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I periodically share my thoughts and feeling through poems, metaphors, pictures, or something of which was a teachable moment for me. Moreover, I encourage others to do likewise. Sharing our feelings is the same as giving, as it brings a people closer in unity. Some may see the existence of harmony in a different light, such as having each other’s back when they are in need. True integration is much broader, as in the keywords of the African-American proverb from slavery: “Each One Teach One.”

Today December 26th is day one of Kwanzaa, the day to focus on Umoja (Unity). Kwanzaa is a celebration held in the United States and other nations of the African Diaspora in the Americas. The traditional way to observe Umoja is as follows: A black candle, placed right in the middle of red and green candles in Kinara, is lit on the very first day of the festival. It marks the commencement of the festive season. The person who takes the responsibility to light the candle makes a statement about the first principle i.e. Umoja (oo-MOH-jah) or unity. All the family members should listen to the statement and understand it in a way that all of them can explain the doctrine and its meaning. At times that particular member shares a passage or poem which is related to their lives and the principle in some way or the other. (Sharing) The Umoja (Unity cup) filled with fruit juice, is passed to all the members present in that congregating spot, some would correlate this in the way we stimulate communion with God.

Sharing from the heart without vilification is the pure-rest form of love; allowing one to be themselves free of the fear of being judged. Matthew 7:1 Sharing from the heart is the subliminal teacher of self-worth to our children, for they are the flowering sponges for whatever hits their ears. Fear of ridicule is the number one enemy to an empathic heart and nutritional stunting to an otherwise inspiring mind.

In a society where negativity is more prevalent because of social media, doubt can become an inhibitor of faith. It props open the doors for the bullies of the world.

Romans 1:17 ” For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

He who lacks faith can be a bookmark for failure. In the words of Michelle Obama from her new book “The Making of Michelle”; she writes “Failure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result.”

For all intended purposes, it is fair to say…. Our country is in a pickle.   No one knows for sure who is running the justice department; the stock market is crashing, no Attorney General, no Chief of Staff, the only adult in the room, the Secretary of Defense gave notice of intent because it was impossible to compete with Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter.  There have been more than 50 administration people in Trump’s orbit who have been fired, resigned or left for unknown reasons.  Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 33 people and three companies that we know.  Healthcare is in crisis, and right now, the Federal government is partially shut down because of a wall.

In 1987 President Reagan made a speech in West Berlin, Germany telling Mikhail Gorbachev the Soviet Union, “Tear down this wall.” Now Putin, Russia, the old Soviet Union is praising Trump for pulling out of Syria. Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops came only weeks after Putin and Saudi Crown Prince high-fived at the G20 summit.  We’ll never know the private conversation between  Putin and Trump in Helsinki, a complete smack in the face to the people of the United States, compounded by Trump believing the Saudi’s Prince explanation for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi over our nation’s Intelligence Agencies.  Trump is making Nixon look like a saint.

In honor of the recently departed, the late 41st president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, I would like a kinder, gentler nation.

In an era of rapacious fake news, hacking of emails, politicians trolling each other, election tampering, and the banning of a news reporter, one must wonder about censorship in blogging i.e., “A Tweet for the President of these United States,” posted almost two years ago, February of 2017 @        In an era of rapacious fake news, hacking of emails, politicians trolling of each other, election tampering, and the banning of a news reporter, one must wonder about censorship in blogging i.e. I posted “A Tweet for the President of these United States,” almost two years ago, February of 2017 @ book mystory domain. blog.   I have high regards for the office of the presidency, as a 22-year veteran of the US Navy, honorably serving under the banner of free speech.  However, in the words of Denzel Washington, “Anything you practice you can get good at, including BS.”   The current president by any standard of sensibility has proven himself a liar, yet still commands a fortyish approval rating, sending free speech to a new height of hypocrisy.  For me, blogging/tweeting the truth to a free and mostly sensible America is not a poor man’s portal. “A Tweet for the President of the United States,” in my opinion has become proof positive, censorship is alive and well of my site https://bookmystorydomain.blog/.  The stats after that blog showed a sharp decline.  Go-figure?.  I have high regards for the office of the presidency as a 22-year veteran of the US Navy, honorably serving under the banner of free speech. However, in the words of Denzel Washington, “Anything you practice, you can get good at, including BS.” The current president, by any standard of sensibility, has proven himself a liar yet still commands a forty-ish approval rating, sending free speech to a new height of hypocrisy. For me, blogging/tweeting the truth to a mostly free and sensible America is not a poor man’s portal. “A Tweet for the President of the United States,” in my opinion, was proof, censored, further creating censorship of my site https://bookmystorydomain.blog/. The stats after that blog showed a sharp decline. Go-figure?

