Terri: Kicking The Horse Some More

I was going to let the topic rest, but three recent articles on the topic have forced me to make another comment. Let me start with one I saw on Counterpunch.

Dr. Teresa Whitehurst wrote a piece entitled "We're Walking Right into a Trap
Misleading Shiavo Polls Blind Progressives for New Stealth Campaign" to so embodies the problem with "liberals":

By siding with her husband, we shoot ourselves in the foot in two ways: (1) we are reinforcing patriarchal nuclear family values as ensconced in the conservative circles ("when you marry, you leave your family and cleave to your spouse") and in the US legal system, wherein the spouse automatically has more authority over the incapacitated individual than his or her family of origin, and (2) we willingly give up all claims to supporting real "family values" (the extended family, not just the Dobson/Falwell nuclear family) such that we lay ourselves open to inaccurate but persuasive charges that we're "anti-family".

Progressives have been conspicuously silent regarding the family's suffering, and most won't even consider her parents' claims that Terri might not want to be starved to death, even in her present condition. The radical right, however, is busy endearing itself to the public-all those millions of average Joes who get all their news from TV, and are watching Terri's withering little body, sad face, desperate parents and the conservative leaders lending them sympathy and support. For the viewing public, I'm afraid it's Michael Schiavo, the man who's forcing his will on Terri and her family, who's speaking for us, and for liberal/progressive values.

Come election time, the masses will remember who's who. If we don't speak up and speak up now, here's the equation that millions of voters will remember at the polling booth, just as the Bush administration hopes: Sympathetic to dying woman and her family=Conservatives. Unsympathetic to dying woman and her family=Liberals.


While I don't disagree with her general conclusion that every attempt will be made to "Sympathetic to dying woman and her family=Conservatives. Unsympathetic to dying woman and her family=Liberals. " the problem with her piece is that she offers absolutely no position for "liberals." Hers is take all sides which, as we saw in the last election translates into "take no sides." But let me address the issues of the above paragraph:

Dr. Whitehurst supposes that by siding with Mr. Shiavo, we are upholding a patriarchal nuclear family setting. This is pure rubbish. What we are doing is upholding the law that ones spouse, be they male or female has the legal authority to make medical decisions for their spouse. That is not patriarchy. We are not saying that only husbands should be able to speak for thier wives. Dr. Whitehurst would like for the law to allow evverybody that the patient is related to to be able to make decisions on behalf of the patient. How rediculous is that? Perhaps Dr. Whitehurst does not understand that it is assumed, by the law, that ones spouse would have had discussions about life, death and possible medical care with the person the actually co-habitate and likely share children and monies with. The person they are most likely to depend upon for extended medical care should that be neccessary. It is also given that the spouse probably knows things about their partner that parents never ever knew. I mean I know parents that think their grown children aren't haveing sex. So it is laughable to the point of absurdity to suggest that by upholding the law that gives equal power to either spouse is "Patriarchal" but that must be the "feminist" speaking.

On the issue of the extended family,. how far should we take the powers of extended family? What if each member has wildly differing views on what should be done? Who triumphs? I wouldn't want to see that litigation at all. No, it is a wise choice to have clear lines of sucession and deliniation as to who legally can speak for an incapacitated patient. This way everybody knows their place and we have some kind of order.

So what should so called "liberals" be doing> They should be pounding the public with facts. Everybody and their momma has an opionion about what is going on, but very few are medical professionals. Even fewer know that such decisions are made everyday across the country. The "Liberals" ought to be buying air time to air videos on the subject, perhaps a documentary on all the steps that have been taken and how the case got to where it is. Lastly Liberals have the unique opportunity for standing up for "law and order" a bread and butter issue foor Republicans and many conservative groups. They should be constantly barraging the public of the spectre of government intervention in all parts of thier lives, They should be pounding the American "ideal" of government non-interference in personal lives. Lastly, anywhere a "liberal" gets on a talkshow with the opposition, they should ask the oppposition if they would trade places wiith Terri Shiavo. They should suggest that for the duration of the program that the opposition be strapped to a chair and forbidden to speak or move. This would, in my opinion show just how hypocritical these people are.

Basically it comes down to this: This is a legal issue, not a medical one. It is about the respect for indiviidual rights and the right of individuals to make legal decisions without interferences from government or religious authorities. Period.


The next piece I need to address is one announcing that Jesse Jackson will be visiting Terri Shiavo at the hospice that she is in, at the request of the Schindler family. Now I understand that Jesse Jackson is a reverend may probably has issues with the removal of the feeding tube. He has every right to go where he wants and say what he likes. However, given his background I think it is a mistake to make a press conference out of this. I think it will be an even bigger mistake if he attempts to do the "for black folks.." speech. This has to be the first time that I am in agreement with my peers who dislike the "Head Negro" phenomenon. This is a bad thing to do IMHO.

However one person is probably tickled pink by this action. The person I speak of is Mychal Masie who has clearly taken the side of law breaking and imposition one groups opinions over another. Says Massie:

The Terri Schiavo case is not about a right to life or a right to death; it is about a right to humanity, protection under the law and morality. These basic provisions having been denied her, Florida, indeed America, becomes no better than the societal sewers of the world that sanction indiscriminate euthanasia.

Damn right this is not about right to life of right to death. Damn right it is about right to humanity and protection under the law and morality. I mean at first glance you'd think Massie understands. This is about Terri telling her husband that she would not want to be in that condition in perpetuity and he, having the legal right to represent her, carrying out that wish. Had that wish been to do any and everything that would be her right under the law too AND her husband would be legally bound to honor that. On the Morality issue. Who's Morals? Muslim Morals? Buddhist Morals? Oh I forgot, if you're not a Christian you HAVE NO MORALS worth considering! Imaging that,. This Negro, whome under the Dread Scott decision , had no rights that any white man should honor, is now arguing that anyone who does not have "Christian Values" ought to have their rights ignored. The Irony!

Continue Massie:

We have been led to believe that our system of government protects the innocent, the helpless and that our laws are humane and moral. Terri Schiavo has shown us that such is not the case. Judge Greer has shown us the intolerable inflexibility of the courts toward all but the corrupt.

No Mr. Massie The government does not protect the innocent. It actually passes laws that allow for innocents to be jailed without representation and without being charged with a crime. It has passed legislation allowing people who would go bankrupt to remain in debt for as long as they live. It is considering cutting Social Security to the Baby Boom generation. I could go on, but I don't think Massie is quite interested in that conversation. He's merely mouthing off what his white conservative masters tell him to, so the lack of logic on his part is somewhat forgivable. And he attacks Greer who reviewed more medical evidence than Massie has the capacity to understand and made a ruling based on facts. Not Bible stories. Not that which he wished was the case, but the actual facts. I mean if only all law was practiced that way. But Massey believes that's being corrupt. Imagine that! Following the rules is corrupt. Breaking the rules in not corrupt. And the world is flat too.

Of course when the argument holds no water then you make things personal (Oh I guess I fell into that too....ha haaaa):

It is hard too argue in favor of morality in law when what amounts to a former spouse, a man with a common-law wife and two children some 15 years after the fact, is given standing to make life-and-death decisions despite there being capable, willing parents. How can this man be common-law married to one woman yet still make decisions for Terri, whom he has not divorced? Is that not tantamount to bigamy? At the very least is it not a direct conflict of interest?

Oh first of all, Terri has been in her state for 14 years. The first three Mr Shiavo worked with terris parents to get treatment so how is it that Massie gets 15 years? That would mean that Massie is trying to imply that Mr Shiavo was having an affair before the stroke (or whatever that was). I mean that's some seriously wrong math. But of course Massie does not state why Mr. Schiavo won't divorce his wife and give them custody of terri: He said he made an oath to his wife and planned to keep it. I mean in a society that has a 50% divorce rate, you'd think we'd applaud Mr. Schiavo for keeping his vows. He has also stated (the validity of which we can never know) that the parents of Terri are considering removing her limbs as a means of 'reviving" terri. If true that would truely be gruesome.

The next point that Massie makes, which takes up the bulk of his argument is about pet abuse laws.I tell you what. I agree that there are some really dumb pet laws on the books and that in some cases you can do things to people that could land you in jail if you did them to an animal. I say change those laws. But in reality it has nothing to do with this case. It is a red herring, like many other arguments out there.

Well it's been real folks.

