INTRODUCTION
This is going to be long, but so too has the section of my life dedicated to Paradox grand strategy. I wouldn't write this labor of love if I hadn't devoted over 1000 hours to the sweeping years of Eu4, the dramatic global conflict of Hoi4, the fantasy dreams in Ck2 AGOT. The Alien conquests of Stellaris, the economic management of Vicky, and surely in the future, the wonders of Eu5 and project Caesar. With this out of the way, the following is a winding list of suggestions I would have for the game, each with specific tailored ideas in mind. These are for gameplay balance and immersion and realism reasons, and should add a unique flavor and challenge to Eu5 that did not exist in Eu4 whatsoever. The first addresses one of my favorite Eu4 nations, Burgundy, and how it's starting situation could be balanced through flavor and events to allow for a fun playthrough with realistic agency. This is inherently tied to both the 100 years war as a mechanic, and to the way polities should and shouldn't be able to gain titles in the HRE. The next is an addition regarding historical rulers amongst major nations for flavor, which would also benefit a nation such as Burgundy, but would also add depth and immersion to the other major players during the 500 years between the 14th and 19th centuries. I also apply the proposed 100 years war mechanic to other similar rivalries in history that could benefit from such a "template", to justify the coding require, and add an immersive and dynamic mid game that simulated rivalries while preventing wanton blobbing. The last is a simple historical addition, that would make new world play throughs incredibly challenging, but would also add important historical context to the Columbian exchange. Without further ado:
For Burgundy:
The major challenge for them will be allowing for the agency that Burgundy had during this time period, while maintaining the sovereign integrity of both the French Kingdom and the HRE. Like, how do you allow for Burgundy to pick up titles in the HRE and France while disallowing bordering states like Aragon and Poland from doing the same? How can the Emperor of the HRE and French King pick and choose who can do what within their imaginary borders?
The best I could see is a harder distinguishing line between Duchy and Kingdom, with large ramifications for going between one and the other. Even at the height of the Bold's hold over Burgundy, the Low countries, and a smattering of duchies in between including Luxembourg, he still owed fealty to both the HRE and French King. Paid dues, lip service, and owed his power to them, though they also could not simply carve up his realm without answering themselves to every other HRE Prince and French Noble. That dynamic is so damn hard to do without the titles that CK2 and 3 include, but those same titles would be a completely useless mechanic that becomes largely defunct after the peerage system and reforms of the 15th century onwards (save for the HRE for a longer time). When did France officially get a handle on its own Lords? Is such a situation dynamic? England did it far sooner after the war of the roses and glorious revolution, will that be simulated through events and the like?
Clearly, it is imperative that agency is retained, and wars do not have to be joined by less integrated noble subjects of a King at game start. Ludy, like him or hate him, made an incredibly important connection with Flanders and Brittany for this exact same reason. Both owed fealty to the French King, and yet the 100 years war saw both quickly become functionally independent for a century. Maybe the more important question regarding all of this, is can Eu5 support a dual French king situation going into the 100 years war? The English choice, and the French one? I for one am going to make some bold suggestions, things that might be unpopular and will probably never come to pass.
A Unique 100 years war mechanic:
For one, I think the 100 years war should come with a completely unique mechanic and UI for as long as the dynastic struggle continues. There should be an English and French faction, kind of like the way countries could choose a side in the reformation in Eu4, which played into alliances during the league war. This however should be more dynamic. For one, both the English and French should be able to offer boons to groups that join their side during this conflict, to try and pry countries away from the other. "Incidents" should occur to spur on fighting, based around limited goals at first, and as a meter ticks up those objectives can grow in scope. This could be manipulated to go quicker or slower based on player interaction. So it could be over Aquitane or some provinces at first, and grow to be the Union between France and England, or remain a shuffling of provinces until some conditions are met. Duchies and qualifying powers (Allies of either side and the like) could join and leave the war at will, with white peace if they exit a current "crisis" early. In the meantime, the varying French vassals can fall in line or betray their King at will, but subject to various modifiers tied to their integration to the crown, with the AI being less likely to betray the French King if they themselves are simply a holding of of the French royal family. With this, Burgundy would be able to join the English often during the 100 years war, but play the balance of power as they did by joining the French at opportune moments. Meanwhile, as long as the event goes on, they are independent, but tied to the others in a defensive pact if an outside power declared war on them.
HRE Titles, Outside Titles:
Meanwhile, if you have sufficient relations with the Emperor of the HRE, and are less than a kingdom rank, you can "gain a ducal title in the HRE". This would be a license of sorts to gain minor titles in the HRE, to a limited extent. How exactly this could be limited is complicated and could involve the justification of the war, permission from the Emperor, or a certain level of AE or infamy from the target nation. It could also be through marriage networks that are better tracked, and a better fleshed out background calculation of dynastic claims that do not only involve PUs. Perhaps even a more dynamic system of disenfranchised lords going to other houses for help in reclaiming their seat, with some rewards for the nation that helps in doing so with a unique CB. Either way, some sort of achievable "IN" with the HRE, that allows for limited gains from within its borders, and a separate sort of tag for the lands you take within the HRE. Perhaps an off-color of your own, with its own levies, but they are inherently tied under you, you have control over both, and for simplicity's sake everything down to estates and interaction remain tied together. The other half however would be a part of the HRE, and would represent more than a simple province modifier. The other half would also be represented in the HRE screen, and would make you eligible for interactions within the Empire.
BURGUNDY Summary:
Super complicated for both systems, and completely unlikely. But with something like this, Burgundy's rise would be adequately simulated, while outside Kingdoms would be precluded from simply entering into the HRE and gobbling up tags. You have to be a duchy, with limitations in place, and would be under the HRE Emperor, paying them in taxes and perhaps prestige for membership. A Kingdom simply couldn't, wouldn't do this deal. If this causes duchies in the balkans for example, or Italy to do the same, I see no problem there. Everywhere else it is Kingdoms that border the Empire. A distance and culture/religion limitation would prevent others. Principalities could be included, it would actually be funny if Theodoro or someone like that could somehow finagle HRE membership and take on titles within the Empire. Sounds fun actually.
The "Historical Rivalry" Made Into a Mechanic
For the 100 years war this would make for a dynamic 100 years of conflict and struggle, and incidents would be far more interesting than random war declarations through events and the like. An event could give background to the impending "incident", and makes for very rewarding player interaction. This sort of system is also worth coding, and the same style can be used for countless slow burning long conflicts that existed in history. A similar sort could be used for the border between the steppes and China, could even come into existence between the BYZ/Ottos and Persia if both come back to strength. This is too ambitious, but imagine if you finally restore Balkans and Anatolian Byz, only to have a rival Persia to the east, and to go "oh shit..." as the event "Rivalry with the Persians restored" flares up, and you have to deal with incidents over time instead of simply stomping them with opportune wars. Same as Ottos if you do the same. Or Spain and France if both become colonial powers that are rivaled. Little objectives like that would make the mid game so fresh and balanced too. This turns historical rivalries between bordering nations into a back in forth that can persist for the decades, centuries that such rivalries existed in real life. Goals can be limited or expanded depending on the animosity between the powers at the time, and the ambitions of either Monarch/leader. In quieter times, this could be simple border conflicts over a fort, or a single location even. If cranked up to a full on crisis, this could be where the Spanish Armada is built, where armies go deep into the others' territory, and goals include deposing the opposing leader, balkanizing a longtime enemy, or taking wide swaths of land for oneself. If "won", completely defeating an opponent in such a way could have a lasting boon to a PP equivalent, longtime prestige/legitimacy bonuses, and contentment from the estates for a time. They could be tweaked to ensure that a player is not completely locked into artificial limiters on expansion, but limiting enough that blobbing is simply not possible. It could be tied into markets and trade goods, premises for the conflicts could include control over a good outside of both's territory. This, to me, is far more interesting and dynamic than declaring war over and over again for conquest, "holy war" being used for the 1000th time, and peace deals that are simply too arbitrary and unrealistic. Eu5 could use this sort of mechanic to conquer the midgame slump so many games fall into. Making it adaptable to longtime rivalries adds an important personal touch to every game. It turns head canon ("I have been rivals with this nation for 200 years, we must HATE each other but have never gone to war") into a lasting source of conflict and strategy. The impetus for renewed struggle between you and your enemy could come from a scornful insult, a set of factors being triggered, perhaps a dynastic struggle in an important buffer state. I for one, would love this addition.
Smaller Things, #1: A Historical Rulers Toggle:
While unlikely to be included, it would be a nice touch if there was a button to press in the setup menu to activate historical rulers. Perhaps this list could be limited to only the most important players in the world, balanced between the continents and based on available data so that none could say one group is more favored than another. It then would provide the nations with the rulers they had historically for the same amount of time, for role play reasons. This way, you could get the Bold guaranteed by playing as Burgundy, and Mehmed and the Magnificent if playing as the Ottos, Peter and Catherine as Russia, Elizabeth as England etc. From the Sun King to the worst of the Louis, from Charles of Spain to the worst later Spanish monarchs. I feel like otherwise you would miss so many of the great rulers during this time period, and events can only go so far. It would probably be harder to have an event for every significant ruler that you want the player to have the option of playing besides. This could be extended to shorter lived polities like Burgundy, and allow you to play the Bold for role playing reasons at least. Moctezuma for the Aztecs, Pachacuti for the Incas, the list goes on. Again, this has been done before with events, this is simply ensuring that it occurs for the best documented nations during this time period, across the major polities. You could use your historical knowledge to strike when you know your enemy has a weak ruler, you could know to be patient when they have come into a legendary administration. Fighting the Ottos could be tempered by knowing that Sulieman is coming to the throne, and that they are about to be unstoppable for a time. Hell, you could prepare all of your defenses as Mehmed ascends, as the boy dreams of grand conquest. Or, prepare your navy and armies as the inbred Carlos II ascends the Spanish throne, unable to do much of anything in the face of crisis.
"Smaller Things" #2: Apocalypse in the New World:
I believe that at times, balance should come second to realism and immersion. One such time that I feel very strongly about is what occurred when the first thrice damned mosquitoes made the transit from the jungles of equatorial Africa to the New world. It was this transit that shaped wide swaths of human history, and by all accounts caused for one of the greatest losses of human life in history. No Eu title has come close to trying to simulate what occurred, and with the incoming population mechanic I believe there is no greater time to do so. Plagues have been simulated before, and the black death in Crusader Kings games adds a dramatic, immersive catastrophe that must be endured, one that could take important rulers at the drop of a hat. Well, imagine the black death, except it was now joined by the great reapers of humanity, all in unison, all striking at the non-immune. West Nile, Smallpox, The Plague, Scarlet Fever, Malaria, Cholera, Typhus, Tuberculosis, Measles, and more slammed into native populations without warning, and with overwhelming strength. This was a millennia-old arms race striking the unarmed.
The losses of life here cannot be unstated. It is likely that over 55 million people died in the centuries following the European arrival, and even that number could very well be a low end estimate. It is simply impossible to know for sure, but the numbers are harrowing. Take the fact that 700 thousand natives lived in Florida upon the first encounter with Europeans, and that in the aftermath perhaps 5 thousand lived in the same area. This of course was the fault of some diseases more than others, hence the mention of the mosquito. Malaria specifically went on to make the tropical regions of the new world nigh-inhospitable for natives and Europeans alike, where before such was not the case. Areas where Malaria could gestate and became dependent on African slavery specifically because of this turn of reality, and accidental release of humanity's most feared biological weapon. The Spanish conquest of mesoamerica and the Incan Empire both depended entirely on the disease epidemics that followed the Europeans west. Without them, Spain would have entirely been rebuffed. With them, native leaders were literally too weak and divided to fight back for a prolonged period of time. It would be an injustice to not include this important historical narrative into the game, an event so important and influential that it is likely partially responsible for a global cooling in temperatures. It is a lesson in the true devastation wrought by Europeans, both the intentional and unintentional.
Still Rambling... (I have obsessed over this specific topic greatly...)
As a player in the New World, this of course would make European contact a feared harbinger of disaster. While contact would mean the possibility of westernization and eventual parity and revenge against them, it would also mean the functional end of your economy for decades, and careful conservation of resources to withstand the physical and biological siege on your people. Leaders could drop dead from disease in a moment, civil wars could trigger as claimants come and go. Your limited resources would be forced to hold the line from opportunists, conquistadors, and explorers alike. This is the hand that the native groups historically had to endure. This is what was not shown in the previous games. Hell, it is almost insulting (I am of partial Taino background) that so many polities are left out as "uncolonized/settled" land entirely, when the reality was that these areas were chock full of people, settlement, and tribes of sufficient numbers to call the land "settled", before the European contact. The problem was that these areas of first contact were literally wiped out by disease, and therefore ceased to exist in united strength upon contact. Many of the depicted tripes would have endured the same fate too, if they happened to be in Cuba or Florida, instead of the American interior or the Andes. This however is of course not something I could push for in the game regardless. You cannot just add tags to eliminate them as the Europeans show up, though it would look appropriately tragic if done well. The simulated population however should depict what actually happened. Eu4 is very weird in this respect, as it tried to an extent to include aspects of this in the original release, but over the years has completely overcompensated in native strength. It has left the new world almost incolonizable, which is simply strange and not rewarding for both player and historical value.
It should also be noted that Europeans should similarly struggle upon the intrusion of malaria into the new world. In malaria zones, European colonists should accurately be devastated by plague outbreaks, armies should have to be "seasoned", or tragically endure partial elimination upon landing in the new world. This should be similar in the interiors of Africa, which were similarly inhospitable to Europeans prior to the advent of important medicinal technology. Disease greatly influenced human history, and simply should not be left out, much as the black death was included in crusader kings.
CONCLUSION:
That is the end of my long winded rant, and I am simply happy to have said my piece on the upcoming project Caesar. No matter what comes to pass, it already looks like an incredible sequel to an incredible series, and does seem to have far more content than I previously suspected it would. If anyone actually read through this manifesto, please let me know what you think, I would love to discuss any of this! I WILL be playing Eu5 in this order, so you know what kind of person I am: Trebizond, BYZ, Venice, Burgundy, Aragon, Ethiopia, and Portugal in that order.
~The_Last_Despot, planning to restore the Komnenoi dynasty to greatness under BASIL MEGAS KOMNENOS