 

Recently I completed the books  “Capitalism,” The Unknown Ideal:  by  Ayn Rand and “Winners Take All” The Elite Charade: by Anand Giridharadas.   Many of us take certain things in life for granted with assumptions placed on our individual intellects. Subduing our emotions to the humdrum of —-“That’s just the way life is.” Thoughts are the seeds of the imagination, but complacency is the unplugged hole in a sinking ship.    Many of us don’t read, especially about history. For myself, I will never be too old to learn to understand, as I flower from season to season, soaking up the wisdom of life. I read to gain knowledge, thereby putting the critical bugs of life into perspective.  In the soil of things, I feel compelled to share, planting seeds, for open minds to water.  i.e.

 In 1917 the year my mother was born, the Russians were demanding land and freedom, but they got Lenin and Stalin. In 1933 two years before my brother Nathaniel was born, the Germans were demanding room to live, but what they got was Hitler. While Africans were being transported to North America in 1793, the French were shouting for liberty, equality, and fraternity, but what they got was Napoleon. In 1776, Americans were proclaiming citizens’ rights and achieved it by severing political ties with Great Britain, and the Declaration of Independence was signed. However, slavery existed for nearly another 100 years. In 2008, America elected a Black as President and he, Obama again in 2012.  However, then complacency set in.  The hole in the ship remained unplugged, and we got Trump.  Reading is Fundamental.

By ignoring the noise in the wall, the rat will someday get in the closet, in the pantry, and soon may nibble at your feet.  “Each one teach one.” African American proverb. It started in the church.

After a series of confrontations with three black women reporters this week by #45, I must share my thoughts.

When I was a child, a wise woman told me about people who call people names with four letter words. She said they have small minds, which mean they can’t think fast enough to same something intelligent. It’s called stupid …. because they don’t read. So don’t grow up ignorant.       >>>>  That woman was my mother.   Ladies, I salute you.

       Super Bowl Sunday is one of America’s most united days, all because of the bliss of football.  All through the season, we support our specific teams and then come together one day of the year to cheer on one of two outstanding teams. However, the polarization of our society with violence has overtly slithered into America’s greatest pastime.  On Sunday, October 2, Joseph Bauer, a former U.S. Marine and a Raven fan, was struck in the head by one of two football fans from New York. The fact he had served our country was the hard part for me. The situation and looking back on the discourse, it didn’t help that a statement of a violent nature had been blatantly boosted and perpetrated by a candidate for president of the United States.

     The statement described above was the preamble in a tweet I addressed to the 45th president of the greatest country in the world on February 6, 2017. Nineteen months later, in one week’s time, we’ve had Robert Bowers and Cesar Sayoc, not to mention Gregory Bush, at a Kroger store in Jeffersontown, Ky. Dylann Roof – Charleston, SC. Omar Mateen — Orlando, Fl. with Charlottesville, VA. A blatant exhibition, and the list is perpetually longer going back in my living memory to the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Al.

There is something seriously wrong with the adults in the room when one man can continuously divide us through the tactic of hate and fear.

The least I ask is to share this tweet and visit……..    https://bookmystorydomain.blog/2017/02/06/a-tweet-for-the-president-of-these-united-states/             and  VOTE!

