Since We're Speaking Of Black Degree Attainment....

There is important and indeed some very bad news: Black women have built a huge lead over black men in college degree attainments. Today there are 2,670,000 black women with a four-year degree or better. This compares to only 1,909,000 black men. Therefore, it turns out that black women account for almost 58 percent of all the African Americans who have completed four years of college or more in our country.

For those African Americans who have only a bachelor’s degree but no higher degree, black women have an even larger lead. There are 1,874,000 black women with a bachelor’s degree compared to 1,341,000 black men.

Some 669,000 black women hold a master’s degree compared to 409,000 black men. Thus, black women hold 62 percent of all African-American master’s degrees, an even larger share of their total in bachelor’s degree attainments.

Black men continue to have a lead over black women in their numbers of professional degrees. Approximately 88,000 black men have a professional degree in the United States today compared to 62,000 black women. But black women are closing the gap. As we show on page 64 of this issue of JBHE, black women now earn nearly two thirds of all new professional degrees earned by African Americans. Therefore, it will only be a few years before black women overtake black men in the total number of professional degrees held by living African Americans.

Black men continue to hold the lead in doctorates but here too the gap is closing rapidly. Today black women hold 65,000 of the 136,000 doctorates held by living African Americans. But black women now earn 65 percent of all new doctorates awarded to African Americans. Therefore, the overall gender gap in favor of black men is likely to evaporate in the near future.[my underlines]

And

Today black women hold a large lead over black men in enrollments in almost all undergraduate and graduate programs. And this gender gap has grown over the past 30 years. Most important, black women have a college graduation rate that is significantly higher than the rate for black men. This current and growing enrollment gender gap among African Americans, coupled with a far higher college graduation rate for black women compared to black men, means that in future years, the gender gap in African-American degree attainments is certain to grow even wider. The most serious news is that if present trends continue, a generation from now black women with a four-year college degree will outnumber black men with a bachelor’s degree by a ratio of 2 to 1.[My underlines]

It is already that case that unlike every other ethnic and racial group in the US, Black women are more employed than black men. With Black women representing 54% of those employed and 47% of those unemployed (median weekly earnings being less though).

Yahoo Joins the fray, The Ghost Breaks Out The Stats

The LA Tims reports on Yahoo's employee demographics. Headline:

Yahoo reveals its workforce, too, is dominated by men

Let me pause and address this very, very sexist title. Could you imagine the following:

NBA reveals its workforce, too, is dominated by Blacks

or

Chicago reveals its murderers, too, are dominated by blacks

And as if anyone really gives a shit.

[name a city public works department] too are dominated by men

Because you know, men do most, as in 99% of the hard and dirty labour that the public uses every day without so much as a though or a thanks. But when it's a field that women want in on, the fact that there are men all over the place is a problem. But when it comes to a field such as say, nursing do you ever see this?

Holy Name Hospital reveals it's nursing staff, too, is dominated by women

Or how about elementary education?

[anytown] USA school chancellor reveals that it's teaching staff, too, is dominated by women

Oh it is true that there are smatterings of discussions about the lack of men in teaching positions in elementary and high school education, but never is it presented in such a way that women dominating the teaching profession is a problem. With all that said, I'll go back to the original purpose of this post.

The company also reported that 50% of its U.S. workers are white and 39% are Asian. African Americans and Latinos make up just 6% of U.S. workers.

Once again the fact that Asians are so overly represented at Yahoo just as they are at LinkedIn and Google goes entirely uncommented on. I suppose a headline like:

Asians totally overrunning US tech Industry

Wouldn't fly partially because it would bring a LOT of attention to H1B visas. But looking at the fact that African-American and Hispanic employees make up a combined 6% of the employees brings us to why this is Yahoo's "fault" or "problem".

Lets' look at the data shall we?

Total Ph.D. production in computing programs held steady in 2010-11, with 1,782 degrees granted

That's very few people getting top level PHD's in computer science. I'm sure that they are in high demand as well. According to that paper. CS BS degrees awarded topped out in 2003 with around 22k degrees awarded. when we look at the ethnic and racial breakdown of those awarded said degrees we find that "Black or African-Americans" get 4.6% of those degrees [Pg 7]

Whites take 64.8% and Asians 15.3%

When we look at gender we find that women take 29.5% of Masters to 70.5% for men. When we look at Master's degrees by race and ethnicity we find:

Black or African-American: 2.6%
White 31.2%
Asian 12.4%
Non-resident Alien 50.4% (Why is "Non-resident Alien" recorded with ethnicity?)

When it comes to Phd level degrees, Men hold 80.2% of the degrees to women's 19.8% Black or African-American's hold 1.4% of PhD level CS degrees
Whites, 34.3%
Asians 12.3%
Nonresident Alien 49.6% (again why is this in the ethnicity section and WHO is it hiding?)

So returning to Yahoo's information we find that their employees reflect the educational attainment of the various groups mentioned. Why is this being presented as if Yahoo is or has done anything wrong?

Clearly then this entire "why are so many [white] men employed" run is about something other than facts. If black folks want to see their numbers go up, then it is clear that more of them will need to enter and graduate computer science programs.

It's always easier to cry wolf than to actually buckle down and do the hard work. I for one would appreciate it if one of these companies looked a journalist in the eye and say:

Our employees represent that overall demographics of those who complete various levels of computer science degrees. Don't bother us until or unless those demographics change. interview over.

Kathy Swift Is an Idiot

The things that make it onto Counterpunch pages these days. I tell you.

According to the biometric standards presented by Siegel, membership in gang culture can be determined by such commonplace behaviors as speaking Spanish and talking on cell phones. The appearance of tattoos — specifically those of Aztec and Mayan origin — and the wearing of “gang clothing,” described as being such things as 805 attire or professional sports clothing — also, signify definitive evidence of gang affiliation according to the prosecutor and the detective.

Other indicators of gang membership according to Dozer include graffiti writing and public intoxication, as well as the use of Spanish-sounding nicknames and/or the making of gestures like the “V” and “W” sign. The DA views graffiti as a particularly strong marker of gangsterism, so a great deal of the prosecution’s argument addressed the alleged coded messages gang members are said to be sending to each other through graffiti. Working like smoke signals on street corners, gang graffiti, according to city officials, indicates the presence of “criminal enterprises” that, taken along with tattoos, clothing, language, and gestures, serve to intimidate local residents.

Because you know, Gang members don't wear certain clothes that signify their affiliation.

No Latin Kings to see here. Move along please.

MS what? Oh never mind it's just a pretty tattoo. Nothing scientific to be gathered here. Move along.

Nortenos? What Nortenos?

No Crips to see here. Please move along.

Absolutely no Bloods in view. All that red? No, no no. Nothing at all to see.

Does that say Rivera Kills?

I could go on but really it is self evident that Kathy Swift is a bonfire idiot. What I don't understand is how:

1) With her intense distaste for facts she is actually far along into a PhD program. I mean SHIT, what exactly is a PhD worth these days when candidates for it can show a willful disregard for actual facts?

2) Counterpunch even allowed this piece of non-fact checked trash to grace its website.

Stating the Obvious Shocks People

Apparently it is actually news to people that companies such as LinkedIN and Google hire mostly white males. As a person who has not been living under a rock and reads material other than Salon, Counterpunch and Alternet I have long known that not only is the US a majority white nation (including white "hispanics") but it also follows that White folks create the vast majority of businesses. Not only that but white folks create the vast majority of businesses that hire people other than the principals (the majority of black owned businesses only employ the owner). Combining these two bits of information it is expected that the vast majority of those hired at companies started by whites (particularly males) would in fact hire mostly white folks.

In other news, Korean grocery stores employ mostly Koreans and Chinese restaurants have mostly if not entirely Chinese staff.

Nothing to see there.

Moving onto the more interesting data, these companies both hire a staggeringly disproportionate number of Asians. Asians make up a very small percentage of the US population. They are less than half the population of African-Americans, and yet in both Google and LinkedIn, they make upwards of 30% of the workforce. Now either there is a hella affirmative action program for Asians or Asians as a group have such desirable skills that they are sought after by high tech companies.

I'll take the latter for $1000 Alex.

In predictable fashion both LinkedIN and Google promised to "do better". Do better at what? Hiring black folks to increase that 2%? How do they figure they'll do that? In a recent report on black students at NYC's premier public high schools which are populated by students on a strictly merit basis: An entrance exam; Whites and Asians make up the vast majority of the students. With Asians once again represented far higher than their population suggests they should. Blacks? Well you could count them on two hands. No seriously. Two hands.

Are black folks going to actually blame white folks for the fact that they apparently cannot raise a decent cohort of students that can be competitive at science and math? I mean you don't need high tech equipment or even a computer to do math. Seriously. Paper, pencil and a book out the library will do. If the pipeline of top notch black programming talent is dryer than Califorinia reservoirs, how exactly do LinkedIn and Google "do better"?

