_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Never give up

Oprah Winfrey: Oprah faced a hard road to get to that position, however, enduring a rough and often abusive childhood as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was "unfit for tv."

She was born - Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954




young oprah winfrey

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Today in History!!

1854: In Oregon, 30 miners attack a peaceful Indian village on the Coquille River. Sixteen Indians are killed.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Chinese New Year: 2012

The Year of the Dragon

Chinese New Year Dates

  • 2010 - Feb. 14
  • 2011 - Feb. 3
  • 2012 - Jan. 23
  • 2013 - Feb. 10
  • 2014 - Jan. 31

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4710 begins on Jan. 23, 2012.

Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.

Breathing Fire into the New Year

Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in dragon years are innovative, brave, and passionate. Salvador Dali, John Lennon, and Mary-Louise Parker were all born in the year of the dragon.

 

Fireworks and Family Feasts

At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.

 

The Lantern Festival

In China, the New Year is a time of family reunion. Family members gather at each other's homes for visits and shared meals, most significantly a feast on New Year's Eve. In the United States, however, many early Chinese immigrants arrived without their families, and found a sense of community through neighborhood associations instead. Today, many Chinese-American neighborhood associations host banquets and other New Year events.

The lantern festival is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Some of the lanterns may be works of art, painted with birds, animals, flowers, zodiac signs, and scenes from legend and history. People hang glowing lanterns in temples, and carry lanterns to an evening parade under the light of the full moon.
In many areas the highlight of the lantern festival is the dragon dance. The dragon—which might stretch a hundred feet long—is typically made of silk, paper, and bamboo. Traditionally the dragon is held aloft by young men who dance as they guide the colorful beast through the streets. In the United States, where the New Year is celebrated with a shortened schedule, the dragon dance always takes place on a weekend. In addition, many Chinese-American communities have added American parade elements such as marching bands and floats.

Another night with Nana... a bed on the floor and pj's.



Thursday, January 19, 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

1958: The LUMBEE break up a KKK meeting and make national headlines.

 
January 1958 -- The Lumbees face the Klan

On the night of January 13, 1958, crosses were burned on the front lawns of two Lumbee Indian families in Robeson County, N.C. Nobody had to ask who was responsible. The Ku Klux Klan had risen again in North Carolina, its ranks swelling after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education calling for the desegregation of public schools. While the Court instructed schools to proceed with "all deliberate speed," the Klan fought -- often in the form of anonymous nighttime attacks -- to slow the process of integration. 

Robeson County in the 1950s had a uniquely tri-racial population. There were about 40,000 whites, 30,000 Native Americans, and 25,000 African Americans, each group with its own separate school system. Although the Klan had typically targeted African Americans, in early 1958 a group led by James W. "Catfish" Cole of South Carolina began harassing the Lumbees. One of the crosses burned on the night of January 13 was on the lawn of a Lumbee family that had recently moved into a predominantly white neighborhood, while the other was intended to intimidate a Lumbee woman who was said to have been dating a white man. Not content to leave it at this, the Klan planned a rally in Robeson County to be held just a few days later.
The rally was scheduled for the night of January 18, 1958, in a field near Maxton, N.C. The stated purpose of the gathering was, in the words of Catfish Cole, "to put the Indians in their place, to end race mixing." The time and location of the rally was not kept secret, and word spread quickly among the local Lumbee population.

Reports vary about the number of people gathered on that cold night, but there were thought to have been around a hundred Klan members. They brought a large banner emblazoned with "KKK" and a portable generator, which powered a public address system and a single bare light bulb. When the meeting began, the arc of the dim light didn't spread far enough for the Klansmen to see that they were surrounded by as many as a thousand Lumbees. Several young tribe members, some of whom were armed, closed on the Klan meeting and tried to take down the light bulb. The groups fought, and a shotgun blast shattered the light. In the sudden darkness, the Lumbees descended upon the field, yelling and firing guns into the air, scattering the overmatched Klansmen. Some left under police protection while others, including Catfish Cole, simply took to the woods.

News photographers already on the scene captured the celebration. Images of triumphant Lumbees holding up the abandoned KKK banner were published in newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Simeon Oxendine, a popular World War II veteran, appeared in Life Magazine, smiling and wrapped in the banner. The rout of the Klan galvanized the Lumbee community. The Ku Klux Klan was active in North Carolina into the 1960s, but they never held another public meeting in Robeson County.

