United States Freedom of Information Act

 

United States Freedom of Information Act

 

The United States Freedom of Information Act was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson on the 6^th of September, 1966 it went into effect the following year. The FOIA applies to federal records only states regulate their own information. This law allows American citizens access to government information and documents that were previously withheld unless proof of "need to know" was established. The enactment of this law removes the burden of proof from the individual and now requires that the government demonstrate good reason why something must be kept classified. This law has been amended several times most recently by President Barack Obama to "ensure an open Government." The FOIA requires government agencies to aid in allowing the public access to information by processing requests for that information quickly and being proactive to ensure the information is available.

Most information is available by request according to the FOIA. There are however, nine exemptions which allow some federal agencies to deny access to information. The nine exemptions seem to be common sense and aid in the protection of some of our civil liberties. They include to date; (1) National defense and foreign relations information, (2) internal agency operating procedures,(3) information determined by another federal law to be kept confidential,(4) trade secrets and financial information that are confidential,(5) inter or intra- agency communications protected legally,(6) information pertaining to matters of personal privacy ,(7) information relating to the supervision of financial institutions, (8) geological information on the location of wells and (9) Law enforcement records that could interfere with- privacy, the right to a fair trial, witness protection, procedural information that could inhibit investigations, information that could endanger the life or physical well being of an individual.

Making a request for documents or information is quite simple however, the DOJ requests that you go to the website of the specific entity that you are seeking information from to make sure that records you are looking for are not already available digitally. Some records are readily available without a request such as how to apply for a grant, identify a "most wanted Criminal," case highlights and more. If the information you want is not available on the website, you should request information from the appropriate component of the DOJ that you think have records you are interested in. The listing of department components can be found at http://www.justice.gov/oip/04_4.html. Many of these records do not require formal request and there is no specific form that the DOJ requires to request information but it should be in writing. Your request should be specific about which information you are after. Some components of the DOJ will accept electronic requests and faxes. Federal agencies are required to respond to requests within 20 business days and the time begins when the request is actually received. Under some circumstances though, the time period can be extended for 10 days. If additional time is required to fulfill your request, you will be contacted in writing. Usually there are no fees assessed for making requests. A few exceptions apply concerning search time and document duplication. You should include the amount you are willing to pay for services or the DOJ will assume you are willing to pay possible fees up to twenty five dollars for servicing records. If fees will be over this amount, you will be notified in writing.

In the interest of protecting your individual privacy when requesting your own personal records, you must fill out DOJ form 361, have your signature on your written request witnessed by a notary or include the following statement above your signature-"I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [Date]." (Justice). Additionally, if you request information about another that may invade their privacy in any way you must have their written, witnessed consent or record of death.

More information is available at the Department of Justice homepage located on the web at www.usdoj.gov/foia.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Justice, Department of. Department of Justice Freedom of Information Act Reference Guide, January 2010. January 2010. 29 March 2010 <http://www.justice.gov/oip/referenceguide.htm#intro>.

 

Leonardo DaVinci; Writings from his undated manuscripts

Leo DaVinci was brilliant. Perhaps most famous for the "Mona Lisa" which hangs in the Lourve in Paris and the fresco entitled "The Last Supper" C.1495-1498 that is painted over the door in the Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, he was a painter, sculptor, engineer, musician, architect, and always a scientist. Leonardo was born in 1452 in the town of Vinci in the Tuscan region of Italy. He was taken from his mother at the age of 5 and was also left handed. He wrote backwards probably because he was left handed. He trained under Verrocchio as an apprentice painter in his Florence workshop. He was constantly curious of the hman body and frame and even observed and participated in Autopsies which were outlawed by the Catholic Church at the time. DaVinci created many great works throughout his life and travels. He was truly and literally a "Renaissance Man." Probably a little less know were some of his sketch journals and writings. Amongst his sketches of the human body and figure, were studies of flowing water, rocks, war machines and UFOs. Thanks to patrons like Bill Gates who recently paid $35 Million USD for one of Leonardo's notebooks, we, the general public are able to see some of these on display.


