The Humble Philosopher

2011-05-19T06:31:00.001-04:00

2011-05-19T06:29:00.001-04:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110518/us_yblog_thelookout/loud-cell-phone-talker-removed-from-quiet-car-by-police

The body is local, consciousness is non local

2009-09-14T22:45:00.000-04:00

The body is local, consciousness is non local. The mathematical possibility of consciousness dying with the death of the body is zero.

Three Passions I have Lived For by Bertrand Russell

2009-06-23T22:58:00.000-04:00

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine…A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

Mother Teresa's Prayer

2009-06-06T16:50:00.001-04:00

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; 
....Forgive them anyway 
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; 
....Be Kind anyway 
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; 
....Succeed anyway
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
 ....Be honest and frank anyway 
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
 ....Build anyway 
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; 
....Be happy anyway 
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
 .....Do good anyway
 Give the world the best you have; and it may never be enough; 
....Give the world the best you've got anyway 
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; 
....It was never between you and them anyway.
(Mother Teresa's Prayer)

Feeling the Hate In Jerusalem on Eve of Obama's Cairo Address

2009-06-05T19:28:00.000-04:00

How Small is Earth?

2009-06-05T19:20:00.000-04:00

Big Africa!!!

2009-06-05T19:10:00.000-04:00

Project Natal for XBOX 360

2009-06-04T21:49:00.001-04:00

Man With 21 Kids!!!!

2009-05-28T19:39:00.001-04:00

He was called to court last week where he appeared on the docket eleven times to answer for 15 of his 21 children who haven’t received child support recently. The mothers of Hatchett’s children are supposed to get anywhere from $25 to $309 a month, but the government is only allowed to take up to 50% of his pay check, and when that’s split so many times some women only get a $1.98 a month.

Bob Marley War Lyrics:

2009-05-04T15:51:00.000-04:00

Bob Marley War Lyrics:

What life has taught me

I would like to share with

Those who want to learn...

Until the philosophy which hold one race

Superior and another inferior

Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned

Everywhere is war, me say war

That until there are no longer first class

And second class citizens of any nation

Until the colour of a man's skin

Is of no more significance than

the colour of his eyes

Me say war

That until the basic human rights are equally

Guaranteed to all, without regard to race

Dis a war

That until that day

The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship

Rule of international morality

Will remain in but a fleeting illusion

To be persued, but never attained

Now everywhere is war, war.....

YouTube Symphony Orchestra @ Carnegie Hall - Act One

2009-04-17T06:27:00.001-04:00

The world's first collaborative online orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall on April 15, 2009. Selected by the YouTube community and several members of the world's most renowned orchestras, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra is made up of over 96 professional and amateur musicians from 30+ countries and territories on six continents and represents 26 different instruments.

Yale Lecture: Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul

2009-04-13T13:35:00.001-04:00

Cell Phone Privacy (Must See Video)

2009-04-06T21:58:00.002-04:00

Racist Asian Toothpaste Ad

2009-04-05T03:11:00.001-04:00

Police Beat Teenage Girl in Jail Cell

2009-04-05T02:56:00.001-04:00

Man detained and harassed at airport for carrying CASH!

2009-04-02T19:12:00.000-04:00

Interesting Photo: Barak or Bush?

2009-03-29T15:09:00.001-04:00

Amazing Football Clips

2009-03-15T14:30:00.001-04:00

"Hail to the Chimp" video game? WTF?

2009-03-12T22:37:00.022-04:00

UPDATE: To the ones who would minimize the offensiveness of this game, especially with ignorant comments, be gone. You probably weren't offended by the "gunned down chimp" news story either.

This game was released in June 2008, a few months before Obama was officially elected. Even if it were initially about Bush, it would STILL be offensive NOW. How can a country thrive without respecting its leadership?

The reality is that given the continued racism in this country and the FACT that blacks have been portrayed as "CHIMPS" and the FACT that we now do have a black president, this game IS offensive and should NOW be pulled from distribution.

Having my young BLACK son looking at the game and ask, "Why are they showing President Obama as a CHIMP is IMPORTANT to ME!!!!! If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it IS a duck.

As an avid game player who buys video games on a weekly basis, I have NEVER seen this game in Gamestop, BestBuy, or any other store that sells games until recently. Why would there NOW be a stack of the games at a local store NOW, especially given the nature of the race relations in this country.

WTF? I went into a BestBuy store (Willow Grove, PA) today and saw a XBox360 game titled, "Hail to the Chimp, The Presidential Party Game."

I actually thought it was a cruel, insensitive joke. I looked around to see if this was part of a hidden camera show....No camera crew was there....

When I got home, I discovered that it is an actual game being sold across the nation. If you don't believe me, check out this link to the game on the amazon.com website.

Everyone (as least those who are "educated") knows the history of blacks being portrayed and dehumanized as monkeys.

Now I am not one of those "hypersensitive" blacks who cry racism every chance I get....But damn, this is so obviously racially insensitive and/or downright intentional mockery of our black President Obama.

This is how the game is described:

Name: Crackers the Monkey
Home: Congo [Africa]
Bio: Crackers was the right-hand monkey to the King Lion before he was ousted from the throne. Rumor has it that Crackers' whole campaign is a ruse designed to restore his old boss to the throne, ensuring a cushy lifestyle for his favorite monkey.

Although this is the animal kingdom's first attempt at democracy it doesn't take these candidates long to figure out that the goal is to win at all costs. With that in mind players are free go at it alone or team up with competitors to gang up on the rest of the field. Each combination of characters creates a different special move that unless stopped, can decimate opponents, dashing presidential hopes and making an election year debate look like a tea party.

The GRR News Network
Taking political humor and satire to new levels, at least for a video game, Hail to the Chimp also features its own news coverage, the GRR News Network. Hosted by anchor Woodchuck Chumley, not only does GRR keep track of player standings in the election and broadcast candidates victory speeches direct from the podium, it also holds a wealth of additional game content regarding the candidates and their platforms. This mix of TV smears ads, talk show segments and commercials are in part available immediately on entry into the game and unlockable as the game progresses, providing relentless humor and hours worth of additional play time to a game destined to become a hit in every state whether red or blue.

Quick History Lesson

Excerpt from an article posted by the ScienceDaily website:

Discrimination Against Blacks Linked To Dehumanization, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Feb. 8, 2008) — Crude historical depictions of African Americans as ape-like may have disappeared from mainstream U.S. culture, but research presented in a new paper by psychologists at Stanford, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California-Berkeley reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes.
In addition, the findings show that society is more likely to condone violence against black criminal suspects as a result of its broader inability to accept African Americans as fully human, according to the researchers.

Click here for the full article.

Does anyone remember last year's new story about the OBVIOUSLY racist T-shirt in which Obama was depicted as a monkey?

Does the "Hail to the Chimp" video game offend anyone else? Please comment and share your thoughts.

Failing Schools, Students, Failing teacher, Failing America...

2009-01-28T09:28:00.001-05:00

Tips to Survive the Recession

2009-01-27T08:57:00.000-05:00

Change Comes to the White House

2008-11-10T17:28:00.000-05:00

First Visit to the White House

2008-11-10T14:18:00.005-05:00

44th President

2008-11-07T12:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, We Can! Yes, We Did!!!!

2008-11-05T00:40:00.000-05:00

The most amazing thing about this election

2008-11-03T17:13:00.000-05:00

The most amazing thing about this election is the broad base of Obama's support...

...teachers, factory workers, Blacks, Caucasians, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, women, young people, middle-aged, senior citizens, engineers, doctors, bankers, intellectuals, truck drivers, former statesmen, mail carriers, retail clerks, Northerners, wealthy, poor, middle class, Southerners, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Agnostics, Atheists, gay, straight, dentists, writers, college grads, high school dropouts,...

McCain supporters...

...kkk memebers, aryan brotherhood types, white supremacists, hate-mongers, racists, bigots, skinheads, die-hard Republicans, amerikan nazi party members, segregationists... T

Pro & Con John McCain - Barack Obama

2008-11-02T14:49:00.000-05:00

Colin Powell endorses Obama

2008-10-19T09:45:00.001-04:00

Money As Debt

2008-09-16T23:11:00.000-04:00

Black "Crabs in a Bucket" Mentality; Prominent Blacks Slam Obama's Acceptance Speech

2008-08-31T11:11:00.002-04:00

Me for Presidents?

2008-08-30T17:18:00.001-04:00

Pat Buchanan Loved Obama's Convention Speech

2008-08-29T16:17:00.000-04:00

Big Brother 2008

2008-08-10T13:22:00.000-04:00

Dog Meat?

2008-08-09T08:55:00.000-04:00

Earthlings

2008-08-09T08:45:00.001-04:00

EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers." The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR) and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby.

Part 1: (watching) http://youtube.com/watch?v=GhxKnys7Ryw
Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=7sRiH_Owq9U
Part 3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=N8U9dw-9U4E

ObamaChrist? This is Just Not Right...

2008-08-07T07:33:00.002-04:00

The Future of Food

2008-07-26T10:46:00.000-04:00

Now that's a BIG ________!

2008-07-24T14:35:00.004-04:00

Jail for Sagging Pants?

2008-07-23T11:33:00.004-04:00

I must first say that I don't personally wear sagging pants. However, I believe that if I wanted to wear sagging pants, I should have the right to. Yes, it looks ignorant to me.

However, this is a "slippery slope" of a situation. If we accept this law, what else is under the radar?

Do we then make laws against wearing "wave caps" a certain way?

Do we then put restrictions on how small or big one's clothes have to be?

(Some could argue that this is yet another way to target young black men for arrest or for police intimidation)

Imagine a law stating that women or men cannot wear shirts or pants more than two sizes too big or one size to small.

Would we then have "fashion police" measuring people and fining people for wearing a size 14 dress when they are really a size 10?

Ridiculous? Yes, it is. But, I think you get the point.

People should have the "right" to dress how they want to....regardless of how ignorant it looks. It is called personal expression. Once we allow the government to dictate how clothes should fit us, other personal expressions will start to be regulated as well.

What do you think?

Love Never Fails

2008-07-22T21:19:00.000-04:00

Macbook Heaven

2008-07-13T16:39:00.006-04:00

I know I have been virtually absent from the blogging world for a while...but I am back now. I had been having some serious laptop problems. Long story which I would save for another day, another blog perhaps...To sum it up, I would advise people to switch from PCs to MACs....Why? "It just works!" (Actually, that is Apple's slogan for MACs)....

I just purchased my new Macbook on Saturday and I am ALREADY a PERMANENT MAC guy now...

Put simply, the whole operating system is just so much better than PC's Windows versions (especially Vista).

The free programs/applications are SPECTACULAR!

How about I turn on my Macbook and am able to surf the net or use an program/application in less than 5 seconds....Try that on a slow loading PC or PC laptop.

Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

2008-07-04T15:01:00.000-04:00

Barack Obama's Speech on Father's Day (2008)

2008-06-17T21:01:00.000-04:00

Water-fuel car unveiled in Japan

2008-06-16T17:49:00.001-04:00

Jun. 13 - Japanese company Genepax presents its eco-friendly car that runs on nothing but water.

The car has an energy generator that extracts hydrogen from water that is poured into the car's tank. The generator then releases electrons that produce electric power to run the car. Genepax, the company that invented the technology, aims to collaborate with Japanese manufacturers to mass produce it.

Police to Seal Off D.C. Neighborhoods

2008-06-05T22:56:00.004-04:00

According to an article from the examiner.com, a controversial new program announced today created so-called "Neighborhood Safety Zones" which would serve to partially seal off certain parts of the city. D.C. Police would set-up checkpoints in targeted areas, demand to see ID and refuse admittance to people who don't live there, work there or have a “legitimate reason” to be there.

WTF? Do we live in a "Police State?"

Well, considering the current state of crime in urban and poor communities, I actually agree with their plan.
Would this violate some peoples "rights?" Yes, and I don't care. If a "checkpoint" kept ignorant criminals out of a neighborhood by determining that they have no "real reason" for being in that area, I would wholeheartedly support the plan.
What reasonable middle class homeowners honestly want random people walking around their neighborhood? If I saw any unfamiliar faces walking around my neighborhood, I would feel cautious and concerned about why they were in my neighborhood.
Urban middle class communities will become "ghost towns" if the people in these communities do not feel safe. No urban middle class = no strong school/real estate tax, both which result in poor, disadvantaged communities.

What If Gas were over $12 a gallon?

2008-06-05T22:52:00.000-04:00

Website Let's You Send Post-Rapture E-Mail

2008-06-05T12:36:00.005-04:00

If millions of Christians suddenly disappear (via the Rapture) from the face of the Earth as the opening act for Armageddon, I would imagine that most nonbelievers would be too busy freaking the hell out to check their e-mail. But if they do log in, now they can be treated to some post-Rapture messages from their missing friends and loved ones, courtesy of web startup YouveBeenLeftBehind.com.

For just $40 a year, believers can arrange for up to 62 people to get a final message exactly six days after the Rapture, that day when -- according to Christian end times dogma -- Christians will be swept up to heaven, while doubters are left behind to suffer seven years of Tribulation under a global government headed by the Antichrist.

"You've Been Left Behind gives you one last opportunity to reach your lost family and friends for Christ," reads the website, which is purportedly run "by Christians, for Christians." The domain name is registered through an anonymous proxy service, presumably to protect the proprietors from the Forces of Darkness.

The e-mails will be triggered when three of the site's five Christian staffers "scattered around the U.S." fail to log in for six days in a row -- a system that incorporates a nice margin of safety, should two of the proprietors turn out to be unrepentant sinners or atheists.

Users can also upload up to 150 megabytes of documents, which will be protected by an unidentified encryption algorithm until the Rapture, then released to up to 12 nonbelievers of your choice. The site recommends that you use that storage to house sensitive financial information.

"In the encrypted portion of your account you can give them access to your banking, brokerage, hidden valuables, and powers of attorneys," the site says. "There won't be any bodies, so probate court will take seven years to clear your assets to your next of kin.

A few questions:

How many Christians currently believe in the rapture?
Can someone be a Christian and not believe in the rapture?
What decent message could you possibly leave to those loved ones "left behind?

Possible letter:

Hey loved ones,

Well, if you receive this, I have been raptured to heaven. I don't want to say I told you so. But, I told you so.

Well, I imagine it is too late for you.

I will think of you and reflect upon my love for you for the rest of eternity while you burn in hell.

Love Always,

Your Raptured Loved One

Ghetto Cribs?

2008-06-04T17:45:00.002-04:00

Where do they find these ignorant folks? Have they no shame or decency?

FULL SPEECH: Obama Declares Victory

2008-06-03T23:06:00.009-04:00

The following remarks are the text as prepared for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., on June 3, 2008, his first speech after declaring victory in the Democratic nomination contest over Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. The speech was delivered in St. Paul, Minnesota, site of the Republican National Convention in August 2008.

Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.
Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said, because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President.

At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better. They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.
That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.

We've certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning even in the face of tough odds is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.

There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided. Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time. There are Independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn't just about the party in charge of Washington, it's about the need to change Washington. There are young people, and African-Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation.

All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the end of the day, we aren't the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard. You didn't do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment a moment that will define a generation we cannot afford to keep doing what we've been doing. We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future. And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say let us begin the work together. Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.

In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda. They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.

Because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.
It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.

It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college, policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt.

And it's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn't making the American people any safer.

So I'll say this there are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them.
Change is a foreign policy that doesn't begin and end with a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged. I won't stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what's not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored.

We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in - but start leaving we must. It's time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future. It's time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home. It's time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda's leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. That's what change is.

Change is realizing that meeting today's threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isn't afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for. We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy. That's what the American people want. That's what change is.

Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it. It's understanding that the struggles facing working families can't be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation. It's understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was President.

John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy, cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota, he'd understand the kind of change that people are looking for.

Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can't pay the medical bills for a sister who's ill, he'd understand that she can't afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. She needs us to pass health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it. That's the change we need.
Maybe if he went to Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he'd understand that we can't afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future, an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change we need.

And maybe if he spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he'd understand that we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American. That's the change we need in America. That's why I'm running for President.

The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve. But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself. I've walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools. I've sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And I've worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington.

In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes. And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again.

So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.

So it was for the Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.

So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom's cause.

So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that's better, and kinder, and more just.
And so it must be for us.

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment this was the time when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

My immediate reactions to the night's events:

Obama and Michelle are dynamic husband and wife duo. They walked out on the stage in Minnesota looking elegant, classy, and in total support of each other.

