Yogi Bear 20: Daffy Daddy
George Clinton (Parliament-Funkadelic) Exclusive!
Friday, September 07, 2007
Greetings, America!
To quote The Onion's Jim Anchower, Hola, amigos. What up? I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya. If you've read any MSM today, (and fortunately for me, I know some Americans read nothing else) you may have heard that I'm going to be releasing a video next week on the anniversary of 9-11. First of all, let me say that I'm the first dead guy to ever release a new video. Pretty amazing stuff, eh? If you don't believe I'm dead, then you have to believe that the allegedly most powerful military force in the world has been unable to find me after 6 years, yet they say I'm still living in a cave! For those of you who think I'm alive, you'll just have to wait for the video. But I will offer a few of my thoughts. First of all, let me say that I have discovered a weapon of mass deception! ABC News is reporting that my beard is now black, unlike in past videos and pictures where my beard was streaked with gray. The answer is simple; my stylist, who does a wonderful job of making sure I have perfectly white pajamas to wear, (not easy when living in a cave!), turned me on to Just For Men. That stuff really works! The chicks are willingly lifting their veils for me and I don't even have to die to be with virgins!
Enough about me. I want to know how you Americans are doing. From what I've been hearing, things don't sound so good since 9-11-01. With the record rate of home foreclosures and the subprime mortgage debacle, your economy looks to be headed downhill. The war in Iraq must be costing a pretty penny too, with US forces there at an all time high. Too bad your government has to spend all your tax money on bullets instead of insuring your children's health and feeding your homeless. Sounds like the land of the free isn't so free anymore either. I hear my buddy Bush signed the Military Commisions Act of 2006, thereby casting aside your Constitution and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. The MCA also gives the president absolute power to designate enemy combatants, and to set his own definitions for torture. Bush has perfected the examples set by some Middle East countries. It doesn't matter anymore what the majority of Americans want, Bush and his "elected representatives" press on with their agenda. I may be flattering myself, but maybe he and his Dad learned some things about governing people from me back when I used to get all that CIA money and support.
I don't want to give the whole video away, but let me just say that in the last six years, your Government has done more to opress and restrict you American people than I ever could have dreamed. Those planes flying into the WTC were nothing compared to what has happened to your country since, or what is yet to come. Be sure to see my video. I promised GW I'll be extra, extra scary. He needs all the help he can get.
Enough about me. I want to know how you Americans are doing. From what I've been hearing, things don't sound so good since 9-11-01. With the record rate of home foreclosures and the subprime mortgage debacle, your economy looks to be headed downhill. The war in Iraq must be costing a pretty penny too, with US forces there at an all time high. Too bad your government has to spend all your tax money on bullets instead of insuring your children's health and feeding your homeless. Sounds like the land of the free isn't so free anymore either. I hear my buddy Bush signed the Military Commisions Act of 2006, thereby casting aside your Constitution and the principle of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment. The MCA also gives the president absolute power to designate enemy combatants, and to set his own definitions for torture. Bush has perfected the examples set by some Middle East countries. It doesn't matter anymore what the majority of Americans want, Bush and his "elected representatives" press on with their agenda. I may be flattering myself, but maybe he and his Dad learned some things about governing people from me back when I used to get all that CIA money and support.
I don't want to give the whole video away, but let me just say that in the last six years, your Government has done more to opress and restrict you American people than I ever could have dreamed. Those planes flying into the WTC were nothing compared to what has happened to your country since, or what is yet to come. Be sure to see my video. I promised GW I'll be extra, extra scary. He needs all the help he can get.
Sincerely,
Osama " The Bogeyman" Bin Laden
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Another Angle 6 - September - 2007
Ron Paul Thunders NO!
Ron Paul @ Republican Fox Debate 9-5-07
Hannity Lies To Discredit Ron Paul After Debate
The REAL Rudy
Staging Nukes for Iran?
I called a old friend and retired B-52 pilot and asked him. What he told me offers one compelling case of circumstantial evidence. My buddy, let’s call him Jack D. Ripper, reminded me that the only times you put weapons on a plane is when they are on alert or if you are tasked to move the weapons to a specific site.
Then he told me something I had not heard before.
Barksdale Air Force Base is being used as a jumping off point for Middle East operations. Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran? I don’t know, but it is a question worth asking.
Ron Paul @ Republican Fox Debate 9-5-07
Hannity Lies To Discredit Ron Paul After Debate
The REAL Rudy
Staging Nukes for Iran?
I called a old friend and retired B-52 pilot and asked him. What he told me offers one compelling case of circumstantial evidence. My buddy, let’s call him Jack D. Ripper, reminded me that the only times you put weapons on a plane is when they are on alert or if you are tasked to move the weapons to a specific site.
Then he told me something I had not heard before.
Barksdale Air Force Base is being used as a jumping off point for Middle East operations. Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran? I don’t know, but it is a question worth asking.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
“They wanted them poor niggers out of there.”
“They wanted them poor niggers out of there.
”Published August 29th, 2007 in Articles
New Orleans two years afterby Greg Palast
[Thurs August 30] “They wanted them poor niggers out of there and they ain’t had no intention to allow it to be reopened to no poor niggers, you know? And that’s just the bottom line.”
It wasn’t a pretty statement. But I wasn’t looking for pretty. I’d taken my investigative team to New Orleans to meet with Malik Rahim. Pretty isn’t Malik’s concern.
We needed an answer to a weird, puzzling and horrific discovery. Among the miles and miles of devastated houses, rubble still there today in New Orleans, we found dry, beautiful homes. But their residents were told by guys dressed like Ninjas wearing “Blackwater” badges: “Try to go into your home and we’ll arrest you.”
These aren’t just any homes. They are the public housing projects of the city; the Lafitte Houses and others. But unlike the cinder block monsters in the Bronx, these public units are beautiful townhouses, with wrought-iron porches and gardens right next to the tony French Quarter.
Raised up on high ground, with floors and walls of concrete, they were some of the only houses left salvageable after the Katrina flood.
Yet, two years later, there’s still bars on the windows, the doors are welded shut and the residents banned from returning. On the first anniversary of the flood, we were filming this odd scene when I saw a woman on the sidewalk, sobbing. Night was falling. What was wrong?
“They just messing all over us. Putting me out our own house. We come to go back to our own home and when we get there they got the police there putting us out. Oh, no, this is not right. I’m coming here from Texas seeing if I can get my house back. But they said they ain’t letting nobody in. But where we gonna go at?”
Idiot me, I asked, “Where are you going to go tonight?”
“That’s what I want to know, Mister. Where I’m going to go - me and my kids?”
With the help of Patricia Thomas, a Lafitte resident, we broke into an apartment. The place was gorgeous. The cereal boxes still dry. This was Patricia’s home. But we decided to get out before we got busted.
I wasn’t naïve. I had a good idea what this scam was all about: 89,000 poor and working class families stuck in Homeland Security’s trailer park gulag while their good homes were guarded against their return by mercenaries. Two decades ago, I worked for the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Even then, the plan was to evict poor folk out of this very valuable real estate. But it took the cover of a hurricane to do it.
Malik’s organization, Common Ground, wouldn’t wait for permission from the federal and local commissars to help folks return. They organized takeovers of public housing by the residents. And, in the face of threats and official displeasure, restored 350 apartments in a destroyed private development on the high ground across the Mississippi in the ward called, “Algiers.” The tenants rebuilt their own homes with their own sweat and their own scraps of cash based on a promise of the landlords to sell Common Ground the property in return for restoring it.
Why, I asked Malik, was there this strange lock-out from public housing?
Malik shook his dreds. “They didn’t want to open it up. They wanted them closed. They wanted them poor niggers out of there.”
For Malik, the emphasis is on “poor.” The racial politics of the Deep South is as ugly as it is in Philadelphia, Pa. But the New Orleans city establishment has no problem with Black folk per se. After all, Mayor Ray Nagin’s parents are African-American.
It’s the Black survivors without the cash that are a problem. So where New Orleans once stood, Mayor Nagin, in connivance with a Bush regime more than happy to keep a quarter million poor folk (i.e. Democrats) out of this swing state, is creating a new city: a tourist town with a French Quarter, loose-spending drunks, hot-sheets hotels and a few Black people to perform the modern version of minstrel shows.
Malik explained, “It’s two cities. You know? There’s the city for the white and the rich. And there’s another city for the poor and Blacks. You know, the city that’s for the white and rich has recovered. They had a Jazz Fest. They had a Mardi Gras. They’re going to have the Saints playing for those who have recovered. But for those who haven’t recovered, there’s nothing.”
So where are they now? The sobbing woman and her kids are gone: back to Texas, or wherever. But they will not be allowed back into Lafitte. Ever.
And Patricia Thomas? Patricia found work sweeping up tourists’ vomit and beer each morning at a French Quarter karioke joint. Not much pay, no health insurance, of course. A few months ago, Patricia died - in a city bereft of health care. New Orleans has closed all its public hospitals but for one “charity” make-shift emergency ward in an abandoned department store.
And the one bright star, Malik’s housing project? The tenants’ work was done this past December. By Christmastime, they received their eviction notices - and all were carried out of their rebuilt homes by marshals right after the New Year, including a paraplegic resident who’d lived in the Algiers building for decades.
Hurricane recovery is class war by other means. And in this war of the powerful against the powerless, Mr. Bush can rightly land his fighter plane in Louisiana and declare that, unlike the war in Iraq, it is, indeed, “Mission Accomplished.”
”Published August 29th, 2007 in Articles
New Orleans two years afterby Greg Palast
[Thurs August 30] “They wanted them poor niggers out of there and they ain’t had no intention to allow it to be reopened to no poor niggers, you know? And that’s just the bottom line.”
It wasn’t a pretty statement. But I wasn’t looking for pretty. I’d taken my investigative team to New Orleans to meet with Malik Rahim. Pretty isn’t Malik’s concern.
We needed an answer to a weird, puzzling and horrific discovery. Among the miles and miles of devastated houses, rubble still there today in New Orleans, we found dry, beautiful homes. But their residents were told by guys dressed like Ninjas wearing “Blackwater” badges: “Try to go into your home and we’ll arrest you.”
These aren’t just any homes. They are the public housing projects of the city; the Lafitte Houses and others. But unlike the cinder block monsters in the Bronx, these public units are beautiful townhouses, with wrought-iron porches and gardens right next to the tony French Quarter.
Raised up on high ground, with floors and walls of concrete, they were some of the only houses left salvageable after the Katrina flood.
Yet, two years later, there’s still bars on the windows, the doors are welded shut and the residents banned from returning. On the first anniversary of the flood, we were filming this odd scene when I saw a woman on the sidewalk, sobbing. Night was falling. What was wrong?
“They just messing all over us. Putting me out our own house. We come to go back to our own home and when we get there they got the police there putting us out. Oh, no, this is not right. I’m coming here from Texas seeing if I can get my house back. But they said they ain’t letting nobody in. But where we gonna go at?”
Idiot me, I asked, “Where are you going to go tonight?”
“That’s what I want to know, Mister. Where I’m going to go - me and my kids?”
With the help of Patricia Thomas, a Lafitte resident, we broke into an apartment. The place was gorgeous. The cereal boxes still dry. This was Patricia’s home. But we decided to get out before we got busted.
I wasn’t naïve. I had a good idea what this scam was all about: 89,000 poor and working class families stuck in Homeland Security’s trailer park gulag while their good homes were guarded against their return by mercenaries. Two decades ago, I worked for the Housing Authority of New Orleans. Even then, the plan was to evict poor folk out of this very valuable real estate. But it took the cover of a hurricane to do it.
