Monday, April 21, 2008

Blocking Spammers and Virusus on This Page

Greetings, Brothers and Sisters!

Calvin, your moderator, is taking steps to make sure your computer doesn't get infected with viruses and spam, and they are invisible steps you won't even notice.

Effective today (right now, actually), it is impossible to leave a comment on any of the articles on this link, or any of the other links on your website.

Virus spreaders, spammers (and basically idiots with too time on their hands) have been attaching comments to some of the stories on here, hoping you'll click on them.
When you do, they've got you.

If you have a comment on a story or event you see, just email it to me and I will post it manually. My spam filter, virus protection, and word processing system filters out about 99% of what those idiots try to upload. Google catches the rest.

These links are for READING news and articles ONLY. Please rest assured that you can read them with no problem.

Again, if you want to post comments on what you've read, just email those comments to me.

Thanks!

Blacks in Area Have Made Progress, But There is More to be Done

DOUGLASS ALUMNUS ED HORTON WROTE THIS ARTICLE FOR THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS, SUNDAY, 4/20/08

Mr. Horton is a retired vice president of an Ohio-based, handheld computer company and a former resident who has returned to his hometown of Kingsport.


Recently, a former Riverview resident provided me a copy of Pastor Doug Tweed’s column “It’s Time to Make Amends for Our City’s Racism,” which I understand he wrote in observance of Black History Month. I found it appropriate and timely. I cannot attest to the racial climate in Kingsport prior to the 1950s, but I can speak with clarity about the climate of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The old Douglass School, aka V.O. Dobbins Community Center, was not properly equipped. Frequently, it did not have the appropriate Bunsen burners, measuring instruments and other laboratory equipment. The science teacher or principal would have to beg equipment from Dobyns-Bennett. The books, while provided freely, in many cases had been used at Dobyns-Bennett. Funding for athletic programs and the arts was limited or nonexistent.

Whether I was living in Los Angeles, Columbus, OH, or Cedar Rapids, IA, the story which I always like to tell the audiences — it never fails to cause folks to express disbelief — deals with the unholy alliance between the State of Tennessee and Kingsport Board of Education and the State of Virginia and Gate City Board of Education to bus about six or eight black students across the state line to attend classes in Riverview. I tell my listeners that the good people of Gate City failed to even hire a driver to bring the kids across the mountain — one of the older students was entrusted with the responsibility.

In many of the cities where I was stationed, the issue of busing white students a few neighborhoods away from their homes was abhorrent. The uproar was deafening. However, during my academic career here in Kingsport, no one on either side of the railroad tracks complained.

In the spring of 1977, I was in the area to arrange for the burial of my mother and took a side trip to Gate City High School and noticed how small the facility was. Imagine my surprise when I began to read about the poor academic achievement of students in the Southwest Virginia section, especially when standard testing instruments were used. I had assumed that the bar was set so high in those schools that the six to eight black students were not capable of being reached. The other sad part of this story is that the Gate City leadership did not deem it appropriate to hire a properly trained driver to make the trip.

Upon my return here two years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to reunite with a few of those bused students and learn how successful they had become. Two or three had made careers of the military, several had earned bachelor’s and in some cases master’s degrees. Sadly enough, many had moved to larger localities, and neither Virginia or Tennessee will ever benefit from their talent nor the tax revenue generated from their significantly enhanced salaries.

Pastor Doug wrote about the black teachers and business types who had to develop their careers within the small black community. I was shocked after leaving the area to learn that many of the black teachers who cycled through our community were never compensated on a par with their white colleagues. As I reflected later, after I had completed my graduate studies at Tennessee State and was pursuing my post graduate work at the University of California at Los Angeles, I thought that doing janitorial work at the old Mead plant or cleaning offices downtown during the summers was normal for black teachers. I remembered my homeroom teacher who would spend his summers working as a waiter on the trains which traveled from Chicago to Seattle. The rumor was that he made in three months half of his annual teacher’s salary. The only white people who related to me while I was in school were the teachers who would conduct Bible study on Wednesday afternoon who were assigned by the Kingsport Council of Churches.

Paster Tweed cited the names of several black professionals who have distinguished themselves locally. I think that is marvelous considering their meager beginnings on small tobacco farms in North Carolina and Southwest Virginia from which most have come. I am impressed with the upward mobility of many of the formerly disadvantaged persons in the area. It is indeed refreshing to see the change. I am, however, amazed at the lack of clout these persons seem to have in their respective organizations.

I tried to refer several candidates to a black professional who works for a major employer. The candidates are still waiting to be contacted. I was referred to another black professional who I assumed had a key role on the management team helping to chart and influence the direction of the corporation. I discovered he had nothing to do with the management council, could not discuss the direction of his employer, or the price of the stock.