Why didn't Clinton praise and support Obama as the democratic nominee? She lost the nomination. If she cared so much about the Democratic party as she said, why couldn't she have focused her speech on unity than about trying to PROLONG her failed campaign. Yes, she fought a GREAT fight, but it is over. There was no need to continue to focus on her accomplishments than on uniting the party. Why would she encourage her supporters to go to her website and tell her what her next steps should be? The FIRST step would be to recognize Obama as the official nominee...

Overall, he did a good job with the speech. I loved its central theme of us being "Americans first" and of unity.

No More Loans To Community College Students

2008-06-03T14:02:00.003-04:00

Source: NY Times article

Some of the nation’s biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive institutions, even as they continue to extend federally backed loans to students at the nation’s top universities.
Citibank has been among the most aggressive in paring the list of colleges it serves. JPMorgan Chase, PNC and SunTrust say they have not dropped whole categories, but are cutting colleges as well. Some less-selective four-year colleges, like Eastern Oregon University and William Jessup University in Rocklin, Calif., say they have been summarily dropped by some lenders.

The practice suggests that if the credit crisis and the ensuing turmoil in the student loan business persist, some of the nation’s neediest students will be hurt the most. The difficulty borrowing may deter them from attending school or prompt them to take a semester off. When they get student loans, they will wind up with less attractive terms and may run a greater risk of default if they have to switch lenders in the middle of their college years.
Tuition and loan amounts can be quite small at community colleges. But these institutions, which are a stepping stone to other educational programs or to better jobs, often draw students from the lower rungs of the economic ladder. More than 6.2 million of the nation’s 14.8 million undergraduates — over 40 percent — attend community colleges. According to the most recent data from the College Board, about a third of their graduates took out loans, a majority of them federally guaranteed.

“If we put too many hurdles in their way to get a loan, they’ll take a third job or use a credit card,” said Jacqueline K. Bradley, assistant dean for financial aid at Mendocino College in California. “That almost guarantees that they won’t be as successful in their college career.”
So far, financial aid administrators say they have been able to find fallback lenders that students can switch to, but the hurdles are costly to students — in money and time. The maximum interest rate on federal loans, now at 6.8 percent on the most commonly used loans, is set by Congress, but lenders are scrapping benefits, like rate cuts for borrowers who make their payments on time or allow direct withdrawals from bank accounts.

Some loan companies have exited the student loan business entirely, viewing it as unprofitable in the current environment. By splitting out community colleges and less-selective four-year institutions, some remaining lenders seem to be breaking the marketplace into tiers. Students attending elite, expensive, public and private four-year universities can expect loans to remain plentiful. The banks generally say these loans are bigger, more profitable and less risky, in part perhaps because the banks expect the universities’ graduates to earn more.

Racial Exhaustion

2008-06-02T15:08:00.003-04:00

Abstract

Racial Exhaustion

Professor Darren Lenard Hutchinson

Washington University Law Review (vol. 86, 2008)

Contemporary political and legal discourse on questions of race unveils a tremendous perceptual gap among persons of color and whites. Opinion polls consistently demonstrate that persons of color commonly view race and racial discrimination as important factors shaping their opportunities for economic and social advancement. Whites, on the other hand, often discount race as a pertinent factor in contemporary United States society. Consequently, polling data show that whites typically reject racial explanations for acute disparities in important socio-economic indicators, such as education, criminal justice, employment, wealth, and health care. Echoing this public sentiment, social movement actors, politicians, and the Supreme Court have all taken a skeptical stance towards claims of racial injustice by persons of color and have resisted demands for tougher civil rights laws and race-based remedies. They have viewed these policies as: (1) unnecessary, given the eradication of racism and the prior implementation of formal equality measures; (2) excessive in terms of substance or duration; (3) futile because the law cannot alter racial inequality; (4) misguided because nonracial factors explain racial disparities; and (5) unfair to whites and a special benefit for persons of color. Adhering to these beliefs, a majority of the public has reached a point of racial exhaustion.

This Article argues that the public’s racial exhaustion did not recently emerge, and it is a product of a hard-fought and successful battle against racial subjugation. Instead, throughout history, opponents of racial justice measures have invoked this discourse to contest equality measures and to portray the United States as a post-racist society, even when efforts to combat racial hierarchy were in an embryonic state and persons of color lived in extremely vulnerable political, social and economic conditions. To elaborate this claim, this Article examines political resistance to civil rights legislation and remedies immediately following the Civil War and during Reconstruction, after World War II and through the Cold War era, and in contemporary political and legal discourse in order to demonstrate the persistence of racial exhaustion rhetoric. This Article then considers how social movement actors, civil rights lawyers and theorists, and scholars interested in the interaction of law and rhetoric could respond to the persistent portrayal of racial egalitarianism as redundant and unfair by dissecting the premise of these claims, placing them in an historical context, and, if necessary, by strategically modifying their arguments to focus on class and other structural barriers that correlate or intersect with racial inequality. Despite the presumptive constitutionality of class-based remedies, political opposition to social welfare policies and the depiction of these programs as handouts to undeserving individuals - including persons of color - might limit the efficacy of economic approaches to racial inequality. Moreover, the intersection of race and poverty suggests that class-based remedies alone might not adequately address racially identifiable material inequity.

Click here to download the entire 77 page manuscript.

Disrespectful Kid Slaps His Own Mother!

2008-06-02T14:33:00.000-04:00

Kirk Franklin - Imagine Me By: David Sides

2008-06-01T19:27:00.003-04:00

David Sides has been playing the piano ever since he was the age of 10, and loves using this gift God has blessed him with to entertain others. He plays all of his songs by ear!

Top 10 Cancer Myths Quiz

2008-06-01T19:07:00.002-04:00

Top 10 Cancer Myths Quiz
Myths and rumors become dangerous if they prevent people from having regular check-ups and tests to find cancer in the earliest, most curable stage. Take our quiz to test your own knowledge about cancer, including everyday moves that lower the risk of cancer.

Link to the American Cancer Society's on-line quick quiz: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_11_1_Top_10_Cancer_Myths_Quiz.asp

A Georgia Teacher & Student Come To Blows In School

2008-06-01T18:46:00.002-04:00

My people, my people, my people..... I am speechless.....

Hillary's supporters really made her look bad

2008-06-01T08:44:00.005-04:00

Things that she said that stood out to me....

"The democratic party is throwing the election away...to what? an inadequate black male!"

This statement just spews hatred and reflects her feelings not only about her "perceived" inadequacy of Obama, but of the black race period.... Notice that she does not even refer to Obama as a man, but as a "male"......damn......Check out this video from a past post and tell me who appears to be more "inadequate" for the presidency.

"I can be called 'white' but you cannot be called 'black.'"

Ridiculous. No comment.

"I'm no second class citizen."

Since when have white people in America been considered "second class citizens?"

"God damn the democrats!"

You would "write off" the whole democratic party because of a black man most likely being the Democratic presidential nominee? There truly is no unity in the Democratic party.

"They think we won't turn and vote for McCain...Well, I got news for all of you, McCain will be the next president of the United States!"

Hatred at its best... How many white people would rather switch political parties than vote for a black man?

America is STILL the "Yet to be United States of America."

96 Billion Lbs Of Food Wasted In US In 1 Year

2008-05-31T11:19:00.002-04:00

Another Obama Pastor Problem (Video here)

2008-05-30T08:02:00.001-04:00

CHICAGO (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Thursday that he was "deeply disappointed" by a supporter's sermon at his church that mocked Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a White Chicago activist, also apologized for last Sunday's sermon at Obama's church, in which he said Clinton's eyes welled with tears before the New Hampshire primary because she felt "entitled" to the Democratic nomination and because "there's a black man stealing my show."

Michelle Obama lynched by the KKK?

2008-05-29T15:36:00.008-04:00

Why in the world would someone create this cartoon and post it on a MAINSTREAM NEWS website? (Of course, they pulled it down now...so, no use mentioning the site)

My initial reactions to the picture:

WTF?
Well, why should I be surprised? We all know how certain people feel about blacks...
First the negative talk about "assassinations"....now, people are suggesting lynching? I am scared for Obama AND Michelle....
Why do they have her in a sexually provocative red dress, suggesting that she is not the family woman and faithful wife she appears to be?
Why are they BRANDING her like an animal? Despite her intelligence, charisma, and educational background, it appears that many people still see her as nothing more than a wild animal that needs to be controlled and tamed....

Sometimes I feel that no matter how educated, articulate, intelligent, kind, and moral I am, many White people still view me as "less than human."

The Value of a Human Life: $129,000

2008-05-29T15:11:00.003-04:00

By KATHLEEN KINGSBURY , an article found on Time.com

In theory, a year of human life is priceless. In reality, it's worth $50,000.

That's the international standard most private and government-run health insurance plans worldwide use to determine whether to cover a new medical procedure. More simply, insurance companies calculate that to make a treatment worth its cost, it must guarantee one year of "quality life" for $50,000 or less. New research, however, would argue that that figure is far too low.

Stanford economists have demonstrated that the average value of a year of quality human life is actually closer to about $129,000. To get to that number, Stefanos Zenios and his colleagues at Stanford Graduate School of Business used kidney dialysis as a benchmark. Every year dialysis saves the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans who would otherwise die of renal failure while waiting for an organ transplant. It is also the one procedure that Medicare has covered unconditionally since 1972 despite rapid and sometimes expensive innovations in its administration. To tally the cost-effectiveness of such innovations Zenios and his colleagues ran a computer analysis of more than half a million patients who underwent dialysis, adding up costs and comparing that data to treatment outcomes. Considering both inflation and new technologies in dialysis, they arrived at $129,000 as a more appropriate threshold for deciding coverage.

"That means that if Medicare paid an additional $129,000 to treat a group of patients, on average, group members would get one more quality-adjusted life year," Zenios says. Based on patient surveys, one "quality of life" year is defined as about two years of life on dialysis.

Zenios's conclusions arrive amidst mounting debate over whether Medicare, the U.S. government health plan for seniors, ought to use cost-effectiveness analysis in determining coverage of procedures. Nearly all other industrial nations — including Canada, Britain and the Netherlands — ration health care based on cost-effectiveness and the $50,000 threshold. Medicare, on the other hand, decides whether to pay for new technology based on whether a treatment is "medically necessary and appropriate." But as health care expenses rise and entitlement programs grow fiscally strapped — at least one part of Medicare is now expected to be bankrupt by 2019 — more and more academics have called for this approach to be reconsidered, and for cost to become a factor. Such a move would mean that "if the incremental cost of a new technology was more than the threshold," Zenios says, "then the recommendation would be that Medicare not cover that new technology."

Assigning a dollar figure to Medicare patients' lives may sound crass, but such valuations are routine in Americans' daily lives. Take, for example, the $500,000 death benefit the government pays families when a soldier is killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Or the cost calculations that for-profit health insurers make to determine how much coverage they'll give customers. In fact, at least some Americans seem at ease with allowing money to play a prominent role in health care decisions. In a 2007 survey of New Yorkers, 75% of participants felt "somewhat" to "very" comfortable with allowing cost to inform Medicare treatment decisions, once they understood how the system worked. "Americans understand and are prepared to engage the issues that arise when setting priorities and limits for their public programs," Marthe Gold, the City University of New York Medical School professor who conducted the study, wrote with colleagues this past fall in the journal Health Affairs.

The Stanford researchers caution that if Medicare fully adopted a cost-benefit analysis model, too many patients could be denied life-saving treatment. They return to the example of dialysis patients. Their study showed that for the sickest patients, the average cost of an additional quality-of-life year was much higher — $488,000. "It is difficult to justify the burden and expense of dialysis when persons have other serious health conditions such as, for example, advanced dementia or cancer," says co-author Glenn Chertow, a nephrology professor at the Stanford School of Medicine. "In these settings, dialysis is unlikely to provide any meaningful benefit."

But with organs including kidneys for transplant so scarce, is it justifiable to deny these patients a chance to live through dialysis? It is a question, Zenios says, everyone should approach with trepidation. "What is the true value of a human life? That's what we're asking people," he adds. "I wouldn't pretend to know."

Black Invention Myths? What do you think?

2008-05-28T22:30:00.012-04:00

Recently, I encountered a website that claims to dispel myths about black inventions. My first impression is that his goal appears to suggest that blacks invented NOTHING. He gives no black inventor credit for ANYTHING!!! I wonder what his motives were...

I do agree that perhaps some inventions attributed to black inventors may be exaggerated. However, let's not act like blacks invented nothing or contributed nothing to modern science!

Here's what the author had to say:

"Perhaps you've heard the claims: Were it not for the genius and energy of African-American inventors, we might find ourselves in a world without traffic lights, peanut butter, blood banks, light bulb filaments, and a vast number of other things we now take for granted but could hardly imagine life without.
Such beliefs usually originate in books or articles about black history. Since many of the authors have little interest in the history of technology outside of advertising black contributions to it, their stories tend to be fraught with misunderstandings, wishful thinking, or fanciful embellishments with no historical basis. The lack of historical perspective leads to extravagant overestimations of originality and importance: sometimes a slightly modified version of a pre-existing piece of technology is mistaken for the first invention of its type; sometimes a patent or innovation with little or no lasting value is portrayed as a major advance, even if there's no real evidence it was ever used.
Unfortunately, some of the errors and exaggerations have acquired an illusion of credibility by repetition in mainstream outlets, especially during Black History Month (see examples for the traffic light and ironing board). When myths go unchallenged for too long, they begin to eclipse the truth. Thus I decided to put some records straight. Although this page does not cover every dubious invention claim floating around out there, it should at least serve as a warning never to take any such claim for granted.
Each item below is listed with its supposed black originator beneath it along with the year it was supposedly invented, followed by something about the real origin of the invention or at least an earlier instance of it."

Traffic Signal
Invented by Garrett A. Morgan in 1923? No!
The first known traffic signal appeared in London in 1868 near the Houses of Parliament. Designed by JP Knight, it featured two semaphore arms and two gas lamps. The earliest electric traffic lights include Lester Wire's two-color version set up in Salt Lake City circa 1912, James Hoge's system (US patent #1,251,666) installed in Cleveland by the American Traffic Signal Company in 1914, and William Potts' 4-way red-yellow-green lights introduced in Detroit beginning in 1920. New York City traffic towers began flashing three-color signals also in 1920.
Garrett Morgan's cross-shaped, crank-operated semaphore was not among the first half-hundred patented traffic signals, nor was it "automatic" as is sometimes claimed, nor did it play any part in the evolution of the modern traffic light. For details see Inventing History: Garrett Morgan and the Traffic Signal.

Gas Mask
Garrett Morgan in 1914? No!
The invention of the gas mask predates Morgan's breathing device by several decades. Early versions were constructed by the Scottish chemist John Stenhouse in 1854 and the physicist John Tyndall in the 1870s, among many other inventors prior to World War I. See The Invention of the Gas Mask.

Peanut Butter
George Washington Carver (who began his peanut research in 1903)? No!
Peanuts, which are native to the New World tropics, were mashed into paste by Aztecs hundreds of years ago. Evidence of modern peanut butter comes from US patent #306727 issued to Marcellus Gilmore Edson of Montreal, Quebec in 1884, for a process of milling roasted peanuts between heated surfaces until the peanuts reached "a fluid or semi-fluid state." As the product cooled, it set into what Edson described as "a consistency like that of butter, lard, or ointment." In 1890, George A. Bayle Jr., owner of a food business in St. Louis, manufactured peanut butter and sold it out of barrels. J.H. Kellogg, of cereal fame, secured US patent #580787 in 1897 for his "Process of Preparing Nutmeal," which produced a "pasty adhesive substance" that Kellogg called "nut-butter."

George Washington Carver
"Discovered" hundreds of new and important uses for the peanut? Fathered the peanut industry? Revolutionized southern US agriculture? No!
Research by Barry Mackintosh, who served as bureau historian for the National Park Service (which manages the G.W. Carver National Monument), demonstrated the following:
Most of Carver's peanut and sweet potato creations were either unoriginal, impractical, or of uncertain effectiveness. No product born in his laboratory was widely adopted.
The boom years for Southern peanut production came prior to, and not as a result of, Carver's promotion of the crop.
Carver's work to improve regional farming practices was not of pioneering scientific importance and had little demonstrable impact.
To see how Carver gained "a popular reputation far transcending the significance of his accomplishments," read Mackintosh's excellent article George Washington Carver: The Making of a Myth.