Malik’s organization, Common Ground, wouldn’t wait for permission from the federal and local commissars to help folks return. They organized takeovers of public housing by the residents. And, in the face of threats and official displeasure, restored 350 apartments in a destroyed private development on the high ground across the Mississippi in the ward called, “Algiers.” The tenants rebuilt their own homes with their own sweat and their own scraps of cash based on a promise of the landlords to sell Common Ground the property in return for restoring it.
Why, I asked Malik, was there this strange lock-out from public housing?
Malik shook his dreds. “They didn’t want to open it up. They wanted them closed. They wanted them poor niggers out of there.”
For Malik, the emphasis is on “poor.” The racial politics of the Deep South is as ugly as it is in Philadelphia, Pa. But the New Orleans city establishment has no problem with Black folk per se. After all, Mayor Ray Nagin’s parents are African-American.
It’s the Black survivors without the cash that are a problem. So where New Orleans once stood, Mayor Nagin, in connivance with a Bush regime more than happy to keep a quarter million poor folk (i.e. Democrats) out of this swing state, is creating a new city: a tourist town with a French Quarter, loose-spending drunks, hot-sheets hotels and a few Black people to perform the modern version of minstrel shows.
Malik explained, “It’s two cities. You know? There’s the city for the white and the rich. And there’s another city for the poor and Blacks. You know, the city that’s for the white and rich has recovered. They had a Jazz Fest. They had a Mardi Gras. They’re going to have the Saints playing for those who have recovered. But for those who haven’t recovered, there’s nothing.”
So where are they now? The sobbing woman and her kids are gone: back to Texas, or wherever. But they will not be allowed back into Lafitte. Ever.
And Patricia Thomas? Patricia found work sweeping up tourists’ vomit and beer each morning at a French Quarter karioke joint. Not much pay, no health insurance, of course. A few months ago, Patricia died - in a city bereft of health care. New Orleans has closed all its public hospitals but for one “charity” make-shift emergency ward in an abandoned department store.
And the one bright star, Malik’s housing project? The tenants’ work was done this past December. By Christmastime, they received their eviction notices - and all were carried out of their rebuilt homes by marshals right after the New Year, including a paraplegic resident who’d lived in the Algiers building for decades.
Hurricane recovery is class war by other means. And in this war of the powerful against the powerless, Mr. Bush can rightly land his fighter plane in Louisiana and declare that, unlike the war in Iraq, it is, indeed, “Mission Accomplished.”
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Blood in the Water: Katrina and the Death of the Common Good
Blood in the Water: Katrina and the Death of the Common Good
Written by Chris Floyd
This week we remember the destruction of New Orleans: an "act of God" aided mightily by the perfidy of man. As Greg Palast revealed this week, the Bush White House knew that the levees were breaking -- and deliberately failed to inform emergency officials in the city and state. His source was Dr. Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the LSU Hurrican Center, "the chief technician advising the state on saving lives during Katrina.
"Why would the Bush Regime keep mum as the flood waters were cracking the levees? The answer, says Palast, is simple: Money. Loot. Scratch. Long green. From Palast's piece on Buzzflash:
Why on earth would the White House not tell the state to get the remaining folks out of there? The answer: cost. Political and financial cost. A hurricane is an act of God -- but a catastrophic failure of the levees is an act of Bush. Under law dating back to 1935, a breech of the federal levee system makes the damage -- and the deaths -- a federal responsibility. That means, as van Heeden points out, "these people must be compensated.
"The federal government, by law, must build and maintain the Mississippi River levees to withstand known dangers -- or pay the price when they fail. Indeed, that was the rule applied in the storms that hit Westhampton Dunes, New York, in 1992. There, when federal sea barriers failed, the floodwaters wiped away 190 homes. The Feds rebuilt them from the public treasury. But these were not just any homes. They are worth an average of $3 million apiece -- the summer homes of movie stars and celebrity speculators.
There were no movie stars floating face down in the Lower Ninth Ward nor in Lakeview nor in St. Bernard Parish. For the 'luvvies' of Westhampton Dunes, the federal government even trucked in sand to replace the beaches. But for New Orleans' survivors, there's the aluminum gulag of FEMA trailer parks. Today, two years later, 89,000 families still live in this mobile home Guantanamo -- with no plan whatsoever for their return.
And what was the effect of the White House's self-serving delay? I spoke with van Heerden in his university office...He said, "Fifteen hundred people drowned. That's the bottom line.
"And the brutal beat goes on. Scott Horton at Harper's has some inside dirt on the gigantic boondoggle that has followed in the wake of the killer storm: the "reconstruction" effort that, just as in Iraq, Bush has turned into a massive trough of corruption for his swinish cronies. And none are more literally swinish than the fat-faced swill-master Haley Barbour, the longtime GOP bagman now serving as Mississippi's governor. As Horton notes, Barbour has managed to wangle a vastly disproportionate share of federal reconstruction aid for his state, which suffered far less damage than Louisiana:
Yes, why exactly was the recovery money so disproportionately funnelled to Mississippi? Might it, perhaps, have to do with the governor of Mississippi, former Republic National Committee chair Haley Barbour? Was he doing a good job for Mississippi, or was he doing a good job for Haley Barbour?
In any event, Haley Barbour played an impressively influential role throughout this process. About six months after Katrina, I was at a dinner party with a recently resigned Homeland Security official who told me that there were enormous corruption issues surrounding the contracting process. He said he what he had seen was so disconcerting and the attitude of his boss (who now figures as a candidate to be attorney general) was so permissive, he had decided to leave rather than be tarred with it. One name figured in that discussion: Haley Barbour. More recently, I have been dealing with some professionals down in the southeast who deal regularly with FEMA for contractors. “Word was, if you wanted work, you had to see one of Barbour’s nephews or Joe Allbaugh—they really run the show.” How could that be?
Timothy Burger at Bloomberg has been digging very deep into Barbour’s remarkable good fortune in the government contracts area.
Many Mississippians have benefited from Governor Haley Barbour’s efforts to rebuild the state’s devastated Gulf Coast in the two years since Hurricane Katrina. The $15 billion or more in federal aid the former Republican national chairman attracted has reopened casinos and helped residents move to new or repaired homes.
Among the beneficiaries are Barbour’s own family and friends, who have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from hurricane-related business. A nephew, one of two who are lobbyists, saw his fees more than double in the year after his uncle appointed him to a special reconstruction panel. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in June raided a company owned by the wife of a third nephew, which maintained federal emergency-management trailers.
Meanwhile, the governor’s own former lobbying firm, which he says is still making payments to him, has represented at least four clients with business linked to the recovery.
(Firedoglake has more on the cornucopia of corruption here.)
Bush himself returned to the scene of the crime this week, flying down to New Orleans to preen and prance and pose as the city's saviour. It was a sickening spectacle, but what else is new? And what else can you say? There were some who thought at the time that the destruction of New Orleans and the subsequent looting of the national treasury by Bush cronies making big bucks from the unrelieved suffering of the vulnerable would be some kind of turning point in American politics. But as with the recent resignation of Alberto Gonzales, and the election of 2006, and all the other such "turning points," the drowning of New Orleans had no real political effect. Bush has gone from strength to strength, extending his tyranny and his looting, and his re-ordering of American society for the benefit of a rapacious elite and the makers of war.
I will have more on Bush's triumph soon. In the meantime, below is an excerpt of the piece that I wrote after the levees broke. Nothing has changed from that day to this.
"The river rose all day,The river rose all night.Some people got lost in the flood,Some people got away all right.The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemine:Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline."Louisiana, Louisiana,They're trying to wash us away,They're trying to wash us away…."-- Randy Newman, Louisiana 1927.
The destruction of New Orleans represents a confluence of many of the most pernicious trends in American politics and culture: poverty, racism, militarism, elitist greed, environmental abuse, public corruption and the decay of democracy at every level.
Much of this is embodied in the odd phrasing that even the most circumspect mainstream media sources have been using to describe the hardest-hit victims of the storm and its devastating aftermath: "those who chose to stay behind." Instantly, the situation has been framed with language to flatter the prejudices of the comfortable and deny the reality of the most vulnerable.It is obvious that the vast majority of those who failed to evacuate are poor: they had nowhere else to go, no way to get there, no means to sustain themselves and their families on strange ground. While there were certainly people who stayed behind by choice, most stayed behind because they had no choice. They were trapped by their poverty - and many have paid the price with their lives.
Yet across the media spectrum, the faint hint of disapproval drips from the affluent observers, the clear implication that the victims were just too lazy and shiftless to get out of harm's way. There is simply no understanding - not even an attempt at understanding - the destitution, the isolation, the immobility of the poor and the sick and the broken among us.
This is from the "respectable" media; the great right-wing echo chamber was even less restrained, of course, leaping straight into giddy convulsions of racism at the first reports of looting in the devastated city. In the pinched-gonad squeals of Rush Limbaugh and his fellow hatemongers, the hard-right media immediately conjured up images of wild-eyed darkies rampaging through the streets in an orgy of violence and thievery.
Not that the mainstreamers ignored the racist angle. There was the already infamous juxtaposition of captions for wire service photos, where depictions of essentially the same scene - desperate people wading through flood waters, clutching plastic bags full of groceries - were given markedly different spins. In one picture, a white couple are described as struggling along after finding bread and soda at a grocery store. But beneath an almost identical photo of a young black man with a bag of groceries, we are told that a "looter" wades through the streets after robbing a grocery store.
Almost all of the early "looting" was like this: desperate people - of all colors - stranded by the floodwaters broke into abandoned stores and carried off food, clean water, medicine, clothes. Perhaps they should have left a check on the counter, but then again - what exactly was going to happen to all those perishables and consumer goods, sitting around in fetid, diseased water for weeks on end? (The mayor now says it could be up to 16 weeks before people can return to their homes and businesses.) Obviously, most if not all of it would have been thrown away or written off in any case. Later, of course, there was more organized looting by criminal gangs, the type of lawless element - of every hue, in every society - whose chief victims are, of course, the poor and vulnerable. These criminal operations were quickly conflated with the earlier pilferage to paint a single seamless picture of the American media's favorite horror story: Black Folk Gone Wild...
The whole piece can be found here: The Perfect Storm. I followed that with this piece in CounterPunch, No Direction Home:
"How does it feel?
Written by Chris Floyd
This week we remember the destruction of New Orleans: an "act of God" aided mightily by the perfidy of man. As Greg Palast revealed this week, the Bush White House knew that the levees were breaking -- and deliberately failed to inform emergency officials in the city and state. His source was Dr. Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the LSU Hurrican Center, "the chief technician advising the state on saving lives during Katrina.
"Why would the Bush Regime keep mum as the flood waters were cracking the levees? The answer, says Palast, is simple: Money. Loot. Scratch. Long green. From Palast's piece on Buzzflash:
Why on earth would the White House not tell the state to get the remaining folks out of there? The answer: cost. Political and financial cost. A hurricane is an act of God -- but a catastrophic failure of the levees is an act of Bush. Under law dating back to 1935, a breech of the federal levee system makes the damage -- and the deaths -- a federal responsibility. That means, as van Heeden points out, "these people must be compensated.
"The federal government, by law, must build and maintain the Mississippi River levees to withstand known dangers -- or pay the price when they fail. Indeed, that was the rule applied in the storms that hit Westhampton Dunes, New York, in 1992. There, when federal sea barriers failed, the floodwaters wiped away 190 homes. The Feds rebuilt them from the public treasury. But these were not just any homes. They are worth an average of $3 million apiece -- the summer homes of movie stars and celebrity speculators.
There were no movie stars floating face down in the Lower Ninth Ward nor in Lakeview nor in St. Bernard Parish. For the 'luvvies' of Westhampton Dunes, the federal government even trucked in sand to replace the beaches. But for New Orleans' survivors, there's the aluminum gulag of FEMA trailer parks. Today, two years later, 89,000 families still live in this mobile home Guantanamo -- with no plan whatsoever for their return.
