dilapidated stoop

It's the Dawning of the Age

2008-01-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

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The imperialist build up of the police state will usher in the need for raw, overt forms of public control & social management to handle an increasingly volatile, informed populace as the "Age of Aquarius" or "Age of Enlightenment" dawns. Those who are said to be wise teach, that this is the age where the masses of humankind will be awakened to divine truth, and universal understanding.* This is the information age during which womb-men and men will be most inclined to open their third eye mechanisms through exposure to information of all kinds. Accessibility and exposure to information about spirituality, science, law, society, politics, economics, etc… will become relentlessly transparent. The masses will have access to what our ancient ancestors termed deep knowledge as encoded in the 'MTU NTR' and the idealization of which is symbolized by Her-Em- Akhet.

This is the essential dilemma faced by the imperialist, elitists, who seek greedy dominion of the world’s people and resources. The imperialists fear that the masses of people will become awakened to the truth and begin to challenge the lies and eventually overturn the tightly regulated system that keeps us as slaves. Hence, the masses of people must be overtly, managed and controlled before this epoch has the effect of dismantling their power structure. This is the big push behind increased surveillance measures, national id cards, the expansion of prisons, net neutrality, RFID technology, the chip, etc.. all of which essentially amounts to the rise of the fascist police state to maintain the status quo.

The “Brave New World” social management scenario under which we currently live will not necessarily completely change but will in fact incorporate many aspects of the “1984” type scenario as the police state is implemented. Social engineers have traditionally relied on disinformation/spin campaigns, entertainment mediums, social/medical drug use, faith in ‘politics’ (electoral voting system), division-ism (class structures, racism, etc…), to pacify/distract the people into contentment, acceptance, submission and ignorance of their slave status. Hip hop itself has become a trance medium (that blocks out higher thought frequencies) for promoting hyper sexism, hyper materialism, black on black violence, etc… to exacerbate and maladjust the development of Afrikan people. These forms of pacification will increasingly become ineffective as the frequencies of this new age begin to resonate stronger and stronger causing people to become more intelligent. In fact, It is likely that the massive build up of prisons that occurred courtesy of Bill Clinton’s administration (jokingly referred to as the first black president by the naive) was done in anticipation of this phenomena**. Social engineers will seek to co-opt and arrest the universal forces that will naturally incline the hip hop community and the global populace towards a higher socio-political consciousness by relying on gross, authoritarian methods.

The imperialists are hoping that this period of pacification will buy them the time to usher in these police state measures before their power is compromised and or threatened by our growing intelligence. As of recent, African people have been given significant purchase power after 400 years of slavery and Jim-Crowism (largely through the mechanism of debt) as a means of distraction. The imperialists intend to use this period of distraction to further develop and improve overt mind control technology to guarantee and economize their continued exploitation. We have in a sense, been thrown a bone by the burglar in preparation for him to rob the house of all it’s valuables.

The goal of this age was to keep us from knowing. The goal for the new age will be to prevent us from being able to doing anything, in-spite of knowing. In other words, many of us will be awakened to the truth, but the control measures that are being developed have the potential to prevent us from taking action.

In the foreseeable, near future, the police state will be the moderating force that prevents men from taking action in spite of knowing. The police will appear more like the army as it is known today while the army will be greatly downsized and converted into an elite group of highly specialized forces. Police will continue to have access to modern weapons and full sanction to kill in the name of protecting the elitist white power structure.

In the meantime, read, read, read, educate others and learn from others. Stay tuned!!!

*It is no coincidence that the internet (information sharing) has materialized upon the dawning of this new era.

** The imperialists have obviously adopted a take no chance approach in engineering social policy, as they were caught off guard by the mass politiation of the black populace throughout the 1960’s.

“Be alert, look alive, and act like you know”

Q-tip

Brother Okra
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Beyonce’s Toy Soldiers

2007-12-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

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When Beyonce (Destiny's Child) sings that she needs a soldier it’s absolutely certain (but no fault of her own) that she is not envisioning the type of soldier that epitomizes revolutionary struggle or progressive change and action. In fact what many now carelessly refer to as “gangsta”, “G”, or “thug”, are largely distorted bastardizations of the divine warriorhood concept. These cartoonish gangster depictions are falsifications that bear slight resemblance to the genuine warrior or gangster articles, in fact and in principle.

Slavery robbed us of our warrior traditions and in turn the institution of protectionism by which men collectively organized themselves to defend and provide for their communities. The collective protectorate unit is a macrocosm of the masculine, head of the household or head of the family structure from which many of us in America have departed from. The gangster spirit is a modern incarnation of this ancient, undying, warrior spirit, which has not been given room for proper development, or validation for its cause of existence. It is by divine cause that certain men are naturally endowed with warrior qualities & abilities to protect their sovereignty and inalienable rights. Willie Lynch not only robbed the black man of the traditional role as father, protector and provider but it also has failed to provide a substitute role for the black male to channel his warrior energy, positively. While beyond the scope of this discussion, the capitalists have exploited these circumstances and created the prison industrial complex to nullify, manage, corrupt and profit from the misuse of the warrior spirit in service of white supremacy and domination.

The type of soldier that Beyonce propagates is really a toy soldier without a warrior consciousness.* The term soldier is by itself a misnomer used by the toy soldiers to project themselves as being more serious and disciplined than they really are. It’s used to amplify their own sense of self worth & perceived power. Soldier Boy, Soldier Slim, the No Limit Soldiers, the Boot Camp Click**, the G-Unit, etc… are not capable of presenting a line of defense against racist oppression much less defending the simplest moral gangster principles. For instance, 50 cent claims to be a vindicated gangster, yet every time he’s asked to comment on a political issue (of sorts) he advances a token, house nigga, jiggaboo assortment of responses that resonates with the imperialist agenda. I’m not a Hip Hop conspiracy nut but 50 cent possesses the obvious characteristics of a CIA operative, Cointelpro agent. Every week he finds a new rival to promote community conflict and black on black dissension. Even his most recent rival (of sorts) Kanye West is contrastingly simple, non threatening, (and depicts himself on his albums as a teddy bear with a chic-esque backpack) yet has stood tall and confronted real power in the spirit of genuine fearless gangster attitude while 50 cent is muscled up and ready to only fight his own brothers.

Toy soldiers are equipped with standard (socially imposed) uniforms of big jeans, big shiny belts, big loud /colorful hoodies (or oversized white t-shirt dresses), big construction boots, and oversized fitted baseball hats stuffed with colorful bandanas . Some even wear bullet proof vests. Toy soldiers ideally aspire to drive big imposing trucks/“V’s” (or Dodge Magnum station wagons which are quickly becoming ‘hip hops’ official car). In an actual war scenario these toy soldiers would not be able to effectively mobilize or execute any plan of action much less defend an attack because they’d be tripping over their big saggy pants (or busy pulling them up) and unlaced boots, and t-shirts.*** The community would not be able to depend on them because these cartoon thugs would have a hard time even defending themselves. The racist vigilantes would catch them and hang them by their own “chain hang low”. They’d be out of breath from all the weed smoke and Hennessy. Their shiny belts, and loud hoodies with all the glitter would be too colorful to camouflage them.

The current form of BET/MTV type thug glamorization is a delusional theatrical existence in which material props are used to exert the fantasy or illusion of power. These rugged material externalizations or props are part of a false defense mechanism used to psychologically balance the lack of genuine power. Everything has a militant aesthetic and is subconsciously BIG to amplify their own sense of importance (or projected sense of power).**** This aesthetic reveals a deep inherent inferiority complex, and the limitation of power (or weakness) inherited through slavery in what I call “post slavery defeatism syndrome”. The soldier aesthetic essentially seeks to compensate for the historical frustration and lack of power in the ability to bring forth meaningful structural changes in the socio political dynamics of global white supremacy resulting in a puffer fish psychology. It is merely a bluff game aimed at the white power structure and a defense mechanism to ward off or intimidate other fake gangsters. The inability to effectively project power outward towards the white power structure often results in a frustrated need to focus these energies inwards towards the only accessible, weaker, manipulative subjects within the community/nation including women, weaker men, seniors, nerds, etc...) but most importantly the self. The powerlessness of the toy soldier leads to self/community corruption as he seek to exploit & secure access to the limited, internal, petty- resources within the community. Simply stated Black men have not been shown how to create genuine power so we fake it (by exaggerating and exploiting the limited power resources available to us). In the process the gangster seeks to emulate the assumed characteristics of those percieved to be genuinely powerful.

BET/MTV, “urban radio”, Don Diva, (corporate hip hop in general) are largely responsible for propagating the distorted, narrow gangster script by which aspiring black men are naively programmed and socialized to assume the role of the glamorized, fake gangster. The mass media has used it’s power of influence to redefine and give the impression that the gangster is some kinda pimp cup holding, loud, ostentatious, morally decadent social parasite. We are led to believe that the ultimate success of toy gangsters is measured by the accumulation of insubstantial material goods (like warehousing hundreds of custom sneakers in a gigantic closet), breeding and walking around with vicious pit-bulls, a wealth of women and plenty of marijuana to smoke. He has been programmed to avoid and reject the acquisition of any and all worthwhile external resources. He has not been taught the value of securing real, valuable resources like oil, titanium, silicon, etc.. to create real wealth. A point fully understood by the M.E.N.D. (Movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta) of Nigeria. The BET gangster only values the acquisition of precious metals like platinum and gold in the form of gaudy, useless, jewelry (ironically stolen from Africa and sold back to us for exorbitant prices by JEW-lers). Diamonds are in reality rocks that powerful men have systemically programmed people to accept as valuable.

Morever, gangster status has been trivialized as a triumphant battle against the system which ironically leads the gangster to celebrate everything that is wrong about the system in his success. Fake gangsters (primarily rappers) have promoted the overly simplified, idealistic notion of personal/individualistic materialistic advancement, characterized by a redemptive sequence of life events by which the gangster triumphs/conquers perilous, inherited, darwin-esque, hardships & circumstances through a relentless, ruthless, uncompromised, drive to be at the top. The gangster’s degree of credibility rests solely in relaying the extreme contrasts of his or her inherited poverty and humble beginnings with the long, hard earned accumulation of cash & expensive possessions amidst dire odds & challenging circumstances of constant struggle. This aspect of struggle has been true to the real life experience and absolution of the gangster creed but it has been overly used, abused and in turn clichéd by most. The popularized depiction of this gangster validation is an over simplification of the struggle that associates gangster success with the notion of climbing out of the barrel then singing, dancing and hopping around the barrel as if the struggle has been realized. These fake gangsters are somehow empowered by the notion of parading their newly gained petty riches in front of the crabs still stuck in the barrel. How can showing off your new car, chain, clothes, etc... to the people who'm you share a common root of hardship be interpreted as progressive?***** It is in this regard that the basic value structure of the street gangster is almost synonymous to the elitist black bourgeoisie class. If gangsters are so intimately familiar with the hardships of ghetto life (which they often use as a badge of honor and validation) its a wonder that they don't use their resources and influence to propogate a message that seeks to destroy the corruptive ghetto structure, rather than making it worse.

Many mid century black gangsters stand in direct contrast to today’s toy gangsters. Paul Lee’s recent article on Bumpy Johnson is a brilliant expose that sheds light on the complex paradoxical relationship of Bumpy Johnson’s so called criminality and his commitment to the black struggle. Bumpy was undeniably flashy, well dressed and well groomed to the standards of Marcus Garvey (presented in his book ‘Message to the People’). Men like Bumpy became the economic backbone of the black community by extending credit to jumpstart black businesses at a time when mainstream American banks shunned the practice of loaning money to the black community. Bumpy was genuinely tough and fearless in contrast to today’s toy gangster’s who kill innocent victims but never challenge or even resist the police. Bumpy unequivally threatened the mob, the police, and anyone else whom he perceived to threaten or challenge his interests. When he said “Move b*tch get out the way” he wasn’t addressing the black woman he was addressing the white police. On the subject of his self appointed role of protecting the likes of Malcolm X & Paul Robeson, Bumpy stated the following.

“Remember the Peekskill riots, back in 1950 [Sept. 4, 1949 - PL], when all these crackers had Paul Robeson surrounded and wanted to do him in? I heard that on the radio. So I got some of my boys together, between 70 and a hundred, and I called the chief of the state police and said, "Listen, this is Bumpy Johnson. We're coming through to get Paul out, and if anybody tries to stop us, police or civilians, there's gonna be a hell of a lot of bloodshed."

"‘Then my boys and me, we piled into a fleet of cars and we drove. We drove all the way to Peekskill. The police got out of our way; they had been warned. We had every kind of gun imaginable. And we drove right through them screaming civilian crackers, too, and they damn sure got out of the way, too. And we brought old Paul out. Brought him out in a convoy. Because Paul is Black, he's my brother, and I wasn't gonna let no crackers set hand on him.'"

While many aspect of Bumpy’s criminality were undeniably, damaging to the black community much of this same criminality was ironically inadvertently beneficial. I would be remiss to endorse the totality of Bumpy’s criminality without acknowledging the inherent contradictions. However, while controversial and far from perfect, Bumpy does honor the ancient, true warrior code in many respects. Provided decent circumstances, equal opportunities and a good healthy environment to live and grow in soldiers like Bumpy Johnson could have been legitimate army generals or business leaders, which (in a sense) he was. Men like Bumpy Johnson are around today, but they are incarcerated, and/or politically & socially uninformed to be effective in the advancement of racial politics.

The potential warrior/gangster is limited by his own imaginative concept of power. Black gangsters need to creatively refocus and follow the example of independent thinkers like the Black Panther Party who effectively mobilized and politicized notorious black gangsters like George Jackson, and Bunchy Carter who became giants in their own right. Black gangsters have the power to establish independent schools, hospitals, armies, police, and eventually powerful Nations. The bar of achievement must be raised or broadened beyond costume materialism and consumerism.

Beyonce needs to come to terms with the frailty of her toy soldier within the scheme of world politics. Navasha on the other hand understands the potential, dormant power that lies within reach of the Misguided Warriors.

