terry crews
@terrycrews
·
Jun 7
Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth.

Like it or not, we are all in this together.

Even in the midst of unrest we are reminded of how great this country is...and can be //

America is burning…again.

We go through this at least once a decade. Not to diminish the very real pain behind the protests and violence. I certainly do not intend to make light of that. In fact, that is the one thing I find so encouraging about all this right now. America regularly explodes into tense confrontation because Americans are not finished trying. We’re not finished trying to be better. We’re not finished trying to fix things…to fix ourselves. We’re not finished fighting to be the best nation possible for all of our citizens.

We will never be finished. That is the very essence of the American spirit. //

. One is focused on the future and one is focused on the present. One includes destruction and one includes exploration. One is happy and hopeful, one is painful and discouraging. Yet both exist as a beautiful testament to the American Dream.

I can hear some of you already.

Hang on there, Kira! What we’re seeing on the streets of Minneapolis is no dream. It’s a nightmare!

Yes, but that is and has always been where dreams are born…struggle. That is literally the history of this nation for better or for worse. Everything good that we have, every victory we have won for ourselves and for other nations, every improvement we’ve made to our own society has come from immensely painful and often violent struggle. We’ve never been satisfied to say, “We’ve done it. This is good enough and it’s as good as it can get.” //

Anarchists aside, there is a lot of genuine rage and anger being represented in these protests and it feels hopeless right now. But we’ve been through this before. These are cleansing fires, not wildfires. When the smoke and ash clears we will pick up the pieces of our neighborhoods and business and fragile relationships and move forward better than ever, more aware than ever – just like we did after the L.A. riots, just like we did after Ferguson, just like we did after the tumultuous protests of the sixties. America did not stop in any of those places. We got better.

'There's no one in the U.S. that does what we do. That would leave the option of really going to Asia...and there's no chance that they can deliver.' //

Being made in America is never going to be enough on its own. You’ve got to make sure that you’re delivering on every other aspect.

About two-thirds of the $4 billion apple industry is now concentrated in Washington State — and 15 varieties, led by the Red Delicious, account for about 90 percent of the market. But the past looked, and tasted, much different: An estimated 17,000 varieties were grown in North America over the centuries, and about 13,000 are lost. //

some old varieties have become available again, through small specialty nurseries like the co-op that Mr. Bunker helped start in Maine and through university agricultural programs. Commercial growers, however, said old apples had faded for a reason and were probably not coming back.

“They’re hard to grow,” said Mac Riggan, the director of marketing at Chelan Fresh, which has 26,000 acres of fruit trees, mostly apples, in central Washington.

Old varieties, Mr. Riggan said, either bruise easily, don’t store well or don’t produce enough apples per tree. And economic pressure is relentless. “Land costs money,” he said. //

A woman recently sent him a catalog from 1912 she had found in her attic. It listed more than 140 apple varieties then available in Washington. Documents from county fairs — what apples were offered for judging and won the blue ribbon — have provided another critical piece of evidence. //

On a recent morning at Steptoe Butte State Park, where Mr. Benscoter has focused his work, about a five-hour drive from Seattle, he hiked toward an Arkansas Beauty apple tree, perhaps the only one on the planet currently bearing fruit. The tree’s identity was confirmed this year after testing and tasting by scientists and food historians.

Finally, the tree came into view, standing alone in a clearing that overlooked rolling hills of wheat. It was about 12 feet tall and twisted with age. Mr. Benscoter hoisted up the chain saw he had carried out from his truck and pruned off some small branches, which will stimulate the tree to grow new shoots that can be grafted next year onto other trees. And so another relic from America’s past will live on.

He said he often wondered what the old farmers would think about his work, and about the trees that they pushed into the soil and toiled over before walking away in defeat.

“I think they would be glad that something they planted survived,” he said.

Thread by @rambletastic: My family and I took an @StateDept evacuation flight from Senegal to the US on Friday. I’d like to say a few things focusing on 1) The people who work for State (wonderful) & 2) The impression it left me about coordinated US…

Travelers are finding a wide range of health screenings at U.S. airports, even after repatriation and other international flights. //

The State Dept. has brought more than 45,000 Americans home on repatriation flights, it said earlier this week. The flights came from a wide range of countries, such as Peru, India, Egypt, Nepal and Burundi, according to Ian Brownlee, who runs the department's repatriation task force. Those countries, like Senegal, have not been among the world's hotspots for COVID-19.

