John G. Shedd Public School

CapFax: Illinoisans should not have to live this way

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:00:00 -0500

I found this interesting on Capitol Fax, yesterday

* One of my top complaints about Democratic rule in this state is the super-majority party’s unwillingness to firmly step in to help some small Black-majority suburban and Downstate towns find their way to fiscal solvency. East St. Louis is just one of many…

What caught my eye is that there is a complaint about Democratic rule in Illinois. The bad news is there's no serious opposition in this state.

It won't solve all problems, however, the right politician could use this. Hopefully this theoretical politician would be serious about getting this done.

Livestream: NASA’s Artemis II Crew Flies Around the Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 12:33:00 -0500

[VIDEO] The four astronaut crew of Artemis II aboard their Orion capsule Integrity will break the distance record set by Apollo 13. They will be the furthest distance from Earth any human beings have been, a record set by the ill-fated crew of Apollo 13 that suffered a castrophic failure that cancelled an attempt to land on the moon.

Hope you enjoy, even if you only watch the replay. At the time I wrote this the crew was about 27 minutes before they reach the far side of the moon, where they will lose contact with the Earth for about 40 minutes.

Now I want to pop Apollo 13 the movie into the old VCR....err get with the times I can stream it now!

Artemis II pilot Victor Glover

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 3 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0500

He's about to make history as being the first Black American to orbit the moon. Of course he was quoted as saying it shouldn't be about his race, to go to the Moon as we had during the 1960s with the Apollo missions is a human achievement.

Artemis II launched Wednesday sending four people which also includes the first Canadian and woman to orbit the moon. The design is like an Apollo Command capsule, although there is a much differently designed service module that will propel them around the moon and return them to the earth.

Glover before becoming an astronaut served as a pilot in the US Navy and according to this NY Post article was formerly a two-sport athlete in football and wrestling in his college years.

NASA is live streaming coverage of the Artemis II mission here. [VIDEO]

Also Happy Good Friday!

Museum of Science and Industry: Burlington Route PIONEER ZEPHYR Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:30:00 -0600

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]

NoCapFund: Why do we have 435 members in the House of Representatives?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 14:30:00 -0600

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?

Mr. Beat: The 2020s are the 1890s

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0600

[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?

One proposed bid for the former Shedd Elementary School - a community center

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 9 Feb 2026 14:39:00 -0600

I didn't update with regards to what's going on with Shedd School after that meeting that took place - which was a CPS meeting - with regards to what the plans are for that closed school. There are people who are coming up with plans for that school.

Recently I was alerted to an article from the Chicago Tribune which talks about one potential bid for the former Shedd Elementary School - branch of Bennett School.

I like how this article describes the building:

The low-slung building shows few signs of life: Ivy branches snake up the exterior walls, weaving through cracked brick and boarded-up windows. Its marquee sign reads like an epitaph, with faded block letters: “John G. Shedd Elementary School. A great place to learn!”

Would be nice if it could be again.

I snapped this shot in about 2009

Here's the bid that the article talks about and it's being offered by the mother of a slain police officer.

Peace for Preston currently operates a mentoring program out of the Harold Washington Library Center. The new Shedd building will expand that programming, as well as offer mental health support, vocational training and youth recreational programming.

“It’s a community center, so what better place than a school?” bidder Dionne Mhoon said.

Mhoon founded Peace for Preston in honor of her daughter, Aréanah Preston, a slain Chicago police officer. Preston, 24, was shot and killed as she returned home from a late-night shift in 2023. She loved to learn, Mhoon said, and had just completed her master of jurisprudence degree.

The nonprofit is still fundraising for the project, currently at almost half of its $150,000 goal.

“Hopefully someone will see this fixture in the community and know the work that she did,” Mhoon said. “She deserves to be honored.”

On a recent afternoon, Rachel Cooper, 32, stared at the Shedd from her bungalow across the street. She occasionally sees loiterers or vandals near the lot, and even periodic police activity. “It makes me a little bit nervous,” she said.

She moved to the neighborhood with her three young children in May. At the prospect of a community center, her eyes lit up. “If it’s something that my kids could go to, they would love that.”