Self Portrait (1512)
Leonardo wrote about many different topics, truly a "Renaissance Man". Paragone was a common subject in High Renaissance Scholarship. The following writings are from some of his undated manuscripts containing sketches of studies of the human form, the way water relates to rock as it falls over the edges of it, architectural drawings along with musings on how he saw the world around him.

WRITING FROM AN UNDATED MANUSCRIPT

He Who Depreciates Painting Loves Neither Philosophy nor Nature

If you despise painting, which is the sole imitator of all visible works of nature, you will certainly be dispising a subtle invention of all forms -- Sea and land, plants and animals, grasses and flowers-- which are enveloped in shade and light. Truly painting is a science, the true-born child of nature. For painting is born of nature; to be more correct we should call it the grandchild of nature, since all visible things were brought forth by nature and these, her children, have given birth to painting. Therefore we may justly speak of it as the grandchild of nature and as related to God.

Of the Sculptor and Painter

The sculptor's art requires more physical exertion than the painter's. That is to say, his work is mechanical and entails less mental effort. Compared with painting, there is little scientific research; for the sculptor's work consists only of taking off from the same material, while the painter is always putting on a variety of materials. The sculptor gives all his attention to the lines that circumscribe the material which he is carving and the painter studies these same lines, but he has besides to study the shade and light, the color and the foreshortening. With respect to these the sculptor is helped throughout by nature, which supplies the shade and light and the perspective. While the painter has to acquire these by dint of his ingenuity and has himself to play the part of nature, the sculptor always finds them ready made.

~Leonardo Da Vinci (1452- 1519)

Renaissance Humanist Movement

 

 

Humanism is an intellectual philosophy based on the study of the classic literary works of Greece and Rome. Humanists study the liberal arts, grammar, history, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy; all based on the writings of Greek and Roman antiquity. The new thought process emerging from the study of the humanities was that God gave humans the gift of freewill, creativity and intellectualism to be used to the fullest extent that an individual sees fit to use it. During the middle ages, Europe was dominated socially and politically by clergy and aristocrats. The Great Schism did much to promote the birth of the Humanist Movement. The division of the church and the two popes, both of whom declared the other to be the anti-Christ, caused the people to lose their faith in the church leaders. It also caused the church to lose its temporal power and the papacy to lose its moral prestige. Humanism began as a drift away from Christianity in its medieval pious format. During the Renaissance it concerned a cultural and intellectual shift in focus from religion to the self and mankind's place in nature. It placed a great emphasis on art and denoted a swing toward virtue and value as an acceptable path to God instead of the biblical value of humility and introspection seen predominantly in the European thought process in previous centuries. A new view of human beings emerged as people began to emphasize individual ability. This high regard for individual potential gave rise to a new social ideal of the well rounded person who was capable of achievement in many areas of life. The Humanist Movement during the Renaissance essentially invited people to lead the good life.

 

Artists during the Renaissance sought to imitate nature in their works. Their search for naturalism became a tool to persuade the audience of the reality of the object, person or event they were trying to portray. New developments in technique such as one point linear perspective, scientific perspective and a more realistic relationship between figures and the landscape gave art a more realistic style. This caused people to look at art in a way they hadn't before, as a pragmatic continuation of their own world. Renaissance found man in a sort of purgatory between faith and reason where human beings were emerging as the center and measure of all things. Fifteenth century Florentine artists had spent time mastering the techniques for scientific observation of the world around them and were moving toward applying these new forms of creative expression in their paintings, sculpture and architecture.