And what was the effect of the White House's self-serving delay? I spoke with van Heerden in his university office...He said, "Fifteen hundred people drowned. That's the bottom line.
"And the brutal beat goes on. Scott Horton at Harper's has some inside dirt on the gigantic boondoggle that has followed in the wake of the killer storm: the "reconstruction" effort that, just as in Iraq, Bush has turned into a massive trough of corruption for his swinish cronies. And none are more literally swinish than the fat-faced swill-master Haley Barbour, the longtime GOP bagman now serving as Mississippi's governor. As Horton notes, Barbour has managed to wangle a vastly disproportionate share of federal reconstruction aid for his state, which suffered far less damage than Louisiana:
Yes, why exactly was the recovery money so disproportionately funnelled to Mississippi? Might it, perhaps, have to do with the governor of Mississippi, former Republic National Committee chair Haley Barbour? Was he doing a good job for Mississippi, or was he doing a good job for Haley Barbour?
In any event, Haley Barbour played an impressively influential role throughout this process. About six months after Katrina, I was at a dinner party with a recently resigned Homeland Security official who told me that there were enormous corruption issues surrounding the contracting process. He said he what he had seen was so disconcerting and the attitude of his boss (who now figures as a candidate to be attorney general) was so permissive, he had decided to leave rather than be tarred with it. One name figured in that discussion: Haley Barbour. More recently, I have been dealing with some professionals down in the southeast who deal regularly with FEMA for contractors. “Word was, if you wanted work, you had to see one of Barbour’s nephews or Joe Allbaugh—they really run the show.” How could that be?
Timothy Burger at Bloomberg has been digging very deep into Barbour’s remarkable good fortune in the government contracts area.
Many Mississippians have benefited from Governor Haley Barbour’s efforts to rebuild the state’s devastated Gulf Coast in the two years since Hurricane Katrina. The $15 billion or more in federal aid the former Republican national chairman attracted has reopened casinos and helped residents move to new or repaired homes.
Among the beneficiaries are Barbour’s own family and friends, who have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from hurricane-related business. A nephew, one of two who are lobbyists, saw his fees more than double in the year after his uncle appointed him to a special reconstruction panel. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in June raided a company owned by the wife of a third nephew, which maintained federal emergency-management trailers.
Meanwhile, the governor’s own former lobbying firm, which he says is still making payments to him, has represented at least four clients with business linked to the recovery.
(Firedoglake has more on the cornucopia of corruption here.)
Bush himself returned to the scene of the crime this week, flying down to New Orleans to preen and prance and pose as the city's saviour. It was a sickening spectacle, but what else is new? And what else can you say? There were some who thought at the time that the destruction of New Orleans and the subsequent looting of the national treasury by Bush cronies making big bucks from the unrelieved suffering of the vulnerable would be some kind of turning point in American politics. But as with the recent resignation of Alberto Gonzales, and the election of 2006, and all the other such "turning points," the drowning of New Orleans had no real political effect. Bush has gone from strength to strength, extending his tyranny and his looting, and his re-ordering of American society for the benefit of a rapacious elite and the makers of war.
I will have more on Bush's triumph soon. In the meantime, below is an excerpt of the piece that I wrote after the levees broke. Nothing has changed from that day to this.
"The river rose all day,The river rose all night.Some people got lost in the flood,Some people got away all right.The river have busted through clear down to Plaquemine:Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline."Louisiana, Louisiana,They're trying to wash us away,They're trying to wash us away…."-- Randy Newman, Louisiana 1927.
The destruction of New Orleans represents a confluence of many of the most pernicious trends in American politics and culture: poverty, racism, militarism, elitist greed, environmental abuse, public corruption and the decay of democracy at every level.
Much of this is embodied in the odd phrasing that even the most circumspect mainstream media sources have been using to describe the hardest-hit victims of the storm and its devastating aftermath: "those who chose to stay behind." Instantly, the situation has been framed with language to flatter the prejudices of the comfortable and deny the reality of the most vulnerable.It is obvious that the vast majority of those who failed to evacuate are poor: they had nowhere else to go, no way to get there, no means to sustain themselves and their families on strange ground. While there were certainly people who stayed behind by choice, most stayed behind because they had no choice. They were trapped by their poverty - and many have paid the price with their lives.
Yet across the media spectrum, the faint hint of disapproval drips from the affluent observers, the clear implication that the victims were just too lazy and shiftless to get out of harm's way. There is simply no understanding - not even an attempt at understanding - the destitution, the isolation, the immobility of the poor and the sick and the broken among us.
This is from the "respectable" media; the great right-wing echo chamber was even less restrained, of course, leaping straight into giddy convulsions of racism at the first reports of looting in the devastated city. In the pinched-gonad squeals of Rush Limbaugh and his fellow hatemongers, the hard-right media immediately conjured up images of wild-eyed darkies rampaging through the streets in an orgy of violence and thievery.
Not that the mainstreamers ignored the racist angle. There was the already infamous juxtaposition of captions for wire service photos, where depictions of essentially the same scene - desperate people wading through flood waters, clutching plastic bags full of groceries - were given markedly different spins. In one picture, a white couple are described as struggling along after finding bread and soda at a grocery store. But beneath an almost identical photo of a young black man with a bag of groceries, we are told that a "looter" wades through the streets after robbing a grocery store.
Almost all of the early "looting" was like this: desperate people - of all colors - stranded by the floodwaters broke into abandoned stores and carried off food, clean water, medicine, clothes. Perhaps they should have left a check on the counter, but then again - what exactly was going to happen to all those perishables and consumer goods, sitting around in fetid, diseased water for weeks on end? (The mayor now says it could be up to 16 weeks before people can return to their homes and businesses.) Obviously, most if not all of it would have been thrown away or written off in any case. Later, of course, there was more organized looting by criminal gangs, the type of lawless element - of every hue, in every society - whose chief victims are, of course, the poor and vulnerable. These criminal operations were quickly conflated with the earlier pilferage to paint a single seamless picture of the American media's favorite horror story: Black Folk Gone Wild...
The whole piece can be found here: The Perfect Storm. I followed that with this piece in CounterPunch, No Direction Home:
Let's be clear about one thing. Nothing that has happened in the past week -- the mass destruction in the Mississippi Delta, the obliteration of the city of New Orleans, the murderous abandonment of thousands of people to death, chaos and disease will change the Bush Administration or American politics at all. Not one whit. The Bush Administration will not reverse its brutal policies; its Congressional rubber-stamps will not revolt against the White House; the national Democrats will not suddenly grow a spine. There will be no real change, and the bitter corrosion of injustice, indifference and inhumanity that is consuming American society will go on as before....
Just as the media have always overhyped Bush's popularity, they are now overhyping the "political crisis" he is supposedly facing. There is no political crisis whatsoever, if by "political crisis" you mean something that will cause Bush to alter his policies....This is what you must understand: Bush and his faction do not care if they have "the consent of the governed" or not. They are not interested in governing at all, in responding to the needs and desires and will of the people. They are only interested in ruling, in using the power of the state to force their radical agenda of elitist aggrandizement and ideological crankery on the nation, and on the world....
None of this will change because of what happened in New Orleans. If these people could be touched by suffering and injustice, by death and destruction, by corruption and incompetence, then they would not be where they are today. If there was a viable opposition in the American Establishment to Bush's policies, it would have stood up long ago. Like the people left behind in New Orleans, we're all on our own, "with no direction home.
"How does it feel?
Monday, August 27, 2007
JUST ANOTHER SAND NIGGER
JUST ANOTHER SAND NIGGER
Malcom Lagauche
Malcom Lagauche
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has not had a good month. Pressure is mounting daily for his ouster and also for the dismembering of Iraq.
U.S. politicians are openly calling for a change in the Iraqi leadership. They are not ambiguous. Democrat Senators Hilary Clinton and Carl Levin have been in the forefront of calling for al-Maliki’s ouster.
Al-Maliki has struck back. According to the article "Iraq PM Hits Out at Critics," published by Al-Jazeera News on August 26, 2007:
The Iraqi prime minister has replied to his U.S. and European critics by making criticisms of his own, including the ongoing killing of Iraqis by U.S. soldiers.
At a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday, Nuri al-Maliki singled out Hilary Rodham Clinton and Carl Levin, both Democratic senators, saying they should "come to their senses."
Al-Maliki said: "There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hilary Clinton and Carl Levin." …
… Al-Maliki appeared stung by the recent series of critical statements about the government, including one from George Bush, the U.S. president, who said he was frustrated that al-Maliki had failed to make progress on political benchmarks.
In addition to the daily calls for al-Maliki’s demise, many pundits are calling for the dismembering of Iraq. Senator Joseph Biden has advocated the partitioning for years. Lately, he has spoken even louder on the subject.
For years, Ralph Peters, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, has been calling for the breakup of Iraq. In July 2003, he wrote: "The Iraq we’re trying to herd back together consists of three distinct nations caged under a single bloodstained flag."
It is in vogue for "experts" to knock the Iraqi people for not getting their act together in forming the "new democratic Iraq" that the U.S. supplied them. Now, everything is their fault. According to the sick and twisted logic of U.S. politicians, the U.S. did Iraq a favor and the Iraqis have not been forthcoming in thanking the Americans. "Our commitment is not open-ended" is the statement of the day.
The stooges in Baghdad who were put in power by the U.S. are now being threatened by their benefactors. It is unbelievable that they did not see this coming.
Prior to 2003, these quislings, mostly living outside Iraq, thought they would have a free ride in returning to their country of birth. How idiotic. All they had to do was look at the treatment of Iraq under Saddam to notice common themes: the U.S. treats all Iraqis as stupid, ignorant people who can not get along. No amount of counterattack is strong enough to change this ethnocentric behavior.
Subtle changes have occurred along the way, only to revert to the original assessment of Iraqis. Before March 2003, all Iraqis were bad. They were savage animals. Then, after the invasion, we started to see a few "good Iraqis" spring up.
For a while, there was propaganda that spoke of the differences between "good Iraqis" and "dead-enders." All that talk is gone now. To the U.S. government, and much of its citizenry, Iraqis are dysfunctional and ignorant. There is no longer a line dividing the good from the bad Iraqis.
Only a fool would not have seen the bigotry thrust on Iraq prior to the March 2003 invasion and not have concluded that this was Arabaphobia at its worst. The same cliches and statements used against Iraqis under the Ba’ath government are now used against Iraqis of all persuasions.
Even al-Maliki has seen that what was promised is not what was delivered. Despite all the bluster about Iraq now running its own affairs, the shots are called in Washington. If the U.S. administration wants al-Maliki out, he will be gone. There are many means available, including assassination. In the early 1960s, the president of South Vietnam was assassinated by CIA operatives. He had outlived his usefulness. Don’t count out assassination as a means of getting a new prime minister in Iraq.
A few months ago, al-Maliki publicly stated that U.S. troops were no longer needed in Iraq. Within 48 hours, he was in Washington, D.C. In front of the worldwide press corps, he emerged from a back room with George Bush. Al-Maliki’s head was pointing downward as he and Bush approached the podium. Bush then said there may have been a misunderstanding but all was well again. Al-Maliki was handed a piece of paper from which he read a statement in English proclaiming that U.S. troops should stay in Iraq indefinitely. He had experienced his trip to the woodshed.
Unless he is even a bigger fool than I thought, al-Maliki must realize that he and each and every Iraqi are nothing more than sand niggers to the U.S. government and public. He thought he was pulling a fast one on the people of Iraq, all the time assisting his new allies in Washington. In fact, he was used by the administration and is in the process of being chewed up and spit out.
The U.S. conned the Iraqi collaborators who assisted in bringing "democracy" and "freedom" to Iraq. Shortly before the bogus Iraqi elections of January 30, 2005, the American Forces Press Service published an article titled, "Upcoming Elections Represent 'Historic Moment,’ Iraqi Minister Says." According to the piece:
Iraq’s January 30 elections mark "the beginning of the end of miseries and difficulties that the people of Iraq have endured for so many decades," Iraq’s interim deputy prime minister told Pentagon reporters today during a videoconference from Baghdad.