Nicholas Graham

http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/jan2005/jan05.html















‘It is time for us to tell the world’

‘It is time for us to tell the world’
Mark Locklear

Staff writer

PEMBROKE — Nell Bullard scanned the crowd of more than 300 people who gathered Friday night to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the night the Lumbees ran the Ku Klux Klan out of Robeson County.

Bullard’s mouth curled and formed a wide smile.

“I am proud,” Bullard said. “I am proud to be a Lumbee Indian.”

Bullard wasn’t at the short-lived KKK rally at Hayes Pond on Jan. 18, 1958. She and other siblings stayed home as their father, Luther Oxendine, armed himself and drove to Maxton in his Model-T Ford.

“We were scared to death,” said Bullard, who lives near Maxton. “We didn’t know what was going on.”

On Friday night, Luther Oxendine was among more than 100 people — men and women, many of whom are dead — whose names pierced the cold night air during a roll call at the Indian Resource Center. Family members stood in their place as leaders of the Lumbee Tribe and the Indian Honor Association presented them medallions commemorating the Battle at Hayes Pond. The medallion included the tribe’s four-color logo, and the words “Lumbee Warrior” and “1958” engraved on the outer circle.

Garth Locklear, association chairman, said the occasion marked the first time many of the participants have spoken publicly about that night. Many feared going to jail, Locklear said.

“This has been the longest and best-kept secret in the history of Robeson County,” said Locklear, who also participated in the routing. “For 50 years we shut down and said nothing. Even your neighbors didn’t know you were there. It is time for us to tell the world.”

Dignitaries and elected officials who attended the event included: District Attorney Johnson Britt; Judge Gary Locklear; Malcolm McLeod Jr., son of Malcolm McLeod, who was the county sheriff in 1958; and Tribal Council members, city and county leaders. Fifty Lumbee children who are members of the tribe’s Boys and Girls Club sang “I’m Proud to be a Lumbee Indian” and the drum group, Southern Sun, performed honor songs.

The event posthumously honored non-Indians who stood with the Lumbees when it wasn’t popular to do so. They included: Sheriff Malcom McLeod; Charles McLean, assistant solicitor; Luther J. Britt, former private prosecutor; Pat Reese, a reporter with the Fayetteville Observer; Shaw, the photographer with the Fayetteville Observer; and Walter Gail, former president of Pembroke State College.

Frank Johnson, a former highway patrolman, was one of the few who is still living. Friday night, a video interview with 85-year-old Maurice Braswell, who was the district solicitor at the time, was shown. He was unable to attend the ceremony.

‘Bullets flying’

The KKK had been active in Robeson County when James “Catfish” Cole, the KKK grand dragon from South Carolina, after hearing about an Indian family who moved into a white neighborhood and an Indian woman who was dating a white man in Robeson County, planned a rally at Hayes Pond near Maxton.

Garth Locklear said the word of the rally spread fast.

“We were angry,” Locklear said. “The Klan is coming to Robeson County to insult Lumbee women ... . They’re coming to insult the most beautiful women in America.”

Lumbee leaders met in a local barbershop to plan a response.

On Jan, 18, only 50 of the 5,000 Klansman whom Cole predicted would show attended the rally. They used a generator to power a sound system and a single light bulb. Cole stood on the bed of a truck and began to speak. It wasn’t long before the Lumbees, many of them armed, swarmed in. Someone shot out the light bulb and the Klansman ducked and ran into the swamps, leaving their cars and belongings behind.

“There were bullets flying everywhere,” Garth Locklear said. “I can assure you I was doing a lot of dancing that night. But God seemed fit that nobody get killed. Nobody went to prison for murder that night.”

It was reported that a few people, including Bill Shaw, a photographer with the Fayetteville Observer, were injured. Shaw was hit in the face with buckshot.

Redell Collins, 17 years old at the time and a native of Rennert, was there with his brother Stedford Collins and the late Dennis Maynor.

“I just bought a double-barreled shotgun,” Collins said. “I didn’t use it, though.”

Collins said he stood and watched the event unfold.

“The fear was there ... fear of not knowing what was going to happen,” Collins said. “But it was over before you knew it. There was a lot of buildup and like a balloon it busted and within a few seconds it was over.”

On display

The sound system, including the microphone that was used that night, was on display Friday. A copy of the Jan. 27, 1958, Life magazine that featured several pictures and an article about the routing was also displayed.

