The intent of this blog is to promote human equality, human progress, human peace and justice, and optimism. To accomplish this, to encourage the discussion of ideas after identifying and discovering problems, and then creating positive solutions for "we the people," in order to provide for the "general welfare" and "domestic tranquility" of America now and its "posterity" into the future. To encourage an emphasis on separation of religion and state for all, no matter if this is for those "of faith" in a Maker / Creator (Deists, God-loving people, Christians, various people of spirituality) and atheists or agnostics.

With wonderful Legends Radio (WLML 100.3 FM) in Palm Beach County, I often listened to many singers of the Great American Songbook. Driving home from my work as a professor in Lake Worth, FL, I would have my radio tuned to Lorna O’Connell on Legends Radio, listening to songs “spun” by a wonderful person who would share quite a bit of information about the music she played. There were many artists, from early American jazz and swing bands to contemporary artists singing GAS, such as Michael Bublé, John Pizzarelli, Ann Hampton Callaway, Rod Stewart, Tony Danza, Sir Paul McCartney and many others. We have been able to listen to others, like Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Keeley Smith and her husband, Louis Prima.

At least once, every hour, we listened to a selection by Frank Sinatra. We also have had the opportunity to listen to other members of the “Rat Pack,” from Dean Martin to Sammy Davis, Jr. Many others, too numerous to mention now.

One of my favorites was singer, Billy Holiday. I fell in love with Billie Holiday’s unique form of singing. “All of Me” and many others were songs I wanted to hear.

I knew about Holiday’s life as I have read about her and had seen Diana Ross in the 1972 film, Lady Sings the Blues. The latest film about Billie Holiday, starring Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday. I learned much more about this great lady who was trashed by the forces of J. Edgar Hoover, NEEDLESSLY, led by Federal Bureau of Narcotics commissioner Harry J. Anslinger. Sad to learn about the shameful award presented by President John F. Kennedy to Anslinger. Shameful, shameful, shameful. According to other sources, JFK had denied Sammy Davis, Jr., an invitation to his inaugural ball, causing a rift between Frank Sinatra and JFK. Puts JFK down a few notches in my mind. Frank Sinatra purportedly worked to stop the lousy treatment of Sammy Davis, Jr., by white segregationists at hotels where the “Rat Pack” appeared. Shameful, shameful, shameful.

One of the most shameful stories about an African-American is the way Billie Holiday was treated by the lousy latent homosexual and “drag queen,” J. Edgar Hoover. While Hoover is never mentioned in the film, but if one has any knowledge about this lousy figure, they would understand what I am saying regarding the work of Anslinger.

Billy Holiday was also really twisted around by the man she married and the man who truly had a love for her, James “Jimmie” Fletcher. Fletcher, the role played in the film by Trevante Rhodes, is an agent of the FBI who double-crossed Billy, but then did a turnaround. The portrayal of this situation really leads us to wonder whether we should admire Fletcher or not? I must say that Rhodes was part of a great cast who performed admirably and effectively as they portrayed the life which surrounded Billy Holiday.

The theme of this film is about Billie Holiday standing up and not backing down in defending what was the truth and knowledge about the truth. She sang a song, “Strange Fruit,” which is a poem written about the lousy Jim Crow treatment of black folks when they were lynched. When this song was played at a Black History Month event at the college library where I was a professor, the young people, of all skin colors, were in tears. That might be sad, but the truth sometimes hurts. However, the “truth will set you free.” Sad to say, Billy Holiday wanted this truth to set her and her people free, but she ended up being arrested several times, under the smoke screen of partaking of drugs, for which many white people do and never get imprisoned for doing so. One can justify the “truth setting her free” because she died and went to heaven, but I find that disgusting of people who refuse to fight the hell on earth. Anslinger arrests Billy Holiday while she is on her death bed. Shameful lousy human being was this man whom so many admire and JFK gave an award. May those who admire this piece of you know what go to hell. I am not GOD to be able to judge this, but I sure can hope that such people do because they work to create a hell on earth and divide America.

God bless Billy Holiday, a person who was raped at age 14. “God bless the child.” For Billie Holiday sang a song which was NOT a “song of the South,” but one which inspired lousy southern white supremacists to object. These foul folks of Dixie objected so strongly that they tried to find anything under the sun against Billie Holiday. They got her. Shameful people. Disgusting people.

After watching Billy Holiday performed by Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues, I have a benchmark to compare the performances. Although I bought so many of the Diana Ross and the Supremes albums as a kid and adored their singing, I must say this. Andra Day’s performance of Billy Holiday surpasses that of Diana Ross. Ms. Day’s speaking voice sounded so much like Billy Holiday. But one has to explore whether it was like a Marni Nixon dubbing for actress Audrey Hepburn, in the role of Eliza Doolittle, in My Fair Lady or not. According to sources I checked, Andra Day did all of the singing. WOW! She did such a great job and deserves an Academy Award for her performance!

