The Great Slavery Debate: The Footing

The second most challenging aspect of a slavery discussion is not getting blasted out of the saddle, with your point-of-view still in the holster. Unless your words are something like, ‘slavery in America was the pinnacle of man’s inhumanity to man’, you barely stand a chance. This is because today’s discussion is most often against today’s morality, rather than the progress of that time. Of course, to say that America’s slavery was not the worst is nothing close to saying that it was anything less than bad. All slavery was/is bad for the enslaved, as well as the society.

The only relative comparison I will make is that the Atlantic slave trade objectively delivered more slaves from Africa to South America (over 5,000,000) than to the North (500,000), and by all accounts, those delivered to the south suffered a much higher mortality. Their life spans were short, only one to five years, due to the grueling work, mistreatment, and harsh conditions on plantations, in mines, and elsewhere. South American slave owners expected to get no more than a few years of hard labor from a slave, and they went about fulfilling this prophecy. The work was 7 days/week, 18 hours/day, no women, no children, bad food, no care, and no mercy.

The most challenging aspect of a slavery discussion is the notion that current Black plight, with respect to crime, unwed parenting, drug abuse et al, is somehow a function of the ‘slavery-at-it’s-worst’ label attached to the American colonies (British and French). I have yet to find a description of slavery, anywhere, or at anytime, that tracks to the dysfunction within today’s Black community. So, I think it must derive from another source. FYI, my authority on slavery is a book entitled, Slavery: A World History, by Milton Meltzer.

My objective, in this series, is not to deny or discount the negative impacts of slavery, then or now, nor is it to absolve its practitioners or their beneficiaries. I will discuss this later. Rather for now, I will say that dispassionate research indicates that current Black plight is not located at the intersection of the two, nor are any solutions. In its proper proportion, slavery informs us in critical ways. When taken out of proportion, it mostly blocks our view and advancement.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: The Great Slavery Debate – The Footing, Atlantic Slave Trade, Milton Meltzer, Victimhood, Immigration, Acting White

The Great Slavery Debate – An Introduction

Perhaps the most recurring historical truism of America is the need for Americans to move past slavery. Mind you, move past does not mean ‘get over it’, in the snide way some people admonish. At the front of the line of the many who need to move on are Black people. In therapeutic lingo, this means squarely facing the past then letting it go, so as not to impede the future.

This weekend I had a spirited debate with some family members, including my 19 year old daughter and her boyfriend. The young Black man, from Atlanta, was the most adamant contender that ‘our slavery’ was worst than previous instances, although he offered no specific difference, other than the distance that slaves were transported.

Others in the debate gave examples of the brutality of slavery in the South, from beatings, murders, assaults, to the wrenching apart of loved ones. My offering, that these treatments were within the range of treatments of slaves throughout human history, fell on deaf ears. Nope, the contention remained that ‘ours was worst and this is why Black people are so messed up today’.

Over the coming weeks/months, I will take a look at some questions about North American slavery, against the context of today. Why did it happen? Who benefited the most/least? Why did the founders adopt it, and then fight about it. Who was Jim Crow? What is the social and economic legacy? How has slavery history affected modern-day immigration? What lessons were learned/not learned?

If this weekend was any indicator, it might be kind of interesting.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: The Great Slavery Debate – An Introduction, Atlantic Slave Trade, Confederacy, Victimhood, Immigration, Acting White

“Restoring Honor” and Social Collapse

Listening to the likes of Fox's Glenn Beck and others, some people might say that white folks are determined to earn their fair share of the blame for these eventual Divided States of America. I’m not talking just about the decision to build this country on the backs of stolen people, but rather the posture of showing that nothing about past mistakes bothers the future. Beck's cornerstone is that “Obama is a racist with deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture”.

The flip-side of the thwarting effects of black oppositional culture, (here), are those reactions, such as what we are seeing this past weekend at Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington DC, wherein white people recall the days and ways of old. Trash-talking about taking back America with ‘old fashion values’ is simply code for reinstating bad decision-making of old.

Ronald Reagan was great at helping people remember, with fondness, those times when everyone seemed to get along in America, even if only because certain people knew their place in the order and kept themselves to it. Of course, this dreamy existence was bound to be short-lived, as those at the back of the bus became less willing.

