StumbleUpon | jama51's blog posts

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/31579383/

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:29:39 -0700

Economists continually try and sell the public the idea that recessions or depressions are a natural part of what they call the "business cycle".

This timeline below will prove that is simply not the case. Recessions and depressions only occur because the Central Bankers manipulate the money supply, to ensure more and more is in their hands and less and less is in the hands of the people.

Central Bankers developed out of money changers and it is with these people we pick the story up in 48 B.C. below. http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalbanking26.htm

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/28402337/

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:30:10 -0800

A Little Inspiration

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God;
It never was between you and them anyway.

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/28402018/

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:12:09 -0800

The Black Gloves represents equality/freedom for black people in the USA!

Olympics Black Power

Two black American athletes have made history at the Mexico Olympics by staging a silent protest against racial discrimination.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medalists in the 200m, stood with their heads bowed and a black-gloved hand raised as the American National Anthem played during the victory ceremony.

The pair both wore black socks and no shoes and Smith wore a black scarf around his neck. They were demonstrating against continuing racial discrimination of black people in the United States.

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/28401970/

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:08:53 -0800

As they left the podium at the end of the ceremony they were booed by many in the crowd.

At a press conference after the event Tommie Smith, who holds seven world records, said: “If I win I am an American, not a black American. But if I did something bad then they would say ‘a Negro’. We are black and we are proud of being black.

“Black America will understand what we did tonight.”

Smith said he had raised his right fist to represent black power in America, while Carlos raised his left fist to represent black unity. Together they formed an arch of unity and power.

He said the black scarf represented black pride and the black socks with no shoes stood for black poverty in racist America.

Within a couple of hours the actions of the two Americans were being condemned by the International Olympic Committee.

A spokesperson for the organization said it was “a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit.”

It is widely expected the two will be expelled from the Olympic village and sent back to the US.

In September last year Tommie Smith, a student at San Jose State university in California, told reporters that black members of the American Olympic team were considering a total boycott of the 1968 games.

He said: “It is very discouraging to be in a team with white athletes. On the track you are Tommie Smith, the fastest man in the world, but once you are in the dressing rooms you are nothing more than a dirty Negro.”

The boycott had been the idea of professor of sociology at San Jose State university, and friend of Tommie Smith, Harry Edwards.

Professor Edwards set up the Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) and appealed to all black American athletes to boycott the games to demonstrate to the world that the civil rights movement in the US had not gone far enough.

He told black Americans they should refuse “to be utilized as ‘performing animals’ in the games.”

Although the boycott never materialized the OPHR gained much support from black athletes around the world.

That evening, the silver medallist in the 200m event, Peter Norman of Australia, who was white, wore an OPHR badge in support of Smith and Carlos’ protest.

But two days later the two athletes were suspended from their national team, expelled from the Olympic village and sent home to America.

Many felt they had violated the Olympic spirit by drawing politics into the games.

On their return both men were welcomed as heroes by the African-American community but others regarded them as trouble-makers. Both received death threats.

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/28070155/

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:49:11 -0800

Explain God

It was written by an 8 year old, Danny Dutton of Chula Vista, CA, for his third grade homework assignment. The assignment was to explain God. Wonder if any of us could do as well?

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.
He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your Mom and Dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind, like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.

His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they've got it worked out so that one of them is on duty all the time.

You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.

And...that's why I believe in God.

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/27761664/

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:52:02 -0800

Gays Demand their Rights
Where would humanity be if this was the way god planned it

It appears eHarmony will have to change their entire business model in the face of lawsuits charging them with discrimination. eHarmony has been sued by a lesbian woman seeking to be matched with another women as well as a married man seeking an adulterous match. The latest lawsuit is a class-action suit in … California.

Neil Clark Warren, company founder, has repeatedly stated that he did not know enough about homosexual relationships to confidently match people together.

To be clear: The company never refused to do business with anyone. Their great “sin” was not providing a specialized service that litigious gay people demanded they provide. This case is akin to a meat-eater suing a vegetarian restaurant for not offering him a ribeye or a female patient suing a vasectomy doctor for not providing her hysterectomy services.

As fringe groups continue to demand not only the opportunity to make their own lifestyle choices but actually cram them down the throats of the rest of us, our “Great Society” will suffer.

…Under terms of the agreement with the New Jersey attorney general’s office, eHarmony Inc. will start the service, called Compatible Partners, by March 31.

“With the launch of the Compatible Partners site, our policy is to welcome all single individuals who are genuinely seeking long-term relationships,” said Antone Johnson, eHarmony vice president of legal affairs.

