…And The Confederate Flag Still Flies
Posted by Michelle Moquin on August 28th, 2009
Alexander: Thank you for telling us what really happened in the civil war; it is fascinating and repulsive at the same time. I appreciate your tellings because the history of our country never interested me much in high school, thanks to a very dry history teacher, and welcoming distractions :) Sneaking out of class was something I did when the opportunity presented itself, and quite frankly, the teacher didn’t seem to mind much. I guess I wasn’t really missing much as I am sure the history books weren’t exactly written as you have just chronicled to us. Over the years, I have had a growing desire to learn more and the challenge was finding the truth.
You say, “To be Still around 252 years after I was born is amazing.” I can’t imagine. And what is amazing to me is that the confederate flag, and what it truly represents, is still flying to this day after all of these years.
Readers: Here’s an article that was sent to me in regards to the flying of the Confederate flag.
IN 1962 the Confederate battle flag was placed on top of the South Carolina statehouse by vote of the all-white legislature. While other Southern states removed the flag from their statehouses, South Carolina refused to follow suit. This prompted the NAACP to organize a national economic boycott against South Carolina’s $14 billion-a-year tourism industry, and since the summer of 1999, more than 100 conventions and business organizations have participated in the boycott. The boycott is considered one of the largest since the 1970s. The NAACP’s president, Kweisi Mfume, said of the boycott, “this is a trigger you don’t want to pull until all else has failed. In the case of South Carolina, after 38 years of negotiating even the NAACP has a limit to its patience.”
Inflammatory remarks by state senator Arthur Ravenel made national headlines in Jan. 2000 when he defended the flying of the Southern Cross, referring to the NAACP as the “the National Association of Retarded People.” He then apologized to “retarded people” for associating them with the NAACP. At the time of the the February Republican presidential primary, party differences on the issue were thrown in sharp relief: the Republican contenders declined to take a stand except to say that the issue was a state matter; the Democrats were outspokenly against the flag remaining.
On April 12, 2000, the South Carolina state senate finally passed a bill to remove the flag by a majority of 36-7. The bill specified that a more traditional version of the battle flag (square shaped as opposed to the rectangular flag now flying above the statehouse) would be flown in front of the Capitol next to a monument honoring fallen Confederate soldiers. The bill then went to the House, where it encountered some difficulty. But on May 18, 2000, after the bill was modified to ensure that the height of the flag’s new pole would be 30 feet, it was passed by a majority of 66 to 43, and Governor Jim Hodges signed the bill five days later. On July 1, the flag was removed from the South Carolina statehouse.
The bill has not appeased everyone, however: the NAACP has not called off its boycott because they feel that the flag’s new position on the Capitol lawn is still too prominent.
This article was written in the year 2000, but today, not only is the flag still flying, most of the seats of government have civil war memorabilia displayed all over it. Disgusting. I can’t imagine black people having to see this flag daily, flying in their faces, knowing the meaning and the history behind it.
Thoughts? Blog me.
****************
Cheirika: :) Thank you.
Anonymous: I hope for that too. Sen. Ted Kennedy is greatly missed.
Peace out….
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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August 28th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Well It is back to school for us here. That usually means the lost of the Big Dipper in our skies.
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Big Dipper bids Guam skies adieu
BY PAM EASTLICK • FOR PACIFIC DAILY NEWS • AUGUST 28, 2009
Greetings everyone and welcome to Guam’s variable skies. School has started and summer is over for most of us. This seasonal change is also reflected in the sky.
The Big Dipper, the star pattern most of us recognize, is about to leave the evening skies of Guam for another year. It appears to be standing on its bowl in the northwestern sky with its handle high in the air. Alpha and Beta Centauri, the two bright eyes above the southern horizon are also tilted far to the west and will follow the Southern Cross below the southwestern horizon during the month of September. They too will reappear in late spring as spaceship Earth carries us in our endless voyage around the Sun.
Autumn Constellations
To the east, the dim constellations of autumn are beginning to appear. We have very few bright stars in our autumn skies, a trade-off we make for being able to see 18 of the 20 brightest stars in April and May. But there’s one thing we can’t see much of in spring, that’s the crown jewel of our autumn skies here on Guam.
To see it, you must have fairly dark skies. We’re lucky here — you can still enjoy dark skies without much trouble. All you need to do is go somewhere away from the streetlights.
Go to the beach, up into the hills or maybe even a dark stretch of road somewhere. If you do that, and the sky is relatively free of clouds, you’ll see a large diffuse band of clouds that arches from the northeastern to southwestern horizons. If you gaze at this cloudy band for a while, you’ll realize that it isn’t moving like the other clouds. What you’ve just found is your galactic home. That beautiful glowing band of light is the Milky Way and that faint glow is the light of billions of stars, too far away for you to see as individuals. By September and October, this awesome river of stars will flow directly overhead and dominate our autumn skies.
