Authoritative Capitalism Vs. Democratic Capitalism

An interesting point made on This Week on ABC. The idea that there will be a competition between "authoritative capitalism" as practiced in China vs. "democratic capitalism." The idea being that the Chinese, through their centralized government are more efficient than than the US with it's more antagonistic and therefore slower acting government. If we take out the discussion of "efficiency" and go back to their discussion of government power over the citizens, one must point out over the years that many so called "democratic capitalistic" countries like the US and England are moving towards more authoritarian practices. I'll give the example of the guy arrested for using twitter during the G20 protests. I'll even point out the G20 protests. You also have the police state school systems made under the guise of "zero tolerance" rules.

The so called Patriot Act which allows unprecedented spying on citizens. You have the gutting of FISA and by extension the 4th Amendment. What the Chinese authorities are betting on, is that if they can continue to provide economic and material opportunities to their citizens while taking advantage of a culture that defers to authority. So long as the US continues to have issues with it's economy, the Chinese will have a perfect example of how the US talks a lot of game but are undisciplined, which is a bad thing in that culture.

While Liz Cheney may want to believe in her pipe dream that somehow the US is all that more powerful than the chinese, I would remind her of the recent event where a US plane was "captured" by the Chinese, who kept the plane and returned the pilot. No one in authority in the US even THOUGHT about invading that country. There were no news conferences about "all options being on the table." No such nonsense as is regularly trotted out for weaker (and non-nuclear) Iran.

So before people over here get all beside themselves with US haughtiness just check the label on all those goods you purchase this holiday season, the manufacturing location of those auto parts in Pep-Boys and RS Strauss. And then think about how that 1.3 billion people, a middle class as large as the entire US population, will also be doing computing, medicine and everything else too.

Check the picture...

from Windows Phone Thoughts
And see if you can pick out what's missing and why that's a problem.

This is an invite only Microsoft meeting. Folks who are invited are from the tech industry writers. This could have easily been any other company doing the invite so WHO invited is not at issue here.

Makes Sense

It should be clear that a Muslim is not allowed to transgress against non-Muslims as long as he or she resides in their lands under their protection. Any aggression from their quarter is unsanctioned treachery. If they feel they can no longer accept the perceived or real abuses or injustices of the host people then they are obliged to leave that land if remaining there would push them into acts of violence or aggression against the host community.

-New Islamic Directions

I have been making this very argument for a while now.

Of course an oppositional argument to this is that since non-Muslims are occupying Muslim lands and have corrupted Muslim leadership to the extent that the would be Jihadist does not feel that they are safe in said Muslim lands, then the would be Jihadist has nowhere to go and therefore must commit Jihad where he or she is. Even with that argument I believe that the quoted text is the best and those Jihadist that are so annoyed at the status quo in their lands, take to overthrowing those regimes.

Hat tip Planet Grenada

Everyone looking to take from we

In a series of meetings, Saudi government officials, bankers and agribusiness executives told an institute delegation led by Zeigler that they intended to spend billions of dollars to establish plantations to produce rice and other staple crops in African nations like Mali, Senegal, Sudan and Ethiopia. “They laid out this incredible plan,” Zeigler recalled. He was flabbergasted, not only by the scale of the projects but also by the audacity of their setting. Africa, the world’s most famished continent, can’t currently feed itself, let alone foreign markets.

NY Times

How mad can I be when Garvey had long since warned Africa what would happen we didn't get our acts together. How many African nations depend on volunteer doctors. How many wells are dug instead of water works? How much clothes are dumped on the market rather than home grown? How much diamonds for Jewelry is taken? How much coultan for cell phones are taken? Uranium? How surprising should it be that they'll look to grow food for themselves?

Update:

Daewoo Logistics had signed an agreement to take over about half of Madagascar’s arable land, paying nothing, with the intention of growing corn and palm oil for export.

Paying nothing? Who are we kidding here? Either the leadership of Madagascar is so incompetent as to give up use of land for nothing or, more likely the leadership of Madagascar pocketed some "nice" change in this deal. C'mon now.

Last fall, Paul Collier of Oxford University, an influential voice on issues of world poverty, published a provocative article in Foreign Affairs in which he argued that a “middle- and upper-class love affair with peasant agriculture” has clouded the African development debate with “romanticism.”

I've been saying this for years. People think it's all cute that people are pulling water up from a well when they know full well THEY wouldn't live like that. What? Can an African get a sink and faucet please? And yeah, boo hoo that some old ways of living are going to have to change. How's that depending on foreigners to eat working out. Thought so.

TD Jakes Justifies the Taliban

So last night I'm doing my laundry when I chanced upon a TV with CNN on with Larry King interviewing TD Jakes. Larry King asked TD Jakes whether he was opposed to war. I expected a so-called follower of Christ, you know the one that folk tell me said something in regards to turning the other cheek among other things, to make a bold statement in the vein of Martin Luther King Jr. and state his moral opposition to warfare. People still do know who he is and what he stood for now that we have a African-American president right?

He did not.

What Jakes said was that War is sometimes justifiable. Particularly in defense of one's country and countrymen.

Stop and think on that for a minute. TD. Jakes, perhaps one of the most prominent black Christians in the US, articulated a position, as a religious leader that it is OK, spiritually and morally to conduct warfare in defense of one's country and countrymen. Ladies and gentlemen is not the Taliban in Afghanistan expressing the exact same sentiments? Is not Al-Qaeda opposed to the US bases in "Muslim lands"? Are they not opposed to the oppression of Palestinians by Israel with the support of "foreigners"? Is there any difference between the fighter in Afghanistan who believes that his country and his people are being slaughtered and occupied by a foreign force just as moral as T.D. Jakes (assuming you think Jakes is a moral person)?

If one accepts Bishop Jakes position, then one must accept the Afghani's position and therefore reject any argument for any troop increase or presence in Afghanistan. The fighters in Afghanistan, by Jakes logic have the moral upper hand since they are defending their country.

Dr. King (and I suppose Ghandi) made the point clear war is like poking someone in the eye. eventually there are no more eyes to poke out. You'd think Bishop Jakes would have understood that, being so spiritually informed and all (*eye roll*).

Sosa and Latin American White Supremacy

I've been telling people about the racism that exists "south of the border" for the longest. It's part of the reason there is so much hate for Hugo Chavez who is known to have made very favorable commentary about the Africans in his lineage. So since we've been exposing negative attitudes world wide (South Korea, China) lets take on the Dominican Republic:

Don't blame Sammy Sosa. Blame Rafael Trujillo. The late Dominican dictator's rule (1930-1961) left generations of his countrymen without families, hope, and a demonized view of Afro-Dominicans and Haitians. During his reign he ordered the execution of tens of thousands of Haitians (The Parsley Massacre) and opened the doors to Jewish refugees from Europe in hopes of adding more Caucasians to his mostly Afro-Latino isle. His self-hatred was ever clear when Trujillo powdered his skin to appear lighter. So, in retrospect, Sosa is simply carrying out the racist ideologies that have permeated Latin America for centuries.

Essence

About a 10 on the Duh scale

'Africa must think big to thrive'

Many African states are too small to continue to exist independently, Sudan-born magnate Mo Ibrahim has told a conference in Tanzania.

Mr Ibrahim said the idea that 53 small African countries thought they could compete with China, India, Europe and the US was a "fallacy".

BBC

you don't say. This was said by Garvey before any country other than Ethiopia gained "independence". This is not rocket science. Anyone who knows history knows that the colonial borders of Africa were created with the express purpose of making it easy for the colonial powers to get the resources out of the country. Now it is a means to play one government against another for concessions and cheap labour, where they aren't simply dumping cheap goods on the local markets.

Obama and the Twitter Question

In china Obama gave a speech in which he encouraged the use of Twitter by the Chinese. He said that the use of such social media tools makes American democracy stronger. Too bad he didn't recall the American citizen who had the police barge into his home and take his stuff and placed under arrest for using this democracy strengthening tool to tweet the publicly available police communications to G20 protesters in Pittsburgh PA.

I'm sure they like Hip Hop though...

Last week it was an article in the NY Times about South Koreans hating on dark foreigners, now this:

"In Guangzhou, to be frank, they don't like Africans very much," said Diallo Abdual, 26, who came to China from Guinea 1 1/2 years ago to buy cheap Chinese clothes to ship back to West Africa for sale.
With the recession, his business has dried up, his money is gone, and he has overstayed his visa. Now, like many Africans here, he spends most of his days at Guangzhou's Tangqi shopping mall avoiding the police.
"The security will beat you with irons like you are a goat," he said. "The way they treat the blacks is very, very bad." He and others pointed out the spot where in July several Africans jumped from an upper-floor window to escape an immigration raid. One migrant was reported critically injured in the fall, and a large number of Africans marched on the local police station in protest...

