Interesting

150 Years Later, US Still Debate Issues That Fueled Civil War

Source: Voice of America News

A total of eleven southern states left the Union. They formed the Confederate States of America. They wanted to continue their economic system based on agriculture and slavery.

Source: www.slate.com

In 1985, John Thompson was convicted of murder in Louisiana. Having already been convicted in a separate armed robbery case, he opted not to testify on his own behalf in his murder trial.

Source: CNN Justice

Former NBA star Allen Iverson launched an expletive-ridden tirade against police when a car belonging to him was pulled over for a traffic violation last week, at one point telling the officer, "Take the vehicle, I have 10 more," according to a police report.

How Slavery Really Ended in America

Source: The New York Times

On May 23, 1861, little more than a month into the Civil War, three young black men rowed across the James River in Virginia and claimed asylum in a Union-held citadel. Fort Monroe, Va., a fishhook-shaped spit of land near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, had been a military post since the time of the first Jamestown settlers.

Source: The Huffington Post-AOL News

Indeed, social Darwinism is a bastardization of the largely meaningless concept of "survival of the fittest," coined by Herbert Spencer rather than Charles Darwin. Social Darwinism has been used by its proponents to advance a wide array of causes from eugenics to the belief that government should not fund social programs because such programs simply help the poor, or, as some crassly express it, the less fit, survive.

Source: BlackVoices.com

During the event, which honored hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs with the Renaissance Man of the Decade award, Simmons attempted to make amends with the Emmy Award-winning comedy icon by apologizing for his criticism. His effort was met with a scathing response.

www.religiondispatches.org

Rappers often credit God in their liner notes, acceptance speeches, and raps. They brag about being God’s sons and daughters. Some Five Percenter rappers have even claimed to be God, but few mainstream rappers have done so with the gusto of Jay-Z, also known by the nickname Jay-Hova, after the Judeo-Christian God.