August’s southern sky is home to a whole raft of obscure and unfamiliar constellations and stars. Fairly close to the southern horizon, you may see a bright star that’s flashing brilliant colors.
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Hafa adai
Anna
August 28th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Paradise or Purgatory? Is a Retirement Community Right for You?
Andrew D. Blechman
Americans have retired in droves to age-restricted communities ever since six model homes opened in Sun City, Arizona, in 1960 — the first such development in the world. Today, as Sun City plans a 50th anniversary celebration for its more than 40,000 inhabitants, some 1,500 “leisure retirement communities” have become a way of life for nearly 12 million people.
While age-restricted communities tend to cluster in sunny states, they’re proliferating everywhere. You may be surprised to learn that 60% of new retirement communities are being built in the North. Massachusetts, where I live, contains 150, with about 200 more proposed.
The largest age-restricted (and gated) retirement community in the world is The Villages in central Florida. One-and-one-half times the square mileage of Manhattan and currently housing 70,000, this flock of “villages” lured former neighbors of mine, the Andersons, several years ago. In a one-month stay at The Villages, two weeks of which were spent at their new home, I did my preliminary research for Leisureville: Adventures in America’s Retirement Utopias, a study of retirement communities around the country. My goal: To understand the appeal of a unique way of living that has been luring our elders away.
INDEPENDENCE AND COMMUNITY
The most prominent type of retirement community, and the one I studied for my book, focuses on recreation. The amenities are plentiful, with little waiting for a tennis court or tee time… and a constant influx of new residents that encourages bonding and creates instant community.
Grown children feel relieved that Mom and Dad are busy and happy. Some communities contain continuing-care facilities for residents who become unable to care for themselves.
While these communities vary widely, they share attributes that say “paradise” to some — and “purgatory” to others.
A CERTAIN AGE
Designed for those who prefer a child-free environment, retirement communities address the needs and desires of the older set. Minimum age requirements — usually age 55 — are strictly enforced. At least one member of each household must be the minimum age or older. (Filling the house with unrelated roommates is not allowed.) Guests, including relatives, under age 18 or 19 may visit for only a predetermined number of days per year.
Pros: Residents relish the novelty of having their needs treated as a top priority. A child-free environment ensures more peace and quiet than ordinary neighborhoods provide. Seniors feel safe surrounded by age peers.
Cons: Grandchildren’s visits are limited. They can never move in, whatever the family situation. People who enjoy mingling with others of all types and ages might find the setting too limiting.
RECREATION 24/7, INCLUDING SEX
Golf, tennis, swimming, Bingo, dances and hobby groups dominate daily activities in leisure-oriented communities. An active singles scene includes the never married, the divorced, the previously widowed and those widowed after moving in. A relaxed social atmosphere with no work responsibilities tends to encourage sexual freedom. I have observed that a good number of older gentlemen, and some women, regularly seek and find sex partners.
Pros: Life can be all play — a common retirement fantasy. Tennis courts, swimming pools and gyms aren’t overrun by the young. Recreational facilities are designed for less-than-perfect eyesight and physiques.
Cons: People who are less focused on sports and hobbies may feel alienated, as may retirees who derive significant pleasure from high culture — opera, theater, classical music, a superb public library. Widows and widowers who haven’t dated in 50 years and who dismiss the use of condoms as solely for contraception are unaware that sexually transmitted infections, including herpes, syphilis and AIDS, have infiltrated the senior singles scene.
NEW CONSTRUCTION, LOTS OF RULES
Many retirement communities, being built in ever-increasing numbers, boast that everything is new. The older ones were built just as fast and not all that well.
Also, home owners must respect many rules (“deed restrictions”).
Examples: Exterior paint colors and even the height of shrubs may be prescribed… pets limited to two… lawn ornaments and window air conditioners banned.
Pros: Modern amenities, including plenty of bathrooms and closets. Homes designed with few stairs and universal accessibility.
Deed restrictions ensure that neighborhoods remain clean and neat. Many home owners consider mandatory conformity a small price to pay for knowing that they’ll never see their neighbors’ car on blocks, swing sets in the yard or gnomes on the lawn.
Cons: Slapdash construction, including modern versions of old designs built with today’s questionable workmanship, often lacks charm. Each community’s success hinges on perpetual investment and care by the managing owner. You may never know whether the developer is about to declare bankruptcy, as some have, leaving behind partially completed, thinly populated “communities” with houses that will probably become increasingly difficult to sell.
