Tomorrow, and the reason why we reflect.
 

"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars....Hate cannot drive out hate; Only love can do that."

---------------------------------

"Normal fear protects us, abnormal fear paralyzes us.
Normal fear motivates us to inprove our individual and
collective welfare; abnormal fear poisons and distorts
or inner lives. Our problem is not to be rid of fear but,
rather, to harness and master it."

---------------------------------

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality
and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a mans sense
of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the
beautiful as ugly, and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse
the true with the false and the false with the true."

----------------------------------

"Freedom is never given by the oppressor; It must be demanded by the oppressed."

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"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

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"When you are right you cannot be too radical, when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."

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"Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness."


-------Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Dave:)

Remarkable eloquence from a brilliant and brave man.

I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King Jr. (August 28, 1963)
Not a bad 100th post. :)

Here's an interesting article from a friend and adviser to Dr. King on the writing of the speech.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...011406266.html

I read that article, very illuminating.

Thanks for the link, Carl. It is always good to hear that again.

Congrats on post 100. Keep 'em coming. That makes you a senior member.

Regards,

D-Ray

It's a good time to reflect.

I grew up surrounded by white flight. Now, I live in an affluent area that is desegregated.

Even the gettos are getting desegregated :D

The founders and Lincoln would be pleasantly surprised. They (some at least) wanted to send the slaves back to Africa, for their own good. As they would 'never' be allowed to intermarry, they would never be accepted. But it is happening.

Congrats Carl :)

Pete

No one ever said it wouldn't be painfull. And boy, was it ever. But now----What Pete said.

Congrats, To my good friends, Ed and Ernie. (Ernestine).

Dave

Say Pete, which do you take credit for...making it affluent, or desegregated????

Couldn't help myself,

Chas

Oh no Chas, after growing up in their shadow, I've been learned that all things good and smart come from the boomers :D

Pete

It caught me by surprise today when the radio announcer mentioned that this weekend would have been Dr. King's 82nd birthday. I think of how many public figures have remained influential into their eighties. Ironically three of the senators who stood for the opposite of what Dr. King sought, Strom Thurmond, Jessee Helms and Robert Byrd remained in office until their eighties. Justices Thurgood Marshall, Justice Brennan, Justice Stephens, Justice White and many others remained on the bench into their eighties. Octogenarian George Soros remains active in business and in advocacy.

It just makes one wonder - what could have happened if Dr. King had not been cut down at the age of 39, what could he have accomplished?

Regards,

D-Ray

Don only the good die young, crusty old farts like me live forever.

Darn, I knew there was someone I left off of the list. ;)

Regards,

D-Ray

Not to worry Pete, you can inherit all of the wealth us Boomers have created.

Once it "trickles down" through the beltway.

Just don't spend it all in one place.

Chas

Agreed, and I might add the journalists of the day villified Dr. King, printing stories in their words that were diametrically opposed to his words. Does history repat?

I believe this world woud be a much better place. Basically 2 generations were denied his direct influence.

And J. Edgar Hoover accused him of being a Communist. I believe Tailgunner Joe did the same, but I'm not totally sure of that. Yes, history does repeat.
Whenever someone starts to buck the system, the system screams "Communist.":rolleyes:

Dave

Agreed.

Dave

To give you an idea of how times have changed, I remember very well the day that King was shot. I was watching TV in my bedroom in Rockville, MD (I was 14 years old) and a newsflash came on the TV to say that Dr. King had been shot. I ran to tell my mother (born 1916 near Selma, AL), to which she responded "I hope they killed that SOB.":(

A lot of folks were very uncomfortable (to say the least) about Dr. King's ideas and actions.

My Dad, (Born 1917 in Washburn, Wis.), liked him. Admired him even.

My mother, (Born 1923 in Champion, OH.), would seeth at the mention of his name.
I once heard her say, "Oh the hell with it. Why don't the damn Kennedys just hand the whole damn country over to the ni**ers?!"

Geez.

Dave

The times continue to change, Blue. Not necessarily a representative sample, but my boys and their other college age friends are very non-racial in their outlook. I think polling information bears out the greater tolerance of that generation.

BTW, Blue, how did your time in the Navy affect your view toward race?

Regards,

D-Ray

Huge change. I hate to admit it, but, I was more like Mom when I was 18. I had spent my entire life in a town that was close to 100% Caucasian. My time in the Navy, especially on the ship, working, living, eating, basically spending 24/7 around such a diverse crowd and having to trust others with my life changed everything.

Mom was wrong.

