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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 7 months

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The real choice isn’t “pragmatism” or “idealism.” It’s either allowing these trends to worsen – destroying what’s left of our democracy and turning our economy into even more of a playground for big corporations, Wall Street, and billionaires – or reversing them. And the only pragmatic way of reversing them is through a “political revolution” that mobilizes millions of Americans.

Robert Reich (via azspot)

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 2, 2024

On February 25, 1901, financier J. P. Morgan’s men filed the paperwork to incorporate a new iron and steel trust, and over the weekend, businessmen waited to see what was coming. Five days later, on March 2, the announcement came: J. P. Morgan was overseeing the combination of companies that produced two thirds of the nation’s steel into the United States Steel Corporation. It was capitalized at $1.4 billion, which at the time was almost three times more than the federal government’s annual budget.

While the stock market was abuzz with news of the nation’s first billion-dollar corporation, Vice President–elect Theodore Roosevelt was on his way from New York to Washington, D.C., where he and his family arrived at 5:00 in the evening. The train was an hour behind schedule because the crowds coming to see the upcoming inauguration, scheduled for Monday, March 4, 1901, had slowed travel into Washington.

Two days later, President William McKinley took the oath of office for the second time, and Roosevelt became vice president.

McKinley was a champion of big business and believed the role of government was to support industry, dismissing growing demands from workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs for the government to level the economic playing field that had tilted so extraordinarily toward a few industry leaders. McKinley had won the hard-fought election of 1896 handily, but by 1900, Republicans were so concerned about the growing demand for reform that party leaders put Roosevelt, who had won a reputation for standing up to business interests, on the ticket, at least in part because they hoped to silence him there.

Roosevelt hoped he could promote reform from the vice presidency, but he quickly discovered that he couldn’t accomplish much of anything. His only official duty was to preside over the Senate, which would not convene until December. He was so bored he asked the chief justice of the Supreme Court if it would be unseemly for him to enroll in law school to finish his degree. (Horrified, the justice offered to supervise Roosevelt’s studies himself.)

But then, in September, an unemployed steelworker assassinated McKinley, and Roosevelt became president. “I told McKinley it was a mistake to nominate that wild man at Philadelphia,” one of McKinley’s aides said. “I told him what would happen if he should die. Now look. That damned cowboy is president of the United States.”

Two months later, on November 13, J. P. Morgan and railroad magnates brought together the nation’s main railroad interests, which had been warring with each other, into a new conglomerate called the Northern Securities Company. Even the staunchly big business Chicago Tribune was taken aback: “Never have interests so enormous been brought under one management,” its editor wrote.

Midwestern governors, whose constituents depended on the railroads to get their crops to market, suggested that their legislatures would find a way to prohibit such a powerful combination. Northern Securities Company officials retorted that they would simply keep all business transactions and operations secret. When Roosevelt gave his first message to Congress in December, industrialists watched to see what the “damned cowboy” would say about their power over the government.

They were relieved. Roosevelt said the government should start cleaning up factories and limiting the working hours of women and children, and that it should reserve natural resources for everyone rather than allow them to be exploited by greedy businessmen.

But Roosevelt did not oppose the new huge combinations. He simply wanted the government to supervise and control corporate combinations, preventing criminality in the business world as it did in the streets. He asked businessmen only for transparency. Once the government actually knew what businesses were up to, he said, it could consider regulation or taxation to protect the public interest.

Senators and businessmen who had worried that the cowboy president would slash at the trusts breathed a sigh of relief that all he wanted was “transparency.” According to the Chicago Tribune, the “grave and reverend and somewhat plutocratic Senators immediately admitted in the most delighted fashion that the young and supposedly impetuous President had discussed the trust question with rare discrimination.”

But they were wrong to think Roosevelt did not intend to reduce the power of big business. In early January 1902, Minnesota sued to stop the Northern Securities Company from organizing on the grounds that such a combination violated Minnesota law. While the Supreme Court dithered over whether or not it could rule on the case, the Roosevelt administration put the federal government out in front of the issue. In February, Roosevelt’s attorney general told newspapers that the administration believed the formation of the Northern Securities Company violated the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act and that he would be filing a suit to keep it from organizing.

Businessmen were aghast, not only because Roosevelt was going after a business combination but also because he had acted without consulting Wall Street. When J. P. Morgan complained that he had not been informed, Roosevelt coolly told him that that was the whole point. “If we have done anything wrong,” said the astonished Morgan, “send your man [the attorney general] to my man [one of his lawyers] and they can fix it up.” The president declined. “We don’t want to fix it up,” explained the attorney general. “We want to stop it.”

