Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Freedom Rider: Black America Surrenders
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
By a twist of fate, this Obama critic ended up with a silver ticket, the least prestigious standing room ticket, for the presidential inauguration ceremony. I was among the crowd of nearly two million love struck Obama supporters. They hailed from every region of the country, but they were united in their love for Barack Obama.
The racial demographic was mixed black and white, but the black faces were disproportionately represented, particularly among the non-ticketed portions of the crowd. Their coats were covered with Obama buttons and they kept their heads warm with Obama caps and hats. Some pushed babies in strollers or senior citizens in wheel chairs, all amidst streets packed so tightly with pedestrian traffic that public safety was at risk.
Feelings about the new president are more than just positive, they are joyful, and not just among black people. The political clinical depression brought on by the last eight years cannot be under estimated. Humans want to be happy, and happiness experienced with large groups of other giddy beings meets fundamental psychological needs.
But just 72 hours after the new president took office, he started killing people. U.S. military drones killed at least 20 people in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, all in the service of the war on terror. Obama has spent many months saying he would do exactly that, even though the Pakistani government has repeatedly asked the U.S. to stop killing its citizens in a pointless effort to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
It is true that Obama signed an executive order pledging to close the military prison at Guantanamo and other detention sites within one year. It is also true that the Center for Constitutional Rights warns that it can be closed in a shorter period of time, and that closure without a return to civilian trials is a sham and a continuation of the travesties of justice committed by this country.
The celebrations surrounding the Guantanamo order should have been very short lived. While he gave with one hand, Obama took with the other. On Monday, January 19th, his last full day in office, George W. Bush asked a federal judge to stay an order forcing the government to release classified documents related to a warrantless surveillance lawsuit.
A few days later, President Barack Obama replaced Bush as the defendant in the case, siding with the previous administration's request to keep the documents secret and thereby preventing plaintiffs from making their case for redress of government wrongdoing.
None of these facts matter to the Obama lovers. They literally do not care what he does. Throughout 2008 the honest idol worshippers said as much. They didn't care what Obama did as president, they just wanted him to become president. Some reasoned, with some degree of a sad logic, that white people had ruined the world, so what would be so bad about a black man doing the same thing.
Others lied. They claimed that if they could just get their guy elected, they would hold his feet to the fire and demand a progressive agenda. Of course, very few of them actually meant what they said. Election night joy was followed by the joy of watching his transition take shape. As he chose one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress to serve as chief of staff and kept the same defense secretary who served under Bush, they were silent and demanded silence from others as well. So much for feet and fires.
The experience of personally witnessing this madness in action was both difficult and illuminating. Scattered boos emanated from the crowd as we heard the new president politely thank his predecessor by name. One black woman admonished her fellow celebrants not to be so rude. I felt compelled to speak up with this stranger and point out that booing was entirely appropriate. The not very bright woman replied that Obama would take care of everything, so there was no need for any of us to say a word or even utter one little boo to protest criminality.
This woman is not alone in her twisted thinking. For the first time in history, black Americans have willingly become accessories to their government's criminal activity and willingly developed amnesia about that history. Gone are the days when black Americans could be counted on to oppose wars of aggression abroad and wars against people here at home. Now that the president looks like them, he has carte blanche to do whatever he likes and he can expect nearly unanimous approval of any action he takes.
They don't care that he is asking John McCain for advice or that he replaces Bush in defending illegal surveillance on Americans. They don't care about people in Waziristan, or Afghanistan or Gaza. They don't care that Obama pledged to use his political capital to change Social Security and Medicare, their only safety nets in an uncaring society.
They don't even care about themselves. During the campaign they pointedly gave him permission to ignore them and their condition, all to help insure electoral victory. Black people happily threw themselves under the Obama bus and loudly proclaimed themselves to be less important than one man's career success.
They do care that a black woman is first lady and that she is now described as a fashion icon. They care that white people gush over her cute children. Some have even convinced themselves that a black president will improve the way they are personally viewed by most white people. The denial is boundless.
The Obama phenomenon will get much worse before it gets any better. If the sight of Barack and Michelle dancing at inaugural balls puts lumps in throats, what will happen when they meet the Queen of England or the Pope? What will happen when he appears on national television to tell us that he has decided to drop bombs somewhere in the world?
As happened with other presidents, his approval ratings will soar along with the body count he creates and for the first time, so will the hearts of black America. Black people will join white people in celebrating the power of the American state and will foolishly see themselves as having an interest in maintaining an awful status quo.
Sadly, this stratospheric level of support can only end if truly terrible events take place. It is difficult to contemplate what could be so bad that black people will awaken themselves from such deep, self-induced slumber.
Our numbers are currently small, but little by little, as the economy crumbles, or the war on terror spreads, new eyes will be opened. It won't matter that we are in the minority because minorities have always been in the forefront of making history.
Individuals must be ready to act as events unfold. The willingness and ability to see the opportune moment cannot be lost. That is the only hope for black people, the nation, and for the world at large. This is not the moment to worry about someone too foolish to boo George Bush.
We must remain true to our convictions not only because it is the right thing to do, but because history shows it is the only thing that brings about true change.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
By a twist of fate, this Obama critic ended up with a silver ticket, the least prestigious standing room ticket, for the presidential inauguration ceremony. I was among the crowd of nearly two million love struck Obama supporters. They hailed from every region of the country, but they were united in their love for Barack Obama.
The racial demographic was mixed black and white, but the black faces were disproportionately represented, particularly among the non-ticketed portions of the crowd. Their coats were covered with Obama buttons and they kept their heads warm with Obama caps and hats. Some pushed babies in strollers or senior citizens in wheel chairs, all amidst streets packed so tightly with pedestrian traffic that public safety was at risk.
Feelings about the new president are more than just positive, they are joyful, and not just among black people. The political clinical depression brought on by the last eight years cannot be under estimated. Humans want to be happy, and happiness experienced with large groups of other giddy beings meets fundamental psychological needs.
But just 72 hours after the new president took office, he started killing people. U.S. military drones killed at least 20 people in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, all in the service of the war on terror. Obama has spent many months saying he would do exactly that, even though the Pakistani government has repeatedly asked the U.S. to stop killing its citizens in a pointless effort to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
It is true that Obama signed an executive order pledging to close the military prison at Guantanamo and other detention sites within one year. It is also true that the Center for Constitutional Rights warns that it can be closed in a shorter period of time, and that closure without a return to civilian trials is a sham and a continuation of the travesties of justice committed by this country.
The celebrations surrounding the Guantanamo order should have been very short lived. While he gave with one hand, Obama took with the other. On Monday, January 19th, his last full day in office, George W. Bush asked a federal judge to stay an order forcing the government to release classified documents related to a warrantless surveillance lawsuit.
A few days later, President Barack Obama replaced Bush as the defendant in the case, siding with the previous administration's request to keep the documents secret and thereby preventing plaintiffs from making their case for redress of government wrongdoing.
None of these facts matter to the Obama lovers. They literally do not care what he does. Throughout 2008 the honest idol worshippers said as much. They didn't care what Obama did as president, they just wanted him to become president. Some reasoned, with some degree of a sad logic, that white people had ruined the world, so what would be so bad about a black man doing the same thing.
Others lied. They claimed that if they could just get their guy elected, they would hold his feet to the fire and demand a progressive agenda. Of course, very few of them actually meant what they said. Election night joy was followed by the joy of watching his transition take shape. As he chose one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress to serve as chief of staff and kept the same defense secretary who served under Bush, they were silent and demanded silence from others as well. So much for feet and fires.
The experience of personally witnessing this madness in action was both difficult and illuminating. Scattered boos emanated from the crowd as we heard the new president politely thank his predecessor by name. One black woman admonished her fellow celebrants not to be so rude. I felt compelled to speak up with this stranger and point out that booing was entirely appropriate. The not very bright woman replied that Obama would take care of everything, so there was no need for any of us to say a word or even utter one little boo to protest criminality.
This woman is not alone in her twisted thinking. For the first time in history, black Americans have willingly become accessories to their government's criminal activity and willingly developed amnesia about that history. Gone are the days when black Americans could be counted on to oppose wars of aggression abroad and wars against people here at home. Now that the president looks like them, he has carte blanche to do whatever he likes and he can expect nearly unanimous approval of any action he takes.
They don't care that he is asking John McCain for advice or that he replaces Bush in defending illegal surveillance on Americans. They don't care about people in Waziristan, or Afghanistan or Gaza. They don't care that Obama pledged to use his political capital to change Social Security and Medicare, their only safety nets in an uncaring society.
They don't even care about themselves. During the campaign they pointedly gave him permission to ignore them and their condition, all to help insure electoral victory. Black people happily threw themselves under the Obama bus and loudly proclaimed themselves to be less important than one man's career success.
They do care that a black woman is first lady and that she is now described as a fashion icon. They care that white people gush over her cute children. Some have even convinced themselves that a black president will improve the way they are personally viewed by most white people. The denial is boundless.
The Obama phenomenon will get much worse before it gets any better. If the sight of Barack and Michelle dancing at inaugural balls puts lumps in throats, what will happen when they meet the Queen of England or the Pope? What will happen when he appears on national television to tell us that he has decided to drop bombs somewhere in the world?
As happened with other presidents, his approval ratings will soar along with the body count he creates and for the first time, so will the hearts of black America. Black people will join white people in celebrating the power of the American state and will foolishly see themselves as having an interest in maintaining an awful status quo.
Sadly, this stratospheric level of support can only end if truly terrible events take place. It is difficult to contemplate what could be so bad that black people will awaken themselves from such deep, self-induced slumber.
Our numbers are currently small, but little by little, as the economy crumbles, or the war on terror spreads, new eyes will be opened. It won't matter that we are in the minority because minorities have always been in the forefront of making history.
Individuals must be ready to act as events unfold. The willingness and ability to see the opportune moment cannot be lost. That is the only hope for black people, the nation, and for the world at large. This is not the moment to worry about someone too foolish to boo George Bush.
