On my way home from work, I was listening to talk radio and was truly disgusted by the people who called in with the “it may not have been the right thing to do, but I understand” attitude. How can these people attempt to justify Joseph Stack’s actions? Why is it that the democracy we hold so true and dear all of a sudden not good enough? Why are people so upset and moved to react violently because they feel their voice isn’t being heard? When have our voice ever been heard! Joseph Stack plain and simple committed an act of domestic terrorism. I don’t care how upset you are with your current situation or “the system”, there’s no reason to attempt a mass murder of innocent people.
People have been reading a lot into the manifesto he wrote and many are attempting to use a bad situation to prove a point about our political system. Stack is not the first person to have issues with the IRS and he definitely isn’t the only one going through hard times. He’s not the first to work hard to achieve a dream and have it taken away from you. He’s not the first to feel taken advantage of and hopeless. Nothing Stack wrote in his manifesto was new and I’m sure there have been others who’ve felt the same way. But they dealt with it, as most continue to do today.
What he did IS NOT bringing attention to a greater issue that needs to be addressed. The issues he had were far greater than his frustration and mistrust of the government. For those who would like to read the Stack manifesto, is can be found here.
It’s hard to believe it’s already 2010. But we’re here and there are still new things in store for this blog. When I started blogging, the main goal was to share information and hopefully open up dialogue on issues that affect the black community. I think I did that in some way this year, but it wasn’t to the extent that I’d done in previous years.
The goal for this year is to continue on the track of keeping the site informative. I plan on opening it up to others who are interested in sharing their point of view with the readers of this site. There are some talented, well-written people out there and I want to showcase them and get some real discussions going.
Late in the year, when I got swamped with projects for work, I fell off the blogging scene for a couple of weeks. Blogging can be a daunting task and coming up with things to write about can be time consuming (especially when it isn’t one of my strengths). So this year, I’m going to solicit your help. If you or someone you know are interested in blogging, but don’t want to manage their own site, email me at info @ theotalks.net. I’m always in need of someone to write and it usually turns out to be a win-win situation for both parties.
This year, I also want to focus more on minority small businesses. In these turbulent economic times, a lot of people are turning to owning their own business. I think that’s great, so I decided to start a list of some of my favorite small businesses. I’ll be highlighting small business owners throughout the year, so contact me if you’re interested in participating.
Finally, here are some websites that you need to keep an eye on for 2010. I’ll be blogging a lot about them and hope to be visible on most of them as time permits. Check them out when you get the chance:
World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.
HIV/AIDS has been a global epidemic for more than 27 years. Most of today’s youth have never known a world without it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published national HIV incidence (new infections) that showed much higher numbers that previous estimates. The time is now. Together, we can prevent the spread of this pandemic – through awareness, care, prevention, education and research.
The Red Ribbon is the international symbol of support for people living with HIV. Wearing a red ribbon is a great way to raise awareness about HIV as well as to break down stigma and prejudice, so make sure you get yours in time for World AIDS Day!
Last year I had the opportunity to post about Worlds AIDS Day and found a lot of interesting information about how it affects us on a local and international scale. I was amazed to find out how many black people were infected with the disease. It’s not something that’s always discussed in our community and this is why I appreciate the effort of those willing to blog about this important day.
There’s a passage in the Bible that reads “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.” Psalms 19:1-6 NIV.
I made a promise to myself earlier in the year to spend more time outdoors when the weather got better. I spend the majority of my week in front of a computer, doing a job that I truly enjoy. But there are times when I get sucked in to my work and it’s easy to get stressed out when deadlines need to be met.
I’ve also found that achieving that home-church-work-life balance thing, is not such an easy task. One can easily get caught up in the rat race and lose focus of the little things. When that happens, it’s important that you take some time to step out of the race and notice the little things around you. You can take a minute or an hour. You can be by yourself or with a group of people. All it takes is a commitment from you to do it.
For the first time that I can remember I watched the sun set. I wasn’t at a beach on vacation and to be honest, it wasn’t even a planned event. I just happened to drive around the corner on my way home from work and thought, “that would make a good picture”. I never realized how fast a sunset occurred and I plan on seeing more from now on. The world we inhabit is an amazing place and there are many lessons about life in God’s creation. So take the time to stop, look and listen sometimes. You might be glad you did.
One of my biggest issues is staying organized. With all the I have things going on, I’ve had to come up with new ways to keep my life in order. This next year, instead of using a day planner, I plan on going online. I’ve tried to keep from going there, but figured why not give it a try. My day planner will be replaced with Google Calendar and for general day-to-day tasks I’m using a website called rememberthemilk.com (RTM). Google calendar and RTM work with well with each other and both will integrate with my Windows Mobile phone.
The problem with my day planner was that I seemed to never have it when I need it. It would be in the car or at home and I was bad about checking it every night. I’m hoping the online solution will work a little better because I’m always on the computer and I always have my phone with me.