Seriously. Explain this to me. How is this Googles problem or LinkedIN's fault?

Look. If HARPO Studios, created by none other than Oprah Winfrey herself cannot manage to employ 60% African-Americans at her studio why the hell should anyone be mad at Google or LinkedIN? Someone ought to send the EEOC to Harpo studios and get them to explain why a black company apparently cannot find qualified black staff.

I mean how is it that Oprah Winfrey could not find a BLACK CEO to run her company?

How about a Black CFO?

Nope. No dice.

No seriously. If I'm supposed to be mad at Google and LinkedIN for hiring their own and not hiring black folks, why should I let Harpo off the hook?

Question: If black people start businesses and employ white folks to run them and not other black folks, what signal does that send to the rest of the world about the qualifications of black professionals? And if black folks don't trust their own to run their own businesses why the hell should anyone else hire black folks to work for them?

Lead by example? No?

A little suggestion as to how to get black children to be good at math from a recent article in the NY Times:

Soon Chrispin and Christopher had no choice but to listen to Haelleca. In February, their mother disconnected the television and locked away the Xbox after discovering that Chrispin had not been doing his homework for weeks in a row.

The television, and the things attached to it are the greatest detriment to a child's education in modern creation. Black children watch more TV than any other group in the US.

This constant entertainment and stimulation that requires no effort is a top reason for the poor performance of students. Children who are watching TV are not reading. They are not being read to. They are not problem solving. They are not being creative with their time. They are not taking apart radios and other items out of curiosity (or straight boredom) and learning how things work. In short they are NOT LEARNING.

The Asians and whites who are clogging up the likes of Google, LinkedIn and Harpo are those who's parents did what they were supposed to do and made it clear to their children what was expected of them. Unlike say these folks:

Clearly a budding scholar in training. What are the odds that thing child will be suspended from school for discipline problems in the not to distant future? And surely the parents and others will blame racism and the all powerful white folks for that.

Cause you know, White folks are the reason for everything under the sun. Don't you know?

Misleading Headlines

The Guardian posts the following headline:

British public wrongly believe rich pay most in tax, new research shows

The clear implication that the rich don't pay the most in taxes. Now you and I know full well that when we say "more" we mean the amount that is asked for. If I get charged 20k for a car that you pay 10k for. Then I have paid more than you for the car. The math is clear 20K > 10K. But that's not actually what the Guardian is saying.

The poorest 10% of households pay eight percentage points more of their income in all taxes than the richest – 43% compared to 35%, according to a report from the Equality Trust.

Oh, you mean as a percentage of income. Well that's an entirely different argument. We can extend that argument too. How about the poorest households pay more, as a percent of income, for food, clothes, well everything that has a cost associated with it, than anybody else. By that measure, the poor are screwed aren't they?

But as taxes go, if I have 1 million Pounds and I pay 35% of that in taxes, then I put in 350,000 Pounds in the state coffers. However; if I have 10,000 Pounds and I pay 43% of that in taxes, then I put in 4300 Pounds into the coffers. Nowhere near what the rich me would be paying. So what's the solution to all this "inequality" of burden?

The survey of more than 1,000 people also found a strong majority – 96% – believe that the tax system should be more progressive than is currently the case.

Ahh "progressive" which means of course, you tax the wealthy at a higher rate than those who are not so wealthy. If you want to do that, have at it. Just don't lead a story with the wrong facts about who is actually paying more cause really though, the rich are paying more than the poor.

The public isn't wrong.

Silly People Running Ukraine

Russia has cut off gas supplies to Ukraine after a payment deadline passed and negotiators failed to reach a deal with Russia on gas prices and unpaid bills.

Gazprom's spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said that since Ukraine had not paid for the gas by Monday Moscow, had no legal grounds to carry on supplying it to Ukraine.

However, Kupriyanov added that the supply to Europe was continuing as planned and Ukraine was obliged to make sure gas reached its European customers.

One thing should be obvious to anyone who lives somewhere with neighbors. You don't piss them off in order to make friends with the people in another town.

Secondly. When you depend on that neighbor to say, get to work, you don't piss them off in order to make friends with the people in another town.

How any thinking person in government in Ukraine thought it was a good idea to piss off Russia in order to make friends with the US/EU is beyond me. There are a number of things that Ukraine could have done to not align themselves with either party, but they allowed themselves to be manipulated into a stupid conflict with its neighbor.

Lets be clear; Ukraine is broke. It is not paying Russia's Gazprom. the EU, IMF and whoever else is bailing out the Ukrainian economy (if you want to call it that) is who is paying Gazprom. I'm not entirely clear on how you "negotiate" the payment for services already rendered because you object to the costs of future services. If the costs of future services were of concern, then perhaps the entire debacle that was the coup in Kiev ought to have been considered more carefully.

Back here in the real world, we know that if we fail to pay our bills in full and on time, we get higher rates because we are considered a bad risk. If we want to get better rates, we behave in such a way that shows that we are good for the credit extended to us. It is really that simple. Not paying bills. Allowing embassies to be damaged and having "diplomats" [sic] talk about "Putin is a fucker" is really not how you show that you will make good on payments owed.

Ukraine is fortunate that this event did not happen during winter. This was, of course, on purpose. This gives the EU time to figure out how they will pay for Ukraine's gas needs before the cold comes. We'll see how long it takes for mature folks to take over from the children in the room.

Boris Johnson States Unequivocal Facts About Iraq

The reality is that before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, there was no Al-Qaeda presence in that country, none at all.” Despite his brutal tyranny, “Saddam did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack and he did not possess Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

Hammering the point home about just what exactly British and American interventionism accomplished in Iraq, Johnson lays it out simply, “The truth is that we destroyed the institutions of authority in Iraq without having the foggiest idea what would come next. As one senior British general has put it to me, ‘we snipped the spinal cord’ without any plan to replace it. There are more than 100,000 dead Iraqis who would be alive today if we had not gone in and created the conditions for such a conflict, to say nothing of the troops from America, Britain and other countries who have lost their lives in the shambles.”

All you troops who have PTSD. All you troops with blown off limbs and other bodily injuries. All you families with losses of family members take note. There is an election coming up. You read the above and you VOTE accordingly.

Willfully blind

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Matthew 7:3-5 Norman Pollack writes

Let’s not forget my imaginative scenario: ten years from now, YFA to emulate the values of their elders and replicate the preceding history of war, intervention, surveillance, as carrying forward the fascist mindset into the American future. Come with me into the scene, for like Hitler’s “Strength through Joy” movement, aimed in this case particularly at the youth, as a vanguard group, we see fitness as a national priority, taking the form, beyond athletics, of political exercise of a more untoward kind: beginning with uniforms, arm bands, torchlight parades through working class, minority, and immigrant neighborhoods, then turned specifically to incendiary attacks on radicals, stoning of women who seek independent selfhood, and VIOLENCE as standard practice to be directed against critics, dissenters, any and all known to object to intervention, abridgment of the right of privacy, social injustice, gross class differences of wealth and power, in sum, malcontents presumptively under the control of a foreign government.

It is interesting that Pollack fails to see the situation he describes as existing right this very minute. The incendiary attacks? They happen to those who are described as "Christian". They happen to those who disagree with same sex marriage. It happens to those who oppose paying for abortions or birth control for other people. Far from stoning women who seek independence, it is in the form of death threats against groups attempting to hold conferences on men's issues. Let us be clear the fascism Pollack discusses is not something 10 years off. It is right here right now. Except the fascism he speaks of is currently directed at "approved" targets. These approved targets are conveniently referred to as "haters". And it is apparently OK to do these things to "haters" because "haters" have no rights.

See The Ghost stands on principle. Not ideology. Not party affiliation. Principle. This is why The Ghost doesn't deal in Right and Left. Because it is human nature to overlook one's own errors and the errors of your compatriots. furthermore it is highly likely that when one's livelihood is attached to appeasing a certain group that one will either willfully ignore facts that are in full view or willfully hide them from view. This is what happens when you engage in the "them always bad, we always right" game.

Get the partisan beam out of your eye.

GW Bush's Iraq War Blowback Arrives

We were lied to about weapons of mass destruction. We were told shit like "the Iraqis will party in the streets". We were told about yellow cake, marble cake and big cauldrons of biological weapons at the ready. We were told "Mission Accomplished". We were told that we were making the world safe from terrorists. Blah.

Blah.

And blah.

Now Al Qaeda in Iraq, which I remind the reader didn't exist prior to the US invasion, has essentially taken over 4 major cities. I remind the reader that Saddam Hussein, AKA (Our boy in Iraq) was "not liked" by Al-Qaeda. Therefore by toppling his government, the US opened the door to what we are currently witnessing..