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
The communal areas of most recreational retirement communities — the golf courses, the downtown, the streets — as well as the empty lots and unsold houses are owned by their builders (or whomever the builders sell them to). Special zoning arrangements (these communities bring in lots of tax revenue for local jurisdictions) may permit community rules to sidestep state and county laws in many aspects of life.
Pros: Many residents, delighted with their low per-home property taxes, feel confident that the owners have a personal stake in meeting community needs.
Cons: Residents trade the ballot box for the suggestion box. Residents with a gripe plead their cases before a corporate board, not elected officials. Don’t look in the local paper or at public meetings for discussions of serious issues.
Expect to live under a form of “taxation without representation.” Through steadily increasing maintenance fees, the owners can charge residents for, say, new golf courses and recreation centers.
ADVICE FOR POTENTIAL BUYERS
If age-restricted retirement community living attracts you, visit several, staying for a while if you can arrange it. I learned far more during my four weeks with the Andersons than any official tour could have shown.
Generally, these communities have wonderful recreational amenities. But is the intellectual spark bright enough for you? Can you find a group that reads the kinds of books you like? Other questions to consider…
Where do you want to be in 20 years? How would you feel about being far from your family and old friends later in life?
Can you imagine aging happily there? Might you “age in place” instead, perhaps having your current home retrofitted?
Will your house purchase be a good investment, bringing decent value if you sell?
Bottom Line/Retirement interviewed Andrew D. Blechman, an award-winning investigative newspaper reporter and feature writer based in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, who made numerous trips around the country to research this rapidly expanding retirement lifestyle. He is author of Leisureville: Adventures in America’s Retirement Utopias (Atlantic Monthly).
August 28th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:40 am
I have a friend who takes a drug for his rheumatoid arthritis. He has been told than now he has to take another drug because that drug causes him to lose bone. He asked the obvious question which was “why don’t I stop taking the drug that is causing me to lose bone?”
There answer “You don’t have to because we have a drug to counter that side effect.” He reads your column (My daughter tells everyone she knows about it). He found this article while doing research on the drug he is taking that is causing him to lose bone.
He says he didn’t do it when he was first prescribed it years ago because he trusted doctors more then. He doesn’t want to write in and He knows I love to so he sent me the article. I took out the reference to the doctor. I’m basically against giving doctors a free plug. Besides I don’t think that takes away from the message.
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Drugs for the side effects of other drugs
Big Pharma’s endless vicious cycle added another loop recently when the Food & Drug Administration approved a med to treat the side effects of another med.
The crazy thing is, most people didn’t need that first drug to begin with. But don’t expect to hear about that from the FDA.
Glucocorticoid medications are steroids commonly used by folks who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.
But like most of these meds, using them comes at a price, and a pretty high one at that. Glucocorticoid medications are one of the leading causes of secondary osteoporosis. In fact, an estimated 50 percent of the patients on glucocorticoids will eventually end up with an osteoporosis-related bone fracture.
Enter Big Pharma, which is always ready to offer up a pricey solution to the problems it has created.
Their latest move expands the use of another steroid to treat this form of osteoporosis.
But you can avoid the need for any of these drugs and their side effects. What most people don’t know — what most doctors don’t even know — is that rheumatoid arthritis is most often caused by a food allergy.
I wrote all about it in the June issue of Health Revelations, and if you subscribe now you’ll get to read that article in our online archives, along with my simple three-step plan for reversing joint damage.
You won’t hear about this anywhere else because there’s no drug to sell here and no big money on the line — only a real cure for your condition, no strings attached.
The alternative is drugs, such as those glucocorticoid medications. If your doctor starts you on those, or if you’re already on them, chances are now he’ll encourage you to take this new drug to deal with the side effects.
But this drug comes with plenty of risks of its own.
Some of the folks who have used it developed bone cancer. Although there’s not enough data out there to say for sure if the drug caused the cancer, it does have enough established side effects to make anyone think twice: decreased blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, nausea, leg pain, cramps, joint aches and more.
And then, you can ride that endless crazy train of meds, side effects, meds to deal with the side effects and more meds to deal with the side effects of the meds you take for the side effects of the first med.
I can’t think of anything more unnecessary than that.
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Al and Howie, you are regulars who freely admit that you have to take a lot of drugs for your health problems. I hope you both are researching the possible side effect of your meds.
I look forward to your comments. Especially your sense of humor Al. I copy some of them and mail them to my more computer challenged friends. Thanks for lightening up their day.
Ruth
August 28th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Michelle
I have lived in the South all my life. I finally decided to make up my own mind about black people during Obama’s run for the presidency. I met a lot of black people working for his campaign.