My plan is to enter events, appointments and important dates in Google Calendar. From there I will use Google Calendar Sync to copy my dates to MS Outlook on my PC. Outlook will sync the dates to my phone when I plug it in to charge. Daily tasks will be entered into RTM. I like RTM because I’m able to enter tasks using their mobile website when I’m not on my PC. They also have an application that will sync the website to your Windows Mobile phone or iPhone. Whenever a task with a specific time is due I get a reminder text message an hour before the deadline. I’m also able to enter a task using the RTM Gmail widget (I use this all the time).
While I’m sure I’ll miss my day planner, it’s going to be interesting to see how this works out. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer, so I’m sure it wont’s be too much of an additional hassle. What are you going to do to stay organized? Any tips are welcome.
Last year I had the opportunity to post about Worlds AIDS Day and found a lot of interesting information about how it affects us on a local and international scale. I was amazed to find out how many black people were infected with the disease. It’s not something that’s always discussed in our community and this is why I appreciate the effort of those willing to blog about this important day.
This time I wanted to highlight a new bill passed in Congress (HR 5501) that will authorize $50 billion for assistance to certain countries for combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis for the five-year period of 2009 through 2013. It was sponsored by Rep. Berman, Howard (D-CA) and was signed into law in July 2008. Due to the recent economic conditions, I’m curious to see if the money will be allocated. One thing that I like about the bill is it’s emphasis on educating people on ways to prevent the spread of the disease. While the message of abstinence is one to admire, you shouldn’t expect everyone to do so. For those who don’t, education is the key. You can find more information on HR 5501 at votesmart.org.
Spread the word and check out aids.gov to learn what you can do to get involved. For those who have an avatar in Second Life, there will be a new island created just for this day. Events will be happening all day and I plan to drop by to check them out. Visit this link for more information.
It’s done. Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America. I never in my lifetime thought this would happen. This nation has gone through a lot. It’s time to rally behind the President and begin the healing process. This is America and Americans are used to surviving through tough times. Whether you supported President Obama or not, he needs your support.
I have so much more to say, but I’m truly at a loss for words. I’m still in shock and it’ll take a couple of days for it to sink in. Thanks to all who’ve supported the blog. It’s been fun. Now I need to find something to blog about.
In high school, I remember sitting in U.S. History learning only what I needed to pass the exam. I used to say that’s “his-story”, not “my-story”. But little did I realize that “my-story” and “his-story” very closely intertwine with each other.
During this election, there’s been a lot of talk about the Constitution and what the forefathers of this country meant in the writing of one of America’s most treasured documents. I’ve heard the Republicans argue their party is the “party of Lincoln” who freed the slaves and pushed for major changes in civil rights in America. I’ve heard discussions about socialism, communism, capitalism and every other type of -ism out there. There’s so much information out there and at times it can get pretty overwhelming.
My question is how many of these people really know what they’re talking about? The political pundits aren’t giving me anything and it seems like both sides are trying to scare you into voting for their party. Who do you trust? We’ve been bamboozled twice in the past eight years, so I’ve made up my mind to base my decision on the performance of the candidates during the election. All the promises we’re hearing are just that. Promises. Bush told everyone he would be the one to “cross party lines” and you see how well that’s gone.
I feel when you vote you have to go with your gut. Learn what you can about the candidates and be prepared to hold them to their word. We live in the Information Age and we have more of it than we can possibly consume. I’ve learned a lot about the need to understand the past.
Through blogging I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot from people all over the world. So why not try it again?
If the Republican Party was the one who freed the slaves, what caused the shift moving the black vote to the Democratic Party?
For those who didn’t get to see the entire parody on Saturday Night Live, here it is. I’ve been a fan ever since Eddie Murphy was a cast member and they’ve made many careers in the time it’s been on the air.
I thought it was really funny. You have to know Hillary is thinking the same thing. I’ve always thought choosing her as VP was McCain’s way of getting back at the Dems. I guess he felt he had nothing to lose. and it does make for an interesting election. Something to definitely tell the kids.
There’s been a lot of debate over Sarah Palin and whether she can “do it all” as a Vice Presidential mom. It’s become a hot topic over the last couple of days, but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before. My wife works and she has had this same discussion with other moms many times. Being the soft-spoken, politically-correct Democrat that I am, I tend to keep my mouth shut regarding the subject. But I do have my own opinion and after seeing Sarah’s speech I was inspired to write this little post.
Being raised in a Christian household, I was taught the Bible has the answer to any situation you can face. While it may not always give you the exact answer, through prayer and studying there’s enough to get you on the right path.
Here’s a post from gotquestions.org regarding women in the workplace. I heard a similar response in a family ministry Bible study my wife and I attended a couple of years ago:
