Hey there, folks! How have you all been doing lately? I hope all is well with you. I am sure some of you are looking forward to the summer coming quicker than it feels, as the summer solstice will start this year on June 20th, 2025. As for me, I have been doing okay. I have some good and bad days, just like everyone else. But one thing I will tell you is that I am not looking forward to the summer this year, just as I didn’t look forward to the summer last year and years before that as well because I am not a fan of summer which I am sure that some of you by now knows that as I have posted on the social media for many years that I am not a fan of summer and that I am a big time fan of winter. In case some of you are unaware and wonder why I’m not a fan of summer, it’s because I’m not a fan of hot temperatures, which seem to get hotter every year and can be unbearable at times. I don’t know how some of you get excited about the summer, unless you’re in school and have the break. However, being outside in the scorching hot sun is no thanks to me! Speaking of the summer, are you planning to go on any vacations this year? If you are, let me know by leaving a comment below! Who knows, we might bump into each other! That happened to me about a decade and a half ago, which was strange because the person I bumped into was one of my best friends whom I talked to almost every day; however, we each had no idea we’d end up going to the same place. I was with my family, and he was with his family.
We bumped into each other when we both walked across a road on our way to an arcade in Virginia Beach, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where several arcade games were available. Even more unexpected was that one of his family members, his sister, who was an ex of mine, was there. I had a girlfriend with me at the time, so it was a bit awkward being around an ex with my girlfriend. But my mom, Chad, and my girlfriend and I had fun then. We were there for four or five days, which I cannot remember exactly, so it was a short time. However, they stayed longer because we left during their vacation.
Anyway, I hope some of you enjoyed hearing a story about me vacationing in Virginia Beach! Here are the topics I will be writing about for this multitopic article. To view them, click “Show Topics List,” which will open a list of topics for this multitopic article. I predict that this multitopic article might be a bit long, so be aware of that, and I hope you will enjoy a few of the topics. If you don’t have the time to read the entire article, or don’t want to read a long article with a few topics, you can always read one or two topics at a time and then come back to read the rest by selecting the topics that you haven’t read in the topics list below. As always, if you have any information or a tip you think people should know about, please contact me here by email or message me on JoshiesWorld’s Facebook page. I will investigate/look into it. I would greatly appreciate it. If you would rather remain anonymous because of concerns about retaliation or for any other reason, that will be respected.
Deaf people: hearing people tell me this
Lately, I have been browsing various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and others, and I have noticed a notable pattern within the Deaf community. For instance, saying something on live videos or anywhere that hearing people tell them this or that. It seems that they like to use the excuse to attempt to prove some Deaf people wrong by saying that their hearing friends or family members tell them so. It’s like telling Deaf people that my farts smell so delicious because the hearing people told me so. Please stop with that, using the hearing people as an excuse to try to oppress whatever these Deaf people were saying. Oh, my hearing cousin says you are wrong! My hearing dog says you stinks. A hearing alien from the space that I know says that you aren’t a human being. Why do you ask some hearing people for their opinions on some matters in the Deaf community? I am asking this because my hearing fish told me that you Deaf people like telling others that your hearing people told you this or that. It’s like you, as a Deaf person, tell others that your blind friend saw an airplane. Stop it! Even though there is an overused line of “hearing knows the best!”, they don’t. If they are hearing, then what’s the point? That applies equally whether they are Deaf or not. Every one of us, whether Deaf, hearing, blind, or others, has the same brain – well, maybe not everyone, as you may find when discussing certain topics in the Deaf community with hearing people.
Leaving the enemy country after victory isn’t the smart move
As many of us know, the United States has been at war with Afghanistan and Iraq for almost two decades since September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the United States soil by hijacking airplanes and then used them to crash into the World Trade Center (two towers, the north tower and south tower) in New York City. The Pentagon in Virginia, and then the one that crashed in a field near Shanksville in Pennsylvania, due to the passengers fighting back against the terrorists in that United Airlines Flight 93 plane, trying to take back control of that plane from the hijackers. It was a very tragic, no question about that! That war ended on August 30, 2021, by withdrawing the US troops from Afghanistan, a negotiated deal made by President Trump’s first term with the Taliban, and then, when Joe Biden became the president, he pledged to honor President Trump’s terms of the agreement with the Taliban. So, the mess that we saw the US troops leaving Afghanistan a few years ago was already planned by President Trump. Still, it happened during Joe Biden’s presidency because President Biden followed through on what President Trump had wanted. There was nothing President Biden could do at that time, because again, it had already been planned during the first term of Trump’s presidency. What a mess, I know. Nonetheless, it was a bad idea on both their part because President Trump shouldn’t have made a deal with the Taliban and then released many of them from the prisons in Afghanistan. President Biden shouldn’t have gone with the agreements that President Trump made with the Taliban by withdrawing the US troops from Afghanistan.
Why did I say that it was a bad idea, regardless of which President was in office when they withdrew the US troops from Afghanistan? One of many reasons, to start with, is that it left Afghanistan a quick vacuum for power, and the Taliban were pulled right into that vacuum. Now, the country of Afghanistan is in control of the terrorists that the US has been fighting against for almost two decades. It was pretty much like the United States rolled out a red carpet with a welcoming entry for the Taliban fighters with valuable broken toys. What the United States should have done, regardless of who is the president, is to stay in Afghanistan for a long time, just like they did in Germany or Japan. There is a permanent US base on Japan’s soil, and it’s not because the US wants to be there; it’s because Japan wants them to be there. Take a good look at both countries, Germany and Japan. We know that Germany was under Nazi control, and we were at war fighting against them in World War II, and we know that we dropped atomic bombs on a couple of cities in Japan, such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You know what atomic bombs are, right? If not, then they were nuclear bombs dropped by the United States after the Japanese military attacked the United States soil in Hawaii, which is known as the Pearl Harbor attack. These atomic bombs were the first and only time that any country used nuclear weapons in any armed conflict. Yes, that means the United States was the only country that used nuclear weapons, such as bombs, on an enemy country or anyone. As a result, Japan surrendered to the United States. As we also know, we, along with other allies, won the war against the Nazi, so the allied powers, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the USSR, took control of Germany. The country of Germany was divided into four parts: the United Kingdom took the northwest, France took the southwest, the United States took the southeast, and the USSR took the east, including the capital Berlin. However, when the Cold War began, it divided Germany into two parts, rather than four. The western part was under the control of the Allied powers, and the eastern part was under the control of Russia or the USSR at that time.