The company and its founder, Neil Clark Warren, admit no wrongdoing or liability.

“Even though we believed that the complaint resulted from an unfair characterization of our business, we ultimately decided it was best to settle this case with the attorney general, since litigation outcomes can be unpredictable,” eHarmony attorney Theodore B. Olson said.

Ted Olsen is a great defense attorney so he must think thank this settlement is best that can be attained. I am surprised that they did not take the case to trial but do not know all the details.

I continue to advocate Christian marriage as the standard which benefits our society most as well as honoring Scripture.

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/27466154/

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:44:20 -0800

ORIGIN Of The Hebrew Bible

PROVIDENCE -- After years of producing documentaries on topics as varied as volcanoes, the secrets of the Parthenon and the crash of Swissair Flight 111, Providence-based filmmaker Gary Glassman has produced a stunning documentary about the origins of the Hebrew Bible.

The Bible's Buried Secrets is a two-hour NOVA documentary that is scheduled to air on PBS Tuesday. Glassman, who is the show's writer, producer and director, describes it as an archaeological detective story that explores how the ancient Israelites were transformed from being a people who worshipped many gods into a people who believed in a single God.

"The traditional story is that Moses authored the first five books of the Bible, but the consensus of most scholars is that it was the work of many hands," says Glassman.

The film largely accepts the hypothesis of scholars who say those five books represent texts that were written over a period of several hundred years, which were compiled and edited into a form familiar to people today in 536 B.C. after the Jews went into exile in Babylon.

"If there had been a historical Moses, it would have been 700 years after his death."

What's that? Does Glassman say, "if" there was a Moses?

He explains that because the film had to be based on solid scholarship and research, the filmmakers had to look for evidence outside the scriptures. While there is a possibility that there were Jews who fled Egypt 3,200 years ago, the scholars who were interviewed by Glassman's team found no evidence of a massive exodus of 600,000 men and their families as described in the Bible.

At the same time, Glassman says the film points to other exciting discoveries that help to support parts of the Bible story, such as a huge stone monument known as the Merneptah Stele, which is believed to have been erected by an Egyptian pharaoh around 1208 B.C. On it, the pharaoh lists the peoples he conquered, including the Israelites.

Stuck into maps of the Middle East at Glassman's Providence Pictures headquarters on the third floor of the old Providence Journal Building at Eddy and Westminster streets are tacks showing numerous archaeological sites in Israel, Syria and Jordan that the filmmaker and his team visited during the two years they worked on the production.

During one visit to an archaeological dig in a valley in Tel Rehov, Israel, the team was on hand when archaeologists unearthed a clay figurine of Asherah, who was regarded by many of the ancient Israelites as a fertility goddess and consort to the god, El, who they believed would become "Yahweh's wife."

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/27466102/

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:41:27 -0800

CONTINUED.....
The finding of such figurines is not unusual. While many people assume, from the stories told to them in Sunday school, that the Israelites had been monotheists from the time of Abraham, the figurines as well as exhortations of Hebrew prophets against idol worship, show that the ancient Israelites were perhaps no different from other ancient peoples and believed in multiple gods, Glassman says.

But it is noteworthy, he says, how that changed during the period of the Babylonian exile. "Something happened during their exile that forged their belief in one God."

For the first time, they identified themselves as Jews and read and studied a Bible that taught them to see themselves and their relationship to God in a new way.

To bring the story to life, Glassman and his team visited ancient ruins over two years and employed digital animation techniques that allowed them, for example, to show what the long-lost Temple of Solomon could have looked like before it was destroyed. They commissioned a hand-crafted illustrated Bible -- a bound collection of art, featuring images of ancient frescoes and illuminated medieval manuscripts -- which became part of the film.

"I think what distinguishes this film from others is the depths that we went into to create historical accuracy," Glassman said.

Providence Pictures also hired actual scribes. Tristan Barako, the show's associate producer and senior researcher, who has a doctorate in Middle Eastern religious studies from Harvard University, even taught the scribes how to write in ancient Paleo-Hebrew lettering to make the scenes more accurate.

This is a film, says Glassman, that crystallizes 100 years of academic and archeological scholarship, and shows how the Jews gave the world the concept of one God, fundamental to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

A native of New York, Glassman received a master's degree in fine art from the University of California at Los Angeles before meeting his future wife, Joan Branham, a visiting scholar at the Getty Center there.

In 1996, his wife was hired as a professor of art and art history at Providence College, where she is now a department chairman.

In the dozen years since, he started Providence Pictures. Glassman's company has produced 30 documentaries, including award-winning films such as the one on the building of the Parthenon in Athens.