Hindsight shows that the deputy prime minister (Barham Sali) was slightly off in his prediction.
Let me turn to a quote made by Dr. Abbas Khalaf, Saddam Hussein’s personal Russian/Arabic translator. On November 3, 2006, he was interviewed by CTV’s Moscow bureau. The subject of the interview was the current Iraq of violence and destruction compared to Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Khalaf stated:
You could agree or disagree with him, but now even those who were secretly against him are saying he understood us better than we understand ourselves.
Saddam Hussein had understood for years that the U.S. would eventually invade Iraq and try to destroy every aspect of the country that opposed U.S. hegemony. Al-Maliki should have taken notes when Saddam spoke. His assessment was not only for Ba’athist Iraq, but for any government Iraq would field in the future.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Another Angle 25 - August - 2007
ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you
History was made on this day:
1886 - Kentucky State College (now University), chartered in May,1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons and only the second state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky, is founded in Frankfort, Kentucky. It will become a land grant college in 1890..
NATIONAL:
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE FOR JUSTICE TO BE SERVED
"While this sentence can never repair the suffering and loss brought by these heinous acts of racial violence, it will hopefully bring some closure to the families of Henry Dee and Charlie Moore who have waited decades for justice," said Wan Kim, US assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
Remembering Roger Stone Fondly
Village Voice readers may remember the Republican operative from Wayne Barrett's reporting on Stone's secret role in Al Sharpton's Presidential Campaign in 2004 or how Stone exploited his Bush administration contacts to make millions in the Indian gaming industry after he fomented the "'Brooks Brothers mob' that shut down the Miami-Dade recount in 2000."
blackagendareport.com - The Struggle to Free the Jena Six
The nooses were hung after a Black student asked permission to sit under a tree that had been reserved by tradition for white students only. In response to the three nooses, nearly every Black student in the school stood under the tree in a spontaneous and powerful act of nonviolent protest. The town's district attorney quickly arrived, flanked by police officers, and told the Black students to stop making such a big deal over the nooses, which school officials termed to be a "harmless prank."
The NAFTA Superhighway
The proposed highway is part of a broader plan advanced by a quasi-government organization called the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,” or SPP.
The SPP was first launched in 2005 by the heads of state of Canada, Mexico, and the United States at a summit in Waco. The SPP was not created by a treaty between the nations involved, nor was Congress involved in any way. Instead, the SPP is an unholy alliance of foreign consortiums and officials from several governments. One principal player is a Spanish construction company, which plans to build the highway and operate it as a toll road. But don’t be fooled: the superhighway proposal is not the result of free market demand, but rather an extension of government-managed trade schemes like NAFTA that benefit politically-connected interests.
Intelligence report at odds with U.S. policies on Iraq
The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate has effectively discredited the dominant American hypothesis of the past seven months: that safer streets, secured by additional troops, would create enough political calm for Iraq's leaders to reconcile. They have failed to do so in part, suggests the report, which was released Thursday, because the security gains remain too modest to reverse Iraq's dynamic of violence and fear. Baghdad after all, remains a place where women at the market avoid buying river fish for fear that they've been eating bodies.
Police State! Congress authorizes domestic spying
It’s the law of the land now and it was enacted with the open complicity of the Democratically-controlled Congress.
Pentagon's New Drug Weapons
While the CIA and military drug experiments of the 50s and 60s might be written off as just a phase they were going through, a new report from the Bradford Nonlethal Weapons Research Project shows that the interest in psychoactive substances has continued right up until the present day.
While We Slept, America Has Gone Fascist
A brief summary of presidential directives, executive orders, and congressionaly approved bills that where signed into law over the last 40+ years.And no, this isn't a bunch of conspiracy nonsense. They are simply facts.
INTERNATIONAL:
Iran's Happy Jewish Population A Big Problem For Israel
Why are some 25,000 Jews living peacefully in Iran and more than reluctant to leave despite repeated enticements from Israel and American Jews?
Mugabe: When a cheer jars the West, rings farthest
Sadc has re-stoked the African sentiment ahead of Portugal, itself the setting for the EU-Africa Summit. And it’s not accidental that the western envoys who expressed shock at Mugabe’s popularity are from Lisbon. They know what they will be up against should they ever buckle to British fears of the potential hazard of a Brown accidental hand-shake with the "coarse" Mugabe in a dimly lit Lisbon corner.
Castro: American materialism threatens human existence
He used the latest of his “Reflections of the Commander in Chief” columns to lambaste American capitalism, quoting a former Russian defense official who says the world must stand up to the United States and its money-grubbing ways.
“Commercial advertising and consumerism are incompatible with the survival of the species,” Pres. Castro wrote in the essay titled “Hard and Obvious Realities” and published in Cuba’s two leading state-controlled newspapers.
'Castro dead' rumours send Miami wild
IRAQ:
Report: Muqtada al-Sadr says Iraq's government is near its end
"The prime minister is a tool for the Americans, and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realize he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation."
Sadr pledges to work with UN if it replaces US, Britain in Iraq
Yazidis fear further attacks
The Yazidis, who are primarily Kurdish, follow a pre-Islamic faith which instills belief in God the creator and respects the Biblical and Quranic prophets.The main focus of their worship is Malak Taus, the chief of the archangels. Because Malak Taus is sometimes wrongly identified as Satan, the Yazidis have been branded devil worshippers, and suffered intermittent persecution as a result.
No Iraqi ever called me a nigger.
I was reading somewhere how the number of blacks signing up for military service has reduced over the years; and honestly, I couldn't be happier. It seems that since the year 2000, black enlistment in the military has been reduced by at least a third. The numbers don't lie, and the news media has just now started to pick up on this beautiful phenomenon.
OP-ED:
What would Garvey do? -- August 2007
Marcus Garvey said, “Look for me in the Whirlwind.” Today that Whirlwind has come in the form of Kemet World, and it is taking the country by storm.
China Is Not The Problem
Clearly, it is a mistake for the US government and economists to think of the imbalance as if it were produced by Chinese companies underselling goods produced by US companies in America. The imbalance is the result of US companies producing their goods in China and selling them in America.
A Boycott Of Israel: Something Has Changed
"I am Ahmed Hamzeh, street entertainer," he said in measured English. "Over there, I played many musical instruments; I sang in Arabic, English and Hebrew, and because I was rather poor, my very small son would chew gum while the monkey did its tricks. When we lost our country, we lost respect. One day a rich Kuwaiti stopped his car in front of us. He shouted at my son, "Show me how a Palestinian picks up his food rations!" So I made the monkey appear to scavenge on the ground, in the gutter. And my son scavenged with him. The Kuwaiti threw coins and my son crawled on his knees to pick them up. This was not right; I was an artist, not a beggar . . . I am not even a peasant now." "How do you feel about all that?"
The 13 Illuminati Satanic Bloodlines
ECONOMY:
Worse Than 1929
Brace yourself for the insolvency crunch
Why? Because trust had collapsed to such a degree that players with a lot of cash no longer believed it safe to leave wealth in bank accounts, or the money market funds of brokerage companies - (exposed as they are to short-term commercial paper and subprime CDOs). This did not occur after 9/11, or in the heat of the October 1987 crash. Nor did was there such a banking panic in October 1929. (it hit in August 1931). If you think this is of no importance, or that this will pass swiftly, you have a strong nerve.
Sub-prime crisis is the edge of a financial hurricane
The US sub-prime is just the leading edge of a financial hurricane. For far too long, no-one seemed to care if borrowers would be able to service their debts: borrowers themselves seemed not to care; lenders seemed not to care; and investors in the packages of mortgage loans created by banks and sold to institutions such as pension funds seemed not to care. In short, there was a global credit bubble.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
Time Travel Machine Outlined
Unlike past ideas for time machines, this new concept does not require exotic, theoretical forms of matter. Still, this new idea requires technology far more advanced than anything existing today, and major questions remain as to whether any time machine would ever prove stable enough to enable actual travel back in time.
The Best Videogame With Women Warriors and Hot Cross Buns Ever
For those of us accustomed to the stale world of videogame stereotypes—macho male characters, cut-and-dried storylines, a decided lack of culinary interest—Atlus’ role-playing game, Odin Sphere, serves up some pretty mixed messages, and a lot of fresh air.
FOOD&DRINK:
Preserving Our Past, One Jar at a Time
Take advantage of summer's bounty by choosing fresh, firm fruits and vegetables versus overly ripe, bruised or damaged ones.
PEPPER JELLY
Very easy to make. Be sure to wash and then boil jars and lids fo 15 minutes before filling. Then air dry them on a rack... do not use a towel or the like to dry! Also a general rule of thumb is to put hot product into hot jars and cold into cold.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Chamillionaire - Hip Hop Police/Evening News
The Success and Undoing of Vee-Jay Records
In 1953, Vivian and James Bracken from Gary, Ind., borrowed $500 from a pawnbroker to start a record company. Thirteen years later, Vee-Jay Records became the country's biggest independent, black-owned record label, and for a time, it was bigger than Motown.
Vee-Jay was even the Beatles' first American label.
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard Performs Live in 4A
Last year, Blanchard captured the devastation of his hometown in his film score for Spike Lee's documentary, When the Levees Broke. Blanchard also appeared in front of the camera, taking an emotional journey back to the city to find his childhood home destroyed.
Blanchard continues his story on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with his latest CD, "A Tale of God's Will (a requiem for Katrina)."
Kanye, Eve Answer Gay Rumors
Both Kanye West and Eve have come out recently to address gay rumors that have followed them throughout their careers.
Seventh Annual Salsa Congress Brings the Moves Back Home
As a Haitian gentlemen said at the Club Cache salsa night on a recent Thursday, the best thing about salsa today is that you can go just about anywhere in the world and find people to dance with. During the New York Salsa Congress, you don't have to go around the world. The salsa world is coming here, coming home.
Ted Nugent Goes Off On Obama And Hillary!
HUMOR?:
Homey the Clown (In Living Color)
Brother Daman Wayans in the early days.
News others won't tell you
History was made on this day:
1886 - Kentucky State College (now University), chartered in May,1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons and only the second state-supported institution of higher learning in Kentucky, is founded in Frankfort, Kentucky. It will become a land grant college in 1890..
NATIONAL:
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE FOR JUSTICE TO BE SERVED
"While this sentence can never repair the suffering and loss brought by these heinous acts of racial violence, it will hopefully bring some closure to the families of Henry Dee and Charlie Moore who have waited decades for justice," said Wan Kim, US assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
Remembering Roger Stone Fondly
Village Voice readers may remember the Republican operative from Wayne Barrett's reporting on Stone's secret role in Al Sharpton's Presidential Campaign in 2004 or how Stone exploited his Bush administration contacts to make millions in the Indian gaming industry after he fomented the "'Brooks Brothers mob' that shut down the Miami-Dade recount in 2000."
blackagendareport.com - The Struggle to Free the Jena Six
The nooses were hung after a Black student asked permission to sit under a tree that had been reserved by tradition for white students only. In response to the three nooses, nearly every Black student in the school stood under the tree in a spontaneous and powerful act of nonviolent protest. The town's district attorney quickly arrived, flanked by police officers, and told the Black students to stop making such a big deal over the nooses, which school officials termed to be a "harmless prank."
The NAFTA Superhighway
The proposed highway is part of a broader plan advanced by a quasi-government organization called the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,” or SPP.
