Whales are endangered due to our careless and feckless behaviors and policies.
So far in the Western United States scientist of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) shared more whales than ever have died and washed ashore in California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. So far 73 whales have washed up. Whales are dying due to malnutrition and it is suspected that the plastics causes indigestion and the microplastics in the water is damaging their organs. Whales are important to the eco balance of the oceans in ways we don’t even understand fully as yet.
Microplastics, which are tiny pieces of plastic, no larger than 5 mm, float around in the fill the water at the Monterey Bay according to Anela Choy. “Our findings buttress a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to the waters and animals of the deep sea, Earth’s largest habitat, as the biggest repository of small plastic debris,” said Anela Choy, the lead author of a study paper by the MBARI.
MBARI’s uses underwater robots to filter plastic particles out of seawater multiple times at two the Monterey Bay and in Moss Landing Harbor at the Pacific Coast of California. The study showed microplastic samples from five to 1,000 meters below the surface. They found identical concentrations of microplastic particles near the surface and in the deepest waters surveyed. However in the mid range, at 200 to 600 meters down, the pollution was 4x higher than at the surface. Shockingly they found that all of the animal specimens they surveyed had internal microplastic.
Juneteenth commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States otherwise known as Freedom Day. Juneteenth is an abbreviation of “June nineteenth” the day of the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865. The date was fortified in our collective memory thanks to the trend that started on January 11, 1865 in Kansas and spread over 39 other states. It helps to celebrate the accomplishments of our forebearers and hopefully it will encourage us to hold on the freedoms gained and to continue to free slaves. Unfortunately the number of people working in servitude and outright slavery in the US is on the rise again. This make it even more important to observe this holiday.
San Jose, California will be celebrated at 194 S. Market Street, San Jose
For over 38 years, the Juneteenth Festival in San Jose/Silicon Valley has averaged over 6,000 attendees. This year they are featuring the amazingly talented painter, 12-years-old Tyler Gordon in the Family Activities area.
Tyler Gordon is a phenomenal painting who can be observed live in the “Live Painting” area.
Faith Evans is the Headliner for this year’s Juneteenth in San Jose
Faith Evans is a talented singer who has 3.1 millions of fans listening to her monthly on Spotify. This talented artist often stays in the headlines due to her turbulent private life.
Faith Evans is a great example of an amazing singer who has a turbulent private life. After divorcing Soul and Spiritual singer Kiyamma, with whom she had one child Chyna Griffin. She was married to Notorious Big, with whom Faith Evans shared a son called Christopher Jordan Wallaces. Faith was supposedly accused by Jay-Z of having an affair with Tupac Shakur. After Notorious Big was shot in a drive by shooting, she married to the record producer Todd Russaw. Faith Evans and Todd Russaw had two boys, Joshua and Ryder. The split in 2005 and were divorced in 2011.
Professionally Faith Evans is an accomplished R&B, Soul Music performer. She is considered to be the star that fortified Bad Boys Records’s Success and Sean John Combs success as a producer. Faith Evans is successful in her own rights not just as a singer who spans genres including R&B, Soul, and Hip Hop. She also is a published writerKeep the Faith: A Memoir. She describes her life as a child raised by her foster parents who were related to her very young mother, and the challenges she faces as she made her way through life as an actress and performer during the turbulent times of the 90s and 2000s. She and her co-writer Aliya S. King earned the 2008 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category for the book.
Faith Evans sings much about love, honesty, faith, survival and summarizes the pain and loss of her husband to gun violence in her 20 year memorial album, “The King & I” which include songs like “Somebody Knows.” and “It was worth it.” Her recent marriage to Stevie J. surprised many, since he has battled drug and sex addiction problems for much of his life. Unsurprisingly, he fathered 6 children with 5 different women prior to this marriage. In a surprising move Stevie J. who is known as a seedy Casanova due to his involvement in the someone low brow show Love & Hip Hop. A promising sign that the respectable singer Faith Evans may have had indeed a positive influence on him.
The event will include performers like 90s star Case, Jaguar Wright, Jon B., Reuben Studdard to groups like the Drifters with a wide range of local artists from Rap/Hip Hop to R&B, Gospel, and Jazz.
There will be over 30 vendors with many black artists and crafts artists. Great way to enjoy the summer and the fact that about 250 years ago we started the journey toward equality and freedom for all.
There is a new most likely Republican sheriff in town. A group of young Republicans who met during their work at Republican National Committee got together to create the Independent Journal Review, which is owned by https://imge.com/.
IMGE is a marketing company that provides: “Fresh concepts. Unparalleled execution.” The company provides digital marketing campaigns to troubled companies as for instance Boing, burdened by the shut down of an entire division of planes, due to their lack of quality control. The Republican Governors Association who is suffering from the many problems they have had thanks to being paid off by the Russian Sponsored NRA. John James for Senator campaign who lost against Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. The also market on behalf of “Winning for Women.” A non-profit group that seems to be designed to sway the wives of Republican men to vote against their own interests and cruel policies like “Childen in Cages” camouflaged as security. Free Market concepts like eliminating Roe vs Wade, women’s right over their own bodies.
When receiving a facebook post from IJR it was impressive how well edited the newsclip were. I was struck by the partisanship, strung together to cause malaise in potential American voters. The company owned and operated by highly committed Republicans offers IJR red and strangely IJR blue. When reviewing the clips from that point of view it becomes apparent that the blue and the red posts have the same goal. Increasing partisanship, creating uncertainty and strife.