The racial animosity here reflects a prejudice dating to China's mainly agrarian past: Darker skin meant you worked the fields; lighter skin put you among the elite. The country is rapidly industrializing and urbanizing, but that historical prejudice remains. High-end skin-whitening products are a $100 million-a-year business in China, according to industry statistics.

Chen Juan, 27, a secretary in an English-language training school in Beijing, regularly uses skin-whitening products and carries an umbrella on summer days. "For me, the whiter, the better. Being white means pretty," she said. "If someone looks too black, I feel they look countrified and like a farmer. . . . Being white is prettier than being black."
"In my impression, black people, especially Africans, are not clean enough," Chen continued. "To be frank, I just feel black people are too black. Definitely, I wouldn't consider having a black guy as my boyfriend even if he were rich."

But I am sure they love Hip Hop and other black or black derived music though.

Let Them Bow Their Heads

For nearly eleven weeks they have been living on the street opposite the house that was theirs for 53 years. On August 2 Israeli soldiers threw them out; minutes later, settlers from the violent organization Kach (“Thus”, founded by the late Meir Kahane), moved in and have been there ever since. And so the Ghawes are once again refugees, re-living a nightmare they had thought was buried in the Nakba. They watch from the street as settlers carry on life in their former home. When we visited, a guard hired by the settlers picked limes and gave them to one of the Ghawe women: “I am not against Arabs,” he said, “This is just my job.”


In 1979 I reported from Kiryat Arba, a major Gush Emunim stronghold. A settler interviewee whispered with pride that Meir Kahane had an apartment there. For the Gush settlers, Arabs were at very least inferior. One woman said she believed in a “chain of being”: on top, Jews. Then, lesser human specimens. Then animals, vegetables, minerals. Somewhere in the lower reaches of lesser humanity were Arabs. “Let them bow their heads. If they won’t, they should leave,” was a frequent Gush statement about the untermenschen.

from counterpunch

Remember this the next time someone like David Brooks tells you that certain Muslims are merely choosing to have a dour outlook on life.

"people were boiled alive"

The latest from Paul Craig Roberts contains this tid-bit:

As ambassador, Murray saw the MI5 intelligence reports from the CIA that described the most horrible torture procedures. “People were raped with broken bottles, children were tortured in front of their parents until they [the parents] signed a confession, people were boiled alive.”

...Guess who the consultant was who arranged with then Texas governor George W. Bush the agreements that would give to Enron the rights to Uzbekistan’s and Turkmenistan’s natural gas deposits and to Unocal to develop the trans-Afghanistan pipeline. It was Karzai, the US-imposed “president” of Afghanistan, who has no support in the country except for American bayonets...

Now If you're a long time follower of the blog you'll recall this post from July 2004 containing this closing sentence:

Why I guess that Mullah Omar has more than Bin-Ladin that the US wants. It would seem that the Taliban had the legal documents needed to move oil from the Caspian to the Indian Ocean across Afghanistan.

See, by establishing Karzai as the "legitimate" leader of Afghanistan and therefor legally able to sign certain "concessions" the hunt for Omar and Bin-Ladin are no longer important (or even a stated goal anymore). Why do you think Obama is now selling the Afghan war as the "good war." Why hasn't he made his decision? There are huge interests in Oil on one side, and a public that generally does not know about it on the other. If you can't sell the terrorism angle, then what can you sell without exposing that fact that oil is at the center here?

Thinking of Greeks

There are many things that annoy me. Maybe it's a sign of my aging. Like I get annoyed when people quote "African proverbs"
Like what the hell is that?

African Proverb.

Who, I ask, says "Indian proverb" when speaking of Hindu sayings? Who says "European proverb"? Really I'd like to know because I have never EVER heard any such reference in my life. Africa is the second largest continent by land mass on the planet. It currently has 53 countries thousands of languages and peoples and hundreds of large ethnic groups. How come these African Proverbs can't be identified by at least geography? Current bordered population (country) or something more specific?

I think I will write a book of saying I made up, label them all "African proverbs" and sell it so that liberal whites and black folk who want to show how cultured they are, can quote them. I mean seriously can we even verify that these are actual proverbs by Africans? But you know, black folk are all the same right? You seen one you know them all.

But anyway that's not the real bother here, no it's Greeks. Better put it's the Greeks that people perpetrate. I was reading an article that will go unlinked where this person mentioned some Greek philosopher who asked some inane question about what a "heap" is. I got really annoyed. Maybe it's because I have my first cold in years, but I swear I am annoyed at how much veneration the Greeks get. Supposedly the ancient Greek civilization starts around 1100 BCE. In the next 1200 years or so, they are credited with being frickin' geniuses. Seriously, They write, they tell stories, they philosophize and all kinds of stuff and it's as if there wasn't this HUGE expansive empire right next door. It's like saying that the Taliban in Afghanistann created the motorbike because we see them riding around on one.

That's like saying that the end of the European dark ages had absolutely nothing to do with all those manuscripts stolen and moved into Europe.

I mean it's common knowledge (as in readily available information) that many of the early Greek "philosophers" were students in Egyptian schools. For example Pythagorus learns math in Egypt but is credited with the right angle discovery? Never mind that the sign for the right angle appears in the Metu Neter (hieroglyph) for Het-Heru. Never mind that the Pyramids are built based on mathematics and there are whole papyri that show the math of their, and other construction. In fact the Egyptians are known to have considered the ancient Greeks to be quite lacking in intellect (hubris to be sure).

All that to say this: I think it's time for black writers to step up their game and crush this stuff as much as is possible. Lets create characters the put this information out there (in a non-preachy manner). People who produce TV shows, can we get some intelligent black folk on camera? And I'm not talking Sam Jackson's character in Die Hard either. They should get the last word and make sense. Otherwise our kids will continue to want to be Disney's Tiara rather than Sheeba.

OK I'm done.

Property Taxes and NJ

As anyone paying attention knows NJ pays the highest property taxes in the nation. Politics here centers around various politicians lying (except Daggett) about how they will lower property taxes. Nj residents apparently live in a dream world where they think that property taxes are going to drop precipitously by electing a new (or old) governor and it will happen in 4 years. It's truly amusing to hear people in NJ talk about this. One of the biggest mantras, usually trotted out by Republicans is that corruption in NJ is apparently THE cause of the high property taxes. So lets look at this charge.

A quick Google search brought up a page that states the current population of NJ is 8,862,661.

According to a Rutgers article corruption in NJ is a hidden tax on NJ residents that costs them $1 billion each year. Doing simple math, 1,000,000,000/8,862,661 we find that per person that "tax" costs $115.77.

Lets assume that half the population owns homes/property. They don't and I don't know the actual numbers. That corruption tax would be double the $115.77 to $231.54. Monthly that would be 9 bucks.

9 bucks.

Honestly, If that is enough to break someone then I submit that their economic situation is far more problematic than that which would be solved by eliminating this so called "corruption tax." New Jersey residents blow this kind of money on entertainment a week.

I saw a post in the comments section on the NY Times website where an assumed ex-resident of NJ where they claimed a "friend" was paying 19,000+ a quarter in taxes and was glad to have left for Nevada or Florida. First I thought of how given the small amount that corruption "costs" the tax payer that it's elimination particularly on this 19,000+ quarterly bill would not even register much less provide incentive to stay in NJ. The other thing that came to mind was that apparently this person has enough income to pay $80,000 per year in property taxes. Think about that. This person allegedly pays more in property taxes than the median yearly salary of a resident of Essex County. What exactly is this person's problem. The municipality with the highest property tax rate in NJ is Ridgefield Park Village at 2.255% which means that this person's property is worth $3.54 million.

$3.54 million.

Seriously folks in multimillion dollar homes are complaining about property taxes? Can we say: selfish prick?

So really why are property taxes high in NJ? Well a couple of things come to mind:

1) The rich simply are not paying their equitable share. Equitable meaning they can afford to put in more but are protected by various officials (some not elected) to keep from paying what they can afford.

2) NJ does not have a Wall Street that brings in a lot of money but it houses a lot of people who make money in it. It's like the rappers from NY who make it big and move to Englewood, Alpine, Englewood Cliffs, Teaneck, etc. All that business tax is collected by NY but NJ only gets the property and income taxes.

3) NJ has the lowest sales tax in the tri-state area (as far as I can tell). NY taxes everything including clothes and food. NJ does not. Lost revenue. On top of that while NY charges 8.5% (or more), NJ has 7% raised by Corzine last year I believe in order to close the budget.