As a former vice president of an Ohio-based, publicly listed computer company, I frequently review the announcements of the Security Exchange Commissions (SEC) filings of stock issued to their executives. As of today, I have yet to see this black executive awarded any stock options, nor does his picture appear in the annual reports or any of the quarterly reports.

I am further amused at the number of black employees who supposedly have a technical background or are working in HR or procurement or in some sub-professional capacity. My sense is that most are tokens or part of a window dressing scenario in order to comply with a mildly effective initiative called affirmative active.

This type of Equal Opportunity program is OK in a small East Tennessee town; however, it would not fly in a large metropolitan community.

Something to Think About

Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety-one?

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea...does that mean that one out
of five enjoys it?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren't they just stale bread
to begin with?

If people from Poland are called Poles, then why aren't people from
Holland called Holes?

If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who
drives a racecar is not called a racist?

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the
others here for?

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, then doesn't it
follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys
deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners
depressed?

If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

Do Lipton Tea employees take 'coffee breaks?'

What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons
and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use. Toothpicks?

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are
we supposed to do, write to them? Why don't they just put their pictures
on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they
deliver the mail?

Is it true that you never really learn to swear until you learn to
drive?

If a cow laughed, would milk come out of her nose?

Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?

As income tax time approaches, did you ever notice: When you put the
two words "The" and "IRS" together, it spells "THEIRS

Why Did You Make Me Black, Lord?

FROM MELVA COOKE:


This is deep, so take your time.

Why Did You Make Me Black Lord ?...
Lord . Why did you make me black?
Why did you make someone the world would hold back?

Black is the color of dirty clothes, of grimy hands and feet...
Black is the color of darkness, of tired beaten streets...

Why did you give me thick lips, a broad nose and kinky hair?
Why did you create someone who receives the hated stare?

2.3959275580@web58404.mail.re3.yahoo.com" width=393 border=0>
Black is the color of the bruised eye when someone gets hurt...
Black is the color of darkness, black is the color of dirt.

Why is my bone structure so thick, my hips and cheeks so high?
Why are my eyes brown, and not the color of the sky?

Why do people think I'm useless?
How come I feel so used?
Why do people see my skin and think I should be abused?

Lord, I just don't understand...
What is it about my skin?
Why is it some people want to hate me and not know the person within?

Black is what people are 'Labeled' when others want to keep them away...
Black is the color of shadows cast...
Black is the end of the day.

Lord you know my own people mistreat me, and you know this just ain't right...
They don't like my hair, they don't like my skin, as they say I'm too dark or too light!

Lord, don't you think it's time to make a change?
Why don't you redo creation and make everyone the same?
GOD's Reply:

Why did I make you black?

Why did I make you black?

I made you in the color of coal from which beautiful diamonds are formed... I made you in the color of oil, the black gold which keeps people warm.

Your color is the same as the rich dark soil that grows the food you need... Your color is the same as the black stallion and panther, Oh what majestic creatures indeed!

All colors of the heavenly rainbow can be found throughout every nation... When all these colors are blended, you become my greatest creation!

Your hair is the texture of lamb's wool, such a beautiful creature is he... I am the shepherd who watches them, I will ALWAYS watch over thee!

You are the color of the midnight sky, I put star glitter in your eyes... There's a beautiful smile hidden behind your pain... That's why your cheeks are so high!

You are the color of dark clouds from the hurricanes I create in September... I made your lips so full and thick, so when you kiss..they will remember!

Your stature is strong, your bone structure thick to withstand the burden of time... The reflection you see in the mirror, that image that looks back , ....that is MINE!

So get off your knees, look in the mirror and tell me what you see? I didn't make you in the image of darkness... I made you in the image of ME!

Protect your VIN---AND your Car!

Never thought of this one!
VIN NUMBER - WARNING


Here is INFO worth the price of your car....

WHAT WILL the car thieves THINK OF NEXT?

The car thieves peer through the windshield of your car or vehicle, write down the VIN # from the label on the dash, go to the local car dealership and request a duplicate key based on the VIN #.

I didn't believe this e-mail, so I called Chrysler-Dodge and pretended I had lost my keys. They told me to just bring in the VIN #, and they would cut me one on the spot, and I could order the keyless device if I wanted.


The Car Dealer's Parts Department will make a duplicate key from the VIN #, and collect payment from the thief who will return to your car.

He doesn't have to break in, do any damage to the vehicle, or draw attention to himself. All he has to do is walk up to your car, insert the key and off he goes to a local chop shop with your vehicle.

You don't believe it?

It IS that EASY.

To avoid this from happening to you, simply put some dark tape (electrical tape, duct tape or medical tape) across the VIN Number Metal Label located on the dashboard.