*Some are toy dolls but this is not the time nor the place for that discussion

** Steele from Smiff N Wessun is a true soldier.

***Saggy pants have been in style since 1988. The style has run it’s full course.

**** This is also why some talk loud, curse, etc...

*****It is in this aspect that MOP's 'Ante Up' anthem takes on enormous significance.

Brother Okra
One God, One Aim, One Destiny
One

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Where's the Mass Mobilization from last week?

2007-11-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

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"The mind of the enemy and the will of his leaders is a target of far more importance than the bodies of his troops"

Mao Tse Tung

Its been weeks since the latest mass rally in Washington and Afrikan people have once again run out of steam in a crazed political sprint towards another loss in the marathon of struggle. Our political naiveté, political amnesia and collective short term memories have ushered us back into a state of complacency and comfort by which some have resorted to their programmed modes of self destruction in service of white supremacy. The rare political mobilization that grew around the support of the Jena 6 prompted a brief but heightened awareness, and sensitivity towards racial politics that has now hit a dead end and is seldom even brought up in the context of social dialogue because it now carries the stigma of being “old news”. The political discussions that briefly pervaded social conversations throughout Black America in barber shops, beauty salons, restaurants, bars, house party’s, corporate work environments, etc.. has fizzled out like a flat soda. Bringing it up in conversation is now a social taboo, like wearing an out fashioned pair of sneakers, designer sweater, designer jeans, or driving one of those gigantic Ford Expeditions (and soon to be Navigators) that everyone went out and bought several years ago (no offense if applicable). Who would have ever thought that we could be driven to spend $40,000 on a fad. More important, how can political consciousness be likened to a material fad? Have we become so materialistic that even our thoughts are subject to the conditioning or short tempered value system that ranks the importance of material status symbols? Aren’t the material manifestations of the universe shaped by the mind and not the other way around?1 Even Will Smith reveals knowledge of these workings in this surprisingly deep interview. How can the political consciousness of the people be sustained to maintain political action long after the trauma?

Nonetheless, If we take anything from this Jena 6 experience before moving forward let us understand and emphasize the importance of having the capability and option of defending ourselves in desperate situations. Recognize that the Jena 6 rose up like soldiers to demonstrate militancy as a sure way to get justice (on a small scale) amidst oppression and racist terrorism. Had they not done so they would have continued to be subjected to the humiliation, unwarranted abuse and attacks that the mainstream media conveniently ignores in their reports of this story? The Jena 6 in effect set the stage and raised the bar of action, for broader militant mobilization and positioning, which was heavily dissuaded by mainstream black leadership. Many of us rallied to support the Jena 6 because we recognized that their actions were logical, justifiable, responses, warranted under the circumstances in which they found themselves trapped in. The defacto “Black Leadership” purports sympathetic sentiments towards the Jena 6’s militant response yet cannot recognize the ideological value of asserting the same militancy on a mass scale to counter relative acts of racist violence and terrorism.

Black mass action must assume some militant capabilities. Our long-term viability, cultural development & enhancement will require a comprehensive multifaceted approach that seeks primary development of economic, political and military resources. The development of economic and political resources without military insulation leaves them vulnerable to anyone with military resources and ambitions to exploit. See Dr. Fluker’s patented Sequential Equation. The necessity of developing these three key resources is clearly understood by the worlds emerging powers. For example, the US economic system is so heavily invested and reliant on China’s economy as a source of cheap industrial labor and resources that China has been bold enough to deny a U.S. naval carrier entry into Hong Kong.2 China is simultaneously using this period of opportunity to build upon it’s own military capabilities. In fact, the Chinese have already built an advanced naval submarine that eluded the most high tech surveillance equipment developed by the US Navy.

Bill Gertz warns that China "is the most serious long-term national security challenge to the United States" in his racially motivated, euro-centered, paranoid, but fact filled book 'The China Threat'.3 Gertz writes, "China's most threatening modernization, from the American point of view, is its plan to build the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into a world-class military force with the most modern strategic nuclear missiles and a navy capable of projecting power far from Chinese shores. China’s modernization goal is to defeat the United States whenever it stands against Chinese strategic or political objectives – thus the need to conduct political warfare.” Gertz also identifies a book called “Unrestricted Warfare” in which two PLA Generals, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, “advocate expanding combat beyond the battlefield to chemical warfare, economic and financial warfare” A passage in "Unrestricted Warfare" states, "Clearly, it is precisely the diversity of the means employed that has enlarged the concept of warfare".

The Chinese do not suffer from political naiveté, political amnesia or collective short term memories. Their assertiveness and long term ambitions force the power structure into a state of alarm and compromise!

Interestingly enough, China owes a great deal of it's martial arts & military culture to Afrikans, as Rza brilliantly explains in this interview.

"Political Power grows out of the Barrell of a Gun"

Mao Tse Tung

1“Everything and institution we see around us, created by human agency, had first to exist as a thought in some human mind. Thought therefore is constructive. Human thought is the spiritual power of the cosmos operating through its creature, man.” Charles F. Haaneld

2Watch the PBS, Frontline special "Is Wal-Mart Good for America".

3There are countless books on the subject on the "alarming" emergence of Chinese power. See "Showdown", "China Inc.", and "Three Billion New Capitalists" amongst the many.

Real Recognize Real

Brother Okra

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March Madness

2007-11-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

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The triumphant, luminary, giant, John Henrick Clarke indicated that the most fundamental question to ask any leader is “Leader, where are you leading me to?”.

The prospect of Rev. Al Sharpton’s leadership has taken on a reckless terrifying dimension. He is the default black leader who has become increasingly relevant in the absence of genuine Black leaders who’ve either passed or have been neutralized.

Rev. Al is an indispensable, courageous and welcomed soldier for his abilities (within the cultural media propaganda war) to combat the talking head pundits who spew lies from the pulpits of corporate news media institutions. He has a pronounced ability to articulate and boldly defend the popular attitudes and positions held by his largely conformist "African American", constituency. His analytical insights are typically appropriate, witty, unmistakably down to earth, humorous (at times), colorful and marked with the charisma of a natural leader. His talk show ‘Sharp Talk’ is an excellent forum that gives voice to some of our brightest and best thinkers to address relevant issues in our community. Hence, the value of Rev Al within the context of these public spaces is justified and holds enormous value to Afrikan people as a whole.* However, these qualities of Rev Al’s leadership are not being brought to question herein. Despite, all his wonderful qualities, what is questionable is his persistence on promoting ineffective, reactive, dead-end solutions to the issues that he so eloquently illuminates. He does a wonderful job of articulating the issues and bringing them into public focus but falls short in being able to provide thoughtful, evolutionary, forward thinking solutions to effect real change as a result thereof. In other words, the good reverends diagnosis of issues tends to be correct but his prescriptions for treatment are largely flawed. This is why his rhetoric is tolerated and even welcomed on FOX news and other racist media channels. The white power structure welcomes Black leadership that promotes slow, reformist measures that operate within the legal confines of the system. A natural Afrikan leader must be well rounded, forward thinking, flexible, and be able to define, contextualize, and analyze crisis issues to most importantly put forth meaningful, effective strategies to mediate and manage crisis situations towards the achievement of progressive ends.

Most recently, Sharpton has called for yet another rally on November 16, 2007 in Washington, DC in spite of the proven ineffectiveness of these impotent, reactionary, wimp marches. These rallies are nothing more than victim support groups where abused people get together to collectively vent and express their frustrations or simply attempt to deal with their problems by just showing up. The stategy of the battleplan is to simply show up without a plan or weapons. His most recent rally in Jena was a huge effort, which yielded relatively minor results considering all the effort and time put forth. The following official statement on Al Sharpton’s ‘National Action Network’ website is unbelievably ridiculous, dangerously absurd and highlights the pathology of a leader who has yet to break the spell of Post Traumatic Slave syndrome (which unfortunately happens to the best of us):

“With hate crimes and noose hangings on the rise across the country, we must have the federal government protect us from local hate and bigotry. From Mychal Bell in Jena, Louisiana, to Sean Bell in New York, it is time for the federal government to intervene, and you can help us achieve this objective. “**

While I too believe that the federal government should intervene I'm also of the belief that you would have a better chance getting your 40 acres and mule. The vanguard leaders and organizations who hold the historical distinction of effectively elevating Black status & advancing the conditions for Afrikan people would be livid at the bizarre reasoning behind these assumptions and strategies. How could the same federal government that implemented Cointelpro and covertly sold cocaine to the black community (creating the crack epidemic) be relied on to administer justice? Where is the revolutionary logic and spirit of black leaders of past like Assata Shakur and Dhoruba Bin Wahad who in their time not only advocated for the ideological necessity to rid the Afrikan community of drugs but went a step further and literally took the drugs and profits from the drug dealers? Progressive, revolutionary individuals and groups effectively sought the use of internal resources and organization as the only dependable means of demonstrating power over their oppressor. Genuine leaders such as Robert Williams, Malcolm X, The Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, MOVE, etc, never sought assistance or cooperation with or from the overarching theoretical “justice system” because it was obvious that the government was in concert with the efforts to neutralize our progress. Unlike Sharpton, leaders like Assata were never allowed media space to speak openly and candidly about her leadership ideology and strategies because they were effectively threatening to the status quo. Malcolm X warned in his classic 1964 speech “The Ballet or the Bullet” that “When you take your case to Washington, D.C., you're taking it to the criminal who's responsible; it's like running from the wolf to the fox.”

These rallies are not empowering because they place us in a fragile position as victims to plead for relief from our abusers thereby reinforcing our psychological acceptance of inferior status as secondary citizens and our dependence on others. Rev. Al’s ideology (or idiot-tology in this case) cedes the power to effect change in the hands of our abuser. Rev Al practices what I call “the politics of pity” wherein he seeks to use our tears to seek remorse from the people who caused us to cry in the first place.*** He believes that he can assemble Black folks en mass to stand before a numb and insensitive, justice department to collectively demonstrate how poorly we’ve been treated, in hopes that this will appeal to their sense of compassion. Why does he expect the “federal government” to conflict their own nature in granting us political justice (as if the justice department is somehow unaware of our mistreatment)? Rev Al suffers from Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome because his mentality is such that his concept of justice requires the cooperation and consent of his white slave master who in this case is represented by “the federal government”. In doing so he seeks meaningless protection from someone or something outside of himself. It should be quite clear that anyone seeking assistance from the government to provide protection is inherently weak and accepting of their own powerlessness. True Black Power will only be demonstrated when the federal government attempts to seek us out to make concessions, not the other way around. This reckless dependency will only effectively serve to increase the vulnerability of black folks thereby allowing more of us to be killed and abused.

These rally’s serve to bolster the local economies in which they are held. The residual effects of the large influx of the thousands of people who attend these rallies is such that local white owned business, including fancy hotels, convenience stores, restaurants, airlines, gas stations, public transportation services, taxis services, bus companies, etc... tend to benefit from the added business. Hence, we ironically serve to strengthen and reinforce the existing power structure by feeding it our money. Any jurisdiction that needs economic stimulation need only to scandolously abuse a black citizen so that we can show up en mass to effectively jolt their local economy.

I dare to suggest that if Malcolm X were alive he would have charged that this rally is also an opportunity for bourgeoisie blacks and political inverts to convince themselves that they are actively involved in “the struggle” while in effect having done nothing or risked anything necessary for change. These rallies are often simply low risk protests, and forms of mild entertainment that people attend for status enhancement, bragging rights or just to break the monotony of the everday, uninvolved, life experience that the uninitiated called boredom. Some attend these rally’s to hustle t-shirts (and I don’t blame them). Malcolm fittingly referred to the “March on Washington” as the “Farce on Washington” for many of the same reasons (minus the t-shirts).

Rev Al’s ideology is rooted in the disillusionment that transplanting the passive, civil rights movement tactics of the past into today’s struggle will effectively change the system. The belief that the civil rights movement was the principal factor in effecting black progress is a gross falsification of historical fact and one of the greatest disinformation achievements of the elitist white media and public fool system, which seeks to hide the real effects behind America’s great compromise. Nonetheless, It must be noted that the Civil Rights movement and it’s principal leader Martin Luther King Jr. was hand picked and co-opted in service of the white power structure to nullify or overshadow the public’s perception of the progress and potential of black militant organizations that pre-existed and operated simultaneously. The growing cultural awareness and political acuity of Afrikans in America was heightened with the advent of the Black Muslim movement, (which started with the Nation of Islam and later manifested into groups such as Orthodox Black Muslims, Nation of Gods & Earths, Moorish Science Temple, etc…) many of which advocated for serious Marcus Garvey type, militant, nationalist agenda, that included economic and political sovereignty amongst it goals. The thought of a potentially, powerful, liberated, sovereign, unified, Black political force (or Fear of A Black Planet) was petrifying to the white power structure, who quickly and defensively sought cooperation with civil rights leaders who’s goals and strategies were a welcomed alternative to it’s more radical Muslim inspired predecessor and cousin The Nation of Islam. The civil rights movements strategies were preferred by the white power structure because while it forced the power structure to make some concessions to black people, it did not seek to rearrange or challenge the hierarchical relationships of white dominance. The so called civil rights leaders who exist today are still willing to leave the hierarchal structure of white dominance unchallenged, which is why they go to Washington to plead with the stubbornly persistent white power structure to offer it relief, as opposed to organizing a force to orchestrate that relief. Rev Al appears either unwilling or unequipped to utilize the bargaining chip that includes radical economic boycotts or militant organization. The unfortunate, inaction and timidness of these civil rights inspired leaders and the neutralization of genuine Black leadership has allowed the white power structure to grow stronger by enveloping itself within the apparatus of advanced police protection.