Automatic Lubricator, "Real McCoy"
Elijah McCoy revolutionized industry in 1872 by inventing the first device to automatically oil machinery? No! The phrase "Real McCoy" arose to distinguish Elijah's inventions from cheap imitations? No!
The oil cup, which automatically delivers a steady trickle of lubricant to machine parts while the machine is running, predates McCoy's career; a description of one appears in the May 6, 1848 issue of Scientific American. The automatic "displacement lubricator" for steam engines was developed in 1860 by John Ramsbottom of England, and notably improved in 1862 by James Roscoe of the same country. The "hydrostatic" lubricator originated no later than 1871.
Variants of the phrase Real McCoy appear in Scottish literature dating back to at least 1856 — well before Elijah McCoy could have been involved.
Detailed evidence: The not-so-real McCoyAlso see The Fake McCoy and Did Somebody Say McTrash?

Blood Bank
Dr. Charles Drew in 1940? No!
During World War I, Dr. Oswald H. Robertson of the US army preserved blood in a citrate-glucose solution and stored it in cooled containers for later transfusion. This was the first use of "banked" blood. By the mid-1930s the Russians had set up a national network of facilities for the collection, typing, and storage of blood. Bernard Fantus, influenced by the Russian program, established the first hospital blood bank in the United States at Chicago's Cook County Hospital in 1937. It was Fantus who coined the term "blood bank." See highlights of transfusion history from the American Association of Blood Banks.

Blood Plasma
Did Charles Drew "discover" (in about 1940) that plasma could be separated and stored apart from the rest of the blood, thereby revolutionizing transfusion medicine? No!
The possibility of using blood plasma for transfusion purposes was known at least since 1918, when English physician Gordon R. Ward suggested it in a medical journal. In the mid-1930s, John Elliott advanced the idea, emphasizing plasma's advantages in shelf life and donor-recipient compatibility, and in 1939 he and two colleagues reported having used stored plasma in 191 transfusions. (See historical notes on plasma use.) Charles Drew was not responsible for any breakthrough scientific or medical discovery; his main career achievement lay in supervising or co-supervising major programs for the collection and shipment of blood and plasma.
More: Charles Drew Mythology

Washington DC city plan
Benjamin Banneker? No!
Pierre-Charles L'Enfant created the layout of Washington DC. Banneker assisted Andrew Ellicott in the survey of the federal territory, but played no direct role in the actual planning of the city. The story of Banneker reconstructing the city design from memory after L'Enfant ran away with the plans (with the implication that the project would have failed if not for Banneker) has been debunked by historians.

Filament for Light Bulb
Lewis Latimer invented the carbon filament in 1881 or 1882? No!
English chemist/physicist Joseph Swan experimented with a carbon-filament incandescent light all the way back in 1860, and by 1878 had developed a better design which he patented in Britain. On the other side of the Atlantic, Thomas Edison developed a successful carbon-filament bulb, receiving a patent for it (#223898) in January 1880, before Lewis Latimer did any work in electric lighting. From 1880 onward, countless patents were issued for innovations in filament design and manufacture (Edison had over 50 of them). Neither of Latimer's two filament-related patents in 1881 and 1882 were among the most important innovations, nor did they make the light bulb last longer, nor is there reason to believe they were adopted outside Hiram Maxim's company where Latimer worked at the time. (He was not hired by Edison's company until 1884, primarily as a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigations).
Latimer also did not come up with the first screw socket for the light bulb or the first book on electric lighting.

Heart Surgery (first successful)
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams in 1893? No!
Dr. Williams repaired a wound not in the heart muscle itself, but in the sac surrounding it, the pericardium. This operation was not the first of its type: Henry Dalton of St. Louis performed a nearly identical operation two years earlier, with the patient fully recovering. Decades before that, the Spaniard Francisco Romero carried out the first successful pericardial surgery of any type, incising the pericardium to drain fluid compressing the heart.
Surgery on the actual human heart muscle, and not just the pericardium, was first successfully accomplished by Ludwig Rehn of Germany when he repaired a wounded right ventricle in 1896. More than 50 years later came surgery on the open heart, pioneered by John Lewis, C. Walton Lillehei (often called the "father of open heart surgery") and John Gibbon (who invented the heart-lung machine).
What medical historians say...

"Third Rail"
Granville Woods in 1901? No!
Werner von Siemens pioneered the use of an electrified third rail as a means for powering railway vehicles when he demonstrated an experimental electric train at the 1879 Berlin Industrial Exhibition. In the US, English-born Leo Daft used a third-rail system to electrify the Baltimore & Hampden lines in 1885. The first electrically powered subway trains, which debuted in London in the autumn of 1890, likewise drew power from a third rail. Details...

Railway Telegraph
Granville Woods prevented railway accidents and saved countless lives by inventing the train telegraph (patented in 1887), which allowed communication to and from moving trains? No!
The earliest patents for train telegraphs go back to at least 1873. Lucius Phelps was the first inventor in the field to attract widespread notice, and the telegrams he exchanged on the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad in January 1885 were hailed in the Feb. 21, 1885 issue of Scientific American as "perhaps the first ever sent to and from a moving train." Phelps remained at the forefront in developing the technology and by the end of 1887 already held 14 US patents on his system. He joined a team led by Thomas Edison, who had been working on his "grasshopper telegraph" for trains, and together they constructed on the Lehigh Valley Railroad one of the only induction telegraph systems ever put to commercial use. Although this telegraph was a technical success, it fulfilled no public need, and the market for on-board train telegraphy never took off. There is no evidence that any commercial railway telegraph based on Granville Woods's patents was ever built. About the patent interference case

Refrigerated Truck
Frederick Jones (with Joseph Numero) in 1938? No! Did Jones change America's eating habits by making possible the long-distance shipment of perishable foods? No!
Refrigerated ships and railcars had been moving perishables across oceans and continents even before Jones was born (see refrigerated transport timeline). Trucks with mechanically refrigerated cargo spaces appeared on the roads at least as early as the late 1920s (see the proof). Further development of truck refrigeration was more a process of gradual evolution than radical change.

Air Brake / Automatic Air Brake
Granville Woods in 1904? No!
In 1869, a 22-year-old George Westinghouse received US patent #88929 for a brake device operated by compressed air, and in the same year organized the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. Many of the 361 patents he accumulated during his career were for air brake variations and improvements, including his first "automatic" version in 1872 (US #124404).

Air Conditioner
Frederick Jones in 1949? No!
Dr. Willis Carrier built the first machine to control both the temperature and humidity of indoor air. He received the first of many patents in 1906 (US patent #808897, for the "Apparatus for Treating Air"). In 1911 he published the formulae that became the scientific basis for air conditioning design, and four years later formed the Carrier Engineering Corporation to develop and manufacture AC systems.

Airship
J.F. Pickering in 1900? No!
French engineer Henri Giffard successfully flew a powered navigable airship in 1852. The La France airship built by Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs in 1884 featured an electric motor and improved steering capabilities. In 1900 Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin's first rigid-framed dirigible took to the air. Of the hundreds of inventors granted patents for early airship designs and modifications, few succeeded in building or flying their craft. There doesn't appear to be any record of a "Pickering Airship" ever getting off the ground.
US Aviation Patent Database, 1799-1909

Automatic Railroad Car Coupler
Andrew Beard invented the "Jenny [sic] coupler" in 1897? No!
The Janney coupler is named for US Civil War veteran Eli H. Janney, who in 1873 invented a device (US patent #138405) which automatically linked together two railroad cars upon their being brought into contact. Also known as the "knuckle coupler," Janney's invention superseded the dangerous link-and-pin coupler and became the basis for standard coupler design through the remainder of the millennium. Andrew Beard's modified knuckle coupler was just one of approximately eight thousand coupler variations patented by 1900. See a history of the automatic coupler and also The Janney Coupler.

Automatic Transmission/Gearshift
Richard Spikes in 1932? No!
The first automatic-transmission automobile to enter the market was designed by the Sturtevant brothers of Massachusetts in 1904. US Patent #766551 was the first of several patents on their gearshift mechanism. Automatic transmission technology continued to develop, spawning hundreds of patents and numerous experimental units; but because of cost, reliability issues and an initial lack of demand, several decades passed before vehicles with automatic transmission became common on the roads.

Bicycle Frame
Isaac R. Johnson in 1899? No!
Comte Mede de Sivrac and Karl von Sauerbronn built primitive versions of the bicycle in 1791 and 1816 respectively. The frame of John Starley's 1885 "safety bicycle" resembled that of a modern bicycle.

Cellular Phone
Henry T. Sampson in 1971? No!
On July 6, 1971, Sampson and co-inventor George Miley received a patent on a "gamma electric cell" that converted a gamma ray input into an electrical output (Among the first to do that was Bernhard Gross, US patent #3122640, 1964). What, you ask, does gamma radiation have to do with cellular communications technology? The answer: nothing. Some multiculturalist pseudo-historian must have seen the words "electric" and "cell" and thought "cell phone."
The father of the cell phone is Martin Cooper who first demonstrated the technology in 1973.

Clock or Watch (First in America)
Benjamin Banneker built the first American timepiece in 1753? No!
Abel Cottey, a Quaker clockmaker from Philadelphia, built a clock that is dated 1709 (source: Six Quaker Clockmakers, by Edward C. Chandlee; Philadelphia, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1943). Banneker biographer Silvio Bedini further refutes the myth:
Several watch and clockmakers were already established in the colony [Maryland] prior to the time that Banneker made the clock. In Annapolis alone there were at least four such craftsmen prior to 1750. Among these may be mentioned John Batterson, a watchmaker who moved to Annapolis in 1723; James Newberry, a watch and clockmaker who advertised in the Maryland Gazette on July 20, 1748; John Powell, a watch and clockmaker believed to have been indentured and to have been working in 1745; and Powell's master, William Roberts.
Silvio Bedini, The Life of Benjamin Banneker (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1999)

Clothes Dryer
George T. Sampson in 1892? No!
The "clothes-drier" described in Sampson's patent was actually a rack for holding clothes near a stove, and was intended as an "improvement" on similar contraptions:
My invention relates to improvements in clothes-driers.... The object of my invention is to suspend clothing in close relation to a stove by means of frames so constructed that they can be readily placed in proper position and put aside when not required for use.
US patent #476416, 1892
Nineteen years earlier, there were already over 300 US patents for such "clothes-driers" (Subject-Matter Index of Patents...1790 to 1873).
A Frenchman named Pochon in 1799 built the first known tumble dryer — a crank-driven, rotating metal drum pierced with ventilation holes and held over heat. Electric tumble dryers appeared in the first half of the 20th century.

Dustpan
Lloyd P. Ray in 1897? No!
While the ultimate origin of the dustpan is lost in the mists (dusts?) of time, at least we know that US patent #20811 for "Dust-pan" was granted to T.E. McNeill in 1858. That was the first of about 164 US dustpan patents predating Lloyd Ray's. See the dustpan patent list.

Egg Beater
Willie Johnson in 1884? No!
The hand-cranked egg beater with two intermeshed, counter-rotating whisks was invented by Turner Williams of Providence, Rhode Island in 1870 (US Patent #103811). It was an improvement on earlier rotary egg beaters that had only one whisk.

Electric Trolley
Did Granville Woods invent the electric trolley car, the overhead wire that powers it, or the "troller" wheel that makes contact with the trolley wire, in 1888? No!
Dr. Werner von Siemens demonstrated his electric trolleybus, the Elektromote, near Berlin on April 29, 1882. The vehicle's two electric motors collected power through contact wheels rolling atop a pair of overhead wires. The earliest patentee of an electric trolley in the United States appears to be Eugene Cowles (#252193 in 1881), followed by Dr. Joseph R. Finney (#268476 in 1882) who operated an experimental trolley car near Pittsburgh, PA in the summer of 1882. In early 1885, John C. Henry established in Kansas City, MO, the first overhead-wire electric transit system to enter regular service in the United States. Belgian-born Charles van Depoele, who earned 240+ patents in electric railway technology and other fields, set up trolley lines in several North American cities by 1887. In February 1888, a trolley system designed by Frank Sprague began operating in Richmond, Virginia. Sprague's system became the lasting prototype for electric street railways in the US.

Elevator
Alexander Miles in 1887? No!Was Miles the first to patent a self-closing shaft door? No!
Steam-powered hoisting devices were used in England by 1800. Elisha Graves Otis' 1853 "safety elevator" prevented the car from falling if the cable broke, and thus paved the way for the first commercial passenger elevator, installed in New York City's Haughwout Department Store in 1857. The first electric elevator appeared in Mannheim, Germany in 1880, built by the German firm of Siemens and Halske. A self-closing shaft door was invented by J.W. Meaker in 1874 ("Improvement in Self-closing Hatchways," US Patent No. 147,853). See Elevator Timeline

Fastest Computer/Computation
Was Philip Emeagwali responsible for the world's fastest computer or computation in 1989? Did he win the "Nobel Prize of computing"? Is he a "father of the Internet"? No!
The fastest performance of a computer application in 1989 was 6 billion floating point operations per second (6 Gflops), achieved by a team from Mobil and Thinking Machines Corp. on a 64,000-processor "Connection Machine" invented by Danny Hillis. That was almost double the 3.1 Gflops of Emeagwali's computation. Computing's Nobel Prize equivalent is the Turing Award, which Emeagwali has never won. More...

Fire Escape
Joseph Winters in 1878? No!
Winters' "fire escape" was a wagon-mounted ladder. The first such contraption patented in the US was the work of William P. Withey, 1840 (US patent #1599). The fire escape with a "lazy-tongs" type ladder, more similar to Winters' patent, was pioneered by Hüttman and Kornelio in 1849 (US patent #6155). One of the first fire escapes of any type was invented in 18th-century England:
In 1784, Daniel Maseres, of England, invented a machine called a fire escape, which, being fastened to the window, would enable anyone to descend to the street without injury.
Benjamin Butterworth, Growth of Industrial Art, 1888
By 1888 the US had granted 1,099 patents on fire escapes of "many forms, and of every possible material" (Butterworth).

Fire Extinguisher
Thomas J. Martin in 1872? No!
In 1813, British army captain George Manby created the first known portable fire extinguisher: a two-foot-tall copper cylinder that held 3 gallons of water and used compressed air as a propellant. One of the earliest extinguishers to use a chemical extinguishing agent, and not just water, was invented in 1849 by the Englishman William Henry Phillips, who patented his "fire annihilator" in England and the United States (US patent #7,269).

Food Additives, Meat Curing
Lloyd Hall "is responsible for the meat curing products, seasonings, emulsions, bakery products, antioxidants, protein hydrolysates, and many other products that keep our food fresh and flavorable"? No! Hall "revolutionized the meatpacking industry"? No!
Hall introduced no major class of additive, certainly not meat curing salts (which are ancient), protein hydrolysates (popularized by Julius Maggi as flavor enhancers in 1886), emulsifiers and antioxidants (lecithin, for example, was used in both roles before Lloyd Hall had any patents in food processing). The so-called revolutionary meat curing product marketed by Hall's employer was invented primarily by Karl Max Seifert ; the number of Seifert's patent was printed right on the containers. Hall's main contribution to this product was to reduce its tendency to cake during storage. Details: Lloyd Hall myth.

Fountain Pen
W.B. Purvis in 1890? No!
The first reference to what seems to be a fountain pen appears in an Arabic text from 969 AD; details of the instrument are not known. A French "Bion" pen, dated 1702, represents the oldest fountain pen that still survives. Later models included John Scheffer's 1819 pen, possibly the first to be mass-produced; John Jacob Parker's "self-filling" pen of 1832; and the famous Lewis Waterman pen of 1884 (US Patents #293545, #307735). Early History of the Fountain Pen

Golf Tee
Dr. George Grant in 1899? No!
A small rubber platform invented by Scotsmen William Bloxsom and Arthur Douglas was the world's first patented golf tee (British patent #12941 of 1889). The first known tee to penetrate the ground, in contrast to earlier tees that sat on the surface, was the peg-like "Perfectum" patented in 1892 by Percy Ellis of England. American dentist William Lowell introduced the most common form of tee used today, the simple wooden peg with a flared top. Details...

Hairbrush
Lyda Newman in 1898? No!
An early US patent for a recognizably modern hairbrush went to Hugh Rock in 1854 (US Design Patent no. D645), though surely there were hairbrushes long before there was a US Patent Office.
The claim that Lyda Newman's brush was the first with "synthetic bristles" is false: her patent mentions nothing about synthetic bristles and is concerned only with a new way of making the handle detachable from the head. Besides, a hairbrush that included "elastic wire teeth" in combination with natural bristles had already been patented by Samuel Firey in 1870 (US, #106680). Nylon bristles weren't possible until the invention of nylon in 1935.