Links:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43520
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitehurst03282005.html

Critiquing The "Left"

On These pages I have spent a lot of time critiquing the right, expecially those so called "Black Conservatives" who for the most part are simple mouthpieces for their white suitors. However, This publication is not partisan and though it has less ideological issues with the left, or more specifically the black left. This week I stumbled across an article discussing the indictment of Orlando, FL. mayor Buddy Dyer. Now why is this worthy of critique? Well last year Bob Herbert an Op Ed columnist for the NY Times wrote a piece about the FBI harrassing elderly black voters. It turns out that a large part of why FBI agents had shown up at the doors of elderly black voters was because Essie Thomas, who runs a non-profit organization that collects absentee ballots from African Americans, took payment from Dyer's campaign to the tune of $10,000. In the State of Florida it is illegal to pay for the collection of ballots. I wont even get into the partisan issues that could arise for the non-profit. Why is this an issue. Well the way Herbert had framed the issue it appeared as if we simply had FBI members rolling into black homes and intimidating people with the flimsiest of reasons. But in fact they had a very good reason to be seeking out potential witnesses and leads. If anyone should be at fault here it would be Essie Thomas who should have known not to take any money for his activities. The thing that gets me here is that When Armstrong Williams got caught out there accepting cash to promote the Bush agenda, the so called "Liberal Press" killed him. As far as I know what Armstrong William did was not Illegal. Un-ethical, but not illegal. In the case of Essie Thomas, there may have been laws broken. For this reason alone the issue should have been written about in a way more clear manner. There is enough fact twisting and convenient leaving out of facts done by the right it does us no good too be doing the same thing. Admittedly I could have researched the subject myself, but if I can't trust my comrades in arms to be open and honest with thier info then we have a serious problem.


Now onto issue two. Erik Dyson has written an entire book critiquing the commentary of Bill Cosby. I haven't read it, nor do I plan to but I did run a across an interview in the NY Times entitled: Bill Cosby's Not Funny

Says Dyson:

Your new book is a rhetorical screed against Bill Cosby, and the title alone is not exactly subtle: ''Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?''

When a comedian throws a pie in the face of a powerful person, it's funny. When he throws a pie in the face of a homeless mother with three kids, that's not very funny.

Ok. I'm not sure where Dyson is getting his facts from but I don't recall Bill Cosby throwing pies (literal or otherwise) at homeless people. But as documented here at Garvey's Ghost, quite a few people have taken to putting words into Bill Cosby's mouth and it would appear that Dyson is attenmpting to shove an entire book in there.

You're referring to Cosby's recent harangue about lower-income black people, whom he faults for neglecting their children, wasting money on expensive sneakers and glamorizing ghetto culture.

It's his Blame-the-Poor Tour. He should pick on someone in his own class. If he had come out swinging at Condi Rice or Colin Powell, they could defend themselves. But he's beating up on poor black people, the most vulnerable people in this nation. And why jump on them?

I've heard this argument from a few people. I'm not going to say what Cosby should or should not have said. We could write many columns about what we wish so and so would have or should have said, but I'm not going to go there. What I do think however, is that this "why not" arguement reminds me of a kid who's mad at his parents for punishing him for doind something that some other sibling appears to have gotten away with. I mean sheeeeeeeeet, If you want to have a go at Colin Powel or Condi, by all means write a book or two about them. There is plenty of material. But to waste time on Cosby over statements he didn't even make? Sounds like a waste of time to me.

On the other hand, many of us feel that his comments represent an admirable attempt at self-criticism and apply not only to blacks but also to whites in a consumer culture that has run amok.

Here's the irony: Mr. Cosby has been a supreme pitchman for American corporate capitalism for nearly 40 years. Had he come along now, he himself might have been promoting some gym shoes.

Cosby has pitched what exactly? Jello, Jello Pudding. That's about all I can recall. There are no Cosby Ads for Alcohol or Cigarettes (well you cant do the latter legally). There are no shots of Cosby selling Jeans like they were drug paraphenalia (ahem --50 cent--ahem). No Cosby BMW, Mercedes or Lexus Ads. There are no Cosby "Obey your thirst" ads. Cosby has only, to my knowledge pushed a snack (a low fat, low sugar snack at that). I hardly think that qualifies Cosby as a pushers of American capitalism. I mean surely Dyson could spedn his time writing a book about blacks who really push Corporate Capitalism, such as Bob Johnson and most MC's with varied vehicles, clothes and jewelry flaunted for the viewer who is admonished to be Ghetto Fabulous and "keep it real", "shine", "Bling" etc. ad neauseum.

I actually found your book alarmingly unbalanced. How can you write 200-plus pages on Bill Cosby without detailing the millions of dollars he has donated to colleges and other good causes?

I think I mention his $20 million gift to Spelman College. It's a well-known fact. There's no need to repeat it.

But he has given to so many other black causes.

There's a dark underside to philanthropy. People who give a bunch of money are deferred to, even when they are wrong. The emperor cannot be shown to have no clothes.

Oh never mind the millions to a black University. Question for Mr. Dyson, exactly which Black College do you teach for? Oh what scholarships have you given out to students? Oh? I thought as much. While I certainly agree that people can be deferential to those who have money (and want it), But one can disagree with Bill Cosby, or anyone else without belittling their achievements and philanthropy. In fact I thought the whole bone of contention here was the 'unneccesary" be litting of people. I guess I got that one wrong.

You, yourself, as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, know that Cosby's following is hardly based on his wealth. Why do you think the black middle class has been so moved by his call for individual responsibility?

Of course, taken in one sense, a lot of what he said we can agree with. None of us want our children to be murderers or thieves. But Cosby never acknowledges that most poor blacks don't have a choice about these things.

Here is why the black conservative movement is growing (despite the claims of some). Most poor blacks don't have a choice about being murderers and thieves? What? What are we on autopilot? Some kind of Murder or Theif gene that poor blacks have that is absent in other populations? Or maybe the poor, regardless of race have some predisposition to violence. Oh the Klan would love this. Or perhaps Dyson is trotting out the perenial excuse of systematic racism. You know the racism that every two bit thug can tell you about but still goes head long into anyways. I remember watching an episode of Like It Is with Gill Noble and he was discussing the growing crime problem in Hempstead NY. A part of his show was interviewing gang members who discussed how these gangs were "family" and how there's a code about not snitching and bus' first cause.... Their excuse for not going to school? Too crowded. Old building and the occasional " History not relevant to us." Hey if you want to look for an excuse not to go to school there are all kinds of excuses but let's make it plain. They didn't feel like it. They decided to not go to school. They decided to not do homework and the list of decisions goes on. This is not to minimize the very real inequities between affluent school distriicts and those in urban areas. This is not to excuse the poor representation of blacks in history, but they act like they are or were the first people born and going to school. Each of us has been there before them and made our way through and they are expected to do the same while we who went through prepare a place for them on the other side or help them through, wherever our skills and abilities place us. But lets not go giving excuses and dis-empower our kids.


So, then, how much do you think individual will counts for our success or failure in life?

I don't believe in that kind of American John Wayne individualism where people pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Someone changed your diapers. And if that's the case, you ain't self-made.

Mr. Cosby does not believe in the John Wayne individualism either. At least that is not apparent in his speeches. In the last speech I witnessed ( on TV) Cosby urged the audience members to embrace the children and to support them any how they can. At the same time he urged the kids to do their part. That's what Cosby and those of us who agree with him are about. We'll help you out but you got to put in dues. Those dies are what we refer to as the bootstraps.

In recovery programs the very first step is to admit you have a problem. Can you imagine if AA programs allowed the attendees to get up and say: "I'm an alcoholic and the reason I'm an alcoholic is because Budweiser and Coors keeps making beers. It's also the fault of the Liquor store owner and the bar owner. I cannot do anything to change my ways until the Beer companies stop producing beer and the bars and liquor stores are closed."

That's not acceptible in AA meeting firstly because it removes responsibility for charging your behaviors to external forces. Furthermore it depends upon the highly unlikely action that Beer companies will stop making beer.

Similarly we dealing with White Supremacy will not get anywhere by expecting it to just stop and "chill out." So to carry on as if we will somehow talk it down and that will solve all our problems (and mannah will fall from the sky too!!) is really a waste of time. In fact I believe it is the act of people who really don't want to do the hard task of building and maintaining instutions that will counter the forces of White Supremacy. After all, just like in Churches, once a person has "testified", "witnessed" and "repented" they are highly likely to go out and do the same sins again. The testifying" merely provided an emotional outlet. But back to the subject at hand.

So called Black Liberals are going to have to do better than the stuff described above. Our enemies are well organized, well funded and driven. Sloppiness on our part will be costly.

Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/magazine/27QUESTIONS.html

The insanity of it all

Today I read an Op-Ed piece by David Brooks that simply got under my skin. In his piece entitled Morality and Reality Mr. Broooks has the gall to assert that so called "liberals" on the issue of Terri Shiavo have "no morals":

What begins as an appealing notion - that life and death are joined by a continuum - becomes vapid mush, because we are all invited to punt when it comes time to do the hard job of standing up for common principles, arguing right and wrong, and judging those who make bad decisions.

You end up exactly where many liberals ended up this week, trying to shift arguments away from morality and on to process...

Then, if social conservatives tried to push their moral claims, you'd find liberals accusing them of turning this country into a theocracy - which is an effort to cast all moral arguments beyond the realm of polite conversation.

Once moral argument is abandoned, there are no ethical checks, no universal standards, and everything is left to the convenience and sentiments of the individual survivors.

That such commentary made it's way past editorial review is beyond me but someone needs to respond to such nonsense and I'm going to do it.

This piece is full of blatant red herrings and completely mistates the true position of those of us mis-labeled "liberal" (Whatever that should mean). First let me deal with the issue of "santity of life."