Several people crowded the display and shared stories about where they were that night.

James “Moose” Jones, 69, was a singer in a band in 1958. He went to Hayes Pond with another band member, Willie Oxendine, and his uncle, Elliott Locklear.

“I had no business down there, but I went anyway,” Jones said.

Collins said it was time for the Lumbees to stand up to racism.

“We are talking about it at the barbershop that weekend before and someone said why don’t we just go there and listen to what they have to say,” Collins said.

Collins said he responded by saying: “We don’t want to hear nothing they got to say. We just want them out of the county.

“When you are home and someone comes burning crosses, you’ve got to stand up. The Indians had been pushed enough.”

Cole and one other Klansman, James Martin, were the only two people charged with a crime. Cole served time in prison and died a few years later in a car accident.

When R.D. Locklear heard about the ceremony on Friday, he rescheduled a trip out of town.

“This only happens once,” R.D. Locklear said.





http://www.robesonian.com/view/full_story/1654032/article-%E2%80%98It-is-time-for-us-to-tell-the-world%E2%80%99

Did you know???

Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

RESEARCH FACTS ON HOMESCHOOLING

RESEARCH FACTS ON HOMESCHOOLING
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.
January 11, 2011

General Facts and Trends

·       Homeschooling – that is, parent-led home-based education – is an age-old traditional educational practice that a decade ago appeared to be cutting-edge and “alternative” but is now bordering on “mainstream” in the United States. It may be the fastest-growing form of education in the United States. Home-based education has also growing around the world in many other nations (e.g., Australia, Canada, Hungary, Japan, Kenya, and the United Kingdom).

·       There are about 2.04 million home-educated students in the United States. There were an estimated 1.73 to 2.35 million children (in grades K to 12) home educated during the spring of 2010 in the United States. It appears the homeschool population is continuing to grow (at an estimated 2% to 8% per annum over the past few years).

·       Families engaged in home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources for their children’s education. The finances associated with their homeschooling likely represent over $16 billion that American taxpayers do not have to spend since these children are not in public schools

·       Homeschooling is quickly growing in popularity among minorities. About 15% of homeschool families are non-white/nonHispanic (i.e., not white/Anglo).

·       A demographically wide variety of people homeschool – these are atheists, Christians, and Mormons; conservatives, libertarians, and liberals; low-, middle-, and high-income families; black, Hispanic, and white; parents with Ph.D.s, GEDs, and no high-school diplomas.

Reasons for Home Educating

·       Most parents and youth decide to homeschool for more than one reason.

·       The most common reasons given for homeschooling are the following:

·       customize or individualize the curriculum and learning environment for each child,
·       accomplish more academically than in schools,

·       use pedagogical approaches other than those typical in institutional schools,

·       enhance family relationships between children and parents and among siblings,

·       provide guided and reasoned social interactions with youthful peers and adults,

·       provide a safer environment for children and youth, because of physical violence, drugs and alcohol, psychological abuse, and improper and unhealthy sexuality associated with institutional schools, and

·       teach and impart a particular set of values, beliefs, and worldview to children and youth.


Academic Performance
·       The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. (The public school average is the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.)

·       Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.

·       Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not related to their children’s academic achievement.

·       Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement.
·       Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.

·       Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.

Social, Emotional, and Psychological Development

·       The home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem. 

·       Homeschool students are regularly engaged in social and educational activities outside their homes and with people other than their nuclear-family members. They are commonly involved in activities such as field trips, scouting, 4-H, political drives, church ministry, sports teams, and community volunteer work

Gender Differences in Children and Youth Respected?

·       One researcher finds that homeschooling gives young people an unusual chance to ask questions such as, “Who am I?” and “What do I really want?,” and through the process of such asking and gradually answering the questions home-educated girls develop the strengths and the resistance abilities that give them an unusually strong sense of self. 

·       Some think that boys’ energetic natures and tendency to physical expression can more easily be accommodated in home-based education. Many are concerned that a highly disproportionate number of public school special-education students are boys and that boys are 2.5 times as likely as girls in public schools to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Success in the “Real World” of Adulthood

The research base on adults who were home educated is growing; thus far it indicates that they:
·       participate in local community service more frequently than does the general population,
·       vote and attend public meetings more frequently than the general population, and
·       go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.
·       Internalize the values and beliefs of their parents at a very high rate.