Halogen Lamp
Frederick Mosby? No
The original patent for the tungsten halogen lamp (US #2,883,571; April 21, 1959) is recorded to Elmer G. Fridrich and Emmett H. Wiley of General Electric. The two had built a working prototype as early as 1953. Fred Mosby was part of the GE team charged with developing the prototype lamp into a marketable product, but was not responsible for the original halogen lamp or the concept behind it.

Hand Stamp
William Purvis in 1883? No!
The earliest known postal handstamp was brought into use by Henry Bishop, Postmaster General of Great Britain, in the year 1661. The stamp imprinted the mail with a bisected circle containing the month and the date. See "Bishop marks"

Heating Furnace
Alice Parker in 1919? No!
In the hypocaust heating systems built by the ancient Romans, hot air from a furnace circulated under the floor and up through channels inside the walls, thereby distributing heat evenly around the building. One of the most famous heating systems in recent centuries was the iron furnace stove known as the "Franklin stove," named after its purported originator Benjamin Franklin around 1745 AD. The US had issued over 4000 patents for heating stoves and furnaces by 1888 (Benjamin Butterworth, Growth of Industrial Art, 1888).

Horseshoe
Oscar E. Brown in 1892? No!
Some sources on the web, if not ignorant enough to say Brown invented the first horseshoe ever, will at least try to credit him for the first double or compound horseshoe made of two layers: one permanently secured to the hoof, and one auxiliary layer that can be removed and replaced when it wears out. However, in the US there were already 39 earlier patents for horseshoes using that same concept. The first of these was issued to J.B. Kendall of Boston in 1861, patent #33709.

Ice Cream
Augustus Jackson in 1832? No!
Flavored ices resembling sherbet were known in China in ancient times. In Europe, sherbet-like concoctions evolved into ice cream by the 16th century, and around 1670 or so, the Café Procope in Paris offered creamy frozen dairy desserts to the public. The first written record of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter dated 1700, attesting that Maryland Governor William Bladen served the treat to his guests. In 1777, the New York Gazette advertised the sale of ice cream by confectioner Philip Lenzi. History of Ice Cream

Ironing Board
Sarah Boone in 1892? No!
Of the several hundred US patents on ironing boards granted prior to Sarah Boone's, the first three went to William Vandenburg in 1858 (patents #19390, #19883, #20231). The first American female patentee of an ironing board is probably Sarah Mort of Dayton, Ohio, who received patent #57170 in 1866. In 1869, Henry Soggs of Columbus, Pennsylvania earned US patent #90966 for an ironing board resembling the modern type, with folding legs, adjustable height, and a cover. Another nice example of a modern-looking board was designed by J.H. Mallory in 1871, patent #120296. Details...

Laser Cataract Surgery
Patricia Bath "transformed eye surgery" by inventing the first laser device to treat cataracts in 1986? No!
Use of lasers to treat cataracts in the eye began to develop in the mid 1970s. M.M. Krasnov of Russia reported the first such procedure in 1975. One of the earliest US patents for laser cataract removal (#3,982,541) was issued to Francis L'Esperance in 1976. In later years, a number of experimenters worked independently on laser devices for removing cataracts, including Daniel Eichenbaum, whose work became the basis of the Paradigm Photon™ device; and Jack Dodick, whose Dodick Laser PhotoLysis System eventually became the first laser unit to win FDA approval for cataract removal in the United States. Still, the majority of cataract surgeries continue to be performed using ultrasound devices, not lasers. Details...

Lawn Mower
John Burr in 1899? No!
English engineer Edwin Budding invented the first reel-type lawn mower (with blades arranged in a cylindrical pattern) and had it patented in England in 1830. In 1868 the United States issued patent #73807 to Amariah M. Hills of Connecticut, who went on to establish the Archimedean Lawn Mower Co. in 1871. By 1888, the US Patent Office had granted 138 patents for lawn mowers (Butterworth, Growth of Industrial Art). Doubtlessly there were even more by the time Burr got his patent in 1899.
Some website authors want Burr to have invented the first "rotary blade" mower, with a centrally mounted spinning blade. But his patent #624749 shows yet another twist on the old reel mower, differing in only a few details with Budding's original.

Lawn Sprinkler
J. H. Smith in 1897? Elijah McCoy? No!
The first US patent with the title "lawn sprinkler" was issued to J. Lessler of Buffalo, New York in 1871 (#121949). Early examples of water-propelled, rotating lawn sprinklers were patented by J. Oswald in 1890 (#425340) and J. S. Woolsey in 1891 (#457099) among a gazillion others.
Smith's patent shows just another rotating sprinkler, and McCoy's 1899 patent was for a turtle-shaped sprinkler.

Mailbox (letter drop box)
P. Downing invented the street letter drop box in 1891? No! George Becket invented the private mailbox in 1892? No!
The US Postal Service says that "Street boxes for mail collection began to appear in large [US] cities by 1858." They appeared in Europe even earlier, according to historian Laurin Zilliacus:
Mail boxes as we understand them first appeared on the streets of Belgian towns in 1848. In Paris they came two years later, while the English received their 'pillar boxes' in 1855.
Laurin Zilliacus, Mail for the World, p. 178 (New York, J. Day Co., 1953)
From the same book (p.178), "Private mail boxes were invented in the United States in about 1860."
Eventually, letter drop boxes came equipped with inner lids to prevent miscreants from rummaging through the mail pile. The first of many US patents for such a purpose was granted in 1860 to John North of Middletown, Connecticut (US Pat. #27466).

Mop
Thomas W. Stewart in 1893? No!
Mops go back a long, long way before 1893. Just how long, is hard to determine. Restricting our view to the modern era, we find that the United States issued its first mop patent (#241) in 1837 to Jacob Howe, called "Construction of Mop-Heads and the Mode of Securing them upon Handles." One of the first patented mops with a built-in wringer was the one H. & J. Morton invented in 1859 (US #24049).
The mop specified in Stewart's patent #499402 has a lever-operated clamp for "holding the mop rags"; the lever is not a wringing mechanism as erroneously reported on certain websites. Other inventors had already patented mops with lever-operated clamps, one of the first being Greenleaf Stackpole in 1869 (US Pat. #89803).

Paper Punch (hand-held)
Charles Brooks in 1893? No!Was it the first with a hinged receptacle to catch the clippings? No!
The first numbered US patent for a hand-held hole punch was #636, issued to Solyman Merrick in 1838. Robert James Kellett earned the first two US patents for a chad-catching hole punch, in 1867 (patent #65090) and 1868 (#79232).

Pencil Sharpener
John Lee Love in 1897? No!
Bernard Lassimone of Limoges, France invented one of the earliest sharpeners, receiving French patent number 2444 in 1828. An apparent ancestor of the 20th-century hand-cranked sharpener was patented by G. F. Ballou in 1896 (US #556709) and marketed by the A.B. Dick Company as the "Planetary Pencil Pointer." As the user held the pencil stationary and turned the crank, twin milling cutters revolved around the tip of the pencil and shaved it into a point.
Love's patent #594114 shows a variation on a different kind of sharpener, in which one would crank the pencil itself around in a stirring motion. An earlier device of a similar type was devised in 1888 by G.H. Courson (patent #388533), and sold under the name "President Pencil Sharpener."
Here are several other examples of 19th century sharpeners:Early Mechanical Pencil Sharpeners Mechanical Pencil Sharpener Gallery ~ 1884-1899
Permanent Wave Machine (for perming hair)
Marjorie Joyner in 1928? No!
That would be German hairdresser Karl Ludwig Nessler (aka Charles Nestlé) no later than 1906.
Postmarking and Canceling Machine
William Barry in 1897? No!
Try Pearson Hill of England, in 1857. Hill's machine marked the postage stamp with vertical lines and postmark date. By 1892, US post offices were using several brands of machines, including one that could cancel, postmark, count and stack more than 20,000 pieces of mail per hour (Marshall Cushing, Story of Our Post Office, Boston: A. M. Thayer & co., 1892, pp.189-191).

Printing Press
W.A. Lavalette invented "the advanced printing press" in 1878? No!
Movable-type printing first appeared in East Asia. In Europe, around 1455, Johann Gutenberg adapted the screw press used in other trades such as winemaking and combined it with type-metal alloy characters and oil-based printing ink. Major advances after Gutenberg include the cylinder printing press (c. 1811) by Frederick Koenig and Andreas Bauer, the rotary press (1846) by Richard M. Hoe, and the web press (1865) by William Bullock. Major advances do not include Lavalette's patent, which was only one of 3,268 printing patents granted in the US by the year 1888 (Butterworth, Growth of Industrial Art). Improvements After Gutenberg

Propeller for Ship
George Tolivar or Benjamin Montgomery? No!
John Stevens constructed a boat with twin steam-powered propellers in 1804 in the first known application of a screw propeller for marine propulsion. Other important pioneers in the early 1800s included Sir Francis Pettit Smith of England, and Swedish-born ship designer John Ericsson (US patent #588) who later designed the USS Monitor.

Refrigerator
Thomas Elkins in 1879? John Stanard in 1891? No!
Oliver Evans proposed a mechanical refrigerator based on a vapor-compression cycle in 1805 and Jacob Perkins had a working machine built in 1834. Dr. John Gorrie created an air-cycle refrigeration system in about 1844, which he installed in a Florida hospital. In the 1850s Alexander Twining in the USA and James Harrison in Australia used mechanical refrigeration to produce ice on a commercial scale. Around the same time, the Carré brothers of France led the development of absorption refrigeration systems. A more detailed timeline
Stanard's patent describes not a refrigeration machine, but an old-fashioned icebox — an insulated cabinet into which ice is placed to cool the interior. As such, it was a "refrigerator" only in the old sense of the term, which included non-mechanical coolers. Elkins created a similarly low-tech cooler, acknowledging in his patent #221222 that "I am aware that chilling substances inclosed within a porous box or jar by wetting its outer surface is an old and well-known process."

Rotary Engine
Andrew Beard in 1892? No!
The Subject Matter Index of Patents Issued from the United States Patent Office from 1790 to 1873 Inclusive lists 394 "Rotary Engine" patents from 1810-1873. The Wankel engine, a rotary combustion engine with a four-stroke cycle, dates from 1954. History of the Rotary Engine from 1588 Onward

Screw Socket for Light Bulb
Lewis Latimer? No!
The earliest evidence for a light bulb screw base design is a drawing in a Thomas Edison notebook dated Sept. 11, 1880. It is not the work of Latimer, though:
Edison's long-time associates, Edward H. Johnson and John Ott, were principally responsible for designing fixtures in the fall of 1880. Their work resulted in the screw socket and base very much like those widely used today.
R. Friedel and P. Israel, Edison's Electric Light: Biography of an Invention, (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1986).
The 1880 sketch of the screw socket is reproduced in the book cited above.

Smallpox Vaccine
Onesimus the slave in 1721? No! Onesimus knew of variolation, an early inoculation technique practiced in several areas of the world before the discovery of vaccination.
English physician Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796 after finding that the relatively innocuous cowpox virus built immunity against the deadly smallpox. This discovery led to the eventual eradication of endemic smallpox throughout the world. Vaccination differs from the primitive inoculation method known as variolation, which involved the deliberate planting of live smallpox into a healthy person in hopes of inducing a mild form of the disease that would provide immunity from further infection. Variolation not only was risky to the patient but, more importantly, failed to prevent smallpox from spreading. Known in Asia by 1000 AD, the practice reached the West via more than one channel.

His complete list can be found here...

Again, I question his motives. His research appears somewhat credible in several instances. Yet, I CANNOT believe that there were no "true" African American inventors.

A reputable list of African-American inventors and their inventions can be found here if you would like to explore this topic more.

Your thoughts?

Funny Dr. Suess Poem

2008-05-28T15:21:00.002-04:00

Funny Hillary Cartoon!

2008-05-28T15:01:00.005-04:00

People Giving Blood to Pay for Gas

2008-05-28T12:20:00.003-04:00

According to MyFox Cleveland News, business at the ZLB Plasma Service on Cleveland's near west side is booming. The company pays as much as $40 per visit for a donors first four visits, less after that. Each person donating plasma can do that no more than two times a week.

The waiting area is packed with people like Geanie Fox and her boyfriend. "I come here twice a week and I have to, because its like the only place we can get money quickly, for gas." said Fox.

ZLB's parent company tells Fox 8 News donations are up, attributing the increase to what they call the economic downturn.

While many of the donors are regulars, Tialiegh Henry says she just started donating plasma last week, because of what the price of gas has done to her family's budget. "That was my reason for doing it." said Henry, "I just needed the money to fill up my gas tank."

She is far from alone. "If you are out of money and you need gas you can come here and get a little change." said Willie Tyson of Cleveland, who also says the stipend he gets from his donation does not go very far. "I mean it takes all of it at $4.50 a gallon almost."

The increase in donation is a plus for ZLB. The parent company calls it a win-win. Donors get some money in return for their plasma and their time, the company is able to profit from the donation, which can be used for life saving therapy.

Statistics on the State of Racial Inequality (Part 1)

2008-05-28T11:47:00.006-04:00

• Percentage of all white children in the United States who are being raised in married-couple families: 75%

• Percentage of all black children in the United States who are being raised in married-couple families: 34%(U.S. Census Bureau)

• Percentage of all white children in the United States who are being raised in female, single-parent homes: 16%

• Percentage of all black children in the United States who are being raised in female, single-parent homes: 50%(U.S. Census Bureau)

• Percentage of all white children in the United States who are being raised by their grandparents: 1.4%

• Percentage of all black children in the United States who are being raised by their grandparents: 5.4%(U.S. Census Bureau)

• Median income of college-educated white women who worked full-time in 2005: $43,110

• Median income of college-educated African-American women who worked full-time in 2005: $45,273(U.S. Census Bureau)

• The median income in 2005 of black men who are high school graduates but have never been to college: $21,241

• The median income in 2005 of black men who have graduated from college: $43,496 (U.S. Census Bureau)

• The median income in 2005 of black women who are high school graduates but have never been to college: $15,768

• The median income in 2005 of black women who have graduated from college: $40,784 (U.S. Census Bureau)

• Black percentage of all public school students in the United States: 16.9%

• Black percentage of all students in the 100 largest school districts in the United States: 27.9%(U.S. Department of Education)

• Black percentage of all public school students in New Orleans: 93.5%

• Black percentage of all public school students in Detroit: 90.5%

• Black percentage of all public school students in Baltimore: 88.8% (U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of white adults ages 25 to 29 in 2007 who held a bachelor’s degree: 35.5%

• Percentage of black adults ages 25 to 29 in 2007 who held a bachelor’s degree: 19.5% (U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of the total white population ages 3 to 34 in 2006 who were enrolled in school: 56.8%

• Percentage of the total black population ages 3 to 34 in 2006 who were enrolled in school: 58.3%(U.S. Department of Education)

• Number of African Americans alive today who hold a professional degree: 164,000

• Number of African Americans alive today who hold a doctoral degree: 111,000 (U.S. Department of Education)

• Average number of hours per week that white children under the age of 6 are not under the care of one of their parents: 27.1

• Average number of hours per week that African-American children under the age of 6 are not under the care of one of their parents: 35.9 (U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of all white students in U.S. K-12 education in 2004 who were identified as “gifted”: 7.9%

• Percentage of all black students in U.S. K-12 education in 2004 who were identified as “gifted”: 3.5%(U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of all white students in K-12 education in Georgia in 2004 who were identified as “gifted”: 13.6%

• Percentage of all black students in K-12 education in Georgia in 2004 who were identified as “gifted”: 3.7%(U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of all white Americans ages 18 to 24 in 2006 who were enrolled in higher education: 41.0%

• Percentage of all black Americans ages 18 to 24 in 2006 who were enrolled in higher education: 32.6%(U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of all African-American high school graduates ages 18 to 24 in 1986 who were enrolled in higher education: 28.6%

• Percentage of all African-American high school graduates ages 18 to 24 in 2006 who were enrolled in higher education: 42.0% (U.S. Department of Education)

• Number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to men in 2006 at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities: 10,364

• Number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women in 2006 at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities: 20,184(U.S. Department of Education)

• Number of white full professors at colleges and universities in the United States in 2005: 145,936

• Number of black full professors at U.S. colleges and universities in 2005 who were men: 3,498

• Number of black full professors at U.S. colleges and universities in 2005 who were women: 1,986 (U.S. Department of Education)

Quote Reflection #4: Charles Hamilton Houston (1895 - 1950)

2008-05-28T11:28:00.006-04:00

"Without education, there is no hope for our people and without hope, our future is lost" - Charles Hamilton Houston

Who was this man? Charles Hamilton Houston (September 3, 1895–April 22, 1950) was an African American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School and NAACP Litigation Director who helped play a role in dismantling the Jim Crow laws and helped train future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. He was educated at Amherst College, where he was valedictorian, and at Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude and was a member of the Harvard Law Review. Known as "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow."[1], he played a role in nearly every civil rights case before the Supreme Court between 1930 and Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Houston's plan to attack and defeat Jim Crow segregation by using the inequality of the "separate but equal" doctrine (from the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision) as it pertained to public education in the United States was the masterstroke that brought about the landmark Brown decision.

