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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Theory

Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan, which showed a negative view of human nature that needs govn't to control their brutish nature and conflicting desires. John Locke's Tabula Rasa states that humans are blank slate at birth and govn'ts and societies make them good or bad. Rene Descartes' Dualism, separation of mind and body. In the tradition of these people I present to you my own philosophical theory. Cardell K. Morgan's Atomic Theory of Democracy. In this I state "It is the Role of the individuals of the world to collectively create and empower the large." I came about this theory when I was writing my last post. I thought that the earth is in the relatively same position that it was in exactly one year ago. Propelled through space by gravity. A force who's power is derived the very basic level of existence. I thought that this must be the natural way for govn't to work. A nation is composed of it's citizens, and without their cooperation the nation as a whole does not work and loses all of it's power. Atoms compose everything, and without them the fundamental forces of nature do not work and are thus powerless. I am not saying I am a philosopher. I just wanted to share my theory with the world.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Full Circle

One year ago today I started Views of the Silent Majority. I published my first two post that day, Honesty & Incident, and Faith. I started this blog on the counsel of my father. I needed a place where I could discuss meaningful things that have a real impact on the world and humanity. I was not finding that elsewhere, but here was a place that was mine. An open forum of discussion ranging from political commentary to thoughtful insight into the Human condition. I actually got intelligent responses. I want and welcome all opinions. That is why I allow anonymous comment, there is no word verification, nor does any comment need my approval. I want as many comments and I do not want any hindrance on that. I began to branch out and meet other bloggers, I came into contact with many different types of blogs, bloggers and opinions. I also started my "Question of the Day" series, which poses question into the true nature of the human condition. There are four Questions of the Day. I learned things about my blog. which help me make it better everyday. I started the "Rouge Gallery" which consist of blogs that I believes contribute to the not only the blogger community we have, but to the world. The Rouge Gallery now has twenty-two members. I am very proud and fond of every member for their contributions. they contribute in different ways, all unique and all significant.. I have fifty-two post. I hope that I will have many more. This is a special day for me. When I started this blog I was a high-school senior, now I am a College freshman. Many things have happened in my life since 02/16/06. I have grown as a person and hope to continue to. I hope that you all continue to support my blog with comments and links and mentions.

For my own benefit I would much appreciate if you all would tell me your favorite post that I have done. I will tell you my top five, in no specific order, but I ask that you please tell me at least one. Thank you.

  1. Hero or Villain?
  2. Disappointment
  3. Rhyme Time
  4. Symbolism
  5. Lies, D Lies, and Statistics

Monday, February 12, 2007

Priorities

Astronauts, and Anna Nicole that is about the only news that I can get these last couple of days. The Astronaut story is amusing. Anna Nicole's death is sad, and I hate to hear that, but this is not headline news. All weekend I tried to get a little news in, I have been busy with school work so I have not been as up on the news as I would like to be. Every time I caught a little bit of something different I quickly shifted gears to the Astronaut or Anna Nicole. I did happen to catch an Anderson Cooper bit on the conditions some people in Africa are going through. Apparently these people live off of fishing and the fish are becoming scarce. A plant that is on the river is releasing pollution in to the river killing the fish and causing people who already live in poverty to become even poorer. Some people in the area are fed up with this and are ready to take action. They have formed a militant group whose purpose is to fight the plant or rather the people in charge. Here in America we might call these men terrorist, but their hands have been forced their friends and family are dying because their life's blood is being taken from them. Who ever runs that plant obviously doesn't care for the villagers or environment. It seems that they did not stop and think about what the effects of the plant would have. No, it was all about the money. The truth is that this type of thing happens all the time in third world nations. Good people are forced to do things that they would not normally do just for survival. This is a good point on how sketchy the definition of terrorism is. The people of that village, their lives are literally on the line. The lives of their children. They will do what ever it takes to protect them. They have reached a breaking point. They fight for survival. Can we blame them for that? If they blow that plant up. They can be called terrorist or they can be called heroes. The line is sketchy, terrorist because they used violence to get a point across, Heroes because they stood up and defended their family and way of life. I guess what I want you to get from this is that people all over the world are starving, slavery still exist, despots run amok, genocide is carried out, and in America the personal problems of an astronaut and the death of one person takes precedence over all the other things happening in this world of ours. Where are our priorities?