We must remain true to our convictions not only because it is the right thing to do, but because history shows it is the only thing that brings about true change.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
ADHD Drugs Cause Hallucinations in Children; Psychiatry Pushes Hallucinogenic Drugs for Profit
Mike Adams
Natural News
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2009
New research published in the journal Pediatrics reveals that the ADHD drugs prescribed to millions of children are causing them to experience frightening hallucinations. Children on these drugs hallucinated that snakes and bugs were crawling all over them, says Reuters, and some kids taking the drugs experience other bizarre psychotic side effects such as thinking they ran into a wall and falling to the ground even when no wall was present.
ADHD drugs, of course, are powerful psychotropic mind-altering chemicals that are often molecularly identical to street drugs. The industry of psychiatry is virtually owned by Big Pharma, which hopes to drug every child, teenager and adult with at least one mind-altering medication.
The drugs reviewed in this study include: Ritalin and Focalin XR (Novartis), Adderall XR and Daytrana patch (Shire), Concerta (Johnson & Johnson), Strattera (Eli Lilly), Metadate CD (Celltech Pharmaceuticals) and Provigil (Cephalon).
Researchers noticed that only children taking these drugs suffered from hallucinations. Those taking placebo had no hallucinations, and the children who stopped taking ADHD drugs saw their hallucinations cease.
Reuters reports that “…FDA researchers urged doctors to discuss the potential side effects with parents and children to help ease their anxiety if such symptoms should occur.” So instead of getting their kids off these drugs, the FDA thinks parents and kids just need to “talk about the hallucinations” to ease their anxiety.
And if that’s not enough, I suppose, there are anti-anxiety drugs they can both take in order to avoid getting too uptight about the fact that their children are on hallucinogenic drugs.
Stop the insanity!
I’m just going to come right out and say the obvious: These children are tripping out on hallucinogenic, mind-altering street drugs. This isn’t “treatment” for some genuine health problem; it’s a legalized mass-drugging campaign that’s permanently harming the brains of children while earning sick profits for Big Pharma.
The psychiatric pill pushers have managed to turn a generation of children into druggies who are now demonstrating the same symptoms as a street junkie burnout. And rather than trying to get kids OFF these drugs, the FDA, Big Pharma and modern psychiatrists are doing everything in their power to put MORE kids on these dangerous, hallucinogenic drugs!
That this continues in America today is outrageous. In a nation that spends billions of dollars on the so-called “War on Drugs” — see the Drug War Clock at http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm — to ignore the mass drugging of its own children with hallucinogenic street drugs relabeled as “medication” is unconscionable.
If there’s really a War on Drugs, why doesn’t that war target the biggest drug pushers of all? Big Pharma has put more kids on drugs than any street corner crack dealer could ever hope to achieve. In fact, the entire industry of psychiatric medicine is little more than a legalized drug dealing network that hides behind the jargon of “medicine” and “therapy.”
Mind-numbed parents lead to drugged children
It’s not just the industry that’s to blame on all this, either: Parents who allow their children to be drugged with these hallucinogenic ADHD drugs are just as much a part of the problem. In the same households where parents are adamantly restricting their child’s use of pot or alcohol, they will literally feed that same kid dose after dose of hallucinogenic street drugs on the advice of a psychiatric medicine quack who’s on the take from Big Pharma.
What are they thinking? Say no to drugs, but say yes to hallucinogenic psychotropic drugs if a corrupt psychiatrist tells you your kid needs them?
Somehow, when speed is labeled under Big Pharma’s brand names, it eludes all rational thinking by parents, doctors, pharmacists and drug war zealots. It is one of the largest sectors of the hallucinogenic drug trade in America, and yet it goes completely unnoticed by virtually everyone.
My latest hip-hop song takes a shot at mind-altering medications with some disturbing, uncensored lyrics. Listen to “SSRIs - S.S.R.Lies” here: http://www.naturalnews.com/SSRIs_S_…
The ugly truth about the War on Drugs
The War on Drugs, of course, was never really about ending drug use in the first place. It was about eliminating the competition for Big Pharma, making sure kids get off generic black market drugs and get onto brand-name Big Pharma drugs. To legitimize this mass drugging of children, the industry of modern psychiatry was created, with all its imaginary (hallucinated?) disorders and dysfunctions used to befuddle the public with seemingly intelligent-sounding technical jargon.
It’s all just drug-pushing psychobabble, of course. Disorders like ADHD are purely fictional, having no basis in reality whatsoever, and the brain shrinkage pointed to by psychiatrists who claim ADHD causes stunted growth is actually the result of the amphetamine drugs they put the kids on. It is well documented that drugs like Ritalin cause stunted grown and reduced brain size (http://www.naturalnews.com/021944.html).
The degree of quackery present in the psychiatric industry today is simply staggering. And to think that mainstream doctors defend this quackery is yet more evidence that modern medicine has nothing whatsoever to do with actual science; it’s all based on a Cult of Pharmacology where all drugs are considered good and necessary, regardless of the mountain of evidence showing them to be dangerous and medically useless.
This is where I have to challenge all the so-called “skeptics” out there who attack natural medicine. These skeptics and self-proclaimed quack observers are, in fact, among the greatest quacks of all. Why? Because they aren’t skeptical in the least about psychiatric medicine!
The skeptics are quacks
Where is the skepticism about this home-grown brand of legalized drug pushing? Where are all the intelligent questions demanding proof that ADHD is a genuine disease and not just something made up to sell more drugs? The skeptics are silent when it comes to psychiatric medicine, and in their silence they reveal themselves to be quacks.
Logic, reason and scientific evidence are all thrown out the window on the subject of psychiatric disorders. The most rational-sounding skeptics are instantly transformed into psychobabble-spouting quacks who defend the indefensible — the mass drugging of children with powerful hallucinogenic street drugs as “treatment” for some imaginary disease.
Sure, the skeptics will attack meditation, crystals, prayer, intention, chiropractic care and even herbal medicine (all of which can be healing, by the way), but when it comes to the loopy loose logic of psychiatric medicine inventing diseases and drugging up the children with hallucinogenic amphetamines, they swallow the whole thing without blinking an eye!
So much for the credibility of the so-called skeptics and quack busters. It turns out they’re quacks themselves. They’ve simply subscribed to their own form of quackery: Drugs and surgery for all!
The quacks are on crack, and they’re supporting an industry that hands out speed to the children. Meanwhile, the War on Drugs fills the prisons with people who smoked a little weed while completely ignoring the psychiatric pill pushers. Crazy, huh? I’m beginning to thinking everybody’s on drugs!
Just remember, folks: If you want to sell drugs to kids, just get FDA approval first. It keeps the DEA off your back and fools parents into thinking your hallucinogenic drugs are “medicine.”
Research related articles:
Film Review: GenerationRx Documents Chemical Abuse of Children by Pharmaceutical Industry, Modern Psychiatry
Big Pharma’s New Mass-Drugging Agenda Pushes Statin Drugs for Healthy People
Children as Big Pharma Guinea Pigs: 98 Percent of Drug Trials on Children Have no Safety Checks
Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs
Hormone Replacement Therapy Doubles Risk of Breast Cancer, Women Warned to Stop HRT Drugs
Psych Doctor Nemeroff Barred from Emory University Chairmanship after Revelation of Secret Financial Ties to Big Pharma
Pfizer Implicated in Human Drug Experimentation on Critically Ill Children in Nigeria
Schoolchildren could be given ’smart drugs’ in a bid to boost brainpower
Americans Drug Their Children with 300 Percent More Psychotropic Meds
Psychiatric Medications Should be Prescribed to Healthy People, Declares Medical Journal
Don’t call the kids obese: Parents to get ‘prissy’ letters telling them they’re children are overweight
Parents Warned: Avoid Ritalin
Natural News
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2009
New research published in the journal Pediatrics reveals that the ADHD drugs prescribed to millions of children are causing them to experience frightening hallucinations. Children on these drugs hallucinated that snakes and bugs were crawling all over them, says Reuters, and some kids taking the drugs experience other bizarre psychotic side effects such as thinking they ran into a wall and falling to the ground even when no wall was present.
ADHD drugs, of course, are powerful psychotropic mind-altering chemicals that are often molecularly identical to street drugs. The industry of psychiatry is virtually owned by Big Pharma, which hopes to drug every child, teenager and adult with at least one mind-altering medication.
The drugs reviewed in this study include: Ritalin and Focalin XR (Novartis), Adderall XR and Daytrana patch (Shire), Concerta (Johnson & Johnson), Strattera (Eli Lilly), Metadate CD (Celltech Pharmaceuticals) and Provigil (Cephalon).
Researchers noticed that only children taking these drugs suffered from hallucinations. Those taking placebo had no hallucinations, and the children who stopped taking ADHD drugs saw their hallucinations cease.
Reuters reports that “…FDA researchers urged doctors to discuss the potential side effects with parents and children to help ease their anxiety if such symptoms should occur.” So instead of getting their kids off these drugs, the FDA thinks parents and kids just need to “talk about the hallucinations” to ease their anxiety.
And if that’s not enough, I suppose, there are anti-anxiety drugs they can both take in order to avoid getting too uptight about the fact that their children are on hallucinogenic drugs.
Stop the insanity!
I’m just going to come right out and say the obvious: These children are tripping out on hallucinogenic, mind-altering street drugs. This isn’t “treatment” for some genuine health problem; it’s a legalized mass-drugging campaign that’s permanently harming the brains of children while earning sick profits for Big Pharma.
The psychiatric pill pushers have managed to turn a generation of children into druggies who are now demonstrating the same symptoms as a street junkie burnout. And rather than trying to get kids OFF these drugs, the FDA, Big Pharma and modern psychiatrists are doing everything in their power to put MORE kids on these dangerous, hallucinogenic drugs!
That this continues in America today is outrageous. In a nation that spends billions of dollars on the so-called “War on Drugs” — see the Drug War Clock at http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm — to ignore the mass drugging of its own children with hallucinogenic street drugs relabeled as “medication” is unconscionable.
