Via: Online Schools

It looks like the buzz is Google Buzz. Two days ago Google Buzz popped up on all of our GMail boxes and we immediately had followers. These followers consist of the top rated contacts in the listing on the side of your Gmail client. Also you will now see a label called Buzz and a number in parentheses. This number reflects the buzz postings that are in your box. Facebook has some competition now. This is very similar to what Facebook does but guess what, no farms, fish, games, or Mafia. Buzz rules, so far!

There are other features that you may like e.g. will interface with your Twitter account. I have not tested this feature but it’s just another application that is considering Twitter a viable player in the social networking realm. Myspace has not been mentioned but who knows what we’ll see from Google in the future.

I have been truly pleased with GMail and I’ve used it probably since it was publicly available. Google is the best. And, should security issues arise they will be quickly fixed. I trust Google to do what’s right for the public.

If you’re a regular GMail user, or even a Google member, try Google Buzz. It’s the “Bee” …”oh” .. “em”… “bee”. You know what I mean.

I’m writing a historic fiction novel around the early 1600’s and I’m doing lots of research around the colonization of Virginia.  One of these books, “Savage Kingdom”, by Benjamin Wooley is probably the best work I’ve ever read on the subject.  One chapter focuses on the Indian people that lived there before we moved in and just claimed this to be ours.  The focus of the chapter is perfect.  The indian people did not record their history there and maybe that was best.  History was recorded in the stories that these people handed down within their tribes and families.  I think these people were not savages but people that could foresee the end of their culture in America.  This had to be very sad.

Virginia was named for Elizabeth, the supposed virgin queen of England during this time of excitement and exploration.  The natives called this Tsenacomoco.  I am going to show a paragraph here that really shook me around the subject of our colonization.  Here’s the paragraph:

“But Okeus spoke again.  He said Wahunsunacock might overthrow and dishearten attempters and such strangers as should invade his territories or labour to settle amongst his people.  He would do this twice, and their tribute of copper, crystal and other precious things that were due him would make his power even greater.  But of a third attempting, these people would defeat him, and he would fall unto their subjection and under their conquest.  Then would white clouds of those ghosts blow across the great sea and blank out the sun, and the soft mud would dry, and the trees and plants turn to stone, and all that was supple would become hard, and all the sounds and songs of the Tsenacomoco would become trapped in the black marks upon white leaves.”

Okeus was the second God to the natives of Virginia. Ahone, a great hare (rabbit) first created the forests and all the creatures of the great forest. When the forest had been inhabited by this great God that provided for them and the mountains hardened after their creation, Ahone went away. Okeus, a great warrior God came in and so began the stress between tribes, the people, and their livelihood. The natives began to stress over caring for each other as groups. Where an indian fed himself with berries, or small mammal, now he communicated with others and they planned for their care. Okeus brought fear among these people. They would settle along the Chesapeake Bay and cultivate food for themselves. They would hunt in groups for the communities. It was too good to be true because other groups became their enemies. And, the English would be their greatest enemy.

Wahunsunacock, was Powatan the great leader in the Chesapeake area. He would try to work with the English but it would end in ruin for the native people. Powatan was recognized as a great leader because he knew that Okeus was wrong to split the indian populations and promote hatred among tribes. Powatan worked with the other groups especially those to the north.

This post is named black marks upon white leaves because of the last sentence in the Wooley paragraph. The indians were more poets than writers. Their songs and poems would be no more as we (English settlers) made our black marks on white leaves. Writing or documenting what we didn’t make it right. Yes we were more civilized, but more humane? Ahone created the world we know and it doesn’t matter when he did it, what he looked like, how, etc. He did it with love and hoped that our management or stewardship of this gift would be with great appreciation. We did wrong.