1. Haiku for Hanukkah:
   
   • Craft a series of haikus capturing the essence of Hanukkah, focusing on the symbolism of light, the menorah, and the joy of shared traditions.
2. Sonnet of Diwali Delights:
   
   • Write a sonnet that explores the colors, lights, and festivities of Diwali, incorporating themes of triumph over darkness and the spirit of renewal.
3. Kwanzaa Villanelle:
   
   • Create a villanelle that reflects on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, exploring the repeated refrains to convey a sense of unity, purpose, and cultural celebration.
4. Las Posadas Limericks:
   
   • Compose a set of limericks capturing the humorous and heartwarming moments of Las Posadas, focusing on the characters and the reenactment of the journey to Bethlehem.
5. St. Lucia's Day Free Verse:
   
   • Write a free verse poem that explores the sensory experience of St. Lucia's Day, using vivid imagery to convey the sights, sounds, and emotions of the candlelit processions.
6. Winter Solstice Cinquains:
   
   • Create a series of cinquains that capture the anticipation, stillness, and eventual rebirth associated with the Winter Solstice.
7. Chinese New Year Acrostic:
   
   • Compose an acrostic poem using the words "Chinese New Year," incorporating each letter to convey the energy, symbolism, and cultural richness of the celebration.
8. Ganna Elegy:
   
   • Write an elegy that reflects on the Ethiopian Christmas (Ganna), exploring themes of faith, tradition, and the emotional resonance of the holiday.
9. Oshogatsu Haiga:
   
   • Combine haiku with visual elements in a haiga to capture the serene beauty and cultural significance of Oshogatsu, incorporating traditional New Year imagery.
10. Global Celebrations Ghazal:
    
    • Craft a ghazal that weaves together the diverse elements of global holiday celebrations, exploring the shared threads of joy, love, and cultural exchange.

The first few comments relate to this, supposedly from the Commonwealth Games in Auckland 1990 (or maybe after Great Britain won the gold medal in the 4x400m relay at the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991):

This reminds me of a television interview I saw many years ago. A reporter from one of the major US television networks (I forget which one) was interviewing black British athlete Kriss Akabusi after being a member of the 400 metres relay team that took the gold medal at the 1991 Athletics World Championships. The interviewer started off with:
"So, Kriss, what does this mean to you as an African-American?"
"I'm not American, I'm British"
"Yes, but as a British African-American ..."
"I'm not African. I'm not American. I'm British."
This went on for some time before the reporter got so flustered that she gave up and went to interview someone else. I guess more than anything else it demonstrates the potential absurdity of political correctness -- this reporter was so tied-up with the idea that the "correct" term for someone of afro-caribbean ancestry was African-American and not Black that she couldn't cope with the fact that many black people are neither African nor American.

Hello all,
I was interested in this story and the lack of Primary Sources. So much so that I emailed Kriss via his website and got confirmation that the story is indeed true and actually took place during the Commonwealth Games in 1990:
Hi Ted, Thank you for your interest. The said interview was during the Common wealth games in Auckland 1990. Hope this helps? Kind regards,
:)
Awooga!

The Akabusi thing absolutely happened, I saw the vid on tv on a couple of occasions, and distinctly remember his face and also the insistance and utter non-comprehension of the interviewer. It is a classic. I have looked for it online to answer similar questions in the past and I cannot find it. It is from a long time ago, but has been on uk tv in the last few years, maybe 3. I find it VERY remarkable that it is not available to be found online anywhere. At least not with my google foo. And I really really tried.

I definitely saw this video online, but I can't seem to find it? Strange.

In the sub chapter "conspiracy from large organizations" it seems easy to me to think that the large tv company in question probably had it [the footage of the Kriss Akabusi interview] nuked. i have no basis for this, except that things don't disappear that way from the internet. It is becoming a legend on the web, but was on a funny tv prog in uk less than 36 months ago ...

I saw this EXACT exchange, but it was Seal, being interviewed on MTV in 1994, when his "Kiss from a Rose" went multi-mega-platinum or whatever it did to make a kajillion dollars.
It was a short interview, and I don't remember who the MTV kid interviewer was; I remember it was a young lady. It may have been Kennedy.
I have no proof of this; can't find any video, and Kennedy doesn't mention it in her new book. I just remember it happened to be on the TV late at night, and I was thinking, "WOW that's awkward - this American kid has no idea how to discuss race, and is trying to discuss race."
The question was something like, "what's it like being such a prominent African-American artist?" and Seal was very gently trying to tell her that he's not American, nor is he African. "I'm British," he kept saying. "No, I'm black, and I'm British.."
I was frankly in awe of his patience.

OK, now the rest ...

I remember watching the 2006 world cup during my senior year in math class. France was playing one of their bracket matches and my girlfriend at the time watches about 45 seconds of the game and says "Wow! France has a lot of African Americans on their team!" I didn't even say anything. I was hoping the silence would give her time to let that comment sink in. It never did.

I've heard fellow Americans refer to Nelson Mandela as an African-American.
Shit's insane.

... the principal of my prestigious high school referred to Nelson Mandela as African-American.

I think a lot of Americans genuinely haven't contextualized the two words "African" and "American" in African-American. For them it's simply a nicer way of saying "black". Ergo, all black people worldwide are African-Americans as well.
It's bizarre but apparently true.

I witnessed a similar situation in London. I was studying abroad and heading back to the dorm on a nightbus with my other classmates, all of us being from Florida. One girl in our group sits next to a black guy and being that she's drunk she gets chatty. She asks the guy "what is it like to be African-American in England?" his response was "I'm not African-American" "oh right, yeah, I mean African" "I'm not African!" "Then what are you???" "I'm British!"

African american is a fucking stupid and unnecessary euphemism. I used to have a coworker that was from South Africa. This is in Argentina, which, as much as the US likes to call themselves "America" and pretend the rest of the continent is not there, is "America" (that is, everyone in Argentina and other south american countries identify themselves as American, living in America, the continent). So, I always talked about him as "Afroamericano" (African-American). Then they met him, and realized the guy was whiter than cocaine. Technically correct is the best kind of correct.

This is just like when Chiwetel Ejiofor, at the Academy Awards, someone asked him what it feels like to be the first ever African American to be nominated as best actor.

This reminds me of when we read Athol Fugard's play "Master Harold...and the boys" in high school. To summarise, it is about race and class relations in apartheid era South Africa. My teacher lost his shit because everyone kept calling them African-Americans. An abiding memory is him nearly yelling, "they are ALL just AFRICAN."

Back in the eighties when we started using the term "African American" I had a friend in college who was from Kenya. He came up in conversation one day and someone asked me who I was talking about. I said: "you know so-and-so, the African guy." A very politically correct friend told me my language was very incorrect and I should refer to him as African American. I said that he wasn't American at all, he was from Kenya, Africa. Silence ensued while they digested this tidbit.

Me sister told me recently that she had a discussion about why black people in England are not called African Americans. It was with my seven year old niece...

This also happened to a Black Canadian hockey player. Can't remember who though...

I remember reading a financial news article. The article talked about second quarter earnings being in the red for a company while 3rd quarter earnings were expected to be in the African-American. It was a a professional news source with proper journalists and everything. Pretty fucking sad. I know I facepalmed reading that.

My favorite was when I heard a white lady on the news refer to Nelson Mandela as ‘African-American’. No, honey, he’s just African.

one of my history teachers in high school once talked about "European African Americans"

My history teacher said Hitler discriminated against Jewish people, LGBTQ people, disabled people, and instead of black people she said African Americans... in Germany and countries around it, so many African Americans.

In my 9th grade French class one of my classmates saw a black person in our textbook and exclaimed, "They have African Americans in France??" 🤦🏻‍♀️

I'm constantly called african American even though I've never stepped a foot in America.

My fourth grade students were reading a book set in Botswana. They kept referring to the characters as African American. I spent way too much time that day explaining that people from Africa are just African, and that it’s okay to say the word black.

I told a Columbian friend I was going to ask out a Spanish girl and he was like "oh nice, Latin American"...

I recall a TV announcer during the Olympics refer to the European black people as African Americans.

Unrelated, but during one of the Summer Olympics a few years back, one of the American announcers breathlessly declared that this was the first African American from X (where X is an African country) that has ever won this event.
I think they just universally substitute "African American" for "Black" in their mental dictionary and go from there. It's actually quite racist in itself, when you think about it.

When Lewis Hamilton won the F1 championship a few years back the American press services replaced him being the first black world champion as being the first African-American world champion. They issued an apology the next day

I remember several years ago, before the Atlanta Thrashers had moved to Winnipeg, CNN kept referring to all the Black players on Atlanta as African-Americans even though only one was American. One was Swedish and the rest Canadian. Yet for whatever reason CNN insisted on referring to them as African-American.

Who is the richest African American? Elon Musk

Technically Charlise Theron is African American

Another "funny" point. White Americans originating from Africa also get chastised if they identify themselves as "African Americans".
Read this: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7567291&page=1#.TyvhtONHhU0

Had a boss once that was born and raised in Morocco.
He became a US citizen in his 40 and would tell everyone he was an African American. He looked like he was from Spain.
He loved correcting his employees who used the term wrong.

'African American' is a term that has been divorced from its linguistic underpinnings in the United States almost entirely as a result of the culture of political correctness that has, in some ways, muddled racial dialogue in popular culture.
'African American' was ushered into favor in popular culture on the belief that it lacked any of the negative, racist, and/or superficial characteristics of terms used in the past. It was widely adopted for these very reasons. But the term's broad adoption is problematic because It designation as an appropriate term also had the effect of de-legitimizing other, more broad terms, rendering them implicitly racist or, at the very least, inappropriate. As a result of our society's desire to overcome racism and to be racially sensitive and politically correct, the term has become a favored blanket term to describe anyone that is Black, regardless of nationality, which leads people who are trying to be racially sensitive and politically correct to make minor gaffs like this all the time.
Ideally, culture should, in part, look to the speaker's intention when discerning whether a statement is racially offensive, rather than the word itself. This is not to say that the listener has no say in what is offensive - they certainly do, but a listener-centric system can have negative consequences on how we communicate. We allow for interpretive nuance in almost every other aspect of communication, but we are apprehensive to do the same when it comes to race. This is completely understandable given the history of race in the United States, but I can't help but feel that this apprehension, while having a positive impact early on, has limited constructive dialogue. This stymieing effect is, in part, illustrated by Mr. Elba's point.

I studied in London for a semester in college, and two of my (also American) flatmates once had a long conversation about differences between American African-Americans and English African-Americans. They were totally unaware they were describing English people as "-American"; It was clear that "African-American" was simply a word that meant "black" to them.

I've noticed Americans call all black people regardless of whether they're not American or African or either an African American, and it really ruffles my feathers. I remember seeing someone refer to a British Jamaican as an African American a while ago, and it's been playing on my mind ever since.

Blacks in America need to be called something.
The things they have been called have typically originated with those who are not black.
"African American" was popularized by Jesse Jackson during a period in which he was the leading black political figure in the US.
The term was picked up by the press, and there you go.
The term originated in this poem, which is based on word play involving the ends of both words, "ican", which is re-styled as "I can".
Whenever I hear the term I think of Jesse Jackson, who seems the type to discard a single syllable term in favor of a seven-syllable jaw-breaker.
Prevalence of the term has the amusing side-effect of causing Americans to become fearful of sounding racist when they have to refer to blacks who are not American, because there is a (mistaken) perception that "black" was discarded as racist. It just went out of style for political reasons.

I worked with a woman who was black and originally from England. I asked her if she would be considered 'African British'. She said, "we just say black".

Seppo exceptionlism. There was a KFC ad promoting an Australian cricket tour of the West Indies.
The white Australian guy wins over the locals, sharing his bucket of chicken. Americans got hold of it, and it's all African American this African American that.
Lost on them that the only American thing was the chicken brand. No comprehension that their stereotypes are not followed worldwide.

Didn't interviewers call John Boyega a "British African American"?

Not ethnicity related, but an example of the same /ImTheMainCharacter syndrome that exists a lot across the pond...
John Lennon was being questioned by a reporter in an interview who said something like, "There are people here in America that haven't taken to the way you look, some people have said that your haircuts are very unamerican."
John replied, "Well, that's very observant of them, because we aren't American".

One of the funniest things I've ever seen was a news anchor in the US talking about the riots in France and the French African Americans.

That's because in the US we are told not to apply critical and independent thinking but just use the label that we were most recently was told was correct or we are racist.

When Star Trek: Voyager was released, the Vulcan character Tuvok, played by Tim Russ, was described as an "African-American Vulcan".

Tuvok was a full blooded vulcan on both sides iirc, which means this makes even less sense than say, a half Vulcan character. Neither side of him is African OR American, never mind a combination of the two.
Still a great character tho.

Vanity Fair once published an article that said “Idris Elba would be the first African American James Bond if selected for the role.”

My mates parents are from Jamaica, but he was born in England, see himself as English but has a affinity to Jamaica. Ask him and he will say he’s English.
PC manager at work called him African American, pissed him right off, was calm and tried to explain he’s neither American nor African and not to call him that, he’s English, or if he wants to refer to race he’s black.
PC manager complained to HR, and my mate had to take nearly a hour to explain to four grown adults how Jamaica isn’t African and he’s fucking English.
It’s just horrible ignorance from people sometimes.

There's something really fucked up about someone trying to be politically correct and effectively telling your mate that his ideas about who he is are wrong.

Yup, was fuming afterwards. Talked about taking it further but he felt he finally got through to them and hoped it would never be repeated. We both fucked off not long after.

I would have reported to HR about the incident. Oh wait

I once met a girl from a country in Africa who told a similar story. She got called an African American at the airport (why this happened so casually is a terrible and dumb faux pas and I still can’t figure out how it was appropriate). Well, she completely confused the lady by responding with “No, I’m African African.”

Imagine how easy it must be applying for residency or citizenship when you already have American on your form.

I had a black friend at uni from south London. It was a while ago but I think his parents were Ghanaian. He would refer to himself as Anglo Blaxon.

When I was in the US I lived with a Jamaican guy who was offended every time he was called African American.

If I do a Google search for 'first black person in space', Google tells me that Guion Bluford, Jr. was the first African American in space.
He was indeed the first "African American" in space. However, he was not the first black person in space. That was Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, an Afro-Cuban man who participated in Soviet space missions.

I worked in Afghanistan on a NATO base. One day the gate guards saw a black civilian contractor walk out of the gate and get snatched up by the Afghan Security Forces. The (American) security forces put out a call to everyone on base “Check your people, an African American man just got swept up and we need to know who it is”. Four hours pass with no response and then the British unit on base reported that one of their contractors hasn’t come back from lunch. The Americans said “why didn’t you respond to our urgent call???” To which the Brits obviously said “….. you said it was an African American.”

Yeah they are like that.. I have a friend he is black. He was being called african-argentinian by an american we know.
We tried to told them that here in argentina we don’t use the xxx-american like they do. Here you are either argentino or not, if you are white, black, yellow, pink is not a factor.
He said that it was racism, that we were trying to erase his roots….

I have a friend who is half Carribbean, half Swiss, but born and raised in the UK. She went to the US and got referred to as African American, and when she corrected them that she was neither African nor American they apparently got very angry at her and told her she was "denying her heritage". Smh.

The most uncomfortable meeting I ever attended was a global one, we went around the room introducing ourselves, great mix of cultures and experience, until it came to an american dude.
American Dude: I am an African American blah blah blah
Nigerian Dude: Excuse me Can you stop using that term please its offensive to me, your American
American Dude: WTF NO I have traced my heritage back to a tribe in central africa, I am a proud african american whose ancestors were sold into the slave trade by evil white colonists
Nigerian Dude: (big Nigerian belly laugh) Your ancestors were either to dumb or too slow to escape my tribe, we sold you to the white man. (more laughter)
and on it went. I was so glad that meeting ended.

I, as a american black person, hate those labels. I was born in America 42 years ago. Why can’t I just be an American? White people aren’t called European Americans. I’ve never even been to Africa and can’t tell you what region my ancestors from Africa come from. My family history, as far as I can trace, are all American born citizens. Doesn’t that just makes me American? I’ve never heard British American, Spanish American, or anything like that. I even hate the term Native American because I’m sure American wasn’t a thing when they first arrived there. If you’re born in America, just be American!

I had an American get angry at me when I described a friend as 'African' because he was from Nigeria.
"It's AFRICAN-AMERICAN you racist."