While, I’m reluctant to pass judgment on Al’s personal integrity or genuine commitment and passion for the advancement of our people, I’m not beyond considering the plausibility of a self motivated, profit driven motive either. All logical, feasible possibilities must be considered when analyzing our state of affairs and the leaders who influence them. The sad reality is that there are many amongst us who profit from our dire circumstances. Given the exclusivity of having pertinent information, skills or access to key resources many abuse their positions for personal gain by actively regenerating or ignoring socio-political inefficiencies (and disasters) in order to establish perpetual dependency on themselves and their services. Figuratively speaking, the plumber who fixes broken pipes with band-aids does so to remain gainfully employed. This is not a far reaching concept for many (but not all) politicians (federal, state, local), judges, lawyers, bailsman, correction officers, union leaders, school board officials, neighborhood community leaders, etc… Remember Barbara Bullock the former president of the Washington DC teachers union? Even some drug dealers, rappers and certain church leaders have a vested interest in maintaining the problems within the community. Many of the problems that plague our communities are engineered, built in glitches & inefficiencies that serve to bolster the strength of the system. The victims of this system are often times unsuspectingly naïve in their assumption that the system exists to serve the people. What many believe to be inefficiencies within the system are often times oppurtunities for intelligent mid level cooperators who are willing to exploit the trust of the people in exchange for personal gain. The system benefits because these potential agitators of the system are instead willingly used to pacify the people into submission and acceptance of the status quo. Sharpton has made a career as a type of ambulance chaser attaching himself to crisis issues impacting the Afrikan community and Afrikan victims of social injustice, which in and of itself does not condemn him. However, when this is considered in combination with his suspicious persistence in promoting obvious dead end solutions it does raise flags. Sharpton would arguably be out of a job if these circumstances ceased to exist.

Power over or within the system will only be gained when we learn to use our collective efforts to willfully affect the flow of capitol on which the system depends. Any leader who cannot put forth a strategy towards these ends may in essence only be concerned about the capital flowing in the direction of their pockets.

*Unfortunately, these victories over media pundits are largely symbolic victories that are largely insignificant and disconnected from real life. While we cheer Rev. Al on television, we must realize that these a victories hardly amount or translate to anything tangible in real life. When the television is turned off we are forced to deal with real life situations without Rev Al at our side to speak for our bold and subtle inevitable encounters with modern racism and white supremacy. Moreover, the 30 minute Sharp Talk show is much too short of a duration for serious discussions and airs at odd times.

**I refuse to comment on the statements made by SCLC president, Charles Steele who sais, “Every day, every day, we must fight for our freedom. Dr. King says it will be either non-violence or non-existence. That’s why we must march on a continuous basis.” I don't make these things up. See article 'Justice March on Washington Nov. 16' in the Amsterdam news. These coward leaders are willing to pay the price of extinction in order to avoid a fight with their master. It's a sad day indeed.

***He also seeks to use the supposed superior morality of Black people to shame the government into action for allowing the unwarranted abuse of our people. The morality package is a hard one to sell Washington (and white folks generally) provided the public perception and media promotion of corporate inspired, black minstrel, hip hop, circus like, cartoonish, Snoop Dogg culture. Subconsciously, Cosby amongst other Civil Rights type strategists have been particularly critical of this negative perception because it destroys or contradicts the ability to exploit this political currency. Afrikan people are the only known people to assume that morality (good behavior) should afford us political gain.

Brother Okra

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Hip Hop NASea

2007-10-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

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The Nas controversery regarding naming his new album "Nigger" should be contextualized.

The casual use of the word “Nigger” or “Nigga”* is counter revolutionary & self destructive. It’s an externalization of the reactionary self-hate complex characteristic of post-traumatic slave syndrome. However, the deep-seated psychology behind its common use and acceptance must be dealt with in a variety of prescriptive & therapeutic methods. Many of the conventional methods sought to deter its use are ineffectively weak in appealing to the broad segment of our society who naively underestimate its negative consequences and are most disenfranchised by its perpetual use (or mis-use, to avoid semantic dissonance).

However, I do draw a distinction between its common reactionary use and its pro-active revolutionary use within the context of art, & intellectual critique. The art medium is undeniably one of the most effective mediums of universal communication with the potential to be used as a negotiative, persuasive voice to convincingly deter the casual, careless use of the term “Nigger”. At the risk of mounting cliché’s (or stating the obvious), art influences life and vice versa. It must also be recognized that art offers an extremely valuable opportunity to effectively communicate complex socio-political-economic concepts to those who would not ordinarily seek information on their own terms. Art in its highest expressive form is an appealing, effortless, penetrating invocation of pertinent, useful information that speaks directly to the soul of each individual in a uniquely effective way. Art is often perceived to have spiritual dimensions, which lack the political disingenuousness or political motives that are perceived to be hidden behind informative mediums such as books, newspapers, conferences, the church, "leaders", etc…. In other words a critical intelligent assessment of “Nigger” within the context of art maybe the most effective and direct medium to achieve what many organizations are attempting to achieve indirectly. Hip Hop has the full undivided attention of the youth whom are most disenfranchised by its use.

While beyond the scope of this discussion, it must be stated that this whole debate takes the focus and pressure off the shady music corporate system of payola and the corporate A&R’s and talent scouts who carefully hand pick and nurture artists to promote decadence. Our energies should be focused on forcing corporations to incorporate intelligent artists, with thoughtful lyrics into their corporate promotional playlists, rather than focus our efforts on censoring the artist's available palette of words which are essential for full, articulate expression. The wholesale censorship and banning of words will unfortunately only result, in the rebellious, resentful desire to use "Nigger" even more. Angry pundits will only add flame to the fire.

“Nigger” has enormous significance within the cultural psyche and vernacular of black folks and must be given room for proper and gradual exorcism & expulsion.** A ban on the word from those perceived as ‘uppity’ (those who appear unsympathetic or out of tune with the ordinary everyday life experience of the working class) is ironically perceived by it’s embracees to be an attack on their “culture” and their expression. Many so called “street” brothers are endowed with a certain pride in their perseverance of “staying street” in spite of the systemic forces designed to kill or punish them (prison, army service) for their rejection & non participation in the system. In recognition that they have been disallowed & isolated from the best jobs and legitimate, worthwhile opportunities within the system they become reactionary outlaws with hopes of circumventing the system to achieve economic success. The embrace of this outlaw mentality is a form of pseudo maroonage, that rejects indoctrination or spoilage by the “mainstream”, “corporate” culture. Hence, “street brothers” or “G’s” are suspiciously resentful of the corporate class of blacks who they feel do not possess the moral high ground, or conviction or authority to dictate codes of conduct. My gut perception is that Nas’ announcement of a “Nigger” album is a symbolic gesture intended to openly reject the dictates of the uppity black bourgeois who he may perceive to be arrogantly overlooking the constructs of “thug legislature” or the moral G code that governs this outlaw way of life. Nonetheless, this move puts Nas in good standing with street brothers who recognize the significance (of this chess move).

I personally doubt that Nas has the ability or is the right person to pull off an entire constructive and meaningful “Nigger” concept album. He is undeniably inconsistent in producing positive songs and is not truly indebted to the “street code”*** that he professes. His own admission of being a "Columbia Record Slave" on his song Black Zombies should raise a flag and set off alarms!!! However (who am I to judge another man), I recognize that the positive songs that he has done are in many cases brilliantly complex (listen to Second Childhood) and indicate that he has the potential to pull it off. I've heard it said that If Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik Shabazz) had not been given a second chance than the world would have been denied his brilliance and we would have only known a pimp named Malcolm Little. Hell, even Prodigy (Mobb Deep) is threatening to become a Malcolm X. No one, should be denied an opportunity to create an album because of critical pre-determinism (which is just as bizarre and unjustifiable as pre-crime or the Bush administrations logic for preemptive-war). Much of the criticisms presented to date are based on 20 second sound bites of what the Media has selectively chosen to disclose on the issue. Moreover, it’s impossible to constructively critique the art without an example of the art at hand. While it is apparent that this album title is unlikely to materialize into reality, our energies should be spent critiquing the album if and when it does come into existence.

Notwithstanding, Mos Def’s classic “Mr. Nigga” is a justifiably, provocative, artistic rendition of the familiar social complexities of modern black life embroiled within the prevalence of white America’s unrelenting depreciative view of Afrikans as “Niggers”, in spite of the perceived advances in race relations. Denying Mos Def of the opportunity to use Nigger almost certainly would have robbed the song of its potent message and symbolism. When “Nigger” is used in the proper artistic context it can actually be effective in demonstrating the absurdity and acceptance of its widespread embrace. (Which reminds me of how paradoxical it is that BET invites rappers like Ludacris to explain the ludicrousness and illogicality of its acceptance and assimilation within so called ‘hip-hop’. That's Ludicrous.) I also commend Mos Def and Bun B for being the only rappers to show up in Jena for the rally. Nas, and other artists could really help their own cases if they were involved in these grass roots efforts.

*For purposes of this dialogue, I do not make a distinction between the terms “Nigger” and what some refer to as “Nigga”.

**The average brother’s vocab is extremely limited. The unfortunate reality is that by taking “Nigger” away from the streets you’ve effectively reduced the functioning vocabulary of the hood immensely. The reality of a limited functioning vocabulary is largely contributed to by the culmination of inherited slave language (Ebonics), a rejection of intellectualism as interpreted through the public ‘fool’ system’s version of education and the educational and socio-political deficiencies that exacerbate the dire circumstances of post slavery Black America. Consequently there is an over-relliance on derogatory emotional terms that take the place of more efficient expressive choices of words and terms.

***The “street code” referred to within this context refers to the distorted, glamorization, of a falsified gangster ideology that modern rappers toss around just as carelessly as they do the term “Nigga”

Brother Okra
(((((HTP)))))

Prescription for Drapetomania

2007-10-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

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James Watson’s recent attacks on the intelligence of Afrikan people warrants a declaration for independent, objective, genetic science research, pioneered by Afrikans. I won’t spend much time analyzing this assault because often times these things function to put us in a reactionary mode which distracts us from revolutionary action. But since, I’ve met my revolutionary action quota for the day I figure I’d quickly put the attack in perspective and use the opportunity to briefly discuss how the Afrikan community may go forward in countering this act of cultural terrorism in a pro-active, forceful, and effective manner.

The use of scientific racism has the same function today that it always has. It seeks a scientific, rational justification to deny Afrikan people their equal due as human beings. This dehumanization effectively allows the European to morally justify his insatiable greed and ultimate mis-use of power in orchestrating the social, economical, political and sexual exploitation of Afrikan people.

The Afrikan slave trade, jump-started modern capitalism and afforded the European the lavish lifestyle of luxury that could only be maintained provided the continual exploitation and dehumanization of Afrikan people. The degradation of African life allows the European to escape moral accountability for his principle role in destroying Black life. This is one of the primary reasons that media corporations are so intent on projecting a coon image of Afrikans. This is also the reason why the white nationalist, white supremacist, racist’s who are regarded as Amerika’s ‘founding fathers’ perpetuated the notion that Africans were inferior to whites. For instance, in 1781, Thomas Jefferson, a wealthy slave owner wrote:

“Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to me that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one could scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid; and that in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous. It would be unfair to follow them to Africa for this investigation.”. (Keep in mind, that Jefferson and other lawmakers found it necessary to legally ban Afrikan slaves from reading anything)

In spite of Jeffereson’s sexual obsession and forcefulness upon his slaves he also curiously wrote,

“love seems to them to be more of an eager desire, than a delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation.”

Abraham Lincoln was ‘kind enough’ (and I’m being facetious) to afford us some accommodations, in spite of his strong resolve in declaring white racial superiority when he stated the following:

"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the Negro should be denied everything."“

Scientific racism is a political discipline that seeks the use of baseless, blotched, self-proclaimed ‘scientific’ evidence and flawed experimental process to support and advance predetermined racist theories for the gain of socio-political objectives. There are countless examples, but a few are worth noting. For instance, the impact of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” was a monumental psychological achievement that released the moral burden of European exploiters. The book advanced the apparent scientific notion that European supremacy was a bi product of the evolutionary process In nature called “natural selection” and gave the impression that the horrific acts of violence and human exploitation perpetuated against the Afrikan in the Slave trade was an act of almighty God. In a more recent example, Charles Murray received 1.2 million dollars from an array of right-wing Think Tanks to write a book called the “Bell Curve” claiming that ‘scientific’ IQ tests revealed that Whites were genetically superior to blacks. However, the most striking example of racism disguised as science is owed to a distinguished physician of his time, Dr. Samuel Cartwright who advanced the medical diagnosis that came to be known as Drapetomania. It was asserted by Cartwright, through the medical association of Louisiana that Drapetomania was a mental illness of Afrikan slaves in which the principal symptom was a compulsory desire to flee slavery or escape servitude. It was thought that those who attempted to escape were unable to recognize how good they had it. Cartwright prescribed, in his own words "whipping the devil out of them" and amputating toes as preventative medical’ treatments for this disease (as was done to Kunta Kinte (sp?) in Roots).

James Watson’s brand of science is fashioned along the same principles of scientific racism. His ideology of racist supremacy is a continuum of the political machine conceived by America’s forefathers. His forecast that scientists will find a gene in whites that explains their intellectual superiority within the next decade speaks volumes about his desire to usurp genuine scientific process with white supremacist political agenda.* There is also a clear & curious desire by the media to depict Watson as an isolated, anomaly, and renegade within the scientific world, as if his opinions are not shared by others in the broader European science community. He is a leader of one of the most prestigious scientific institutions in the world and has most likely used his influence and power within that institution to shape it according to his views. His involvement in the human genome project was obviously fueled by this desire to prove white superiority. The findings of the genome project were an obvious disappointment to him.

Nonetheless, the scientific discovery sought by Watson would in essence provide the European unwarranted justification in exorcising uncontained policies toward Afrika and it’s people. Modern, scientific racism still seeks a scientific rational to morally justify the imposition of European will and domination over us.** If they declare themselves a higher species they will try to use this as a justification to impose, policies and restrictions over us that are regarded to be in our best interests. The imposition of parental discretion exorcised over children who are not equipped to make the best choices for themselves is a microcosm of this desired phenomenon. Afrika is often portrayed as a child like continent ripe with internal mass ignorance, violence, corruption & mismanagement as if the western powers have not conspired to instigate and engineer much of these shortcomings.

Afrikan people cannot rely on European scientists. If the European/Western science community (that uses white males & females as a universal standard) found information that was of specific value to Afrikans, would they disclose it? It’s highly unlikely that James Watson would publicize a gene discovery indicating a clear Afrikan genetic advantage over his European counterpart? Afrikans must move beyond being passive subjects in the research of others to engage in objective scientific study and research that brings useful, practical and meaningful scientific and technological advancement to our lives.

