I ran into technical difficulties trying to embed this video, so here's the link instead. It's Trevor Noah on Comedy Central discussing Trump's effort to get the black vote.
White America’s Definitive Code of Conduct for Black Athletes And if you don’t follow these rules, you’ll get Kaepernicked. BY: MICHAEL HARRIOT
Recently, black athletes have faced an enormous amount of scrutiny for their untoward behavior. They have continually sullied the regard and expectations of the virtuous masses of the noble, patriotic public by showing contempt for the spectators, fans and America itself. As such, we have assembled one of the whitest teams since (insert hockey team name here) to create this definitive code of conduct as both an instruction guide and a manual for how black professional athletes should represent themselves, their individual sports and their country.
Donald Trump volunteers are signing a lifelong contract never to criticize him
By Jeff Stein
Sign up to volunteer for Donald Trump’s campaign, and you might be giving up more than you bargained for.
Earlier this week, reporters began poring over the 2,271-word nondisclosure agreement that Trump’s campaign requires its volunteers sign. The forms are extraordinarily broad, virtually prohibiting any volunteers from criticizing Trump or his family for the rest of their lifetimes, according to Rachel Sklar, a lawyer and CNN contributor.
Racism is much more complex than we like to imagine. It's more than a word; it's a system that is backed up money, politics and the criminal justice system. We live in a country where when media pundits called U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte, a 32-year-old man, a "kid," for lying about his brotastic experience at the Rio Olympics, but a Cleveland police officer can kill Tamir Race for doing just that – being a kid. A country where Kaepernick is deemed as being unpatriotic, for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech, but Dylann Roof can burn the American flag and walk into an A.M.E. church and murder people. A country where a presidential candidate whose slogan is "Make America Great Again," wants to criticize a black man who just wants justice is the epitome of not just hypocrisy, but it's also downright fucking absurd. Black lives seem to matter on game day when America needs to be entertained. The rest of the week, not so much.
http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/what-white-fans-dont-understand-about-black-athletes-w437292?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=083116_12
What Colin Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest Tells Us About America When black athletes choose to point their aggression towards larger, systematic inequalities, there's always backlash By Morgan Jerkins
While black men only make up six percent of the American population, they comprise a staggering seventy percent of NFL rosters. However, their power is mainly found on the field, since there are currently no African-Americans who are a majority owner of any team and no African-American CEOs or Presidents. The majority of NFL players are black, while the NFL fan base is 83 percent white and 64 percent male. These are people who pay staggering amounts of money to watch black men who have their bodies battered on the field. As long as they run and tackle, keep their helmets on, and their mouths shut, then they are acceptable to the white mainstream public. However, when black athletes choose to point their aggression not towards each other but to larger, systematic inequalities, that's when the backlash begins.
White 49ers fans posted videos burning Kaepernick's jersey and actor Chris Meloni took to Twitter to criticize Kaepernick’s method of political protest, because, as the Law & Order: SVU star saw it, the quarterback was disrespecting the American flag (Meloni later deleted the tweet). People swarmed social media, calling Kaepernick a disgrace, that he was a privileged rich athlete, that he was equally arrogant and ignorant to the sacrifices of American soldiers. And it all had a familiar ring to it.
This outcry is reminiscent of Muhammad Ali's political activism when he refused to enlist in the Vietnam War in 1967. David Susskind, an American television host, said, "I find nothing amusing or interesting or tolerable about this man. He's a disgrace to his country, his race, and what he laughingly describes as his profession." The man that today we call "The Greatest" was ridiculed all across the country and media. "My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America," he said. "And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. … Shoot them for what?" What Kaepernick and Ali as black athletes unleash through their political activism is a rupture in what is expected of them and how their allegiance to this country has never been rightfully earned.
Toni Morrison once said, "In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate." Kaepernick's protest, just as Ali's refusal to participate in the Vietnam War, tapped into an entrenched, historical fear of race in this country, that blackness is by default anti-American.
Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery By Jon Schwarz
BEFORE A PRESEASON GAME on Friday, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” When he explained why, he only spoke about the present: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. … There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Twitter then went predictably nuts, with at least one 49ers fan burning Kaepernick’s jersey.