The SPP was first launched in 2005 by the heads of state of Canada, Mexico, and the United States at a summit in Waco. The SPP was not created by a treaty between the nations involved, nor was Congress involved in any way. Instead, the SPP is an unholy alliance of foreign consortiums and officials from several governments. One principal player is a Spanish construction company, which plans to build the highway and operate it as a toll road. But don’t be fooled: the superhighway proposal is not the result of free market demand, but rather an extension of government-managed trade schemes like NAFTA that benefit politically-connected interests.
Intelligence report at odds with U.S. policies on Iraq
The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate has effectively discredited the dominant American hypothesis of the past seven months: that safer streets, secured by additional troops, would create enough political calm for Iraq's leaders to reconcile. They have failed to do so in part, suggests the report, which was released Thursday, because the security gains remain too modest to reverse Iraq's dynamic of violence and fear. Baghdad after all, remains a place where women at the market avoid buying river fish for fear that they've been eating bodies.
Police State! Congress authorizes domestic spying
It’s the law of the land now and it was enacted with the open complicity of the Democratically-controlled Congress.
Pentagon's New Drug Weapons
While the CIA and military drug experiments of the 50s and 60s might be written off as just a phase they were going through, a new report from the Bradford Nonlethal Weapons Research Project shows that the interest in psychoactive substances has continued right up until the present day.
While We Slept, America Has Gone Fascist
A brief summary of presidential directives, executive orders, and congressionaly approved bills that where signed into law over the last 40+ years.And no, this isn't a bunch of conspiracy nonsense. They are simply facts.
INTERNATIONAL:
Iran's Happy Jewish Population A Big Problem For Israel
Why are some 25,000 Jews living peacefully in Iran and more than reluctant to leave despite repeated enticements from Israel and American Jews?
Mugabe: When a cheer jars the West, rings farthest
Sadc has re-stoked the African sentiment ahead of Portugal, itself the setting for the EU-Africa Summit. And it’s not accidental that the western envoys who expressed shock at Mugabe’s popularity are from Lisbon. They know what they will be up against should they ever buckle to British fears of the potential hazard of a Brown accidental hand-shake with the "coarse" Mugabe in a dimly lit Lisbon corner.
Castro: American materialism threatens human existence
He used the latest of his “Reflections of the Commander in Chief” columns to lambaste American capitalism, quoting a former Russian defense official who says the world must stand up to the United States and its money-grubbing ways.
“Commercial advertising and consumerism are incompatible with the survival of the species,” Pres. Castro wrote in the essay titled “Hard and Obvious Realities” and published in Cuba’s two leading state-controlled newspapers.
'Castro dead' rumours send Miami wild
IRAQ:
Report: Muqtada al-Sadr says Iraq's government is near its end
"The prime minister is a tool for the Americans, and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realize he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation."
Sadr pledges to work with UN if it replaces US, Britain in Iraq
Yazidis fear further attacks
The Yazidis, who are primarily Kurdish, follow a pre-Islamic faith which instills belief in God the creator and respects the Biblical and Quranic prophets.The main focus of their worship is Malak Taus, the chief of the archangels. Because Malak Taus is sometimes wrongly identified as Satan, the Yazidis have been branded devil worshippers, and suffered intermittent persecution as a result.
No Iraqi ever called me a nigger.
I was reading somewhere how the number of blacks signing up for military service has reduced over the years; and honestly, I couldn't be happier. It seems that since the year 2000, black enlistment in the military has been reduced by at least a third. The numbers don't lie, and the news media has just now started to pick up on this beautiful phenomenon.
OP-ED:
What would Garvey do? -- August 2007
Marcus Garvey said, “Look for me in the Whirlwind.” Today that Whirlwind has come in the form of Kemet World, and it is taking the country by storm.
China Is Not The Problem
Clearly, it is a mistake for the US government and economists to think of the imbalance as if it were produced by Chinese companies underselling goods produced by US companies in America. The imbalance is the result of US companies producing their goods in China and selling them in America.
A Boycott Of Israel: Something Has Changed
"I am Ahmed Hamzeh, street entertainer," he said in measured English. "Over there, I played many musical instruments; I sang in Arabic, English and Hebrew, and because I was rather poor, my very small son would chew gum while the monkey did its tricks. When we lost our country, we lost respect. One day a rich Kuwaiti stopped his car in front of us. He shouted at my son, "Show me how a Palestinian picks up his food rations!" So I made the monkey appear to scavenge on the ground, in the gutter. And my son scavenged with him. The Kuwaiti threw coins and my son crawled on his knees to pick them up. This was not right; I was an artist, not a beggar . . . I am not even a peasant now." "How do you feel about all that?"
The 13 Illuminati Satanic Bloodlines
ECONOMY:
Worse Than 1929
Brace yourself for the insolvency crunch
Why? Because trust had collapsed to such a degree that players with a lot of cash no longer believed it safe to leave wealth in bank accounts, or the money market funds of brokerage companies - (exposed as they are to short-term commercial paper and subprime CDOs). This did not occur after 9/11, or in the heat of the October 1987 crash. Nor did was there such a banking panic in October 1929. (it hit in August 1931). If you think this is of no importance, or that this will pass swiftly, you have a strong nerve.
Sub-prime crisis is the edge of a financial hurricane
The US sub-prime is just the leading edge of a financial hurricane. For far too long, no-one seemed to care if borrowers would be able to service their debts: borrowers themselves seemed not to care; lenders seemed not to care; and investors in the packages of mortgage loans created by banks and sold to institutions such as pension funds seemed not to care. In short, there was a global credit bubble.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
Time Travel Machine Outlined
Unlike past ideas for time machines, this new concept does not require exotic, theoretical forms of matter. Still, this new idea requires technology far more advanced than anything existing today, and major questions remain as to whether any time machine would ever prove stable enough to enable actual travel back in time.
The Best Videogame With Women Warriors and Hot Cross Buns Ever
For those of us accustomed to the stale world of videogame stereotypes—macho male characters, cut-and-dried storylines, a decided lack of culinary interest—Atlus’ role-playing game, Odin Sphere, serves up some pretty mixed messages, and a lot of fresh air.
FOOD&DRINK:
Preserving Our Past, One Jar at a Time
Take advantage of summer's bounty by choosing fresh, firm fruits and vegetables versus overly ripe, bruised or damaged ones.
PEPPER JELLY
Very easy to make. Be sure to wash and then boil jars and lids fo 15 minutes before filling. Then air dry them on a rack... do not use a towel or the like to dry! Also a general rule of thumb is to put hot product into hot jars and cold into cold.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Chamillionaire - Hip Hop Police/Evening News
The Success and Undoing of Vee-Jay Records
In 1953, Vivian and James Bracken from Gary, Ind., borrowed $500 from a pawnbroker to start a record company. Thirteen years later, Vee-Jay Records became the country's biggest independent, black-owned record label, and for a time, it was bigger than Motown.
Vee-Jay was even the Beatles' first American label.
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard Performs Live in 4A
Last year, Blanchard captured the devastation of his hometown in his film score for Spike Lee's documentary, When the Levees Broke. Blanchard also appeared in front of the camera, taking an emotional journey back to the city to find his childhood home destroyed.
Blanchard continues his story on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with his latest CD, "A Tale of God's Will (a requiem for Katrina)."
Kanye, Eve Answer Gay Rumors
Both Kanye West and Eve have come out recently to address gay rumors that have followed them throughout their careers.
Seventh Annual Salsa Congress Brings the Moves Back Home
As a Haitian gentlemen said at the Club Cache salsa night on a recent Thursday, the best thing about salsa today is that you can go just about anywhere in the world and find people to dance with. During the New York Salsa Congress, you don't have to go around the world. The salsa world is coming here, coming home.
Ted Nugent Goes Off On Obama And Hillary!
HUMOR?:
Homey the Clown (In Living Color)
Brother Daman Wayans in the early days.
Just a Little Music for Ya!
This is the first of the music entries. We will put together these mini concerts every Saturday. This one featuring one of the greatest of all time Miles Davis. Not just great because of his musical ability, but for his leadership. This man changed the course of music history repeatedly. From Be-Bop to Cool to infusing Jazz and Hip Hop. Check It!
Miles Davis & John Coltrane- SO WHAT
Two of the greatest together.
The Miles-Davis-Tapes, 1967
Miles Davis & John Coltrane- SO WHAT
Two of the greatest together.
The Miles-Davis-Tapes, 1967
Tutu (live) Miles Davis
Miles Davis - Miles in Paris 1/10
Miles Davis - Miles in Paris 2/10
Make sure you play both. Recorded during the 10th Paris Jazz Festival - 3rd November, 1989 in Zenith. All I can say is... Kenny You are a Bad Ass!! This entire concert is here on the tube.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Another Angle 27 - July - 2007
ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you
NATIONAL:
Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour
Hagee stressed the need for a preemptive military attack on Iran to "prevent a nuclear holocaust" as he introduced Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to thunderous applause from the crowd. Lieberman compared Hagee to Moses and pointed out a visiting Rick Santorum as a "worker for what is good in our society."
Gonzales Probed, Rove Subpoenaed
Hopefully it's an anal probe!
Activists pressuring Georgia to free Genarlow Wilson
The NAACP is also calling for the ouster of the Douglas County District Attorney, David McDade. Genarlow Wilson’s case is steadily gaining national attention, as Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, in his address at a NAACP convention held in Detroit July 12, made mention of the disparity between Mr. Wilson’s case and the commuting of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s prison term.
FBI to recruit thousands of covert informants
The FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants.
Guard numbers on border to be halved
As I have told many, there will be no legalization or amnesty. If They make the Hispanics legal then they have to pay them. Then they have to work under the rules that WE set up.
No more seven workers for the price of one. No more working 16 hours a day.
Baboon Hunting Season Open
Bush's executive orders read like the most diabolical sci-fi novel and outline such a drastic surgery to the US that it should be enough to start an exodus. But, of course, the yank doesn't read, apart from thick-font tabloid headlines, and it's unlikely any of the Bush media whores are going to cover this, as the pro-US vacuous tit-bouncing lip-inflated bimbos have lied for the last at least 7 years 24/7. So don't expect any serious awakening of the sleeping giant genitally-mutilated baboon here.
Obama Tries to Turn Clinton Words on Her
INTERNATIONAL:
Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable cruise missile
IRAQ:
New U.S. Embassy rises in Iraq
"It's all for them, all of Iraq's resources, water, electricity, security," said Raid Kadhim Kareem, who has watched the buildings go up at a floodlighted site bristling with construction cranes from his post guarding an abandoned home on the other side of the Tigris River. "It's as if it's their country, and we are guests staying here."
Slave labor used to contruct U.S. Embassy In Baghdad.
Download Play
OP-ED:
Conservative blog: It's time to take Fredo fishing
No, Alberto Gonzales should not be offed. Let me repeat that: No one should kill, wound, or even try to temporarily inconvenience the life functions of the current Attorney General of the United States. But the man President Bush calls "Fredo"--was a Presidential nickname ever more apt?--should at long last be invited to spend more time with his family. Much more time. He should be a Soccer Dad, a Harry Potter Dad, a Couch Potato, Sleeping Late In The Morning The Better To Avoid Any Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings He Might Accidentally Stumble Into Dad, a Dad who doesn't leave the Gonzales family compound for any reason whatsoever without legions upon legions of intelligent adults accompanying him in a supervisory capacity.
Voice of the White House July 19, 2007
The Democrats are pussy-futting around, enraging the electorate who elected them to stop the crazy Bush from further manic bloodshed. Recruitment has tanked, the Surge is a total flop, Republicans are hysterical with fear and about 30% of the staff has quit the Monkey Palace with more desertions planned. I still think the only thing to do is to impeach both Bush and Cheney but the Democrats are too frightened and too busy looking for more lobbyist money to be worth more than a pinch of sour owl shit.”
