The 220th anniversary of the Ratification of the Bill of Rights

Following approval by the state of Virginia, the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights became the judicial basis for the newly formed country.
In September 1789, 55 delegates of the first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. The amendments were intended to protect the basic unalienable rights of each U.S. citizen, guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion, the right to fair trial and to bear arms. The powers not delegated to the federal government would be kept for the states and the people.

On December 15, 1791, Virginia became the 10th of 14 states to approve 10 of the 12 amendments, giving the Bill of Rights the two-thirds majority necessary to make the bill into law. Some notable names in the delegation were: Alexander Hamilton representing New York, Benjamin Franklin representing Pennsylvania, James Madison representing Virginia as well as George Washington representing Virginia.

The Bill of Rights holds a pivotal role in U.S law and government, and is regarded as the beacon of the freedoms enjoyed throughout our nation. To learn more about the U.S. constitution and its history check out the upcoming US Constitution For Beginners March of 2012.

Iceland Recognizes Palestine as a State

It has been three months since the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas brought his bid for statehood to the U.N., a move the U.S. strongly rejected. But despite the setback this week during a ceremony Iceland's Foreign Minister, Ossur Skarphedinsson, officially informed his Palestinian counterpart, Riyadh Al Maliki, that Iceland officially recognized Palestine as a state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Icelandic parliament passed a measure without objections to recognize the state of Palestine. The vote passed with 38 votes in favor and 13 abstaining. Al Maliki cheered the resolution and proclaimed it conveys great importance to the Palestinians, and that this step will encourage other countries to do the same. The chairman of the opposition however, stated “Icelanders do not have sufficient knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to get involved. The opposition also maintains that the dispute should be resolved through bilateral negotiations.” Iceland’s Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson said in a UN address that it would be foolish to deny Palestine rights in the middle of the democratic revolution brought on by the Arab Spring.

There are more than 100 countries around the world that have recognized Palestine as a state. Which include Uruguay, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Well chairman of the opposition, I would highly recommend For Beginners, excellent historical viewpoint of Palestinian and Israeli culture and politics with Arabs and Israel For Beginners available now!

Happy Birthday Noam Chomsky!

Born December 7^th 1928, Noam Chomsky has become a world renowned linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist and activist. Noam Chomsky is currently a professor in the department of Linguistics and Philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where his works have influenced fields such as computer science, mathematics and psychology. While a professor at MIT, he published Syntactic Structures a theory of “generative grammar” that transformed linguistics from an indistinct discipline into a major social science.

Outside of the academic realm, Noam Chomsky is an avid political activist where he has described himself as an Anarcho-Syndicalist, which is a branch of anarchism that focuses on the labor movement. Chomsky has expressed his opinions on politics and world events, which are widely cited, publicized and discussed. His most recent activism has been with the Occupy movements where he himself has associated himself with.

To learn more about Noam Chomsky and his works check out Chomsky For Beginners

Light Shed on Women's History

The National Women’s History Museum presents the newest installment of their mini-documentary series about women’s history. The 20-minute video titled, Keepers of History: Women Who Protected One Half of our Nation’s Story, spotlights various women in American history, all of whom are otherwise undetected in everyday school lessons.

Two women in focus are Mercy Otis Warren and Mary Ritter Beard. Mercy Otis Warren aided the American Revolution with her anonymous anti-British plays. She also kept records of the war’s history in three handwritten volumes. Mary Ritter Beard lent her hand during the Suffrage Movement and also published works in the topic of women’s history as early as 1915.

The idea behind the documentary series is to expose women like Mercy Otis Warren and Mary Ritter Beard and their valiant strides to make the woman’s voice heard. This visual series is not unlike Women’s History For Beginners. The book concentrates on the question, who are the great women of history and why don’t we know more about them? To further prove how little we know about these female leaders, the introduction of the book poses as a fifty-question test on the great women of the past. The reader is invited to take the test— with the expectation that most will fail, having been undereducated in women’s history.

With the increased production of tools like, Women’s History For Beginners and Keepers of History: Women Who Protected One Half of our Nation’s Story, women’s history will soon be as valued, exposed and understood as the history presented to us on a daily.

To view Keepers of History: Women Who Protected One Half of our Nation’s Story, please visit http://www.nwhm.org/about-nwhm/press/featured-press/keepers.

For more information about Women’s History For Beginners, and other For Beginners books, please visit http://www.forbeginnersbooks.com/.