One more thing. Up until I viewed this film this past week (on Netflix), I had read about claims that Billy Holiday committed suicide. It appears this FAKE story was one more attempt to put Ms. Holiday down, by white supremacists.

Again. God bless Billy Holiday. And thank you, Andra Day, for your performance of Ms. Holiday.

When attempting to gain support in the plight many of us face due to privatized Medicare for medicine, did not take an interest in what I had to say, but instead felt compelled to dwell on his own personal feelings and thereby take what I say as being a personal attack. In defense of his own personal means, he spouted “this is reality.” It was a personal view of reality based on his own personal survival in this world, not to be inspired to take an interest, collectively, in what many of us face. In the process, it comes off as being pessimistic. It is a reality, too, in which those forces most acceptable to the pharmacist are dictating with self-fulfilling prophecy, what “reality” is.

In the Our Daily Bread entry (“The reason for writing”) on Monday, March 8, 2021, there is a discussion about reality and pessimism. The writer, John Blase describes the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as being “diary account of God’s love for us.” “They’re words to read and believe and share, for they lead us to life. They lead us to Christ” (Blase).

The verse for this discussion is John 10:31. “But these are written that you may believe.”

Blase also says, “The apostle John didn’t sidestep the harsh realities of Jesus’ life on earh; he wrote both the good Jesus did and the challenges He faced. The final words from his gospel give insight into the purpose behind the book that bears his name. Jesus performed ‘many other signs… which are not recorded’ by John. ‘But these,’ he says, ‘were written that you may believe.’ John’s ‘diary’ ends on the note of triumph: ‘Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.’ The gift of those gospel words allows us the opportunity to believe and ‘have life in His name.'”

Arthur Jackson says, “In John we see Thomas as a pessimist and realist – inquisitive, human, honest. And he’s commonly referred to as ‘doubting Thomas’ because of his words in John 20:25 and Jesus’ response to him in verse 27.

“Doubting Thomas” was skeptical and pessimistic. He was a realist because he was not able to embrace what is described in an epistle as faith: “The assured expectation of those things not beheld.” When Thomas had asked, “so how can we know the way?” Jesus replied with, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In other words, Jesus is the model of God for which we can get an idea about what God is about.

For the pharmacist and his personal reality, these words have special meaning to me. Reality is faith in God and collectively connecting to the Holy Spirit which emanates from God. Too much reality today, beyond just a pharmacist, comes from fear and intimidation. We can learn how to deal with fear by taking seriously the words of an Episcopalian, President Franklin D. Roosevelt who said: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” That is truly the reality based on a faith in God. Note, too, that NY Governor FDR worked against fear in taking down the KKK in New York state so that New Yorkers voted for the first Roman Catholic governor, Al Smith. No fear, just do it. Gov. Al Smith then ran for the presidency on the Democratic Party ticket in 1928 and lost to KKK-endorsed Herbert Hoover. In 1932, FDR defeated one-term president, Herbert Hoover. FDR was not a “Doubting Thomas” and he had the reality of faith to stand up against fear. That is the reason I bring a former president into consideration regarding this gospels. It is not about politics. It is about having faith in God and not having fear of those who wave the Confederate battle flag. It is an issue about the basic life of human beings, not politics.

Finally, the Our Daily Bread article of March 8 asks the question, “How are you being led to the heart of Christ through [the gospels]? And the prayer, “Gracious God, thank you for the gift of the [gospels, diaries] written down by [Christ’s disciples] so that I might believe and have life.” Thanks be to God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Not really supposed to say, hallelujah, during Lent, am I? Besides being diaries of the disciples (the gospels), scriptures are also NOT a rule book and I don’t follow religion from a rule book. I look for guidance and guidelines. This is something which was recently said in a religious column in The Press & Sun-Bulletin, by a pastor. The KKK has one religion and one religion only and it wishes to dictate to all Americans ITS idea of a god. Wonder who that god is? The KKK not only dislikes black people, but also Roman Catholics, Jews, and forward-thinking Protestants like FDR and many of us who are of the same way of thinking. We THINK, not just cherry-pick the Bible with a bias towards finding the parts which agree with human thinking and who listen to hateful speech of people who pretend to follow God, like so many of the non-American (Northern) Baptist denominations do (to name one example). Jesus Christ was not afraid to point out the hypocrites of his day. That was the reality of Jesus Christ.

Teachers and professors are often not on salaries as high as many other professions. For instance, in comparison to lawyers, accountants, and doctors (not to mention medical specialists). But then, is it not a better thing to have an interest in people, as do clergy, nurses and many other healthcare workers? As some have said, we work with people and don’t do it for the money. What about lawyers, accountants, and doctors, oh my?

