Category Archives: Culture

Ancestry, Culture, genealogy, History

Andrew “Andy” Samuel Griffith,18th cousin 2x removed

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Andrew “Andy” Samuel Griffith is my 18th cousin 2x removed. That ancestor who connects us as relative is Eleanor Plantagenet Fitzalan de Beaumont (1311 – 1372), my 17th great grandmother.

Andy Samuel Griffith was born on June 1, 1926 and died on July 3, 2012. He had been an American actor, comedian, television producer, Southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television.

Recognized for his southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff, gregarious voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for 2 roles, and gained prominence within the starring role in director Elia Kazan’s film A Face when you look at the Crowd (1957) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor within the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock into the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).

My genealogical chart show the ancestor who connects us as relatives:

ANDREW SAMUEL (ANDY) GRIFFITH (1926 – 2012)
18th cousin 2x removed

Carl Lee Griffith (1894 – 1975)
Father of ANDREW SAMUEL (ANDY) GRIFFITH

Sarah Frances Taylor (1872 – 1958) Mother of Carl Lee Griffith
Henry Clayton Taylor (1843 – 1900) Father of Sarah Frances Taylor

Sarah E. Taylor (1811 – 1907)
Mother of Henry Clayton Taylor

Nancy Williams (1787 – 1866)
Mother of Sarah E. Taylor

Frances Strange (1767 – 1794)
Mother of Nancy Williams

Elizabeth Sisson
Mother of Frances Strange

Hannah Parker (1706 – )
Mother of Elizabeth Sisson

Richard Parker (1670 – )
Father of Hannah Parker

Richard Parker , Dr. (1630 – 1683)
Father of Richard Parker

Katherine Buller (1600 – 1686)
Mother of Richard Parker , Dr.

Richard Buller , Sir (1578 – 1642)
Father of Katherine Buller

Francis Buller (1545 – 1616)
Father of Richard Buller , Sir

Margaret Jane Trethruffe (1505 – 1576)
Mother of Francis Buller

Thomas Trethruffe (1478 – 1529)
Father of Margaret Jane Trethruffe

Elizabeth Courtenay (1447 – )
Mother of Thomas Trethruffe

Hugh de Courtenay , Sir (1414 – 1471)
Father of Elizabeth Courtenay

Maude de Beaumont (1388 – 1467)
Mother of Hugh de Courtenay , Sir

John Beaumont (1361 – 1396)
Father of Maude de Beaumont

Henry de Beaumont (1340 – 1369)
Father of John Beaumont

Eleanor Plantagenet Fitzalan de Beaumont (1311 – 1372)
Mother of Henry de Beaumont

Ancestry, Culture, genealogy

Irene Ryan,6th cousin 3x removed

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Irene Ryan is my 6th cosin 3x times removed. The ancestor who connects us together is Thomas Claiborne, my 8th great grandfather.

Irene Ryan (born Jessie Irene Noblitt; October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) ended up being an American actress who found triumph in vaudeville, radio, film, television, and Broadway.

Ryan is most extensively known for her depiction of Daisy May “Granny” Moses, the mother-in-law of Buddy Ebsen’s character, on the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971), for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1963 and 1964.

My genealogical chart show the ancestor the connect us as relatives.

Irene Ryan (1902 – 1973)
6th cousin 3x removed

James Marritt Noblitt (1856 – 1913)
Father of Irene Ryan

Elizabeth “Eliza” Rebecca Thompson (1830 – 1880)
Mother of James Marritt Noblitt

Solomon Thompson (1790 – 1863)
Father of Elizabeth “Eliza” Rebecca Thompson

Jane Ann Dawson (1758 – 1829)
Mother of Solomon Thompson

Joseph Thompson (1728 – 1813)
Father of Jane Ann Dawson

Sarah Claiborne (1713 – 1777)
Mother of Joseph Thompson

Thomas Claiborne (1680 – 1732)
Father of Sarah Claiborne

Culture, Ethics, History, Politics

Did Rep Justin Amash say,”Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct?”

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Rep. Justin Amash has become the very first Republican that is congressional to for the president’s impeachment based on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

The special counsel did not establish that the Trump campaign or anybody associated with it plotted or synchronized with Russia. He additionally provided no conclusion on the matter of feasible obstruction of justice, choosing instead to go out of that decision for Congress.

Amash stated that the 448-page report “identifies multiple examples” of the president’s conduct pleasing all of the aspects of blockage of justice.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stopped short of calling for impeachment but left the doorway open to the chance, though Democratic leaders are reluctant to introduce a divisive effort that would likely end with all the president’s acquittal within the GOP-led Senate.

Culture, Ethics, Politics

Trump administration wants to cut $7.1 billion to Education Department

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The Trump administration is wanting to diminish the Education Department’s funding by $7.1 billion in comparison to what it had been given last year, as an element of next year’s proposed budget.

The budget proposal recommends eliminating 29 programs, including after-school and summer time programs for students in high-poverty areas, among other activities.