My coworker is from Haiti. Works 3 Jobs. He always wants to punch someone in the face if he is called African American.

I once argued with an American that Australian people of African descent were not in fact 'African American australians'. Its BIZARRE.

I corrected my boss for calling a woman African American when she was clearly English, but a black woman. He said that it was racist to call someone black… I can’t speak on behalf of the black community, but surely it’s more offensive to call an English person African American just because they’re black rather than calling them black???

I took an African American Studies course in college; for our final project I did a presentation on Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, an American surgeon. One of my classmates chose to do a presentation on Usain Bolt, who is Jamaican

This happened to Stephen K Amos:
"So you're African American?"
"No, I'm British."
"But you're black?"
"Y... Yes?"

Being called American is a slur tbh

Lenny Henry (English comedian) was once doing a gig in America and the announcer wanted to introduce him as African American. He pointed out that he is neither of those things and asked to be referred to as black instead. Announcer refused because it would be offensive.

YouTube Chris James - Black British accent (stand up comedy)

Gina Yashere Stopping the Police - Live at the Apollo - BBC One

Americans have a weird fetish about their roots and lineage

My first wife (who was American), once referred to a black squirrel as an 'African American Squirrel'. I still think about this.

 
The comments are from ...
AskReddit Black People of the U.K., what are your views on culture and black people in the U.S.A.?
self Stop calling me African American. I’m not fucking African American
tipofmytongue Looking for that youtube video that a reporter calls a Black British guy "African American" and he replies I'm not African or American, I'm British
tipofmytongue [VIDEO] An American reporter calls a foreign guy (european?) African-American, and he is dumbfounded
tipofmytongue [Video] Black, British Olympian corrects American reporter
worldbeyondyourown Idris Elba frequently points out this difference when Americans call him an African American
questionTimeELIF Why use the term African-American?
britishproblems Being called 'African American' when you're from Sheffield [in England] and have never been to the States
DoYouTrustToothpaste "African American male with an Australian accent ..."

Happy Tuesday all! This query draft has come a LONG way thanks to the incredible help from everyone here. Shifting from synopsis into pitch/personal stakes territory has been a fun challenge, and any feedback is greatly appreciated! I think this is about ready to run with!
Dear Agent,
Ayara is alone hearing a confusing voice after narrowly escaping captivity by Atoc Velitor, the ailing king’s advisor. Despite her circumstances, she vows retribution upon Velitor for murdering her family and abducting her from her home. Seeking to decipher the voice only she can hear, certain it will help her cause, she befriends an influential warrior with a common disdain for Velitor. Their efforts expose that not only does Ayara have an ancestral right to the throne, but Velitor plots a coup and seeks an ancient demon’s power; Velitor plans to sacrifice her to the demon in exchange for eternal life. Ayara discovers the voice is a mythical sword once wielded by her royal ancestor, calling to her has the last living descendent, yearning to slay the demon. She determines to wield her newfound claim to avenge her family and bring Velitor to justice.
With the assistance of the warrior and his mentor, Ayara recruits a powerful team of heroes who have also been targeted by Velitor and the demon. Despite her growing coalition, Ayara must grapple with accepting her newfound lineage and imposter syndrome, while processing all she’s endured. If she fails to rise to the occasion, her family will have died in vain, and Velitor’s demon-worshipping regime will take over the realm.
I am excited to present for your consideration REMEMBERANT: THE FALL OF KINGS, a 105,000-word adult upmarket fantasy with series potential. Set across a continent inspired by Incan and other Pre-Columbian cultures, readers will enjoy worldbuilding and motifs reminiscent of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. This work utilizes a tone similar to Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham with a gothic lens as seen in Netflix’s The Pale Blue Eye.
While pursuing my Master’s Degree in History, I studied the intersection of civilizations and the various ways subjugated cultures endure through time. When not obsessing over the world that once was, you can find me travelling, drawing, or delving into a new hobby!
Thank you for your consideration, [name]

I Basically chose Option 1 And My First Point was about Henry VIII's First Two wives and how Henry's Simpage Caused Religous change in England. I also wrote about The Columbian Exchange for my Second point and how It changed Europe Agriculturaly & Culinarily. Did I Cook?

1. Haiku for Hanukkah:
   
   • Craft a series of haikus capturing the essence of Hanukkah, focusing on the symbolism of light, the menorah, and the joy of shared traditions.
2. Sonnet of Diwali Delights:
   
   • Write a sonnet that explores the colors, lights, and festivities of Diwali, incorporating themes of triumph over darkness and the spirit of renewal.
3. Kwanzaa Villanelle:
   
   • Create a villanelle that reflects on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, exploring the repeated refrains to convey a sense of unity, purpose, and cultural celebration.
4. Las Posadas Limericks:
   
   • Compose a set of limericks capturing the humorous and heartwarming moments of Las Posadas, focusing on the characters and the reenactment of the journey to Bethlehem.
5. St. Lucia's Day Free Verse:
   
   • Write a free verse poem that explores the sensory experience of St. Lucia's Day, using vivid imagery to convey the sights, sounds, and emotions of the candlelit processions.
6. Winter Solstice Cinquains:
   
   • Create a series of cinquains that capture the anticipation, stillness, and eventual rebirth associated with the Winter Solstice.
7. Chinese New Year Acrostic:
   
   • Compose an acrostic poem using the words "Chinese New Year," incorporating each letter to convey the energy, symbolism, and cultural richness of the celebration.
8. Ganna Elegy:
   
   • Write an elegy that reflects on the Ethiopian Christmas (Ganna), exploring themes of faith, tradition, and the emotional resonance of the holiday.
9. Oshogatsu Haiga:
   
   • Combine haiku with visual elements in a haiga to capture the serene beauty and cultural significance of Oshogatsu, incorporating traditional New Year imagery.
10. Global Celebrations Ghazal:
    
    • Craft a ghazal that weaves together the diverse elements of global holiday celebrations, exploring the shared threads of joy, love, and cultural exchange.

News Link: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cunningham-mining-updates-kharroubba-copper-transaction-302144292.html
VANCOUVER, BC, May 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cunnigham Mining Ltd, a minority interest portfolio company of Houston Natural Resources Corp (OTC: HNRC) ("Company"), provided an update on acquiring an interest of up to 19.8% in Kharrouba Copper Company, Inc ("KCC" or "Company"). Cunningham Mining Ltd will be assuming the financing commitment into KCC.
Cunningham Mining (www.cunninghammining.com) has successfully completed the acquisition of the Placer Claims known as the 'Nugget Trap Placer Mine" in the British Columbia Mineral Title registry, covering 573.7 acres, along with the accompanying permits and authorizations ("Property"). The Property is situated within the Skeena Mining Division of British Columbia, Canada, in the area known as BC's Golden Triangle. The company intends to digitize its claims through the issuance of Digital Asset Tokens.
The company has completed the white paper on its Digital Asset Token and has been approached with significant interest for listing on multiple exchanges throughout the globe, to release an initial lot of 100 million tokens. The tokens, pending symbol "NGTGOLD", are backed by Cunningham Mining's current British Columbian placer gold claim and are expected to be released during the coming quarter. This would provide working capital for mining operations and committed investment in KCC. After the initial investment is completed, Cunningham has been in discussions with KCC to increase its ownership stake with future transactions and further investment.
KCC is a Canadian Company, that owns a copper mining operation, including all equipment, and has been producing since 2017. KCC is on the cusp of becoming a significant producer with the potential to realize substantial growth within the coming months. Since 2011, the Company has acquired a major land position, approximately 78,826 acres, hosting copper, cobalt, and recently discovered prospective amounts of gold in the Kingdom of Morocco. Upon completion of its drilling program and updated resource estimate within the next 12-18 months, KCC hopes to increase its resources to 30 million tons at estimated 1.5% copper.
Increasing usage and shrinking supply for copper makes it in high demand. Automakers have been scrambling to secure supplies of key metals like copper that are needed for the production of electric vehicles. Copper has recently been at the forefront of the industry due to its central role in the green energy transition as a key metal and its rapidly dwindling global reserves. Commodity Insights expects the refined and concentrate copper markets to be in deficit in 2027. At a nine-year high in 2022, copper exploration budgets were mostly directed toward mine site exploration and away from generative programs, led by major companies seeking to extend the life and capacity of their producing mines.
The Company is continuing to look at opportunities for additional acquisitions in the gold mining sector in addition to developing its existing assets.

I’ve been scrolling this sub for a few days and I see a lot of students panicking about the AP World Exam. Here are some tips from a teacher who has been teaching this course for the past decade.

1. Make sure you understand the rubrics for the essays. -Use APE for the SAQs (answer, provide evidence, explain how the evidence supports your answer) -an intro and two strong body paragraphs will get you a solid score on the LEQ -you can get a 7 on the DBQ with only 4 docs if your writing is strong. -If something like HIPP confuses you, SKIP IT! Use your time getting other points.
   
2. Focus less on memorizing dates and more on learning chronology.
   
3. When going over vocabulary, think about the SPICE-T theme and unit/time period it goes with. Here’s a gimkit game with 400 ish words gimkit vocab
   
4. At this point, focus on big events or trends. Causation is the skill that is tested the heaviest on the exam.
   
5. Still freaking out? Here are 10 events you should be able to explain:
   

-Increase use of trade routes during 1200-1450
-Growing power of land based empires
-Columbian exchange
-Political Revolutions during 1750-1900 (focus on Haiti and Lat. Am)
-Industrialization in East Asia during 1750-1900
-Imperialism
-WWI
-Cold War
-Decolonization
-Globalization

Partially inspired by the fish sauce question, I've wondered for quite some time if there were other bright/soutangy ingredients in pre-Columbian Mexican cuisines that were used in a similar way that lime juice or lemon juice or orange juice is used in various Mexican dishes now.
Especially in tropical Mexico their are so many types of indigenous fruit that are not commonly cultivated elsewhere or exported, are there fruits with a similarly acidic juice comparable to citrus?
Tangentially, is there evidence that vinegar was consumed in the Americas pre Columbian Exchange? I know there were fermented alcoholic beverages, which is only a few stray acetic acid bacteria away from becoming vinegar, but it would be intriguing to know whether or not vinegar was intentionally produced and consumed in the Americas before the late 15th century.

