The Solar System: a secret obsession

Everyone should have some aspect of life that interests them enough to seek information just for the sake of knowledge, curiosity, and yes, the pleasure of reading about it. Call it satisfying your geeky side. We all should have it. You know what I mean, or you should. When you go into a library or have a nice evening at a Borders, Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, or another one of your favorite bookstores (you DO have a favorite bookstore, right?), there is a section that you always eventually end up grabbing a book from, even if you don’t know it.

It could be cars, computers, plants, states, oceans, sharks, or anything. You just like to read about it, and that’s a good thing. You don’t have to be an expert, and there aren’t necessarily posters of your minor obsession anywhere in your bedroom, not anymore, at least. It is just your thing that you like to read about.

My reading fixation is the Sun, Stars, and Planets of the Solar System.

So as this blog is for talking about things we don’t normally talk about as black Americans, let me spread some knowledge about our Solar System.

The Solar System is the name given to our Sun and the family of planets, asteroids, stars, and comets that orbit it. Our Solar System is about a million times wider than the Earth.

The most important member of our Solar System is the Sun. The Sun is about 740 times more massive than all of the planets put together. Its powerful gravitational pull keeps the Solar System together and controls the movements of the planets and other objects.

The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, and the source of its energy lies deep inside it center, where the nuclear reactions that keep it shining take place. The temperature at the center of the Sun is about 27 million degrees.

Now for the planets:

Mercury is the innermost planet, thus it has the shortest year, going around the Sun in about 88 days. It is not the hottest planet, despite its proximity to the Sun, and has no satellites, or moons.

Venus is the hottest planet due to its carbon dioxide atmosphere that's denser than water. The orbit of Venus lies between the Earth and the Sun, so it can only be seen in the twilight after sunset or before sunrise.

As far as we know, the Earth is unique in the Solar System for two reasons: it has liquid water on its surface and it supports life. Both are probably dependent on each other. Earth is the largest of the four inner terrestrial, rocky planets. Its atmosphere is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases. The Earth's moon has a maximum distance of 253,000 miles from the Earth and it takes just over 27 days to orbit our blue sphere.

Mars shines very brightly when closest to the Earth, with its gleaming reddish color. Mars is clearly the only planet possible at this time for human exploration, due to a successful unmanned Viking mission landing in 1976 followed by others that are more recent. Mars is the last of the rocky planets, and a vast gap of asteroids exists between it and the giant gas world Jupiter.

An enormous asteroid belt exists between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, containing about 100,000 bodies larger than 0.6 miles across. Over 3000 of the largest have been given names. The larges known, Ceres, has a diameter of 620 miles. Some asteroids have orbits that take them very close to the Earth. However, threat of an asteroid colliding with our planet is very, very small.

At this point, we will end our observation of the Solar System until a future blog post. When we return with this subject, we will focus on the four giant gas planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...plus the shy and distance Pluto, with cousin Charon.

Until then, keep on reading about your own obsession.

No More Aid to Africa

Stop giving aid to Africa. It has not help in the past. It will not help in the future. In fact, aid has hurt the peoples of Africa. One might think that these concepts are from a right-wing, conservative political pundit. Or maybe some local man-on-the-street unfamiliar with the politics involved in international financial aid.

No. These concepts are from a book titled, Dead Aid, By Dambisa Moyo, a former consultant to the World Bank in Washington, DC. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, she is the leading official for Africa strategy at a major bank. Ms. Ferguson is a native of Zambia and has lived there most of her life. Here’s a summary of her argument against the continuation of financial aid to the countries on the continent of Africa:

“In the past fifty years, more than one trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa…..the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result from it, but worse-- much worse…”

Her book has hit the national scene in Great Britain list and is discussed in United Nations meetings. I have read excerpts from the book. Her arguments and conclusions are solid. I think that she may be right.

The continent of Africa has 54 nations and has an estimated population of over 967 million. The United Nations Population Division has estimated that over 400 million children under the age of 15 live in Africa. Millions of African households live on less then $2 US dollars per day. War and disease are annual affairs for many.

We have all read or heard this statistics before. However, these numbers seem to persist despite increasing financial aid to the continent. Moyo thinks that we (the global community) must shut off the faucet. Moyo argues that if financial aid ceases the governments in the African nations would turn to other sources of finance that would make them more accountable. Particularly to the people.

She may be reaching a bit far in some of her observations. Africa has a lot problems. Many of those problems (such as overpopulation ands AIDS) are not quite related to donations of money. Some of the problems are directly related to past occupations by European countries.

The book deserves a good study. We, especially African-Americans, need to analyze the world in new and better ways.

