The Coup Thickens
While perusing a messageboard, I found a post by our favorite Deskrat posted a little piece from another blog that exposed the fact that the UK knew of the plot in Equatorial Guinea which involved the crocodile teared son of Margaret Thatcher. Writes the Observer:
Britain was given a full outline of an illegal coup plot in a vital oil-rich African state, including the dates, details of arms shipments and key players, several months before the putsch was launched, according to confidential documents obtained by The Observer.
But, despite Britain's clear obligations under international law, Jack Straw, who was personally told of the plans at the end of January, failed to warn the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Oh!! But it get's better! While the Bush and the Republicans were likely spending thier time figuring out how to tamper with Deibold machines, it turns out that Donald Rumsfeld, was also informed of the Coup plot.
In December 2003 and January 2004 two separate, highly detailed reports of the planned coup, from Johann Smith, a former commander in South African Special Forces, were sent to two senior officers in British intelligence and to a senior colleague of Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, according to the documents seen by The Observer .
In December 2003 and January 2004 two separate, highly detailed reports of the planned coup, from Johann Smith, a former commander in South African Special Forces, were sent to two senior officers in British intelligence and to a senior colleague of Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, according to the documents seen by The Observer .
So let's count them up shall we? Under the Bush administration there have been what 1 abortive coup in Venezuela. A successful one in Haiti, and the Grandaddy of them all, Iraq. No wonder "they hate us for our freedoms."
Links:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1361299,00.html
(17 years of informed commentary)
Monday, November 29, 2004
Shortsighted and Dim Witted
Stanly Crouch wrote a piece in the NY Daily News (or perhaps a syndicated editorial) that declared
It's crime, not race, that puts men behind bars. This piece is illustrative of the baiting that conservatives have been using to bamboozle the public on a myriad of issues. For example in this situation, it's a no brainer that people who are behind bars, by and large end up there because they committed some crime. I say by and large because innocent people do end up behind bars. Therefore one is in a precarious situation if one decides to challenge this piece of writing. Challenging this piece could result in one being labeled" blind, racist, or some other nonsense. Similarly the No Child Left Behind legistlation is the same. Who in thier right mind wasn't to argue against a bill that purports to look out for all children.
But let's look at Crouch for a minute. He sights the following:
My friend, a lawyer, recently served on a jury in D.C. and found the experience illuminating. He had heard all of the stories about black juries not being willing to convict. With him on the jury were two women who said, from the beginning, that they were not there to "put another black man behind bars." And that was that!
Then came the evidence, which made it very clear that this particular black man was a dangerous felon. He had not been railroaded. He had not been a victim of the system. The police had done their job and the evidence had been collected very professionally, not in the interest of race but of justice. The jurors looked at that evidence. They discussed it together. He was convicted.
and
Within the past year I met a judge at the airport in New Orleans. He told me that when he first went on the bench, he intended to put a stop to all the black men being put behind bars due to the racism that dominated the criminal justice system. Then he started looking at defendants' records and saw the evidence presented. There were plenty of defendants who had committed minor or victimless crimes and could be shown leniency. But there were those who committed murders, rapes, robberies and assaults.
I'm not even going to argue the merits of the cases presented above because that is not the issue. The issue is simply where enforcement is done, who is arrested and who ends up in court. Statistics have shown that whites are less likely to be charged with the crimes for which they are originally arrested for. They are often plead down and other sorts of judicial gaming to lesser offenses. And that assumes they are arrested in the first place. I recall some years ago a TV special where some white kids were caught on film selling crack (or whatever it was) in their communities by a sting operation. The officers who were supposed to be taking the kids "downtown" made a detour to the childrens homes and "told their parents." Meanwhile black kids in various 'hoods' are given felony drug possesions for simple vials of crack which results in all manner of permanent disenfranchisement by the state after their prison terms are done.
Back in September I noted a gross example of this inequuity in the "system":
In an incredible (and true) story, a 19 year-old New York University undergraduate student was recently arrested and charged with committing three felonies, including criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance, and criminal sale of a controlled substance on or near school grounds – each charge carrying a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. The undergraduate student sold high-grade marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogenic mushrooms to an undercover New York City police officer on eight separate occasions from the lobby of her dormitory. But that’s not the incredible part.
Despite facing up to 75 years in prison for her offenses, the student, a white female from a wealthy family, will actually never see a prison cell if she satisfies the gracious terms of the deferred prosecution agreement brokered between a Manhattan District Attorney and the defendant’s private attorney. The sweetheart deal – brace yourself for this one – includes 10 months at a drug rehabilitation center in Idaho followed by 8 months of work or school, and 5 years probation. Moreover, she will be permitted to plead guilty to lesser charges (perhaps misdemeanors) in 2006, pending successful completion of her “sentence.” Perhaps most importantly, her case was handled by state, rather than federal, authorities, allowing her to avoid severe federal mandatory minimum laws that would have likely resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.
Let's see Mr. Crouch explain that away with his "it's the crime.." theories.
Link:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/257015p-220125c.html
http://www.blackcommentator.com/107/107_haygood_justice.html
Stanly Crouch wrote a piece in the NY Daily News (or perhaps a syndicated editorial) that declared
It's crime, not race, that puts men behind bars. This piece is illustrative of the baiting that conservatives have been using to bamboozle the public on a myriad of issues. For example in this situation, it's a no brainer that people who are behind bars, by and large end up there because they committed some crime. I say by and large because innocent people do end up behind bars. Therefore one is in a precarious situation if one decides to challenge this piece of writing. Challenging this piece could result in one being labeled" blind, racist, or some other nonsense. Similarly the No Child Left Behind legistlation is the same. Who in thier right mind wasn't to argue against a bill that purports to look out for all children.
But let's look at Crouch for a minute. He sights the following:
My friend, a lawyer, recently served on a jury in D.C. and found the experience illuminating. He had heard all of the stories about black juries not being willing to convict. With him on the jury were two women who said, from the beginning, that they were not there to "put another black man behind bars." And that was that!
Then came the evidence, which made it very clear that this particular black man was a dangerous felon. He had not been railroaded. He had not been a victim of the system. The police had done their job and the evidence had been collected very professionally, not in the interest of race but of justice. The jurors looked at that evidence. They discussed it together. He was convicted.
and
Within the past year I met a judge at the airport in New Orleans. He told me that when he first went on the bench, he intended to put a stop to all the black men being put behind bars due to the racism that dominated the criminal justice system. Then he started looking at defendants' records and saw the evidence presented. There were plenty of defendants who had committed minor or victimless crimes and could be shown leniency. But there were those who committed murders, rapes, robberies and assaults.
I'm not even going to argue the merits of the cases presented above because that is not the issue. The issue is simply where enforcement is done, who is arrested and who ends up in court. Statistics have shown that whites are less likely to be charged with the crimes for which they are originally arrested for. They are often plead down and other sorts of judicial gaming to lesser offenses. And that assumes they are arrested in the first place. I recall some years ago a TV special where some white kids were caught on film selling crack (or whatever it was) in their communities by a sting operation. The officers who were supposed to be taking the kids "downtown" made a detour to the childrens homes and "told their parents." Meanwhile black kids in various 'hoods' are given felony drug possesions for simple vials of crack which results in all manner of permanent disenfranchisement by the state after their prison terms are done.
Back in September I noted a gross example of this inequuity in the "system":
In an incredible (and true) story, a 19 year-old New York University undergraduate student was recently arrested and charged with committing three felonies, including criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance, and criminal sale of a controlled substance on or near school grounds – each charge carrying a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. The undergraduate student sold high-grade marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogenic mushrooms to an undercover New York City police officer on eight separate occasions from the lobby of her dormitory. But that’s not the incredible part.
Despite facing up to 75 years in prison for her offenses, the student, a white female from a wealthy family, will actually never see a prison cell if she satisfies the gracious terms of the deferred prosecution agreement brokered between a Manhattan District Attorney and the defendant’s private attorney. The sweetheart deal – brace yourself for this one – includes 10 months at a drug rehabilitation center in Idaho followed by 8 months of work or school, and 5 years probation. Moreover, she will be permitted to plead guilty to lesser charges (perhaps misdemeanors) in 2006, pending successful completion of her “sentence.” Perhaps most importantly, her case was handled by state, rather than federal, authorities, allowing her to avoid severe federal mandatory minimum laws that would have likely resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.
Let's see Mr. Crouch explain that away with his "it's the crime.." theories.
Link:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/257015p-220125c.html
http://www.blackcommentator.com/107/107_haygood_justice.html
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Thanks for...
Another Thanksgiving has arrived in the US. Millions of people are eating Tuyrkey and giving thanks for all that they have. I'm not one of them. I'm thankful for everything I have all the time. I know that but for a change in cirmustance I could be living an entirely different life. I could be living the life of a Native American on a Reservation. Many mainstream publications are talkign about how they are thankful for this and that, but fail to remind, and in some cases educate the reader as to the ture history and meaning of Thanksgiving. Indeed in a an article in the NY Times they report on a Hispanic family who says:
"When you come to this country, Thanksgiving is something that you just kind of adopt right way," Mr. Rojas said. "You can relate to the mythology of the Pilgrims' coming here and the Indians' helping them out, just like your relatives are helping you out."
really? For the uninformed, the Pilgrims, after showing so much thanks for the Natives showing them how to survive by teaching them how to plant corn and such, showed their gratitude by systematically killing off the Native American and taking thier land. Thanks.
So in reality, Thanksgiving marks the begining of the end for Native Americans and their way of life in the Americas. It is truely a story of ungratefulness and downright inhumanity. I don't identify with that at all. In fact when I learned of this tragedy I used to make it a point of reminding people of this during gatherings. Needless to say I was soon not asked to come to such events. Isn't it sad that Americans, especially black Americans would not want to take stock in what Thanksgiving actually stands for and at least, at the very minimum take time out on that day to remember the true significance of the day, and to affirm that they would not display the same callousness to those who helped them be where they are today. Now that would be something I could toast to.
Think on it.
Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/25/national/25thanks.html?hp&ex=1101445200&en=87aa902094babd48&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Another Thanksgiving has arrived in the US. Millions of people are eating Tuyrkey and giving thanks for all that they have. I'm not one of them. I'm thankful for everything I have all the time. I know that but for a change in cirmustance I could be living an entirely different life. I could be living the life of a Native American on a Reservation. Many mainstream publications are talkign about how they are thankful for this and that, but fail to remind, and in some cases educate the reader as to the ture history and meaning of Thanksgiving. Indeed in a an article in the NY Times they report on a Hispanic family who says:
"When you come to this country, Thanksgiving is something that you just kind of adopt right way," Mr. Rojas said. "You can relate to the mythology of the Pilgrims' coming here and the Indians' helping them out, just like your relatives are helping you out."
really? For the uninformed, the Pilgrims, after showing so much thanks for the Natives showing them how to survive by teaching them how to plant corn and such, showed their gratitude by systematically killing off the Native American and taking thier land. Thanks.
So in reality, Thanksgiving marks the begining of the end for Native Americans and their way of life in the Americas. It is truely a story of ungratefulness and downright inhumanity. I don't identify with that at all. In fact when I learned of this tragedy I used to make it a point of reminding people of this during gatherings. Needless to say I was soon not asked to come to such events. Isn't it sad that Americans, especially black Americans would not want to take stock in what Thanksgiving actually stands for and at least, at the very minimum take time out on that day to remember the true significance of the day, and to affirm that they would not display the same callousness to those who helped them be where they are today. Now that would be something I could toast to.
Think on it.
Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/25/national/25thanks.html?hp&ex=1101445200&en=87aa902094babd48&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Two faced Mofos and the Co-option of Black Power Ideologies
When Bill Cosby came out the closet and put a certain segment of the black community on blast for their low expectations, bad parenting and lack of foresight, Many, if not all, Black conservatives had mutliple orgasms. They were glad that Cosby had dealt a blow for "self-responsibility" and striking a blow against the "victim mentality" that holds so many blacks back from their potential. I agree with Dr. Cosby and wrote many many times in his defence against those that saw Bill Cosby as an "Elitist" person, who was bad talking the "most vulnerable" of blacks and "Crazy." Now we find the Black Conservatives showing their two faced nature when they defend Dr. Rice.
