Thanks for another engaging essay! The cruelty some people are capable of inflicting on other human beings never ceases to amaze me.
“It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.
The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.”
How about we try something new in 2026? Perhaps a positive or uplifting comment, just once in a while. Perhaps take a page from the Venezuelan people who are dancing in the streets. Just a thought.
All emotions start out as love. Later, that love is
worked on by the forces of luck and suffering.
Hate is just soured love.
Fear is wounded love.
Longing is homeless love.
Love, not pain, is the mother. Love is the taproot.
— Amity Gaige
"Long ago, there was a noble word, liberal, which derives from the word free. Now a strange thing happened to that word. A man named Hitler made it a term of abuse, a matter of suspicion, because those who were not with him were against him, and liberals had no use for Hitler. And then another man named McCarthy cast the same opprobrium on the word ... We must cherish and honor the word free or it will cease to apply to us."
Keep in mind that the people of Venezuela went to the polls and overwhelmingly elected Elena Machado as their president and Maduro pulled a trump and took over as president so they may be glad that he’s gone. Don’t think for one moment though that Venezuelans or Latinos overall are thrilled with what this “president” has pulled. I live in a Latino country and there have already been protests in our capital city. Trump has already threatened this country which puts me and everyone like me at risk. They may pull all sorts of mess in their own country but resent the hell out of an outside force coming in and pushing them around. Wouldn’t you? Also, the political game isn’t over just because we’ve captured the king and queen. This will have far reaching ramifications that will be felt around the world. You might be interested in the short clip I’m including that illustrates what I’ve written. https://youtu.be/NdUnN7jdkfQ?si=LvKSjFsiAuSHCq2B
“For a brief moment, some Venezuelans allowed themselves to celebrate.”
“When they learned on Saturday that strongman Nicolás Maduro had been seized by U.S. Special Forces, many group chats filled with messages of joy and relief. Some people cried. One family in Caracas opened a bottle of champagne they had bought months earlier and saved for a special occasion. After more than a decade of living under Maduro, there were cautious hopes for a different future.”
“By Monday, however, those feelings had been replaced by more familiar ones: fear, dread and uncertainty.”
— Washington Post
Dancing in the streets? Only for a few minutes until reality set in. Perhaps it will one day for you as well.
Keep in mind that the people of Venezuela went to the polls and overwhelmingly elected Maria Machado as their president and Maduro pulled a trump and took over as president so they may be glad that he’s gone. Don’t think for one moment though that Venezuelans or Latinos overall are thrilled with what this “president” has pulled. I live in a Latino country and there have already been protests in our capital city. Trump has already threatened this country which puts me and everyone like me at risk. They may pull all sorts of mess in their own country but resent the hell out of an outside force coming in and pushing them around. Wouldn’t you? Also, the political game isn’t over just because we’ve captured the king and queen. This will have far reaching ramifications that will be felt around the world. You might be interested in the short clip I’m including that illustrates what I’ve written. https://youtu.be/NdUnN7jdkfQ?si=LvKSjFsiAuSHCq2B
I have written more than once about The Equal Justice Initiative and memorial as well as the museum across from it that is all located in the heart of the Deep South slave trade, Montgomery, Alabama. For anyone with a conscience, spending just 5 minutes in either place will have you in tears just seeing the stories of the inhumanity that we whites perpetrated on our fellow humans because of skin color. What is even more gross is that the Bible was used as our excuse for trampling on their rights as well as the rights and lives of every other person of color or religious belief who we encountered.
Twelve Years A Slave was 12 years and 1 day too long for Solomon Northup. The 246 years that we allowed and encouraged it here is a stain that will never ever be eradicated. That we are allowing the dark undercurrents that allowed it to thrive, back into our discourse is unforgivable.
What have we learned from history? May not be slaves any longer, but racism and discrimination are alive and well. The colour of your skin or what religion you follow does not make you a lesser person. I think that racism to some degree is just human nature, we all like to be with our own tribe. But that doesn’t lessen the value of other tribes.
pretty sure Trump is going to start another world war.
Thanks for another engaging essay! The cruelty some people are capable of inflicting on other human beings never ceases to amaze me.
