Saturday, 4/18/15, Public Square

Sunday, 10/04/09, Public Square

Isn’t the sentiment expressed in this poster the truth!?

Throw in some common courtesy and respect and all things are possible.

What’s on your mind today?

fnord

Tuesday, 09/29/09, Public Square

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FAMILY DAY, 2009
– – – – – – –
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Our family provides one of the strongest influences on our lives. American families from every walk of life have taught us time and again that children raised in loving, caring homes have the ability to reject negative behaviors and reach their highest potential. Whether children are raised by two parents, a single parent, grandparents, a same-sex couple, or a guardian, families encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things. Today, our children are confronting issues of drug and alcohol use with astonishing regularity. On Family Day, we honor the dedication of parents, commend the achievements of their children, and celebrate the contributions our Nation’s families have made to combat substance abuse among young people.

Out Of Africa: Human DNA

Did anyone watch “The Human Family Tree” recently on the National Geographic channel? One of the most fascinating facts found out, after checking the DNA of 350,000 human beings from every corner of the planet, is we all come from the same area of Africa.

200,000 – 150,000 years ago: The genetic journey of everyone alive today began with one woman — “Scientific Eve” — who lived in Africa and passed along her DNA through special cell structures called mitochondria, which only women pass down to further generations. What that means is, we are all related: Black, White, Yellow, Brown . . . we’re all the same. Our DNA varies by 1/10 of 1%, and that small percentage is what gives us our individual identities.

The color of a humans skin comes not from DNA, but where our ancestors migrated to. European ancestors lived in cold climates, so skin pigmentation lightened over generations. Those living in warmer or hotter climates retained the darker characteristics. It makes it interesting, then, how much race (which actually doesn’t exist) plays the role it does in society.  I wonder how racists would actually feel if they knew they were hating their brothers and cousins?  My guess is they would not believe the evidence when presented to them. All one has to do is look to people like Linda Jenkins, Bill O’Reilly and their ilk to understand facts have little meaning to them.

So, readers, how do we change the minds of people bent on destroying race relations, when the evidence of DNA points to the non-existence of race? Is it even possible?

Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-human-family-tree-3706/Overview66#tab-time-line#ixzz0PxF2vaeh

jammer5

The Implicit Association Test as a B.S. Repellent

The Gates arrest controversy brought with it a storm of comments from conservatives as to how racism is dead and that we can now move forward with the meritocricy that has been true for a long time in this race-blind country. Yep, you betcha. The only problem with this assertion? That’s right, it is not true in any way, shape, or form.

The Implicit Association Test viewable at the linked Harvard website lays to rest the conservative “race-blind” myth.   The test reveals that racism is alive and well even though many who genuinely believe that they are free of racism, in truth, really are not.  Including, yours truly, the author of this post.  The IAT is one of those pesky reminders that we have not grown much past our Jim Crowe roots.  My test results revealed that I have a strong preference for European whites over African Americans.

Take the test to find out the truth about yourself.

iggydonnelly

What defines a ‘true’ Conservative?

I’m trying not to be snarky here, but I once was (a few years ago before bush the lesser!) a conservative and today I feel betrayed, so my disappointment and (sometimes) anger might come out snarky.

I was reading the latest installment about the Young Republicans election of their new chairman written by John Avlon, “Bullying Behind GOP “Racist” Win, and he states, “The Young Republicans faced a stark choice at their convention in Indianapolis yesterday as they chose their next leader: a center-right twentysomething interested in greater outreach, or a self-described “true conservative” who is almost 40 and spent last week dealing with Daily Beast reports about her beliefs, which are, at best, often hateful, and at worst, downright racist. The delegates, in a vote of 470 – 415, chose the latter.”

Calling the newly elected chairman a “true conservative,” made me wonder anew what that title means. I suspect it has a different meaning for different people and that just might be one of the biggest challenges facing The Republican Party today!

Sotomayor represents a changed nation and changing diversity

An excellent piece at THE NEW YORKER says presidents have always tried to keep diversity on the highest Court, but what counts as diversity has changed with time.

Presidents used to preserve a New England seat, a Virginia seat, a Pennsylvania and a New York seat on the Court because regional disputes were the the most often kinds of cases heard.  Later when European immigrants transformed American society, religious differences needed to be kept balanced.  For more than a century the Catholic seat was respected and kept filled.

“As with earlier breakthrough nominations, Obama’s selection of Sotomayor has stirred some old-fashioned ugliness, and in that alone it serves as a reminder of the value of a diverse bench and society. Some anonymous portrayals of the Judge offered the kind of patronizing critiques (“not that smart”) that often greet outsiders at white-male preserves. Women who have integrated such bastions will be familiar, too, with the descriptions of her temperament (“domineering”), which are of a variety that tend to reveal more about the insecurity of male holdovers than about the comportment of female pioneers. The pernicious implication of such views is that white males, who constitute a hundred and six of the hundred and ten individuals who have served on the Court, made it on merit, and that Sotomayor is somehow less deserving.

And now with American diversity changing this president need not be reluctant to acknowledge that Hispanics, the nation’s fastest-growing ethnic group, who by 2050 will represent a third of the American people, deserve a place at this most exclusive table for nine.  As Barack Obama knows better than most, it is a sign of a mature and healthy society when the best of formerly excluded groups have the opportunity to earn their way to the top.”

fnord

Will The GOP Survive?

A new Gallup poll shows 63% of the Republican Party are white conservatives, with another 26% saying they are white but not conservative.  Only 11 % represent Hispanics, Black, Asians, or members of other races.

By contrast, only 12% of Democrats are white conservatives, while about half are white moderates or liberals and a third are nonwhite.  Democrats have a significantly more diverse party composition. Well over a third (36%) of Democrats are nonwhite (Hispanic, or black or some other race) and the 64% of Democrats who are white are strongly skewed — by more than a 4-to-1 ratio — toward an ideological position that is moderate or liberal rather than conservative.

Independents, as would be expected, are somewhere between Republicans and Democrats in terms of their racial, ethnic, and ideological composition. Twenty-seven percent of independents are Hispanic, or are black or identify with another race, and, by about a 2-to-1 ratio, white independents split toward the nonconservative ideological position.

Republicans have a clear monopoly on the allegiance of white conservative Americans.

Does the Republican Party cling to its core conservative principles? Or should the Republicans make an effort to expand their base?  The decision the party makes in response to this question could be pivotal in helping determine its future.

fnord