 

. The Humanist Movement changed Europe socially and politically as well. The Renaissance marked a recovery from the perilous catastrophes of the plague and famine in the 14^th Century. Europe also underwent vast economic changes during this time. The shift to an economy based on trade and manufacturing as opposed to the agrarian based economy of the medieval period moved people into more urban settings where ideas were freely exchanged. As a result, the urban middle class grew and gained greater status which in turn provided disposable income. This transformation of social structure promoted literacy through the advent of new technologies like the printing press which changed European culture significantly. New political leaders emerged as urban leaders consisted of the middle class, not the clergy. The Church's role as a temporal mediator had been challenged. Wealthy families like Florence's Medici were gaining social and political influence which in turn greatly influenced many aspects of life including art. The Church continued to commission art but in contrast, society's new elite also became patrons. Civic humanists began to change the scope of political thinking. Bruni and Alberti argued for a republic style government based on the Florentine model in which every citizen would be responsible for themselves and one another. In addition, citizens were expected to uphold their civic duty to the city-state which further threatened the power of the Church.

 

Globally, much was changing that would form the boundaries of modern Europe and pave the way to the west. The Hundred Years War came to an end and the War of the Roses began. The Iberian Peninsula was united by the marriage of Isabelle and Ferdinand and much of Western Europe was developing a monarchial authority versus the existing papal rule. Further, maritime trade was becoming quite advanced. Commissioned exploration ended the isolation of peoples in the western hemisphere and led to the creation of the first truly global network of trade which naturally promoted the exchange of cultural and ideas.

 

The development of Humanism was a gradual process that started in the eleventh century with scholasticism and evolved throughout the Renaissance. It was the catalyst for political and social advancement in Europe for over 300 years led to a huge shift in the art world. The world as we know it would be very different today without the Humanist movement for it was during the Renaissance Humanist movement that independent expression and opposition of power was introduced and ultimately became a fundamental part of the western intellectual belief.

Do You Remember Ike?

Gosh, I sure wish that all presidential campaigns were still like this instead of the mud slinging slander that they are now.

Which culture, empire or civilization studied so far made the greatest contribution to world history?

In my opinion, the Sumerians have made the greatest and most useful contribution to world history, specifically, the wheel. Although there is some question as to whether or not they actually invented it, most experts will agree that this society perfected it, for the wheel is not that useful unless coupled with an axle and socket. The wheel is arguably the most widely used, useful technological development in history. I bid you to count how many uses it has just inside your home.

The wheel has enabled countless tasks to be performed with greater ease. Ancient Sumerians used the wheel to develop trade and enable goods to be traded farther away from home using horse drawn carts. During times of war, wheels were affixed to chariots in which a person could ride and cover ground more quickly. This let the warrior slay more enemies in a shorter length of time and also provided some protection. There are burial sites dating back to 3700 B.C.E. that have been excavated and findings include people who were buried on carts and wagons. The concept of the wheel was probably also used in the building of the ziggurats through either transporting construction materials or helped with putting those materials in place.

There are countless examples of how the wheel has helped develop global societies today. The wheel is used in almost every facet imaginable. It has promoted and enabled trade by truck, train and plane. The wheel has given rise to construction, tourism, and agriculture, to name a few examples. It was instrumental in the settling of the west in our own country, moving people over large landmasses by wagon train. Even something as simple as keeping time on a wristwatch or the mobility of your vacuum cleaner can be credited to the wheel.

I think that there are MANY developments through history that have been important and imperative to the evolution of modern societies, including writing, but the wheel has allowed humans to go places and explore; to build structures and reap harvests with ease. Without the wheel, we might not have developed as we are today. I can speculate that we probably wouldn't have settled as much of the globe, the population might be smaller, structures would be more primitive, and the entire face of the planet would be different today if it weren't for the wheel.

