Today will consist of listening to jazz, drinking water, physical exercise, bathing, a little cleaning, and reading.
Mosiah said "Spend all your spare time in your library."
I rarely have spare time so I'm going to just chill and spend some time with these tomes I have in my possession. I've bought a few books this year that I haven't even cracked open yet. I spend so much time dealing with academia over at Howard University, I rarely put time and energy into my personal studies. I am going to crack the ice today and delve into the field or subject of agriculture. My interests in most things are intense and concentrated, because that's my personality. I have been intensely interested in nutrition, and I still am. I've invested countless hours, which have become days, into studying nutrition. My related, and sort of subsequent, or superior goal and field is agriculture. I want to move from educating and guiding people regarding human nutrition and well being into the production of human nutrition. So I'm taking the opportunity today to crack into my encyclopedia and learn about some agriculture. And when I get a bit tired from that I"ll move to another book or subject in my library.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Abraham Lincoln states that his client is a Moor, not a Negro.
Peace, here is documentation of a case when Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer. The case explains how a Moor married a European-American, had a family dispute, and the results of that dispute were that his wife's brother wanted to get him expelled from the state [Illinois] in which he lived. The "Black Laws" at the time didn't permit 'free negroes,' in the State. But here it shows the brother wasn't a Negro, he was a Moor. A National prevailed. Peace.
Received it from one of my brothers, but it came from this site:
http://www.papersofabrahamlincoln.org/Briefs/briefs23.htm
Lincoln Defends "Black Bill'
Among ten original Lincoln documents discovered last summer in the DeWitt County Courthouse is a bond for costs in William Dungey v. Joseph Spencer. Written but not signed by Lincoln, it was part of an interesting slander case. Family disputes that degenerated into slanderous, name-calling feuds frequently appeared in antebellum Illinois circuit courts. Such cases reflected the intent of American slander law to safeguard an individual's good reputation in the community against petty character assassination. Abraham Lincoln realized the value of reputation, and declared in his first printed political speech that, "Everyman is said to have his peculiar ambition . . . I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men. . . ."
One unique slander case Lincoln argued at the DeWitt County Circuit Court, Clinton, Illinois, in the May and October 1855 terms involved much more than a defamation of character, and suggested that Huck Finn's friend Jim might have reconsidered his plan of escape to freedom: "I reck'n'd at by fo' in the mawnin' I'd. . .slip in, jis b'fo daylight, en swim asho' en take to de woods on de Illinois side."
In August 1851, William Dungey, a dark-skinned young man of Portuguese descent, married Joseph Spencer's sister. A family quarrel ensued, which became so bitter that in January 1855, Spencer claimed throughout the community that his brother-in-law, "Black Bill," was a Negro.
Since 1819, Illinois laws permitted quasi-slavery and restricted the immigration of free blacks into the state. As other northern states passed personal liberty laws granting additional rights to free blacks, Illinois toughened its stance against them. The 1848 Illinois Constitution required the General Assembly to "pass such laws as will effectively prohibit free persons of color from immigrating to and settling in this state. . . ." Those prohibitions were passed as the "Black Laws" and went into force on February 12, 1853, the future Emancipator's forty-fourth birthday.
William Dungey faced losing not only his reputation, but his marriage, property, and right to remain in Illinois. Section 10 of the 1853 law stated that, "Every person who shall have one-fourth negro blood shall be deemed a mulatto." William Dungey retained Abraham Lincoln to quash the possibility that he might be judged a "negro" and therefore suffer the severe penalties under the 1853 act.
Lincoln filed his declaration charging Joseph Spencer with slander on April 17, 1855, and sought $1,000 in damages. A game of legal chess occurred during the first hearing in May. Spencer's attorneys, Clifton H. Moore and Lawrence Weldon, filed a demurrer to Lincoln's declaration, asserting that his charges were insufficient in law. Judge David Davis agreed that two of Lincoln's three charges were faulty. The case was continued and Lincoln was allowed to amend the declaration. At the next term of court, October 1855, the case was argued before a jury.