Almost no one seems to be aware that even if the U.S. were a perfect country today, it would be bizarre to expect African-American players to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Why? Because it literally celebrates the murder of African-Americans.
Few people know this because we only ever sing the first verse. But read the end of the third verse and you’ll see why “The Star-Spangled Banner” is not just a musical atrocity, it’s an intellectual and moral one, too:
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
~~~~~~~~~~
So when Key penned “No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,” he was taking great satisfaction in the death of slaves who’d freed themselves. His perspective may have been affected by the fact he owned several slaves himself.
Mr. Church: Just Another Film About a Black Man Being a White Woman’s Servant This country has a fetish for black male subservience that translates into beloved, subservient characters on-screen. BY: KIRSTEN WEST SAVALI
And just like The Help—in which the white woman, who is firmly centered even as the black person drives the story, ends up writing a book and profiting from the labor of black people—in Mr. Church, the white woman is dependent, emotionally and financially, upon that black labor for her survival.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with black people being cooks, chauffeurs, doormen and maids. Black people are experts at finding a way or making one. And this is not about respectability politics and needing to see ourselves fully assimilated into a white supremacist capitalist power structure that forces people to value themselves by how many zeros are on their paychecks.
This is about liberal white fantasies of saving black people from themselves even as white people are served and saved by those very same black people. It is also in keeping with the constant barrage of imagery that reinforces the power dynamic that black people are a perpetual servant class with conditional access to society. Rule No. 1: Appear as nonthreatening as possible. This is what springs from the minds of white creatives far too often—the idea of black men as invisible men used for protection, under no assumptions or expectations of equity.
An excerpt from the New Republic - Hip-Hop Hymnals Why are rappers like Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and Kendrick Lamar finding religion? BY FRANK GUAN
Often imitated, West now has actual disciples. Chance’s own mixtape, Coloring Book, is a match for Pablo in its holy righteousness; meanwhile the West Coast virtuoso Kendrick Lamar, who includes West among his myriad influences, explores sin and redemption on his recent albums. Listen to these three together and a striking trend emerges: Some of the most prominent and critically acclaimed artists in rap are finding religion. At first glance, this could be mistaken for a conservative shift, a retreat into otherworldly rectitude within an art form known for its realism and insolence. But these artists are also at the forefront of the ongoing revival of explicitly political hip hop—and in the context of Black Lives Matter, the religious themes in West, Chance, and Lamar take on a radical edge.
Naked Donald Trump statues pop up in cities across the US
Life-size naked statues of the Republican presidential nominee greeted passers-by in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Cleveland on Thursday. They are the brainchild of an activist collective called INDECLINE, which has spoken out against Trump before.
~~~~~~~~~~
A statue in New York's Union Square quickly drew the attention of people, many of whom posed for photographs with it, before it was removed by the city's parks department.
"NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small," parks spokesman Sam Biederman joked.
White Male Privilege Is Why We Laugh At Lochte And Vilify Douglas Pay close attention to the words being used to describe them. By Emma Gray
Gymnast Gabby Douglas “disrespected” her entire country by not putting her hand on her heart and smiling enough during the Olympics. Swimmer Ryan Lochte is a “kid” who deserves “a break” for allegedly destroying property and lying about a traumatic robbery.
If you were wondering what white, male privilege looks like, this is it.
By COLLIN BINKLEY
Many U.S. medical schools are seeing a surge in the number of people leaving their bodies to science, a trend attributed to rising funeral costs and growing acceptance of a practice long seen by some as ghoulish.
The increase has been a boon to medical students and researchers, who dissect cadavers in anatomy class or use them to practice surgical techniques or test new devices and procedures.
"Not too long ago, it was taboo. Now we have thousands of registered donors," said Mark Zavoyna, operations manager for Georgetown University's body donation program.
The University of Minnesota said it received more than 550 cadavers last year, up from 170 in 2002. The University at Buffalo got almost 600 last year, a doubling over the past decade. Others that reported increases include Duke University, the University of Arizona and state agencies in Maryland and Virginia. ScienceCare, a national tissue bank, now receives 5,000 cadavers a year, twice as many as in 2010.