Anyway, that’s not the point here, but it’s a brief history of the events that unfolded between Germany, Japan, and the United States. The fact is, take a good look or read the history on how long the Allied powers, including the United States, stayed in Germany after the end of World War 2: 45 years! From 1945 to 1990, when Germany was finally unified, the West and the East were united into what it is today. Now, please take a good look at Germany; they are thriving more than ever, and the same can be said for Japan. That was because the United States didn’t abandon them after winning the war; instead, they stayed to help the people of Germany become what Germany is today, a process that took 45 years. But for the Afghanistan war, which is now the longest war for the United States, they finally got a hold of the terrorists in Afghanistan, they should have stayed there to help the people of Afghanistan for a few decades, and then make sure that they are doing well on their own, and then they can come back home. But no, that didn’t happen, because President Trump handed the golden key to the terrorist group, the Taliban, and ran home abandoning the Afghan people. So, look at Afghanistan – no freedom of anything, like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and whatnot. For example, women are not allowed to do anything but be slaves and stay at home at all times unless their husbands permit them to do something. Their education is brainwashed because no girls are allowed to study, and the boys can go to school but only to learn the doctrine of Muslim.
It’s a shame that many wanted them back home, meaning to have them withdrawn from Afghanistan, and now that is the result of it. Because of that, I hope I am wrong but I am sure that in a few years we may will have to go back there for a new war again because we didn’t finish it and stayed there to help them to learn how to run the country while at the same time preventing the terrorists from getting any control but here we are. That’s on President Trump, President Biden, and us.
Finding the cheapest gas
Who doesn’t want to get gas at the lowest price possible? No, not that kind of gas that blows out of your rear end. In my area, I’ve noticed people consistently visit a specific gas station because they know it offers the lowest gas prices. However, the question is, do they know that this gas station has the lowest gas price? Often, in this area, and I am sure in many other places that we visit, we go to that gas station for gas because of the low prices that our neighbors or friends have told us about. As of today, technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and we should take advantage of it. To find the lowest gas prices in your area, I recommend downloading the GasBuddy app. No, I have no sponsorship or deal with them for recommending their service. I recommend it because I used it recently and discovered that the gas station we thought was the cheapest wasn’t, as there’s another place that is even cheaper for gas. If you would like to download GasBuddy, you can visit your app store. Once you have downloaded the app, you will be prompted to allow it to track your location, enabling it to display the gas stations with the lowest prices. Now, when you find that place that sells gas at lowest cost using GasBuddy service that does not mean that it’s that same place that sells the gas at lowest cost permanently because many of these gas stations in your area changes their price often so be sure to use GasBuddy app every time that you need some gas so you can find which one that is near you have the lowest gas price.
There are three ways that you can use the GasBuddy service:
Website: https://www.gasbuddy.com/home
Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gasbuddy-find-cheap-gas-prices/id406719683?mt=8
Google Play App (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gbis.gbandroid
Remember to allow GasBuddy to access your location so that they can show you places with gas and which one has the lowest price.
Having immigrants in the country is important
The people, Republicans, and supporters of Trump’s MAGA cult do not realize that deporting immigrants is VERY costly. Before I get into that, the United States of America was formed by immigrants, because before immigrants, this country belonged to somebody else, such as indigenous people. Additionally, it was under the Spanish Empire and the British Empire, with thirteen colonies ruled by Great Britain. The United States is an immigrant country, which makes the United States of America so unique because immigrants built this country, and the black community, but they were forced to do so as we, white people, enslaved them to do the building for us, which is shameful. Still, at the same time, it’d also be disgraceful of us if we were to dismiss those who, along with immigrants (such as Mexicans, Irish, Germans, asians, and others) and indigenous people, made this country what it is. It cringes me every time I see some people who want immigrants to be deported because we are no better ourselves as we robbed this land from indigenous people, so if there is any deportation to be done, then we should be deporting ourselves as well!
Now, let’s consider the effects of deporting immigrants. In many ways that you don’t realize, vast numbers of immigrants were more than happy to do dirty work, harvesting fruits and vegetables under scorching hot weather that no white person would want to do. Not only that, most immigrants also butcher meat and do dishwashing, which, again, no white person would want to do either. These immigrants are the reason we have a plentiful supply of fruits, vegetables, and meats that we can enjoy. They are doing this because the owners or managers of meat companies, fruit companies, vegetable companies, and others struggle to hire so-called real Americans to work for them at very low wages. Hence, they have no choice but to give them to immigrants. After all, they were more than happy to work for them for very low wages with no healthcare plans. While they work for low wages, they still have to pay taxes just like everybody else does, and by deporting them, we lose millions of taxpayers who happen to be immigrants. There come significant ramifications in a bad way, losing a major workforce due to deportations, so that they will have no choice but to raise the prices on food so that they can hire so-called real Americans, if they are lucky. We also lose a lot of revenue due to deporting immigrants who were paying their income tax every year. So, deporting immigrants does come at a significant cost to us, so-called real Americans, because we will be paying higher prices for the food, paying higher for the services such as booking a room at a hotel or motel because they are usually maintained by immigrants, and more so, it will affect us significantly. Immigrants’ income taxes help us citizens access social services such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and others. With a drastic cut in medicaid funding, the same with SNAP by Republicans and President Trump with their One Big Beautiful Bill, makes things even worse because again, we are deporting immigrants who help the government pay for our social services by paying their taxes. In doing so, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities in rural areas are at a disadvantage because they rely heavily on Medicare and Medicaid. Yes, that means we will eventually dig ourselves deeper into debt, pushing ourselves into a great recession, unless we’re even more unlucky and face depression instead.