While Watson charters his scientists to find this so called intelligence gene, Afrikan geneticists must become intensely familiar with the genetic makeup of the European (and himself) as well. European genes should be studied to identify any race specific European genes (or missing genes) that cause the racist & violent behavior known only to it's race. We must not rule out a genetic cause that explains why the European is out of sync with nature, out of sync with the world and out of sync with the world's people. The plausibility of this genetic explanation is worth investigating considering the inability of the European to have ever established a functional peacful state or function with a non-destructive mindset (even amongst themselves). It is imperative for the survival of the planet and it's inhabitants (including the European). It is our divine duty to restore order and peace to this planet with which we Afrikans are most familiar.

*The Western world's general addiction to & reliance on coffee (roasted bean juice) as an intellectual stimulant is a significant fact that is often overlooked as a point of advantage for whites in professional environments, universities, etc... In general, Afrikan people do not consume coffee as a social beverage or it's stimulative effects. Take away coffee and you've done a great deal of harm to Western thought and culture!!!

**Even the latest media attack on Michael Vick was designed to send a message that these people (blacks) are not morally, & intellectually capable of contributing to white society.

Brother Okra
(((((HTP)))))

Come On Cosby

2007-10-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

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It appears that Bill Cosby has been to school and has been coached well. He has reappeared with a sharp acknowledgment of the undeniable logical realization of systemic and institutionalized racism. Cosby has abandoned his irrational anti-intellectual squabbling to finally make a logical, rational, realistic assessment of the contextual reality of the systemic forces surrounding black behavior (at least from what I gather in these two video clips).

In his recent appearance on ‘Meet the Press’ Cosby provides his most, methodical, reserved, careful, and articulate explanation of his opinions to date. In his own words Cosby acknowledges that “The power structure can stop a person from getting a better education…living in better conditions…stop improvements from being made,” He also highlights the critical longstanding fact that white youth are the predominant consumers of derogatory, corporate influenced ‘hip-hop’ or gangster rap (although there's nothing gangster about it). It must be stressed that, white patronage of this negative portrayal of blacks provides corporate America with the economic incentive to keep producing more. It has been generally acknowledged by music scholars that there is a direct correlation between the growing mass interest and popularity of Hip Hop amongst white youth, and it’s general decline. A similar phenomenon has also occurred with the decline of Bee-Bop and Rock N Roll as both musical expressions gained popularity amongst white youth.

Hopefully, Cosby understands that the effects of this degenerative form of ‘Hip Hop’ or hip-hop (as I spell it) are two-fold. On the one hand white youth are attracted to the music because they are able experience this whimsical expression of black life vicariously as entertainment or as a pseudo, virtual, video game type of experience. They don’t directly relate to Hip Hop’s overwhelmingly black identity; therefore, they can psychologically disengage or escape this experience willfully, just like hitting the off button on the playstation. Whites in general are also more comfortable with the distorted clown, coon-type representations of black people as opposed to enduring the sight of serious artists like Immortal Technique, Jeru the Damaja or Dead Prez who offer real quantitative art that reflects positively on the negative. On the other hand, black youth simultaneously identify with hip-hop's blackness directly. They in-turn falsely interpret these same hip-hop images to be literal representations of black life. Most impressionable black youth are not mature enough to separate fact from fiction. The literal interpretation of these images in combination with the preexisting social-political-economic harshness and realities of post Slavery Amerika have contributed to making a bad situation worse. Recognize that the poverty that Grand Master Flash spoke of in his classic “The Message” record preceded “Hip Hop”.

Finally, Cosby suggests that black progressive action must take place under ordinary everyday life circumstances by ordinary people in his assertion that “the revolution is in their apartment, in their house, in their neighborhood.” Right on, but the upper class blacks must do their part as well. He has yet to capitalize on his high level of respectability and influence within the black community to equally condemn the upper class bourgeois blacks like Deborah Lee who profit from the entertainment industrial complex, which socializes, and conditions black children to become coffers of the Prison industrial complex. The complexities of which are captured beautifully in the film “Beyond Beats and Rhymes” and by Reverend Coates. Cosby will be on Oprah’s show tomorrow (10.17.07) promoting his book “Come on People” It is obvious that the book will ultimately be a self damning, introverted critique that will find blame laden within the black community, but at least Cosby is now acknowledging White Supremacy in soft terms (more so than he did before). I look forward to Cosby’s book, but I’m left to wonder who really wrote it.

On another note, be sure to check out the new, controversial documentary “What Black Men Think” and the blog. Perhaps, Microsoft can tell us what Black men think?

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The Meatrix Trilogy

2007-10-15T17:45:00.001-07:00

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Health is undoubtedly the cornerstone of our well-being. We literally are what we eat. Correct thinking and sustained long-term revolutionary action must be accompanied and supported with a proper diet. Dr Kambon has been a Vegan for 29 years and is living testimony to the positive effects of proper eating habits. The African Hebrew Israelite s of Dimona Israel have demonstrated that proper dieting can eliminate the major health ailments that plague Afrikans in America.

Start by knowing where your food comes from. The Meatrix trilogy is a good place to start educating yourself and others about the inherent dangers in the conventional meat production industry. The commodification of these animals bears the stamp of the same hand and mentality that sought the wholesale commodification & dehumanization of Afrikan people. We have been systemically socialized and desensitized to the notion that animals are living creatures with feelings & emotions. It's no mystery why the rate of elephant attacks (and I don’t mean Republicans) have increased dramatically. For those who have transgressed this level of thought, here's a delicious live food recipe for Raw Chocolate Dream Cake.

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Vicente Fox Reveals Elite Plans for One World Government

2007-10-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

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The US public is now being conditioned (and soon coerced) into accepting the legitimacy of a one-world government. Whether intentional or not the truth is out of the bag. Until now, the one-world government scheme has been written off, untouched and overlooked by the mainstream press as an unfounded conspiracy theory without significant justification or proof. Much of the available information on the subject has been bred by those branded as ‘conspiracy nuts’* and leftist radicals. The issue has now turned itself over and elevated to become a ‘revealed truth’ through the mouth of the former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, a petty-elite politician, who apparently finds strength and comfort in merging the inherent perceived weaknesses of his nation with the perceived strengths of the US and Canada. One of Vicente’s most significant moments as Mexican president was when he publicly stated, Mexican immigrants in America are taking the jobs that “Blacks don’t even want to do”.

In his recent interview on CNN’s Larry King Live, Vicente Fox revealed immediate plans for the merger of America, Canada and Mexico under the banner of a collective governing body referred to as the “North American Union”. He also admitted to discussions with American President G. W. Bush on the conspired goals of a long-term plan to bring all the America’s under one union, with a common currency. Fox presented the case for this first stage of a tri-lateral American government under the false pretense of a socio-political-economic imperative to better compete with emerging European and Eastern Power blocks. It appears that Vicente may even genuinely believe this, but whether he truly does or not is irrelevant. What matters is that he is a legitimate ‘third world’ corporate capitalist chartered to do the high stakes bidding of the ruling class elite and has exclusive access and contact with that class. His contacts and his role in administering these measures make him a legitimate and rare source of credibility worth listening to.

The merger of nations that Fox has alluded to is part and process to the next stage of global, regional nation consolidation as a necessary step toward the realization of a one world government. The European block has already been formed, the United Arab Emirates has been formed, the North American Union is high priority, the consolidation of Africa toward a continental One world government is already underway, the Latin Caribbean block and the Asian block currently referred to as ASEAN are also currently in transition. Although, the US functions as a de-facto Israeli colony there have been no indications that Israel is an official party to any of these collective blocks. Nonetheless, once, this stage of regional consolidation is completed the next logical stage will be to further consolidate the large regional blocks into a single one world governing body.

The global dimensions and reach of the White Supremacy ideology has made it possible for all
this to occur. White Supremacy has ruthlessly forced a capitalist structure around the world, and was designed to weaken and strangle the inherent economies, traditions and cultures of
each non-European regional inhabitant. White supremacy then functions to commodify and integrate the surviving entity into a productive and efficient mechanism to further the growth of modern global capitalism. Long standing healthy, thriving, cultures that genuinely sought the higher cultivation of the human spirit as it’s goal were decimated and supplanted with an alien European ideology as a universal standard.

The ultimate goal of the One World Government is to seek the supreme evolution of modern capitalism. It is literally the pursuit of unchallenged, unrivaled, global, hegemonic, dominance and control over all people, things and production. The ruling class elite seeks to usurp the role of GOD here on earth and abroad. If unchallenged, the colonization that once sought dominion over nations will evolve to colonize the individual directly. The protectionism offered by the traditional nation state (which is ironically a euro-capitalist construct) under capitalism will erode towards a system of rogue individualism. The historical evolution and theory of modern capitalism was started with the advent of the Afrikan slave trade and in turn seeks to continue and pursue advanced methods of human exploitation (which began long before the Afrikan slave trade). The wholesale exploitation of human capitol has proven to be the most efficient source of production within the white supremacist construct. Human exploitation is the most relied upon, long standing production tool in the history of European civilization.

*In some cases these so called ‘conspiracy nuts’ have advanced, ridiculous, far-reaching claims, and theories that stretch the truth. Overall, these false claims have harmed the credibility of the conspiracy academics as a whole. David Icke ranks high in this regard. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy nut, I will say that often times agitators or working agents are given the means and opportunity through publicity, books, movies, etc. to harm the perception of the genuine conspiracy scholars. This shouldn't be hard to believe for those familiar with the basic modus operandi of Cointelpro.

Brother Okra

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Megan Williams Interview

2007-10-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Read the Megan Williams NOI interview wherein she provides her own description of the terrorist acts carried out against her. Her ordeal is cause for a common sense, practical, call of action for the black community to learn self defense, at a minimum. Europeans are alarmed by the large volume of people that rallied to the support of the JENA 6 in Louisiana. It's only a matter of time before their fears materialize into more serious acts of assault and mayhem against us.

Let’s organize gun rallies and hold gun ownership drives to force the issue of self-protection and self-defense. Educate and enroll all your loved ones (including yourself) in a martial arts class to learn how to defend yourself with and (most importantly) without weapons. As historical victims of white hate tirades it behooves me that black education has never emphasized or placed any focus on self-defense. Self Defense should be a strict imperative and top priority of Black Education.

This is not extremism. Extremism is when you walk around defenseless and vulnerable to the senseless attacks of those who continually demonstrate their contempt for your being. The great Robert Williams was largely ostracized from the black community by and large and certainly amongst the black elite for promoting the ideology of black self-justice. However, when many of those same blacks became victims of the KKK’s attacks they knew that Robert Williams was the safest person to turn to for safe refuge. We should also be mindful that Robert Williams is largely responsible for stopping the KKK night raids, not the police or the justice system. Read his critical works.

Get P2P While It's Free

2007-10-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

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The war against information gathering/sharing is mounting. Gather as much information as you can while you still can. This techni-babble explains the latest assault on information. Go to a bit-torrent download site and get yours. Please read the download agreement on the site prior to downloading any file (wink, wink!). Beware of the entertainment police.

The Age of Aquarius is dawning!!! Prepare yourself by staying in-formed.

(((((HTP)))))

The P is Not Free

2007-10-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

P is having a bad month. First he's punched by Saigon and now this. Hopefully prison will offer him the opportunity to clear his mind and revolutionize his music like Immortal Technique did.

Rapper admits guilt

Rapper Prodigy pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a loaded gun Tuesday in a deal that will put him behind bars for the next 3-1/2 years.

The 32-year-old Queens native interrupted his trial in Manhattan Supreme Court to admit to owning the unlicensed .22-caliber pistol found in an armrest of his bulletproofed Chevy Suburban last October in Chelsea.

Prodigy was busted on the gun charge after cops stopped him for making an illegal U-turn on Ninth Ave.

Barbara Ross

Hate-on Haters

2007-10-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

In the Katt Williams comedy special ‘The Pimp Chronicles’ Katt views the assailment of his “Haters” as a sign of endearment and praise. He is flattered by being the subject of ‘haterism’ and lambastes his critics by inviting them to “feel free to hate on me”. Katt is encouraged and fueled by this form of contempt because he correctly interprets this as a bi-product of success. The more haters you have, the more successful you are. In other words, the degree of haterism is in turn a barometer of one’s achievements and accomplishments.

Often times true hate (in literal terms), is manifested for the same reason. Those who hate, ironically function as a type of gauge that provides us with an indication of how effective our actions are in dismantling and disrupting the process of White Supremacy. Hence, anything and anyone that is targeted by racists should be of interest and studied for their effectiveness. This noose incident at Columbia U is the latest opportunity to seek answers. Who is Dr. Madonna Constantine? I now want to hear what this professor has to say that has my enemy so alarmed. Moreover, this is an exclusive Ivy League school therefore, the perpetrator was likely highly educated, and fully understood the full significance of the act. There is no way that the media can play this down as a rogue occurence in some uncultured, remote town, like they did Jena.

I must admit that I’m a little disappointed that Manning Marable was not the target of this spectacle. I know that he is busy working on a more complete biography of Malcolm’s life that allegedly links the FBI and the CIA to his assassination.

The Myth of the Mestizaje

2007-10-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Read my earlier post on 'Brazil in Black and White'. This article reiterates my point about how the mulatto factor (the myth of the mestizaje) is used to cancel African dissent, even in developing countries with non-white majorities.

Moreover, self-preservation is the first law of nature. We often assume that he who rises up to conquer a shared oppressor will reach down in his own victory to promote the status of the downtrodden masses. We must learn that freedom is the exclusive right of those who earn it. Even the radical priorities of Chavez’s Bolivarian politics are shaped within the confines of a White Supremacist value system. This is not cause to write Chavez off, I'm just stressing the limits to which others will operate to advance our own best interests. Read on:

Is There a "Black Vote" in Venezuela?

December 4th 2006, by Vinod Sreeharsha – Slate

SAN JOSÉ DE BARLOVENTO, Venezuela—Luis Perdomo, a black Barlovento resident, was denied entry to a Nelson Mandela birthday commemoration last year. Seeing his complexion, a "revolutionary" government official assumed he was a bike messenger and turned him away.

Perdomo had been an invited speaker. He eventually gave his speech, during which he also recounted this humiliating incident. But afterward, Venezuela's state TV network refused to interview him, though they spoke to the other presenters, upset that he dared to criticize the government at an event it had organized.