At no point do we who support Mr Schiavo, claim that Terri Schiavo has a "right to die." Indeed our argument is simple and draws it's authority from the very founding principles on which the United States was organized on ( aside from that little slavery thing). That principle is that the Federal Government (nor the states) can willy nilly run up into the private lives of individuals and dictate what they can and cannot do. Furthermore that ones life, liberty and property is ones own, the state cannot take or interfere with any of the aforementioned without Due Process of Law. Specifically extending this position is the issue of patients rights. A patient has the right to refuse any and all treatment. Furthermore, law has alwahys recognized that the spouse has rights when it comes to medical decisions in the case the patient is unable to communicate. Thus we have the legal reason why this entire process as it is now is illegal and Unconstitutional.

Furthermore, the Religious Right and its "Anti-Abortion" wing has claimed this issue as thier own. They claim that just as a fetus cannot speak for itself a ABBD (All But Brain Dead) person also is like a fetus that must be accorded "legal protection" agains "Murder." This specious argument falls flat on it's face in the face of reality. Fetuses can be expected to develop into fully functioning persons. That is their prognosis is for improvement towards "normalcy." In the case of the ABBD, the prognosis is simply "More of the same." The same being sleep, wake,sleep, wake. Eyes open, mouth open, moan, sleep, wake,....death. In fact was it not for human intervention Terri Shiavo would simply not be alive today. So the religious argument that this is a moral isssue falls flat. Terri's continued "Survival" is a product of mans insistence on playing God. That is not a discussion tha Mr. Brooks wants to have either.

The last "sanctity argumenty" that has been trotted out is that of disabled people. There they were, in thier wheelchairs, discussing how they felt that society will throw them away. Who told them that? Being wheelchair bound is far different from being ABBD. Even Christopher Reeve had more life and more potential for life than Terri does. The disabled groups did a further diservice to thier message by comparing those of us in favour of limiting government interference to Hitler and the concentration camps. When Move-On.org posted a movie which compared Bush to Hitler, the Republicans had them for lunch. I see no such outrage from the Republicans now. BUt of course they are good for being two faced and dealing in double standards.

Let's move to the medical issues. Of late Terri's parents have attempted to hoodwik the public by saying that Terri spoke and said 'I want." I now see that a great many people in the public, or at least in certain segments of the public are extremely stupid. Someone who has not spoken anything for 14 years suddenly spoke. What part of "higher brain functions not there" don't people understand? In order to speak one must hav access to th area of the brain that holds our vocabulary. Then we must access the area ( most likely the same, I'm not a brain specialist) that allows us to form sentances. Then we must access the part of the brain that regulates the movement of the mouth, the lungs to force breath in the manner in which we do when we speak. Furthermore, in order to say anything in response to verbal stimuli, we must first comprehend that which we heard which adds a whole other level of complexity and neccessary processes to the ones mentioned before. Since Terri Shiavo has been unable to speak, not even responses to pinching (I'm assuming that she's been tested for pain responses since those are the easiest to illicit, if not a cruel meanns of illiciting a response) Why would anyone even believe that somehow she is now speaking simple sentances when she hasn't even said "OW!"

So exactly what is the position of those of us who are on the side of Mr. Shiavo? Simple, Each individual has the right to determine what is and is not done to or on thier bodies. If a person wishes to be in a vegetative state for 14 + years and they told thier spouse as much. End of discussion. It happens so long as the hospital is willing to do so. If someone does not want to be a vegetable for 14 years then that should be respected by the hospital. The State should have absolutely no say in the matter. The real danger is that someone in government gets the idea that life is so "sacred" that someone with Cancer or other medically treatable disease will find themselves in a position where they cannot refuse that treatment. Mr. Brooks fails to see the issue for what it is: An issue of individual liberty, even the liberty to choose to end "life sustaining" medical treatment. This brings me right back to the Church-State issue. This is clearly a conflict of Church and State because those in support of Terri's Family make thier claims on religious grounds. and those grounds are Christian grounds (mostly, I haven't spoken with each and every one of them). By passing this law, motivated by religion, the state has endorsed a religious position despite the fact that most Christians are against the state doing so. What other religion based edicts should we expect in the future? Who knows, but with the mainstream press unwilling to challenge these people and expose them for what they are. With a judiciary that does not have the balls to stand up and indict legislators and executives who are clearly abusing their positions, we should expect a whole mess of religiously inspired laws to regulate the activities of the rest of us.

Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/26/opinion/26brooks.html?hp

Ghandi:Racist Pig

Today I had the honor of reading an article that completely dispelled any and all respect that I had for one Mohatmas Ghandi. For those unfamiliar with this man, he was a leader of the Indian resistance to British rule and a major influence on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his formulation of non-violent confrontation theory and practice as seen in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Indeed in many "Liberal circles" Ghandi is a hero. Well today in Sulekha.com, An Indian website, is an article that damn near made me fall out my seat. The article, entitled Caste in the Middle by Agneya Panja contains the following:

A general belief seems to prevail in the colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than the savages or natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir. [1]...

Ours is one continual struggle against a degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the Europeans, who desire to degrade us to the level of a raw Kaffir whose occupation is hunting, and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with and, then, pass his life in indolence and nakedness.[3]...

We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do, only we believe that they would best serve these interests, which are as dear to us as to them, by advocating the purity of all races, and not one alone. We believe also that the white race of South Africa should be the predominating race.[7]...

The whole affair is as much a disgrace to the Indian community as it is to the British Empire. The British rulers take us to be so lowly and ignorant that they assume that, like the Kaffirs who can be pleased with toys and pins, we can also be fobbed off with trinkets.[13]


There is much more of this and I encourage all readers to take a nice look at the article.

So there we have it. Ghandi:White Supremacist Pig.

Links:
http://sulekha.com/expressions/column.asp?cid=305995

The Cuba Conspiracy

Long time followers of "The Ghost" know that we are huge supporters of the Chavez regime in Venezuela as well as being against the illegal embargo of Cuba by the US. In our zeal to support Chavez and in our euphoria over his re-election this past August we were blinded by what is now a clear plan by the US to destabilize both countries. Over at CounterPunch James Petras gives us the rundown in an article entitled :Fateful Quadrangle

US strategy toward destroying the Cuban revolution is increasingly following a "two step" approach: first overthrow the Chavez government in Venezuela, cut off the energy supply and trade links and then proceed toward economic strangulation and military attack. The "two step" strategy against Cuba, involves the elaboration of a calibrated action plan to overthrow the Chavez government.

The US strategy against Cuba involves a joint US-Colombian attack of Venezuela backed by internal terrorists and the ruling class. This indirect attack on Cuba, involves complex, external preparation in cooperation with Colombia. First of all Washington and Uribe have greatly strengthened military bases surrounding the Venezuelan border. Secondly "trial military incursions" involving both Colombian military and paramilitary forces occur on a regular basis ­ testing Venezuelan defenses. In 2004 six Venezuelan soldiers were killed, a number of Venezuelan officials were bribed to kidnap a Colombian resistance leader and numerous cross border attacks killing and kidnapping Colombian refugees took place in Venezuela. Thirdly the US has provided nearly $3 billion dollars in military aid to Colombia, tripled the size of its armed forces (to over 275,000), greatly increased its air force combat units (helicopters, fighter bombers), provided advanced military technology and several thousand official and "contracted" military specialists. Fourthly Washington has recruited the Gutierrez regime in Ecuador, invaded Haiti, established military bases in Peru and the Dominican Republic, and has engaged in navy maneuvers just off the Venezuelan coast in preparation for a military attack.Fifthly Colombia (under US tutelage) signed a joint military-intelligence cooperation agreement on December 18, 2004 with the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense, providing the US with "inside information" and serving as a possible source of infiltration of the Venezuelan Armed Forces to counter pro-Cuban officers.

Now some casual reader will think this to be unthinkable, but is it? Lets look at the recent history in Venzuela where the now Secretary of State Condi Rice professed her support of the coup makers (so much for Democratically elected governments), shortly after they briefly took over the government in Venezuela. Condi et al were soon to be disappointed when the people put thier man back into office. Now why on earth would the US administration openly support a coup? Well it's not the first time. Recall that Saddam Hussien came to power with US Guns and a Coup in Iraq. So clearly when their is some political objective, Coups are ok. What is more surprising but now completely understandable is the mention of Haiti. The "local" military apparatus that operated to remove Aristide from power was trained in the Dominican Republic. So now we see why there needs to be a "friendly" nation on that end. Now the question is why would the US go after Venezuela and Chavez who has stated numerous times that he will keep normal oil business (which is what the US is really interested in that country for) with the US? The answer is here:

The Chavez regime provides Cuba with petrol at subsidized prices in exchange for Cuba providing a vast health and education program for the poor of Venezuela. The Cuban-Venezuelan political and economic ties have undercut US efforts to force the Caribbean and Latin American countries to break with Cuba. As a result of past and present failed policies of directly attacking Cuba, the Bush administration has turned toward destroying Cuba's strategic alliance with the Chavez regime.

Imagine that. Venezuela actually does business with Cuba, which instead of exporting death to countries, exports doctors, and surely doctors with more sense than those in the US Senate and Congress, and less of a God Complex as well.