4) It's largest city, Newark is underemployed. The inattention paid to the residents to Newark in terms of education and employment, costs the state millions in uncollected income tax, unrealized property taxes from depressed property values, high social services costs and of course the costs to jail and police those persons whom neglect turns out.

These are the top reasons why property taxes are so high in NJ. And until the electorate get it, they will continue to be fooled by politicians promising things they simply cannot deliver on and who'll be long gone to bigger and better money making things by the time the population gets a clue.

Tiara: Disneyfied Blackface

So there is this costume based on the entirely made up Tiara character from Disney. Apparently clueless black parents across the US are happy because there is "finally" a black royal character for their daughters to fit in...sorry, identify with. So a twit on my timeline posted the following article:

Princess Tiana products hot for Halloween and beyond

In which we find:

Princess Tiana, Disney’s first new princess in 10 years, is also the brand's first African-American princess. The movie, "The Princess and the Frog," is a musical fairy tale in which Tiana, a girl from New Orleans, voiced by actress Anika Noni Rose, is mistaken for a princess by a frog prince who asks her to kiss him to break the spell. Though the film does not arrive in theaters until Dec. 11, Tiana Halloween costumes are already a hot property. And in an unusual twist, the character is resonating more with adults than with little girls.



When I first heard of this concoction I knew we were in for another Disneyfied Moses story. You know the whitefacing of Khemet. Never mind the whole phoniness of the Moses story as perpetrated in the Old Testament. But that's another blog entry.

But one of the saddest parts is here:

"I am very passionate about this particular Disney character," Willis said. "It has been 100 years in the making. I've been very disturbed because I love the concept of a princess, but they don’t exist for the African-American community."

Excuse me? Ok I'll admit it. I have the urge to cal this person all manner of not child safe words for being so stupid as to allow herself to be quoted in such a manner.



First of all there is no concept of princess in AMERICAN communities because the United States, stolen from native Americans, did not arise out of a monarchy. The monarch concept as known by Europeans is something they brought from Europe. You know, that place those pilgrims were running from. You know, the people the French were keen to behead.



Putting all that aside, There were and are plenty of royalty in Africa, you know that place black folk come from, you know, the "Africa" part of African-American. It is so sad to see black folk in 2009 still aping after white folk. Tiara is simply European fairy tales in blackface. We have plenty of our own stories with which we can teach our children and make costumes about. However; in order to do so, parents need to have a clue.



One other thing of note for our real life African queens is that unlike most of their European counterparts, ours like Yaa Assantewa fought against the slave trade. Imagine that You'd prefer your daughter play blackface Europe than actual Queen who resisted the British. Sad. Even sadder:

[Tiana] is almost a confirmation as a black woman ... that you can be a princess, too."

Oh it's an affirmation all right. It's an affirmation that black people are in such a sad mental state that a black man in a woman's costume is a run away hit and a completely made up Disney character (with "good hair" no doubt) is what black mothers are looking to provide self-esteem for their daughters.



But just when you thought I was done there's more. Even IF we wanted to look at Europe for Royal templates then we would meet people like Queen Phillipa Charlotte of England who was descended from the black royalty of Portugal. Who knows though, they'll probably try to tie Tiara to this person and lineage. Still though, that black women and black people in general feel the need to have a Disneyfied and whitewashed character of a "princess" in order for their daughters to have self-esteem, when there are plenty of real life and living African queens to choose from is a sad state of affairs.



My recommendation: Less Disney more library.

The World Doesn't Care About Palestine

As far as the Palestinians go – and we’re talking regular folk here – is that everyone around pledge help and demand actions. As in pledge, instead of actually encouraging growth and implementing solutions. For example: after Israel’s operation Cast Lead, the Arab states pledged over $1 billion in aid to Gaza – which is good news for Gazans. The bad news is, however, that the money never actually reached the people, due to Fatah and Hamas’ inability to come to terms with each other, and Arab states’ inability to work out a system under which the people would be aided.

The Palestinian Sentinel

Thank You Morehouse

There has been a lot of silly commentary about how the dress code at Morehouse is homophobic. To these fools I say, no it's not. Morehouse's rules a possibly strict but they are not homophobic. What Morehouse is doing is saying how they expect men to dress on it's campus. period. I suppose what these idiots who are writing lame pieces on this issue want us to believe is that all black homosexual men feel compelled to wear women's clothing and they all black homosexual men have a compulsion to flame. No really because if they didn't believe that then there is no way they could go from "no women's clothing" to "Anti-gay". Worse that black homosexual men can't be held to the same standards of dress that the other men on campus are held to because, well they're gay. Talk about double standards and inequity.

Morehouse: Thanks for standing up for black manhood. Somebody needs to do it.

Minority Report

While the so called conservative right tries to upend the constitution by trying to merge church and state, establishing imperial presidencies for those presidents it likes and support for torture, there is an equally troubling threat coming from the left in the shape of the thought police.

This threat was created when so called hate crimes legislation first saw light of day. I suppose the sentiment was in the right place. "Minorities" were the victims of race based direct violence for no other "rational" motive than that they were not white and from some Western European country. Such legislation made "sense" because who would support "racist" thinking? I mean you wouldn't want to be the person arguing FOR racists. Never mind that such legislation then put the government in the position of dictating what is proper (and legal) thought. No one apparently thought of the inherent dangers of such a thing.

To highlight the danger of handing arbitrary power to the state was brought to my attention last night when I was watching the Mentalist. The "good guys" were investigating the murder of some person under witness protection. They came to the house of a woman and they did not have a warrant. When they knocked the woman did not answer the door but did look out of one of her upstairs windows. The officers seeing this decided to make up a situation that would warrant the police to break down her door, guns drawn and enter the premises. There was no protest by any of the three officers regarding the illegality of a made up situation. I was bothered by that. But in reality such illegal acts by police on TV shows is quite normal. The ends justify the means. right?

So in this vein federal hate crime statutes are about to be expanded to include gender and sexual orientation. It will be "amusing" to see how many rapists will now be charged with a hate crime. But the fact that we are enabling the federal government (or any level of govt.) to actually add charges to things that are already crimes simply based on the person's alleged thoughts regarding their victim is bad.

The extremely flimsy argument put forth by those who advocate for these abominations of law is that we charge people for premeditated murder therefore it is OK to charge someone for racial, religious or gender based motives. There are a number of problems with such reasoning:

Firstly the charge of premeditated murder only distinguishes between the "crime of passion" the type that happened because the perpetrator snapped. And the type that a perp sat down and planned out long in advance. There is no specificity as to what actually motivated the perpetrator, whether it be hate, revenge or whatever. The person charged with premeditated murder is so charged because the planning to commit a crime and how to get away with has been done is also criminal. In other words it is about the process of how the crime is committed and not the motivation that differentiates premeditation from standard homicide. And I'm not going to defend this particular legal situation. I don't think people ought to be charged extra for what planning they did or did not do. I'm only concerned about the final act itself.

Understand that in large measure many of these extra crimes that have been put on the books are there simply as a means of putting people in jail for longer periods of times and has nothing to do with the actual danger that the supposed "crime" poses to members of society.

Secondly and most importantly in terms of hate crimes, a so called hate crime can be premeditated murder. So in essence the so called "hate crime" simply becomes another charge to throw at the perp. This is not much different than the minority report thesis. The state can convict you simply based on what your particular attitude is even though simply having the attitude does not constitute a crime.

Thirdly I believe that such legislation will devolve into what we see in certain countries where certain language or ideas referring to Jews is illegal. Or where one cannot say certain things about Islam or Mohammed. That may sound extreme but there are people out there today who would love to criminalize speech they don't like and they are not all conservative Christians or Muslims.

I was told a long time ago that a person's adherence to the principles of democracy was not how one protected the rights of those whom one agreed with, but how one protected the rights of those whom one does not agree. We don't need to agree with those who hate a particular racial group, religious group or sexual orientation. However; they have the absolute fundamental right to believe whatever they want about said groups. What they do not have the right to do is beat or kill people. And it's always been illegal to do that. Hate crimes legislation are laws looking for a crime. I for one am tired of giving the government bogus reasons to get even more interfere with my rights.

Agent Provocateures

I've long since thought that a lot of the missile launches from Palestinian territories were not the actual work of Palestinians but rather by agents of Israel who were looking to discredit certain Palestinian movements much like the FBI and CIA did (and do) with black folk. And so it seems my thoughts were right on time:

Secret agents disguised as Arabs – known in Hebrew as “mista’aravim” – were used before Israel’s founding. Jews, usually recruited from Arab countries, went undercover in neighbouring states to collect intelligence.