Many Black conservatives, are upset because a number of cartoonist, most of them white, and a number of us other black folks, have called Dr. Rice what she is, a "handmaiden" of the white conservative establishment, commonly known as an "Aunt Jemimah." Walter Williams (Whome I refer to as "Willy" 'cause he apparently has the IQ of one. - that was low wasn't it?) wrote a vigourous defence of Dr. Rice. he sighted that she has a PhD and an expert in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
And?
No one is saying that Rice is not "educated." We're saying she's traitorous to the overall goals and aims of the Civil Rights movement from which she benefitted from. She refused o testify to the American People regarding her mishandling of intelligence reports. The "greatest Terrorist act" in American history occured under her watch. And there is ample documentation of her general incompetence or purposfull manipulation and falsification of information in order to invade Iraq. And since that was was illegal, both from the standpoint of international law and from the fact that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the US, that makes George Bush and co., including Rice, Murderers under the law. Simple. That the justice department has been sufficiently infiltrated to not make a case of this, does not negate these facts. So regardless to how many Degrees she has or how many ships have her name on it, she is a traitor to the ideals of Dr. King, Malcolm X, and the strong men and women who proceeded and broke bariers for her to be where she is today. Thier philosphy is clear: Justice. Peace. Equality.
But what Willy really messes up is when he states:
Being 68, I lived at a time when the idea of a black Cabinet official was little more than a pipe dream. Robert C. Weaver's 1966 appointment to the Department of Housing and Urban Development made him the first black Cabinet officer. Since that time, there have been other blacks appointed to high office. None has encountered the vicious attacks visited on Dr. Rice and Gen. Colin Powell, and what's worse, the most vicious attacks have come from their fellow blacks.
To make sure I was correct in my recollection of blacks in earlier periods, I called my 81-year-old friend Chuck Stone, former writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and now professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I asked him whether he recalled instances of today's demeaning, insulting attacks. He said no, and we recalled how black people came to the defense of people like Reps. Robert Nix and Adam Clayton Powell, for whom Stone served as chief administrative assistant. Professor Stone also reminded me that the differences between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois didn't produce today's virulence.
See Willy and Chuck Stone have missed a few things. When Marcus Garvey was around, WEB Dubois had plenty of bad things to say about his rival, including calling him a "fat, black pig." Something I think a black person, especially one who is clearly mixed, ought to refrain from saying. Garvey would often refer to Dubois as a "half breed." so I guess they were even. fact is, considering the times, Blacks have always had relatively nasty words for those they deemed as traitors or misleaders. Either way, No black should be exempted from being called out when they are out of line. This doesn't mean there can't be intellectual differences, but to do whatever it takes to get a pat on the back from white folks, is plain and simple, tom- foolery.
but oh, wait!! Willy is outdone by one Mychal Massie Who in a reverse of the usual Black Panther and Black Power Rhetoric, refers to those of us who point out Dr. Rice's deficiencies as, gasp, "Negroes."
He thinks Strom Thurman is a good white man, unfairly maligned by "Negro Liberals" because of his segrgationist past. he points out that Thurman changed parties, and hired a black aide. We should all bow down and face the direction of Strom's Grave.
Please!!
How many Blacks were strung up from trees because of Strom's incitements? How many blacks were stripped of thier rights by police in his state? or nationally under his watch? How many police beatings? How many instances of shady bank dealings and redlining? Please, I had no love of a segregationist then and I sure ain't cuttin' him some slack because he hired a black aide.
Then Massie attempts to distract the reader by listing the litany of crimes against black people done by the Democratic party. Well to the informed among us "negroes" we say;
And?
We know this already. That's why a majority of us are not affiliated with either party. We don't change masters, we get off plantations.
But let me address the "informed" who may be reading. We need to get seriously organized and start to use the tools to get our message out. We cannot afford to be marginalised while others latch on to our policies and call us names in the process. Much of the conservative agenda of self-respect, non-victim mentatily, responsibility, economic independence are rightfully ours. These are the hallmarks of Nationalits from Martin Delany, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Kwame Tourem The Black Panther Party and many others. we must be organized in our speech lest we get cought out there looking as if we defend policies that we don't and allow others to coopt portions of our message without historical context. And note that I said "historical" rather than "proper" context. Saying "proper" leaves the field open to challenge ( who says it's proper) whereas "historical" is only challengable by preseting information that contradicts what you say, and most times our adversaries are very deficient in thier knowledge of history.
We need to create forums and press releases that immediately counter mis-information from our "conservative" look alikes. That thier critiqes go unchallenged in the press is simply a recipie for disaster. We cannot just wait and hope that someone picks up our publications to find out our point of view. We need to put it out there where it is unavoidable. for example, When Bush was under critique about the inheritance Tax ( or perhaps some other issue) thousands of letters supporting Bush went to newspapers and magazines all over the nation, these letters were all the same, they only needed to be printed out (or copy-pasted) and sent off to a newspaper to hit the opinion pages. this might seem low down and unfair, but it get's the message out. The ACLU has a similar machine, where they will send emails to congresspeople on an individual's behalf, but I've never seen anything that addresses these "conservatives" and rightly so, because they expect "us" to do that work. And we are not. Our deepest thought should not be on a Hip Hop website (no offence to those) nor the message boards of "booty call" forums. The Black Commentator is the closest we have to a regular informed "non-youth orientated" web presence. And by "non-youth orientated" I mean it's not trying to "party for your right..." or entice you with celebrity gossip, you come for the straight info, no chaser. what BC needs to do, if it wants to take on the task outlined above is put itself to put out PR's in response to any "known" conservative, BC posses the connections and writing talent to pull this off.
I used to recieve PR's from teh Radical Black Congress. But to be honest thier umbrella status was, IMHO a serious impediment to me, as a Garveyite, taking them seriously. They had such a wide agenda and groups to cater to, some of whome really had little in common other than being "liberal." So being told that I was homophobic or inherently mysogynistic, simply made me ignore what they had to say. Similarly, being lumped together with Anarchists, Communists, Socialists, Punks, and other assorted groups with many divergent points of view simply was and is not effective for serious black organizers who have as their primary concern, the welfare and empowerment of disparate black comomunities.
One of the strengths of Garveyism and the UNIA was not only did it explain who and what it was against, it also had a very clear message of what it was for and a program on how to get there AND a means for the 'common man" to participate. Right now it appears to many that we are simply whining "negroes" who pass the buck and let anything go. We are mistakenly tied to the Democratic party and other "parties' except "our party."
Links:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41598
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20041124.shtml
When Bill Cosby came out the closet and put a certain segment of the black community on blast for their low expectations, bad parenting and lack of foresight, Many, if not all, Black conservatives had mutliple orgasms. They were glad that Cosby had dealt a blow for "self-responsibility" and striking a blow against the "victim mentality" that holds so many blacks back from their potential. I agree with Dr. Cosby and wrote many many times in his defence against those that saw Bill Cosby as an "Elitist" person, who was bad talking the "most vulnerable" of blacks and "Crazy." Now we find the Black Conservatives showing their two faced nature when they defend Dr. Rice.
Many Black conservatives, are upset because a number of cartoonist, most of them white, and a number of us other black folks, have called Dr. Rice what she is, a "handmaiden" of the white conservative establishment, commonly known as an "Aunt Jemimah." Walter Williams (Whome I refer to as "Willy" 'cause he apparently has the IQ of one. - that was low wasn't it?) wrote a vigourous defence of Dr. Rice. he sighted that she has a PhD and an expert in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
And?
No one is saying that Rice is not "educated." We're saying she's traitorous to the overall goals and aims of the Civil Rights movement from which she benefitted from. She refused o testify to the American People regarding her mishandling of intelligence reports. The "greatest Terrorist act" in American history occured under her watch. And there is ample documentation of her general incompetence or purposfull manipulation and falsification of information in order to invade Iraq. And since that was was illegal, both from the standpoint of international law and from the fact that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the US, that makes George Bush and co., including Rice, Murderers under the law. Simple. That the justice department has been sufficiently infiltrated to not make a case of this, does not negate these facts. So regardless to how many Degrees she has or how many ships have her name on it, she is a traitor to the ideals of Dr. King, Malcolm X, and the strong men and women who proceeded and broke bariers for her to be where she is today. Thier philosphy is clear: Justice. Peace. Equality.
But what Willy really messes up is when he states:
Being 68, I lived at a time when the idea of a black Cabinet official was little more than a pipe dream. Robert C. Weaver's 1966 appointment to the Department of Housing and Urban Development made him the first black Cabinet officer. Since that time, there have been other blacks appointed to high office. None has encountered the vicious attacks visited on Dr. Rice and Gen. Colin Powell, and what's worse, the most vicious attacks have come from their fellow blacks.
To make sure I was correct in my recollection of blacks in earlier periods, I called my 81-year-old friend Chuck Stone, former writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and now professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I asked him whether he recalled instances of today's demeaning, insulting attacks. He said no, and we recalled how black people came to the defense of people like Reps. Robert Nix and Adam Clayton Powell, for whom Stone served as chief administrative assistant. Professor Stone also reminded me that the differences between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois didn't produce today's virulence.
See Willy and Chuck Stone have missed a few things. When Marcus Garvey was around, WEB Dubois had plenty of bad things to say about his rival, including calling him a "fat, black pig." Something I think a black person, especially one who is clearly mixed, ought to refrain from saying. Garvey would often refer to Dubois as a "half breed." so I guess they were even. fact is, considering the times, Blacks have always had relatively nasty words for those they deemed as traitors or misleaders. Either way, No black should be exempted from being called out when they are out of line. This doesn't mean there can't be intellectual differences, but to do whatever it takes to get a pat on the back from white folks, is plain and simple, tom- foolery.
but oh, wait!! Willy is outdone by one Mychal Massie Who in a reverse of the usual Black Panther and Black Power Rhetoric, refers to those of us who point out Dr. Rice's deficiencies as, gasp, "Negroes."
He thinks Strom Thurman is a good white man, unfairly maligned by "Negro Liberals" because of his segrgationist past. he points out that Thurman changed parties, and hired a black aide. We should all bow down and face the direction of Strom's Grave.
Please!!
How many Blacks were strung up from trees because of Strom's incitements? How many blacks were stripped of thier rights by police in his state? or nationally under his watch? How many police beatings? How many instances of shady bank dealings and redlining? Please, I had no love of a segregationist then and I sure ain't cuttin' him some slack because he hired a black aide.
Then Massie attempts to distract the reader by listing the litany of crimes against black people done by the Democratic party. Well to the informed among us "negroes" we say;
And?
We know this already. That's why a majority of us are not affiliated with either party. We don't change masters, we get off plantations.
But let me address the "informed" who may be reading. We need to get seriously organized and start to use the tools to get our message out. We cannot afford to be marginalised while others latch on to our policies and call us names in the process. Much of the conservative agenda of self-respect, non-victim mentatily, responsibility, economic independence are rightfully ours. These are the hallmarks of Nationalits from Martin Delany, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Kwame Tourem The Black Panther Party and many others. we must be organized in our speech lest we get cought out there looking as if we defend policies that we don't and allow others to coopt portions of our message without historical context. And note that I said "historical" rather than "proper" context. Saying "proper" leaves the field open to challenge ( who says it's proper) whereas "historical" is only challengable by preseting information that contradicts what you say, and most times our adversaries are very deficient in thier knowledge of history.
We need to create forums and press releases that immediately counter mis-information from our "conservative" look alikes. That thier critiqes go unchallenged in the press is simply a recipie for disaster. We cannot just wait and hope that someone picks up our publications to find out our point of view. We need to put it out there where it is unavoidable. for example, When Bush was under critique about the inheritance Tax ( or perhaps some other issue) thousands of letters supporting Bush went to newspapers and magazines all over the nation, these letters were all the same, they only needed to be printed out (or copy-pasted) and sent off to a newspaper to hit the opinion pages. this might seem low down and unfair, but it get's the message out. The ACLU has a similar machine, where they will send emails to congresspeople on an individual's behalf, but I've never seen anything that addresses these "conservatives" and rightly so, because they expect "us" to do that work. And we are not. Our deepest thought should not be on a Hip Hop website (no offence to those) nor the message boards of "booty call" forums. The Black Commentator is the closest we have to a regular informed "non-youth orientated" web presence. And by "non-youth orientated" I mean it's not trying to "party for your right..." or entice you with celebrity gossip, you come for the straight info, no chaser. what BC needs to do, if it wants to take on the task outlined above is put itself to put out PR's in response to any "known" conservative, BC posses the connections and writing talent to pull this off.
