This livestream has been going on since about 7:00 AM Saturday morning on America's Semiquincentennial or 250th Birthday. I publish this post on the 4th of July aka Independence Day.
As I post the livestream Mr. Beat had arrived on the 1900s. He's going decade by decade.
Check it out here at your leisure [VIDEO]
Happy 4th to you all!
Mr. Beat teams up with Jared from The Daily Bell Ringer for an engaging deep dive into Abraham Lincoln’s life and legacy. It’s fitting that this video was filmed in Springfield, Illinois, because Illinois is often known as the Land of Lincoln. After moving there with his family in 1830 at age 21, Lincoln settled in New Salem, then Springfield. He worked various jobs, taught himself law, served in the state legislature, practiced law, and launched his national political career from the state—making it central to his path to the presidency.
Watch the full video here [VIDEO]
In conclusion, Lincoln is considered one of America’s greatest presidents for preserving the Union, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, and ending slavery—demonstrating adaptability, moral growth, and extraordinary leadership in the nation’s darkest hours despite personal struggles and controversies. Jared (Daily Bell Ringer) emphasizes that Lincoln’s actions strengthened American democracy by showing that a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" could endure and expand freedom.
Thoughts?
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is more than likely to win a third term as Illinois' governor, however, I find myself wondering if he's going to take a serious beating for his ongoing feud with our 47th POTUS Donald Trump.
In a recent wide-ranging interview with POLITICO at Chicago's iconic Manny's Deli, Pritzker sat down for a candid conversation covering everything from the 2024 election fallout to his sharp criticisms of Trump, his influence in state politics, and speculation about a potential 2028 presidential run. The governor didn't hold back, framing Trump's leadership in stark terms and doubling down on the confrontational style that's defined much of his time in office.
Pritzker has positioned himself as one of the leading Trump antagonists among Democrats. In the interview and recent statements, he highlights what he sees as damage from Trump's agenda to working families, farms, retailers, and more—while criticizing policies on tariffs, immigration enforcement, and broader governance. He portrays the current administration in strong language, calling out tones of political violence and authoritarian tendencies.
Check out the interview here [VIDEO]
Education innovator Graham Frey, known for his work with Primer micro-schools and previously Alpha School, appeared on a recent Dad Saves America episode titled “Falling Behind” Is Public School Propaganda. In a wide-ranging discussion, Frey challenges conventional thinking about what schools should prioritize—including the common goal of producing "well-rounded" students.
Frey poses a key question for parents evaluating educational options (around the 1hr 30 min mark): "Do I want them to be really well-rounded? Do I want them to be specialized?"
This isn't a blanket rejection of breadth, but a call to make intentional choices rather than defaulting to the idea that every child must excel equally across academics, sports, arts, extracurriculars, and more.
I haven't been to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry since I was in grammar school. Oh the Griffin being former Chicago resident Ken Griffin, billionaire financier who gave a gift to this museum hence his name being attached to it.
I don't recall ever seeing this train, nor the WW2 German U-Boat though I may recall the airliner hanging from the ceiling. I do recall the model trainset which I have shared here that portrays the route of Amtrak's Empire Builder. Always thought that was cool.
This is one thing I want to see at that Museum when I go back in the near future, the Pioneer Zephyr was a great design for it's time. It served a non-stop route from Chicago to Denver making the trip in 13 hours.
Russel Sharp Train video's shows us the exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. [VIDEO]
I had to attributed this to another YouTube channel - No Cap Fund - because I don't want to see this blog go on a Mr. Beat overload. He had talked about this in the past and have one video to show about it.
Mr. Beat wants to uncap the number of members in the US House of Representatives and he goes through the history of apportionment of representatives. Uncapping the number of representatives doesn't involve a constitutional amendment, it involves an act of Congress.
Mr. Beat has been attempting to get his congressman to take a stand on this issue although it appears a candidate for Congress is willing to take this issue on. And also it appears an Illinois Congresman Sean Casten seems ready to take on this issue as discussed in a live stream.
Here's the most recent video on this topic that Mr. Beat made [VIDEO]
My position on this is ambiguous.
I can believe as stated in this video that polarization is a very serious thing that's worth putting a damper on. Does this necessarily mean more representatives? Does this mean a far more ideologically diverse representatives?
I do like the idea of bringing down the number of people in each district. Say perhaps instead of the 800K population per district we instead create more districts that perhaps could be about half that or less.