Way to go, Republicans, Trump’s MAGA cult, and supporters! Real Americans, huh!? Immigrants substantially contribute to the United States’ economy, resulting in a $7 trillion increase over the decade. Immigrants and their children founded 46% of the Fortune 500 companies. In 2022 alone, immigrants paid a total of $579.1 billion in taxes. They also contribute to social security and Medicare through their payroll taxes, even though they (including undocumented immigrants) will never be eligible for these benefits. Immigrant households hold trillions of dollars in housing wealth. The immigrants make up a significant portion of the United States workforce, particularly in healthcare, construction, agriculture (farms), and technology. The United States records show that nearly one in five working people in the United States is an immigrant. It is known that immigration helps to offset the effects of an aging workforce and declining birth rates. Immigration also helps businesses continue to operate and expand, as it addresses the labor shortage in the United States. Immigrants are known for being willing to take on jobs that U.S. citizens do not want to do, which ensures that businesses continue to operate. United States citizens complain that the minimum wage is too low and unfair. Businesses rely on workers to operate, ensuring they can afford essential products like food and services. If they don’t have them, they’ll lose their workforce and have no choice but to increase the supply price so that they can incentivize the US citizens to work for them at higher salaries.
So, yes, with President Trump and Republicans strong on deportation, you and we will need to brace for higher costs for the products that include food, services, and whatnot.
Masked and unidentified ICE?!
Why in the world would ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents mask up and refuse to identify themselves when they are asked for it? There is a reason for ICE agents, as well as any law enforcement personnel, to identify themselves when asked to do so, so that people can verify they are who they claim to be. Of course, there are a lot of people, whether it be immigrants or citizens, who run to escape from them if these agents or law enforcement refuse to identify themselves by showing their ID, and documents that a judge, such as a warrant, has signed. If you were in their shoes, you would do the same thing that the immigrants do, which is to escape because they jumped out of a vehicle and ran to you with face coverings and weapons instead of approaching you properly with an ID and the signed warrant document by a judge. Because of how ICE agents do, they look like they are out to rape you, to rob you, to harm you for some reason. How would you know if they aren’t some scumbags who are horny going after these women? Or how would you know if they aren’t there to rob you, kidnap you for ransom, or to harm you for an unknown reason? You wouldn’t thanks to these ICE agents refusing to identify themselves with covering their faces, refusing to identify themselves to you with ID so you can see if the picture in that ID match with their face without any face coverings and refusing to approach you the right way then show you the paper such as a warrant signed by a judge.
What is scary is that anyone can have the same badges, same vests, same clothings, looks like ICE agents and approach you pretending that they are ICE agents so that they can intimidate you into obeying their orders by maybe giving them money, to get in the vehicle to take you somewhere to rape or to kidnap you for ransom and whatnot. The ICE agents need to recognize their mistakes and understand that their behavior and appearance with face coverings can give some people the idea to impersonate them, thereby intimidating others into doing something that ICE agents themselves don’t do (or do they?).
So, the lawmakers, governors, judges, even Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, or maybe President Trump, should realize that the way ICE agents do it can give the scumbags the wrong idea to impersonate them. Take your masks off and stop wearing them. The irony is that when we mask up to protect ourselves from COVID, Republicans and the MAGA cult try to force us or tell us to take our masks off, mocking us for wearing masks to protect ourselves from a virus by saying that we wear diapers on our faces, but are silent when ICE agents are being seen masked up. Stop wearing diapers on their faces, it looks creepy that they have diapers on their faces carrying a weapon and a badge that says ICE agent or Police. Start with how they behave towards anyone, such as approaching them without running out of a vehicle like macho men chasing them, identify, and hand the warrant document signed by the judge then make sure that they understand their rights then from there do the job by detaining them or arresting them with their dignity intact but before doing so make sure that they are not US citizens because lately they have been chasing some people that happens to be the US citizens without realizing which is awful embarrassing thing to hear or see especially as a country.
Don’t meddle in politics from an area you aren’t in!
Lately, I have noticed an increase in people from outside of the state, city, and local areas interfering in their political affairs by advising others on how to vote or not vote for candidates, or instructing them to approve or reject certain amendments or policies in their state, city, or local area. If they aren’t from that state or area, then they should butt out of the state or city’s politics and focus on the politics in their state or city instead. Just because they hold a certain belief, ideology, or idea about politics does not mean that they should apply it to the people from that state or city that they are not from. For instance, here in Commonwealth of Kentucky which is my state, a lot people that isn’t from Kentucky going around telling Kentuckians to not vote for Governor Andy Beshear because he is a Democrat when it is not their place to tell us to or not to because it is up to us Kentuckians only to elect or not elect Andy Beshear for Ky’s Governor which is clear as a day that majority of Kentuckians wanted Andy Beshear for Commonwealth of Kentucky’s governor since we elected him to another term which that says a lot because if majority of us Kentuckians didn’t want Andy Beshear for our governor then we wouldn’t have elected him but thankfully we did so be it. Each state, city, and local they has its people who have the right to decide who to represent them or decide what they want to see happen in their state, city, or local government without anyone outside telling them who to vote for or what to get when it has nothing to do with them. So, everyone, please stop advising people from other states, cities, or areas on who to elect or what to vote for when you are not from that state, city, or area. Instead, could you focus on the state, city, or local area you are from?
That includes you who aren’t from that state, city, or locality, telling them that their governor, representatives, executive judge, judges, and others are the worst, best, good, or bad. It’s not your place to decide; it’s their place only, for them to decide if their government is doing good or not for them.
Why continue to make X relevant?