And now, all that cheap labor from south of the border is not seeming so cheap after all. Let’s have a tea party to forget the fact that white businessmen and politicians practically sent buses to get the migration moving and have kept the flood gates open for decades (even now). But maybe one day folks may see that the constitution meant to give elite and powerful men the means to do just what they want – even if it kills the golden goose.

This is one ironic mess we are living.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: “Restoring Honor” and Social Collapse, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Immigration, Acting Black, Acting White

Acting White: Blacks and Blue Eye Color

In an earlier and surprisingly most popular post (here), I explained why it is very uncommon for people of African ancestry to have blue eyes. What I did not say in that post is how some Blacks today, nevertheless, come by their natural blue eyes. I did not mean to imply that Blacks cannot have natural blue eyes. This topic applies to all light-colored, non-brown eyes, including green and hazel, but remember that there is a hierarchy of gene color dominance.

If a Black person has White ancestry (17% on average) on both sides, the genes that produce blue eyes can lay dormant for many generations, before suddenly appearing, ‘out of nowhere’. No, blue eyes does not prove that mom was stepping out on dad. However, if you look back in the family tree for a few generations you should see other examples of blue eyes popping up.

The other way, albeit more rare, to get blue eyes is by gene mutation of the OAC2. The idea of a recurring mutation runs counter to those researchers who believe that all blue-eyed people are related to one person with the mutation, who lived 6-10,000 years ago. Not sure when the issue will be resolved. I tend to believe the recurring mutation theory.

It seems that away from the equator, however, that colored eyes confers sexual advantage within dark-skin people, similar to that experienced by those with light skin. All people seem to be attracted to colors. I remember, as a kid, how the Black girls cooed over a dark brown-skin neighbor boy, with green eyes. He was the only one in his extended family with such eyes (that I saw). If only Smokey Robinson's eyes could talk (here).

So, are Black people color-struck when it comes to eye-color? If yes, is this a bad thing? Please be thoughtful, as these comments are likely to get a lot of reads.

Update: Check out this post (here) if you are interested in why people find blue eyes attractive. Interesting theory.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Acting White: Blacks and Blue Eye Color, Genetics, Mutation, Smokey, Acting Black, Acting White

Mismatch Dot Com

I was watching some tube (aka flat-screen) the other day and caught my-self doing a double-take on a Match.com commercial. I cannot remember who came on screen first, but here I am watching a handsome black man, chatting it up with a pretty white woman, all thanks seemingly due to the good folks at Match.com. I could barely catch the conversation, but there was some light mention of basketball and soccer – huh?

Now, since when does a good looking black man and equally dashing white woman need anybody’s help hooking up? Get serious! At first I thought Match was trying to say that they can fix up anybody, no matter how oddball, but that’s just it – these two did not look oddball. Good looking people together never look odd, perhaps exotic in a forbidden kind of way. Think about it - a picture of two diverse good-looking people tearing each other’s clothes off, in a passionate frenzy. Now picture two unattractive same-race folks? Got it? OK, you get my drift.

Here’s the thing, the average-looking folks of any ethnicity will use racism to try to hold their attractive members in the fold, while freely giving away their ugly-stick victims. Every group needs their good-looking folks to stay put. Blacks did not want to let Mr. Berry get away, and white folks tried to keep Mrs. Berry in check, but each side failed, and viola – here comes Halle! Now, if only the girl had some sense.

I guess what I am saying is that the reason I never watch Ugly Betty is because Betty is not really ugly. She is a good looking actress who’s been popped with a faux-Hollywood ugly-stick. And Match.com is really in the business of hooking up folks who would otherwise disqualify each other too quickly, by virtue of some obvious flaw. The black guy/white girl I witnessed in the commercial might not marry and live happily ever after, but they certainly do not need any help recognizing each other - Match.com or not.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Mismatch Dot Com, Halle Berry, Interracial, Fever, Acting Black, Acting White

Oppositional Culture and Social Collapse

The previous post, “Random Organ Donor”, demonstrated, via shock-irony, the key quantum mechanics principle called the Pauli Exclusion, whereby two objects cannot occupy the same physical space in time. In the YouTube scenario, ‘Gangsta’ meets ice cream truck’, someone or something had to yield, forcibly, if not voluntarily.