I will also note the route allegedly taken by ISIS. They came via Syria. Why is this important? Because this administration has been supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria in its attempt to overthrow the government of Bashir (another leader who is hated by Al-Qaeda types). .

Not only that but I will put down cold hard cash, that the US government arms, which has been given to various rebels over the objections of informed people, have been used in these attacks in Iraq. I will further speculate that arms from Libya have also played no small part.

The question now for the citizenry of the US (and so called allied countries) is whether they will put GW Bush on trial. Whether Powell will be put on trial. We know they lied. We know the reason for US intervention in Iraq was fraudulent. It is high time that these fellows pay.

Black Agenda Report Asks The First Question, The Ghost Asks the Next Set

Today's edition of Black Agenda Report points out the following:

If a thousand armed Blacks had gathered in one place, pointing rifles at federal officers, and two of them later cold-bloodedly assassinated policemen, the federal response would touch every Black neighborhood in America. But the armed white Right gets a pass. Racists are resources to those in power. “The national security state’s legitimacy is based on (white) mass fear and loathing of the Other.”

Here's what we should ask next. Is it the collection of armed people (black, white or otherwise) pointing rifles at federal officers an actual problem? I know a publication has to be quite careful that it doesn't appear to be promoting the armed resistance (or overthrow) of the US Government. 'Cause we all know that we can get the Syria, Iraq, Libya or Palestine treatment if we do anything more than walk around with protest signs.

That’s why the FBI puts a bounty on the head of sister Assata Shakur, living peacefully in Cuba, while allowing white racists to point high-powered rifles at the heads of federal officers in rural Nevada. Two of those fascists later put bullets in the brains of policemen in Las Vegas, but there will be no general crackdown on the Millers’ comrades in arms, no assassinations of Cliven Bundys in their sleep, no great Gulag of lifetime solitary confinement for white militiamen. The Empire needs them. It always has.

So is it the case that the "white racists" ought to have bounties put on their heads for their opposition to the federal government (since, you know, they are a rare threat to black lives compared to say, random black men in certain cities are) or is it the case that the fed ought not be putting bounties on anyone's head who have not committed crimes? Or if the crimes are done with the aim of a social or political end? Also lets take Black Agenda Report to task for the following:

who earlier this year had been among an army of fascists gathered in defense of racist rancher Cliven Bundy, shot two Las Vegas cops in the head and killed a bystander at a Wal-Mart. After declaring, “This is the start of a revolution,” they committed suicide.[My underlines]

The actual definition of fascism is:

: a way of organizing a society in which a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people and in which people are not allowed to disagree with the government

By definition then, the events at the Cliven ranch cannot be defined as Fascist nor the participants "fascists" because they clearly object to the central government and believe that they can in fact disagree with the government.

This is what happens when one sloppily uses pejorative terms to describe those whom you disagree with. Those involved with the Cliven Ranch may well be racists (open or closeted) but does that mean their objection to Federal overreach is unwarranted? And if their objections are in fact warranted then perhaps effort is better put concentrating on those issues.

If There Is "No expectation"....

London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced the purchase of first water cannons for the Metropolitan Police. The move triggered uproar in the UK as deployment of the cannons has not been authorized and reportedly 98 percent of Britons are against their use

Why?

A document posted on the mayor's policing and crime website states claims “purchasing at this time considerably improves the possibility that the Metropolitan Police would have the tool to deploy in the summer.” It adds that such tools “are most likely to be needed” in spite of the fact “there are no expectations of violence.” [My underlines]

A classic case of doublespeak. If there is "no expectation of violence" then why are the Metropolitan Police prepared to deploy the water canons "in the summer"? For a case of "no expectation" that is certainly a well defined timeline.

And people wonder why political parties such as UKIP are gaining ground across Europe. Recall the transcript I pointed the reader to on the 9th:

MP: Sovereignty is the foundation of democracy. Without sovereignty, there is no democracy, because having the freedom to cast a ballot in a ballot box is one thing, but if the people you elected with your ballot have no power because the actual power was transferred to a supranational body, then we are no longer in a democratic process.

Or in this case, a clear mandate from the public against water canons that were purchased with their taxes anyway.

Anti-Racism Groups Condemn Far-Right Leader in France

Jean Le Pen says:

In a video posted on the National Front’s website and later removed, Mr. Le Pen, 85, lashed out against several of his critics, including the former tennis champion Yannick Noah and the pop star Madonna. When questioned about the French singer Patrick Bruel, who is Jewish and has been critical of the National Front, Mr. Le Pen said: “We’ll include him in the next batch.” In the comment, Mr. Le Pen used the French word “fournée,” which refers to a batch of bread to be baked, and was interpreted by his critics to be a reference to crematories at Nazi death camps.

First:

Translations of fournée noun batch lot, fournée, groupe, contingent, paquet, quantité lot lot, sort, lot de terrain, fournée, destinée, destine

Because obviously you can't take "fournée" is any other way.

Second:

I'm not all that conversant in French but I do know that among my people if someone has a harsh rebuke of a critic we sometimes say that he or shit "got lit into". My Jamaican brethren will say "more fiyah!" Anytime someone speaks out strongly against someone. Sometimes you might even hear a "burn dem" as a reference to eliminating your adversary, usually not literally.

So it is not unheard of for baking references to be used in reference to verbal "combat." So I'm giving LePen the benefit of the doubt.

Third:

This is the usual m.o. of certain Jews and Jewish organizations when they wish to squash dissent. You'll notice that nothing in the piece deals with WHAT Le Pen had to say about his critics. The entire piece is about his alleged Anti-Semetism. This is the fear narrative I discussed in the previous piece and all it goes to show is that the opposition to FN has no real argument against FN. There entire discussion is, Le Pen is against immigration. Being against immigration is bad. Therefore Le Pen and FN is bad. Do not associate.

Here's the thing though. This whole anti-semite dog and pony show is not going to work for too much longer. There are in fact substantial racism and anti-Semitism charges to be made against certain members (and they exist on the left and the right) but as a tactic to obscure the facts and misdirect the public? Soon burnt like cookies left in an oven too long.

Yeah, I made an oven reference. On purpose 'cause I'm done with left wing speech police.

PS: Isn't it kind of counter to the facts to call the political party that wins the majority of the vote "far" anything? It would seem that the political party that wins the most votes would be the mainstream party.

Taliban swapped for Bergdahl could be drone targets, Kerry indicates

Secretary of state John Kerry has indicated that five Guantánamo Bay detainees released in exchange for an American soldier could be killed by drone strike if they return to the battlefield in Afghanistan.

I made this same comment to a relative yesterday. If you think that these 5 are not under surveillance at this very moment, you are totally in the dark about what today's military is capable of. Not only that, I believe that these 5 men have had RFID of some sort implanted in their bodies to allow for their tracking and should they show up somewhere considered a "war zone" or where they can be taken out with minimal to no civilian casualties, they will be made to meet their virgins.

Believe that.

Marine Le Pen: EU political world indifferent to people dying in eastern Ukraine

The EU elite should be scared that people are listening to this. If all the EU has against this woman are charges of racism and anti-Semitism, they should be preparing to shut up shoppe.

MP: Sovereignty is the foundation of democracy. Without sovereignty, there is no democracy, because having the freedom to cast a ballot in a ballot box is one thing, but if the people you elected with your ballot have no power because the actual power was transferred to a supranational body, then we are no longer in a democratic process.

Right on! Or if a president up and decides to bypass congress to wage unconstitutional laws. Or decides he's just not going to enforce laws he doesn't agree with or because he's looking to curry favor with a certain group.

This is true for our territorial sovereignty – we are no longer in control of our immigration policy, since with Schengen all of our borders are open; this is true for our monetary sovereignty, since we are no longer in control of our currency; our budgetary sovereignty – it has just been transferred to the European Union, but also our legislative sovereignty, since currently 80% of the laws which are voted in the French National Assembly are actually a transcription of European directives.

Like you know, bailing out banks when we're supposedly in a recession. Too big to fail. Not prosecuting actual fraud. Setting up poor US Citizens to compete with immigrant labor even as automation continues to shrink the available job pool which impacts Black folks (particularly black males) FAR more than any other group in the US.

MP: Listen, obviously when the European Union made this partnership proposal to Ukraine, this basically meant a rupture of their relationship with Russia, it was a kind of blackmail that could only fuel the divisions of Ukraine, since we know that within the country, there are citizens in the East which look towards Russia and some in the West which look towards the European Union. We were well aware of this. And fuelling these divisions was obviously putting in place conditions for a danger of civil war. So the European Union started the initial fire and since then has only aggravated the situation via threats, blackmail and sanctions, which we can clearly see do not contribute to bringing everyone to the table to find a peaceful and reasonable resolution to this conflict.

