Monday, December 18, 2017

On Many Subjects

The time has certainly come to write more information about the beautiful subject of mathematics. For thousands of years, humanity has utilized mathematics for a diversity of purposes. Some wanted to create complex structures globally. Some wanted to count objects, to device formulas, and to improve society in a myriad of positive ways. Learning math can bring excellent career choices from engineer to computer software analysts. Not to mention that mathematics can spark up extra human creativity in a glorious fashion. That is why math is always important. From Euclid’s Elements to the mathematical views of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, we witness the glory of mathematics. The greatness of mathematics deals with learning about factors, prime numbers, and the concept of i. It is seeing young people and older people search and find solutions to problems that deals with science, economics, and other spheres of human endeavors. Math can be simplistic or complex in dealing with trigonometric or calculus. Also, many cultures brought us contributions in mathematical development. For example, Muslim mathematicians during the Middle Ages brought us the decimal point, Arabic numerals in notation, many trigonometric functions. Ancient Babylonian mathematics were written using a sexagesimal (base-60) numeral system.  From this derives the modern day usage of 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 (60 x 6) degrees in a circle, as well as the use of seconds and minutes of arc to denote fractions of a degree. It is likely the sexagesimal system was chosen because 60 can be evenly divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30. All of these numbers are factors of the number 60. So, we witness bioformatics being used now and we see people of all ages enjoying the wonder of mathematics.



One of the greatest heroes in human history was Sister Miriam Makeba. Miriam Makeba was born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents. She traveled the world to spread her great, sacrosanct messages of equality, music, love, and human justice. She lived in this Earth for decades as an ambassador of not only being against apartheid, but showing international music as a precise, important means of bringing people together. She was full of compassion, strength, and intellectual power throughout her life. She loved Africa unconditionally and we love Africa eternally too. Africa is the birthplace of humanity with its people, and its glorious cultural diversity.  Decades ago, she was in a movie that opposed apartheid in Africa. The 1959 film is called Come Back, Africa, an anti-apartheid film produced and directed by the American independent filmmaker Lionel Rogosin. Her music was ahead of its time and she was one of the first African musicians that had worldwide acclaim. She worked with American civil rights leaders and she made famous records throughout the 1950’s, the 1960’s and beyond. She made tons of people aware that freedom in South Africa means freedom for humanity globally. She gave us light and hope. She inspires us to this very day. Miriam Makeba was an icon and she will always be a legendary black woman.



Lyndon Baines Johnson was one of the most historic, controversial, and complicated Presidents in history. He had a dual legacy as President. He enriched the lives of millions of Americans with his powerful, progressive Great Society social programs (along with laws promoting civil rights and voting rights, which is very great). Yet, he also ended his Presidency with his reckless, wrong policies involving not only the Vietnam War (as advanced by many generals back then). LBJ also made incorrect, imperialist foreign policy decisions in other areas in general as he was a Cold Warrior and a radical anti-Communist. LBJ was born in Texas and he was in the military for a time. He politically allied with Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a young man. Later, he taught poor Mexican children in Texas and became a Congressman. Gaining seniority via his efforts enabled him to gain much political power. He is known for being vulgar, sensitive, and crass. During the 1960 Presidential primary, he ran for President. He was shocked that the younger John F. Kennedy defeated him. Then, JFK decided to want him to be his running mate. He agreed. During the 1960 Presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon for the Presidency. Lyndon Baines Johnson was originally the Vice President. LBJ followed Kennedy’s lead, but he disagreed with Kennedy’s policies in Vietnam. He wanted JFK to be more aggressive in terms of military action. After Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963, LBJ was President. Many of the laws that Johnson signed or passed came from the previous Kennedy Administration. He won the 1964 election by his own merit against Barry Goldwater. Johnson talked with Dr. King regularly on civil rights and voting rights. LBJ worked with Texas liberal Democrat Ralph Yarborough and other progressive leaders to pass civil rights and voting rights legislation. Johnson knew that the Jim Crow South was ending and he had to bring folks (who disagreed with him) to realize that a change was necessary. He signed both the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. He promoted immigration legislation in 1965. He accelerated military action in the Vietnam War which caused his Presidency to disintegrate, because his policies never caused a real resolution (it only extended the destructiveness of the war). Fulbright and other liberal Congress people opposed him on Vietnam. Rebellions existed all across America from Watts to Detroit (and his cabinet said that he originally failed to understand the complex origin of the rebellions which dealt with hurt, neglect, police brutality, and economic injustice). His Great Society programs were stripped of funding to fund the war in Vietnam by the late 1960’s (this reality grew the anti-war movement). As a product of this, inflation grew. Robert F. Kennedy (his nemesis. LBJ and RFK didn't get along with each other at all) ran for President. In terms of the environment, he was the most progressive President (on that issue) of the 20th century. Under disaster after disaster, the capitalist President LBJ decided not to run for President again during 1968 after the Tet Offensive. He lived to see the last, major social reforms of the post-World War II era. LBJ made a combination of great policies and great mistakes. His Presidency ended in 1969. Now, it’s time to reflect on his life and legacy as President of the United States of America.