If there’s really a War on Drugs, why doesn’t that war target the biggest drug pushers of all? Big Pharma has put more kids on drugs than any street corner crack dealer could ever hope to achieve. In fact, the entire industry of psychiatric medicine is little more than a legalized drug dealing network that hides behind the jargon of “medicine” and “therapy.”
Mind-numbed parents lead to drugged children
It’s not just the industry that’s to blame on all this, either: Parents who allow their children to be drugged with these hallucinogenic ADHD drugs are just as much a part of the problem. In the same households where parents are adamantly restricting their child’s use of pot or alcohol, they will literally feed that same kid dose after dose of hallucinogenic street drugs on the advice of a psychiatric medicine quack who’s on the take from Big Pharma.
What are they thinking? Say no to drugs, but say yes to hallucinogenic psychotropic drugs if a corrupt psychiatrist tells you your kid needs them?
Somehow, when speed is labeled under Big Pharma’s brand names, it eludes all rational thinking by parents, doctors, pharmacists and drug war zealots. It is one of the largest sectors of the hallucinogenic drug trade in America, and yet it goes completely unnoticed by virtually everyone.
My latest hip-hop song takes a shot at mind-altering medications with some disturbing, uncensored lyrics. Listen to “SSRIs - S.S.R.Lies” here: http://www.naturalnews.com/SSRIs_S_…
The ugly truth about the War on Drugs
The War on Drugs, of course, was never really about ending drug use in the first place. It was about eliminating the competition for Big Pharma, making sure kids get off generic black market drugs and get onto brand-name Big Pharma drugs. To legitimize this mass drugging of children, the industry of modern psychiatry was created, with all its imaginary (hallucinated?) disorders and dysfunctions used to befuddle the public with seemingly intelligent-sounding technical jargon.
It’s all just drug-pushing psychobabble, of course. Disorders like ADHD are purely fictional, having no basis in reality whatsoever, and the brain shrinkage pointed to by psychiatrists who claim ADHD causes stunted growth is actually the result of the amphetamine drugs they put the kids on. It is well documented that drugs like Ritalin cause stunted grown and reduced brain size (http://www.naturalnews.com/021944.html).
The degree of quackery present in the psychiatric industry today is simply staggering. And to think that mainstream doctors defend this quackery is yet more evidence that modern medicine has nothing whatsoever to do with actual science; it’s all based on a Cult of Pharmacology where all drugs are considered good and necessary, regardless of the mountain of evidence showing them to be dangerous and medically useless.
This is where I have to challenge all the so-called “skeptics” out there who attack natural medicine. These skeptics and self-proclaimed quack observers are, in fact, among the greatest quacks of all. Why? Because they aren’t skeptical in the least about psychiatric medicine!
The skeptics are quacks
Where is the skepticism about this home-grown brand of legalized drug pushing? Where are all the intelligent questions demanding proof that ADHD is a genuine disease and not just something made up to sell more drugs? The skeptics are silent when it comes to psychiatric medicine, and in their silence they reveal themselves to be quacks.
Logic, reason and scientific evidence are all thrown out the window on the subject of psychiatric disorders. The most rational-sounding skeptics are instantly transformed into psychobabble-spouting quacks who defend the indefensible — the mass drugging of children with powerful hallucinogenic street drugs as “treatment” for some imaginary disease.
Sure, the skeptics will attack meditation, crystals, prayer, intention, chiropractic care and even herbal medicine (all of which can be healing, by the way), but when it comes to the loopy loose logic of psychiatric medicine inventing diseases and drugging up the children with hallucinogenic amphetamines, they swallow the whole thing without blinking an eye!
So much for the credibility of the so-called skeptics and quack busters. It turns out they’re quacks themselves. They’ve simply subscribed to their own form of quackery: Drugs and surgery for all!
The quacks are on crack, and they’re supporting an industry that hands out speed to the children. Meanwhile, the War on Drugs fills the prisons with people who smoked a little weed while completely ignoring the psychiatric pill pushers. Crazy, huh? I’m beginning to thinking everybody’s on drugs!
Just remember, folks: If you want to sell drugs to kids, just get FDA approval first. It keeps the DEA off your back and fools parents into thinking your hallucinogenic drugs are “medicine.”
Research related articles:
Film Review: GenerationRx Documents Chemical Abuse of Children by Pharmaceutical Industry, Modern Psychiatry
Big Pharma’s New Mass-Drugging Agenda Pushes Statin Drugs for Healthy People
Children as Big Pharma Guinea Pigs: 98 Percent of Drug Trials on Children Have no Safety Checks
Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs
Hormone Replacement Therapy Doubles Risk of Breast Cancer, Women Warned to Stop HRT Drugs
Psych Doctor Nemeroff Barred from Emory University Chairmanship after Revelation of Secret Financial Ties to Big Pharma
Pfizer Implicated in Human Drug Experimentation on Critically Ill Children in Nigeria
Schoolchildren could be given ’smart drugs’ in a bid to boost brainpower
Americans Drug Their Children with 300 Percent More Psychotropic Meds
Psychiatric Medications Should be Prescribed to Healthy People, Declares Medical Journal
Don’t call the kids obese: Parents to get ‘prissy’ letters telling them they’re children are overweight
Parents Warned: Avoid Ritalin
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Kiss The Bill of Rights Goodbye
US Supreme Court says passenger can be frisked
2 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that police officers have leeway to frisk a passenger in a car stopped for a traffic violation even if nothing indicates the passenger has committed a crime or is about to do so.
The court on Monday unanimously overruled an Arizona appeals court that threw out evidence found during such an encounter.
The case involved a 2002 pat-down search of an Eloy, Ariz., man by an Oro Valley police officer, who found a gun and marijuana.
The justices accepted Arizona's argument that traffic stops are inherently dangerous for police and that pat-downs are permissible when an officer has a reasonable suspicion that the passenger may be armed and dangerous.
The pat-down is allowed if the police "harbor reasonable suspicion that a person subjected to the frisk is armed, and therefore dangerous to the safety of the police and public," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.
The case is Arizona v. Johnson, 07-1122.
2 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that police officers have leeway to frisk a passenger in a car stopped for a traffic violation even if nothing indicates the passenger has committed a crime or is about to do so.
The court on Monday unanimously overruled an Arizona appeals court that threw out evidence found during such an encounter.
The case involved a 2002 pat-down search of an Eloy, Ariz., man by an Oro Valley police officer, who found a gun and marijuana.
The justices accepted Arizona's argument that traffic stops are inherently dangerous for police and that pat-downs are permissible when an officer has a reasonable suspicion that the passenger may be armed and dangerous.
The pat-down is allowed if the police "harbor reasonable suspicion that a person subjected to the frisk is armed, and therefore dangerous to the safety of the police and public," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.
The case is Arizona v. Johnson, 07-1122.
Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury
Monday, January 26, 2009; 12:00 AM
MONDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.
HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.
"Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply," said the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies.
In the first study, researchers found detectable levels of mercury in nine of 20 samples of commercial HFCS. The study was published in current issue of Environmental Health.
In the second study, the agriculture group found that nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods contained mercury. The chemical was most common in HFCS-containing dairy products, dressings and condiments.
The use of mercury-contaminated caustic soda in the production of HFCS is common. The contamination occurs when mercury cells are used to produce caustic soda.
"The bad news is that nobody knows whether or not their soda or snack food contains HFCS made from ingredients like caustic soda contaminated with mercury. The good news is that mercury-free HFCS ingredients exist. Food companies just need a good push to only use those ingredients," Wallinga said.
More information
The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry has more about mercury and health.
SOURCE: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, news release, Jan. 26, 2009
MONDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.
HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.
"Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply," said the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies.
In the first study, researchers found detectable levels of mercury in nine of 20 samples of commercial HFCS. The study was published in current issue of Environmental Health.
In the second study, the agriculture group found that nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods contained mercury. The chemical was most common in HFCS-containing dairy products, dressings and condiments.
The use of mercury-contaminated caustic soda in the production of HFCS is common. The contamination occurs when mercury cells are used to produce caustic soda.
"The bad news is that nobody knows whether or not their soda or snack food contains HFCS made from ingredients like caustic soda contaminated with mercury. The good news is that mercury-free HFCS ingredients exist. Food companies just need a good push to only use those ingredients," Wallinga said.
More information
The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry has more about mercury and health.
SOURCE: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, news release, Jan. 26, 2009
OSCAR GRANT -- and YOU
[col. writ. 1/17/09 (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Like you, I've seen the searing phone-camera tape of the killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, of Oakland, California.
And although it's truly a terrible thing to see, it's almost exceeded by something just as shocking. That's been how the media has responded to this police killing, by creating a defense of error.
This defense, that the killer cop who murdered Grant somehow mistook his pistol for his Taser, has been offered by both local and national news reporters -- even though they haven't heard word one from Johannes Mehserle, the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) cop who wasn't even interviewed for weeks after shooting an unarmed man!
If you've ever wondered about the role of the media, let this be a lesson to you. You can see here that the claim that the corporate media is objective is but a cruel illusion.
Imagine this: if the roles were reversed, that is, if bystanders had footage of Grant shooting Mehserle, would the media be suggesting a defense for him?
Would Grant have been free to roam, to leave the state a week later?
Would he have made bail?
The shooting of Oscar Grant III is but the latest, West Coast version of Amadou Diallo, of Sean Bell, and of hundreds of other Black men -- and like them, don't be surprised if there is an acquittal -- again.
Oscar Grant is you -- and you are him, because you know in the pit of your stomach that it could've been you, and the same thing could've happened.
You know this.
And what's worse is this: you pay for this every time you pay taxes, and you endorse this every time you vote for politicians who sell out in a heartbeat.
You pay for your killers to kill you, in the name of a bogus, twisted law, and then pay for the State that defends him.
Something is terribly wrong here--and it's the system itself.
Until that is changed, nothing is changed, for we'll be out here again (in the streets) -- chanting a different name.
--(C) '09 MAJ
Like you, I've seen the searing phone-camera tape of the killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, of Oakland, California.
And although it's truly a terrible thing to see, it's almost exceeded by something just as shocking. That's been how the media has responded to this police killing, by creating a defense of error.