In proposing solutions for America by way of this blog, I have often mentioned that lawyers are so over-paid they can afford hordes of stupid commercials advertising their personal injury lawsuits and perhaps workman’s comp work? Florida has a more liberal divorce law than a liberal state like New York. However, if there is a disagreement in settling a divorce in Florida, the clock ticks away for one side, ticking away $25K, $35K or more once done.

Accountants make plenty of money working for tax collection agencies plus doing the taxes for individuals and businesses. Lawyers do as well. Conservatives from years ago promoted a value added tax (VAT), rather than sales taxes and income taxes. There are many reasons for promoting such a tax, but one of the reasons was the promotion of paper-shuffling businesses which add to the overhead of business and reduce profits. Same with sales taxes. Think of what happened before these taxes were in place? There was likely a higher profit margin, right? Or am I wrong?

For small business, rather than big corporate conglomerates, there is a larger dip in the profit margins. Thus, when an across-the-board Federal minimum wage is proposed, a small locally owned diner in one town which competes with four fast-food “big box” restaurants of corporate conglomerates, the fast-food corporate conglomerates have a better way, in a centrally planned economy like that of the former Soviet Union, to pay the higher minimum wages to a slew of people who essentially are like slaves and have few opportunities for advancement to be self-employed and running their own business. That is, unless they end up moving up a ladder in a hierarchy. The smaller “mom and pop” diners have more difficulty paying a larger minimum wage which does not bother the big business, so more small businesses are crushed. Close to slave labour and crushing defeat of opportunities for all. Sounds depressing, right? So why do I say it? It’s not out of my own selfish self-interests. It is out of interest for what is best for America.

Doctors. In days gone by, I recall the “general physicians” we called the “country doctors.” Less specialists. More general physicians with an overall view of the patients. They did not often make more money than most others in the community, did they? Or am I barking up the wrong tree in the memories I retrieve? Then the era when it was difficult to find enough general physicians because all were seeking more money in the world of specialists. Private medicine which Trumpicans claim is so much better, while ignoring the fact that many of us, teachers, nurses, and other healthcare workers, are more concerned about people than about money. We just wish to be paid a fair livable wage, rather than expectation of a high over-paid salary, as lawyers, accountants, and doctors expect.

So, to fill the high-paid jobs for lawyers, accountants, and doctors (oh my!), we encourage EVERYONE to go to college and forget the availability of the trades people and the skills which need to be developed for such. Lawyers and accountants do tax jobs which eat up profits for small business, shuffle a hell of a lot of paper, and get paid quite well to do such red-tape bureaucracy. How do economists measure these jobs in the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP? We ship productive jobs overseas, reduce the vocational skills training for work in the trades which require the use of hands and not necessarily an emphasis on brains. And what happens? We don’t have people to do such work anymore. No more opportunities for people to develop their own private self-employed business, while there are lawyers, accountants and doctors (oh my!) galore.

We have new technologies, you say? How wonderful! Yes, new developments in medical care and pharmaceuticals. Pharmacists, too, making more money, many times, than people helping people (teachers, professors, nurses, etc.). With all this new technology, we are all blessed at having new meds available for us. Yes, sir.

So, in my life, since 2001, I have had three times when I came close to losing my own life, due to this wonderful new technology handed out with little knowledge about how chemicals interact with nutrients and proper diets. When Claritin was first available, then it was wonderful to enable me to clear my sinuses, right? With small doses of that and Allegra, my primary care physician discovered I was allergic to it. It was left to me, the patient, to tell the ENT specialist about this. Never any communication or coordination between PCPs and specialists, in this world created with wonderful technology and specialists making much more money. The ENT specialist, not taking the word of the patient (as Gore with his Patient bill of rights SUPPOSEDLY lost the election in Florida – NOT) when this patient mentioned his allergy to Claritin. The ENT prescribed it anyway. Within several days, the patient ended up in the hospital with severe heart attack symptoms. Fortunately, the patient survived.

In 2012, this same patient (me) had been taking metformin. Then a doctor was enamored with a “new” drug called Jentadueto. Jentadueto, as it was discovered later, doubles the amount of metformin already being taken to more than a safe amount in totality. Such an overdose leads to lactic acidosis, which can be fatal. The symptoms of lactic acidosis are heart problems and gastro problems. This patient ended up with both. Seeing a cardiologist and medication checkup was made, confirming the correct amounts of meds for the heart and blood pressure were being taken. Never a look at the patient’s list of prescriptions. The gastro man did an upper and lower GI. Nothing found, according to money-loving gastro man. This man INVENTED a problem with hemorrhoids, in order to try to push surgery. Yet, the patient expressed the fact that it was not hemorrhoids causing the pain and discomfort in stomach and intestines. Did not matter.