Clarence Thomas: a Lost Cause – Part II
It is ironic that Thomas would rule out the use of race in all but the most extreme circumstances when he has advanced all the way to the Supreme Court largely because of his race.In their book, “Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas,” Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher observe: “Every Thomas employer, from Danforth, who gave him his first job, to President George H.W. Bush, who nominated him to the Supreme Court, chose Thomas at least partly because he is black. Race is a central fact of his meteoric rise, and Thomas has alternately denied it and resented it –all the way to the top.”
ECONOMY:
Rethink the old Slavemaster-Slave relationship
It appears that integration has only meant the surrendering of our dollars to others so that they can enhance their lives while our businesses close and our problems remain unattended. We must look like a very foolish people in the eyes of others who nurse themselves to economic strength on our earnings and then abandon us and ridicule us as they advance and leave us further behind. We need to turn constructively inward, pool our resources intellectually and financially, and begin to build a future for ourselves and our children. We must patronize ourselves, as others patronize themselves.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
More Apple "IPhone" Security Flaws Exposed by "Globalist" Security Company
HEALTH&FITNESS:
FDA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO ELIMINATE VITAMIN COMPANIES
Within this 800 page rule the FDA states, “We find that this final rule will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.... Establishments with above average costs, and even establishments with average costs, could be hard pressed to continue to operate.
FOOD&DRINK:
Roasted Zucchini and Radishes
Radishes, when roasted, lose their bite and perfectly complement the mellow sweetness of cooked zucchini.
ENTERTAINMENT:
In Hurricane Katrina's surreal backwaters
Around the block from the corner of Forstall and Galvez in the Lower Ninth Ward, a ragtag armada of pirogues, sailboats and motorboats stripped of their engines sit on a dusty curb. Though they may have once been used in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to rescue flood victims, their next cue will be as props for "Black Water Transit," a Hollywood "post-Katrina gunrunning thriller" once slated to star Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis, now set to feature Lawrence Fishburne and Karl Urban. Production workers have also built a "wrecked" house from the ground up at this desolate corner in the city's hardest-hit neighborhood.
'Cavemen' Series Gets a New Criticism: It's Racist
As the show's pilot episode began circulating in Hollywood, so did a new round of criticism: that Cavemen trafficked in the very racial caricatures it was supposed to be lampooning. By depicting the Cro-Magnons as good dancers, great athletes and grand sexual partners, the show's detractors argued, Cavemen was using black stereotypes for cheap racist laughs. "We finally get to laugh at all the stereotypes in the world directed at cavemen, without feeling guilty," wrote one Hollywood blogger.
HUMOR?:
This Modern World
News others won't tell you
NATIONAL:
Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour
Hagee stressed the need for a preemptive military attack on Iran to "prevent a nuclear holocaust" as he introduced Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to thunderous applause from the crowd. Lieberman compared Hagee to Moses and pointed out a visiting Rick Santorum as a "worker for what is good in our society."
Gonzales Probed, Rove Subpoenaed
Hopefully it's an anal probe!
Activists pressuring Georgia to free Genarlow Wilson
The NAACP is also calling for the ouster of the Douglas County District Attorney, David McDade. Genarlow Wilson’s case is steadily gaining national attention, as Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, in his address at a NAACP convention held in Detroit July 12, made mention of the disparity between Mr. Wilson’s case and the commuting of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s prison term.
FBI to recruit thousands of covert informants
The FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants.
Guard numbers on border to be halved
As I have told many, there will be no legalization or amnesty. If They make the Hispanics legal then they have to pay them. Then they have to work under the rules that WE set up.
No more seven workers for the price of one. No more working 16 hours a day.
Baboon Hunting Season Open
Bush's executive orders read like the most diabolical sci-fi novel and outline such a drastic surgery to the US that it should be enough to start an exodus. But, of course, the yank doesn't read, apart from thick-font tabloid headlines, and it's unlikely any of the Bush media whores are going to cover this, as the pro-US vacuous tit-bouncing lip-inflated bimbos have lied for the last at least 7 years 24/7. So don't expect any serious awakening of the sleeping giant genitally-mutilated baboon here.
Obama Tries to Turn Clinton Words on Her
INTERNATIONAL:
Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable cruise missile
IRAQ:
New U.S. Embassy rises in Iraq
"It's all for them, all of Iraq's resources, water, electricity, security," said Raid Kadhim Kareem, who has watched the buildings go up at a floodlighted site bristling with construction cranes from his post guarding an abandoned home on the other side of the Tigris River. "It's as if it's their country, and we are guests staying here."
Slave labor used to contruct U.S. Embassy In Baghdad.
Download Play
OP-ED:
Conservative blog: It's time to take Fredo fishing
No, Alberto Gonzales should not be offed. Let me repeat that: No one should kill, wound, or even try to temporarily inconvenience the life functions of the current Attorney General of the United States. But the man President Bush calls "Fredo"--was a Presidential nickname ever more apt?--should at long last be invited to spend more time with his family. Much more time. He should be a Soccer Dad, a Harry Potter Dad, a Couch Potato, Sleeping Late In The Morning The Better To Avoid Any Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings He Might Accidentally Stumble Into Dad, a Dad who doesn't leave the Gonzales family compound for any reason whatsoever without legions upon legions of intelligent adults accompanying him in a supervisory capacity.
Voice of the White House July 19, 2007
The Democrats are pussy-futting around, enraging the electorate who elected them to stop the crazy Bush from further manic bloodshed. Recruitment has tanked, the Surge is a total flop, Republicans are hysterical with fear and about 30% of the staff has quit the Monkey Palace with more desertions planned. I still think the only thing to do is to impeach both Bush and Cheney but the Democrats are too frightened and too busy looking for more lobbyist money to be worth more than a pinch of sour owl shit.”
Clarence Thomas: a Lost Cause – Part II
It is ironic that Thomas would rule out the use of race in all but the most extreme circumstances when he has advanced all the way to the Supreme Court largely because of his race.In their book, “Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas,” Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher observe: “Every Thomas employer, from Danforth, who gave him his first job, to President George H.W. Bush, who nominated him to the Supreme Court, chose Thomas at least partly because he is black. Race is a central fact of his meteoric rise, and Thomas has alternately denied it and resented it –all the way to the top.”
ECONOMY:
Rethink the old Slavemaster-Slave relationship
It appears that integration has only meant the surrendering of our dollars to others so that they can enhance their lives while our businesses close and our problems remain unattended. We must look like a very foolish people in the eyes of others who nurse themselves to economic strength on our earnings and then abandon us and ridicule us as they advance and leave us further behind. We need to turn constructively inward, pool our resources intellectually and financially, and begin to build a future for ourselves and our children. We must patronize ourselves, as others patronize themselves.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
More Apple "IPhone" Security Flaws Exposed by "Globalist" Security Company
HEALTH&FITNESS:
FDA ANNOUNCES PLAN TO ELIMINATE VITAMIN COMPANIES
Within this 800 page rule the FDA states, “We find that this final rule will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.... Establishments with above average costs, and even establishments with average costs, could be hard pressed to continue to operate.
FOOD&DRINK:
Roasted Zucchini and Radishes
Radishes, when roasted, lose their bite and perfectly complement the mellow sweetness of cooked zucchini.
ENTERTAINMENT:
In Hurricane Katrina's surreal backwaters
Around the block from the corner of Forstall and Galvez in the Lower Ninth Ward, a ragtag armada of pirogues, sailboats and motorboats stripped of their engines sit on a dusty curb. Though they may have once been used in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to rescue flood victims, their next cue will be as props for "Black Water Transit," a Hollywood "post-Katrina gunrunning thriller" once slated to star Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis, now set to feature Lawrence Fishburne and Karl Urban. Production workers have also built a "wrecked" house from the ground up at this desolate corner in the city's hardest-hit neighborhood.
'Cavemen' Series Gets a New Criticism: It's Racist
As the show's pilot episode began circulating in Hollywood, so did a new round of criticism: that Cavemen trafficked in the very racial caricatures it was supposed to be lampooning. By depicting the Cro-Magnons as good dancers, great athletes and grand sexual partners, the show's detractors argued, Cavemen was using black stereotypes for cheap racist laughs. "We finally get to laugh at all the stereotypes in the world directed at cavemen, without feeling guilty," wrote one Hollywood blogger.
HUMOR?:
This Modern World
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The window of opportunity is nearly closed.
Iran fist-in-glove with Iraqi rebels: America builds its case
US military spokesmen, officials and analysts are gradually adding flesh to the bones of allegations of official Iranian collaboration with Shia and Sunni insurgents in Iraq, including elements linked to al-Qaida. The development comes amid reports that the White House is leaning towards military action against Iran over its suspect nuclear activities and supposed meddling in Iraq, and growing expectations that George Bush will extend the military "surge" to at least next summer.
Do you believe this? Watch developments on this closely. And prepare your children for what's to come. These peoplpe have told us this is a war without end. America is engaged in Ethnic Cleansing on a global scale. Look at who they are attacking, the natural resources they are appropriating, and what you are being set up for.
The military in recent weeks has said that the "surge" is not sustainable. They DON'T have the personnel for it to last much longer. This gang of criminals has shown that they are determined not only to continue down this path, but to increase the destruction. While they have focused attention on Iraq, there have been covert actions in Iran, they have set up an Africa Command and inserted themselves into many countries on that continent covertly and overtly.
This nation is patroling the seas off Africa! WHY!
This nation just agreed to give India Nuclear material! WHY!
This nation is now GUARDING the largest opium harvest in recent memory! WHY!
This nation is leading the charge to subvert a duly elected goernment in Palestine! An electon that THEY insisted on! WHY!
You are being set up and you children and grandchildren will pay the price for your lack of action. After the next false flag attack on our country, martal law will be instituted, elections will be cancelled, the draft will be reinstated.
The window of opportunity is nearly closed.
US military spokesmen, officials and analysts are gradually adding flesh to the bones of allegations of official Iranian collaboration with Shia and Sunni insurgents in Iraq, including elements linked to al-Qaida. The development comes amid reports that the White House is leaning towards military action against Iran over its suspect nuclear activities and supposed meddling in Iraq, and growing expectations that George Bush will extend the military "surge" to at least next summer.
Do you believe this? Watch developments on this closely. And prepare your children for what's to come. These peoplpe have told us this is a war without end. America is engaged in Ethnic Cleansing on a global scale. Look at who they are attacking, the natural resources they are appropriating, and what you are being set up for.
The military in recent weeks has said that the "surge" is not sustainable. They DON'T have the personnel for it to last much longer. This gang of criminals has shown that they are determined not only to continue down this path, but to increase the destruction. While they have focused attention on Iraq, there have been covert actions in Iran, they have set up an Africa Command and inserted themselves into many countries on that continent covertly and overtly.
This nation is patroling the seas off Africa! WHY!
This nation just agreed to give India Nuclear material! WHY!
This nation is now GUARDING the largest opium harvest in recent memory! WHY!
This nation is leading the charge to subvert a duly elected goernment in Palestine! An electon that THEY insisted on! WHY!
You are being set up and you children and grandchildren will pay the price for your lack of action. After the next false flag attack on our country, martal law will be instituted, elections will be cancelled, the draft will be reinstated.
The window of opportunity is nearly closed.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Another Angle 21 - July - 2007
ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you
History was made on this day:
1962 - 160 civil right activists jailed after demonstration in Albany, Georgia.
NATIONAL:
Cindy McKinney & 2x Standard?
Republican Rep. Christopher Shays apologized Friday for a loud and angry altercation he had a day earlier with a Capitol Police officer, saying he behaved “in a way I know was not appropriate.”
Shays spokesman John Cardarelli said the incident took place at the West Front entrance to the Capitol during a rainstorm when the congressman was trying to locate a group of his Connecticut constituents who were coming for a Capitol tour.
Obama Says He Would Walk Picket Line
`We are facing a Washington that has thrown open its doors to the most anti-union, anti-worker forces we've seen in generations,'' Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery Saturday night. ``What we need to make real today is the idea that in this country we value the labor of every American.''