This defense, that the killer cop who murdered Grant somehow mistook his pistol for his Taser, has been offered by both local and national news reporters -- even though they haven't heard word one from Johannes Mehserle, the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) cop who wasn't even interviewed for weeks after shooting an unarmed man!
If you've ever wondered about the role of the media, let this be a lesson to you. You can see here that the claim that the corporate media is objective is but a cruel illusion.
Imagine this: if the roles were reversed, that is, if bystanders had footage of Grant shooting Mehserle, would the media be suggesting a defense for him?
Would Grant have been free to roam, to leave the state a week later?
Would he have made bail?
The shooting of Oscar Grant III is but the latest, West Coast version of Amadou Diallo, of Sean Bell, and of hundreds of other Black men -- and like them, don't be surprised if there is an acquittal -- again.
Oscar Grant is you -- and you are him, because you know in the pit of your stomach that it could've been you, and the same thing could've happened.
You know this.
And what's worse is this: you pay for this every time you pay taxes, and you endorse this every time you vote for politicians who sell out in a heartbeat.
You pay for your killers to kill you, in the name of a bogus, twisted law, and then pay for the State that defends him.
Something is terribly wrong here--and it's the system itself.
Until that is changed, nothing is changed, for we'll be out here again (in the streets) -- chanting a different name.
--(C) '09 MAJ
Obama's Time
[col. writ. 1/20/09 (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal
With poise and considerable grace, Barack Hussein Obama took the stage of history, and tried to turn a mammoth page in the book of America's national life.
With an air of seriousness and exuding confidence, he glided across the stage, shaking hands, giving hugs, and kissing ladies. He seemed to particularly revel in shaking hands -- and hugging! -- the next to the last number of the exclusive club of 44, former president George W. Bush.
But if Barack Obama was the shining star to Bush's fading star of this political moment, the other star that shone brightest was the People, who filled the streets in ways that seemed unprecedented -- by the millions.
Faces beamed warmth and excitement, seemingly ignoring the frigid temperatures.
There was, as there ever is in political gatherings, pomp and circumstance, but popular good nature seemed to radiate from the people,who stood in the cold for hours to witness a history that few thought they would live to see: the installation of a man of discernible African heritage taking the helm of the ship of state.
If the nation beamed with excitement, the world drew an almost collective breath of relief at the sight not only of Obama's inauguration, but the leaving of a man seen as the quintessential 'ugly American.' While things will probably not change as drastically as some hope, and others fear, the transition from an administration seen as blusterers, saber-tattlers, and fear-mongers to one at least capable of projecting competence and intelligence seems like a sea-change.
To paraphrase Shakespeare's play "Macbeth", of Bush's departure from office, 'Nothing so became him as leaving it.'
Has this change been more symbolic that substantive?
This we shall surely see.
--(c) '09 maj
With poise and considerable grace, Barack Hussein Obama took the stage of history, and tried to turn a mammoth page in the book of America's national life.
With an air of seriousness and exuding confidence, he glided across the stage, shaking hands, giving hugs, and kissing ladies. He seemed to particularly revel in shaking hands -- and hugging! -- the next to the last number of the exclusive club of 44, former president George W. Bush.
But if Barack Obama was the shining star to Bush's fading star of this political moment, the other star that shone brightest was the People, who filled the streets in ways that seemed unprecedented -- by the millions.
Faces beamed warmth and excitement, seemingly ignoring the frigid temperatures.
There was, as there ever is in political gatherings, pomp and circumstance, but popular good nature seemed to radiate from the people,who stood in the cold for hours to witness a history that few thought they would live to see: the installation of a man of discernible African heritage taking the helm of the ship of state.
If the nation beamed with excitement, the world drew an almost collective breath of relief at the sight not only of Obama's inauguration, but the leaving of a man seen as the quintessential 'ugly American.' While things will probably not change as drastically as some hope, and others fear, the transition from an administration seen as blusterers, saber-tattlers, and fear-mongers to one at least capable of projecting competence and intelligence seems like a sea-change.
To paraphrase Shakespeare's play "Macbeth", of Bush's departure from office, 'Nothing so became him as leaving it.'
Has this change been more symbolic that substantive?
This we shall surely see.
--(c) '09 maj
Friday, January 23, 2009
EARTHA KITT -- (1928-2008)
[col. writ. 12/25/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
For generations, the name, Eartha Kitt, was synonymous with sexy, sultry, and outspoken.
In an industry where careers can sometimes be measured in minutes, Eartha Kitt was the real thing, for quite a while; dancer, singer, actress, and on occasion, a comedian.
Since the tender age of 14, she worked the stage, and for nearly 7 decades, she left her indelible imprint by her work on the big screen, TV, and on recordings.
On Jan. 26, 1928 she was born in South Carolina as Eartha Mae Kitt.
She danced, sang, and acted her way into the hearts of millions.
In 1968, she dared speak out against the Vietnam War, when the war was raging at it's hottest, and was both blacklisted and hounded for doing so. That's because she spoke at a photo op at the White House in the face of First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson (wife of Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson). For daring to speak her mind at the heart of the empire, and for denouncing an Imperial war, the media and the state tried to 'disappear' her. She had to go abroad to find her freedom of speech, where she remained for nearly a decade.
For those who want to see her as a seductive chanteuse, the 1958 film, St. Louis Blues, starring Nat King Cole, Ruby Dee, Pearl Bailey and the gospel great, Mahalia Jackson, is a great source. For a slightly comic turn, see her as an amorous entrepreneurial cougar on the hunt for a young Eddie Murphy in the 1992 film Boomerang starring Halle Berry as the principal love interest.
Although she was known as the quintessential sex kitten for her acting, her public outspokenness came at quite a cost. Her comings, goings, doings and sayings were tracked by both the FBI and the CIA.
She moved through life with an intelligence, wit and nerve that made her distinctive and unforgettable.
Eartha Mae Kitt was 80.
--(c) '08 maj
[Source:African Arts and Letters, eds, Appiah, Kwame Anthony and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., (Phila., PA: Running Press, 2004.]
For generations, the name, Eartha Kitt, was synonymous with sexy, sultry, and outspoken.
In an industry where careers can sometimes be measured in minutes, Eartha Kitt was the real thing, for quite a while; dancer, singer, actress, and on occasion, a comedian.
Since the tender age of 14, she worked the stage, and for nearly 7 decades, she left her indelible imprint by her work on the big screen, TV, and on recordings.
On Jan. 26, 1928 she was born in South Carolina as Eartha Mae Kitt.
She danced, sang, and acted her way into the hearts of millions.
In 1968, she dared speak out against the Vietnam War, when the war was raging at it's hottest, and was both blacklisted and hounded for doing so. That's because she spoke at a photo op at the White House in the face of First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson (wife of Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson). For daring to speak her mind at the heart of the empire, and for denouncing an Imperial war, the media and the state tried to 'disappear' her. She had to go abroad to find her freedom of speech, where she remained for nearly a decade.
For those who want to see her as a seductive chanteuse, the 1958 film, St. Louis Blues, starring Nat King Cole, Ruby Dee, Pearl Bailey and the gospel great, Mahalia Jackson, is a great source. For a slightly comic turn, see her as an amorous entrepreneurial cougar on the hunt for a young Eddie Murphy in the 1992 film Boomerang starring Halle Berry as the principal love interest.
Although she was known as the quintessential sex kitten for her acting, her public outspokenness came at quite a cost. Her comings, goings, doings and sayings were tracked by both the FBI and the CIA.
She moved through life with an intelligence, wit and nerve that made her distinctive and unforgettable.
Eartha Mae Kitt was 80.
--(c) '08 maj
[Source:African Arts and Letters, eds, Appiah, Kwame Anthony and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., (Phila., PA: Running Press, 2004.]
'Imperial Power & Counter-Power': (M.A. Jamal's Remarks to the Rose Luxemburg Conference in Germany / Jan. '09
[sp. writ. 12/30/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal]
If one is to address the reactions to the recent election of Illinois Senator Barack Obama to the U.S. Presidency, this can perhaps be best encapsulated by the term, exultation.
For if ever a political figure rode the currents of a stellar alignment, Barack Obama did so.
The exultation was both national and global.
In my 1/2 century of life, I can recall no presidential election that elicited so profound a political -- indeed visceral! -- response.
When one considers what role the left had in such a spectacular political event, again we must look to alignments; not of stars, but of constituencies, which converged to not only elect Obama, but to also close the door to the ruinous politics of the U.S. right wing, represented by the incumbent President, George W. Bush, and his presumed political heirs, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin of the Republican Party.
While the U.S. left was a constituent part of the larger constituency, it neither drove nor directed the forces that elected Obama. In many ways it was hostage to those forces.
Those forces were youth -- those between 18-28, who mobilized in ways never seen before; it was also African Americans who voted in unprecedented numbers for one they perceived as one of their own; add to this millions of women, some of whom felt, frankly, disrespected by the choice of Palin, who, though a woman, betrayed an astonishing lack of knowledge and expertise on issues, especially given the very real possibility that her running mate, sen. McCain, might not survive the rigors of office.
But one cannot ignore the significant segment of those who felt betrayed or disaffected by the hard-right tilt of the Republican Party -- which ran almost exclusively on the notion that Obama was a "socialist", who in Palin's oft-repeated quote, "pals around with terrorists."
For those beyond our shores, it may be necessary to briefly decode this language. The "socialist" tag was a kind of cleaned - up, classy version of 'communist', the ultimate slur in U.S. capitalist politics, only exceeded by the post 9/11 term "terrorist" (and by calling Obama a "pal" of terrorists, it was tantamount to calling him one).
The last reference was to the alleged friendship between Obama and William Ayers, a Hyde Park educator who, in the 1960's, was a leading member of the Weather Underground, student anti-war and anti imperialist activists, who engaged in acts against property, and who supported the Black liberation movements of the era.
In point of fact, Obama was, by no measure, a leftist.
