A New Way of Thinking

"It's Real in the Field" City Life

2011-05-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

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How different is city life from life on the Botswana Afirica grassland plains? Can you see the relationship between life for the animals and life man has made for himself and the fight for existance in the cities? Are you strong enough and lucky enough to be King of the Jungle?

"The American Dream" 30 min animation

2011-04-13T10:23:00.001-07:00

The history of money, banks, and the great rip off of America by banks "to big to fail".

Mediocrity and Sub-Par work

2011-04-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

Avoid settling for mediocore or sub-par work what you are willing to accept, that becomes your true standards means, that whatever you settle for, will always be what you get in the end. If people see that that you will settle less, thats what they will give you. No matter what they think you really deserve, if they see you except less they will surely give it to you. So sometimes try to exceed goals and standards every chance you get. Try to put your best foot forward, try your hardest and give your all. Amend your expectations, if you are used to getting less, show people that you want more. If you refuse to not settle for mediocore or sub-par work, you will always get the left overs. Sometimes when you think you are doing enough, you forget what you really can do. When you actually apply yourself you are shocked at what you really can do. Always do the best you can do and you wll always have great results.!!
By:Jamia Bateman Tift County High School class of 2012

Taking th3 Initiativ3

2011-04-01T05:26:00.000-07:00

Wh3n you do som3thing without b3ing told and without 3xpectation of pay God giv3s you compoound int3r3st on top of compound int3r3st.
Wh3n you do not have any 3x3p3ctaions you r3ci3v3 a bl3ssing and good things happ3n to thos3 that do. Doing things without b3ing told does not m3an things happ3n 3asi3r and b3tt3r in your hands. B3ing told to do som3thing m3ans som3on3 f33ls l3ss about th3mselv3s and that th3y don't car3 about things or th3ms3lv3s. Wh3n you do not b3 kind to oth3rs and th3y ar3 kind to you, Th3y ar3 going to g3tthi3g bl3sing and you ar3 not.
Good Things com3 to thos3 that wait. Doing things from the kindn3ss of your h3art m3ans a b3tt3r p3rson. It shouldn't b3 about pay 3v3rytim3 you do som3thing for som3on3. Doing things from th3 h3art mak3s oth3rs f33l good bout you. P3opl3 count th3ir bl3ssings by b3ing kind and not by b3ing told to do som3thing wh3n you alr3ady know it's th3r3 to do. You should just go and do it without b3ing told at anytim3. You can count you bl3ssing, wh3n you do som3thing without b3ing told at any giv3n tim3 and without any 3xp3ctation of pay.
Written by Shannika Dawson Class of 2013 Tift County High School

The True Israelite "Descentdants of Ham"

2011-03-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

Egyptians prompted Count Constantin de Volney (1727-1820) to write. " What a subject for meditation, Just thnk the race of black men today our slaves and the object of our scorn, is the very race to which we owe our arts, science, and even the use of our Speech."

Hame was one of Noahs three sons, also shem and Japhet made three. Ham (Khawm) means hot, black and burnt. Ham had four sons all black. Cush father of the Ethiopians / Cushites. Mizraim father of the Egyptians / Khemets. Phut , father of the Lybian or Somalians and the Caananites the origianal habitants of Israel. Genesis 10:6-19

To begin with Jacob and his sons 13 including Joseph who was sold into slavery to the Egyptians. Josph was promoted to secon in chatrge the viceroy / govenor of Egypt with only Pharoh as his superior. The Egyprtian were dark skinned black, burnt people. If Joseph was pale white he would have been easily recognized by his brothers when they came to Egypt from Caanan. However they thought he was and Egyptian. So he and they must have been similar lookling to the Egyptians.

In Genesis 50:7-11 describes all Hebrews as looking like Egytians.
If Hebrews were pale(white) then the Caananites would have notices if was a Hebrew and Egyotian funeral not and Egyptian Funeral.

The Hebrew nation went into Egypt 66 strong. After about 400 years they were about 2million strong. As a way of brith control Pharoh Seti commanded that all male babies be killed. Pharoh Seti, grandfather to Moses after Moses being adopted by Pharoh Seti's daughter who found Moses in the reeds of the river where she lounged. Moses was born a Hebrew Israelite from the tribe of Levi (Exodus 2:1-3). He spent 40 years living in Pharoh's House (Acts 7:23) with all the rights and priveledges of Pharowh's grandson from the time he was and infant (Exodus 2:6,10).

George Ralinson, wrtoe "History of Egypt" on page 252 he gives an description of Pharoh Seti. "Setis's face was thoroghly African. He had a stormy face with a depressed flat nose thick liops and heavy chin."

How could Pharoh Seti rule over his people if he knowlingly had an Hebrew male living in his house who was decreed to die? Moses lived in the palace of Pharoh because he was black skinned just a Egyptians were. Just as the Caananites could't tell Hebrews from Egyptians, Pharoh couldn't tell either or he would have been killed instantly.
After Moses fled Egypt he went to the land of Midian and met the daughters of Ruel. The girls went home and told their father that an Egyptian saved them abnd watered their flock. They described Moses as a descendant of Ham; black, burnt and hot...

Read Chronicles 7:14,17,18

5-Year-Old Isaiah Jackson's Prayer "Let us Pray"

2011-03-08T08:55:00.001-08:00

8 Year old Wrestler

2011-03-08T06:14:00.000-08:00

The ability to train with dedication can be done by anyone who has the motivation to win and the will. Let us all take the valuable lesson from this 8 year old as an example of dedication to one particular thing.

The Power of Music on Memory and Learning

2011-02-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

The power of music to affect memory is quite intriguing. Mozart's music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activate the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, causes the brain to be more capable of processing information.
According to The Center for New Discoveries in Learning, learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using this 60 beats per minute music. For example, the ancient Greeks sang their dramas because they understood how music could help them remember more easily ). A renowned Bulgarian psychologist, Dr. George Lozanov, designed a way to teach foreign languages in a fraction of the normal learning time. Using his system, students could learn up to one half of the vocabulary and phrases for the whole school term (which amounts to almost 1,000 words or phrases) in one day. Along with this, the average retention rate of his students was 92%. Dr. Lozanov's system involved using certain classical music pieces from the baroque period which have around a 60 beats per minute pattern. He has proven that foreign languages can be learned with 85-100% efficiency in only thirty days by using these baroque pieces. His students had a recall accuracy rate of almost 100% even after not reviewing the material for four years.
The top three schools in America all place a great emphasis on music and the arts. Hungary, Japan, and the Netherlands, the top three academic countries in the world, all place a great emphasis on music education and participation in music. The top engineers from Silicon Valley are all musicians. Napoleon understood the enormous power of music. He summed it up by saying, "Give me control over he who shapes the music of a nation, and I care not who makes the laws" . (http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n15/mente/musica.html)

Bring Your A Game "One in a Million" . Upgrade your Game

2011-02-22T09:58:00.000-08:00

Young black men are falling for the okey doke. We are being bamboozled. We follow the record executives' plan to mimick the "bad guy", the criminal, the "gansgta". Alot of rappers don't get a record til the get a record deal. They have fallin for the hype they are selling as a result of direction of the record mogul who tells them this is what sells. We love "Scarface" the movie. The jails are filling. No longer are there any state run institutions. Now they are private for profit corporations using slave labor to profit, on top of the stipend they are given each month for each prisoner. It is easier to go to school and use that same entrepreneurial mind to work at a legitimate business that can help pull black folks up and make a profit at the same time. Young men look at this film and get a dose of this ism.

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The New Paradigm of curriculm; "Creativity" vs the Future

2011-02-22T05:35:00.001-08:00

The reply to Technology Teme vs Memes. If you have not seen this video talk also on TED.com by Dr. Susan Blackmore check out the video 4/2/10 on this blog, also.

Erica Huggins Lecture at Cal State SantaBarbara

2011-02-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Erica Huggins the leader of the Black Panther Party, while Huey and Bobby where incarcerated. Notice the scholarship and intelligience. Scholarship and intelligience is primary characteristic of the BPP Leadership.

Breakfast of The Past

2011-02-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

Women of the Civil Rights

2011-02-16T10:26:00.001-08:00

"Blacks Who Should Be "Nobel Peace Prize Winners" Without a Doubt"

2011-02-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

http://atlantapost.com/2011/01/28/blacks-who-should-have-won-a-nobel-prize/4/>
1. George Washington Carver (1864 – 1943)
2. Charles Drew (1904-1950)
3. Herman Branson (1914-1995)
4. Percy Lavon Julian (1899-1975)
5. David Blackwell (1919-2010)
6. Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1938- )
To learn more copy and paste the link above to your browser

Mahalia Jackson "Queen of Gospel"

2011-02-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

Black History Month 2011

Where Are We As Black People

2011-02-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

I am of the same feeling as the South Carolina state Senator Robert Ford, Democrat of Charleston’s. He can remember a time before segregation when black people were a different breed than they are now. I honestly believe that today’s blacks are more mislead, softer and unable to withstand the things that our great and grandparents where able to suffer through, overcome and conquer. We are a weaker people. We are afraid of work even when it comes to looking for work or building a legal business. Our faith has diminished as whole. Those who do go to the house of prayer are bamboozled, hoodwinked and run amuck by small church pastors and mega church pastors. These churches are fundraiser (Malachi 3:10) organization that do not serve the community. Oh and by the way that scripture was from God to the pastors. Start reading at Malachi chapter 2, "Study and show thyself approved". And don't forget what Paul said "I would not have you ignorant". We are told Malachi 3:10 so much we know that by heart, then the pastor misquotes it. Why don’t these mega churches start some factories and put some black folk to work. Let us create a Jew heaven for ourselves "a factory". Manufacture anything Shoes, drawers, jeans anything doggone thing. The number of black businesses is down. The ability to work together is down. The family paradigm is down. Yes, we have more educated blacks now, but with less sense. How many black republicans are there? Where are our leaders at? Those educated persons of the institutions of higher learning that felt a need to represent the masses or at least point us in the right direction?
Martin, Louis, Huey, Malcolm, where are today’s generation of leaders? Don't drink the Kool aid these bishops are not our leaders. We are a lazier people we won't even work to help ourselves or our people. President Obama is not the leader of our race. He is the leader of the Free World. So don't blame him. "Don't hate him, congratulate and support him.

Failing Student " Are They Really Like This"

2011-02-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

Teach.Org

2011-02-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

2011-01-31T07:21:00.000-08:00

We can't even get education for those who want a quality education, which should be a right of a citizen. As a the constitutions says "Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness".Are all men creted equal in these United States? Naw you got to see the "DEad PrEz" vidoe. Is this what you want. Watch the video

2011-01-31T07:12:00.001-08:00

What is a black man in the ghetto to do. No job, no respect for education and just plain don't want to work. Be smart don't get caught. Like they say "Plan and execute". Cause we ain't no farmers working from 430am till sundown and I will not let the government take care of me, no welfare or incarceration.

Sign language the cEeLo "F" You song

2011-01-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

Poetry of a Rapper

2011-01-24T11:13:00.001-08:00

Know the Facts about Black Men not the Fiction

2011-01-24T10:51:00.001-08:00

The Sacred Heart Diet

2011-01-24T07:59:00.000-08:00

This 7-day eating plan can be used as often as you like. If correctly followed, it will clean out your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being. After only 7 days of this process, you will begin to feel lighter by at least 10 pounds and possibly 17 pounds, and experience an abundance of energy.
SOUP:

1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
3 plus large green onions
1 large can of beef broth (no fat)
1 pkg. Lipton Soup mix (chicken noodle)
1 bunch of celery
2 cans green beans
2 lbs. Carrots
2 Green Peppers

Season with salt, pepper curry, parsley, if desired, or bouillon, hot or Worcestershire sauce. Cut veggies in small to medium pieces. Cover with water. Boil fast for 10 minutes. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook until veggies are tender.

This soup can be eaten anytime you are hungry during the week. Eat as much as you want, whenever you want. This soup will not add calories. The more you eat, the more you will lose. You may want to fill a thermos in the morning if you will be away during the day.

DRINKS:
Unsweetened juices
Tea (also herbal)
Coffee
Cranberry juice
Skim milk
Water, water, water

DAY ONE
Any fruit (except bananas). Cantaloupes and watermelon are lower in calories than most other fruits. Eat only soup and fruit today.

DAY TWO
All vegetables. Eat until you are stuffed with fresh raw, cooked or canned veggies. Try to eat green leafy veggies and stay away from dry beans, peas or corn. Eat veggies along with the soup. At dinnertime tonight reward yourself with a big baked potato and butter. Don't eat any fruits through today.

DAY THREE
Eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want. Do not have a baked potato. If you have eaten as above for three days and not cheated, you should find that you have lost 5-7 pounds.

DAY FOUR
Bananas and skim milk: Eat at least 3 bananas and drink as much milk as you can today, along with the soup. Bananas are high in calories and carbohydrates, as is the milk but on this particular day, your body will need the potassium and carbs. Proteins and calcium to lessen the cravings for sweets.

DAY FIVE
Beef and tomatoes: you may have 10 to 20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes, or as many as 6 tomatoes on this day. Eat the soup at least once today.

DAY SIX
Beef and veggies, eat to your heart's content of the beef and veggies today. You can even have 2-3 steaks if you like with green leafy veggies but no baked potato. Be sure to eat the soup at least once today.

DAY SEVEN
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and veggies, again, be sure to stuff yourself and eat the soup. You can add cooked veggies to your rice if you wish.

By the end of the 7th day, if you have not cheated on this diet, you should have lost 10 to 17 pounds. If you have lost more than 17 pounds, stay off the diet for two days before resuming the diet again.

This diet is fast. The secret lies within the principle that you will burn more calories than you take in. It will flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being. This diet does not lend itself to drinking any alcoholic beverages at any time. Because of the fat build-up in your system. Go off the diet at least 14 hours before any intake of alcohol.

Due to the variety of digestive systems in individuals, this diet will affect everyone differently. After day three, you will have more energy than when you began, if you do not cheat. After being on the diet for several days, you will find that your bowel movements have changed. Eat a cup of bran or fiber. Although you can have black coffee with this diet, you may find that you don't need caffeine after the third day.

The basic fat burning soup can be eaten anytime you feel hungry during the seven days. Eat as much as you wish. Remember the more you eat, the more you will lose. You can eat broiled, boiled or baked chicken instead of the beef. Absolutely no skin on the chicken. If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for the beef on only one of the beef days. You need the high protein in the beef for the other days.

Continue on the diet as long as you wish and feel the difference both mentally and physically.

DO NOT - DO NOT
No bread, alcohol, carbonated drinks (including diet drinks). Remember, absolutely no fried foods.

DO - DO - DO - DO
Drink plenty - at least 6 to 8 glasses - of water a day, as well as any combination of the following beverages: black coffee, unsweetened fruit drinks, cranberry juice and skim milk.

This diet comes from the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital that is used for overweight heart patients in order to lose weight rapidly, usually prior to surgery.

2011-01-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

Sacred Heart Medical Diet
This 7-day eating plan can be used as often as you like. If correctly followed, it will clean out your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being. After only 7 days of this process, you will begin to feel lighter by at least 10 pounds and possibly 17 pounds, and experience an abundance of energy.
SOUP:

1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
3 plus large green onions
1 large can of beef broth (no fat)
1 pkg. Lipton Soup mix (chicken noodle)
1 bunch of celery
2 cans green beans
2 lbs. Carrots
2 Green Peppers

Season with salt, pepper curry, parsley, if desired, or bouillon, hot or Worcestershire sauce. Cut veggies in small to medium pieces. Cover with water. Boil fast for 10 minutes. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook until veggies are tender.

This soup can be eaten anytime you are hungry during the week. Eat as much as you want, whenever you want. This soup will not add calories. The more you eat, the more you will lose. You may want to fill a thermos in the morning if you will be away during the day.

DRINKS:
Unsweetened juices
Tea (also herbal)
Coffee
Cranberry juice
Skim milk
Water, water, water

DAY ONE
Any fruit (except bananas). Cantaloupes and watermelon are lower in calories than most other fruits. Eat only soup and fruit today.

DAY TWO
All vegetables. Eat until you are stuffed with fresh raw, cooked or canned veggies. Try to eat green leafy veggies and stay away from dry beans, peas or corn. Eat veggies along with the soup. At dinnertime tonight reward yourself with a big baked potato and butter. Don't eat any fruits through today.

DAY THREE
Eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want. Do not have a baked potato. If you have eaten as above for three days and not cheated, you should find that you have lost 5-7 pounds.

DAY FOUR
Bananas and skim milk: Eat at least 3 bananas and drink as much milk as you can today, along with the soup. Bananas are high in calories and carbohydrates, as is the milk but on this particular day, your body will need the potassium and carbs. Proteins and calcium to lessen the cravings for sweets.

DAY FIVE
Beef and tomatoes: you may have 10 to 20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes, or as many as 6 tomatoes on this day. Eat the soup at least once today.

DAY SIX
Beef and veggies, eat to your heart's content of the beef and veggies today. You can even have 2-3 steaks if you like with green leafy veggies but no baked potato. Be sure to eat the soup at least once today.

DAY SEVEN
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and veggies, again, be sure to stuff yourself and eat the soup. You can add cooked veggies to your rice if you wish.

By the end of the 7th day, if you have not cheated on this diet, you should have lost 10 to 17 pounds. If you have lost more than 17 pounds, stay off the diet for two days before resuming the diet again.

This diet is fast. The secret lies within the principle that you will burn more calories than you take in. It will flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being. This diet does not lend itself to drinking any alcoholic beverages at any time. Because of the fat build-up in your system. Go off the diet at least 14 hours before any intake of alcohol.

Due to the variety of digestive systems in individuals, this diet will affect everyone differently. After day three, you will have more energy than when you began, if you do not cheat. After being on the diet for several days, you will find that your bowel movements have changed. Eat a cup of bran or fiber. Although you can have black coffee with this diet, you may find that you don't need caffeine after the third day.

The basic fat burning soup can be eaten anytime you feel hungry during the seven days. Eat as much as you wish. Remember the more you eat, the more you will lose. You can eat broiled, boiled or baked chicken instead of the beef. Absolutely no skin on the chicken. If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for the beef on only one of the beef days. You need the high protein in the beef for the other days.

Continue on the diet as long as you wish and feel the difference both mentally and physically.

DO NOT - DO NOT
No bread, alcohol, carbonated drinks (including diet drinks). Remember, absolutely no fried foods.

DO - DO - DO - DO
Drink plenty - at least 6 to 8 glasses - of water a day, as well as any combination of the following beverages: black coffee, unsweetened fruit drinks, cranberry juice and skim milk.

This diet comes from the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital that is used for overweight heart patients in order to lose weight rapidly, usually prior to surgery.

America and Common Sense

2011-01-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

Common Sense" a book written by Adam Smith, about a economic crisis in American the petro dollar. The Petro dollar the new currency of America back by OPEC oil due to loans to America which America can’t pay even the interest. Can you imagine the bust of Sheik s on our currency? I am not going to talk about OPEC but about oil, but think about it sometimes at your leisure. The ripping off American citizens. Do a little research. Venezuela, represents the nationalization of utility companies. America should think about that. China and their smart business moves throughout the world has positioned them for world economic and technological dominance. America is becoming very fool hard like a “John Hardy Stud Party” where a bunch of inebriated young men do foolish things. The men of the GOP is acting as the boys in the John Hardy Stud Party and the Democratic political party is like a bunch of “Tommy Lunchmeat" sandwich eaters just give them a sandwich tells them what to do and they will follow orders. We live in the finest capitalist society on the planet. The United States grew to become the most wealthy country on the planet. We have been ruined by these incompetent parties. We as a government and a people do not use common sense and before the book "Common Sense" becomes a reality ,accept we will be using the Chinese money (the Chinese yuan) as our currency and living like America 1954 every family will bake their own bread and plant their own garden and hang their clothes own the clothes line to dry.
Here is a list of foolish ideas:
1. How did we elect a president who bankrupted the state of Texas s governor. Would not his past action be a hint of his future actions? (They do reference checks even at McDonalds.)
2. How can people making less than fifty thousand dollars a year think the republican party really has their best interest in mind?(Go back to the recovery of the Depression)
3.Do we really need to go against nature and prolong life, thereby creating a situation that is overwhelming to our planet? (Hint; Look up the word "aggregation" in a high school biology book.)
4.How did the hippies of the 1960’s free love generation turn to wall Street ivory towers for employment. It is true they did go to wall street after coming down from a false euphoria

It's all common sense. Make love not war. The Chinese are currently conquering the world by making love to the business communities of the world. We went over to Iraq to displace a dictator trained by America and we destroy the country he built because we could not see any use for him and we had not the wisdom or genius to offer help from a business aspect. Therefore we went to war and spent 30 billion a month to fight and China spent nothing and came out with the contract to help the Iraquis build a new oil refinery, from which they create profit in money and oil for their countrymen. America is making war all over the world and China is conquering the world one country at a time with business strategies and commerce.
Southern American citizens and some northerners earning less than $100,000 per year are pro republicans. All morals and religion aside once you come back down to earth after go to church meeting you have to buy groceries, pay rent or a mortgage, pay a car note , insurance and school clothes for your children and try to find work. How? They vote these people in party, while this party is doing everything they can to eliminate all forms of economic aid, and a profitability strategy for the small business owner. Why have none of the banks given small business loans when it is a fact that they have over a trillion dollars in their coffers . But they have made it their business to find every way to take your home from you and make you and your children homeless when you are have no way of sustain shelter for your family. When all they are going to do is sit on the house and let the grass and weeds grow. Corporate welfare is what republicans are all about. Who decided to bail out they banks after they stole 1 trillion dollars from the American people. They will blame it on the home bubble but we can see the truth if we follow the money which any good detective worth the gum on his shoe will tell to do, to find the crook. Which in this case leads from AIG to Goldman Sacs, and to a question, why is Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. (born March 28, 1946) who is now serving as the 74th United States Treasury Secretary. What is his affiliation now with Goldman Sacs? He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. Tim Geithner believes along with Henry Paulson, that the United States Department of the Treasury needs new authority to experiment with responses to the financial crisis of 2007–2010.(Sounds like a code for do what you want.) You know what makes me question the common sense of our politicians? Is that if they wanted to fix the economy why didn't they give the stimulus directly to the people in the form of a check with a value of few hundred thousand dollars per household. That would have gotten the economy going. People would have been spending money, manufactures would have had to increase their output, volume of banking transactions would have increased, small business loans would have increased sharply, and debt would have disappeared. Some smart people would have saved some for a rainy day and others would have spent out. And the economy would have been sound and on a level field. These houses that are now being foreclosed, could have been paid for.
Why don't we the people nationalize the utilities and provide these things which are needed by masses to them. Because the big money men use the stock market to gamble on these utilities, driving up the cost and making people homeless. Why is gas now at 3 dollars a gallon and the prediction is that by 2013 it will be 5 dollars per gallon at which time only folks earning upper middle class salaries will drive for recreation. (Why does gas refined in America burn so fast? Why does Hugo Chavez so called enemy of America, President of Venuzuela, friend of Castro , CEO of Citgo oil and gas, the Venuzuelan National G and Oil company supplementing the heating oil cost of our senior citizens and poor of New York state with 50 percent off of the cost of heating during the winter. What is this, giving free gas to the American poor? Does giving them one less of a choice between staying warm, paying rent, getting their medication or eating dog food to make meat loaf qualify them as enemy of the States? While the top 3% of income earners (those person who earns $250,000 plus a year ) are shielded from car pooling ,walking and riding a bicycle out of necessity to and from work cause here we go again, making a choice between food clothing shelter, medicine and dog meat for meatloaf. Homelessness will be increased sharply because you will not be able to pay for rent, gas, utilities, and groceries. What there will be two families per household? The paradigm will shift again from traditional families to women led households, (you know mother, grandmother, children and girlfriend) to multiple women led families, and traditional families living with the siblings family, to create gypsy styled households. There was a doctor who addresses the graduating class at Stanford in 1961 who said that because of the inebriated state of the American public due to pharmaceutical drugs, the politician would be able to present and sign anything into law without a peep from the people. Let me ask “What are the most common drugs on the market to day?” Tranquilizers and pain relievers which have the same affect on the mind. A few of the most common prescription drugs that are most prescribed, and over used Xanax, Oxycontin, Hydrocodone, Percoset, Loritab. What commercials do you see most on TV? Pharmaceuticals.
Health care is the number two cause of financial disaster we are heading into because of the rise in premiums and the cost of unnecessary treatment. People at some point in their lives are supposed to die. Let them die. Three quarters of hospital bill of a terminally ill patient is born from the resuscitation efforts and unnatural life (a ventilator). Nature has a way of helping the species to survive. The individual must make room for the newborn. Don't be selfish let that person go they want to go anyway and your are holding them from a more peace situation. (If the shoe fits wear it.)
Let’s look at the upside of this. There will be a decrease need for food in the States, therefore an increase in food supplies. The pollution will decrease. People will become healthier and the planet will become healthier. The amount of water used will be decreased. There will be me more water for the future. Less cattle will be needed and less structures will be needed. Lumber will be not needed as much (our oxygen source living trees).
Lets go back to old time schooling and teaching methods. These methods were what we were using when America was number 1,2, and 3 in reading, writing and arithmetic in the 1960 and early 1970's in the world. When students learned to read by phonetics, you know sounding out the words. You might remember "Run Spot run." In math teachers taught how to read a ruler in the third grade. This was the beginnings of engineering thought by the students.
Because of the want and love of money we have sold out all that is good and precious to America. Education administrators to keep their job, they come up with different (non working) ideas on how to change the education system with new methods of teaching. If it was not broke why did they try to fix it. If you fix something that is not broken, you have broken it. It is not that the method was bad in the first place, but to keep their job and validate the usefulness to the administrations the administrators felt they had to create something new and different to validate their exuberant salaries of 100 plus thousand dollars per year. While the teachers who are in the trenches are making 26 to 45 thousand a year after 20 years and taking a beating for it, being abused by parents, students and administrators. Our children who will inherit this country are given an ill service. We leave them without a legacy or resources. What will they do for food, water, education or any engineering know how? Will they be able to afford heat or build heating elements? Very few of our schools teach skills, like sewing, carpentry, commercial or residential electricity or auto mechanics. What was wrong with the way the great grand parents brought up today’s grandparents. Nothing! It worked and again we fixed something that was not broken and broke it. Conventional wisdom says go back to the way it was. Paul to Timothy let us not forget the old landmarks
If the soldier is not taken care of and the suits and brass is worried only about themselves what kind of army will you have. At most undergraduate colleges as a requirement do they study great generals like Genghis Khan, Sun Tzu, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Alexander, Hannibal and Patton ? Generals who where in the field with the soldiers, who slept and ate what the soldiers ate. Notice the sentiment these generals had for their army. We treat our veteran soldiers like garbage and disdain in some cases. Were their mental illness is direct result of battle.
Let us buy back out country. Lobbyist buy the country and the votes needed by senate and Congress to pass a particular bill in their favor. If each family with a income of less than 25 thousand dollars per year gave 5 dollars to the "Buy Back America Campaign" We could buy America from the interest groups the same way the insurance and oil industries do with high paid lobbyist representing their interest. Remember money talks an bull poop walks. Send five dollars and tell your friends to send five dollars. There are about 600 million people in America with about 1.5 million families. I am sure we could make a change for the betterment of our country the good old American way, "Buy It"....