I used to recieve PR's from teh Radical Black Congress. But to be honest thier umbrella status was, IMHO a serious impediment to me, as a Garveyite, taking them seriously. They had such a wide agenda and groups to cater to, some of whome really had little in common other than being "liberal." So being told that I was homophobic or inherently mysogynistic, simply made me ignore what they had to say. Similarly, being lumped together with Anarchists, Communists, Socialists, Punks, and other assorted groups with many divergent points of view simply was and is not effective for serious black organizers who have as their primary concern, the welfare and empowerment of disparate black comomunities.
One of the strengths of Garveyism and the UNIA was not only did it explain who and what it was against, it also had a very clear message of what it was for and a program on how to get there AND a means for the 'common man" to participate. Right now it appears to many that we are simply whining "negroes" who pass the buck and let anything go. We are mistakenly tied to the Democratic party and other "parties' except "our party."
Links:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41598
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/walterwilliams/ww20041124.shtml
Mr. Sowell: Wrong Again
Today I read a piece by Thomas Sowell, a regular thorn in my side, entitled: "The Arms Race and The Unlimited Enemy" In It he wrotes:
One of these seemingly immortal fallacies is the implicit assumption that our enemies have unlimited resources, so that our efforts at strengthening ourselves militarily are doomed to be self-defeating.
At least as far back as the 1930s, the intelligentsia and others have warned against military spending as setting off an "arms race" in which each side escalates its military buildup in response to the other, making the whole thing an expensive exercise in futility. The same notion was repeated throughout the long years of the Cold War.
Today's version is that, no matter how many Middle East terrorists we kill, new ones will take their place and we will have nothing to show for all our efforts and sacrifices. People who talk this way are completely undaunted by the fact that Ronald Reagan proved them wrong during the Cold War.
President Reagan understood that the Soviets did not have unlimited resources -- and in fact their resources were far more limited than ours. Going directly counter to those who wanted a "nuclear freeze" or other weapons limitations agreements, Ronald Reagan began a military buildup that kept upping the ante until the Soviets had to throw in their hand, ending the Cold War.
I do hope that Condeleeza Rice is far better at analysis than Mr. Sowell is. The very first thing we should note is that the Soviet Union was not a real threat to the US. Mutual assured destruction basically kept the nuclear threat off the table. What Reagan did (maybe) was run the Russian economy into the ground. That is not a good model for the Middle East or against a nebulous "terrorist" organization. In fact it can be argued that in some cases poverty is part of the stew for "terrorists."
Secondly, there is no "arms race" to be had with a worldwide "terror" organization. The guerilla nature of said organizations assumes that they will always be behind the curve as far as weapons are concerned. All a "terrorist" organization needs is a good chemist. The point of terrorism is not to militarily defeat your enemy but to make the environment of the public so frustrating an fearfull that they eventually give in to your demands. In such a scenario, one does not have a timetable that is limited to your lifetime, so long as the idea can be pased on to others, the organization lives.
Mr. Sowell then continues:
When Reagan ordered a bombing of Libya in retaliation for Libyan terrorism, the immortal fallacy was immediately voiced by former President Jimmy Carter, who declared that this would only make matters worse and bring on more terrorism. But Libya toned down its terrorist activities.
Years later, when Saddam Hussein was overthrown in Iraq and was then dragged out of his hiding hole, Libyan dictator Kaddafi decided to end his nuclear program and cooperate with monitors. Unlike Jimmy Carter, he knew that he did not have unlimited resources.
Jimmy Carter was right, if one takes on the long term view. "terrorist" bombings in Israel continue to this day, and of course we have 9-11-2001. just because a single country was not involved does not mean that actions will not happen in other places from people with a similar mindset. On Libya in particular we should note, as written here earlier, that Ghadaffi has other things in mind which he understood having an embargo on his country would prevent him from pursueing. Ghaddafi is not done with the US or Europe for that matter. You just keep watching that falling Dollar.
Lastly Mr. Sowell, doing his best "Boss" act writes:
Critics of the Bush administration may keep saying that there is no connection between Iraq and terrorism but the terrorists themselves seem to believe otherwise. Why else are they pouring into Iraq, in what they themselves have characterized as a crucial battle to stop the Americans from reconstituting that country in ways that will make their plans for the region harder to carry out?
Well perhaps there's the issue of the US being in a country with some of Islam's Holiest Sites? Or maybe it's that they don't particularly like seeing Iraq occupied by the US. Apparently Mr. Sowell is under the impression that the US is in Iraq for the Iraqi's own benefit. he should look into the financials of Halliburton or perhaps investigate the "constitution" that gives the US access to Iraq's natural resources. Oh yes and lets not forget that, oh, what's this, the US is who put Saddam in power in the first place and supplied him with the chemical weapons he used on "his own people." Surely that was done for the benefit of the Iraqi people.
The problem with Sowell, and indeed a large number of Americans, is that they have no clue just how much dirt is done on their behalf and for thier benefit. But everybody else knows and everybody else has just about had it.
Today I read a piece by Thomas Sowell, a regular thorn in my side, entitled: "The Arms Race and The Unlimited Enemy" In It he wrotes:
One of these seemingly immortal fallacies is the implicit assumption that our enemies have unlimited resources, so that our efforts at strengthening ourselves militarily are doomed to be self-defeating.
At least as far back as the 1930s, the intelligentsia and others have warned against military spending as setting off an "arms race" in which each side escalates its military buildup in response to the other, making the whole thing an expensive exercise in futility. The same notion was repeated throughout the long years of the Cold War.
Today's version is that, no matter how many Middle East terrorists we kill, new ones will take their place and we will have nothing to show for all our efforts and sacrifices. People who talk this way are completely undaunted by the fact that Ronald Reagan proved them wrong during the Cold War.
President Reagan understood that the Soviets did not have unlimited resources -- and in fact their resources were far more limited than ours. Going directly counter to those who wanted a "nuclear freeze" or other weapons limitations agreements, Ronald Reagan began a military buildup that kept upping the ante until the Soviets had to throw in their hand, ending the Cold War.
I do hope that Condeleeza Rice is far better at analysis than Mr. Sowell is. The very first thing we should note is that the Soviet Union was not a real threat to the US. Mutual assured destruction basically kept the nuclear threat off the table. What Reagan did (maybe) was run the Russian economy into the ground. That is not a good model for the Middle East or against a nebulous "terrorist" organization. In fact it can be argued that in some cases poverty is part of the stew for "terrorists."
Secondly, there is no "arms race" to be had with a worldwide "terror" organization. The guerilla nature of said organizations assumes that they will always be behind the curve as far as weapons are concerned. All a "terrorist" organization needs is a good chemist. The point of terrorism is not to militarily defeat your enemy but to make the environment of the public so frustrating an fearfull that they eventually give in to your demands. In such a scenario, one does not have a timetable that is limited to your lifetime, so long as the idea can be pased on to others, the organization lives.
Mr. Sowell then continues:
When Reagan ordered a bombing of Libya in retaliation for Libyan terrorism, the immortal fallacy was immediately voiced by former President Jimmy Carter, who declared that this would only make matters worse and bring on more terrorism. But Libya toned down its terrorist activities.
Years later, when Saddam Hussein was overthrown in Iraq and was then dragged out of his hiding hole, Libyan dictator Kaddafi decided to end his nuclear program and cooperate with monitors. Unlike Jimmy Carter, he knew that he did not have unlimited resources.
Jimmy Carter was right, if one takes on the long term view. "terrorist" bombings in Israel continue to this day, and of course we have 9-11-2001. just because a single country was not involved does not mean that actions will not happen in other places from people with a similar mindset. On Libya in particular we should note, as written here earlier, that Ghadaffi has other things in mind which he understood having an embargo on his country would prevent him from pursueing. Ghaddafi is not done with the US or Europe for that matter. You just keep watching that falling Dollar.
Lastly Mr. Sowell, doing his best "Boss" act writes:
Critics of the Bush administration may keep saying that there is no connection between Iraq and terrorism but the terrorists themselves seem to believe otherwise. Why else are they pouring into Iraq, in what they themselves have characterized as a crucial battle to stop the Americans from reconstituting that country in ways that will make their plans for the region harder to carry out?
Well perhaps there's the issue of the US being in a country with some of Islam's Holiest Sites? Or maybe it's that they don't particularly like seeing Iraq occupied by the US. Apparently Mr. Sowell is under the impression that the US is in Iraq for the Iraqi's own benefit. he should look into the financials of Halliburton or perhaps investigate the "constitution" that gives the US access to Iraq's natural resources. Oh yes and lets not forget that, oh, what's this, the US is who put Saddam in power in the first place and supplied him with the chemical weapons he used on "his own people." Surely that was done for the benefit of the Iraqi people.
The problem with Sowell, and indeed a large number of Americans, is that they have no clue just how much dirt is done on their behalf and for thier benefit. But everybody else knows and everybody else has just about had it.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
White Genetic Anhilliation
The ultimate purpose of the system is to prevent white genetic annihiliation on Earth, a planet in which the overwhelming majority of people are classified as non-white (black, brown, red and yellow) by white-skinned people.
Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
The Isis Papers
If you do not know this about white people, virtually anything else that you know about them will only confuse you
Neely Fuller Jr.
The United Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept: a textbook/workbook for thought speech and/or action for victims of racism (white supremacy)
The NY Times had an article discussing the falling population of Germany entitled:
Empty Maternity Wards Imperil a Dwindling Germany
Some interesting points were:
Germany's falling birthrate, like that in much of Western Europe, is entering its second generation. This means not only that mothers continue to have one or at most two children - too few to reproduce the population - but also that the number of potential mothers has dwindled.
The reunification with eastern Germany, where the birthrate is even lower than in the west, has made matters worse. Dresden, the capital of depopulated Saxony, closed 43 schools this summer because of a lack of children. Elsewhere in the country, there are too many hospitals and even too many roads.
Germany, like several of its neighbors, is running out of the people it needs to sustain its advanced social systems and public infrastructure.
"There will be 10 million fewer young people in my lifetime," observed Frank Schirrmacher, an editor at the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, who has written a best-selling book about population trends in Germany. "Our whole infrastructure is designed for a bigger population."
"A blunt-spoken woman who works as a hairdresser, Ms. Jovanovic, 32, said she also felt that children were neither particularly welcome nor prized in German society. Her neighbors, she said, complained more when her child cried at night than if she threw a party or played music.
"They want their houses, they want their cars, they want their peace," she said, apologizing to her German roommate, Simone Schönhoff, and her husband, Thorsten, who were preparing for the birth of twins.
"It is partly selfishness," Mr. Schönhoff agreed. "They want a Mercedes, and it costs so much that they can't afford a child."...
Mrs. Schönhoff noted, however, that women were motivated by something else: a fear that they will cramp their professional options if they stay at home too long. While German family leave laws are generous, allowing either parent to take three years off and return to their jobs, Mrs. Schönhoff, a secretary, says she plans to stay at home no longer than six months...
Germany's birthrate is roughly equivalent to that of Spain or Italy, but lower than that of France, which has been encouraging larger families since the 1930's. France also has a stronger tradition of working mothers.
"Spain, Italy and Germany will be the first societies in human history with more older people than children," said Mr. Schirrmacher, whose book, "The Methuselah Conspiracy," has sold 400,000 copies here. "What will it mean for popular culture? How will they vote?""
What is even more interesting, and relevant to this post is:
Even if it did, Mr. Schirrmacher noted, demographic trends take generations to reverse. Immigration is only a temporary solution, he said, because the new arrivals so swiftly adopt the German lifestyle.
The financial world in which the Europeans have created will soon wipe them off the planet taking those whome ascribe to their lifestyle or fall to thier military. Simply put Capitalism demands greater and greater profits. To get these profits the cost of production must fall or the cost of goods must go up. In modern America, both of these things are happening with housing costs going through the roof and the job market good only for those who make over $35,000/year (depending on where you live). But the ever increasing need to make more in order to basically stay put, and/or the emphasis on the increase in material wealth has forced a child limit on people who live in such societies. One does not have the time or wealth to take care of more than 2 children. In fact in America one leading indicator of financial failure is the presence of a child in a family. So here we have white folks all over Europe, with massive "immigration" problems from places where children are not seen as a burden, We also are seeing this in the US where a large portion of the population also has the 1.3 child mentality.