Facts clearly stated and known by anyone who's paying attention.

The sanctions that were imposed, including those imposed on Russian deputies and even the president of the Duma, which are even more problematic, are a rupture in historical traditions on a diplomatic level. Generally, we do not sanction deputies because they are the expression of the people. So I am under the impression that there are no more rules, except maybe the ones imposed by the United States, which once again defend their own interests, but their interests are not ours.[my underlines]

Those rules were broken a long time back. One previous and recent example was the deposition of Ghaddafi by NATO. Like Ghaddafi or not, he was the recognized leader of Libya and NATO had no rights under any international law to interfere in the civil war [it fomented] in that country. But there has been no reckoning on that. Why?

MP: To defend ourselves against whom? [...] To defend ourselves against whom? Well, you know that we are for leaving NATO, for France leaving NATO, we have a Gaullian vision of what international politics must be like, we are for developing our relations with Russia, without breaking ties with the United States. We believe that France must maintain its relations with all of the world's great nations, and we do not want to be imposed with a way of seeing things by anybody.

This used to be called "non-aligned". But this fear narrative is what is used to keep people in check. The NSA caught illegally tapping your phones and the first thing is about terrorist and 9-11. Getting stripped searched at the airport without reasonable suspicion? Terrorists and 9-11. Your stuff confiscated by customs and border agents at an airport? Terrorism and 9-11. On a no fly list because you are a dissident? Terrorism and 9-11. Ukraine shits on itself? We gotta go because Russia is a danger. Really. It's a danger to you and me. Sure. And because citizens are too dumb to put these fear mongers out of office for insulting their intelligence and eroding their rights, the government continues to get away with it all.

When a party comes up and strenuously opposes these things, it's racism, anti-semitism, anti-immigrant, etc, knowing full well that most people, if told that so and so is racist or such and such organization is "anti-immigrant" won't even bother to check for themselves and evaluate the validity of claims for themselves because they don't want to be associated with anything like that. Which is another form of the fear agenda.

It seems that people in Europe are slowly waking up to the fear arguments and not having it anymore. And if the transcript above is indicative of the general positions of these so called "far right" organizations, then fear and intimidation politics will soon come to an end.

Chicago Gun Violence: Big Numbers, But a Surprisingly Small Network

Devastating. And I will say, with this in mind, black folks ought to remain mute when a random white guy decides to shoot up his school. With statistics like these we have nothing to say.

The data in the new paper is equally fascinating, and on one level, as you might expect, quite troubling. To begin with, the dramatic disparities the rates of nonfatal gunshot injury: overall it’s 46.5 per 100,000 for the city as a whole from 2006-2012. It’s 1.62 per 100,000 for whites; 28.72 for Hispanics, and 112.83 for blacks.

For all males, it’s 44.68 per 100,000; 239.77 for black males, and for black males from 18-34 it’s 599.65. As Papachristos and co-authors Christopher Wildeman and Elizabeth Roberto point out, that’s a staggering one in 200.

For black folks there are war zones that are probably safer than Chicago. I would think this would be of more interest than the ramblings of a now ex-basketball team owner.

One of the things that had me a little anxious in the first paper was that the gang member variable wasn’t significant. And I hypothesized that it was because there was so much uniformity in the data in the West Side.

In the AJPH study, everyone was black, 40 percent were gang members, and they were all young men; they were all exposed to the same neighborhood conditions as well. When you expand to the whole city, you get Rogers Park, you get Englewood, you get Little Village. You get different types of conditions—housing projects, no housing projects. And that puts a lot more variation in people, and they’re exposed to different things. If everybody’s coming from the West Side, there’s still some variation, but by and large they have the same institutions and sorts of structures.

So it's not gangs. It's not "the projects". What is it then?

This is a great example of how we think about health care and health. This last series of mass shooters—the discussion went to mental health, for good reason. We don’t want crazy people with guns; that discussion should be had. But the real reason we should be talking about mental health is, what does the mental health of, say, mothers does for their families. Even in adverse conditions, even in high-crime communities, high-poverty communities, disadvantaged communities, if the mother of the child is mentally stable and healthy, the child does better. We know this. We know this from clinical trials. We know this from all sorts of things. Yet we never discuss that as part of safety and childhood well-being. [my underlines]

Mother? Ok. And so we'll just pretend that women conceive all by themselves.

And that the same time we want them out there building community, preventing crime, which is not really what policing is designed to do, though that’s what they spend a lot of time doing.

I see this same thing. I recently had a "disagreement" in regards to the concept of "self-defense" where the other person was of the opinion that because there is "security" that an individual does not "need" to think of self-defense. This is the "police prevents crime" attitude. Police are almost always "after the fact". A person who thinks like this is actually saying that they are a willing victim of crime and simply hope to survive it.

However; beyond self-defense, in a community setting such an idea, that it is the police's job, meaning the state's job to "prevent" crime is one of the bigger problems in black communities. It is actually the community member's jobs to prevent crime by not tolerating the presence of members who commit crime and by raising the new members (children) to be morally against committing crime.

But we don’t really look at how health centers or schools can prevent crime. This is the one thing with school violence are about preventing crime tomorrow.

Yes schools can be very helpful in re-enforcing the morality of a community. The think is that when we see massive drop out rates we know that a large number of those who would enter a life of crime are not exactly known for paying attention to teachers.

"Supposed"?

Every now and then I read material online, whether it be the NY Times or Counterpunch and I'm astounded that certain statements are allowed to pass the proofreaders (assuming they exist at these places) and placed into print. I'm not talking about censorship, i'm talking about basic fact checking. I think if a piece is posted that has clearly wrong information but will be run anyway, the publisher should post a footnote about the offending information. Today's example comes from Counterpunch.

I'm at a stage in my life where whenever I see [word}+nut, I know I'm probably in for an emotional piece of work devoid of much in the way of verifiable facts. So seeing Left "gun nuts" set off my "oh boy here we go" alarm. Andrew and Darwin don't disappoint.

In the aftermath of the Isla Vista massacre, we can expect the far Right to vehemently oppose any renewed call for gun control. They will tout the supposedly Constitutional right of Americans to keep and bear arms.

Supposedly?

That's like saying citizens supposedly have the constitutional right to free speech, freedom of assembly, right to a trial by jury. It's like saying the right isn't written right there on paper. How does a professor, meaning he supposedly got through at least 6 years of "higher" education, write "supposedly" before the right to bear arms?

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

See what Andrew and Darwin are playing is the "militia" card (and they play it forthright later in the piece). People like these two attach "militia" and bear arms in such a way that only the militia (police, armed forces) have the right to bear arms and the rest of the plebes ought do whatever the state tells us we are allowed to do and hope that the police make it in time.

Never mind that throughout the history of the US, there was never even a question of whether one had the right to bear (own) a firearm. If you took the argument that only professional soldiers and police ought to be able to possess firearms to the Founders, they would have had a hearty laugh.

But forget the Founders. None other than the Supreme Court established that citizens have a constitutional right to own firearms. The District of Columbia tried to ban the ownership of guns. Supreme Court ended that quickly. You can disagree with the Supreme Court if you like (and I do often), but you cannot at this juncture in time write that the right to own a firearm is a "supposed" right.

Moving on.

The Right will summon up the specter of a tyrannical government waiting to oppress us but for our wood stocks and blued steel. We will be told yet again that gun control leaves citizens to the mercy of criminals who simply ignore the law.

Well, Lets see. What is it that happened in Waco? And what was that which happened with Cliven Bundy? Oh right Cliven is a white male. An old one at that. So the fact that the state came armed to take his property which he had been grazing on land the Fed had no jurisdiction over until it gave itself jurisdiction is not an example of the state being held at bay by armed citizens? As Occupy found out, the state has asserted a monopoly on violence and even when it abuses that monopoly the citizens have little recourse as they will be tried for crimes they did not commit. Even if they succeed against the state via the courts they will do so at great personal costs.

Now imaging an alternate universe where Occupy was armed. Either there would be a bloodbath or the NYPD (and other PD's) would have treated Occupy a lot differently.

As for the mercy of criminals:

Ex-cop kills would-be carjacker

and

EDITORIAL: Detroit police chief wants citizens to arm themselves

Chief Craig sees the results firsthand of legal gun ownership. There have been 73 “justifiable homicides” in Detroit since 2011, and only 15 in 2013. Most of these, reports The Detroit News, involved residents such as 76-year-old Willie White, who fatally shot a man who broke into his home. His house had been broken into several times before he confronted and fatally shot an 18-year-old thug who had broken in in 2012. Mr. White told The News, “… these criminals would definitely think twice if they knew more citizens were armed.”