My daughter and two sons were actively working to get him elected too. They convinced me to sneak off from my husbands rabid efforts to support McCain to attend a few meetings. I met a few girls my age there some had black girlfriends.
I couldn’t believe it. They had actually had them over to their homes and such. I was invited a few times. When I got up my courage to go, I was surprised to discover I had a very good time. Some of the best times of my life.
I now have three of the best girlfriends I have ever had two of them are black. We go everywhere together. I was honest from the beginning. I told everyone that my neighborhood and especially my husband were extreme bigots. They hated anyone not white and blacks especially.
Most were kind enough to accept me anyway. Some said that knowing my kids, they would have never thought that their parents were racists. I said “you just can’t tell a book by the cover.”
The reason I am writing is to tell you that we by black friends travel often to other states, especially in the summer to visit the different beaches. Racism is still very much alive here. I have become more sensitive to the feelings of blacks. I notice an occasional wince when we see the civil war symbols prominently displayed around the South from my black friends.
After reading AH’s account, I can understand why. I wish we whites could let go of the need to stick it to non whites about our superiority. I don’t believe it any longer.
Belle
August 28th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Hi Michelle. I am disgusted by the fact that any Southerner may be proud of the Confederate Flag. It represents a time when our Nation was split in half. Brother fought against Brother and many thousands died horrible deaths in both the Confederate and Union Armies.
The Confederate flag is a symbol of the South separating from the North. It is over. The North won. The South surrendered. Let’s forget about it. Why raise a flag that brings back memories of our nations saddest time? It is like Germany flying a Nazi swastika along with the New German republic’s flag. It would be ludicrous.
We must mover forward and try to forget the horrors of the Civil War and reunite as one Nation. It is OK to remember the past so that history does not repeat itself, but to glorify this symbol of the South and their Slavery is going too far.
Many hard core Southerners are still proud of the Confederacy and would like to return to it. The Confederate flag is still haung on the walls of many a Southerner’s Living Rooms.
It must be written in law that this flag will never fly again.
HOWIE
August 28th, 2009 at 9:36 am
My heart goes out to the 29 year old Jaycee Lee Dugard who was kidnapped when she was 11 years old.
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Again we see the intelligence of the FBI. The federal bureau of idiots can’t find a crook unless they do it in a movie or TV series. The same idiots who couldn’t put two and two together when they were told by flight schools in Florida that they had arabs taking jumbo jet classes on how to fly them, but NOT on how to take off in them or how to land them, duh?
Add that to the fact that the FBI had been receiving information about arabs planning to crash jumbo jets into targeted buildings, and that “duh” becomes criminal stupidity.
Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped from the street in front of her home in June of 1991 when she was 11 years old. She is now 29.
El Dorado County investigators held a news conference Thursday afternoon detailing the events that lead up to Jaycee’s discovery and the arrest of two suspects in the case. They say a UC Berkeley police officer reported suspicious activity between 58-year-old Phillip Garrido and two young children on August 25. Parole agents brought him in for questioning. He was accompanied by his wife, 55-year-old Nancy Garrido, a 29-year-old woman named Allissa and her two children. That is when the story unraveled.
Well these key stone cops were at it again. They repeatedly visited the man Phillip Garrido at his Antioch home. There was an electric cord running from the house to the woods and it never occurred to these geniuses to follow the cord to discover where it leaded. As a result years passed and the child was raped and she now as two children by the rapist.
I am including the link to the interview with the El Dorado County press conf. Notice the cheeky response of the federal bureau of idiots. is astounding. They claim to be helping in an investigation they flubbed from the start.
RAW VIDEO: El Dorado County press conference ?RAW VIDEO: Dept. of Corrections press conference
Nancy
August 28th, 2009 at 9:42 am
I agree with you Belle. It is horrible that some whites have so little sympathy for what we have done to OTWs. I see that flag proudly portrayed by the heros of many major movies. It is almost always in the background of westerns.
Why are so numb to the feelings of others while being so quick to take umbrage when we fill the slightest indignity to the white race?
I am proud to be white as I am sure others are proud to be what they are. I do not see a reason to always be trying to say that white is better.
Julie
August 28th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Michelle you have brought up a very sensitive subject in my household. I have had enough with my husband’s display of those evil representing symbols of the confederacy. I removed everyone from my home this morning.
I had to take off from work to do it. When he returns home from work and the kids from school, I will inform them that those symbols will no longer be tolerated in our home.
Thank you for making it possible for Alexander H to tell his story. And thank you for taking a stand for what is right.
Linda
August 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Mr. Alexander H. I blogged a crude version of this comment this morning on yesterdays blog and then it switched to today’s new Post. I would like you to see this, so I am sending it again with some alterations so you do not miss my comment.