In the Spring of 2008 issue of The Black Scholar, African-American studies professor, Charles P. Henry makes the point explicitly, citing both Obama's own words, as well as a political biography of him in the New York Times Magazine. (1)
Obama's quoted remarks are instructive:
The Democrats have been stuck in the arguments of Vietnam,
which means that either you're a 'Scoop' Jackson Democrat or you're suspicious of any military action. And that's just not my framework .(2)
Obama's choices were illustrative of two poles of the Democratic Party: Sen. Henry 'Scoop' Jackson was so pro-war that he was called the "Senator from Boeing". (3) ; Hayden by contrast, was a student anti-war activist, and member of S.D.S. (Students for a Democratic Society). (Interestingly, Obama never referred to himself as a Jesse Jackson Democrat either).
This leads us to the next query on the role of the U.S. anti-war movement; in a word, it is moribund.
This, paradoxically, can be traced to the massive demonstrations of Spring 2003 in protest of the imminent Iraq War. For millions of people, this was their first, and last experience of mass action. Sadly, the lesson they learned was of their impotence, not their power, for Bush promptly ignored the protests, rattled the sabers of war, and launched Operation Shock and Awe.
For many people, unused to popular protests, this short-term failure to stop the war blinded them to the rarity that such mass protests represented: never had the nation seen such mass protests before the war was begun. At this stage, the people were a Counter-Power, but they stopped far too soon.
To further analyze the question of whether the election of Obama represents a leftist surge, or if the anti-war movement is in its ascendancy we need only recall that Obama is neither a leftist nor is he anti-war. The early stages of his electoral campaign were explicitly against the Iraq War. As he ran in the later stages, his sound bites announced a troop withdrawal in Iraq was necessary to buttress U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Indeed, given the events occurring as these words are written, there will probably be more U.S. anti-war protests against the Israeli blitzkrieg on Gaza in the next 2 weeks, than there was against the U.S. occupation in Afghanistan in the last two years.
That, I think, succinctly states the case of where we are.
But where we are need not determine where we can go. For people move by inches and by leaps. This was, undoubtedly, a giant step in U.S. history. This was not a day ever envisioned by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln or even John F. Kennedy.
Yet, one of Black America's most revered historians, Vincent Harding, (author of the classic, There is a River), spoke for far more than himself when he said, "So my hopes are very much focused on him, but not on him alone. I see the energy that's been built up over these two years of campaigns, and I see the possibility that we could gather ourselves together and begin to ask, in a very powerful way, not what should Barack Obama be doing next, but where do we go from here? What is our role as committed, progressive citizens to move to the next stages?"
Harding, a close confidante of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ended his comments on the Obama election with this fitting suggestion: "Maybe a democracy needs community organizers more than it needs commanders."(4)
Maybe so.
It appears Dr. Harding is suggesting that instead of empire, we need a republic, for if history teaches us anything, it is that the two realities are un- reconcilable. In the days of ancient Rome, the advent of empire spelled the end of the republic.
In 193 C. E., an African seized the throne of Rome. Emperor Septimius Severus extended Rome's power, and strengthened its empire. His sons succeeded him, and exceeded him in cruelty and brutality.
They didn't bring change -- they brought continuity.
Will this empire be any different?
Danke! Aus die Todeszelle,
Hier Sprecht Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Endnotes
1. Traub, James, "Is His Biography Our Destiny?", New York Times Magazine, November 4, 2007, pp.50-55.
2.Hayden, Tom, "An Appeal to Barack Obama", post to ariannahuff@aol.com, November 8, 2007; cited in Henry, Charles P., O"Obama '08 -- Articulate and Clean,"The Black Scholar, (Spr. '08) [vol. 38:no.1}, p.6, fn.17.
3.Johnson, Chalmers, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006), p.211. Boeing received some $20 billion in defense contracts in 2006.
4. Wane, Aly (compiled by), "Historical Moment: Black Thinkers Reflect on the Election of Barack Obama", Syracuse Peace Council's Peace newsletter (Jan. '09: #780), p.7.
If one is to address the reactions to the recent election of Illinois Senator Barack Obama to the U.S. Presidency, this can perhaps be best encapsulated by the term, exultation.
For if ever a political figure rode the currents of a stellar alignment, Barack Obama did so.
The exultation was both national and global.
In my 1/2 century of life, I can recall no presidential election that elicited so profound a political -- indeed visceral! -- response.
When one considers what role the left had in such a spectacular political event, again we must look to alignments; not of stars, but of constituencies, which converged to not only elect Obama, but to also close the door to the ruinous politics of the U.S. right wing, represented by the incumbent President, George W. Bush, and his presumed political heirs, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin of the Republican Party.
While the U.S. left was a constituent part of the larger constituency, it neither drove nor directed the forces that elected Obama. In many ways it was hostage to those forces.
Those forces were youth -- those between 18-28, who mobilized in ways never seen before; it was also African Americans who voted in unprecedented numbers for one they perceived as one of their own; add to this millions of women, some of whom felt, frankly, disrespected by the choice of Palin, who, though a woman, betrayed an astonishing lack of knowledge and expertise on issues, especially given the very real possibility that her running mate, sen. McCain, might not survive the rigors of office.
But one cannot ignore the significant segment of those who felt betrayed or disaffected by the hard-right tilt of the Republican Party -- which ran almost exclusively on the notion that Obama was a "socialist", who in Palin's oft-repeated quote, "pals around with terrorists."
For those beyond our shores, it may be necessary to briefly decode this language. The "socialist" tag was a kind of cleaned - up, classy version of 'communist', the ultimate slur in U.S. capitalist politics, only exceeded by the post 9/11 term "terrorist" (and by calling Obama a "pal" of terrorists, it was tantamount to calling him one).
The last reference was to the alleged friendship between Obama and William Ayers, a Hyde Park educator who, in the 1960's, was a leading member of the Weather Underground, student anti-war and anti imperialist activists, who engaged in acts against property, and who supported the Black liberation movements of the era.
In point of fact, Obama was, by no measure, a leftist.
In the Spring of 2008 issue of The Black Scholar, African-American studies professor, Charles P. Henry makes the point explicitly, citing both Obama's own words, as well as a political biography of him in the New York Times Magazine. (1)
Obama's quoted remarks are instructive:
The Democrats have been stuck in the arguments of Vietnam,
which means that either you're a 'Scoop' Jackson Democrat or you're suspicious of any military action. And that's just not my framework .(2)
Obama's choices were illustrative of two poles of the Democratic Party: Sen. Henry 'Scoop' Jackson was so pro-war that he was called the "Senator from Boeing". (3) ; Hayden by contrast, was a student anti-war activist, and member of S.D.S. (Students for a Democratic Society). (Interestingly, Obama never referred to himself as a Jesse Jackson Democrat either).
This leads us to the next query on the role of the U.S. anti-war movement; in a word, it is moribund.
This, paradoxically, can be traced to the massive demonstrations of Spring 2003 in protest of the imminent Iraq War. For millions of people, this was their first, and last experience of mass action. Sadly, the lesson they learned was of their impotence, not their power, for Bush promptly ignored the protests, rattled the sabers of war, and launched Operation Shock and Awe.
For many people, unused to popular protests, this short-term failure to stop the war blinded them to the rarity that such mass protests represented: never had the nation seen such mass protests before the war was begun. At this stage, the people were a Counter-Power, but they stopped far too soon.
To further analyze the question of whether the election of Obama represents a leftist surge, or if the anti-war movement is in its ascendancy we need only recall that Obama is neither a leftist nor is he anti-war. The early stages of his electoral campaign were explicitly against the Iraq War. As he ran in the later stages, his sound bites announced a troop withdrawal in Iraq was necessary to buttress U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Indeed, given the events occurring as these words are written, there will probably be more U.S. anti-war protests against the Israeli blitzkrieg on Gaza in the next 2 weeks, than there was against the U.S. occupation in Afghanistan in the last two years.
That, I think, succinctly states the case of where we are.
But where we are need not determine where we can go. For people move by inches and by leaps. This was, undoubtedly, a giant step in U.S. history. This was not a day ever envisioned by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln or even John F. Kennedy.
Yet, one of Black America's most revered historians, Vincent Harding, (author of the classic, There is a River), spoke for far more than himself when he said, "So my hopes are very much focused on him, but not on him alone. I see the energy that's been built up over these two years of campaigns, and I see the possibility that we could gather ourselves together and begin to ask, in a very powerful way, not what should Barack Obama be doing next, but where do we go from here? What is our role as committed, progressive citizens to move to the next stages?"
Harding, a close confidante of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ended his comments on the Obama election with this fitting suggestion: "Maybe a democracy needs community organizers more than it needs commanders."(4)
Maybe so.
It appears Dr. Harding is suggesting that instead of empire, we need a republic, for if history teaches us anything, it is that the two realities are un- reconcilable. In the days of ancient Rome, the advent of empire spelled the end of the republic.
In 193 C. E., an African seized the throne of Rome. Emperor Septimius Severus extended Rome's power, and strengthened its empire. His sons succeeded him, and exceeded him in cruelty and brutality.
They didn't bring change -- they brought continuity.
Will this empire be any different?
Danke! Aus die Todeszelle,
Hier Sprecht Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Endnotes
1. Traub, James, "Is His Biography Our Destiny?", New York Times Magazine, November 4, 2007, pp.50-55.
2.Hayden, Tom, "An Appeal to Barack Obama", post to ariannahuff@aol.com, November 8, 2007; cited in Henry, Charles P., O"Obama '08 -- Articulate and Clean,"The Black Scholar, (Spr. '08) [vol. 38:no.1}, p.6, fn.17.
3.Johnson, Chalmers, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006), p.211. Boeing received some $20 billion in defense contracts in 2006.
4. Wane, Aly (compiled by), "Historical Moment: Black Thinkers Reflect on the Election of Barack Obama", Syracuse Peace Council's Peace newsletter (Jan. '09: #780), p.7.
36 HOURS: Death in a Cell
[col. writ.1/12/09] ('09) Mumia Abu-Jamal
The strangulation death of 19 year old Ronnie L. White in a jail cell in Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County, Maryland, after 36 hours confinement has confronted Ron Harris, the teenager's father.