Besides demonstrating a key physics’ concept, the video foreshadows a more looming outcome facing us– social collapse. America once was a country where immigrant-minded people scuffled in order to grab their American Dream, that of owning their own business. In this case, it would be buying an ice cream truck and hoping that the product did not melt before getting it to the clamoring customers, the kiddies.

But what happens when a critical mass of the population, demonstrated by the Gangsta', take an ‘oppositional stance’ to the direction that our society has been slated these past two hundred-plus years? Not only does the Gangsta’ not buy or seek to sell ice cream, but takes specific steps to thwart the commerce of buying and selling of ice cream. If he is successful, the business fails and the masses go without.

Let’s be clear, this country has always harbored forms of internal opposition, to our benefit, but in the end they were always assimilated (along with their contribution) to the ways of the social and economic engine which defined our advance. I challenge that we have reached a tipping point where oppositional maginitude has arrested our progress, under the current engine (constitution). Watch the news on any given day if you doubt that our society has stalled, or is in reverse. It is not just about mothers murdering their innocent babies.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Oppositional Culture and Social Collapse, Jared Diamond, Immigration, Mexico, Acting Black, Acting White

Random Organ Donor

You must see this to believe it. This is not fake. There are really people this stupid. If you are wondering what was censored, the camera guy says, Oh Sh_t!

James C. Collier

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Teaching Black Kids – The Uphill Battle

I just read a gripping (for me) article by a white teacher on the challenges of teaching black kids. I worked hard, emotionally, to get through the whole article (see link at the end of this post). My difficulty was two-fold. The author, speaking from his own experiences in the southeast US, largely failed to consider factors beyond the superficial. He spoke of behavior, not of what was underlying and driving it. However, I also realized that his job was to teach subject matter, not raise somebody else’s kids, or save a race. On the flip-side, so many of his words hit home, from my own classroom experiences and knowledge, that to stop reading would have denied the true depth and accuracy of the issues of the black classroom and community.

Last year I spent quite a bit of time in an all-black urban high school class, discussing current issues. In keeping with a nearly 60% drop-out rate for boys, my experiences were predominantly with junior/senior black girls. Like the author of the article, I found the students poor command of English grammar, spelling and structure as a big impediment to communicating and teaching them anything. Their conversation dynamic, loud and punctuated with interruption, precluded finding commonality. Simply stated, discussing high school-level/adult ideas through elementary-level dynamics results in elementary conclusions and learning.

Even more challenging is the simplistic and contorted view of racism and its contribution, where it has become the label for any idea, person, or event of which black kids wish to avoid – for whatever childish reason. Try to teach Newton’s laws of gravity and as soon as the kids find out that Isaac Newton was white, his contribution becomes racist and not worth their effort to learn. The kid who sees the value in separating race from subject matter runs the danger of getting Jones’d – verbally ridiculed – if not for ‘acting white’, at least for ‘accepting white’. These same kids, in fits of keepin’-it-real honesty, will tell you that without whites their world stops turning.

Oppositional culture has a headlock on a significant portion of black youth. The rap music industry, with the ghosts of rappers Biggie and Tupac (pictured), is the unofficial dissemination instrument and arbiter of this insidious unwavering dynamic. I take issue with a lot of what this teacher says on the surface (here), but I take almost no issue with the underlying vectors he opens onto black youth and oppositional culture. He suffers the superficial, but he is not blowing smoke. His fix as one person – to get out – is no fix for those kids he left behind, and I cannot fault him one bit. This is not what he signed up for, nor does there seem to be a plan for addressing it.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Teaching Black Kids – The Uphill Battle, Disparity, Dropouts, Christopher Jackson, Acting Black, Acting White

White People – Too Smart for Their Own Damn Good

White folks are smart. I get it. I knew this long before I walked into Rome’s Pantheon, 2,000 years old and the world’s oldest and largest unsupported dome structure, 43.5 meters in diameter and height. There is nothing like it in Africa, the Americas, Asia, or Australia. But, it has always struck me that should not the smartest folks be those whose intelligence does not repeatedly get them into inescapable storms of conflict? Everywhere I look I see pissed-off white folks because of non-whites who are not suppose to be as smart have allegedly unraveled white ingenuity into chaos. Now, I’m not saying anybody else is smarter, rather that IQ scores, as we generate them, do not seem to be holding up the leading edge, especially if you listen to white complaints.

