Affirmative Action

The history of the growth of equality for African Americans in America has been one of great accomplishments followed by many small gains and many set backs as well. The outlawing of slavery did not instantly make all blacks equal with whites in America. It took many subsequent legal actions as well as hundreds of social efforts, big and small, to slowly make the progress we have seen today. But even in this day and age, in a new century, there is an ongoing battle against racism. It seems we need leadership to guide society to true equality as much now as ever in our history.

The abolition of slavery only began the long hard struggle for African American culture to become a true part of what it means to be an American. That is because even though the legal definition of slavery had been thrown down, the attitudes and cultural systems in place to keep the races separate and to deny black people rights equal with whites had to be addressed one by one.

Slowly over the decades, we have seen big changes but many came at a great cost. From the legal granting of the right to vote to African Americans to the civil rights movement to school desegregation, each step forward came with resistance, great difficulty and significant sacrifice from leaders and ordinary citizens alike to make each step toward true equality a fact.

Of all the efforts to “level the playing field”, none has been more controversial than the Affirmative Action program. In its beginning, it was intended to be a supplement to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Over time it had become clear that despite removal of laws that enforced segregation or discrimination, there seemed to be a natural segregation in the work place that was keeping African Americans from getting a fair chance at jobs because of the prejudices of an employer, even if that prejudice was not officially recognized in the company charter.

There were two significant executive orders that made affirmative action a reality. The first was Executive Order 10925 signed by President Kennedy on March 6, 1965 which was the first law to make mention of the phrase. This was followed by much more sweeping Civil Rights Act which was signed into law by President Johnson. Together these laws attempted to correct by legal means the disparity of opportunity that existed in the workplace for people of color by instituting a system of quotas that employers had to meet to satisfy federal affirmative action minority employment levels.

But as is often the case when the government attempts to impose right attitudes via legislation, these laws often created as many problems for minorities as they cured. Nevertheless as the application of the quota systems began to become widespread, it did open many doors for African Americans that would not have opened due to racial prejudice and silent segregation that was keeping the African American community from reaching its economic potential.

In truth, nobody really liked this kind of imposed fairness system. For whites, they felt the sting of an artificial system of judgment that was sometimes called “reverse discrimination”. While there was some justice that the white community got a taste for what it felt like to loose out on opportunity due to the color of your skin, it did not help the country in our goal of growing together to become one “color blind” community.

Affirmative action was a mixed blessing for the African American community. While it did its job in the short term to opening doors that were closed due to racism, it is not the ideal solution. That is because it did not fulfill Dr. King’s vision of a world where a man is judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. We can hope that we will grow to that point as a culture and look back on affirmative action as an unfortunate but necessary provision to help us grow and mature as a truly integrated culture.

Bluetooth In Action

In the United States, Bluetooth gets absolutely no

respect. It is however, becoming more and more

common in notebooks, PDAs, and especially cell

phones. Bluetooth will provide wireless users a

way to transmit small amounts of data over short

distances.

Now, Bluetooth is facing stiff competition from

new wireless technology. Referred to as UWB or

Ultra Wideband, it promises data transfer of up

to 480 MB a second - while most current Bluetooth

devices transfer data up to 721 KB a second.

For the time being, Bluetooth devices are surely

cropping up. Below, we will look at some of

the accessories offered with Bluetooth technology.

Talking to the dashboard

When pairing it with a cell phone, the CCM Blue

Warrior car kit becomes a great speaker phone that

plugs into the power adapter of your vehicle. The

noise cancelling microphone will reduce background

noise efficiently, with the large buttons making

adjusting the speaker volume a snap. Although

the Blue Warrior is far from sexy or sleek, it's

very practical.

Tiny tuning box

Part MP3 player and part hands free phone, the

compact and lightweight Sony HBM-30 is an attractive

gadget that lets you accept calls with minimal

interruption of your tunes. When you get an incoming

call it will automatically pause your music, then

you speak into the built in microphone that you

can wear around your neck or clip to your clothes.

