Heroes:GOD, Moma, President Obama, Shirley Chisholm, The Clintons, AG Eric Holder, Judge Thelton Henderson, Admiral Robert Toney, Gen. Colin Powell, the late Reginald F. Lewis, Mandela, Dr. MLK Jr, Mohammed Ali, Russell Simmons, Diddy, Jay-Z, Queen Latifah, Venus & Serena, Lance Armstrong, Soledad O'Brien and many many more
John Hanson was the descendent of a slave. An early Hanson immigrant to Maryland was the John Hanson who was this John's grandfather. Like many, he arrived as an indentured servant, bound by contract to a farm owner. In 1661, his first master, William Plumley, sold his contract to Edward Keene and recorded the contract with the court of Calvert County, Maryland. These same kinds of court records were also used to transfer title to land and slaves. But, in six years, the immigrant John had worked his way out of debt. A few years after he purchased his own first small farm. Source: Dick Gregory (The column can be seen at [2].)
According to the Smithsonian Institute, "On August 11, 1827, John Hanson arrived in Monrovia [Liberia, Africa which the US created] aboard the brig Doris. A former slave who had purchased his freedom, Hanson was thirty-six years old when he left Baltimore and immigrated to Liberia. Settling in Grand Bassa County, he engaged in commerce and in time joined the ranks of Liberia's influential merchant class. In December 1840, Hanson won election to the newly created Colonial Council, Liberia's first popularly elected legislative body. Seven years later, when the independent Republic of Liberia held its first elections, Hanson was one of two senators elected from Grand Bassa County. He served several terms in the Liberian Senate and took a keen interest in his nation's economic development. When Hanson died in 1860, President Stephen Allen Benson mourned him as "a faithful and patriotic servant" whose loss was "very severely felt in Liberia." Source: National Portrait Gallery
The Two Dollar Bill
Who is the black man on the back of the $2.00 bill in the position of honor?
John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, is the source of the picture on the reverse of the Series 2003A two-dollar bill.
Because the Declaration was debated and signed over a period of time when membership in Congress changed, the men in the painting had never all been in the same room at the same time. Mr. Trumbull also decided to depict several participants in the debate who did not sign the document.
Two unknown figures are superimposed in the engraving in between Samuel Chase and Lewis Morris and between James Wilson and Francis Hopkinson, bringing the total number of figures on the reverse of the two-dollar bill to 42. Could John Hanson be one of the unknown figures on the back of this bill?
Note: The video above inaccurately states the $2.00 bill has been discontinued, a common misconception. However, the Treasury states, "The $2 bill remains one of our circulating currency denominations"...in 2005 alone, 61 million $2 bills were printed by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
Black or White
The majority opinion is John Hanson that was President of the United States was a white man.
Curiously, both John Hanson's:
1) Were from Maryland
2) Lived during the time at issue
3) Grew up under a farmer/planter
4) Were indentured servants, or children of, who continued their tradition as planters, extending and improving their holdings
5) Ultimately served in politics
But if the white John Hanson's father, Samuel Hanson, was a "planter who owned more than 1,000 acres" as the Wikipedia states, why did this John Hanson have "no extended formal education while growing up in Maryland" as the Wikipedia entry also states. Not logical for a family of that affluence.
Washington Not The First
However, one fact does appear certain. George Washington was not the first, but the 8th President of the United States.
The first President of the United States, under the Articles of Confederation [which led to the Constitution] was John Hanson, his term lasting from 1781-1782.
The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation which are still on display in the White House today. This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land).
Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country.
John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress. As the first President, Hanson had quite the shoes to fill. No one had ever been President and the role was poorly defined...
Americans have been celebrating the recognition of Black History Month since 1926 when historian, Dr. Carter G. Woodson started "Negro History Week". Black history had barely begun to be studied or even documented when the tradition originated.
Enrolled in high school at age twenty, Dr. Woodson was born to parents who were former slaves and spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines. He graduated from high school within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard.
The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population-and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time.
He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History
In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history. Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.
Remember when rap music, like rock, was looked down upon with disdain by many, but the fans loved it and supported the artists anyway...