The significance of Simone Manuel’s swim is clear if you know Jim Crow
There is a reason why 70 percent of black teenagers, like those who died in Shreveport, and 60 percent of Hispanic teenagers can’t swim.
But it isn’t due to some genetic disorder, as some actually believe. It is because of abject irrational racism and Jim Crow and its vestiges.
It is rooted in complete ignorance that somehow the melanin from our skin could wash off, contaminate the water and infect any whites nearby. It is anchored to this country’s historical racial sexual hysteria, an unfounded fear of placing less-clad white women in too-close and contained proximity with black men considered innately lascivious, particularly when it comes to white women.
It can be heard in the scream of the segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1948: “I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there’s not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigger race into our theatres into our swimming pools into our homes and into our churches.”
“I get banned for not liking Bush and now Trump can practically put a hit out on Hillary and he’s still all over country radio! Hypocrites!” - Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks
Americans vacationing overseas find themselves on a Donald Trump apology tour
Yep, this summer, an overseas vacation has become a relentless apology tour, and just about every American with a passport is being interrogated by the rest of the world about our bizarre Republican presidential candidate.
Doaa Elghobashy, left, of Egypt and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany compete in the women’s preliminary beach volleyball during the Olympics in Rio. Credit Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
No area is as sensitive as that of the treatment of women, women’s roles, women’s sexuality, dress and ambitions. The story is often presented as one of Western emancipation versus Islamic subjugation. That, however, is an inadequate characterization.
What follows are accounts by two women, an Egyptian and an American, of their experiences with the hijab. Chadiedja Buijs is a graduate student in Cairo. Norma Moore is a former actress living in Boulder, Colo., who recently visited Iran, where the rules obliged her to adopt Islamic dress codes.
(These accounts make for fascinating reading. To me, the money quote is below).
My hair, the curves in my body, were given to me by God. To cover my head and wear shapeless clothes feels like I am pretending not to be a woman and that somehow I am responsible for keeping men’s sexuality within social bounds.
Here’s the bottom line: There are only three things you can do when it comes time to elect a president. You can stay home and punt; you can choose between the two major party candidates; or you can cop out by doing something that looks like voting but has no effect whatsoever on the outcome of the race.
That includes strategies about writing in the name of a retired general, leaving the top line blank, or voting for a third-party candidate who has as much chance of winning as the YouTube Keyboard Cat.
~~~~~~~~~~
Right now we live in a world that’s been messed up by the bad decisions George W. Bush made about invading Iraq. He was elected president in 2000 thanks to a few hundred votes in Florida. A state where Green Party candidate Ralph Nader got 97,488 votes.
Most of the Green voters undoubtedly thought they were showing their disdain for both Bush and the deeply imperfect candidacy of Al Gore. And Nader is a man of fine principles. But look where those 97,488 votes got us.
An excerpt from the Root - Yes, We Innovate: These 8 Engineers and Scientists Are Creating the Future Today These pros in science, technology, engineering and mathematics are helping to lead the tech revolution. BY: SHERRELL DORSEY
Education: University of Michigan, Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering; master’s degree in space systems engineering
On her career journey: “I am the co-founder and CEO of STEMBoard, a technology-solutions company that specializes in developing defense and intelligence systems. My responsibilities include leading development, expansion and management of STEMBoard’s defense contracts and private-sector clients. Prior to STEMBoard, I was an aerospace engineer at the NASA Ames Research Center.”
On the future of the industry: “A background in aerospace has allowed me to transition from working as a NASA engineer to a CEO of a growing startup. It’s not the education, it’s the application. The inventions we take for granted were all at one point considered unlikely. This is particularly true today, as the best and brightest from the next generation are creating their own jobs rather than waiting for someone to hand them an opportunity. Those with the boldest ideas and the ambition to see them through are the ones who will be most successful.”
My brother, Forrest, has completed his two-year journey of writing his memoir. I'm thrilled to report that it has been published and is available on Amazon. The link is below.