A month ago Harris told reporters, "it's been six months, and still nobody can tell me who killed my son or what happened leading up to his death." Harris added, "I want to know why there is still so much secrecy in this case and why, after all this time, I still don't have answers."
And despite the empanelment of a county grand jury looking into the case, Harris still has no answers, for the grand jury disbanded without bringing any indictments.
Community groups, from the People's Coalition for Police Accountability, Cas de Maryland, and the Princes George's County of the NAACP have protested the death of Ronnie l. White, and braved the bitter December winds to gather together to demand a true, fair and impartial investigation into his death, and the prosecutions of all involved.
That's because White died 36 hours after his arrest in connection with the death of a Prince George's county cop, who was hit by a car allegedly driven by White.
White's father is left with little more than questions after the events of June 2008. Ron Harris says, "My son died in solidarity confinement in a jail. They knew who was working in the unit and where he was that day. The doors were locked, and only a few people had keys. Yet, after all this time, they say they don't have enough evidence to know who did it? Why not?"
Community groups smell a cover up.
For more info: P.# 301-779--7432 or email : fightpolicebrutalit yinpg@gmail. com
maj
The strangulation death of 19 year old Ronnie L. White in a jail cell in Upper Marlboro, Prince George's County, Maryland, after 36 hours confinement has confronted Ron Harris, the teenager's father.
A month ago Harris told reporters, "it's been six months, and still nobody can tell me who killed my son or what happened leading up to his death." Harris added, "I want to know why there is still so much secrecy in this case and why, after all this time, I still don't have answers."
And despite the empanelment of a county grand jury looking into the case, Harris still has no answers, for the grand jury disbanded without bringing any indictments.
Community groups, from the People's Coalition for Police Accountability, Cas de Maryland, and the Princes George's County of the NAACP have protested the death of Ronnie l. White, and braved the bitter December winds to gather together to demand a true, fair and impartial investigation into his death, and the prosecutions of all involved.
That's because White died 36 hours after his arrest in connection with the death of a Prince George's county cop, who was hit by a car allegedly driven by White.
White's father is left with little more than questions after the events of June 2008. Ron Harris says, "My son died in solidarity confinement in a jail. They knew who was working in the unit and where he was that day. The doors were locked, and only a few people had keys. Yet, after all this time, they say they don't have enough evidence to know who did it? Why not?"
Community groups smell a cover up.
For more info: P.# 301-779--7432 or email : fightpolicebrutalit yinpg@gmail. com
maj
The Forgotten Martin Luther King
[col. writ. 1/15/09] '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is once again being resurrected this time of year, in part because his birthday is approaching, but also, of course, because of the imminent swearing-in of President-elect Barack H. Obama -- the first Black man in U.S. history to be so honored.
As often is the case, the Rev. King who is being projected today bears little relationship to the real, live, breathing and growing man behind the name.
Like many men, he had his highs and his lows, his fears and his doubts, his inspirations and his insights. His Washington speech (known as "I Have a Dream") was neither his finest, nor his most profound, but like many Black preachers who are master orators, he brought his best to it.
King, like many busy leaders, had others write some of his speeches, and one of those men was Vincent Harding, now a theologian and historian. Harding contributed to Kings' groundbreaking N.Y. Riverside Church speech, delivered precisely a year before his assassination (where he denounced the Vietnam War), marking his break with an American president (L. B. Johnson), the corporate media, and many of his closest allies in the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference.)
President Johnson felt betrayed by King, and the media turned from praise to ridicule. In his book, Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero (N. Y.:Orbis, 1996), Harding quotes from the Washington Post editorial page which slammed King, who "had diminished his usefulness to his cause, to his country, and to his people" because of his speech against the Vietnam War (which the Vietnamese called, 'the American War')
But betrayals didn't stop him, nor did nasty editorials deter him. Indeed, the violence of war radicalized him deeply, so much so that he said later, "the evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism" (Harding, 101).
Think of that: capitalism, militarism, and racism -- as evils.
When's the last time you've heard that?
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was being radicalized by the churning events around him -- and, a year before his death, he was both anti-war and anti-capitalist.
Ask yourself, if King were alive today, with his views, could he be elected president?
If not, why not?
What does that say about the nation's political system?
--(c) '09 maj
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is once again being resurrected this time of year, in part because his birthday is approaching, but also, of course, because of the imminent swearing-in of President-elect Barack H. Obama -- the first Black man in U.S. history to be so honored.
As often is the case, the Rev. King who is being projected today bears little relationship to the real, live, breathing and growing man behind the name.
Like many men, he had his highs and his lows, his fears and his doubts, his inspirations and his insights. His Washington speech (known as "I Have a Dream") was neither his finest, nor his most profound, but like many Black preachers who are master orators, he brought his best to it.
King, like many busy leaders, had others write some of his speeches, and one of those men was Vincent Harding, now a theologian and historian. Harding contributed to Kings' groundbreaking N.Y. Riverside Church speech, delivered precisely a year before his assassination (where he denounced the Vietnam War), marking his break with an American president (L. B. Johnson), the corporate media, and many of his closest allies in the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference.)
President Johnson felt betrayed by King, and the media turned from praise to ridicule. In his book, Martin Luther King: The Inconvenient Hero (N. Y.:Orbis, 1996), Harding quotes from the Washington Post editorial page which slammed King, who "had diminished his usefulness to his cause, to his country, and to his people" because of his speech against the Vietnam War (which the Vietnamese called, 'the American War')
But betrayals didn't stop him, nor did nasty editorials deter him. Indeed, the violence of war radicalized him deeply, so much so that he said later, "the evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism" (Harding, 101).
Think of that: capitalism, militarism, and racism -- as evils.
When's the last time you've heard that?
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was being radicalized by the churning events around him -- and, a year before his death, he was both anti-war and anti-capitalist.
Ask yourself, if King were alive today, with his views, could he be elected president?
If not, why not?
What does that say about the nation's political system?
--(c) '09 maj
Huey: A Memory (1942-1989)
[piece writ/4POCC 1/15/09], (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Huey P. Newton's name, and more importantly, his history of resistance and struggle, is little more than a mystery for many younger people in their 20's.
The name and works of a third rate rapper is more familiar to the average Black youth, and that's hardly surprising given the failure of the public school system.
For the public school system is invested in ignorance, and Huey P. Newton was a rebel -- and more, a Black Revolutionary.
Inspired by the civil rights movement and the violent attacks on Blacks trying to vote, Huey felt a bolder, more radical stance was needed.
At the age of 24, he co-founded the Black Panther Party, and the group expanded by leaps and bounds. Begun in Oct. 1966, in 3 years it had grown to over 40 chapters and branches across the country, with an international section in Algiers, North Africa.
Dedicated to the principles of Black self-defense and Black freedom, the Party became the foremost radical group of the era, with a wealth of supporters and enemies.
Chief among enemies was the US government, which, in the words of the FBI's head, J. Edgar Hoover, considered it "the greatest threat to national security."
For many thousands of Black youth, the rebelliousness of the Party spoke to their spirits more truly than did the peaceful resistance represented by Dr. Martin Luther King.
Huey was not a pacifist, and neither were millions of Black people.
But Huey, for all his brilliance, flair and resolve, was only human, and as the saying goes, 'to err is human.' Under attack from without and within, the party made missteps that contributed to it demise by the early 1980's.
But it is the best of Huey P. Newton that survives -- the bold soldier, the Minister of Defense, the thinker and writer -- who gave his best to the Black Freedom movement; who inspired millions of others to stand.
--(c) '09 maj
Huey P. Newton's name, and more importantly, his history of resistance and struggle, is little more than a mystery for many younger people in their 20's.
The name and works of a third rate rapper is more familiar to the average Black youth, and that's hardly surprising given the failure of the public school system.
For the public school system is invested in ignorance, and Huey P. Newton was a rebel -- and more, a Black Revolutionary.
Inspired by the civil rights movement and the violent attacks on Blacks trying to vote, Huey felt a bolder, more radical stance was needed.
At the age of 24, he co-founded the Black Panther Party, and the group expanded by leaps and bounds. Begun in Oct. 1966, in 3 years it had grown to over 40 chapters and branches across the country, with an international section in Algiers, North Africa.
Dedicated to the principles of Black self-defense and Black freedom, the Party became the foremost radical group of the era, with a wealth of supporters and enemies.
Chief among enemies was the US government, which, in the words of the FBI's head, J. Edgar Hoover, considered it "the greatest threat to national security."
For many thousands of Black youth, the rebelliousness of the Party spoke to their spirits more truly than did the peaceful resistance represented by Dr. Martin Luther King.
Huey was not a pacifist, and neither were millions of Black people.
But Huey, for all his brilliance, flair and resolve, was only human, and as the saying goes, 'to err is human.' Under attack from without and within, the party made missteps that contributed to it demise by the early 1980's.
But it is the best of Huey P. Newton that survives -- the bold soldier, the Minister of Defense, the thinker and writer -- who gave his best to the Black Freedom movement; who inspired millions of others to stand.
--(c) '09 maj
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Jewish Racism/Terrorism
After viewing this video clip, WOW! I really don't know what to say. Hamas is labled as terrorist and it's okay for Israel to violate international law by bombing schools and hospitals, civillians, men, women and children. Hamas don't have the weaponry that the Jews have. So they're already at a disadvantage, but they're the terrorists. What's happening in Gaza is a crime against humanity being perpetrated by zionist terrorists in the name of fighting terror. America is pumping money and weapons into Israel and in the meantime, Gaza is suffering a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. No food, no medicine and far less inferior weaponry. Despite all the brainwashed garbage spewing forth from the people's mouths in the video, I know who the real terrorists are. My heart and prayers go out to the people of Gaza. Don't expect a President Obama to change anything. He will continue the polices and practices that were set up over many years and made worse under the outgoing Bush idiocracy (administration).