In this case of lactic acidosis, three doctors and a Publix pharmacist had access to my medication list. None of them bothered to check the medication doses to determine if they were correct. Not one of these high-paid individuals did such a thing. Meanwhile, the patient, over time, was suffering more and more, especially with cardio-pulmonary problems, but also with gastro problems. In January 2013, just after New Year’s Day, I was losing my ability to breathe. I was rushed to the hospital, once again. They put me through tests and put a catheter up through my leg into my heart. They were going to do a cardioversion, but then, with some medications, the atrial fibrillation which had begun stopped. They did not have to go further than that. I was released.

Then, in 2017, it was determined that, perhaps, there was a need for an ablation and perhaps a pacemaker. To do the ablation scheduled for late January 2018, there was a need to take me off a medication which I was prescribed and do so within weeks prior to the ablation. Another med was substituted. Within a week or so (January 18) of taking this other med, I went unconscious at home and slammed my skull on the concrete floor at home. I was rushed by helicopter to a trauma center where I remained in a coma for several days, with the expectation that I might not survive. I did survive, though. I came out and had a heart monitor on me.

By March, though, my dad was taken to the hospital in Melbourne, Florida, with heart problems and other problems. He was 92 years of age. My spouse and I spent several weeks by Dad’s sign, with hope he would be able to pull through. On April 1, Dad died.

On June 28, I retired. The next day, once again, I was having problems with breathing and heart palpitations once again. I was rushed, once again, to the hospital. This time, they performed the ablation and a cardioversion. Things were looking quite well for the patient, once released.

I have rarely seen doctors or pharmacists who are interested in the patient who is a HUMAN BEING. They just act like they wish to do their job so as to get paid. The reason? Fear of the other part of the trio of “lawyers, accountants and doctors, oh my.” The lawyers. A wealthy person playing tennis each day, with other wealthy ones which usually included lawyers, accountants and doctors, oh my! The person fell on the court and injured some part of leg, knee or foot. Lying on the floor and grimacing in pain, he noticed how all the doctors escaped to the locker rooms and he was surrounded by lawyers who were giving him their business cards. What I have observed by so many in this group is the same thing, but not while grimacing in pain on a floor.

Only a nurse shared with me the observation that there was an overdose in my metformin. Having health databases and Medline available at the college library where I worked, I confirmed what the nurse told me. I had been in the hospital with the heart problem, due to an overdose of metformin. Not one doctor or pharmacist has confirmed this for me. Not one. Why? Because of a fear of lawyers. Not one doctor has even listed any of this, but have lied in the notes more recently in my medical records that “I am allergic to metformin.” No doctor has EVER mentioned this, but it gets entered into my medical record? What is the reason for the lies? If anything, the ONLY thing I have been told verbally is metformin can only have a “side effect.” Side effect. Liar, liar, pants on fire. Overdose is the word and that never appears in the medical records.

In all my situations, nurses, on the lower end of the pay ladder, have treated me so very well. When I was in a hospital, I was only allowed to receive the meds the hospital would allow and my diets were FULL of nothing but carbs. A very kind nurse allowed me to have the diabetes meds from home and helped me arrange the “troublemaker” meals which would help me reduce my sugar numbers. I was running glucose levels the highest in my life – 300 to 400. The nurse happened to have a husband who was like me in suffering from diabetes. She knew better how to deal with it than most of the others on the staff, especially the doctors.

At the same hospital, I asked for water at one time and a nurse who had reacted with disdain about the fact that I was in a same-sex marriage, refused to give me water and yelled at me for asking. In a hospital, a person in the ER admitting began to preach about “sin” of homosexuals. Since then, I have heard the suffering black people have endured over time, in hospitals, due to the color of their skin. Hateful Americans inspired by Rush Limbaugh, Trump, Giuliani, and others. Despicable hateful people.

Now I mention these things at the same time I hear Phil Keoghan of New Zealand mention the very thing many of us have been saying about the lack of people skilled in the trades and those who are in the trades, being made to feel bad as if they are inferior to academics. Keoghan mentioned his grandfather who was in the trades (blue collar) but did more reading than many who think they are experts in academics. I had a father who was the same way. Every day, he read TWO, not ONE, newspapers.

Meanwhile, privatized Medicare prescription costs force me not to be able to take the best for me and pharmacists, doctors, lawyers, accountants don’t give one damn. In fact, a pharmacist prefers to point the finger of blame, not at the wealthy of America who control the strings of those in Congress, so as to do more for each of their egos than to be concerned about WE THE PEOPLE and our pocketbooks. A reality dictated by wealthy fat cats for wealthy fat cats and no concern for WE THE PEOPLE. Justice will not happen until unaffected people stand up for those who are affected. Perhaps if I say this fact over and over again, it will become the truth and the reality! “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free!”