Most if not all search engines, websites, and others continue to promote their X profiles, which makes me wonder why they continue doing that when X is becoming or has become no longer the place of information for everyone because now it is a platform for the billionaire owner along with far-right extremists, conspiracy theorist, and MAGA cult members? If anyone continue to use X platform, they are becoming the enablers of misinformation, misleading, racism, sexism, homophobic, xenophobic, ableist, audism, genderist, religiocentrism (religious exclusivism – people that are against all other religions except their religion) and many more – it’s full of isms, ists, phobias, and others! I have already stopped asking anyone to follow me on X for a very long time now because I refuse to be part of it, all that is going on with my X account is that every time I publish a new article or review that it would be shared to my X account automatically but I haven’t used it to engage with anyone or manually post anything there. I am getting ready to stop having all my articles and reviews shared on my X profile automatically. Not only that, I am puzzled as to why many news networks, some TV networks, and even movies continue to promote their X profile. You are aware that many news networks share their reporters’ or anchors’ usernames whenever they display the names of the reporters or anchors who appear on television. You can usually see them with the @ symbol at the bottom corner of the TV. In my opinion, they should stop doing that. X is no longer a platform they should associate with if they want to avoid enabling the behavior occurring there. It might be time to replace them with Threads or their Facebook or Instagram profiles. If anyone does not want to tarnish their dignity or integrity, then don’t be associated with anything that is known for being full of hatred and misinformation, like the X platform.
If I were to continue asking people to follow me on X and continue to encourage them to be on the X platform, then I would be associating myself with people who spew all kinds of hate, along with misinformation and conspiracy theories. I would be more than risking my credibility; I would also be risking my dignity, integrity, and reputation. If you continue to use X, why are you willing to associate yourself with the likes of these people who spew hate and post all kinds of misinformation or conspiracy theories, which is a very dangerous thing? Of course, I am on Threads, and I have replaced X with Threads, but that doesn’t mean you have to use Threads if you don’t want to. Still, I prefer to be on Threads where the people are more mindful and more respectful, even if there is any disagreement, unlike on X, when someone disagrees with whatever I said, they send a mob to me to insult me, rather than being an adult or civil, which in my opinion is childish.
Nonetheless, X has lost its place; it is now a platform for far-right extremists, the MAGA cult, and a playground for a billionaire owner. So, I think that news networks, companies, and the like need to stop making X relevant, as it is no longer relevant. If any of you continue to do so, then shame on you all.
Have I ever flown?
I must confess something: I have never ridden an airplane, although I would like to do so one day, especially if it’s for flying overseas to visit another country, which I have never done since I have never flown overseas. I have never been on a cruise before, which is something I would also like to experience one day. Although I have never ridden in an airplane, I have flown before, but it was in a helicopter from a rural hospital to a hospital in the state capital. I flew the medical helicopter as a patient that get transferred from a hospital in a rural area that did not have the tools or doctors who were specialists in what was happening to me. Hence, they had no choice but to transfer me to a hospital in the capital of another state because I needed to get there as soon as possible, and riding an ambulance or in a vehicle would be too slow. So that was the only time that I have flown, even though I did ride in a helicopter, I was not able to look out to see what the earth looks like above, because I was strapped to a stretcher. I have traveled to several states, including Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. I went through all of these states because my destination was Florida when we vacationed there decades ago, for a beach in Florida, so I never really stayed in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Georgia. For Virginia, we also traveled to a beach in Virginia for a vacation decades ago. We have visited Tennessee for Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg on vacation a few times, and traveling to Ohio was more of a personal reason, such as my family living there, or that I had to go to Cincinnati in Ohio for the children’s hospital when I was a child. The most trips I had were to Pigeon Forge in Tennessee, Cincinnati, and Columbus in Ohio, while the rest were only once.
So, every time we make a trip for vacation or personal reasons, it’s always in a vehicle. I wonder how it’d feel to fly an airplane. If I were to fly an aircraft, it’d have to be to my dream destination for a vacation before I no longer exist, which is New York City in New York. After that, I wouldn’t mind flying overseas, especially to one or two countries in Europe, such as Japan or France.
As for flying, I have a couple of concerns: does the airplane have air conditioning, and are they cold? Because I cannot tolerate heat or warm weather. Should I bring my medical supplies on the plane to ensure I have them without losing any? I just realized I mentioned having a couple of concerns, but then another one occurs to me. So, I have three problems: how would they handle my electric wheelchair? I have seen some videos where they severely damaged people’s wheelchairs. Most of the electric wheelchairs would be locked on brakes if they are powered off, so if they try to push it, the wheels will not roll because the motors brakes are locked in and to be able to move it they would have to turn the power on to drive it or manual switch from the motors brakes to free rolls. If you have flown an airplane, please share your thoughts in the comments below or on social media when you see this article on JoshiesWorld’s social media channels. I’d love to hear about your experience. Additionally, it would be great if any of you who are wheelchair users and have flown before could leave a comment to share your experiences and offer guidance on what to expect as a wheelchair user when flying. Any tips or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated, so I can be more prepared if I decide to book an air flight.
A disabled student joined the JROTC
When I was in high school, my school was located in a rural area, and I had the opportunity to join the JROTC. In case some of you aren’t aware, I am Deaf and disabled; as a person with a disability, I use a wheelchair (an electric one). Before I joined the JROTC, the building where the JROTC class was held wasn’t accessible to wheelchair users at all. If you’re unfamiliar with JROTC, it stands for Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a high school program sponsored by the federal government, such as the United States Armed Forces. In that JROTC program, there were two teachers, both of whom were sergeants. One of them was an awful teacher; I could see that he did not like the school allowing me to join the program because I am disabled. When I joined, the school had to install a wheelchair ramp to access the JROTC class. However, the other sergeants were great and very open-minded about my joining. That sergeant was more than happy to find something that I could do that didn’t require physical activity, such as allowing me to monitor the rest of the class to ensure they follow orders, write down on the papers how many push-ups they have done, and time their runs. Additionally, he had me verify that the JROTC uniforms worn by others are in order and meet the standards. As a Deaf person, I have had an interpreter with me since grade school. The sergeant was happy communicating with me through her, but the other one was not, and often would ignore us because every time he walked by, he looked the other way on purpose. When I graduated from high school, I was ranked as a corporal. I had an interesting experience in the JROTC, and I am very grateful to the sergeant who believed in me enough to give me something to do. This allowed me to be part of the program without requiring physical activity.