Harry Belafonte or Danny Glover would have fared much better. Glover was part of a TransAfrica Forum delegation that visited Venezuela earlier in President Hugo Chávez's second term. So enamored was el comandante that he wanted to form a Venezuelan branch. Perdomo, one of Glover's hosts, responded, "No. We are already here."

Barlovento is home to one of the largest concentrations of black Venezuelans in the country, and it is a center of the growing Afro-Venezuelan movement. But leaders here say that their struggle for increased visibility is too often a lonely one, even though the government claims to represent the world's downtrodden.

The Venezuelan divide is often described as the white elite versus the dark-skinned masses. Like most things Chávez says, there is some truth to this. But the black vote in Venezuela shows the enormous gap between the romanticized version of the "Bolivarian Revolution," Chávez's political program for Venezuela, and the real thing. It also explains why the opposition is having a difficult time winning over frustrated chavistas—even Perdomo is voting for Chávez.

Race is virtually never discussed among Venezuelans. Most subscribe to the myth of the mestizaje—that everyone is a mix and thus treated equally. As evidence that race is not an issue, Venezuelans point to their custom of addressing dark-skinned friends as "negro," seemingly oblivious to the irony. El Imperio, Chávez's nickname for the United States, cannot impose political correctness here, they boast.

It certainly cannot in the campaign of Manuel Rosales, Chávez's main challenger in the Dec. 3 presidential election. His signature proposal, "Mi Negra," a prepaid debit card for poor Venezuelans, means "My Black Lady." His supporters say that those who are squeamish about this nomenclature don't understand Venezuelan warmth. But Perdomo calls Mi Negra "offensive" and asks, "Why doesn't Rosales have a card called Mi Blanca?"

Perdomo is one of approximately 8 million Afro-Venezuelans, 30 percent of the country's population, says Jesus "Chucho" García, founder of the Afro-Venezuelan Network. There is no way to pin down the number more precisely, since the Venezuelan government does not ask questions about race in its census, despite years of lobbying from García.

How black Venezuelans figure in the Bolivarian Revolution remains unclear. On slavery, Chavez's hero Simón Bolivar took a position that was "ambiguous at best," says Venezuelan historian Elias Pino Iturrieta. Freedom was conditional on slaves serving in his army, and slavery was not abolished in Venezuela until more than 20 years after Bolivar died. Another Chávez idol, Fidel Castro, "took 40 years to acknowledge racism was an issue in Cuba," says García, who has studied the country.

During landmark constitutional reform in Venezuela in 1999, which García hailed for adding indigenous peoples' rights for the first time, blacks were excluded. The Chávez government has been perpetuating the myth of the mestizaje.

Most troubling to Barloventeños is the prevalence of endoracismo, the rejection of one's heritage. Marisela Álfaro says that her 13-year-old daughter already talks about marrying a white guy in order to "mejorar la raza," or "improve the race," a phrase commonly used in black families here. Such lack of self-esteem results from deeply engrained prejudice in wider Venezuelan society. The government as well as private companies routinely request photos in job-application packages. On Globovision, the country's main 24-hour news network, which essentially represents opposition to Chávez, guests have repeatedly referred to the president, who is of mixed indigenous and black origin, as a "monkey."

This is partly why many Afro-Venezuelans have not yet abandoned President Chávez: They empathize with him. They also point to some recent progress. The Ministry of Education has started to promote Afro-Venezuelan culture in schools, and a presidential commission on racism has been formed.

The economic message of Rosales' Mi Negra program also riles them. The opposition has long misunderstood that Chávez supporters prefer work or educational opportunities over freebies. Mervin Rodríguez, a Venezuelan political analyst, says, "Mi Negra is promoting a stereotype that many people in the barrios do not like."

Still, the economy is also President Chavez's Achilles' heel with Afro-Venezuelans. Many live in rural parts of Venezuela and work in agriculture, the long-neglected stepchild to the oil industry. Chávez's land-reform initiative, an attempt to redistribute large estates to the landless, was important in principle for Afro-Venezuelans. It was also supposed to promote local agricultural development and "food sovereignty," but in the last year alone, agricultural imports have grown by 31 percent, according to government figures.

Barlovento, which is mostly rural, produces world-class chocolate, but the government has done little to cultivate the industry. The administration opened a chocolate-processing factory in the middle of the election campaign, but it came two years later than promised.

García shrugs. He'll probably still vote for Chávez on Sunday but says, "I have never said that I was a chavista. If things don't improve in the next three months, this country will have a lot of problems."

Source:Slate

Even the mosquitoes are snitching!

2007-10-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

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Where are my Afrikan engineers and Afrikan futurists?

Take note: "Cyborg insects with embedded microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) will run remotely controlled reconnaissance missions for the military" , "Scientists are making progress on neural devices that can translate the thoughts of a paralyzed person into driving action for a prosthetic device" and "A novel machine that makes nanostructured fibers could be the key to a new generation of military uniforms that take on active functions such as generating and storing energy."

I.S.E.P.M.

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Top Ten Forecasts for 2008

2007-10-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

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"For the element that can use its intelligence to look ahead is by nature ruler and by nature master, while that which has the bodily strength to do the actual work is by nature a slave, one of those who are ruled."

Aristotle, 'The Politics'

Neely Fuller once promulgated the notion that Afrikan people do not set long term objectives and or goals in relation to their white counterparts. To paraphrase, he stated that the average European thinks 10 years ahead compared to the average Afrikan who thinks weeks ahead. While controversial and exaggerated there is some truth in these allegations.

Some of our scholars might suggest that this is because Europeans operate on a terminal, linear construct while we operate on a balanced circular continuum. While I agree, I’ve also composed many geometric variations of the circle and often times the edges of these circular variations were facetted. These facetted circles are composed of straight lines connected in an angler series and enclosed to form a circle. I propose the facetted circle as the model for structured long term behavior and goals of Afrikan people.

Nonetheless, here is a listing of the top ten forecasts for 2008, courtesy of Futurist Magazine.

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Zimbabwe President Mugabe rips 'hypocrite' Bush, condemns U.S., British Foreign Policy toward his African nation

2007-10-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

Watch Mugabe's UN Speech.

I suggest Stephen Gowan's critical article entitled "Zimbabwe's Lonely Fight for Justice" (see below) and the May 2007 issue of 'New Afrikan' magazine (an issue devoted entirely to the situation in Zimbabwe) for background info.

Obi Egbuna of the Pan-African Liberation Organization also provided some good background information on the 03.26.07 episode of Jazz & Justice. Download the two part show.

Part 1

Part 2

March 30, 2007

Zimbabwe's Lonely Fight for Justice

By Stephen Gowans

Ever since veterans of the guerrilla war against apartheid Rhodesia violently seized white-owned farms in Zimbabwe, the country's president, Robert Mugabe, has been demonized by politicians, human rights organizations and the media in the West. His crimes, according to right-wing sources, are

numerous: human rights abuses, election rigging, repression of political opponents, corruption, and mismanagement of the economy. Leftist detractors say Mugabe talks left and walks right, and that his anti-imperialist rhetoric is pure demagogy.

I'm going to argue that the basis for Mugabe's demonization is the desire of Western powers to change the economic and land redistribution policies Mugabe's government has pursued; that his lapses from liberal democratic rectitude are, in themselves, of little moment to decision makers in Washington and London; and that the ultimate aim of regime change is to replace Mugabe with someone who can be counted on to reliably look after Western interests, and particularly British investments, in Zimbabwe.

I am also going to argue that the Zanu-PF government's abridgment of formal liberties (including freedom of assembly and freedom to travel outside the
country) are warranted restraints, justified by the need to protect the political program of the elected government from hostile outside interference. In making this argument I am challenging a widely held, and often unexamined, view that civil and political liberties are senior to all other liberties, including rights related to economic sovereignty and freedom from oppression and exploitation.

Before 1980 Zimbabwe was a white-supremacist British colony named after the British financier Cecil Rhodes, whose company, the British South Africa Company, stole the land from the indigenous Matabele and Mashona people in the 1890s. British soldiers, who laid claim to the land by force of arms on behalf of Rhodes, were each rewarded with nine square miles of territory.

The Matabele and Mashona -- those who weren't killed in the British land grab -- were rewarded with dispossession, grinding poverty, misery and subjugation. By the turn of this century, in a country of 13 million, almost 70 percent of the country's arable agricultural land was owned by some 4,500 mostly white farmers, many descendant from the original British settlers.

After a long campaign for national liberation, independence talks were held in 1979. Talks almost broke down over the land question, but Washington and London, eager for a settlement, agreed to ante up and provide financial support for a comprehensive land reform program. This, however, was to be short-lived. Britain found a way to wriggle out of its commitment, blocking the march toward the national liberation struggle's principal goal.

George Shire's grandfather Mhepo Mavakire used to farm land in Zimbabwe, before it was handed to a white man after the Second World War. Shire argues that "The unequal distribution of land in Zimbabwe was one of the major factors that inspired the rural-based liberation war against white rule and has been a source of continual popular agitation ever since." (1)

"The government," says Shire, "struggled to find a consensual way to transfer land," but with inadequate funds and insufficient assistance from London, land reform made little headway. (2) Frustrated, and under pressure from war veterans who had grown tired of waiting for the land reform they'd fought for, Mugabe embarked on a course that would lead him headlong into collision with Western governments. He passed legislation enabling the government to seize nearly 1,500 farms owned by white Zimbabweans, without compensation. As Zimbabwe's Foreign Affairs Minister from 1995 to 2005, Stan Mudenge put it, at that point "all hell broke loose." (3) Having held free and fair elections on time, and having won them, Mugabe now became an international pariah. Overnight, he was transformed into a dictator, a stealer of elections and a thug.

Displeased with Mugabe's fast track land reform program and irritated by other economic policies the Mugabe government was pursuing, the EU concluded that Mugabe would have to go, and that he would have to be forced out by civil society, the union movement or NGO's, uprisings in the street, or a military coup. On 24 January, 1999, a meeting was convened at the Royal Institute of International Affairs to discuss the EU's conclusion. The theme of the meeting, led by Richard Dowden, now the executive director of the pro-imperialist Royal African Society, was "Zimbabwe - Time for Mugabe to Go?" Mugabe's "confiscating" of white-held land compelled an unequivocal yes to the conference's rhetorical question. Dowden presented four options:

1) a military coup;

2) buying the opposition;

3) insurrection;

4) subverting Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

A few months later, Washington weighed in. The US State Department held a seminar to discuss a strategy for dealing with the "Zimbabwe crisis." Civil society and the opposition would be strengthened to foment discontent and dissent. The opposition would be brought together under a single banner to enhance its chances of success at the polls and funding would be funnelled to the opposition through Western backed NGO's. Dissident groups could be strengthened and encouraged to take to the streets. (4)

The Milosevic Treatment

The program the US State Department prescribed to rid Zimbabwe of Mugabe and his land reform politics had been used successfully to oust Yugoslavia's president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. The basis of the program is to pressure the civilian population through a program of bombing, sanctions or military threat, in order to galvanize the population to rise up against its government, the proximal cause of its discomfort. (In Zimbabwe, the hoped for response is: If only Mugabe hadn't antagonized the West, we wouldn't be under this pressure.) This was illustrated by US Air Force General, Michael Short, who explained the purpose of the NATO's 1999 bombing campaign against Yugoslavia was to create disaffection with Milosevic. "If you wake up in the morning," explained Short, "and you have no power to your house and no gas to your stove and the bridge you take to work is down and will be lying in the Danube for the next 20 years, I think you begin to ask, 'Hey, Slobo, what's this all about? How much more of this do we have to withstand?'" (5)

Paired with outside pressure is the enlistment of a political opposition and grassroots movement to discipline and organize the population's disaffection so that it's channelled in the direction of forcing the government to step down. Western powers create the pain, and inject a fifth column of "democracy" activists and a "democratic" opposition to offer the removal of the current government as the cure. In the end, the people administer the cure themselves. Because the Milosevic treatment is typically deployed against the leaders of revolutionary societies (though the revolution may have happened some time ago), the opposition can be thought of as a counter-revolutionary vanguard. The vanguard has two components: a formal political opposition, whose job it is to contest elections and cry foul when it doesn't win, and an underground grassroots movement, mandated to carry out extra-parliamentary agitation and to take to the streets in planned "spontaneous" uprisings, using allegations of electoral fraud as a pretext for pursuing insurrectionary politics.

In Yugoslavia, the underground movement, known as Otpor, was established, funded, trained and organized by the US State Department, USAID, the US Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy (which is said to do overtly what the CIA used to do covertly) and through various NGO's like Freedom House, whose board of directors has included a rogues' gallery of US ruling class activists: Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Otto Reich, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Steve Forbes.

Otpor has been the inspiration for similar groups elsewhere: Zubr in Belarus, Khmara in Georgia, Pora in the Ukraine. Otpor's Zimbabwean progeny include Zvakwana, "an underground movement that aims to .. undermine" the Mugabe government and Sokwanele, whose "members specialize in anonymous acts of civil disobedience." (6) Both groups receive generous financing from Western sources. (7) While the original, Otpor, was largely a youth-oriented anarchist-leaning movement, at least one member of Sokwanele is "A conservative white businessman expressing a passion for freedom, tradition, polite manners and the British Royals." (8)

Members of Zvakwana say their movement is homegrown and free of foreign control. (9) It may be homegrown, and its operatives may sincerely believe they chart their own course, but the group is almost certainly not free of foreign funding. The US Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, signed into law by US President George W. Bush in December 2001, empowers the president under the US Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to "support democratic institutions, the free press and independent media" in Zimbabwe. It's doubtful Zvakwana has not been showered with Washington's largesse.

Zvakwana's denial that it's under foreign control doesn't amount to a denial of foreign funding. Movements, political parties and media elsewhere have knowingly accepted funding from Western governments, their agencies and pro-imperialist foundations, while proclaiming their complete independence.

(10) Members of these groups may genuinely believe they remain aloof from their backer's aims (and in the West it is often the very groups that claim not to take sides that are the favored recipients of this lucre), but self-deception is an insidious thing - and the promise of oodles of cash is hard to resist.