To give Pleasure to a single heart by an act of kindness is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayers.

2010-12-10T07:52:00.001-08:00

What is truer than truth ? The Story of Our Common Humanity

2010-12-10T07:34:00.001-08:00

Love People, Period

2010-12-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

Look at this film before reading this blog. http://blog.givemore.com/compassion/

Part of the problem is the eggshells.

We’ve laid them out around ourselves and become worried about stepping on those that others have laid around themselves.

Some of us (all of us at one time or another) have forgotten our interdependence and obligation to other people. We’ve put ourselves (our comfort, our hearts, our minds) at the center of our universe (our universe?).

I want to encourage you to Love Your People.

Who are your people? Everyone who’s important to you… your family… your friends… your colleagues… your customers, patients, team, students. These are your people (and you’re theirs).

And love? It’s care.

And care? It’s attention and contribution (what you give, what you do). It’s kindness, patience, generosity, and truth. It’s encouraging, apologetic, forgiving, and thankful.

We’ve let too much get between us (each other) and the reasons we’re here. We’ve allowed ourselves to slip into a state of busy distraction – seeking the complex instead of embracing the simple. It’s time to stop going through the motions with our days (hours, minutes). We need to give more and enjoy more.

“The meaning of love is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. Love is something much deeper than emotional bosh.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.
American civil rights leader

(http://blog.givemore.com/loveyourpeople/)

A Shout Out to "The Angry Black Bitch"...U R Fantastic

2010-12-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 06, 2010
You've got to be fucking kidding me...

Happy Monday, y'all!

A bitch is awake, drinking coffee and full of bitchitude.

Shall we?

Word has come down that the Obama Administration is getting their compromise on with the GOP again. This time it’s over the fuck up that keeps on fucking – President Bush II’s tax cuts for the rich. Word is that the Obama Administration is willing to extend those tax cuts for the richest among us in order to get tax cuts for the middle class and the extension of unemployment benefits that is currently being held hostage by a do-nothing lame duck for a reason Congress.

Now there are a lot of sharp angles here, so we’re going to navigate this shit carefully.

Am I the only one who sees that smug ass elephant sipping tea in the middle of the room?
A bitch has been screaming at the television with each news segment covering this shit.

And the chorus asks… “Why are you screaming, Shark-Fu?”

I’m glad you asked!

I’m screaming because no one is asking the question this bitch would ask if my ass got a chance to talk to these fools – what the fuck have the masses gotten out of tax cuts for the rich?

***cue crickets***

Have they created jobs?

Have they stabilized markets?

Have they calmed the business sector?

Have they stimulated anything other than the orgasmic greed of the rich?

***listen as crickets tune up their instruments***

Shit.

There’s a big assed smug as hell elephant sitting in the middle of the room sipping tea, people! Because the GOP is fixin' to pull one hell of a do-nothing while profiting few tax cut extension hustle…and it doesn’t have to happen.

It doesn’t!

Just once…just one fucking time…I’d like for people to challenge these assholes to break it down – how the hell are these tax cuts a necessary thing when we got into this fubar with the same fucking tax cuts in place and when they will do nothing to address anything other than rich people’s craven need to not participate equally in the capitalist machine?

Christ.

Moving forward…

Have we really come to this or is this where we’ve been all along?
Food and shelter for the unemployed masses are being held captive by politicians trying to figure out how to prevent rich people from feeling any of the economic horror facing the rest of us.

When we the people are presented the argument that fighting to extend tax cuts for the rich is worth delaying unemployment benefits for hard working average Americans…and that argument is entertained without a full public shaming of the GOP for having the unmitigated gall to articulated it given all that they’re economic policies have put the American people through…all while the present administration cowers whimpering in a political corner they created by inviting that vampire to dinner and discussions in the first fucking place…shit….

…when this is our new reality, we the people have been hoodwinked and bamboozled!

And yes, I’m looking at those that adore tea too – y’all got hustled, ‘cause this shit is politics as usual and you fucked it last night.

Ugh.

But I'm not holding out for a reckoning...not yet, anyway.
A bitch is watching this unfold like a train wreck in slow motion.

By extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich, government will extend the status quo. The same status quo that ain’t working for shit. So in reality the Obama Administration is trading unemployment benefits for tax cuts so they can kick the ball down the road a year or two.

The sad thing is we’ve been here before. Or at least some of us have – I’m old enough to remember this trickle-down shit from the Reagan years and trust that it put a hurt on the nation for years.

Hell, I still have nightmares!

But here we are again…listening to the same tired ass promises from all sides and watching the same sorry ass play while these fiends raid out pockets in the coatroom.

I’m not holding out hope for a reckoning…not yet…not in an America where most are comfortable believing that the wages of poverty are hunger, want and need.

The masses are gleefully feasting on Soylent Green and far too many buy the idea that this is the way things need to be…

“Hush your mouth!” they caution.

“Massa gonna give us a slice of that bacon!”

Blink.

Law of Nature

2010-12-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

Nature’s Laws
The first law of natures is organization. Power is organized effort. And everything must work in harmony. The struggle is between forces and desires of the mind and impulses of right and wrong. Each person has two distinct personalities and as many as six in one person. The forces must be harmonious if one is to achieve a given goal. Power grows out of organized knowledge through application and use. The master Mind is two or more minds coming together to achieve the purpose of success in an endeavor. A “Definite Chief Aim”. This is your Power Group.(Note:Read the “Science of Power” by Benjamin Kidd, the essay by Emerson “Compensation” and :Mind in the Making by Robinson). Remember you must have a singleness of purpose you cannot be a scatter brain. Have good posture and walk tall. Use your voice with good pitch and tone. Use word of trend, nature and quality.
What is your Definite Chief Aim? Are you auto suggesting?
Law # 1 Out of Allied Power comes Greater Power. Millions are concentrating on poverty and failure and getting an abundance of both “Before anything can become reality, it must first become a thought.” Self confidence is the quality with which the mind is recharged and made positive like a battery. “No man can become a great leader of men unless he has the milk of kindness in his heart and leads by suggestion and kindness rather than force.” “Compete with only the best men and women and you will gain strength and confidence.” All rivers and some men are crooked because they follow the path of least resistance.
1st: Know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Chief Aim. Therefore I demand of myself persistent aggressive and continuous action towards attainment.
2nd I realize that he dominating thoughts of my mind eventually reproduce themselves outwardly in bodily action and gradually transform themselves into physical reality. Therefore I will concentrate my mind for thirty minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to be by creating a mental picture of this person and then transforming that picture into reality through practical service.
3rd I know that through the principle of auto suggestion any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of realizing it; therefore I shall devote ten minutes daily to demanding myself of the development of the factors named in the sixteen lesson of the Reading Course on the “Laws of Success”.
4th I have clearly mapped out and written down a description of my definite purpose in life, for the coming five years. I have set a price on my services for each of these five years; a price that I intend to receive through strict application of the principles of efficient, satisfactory service which I will render in advance.
5th I fully realize that no wealth can endure unless built on truth and justice. Therefore I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to me the forces I wish to use and the cooperation of the people. I will induce other to serve me because I will first serve them. I will eliminate hatred a jealousy selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity. Because I know that a negative attitude towards others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me because will believe in them and myself.. I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory and repeat it allowed once a day will full faith that it will gradually influence my entire life so that I will become a successful and happy worker in my chosen field of endeavor.

If you think you are beaten you are; If you think your dare not you don’t; If you like to win but you think you can’t , it’s almost certain you won’t.

”Day by day in every way I am becoming more successful”

The Golden Rule ..........#5 Your Character

2010-11-19T11:58:00.000-08:00

Go a step further and render the other fellow an act of kindly, helpful service, and through the operation of this same law of retaliation he will render you a similar service. And, if he should fail to reciprocate your kindness - what then? You have profited, nevertheless, because of the effect of your act on your own sub-conscious mind! Thus by indulging in acts of kindness and applying, always, the Golden Rule philosophy, you are sure of benefit from one source and at the same time you have a pretty fair chance of profiting from another source. It might happen that you would base all of your acts toward others on the Golden Rule without enjoying any direct reciprocation for a long period of time, and it might so happen that those to whom you rendered those acts of kindness would never reciprocate, but meantime you have been adding vitality to your own character and sooner or later this positive character which you have been building will begin to assert itself and you will discover that you have been 28 receiving compound interest on compound interest in return for those acts of kindness which appeared to have been wasted on those who neither appreciated nor reciprocated them. Remember that your reputation is made by others, but your character is made by you! You want your reputation to be a favorable one, but you cannot be sure that it will be for the reason that it is something that exists outside of your own control, in the minds of others. It is what others believe you to be. With your character it is different. Your character is that which you are, as the results of your thoughts and deeds. You control it. You can make it weak, good or bad. When you are satisfied and know in your mind that your character is above reproach you need not worry about your reputation, for it is as impossible for your character to be destroyed or damaged by anyone except yourself as it is to destroy matter or energy. It was this truth that Emerson had in mind when he said: A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick or the return of your absent friend, or some other quite external event raises your spirits, and you think your days are prepared for you. Do not believe it. It can never be so. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles. One reason for being just toward others is the fact that such action may cause them to reciprocate, in kind, but a better reason is the fact that kindness and justice toward others develop positive character in all who indulge in these acts.

The Golden Rule..........#4 Compesation

2010-11-19T11:03:00.003-08:00

There are people who believe that the Golden Rule philosophy is nothing more than a theory, and that it is in no way connected with an immutable law. They have arrived at this conclusion because of personal experience wherein they rendered service to others without enjoying the benefits of direct reciprocation. How many are there who have not rendered service to others that was neither reciprocated nor appreciated? I am sure that I have had such an experience, not once, but many times, and I am equally sure that I will have similar experiences in the future, nor will I discontinue rendering service to others merely because they neither reciprocate nor appreciate my efforts. YOU have not fulfilled every duty unless you have fulfilled that of being pleasant. Charles Buxton. And here is the reason: When I render service to another, or indulge in an act of kindness, I store away in my sub-conscious mind the effect of my efforts, which may be likened to the charging of an electric battery. By and by, if I indulge in a sufficient number of such acts I will have developed a positive, dynamic character that will attract to me people who harmonize with or resemble my own character. Those whom I attract to me will reciprocate the acts of kindness and the service that I have rendered others, thus the Law of Compensation will have balanced the scales of justice for me, bringing back from one source the results of service that I rendered through an entirely different source. his wares he will arouse a corresponding interest in the minds of others. You can comprehend this law quite easily by regarding yourself as a sort of human magnet that attracts those whose characters harmonize with your own. In thus regarding yourself as a magnet that attracts to you all who harmonize with your dominating characteristics and repels all who do not so harmonize, you should keep in mind, also, the fact that you are the builder of that magnet; also, that you may change its nature so that it will correspond to any ideal that you may wish to set up and follow. And, most important of all, you should keep in mind the fact that this entire process of change takes place through thought!

The Golden Rule .........#3 My Code Of Ethics

2010-11-19T10:14:00.000-08:00

Every act and every thought you release modifies your own character in exact conformity with the nature of the act or thought, and your character is a sort of center of magnetic attraction which attracts to you the people and conditions that harmonize with it. You cannot indulge in an act toward another person without having first created the nature of that act in your own thought, and you cannot release a thought without planting the sum and substance and nature of it in your own sub-conscious mind, there to become a part and parcel of your own character.
THERE is no defeat except from within. There is really no insurmountable barrier save your own inherent weakness of purpose. Emerson. Grasp this simple principle and you will understand why you cannot afford to hate or envy another person. You will also understand why you cannot afford to strike back, in kind, at those who do you an injustice. Likewise, you will understand the injunction, Return good for evil. Understand the law upon which the Golden Rule injunction is based and you will understand, also, the law that eternally binds all mankind in a single bond of fellowship and renders it impossible for you to injure another person, by thought or deed, without injuring yourself; and, likewise, adds to your own character the results of every kind thought and deed in which you indulge. Understand this law and you will then know, beyond room for the slightest doubt, that you are constantly punishing yourself for every wrong you commit and rewarding yourself for every act of constructive conduct in which you indulge. MY CODE OF ETHICS I. I believe in the Golden Rule as the basis of all human conduct; therefore, I will never do to another person that which I would not be willing for that person to do to me if our positions were reversed. II. I will be honest, even to the slightest detail, in all my transactions with others, not alone because of my desire to be fair with them, but because of my desire to impress the idea of honesty on my own subconscious mind, thereby weaving this essential quality into my own character. III. I will forgive those who are unjust toward me, with no thought as to whether they deserve it or not, because I understand the law through which forgiveness of others strengthens my own character and wipes out the effects of my own transgressions, in my subconscious mind. IV. I will be just, generous and fair with others always, even though I know that these acts will go unnoticed and unrecorded, in the ordinary terms of reward, because I understand and intend to apply the law through the aid of which ones own character is but the sum total of ones own acts and deeds. V. Whatever time I may have to devote to the discovery and exposure of the weaknesses and faults of others I will devote, more profitably, to the discovery and correction of my own. VI. I will slander no person, no matter how much I may believe another person may deserve it, because I wish to plant no destructive suggestions in my own sub-conscious mind. VII. I recognize the power of Thought as being an inlet leading into my brain from the universal ocean of life; therefore, I will set no 23 destructive thoughts afloat upon that ocean lest they pollute the minds of others. VIII. I will conquer the common human tendency toward hatred, and envy, and selfishness, and jealousy, and malice, and pessimism, and doubt, and fear; for I believe these to be the seed from which the world harvests most of its troubles. IX. When my mind is not occupied with thoughts that tend toward the attainment of my definite chief aim in life, I will voluntarily keep it filled with thoughts of courage, and self-confidence, and good-will toward others, and faith, and kindness, and loyalty, and love for truth, and justice, for I believe these to be the seed from which the world reaps its harvest of progressive growth. X. I understand that a mere passive belief in the soundness of the Golden Rule philosophy is of no value whatsoever, either to myself or to others; therefore, I will actively put into operation this universal rule for good in all my transactions with others. XI. I understand the law through the operation of which my own character is developed from my own acts and thoughts; therefore, I will guard with care all that goes into its development. XII. Realizing that enduring happiness comes only through helping others find it; that no act of kindness is without its reward, even though it may never be directly repaid, I will do my best to assist others when and where the opportunity appears. You have noticed frequent reference to Emerson throughout this course. Every student of the course should own a copy of Emerson's Essays, and the essay on Compensation should be read and studied at least every three months. Observe, as you read this essay, that it deals with the same law as that upon which the Golden Rule is based.

The Golden Rule..........#2 Thought

2010-11-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society. On the most profitable lie the course of events presently lays a destructive tax; whilst frankness proves to be the best tactics, for it invites frankness, puts the parties on a convenient footing and makes their business a friendship. Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great, though they make an exception in your favor to all their rules of trade. The Golden Rule philosophy is based upon a law, which no man can circumvent. This law is the same law that is described in the Law of Accurate Thought, through the operation of which ones thoughts are transformed into reality corresponding exactly to the nature of the thoughts.
This law is the same law that is described in Lesson Eleven, on Accurate Thought, through the operation of which ones thoughts are transformed into reality corresponding exactly to the nature of the thoughts. Once granted the creative power of our thought and there is an end of struggling for our own way, and an end of gaining it at some one else's expense; for, since by the terms of the hypothesis we can create what we like, the simplest way of getting what we want is, not to snatch it from somebody else, but to make it for ourselves; and, since there is no limit to thought there can be no need for straining, and for everyone to have his own way in this manner, would be to banish all strife, want, sickness, and sorrow from the earth. Now, it is precisely on this assumption of the creative power of our thought that the whole Bible rests. If not, what is the meaning of being saved by Faith? 14 Faith is essentially thought; and, therefore, every call to have faith in God is a call to trust in the power of our own thought about God. According to your faith be it unto you, says the Old Testament. The entire book is nothing but one continuous statement of the creative power of Thought. (THE LAW OF SUCCESS IN SIXTEEN LESSONS by Napoleon Hill Teaching, for the First Time in the History of the World, the True Philosophy upon which all Personal Success is Built. PUBLISHED BY The RALSTON UNIVERSITY PRESS MERIDEN, CONN. COPYRIGHT 1928, BY NAPOLEON HILL )

The Golden Rule............#1

2010-11-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

If you demand positive proof of the soundness of the “Law of the Golden Rule”, If you demand more substantial and authoritative evidence than my own, then I am privileged to refer you to the teachings and philosophy of Christ, Plato, Socrates, Epictetus, Confucius, Emerson and two of the more modern philosophers, James and Munsterberg, from whose works I have appropriated all that constitutes the more important fundamentals of this lesson, with the exception of that which I have gathered from my own limited experience. For more than four thousand years men have been preaching the Golden Rule as a suitable rule of conduct among men, but unfortunately the world has accepted the letter while totally missing the spirit of this Universal Injunction. We have accepted the Golden Rule philosophy merely as a sound rule of ethical conduct but we have failed to understand the law upon which it is based. I have heard the Golden Rule quoted scores of times, but I do not recall having ever heard an explanation of the law upon which it is based, and not until recent years did I understand that law, from which I am led to believe that those who quoted it did not understand it. The Golden Rule means, substantially, to do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you if your positions were reversed. But why? What is the real reason for this kindly consideration of others? The real reason is this: There is an eternal law through the operation of which we reap that which we sow. When you select the rule of conduct by which you guide yourself in your transactions with others, you will be fair and just, very likely, if you know that you are setting into motion, by that selection, a power that will run its course for weal or woe in the lives of others, returning, finally, to help or to hinder you, according to its nature. 5 Whatsoever a man soweth that shall be also reap! It is your privilege to deal unjustly with others, but, if you understand the law upon which the Golden Rule is based, you must know that your unjust dealings will come home to roost. You cannot pervert or change the course of this law, but you can adapt yourself to its nature and thereby use it as an irresistible power that will carry you to heights of achievement, which could not be attained without its aid. This law does not stop by merely flinging back upon you your acts of injustice and unkindness toward others; it goes further than this - much further - and returns to you the results of every thought that you release. Therefore, not alone is it advisable to do unto others as you wish them to do unto you, but to avail yourself fully of the benefits of this great Universal Law you must think of others as you wish them to think of you. The law upon which the Golden Rule is based begins affecting you, either for good or evil, the moment you release a thought. It has amounted almost to a worldwide tragedy that people have not generally understood this law. Despite the simplicity of the law it is practically all there is to be learned that is of enduring value to man, for it is the medium through which we become the masters of our own destiny. Understand this law and you understand all that the Bible has to unfold to you, for the Bible presents one unbroken chain of evidence in support of the fact that man is the maker of his own destiny; and, that his thoughts and acts are the tools with which he does the making. During ages of less enlightenment and tolerance than that of the present, some of the greatest thinkers the world has ever produced 6 have paid with their lives for daring to uncover this Universal Law so that it might be understood by all. In the light of the past history of the world, it is an encouraging bit of evidence, in support of the fact that men are gradually throwing off the veil of ignorance and intolerance, to note that I stand in no danger of bodily harm for writing that which would have cost me my life a few centuries ago. While this course deals with the highest laws of the universe, which man is capable of interpreting, the aim, nevertheless, has been to show how these laws may be used in the practical affairs of life. With this object of practical application in mind, let us now proceed to analyze the effect of the Golden Rule through the following incident. EVERY man takes care that his neighbor does not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well. He has changed his market cart into a chariot of the sun. Here’s a story:
No, said the lawyer, I shan't press your claim against that man; you can get someone else to take the case, or you can withdraw it; just as you please. Think there isn't any money in it? 7 There probably would be some little money in it, but it would come from the sale of the little house that the man occupies and calls his home! But I don't want to meddle with the matter, anyhow. Got frightened out of it, eh? Not at all. I suppose likely the fellow begged hard to be let off? Well, yes, he did. And you caved in, likely? Yes. What in creation did you do? I believe I shed a few tears. And the old fellow begged you hard, you say? No, I didn't say so; he didn't speak a word to me. Well, may I respectfully inquire whom he did address in your hearing? God Almighty. Ah, he took to praying, did he? Not for my benefit, in the least. You see, I found the little house easily enough and knocked on the outer door, which stood ajar; but nobody heard me, so I stepped into the little hall and saw through the crack of a door a cozy sitting-room, and there on the bed, with her silver head high on the pillows, was an old lady who looked for all the world just like my mother did the last time I ever saw her on earth. Well, I was on the point of knocking, when she said: Come, father, now begin; I'm all ready. And down on his knees by her side went an 8 old, white-haired man, still older than his wife, I should judge, and I couldn't have knocked then, for the life of me. Well, he began. First, he reminded God they were still His submissive children, mother and he, and no matter what He saw fit to bring upon them they shouldn't rebel at His will. Of course twas going to be very hard for them to go out homeless in their old age, especially with poor mother so sick and helpless, and, oh! how different it all might have been if only one of the boys had been spared. Then his voice kind of broke, and a white hand stole from under the coverlet and moved softly over his snowy hair. Then he went on to repeat that nothing could be so sharp again as the parting with those three sons - unless mother and he should be separated. But, at last, he fell to comforting himself with the fact that the dear Lord knew that it was through no fault of his own that mother and he were threatened with the loss of their dear little home, which meant beggary and the alms-house - a place they prayed to be delivered from entering if it should be consistent with Gods will. And then he quoted a multitude of promises concerning the safety of those who put their trust in the Lord. In fact, it was the most thrilling plea to which I ever listened. And at last, he prayed for Gods blessing on those who were about to demand justice. The lawyer then continued, more lowly than ever: And I believe - I'd rather go to the poor-house myself tonight than to stain my heart and hands with the blood of such a prosecution as that.

Little afraid to defeat the old man's prayer, eh? Bless your soul, man, you couldn't defeat it! said the lawyer. I tell you he left it all subject to the will of God; but he claimed that we were told to make known our desires unto God; but of all the pleadings I ever heard that beat all. You see, I was taught that kind of thing myself in my childhood. Anyway, why was I sent to bear that prayer? I am sure I dont know, but I hand the case over. I wish, said the client, twisting uneasily, you hadn't told me about the old man's prayer. Why so? Well, because I want the money the place would bring; but I was taught the Bible straight enough when I was a youngster and Id hate to run counter to what you tell about. I wish you hadn't heard a word about it, and, another time, I wouldn't listen to petitions not intended for my ears. The lawyer smiled. My dear fellow, he said, you're wrong again. It was intended for my ears, and yours, too; and God Almighty intended it. My old mother used to sing about God's moving in a mysterious way, as I remember it. Well, my mother used to sing it, too, said the claimant, as he twisted the claim-papers in his fingers. You can call in the morning, if you like, and tell mother and him the claim has been met. In a mysterious way, added the lawyer, smiling. Neither this lesson nor the course of which it is a part is based upon an appeal to maudling sentiment, but there can be no escape from the truth that success, in its highest and noblest form, brings one, finally, to view all human relationships with a feeling of deep emotion such as that which this lawyer felt when he overheard the old mans prayer. It may be an old-fashioned idea, but somehow I can't get away from the belief that no man can attain success in its highest form without the aid of earnest prayer! Prayer is the key with which one may open the secret doorway .

Tolerance: The Most Important Thing

2010-11-18T10:51:00.001-08:00

When the dawn of Intelligence shall have spread its wings over the eastern horizon of progress, and Ignorance and Superstition shall have left their last footprints on the sands of Time, it will be recorded in the book of mans crimes and mistakes that his most grievous sin was that of Intolerance! The bitterest Intolerance grows out of racial and religious differences of opinion, as the result of early childhood training. How long, 0 Master of Human Destinies, until we poor mortals will understand the folly of trying to destroy one another because of dogmas and creeds and other superficial matters over which we do not agree? Our allotted time on this earth is but a fleeting moment, at most! Like a candle, we are lighted, shine for a moment and flicker out! Why can we not so live during this short earthly sojourn that when the Great Caravan called Death draws up and announces this visit about finished we will be ready to fold our tents, and, like the Arabs of the Desert, silently follow the Caravan out into the Darkness of the Unknown without fear and trembling? I am hoping that I will find no Jews or Gentiles, Catholics or Protestants, Germans or Englishmen, Frenchmen or Russians, Blacks or Whites, Reds or Yellows, when I shall have crossed the Bar to the Other Side. I am hoping I will find there only human Souls, Brothers and Sisters all, unmarked by race, creed or color, far I shall want to be done with Intolerance so I may lie down and rest an ~on or two, undisturbed by the strife, ignorance, superstition and petty misunderstandings which mark with chaos and grief this earthly existence. IF a man has built a sound character it makes but little difference what people say about him, because, he will win in the end.