Mr. Hamilton, I am one of the few people who can understand your dilemma. It has been very fulfilling having a dialog with you via Michelle’s blog. I thank her for designing the means for us and many others to chat. I have been so patient, not hearing a word of confirmation from the Tao except when I was angered and my over inflated ego called Carr into the picture.
I have learned a lesson in humility and outbursts like that will NEVER happen again from me. The Tao are our Friends and I will always remember that. I give them 100% loyalty. I was so anxious to hear from them, and being a linear being, time moves more slowly for me. It feels like an eternity since I first met them on this Blog.
Carr was assuring me on one hand and the Tao were ignoring me on the other. I acted inappropriately and thought they would never want to hear from me again. I was torn apart. They do not feel the ravages of linear time. I do.
I am walking around without my feet touching the floor touching the floor. I have been so elated since we began our dialog a few days ago. Carr says “I told you so” and I am a fool for doubting.
I know you are enjoying the education you have received from Adam and I look forward to my experience beginning. I suppose I need to learn a lesson in patience — It is a virtue, you know.
I am changing topics to the state of Humankind. I agree with Adam. My species has acted so cruel and selfishly over the millennia and killed each other off without a second thought. It doesn’t matter which Empire was ruling the World. Now Humans are breaking down many of the Earth’s Ecosystems. Global warming is just one problem to worry about. Humans have actually turned the Earth into a Garbage Dump in a couple of hundred years, and many species are disappearing forever. Half the World’s population is starving daily. The end result is that the future for life on this Planet looks bleak for all. I blame Humankind for the transgressions against their own kind and against the only Planet they know of that supports Human life. We flush our excrement into our oceans and lakes, destroying the underwater Ecosystems as well. When the Planet looses the capability to support human life, we certainly deserve it and I hope to not be around to witness this sad event. Adam is correct about his dislike of the Human species. We are a plague upon this world and should be dealt with harshly. I am ashamed to be one of them. Hopefully not for long.
HOWIE
August 28th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
My special friend, Alexie, is much too sensitive to the things I say to him. I do not believe the human race is a total loss.
Actually, there are many things about earthlings that are unique to the discoveries I have chronicled as we travel the universe and document the differences between the species we encounter.
Earthlings’ household habits tend to mimic many abandoned worlds or worlds in which the inhabitants have destroyed because of their careless stewardship.
If the direction of their mismanagement can be corrected in time, they can save the earth from its eventual destruction as a place that will support human life.
I enjoy my conversations with Alexie. He has an acumen that reflects the collective conscious of the potential of the human race. He shows me how well humans can adapt to a new environment and their abilities to emote while being willing to accept their mistakes and faults.
These are traits that will not be often found in the deep reaches of space. We become jaded easily out there. Arrogance is a recognition made by others to our actions. We who wield the power often see it as logic.
Alexie’s willingness to debate our “wisdom” on a subject often infuriates some of us. I am not one who finds his introspection, or questions of my pronouncements uncomfortable. I have come to expect it.
I like to answer his questions with a trip into his past because in reality it is both that and a trip into his future.
The dilemma he has to face allows me to observe the gymnastic skill of the human mind when it is being bombarded with extreme emotional input.
I feel very, I think the word is lucky, that I have a specimen that is one of the best the earth has to offer to run my tests on.
Adam
August 28th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
when the Republicans are completely ignored and single payer is passed without them they will jump on board with fresh ideas. Exactly as they did with Social Security and Medicare.
Teddy Kennedy understood this process in detail. The problem is not what will make America healthier – it is what will get politicians elected next cycle. Clearly the Republicans think that failure of the American political process will help them get elected. It may, there are a lot of very stupid people in the U.S.
There are also a lot of gullible people on the left and the right who just want someone to blame and are too lazy to look into the facts or the arguments in any serious manner. We have become a country of sound bites. A good sound bite gets you elected – it got Bill Clinton elected (its the economy stupid) and it got George Bush elected (compassionate conservative).
It turns out Clinton didn’t really believe it was the economy, and Bush was neither compassionate nor conservative. But we endure in our low brow activities grabbing onto the next sound bite with gleeful idiocy. While I understand Dr. Ornish’s argument I suspect he is being naive about how change has and will take place in our country.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
You completely miss the point of the mission of Health Care Insurance. The simple fact is that these insurance plans, public or for profit, should have one responsibility, paying for necessary health care as prescribed by the Dr.
They should not be setting guidelines for what treatments and tests are to be called for by the physician. In other words, the Health Insurance Industry is responsible for paying for the health care; it is not responisble for health care decisons or life style changes.