Before rock and rap became multi-billion dollar industries with glitzy music awards shows.
Well, who decided it would be a good idea or business model to take music videos away from the fans who shaped the industry and force every fan in the world onto a handful of monopolized portals controlled by the Internet elite? Music video views will be waaayyy down!
Lest we forget Flo Rida set sales records [downloads via itunes] during a time when music videos were proliferating across the web like jack rabbits in the springtime via countless uploads on many websites...pre-VEVO!
When fans like a song, they will buy the ringtones, the CDs and/or go to the concerts. This is why you do not want to limit access to the music and is exactly why you want as many people to see music videos across the globe as possible.
Music videos by their very nature and intent are viral creations.
Is this truly about record comanies protecting against copyright infringement or is it more about controlling the music product and thus controlling the fans?
Big name artists who embrace this shift of the music away from the people in this coordinated overreaction may find their fans turning to new, unknown underground artists who need, appreciate and thirst for the publicity and exposure because...HELLO...fans like to share music videos.
Saturday, November 21, 2009, 10:25 PM PST
[General]
The Treaty of Lisbon is an international agreement that will make Europe one big superstate similar to the United States if not more powerful. Signed in Lisbon on Dec 13, 2007 the treaty will enter into force on Dec 1, 2009. The treaty is designed to change the workings of the European Union (EU) and has been ratified by all EU member states. The treaty will amend the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community. The following CNN video Rise of the Euro Superstate (2007) provides additional information:
Opponents of the Treaty of Lisbon, such as the British think tank Open Europe and former Danish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jens-Peter Bonde, argued that it would centralise the EU, and weaken democracy by moving power away from national electorates.
Negotiations to modify EU institutions began in 2001, resulting first in the European Constitution, which failed due to rejection by French and Dutch voters in 2005. The Constitution's replacement, the Lisbon Treaty, was originally intended to have been ratified by all member states by the end of 2008. This timetable failed, primarily due to the initial rejection of the Treaty in 2008 by the Irish electorate, a decision which was reversed in a second referendum in 2009.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 09:41 AM PST
[General]
(CNN) -- Thirty-two planets have been discovered outside Earth's solar system through the use of a high-precision instrument installed at a Chilean telescope, an international team announced Monday.
The existence of the so-called exoplanets -- planets outside our solar system -- was announced at the European Southern Observatory/Center for Astrophysics, University of Porto conference in Porto, Portugal, according to a statement issued by the observatory.
The announcement was made by a consortium of international researchers, headed by the Geneva Observatory, who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS. The device can detect slight wobbles of stars as they respond to tugs from exoplanets' gravity. That tactic, known as the radial velocity method, "has been the most prolific method in the search for exoplanets," according to the European Southern Observatory statement.
The instrument detects movements as small as 3.5 km/hr (2.1 mph), a slow walking pace, the observatory said.
Two of the "Super-Earths" - thought to be rocky planets like Earth and not gas giants - orbit stars like our sun, and the other two orbit smaller "M" class stars, dimmer and redder than the sun.
So "we have yet to find firm evidence for a habitable, Earth-mass planet," Boss says. But he says the Super-Earth detections suggest that upcoming planet hunts, including NASA's Kepler spacecraft, should find "lots of Earths."
A vaccine which can help cocaine addicts break their addiction has been developed by a UK pharmaceutical company.
Trials carried out in the US showed almost half of those given the TA-CD vaccine, developed by Xenova, were able to stay off the drug for six months.
The vaccine does not stop the craving for cocaine, but will stop addicts experiencing a high when they take it.
The company says this prevents the people becoming re-addicted.
If their underlying issues aren't addressed, people may move on to another drug
Drugscope spokeswoman
In the study, the TA-CD vaccine was compared with a dummy version.
David Oxlade, chief executive of Xenova, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is the third study in the US that we are reporting on today, and it shows that almost half the addicts were able to stay cocaine-free for six months.
"That is a quite remarkable position."
Antibodies
Mr Oxlade added: "The vaccine for cocaine addicts works in very much the same way a regular vaccine works.
"The reason cocaine addicts can take the drug for years without mounting any sort of immune response is because the drug has very small molecules."
