George Washington Carver (Part 2)

Carver did many things to pay for his expenses. He sold hominy which he had made, and sometimes ironed clothes for classmates. He found an old stove at the city dump and brought it home to cook meals for his friends. He used old wrapping paper for notebooks. "Don't throw anything away," he would say. "Everything can be used again." After he graduated , they asked him to teach biology to the beginning students. Later he was asked to teach at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Carver started studying diseases which were attacking the farmers' crops. He also did a lot of experimenting to find new ways to use different plants. He made more than 300 products from peanuts. He even made soap and ink from peanuts. From sweet potatoes, he made 118 products, including flour and candy. He made 75 products from pecans and even made a building material for walls from cotton stalks. He had many good ideas.

Later in his life, Thomas Edison offered him $100,000 a year to come and work for him, but he thought he could do more good at Tuskegee. He made his students work hard, and he insisted they do each experiment right. If they told him they had done something "about right," he would say, "Don't tell me it's 'about right.' If it is 'about right,' then it is wrong." Money, stylish clothes, and fine cars were not important to him. He thought the truly successful person was the one who had learned to serve others.

George Washington Carver (Part 1)

As far as I am concerned, George Washington Carver is one of the finest scientists the world has ever known. The contributions he has made to mankind are hard to match. The following information about him was obtained from "Garden of Praise," a registry for educational materials. His inventions/discoveries have improved the quality of life for millions and millions of people. His quotes are inspirational and show a great deal of love for humanity of all ages. He was born in 1860 and died in 1943.

George Washington Carver was born in Missouri on the Moses Carver plantation. His parents were slaves. His father died right before George was born, then while he was still a baby, slave traders kidnapped him and his mother. Only George was returned to the plantation. When he was a baby, he had a disease called whooping cough. It left him sickly and he couldn't do hard work like the other slaves. His chores were cooking and sewing. He loved to work in the garden. He taught himself to read. His family was so poor, he could not afford to buy a pencil, so he made a holder and used a pencil that was only 1/4 inch long.

He wrote to a college to enroll and they accepted him, but when they found out he was black, they told him he could not attend. After five more years when he was 30 years old, he was accepted at a college in Iowa. He did so well, his teacher helped him to get a transfer to Iowa State College where he studied botany. He learned about plants and farming.

Fantasy Is A Poor Substitute

We see substitutes everywhere. We see them on the benches of teams involved in athletic contests. Students see them in public schools every day. What about the fulfillments of our goals and aspirations? We need to go after them and not make excuses. In particular, please be reminded that fantasy and imagination are a means to an end. How can we envision something unless we imagine it being fulfilled some day? However, the vision is not the fulfillment of the vision, it is only the vision. Go ahead and have a vision, make your plans and proceed. Go ahead and dream, then proceed to turn them into reality. One might think: "Hey I'm not bothering anyone." Did that person ever think that perhaps; because of his laziness, he is depriving himself, and possibly others of something innovative, life-changing, and beneficial to many? Selfishness deprives. Laziness deprives. Laziness and selfishness work together to produce fantasy as a substitute. Go for the real thing. What are you afraid of? Are you afraid to fail? Go for something that endures and yields positive results. Fantasy is a poor substitute.

"Go Get You One"

This blog entry is dedicated to all of the jealous people in the world who cannot stand it when one of their "friends" or someone else receives, achieves, perceives, conceives or even believes something that they are unable or unwilling to experience. This particular jealous person's name is Jay Jeal. His acquaintances (he does not have friends) call him "Gigyo." Gigyo is an acrostic for "Go get you one." At parties, Gigyo was too shy to ask a girl to dance, so he waited for someone else to take a girl to the dance floor and then he would grab the girl's arm and dance with her. Once a guy at the party pushed him and told him: "Go get you one." Gigyo was actually intelligent enough to have finished college but he never did because he spent too much time criticizing the system, the country and society. Jay Jeal, AKA Gigyo had some personal problems. He was too much in denial to deal with them. He could taste success because he had the possibility for it. But success was just a fantasy. And any success someone else had was to be attacked. He tried buying a house but he lost it. Success eluded him. He tried buying another house, but he lost that one as well. He would approach someone who had bought a house and say: "Thats' not your house, the bank owns it." Gigyo didn't have his own car because he couldn't make the payments, so he drove his mom's car. Gigyo had White middle class values, but he couldn't compete so he attempted to create an identity that reflected a hippy, Gypsy, Bohemian image. He attempted marriage several times, it suited him, but he did not have the moxie to deal with the challenges of marriage. Therefore when he saw people that were happily married, he criticized them and said they were shallow because compromises sometimes must be made to achieve marital bliss, and he didn't believe in compromises because "you were not being true to yourself." Possibly another way of saying "my way or the highway." One of his acquaintances had just bought a beautiful brand new car. Instead of saying anything positive about the car, Gigyo said: "Ha, good luck with the payments." Gigyo reminds me of a saying: "You don't have to blow out my candle to make yours shine brighter." Come on Gigyo.......go get you one.

Young Man Don't do Time, Take Time

This is not a rap song, and I am not trying to be rythmic. I don't do rap. I advise. My advice is good, not bad. I tell kids not to be lazy. I encourage them to study, to learn. Stay away from drugs, tobacco, liquor and bad company. Be respectful and courteous. Be the best you can be. Be on time. Take time. Make time. Make time count. Get out of bed. Get up. Dress up. Show up. Make things happen today. Connect with people. You say you are shy? Learn not to be shy. Take the time. People are more interesting than birds, dogs, cats, fish and all other animals. I know some people don't think so. This is because they are selfish, and all the animals just offer entertainment, allegiance, support and no strings attached. Okay, nothing wrong with that. However, take your life to a higher level. Again, I say connect with people. Connect with people you can learn from. Connect with people who are educated, talented and interesting. Connect with people who can teach, encourage and motivate you. You can also help them. If you don't take the time.....you might end up doing time.

Justice And Power

"Justice without power is inefficient. Power without justice is tyranny. Justice without power is opposed because there are always wicked men. Power without justice is soon questioned. Justice and power must therefore be brought together; so that whatever is just may be powerful and whatever is powerful may be just."
(BlaisePascal)

The above quote might very well be my favorite non-Biblical quote. When I taught political science in school, I used it extensively. I discussed it and I even created lesson plans around it. Here is an example of a discussion-provoking scenario: Your friend is on vacation. He lives in your neighborhood. It is a beautiful, warm summer night around 10:00 pm. You decide to go for a walk. You walk by your friend's house. You notice 3 burglars have broken into his house through the back door. They have loaded all of his sound equipment, televisions, computers, jewelry, clothing and other valuables into the back of a large pickup truck. You quickly realize what they are doing is wrong. It is an injustice. Those things do not belong to those men, they belong to your friend. You rush over to where they are and tell them: "Stop doing this, it is an injustice!" They proceed to point a gun at you. They say: "Get the hell out of here, or die!" Well....at least they gave you a choice. Let us change the scenario.....just a little. Same situation, except this time, instead of you showing up; 5 cop cars, including a canine unit, and 8 cops show up with their guns drawn. It seems that the execution of justice at the crime scene appears more realistic.