We students can choose, I believe, two classes of our own. The first one I chose was, of course, the band, because I have been a drummer since middle school. Then, I continued being a band member in my high school’s band with the same band teacher from my middle school, whom I very much liked. The second one I chose was the JROTC.
If you are a student with a disability and want to join the JROTC program at your high school, then have your parents discuss your interest with your high school about joining the program. Your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 allow you to join, and your school (especially if it’s a public school, because if it is then it falls under Rehabilitation Act of 1973 due to receiving the funding from the government) cannot discriminate against you on that basis. Even if you aren’t non-disabled, they always have something that you can do that doesn’t require physical activity, like I did when I was monitoring, recording their exercises, orders, marches, and so on. I was promoted to corporal before I graduated.
Republicans and conservatives overreach in the news and media
Have you noticed that people who are Republican or conservative have acquired news and media networks/companies left and right for many years? Their ultimate goal is to obtain as many news and media networks as possible, aiming to control the information accessible to readers and viewers. If you ask me if that sounds like some brainwashing, then you are correct. This is where propaganda comes in. If you tell me that right off the top of your head, that the most well-known news service owned by Republicans or conservatives is Fox News, you are wrong. If you don’t know the answer to how many news and media companies are owned or operated by Republicans, then you’ll be surprised. Why surprised? Six (6) out of seven (7) major newspaper holding groups are controlled by conservative entities! Suppose you have heard of a major media conglomerate, Sinclair Broadcast Group, before. In that case, you’d know that they have been acquiring a lot of local news in many cities for years now, this year they have stated that they are increasing their focus on national politics at the expense of local news, and pushing them to be more right-wing in their programming as soon as they acquire each local news. Some local news outlets, despite not being political, have been acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The goal is to transform these local news sources into political news, aiming to spread far-right ideology to their readers and viewers that they want to influence. Sinclair Broadcast Group currently owns 294 local stations in 89 markets. If you want to see the list of the stations that are owned or operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, then here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stations_owned_or_operated_by_Sinclair_Broadcast_Group
Another group like the conservative one, Sinclair Broadcast Group, is called Salem Media Group. Salem Media Group owns 117 radio stations in 38 markets, including the 60 stations in the top 25 markets and 29 in the top 10. Here is the list of the stations that are owned or operated by Salem Media Group: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_Media_Group
Speaking of Salem Media Group, in April 2025, Salem Media Group signed a deal with Donald Trump Jr. and Lara Trump, making them shareholders in the Salem Media Group company. Salem Media Group then acquired a 30 percent stake in MxM News, a mobile news aggregation app that is co-owned by Donald Trump Jr.
Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump strike deal with Salem Media written by Dominick Mastrangelo at The Hill.
Media Consolidation Means Less Local News, More Right Wing Slant written by Edmund L. Andrews at Insights by Stanford Business.
CNN, you remember CNN? Many Republicans and conservatives would always say that CNN is a far-left-wing or leaning Democratic news and media service. Now, it cannot be said the same today because CNN is quickly shifting to the right thanks to a guy named John Malone. If you’re not familiar with the name, John Malone is a board member of Warner Bros. Discovery, which is forcing changes at CNN, a company it owns.
Talk radio? 91% of talk radio is politically conservative. There are 2,570 hours of conservative talk radio programming each day, only 254 hours of liberal talk radio.
Here is the list of conservative media, at least in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Conservative_media_in_the_United_States
Here is the list of liberals/democratic media, at least in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_alternative_media_in_the_United_States
Let’s not forget that Twitter (now X) was acquired by Elon Musk, who is one of the far-right extremists and billionaires who funded President Donald Trump right back to the white house. With millions of dollars funded by Elon Musk that goes to Donald Trump’s second term presidential campaign, that does not stop there, because of the acquisition of Twitter, it gives Elon Musk a lot bigger audience to influence and turned the platform into a haven of conspiracy theories, which is a sweet home to Republicans and Trump’s cult. So, not only are Republicans and conservatives acquiring news stations and media left and right, they are going further by obtaining social media platforms and whatnot to influence as many voters as they can by feeding them misinformation and conspiracy theories. What is happening lately is that they are working to get as many people as possible so that they can influence anyone to vote right-wing or worse, right-wing extremists, including Trump’s MAGA cult in government positions. How about the recent bill passed by President Donald Trump, which would stop government funding for independent public broadcasting, such as AP News and PBS? I hope this makes you wonder why they did that. If you answer that they did it to gain more control over the information we can access, then you are right. If news and media companies/services are beyond their reach, they will find a way to shut them down, just as they did with the bill to defund independent public broadcasting like AP News and PBS. There is a word for that, and it’s called propaganda. You know how the news and media are in Russia or North Korea? That is what Republicans, conservatives, and the MAGA cult are working on achieving here in the United States. That is very dangerous, by doing that, they are taking away our freedoms because what is a freedom that we have when we have Republicans, conservatives, and MAGA cult influencing us to vote for whoever they want or whatever they want instead of choosing them ourselves? In this era, no matter what political party the news bias is, they are becoming harder for any of us, whether we are Democrats or Republicans, to trust.
Trump signs bill to cancel $9 billion in foreign aid, public broadcasting funding by Kevin Freking at AP News.
Happy Birthday, JoshiesWorld!