Yeah Andrew and Darwin, you were saying?

Look, if you don't like guns then by all means do not purchase or possess one. If gun crime bothers you that much, then by all means take your constitutional right to move freely around the country and live somewhere with low crime. There are plenty of places you can do that. But the only way to eliminate gun crime is to ban guns period. Across the board banning of firearms. That would take a constitutional amendment. Andrew and Darwin should spend their time doing that if they are REALLY serious about the issue.

Lamentations

The recent Supreme Court ruling on Michigan's proposition to ban affirmative action there have been a lot of commentary, drug up from 1954 that is at it's heart both anti-black and anti-HBCU. The recent anniversary of the Brown V. Board of Ed had none other than First Lady Michelle Obama go on the record with an anti-HBCU message that apparently bothered very few people.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Sixty years after the Supreme Court outlawed “separate but equal” schools for blacks and whites, civil rights advocates say American schools are becoming increasingly segregated, while the first lady, Michelle Obama, lamented that “many young people are going to schools with kids who look just like them.”

“Lamented”? Why does this bother Mrs. Obama? Why does this bother anyone for that matter? For millenia human beings have been raised and educated with people who “look just like them”. In small villages around the world, children grow up and are educated with people who look just like them, Why does this bother anyone? In China, Japan, Singapore, India, to name but a few countries, millions (and billions) of people grow up without seeing anyone else that looks different from them. Yet it has no impact whatsoever on their education. Given that there is ZERO evidence that what the person sitting next to you looks like has anything at all to do with whether one is able to learn and WHAT one is able to learn, why is this canard still being trotted out? And why is the wife of the President making such a statement to the nation?

Furthermore if it is “lamentable” that young people go to schools with kids who look just like them, then what does that say about those of us who attend HBCU's ? It says what is a general sentiment in the African-American community, particularly in the north and along the west coast, HBCU's are not the real world and it is better to go to a “white school”. This is, of course, pure and unadulterated self hate speech. Never mind that HBCU's have historically produced more black professionals than anywhere else, but there are millions of HBCU grads out there in the world working and creating jobs.

“Today, by some measures, our schools are as segregated as they were back when Dr. King gave his final speech,” Mrs. Obama told 1,200 graduating high school seniors Friday here in the city that gave rise to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

That signals a few things:

1) People have a right to live wherever they choose and therefore send their kids to whatever school they see fit (and can afford to send them to). 2) The utter failure of attempting to remedy academic performance of certain kids (cause of course the people in question are not being named) by trying to force them upon others.

, Mrs. Obama said that Brown’s advances were being reversed. “Many districts in this country have actually pulled back on efforts to integrate their schools, and many communities have become less diverse,” she said, leading to schools that are less diverse.

“And too often,” Mrs. Obama said, “those schools aren’t equal, especially ones attended by students of color which too often lag behind.”

Well, the fact is that bussing, aka forcing people to send their kids out of district was found unconstitutional. Failing that, unless you force people to live in neighborhoods against their will, there is no chance that you're going to get a diverse student body in any location. And that assumes that a “diverse” student body is needed. Remember the purpose of school is education, first and foremost. If it is true that education, the learning of facts and of critical thinking, is the antidote to discrimination, then it should not and does not matter what the student body looks like.

I am not one of those persons distratced by the “diversity” party. I certainly object to playing ambassador with my children so that folks can feel better about themselves (see! My kid plays with the black kid over there). I have been “the spot” in school. It does NOTHING at all for academic performance. Academic performance improves ONLY when there are high expectations set out by schools and parents. Period.

Today about four in 10 black and Latino students attend intensely segregated schools, the federal Department of Education reported on its official blog on Friday, adding that only 14 percent of white students attend schools that could be considered multicultural.

And we should care about that particular fact because? Again. Who they are sitting next to has no bearing on their academic performance. 99% of students at Tuskegee will be in a class without a single white person. How is that a problem? Why is that a problem?

Tuskegee Students. Apparently being robbed of the experience of sitting next to white people at school.

Hampton Students tragically missing out on white folks in the classroom.

Here in Kansas, there is intense debate over whether the state is living up to Brown’s promise. An alliance of school districts has sued the state, contending that current financing for schools is inadequate and is disproportionately hurting schools in low-income, minority districts.

Ahh a ray of sunshine. The financial issue is strong. Clearly a good school needs good funding to pay decent salaries to teachers and to have facilities that are modern (enough) to teach. Books are here or there due to technology and the fact that there is less and less a need to have a physical book, where a cheap tablet can hold many many many books in a far smaller package.

The financial argument is a sound one. Currently schools are financed via local property taxes. Clearly if you live in a poorer neighborhood then the school has less financing. The solution to this is not bussing. It is not “desegregation” or other “diversity” hat tricks. The solution to this is a fundamental change in how schools are financed. There should a flat county, city and/or statewide tax on all residents to pay for the education of all students. The money is then divided primarily by population. The more students a school serves the more money it gets. Secondly would be state of the school. That is, those schools in most need of repair, expansion, etc. gets access to money first.

This would not prevent any local town or resident from “gifting” to a local (or not local) school, But at the state level where it has a mandate to educate all children under it's authority, the equitable distribution of resources should be the law.

The State Supreme Court recently ordered the Legislature to restore special aid for poor districts. Gov. Sam Brownback said in a brief interview on Friday that he agreed with the court’s decision. “It needs to be fixed,” he said.

But Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in Washington, said Friday that funding systems like that in Kansas “are relegating millions of primarily black and brown children into schools that are separate, unequal and inadequate.”

what was ordered by the judge is in line with what I suggested. The problem is that here it is called “special aid”. It should not be “special aid” but equitable and repairative (not a word) funding based on what was discussed above. And Wade Henderson should be quiet and have a seat. The purpose is the quality of academics not who these kids sit next to every day.

Wade and his ilk who are fixated on white people like that UCSB shooter was fixated on blondes, need therapy to get over their psychological problems.

“It’s our first African-American president, something that many people involved in Brown didn’t think they would live to see,” Mrs. Brown Henderson said in an interview this week, calling the visit “a manifestation of what they worked for.”

Worked for a president? OK.

I'm aware that most of the people who make these "diversity" statements don't actually realize that they are actually making derogatory statements in regards to black people. Matter of fact it is commonplace and done at a subconscious level. It is simply normal to say these things. It doesn't register until the full weight of the commentary is brought to the attention of the speaker. We need to face these silly outburst of self hate head on. No one should be excused for these comments, not even FLOTUS.

RIP Elombe Brath

I remember him as Gil Noble's partner in producing Like It Is. I saw him a few times in Harlem as well. Go and greet your friend Elombe. Go and greet your friend.

No Different Than Ukraine

Amidst the stupendously stupid move to publicly charge Chinese nationals (who are also a part of the military) with cyber spying the Chinese have, of course responded with evidence of cyber spying by the US:

Now, every one of the examples of N.S.A. spying on corporations around the world is becoming Exhibit A in China’s argument that by indicting five members of the People’s Liberation Army, the Obama administration is giving new meaning to capitalistic hypocrisy. In the Chinese view, the United States has designed its own system of rules about what constitutes “legal” spying and what is illegal.

That definition, the Chinese contend, is intended to benefit an American economy built around the sanctity of intellectual property belonging to private firms. And, in their mind, it is also designed to give the N.S.A. the broadest possible rights to intercept phone calls or email messages of state-owned companies from China to Saudi Arabia, or even private firms that are involved in activities the United States considers vital to its national security, with no regard to local laws. The N.S.A. says it observes American law around the globe, but admits that local laws are no obstacle to its operations.

I don't know who allowed Holder to make his announcement but it smacks of rank amateurism. We know countries do it to each other. This kind of stuff should always be done behind closed doors. Used for leverage in negotiations on other matters...behind closed doors. You may even bring in executives from affected companies and discuss the issue....behind closed doors. But you simply do not make these kinds of things public.

But this double standard that China speaks of is clear in Ukraine where popular uprisings are OK when the beneficiaries are certain governments and institutions and are BAD when they benefit other certain governments and institutions. And folks wonder why UKIP and other "far right" parties are on the rise in various countries. The blatant hypocrisy and double dealing is evident to the masses and they are slowly waking up to it. At some point the US population will stop playing the "lesser of two evils" game and put the lot of these folks out of office (right and left). [Update]

“What we do not do, as we have said many times,” James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, said after some of the initial N.S.A. revelations last year, “is use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of — or give intelligence we collect to — U.S. companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line.”

Because of course we have other arms of government and other institutions to do the "international competitiveness" part. [Update again]

he Stuxnet computer worm, designed by the United States and Israel, was designed to attack Siemens equipment — and it has never been clear whether the company knew that its machines were under American and Israeli attack. But in that case, American officials could argue that national security, not corporate competitiveness, was the goal.