That production recently won the top award at the International Archaeological Film Festival and was the highest rated show of the year on the Franco-German Arte television network. It was also the second-highest rated show on NOVA in the last two years. Glassman says he's hoping for even bigger ratings this time.

Asked if the film would inspire people or upset them, Glassman said: "I would say that in many ways the film is like the Bible.

"You can find what you want in it or make it what you want. People who want to do good and those who want to do bad can find messages in the Bible. I would hope that people who see this film will find a message of inspiration in the best traditions of what it can mean to people."

As for the film's impact on his own faith, he says working on the production inspired him.

"I have to say that my relationship to religion has very much to do with sitting around the family table. The table that me and my wife and daughter, in-laws and friends gather around on Friday night is that same table that I grew up with."

Regardless of whether there really was a Moses or an Abraham, "my sense is that what the stories are about is our being part of a long tradition that goes back thousands of years. Making this film has increased my respect for the religious traditions."

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/27447264/

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:20:35 -0800

Genetically-Modified Foods Affects Reproduction in Mice

Genetically-modified maize can affect reproduction in mice, an Austrian study has found, although its authors have dismissed warnings by environmental groups that it could also harm humans. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
GM crops found to affect reproduction in mice: Austrian study Enlarge photo

The long-term study, which was commissioned by the Austrian health ministry, found that female mice that had been given a diet consisting of 33 percent genetically-modified (GM) maize had fewer babies and fewer litters than those fed on non-GM food after a few generations.

But the authors of the study were keen to point out that these were only initial findings and that further tests were needed to confirm the effect of GM foods on other animals and on humans.

"This is an isolated case and the results cannot in any way be applied to humans," the Austrian health and food safety agency AGES, which presented the study by Vienna's University of Veterinary Medicine (VUW) Tuesday, said in a statement.

"Confirmation of these preliminary results is urgently needed through further studies," the study's author, Juergen Zentek, added.

Environmental groups like Global 2000 and Greenpeace were quick to seize on the study to call for a ban on all GM crops.

"Considering the severity of the potential threat to human health and reproduction, Greenpeace is demanding a recall of all GE (genetically-engineered) food and crops from the market, worldwide," the group said in a statement.

Distributing GM foods was "like playing Russian roulette with consumers and public health," added Greenpeace's GM expert Jan van Aken.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has requested a copy of the study and will then pass it on to the European food safety authority for expertise, her spokeswoman said.

http://jama51.stumbleupon.com/review/27306823/

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:53:11 -0800

'Closer political ties' could result from economic crisis

Kiyomi Arai

The current global financial crisis could be a chance to strengthen international relations, and in that way be very different from the financial crisis that began with Black Thursday in 1929 and led to political strife and war, according to Akira Irie, professor emeritus at Harvard University.

"The 1929 crisis started from a stock meltdown on Wall Street, spread throughout the world and caused a political crisis," Irie, who lives in Massachusetts, told The Daily Yomiuri during a recent visit to Kansai University in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. "The current financial turmoil also began in the United States, triggered by the subprime loan crisis, but it's not endangering global politics," he said. "I think it'll actually be the other way around--countries including China, Russia and India share the notion that it's not something that only the United States has to deal with, but a global problem.

This could strengthen international partnerships," he said. Irie, former president of the American Historical Association and the first Japanese to have held that post, noted Washington would need help from Japan and other countries to overcome the crisis--unlike the Great Depression, when the United States pulled through mainly on the back of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programme."The global economy has developed to such an extent that one country alone can't reach a decision that will solve such a problem," Irie said.Hopefully, cooperation between countries in dealing with the economic crisis will extend into other areas, bringing greater political cooperation, he said.

Globalisation should be viewed from three perspectives, according to Irie: national, international, and transnational. "National [governments] decide taxes and other economic systems, and the use of public funds, so of course they're important. And international relations may be able to set up effective regulations. But these measures aren't enough," he said. Irie foresees transnational relations, where nonstate sectors interact, playing a key role in global society.

"Now Japanese and Chinese investors buy and sell US stock. People all over the world are driving the market. I think transnational, private sector-based connections--perhaps a gathering of economists and other experts--could help create an international vision of the future of the global economy." Irie said many US citizens hope that the election would lead to an upturn in the financial situation. "Stock sales are largely influenced by [investors'] psychology.

Many Americans feel that if [Democratic presidential candidate Barack] Obama wins the election and shows that the new administration will implement new policies, it could bring hope to the market and see people start investing in stocks again," he said.