I have been reflecting on how far I have come and how much JoshiesWorld has grown. It’s hard to believe that JoshiesWorld will be turning eighteen (18) years old in just a few days, given it was founded on August 7th, 2007! I cannot believe that JoshiesWorld is nearing two decades old within two years. JoshiesWorld wouldn’t still be around for two decades if it weren’t for all of you who have been supporting JoshiesWorld, so I very much appreciate every one of you who support JoshiesWorld or me with JoshiesWorld. That means a lot to me! Every year, JoshiesWorld has been growing, garnering thousands of readers and viewers, and lately, it has been catching the attention of many important people, thanks to its articles and reviews. It’s getting to the point where people and businesses are sending me products they’ve made for me to review. For instance, not too long ago, one company, FIFINE, shipped their headphone to JoshiesWorld for a review on them, which you can read here. I occasionally receive emails from various companies asking if I, as JoshiesWorld, would write a review article about their products. I’m excited to review more products and places, including restaurants, as I’ve been invited to try their food at no cost in exchange for a review by JoshiesWorld. No matter what, any products, foods or anything that has been sent to me or invited me to their places at their expenses will have an honest review because every time that I get an email or a contact by them about JoshiesWorld reviewing their stuff I make sure that they know that I write an honest review on them without any influence from them such as offering some money to change the negative review to positive review. Every email or contact I’ve received from them suggests that JoshiesWorld would be more than happy to write a review article about their products. However, I want to be clear that if there is anything negative to say, I’ll say it, and if there is anything positive, I’ll share that too. I write reviews as I see, taste, and feel them, not how they see, taste, and feel them, or ask me to review how they see, taste, and feel them, because all of my reviews are authentic and honest. Bribe me with money or more stuff to alter my own honest and authentic review? Over my dead body! Because I recognize that my readers, fans, and supporters trust me, I will never compromise that trust with my genuine, honest, and authentic reviews or articles, including news and my opinions.
Besides, it would be very unethical of me to do such a thing. I wouldn’t feel right at all because I would be betraying my readers, viewers, fans, supporters, etc. They have carried me this far for almost two decades, and I want to continue to ensure that I remain a trusted blogger, journalist, reviewer, and content creator with JoshiesWorld, which I take pride in.
As the date of August 7th, 2025, is approaching fast, it’s wild to think about how fast that time flew by me. It felt like I just founded JoshiesWorld a couple of years ago when it is almost eighteen (18) years ago! How will I celebrate that? That is something that I will have to think about, maybe doing nothing, or maybe doing something on that day. This is just my thinking; I am trying to figure out how to celebrate Josh’s 20th birthday in two years. Maybe hosting a small fans/supporters event so that they can celebrate the milestone with me?! A small giveaway? One-on-one interview granted to a lucky person who’d like to interview me about JoshiesWorld’s journey?! As I mentioned, I have two more years to think about it after JoshiesWorld turns eighteen (18) years old on August 7th, 2025! Becoming a legal age, huh?! If you have any idea for how JoshiesWorld should be celebrated or what JoshiesWorld should do to celebrate, please let me know! JoshiesWorld is more than just a news and media company (with all articles, news, reviews, etc.) to me; JoshiesWorld is also an identity brand (especially as a content creator). It’s my baby!
Readers, viewers, watchers, fans, strangers, friends, and family, I thank you all from my heart for the support you’ve given to JoshiesWorld, which continues to grow and thrive for all these years, and will soon be decades strong! JoshiesWorld will continue to evolve, adding more features, and will continue to improve. Without your support, JoshiesWorld might not exist, as your support has been instrumental in carrying me all these years. Each one of you is my motivation! JoshiesWorld is my passion, and with your support, it keeps my passion’s spark going. Your ideas, suggestions (such as what topic should I add to a multitopic article? What product or place should I write a review of? Etc.), feedback, sending me hot tips or information to investigate, granting me exclusive story or quote to write an article about it. Again, from my heart, I thank each of you!
Speaking of your support, JoshiesWorld has a donate page where you can support me by donating funds. If you’d like to support me/JoshiesWorld further, you can send a funding donation, and I’d greatly appreciate it! Even if it’s a dollar, five dollars, ten dollars, or so, small or big, I greatly and equally appreciate it regardless of the amount. You can find the donate page at the top of the website’s menu (if you are on a phone or tablet, you can find the menu with a three-bar icon at the top) or you can click this link to get to the donate page. There are a few services that you can use to donate, such as PayPal, Cash App, Venmo, etc. If you don’t see the service you’d like to use for donating, please let me know. You can do this by leaving a comment below, emailing me (click here), or messaging one of JoshiesWorld’s social media accounts (click here for JoshiesWorld’s social media list), such as Facebook, Instagram, or others. If you’d like to support JoshiesWorld and get something in return, you can do that by buying some JoshiesWorld merch here! Following JoshiesWorld on Facebook and Instagram would be greatly appreciated too!
I’ve noticed many people leave their age off their social media profiles, which makes me wonder why. Suppose some of you tell me that it is due to privacy or for a security reason. In that case, it is a little bit too late for that because as soon as you signed up on a social media platforms you were asked to submit your age because many social media platforms has a policy that does not allow anyone under the age of 13 to have an account on some of these social media platforms unless their parents or guardian gave them the consent to have an account by creating an account known as a child/kid account that the parents or guardian would supervise. Similar to the Facebook feature, the Messenger Kids app allows your child to have a Facebook Messenger account. Alternatively, a parent or guardian can sign up for an account for their child to use Facebook’s Messenger through the web version. When you sign up for your child, you have control over who your child can message/chat with by adding trusted individuals who can communicate with your child. You also get to see all the conversations your child had with the people you’ve allowed them to communicate with on Messenger Kids. Now, for anyone who is 13 years old or older is required to answer how old they are due to that policy they have so that they can make sure that no one under 13 to have an account on there and to avoid from getting themselves in trouble with the law because they can say that you lied about your age so in the end it would be you getting in trouble instead of Meta which is a parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp and others.
