Two hundred thirty-two years after the Declaration of Independence with the phrase:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…”

Enshrined into our imperfect US Constitution was an imperfect union that limited the right of those truths to white land-holding men, delegating blacks to 3/5 of a person to count only for taxes and representatives for those white land-holding men in order to deal with the dichotomy of slavery between the northern and southern states.

A brutal civil war and pain-staking Civil Rights Movement removed many of those imperfections, but feelings lingered for many affecting the cultures of race, politics, and communities. Lives were lost, cultural heritages destroyed, families split apart, and politics of fear used to strike terror in the unknown or differences within America.

Yet, the brilliant gems in the American ideals that has stood its time is and will always be that anyone, anywhere around the world could come to America, strike a living, become a citizen of the United States of America, and potentially see their own naturally born son or daughter become the President of the United States. That no matter your race, culture, creed, and so forth, you have the opportunity to become a part of the United States unlike nearly every other nation on the Earth.

The United States has stumbled through many periods of its short history, but continues to learn from its mistakes and come back to the core ideals of the American dream that has made it stand strong. We may not always do as we preach, but when we do, we shine greater than any star save Sol. When we hold to our ideals, it shines through, whether as the shining beacon on the hill or through the change that we bring to the world.

It is in our ever-changing US Constitution that the American people believe that change positively can affect our lives without destroying the essentials of who we are as Americans or as human beings. We are a country of odd beliefs, proposing grand ideas such as the League of Nations, then refusing to join it, only to finally bring it to fruition with the United Nations. A country that loves new words and new cultures, mix it around, and call it our own. We are a country that soon will be a majority of minorities.

And now we are a country that has elected the first black President in the Western world into the world’s most powerful and most influential nation. The United States of America’s 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama.

Two hundred and thirty-two years after our declaration of independence, the United States is now ruled (okay, technically not until 2009) by a face that is not of Anglo-Saxon origin. When he travels around the world, he now embodies the change, the uniqueness, and the ideals of America. He brings disonance to the propaganda that the US only talks about its ideals, but never acts on it. He proves that a son of a man from Africa can become the leader of the free world. He proves that having a unique name, even an Arabic name of a dictator we just overthrew, does not disqualify him to the American people in choosing him to lead our nation from the White House.

The transformation for the US and the world has only just begun for a better way. The change that we all can believe in has only just started. Yet, President Barack Obama has only finished the easy part–hope can only go so far. His expectations by many far and wide are very high and the challenges that the US and world face are numerous. Nonetheless, for this night the toast goes to President Barack Obama and his transformational win to the world, to the US, and to the American people.

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Watched the History Channel again talk about how the Chinese, being the first to develop gunpowder, were able to modify the type of mixtures to produce both slow and fast burning chemical explosives (Not a surprising thing from what Americans learn in elementary school history).

What I had no idea about was that the Chinese produced short-range flamethrowers, that though it was more psychological than useful, the Chinese flamethrowers were often used on the front lines of Chinese military lines during the Song Dynasty.

The Chinese were able to produce many innovative and completely new inventions in the military arena (and others as well of course). Other weapons included the triple crossbow, a 25 foot long crossbow used for long-range weaponry that could fire a mile away. It was mounted on a pivot for accuracy and mobility to hit a specified target.

The most surprsing? Chinese landmines in the 13th century–timed landmines similar to those used in Vietnam thousand years later.

Keep in mind the Chinese ability to innovate and invent when China begins to reach the top again.

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Yes, Jews made it even into China, during the time when Kaifeng was the capital of China. Filination has an exerpt of this from the Haaretz:

This is quite a remarkable story of a Chinese Jewish community in Kaifeng-China. Haaretz tells their story with “Taking the Silk Route back home”:

Jin Jin and Nina Wang are students in Hebrew University’s preparatory program. They will soon commence their BA studies, but they already have long-term dreams. Jin wants to eventually serve as a diplomat in the Foreign Ministry. Wang hopes to use her diverse knowledge of languages to represent Israeli companies in China. The two women belong to one of the smallest Jewish communities in Israel - immigrants from Kaifeng, China - which numbers just 10 souls.

[...]

Read on to learn more all on this. In 2005 I was fortunate enough to meet a former Chinese tour-guide who would show foreigners around about the Chinese Jews who once lived in Kaifeng. He knew Hebrew fluently and definitely put me to shame on my lackluster Hebrew skills.

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I keep watching the history channel and am never ceased to be amazed by what I can learn about Chinese history and its technological prowess in ancient times.

(more…)

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I must say, I really do enjoy the History Channel as it provides some great insight and new changes into ancient history. What fascinates me is how technology and science of Ancient Rome did not disappear, but moved towards the Middle East during the 8th to 13th Centuries (known as the Islamic Century) where all the knowledge moved into the House of Wisdom. (more…)

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I wanted to follow-up on my previous post about Life After People by the History Channel as I ran across an article online by the Discover Magazine called “Earth Without People.” Essentially it has the same fundamental concepts as what the History Channel will show on January 21st, but it was written back in 2005:

Given the mounting toll of fouled oceans, overheated air, missing topsoil, and mass extinctions, we might sometimes wonder what our planet would be like if humans suddenly disappeared. Would Superfund sites revert to Gardens of Eden? Would the seas again fill with fish? Would our concrete cities crumble to dust from the force of tree roots, water, and weeds? How long would it take for our traces to vanish? And if we could answer such questions, would we be more in awe of the changes we have wrought, or of nature’s resilience?

It was a great read and now the only thing I hope is that I didn’t ruin watching the Life After People special if it takes the same stuff from that. (more…)

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Bump and Update on 1/29/2007:

Please go here if you are looking for my thoughts on Life After People.

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What looks to be a fascinating TV special by the History Channel coming up on January 21st called “Life After People“:

The human species appeared on Earth about two million years ago and has been changing it ever since. What will Earth look like in the days, weeks, months, years and millennia after humans are gone? How long would it take for our edifices to crumble–all traces of us gone, to be replaced by primordial forests, wild boar, rare cranes in pristine marshes? The clues to the future are right here in the present but are illuminated when we look through the lens of history. Experts from all fields of science will paint the picture, and the destructions and resurrections will all be animated by the magic of George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic. (Genres: Science & Technology, Special)

Even David Brin is will be getting into it as he notes on Daily Kos:

Watch your favorite Brin put down his pundit thing on the History Channel (again) on January 21, in a docu-future bit called Life After People… a fun look at what could happen to our cities… and animals… if humanity suddenly disappeared.

Would like to put a note via an RSS feed or something, but its unfortunately too far out on the History Channel’s website at this point, but so it goes.

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Ian Walsh at Firedoglake has a quick and interesting post on possible parallels about in his opinion how the US is declining similar to four various ways as defined by his points. I don’t necessarily agree with him, but thought to point out the interesting ideas that he’s laid out there (and really for something as bold of a point as that, should go into far more detail).

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