Here's An Interesting Quote To Ponder Over
"Our race is the Master Race. We are divine gods on this planet. We are as different from the inferior races as they are from insects. In fact, compared to our race, other races are beasts and animals, cattle at best. Other races are considered as human excrement. Our destiny is to rule over the inferior races. Our earthly kingdom will be ruled by our leader with a rod of iron. The masses will lick our feet and serve us as our slaves."
— Menachem Begin - Israeli Prime Minister 1977–1983
— Menachem Begin - Israeli Prime Minister 1977–1983
What More Can I Say???
We live in world full of sick and satanic people. The worst of this element can be found in the elite class. Yes, I'm talking about the establishment, which is composed of politicians, businessmen, clergy, academics (teachers, professors), medical professionals and television/radio personalities and military personnel.
The same filth and festering evil that is found in the bottom of the barrel can also be found at the top. It's the dross and dregs of civilization; satanic people who wish to bring in a new world order.
Looking at them on the television as they discuss the new world order you can see the glee and hear the excitement in their voices. It's those very same people who foam at the mouth while rubbing their crotches while staring at scared little children. The same sick perverts who masturbate to snuff films of children.
Begging and pleading only arouses them more. Torture puts them in a state of ecstacy; turned on by the cries of their victims.
Predatory devils who say that 80% of the world population must be wiped out for the good of humanity. Their avaricious greed; their lusts for power and control feeds their drive. Devils, who ejaculate to maggots crawling all over a blood saturated skull, thus calling that art. How sick these demons are.
From the wilderness of North America, this is Aquil Aziz signing off.
The same filth and festering evil that is found in the bottom of the barrel can also be found at the top. It's the dross and dregs of civilization; satanic people who wish to bring in a new world order.
Looking at them on the television as they discuss the new world order you can see the glee and hear the excitement in their voices. It's those very same people who foam at the mouth while rubbing their crotches while staring at scared little children. The same sick perverts who masturbate to snuff films of children.
Begging and pleading only arouses them more. Torture puts them in a state of ecstacy; turned on by the cries of their victims.
Predatory devils who say that 80% of the world population must be wiped out for the good of humanity. Their avaricious greed; their lusts for power and control feeds their drive. Devils, who ejaculate to maggots crawling all over a blood saturated skull, thus calling that art. How sick these demons are.
From the wilderness of North America, this is Aquil Aziz signing off.
A New Year's Execution
The murder of Oscar Grant, Jr. by BART police in Oakland is nothing more than a cold-blooded execution. This pig committed a capital offense as far as I'm concerned. My heart goes out to Oscar Grant's family, who had to watch someone they love and care about be executed face down on the ground by police seething in evil.
The result of this Nazi style killing is a family left in mourning and a four year-old baby girl fatherless. Most of us have seen the video clips and it's obviously clear that this ravenous and racist devil cop Johannes Mehserle clearly drew his weapon and fired one round into the back of a prone Oscar Grant, Jr.
Only the police can viciously gun down a person in front of a crowd of witnesses and on camera and walk away scot-free. If an ordinary citizen like myself or Joe Blow had done such a thing, we would have been arrested, tried, and convicted. We would be spending 25 to life in prison or sitting on death row. A cop does it and is put on paid administrative leave. They don't have to answer any questions and the police union attorneys are on standby to protect one of their own. But who protects us from them?
If any ordinary citizen had shot a cop, they would be lucky if they're taken into custody in one piece and alive. The accused would be facing capital murder charges.
Police can shoot people anytime, anyplace, anywhere and not only walk away from the hands of justice; but they still may have their jobs and pension. I don't believe that the system will punish Johannes Mehserle for this cold-blooded murder of Oscar Grant, Jr. Afterall, he's a Black man and the lives of Black folks has no value anyway.
Just looking at how the case is being handled we can tell that the district attorney don't really want to bother pursuing charges against officer murderer. When a cop kills in cold-blood it's all about intent and what was the cop's state of mind. But if Joe Blow kills a cop, intent is thrown out the window all together.
No the question that remains is what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do to protect ourselves and loved ones from state sanctioned murderers who hide behind the shield? We're not getting justice no matter how you look at it. Officer Murderer will walk away free once again.
How many more Rodney Kings, Amadou Diallos, Sean Bells or Oscar Grants will it take? Will it take us killing the police? Is that what the police want? If police kill a person in front of a crowd of people, then the officer(s) should be leaving the scene in a body bag too.
Since the police always manage to escape justice, the day is very near when people begin taking matters into their own hands. Black people, we are all Oscar Grants and Rodney Kings and Sean Bells. The only solution to police terrorism is to retaliate.
Lets be real, President Obama is going to do nothing about this. As I sit and watch white liberals pat themselves on the back because a Black president has been elected, that has not changed the racist climate of America and we can see the racism and anti-Black sentiments from Benton Harbor, Michigan to Jena, Louisiana.
The only tool of leverage that we have left is retaliation. If we sit by and do nothing, then our children will have no future, because they'll be fair-game for police. To be shotdown and murdered in the name of the law. It is obviously clear who the real terrorists are and who's the biggest gang in America. They have a vast network weapons and resources. They abuse their power and authority. They can plant evidence on you and frame you up for crimes. They can maliciously beat and shoot people in front of witnesses and on camera. They can lie and intimidate witnesses and suborn perjury. They can beat and torture suspects for "confessions" to crimes. They can plant informants of have informants lie to justify SWAT teaming peoples homes. This is the true nature of the police. To protect and serve who?
Welcome to the rule of tyranny.
Welcome to the reality of police terrorism.
From the wilderness of North America, this is Aquil Aziz signing off.
The result of this Nazi style killing is a family left in mourning and a four year-old baby girl fatherless. Most of us have seen the video clips and it's obviously clear that this ravenous and racist devil cop Johannes Mehserle clearly drew his weapon and fired one round into the back of a prone Oscar Grant, Jr.
Only the police can viciously gun down a person in front of a crowd of witnesses and on camera and walk away scot-free. If an ordinary citizen like myself or Joe Blow had done such a thing, we would have been arrested, tried, and convicted. We would be spending 25 to life in prison or sitting on death row. A cop does it and is put on paid administrative leave. They don't have to answer any questions and the police union attorneys are on standby to protect one of their own. But who protects us from them?
If any ordinary citizen had shot a cop, they would be lucky if they're taken into custody in one piece and alive. The accused would be facing capital murder charges.
Police can shoot people anytime, anyplace, anywhere and not only walk away from the hands of justice; but they still may have their jobs and pension. I don't believe that the system will punish Johannes Mehserle for this cold-blooded murder of Oscar Grant, Jr. Afterall, he's a Black man and the lives of Black folks has no value anyway.
Just looking at how the case is being handled we can tell that the district attorney don't really want to bother pursuing charges against officer murderer. When a cop kills in cold-blood it's all about intent and what was the cop's state of mind. But if Joe Blow kills a cop, intent is thrown out the window all together.
No the question that remains is what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do to protect ourselves and loved ones from state sanctioned murderers who hide behind the shield? We're not getting justice no matter how you look at it. Officer Murderer will walk away free once again.
How many more Rodney Kings, Amadou Diallos, Sean Bells or Oscar Grants will it take? Will it take us killing the police? Is that what the police want? If police kill a person in front of a crowd of people, then the officer(s) should be leaving the scene in a body bag too.
Since the police always manage to escape justice, the day is very near when people begin taking matters into their own hands. Black people, we are all Oscar Grants and Rodney Kings and Sean Bells. The only solution to police terrorism is to retaliate.
Lets be real, President Obama is going to do nothing about this. As I sit and watch white liberals pat themselves on the back because a Black president has been elected, that has not changed the racist climate of America and we can see the racism and anti-Black sentiments from Benton Harbor, Michigan to Jena, Louisiana.
The only tool of leverage that we have left is retaliation. If we sit by and do nothing, then our children will have no future, because they'll be fair-game for police. To be shotdown and murdered in the name of the law. It is obviously clear who the real terrorists are and who's the biggest gang in America. They have a vast network weapons and resources. They abuse their power and authority. They can plant evidence on you and frame you up for crimes. They can maliciously beat and shoot people in front of witnesses and on camera. They can lie and intimidate witnesses and suborn perjury. They can beat and torture suspects for "confessions" to crimes. They can plant informants of have informants lie to justify SWAT teaming peoples homes. This is the true nature of the police. To protect and serve who?
Welcome to the rule of tyranny.
Welcome to the reality of police terrorism.
From the wilderness of North America, this is Aquil Aziz signing off.
Oakland's Not For Burning?
By George Ciccariello-Mayer
January 9, 2009
Oakland.
In 1968, Amory Bradford penned a volume entitled Oakland's Not For Burning, documenting the tinderbox that the city had become, and the lamenting the inevitability with which it would explode. But the assertion contained in the book's title was hardly credible, coming as it was from a Yale-educated former Wall Street lawyer and New York Times general manager whose only business in Oakland came via the U.S. Commerce Department. Some forty years later, in the early hours of this year of ostensible hope, the reality of the persistence of racism in Oakland became devastatingly clear, sparking a powerful response the likes of which this city hasn't seen in years. But luckily, the condescending voices of moderation, like that of Bradford a generation prior, seem have little traction with those who have seen enough police murder.
A New Year's Execution
After responding to reports of "a fight" on a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train, BART police detained the train at the Fruitvale station, forcibly removing several young men from the train as dozens of bystanders watched. Several of the men, all young and mostly black, were lined up, seated, along the platform. Some were cuffed, Oscar Grant was not. As he was attempting to defuse the situation, BART police decided to detain him, placing him face-down on the platform, with one officer kneeling near his neck, and another straddling his legs. For some still unexplained reason, one officer, now identified as Johannes Mehserle stood up, pulled his gun, and fired a shot directly into Oscar Grant's back.
The bullet went through Grant's back, ricocheting off the platform and puncturing his lung.