According to Lawrence Weldon, Lincoln's talents as a trial lawyer were evident in his argument for Dungey. Weldon stated that Lincoln questioned Spencer's character by demonstrating how Spencer went from house to house "gabbing" that Dungey was a "nigger." Weldon emphasized that Lincoln's tone and pronunciation had a "curious touch of the ludicrous. . . which, instead of detracting, seemed to add to the effect."
Lincoln further undermined Spencer by using humor to persuade the jury that there was reasonable doubt regarding Dungey's race. Weldon recalled Lincoln's statement:
"My client is not a Negro, though it is a crime to be a Negro--no crime to be born with a black skin. But my client is not a Negro. His skin may not be as white as ours, but I say he is not a Negro, though he may be a Moore." "Mr. Lincoln," interrupted Judge Davis, scarcely able to restrain a smile, "you mean a Moor, not Moore." "Well, your Honor, Moor, not C.H. Moore," replied Mr. Lincoln, with a sweep of his long arm toward the table where Moore and I sat. "I say my client may be a Moor, but he is not a Negro."
Though the account may be apocryphal, Weldon's recollection was characteristic of Lincoln's style.Lincoln then demolished the defendant's witnesses' testimony. Moore and Weldon had secured several depositions from residents in Giles County, Tennessee, the Dungey family home. These witnesses stated that they had personally known the family, and that the white community had regarded the Dungeys as "negro," or of "mixed blood." Under cross examination, Lincoln argued that the testimony was hearsay as the witnesses admitted none of them lived within 30 miles of the Dungey residence.
On October 18, 1855, the jury returned a verdict of guilty and granted Dungey $600 in damages plus court costs of $137.50. Lincoln charged a $25 fee, which Lawrence Weldon considered minimal.
To avoid an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, Lincoln persuaded Dungey to remit $400 of the judgment in return for the defendant releasing "all errors which may exist in the court record. . ." Under Illinois law, the defendant could not appeal the verdict, but could appeal only on errors of procedure or evidence. Lincoln had taught Joseph Spencer an expensive lesson in domestic relations.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
A related excerpt from the Holy Koran Circle 7 of the Moorish Science Temple of America.
"13. And Jesus spoke a parable; he said: "A certain man possessed a field; the soil was hard and poor.
14. By constant toil he scarcely could provide enough of food to keep his family from want.
15. One day a miner who could see beneath the soil, in passing on his way, saw this poor man and his unfruitful field.
16. He called the weary toiler and he said: 'My brother, know you not that just below the surface of your barren field rich treasures lie concealed?
17. You plough and sow and reap in a scanty way, and day by day you tread upon a mine of gold and precious stones.
18. This wealth lies not upon the surface of the ground; but if you will dig away the rocky soil, and delve down deep into the earth, you need no longer till the soil for naught.'
19. The man believed. 'The miner surely knows,' 'And I will find the treasures hidden in my field.'
20. And then he dug away the rocky soil, and deep down in the earth he found a mine of gold."
21. And Jesus said: "The sons of men are toiling hard on desert plains, and burning sands and rocky soils, are doing what there fathers did, not dreaming they can do aught else.
22. Behold a master comes, and tells them of a hidden wealth; that underneath the rocky soil of carnal things are treasures that no man can count.
23. That in the heart the richest gems abound; that he who wills may open the door and find them all."
24. And then the people said: "Make known to us the way that we may find the wealth that lies within the heart."
25. And Jesus opened up the way; the toilers saw another side of life, and toil became a joy."
The wise man submits to conditions when he is helpless, bowing to the will of God. But the evil that is avoidable he roots out without sparing one single moment or effort.
By looking for happiness, what does man seek after? He is seeking after his self, though he does not know it. ... The more one understands oneself, the more one finds that everything that one finds lacking in others is also lacking in oneself. Does a person become less by finding faults in oneself? No, he becomes greater, for he not only finds that the faults which are in others are also to be found in him, but that all merits of the others are also his own merits. With faults and merits he becomes more complete, he does not become less.