“Criticism of President Roosevelt’s action was heard on every side,” reported the Boston Globe. “Some of the principal financiers said he had dealt a serious blow to the financial securities of the country.” For his part, Roosevelt was unconcerned by the criticism. “If the law has not been violated,” he announced, “no harm can come from the proposed legal action.”

In late February, the Supreme Court decided it would not hear the Minnesota case; on March 10, the United States sued to stop the organization of the Northern Securities Company.

In August 1902, Roosevelt toured New England and the Midwest to rally support for his attack on the Northern Securities Company. He told audiences that he was not trying to destroy corporations but rather wanted to make them act in the public interest. He demanded a “square deal” for everyone. As the Boston Globe put it: “‘Justice for all alike—a square deal for every man, great or small, rich or poor,’ is the Roosevelt ideal to be attained by the framing and the administration of the law. And he would tell you that that means Mr Morgan and Mr Rockefeller [sic] as well as the poor fellow who cannot pay his rent.”

In 1904 the Supreme Court ruled that the Northern Securities Company was an illegal monopoly and that it must be dissolved, and by 1912, Roosevelt had come to believe that a strong federal government was the only way for citizens to maintain control over corporations, which he saw as the inevitable outcome of the industrial economy. He had no patience for those who hoped to stop such combinations by passing laws against them. Instead, he believed the American people must create a strong federal government that could exert public control over corporations.

In a famous speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, in 1912, he called for a “new nationalism.”

“The citizens of the United States must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have called into being,” he said. He warned that “[t]here can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains…. We must have complete and effective publicity of corporate affairs, so that the people may know…whether the corporations obey the law and whether their management entitles them to the confidence of the public.”

Roosevelt had come to believe that a strong government must regulate business. “The absence of effective State, and, especially, national, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power,” he said.

After all, he said, “[t]he object of government is the welfare of the people.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Heather Cox Richardson #letters From an American #history #T.Roosevelt #bllionaires #corporate greed #income inequality #democracy #political influence #American History #Robert Reich #the purchase of the SCOTUS #welfare of the people

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battleangel · 6 days

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2 NFL Player Deaths Under 35 — NEXT!

Let's get to the first death that occurred in May 2024.

The next and final death I am going to discuss happened one month prior in April 2024.

First of all, did you catch that?

Both players' deaths were under six months ago. This year.

Did you hear about either one?

And, even if you did during the off season, they have both been swept under the collective rug with 300+ other NFL CTE corpses now that the regular season is underway.

The first death is Ray Lewis Jr.'s, Hall of Fame Ravens Linebacker's, son Ray Lewis III, at 28.

He technically wasn't an NFL player but he did play professionally at the indoor arena level as well as playing at Miami University.

Ray Lewis’ (Hall of Fame Ravens Linebacker) son, Ray Lewis III,died at 28 this May of an accidental drug overdose.

He had Stage II CTE.

He started tackle football at age 5.

He played college football at his father's, Ray Lewis', alma mater, for the Miami University Hurricanes then he pursued a career in professional indoor arena football.

Google:

"Lewis’ family stated in the years leading up to his death, Lewis experienced issues with memory, was extremely forgetful & exhibited erratic, sporadic behavior & impulsivity.

His mother suspected he was battling CTE."

His autopsy report revealed an accidental cause of death due to a mixture of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, alcohol & anti-anxiety pills.

His father remains just as indoctrinated into the cult of football after his sons CTE induced accidental drug overdose at 28:

“We are proud to honor Ray Rays legacy by teaching OUR YOUTH about football SAFETY while sharing & supporting research on CTE.”

The emphasis with the capitalization added by me to convey my utter and complete total disgust — safety???????????????????????????

The mother had a totally different & sane take:

“Little did I know when I put my son in tackle football at age 5, I ran the risk of burying him 22 years later. I would have done things different now knowing the risks. We need to wait until our babies are at least 14 to allow them to play tackle football. It breaks my heart that you have to die to get a diagnosis for this disease.”

This only happened four months ago in May and I didnt hear one word about it before today and I only came across it today because I regularly research the effects of tackle football, the consequences of repetitive subconcussive head impacts & concussions & the NFL's, NCAA's & Pop Warner's continued deception & subterfuge dating back 100 years to the literal 1930's that repetitive SUBconcussive head impacts, NOT concussions, are the cause of degenerative neurological conditions & disorders like CTE, Parkinson's disease, ALS, Alzheimers, dementia & Lewey Body Disease.

So, I am always researching and coming across something which is the only reason I saw anything today regarding Ray Lewis' son dying of an accidental drug overdose and being posthumously diagnosed with Stage II CTE at the age of 28.