Things are going to get very ugly soon.

Links:
http://www.counterpunch.org/petras03222005.html

Teri Shiavo and You

Even though most Americans polled, and I mean upwards on 70% indicate that they would not want to be kept alive in a vegitative state. Even though upwards of 80% do not agree that the State should interfere with their medical wishes as expressed to a husband wife or other confident or legally appointed person, the Congress and Senate are posed to attempt to pass legislation that would allow the Federal Government to bypass the wishes of Terri Schiavo as expressed to her husband, and force the medical facilites to re-insert a "feeding tube" in order to keep Terri alive. That is that her bodily functions may continue even though she cannot do anything even remotely approximating "living."

Folks. That is a huge problem. The issue is not whether you agree with whether Teri should or should no be given nutrients through a tube. It is about the intrusion of the government into your private life and the right of a patient to refuse medical care and/or to instruct someone on ones wishes in the case that you cannot verbalize those wishes yourself.

It is contradictory that a set of people who claim that they want government "off the backs of the people." to use the very same government to impose the wishes of a few so called Christians, who aren't even related to the persons who are directly affected by this case. This is EXACTLY why I have repeatedly stated my objections to the increasing influence of Church and state. It is clear from the "talking points" circulated by Republicans that this is about the so called "Right to Lifers" and "Conservive Christian" agenda and NOT about the rule of law or respect for the Constitution.

Says the President of Family Research Council:
"Today it's Terri, tomorrow it's another disabled person," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, one of many groups pushing Congress to act. "We've tolerated abortion in this country for the last 30 years, and now we're talking about eliminating those who cannot speak for themselves."

How is it that terri could not speak for herself? She told her husband what she wanted. They had this talk. This combined with the fact that he is her legal guardian and therefor has the legal and moral right to speak on her behalf.

And lest you think that leaving a Living Will will help you, think again. NightLine, on Friday showed that there are increasing cases where living wills are being ignored by medical staff. Never mind that YOU wrote it. You had it notarized. Someone can still force you onto some machine or leave you alive but non-functional for the rest of your life (and so long as you can recieve nutrients, water and respiration, you can live as long you your telomeres last).

And don't you think for a minute that it will stop at Teri. Should this piece of garbage pass do you think these people will stop at dictating your health care?

So again, it doesn't really matter which side of the fence you are on regarding the specifics of feeding tube removal. You should be very very concerned when the state steps in on a private family matter.

Oh and for the record, Should I be put into a vegetative state I want all forms of artificial life support removed after 36 hours have past.

Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/politics/20debate.html?hp&ex=1111381200&en=f96bb0c3a744b9d2&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The Social Security "Fix"

Last time I posted on Social Security I admitted that I had used the wrong information to bolster my case. That is I neglected to include the mandatory spending that the Social Security Administration must do and only compared the discretionary spending of that department and the budget for the DOD. But anyways let me move from critique mode to "solution mode."

I don't know if SS will run short but lets assume it will. If it will and we asssume that "personal accounts" will close the gap then lets run with that thought for a minute. First we should reject the substitution of "personal accounts" for regular SS deductions. Why? Because as has been said before that merely guts the program by diverting funds away from SS, which will surely kill it before (and if) the Baby Boomers do. Instead I suggest that the Fed offer "private accounts" in addition to the SS Deductions. That is, let the taxpayer "opt in" for having an additional deductions from their account. This should be along the lines of what is done in NJ. What workers for the State of NJ have to do is give no less than 5% of thier gross pay to a retirement account (403b). That is in addition to what is taken for SS. So lets' make this nationwide. The Federal Government will take 'bids" by different investment houses to "service" these accounts. The reason for this is for my next proposal. Since the Fed is going to make business for these companies and requiring the tax payer to take a risk, the FED should guarantee the principal amount deducted from the taxpayers paycheck. The principal should be tax deductible if it loses and be subject to normal IRA type taxes on gains.

In this way the tax payer is protected against "market forces" of the Enron persuasion in the form of tax credits and the government can be satisfied that it has increased "SS" funding without "imposing" a tax.

The Credit Game
The Credit game just got a whole lot more dangerous. Already Credit Card companies are able to base your interest rate based on payment histories on other accounts you have. The reasoning being that if one slow pays or no pays on one account then you are more likely to slow or no pay on their account. Now congress, with the help of 18 Democrats, passed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 which does neither. Can't say I don't understand why 18 Democrats would vote for this act but they found themselves in a little pickle: Would you want to be running a re-election campaign against well funded and well organized Republicans and an advertisement shows up claiming that Joe or Jane Democrat voted against the Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

So what does this "Consumer Protection Act" do? Arianna Huffington summarises it for us in an article entitled Open Fire On U.S. Consumers:

So what does the bill do? It makes it harder for average people to file for bankruptcy protection; it makes it easier for landlords to evict a bankrupt tenant; it endangers child support payments by giving a wider array of creditors a shot at post-bankruptcy income; it allows millionaires to shield an unlimited amount of value in homes and asset protection trusts; it makes it more difficult for small businesses to reorganize, while opening new loopholes for the Enrons of the world; it allows creditors to provide misleading information; and it does nothing to reign in lending abuses that frequently turn manageable debt into unmanageable crises. Even in failure, ordinary Americans do not get a level playing field.



So black folks, who are clustered in the low end of the middle class, the very portion that is most vulnerable to these things (the poor already get "stuck" by the credit game), are going to have to be more wise in their handling of money. What is more problematic for us is:

Indeed, a recent study by Harvard University found that half of last year's 1.6 million bankruptcies were the result of crushing medical bills. Put another way: Every 30 seconds, someone in this country files for bankruptcy in the wake of a serious illness. How's that for a shocking stat? Here's another: Three-quarters of the so-called medically bankrupt had health insurance. It just wasn't enough to cover the dramatic rise in health-care costs.



Of course we know that black folks suffer disproportionatly from certain medical issues, some of which are self -inflicted (Soul Food). Thus it will be black folks who suffer the most from these "consumer protection" rules. Of course there are also millions of white folks who will also suffer from these new "protections" but seeing as how they put these fools in office in contradiction to thier own personal interests....


Links:
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/21462/

Haiti: The Misleadership Continues

Last year I wrote on how I departed with my peers on the issue of US intervention in Sudan. My position then as it is now, is that such interventions do not address the base issue of self-hate among the peoples in the countries. My position is that taking the long look at history wherever the European has gone and "intervened" in the internal affairs of African countries, there has been a high level of dependancy and a decreased willingness among the parties to reslove their own conflicts in the interests of all. Instead "leaders" do whatever they think the "intercessor" will like (or let them get away with). The common people usually see right through this and become disgruntled eventually leading to yet another "miltary crisis" of some kind. Of course when the regime tries to "protect" itself up rises a couple of "opposition parties" who are clandestinely supported by the same "interventioners" who cause more conflict. At no point does anyone really realize that the so called opposition have no plans for the people, but rather plans on getting into office and the money that goes with it.

Last year we saw this in Haiti with the overthrow of President Aristide by the "opposition." now we see this from a report in the Sun Sentiinel:

quote:
Violence is rampant with more than 400 people slain since September because of political instability. United Nations forces are unable to maintain peace.

"The only hope I have now for the country is that somebody will take it over and run it for us," said Kathy Holley, a Pembroke Pines resident who participated last year in South Florida demonstrations against ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "We have to be the most unlucky country in the world. No matter what we do, we can't get the country together."

When 500 prisoners escaped from the National Penitentiary on Feb. 19, many Haitians called for Latortue's resignation. Some were the same people who called for the removal of Aristide a year ago.

Again we have yet another set of people who having supported the removal of the democratically elected President, now wish to have "someone" take over the country. The descendants of those who were first among the enslaved Africans to throw of Slavery and found the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere, now wish for "someone else" to take over. Well let's be real here. Haiti has been taken over for cheap labour. But only some of these clueless Negroes are just now beginning to realize just how stupid they have been:

But Lucy Orlando, a Haitian American activist living in Weston, said she borrowed money against her house last year to finance bus trips to New York and Washington, D.C., for demonstrations calling for the ouster of Aristide. She thought the country would have made more progress by now.

"I feel very depressed and very disgusted about what's going on in Haiti right now," she said. "I don't call it freedom or liberation. It's condemnation because Haiti is worse than before."

Links:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cdiaspora07mar10,0,3725574.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

Garvey Smear Campaign Afoot?

Today I stumbled across an Article entitled Slain or Silenced which discusses a posiible murder plot involving Marcus Garvey and one Rev. James Walker Hood Eason.

quote:

"Eason Tells Police He's a Witness Against Marcus Garvey," reads a Jan. 2, 1923, headline in The Times-Picayune. In follow-up stories on Jan. 4 and 5, filed while Eason lingered at Charity Hospital, talking to police and reporters, the newspaper reported the link even more explicitly.