Opportunity

2010-11-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

They do me wrong who say I come no more. When once I knock and fail to find you in; For every day I stand outside your door, And bid you wake, and rise to fight and win. Wail not for precious chances passed away; Weep not for golden ages on the wane; Each night I burn the records of the day; At sunrise every soul is born again. Laugh like a boy at splendors that have sped, To vanished joys be blind and deaf and dumb; My judgments seal the dead past with its dead, But never bind a moment yet to come. Though deep in mire wring not your hands and weep, I lend my arm to all who say, I can! No shamefaced outcast ever sank so deep But yet might rise and be again a man! Dost thou behold thy lost youth all aghast? Dost reel from righteous retribution's blow? Then turn from blotted archives of the past And find the future's pages white as snow. Art thou a mourner? Rouse thee from thy spell; 40 Art thou a sinner? Sin may be forgiven; Each morning gives thee wings to flee from hell, Each night a star to guide thy feet to heaven. STRIVE not to banish pain and doubt, In pleasures noisy din; The peace thou seekest from without, Is only found within. (Walter Malone)1 of 22
THE LAW OF SUCCESS IN SIXTEEN LESSONS by Napoleon Hill Teaching, for the First Time in the History of the World, the True Philosophy upon which all Personal Success is Built. PUBLISHED BY The RALSTON UNIVERSITY PRESS MERIDEN, CONN. COPYRIGHT 1928, BY NAPOLEON HILL

A History Lesson

2010-11-18T05:40:00.000-08:00

Who ne'er has suffered, he has lived but half, Who never failed, he never strove or sought, Who never wept is stranger to a laugh, And he who never doubted never thought. As I near the end of this, my favorite lesson of this course, I close my eyes for a moment and see before me a great army of men and women whose faces show the lines of care and despair. Some are in rags, having reached the last stage of that long, long trail which men call failure! Others are in better circumstances, but the fear of starvation shows plainly on their faces; the smile of courage has left their lips; and they, too, seem to have given up the battle. The scene shifts! I look again and I am carried backward into the history of mans struggle for a place in the sun, and there I see, also, the failures of the past - failures that have meant more to the human race than all the so-called successes recorded in the history of the world. I see the homely face of Socrates as he stood at the very end of that trail called failure, waiting, with upturned eyes, through those moments which must have seemed like an eternity, just before he drank the cup of hemlock that was forced upon him by his tormentors. I see, also, Christopher Columbus, a prisoner in chains, which was the tribute paid him for his sacrifice in having set sail on an unknown and uncharted sea, to discover an unknown continent. I see, also, the face of Thomas Paine, the man whom the English sought to capture and put to death as the real instigator of the American Revolution. I see him lying in a filthy prison, in France, as he waited calmly, under the shadow of the guillotine, for the death, which he expected, would be meted out to him for his part in behalf of humanity. And I see, also, the face of the Man of Galilee, as he suffered on the cross of Calvary - the reward he received for his efforts in behalf of suffering human Failures, all! Oh, to be such a failure. Oh, to go down in history, as these men did, as one who was brave enough to place humanity above the individual and principle above pecuniary gain. On such failures rest the hopes of the world. Oh, men, who are labeled failures - up, rise up! again and do! Somewhere in the world of action is room; there is room for you. No failure was eer recorded, in the annals of truthful men, Except of the craven-hearted who fails, nor attempts again. The glory is in the doing, and not in the trophy won; The walls that are laid in darkness may laugh to the kiss of the sun. Oh, weary and worn and stricken, oh, child of fates cruel gales! I sing - that it haply may cheer him - I sing to the man who fails. Be thankful for the defeat which men call failure, because if you can survive it and keep on trying it gives you a chance to prove your ability to rise to the heights of achievement in your chosen field of endeavor. No one has the right to brand you as a failure except yourself. If, in a moment of despair, you should feel inclined to brand yourself as a failure, just remember those words of the wealthy philosopher, Croesus, who was advisor to Cyrus, king of the Persians: I am reminded, O king, and take this lesson to heart, that there is a wheel on which the affairs of men revolve and its mechanism is such that it prevents any man from being always fortunate. What a wonderful lesson is wrapped up in those words - a lesson of hope and courage and promise. (Napolean Hill 1920 The Law of Failure)

2010-11-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Self Confidence Formula
First: I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose. Therefore I demand of myself persistent aggressive and continuous action toward attainment.
Second: I realize that the dominating thoughts of my mind eventually reproduce themselves outward bodily action and gradually transform themselves into physical reality. Therefore I will concentrate my mind for thirty minutes daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to be creating a mental picture of this person and then transforming that picture of this person into reality for practical service.
Third: I know that through principle of auto suggestion and desire that I persistently hold on my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of realizing it. Therefore I shall devote ten minutes daily to demanding myself of the development of the factors named in the sixteen lessons of this Reading Course in the Law of Success.
Fourth: I have clearly mapped out and written down a description of my definite purpose in life for the coming five years. I have set a price on my services for each of these five years. A price that I intend to earn and receive through strict application of the principles, of efficient, satisfactory service which will render in advance.
Fifth: I fully realize that no wealth can endure unless built on truth and justice therefore I will engage in no transaction, which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to me the forces I wish to use and the cooperation of the people. I will induce others to service me because I will first service them. I will eliminate hatred, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude towards others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me because I will believe in them and myself. I will cause others to believe in me because I will believe in them, and myself. I will sign my name to this formula commit it to memory and repeat it aloud once a day with full faith that it will gradually influence my entire life so that I will become a successful and happy worker in my chosen field of endeavor.(1 of 22
THE LAW OF SUCCESS IN SIXTEEN LESSONS by Napoleon Hill Teaching, for the First Time in the History of the World, the True Philosophy upon which all Personal Success is Built. PUBLISHED BY The RALSTON UNIVERSITY PRESS MERIDEN, CONN. COPYRIGHT 1928, BY NAPOLEON HILL )

Napolean Hill

Sex, Drugs, and Rock Roll

2010-10-28T08:40:00.002-07:00

What happened to the time when politicians and the leaders of our great country had law degrees. These days we wonder if America is seeing it's last glimpse of the sunlight as the world leader. The wisdom that comes from education, experience and common sense starting with the founding fathers of this great nation. Today, we do not have deep thinkers, people who sit, contemplate and act on those great thought popular or no. As Gen. George Washington sat on the shores of the Potomac River facing a lack of funding from congress for the revolutionary war his been without shoes or food becoming meager and popular thought saying surrender all in the Snow of the northern states of winter. But Gen Washington having thou hgt it through and knew the outcome would be victorious. Thus creating a new country of freedom of its people from Britain, sailed across the Potomac River with his men with courage and commitment.

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, are learned men of deep contemplative thoughts of the future of these United States and it's constituents. The framework of the United States seems to be something that as time goes by needs someone (out politicians to pay attention to) is not a living document, it is static, it is not dynamic. hard choices hae to be made, truth has to be victorious, and courage has to be possessed by the leaders of this great country. Over the past one hundred years there has been only several courageous leaders who stood with conviction of their thoughts of staying on the side of righteousness, thoughtfulness, love, morality, and integrity. John F. Kennedy, Martin L. King, Lyndon B. Johnson, Malcom Shabazz, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama are examples of great leaders and thinkers.

The Tea Party has good intentions, but it seems there is not a a well read person or anyone of great thinking abilities among the top brass which does not lend to good leadership.

In 1974 there was a oil shortage in the United States. Gas was not available in the needed quantities or so we were told. The prices escalated. To have order legislation was [passed in California, the number "3" state in public education and a booming economy, mad provision for cars with the licence number ending in an even number to purchase gas only on even days Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. And cars with licences ending in odd numbers purchasing gas on odd days Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. However, because of the nature of America we did not seek to pursue aggressively an alternative fuel or means of transportation that was not make us a slave to another country. A group of Arab OPEC countries which now provides terrorist with the religious and financial backing to attack America and the world to like communism make the whole world Islamic. Hopefully like Communism it will not succeed in doing. But what is America's nature? Is our culture the same as out nature?

After long conversations with some people, I have come to the conclusion that America's nature is held in it's people. In out society we want more now. More materialistic things, the bigger the better, from houses to our fast food sandwiches. Which brings me to the second point we want it fast and easy. Everything microwavable. So it doesn't surprise the world that eh population in America is the most obese country in the world. In America we coined the phrase couch potato and the 12 ounce curl as an exercise. Lifting a beer to to your mouth is not an exercises. Americans are LAZY. Which leads me to the question "Are our freshman politicians stupid caused by their laziness a reflection of the country? A population that is told what to think by pundits. Are we so lazy that we won't think a thing through to completion. Or do we know how? Are there no more thinkers? Not to mention great thinkers. Let us return to reading, thinking and exercising your brain. Turn off ther idiot box. Here is a word for you today atrophy. "Without reading atrophy of the brain begins."

I Create My Universe With My Thoughts

2010-10-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

"My Happy Place"
I can smell the salty air, hear the sea gulls, and feel the sand between my toes. The waves are crashing and the mist them feels nice. I can her Julie screaming for ther dog Singer to wake up. I want to run to her and warn her but I can't. I am sitting in my bed reading a book, "The Guardian". I have created my own universe with my thoughts while reading my book, it feels like I'm there.
One of my favorite escapes is reading a book especially when I am down and need a break from the real world. A mypopic amount of real people don't like to read but they don't know how great it is when you can escape by reading. It is also possible by imaginig any place you want to be and anyone you want to be.
Life is stressful and crazy sometimes. Everyone needs a way to relax and get away from there stressors. Imagining and reading are the perfect ways of creating another universe where your real problems don't exist. Mary Beth McIntyre Class of 2011

Before It Can Become A Reality It Must First Be a Thought

2010-10-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

The quote "Before it can become a real it must first begin as a thought." There are several reasons I chose this quote to write an essay on; first is because once you read this quote then you start questioning yourself and what it means. I feel that if people didn't think then we wouldn't have food, government, homes, clothes or maybe we wouldn't be here. If no one would have thought about houses, then everyone would be living on the streets. The clothes and shoes that you have on were thought of by someone. If we didn't have thoughts we wouldn't have a world. Thinking about things is the only way it is going to become a reality. Many people may think the things that they have today fell out of the sky, but they are wrong. It went through someone's mind as a thought and out as a realtiy. Once you have read this quote tell me what it made you think about. did you know that the new 2011 Air Jordan's are designed by a woman. Class of 2013 Deneasha Armour

What Does It Mean To Want Something?

2010-10-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

A serious question only you can answer. To want is something that most people think should be given to them. They think of it as dreams that magically become reality. I think to want something is to work your hardest at getting it.
I always thought things were supposed to be handed to me. It's a little obvious that I was wrong. I couldn't figure out why I was never successfull at anything, I never studied, practiced nor did I ever give 100% effort. I was basically known as wasted talent. I now believe maturity is a big factor in life when it comes to wanting something. As I hae matured I now realize that a starting spot will not be handed to me because of my last name or a 100% on a test will not be given due to the fact that I have potential. The main things I have to do to recieve the things I want is to work hard, think bigger than my dreams, and strive everday until I earn it. So to answer my question, "What do mean to want something?". It means the choice is left up to you and what you are gooing to do to recieve it. Austin McCant Class of 2013

A Great Leader

2010-09-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

What does it take to become a Great Leader? Some people might think they are a great leader because they have followers. That's not true in most cases. A Great Leader will do the right thing, be a teammate, and have great preparation. The little things can make you a great leader.
In order to become a Great Leader you'll have to do things the right way. Whether in sports or in life there will always be two groups of people, those who do the right things, and those who don't. You'll need to be able to find out who is in what group. And when you do you find out, place yourself in the right crowd. If there is not a good group then you'll need to separate yourself. One of the greatest leaders King David, was separated from every one. You have to know what right and stick to it. Even if some people try to pressure you to do wrong, just have the courage to do the right thing.
Also Great Leaders help others out. In order to be a Great Leader you have to be humble. You can't go around showing off or bragging because people will not want to follow that. You have to learn that you are not better than the guy next to you, whether you are a senior or a boss. You will also have to be willing to help out your peers. it could be a play, a math problem, or issues at the house, a Great Leader will take his personal time to help someone in need out.
Finally a Great Leader will do what it takes to be prepared. Everything from a huge football game to a important speech needs great preparation for great results. In order to have great preparation you will need to block out anything that has nothing to do with whatever you are preparing for. You have to stay focused when you are preparing don't let outside things get in your way. Another thing that will help is go the extra mile,run an extra lap, hit twenty extra balls, or get more in depth with your research. you can never have to much preparation.
If you follow these things and stick with them you'll be the best leader you could be. You just have to keep your head on straight and do the right things. Also help out the man or woman next to you. and finally prepare like your life depends on it. Follow this and people will watch and follow you. This essay written by Marquis Smith of Class of 2013

The Average Republican ...Did Obama Cause This

2010-09-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/politician-phil-davison-freaks-out-during-speech-11600742

After looking at the numbers for the month there is a net loss of jobs of 67,000. We talk about this administration and the discouragement of growth of business. Now the people are being given the popular opinion that the President is doing a terrible job as President. But they forgot that when he came in to office there was a net job loss every month of 750,000. Three quarters of a million jobs a month lost, down the drain. So would you rather loose $750.00 a month or $67.00. It is the same thing, the money is just something that is small enough to make is sinmple enough to understand. Republicans want the office of President so bad and hate so bad that Black American man is the most powerful man in the world and ouit snookered them. Don't forget the American Black is the most hated person in America. So the have the third richest man in Amercia who is also own the company with that is give off the third largest amount of pollution sin the United States. With all opf his money I believe 35 billion dollars to try and dethrone President Obama. So if that man is trying to get President Obama de-elected next 2012 election, Obama must really be good for the country. The same thing was done to President Clinton. We must stand up and not be dismayed my the rhetoric that is spewed over and over again. A lie if told long enough can it become the truth? Let us spread the truth and change public opinion to the real truth "that the economy is getting better". America has been partying since the end of world war 2. The beginning of the baby boom was the start of the party over 60 years. If you had been drinking for 60 years do how long do you think it will take you to gt clean and sober and into you right mind at least 60. so that is what we are up against. It is going to take a while to clean up. Obama is starting the process of cleaning up America. America should have started cleaning up after the first oil embargo in 1974. We should have at that point started having some sort of oil diet and started weening ourselves and the economy off oil. Instead what do we do give lip service and watch and copmplain that oil is going up so high even $148.00 a barrell which was $4.00 a gallon. Politicians let big business rape the small helpless man. The two political parties are not Democrat and Republican, but Corporatons vs Consumers, big business against small people. Lehaman brothers $140,000 toilet in the CEO's office, WTF and the average 3 bedroom 2bath home is $140,000. What did this toilet do? America was built on the backs of the poor, the immigrant, the most hated the black man of Amercia.

How the Stimulus Is Changing America

2010-08-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — President Obama's $787 billion stimulus — has been marketed as a jobs bill, and that's how it's been judged. The White House says it has saved or created about 3 million jobs, helping avoid a depression and end a recession. Republicans mock it as a Big Government boondoggle that has failed to prevent rampant unemployment despite a massive expansion of the deficit. Liberals complain that it wasn't massive enough.
It's an interesting debate. Politically, it's awkward to argue that things would have been even worse without the stimulus, even though that's what most nonpartisan economists believe. But the battle over the Recovery Act's short-term rescue has obscured its more enduring mission: a long-term push to change the country. It was about jobs, sure, but also about fighting oil addiction and global warming, transforming health care and education, and building a competitive 21st century economy. Some Republicans have called it an under-the-radar scramble to advance Obama's agenda — and they've got a point. (See TIME's special report "The Green Design 100.")
Yes, the stimulus has cut taxes for 95% of working Americans, bailed out every state, hustled record amounts of unemployment benefits and other aid to struggling families and funded more than 100,000 projects to upgrade roads, subways, schools, airports, military bases and much more. But in the words of Vice President Joe Biden, Obama's effusive Recovery Act point man, "Now the fun stuff starts!" The "fun stuff," about one-sixth of the total cost, is an all-out effort to exploit the crisis to make green energy, green building and green transportation real; launch green manufacturing industries; computerize a pen-and-paper health system; promote data-driven school reforms; and ramp up the research of the future. "This is a chance to do something big, man!" Biden said during a 90-minute interview with TIME.
For starters, the Recovery Act is the most ambitious energy legislation in history, converting the Energy Department into the world's largest venture-capital fund. It's pouring $90 billion into clean energy, including unprecedented investments in a smart grid; energy efficiency; electric cars; renewable power from the sun, wind and earth; cleaner coal; advanced biofuels; and factories to manufacture green stuff in the U.S. The act will also triple the number of smart electric meters in our homes, quadruple the number of hybrids in the federal auto fleet and finance far-out energy research through a new government incubator modeled after the Pentagon agency that fathered the Internet. (See TIME's special report "After One Year, A Stimulus Report Card.")
The only stimulus energy program that's gotten much attention so far — chiefly because it got off to a slow start — is a $5 billion effort to weatherize homes. But the Recovery Act's line items represent the first steps to a low-carbon economy. "It will leverage a very different energy future," says Kristin Mayes, the Republican chair of Arizona's utility commission. "It really moves us toward a tipping point." (Watch the video "TIME Polls America: Spend or Cut?")
The stimulus is also stocked with nonenergy game changers, like a tenfold increase in funding to expand access to broadband and an effort to sequence more than 2,300 complete human genomes — when only 34 were sequenced with all previous aid. There's $8 billion for a high-speed passenger rail network, the boldest federal transportation initiative since the interstate highways. There's $4.35 billion in Race to the Top grants to promote accountability in public schools, perhaps the most significant federal education initiative ever — it's already prompted 35 states and the District of Columbia to adopt reforms to qualify for the cash. There's $20 billion to move health records into the digital age, which should reduce redundant tests, dangerous drug interactions and errors caused by doctors with chicken-scratch handwriting. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius calls that initiative the foundation for Obama's health care reform and "maybe the single biggest component in improving quality and lowering costs." (Comment on this story.)
Any of those programs would have been a revolution in its own right. "We've seen more reform in the last year than we've seen in decades, and we haven't spent a dime yet," says Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "It's staggering how the Recovery Act is driving change." (See where employment will rebound in the U.S.)
That was the point. Critics have complained that while the New Deal left behind iconic monuments — courthouses, parks, the Lincoln Tunnel, the Grand Coulee Dam — this New New Deal will leave a mundane legacy of sewage plants, repaved roads, bus repairs and caulked windows. In fact, it will create new icons too: solar arrays, zero-energy border stations, an eco-friendly Coast Guard headquarters, an "advanced synchrotron light source" in a New York lab. But its main legacy will be change. The stimulus passed just a month after Obama's inauguration, but it may be his signature effort to reshape America — as well as its government. (See pictures of Barack Obama behind the scenes on Inauguration Day.)
"Let's Just Go Build It!"
After Obama's election, Depression scholar Christina Romer delivered a freak-out briefing to his transition team, warning that to avoid a 1930s-style collapse, Washington needed to pump at least $800 billion into the frozen economy — and fast. "We were in a tailspin," recalls Romer, who is about to step down as chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. "I was completely sympathetic to the idea that we shouldn't just dig ditches and fill them in. But saving the economy had to be paramount." Obama's economists argued for tax cuts and income transfers to get cash circulating quickly, emergency aid to states to prevent layoffs of cops and teachers and off-the-shelf highway projects to put people to work. They wanted a textbook Keynesian response to an economy in cardiac arrest: adding money to existing programs via existing formulas or handing it to governors, seniors and first-time home buyers. They weren't keen to reinvent the wheel.
But Obama and Biden also saw a golden opportunity to address priorities; they emphasized shovel-worthy as well as shovel-ready. Biden recalls brainstorming with Obama about an all-in push for a smarter electrical grid that would reduce blackouts, promote renewables and give families more control over their energy diet: "We said, 'God, wouldn't it be wonderful? Why don't we invest $100 billion? Let's just go build it!' "
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It wasn't that easy. Utilities control the grid, and new wires create thorny not-in-my-backyard zoning issues; there wasn't $100 billion worth of remotely shovel-ready grid projects. It's hard to transform on a timeline, and some congressional Democrats were less interested in transforming government than growing it. For instance, after securing $100 billion for traditional education programs, House Appropriations Committee chairman Dave Obey tried to stop any of it from going to Race to the Top, which is unpopular with teachers' unions.
Ultimately, even Obama's speed focused economists agreed that stimulus spending shouldn't dry up in 2010. And some Democrats were serious about investing wisely, not just spending more. So House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted on $17 billion for research. House Education and Labor Committee chairman George Miller fought to save Race to the Top. And while the grid didn't get a $100 billion reinvention, it did get $11 billion after decades of neglect, which could shape trillions of dollars in future utility investments. (See 10 big recession surprises.)
It takes time to set up new programs, but now money is flowing to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas, spread successful quit-smoking programs and design the first high-speed rail link from Tampa to Orlando. And deep in the Energy Department's basement — in a room dubbed the dungeon — a former McKinsey & Co. partner named Matt Rogers has created a government version of Silicon Valley's Sand Hill Road, blasting billions of dollars into clean-energy projects through a slew of oversubscribed grant programs. "The idea is to transform the entire energy sector," Rogers says. "What's exciting is the way it fits all together."
"They Won't All Succeed"
The green industrial revolution begins with gee-whiz companies like A123 Systems of Watertown, Mass. Founded in 2001 by MIT nanotechnology geeks who landed a $100,000 federal grant, A123 grew into a global player in the lithium-ion battery market, with 1,800 employees and five factories in China. It has won $249 million to build two plants in Michigan, where it will help supply the first generation of mass-market electric cars. At least four of A123's suppliers received stimulus money too. The Administration is also financing three of the world's first electric-car plants, including a $529 million loan to help Fisker Automotive reopen a shuttered General Motors factory in Delaware (Biden's home state) to build sedans powered by A123 batteries. Another A123 customer, Navistar, got cash to build electric trucks in Indiana. And since electric vehicles need juice, the stimulus will also boost the number of U.S. battery-charging stations by 3,200%.
"Without government, there's no way we would've done this in the U.S.," A123 chief technology officer Bart Riley told TIME. "But now you're going to see the industry reach critical mass here."
The Recovery Act's clean-energy push is designed not only to reduce our old economy dependence on fossil fuels that broil the planet, blacken the Gulf and strengthen foreign petro-thugs but also to avoid replacing it with a new economy that is just as dependent on foreign countries for technology and manufacturing. Last year, exactly two U.S. factories made advanced batteries for electric vehicles. The stimulus will create 30 new ones, expanding U.S. production capacity from 1% of the global market to 20%, supporting half a million plug-ins and hybrids. The idea is as old as land-grant colleges: to use tax dollars as an engine of innovation. It rejects free-market purism but also the old industrial-policy approach of dumping cash into a few favored firms. Instead, the Recovery Act floods the zone, targeting a variety of energy problems and providing seed money for firms with a variety of potential solutions. The winners must attract private capital to match public dollars — A123 held an IPO to raise the required cash — and after competing for grants, they still must compete in the marketplace. "They won't all succeed," Rogers says. "But some will, and they'll change the world." (Watch TIME's video "Google's Energy Initiatives Director Talks Clean Power.")
The investments extend all along the food chain. A brave new world of electric cars powered by coal plants could be dirtier than the oil-soaked status quo, so the stimulus includes an unheard-of $3.4 billion for clean-coal projects aiming to sequester or reuse carbon. There are also lucrative loan guarantees for constructing the first American nuclear plants in three decades. And after the credit crunch froze financing for green energy, stimulus cash has fueled a comeback, putting the U.S. on track to exceed Obama's goal of doubling renewable power by 2012. The wind industry added a record 10,000 megawatts in 2009. The stimulus is also supporting the nation's largest photovoltaic solar plant, in Florida, and what will be the world's two largest solar thermal plants, in Arizona and California, plus thousands of solar installations on homes and buildings.
The stimulus is helping scores of manufacturers of wind turbines and solar products expand as well, but today's grid can only handle so much wind and solar. A key problem is connecting remote wind farms to population centers, so there are billions of dollars for new transmission lines. Then there is the need to find storage capacity for when it isn't windy or sunny outside. The current grid is like a phone system without voice mail, a just-in-time network where power is wasted if it doesn't reach a user the moment it's generated. That's why the Recovery Act is funding dozens of smart-grid approaches. For instance, A123 is providing truckloads of batteries for a grid-storage project in California and recycled electric-car batteries for a similar effort in Detroit. "If we can show the utilities this stuff works," says Riley, "it will take off on its own."
Today, grid-scale storage, solar energy and many other green technologies are too costly to compete without subsidies. That's why the stimulus launched the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), a blue-sky fund inspired by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the incubator for GPS and the M-16 rifle as well as the Internet. Located in an office building a block from the rest of the Energy Department, ARPA-E will finance energy research too risky for private funders, focusing on speculative technologies that might dramatically cut the cost of, say, carbon capture — or not. "We're taking chances, because that's how you put a man on the moon," says director Arun Majumdar, a materials scientist from the University of California, Berkeley. "Our idea is it's O.K. to fail. You think America's pioneers never failed?"
ARPA-E is funding the new pioneers — mad scientists and engineers with ideas for wind turbines based on jet engines, bacteria to convert carbon dioxide into gasoline, and tiny molten-metal batteries to provide cheap high-voltage storage. That last idea is the brainchild of MIT's Donald Sadoway, who already has a prototype fuel cell the size of a shot glass. The stimulus will help him create a kind of reverse aluminum smelter to make prototypes the size of a hockey puck and a pizza box. The ultimate goal is a commercial scale battery the size of a tractor trailer that could power an entire neighborhood. "We need radical breakthroughs, so we need radical experiments," Sadoway says. "These projects send chills down the spine of the carbon world. If a few of them work, [Venezuela's Hugo] Chávez and [Iran's Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad are out of power."
Then again, the easiest way to blow up the energy world would be to stop wasting so much. That's the final link in the chain, a full-throttle push to make energy efficiency a national norm. The Recovery Act is weatherizing 250,000 homes this year. It gave homeowners rebates for energy-efficient appliances, much as the Cash for Clunkers program subsidized fuel-efficient cars. It's retrofitting juice-sucking server farms, factories and power plants; financing research into superefficient lighting, windows and machinery; and funneling billions into state and local efficiency efforts. (See TIME's special report "Obama's Agenda: Get America Back on Track.")
It will also retrofit 3 in 4 federal buildings. The U.S. government is the nation's largest energy consumer, so this will save big money while boosting demand for geothermal heat pumps, LED lighting and other energy-saving products. "We're so huge, we make markets," says Bob Peck, the General Services Administration's public-buildings commissioner. GSA's 93-year-old headquarters, now featuring clunky window air conditioners and wires duct-taped to ceilings, will get energy optimized heating, cooling and lighting systems, glass facades with solar membranes and a green roof; the makeover should cut its energy use 55%. It might even beta-test stimulus-funded windows that harvest sunlight. "We'll be the proving ground for innovation in the building industry," Peck says. "It all starts with renovating the government."
The New Venture Capitalists
The stimulus really is starting to change Washington — and not just the buildings. Every contract and lobbying contact is posted at Recovery.gov, with quarterly data detailing where the money went. A Recovery Board was created to scrutinize every dollar, with help from every major agency's independent watchdog. And Biden has promised state and local officials answers to all stimulus questions within 24 hours. It's a test-drive for a new approach to government: more transparent, more focused on results than compliance, not just bigger but better. Biden himself always saw the Recovery Act as a test — not only of the new Administration but of federal spending itself. He knew high-profile screwups could be fatal, stoking antigovernment anger about bureaucrats and two-car funerals. So he spends hours checking in, buttering up and banging heads to keep the stimulus on track, harassing Cabinet secretaries, governors and mayors about unspent broadband funds, weatherization delays and fishy projects. He has blocked some 260 skate parks, picnic tables and highway beautifications that flunked his what-would-your-mom-think test. "Imagine they could have proved we wasted a billion dollars," Biden says. "Gone, man. Gone!"
So far, despite furor over cash it supposedly funneled to contraception (deleted from the bill) and phantom congressional districts (simply typos), the earmark-free Recovery Act has produced surprisingly few scandals. Prosecutors are investigating a few fraud allegations, and critics have found some goofy expenditures, like $51,500 for water-safety-mascot costumes or a $50,000 arts grant to a kinky-film house. But those are minor warts, given that unprecedented scrutiny. Biden knows it's early — "I ain't saying mission accomplished!" — but he calls waste and fraud "the dogs that haven't barked." (See 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.)
The Recovery Act's deeper reform has been its focus on intense competition for grants instead of everybody-wins formulas, forcing public officials to consider not only whether applicants have submitted the required traffic studies and small-business hiring plans but also whether their projects make sense. Already staffed by top technologists from MIT, Duke and Intel, ARPA-E recruited 4,500 outside experts to winnow 3,700 applications down to 37 first-round grants. "We've taken the best and brightest from the tech world and created a venture fund — except we're looking for returns for the country," Majumdar says. These change agents didn't uproot their lives to fill out forms in triplicate and shovel money by formula. They want to reinvent the economy, not just stimulate it. Sadoway, the MIT battery scientist, is tired of reporting how many jobs he's created in his lab: "If this works, I'll create a million jobs!"
Obama has spent most of his first term trying to clean up messes — in the Gulf of Mexico, Iraq and Afghanistan, on Wall Street and Main Street — but the details in the stimulus plan are his real down payment on change. The question is which changes will last. Will electric cars disappear after the subsidies disappear? Will advanced battery factories migrate back to China? Will bullet trains ever get built? The President wants to extend transformative programs like ARPA-E. But would they be substitutes for the status quo or just additions to tack onto the deficit? And would they survive a Republican Congress?
Polls suggest the actual contents of the Recovery Act are popular. But the idea of the stimulus itself remains toxic — and probably will as long as the recovery remains tepid. "Today, it's judged by jobs," Rogers says of the act. "But in 10 years, it'll be judged by whether it transformed our economy."

