Morgan Freeman Gets It Right
Actor Morgan Freeman has said something that I’ve been thinking for a long time when he criticized the idea of Black History Month.
“You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” the 68-year-old actor says in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” to air Sunday (7 p.m. EST). “I don’t want a black history month. Black history is American history.”
Every February we celebrate Black history in America and call it Black History Month. But it’s all history that has taken place in America (slavery, segregation, emancipation, etc.) so it’s really part of American history. The lessons learned from that history are lessons that all Americans can learn from as opposed to just Black people so let’s just integrate it with American history. We don’t have a Jewish history month. We don’t have a Latin history month. So why is there a Black History Month?
Freeman explains that by specifying a time of year to discuss Black history you are focusing on the differences between Black and White and fostering racism by drawing attention to those differences. He says to abolish Black History Month and integrate Black history with American history.
Freeman notes … the only way to get rid of racism is to “stop talking about it.”
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Is At It Again
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech that the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were killed in Europe was a myth. Let’s forget for a second this man’s recent remarks on other Jewish related issues (he said in October that Israel should be “wiped off the map”) and look at this one in particular comment.
What would it take to create such a myth and have all the world buy it? First we’d have to hire someone to play the parts of Hitler, Eichmann, Himmler, Mengele and all of the other big names of the time. Then we’d have to hire countless extras to play Nazia and Jews. We’d then have to take these hundreds of thousands of actors we just hired and get them all on the same page with regard to the basic story as well as their individual stories (their own experiences, stories of loved ones who were lost or killed, etc.). The we’d have to create sets for the concentration camps that were actually real working camps and film alot of staged ‘atrocities’ so we would have visual documentation of our lie. Then, when it was all over, we’d have to stage Nazi hunts, trials and executions. There’s alot of people who would have to be kept in line through the life of the project as well as for many years after. None of them could change their story for fear of revealing the secret that the whole thing was just a trick.
No, I’d have to think otherwise, Mr. Ahmadinejad. Let’s forget for a moment the pain I’d see in my grandparents faces when they would talk about their experiences. Let’s forget for a moment all of the authentic artifacts that have been found that prove this really happened. Let’s just look at the practicalities of the issue and you’d see there’s no way this could have been faked.
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Leave the Pope Alone
We all know that the Pope is anti-abortion and anti-gay, etc. This is not exactly unexpected from a man in his position. Being a man of the cloth he’d obviously go with the bible’s point of view which is along the lines of “abortion is murder” and “homosexuality is an abomination”. It’s practically a given that such a religious person would have such a belief.
The part that I don’t understand is where people hate him for it. I totally understand someone having a different opinion than the Pope and the church. I also understand how one’s belief can be so strong that they’d be willing to fight for it. But to criticize a man for a belief that comes from the religion he follows is a little silly, don’t you think? To expect that the Pope or any religious leader go public with an opinion that is contradictory to a such a strongly held belief of their religion is crazy.
I have a little advice for people who are on the opposite side of the Pope on such issues. Leave the guy alone and target people who have a shot at helping your cause. The Pope (whether it’s the current Pope or future Popes) will be of no help to you.
(PS – I am not Catholic nor is the above statement mean to take any side of the abortion or gay issues mentioned therein. So please don’t send me any emails criticizing my opinions on such issues because I never said what my opinion was.)
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Get Real, Congressman Cunningham
This story bugs the hell out of me. Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-California) gave a tearful resignation speech after being after pleading guilty to taking about $2.4 million in bribes in the last 6 years.
“I am resigning from the House of Representatives because I’ve compromised the trust of my constituents,” Cunningham told reporters after a hearing in San Diego federal court.
Actually, sir, you’re resigning because you got caught. If you were resigning because you compromised the trust of your constituents you would have resigned a long time ago.
“I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, most importantly, the trust of my friends and family,” he said, choking back tears.
I love the way the media portrayed this as he was choking back the tears because he was sorry for the crime he committed. He wasn’t sorry for the crime he committed. He was sorry he got caught.
Not all of us are dumb enough to go for the act, Congressman. So please don’t insult our intelligence by saying how sorry you are and crying publicly. I cannot feel bad for someone who abused his office like you.
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The Left is for Walking, The Right is for Riding
I was in the Port Authority bus terminal the other day (as I am on most days) and I got on the escalator to go down from the gate my bus dropped off at to the street. I get on the escalator on the left side as I almost always do since I like to walk down and everybody knows the left side is for walking and the right side is for riding. I take two steps down when I am forced to stop. A person a little further down decided that they were going to ride the left side. This wouldn’t be a problem most times of day. I’d simply navigate around her. But this was rush hour and the place was packed. Thanks for slowing me down lady.
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