Trump Returns to Mount Rushmore – Same Stage, Six Years Later

Trump is back at Mount Rushmore tonight for America’s 250th anniversary celebration, with remarks and fireworks on the schedule.

Watch it live here [VIDEO]

He did something very similar six years ago in 2020—headlining a Fourth of July event at the same iconic site with a big patriotic speech and the return of fireworks after more than a decade.

Here are a couple of contemporary reports from that visit:

• ABC News on the 2020 event, controversy, and Trump’s personal fascination with the site
• Full archived remarks from the White House

Some moments just have a way of repeating at places like this. Will check in with thoughts after the full event later.

Happy Thanksgiving

 It's not often that I get particularly personal on this blog, however, these holidays are going to be very different this year. My situation change with the lost of a dear loved one.

The family home will be very different and quiet without them. An illness took a toll on them and it was quite a while before knowing what was really going on - they really wouldn't tell anyone it was a shock to most that they made their transition.

Regardless, I still believe in the idea of holiday cheer and perhaps for many of you now I have this eyar to know what it means to essentially celebrate the holidays alone. I do have a large family to rely on so the holidays won't be me totally alone. At the same time, a quiet home during holidays is very appreciated.

Regardless I always enjoy the festiveness of the holidays and certainly to be able to cook meals that I don't normally eat during the year. Though this year it's just me cooking and eating the food.

Sorry to gross you out but it's time to defrost the chitlins that I had bought from the Dixmoor Meat Market out in Chicago's south suburbs. Chitlins is something I do enjoy eating during the holidays and this dear loved one showed me how to prepare and cook them.

Regardless I don't want reveal too much about who this person was to me as this isn't that kind of blog. I miss her in the worst way and even if she wasn't at home, my only wish is to be able to call her and talk to her one more time.

To be honest in the past I had offered "easter eggs" of close people who I had lost over the years. And given that this blog has been around almost 20 years, I'll leave it up to you to find those two random names mentioned over the years.

I hope if you're enjoy a quite home that you take this holiday season as a time of self-reflection. Hopefully, the next holiday season you take the timeout to celebrate with the people you care about.

Credit: USA Today

New Year Renewal!

 This year I've had religion on my mind a lot. I've been watching mostly Catholic church services via YouTube primarily the services at St. Sabina in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the south side. 

I realize there are other Catholic churches I could follow online, however, I gravitated towards St. Sabina because aside from Cardinal Cupich, Father Michael Pfleger is the only Catholic priest of note in Chicago that I know of. And interestingly he was just reinstated to his duties at the St. Sabina Parish because he had been hit with abuse allegations which has been found to be unfounded.

Either way it's been on my mind since at least the fall and I had been looking not just at St. Sabina there is another south side Catholic church Our Lady of Africa I had been watching services there also. That is a bit more traditional compared to St. Sabina.

Now to be honest I'm not a church going man and I'm not always referring to my Bible at home often enough. Perhaps in 2023 that needs to change as I seek the one thing that never happened, I've never been baptized. I've never formally joined a church or declared my faith.

My experience with church going has largely been the Black church. I'm most familiar with the boisterousness of faith at the churches I've been to in my life. And the music, I've been to churches with not just an organist or even a choir they have a full band. I've seen people step and shout if they're feeling the service. And Christianity has developed a diversity of how people express their faith it's wonderful.

However once must find their way. I discovered this YouTube channel recently called the Black Catholic Chick and she talks about how she grew up Catholic attended Catholic schools and got away from the faith for a time. Then once she wanted to believe again she tried a "Black church" and found out that well she was more at home in a Catholic church.

Well great story, but that's not my story. My story is where would I feel at home. I suppose for rather superficial reasons I like to do things differently. Being Catholic is different, not necessarily the answer. Though I've come to recognize that quiet meditation as opposed to boisterousness is the right way to go for myself.

With that being said as we are approaching a new year on this day (tomorrow will be 2023) I think one resolution for the next year is to find my faith. Next year is a renewal in a number of ways, however, perhaps spirituality will be one renewal I will seek. So perhaps it's time to start reading and asking questions and getting the answers I need to make my own choices.

Perhaps you might be hearing the stories of a Black male convert to some denomination of Christianity.

Happy New Year! 

ALSO, forgot to note this morning I woke up to the news that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI - he resigned the papacy in 2013 - had passed away. He was said to be battling illness and the news had seemed to be pointing that he was at the end of his life sadly. In fact he was the first Pope that I had seen installed as he succeeded Pope John Paul II in 2005. And of course his current successor is the currently serving Pope Francis.

