If you consider yourself a person of the “Book” then you amongst others probably hold highly those two stone tablets with those Ten Commandments. The important question is, do you know what they are?
For those who could only stumble across about five of those commands Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, A man pushing for the Ten Commandments to be placed in public courthouses, will happily list them out for you.
If you didn’t catch them all here’s some more info.
Jon Stewart gives some wonderful perspective on this recent development in two rather amusing segments.
UPDATE: There are some parts of these two videos one might cringe at a little. I’m not necessarily advocating everything that was said, but I think it made some valid points.
Mindy pointed out that Invetro Fertilization, the procedure that has created the majority of these frozen embryos, is a commodity available only to the rich. These embryos are really the ‘children’ of rich couples who had this procedure done. I guess that just was interesting to me. Maybe they should be taking care of all their embryos if they want them.
From Derek Webb:
i love music. i have grown up with music as a close confidant. and i believe in the power of music to move people. there’s something remarkable about the way a melody can soften someone to a new idea.
as an artist (and often an agitator), this is something i am keenly aware of. my most recent record ‘mockingbird’ deals with many sensitive issues including poverty, war, and the basic ethics by which we live and deal with others. but i found that music has been an exceptional means by which to get this potentially difficult conversation going. and this is certainly an important moment for dialogue amongst people who disagree about how to best love and take care of people, to get into the nuances of the issues.
one of the things that excites me most about the future of our business is how easy it is becoming to deliver music to people who want to hear it. i heard a story once about keith green caring so much that people were able to hear and engage with his music that he gave it away for free, which was a very difficult and expensive thing to do at that time. it’s actually never been as simple as it is today to connect music with music fans. and i want people to have a chance to listen to mockingbird and engage in the conversation.
so this is why, on september 1st, we’re launching freederekwebb.com, a place where anyone can go online and not just hear but actually download, keep, and share ‘mockingbird’ completely for free. In addition, freederekwebb.com will give you an opportunity to invite your friends to download ‘mockingbird’ in order to get them in on the conversation as well.
we hope this bold campaign will provide a jumping off point for conversations about all of these issues, and communicate my commitment to playing my part in starting them. so please help us spread the word: on september 1st, ‘mockingbird’ will be set free!
This might be a obvious list of information for some of you, but for others it will be new and helpful for years to come. I don’t know how much time it will save you over the course of your life, but I become quite impatient when I’m helping someone on the computer and they are clicking around the menus to copy and paste things instead of using the shortcuts.
Constantly switching your fingers from the mouse to the keyboard takes time you certainly don’t have. In order to help you in your task let me help you with a few shortcuts you should start using today.
(Before I begin the symbol “+” is used to imply you HOLD down the first key mentioned [which is usually “Ctrl” in the bottom left corner of your keyboard] and then press the second key [which does not have to be a capital letter it can also be lowercase] while keeping the first one pressed).
Copy Highlighted: Ctrl+C
Cut Highlighted: Ctrl+X
Paste from Clipboard: Ctrl+V
Undo: Ctrl+Z
Save: Ctrl+S
Close: Ctrl+W
Select All: Ctrl+A
And then there are a few specifically for Firefox:
Open a New Tab: Ctrl+T
Move Cursor to Address Bar: Ctrl+L
Reload Page: Ctrl+R
Find on Page: Ctrl+F
I use almost every one of these constantly. Once you train that left pink to find the Ctrl Key on it’s own the possibilities are endless.
First, just watch the clip:
Question #1: Did you find anything wrong with what you just saw? (Answer it in the comment section below, preferrably before you continue reading).
I can’t remember when the fact that this occurs was first pointed out to me, that many black women have had the experience of people asking about their hair and then touching it without permission. I’ve had dreadlocks and funky goatees and people have asked about it, but I would certainly be weirded out if they just reached out and touched or pulled on my facial hair!