(TimeMagazine.com August 26,2010)

The Want to Win Is Nothing Without the Dedication to Work

2010-08-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

"The Want to Win Is Nothing Without the Dedication to Work" to me that means you can have a goal or dream, but if your are not putting toward the effort to achieve, it doesn't matter. You can't hope you'll have a big house, a nice car, or be wealthy if you're on the couch all day. To achieve something you must be dedicated to doing whatever to reach that goal. I understood that it is not often that someone becomes successful by doing nothing. Those who put in effort are th ones who reach thir goals. Those who don't value the time they have will always be in the same position. I personally have goals and dreams and I'm willing to strive for them. It is not a day go by I don't think and try to improve my plan to reach success. I also have have more than one plan to becoming wealthy. The reason for that is in case one plan doesn't work I have a back up. The inspiration behind that is I was told to
"Hope for the best and prepare for the worst" a quote by Benjamin Franklin. What also keeps me going is those I hang with. The reason I say that is for instance if your hang with some who isn't about anything themself "9" out "10" times you are just the same. Ilike to aroun preople who got something for going for themselves becaue I'm about the something they are about. Quinton Whitehead 10th grade student at Class of 2013

The Want to Win Is Nothing Without the Dedication to Work For It

2010-08-11T07:28:00.000-07:00

If you want somethng you have to the drive to and heart to go for it. You have to show that you can do anything and that you can get it and you aren't going to stop until you get it. You don't back down from anyone who wants to stop you and say your can't do it. If anyone wants to stand up and push you down and make you lose your dediaton you stand up and show what you can be and are made of and that you won't take no for an answer. You will show whoever, what you are made of and that you can do anything you set your mind to. Even if you do get knocked down you get right back up nd fight back. Don't ever Give Up!!! No matter what the cost you show what you are made of and what will power and courage and determination you have. God will always help you through the rough spots. He will always be there to bring you strength when you're weak. He will guide you when you think you can't find your way. He will push you to make the right choice or when you think yiou are making the right choice he helps you to understand why or why not. God is there for you always and he will help you win aht yout you re fighting for. If you really want it go for it, go for it and use that drive that you have for yourself and push it until you get it!! The way I am is "I'm not going to stop and I'm going to hit the ground runnig and be able to set the goal and get what I am looKing for." Renee Smith 11th grade Class of 2012

Excuses Are the Tools of The Mediocre

2010-08-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

I picked this one because if you make an excuse for everything you can't accomplish or can't complete you will be a failure. I know I do not want to be mediocre. So I try my hardest at whatever I am attempting. Fill life's toolbox with traits and techniques you learn from failure. When I read this it makes me think of a poor loser, like something they would say just to get out of doing the work to make themselves better.when life knocks you down the most respectable thing to do is get back up and not ask why. Patience is another tool that is vital for victory. Like in wrestling you re patient to wait for the right time to strike. you don't ask your opponent why he beat you, you learn from it. You also strive harder and harder to be the best. . I believe that the best quote for wrestling would be "No excuses". When your opponent beats you in a match the most respectable thing you could do is pick yourself up and shake their hand. This is how I relate this quote to my life. I live my life by no Excuses / I fo everything for a reason and I stand by my reasones. I will not make up an excuse just because one of the things I do doesn't please someone else. I will apologize but I will not make an excuse. After I read the book "No Excuses" by Kyle Mazard, it changed my perspective on life. Kyle is a congenital amputee who learned with no excused to accomplish whatever he wanted in life. I hope to be like Kyle to have no excuses in life. John Davis 11th grade Wrestling Team, Class of 2012

"To Get What You Want You Have to do What Other People Dont"

2010-08-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

This slogan speaks to me. It tells me different things when I put a lot of thought into it. The first thing I think when I see this slogan is not to follow the crowd. If you follow th crowed that is doing the wrong thing and not doing what they are supposed to do then you are headed down the wrong path and will never get anywhere in life or get where you what you want. Also when I think about this slogan it screams do the right thing!!! Don't do drugs they will not get you anywhere. That kind of falls in ths same category as don't follow th crowd but, they are kind of different to me. Drugs are what your deicde to do on your own. You have your own mind and no one else should get in your head and make you do anything that you know isn't right. When you follow the crowd you could skip class that will look bad on you just as much as the people who talked you into it. On the other hand drugs and gang banging I frown upon, that is where this slogan played a big role where it says to get what you want you got to do what other don't. Bsically to sum this up if you do drugs and skip class, gang violence or illegal or bad things your setting y ourself up for failure. To get what you want don't do what other people do, if you want to get somewhere. Taylor Cannady 1lth grade at class of 2012.

Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse

2010-05-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse

“Good Morning Vietnam” was the greeting Robin Williams gave every morning on the move he played in as a American soldier radio jock in Vietnam. I am starting this article out with these words of greeting because in the next 25 years we may be in a environmental resource war. I am near completing testing to become a first year high school biology teacher. As I study, one of the topics I should become proficient on to be taught to students in biology in ecology and ecosystems.

Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there are five families that lived in a large grocery warehouse store. Let’s call the store Wal-Mike. These families are free to use any of the items in the store and all of the facilities in the store. As the years go by the families have kids and they multiply. Now the only thing I forgot to tell you about the store is that there are no future shipments to come to the store. Once all the items in the store are used then the families will die of starvation from a lack of food and water. (The human body can go many days without food abut only several without drinking water.) But that way in the future let’s see how long these families can survive. Will they divide the store into parts geographically? Will they start a barter system? Will theses families create a monetary system? Will some one try to become rich? Will they use things in the store to create and store energy that will not kill them? In the winters will set fires to keep warm? What will they do about the pollution from the smoke and garbage and OMG the rodents? Will they create some form of energy. As the families multiply and the store becomes more populated the resources and food and toilet paper and gardening tools and soil and water are depleted, what will they do? Will they have a moratorium on the amount of children born? Will they conserve the food? Will they conserve, consume and reuse?

Density dependence is the ability of an organism or species to reproduce in number according to the space. Carrying Capacity is the environments ability due to space and resources to maintain the maximum number a organism or species. Exponential growth is the ability of a organism or species to grow in vastness according to the amount of food. Aggregation is the destruction of the environment due to the multiplicity of the organism or species and the environment. Rape and plunder of the environment with no thought of tomorrow. The environment is used and mismanaged until destruction of the environment. To bring this home this is what cancer does to the human body, it multiplies until the body can no longer support the growth of the cells.
Take a look at any rodent population or roach or rat. The more food the faster they multiply. And I do mean multiply 2, then 4, then 8, then 64, the128, then 256 and so on. If we don’t take care of the resources on our planet and stop looking to acquire creature comforts with no thought or conscious, I can see Armageddon coming as we kill each other looking for water and food.
This is the story of the planet earth. I think I have painted a good enough picture for you to get it. Our fossil fuels are becoming depleted by 2015 we will be on the down stroke of the known supply. Economics tells us that more of the amount of a product that is consumed by the public the more valuable it becomes and the less the supply the more prices increases. We can see that the price of crude oil be 250.00 per barrel maybe 7 or 8 dollars per gallon at the pump. Then what, think about your travel expense, the amount of money you will have for food and clothing.

Tell our young people to go to school become thinkers and engineers and save our planet form ourselves, the time is short we have only a few years to turn back and slow down and save our planet and all of our lives and the lives of the babies coming into this mess that has been created by men who craved wealth and infected us with greed. Can you think of something that can Reduced, Recycled, and Reused?

"The Gettysburg Address" by President Lincoln ; November 19, 1863

2010-05-19T09:07:00.001-07:00

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

BP Oil Company, the State of Louisiana &The Gulf of Mexico Disaster

2010-05-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

Off of the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum Oil Company (BP) has drilled 5280 feet; one mile below the surface of the ocean to drill for oil. During the exploration for oil, there has been a catastrophe. The oil line broke and approximately 200,000 gallons of oil is leaking everyday according to BP. However according to the mathematical estimates of some mechanical engineers approximately 300,000 gallons are escaping daily contrary to BP estimates. The investment of oil exploration is very expensive and costly, perhaps in the hundreds of millions of dollars. We are a country of people who are so stuck on oil that we are allowing this company to pollute the most beautiful waters in our region. Now it has been predicted that by the middle of hurricane season that is just a couple months away that this oil will have circled the state of Florida on it way up the eastern seaboard. Now what exactly does this mean, let us take a closer look. First of all the oil is killing all of the sea life and birds in the gulf.
The people of Louisiana who rely on the gulf to provide food and income from fishing are going to be wiped out. Ask anyone who lives in Alaska who prior to the Valdese oil spill was fishing the Alaskan coast line what the spill did for the future revenue of that area. Ten years later the area is ruined. Now let’s move forward to the next hurricane season 2010 as the water current changes, carrying the oil down the west coast of Florida lucklily the beaches or St. Peters burg, Tampa, Napleswill be spaired. The loop current in th gulf caring the oil circling the Florida Keys , the coral reefs that were once white will be brown and oily, the sand that was white will be oily and brown, the seafood will be deplete because of suffocation. The Miami / Ft. Lauderdale coastline will be ruined, the aqua blue water will be ruined for generations .The beaches that were the jewels of the south will lose their brilliance. Oh yeah you can go to beach on a hot day get in the water jus bring some “Dawn” liquid detergent to cut the grease when you shower. From a economical stand point how much will be lost in revenues from the fishing industry, the restaurant, the hotels, and tourism? How many lives ruined? How many species of fish will become extinct?
In Russia the USSR a major oil supplier to the world has offered a solution after a few similar experience in the gulfs of Russia. What they do is to just drop a strong enough explosion at the mouth of the leak to close it. And if necessary they drop nuclear bombs in the ocean. This is something that is proven to work time and time again. What is the problem with this solution? I will tell what it is the BP will lose 100% of their investment and the privilege of drilling in that area again. The word for today is Aggregation. And since this is a biological issue let us use the biological definition of the word. The definition “A population in a relatively small geographic area can have a detrimental effect on the environment.” The next thing to think about is the population rate and growth in the world and its’s effect on the environment. “Does China have the right idea in implementing population control?”

How Great Leaders Inspire (Ted.com /video)

2010-05-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

You Can't Sneak up on Nobody With Nikes on

2010-05-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

How many times have you bought a pair of Nikes or know someone with a pair of Nikes that squeak? That is bullshit. People we must stop buying Nike shoes period. It is a shoe of inferior quality that is overpriced. The Nike tennis shoe I believe are now made and marketed to the children of poor folks whose only means of self esteem is the tennis that they wear. I get Nikes from China for a fraction of the cost. I am not going to pay another 40 dollars for same shoe that squeaks, has no arch suppport, and leaves me with a fallen arch, limping in pain. You get the same shoes from Champs, Athletic Attic and other stores in the malls across America for $90.00 to $160.00 a pair, yes you do.

Nike shoes in the 80's did not squeak and had an arch support. I remember I had a pair of "Legends" they were real leather like "Adidas" today. Legends were the grandfather of the Nike "Air Forces" and "Air Jordans". Back then they cost $65.00 which today is around $130.00 in todays inflated money. These Legends were such a good shoe that when they wore out I got them resoled. I bet you can't do that today with a pair of Jordans. Stacy Adams and any other shoe that cost that much can be resoled. Nike are like cigarette disposable lighters and not even a "Bic" disposables.

My opinion Nike wants to make more money even though Nike makes more money in one minute than you or I make in a year. (Nike earned world wide 4.4 billion dollars year 2009, 50 million in 90 days, and 376,000 dollars per minute.)
The way they plan on making more money is to skimp on cost by not putting in arch supports at the cost of 0.5 pennies and the foam or glue with the enough quality not to sqeak to save another 0.5 pennies. Now multiply 2 pennies by the pairs of of tennis shoes Nike sells in a month around the world. That is a lot of $$cheese$$. Stop buying Nikes and having bad feet. Get some New Balances, Etonic, Adidas, Reeboks, or as we used o say back in the day " Don't get the shoes that slip ans slid get the ones with the star on the side "Converse". Seriously F Nike !!! "Forget" about Nike see you thought I meant F Nike.

ISRAEL TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICA

2010-05-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon was something to be remembered, geez! On my way to the school this morning I was thinking about the crazy thoughts that people have about some things. I was also thinking about how sometimes if you don't get out of the way, sometimes the shit that others are going through will get on you. (Remind me to tell you about goats sometimes).But that is another story. David Duke is a former resident of Louisiana, As amatter of fact he was a member of the of Louisiana House of Reprensatives. He was also the Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan. Now he is a professor oversees giving lectures at local universities. I was looking at some comments on a article about 3 gitmo detainees 2 sent to Spain and one sent to another country. There was comment from a guy I believe from his name and picture wasfrom Trinidad. and thereasonI say this is that as a resident of south Florida you become well acquanited with Island people of the Carribean. Now his cmment were that he was tringto get a visa into Spain and they would not let him even though he was a retired businessmen with no criminal past. My esponse was that as a man of color your were not welcomed Spain like Portugal is not colored man friendly. Back toDavid Duke, look at his film on youtube.com/ISRAEL TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICA and tell me what your belief is after seeing this film. Mine thought is that I believe him and question the common sense of American policy to give money to a terrorist country. My next thought is what is the strangle hold that Israel has on this corporation called America. Why do we support, defend and finance a terrorist country that attacks us and we have to intention of retribution after the loss of military lives in the hundreds and the destruction of a clearly marked battle ship. A people who call people of color "schwarts" behind closed doors. A people who do the most dastardly things against people of color even today. If you don't believe me ask the Palastines. Do yourself a favor and look at the discovey/history channel on military strategic genius, and look up Moses, who was a great military genius and leader of a people, but a man who was absolutely ruthless. Learn the history of a people. Not just what is on the surface.

2010-04-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

Funny thing happened to me on the way to work today. I usually just wash and press them myself, but the other day when I was at the cleaners to get some slacks out. I asked the owner of the dry cleaners about the special and he told me that if I asked for it I could get my shirts starched and pressed for 1 dollar as a way of saying thanks for the patronage. So this morning I went to the dry cleaners to take some shirts to be laundered, but it was closed until 8am. I thought to myself, "Damn what kind of shit is this a cleaners that is not open early enough for working people to go to on their way to work in the mornings." So interesting that today when I got to school one of my favorite students had a head cold and was going to the bathroom to get toilet tissue and would come back with bundles of balled up tissue of which he would blow his nose once and throw this bundle in the garbage. Thoughtfully and pissed off about the waste I then showed him how to get tissue off the roll is an organized way with a simple continous fold of the tissue. Later we started talking about the waste of the world's resources, the rain forest, zinc, tantalum, titanium, Bill Gates and why he feels obligated to give back to Africa(Read the blog on he 3T's). I then went on the internet and pulled up a article about the deforestaion of rainforest on this planet and the causes. Below I dared to share it with you, please read and share with others. The worlds resources are not infinite and have a limited supply and usage. I have a question; if a person from and industrialized country uses sixty times as much of a resource than a person from a third world country what does he do with it. The answer is "waste it." Example: when you brush your teeth and turn on the cold water do you turn it off after you wet your toothbrush or just let it run while you brush and your teeth. If you let it run where does the water that is running go? Please let us stop wasting.

Causes of Rainforest Destruction Underlying Causes (http://www.savetherainforest.org/savetherainforest_015.htm)

More Than Just Poverty and Overpopulation
Poverty and overpopulation are believed to be the main causes of forest loss, according to the international agencies such as the FAO and intergovernmental bodies. They believe they can solve the problem by encouraging development and trying to reduce population growth. However, the World Rainforest Movement and many other non-governmental organisations hold unrestrained development and the excessive consumption habits of rich industrialised countries directly responsible for most forest loss.
1 Development and Overconsumption: the Basic Causes
The World Rainforest Movement's Emergency Call to Action for the Forests and Their Peoples asserts that "deforestation is the inevitable result of the current social and economic policies being carried out in the name development". It is the push for development which gives rise to commercial logging, cash crops, cattle ranching, large dams, colonisation schemes, the dispossession of peasants and indigenous people and the promotion of tourism. Harrison Ngau, an indigenous tribesman from Sarawak, Malaysia and winner of the Goldman Environment Award in 1990, has this to say about why tropical forests are being destroyed:
The roots of the problem of deforestation and waste of resources are located in the industrialised countries, where most of our resources, such as tropical timber end up. The rich nations with one quarter of the world's population consume four fifth of the world's resources. It is the throw away culture of the industrialised countries, now advertised in and forced on to the Third World countries that is leading to the throwing away of the world. Such so-called progress leads to destruction and despair![World Rainforest Movement]

2 Colonialism
Tropical rainforests are found mainly in the Third World countries, Australia and Hawaii being the only exceptions. All of these countries have indigenous populations who had their own system of land management and/or ownership in place for thousand of years before the intervention of colonists from rich industrialised nations. The colonial powers (Britain, France, Spain and Portugal), whilst exploiting the resources of many of these countries, attempted to destroy indigenous peoples' rights to remain on their land. Colonialism turned previously self-sufficient economies into zones of agriculture export production (Colchester and Lohmann). This process continues today and the situation is worsening.
3 Exploitation by Industrialised Countries
Wealthy countries have been consuming so much of their own resources that they are no longer sustaining their growing populations and increasingly, they are turning to the resources of the financially poorer countries. "Twenty per cent of the world's population is using 80 % of the world's resources" (Orams & McQuire).
Currently, although many indigenous people are claiming their culture and rights, they face stubborn opposition, as the governments in their own countries have often 'adopted the same growth-syndrome as their Western neighbours, with the emphasis on maximising exports, revenues and exploiting resources for short-term gain. Corruption in government, the military and economic powers is well known' (Orams & McQuire).
The problem is made worse by the low price for most Third World exports on the international market. The United States has been accused of manipulating prices for agricultural commodities for its own benefit at the expense of tropical countries (WRR).

4 The Debt Burden
The governments of the financially poorer countries feel they need to make money in order to repay their huge international debts. In the 1970's and 80's, they borrowed vast sums of money from development agencies in industrialised countries in order to improve their own economies. Most are still battling to make repayments due to escalating interest rates (Orams & McQuire).
Since 1987, the flow of debt repayments from Third World countries to rich countries has exceeded the flow of aid money going to Third World countries (RIC). Poor countries feel compelled to exploit their natural resources, including their forests, partly to earn foreign exchange for servicing their debts. Non-government organisations in Third World countries have for many years been pointing out that there is no chance of stopping impoverishment and destruction of nature without a solution to the debt crisis.
For example, in some countries in South-East Asia, the construction of roads for logging operations was funded by Japanese aid. Later, the forests were exploited by Japanese timber companies. The timber companies made the profits and the South-East Asian countries were left owing Japan money for the construction of the roads (Orams & Maquire).

5 The Role of Poverty and Overpopulation
Poverty, while undeniably responsible for much of the damage to rainforests, has to a large extent been brought about by the greed of the rich industrialised nations and the Third World elites who seek to emulate them. Development, which is often seen as the solution to world poverty, seldom helps those whose need is greatest. It is often the cause rather than the cure for poverty.The claim that overpopulation is the cause of deforestation is used by many governments and aid agencies as an excuse for inaction. In tropical countries, pressure from human settlement comes about more from inequitable land distribution that from population pressure. In general, most of the land is owned by a small but powerful elite which displaces poor farmers into rainforest areas. So long as these elites maintain their grip on power, lasting land reform will be difficult to achieve.
Overpopulation is not a problem exclusive to Third World countries. An individual in an industrialised country is likely to consume in the order of sixty times as much of the world's resources as a person in a poor country. The growing populations in rich industrialised nations are therefore responsible for much of the exploitation of the earth, and there is a clear link between the overconsumption in rich countries and deforestation in the tropical forests.

Wham-O-Toys

2010-04-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

The Frisbee, slinky, andof course the Hula-Hoop, do you remember these toys? These were toys that sold millions and are still selling today from the 1960's. Remember when all the cheap little trinkets and things were made in China. Not so much anymore according Mr. Daxi Lee, Chairman of the Chinese Association of Businesses. Chinese people do not want menial labor jobs, they only want work in technology. China is the center for tech manufacturing of the world. China produces along with India more college graduates than any country in the world. India is the center for most computer programming in the world. India will graduate as many honor students as we have students. WTF. China graduates 30 percent of their students in engineering. America is behind the eight ball to begin with.
Americans because of lessening skills and education are now happy to have jobs forming plastics toys and working at fast food counters. We are becoming a second class country and the only way we can retain our position in the world is education in technology.
Can you imagine some of our students taking courses for a major in what amounts to a degree in playground. History majors, how many history teacher do we need and how many history experts does NASA need or the DOD (department of defense). Maybe, NASA or the DOD needs a Latin expert or maybe Aramaic expert a language that is not even spoken anymore. Maybe we can find an art major that is planning on becoming a tattoo artist, that will really help the United States. What can a person do with a art history degree? What can a person do with a poetry degree? A major in women studies is totally useless is this needed to become a member of women’s lib organization or maybe an officer of that organization? And WTF is leisure studies? Does this teach you how to make margaritas on the beach and enjoy them under a beach umbrella. Is this an off shoot of a major in hospitality? Come on let’s get real. After the last sentence I wonder the validity of some of the college and universities offering these majors. What kind of college offers leisure studies?
What self respecting college president would allow this as a part of his or her college’s curriculum? What is the board of trustees thinking?” We have money invested in the college and we need a return on our investment.”We can charge $32,000 a year and the parents will pay it for their children to get a 4 year degree in tether ball.” Now, for those who won't get a skill or college degree or is a national security threat because of your party all the time attitude, STOP! Get a skill, preferably a technological skill and put it to some good use. Be an asset to the world not a druggy or drunk.

2010-04-28T11:39:00.003-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Wham-O Moves to America

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

The End of America As We Know It

2010-04-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_end_of_america/

WWII Over Money and Land

2010-04-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles angered the German people for many reasons. The first was that it was a Diktat ('Dictated Peace'): Germany had no say in the formulation of the treaty and was forced to agree to the terms of the treaty regardless of whether its people liked them or not. Over time, other European powers came to realise that the original terms had been too strict. When Hitler broke the treaty many years later, the reticence of the other powers to react immediately was taken as an indication that many of them agreed with Hitler that the treaty had been implemented wrongly anyway. In effect, the Treaty of Versailles didn't settle any disputes; it created more issues between countries already fractious and struggling to recover from the last war.