That responsibility belongs to the individual and his/her Dr. And that is exactly what a single payer system does. It takes the insurance company out of the dictating health care policy business and puts it where it belongs, in the healt care paying business.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
he real point everyone is missing is the health insurance companies create dnothing…make nothing…therefore they have no value… they have a profit incentive to see that the health care delivery system provides less care to their customers….this sysyem is insane!!!
August 28th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
The republicans are against anything that Obama and the democrats put up. If they ever get back in power,,,,everything in the health care plan will be GREAT. Because,then they can bring it up as their idea.The republicans would rather see this country destroyed than to see and do anything a black man want for the country. How utterly ignorant and stupid this is but then so are the republicans and this doctor….Ornish.
August 28th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Hello Michelle,
Having lived in South Florida since 1968 (my parents moved the family here from Michigan when I was 10), the Confederate flag was a common site here. If my memory serves me right, this flag flew at many govt. and public buildings until about the mid 70’s.
There are many groups that want to see the South rise again, groups such as the Dixie Defenders, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Southern Heritage Association, to name a few.
These apparent bigots take great pride in the fact that they are white, and feel superior to all of the other ethnic groups, of which there are many in South Florida. In fact these bigots do not make themselves known this far south, as they are hopelessly outnumbered down here.
Once, since I have lived here, about 20 years back, there was a KKK march in the town of Davie, where my sister happens to live (she is not bigoted by any means). That march was quickly shut down due to public outrage and protest.
About the only sign you will see of the confederacy nowadays is the confederate flag front license plate on pick-up trucks, some display it in the back window of those pick-ups.
After reading AH’s accounts of slavery, and that which Adam has shown him, my discussions with Howie, I have felt physically ill half the week.
I will never understand what motivates bigotry other than sheer stupidity. Sure, I can see a greedy plantation owner wanting to hold on to his free labor. But for the average citizen to hold on to all this hate really has me baffled.
Al
August 28th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Adam, I am glad to hear that you have chosen the perfect specimen to represent Humankind, however since you have witnessed other worlds which are now abandoned because the inhabitants have destroyed their Planets due to careless stewardship. Do you not believe that we are destined to annihilation due to our carelessness, overpopulation and overuse of our natural resources? Are we not changing the Ecosystems of our World — the composition of the air we breathe, the overuse of fossil fuels?
Yes, we are a very adaptable species, but are we not guilty of destruction of our one and only habitat for life that contemporary Science is aware of?
Adam, you are seeing the duality of the Human species. We are so adaptable, yet we are also so self-destructive.
Things look very bleak to my eyes without the intervention of a higher power’s intervention.
Are we not past the ‘Tipping Point’ as far as Global Warming is concerned? Is there hope for the continuity of Human life on this World?
I have so many questions to ask of what you view through your Tao eyes — unfortunately I have a pessimistic view of the future of my species on this Planet. I hope I am wrong, but you must decide for yourself whether we are worthy of saving. Your choice of Alexander was a good one, however he represents just a very small percentage of Humankind.
HOWIE
August 28th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Hi again Michelle,
I went a little off topic with my last comment. It is inconceivable that South Carolina would want to fly the confederate flag in front of government buildings, don’t the citizens of this state realize what an insult, a slap in the face, this is to the black residents of South Carolina? Do they not realize what this flag represents?
This is certainly no way to give honor to the confederate soldiers who lost their lives in combat in this gruesome conflict. That’s the trouble with most wars, the ones who go to combat are usually suckered to fight for a cause that will only benefit the few who instigated the conflict in the first place.
Would you put your life on the line for, lets say, The First National Bank of S.C., of course not, but many times people fight for causes unknown to them, all it takes is some slick propaganda, and talk of patriotism and everyone is gung-ho.
You have no idea how much S.C.’s desire to fly the confederate flag sickens me. I could not determine if senator Arthur Ravenel still holds his seat or not. My guess would be no.
Michelle, I have never heard of that flag being called the Southern Cross, only the Stars and Bars.
Adam and A. Hamilton,
Thank you both for all the information Mr. Hamilton provided us with the past few days. I’m not going to find that in any history book. After all that Howie had to say, I have little to add.
Al
August 28th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I have been busy lately, but will read back to catch up with the convo. As per today, though, I will add a bit of how the universe works, from my experience.
Howie, your words and framed thoughts recently are nice to read. I will add that the human has a large capacity to create and change. There is a saying, “Whether you think you can or cannot, you are correct.” Therefore, we are our thoughts. We create with thought. The universe manifests those thoughts. Pessimism begets reason for more pessimism.
This is not to say that it is easy to NOT be pessimistic. Although, the thoughts of pessimism bring on more to be pessimistic about in order to validate that pessimism. This is the cycle that we all must work on to create a different and better universe.