I'm trying to find some foods from around the world that doesn't contain potatoes, vanilla, tomatoes, corn, cacao, blueberries, pumpkins, squash, peanuts, peppers or stuff like that etc etc. I know there's many, trust me I do, I just wanna see some y'all can name from yours. :)

I am sharing this as an emotional outlet among other siblings in christ 

My Experience It was January 10, 2011. I’ll never forget that date. It was the day my life changed. Also it was the day of the college football national championship. I was and still am a big college football fan (Go Cal Bears!). Oregon was set to play auburn and i was going to watch it with my neighbor two doors down. I had been doing poorly in school, and yeah was a big pot head, still am, but am much more responsible. Anyways i told myself this semester i was going to actually try in school. I woke up at six am to get ready for my day, something that i never do. I went to put on my shoes and i noticed the laces were missing. Immediately i went to my mom and asked where are my laces? She wouldn’t give me an answer and was just acting so strange. Eventually she left the house and as she was leaving two men were walking up our walkway. I figured they were plumbers considering we had plumbing issues recently. They walked in and before I knew it they walked up to me on either side and slammed me to the ground and handcuffed me. I didn’t react as it was, I didn’t expect it for one, and for two when it began I froze, I didn’t know what to do. Once on the ground I started to squirm, I screamed “Please Help me help me I’m being kidnapped! Please!” They responded No use in screaming no one can hear you. I kept screaming. One of them said go ahead get it over with when your quiet it’ll be over sooner. After probably about ten minutes, I realized no use in fighting, they helped me up and walked me to a small suv and put me in the back and put the seat belt on me. This was the beginning. I remember on the way up to Yoncalla Oregon from Sacramento California we stopped at a burger king. They offered to get me some but food was the last thing on my mind. Looking back I wish I had taken up the offer. I remember being by the ashtray seeing a half smoked cigarette and asking to smoke it, they said I couldn’t. After a long drive we got there they walked me in. The whole way I talked about how I’d get away and run away. Well of course they told the staff at Scott Valley. By the way this is the perfect point to say I was sent to Scott Valley School in Yoncalla, Oregon. One of the many so called trouble teen schools. So being told I had threatened to run away I was put on runaway watch. For about two weeks I was forced to sleep under a light. I obviously didn’t get much sleep. Also I always had two higher phase watchers who would stand on each side of me. They had phases there was like five or six I believe. Most were 2 and 1. There were like 3 phase 3’s and 1 phase 5. There was like 20-30 of us at a time. Anyway where do I start. As I write this, with the emotions and ptsd it comes in full force and yet hazy at the same time. Maybe my head trying to protect me? So I was there seven months, thank god thats it. There were people that had been there years. Some of the people there, my god, I don’t know what to say. From a 12 year old who molested his 1 year old brother and put fish hooks in his carpet so his parents would step on it, to kids that were in there later teens who had used hard drugs, kids that had been molested and acted out as a result, kids that just were wilding out period, a lot of different walks. After I got off of runaway watch I got back on it within two weeks. I was in trouble sitting at the essay table while pe was going on. So one of the punishments was writing essays. But anyway there were two other kids at the table, the twelve year old i mentioned above and the only black kid there on the boys side. I looked at them and said if we worked together we could escape this place. They both just dead stared at me. When it was time to line up, the 12 year old went away first, the other kid looked at me and said were gonna get in trouble, that kid is a snitch and is going to tell on you. He was right. I got put on the “wall” because of that. For two weeks when not eating, sleeping, or using the bathroom, I was staring at a wall were a dot was drawn with a piece of paper on it. I would just let my imagination run wild while this happened thinking about home, friends, family, make believe countries governments politics, anything to keep the mind entertained or semi at peace! There was a green jacket my parents sent up for me that was my grandpa on my mothers side. Grandpa Applegate. It was a super cool green jacket with fake fure on the color, it looked like something you’d wear in the winter in Moscow. They said it had too many pockets and I could hide things in it. So they took it away. They put it in the Pod where all of our extra stuff was stored. Well one pod day where we could exchange stuff, there was a different staff member on duty then the one who said I couldn’t wear it. So i got it out and he didn’t know so i got to wear it for a bit. So when the other staff member got back on shift, he saw the jacket. I was banned from wearing a sweatshirt of any kind for a month. When we had outside pe everyday in Febuary to March I would get so cold. When I would put my hands in my shirt I would get another essay. This is Central Oregon, it gets cold that time of year! So some facts about the living situation, you had three minutes for showers and bathroom. You go over that you get an essay. You get more time the higher phase you get. You ever take a shit in three minutes? If done successfully I commend you. I would go five days without shitting because one of the night workers a guy named Johnny would not keep track of time when I’d get up to ask the restroom in the early morning. Johnny was an angel in a sense. Taking an uninterrupted shit was some of the most bliss I could get. Not trying to be gross but when using the restroom even was so restricted, being able to use the restroom not timed felt like hitting the lotto. When we’d wake up at seven am we only had 1 min to get up and make our bed, timed, if we didn’t make it wed get an essay. I’m naming these things as I remember different events, not necessarily in chronological order, but different events that happened. I had a peach fuzz mustache i was so proud of and long curly hair. They gave me a buzz cut and forced me to shave. My dad sent my grandpa Andrews old electric razor. That’s my dads dad. My biggest hero in my life. His name I got tatted on me at 19. I write this at 29. He died when I was 9. Most of the other kids had razors you could charge, mine needed to be plugged in to work, I didn’t understand that. I had never shaved to begin with, so I thought it was broken. I threw it away and put in a request for a new one. My father told them it was a plug in, but it was already to late so he needed to order me a new one. At a group therapy session thing, yeah we did that every day, and none of the people working there had any degrees that could go to the field they were working in. Anyway my writing is not perfect so as I was saying, at a group therapy thing, Jad one of the main guys working there brought up the razor, he said I knew it wasn’t broken, but I just wanted a new one. You don’t love your grandpa youre just a selfish little bitch. Those words still are ingrained in my mind. I know they are false but god damn they hurt. I cried. As I cried he just continued to tell me how selfish I am and im a bitch a pussy etc. William Frederick Andrews was my grandfathers name, as said I got it tatted on me at 19. He was born 1924, in 2024, my first child, a son, was born, William Frederick Andrews II. I call that a moral victory. Crazy how it worked out to be a 100 year difference. Another time it was 420, I cried because I wanted to smoke and he called me out on it in group therapy. He called me a bitch, a pussy, the usual. Weird things happened there, like one time they did a “fire drill” in the middle of the night, we had to go out into the cold in our underwear for five minutes until it was over. There were girls there but they were in a separate area. When they walked by or vice versa we had to look the other way. One of the many reasons it got shut down is there was a case of a student raping another. Apparently the girl who reported it got hounded in group therapy to the point she recanted. Now I could be wrong, but I think I know the person who did it, only one guy from the male side reached level five to the point where he became staff and could go to the girl side for group therapy. I don’t know for sure but that’s what i assume. At one point they were building a new building and they had us digging the ground around it for construction. Yeah they had us do all the cleaning indoors and out doors. If you were bad you could have your school privileges taken away. I had one kid who was a phase above me copy my work. He got caught. He got demoted, and got repromoted before I left. I never got past phase 1. So phase 1 red shirt. Phase 2 green shirt. Phase 3 Blue shirt. Phase 4 and above whatever you want. Like I said a lot of this is not in order. I am writing this in one go after years of talking about it to my loved ones. Put my thoughts to the pen, or keyboard in this case. So they did this thing were it was like a week, where it was the program or some weird name. They would break you down and “build you up” you would get a demeaning name for a week and then get an empowering name. I got the picture that if you were just a weed smoking low grade getting teen, you wouldn’t be ever seen as getting progress, you had to have “admitting to a bad act” of some sort. I made a story about how I let a girl cut me and drink my blood and how I thought about killing my dad. I know, like why would one lie and say that?!, well I figured if I had said I had done that and then shown to be turned good, it would reward me as changed and out that place. Looking back im like what the fuck. But I just wanted out and I was sure as hell willing to lie my way out. So yeah i went by like blood sucker or something like that for a week, but thats not bad. I remember so well one girl who was adopted and had relations with several boys back where she was from, she got sent there for that, and her name for the week was “Orphan Whore”. Also there were other students who weren’t going through the program that were involved with the process. Elon school or something like that where students yell at other students all sorts of insulting shit The end of it I reclaimed my name or whatever and they had me do like a ballet dance kind of weird thing to show rebirth, not that ballets weird, but in this scenario, yeah. I remember there was a day they said the world was going to end, someday in May 2011 some random wacko said, it made headlines as a joke more than anything, but i remember hearing it and hoping it happens because I wanted out. There was a gym there with rafters. I used to dream of hanging myself from them to get out. I dreamed about a car driving into the school and opening a wall up so we could run away. They used to tell us if we ran away there is bear and cougars out there, if they dont get us the cops will, and theyll put us in juvi just to have us sent back when out. They had these things called group essays. If someone did something and it no one admitted to it wed all have to write an essay about how we could have prevented it. One time a kid wiped shit on all the walls in the bathroom, the kid never admitted to it so we all had to write an essay on how we could have prevented it. I remember one time going to use the bathroom there was semen on the toilet seat, lol teen boys sex drive. I just wiped it off before I sat down. One time late at night I was masterbating in my bed. There was 20 of us sleeping in bunks in the same room, the kid who ended up copying my work i mentioned, saw me making some um, sheet movements, and looked my way giving me a dirty look, i just rolled over pretending like i was scratching, oh snap, almost caught. Not trying to be disgusting, teenage boys, find one that doesn’t masterbate, and i’ll give you some ocean beach front property in Kansas. You got weekly phone calls with your parents, you never dared to say what was going on because they were always listening. Letters same, they read them, so no use in saying something, they’ll just read it and throw it away, later my father asked me why didn’t you tell me what was going on? Well… My gf at the time ended up getting a bf after 6 months of waiting, i don’t blame her. Hey it was teenage love so im not hurt, but at the time it hurt because neither of us willingly ended it. She sent me a bookmark to have up there, it had us kissing on it, they took it from me for it being sexually explicit. They banned me from sitting up in bed and praying. I was atheist from 12 to 27 except for that time, i came back to my faith, praying for my exodus. I’m a christian again now, but only after I found a denomination that was open and affirming because I’m bisexual. Thinking about this, my mind can’t explain the pain, the rain of emotional trauma that falls in my cranium. Many times I’ve turned to cocaine, liquor, and suicidal thoughts because of the pain. It fucked my whole concept of everything in life. My emotions, my understanding of control of my own life, my ability to have healthy relationships, just so much. I still have dreams of being back there and wake up with nightmares, I was sixteen then, i turn 30 this year thirty, i have a beautiful amazing wife, a son who is the biggest blessing in my life, like i got it together now, but I don’t still, obvious by writing this. I remember one time getting to get my glasses prescription. They had to take me to town, the eye doctor, i thought about coming to him for help, but I thought if he works with these people, hell just report me to them, not them to authorities. My grandpa applegate, my moms dad, he died of suicide while I was gone, diagnosed with a terminal cancer he took it into his own hands. I never got to say good bye. When his funeral happened I wasn’t brought home for it, no, I was allowed to “write a letter to be read”. I wrote a letter, and it got read and a lot of family members said how deep it was and mature, I till this day have never watched the funeral video, I can’t. Because I should have been there. When I was on the wall, lookin towards the window could get me in trouble, because it was considered plotting an escape. I read in an english class I know where the caged bird sings, it became my favorite poem because I would watch the birds on the outside of the window and see how free they were. The joy of that. I was a juggalo, they banned me of talking anything icp related. I’d hum icp songs in protest, not like they knew them, also still a juggalo, two scoops of whoop. They day my dad came to get me, well I was peeing, and when I got out I saw him by the front door which was not far from the restroom, I ran up and hugged him saying oh my god dad! I love you! I started crying. He took to the place I always heard the workers there talk about a place called the Sugar Shack, a donut shop. Gosh dang good donuts! Then he took me to some cousins on the coast of oregon. Two days being out I was running on the beaches of the oregon coast. The sand in my feet, the breeze, the feeling of freedom. Scotts Valley School was shut down i think in 2016 for child abuse, i will link articles, but damn that place will forever haunt my head. The bats of the cave of my mind. I am married now with a family. I do my best to be a strong individual and provide, but this place has forever scared me and left me feeling weak. I couldn’t protect myself, so now I want to do everything to protect my family and be there for them. Scotts Valley school, I now live in a place called Scott Valley, the geographic area name, all come full circle? There is probably a lot more I could add to this, but for now, I just wanted to write down the bare minimum. If you have read this, thank you. I have found peace in my mind, heart, and soul as much as I can, and I hope those who have gone through similar ordeals can find some semblance of peace in their existence as well. I thank Jesus for keeping me hopeful in times I wanted to die. God bless you all.
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/14/lack-food-among-abuse-and-neglect-complaints-boarding-school/77246394/
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2015/12/hunger_vulgar_names_oregon_air.html
https://www.columbian.com/news/2016/jan/07/oregon-threatens-license-of-teen-boarding-school/
https://www.facebook.com/anorexicchild/posts/scotts-valley-boarding-school-in-yoncalla-oregon-scotts-valley-school-starved-th/368786460137878/
https://media.oregonlive.com/politics_impact/otheScotts%20Valley%20Notice%20of%20Intent%20to%20Revoke%20December%2011%202015.pdf
Ps the starved kid in the please eat post is not me