But do those in America give one damn about any of this, as they display their hatred for one another and their individualistic egotism and narcissism? No. They love to follow the path of hatred and love of money. Whether Trump or lawyers, accountants, and doctors oh my, they just don’t follow the ways laid down by the representative of God on earth – the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He is the model for all of us to follow because He gives us the word of God, which is to love one another. Lawyers, accountants, doctors (and pharmacists) oh my – and no love for one another in sight. Only a love of money. Shameful people. To our Creator and GOD, forgive them, please, for they know not how to love and know not what they do in the process.

As a professor at Palm Beach Community College (which became Palm Beach State College under the direction of Dr. Dennis P. Gallon), we found students coming to college who had no idea how to research and write. They came unprepared. That was great for me because now, with our English professors, we could team teach and work towards the Florida “Gordon Rule.” The “Gordon Rule” was about specifying the completion of college writing assignments. When the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), beginning with “privatizing” guru, Jeb Bush, began to decimate assessments of education such as the “Gordon Rule,” Dr. Gallon and his associates decided to keep it. In order to “bridge” students from pre-college preparation into full time students, we did team teaching (learning community?) with a team consisting of college professors in the following areas:  library research, speech, English writing, and Student Learning Center where students were tutored in order to complete college entrance requirements. At  the end of each semester, we invited parents and faculty to attend a presentation by students in the class, including refreshments for all. Students dressed in their best attire and each gave presentations, as well as each of the faculty giving a presentation tailored to each individual student. Dr. Gallon and several administrators would attend these “celebrations” of accomplishment, as we called them. They were very well received, including our administrator who eventually became a college president at Polk Community / State College in Winter Haven, FL, Dr. Eileen Holden. This program was an “experiment” for two years, in 1999-2000. We presented the results of our work at two professional conferences: (1) Florida Developmental Education Association (FDEA) in Tallahassee, and (2) National Association of Developmental Educators (NADE), in Biloxi, MS. The program was titled, “Bridge to College.” This was an excellent program.  We are sorry that we never kept accurate assessment statistics with a “before,” “after the program,” and “after completion of two years of college.”  Once those who endorsed the program departed, then there were few others who wished to sign aboard it.  That is a shame.  I am proud, however, NOT to be a Donald Trump and point fingers at others, rather than taking responsibility for the events.  Shame on us. However, several years after and with new administrators, I proposed that we set up procedures to collect assessment survey information from alumni after completing their degree and having a career in the workforce.  The reply was, “we are not interested in that information, only in the money the alumni can contribute to the college.”  The only way we are able to understand the success of the “Bridge to College” experiment is when students from this program remain in touch after all these years, whether on social media or otherwise. That is all the measurements we have available.

When I first saw commercials about the program titled, Tough as Nails, it did not appear to be appealing to me. Since watching Rachael Ray’s interview of the host of Tough as Nails, Phil Keoghan, I am now wondering whether I should watch one of the episodes of Tough as Nails?

The host, New Zealand personality, Phil Keoghan, spoke very eloquently about an issue which this retired professor has believed is a correct assessment of what is necessary to be done to solve our problems. He addressed the declining number of people who work with their hands and have an interest in the trades, but are precluded by a society which is pushing our young people to go, en masse, into academics. This movement is done at great cost to individuals (student loans) and to society. The movement to do this has been done over several decades and is reaching a pinnacle of failure for America.

As a professor, I have witnessed our college president, Dr. Dennis P. Gallon (1998-2015), develop a vocational program for training young people in the trades. My experience in growing up in Upstate New York saw something a bit different, but there are always two ways to make things better. Dr. Dennis P. Gallon needs to be given kudos, along with the wonderful faculty, both vocational and academic, which helped make it happen.

When growing up in New York eduational programs, I recall that we had dual paths and the regents exams and diplomas were designated for the college bound path. Those of us choosing college began to learn to research and write for college term papers, beginning in the sixth grade. It continued through high school, up to graduation.

Those wishing to pursue a career in the trades were not required to go through the college-bound process for regents exams and were directed to vocational skills training while in high school.

If the contemporary idea about regents exams in NY required EVERYONE in the schools to be assessed, then why is the answer to simply eliminate such exams all together? Why not pursue the dual path which once existed and has been applauded as a good example by some of my former teachers? Instead, work on issues for regents exams which parallel those about cultural differences, similar to issues with the SAT and ACT. Design the exams only for those who choose to head to college and consider the ramifications of cultural differences. Sounds difficult, for sure, but we are talking about the lives of human beings. Perhaps someone like Dr. Diane Ravitch, has endorsed similar ideas? (See Dr. Ravitch’s extensive bibliography of her writing).