There's no doubt Zvakwana is well-financed. It distributes flashy stickers, condoms bearing the movement's Z logo, phone cards, audiotapes and packages of seeds bearing anti-Mugabe messages, en masse. These things don't come cheap. What's more, its operatives study "videotapes on resistance movements in Poland, Chile, India and Serbia, as well as studying civil rights tactics used in Nashville." (11) This betrays a level of funding and organization that goes well beyond what the meager self-financing of true grassroots movements -- even in the far more affluent West - are able to scrape together.

If Zvakwana denies its links to the US, other elements of the Western-backed anti-Mugabe apparatus are less secretive. Studio 7, an anti-ZANU-PF radio program carries programming by the Voice of America, an agency whose existence can hardly be said to be independent of promoting the aims of US capital around the world. The radio station SW Radio Africa, the self-styled "independent voice of Zimbabwe," broadcasts from the UK by short-wave radio.

It may call itself independent, but the broadcaster is as independent as the British Foreign Office is, which, one suspects, is one of the principal backers of the "international pro-democracy groups" that fill the station's coffers with the cash that allow it to operate. (12) The radio station's website evinces a fondness for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's take on Zimbabwe, which happens to be more or less equivalent to that of the formal political opposition in Zimbabwe, which also happens to be more or less equivalent to that of foreign investors, banks, and shareholders. That the station operates out of studios in London -- and it seems, if it had its druthers, would not only put an end to Harare's crackdown on foreign meddling in Zimbabwe's internal affairs, but see to it that policies friendly to the rent, profits and interest of foreign owners and investors were allowed to flourish -- should leave little doubt as to who's behind the "international pro-democracy groups" that have put SW Radio Africa on the air.

In late March 2007, Robert from SW Radio Africa contacted me by e-mail to find out if I had been hired by the Mugabe government to write an article that appeared on the Counterpunch website, titled What's Really Going On in Zimbabwe? (13)

Stephen,

Do you promise (cross your heart) that you received no money from Zimbabwe's Ministry of Information (or any group acting on their behalf) to write this piece?

The rhetoric does sound awfully familiar.

Richard

Richard,

From your e-mail address I take it you work for UK-based SW Radio Africa, which broadcasts Studio 7, the Zimbabwe program of the Voice of America, funded by the US government.

I don't receive money, support, assistance -- not even foot massages -- from anyone in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean government or any of its agents or representatives.

Now, do you promise (cross your heart) that you receive no money from the US or British governments or from the US Ministry of Truth, viz., the Voice of America, (or any group acting on their behalf)?

Your rhetoric sounds awfully familiar.

Steve

Robert replied with assurances that "We are, in truth, totally independent, sponsored by a variety of groups that support democracy and freedom of expression," but didn't explain how Radio SW Africa could be "totally independent" and at the same time dependent on its sponsors. When I asked who the station's sponsors were, he declined to tell me.

An equally important component of the counter-revolutionary vanguard is the formal political opposition. This to be comprised of a single party which unites all the opposition parties under a single banner, to maximize the strength of the formal political forces arrayed against the government, and therefore to increase the probability of the anti-government forces making a respectable showing at the polls. The united opposition is to have one goal:

deposing the government. In order that it is invested with moral gravitas, its name must emphasize the word "democracy." In Serbia, the anti-Milosevic opposition united under the banner, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia. In Zimbabwe, the opposition calls itself the Movement for Democratic Change.

This serves the additional function of calling the government's commitment to democracy into question. If the opposition is "the democratic opposition"

then what must the government be? The answer, of course, is undemocratic.

Integral to the Milosevic treatment is accusing the government of electoral fraud to justify a transition from electoral to insurrectionary politics.

The accusations build and build as the day of the vote approaches, until, by sheer repetition, they are accepted as a matter of indisputable truth. This has a heads I win, tails you lose character. If the opposition loses the election, the vote is confirmed to be illegitimate, as all the pre-election warnings predicted it would be, unleashing a torrent of people onto the streets to demand the government step down. If the opposition wins the election, the accusations are forgotten.

The US, the European Union and international human rights organizations denounced the last election in Zimbabwe as tilted in favour of the governing party. The evidence for this was that the state controls the state-owned media, the military, the police and the electoral mechanisms. Since the state of every country controls the military, the police and the electoral mechanisms, and the state-owned media if it has one, this implies elections in all countries are titled in favour of the governing party, a manifestly absurd point of view.

So far the Milosevic treatment has failed to achieve its desired end in Zimbabwe. One of the reasons why is that the formal political opposition has failed to execute the plan to a tee. The lapse centers around what is know as Plan B. The Los Angeles Times describes Plan B this way: "Insiders are asking what happened to the opposition's 'Plan B' that they had designed to put into operation the day after the March (2005) elections. The plan called for (the MDC leader, Morgan) Tsvangirai to claim a confident victory, with masses of his jubilant supporters flooding the streets for a spontaneous victory party -- banking on the idea that with observers from neighbouring African countries and the international media present, Mugabe's security forces would hesitate to unleash violence." (14) (Note the reference to the planned "spontaneous" victory party.) That Plan B wasn't executed may be the reason Tsvangirai is no longer in control of a unified MDC, and is vying with Arthur Mutambara, an Oxford educated robotics engineer who worked as a management consultant, to lead the opposition.

Countering the Milosevic Treatment

The problem, from the perspective of the US State Department planners who formulated the Milosevic treatment, is that if you do it too often, the next victim becomes wise to what you're up to, and can manoeuvre to stop it. With successes in Yugoslavia, Georgia and Ukraine, but failure so far in Belarus, the element of surprise is lost, and the blatancy of what the US government is up to becomes counter-productive. So obvious has the Milosevic treatment become, US government officials now express surprise when the leaders they've targeted for regime change put up with it. (15)

Mugabe, however, hasn't put up with it, and has imposed a number of restrictions on civil liberties to thwart destabilization efforts. One measure is to ban NGOs that act as instruments of US or British foreign policy. NGOs that want to operate in Zimbabwe cannot receive foreign funding and must disclose their sources of financial support. This stops Washington and Britain from working within the country, through proxy, to meddle in the country's internal affairs. For the same reason, legislation was put forward in Russia in 2005 to require the 450,000 NGOs operating there to re-register with the state, to prevent foreign-funded political activity. The legislation's sponsors characterized "internationally financed NGOs as a 'fifth column' doing the bidding of foreigners." (16)

In a similar vein, foreign journalists whose reporting appears to be motivated by the goal of promoting the foreign policy objectives of hostile nations, like the US and UK, are banned. CNN reporters are prohibited from reporting from Zimbabwe because the government regards them, with justification, as a tool of US foreign policy. What reasonable person of an unprejudiced mind would dispute CNN's chauvinism? Given that one of the objects of US foreign policy is to intervene in Zimbabwe's affairs to change the government, the ban is a warranted restraint on press freedom.

Limitations on press freedom are not unique to Zimbabwe, although those imposed by Mugabe are a good deal more justifiable than those imposed by the West. In the wake of the March 2006 re-election of Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko, the US planned to sanction 14 Belarus journalists it labelled "key figures in the propaganda, distortion of facts and attacks on the democracies (i.e., the US and Britain) and their representatives in Belarus." (17) In 1999, NATO bombed the Serb Radio-TV building, because it said Serb Radio-TV was broadcasting propaganda.

Laws "sharply curbing freedoms of the press and public assembly, citing national security" were enacted during the 2002 elections. (18) Mugabe justified the restrictions as necessary to counter Western plans to re-impose domination of Zimbabwe. "They want our gold, our platinum, our land," he argues. "These are ours forever. I will stand and fight for our rights of sovereignty. We fought for our country to be free. These resources will remain ours forever. Let this be understood to those in London." (19)

Mugabe's warning about the danger of re-colonization "underpins the crackdown on the nation's most formidable independent forces, pro-democracy groups and the Movement for Democratic Change, both of which have broad Western support, and, often, financing," as the New York Times put it. (20) (Note the reference to the opposition being independent even though it's dependent on broad Western support and financing.)

This "fortress-Zimbabwe strategy has been strikingly effective. According to a poll of 1,200 Zimbabweans published in August (2004) by South African and American researchers, the level of public trust in Mr. Mugabe's leadership has more than doubled since 1999, to 46 percent - even as the economy has fallen into ruin.and anger over economic and living conditions is pervasive." (21)

Mugabe, his detractors allege, secures his support by focusing the public's anger on outside forces to keep the public from focusing its anger on him (the same argument the US government and anti-Castro forces have been making about Castro for years.) If this is true, the groundswell of opposition to Mugabe's government that we're led to believe threatens to topple Mugabe from power any moment, doesn't exist; it's directed at outside forces.

Consistent with this is the reality that the US-based Save Zimbabwe Campaign "does not.have widespread grassroots support." (22)

Implicit in the argument that Mugabe uses anti-imperialist rhetoric to stay in power is the view that (a) outside forces aren't responsible for the country's deep economic crisis and that (b) Mugabe is. This is the view of US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell, and many of Mugabe's leftist detractors. "Neither drought nor sanctions are at the root of Zimbabwe's decline. The Zimbabwe government's own gross mismanagement of the economy and corrupt rule has brought on the crisis." (23)

Yet, in a country whose economy is mainly based on agriculture, the idea that drought hasn't caused serious economic trouble, is absurd. Drought is a regional phenomenon, whittling away at populations in Mali, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritania, Eritrea, southern Sudan and Zimbabwe. Land redistribution hasn't destroyed agriculture in Zimbabwe; it has destroyed white commercial, cash-crop farming, which is centred on the production of tobacco for export.

Equally absurd is the notion that sanctions are economically neutral.

Sanctions imposed by the US, EU and other countries deny Zimbabwe international economic and humanitarian assistance and disrupt trade and investment flows. Surgical or targeted sanctions are like surgical or targeted bombing: not as surgical as their champions allege and the cause of a good deal of collateral damage and suffering.

Left critics of Mugabe ape the argument of the US ambassador, adding that Mugabe's anti-imperialist and leftist rhetoric is, in truth, insincere. He is actually right-wing and reactionary -- a master at talking left while walking right. (24) But if Mugabe is really the crypto-reactionary, secret pro-imperialist some people say he is, why are the openly reactionary, pro-imperialists in Washington and London so agitated?

Finally, if Mugabe uses outside interference as an excuse to keep tight control, why not stop interfering and deny him the excuse?

Mugabe's government also denies passports to any person believed to be travelling abroad to campaign for sanctions against Zimbabwe, or military intervention in Zimbabwe. The justification for this is the opposition's fondness for inviting its backers in Washington and London to ratchet up punitive measures against the country.

No country has ever provided unqualified public advocacy rights, rights of association, and freedom of travel, for all people, at all times. Always there has been the idea of warranted restraint. And the conditions under which warranted restraint have been imposed are conditions in which the state is threatened. There's no question the ZANU-PF government, and the movement for national liberation it champions, is under threat.

Archbishop Pius Ncube tells a gathering that "we must be ready to stand, even in front of blazing guns, that "this dictatorship must be brought down right now, and that "if we can get 30,000 people together Mugabe will just come down. I am ready to lead it." (25) Arthur Mutambara boasts that he is "going to remove Robert Mugabe, I promise you, with every tool at my disposal" and that he's not "going to rule out or in anything - the sky's the limit." (26) If I declared an intention to remove Tony Blair with every tool at my disposal, that no tool was ruled out, and I did so with the backing of hostile foreign powers, it wouldn't be long before the police paid me a visit.

Why the West wants Mugabe gone

It's not Mugabe per se that Washington and London and white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe want to overthrow. It's his policies they want to be rid of, and they want to replace his policies with their own, very different, policies. There are at least five reasons why Washington and London want to oust Mugabe, none of which have anything to do with human rights.

The first reason to chase Mugabe from power is that in the late 90's his government abandoned IMF-mandated structural adjustment programs - programs of bleeding people dry to pay interest on international debt. These are policies of currency devaluation, severe social program cuts - anything to free up money to pay down debt, no matter what the human consequences.

The second is that Mugabe sent troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to bolster the Kabila government. This interfered with Western designs in the region.

The third is that many of Mugabe's economic policies are not congenial to the current neo-liberal orthodoxy. For example, Mugabe recently announced the nationalization of a diamond mine, which seems to be, in the current climate, an anachronism. If you nationalize anything these days, you're called radical and out of date. The MDC - which promotes the neo-liberal tyranny -- wants to privatize everything. It is for this reason that Mugabe talks about the opposition wanting to sell off Zimbabwe's resources. The state continues to operate state-owned enterprises. And the government imposes performance requirements on foreign investors. For example, you may be required to invest part of your profits in government bonds. Or you may be required to take on a local partner. Foreign investors, or governments that represent them, bristle at these conditions.

The fourth is that British companies dominate the Zimbabwean economy and the British government would like to protect the investments of British banks, investors and corporations. If you read the British press you'll find a fixation on Zimbabwe, one you won't find elsewhere. Why does Britain take such a keen interest in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe? The usual answer is that Britain has an especial interest in Zimbabwe because it is the country's former colonial master, but why should Britain's former colonial domination of Zimbabwe heighten its interest in the country? The answer is that colonization paved the way for an economic domination of the country by British corporations, investors and banks - and the domination carries on as a legacy of Britain's former colonial rule. If you're part of the British ruling class or one of its representatives, what you want in a country in which you have enormous investments is a trustworthy local ruler who will look after them. Mutambara, who was educated in Britain and lived there, and has absorbed the imperialist point of view, is, from the perspective of the British ruling class, far more attractive than Mugabe as a steward of its interests.

Finally, Western powers would like to see Mugabe replaced by a trustworthy steward who will abandon the fast track land reform program, which apart from violating sacrosanct principles of the capitalist church, if allowed to thrive, becomes a model to inspire the indigenous rural populations of neighbouring countries. Governments in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also look askance at Mugabe's land reform policy, and wish to see it overturned, for fear it will inspire their own aboriginal populations.

Mugabe's government accelerated its land redistribution program in the late 90s, breaking with the completely unworkable, willing buyer, willing seller policy that only allowed the government to redistribute the country's arable land after the descendants of the former colonial settlers, absentee landlords and some members of the British House of Lords were done using it, and therefore willing to sell. Britain, which had pledged financial assistance to its former colony to help buy the land, reneged, leaving Harare without the means to expropriate with compensation the vast farms dominated by the tiny minority of white descendants of British colonists.

