This is a post by guest blogger Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman (from the Pajaronian March 2016)
That the Republican Party is heading toward a demolition is no surprise by now. This is not the first time a major American political party fell apart. In the 19th century, between the 1830s and 1860, the Whig Party was the political rival to Jefferson’s Democratic Republican (Democrat) Party. The Whigs ran candidates every election, but elected only two to the presidency.
Political parties are not cast in stone; they change over time. The Jeffersonian Democrats began as an elite party of landowners (mostly slave holding). They supported the equality of white propertied males, plantation owners versus city dwellers.
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, changed all this. He pushed for the enfranchisement of all White males, property and literacy not required. American politics in the 19th century reflected this sort of democracy, the best democracy that a free flow of liquor on election day could buy. This is the origin of “populism” that roils American politics even today. Power to the people!
The Democrats split further in giving birth not only to rabid populists, but to populists who rejected learning, science, and education: the “Know-Nothings” and “Mugwumps.” If this sounds familiar, they are indeed alive and well in today’s angry supporters of the likes of Donald Trump and most of his current fellow candidates.
The Whig party, which rose during the 1830s, represented a new kind of elites, captains of industry as the industrial revolution transformed the north. It also appealed to a growing middle class in the north who were beginning to rue the institution of Black slavery. The party wobbled between big money interests and anti-slavery moralists, failing to convince the electorate well enough to win the White House more than twice in 30 years.
By 1860, the Democrats dominated the southern slave states, which promoted “states’ rights” and disdained any interference from the US government. The slavery issue then dominated all political rhetoric until the anti-slavery faction of the Whig Party finally defected and created a new party, the Republicans. President Abraham Lincoln and most of his cabinet began as Whigs and became Republicans.
For the rest of the 19th century, Democrats were the conservatives, the embittered Southerners who mourned the loss of their “states’ rights” to agricultural slavery. The slaves were emancipated, but remained as sharecroppers deprived of political participation.
The Republicans lost their progressive edge after the Civil War ended. It became the party of industry and big money power until President Theodore Roosevelt reawakened its “progressive” roots, providing a more equitable playing field for the growing Middle Class. He was the last Republican president to do so until Eisenhower.
The New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt picked up the progressive movement of the earlier Roosevelt, as did Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Carter, Johnson, Clinton, and Obama.
The Republican Party, which began as an anti-slavery progressive party under Lincoln, became over time the “conservative” party, representing those segments of society that feared too-rapid change, believed in conservative and traditional religion, and trusting educated elites rather than populist ignoramuses. Until the end of World War II, a vast majority of university intellectuals considered themselves conservatives as well.
Today, both political parties are rife with internal divisions, much like the period of the Civil War. Most Democrats stand for moderate progress, social justice, and strong central government to protect us from our less noble instincts. The minority, largely found in and around the academic world, have raised the standard for radical change, “multiculturalism,” and elimination of such “outmoded” values as religion, polite speech, clothing, and manners. Vulgarity has become bipartisan, and both Democratic and Republican extremes detest government.
The Republicans are now divided between mainstream fiscal conservatives who can work with their counterparts among Democrats, and a resurgence of “Know-Nothings” who wildly support any demagogues who inveigh against “government,” science, and the rising tide of female equality. One of these pretend Know-Nothings may force the nominating process to accept him, which will lose them the election and send reasonable Republicans looking for a new party. Not a moment too soon.
Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is a historian, lecturer, and author of God’s Law or Man’s Law. You may contact her atLfarhat102@aol.com or www.globalthink.net.
This is a post by guest blogger Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman (from the Pajaronian March 2016)
That the Republican Party is heading toward a demolition is no surprise by now. This is not the first time a major American political party fell apart. In the 19th century, between the 1830s and 1860, the Whig Party was the political rival to Jefferson’s Democratic Republican (Democrat) Party. The Whigs ran candidates every election, but elected only two to the presidency.
Political parties are not cast in stone; they change over time. The Jeffersonian Democrats began as an elite party of landowners (mostly slave holding). They supported the equality of white propertied males, plantation owners versus city dwellers.
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, changed all this. He pushed for the enfranchisement of all White males, property and literacy not required. American politics in the 19th century reflected this sort of democracy, the best democracy that a free flow of liquor on election day could buy. This is the origin of “populism” that roils American politics even today. Power to the people!
The Democrats split further in giving birth not only to rabid populists, but to populists who rejected learning, science, and education: the “Know-Nothings” and “Mugwumps.” If this sounds familiar, they are indeed alive and well in today’s angry supporters of the likes of Donald Trump and most of his current fellow candidates.