General Interpretation of Research on Homeschool Success or Failure

It is possible that homeschooling causes the positive traits reported above. However, the research designs to date do not conclusively “prove” that homeschooling causes these things. At the same time, there is no empirical evidence that homeschooling causes negative things compared to institutional schooling. Future research may better answer the question of causation.


 http://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Today in History!!

1833: Reverend Samuel Worcester is a missionary to the CHEROKEE Nation in Georgia. The state of Georgia ordered all whites living with Indians to swear alliegence to the state of Georgia. Reverend Worcester refuses to do so. On September 16, 1831, Reverend Worcester was sentenced to 4 years at hard labor in a Georgia prison. Even though the Supreme Court rules that it is uncontitutional for Georgia to jail Reverend Worcester, he will not be released until today.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Did you know???

To manufacture a new car approximately 148,000 liters of water is needed.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Literature Fact

 Jack London (1876-1916) lived to be only 40 but wrote 50 novels, at the rate of 1,000 words a day. He gave this advice to writers: “Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club, and if you don’t get it you will nonetheless get something that looks remarkably like it.”

 He was born today - on January 12, 1876

 

A halarious video of Scott and Silas dancing

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Did you know???

The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses.

(imagine how long that would take to sit through at ball games!)

Yes! Yes! Yes! Let's move forward - since we've already took way too many steps back

Should "Sesame Street" Teach Kids About Breastfeeding?

Should a show like Should a show like No doubt about it: Breastfeeding still causes controversy. In 2011 alone, a judge ruled that a woman couldn't do it in "his court" and under "his law," and Facebook deleted thousands of photos of mothers with babies at their breasts. Stores have thrown women out for discreetly nursing their infants, angry moms protested at places like Target, and any magazine that shows a nursing mother on their cover still sparks outrage, even if the woman is showing less of her breast than a bikini-clad model on the front of a typical fitness magazine.

Now, some parents are pushing to bring breastfeeding back to public television. Specifically, on "Sesame Street."

In the 1970s and 1980s, the landmark show routinely talked about nursing as a normal and natural part of childhood. In this clip from 1977, guest star Buffy St. Marie breastfeeds her baby while Big Bird watches. "See? He's drinking milk from my breast," she explains to the curious bird. "At first, when he was just born and very tiny, this was all that he wanted and all that he needed. But now that he's getting bigger, see, I mash up fruit and vegetables and sometimes a little meat, and as he gets older he'll need more and more different kinds of food to eat."

A decade or so later, Sonia Manzano, who played Maria, nursed her real-life daughter, Gabi -- so bundled up in a blanket that only her tiny hand was showing -- while an older child asked questions. "Is that the only way you can feed her?" the child asks. "Oh no, sometimes I feed her this way, and sometimes I feed her with a bottle," Maria replies. "But you know? I like this way best. It's natural, it's good for her, and I get to hug her more."

In both segments, the women are completely covered up. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that little Gabi was kicking and stretching, one might think Maria was pretending to nurse a doll. But by the 1990s, "Sesame Street" had stopped airing those clips, and had edited a breastfeeding shot out of the montage for their popular song, "You're My Baby."

Now, some parents are asking the show to promote breastfeeding again. As of January 10, more than 2,600 people had signed a petition asking the public television program to do so. But others are offended that the long-running children's show -- which routinely features story lines on potty training, younger siblings, and meal times -- would consider showing a baby being fed from a breast instead of a bottle.

"There are a LOT of things people might consider 'normal' and 'natural', but many of them do not belong on TV or in public, including this," "Steve68112" commented at The Huffington Post. "This does not belong on TV or in public, it is gross."

Over at Sheknows.com, other commenters felt that the public television icon was overstepping its bounds, even though it had touched on the topic in the past without a problem. "While I agree breastfeeding is important, I don't think Sesame Street is the place to have it," "Ula from Michigan" wrote. An anonymous poster added her two cents: "I wouldn't stand behind bringing it to 'Sesame Street'. I do not feel it is their place to educate a small child on nursing."

And yet… it wasn't that long ago that some of the toddlers watching "Sesame Street" were being breastfed themselves. And many of those young Elmo fans probably see their own moms nursing younger siblings at home, so the visual is more likely to be familiar to them than awkward.

 http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/sesame-street-teach-kids-breastfeeding-185000424.html

Hanging out at mom's house...

Deakin in his treehouse. I think he likes it.



She's upset that the flower is dead. Poor flower, she kept saying.