Buy and hold is a better strategy than day trading for the small investor.

I used to call myself a "day-trader" but I was actually just shopping, holding and then selling when I felt the bottom was about to drop out.  I like your term better "Small Investor".  I just started buying private equity shares.  Now, I want to learn to find out if I can make that my new business.

41 minutes ago, ProfD said:

None of the articles mention violence as a reason for Americans leaving.

Oh, this tidbit of information came from a research I used when I was working on a story about "statelessness."  There's a whole lot of information available on the 'whys.'  I found out because I was invested in the story I was working on.  Also, if you want to spend some time on the topic, use the search term expats on YouTube you'll find former Americans sharing their stories. 

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

For all of its warts, there's a reason why people from all over the world still want to come to the  USA.

 1.7 million since January 2021  have migrated mostly  "due to deteriorating political, economic and humanitarian conditions in several countries, particularly in Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti."  

It appears very few migrate here from countries with stable economies and less violence.  

In the last 20 years, the amount of Americans leaving the US has doubled according one Insurance website -the US  doesn't keep records of those who give up their citizenship, but  Aetna reports a minimum of 9 million have left.
https://www.aetnainternational.com/en/about-us/explore/living-abroad/culture-lifestyle/where-are-Americans-emigrating-to-and-why.html
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/counting-uncountable-overseas-americans
https://cis.org/Report/ForeignBorn-Population-Hit-Record-47-Million-April-2022

11 hours ago, Delano said:

Inspiration mean to breathe in spirit. I was looking up the etymology of the word and found the following. 

Here's the lens I'm looking through right now: Time is circular or sometimes represented as an infinity symbol.

Therefore, I'm receiving your reply that Time Markers are immensely personal. TM is like breadcrumbs I've left on the path as I move through the circle of Time.

And since I've partnered with Google's solution for measuring how many visitors are on the point at any given moment, it provides messages. Those messages led me back to that post I wrote five years ago. And it feels like I left myself a note to follow a specific path at this TIME.

So, this makes sense to me. - I've laid the foundation to build awareness for my project -(I've breathed life into it). Now others realize my vision. And they are resurrecting/ "resuscitating" it. Wow - Just Wow.

39 minutes ago, Delano said:

I studied Accounting in Undergrad and Finance in Grad School for most of my career I worked in Financial Services.

@ProfD, yes! In fact,  I called on this part of @Delano's  "essence" to help me with my cursory finance knowledge.  

I've kept my debt at 0 for the last few quarters. If I can't afford it, I don't buy it. It was hard not to see the signs. 

Also Google's CEO said they are slowing hiring. I bet this is in response to the Consumer Price Index report released today. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of major corporations follow them.

Gas prices are down now so that's not factored into the report but rent is rising -- so those who are paying rent are feeling the pinch.  Sadly, local governments were too slow to act on rent gouging properties...My municipal government put an ordinance on the books to prevent hedge funds from buying up single homes trapping families into a cycle of renting without a chance to own.

As I always say, VOTE, because all politics is local. 

26 minutes ago, daniellegfny said:

You are a taxi driver.

Don't you mean, "I AM A Taxi Driver"...

Ok that's just creepy.

And I can tell you're out of your depth both financially and grammatically - you've just used a subjective personal  pronoun as the subject of a sentence that referenced someone outside of yourself.  Do you get a script to post these messages.
 

5 minutes ago, Delano said:

 

Also I would love to read the post. Is it about synchronisation omens or coincidence?

Actually it borders on it. 

Unknowable” post 2017 

https://melhopkins.com/2017/03/03/the-unknowable-got-you-under-a-spell/

1 - Google Maps July 12, 2022 @ 1:00 AM EDT said my photos had 8000 views

2 -  Google Search Impact - 20 clicks in 28 days July 11, 2022 circa 12:29 AM EDT

Besides using Google products and platform - I feel there’s a message too.  Thank You! 

@Chevdove

The State Department has a rating for other countries but they don’t rate the U.S. So one day I did a search to find out how other countries rank they U.S. and found The U.S. ranked as one top 15 dangerous countries in the world.  In fact, there are a bunch of youtube channels hosted by expats. Most people who can afford to leave the U.S. have left.  But  yes this is how highly developed countries and even emerging markets see the U.S. - They see our hypocrisy and call it out. 

2017 and Google have made several are appearances in my life this month.  

@Delano Can you shed some light?

 Ok here’s some background - Google sent me a message about visitors finding my work on various platforms.  They are also visiting one post  that I wrote back in 2017.  The creepy thing is they’ve been visiting this one post since December 2021. 

On 7/10/2022 at 6:08 PM, Pioneer1 said:

you'd defend women's rights to the core.

@Pioneer1 You know that’s right!  I would be a “Shirley Chisolm” candidate who fights for freedom.  I’d also work to make folks get  the “eff out of Black people’s way.  Do you know how far we would be if the powers that be would stop putting up literal and figurative roadblocks to prevent our progress.  

Also, from where I sit, it doesn’t seem like people want to be “free.” Many people want to be “led” or need a “leader. I’m not a leader - I’m an organizer. But thanks to Stacey Abrams I see that can work too.  Having said all that - the true power in politics is what you and I do -actually what we all do here support and work with movements that we believe in like helping @Troy with #readingblack.com
 

This is where real policy is born.