I see they had to secure the front doors of the school in recent years in addition to the back doors where I'd have to enter to go to class everyday. It would be great to see some positive activity there again.

Any thoughts on this proposed community center?

Spectacles: How did Companies get Bigger than Countries?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 2 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0600

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.

[VIDEO] The above video (duration 32 mins.) from the YouTube channel Spectacles talks about the parallels between the 1890s to the 2020s. The comparison between the business trusts of the late 19th to early 20th century to the multinational corporations of today.

When we talk about trusts think about for example Standard Oil - owned by John D. Rockefeller - which owned pretroleum production. That's not the only company or sector we need to be concerned about in this discussion, however, for the United States in the 19th & 20th century it's when a company or an industry grows larger than a state gov't and the federal gov't is enjoined from regulating large business interests.

In the 21st century, corporations are beginning to become bigger than national gov'ts. If one wants to regulate these corporations they have the option to moving to a more favorable environment.

And another issue that's being argued here in both time periods, the inequities become pronounced for workers & consumers.

Mr. Beat: Yes, We're in the Seventh Party System

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 14:30:00 -0600

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]

In the party system the only time the two major parties remained consistent - namely the Democrats and Republican parties - emerged during the third party system. Which largely started with the Civil War or even argubly during the 1850s when regional differences were at an all time high.

In the first two parties had collapsed which lead to a transition in the party system. The Federalist Party - think John Adams and Alexander Hamilton had collapsed during the War of 1812. For a moment the Democratic-Republican Party dominated American politics. And I would dare say for a brief moment America was a one party state.

In the second party system the Whig Party had emerged and collapsed by the early 1850s - destroyed by the dominant political issue of that era slavery. The Democratic-Republican Party had evolved to become the Democratic Party under the leadership of Andrew Jackson still a force in American politics to this day although surely even President Jackson couldn't recognize his beloved party today.

We can at least say the Democrats has evolved over the years and so has the Republicans. Republicans were the original party for Civil Rights, then later the Democrats.

It was specifically mentioned in this video members of the Klu Klux Klan were once Democrats y.and I would argue they would have no home in either party today.

What is Trumpism? This is what the public might view the Republican Party now.

Well protectionism - that is the usage of tariffs to protect American businesses. More nationalist and think about how the second Trump administration has been more active in promoting and protecting American interest and let's not forget about populism. Trump's 2016 election win was often considered America's version of Brexit and one thing discussed in this video is the rejection of internationalism.

It seems about every 20 or 50 years the system seems to transform. What could be the next transition?

No more penny...

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 14:00:00 -0600

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.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost)

Imagine that this discussion regarding the value of the penny has gone back all the way to 2008. The late Morley Safer or the iconic TV Newsmagazine 60 Minutes talked about it. And less than 20 years later the elimation of the penny has come to pass. [VIDEO]

Just think earlier this year a recommendation from Elon Musk's team at the Dept. of Gov't Efficiency - we haven't heard about them in a while - was to recommend ceasing production of the penny. Now that time has come to pass.

The plan for my pennies, I may keep some around the house because I imagine they're still legal tender. However, for all others I plan to deposit them into the bank. They're still money and the more you collect they add up very quickly.

They're worth the effort if you see them on the ground in the real world. If not, no big deal I'll happily grab them if I see them.

Also I wonder if retailers would actually round prices to the nearest nickel.

Community meeting: Former Shedd Elementary School - TONIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:30:00 -0600

Cross-posted from Ninth Ward Chicago

Just saw this today via Concerned Citizens of Chatham. How many you already know about this? This meeting is with regards to the shuttered Shedd School property.

This meeting is happening tonight at Harlan Community Academy High School - 9652 S. Michigan between 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

How to make a 100% home grown bread

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 4 Nov 2025 09:00:00 -0600

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]

Steven Bartlett: Why We'll Never Go To Mars & The Terrifying Truth Of Black Holes

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 09:00:00 -0500

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]

Somehow I missed the pivot from going to Mars to them talking about Black Holes.

Black Holes seem terrifying if you get caught in one, especially when you reach a point where escape isn't possible then you get the spaghettification effect. You get stretched out, I imagine that as painful, however, we're not going to find out about that anytime soon.