From 1948 to 2018, massive developments have existed in Israel. There have been wars, continued occupations (in Gaza and the West Bank), and constant debates. By 2018, alliances have been formed. Many in Israel have allied with Saudi Arabia in being against Iran. Some Palestinian activists are allied with liberal activists including some members of the Black Lives Matter movement. Some evangelicals and far right Republicans have allied with some of the most far right Zionists in the world like Benjamin Netanyahu. I reject the 2 extreme views of every Israeli being a terrorist and every Palestinian being a terrorist (which are both slanderous lies). From 1948, the Israeli/Arabic war commenced. Many Palestinians were displaced from their lands and individuals among both sides were killed during that 1948 conflict. Israel continued to grow. Afterwards, there were events of the Suez Canal crisis, the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the peace agreement with Egypt (whose leader back then was Sadat), the events of the 1980’s, Oslo, etc. These historical occurrences define the early Israeli historical era. Also, the intifada transpired (or an uprising among Palestinians in which they desired their human rights and liberation. To this very day, many Palestinians live in occupation, poverty, and blatant oppression). Peace groups among Israelis and Palestinians desire solutions, but circumstances and policies have made peace extremely distant. Israeli policies have been loved, hated, and debated to this very day. Today, we have Donald Trump trying to make Jerusalem the U.S. embassy capital of Israel. This act has created more tensions in the region, even among Trump allied-nations like Saudi Arabia. In order to get the events of Israel correct or accurate, it is imperative for us to look at the situation from a chronological standpoint. In that fashion, we can witness the truth without bias. We should always be fair and compassionate to humanity too. After 70 years, human beings globally still have their eyes fixed on Israel. Peace and justice is an aim that we desire.


In our time, more human beings are rightfully exposing eugenics with great diligence. Eugenics is a scourge and it’s evil. In essence, eugenics is related to racism, classism, xenophobia, lookism, and other injustices. Many folks have believed in that nefarious philosophy for thousands of years. Eugenics is the belief that the human population can improve its so-called “desirable, heritable, and genetic characteristics” by controlled breeding based on class, race, etc. Eugenics believes in the lie that some people are inferior based on background, class, genetics, and race. Some ancient Greeks accepted its tenets too. Eugenics, as we see it today, was formulated by the 19th century in the West. Francis Galton embraced many eugenics style views as well. Eugenics embraced classism to the extreme. Classism is evil, because of many reasons. One is that it perpetrates the lie that the value in society is determination by one’s wealth or class status. The truth is that the poor and the non-poor are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They are entitled to equality and justice period. Capitalist exploitation promotes classism and that is why we desire an end to the system of exploitation. Ending capitalist exploitation along with other actions are crucially vital in ending classism once and for all. Therefore, the poor doesn’t need demonization or scapegoating. They deserve compassion, resources, opportunities, and economic rights, so they can reach their highest potentials on the Earth. Eugenics is an evil agenda whose goals are about extreme classism, the decrease of populations using wicked means (from forced sterilization to other anti-human measures), violations of democratic rights, authoritarianism, and elitism. Hitler was proponent of eugenics decades ago. Eugenics has no place in the whole Universe. Radical anti-immigration has eugenics ties which have been documented by great authors and scholars as well. We will always stand up and speak up for human dignity and for human autonomy too.


By Timothy

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