The Haaretz newspaper revealed in 1998 that the secret police, the Shin Bet, also operated a number of mista’aravim inside Israel shortly after the state’s creation, locating them in major Arab communities.

The unit was disbanded in 1959, amid great secrecy, after several agents married local Arab women, and in some cases had children with them, in order to maintain their cover.

But the mista’aravim are better known for their use by the Israeli army on short-term missions inside Arab countries or in the West Bank and Gaza, where they have often been sent to capture or kill local leaders.

Does the above, or the article from which it came prove such an idea, but it does underscore the fact that Israelis do in fact have agents in Palestine.

$400 a gallon?

Costs are out of control, and priorities are skewed in the interest of rich organized interest groups at the expense of the vast majority of citizens. For example, war at all cost, which enriches the armaments industry, the officer corps and the financial firms that handle the war’s financing, takes precedence over the needs of American citizens. There is no money to provide the uninsured with health care, but Pentagon officials have told the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the House that every gallon of gasoline delivered to US troops in Afghanistan costs American taxpayers $400.

“It is a number that we were not aware of and it is worrisome,” said Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the subcommittee.

According to reports, the US Marines in Afghanistan use 800,000 gallons of gasoline per day. At $400 per gallon, that comes to a $320,000,000 daily fuel bill for the Marines alone. Only a country totally out of control would squander resources in this way.

Counterpunch

Brain in a Supercomputer

Does Obama Shape Black Opinion: A Survey Experiment

An interesting piece by Lester Spence:

So a couple of political scientists tested this with blacks. Would they be more likely to agree with the premise that blacks should rely on themselves if they were exposed to statements from prominent blacks saying they should? They found that not only were they more likely to agree if blacks said it than whites, they were more likely to agree even if the African American were someone like Clarence Thomas (who presumably votes against their interests but is black), compared to someone like Ted Kennedy (who presumably votes FOR their interests but is white).

Now I had a problem with this. I didn’t have a problem about the FINDINGS necessarily. But I had a problem with how the findings were EXTENDED. The political scientists in this case thought that taking the cue in this case automatically meant changing POLICY PREFERENCES. You believe blacks need self-help more than anything else? You support reducing government aid for welfare.

However it doesn’t have to work like this. All sorts of black folk–nationalists particularly–could believe that blacks should rely on themselves while still believing the government should take responsibility and do their part.

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Powerful from the start.

475 + Tax

She was 475
plus tax.
Auctioneers fee? 10 percent.
payment must be made in full
and merchandise removed from the premises
or storage fees will accrue.

Property of southern gentlemen
passed on to kin
for their enrichment.
she was 475
plus tax.

All sales final
no refunds for those found defective
resistant to orders
or prone to escape.


A PYT
Profitable Young Thing
A slave in the state
where secession rose
to keep her a slave.
where Vesey tried to free her.

TV stations and scholars try to clean it up:
"she had a child"

No she was 475
plus tax
and raped
just say it.

Negress of prime breeding age
easily worth more
guaranteed to work hard for you.
a wonderful investment.

News casters aghast at mentioning
that national past time
but it's past time
she was
475
plus tax.

direct from Angola
Impregnate her and she can breast feed your kids
a
perfect handmade for the missus.
she can be an errand girl by day
and concubine by night.

Only in America
said with pride
but how many people act proud about rape?
like maybe she wanted it
like maybe she gave consent
to
be moved from state to state
weighed, felt up,
hips measured for future property progeny.

And like Sally Hemmings
She survived.
Like millions
like the ones Marley sang about
survivor of long treks
dungeons
and floating caskets
seasoning stops
and auction blocks
where she
went from African
to property
worth
475
plus tax
and auction fees.

Obama's Nobel Prize

Some will call me a hater for this. So be it. For the record I know that Obama is an intelligent man. I believe that he is a peaceable man at heart. I don't wish him ill at all; and even in this disagreement with the Nobel committee offer a congratulations.

That said, I must object. I'm not at all clear as to how many different types of Nobel Prizes there are and if there was one for leadership I would probably be in full agreement with the committee for handing one to Obama for that. However I am unable to square away the Nobel Peace Prize for Obama.

Maybe it's my memory of another Peace Prize winner: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a man, who though I disagreed with his stand on non-violence, I had to respect for being true to his pacifist roots in the face of what had to have been serious pressure by others for him to drop that kind of language and action. A man who gets stabbed, beat, jailed, spit upon and simply kept it moving is deserving of a Peace Prize. In my mind I have felt that Dr. King represents the GOLD STANDARD of what a Peace Prize ought to represent. And I'm sorry, Obama does not live up to that standard.

I think in some cases this has to do with the total low standard by which American politics and general leadership has fallen. By the precedent of Bush, Obama is a demi-god. Seriously. But if we are to keep it real, there is no way, in a country that should have had high standards for leadership, that George Bush should have even gotten past the New Hampshire primary, much less a re-election to the highest office of the land. If anything Obama ought not be seen as special or anything, his primary attributes as cited by the Nobel committee ought to have been standard operating procedure for any candidate for high office. Forget that; ANY office.

This is why I'm largely disgusted with US politics and so called leadership. I'll give another example: Mike Bloomberg the current Mayor of NYC made much ado about honoring the term limits passed by referendum by New Yorkers. Then when his time was up, he went and had term limits overturned. A clear back track on a promise a clear ego move (only he's qualified to run the city) and New Yorkers apparently have no problem with this (in general). Low expectations and little follow through. but I digress. Let me get to the point of why I disagree with the Nobel Committee.

I don't think any Peace Prize nominee much less winner ought to be authorizing drones to do extra-judicial killings of so called terrorists who are fighting an occupying power of their country. I have a problem with that. This is in the same category as Dr. King jr., Desmond Tutu, Mandela? Really?

I don't think any Peace Prize nominee much less a winner ought to be authorizing deadly force against Somali pirates whom have never killed anyone in their custody. I have a problem with that. Oh it may have been inconvenient. Oh it may have involved negotiations. But killing over property? Really? Peace Prize material?

I find the Nobel Prize committee's reasoning regarding Obama's supposed wish to "eliminate nuclear arms" to be total bullshit. Total. I'm going to go into this on a different post, but the hypocracy of the US telling Iran or Korea for that matter what they can and cannot produce, while publicly talking about the military options that are on the table, is simply not worthy of a Peace Prize held by Dr. King Jr. Seriously. Can you imagine the Dalai-lama actually discussing how to bomb the Chinese for occupying Tibet?

Obama's name was submitted a mere 10 days into his presidency. Before that he was a one term (not even done) Senator. I'm sorry folks but that nomination was based on the historic election of Americas first African-American president. That was a popularity contest and not a real what are you doing and what have you done vote. I know, much of the world, and the US is still riding Obama's penis but seriously folks enough with the celebrity endorsements. I say this because there is one person, well two whom I can list of the top of my head who have done more for world peace and ending wars than Obama. Cindy Sheehan and Cynthia McKinney. I'm going to focus on McKinney here.

Here's someone who braved the Israeli illegal blockade to deliver much needed materials to Palestinians. Here is someone who while in office, worked to expose the underbelly of the Bush regime while people left right and center called her crazy. She has been world wide speaking on peace, environmental issues. etc. Just because the press has been ignoring her work is no excuse for the Nobel committee to overlook them. And I would also fault those who simply decided that she wasn't worthy of nomination.

On the international scene I could mention Hugo Chavez. Seriously. Did he not get in front of the world and speak dead on truth regarding Bush? Did he not attempt to change the world dialog? Has he not taken the oil wealth of his country and provided services to the poor and neglected there? And our tax dollars went where? to whom? What about Chavez' outreach to his neighbors to bring unity among South American states? Is that not worthy of a Peace Prize? Or is the Peace Prize only to go to those of a particular political leaning? or only to those with causes popular with certain European sensibilities and objectives?

Obama's presidency is young. There are a lot of things that will happen in the next 3 years and while I'm sure that a part of the reasoning for awarding the prize is to encourage more "peaceful" actions, I believe that the committee erred and ought to have waited a few years when Obama's full plans bear fruit and there's a good amount of history to back up the nomination and the future work assumed to be in the offering.

Apparently Obama agrees:

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

Guinea

With her foot in the air,
you da thought this was a dance hall.

With the men surrounding her
you da thought this was a dance hall
and she was that popular chick in the pum pum shorts.

With her panties showing
you da thought this was a dance hall.

But there was no reggae music playing.
No flashing lights and drunk revelers.
Beenie and Siegal were nowhere to be seen man
This was no bashment.

It was a war crime
And Jook Gal takes a new meaning
when AK's meet vagina and that ass is being passed around
instead of a dutchie
this is real.

