Tuesday, 30 June 2020

The Confederate Truth....from a teacher of American History

Hey Gentle Readers

A friend of mine posted this from America. I wanted to share it with you.


From someone who teaches Advanced Placement US History:

If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:

Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?

A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."

Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?

A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.

Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?

A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property.

Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?

A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever.

Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not slavery?

A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green

Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?

A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.

Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?

A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.

Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process?

A: No clue.

Q: So if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?

A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports white supremacy.

It’s no accident that:

You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois

You learned about the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.

You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from slaves.

You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.

You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”

You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.

You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.

You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.

Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.

Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.

You have a choice. - Jim Golden


Sunday, 28 June 2020

Today in History: June 28th

Hello Gentle readers.

Lets once again build the gadget/thingabob of time and blast off into history.


1838: Queen Victoria of the UK has her Coronation.

1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated. This event triggers WW1.


1926: Film maker Mel Brooks is born.



1971: Real life Bond villain and inventor Elon Musk is born.


1997: Mike Tyson bites off part of Evander Holyfields ear during their World title boxing match.



#todayinhistory #june28 #elonmusk #tysonholyfield #franzferdinand #queenvictoria #melbrooks

Lena's sweet Cherry Pie

Hello Gentle Readers



Lena has made some great recipes over the last few years but recently she has made a fantastic Cherry Pie. Here is the Recipe.



Ingredients (approx)

200 g cherries
200 g cottage cheese
150 g plain flour
Half glass sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
Lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar.

Method

Seperate the eggs and blend the whites with the sugar until it is puffy and white.
In a seperate bowl, mix the cottage cheese, yolks  flour, vanilla, lemon juice and baking powder and mix with a blender.
Carefully mix the 2 different mixtures together. Do not use the blender this time.

Wash, deseed amd half the cherries.

Pour the mixture into a cake mould and smooth it down. Carefully place the cherry pieces onto the surface of the mixture.

Place in a preheated oven (180) for 40 minutes.


I loved the taste of Lena' cherry pie. Mmmm

#recipes #cherrypie #warrant #shesmycherrypie


Fit Like? English lesson 2

Hello, Hi, wotcha! Fit like?

English is an amazing language with many ways of greeting people. In the video below you will see English language greetings.

Enjoy.


#thomsonsworld #learnenglish #hello #youtube

Saturday, 27 June 2020

Today in History: June 27th

Hello Gentle Readers

Lets rip down the statues of racists and bigots and replace them with statues of people that matter.


1844: The founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith and his brother are murderes by an angry mob.



1880: Activist for deaf and blind people, Helen Keller is born.

1905: Mutiny takes place on the Russian Battleship Potemkin.



1975: Spiderman actor Toby Maguire is born

2007: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair resigns and is replaced by Gordon Brown.


#todayinhistory #june27 #josephsmith #helenkeller #potemkin #tobymaguire #tonyblair

Friday, 26 June 2020

Let Kids be Kids this Summer

Hello Gentle Readers



What is the matter with letting your kids just try to enjoy the summer holidays.
Yes Armenia and other places are in lockdown due to Covid-19 and you want to keep your children safe but do you really need to make them study online or do extra classes.

As a teacher I fully understand the importance of learning. I fully understand the importance of proper play and socialization. Most schools around the world were closed and millions of children went without any kind of social interaction which is essential for their physical and emotional development.



There have even been several studies that have shown how some children and adolescents have developed symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other stress related conditions due to the increase in screen time they have had to endure.

For the vast majority of children who live in cities they dont even have gardens to go and run around in. Exercise is limited. I have seen with my own eyes many of the children I teach become depressed snd withdrawn.

Parents who are desperate for their kids to do well in school are throwing money at courses which will keep their children busy.  My plea to any of you that read this is; "Please let your kids be kids".

2020 has been a shit storm for them as well. Let them have summer. Keep them safe, let them wear masks and wash their hands. But dont sit them in front of their laptops all day. After the year we have had its important they get a chance to blow off steam.

I would appreciate your comments on this.



#lockdown #letkidsbekids #summer2020

Today in History: June 26th

Hello Gentle Readers

Lets ease the restrictions of time and peacefully protest the big issues of history.