Eason "stated after the shooting that he is positive the assailants were sent to kill him in order to prevent his testifying against Marcus Garvey," the Jan. 4 story read. At the time, Garvey was under a federal indictment in New York on mail fraud charges related to fund raising with his movement, the Universal Negro Improvement Association.


the article makes for an interesting read and indeed any information that shedds more light on the UNIA is welcome by us here at Garvey's Ghost, but there were a few items written that were simply untrue or misleading so we wrote the following to the author and paper:

Mr.Varney;
It was with great interest that I read your article entitled "Slain or Silenced". However I found that there were misleading or inncorrect information contained in the article and wish to provide a correction that I hope makes it's way into the paper.

You stated:
"The flamboyant Garvey was in his day as powerful and high-profile as any African-American in the land. Convinced that black Americans would never achieve justice in the United States, he originated and led a "Back to Africa" campaign and, combining entrepreneurialism with political fervor, numbered among his many business interests a shipping line -- Black Star -- to transport his people back to their homeland."

and

"The two men became close friends and allies, and Eason's existing connections with educated, well-to-do African-Americans on the East Coast turned into a money bonanza for the UNIA and Garvey's Black Star Line, the vessels that would return black people to a new nation in their ancestral homeland."

The UNIA, Universal Negro Improvement Association, was not a simple "Back To Africa" Campaign aimed squarely at African Americans. It was an internation organization that Aimed to improve the conditions of "Negroes" all over the world including the Caribbean, South and Central America and Africa itself. Garvey never said that the purpose of his organization (The UNIA) or the Black Star Line Co. was to transport black people to their homeland. The Black Star Line inc. was in fact an corporation with the intent of carrying out international trade. In fact the SS Frederick Douglass, the First Ship of the Black Star Line inc. made a food delivery between islands in the Caribbean.

Garvey's own words on the intent of the UNIA can be found in his book "Philosphies and Opinions" where he states that he encourafed blacks in any country they found themselves to take advantage of every opportunity that they found there. He also believed that the status of blacks would be directly linked to the ability of Africa to be organized under a powerful and independent nation.

Clearly with this information you can understand how your statement is misleading the public as to the goals and aims of the UNIA and Marcus Garvey.

Thank you

Sondjata K. Olatunji
Proprietor: Garvey's Ghost Weblog
garveys-ghost-blogspot.com


Some other interesting claims made by the woman doing the investigating, Sitamon Youssef are:

quote:
"He told the U.S. attorney in New York he would testify, but that he had to honor a speaking commitment in New Orleans," Youssef said. "That's why he came down here, and that's where Garvey sent his assassins."

The chief hitman, according to Youssef's theory, was one Esau Ramus, whom Garvey gave $75, a train ticket to New Orleans and, Youssef said, orders that Eason not make it back to New York.

Ramus, along with two accomplices, attended a speech Eason made at the Second Baptist Church on First and Freret streets, and then shot him as he left, at about 10 p.m. The accomplices' names are in the record, identified in The Times-Picayune of Jan. 4.

The story said William Shakespeare, considered the "chief of police" of the United Negro Improvement Association, and Fred Dyer, a member of the "force," were arrested on Iberville Street and accused of shooting Eason.

The story -- and Garvey's possible connection to the shooting -- apparently ended there, until Youssef began sifting the record. Academic training made her want the truth, but Youssef said she has grown enormously impressed by Eason and believes that his memory deserves mention.

Hmmm..It's interesting that someone who was so down with the "movement" would then turn up on a givernment witness list. From what we know of the Garvey mail Fraud case a great many individuals had their hands out for UNIA money so it will be interesting to see how much Eason may have been in for. We do know that while the supposed 'money bonanza" happened Rev Eason was:

At one UNIA convention in New York City, Eason was elected the "leader of American Negroes," a ceremonial post that carried with it a diplomatic residence in Washington.

I'm sure he had little problem with the DC house payed on the "bonanza" money. But what is also interesting here is that though the "assasins" were arrested it appears so far that they had not been convicted of the crime. Why not? Clearly if the Government could show that the "assasins" had worked on the Behalf of the UNIA then the Government could have gone after that organization and shut it down. They did not. Or perhaps Eason could have been a backup case for the government in case it's incredibly feeble mail fraud case failed to ensnare Garvey.

Ultimately what bothered me most about the article was:

quote:
"He believed in the fatherhood of God, he was a good Christian and a patriotic American," she said.

So? Let me get this straight, we're discussing a Pan-Africanist who was a Christian himself and trying to rehabilitate Eason by claiming that he was a "A Ptriotic American?" Just what kind of Patriotic American was he when he was rolling with the UNIA? And if he was such a "Patriotic American" that makes me suspect that he was a plant, one of many.

Again, It will be interesting to see how this piays out. Anything that makes the record clear is welcome to me good or bad.

GG

Nation Building or Sunday School?

Taking a break from multiple projects I needed to write this. Last saturday night/ Sunday morning I watched The State of Black America on C-SPAN which was hosted by Tavis Smiley and featured a number of prominent and well known black folks such as Al Sharpton, Cornel West and Louis Farrakhan.
While much of the discussion featured Stuff We've Heard Before (tm). I was bothered by the centrality that religion, specifically Christianity, played in the discussion. This centrality was highlighted by two things that happened:

a) Cornell West suggested that as a Christian he had a right to critique a [Christian] leader "In the name of Jesus." and

b) Farrakha's "suggestion" that 'we" sit down with the Bible and learn how to learn from it (or teach from it) "properly."

Now on the first issue, I had to ask, why is it that a critique can only come from another Christian "in the name of Jesus"? If we are discussing Black issues then anyone with a vested interest in, and bonafides in struggle should be able to level any researched and fact based critique at any figure, be they Christian, Muslim or whatever. On the second point: I am all for "correctly teaching the Bible." So long as that correct teaching starts with the Khemetic texts from which it is based. However, it would be foolish and indeed destructive to black culture to make the Bible the basis of some kind of political movement in the Black community. In fact I would say it would be a mistake for any religious text to be the basis of mobilization. We have ample evidence of what irrational "God told me so", leadership can do when taken to it's extreme.

Malcolm X pointed out that the best means for us to organize is on the basis of what we have in common. And that what we have in common is being victimized by White Supremacists. He correctly pointed out that leaving our religion 'in our closets" would prevent belief based disagreements from occuring. Already we see how Conservative Christians are using their "common ground" with Black Christians in order to splinter them off on issues that have next to nothing to do with the black communities. For example, There are black ministers who rail against homosexuality and use that as a reason to support Bush and others, Yet they have churches full of homosexual men and women. They also have people who are known fornicators and adulterers and yet they don't have shit to say about that. I know of many churches with such persons in leadership positions, where the dirt of thier leaders and members of the flock are known and tolerated. Fact is, if you can't keep your house in order, you have no business trying to sell us on your show.

But perhaps this only bothers me as a non-Christian and non-Muslim (which in black communities are almost the same thing). I'm sorry that Tavis, decided to play to his audiences prejudices and let the whole religion thing slide. I would not have done so, but who am I?

Dangerous Precedences

Yesterday a Jury found Lynne Stewart a lawyer for blind cleric Abdel Rahman, guilty of providing material support to terrorists when she acted as a conduit for a message by her client to a Egyptian reporter in which her client claimed to not support the cease fire that was agreed to by an organization he was a member of an the Egyptian government. The actual basis for the trial was that Mrs. Stewart had signed a form indicating that she agreed to the administrative ruling that barred Abdel Rahman from communicating with anyone other than his wife and his lawyer.

There are serious problems I have with this whole circus around this Rahman fellow. First, as I wrote about earlier, how did the prosecution even win a case against someone who's "crime" was speaking? I have never been a supporter of criminalized speech, be it religious, racial or whatever. Crimes should involve specific actions. There are many many many people who think George Bush ought to be shot. I know this because I've heard it said. None the less, not a single one of these people can be arrested, much less prosecuted, for such speech. Even if someone actually took a shot at the President, no one could be held responsible if all they did was say that they agree with the act. Getting back to the blind cleric. There was no evidence at all that shows that he gave money too the individuals who attempted ot bring down the WTC. Nor is there any evidence that he himself attempted to do the act. therefore his conviction was for merely doing what any other person in America is free to do, Express his political opinion about the situation he finds himself in and what he thinks could bring about change. Therefore the whole basis of his conviction was bogus and plainly unconstitutional, if popular.

Thus the "gag order" is equaly bogus and unconstitutional. Again the man committed no crime ( regardless of how odius the speech may or may not be), thus the government had no place gaging the man. Abdel Rahman, like it or not was in fact a political prisoner of the US. Lynne Stewart clearly knew this and I suspect it is the reason why she signed the form in the first place. Contract law specifically states that a contract is void if in it's term it requires the breaking of the law.

The jury claimed that it convicted Mrs. Stewart because they felt she broke her contract. That she somehow felt that she was above the law. I suppose that the Judge "mis"-informed the jury about Abdel Rahman's conviction and the "rights" of the government. Notwithstanding the clear bias of the Jury given the prosecutions use of Osama Bin-Ladin video (which should have been ruled irrelevant), it clearly seems to be that the US was attempting to stiffle political speech. by using "adminstrative" rules to blow up into providing material support for terrorists.