On Rachael Ray’s show (Mar. 10), Phil Keoghan spoke about how, with this emphasis on college academics and dismissal of the need for the trades, we have ended up putting people in academics in a superior position to those in the trades. How true that is! I could not agree more. Keoghan’s hope is to teach and bring a change in attitude away from this thinking. Everyone plays a role in making this nation fantastic. Each one of us plays a role and nobody is superior over others. I made an attempt to try to help students understand that, but when one is alone in doing this while society is crying out for more academics and shutting down the trades, we as a nation can fail. It is time for a change.

At this college where the vocational program was built, the faculty worked to stay in touch with the needs of employers in the trades so as to meet demand for employees. I have heard about the same attempts in upstate New York, particularly in the Rochester area. But we need to do more than just this.

Thank you, Rachael Ray, for exposing this issue and bringing it to the forefront in this manner. You are wonderful and in ways beyond just cooking!

RE: “‘Strange Fruit’ – still ripe for debate” (USA TODAY byline, Patrick Ryan).

The article in today’s “Go! Binghamton” section of the Press & Sun-Bulletin (March 11, 2021), was an interesting and inspiring account of jazz singer, Billie Holiday and a new movie about Ms. Holiday on Hulu (The United States vs. Billie Holiday). The wonderful achievements of Billie Holiday are important to point out and that was done quite well by Mr. Ryan of The USA Today network.

When Billie Holiday and this song was presented to a room full of young students of all colors at a Black History Month presentation in the college library where I was a professor, most of the students were weeping when they listened and viewed the “strange fruit” which was represented by black people hung from trees during the Jim Crow era. The author of the article gives a good overview of this. It is very informative to realize that the FBI had gone after Billie Holiday for singing such a song. In other words, a 1930s era FBI of law enforcement which likely would have no disapproval of what has recently happened to people like George Floyd. No surprise, but for a historian, there is a recognition that the events of the 1930s in which there was the FBI which went after Ms. Holiday on the tail of a one-term president of Herbert Hoover and the KKK of those years. The actions of the administration that followed Herbert Hoover, to be able to curtail some of that (but not as completely as it should have been, in my humble opinion) is the reasoning behind hatred of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. After all, the New Deal was about a deal for EVERYONE, not just white folks who rubbed each other’s backs, asked for favors to be restricted within the white community and an expectation of handouts. Without these things, such white folks carrying Confederate flags don’t appreciate what they have received from this wonderful nation over the years.

It is important to teach Americans about the venomous racism of Jim Crow so as to end the systemic racism today which is an extension of a war which was one in 1865 and those traitors carrying Confederate battle flags lost. It was the end of a war, not the end of one battle and invoking more battles over time.

For those who read to the end of the article, they will notice, once again, support of anti-racist ideas is “left-wing progressives.” Never are far-right-wing mentioned with their ties to bigotry and contention with equality of the races. How sad that is. They will also notice the use of the word “reality” to describe what exists, as if to say, “too bad, too bad, there is nothing to be done.” The “reality” is one dictated by wealthy white snotty piggish white folks from groups like Duke’s KKK and the John Birch Society. Folks who refuse to INTEGRATE groups like the Daughters of the American Revolution which rejected black singer Marian Anderson from appearing before an event sponsored by the DAR and for which Eleanor Roosevelt expressed her disdain for the DAR because they refused to acknowledge the fact that ancestors of black AND black/white folks follow a positive “tree” in which they are not hung like fruit. In other words, their “tree” includes their ancestors who DID fight to fight for independence from the Crown.

Same thing with the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) in not allowing black people to become members when they are able to PROVE an ancestry from American Revolution patriots. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems that a black man was the first to lose his life when the British first fired on a colonist crowd near Boston. How many of the white people in that crowd which was there to fight the British are members of the SAR or DAR? Then compare whether there are any descendants of the black man or other black people who were fighting for our independence allowed in the SAR or DAR?

Then there are the segregated Masonic orders. And why has the AME not joined with other mixed denominations of religious orders?

Reality is dictated and reality can be changed by helping all of us rid ourselves of the conditions for maintaining a status quo of systemic racism. It is NOT an issue of politics, but an issue with no debate among human beings.

Finally, I have to ask who wrote the headline for this article? Was it the local Press & Sun-Bulletin or USA Today? This headline of “‘Strange Fruit’ still ripe for debate” is inappropriate and meant to sensationalize this article for white supremacist and bigots. Argue as you may about my conclusion. Could the headline been a bit more tempered? Bottom line. This issue is NOT for debate. Learning about what Billie Holiday had to say with this song is not open to debate. I know plenty of conservatives and liberals alike who DO NOT embrace such lousy attitudes about white supremacy. It DOES NOT describe left-wing or right-wing when discussing such matters as “strange fruit.” And if you are one who feels it never impacted you, especially if white, so why care about it, then shame on you for your lack of love and preferred hatred of fellow Americans. Hatred is what it is and there is NO validation for it.