Another thing noted is that if you mess with the number of representatives, you may also mess with the Electoral College count - now that's in the constitution (electoral votes are no. of representatives + Senators). Perhaps this means a recalcuation of the Electoral College math.
How could I sell this for say minority districts perhaps this might mean it would be easier in this state at least to create districts for Hispanics, Blacks, and others depending on where they may reside. I want to eliminate gerrymandering and who knows if this may address that. However, the states control drawing congressional maps more than the federal gov't does.
I think this is worth a discussion as opposed to killing this because reflexively we may decide there shouldn't be more politicians. Should we have more than 435 representatives? What do you think?
[VIDEO] This was sort discussed in a previous video shared here on this blog by Spectacles. The common thread is basically the unrest and the inequalities of wealth.
Do you agree or disagree with the assertions of Mr. Beat & Spectacles?
I found this video on Sunday, and before that I saw the collab with Mr. Beat. Well both videos are actually collabs, however, the Mr. Beat video will be shared here at a later time.
Wow, I haven't posted here since November 2025. It's not January 2025.
I wanted to share this video from Mr. Beat talking about the potentially 7 party systems. We're living in the 7th party system which started with the 2016 race and the election of Donald Trump.
The six other party systems or political eras are established based on the issues of the day and the shifting positions of the major parties. And even then the actually parties sometimes haven't always been consistent.
Check it out [VIDEO]
The time has come. The penny has been retired and production has ceased at the US Mint. The penny costs a lot to produce in recent years thanks to inflation so that helped with the decision of the Trump administration to end the production of the penny.
Here's an IG post on it.
I've subscribed to Shawn Woods on YouTube for many years now. He has identified as something of a survivalist and lives in a rural part of Oregon - which explains how he harvested salt from the Pacific Ocean.
Either way I see this project of producing his own bread with his own wheat and his own salt is a fascinating project to share on here. His point with this exercise is to show us how easy it is to produce your own bread and making it with your own ingredients.
You don't have to go to the store!
Alas there isn't a body of saltwater near Chicago. And I don't know too many people who harvest wheat in their backyard in a major metropolitan area. And of course to further harvest wheat to produce flower that seems like a time consuming process although resources are available to make that work.
Would you be willing to experiment with this process? [VIDEO]
I know politics have been the focus of this blog as of late, however, sometimes it's OK to delve into science. Lately space or the universe has been a topic of interest for me.
I really like this discussion between physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, PhD and podcaster Steven Bartlett. [VIDEO]
I saw a YouTube short with Mr. Beat where he shows himself returning to his old high school to open his own time capsule dating to his senior year. And it was amazing to see the look on his face, when he found the time capsule and all the things him and his classmates put into it.
Then I got to thinking what would I have put in my own time capsule. Well my own senior year of high school had long passed so I can only speculate. Assuming no other classmates were involved with this, I'm sure I'd leave in it stuff that I was most interested in.
Mostly popular culture I was into such as music, TV, movies, etc. Perhaps a written note (ideally printed from a computer certainly written by hand too). Perhaps a floppy disk as Mr. Beat left one in his time capsule - what would be on it would be a good question and who knew diskettes were on the way out a decade later. That would be the start but I don't want it to be as unwieldy as the one opened in Seward, Nebraska as you see depicted in Mr. Beat's video below. [VIDEO]
Another great video on gerrymandering. While Geography King does look at Illinois' Congressional map and other states such as Kentucky & Louisiana to see how their maps appear to be drawn to insure political power.
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| Current Illinois Congressional Districts |
One example he gives is looking at the neighboring state of Indiana. That state's congressional map is actually drawn by a computer. However, he uses this site https://davesredistricting.org/ to gerrymander Indiana's districts insuring that no Democrats can get elected to Congress.
I suppose that's the thing about gerrymandering. You have to know which areas will vote for whom. Cities generally will tilt Democrat while rural areas will generally tilt Republican. Indiana is basically a red state thought with blue or liberal enclaves such as Indianapolis in addition to areas like Gary, Lafayette, or even Bloomington - the latter two are college towns.
The trick is to dilute their strength and basically drown them out with those areas that are solidly Republican or conservative. And if nothing else create a district that is competitive where a Democrat would have to fight to win that district.
That's the thing about gerrymandering, as he puts it the politician chooses his voters and not the other way around.
Check out his almost hour long presentation [VIDEO]
Gerrymandering has been in the news lately. Texas recently approved a mid-decade redistricting plan thought not without controversy and states like Illinois and California are looking at creating their own plan. The ongoing controversy is partisan in practice with Republicans assuring they remain in control of the house while Democrats want to insure their own political power.