The budget proposal is unlikely to pass through through Congress – especially with Democrats in charge of your house, however, it really is a glimpse to the Trump administration’s priorities going in to the next fiscal 12 months.

In a statement , Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the proposed cuts reveal “commitment to investing taxpayer dollars sensibly and efficiently by consolidating or eliminating duplicative and inadequate federal programs.”

Behavioral Science, Culture, Health

Zen meditation good for clearing the mind

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The seemingly nonsensical Zen practice of “thinking about not thinking” could help free the mind of distractions, new brain scans reveal.

This suggests that Zen meditation could help treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (so-called ADD or ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder, major depression, and other disorders marked by distracting thoughts.

In the last decade, there has been a resurgence of scientific research into meditation, due in part to the full availability and increasing sophistication of brain-scanning techniques. For instance, scientists recently found that months of intense training in meditation can sharpen a person’s brain enough to help them notice details they might otherwise miss.

Ancestry, Culture, History, Jewish Community

What is the Levant?

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The word Levant is not ancient, but the specific location included and displayed in these routes are. Like “Anatolia” or “Orient,” “Levant” describes the area of the rising of the sunlight, from the viewpoint for the western Mediterranean. The Levant may be the eastern area that is the Mediterranean covered by Israel, Lebanon, the element of Syria, and western Jordan. The Taurus Mountains are to your north as the Zagros Mountains are in the eastern and also the Sinai peninsula is located to the south. In the historical period, the part that is southern of Levant or Palestine ended up being called Canaan.

The Levant, which implies “rising” in the French Language, ultimately suggested what the understood globe ended up being from a European point of view. Find out about the past reputation for the Levant duration through ancient locations, Bible maps, and much more.

The Ages The real history for the Levant that is ancient includes Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Classical Age.

The Stone Age includes the stone tool that is earliest produced by people, produced over two million years back. Stone tools had been used for Flakes and Cores and used to butcher pets for meals.
The Bronze Age significantly used bronze, copper, proto-writing along with other developments in product culture in very early urban civilization.

The area that is archeological of Iron Age includes the prehistory and protohistory of the Old World where iron ended up being primarily used for smelting by metalworkers to produce tools and weapons. Also known as Classical antiquity, the Classical Age describes when the Greeks achieved new heights in art, architecture, literary works, theater, and philosophy. This period expanded a new maturity in Greece that lasted for roughly 200 years.

Ancestry, Culture, History, Jewish Community, Judaism

Did you know that 90% of Jews Are Genetically Linked to the Levant?

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Jews in communities round the globe show more hereditary characteristics with each other compared to they do making use of their non-Jewish neighbors, apart from India and Ethiopia.

Truly the only three conditions were the Jews of India, Ethiopia, and Georgia, who had additional similarity to their host nations than to other Jewish communities.

The study also showed the genetic ties involving the Jewish people as well as other peoples of the Levant: In communities representing 90 percent of this Jewish people worldwide, Jews were more genetically comparable to non-Jewish Levantines than their non-Jewish hosts were.

The analysis discovered genetic substructures not found in many other Middle Eastern populations.

Researchers from eight countries – Israel, Britain, the United States, Russia, Spain, Estonia, Portugal and Italy – compared 600,000 genetic markers in 114 people from 14 Diaspora Jewish communities and 1,161 individuals from 69 non-Jewish populations.

Contemporary Jews comprise an aggregate of ethno-religious communities whose worldwide members identify with each other through assorted shared religious, historical and cultural traditions.

Behavioral Science, Culture, mental health

Zen meditation helps to cope with depression and anxiety

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Zen meditation is a ancient Buddhist tradition that dates back to your Tang Dynasty in 7th century People’s Republic of China. From the Chinese root it extended to Korea, Japan as well as other Asian countries where it continues to thrive. The Japanese expression “Zen” is actually a derivative of the Chinese term Ch’an, itself a interlingual rendition regarding the Indian term dhyana, which implies focus or meditation.

Zen meditation is a ancient Buddhist discipline which could be practiced by new and experienced meditators alike. One of the many benefits of Zen meditation is the fact that it provides insight into the way the mind works. Just like other forms of Buddhistic meditation, Zen exercise could benefit individuals in countless ways, including providing resources to simply help cope one’s depression and anxiety problems. The greatest function is spiritual, because the practice of Zen meditation reveals the inherent understanding as well as workability of the mind. In Zen, having to deal with this authentic nature of mind is experiencing awareness.

For Zen Buddhists, meditation requires monitoring and letting go all the thoughts and feelings that arise within the mindstream, as well as building insight into the nature of body and mind. Unlike numerous popular forms of meditation which focus on relaxation and stress reduction, Zen meditation delves much deeper. Zen tackles deep-seated issues and basic life concerns that often appear to lack responses, also it does so dependent on practice and pure intuition instead than study and logic. Zen/Ch’an was famously characterized because of the great Buddhistic professional Bodhidharma as “A unique transmission beyond your instruction; not founded on words and letters; directly pointing to your human heartmind; seeing nature and becoming a Buddha.