What a great treasure it is when a man has realized that in him are to be found all the merits and all the faults which exist in the world, and that he can cultivate all that he wishes to cultivate, and to cut away all that should be removed! It is like rooting out the weeds and sowing the seeds of flowers and fruits. One finds that all is in oneself, and that one can cultivate in oneself what he wishes. A world opens for the man who begins to look within himself, for it is not a little plot of ground that he has to cultivate, he has a world to make of himself and to make a world is sufficient occupation to live for. What more does one want? Many think that life is not interesting because they make nothing, but they do not realize that they have to make a world, that they are making a world, either ignorantly or wisely. If they make a world ignorantly then that world is their captivity, if they make a world wisely then that world is their paradise.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
功夫 - Gong Fu - Kung Fu
Little Kung Fu Yoga Boy
功夫 - gōng fu - skill; art; kung fu; labor; effort
"Skill achieved through hard work."
The words “kung fu” are of Chinese origin and are best translated as “hard work over an extended period of time”. It actually has a much broader meaning than self defense. The true meaning of kung fu lies in the achievement of excellence in any facet of life.
The word kung-fu 功夫 Means achievement of skill through labor and is commonly paraphrased as hard work.
The true meaning of Kung Fu is - Skill acquired over time. Kung means work. Fu has various meanings dependent upon context - such as discipline, skill, and perseverance. To have good Kung Fu means to be an expert at what you do no matter what it is. A master chef does kung fu, so does a special forces soldier. Both are experts at what they do and they have acquired their skills thru hard work over time. That is the true meaning of Kung Fu.
The true meaning of Kung Fu is - Skill acquired over time. Kung means work. Fu has various meanings dependent upon context - such as discipline, skill, and perseverance. To have good Kung Fu means to be an expert at what you do no matter what it is. A master chef does kung fu, so does a special forces soldier. Both are experts at what they do and they have acquired their skills thru hard work over time. That is the true meaning of Kung Fu.
Chávez Opens Palace to Venezuelan Flood Victims
CARACAS, Venezuela — Miraflores Palace, designed in the 1880s by an Italian count for one of Venezuela’s 19th-century dictators, has been home to presidents here for more than a century. In recent years, it has welcomed a lively medley of foreign leaders, including Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil.
Hugo Chávez, opened the doors of the neoclassical building to a new set of residents: flood victims.
Appearing on state television at Miraflores clad in an olive drab military uniform, Mr. Chávez welcomed 26 families who had been displaced by torrential rains in recent weeks. The rainfall has caused flooding and landslides that have killed 25 people and forced more than 30,000 Venezuelans to flee, civil defense officials said.
“I have a proposal for you families: stay here for a year,” the president told the refugees who became his housemates on Wednesday. He then led them on a brief tour of a palace wing where beds and cribs had been set up next to a barbershop. “When you leave,” he said, “it will be to an apartment of your own.”
Beyond offering a helping hand, Mr. Chávez was once again displaying his facility at taking hold of the public discussion during a time of crisis, and he blunted criticism over his government’s handling of flood-prevention measures and its response to the rains.
His offer to allow families into Miraflores also plays into the fierce debate over a housing shortage that has forced many Venezuelans to live in hillside shacks that are vulnerable to the rains.
Mr. Chávez has seized housing tracts to alleviate the shortage. Private developers, in turn, have been hesitant to invest in new projects out of fear that they could be taken by the government.
If the rains continue, a great deal more could be at stake. A similar period of rainfall in 1999 led to landslides near Caracas, the capital, killing thousands of people. Ruins of buildings near the Caribbean coast that were destroyed in 1999 serve as testament to the destruction.
The president’s critics, pointing out that thousands of the flood victims will not have the chance to move into the palace, responded to his move with reactions varying from amusement to outrage. “Philanthropy can be virtuous,” the columnist Simón Boccanegra wrote in the newspaper Tal Cual, “but it can also be demagogic, exhibitionist and when taken to its extreme, truly grotesque and tacky.”
Mr. Chávez first raised the possibility of taking in refugees at Miraflores during his regular television broadcast on Sunday, saying that the palace kitchen alone had space for “about 20 families,” and that the chambers where his cabinet convened could be remodeled into about two apartments.
Fuerte Tiuna, a top military garrison, and Telesur, the regional Spanish-language television network supported by Venezuela, have also opened their grounds to flood victims. Officials have closed schools, opened more than 250 shelters and deployed 10,000 troops to provide aid.
Peace
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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