With this said when you watch the video below, consider this video I posted last year from Mr. Beat where there is an argument to expand the US House of Representatives. Let's add to this the possibility of using proportional representation that insures minority parties doesn't get shut out.
Most other nations on the globe either elect their legislatures this way or at least form their governments via proportional representation. And with this to work to determine members of the US House of Representatives what might help this along is expanding the members of the House as Mr. Beat discusses.
First watch the video [VIDEO]
Thomas Jefferson was one of America's Founding Fathers and our 3rd P.O.T.U.S. As you see in this recent Mr. Beat video he was a man of contradictions. Let's start with his apparent opposition to slavery and yet he held slaves.
What's mentioned here is his relationship with one of his slaves Sally Hemmings - with whom he had many children. Because he was her owner this fact should be very shocking and as Mr. Beat points out we don't fully know if this "relationship" was consensual.
At his death, he still didn't free Ms. Sally, his daughter had to free her - well emancipate her.
Still, his many ideas aside from that main contradiction provide the philosophical basis for the American Republic. And one thing noted in this video was in 1800 he chose to wear his regular clothes to his inauguration. He was the first President to attempt to connect with the common man in America. Even though the first president to be elected by the common man was another controversial President Andrew Jackson.
Check out Mr. Beat's video. [VIDEO]
Also it should be noted that Mr. Beat filmed this video at Jefferson's country estate, Monticello. It's now a museum which is available for tours outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.
This video below was posted to the White House YouTube channel this morning. I see there are similar videos also produced by this outfit known as Prager U and focused often on American history. We're seeing a brand new day under the 47th POTUS Donald Trump.
As you might see in the header on YouTube - America is back. The renewed focus on Making America Great Again and just think in 2026 it will have been 250 years since the Declaration of Independence - essentially the birth of the United States of America.
I never heard of Robert Treat Paine. In this video he talks through his portrait about his role in prosecuting the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre. The person who defended those British soldiers was our 2nd POTUS John Adams. Just as Adams he too signed the aforementioned Declaration of Independence.
My next question becomes I wonder who's curating content for The White House on YouTube. Often when I see content here it's often the President speaking to the press or some public appearance such was events for the 4th of July. So I found this brief video discussing history very interesting.
Check out Robert Treat Paine [VIDEO]
I really like this video and wanted to share this with you all.
Let's start with he might be ragging on certain jobs that include retail, fast food, or security. His point isn't just to say that you're just stuck in these positions. His point is try to make the most of it and don't allow yourself to be stuck in these positions.
Primarily either work to get promoted or apply whatever skills you've acquired in these positions to pursue other positions. Let's say for security, he would suggest you attempt to go into positions such as law enforcement or whatever allows you to help people the most. Though to be honest what I've observed about security is that many of them are doing it because it's a job.
Anyway if it seems like he's "hating" I would say take some of the good with the "bad". Just because you got a sales clerk job or a regular security guard or you flip burgers doesn't necessarily mean you're going to stay there. What else can you get out of these positions.
Watch the video below and let me know what you think? [VIDEO]
What the YouTube channel Useful Charts does is interesting. They not only look at his family tree, but they look at his "episcopal" lineage also. They look at his connection to other prominent Catholic cardinals, bishops or even other popes.
In the news it has come out that Pope Leo's lineage may include ancestors of African descent. As they discuss here his lineage includes Louisiana Creole who are often mixed race. He is of Italian descent on both sides of his family, and Popes have typically been of Italian descent.
Bear in mind when I say this, Pope John Paul II & Pope Benedict XVI were not of Italian descent. They were Polish and German respectively. Pope Francis was of Italian descent, however, he was born in the Latin American country of Argentina.
Also, another important this about the former Cardinal Louis Prevost is that he is the first U.S.A (or American if you prefer) born Pope in history. His immediate predecessor of course Pope Francis was born in Argentina so he was the first non-European born pontiff.
Pope Leo is also known as a Chicago-boy and a White Sox fan and there are photos of him at a World Series game in 2005 - which the White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win it all. He was said to have lived in the Roseland neighborhood though his childhood was spent in suburban Dolton, Illinois.
His childhood parish is located on the City Limits between Dolton and Chicago known as St. Mary of the Assumption. Both his childhood home and this church could become historic landmarks and that would be cool.
Anyway, here's the Useful Charts video if you want to look at his family and episcopal connections [VIDEO]