A couple things to point out here. First, the deceptive idea about hair. At some point one learns that some women use hair extensions, ‘weave’ and straightening or curling irons to do their hair. An even deeper secret is that most women in their 30’s (even some late twenty’s) are already greying and regularly dye their hair to cover up that fact. And then there are plenty out their who wear wigs, hair plugs, and all kinds of other things. When I first learned of some of these things it saddened me that we live in a culture that does not embrace ones natural beauty, whether it be cultural or age differences. So, along these lines, why is it that a black women is often confronted about her hair, when it is no more curious then the thousands of women dying their hair to met our “youthful” cultural standards. “So do you dye your hair?” (I ask as I comb through to take a close look at the roots)
Second, there is the issue of entitlement also needs to be dealt with here. Commenter, gatamala, puts it well on Mixed Media Watch’s post about the video:
I think it is a sense of entitlement/ownership masked in “curiousity”. It is dehumanizing to have someone poke/prod/pull to ostensibly check you out. I guess some people can’t put the auction block of the mind away.
Finally, there is the issue of us. Does seeing things like this, hearing people rise up and say something about it, or just letting it fall by the wayside change things? How do we make this world a better, more caring, more informed, more loving, and more real place for all of us?
Some of you might have been paying attention during the Hurricane Katrina coverage and hopefully at least considered the idea that our media is sometimes biased in the way that it covers news stories.
Mixed Media Watch, one of my new favorite blogs, has posted on some recent coverage of two murders written about in the Washington Post:
I just read an interesting column by the ombudsman of The Washington Post, attempting to shed some light on how the paper handled two equally horrific murder cases. A reader had written in to note that the murder of the white man, Alan Senitt (pictured), landed on the front page of the paper, while the murder of the black man, Chris Crowder, only made the front of the Metro section. The reader asked:
“Can you think of a reason why the white man would get front-page treatment while the black man wouldn’t? Why does the white man merit a photo with the story but the black man doesn’t? Did geography and skin color have any impact on where these two stories were placed in the newspaper? I don’t see anything about the Senitt story that would merit front-page treatment over that of Crowder.”
Read the response and the rest of the story…
What’s your take on this one? Is it normal and your tired of raising concern about it? Is this the first time you’ve considered something like this? Are you busy validating the justification in your mind and writing this one off?
Because everyone should know what the Haka is:
From
Haka – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The haka is often described as a “war dance”, but it is more correctly a chant with hand gestures and foot stamping, originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. The haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent the many instruments. The hands, arm, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy, or whatever feelings are relevant to the occasion.
Yesterday, I was driving around in a vehicle with no air conditioning at work, I then biked home in the sweltering heat, and was very excited to sit down in my cool air conditioned home. Sure is hot out there.
Mindy and I took off to go see the very talked about documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. We’d both already done our fair share of reading up on the subject, so the movie wasn’t shocking, but it was fairly scary when the reality of the timeline began to hit you.
Mindy and I left and discussed a little how we felt, and I shared that I was fairly apathetic to the idea that many people would change. I feel if anything most folks would be content to sit back and just see if what Al Gore shared in the film ends up being true or not.
Mindy was more hopeful. She pointed out that she really felt like people would listen and begin to try and make changes. They might not be drastic changes but every little bit helps. I realized Mindy’s right, and I need to take the “glass half-full” approach on this one and encourage others to see it and make some changes in their lives.
By the way, the movie is based on a presentation by Al Gore (it pretty much is the presentation) concerning global warming. It’s very informative and engaging enough that you won’t lose interest (there’s a reason it’s so popular).
Here’s how to get started:
I feel bad about not posting more on here. For one there are a million things running through my head, which is usually a good reason for me to post umpteen times. And with my limit on internet time (only 30 minutes a day), you’d think I’d have more time to write off-line and then post things for you. Sorry, that’s not happening.
I guess my mind is just in a whirlwind waiting to settle down with this community and housing thing. I’ll let you know the outcome when I know but I got to stop any play by play which might mean very little posting in the next couple days.
I was shocked and dissappointed after watching the headbutt on the World Cup on Sunday. As I’ve checked up on the situation a little I’ve realized there was a little more to the story. I couldn’t think of what might cause someone to act as Zidane did (not that I think he was justified in any way), but it does lend some perspective.
Here’s a video clip of the interview. From what I can tell the subtitles are pretty accurate.
And if your into that sort of thing.