The pen

With Nokia's SU-1B digital pen, you can doodle and

make hand written notes in ink on a special pad

then transmit them from the pad to your Bluetooth

phone. Being an alternative to typing on a cell

phone keypad, the pen is very handy, although a

pricey tool from MMS fans.

Snapshots

If you want to make slide shows with your camera

photos, the Nokia SU-2 image viewer will let you

disply your pictures on a TV or projector. Simply

hook this square gray device to your TV's input

with the built in cable, then beam the pictures

to the SU-2 from your Bluetooth enabled phone and

the photo fest will begin.

This device is a snap to set up and use, although

it displays resolutions of up to 640 by 480. If

you have a newer phone that takes high resolution

photos, you won't be able to use the Nokia SU-2

image viewer.

Keep in mind, the 640 by 480 pixel photos will

appear blocky on TV screens, no matter what you

do. If your phone can send batches of photos, you

can create a slide show - although Nokia claims

you can use sequentially beamed shots as well.

ACTION OF ALCOHOL ON INTERNAL ORGANS.

Action on the stomach.

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The action of alcohol on the stomach is extremely dangerous that it becomes unable to produce the natural digestive fluid in sufficient quantity and also fails to absorb the food which it may imperfectly digest. A condition marked by the sense of nausea emptiness, prostration and distention will always be faced by an alcoholic. This results in a loathing for food and is teased with a craving for more drink. Thus there is engendered a permanent disorder which is called dyspepsia. The disastrous forms of confirmed indigestion originate by this practice.

How the liver gets affected.

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The organic deteriorations caused by the continued use of alcohol are often of a fatal character. The organ which most frequently undergoes structural changes from alcohol, is the liver. Normally, the liver has the capacity to hold active substances in its cellular parts. In instances of poisoning by various poisonous compounds, we analyse liver as if it were the central depot of the foreign matter. It is practically the same in respect to alcohol. The liver of an alcoholic is never free from the influence of alcohol and it is too often saturated with it. The minute membranous or capsular structure of the liver gets affected, preventing proper dialysis and free secretion. The liver becomes large due to the dilatation of its vessels, the surcharge of fluid matter and the thickening of tissue. This follows contraction of membrane and shrinking of the whole organ in its cellular parts. Then the lower parts of the alcoholic becomes dropsical owing to the obstruction offered to the returning blood by the veins. The structure of the liver may be charged with fatty cells and undergo what is technically designated 'fatty liver'.

How the Kidneys deteriorate.

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The Kidneys also suffer due to the excessive consumption of alcohol. The vessels of Kidneys lose elasticity and power of contraction. The minute structures in them go through fatty modification. Albumin from the blood easily passes through their membranes. This results in the body losing its power as if it were being run out of blood gradually.

Congestion of the lungs.

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Alcohol relaxes the vessels of the lungs easily as they are most exposed to the fluctuations of heat and cold. When subjected to the effects of a rapid variation in atmospheric temperature, they get readily congested. During severe winter seasons, the suddenly fatal congestions of lungs easily affects an alcoholic.

Alcohol weakens the heart.

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Consumption of alcohol greatly affects the heart. The quality of the membraneous structures which cover and line the heart changes and are thickened, become cartilaginous or calcareous. Then the valves lose their suppleness and what is termed valvular disorder becomes permanent. The structure of the the coats of the great blood-vessel leading from the heart share in the same changes of structure so that the vessel loses its elasticity and its power to feed the heart by the recoil from its distention, after the heart, by its stroke, has filled it with blood.

Again, the muscular structure of the heart fails owing to degenerative changes in its tissue. The elements of the muscular fibre are replaced by fatty cells or, if not so replaced, are themselves transferred into a modified muscular texture in which the power of contraction is greatly reduced.