Though of course if Dr. Tyson tells it we might be fine at a certain distance it's not like it'll just suck everything in. And it's interesting how he talks about Black Holes - one can be created if a star wants to explode, however, gravity keeps that from happening.

And also Mars. Elon Musk wants to go to Mars, he's talked about it. Of course what's the economic incentive? Trillions of dollars to make this a reality?

And how did we wind up on the moon by 1969, well more of a geopolitical incentive. Certainly the United States of America had to show the technical superiority to our superpower rivals the Soviet Union. The U.S. has rivals of course in the current world, but there's no Soviet Union - Russia still hasn't matched the power and influence of the superpower it ultimately replaced.

However as the title postulates, "We'll never go to Mars", I hope we do in my lifetime. Besides I just missed the Apollo missions of the late 1960s to earlyer 70s that did land on the moon.

Secretary Hegseth's 'TedTalk'

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 1 Oct 2025 09:00:00 -0500

Yesterday was a big day, there was news in the press that the Secretary of ~~Defense~~ War Pete Hegseth had called all US flag officers - Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, Generals & Admirals - to a meeting at Quantico which is a Marine Base in Virginia.

I'm sure his 45 minute speech to these Generals & Admirals was very jarring, but I wonder if it's appreciated that he's setting a new direction for the armed services. He's right about the military, they are in the business of life and death and anyone who's in the service needs to act accordingly. He definitely emphasize the importance of physical fitness of all servicemembers.

He also emphasizes the meritocracy and no more D.E.I. initiatives. Secretary of War Hegseth wants to insure that no one will get promoted based on their race and gender or some other characteristic. What matters most is how they perform in their roles.

If I wasn't already over the age limit I'd sign up right now just to see if I could make it with these new rigid standards.

Here's his speech. Reminds me of a TedTalk. [VIDEO]

A lot of people who analyzed Secretary Hegseth's speech sort of compared it to the opening scene of Patton with the flag in the background and Patton played by George C. Scott giving his own speech. That would be a very iconic scene that many evoked here.

Also note that Patton is one of the historic generals that the Secretary of War noted in his speech. Some military analysts have noted we no longer have that swashbuckling generals that get the job done these days. Patton was one, MacArthur, Grant, and there are others surely.

Anyone have any thoughts on this. Any currently service military personnel or even veterans have any thoughts on this?

Mr. Beat: This Time Capsule Video Took 50 Years to Make

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0500

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]

Very fascinating. Time capsules that we know about in all history. The one by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams and then some we know about are older than that. And then this one just opened in Nebraska this past July 4th.

Mr. Beat has a time capsule which he even schedule a video to be shared in 2075. We don't know what the world will be in yet another 50 years. Will YouTube even be around? Would even the Internet Archive?

The next question is that if you left a time capsule of your own, what would be in it?

Gov. Jim Edgar R.I.P.

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 10:07:00 -0500

Via JimEdgar.com

Jim Edgar was this state's 38th Governor. He died on Sunday, earlier this year he had announced that he had prostate cancer. He was undergoing treatment and a press release from him family stated that he had passed away from complications related to treatment.

Edgar was Governor from 1991 to 1999. He had succeeded the late Jim Thompson and was succeeded by the late George Ryan.

From what I recalled Gov. Edgar was the last statewide Republican candidate to win Cook County which he had done in 1994 and that proved to be a wave year. He benefited from the discord out of Washington, as it turned out in 1994 the Republicans were destined to take control of both houses of Congress.

Here's an example of his political ads which were show as part of Edgar's oral history [VIDEO]

Here's a news report from WGN-TV about the former Governor's death [VIDEO]

I remember him from most of my elementary through high school years. I remember him as very effective governor. In recent years he had been very critical of the direction of the Republican Party - especially Trumpism. He was known for supporting Kamala Harris for President just last year.

He may even have gone on record and says that the Illinois Republican Party might continue to suffer as long as President Trump remains in the public eye.

As you might see in the WGN report, Edgar was known as a moderate that's fiscally conservative. Edgar and some other Republican governors such as Jim Thompson were known as pro-choice and likely a dying breed of Republican during an era of Roe vs. Wade which was overturned in the last few years.