By law, you cannot remove the VIN, but you CAN cover it so it can't be viewed through the windshield by a car thief.

I urge you to forward this to your friends before some other car thief steals another car or truck.

I slipped a 3x5 card over my VIN NUMBER.

PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS NOW!!!!!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Blacks in area have made progress, but there is more to be done

DOUGLASS ALUMNUS ED HORTON WROTE THIS ARTICLE FOR THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS, SUNDAY, 4/20/08

Mr. Horton is a retired vice president of an Ohio-based, handheld computer company and a former resident who has returned to his hometown of Kingsport.


Recently, a former Riverview resident provided me a copy of Pastor Doug Tweed’s column “It’s Time to Make Amends for Our City’s Racism,” which I understand he wrote in observance of Black History Month. I found it appropriate and timely. I cannot attest to the racial climate in Kingsport prior to the 1950s, but I can speak with clarity about the climate of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The old Douglass School, aka V.O. Dobbins Community Center, was not properly equipped. Frequently, it did not have the appropriate Bunsen burners, measuring instruments and other laboratory equipment. The science teacher or principal would have to beg equipment from Dobyns-Bennett. The books, while provided freely, in many cases had been used at Dobyns-Bennett. Funding for athletic programs and the arts was limited or nonexistent.

Whether I was living in Los Angeles, Columbus, OH, or Cedar Rapids, IA, the story which I always like to tell the audiences — it never fails to cause folks to express disbelief — deals with the unholy alliance between the State of Tennessee and Kingsport Board of Education and the State of Virginia and Gate City Board of Education to bus about six or eight black students across the state line to attend classes in Riverview. I tell my listeners that the good people of Gate City failed to even hire a driver to bring the kids across the mountain — one of the older students was entrusted with the responsibility.

In many of the cities where I was stationed, the issue of busing white students a few neighborhoods away from their homes was abhorrent. The uproar was deafening. However, during my academic career here in Kingsport, no one on either side of the railroad tracks complained.

In the spring of 1977, I was in the area to arrange for the burial of my mother and took a side trip to Gate City High School and noticed how small the facility was. Imagine my surprise when I began to read about the poor academic achievement of students in the Southwest Virginia section, especially when standard testing instruments were used. I had assumed that the bar was set so high in those schools that the six to eight black students were not capable of being reached. The other sad part of this story is that the Gate City leadership did not deem it appropriate to hire a properly trained driver to make the trip.

Upon my return here two years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to reunite with a few of those bused students and learn how successful they had become. Two or three had made careers of the military, several had earned bachelor’s and in some cases master’s degrees. Sadly enough, many had moved to larger localities, and neither Virginia or Tennessee will ever benefit from their talent nor the tax revenue generated from their significantly enhanced salaries.

Pastor Doug wrote about the black teachers and business types who had to develop their careers within the small black community. I was shocked after leaving the area to learn that many of the black teachers who cycled through our community were never compensated on a par with their white colleagues. As I reflected later, after I had completed my graduate studies at Tennessee State and was pursuing my post graduate work at the University of California at Los Angeles, I thought that doing janitorial work at the old Mead plant or cleaning offices downtown during the summers was normal for black teachers. I remembered my homeroom teacher who would spend his summers working as a waiter on the trains which traveled from Chicago to Seattle. The rumor was that he made in three months half of his annual teacher’s salary. The only white people who related to me while I was in school were the teachers who would conduct Bible study on Wednesday afternoon who were assigned by the Kingsport Council of Churches.

Paster Tweed cited the names of several black professionals who have distinguished themselves locally. I think that is marvelous considering their meager beginnings on small tobacco farms in North Carolina and Southwest Virginia from which most have come. I am impressed with the upward mobility of many of the formerly disadvantaged persons in the area. It is indeed refreshing to see the change. I am, however, amazed at the lack of clout these persons seem to have in their respective organizations.

I tried to refer several candidates to a black professional who works for a major employer. The candidates are still waiting to be contacted. I was referred to another black professional who I assumed had a key role on the management team helping to chart and influence the direction of the corporation. I discovered he had nothing to do with the management council, could not discuss the direction of his employer, or the price of the stock.

As a former vice president of an Ohio-based, publicly listed computer company, I frequently review the announcements of the Security Exchange Commissions (SEC) filings of stock issued to their executives. As of today, I have yet to see this black executive awarded any stock options, nor does his picture appear in the annual reports or any of the quarterly reports.

I am further amused at the number of black employees who supposedly have a technical background or are working in HR or procurement or in some sub-professional capacity. My sense is that most are tokens or part of a window dressing scenario in order to comply with a mildly effective initiative called affirmative active.

This type of Equal Opportunity program is OK in a small East Tennessee town; however, it would not fly in a large metropolitan community.