Its Kevin

Category: Meditations

  • Hankering for Hoe Cakes

    All my friends know that I love to cook. I see it as my therapy, and a tasty way to exercise my creativity. I will cook anything, but some days I just want comfort food. I just want some fried chicken, Macaroni and cheese, Greens, and some Hoe Cakes.

    Yes, you read that correctly, Hoe Cakes. They are deliciousness in your mouth. They are similar to pancakes, but can be eaten at any time of day and with any meal, or as a snack.

    A cornmeal hoe cake, or hoecake, also known as Jonnycakes, is a sort of fried cornmeal flatbread – kind of like if you took cornbread batter and skillet fried it like a pancake. The inside puffs up like cornbread, while the outside gets nice and crispy from frying it in the oil. It’s the perfect companion to a mess o’greens, or for breakfast or as a sweet treat when drizzled with a bit of syrupp.

    Personally, I prefer my Hoecakes to be sweet with a little bit of honey or molasses. Talking about them is just making me hungry. Here is a link for you, and join me with my favorite treat. Y’all ain’t tried nothing ’till you had these little darlin’s. And that’s real talk.


    Deep South Dish: Southern Cornmeal Hoe Cakes

    – Maverick

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  • If You Build It, They Will Learn.

    If You Build It, They Will Learn.

    I am all about learning, and believe me, you couldn’t get me out of the library as a kid. This blog is just plane awesome.

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  • America, Its Workforce, Its Unemployed, Its Blind.

    By Jay Nichols:

     

    According to the US Census Bureau, in 2012, there were about 197.8 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 64.

    According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2013, about 7.6% or about 15 million 50 thousand were unemployed.

    According to the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) in 2011, there were about 3.4 million blind adults in the US between the ages of 18 and 64.

    Depending on the month, and how you define employment, in 2013, according to the NFB, between 77% and 78% of those 3.4 million blind adults are unemployed, about 2.65 million people.

    If these numbers are accurate, then this means that about 17.6% of America’s unemployed is blind.

    Everyone talks about the unemployed, how difficult it is to find work, how the president is doing a bad job because so many good citizens are out of work, ETC.

    I for one have a question.

    If 17.6% of the unemployed is blind, then why is No one talking about this?  Does the United States care so little for its blind population?  Am I the first to notice this?  Does America care so little for us, than no one has thought to mention this?

    Alternatively, even worse, does the unemployment rate among the blind not even figure in to the statistics?  If we do, then from a sighted standpoint, the unemployment is only about 6.26%, which if you just ignore the millions of blind, is not that bad.

    If we aren’t even considered when the unemployment is given, then that means nearly 9% of the adults in the US are unemployed, and over one in six of those have almost no chance of obtaining lasting employment, as we do not even appear on the radar.

    To give a comparison, at the height of the Great Depression, about 25% of the workforce (at the time mostly men) was unemployed.

    Our grandparents told us of the virtually unimaginable horror of those dark times.  Every chance we get, we compare this or that statistic to the Great Depression.  It is the worst, or the most since those dark times.  It is something against all the bad economic news can be compared to in order to make a political point, or to make us feel that these times really are not that bad, things could be so much worse!

    Mention the figure of 25% unemployment to a blind American like myself, and I will respond with-

    WOW!  25% of the people are unemployed.  Please, tell me how I can get to the Promised Land!

    We have all heard how difficult it was to find or to maintain employment during the Great Depression.  However, remember, even during its height, 75% of Americans had a job.  Today, 77.5% of the blind do not have a job, and have little chance of getting let alone maintaining one.

     PS: Sadly, numbers for America’s deaf are not available.  There is currently no clear data to determine how many deaf, or hard-of-hearing Americans there are, let alone how many are unemployed.  However, there is a general belief that there are far more deaf than blind in the US, and that the unemployment numbers are about the same.

     

     

    Jay Nichols is a vision-impaired student of History and Religious studies at California State University, Sacramento. In his spare time, he can often be found having deep philosophical discussions about world events, or roaming the wilderness with his faithful guide dog Kennedy.

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  • Star Wars Leave of Absense

    I am not a Star Wars fan. However, this video gave me my morning chuckle. Imagine Anakin Skywalker, just before he went bat shite crazy as Darth Vader, requesting a leave of absence from the Jedi Council to save his mother. Yes, I know George Lucas didn’t’ put that part in the movie, but can you imagine the frustration he’s going through as the flunky makes coffee and constantly interrupts him?

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  • Blindness Beatitudes

    After a life of being both sighted and blind, I have found it comforting to be identified as someone who is equal, rather than as someone with a disability. My disability is a part of my reality, but I do not need to be reminded of this by everyone I meet. Whether you do it intentionally or not, as a joke or as a way to be less awkward, you are making me uncomfortable. Blessed then are those who treat me as a normal person. For as a normal person I started, and it is with a few extra steps and tools that I do the same jobs as you yourself.