Remember George Ryan, Illinois - IL's 39th Governor had passed away in May of this year. So it's been about four months since a former Illinois Governor has passed away. Jim Thompson had passed away during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

That leaves as former governors convicted felon Rod Blagojevich, Patrick J. Quinn, and Bruce Rauner - who was the last Republican governor of Illinois to date. Gov. J.B. Pritzker is hoping to successfully win a third term in 2026.

From the Illinois Channel, one of the final interviews that Gov. Edgar gave [VIDEO]

UPDATED (Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025): Funeral services for former Gov. Edgar has just passed this weekend. He was lying in state at the Illinois state capitol Friday night. You will see this video via BlueRoomStream. [VIDEO]

Also from ABC 7 Chicago or WLS-TV here's his memorial service held in Springfield. [VIDEO]

Being very young during his two-term eight year governorship, this is a true throwback. May he rest in peace, future governors of Illinois would be well served by studying his administration. 👍

Now we have a Dept. of War

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 8 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0500

The President of the United States - one Donald J. Trump - had been talking about this at least since he became President last year. And just last week he made good on it with an executive order. However, to make this more official it still takes an act of Congress for him to officially change the official name of the Department of Defense.

I've screen-capped the Defense/War Department Website and Instragam just to let you know what I've found on those sites.

Dept. of War IG

What you see here is the seal for the Defense Dept. Hadn't changed here yet.

www.war.gov

Now the current Department of War is descended from the Department of Defense - and as far as Congressional acts go, the War Dept. is still the Defense Dept which was founded in 1947 at first referred to as the National Military Establishment. In 1949, the NME was renamed the Dept. of Defense.

Now if you think the War Dept is something new - concocted by President Trump it isn't. The Dept of War goes back to 1789 and it was responsible for the young United States' military affairs. In 1798, the Dept of the Navy was created as another cabinet level department and both the War and Navy Departments coordinated broader military strategies until both departments were folded into the NME/Defense Department in 1947.

I suppose the next question is why does the President went forward with the rebrand? Here's an article from the AP:

After months of campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump sent a sharply different message on Friday when he signed an executive order aimed at rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

Trump said the switch was intended to signal to the world that the United States was a force to be reckoned with, and he complained that the Department of Defense’s name was “woke.”

“I think it sends a message of victory. I think it sends, really, a message of strength,” Trump said of the change as he authorized the Department of War as a secondary title for the Pentagon.

I suppose the jury is out on the name change. Perhaps this reflects President Trump's more aggressive posture with regards to what's going on in the world.

Some of the articles I found out there suggests that America had never won a war with a military under the Dept. of Defense. Again another argument in support of a more aggressive view of the U.S. Military.

Something tells me that this name change will only last until the next President decides to change it back. I'd be OK with say a Dept. of War during wartime, but that's about it.

There are other changes that Pres. Trump had talked about before becoming President in January which hopefully no American would have a huge problem with is the elimination of the Internal Revenue Service. I mean who likes paying their income taxes? 🤷

Mr. Beat: Was James Madison a better founding father than president?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 3 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0500

Mr. Beat takes a look at James Madison's role as our founding father and as our fourth P.O.T.U.S. Even in the title he thinks of him as a better founding father than as a President. Madison was our President from 1809 to 1817.

One major contribution Madison made as a founding father was his ideas for our government. Especially how to organize America's legislative branch or our U.S. Congress - House of Representatives and Senate.

Of course we can't avoid the issue of slavery. Madison owned slaves and were only free when his stepson took over his estate after the death of Pres. Madison and wife Dolley.

After watching the video, let me know what you think of our fourth President. [VIDEO]

If you're looking for another historic destination to visit check out Montpelier which was James Madison's longtime home. This is where Mr. Beat recorded some of his live shots.

Mark your calendars - Bennett-Shedd School all-class reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 2 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0500

Let's get away from government & politics for a moment given that this is a blog that is an homage to my grammar (elementary) school alumnus. Who knew that there was a soon to come all-class reunion for Bennett-Shedd School.

Check out this group on Facebook for more info on this reunion. Mark your calendars.

Perhaps the alumni of the Pride (or I prefer Badgers) took an idea from Harlan Alumni who hold an all-class reunion every year themselves.