The massive repatriation effort is in response to the Level 4 travel advisory the State Dept. issued last month instructing U.S. citizens not to travel internationally — and for those who are abroad, to either return immediately or be prepared to remain abroad indefinitely. //

[Flight from Dakar (DSS):]

"Listen up!" one yelled, according to Honig. "This isn't a normal flight, and we're not flight attendants — we're medical professionals. Our job is to get you home safe."

They had been working for six days straight and had another flight coming up the following day; when someone asked if they were being paid overtime, the medical professional laughed, Honig said.

"We're government employees. No. This is our job," Honig quoted the man as saying. "This is why I signed up for this job. I'm proud to do this — I'm honored to help y'all get home."

Everyone clapped, Honig said.

Two new biographies of a pair of America's most innovative men attempt to explain how intense dedication produces remarkable and wondrous results.

The story of union jack national flag united st gee cross england flag flag stock fooe 4k hd 221 clipsRead More "English Flag 1620"

America was founded in 1776 on the idea that 'all men are created equal,' the principle that led to slavery abolition and created the freest nation on Earth.

The Bob Woodson Center and Washington Examiner is offering an alternative to The New York Times and Pulitzer Center’s “1619 Project.” Theirs is aptly named “The 1776 Initiative.”

Responses to the 1619 Project are popping up everywhere. Countless conservative scholars have weighed in, both Civil War and founding-era historians have teamed up to cry foul, Hillsdale College is offering an online course to counter the narrative, the Heritage Foundation has compiled a trove of essays titled “1776: A Celebration of America,” and the National Association of Scholars has started a “1620 Project.”
The 1619 Project Is Infiltrating Institutions

Responses can’t come soon enough. Despite criticism, the 1619 Project is barreling ahead. The New York Times purchased ads that ran during the Super Bowl and the Democratic primary debates.

Although fact-checking the 1619 Project and offering academic criticism is important, it is not the most effective strategy for winning the hearts and minds of Americans.

Although criticism of The New York Times’ 1619 Project has not yet stymied the project’s success, giants in the conservative world are beginning to forge a tactical and strategic response that will outflank the project’s stated purpose of reframing the country’s history.

The 1619 Project is a series of essays about slavery and racial issues. Its primary claim is that racism has tainted every aspect of America’s founding and development. The project contains 18 essays, a collection of original stories and poems, a photo essay, a five-episode podcast, as well as other elements. The Pulitzer Center has also provided free reading guides, copies of the magazine, and lesson plans to educators.

In conjunction with the Pulitzer Center, The New York Times has already written and disseminated curriculum to public schools with the intention of reframing the country’s history by demonstrating that 1619, the year a slave not owned by Native Americans set foot on U.S. soil, is our true founding. Despite criticism from renowned historians, academics, and conservatives, the project continues to gain momentum.

The project was the dream child of Nikole Hannah-Jones, who is also the author of the project’s flagship essay, which argues, “Our democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true.” Hannah-Jones has shared that a fundamental restructuring of society must include financial reparations because “It’s not enough to simply have political power if you don’t have economic power. //

What’s Wrong With the 1619 Project

”Many major publications have pointed out the project’s historical, factual, and logical inconsistencies. Some of the best have been Joshua Lawson’s article in The Federalist, which pointed out that slavery was not unique to the United States and worldwide abolition lagged behind that of the northern states, and Lucas Morel’s work in the American Mind that argued American history should not be interpreted as a zero-sum narrative where the accomplishments of African Americans must displace the achievements of the Founders.

Twelve Civil War historians responded to the project with a letter to New York Times Magazine. The letter states: “As historians and students of the Founding and the Civil War era, our concern is that The 1619 Project offers a historically-limited view of slavery, especially since slavery was not just (or even exclusively) an American malady, and grew up in a larger context of forced labor and race.”

The historians go on to point out numerous historical discrepancies as well as instances where authors blatantly misinterpreted events to fit their narrative. Although the editor of the New York Times did respond to the letter, he neglected to publish it or to make any recommended corrections. //

Counteract Falsehood with Truth

One such response is a new free online course being offered by Hillsdale College (Disclosure: I am employed by Hillsdale College, but have not had a hand in the development of this course).

The class’ title is “The Great American Story: A Land of Hope” and will be taught by Hillsdale President Larry P. Arnn and Wilfred M. McClay. The course is based on McClay’s book, “Land of Hope: Invitation to the Great American Story,” winner of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s book of the year for 2019.

“The last thing we need, I think we all agree, is another history book. What we do need, what we’ve long needed is a clear and compelling narrative of the American story. An honest account that is also compelling and inspiring for students… And I think we have one,” said constitutional scholar Dr. Matthew Spalding of McClay’s book.