The Whig party, which rose during the 1830s, represented a new kind of elites, captains of industry as the industrial revolution transformed the north. It also appealed to a growing middle class in the north who were beginning to rue the institution of Black slavery. The party wobbled between big money interests and anti-slavery moralists, failing to convince the electorate well enough to win the White House more than twice in 30 years.
By 1860, the Democrats dominated the southern slave states, which promoted “states’ rights” and disdained any interference from the US government. The slavery issue then dominated all political rhetoric until the anti-slavery faction of the Whig Party finally defected and created a new party, the Republicans. President Abraham Lincoln and most of his cabinet began as Whigs and became Republicans.
For the rest of the 19th century, Democrats were the conservatives, the embittered Southerners who mourned the loss of their “states’ rights” to agricultural slavery. The slaves were emancipated, but remained as sharecroppers deprived of political participation.
The Republicans lost their progressive edge after the Civil War ended. It became the party of industry and big money power until President Theodore Roosevelt reawakened its “progressive” roots, providing a more equitable playing field for the growing Middle Class. He was the last Republican president to do so until Eisenhower.
The New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt picked up the progressive movement of the earlier Roosevelt, as did Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Carter, Johnson, Clinton, and Obama.
The Republican Party, which began as an anti-slavery progressive party under Lincoln, became over time the “conservative” party, representing those segments of society that feared too-rapid change, believed in conservative and traditional religion, and trusting educated elites rather than populist ignoramuses. Until the end of World War II, a vast majority of university intellectuals considered themselves conservatives as well.
Today, both political parties are rife with internal divisions, much like the period of the Civil War. Most Democrats stand for moderate progress, social justice, and strong central government to protect us from our less noble instincts. The minority, largely found in and around the academic world, have raised the standard for radical change, “multiculturalism,” and elimination of such “outmoded” values as religion, polite speech, clothing, and manners. Vulgarity has become bipartisan, and both Democratic and Republican extremes detest government.
The Republicans are now divided between mainstream fiscal conservatives who can work with their counterparts among Democrats, and a resurgence of “Know-Nothings” who wildly support any demagogues who inveigh against “government,” science, and the rising tide of female equality. One of these pretend Know-Nothings may force the nominating process to accept him, which will lose them the election and send reasonable Republicans looking for a new party. Not a moment too soon.
Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is a historian, lecturer, and author of God’s Law or Man’s Law. You may contact her atLfarhat102@aol.com or www.globalthink.net.
What’s more fun that making a giant Easter Egg out of Rice Krispy Treats? Making a bunch of little Easter Eggs that you can just pop in your mouth! Here’s my latest Rice Krispy Treat sculpture. Okay, I’m obsessed… But, when is Kelloggs going to start putting my sculptures on their boxes of cereal? Hello Kelloggs!!!!
When my dad asked me if I wanted to go up to Haleakala volcano to sightsee after he picked us up at the airport in Maui, I told him that I’ve been there and done that. So instead of soaking the rays and sipping pina coladas on the beach, we headed out to Home Depot to buy supplies for the closet organizer in one of his guest bedrooms.
I do love to build furniture – I’ve built just about all of the furniture in my house, office, and school. So as my dad and I perused the closet organizer section of the store, we got so excited that we bought enough supplies for 3 closets!
That night I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited to put these closets together.
I thought it would take a day to install all 3 closets, but boy was I wrong. Finding studs in the walls of his old beach house was impossible – I swear the house was built without 2” x 4’s”! And there were no 90-degree corners! Then, I made so many mistakes, I’m surprised I got it done before I headed back to California 4 days later.
But it was fun. Doing projects is something that my dad and I have in common.
Way back in 1991, Nicole built a leprechaun trap in Tess’ kindergarten class.
What fun to watch her drop the can as she tried to capture the little green guy!
Being half Irish and half Japanese, Nicole would ask me what side of her was Irish. Funny kid!
Experts have been recommending that we turn off our TVs, computers, and mobile phones hours before bedtime to help us fall asleep faster. Apparently the blue light emitting from our electronic screens suppresses our melatonin (a hormone that helps regulate sleep and wake cycles), which increases our alertness, and keeps us from getting sleepy.
But seriously, who really does that? I check emails and text messages after I turn off the TV, and then I peruse Facebook to see what my friends are up to until I fall asleep.
So if turning off these devices is not happening for you, I found a few solutions that can help you get to sleep while having your phones and tablets by your side.
- Wear amber-colored glasses a few hours before bedtime. They protect your eyes from the blue-wavelength light. According to Reuters [source], a Swiss study found that study participants who wore the glasses before bedtime were relaxed and sleepy at bedtime.