If anyone needed proof that the current financial situation is simply unnatural needs only to look at Germany. So now we should expect more SkinHead and neo nazi behavoir because those individuals have always been acutely aware of the anti-breeding tendancies of Europeans. In fact if one checks out discussion boards of these individuals you will find much discussion on the need to "have children" for the white race to survive the onslaught of the colored people of the world. It is highly probable that Europe in some point in the future cease to exist as we know it and become more like, say, north Africa and the "great fear" will come true.
The ultimate purpose of the system is to prevent white genetic annihiliation on Earth, a planet in which the overwhelming majority of people are classified as non-white (black, brown, red and yellow) by white-skinned people.
Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
The Isis Papers
If you do not know this about white people, virtually anything else that you know about them will only confuse you
Neely Fuller Jr.
The United Independent Compensatory Code/System/Concept: a textbook/workbook for thought speech and/or action for victims of racism (white supremacy)
The NY Times had an article discussing the falling population of Germany entitled:
Empty Maternity Wards Imperil a Dwindling Germany
Some interesting points were:
Germany's falling birthrate, like that in much of Western Europe, is entering its second generation. This means not only that mothers continue to have one or at most two children - too few to reproduce the population - but also that the number of potential mothers has dwindled.
The reunification with eastern Germany, where the birthrate is even lower than in the west, has made matters worse. Dresden, the capital of depopulated Saxony, closed 43 schools this summer because of a lack of children. Elsewhere in the country, there are too many hospitals and even too many roads.
Germany, like several of its neighbors, is running out of the people it needs to sustain its advanced social systems and public infrastructure.
"There will be 10 million fewer young people in my lifetime," observed Frank Schirrmacher, an editor at the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, who has written a best-selling book about population trends in Germany. "Our whole infrastructure is designed for a bigger population."
"A blunt-spoken woman who works as a hairdresser, Ms. Jovanovic, 32, said she also felt that children were neither particularly welcome nor prized in German society. Her neighbors, she said, complained more when her child cried at night than if she threw a party or played music.
"They want their houses, they want their cars, they want their peace," she said, apologizing to her German roommate, Simone Schönhoff, and her husband, Thorsten, who were preparing for the birth of twins.
"It is partly selfishness," Mr. Schönhoff agreed. "They want a Mercedes, and it costs so much that they can't afford a child."...
Mrs. Schönhoff noted, however, that women were motivated by something else: a fear that they will cramp their professional options if they stay at home too long. While German family leave laws are generous, allowing either parent to take three years off and return to their jobs, Mrs. Schönhoff, a secretary, says she plans to stay at home no longer than six months...
Germany's birthrate is roughly equivalent to that of Spain or Italy, but lower than that of France, which has been encouraging larger families since the 1930's. France also has a stronger tradition of working mothers.
"Spain, Italy and Germany will be the first societies in human history with more older people than children," said Mr. Schirrmacher, whose book, "The Methuselah Conspiracy," has sold 400,000 copies here. "What will it mean for popular culture? How will they vote?""
What is even more interesting, and relevant to this post is:
Even if it did, Mr. Schirrmacher noted, demographic trends take generations to reverse. Immigration is only a temporary solution, he said, because the new arrivals so swiftly adopt the German lifestyle.
The financial world in which the Europeans have created will soon wipe them off the planet taking those whome ascribe to their lifestyle or fall to thier military. Simply put Capitalism demands greater and greater profits. To get these profits the cost of production must fall or the cost of goods must go up. In modern America, both of these things are happening with housing costs going through the roof and the job market good only for those who make over $35,000/year (depending on where you live). But the ever increasing need to make more in order to basically stay put, and/or the emphasis on the increase in material wealth has forced a child limit on people who live in such societies. One does not have the time or wealth to take care of more than 2 children. In fact in America one leading indicator of financial failure is the presence of a child in a family. So here we have white folks all over Europe, with massive "immigration" problems from places where children are not seen as a burden, We also are seeing this in the US where a large portion of the population also has the 1.3 child mentality.
If anyone needed proof that the current financial situation is simply unnatural needs only to look at Germany. So now we should expect more SkinHead and neo nazi behavoir because those individuals have always been acutely aware of the anti-breeding tendancies of Europeans. In fact if one checks out discussion boards of these individuals you will find much discussion on the need to "have children" for the white race to survive the onslaught of the colored people of the world. It is highly probable that Europe in some point in the future cease to exist as we know it and become more like, say, north Africa and the "great fear" will come true.
Whites take up Garveyism
Well they take up it's essentials. The Deskrat has posted a piece by Mike Rupert in which he discusses how to gain power in these Republican times:
Quote:
There's a great first rule in economic warfare. It's exactly the same reason why flight attendants instruct people to put on their oxygen masks before assisting others when an airliner's cabin depressurizes. To save the world you must save yourself first. The way you start to fight with money is to get out of debt. If that means simplifying your life then that's good anyway, you'll use less energy. But to be debt free is to stop paying your money to the corporations and banks that are creating this naked aggression anyway.
These are the same corporations and banks that will come and pluck your economic corpse when the economy crashes next year as it surely must. If you are debt free then there will be less for them to pluck.
All around the globe we see newly forming economic and political alliances. In South America and elsewhere new regional common markets are evolving rapidly. The Euro is rising to new significance as a world currency and a way to pull the rug from under the Empire. From Russia, to Iran, to China to Venezuela, to Saudi Arabia the world is drifting inexorably to a decision to price oil in Euros. China has just raised interest rates. In 2005 Iran is planning on opening an oil bourse trading futures in Euros and is quietly building consensus support. This is, in my opinion, the major motive for pressuring Iran just as Saddam Hussein's decision to price oil in Euros was his chief crime.
Link:http://deskrat.blogspot.com/2004/11/snap-out-of-it-by-mike-ruppert_18.html
Well they take up it's essentials. The Deskrat has posted a piece by Mike Rupert in which he discusses how to gain power in these Republican times:
Quote:
There's a great first rule in economic warfare. It's exactly the same reason why flight attendants instruct people to put on their oxygen masks before assisting others when an airliner's cabin depressurizes. To save the world you must save yourself first. The way you start to fight with money is to get out of debt. If that means simplifying your life then that's good anyway, you'll use less energy. But to be debt free is to stop paying your money to the corporations and banks that are creating this naked aggression anyway.
These are the same corporations and banks that will come and pluck your economic corpse when the economy crashes next year as it surely must. If you are debt free then there will be less for them to pluck.
All around the globe we see newly forming economic and political alliances. In South America and elsewhere new regional common markets are evolving rapidly. The Euro is rising to new significance as a world currency and a way to pull the rug from under the Empire. From Russia, to Iran, to China to Venezuela, to Saudi Arabia the world is drifting inexorably to a decision to price oil in Euros. China has just raised interest rates. In 2005 Iran is planning on opening an oil bourse trading futures in Euros and is quietly building consensus support. This is, in my opinion, the major motive for pressuring Iran just as Saddam Hussein's decision to price oil in Euros was his chief crime.
Link:http://deskrat.blogspot.com/2004/11/snap-out-of-it-by-mike-ruppert_18.html
The NBA Plantation
I'm not one to follow sports, much less comment on it, but I felt the need this time. Apparently during a Pistons-Pacers game there were a couple of fights that involved fans. In particular, Ron Artest of the Pacers was suspended for the remainder of the season, because when a fan threw a beverage at him, he went into the stands and put his fist in the fans mouth. And the problem is? Benches cleared and multiple suspensions ensued. Let me state here that the fights "happened" to involve large, tall black men and short white men, a few of whome appeared overweight. But that's not important. The important thing here is the punishment in a sport with a high "negro quotient." See there's this game called Hockey. In that sport there is a low "negro quotient." That game also sees violence at every single game. In fact it is not only looked forward to, but makes the highlight reels with a 'wink, nod and outright approval" by most sports anchors. It was only temporarily, when a hockey player put another player into a coma did the tone change. It appears that when white men knock each other into walls, pull off their helmets and beat each other in retaliation, it's ok. Even when they use large wooden sticks as weapons, it's ok.
However; when negroes on the court get mad at each other for unneccessary checking it is grounds for immediate suspension. If a Negro, during a fight, get's up from the bench, regardless of intent, is fined and suspended. So back to the fight with the fan. So not only are negroes in such check in the NBA, apparently the fans feel they can say or do whatever they like because the negroes can't do anything but entertain them. So while Ron Artest is suspended for the remainder of the season, the NBA is "considering" action against the fans, some of whome were cought on tape throwing material at the players. My friends, that is assault. Each fan caught on tape or seen by officials throwing material at the players ought to be arrested and charged with assault.
The players, should wise up and realize that they are being given the plantation treatment. They ought to refuse from playing until each fan involved is charged with assault and that the NBA make it clear that fans are prohibited from throwing anything at the players and make abusive statements at their own risk.
I'm not one to follow sports, much less comment on it, but I felt the need this time. Apparently during a Pistons-Pacers game there were a couple of fights that involved fans. In particular, Ron Artest of the Pacers was suspended for the remainder of the season, because when a fan threw a beverage at him, he went into the stands and put his fist in the fans mouth. And the problem is? Benches cleared and multiple suspensions ensued. Let me state here that the fights "happened" to involve large, tall black men and short white men, a few of whome appeared overweight. But that's not important. The important thing here is the punishment in a sport with a high "negro quotient." See there's this game called Hockey. In that sport there is a low "negro quotient." That game also sees violence at every single game. In fact it is not only looked forward to, but makes the highlight reels with a 'wink, nod and outright approval" by most sports anchors. It was only temporarily, when a hockey player put another player into a coma did the tone change. It appears that when white men knock each other into walls, pull off their helmets and beat each other in retaliation, it's ok. Even when they use large wooden sticks as weapons, it's ok.
However; when negroes on the court get mad at each other for unneccessary checking it is grounds for immediate suspension. If a Negro, during a fight, get's up from the bench, regardless of intent, is fined and suspended. So back to the fight with the fan. So not only are negroes in such check in the NBA, apparently the fans feel they can say or do whatever they like because the negroes can't do anything but entertain them. So while Ron Artest is suspended for the remainder of the season, the NBA is "considering" action against the fans, some of whome were cought on tape throwing material at the players. My friends, that is assault. Each fan caught on tape or seen by officials throwing material at the players ought to be arrested and charged with assault.
The players, should wise up and realize that they are being given the plantation treatment. They ought to refuse from playing until each fan involved is charged with assault and that the NBA make it clear that fans are prohibited from throwing anything at the players and make abusive statements at their own risk.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Palast, Ohio and the Real Court Case Part II
Now lets look at this graphic showing how Democrats and republicans did in Franklin County:
note that there is a good amount of Franklin county where Kerry did less than 60% and a whole lot of Franklin County where Bush did over 60%. So remembering that Kerry would have to get 80% of the provisional and spoiled ballots to just break even, this doesn't look good for Kerry at all. Even so, looking at this map and looking at the spread of ballots across the counties, one can see that the provisional ballots in mostly white areas outnumber those in areas with large black populations, hence making Kerry's odds even slimmer. But all this is conjecture, with Ohio now having to recount their ballots including provisionals, spoiled and absentee (why weren't those counted already since they had them?) we will know the real numbers soon enough.
Let's look at what we know can sink the Republicans should a group with enough balls and money does it:
"In Franklin County, where Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder is also the former Executive Director of the county�s Republican Party, the county Board of Elections building looked like a bunker. Scores of city buses blocked parking spaces on the street outside, numerous concrete barricades surrounded the parking lot, and a metal detector was stationed at the only entrance. A phalanx of armed deputy sheriffs swarmed the only site where provisional voters could cast a guaranteed ballot. The Columbus Dispatch confirmed an Election Day Free Press story that far fewer voting machines were present in predominantly black Democratic inner-city voting wards than in the recent primary election and the 2000 presidential election, with their lighter turnouts. The reduced number of machines caused voters to wait up to seven hours and wait an average of approximately three hours. One Republican Central Committee member told the Free Press that Damschroder held back as many as 2000 machines and dispersed many of the other machines to affluent suburbs in Franklin County."--free press.org article
This, my friends is a smoking gun. Matt Damschroder should be deposed as well as the person who reported this action. I believe there is enough evidence to charge Mr. Damschroder and "black"well with voter disenfranchisement through the purposeful depopulating of voting machines in areas with projected high turnouts. I hope someone or some organization takes this challenge up.