It takes work. Even the best have hard times to confront this human trait. The work is welcomed by the universe and received in harmony.
Pessimism is disharmonious to the universe.
We have had lengthy discourse herein regarding mob mentality and psychology and its relation to the universal consciousness. Obama created a psychological movement that helped shield negativity and the breeding of pessimism and fear during his campaign. We must all still hold that vision, despite some current setbacks and issues we feel still need to be addressed.
This goes the same in ones personal life. When humans think, profess, learn, teach and surround themselves with others on their same wavelength of thoughts and discussions they manifest their ideals, thoughts, desires and topics of discourse. This is why people tend to flock towards common likes and dislikes such as clubs, politics, religion and such. Like thoughts beget like thoughts to validate those human participants lives and ideas. This makes these same humans continue to think and act in those same ways so as to continue to validate their thoughts and feelings.
All of this is due to the expended energy that the human consciousness puts forth.
So, I say this to all, be mindful of your thoughts. Be mindful of your feelings. You are in control of it all. If thoughts of hatred, ill health, poverty, danger, etc. of negativity become pervasive to your thought patterns, recognize these and change your thoughts and feelings. We all as humans have the capability to change our thoughts and feelings. This is what sets us apart and gives us power. Because those thoughts and feelings manifest the universe we live in, one chooses the universe one lives in.
As Obama has shown us all of the power of one human holds. We each can take that and pay it forward to a greater universe for us all.
August 28th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Hafa adai
It seems that the whites on our Island are holding our children’s education hostage to their profits. They refuse to allow the schools on Guam to open until they get their money. The whites have given themselves a monopoly in the energy department. We Guamanians have been locked out of the real money on our own land. here’s the story.
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Guam schools may remain closed while power bills are owed by DOE
Posted at 21:29 on 28 August, 2009 UTC
33 schools on Guam may remain closed because of a shortfall of between 8 and 10 million US dollars needed for operations to reach the end of the fiscal year.
The Marianas Variety newspaper reports that Department of Education officials have this week met with Speaker Judi Won Pat’s staff to discuss the additional budget request.
The schools were initially closed because of school lunch programme violations but the Department’s immediate concern is the oustanding bill of over US$1 million it owes to the Guam Power Authority.
Classes are likely to be cancelled again if the Department doesn’t receive a supplemental budget to pay their power bill, meaning power will be cut throughout the schools.
DOE officials are to soon meet with Governor Felix Camacho to discuss the shortfall.
News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand
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Peter
August 28th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Hi Doug, I am sorry that you feel that I am being pessimistic. I look at it as realistic. I agree with much of what you have said today, yet all the hope and positive thoughts in the World cannot change Global Warming or the inset of another ice Age or such all encompassing disasters which seem to waiting to occur to our Planet. The reason — we caused it all with our Industry and 0verpopulation.
As I mentioned, and you are most likely aware of, half the World goes hungry on a daily basis. This is not due to any pessimistic thoughts, it is just simple reality. The Earth cannot support 6 Billion souls and their future offspring, especially when Science tells us that we are past the tipping point. Therefore I am not being pessimistic, but realistic.
It would be nice to have a New years Party on an Ocean Liner, but if that Ocean Liner is slowly sinking because of a gaping hole that cannot be sealed, that ship is going to sink, whether or not everyone aboard gives off positive vibrations.
Humankind has done some horrible atrocities over the Ages, this is a historic fact. We can choose to ignore this, or be realistic and accept the fact that Humans have shown many talents and have accomplished many beautiful, ingenious and wonderful things in their time — however in building our great socio-economic society, world-wide, we have done much harm to the Native cultures and ecology of the only Planet we know for sure that we can live on.
It is the will of the Gods that make the great changes that occur in the Universe, not ours. I am sorry to have to correct you.
Pessimism is not disharmonious to the Universe. Galaxies containing billions of Stars and Planets are demolished and rebuilt, Life has come and gone on millions of habitable Planets over the eons of time.
It appears to me, that we must try to keep bettering our societies, but we are on that sinking ship which will sink unless some Divine Intervention takes place. It is natural occurrence for Planets to be hit by meteors and return to the basic components that made them, only to be recycled into something else. This is the way of the Universe. Destruction gives birth to construction. The cycle is eternal.
So Doug, I am trying my hardest not to be pessimistic, but I must be realistic and I see doom in the future of this Planet. When the seas rise just a few feet, there will be mass relocation and death all over this Planet. When the Glaciers melt into the Oceans via rivers, fresh water will become a precious commodity. The Great Lakes which hold a tremendous fresh water supply for our nation will dry up. Food will become scarce if changes in weather patterns occur and starvation will occur, killing millions — perhaps billions in its wake.