Need I really say more? Education is the key. Each one, teach one.

In the past, there was a sense of community. Now, there seems to be a strong sense of divisiveness and lack of passion regarding educating our wayward youth.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Teen Arrested For Turning Grandma Into A Gangsta

2008-05-27T22:34:00.000-04:00

Footage you were never supposed to see...

2008-05-27T21:38:00.001-04:00

The Wonder of God's Creation!!!

2008-05-27T14:46:00.005-04:00

David Gallo shows jaw-dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a color-shifting cuttlefish, a perfectly camouflaged octopus, and a Times Square's worth of neon light displays from fish who live in the blackest depths of the ocean.

How TV is Used to Control Your Lives...

2008-05-27T14:32:00.005-04:00

Artist Brian Springer spent a year scouring the airwaves with a satellite dish grabbing back channel news feeds not intended for public consumption. The result of his research is SPIN, one of the most insightful films ever made about the mechanics of how television is used as a tool of social control to distort and limit the American public's perception of reality.

Take the time to watch it from beginning to end and you'll never look at TV reporting the same again. Tell your friends about it. This extraordinary film released in the early 1990s is almost completely unknown. Hopefully, the Internet will change that.

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/43.html

Thoughts?

North American Union Now?

2008-05-27T14:24:00.001-04:00

Bush signs up for North American Union without vote or consulting congress and against all recommendations of congress.

Vandals Deface Obama Mural in Atlanta

2008-05-27T11:25:00.010-04:00

Merchants around the Little Five Points community in Atlanta want to know who defaced a painting of presidential candidate Barack Obama (video: MyFoxAtlanta). Only a few hours after the artwork went up, vandals did serious damage to it.

People must really think that Obama has a REAL CHANCE of actually becoming president...

Is America "ready" for a black president?

I refuse to answer such a pointless question.

Was America "ready" to end slavery?

Was America "ready" to end school segregation?

Was America "ready" to end "Jim Crow" laws?

All I can say is "If not now, when? If not Obama, then who?

Quote Reflection #3: Wendell Phillips (1811-1884)

2008-05-27T06:26:00.006-04:00

"One on God's side is a majority"- Wendell Phillips.

Such a simple, yet profound statement. How many of us determine our actions or non-actions based on what the majority of people think or believe?

Sometimes, to do or say what is RIGHT by God, one has to go against the opinion of the "majority."

The majority is not always right, it is simply the majority... It matters not if it is two people or if it is two million people who are wrong. Wrong is wrong.

Standing up for what is right or just will undoubtedly mean that sometimes, we will stand alone.

However, how could you ever be alone with God on your side?

One on God's side is TRULY a majority.

You + God > (is greater than) the majority

Student Brings Pot Brownies On A Field trip And Gets the Whole Class And Teacher High

2008-05-26T23:12:00.001-04:00

Fox News Jokes About Killing Obama

2008-05-26T23:05:00.001-04:00

WTF? This is NO JOKING MATTER?????????

McCain is really another "Bush"

2008-05-26T22:58:00.001-04:00

Quote Reflection #2: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

2008-05-26T21:42:00.013-04:00

"I never told my own religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged" - (Thomas Jefferson in 1816, in a letter to Mrs. H. Harrison Smith)

Religion and politics, two of the most sensitive topics that I LOVE to discuss.

Yet, I do not claim OR DENY any particular religion. I was raised a Christian (Baptist). One thing that I have NEVER struggled with is my belief in God.

What I have struggled with is how people can kill, judge, hate, engage in holy wars, and other ill will "in the name of God" by means of any religion.

Shirley, thanks for your beautiful expression of your faith. I LOVE when people defend their faith. Was it not Peter in the biblical scripture who said: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15)

Even more, as Jefferson said "I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged."

Shirley, I see your faith through your actions and your attitude. Is that not the best way to "see" someone's religion? Based on the content of your character and your admirable religious conviction, I definitely admire (dare I say envy?) your faith.

To me, "religion" is a good thing. Spirituality is better. There is a difference...at least to me in my humble opinion.

My struggle continues to be: Why can't the Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Buddhist believers ALL BE JUSTIFIED in their faith?

If one religion is "right" and all others are TOTALLY "wrong" (contrary to the true intent of God), then are all the "wrong" religious leaders living their lives in vain, destined to burn in hell forever, despite their good works?

"I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reasons, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use" -Galileo Galilei

Quote Reflection #1: Henry David Thoureau (1817-1862)

2008-05-26T09:35:00.020-04:00

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essentials facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" - Henry David Thoureau

How many of us are simply existing, not really living? Most of us are "caught up" in all the trapping of modern life (paying bills or worrying about how we are gonna pay them, working that 9 to 5, credit scores, gas prices, eating or starving ourselves fat, etc...) so much so that we lose sight of what life is really all about.

What is life really about? The answer to that question could be debated for eternity.

However, I know what life is NOT about:

Life is not simply about working and paying bills. Yeah, we all have to do it, but damn, don't let if BE YOUR LIFE. You are NOT your JOB! Your are NOT your JOB TITLE!
Life is not simply about the accumulation of wealth and things. One day, you will lose all material possessions, if not by circumstances, then by death. In the end, all material possessions become "utterly insignificant." So, why do most of us spend most of our time pursing things, that in the end, prove themselves to be "utterly insignificant?" Perhaps, for some, the "pursuit" of material things becomes their life...what a waste.
Life is not about impressing people. I think Oscar Wilde sums up people the best: "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." If that is the case, why do most people determine their "worth" by what other people think or say? Maybe, because that is how our society is set up. Are not many of us "slaves to fashion"? Keeping up with the Joneses? Seeking constant validation or approval from others?

Fuck what people think about you! Yeah, I said the "F" word. The reality of life is that no one can live YOUR life, but you, not your mother, not your father, not your spouse, not your children...only you. So, if somebody doesn't like the way you are living, "Fuck them!" I am not saying "write them off." I am saying YOU need to live YOUR life for YOU! If people like you and accept you for who you are, great! If not, fuck them (I mean this in the kindest way possible).

Here's the reality of our "life situation":

We don't really know how all of this (our reality) came about. I mean, what religion or scientist is TOTALLY right? Can we know ANYTHING with ABSOLUTE certainty?
Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY has an opinion about EVERYTHING.
One day, we will all die.

So, I say, life your life abundantly and authentically. Don't hurt or injure other people. Basically, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

To me, life is about taking the time to discover your passions and immersing yourselves in them...A life without passion is not a life at all...

On a personal note, some of my passions include: reading, writing, being outside in nature, landscaping, listening to music, learning about different cultures, contemplating life and death and the necessity of spirituality, etc...

Some things I want to make time for in this life: learning more than one language (being able to speak them fluently); traveling to different parts of the world and country to discover how differently people live, think, believe, and eat; play the piano; read the autobiographies of many famous and not so famous people; grow a vegetable garden; improve my drawing skills; sitting outside on the ground soaking up the sun, doing absolutely nothing at all...

Drugging Ourselves to Insanity

2008-05-23T10:05:00.000-04:00

Guns Don't Kill People, Dangerous Minorities Do

2008-05-23T09:54:00.007-04:00

On May 22, someone posted more than 200 racist flyers throughout the streets of Drexel Hill, PA and police said they want whoever is responsible to step forward. "I was angry. I was truly angry when I saw these," Upper Darby
Police Chief Michael Chitwood said. "These two are what I call race-baiting type flyers."

The flyers show pictures of white slain police officers and the black men accused of killing them.
But what's written on the flyers is why Chitwood called them racist hate material.

"Guns don't kill people dangerous minorities do," the flyers read.

And another flyer warned, "North Philadelphia is coming to your neighborhood, bringing drugs, crime and graffiti."

Any thoughts?

John McCain "Lost in Space"

2008-05-20T17:53:00.000-04:00

Obama Poltical Cartoons (with my comments)

2008-05-19T09:39:00.012-04:00

Since when has BEING BLACK been an advantage in running for PRESIDENT OF THE "YET TO BE UNITED STATES???????

Why aren't they saying the same thing about Hillary? Am I the only one who noticed the similarity to the "Run, Barak, run" sign in the cartoon to the "Run, Forrest, run" statement made to the retarded guy in the movie Forrest Gump who was allowed great experiences because people felt sorry for him...

The reality is that Hillary is not Bush either, but HE IS THE ONE CLOSE TO WINNING THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION!!!!!! Give the man credit for what he has already accomplished despite his name (which many can't get past assuming he is an undercover Muslim, not realizing that Obama is an Arabic name), race (which many can't get past), and media attacks!

The cartoon speaks for itself... They have attacked him as if he were Jesus.....

But he has a platform, more experience than many, great organization that has resulted in an unsurmountable delegate lead, and has made history in fund raising!!!!!!!!! People will say anything to minimize him, even if it is totally not true...

Well, he was "walking on water" until the media and Mr. Wright (yeah, I did not say "Rev" because his behavior has not been very reverant) starting dragging him down and trying to pull him "under".....

Besides a president running for a second term, who has experience being the president???????? To me, like most jobs, you get "hands on" experience.... And what additional experience does Hillary have? Being a President's wife is not experience being a president... Anyways, all experience is not good experience.... Someone could have 10 years of bad experience being a bad manager, while someone else could have 2 years of great experience being a great, skillfull, proactive manager. Who would you hire? The person with 10 years of bad experience or 2 years of good experience?

The reality is that, if anything, Obama is definitely a charismatic, intelligent speaker. What profound statements have McCain or Hillary said lately?

Racist Obama T-Shirt

2008-05-14T11:13:00.003-04:00

Pam Lindley of Marietta holds up the T-shirt in question as about a dozen people protested outside Mulligan's bar in Marietta Tuesday. They object to the establishment selling a Curious George t-shirt that says 'Obama in '08.' The bar has caused controversy in the past with its billboard messages.

At the end of the day, despite all of his prestigious education, work experience, best-selling books, to some White people (and other non-blacks), Obama is still nothing but a "monkey" ni%%a...

What kind of world do we really live in?

And who in their right mind would see the T-shirt as a harmless joke?

Because of the actions of ghetto blacks that I hear about in the media on an almost daily basis, some days I feel ashamed of my people. Today, I feel ashamed of my humanity....

People can be so cruel. It seems like it takes a human to truly be inhumane....

Come on people, let's unite this "Yet to Be United States of America."

$$$ Good for One Gallon of Gas $$$

2008-05-10T21:40:00.001-04:00

2008 NAACP speech transcript by Jeremiah Wright

2008-05-10T13:43:00.006-04:00

This is the transcript of a speech given by Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, at an NAACP dinner on Sunday night:

"The NAACP has an incomparable record. It has the longest list of achievements in the history of this country as being the undisputed champion in the fight against discrimination, racial prejudice, and unjust public policies, which have caused people made in the image of God to be treated as less than human or treated as second-class citizens.
In its early days, the NAACP and the black church in the United States of America were seemingly joined at the hip in the fight against injustice and the fight for equality on behalf of all people of color.
Many local chapters of the NAACP were started in black churches. Hundreds of black churches. The NAACP's fight for justice and freedom, however, is not limited to the concerns of the black church, historically or contemporaneously. And when the truth is told, as Paula
Giddings does so powerfully in her book "When and Where I Enter," there were times when the NAACP had to drag some timid black preachers along kicking and screaming as in the Montgomery bus boycott designed by the NAACP, not the SCLC.
Throughout its 99-year history, the NAACP has been built by people of all races, all nationalities, and all faiths on one primary premise, which is that all men and women are created equal. The nation's oldest civil rights organization has changed America's history. Despite violence, intimidation, and hostile government policies, the NAACP and its grassroots membership have persevered.
Now, somebody please tell the Oakland county executive that that sentence starting with the words "despite violence, intimidation, and hostile government policies" is a direct quote from the NAACP's profile in courage. It didn't come from Jeremiah Wright.
Otherwise, he will attribute the quote to me and continue to say that I and am one of the most divisive people he has ever of heard speak. When he has never heard me speak. And just to help him out, I am not one of the most divisive. Tell him the word is descriptive.
I describe the conditions in this country. Conditions divide, not my descriptions. Somebody say "Amen." If you can't say "Amen," you're too mad, just say "Ouch."
The NAACP is nonpartisan. The NAACP is not beholden to, controlled by, or partial to any one faith tradition. The NAACP says proudly that it is a compound of people of all races, all nationalities and all faiths.
And it is for that reason that I am especially grateful to Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony and the Detroit branch of the NAACP for honoring me by having me address their 2008 theme "A Change is Going to Come."
One of your cities' political analysts says in print that first just my appearance here in Detroit will be polarizing. Well, I'm not here for political reasons. I am not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you because many in the corporate-owned media have made it seem as if I had announced that I'm running to for the Oval Office. I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I'm not tired yet.
I am sorry your local political analysts and your neighboring county executives think my being here is polarizing and my sermons are divisive, but I'm not here to address an analyst's opinion or a county executive's point of view. I am here to address your 2008 theme, and I stand here as one representative of the African American religious tradition which works in concert with other faith traditions, believing as we work together that a change is going to come.
On that point, about other faith traditions, in addition to Pastor Anthony, Pastor Nicholas Hood, Pastor Charles Adams, Pastor William Revelli, Pastor James Perkins, Pastor Wilma Rudolph, Pastor Holly who is suffering from a stroke, Father Michael Flager, Father Jeremy Tobin, Pastor Dee Dee Coleman, Dr. Georgia Hill and Rev. Lonnie Peek. I would also like to thank Sister Melanie Maron, the former executive director of the Chicago chapter of the American Jewish Committee and the current executive director of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the American Jewish committee. I would like to thank my good friend and Jewish author Tim Wise for his support, and I would like to offer a special "shookran" to Imam Muhammad Ali Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights for his courage, his conviction and his support.
The support of the Jewish community, the Muslim community, and the Christian community, Protestant and Catholic, is in concert with the credo of the NAACP and a definite sign that a change is definitely going to come. An additional special thank you is offered to Soledad O'Brien for CNN's outstanding "Black in America" and my long-term friend Roland Martin.
I believe that a change is going to come because many of us are committing to changing how we see others who are different.
In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as somehow being deficient. Christians saw Jews as being deficient. Catholics saw Protestants as being deficient. Presbyterians saw Pentecostals as being deficient.
Folks who like to holler in worship saw folk who like to be quiet as deficient. And vice versa.
Whites saw black as being deficient. It was none other than Rudyard Kipling who saw the "White Man's Burden" as a mandate to lift brown, black, yellow people up to the level of white people as if whites were the norm and black, brown and yellow people were abnormal subspecies on a lower level or deficient.
Europeans saw Africans as deficient. Lovers of George Friedrich Handel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart saw lovers of B.B. King and Frankie Beverly and Maze as deficient. Lovers of Marian Anderson saw lovers of Lady Day and Anita Baker as deficient. Lovers of European cantatas -- Comfort ye in the glory, the glory of the Lord -- Lovers of European cantatas saw lovers of common meter -- I love the Lord, He heard my cry -- they saw them as deficient.
In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as being deficient. We established arbitrary norms and then determined that anybody not like us was abnormal. But a change is coming because we no longer see others who are different as being deficient. We just see them as different. Over the past 50 years, thanks to the scholarship of dozens of expert in many different disciplines, we have come to see just how skewed, prejudiced and dangerous our miseducation has been.
Miseducation. Miseducation incidentally is not a Jeremiah Wright term. It's a word coined by Dr. Carter G. Woodson over 80 years ago. Sounds like he talked a hate speech, doesn't it? Now, analyze that. Two brilliant scholars and two beautiful sisters, both of whom hail from Detroit in the fields of education and linguistics, Dr. Janice Hale right here at Wayne State University, founder of the Institute for the study of the African-American child. and Dr. Geneva Smitherman formerly of Wayne State University now at Michigan State University in Lansing. Hail in education and Smitherman in linguistics. Both demonstrated 40 years ago that different does not mean deficient. Somebody is going to miss that.
Turn to your neighbor and say different does not mean deficient. It simply means different. In fact, Dr. Janice Hale was the first writer whom I read who used that phrase. Different does not mean deficient. Different is not synonymous with deficient. It was in Dr. Hale's first book, "Black Children their Roots, Culture and Learning Style." Is Dr. Hale here tonight? We owe her a debt of gratitude. Dr. Hale showed us that in comparing African-American children and European-American children in the field of education, we were comparing apples and rocks.
And in so doing, we kept coming up with meaningless labels like EMH, educable mentally handicapped, TMH, trainable mentally handicapped, ADD, attention deficit disorder.
And we were coming up with more meaningless solutions like reading, writing and Ritalin. Dr. Hale's research led her to stop comparing African-American children with European-American children and she started comparing the pedagogical methodologies of African-American children to African children and European-American children to European children. And bingo, she discovered that the two different worlds have two different ways of learning. European and European-American children have a left brained cognitive object oriented learning style and the entire educational learning system in the United States of America. Back in the early '70s, when Dr. Hale did her research was based on left brained cognitive object oriented learning style. Let me help you with fifty cent words.
Left brain is logical and analytical. Object oriented means the student learns from an object. From the solitude of the cradle with objects being hung over his or her head to help them determine colors and shape to the solitude in a carol in a PhD program stuffed off somewhere in a corner in absolute quietness to absorb from the object. From a block to a book, an object. That is one way of learning, but it is only one way of learning.
African and African-American children have a different way of learning.
They are right brained, subject oriented in their learning style. Right brain that means creative and intuitive. Subject oriented means they learn from a subject, not an object. They learn from a person. Some of you are old enough, I see your hair color, to remember when the NAACP won that tremendous desegregation case back in 1954 and when the schools were desegregated. They were never integrated. When they were desegregated in Philadelphia, several of the white teachers in my school freaked out. Why? Because black kids wouldn't stay in their place. Over there behind the desk, black kids climbed up all on them.
Because they learn from a subject, not from an object. Tell me a story. They have a different way of learning. Those same children who have difficulty reading from an object and who are labeled EMH, DMH and ADD. Those children can say every word from every song on every hip hop radio station half of who's words the average adult here tonight cannot understand. Why? Because they come from a right-brained creative oral culture like the (greos) in Africa who can go for two or three days as oral repositories of a people's history and like the oral tradition which passed down the first five book in our Jewish bible, our Christian Bible, our Hebrew bible long before there was a written Hebrew script or alphabet. And repeat incredulously long passages like Psalm 119 using mnemonic devices using eight line stanzas. Each stanza starting with a different letter of the alphabet. That is a different way of learning. It's not deficient, it is just different. Somebody say different. I believe that a change is going to come because many of us are committed to changing how we see other people who are different.
What Dr. Janice Hale did in the field of education, Dr. Geneva Smitherman did in the field of linguistics. Almost 25 years ago now, Dr. Smitherman's book published by Wayne State University talking and testifying the language of black America taught us the same thing. Different does not mean deficient. Linguists have known since the mid 20th century that number one, nobody in Detroit, with the exception of citizens born and raised in the United Kingdom, nobody in Detroit speaks English. We all speak different varieties of American. If you don't believe me, go to the United Kingdom. As soon as you open your mouth in the United Kingdom, they'll say oh you're from America. Because they hear you speak in American. Linguists knew that nobody in here speaks English, but only black children 50 years ago were singled out as speaking bad English.
In the 1961, it's been all over the Internet now, John Kennedy could stand at the inauguration in January and say, "ask not what your country can do for you, it's rather what you can do for your country." How do you spell is? Nobody ever said to John Kennedy that's not English "is". Only to a black child would they say you speak bad English. Kennedy got killed. Johnson stepped up to the podium and love feel, we just left love feel. And Johnson, said my fellow Americans. How do you spell fellow? How do you spell American? Nobody says to Johnson you speak bad English.
Ed Kennedy, today, those of you in the Congress, you know Kilpatrick. You know, Ed Kennedy today cannot pronounce cluster consonants. Very few people from Boston can. They pronounce park like it's p-o-c-k. Where did you "pock" the car? They pronounce f-o-r-t like it's f-o-u-g-h-t. We fought a good battle. And nobody says to a Kennedy you speak bad English. Only to a black child was that said. Linguists knew that 50 years ago and they also knew number two that every language, including the language of Jesus, Aramaic, was made up of five subsets, pragmatic, grammar, syntax, semantics and phonics and that African speakers of English and African speakers of French and African speakers of Portuguese and African speakers of Spanish in the new world had created languages, not dialect all with five different subsets.
Languages, not Creole or Patois, languages. And Dr. Smitherman compiled the findings of an interdisciplinary research along with her own brilliant findings to show us that the language of black Americans was different, not deficient. She combined the findings of early childhood education, linguistics, socio-linguistics and the pedagogy of the oppressed to demonstrate most powerfully that different does not mean deficient. It simply means what? Different. I believe a change is going to come because many of us are committed to changing the way we see others who are different.
What Dr. Janice Hale did in the field of education and what Dr. Geneva Smitherman did in the field of linguistics, Dr. (Eldon) did in the field of ethnomusicology, the field of music. He showed us 40 years ago what Wintley [Phipps] is teaching you for the first time 40 years later. African music is different from European piano music. It is not deficient, it is different. In most school systems today, the way most of us over 40 years of age were taught is still being taught. We were taught a European paradigm as if Europe had the only music that there was in the world. As a matter of fact, if you just say the term, classical music.
Today, most here, use of that term will automatically refer to Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and already cited Mozart and Handel. European musicians. From grammar school to graduate school, we are taught in four, four time. That the dominant beat is on one and three. Our band directors, our choir directors, our orchestra director start us off how?
And One, two, three, four. One, two, three. Now, that's the European dominant beat. For African and African-Americans, it is not one and three, it is two and four. I don't have to teach you. Listen to black people clap to this song. Glory, glory hallelujah, you are clapping on beats two and four. If you got some white friends, they'll be clapping like this. You say they can't clap. Yes, they can. They clap in a different way. It's the same fact holds true with six eight time. Europeans stress one, two, three, four, five, six. One, two, three, four, five, six. Dum dum, dum, dum, dum. The stress is on one and four. Not for black people. When you got six eight time, blacks stress two three and five six.
Listen to this -- blessed assurance, Jesus is mine two, three for, five, six - oh, why are you clapping on the wrong beat? Africans have a different meter and Africans have a different tonality. European music is diatonic, seven tones. Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. That's Italian. Europe. In west Africa and south Africa, it is not diatonic, seven tones, it is pentatonic with five tones. Wintley [Phipps] points out that if you want to know black music, just look at the black keys on the piano. Do, re, fa, so, la. Just those five tunes. Those are the only five notes you'll hear and somebody knows the trouble I've seen.
It only uses five notes the same with the river it also uses five notes. That's all. I believe a change is coming. It's not deficient, it's just different.
Many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different. When you look at and listen to - I'm in Michigan. OK. Here in Michigan, look at and listen to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University bands at halftime. Their bands hit the field with excellent European precision. Da, da, da, da, da, ta, ra, ra.
Now go to a Florida A&M and Gramling Band. It's different. And you can't put that in no book. I believe change is going to come because many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different. One is not superior to the other. One is not normal with the other being abnormal. One is not deficient because it doesn't follow the same methodology of the other. It is just different. Different does not mean deficient. Tell your neighbor one more time.
Now, what is true in the field of education, linguistics, ethnomusicology, marching bands, psychology and culture is also true in the field of homiletics, hermeneutics, biblical studies, black sacred music and black worship. We just do it different and some of our haters can't get their heads around that. I come from a religious tradition that does not divorce the world we live in from the world we are heading to. I come from a religious tradition that does not separate the kingdom of heaven that we pray for from the devious kingdoms of humans that keep people in bondage on earth.
I come from a religious tradition that did not hold slaves, but preached against slavery and worked to end slavery. I come from a religious tradition that fought against Lansing like the NAACP, fought against discrimination like the NAACP and fought against skin privilege, fought against apartheid, fought again unfair labor practices, fought against segregation, fought against Plessy versus Ferguson.
I come from a religious tradition that fought for desegregation like NAACP. Fought for equality, fought for human dignity, fought for civil rights, fought for equal protection into the law and fought for the right of every citizen to have quality education regardless of the color of their skin. I also come from a religious tradition that say if you feel excited about something, be excited about it. Don't stand there he has hate speech. Listen to how bombastic he is. Isn't he bombastic? He's stirring up hate.
You love somebody? Yes. Oh how I love Jesus because he first loved me. No. No. No. If you feel it - I come from a religious tradition where we shout in the sanctuary and march on the picket line. I come from a religious tradition where we give God the glory and we give the devil the blues. The black religious tradition is different. We do it a different way. 40 years ago, Dr. Anthony (inaudible) quoted in '68 the Kerner report stated that they were two different Americas. And for
40 years one of those Americas has acted as if they were the only America. But all of that now is in the past. I believe a change is coming. Because many of us are going to change how we see others who are different. I've got to hurry on. I'm taking too much of your time. So let me give you the outline of the rest of this message. You can either fill in the blanks for yourselves or you could wait for my book that will be out later this year.
I believe addressing your theme. I believe a change is going to come because many of us here tonight, at least 11,900 out of 12,000. Many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different. Number one, many of us are committed to changing how we see ourselves. Number two, not inferior or superior to, just different from others. Embracing our own histories. Embracing our own cultures. Embracing our own languages as we embrace others who are also made in the image of god. That has been the credo of the NAACP for 99 years. When we see ourselves as members of the human race, I believe a change is on the way. When we see ourselves as people of faith who shared this planet with people of other faiths, I believe a change is on the way.
Many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different. Number one, many of us are committed to changing how we see ourselves, not stepchildren, number two but God's children. Many of us are committed to changing, number three, the way we treat each other. The way black men treat black women. The way black parents treat black children. The way black youth treat black elders and the way black elders treat black youth. We are committed to changing the way we treat each other. The way the so called haves and have mores, to use Bush's speech writers term. Don't you all think he made that up? The way the have and have mores treat the have notes. The way the educated treat the uneducated. The way those with degrees treat those who never made it through high school. The way those of us who never got caught treat those of us who are incarcerated. Making rehabilitation a priority over incarceration.
We are committed to changing the way we treat each other. The way we treat the latest immigrants because everybody in here who's not an Indian do be an immigrant. Some of you all came on a decks of ship and some of us came on the bows and hauls of the ship, but we all are immigrants. The way we treat non Christians and folks who don't believe what we believe, we're committed to changing the way we treat each other. The way Sunis treat Shiites, the way Orthodox Jews treat reformed Jews. The way church folk treat other church folk. The way speakers of English treat speakers of Arabic -- Maasalam al hal.
Please run and tell my stuck on stupid friends that Arabic is a language, it's not a religion. Barack Hussein Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. They are Arabic-speaking Christians, Arabic-speaking Jews and Arabic speaking atheists. Arabic is a language, it's not a religion. Stop trying to scare folks by giving them an Arabic name as if it's some sort of a disease.
Same people thought that the Irish had a disease. When the Irish came here. Did you hear my me O'Malley? O'Reilly? They thought you were - well they might have been might, the way we treat each other, many of us are committed to changing the way we treat each other. The way Christians treat you. The way straights treat gays. We are committed to changing the way we treat each other. And we are committing number four to changing the way we mistreat each other. We can do better, you all. There is a higher standard, you all. We know that and we are stretching to reach that standard. I believe a change is going to come because many of us are committed to changing how we see others who are different.
Many of us are committed to changing how we see ourselves. Many of us are committed to changing the way we treat each other. Many of us are committed to changing the way we mistreat each other. And many of us finally are committed to changing this world that we live in so our children and our grandchildren will have a world in which to live in to grow in, to learn in, to love in and to pass on to their children. We are committed to changing this world that's God's world, in the first place. Not ours. And I believe we can do it. It's going to take hard work, but we can do it.

It's going to take people of all faiths including the nation of Islam, but we can do it. It's going to take people of all races, but we can do it. It's going to take Republicans and Democrats, but we can do it. It's going to take the wisdom of the old and the energy of the young, but we can do it. It's going to take politicians and preachers, the government and NGOs, but we can do it. It's going to take educators and legislatures, but we can do it. If I were in a Christian Church, I would say we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If I were in a Jewish synagogue, I would say is anything too hard for Elohim. If I were in a Muslim mosque, I would say Sha Allah we can do it. If I were pushing one particular candidate, I would say yes, we can.
But, since this is a nonpartisan gathering and since this is neither a mosque, a synagogue or a sanctuary, just let me say, we can do it. We can make it if we try. We can make the change if we try. We will make a change if we try. A change is going to come. Can you feel it? Can you see it? Can you imagine it? Then come on, let's claim it. Give yourselves a standing ovation while the transformation that's about to jump off. A change is going to come."

United Corporations of America

2008-05-08T22:40:00.003-04:00

25 things you can do to prevent cancer

2008-05-06T15:33:00.003-04:00

Anyone can develop cancer. One in three people will be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime.

That doesn't sound encouraging, but, consider this: Experts believe more than two-thirds of all cancer cases can be prevented if we would just make the right lifestyle choices.

How we live affects our health, and not surprisingly, we're now finding many common cancers are linked to lifestyle.

That's actually good news. Not that we're suggesting cancer is completely curable, but many can be influenced by simple healthy measures.

Here are 25 things you can do to prevent cancer:
1) Don't smoke
2) Limit alcohol consumption
3) Enjoy chocolate (in moderation)
4) Sweat out toxins
5) Eat 5-9 servings of fruits & veggies
6) Eat cruciferous vegetables
7) Eat less red meat
8) Avoid products made with nitrates
9) Lose weight
10) Get regular exercise
11) Reduce stress
12) Make a place for spirituality
13) Do monthly self-exams
14) Follow screening guidelines
15) Know your family history
16) Practice safe sex
17) Girls get HPV vaccine
18) High risk women get annual MRIs
19) Reconsider hormone replacement therapy
20) Teach your kids a cancer-free lifestyle now
21) Avoid tanning beds
22) Protect your skin from the sun
23) Check for radon in your home
24) Do your part to reduce air pollution
25) Participate in clinical trials

The Potential Power of the Purified Mind by Michael Goodspeed and Michael Armstrong