When the romance-language speakers first got the idea to capture and export slaves to the Americas it must have seemed like they had re-invented gold. The cost was fractions of pennies, and the cash flowed back with little effort on their part. Plus, when they were not working for the master, the captives made baby slaves to replace their old worn out, broken-down kin-folk. In hindsight, their plan was half-baked, due to this nagging problem of the slaves not having great attitudes concerning their pay and work conditions. In the end, nobody was happy. And now we have Detroit.

The Dutch and British were thinking the same thing when they landed in South Africa. They had beautiful landscape, great weather, and all these Africans ready, with the right encouragement, to work mining diamonds and gold. This is great! Just keep everybody separate and all will be cool. But again, here comes them frowny-face Mandela-worshiping black folks. Black S. Africans just could not get it together to enjoy the benefits of all those smart white folks telling them what to do. So why did the Afrikaners, in their smartness, not account for this?

The British went at it again in India. They got their hands around the country, but could not hold on to it. In a higher strategy of white brilliance, the British East India Company kept the Hindus fighting the Muslims and it was looking pretty good until this irritating fellow, Gandhi, showed up and peace-sat their behinds out the door. Mahatma had not a button, a belt, or a damn zipper, but he sent the empire on its way.

Not to simply keep piling on the Europeans, we can swing over to Asia and see how much of a mess the Japanese, who warmly refer to themselves as white-Asians, have made being smarter and whiter than the Chinese, the Koreans, and even the originals, white America. Now, I would be remiss if I did not go far enough back in history, say 50,000 years, where there were many smart Africans stirring up more poop than their smarts could handle too, despite figuring how to get off the mother rock in the first damn place.

These few examples (and there are more where these came from) make me wonder when the highest IQ folks will ever become smart enough to learn their lesson? As smart Tea Party folks strategize over fixing the ‘now-broken’ Fourteenth Amendment, American business has long-profited from lax immigration policy. But now, again, other smart white folks are unhappy, with many unhappy Mexicans sure to follow.

When it comes to high intelligence, it’s always good until the smart do-do hits the fan – but why are the smarties so surprised? After all, they are so smart. Between slavery, immigration, the new math, the old math, genetic finger-printing, DNA databases, the smarter the leading edge gets the closer humanity gets to extinction. I heard the Finns cooked a man in a 230 degree (F) sauna competition the other day. Now that’s crazy-tragic, and no one is smarter, per capita, than the Finns.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: White People – Too Smart for Their Own Damn Good, MENSA, IQ, Intelligence, Acting Black, Acting White

Black Drownings in Shreveport, LA.

As a former lifeguard and swim instructor, I am haunted by the recurring tragedy of kids drowning, especially black kids. In a single event last week, six young people, ages 13 to 18, died at the Red River in Shreveport, LA. (here). How could this be? Single drowning is expectedly too common among blacks, where survey shows only 30% know how to swim, but six all at once? I had to noodle on this.

Maybe if I could explain why it happened, it would not hurt so much. Even with a good surmising of the events, I still ache when I think of what happened in a few short minutes. There are few things to note about drowning before I give my thoughts. For the most part drowning happens quietly, with little or no yelling or even splashing. Victims slip quietly beneath the surface. This is why on-duty lifeguards can often miss a close-by victim. Also, the urge to attempt to save another person, especially someone you know, is overwhelming. The hardest thing to teach a lifeguard is restraint when they cannot reasonably complete a rescue.