Just released is a survey of Americans regarding approval or disapproval of the stimulus package proposed by the Democrats. The survey claims that 75% of Americans, 46% of them Republicans, approve of this plan. What percentage of the Republicans in Congress approved of it? Hmmmm… 0% perhaps, not 46%? OK. I just speculate (a hypothesis). Certainly, it might be accurate to say that less than 46% of Republicans in Congress approved. Why? Perhaps it is a fear and intimidation of retribution, as with the conviction of Trump, for this? Where does the “fear and intimidation” emanate? From Trumpicans and the Dixie white Republicans.

There are a number of us who have been Republicans longer than most, but have thumbed our noses at the current leadership of the party which goes against the people. We witnessed this in Florida with gerrymandering for the benefit of the REPUBLICAN PARTY only and so as to imitate Jim Crow and curtail black people from serving in the Florida legislature. Same political party in Florida, where Donald Trump has taken up residence, have FRAUDULENTLY stolen elections and made it possible by way of methods of voter suppression. As all Trumpicans do, they want a dictatorship so no one questions what they do and they don’t need to be held accountable, as they whip up the passions of a bunch of American traitors who wave Confederate battle flags and disrupt America with chaos by way of thugs and goons. We witnessed this in Florida as Republicans win by such narrow gaps, as a result of the fraud in the Rick Scott elections and the DeSantis election. Add to this the voter suppression, too. A Republican supervisor of elections in Palm Beach County, in 2000, sabotaged the elections of 2000. We, as Republicans observed it happen. The voters fired that Supervisor of Elections when she was up for re-election in 2004. In 2018, Rick the Prick Scott was unhappy with the Democrat at the helm of the Supervisor of Elections, so he simply fired her, never allowing the voters to make the decision. Yet, these Republicans make a claim that they “speak for the people.” BS. Thus, they have led many of us to thumb our noses at the Republicans and tell the Republican leadership to go to hell. Add all these people to the 46% of Republicans who favor the stimulus package and what do you get? You still get 75%, but what is the percentage of Republicans? It might just be much higher than 46%. But of course, according to Trumpicans, we are just a bunch of assholes, right? Silly us.

My Cornwell – Cornell family arrived in the Boston Colony from Saffron Walden, County Essex, England in 1638. We have not yet identified the ship upon which they arrived or why they were part of the “Great Migration” from England during that period of time.

Speculation (i.e., speculation is like a hypothesis to be proven and not conclusive) has it that because the family arrived here during some tumultuous times just prior to the overthrow of King Charles, they may have been seeking to “migrate” to get away from the tumult and chaos which ensued. They were also part of the Anglican Catholic Church (St. Mary’s of Saffron Walden) and this indicates they may have felt threatened by the puritans of England as they were being led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell eventually became Lord Protector in the overthrow and execution of King Charles.

Cromwell ruled England while the Cornwell-Cornell family was in Boston, living on a street which is now considered the center of the city of Boston in today’s world. They owned a tavern. Once Cromwell died in England, his son tried his hand at being Lord Protector and then relinquished it in order to return control back to the monarchy.

The progenitor of this family, Thomas Cornell, was doing well, from the accounts which have been recorded in a genealogy written by Rev. John Cornell in 1901. However, Tomas ran into difficulty as he wished to sell his beer / ale on Sundays. Facing an increase of puritans coming to Boston Colony, following the return in England to the monarchy, he was met with opposition by the puritans and banished from Boston Colony. Thomas then moved his family to Rhode Island with Roger Williams.

Most of the Cornwell-Cornell family remained in Rhode Island. Three of the children moved to what was then New Netherlands / New Amsterdam and were present when the British took control and renamed it New York. Following the death of Thomas, his widow was murdered and his eldest son, Thomas, Jr., was falsely accused of murder as Thomas, Jr.’s wife admitted apparitions into court as evidence and the court never utilized alibis of Thomas, Jr., being in a tavern at the time of the murder. Some speculate that Thomas, Jr.’s wife may have been the murderer and she manipulated things, with the help of the victim’s brother, to set up Thomas, Jr. They hung an innocent man.

The children who had moved to the New York City and Long Island area (Flushing) were in that area at the time of the murder. Richard, Sarah, and Hannah were living in the New York City area. Sarah lived near Westchester County and the Bronx. She was married to Thomas Willett. Richard and Hannah were living in Flushing and both were married, Hannah no longer going by Cornell or Cornwell. Speculation has it that Richard tried to be more like the Dutch who were in control at that time. The Dutch pronunciation of Cornell was “Cornewel,” with the “w” with a “v” sound. There are very good chances that was how those in the generations following Richard had changed their name to Cornwell. Only time and further research will provide conclusions.

