J.J. McCullough: 26 portraits of Richard Nixon

 

[VIDEO] Richard Nixon was the 36th President from 1969 to 1974. 50 years ago as of August 2024 he resigned the Presidency in disgrace as a result of the Watergate scandal which he had become embroiled in. 

J.J. does view him as a corrupt figure. However, he looks at the caricatures of him over his political career. Of course with most political cartoons they exaggerate certain aspects of his person and then hits him on the issues of the day. He was known as an aggressive young Republican and was portrayed as an angry man. He had a prominent nose and as a result of Watergate was portrayed as a pinocchio nose.

I would say he was a decent president and it's sad that Watergate - which I don't believe he really had any role in - proved to be his ultimate downfall. He had some decent foreign policy accomplishments - Vietnam proved to be a problem for him. His domestic policy well he took America off the gold standard and the economy of the early 1970s wasn't that great.

However, just as J.J. views him as a corrupt figure in general historians seem to list him as one of the worst Presidents in US history.

Mr. Beat: Iraq War explained

 

[VIDEO] Can you believe this happened over 20 years ago?

Mr. Beat let us know where he was when the war started. For me I was at home and heard thunder. I had to look out of the window, for some reason I thought it was a bomb. Another terrorist attack in my neighborhood although to be honest there are much more high profile targets than a Chicago neighborhood.

According to Mr. Beat this video was controversial. He was commenting about how YouTube age-restricted his video which curtailed his ability to make money on it primarily through ads. He's done well enough where his videos often had sponsors, however, this Iraq War video had no sponsor.

One take away from this episode, Americans were freaked out over what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. There was no real connection with Iraq before the 2003 war and Al-Qaeda the terrorist group - responsible for the Sept 11th terrorist attack - lead by Usama bin Laden. I do believe Saddam Hussein was an awful poker player and paid for his miscalculation. I believe he was a bad man and the world is a better place without him running Iraq.

Regardless, this was a bit of a blunder and since then America's politicians which includes the 45th POTUS Donald Trump (a Republican) have been reticient to involve American troops in escapades such as this. This war proved to be a similar situation to Vietnam and helped to erode the trust of American citizens in their government.

Shawn Woods: Growing a GIANT watermelon

 

[VIDEO] Shawn Woods is known for trapping pests such as rodents (such as mice, rats, or gophers) and insects (especially wasps or yellowjackets). Sometimes he might delve into topics such as gardening.

In his most recent video he tries to grow the largest watermelon possible. How many of you out there garden?

UsefulCharts: Which DNA test is best for African-Americans?

 

[VIDEO] I'm going through this now taking both DNA tests for MyHeritage & Ancestry. Hopefully next month I may well know what my admixture is. Admixture is basically what your DNA says about your ethnicity if you're descended from African, European, etc.

I would very much recommend taking the DNA test through Ancestry. I feel as if they have a much better website to build out your family tree and hopefully make the right connects with distant relatives. MyHeritage is OK, I might recommend that because you take a cotton swab sample as opposed to spitting in a tube with Ancestry. Both companies are offering autosomal DNA which basically looks at the DNA inherited from both your father & mother.

For this the subject of this video Jabari Walker who also runs the YouTube channel From Nothing - you may have seen a video from him on this blog recently - takes five different DNA tests. Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, LivingDNA, and African Ancestry.

African Ancestry is most expensive and what is good about them is through the use of Y-chromosome testing & X-Chromosome (mitochondrial) testing they are able to identify which African ethnicity from which you are descended. Of course what they have to be sure of is that your distant ancestor is in fact African because it is possible your earliest male or female ancestor could be European for example. 

However, if you want those results through your paternal line - basically your father and his father and so-on or your maternal line - your mother and her mother and so-on there are far more inexpensive options for that. However, they may not necessarily point to a specific African ethnicity.

As for my own DNA tests I plan to release my own video about that in the near future.

Peter Santello: Breaking hood mindset, Jackson, MISS

 

[VIDEO] Tommie Mabry meets with Peter Santenello as he sees the real story around Jackson, Mississippi - the state capital. Mabry went to Tougaloo College and graduated with his undergrad and graduate degrees.

The lesson here is what does it take to turn around a depressed area? Are the people in depressed areas, depressed? How do we change the depression?

Another thing to look at is if we aren't exposed to new possibilities, how can we realize them? Say if you lived in an area that seems run-down, are you still able to see yourself living in a suburban area that is well maintained.

Oh and for those of you who are college minded. When Peter and Tommie tour Tougaloo College they meet with the school's provost and they talk about college financing. If you join an honor's society Phi Theta Kappa (ΦΘΚ) you can earn a scholarship. Do your first two years at a community college - or here in Chicago the City Colleges - join ΦΘΚ and possibly get a scholarship for your last two years at a university.

That should be motivation for those of you trying to figure out how to pay for college and getting your associate's degree shouldn't be that expensive. ;)

Think about it! 

Reason.TV: How bad was Claudine Gay’s plagiarism?

 

[VIDEO] How bad was the former Harvard University President's plaigirism?

This had been in the news for the past couple of months or so. Her bad PR started with her testimony in front of a Congressional Committee with regards to antisemitism. Her responses were a fail and should really be a slam dunk and she botched it.

A few Black academics I've seen - including the President of Morehouse College - have released statements in support of the now former Harvard President Gay. It seems to suggest that there are different standards set for Black academics vs white academics. However, here's my position what if she only showed she just didn't belong in the position and got it only because she was a "diversity, equity, and inclusion" hire. Especially in a very important position as a Ivy League University President...

Can Black people be racist?

 

[VIDEO]  From Nothing YouTube channel asks a worthwhile question can Black people be racist. The answer from the YouTube may surprise you or perhaps not.

I always go with, if you spent all your life fighting against racism what justifies you holding those same opinions against others?

It seems appropriate since we just passed the MLK holiday.