But "national security" as defined by the Wolfowitz doctrine includes dominance of the US, including economic entities attached to it.

The U.S. must show the leadership necessary to establish and protect a new order that holds the promise of convincing potential competitors that they need not aspire to a greater role or pursue a more aggressive posture to protect their legitimate interests. In non-defense areas, we must account sufficiently for the interests of the advanced industrial nations to discourage them from challenging our leadership or seeking to overturn the established political and economic order. We must maintain the mechanism for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role.

Racism Attacks on UKIP Appear to Fail

Like I said a few posts ago, the powers that be are so shook by the fact that UKIP has grown so large in the UK that they are hoping that they can use any charge of racism and xenophobia to distract from the fact that the establishment parties are failing to address the wishes of the English people.

The last issue was Fanage claiming that he wouldn't want a Romanian as a neighbor. I assume he meant Roma, who are apparently universally disliked in Europe, but he hasn't "corrected" his statement to that effect and so I won't put words in his mouth. However the point was that due to that statement he was called racist.

Now apparently this is a typical Romanian

This guy is white. So tell me, how is Farange being racist against this fellow? Farange is white. This fellow is white. It cannot be racism unless, by definition Farange is using a philosophy or ideology based on race to discuss both himself and this Romanian.

It may be ethnocentrism, but then again, I believe that folks in their own country have a right to be ethnocentric about their own country. Some people have a problem with that. That's their right. I certainly think a level of ethnocentrism in the United States would be problematic given the varied cultures that constitute it. But the natives of a land such as England? Not so much. If I don't like the ethnocentrism of England I am, of course, free to leave and return to my home country, or some other country who's ethnocentrism is of the type I find more accommodating.

In any case, the "racism' row over the Romanian comment only showed me how desperate the establishment is. If the reports that the latest charge has only served to solidify the support of UKIP, then that is even more damning for the establishment. *image from Guardian UK

David Macaray's Blind Spot

The oft told truism that people usually only care about their own is demonstrated by David Macary's latest piece as found on Counterpunch

Concerned with your “moral character” or sexual proclivities, they can retrace your steps on the Internet. Concerned with your political beliefs, they can find out if you subscribe to any left-wing magazines or belong to any lefty organizations (“Are you now or have you ever been….?”) Access to this information is for sale.[my underlines]

"left-wing magazines".

I suppose David has been living under a rock of late because he apparently hasn't noticed that recently the folks who have been forced out of jobs have not been those who subscribe to "left-wing magazines" but those who have been previously known as "mainstream America" or "Christian right". Whether one agrees with the attitudes of persons' such as Duck Dynasty's Phill; Brendan Eich's political donation; Manny Paquiao's position on homosexuality or Donald Sterling's fear of a HIV positive black penis, or any number of people who have been fired or meted out some other punishment because their personal positions on various subjects offended someone in a "protected class".

All of these persons happen to be politically right of center. While I'm sure David is still harboring fears of Joe McCarthy's power trip, the fact of the matter is that the invasion of privacy and it's use to harass citizens and deny them opportunities is not currently coming from the right, it is coming from the left who conveniently excuse themselves by claiming the moral high ground. That is, their thinking is better than those they oppose and therefore the only one's worth protection.

Remember, rights and protections apply across the board. Once you allow the rights of one group to be trampled on, your own rights become endangered.

Do As We Say....

So the US Justice Department is charging Chinese officials of computer hacking.

Suspicions about extensive corporate data theft have swirled around China for years, but never before has the US formally accused the People's Liberation Army with criminal activity. Last year, a report by the information security firm Mandiant concluded that a unit of the PLA, known as Unit 61398, was likely behind data theft comprising hundreds of terabytes. It found that the scale of the espionage was unlikely to have occurred without government sponsorship

Meanwhile on the internet we have pictures of US agents intercepting and planting bugs in routers:

This year has seen so much glaring hypocrisy that even sunglasses are of no use.

Again..Can Africans Deal With Their Own Problems?

The Nigerian president is due to attend a meeting on Saturday of regional leaders, hosted by France, that is expected to discuss a joint approach to Boko Haram. Until now there has been little cooperation among Nigeria, Benin, Niger, Cameroon and Chad; members of the Islamist group move with relative freedom across the region’s porous borders. The United States, the European Union and Britain will also be represented, according to a statement from the Nigerian presidency.

Why is this being hosted by France? How is this France's business or problem? Does France invite Nigerian officials to deal with it's internal problems?

Why is the European Union, Britain and the United States being represented? How is this any of their business? Are any US nationals in the hands of Boko Haram? Are any EU nationals in the hands of Boko Haram? Are any British Nationals in the hands of Boko Haram? The answer is no to all three so why are they present? Do any of these states or organizations solicit representation from any African state when they have problems (other than to claim that the "international community" approves of us meddling in the internal affairs of today's enemy state)?

Asante and Monteiro Still Fighting....

Yeah, these two folks, apparently along with Cornel West and Marc Lamont Hill are still fighting over how best to serve Temple University.

Really.

Black Studies does not need saving and it is quite vibrant at Temple University as a result of the re-organization of the undergraduate and graduate programs; in effect, Temple has just re-asserted its leadership in Black Studies by celebrating 25 years of the first doctoral program in the nation and consequently few students in the program and none of the faculty members approved or supported the protest.

I fault each and every one of these negroes for not taking their considerable talent to any HBCU and build up THE authoritative black studies program. Seems to me that would be the "nationalistic" thing to do. Of course given that there has been no mention of Garvey in the comment made by Asante, I guess it's proof that none of the people involved are really about building anything black from the top down or bottom up. ALL of these folks are more interested in their spot in the white space.

Carry on with that. It is, at the very least, entertainment. But I'll take them more seriously if they show up, somewhat permanently in Jackson Ms.

Solar and Wind Powered Car in Nigeria

Taking a break from hammering on Africa over the dumb stuff, here's some good news:

The retrofitted Beetle comes equipped with a giant solar panel on the roof and a wind turbine under the hood that takes advantage of airflow while the car is in motion. To ensure the car doesn’t buckle under the weight of all the additional eco-friendly tech, Oyeyiola also installed a super strong suspension system.

Never, ever considered the idea of a wind turbine to charge a car while it is in motion. Interesting since the IC engine in cars have to have a place for the "nose" (air intake) to pull in air for the engine. A battery powered car doesn't need an air intake for creating motion, but why not still use the airflow to create power?

So imagine a Tesla type car with a 200+ mile range from the battery, continuously charging the battery while the car travels over the 200+ miles. Seeing as how an alternator can charge a cinderblock sized battery in a claimed 10 minutes (quick Google, have not checked), a well tuned turbine (or 2 or 3) could possibly recharge a Tesla battery pack during a single trip, particularly at high speeds.

Currently, the battery takes four to five hours to charge, which makes it less than ideal Read more: Nigerian Student Converts a VW Beetle into a $6,000 Wind- and Solar-Powered Car | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

At 65MPH, 5 hours is 325 miles. That's within the range of the top end Tesla.

Someone hand this kid a Land Rover or something with a flat roof and robust suspension! And you Nigerian millionaires I wrote about earlier, You need to be funding this guy and a auto manufacturing plant! Very impressive Mr. Oyeyiola!

Shorty For Mayor -> Shorty IS Mayor

I remember purchasing Ras Baraka's CD shorty for Mayor a long time ago: Shorty For Mayor. A lot has happened since then. Now Shorty is Mayor. I wish him the best. Newark needs a lot of work. A lot of the work will be dealing with the crime. The crime keeps a lot of potential business out of Newark because it keeps a lot of people (those with regular disposable income) out of Newark after work. Baraka is not stupid so I know he knows this.

The real question is whether the people in Newark really, really, really understand the impact of the crime issue. No, Does the black population of Newark understand this. I'm not being unfair here. Check the stats and you'll know who are the vast majority of the perpetrators and victims of crime in Newark. If Baraka can get black folks in Newark to step up and deal with the violent folks in their midst, then Newark will undergo a great deal of change and I believe it can happen within one term.

When Cory Booker took office, I soon pointed out how simply having a charismatic mayor wouldn't put much of a dent in crime. It doesn't work like that. That is why I scoffed at the advertisements that attacked Baraka for allegedly saying that Newark doesn't need more cops. Baraka is RIGHT. The solution to the crime in Newark isn't more cops. It's changing the thought patterns (The +I of the sequential equation) of those who would partake in crime. That job is a group effort. Yes, city hall can do things to open up opportunities, but it cannot (and should not) be the sole repository of responsibility for proper social behavior of the citizens.