On the Red River, DeKendrix Warmer was the first kid in trouble as he realized a sharp drop-off in the river bottom, but he is alive today. So what happened? DeKendrix may not have been an able swimmer but his thrashing and kicking was sufficient to keep him afloat long enough to yell for help. It may be that his crude skills encouraged him into the murky water to begin with. Upon hearing his screams, his nearby siblings and mates of lesser ability would have been overwhelmed, and all six likely rushed simultaneously, contagiously and tragically into the deep water, immediately drowning.

A passerby and strong swimmer, Christopher Patlin, hearing Mrs. Warmer and other screams from on the shore, enters the water and pulls the still thrashing DeKendrix to safety. Again, he was the only one to make it out alive. The grief of young DeKendrix and the families of the victims must be unbearable. At this point, as a parent and YMCA volunteer, I can only plead that all parents get their children swim lessons, and teach them not to enter murky waters of unknown depth. Please!

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Black Drownings in Shreveport, LA., Red River, Swimming, Rescue, Deaths, Acting White

Omar Thornton: Mass Murderer

It never ceases to amaze me the myriad of agendas that surface and latch-on when some nut-job kills a bunch of people. If the killer is black, and victims’ white, he must have hated white people, or alternately, the victims must have done something racist to provoke the killer’s rampage, like called him the N-word.

While either or both of these accusations may be true, I submit that someone who goes on a killing spree, such as Omar Thornton’s, has major screws gone loose, well beyond being called names, or having a dislike of whites. Yes, Omar snapped, but the people who are jumping on the race bandwagon are off-base. You do not take off down Carnage Rd. ending with you putting a bullet in your scull because of racism. At least, not if you are a rational human being. Full state-of-mind should be the focus, before we jump to race, no matter what his girlfriend says or what the lunatic told his mother.

I suspected that Omar’s girlfriend of eight years, Kristi Hannah (pictured) was white, so I looked her up – yep, she is white. Now if black Omar simply hated white people, something in the puzzle is missing, as Ms. Hannah describes him as the kindest person on earth. If his workplace was a cesspool of racism, I doubt that all of his co-workers could/would conspire to keep it a secret. On the other hand, if Omar had undiagnosed mental problems, his killing spree behavior starts to paint a believable picture. I doubt that Omar's family is telling his whole story just yet.

In the coming weeks more will come out on Omar's history, his workplace, and his state of mind. There are other blacks at that workplace - what do they have to say about plant racism, and Omar? For now, people on all sides need to stop with how this proves their race theories, rather than what we know right now - that Omar lost his mind and a bunch of people who should be alive and well are dead.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Omar Thornton: Mass Murderer, Killing, Kristi Hannah, Baseball, Home Runs, Acting White

Barry Bonds Pimps National Association of Black Journalists

What do you call an organization of journalists who accept a gift from person on trial in Federal court? Unprofessional? Nope, that's too kind. Tu-stupid? Yep, that works.

I can't wait to read what these morons have to say in print, after they have cashed Mr. Steroid's check for $20,000. These so-called journalists are not only stupid, they are cheap too. Bonds probably spends twenty-grand a month on grooming his dog. Shouldn't that check have had at least one more zero behind it?

I think any members of the association who do not resign in protest should have their degrees, if they have them, recalled. Clearly, someone missed a class or two in journalistic integrity, and ethics 101. I will expect to see arguments of how Barry would have hit all those home runs juiced or not cause he just so talented, so we should just standing-O his shrinking biceps into the Hall of Fame right now. No waiting Barry, just go on in and get comfortable.

James C. Collier

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Random Close Call on Boston T

I use to ride the T (Boston subway), but would not bet on the shamrock this plastered lady must have been holding. Transit folks are always catching hell, some deserved, but this train driver was definitely on top of her job. I hope she gets a bonus.

James C. Collier

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Rep. Maxine Waters Gets Her Ethical At-Bat

On the heels of Charlie Rangel’s thirteen-count ethical violation barrage, Rep. Maxine Waters/CA will step up to bat to see if she can get safely around the bases on a single count violation. It seems that during the most recent economic meltdown, Waters helped out a bank that contained a stake owned by her hubby. Bad Maxine.

