A Word of Advice

    Once again, a few weeks ago I found myself sifting through the nonsense people love to regurgitate on Facebook fan pages, or anywhere on the Internet for that matter. This particular post was in response to another wonderful discussion on the United States of America Facebook Fan Page entitled “What makes America so shit?” which garnered more responses than nearly every other post on the entire page. Taking that into account, it really needs no further introduction:

     All of you should consider actually learning the English language and utilizing it appropriately in your arguments. Perhaps then those arguments would have some proportionable weight in structure and content to the level of grammar used. It is hysterical at first to see not a single person grammatically correct in his or her writing. In the end, however, it is really just sad to realize that exactly what we are all doing here and now is the very culprit in practically dismantling entirely the fundamental building blocks of credible argumentative essays--a strong thesis, verifiable supporting data, proper sentence structure and appropriate punctuation. When the age of 'Internet-Ready Everything' dawned nearly a decade ago, texting and instant messaging immediately grew to become the ultimate source of acronyms and laziness in writing. But that is alright because here in the United States, you can go and get a star-spangled quality education at an affordable cost. There's just one little catch--you can't. Unless you are rich the cost of that quality education is so far out of your income range that it is just easier to stay stupid. And if anybody wants to get a loan, it becomes nearly impossible. Instead of basing the qualification to receive loans for education on the desire alone to attend school, it has become subject to the ever-changing, little, imaginary number called a credit score--a number which changes at the whim of credit card companies; the same ones that charge you 30% or more interest on your balance. Not a problem because that is what the purpose of life is: to focus all of our time and energy to the embellishment of the monetary system. (I hope that none of you agreed with that last sentence because it was clearly sarcasm.) But, it's okay because you still have a great Health plan. Oh, that's right--you don't. Unless you are rich or in government, good luck getting approval from an insurance company for a surgical procedure that could save your life because your illness is deemed "pre-existing" or some other invidious circumstance in place to maximize profits by saving money. Don't worry; at least you will still have a house to live in until you do die--uh oh.

     It was asked in the title of this post, "Why is America so shit?" I don't think that the United States is shit; yet. Slowly but surely, however, morons like G.W., Sarah Palin, the tea baggers and many, many more ignorant, arrogant douches are proudly wadding this country up in Charmin and flushing it down the toilet. George W. Bush is a sinker, along with the rest of the Sesame Street Administration; Palin is a floater just like the ice up there in Alaska; and the tea party is just a bunch of inbetweeners--you know, the ones that touch the bottom yet stick out of the water a little. All of this is happening, though, because people love so much to have opinions in this country, even if those opinions are unfounded, incredible or just plain ignorant. (Granted, this is a very opinionated post, but these opinions are based on obvious facts, research and observation of the painful truths here in the U.S. and are mostly intended in this particular as dry humor.) My favorite incredible claim is that the United States is the best damn country in the whole wide world. But, that's just fine because you can always start a reality show about how great your life is. There's just one problem: it’s not. Anyways, you won't because you are too lazy and will not stop spouting about how great this country is one instant, then just as obstacles arise the next, what a piece of shit this country is. The Constitution of the United States of America, however twisted and backward the government has become, guarantees you the freedoms to say and do what you want and grants you the privilege/right to be a citizen. And even that has changed a bit due to the Patriot Act. But, as I am sure there are only a few of you that have actually read the Constitution (four pages is just so much to have to read, I know), I am almost certain that none of you have read the 342-page Patriot Act which actually does abridge some of your rights and freedoms, especially those in Amendment V.