Mark Dice: A woke thanksgiving

 

[VIDEO] On the same vein from last nite's post Mark Dice this time takes on the subject of "woke" Thanksgiving. The references to the colonizer and racist origins of this most wonderful and festive holiday. Deconstructing the historic notions of Thanksgiving that most of us at a certain age had been taught as early as grammar errr....grade school.

Ben Shapiro watches woke Thanksgiving TikToks

 

[VIDEO] Thanksgiving is one of those American traditions or holidays that are under attack by the American left. Basically the narrative of the American Indi.....Indigenous American (honestly I like that better) feast with the English Pilgrams have often been deconstructed. It becomes a story not of Thanksgiving but of Thankstaking and how the Europeans came to take over the land that was basically held by the Indigenous peoples of the New World.

Well there are TikToks about European colonization of the Americas. One TikTok illustrates how the Aztecs thought the Spanish smelled back which quickly becomes Europeans didn't bathe at all. And Ben Shapiro discusses the concepts of public baths in ancient Rome and of course the ancient Aztecs engaging in human sacrifice.

How did TikTok become such a cesspool of thought that inspired a twitter account noting the leftist insanity that are being posted on that social media site.

Hickok45: Three iconic US military rifles

 

[VIDEO] Something different for this special holiday weekend. Hopefully we'll have a summer much different than last year with the pandemic and of course we're marking the year of George Floyd's untimely demise although we might consider the image many of us have in our heads about his last moments. Regardless we went through a lot during the past year that Hickock shares with us the rifles used by the U.S. military during the 20th century.

During the first World War the doughboys of that era utilized a Springfield rifle five round bolt action rifle. Then in the second World War the GIs of that era utilized the eight round M1 Garand which were also used during the Korean conflict. Then starting in Vietnam and with many changes up to the present day the military uses the M-16 rifle which could shoot more than 30 rounds. Just a progression of technologies in keeping with the prevailing military doctrines of their respective eras.

With this said, we've been through a lot the past year and don't let anyone fool you America is the greatest nation on Earth. Sadly many people want to tear this nation down and bring it to some of her worst moments. Perhaps you have someone in your life like that a friend or acquaintance or even family who insist in bringing up your lowest moments. That's where we are right now.

Let's not deny that we have some moments in our history that we aren't proud of. The ones who want to say mostly negative things about America or even about some of her people don't really want better days. They want to continue to wallow in their own negativity. I don't have the best answer to how to address the negativity that we're hearing not just on our media, but from many of our leaders.

We must tune them out somehow and we can create a more inclusive America with a brighter future. And with these various rifles or any future weapons we need good people brave enough to fight for her. America has issues with race, but America isn't a racist nation. We must fight to keep her that way and to do that we must avoid condemning one race or another for some perceived or created sleight.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day all! 

Happy Holidays and taking a short break

 I'm going to take Xmas Eve and Xmas Day off from this blog. I will also take New Years Eve and New Years Day off from this blog. As I tweeted last nite, sometimes you just have to unplug. Of course I won't entirely unplug things are still going on around the world.

Perhaps you may be paying attention to my long running blog, I'm thinking Xmas is a good time for a holiday there. You got to unplug sometimes.

— Levois J (@levois) December 23, 2020

2020 has been the wildest year in the world in memory, I think only 2001 was wild. However the events that took place just about 20 years ago doesn't compare to the weirdness of '20. The pandemic, the unrest, and unfortunately this election.

I had predicted to a college classmate in '16 that whoever won that race would lose in '20. And while I'm just not happy about it, that seems to have come to pass this year. My frame of reference for that was the mudslinging between Hillary Clinton and Trump. With the situations that have come to pass this year I'm pretty sure Clinton wouldn't have gotten a second term even with help from the media, the same media who's continually attacked Trump and he in turn attacked them.

On the other hand things were humming along until coronavirus and these lockdowns and I knew Trump would have a harder time. Of course there were other things I factored in including the riots over the summer and the measures taken for the election owing to the pandemic. So I should've anticipated how weird things were going to be in November and we're still processing.

BTW, I just need to share this with you now I'm seeing something about Georgia legislators attempting to decertify the results of the 2020 presidential election there. While its hope for those who don't want Biden to take office next month, I don't know if this gambit will take off. I think there are a few moving parts that won't cooperate in that. However, time will tell as the US Congress will still count all electoral votes on January 6, '21.

So, I just wanted to add that I had been planning on writing a post about the 2006 election. If '20 was rough on voters or even '16, '06 was rough on me. Probably in those latter elections a foregone conclusion went sideways and likely due to some intervening events.