His is a fascinating story of his life as a musician, a federal agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency and a business owner, that began in China, Texas. It is also the story of his transformation from being a straight up cynic to a full-fledged believer. Not a holy-roller, but someone who now recognizes that there are no coincidences, but stepping stones getting us to that place we are destined to be.
Stopping Traffic For Grief
By Rev. Cindy Maddox
To the middle-aged woman who gestured angrily and yelled as we passed...
To the 30-something man in the power suit who honked and forced his black SUV through our line...
To the person who tried to pass us and then moved his car into our lane to block our progress...
Perhaps you don’t know. Perhaps you didn’t recognize the hearse and the flapping flags on the first few cars. Perhaps you didn’t notice that we all had our lights on and our hazards flashing. Perhaps your mama never taught you to show respect to the dead by showing kindness to the grieving.
You couldn’t know, of course, that the woman inside the hearse was only 20 years old. You couldn’t know that she leaves behind parents and siblings and a young husband and a one-year-old baby girl. You couldn’t know anything about the person in that hearse or the many people who followed. But you still could have stopped. You could have waited. You could have recognized that someone else’s pain was greater than your need to get to lunch.
I came across an interesting website that sells books by the foot. The address is
http://www.booksbythefoot.com.
These well-worn biographies will give your library that lived-in and cozy vibe. Hardback books in fair condition or better, these books are perfect for interior decorating, TV/movies/stage/photo props, AND MORE! http://www.booksbythefoot.com/shop/pc/Well-Read-Biographies-4p217.htm
If you're in need of an instant library to show off your literary heft (or your wannabe heft), this is the place to make it happen.
The Mystery Of Why Sunflowers Turn To Follow The Sun — Solved In a newly-published article in Science, the researchers say the young plant's sun-tracking (also called heliotropism) can be explained by circadian rhythms – the behavioral changes tied to an internal clock that humans also have, which follow a roughly 24 hour cycle. A young flower faces east at dawn and greets the sun, then slowly turns west as the sun moves across the sky. During the night, it slowly turns back east to begin the cycle again. "It's the first example of a plant's clock modulating growth in a natural environment, and having real repercussions for the plant," UC Davis professor and study co-author Stacey Harmer says in a press release from the university. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/05/488891151/the-mystery-of-why-sunflowers-turn-to-follow-the-sun-solved
Clint Eastwood has boarded the crazy train, for sure. Does that negate his body of work?
What do you think?
It's hard to watch his movies and not remember the crazy . . . right?
From CNN -
Is it fair to slam Clint Eastwood over Trump support?
By Lewis Beale
But human beings are complex creatures, which means that Eastwood is a set of contradictions. His defense of Trump's comments about Hispanics and Muslims is no doubt reprehensible, and has caused many people to label him as a hardcore racist. But in excoriating him, those same critics have forgotten that for years Eastwood has, in his own way, been one of the most racially sensitive people in Hollywood.
Years ago, a friend pointed out to me that Woody Allen, darling of film critics and urban intellectuals, never seemed to cast any minorities in his films, even in the background.
Yet Clint Eastwood, often reviled for his conservative/libertarian politics, has consistently cast, and acted with, black performers, many of them in key roles -- not just in the "Dirty Harry" films, where for example, Felton Perry played his partner in "Magnum Force," but also in pictures like "Bronco Billy" (Scatman Crothers) and "The Eiger Sanction" (Vonetta McGee). I wrote a piece about this for the Los Angeles Daily News, and to this date, no one has contradicted my findings.
When I was in Sacramento, Ben & Lupe surprised me with an amazing birthday party! It was an incredible treat seeing so many friends, many of whom I hadn't seen since I left the country almost five years ago. HUGE thanks to all of the people who came out.
I partied then, and now I'm in Houston reflecting on the great time I had and counting my blessings for these six decades.
I thank God . . .
For these 60 years, remembering that my brother Terry died at 51. He would have been 61 on August 2nd.
I thank God . . .
For my surviving brothers, Willie & Forrest, and the fact that we have come to understand the importance of keeping in touch, no matter what.
I thank God . . .