Low lives in military fatigues
rapists wearing green berets
have no respect for women

So called freedom fighters who only vote on
who goes first?
push
push
pass

And those with E.D.
are quick to use the M16, AK and SIg Sauer

With no shame
this spectacle happens under sunlight
in
full view of cameras
like this was a public porn shoot

Left wondering if these men have mothers
a sister
children
or know any females at all.

Then act surprised when the population demonstrates
wanna disappear opposition
call them tools of colonialism
like some white man was out there
in broad day light
hoisting black thighs to the sky
in broad day light
tearing shirts from backs
in broad day light
on muddy ground
in broad day light
gun cocked in mouth
in broad day light

But they will lay blame
on the same white man
they sell diamonds to
same white man they buy cars from
the same white man who's country they buy villas in for their wives and girlfriends.
Who's doctors they will have care for them.
Who's schools they will send their children to be educated in.

And it makes you wonder who's freedom they're really fighting for?
'cause all I see are
women
broken
carrying a rapists baby
maybe infected with HIV
and dependent on Doctors without borders for care
'cause most of the doctors there been run out the borders.

But for these soldiers security is code word for party
and be careful when they come around
Food clothing and shelter will cost you
but the rape is free.

Capitalism: A Black Story

Didn't need Michael Moore to tell me about Capitalism.
Cause I roll with poets that woulda told ya: America's a corporation.

And we,
we been the supply that sated it's demand
for when cheap labour wouldn't do
and indentured servitude just wasn't economical.

The only people who landed here as property on Native property
like a chair, table, cat or dog.
The only one's who's tax rate was written into the constitution.

And
while people talk about the south, the trade of me and mine
built both new and old England
From stock yards to stock markets
Insurance to investment houses
We were bonded before Barry swung a bat.

And don't think Walmart been the the first to take out policies on employees
this goes way back before super stores and super markets
When you could get paid if someone injured your slave
And I'm sayin'

Didn't need a movie to clue me in
Been known about evictions, tear stained trails
and broken contracts.
back when men in white sheets, nooses and shot guns announced your eviction
and you hoped you made it out with the clothes on your back and neck in tact.

And our encounters with the bio-tech industry goes way before Tuskegee.
Like how 3/5 woman with 1 master race made a lighter shade of slave.

But that's capitalism that a Lowes can get paid to show a white man talk about the evils of Capitalism and gets applause.

Cause George Jackson caught one to the head, and Fred got Diallo practice for speakin' on the same things. Moore gets props and Panthers get jail time and run out the country.

So I didn't need Michael Moore to tell me about Capitalism
I learned what I needed from that Moor Eric Williams.

New Kiva Loan

Josephine Waiyego Irungu

You don't need to be US or Europe rich. You just need to be "third world" rich.

Donate to the Olatunji Foundation or sign up for a Kiva account and join team Olatunji Foundation.

The Only Color That Matters is Green

Hat Tip to Davey D:

Who Will Speak for Albert

Inspired by the murder of Derrion Albert, though not necessarily reflective of his life.

Who will speak for Albert?

He
probably never saw it coming.
maybe too busy thinkin' on what he had to do
and they hit him.
Two by four to the head
boot to the gut
and death came.
Eaten by the spirits of ancestors long neglected and forgotten
abandoned like New Orleans to hell of high water
and who will speak for him?

his killers will have had their names on nightly news, blogs and websites
presidents will have no words
for Albert was not from Princeton, a no one
yes
thats what you are when you're young brainy and black.

If you don't sing or dance TV has no place for you
Albert
If you can't tell a joke, play ball or rock a mic
you are nobody
You
are worthy of ridicule
not worthy of consideration by those
who fight over streets they don't even pay taxes on
Albert
They hate you
Your women hate you for your pants don't sag.

Your draws don't show and you lack swagger
Your English was probably too good and your knowledge too deep.
Deep down,
they envied you.

Albert, you were a king among barbarians
working to be worthy of a queen, not a gangsta bitch.
and who will speak for you?

Probably got up from can't see and worked 'till can't see
Probably passed on pussy to pick up a book
did it so you could pass that test so you could get pass out that hood.
And they probably teased you.
Called you gay
I know, they tried that on me.

Probably spent your time avoiding bathrooms and other unsafe places where hoods lie in wait for victims.

Probably took the long way home sometimes cause you just didn't want to be fucked with.

And no doubt there will be sociologsts, psychologists
Urban professionals and black scholars

They will explain how your killers were deprived of good schools, good homes and fathers.

They will blame Bill Cosby for speaking truth and say I am blaming the victim
but who will speak for you albert?

And we are to blame
Albert
We keep buying music by self called gangsters, drug dealers and pimps
we pay black men who piss on and beat on women and then blame the media for their troubles.

Yes Albert we killed you

And while Beyonce wanted a soldier
but you would have been content with
president
architect
engineer
albert
you may have cured cancer.
And we failed you.

And after 25 years your killers, will show up on TV somewhere and they will say they have found Christ or the local Masjid.
They will claim to have learned their lessons and want a second chance at life.

There will be gang documentaries of their exploits with video of your beat down.


We will nod our heads,
we will nod our heads
we will be proud that yet another black man in jail has found the light
but who
who will speak for you
Albert?

Absolutely Unacceptable

I was about to post on the Iran nuclear bull when this came to my attention. Absolutely unacceptable for this behavior to happen.

Sacrifice

Got quite a bit of feedback regarding my story post about how a date went wrong with a discussion of religion. I thought it would be best to discuss the matter further.

When we look at religious and cultural practices among people it's important to look at them in a historical perspective. Many of us don't think to much about human evolution much less the evolution of cultures and religion. We live in a fantasy world where early humans had a life akin to the Flintstones. Many have been thoroughly confused by Adam and Eve stories as to how people started out. And I don't mean to offend anyone with that statement, it's just that Genesis is, well, fiction. Just as many cultural "how life began" stories are either fictional or allegorical including Ifa's.

The fact of the matter is that humans started out in particularly brutal conditions. Naked, hot (or cold depending), and competing with a lot of other animals for food and struggling for survival against predators, insects and plain bad luck from eating the wrong plant. Indeed the fact of the matter is that for most of humanities existence we have been quite comfortable killing things. Indeed every carnivore and omnivore on the planet is comfortable taking a life to sustain itself. There is absolutely nothing abnormal or immoral with the taking of life in order to survive. Indeed among certain species, if they do not kill to eat, they cannot survive. For example vitamin B12 is contained in meat. Cats cannot synthesize B12 and therefore must eat meat in order to get that vitamin. Now a days we buy Tender Vittles and whatnot that has B12 in it and so our pets do not need to kill to get that particular vitamin. But that is artificial and yes, unnatural.

In human terms, we are separated from our natural need to kill that which we need to survive, because we have created an artificial food chain. We in essence outsource our hunting and killing to specialized professionals, who do our killing for us and who then offer this material for sale on various forms. An entirely artificial and unnatural state. Most of us who live in "developed" countries have absolutely no clue on how these things get to us and act accordingly. The "developed" countries, tend to waste more food than people in many less "developed" countries even consume. And so we have a situation where people are entirely separated from the process of life and therefore do not appreciate that which they have. If we look at the practice of animal sacrifice then, particularly in Ifa and it's related offshoots, we recognize that it is not about death and killing but about a recognition and appreciation of life.

One of my early experiences in grade school was studying Native Americans. One of the stories we were told was how when a hunter killed an animal, he would thank the spirit of the animal for allowing it's body to be given. It took me a long time to understand the full meaning of that but I do now. The Native American like the African saw that all things have a spirit, that spirit exists for some purpose and inhabits a particular physical form in which that particular purpose is carried out. Furthermore, it was understood that the only way life carries on is with the death of something else. Indeed life and death are partners in the cycle of the universe.

This is a totally logical position to have. If we look at how our own bodies work we would see this play out. We ingest food, be it meat or vegetable. the acids in our stomachs break down the food to smaller parts. The food enters our small intestines, where enzymes further break down these foods to get our amino acids, carbohydrates, etc. into a form that we can transport into our cells. These nutrients, once in our cells allow our bodies to maintain, grow and repair. Even in this process, we produce "waste" which we excrete in various forms and are picked up by plants, insects, bacteria, etc. which use these items for their own maintenance, growth and repair. So our own bodies confirms that death and life are all a part of one big cycle. If one needs any more proof of this, then think, imagine if every human being who ever lived was still alive. How many people would there be on Earth? And would we exist as a species? I don't have to answer that question because you know the answer.

And so one purpose of animal sacrifice within Ifa is the recognition by adherents of the significance of death and life. But there is more to it than that.