"They" aren't all, "just a bunch of filthy loungeabouts". Sure there are cultural differences, every race has its scumbags, and an slight air of unease was always detectable in those days, but for the most part they're just people. I never felt like I was carrying anyone elses weight. Heck, I had more trouble with a white guy that couldn't stop smoking long enough to do his friggin' job than anyone else.

Going back home after that was the weird part, Don. I felt like I was on some bizarre planet where everyone looked the same. The worst part was listening to the bigotry coming from some of those white folk who had NO room at all to talk about anyone else being a lazy, welfare collecting drunk. (Would someone give the loser a mirror, Please?). I go back once every year to visit my brother, and that place has changed very little, except there are less jobs, less people, and it's a lot more run down.
(And there are no blacks there to blame it on, try as they might.)

I left in 1982, returned in 1986. Left again a few months later and will never return.

S.E. Virginia is far more diverse and a much better place to live. That is the truth. That is what I have learned.

Dave

It seems that a school board member in Greeley, CO didn't get the memo:

“He's not a legitimate reverend, he's not a bona fide Ph.D. and his name really isn't Martin Luther King Jr.,” Reese says in the broadcast. “What's left? Just a sexual degenerate, an America-hating communist and a criminal betrayer of even the interests of his own people.”

http://room210civilrights.blogspot.c...rd-member.html

What ever happened to let us not speak ill of the dead.

Regards,

D-Ray

Hmmm, typical blogging, I will settle for the truth. :)


Nobelprize.org

Asshole.

At least he's got some reputable backers.

http://whitereference.blogspot.com/2...ist-kevin.html

(Read the comments. Nice guys, really. True Patriots concerned with the future of our Great Nation is all.:rolleyes:)

"He carries a gun to board meetings because of all of the death threats." I tried to bring up his website. "Connection timed out." Must be a popular guy.:p

Dave

You had your own teevee as a Kid??? I had a crappy AM/FM radio which may as well been AM only, due to the lack of FM stations.

My Dad mirrored you mothers statement. Then again, he thought Billy Graham was a "long haired SOB who needs a haircut".

Chas

Do they have dollar stores in Ohio?

Trickle down, sheesh even the GOP is PC, why couldn't they be honest and say pissed on.

Pissed away might be more like it.

Everyone has known that this has been coming for years. As a matter of fact, it's been quite a time back whenever a poll was conducted where more people believed in UFO's than believed they would ever get their Social Security.

But not to worry, there are still those who point out that the fund is fully vested until 2038, or what other ridiculous date they come up with.

Chas

I'd be fine with you guys finally retiring, leaving too many positions to be filled, so my pay goes up.

See? I'm an optimist :D

Due to inflation they are now dollar twenty-five stores.

Me and my friends never believed we'd see it (I'm now 43). As it is, they keep increasing retirement age, I won't anyway!

One thing I've learned about black folks overall that I admire - they are much more patient in a way than most white folks I know, and more tolerant.

Going to the store with an unnamed older lady, family, was always an experience, as she had a tendency to start complaining loudly about certain n-named folks if the line moved too slowly. In horror, I would watch the black folks while I tried to shut her up (I was young then). The worst was disgust, but mostly a sorrow, a look that stays with you.

If you really want to be friends with a black guy, ask him if you can touch his hair. It happens a lot and they get a little tired of it sometimes :)

If King would've lived they might have been able to vilify him, or he may have tarnished his own reputation, or both. Dying kinda garunteed him his spot.

Anyone see the kids taking turns repeating lines of his dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial yesterday? It was great.

Pete

I have several black friends stop by starting because of my restoration hobby, but they now bring their wives and kids just to visit.

It was truly an awesome thing and brought a tear to my eye.

Not a hint of cynicism to be seen in those youngsters. I guess you need to be older for that (as I glance to the mirror).

Right, and that was thirty years ago. I wonder how many of those who voted in that poll are receiving their SS checks now?

Have you noticed yet that the closer we get to the supposed "Date of Expiration" the further away it gets?

But, alas, I think it will probably go away regardless of whether it is really insolvent or not. And to my mind; That is a sad thing.

Dave

Watched them on the news, truly great.

Ah, we're cranky older guys :)

The first kid I saw, all you could see over the podium was their hat lol.

Pete

My point was, and still it, everyone has known that SS was going to be insolvent years ago.

And how can anyone stand there with a straight face and claim that SS is still solvent after the funds have been moved to general revenue, spent, and we're now 14 trillion in debt is beyond me.

I personally believe that I'll get every nickle of SS promised to me, only the nickle will be worth a penny when I collect.

Pick a fight with someone else.

Chas

Yeah, but he/she hollered loud enough for the mic to pick it up,:D