My Experience 

It was January 10, 2011. I’ll never forget that date. It was the day my life changed. Also it was the day of the college football national championship. I was and still am a big college football fan (Go Cal Bears!). Oregon was set to play auburn and i was going to watch it with my neighbor two doors down. I had been doing poorly in school, and yeah was a big pot head, still am, but am much more responsible. Anyways i told myself this semester i was going to actually try in school. I woke up at six am to get ready for my day, something that i never do. I went to put on my shoes and i noticed the laces were missing. Immediately i went to my mom and asked where are my laces? She wouldn’t give me an answer and was just acting so strange. Eventually she left the house and as she was leaving two men were walking up our walkway. I figured they were plumbers considering we had plumbing issues recently. They walked in and before I knew it they walked up to me on either side and slammed me to the ground and handcuffed me. I didn’t react as it was, I didn’t expect it for one, and for two when it began I froze, I didn’t know what to do. Once on the ground I started to squirm, I screamed “Please Help me help me I’m being kidnapped! Please!” They responded No use in screaming no one can hear you. I kept screaming. One of them said go ahead get it over with when your quiet it’ll be over sooner. After probably about ten minutes, I realized no use in fighting, they helped me up and walked me to a small suv and put me in the back and put the seat belt on me. This was the beginning. I remember on the way up to Yoncalla Oregon from Sacramento California we stopped at a burger king. They offered to get me some but food was the last thing on my mind. Looking back I wish I had taken up the offer. I remember being by the ashtray seeing a half smoked cigarette and asking to smoke it, they said I couldn’t. After a long drive we got there they walked me in. The whole way I talked about how I’d get away and run away. Well of course they told the staff at Scott Valley. By the way this is the perfect point to say I was sent to Scott Valley School in Yoncalla, Oregon. One of the many so called trouble teen schools. So being told I had threatened to run away I was put on runaway watch. For about two weeks I was forced to sleep under a light. I obviously didn’t get much sleep. Also I always had two higher phase watchers who would stand on each side of me. They had phases there was like five or six I believe. Most were 2 and 1. There were like 3 phase 3’s and 1 phase 5. There was like 20-30 of us at a time. Anyway where do I start. As I write this, with the emotions and ptsd it comes in full force and yet hazy at the same time. Maybe my head trying to protect me? So I was there seven months, thank god thats it. There were people that had been there years. Some of the people there, my god, I don’t know what to say. From a 12 year old who molested his 1 year old brother and put fish hooks in his carpet so his parents would step on it, to kids that were in there later teens who had used hard drugs, kids that had been molested and acted out as a result, kids that just were wilding out period, a lot of different walks. After I got off of runaway watch I got back on it within two weeks. I was in trouble sitting at the essay table while pe was going on. So one of the punishments was writing essays. But anyway there were two other kids at the table, the twelve year old i mentioned above and the only black kid there on the boys side. I looked at them and said if we worked together we could escape this place. They both just dead stared at me. When it was time to line up, the 12 year old went away first, the other kid looked at me and said were gonna get in trouble, that kid is a snitch and is going to tell on you. He was right. I got put on the “wall” because of that. For two weeks when not eating, sleeping, or using the bathroom, I was staring at a wall were a dot was drawn with a piece of paper on it. I would just let my imagination run wild while this happened thinking about home, friends, family, make believe countries governments politics, anything to keep the mind entertained or semi at peace! There was a green jacket my parents sent up for me that was my grandpa on my mothers side. Grandpa Applegate. It was a super cool green jacket with fake fure on the color, it looked like something you’d wear in the winter in Moscow. They said it had too many pockets and I could hide things in it. So they took it away. They put it in the Pod where all of our extra stuff was stored. Well one pod day where we could exchange stuff, there was a different staff member on duty then the one who said I couldn’t wear it. So i got it out and he didn’t know so i got to wear it for a bit. So when the other staff member got back on shift, he saw the jacket. I was banned from wearing a sweatshirt of any kind for a month. When we had outside pe everyday in Febuary to March I would get so cold. When I would put my hands in my shirt I would get another essay. This is Central Oregon, it gets cold that time of year! So some facts about the living situation, you had three minutes for showers and bathroom. You go over that you get an essay. You get more time the higher phase you get. You ever take a shit in three minutes? If done successfully I commend you. I would go five days without shitting because one of the night workers a guy named Johnny would not keep track of time when I’d get up to ask the restroom in the early morning. Johnny was an angel in a sense. Taking an uninterrupted shit was some of the most bliss I could get. Not trying to be gross but when using the restroom even was so restricted, being able to use the restroom not timed felt like hitting the lotto. When we’d wake up at seven am we only had 1 min to get up and make our bed, timed, if we didn’t make it wed get an essay. I’m naming these things as I remember different events, not necessarily in chronological order, but different events that happened. I had a peach fuzz mustache i was so proud of and long curly hair. They gave me a buzz cut and forced me to shave. My dad sent my grandpa Andrews old electric razor. That’s my dads dad. My biggest hero in my life. His name I got tatted on me at 19. I write this at 29. He died when I was 9. Most of the other kids had razors you could charge, mine needed to be plugged in to work, I didn’t understand that. I had never shaved to begin with, so I thought it was broken. I threw it away and put in a request for a new one. My father told them it was a plug in, but it was already to late so he needed to order me a new one. At a group therapy session thing, yeah we did that every day, and none of the people working there had any degrees that could go to the field they were working in. Anyway my writing is not perfect so as I was saying, at a group therapy thing, Jad one of the main guys working there brought up the razor, he said I knew it wasn’t broken, but I just wanted a new one. You don’t love your grandpa youre just a selfish little bitch. Those words still are ingrained in my mind. I know they are false but god damn they hurt. I cried. As I cried he just continued to tell me how selfish I am and im a bitch a pussy etc. William Frederick Andrews was my grandfathers name, as said I got it tatted on me at 19. He was born 1924, in 2024, my first child, a son, was born, William Frederick Andrews II. I call that a moral victory. Crazy how it worked out to be a 100 year difference. Another time it was 420, I cried because I wanted to smoke and he called me out on it in group therapy. He called me a bitch, a pussy, the usual. Weird things happened there, like one time they did a “fire drill” in the middle of the night, we had to go out into the cold in our underwear for five minutes until it was over. There were girls there but they were in a separate area. When they walked by or vice versa we had to look the other way. One of the many reasons it got shut down is there was a case of a student raping another. Apparently the girl who reported it got hounded in group therapy to the point she recanted. Now I could be wrong, but I think I know the person who did it, only one guy from the male side reached level five to the point where he became staff and could go to the girl side for group therapy. I don’t know for sure but that’s what i assume. At one point they were building a new building and they had us digging the ground around it for construction. Yeah they had us do all the cleaning indoors and out doors. If you were bad you could have your school privileges taken away. I had one kid who was a phase above me copy my work. He got caught. He got demoted, and got repromoted before I left. I never got past phase 1. So phase 1 red shirt. Phase 2 green shirt. Phase 3 Blue shirt. Phase 4 and above whatever you want. Like I said a lot of this is not in order. I am writing this in one go after years of talking about it to my loved ones. Put my thoughts to the pen, or keyboard in this case. So they did this thing were it was like a week, where it was the program or some weird name. They would break you down and “build you up” you would get a demeaning name for a week and then get an empowering name. I got the picture that if you were just a weed smoking low grade getting teen, you wouldn’t be ever seen as getting progress, you had to have “admitting to a bad act” of some sort. I made a story about how I let a girl cut me and drink my blood and how I thought about killing my dad. I know, like why would one lie and say that?!, well I figured if I had said I had done that and then shown to be turned good, it would reward me as changed and out that place. Looking back im like what the fuck. But I just wanted out and I was sure as hell willing to lie my way out. So yeah i went by like blood sucker or something like that for a week, but thats not bad. I remember so well one girl who was adopted and had relations with several boys back where she was from, she got sent there for that, and her name for the week was “Orphan Whore”. Also there were other students who weren’t going through the program that were involved with the process. Elon school or something like that where students yell at other students all sorts of insulting shit The end of it I reclaimed my name or whatever and they had me do like a ballet dance kind of weird thing to show rebirth, not that ballets weird, but in this scenario, yeah. I remember there was a day they said the world was going to end, someday in May 2011 some random wacko said, it made headlines as a joke more than anything, but i remember hearing it and hoping it happens because I wanted out. There was a gym there with rafters. I used to dream of hanging myself from them to get out. I dreamed about a car driving into the school and opening a wall up so we could run away. They used to tell us if we ran away there is bear and cougars out there, if they dont get us the cops will, and theyll put us in juvi just to have us sent back when out. They had these things called group essays. If someone did something and it no one admitted to it wed all have to write an essay about how we could have prevented it. One time a kid wiped shit on all the walls in the bathroom, the kid never admitted to it so we all had to write an essay on how we could have prevented it. I remember one time going to use the bathroom there was semen on the toilet seat, lol teen boys sex drive. I just wiped it off before I sat down. One time late at night I was masterbating in my bed. There was 20 of us sleeping in bunks in the same room, the kid who ended up copying my work i mentioned, saw me making some um, sheet movements, and looked my way giving me a dirty look, i just rolled over pretending like i was scratching, oh snap, almost caught. Not trying to be disgusting, teenage boys, find one that doesn’t masterbate, and i’ll give you some ocean beach front property in Kansas. You got weekly phone calls with your parents, you never dared to say what was going on because they were always listening. Letters same, they read them, so no use in saying something, they’ll just read it and throw it away, later my father asked me why didn’t you tell me what was going on? Well… My gf at the time ended up getting a bf after 6 months of waiting, i don’t blame her. Hey it was teenage love so im not hurt, but at the time it hurt because neither of us willingly ended it. She sent me a bookmark to have up there, it had us kissing on it, they took it from me for it being sexually explicit. They banned me from sitting up in bed and praying. I was atheist from 12 to 27 except for that time, i came back to my faith, praying for my exodus. I’m a christian again now, but only after I found a denomination that was open and affirming because I’m bisexual. Thinking about this, my mind can’t explain the pain, the rain of emotional trauma that falls in my cranium. Many times I’ve turned to cocaine, liquor, and suicidal thoughts because of the pain. It fucked my whole concept of everything in life. My emotions, my understanding of control of my own life, my ability to have healthy relationships, just so much. I still have dreams of being back there and wake up with nightmares, I was sixteen then, i turn 30 this year thirty, i have a beautiful amazing wife, a son who is the biggest blessing in my life, like i got it together now, but I don’t still, obvious by writing this. I remember one time getting to get my glasses prescription. They had to take me to town, the eye doctor, i thought about coming to him for help, but I thought if he works with these people, hell just report me to them, not them to authorities. My grandpa applegate, my moms dad, he died of suicide while I was gone, diagnosed with a terminal cancer he took it into his own hands. I never got to say good bye. When his funeral happened I wasn’t brought home for it, no, I was allowed to “write a letter to be read”. I wrote a letter, and it got read and a lot of family members said how deep it was and mature, I till this day have never watched the funeral video, I can’t. Because I should have been there. When I was on the wall, lookin towards the window could get me in trouble, because it was considered plotting an escape. I read in an english class I know where the caged bird sings, it became my favorite poem because I would watch the birds on the outside of the window and see how free they were. The joy of that. I was a juggalo, they banned me of talking anything icp related. I’d hum icp songs in protest, not like they knew them, also still a juggalo, two scoops of whoop. They day my dad came to get me, well I was peeing, and when I got out I saw him by the front door which was not far from the restroom, I ran up and hugged him saying oh my god dad! I love you! I started crying. He took to the place I always heard the workers there talk about a place called the Sugar Shack, a donut shop. Gosh dang good donuts! Then he took me to some cousins on the coast of oregon. Two days being out I was running on the beaches of the oregon coast. The sand in my feet, the breeze, the feeling of freedom. Scotts Valley School was shut down i think in 2016 for child abuse, i will link articles, but damn that place will forever haunt my head. The bats of the cave of my mind. I am married now with a family. I do my best to be a strong individual and provide, but this place has forever scared me and left me feeling weak. I couldn’t protect myself, so now I want to do everything to protect my family and be there for them. Scotts Valley school, I now live in a place called Scott Valley, the geographic area name, all come full circle? There is probably a lot more I could add to this, but for now, I just wanted to write down the bare minimum. If you have read this, thank you. I have found peace in my mind, heart, and soul as much as I can, and I hope those who have gone through similar ordeals can find some semblance of peace in their existence as well. I thank Jesus for keeping me hopeful in times I wanted to die. God bless you all.
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/14/lack-food-among-abuse-and-neglect-complaints-boarding-school/77246394/
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2015/12/hunger_vulgar_names_oregon_air.html
https://www.columbian.com/news/2016/jan/07/oregon-threatens-license-of-teen-boarding-school/
https://www.facebook.com/anorexicchild/posts/scotts-valley-boarding-school-in-yoncalla-oregon-scotts-valley-school-starved-th/368786460137878/
https://media.oregonlive.com/politics_impact/otheScotts%20Valley%20Notice%20of%20Intent%20to%20Revoke%20December%2011%202015.pdf
Ps the starved kid in the please eat post is not me

1. Haiku for Hanukkah:
   
   • Craft a series of haikus capturing the essence of Hanukkah, focusing on the symbolism of light, the menorah, and the joy of shared traditions.
2. Sonnet of Diwali Delights:
   
   • Write a sonnet that explores the colors, lights, and festivities of Diwali, incorporating themes of triumph over darkness and the spirit of renewal.
3. Kwanzaa Villanelle:
   
   • Create a villanelle that reflects on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, exploring the repeated refrains to convey a sense of unity, purpose, and cultural celebration.
4. Las Posadas Limericks:
   
   • Compose a set of limericks capturing the humorous and heartwarming moments of Las Posadas, focusing on the characters and the reenactment of the journey to Bethlehem.
5. St. Lucia's Day Free Verse:
   
   • Write a free verse poem that explores the sensory experience of St. Lucia's Day, using vivid imagery to convey the sights, sounds, and emotions of the candlelit processions.
6. Winter Solstice Cinquains:
   
   • Create a series of cinquains that capture the anticipation, stillness, and eventual rebirth associated with the Winter Solstice.
7. Chinese New Year Acrostic:
   
   • Compose an acrostic poem using the words "Chinese New Year," incorporating each letter to convey the energy, symbolism, and cultural richness of the celebration.
8. Ganna Elegy:
   
   • Write an elegy that reflects on the Ethiopian Christmas (Ganna), exploring themes of faith, tradition, and the emotional resonance of the holiday.
9. Oshogatsu Haiga:
   
   • Combine haiku with visual elements in a haiga to capture the serene beauty and cultural significance of Oshogatsu, incorporating traditional New Year imagery.
10. Global Celebrations Ghazal:
    
    • Craft a ghazal that weaves together the diverse elements of global holiday celebrations, exploring the shared threads of joy, love, and cultural exchange.

If anyone is interested in grading or looking over my LEQ I would very much appreciate it! I'm also attaching the google doc link for anyone who wants to add specific comments :D
LEQ Prompt: Evaluate the extent trans-Atlantic Voyages affected the Americas during the years 1491-1607
Before Europeans arrived in the Americas, the two continents were already populated by native peoples who formed different societies. Meanwhile in Europe, Spain wanted to find a new trade route to Asia after Portugal’s exploration and trade success and enlisted the help of Columbus. When Columbus arrived in the Americas, everything changed. Trans-Atlantic voyages during the years 1491-1607 greatly affected the Americas through conflicts with Europeans and fellow natives and cooperation through trade and intermixing.
After Columbus arrived in the Americas, more spanish conquistadors arrived with the desire to spread christianity to the natives and more importantly, find gold and wealth. As a result, these conquistadors would cause conflict with the natives. The Aztecs were very aggressive towards the Spanish which led to Noche Triste where they drove the Spanish out. As a result the Spanish returned with their native enemies to drive them out of their lands. This conflict highlights European desire to gain lands and even promoted conflict within natives. As a result, more conflicts would spring up because of Europeans like the Battle of Acoma. Here, the Spanish would drive out the Pueblos out of their lands showing more conflict between the Natives and Europeans as a result of trans-Atlantic voyages. However, conflict didn’t have to rise from wars. There was conflict in the Encomienda System where the Spanish enslaved natives because of their thought that they were barbaric. This greatly increased tensions between natives and Europeans, but it would also later lead to the bringing in of African slaves. As a result, the America’s were transformed by conflict which drove out many native populations and also diversified by the Europeans and blacks.
Not all relationships with the Europeans during this time were violent. Europeans also cooperated with natives during the Columbian Exchange. Europeans from the Old world would introduce goods and animals such as guns, metal tools, pigs, cows, horses, and unfortunately, slaves, while the natives from the New World introduced maize and showed Europeans how to hunt and navigate the lands. However, while this method brought new animals, goods, and people to the continent which transformed the environment, future agriculture, and makeup of the populations, it would also become destructive because the Europeans brought disease. Through this cooperation, many natives would die because of the mass wipeout caused by smallpox lowering the native population of the Americas. However, native populations continue to live on in the mestizo populations. The Spanish, contrary later on to the English, married and had children with natives to promote further cooperation in kinship ties. These children were called mestizos and had a mix of white and native blood. As a result of trans-Atlantic voyages which also brought cooperation with natives, the Americas changed because of the bringing in of new goods and resources, lowering of native populations by disease, and increased in diversity by new peoples such as the Europeans, blacks, and mestizos.
In the end, trans-Atlantic voyages greatly affected the Americas in a variety of ways. Through conflict, natives were driven out of their homes and forced to live under the Encomienda labor system. But through cooperation, the natives were able to gain new resources and goods which forever transformed the geography of the Americas and diversified it by the bringing in of blacks and intermixing which resulted in the mestizos. However, these voyages would also bring in disease like smallpox that would wipe out entire tribes and cultures. As a result, the world, both new and old, would never be the same again because of the trans-Atlantic voyages.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ilawALAwP5ehv1AbKeuBukg33oQADa3fxs4dzrvDt-0/edit?usp=sharing

Hello! I'm looking for a weekly language learning exchange partner for EN-SP conversations.
Who am I? I'm an easygoing extrovert that's looking to immerse myself as much as possible and maybe make friends too. I value intimacy and integrity and try to do a delight but direct person with a playful default state.
When am I free? I have a 4-day weekend starting today and ending Tuesday (5.7.24) so let's chat and click.
I have a full-time job afternoon shifter and will be free weekdays 10AM-12PM and weekends from 10AM-10PM my time (UTC+3). I have a scheduling system and you can book there OR find another way too.
Why am I doing this?

• I hope to find a long-term partner that could turn into an accountability buddy and acquaintanceship with an admiration for linguistics, language learning and moreover social sciences too.
• I want to pass the SIELE exam with a B1 or B2 score by Dec. 2024
• I want to pass the DELE exam and get A2 or B1 at least by Jan 2025..

My qualifications to be a good language learning exchange buddy:

• I've finished a 120HR Teach English as a Foreign Language course and hoping to find a language learning exchange partner which I can assist with live conversations either via text messages, voice messages, voice calls, etc on Discord or somewhere similar.
• I'm taking a 150 TESOL Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages specialization and want to get some practice in if you'd ever like 'homework' but also improve my ability to explain a rule or concept.

Here's my Spansh dialect preferences:

• Latin American dialects: Mexican, Columbian, Honduran, etc but will not discriminate and decline any other beautiful dialect to listen to.

Here's what I could offer:

• American English speaker that'll help you with accent and getting near (C1-C2) which includes understand the rules and knowing how to break them alongside idioms, inside jokes, etc.
• I could help you with finding free and low-cost resources as I've managed to organize some high-quality Youtube videos, articles, courses, etc and can suggest ways to help naturally improve your English. For example, sign up for free site 'NoRedInk' as it's been a great grammar refresher!

Here's what to message me:

• Your interested in how we could get along
• Your English stats - why you're learning English, your current level and weak points.
• Your expected availability for weekday and weekend study sessions

Feel free to send a meaningful message possibly including things like your age, time zone, language level, why you're learning, difficulties you've encountered, if you're open to growing towards friendship, etc.
I'm here for quality, not quantity, and will prioritize getting back to you ASAP if you show a bit of your passion.
Here's a conversion calculator for reference:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20240503T120000&p1=49
TLDR: I'm a native English speaker that wants to find native Spanish speakers to converse with through a combination of text messages, voice calls, etc on a weekly basis with preference towards the weekend.

1. Haiku for Hanukkah:
   
   • Craft a series of haikus capturing the essence of Hanukkah, focusing on the symbolism of light, the menorah, and the joy of shared traditions.
2. Sonnet of Diwali Delights:
   
   • Write a sonnet that explores the colors, lights, and festivities of Diwali, incorporating themes of triumph over darkness and the spirit of renewal.
3. Kwanzaa Villanelle:
   
   • Create a villanelle that reflects on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, exploring the repeated refrains to convey a sense of unity, purpose, and cultural celebration.
4. Las Posadas Limericks:
   
   • Compose a set of limericks capturing the humorous and heartwarming moments of Las Posadas, focusing on the characters and the reenactment of the journey to Bethlehem.
5. St. Lucia's Day Free Verse:
   
   • Write a free verse poem that explores the sensory experience of St. Lucia's Day, using vivid imagery to convey the sights, sounds, and emotions of the candlelit processions.
6. Winter Solstice Cinquains:
   
   • Create a series of cinquains that capture the anticipation, stillness, and eventual rebirth associated with the Winter Solstice.
7. Chinese New Year Acrostic:
   
   • Compose an acrostic poem using the words "Chinese New Year," incorporating each letter to convey the energy, symbolism, and cultural richness of the celebration.
8. Ganna Elegy:
   
   • Write an elegy that reflects on the Ethiopian Christmas (Ganna), exploring themes of faith, tradition, and the emotional resonance of the holiday.
9. Oshogatsu Haiga:
   
   • Combine haiku with visual elements in a haiga to capture the serene beauty and cultural significance of Oshogatsu, incorporating traditional New Year imagery.
10. Global Celebrations Ghazal:
    
    • Craft a ghazal that weaves together the diverse elements of global holiday celebrations, exploring the shared threads of joy, love, and cultural exchange.

Some magic stuff happens and you're forced to make a choice: for the rest of your life, your diet will consist of either new world or old world foods only, depending on witch you choose.
This means that if you pick old world, you cannot eat anything that did not exist in the old world pre-columbian exchange, and the same vice versa.
Picked old world? No potatoes, tomatoes, spicy chillies for you. Picked new world? No sugar, grapes, bananas and most meats (basically everything except for turkey.) Diet cannot contain these ingredients in any capacity, nor anything that's derived from them.
I'm sure this is not a comprehensive list, but heres one I found online:
Old world: apples, bananas, beans (some varieties), beets, broccoli, carrots, cattle (beef), cauliflower, celery, cheese, cherries, chickens, chickpeas, cinnamon, coffee, cows, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger, grapes, honey (honey bees), lemons, lettuce, limes, mangos, oats, okra, olives, onions, oranges, pasta, peaches, pears, peas, pigs, radishes, rice, sheep, spinach, tea, watermelon, wheat, yams.
New world: artichokes, avocados, beans (kidney and lima), black walnuts, blueberries, cacao (cocoa/chocolate), cashews, cassava, chestnuts, corn (maize), crab apples, cranberries, gourds, hickory nuts, onions, papayas, peanuts, pecans, peppers (bell peppers, chili peppers), pineapples, plums, potatoes, pumpkins, raspberries, squash, strawberries, sunflowers, sweet potatoes, tobacco, tomatoes, turkey, vanilla, wild cherries, wild rice.
And just in case: you're not being forced to eat the pre-columbian version of any of these foods, you can eat the modern one

Post(s) in Question

Post: https://www.reddit.com/zen/s/BiBG0kkgan
THE OTHER DONGSHAN was asked what is a Buddha?
Yunzhou Dongshan answered: Three pounds of hemp

1. Not a riddle.
2. Not clear to people who don't have hemp as the staple fabric in their community
3. Not an amount to people unfamiliar with the Mnkk Life.

Podcast: HEMP YOURSELF

• Link to episode: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831/4-26-wumenguan-the-gateless-checkpoint-18-astromei-1
  
• Link to all episodes: https://sites.libsyn.com/407831
  

Buymeacoffee, so I'm not accused of going it alone:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ewkrzen

What did we end up talking about?

We talked about what a Buddha is and why I get my Dongshans more confused than my Touzis.
But don't worry I have a cunning plan.
We talked about what hemp, flax, burlap, is, since not everybody understands it is from the same-ish plant as maryjane-juwanna, and I wondered if it was a columbian exchange crop.
We talked about how people think it's okay to make stuff up about this case because they aren't monks, don't know any Dongshans, and Japanese Buddhists pretend it's about ill fitting tshirts.
And so on.
Astromei said he wanted to end the episode before I asked an annoying at-the-end-of-the-podcast question... I don't even exercise.

If you wanna

Add a comment if there is a post you want somebody to get interviewed about, or you agree to be interviewed. We are now using libsyn, so you don't even have to show your face. You just get a link to an audio call.
I was thinking about the fact that it seems pretty reasonable to call somebody up and talk on the phone about something you talk about on reddit everyday... but some people are nervous about this. Why? It's a phone call. Is it the public nature of the phone call? In a coffee shop it's public too... but it's not scrutinized.
Being wrong... is that the big worry? We all have trouble saying Chinese words, remembering Chinese names, and explaining Zen concepts that the Chinese themselves were uncomfortable with. What's the standard for public conversations when it comes to knowledge? Does that standard mean less people want to talk publicly?

1. Haiku for Hanukkah:
   
   • Craft a series of haikus capturing the essence of Hanukkah, focusing on the symbolism of light, the menorah, and the joy of shared traditions.
2. Sonnet of Diwali Delights:
   
   • Write a sonnet that explores the colors, lights, and festivities of Diwali, incorporating themes of triumph over darkness and the spirit of renewal.
3. Kwanzaa Villanelle:
   
   • Create a villanelle that reflects on the seven principles of Kwanzaa, exploring the repeated refrains to convey a sense of unity, purpose, and cultural celebration.
4. Las Posadas Limericks:
   
   • Compose a set of limericks capturing the humorous and heartwarming moments of Las Posadas, focusing on the characters and the reenactment of the journey to Bethlehem.
5. St. Lucia's Day Free Verse:
   
   • Write a free verse poem that explores the sensory experience of St. Lucia's Day, using vivid imagery to convey the sights, sounds, and emotions of the candlelit processions.
6. Winter Solstice Cinquains:
   
   • Create a series of cinquains that capture the anticipation, stillness, and eventual rebirth associated with the Winter Solstice.
7. Chinese New Year Acrostic:
   
   • Compose an acrostic poem using the words "Chinese New Year," incorporating each letter to convey the energy, symbolism, and cultural richness of the celebration.
8. Ganna Elegy:
   
   • Write an elegy that reflects on the Ethiopian Christmas (Ganna), exploring themes of faith, tradition, and the emotional resonance of the holiday.
9. Oshogatsu Haiga:
   
   • Combine haiku with visual elements in a haiga to capture the serene beauty and cultural significance of Oshogatsu, incorporating traditional New Year imagery.
10. Global Celebrations Ghazal:
    
    • Craft a ghazal that weaves together the diverse elements of global holiday celebrations, exploring the shared threads of joy, love, and cultural exchange.