A-A or B

I haven’t seen any formal studies, but it seems like more people of all races, stature, political persuasions, and occupations are using the noun African-American instead of Blacks when making a reference to the racial group.

Not me.


My refusal to employ the term may be commendable if I had some logic or even invective against the identifying noun. Maybe I should disagree with it because most Blacks would not be able to trace their ancestry to a specific African nation. No, that wouldn’t be reasonable, since there is an authentic historical, logical, and spiritual bond to the African continent for most Black Americans.

Perhaps I am against the term because of its forced popularity among all Americans. Even those who disagree with the “hyphening” of specific Americans groups, such as Italian-Americans or Jewish-Americans, still find themselves preferring to use African-American more frequently. Aren’t we all just Americans? Why do we need to qualify it, especially when other groups don’t have to?

A legitimate argument, for sure, but not the one that is driving me.

Do you recall the show “The Jeffersons” with George and Louise, formerly neighbors of Archie Bunker in "All in the Family"? There was an episode in which Louise’s Uncle Ward came by for a visit, got in a disagreement with the son Lionel, and had to explain how he needed time to get used to calling himself Black instead of Negro. And before that it was Colored to Negro. Was that a good rationale?

Do I just need more time to adjust to the term African-American?

Nah, that’s not it either.

I really have just one reason I always say Black instead of using
African-American.

It’s a much shorter word.

Ten Socialist Programs That Everybody Loves (including Rush Lmibaugh)

OMG, the new President Barack Obama will send the United States into the dread history of that horrible “ism” called socialism. Well, my fellow Americans, we (US) love socialism. We need socialism. Anytime, Uncle Sam needs a fix, we build programs based on socialism.

Definition, please. Webster’s Online Dictionary defines socialism as follows:

so·cial·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
Function: noun
Date: 1837

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done


Let’s keep it nice and simple and stick with definition #1. From Definition #1, I will list 10 (yes, count ‘em, TEN) BIG programs that all Americans love. Wait, we don’t call these programs socialistic. Uh, psst, they are socialist in nature and by definition.

So, announcing loudly! Here are 10 Socialist Programs That Everybody (Americans, that is) Loves (including neo-conservatives):

1. The United States Interstate Highway System

The Federal Highway Administration states that the National Highway Systems consists of approximately 160,000 miles of approximately 160,000 miles (256,000 kilometers) of roadway important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility. From Wikipedia,

“The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly called the Interstate Highway System (or simply, the Interstate System), is a network of limited-access highways (also called freeways or expressways) in the United States that is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its creation. The entire system, as of 2006[update], has a total length of 46,876 miles (75,440 km), making it both the largest highway system in the world and the largest public works project in history. The Interstate Highway System is a subsystem of the National Highway System.”
Simply put, I can drive from Wilmington, NC, on the Atlantic Ocean to Seattle, WA, on the Pacific Ocean for FREE. Everybody pays for it…anybody gets to drive on it. Wal-Mart, Amazon, and eBay (in their present forms) would not exit without a free means of delivering the goods to you. Take that, capitalist pig! I am sorry, had to be said.

2. Rural Electrification

Let there be light….in the countryside. If you drive away from the city metropolitan areas, away from the suburbs, and into the countryside with its two-lane road, you will see a common thing: a single line of electric poles heading away from the roadside into the woods. The power line may be only going to a single house or a couple of houses. The concept of sending electric power into the rural areas is known as rural electrication. The power line is subsidized by all of us, yet only a few people reap the benefits. Think about that when you are buying that retirement home in the woods.

3. The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression (Wikipedia, again). The TVA was created when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act on May 18, 1933. Socialism struck again and modernized the state’s economy. Franklin D. Roosevelt won the state in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944. Perhaps forgetting who created the TVA, the citizens of TN become wishy-washy in the Presidential elections thereafter.

4. National Immunization

Germs and viruses do not care whether its host (victim) is a Republican, Democrat, or Other. They strike when a biological opportunity is available. That opportunity is YOU and your NEIGHBOR. By forcing school-age children to become immunized and making immunization free, we help prevent terrible diseases and plagues. It is FREE and everybody benefits from it.

5. Libraries

City, County, State, Federal libraries all have free admission. Read the books but please do not fall asleep in the library.

6. The National Weather System

We get our information about the weather from The National Weather System under the auspices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Not the Weather Channel. Why should the citizens of the state of Montana pay for scientific prediction of hurricanes for the state of Florida…because the citizens of the warm state of Florida have to pay for the prediction of blizzards in Montana.