If and when we are struck by a Planet killer Meteorite, we will go the way of the Dinosaur which prospered for millions of years on this planet. It is not a question of if, it is a question of when this will occur. Human life has been here for just a brief moment in Planetary time and it looks like the past ten thousand years since the end of the last Ice Ages contains our entire history and it will end by either a similar ice Age or other Planetary change which is inevitable.
Then there is the inhumanity of Humankind to Humankind since the beginning of recorded history. When viewed from a different perspective, we have evolved technologically because of the need for better weapons to kill more enemies than any other reason. We had a Space Race with the Soviet Union in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80‘s, which has brought us most of our modern technologies and luxuries as a bi-product. Looking down from above, we have been very busy annihilating one and other, mostly in the name of some Deity.
Do we deserve our extinction, maybe not, but it is coming, Doug. This is my belief. You call it pessimistic. I call it realistic. We will find out one day that no matter how positive we think, the end will come.
HOWIE
August 28th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
When Huckabee talks about logic just remember that he’s one of those “armageddon is coming/the end is near and only me and a few other Christians are going to heaven” lunatics.
Death panels are a lie. Huckabee is a liar. Huckabee, are liars going to get into heaven when this whole armageddon thing happens?
August 28th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
I think anon22 was talking about this article.
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Conservative media figures are blasting Democrats for trying to draw political gain from the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. But on Thursday, it was one of their own — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — who went there.
The 2008 Republican presidential candidate suggested during his radio show, “The Huckabee Report,” on Thursday that, under President Obama’s health care plan, Kennedy would have been told to “go home to take pain pills and die” during his last year of life.
“[I]t was President Obama himself who suggested that seniors who don’t have as long to live might want to consider just taking a pain pill instead of getting an expensive operation to cure them,” said Huckabee. “Yet when Sen. Kennedy was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at 77, did he give up on life and go home to take pain pills and die? Of course not. He freely did what most of us would do. He choose an expensive operation and painful follow up treatments. He saw his work as vitally important and so he fought for every minute he could stay on this earth doing it. He would be a very fortunate man if his heroic last few months were what future generations remember him most for.”
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This shows that those that claim the greatest religious affiliation are usually liars, adulterers, pedophiles, or people who would do anything for a few dollars more.
Look at the popes most of them are priests that come up from the ranks. Hence they have been one or more of the above at one time or another. The major pastors who have risen to the top of their profession of scamming the pious.
On the one hand you could feel sorry for the flock, But if you thought seriously about them you would eventually arrive at the conclusion that most of the flock are people who want to believe that they are better that the rest of us because of their special relationship with their god. They think they have the right to decide for us what we should believe about god.
So I say fuckem. They are getting just what they deserve. The catholics and the protestants are for the most part people who want to believe that they are better than the rest of us because god loves them best.
So why should we be concerned that their religious leaders are fucking em for a few dollars more? Well the answer is simple. When that ignorant flock can be convinced to vote in significant numbers to put disgusting assholes in office it fucks us all.
Need I say more?
Johnny
August 29th, 2009 at 1:38 am
When I first arrived on this planet we occupied a place about 3200 feet below the surface of your ocean near Santa Barbara. That was about 1800 years ago.
Today we are about 3600 feet. But the almost the entire area is polluted. The life forms are mutating at an incredible rate. Humans have poisoned the deep at almost every level.
August 29th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Howie,
The pessimistic view you have is not mine of you, but yours as stated by you.
As you say, you correct me, I do not believe that is the case. Your life is not mine and we hold much different viewpoints, means of action and reaction, and point of view and experience. Yours is not correct to me just as mine would not be to you.
Your realistic viewpoint to the world, comes from a pessimistic basis to create that viewpoint. Just as you state, as a ship has a hole and will sink due to its running into a chunk of ice, a realistic viewpoint is that hole created by the continuation of pessimistic thought.
Just because the world is chaotic and seems to be running out of control, I agree with you that this is not the case. It is just perceived to be out of the control of humans, but the world is much in control of itself.
This path is not the result, but the path. The result has not come and we still have the ability to make things right. If everyone feels that the result is here there will be no action in which to make things right and the “result” will be manifested. If the attitudes are changed to which the result is not upon us, than there is hope that the world can become a better place.
We have not reached a result. That is my point. We have the capacity to make things change. We have the capacity to find new paths to new results. A result is a finality and I believe that there is not such thing as finality.
Finality, perfection and other words such as these which humans attempt to define a permanance do not exist. I would venture to state that Carr is continually playing with his creations because he is always looking for new ways to perfect the previous.
Things change. Results can be changed.
November 30th, 2010 at 8:13 am
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