For my sons, Ben and Frankie, and their families, as they grow in responsibilty and truly take on the mantle of being grown up and all that that entails.
I thank God . . .
For my friends, many lifelong, and some new, who have helped me to see the world through their eyes.
I thank God . . .
For my time abroad, where I learned more about life and living than I thought possible.
I thank God . . .
For understanding, that no matter what, forgiveness is the key that unlocks the resentment, disillusionment, and hatred that settles so easily, and so subtly in our hearts and minds.
STEPHEN HAWKING ANGERS TRUMP SUPPORTERS WITH BAFFLING ARRAY OF LONG WORDS By Andy Borowitz
Speaking to a television interviewer in London, Hawking called Trump “a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator,” a statement that many Trump supporters believed was intentionally designed to confuse them.
Moments after Hawking made the remark, Google reported a sharp increase in searches for the terms “demagogue,” “denominator,” and “Stephen Hawking.”
“For a so-called genius, this was an epic fail,” Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said. “If Professor Hawking wants to do some damage, maybe he should try talking in English next time.”
Later in the day, Hawking attempted to clarify his remark about the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, telling a reporter, “Trump bad man. Real bad man.”
This Cartoon Captures All You Need To Know About Trump And Clinton In 2016 Cartoonist Joe Heller has a brilliant take on the race for the White House. By Christina Wilkie
“Two Views” by Joe Heller captures the stark contrast between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s message for America and that coming from GOP nominee Donald Trump. Read the words up and down a few times.
Questlove Schools Bill O’Reilly on Slavery
Bill O’Reilly probably doesn’t regret his recent comments about how luxurious slavery was. But some people aren’t finished with offering him a history lesson that he apparently never paid attention to in school. This time it was the Roots’ Questlove.
From the Root - Another Racist Gets Fired Because of Her Tweets
People will one day realize that 1) you need to keep your racism to yourself or 2) Twitter users will find you and tell your employer. BY: YESHA CALLAHAN
The unemployment line now has one more person joining its ranks. And it was all because she was the typical unhinged racist on Twitter.
The Real Reason White People Say ‘All Lives Matter’ by John Halstead
The Problem With “Colorblindness”
If you’re like me, growing up, the word “Black” was always spoken of in whispers in your family. It was like we were saying something taboo. Why was that? Because it was taboo. We might feel more comfortable saying “African-American,” but not “Black.” The reason is that we were raised to believe that “colorblindness” was the ideal for whites. We were taught that we shouldn’t “see color.” And saying the word “Black” was an acknowledgment of the fact that we did “see color.”
The problem with being “colorblind” — aside from the fact that we’re not really — is that it is really a white privilege to be able to ignore race. White people like me have the luxury of not paying attention to race — white or black. The reason is because whiteness is treated as the default in our society. Whiteness is not a problem for white people, because it blends into the cultural background.
Black people, on the other hand, don’t have the luxury of being “colorblind.” They live in a culture which constantly reminds them of their Black-ness, which tells them in a million large and small ways that they are not as important as white people, than their lives actually do not matter as much as white lives. Which is why saying “Black Lives Matter” is so important.
Earlier today Wall Street Journal posted a piece titled “Facebook Blames Lack of Available Talent for Diversity Problem”. Facebook has come to the conclusion that their diversity problem is due to there being too few underrepresented people who have the necessary tech skills to work for them. So instead of looking to find this talent, they are passing off the issue to the public education system.
I am a Black woman who will graduate with a computer science degree from Dartmouth College in less than a year. There are thousands of other Black and Latinx who graduate every year with computer science Bachelor degrees. Most of us don’t get hired into the tech industry. So instead of putting in the effort to look for us, Facebook is ignoring the fact that we even exist.
When I saw this article I had to fight back tears. I thought about all the work I’ve put into to get to where I am today and wondered will it even matter when I start my job search in a few months. According to most tech companies, if I can’t pass an algorithmic challenge or if I’m not a “culture fit” I don’t belong. I haven’t even started my first full-time job yet and I’m already so tired of feeling erased and mistreated by the tech industry. I’ve worked so hard to make myself visible over the last few years so it hurt me to see Facebook make such false statements. What more must students of color do to make it clear that we are qualified to be in this industry?