The purpose of the course is to counter narratives like the 1619 Project and to restore civic knowledge that leads to informed patriotism. According to Arnn, The 1619 Project is “an ideological campaign to undermine Americans’ attachment to our founding principles and to the Constitution by making slavery – rather than the principles of liberty that ended slavery and preserved our liberties for nearly 250 years – the principal focus of American history,” reports KPVI. The course is set to launch on February 12 and will encompass 25 lectures.

A young Benjamin Franklin wrote this doggerel verse in 1728 to serve as his epitaph. Franklin, who loved to write humorous and satirical verses as well as essays, made copies of this verse for friends at various times in his life. This version, not in Franklin's hand, was among the papers owned by Franklin's grandson, William Temple Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790). Epitaph, 1728. Manuscript verse. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (61)

The three-part documentary TV series “A More or Less Perfect Union,” produced by Free to Choose Network, will air on various PBS stations across the nation this month.

The documentary is a personal exploration of the U.S. Constitution by Justice Douglas Ginsburg, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and is now a senior justice on that court.

Ginsburg explores the Constitution and features interviews with, and perspectives from, constitutional experts of all political views—liberal, conservative, and libertarian. He examines the key issues of liberty in the U.S. both from a historical and contemporary perspective.

Among those issues are freedom of the press and religion, slavery and civil rights, the Second Amendment, separation of powers, and the number of ways that the Constitution’s framers sought to limit the power of the federal government.

'America’s Revolutionary Mind' rebuts historians suggesting that the American Revolution advanced self-serving motives based on slavery, race, and class. //

Looking back on his youth, former President John Adams reminisced, “The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the Minds and Hearts of the People.” Echoing Adams, author C. Bradley Thompson, proclaims that “the real American Revolution” was a “moral revolution that occurred in the minds of the people” before the war ever occurred. Thompson advances that “this transformative event created a kind of society unlike any other that had ever existed,” and one that continues to affect our lives today.

Here's what every president's signature looks like

Long before GPS, drivers still wanted tech that could simplify the navigation process. //

Maps of America’s largest cities first appeared in the 18th century, and—incredibly—so did the first road atlas. In 1789, “The Survey of the Roads of the United States of America,” by Christopher Colles of New York mapped roads from Williamsburg, Virginia, to Albany, New York. However, it didn’t come as a complete volume—it was instead subscription based. Subscribers were expected to gather the plates together into a coherent atlas. Colles printed 83 plates in three years, each containing two or three maps. But the business faltered for one simple reason: there was little use for road maps in the United States in the late 1700s. //

By the late 19th century, most American roads had hardly changed from a century earlier, being little more than paths cut through the countryside by Native Americans and the wild animals humanity was hunting. Later, these paths were enlarged into wagon roads and improved by removing tree stumps and grading the dirt road’s surface, smoothing out any bumps or ruts. There was no federal system for building roads, so federal highways didn’t exist. Most trips were short and made on local roads by residents who already knew where they were going, so there was no need for road signs. It’s little wonder that until the early 20th century, most cross-country treks meant traveling by rail, not carriage. It’s also why Rand McNally’s first map, printed in 1872, was a railroad guide.

But the arrival of the automobile in 1895 changed all that. //

It was Jones who had invented the “Speed-O-Meter,” a device he installed on a Winton for a 1901 endurance run from New York to Buffalo. He applied for a patent in 1903, which was issued the following year. It used a flexible shaft cable and a gear-driven attachment to a front wheel, a set-up Jones would use in another invention, the “Combined Road-Map and Odometer.”

The Live Map was a glass-enclosed brass dial attached to the outer edge of the driver's side of the car and linked via a cable to a car’s odometer. Before leaving on your drive, you would purchase one of the company’s 8-inch paper discs with a trip’s directions, put together by The Touring Club of America. Each disc contained a trip’s mileage on the edge of the disc, with each tick mark symbolizing one mile, and supplementary tick marks for every fifth of a mile. Directions were printed alongside key mileage points like spokes on a wheel, describing road surfaces (paved or dirt), intersections, and rail crossings.

The disc was placed on the dial’s turntable. The driver would put the disc in the machine at the trip’s starting point. As the driver progressed, the disc rotated proportionally to your car’s speed, telling you what to do, what to look for, and where to turn. Each disc covered about 100 miles, at which point you pulled over and stopped to replace the disc with the next one. //

The meter cost $75 and included 12 disks. Additional disks cost 25 cents each, or you could purchase multiple discs for 15 cents. An advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post boasted that, "To have it with you is like having in your car a man who knows every road, every corner, every crossing, every landmark, every puzzling fork and crossroad in the entire world.”