In '06 I didn't really recognize this at the time, but it was a wave year. The Iraqi war wasn't going very well and that went down the ballot and voters decided to vote Democrat. Democrats regained control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the early 1990s. Nancy Pelosi made history as the first woman Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

For me in that year I paid attention to two races. I wanted Rod Blagojevich out of the governor's office and thought perhaps Illinois would elect the late Judy Baar Topinka in his stead. They didn't, if I recall that race was called very early that evening on election day. Topinka then the state treasurer didn't have a chance, was it because of the wave year? Yeah I do think so, Blago as a great campaigner though a terrible governor likely took advantage of this.

Another race locally that I kept an eye on was for Cook County Board President well the choices there weren't as clear cut. Basically the incumbent was named John Stroger and a short time before the '06 primary he suffered a health issue and was incapacitated. There was some Weekend at Bernie's type things going on around him but ultimately he needed to be taken off the ballot and in his stead was his son Todd Stroger.

I'm sure the argument at the time to justify this nepotism was the white folks were getting away with this type of thing so why shouldn't we do it. Stroger - probably similarly to other attempts at handing off an elected office to a close relative - was simply not a remarkable public servant. He had served in the Illinois House of Representatives and as a Chicago Alderman and I don't recall much from him. He wasn't visible though perhaps for some politicos that was perfect because it's not always good to make waves in that world.

Well his opponent was Republican Tony Peraica - who was a suburban Cook County Commissioner. I was all in on him, but as it turned out '06 was a bad year. And I will bet that Black voters went all in on Stroger handing him his legendary father's old office which he would hold for only one term. Todd was often lauded for his finance acumen, however, unlike Blago he just didn't have great political skill.

We all know what happened with Blago he gets re-elected and perhaps two years after his re-election he would be arrested by the FBI, impeached and removed from office. Then he went to trial twice as the first trial resulted in a mistrial and the second trial resulted in him getting a long sentence. That sentence was commuted earlier this year and you might find him on Newsmax talking about Democrat politics.

I just gave you a taste of what I wanted to write about but never got it down to my satisfaction.

Meanwhile I hope you all enjoy your holidays. In these trying times I hope you make it a good one.

Happy Thanksgiving, all

 

[VIDEO] Well here's a rather unorthodox send off as we close out this holiday, we get to see a grab bag from Virtual Railfan. It starts off what what I believe is a rocket launch near one of their webcams in Plant City, Florida. Of course that among other clips from their various webcams over the past two days with a duration of over 35 mins.

It's great to have a bit of a break from the crazy world of politics. It's great to get away from the news regarding this ongoing pandemic.

I hope you're counting your blessings this holiday season.

Happy indigenous people day???

[VIDEO] Mark Dice talks about the liberal/progressive attacks on Thanksgiving.

I see they even want to rename Thanksgiving Indigenous People Day. Really? I thought that was to be the new name for Columbus Day which I wouldn't have a huge issue with. Get it together people what days do you want to rename we can't have multiple holidays with the moniker Indigenous People Day...

Anyway we should know from grade school the history of today's holiday. Pilgrims landed in New England (Plymouth Rock?) and had a feast with the Native American Indians at least to give thanks for those indigenous people helping those European colonists.

The man in the arena

This should be my charge going forward seen and heard in a number of places. This was a quote used when Extreme Championship Wrestling went bankrupt in 2001. Posted to the ECW website by owner Paul Heyman.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.  

What will be your charge in 2017?

This is a quote from a speech made in 1910 by former President Theodore Roosevelt considered one of our greatest presidents.

Happy new year

I know at this point it's now 5 days into 2016. While I wrote a lot about my job hunting frustration in 2014 things have settled down the past 13 months or so have been filled with a small amount of setbacks to great beginnings. What I hope for in this new year is a continuance of my good fortune.

I also wish the same for many of you who continue to read this blog although it seems I haven't devoted enough attention that has been seen in the past.

Happy holidays

[VIDEO] I can't believe the holidays are upon us already so here is Jingle Bells with barking dogs. 2015 has proven to be interesting in a variety of ways in my personal life and in the news. I couldn't cover everything, but next year we have a presidential election to go through. Hopefully I can put some time into exploring that next year.

Who will succeed America's first Black American President? We shall see none of the candidates on either side seem very promising so far.

Either way Merry Christmas everyone!

It's now Christmas Eve

You know I think this is time for break although this blog hasn't really seen furious posting at all this year. And for sure there will be a break for this weekend and I'll fill you in as to what's going on this weekend.

BTW for the winter, it's now snowing on this blog. It's also snowing over at my Shedd School blog. In fact, I made it happen there first and now it works here as well.