While Thomas, Jr.’s descendants remained in Rhode Island and retained the name of Cornell, they eventually moved westward to New York and the Hudson River, then, following the American Revolution, further west to the area south of Syracuse, NY, known as central New York.

My line of Cornwells can be followed from Flushing, up the Hudson River to Dutchess and Greene County (then part of Albany County). Following the American Revolution, several moved westward to settle, as pioneers, in Cortland County.

My line remained in Cortland County during most of the 19th Century, moving to the southwest corner of Cortland County, bordering on Tioga County, in the town of Harford. Across the county line is the towns of Richford, Berkshire, and Newark Valley.

Following the American Civil War, my own branch of the family with my 2nd great-grandparents, George and Eliza Cornwell, headed west to Danby, Ionia County, Michigan. George had been a lumberer and worked to clear the land in Harford. He also worked as a lumberer in Michigan. George and Eliza left behind, in central New York, his widowed mother, his siblings, and a daughter who was married and living in the city of Cortland. My third-great-grandmother, Jane Cornwell, had moved to Cayuga County and lived, until her death at an age close to 100 years of age, with a daughter in Cayuga County. That was the late 1890s.

My great-grandparents met in Michigan and married there. The first child, May Cornwell, was born in Michigan. However, by the 1892 New York state census, Samuel, his wife Minerva, and their budding family, were living in Harford, New York, the land where Samuel had been born in 1859, before his parents departed for Michigan.

Samuel’s other siblings had moved further westward with their father who apparently had become a widower. By 1900, George and his son, George, Jr., and others were in the Sturgis, South Dakota area. George, Jr., had started a retail business there and was listed as founder of the local Presbyterian Church in Sturgis.

Samuel’s other siblings had moved on to North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and the state of Washington.

Meanwhile, George, Sr., had returned to Cortland County where he lived with his daughter in the city of Cortland. That was Alzina (Cornwell) Hammond and her husband, Ira Hammond, and daughter. According to George W. Cornwell, Sr.’s death certificate filed with the state of New York, George died in 1904 in Cortland.

My branch of the Cornwell family can be traced along the very same lines which early settlers of Massachusetts had envisioned happening with Massachusetts extending across America to what is now Seattle and to the Pacific Ocean. Massachusetts had, at one time, tried to lay claim to that swath of territory from Boston to Seattle, but it never happened. Interesting to note that Interstate 90 extends from Boston, through upstate New York, south of the Great Lakes and heading west, and across the Rocky Mountains to the state of Washington. I-90 covers the territory which some had wanted to be Massachusetts. Those developing New Amsterdam, the Dutch, squashed the idea for allowing this to happen, by extending its hold up the Hudson River and starting the settlement of Fort Orange which changed its name to Albany. When the English took over that colony, they had an advantage over those further east. Did the government in England, not being supportive of Puritans as those who settled in Boston, have a strong influence in blocking this? After all, one of the first governors of New York under British rule, had come from an Anglican Church clergy class which likely did not approve of Puritans.

The Empire State of New York was born after the American Revolution. Likewise, the city of New York became a huge commercial center, due to “Clinton’s Ditch” (the Erie Canal), which extended travel westward past the Hudson River. Today, I-90 through upstate New York, parallels the old Erie Canal. Of course, I-90 extends further west to the Pacific.

Mister Doug

Retired Professor

Britexit

The latest. A political panel facing audience forum hears from a laborer, regarding vote to withdraw from EU. The labor person implies big corporations which control politicians have been punching labor in the face. The guy said: “How does it feel to be punched in the face?” 

That issue parallels Bernie Sanders, not Donald Trump. It explains why Bernie said he would never support Donald Trump. Americans should note what happened in Britain because it demonstrates what happens  when people assume things will be okay by not voting. 

By not voting for Hillary just because Bernie lost ignores the role the President and Congress play in defending the civil rights of Americans. Civil rights are not to be voted,but to be protected. The Georgia Supreme Court justice in the 1850s who did not acknowledge the human rights of a race (Dredge Scott Decision) and contributed to plunging this nation into NEEDLESS civil war. I vote considering the forest, not details of the trees.

bibsinger

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of pro-choice. Five to three even without Scala. That’s why it’s important to elect a Democrat Congress and Democrat in White House. Bigot George Will recommended Hillary but Republican Congress. That way, he could force conservatism on us with further stalemates. That’s best for fascist conservatives who want only one way to think,  shelve secularism and diversity which makes us great, and allow fat cat wealthy pigs to have cake and eat it too.   Then the common man and woman goes without basic protein and carbs to keep us alive.

bibsinger