Thanks You Thank You and again Thank You

The month of November brings remarkable fall colors, hot chocolate and cozy nights by the fire. It's also a time of Thanksgiving - a period for Thank You’s. In reflection, we all have established what it means to be thankful by appreciating our friends and family - even the beauty that surrounds us every day becomes reason to give thanks. So this is a big thank you for everyone who took time away from their overwhelmingly busy lives and spent a few moments within our online community, privileged us by sharing their works.  As well as offering feedback and comments on others manuscripts and interaction with authors, members and public. Thank you for following our social media, joining our reading, meeting us at book festivals and commenting, sharing and reading our books. You guys are the best community a person can ask for!

So as you sit with your family over Thanksgiving dinner, remember your family you have in your computer desk and give thanks for all the accomplishments we have been able to achieve as a community.

Philosophical Thursday

World Philosophy Day is annually observed on the third Thursday of November to honor philosophical figures and ideas around the world since 2002. The day involves the share of thoughts and discussions of new ideas and motivates public debate and dialogue on society’s challenges. World Philosophy Day is funded and promoted through United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) initiative that attracts people around the world to engage in shared reflection on contemporary issues. This year’s discussions would include:

-          The International Panel: “Philosophy and Spirit of Justice: the Equitable Sharing of Scientific Benefits”

-          11th International Meeting on New Philosophical Practices – Philosophical Practices and Development of Critical Thinking

-          A symposium tribute entitled “Relevance of Mohammed Arkoun’s Thought”

-          Round table on “Philosophy in the Public Space”

-          A symposium: “Equal Opportunities at School: What Kind of Equality? What Kind of Opportunities? Knowledge sharing in question”

Philosophy has opened the door for new concepts and innovative ideas. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle have laid the foundations of critical thinking, independence and creativity across the world and this day will surely inspire our great thinkers of the future.   To learn more about philosophy and the greats of the field read: Chomsky for Beginners, Philosophy For Beginners, Deconstruction For Beginners, Derrida For Beginners, Eastern Philosophy For Beginners and many other philosophically based books in our collection

Woody Harrelson Looks to Carl Jung for Stability

Woody Harrelson is much more dynamic than we thought. The actor who once played the beloved bartender Woody Boyd in the eighties sitcom, Cheers, has long surpassed his reputation on the small screen. Harrelson has played characters that are seemingly beyond his scope. He played a murderer in the 1994 film, Natural Born Killers and was a military officer in the 2009 film, The Messenger. In the same year, Harrelson played a zombie hunter in Zombieland. It’s not easy to make those types of character switches; one minute you’re a homicidal maniac and the next you’re a straight-laced military officer. That has to rack the brain. Apparently, this is not the case for Harrelson.

In the article Why Everybody Knows His Name by David Carr for the New York Times (October 30^th edition), Harrelson explains how it is simple for him to mentally get into the roles he takes on. He looks to the works of Carl Jung to maintain a level head. By referring to Jung, Harrelson is able to make his connection between the ‘individual psyche’ and the ‘collective unconscious.’ Jung For Beginners (written by Jon Platania, Ph. D. and illustrated by Joe Lee) explains Jung’s theories and concepts in depth. Harrelson directly refers to the concept of ‘shadow,’  which is the “unconscious part of the personality characterized by traits that the conscious ego wants to rejects or ignore,” (Platania 72).

In Harrelson’s latest film, Rampart, (due to release December 2011) he plays a corrupt LA police officer. This may not be much of a switch from some other roles he’s played, but it’s a switch from his everyday life. Harrelson is a vegan who practices Yoga and is generally at ease. He’ll look to Jung again for mental balance throughout the project.

Jung's Dangerous Methods

For those considering watching A Dangerous Method coming to theaters next month consider Jung For Beginner.

Carl Gustav Jung, second only to Freud in the world of psychoanalysis, is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung recommended the use of spirituality as a cure for alcoholism and is considered to have an indirect role in Alcoholics Anonymous. Jung also proposed the use of art therapy to alleviate trauma and emotional distress. He taught us that psychology and religion can not only coexist peacefully together, but that they can enhance us, inspire us, and help us complete ourselves.

Freud, for all of his brilliance, reduced us to little more than vessels of hormones with high IQs. Jung, for all of his flaws, gave us back our souls. Learn more about Jung and his works with Jung For Beginners.

Check out our updated website www.forbeginnersbooks.com that showcases our December releases.