Now lets look at this graphic showing how Democrats and republicans did in Franklin County:
note that there is a good amount of Franklin county where Kerry did less than 60% and a whole lot of Franklin County where Bush did over 60%. So remembering that Kerry would have to get 80% of the provisional and spoiled ballots to just break even, this doesn't look good for Kerry at all. Even so, looking at this map and looking at the spread of ballots across the counties, one can see that the provisional ballots in mostly white areas outnumber those in areas with large black populations, hence making Kerry's odds even slimmer. But all this is conjecture, with Ohio now having to recount their ballots including provisionals, spoiled and absentee (why weren't those counted already since they had them?) we will know the real numbers soon enough.
Let's look at what we know can sink the Republicans should a group with enough balls and money does it:
"In Franklin County, where Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder is also the former Executive Director of the county�s Republican Party, the county Board of Elections building looked like a bunker. Scores of city buses blocked parking spaces on the street outside, numerous concrete barricades surrounded the parking lot, and a metal detector was stationed at the only entrance. A phalanx of armed deputy sheriffs swarmed the only site where provisional voters could cast a guaranteed ballot. The Columbus Dispatch confirmed an Election Day Free Press story that far fewer voting machines were present in predominantly black Democratic inner-city voting wards than in the recent primary election and the 2000 presidential election, with their lighter turnouts. The reduced number of machines caused voters to wait up to seven hours and wait an average of approximately three hours. One Republican Central Committee member told the Free Press that Damschroder held back as many as 2000 machines and dispersed many of the other machines to affluent suburbs in Franklin County."--free press.org article
This, my friends is a smoking gun. Matt Damschroder should be deposed as well as the person who reported this action. I believe there is enough evidence to charge Mr. Damschroder and "black"well with voter disenfranchisement through the purposeful depopulating of voting machines in areas with projected high turnouts. I hope someone or some organization takes this challenge up.
Palast, Ohio, and the Real Court Case
Greg Palasts assertions that Kerry took Ohio (and New Mexico) have taken off on the blogospher and news programs. He has been a guest on Like It Ism with Gil Noble and has had his assertions repeated by many other writers. I have gone on record that I think that his assertion is simply a guess and we won't know the truth until or unless all the votes are counted. Anything else is mere speculation.
The Black Commentator ran a think piece that asseted, like many others that the exit polls were right and that their divergence from the official outcome is a sign of tampering. Let's address this:
1) When Douglas Wilder was running for governor of Virginia in 1989, Exit polls had Wilder up by 10%. He actually won by 1%.
2) When David Dinkins was running for Mayor of NYC against Guiliani, exit polls had him ahead by 8 points. In the end Dinkins won by 1%. another.
I could do like Greg palast and say that exit polls can be wrong by a stunning 900-800% . I could say that exit polls can be wrong by 8x-9x the actual outcome. It would stirr up all kinds of emotions but wouldn't address the real issue. Exit polls can be wrong. No exit poll can force people to actully participate or tell the truth. Thus those who repeatedly claim exit polls to be infallible also have bridges to sell.
Let's go back to the "missing votes." As indicated before Greg Palast and other say there are some 240,000 missing votes, 90,000+ of these would be spoiled ballots. that is they had hanging chads, dimples, multiple votes, or some other "Problem." ther remaining 154,000 were provisional ballots. here's what has been said about these:
Unofficial Ohio presidential results provided by the Secretary of State’s Office show 155,428 provisional ballots cast. Blackwell was all over the national news telling everyone who would listen that these ballots were randomly distributed and not disproportionately for Kerry. As former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani raved on national TV demanding Kerry’s concession, a basic analysis of the provisional ballots suggested that they were disproportionately for Kerry.
Historically, provisional ballots are far more likely to be cast by poor and minority voters, who live in the urban centers and move more often. Ohio has 88 counties, the vast majority of them rural. Kerry won 15 counties in Ohio, virtually all large urban centers. In those counties, 85,096 provisional ballots remain uncounted. Past elections point to the fact that these provisional ballots are hardly ever cast in the affluent, primarily Republican municipalities, but are overwhelmingly from the central city. Also, an additional 17,038 provisional ballots are from Hamilton County and Wood County. Bush won Hamilton with 53% of the vote and Wood County with 53.5%. Traditionally, the provisional ballots in Hamilton County come from Cincinnati and its poor central city areas. These are areas where John Kerry won handily on Election Day.
Thus, 102,134 of the provisional ballots, nearly two-thirds (65.7%) in all probability come from solidly pro-Kerry areas and are most likely cast by pro-Kerry supporters such as African Americans and the poor. These fit the same socio-economic demographics and racial profiles of voters targeted by the GOP for challenges in Ohio.
Palast also points to the 92,672 so-called “spoiled” ballots in Ohio that have yet to be counted, and may never be tallied. The most famous spoiled ballots were the 2000 Florida punch cards that could not be machine read, but when looked at manually the voter’s intent could be determined. Expert statisticians who investigated spoilage in the 2000 election in Florida found that 54% of these discarded ballots were cast by blacks. In Ohio, most of the spoiled votes were lost through punch card ballots in 2004.
The above was written by Bob Fitrakis of Columbus State Community College.
Let's take a look at some things here: Ohio has 88 counties or which Kerry won 15. It is claimed that these are all "large urban centers." Let's look at the 2000 census figures:
So here's the black population of areas with predominant (50% or more) black populations.
Bedford Heights city, Cuyahoga County: 67.4% black : 7666.75
Cleveland city, Cuyahoga County: 51% Black: 243685
East Cleveland city, Cuyahoga County 93.4% black :25420
Forest Park city, Hamilton County: 56.3% black: 10957.669
Fort McKinley CDP, Montgomery County: 53.2% black: 2122.148
Golf Manor village, Hamilton County: 63% black: 2519.37
Highland Hills village, Cuyahoga County: 65.1% black: 1053.318
Lincoln Heights village, Hamilton County: 98% black: 4030.74
Maplewood Park CDP, Trumbull County; 58.3% Black:187.143
North Randall village, Cuyahoga County: 71.7% black: 649.602
Oakwood village, Cuyahoga County: 56.2% black: 2060.854
Silverton city, Hamilton County: 50.3% black: 2604.534
Trotwood city, Montgomery County: 58.3% black :15985.86
Urbancrest village, Franklin County: 57.9% black: 502
Warrensville Heights city, Cuyahoga County: 90.4% black: 13658.536
Wilberforce CDP, Greene County: 84.2% black: 1329.518
Woodlawn village, Hamilton County: 68.4% black:1926.144
Woodmere village, Cuyahoga County 49.6% black (more blacks than whites by 10%) :410.688
Youngstown city:43.8% black (I've been there and it's a pretty big city for Ohio):35927
Only Cleveland has a huge black population and only 3 other counties have black populations that are over 10,000.
Let's also look at where the provisional ballots were cast (http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/results/index.html ):
Provisional Ballots cast by county (Percent of Total):
Cuyahoga: 24788 (16%)
Hamilton county: 14386:(9%)
Wood: 2655 (1.73%)
Trumbull: 2700 (1.7%)
Montgomery:9,227 (6%)
Greene 2127 (1.3%)
Franklin: 14446 (9%)
Total: 153,329
lets look at this table showing the total votes cast by county, the number of provisional ballots and the proportion of the black population for these counties:
Onto Part II
Greg Palasts assertions that Kerry took Ohio (and New Mexico) have taken off on the blogospher and news programs. He has been a guest on Like It Ism with Gil Noble and has had his assertions repeated by many other writers. I have gone on record that I think that his assertion is simply a guess and we won't know the truth until or unless all the votes are counted. Anything else is mere speculation.
The Black Commentator ran a think piece that asseted, like many others that the exit polls were right and that their divergence from the official outcome is a sign of tampering. Let's address this:
1) When Douglas Wilder was running for governor of Virginia in 1989, Exit polls had Wilder up by 10%. He actually won by 1%.
2) When David Dinkins was running for Mayor of NYC against Guiliani, exit polls had him ahead by 8 points. In the end Dinkins won by 1%. another.
I could do like Greg palast and say that exit polls can be wrong by a stunning 900-800% . I could say that exit polls can be wrong by 8x-9x the actual outcome. It would stirr up all kinds of emotions but wouldn't address the real issue. Exit polls can be wrong. No exit poll can force people to actully participate or tell the truth. Thus those who repeatedly claim exit polls to be infallible also have bridges to sell.
Let's go back to the "missing votes." As indicated before Greg Palast and other say there are some 240,000 missing votes, 90,000+ of these would be spoiled ballots. that is they had hanging chads, dimples, multiple votes, or some other "Problem." ther remaining 154,000 were provisional ballots. here's what has been said about these:
Unofficial Ohio presidential results provided by the Secretary of State’s Office show 155,428 provisional ballots cast. Blackwell was all over the national news telling everyone who would listen that these ballots were randomly distributed and not disproportionately for Kerry. As former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani raved on national TV demanding Kerry’s concession, a basic analysis of the provisional ballots suggested that they were disproportionately for Kerry.
Historically, provisional ballots are far more likely to be cast by poor and minority voters, who live in the urban centers and move more often. Ohio has 88 counties, the vast majority of them rural. Kerry won 15 counties in Ohio, virtually all large urban centers. In those counties, 85,096 provisional ballots remain uncounted. Past elections point to the fact that these provisional ballots are hardly ever cast in the affluent, primarily Republican municipalities, but are overwhelmingly from the central city. Also, an additional 17,038 provisional ballots are from Hamilton County and Wood County. Bush won Hamilton with 53% of the vote and Wood County with 53.5%. Traditionally, the provisional ballots in Hamilton County come from Cincinnati and its poor central city areas. These are areas where John Kerry won handily on Election Day.
Thus, 102,134 of the provisional ballots, nearly two-thirds (65.7%) in all probability come from solidly pro-Kerry areas and are most likely cast by pro-Kerry supporters such as African Americans and the poor. These fit the same socio-economic demographics and racial profiles of voters targeted by the GOP for challenges in Ohio.
Palast also points to the 92,672 so-called “spoiled” ballots in Ohio that have yet to be counted, and may never be tallied. The most famous spoiled ballots were the 2000 Florida punch cards that could not be machine read, but when looked at manually the voter’s intent could be determined. Expert statisticians who investigated spoilage in the 2000 election in Florida found that 54% of these discarded ballots were cast by blacks. In Ohio, most of the spoiled votes were lost through punch card ballots in 2004.
The above was written by Bob Fitrakis of Columbus State Community College.
Let's take a look at some things here: Ohio has 88 counties or which Kerry won 15. It is claimed that these are all "large urban centers." Let's look at the 2000 census figures:
So here's the black population of areas with predominant (50% or more) black populations.
Bedford Heights city, Cuyahoga County: 67.4% black : 7666.75
Cleveland city, Cuyahoga County: 51% Black: 243685
East Cleveland city, Cuyahoga County 93.4% black :25420
Forest Park city, Hamilton County: 56.3% black: 10957.669
Fort McKinley CDP, Montgomery County: 53.2% black: 2122.148
Golf Manor village, Hamilton County: 63% black: 2519.37
Highland Hills village, Cuyahoga County: 65.1% black: 1053.318
Lincoln Heights village, Hamilton County: 98% black: 4030.74
Maplewood Park CDP, Trumbull County; 58.3% Black:187.143
North Randall village, Cuyahoga County: 71.7% black: 649.602
Oakwood village, Cuyahoga County: 56.2% black: 2060.854
Silverton city, Hamilton County: 50.3% black: 2604.534
Trotwood city, Montgomery County: 58.3% black :15985.86
Urbancrest village, Franklin County: 57.9% black: 502
Warrensville Heights city, Cuyahoga County: 90.4% black: 13658.536
Wilberforce CDP, Greene County: 84.2% black: 1329.518
Woodlawn village, Hamilton County: 68.4% black:1926.144
Woodmere village, Cuyahoga County 49.6% black (more blacks than whites by 10%) :410.688
Youngstown city:43.8% black (I've been there and it's a pretty big city for Ohio):35927
Only Cleveland has a huge black population and only 3 other counties have black populations that are over 10,000.