2008-05-04T11:41:00.002-04:00

Most spiritual aspirants have some familiarity with the concept of acceptance. The word permeates much of the spiritual literature as a corollary to the themes of "surrender" and "forgiveness." The popular prayer/adage "I must accept what I cannot change and change what I cannot accept" seems a noble and reasonable policy in this tumultuous and/or indifferent Universe. Bad things happen to good people and we accept it because, we tell ourselves, it's all part of God's great plan, it's "for our own good," and in any event, we don't have any other choice.
Acceptance is surely a valid mental exercise insofar as it helps one experience life in a manner that is more lighthearted and friendly. We can't change other people, we can't undo the past, and we can't predict every trial and travail looming over the horizon. But what if man's tacit "acceptance" of his general helplessness and victim hood in a dangerous, troubled world is itself a major barrier to doing something about it?
From the day we are born, we are taught to accept the unacceptable as a matter of course. We all learn quickly that illness, disease, injuries, pain, trauma, aging, loss, and finally death are a fair price to pay for the privilege of "living." And neither scientific, nor most religious or spiritual literature ever contradicts these expectations. Mainstream biology and medicine tell us that we are mechanistic organisms born by chance and destined to die in a hostile, disconnected universe.
And both institutional religions and most spiritual philosophies treat "spirituality" as a mere anesthetic to the unavoidable human outcomes of suffering and death. If you view suffering and dying as a problem, you are supposed to be comforted by the promise of an afterlife in which one will be free from the endless heartaches and sorrows endemic to an earthly existence. Indeed, many religious and "spiritual" thought systems glorify suffering as a purifying force and/or badge of honor that will only increase the rewards one reaps in the eternal hereafter.
So where can one turn if one is unable or unwilling to "accept" these seemingly immutable premises that define and limit the human condition? Improbable as it may seem, it can be said that NONE of the institutions, either secular or religious, that exist mainly to relieve human suffering have ever proposed how man may be uplifted from his damaged, limited state to one of true empowerment. Although the word empower is used casually in political discourse, most often to describe the government's dispensation of "civil rights" to certain individuals, to be truly empowered means literally to have absolute authority over one's own destiny. It is commonly accepted that such a thing is not plausible, possible, nor even desirable for mere human beings. In fact, both religious and governmental authorities relentlessly command us to acquiesce personal authority in favor of submission to some "higher power," be it earthly or "divine," for our own best interests. And since our helplessness seems confirmed in every facet of human experience, this call to submit goes largely unchallenged.
In a highly religious world, those who aren't satisfied with their personal reality or the reality of the world frequently turn to God for an answer. People pray for everything from personal health to the safety of loved ones to financial prosperity to world peace. But in a world dominated by warfare, poverty, disease, and every conceivable form of injustice, it seems that these "prayers" are rarely if ever answered. The only logical conclusion one can come to is either A) prayers are never answered because no creator nor agency exists to hear them; or B) the practice of prayer by most human beings is misguided, because they are working with incorrect concepts of "God."
So far—in the history of the world—the world’s religions have neither been able to inspire their god to do anything substantive about the “human condition”, nor have they done much of any significance themselves -- except to offer “coping” mechanisms! The “positive” coping mechanisms offered in the English speaking western world consist of 4 or 5 things: Temporary mystical experience, quasi-fellowship, quasi-miracles, prayer and meditation, some time oriented structure to their lives, and finally promises and hope. One is reminded of the popular axiom, “Hope makes a good breakfast but a lousy dinner”.
Down through the ages into our time, religions have also promulgated every unflattering and insulting concept of god in the spectrum of the highest human value system. Right along side of being merciful, loving and gracious, God has been portrayed as inconsistent, mean, petty, vengeful, violent, vicious, unforgiving, dominating, demanding, unreasonable, alien (“who can know they ways” and “thy ways are past understanding), and cruel (he will be burning humans for ever and ever in some literal fiery hell). Books have been written to show that this is even an unwarranted interpretation of New Testament passages. The God of religion has in fact come to represent everything that could be characterized as anti-God. So pervasive are these imageries of God that, throughout much of the world, the phrase "Holy Warrior" goes unrecognized as an oxymoron. Countless millions of devotees have been willing to burn themselves and others at the stake in concordance with what they view as directives from God. Due to this overt and seemingly endless lunacy, more human beings today than ever before are skeptical of religion. ("Religion has made atheists of many honest men" – David R. Hawkins).
Yet many choose not to abandon their inner call to spirit, seeking instead a spiritual thought system that is more benevolent and constructive to life. In the United States, countless bestsellers have been written on spirituality, with authors such as Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williams, and Deepak Chopra, et al. preaching a message of forgiveness, "acceptance," and unconditional love. Whereas much religion instructs the faithful to bow to an angry God, most proponents of what might be called "the new age" teach that the Universe is friendly—if friendliness is consonant with being born into an insane, troubled, dangerous world under a sentence of death--, and that happiness is achieved by simply existing in the present moment and “surrendering” to what is. In this thought system, the problems of the world and one's life are illusory – they exist only in our minds due to limited and/or false perception. Undeniably, this approach seems to be a brighter, better alternative to the darker and grimmer aspects of religion and religious concepts of god, and may be helpful to those who seek greater equanimity and inner peace. But the questions must be asked: Have these new approaches gone far enough? Are they correct (consonant with reality) enough? Can they succeed at truly resolving the human condition, and provide every human being with what they really want and need?
From our perspective, the teachings of Jesus, when correctly interpreted and free from the selective coloring of religious dogmatists, provide a clear instructive path to a state of empowerment, i.e. a condition where human beings can change current “reality" for the benefit of all. Even physical death can be transcended for truly empowered individuals – on this point Jesus was particularly explicit. For those who seek a concept of God that is both benevolently healing, consistently loving and sane, any other point of view can only be described at best as inadequate, at worst as destructive.
But in our purportedly "Christian" nation, the fundamental tenets of Jesus' teachings are barely discussed and almost never believed, even by the most devoutly Christian "faithful." In fact, one can argue that institutional Christian doctrine “reads right around the best parts” and has over centuries come to preach the precise OPPOSITE of Jesus' intended message to humanity. In the Gospel of John, we are told that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." But within traditional Christian denominations, physical death is not viewed as something that lowly human beings can entirely bypass because there is always a hiatus. The "everlasting life" promised by Jesus--the destiny of righteous "souls" that have been judged favorably by God—is only delivered after death.
The Father for whom Jesus spoke, however, bore no resemblance to the capricious, schizophrenic entity of the Old Testament and other sacred writings. Jesus could not have been more clear that the Father was not in the business of dispensing judgement and wrath upon his own creation, nor was it God's will for human beings to suffer and die: "…as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he will….For neither does the Father judge any man, but he has given all judgment unto the Son…Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that hears my message, and believes him that sent me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life…."
A large part of healing may have to start with spiritual sanity, conceptual clarity and correctness. It might be stated that Jesus' primary intention was to change man's concept of God as being both separate from, and superior to, His creation. To the disciple Phillip when challenged to “show us the father”, Jesus replied—no doubt with frustration--, “If you have understood me, you have understood the father.” In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Jesus states, "The Kingship of Heaven is within you and without you, and any man who knows himself shall find it." This instruction and others by Jesus seem quite explicit – Heaven is not a "place" that man's "soul" travels to after death, nor is it a realm to which only a few are granted entrance after a favorable judgment. The Kingship of Heaven can be accessed IMMINENTLY, and all anyone need do to find it is "know himself."
The teachings of Jesus also seem congruent with the revolutionary idea of a "holographic universe." A hologram is a single entity that is made of many individual units, and within each unit is the essence of the whole. In this analogy, where Jesus states that he can accomplish nothing in the absence of the Father, we might interpret this to mean that God Himself represents the totality of unfallen human consciousness. When Jesus performed miracles, he insisted it was not him doing it, but the Father, yet Jesus told his disciples, "Greater things than these will you do." The message is clearly that God is NOT separate from human beings – in a state of perfect unity and fellowship, all the power in the universe is available to man, and in this condition of empowerment, nothing that the mind can imagine is impossible.
The evidentiary support for these seemingly "unusual" or "extraordinary" concepts exists for anyone with the inclination and discernment to see. The feats of the psychic mind have been anecdotally demonstrated for centuries, and in recent decades, experimentally. Even a cursory examination of the evidence reveals beyond a reasonable doubt that we live in a collective consciousness, damaged and fragmented but still undeniably active. In everyday life, human beings have regular psychic experiences ranging from the profound to the seemingly mundane. Since death is the most psychically traumatizing of all experiences, it's not surprising that many of the most intense psychic intuitions explicitly forewarn of one's own expiration. In fact, many people have been able to accurately predict the precise moment of their deaths, often years in advance.
One of the more jarring demonstrations of this phenomenon was given by NBA star Pistol Pete Maravich who said in a 1974 interview, "I don't want to play 10 years in the NBA and die of a heart attack at age 40." Maravich played pro ball for exactly 10 years and died of a heart attack at age 40 in 1988. In the article "When Death is Prophesied," over a dozen historical accounts were presented of similar fulfilled prophecies among everyday people. (Full story: http://www.rense.com/general58/death.htm)
And the psychic abilities of animals have been demonstrated perhaps even more forcefully than those of humans. No narrow, materialistic view of reality can explain the countless reports of lost animals that traversed hundreds or even thousands of miles to return home to their families, guided only by intuition. Consider this 1971 report of a cat whose 1,600 mile journey finally led her -- bruised paws and all -- to her owners' doorstep:
News Journal, Sunday July 25, 1971, Mansfield, OhioFrom The Family WeeklyThe Love Cats Feel For People...The Journeys Their Love InspiresBy Felica AmesWhat built-in cat radar led Clementine through endless miles of unknown country to the one house and one family in the world she was looking for?How long would it take to walk from Dunkirk, N. Y., to Denver, Col.? A cat named Clementine could tell you. It took her four paw-bruising months to make that 1,600-mile trek. But then, Clementine didn't know the way.When Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lundmark moved from Dunkirk to Denver, they left their pet black cat with neighbors because Clementine was in the family way. Once the litter was weaned, however, Clementine abandoned her brood and hit the road. Four months later an exhausted female cat appeared on the Lundmark's doorstep. There was no doubt it was Clementine, for this amazing animal was unique in another way. She had seven toes on each front paw, two white spots on her stomach and a scar on her left shoulder.
Full story may be read here
Innumerable such accounts are also supported by the research of Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, who has demonstrated the psychic connections between humans and their pets in his book, "Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home and Other Unexplained Powers of Animals" (see http://www.sheldrake.org).
Many people may accept the existence of psychic phenomena, but the full implications of these abilities have seemingly yet to register. Not only is consciousness not locally limited to the brain, not only is it capable of instantaneous communication with every other mind, it is capable of affecting physical reality in ways we can barely imagine. Consider the research of quantum physicist John Hagelin, Ph.D., who co-authored a study in Washington D.C., which showed a direct correlation between a group's practice of transcendental meditation, and a reduction of crime in their area. (For an overview of this study, see www.istpp.org/crime_prevention).
We must also consider the tangible physical affects that our minds have on our own bodies – such affects are far from merely "theoretical" or "anecdotal." For instance, it is well-documented that hypnotic suggestion alone can lead directly to the formation of visible burn-blisters on human flesh. (See Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors,
That a human being can mentally burn his own flesh should surprise no one. According to at least one controlled study in the 1960's, the human body produces "electromagnetic radiation phenomena" when consciousness is "in a state of intensed [sic] psychosensory excitation." (See More US Government Psychic Warfare)
At a more profound level, cellular biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton argues in his book "The Biology of Belief" that "our beliefs, true or false, positive or negative, affect genetic activity and actually alter our genetic code." Rather than viewing man as a helpless victim of his inherited genetic structure, Lipton has demonstrated that "genes do not in fact control our behavior, instead, genes are turned on and off by influences outside the cell." At a public presentation in Phoenix, AZ, Dr. Lipton and author Gregg Braden presented a "rare video" of "a baseball-sized tumor" visible on a sonogram shrinking and disappearing as practitioners of a form of Qigong chanted a simple phrase.
Or consider the experience of Michael Crichton while at Harvard U. After a year spent in the coronary wing of the Harvard Medical Center, he began asking the patients why they had their heart attack. Expecting the answer to be along the lines of too much smoking, drinking or bad diet, he was shocked that virtually all of the answers were couched in personal avoidance terms -- one man suggested that he had a heart attack because his wife resented his promotion at work. Another husband said that his wife was going to leave him. These answers indicate that their minds or mindsets had triggered the attacks. In fact, Crichton himself concluded, "We cause our diseases. We are directly responsible for any illness that happens to us."
The smattering of anecdotes listed above is only a bare bone glimpse of the burgeoning and increasingly mainstream fields of psychic, mind/body, and mind over matter research. And of course, not everyone is happy with this development. Self-styled "skeptics" of the so-called paranormal and/or religious/spiritual beliefs insist that it is DANGEROUS for human beings to entertain abilities and phenomena that official science does not yet recognize as real. They can point to endless charlatans and/or self-deceived individuals – psychic mediums, spoon-benders, dowsers, etc. – who make paranormal claims unsupported by facts as proof that the public must be disabused of belief in the “supernatural” for their own good. And "skeptics" can point to "Christian scientists" and other religious devotees who endanger their own lives and the lives of their children by relying on "prayer" (or their interpretation of prayer) as an antidote to sickness and disease. But any person with a genuinely skeptical approach must also consider the dangers of NOT exploring the mind frontier, and all its awesome untapped potentials. Consider the following warning from Colonel Dolan M. McKelvy in the 1988 USAF-funded scientific study, "Psychic Warfare: Exploring the Mind Frontier." In no uncertain terms does the author espouse the need for human beings to recognize the REALITY of the psychic mind’s powers and all its potential uses, both helpful and destructive:
"Man's greatest potential remains a prisoner of man. Vast untapped mental capabilities create an entirely new battlefield dimension which, if ignored, pose a threat to self and country more serious than nuclear weapons. This threat starts from within. Our fears and cynical attitudes towards psychic capabilities make us our own worst enemies…. Exploring the mind frontier is essential and the key to successful exploration is a greater psychic awareness. The mind is rich in unfathomed resources ripe for exploration, a limitless source of treasures for advancing all mankind, and a serious threat to those who ignore its potential. We must overcome our psychic inhibitions, stop denying the existence of paranormal events, and start trying instead to understand the nature of these phenomena….Report
When Jesus implored mankind toward unity and lovingness, he was speaking not only for unity among all human beings, but an INTERNAL unity for each individual. "The Kingship of Heaven is within you and without you, and any man who knows himself shall find it." For centuries, religious dogmatists have persuaded man that he is separate from and inferior to the Father, intrinsically flawed, judged as guilty and sentenced to die. The "enlightenment" of science -- the purported best alternative to murderous dogma -- has failed at resolving man's ultimate helplessness. In order to reach our true psychic, spiritual, human potential, we must have the courage to challenge our own belief systems, to abandon those beliefs that debase man's worth, and to embrace only those that support "the sustenance and enhancement of life." The real "good news" conveyed by Jesus is that we need NOT accept all the tragedies, heartaches, and deprivations that have defined human experience, that we are entitled to receive what every human being wants, the "'IFISEEUS' package of Imminent Fulfillment, Immortality, Safety, Equality, Empowerment, Unity, and Society." Bertrand Russell said, "Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones." According to Jesus, to be satisfied with bad beliefs is to condemn oneself – and all of mankind -- to an existence typified by suffering and ending in death. But Jesus also stated that a way out exists, that "My yoke is pleasant and my burden light." Very few of us have acquired the correct beliefs--if we had the world we live in would be transformed forever. But we can all begin to believe that the truth is friendly and, when properly understood, will never betray us or leave us wanting for anything. Was this the choice Jesus offered mankind during his time on Earth? Roughly 2,000 years later, does all the Universe still wait for us to finally choose correctly?
For more complete background on the statements of Jesus concerning life see Life Verses
Michael Goodspeed is a freelance journalist who lives in Portland, Oregon. His e-book "Is the Universe Electric?' is available from Mikamar Publishing (http://www.mikamar.biz/thunderbolts-product.htm)

Michael Moore defends and supports Obama!!!

2008-05-01T19:23:00.005-04:00

Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker, author, and liberal political commentator. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko, and Bowling for Columbine, three of the top five highest-grossing documentaries of all time. He has also written and starred in the TV shows TV Nation and The Awful Truth, both of which continue his trademark style of presenting serious documentaries in humorous ways.
Moore is a self-described liberal [5] who has criticized globalization, large corporations, gun ownership, the Iraq War, U.S. President George W. Bush and the American health care system in his written and cinematic works. In 2005 Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people.

Please read the following from Michael Moore's blog:

Monday, April 21st, 2008

My Vote's for Obama (if I could vote) ...by Michael Moore

Friends,

I don't get to vote for President this primary season. I live in Michigan. The party leaders (both here and in D.C.) couldn't get their act together, and thus our votes will not be counted.
So, if you live in Pennsylvania, can you do me a favor? Will you please cast my vote -- and yours -- on Tuesday for Senator Barack Obama?

I haven't spoken publicly 'til now as to who I would vote for, primarily for two reasons: 1) Who cares?; and 2) I (and most people I know) don't give a rat's ass whose name is on the ballot in November, as long as there's a picture of JFK and FDR riding a donkey at the top of the ballot, and the word "Democratic" next to the candidate's name.

Seriously, I know so many people who don't care if the name under the Big "D" is Dancer, Prancer, Clinton or Blitzen. It can be Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Barry Obama or the Dalai Lama.

Well, that sounded good last year, but over the past two months, the actions and words of Hillary Clinton have gone from being merely disappointing to downright disgusting. I guess the debate last week was the final straw. I've watched Senator Clinton and her husband play this game of appealing to the worst side of white people, but last Wednesday, when she hurled the name "Farrakhan" out of nowhere, well that's when the silly season came to an early end for me. She said the "F" word to scare white people, pure and simple. Of course, Obama has no connection to Farrakhan. But, according to Senator Clinton, Obama's pastor does -- AND the "church bulletin" once included a Los Angeles Times op-ed from some guy with Hamas! No, not the church bulletin!

This sleazy attempt to smear Obama was brilliantly explained the following night by Stephen Colbert. He pointed out that if Obama is supported by Ted Kennedy, who is Catholic, and the Catholic Church is led by a Pope who was in the Hitler Youth, that can mean only one thing: OBAMA LOVES HITLER!

Yes, Senator Clinton, that's how you sounded. Like you were nuts. Like you were a bigot stoking the fires of stupidity. How sad that I would ever have to write those words about you. You have devoted your life to good causes and good deeds. And now to throw it all away for an office you can't win unless you smear the black man so much that the superdelegates cry "Uncle (Tom)" and give it all to you.

But that can't happen. You cast your die when you voted to start this bloody war. When you did that you were like Moses who lost it for a moment and, because of that, was prohibited from entering the Promised Land.

How sad for a country that wanted to see the first woman elected to the White House. That day will come -- but it won't be you. We'll have to wait for the current Democratic governor of Kansas to run in 2016 (you read it here first!).