All schools of Zen practice the sitting meditation called zazen where one sits upright and follows the breath, especially the movement associated with breath inside the belly. Some schools of Zen also practice with koans, a kind of spiritual riddle this is certainly presented by a Zen meditation master to your student, to assist them to overcome their rational limitations to be able to glimpse the facts beyond rationality. A famous koan is “What could be the sound of 1 hand clapping?” Traditionally, this practice requires a supportive connection between a genuine Zen master and a genuinely dedicated student.

As opposed to offering temporary solutions to life’s problems, Zen and other kinds of Buddhist meditation look to address core issues. The practice points into the true reason for the unhappiness and dissatisfaction we’ve all experienced and shifts our focus in a way that brings about true understanding.

The real key to happiness and well-being is not wealth or fame – it lies within us. As with any other genuine spiritual paths, Buddhism teaches that the more you give to others, the more you will get. In addition encourages awareness of interconnectedness and appreciation of all of the little gifts that life offers us, all contained through this present moment. As our concern and compassion for others expands, our personal fulfillment gradually increases in sync. As a Zen master might say, if you seek inner peace you won’t have the ability to think it is, however the act of giving within the concept of such a reward in itself – and focusing instead on others’ happiness – creates the alternative for lasting peace. That is truly the spiritual dimension of Zen.

On the everyday level, Zen trains your head to accomplish calmness. Meditators can also reflect with better focus and more creativity. Improved physical health is yet another benefit: individuals who practice zazen report lower blood pressure, reduced anxiety and stress, better immune systems, more restorative sleep, and other improvements.

Behavioral Science, Culture, Health

Climate change pose a huge risk to children’s mental health

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Understanding about all the approaches that climate change is impacting the planet can feel complicated. No part of the world has been left unblemished. Moreover, many people have been — and will be — damaged by the effects of rising greenhouse gases. Many of those effects may harm the bodily health of people, such as aggravating asthma or cardiovascular disease. However, climate change may be adverse for psychological well being as well. Moreover, children and teens are especially at risk, researchers now document.

Climate change affects individuals in many ways. Direct influences can hit very hard. Overwhelming weather and sea-level rise can destroy houses and real estate. People could suffer bodily damage from overwhelming events as well. Even when someone does not have these losses, they may worry in regards to what could happen in the foreseeable future. Depression, anxiety, post-trauma tension, sleep conditions, and other dilemmas can influence.

The brains of young children and teens happen to be still growing and growing. Those flourishing brains make young people particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors. Youths, in that case, have filed a claim against the United States federal government for failing to take action on environment change.

How Earth’s climate has been morphing could effortlessly disrupt “normal” life. For example, wildfires last year obliterated the town of Paradise, Calif. Kids and teenagers lost not only their homes but also their educational institutions. Many had to move away from their home town and friends. Young people may have had trouble coping with such new circumstances, not to mention missed school daily and dealing with their roller-coaster feelings.

However, environmental change can pose a danger to psychological wellness, even with no direct physical threat. Children and teens tend to be generally more possible to recognize the scientific consensus — broad agreement — regarding humankind’s role in environmental change. Many children also worry about how the effects of climate change are expected only to worsen.

Culture, equal rights, History, Politics

The history of the Immigration Act in the United States

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The Immigration Act of 1882 was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on August 3, 1882. It imposed a head tax on noncitizens for the United States who stumbled on American ports and restricted certain classes of people from immigrating to America, including criminals, the insane, or “any person unable to look after him or herself.” The act created what is thought to be the first federal immigration bureaucracy and laid the building blocks for more regulations on immigration, including the Immigration Act of 1891.

Ahead of the passage through of the Immigration Act of 1882, the United States Congress had passed two significant acts regarding immigration. The first was the Page Act of 1875, which restricted the immigration of forced laborers originating from Asia. This had an important impact on the immigration of Asian indentured workers and women; specifically women presumed to be immigrating to the office as prostitutes. The 2nd was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This act halted all legal immigration of Chinese laborers and it is considered by many to function as the first major exclusionary immigration restriction on a complete nationality enacted because of the United States. While both these acts resulted from public concern about the Chinese influence into the labor market while the economy, they even based on simple prejudice together with public perception among these immigrants’ inability to assimilate into American culture.

Although the Immigration Act of 1882 shared the principle of immigration restriction utilizing the two aforementioned acts, it had been different in a fundamental way. Unlike the Chinese Exclusion act, the Immigration Act of 1882 will never limit all immigration from a certain country or region. Certain European immigrants were considered extremely desirable, so to limit by region would deny desirable immigrants as well. Instead, to limit immigration predicated on excluding certain forms of people who were deemed “undesirable”, there necessary to be a bit of legislation effective at adhering to an even more comprehensive, exclusionary approach that would be administered through a federal government agency with federal policy.