He explained that the vaccine is created by attaching the cocaine to a large protein molecule which is used to stimulate the body's immune system to produce antibodies that recognise the drug.
Mr Oxlade added: "It stops the cocaine from being able to get across from the blood into the brain, which is where you get the high and, of course, where you get the addiction.
"If somebody takes the vaccine as part of a programme in a drug centre and after a month or so is out and takes another dose of cocaine, they won't get the high and they won't get the re-addiction."
He said it was possible that addicts would simply switch to another drug, but said evidence from three US trials showed that only happened in a small number of cases.
A spokeswoman for Drugscope told BBC News Online: "This is a really interesting study. It's clear that the vaccine seems to be working well for some cocaine addicts.
'Ethical issues'
"But we have to remember that not everyone reacts in the same way to treatments.
"A lot of cocaine addicts have complex social and psychological issues. Once one drug stops working, if these underlying issues aren't addressed, people may move on to another drug that does."
Lesley King-Lewis, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said: "The first priority would be to give it to cocaine users who have already given up, because they are in danger of relapse, and then move on to those who are still using."
"There is no substitute drug available to use in treatment for cocaine addicts, so any extra help is vital in helping them to lead normal lives again."
But she added: "However, the vaccine must stimulate a very strong immune response so that every single cocaine molecule is mopped up if someone uses again. Otherwise a small number could get through and act like a teaser, causing the person to take even more to satisfy their cravings completely.
"Other forms of support would also be necessary for cocaine addicts giving up, as it is more than just the physiological addiction that causes people to use again. Craving is a very complex issue that won't necessarily be solved with a pharmacological intervention.
She added: "There are also ethical issues around when and how this vaccine is used."
G. Edward Griffin marshals the evidence that cancer is a deficiency disease - like scurvy or pellagra - aggravated by the lack of an essential food compound in modern man's diet. That substance is vitamin B17. In its purified form developed for cancer therapy, it is known as Laetrile.
With billions of dollars spent each year on cancer research, billions more taken in on the sale of cancer related drugs and fund-raising at an all-time high, there are now more people making a living from cancer than dying from it. If the solution should be found in a simple vitamin, this gigantic industry could be wiped out overnight. The result is that the politics of cancer therapy is more complicated than the science according to VitaminB17.org.
Though it is sometimes sold as "Vitamin B17", it is not a vitamin. Amygdalin/laetrile`dalin is sometimes confounded with laevomandelonitrile, also called laetrile for short; however, amygdalin and laetrile are different chemical compounds.Laetrile, which was patented in the United States, is a semi-synthetic molecule sharing part of the amygdalin structure, while the "laetrile" made in Mexico is usually amygdalin, the natural product obtained from crushed apricot pits, or neoamygdalin.
Toxicity
Beta-glucosidase, one of the enzymes that catalyzes the release of the cyanide from amygdalin, is present in human small intestine and in a variety of common foods. This leads to an unpredictable and potentially lethal toxicity when amygdalin or Laetrile is taken orally.
Cancer treatment
Amygdalin was first isolated in 1830. In 1845 it was used for cancer in Russia, and again in the 1920s in the United States, but it was considered too poisonous. In the 1950s a reportedly nontoxic, synthetic form was patented for use as a meat preservative, and later marketed as Laetrile for cancer treatment. In 1972, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center board member Benno Schmidt convinced the hospital to test laetrile so that he could assure others of its ineffectiveness "with some conviction". However, the respected scientist put in charge of the testing, Kanematsu Sugiura, found that laetrile inhibited the secondary tumors in mice without destroying the primary tumors. He repeated the experiment three times with the same results, and then three more times. In a blinded test, however, he was unable to conclude that laetrile had anticancer activity. His first three experiments were not published because, in the words of Chester Stock, Sugiura's supervisor, "it would have caused all kind of havoc".[citation needed] Nevertheless the results were leaked in 1973, causing a stir. Subsequently laetrile was tested on 14 tumor systems, and a Sloan-Kettering press release concluded that "laetrile showed no beneficial effects". Three other researchers were unable to confirm Sugiura's results, although one of three did confirm Sugiara's results in one of his three studies. Mistakes in the Sloan-Kettering press release were highlighted by a group of laetrile proponents led by Ralph Moss, former public affairs official of Sloan-Kettering hospital, who was fired when he announced his membership in the group. These mistakes were considered inconsequential, but Nicholas Wade in Science noted that "even the appearance of a departure from strict objectivity is unfortunate." The results from these studies were published all together.