~~~~~~~~~~
Tech companies who believe that the pipeline is the only issue are refusing to see underrepresented talent. I am a CODE2040 2nd-year fellow and after this summer the CODE2040 fellows program will have over 150+ talented alumni who are all Black and Latinx with computer science degrees. CODE2040 is a selective program meaning that for every student they accepted into the program they probably had to deny at least 5. Hundreds of students are applying to CODE2040 every year in hopes of getting an internship in Silicon Valley. We want to work in tech. We want to be a part of the industry that has changed the world and continues to change the world. We want to be a part of the future innovations. We want to be here, but it seems like the tech industry doesn’t want us to be.
7 Ways You Should Be Using Your Lint Roller (But Aren’t) by Talia Cuddeback
2) Clean up the inside of a purse or bag: Why does it seem like the bottom of your purse is always filled with lint, hair, and crumbs? By using a lint roller and rolling it around the inside of any bag, the sticky sheets will pick up all the tiny particles that mysteriously moved in.
Michael Jordan: A Day Late and a Million Dollars Short BY: STEPHEN A. CROCKETT JR.
On Monday, Michael Jordan decided to break his Clarence Thomas-like silence on race relations in this country to denounce the killings of unarmed black men, women and children at the hands of police. In a piece for The Undefeated, Jordan also condemned the killings of cops and donated $1 million each to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s Institute for Community-Police Relations.
It’s with great thought and all due respect that I say, “F–k Michael Jordan.”
The cause doesn’t need his money, or his statement or his sympathy now; we needed it then, back when his name held weight. Back when he was the largest athlete on the planet. Back in 1990, when African-American U.S. Senate candidate Harvey Gantt was trying to wrestle North Carolina away from the racist control of Sen. Jesse Helms. That’s right, the same Jesse Helms who didn’t want to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. Jordan was asked to endorse Gantt, a request to which he famously replied, “Republicans buy sneakers too.”
It never ceases to amaze me that all over the world, in the places I've visited, R & B music has been playing - in the taxis, in the lounges, in the hotel lobbies, and in the shopping malls.
Today I listened to Anita Baker's "Sweet Love" during breakfast.
As promised, below is a recap of my day of sightseeing.
A guide picked me up at about 8:15, and we spent the next four hours touring the city. I was especially excited to see the many churches, and they are even more magnificent than advertised.
The first one was the Shrine of Jesus Church.
Here are some street scenes.
The bus-like thing is called a jitney. They were everywhere!
Busy city street.
Below is the Shrine of Saint Therese Church. I found this photo online that shows the entire church.
I took this picture of the front of it. Off center. I know.
There is a large military presence with the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines having their bases lined the streets in what could be considered "military row."
This picture isn't great but it's better than the one I took. It's from the Internet.
The next pictures are from the Manila American Cemetery & Memorial where 17,206 men who died in the Philippines during World War II are buried. They are 16,636 Americans and 507 Filipinos. It is very much like Arlington Cemetery in DC. There are rows and rows of white crosses that dot the landscape. They are arranged in circular patterns that are solemn, heart wrenching and beautiful.
Manila American Cemetery & Memorial Monument
This photo doesn't begin to do justice to the scene, but I wanted you to get an idea of what it looks like.
These columns form a semicircle from the main entrance on both sides, and they include the names of all of the men who are buried here, except for 3,744 who remain unknown.
You can't read the names, but they are listed in alpha order, by their branch of the military. These men were in the Navy.
Contrary to what I thought, Manila is a thriving city, booming with new construction all over the place. Many of the natives have chosen to live and work abroad, and I assumed that it was because their country was poor and destitute. That is not the case at all. There are areas with homes reflecting great wealth, and there is a mall with high-end stores that rivals anything you'll see in New York City or Dubai.
Booming cityscape.
As I mentioned in the previous post, my hotel is located in a walled city called Intramuros, a part of the Fort Santiago Fortress.
The main entrance to Fort Santiago.
Another view of the main entrance.