I do have ONE suggestion, which probably would involve agencies larger than the city: A infrastructure plan that has at it's center piece the training of young men in construction, electrical work, etc. That those men be put onto work crews that repair roads, etc. in their OWN communities at lower (apprentice) rates. A lot of these guys do not have work experience or trade training. If we want them to not do crime to get (or supplement) income, something has to be there for them to do that has a future. I know folks may not like to hear it, but it bothers me when I see folks from outside black communities doing the road work and the like while there are young men standing on corners holding up brick walls. There are plenty of white communities for these persons to work in. Lets train these young men (assuming they are willing) to learn skills to develop and maintain their own communities. This will undoubtedly lead to a sense of investment rather than somewhere that they dream to "escape".

That's my 2 cents.

UKIP Follow Up

This morning I saw the following in The Guardian:

The number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain has gone down since border controls on them were fully lifted in January, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The first official numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians in the UK workforce undermine predictions that hundreds of thousands would flood into Britain once the doors were fully open to them. One ex-Ukip MEP even claimed 1.5 million would come looking for work....

and Bulgarians nationals working in Britain in March this year – a fall from 125,000 in December, just before the last of the seven-year transitional controls were lifted on the new EU members on 1 January.

This was 19,000 more than in March 2013, showing that the numbers increased by 20% before the controls were lifted. During that time, self-employed migrants and those working for multinational companies were able to come to work in Britain.

Anyone, UKIP member or UKIP opponent who believed or thought that immediately upon the lifting of restrictions, that 1.5 million people would suddenly appear in England is a total idiot.

Total and complete idiot. Failing a catastrophic natural (or unnatural) disaster no such human population shift has EVER occurred.

Secondly:

Barbara Roche of the Migration Matters Trust and a former Labour immigration minister, said: "Today's figures show it would take 90 years for migration from the EU to get near the 26 million figure Ukip have used in their poster campaign."

90 years is just over 2 generations. That is not a long time at all. In fact it is within the lifespan of the far right of the life expectancy bell curve for British white females. Meaning any child born as of today may in fact live long enough to see the change.

Of course the changes predicted by UKIP may never ever happen either.

Note: The Ghost is neither pro or anti UKIP. The Ghost believes the native citizens of any country has the right to decide who may enter and stay and who shan't. And that the first and overriding responsibility of the government is to it's citizens.

Can Africans Solve Their Own Problems?

Serious question.

The EU has drawn up plans to send 800 to 1,000 soldiers to Central African Republic to join 6,000 African and 2,000 French troops, who have struggled to stop the fighting that started when the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power a year ago in the majority Christian state.

Failure to launch the mission would be an embarrassment for the European Union, which has been trying to burnish its credentials as a security organization, and a setback for France, which has called for more European support for its efforts in Central African Republic.

Seriously. Can Africans solve their own problems? The increased non-African presence in CAR (and elsewhere) suggests the answer is "no".

When The Facts Are On Your Side.....

Many of you are familiar with the legal saying that if the law in on your side, pound the law. If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If neither one are on your side, pound the table. I think this applies to the recent NY Times article about the rise of "far right" parties across Europe. Reading the piece the astute reader will notice that nowhere in the article is there a challenge to any of the base positions held by these "far right" individuals. Furthermore, given that many of these "far right" political parties such as UKIP are as popular if not more so than establishment parties, one has to wonder just how "fringe' or "far" these parties actually are relative to the population at large. When you see the establishment parties changing their tune (if only temporarily for elections) in order to staunch defection of voters from their parties to these "far right" parties you have to wonder who exactly is "far" anything.

What we are seeing in England and elsewhere in western Europe is a popular backlash against the growing PC state. The natives of the various entities are tired of being told who they have to accept into their countries. They are tired of being told that they are racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic and what have you when they insist that foreigners learn the languages of the countries they voluntarily move to. When they wish to see immigration into their countries controlled and limited. They do not like seeing their money taken from them and sent elsewhere by people they don't even elect. They're tired of being told what they can and cannot say in public. They are tired of their speech being criminalized. They are tired of the establishment telling them how to think and behave. They are tired of seeing the rich get off scott free when they commit all manner of economic crimes but see their taxes go up and their tax agencies hounding them with threats when they fail to live up to their bargains. In short they are tired of the hypocricy and the snobby "we know better than you so shut up and take what we dish out" attitudes of the current leadership.

If the establishment parties want to find the cause of the rise of "far right" parties they should look no further than their own actions in alienating the people they are supposed to represent (hint: they are the citizens, including the male ones). Blathering on about how racist and anti-Semitic these parties are is clearly not working. Why? Because even the ones who ARE anti-Semitic have no intentions of doing a Hitler. Seriously. The ones that do are almost universally disliked in those quarters. I know because I read much of the writings of those in that quarter so I have a very clear picture of their actual issues.

Years ago, I wrote a piece on what was likely to happen in the US as the white population became a smaller and smaller part of the citizenry. I said it would not be pretty as various non-white groups (and some white ones) attempted to write the white population off as essentially not worthy of attention or of having rights unless they were "liberal". I don't know how long that's going to take but you're seeing a form of the backlash in England and elsewhere. Fortunately it's peaceful. I still predict something similar here BUT it will likely have the effect of killing off the Republican party as we know it. I say this because a lot of the so called "dissident right" are also very much not happy with the Republican party or it's economic benefactors any more than the left is. Some of the reasons are the same (money and influence in elections) and some are different (immigration, etc.).

If a UKIP were to be able to develop in the US. A party that could really give a damn about political correctness and who could not be shamed into changing positions. Who's leadership were well spoken with a grasp on their data, it would make the current so called adversarial two party system in the US look friendly. I believe the Tea Party was an attempt at that, but because it tried to fold into the Republican party it was unable to stand on it's own like UKIP is. It will be very, very interesting to see what happens if UKIP wins a plurality of votes in England (and other similar parties in other European countries).

So expect to see more reporting that stresses how racist, anti-Semitic and the like these parties are. But pay close attention to the avoidance of the actual issues these parties address. It is a real elite vs masses struggle playing out.

Boko Haram: It's About The Security

I said yesterday that John Kerry stated the real reason for the sudden interest of the US government in the activities of Boko Haram: Security. In case the readership thinks I'm mistaken:

The Justice Department, the F.B.I., American intelligence officials and counterterrorism officials in the State Department favored the designation because of Boko Haram’s role in the growing violence in Nigeria and because of intelligence reports that some of its members had links to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

But Johnnie Carson, who was the assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2009 to 2013, said in an interview on Thursday that he had opposed making the designation “for six or seven different reasons.”

Mr. Carson said he was concerned that the move would generate publicity for the group and help it attract support from other extremists. He said he was also worried that the designation might legitimize a heavy-handed crackdown by Nigeria’s security forces at a time when American officials were urging them to avoid human rights abuses.

The politics of terrorism. That's what this is really about.

Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s counterterrorism official from 2009 to 2012, said the delay had not impeded efforts to work with the Nigerians. “Designation was one of many tools and not the most urgently needed one in dealing with the Nigerians,” Mr. Benjamin said in a telephone interview. “What was more important was strong engagement in the areas of law enforcement and counterterrorism.”[my underlines]

Another Lesson in the Sequential Equation

I have posted on the Sequential Equation in the past. It was taught to me in 1993 while at Tuskegee University.

+I;S;E;P;M He called this the sequential equation and it reads as such: the positive intellectual transformation of society (+I) stands firmly behind the social trasnformation of society (+S). All social problems are economic (+E) and all economic problems are political (+P) and military aims presuppose politial objectives (+M)

Whenever one tries to skip over the sequence, one gets into trouble. Enter Jackson Ms.

It's hindsight of course, but maybe we should have paid attention to this piece first, and the electoral effort only afterward. Who's to say that if we'd done it that way we would not have been more successful in retaining the mayor's seat.”

Yes. Change the minds. Change the social norms. Address the economic. Then address the political. No mayor can stop any business from running as a co-op. No mayor can stop social transformation of the community. No mayor can stop the intellectual transformation of the population. You start with that which you control. Then organize and push into the political.

Of course this is the lesson from Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey. Too many people are busy hating Booker T Washington to understand the foundational truth of his message. And I am certain..99% confident that the person quoted will not have even thought of Booker T. Washington when that statement was made.

Boko Haram, Afri-COM and The Girls

Whenever a government wants to get the people behind a plan it is usually best to draw attention to women and children. Girl children are even better. Indeed one of the ways that the “intervention” in Libya was sold to the public was by a false claim of Viagra fueled rapes by agents of the Ghaddafi regime. All the usual suspects fell in line and muted any left objection to what was clearly a civil war in which the US (and others) had taken sides with the rebels. Al-Qaeda be damned! We gonna get Ghaddafi for that Pan-Am flight! A similar plot is playing out in Nigeria.