Now, it is not a slam-dunk that Ms. Waters was completely out-of-bounds. There is no reason that a bank, OneUnited, associated with her husband, should suffer unduly because she is a congresswoman. After all, the whole idiot-banking world was scrambling behind the mortgage crisis. On the other hand, if she lent extraordinary help, or worked to influence the result, a $12 million bailout for this specific bank (which Treasury officials have denied), then serve her up, right behind Mr. Rangel.

I work in a familial, and majority family-owned, real estate development business, so I understand how easy it is to mix business relationships with family/friends and vice-versa. I see nothing wrong with Waters advocating for OneUnited, as long as it was similar to the way she hopefully helped comparable others. But, getting someone a crucial look-see and tipping the result are very different. If Waters’ mere involvement would cause undue influence (reasonably), then she crossed the line from the get-go and will have to face the music.

In any event, it does not look good for the Black Caucus, the Democrats, mid-term elections or Nancy Pelosi's promise to drain the swamp of corrupt politicians. Stay tuned.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Rep. Maxine Waters Gets Her Ethical At-Bat, Congress, Los Angeles, Charles Rangel, Ethics Charge, Acting White

Rangel Ethics Mess

First of all, this is really not about ethics, but rather the law. It looks like congressman Charles B. Rangel of NY broke the law, and, at 80, he is certainly old enough to know better. Simply put, he took never-free money. People gave him valuable gifts that the law says a person in his position cannot legally accept. The reason is clear, his vote in Congress is not suppose to be for sale, and the only proof of this is his living off his congressional salary. Period.

Now Mr. Rangel feels that his political legacy has been besmirched by these charges, and he wants to fight to clear his name – perhaps. Better yet, he would like to negotiate the charges down to a level where he can say he was a victim of sloppy accounting. I doubt this will happen, nor should it.

Does this erase a career of service in Rangel’s name? No. Does it taint his contributions? Yes. Does it make him unfit for office? Yes. Our political leaders need to be true to the standard of conduct that makes a vote at the ballot box worth something. Taking gifts from developers, hiding income, and the influence the gift providers seek, must not be allowed to poison our governmental decision process, even if it means dragging 80 year old Charlie Rangel behind the chariot for a few laps.

This is not a race issue, and I hope no one tries to make it into one. Blacks, most of them poor and ignorant of villas in the Caribbean, voted Mr. Rangel into office many years ago, when his predecessor Adam Clayton Powell found himself facing equally serious ‘violations’. At that time, Rangel made a challenging point for the need for honest representation for the people of Powell's district. Honesty meant something back then to the voters of Harlem et al, and should still mean something today. As they say in political-speak and with all due respect to his contributions as a war-hero turned policitian, ‘throw the bum out’.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Rangel Ethics Mess, Congress, Harlem, Ways and Means, Adam Clayton Powell, Acting White

My Ninja

Food for thought. Make you smile. Make you think.

H/T: American Black Chick in Europe

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: My Ninja, Nigga vs. Ninja, Parody, Blasians, Asians, Acting White

Random Artistry: Doorwerth Castle Netherlands

Click on image to see detail.
Doorwerth Castle, built in 1280, is a medieval castle on the Rhine river, near the city of Arnhem, Netherlands.
Pointillism is a technique of impressionist painting, developed in 1886 by Frenchman Georges Seurat, in which small, distinct dots of color are applied (in this case drawn) in patterns to form an image, akin to images on US paper currency.

FYI, this drawing is comprised of approximately 60,000 colored dots, plus or minus a few.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: Random Artistry: Doorwerth Castle Netherlands, Pointillism, Stipples, Fine Art, Castles, Acting White

America – Home of the Shameless

Just the other day I saw a youtube of women fighting in a fast food parking lot. On top of it all, the main antagonist was obviously pregnant. My embarrassment won't let me link to it, but the imagery stayed with me. These combatants, with their clothes and hair weaves in disarray, showed no reluctance to put themselves or their animosities on public display. No one had any shame, and hence, the title of this post.

Some may see this proclamation as a no brainer, but what is not obvious is how it clearly spells out our reduction. You heard me right – the absence of shame will be our great un-doing. Yes, releasing ourselves from shame was suppose to free us, but it did just the opposite. Our ability to feel shame, a critical skill for advancing, is missing-in-action. What we need in this country is some good old fashion shame building. You heard it here folks.