Let's also look at where the provisional ballots were cast (http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/results/index.html ):
Provisional Ballots cast by county (Percent of Total):
Cuyahoga: 24788 (16%)
Hamilton county: 14386:(9%)
Wood: 2655 (1.73%)
Trumbull: 2700 (1.7%)
Montgomery:9,227 (6%)
Greene 2127 (1.3%)
Franklin: 14446 (9%)
Total: 153,329
lets look at this table showing the total votes cast by county, the number of provisional ballots and the proportion of the black population for these counties:
| County Name | Total Precinct | Total Registe | Total Votes | Percentage o | Provisional B | % Black Population (2000) | Projected Black vote Turnout based on Population and votes cast | Predicted White Vote |
| Adams | 35 | 17,696 | 12,094 | 68.34 | 184 | 0.20% | 24 | 12,070 |
| Allen | 139 | 68,174 | 48,121 | 70.59 | 1,374 | 12.20% | 5,871 | 42,250 |
| Ashland | 65 | 34,847 | 25,171 | 72.23 | 629 | 0.80% | 201 | 24,970 |
| Ashtabula | 127 | 62,926 | 45,474 | 72.27 | 1,142 | 3.20% | 1,455 | 44,019 |
| Athens | 69 | 45,100 | 27,960 | 62 | 2,504 | 2.40% | 671 | 27,289 |
| Auglaize | 39 | 33,094 | 22,528 | 68.07 | 647 | 0.20% | 45 | 22,483 |
| Belmont | 83 | 44,452 | 33,452 | 75.25 | 1,067 | 3.60% | 1,204 | 32,248 |
| Brown | 35 | 28,922 | 20,030 | 69.26 | 326 | 0.90% | 180 | 19,850 |
| Butler | 289 | 238,117 | 163,668 | 68.73 | 5,793 | 5.30% | 8,674 | 154,994 |
| Carroll | 26 | 20,076 | 14,172 | 70.59 | 304 | 0.50% | 71 | 14,101 |
| Champaign | 29 | 25,376 | 18,564 | 73.16 | 555 | 2.30% | 427 | 18,137 |
| Clark | 100 | 89,683 | 68,883 | 76.81 | 1,279 | 8.90% | 6,131 | 62,752 |
| Clermont | 191 | 125,823 | 88,019 | 69.95 | 1,818 | 0.90% | 792 | 87,227 |
| Clinton | 32 | 25,092 | 18,177 | 72.44 | 378 | 2.20% | 400 | 17,777 |
| Columbiana | 103 | 78,536 | 49,249 | 62.71 | 1,085 | 2.20% | 1,083 | 48,166 |
| Coshocton | 43 | 22,679 | 17,331 | 76.42 | 277 | 1.10% | 191 | 17,140 |
| Crawford | 46 | 29,591 | 21,906 | 74.03 | 424 | 0.60% | 131 | 21,775 |
| Cuyahoga | 1,436 | 1,005,807 | 665,334 | 66.15 | 24,788 | 27.40% | 182,302 | 483,032 |
| Darke | 43 | 38,290 | 26,379 | 68.89 | 710 | 0.40% | 106 | 26,273 |
| Defiance | 42 | 25,847 | 18,169 | 70.29 | 672 | 1.80% | 327 | 17,842 |
| Delaware | 123 | 100,676 | 79,691 | 79.16 | 1,891 | 2.50% | 1,992 | 77,699 |
| Erie | 62 | 55,517 | 39,690 | 71.49 | 972 | 8.60% | 3,413 | 36,277 |
| Fairfield | 118 | 91,498 | 67,632 | 73.92 | 1,306 | 2.70% | 1,826 | 65,806 |
| Fayette | 38 | 16,093 | 11,704 | 72.73 | 293 | 2.10% | 246 | 11,458 |
| Franklin | 788 | 845,720 | 515,472 | 60.95 | 14,446 | 17.90% | 92,269 | 423,203 |
| Fulton | 35 | 28,561 | 21,902 | 76.69 | 381 | 0.20% | 44 | 21,858 |
| Gallia | 35 | 23,567 | 13,944 | 59.17 | 574 | 2.70% | 376 | 13,568 |
| Geauga | 96 | 65,393 | 51,286 | 78.43 | 668 | 1.20% | 615 | 50,671 |
| Greene | 142 | 105,079 | 77,830 | 74.07 | 2,127 | 6.40% | 4,981 | 72,849 |
| Guernsey | 37 | 27,129 | 16,570 | 61.08 | 558 | 1.50% | 249 | 16,321 |
| Hamilton | 1,013 | 573,612 | 418,001 | 72.87 | 14,386 | 23.40% | 97,812 | 320,189 |
| Hancock | 62 | 49,607 | 35,087 | 70.73 | 791 | 1.10% | 386 | 34,701 |
| Hardin | 38 | 18,921 | 13,146 | 69.48 | 349 | 0.70% | 92 | 13,054 |
| Harrison | 24 | 11,769 | 8,410 | 71.46 | 89 | 2.20% | 185 | 8,225 |
| Henry | 33 | 19,685 | 15,188 | 77.16 | 250 | 0.60% | 91 | 15,097 |
| Highland | 31 | 28,243 | 18,323 | 64.88 | 494 | 1.50% | 275 | 18,048 |
| Hocking | 32 | 18,378 | 13,258 | 72.14 | 251 | 0.90% | 119 | 13,139 |
| Holmes | 19 | 18,089 | 11,542 | 63.81 | 170 | 0.30% | 35 | 11,507 |
| Huron | 55 | 37,436 | 25,584 | 68.34 | 670 | 1.00% | 256 | 25,328 |
| Jackson | 38 | 23,997 | 14,332 | 59.72 | 422 | 0.60% | 86 | 14,246 |
| Jefferson | 91 | 49,655 | 36,528 | 73.56 | 650 | 5.70% | 2,082 | 34,446 |
| Knox | 56 | 36,971 | 26,661 | 72.11 | 689 | 0.70% | 187 | 26,474 |
| Lake | 217 | 160,165 | 119,657 | 74.71 | 1,975 | 2.00% | 2,393 | 117,264 |
| Lawrence | 84 | 41,424 | 27,876 | 67.29 | 599 | 2.10% | 585 | 27,291 |
| Licking | 122 | 111,387 | 78,876 | 70.81 | 1,565 | 2.10% | 1,656 | 77,220 |
| Logan | 52 | 29,406 | 21,135 | 71.87 | 650 | 1.70% | 359 | 20,776 |
| Lorain | 239 | 196,601 | 139,069 | 70.74 | 4,134 | 8.50% | 11,821 | 127,248 |
| Lucas | 495 | 302,136 | 216,453 | 71.64 | 6,719 | 17.00% | 36,797 | 179,656 |
| Madison | 44 | 23,477 | 17,451 | 74.33 | 392 | 6.20% | 1,082 | 16,369 |
| Mahoning | 312 | 194,673 | 131,938 | 67.77 | 2,717 | 15.90% | 20,978 | 110,960 |
| Marion | 84 | 43,323 | 28,762 | 66.39 | 928 | 5.70% | 1,639 | 27,123 |
| Medina | 149 | 118,330 | 84,725 | 71.6 | 1,266 | 0.90% | 763 | 83,962 |
| Meigs | 27 | 15,205 | 10,813 | 71.11 | 240 | 0.70% | 76 | 10,737 |
| Mercer | 37 | 31,306 | 20,478 | 65.41 | 931 | 0.10% | 20 | 20,458 |
| Miami | 82 | 72,169 | 50,562 | 70.06 | 1,609 | 2.00% | 1,011 | 49,551 |
| Monroe | 29 | 10,350 | 7,857 | 75.91 | 132 | 0.30% | 24 | 7,833 |
| Montgomery | 588 | 391,914 | 279,801 | 71.39 | 9,227 | 19.90% | 55,680 | 224,121 |
| Morgan | 22 | 9,358 | 6,770 | 72.34 | 160 | 3.40% | 230 | 6,540 |
| Morrow | 36 | 24,249 | 16,403 | 67.64 | 314 | 0.30% | 49 | 16,354 |
| Muskingum | 85 | 51,552 | 38,817 | 75.3 | 871 | 4.00% | 1,552 | 37,265 |
| Noble | 27 | 8,879 | 6,715 | 75.63 | 75 | 6.70% | 450 | 6,265 |
| Ottawa | 78 | 30,251 | 23,052 | 76.2 | 469 | 0.60% | 138 | 22,914 |
| Paulding | 30 | 14,226 | 9,881 | 69.46 | 243 | 1.00% | 99 | 9,782 |
| Perry | 46 | 23,480 | 15,328 | 65.28 | 428 | 0.20% | 31 | 15,297 |
| Pickaway | 53 | 30,045 | 22,579 | 75.15 | 553 | 6.40% | 1,445 | 21,134 |
| Pike | 24 | 19,661 | 12,708 | 64.64 | 285 | 0.90% | 114 | 12,594 |
| Portage | 129 | 109,565 | 76,306 | 69.64 | 1,445 | 3.20% | 2,442 | 73,864 |
| Preble | 45 | 28,137 | 21,226 | 75.44 | 493 | 0.30% | 64 | 21,162 |
| Putnam | 35 | 24,572 | 18,948 | 77.11 | 246 | 0.20% | 38 | 18,910 |
| Richland | 126 | 95,359 | 61,907 | 64.92 | 1,357 | 9.40% | 5,819 | 56,088 |
| Ross | 76 | 43,463 | 31,402 | 72.25 | 563 | 6.20% | 1,946 | 29,456 |
| Sandusky | 72 | 39,408 | 32,433 | 82.3 | 760 | 2.70% | 875 | 31,558 |
| Scioto | 106 | 48,012 | 35,317 | 73.56 | 867 | 2.70% | 953 | 34,364 |
| Seneca | 54 | 37,974 | 27,148 | 71.49 | 494 | 1.80% | 488 | 26,660 |
| Shelby | 35 | 28,460 | 22,688 | 79.72 | 791 | 1.50% | 304 | 22,384 |
| Stark | 364 | 267,939 | 186,252 | 69.51 | 6,653 | 7.20% | 13,410 | 172,842 |
| Summit | 475 | 368,858 | 275,551 | 74.7 | 5,932 | 13.20% | 36,372 | 239,179 |
| Trumbull | 274 | 142,548 | 108,533 | 76.14 | 2,700 | 7.90% | 8,574 | 99,959 |
| Tuscarawas | 81 | 55,656 | 42,871 | 77.03 | 987 | 0.70% | 300 | 42,571 |
| Union | 46 | 30,200 | 22,515 | 74.55 | 436 | 9.40% | 2,116 | 20,399 |
| Van Wert | 39 | 21,100 | 15,252 | 72.28 | 297 | 0.70% | 107 | 15,145 |
| Vinton | 20 | 8,527 | 6,059 | 71.06 | 129 | 0.40% | 24 | 6,035 |
| Warren | 157 | 125,919 | 93,321 | 74.11 | 1,465 | 2.70% | 2,520 | 90,801 |
| Washington | 56 | 40,881 | 29,707 | 72.67 | 643 | 0.90% | 267 | 29,440 |
| Wayne | 97 | 69,672 | 51,898 | 74.49 | 818 | 1.60% | 830 | 51,068 |
| Williams | 44 | 26,772 | 18,324 | 68.44 | 694 | 0.70% | 128 | 18,196 |
| Wood | 105 | 91,492 | 61,865 | 67.62 | 2,655 | 1.30% | 804 | 61,061 |
| Wyandot | 24 | 15,834 | 10,785 | 68.11 | 138 | 0.10% | 11 | 10,774 |
| TOTAL | 11,360 | 7,979,639 | 5,574,476 | 69.86 | 155,428 | 635,291 | ||
Onto Part II
Why we don't like Rice
You know, rice is brown. That's how it comes out the ground (water)> White rice, what most of us regard as "real" rice, is brown rice that has been processed and stripped. What we have left is a rice that is a shadow of itself. The same thing can be said of Condeleeza Rice. yes we know that she's rice, but she's not the original real deal and she's been whitewashed. Ever since the Black Commentator ran This cartoon featuring Condeleeza and Amiri Baraka poetically referred to Dr. Rice as a skeeza, Folks have been up in arms in the "name calling' that some of us have subjected Dr. Rice to. Now with the recent promotion of Dr. Rice to Secretary of State "conservative" Republicans have been trying to bait black leadership on a new spate of cartoons that accurately depict Dr. Rice as the House Negro she is.