A significant sticking point was a clause in the treaty that made provisions for the Rhineland (which borders France and Belgium)to become a demilitarised zone - Germany would be prohibited from stationing any military troops in the Rhineland. Additionally, Germany was ordered to disarm, supposedly the first step towards world disarmament, but no one else was encouraged to join Germany in disarmament. Germany would technically be defenceless should France decide to invade them - which they eventually did in 1923 when Germany was unable to pay the reparations owed to France that year.
Reparations - effectively a 'fine' for the damage done by Germany in 1914-18 - was possibly the most unpopular part of the Treaty of Versailles. At the end of the war, land had been destroyed all over Europe, but especially in France. The treaty said that Germany had to make reparations by paying regular sums of money to France. What this clause failed to recognise was that the war had equally damaged Germany's economy and they simply could not afford to pay. The German solution to this was, in retrospect, foolish - they printed more money. The effect was that the German currency devalued to the point where the economy was on the verge of total collapse. This issue of reparations was eventually solved by the Dawes Plan and Germany were able to pay France again.

The Dawes Plan

The Dawes Plan was created so that Germany could afford their reparations to France, but it also seemed to solve many of the world's money problems. America loaned money to Germany, Germany used it to pay for the reparations, France used it to pay Britain the money they owed, and Britain used it to pay America the money they owed. This seemed to be the perfect solution to everybody's problems, and countries started getting along with each other again. However, it had one major flaw - if anything went wrong, and one of the countries was no longer able to pay another, then conflict would ensue and the economic and diplomatic situation could be worse than it was before. This happened in 1929 with the Great Depression.

The Great Depression

The stock market crash in America caused economic strife throughout the world. America could no longer loan Germany money for reparations, and they even wanted the money back. The result was that America went into isolation with the intent of nursing their own economy and avoiding being dragged into another costly European war. Countries all over the world were facing economic crises, and distrust started to form again between countries. Unemployment was high all over the world, and countries solved this problem by creating large armies. The global depression was therefore a contributing cause of the Second World War as it gave Germany an excuse to break the Treaty of Versailles and establish larger armed forces on their own turf.
reference: http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:d3vqUoOsHvcJ:www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1000774+diod+the+monies+owed+to+Britain+by+germany+start+WWII&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

The Value of Slavery in the South During the Confederacy

2010-04-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

"Confederacy Month", I thought it was Slavery Celebration Month."

It’s a good thing I was at home when I read this sentence, because I would have scared the shit out of the coffee shop crowd when I hollered out. Between that and the woman last night on Twitter who kept insisting to me that Obama has “failed”, even as the man on my TV recounted the number of nuclear non-proliferation deals the president got done this week, I am convinced that these Tea Baggers and militia men and and Governors Bob McConnell and Haley Barbour have fallen down a rabbit hole, and are now watching real life from behind a glass enclosure, where a mixture of laughing gas and goofer dust is being pumped into the air they breathe.

The headline I saw a couple of days ago over at Talking Points Memo read “VA Gov McDonnell Institutes Writing Test For Felons Seeking Voting Rights.” It won’t take USA TODAY 24 hours to come up with a color coded chart that shows in graphic detail how many of these felons are minorities. Bob McConnell is obviously trying to get his “Cracker Cred” up to snuff. Or maybe the dumb ass political consultant with the slicked back hair, the one the Virginia state GOP is paying waay, waay too much for this kind of advice, is smoking rufeys for breakfast before he jumps on the strategy conference call. But even if he were, BOB - cause you don’t deserve to be called “Governor” of shit right now – wouldn’t you realize, when someone threw this out there as an idea, that it is politically tone deaf? Do you think you only serve the people who voted for you, and not your entire state?

For those of you who have no idea what the Civil War was all about:
By 1860 there were approximately 4,000,000 slaves in the United States, the second largest slave society--slave population--in the world. The only one larger was Russian serfdom. Brazil was close. But in 1860 American slaves, as a financial asset, were worth approximately three and a half billion dollars--that's just as property. Three and a half billion dollars was the net worth, roughly, of slaves in 1860. In today's dollars that would be approximately seventy-five billion dollars. In 1860 slaves as an asset were worth more than all of America's manufacturing, all of the railroads, all of the productive capacity of the United States put together. Slaves were the single largest, by far, financial asset of property in the entire American economy. The only thing worth more than the slaves in the American economy of the 1850s was the land itself, and no one can really put a dollar value on all of the land of North America.

It was about the money - the same thing it's about now. But I bet you won't see this kind of stuff in your kid's history books. Not so long as Americans who long for the inequities of yesteryear insist on teaching "2+2=5", so that the bullshit they are trying to pass off as "authentic history" will pass the smell test.

As I used to tell my buddy years ago, when he asked why so many Southern whites were still mad about the confederacy, "Can you imagine waking up one morning to see all your money walking around free? Black people waving at you from across the street, telling you that you've got to PAY now for the labor you used to get for providing a few meals and a rickety roof to lay their heads under?"

This is really, in the grand scheme of things, irrelevant - black people are here to stay. And most of us - let me repeat that - THE MAJORITY OF US - are doing the right thing 24/7/365.

So if I were you, BOB, I'd take my pseudo-Nazi Confederate paraphernalia and pile it up with all the others who continue to insist on paying homage to the most treasonous act in the history of the United States, soak that shit in a few thousand gallons of gas, and burn every goddamn remnant until there's nothing left but a pile of ashes.

Robert E. Lee is not coming back, the Calvary will not ride again, and your great-great grandmother was, is, and will always be wrong about "the South will rise again", so long as you and Haley Barbour's Boss Hogg ass are the best you have to offer.

This is "America Has A Black President" month.

The next celebration will begin May 1st. The one after that will be June 1st. The one after that...

...I think you get the picture.

Is that "Hail To The Chief" I here

2010-04-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Good Morning. China is on there way to being the number one technological leader and economic power of the world. We as a country have to continue to invest more in our future. By the Chinese govenment estimation, by 2030 they without a doubt will be Numero Uno.
My name is Michael. I am also a middle aged black man. I am a newly highly qualified blology teacher at the high school level. This is my second year in the in Dade County school system. Every year at the beginning of the academic year we have a faculty meeting to go over the school's and the student's last years performances. Black children are at the bottom of the learning curve, not because of any learning deficiency but beacusse of the lack of trust of their teachers and the lack know how. My continued support to them is greatly needed as a teacher and others like me who help to increase the graduation rate of all students. Engineering graduates should be a topic concern and focus of our education system. Please help me help them.

Thank You,
Michael S.

Jim Crow Law is Back and Kicking in Virginia

2010-04-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Virginia is one of only two states remaining (Kentucky is the other) that deny the right to vote for life to everyone with a criminal conviction, unless the individual applies for, and is granted, clemency from the governor. Virginia would also be the only state in 2010 to require a written essay.

The roots of Virginia's criminal disenfranchisement law are firmly planted in Jim Crow. During the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901-02, delegate Carter Glass (later a prominent U.S. Senator) described the criminal disenfranchisement provision as part of a plan to "eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this state in less than 5 years, so that in no single county...will there be the least concern felt for the complete supremacy of the white race in the affairs of government."

The law certainly has had its intended effect. More than 300,000 people have lost the right to vote for life in Virginia. One in five African-Americans, and one in four African-American men, is permanently disenfranchised in the Commonwealth. African Americans make up one fifth of Virginia's population, but over half of those denied the right to vote are African-American.

The application to get one's right to vote back has always been onerous in Virginia, and the number of people "approved" each year is tiny. Former Governor Tim Kaine approved the most applications in history, a whopping total that amounted to less than 2 percent of the disenfranchised population.

But McDonnell's newest requirement is not just another box to check in a bureaucratic process. It introduces an entirely arbitrary and subjective standard that allows the most powerful elected official in the state to play fast and loose with one of America's most fundamental rights. This essay exam is no different than the arbitrary, unpassable tests that politicians and government officials employed for decades after Reconstruction to keep African-Americans from voting. And it is no different than the notorious literacy tests employed during the same period. If you can't read, you can't write. All of these nefarious tricks were outlawed by Congress with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Another piece of federal legislation, the Democracy Restoration Act, is now pending before Congress. That bill would restore the right to vote in federal elections to every American citizen who is out of prison, living in the community.
( Erika Wood 8:54 AM on 04/15/2010 http://www.thegrio.com/opinion/jim-crow-makes-a-comeback-in-virginia.php)

Nothing Comes to a Lazy Person But Poverty

2010-04-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

Money to some people is everything. You have to have a nice house or nice clothes and a brand new Lexus to be happy. To me being wealthy is alot better than being rich. In order to be wealthy, to have a successful career you have got to have a job. In order to make something of yourself you have to work hard. My grandfather tells me all the time, to start at the bottom to get to the top. That means you got to start off by working hard days and long nights. So if whenever you get older you can retire and live life right. If you choose to not worrk hard, go to work when ever you want and do whatever then you are looking at poverty. Wouldn't you like to drive the car you want, live where ever you want and have fun right? For people in poverty, because of their income they can't live where ever they want. Money can make your life easier rather than difficult. All it takes is just hard work and some self determination. Don't be lazy this is the one life kind of deal. So that's why I am going to do everything I can become wealthy no matter what it takes. Just because people tell you that can't accomplish something doesn't mean you can't. It's up to you if you really want to do it.

Written by Vince Guillard of Tift County High School who is 12th grade senior.

What's Next in the Techno Evolutionary Chain (video)

2010-04-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Technology replication TEMES vs MEMES (video)

2010-04-02T10:26:00.001-07:00

Shocking New Report; 321 Killed in Massacre

2010-04-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

Dressed in military uniforms, rebels hacked villagers to death.

At least 321 Congolese villagers were hacked to death by fighters from the Lord's Resistance Army in December, the BBC reports. It's the worst massacre ever perpetrated by the rebel group, which says it is fighting to create a Christian theocracy in Uganda, but has spread its murderous rampage to Sudan, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Witnesses say the rebels, dressed in military uniforms and pretending to be Congolese soldiers, asked people in remote villages to carry food for them across a river and killed them with machetes if they refused. "As we marched, the LRA killed people—two at one village, three at the next, and then four at the next," a witness who escaped told the BBC. "They wanted to kill me, but the leader said I should be kept alive, as they needed strong soldiers." At least 80 children were kidnapped, the boys to be fighters and the girls to be sex slaves.
Nearly every cellphone—not to mention MP3 players, laptops, and videogame systems—contains minerals that were mined in the Congo. Known as the 3Ts, tin, tantalum, and tungsten are the main source of income for military groups and demand for them continues to fuel regional conflict.
Congress is working on legislation that would require companies to be transparent about where they obtain the 3Ts, but the electronics industry has spent $2 million to weaken the proposed rules. Those companies say their supply chains are too complex to make sure the materials are conflict-free, but the Enough Project says there are a mere six major steps in the chain from the mines to a cellphone in a customer's pocket.
The question is can we stop buying electronic devices, at least long enough to show the electronic industry that we care about ours and stop contributing to the murdering our people indirectly by the purchase of these products. I am not surprised if other folks don’t care about our people but we should give a big DAMN about ours…

The Neurons That Shaped Civilization (video)

2010-03-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

There is scientific proof that we are gods with a small "g". It proves that "The Lord" did create us in his likeness not in his image. Neuro anatomy science has through research proven that we are connected through energy and the body encompasses for a time the electronic energy that we are at are essence. The vastness of our being "our soul" is interconnected with all other souls of this universe. Science has also proven the "Law of Thermodynamics" as next next part of the proof.

“The 2011 Million Man March”

2010-03-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Economic and Social Woes of Black Folk
Million Man March of 1995
One of the primary motivating factors for the march was to place black issues back on the nation’s political agenda. In the aftermath of the Republican Party’s victory in the 1994 Congressional election and the continued success of the party’s campaign platform, the Contract with America, some African American leaders felt the social and economic issues facing the black community fell by the wayside of policy debates. March organizers believed that politicians were failing the black community by “papering over the most vital dimensions of the crisis in international capitalism” and blaming urban Blacks for “domestic economic woes that threatened to produce record deficits, massive unemployment, and uncontrolled inflation.”
At the time of the march, African Americans faced unemployment rates nearly twice that of white Americans, a poverty rate of more than 40%, and a median family income that was about 58% of the median for white households. More than 11% of all black males were unemployed and for those aged 16 to 19, the number of unemployed had climbed to over 50%[8] Further, according to Reverend Jesse Jackson’s speech at the March, the United States House of Representatives had reduced funding to some of the programs that played an integral role in urban Americans’ lives. “The House of Representatives cut $1.1 billion from the nation’s poorest public schools,” and “cut $137 million from Head Start” effectively subtracting $5,000 from each classroom’s budget and cutting 45,000 preschoolers from a crucial early education program.
Media portrayal of the march.
In addition to their goal of fostering a spirit of support and self-sufficiency within the black community, organizers of the Million Man March also sought to use the event as a publicity campaign aimed at combating what they perceived as the negative racial stereotypes in the American media and in popular culture. March organizers were dismayed by the sweeping stereotypes they thought white America seemed to draw from the coverage of such figures as Willie Horton, O. J. Simpson, and Mike Tyson. Believing that “black men have been designated by the culture as the sacrificial lambs for male evil”, event organizers asked black male attendees to make a public display of their commitment to responsible and constructive behavior that would give the mass media positive imagery to broadcast. Now in 2010 ; Why is President Obama doing something for everyone else but us. Gays, Mexicans, and Jewish folk, what about his folk?
We need another March on Washington “soon and very soon” as the old gospel song says to get President Obama to start doing more for black folk? President Roosevelt told A. Phillip Randolf that if he wanted something more for black people to make the president do something. Because the president wanted to do something but the powers that made him president would not allow him to do something unless there seemed to be some political strife in the horizon. Note to self: the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Black people let us organize and get started marching to the Washington plaza. We are a country of 41 million black folks with a economy of 893 billion dollars, but for simplicity sake we’ll round it off to 1 trillion dollars. That is comparable to Spain, Argentina, Portugal, we have clout ya’ll lets use it.

How to Convert an Entire Country to Electric Cars (video)

2010-03-29T12:09:00.001-07:00

Inside a Brain Stroke (video)

2010-03-29T08:46:00.000-07:00

I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High. Psalm 82:6

Rebuilding Rwanda (video)

2010-03-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

The Robert Taylor Homes

2010-03-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

History
The Robert Taylor Homes housing project was completed in 1962 and named for Robert Taylor, an African American activist and Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) board member[1] who in 1950 resigned when the city council refused to endorse potential building locations throughout the city of Chicago that would induce racially integrated housing.[citation needed]

At one time, it was the largest housing project in the country, and it was intended to offer decent affordable housing. It was composed of 28 high-rise buildings with 16 stories each, with a total of 4,321 apartments, mostly arranged in U-shaped clusters of three, stretching for two miles (three kilometers).[2] The Robert Taylor Homes were also home at one time to such celebrities as Mr. T, Kirby Puckett, and current Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick.

Robert Taylor Homes faced many of the same problems that doomed other high-rise housing projects in Chicago such as Cabrini-Green. These problems include narcotics, violence, and the perpetuation of poverty.

Planned for 11,000 inhabitants, the Robert Taylor Homes housed up to a peak of 27,000 people. [3] Six of the poorest US census areas with populations above 2,500 were found there. Including children who are not of working age, at one point 95 percent of the housing development's 27,000 residents were unemployed and listed public assistance as their only income source,[4] and 40 percent of the households were single-parent, female-headed households earning less than $5,000 per year. About 96 percent were African-American. The 28 drab, 16-story concrete high-rises, many blackened with the scars of arson fire, sat in a narrow two-block by 2.5-mile[5] (300 m by 3 km) stretch of slum. The city's neglect was evident in littered streets, poorly enforced building codes, and scant commercial or civic amenities.

Police intelligence sources say that elevated number of homicides was the result of gang "turf wars," as gang members and drug dealers fought over control of given Chicago neighborhoods. Its landlord, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), has estimated that $45,000 in drug deals took place daily. Former residents of the Robert Taylor Homes have said that the drug dealers fought for control of the buildings. In one weekend, more than 300 separate shooting incidents were reported in the vicinity of the Robert Taylor Homes.[dubious – discuss] Twenty-eight people were killed during the same weekend, with 26 of the 28 incidents believed to be gang-related.[dubious – discuss]

Excuses; Tool of the Medioccre

2010-02-19T10:24:00.000-08:00

Excuses are the tools of the mediocre person.

Below is an statement from a interview with Michael Vick in 2010 " There was a lot more I could have done off the field and in the film room that could have elevated my game to a different level. I was complacent at the time, somewhat lazy and I settled for mediocrity. I thought that I was doing enought. If I really would have been applying myself. That's a regret that I have."

Excuses are not an option. Do the job and do it well. Excueses are ways to cover up sopmeones mediocrity. One shouldn't use excuses to why they didn't do something. This person should state why they did't do it and say so honestly. Being mediocre isn't a achievement. People should strive to be better thatn mediocre. Doing you best and being the head of the class in everything you do is aver achieving mediocrity.

Never settle for less, the sky is the limit. Set high standards to be successful and accomplish your goals for your future. Without doing your best could cause you to lose your job or a spot in a starting line up. Think of it as competition. "If you're not first you're last."

There are a lot more someone could do do to improve their abilities to an higher level. Do not think you are doing enough because you can always do more. People should let go of laziness and start applying themselves to exceed the goals. Determination and pushing oneself can be ways of apshing past mediocrity. Excuses are not an option do the job and do it well !!!!

Essay written by Quantavius Morgan of Tift County High School 12th grade.

Economic Diversity How to Escape poverty

2010-02-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

Diversity – Difference
Economic diversity is created the problem of a lack of resources. There are Eight Critical Resources needed to get out of poverty. These eight resources are so important that if a person is missing five out of the eight they will never get out and if by chance they do they will return within a couple years. Here is an interesting fact. Within five years of winning the lottery eighty percent of the lottery winners will be in worse shape than before they won the lottery. Here is another interesting fact; most professional athletes after they leave the sports arena, return to the economic status they were at before they got contracted to play professional sports.
The Eight Critical Resources needed are:
• Financial, we all could use some financial education and financial backing.
• Emotional, the lack of healthy psyche and depends on releasing emotions and resentments.
• Mental, the mental health aspect is sometimes tide to a healthy emotional state. But in poverty area it is most likely tide to addiction.
• Spiritual, we must have a conscious contact with a higher power that we choose to call God.
• Physical, to not be handicapped puts us on a level playing field.
• Support, to have someone who will pick up the individual when they are down emotionally and mentally.
• Know how, what it takes to get something done.
• Relationships, mentors/roles models who will give the needed know how to the individual. Someone who can teach them the hidden secrets.
Interesting enough ninety-five percent of behavioral problems is a result of an individual only having 3 or less of the Eight Critical Resources. If a person only has two or three of the eight resources eighty-five percent will not be able to climb out of poverty.
Some folks have their financial priorities confused. Do you purchase the latest trendy fashions, go out to have fun or do you pay bills? Do you buy drugs, alcohol or pay your bills and save your money?
Because some live in poverty they have a lack of choices. As a result there are the rent to own businesses who charge the poor $1350.00 for a $400.00 television. There are also the payday loans businesses who charge ridiculously high interest rates. Then there are the title loans companies and pawn shops that replace banks. In the Bronx Borough of New York City there are only 3 banks.
I discovered the hidden definition of capitalism for the employer/employee relationship. For the employer it is to get as much work out of the employee for as little wage as possible. For the employee it was to get as much pay out of the employer for as little work as possible. It is my experience that the employers, who pay the least wages, work employee the hardest are the strictest, bordering on the line of worker exploitation, sweat shops for example? But then you take a company like Google they have a place that if you get tense, they have a masseuse on the premises so you can go get a massage while on the clock. That is the extreme difference between a skilled technical worker and the unskilled in the work place.
There is the problem of the language barrier. Because this is the country where dreams come true and freedom still rings, we have an influx of immigrants. Immigrants come to enjoy America, to work hard and make their dreams come true. But they sometimes don’t speak English. It is very hard to get a fair shake if you can’t understand and communicate with your opponent. Now let us look at the hidden secret of “formal versus casual” language. Formal language is the language of the middle class. Some may call it talking proper, talking white or just plain good grammar. But this is the language of the work place. We cannot get hired with casual talk during the interview process with a stranger or even sometimes a friend in a casual environment. The employer and your friend want his business to be professionally run. The business’ clients want the service or product they receive to be handled professionally.
Poverty is relative. What constitutes poverty here in America maybe middle class in Mexico. There is a difference between poverty in the city and its counterpart poverty in rural area. Poverty occurs in all races. There are more Caucasians that suffer from poverty than minorities, for the simple fact that. There are 308,710,263 people in America. Caucasians are 211,460,626, the majority race in the United States.
But, remember one in five children live in poverty. Children are our most valuable resource let us be thoughtful to take care to give them the best future possible because they will give us the best futures possible.
There are five reasons for poverty. Here is a list of the five reasons:
• The educational level of the mother is crucial, the higher the educational level of the mother the better chance for the child to not live in poverty.
• The family structure is crucial because that can provide the needed support, the knowhow and the other critical resources needed to beat poverty. The persons living in the family must be able to contribute to the best mental and emotional health of each member.
• Immigration is passage to this great country but it also negated due to the language.
• Are the poor speaking English? Are we using formal or casual language in the business arena?
• Addiction has broken the stronghold of families living in poverty. Addiction is breaking down the strongholds of middle class families today. There is a show on A&E called “Addiction” . This is a show on alcohol and drug interventions of immediate family members in middle class families. Electricity bills are not getting paid on time if at all, because of drug and alcohol addiction. Drug addiction is a major reason for the “Payday Loan” business. Parents can’t keep a job or just plain can’t go to work because the drug addiction has a grip on the.
Generational and situation poverty are different. Generational poverty means two or more generations in poverty. If the family is in poverty for four generations, the likelihood of getting out of poverty is a five percent probability, there is probably no escaping.
Teach your kids, they must know the hidden rules.
• Your business attire must look middle class.
• Your manners must be sharp. Buy an etiquette book.
• You speech must be articulate and correct in grammar.
Save the casual look, talk and etiquette for home and play. Code switching – Ebonics versus proper English. Know how to switch from “What’s happening? to How are you?”
Schools operate from middle class norms and values. Know the hidden rules.
The poor think about survival. The poor fight just to survive. Because the poor don’t have many material belongings then relationships become very important and people become belongings. On that same level of thinking the middle class think instead of about survival, about their work ethic. Work is the single most import thing in their lives. Their achievement depends on how hard and how much they work, their work ethic. There are teachers who in thirty years of teaching have only taken 3 to 4 days off work. Material security is important to the middle class. On top of the priority list is the purchase of a home. The middle class will work two jobs and have no entertainment and eat the basics foods for a period of time to save up the down payment for that home. Parents will make a wedding gift the down payment for a new home to the newlyweds. On this level of thinking the wealthy will think politics and what political campaign are they going to make a contribution to. Do they have the connections to increase their financial worth. That is why it is important to the wealthy to get their children into the Ivey League schools because of the quality of education, but more importantly because of the social connections they will make and the financial opportunities that come with these social connections.
Think about this, the poor think as it relates to food and eating. “Did you get enough to eat?” The middle class ask “Did you like it?” The wealthy ask “Did the wine go well with the food?” There are cultural differences in poverty. This study is cross cultural.
The kids of poverty must not be excused neither scolded. We must teach them. To get out of poverty there must sometimes be sacrifices of relationships. Sometimes we must leave friends and fun to get things done. Critical mass the number of things it takes to make change. Forty percent has to go one way to become critical mass. We must teach that there are two sets of rules. For instance fighting in business or school is strictly prohibited. But in the barrio or ghetto there are very few times when you do not fight to save face or resolve conflict. For example when playing football the rules say that tackling is part of the game. But in basketball you will be penalized for tackling the person with the ball. There are two sets of rules learn them.
Two things that help move a person out of poverty is education and relationships. Looking back the two most important of the eight critical resources are knowhow and relationships. “No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship, and mutual respect.” Dr. James Comer
Let us look at the cultivation of this subject. Look for two movies to rent “Freedom Writer” with Hillary Swank , “Million Dollar Baby” with Hillary Swank and Clint Eastwood also “Stand and Deliver” with Edward Olmos

Consumerism versus Capitalism

2010-02-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

In America there are two types of people; owners/workers, buyers/sellers. But really if we look at the types of people in America there are only two, capitalist and consumers. My definition of a capitalist is a person that takes to the market a product or service to a sell for a profit. A consumer uses the free market to buy goods and services at a price mark up. The United States of America represents the best in "capitalism". People have been coming from all over the world to America for a hundred years to pursue their dream. We now in these dire economic times now have an opportunity to as conumers to buy from top name stors at a discount, online with free shipping, and get money back without leaving the comfort of the kitchen table, our desk, the bed or where ever your laptop or desk top is. You can go to ZamZuu.com/Par3Travel and shop at the Armani Exchange, Nordstroms, Macy's, The Limited, Walmart, Brandsmart over 700 stores, we ahve something for everyone. Just click on "go shopping", register, and start shopping. Now if you are a capitalist and want to make a commission off of everything bought from your own internet mall send me a note, and we will talk. My business is travel. I love to golf and go on golf vacations at a discount. With my own travel website I get a discount squared and commission on my travel. Get stearted shpopping, travelling , or selling. Love, Peace and Happiness

Thought versus Reality

2010-02-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

"Before anything can become a reality it must first be a thought."
I think that that if you think of something then it can actually come true.
I want to be an interior designer in the future. I feel as if this quote is going to follow me around throughout my career. When designing a house I have to think it out before I just start decorating. Imust take into consideration the likes and dislikes of my client. If they want to a warm cozy room, and I paint the walls lime green then I didn't do my job right. Working in this kind of business means that my thioughts are someone elses reality, and I must do everything right. (02/05/10 Samatha Young TCHS)

"The want to win is nothing without the dedication to work for it."
I think this means that if you want something without working for it, you will never reach it. If you aren't dedicated, and if you aren't doing what is needed to get where you need to be, then you arent getting anywhere. You have to be dedicated. Without dedication you have no drive. If I was to say I needed a job, but never actually got up and filled out applications or made and attempt to go out and look, then I must not want a job that badly because I'm not dedicated to it. (2/05/10 Samatha Young TCHS)

"To get what you want you have to do what others don't."
To me this meand if your want something bad enough you will do what ever is necesay to get it yo will never give up and nothing will stop you. You put your mind to it, so you are gooing to reach yor goal. If people are doing something, you are going to do the same thing first and better. you will be the best you can be and no matter what you will get betterat at whatever you are doing. The more you do it the easier it becomes. If your friend sat at home and ate popcorn all day, you are not foing to join them. you are going to do what ever helps you and what ever that is is going to help you. "You get what you get when you do what you do."(02/05/10 Samatha Young TCHS)
Samantha Young is a llth grader at TCHS.