"Zimbabwe finally abandoned the 'willing buyer, willing seller' formula in 1997. The formula was crippled from the start by parsimonious British funding, and it was a clear that the program's modest goals were more than Great Britain was willing to countenance. In a letter to the Zimbabwean Minister of Agriculture in November of that year, British Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short wrote, 'I should make it clear that we do not accept that Britain has a special responsibility to meet the costs of land purchase in Zimbabwe.' Referring to earlier British assistance funding, Short curtly stated, 'I am told that there were discussions in 1989 and 1996 to explore the possibility of further assistance. However that is all in the past.' Short complained of 'unresolved' issues, such as 'the way in which land would be acquired and compensation paid - clearly it would not help the poor of Zimbabwe if it was done in a way which undermined investor confidence.' Short was concerned about the interests of corporate investors, then. In closing, Short wrote that 'a program of rapid land acquisition as you now seem to envisage would be impossible for us to support,' as it would damage the 'prospects for attracting investment'" (27)

It was only after Mugabe embarked on this accelerated land reform program that Washington and London initiated their campaign of regime change, pressuring Mugabe's government with sanctions, expulsion from the Commonwealth, assistance to the opposition, and the usual Manichean demonization of the target government and angelization of the Western backed opposition.

The MDC, by comparison, favours a return to the unworkable willing seller, willing buyer regimen. The policy is unworkable because Harare hasn't the money to buy the farms, Britain is no longer willing to finance the program, and even if the money were available, the owners have to agree to sell their farms before the land can be redistributed. Land reform under this program will necessarily proceed at a snail's pace. The national liberation movement always balked at the idea of having to buy land that had been stolen from the indigenous population. It's like someone stealing your car, and when you demand it back, being told you're going to have to buy it back, and only when the thief is willing to sell.

Conclusion

One thing opponents and supporters of Mugabe's government agree on is that the opposition is trying to oust the president (illegally and unconstitutionally if you acknowledge the plan isn't limited to victory at the polls.) So which came first? Attempts to overthrow Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF government, or the government's harsh crackdown on opposition?

According to the Western media spin, the answer is the government's harsh crackdown on opposition. Mugabe's government is accused of being inherently authoritarian, greedy for power for power's sake, and willing do anything - from stealing elections to cracking skulls -- to hang on to its privileged position. This is the typical slander levelled at the heads of governments the US and UK have trouble with, from Milosevic in his day, to Kim Jong Il, to Castro.

Another view is that the government's authoritarianism is an inevitable reaction to circumstances that are unfavorable to the attainment of its political (not its leaders' personal) goals. Mugabe's government came to power at the head of a movement that not only sought political independence, but aspired to reverse the historical theft of land by white settlers. That the opposition would be fierce and merciless - has been so - was inevitable.

Reaction to the opposition, if the government and its anti-colonial agenda were to survive, would need to be equally fierce and merciless.

At the core of the conflict is a clash of right against right: the right of white settlers to enjoy whatever benefits stolen land yields in profits and rent against the right of the original owners to reclaim their land. Allied to this is a broader struggle for economic independence, which sets the rights of investors and corporations abroad to profit from untrammelled access to Zimbabwe's labor, land and resources and the right of Zimbabweans to restrict access on their own terms to facilitate their own economic development.

The dichotomy of personal versus political motivation as the basis for the actions of maligned governments recurs in debates over whether this or that leader or movement ought to be supported or reviled. The personal view says that all leaders are corrupt, chase after personal glory, power and wealth, and dishonestly manipulate the people they profess to champion. The political view doesn't deny the personal view as a possibility, but holds that the behavior of leaders is constrained by political goals.

"Even George Bush who rigs elections and manipulates news in order to stay in office and who clearly enjoys being 'the War President,' wants the presidency in order to carry out a particular program with messianic fervor," points out Richard Levins. "He would never protect the environment, provide healthcare, guarantee universal free education, or separate church and state, just to stay in office." (28)

Mugabe is sometimes criticized for being pushed into accelerating land reform by a restive population impatient with the glacial pace of redistribution allowed under the Lancaster House agreement. His detractors allege, implausibly, that he has no real commitment to land reforms. This intersects with Patrick Bond's view. According to Bond, "Mugabe talks radical -- especially nationalist and anti-imperialist-(to hang on to power) but acts reactionary." He only does what's necessary to preserve his rule.

If we accept this as true, then we're saying that the behavior of the government is constrained by one of the original goals of the liberation movement (land reform) and that the personal view is irrelevant. No matter what the motivations of the government's leaders, the course the government follows is conditioned by the goals of the larger movement of national liberation.

There's no question Mugabe reacted harshly to recent provocations by factions of the MDC, or that his government was deliberately provoked. But the germane question isn't whether beating Morgan Tsvangirai over the head was too much, but whether the ban on political rallies in Harare, which the opposition deliberately violated, is justified. That depends on whose side you're on, and whether you think Tsvangirai and his associates are earnest citizens trying to freely express their views or are proxies for imperialist governments bent on establishing (restoring in Britain's case) hegemony over Zimbabwe.

There's no question either that Mugabe's government is in a precarious position. The economy is in a shambles, due in part to drought, to the disruptions caused by land reform, and to sanctions. White farmers want Mugabe gone (to slow land redistribution, or to stop it altogether), London and Washington want him gone (to ensure neo-liberal "reforms" are implemented), and it's likely that some members of his own party also want him to step down.

On top of acting to sabotage Zimbabwe economically through sanctions, London and Washington have been funnelling financial, diplomatic and organizational assistance to groups and individuals who are committed to bringing about a color revolution (i.e., extra-constitutional regime change) in Zimbabwe.

That includes Tsvangirai and the MDC factions, among others.

For the Mugabe government, the options are two-fold: Capitulate (and surrender any chance of maintaining what independence Zimbabwe has managed to secure at considerable cost) or fight back. Some people might deplore the methods used, but considering the actions and objectives of the opposition - and what's at stake - the crackdown has been both measured and necessary.

(Footnotes removed)

Demand an investigation of LaSalle Parish DA Reed Walters

2007-10-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

(((((HTP)))))

Go to http://www.colorofchange.org/ to download the complaint form to help initiate the investigation of the prosecuting DA in the Jena 6 Case, Reed Walters. We will pursue the course of law as a first step to pursuing justice. However, if this proves ineffective (as we anticipate) then a more direct course of action MUST be pursued. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, "tool-up".

Okra

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American Gangster Second Series

2007-10-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

(((((HTP)))))

BET just began running it's second season of the American Gangster Series. Episode #1 is the story of Philly's Black Mafia. I highly recommend the book "Black Brother's Inc. " as a companion to this episode. It provides a one sided but very thorough and comprehensive look at the organization from a "law enforcement" perspective.

The DVD of American Gangster Season #1 was also recently released. I hate supporting BET (I've attended and will continue to attend the recent protests), but the story on the Smith Brother's was phenomenal. There is a deliberate attempt by the mainstream media to dissassociate black crime with "Organized Crime". There is an unwwritten rule that the criminal actions of black men must, under no circumstances, be interpretted as sophisticated or thoughtful. Hence, black criminals are simply presented as bumbling fools, who perpetuate violent crime, for petty treasures. The Smith Brother story defies these media conventions.

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The Shock Doctrine

2007-10-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

Naomi Klein's new book The Shock Doctrine is arguably the first mainstream expose of PRS (Problem Reaction Solution). She makes the case that tragic events such as 911 and Katrina are exploited by politicians to usher in controversial policies that would otherwise be met with criticism and resistance. The brief aftermath of these tragedies is marked by mass disorientation and shock. This period of shock is a valuable asset to policy makers who will stop at nothing to take advantage of people in times of crisis. She uses the real analogy of CIA torture techniques used to create vulnerabilities in prisoners for interrogation purposes through the use of psychological shock & torture.

Download the short film and visit the Guardian website. Naomi was also interviewed on Democracy Now about the book.

An Excerpt From the Introduction:
I met Jamar Perry in September 2005, at the big Red Cross shelter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dinner was being doled out by grinning young Scientologists, and he was standing in line. I had just been busted for talking to evacuees without a media escort and was now doing my best to blend in, a white Canadian in a sea of African- American southerners. I dodged into the food line behind Perry and asked him to talk to me as if we were old friends, which he kindly did.

Born and raised in New Orleans, he'd been out of the flooded city for a week. He and his family had waited forever for the evacuation buses; when they didn't arrive, they had walked out in the baking sun. Finally they ended up here, a sprawling convention centre now jammed with 2,000 cots and a mess of angry, exhausted people being patrolled by edgy National Guard soldiers just back from Iraq.

The news racing around the shelter that day was that the Republican Congressman Richard Baker had told a group of lobbyists, "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." Joseph Canizaro, one of New Orleans' wealthiest developers, had just expressed a similar sentiment: "I think we have a clean sheet to start again. And with that clean sheet we have some very big opportunities." All that week Baton Rouge had been crawling with corporate lobbyists helping to lock in those big opportunities: lower taxes, fewer regulations, cheaper workers and a "smaller, safer city" - which in practice meant plans to level the public housing projects. Hearing all the talk of "fresh starts" and "clean sheets", you could almost forget the toxic stew of rubble, chemical outflows and human remains just a few miles down the highway.

Over at the shelter, Jamar could think of nothing else. "I really don't see it as cleaning up the city. What I see is that a lot of people got killed uptown. People who shouldn't have died."

He was speaking quietly, but an older man in line in front of us overheard and whipped around. "What is wrong with these people in Baton Rouge? This isn't an opportunity. It's a goddamned tragedy. Are they blind?" A mother with two kids chimed in. "No, they're not blind, they're evil. They see just fine."

One of those who saw opportunity in the floodwaters of New Orleans was the late Milton Friedman, grand guru of unfettered capitalism and credited with writing the rulebook for the contemporary, hyper-mobile global economy. Ninety-three years old and in failing health, "Uncle Miltie", as he was known to his followers, found the strength to write an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal three months after the levees broke. "Most New Orleans schools are in ruins," Friedman observed, "as are the homes of the children who have attended them. The children are now scattered all over the country. This is a tragedy. It is also an opportunity."

Friedman's radical idea was that instead of spending a portion of the billions of dollars in reconstruction money on rebuilding and improving New Orleans' existing public school system, the government should provide families with vouchers, which they could spend at private institutions.

In sharp contrast to the glacial pace with which the levees were repaired and the electricity grid brought back online, the auctioning-off of New Orleans' school system took place with military speed and precision. Within 19 months, with most of the city's poor residents still in exile, New Orleans' public school system had been almost completely replaced by privately run charter schools.

The Friedmanite American Enterprise Institute enthused that "Katrina accomplished in a day ... what Louisiana school reformers couldn't do after years of trying". Public school teachers, meanwhile, were calling Friedman's plan "an educational land grab". I call these orchestrated raids on the public sphere in the wake of catastrophic events, combined with the treatment of disasters as exciting market opportunities, "disaster capitalism".

Privatising the school system of a mid-size American city may seem a modest preoccupation for the man hailed as the most influential economist of the past half century. Yet his determination to exploit the crisis in New Orleans to advance a fundamentalist version of capitalism was also an oddly fitting farewell. For more than three decades, Friedman and his powerful followers had been perfecting this very strategy: waiting for a major crisis, then selling off pieces of the state to private players while citizens were still reeling from the shock.

In one of his most influential essays, Friedman articulated contemporary capitalism's core tactical nostrum, what I have come to understand as "the shock doctrine". He observed that "only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change". When that crisis occurs, the actions taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. Some people stockpile canned goods and water in preparation for major disasters; Friedmanites stockpile free-market ideas. And once a crisis has struck, the University of Chicago professor was convinced that it was crucial to act swiftly, to impose rapid and irreversible change before the crisis-racked society slipped back into the "tyranny of the status quo". A variation on Machiavelli's advice that "injuries" should be inflicted "all at once", this is one of Friedman's most lasting legacies.

Friedman first learned how to exploit a shock or crisis in the mid-70s, when he advised the dictator General Augusto Pinochet. Not only were Chileans in a state of shock after Pinochet's violent coup, but the country was also traumatised by hyperinflation. Friedman advised Pinochet to impose a rapid-fire transformation of the economy - tax cuts, free trade, privatised services, cuts to social spending and deregulation.

It was the most extreme capitalist makeover ever attempted anywhere, and it became known as a "Chicago School" revolution, as so many of Pinochet's economists had studied under Friedman there. Friedman coined a phrase for this painful tactic: economic "shock treatment". In the decades since, whenever governments have imposed sweeping free-market programs, the all-at-once shock treatment, or "shock therapy", has been the method of choice.

I started researching the free market's dependence on the power of shock four years ago, during the early days of the occupation of Iraq. I reported from Baghdad on Washington's failed attempts to follow "shock and awe" with shock therapy - mass privatisation, complete free trade, a 15% flat tax, a dramatically downsized government. Afterwards I travelled to Sri Lanka, several months after the devastating 2004 tsunami, and witnessed another version of the same manoeuvre: foreign investors and international lenders had teamed up to use the atmosphere of panic to hand the entire beautiful coastline over to entrepreneurs who quickly built large resorts, blocking hundreds of thousands of fishing people from rebuilding their villages. By the time Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was clear that this was now the preferred method of advancing corporate goals: using moments of collective trauma to engage in radical social and economic engineering.

Most people who survive a disaster want the opposite of a clean slate: they want to salvage whatever they can and begin repairing what was not destroyed. "When I rebuild the city I feel like I'm rebuilding myself," said Cassandra Andrews, a resident of New Orleans' heavily damaged Lower Ninth Ward, as she cleared away debris after the storm. But disaster capitalists have no interest in repairing what once was. In Iraq, Sri Lanka and New Orleans, the process deceptively called "reconstruction" began with finishing the job of the original disaster by erasing what was left of the public sphere.

When I began this research into the intersection between super-profits and mega-disasters, I thought I was witnessing a fundamental change in the way the drive to "liberate" markets was advancing around the world. Having been part of the movement against ballooning corporate power that made its global debut in Seattle in 1999, I was accustomed to seeing business-friendly policies imposed through arm-twisting at WTO summits, or as the conditions attached to loans from the IMF.

As I dug deeper into the history of how this market model had swept the globe, I discovered that the idea of exploiting crisis and disaster has been the modus operandi of Friedman's movement from the very beginning - this fundamentalist form of capitalism has always needed disasters to advance. What was happening in Iraq and New Orleans was not a post-September 11 invention. Rather, these bold experiments in crisis exploitation were the culmination of three decades of strict adherence to the shock doctrine.

Seen through the lens of this doctrine, the past 35 years look very different. Some of the most infamous human rights violations of this era, which have tended to be viewed as sadistic acts carried out by anti-democratic regimes, were in fact either committed with the intent of terrorising the public or actively harnessed to prepare the ground for radical free-market "reforms". In China in 1989, it was the shock of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the arrests of tens of thousands that freed the Communist party to convert much of the country into a sprawling export zone, staffed with workers too terrified to demand their rights. The Falklands war in 1982 served a similar purpose for Margaret Thatcher: the disorder resulting from the war allowed her to crush the striking miners and to launch the first privatisation frenzy in a western democracy.

The bottom line is that, for economic shock therapy to be applied without restraint, some sort of additional collective trauma has always been required. Friedman's economic model is capable of being partially imposed under democracy - the US under Reagan being the best example - but for the vision to be implemented in its complete form, authoritarian or quasi-authoritarian conditions are required.

Until recently, these conditions did not exist in the US. What happened on September 11 2001 is that an ideology hatched in American universities and fortified in Washington institutions finally had its chance to come home. The Bush administration, packed with Friedman's disciples, including his close friend Donald Rumsfeld, seized upon the fear generated to launch the "war on terror" and to ensure that it is an almost completely for-profit venture, a booming new industry that has breathed new life into the faltering US economy. Best understood as a "disaster capitalism complex", it is a global war fought on every level by private companies whose involvement is paid for with public money, with the unending mandate of protecting the US homeland in perpetuity while eliminating all "evil" abroad.

In a few short years, the complex has already expanded its market reach from fighting terrorism to international peacekeeping, to municipal policing, to responding to increasingly frequent natural disasters. The ultimate goal for the corporations at the centre of the complex is to bring the model of for-profit government, which advances so rapidly in extraordinary circumstances, into the ordinary functioning of the state - in effect, to privatise the government.

In scale, the disaster capitalism complex is on a par with the "emerging market" and IT booms of the 90s. It is dominated by US firms, but is global, with British companies bringing their experience in security cameras, Israeli firms their expertise in building hi-tech fences and walls. Combined with soaring insurance industry profits as well as super profits for the oil industry, the disaster economy may well have saved the world market from the full-blown recession it was facing on the eve of 9/11.

In the torrent of words written in eulogy to Milton Friedman, the role of shocks and crises to advance his world view received barely a mention. Instead, the economist's passing, in November 2006, provided an occasion for a retelling of the official story of how his brand of radical capitalism became government orthodoxy in almost every corner of the globe. It is a fairytale history, scrubbed clean of the violence so intimately entwined with this crusade.

It is time for this to change. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a powerful reckoning with the crimes committed in the name of communism. But what of the crusade to liberate world markets?

I am not arguing that all forms of market systems require large-scale violence. It is eminently possible to have a market-based economy that demands no such brutality or ideological purity. A free market in consumer products can coexist with free public health care, with public schools, with a large segment of the economy - such as a national oil company - held in state hands. It's equally possible to require corporations to pay decent wages, to respect the right of workers to form unions, and for governments to tax and redistribute wealth so that the sharp inequalities that mark the corporatist state are reduced. Markets need not be fundamentalist.

John Maynard Keynes proposed just that kind of mixed, regulated economy after the Great Depression. It was that system of compromises, checks and balances that Friedman's counter-revolution was launched to dismantle in country after country. Seen in that light, Chicago School capitalism has something in common with other fundamentalist ideologies: the signature desire for unattainable purity.

This desire for godlike powers of creation is precisely why free-market ideologues are so drawn to crises and disasters. Non-apocalyptic reality is simply not hospitable to their ambitions. For 35 years, what has animated Friedman's counter-revolution is an attraction to a kind of freedom available only in times of cataclysmic change - when people, with their stubborn habits and insistent demands, are blasted out of the way - moments when democracy seems a practical impossibility. Believers in the shock doctrine are convinced that only a great rupture - a flood, a war, a terrorist attack - can generate the kind of vast, clean canvases they crave. It is in these malleable moments, when we are psychologically unmoored and physically uprooted, that these artists of the real plunge in their hands and begin their work of remaking the world.

Brief Commentary on 'Brazil in Black & White'

2007-10-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

(((((HTP)))))

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/shows/brazil2/index.html

'Brazil in Black and White' is an interesting documentary centered around Brazil's so called 'controversial' implementation of affirmative action type legislation. Keep in mind that the population of Brazil, unlike America is majority black (Afrikan) and largely absent from this film.

One of the most fascinating revelations of this film is that it highlights the paradoxical and hypocritical curious rule of the racially pure white elitist minority who are clearly distinguishable from the majority population (at least by American racial standards). (If you are already familiar with the subtle variations and the range of black Afrikan Puerto Ricans to their Native and European Puerto Rican counterparts than your eyes will be equipped to make this distinction). It sheds light on the absurdity of the white elite's social political theoretical position of so called colorblind racial politics which essentially allows the white elite to occupy the most powerful and privileged positions offered by the society while escaping any criticism or allegations of discrimination by the downtrodden black masses.

The film completley ignores the large black populace and instead focus' on the large mulatto populace (many of whom identify themselves as black). Nonetheless it subtly highlights the role of the mulatto as an intermediate social barrier and force of mediation between the white elite and the downtrodden black masses (or those who's racial identity is unquestionably black). This mixed race demographic is given partial access and token positions, and as such is used by the white majority to justify the abstract existence of diversity and racial inclusion.

Many of these Afrikans have been robbed of the ideological power that lies behind racial identity and as such are unable to connect their struggle to the global struggle of our people throughout the Diaspora. There is also a strong notion within the mulatto populace that a condemnation of white supremacy would be a condemnation of self. Hence, our brothers and sisters are eons from recognizing that they've been duped by white supremacy particularly because so many of them share this ancestry.

I highly recommend the documentary film 'BUS 174' which highlights some of these racial disparities in Brazil that are conveniently overlooked by Brazil's privledged, white elitist politicians and academics (previously referred to as Third World Capitalists).

http://www.amazon.com/Bus-174-Yvonne-Bezerra-Mello/dp/B00022FW4U/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-8538712-3928646?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1190466542&sr=8-1

Fight the global JENACIDE!!!

Okra

(((((HTP)))))

At the elite colleges - dim white kids

2007-10-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Something for Ward Connerly:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/09/28/at_the_elite_colleges___dim_white_kids/?page=1

At the elite colleges - dim white kids

By Peter Schmidt | September 28, 2007

AUTUMN AND a new academic year are upon us, which means that selective colleges are engaged in the annual ritual of singing the praises of their new freshman classes.

Surf the websites of such institutions and you will find press releases boasting that they have increased their black and Hispanic enrollments, admitted bumper crops of National Merit scholars or became the destination of choice for hordes of high school valedictorians. Many are bragging about the large share of applicants they rejected, as a way of conveying to the world just how popular and selective they are.

What they almost never say is that many of the applicants who were rejected were far more qualified than those accepted. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, it was not the black and Hispanic beneficiaries of affirmative action, but the rich white kids with cash and connections who elbowed most of the worthier applicants aside.

Researchers with access to closely guarded college admissions data have found that, on the whole, about 15 percent of freshmen enrolled at America's highly selective colleges are white teens who failed to meet their institutions' minimum admissions standards.

Five years ago, two researchers working for the Educational Testing Service, Anthony Carnevale and Stephen Rose, took the academic profiles of students admitted into 146 colleges in the top two tiers of Barron's college guide and matched them up against the institutions' advertised requirements in terms of high school grade point average, SAT or ACT scores, letters of recommendation, and records of involvement in extracurricular activities. White students who failed to make the grade on all counts were nearly twice as prevalent on such campuses as black and Hispanic students who received an admissions break based on their ethnicity or race.

Who are these mediocre white students getting into institutions such as Harvard, Wellesley, Notre Dame, Duke, and the University of Virginia? A sizable number are recruited athletes who, research has shown, will perform worse on average than other students with similar academic profiles, mainly as a result of the demands their coaches will place on them.

A larger share, however, are students who gained admission through their ties to people the institution wanted to keep happy, with alumni, donors, faculty members, administrators, and politicians topping the list.

Applicants who stood no chance of gaining admission without connections are only the most blatant beneficiaries of such admissions preferences. Except perhaps at the very summit of the applicant pile - that lofty place occupied by young people too brilliant for anyone in their right mind to turn down - colleges routinely favor those who have connections over those who don't. While some applicants gain admission by legitimately beating out their peers, many others get into exclusive colleges the same way people get into trendy night clubs, by knowing the management or flashing cash at the person manning the velvet rope.

Leaders at many selective colleges say they have no choice but to instruct their admissions offices to reward those who financially support their institutions, because keeping donors happy is the only way they can keep the place afloat. They also say that the money they take in through such admissions preferences helps them provide financial aid to students in need.

But many of the colleges granting such preferences are already well-financed, with huge endowments. And, in many cases, little of the money they take in goes toward serving the less-advantaged.

A few years ago, The Chronicle of Higher Education looked at colleges with more than $500 million in their endowments and found that most served disproportionately few students from families with incomes low enough to qualify for federal Pell Grants. A separate study of flagship state universities conducted by the Education Trust found that those universities' enrollments of Pell Grant recipients had been shrinking, even as the number of students qualifying for such grants had gone up.

Just 40 percent of the financial aid money being distributed by public colleges is going to students with documented financial need. Most such money is being used to offer merit-based scholarships or tuition discounts to potential recruits who can enhance a college's reputation, or appear likely to cover the rest of their tuition tab and to donate down the road.

Given such trends, is it any wonder that young people from the wealthiest fourth of society are about 25 times as likely as those from the bottom fourth to enroll in a selective college, or that, over the past two decades, the middle class has been steadily getting squeezed out of such institutions by those with more money?

A degree from a selective college can open many doors for a talented young person from a humble background. But rather than promoting social mobility, our nation's selective colleges appear to be thwarting it, by turning away applicants who have excelled given their circumstances and offering second chances to wealthy and connected young people who have squandered many of the advantages life has offered them.

When social mobility goes away, at least two dangerous things can happen. The privileged class that produces most of our nation's leaders can become complacent enough to foster mediocrity, and less-fortunate segments of our society can become resigned to the notion that hard work will not get them anywhere.

Given the challenges our nation faces, shouldn't its citizens be at least a little worried that the most selective public universities - state flagships - dominate the annual Princeton Review rankings of the nation's best party schools, as measured largely by drug and alcohol consumption and time spent skipping class and ditching the books?

Should Harvard, which annually turns away about 2,000 valedictorians and has an endowment of nearly $35 billion, be in the business of wasting its academic offerings on some students admitted on the basis of pedigree?

Peter Schmidt is a deputy editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education and author of "Color and Money: How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War Over College Affirmative Action."

Black student marked with 'KKK' at deaf school

2007-10-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/03/deafschool.racial.incident/index.html

A weekend incident with racial overtones at a high school for deaf students could result in criminal charges with "enhanced penalties for a hate crime," Metro Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Wednesday.

A black student was held against his will and then released with "KKK" and swastikas drawn on him in marker at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf on Sunday, she said.

No charges have been filed, and no names have been released, Lanier said.

The incident began when a group of black students and a group of white students were in a dorm. "My understanding is the two groups engaged in friendly horseplay," she said.

But, she said, the groups got "angry with each other."

The two groups separated, she said, but later, six white students and one black student -- all between the ages of 15 and 19 -- took one of the black students into a dorm room and "held him there against his will."

"They used markers to write 'KKK' and draw swastikas on the student," Lanier said.

The student was released after about 45 minutes. He notified dorm and school authorities, who called police.

Lanier said police have identified and interviewed the students involved and the "investigation is ongoing."

"The support we've received from the campus and from the school employees has been tremendous," Lanier said. "And I think they're supporting us in making a very strong statement that this investigation may lead to charges that could have enhanced penalties for a hate crime."

The school is a residential high school on the campus of Gallaudet University, a higher education facility for deaf and hard of hearing people. The high school is administered as a division of the university's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center.

Dean of Clerc Center Katherine A. Jankowski said the seven students who participated in the incident were sent home.

Gallaudet provost Stephen Weiner said the school does "not tolerate any action, behavior of this type."

"We are taking action," he said. "We are looking at programs to help students understand we are a school with a diverse population."

"This incident is intolerable," he said. "That's why the Metro police are involved. That's how serious we are about this incident."

Jankowski said the school has also hired a consultant to work with the school and its students on diversity issues.

On Monday, teachers and staff hosted a school-wide assembly with students related to the incident, said Jankowski. Individual and group counseling services were also available to students, teachers and staff.

"We are committed to ensuring MSSD is a safe and supportive learning environment," she said.

60 Minutes Clarence Thomas piece

2007-10-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

(((((HTP)))))

The 60 Minutes Clarence Thomas piece was interesting. The video links can be downloaded via the following:

I don't know how radical ClarenceThomas was, amidst his own claims, but this really shows the systemic process by which the instruments of white socio-political power can corrupt and break a black man. This is truly the making of a monster.

This brother is a Tom of the highest order but rest assured, his "high tech lynching" speech at the judicial hearing for the Anita Hill accusations was pure genius. He spit fire at those crackers. You can see them white folks gasping for air.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/27/60minutes/main3305443.shtml

"This is a circus. It’s a national disgrace," he said during the hearing. "It is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order you will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree."

"Why did you use that language? Why a high tech lynching?" Kroft asks.

"If someone just wantonly tries to destroy you, if somebody comes in and drags you out of your house and beats the hell out of you. What is it?" the justice replies.

(((((HTP)))))