Those who suffer from these organic deteriorations of the central and governing organ of the circulation of the blood learn the fact so insidiously, it hardly breaks upon them until the mischief is far advanced. They are conscious of a central failure of power from slight causes such as overexertion, trouble, broken rest or too long abstinence from food. They feel what they call a 'sinking' but they know that wine or some other stimulant will at once relieve the sensation. Thus they seek to relieve it until at last they discover that the remedy fails. The jaded, overworked, faithful heart will bear no more. it has run its course and the governor of the blood-streams broken. The current either overflows into the tissues gradually damming up the courses or under some slight shock or excess of motion ceases wholly at the centre.

Affirmative Action

The history of the growth of equality for African Americans in America has been one of great accomplishments followed by many small gains and many set backs as well. The outlawing of slavery did not instantly make all blacks equal with whites in America. It took many subsequent legal actions as well as hundreds of social efforts, big and small, to slowly make the progress we have seen today. But even in this day and age, in a new century, there is an ongoing battle against racism. It seems we need leadership to guide society to true equality as much now as ever in our history.

The abolition of slavery only began the long hard struggle for African American culture to become a true part of what it means to be an American. That is because even though the legal definition of slavery had been thrown down, the attitudes and cultural systems in place to keep the races separate and to deny black people rights equal with whites had to be addressed one by one.

Slowly over the decades, we have seen big changes but many came at a great cost. From the legal granting of the right to vote to African Americans to the civil rights movement to school desegregation, each step forward came with resistance, great difficulty and significant sacrifice from leaders and ordinary citizens alike to make each step toward true equality a fact.

Of all the efforts to “level the playing field”, none has been more controversial than the Affirmative Action program. In its beginning, it was intended to be a supplement to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Over time it had become clear that despite removal of laws that enforced segregation or discrimination, there seemed to be a natural segregation in the work place that was keeping African Americans from getting a fair chance at jobs because of the prejudices of an employer, even if that prejudice was not officially recognized in the company charter.

There were two significant executive orders that made affirmative action a reality. The first was Executive Order 10925 signed by President Kennedy on March 6, 1965 which was the first law to make mention of the phrase. This was followed by much more sweeping Civil Rights Act which was signed into law by President Johnson. Together these laws attempted to correct by legal means the disparity of opportunity that existed in the workplace for people of color by instituting a system of quotas that employers had to meet to satisfy federal affirmative action minority employment levels.

But as is often the case when the government attempts to impose right attitudes via legislation, these laws often created as many problems for minorities as they cured. Nevertheless as the application of the quota systems began to become widespread, it did open many doors for African Americans that would not have opened due to racial prejudice and silent segregation that was keeping the African American community from reaching its economic potential.

In truth, nobody really liked this kind of imposed fairness system. For whites, they felt the sting of an artificial system of judgment that was sometimes called “reverse discrimination”. While there was some justice that the white community got a taste for what it felt like to loose out on opportunity due to the color of your skin, it did not help the country in our goal of growing together to become one “color blind” community.

Affirmative action was a mixed blessing for the African American community. While it did its job in the short term to opening doors that were closed due to racism, it is not the ideal solution. That is because it did not fulfill Dr. King’s vision of a world where a man is judged not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character. We can hope that we will grow to that point as a culture and look back on affirmative action as an unfortunate but necessary provision to help us grow and mature as a truly integrated culture.

Alternative Energy and Taking Action

Since you are an American citizen, you may have the right to some energy options and giving your opinion in the matter. Your opinion doesn’t mean anything if you do not vocalize your feelings and take some action. You will find that there are many supporting alternative energies that will make a difference. There are many steps that you will need to do to get involved with alternative energy endorsements and you may find that you’re going to have to voice your opinion all of the country. You will want to show your support by helping to clean up your environment and by setting a good example with your children and the community by caring for the environment.