Boko Haram has been acting a total fool in Nigeria for years. Prior to the kidnapping of the girls from school, they had been killing people (usually but not exclusively non-Muslims) by various means. The Nigerian state has been unable to stop their terrorist actions for some time. This of course is partially because the federal state has been weak and had allowed the northern areas to adopt Sharia law in an attempt to mollify Muslims who dominate that part of Nigeria.

Unfortunately as any student of history knows, there is no mollifying those Muslims who are determined to create a greater Caliphate and extract Jizya from those of us who refuse to submit. So not soon after the capitulation of the state, with “assurances” that non-Muslims would be exempt from Sharia laws, Boko Haram made its entrance.

Boko Haram, apparently meaning Western Education (Boko) is forbidden (Haram) is of the opinion that only Islamic education (whatever that is) is appropriate for Muslims (and supposedly non-Muslims). Never mind that these fellows run around with Kalashnikovs, a product of “western” education and invention. Never mind that the vehicles they ride around in are the product of “Western” education. Never mind that the foundations of “western” mathematics and geometry were built upon the work of Muslims who had re-discovered and improved on the work of earlier non-Muslim civilizations of north east Africa and the so called Middle East (algebra, current numbering system). I suppose it's not surprising that these kinds of things do not cause pause among the so called revolutionaries of Boko Haram.

One would think that if Boko Haram was so sure that Western Education was so plainly inferior to that of Islamic education (whatever that is) that they would not only set up schools in the areas in which they live, but they would also be building homes, paving roads, providing electricity (solar, geothermal, etc.), running businesses of all sorts and other related activities. After all, what better way to prove that one's ideology is superior to another than to actually build up your society with it? Of course the girls they kidnapped would not have to be kidnapped because the plain superiority of Boko Haram Islam would have been so plain as for them to WANT to go to Boko Haram schools, wed Boko Haram men and have babies with them. Nothing speaks louder to the failure of the ideology of Boko Haram, or any other group for that matter, than when they have to resort to force to get it's way.

So it is clear that Boko Haram is not new to Nigeria. Nor is the kidnapping of the girls from their schools the worst thing they have done (I'm of the opinion that being killed is far worse). So why is the US and it's people suddenly interested in what is going on in a remote northern corner of Nigeria? Well John Kerry was the honest one yesterday: Boko Haram is a security issue to the US.

Understand that the reason for all the interest by the US federal government in Boko Haram has everything to do with Al-Qaeda affiliates and the expansion of Afri-COM in order to secure US interests in the area. The people are being offered The Girls as a means of rallying around the continued US military expansion into Africa. After all who is against finding The Girls?

The other prong here is to make the Nigerian government look inept. Here at The Ghost we've pointed out many times that it is apparent that black folks the world over seem to need white supervision in their affairs. The IMF is needed to tell them how to run the economy. The UN is needed to tell them how to handle internal disputes. Previous colonial masters are needed to provide technical assistance and police. The Chinese needed to build stadiums.

The latest example of this being CAR, where the French are baby sitting the people and mediating that dispute. In one recent post of a video made by Vice one of the interviewers asks “where are the French when you need them?” Of course Africans of all stripes are to blame for this. If Jonathan Goodluck had a proper spine and sense of self-respect he would have called on Obama to instruct his staff to stop making negative commentary about the Nigerian government and acknowlege the difficulty in dealing with armed Jihadists. Surely the current entanglements that the US is involved in proves that.

Furthermore, Nigerians themselves would stop making public pronouncements about how bad their government is. Of course they will not because many Nigerians, like much of the world believe that their government is no good and that they need outside help. In other words we are witnessing, in full view, Nigerians admitting to the world that they are incapable of handling their own affairs.

Pretty shameful isn't it?

Boko Haram is of interest to the US because Nigeria has large oil reserves and as an OPEC member is of importance to the US (and Europe, and China). Though Boko Haram are in the north of the country which is not where the oil comes from (it's in the delta region), if Boko Haram causes enough problems then they may have an adverse impact on oil operations in that country (bombings, kidnappings, etc). So don't be fooled. It is not really about The Girls. It's about the Security. Believe Kerry when he says it.

Russia's Blogger Law

Widely known as the “bloggers law,” the new Russian measure specifies that any site with more than 3,000 visitors daily will be considered a media outlet akin to a newspaper and be responsible for the accuracy of the information published.

Besides registering, bloggers can no longer remain anonymous online, and organizations that provide platforms for their work such as search engines, social networks and other forums must maintain computer records on Russian soil of everything posted over the previous six months.[My underlines]

Pretty sad that such a thing, the underlined part, has to be told. I think not a few US outlets ought to be held to such standards. Can you imagine if the NY Times, Time Inc, etc. were held legally responsible for their mis-reporting on Ukraine?

Obama Aides Tell Executives to Skip Forum

The headline should read: Obama aides bully [allegedly] free citizens.

WASHINGTON — The White House has pressured the chief executives of some of America’s largest energy, financial and industrial corporations into canceling plans to attend an international economic forum in Russia to be hosted by President Vladimir V. Putin this month, the latest effort to isolate Moscow in retaliation for its intervention in Ukraine.

The top executives of such giants as Alcoa, Goldman Sachs, PepsiCo, Morgan Stanley, ConocoPhillips and other multinational companies with business in Russia have either pulled out of the conference or plan to do so after an intensive lobbying campaign by President Obama’s advisers. Corporate officials predicted that nearly every American C.E.O. will now skip the forum in St. Petersburg.

It is a pretty bad state of affairs when a country founded in part on the freedom of association without government interference is on record for telling it's allegedly free citizens where they can and cannot go (or should or should no go or else).

I said it before and I'll repeat it now: Time to tell Kerry and Obama to fuck off with their total nonsense about Ukraine and Russia. Really though. The blatant demonstrated lies that have been said by both parties and repeated by the press that at some point someone needs to just call these people out.

Too bad the business leaders (sic) do not have the spine to stand up to this blatant interference with their legitimate business and the blatant bullying being done by the US (and a lesser extent the EU). Ahh to only have a Hugo Chavez on the world stage again.

Town of Greece v. Galloway

Kagan's dissent is epic. In STARK contrast to the dissent given by Sotomayor in the Michigan case Kagan keeps the examples clear and relevant to the case at hand. I fully expect her argument to be used successfully in the future (assuming it was not done during arguments. It doesn't seem to have been though).

Kevin Johnson, The State and The Sterling Decision

What Sterling said and did is not all that important to me. Old man gonna die rich(er) regardless to how this plays out. He really is not going to be hurt by this. On the other hand there are a few things that are very bothersome about this. I'm going to concentrate on one such point here. The NY Times is reporting on the influence that Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento had on the NBA leadership

As the weekend progressed, the person said, Johnson spoke with Silver several times, delivering the message that only decisive action that left Sterling no room to remain actively involved with the Clippers would satisfy the union.

Johnson found other ways to apply pressure. It was no coincidence that by Saturday night, before a playoff game between the Bobcats and the Miami Heat in Charlotte, N.C., James was speaking out forcefully, saying that if the audio was authentic, “there is no room for Donald Sterling in our league.”

By Sunday, the union was telling the league that the players were uncomfortable with calls for the Clippers to boycott their game that afternoon in Oakland, Calif., against the Golden State Warriors. Milder protests were formulated. Still, Johnson continued to let Silver know that he expected him to be swift and tough in punishing Sterling.

They met face to face at the game in Oakland. The next night, on the eve of Silver’s Tuesday news conference in New York, Johnson, in a Facebook post, called Silver’s decision “a defining moment” in the history of a league long associated with social change and progress. He cited Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to appear in an N.B.A. game, in 1950, and Jason Collins, who this season became the league’s first openly gay player.

Near the bottom of his post, Johnson wrote: “At a minimum, Mr. Sterling should be suspended indefinitely, banned from games, slapped with the maximum fine possible, and forced to extract himself from basketball operations. He should be required to name someone from his executive team or family to take over all duties related to the Clippers.”

How much Johnson knew what Silver’s decision was going to be — at his news conference, Silver said he did not reach it until Tuesday morning — is not known. But Silver’s announcement, which included a reference to Lloyd and other N.B.A. pioneers, went beyond the “minimum” that Johnson had advocated.

Let us be clear, as an elected official Kevin Johnson had no business conferring with the NBA on punishing a citizen exercising his first amendment rights. While the private NBA is free to punish any of it's members, no agent of the state should be so involved so long as no criminal actions are involved.

What Obama did on the subject is how an elected agent of the state ought to do. State the obvious and then be silent. Had Kevin Johnson simply stated he thought the comments were racist and that the league ought to "do something" then he would be in the clear. But to collaborate with a private entity to punish a citizen for doing something that the state has no business in is, in my opinion a breech of ethics and possibly brings constitutional questions.