The Rise and fall of the Great Kingdoms of W. Africa such as Ghana and Mali

 

 

Islam and trade were monumental reasons for both the rise and fall of these ancient societies. West Africa, more specifically the ancient Ghanaian Empire, was incredibly rich in desirable resources like gold and salt. In addition, as with the seat of many ancient civilizations, it was located between two rivers which provided an abundant supply of food conducive to building a nation. Ghana's government was lead by a king who was its spiritual leader as well as its political leader and also in control of trade routes from north to south. Gold trade along this path was extremely lucrative and made the kingdom of Ghana very wealthy. Salt, used to dry meats to prevent spoiling, was also exchanged along these routes by the Sanhaja people and was traded for gold in the capital city of Kumbi. The Sanhaja people brought the Islam faith with them as well as their salt and before long, Ghana's rulers learned Arabic and accepted help from the Muslims in setting up their government structure to accommodate the growth and change the empire was experiencing. They may not have realized it but they were laying the groundwork for a major shakeup of the kingdom.

The next century saw expansion of the empire due to amassed wealth of the kings through gold trade. In the process of northward expansion, the salt trade routes of the Sanhaja were absorbed and taken over by the kingdom. This conflict, coupled with pressure and competition from the Berbers for sub-Saharan routes provided a motivation for the Sanhaja to follow an extremist sect of Islam called al-Mirabitun. The Almoravids, or followers of this cult sect, began to fight back for the overtaking of their trade routes and after conquering Morocco and southern Iberia, they finally conquered Ghana and converted its people to Islam. This basically made the king obsolete and they regained control of their trade routes in Ghana as well as presided over additional routes stretching from central Spain. They did not replace the government structure after quashing it. The removal of central authority and the fact that the Almoravids were based in the north and preoccupied with affairs there promoted political unrest in the region. Additionally, Ghana's agricultural base was ruined by grazing flocks of animals owned by Almoravids and never recovered. These factors impelled trans-Saharan caravans to circumvent Ghana in favor of less tumultuous areas and suffocated its commerce, the source of what had made it a great nation in the first place.

Although the introduction of Islam by the Sanhaja people was innocent enough in the beginning bringing with it centralized and structured organization to the government, it also was responsible for its demise. For Ghana, the growth of the empire into the north upset the regional balance of trade routes. This provoked the Sanhaja, a group of Muslims, and provided the catalyst pushing them toward an extremist sect of Islam which proved to be far more dangerous to the empire than one could have probably speculated. Unfortunately for Ghana, through tyrannical expansion, it ultimately crippled itself.

A Brief Comparison of Ancient Incan and Mayan Cultures

A Brief Comparison of Ancient Incan and Mayan Cultures

 

    The ancient Inca and Maya had many common traits as societies. Location probably contributed too many of these reasons. These societies, due to their geography, both developed independently of any other societies that they may have been able to borrow ideas from and develop similar cultural or technological advancements. Maturity and isolation of these societies also contributed to their ultimate demise. Within a fifteen year time frame, the Spanish conquered both of these major empires. The ease of this domination was made possible by their use of archaic technology, the absence of immunities to European diseases like smallpox and an absence of domestication of animals used for transportation and moving supplies. Both of these empires left power and authority to an emperor, who, through no fault of his own, was naive to the outside world and not sophisticated enough in the art of war to stave off attack when opportunity first arose. The Inca and the Maya were both polytheistic societies and believed in human sacrifice.

    Conversely, these two civilizations had different thoughts on human sacrifice. The Maya followed the Cosmic Mission Theory which justified human sacrifice and they were really not selective about whom they sacrificed. In fact this was a very common practice. Unlike the Maya, strong and fierce warriors who sacrificed the majority of their human prisoners of war, the Inca tried to assimilate and integrate the peoples they conquered through a practice called Mitima. The Inca also announced intentional take overs and only used force if they could not persuade the group to join their ranks. The Inca also had fewer and more relaxed rules for their social classes than the Maya. Another difference was the Inca's lack of an organized, written language. The Maya had become fairly sophisticated with writing and timekeeping while the Inca used a stick with attached cords in a series of knots and tangles, called a quipu, to keep track of information. The Inca Empire was also huge in comparison to the Maya, stretching about 3,000 miles from north to south.