A Time to Reflect

As it is Martin Luther King Jr. day I felt it fitting to give a brief history of the African-American civil rights movement.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

1865- 13th amendment officially abolished slavery.

1868- 14th amendment  gave equal rights to all citizens.

1909- NAACP founded.

1941- Executive order 8802 sets up Fair Employment Practices Commission.

1948- Armed forces integrated.

1954- Brown v. Board reverses Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896. This ruling desegregated schools.

1955- Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat. Montgomery bus boycott ensues.

1957- Little Rock Central High School desegregated.

1961- Freedom riders take buses to the South.

1963- "I Have a Dream" speech given by King

1964- 24th amendment and Civil Rights Act are passed.

1965- King leads 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery.

1968- April 4th, at 6:01 p.m. Martin Luther Kind Jr. is shot an killed while standing on the balcony of hit room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN. He was 39 years old.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” - Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have A Dream", 1963.

Zodiac Buzz

With all the recent news about the "new zodiac" you would think it was actually something a little more, I don't know...new?

For those of you who haven't heard the news, It was recently announced, by Minneapolis astronomy instructor Parke Kunkle, that the constellations have shifted by a month. This shift has affected many peoples Astrological signs.

The earth, for as long as man has looked up at the heavens, has wobbled on it's axis, this is called precession. Precession has been known for the last couple of thousand of years. Precession causes the earth to turn relative to the constellations, this has in turn caused the approximate one month shift of the constellations. Most modern forms of Astrology are not even based on the constellations, the sidereal zodiac is the only common Astrological system based on the constellations.

“I believe it’s a zodiac scam,” said Jose Arce, 38, from Fort Lee, N.J, “I’ve known myself to be a Sagittarius, I believe, since I was born. So to come up now with some new sign? It’s unacceptable!”

With some very harsh public backlash at the idea of the Astrological signs changing, people need to step back and realize that Astrological signs, planets, and stars do not in any way affect their daily lives. Your change in horoscope also matters very little, as all horoscopes are general enough to fit just about anyone. Weather you believe yourself to be a Leo, Gemini, or Capricorn, it will not affect who you actually are.

31 percent of Americans admit, in a 2008 poll, to believing in Astrology. Among these people are some of the most influential figures in America, most notably Nancy Reagan.