Police Beating Trial Draws to a Close
The four men are accused of violating the civil rights of Frank Jude Jr., 28, and his friend Lovell Harris, 34, during a housewarming party for one of the officers in October 2004.
Jude, who is biracial, and Harris, who is black, claim they heard racial slurs from the group of mostly white men while Jude was beaten.
Former Panamanian Leader Noriega May Face Extradition
President George H. W. Bush authorized U.S. forces to arrest Noriega during their Dec. 19, 1989 invasion of the Central American nation based on a pre-existing federal indictment on drug-related charges. Noriega, listed as 71 years old by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, initially took refuge in the Vatican's embassy, where he remained until surrendering on Jan. 3, 1990.
Federal Minimum Wage Rising This Week
Minimum wage workers will get an additional 70-cent boost each summer for the next two years, ending in 2009 at $7.25 an hour. That comes to just above $15,000 yearly before taxes for a 52-week work year.
Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement
This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement. It must be viewed in relation to various pieces of "anti-terrorist" legislation, the gamut of presidential and national security directives, etc., which are ultimately geared towards repealing constitutional government and installing martial law in the event of a "national emergency".
Texas to End High-School Exit Exams
The Texas legislature has voted to end one of the most controversial aspects of its school accountability system: exit-level exams that students must pass to get their high-school diplomas. The change in policy won't go into effect until 2011.
Teen Journalists React Strongly to Burial of N-Word
Brian Sprowl, 14, says the NAACP did the right thing, but, “To be perfectly honest, the N word will never go away,” he writes. “Racists will always use this word as a derogatory term towards blacks and blacks will always use this word as a form of bonding with each other.”
INTERNATIONAL:
Ethiopia pardons 38 jailed over political protest
The group includes the mayor-elect of Addis Ababa and the leader of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy party, which accused the government of stealing the vote. They were arrested in a clampdown that saw 193 civilians killed by police and tens of thousands of people detained.
Britain almost out of troops, memo reveals
In the memorandum to fellow defence leaders, the Chief of the General Staff (CGS) confessed that "we now have almost no capability to react to the unexpected". The "undermanned" Army now has all its units committed to either training for war in Iraq and Afghanistan, on leave or on operations.
IRAQ:
Secret Report: No Iraq Oil Deal by September
The report, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, says the issues the three sides are too far apart to agree on are the "role of foreign companies in the oil sector" and the division of the oil profits.
Iraq unions vow 'mutiny' over oil law
Hassan Jumaa, President of Iraqi Federation of Oil Union
Expert: Al-Qaida can't conquer Iraq
"It is highly improbable that al-Qaida could use Iraq as the kind of safe haven it enjoyed in Afghanistan," Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president in charge of foreign policy and defense studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, said in a recently released memo.
The fruits of escalation in Iraq.
OP-ED:
The Militarization and Annexation of North America
There may be a greater scheme for the planet ahead, but this article only focuses on what we know about and how it's unfolding so far. It has a name, in fact, several, but they all aim for the same thing - one nation, indivisible, where three sovereign ones once stood, headquartered in Washington.
The Invisible Government
In both Vietnam and Iraq, banned weapons were used against civilians as deliberate experiments. Agent Orange changed the genetic and environmental order in Vietnam. The military called this Operation Hades. When Congress found out, it was renamed the friendlier Operation Ranch Hand, and nothing change. That's pretty much how Congress has reacted to the war in Iraq. The Democrats have damned it, rebranded it, and extended it.
Cynthia McKinney on American Blackout, stolen elections, the Green Party
Cynthia McKinney talks about American Blackout, who really stole the 2000 and 2004 elections (it wasn't Nader) as well as her 2002 and 2006 congressional races. She thanks the Green Party for their efforts in Ohio 2004 recount attempt.
A Sacred Connection to the Sun
I believe in the sun. In the tangle of human failures of fear, greed and forgetfulness, the sun gives me clarity. When explorers first encountered my people, they called us heathens, sun worshippers. They didn't understand that the sun is a relative and illuminates our path on this earth.
ECONOMY:
AlterNet: Environment: Why Does Milk Cost More Than Gas?
The other day milk was selling in a New England supermarket at $4.79 a gallon. Down the street, regular gasoline was going for about $3.04 a gallon.
One of the factors driving up the cost of milk is the ethanol stampede. Ethanol, as we all have been taught to believe by now, will bring us "energy independence" and lessen global warming with no change in the way we live -- unless we happen to be a small child in a household with a limited budget.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
Australians wave goodbye to TV remote control
A new device that allows viewers to operate the on/off switch or change channels by simple hand gestures may make the remote control lost down the back of the sofa a thing of the past.
HEALTH&FITNESS:
Fitness Plan: Rest to Burn More Fat
Looking to burn fat through exercise? Resting during your workout may help, Japanese researchers report. Here's the fat-burning fitness plan they tested: Exercise for 30 minutes, take a 20 minute break, and finish with another 30 minutes of exercise.
HUMOR?:
Boondocks
News others won't tell you
History was made on this day:
1962 - 160 civil right activists jailed after demonstration in Albany, Georgia.
NATIONAL:
Cindy McKinney & 2x Standard?
Republican Rep. Christopher Shays apologized Friday for a loud and angry altercation he had a day earlier with a Capitol Police officer, saying he behaved “in a way I know was not appropriate.”
Shays spokesman John Cardarelli said the incident took place at the West Front entrance to the Capitol during a rainstorm when the congressman was trying to locate a group of his Connecticut constituents who were coming for a Capitol tour.
Obama Says He Would Walk Picket Line
`We are facing a Washington that has thrown open its doors to the most anti-union, anti-worker forces we've seen in generations,'' Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery Saturday night. ``What we need to make real today is the idea that in this country we value the labor of every American.''
Police Beating Trial Draws to a Close
The four men are accused of violating the civil rights of Frank Jude Jr., 28, and his friend Lovell Harris, 34, during a housewarming party for one of the officers in October 2004.
Jude, who is biracial, and Harris, who is black, claim they heard racial slurs from the group of mostly white men while Jude was beaten.
Former Panamanian Leader Noriega May Face Extradition
President George H. W. Bush authorized U.S. forces to arrest Noriega during their Dec. 19, 1989 invasion of the Central American nation based on a pre-existing federal indictment on drug-related charges. Noriega, listed as 71 years old by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, initially took refuge in the Vatican's embassy, where he remained until surrendering on Jan. 3, 1990.
Federal Minimum Wage Rising This Week
Minimum wage workers will get an additional 70-cent boost each summer for the next two years, ending in 2009 at $7.25 an hour. That comes to just above $15,000 yearly before taxes for a 52-week work year.
Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement
This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement. It must be viewed in relation to various pieces of "anti-terrorist" legislation, the gamut of presidential and national security directives, etc., which are ultimately geared towards repealing constitutional government and installing martial law in the event of a "national emergency".
Texas to End High-School Exit Exams
The Texas legislature has voted to end one of the most controversial aspects of its school accountability system: exit-level exams that students must pass to get their high-school diplomas. The change in policy won't go into effect until 2011.
Teen Journalists React Strongly to Burial of N-Word
Brian Sprowl, 14, says the NAACP did the right thing, but, “To be perfectly honest, the N word will never go away,” he writes. “Racists will always use this word as a derogatory term towards blacks and blacks will always use this word as a form of bonding with each other.”
INTERNATIONAL:
Ethiopia pardons 38 jailed over political protest
The group includes the mayor-elect of Addis Ababa and the leader of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy party, which accused the government of stealing the vote. They were arrested in a clampdown that saw 193 civilians killed by police and tens of thousands of people detained.
Britain almost out of troops, memo reveals
In the memorandum to fellow defence leaders, the Chief of the General Staff (CGS) confessed that "we now have almost no capability to react to the unexpected". The "undermanned" Army now has all its units committed to either training for war in Iraq and Afghanistan, on leave or on operations.
IRAQ:
Secret Report: No Iraq Oil Deal by September
The report, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, says the issues the three sides are too far apart to agree on are the "role of foreign companies in the oil sector" and the division of the oil profits.
Iraq unions vow 'mutiny' over oil law
Hassan Jumaa, President of Iraqi Federation of Oil Union
Expert: Al-Qaida can't conquer Iraq
"It is highly improbable that al-Qaida could use Iraq as the kind of safe haven it enjoyed in Afghanistan," Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president in charge of foreign policy and defense studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, said in a recently released memo.
The fruits of escalation in Iraq.
OP-ED:
The Militarization and Annexation of North America
There may be a greater scheme for the planet ahead, but this article only focuses on what we know about and how it's unfolding so far. It has a name, in fact, several, but they all aim for the same thing - one nation, indivisible, where three sovereign ones once stood, headquartered in Washington.
The Invisible Government
In both Vietnam and Iraq, banned weapons were used against civilians as deliberate experiments. Agent Orange changed the genetic and environmental order in Vietnam. The military called this Operation Hades. When Congress found out, it was renamed the friendlier Operation Ranch Hand, and nothing change. That's pretty much how Congress has reacted to the war in Iraq. The Democrats have damned it, rebranded it, and extended it.
Cynthia McKinney on American Blackout, stolen elections, the Green Party
Cynthia McKinney talks about American Blackout, who really stole the 2000 and 2004 elections (it wasn't Nader) as well as her 2002 and 2006 congressional races. She thanks the Green Party for their efforts in Ohio 2004 recount attempt.
A Sacred Connection to the Sun
I believe in the sun. In the tangle of human failures of fear, greed and forgetfulness, the sun gives me clarity. When explorers first encountered my people, they called us heathens, sun worshippers. They didn't understand that the sun is a relative and illuminates our path on this earth.
ECONOMY:
AlterNet: Environment: Why Does Milk Cost More Than Gas?
The other day milk was selling in a New England supermarket at $4.79 a gallon. Down the street, regular gasoline was going for about $3.04 a gallon.
One of the factors driving up the cost of milk is the ethanol stampede. Ethanol, as we all have been taught to believe by now, will bring us "energy independence" and lessen global warming with no change in the way we live -- unless we happen to be a small child in a household with a limited budget.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
Australians wave goodbye to TV remote control
A new device that allows viewers to operate the on/off switch or change channels by simple hand gestures may make the remote control lost down the back of the sofa a thing of the past.
HEALTH&FITNESS:
Fitness Plan: Rest to Burn More Fat
Looking to burn fat through exercise? Resting during your workout may help, Japanese researchers report. Here's the fat-burning fitness plan they tested: Exercise for 30 minutes, take a 20 minute break, and finish with another 30 minutes of exercise.
FOOD&DRINK:
How to Pick the Perfect Peach
It's a classic problem in agriculture: how to produce fruits and vegetables that taste good, look good, and can survive the often grueling journey from a distant farm to your supermarket. Food writer Russ Parsons talks about whether there's any hope for folks seeking farm-fresh flavor.
PEACH SUNDAES WITH BOURBON-PECAN SAUCE
Very easy to prepare, wonderful taste.
ENTERTAINMENT:
The Summer-Jam Report: Fabolous and Ne-Yo's "Make Me Better"
Is Hot Ghetto Really Messin' It Up For Black Folks
Meet Bob Roberts. He lives in a gated community with manicured lawns, talks "good" English and was the first "black" admitted to the Glen Haven Country Club. He thinks that he is a living example of the American Dream until a case of mistaken identity lands him in the same cell with Tyrone "T-Boogie" Johnson...
For those who aren't down with Black Entertainment Television, the network's latest attempt to provide wholesome family entertainment is a reality show called Hot Ghetto Mess, which (so far) is scheduled to debut on July 25th.