1906: The first Le Mans grand prix is held.



1955: The Clash guitarist Mick Jones is born.



1963: JFK gives the 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech.



1977: Elvis Presley performs his last live concert.



1993: Arianna Grande is born.


#lemans #mickjones #JFK #elvis #ariannagrande

Thursday, 25 June 2020

Singapore

Hello Gentle Viewers

A few years ago. Lena, Robert and I visited Singapore for a few days.
Lena found the videos she has made and she edited them into the video below.

Remember to view the video switch to the web version mode.
I dont know why our YouTube videos are not on mobile version mode.

Enjoy

#singapore #thomsonsworld

Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Lovers Park

Hello Gentle Readers

Today, Lena, Robert and myself had to go to the local post office to collect a parcel. Afterwards we visited Lovers Park here in Yerevan.

If you cannot see the video on your mobile, switch to the web version mode.

Here is our video.



#loverspark #yerevan

Tuesday, 23 June 2020

The Wednesday Thought: Rain

Hello Gentle Readers

I think I have caught a rain bug. In Summer.

Here are some thoughts on rain.





#wednesdaythought #rain #maewest #longfellow #rogermiller #dollyparton #langstonehughes

English Weather Lesson (Rain)


Hello Gentle Readers. As advertised this is the first English Language video.

Its all about Rain

If you cant see the video  switch to web version.

Enjoy!

Top 10: Songs with the word "Rain" in the title

Hello Gentle Readers

I have not done a top 10 post for a while and in honour of our latest English lesson video about ways to describe the rain, I started thinking about music that I love about the Rain.


Please feel free to comment on my list and maybe suggest your own songs with "RAIN" in the title.

If you cant see the videos switch to web version.

The 10 songs below are not in any particular order.

1. The Eurythmics: "Here comes the Rain again."

Annie Lennox' vocals are the highlight of this track from their 1983 album "Touch".


2. Prince: "Purple Rain"

The title track from his movie and album from 1985. 


3. Guns n' Roses: "November Rain"

Heartfelt rock ballad. Axel Rose's vocals soar.


4. Travis: "Why does it always rain on me?"

From 1999's "The Man Who" album, this track by the Scottish band is just an amazing tune.


5. Bob Dylan: "A hard rains gonna fall."

Poetic, epic and political commentary with an angry edge. Legendary song.


6. Phil Collins: "I wish it would rain down."

Not everyone's favourite artist but this song is reminiscent of the best Genesis songs.



7. Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Have you ever seen the rain?"

1970's Rock at its very best

8. The Beatles: Rain

Yes, even the Fab 4 get on the list with the B-side to the single "Paperback Writer".

9. Peter Gabriel: Red Rain

1 list 10 songs. 2 former Genesis lead singers. What does that tell you about me. 


10. Tina Turner: I can't stand the Rain

A great cover version with a storming vocal performance.




#top10 #rain #thebeatles #petergabriel #eurythmics #philcollins *creedenceclearwaterrevival #prince #travis #bobdylan #gunsnroses #tinaturner


Monday, 22 June 2020

How to speak proper...like what I do.

Hello Gentle Readers

Lena and I were recently shocked to discover that there are people out there who are charging people to teach them a 'PROPER' English accent.

In my opinion, if you are learning English, its the words not the accent thats important.
So we decided to make a series of videos to help.

The first one is below. Happy Viewing.

If you cant see the video  switch to web version.


#thomsonsworld #learnbetterenglish

Sunday, 21 June 2020

Today in History: June 21st

Hello Gentle Readers

Yes its been a while but my foot is better now and my Twitter is working so lets slip on the facemask of time and avoid the nasty bugs of history 


1900: China declares war on the USA, UK, Germany, France and Japan during the Boxer rebellion.

1978: The musical 'Evita' opens in London.

1979: MCU actor Chris Pratt is born.


1982:Prince William of Wales, Duke of Cambridge is born.


2001: Blues legend John Lee Hooker dies.

https://youtu.be/nUUyFrHERp


2009: Greenland starts self-rule.


#todayinhistory #june21 #boxerrebellion #evita #chrispratt #princewilliam #greenland #johnleehooker