Background: In ISS have 25 quote in my room. When a new student comes in I ask that they copy all of quotes down. After copying all of them I ask that they pick out 3 that mean something to them. Interesting enough the 3 that they pick tell me about their mindset. After discussing the quotes that they picked I ask them to write a one page essay on each individual quote explaining why each quote means something to them.

"Gathering Storm"

2010-01-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

Former Secret Service agent Ronald Williams, interviewed by a writer at Politico.com, put it like this: "When there are vitriolic comments, acrimonious commentary and anger, the likelihood of violence escalates."

There has been no shortage of the kind of talk that Williams refers to. Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, for example, blamed Obama for an incident in which black students attacked white kids, saying it was par for the course "in Obama's America." CNN's Lou Dobbs, joining the outermost fringe, questioned Obama's citizenship against all the evidence. Newsmax columnist John L. Perry suggested that the president is likely to provoke a military coup. U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) notoriously shouted out "You lie!" during a major Obama speech on health care to Congress. And Confederate flags and racist depictions of Obama are now staples of the town hall and "tea party" protests against a public health care option.

In September, Public Policy Polling released the stunning results of a survey designed to measure extremism in the mainstream. Among other things, the poll found that 21% of Americans believe that Obama is the Antichrist or may be. Among Republicans, 34% believe the president is or may be the Antichrist, while 64% of that party's voters say he is not or may not be an American citizen.

All this has been accompanied by a resurgence of hate groups, antigovernment militias and other "Patriot" groups, and nativist vigilante groups. In addition, there has been a spate of domestic terror from people enraged by Obama's election.

The last time the political scene seemed this overheated was in 1995, when years of antigovernment rhetoric culminated in the bombing carried out by right-wing antigovernment extremists in Oklahoma City. In the days after the deaths of 168 people there, a USA Today poll found that fully 39% of Americans agreed with the proposition that the federal government had become "so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens."

Whether or not today's rage on the right is motivated chiefly by racism, it seems obvious that violent rhetoric leads to violent action. Words have consequences.

"The far right is displaying a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric and astonishingly few leaders … are standing up to it," said Michael B. Keegan, president of the liberal People for the American Way, as he released a November report on the explosion of far-right-wing rhetoric. "That's a reckless strategy, and members of both political parties need to stand up and put a stop to it." (Intelligence Report "Gathering Storm" Winter 2009 Mark Potok, Editor)

Could Pres. Obama be Killed by the "CIA"

2009-12-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

Douglass presents a formidable amount of evidence, some old and some new, against the CIA and covert action agencies within the national security state, and does so in such a logical and persuasive way that any fair-minded reader cannot help but be taken aback; stunned, really. And he links this evidence directly to JFK’s actions on behalf of peace.
He knows, however, that to truly convince he must break a “conspiracy of silence that would envelop our government, our media, our academic institutions, and virtually our entire society from November 22, 1963, to the present.” This “unspeakable,” this hypnotic “collective denial of the obvious,” is sustained by a mass-media whose repeated message is that the truth about such significant events is beyond our grasp, that we will have to drink the waters of uncertainty forever. As for those who don’t, they are relegated to the status of conspiracy nuts.
Fear and uncertainty block a true appraisal of the assassination - that plus the thought that it no longer matters.
It matters. For we know that no president since JFK has dared to buck the military-intelligence-industrial complex. We know a Pax Americana has spread its tentacles across the globe with U.S. military in over 130 countries on 750 plus bases. We know that the amount of blood and money spent on wars and war preparations has risen astronomically.
There is a great deal we know and even more that we don’t want to know, or at the very least, investigate.
If Lee Harvey Oswald was connected to the intelligence community, the FBI and the CIA, then we can logically conclude that he was not “a lone-nut” assassin. Douglass marshals a wealth of evidence to show how from the very start Oswald was moved around the globe like a pawn in a game, and when the game was done, the pawn was eliminated in the Dallas police headquarters. As he begins to trace Oswald’s path, Douglass asks this question: “Why was Lee Harvey Oswald so tolerated and supported by the government he betrayed?” After serving as a U.S. Marine at the CIA’s U-2 spy plane operating base in Japan with a Crypto clearance (higher than top secret but a fact suppressed by the Warren Commission), Oswald left the Marines and defected to the Soviet Union. After denouncing the U.S., working at a Soviet factory in Minsk , and taking a Russian wife - during which time Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane is shot down over the Soviet Union - he returned to the U.S. with a loan from the American Embassy in Moscow, only to be met at the dock in Hoboken, New Jersey by a man, Spas T. Raikin, a prominent anti-communist with extensive intelligence connections, recommended by the State Department. He passed through immigration with no trouble, was not prosecuted, moved to Fort Worth, Texas where , at the suggestion of the Dallas CIA Domestic Contacts Service chief, he was met and befriended by George de Mohrenschildt, an anti-communist Russian, who was a CIA asset. De Mohrenschildt got him a job four days later at a graphic arts company that worked on maps for the U.S. Army Map Service related to U-2 spy missions over Cuba. Oswald was then shepherded around the Dallas area by de Mohrenschildt who, in 1977, on the day he revealed he had contacted Oswald for the CIA and was to meet with the House Select Committee on Assasinations’ Gaeton Fonzi, allegedly committed suicide. Oswald then moved to New Orleans in April 1963 where got a job at the Reilly Coffee Company owned by CIA-affiliated William Reilly. The Reilly Coffee Company was located in close vicinity to the FBI, CIA, Secret Service, and Office of Naval Intelligence offices and a stone’s throw from the office of Guy Bannister, a former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Bureau, who worked as a covert action coordinator for the intelligence services, supplying and training anti-Castro paramilitaries meant to ensnare Kennedy. Oswald then went to work with Bannister and the CIA paramilitaries.
During this time up until the assassination Oswald engaged in all sorts of contradictory activities, one day portraying himself as pro-Castro, the next day as anti-Castro, many of these theatrical performances being directed from Bannister’s office. It was as though Oswald, on the orders of his puppet masters, was enacting multiple and antithetical roles in order to confound anyone intent on deciphering the purposes behind his actions and to set him up as a future “assassin.” Douglass persuasively argues that Oswald “seems to have been working with both the CIA and FBI,” as a provocateur for the former and an informant for the latter. Jim and Elsie Wilcott, who worked at the CIA Tokyo Station from 1960-64, in a 1978 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, said, “It was common knowledge in the Tokyo CIA station that Oswald worked for the agency.”
When Oswald moved to New Orleans in April 1963, de Mohrenschildt exited the picture, having asked the CIA for and been indirectly given a $285,000 contract to do a geological survey for Haitian dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier, which he never did , but for which he was paid. Ruth and Michael Paine then entered the picture on cue. Douglass illuminatingly traces in their intelligence connections. Ruth later was the Warren Commission’s chief witness. She had been introduced to Oswald by de Mohrenschildt. In September 1963 Ruth Paine drove from her sister’s house in Virginia to New Orleans to pick up Marina Oswald and bring her to her house in Dallas to live with her. Thirty years after the assassination a document was declassified showing Paine’s sister Sylvia worked for the CIA. Her father traveled throughout Latin America on an Agency for International Development (notorious for CIA front activities) contract and filed reports that went to the CIA. Her husband Michael’s step-father, Arthur Young, was the inventor of the Bell helicopter and Michael’s job there gave him a security clearance. Her mother was related to the Forbes family of Boston and her lifelong friend, Mary Bancroft, worked as a WW II spy with Allen Dulles and was his mistress. Afterwards, Dulles questioned the Paines in front of the Warren Commission, studiously avoiding any revealing questions. Back in Dallas, Ruth Paine conveniently got Oswald a job in the Texas Book Depository where he began work on October 16, 1963.
From late September until November 22, various Oswalds are later reported to have simultaneously been seen from Dallas to Mexico City. Two Oswalds were arrested in the Texas Theatre, the real one taken out the front door and an impostor out the back. As Douglas says, “There were more Oswalds providing evidence against Lee Harvey Oswald than the Warren Report could use or even explain.” Even J. Edgar Hoover knew that Oswald impostors were used, as he told LBJ concerning Oswald’s alleged visit to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City. He later called this CIA ploy, “the false story re Oswald’s trip to Mexico…their ( CIA’s) double-dealing,” something that he couldn’t forget. It was apparent that a very intricate and deadly game was being played out at high levels in the shadows.
We know Oswald was blamed for the President’s murder. But if one fairly follows the trail of the crime it becomes blatantly obvious that government forces were at work. Douglass adds layer upon layer of evidence to show how this had to be so. Oswald, the mafia, anti-Castro Cubans could not have withdrawn most of the security that day. The Sheriff Bill Decker withdrew all police protection. The Secret Service withdrew the police motorcycle escorts from beside the president’s car where they had been the day before in Houston; took agents off the back of the car where they were normally stationed to obstruct gunfire. They approved the fateful, dogleg turn (on a dry run on November 18) where the car came, almost to a halt, a clear security violation. The House Select Committee on Assasinations concluded this, not some conspiracy nut.
Who could have squelched the testimony of all the doctors and medical personnel who claimed the president had been shot from the front in his neck and head, testimony contradicting the official story? Who could have prosecuted and imprisoned Abraham Bolden, the first African-American Secret Service agent personally brought on to the White House detail by JFK, who warned that he feared the president was going to be assassinated? (Douglass interviewed Bolden seven times and his evidence on the aborted plot to kill JFK in Chicago on November 2 – a story little known but extraordinary in its implications – is riveting.) The list of all the people who turned up dead, the evidence and events manipulated, the inquiry squelched, distorted, and twisted in an ex post facto cover-up - clearly point to forces within the government, not rogue actors without institutional support.
The evidence for a conspiracy organized at the deepest levels of the intelligence apparatus is overwhelming. James Douglass presents it in such depth and so logically that only one hardened to the truth would not be deeply moved and affected by his book.
He says it best: “The extent to which our national security state was systematically marshaled for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy remains incomprehensible to us. When we live in a system, we absorb and think in a system. We lack the independence needed to judge the system around us. Yet the evidence we have seen points toward our national security state, the systemic bubble in which we all live, as the source of Kennedy’s murder and immediate cover-up.”
Speaking to his friends Dave Powers and Ken O’Donnell about those who planned the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, JFK said, “They couldn’t believe that a new president like me wouldn’t panic and try to save his own face. Well, they had me figured all wrong.”
Let’s hope for another president like that, but one that meets a different end.

________________________________________
[i] http://consortiumnews.com/print’2009/091309a.html
[ii] Vernon Loeb, “Soviets Knew Date of Cuba Attack,” Washington Post, April 29, 2000
[iii] See James K. Galbraith, “Exit Strategy,” Boston Review, October/November 2003

Does President Obama Have Anything To Fear?

2009-12-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

JFK and The Unspeakable

Despite a treasure-trove of new information having emerged over the last forty-six years, there are many people who still think who killed President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and why are unanswerable questions. There are others who cling to the Lee Harvey Oswald “lone-nut” explanation proffered by the Warren Commission. Both groups agree, however, that whatever the truth, it has no contemporary relevance but is old-hat, history, stuff for conspiracy-obsessed people with nothing better to do. The general thinking is that the assassination occurred almost a half-century ago, so let’s move on.
Nothing could be further from the truth, as James Douglass shows in his extraordinary book, JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters (Orbis Books, 2008). It is clearly one of the best books ever written on the Kennedy assassination and deserves a vast readership. It is bound to roil the waters of complacency that have submerged the truth of this key event in modern American history.
It’s not often that the intersection of history and contemporary events pose such a startling and chilling lesson as does the contemplation of the murder of JFK on November 22, 1963 juxtaposed with the situations faced by President Obama today. So far, at least, Obama’s behavior has mirrored Johnson’s, not Kennedy’s, as he has escalated the war in Afghanistan by 34,000. One can’t but help think that the thought of JFK’s fate might not be far from his mind as he contemplates his next move in Afghanistan.
Douglass presents a very compelling argument that Kennedy was killed by “unspeakable” (the Trappist monk Thomas Merton’s term) forces within the U.S. national security state because of his conversion from a cold warrior into a man of peace. He argues, using a wealth of newly uncovered information, that JFK had become a major threat to the burgeoning military-industrial complex and had to be eliminated through a conspiracy planned by the CIA – “the CIA’s fingerprints are all over the crime and the events leading up to it” - not by a crazed individual, the Mafia, or disgruntled anti-Castro Cubans, though some of these may have been used in the execution of the plot.
Why and by whom? These are the key questions. If it can be shown that Kennedy did, in fact, turn emphatically away from war as a solution to political conflict; did, in fact, as he was being urged by his military and intelligence advisers to up the ante and use violence, rejected such advice and turned toward peaceful solutions, then, a motive for his elimination is established. If, furthermore, it can be clearly shown that Oswald was a dupe in a deadly game and that forces within the military/intelligence apparatus were involved with him from start to finish, then the crime is solved, not by fingering an individual who may have given the order for the murder or pulled the trigger, but by showing that the coordination of the assassination had to involve U.S. intelligence agencies, most notably the CIA . Douglass does both, providing highly detailed and intricately linked evidence based on his own research and a vast array of the best scholarship.
We are then faced with the contemporary relevance, and since we know that every president since JFK has refused to confront the growth of the national security state and its call for violence, one can logically assume a message was sent and heeded. In this regard, it is not incidental that former twenty-seven year CIA analyst Raymond McGovern, in a recent interview, warned of the “two CIAs,” one the analytic arm providing straight scoop to presidents, the other the covert action arm which operates according to its own rules. “Let me leave you with this thought,” he told his interviewer, “and that is that I think Panetta (current CIA Director), and to a degree Obama, are afraid – I never thought I’d hear myself saying this – I think they are afraid of the CIA.” He then recommended Douglass’ book, “It’s very well-researched and his conclusion is very alarming.”
Let’s look at the history marshaled by Douglass to support his thesis.
First, Kennedy, who took office in January 1961 as somewhat of a Cold Warrior, was quickly set up by the CIA to take the blame for the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961. The CIA and generals wanted to oust Castro, and in pursuit of that goal, trained a force of Cuban exiles to invade Cuba. Kennedy refused to go along and the invasion was roundly defeated. The CIA, military, and Cuban exiles bitterly blamed Kennedy. But it was all a sham.
Though Douglass doesn’t mention it, and few Americans know it, classified documents uncovered in 2000 revealed that the CIA had discovered that the Soviets had learned of the date of the invasion more than a week in advance, had informed Castro, but – and here is a startling fact that should make people’s hair stand on end - never told the President. [ii] The CIA knew the invasion was doomed before the fact but went ahead with it anyway. Why? So they could and did afterwards blame JFK for the failure.
This treachery set the stage for events to come. For his part, sensing but not knowing the full extent of the set-up, Kennedy fired CIA Director Allen Dulles (as in a bad joke, later to be named to the Warren Commission) and his assistant General Charles Cabell (whose brother Earle Cabell, to make a bad joke absurd, was the mayor of Dallas on the day Kennedy was killed) and said he wanted “to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds.” Not the sentiments to endear him to a secretive government within a government whose power was growing exponentially.
The stage was now set for events to follow as JFK, in opposition to nearly all his advisers, consistently opposed the use of force in U.S. foreign policy.
In 1961, despite the Joint Chief’s demand to put troops into Laos, Kennedy bluntly insisted otherwise as he ordered Averell Harriman, his representative at the Geneva Conference, “Did you understand? I want a negotiated settlement in Laos. I don’t want to put troops in.”
Also in 1961, he refused to concede to the insistence of his top generals to give them permission to use nuclear weapons in Berlin and Southeast Asia. Walking out of a meeting with top military advisors, Kennedy threw his hands in the air and said, “These people are crazy.”
He refused to bomb and invade Cuba as the military wished during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Afterwards he told his friend John Kenneth Galbraith that “I never had the slightest intention of doing so.”
Then in June 1963 he gave an incredible speech at American University in which he called for the total abolishment of nuclear weapons, the end of the Cold War and the “Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war,” and movement toward “general and complete disarmament.”
A few months later he signed a Limited Test Ban Treaty with Nikita Khrushchev.
In October 1963 he signed National Security Action Memorandum 263 calling for the withdrawal of 1,000 U. S. military troops from Vietnam by the end of the year and a total withdrawal by the end of 1965. [iii]
All this he did while secretly engaging in negotiations with Khrushchev via the KGB , Norman Cousins, and Pope John XXIII , and with Castro through various intermediaries, one of whom was French Journalist Jean Daniel. In an interview with Daniel on October 24, 1963 Kennedy said, “I approved the proclamation Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will go even further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we will have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear.” Such sentiments were anathema, shall we say treasonous, to the CIA and top generals.
These clear refusals to go to war and his decision to engage in private, back-channel communications with Cold War enemies marked Kennedy as an enemy of the national security state. They were on a collision course. As Douglass and others have pointed out, every move Kennedy made was anti-war. This, Douglass argues, was because JFK, a war hero, had been deeply affected by the horror of war and was severely shaken by how close the world had come to destruction during the Cuban missile crisis. Throughout his life he had been touched by death and had come to appreciate the fragility of life. Once in the Presidency, Kennedy underwent a deep metanoia, a spiritual transformation, from Cold Warrior to peace maker. He came to see the generals who advised him as devoid of the tragic sense of life and as hell-bent on war. And he was well aware that his growing resistance to war had put him on a dangerous collision course with those generals and the CIA. On numerous occasions he spoke of the possibility of a military coup d’etat against him. On the night before his trip to Dallas, he told his wife, “But, Jackie, if somebody wants to shoot me from a window with a rifle, nobody can stop it, so why worry about it.” And we know that nobody did try to stop it because they had planned it.

" Casino in America" con't.

2009-11-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

'Greatest Trade': How You Can Make $20 Billion
by Gregory Zuckerman
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

provided by the "Wall Street Journal"

Even as the financial system collapsed last year, and millions of investors lost billions of dollars, one unlikely investor was racking up historic profits: John Paulson, a hedge-fund manager in New York.

His firm made $20 billion between 2007 and early 2009 by betting against the housing market and big financial companies. Mr. Paulson's personal cut would amount to nearly $4 billion, or more than $10 million a day. That was more than the 2007 earnings of J.K. Rowling, Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods combined.

How did he do it? Believing that a housing-market collapse was coming, Mr. Paulson spent over $1 billion in 2006 to buy insurance on what he then saw as risky mortgage investments. When the housing market cracked and the mortgages tumbled, the value of Mr. Paulson's insurance soared. One of his funds rose more than 500% that year. Then in 2008, he shorted financial shares, or wagered that they would fall in price, profiting again when these companies collapsed.

And are there any investing skills that average investors can learn from his success? Yes. There are no guarantees, of course, but the success of Mr. Paulson and a few other underdog investors lends encouragement to individuals trying to compete with Wall Street's pros.

Adapted from "The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History," by Gregory Zuckerman. Broadway Books. Copyright © 2009 by Gregory Zuckerman.

"The Square Deal"

2009-11-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

If health care reform gives people a choice, and doesn’t just fatten the rolls of insurance companies, it will be something to run on. If the recovery helps millions of people who don’t have a well-staffed lobby in Washington, it too will be a plus.

History, as always, is a guide for these American moments.

There was once a political party that came out against concentration of wealth. They called for regulation of food, drugs, and big corporations. Called for “square deal” for the average American. And their robust spokesman, the leader of their party, said this of his countrymen:

“There is not in the world a more ignoble character than the mere money-getting American, insensitive to every duty, regardless of principle, bent only on amassing a fortune.”

That party was the Republicans, a bit more than century ago, led by Teddy Roosevelt.

Why Prime Minister Omar Khaddafi Insist on Knowing Who Killed President John F. Kennedy

2009-11-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

Oliver Stone: JFK and the Unspeakable

The murder of President Kennedy was a seminal event for me and for millions of Americans. It changed the course of history. It was a crushing blow to our country and to millions of people around the world. It put an abrupt end to a period of a misunderstood idealism, akin to the spirit of 1989 when the Soviet bloc to began to thaw and 2008, when our new American President was fairly elected. Today, more than 45 years later, profound doubts persist about how President Kennedy was killed and why. My film JFK was a metaphor for all those doubts, suspicions and unanswered questions. Now an extraordinary new book offers the best account I have read of this tragedy and its significance. That book is James Douglass’s JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. It is a book that deserves the attention of all Americans; it is one of those rare books that, by helping us understand our history, has the power to change it. The subtitle sums up Douglass’s purpose: Why He Died and Why it Matters. In his beautifully written and exhaustively researched treatment, Douglass lays out the “motive” for Kennedy’s assassination. Simply, he traces a process of steady conversion by Kennedy from his origins as a traditional Cold Warrior to his determination to pull the world back from the edge of destruction. Many of these steps are well known, such as Kennedy’s disillusionment with the CIA after the disastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion, and his refusal to follow the reckless recommendations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis. (This in itself was truly JFK’s shining moment in the sun. It is likely that any other president from LBJ on would have followed the path to a general nuclear war.) Then there was the Test Ban Treaty and JFK’s remarkable American University Speech where he spoke with empathy and compassion about the Soviet people, recognizing our common humanity, the fact that we all “inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s futures. And we are all mortal.” But many of his steps remain unfamiliar: Kennedy’s back-channel dialogue with Khrushchev and their shared pursuit of common ground; his secret opening to dialogue with Fidel Castro (ongoing the very week of his assassination); and his determination to pull out of Vietnam after his probable re-election in 1964. All of these steps caused him to be regarded as a virtual traitor by elements of the military-intelligence community. These were the forces that planned and carried out his assassination. Kennedy himself said, in 1962, after he read Seven Days in May, which is about a military coup in the United States, that if he had another Bay of Pigs, the same thing could happen to him. Well, he did have another “Bay of Pigs”; he had several. And I think Kennedy prophesied his own death with those words. Why does it matter? The death of JFK remains a critical turning point in our history. Those who caused his death were targeting not just a man but a vision — a vision of peace. There is no calculating the consequences of his death for this country and for the world. Those consequences endure. To a large extent, the fate of our country and the future of the planet continue to be controlled by the shadowy forces of what Douglass calls “the Unspeakable.” Only by unmasking these forces and confronting the truth about our history can we restore the promise of democracy and lay claim to Kennedy’s vision of peace. But don’t take my word for it. Read this extraordinary book and reach your own conclusions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/oliver-stone/jfk-and-the-unspeakable_b_243924.html

Casino in America "Wall Street" The Game Our Grandchildren Didn't Want to Play

2009-11-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

We All Lost
“I don’t think most people really understood that they were in a casino” says award-winning financial reporter Mark Pittman. “When you’re in the Street’s casino, you’ve got to play by their rules.” This film finally explains how and why over $12 trillion of our money vanished into the American Casino.

For chips, the casino used real people, like the ones we meet in Baltimore. These are not the heedless spendthrifts of Wall Street legend, but a high school teacher, a therapist, a minister of the church. They were sold on the American Dream as a safe investment. Too late, they discovered the truth. Cruelly, as African – Americans, they and other minorities were the prime targets for the subprime loans that powered the casino. According to the Federal Reserve, African-Americans were four times more likely than whites to be sold subprime loans.

We meet the players. A banker explains that the complex securities he designed were “fourth dimensional” and sold to “idiots.” A senior Wall Street ratings agency executive describes being ordered to “guess” the worth of billion dollar securities. A mortgage loan salesman explains how borrowers’ incomes were inflated to justify a loan. A billionaire describes how he made a massive bet that people would lose their homes and has won $500 million, so far.

Finally, as the global financial system crumbles and outraged but impotent lawmakers fume at Wall Street titans, we see the casino’s endgame: Riverside, California a foreclosure wasteland given over to colonies of rats and methamphetamine labs, where disease-bearing mosquitoes breed in their millions on the stagnant swimming pools of yesterday’s dreams.

Filmed over twelve months in 2008, American Casino takes you inside a game that our grandchildren never wanted to play.

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Supply Side Economics / Reagonomics Don't Be Fooled

2009-11-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

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Published on Sunday, May 14, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
A Tale of Two Theories: Supply Side and Demand Side Economics

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the era of low taxes. It was the age of high deficits. Prices were up. Wages were down. Oil and gold soared. Housing and big cars cratered. Foreign powers threatened. Foreign currencies beckoned. Some saw a new Jerusalem in the nation's future. Others saw only the glaucoma of gluttonous greed. It was the summer of economic hope. It was the winter of economic despair.

In short, the early eighties were an economic time not unlike our own�a time that scared the Dickens out of most sober observers.

The common thread that unites the two times is Supply Side Economics. In the eighties it was new and promising. In the aughts it is recycled and damaging. In both eras, it stood against Demand Side Economics in its prescription for how to manage the economy. But it is in their outcomes that the two theories present such stark and measurable differences.

In the late seventies, the U.S. economy was falling to pieces. Johnson's Great Society programs and the Vietnam War had produced enormous inflationary pressures. But these were only the beginning. In 1973, Arab oil sheikdoms tripled the price of oil and in 1978, they tripled it again. Inflation soared, interest rates skyrocketed, and the economy tanked.

Higher prices cut into corporate profits, forcing employers to cut back production. The higher prices also reduced the purchasing power of workers, causing a slowdown in the economy. It was the worst of both worlds: a stagnant economy with rampant inflation. Economists called it "stagflation". They were at a loss for a cure.