I hope you all have a safe and merry Christmas.

Black Friday sales down

In light of what happened in Ferguson, Missouri recently I've seen a lot of people on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram talking about boycotting the most hallowed day of these holidays - the day where people wait to shop for the latest deals. The deals that will result in Christmas presents to be opened only on that most hallowed holiday near the end of the year.

Whatever happened it apparently worked. People haven't been happy about the unrest of Ferguson. Although let's be honest here I understood that consumers boycotted Black Friday because they didn't agree with the idea that many retail workers had to not be with their families on Thanksgiving.

Besides, the earlier stores opened on Thanksgiving the less time these workers spend with their families. I had a job that I worked on the holidays it wasn't my idea but I got paid. Although as time goes on and you know people at work there is a way to get the day off if you need it.

Regardless, did you all choose to shop on Black Friday. Why or why not?

Happy New Year!

Sooooo, we are about to conclude the first day of the new year 2014. Here's hoping the rest of the year proves to be a great one for everyone. It began cold and snowy here in Chicago, but spring & summer will be just around the corner. Since we just got past the first day of winter on Dec. 21st, the days will only get longer from here. Let's make the most of it! :)

Resolutions

It's that time of year and while Christmas is always fun, I always look forward to New Year's. Now more than ever that day is representative of new beginnings.

That's what that means now more than ever. Since last year I've resolved to find another job, but it seems this past year I can't help but run into some type of disappointment. It's still a resolution that is achieveable this year and it just means that there's a way to make it happen.

Is that the only? Of course not, as there are other goals I hope to achieve this year.

Being healthier for one thing and that means better maintenance of my body in more ways than one. Healthier eating, more exercise and a trip to a doctor couldn't hurt either.

Also going back to the job, what do I expect to achieve. Benefits and better pay that will always be important to me. And something that has been elusive unfortunately.

Also, is it time for me to go back to school? At the very least learn some more skills that I hadn't learned in my years at a community college and at Morehouse. It's time to consider taking some business course starting with some accounting at least.

There are other resolutions that I may come up with as the time comes for New Year's. I do sincerely hope that you will resolve the many goals you may have for 2014.

Dave Ramsey: 20 things the rich do every day...

I wonder if this is true. The list you will read at DaveRamsey.com, does the rich truly engage in these many behaviors? Better yet, I would wonder if this has less to do with your income as the individual. Successful people engage in these behaviors from the day they were born wether or not they grew up poor or wealthy. To be sure this list is certainly one way to start with making your New Year's resolutions.

I know it's Christmas so, hopefully you would consider this your early Christmas present.

VIDEO: Bill Tull's Budget Holiday Tips

[VIDEO] As per usual when Conan O'Brien shares his Budget Holiday tips for 2013, hilarity ensues. How do they come up with this stuff. "Yule tide", a "snowman", a "silent night", or even "tinsel" man stuff you can never imagine but this makes for good comedy.

I just hope you all don't even attempt to procure a bag of cocaine & stick a carrot in it.

Still this is worth a good laugh!

Decemeber is here!

I can't believe we're at the end of the year. It seemed summer was just yesterday. I was already looking forward to the holidays starting with Thanksgiving. Now we have to look forward to Christmas and New Years. Most importantly this month is my birthday month.

I never have a celebration for my birthday as many people do, but at least this place and others on the 1n73rw3bs is where we can celebrate. Perhaps in the near future there should be a celebrations just not sure how to plan it or what I should do. If there is a will there is a way!

As always Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well it's that time of year again and it seemed to have approached so fast. Recently I wrote a post about what a difficult time finding another job can be, however, there are some things to feel thankful for. That includes employment, a place to stay, and still being able to feed myself.

In any event, there is something I may need to resolve this year. Perhaps one day to serve those who have very little to be thankful for. Everyone needs to eat at least and while it's never my personal policy to hand people money begging for food it's OK to go to a soup kitchen and feed the hungry. It's also OK to donate food to a pantry so that those who are in need can still get what they need to eat.

It's tough times out there and there's no way to put a mask over it. There are people out there who aren't able to get ahead in their lives. Let's hope that when New Year's Day rolls around that they will find a way to resolve that something must change. As will I when 2014 comes around.

And as was written in another post recently, this has always been a festive time of year and wish that it occurs throughout the year. Sadly it doesn't, but it's even more important to make the most of these holidays while you still can.

Me personally it's a time to rest and relax. Many of you do so with friends and family. Some of you engage in charitable causes or fulfill religious obligations. Whatever it is you do this holiday season, hopefully it's very satisfying to you!