The link to Messenger Kids: https://messengerkids.com/
Read more about how to create a Facebook account for kids: https://www.gostudent.org/en-gb/blog/create-facebook-account-for-kids
This means that no matter what, they have your age on the record in their database and can be seen by the people working at that company, such as Meta. When you sign up for an account, you can set your age to be visible only to you and hide it from the public or your friends list. Still, anyone who work for Meta have the permission to see your age that you gave when you signed up because by signing up an account you automatically agreed to their terms of service and policies which that include consenting your age along with your name, your geolocation such as a location where you were when you signed up the account, and also where you are or were at when you logs in.
So, a lot of our information is already available on the internet anyway; that is the price of having an account on any social media platform. I agree that it’s unfair and a violation of our privacy, but they have a valid defense, thanks to our initial consent to share our personal information when we signed up for an account. If you don’t want that, then don’t sign up for an account or visit anything on the internet, but there is a very good chance that you have already done so, and it’s too late. Now, with that being said, why do people hide their age from the public or set it to be visible only to themselves? This makes it harder for people to make friends or acquaintances because they’re unsure of their age. They’re hesitant to start conversations or ask for friends, mainly because they’re uncertain if they are underage or of legal age. By saying that just made me realized how unfair it’d be to other people who ended up getting in trouble for having a conversation with a underaged person due to not sharing how old they are so it wouldn’t be their fault especially that they would have no choice but to assume that they are of legal age by judging some pictures or videos that they have on their profiles. Still, many underage people appear older than their age. If anyone ends up getting in trouble with the law by talking to an underage person, then that wouldn’t be that person’s fault because that underage person didn’t share their age in the first place, so that’ll be the fault of those underage people. In my opinion, a problem arises when adults fail to disclose their age, which can lead to legal issues on both sides. Fortunately, some social media platforms offer the option to add your age without revealing your birthdate (such as day/month/year).
If you are open to conversation, want people to request you as a friend on their friends list, or are looking to make an acquaintance, feel free to share your age. You don’t need to age your birthdate, such as when you were born, but what is your current age? Now, if these people who don’t want to show their age because they are underage, then I do get the reason for privacy and security, but adults? News flash: your information is exposed to the internet the moment you sign up for an account on any social media platform. Once you sign up for the first time, the platform collects your data and sells it to advertisers, who then multiply your exposure. I’ve been thinking about this for a few days, wondering what would happen if someone got in trouble with the law because they were talking to an underage person who didn’t disclose their age.
Speaking of news and media: Public Broadcasting Services
Speaking of news and media, and the overreach by Republicans, and conservatives passing a bill and signed by President Trump to defund independent public broadcasting. Yesterday, news broke about the effect: a giant broadcasting company, PBS, and NPR announced that they will stop operating due to not receiving the funding to continue. That is wrong, because PBS not only delivers news but also produces many series and films for educational purposes. For example, Sesame Street is one such show, which is watched by many children at no cost thanks to the government funding it receives. What’s even worse is that PBS was the one that advocated for closed captions for all TV and movies for decades by paying for them, which is why some TV series or films you see at the end say “closed captions sponsored or paid for.” Yes, PBS paid for many movies and TV series for closed captions. So, what the government did was not just defund the public broadcasting companies but also end their support for closed captions and other services. The funding that PBS, NPR, and others received from the government was not only for delivering news to us but also for providing the funds for some tools, and others, such as closed captions, or supporting independent journalists, regardless of whether they work for them or not, by sending them some funding to support their work. It’s a shame that Republicans, and President Trump, did that. They are known for not considering the ripple effect of their actions, which can have long-term consequences. Will we, as the Deaf community, continue to have access to films and TV series with closed captions? That’s something that we will have to watch because PBS was the significant driver of it and by stopping the funding to PBS along with other independent broadcasting or news and media services also stop all of the good things that they do including sponsoring some films or TV series with closed captions which that mean paying for someone’s movies or TV series to have closed captions. You’d think, without them, that the directors or producers of the films or TV series would pay for the closed captions? Not all of them; that’s where PBS came in. Now, with that end in mind, the question is: will they now cover the costs of providing closed captions for their films and TV series?
Yes, it is possible that many educational resources, such as the Sesame Street series, may no longer be accessible to anyone. Perhaps the only way to access them is by paying for a subscription. If Republicans and President Trump hadn’t signed the bill to defund them, it would remain free for all of us, as it has been for decades until now.
PBS accounts for nearly half of first graders’ most frequently watched educational TV and video programs written by Rebecca Dore at The Conversation.
Not just Big Bird: Things to know about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and its funding cuts written by Audrey Mcavoy at AP.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, funder of NPR and PBS, says it will end operations within months after federal budget cuts written by Kerry Breen at CBS News.
Incentivizing law enforcers
I am sure that some people are already aware of this, but this is for the people who may not be aware of it. As the topic is titled “incentivizing law enforcers”, what does that mean, you wonder? Many law enforcers, such as police officers at various police departments, engage in a daily game with incentives. They are motivated to make as many arrests and write as many tickets as possible to fill their quotas, so they compete for the score of the most arrests made and tickets written per day for an incentive that may have been set up by the department or even themselves. So, they aren’t out patrolling to ensure the road is safe for drivers by pulling over someone; instead, they have a game to play, rather than making sure the road is safe for others. Over twenty (20) states have banned police departments from offering or creating incentives for their officers. Despite a ban in over 20 states on incentivizing police officers, they continue to do so under different names, such as quotas, targets, or objectives. For example, offering extra money to the police officer who wins the game that day or month by achieving the highest number of arrests and written tickets. They also create incentives for some police officers to leave the department for another, or pay some officers for recruiting more police officers or employees for that department. Besides the money incentives, they also receive rewards such as gift cards for some restaurants or businesses.
Do Police Officers Have Quotas? Co-authored by Saul Jaeger, MS, and Eric McClure on WikiHow.
Incentives factor into police officer retention by UpTown’s Municipal Association of South Carolina.
Ticket Quotas Raise Red Flags About Police Procedures written by Avery Appelman.