Buchanan manages to find two more House Negroes to defend Dr. Rice:
CALLER: You know, I can't say how back I am taken at the New York Times and the article, the cartoon. I'm waiting for black leadership to stand up and say "Hey, you know what? This is wrong." I'm waiting to hear Jesse Jackson; I'm waiting to hear from the leaders of the Nation of Islam; I'm waiting to hear from Jesse Jackson, Jr.; I'm waiting to hear from Al Sharpton, but I'm waiting to hear from them. But you know what I'm going to hear, Rush? I'm going to hear silence. Do you know why? It's not, "Well, I'm up for the black man." They're more Democratic than they are black. That's the only way I can put it. They are more Democratic than they are black, and I have to say --
RUSH: No, hey, Gino, I must applaud you, sir. (applauding) You are exactly right. You know why? Because every name you mentioned gets a seat at the Democratic Party's power table in exchange for what you just said: Selling out their own people and interests in exchange for that position of power at the Democratic Party.
The Independent Womens' Forum released a press release showing thier dissapointment in the left, and specifically three cartoonists on their depiction of "Condi":
"The depiction of Dr. Condoleezza Rice by Jeff Danziger, Pat Oliphant and Garry Trudeau as an ebonics speaking, big lipped, black mammy who just loves her 'massa' is a disturbing trend in editorial cartoons," said Michelle D. Bernard, senior vice president of the Independent Women's Forum. "These cartoons take the racism of the liberals who profess respect and adoration for black Americans to a new level. It is revolting."
Danziger, Oliphant and Trudeau, whose editorial cartoons are very popular in the United States, also are renowned all over the world.
"The most powerful woman in the United States is young, gifted, and black. Given our nation's history of race-based slavery, the ensuing civil rights movement, and our continual battle against race and sex based discrimination, every citizen in our nation should take pride in Dr. Rice's accomplishments," said Bernard. "She is a representation of America's past and future all at once. One must ask where is the outrage of the nation's civil rights leadership, feminist organizations, and the so-called liberals who only seem to embrace black America in election years?"
Well lets address the probable reason why the "civil rights" organizations don't care for her: First most civil rights organizations are not supportive of the war in Iraq, Condeleeza by virtue of her close relationship with Bush et.al. means that she is on the wrong side of the civil rights agenda. So they are not going to support her. Since Bush also finds himself on the wrong side of the political agenda of Civil rights organizations and Condi is on Bush's side, then she is basically the "massas" handmaiden. Don't get mad when people call a spade a spade.
The second problem here is that these organizations and people think that somehow we don't recognize Dr. Rice as being an achiever. or as being intelligent. We do. We simply do not give our respects to those who misuse and abuse their god given talents to foment war. And there is no apologising for that.
In the end Dr. Rice has earned the ire of blacks who "know the deal." and that white cartoonists can see it too, is just a further condemnation of Dr. Rice. But we know that Condi could care less what these people or organizations think. See ultimately these organizations have very little power and defintely were not in a position to keep her from her current position, or Justice Thom(ass) for that matter. White men ( and women) continue to find blacks who will do what they want them to do, be they hoods in the 'hood or Degreed negroes.
Lastly; for those who think Condi should be judged on her own merits I suggest that at her hearing the following questions be asked:
1) As National Security Advisor, you missed vital signs of the impending terrorist attack on US soil? Why was that and how do we know such an oversight would not happen in this post?
2) Your position as National Security advisor required you to keep the president abreast of relevant and factual information regarding threats to the United States and it's interests. That clearly did not happen. Why not and given that mistake, why should you allowed to be Secretary of State?
The truthfull answers to this question would cast serious doubt on Conde's qualifications to be Secretary of State. It will happen anyway because we have an even more single party state now. But the real reason for this is to prep "Condi" for a possible presidential run against any woman that the Democrats may field. She would be used as a means to break off more of the black vote, which is a long term objective of the republicans who only need to split off some 30% to neuter the Democrats in that voting block.
Anywhoo..always be suspect when white men, especially those with known drug habits..ahem!!.. suddenly take up an interest in the depictions of black women.
Links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041117/dcw063_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041117/dcw063_1.htm
You know, rice is brown. That's how it comes out the ground (water)> White rice, what most of us regard as "real" rice, is brown rice that has been processed and stripped. What we have left is a rice that is a shadow of itself. The same thing can be said of Condeleeza Rice. yes we know that she's rice, but she's not the original real deal and she's been whitewashed. Ever since the Black Commentator ran This cartoon featuring Condeleeza and Amiri Baraka poetically referred to Dr. Rice as a skeeza, Folks have been up in arms in the "name calling' that some of us have subjected Dr. Rice to. Now with the recent promotion of Dr. Rice to Secretary of State "conservative" Republicans have been trying to bait black leadership on a new spate of cartoons that accurately depict Dr. Rice as the House Negro she is.
Buchanan manages to find two more House Negroes to defend Dr. Rice:
CALLER: You know, I can't say how back I am taken at the New York Times and the article, the cartoon. I'm waiting for black leadership to stand up and say "Hey, you know what? This is wrong." I'm waiting to hear Jesse Jackson; I'm waiting to hear from the leaders of the Nation of Islam; I'm waiting to hear from Jesse Jackson, Jr.; I'm waiting to hear from Al Sharpton, but I'm waiting to hear from them. But you know what I'm going to hear, Rush? I'm going to hear silence. Do you know why? It's not, "Well, I'm up for the black man." They're more Democratic than they are black. That's the only way I can put it. They are more Democratic than they are black, and I have to say --
RUSH: No, hey, Gino, I must applaud you, sir. (applauding) You are exactly right. You know why? Because every name you mentioned gets a seat at the Democratic Party's power table in exchange for what you just said: Selling out their own people and interests in exchange for that position of power at the Democratic Party.
The Independent Womens' Forum released a press release showing thier dissapointment in the left, and specifically three cartoonists on their depiction of "Condi":
"The depiction of Dr. Condoleezza Rice by Jeff Danziger, Pat Oliphant and Garry Trudeau as an ebonics speaking, big lipped, black mammy who just loves her 'massa' is a disturbing trend in editorial cartoons," said Michelle D. Bernard, senior vice president of the Independent Women's Forum. "These cartoons take the racism of the liberals who profess respect and adoration for black Americans to a new level. It is revolting."
Danziger, Oliphant and Trudeau, whose editorial cartoons are very popular in the United States, also are renowned all over the world.
"The most powerful woman in the United States is young, gifted, and black. Given our nation's history of race-based slavery, the ensuing civil rights movement, and our continual battle against race and sex based discrimination, every citizen in our nation should take pride in Dr. Rice's accomplishments," said Bernard. "She is a representation of America's past and future all at once. One must ask where is the outrage of the nation's civil rights leadership, feminist organizations, and the so-called liberals who only seem to embrace black America in election years?"
Well lets address the probable reason why the "civil rights" organizations don't care for her: First most civil rights organizations are not supportive of the war in Iraq, Condeleeza by virtue of her close relationship with Bush et.al. means that she is on the wrong side of the civil rights agenda. So they are not going to support her. Since Bush also finds himself on the wrong side of the political agenda of Civil rights organizations and Condi is on Bush's side, then she is basically the "massas" handmaiden. Don't get mad when people call a spade a spade.
The second problem here is that these organizations and people think that somehow we don't recognize Dr. Rice as being an achiever. or as being intelligent. We do. We simply do not give our respects to those who misuse and abuse their god given talents to foment war. And there is no apologising for that.
In the end Dr. Rice has earned the ire of blacks who "know the deal." and that white cartoonists can see it too, is just a further condemnation of Dr. Rice. But we know that Condi could care less what these people or organizations think. See ultimately these organizations have very little power and defintely were not in a position to keep her from her current position, or Justice Thom(ass) for that matter. White men ( and women) continue to find blacks who will do what they want them to do, be they hoods in the 'hood or Degreed negroes.
Lastly; for those who think Condi should be judged on her own merits I suggest that at her hearing the following questions be asked:
1) As National Security Advisor, you missed vital signs of the impending terrorist attack on US soil? Why was that and how do we know such an oversight would not happen in this post?
2) Your position as National Security advisor required you to keep the president abreast of relevant and factual information regarding threats to the United States and it's interests. That clearly did not happen. Why not and given that mistake, why should you allowed to be Secretary of State?
The truthfull answers to this question would cast serious doubt on Conde's qualifications to be Secretary of State. It will happen anyway because we have an even more single party state now. But the real reason for this is to prep "Condi" for a possible presidential run against any woman that the Democrats may field. She would be used as a means to break off more of the black vote, which is a long term objective of the republicans who only need to split off some 30% to neuter the Democrats in that voting block.
Anywhoo..always be suspect when white men, especially those with known drug habits..ahem!!.. suddenly take up an interest in the depictions of black women.
Links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041117/dcw063_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041117/dcw063_1.htm
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Bigger Brother
Until recently one had to either be on the internet, turn on a cell phone, get into one of m illions of cars with OnStar or sign up for Easy Pass in order to be watched by the state or corporation. Convenience was the lure. No more lines, targeted adverts. But now these agencies have realized what many social scientists already knew: Target the youth. The NY Times is reporting that Schools are now giving out id cards with embeded chips so that parents and "authorities" may know the location of children attending school. Of course the reason given is that children are victims of violence, kidnappings and that sort of thing so it is comforting to know that your child actually made it to school and if not, where they actually are.
I can't speak for my mother, but as a child kidnapping was the least thing I was worried about. I grew up in NYC. I rode the Q6 bus and the E trains all by myself. whilst in Elementary school I would walk from 14th street and 8th avenue to 23rd street and 7th. or 14th and 6th. Well either way I was alone and knew better than to get into anybody's car regardless of what was offered. Todays kids, especially those in suburbs do not deal with a huge metropolis or 2-3 hour commutes to and from school. Most get on Cheeze busses and thier biggest concern is remembering to get off at their stop. Perhaps this is one reason why I'm so independent.
Anyway, the issue here is that these schools have convinced the students that having a RFID chip on (and soon, in) them is ok because they need oversight. But beieve me, this is not for their own good. What this is is social engineering so that suchg surveliance is second nature to citizens. Many proponents of such surveliance ask:
well if you're not doing anything wrong then why worry?
Simple answer is I don't want to be surveilled. How about that? HOw about my whereabouts are my business so long as I don't break the law. And here's the rub, People don't understand that they are being cataloged for "law enforcement." Law Enforcement gets to keep tabs on you "just in case" you happen to commit a crime. the safety issues are secondary or even tertiary.
Bu thow effective are these cards? Right now there are computer issues with people being recorded as being somewhere when they weren't (not good if you get accused of a crime). But here's the rub, the card can be rendered useless byu encasing it in enough lead to stop the chip from broadcasting. I suggest that all persons concerned about their privacy but want convenience, should purchase a lead box to store thier little RF devices when not in use ( Easy Pass, Cell Phones, Cards...) This way your only on the map when you need to be and off the map when you don't need to be. NO doubt in the near future people will be contractually required to have their "ID" on at all times and who knows perhaps people will be arrested and fined for turning them off. Don't laugh, rental car companies already do it and when you recieve your drivers license you also agree to a whole string of things (searches, etc). Well, so much for "individual rights" soon it will be the right to do that which I allow you to do, where I allow you to do it.
Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/17/technology/17tag.html?oref=login&8hpib
Until recently one had to either be on the internet, turn on a cell phone, get into one of m illions of cars with OnStar or sign up for Easy Pass in order to be watched by the state or corporation. Convenience was the lure. No more lines, targeted adverts. But now these agencies have realized what many social scientists already knew: Target the youth. The NY Times is reporting that Schools are now giving out id cards with embeded chips so that parents and "authorities" may know the location of children attending school. Of course the reason given is that children are victims of violence, kidnappings and that sort of thing so it is comforting to know that your child actually made it to school and if not, where they actually are.