Traditionally, to fight inflation, governments raise interest rates and cut spending, tampening down demand. To fight unemployment, they do the opposite: cut interest rates and raise spending, increasing demand. But now they had both problems at the same time. The cure for stagnant growth (lower interest rates and higher spending) would only aggravate the inflation. And the cure for inflation (higher interest rates and lower spending) would only aggravate the stagnation. The problem seemed insoluble. Enter Supply Side Economics.

Supply Side Economics claimed that if the government cut taxes on the wealthy, it would jump-start the economy as the wealthy plowed their tax savings back into investments. New factories fitted with new technologies would produce goods at lower cost, taming inflation. And the newly hired workers would tame unemployment. It would, in effect, square the economic circle, fixing both inflation and unemployment at the same time.

Even better, more output meant government tax receipts would grow. The government could continue to spend money without having to raise taxes it would simply materialize as a byproduct of higher levels of production! The economy would bootstrap itself in an ever-expanding, virtuous circle of tax cuts, investment, productivity, employment, and rising tax revenues. It was the proverbial "something for nothing" story. It seemed too good to be true.

It was.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan promised that, if elected, he would cut taxes, raise military spending AND balance the budget all at the same time. His opponent, George H.W. Bush called it "voodoo economics". But Reagan won the election and kept his promise. He cut the marginal tax rate on the highest income earners from 75% to 38%. What happened?

In 1982, the first full year for Reagan's policies, the economy shrank by 2%, the worst performance since the Great Depression. Investment the magic transmission belt through which all other Supply Side benefits were supposed to flow actually declined as a percent of GDP over the 1980s. Worse, Reagan�s Supply Side policies created the biggest budget deficits in history. The numbers tell the story.

Jimmy Carter�s last budget produced a deficit of $77 billion. At the time, it seemed huge. But Reagan�s first budget swelled the deficit to $128 billion. By the next year, 1983, it had exploded to $208 billion and was creating severe problems for the economy. By 1992, at the end of the "Reagan Revolution, (under Reagan's Vice President and successor, Bush, Sr.) the deficit was approaching $300 billion a year.

Annual deficits, of course, accumulate to the national debt. In 1980, the national debt amounted to less than $1 trillion. By the end of 1992, it had reached $4.35 trillion. In other words, the debt, which had taken over 200 years to reach $1 trillion, quadrupled in the 12 years of Supply Side Economics. A more complete, definitive repudiation of Supply Side�s claims could not be imagined. What went wrong?

According to Supply Side theory, tax cuts should go to the wealthy for only they can afford to use the extra income to invest in the economy to increase its capacity to "supply" goods. But there is nothing to make sure they actually invest, especially in the U.S. economy.

The new money might simply sit in the bank, or be spent on expensive foreign imports. It might be wasted in misdirected speculation, or invested in fast growing markets like southeast Asia. Without the ability to ensure that tax cuts are, in fact, invested in new productive assets, Supply Side Economics cannot ensure any real linkage between tax cuts and the hoped-for economic boom.

Revealingly, Supply-Siders strenuously resisted calls to tie tax cuts to actual productive investments, that is, give the tax cut only after the investment had been made. This led critics to suspect the real motives behind the "theory". The only thing that was certain was that the rich would become richer and revenues to the government would be lower. Beyond that, it is all just wishful thinking.

Contrast this wishful thinking with Demand Side economics. Demand Side Economics, says that if taxes are to be cut, they should go to those who earn the least amount of money. The reason is that low-income workers spend virtually all of their incomes. Money given to them goes right back into circulation, fueling a boom in consumer spending. This is essentially the policy that rescued the U.S. economy from the Great Depression. This, say the Demand Side economists, is the real foundation for an expanding economy. How has this theory held up in practice?

Bill Clinton reversed Reagan's supply Side policies, raising taxes on the wealthy and lowering them on the working and middle class. This Demand Side formula was fiercely resisted by Republican leaders in Congress who predicted a stock market crash and another Great Depression. Indeed, every single Republican member of Congress voted against it. It took a tie-breaking vote by Al Gore in the Senate to get the bill passed. What happened?

The economy produced the longest sustained expansion in U.S. history. It created more than 22 million new jobs, the highest level of job creation ever recorded. Unemployment fell to its lowest level in over 30 years. Inflation fell to 2.5% per year compared to the 4.7% average over the prior 12 years. And overall economic growth averaged 4.0% per year compared to 2.8% average growth over the 12 years of the Reagan/Bush administrations.

It wasn't even close. The economy performed dramatically better in almost every way once Supply Side policies were replaced with Demand Side policies.

The most dramatic outcome was the reversal of the Reagan-era Supply Side deficits. Clinton's Demand Side policies not only paid down the Reagan/Bush deficits, they produced the first budgetary surpluses since 1969. By the time Clinton left office, the government was running surpluses of almost $140 billion per year. This is what he turned over to George W. Bush in January of 2001.

Bush, of course, returned to the Supply Side policies of Reagan and his father. He lowered taxes on the very rich his base as he calls them. His $1.6 trillion in tax cuts give 45% of the benefits to the top 1% of the population. It is classic Supply Side economics. What happened?

According to the Economic Policy Institute, "By virtually every measure, the economy has performed worse in this business cycle than was typical of past ones." GDP growth since the bottom of the 2001 recession has averaged 2.8%. But it grew at an average rate of 3.5% over the prior six recoveries dating back to World War II. Or consider jobs: 1.3% more jobs under Bush versus 8.8% more during earlier upswings.

Private sector jobs an especially telling measure of economic health are up only 1% since 2001 versus an average of 8.6% for past recoveries. Investment? That Holy Grail of Supply Side orthodoxy? Up 3.6% compared to the 8.2% average for the six earlier rebounds. Pick your measure: growth, jobs, income, spending, investment. The recovery based on the Bush II Supply Side tax cuts is one of the weakest ever recorded.

The one thing the Supply Side revival did excel at � not surprisingly � is debt. Bush turned a $136 billion surplus from Bill Clinton into a $158 billion deficit in his first year. When he took office, the national debt stood at $5.8 trillion. It now stands at $8.1 trillion and is projected to hit $10 trillion by 2008 when Bush�s second term is over. The ten-year cumulative deficit forecast by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has changed from a $5.6 trillion surplus in January 2001 to a $3.4 trillion deficit in March of this year�an almost inconceivable swing of $9 trillion to the worse in only six years.

After more than 17 years of experience with Supply Side economics, we now know beyond doubt that this is not an accident.

These mammoth debts are a huge boon to that rich "base" that Bush loves to coddle. It is they, the very rich, who loan the money to the government to fund its debts. And since more borrowing drives up interest rates, they get to do so at higher and higher rates of return. This is simple supply and demand. By increasing the demand for borrowed money in the economy as a whole, Supply Side deficits drive up the cost, not just of government borrowing, but of ALL borrowing�everything from credit cards and mortgages to car loans and municipal bonds.

In other words, Supply Side economics rewards the rich both coming and going. Higher government debt leads to higher interest rates for all borrowing or in their case, lending. And then, they get to pay lower and lower taxes on their higher and higher earnings. It is a magical two-fer worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

This is the real reason Bill Clinton was so relentlessly hounded while in office. It wasn't that he was being serviced by an intern or that he was a particularly radical president. Indeed, Clinton himself described himself as �"an Eisenhower Republican". His big faux pas was that by paying down the Republican debts, he lowered interest rates, the basis of Republican earnings. In fact, real interest rates declined 40% while Clinton was in office. You can see why he simply had to go.

This is the real magic of Supply Side economics: greater-debts-leading-to-higher-returns-but-lower-taxes for the rich. It is one of the reasons the top 20% of income earners has raised its share of national income from 44% in 1980 when Supply Side policies began, to 50.1% last year. They now earn more than all of the rest of the people in the economy combined.

But it only works for the rich. If you�re not rich, it is you who are paying those higher and higher interest rates and it will be you or perhaps, more precisely, your children who will be stuck with the bill for the higher government debts. Paying off those debts can only come at the expense of future economic growth for income spent paying off inflated debts is money that is not available for college tuitions, job retraining, repairing infrastructure, etc.

Rarely in matters of public policy do we have the luxury of such starkly clear, repeatedly proven, empirically founded contrasts. Demand Side economics, as we saw in the 1990s, while far from perfect, produces robust growth, budgetary surpluses, and broad based prosperity. Supply Side economics produces middling growth, soaring deficits, and broad based debt. Mountains of debt. And the mountains are growing.

If we are to salvage any kind of economic sanity and prevent the bankruptcy of the nation, the next Congress must reverse the Supply Side agenda and return the country to a responsible fiscal course.

Robert Freeman writes on history, economics, and education. He can be reached at robertfreeman10@yahoo.com

AM Radio Hitler's Deadliest Weapon

2009-09-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

The triumph of Nazi propaganda in this period is the subject of a remarkable exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (where I serve on the governing board). Germany in the 1920s was a land of broad literacy and diverse politics, boasting 146 daily newspapers in Berlin alone. Yet in the course of a few years, a fringe party was able to define a national community by scapegoating internal enemies; elevate a single, messianic leader; and keep the public docile with hatred while the state committed unprecedented crimes.

The adaptive use of new technology was central to this achievement. The Nazis pioneered voice amplification at rallies, the distribution of recorded speeches and the sophisticated targeting of poster art toward groups and regions.

But it was radio that proved the most powerful tool. The Nazis worked with radio manufacturers to provide Germans with free or low-cost "people's receivers." This new technology was disorienting, taking the public sphere, for the first time, into private places -- homes, schools and factories. "If you tuned in," says Steve Luckert, curator of the exhibit, "you heard strangers' voices all the time. The style had a heavy emphasis on emotion, tapping into a mass psychology. You were bombarded by information that you were unable to verify or critically evaluate. It was the Internet of its time."

This comparison to the Internet is apt. The Nazis would have found much to admire in the adaptation of their message on neo-Nazi, white supremacist and Holocaust-denial Web sites.

But the challenge of this technology is not merely an isolated subculture of hatred. It is a disorienting atmosphere in which information is difficult to verify or critically evaluate, the rules of discourse are unclear, and emotion -- often expressed in CAPITAL LETTERS -- is primary. User-driven content on the Internet often consists of bullying, conspiracy theories and racial prejudice. The absolute freedom of the medium paradoxically encourages authoritarian impulses to intimidate and silence others. The least responsible contributors see their darkest tendencies legitimated and reinforced, while serious voices are driven away by the general ugliness.

Ethicist Clive Hamilton calls this a "belligerent brutopia." "The Internet should represent a great flourishing of democratic participation," he argues. "But it doesn't. . . . The brutality of public debate on the Internet is due to one fact above all -- the option of anonymity. The belligerence would not be tolerated if the perpetrators' identities were known because they would be rebuffed and criticized by those who know them. Free speech without accountability breeds dogmatism and confrontation."

This destructive disinhibition is disturbing in itself. It also allows hatred to invade respected institutional spaces on the Internet, gaining for these ideas a legitimacy denied to fringe Web sites. After the Bernard Madoff scandal broke, for example, major newspaper sites included user-generated content such as "Find a Jew who isn't Crooked" and "Just another jew money changer thief" -- sentiments that newspapers would not have printed as letters to the editor. Postings of this kind regularly attack immigrants and African Americans, recycle centuries of anti-Semitism and deny the events of the Holocaust as a massive Jewish lie.

Legally restricting such content -- apart from prosecuting direct harassment and threats against individuals or incitement to violence -- is impossible. In America, the First Amendment protects blanket statements of bigotry. But this does not mean that popular news sites, along with settings such as Facebook and YouTube, are constitutionally required to provide forums for bullies and bigots. As private institutions, they are perfectly free to set rules against racism and hatred. This is not censorship; it is the definition of standards.

Some online institutions, such as The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, screen user comments before posting them. Others, such as The Post and The Wall Street Journal, rely on readers to identify objectionable content -- a questionable strategy because numbness to abusiveness and hatred on the Internet is part of the challenge.

Whatever the method, no reputable institution should allow its publishing capacity, in print or online, to be used as the equivalent of the wall of a public bathroom stall.

The exploitation of technology by hatred will never be eliminated. But hatred must be confined to the fringes of our culture -- as the hatred of other times should have been.

mgerson@globalengage.org
Washington Post 9/25/09

"Who The Hell Am I” ...Nas Forgot to Name a 'Coon'

2009-09-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

Man I love that song. When an artist takes a stand and confronts a problem that people might not realize because they don’t quite understand the history of our culture. But Nas forgot somebody. Maybe it could be because they play his videos on TV. Hmmmm...I wonder who he missed. I’ve got it! That station that had a young boy doing stand-up holding a pimp cup and yapping about pimpin’. That station that devotes more than 70% of its schedule to showing music videos than decent programming. That station that continues to bestow upon its audience the concept that the only rich people are rappers, singers, and athletes. That station that instead of showing the presidential debates opted to show another round of its useless top 10 videos showcasing half naked women and people who idealize money and cars instead of embracing less tangible items. That station that shows a little more than three quarter naked women after hours. That very station that shows less news than any other minority station. Do you have an idea who I’m talking about? If you don’t you better wake yo punk ass up!

It’s a Coon Picnic over there at BET. BET stands for Black Entertainment Television but lately could stand for Black Exploitation Television because of its lack of anything helpful to African American culture. Sure they have a half and hour news show and from time to time show a decent movie (if that) but that’s where the buck stops. Remember when BET used to have Teen Summit with Prince Dejour and Ananda Lewis? An educational forum that young people tuned into every week that not only gave you insight on problems plaguing our teens but also gave you a decent performance or two (remember the baby faced Usher before he got crunk?). Remember when Donnie Simpson brought personality to Video Soul? Every day it felt good to look at the likeable and well spoken Donnie wake you up to your favorite music. This is before the naked asses you see today of course.

No more BET Tonight, Heart and Soul or Lead Story. But whose fault is it? Robert Johnson sold BET to go after being the first Black owner of a sports franchise. Hooray for Bob Johnson! He’s rich and we are still poor in knowledge and culture. He reportedly once said that the ‘E’ in BET stood for Entertainment not Education. I guess he’s not responsible for what comes on TV but more interested in his bottom line. That makes him a good businessman right? But when will it become someone’s responsibility to help assist in the growth of our culture rather than succumb to the never ending stereotypes that plague BET today.

Now look what BET is. The only outlet for African American television that does damn near nothing for the culture that helps keeps this station afloat. I mean...dammit... I hate BET! It’s a shame when you show more videos than a station whose name says “Music Video” in it! I can’t bear to watch Tip Drill again (okay maybe one more time...but that’s it and I mean it! ) because of its degrading images. I can’t watch another video with zero substance but more than 1,000,000 dollars worth of rims, cars, jewelry and clothing that the next generation idolizes more than content and history.

Speaking of history, where the hell is the history!?!? Geezus! What do you have to do to get a little education around here? I don’t know what the hell videos teach us but I don’t think it would hurt too much to show other great African Americans who have transcended our culture through various outlets besides rapping about big booty bitches who get low and thug out. The Gordon Parks, Bo jangles, Eldridge Cleavers, Bobby Seales, Stokely Carmicheals, Angela Davis, Assata Shakurs, Donnie Hathaways, Marcus Garveys, Ossie Davis, Spike Lees, Omar Tyrees, Michael Eric Dyson, Barack Obamas, Duke Ellingtons, Lena Hornes, Ruby Dees, Josephine Bakers, Harriet Tubmans, Billie Hollidays, Tom Joyners, Princes, Sistah Souljahs, Bill Cosbys, Nikki Giovannis, Cornel Wests, and the many others who have assisted in making African Americans valuable.

Why can’t BET show African Americans how to make money instead of spend it? It’s crazy how a video can influence us go out and buy the silliest items which depreciate as soon as you drive it off the lot, but why not take 1 hour out of the umpteen hours of videos and deliver a show about how to make money and how to make your money make money. Look how we are viewed. No other channel has more “debt free” commercials than BET yet will do absolutely nothing to teach people how to stay out of debt. It’s like we are their prey. But we bite the bait every single time.

Talk about how important credit is for young people. I mean just for entertainment purposes let P. Diddy host it. He’s rich and he got everybody who didn’t know jack about an election to believe in his “Vote or Die” mantra so why not let him show people how he makes money on his various lucrative endeavors. His accountant can hold up the que cards. Oh and next can we please rid ourselves of the crappy shows BET picks up that were booted off of another station? The Parkers?

Awwwww... C’mon! Why not show television shows that meant something like What’s Happening, Good Times, Sanford and Son, A Different World, Living Single, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, In Living Color, Martin, the list can go on and on. BET has crappy shows period.

Take College Hill for instance, an outright bite off of MTV’s The Real World yet looks like it was shot with the world’s first video camera. Viacom owns MTV, BET and VH1 so why is it that VH1 and MTV have the better quality shows while BET shows look like bootleg garbage? They gave us the scraps from the bottom of the barrel and we accepted it. It’s like feeding your two favorite children while the redheaded...or I guess you can say...nappy headed stepchild rummages the crumbs off of the floor. I suppose it all boils down to what we accept as a culture.

Since a high percentage of time on BET is devoted to videos, let’s talk about that garbage as well. How many times can one person watch the same 20 videos? I swear you can catch a video that ends BET Start and then kicks off 106th and Park which is shown again on the BET.com Countdown.

I mean really, there aren’t any other artists out there? Remember when BET was groundbreaking and would show videos that you couldn’t catch on the radio? Remember when Rap City was the @#%$? Now it’s in some dudes basement under his mama’s house. Remember the first time you saw Nas climbing the steps to “The World is Yours”? Or watching the dust rupture off of the instruments on the Roots “Distortion to Static”? Or how about Public Enemy fighting the power?

What if these videos were never shown? Of course hip hop has changed which results in a programming shift but there can be more time allotted to spotlighting more innovative artists. Videos play a huge role in what the public gets behind so why not be a little more responsible with what type of videos are shown? It’s amazing how BET can take Eminem off the air because he dissed Michael Jackson but there was no shame in showing the women degrading “Get Low” over and over and over again. Eminem can’t diss Michael Jackson but Comic View does it every single day.

Hypocritical perhaps? And speaking of Comic View...when will that show die??? The comedy is so linear and not funny it’s unbelievable. But I guess when people view us as dancing, singing, rapping, God fearing jiggaboo comedians; we can’t let them down right? And speaking of God fearing....

There is something I have to get off my chest real quick before many of you send me death threats and make an attempt on my life. ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE CHURCH ALL DAY SUNDAY! Yes... I’m a god fearing individual but why is it that BET is the ONLY station besides the Christian Network that has to show the Gospel all day on Sunday. I don’t go to church (for my own personal reasons of which I will not get into) along with many other African Americans so I really don’t want to sit through TD Jakes as my programming all damn day. That is just as stereotypical as the rest of the programming. If there was a balance none of this would be an issue but it’s either one extreme or the other. So I guess all we can do is laugh, sing and rap about sex, cars, women and money. That’s what BET gives us everyday. 24hrs a day 6 days a week (can’t forget about the whole Sunday dedicated in crooked pastor programming). But what can we do?

Make a statement! Stop supporting BET and the garbage that it is committed in delivering to your television set. Take a stand and fight the power. The only thing worse than another race dissing you is your own race dissing you unabashedly for the fancy of Entertainment. How can we stop the attacks on the outside unless we work on healing our own wounds internally? Be an activist within your community and make others knowledgeable of their history and their culture. Maybe then we can appreciate the path that Bo jangles had to take in order for us to get through the door. Maybe then we can understand that what Amos and Andy did was relevant but was done so we would not have to tread that path once again. But until then I’m still singing along with Nas

“One for the coons on UPN 9 and WB who yes massah on BET” but I’m just a critic...

Who the Hell Am I?
Monday - December 06, 2004
Andreas Hale
www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.342

America's Natural Gas

2009-09-10T12:51:00.001-07:00

Andre Johnson
1816 NW 45th Str
Miami, FL 33142-4748

September 10, 2009

[recipient address was inserted here]

Dear [recipient name was inserted here],

While the price per barrel of oil has fallen from the last summer highs,
it's beginning to rise again. What hasn't changed is the percentage of
oil we import every day: over the past 12 months we have continued to
import nearly two-thirds of the oil we use.

Most of the oil we import is used as a transportation fuel - cars, trucks,
aircraft, boats and trains. About one barrel out of every five is used as
diesel fuel to power heavy trucks - 18-wheelers.

I am all for developing battery and fuel cell technology - or some other
technology which is still in the laboratory stage. But neither batteries
nor hydrogen are ready for widespread distribution to our national fleet
of approximately 250 million cars and light trucks. A battery also won't
push an 18-wheeler. The only fuel which is available to reduce our
dependence on foreign oil is domestic natural gas.

Due to recent advances in technology, we now have the ability to recover
natural gas from the enormous deposits in Texas, Louisiana and Appalachia
in the lower 48 states. In fact, a recent study Potential Gas Committee
estimates that natural gas reserves have surged by 35 percent. The 2,074
trillion cubic feet of domestic natural gas reserves cited in the study is
the equivalent of nearly 350 billion barrels of oil, about the same as
Saudi Arabia's oil reserves.

Natural gas is cheaper than diesel fuel. Natural gas is cleaner than
diesel. It's abundant. And it's ours.

The time to act is now and the NAT GAS Act is the best tool we've had in
decades to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The NAT GAS Act of 2009 is a bi-partisan bill in both the U.S. House of
Representatives (H.R. 1835) and the Senate (S. 1408). In the House,
Congressmen Boren (D-OK), Larson (D-CT) and Sullivan (R-OK) introduced it
April 1 and it already has nearly 80 bi-partisan cosponsors. In the
Senate, Senators Menendez (D-NJ) and Hatch (R-UT) were joined by Senate
Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) to introduce it on July 8.

The NAT GAS Act provides industry with the incentives to replace older
diesel trucks with newer natural gas vehicles - it's a great step in the
right direction. It will provide the momentum for engine manufacturers,
natural gas producers and natural gas distributors to ramp up and make a
real difference in our dependence on foreign oil.

I hope you will sign up as a cosponsor to support this important
legislation. I will be watching your press and floor remarks for
statements of support.

Sincerely,

Andre Johnson
3055551212

America

2009-09-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

This country is coming a loose at the seams. Now we have a president who actually is trying to get needle and thread and sew it back up. Some people who claim to be intelligent, worldly, are not looking at our situation globally. They are acting like enemies of the state. Are they trying to defeat us from the within? To stop this man, our president from repairing a torn republic. Medicare will be bankrupt in several years, our manufacturing sector is not competing at all, we have to borrow money from a previous socialist country to sustain ourselves. Adam Smith wrote a book about "Petro Dollars" because at one time we thought that with all the investment coming from OPEC that they would actually have a majority stake in America. Now it really seems like the Chinese will. The Chinese are the tireless. They are the manufactures of the world. America is far behind in the creation of technology patents. Look at alibaba.com and see what the Chinese are doing with their time, you can buy a watch that is actually a cell phone with a camera that is looks nice. Their children study they don't play and waste time like America's they know they have to compete. We as Americans have become complacent. Sports and the arena is what ruined Rome. Now ask yourself "What are the most looked at television shows in America?" Answer the NFL Monday night Football and the WWE with is on three nights a week. Our children have false hope and dreams with these shows of athletic prowess. Where is the stimulation and brain athletics that count toward a more realistic future. There are commercials on that say that children buy $140.00 sneakers hoping to learn to play basketball and will never have talent enough to be a professional athlete. So is there anything wrong with telling them to exercise their brain where they truly have a chance of real success that will also benefit a country that need their success? Not far behind China in education is India. India's honor role students equal the total number of students in America's schools. We have to compete in this world; our children have to compete in technology and manufacturing. Stop the excuses. Excuses are the tools of the mediocre which what we have become. Wake up America.

2009-06-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man by Steve Harvey

.....Great stuff! I know much of what he said should be common sense for every grown woman.He really put his brain to work on that one. Much of which I already knew, but I got a much better understanding of some things that had me stumped at times. But here are what I feel were the most important and useful points of the book (in my cliffnotes version, lol)

**To women "Unless a man feels like he has established himself as a man, he's not going to establish you as his woman". If he's really the one you want to be with, sit your ass down until it's your turn! Don't try to force him into anything because he'll resent you for it, and honestly, if he's a real man, he won't stand for it. Get a man with goals, short-term and long-term. If he doesn't even have his short-term figured out ain't NO WAY you're going to be incorporated into his long-term.

**Men are simple creatures. Minimalists that thrive off of basic male necessities. Ladies, you know how you say the smallest things make you happy? The same thing goes for him! As Dave Chappelle says, "Make him a sandwich, play with his balls, and don't talk so much!" Ladies I'm just kidding, not.

However, I must also add that just because you want a man with goals and a plan doesn't mean jump on the first man that comes along! Ladies set your standards high and expect the man you want to reach for the bar and go above and beyond. You have all got too much going for ourselves to settle for less than the best.

I cannot and will not get into all that he had to say but he did indeed give me validation and why I don't regret being single since 2004. Some women just aren't ready for it! LOL (but no seriously), this has also given me time to grow and mature as man into the person I want myself to be...to quote (don't judge me) Souljah Boy: "Be yourself, everybody else is already taken."

Seriously though ladies, it's a good read! It's not a man telling you how to live your life, it's a man offering some insight to a man's mind and how to handle certain situations. You're not obligated to take his advice. But don't say you weren't warned when he takes your cookie and runs. Leaving you wondering why his phone number don't work.

Hip Hop the African American's Experience

2009-06-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

"Don't think about commin up think about dummin up".... Kinda sounds like Ice Cubes from the Eighties. This man one of the architects of "Gangsta Rap" has grown and matured into a movies maker of quality family movies, why can't we. As a matter of fact we done started dummin up.