You will want to make sure that you support the alternative energies by wanting to use it and fighting to get it available to you. The easiest way to support alternative energy is to use it. While this is not possible on large scales for everyone, alternative energy inarguably begins in the home—what good is it to be vocally against the use of oil if you use gallons of it everyday without giving it a second thought? Also, when it comes to building you will want to make sure that you think green. When you build environmental friendly, think about using installation, but also building with the environment in mind. If you cannot run your home purely on alternative energy, consider using alternative energy for part of your energy supply. Small home kits are available to produce solar, water, and wind power for some of your home’s appliances.

You may also want to think about just using less energy. Like, you can use the sun to dry your clothing in the summer so that you can save some energy and help the environment. Take advantage of light from the sun and do work and reading outside instead of having the lights in your home turn on all day. You will also want to replace any bad windows that might not be sealed right and you will want to do your best to use instillation in your home so that you don’t have heat and such leaving your home. All of these steps are simply the beginning in a campaign to support alternative energy.

Right now you will want to get information about the alternative energy sources so that you can make good decisions.. To do this, you can spend time at your local library or research the subjects online. As for the government, you will find that the federal government’s department of Energy will give you a all the knowledge that you have to have to make good decisions about alternative energy. You need to take advantage of their easy-to-use website or the literature they publish. You can also subscribe to energy magazines to stay up-to-date on the latest news and events in the alternative energy world.

You will want to join some of the local organizations that support the alternative fuels. You will find that there are some communities that have groups getting involved so that the government begins to take them serious for their need of alternative fuels. The cause for the alternative energy is simply so that you don’t rely on the fossil fuels, which is depleting. You will want to get involved so that there is a solid plan for the future.

Taking Action on Credit Card Debt Before it’s Too Late

There may be some comfort for you if you are facing the rising threat of credit card debt in your family finances. That comfort might come from the fact that this is a problem for thousands of families in the country. But this is faint hope because it is still a problem that needs to be solved and solved by you.

But before you start to examine what you can do about your credit card debt problem, you have to ask yourself why so many people in our country have let themselves get into this fix. Well, there are a lot of reasons why a family’s economy goes negative so the bills overwhelm the income and the credit card debt starts to go up. It could come from a lost job, a health emergency, the need to get the kids through college or other reasons. It isn’t always that you got into credit card debt because you were lazy or because you are the type of people who just like to live high on the hog.

It might also be comfort to know that there are people further along in the credit card crisis that they are having to think about selling their homes or declaring bankruptcy. But again, that may not be as much comfort as a cold warning of what might be lying ahead for you if you cannot find a way to put a stop to this rising flood of credit debt. But there is one difference between those people who have reached that level of desperation and where you are today. And this is the difference that you can take comfort in because this one fact will be the one that will keep you and your family from getting to that level of desperation.

That comfort is that if you are this worried about credit card debt as it is just not starting to become a problem, they are not too late in getting with it to stop the problem before its too late. Its really an amazing thing but one reason so many people are in deep trouble over their credit card debt is partly because they looked away from the problem for so long and did not decide to take decisive and serious action to stop the problem from overtaking them when it was still possible to stop it.

Psychologists have a word for what happens when you are in big trouble and you refuse to believe it. That word is denial. And even though these thousands of people who let their credit card debt problem get out of control are not in need of psychiatrists, for some reason there is a real tendency to ignore this problem month after month and year after year until it overwhelms you and its too late for some of the solutions that could stopped the problem early.

So if you suspect you may have a credit card debt problem starting to grow under your nose, take action now. Don’t wait thinking it will somehow dry up and blow away on its own because it won’t. Don’t spend time thinking that a few thousand dollars of credit card debt will cap and you will slowly work it down. Go back to the basics and examine your budget and evaluate if you are living above your means. And if you are, well to put it simply, fix it! And when your lifestyle is in balance with your income, your budget will stabilize and you will be able to use credit cards wisely and not see massive debt result. It’s never too soon to take action and if by taking action, you stop the problem in its tracks, you will be one of the families who handled credit card debt wisely, by avoiding it entirely.