UFOs: The Pentagon is preparing to release a long-awaited report on UFO sightings that will be declassified later this summer. NASA recently completed pre-launch testing for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). When launched later this year the JWST will be the world’s premier space science observatory orbiting over a million miles from earth. JWST will peer into the universe to solve the mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Whether it be learning more about those who might be watching us, or learning more about our origins and distant worlds, these developments may make us feel a bit smaller in the grand scheme of things, but no less special. Both developments will remind us that we are all of one race, the human race, with more in common than not.
BLM: What a great name, Black Lives Matter, who could possibly take exception with that elegant phrase. And how fortunate we are for the many black lives that have enriched us all; Richard Allen, Ruby Bridges, Octavius Catto, Bessie Coleman, Rosa Parks, Jacki Robinson, Arthur Ashe, Robert Abbott, Maya Angelou, Ella Baker, Shirley Chisholm, Benjamin Davis, Frederick Douglas, Dr. Charles Drew and Dr. Ben Carson, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Katherine Johnson, Thurgood Marshall and so many more, and so many more yet to come. To the extent that BLM represents a movement for equality and social just for all, it can be a significant piece in realizing the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King. BLM is a banner under which a variety of different groups have organized and unfortunately the early rhetoric and recent violence of some is not in keeping with the heritage of these great Americans.
KKK: Primarily (and hopefully) a relic from the past, this terrorist hate group’s primary targets were African Americans as well as Jews, immigrants, leftists, homosexuals, Catholics, Muslims and atheists. While history should not be forgotten, recent estimates KKK total membership at slightly more than 3,000. That’s 3,000 too many, but as with all other fringe hate groups, they should be ridiculed until eradicated.
MLK: If there was ever a man needed in our times, it would be Martin Luther King Jr. A proponent of nonviolent protest he was a successful agent for change in truly troubled times. While the man is no longer with us, the words of MLK still resonate. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m rooting for the UFOs and the success of the JWST to remind us that we are all one race, the human race, and thus hasten the realization of Martin Luther King’s dream, “that all men should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.”
A wolf in a flock of sheep is a dangerous thing, but in truth, a rare occurrence. But “crying wolf” too often dulls the senses and creates a real and present danger.
Politicians and provocateurs associating charges of racism with every policy disagreement or tragic incident dulls the senses, drives us apart, and distracts the public conversation from the pressing social issues of the day. One such issue is education. A deteriorating educational system and inequality in education leads to inequality of opportunity and a lack of competitiveness. A lack of opportunity can be generationally self-perpetuating and is the gateway to a host of problems from health to poverty. We should strive to insure all our citizens have truly equal prospects for education which will provide the opportunity for all to reach their full human potential.
Bring on the extra-terrestrials, reunite the human race!
https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/