Americans have become so complacent about the basic rights that are afforded to them, that they are willing to strip them from anyone that's not them when in reality the defense of those rights is what keeps government transparent.

The High Price of Dependency

It was with a very angry heart that I had to watch as Brian Ross of the ABCNEws corp. report on UN. Sex Crimes in the Congo:

quote:
The range of sexual abuse includes reported rapes of young Congolese girls by U.N. troops, an Internet pedophile ring run from Congo by Didier Bourguet, a senior U.N. official from France, a colonel from South Africa accused of molesting his teenage male translators, and estimates of hundreds of underage girls having babies fathered by U.N. soldiers who have been able to simply leave their children and their crimes behind.

Ravaged by decades of civil war, and one of the poorest countries in the world, Congo has relied on the United Nations for both military protection and humanitarian aid.

"The U.N. is there for their protection, so when the protectors become violators, this is particularly egregious," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch who investigated the allegations on behalf of her organization. "This is particularly bad."



Meanwhile just north-east of there the NY times reminds us of the genocide and ethnic "cleansing" going on in the Sudan, in a report entitled: Darfur's Babies of Rape on Trail fro Birth. In this report they discuss the babies of the systemic rape of women by the Janghaweed Militias.

All in all it is simply a sad day for Africa, where innocent civilians, women and children become the victims of government agents, both domestic and foreign. Where the men have not the will or abilty to defend thier women from the predations of those who would be their protectors and those who would be thier killers.

My question is when will enough be enough? When will we stop selling out ourselves? When will we become emboldened by the ideal of "freedom or death?"

I'm not saying that the people who committed these acts are absolved by our own vulnerability, I am saying that it does not make sense that after everything Africans have been through, we still allow ourselves to be helpless spectators in the world around us.

This needs to stop and no UN peacekeeping force, no AU ( African Union) force is going to stop this. We have got to get to the point where we just will not accept living under so called leadership that does nothing but enrich itself. How did Mobutu live so long when he had servants in his house who could have "removed" him from power? Where is the self-respect?? Where is the outrage at what we allow our own to do for us?

Every time I see or read articles and newscasts about Rwanda and Congo and Sudan, everyone blames Europe and America ( and China), Tey get blamed for providing weapons, For not providing food or medicine or whatever else, But I don't see anyone seriously discussing why We are doing these things to ourselves? It is unfashionable to "blame the victim." I understand that ideology but clearly doing the same thing over and over again is NOT solving a damn thing. The same old wait for the UN to step in or wait for this or that Donor?

A recent article in The Black Commentator discussed how when Belgium pulled out of what is now the DRC they left all of 4 doctors. When Mobutu left I understand he left the banks with a couple hundred thousand dollar equivalent in currency. WE can defintitly fault belgium (and the US) for starting the problem in Africa, but since then Africa has sent many many professionals, especially in the medical field, to Europe and America. Many of those came for the better economic opportunities. Can I fault those indiviiduals? No. But if they are here or in Europe then they are not in Africa. In many instances the doctors and nurses were trained in State supported schools and thus the investments in that human capital is gone. Clearly then those who could be serve the medical needs of Africans are best serving the needs of Europeans. Do they care about Africans? Is there no will to sacrifice for the future of the country? Is it going to continue to be the case that Doctors without Borders and WHO will be the suppliers of medical services rather than locals? Is this acceptible to us?

Nation building is not a get rich quick scheme. It doesn't happen over night and it's not free. Franz Fanon, Amilcar Cabral and Kwame Nkrumah among others warned us what would happen once black faces got into the high places. I was truely hoping that they would eventually be proven wrong. It seems I was overly optimistic.

Did they actually say (or write) that?

This morning on"This Week" was comedy hour as Donald Rumsfeld made the following statement regarding Nuclear vs. Biological agents:

"Unlike nuclear agents Biological agents can affect people over generations."
Is he serious? Perhaps he's not seen what radiation can do to people.

Yesterday, while doing my laundry I stumbled upon some Jehoviah's Witness material. I decided to entertain myself by reading the article they had entitled: "Can the Environment be saved?"

Folks..They spent about 3and one half pages, out of four, discussing what is wrong with the environment. The last half page contained a "solution" that basically was: "man" cannot do anything but destroy and the only solution is the Second Coming. The thing that scared me about this piece was that there are many many people who believe this and therefore do not care about theier impact on the environment. This belief in the Second Coming of Christ has been around for some 2000 years, with each generation believing it would happen in thier lifetime and all being wrong. You would think that with 2000 years of incorrect guessing as to when the Second Coming would happen, that people such as Jehoviah's Witnesses would at least say:

"Well since we have NO CLUE when this Second Coming is going to occur, we suggest the following actions be taken by believers so that just in case the Second Coming doesn't happen in the lifetime of our children's children's children's to the seventh generation, we do not hand them Asthma and Cancers of every kind."

No I guess that would be too worldly.

I was wrong...kinda

I've been having debates on Social Security and have been using numbers from the Office of Management and Budget to bolster my case. Unfortunately I was using some wrong numbers, That is I was looking at discretionary spending rather than Mandatory Outlays. The distinction is important. The Department of Defense, which is budgeted for $401 billion in discretionary spending, is supposed to use that money for all it's operations including paychecks for all soldiers, aquisition of arms. It should be noted that $200 billion is earmarked for R&D. The DOD basically has no "mandatory outlays" as the Social Security Administration and Human Services department have.

When we look at the mandatory outlays that the SS administration has, we would note that it must put out upwards of $500 billion for 2005 in SS benefits alone. The Department of Human Services also has a large mandatory outlay in the form of Medicare/Medicaid which is $286 billion and $188 billion respectively.

The next mistake I made, and it is a very important one, was to look at these totals next to the GDP. That was wrong. Looking at the GDP which is expected to be $12 trillion in 2005, one could easily argue that it would be easy to fund SS, Medicaid and Medicare. After all their mandatory outlays are but 10% of the GDP. However, the GDP is not what the Federal Government actually takes in. What the Fed actually takes in is faaaaaar less than the GDP. In fact it is about 10% of the GDP. In 2004 the receipts of the Federal Government was $1.79 trillion. This is very important in the diuscussion of SS (and why I should have been more careful in my initial argument). If SS will take $500 out of those receipts and Medicare and Medicaid another $474 billion then combined these two programs actually take out over 1/2 the receipts of the Federal Government. The DOD would take out half of what is left, leaving $600 billion to divide up among the remaining agencies (17 large and many small) and programs.

This should alarm folks becuase when you look at the US debt. The actual Gross Debt of the Federal Government is 2003 was $6.76 trillion. Out of this amount $2.846 trillion is held by Government Accounts. and $3.914 trillion is held by "the public".

In fact the official US Budget as proposed by President Bush plans on deficits through 2009.

It would appear that the US is one big bad check waiting to hit the bank. There is absolutely no way that the US debt can be paid at any time in the near future. All the people who know these numbers know it and don't really care. If anything, the problem is not Social Security, it's the Debt. the Social Security debate pre-supposes that the US will continue to operate on borrowed money. This supposition only means that at some point the treasury goes bankrupt. The only reason why the Fed has not gone bankrupt is because it's creditors, bond holders and who knows who else have not called in for their money and that convenient issue of Oil being priced in Dollars which makes it the premier currency on the market. But for how long?

At the end of the day it would seem that the US population has apparenly been hoodwinked. Millions of dollars have been paid into a system that may or may not be able to pay out. Furthermore most of these same people have also been made to pay for medical Insurance and the likes, which have been pushing more and more financial responsibility onto the policy holders. It would seem that the only groups that have beeb guaranteed to make out are the medical providers who bill the insurance companies, those doing business with the DOD and those on the receiving end of cashed SS checks.

Either way though, I was wrong in my previous use of the numbers, the corrected numbers indicate that Tax cuts are not the answer. Taxes, both individual and corporate (especially corporate) are going to have to rise. it's not going to be pretty.

The Sellouts Strike Back

Well I know it's been a while since I posted but a couple of things I've stumbled across has made me have to comment. Just in time for Black History Month, Black Conservatives have come out swinging to gain more mindshare among African-Americans. the LA Times has an article entitled "recasting Republicans as The Party of Civil Rights"

quote:

Condoleezza Rice took the oath Friday as the first black woman to be secretary of State, then immediately reached back into history to invoke the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

Her words were the latest example of President Bush and his top aides citing the Republican Party's often-forgotten 19th century antislavery roots — a strategy that GOP leaders believe will help them make inroads among black voters in the 21st century.

And if it reminds voters that the Democrats once embraced slavery, that's not such a bad byproduct, strategists say.

Bush, who keeps a bust of Lincoln prominently displayed in the Oval Office, is making Civil War references a staple of his speeches promoting democracy overseas and policy changes at home. And a glossy, GOP-produced "2005 Republican Freedom Calendar," spotlighting key moments in the party's civil rights history, has been distributed to party officials nationwide.

"We started our party with the express intent of protecting the American people from the Democrats' pro-slavery policies that expressly made people inferior to the state," Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) wrote in a letter printed on the calendar.