It is no surprise that when we’re pulled over, you can often see the police officer trying to find any excuse to ticket us, even if there is nothing to ticket us for. Sometimes they seem to get bothered when they can’t find a reason to arrest or write a ticket. Not only that, unfortunately, some police officers would go even further by planting something in your vehicle or on you so that they could have an excuse to have you arrested or write you a ticket because they want to meet the quota/target/objective to win the gift cards or some money. Even worse for the BIPOC community, because they do racial profiling by having them arrested with an excuse that they look like the suspect that they were looking for, and go further by trumping up the charges, such as resisting the officer. So whenever you are being pulled over, make sure that you know your rights, such as they cannot search your vehicle or any of your belongings without having a warrant signed by a judge, and you give them no consent. This includes requiring you to provide your ID, which you are not obligated to show unless they have a reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime. Some states have stop and identity statutes that require you to provide an ID. Therefore, it’s crucial to research your state’s laws to understand your rights based on your location.
That is one of many reasons why we should not trust law enforcers too easily, because there is a chance that they are not out for our safety but to meet their quota!
RIP Ozzy Osbourne!
Everybody now knows who Ozzy is, even without needing to mention his last name, Osbourne. Unfortunately, Ozzy passed away not too long ago. Before Ozzy passed away, he gave fans a farewell concert, allowing them to spend their last moments with him. Ozzy knew his time was drawing to a close, having worked for a year to give fans one last chance to spend time with him. This meant not only his family but also his fans would have the opportunity to share these final moments before his passing. That speaks volumes about his character and appreciation for his fans, as evidenced by the farewell concert. Ozzy was already going through a long list of health issues; his main health issue was Parkinson’s disease, because of that, he was unable to walk or stand, but he refused to let that stop him from giving his fans the last concert. At the same time, all of the money that the concert “Back to the Beginning” raised, which was over $190 million, goes to charities such as Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice. The event is now the highest-grossing charity concert of all time! His concert “Back to the Beginning” was not only for his fans to bid farewell, but also for the fans along with other heavy metal or metal singers/bands such as Metallica (one of my favorite band that I grew up listening), Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Tool, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Mastodon, and Rival Sons. Additionally, there were supergroups with musicians like Billy Corgan, David Draiman, Duff McKagan, Slash, Frank Bello, Fred Durst, Jake E. Lee, Jonathan Davis, KK Downing, Lzzy Hale, Mike Bordin, Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian, Sleep Token ii, Papa V Perpetua, Tom Morello, and Wolfgang Van Halen to bid Ozzy farewell as well. Besides them, Ozzy got to perform with his old band called Black Sabbath before Ozzy went solo. So, his last concert, titled Back to the Beginning, was a double farewell for Ozzy, as everyone else bid him farewell as well.
About two weeks after his last curtain on the stage, he passed away due to advanced Parkinson’s disease. Ozzy was not only known as the King or Prince of heavy metal, but also as a hilarious person who loved his family. He made us laugh, even when he didn’t try his best to make us laugh, but his actions and words always brought a smile to our faces. If you’ve watched some of his shows, you’d know that one scene that had me laughing so hard was when he put his leg over the stair rail and yelled, “I am stuck, I am stuck. I am permanent here, Sharon!”
It’s the little things Ozzy does or says that will have you bursting out laughing, even if it wasn’t his intention! As for me, during my pre-teen and teenage years, I discovered Ozzy through one of his most popular songs, Crazy Train, which became one of my all-time favorites. From there, I found another song of his that I am a huge fan of, and that song is titled “Mama, I’m coming home”. Ozzy surprised us fans with “Mama, I’m coming home” at his last concert, “Back to the Beginning,” and that brought tears to many of our faces. Over the years, we could tell that Ozzy’s health was declining quickly. We had predicted that Ozzy wouldn’t be around for long. The song he sang at his last concert hit us hard because it was clear that Ozzy was on his way. He sang that song, so it hit me pretty hard. Even he could no longer walk or stand, at his last concert he had to be seated and some said they had strapped him to prevent him from falling or get up which could’ve make him fall, we could see that he was so exhausted and gave his best which he succeed as he sang a few songs of his then some with his old band Black Sabbath. It was heartwrenching, but at the same time inspiring. There are many celebrities who, in my opinion, don’t deserve extravagant funeral events. Some celebrities, however, go all out with their funerals and parades, as if they were royalty. However, like the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, Ozzy deserves an all-out funeral, complete with a parade and public appearances in various places.
Farewell, Ozzy! My heart and thoughts are with Ozzy’s family. Thank you for the songs that helped me navigate some tough times in my youth, and for making me laugh constantly, even if unintentionally.
Psstt. If you want to watch some Ozzy shows, there are some Ozzy TV series on Amazon! Here’s the link to them.
The Osbournes.
Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour.
The Osbournes – The Basement Tapes.
What about Hulk Hogan?!
No, just no.
The end!
That is it, for this multitopic article, and I hope that there is at least one topic that would interest you to read some of them! As always, if you think of a topic that you’d like me to write about for an article or the next multitopic article, then please let me know! If you have information, a hot tip, or a story you’d like to share with everyone, please consider giving JoshiesWorld the exclusive story. Let me know! You can do that in two ways: You can click the contact button in the menu at the top, or click here to contact me by sending an email or message to JoshiesWorld on a social media platform such as Facebook. If you are a business, restaurant, service, etc. If you would like JoshiesWorld to review your stuff, please visit the “Request A Review by JoshiesWorld” page. Thank you so much for your time reading this multitopic article, and also for supporting JoshiesWorld! I plan to write more articles and do more reviews now that summer is nearing its end (thankfully, because I am not a fan of the heat). I still cannot believe that JoshiesWorld is about to become eighteen (18) years old on August 7th! So, again, thank you all so much for supporting JoshiesWorld this long, which means a lot to me!
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
Donate or buy JoshiesWorld merch to support JoshiesWorld, and follow JoshiesWorld on social media. If you notice any incorrect information or website issues, contact JoshiesWorld.