For, “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”

This blog originally posted November 2017  and again March 15, 2018, is in support of our youth around the nation and the  “March for Our Lives Students.”

The expectations of my book “Guidance Against the Odds” and the webpage http://www.bookmystory.net, is entirely motivational. With the core focus on inspiring young minds to read, to study history and to reach out to other youths across the nation, while learning the art of communicating by listening with empathy rather than immediate discord.  With a world measured by speed, data delight, sound bites of negativity, and while politicians with social discourse increasingly becoming common core, there is a need for stability of reasoning. In short, first and foremost, a provocation for those who know and understand the cause and effect from the demagoguery of the pass and a brainwave for the millions who are turned off by the bully mindset that prevails in America today. “The Audacity of the Millennia’s,” a rhetorical statement, meant as a stimulus, to and for a generation (for the most part) who within a decade or so will be moving into the eldership of the most powerful nation on earth. A mental make-up of divisiveness, a non-demonstrative direction of leadership growing deeper in a country which purposively stands for “Liberty and Justice for All,” must be changed, before divisiveness takes us to the point of no return.  The adjective “United” and the noun “States” contrasts’ to the infinity with the present leadership of these United States.

“Tear down this wall!” is a line from a speech made by President Reagan on June 12, 1987, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin.  In 1961, a wall was built.   For those who know history, it does not matter the political reasons of the time, just that it divided people; feeding on fear and hate as it’s motivation. It took 28 years with America’s involvement before the wall was torn down. In 2017, 28 years later narcissism and the conversation about building walls, feeding ounce again on fears and prejudices as a means for political dominance plagues the freest country in the world.

The Audacity of the Millennia’s, I would hope, is not to follow in the footsteps of generation “X.”  Generation X, parents of Millennia’s, population approximately 41 million are known as the generation having the lowest voting participation rate of any generation. Generation Xers have been quoted by Newsweek as “the generation that dropped out without ever turning on the news or tuning into the social issues around them,” giving suspect to the missing links with constructive communications today.

It would be a misnomer to say that Millennia’s are the same, with the “I” and “Smart” phones at their fingertips breakfast lunch and dinner. The question is, will Millennia’s smell the bacon and seal the yoke?

People have this incredible ability to rationalize, invent, justify, falsify and distort through cognitive dissonance, but it’s the receiver of the distortion both mentally and physically who absorbs the blows.

“The hitter can never be the judge. Only the receiver of the blow can tell you how hard it was, whether it would kill a man or make a baby just yawn.”
― Edward P. Jones, The Known World

The Teaching of hypocrisy unto perfidy unto the youth of this nation has become the norm.  Our citizens live in two worlds, and neither the twain shall meet.  “When Good Men do Nothing,” (which by the way is the title of a book, the setting, Phenix City, Alabama, 1954) and a White House aide making a statement, “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” denotes duplicity to the highest. Now there’s an op-ed, some would say from a gutless wonder using the word “lodestar,” and the coffee-boy is sentenced to prison.

“A Colony in a Nation,” is one of those two worlds, and the other contains “Fire and Fury” from the “Unhinged” personality of a man who employs an atmosphere of “Fear.”

As a retired Chief Petty Officer USN and the author of the book “Guidance Against the Odds,” I felt obligated to go on the record, with three tweets; one each to the President, the Speaker of the House and the Chief of Staff;  foreseeing that  “The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.”  Ayn Rand, “Capitalism:” The Unknown Ideal, 1966.

The President:

https://bookmystorydomain.blog/2017/02/06/a-tweet-for-the-president-of-these-united-states/

The Speaker

https://bookmystorydomain.blog/2018/02/15/to-the-speaker-of-the-house/

Chief of Staff

https://bookmystorydomain.blog/2018/01/04/a-plea-to-the-chief-of-staff/

The enemy outside cannot hurt you if there’s no enemy within.