There are those who say Obama isn't ready, or he's voted wrong on this or that. But that's looking at the trees and not the forest. What we are witnessing is not just a candidate but a profound, massive public movement for change. My endorsement is more for Obama The Movement than it is for Obama the candidate.

That is not to take anything away from this exceptional man. But what's going on is bigger than him at this point, and that's a good thing for the country. Because, when he wins in November, that Obama Movement is going to have to stay alert and active. Corporate America is not going to give up their hold on our government just because we say so. President Obama is going to need a nation of millions to stand behind him.

I know some of you will say, 'Mike, what have the Democrats done to deserve our vote?' That's a damn good question. In November of '06, the country loudly sent a message that we wanted the war to end. Yet the Democrats have done nothing. So why should we be so eager to line up happily behind them?

I'll tell you why. Because I can't stand one more friggin' minute of this administration and the permanent, irreversible damage it has done to our people and to this world. I'm almost at the point where I don't care if the Democrats don't have a backbone or a kneebone or a thought in their dizzy little heads. Just as long as their name ain't "Bush" and the word "Republican" is not beside theirs on the ballot, then that's good enough for me.

I, like the majority of Americans, have been pummeled senseless for 8 long years. That's why I will join millions of citizens and stagger into the voting booth come November, like a boxer in the 12th round, all bloodied and bruised with one eye swollen shut, looking for the only thing that matters -- that big "D" on the ballot.

Don't get me wrong. I lost my rose-colored glasses a long time ago.
It's foolish to see the Democrats as anything but a nicer version of a party that exists to do the bidding of the corporate elite in this country. Any endorsement of a Democrat must be done with this acknowledgement and a hope that one day we will have a party that'll represent the people first, and laws that allow that party an equal voice.

Finally, I want to say a word about the basic decency I have seen in Mr. Obama. Mrs. Clinton continues to throw the Rev. Wright up in his face as part of her mission to keep stoking the fears of White America. Every time she does this I shout at the TV, "Say it, Obama! Say that when she and her husband were having marital difficulties regarding Monica Lewinsky, who did she and Bill bring to the White House for 'spiritual counseling?' THE REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT!"

But no, Obama won't throw that at her. It wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be decent. She's been through enough hurt. And so he remains silent and takes the mud she throws in his face.
That's why the crowds who come to see him are so large. That's why he'll take us down a more decent path. That's why I would vote for him if Michigan were allowed to have an election.
But the question I keep hearing is... 'can he win? Can he win in November?' In the distance we hear the siren of the death train called the Straight Talk Express. We know it's possible to hear the words "President McCain" on January 20th. We know there are still many Americans who will never vote for a black man. Hillary knows it, too. She's counting on it.

Pennsylvania, the state that gave birth to this great country, has a chance to set things right. It has not had a moment to shine like this since 1787 when our Constitution was written there. In that Constitution, they wrote that a black man or woman was only "three fifths" human. On

Tuesday, the good people of Pennsylvania have a chance for redemption.

Yours,Michael Moore

MichaelMoore.com MMFlint@aol.com

Enough, Rev. Wright!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-30T09:39:00.009-04:00

Enough, Rev. Wright!!!!!!!!!!!

an article by Jenice Armstrong Philadelphia Daily News

OK, REV. WRIGHT, we've heard enough out of you.
Thanks to your untimely speechifying and your appearance on Bill Moyers' PBS show, Americans have gotten more than enough opportunity to hear what you have to say. We've listened to your unfounded theories about the spread of the AIDS virus, the 9/11 attacks, and your views on the differences between how black and white children learn. We've been patient as you've defended your patriotism; we've nodded as you've insisted that critics need to hear your speeches in their entirety and not just in sound-bites. And now it's time to say "enough."

Rev. Wright, you are a complete and total distraction.

Because of you, we have been sucked into a sideshow that has been all about you. Instead of remaining in the background, as an honorable man would have, you thrust yourself into the national spotlight, posing as a defender of the "black church." Well, I'm black, and I go to church. But you do not speak for all black people.
Your remark that "Barack is doing what he needs to do as a politician and I'm doing what I need to do as a preacher," was an insult to Sen. Barack Obama and what he stands for. Either you are willfully ignorant of the meaning behind your words or you are no longer in Barack's corner.
Your emergence just a week before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries suggests that you are no longer even his friend. What you have done in the last several days has hurt Barack more than all the other mudslinging of this campaign. Whose side are you really on? I say, "Et tu, Jeremiah? Et tu?"

Before Obama made his historic speech on race in Philadelphia, I'm sure there were plenty of advisers who urged him to throw you under the bus, so to speak. But Obama took the high road, as he has continued to do. Yesterday's denunciation of the public spectacle you put on earlier this week was his strongest yet and, frankly, overdue. Obama called it like it is, though, when he publicly denounced your comments and said they have been "divisive" and "destructive" and that they "give comfort to those who prey on hate." Your comments are the antithesis of who Obama is and what we, as a nation, are supposed to stand for.

We've already wasted too much time on you, Rev. Wright. Your senseless public grandstanding has proven to be a distraction from real issues that both Democrats and Republicans should be focusing on - skyrocketing gas prices, the mortgage crisis, the war in Iraq and the need for universal health care.

I recognize your right to go on TV or give interviews. But if you really want to help African-Americans, I urge you to let Barack turn his focus back to doing what he says he wants to do: Bringing together black Americans, white Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and everyone else for the betterment of our country. As Obama pointed out yesterday, "The problems that face our country are too great to be divided."

I Don't Want to Die (a Poem by Jeff Pierce)

2008-04-28T05:59:00.001-04:00

This poem is dedicated to all the terminally ill people of the planet, to all the people suffering from mental illness and suicidal ideations, and to every and anyone who wishes to see beyond the now and contemplate tomorrow.

I Don’t Want to Die by Jeff Pierce

I don’t want to die; tell the frost to stay away
The grass is still green and my lines I have yet to say
Hold death back; please wrap it with mighty twine
I am not ready to surrender my breath
Too early in the day to gaze upon sunset
I don’t want to die
Do not pick, prune, poke, or pry; tell them to harvest on another day
I am not ready yet, so please push pause and cast not your net
I am waiting for another hard rain to fall
I am looking to get soaking wet; I was hoping for an open-ended interval
I don’t want to die
God put eternity into my heart and I still taste the sweet
I will break down and cry, throw myself at God’s feet
Don’t ask me to say goodbye; I do not wish to depart
Let me keep my misery, too many journeys on which I must embark
I don’t want to die
True, the moment is bitter and cruel
Dark blue is the mood, and a ton of weight life places on you
But, to sleep and not awake, that is too much for one to take
I’d rather take sorrow and tragedy and ride it like a wave on the sea
The other side calm and glee awaits, but, not if my last breath I take
I don’t want to die
For each day is a new start, and I am glad to be alive
I long to linger like a lover’s kiss
Take my body and soul and spin them as if the earth on its axis
I want to strike like a cobra and fight like a soldier
I want to burst like fireworks in the night
Learn my lines, rehearse, and deliver them night after night
I don’t want to die
I am but a musical chord with much to live for
Its song plays on with sweetness, charm, and haunting beauty
It doesn’t want to end; it doesn’t want to die
Like a wind chime on a breezy day with oh, so much, to say
Vines, bushes, and flowers are still dressed in green, red, and gold
They have barely ventured out from beneath the shadow of a cloud
So they’re still new, and their days too few; wait until they’re old
The music, the vegetation, and I share the same sad situation
We are not brain dead and our hearts beat strong
Thick clouds in our minds descend, to occupy for a while later to ascend
We don’t want to expire; we do not desire life to end
But, alas, if it is I that is to die
Devour me with tiny bites, at a later hour and on another night
For I do not want to die

A Picture that is Worth a Thousand Words

2008-04-27T16:14:00.001-04:00

NORTH AMERICAN UNION & VCHIP TRUTH

2008-04-27T16:11:00.000-04:00

Introducing "Max": My New Puggle Puppy

2008-04-14T10:53:00.007-04:00

Isn't Max so cute? He was born on January 30, 2008. He is a puggle. You may be wondering "What is a puggle?"

Well, let me tell you...

Puggle dogs are being called the new designer dog and are a relatively new hybrid. They are a cross between a male pug and a female beagle.

They have become very popular and people love them because they are so cute, cuddly and adorable! They are a wonderful and caring breed with a lovable disposition.

Puggle dogs seem to have the best characteristics of the beagle and pug but not the bad ones. They have the combined physical attributes of a beagle with the temperament of a pug. They have less health problems then both parents, don't howl like a beagle and aren't hyper.

They are sweet-tempered. affectionate and happy with a can-do nature. They are sociable, intelligent and easy going. Since they are very mellow and loyal they make great family pets. They are great with children and other pets. These dogs easily take rough-housing (great for boys) but also like to be cuddled and be a lap dog (great for girls).

Puggles are easy to train but be gentle when training because they are sensitive to the tone of your voice. Once they learn to obey commands they are the perfect companion. When they get the attention and care from their owner they become a relaxed and gentle dog. They love being in owner's presence.

They are a durable hardy dog and love to play outdoors but they do need a cool place.

Puggles have a short snout and fur like a pug but big brown eyes and droopy ears like a beagle. They have a curly tail like a pug but a body like a beagle. They are loose-skinned, wrinkly-faced with a black nuzzle. Their legs are short. Their short coats come in black and white, red and white, tri color, black and tan with fawn the most common.

They weight between 14-20 pounds and are 12-15" high. Life span is 10-15 years.

More Pics of Max:

Teacher Beat By Black Student at School!!!!

2008-04-11T09:52:00.001-04:00

I Release My Anger....sigh...

2008-04-10T20:46:00.004-04:00

Here are some quotes on Anger:

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.-- Buddha

For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.-- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

To belittle is to be little.-- Unknown.

Never write a letter while you are angry.-- Chinese Proverb.

Be careful of the words you say,And keep them soft and sweet;For you never know from day to day,Which ones you'll have to eat.-- Unknown.

Just as war is more the absence of love than the presence of hate, and darkness is the absence of light, a negative attitude is the absence of a positive one.-- Unknown.

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.-- George Bernard Shaw.

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.-- Buddha.

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.-- Chinese Proverb.

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.-- Seneca.

Anger: an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than on anything on which it is poured.-- Seneca.

Anger is like those ruins which smash themselves on what they fall.-- Seneca.Anger begins with folly and ends with repentance.-- Pythagoras.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.-- Buddha (Yes, it is worth repeating....)

It Just Seems Wrong...

2008-04-08T21:56:00.006-04:00

Apr. 4 - Palestinian fishermen catch and kill a giant sea turtle, thought to be a Leatherback, an endangered species.

"The rare giant sea turtle caught on a beach near Gaza City was slaughtered and eaten by Palestinian fishermen who said its blood was an aphrodisiac, among other therapeutic qualities. A cameraman said the fishermen collected the giant turtle's blood and gave it to children suffering from trauma and adults with back problems."--Reuters

I am not a big animals rights activist...BUT, something about this video made me feel ashamed of the occasional (or arguably frequent) inhumanity of humanity...

The following quote seems appropriate:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe"-Albert Einstein

Again, You NEVER Really Own Your Own Home

2008-04-05T16:57:00.008-04:00

According to news stories in Wisconsin,

Officers in Wisconsin are working to communicate with a landowner said to have "strong anti-government attitudes" who has barricaded himself in his rural home.
Authorities say shots were fired at SWAT officers trying to search his home and arrest him, but no injuries are being reported.
Police say officers are trying to talk to the man with a bullhorn because he does not have a telephone.
The dispute started Monday when deputies tried to serve Robert Bayliss with a lawsuit seeking to evict him for failure to pay property taxes back to 2001 on his home and 18 acres.
Prosecutors say the county took ownership of the land in November because of the unpaid taxes.

Again people, if you truly own your home, then no one should ever be able to take it from you for any reason. Yes, I understand why there are taxes. However, that is not my point.

Yes, this man is probably an extremist. However, I could understand his point...to a certain extent.

Consider the following hypothetical scenario:
For over 32 years, Mark worked hard and sacrificed much of his time and money to pay off his mortgage.
As an older retiree, Mark decided that he wanted to live out the remainder of his life in seclusion with his wife on his own land, "roughing it out" without no assistance from outside sources--meaning he would grow his own food, raise his own animals, and generate his own electricity using a windmill.

With no real need for money and living miles from civilization, Mark decided to give up the last of his money to his favorite charities. For 5 years, Mark and his wife lived alone, enjoying their simple life without all the complications of bills, credit cards, and etc...

Then, one day, a man in a suit showed up at his door. Since Mark and his wife Kori no longer received mail or rarely had visitors, they were truly surprised by this stranger's visit. The man introduced himself as Mr. Al, a tax collector for the county. He told them that they had not paid property taxes for the last five years.

Mark kindly told the gentleman that he and his wife decided that they no longer wanted to participate in mainstream society and that they wanted to live out the rest of their days in perpetual isolation without participating in the American "debt cycle." They admitted that there were not "pro" government, but that they were not "anti" government either.

Mark showed Mr. Al his last statement from his bank showing that he had paid off his entire mortgage and owned his home and the fifty acres surrounding it.

Mr. Al told them that while he admired their simple lifestyle, they were still responsible for paying property taxes each year.

Mark informed Mr. Al that they did not want anything to do with the government or with America. They just wanted to live and support themselves, without the assistance of the government. They paid taxes all of their working lives and had contributed to America's tax system for over 40 years each.

Mr. Al told them that they owed $35,000 in taxes ($7000 in taxes each year for the last 5 years).

Mark quickly let Mr. Al know that they did not have any money. They lived "off the land." They had no real need for money.

Mr. Al told them that if they did not make payment arrangements within 30 days, the county would confiscate their home and property. They would then auction it off to the highest bidder in order to pay off Mark's tax bill.

Mark simply replied, "But you can't take my home and my land. I own it. I have the papers right here."

Questions:
Should the government have the right to take Mark's home?
Did Mark ever truly own his home?
Should Mark and his wife be forced to get a job or a loan to pay off the tax bill?
Would any bank even give them a loan for the tax bill? (Neither has a job or source of income)

Referring back to a recent post, this is just another validation of my point that you never truly "own" your home. So, why would you ever have a goal of paying off your mortgage?

Conditional ownership is not ownership AT ALL!!!!!!!

Scared to Death of Black Males?

2008-03-26T20:01:00.015-04:00

Today, March 26, 2008, Philadelphia Police reported that a white man died Wednesday afternoon after a confrontation with a group of black male high school students on a SEPTA concourse in Center City Philadelphia. The incident occurred at about 2:35 p.m. before the turnstiles on the Market-Frankford Line's underground concourse at 13th and Market

Police are not sure of the extent of the confrontation. Initial reports indicated that three teenagers "beat the man to death" in broad daylight.

According to witnesses, the man, a 36 year old local business manager, appeared to be seriously distressed by his confrontation with the boys. Then, the man appeared to go into cardiac arrest. He later died at a local hospital.

What the hell? All I can think is WHY? WHY? Why another violent physical attack by YOUNG BLACK MALES?

As I have said in previous posts, there is a crisis in America. Too many of our young black men are misguided, uneducated, aggressive, and mad! Immediate intervention is needed! And making racist accusatory comments is NOT intervention. We (White and Black people) are at fault for this crisis in some way or another, directly or indirectly.

At some point, it will be necessary for all races to unite and help young black men recognize their true potentials. Yes, young black men have potential, just as ALL YOUNG MEN have!

Black crime in America is not simply a BLACK problem. It is an AMERICAN problem.

(And let us not also keep pretending that White people never commit crimes....)

But in America, as always, when people hear about blacks committing crimes, especially against whites, the racist comments and attitude surface.

Below is a sample of the tone of most comments by readers on news sites reporting this tragic situation:

Anon's comments - "I disagree. It is totally about race. How often do you hear stories of a group of white kids jumping black people? You don't. Why don't you? Because whites don't act like the uneducated blacks in the city. Don't get me wrong, not all blacks are uneducated...but the ones that are are a waste of space in society and they should all just be killed. Instead, the taxpayers will be paying for these monsters to rot in jail."

Honestly, I could not bear to read all the racist comments made about blacks.

As a relatively young, educated black man, it hurts me in my core, in my spirit, in my soul that people can make such hateful negative comments about black people.

Yes, I can imagine that there are many uneducated, violent, aggressive, criminally prone blacks in America, but not all of us are that way. In fact, MOST of us are NOT criminals or will ever commit a crime.

For once, at this point in time, I am speechless...and disappointed.