- Use General Electric’s PM Bulbs that mimic natural candlelight without disrupting circadian rhythm. They also sell AM Bulbs to promote alertness in the morning.
- Place light-filters on flashlights and other lights in your house. Check out LowBlueLights.
- Use the Night Shift feature on iPhones. Apple uses your location to determine when to automatically shift from the blue to a warmer amber tone. They’re claiming that Apple has improved the sleep of millions of people each year. On Android devices, check out the Twilight app, which does the same thing. It’s free!
Sounds like it’s time to change up our lighting systems to protect our eyes and improve our sleep. Let me know how this works for you!
I just read a disturbing quote from the Boston Globe:
“Thursday, while the nation debated the relative size of Republican genitalia, something truly awful happened. Across the northern hemisphere, the temperature, if only for a few hours, apparently crossed a line: it was more than two degrees Celsius above “normal” for the first time in recorded history and likely for the first time in the course of human civilization.”
Let me repeat that. This is the first time the North American average temperature rose above 2 degrees Celsius. That’s 35.6 degrees (Fahrenheit) higher than normal.
While the politicians focus on distracting issues (with arguably less consequences), our planet is warming up and beginning to cause catastrophic disasters. We need to deal with reducing CO2 NOW.
In my opinion, there is nothing more important than stopping the corruption behind politicians, big oil, and manufacturers that deceive the general population into thinking that we have time to solve global warming. It’s time for everyone to get their heads out of the sand and take action to lower their CO2 footprint today.
What are you doing that is more important than this?
[Source]
Rather than scrambling to complete your tax returns in January in order to file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the feds just announced that they will accept the previous year’s tax returns.
You can also file in October, instead of January, which means that colleges receive the Student Aid Report (SAR) earlier during the college admissions process. The good news: you should get financial aid offers sooner!
In the past, parents had to wait until their 2015 tax returns were prepared before they could file their FAFSA. That could mean that they would have to wait until February to get their W2s from their employers and rush their CPAs to process their tax returns. Meanwhile, colleges couldn’t release financial aid packages to prospective students because they had to wait for the SARs to determine each student’s financial aid needs.
With this new plan, parents can file their FAFSA using their 2014 tax returns. Yup, the ones that were processed no later than April 15th of 2014. With no excuses like they’re waiting for their W2s or their accountants haven’t completed their returns, parents can easily file the FAFSA, and the SARs will go out to all of the colleges probably before applications are even due.
This new plan goes into effect for the 2017-2018 college year.
I found this article by John Ewing fascinating because it dances around who or what is to blame for why so many students struggle in college.
Rather than blaming incompetent teachers as many do, he brings up interesting facts about colleges admitting more students for financial gain (HINT: more tuition dollars means more profit for the colleges). Check it out!
My high school buddy and college suite-mate, Steven Yoshinaga, came to Merit Academy to teach students chemistry using Molecular Mania, a game he created to make learning chemistry fun.
Leave it to “Yosh” to make learning about DNA and chemical bonds exciting. Check out all of his ZomeTool science games: DNA, Crazy Bubbles and Molecular Mania on Amazon.com. http://www.zometool.com/products/molecular-mania.html
As if this waiting period isn’t stressful enough, having to deal with being placed on admission waitlists is just, well, cruel!
You should be receiving admissions letters during the month of March – Good luck! – and sometimes as late as the first few weeks of April. Yup, I know how stressful this is. But here are a few tips on what to expect and what to do:
Do:
1. Definitely accept admission to one of the colleges from which you have received an admission offer. In other words, don’t decline admission to all of the colleges and cross your fingers that you’ll get off the wait list and accepted to your #1 college. If you do get in to your top college, you’ll lose your deposit that you paid to the college that you had previously accepted to.
2. Sign up for housing at both colleges to ensure that you get housing on campus. Again, you’ll lose the deposit that you paid for the college that you don’t attend, but it’s worth it. (Some colleges will not allow you to apply for housing if you haven’t paid your deposit and accepted admission)
3. Visit the campuses to make sure it’s the right fit for you. Sit in on classes, stay in the dorm (if you can arrange that), eat a meal on campus, and talk to students to learn about campus life.
Don’t:
1. Don’t file an appeal. Most students cannot appeal a rejection if they were denied admission from the waitlist. Check with your individual colleges to be sure.
2. Don’t call or send letters to the admissions office declaring why you should be admitted if you don’t have new relevant information.
3. Don’t let your grades drop! Any grades that fall below a C- can result in the college taking back their admission offer – even if you paid your deposit!
I hope this helps. Just think, in just 3 short months, you’ll be a high school graduate and on your way to college! Yippee!