I can't speak for my mother, but as a child kidnapping was the least thing I was worried about. I grew up in NYC. I rode the Q6 bus and the E trains all by myself. whilst in Elementary school I would walk from 14th street and 8th avenue to 23rd street and 7th. or 14th and 6th. Well either way I was alone and knew better than to get into anybody's car regardless of what was offered. Todays kids, especially those in suburbs do not deal with a huge metropolis or 2-3 hour commutes to and from school. Most get on Cheeze busses and thier biggest concern is remembering to get off at their stop. Perhaps this is one reason why I'm so independent.
Anyway, the issue here is that these schools have convinced the students that having a RFID chip on (and soon, in) them is ok because they need oversight. But beieve me, this is not for their own good. What this is is social engineering so that suchg surveliance is second nature to citizens. Many proponents of such surveliance ask:
well if you're not doing anything wrong then why worry?
Simple answer is I don't want to be surveilled. How about that? HOw about my whereabouts are my business so long as I don't break the law. And here's the rub, People don't understand that they are being cataloged for "law enforcement." Law Enforcement gets to keep tabs on you "just in case" you happen to commit a crime. the safety issues are secondary or even tertiary.
Bu thow effective are these cards? Right now there are computer issues with people being recorded as being somewhere when they weren't (not good if you get accused of a crime). But here's the rub, the card can be rendered useless byu encasing it in enough lead to stop the chip from broadcasting. I suggest that all persons concerned about their privacy but want convenience, should purchase a lead box to store thier little RF devices when not in use ( Easy Pass, Cell Phones, Cards...) This way your only on the map when you need to be and off the map when you don't need to be. NO doubt in the near future people will be contractually required to have their "ID" on at all times and who knows perhaps people will be arrested and fined for turning them off. Don't laugh, rental car companies already do it and when you recieve your drivers license you also agree to a whole string of things (searches, etc). Well, so much for "individual rights" soon it will be the right to do that which I allow you to do, where I allow you to do it.
Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/17/technology/17tag.html?oref=login&8hpib
"Thugz abound
"You can take the negro out the ghetto
but can't take the ghetto out the Negro
what makes you think you can take the ghetto out the ghetto?"
-Faraji Salim
Neo Millenium Negroes
Griot For The New Millenium
The passing of ODB (Old Dirty Bastard) of Wu-Tang fame has illicited articles that embraced his creativity and discussed his problems, which apparently were many. I wont go into them here 'cause if you know you know. But one thing that stood out to me was when he said, in a momment of sincere introspection, that he didn't know how to live life without drugs. My classist side wanted to rage on ODB about his problems, but my sensible side realized that had he been white he simply would be considered "essentric." But another side of me looks at ODB and realizes that he could have simply been a victim of ghetto life. And this so called ghetto lifestyle, glamourized and pushed by large white owned and black fronted corporations, continues to feed dumb behavior. Hence we have the violence at the VIBE awards this year. And it's not the first time that a fight happened at a Hip Hop award show and no, I don't particulary want to know about what goes on at rock concerts.
Supposedly Young Buck of the G-Unit of 50-cent fame, attempted to stab Dr. Dre after asking for an autograph. There are audio recordings of Suge Knight discussion not being a snitch, rat and some other nonsense. More "ghetto bullshit" if you ask me.
Let's be real here: G-Unit and Young Buck should be making some nice loot. Should have a good accountant setting them up for when they won't be on the charts themselves and when they will be busy producing new artists or, if miracles happen, set up a large corporate entity with distribution so that Hip Hop can be independent again. but no, instead (supposedly) Young Buck and most likely other Young Bucks that come after him will try to throw away success by trying to be "thugz." and no doubt there are some fans out there who are saying right now, just as was said about R-Kelly, how 'weak" Dr. Dre is because he may be cooperating with the police. Which brings me back to the ODB. People yucked it up when he pulled up to the welfare office in a limo to get his babymomma her welfare check ( or foodstamps, I can't remember which). But how many saw it as a part of the "ghetto fab" life that is snuffing potential? See when someone finds something funny that aint neccessarily so, then someone else takes that as license to take that extra step to "keep it real" and "keep it gully." How about we just be real and not accept violence at our shows? Let's honor ODB by learning from his mistakes that he himself admitted to.
links:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vibe18nov17,1,3058281.story?coll=la-headlines-california
"You can take the negro out the ghetto
but can't take the ghetto out the Negro
what makes you think you can take the ghetto out the ghetto?"
-Faraji Salim
Neo Millenium Negroes
Griot For The New Millenium
The passing of ODB (Old Dirty Bastard) of Wu-Tang fame has illicited articles that embraced his creativity and discussed his problems, which apparently were many. I wont go into them here 'cause if you know you know. But one thing that stood out to me was when he said, in a momment of sincere introspection, that he didn't know how to live life without drugs. My classist side wanted to rage on ODB about his problems, but my sensible side realized that had he been white he simply would be considered "essentric." But another side of me looks at ODB and realizes that he could have simply been a victim of ghetto life. And this so called ghetto lifestyle, glamourized and pushed by large white owned and black fronted corporations, continues to feed dumb behavior. Hence we have the violence at the VIBE awards this year. And it's not the first time that a fight happened at a Hip Hop award show and no, I don't particulary want to know about what goes on at rock concerts.
Supposedly Young Buck of the G-Unit of 50-cent fame, attempted to stab Dr. Dre after asking for an autograph. There are audio recordings of Suge Knight discussion not being a snitch, rat and some other nonsense. More "ghetto bullshit" if you ask me.
Let's be real here: G-Unit and Young Buck should be making some nice loot. Should have a good accountant setting them up for when they won't be on the charts themselves and when they will be busy producing new artists or, if miracles happen, set up a large corporate entity with distribution so that Hip Hop can be independent again. but no, instead (supposedly) Young Buck and most likely other Young Bucks that come after him will try to throw away success by trying to be "thugz." and no doubt there are some fans out there who are saying right now, just as was said about R-Kelly, how 'weak" Dr. Dre is because he may be cooperating with the police. Which brings me back to the ODB. People yucked it up when he pulled up to the welfare office in a limo to get his babymomma her welfare check ( or foodstamps, I can't remember which). But how many saw it as a part of the "ghetto fab" life that is snuffing potential? See when someone finds something funny that aint neccessarily so, then someone else takes that as license to take that extra step to "keep it real" and "keep it gully." How about we just be real and not accept violence at our shows? Let's honor ODB by learning from his mistakes that he himself admitted to.
links:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vibe18nov17,1,3058281.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
War Crimes in Falluja
We should call the Marine machine gunning of an Iraqi "insurgent" what it is: a War Crime. Briefly a US Marine was shown on film firing at an apparently injured (shot) Iraqi in a Mosque (more on that later). The Marine was shown as saying "He's faking" before he shot the man. One could suppose that order were to "take no prisoners" except that other video footage showed that the Marines were in deed taking prisoners. So when what was it that made the Marine kill an injured combatant? My immediate guess is that the Marine was operating in Video Game mode. I say that because in most video games you don't simply injure an enemy you kill them. For example in the Jedi Knight series One tactic for dealing with Storm Troopers is to 'use the force" and push them down or pull them down and then chop them up as they lay there. Never mind that in the game, once you pull the gun out of an enemy's hand he can't do anything else to you. Thus we have a generation of soldiers in the prime age group that games are targetted to who are used to "blowing the enemy away." But that's my psychological take on it. In reality what we saw was a war crime. An execution of a "combatant." But hey with 1600 estimated dead, what's another one?
We should call the Marine machine gunning of an Iraqi "insurgent" what it is: a War Crime. Briefly a US Marine was shown on film firing at an apparently injured (shot) Iraqi in a Mosque (more on that later). The Marine was shown as saying "He's faking" before he shot the man. One could suppose that order were to "take no prisoners" except that other video footage showed that the Marines were in deed taking prisoners. So when what was it that made the Marine kill an injured combatant? My immediate guess is that the Marine was operating in Video Game mode. I say that because in most video games you don't simply injure an enemy you kill them. For example in the Jedi Knight series One tactic for dealing with Storm Troopers is to 'use the force" and push them down or pull them down and then chop them up as they lay there. Never mind that in the game, once you pull the gun out of an enemy's hand he can't do anything else to you. Thus we have a generation of soldiers in the prime age group that games are targetted to who are used to "blowing the enemy away." But that's my psychological take on it. In reality what we saw was a war crime. An execution of a "combatant." But hey with 1600 estimated dead, what's another one?
Bye Bye Mr. Powell
I'll tell you this, I was not shocked or dismayed when word got to me that Powel was fired...I mean..was giving his resignation speech. Anyone who had been keeping up with the goings on of Powel know that he was a lame duck Secretary of State who was repeatedly at odds with Bush over his policy and was repeatedly and publicly embarrassed by Bush when he would reverse Powells statements on Israel and North Korea.
As my mother and many mothers have said to thier children as they marry the wrong people, or get involved with the wrong crowd, "you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas." Powells lasting impression from his stint as Secretary of State will be his outright lies and exagerations to the UN about Iraqs Nuclear weapons and his many trucks scattered all over Iraq that have HUGE cauldrons of biological and chemical weapons just waiting to be unleashed on "coalition" forces. All of which were IMHO, known to be wrong. The allegations were supported by some satelite photos showing nothing in particular and the words of a few Iraqi exiles looking for a quick buck.
Then we watched in recent interviews as Powell said he was wrong. How he was mistaken. Oh well.
70% of Americans who were asked approved of Powells performance. Many white Americans like that he 'speaks so well." To some African Americans he is an icon of the American dream. Not to me.
Mr. Powell was born of Jamaican parents. The man had so little pride in his home culture that he refused to correct people when they mispronounced his name (The manner in which it is said in the press is not the manner in which his parents or parents people pronounced it.) Powell latched onto the Military as his means to get ahead, attracted by the "level field" that he percieved there, and ran up the ranks. Powell, the good soldier was involved in the shamefull invasion of Grenada and has been quite mum on social topics even though rumor has it that he is more socially liberal than his republican peers. Would I place Powell in the same category as Justice Thom(ass) and Condeleeza Rice? Not at this time. I think those individuals are far worse than Powell, Yet and still General Powell needs to be examined for not only his personal accomplishments but for what he stood for and what he didn't stand for. Ultimately to me, he was "the good soldier" for an Imperial country. he did as he was told whether he agreed with it or not and today we are in need of consciencious soldiers who ask why and stand true to conviction and justice.
I'll tell you this, I was not shocked or dismayed when word got to me that Powel was fired...I mean..was giving his resignation speech. Anyone who had been keeping up with the goings on of Powel know that he was a lame duck Secretary of State who was repeatedly at odds with Bush over his policy and was repeatedly and publicly embarrassed by Bush when he would reverse Powells statements on Israel and North Korea.
As my mother and many mothers have said to thier children as they marry the wrong people, or get involved with the wrong crowd, "you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas." Powells lasting impression from his stint as Secretary of State will be his outright lies and exagerations to the UN about Iraqs Nuclear weapons and his many trucks scattered all over Iraq that have HUGE cauldrons of biological and chemical weapons just waiting to be unleashed on "coalition" forces. All of which were IMHO, known to be wrong. The allegations were supported by some satelite photos showing nothing in particular and the words of a few Iraqi exiles looking for a quick buck.
Then we watched in recent interviews as Powell said he was wrong. How he was mistaken. Oh well.
70% of Americans who were asked approved of Powells performance. Many white Americans like that he 'speaks so well." To some African Americans he is an icon of the American dream. Not to me.
Mr. Powell was born of Jamaican parents. The man had so little pride in his home culture that he refused to correct people when they mispronounced his name (The manner in which it is said in the press is not the manner in which his parents or parents people pronounced it.) Powell latched onto the Military as his means to get ahead, attracted by the "level field" that he percieved there, and ran up the ranks. Powell, the good soldier was involved in the shamefull invasion of Grenada and has been quite mum on social topics even though rumor has it that he is more socially liberal than his republican peers. Would I place Powell in the same category as Justice Thom(ass) and Condeleeza Rice? Not at this time. I think those individuals are far worse than Powell, Yet and still General Powell needs to be examined for not only his personal accomplishments but for what he stood for and what he didn't stand for. Ultimately to me, he was "the good soldier" for an Imperial country. he did as he was told whether he agreed with it or not and today we are in need of consciencious soldiers who ask why and stand true to conviction and justice.