The letter continued: "Today, the animating spirit of the Republican Party is exactly the same as it was then: free people, free minds, free markets, free expression, and unlimited individual opportunity."

The push also was evident during last year's presidential campaign in the crucial state of Florida.

A Palm Beach Republican group paid for a newspaper ad that listed a raft of black Republican officeholders during the 19th century and said, "Throughout the history of America, the Republican Party has been at the forefront of the fight for civil rights."

ahhhhh yes... The Party of Lincoln. I never bought that whole Abraham Lincoln as savior mentality that took hold on so many black minds, but I never imagined that it such a thing would find itself at the cutting edge of Republican propaganda. Poor thought on my part. The sad thing about this propaganda is that much of it is technically true. Void of any real analysis, such propaganda will play well to younger blacks who, by and large are not well informed on Black History on either side of the Atlantic, and woefully mis-informed about much of US history. For example, while Radical Republicans may well have been at the forefront of Civil Rights at the end of the Civil War, it should be noted that when the Democratic Party took on Civil Rights in the 50's and 60's the result was all the "racists' in the Democratic Party bolted for the Republican party. See Conservatism for them meant "keeping niggers in their place." In fact much of the rise of Republicanism, and Conservatism is one great big white backlash against Civil Rights Legislation, Affirmative Action and many social programs of the 'Great Society."

However; as we all know, Democrats, having locked the Black vote eventually took Blacks for granted. Thus instead of Jimmy Carter or Clinton giving us the first black Secretary of State we get Republicans doing so (even if we don't care for the choice).

What is most troubling, and indeed is something I warned about last year, is the cooption of ideologies and personalities that have traditionaly been the bedrock of "Black Nationalists" such as Frederick Douglass. We should expect to see more co-option in the future

The next article that got my attention was entitled GOP Sees a Future in Black Churches

quote:

The effort will be visible today at the Crenshaw Christian Center, one of Los Angeles' biggest black churches, headed by televangelist Frederick K.C. Price. More than 100 African American ministers are to gather in the first of several regional summits to build support for banning same-sex marriage — a signature issue that drew socially conservative blacks to the Republican column last year.

Before the meeting, one prominent minister plans to unveil a "Black Contract With America on Moral Values," a call for Bible-based action by government and churches to promote conservative priorities. It is patterned loosely on the "Contract With America" that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich used 10 years ago to inaugurate an era of GOP dominance in Congress.

A separate group with ties to Gingrich will announce a similar "Mayflower Compact for Black America" later this month in Washington, which includes plans to organize in key states ahead of the 2006 and 2008 elections. And at the end of the month, the Heritage Foundation will cosponsor a gathering of black conservatives in Washington designed to counter dominance of the "America-hating black liberal leadership" and to focus African American voters on moral issues.

I want to focus on the "Bible based action by government to promotye conservative priorities." This is a serious problem and I'm appalled that blacks are actually participating in this. But I am not surprised. I have long said that black Christians are some of the most bigoted people in America. There is no worse combination than Christianity and Self Hate. Apparently this group has taken no consideration for the vast numbers of Blacks who are non-Christian. Well I'm wrong, they have considered them and their position is that we do not matter, we should be converted or see damnation. Period. I won't blame the leadership entirely though. This kind of behavior could not happen without the cooperation and financing by members of their congregations. They could not do what they do without the silent approval of those who may disagree but say nothing.

Speaking of silent approval, the NY Times ran an article today about how teachers are dealing with pressure to not teach the Theory of Evolution. The article entitled: Evolution Takes a Back Seat in U.S. Classes

Quote:
In districts around the country, even when evolution is in the curriculum it may not be in the classroom, according to researchers who follow the issue.

Teaching guides and textbooks may meet the approval of biologists, but superintendents or principals discourage teachers from discussing it. Or teachers themselves avoid the topic, fearing protests from fundamentalists in their communities.

"The most common remark I've heard from teachers was that the chapter on evolution was assigned as reading but that virtually no discussion in class was taken," said Dr. John R. Christy, a climatologist at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, an evangelical Christian and a member of Alabama's curriculum review board who advocates the teaching of evolution. Teachers are afraid to raise the issue, he said in an e-mail message, and they are afraid to discuss the issue in public.

Dr. Frandsen, former chairman of the committee on science and public policy of the Alabama Academy of Science, said in an interview that this fear made it impossible to say precisely how many teachers avoid the topic.

"You're not going to hear about it," he said. "And for political reasons nobody will do a survey among randomly selected public school children and parents to ask just what is being taught in science classes."

But he said he believed the practice of avoiding the topic was widespread, particularly in districts where many people adhere to fundamentalist faiths.

This is a serious problem. Why are people who are in the right simply balling up and allowing themselves to be rolled over? I'll tell you why: So called "liberals" have refused to fund their platforms. Fundamenatalists and Cobservatives have set up a vast network of institutions and foundations to fund thier agendas. Liberals are the epitome of "divided we fall." Each teacher, each professor, each student simply "does what he can" and they all get beat. Why haven't these teachers, these educators, put their money where their mouths are and fund thier own defense? Perhaps it's because some believe it's just that one subject. It's not:

quote:
He said the teaching of evolution was portrayed not as scientific instruction but as "an assault of the secular elite on the values of God-fearing people." As a result, he said, politicians don't want to touch it. "Everybody discovers the wisdom of federalism here very quickly," he said. "Leave it at the state or the local level."

But several experts say scientists are feeling increasing pressure to make their case, in part, Dr. Miller said, because scriptural literalists are moving beyond evolution to challenge the teaching of geology and physics on issues like the age of the earth and the origin of the universe.

"They have now decided the Big Bang has to be wrong," he said. "There are now a lot of people who are insisting that that be called only a theory without evidence and so on, and now the physicists are getting mad about this."

Expansion, the very heart of Christianity. It does not stop. By it's nature, by it's design it is meant to expand and consume(just like Capitalism). These people will not go away and they will not compromise unless forced to by an equally or greater organized movement. Better get a move on.

Links:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-slavery29jan29,1,4432752,print.story?ctrack=1&cset=true


http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-pastors1feb01,1,4630381.story?ctrack=2&cset=true

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/science/01evo.html?oref=login

The Black Kid's Burden: Black Culture?

A couple of months back a PDF was posted on a website of a working document of a paper from the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. Apparently, one of the authors, William Darity had given an interview to a publication and gave the address of the paper. The main reason he was interviewed was due to the then recent comments by Bill Cosby, specifically referring to the commonly spoken of issue of black students not wanting to “act white” by doing well in school. The title of the paper is “Breeding Animosity: The ‘Burden of Acting White’ and Other Problems of Status Group Hierarchies in Schools.”

What this paper attempted to do was explore the issue of “Acting white.” The authors came to the general conclusion that such a sentiment did not exist or at least exist to the extent that is generally believed. The problem I had with this was that to my knowledge the accusation was limited to a proportion of the black population and therefore would never be shown to be a “general assumption.” Let’s look at the general conclusion of the authors:



1) There is a general sentiment against high academic achievement among adolescents in North Carolina, regardless of race.

2) There is no evidence of the specific racialized form of opposition to high achievement –the burden of acting white – at the elementary school level. This suggests that it is not an attribute that is a cultural import from a widely held outlook in black America.

3) We do not find limited evidence of racialized peer pressure against academic achievement at the high school level. The context in which is most likely to occur is a school where black students are grossly underrepresented in the most demanding courses, e.g. Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors courses. For example, in a school where 40 –60 percent of students are black but only one or two make their way into AP or Honors classes, those one or two are more likely to be the object of the charge that they are “acting white.” Black students legitimately view those classes as the property of white students; they are overwhelmingly excluded.



Keep these things 3 things in mind because some of the data presented here will present you the reader with some interesting things to consider which this statement does not take in to consideration. Page 5 of the working paper has an interesting paragraph:


The term [acting white] also has come to be used with respect to indicators of academic performance and success (Bergin and Cooks 2002; Neil-Barnett 2001). Using focus groups to understand how black teenagers define “acting white,” Neal-Barnett (2001:82) reported that the list of items the students identified included “being in honors or advanced placement classes.” Incidentally, the list also included Speaking Standard English, dressing in clothes from the Gap or Abercrombie and Fitch rather than Tommy Hilfiger and Fubu, [and] wearing shorts in the winter (Neal-Barnett 2001:82)

What we should note is the issue of Standard English. It is well known that they way one speaks and the way one writes is connected. The less of a grip on language the less well a person does in areas that require reading comprehension. Thus it would be important to track the academic performances. The paper continues:



According to the theory, academic achievement is not valued among [certain] African Americans because it is perceived as conforming to standard norms of success among white Americans. Moreover, it does not pay off for blacks like it does for others.

Therefore, black students are confronted with a choice between representing an authentic “black” self or striving for academic success. Fordham and Ogbu claimed that this dilemma, this “burden of acting white,” that contributes [but not necessarily causes] to the relatively low academic performance of black students…faced with this dilemma, the authors believe, many black students choose to stifle their academic ability and achievement in order to stay true to the race and avoid charges of “acting white” and other ridicule and ostracism from their black peers. _-writers interspersed commentary and emphasis.