7. The United States Justice System

“You have the right to remain silent…You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be made available to you without charge.” Implicit in this famous phrase is the concept that a person pays for a lawyer (an attorney). However, a judge decides the case. The judge is paid by the State (.i.e. socialism). Imagine, for a moment, a system of laws where the litigants pay the judge for a “fair and impartial” ruling. How much justice can you afford, indeed?

8. Eminent Domain

Not a program of socialism but a concept. Eminent domain is an exercise of the power of government to take private property for public use. Everybody hates the concept, but everybody wants the concept when the power benefits them. Large utilization of land for airports, shopping centers, highways, industry, and subdivisions is not possible without such powers of the government. Someone (perhaps a private citizen) used to owned the land under the Hoover Dam, in the Smoky Mountains, underneath the interstate highways, and around that local mall.

9. The US Census

Did you realized that almost all the information about who we are, what we buy, where we live, and how we live are obtain from data collected by the United States Census Bureau? Those human data collectors will knocking on all our doors in 2010.

10. The Selective Service (i.e. The United States Military)

The Draft. All men between the ages of 18 to 25 years of age are REQUIRED BY LAW to register for the draft or military conscription. We have a voluntary military…for now. When Uncle Sam needs you (brave or otherwise), he has a list. Not only is this a socialist program, the program is a dictatorial, sexist, socialist program. All the men must pay, everybody gains.

The above are just a small number of the programs which have enrich the lives of every American in the past and the present. The programs may not be completely socialist and may need to be more efficient….but check the definition again. They all have a bit of socialism in them.

Military Service as an Opportunity for Young Black Adults


Need a solid job or career? Or maybe even money for college or vocational skill training? I believe that many young black adults are missing a great opportunity. Nowadays, we have the opportunity to be what you want to be. Well, not quite be anything you want to be, but you may have the opportunity to at least try. I wish that the Army kept their slogan, “Be All You That Can Be”. Many young black adults could possibly learn from this slogan.

The military, college, and vocational skill training are the main ways to establish a career. Of course, there are other ways to make a living. If you are have a very good, convincing personality and appearance you may become a salesman, although you would probably need some training. If you are like one out of thousands, you may be a professional athlete or famous musician. Those are very, low odds to bet your life on.

Let’s look at the military. : the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. We might even throw the Merchant Marine Service in the group although I do not think that the Merchant Marine Service has similar, but not quite the same benefits as the above military services. The military has good training, good educational benefits, free health care, and free dental care. Dental care is free only while you are serving in the service. Yes, I did not mention anything about pay. Well, it is not great pay but I believe it makes up somewhat for great pay by offering many entitlements, benefits, single soldier and family services.

The jobs or specialties in the military are varied; not every one is in the infantry. But everyone is expected to fight and kill when the time comes. Most servicemembers will not be involved in combat. There are many combat support jobs and combat service support jobs. Someone must operate the defense radars, equipment, and communications systems, but there are others who must maintain this equipment. Some servicemembers work as medics getting their on-the-job experience working with military doctors. Like many other highly technical and complicated jobs, they must get trained in their specialties which involve intense training lasting anywhere from a few months to almost a year. The training and experience many servicemembers receive in addition to their drive and loyalty are attributes that may private employers like. Not to mention that the federal government, not just the Department of Defense, gives extra points toward an honorably-discharged veteran when seeking federal employment. It is also easier to get the security clearance valued by the government and the private sector if you served in the military.


If one is a healthy adult with no serious felonies, and want to get respect of many while establishing a career with benefits, he or she should consider a career in the military. Yet, one does not have to make it a lifelong career; just sign up for one term (usually a minimum of four years). Your minimum term of duty (or enlistment) depends somewhat on the job specialty you have selected to be trained for. The longer the training, normally the more time the military service will want you to serve in your first enlistment.

So remember,

“Be All You Can Be”, Aim High”, “The Few, The Proud” and “It’s Not Just A Job, It’s An Adventure”.

I know they are old slogans.

Why Jewelers love Michael Jordan and Morgan Freeman

Go back in the past, let’s say mid-eighties. A private meeting room. Maybe in an office building, maybe in a Ritz Carlton hotel conference room. 3 men or 4, 7, 8, you pick a number, it’s not important, this is all fictional. Anyway, these men are all Jewelers, rich and famous jewelers, think Solomon Brothers, Jared Jewelers, or DGeller and his boys, anyone of those fine stores would do. You pick the Jeweler.

