Letter from freed slave to former master in 1865 draws attention and once again focuses on the injustice suffered by African-Americans.

The United States paid and is still paying reparations to descendants of the holocaust even though the United States was not responsible for Germany's atrocities. This weighs heavier on African-Americans because we were victims of Nazism and racism in Germany and racism here in America. Yet we had to dig deep into our pockets to pay the descendants of the holocaust.
Then their was the Japanese internment. We were still victims and yet we had to dig once again into our pockets to pay the descendants of the Japanese that were interned during the war.
But all this was in addition to the fact that 100 times as many captured Africans died or were murdered on the way from Africa to the United States as were killed and tortured by Nazi Germany and the interned Japanese combined.
If we are not entitled to reparations, then no-one is.

Letter from freed slave to former master draws attention

English grammar was much clearer and the grammatical rules were much easier to follow in 1865. Today, we have Asians and other non-English speaking people teaching us how to speak English. As a result of all of the foreign input, American English has become so ambiguous that five people can read the same paragraph and come up with five completely different conclusions.

"A newly discovered letter from a freed former slave to his onetime master is creating a buzz.Letters of Note explains that in August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee wrote to his former slave Jourdan Anderson, requesting that Jourdan return to work on his farm.

In the time since escaping from slavery, Anderson had become emancipated, moved to Ohio where he found paid work and was now supporting his family. The letter turned up in the August 22 edition of the New York Daily Tribune. Some excerpts:

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

On the "good chance" offered by the former slave owner:

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

And then Jourdan explains that anything his former master could offer, he's already earned on his own. Other than some back wages:

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

And after a few more jabs about how his children are now happy and receiving an education, Jourdan concludes his letter with:

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

You can read the full exchange here."

What the Republican Candidates Say About Moon Colonization

I agree with Newt Gingrich. His statement was the only intelligent one by the republican candidates.
 "A day before the most recent Republican debate in Florida, Newt Gingrich promised that if he were elected president, there would be a permanent base on the moon. The former Speaker of the House added that if 13,000 Americans were living there, the moon could apply for U.S. statehood.
At the Florida GOP debate, Gingrich was asked to outline his proposal, while the rest of the Republican field reacted to this grandiose plan. Here is what the candidates said, according to the presidential debate transcript provided by CNN:
* Newt Gingrich: "If we had a handful of serious prizes, you'd see an extraordinary number of people out there trying to get to the moon first. … It is really important to go back and look at what John F. Kennedy said in May of 1961 when he said, "We will go to the moon in this decade." … But I'll tell you, I do not want to be the country that having gotten to the moon first, turned around and said, it doesn't really matter, let the Chinese dominate space, what do we care? I think that is a path of national decline, and I am for America being a great country, not a country in decline."
* Mitt Romney: "That's an enormous expense. And right now I want to be spending money here. Of course the space coast has been badly hurt and I believe in a very vibrant and strong space program. To define the mission for our space program, I'd like to bring in the top professors that relate to space areas and physics, the top people from industry. Because I want to make sure what we're doing in space translates into commercial products. I want to bring in our top military experts on space needs. … I'm not looking for a colony on the moon. I think the cost of that would be in the hundreds of billions, if not trillions. I'd rather be rebuilding housing here in the U.S. I spent 25 years in business. If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, 'You're fired.'"
* Rick Santorum: "I agree that we need to bring good minds in the private sector much more involved in NASA than the government bureaucracy that we have. But let's just be honest, we run a $1.2 trillion deficit right now. We're borrowing 40-cents of every dollar. And to go out there and promise new programs and big ideas, that's a great thing to maybe get votes, but it's not a responsible thing when you have to go out and say that we have to start cutting programs, not talking about how to how to grow them. We're going to cut programs."
* Ron Paul: "Well, I don't think we should go to the moon. I think we maybe should send some politicians up there. … The only part that I would vote for is for national defense purposes. Not to explore the moon and go to Mars. I think that's fantastic. I love those ideas, but I also don't like the idea of building government business partnerships. If we had a healthy economy and had more Bill Gateses and more Warren Buffetts, the money would be there. It should be privatized, and the people who work in the industry, if you had that, there would be jobs in aerospace.""

Apple's main contract manufacturer, Foxconn, in China

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc has never turned "a blind eye" to the problems in its supply chain and any suggestion it does not care about the plight of workers is "patently false," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in an email to employees.

Cook was responding to a report in The New York Times about working conditions at Apple's main contract manufacturer, Foxconn, in China, an issue that for years has been a thorn in the company's side.

Apple responded in the past by launching independent audits and publishing the results. Earlier this month, Apple for the first time published a list of all its main suppliers.