This post is design to turn off African Americans and get them to dislike Biden. And, at the same time have regular Republicans feel terrible about “African Americans.” Goal? Causing strife.
https://ijr.com/biden-campaign-trump-kim/
I look at life from both sides now, from here and there…
It would be great if it was genuinely bi-partisan content. Unfortunately it seems designed to increase the separation between different factions in the US – following the strategy of causing hate and deepening divides to serve the small hardcore, rightwing racist misogynists. The only group of people who are fond of the current POTUS.
US Political News made in Colombia, South America, masquerading as an Alexandria, VA based company. Is it designed for people who want to learn what they already prefer?
It is interesting that the company pretends to be pro democracy but uses the Russian style Kompromat techniques to influence people.
We believe in the American philosophy that free markets help each person rise to the best possible economic achievement for themselves. We are all in favor of a thriving economy.
The economy is thriving particularly well for the top 25% of the American population. Around the world poverty is at a 100-year low. According to Politifacts.com who compared World Bank statistics and other studies: “By World Bank figures, Smith actually understated the reduction. We’ve cut extreme poverty by 58 percent using the 2008 definition of extreme poverty, and 74.1 percent by the 2015 definition.”
Many business leaders plan to stay with a company only for a few years and therefore the long term stability of their companies is less important than the managers ability to cash out. If the economy shrinks, employees are upset, the companies are vulnerable to foreign or even domestic competition, it does not affect the manager personally as quickly, as it affects the rest of the economy.
Why might we encourage business leaders to watch the American, European, and Japanese middle-class standards of living? After all ever more people from the upper middle class are thriving. There are 7.1 million households in this country that have investable assets of $1 million or more. So why be concerned about the middle and lower-income brackets of the middle class?
What does income inequality even mean?
A recent study by the Fed reported in the Wall Street Journal stated that 25% of working individuals say they have no retirement savings at all, and 44% worried that their saving isn’t on track. Among younger workers, aged 18 to 29, 42% have nothing set aside, and only 26% believe they are adequately prepared for retirement. Even more disturbing 40% of Americans said they don’t have enough cash on hand to cover an unexpected $400 expense and 17% reported they did not have sufficient funds to meet their current obligations. This indicates that 57% lived either beyond their means or they did not earn enough. With the unemployment rate solidly below 4% it is most likely the later.
San Francisco has the highest median income in the country. It is reportedly at $110,816. This sounds great until you realize that how many people are not participating in driving the median income up to these wonderful levels, however they still have to pay the same for housing. The average cost for a 1-bed room apartment is $3,391.12 per month and naturally the rent or mortage for a dwelling fit for a family is even more. This spells trouble for employees who are not in managerial positions, particularly since Numbeo suggests that it takes $4,106.34 for living expenses for a family with 4 members before the rent. Add some student loan payments, the need to save money to take care of their kids the dream of maybe buying a house and it starts to look dismal for those who earn their living as teachers, truck drivers or service personal. This is when reality shows that a shrinking middle and lower-part of the middle class indeed will not foster the consumerism that Westerners have enjoyed for the past 70 years.
When the US economy is turned and/or allowed to be turned into a “third world economy,” the US will become a third world country.
7.1 Millions of extremely wealthy end up living in a country surrounded by 315.9 Million people, some of whom can’t afford to save $400 for their next emergency. Currently more than 50% of the US population earns less than $50,000. In many cases much less 20.3% of US households or every 5th household earned less than $25K per per year. For millennials the outlook explains why they prefer experiences instead of accumulating products. 58% of 35-yr-olds earn less than $50,000 per year and 81% of 25-yr-olds earn less than $50,000 per year. They barely can afford rent. Yes, many move to places that have more affordable homes, however their salaries may drop drop relative to the price of housing.
Yes, there are a few “Unicorns,” companies that make more money than ever. Apple is slated to become the first $1 Trillion dollar company. However the US economy is reliant on small businesses. There are 28,000,000 small businesses in the US and only 18,500 large companies. One half of the US economy is based on and relies on small business. Small businesses are the first to suffer when the middle class erodes. In the 70s 1 out of 5 small businesses folded in the first year. Today 50% of small businesses fail often due to lack of earnings. When the expendable income for so many Americans gets eroded due to the lack of “living wages” the US will turn into a third-world country. Currently in San Francisco and Marin County 1 in 5 is in need of food assistance, and 1 in 4 is at risk of going hungry, according to the San Francisco Foodbank. California is the tenth most affluent State in the US with the nearly 900,000 millionnaires.
Deloitte just releases their 2019 report is based on the views of 13,416 millennials questioned across 42 countries and 3,009 Gen Zs from 10 countries. While this does not provide a statistically correct sample for each country, it does give us a bit of an idea that could be considered a possible trend. The news is somewhat positive. 60% of the Millennials surveyed were confident that they could reach their own goals if they applied themselves. This could mean they are optimistic, or it could mean that they blame themselves for not being as successful as they wished they were.
Board of Directors may do well to start thinking a bit longer term. If a company doesn’t have a long range vision like most Chinese and European companies do, the US economy may be structurally damaged in ways that will affect its investors and business leaders.
Fortunately there are great examples of how communities can come together to make sure all the boats are lifted. Check out the articles about how Oakland, a city that was beleaguered by inequality problems, pulled together to lift the city out of poverty. It takes vision and it takes the will of those who have the power to effect change.