     Honestly, I could go on all day. But that is not my purpose in posting here today. What I am doing is challenging each and every one of you to better yourself; better your understanding of the world; and to learn how to write effectively. Don’t just act like your opinion is supposed to be of such prominent importance and strong subject matter when in fact the only place you are probably posting your grammatically incorrect discourse is here; on a Facebook fan page. Do some type of research and learn how to spell. And to those who will undoubtedly rebuttal with some sort of “I’m so patriotic!” garbage or "You're an asshole!"—you are exactly who I am talking about so get over yourself. Grow up people and do something beneficial to the whole of society. Life does not revolve around being a citizen of the United States of America. Don’t just sit here and whine about things because you can; that just makes things worse. If you want to truly get involved, learn about your government and ways to interact with that government before deciding to boast about your wonderful opinions. Then, actually do something. Bitching about anything and everything, neglecting to advance ideas on the betterment of anything and everything, is exactly what makes people all around the world look at the U.S. and laugh. (Do not twist my words with some sad excuse for a remark against what I just wrote. I did not say that everyone around the world laughs at us. Many people love the United States and move here because of our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms that so many of us take for granted on a daily basis; but, many people also despise the United States because of narrow-mindedness as well as arrogance and want us gone.) Perhaps I will be proven correct within a few of the following posts…

Footsteps in the Sands of Time

     It began in the early 1950’s as genetics, which studies heredity and the evolution of a species by examining its molecular structures, was exploding into mainstream science. Dr. Luca Cavalli, then the Professor of genetics at the University of Parma, was beginning down a path of revolutionary discovery that would eventually lead him on an expedition to Africa in the 1970’s as he took a professorship at Stanford; the purpose—blood. Dr. Cavalli was in search of variations and similarities in DNA among the isolated tribes that could link each and every one of our pasts to a single ancestry. Just two decades later, a young and very optimistic student would begin researching with Dr. Cavalli at Stanford; Spencer Wells. Even as technology improved and research began to take genetics to new heights, it would be another ten years before Wells would set out on a journey that would change our perspective on everything we ever thought we knew about ourselves—the Journey of Man.

     In 2002, Dr. Spencer Wells, a noted geneticist and anthropologist, was determined to prove a theory which was the result of research that began with Cavalli nearly a half century earlier. Wells believed that every person on Earth could trace his or her lineage back some 2000 generation to perhaps a single man that led a migration out of Africa to eventually populate the entire world. This hypothesis was based on decades of accumulated data on genetic mutations, or “markers”, in the male Y-chromosome and Dr. Wells was absolutely confident that it was undeniable. However, it would take more than just data to convince billions of people around the world, which have been subject to many different cultures, traditions, beliefs and religions for thousands of years, that, fundamentally, we are all one and the same. So, the journey picked up where Dr. Cavelli left off—in Africa.

     The San Bushmen tribe is where it all began nearly 50,000 years ago. One of the most isolated tribes in the world, the Bushmen of South Africa retains a dialect of clicks and words that comprise what is thought to have been one of Humankind’s original spoken languages. From this tribe, a group of only ten or twenty decided to make a trek north out of Africa and would eventually end up following the coast of India into Australia to populate around ten percent of the globe including the Aborigine tribe. Soon after, another group took a different route to the Middle East. Splitting into two groups, the first would branch into northern India and rapidly expand its population; the second made its way towards China. From this area in modern-day Kazakhstan, two more groups had diverged paths and after nearly 10,000 years, the first Human Beings would finally make it west to Europe (and beyond to become Americans) and northeast towards North America. It would not be, however, until around 15- to 13000-years ago that these well-adapted Humans would cross the Bering Strait and become Native American Indian tribes. How did they do it?

     It is believed that around that time, the temperature had fallen and waters along the strait receded substantially to allow for passage across this most perilous passageway. Even so, these conditions are crippling to anyone who is unconditioned for the unimaginable temperatures inside the Arctic Circle, which easily reach -60 degrees Celsius. The Chuckchi of northeastern Russia still live in this arid, hostile environment and are proof of just how resilient the Human body truly is. And, it is doubtless that this was the path taken by this group of only about ten people. By about 11,000 years ago, these people made it through Canada and into what is now the United States; and, in just 800 years to the tip of South America. The land provided plentiful resources and so the population expanded rapidly. It took 35,000 years for Humans to fully populate the Earth, and another 15,000 until a curious scientist decided to retrace those steps. The results can be summed up best in Dr. Wells’ words: “The markers I follow are found only in men, in their Y-chromosome—the chromosome that makes men; men. But, of course, men don’t travel alone and the journey of man is the journey of everyone.”