The Black man, the Italian, and the Irish, have something in common, racism. Except they new that you will not be given anything your must take what you want. Let take a look at the Italian man coming from distant shore landing at Ellis Island being processed in sometime 1n th late 1890's and early 1900's. He looked white, yes he had fair skin and straight hair and if he did not to open his mouth, he could pass as born on these shores to parents from whose ancestors came on the Mayflower, Pinta or Santa Maria. But as soon as he open his mouth and his thick Italian accent came out he experienced racism. Maybe he was not hanged but he experienced economical racism, maybe not as shocking but just as painful. A father knowing that he is being kept from earning a living and providing for his family. He was not given the ability to get a city job, corporate job or dishwasher unless he had no competion for the job by a secondary native (white man), the primary native of America being the native american.. The Irish man also had the same skin complexion, same hair except sometimes his was red. But again when he opened his mouth it was clear that he was not a descendant of those who came on the Mayflower. He also experienced the same economic discrimination. Now what they did understand from their experiences from across the water in their homeland was that if you want something you must do whatever is necessary to get it.

Italians the Mafia and Irish the Boston Mob who have suffered the stigma of the criminal element but with their ill gotten gains they sent the sons and daughters to private schools, joined country clubs and cleaned up themselves and their grandsons and daughters have doctors, lawyers, mayors, senators and govenors. They thought about "commin up not dummin up". The Irish of Boston hired the own political leaders, secured every job in city government that was a hiring position and hired their own, to make sure that every Irsihman in Boston could make a good living for their families.

As a teacher in the public school system I so not see the children of the crack dealer, the pimp or any underworld figure comin up just the children of the poor dummin up. We must get some political power in our community and use it pull our people up. We must not live the "crab in the bucket" syndrome.

Mothers we must go back to raisng our children with strict standards of our grand parents and discipline children with the understanding and not emotional sentiment. Base the severity of the punishment on the wrong act displayed not on having a pretty child. Talk to your grandparents about how they were brought and lets go back to that. The time of all this superficial nonsense is past and understanding is needed. Malcom X said that Black women are the mothers of our race. Men we need to step up and give the game to our women. Make sure that they know what is important to us as a people for our up and commin like "George Jeffrerson".

Checkout A Way to Keep Your Negatives in Check

2009-05-26T06:50:00.001-07:00

Your Sub-Conscious mind does NOT know the difference
of TRUTH or a LIE, RIGHT or WRONG, LEFT or RIGHT, all
You need to do to OWN Your Life is to Program Your
Mind with The 7 Positive Emotions all the time.

#1. Desire.
#2. Faith.
#3. Love.
#4. Sex.
#5. Enthusiasm.
#6. Romance.
#7. Hope.

When Your Sub-Conscious mind goes to the 7 Negative
Emotions Click on the Bob Newhart Video below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYLMTvxOaeE

Living Longer and Feeling Better

2009-05-26T04:49:00.001-07:00

Living longer and feeling better is the sum of a few small easy choices you can incorporate into everyday life," says Buettner, who travelled the world investigating places like Okinawa, Japan and Nicoya, Costa Rica, where residents lived longer than average lifespans. What Buettner discovered was a few steadfast rules. "Want to live longer? Spend time with family, watch what you eat, do the physical activities which bring you the most joy and connect to your faith," Buettner says.

According to scientists, 25% of our lifespan is determined by genes. Which means the other 75%, fortunately or not as we embark on the long weekend, is determined by lifestyle choices. What are some other tips Buettner gleamed from interviewing dozens of people who've lived well into their 90s, and even into their 100s? We consulted his book and then asked him - and a few of his 100-year-old friends - to help us come up with The Queen Victoria Tributary: 101 Ways to Live to be 100 years old.

101. Practice moderation. This isn't rocket science. Even Brussels sprouts become deadly when you're mainlining them a dozen at a time.

100. You see, you can have chocolate, foie gras and even the odd Du Maurier as long as you practice portion control.

99. "Port wine, olive oil and a sense of humour," 122-year-old Jeanne Calment's three rules for living a long, happy life.

98. Experience nature. A hike through the woods is better for you than two hours at the gym.

97. Still, even the worst gym work-out is better than an afternoon in front of your computer. Everyday, try and do something active.

96. Eat a light meal for supper.

95. And, dear God, forgo fast food. (Even a Wendy's salad can't compare with something grown in your own backyard).

94. "Start a garden!" implores Dan Buettner, who says that was the first thing he told his bacon-addicted 73-year-old dad.

93. A garden not only provides fresh, organic vegetables, but it also gives us a purpose. Through weeding, watering and watching something develop, we have something healthy to look forward to.

92. Having a purpose in life is a proven link to living longer. What's the most likely demographic to live past 100? Women who've had children after 40.

91. Not that we're particularly suggesting all women over 40 should go out and have kids.

90. That said, sexual intercourse is a terrific exercise.

89. A lean, plant-based diet accented with meat is much healthier than the typical North American diet. Eat your veggies.

88. Okinawa, Japan has the greatest concentration of healthy centenarians. What is 104-year-old Ushi Okushima's tips for a long, happy life? "Stop worrying about getting something in your future and worrying about what you missed in your past," she says in The Blue Zones. "Living in the present, more than anything, keeps you young."

87. Okushima also says to celebrate your elders. Remember, Father's Day is coming up!

86. Choose fish over red meat. Most of the healthiest diets eschew meat altogether, but we'll just recommend upping your fish protein intake and lowering your beef and pork.

85. Especially salmon.

84. We know it isn't easy. Buettner says bacon is the one thing his father won't quit.

83. Associate with like-minded people. If you hang out all day at buffets with alcoholic chain-smoking food addicts, odds are you won't be walking thirty minutes a day.

82. Get your flavonoids. Found in red wine, brightly coloured fruits and vegetables and dark chocolate, this secondary plant metabolite reduces rates of cancer and heart disease.

81. Eat soy. It's found in edamame and tofu, and it's painless.

80. "I grew up on a farm in Alberta and never much cared to drink the secretions of cow," says Dr. Ellsworth Wareham. We always thought a glass of milk was healthy, but Dr. Wareham is 94 years old and, when we spoke to him, he'd just completed eight hours of cardiac surgery. As the surgeon.

79. Take in a healthy dose of vitamin D from the sun.

78. And what of Canadians, people in Saskatchewan and Manitoba who have just come through one of the coldest winters in years? Think SAD lamps. Available at orientationsnova.com, a Canadian company doing innovative work with seasonal affective disorder and light therapy for the past eight years.

77. Don't be so paranoid about carbs. In Sardinia, Italy, one of Buettner's designated Blue Zones, the shepherds mostly ate bread.

76. They also have cheese. Which, as any Frenchwoman will tell you, can be the elixir of life.

75. "None of us know how to live a long life, it wouldn't be fair if we did," says Marge Jenner, 105, from her home in Loma Linda, Calif. "My granddaughter goes out of her way to make me happy. Sometimes I feel guilty for taking up her time. She should live a really long life."

74. Marge Jenner has been a vegetarian for the past 60 years and when you get her on the phone, it's hard to ask her too many questions because she spends most of the conversation asking about you. "All I can say is thanks God for all he's given me," Jenner says. "I just got over hip surgery and look forward to taking my walk."

73. "You want to know my big secret for living a long life?" she asks. "Not hurrying. You young folks hurry too much these days."

72. Family may be the other big secret for living a long life. 95% of the people in Sardinia who lived to be more than 100 had a daughter or granddaughter caring for them.

71. The fatty acids in goat milk helps prevent atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease.

70. Goat's milk also contains 13% more calcium, 25% more vitamin B, 47% more vitamin A and 134% more potassium than cow's milk. It's also good in soup.

69. Still, go easy on the salt. It contributes to high blood pressure and weakens arteries.

68. Go see a doctor. "As the Chinese say, you can't treat a disease until you put a name on it," says Buettner. "Get yourself checked out so you know where you stand."

67. Since Buettner has been so helpful to us, we'll also plug his website, bluezones.com. On the site, there's a checklist for measuring your estimated life span. If smoking knocks off six years of your life, walking everyday can add another two years. All sorts of handy algorithms are available on the site.

66. "Eat until you are 80% full." This just plum makes sense.

65. Make your house less mechanically inclined.

64. This means manually opening your garage door, shovelling your driveway and whisking the flour in your cakes. Even the six calories you'll burn opening a can of tuna helps.

63. Leave the car at home.

62. Cut down on stress. Remember that line from Alice in Wonderland? "The hurrier I go the behinder I get." Think about that. Because it's true.

61. Friendships, like wine, also relieve stress. It's healthy to vent.

60. Turmeric, found in spicy curries and mustard, has antioxidants that are an easy defense against inflammatory ailments.

59. Follow a sports team. It's nice to have something to cheer for.

58. Just as long as that "something" isn't the Maple Leafs. People die over broken hearts.

57. Eat nuts -- a simple way to add at least three years to your life expectancy.

56. And no, it doesn't matter what kind of nuts you eat. They help cut down the risk of heart disease.

55. Don't forget about vitamin S -- a smile. And not only because a happier person experiences less stress but, according to Buettner, a person's likability makes a huge difference in not only the help you'll receive in the health care system, but also from family and friends. Think of being nice to people as a cheap insurance policy.

54. How does a person become "nice"? "Remember names, ask questions of people rather than droning on about your life and don't complain," Buettner says. "If you're generous, you'll be well-liked. There are measurable returns that come from friendships with regards to good health."

53. Be positive. When you get down, remember: a super-centenarian is a person aged 110 and over. Their numbers have climbed since the 80s. Odds are, you're going to be here awhile. May as well enjoy.

52. Which basically means, "embrace your ikigai," as they say in Japan. "Ikigai" is your reason to get up every morning.

51. And everyone should drink water. Men who drink five or six glasses a day are 70% less likely to suffer fatal heart attacks.

50. Reduce the noise around you. And this doesn't just mean lowering the volume on your TV. Simplify everything.

49. Organic wheat grass has been known to work wonders.

48. And gluten-free foods, like the kind found on the Canadian Celiac Association website, celiac.ca, are much healthier than the stuff you find at the grocery store.

47. By all means, maintain social connections. Queen Victoria began her decline after the death of her husband. Who knows? The long weekend could have stretched out through Wednesday had he lasted a few more years.

46. Please stop smoking. Tobacco-related ailments remain the most preventable causes of death and disease in North America.

45. "My mantra is do what you enjoy," Buetnner says. "If you're not liking something, whether it's your workout or your gluten-free diet, 98% of people won't keep something up. Find the things that adhere to you."

44. Like gardening. Both Marge Jenner and Dan Buettner spoke so effusively about the power of having a green thumb, that we hereby abdicate every National Post reader maintains some kind of green space. It pays dividends.

43. Don't be afraid of mugwort. It may sound like something out of Harry Potter, but this wild weed used to flavour teas has proven medicinal effects.

42. Volunteer. Because it's not only how long we live, but what the life we live is actually like. Give something back. You will grow.

41. Dr. Ellsworth Wareham is truly inspirational. He recently relaid his backyard fence. "I think it's important for me to keep active," he says. "People say, 'I don't drive at night.' Well, I drive over 2,000 miles a month on Southern California freeways, much of it at night. It keeps me alert." Again, Dr. Wareham is a heart surgeon. The 94-year-old drives home after operating on the hearts of younger men.

40. Mental acuity is closely tied to physical health. Whether it's online Scrabble or Sudoku, keep the tools sharp.

39. One centenarian in Costa Rica suggests reciting a few stanzas of poetry every night. From memory, she can recite a six-minute Pablo Neruda poem.

38. Breakfast should be your day's largest meal, then lunch, and then dinner. Portion-size should decrease through the course of the day.

37. In Nicoya, Costa Rica, the average 60-year-old has twice the chance of reaching 90 than people in Canada, France or even Japan. Luis Rosero-Bixby has studied their population. "The people here have very liberal attitudes toward sex," Rosero-Bixby says in The Blue Zones. "They tend to have many sexual partners throughout life."

36. They also eat three times as many limes.

35. Sleep tightly. Sleep is what keeps the immune system functioning. Adults need between seven and nine hours a night.

34. "Moderate drinkers outlive teetotallers," says Buettner. "You guys have a long weekend in Canada? You should drink!"

33. "Moderately," Buettner adds.

32. Everyone knows oranges have high vitamin C content. But did you know they also prevent heart disease, cancer and strokes?

31. But you have to eat them, not drink ‘em.

30. If you're going to take vitamins, find something with calcium. The heart is a muscle, and calcium makes our muscles strong. It also helps with bone strength. Hip fractures are one of the leading causes of death amongst seniors.

29. Dedicate yourself to something for five weeks and the practice becomes a habit. Start living healthier now, and you're odds of living longer will have increased by Father's Day.

28. Introduce balancing exercises into your workouts. (One in every three adults over 65 experiences a fall each year). It's never to early to train. And it can be as easy as standing on one foot every day.

27. Yoga also helps improve balance.

26. Not to mention that joining a yoga studio, cycling club or gym will also increase your social network.

25. Take care of your teeth. They're one of the most important parts of your digestive system and can easily be maintained with regular brushing, flossing and trips to the dentist.

24. Also, eat sardines. They're loaded with omega 3 fatty acids and offer high levels of Coenzyme Q10, which is a powerful antioxidant known to promote a strong immune system.

23. Choose healthy hobbies. Even two hours of bowling can burn 490-calories -- and two hours of dancing burns more than that!

22. Your goal should be to get in the habit of at least 30 minutes of exercise at least five times a week. And exercise does include walking.

21. Losing 10% of body weight will lower blood pressure and cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of heart disease. Have we mentioned how important it is to practice portion control?

20. Also, put a scale in your bathroom. One study showed that women who weighed themselves daily lost an average of 12-pounds a year.

19. But don't for one minute think you have to give up red wine. Red wine contains artery-scrubbing polyphenols that fight against arteriosclerosis.

18. Just don't get behind the wheel after drinking. That greatly reduces the effectiveness of the previous 83 tips.

17. Eat four to six vegetable servings every day. And if you can get down tofu, even better.

16. Learn a new language or how to play an instrument. People are purpose-driven.

15. Adopting a pet will also give life meaning. Having something to care for makes us want to live.

14. Go slow. "People who've made it to 100 seem to exude a sense of sublime serenity," Buettner says. Take naps. Taste your food. Don't eat in front of the television.

13. Basically, stop and smell the roses. Preferably ones that you've grown.

12. Arriving fifteen minutes early to every appointment helps to minimize stress. (And no, I didn't just put that in there for my wife).

11. Carry your clubs on the golf course and fore-go escalators for stairs. Make slight lifestyle alterations as opposed to a series of massive changes all at once.

10. And furthermore, don't try all of these things today. Buettner suggests only taking on any three tips at a time. (Maybe four if you're experimenting over the long weekend).

9. Pick up The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest. It is a pretty damned inspiring book.

8. "I don't know what you young people believe, but I couldn't imagine life without God," says Marge Jenner, our 105-year-old Californian. Most research suggests having a belief-system is healthy. Whatever that belief-system may be.

7. Eat cooked corn. It's loaded with calcium (as is broccoli, kale and cheese).

6. Do something nice for somebody else. Who knows? Maybe they'll give you cooked corn.

5. "I had a sit-down with my dad about his bacon-eating habits and, believe me, they're hard to change," Buettner says. Expect these changes to be gradual. No one lived to be 101 overnight.

4. In two years, 98% of people on diets run back to their previous eating habits. Make real lifestyle changes. Don't let these tips become fads.

3. Hail the power of the sweet potato! High in fiber, vitamin A, potassium, vitamin C and folic acid, they're also easy to make.

2. Dark chocolate is another treat which, when not eaten in a massive Chris Farley-sized binge, doesn't have to be denied. (It has more antioxidants than milk).

1. "You've got to have piece of mind," Dr. Ellsworth says. "I was a navy officer on a destroyer in the Pacific during World War II and that taught me something: I don't have stress in my life. If you watch your diet and exercise, well, I don't see any reason why all sorts of people can't live just as long as me."

National Post

IF YOU THINK YOU CAN

2009-05-20T06:24:00.001-07:00

The law of auto-suggestion, through which any person may rise to altitudes of
achievement which stagger the imagination, is well described in the following verse:

‘If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't.
.
‘If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will—
It's all in the state of mind.
.
‘If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
.
‘Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!’

Observe the words which have been emphasized, and you
will catch the deep meaning which the poet had in
mind.

FAITH, LOVE, and SEX

2009-05-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

FAITH is the head chemist of the mind. When FAITH is blended with the vibration of thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration,translates it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence, as in the case of prayer. The emotions of FAITH, LOVE, and SEX are the most powerful of all the major positive emotions. When the three are blended, they have the effect of ‘coloring’ the vibration of thought in such a way that it instantly reaches the subconscious mind, where it is changed into its spiritual equivalent, the only form that induces a response from Infinite Intelligence. Love and faith are psychic; related to the spiritual side of man. Sex is purely biological, and related only to the physical. The mixing, or blending, of these three emotions has the effect of opening a direct line of communication between the finite, thinking mind of man, and Infinite Intelligence.

The emotions of FAITH, LOVE, and SEX are the most powerful of all the major positive emotions. When the three are blended, they have the effect of ‘coloring’ the vibration of thought in such a way that it instantly reaches the subconscious mind, where it is changed into its spiritual equivalent, the only form that induces a response from Infinite Intelligence. Love and faith are psychic; related to the spiritual side of man. Sex is purely biological, and related
only to the physical. The mixing, or blending, of these three emotions has the effect of opening a direct line of communication between the finite, thinking mind of man, and Infinite Intelligence.

SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
First. I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.

Second. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind
will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality, therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.

Third. I know through the principle of autosuggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it, therefore, I will devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of SELFCONFIDENCE.

Fourth. I have clearly written down a description of my DEFINITE CHIEF AIM in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed sufficient selfconfidence for its attainment.

Fifth. I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others.

I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself. I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it aloud once a day, with full FAITH that it will gradually influence my THOUGHTS and ACTIONS so that I will become a self-reliant, and successful person. Have Faith in yourself; Faith in the Infinite.

Before we begin, you should be reminded again that:
FAITH is the ‘eternal elixir’ which gives life, power, and action to the impulse of thought! The foregoing sentence is worth reading a second time, and a third, and a fourth. It is worth reading aloud!
FAITH is the starting point of all accumulation of riches!
FAITH is the basis of all ‘miracles,’ and all mysteries which cannot be analyzed by the rules of science!
FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!
FAITH is the element, the ‘chemical’ which, when mixed with prayer, gives one direct communication with Infinite Intelligence.
FAITH is the element which transforms the ordinary vibration of thought, created by the finite mind of man, into the spiritual equivalent.
FAITH is the only agency through which the cosmic force of Infinite Intelligence can be harnessed and used by man.
now, a very significant statement of truth:
THOUGHTS WHICH ARE MIXED WITH ANY OF THE FEELINGS OF EMOTIONS, CONSTITUTE A ‘MAGNETIC’ FORCE WHICH ATTRACTS,

Excerpts frorm "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill

"Schul" - temple a place of Worship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polnische_Schul)

2009-05-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

Having climbed the steps to the entrance , I came into the Temple itself. Beyond the first gate was large court where all could exchange money and goods. How one had to admire the beards of these men of Mammon! They had been curled by a warm iron and were immaculate in their pride. So these money lenders looked like peacocks. And the priest also looked like peacocks as they moved among them. All was vanity. At home their tables would be bountiful, while the poor sat in the stinking alleys of the city. I wrapped silence about me like holy cloth that others would not dare to touch. I sat alone on a stone bench and looked at how these people cast money into the alms box. Many who were rich cast much. But then came a poor woman and her shawl was threadbare she threw in her small coin. My heart leaped. I called to those disciples who were near and said: " This poor woman has put in more than all the rich. They leave a tithe of the abundance. She gave her living. So she has turned money into a tribute to the Lord. The weathy give only to impress each other.

I thought of money and how it was an odious beast. It consumed everything offered to it. What slobbering was in such greed! Ithought of how the rich are choked with the weight of gold, and the gardens grow no fruit to satisfy them. There is oppression in the perfume of the air, and none of the rich man's blooms bring happiness. For his neighbor is wealtheir than himself and his gardens more beautiful. So the rich are always envious of the next man's gold.

Here in the outer court of the Temple, surrounded by these money lenders, I spoke to all and my voice was my own. I said: " No man can pay allegiance to two masters. For he will cling to the one he needs and in secret dispise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon."

Then I heard the Devil speak to me for the first time since I been with him on the mountain. He said" Before it is over, the rich will posess you as well. They will put your image on every wall. The alms raised in your name will swell the treasury of mighty churches; men will worship you most when you belong to me as much as to Him. Which is just. For I am His equal." And he laughed. He knew what he would say next:" Greed is a beast, you say, but note this! Its defecations are weighed in gold. Isn't that the color of the sun which all things grow?" The Lord chose to reply in my other ear: " Everything he says makes sense until it does no longer. He gives this speech to all who catches his eye, and his eye is only for the best and most beautiful, whom I have fashioned with great hope. He scorns those who are modest but remain with Me. And this was more than my Father ever said again about Satan, but at this moment it gave little force to my faith. Did my Father speak well of the meek because thay were the only ones who remained loyal to Him and to me? How full of chaos was such a thought! I fell prey to a wrath greater than any I had known before.

In the eyes ofthe moneylenders, greed was as sharp as the point of a spear; the rage of Isaiah came into me. In his words I cried out: " These tables are a pool of vomit. In such filth, nothing is clean!" And I overturned each of he tables before me. I threw them over with the money that was on them, and I exuilted as the coins gave small criess one striking stones of the courtyard. Each possessor ran after his lost coins like he swine of Gadreene as they rushed into the sea. Then I knocked over the seats of those who sold doves and I opened the cages. On this commotion of wings the multitude who were with me came forward and cheeered at the defiance of usury. I said: " My house shall be called the house of prayer. Whereas you are men of Mammon and have made it a den of thieves.

The Most Beautiful Creature

2009-05-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

The vsitor soon arrived. And he was as handsome as a prince. He had a gold ornament on a gold chain about his neck, and in this ornament was the face of a ram, bestial yet more noble than any ram I had ever seen. And the hair of this prince was as long as my own and lustrous. He dressed in robes of velvet that were as purple as the late evening, and he wore a crown as golden as the sun. He had climbed the mountain, yet there was no dust on his robes nor sweat upon his skin. He should be no other than who I thought, and indeed he soon introduced himself. I said to myself, "The Devil is the most beautiful creature God ever made." (Norman Mailer, The Gospel According to the Son)

Hildago

2009-05-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

This movie set in 1890 this amazing tale about a man and his mustang horse, Hildago, takes us on an incredible journey from America's Wild West all the way across the Sahara desert. Frank T Hopkins is half Indian and white. He is mail delivery person who delivers dispatches to army post. The United States government was nervous after containing the Indians on this reservation. The Indians were doing the Ghost Dance, a dance that calls the spirits of past Indians and ask for help in a current situation. When Frank gets to Wound Knee Reservation he sees the Indians are doing the dance and mentions it to the captain. He is riding off and hears approximately a quarter mile back gunshots. He turns and realizes that the dispatch he delivered contained the orders to slaughter the Indians on the reservations. When he gets there he can only look in disbelief at his people are being gunned down and then he realizes that he brought the orders that resulted in the massacre Wounded Knee Creek of the reservation of Indians. He then becomes an alcoholic drowning in the bottle trying to run away from the memory of the slaughter. He also becomes the star of Buffalo Bill Cody's (J K Simmons) Wild West Show where Frank's horse is touted as the greatest endurance racer in the world. He hears of the race across the Sahara from Buffalo Bill. An old Indian Chief tells him that he must go on this race of endurance across the Sahara Desert. Not to win the money a $100,000 purse but to find himself, to become the Indian of his mother or the White Man of his father or die as a no account person in Wild Bill’s Wild West Show.

Frank has blue eyes and blonde hair. The race is truly a race of endurance and self seeking. He is about to enter a race of thoroughbreds horses, with a Spanish Mustang ”Hildago” which is a mut of a horse with different breeds intermingled. The mustang is bred to be tough and fast though. His main rivals are two, the Sheik’s horse Al Atttal, a horse among horses. Also a white woman's horse who if wins will have the rights of breeding with Al Attal. She is unscrupulous and has hired the Sheik's nephew, a no account thief to sabotage the race. The nephew visits the Sheik to ask to ride the horse and is refused by the Sheik which leads to the kidnapping of the Sheik's daughter. Now prior to the kidnapping Frank is the underdog of the race because he is riding a mustang and not a thorough bred. The desert race goes through four countries for a total of 1500 miles through Syria, Iraq, Iran and ending in Egypt at the ocean. The daughter of the Sheik has been promised to the winner of the race. Hopefully, the prince who is riding Al Attal if he wins. She is caught in the tent of Frank, and even though Frank’s intentions were honorable, he did not touch the Sheiks daughter. She was giving him dates, camel butter to mix with the water for the kidneys of the Frank and the mustang during the race through the dessert. She tells him of the wind / sand storms, that the locust are a gift from Allah as food and not a curse, and how much her father is addicted the stories of cowboy west of America. But she is found in the tent of an infidel, she has dishonored her father and herself. Frank is set to be castrated until he remembers to mention stories of the west her father is so fond of and saves himself “ Wild Bill” , “The Okay Corral”. These stories buy him time and save his life.

He is sent to get the daughter from the kidnapping nephew in exchange for his testes. The story ends with him about to kill his horse when the horses kidneys start going out and horses nose starts to bleed. Then he sees what he thinks is a spirit and remembers the ghost dance then chants and gets help from the spirits. He takes the saddle off the horse and rides it bare back across the finish line to the ocean. Frank accepts that he is an Indian and lives a peacefully thereafter. The United States in away to further disable the Indian was to kill all the mustangs if the so they could not be bought back by the Indians. But the price is so high they are too much for a poor Indian to buy. After Frank comes back for Egypt he with the purse buys all the mustangs. He delivers another dispatch to the captain on duty. Who replies “You got another dispatch for me.” This dispatch read something like this “ Frank has purchased all the mustang s you are to let him do as he pleases with them.” Frank release all of the mustangs out of the gate back onto the plains along with his horse “Hildago” .

Because of the truth racism in these films I am not surprised that these movies did not do well at the box office, and also equally surprised that “Hildago” and “Quigley Down Under” were even allowed to be made.