      1. Blessed are you who ask rather than assume, for in asking me if I need assistance, you show me dignity.
    • Blessed are you when you tell me you are leaving, for it humiliates me to talk to the air!

     

    • Blessed are you who believe that I can, for it frees me to figure out how.

     

    • Blessed are you when you speak normally to me, for yelling only damages my hearing!

     

    • Blessed are they who treat me like a human being, for like it or not, I am a human being.

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  • The Long Walk Home

    Josh lusted after Linda. When she finally agreed to go out with him, he took her out to dinner and then afterwards, drove her five miles out into the country, parked, and said passionately, “I want you right here, right now. Do it… or you can walk home!” Without saying a word, Linda got out of the car and walked home.

    A month later, after much apologizing, Linda agreed to go out with Josh again. This time he drove ten miles out in the country, parked, and begged, “Please. I must make love to you right now. Do it… or walk home!” Again, Linda walked home.

    Two months later, after even more apologizing and gifts of flowers and jeweler, she accepted another invitation. This time, just to make sure, Josh drove fifty miles out of town and gave her the same ultimatum. Without a word, Linda undressed and gave him the greatest sex of his young life.

    As they were driving home, Josh asked, “Why did you walk home the first two dates, when you so obviously enjoy sex?” Linda answered, “Well, it’s like this: I’ll walk five miles or even ten miles to save a friend from AIDS, but fifty…?”

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  • The Pledge is Always the Pledge, Even In Colorado.

    A high school in Colorado has decided to allow its students to say the pledge of allegiance in Arabic. Students received some heat from their contemporaries, but mingled in among the harsh words, were words of praise. Its takes a special kind of bravery to be able to speak what is arguably one of the most powerful statements in a language that is seen by many in the United States as inferior.

    “No matter what language it’s said in, pledging your allegiance to the United States is the same in every language,” said sophomore club member Skyler Bowden. School recites pledge in Arabic

    When I was a child, I once got in trouble for saying the pledge in Spanish. About ten years later, prominent members of the Hispanic community released a version of the star spangled Banner fully in Spanish to combat the rising racism and border controversies against undocumented workers specifically, and Hispanics in general. To this day, I prefer the Spanish version, “Neustro Himno”, to our Star Spangled banner.

    I also congratulate the high school students for taking a step towards true cultural competence. These students are our country’s future, and they make me proud.

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  • Environment Can Play A Role in Genetic Susceptibility To Psychological Disorders.

    Schizophrenia and other serious psychological disorders typically manifest during young adulthood or late adolescence. For years researchers have tried to find out causal factors, their associated triggers and prevention strategies.

     

    A study performed by a team headed by Akira Sawa, director of the Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center, appeared in the journal Science on Jan. 18 indicates that chronic stress during adolescence influences the function of a gene known to place people at risk for developing several types of mental illness. The study’s findings also indicate the importance in mental illness of epigenetics, which is the study of how people’s experience and environment affect the function of their genes.

     

    In the paper, researchers describe a mechanism for why this happens, along with a possible drug that might help prevent the onset of the disease by targeting the stress system.

     

    The study can be found: At the Journal Science.
    Sawa A. Et al. (2013).  “Adolescent Stress–Induced Epigenetic Control of Dopaminergic Neurons via Glucocorticoids” Science, Vol. 339 no. 6117 pp. 335-339. DOI: 10.1126/science.1226931.

     

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  • We Lie to Our Children

    As everybody knows, unless your just not payign attention, most parents tell lies to their children as a tactic to change their behaviour. Often in my case it did not work, but it was a popular practice in my childhood. A study of families in the United States and China indicates that this practice is an international constant and may have long-term effect on behavioral development. Oddly, the most frequent example related to parents threatening to leave children alone in public unless they behaved in socially acceptibole ways. “I’m goign to leave you little Jimmy!!!” (Oh the KMart memories!)

    Persuasion ranged from invoking the support of the tooth fairy to telling children they would go blind unless they ate particular vegetables.
    Another strategic example was: “That was beautiful piano playing.”

    Read more on the BBC’s website: Most Parent’s Lie to Their Children.

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  • How Martin Luther King Got His Day.

    Martin Luther King, Jr. famously fought long and hard for racial equality. So perhaps it’s fitting that it took the efforts of several Americans more than 30 years to establish a holiday in his honor. Read more: How We Got MLK Day and Who Stood in the Way -by Nikki Gloudeman.

    I would not say fitting. More like very sad. As in, this is very sad that it took so long for a country to recognize the leader of a minority; a leader who put is personal freedoms on the line for his beliefs; a leader whose only hope was for a better life for all Americans to be recognized.

    They didn’t ask this kid. However, If they did, I would say that recognizing him for his accomplishments and legacy is much more important than celebrating the lives of some expired “heros” whose only virtue and legacy is … answering a call to arms. Peace before war, is my opinion.

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