With this said since this will be coming next year - mark your calendars NOW!

Geography King - Gerrymandering: How to Manipulate Maps for Political Gain (With Tutorial!)

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 09:00:00 -0500

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.

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]

As far as his thoughts on Illinois Congressional map. I really wanted to figure out how to use Dave's Redistricting to draw not just the Congressional Map, but also the state legislative map which is also available there.

Basically in this state redistricting is controlled by the Illinois General Assembly and that means whoever controls the legislature controls the map.

Geography King doesn't understand why the map of the Chicago area was so heavily gerrymandered considering Democratic strength there. Here's the answer I can provide the map was draw with consideration for the election of Latinos and Blacks. The maps were drawn to insure minority representatives are sent to Congress.

Basically what if this state's political districts would look if they weren't drawn for merely insuring certain results as would be the case with gerrymandering. Perhaps draw districts like we see in Indiana, basically what if Illinois was able to draw fair maps?

Would the races for Congress or even the General Assembly be more competitive if there were fair maps in this state?

I need to sign up to that redistricting site and play around with it a bit.

The Recount: Why Expanding Congress Would End Gerrymandering

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 09:00:00 -0500

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]

IMHO, I think we do need to expand the number of Congresspersons (hey I like that better than Alderperson). I'm not entirely sold on proportional representation, but let's talk about it. We could expand this to state legislatures or even city councils (mostly big cities).

However, let's bear in mind this video is starting off talking about gerrymandering. The question is about creating fair maps.

Iowa is showing creating maps that largely considers county boundaries. Also why is there gerrymandering? These are districts drawn with political considerations and from what I know about redistricting in Illinois for example, it's to ensure that politicians get to retain their seats or more accurately to ensure politicians get to maintain their constituencies.

That means sometimes in other states outside of Iowa, cities might get split up between different districts. An example of Massachusetts the point was made that to ensure there is a Republican district there is to create a heavily gerrymandered map to elect one Republican there to Congress. Massachusetts was said to have voted 36% for Republican Donald Trump in 2024 for President, however, all Congresspersons elected from there are Democrats.

Has this video educated you on gerrymandering? Do you think we need to change how we draw our districts?

Mr. Beat on President Thomas Jefferson

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 14:30:00 -0500

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.

The White House: Robert Treat Paine

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 7 Jul 2025 09:00:00 -0500

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]

TommyBryson: 7 Worst Jobs that Keep People Stuck Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 14:30:00 -0500

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]

Let's go back to space: Voyager 1

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 6 Jun 2025 14:30:00 -0500

Check out Voyager 1's position here.

Voyager 1 was launched on Sept 5, 1977 and is currently still sending data back to Earth even in what is called interstellar space. It is the further man-made object away from Earth.

Voyager 1 is further away from Earth than its sister probe Voyager 2 (launched August 20, 1977) and also Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 (currently derelict in space though also far away from Earth).

Both of the Voyager probes have golden records which I have linked to on this blog in the past. They were designed to be found by any extraterrestrial species that may run across these probes. The records are like time capsules and who knows they may well outlast human civilizations.

Of course here's the deal. While Voyager 1 at least has left the heliopause which is the boundary between the solar wind of our Sun and the plasma of other stars in our galaxy. So whatever instruments the probes still have and certainly whatever energy it has remaining has been used to collect data outside of our solar system.

Beyond the heliopause is a region known as the Oort cloud and Voyager 1 is expected to reach that area of space in about 300 years. Of course a lot can happen in that time, to Earth especially. And as a huge science fiction fan, I would expect that humanity could beat Voyager 1 to the Oort cloud well before that.

And it would take about 30,000 years to for the probe to pass through it. Again, it's possible that we may beat that probe through that area of space. That is unless "warp drive" - a future faster than light propulsion system actually being studied by physicists - becomes a reality and bridges the vast distances within our galaxy.

As far as any extraterrestrial visitors. Who knows? Perhaps the idea of a UFO - and thus alien visitors - are a reality. And it's also possible that any other advanced lifeforms like ourselves - humanity - might not have yet figured out how to bridge the vast distances in our galaxy as of yet. Who knows if as long as the Voyagers remain out there if they will encounter any other life forms.