In 1974, the American Cancer Society officially labelled laetrile as quackery, but advocates for laetrile dispute this label, asserting that financial motivations have tainted the published research. Some North American cancer patients have travelled to Mexico for treatment with the substance, allegedly under the auspices of Dr. Ernesto Contreras. One of these patients was actor Steve McQueen, who died in Mexico following surgery to remove a stomach tumour while undergoing treatment for mesothelioma. Laetrile advocates within the United States include the late Dean Burk Ph.D., a former chief chemist of the National Cancer Institute's cytochemistry laboratory and national arm wrestling champion Jason Vale, who claimed that his kidney and pancreatic cancers were cured by eating apricot seeds. Vale was convicted in 2003 for, among other things, marketing laetrile. The US Food and Drug Administration continues to seek jail sentences for vendors selling laetrile for cancer treatment, calling it a "highly toxic product that has not shown any effect on treating cancer."
A 2006 Cochrane review of the evidence concluded "The claim that Laetrile has beneficial effects for cancer patients is not supported by data from controlled clinical trials. This systematic review has clearly identified the need for randomised or controlled clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of Laetrile or amygdalin for cancer treatment." It has not been approved for this use by the United States' Food and Drug Administration. The U.S. government's National Institutes of Health evaluated the evidence, including case reports and a clinical trial, and concluded that they showed little effect. A 1982 trial of 178 patients found that tumor size had increased in all patients. Minimal side effects were seen except in two patients who consumed bitter almonds and suffered from cyanide poisoning.
A study in 2006 on the treatment of prostate cancer cells concluded: "The present study reveals that amygdalin may offer a valuable option for the treatment of prostate cancers.."
Lawmakers Unanimously Pass Symbolic Resolution Which Doesn't Support Or Authorize Reparations
(AP) The Senate has unanimously passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and racial segregation in the U.S. and sent the measure to the House.
Democrat Tom Harkin first introduced the measure years ago but wanted it passed Thursday on the eve of Juneteenth, June 19, a day of celebration commemorating the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the release of African Americans from slavery. He said the House is to take it up soon and that a formal celebration will be held next month.
Juneteenth Day events are held in communities around the U.S. to commemorate the day in 1865 when Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, to announce the Civil War was over and that slaves were free.
The Senate has passed such nonbinding but highly symbolic resolutions before, apologizing for such things as the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
The resolution passed Thursday includes a disclaimer saying that nothing in it supports or authorizes reparations by the United States.
I grew up listening to rap music, including gangsta rap. And I've bobbed my head enjoying it like many. I've also noticed that some music with provocative lyrics and/or compelling beats, any genre, can really get the adrenaline going just listening to it. I might drive a little faster or more aggressive. Maybe even sport a temporary 'mean mug' aka soulja face. But I keep it in perspective, I just luv music!
Back in the day, LL Cool J had a rap over 4 minutes long titled, 'I'm Bad'. A song full of male bravado and testosterone with a ground-breaking music track. Not once in that song did he mention a gun or having to blow someone's head off to prove 'I'm Bad'.
That was before crack ravaged our communties. Back when house parties were still safe. Back when you could pass out drunk somewhere and still be alive the next morning, with your wallet! Yep. But anyway, seems like around the time NWA came out, it was on from there. The 'stink' of what was happening in the streets, directly related to the crack cocaine epidemic had infiltrated a pure art form, rap music.
I remember when we had fist fights instead of guns to settle beefs. And if you were on the losing end, you took your lumps like a man. You didn't run to get your gun and kill the guy. I ain't met a man who hasn't had his ass whipped once, self included. It's like a rite of passage.
But we are not savages. Sure, stuff happens but let's keep the 'gangsta rap' in perspective. It's entertainment, not instruction for how to live our lives.
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If their underlying issues aren't addressed, people may move on to another drug 