The delirium of a new NFL season is already upon us and, as we approach Week 3, there is already the requisite breathless reporting, endless storylines, drama & spectacle that accompanies each and every single season of football.

Even Hall of Fame linebacker for the Ravens, Ray Lewis', son dying of an accidental drug overdose & being diagnosed with Stage II CTE during the off season this May barely made a blip on our collective NFL obsessed radar and it clearly wasn't even an afterthought by the time the NFL season got underway a mere four months later earlier this month in September.

Nothing stops the NFL machine — not even the CTE induced accidental overdose death of one of the leagues most famous & recently voted greatest linebacker of all time's 28 year old son.

The show always goes on.

Sickeningly, depravedly, mind numbingly, thoughtlessly, inhumanely, unfairly & unjustly.

But the show does goes on.

It always does in the NFL.

Nothing seemingly ever stops the non-stop allure and spectacle of the game.

Google:

"Ray Lewis III told The Baltimore Sun that he hoped to follow in his fathers footsteps:

“One day, I do dream of making it to the NFL. But I also have a dream of making a difference in peoples lives outside the football field.”

He died before the age of 30!

He died alone per the police report surrounded by anti-anxiety pills & a used drug needle!

Is the sport of football worth that much?

What makes people question football?

Does anything make us collectively stop and question ourselves and our rabid obsession & compulsive desire to endlessly consume a sport that is endlessly consuming its own players?

Or is it just, on to Chiefs Falcons Sunday night?

Well, I have a question amongst all the early NFL season hoopla, hyperbole & mass hysteria.

Football IS mass hysteria.

Why does anyone have to DIE to learn a LIFE lesson???

Ray Lewis III started tackle at age 5.

23 years of tackle football started at the absolute youngest & insanest age allowed by Pop Warner.

Dead at 28 from the sport of football which absolutely should have been included as an underlying cause of death on his death certificate.

It wasnt but it absolutely should have been.

In every case where the individual dies and is diagnosed with CTE — whether it was a drug overdose, accident, suicide, heart attack, etc. — CTE absolutely should be listed, not as the immediate cause, but definitely as an underlying cause of death.

And right next to CTE it should say — "Caused by X years of participation in tackle football".

But it won't, will it?

Because of the NFL, its farm system the NCAA & its feeder system, Pop Warner.

The $1 billion concussion settlement doesnt even cover CTE!

Players with CTE & their families only get payments under the settlement if they also had dementia symptoms along with their CTE diagnosis.

The NFL is cruel & sociopathic.

So, trust that the record breaking $13 billion that the NFL generated in revenue last season protects them from ever having to actually give a damn.

And certainly, prevents death certificates from being filled out honestly.

And prevents the American Academy of Pediatrics from recommending that 5 year old children — like Ray Lewis III — don't endure 336 head impacts a season on average in youth tackle football.

How is permanent brain damage safe for children?

All the hallmarks of CTE, including the symptoms & dangerous attempts to self-medicate leading to an untimely death, are present in the last years of Ray Lewis III's life as well as in his tragic death at 28.

The highly vaunted ironically titled “life lessons” imparted from “the game of football” often leaves its male participants fucking DEAD — just a small little detail always overlooked by footballs’ most rabid acolytes, fanatics & especially current & former participants, as well as the most hyped ambassadors of the game, who like Ray Lewis III's father & newest Fox analyst Tom Brady, are often the loudest & most unapologetic proponents, defenders & proselytizers of "the game".

You can learn the SAME exact lessons without fucking dying young & early for no fucking reason!

Basketball. Baseball. Track. Volunteering. Marathons. Debate teams. Chess. Reading clubs. Hiking. Camping. Rock climbing. Lifting weights. Travel. Solitude. Meditation. Vow of silence. Fasting. Minimalism. Frugality. Chastity. Abstinence. Restrictive food consumption. Analog living without digital or electronic devices. Esotericism. Spiritual enlightenment. Total environmental quietude - no music, podcasts, youtube, streaming, TV, movies, videogames, no sound noise or aural distractions. Being a magician, illusionist or mentalist. Aerialism. Fire breathing. Acrobatics. Dance. Acting. Singing. Writing. Poetry. Painting. Drawing. Illustrations. Screenplays. Improv. Comedy. Breakdancing. Street performance. Abstract art. Conceptual & performance art. Philosophy.

This is a very partial & incomplete list but certainly gets my point across.

I am purposely leaving off soccer until they get rid of heading the ball and ice hockey until they remove checking against the boards as that has led to players in both sports being posthumously diagnosed with CTE. Wrestling, with its takedowns, has also resulted in athletes being posthumously diagnosed with CTE. Mixed martial arts & boxing have all the same issues as football in terms of CTE so I have not included either sport in my above list. Lacrosse also causes many repetitive subconcussive head impacts so it is not included in the above list.