Recall in the beginning of this essay, I discussed the fact that humans have been intimate with the process of how they procured food. We also must recognize that for most of human history (and for much of Africa's history) the material wealth of a person was measured in livestock of some kind. This was probably due to the fact that if one had livestock, one had food. And since there wasn't fiat currency, if you needed to pay for someone's services, such as a priest, guess how that person was going to be paid? Sometimes animal sacrifice merely meant taking a goat or whatever and placing them at some holy site where a priest would later collect the sacrifice. I recall as a child, in church hearing "missionary stories" about how so and so missionary used the "Santa Clause" treatment to some unwitting native. The missionary would prove to their next victim that their idol wasn't a real god by showing the "idol worshipper" that the sacrifice or offering they gave never went anywhere. . The idol worshipper of course converted after such a demonstration.

What is lost particularly among persons with a novice level of understanding, is that many times the purpose of the sacrifice/offering is not so much that Ogun for example or the representative statuette, needs the food/money/wine/whatever. It is that the offerer needs to understand that nothing just "shows up" in life. The Yoruba visit a priest before just about everything. Planing a business? See a priest. Planning a family? See the priest. Taking a trip? You get the point. Success is facilitated by doing something. Much like that native American hunter who thanks the spirit of the deceased animal the offerer is made to understand that something must be sacrificed in order for one to get what one wants/needs. In other words, much of what happens in Ifa ceremonies are psychological in nature. The Ifa priest is in some ways a shrink. This is not an unfamiliar idea for many of us. Look at anyone who is successful in what he or she is doing and they will all tell you that they had to sacrifice things to get where they are. Matter of fact they had to sacrifice different things at different stages to get where they are.

So we see the psychology and history behind animal sacrifice as it pertains to the Yoruba (and others). It is not the bloodlusty, put a curse on somebody BS that has been perpetrated by movies people seeking to fatten their wallets.

Update on Caster Semenya

As I suggested in my last post, the blame for this mess lies with the governing body in SA and the doctors and trainers who would have had to have been incompetent to not realize something was amiss with Castor:

Leonard Chuene, the president of Athletics South Africa, today confirmed that world 800m champion Caster Semenya was subjected to gender tests before her victory in Berlin, and admitted lying about the tests in order to protect her privacy.

Accepting that his original denials of such tests ever taking place in South Africa were an "error of judgment", Chuene claimed he had never meant to mislead or deceive the public.

Oh I don't know how do lie to NOT deceive the public?

The Single Payer Benefit

Seelye quotes economist Skinner as claiming that Medicare expansion to cover every American would mean a tripling of the Medicare payroll tax—currently set at 2.9% of wages. But even if we accepted Skinner’s math, it is meaningless without looking at the savings side.

Sure expanding Medicare would mean higher Medicare taxes, but what about the following:

Medicaid, the program that pays for medical care for the poor, and is funded by federal and state taxes, would be eliminated, saving $400 billion a year.

Veterans’ care, currently running at $100 billion a year, would be eliminated.

Perhaps two-thirds of the $300 billion a year spent by federal, state and local governments to reimburse hospitals for so-called “charity care” for treatment of people who have no insurance but don’t qualify for Medicaid, would be eliminated.

Individuals and employers would no longer have to pay for private insurance.

Several hundred billion dollars currently spent on paperwork by private insurers would be eliminated.

Car insurance would be cheaper as there would no longer have to be coverage for medical bills.

Federal, state and local governments would no longer have to pay to insure public employees.

In short, if every person were on Medicare, the overall savings would overwhelm the small increase in the Medicare payroll tax of 5.8%.

The bottom line is that Canadians, who have Medicare for all, devote 10% of GDP to health care. Americans, who have private-insurance-based health care except for the elderly, devote 17% of GDP to health care.

Seelye and the Times have never mentioned any of this. Neither does President Obama or the Democratic Congress.

Dave Lindorff

The Hoftra Men are the Victims here

IN some segments of Black America, the above title apparently does not make sense. Let me say it again:

The five men wrongly accused of rape are the victims.

Perhaps it's the feminist in me, but I've long since come to the understanding that regardless to what a woman is wearing, how much she drinks, smokes, or pops, or with whom she's decided to flirt with, if a man has sex with her without her consent, it's rape. Full stop. Now I may have personal opinions regarding the conduct of a particular victim as it relates to what I consider proper behavior but at the end of the day, the blame is on the perpetrator.

This particular rule MUST apply to men as well. It is irrelevant whether a man likes to have sex in a room full of other men. It doesn't matter if he likes to have sex with a woman who's being "serviced" by some other man or men at the same time. Not only is it irrelevant, it is none of my business. The only thing that I require, and that the law requires is that all parties involved have given their consent.

What would Jesus do? Completely and utterly irrelevant.

There have been commentary loaded with the historic fact that black men have been framed up for rape by white women they have had consensual sex with but who later from embarrassment or fear of community ostracism changed the story. No doubt these things have happened and will continue to happen. However; it is irrelevant to this story because:

The five men are the victims here. Full stop.

While 90+ percent of black folk marry and only have sex with other black people, the fact of the matter is that many of them do in fact have sex with people of other races.I don't have to agree with or like it. It's really not my business. It is our job as conscious people to be of the position that regardless, no black person ought to live in fear of his or her life or liberty due to who he or she decides to lay with. Therefore the only proper response to this attack on the liberty and life of these five men is:

The five men at Hofstra are the victims.

Think on this for a minute. On merely the SAY SO of this liar, the police rolled up and arrested these men. The mere say so had these men put into the system. Finger printed, mug shotted, and possibly in danger of being assaulted in jail or even raped. Yes that stuff happens. And now the prosecutor feels that the liar's life may be put in jeopardy if she is named? Certainly she wasn't all that concerned about these fellow's safety when she told the lie. What she don't know that black folk get shot for small shit like laying on the ground in train stations or accidentally cutting off a off duty police officer on the road? What she don't know that folk been shot in their own homes while holding PlayStation 3 game controllers?

Naw, release the name of the liar. charge her with whatever is on the books for that, and if she feels that her life is in danger, let her do what black men in the South had to do when such lies were told on them: Move.

Technorati Tags: hink

On Caster Semenya

And so it appears that Caster Semenya is a hermaphrodite. I fault this entire thing on the Caster's trainers and the SA Atheletic authorities. All that could have and should have been found out before Berlin. There are a lot of people making a lot of fuss over this. On the one hand I agree that the way this got out to the public was very bad. However as an athlete myself, I believe the investigation itself was totally acceptable.

There is a reason why men and women do not compete directly in track and field. Talk all you want about men and women being "the same" but the fact is that there are significant physical differences between men and women and these differences are very much on display when it comes to top sports, in this case track and field.

There are no actual women who can outrun Usain Bolt. In fact most of the fastest women in the world cannot compete with some of the slowest of the top mens contenders. It is a physical impossibility. And that's OK. It wasn't meant to be that way. When someone says so and so does such and such well for a woman, in certain sports that is a compliment, not a put down. Are there women who can beat men at track events? Certainly. I get beat by women in better physical condition than I am all the time. But I would be a fool to extrapolate that to some social PC statement about females in sports.

The determination that Coster is a hermaphrodite, is good for female athletes. You know, the ones who don't have testicles that have not dropped or Testosterone levels 4X what normal females have. That is like allowing a team that uses steroids to compete.

Lastly, for those that want to see racism in this, please note that in the history of track and field and other sports like gymnastics and weight lifting there is a history of countries passing off men as women. Particularly from Soviet block states. It is unfortunate that Caster is on suicide watch, but as I said earlier the blame lies with her trainers, doctors and yes, family for not dealing with this. With all the anti-doping measures in place, there is no way that her high testosterone levels were not noticed. How could it be that if she had no uterus (as was reported) that anyone missed that she never had a period (assuming that to be the case)? I know that women who are body builders and the like can frequently have their periods missed, but the training for track and field is different and I would suspect that such a thing should have been noticed.

Anyway. I hope that she recoups from this and I wish her the best.

Obama was sold out

Obama was sold out by Terry Moran and co.

In this video:



It is clear that Obama wanted that off the record. Terry "Moron" decided to twit that comment anyway. If I were Obama Mr. Moron would not be allowed to interview me ever again. In fact anyone in the room would be barred from an interview with me.

Congress Needs More Catcalls

As seen on Counterpunch:

Perhaps one of the biggest lies of the night was the president’s claim that while there are “arguments to be made” for single-payer systems like Canada’s, switching to single-payer in the US would require building “an entirely new system from scratch.” The truth: Medicare is already a successful single-payer system and in fact, it is bigger and older than Canada’s own nation-wide system. Expanding it to cover every American would not be starting from scratch at all. It would be expanding something already proven. Where were the shouts of “What about Medicare!” from Rep. John Conyers (and his dozens of cosigners), whose bill, HR 676, to expand Medicare to all has been barred from getting even a hearing by the House leadership with encouragement from the White House?