Anyway #2, the men had just arrived from another visit to their stores in Houston, Detroit, New York, Atlanta, L.A., you pick the city. And they are troubled. Deeply concerned. Sales of their expensive, yet highly profitable, merchandise have become stagnant. Money was still being made, no problem there, but the forecast for higher profits in the future was not promising. Not enough rich men buying diamonds and pearls for their various wives, girlfriends, and mistresses. Something had to be done. The Jewelers need a new source of income to ensure that their great grandchildren didn’t have to go to public schools with the common kids. Lord forbid.

What to do? What to do?

About 40 minutes into the tense meeting, or 20 minutes, 2 hours, 90 minutes, you pick a time. One of the Jewelers, we’ll call him Brad, or Edward, or Lucas, you pick a name. Anyway #3, Brad the jeweler got up and made a suggestion. Actually, more like a revelation.

Brad said “Let’s get those black guys to start WEARING jewelry for themselves instead of buying them for their women.”

Someone else said “That’s crazy.”

Another one said “That’s too gay. Men would never do that.”

Brad: “Yes, yes, listen to me. You know a lot of these guys, especially black guys like basketball players and actors and dem, got a lot of money and no way to show their women that they meet in those juke joints that they got it like that. So you get dem to start wearing diamond rings and earrings and expensive necklaces and all our stuff, and Boo-Yaw! More money! More money! More money! for us and our great grandkids.”

One last skeptic said “But wouldn’t those guys rather invest their money in sound financial instruments like real estate, stocks, and rebuilding the black community.”

They all looked at each other and laughed. After eating some caviar and playing some cards, they got in their limousines and went home.

Documents That We Often Talk About But Have Never Actually Read

I love to discuss about the many issues of the day with my friends, family, and fellow citizens. However, I feel that people are only speaking with “hearsay” information and not with actual facts. Because of this problem, I drew up a list of books and documents that people love to argue over but have never actually read. In no particular order, here they are:


1. The Constitution of the United States. If you are going to talk about your rights as a citizen of this great country, then you are required to read this entire document. The US Constitution, and only the US Constitution, describes how the People of the Unitized States will govern themselves. Not the Declaration of Independence. And not the Holy Bible. And especially not something you heard from a radio talk show host. It is only a couple of pages long and shouldn’t take you very long to read. Now, when you scream that you have certain rights, you will know what they ACTUALLY are instead of what you believe they are.

2. The Holy Bible. If you proclaim yourself to be a Christian or Born Again AND have not read the Holy Bible, I think that you are a fool, an idiot, or just stupid. If this book is God’s Plan for Mankind, you must have read and understood the Plan, correct? I currently refuse to have any discussion with individuals about Christianity or God if that individual has not read at least ONE book in the Bible. Please, folks, just read one book in the Bible all the way through in one sitting. Not a number of Sundays in church. I don’t even care which book it is. You can the first book: Genesis. You can read the shortest: 3 John. It can be the longest: Psalms. You can even read (dare I say) one of the books that has that guy named Jesus in it: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Reading the Bible may make you a better Christian, a better citizen, and just less ignorant about what the book actually says.

3. An Instruction Manual. I am not writing about reading the instruction manual for a simple appliance like a clock or radio. I am writing about reading the instructional manual for items such as prescriptions drugs, automobiles, power tools, computers, electronics, or some other complex device. I want a law that states that an individual cannot sue the manufacturer of a product unless said individual has read the instruction manual for that product. I feel that most people are intelligent but we are lazy sometimes. Laziness can hurt you and the people around you. If you are lazy and you hurt yourself, you should not be able to transfer that pain another person or entity (such as a corporation).

4. The Exclamation Proclamation. If you describe yourself as a Black person, African-American, or person of African-American descent, you should read this document. This document, signed and issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1962, “technically” freed the slaves on January 1, 1863. Say, what did I mean by “technically?” And was all the slaves in the United States freed or just certain ones? Read the document, folks, to solve that mystery.

5. A book of Science. Men and women who work hard long hours (and sometimes under dangerous conditions) to understand how the world works are called scientists. The facts of science can be beautiful, useful, unusual, perplexing, and can sometimes go against what you feel is correct about the world. If you disagree about some concept that scientists are stating is based on facts, how about doing the rest of us a favor and read a book on that subject. Just one. I am not asking you to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree on the subject (that’s why we have scientists). You may find that you are correct…wouldn’t that be wonderful?

6. A book written by an African-American before 1970. Why pre-1970s? Because life for blacks were a whole lot different under segregation than it is today. And, as a bonus, you will learn some Black History.

I am certain that many books or documents should be included in this Required Reading List. I wanted to keep this reading simple. Now, when you approach me either on the train, the bus, or waiting in line to see the next summer blockbuster movie and start talking about a particular issue, we (you and I) will have a solid foundation to support our livid discussion. Thanks.