"What we will not do - and never have done - is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain," he said in the email. "On this you have my word."

The email was first reported by the blog 9to5Mac and Reuters confirmed its authenticity.

"Any suggestion that we don't care is patently false and offensive to us," Cook said in the email.

Apple said earlier it agreed to let an outside agency monitor condition in the factories of its suppliers.

The company has said it made major efforts to improve and communicate its policies following high-profile labor problems at its foreign suppliers and manufacturers, including Foxconn.

The suicides at the plants associated with Apple cast a harsh spotlight on what critics dubbed a militaristic culture that pushed workers to the brink to meet unceasing demand for the company. In response, Apple stepped up the number of facilities it audits, to ensure they meet its code of conduct.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta; editing by Andre Grenon)

Obama seeks to reform how Congress operates

A few past presidents have thought of these measures, but no president before Obama has had the courage to ask for them on national television. They are long overdue.

jonymor: Gingrich calls for moon base, space contests

jonymor: Gingrich calls for moon base, space contests: Hopefully, Newt Gingrich can open some eyes and light a fire under our government leaders. I do not believe that he will even come close to ...

Gingrich calls for moon base, space contests

Hopefully, Newt Gingrich can open some eyes and light a fire under our government leaders. I do not believe that he will even come close to becoming our next president, but their is a strategic urgency in establishing a US base on the moon. China has said that they are going to put a military base on the moon. China's announcement of it's plans together with the mothballing of our space shuttles and cuts in our space programs scares the hell out of me.

South Sudan oil

Since money is a key recruiting element used by terrorist, the U.S can do a lot to prevent the growth and expansion of terrorist activities by supporting democratic countries in Africa. If we help them now with economic opportunities, education and military support when needed, they will be less likely to fall victims to terrorism and anti-American rhetoric. Be a friend to those who would be your friend first and the rest will follow.

jonymor: Kenyan jets bombed an al Shabaab rebel base in sou...

jonymor: Kenyan jets bombed an al Shabaab rebel base in sou...: Kenya is a democratic country in East Africa that has declared war on al Shabaab and al-Qaeda. When I visited Kenya in the mid 1960's, Keny...

Kenyan jets bombed an al Shabaab rebel base in southern Somalia

Kenya is a democratic country in East Africa that has declared war on al Shabaab and al-Qaeda. When I visited Kenya in the mid 1960's, Kenya was a friend to the U.S. even as the British were slaughtering Massai tribesmen in the streets. Today we have a greater urgency to support Kenya with military assistance and manpower because they are fighting our enemies.
Unlike Afghanistan which is ruled by a drug dealer or Iraq which has consistently shown to be anti American, Kenya has proven to be pro American. Yet we send hundreds of thousands of troupes to Iraq and Afghanistan with billions of dollars in aid and only 105 troupes to all of Africa. Does loyalty to our friends have a color line and should it be swayed by politics and racism.

Obama sending 5 US military officers to S. Sudan

Obama sending 5 US military officers to S. Sudan
	"Umm, Hundred's of Thousands to Iraq and Afghanistan and 105 to Africa. It seems that protecting human rights only applies to non-blacks."

A strong message to all African leaders.

Although I am against the death penalty, a strong message needs to be sent to all the sadistic African leaders that death will be their reward for inhuman treatment and murder of inhabitants regardless of their citizenship or tribal affiliation.

jonymor: An anti-american drug dealing gangster

jonymor: An anti-american drug dealing gangster: Obama's biggest mistake was to follow Bush into Afghanistan. As long as Karzai is in power, the U.S. is just throwing away money and America...

An anti-american drug dealing gangster

Obama's biggest mistake was to follow Bush into Afghanistan. As long as Karzai is in power, the U.S. is just throwing away money and American lives. Karzai is an anti-american drug dealing gangster that duped Bush into using the U.S. military into supporting him in Afghanistan's power struggle .

jonymor: Great ideas from Kanye West

jonymor: Great ideas from Kanye West: I hope he gets the support needed to make it happen. " " West has a particular interest in reforming education, and he spitballed a few id...

Great ideas from Kanye West

I hope he gets the support needed to make it happen.
" " West has a particular interest in reforming education, and he spitballed a few ideas he believes will "prep human beings for real life," such as allowing kids to use search engines on their smart phones while taking tests, pushing for math classes that teach children accounting and money management, and a concept he has concocted with director Spike Jonze about a summer school that would offer an alternative curriculum."

jonymor: Obama bypasses Senate, installs new consumer chief...

jonymor: Obama bypasses Senate, installs new consumer chief...: That's the Obama that I want to see more of.

Obama bypasses Senate, installs new consumer chief

That's the Obama that I want to see more of.