And a note that I first saw this particular line of thinking from Lester Spence via twitter.

Hat Tip to Carter

I am going to give mad props to Carter for stating the obvious. While I'm still mad at his deal with Papa Doc during his presidency, I have to respect the man for calling Israel's actions for what they are and for opening his mouth and calling what we, sane black folk, have known for a while, These birthers, people calling Obama Communist and Socialist and the oft referred Muslim (as if that's bad) commentary. The calls for death, the guns at appearances. We know what it is. And no amount of blathering from Wilson, his kid or others will make it not true.

Mr. Carter: The Ghost salutes you.

Picking on Black Folk...again

Like a worn old record the press, via Obama is at it talking the proverbial crap about black folk. Reportedly Terry Moran, whom we shall rename "moron" forgot his professional ethics and taking a cue from the Fox "News" network tweeted that President Obama had called Kanye West a "Jackass". Of course this comment was off record and should not have seen the light of day, but like Jesse Jackson's "balls" comments in the age of the internet even professionalism goes out the window for page hits.

This is not to defend the actions of Kanye West (for the record I was watching The Matrix Reloaded) at the MTV VMA awards. The point here is that Obama has been directly smeared by a whole host of white folk. Beck, Palin and Limbaugh all come to mind. Yet I do not recall that Obama has called any of them "jackass" on or off the record or within' earshot of an itchy reporter. There are a few possible reasons for this:

1) Obama has never said such a thing about any of the mentioned people.
2) Obama has said such things but they have not been overheard by reporters.
3) Obama has said such things within earshot of reporters but those reporters had the "integrity" to not report on it since it was said off record.
4) Obama has said such things but the reporters didn't find it amusing enough to report.
5) The media loves to dump on black folk when the opportunity arises.

I'm partial to option 5. Why? Well lets look at Serena's outburst. Yeah, she was mad. She was losing. Anyone in competitive sports knows full well the frustration that can come when you cannot get your game together. But I don't think I've seen Serena on TV that many times in such a short period of time when she's winning much less when she catches diarrhea of the mouth.

Anyone my age knows full well that a certain white, male tennis player who shall go unnamed, was not only known for his antics on the court, but people actually tuned in and showed up to see when, not if, he would go off. This unnamed white male ex-professional tennis player has parodied on many a comedy show and even has of late been featured in commercials. I don't recall EVER having seen this cat been asked to apologize to the public. No one was talking about how his antics were a disappointment to his young fans. No that was just how he was. You shook your head, you laughed, and the game went on.

Oh and this isn't the first pick at Serena. Earlier this year it was bout how "loud" the women were being when they were playing. And of course the lead to that particular "news" segment was Serena loudly serving. Hmmmm...really. So she's not being lady like? Is that the message here?

Anyway, lets not be distracted by the antics of Kanye or the mouth of Serena. And if Obama wants to impress me, he can call Cheney a jackass. He can call Beck, Limbaugh and Palin jackasses. And he can do it on record. But I suppose that would be too much to ask.

The Health Care Sham

While it's appropriate to make fun of those people who are using the health care issue as a cover for unmitigated racism, let us not lose sight of the fact that what is coming down the pipe is by no means an acceptable form of "change." Paul Craig Roberts runs it down yet again:

The private sector is no longer the answer, because the income levels of the vast majority of Americans are insufficient to bear the cost of health insurance today. To provide some perspective, the monthly premium for a 60-year old female for a group policy (employer-provided) with Blue Cross Blue Shield in Florida is about $1,200. That comes to $14,400 per year. Only employees in high productivity jobs that can provide both a livable salary and health care can expect to have employer-provided coverage. If a 60-year old female has to buy a non-group policy as an individual, the premium would be even higher. How, for example, is a Wal-Mart shelf stocker or check out clerk going to be able to pay a private insurance premium?

...What the US needs is a single-payer not-for-profit health system that pays doctors and nurses sufficiently that they will undertake the arduous training and accept the stress and risks of dealing with illness and diseases...

When the "news" doesn't do it's job

Watching these people who had their "tea bag" demonstration in front of the white house just really showed how inept the so called mainstream "news" people are. The NY Times has a report where some woman in the crowd talks about how this was "long in coming" and how it's not "just one thing." Really?

There is only one question that needed to be asked of these people: Where were you when Bush admitted on national TV that he committed treason by directly and purposely violating the 4th Amendment as head of state?

Where were these people with "the constitution is in a grinder" signs when that went down?

I won't even get into torture and how those "pesky" treaties that the US signs are as sovereign as the Constitution. Simply put, when the 4th Amendment was directly attacked by the Executive, where were these people?

Shouting Down The President

Is it of any surprise to any sane black person that the voice that called Obama a liar on international television (and be sure, this was viewed overseas) came from a state that has one of the most brutal records of treatment of the African under slavery? Is it not surprising that it was from the state that first seceded from the Union? The state with perhaps the most brutal of the post-civil war Jim Crow laws?

Not surprising at all.

Update: It has come to my attention that this fool was a protege of the late Stom " I breed negroes in private but segregation now and forever" Thurmond.

George Bush, who lied multiple times, many times directly in front of congress and many times directly in front of TV cameras was never so rudely interrupted by members of congress. Ever. And that fool committed acts of treason. I don't even have to say why this happened. Ya'll know what's up.

Update 2: And from what I saw on the news this evening, Wilson is claiming that it was not his apology but he did it because he was asked by the Republican leadership. See thems, yes thems, the apologies you just don't accept.

Van meet Bus

Warning: This post contains some swear words. Otherwise known as profanity. You've been warned.

It was with a chuckle that I listened to the announcement that "Van" Jones was resigning from his job in the White House for essentially being "too black". The Irony.

I chuckled for a few reasons. First was that from the clips of what "Van" had reportedly said, not a single commentator actually said he was incorrect. For example, on the issue of Columbine, with the exception of the Asian kid at Virginia Tech, we do not have cases of black kids running up into schools, distraught over their treatment as "outsiders" by various cliques and shooting anyone in sight and then blowing off their own heads. Not reported. Ask an FBI profiler and they will tell you the same thing.
Is there violence in some predominantly black schools? Absolutely. But Mr. Jones was discussing a specific phenomenon and in that same clip even mentioned the contrast of black school violence.

Then there was the piece about 9-11. Where Mr. Jones apparently signed a petition where he and many others felt that the government did in fact know that an attack on the US was eminent. Well aside from the interview with Bin-Ladin where he explicitly mentioned the Twin Towers; and aside from certain facts like the CIA knowing a few of the hijackers and such and a whole lotta questions regarding those exercises that were going on that day, at that point in time you'd have to be a damn fool to not start questioning things. And since then the amount of lies and shady dealings that went on in the White House and Pentagon really underscores that even IF there was no government complicity in the attack there was definitely government complicity in the aftermath and that list is extremely long.

I won't even touch the "communist revolutionary" statement. When there are people in office, elected multiple times who believe such things as the Earth being about 5 grand years old and that people and dinosaurs were chillin' in Central Park. Who weep blood for single cells residing in a uterus but have absolutely no qualms dropping atomic bombs on various brown people the world over. They don't have much credibility to question the ideology of a college student figuring out his political identity. Ya heard?

But the real deal here is not about all of the above. Seriously. Look, lets lay this out here. This is about niggas in the White House. Full stop. Niggas in the White House who aren't going with the status quo and actually are planning new and innovative shit. Niggas ain't supposed to be doin' all that. Niggas are supposed to be in background fetching coffee and talking about race. Or on TV shakin' they asses. Niggas are supposed to be making failed states while hoarding money in Europe.

All this "hands off my medical insurance", and socialism and Obama as Hitler are proxies for raw, unmitigated race hate. When Garvey, the NAACP, King and others were agitating for a better America and world, Hoover and his fellow crackers threw the Communist book at them. The "thinking" being that Negroes are too stupid to think for themselves and needed communists to tell them what to do. This communism, socialism charge is just what it was back then: bullshit intellectual white sheets to cover up the ugly white supremacist that lurks within.

This has been most evident with the whole non-issue of president Obama giving a 1st day of school speech. These white supremacists are not mad because the president was to speak to their kids. It has always been an "honor" to have the president speak at any place in the country regardless of stripe. Like the president or not. Voted for the president or not. President shows up you show the proper respect afforded the office. Oh no, these people objected to the fact that this "son of a Kenyan" was going to stand up in front of their kids and speak to them and talk "black" to them. Mind you I will lay a thousand bucks right now that a good number of these people's kids are allowed to watch black folks make total asses of themselves on TV and it's OK with those parents.