“It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.
The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.”
— Pete Buttugieg
How about we try something new in 2026? Perhaps a positive or uplifting comment, just once in a while. Perhaps take a page from the Venezuelan people who are dancing in the streets. Just a thought.
Right back at ya’! Terrible example, btw.
All emotions start out as love. Later, that love is
worked on by the forces of luck and suffering.
Hate is just soured love.
Fear is wounded love.
Longing is homeless love.
Love, not pain, is the mother. Love is the taproot.
— Amity Gaige
"Long ago, there was a noble word, liberal, which derives from the word free. Now a strange thing happened to that word. A man named Hitler made it a term of abuse, a matter of suspicion, because those who were not with him were against him, and liberals had no use for Hitler. And then another man named McCarthy cast the same opprobrium on the word ... We must cherish and honor the word free or it will cease to apply to us."
-- Eleanor Roosevelt
Keep in mind that the people of Venezuela went to the polls and overwhelmingly elected Elena Machado as their president and Maduro pulled a trump and took over as president so they may be glad that he’s gone. Don’t think for one moment though that Venezuelans or Latinos overall are thrilled with what this “president” has pulled. I live in a Latino country and there have already been protests in our capital city. Trump has already threatened this country which puts me and everyone like me at risk. They may pull all sorts of mess in their own country but resent the hell out of an outside force coming in and pushing them around. Wouldn’t you? Also, the political game isn’t over just because we’ve captured the king and queen. This will have far reaching ramifications that will be felt around the world. You might be interested in the short clip I’m including that illustrates what I’ve written. https://youtu.be/NdUnN7jdkfQ?si=LvKSjFsiAuSHCq2B
“For a brief moment, some Venezuelans allowed themselves to celebrate.”
“When they learned on Saturday that strongman Nicolás Maduro had been seized by U.S. Special Forces, many group chats filled with messages of joy and relief. Some people cried. One family in Caracas opened a bottle of champagne they had bought months earlier and saved for a special occasion. After more than a decade of living under Maduro, there were cautious hopes for a different future.”
“By Monday, however, those feelings had been replaced by more familiar ones: fear, dread and uncertainty.”
— Washington Post
Dancing in the streets? Only for a few minutes until reality set in. Perhaps it will one day for you as well.
Just a thought….
Keep in mind that the people of Venezuela went to the polls and overwhelmingly elected Maria Machado as their president and Maduro pulled a trump and took over as president so they may be glad that he’s gone. Don’t think for one moment though that Venezuelans or Latinos overall are thrilled with what this “president” has pulled. I live in a Latino country and there have already been protests in our capital city. Trump has already threatened this country which puts me and everyone like me at risk. They may pull all sorts of mess in their own country but resent the hell out of an outside force coming in and pushing them around. Wouldn’t you? Also, the political game isn’t over just because we’ve captured the king and queen. This will have far reaching ramifications that will be felt around the world. You might be interested in the short clip I’m including that illustrates what I’ve written. https://youtu.be/NdUnN7jdkfQ?si=LvKSjFsiAuSHCq2B
I have written more than once about The Equal Justice Initiative and memorial as well as the museum across from it that is all located in the heart of the Deep South slave trade, Montgomery, Alabama. For anyone with a conscience, spending just 5 minutes in either place will have you in tears just seeing the stories of the inhumanity that we whites perpetrated on our fellow humans because of skin color. What is even more gross is that the Bible was used as our excuse for trampling on their rights as well as the rights and lives of every other person of color or religious belief who we encountered.
Twelve Years A Slave was 12 years and 1 day too long for Solomon Northup. The 246 years that we allowed and encouraged it here is a stain that will never ever be eradicated. That we are allowing the dark undercurrents that allowed it to thrive, back into our discourse is unforgivable.
What have we learned from history? May not be slaves any longer, but racism and discrimination are alive and well. The colour of your skin or what religion you follow does not make you a lesser person. I think that racism to some degree is just human nature, we all like to be with our own tribe. But that doesn’t lessen the value of other tribes.
pretty sure Trump is going to start another world war.