There are SO many different endeavors one can pursue in life that can discipline the mind, challenge the self, sharpen the will & resolve, instill perseverance & steadfastness.

I reject the disgusting militaristic & hegemonic notion that boys & men can only learn these lessons by pulverizing their bodies, battering their brains & destroying their minds through the “game” of football which, if you make it to the top echelon of the sport at the NFL level, leaves 1/3 of its participants per the NFL’s own actuaries with a neurological condition or disorder like CTE, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, dementia & Lewy Body Dementia.

You don't have to DIE to learn a LIFE LESSON!

Football is a true cult.

So, that was the first off season football death with a player under 35 that occurred this off season in May 2024.

Let's discuss the second one that occurred a month prior, in April 2024.

Literally, only five months ago.

And it's already been disappeared by the viscera and spectacle of the NFL which washes away its' own dead participants.

Will Tua & Damar be added to the hundreds of the ever growing list of dead NFL players killed by the sport of football?

Tune into NFL Game Day Morning this Sunday to hear Eisen, Mooch, Irv & Warner breathlessly analyze, debate, breakdown & discuss!

Vontae Davis was a former Pro Bowl linebacker for the Colts, Bills & Dolphins.

Vontae's brother, Vernon, is also a former Pro Bowler as well as a Super Bowl winner.

Vontae was found dead alone inside of his mansion in April 2024 slumped over unconscious inside of his gym at 35.

While there was never a cause of death released to the public, per The Daily Mail, Vontae's ex-wife Meg Harpe, claimed that it was "100% CTE" and that there was definitely more to the story via a text message she sent to the publication.

Vontae's brother, Vernon, confirmed to the media that Vontae never did drugs and was the owner of a holistic wellness spa and had a team of chiropractors and massage & stretch therapists constantly at his mansion.

While Vernon was dismissive of CTE claims telling reporters that there was no way to diagnose that in a living person, Vontae himself admitted in an interview with CNN that he was concerned he had CTE and cited it as one of the reasons for his abrupt retirement from the NFL during halftime of a game.

In the CNN interview, Vontae claimed that he experienced an “out of body, spiritual moment” on the sidelines that led to a profound realization that football no longer aligned with his well being which caused him to abruptly retire from the league in the locker room at halftime.

While no cause of death was released to the public, the police did state there were no signs of a break in or foul play.

However, if we go back about a year prior to Dontae's death, there is a very familiar at this point decline and downward spiral in his personal life which makes me believe he did have CTE.

In January 2023, Dontae Davis was arrested in a DUI incident where he slammed his Tesla into a stationary truck injuring the owner who had been attempting to change a flat tire.

Dontae had just left a night club and was found asleep on the literal side of the road outside of his vehicle by police.

The same year in 2023, Dontae also divorced his wife, Megan Harpe, of eight years.

Additionally, Dontae faced two lawsuits in 2023, one from his father as he was in Dontae's vehicle during the DUI incident and a second from a vendor regarding non-payment issues for one of Dontae's businesses.

We have seen this precipitous decline before in football players suffering from CTE.

Dontae was a 10 year NFL veteran & multi Pro Bowl winner.

Dontae intercepted Tom Brady twice — once while guarding Randy Moss — Peyton Manning & Brett Favre once.

Dontae was a multipreneur who wisely invested his NFL millions into two businesses, a holistic wellness spa & a luxury chauffeur business.

Dontae was also working on a documentary about how he and his brother rose from impoverished backgrounds, with parents who suffered from drug addiction & alcoholism, enduring violence & trauma as they witnessed their uncle shoot their father, to become multi Pro Bowl NFL veterans with Vernon winning a Super Bowl.

Dontae was also committed to holistic wellness and did not even like to take OTC medication and stopped taking Toradol during his time in the league once he researched the long term consequences.

Dontae started his holistic wellness spa because he was committed to helping others heal in a holistic and integrative sense.

Dontae was also unafraid to follow his heart even when faced with enduring the backlash of millions of angry Bills fans demanding to know why he had supposedly "quit on the team".

Imagine you are an NFL player, a veteran who just turned 30 after having your third groin surgery, on a $5 million prove it deal with the Buffalo Bills.

Would you have the courage to walk out during halftime if you had had an epiphany on the sidelines as Vontae said he did?

From Vontae's Instagram post & personal tweet:

”I have been doing what my body has been PROGRAMMED to do”.