But back to Van and why he should have seen this coming. If Mr. Jones was paying attention he would have noted that the Obama transition team had a fairly lengthy list of requirements for having a spot on Team Obama. One point was whether one had written or said anything that would be considered controversial. Now here's the rub, either Mr. Jones failed to disclose these "inflamatory" comments or when Team Obama looked them over they didn't think anything was wrong with them. If it was the latter then Mr. Jones was indeed betrayed by Team Obama, but he shouldn't be surprised.

Mr. Jones ought to recall that during the primary when Clinton asked Obama to denounce Min. Farrakhan, Obama's response was to use every D word he could think of. Never mind that the NOI has never burnt a cross on anyone's lawn. That the NOI has never been implicated in any hate crime whatsoever. That no members of the NOI have been implicated in racially motivated rapes, murders, assaults or destruction of property. Never mind all that. When a white person tells a black person whom to associate with, and that black person has "high office" in his or her eyes, you better believe that certain black people will meet the underside of a bus.

After that, we had the next Black-man with no backbone moment when in Philly, Obama had the unmitigated gall to compare the issues of black folk to that of his grandmamma clutching her purse. Like his granny EVER had to worry about being lynched cause she was in the wrong town when the sun went down. Like THAT chick ever had to be worried about being pulled over "just because". That whole speech was a slap in the face to black folk who, unfortunately, ate that shit up. You couldn't say a bad thing about Obama without black folk acting like you said something about their momma's momma. And white folks wept like Jesus in Gethsemane. Rev. Wright, the man who married Obama to his wife (who was by no small part why black women lined up for Obama), and gave Obama political legitimacy in Chicago, met the underside of the Obama bus.

So didn't Mr. Jones know that things come in threes? Did he really think that the president who shot his race wad on, of all people, Skip "I couldn't find negroes to work on Encyclopedia Africanna" Gates, and was thoroughly cuckolded by the press for it, was going to spend any more political capital defending a Negro who had the nerve to talk negatively about white folk in public? And on camera? See what Mr. Jones will come to understand is that there is a class of negroes out there that have absolutely no love for, but plenty of use for folk like us. See we're good to have around when a police officer shows up at the front door demanding ID. Or when they're humiliated by a local police officer for driving the wrong kind of car in the wrong type of neighborhood and get shown the "common man" treatment. Then all us "angry" negroes are called upon to blog about racism and shit like that. We're supposed to fall in line and defend these "bright spots" of our community who are "doing things". But when it's time for these big Negroes and Negresses to give us some backup, to perhaps push back on clear racism from those "high up racists": Meet the underside of the bus.

That's how it is. You can ask Biz.

[edit 11:47 AM EDT: "former" to "latter"]

Why Not Sanctions against Israel

Another on point piece by Paul Craig Roberts

Iran is developing nuclear energy, which is its right as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran’s nuclear energy program is subject to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which consistently reports that its inspections find no diversion of enriched uranium to a weapons program.

The position taken by Israel, and by Israel’s puppet in Washington, is that Iran must not be allowed to have the rights as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty that every other signatory has, because Iran might divert enriched uranium to a weapons program.

In other words, Israel and the US claim the right to abrogate Iran’s right to develop nuclear energy. The Israeli/US position has no basis in international law or in anything other than the arrogance of Israel and the United States.

The hypocrisy is extreme. Israel is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and developed its nuclear weapons illegally on the sly, with, as far as we know, US help.

As Israel is an illegal possessor of nuclear weapons and has a fanatical government that is capable of using them, crippling sanctions should be applied to Israel to force it to disarm.

Some Research on Serial Monogamy in Tanzania

when Dr. Borgerhoff Mulder looked at who extracted the greatest reproductive payoff from serial monogamy, as measured by who had the most children survive past the first five hazardous years of life, she found a small but significant advantage female. Women who worked their way through more than two husbands had, on average, higher reproductive success, a greater number of surviving children, than either the more sedately mating women, or than men regardless of wifetime total.

Via NYTimes

The Response Not Given

When the question came, the writing was on the wall.
Been here and heard that. Never goes well.

"So what is your religion?"

Figured I'd make the answer last long enough to finish dinner. I was feelin' the chicken, I was hungry and since I was paying I thought I'd at least get to enjoy the meal. After swallowing I said:

"Ifa." and got to another piece. I knew what the next few questions would be:

What's that?
The who?
Where?

And the inevitable: "Is that voodoo?"

Always find that question the funniest. After all if that was what it was, I would have said so. But all folk know about African religion is what they got from Chucky, Tarzan movies, occasional episodes of Law and Order and sermons from people who don't know of what they speak but who's word is taken at face value. Or the occasional Nigerian priest who odds are goes to see the Ifa priest when HE has issues. Yeah it's been reported.

So I endeavor to explain that Voodun is a combination of Ifa, the religion of the Yoruba, The traditional religion of the Ngola of what we consider modern day Angola and Catholicism. And that's not me. It's taken different forms in different countries where Africans populated with varying levels of mixture. In short there are a number of "Vodoos" (Santeria, Palo, Candomble, Shango Baptists in Trinindad, etc.) and I ascribe to none.

This. This is the point where confused looks abound. Any teacher would be familiar with that look on students. It's the WTF look that students get when first confronted with say, algebra or calculus. So many unknowns. X,Y, N, whaaat?

Ordering dessert, a piece of chocolate cake, your next question came as expected: "So what do you believe?"

"One God. Many messengers. No Devil."

"No what?"

"No Devil. No hell underground. No character behind the scene to blame for 'tempting' you to do anything. You do it 'cause you chose to. It's your responsibility, good or ill."

Trust me; this is not a conversation I was looking to have. Particularly on a first date. For some reason I feel compelled to answer questions and I've yet to master the art of shallow or deceptive conversation. I'd make a bad spy. Get caught, spill beans.

Anyway this would not be the low point of this part of the conversation 'cause out in the parking lot while attempting to dodge light raindrops came the coup de grace:

"So you guys, like, sacrifice animals?"

This was going to be "good."

"It's done."

"That is so barbaric." Slipped from her lips. Easy. Unforced. Almost reflexive.

Wow. I believe I was called a barbarian.

Started having flashes of English missionaries with branding irons passing judgment on Ngolans and breaking promises of not enslaving those who accepted Christ. That was barbaric, but I suppose the evil one does under a "legitimate" religion is somehow more civilized. But I said nothing and just walked you to your vehicle. But what I shoulda said was:

When your momma was pregnant with you did she have a party?
When you were born and came home was there a party of any kind?
When you were presented at church was there a party of any kind?
And when you got baptized did you have any kind of celebration?
When you get engaged will there be a party of any kind?
When you get married will there be a ceremony or party of any kind?
And when you die will there be a ceremony or party of any kind?

Really?

And at this party will there be food? Meat per-chance?

Yeah?

And just how do you think that meat got there? You think the meat fairy just makes the meat show up like a replicator in Star Trek? How, pray tell do you think that meat got to the supermarket?

I mean, you DO know that at some cattle farm somewhere a cow was lead to a stall where a metal shank was thrust between his or her eyes resulting in immediate brain death? You do know that that cow dropped to the ground far less clean than anything you'd accept on your kitchen counter top. Oh yeah and someone, likely an underpaid immigrant from south of the border, strung up that cow and then slit it's throat so the blood could drain out...all over the floor. Guts cut open to remove the intestines, etc.

And don't think that if you eat chicken that it's much better. wrung necks, chickens floating through the air on conveyor belts like clothes at a laundry drained and plucked, gutted and sliced.

All that before it got to your plate after your "religious event" where long after the killing is done, you complete the "animal sacrifice" by 'blessing" your food. Never thought of it like that did you? You think because you weren't there for the killing that you're not "barbaric"? You pass off the killing to other people and now got your nose in the air tryin' to belittle me?

See it's easy to pass such judgments when you live in a metropolis and food is magically delivered to your supermarket. But think of places, even in the US, where dinner is literally walking around outside. The taking of life is not a big deal, whether it be for dinner or for some ceremony.

Look, unless you're a vegetarian, you really have nothing to say on the subject.

That's what I should have said. Right there and right then. Probably would have gone in one ear and exited the other or been retained in memory long enough to be the subject of "Do you know what he said" conversations with friends and family who will no doubt comfort you by telling you that you dodged a bullet by unhooking this "devil worshiper" who'll probably try to work some "root"on you. or whatever the type of ignorance passes for informed opinion these days.

Instead though I told you to drive carefully and let me know when you got home safely.