What? First of all, the rich have no shame, they flaunt their wealth as if it springs from DNA that they composed with their own MacBook Pro, while listening to iTunes. But on the other side, the poor also have no shame, as they stand idle on the street corner smoking a cigarette, while talking on a cell phone, and with a sign that says ‘homeless please help'. As I move pass them, I always wonder where they got the ‘free’ cell (I have to pay for mine).

The educated have no shame. They drop the names of fancy schools, degrees, and store-bought SAT scores to-boot. And let’s not forget that school cheating, by students and teachers, is significant and rising. The un-educated too have no shame, boldly showing off a profound ignorance in every direction and manner, that has them graduate or drop out (take your pick) of high school with somewhere near an eight grade attainment.

Moving on, the beautiful have no shame as they prance around saying, ‘look at me, look at me, and don’t hate me because I’m so beautiful'. They buy fake this and that, and leave the price tag showing as well. Unsurprisingly, the ugly have no shame either, as they work to draw greater attention to the superficial gifts they think they did not receive, by way of billboard-sized tattoos, hollow-point piercings and other self-mutilation showing how twisted-proud they are of their ugliness.

But it’s not just outliers with shame disabilities. The masses have no shame, as they lie, cheat, and fabricate at every turn. Whatever is said or done is twisted to its opposite meaning, up is down, good is bad, right is wrong, from the tabloids to the White House. When caught in lies – you guessed it – we try to lie our way out. “I swear I did not have sex with that woman!”

Granted, shamelessness was not invented here and is on the upswing worldwide, but America is leading the charge nonetheless. Unless we somehow rediscover the shame in our behavior. Unless we re-learn the embarrassment that has always corrected our aim, humanity will continue to miss the mark, and we are done.

Have a good weekend.

James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: America – Home of the Shameless, Embarrassment, Oakland, White House, Fighting, Acting White

New Black Panther Intimidation in Philadelphia

More in the spirit of listening to the horse speak, the leader of the New Black Panther Party, Malik Shabazz, seems to accept the charge of voter intimidation by his followers in 2004, while giving Obama and AG Holder credit for acting as Black 'protectors'. See if you see it the same way.



James C. Collier

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Technorati Tags: New Black Panther Intimidation in Philadephia, Malik Shabazz, Eric Holder, Obama, voting, Acting White

Mark Williams Tea Party Express Implosion

In the spirit of accurate information, I went hunting. Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP accused the Tea Party movement of harboring racists elements. Got it. In response, Mark Williams, leader of the influential Tea Party Express, writes a letter to Abraham Lincoln, in the voice of Black folks, to do what? - prove Jealous right? That makes sense. In turn, the National Tea Party Federation boots Tea Party Express and Williams. Amazing!

Read it for yourself...

Dear Mr. Lincoln

We Colored People have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!

In fact we held a big meeting and took a vote in Kansas City this week. We voted to condemn a political revival of that old abolitionist spirit called the 'tea party movement'.

The tea party position to "end the bailouts" for example is just silly. Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn't that what we want all Coloreds to strive for? What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us coloreds! Of course, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the only responsible party that should be granted the right to disperse the funds.

And the ridiculous idea of "reduce[ing] the size and intrusiveness of government." What kind of massa would ever not want to control my life? As Coloreds we must have somebody care for us otherwise we would be on our own, have to think for ourselves and make decisions!

The racist tea parties also demand that the government "stop the out of control spending." Again, they directly target Colored People. That means we Colored People would have to compete for jobs like everybody else and that is just not right.

Perhaps the most racist point of all in the tea parties is their demand that government "stop raising our taxes." That is outrageous! How will we Colored People ever get a wide screen TV in every room if non-coloreds get to keep what they earn? Totally racist! The tea party expects coloreds to be productive members of society?

Mr. Lincoln, you were the greatest racist ever. We had a great gig. Three squares, room and board, all our decisions made by the massa in the house. Please repeal the 13th and 14th Amendments and let us get back to where we belong.

Sincerely

Precious Ben Jealous, Tom's Nephew National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Head Colored Person

James C. Collier

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