By 1919, Jones offered more than 500 routes from New York to California, but Jones was not alone in this emerging market. In fact, Jones' device was rejected by the US Patent Office five times for its similarities to other devices.

It goes against every piety of the liberal elites to portray the hippies as evil, but Quentin Tarantino points out that the new liberation spawned a murderous cult in Hollywood.

he nearly closed 2019 was a surprisingly good year for conservatism at the movies, thanks to work by Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, James Mangold, and Roland Emmerich. Famous directors made wonderful movies, some successful at the box office, some likely to gain more prestige in awards season than popularity and therefore likely to be remembered.

Most recently, Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” continued his series of true stories about citizen-heroes. //

Next, Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood,” which was both successful ($370 million worldwide) and admired, and is therefore the only good choice for the Oscars this year. Tarantino continues the project he started ten years ago with “Inglorious Basterds,” the ironic rewriting of history. But this time around, we get an explicitly conservative story: The 1960s hippies—the beautiful people, all about free love and understanding, and expanding your mind—are the murderous villains. //

Finally, Mangold, who recently impressed audiences with “Logan,” now has another movie about manly men doing manly things in the ‘60s: “Ford v. Ferrari,” starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale as Caroll Shelby and Ken Miles, who won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1966, proving that American engineering, daring, and endurance were the match of anything produced in Europe. //

I would like to close with a mention of a movie I believe will survive, Emmerich’s “Midway.” Emmerich was once a successful blockbuster director—think “Independence Day”—but his career seemed over before he managed to make this movie. It’s not great cinema, but it is the only picture we have about the most important naval battle of the 20th century.

The action is spread out over six months, starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor, moving on to the daring Doolittle Raid, when Americans proved they could bomb Tokyo and the Japanese could not stop them, then the Battle of Midway itself, which won America the war in the Pacific.

That this story has never been adequately told on film is shocking, but now we have it and it is a film that shall live if patriotism lives.

It starts with one stitch, by one woman. A pattern she’s ordered from the back of a magazine, created for the 1976 US bicentennial celebration. A quilt featuring a hexagon for every state in the US, with its state outline, state flower, and state bird part of the design, along with 50 stars.

She will set it down again. But the next person to pick up Rita Smith’s meticulously prepared project, bundled together in a Tupperware box, will be a stranger, some decades later. Shannon Downey will find it at an estate sale in a home in Mount Prospect, Illinois, after Rita’s death at the age of 99.

“There was a vintage embroidery hoop - they don’t make them like that any more. Then I noticed there was a picture inside it - the outline of New Jersey. I went through the [container], and realised ‘this is a project’”.

Rita had prepared the hexagons by cutting up pieces of bedsheet and transferring designs on them, ready to be embroidered, but had only stitched two of the states. She had started on a third.
Shannon, who uses craft to promote social and political activism, always tries to complete unfinished projects she comes across which have been started by someone who has died. “I feel like I’m doing something to make sure their soul is resting,” she says.She asked for help on Instagram. What happened next took her by surprise. Within 24 hours more than 1,000 volunteers came forward, far more than she needed. She chose 100 embroiderers living all over the US to sew the hexagons - some wanted to represent their own state, others just wanted to be part of the enormous endeavour. Some 30 women, mostly local to Chicago, then gathered for the sewing together of the hexagons to make the quilt.

President William Howard Taft held many titles - President of the United States, Chief Justice of the United States, Secretary of War, Solicitor General, Governor of Cuba, and Governor of the Philippines, among others. Yet there is only one title which he still holds some 80 years after his death - fattest President.

Many anecdotes have been passed down regarding Taft's tremendous weight. One of the most famous concerns him getting stuck in the Presidential bathtub and thus ordering a replacement - large enough to fit four average-sized men! Taft even had a new bed constructed at his friend Todd Lincoln's (son of Abraham) house because the springs in the original mattress broke under his weight.

Yet, Taft was not always obese. He was a collegiate wrestler at 225 lbs. and by all accounts quite athletic. He steadily gained weight after graduating college, eventually ballooning to 320 lbs. in 1905, at which point he began his first diet. Before the era of diet books (let alone DVDs) and personal trainers, physicians often constructed and oversaw their patients' weight loss regimens.

Defenders of the Electoral College argue that it was created to combat majority tyranny and support federalism, and that it continues to serve those purposes. This stance depends on a profound misunderstanding of the history of the institution.

‘When they shall look back upon us, they shall know, at least, that we possessed…gratitude for what our ancestors have done for our happiness.’