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

History

February is Black history month. This is when we are supposed to honor and recognize the achievements and contributions of Black Americans. It is important for black people to know our history, but it is not just Black history it is American History, it is history in general. Often we concentrate our focus on the few year in and year out. We always center our attention on Dr. King, Harriet Tubman, and George Washington Carver. I am not trivializing their contributions, but by focusing only on them we are trivializing the contributions of the many other people. Here are some important, but less well known aspects of Black/American History

Gwendolyn Brooks first African-American to win Pulitzer Prize

Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church first African-American church

Thomas L. Jennings first African-American to hold a patent

Alexander Twilight first African-American to receive a degree from an American college

Freedom's Journal first African-American owned-and-operated newspaper

James McCune Smith first professionally trained African-American doctor

Macon B. Allen first African-American licensed to practice law in the United States

John Mercer Langston first African-American elected to public office

Oscar Dunn first elected African-American lieutenant governor (Louisiana)

P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana first African-American governor (non-elected)

Edward Alexander Bouchet (Yale College)Ph.D in physics first African-American to earn a doctorate degree, also first African-American to graduate from Yale, 1874

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. first African-American U.S. Army general:

First Lieutenant Vernice Armour First female African-American combat pilot in the U.S. Armed Services:

Manning Marable is a prominent African-American political scholar

John Hope Franklin is a United States historian and past president of the American Historical Association

Abram Lincoln Harris, Jr. was an African American economist, academic, anthropologist and a social critic of blacks in the United States

Toni Morrison is one of the most prominent authors in world literature, having won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her collected works

Otelia Cromwell is the first African-American graduate of Smith College. The college later began the tradition of canceling afternoon and evening classes in her honor every November as a venue to talk about race and diversity

Beverly Daniel Tatum is the current president of Spelman College Tatum received her B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan.Tatum received her B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan

Dr. Jacqueline Bontemps continues to be recognized in numerous publications, resource books, and textbooks for her scholarship in the field of art by African American women

Morgan State University is a historically black college and Maryland's designated public urban university

Southern University and A&M College is one of the most well-known historically black colleges and universities

The Negro Leagues were American professional baseball leagues comprising predominantly African-American teams

The one-drop theory (or one-drop rule) is a historical colloquial term for the standard, found throughout the United States of America, that holds that a person with any trace of sub-Saharan ancestry (however small or invisible) can not be considered white and so unless said person has an alternative non-white ancestry they can claim, such as Native American, Oriental, Arab, Australian aboriginal, they must be considered black

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Incompetence

I was watching the news and I saw the most shameful thing. Boston Police Department's Bomb Squad mistook an ad for an upcoming movie as an explosive device. They shut down a large portion of the city. The two men hire to put the ads up were arrested for "perpetuating a hoax" The ad had lights on it that were run by two batteries. the "device" looks nothing like a bomb up close. From far maybe, but I doubt it very much. The arrest of the two men seems to me to be nothing more that the City of Boston trying to shift the blame. The city wasted money, time, and disrupted the daily lives of it citizens over an ad. Boston is embarrassed as it should be. I just think it is shameful that the city would pass the guilt to save face. How these two men could possibly be convicted is beyond me. The two men were not intending for the ads to be mistaken for bombs. The ads were in nine other cities and no other police departments mistook the ads for explosive devices. This to me seems to show a growing trend in America to not own up to our mistakes. If you screw up then say so. No one wants to take responsibility. It is one thing when you see this in celebrities. It sad that individuals in the public eye who are looked up to won't take responsibility, but when the govn't of an entire city won't what does that say about our culture. I could maybe see the police department doing this. Cops tend to have a "look out for your own" mentality, but the DA's office is in on it to. Those two men do not deserve to be convicted on felony charges. I honestly hope these two men get off. They did nothing wrong. The Boston Department screwed up. What it all comes down to is that the buck has to stop somewhere.

This is the "Bomb"