A president and Gen. MacAuthur, I think.
Bombed out building from World War II.
Honoring the dead.
Here are two more churches.
This is the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral - Basilica. Again, this picture doesn't do it justice.
It was fascinating because a mass was being held as tourists were walking through the back of the sanctuary!
This is the San Agustin Church, which is a World Heritage Site. Breathtakingly beautiful!
It is 445 years old!
Another view.
Close-up of one of the door panels.
That's it.
It's been a wonderful couple of days here in Manila.
An excerpt from CNN - Community rallies for homeless college student living in a tent
By Lizzie Likness
(CNN)Fred Barley was living in a tent with his belongings in two duffel bags and a box of cereal to ration over the next few weeks.
Responding to a trespassing call on July 9, campus police at Gordon State College in Barnesville, Georgia, asked him to leave his makeshift home.
But the situation changed once the officers heard his story: The 19-year-old had biked more than six hours from Conyers, Georgia, to register for his second semester at Gordon State. The dorms didn't open until August, but Barley felt his college campus was the safest place to stay.
The biology major, who plans to become a doctor, told CNN affiliate WSB that police officers said they can't let him stay there, but took him to a local motel and paid for his next two nights.
Haven't ventured out yet, so the only thing I can offer is the view from my window.
Tomorrow I'll take a tour of the city.
The hotel is located behind a fortress wall. Although they're hard to see, but the slats in the wall hold cannons. Lots of people taking pictures by the guns throughout the day.
That's how long we would be married if we'd stayed together.
Instead, we were married for twenty years and now we've been divorced for seventeen.
Randomly, out of the blue, I realized it was our anniversary yesterday as I was chatting with a member of the hotel staff who asked me to rate the place. When I wrote the date, I remembered.
I remembered it was thirty-seven years ago that I said, "I do."
There was a time I'd remember this date and cringe, but no more.
I can appreciate my marriage for what it was (at first happy, then melancholy, then resentful), and I can appreciate my time since my divorce for what it has been (filled with anger and bitterness, followed by forgiveness, peace, and adventure).
Do I ever wish I was still married?
No.
Never.
I didn't discover who I was until I was divorced, and like I've said many times before, I discovered I like me.
Crazy.
Loud.
Opinionated.
Me.
The me who doesn't give a rip if you like me or not. The me who is no longer trying to please the world, or someone in it.
I like her . . .
Independence.
Boldness.
Honesty.
So this reminder of my anniversary fills me, not with regret, but with thanksgiving.
I'm grateful for the experience of marriage and my two wonderful sons it produced, but I'm even more grateful for my divorce, for with it has brought me to this place of peace and contentment.
The 8 Wokest White People We Know Their eyes are wide open, and they’re using their privilege to speak out about racial injustice.
BY: GENETTA M. ADAMS
Neil deGrasse Tyson Stopped ‘a Dozen’ Times for ‘Just Being Black’
Tyson also described being stopped several times while trying to bring boxes of textbooks into his graduate school office.
“I wonder how often that scenario shows up in police training tapes,” he said. “In total, I was stopped two or three times by other security officers while entering physics buildings, but was never stopped entering the campus gym.”
An excerpt from Vox - Raising my fist at the Olympics cost me friends and my marriage — but I’d do it again
by John Carlos on July 13, 2016
Peter Norman, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos on the medals podium at the 1968 Olympics (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
The aftermath was hell for me and my family
The first 10 years after those Olympics were hell for me. A lot of people walked away from me. They weren't walking away because they didn't have love for me or they had disdain for me. They were walking away because they were afraid. What they saw happening to me, they didn't want it to happen to them and theirs.
My wife and kids were tormented. I was strong enough to deal with whatever people threw at me, because this is the life I'd signed up for. But not my family. My marriage crumbled. I got divorced. It was like the Terminator coming and shooting one of his ray guns through my suit of armor.
Still, I wouldn't change what I did.
That picture of me and Tommie on the podium is the modern-day Mona Lisa — a universal image that everyone wants to see and everyone wants to be related to in one way or another. And do you know why? Because we were standing for something. We were standing for humanity.