What is critical in this section is to remember that we are talking about a portion of the black population and that such attitudes are not necessarily causative of poor academic performance. What is also important to ask here, which is a question I will continue to ask during this analysis is: Who are these “peers?”

Something else to be considered from the paper:

Another more recent analysis of survey data from schools in Shaker Heights, Ohio, also found very little evidence of a peer culture that is oppositional to achievement among black adolescents (Ferguson 2001). Ferguson found that black and white students with similar family background characteristics were not very different in respect to their satisfaction with school, interests in their studies or opposition to achievement -writers emphasis

Shaker Heights, Ohio, is not a poor area. In fact, ABC recently did a news piece on Shaker Heights Ohio where the black families that first moved into that area conspired with the whites in that neighborhood to keep the area at a specific racial mix by denying opportunities to certain black families to move into the neighborhood. I would suppose in an effort to keep the neighborhood from going down hill. I could say that the parents in this particular instance were acting quite white but I would be digressing. The point here is that the finding of that study is not surprising given the attitude of the parents and perhaps the current inhabitants of Shaker Heights.

On odd addition to the study was a group of females who were members of the Nation Of Islam. I would not have expected any “oppositional” attitudes because of the ideology of the NOI do not foster that kind of attitude regardless of socio-economic placement.

However; a nice twist in the paper gives us a nice frame of reference:

But students in virtually all racial and ethnic groups confront similar dilemmas with respect to high academic achievement, and they also tend to employ similar strategies.

The question that should be asked here is what are the results of this? If Asians are exhibiting the same strategies, as claimed in this work, then why are their particular academic rankings so far ahead of blacks? In fact the only other group that exhibits similar academic issues as African-Americans are Hispanics, who in many urban areas live in similar neighborhoods and involve themselves in the same sub-cultures. We also must take into account the very specific phenomenon that blacks found themselves in regard to schools where there were told explicitly that certain types of academic achievement was “not for them.” Furthermore; we must look at the phenomenon of the “uppity nigger” and it’s affect of defining “black “ behavior.

Getting further into the paper we find the following:

We would expect to find evidence of a ‘burden of acting white” wherever we find black students, whether high or low achieving, for we assume that people carry their culture with them wherever they go.

Now I disagree with this statement. I do not expect to see such a burden in high achieving students because they are not susceptible to such ideas as they are not susceptible to the pressure of those who would accuse of “acting white.” The statement above assumes a monolithic “black culture” which does not exist. There are very distinct groupings of African-Americans of which only a few of them that actually get any real media or even academic attention. The next statement is at the heart of my disagreement with this paper:

in 2000-2001 =, we undertook a study for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction examining the under representation of minority students in rigorous courses and programs

As stated before, I believe that asking the folks least susceptible to “acting white” pressure about that pressure really proves nothing. In fact using my own experience as a student in AP classes, the people who had such “acting white” attitudes simply were not my peers and I had very little contact with them. In fact one individual that did have such an attitude about me only stated so about a month before we graduated. I suspect in this experience would be the same for other students in AP classes. But lets get on with the paper:

Both black and white students at the elementary level desired high achievement and to be perceived as “smart” by others…They received only support for their achievements from friends and peers, as long as they did not brag…

This is entirely expected. The American Educator, a UFT publication discussed how reading among students is level up to year 5 and then for some there is a steep drop off. On the issue of bragging, this is a sensitive issue and goes back to my issue of “uppity negroes.” What constitutes “bragging”? I recall having a discussion about my credit and saying how it was 700 and I wanted it to be better. The person I was talking to seemed put off. I then remembered that for many people 700 is the “holy grail.” And saying that I had above 700 credit constituted showing off to them, whereas with my peers, such talk is normal conversation and is a sign of striving and not bragging. So this concept of bragging is very much determined by people’s station in life and their mentality towards life. In fact such aversion to “bragging” may well be a manifestation of ‘acting white” regardless of how illogical it may seem. Let us look at the following statement:

None of the thirteen black of three biracial (with on black parent) elementary school students interviewed ever mentioned the term “acting white” in any context (although on white student at Georgetown did mention that black students accused her of “trying to act black” when she used slang) or gave indication of attitudes oppositional to school achievement. We believe as others have suggested, that race may not be salient a category for grade school children.

Umm how is it that race is not a salient category for grade schoolers, yet it is salient enough that black students felt confident enough to accuse a white student of acting black for using what could be described as racialize language patterns? They didn’t say she was trying to be “cool.” They specifically racialized her speech patterns. In fact the paper makes passing reference to this recognition:

For instance, a few teachers interviewed at Georgetown mentioned that students, even as early as kindergarten, recognized that many of the “smart” children were white, and the teachers expressed concerns about the impact this pattern had on the self-esteem of minority children

Indeed! I had asked to see this data but was unable to obtain it, but it would be very interesting to know how white students were so consistently recognized as “smart.”

Let’s look at the specific statements made by a student identified as “Marc”:

Most of the time, but a lot of the black people will think that they are better than the white people, or vice versa. Or black people will always pick on the white people about what they do [inaudible] and if you’re black and you act like you’re white, then they would hold it against you. The black people would not like you as much. … Well if your black and you act like your –you do stuff that the white people do, then, then, like skateboarding and stuff like that, then they say that you’re white and that you, I don’t know how you really say it, they just say that you’re really white and that you don’t care about everybody’s else that’s black… Just about everything that black people don’t do. Like if it’s not associated with like –I’m not talking about school –but drugs or shooting or something like that, then it’s considered black.

To quote Black Robb:

‘Whoah!!”

Talk about smoking guns here. Marc clearly indicates that he is aware of, if not affected by a mentality that black culture includes as its definition drugs and shooting. Now perhaps he’s just unable to express himself but it seems that from his statement that black behavior has by it’s definition things that are clearly anti-thetical to black achievement. And exactly why is it that black students think they are better than white ones? I would suspect it is a reaction to attitudes from white students. However the interviewer, from what I read did not attempt to discuss this issue with the people actually expressing these ideas to marc. Surely that would have uncovered something more useful. Instead we get:


interviewer: Okay. So does anybody say, “You’re in AG, you’re white. You act white?”
Marc: No.


Of course not. If Marc rejected the “black behavior” that he described he could fail all his classes and still catch flack due to his other behavior. The acting white connection to academics is not necessarily a direct link, but rather an insidious inertia of attitudes pertaining to black behavior that manifests itself in poor academics.

Later in the paper the authors state:



In the present study, particular school circumstances gave rise to particular “strategies of action” among students. Rather than blame themselves for persistent academic failure and underperformance, low-achieving black students, such as those at Dalton, relied on their understanding of the history of race in America to make sense of the racial patterns of achievement they observed. Therefore, their attitudes and behavior is high school are not based on cultural values but rather are a response to the particular set of circumstances they encountered in school…

American Blacks are well aware of the history of race relations in America—the position of whites vis-à-vis that of blacks—and that the struggle for equality has traditionally been a collective one. Therefore when some blacks are perceived to be achieving success at the expense of others, or with little concern for fellow blacks, resentment arises

I don’t agree with the assessment. Nothing presented in the paper suggested that a large group of low-achievement students were the subject of the paper. The paper oft quoted students that were in the Advanced Placement courses or for various reasons decided against enrolling in AP classes. These examples cannot and do not address students who are failing, dropping or dropped out or are the sources of class disruption. As I noted before students who are in school and on track to graduate, whether in AP classes or not are not susceptible to the peer pressure to act “black” in the manner that was described by “marc.”

Furthermore, the average knowledge of “racial history” by black students in high school is extremely limited. Most high school students know little more than ‘we were slaves” the “Dream Speech” of Dr. King, Frederick Douglass, Jim Crow and a cursory knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement. And these would be the students that paid attention in history class. At best the documentation provided by the paper only shows that the students recognized that white students were more likely to be labeled “smart” and to be in AP classes. That really does not constitute a real working knowledge or fount of knowledge of “racial history” in America. Also what informs the perception of “some blacks achieving at the expense of others, or with little concern for fellow blacks?” How does a high school student with a very limited knowledge base of racial history in America determine that a black student in an AP class is doing so at the expense of “fellow blacks”? Such a perception must be based on some supposition, some learned experience that has to be a part of some section of black culture. It could randomly occur to so many students. Furthermore why would such attitudes also be seen in blacks that are not necessarily “disadvantaged”?

Let me conclude this commentary by going back to the central issue at hand, which really is: Is there, in general, a perception of what “black behavior” is? If there is can it explain the high drop out rates and poor academic performance that is observed in many black schools? In contrast why is it that poor blacks from other countries do not succumb to such peer pressure despite their poverty? In my mind the existence of blacks outside of the US who do not succumb to such “oppositional attitudes” means that there is a cultural component that may be intertwined with a general American attitude towards “smart” people, but when manifest in black populations can be even more destructive given the intense media programming of “real” black behavior. I believe that this paper would have been better served by focusing not on the people that do achieve but rather the ones that do fall to the wayside and/or under perform and why they did so. Not to ask them what they think of AP students.