'Hairspray' Get Praises for Civil Rights Plot
"Hairspray" is a wonderfully over-the-top fantasy about an overweight teenage girl in the early 1960s who strikes a blow for individuality while single-handedly integrating Baltimore and changing the course of pop music forever.
Will 'Hairspray' Stick? Is Jerry Springer a Dick?
'Petey' Greene Still Gets Laughs, Even In Death
Ralph "Petey" Greene was a radio broadcaster, television host and all-around funnyman. But Greene was also a civil rights activist and, arguably, one of the most original voices in radio during the 1960s and '70s.
The legend is the subject of the new film Talk to Me, starring actor Don Cheadle.
HUMOR?:
Boondocks
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Another Angle 19 - July - 2007
ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you
History was made on this day:
1973 - Willie Mays is named to the National League all star team for the 24th time, tying Stan Musial for the record number of appearances.
NATIONAL:
US Preparing Domestic Clampdown
Because of "growing popular unrest in the United States, caused by the prolonged war in Iraq .coupled with obvious Congressional inaction," the U.S. military has drawn up plans for combating domestic U.S. civil insurrections. This is not a theoretical study but a very specific one. Units to be used domestically are listed in detail as are detention centers, etc.
National center to impeach Bush and Cheney launched
The Los Angeles National Impeachment Center is the brainchild of Attorney Peter Thottam, who resigned from his job to focus on his anti-war activism. His frustrations over the Bush Administration’s disregard for the American people’s demonstrations against the Iraq War also prompted him to drum up the idea for the hub two months ago.
Soldiers still go over the hill even in an all-volunteer Army
Desertion is a normal part of the military. Since it became an all-volunteer force after the Vietnam War, the Army's rate of desertion has remained relatively constant, at about 1 percent. That contrasts with a high of 3.4 percent in 1971, when more than 33,000 soldiers deserted to avoid combat in Vietnam.
White House spy sentenced
For all the recent talk about Dick Cheney refusing to abide by a White House executive order on handling classified materials, let’s not forget the case of Leandro Aragoncillo.
The War Against The Third World
What I have learned about U.S. foreign Policy.
INTERNATIONAL:
Ethiopia triumphs over Starbucks; wins rights to coffee
A deal between Starbucks and Ethiopia that ends their trademark dispute and offers more benefits to Ethiopian coffee farmers has been hailed as a potential model for other poor nations to follow. The deal allows Ethiopia to better use the modern trading system and especially the system’s often-controversial intellectual property rights provisions.
Kissinger’s Secret Meeting With Putin
When a political heavyweight, like Henry Kissinger, jets-off on a secret mission to Moscow; it usually shows up in the news.Not this time.
U.S. threatens action in Pakistan
Special Report: White supremacy and the truth about black youth crime in Britain
“Whilst there are some problems among black families - if we look at white families, they produce more criminals of every type, from extreme sexual offenders, paedophiles to mass murderers, than the black family.”
Just when you think the propaganda cannot get any more pathetic
IRAQ:
Cleric Switches Tactics to Meet Changes in Iraq
Mr. Sadr and his political allies have largely disengaged from government, contributing to the political paralysis noted in a White House report last week. That outsider status has enhanced Mr. Sadr’s appeal to Iraqis, who consider politics less and less relevant to their daily lives.
IRAQ: Mass Graves Dug to Deal With Death Toll
Insurgent leader is not real, U.S. military says
In March, he was declared captured. In May, he was declared killed, and his purported corpse was displayed on state-run TV. But Wednesday, Omar al-Baghdadi, the supposed leader of an al-Qaida-affiliated group in Iraq, was declared nonexistent by U.S. military officials, who say he is a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terror group.
OP-ED:
Clarence Thomas: a Lost Cause – Part I
Clarence Thomas is such a lost soul that when adverse, race-sensitive 5-4 Supreme Court rulings are issued, everyone knows that he has already voted with the conservative majority before the votes are officially announced. Knowing how Thomas is going to vote on a case involving race is as reliable as predicting who is going to be on the next cover of “O” magazine.
A Tale of Two Genocides — Congo and Darfur: The Blatantly Inconsistent U.S. Position
As many as five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A quarter million or so have perished in Darfur, western Sudan. Both are abominations, genocides, crimes against humanity, but only Darfur rates coverage in the U.S. corporate media, action by the United States on the diplomatic and military front, or concerted interest by the Congressional Black Caucus. The Congolese genocide, triggered directly by the U.S. and its surrogates, is masked in silence.
warofthewords.co.uk - Lessons Bush Learned from Hitler
Bush learned how to rule ruthlessly though he is hated by the people. Hitler never got more than 37 percent of the vote in several elections called over a short period of time ending with the act of terrorism that Hitler would exploit to consolidate his dictatorship.
ECONOMY:
Fed warns of $100bn credit losses
In a second day of testimony to Congress, Mr Bernanke said credit losses associated with sub-prime mortgage failures were "significant". Wall Street is nervous about the exposure of banks and other lenders to the riskier sub-prime market. Earlier this month Bear Stearns bailed out two sub-prime focused hedge funds. It has since said one of them has "very little value" and the other is now worthless.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
Research Confirms We're All Out of Africa
The genetic evidence has always strongly supported the single origin theory, and now results from a study of more than 6,000 skulls held around the world in academic collections supports this case.
HEALTH&FITNESS:
Hail The Wondrous Banana
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.
FOOD&DRINK:
Risk of Botulism Poisoning - Chili Products sold Nationally
Consumers who have any of these products or any foods made with these products should not eat them and throw them away immediately. List of products from The U.S. Food and Drug Administration... 10 ounce cans of Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 3030000101) Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 3030099533) Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 1111083942)
SQUASH AND BROCCOLI WITH GINGER BUTTER
ENTERTAINMENT:
Cherishing the Sweet Sounds of Soul
Farai Chideya marks the 50th anniversary of Stax Records with her staff song pick of the week — Isaac Hayes' performance of Soulsville from the 1972 documentary, Wattstax.
Dweezil Zappa Takes on Dad's Music
Musician and composer Frank Zappa left an amazing legacy: more than 80 albums and hundreds of additional compositions. Now his son, Dweezil, is working to keep his father's music alive. He and an orchestra are embarking on an international tour, playing selections of Frank Zappa's music.
HUMOR?:
How the News Gets Made: Print Lies, Apologize, Print New Lies
News others won't tell you
History was made on this day:
1973 - Willie Mays is named to the National League all star team for the 24th time, tying Stan Musial for the record number of appearances.
NATIONAL:
US Preparing Domestic Clampdown
Because of "growing popular unrest in the United States, caused by the prolonged war in Iraq .coupled with obvious Congressional inaction," the U.S. military has drawn up plans for combating domestic U.S. civil insurrections. This is not a theoretical study but a very specific one. Units to be used domestically are listed in detail as are detention centers, etc.
National center to impeach Bush and Cheney launched
The Los Angeles National Impeachment Center is the brainchild of Attorney Peter Thottam, who resigned from his job to focus on his anti-war activism. His frustrations over the Bush Administration’s disregard for the American people’s demonstrations against the Iraq War also prompted him to drum up the idea for the hub two months ago.
Soldiers still go over the hill even in an all-volunteer Army
Desertion is a normal part of the military. Since it became an all-volunteer force after the Vietnam War, the Army's rate of desertion has remained relatively constant, at about 1 percent. That contrasts with a high of 3.4 percent in 1971, when more than 33,000 soldiers deserted to avoid combat in Vietnam.
White House spy sentenced
For all the recent talk about Dick Cheney refusing to abide by a White House executive order on handling classified materials, let’s not forget the case of Leandro Aragoncillo.
The War Against The Third World
What I have learned about U.S. foreign Policy.
INTERNATIONAL:
Ethiopia triumphs over Starbucks; wins rights to coffee
A deal between Starbucks and Ethiopia that ends their trademark dispute and offers more benefits to Ethiopian coffee farmers has been hailed as a potential model for other poor nations to follow. The deal allows Ethiopia to better use the modern trading system and especially the system’s often-controversial intellectual property rights provisions.
Kissinger’s Secret Meeting With Putin
When a political heavyweight, like Henry Kissinger, jets-off on a secret mission to Moscow; it usually shows up in the news.Not this time.
U.S. threatens action in Pakistan
Special Report: White supremacy and the truth about black youth crime in Britain
“Whilst there are some problems among black families - if we look at white families, they produce more criminals of every type, from extreme sexual offenders, paedophiles to mass murderers, than the black family.”
Just when you think the propaganda cannot get any more pathetic
IRAQ:
Cleric Switches Tactics to Meet Changes in Iraq
Mr. Sadr and his political allies have largely disengaged from government, contributing to the political paralysis noted in a White House report last week. That outsider status has enhanced Mr. Sadr’s appeal to Iraqis, who consider politics less and less relevant to their daily lives.
IRAQ: Mass Graves Dug to Deal With Death Toll
Insurgent leader is not real, U.S. military says
In March, he was declared captured. In May, he was declared killed, and his purported corpse was displayed on state-run TV. But Wednesday, Omar al-Baghdadi, the supposed leader of an al-Qaida-affiliated group in Iraq, was declared nonexistent by U.S. military officials, who say he is a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terror group.
OP-ED:
Clarence Thomas: a Lost Cause – Part I
Clarence Thomas is such a lost soul that when adverse, race-sensitive 5-4 Supreme Court rulings are issued, everyone knows that he has already voted with the conservative majority before the votes are officially announced. Knowing how Thomas is going to vote on a case involving race is as reliable as predicting who is going to be on the next cover of “O” magazine.
A Tale of Two Genocides — Congo and Darfur: The Blatantly Inconsistent U.S. Position
As many as five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A quarter million or so have perished in Darfur, western Sudan. Both are abominations, genocides, crimes against humanity, but only Darfur rates coverage in the U.S. corporate media, action by the United States on the diplomatic and military front, or concerted interest by the Congressional Black Caucus. The Congolese genocide, triggered directly by the U.S. and its surrogates, is masked in silence.
warofthewords.co.uk - Lessons Bush Learned from Hitler
Bush learned how to rule ruthlessly though he is hated by the people. Hitler never got more than 37 percent of the vote in several elections called over a short period of time ending with the act of terrorism that Hitler would exploit to consolidate his dictatorship.
ECONOMY:
Fed warns of $100bn credit losses
In a second day of testimony to Congress, Mr Bernanke said credit losses associated with sub-prime mortgage failures were "significant". Wall Street is nervous about the exposure of banks and other lenders to the riskier sub-prime market. Earlier this month Bear Stearns bailed out two sub-prime focused hedge funds. It has since said one of them has "very little value" and the other is now worthless.
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY:
Research Confirms We're All Out of Africa
The genetic evidence has always strongly supported the single origin theory, and now results from a study of more than 6,000 skulls held around the world in academic collections supports this case.
HEALTH&FITNESS:
Hail The Wondrous Banana
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.
FOOD&DRINK:
Risk of Botulism Poisoning - Chili Products sold Nationally
Consumers who have any of these products or any foods made with these products should not eat them and throw them away immediately. List of products from The U.S. Food and Drug Administration... 10 ounce cans of Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 3030000101) Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 3030099533) Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 1111083942)
SQUASH AND BROCCOLI WITH GINGER BUTTER
ENTERTAINMENT:
Cherishing the Sweet Sounds of Soul
Farai Chideya marks the 50th anniversary of Stax Records with her staff song pick of the week — Isaac Hayes' performance of Soulsville from the 1972 documentary, Wattstax.
Dweezil Zappa Takes on Dad's Music
Musician and composer Frank Zappa left an amazing legacy: more than 80 albums and hundreds of additional compositions. Now his son, Dweezil, is working to keep his father's music alive. He and an orchestra are embarking on an international tour, playing selections of Frank Zappa's music.
HUMOR?:
How the News Gets Made: Print Lies, Apologize, Print New Lies
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