Tackling & running drills from Pop Warner to the Pros are Pavlovian whistle blowing conditioning brainwashing exercises of repetitive brutalistic violence!

Decades of tackling & hitting drills that literally brainwash these men as children to commit acts of violence upon one another. Its fucking creepy & dystopian as fuck if you really think about it. It is extremely militaristic but these are kids participating in these violent repetitive brain damaging tackling and hitting drills so it is even more dystopian — 5, 7, 9, 11, even 13 years old — they are legally minors, they are not adults!

They are children!

Why are they endlessly hitting each other in creepy violent militaristic drills with Pavlovian whistle blowing?

How else do you get them to override their bodys natural self defense mechanisms?

How else do you get them to turn off their natural self preservation instincts, go out there and hit somebody!

From Vontae's Instagram post & personal tweet:

“Its more important to me and my family to stop sacrificing myself for this game and to walk away healthy than to continue to embrace the WARRIOR MENTALITY and limp away when its too late”.

Warrior mentality is nothing but the brainwashing I described above.

Vontae simply told Coach McDermott that he was "done", removed his jersey and pads, walked out of the locker room and drove home.

Predictable backlash, personal insults & attacks & unmitigated fury ensued among some of Vontae's former Bills teammates, NFL analysts, team journalists and ofcourse the ever rabid and demanding "fans".

Why did Vontae describe this self-realization to CNN as an "out of body experience"?

Because he woke up from a literal lifetime of brainwashing to commit mindless violent acts since he was a child — tackling & hitting drills normalized in America's brutalistic militaristic culture — very publicly during a game at halftime.

And he had the courage not to suppress his realization & to remove his jersey — the ultimate talisman & almost mystical symbol representing all he had broken his body & bashed his brain for since he was a child in Pop Warner — the NFL team jersey with team logo proudly emblazoned on solid bold bright team colors — decades of brainwashing & Pavlovian conditioning — & he walked out of the stadium a free Black man — there is nothing more dangerous to the NFL and to the white supremacist capitalistic exploitative racist mass incarcerating colonialist AmeriKKKa.

The lifelong brainwashing that started when Vontae was a child had been short-circuited by his own self actualization.

ESPN.com:

“But his mind felt far away — like he was going through the motions in a game he had spent decades playing.”

Vontae sat on the bench on the sidelines then he realized what was happening.

His mind had finally caught up with his body.

Mentally, he was finished.

Vontae felt scared and vulnerable and wasn't sure what to do — all he knew was that he couldn't return to the field. He needed to get away.

“Im done.” Vontae told his defensive coordinator.

He removed his Bills jersey & pads & texted his wife.

“Babe, Im done. Im hanging up my cleats. I dont want to put my body through this anymore.”

Vontae called his brother Vernon who was in the Redskins locker room at halftime.

The brothers never called each other during games so Vernon answered right away.

“Im retired.” Vontae said.

Vernons heart sank. “Are you joking or are you serious?”

“…Im tired.” Vontae replied.

ESPN.com:

Dontae says, in the moment when he realized football was no longer his purpose, he felt overwhelmed but he trusted himself and left the field.

“It was honestly one of the best decisions I've made in my life.”

Dead at 35.

His ex-wife who he divorced last year that he was married to for 8 years said he “100% had CTE” and “there was more to the story” of his death.

No official cause of death was ever released to the public despite a full autopsy being done.

It does not appear that Vontae's brain was ever donated to be tested for CTE despite Vontae himself telling CNN in an interview that he feared he had CTE and it was one of the reasons for his sudden and abrupt retirement from the NFL.

10 years in the NFL. 3 years at Illinois. 4 years in high school. Multiple years in youth tackle football.

As a cornerback, all of those hits, all of those collisions, all of those head impacts, all of that violence adds up.

And, given the fact that he was running two successful businesses, had been married for nearly a decade, had wisely invested his NFL earnings and was extensively traveling before his life began to unravel a little more than a year before he was found dead alone in his mansion...

How many times do we have to see this movie?

Do you honestly think that Vontae Davis didn't die at 35 — just like Ray Lewis' son did at 28 — from the sport of football?

Or do you just not give a damn?

The sport of football with all its attendant spectacle, pageantry, glamour, allure, gloss, shine, breathless anticipation, endless storylines, drama, exhilarating highs, adrenaline rushes and of course the vicarious thrill of the violence along with the constant dehumanization of the players and minimization of the brutality of the sport by every analyst, color commentator, sideline reporter and journalist gives you a license not to give a damn.

The violence is sanitized and Photoshopped for your viewing pleasure and enjoyment.

Don't forget to order a large Papa John's along with your CTE drug overdoses and deaths under 35.

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