There are gasps from the bystanders and shock on the face of the other officers, who clearly didn't expect the shot to be fired. Grant, who was begging not to be Tasered at the time of the shot, clearly didn't expect it either. But this surprise notwithstanding, the decision was then made to cuff the young man as he lay dying. As an added precaution, BART police then sought immediately to confiscate all videophones held by the train passengers, in an effort to cover up the murder. Luckily for everyone but the BART P.D. and Mehserle, several videos managed to make it into the public domain, where they went viral and were viewed on Youtube hundreds of thousands of times in the following days. In a rare show of journalistic integrity, local Fox affiliate KTVU aired one of the videos in its entirety.
The standard protocol---deny, distort, cover-up---had clearly been disrupted, and BART spokesman Linton Johnson even went so far as to criticize the leaking of the video, arguing that rather than clarifying events, public access to the video would "taint" the investigation. BART was on a back foot, and popular anger was on the offensive.
A Corporate Police Force
BART Police are a notoriously problematic organization, existing in a gray area between public and private, funded by taxpayers but operating under a corporate structure which lacks all accountability and oversight. According to the San Francisco Bay Guardian:
The structure of the BART police force is a recipe for disaster. BART's general manager (who is not an elected official and has no expertise in law enforcement) hires the BART police chief... There is no police commission, no police review board, not even a committee of the elected BART board designated to handle complaints against and issues with the BART police... There is, in other words, no civilian oversight.
And this "disaster" has been more than merely hypothetical: in 1992, a BART cop shot unarmed Jerrold Hall in the back of the head with a shotgun as he walked away, after firing a warning shot. In 2001, BART police shot a mentally ill man who was unarmed and naked. And according to Tim Redmond, writing in the same paper, "BART made a monumental effort to cover [the Hall slaying] up," and in the end, "Nothing happened... BART called the shooting justified." As of yesterday, BART hadn't yet interviewed the officer, Johannes Mehserle, who insisted on invoking Fifth Amendment rights not to speak. And just when they claim to have compelled him to do so, he abruptly resigned, thereby ending any internal affairs investigation that may have taken place. There still remains, according to BART, a criminal investigation, but if the past is any indicator, this won't get far.
But let's not fool ourselves. Even publicly-run organizations like the Oakland Police Department, which has all the ties in the world to elected power, operates with an informal shoot-to-kill policy for black teenagers. This was as clear in the 2007 murder of Gary King as it is with Oscar Grant today. And since the district attorney responsible for bringing charges against the police works closely with these same police on a daily basis and in a shared enterprise of delivering convictions, we should not be surprised that not a single police murder in recent years has even seen disciplinary action. "No one we talked with," writes the Chronicle, "from the district attorney's office to lawyers who work either side of police shootings - could remember a case in the last 20 years in which an on-duty officer had been charged in a fatal shooting in Alameda County."
Does It Matter What Really Happened?
We have all seen the video, and rumors are swirling about how to interpret its contents. The officer clearly fires a fatal shot into Oscar Grant's back while the latter is face-down on the floor. A flurry of "experts" have intervened to give their analysis. While such expert testimony usually functions to justify the police, even among these experts some are shocked and disgusted by what they see. One expert, after concluding that the gun had accidentally gone off, watched video from another angle, after which he changed his conclusion: "Looking at it, I hate to say this, it looks like an execution to me."
Others are insisting that Mehserle meant to pull out his (less fatal) Taser, but this theory has since been discredited. Firstly, a Sig-Sauer handgun weighs three times what a Taser weighs, and the shape is completely distinct, and another expert noticed in the tape that the officer had previously withdrawn his Taser, located for safety reasons on the other side of his belt. In other words, he knew he was going for the gun. Hence the claim of accidental discharge, but this too raises a serious question of plausibility: when Mehserle drew his gun, Grant couldn't see it, and so there could be no claim that it was meant to threaten the victim into passivity. In the end, if Mehserle is ever forced to give a statement, he will likely turn to the tried-and-true excuse that he "suspected" Grant had a gun in his pants.
But none of this matters, all the debate of the officer's "intention" only serves to reinforce the fact that, while white cops are allowed to have intention, this is a quantity denied to their victims. This fact of racist double-standards is not lost on those who, realizing that there will be no "justice" in this case, have taken to the streets to demonstrate their rage at the unprovoked execution.
"I'm Feeling Pretty Violent Right About Now"
While friends and family were gathered for Grant's funeral, a number of organizations called a demonstration where he was killed, at Fruitvale BART station. Circulating by internet and Facebook, the call reached many thousands, and in the end some 500-600 protestors and mourners came together to make speeches and lament this murder. At a makeshift memorial behind the BART station, candles are burning, and hand-written messages appear: "Oscar, we watched you grow up from a lil' boy down the street into a man," and "O., RIP, peaceful journey, God only pick da best."
As an indication of the contrasting sentiments that divided the crowd, where someone had scribbled "Fuck the police," another had covered the expletive with another message: "Forgive." But forgiveness wasn't on the minds of many. Several of the more radical protestors climbed onto the BART turnstiles, displaying a red, black, and green flag. One shouted:
I've got the mentality of my parents who were Black Panthers, I'm tired of talking, I'm thinking like L.A. in 1992. Y'all can have your megaphone speeches, I been through that, I'm black, I don't need more speeches. Let's take a stand today, because tomorrow ain't promised!
While some on the mic attempted to soothe the crowd, insisting that burning up the city was "too easy" and "useless," the message didn't seem to resonate much with the crowd. And why should it? We were standing in the middle of "Fruitvale Village," a corporate paradise in the middle of a historically Latino district, which clearly doesn't belong to the local residents. It was clear where the momentum was going, as the biggest cheers went up for the more radical voices who seized the mic: "I'm feelin pretty violent right now," one insisted, "I'm on some Malcolm X shit: by any means necessary. If I don't see some action, I'ma cause a ruckus myself."
Oakland Burning
While some remained to hear additional speakers, including hyphy hip-hopper Mistah FAB and the recently-founded Coalition Against Police Executions (CAPE), several hundred set out on a militant and rapidly-moving march north on International Boulevard. The police response was initially hands-off, despite the tenor of the chants: "No Justice, No Peace: Fuck the Police," and "La Migra, La Policia: La Misma Porqueria." If those in the passing cars and stuck in traffic were of any indication, the local population knew exactly what was going on, why we were protesting, and were largely sympathetic.
As the march wound around Lake Merritt, it turned sharply to the left, a shortcut to BART headquarters. This seems to have thrown off the police, who were clearly unprepared for what came next. A single police car, parked sideways at 8th and Madison to prevent access to the BART headquarters, became the target of the crowd's increasing fury. Sensing the tone of the crowd, a cop reached in and grabbed her helmet before scurrying away. Within moments, the police car was destroyed and nearly flipped over, and a nearby dumpster was burning.
A few seconds later, the air was thick with teargas. Evidently, seeing their own property destroyed was too much for the police to stomach. (Note: there is no truth to the CNN report that tear gas was deployed to protect a surrounded officer). I get a noseful of teargas, and a protestor near me is shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet, and needs to be helped off, as the crowd quickly sprints north toward downtown. Passing through Chinatown, dumpsters full of fresh produce are emptied into the street to slow the march of a line of riot police. When the crowd reaches Broadway, there is momentary confusion, with some continuing straight to Old Oakland, some pushing left toward Jack London Square, and others urging a move rightward toward the city center.
The police took advantage of this momentary indecision, with a full line charge that send many of the furious demonstrators sprinting and left many arrested. When the crowd regrouped, it was promptly encircled at 14th and Broadway, and a standoff ensued. Either by design or by a predictable quirk of the police organization, nearly every riot cop in the street was white, some sneering defiantly. And if the crowd of demonstrators was largely multiethnic, it was clear by this point that the functional vanguard was composed largely of the young, black teenagers most acutely aware of their relationship to the police. There were chants of "We are all Oscar Grant!" and several protestors lay in the middle of the street with their hands behind their backs, mimicking the position in which Grant was executed.
Some small fires were set, and the police moved in again, pushing the crowd down 14th toward Lake Merritt. The spearhead of the demonstrators rushed forward to shouts of "We the police today!" smashing and torching vehicles, and while this was done out of anger it was far from irrational, as the press will certainly present it. Rather, it was the result of a very clear line of reasoning that goes something like this: we have to do something, and in the face of police impunity, this is all we can do. Nothing would be more irrational than a blind faith that the police will do the right thing, given all the historical evidence to the contrary. While the press is doing its best to find bystanders to decry the "vandalism" involved, it couldn't ignore the testimony Oakland Post reporter Ken Epstein, who was writing an article on the killing when he looked out his office window to see his Honda CRV in flames: "I'm sorry my car was burned," Epstein admitted, "but the issue is very upsetting."
The crisp wintry air swirled and the lights twinkled along the surface of Lake Merritt as demonstrators demolished a local McDonalds, at which point a line had clearly been crossed: a police armored personnel carrier came tearing down the street at 45 miles per hour, firing rubber bullets and sending the crowd scattering. The scene was surreal, with padded riot cops leaping off the vehicle in an effort to win an impossible footrace with younger and fitter demonstrators.
Dellums Steps In, Steps Out
From the early moments of the demonstration, the position of the mayor, Ron Dellums, was at issue. Here was a mayor with a great deal of popular respect, with longstanding civil rights credentials, but who had done little to slow the pace of police killing, among the other ongoing ills plaguing postindustrial Oakland. With tear gas swirling and the APCs circling, the mayor decided to make his appearance at around 9pm, walking the few blocks from City Hall down to 14th and Jackson to address the angry crowd himself. Several times he attempted to scurry away under hard questions that he could not answer, with the standard responses: we should all take it down a notch; there will be an investigation.
I don't remember what it was exactly that I yelled at the mayor, but it certainly got to him. As he was leaving the crowd, he turned and walked directly up to me, putting his face a mere inches from my own.
Dellums: What I want people to do now is calm down. I've told the police to stand down, and I hope you all can do the same. Both sides need to be peaceful right now so we can find out exactly what happened.
Me: But we know what happened! We've all seen the video: A cop pulled his gun and shot an unarmed black man in the back. And you know there are reasons that certain people have guns pulled on them and others don't.
Dellums: There are two processes currently underway...
Me: The process is if I shoot someone, I'm arrested. But if a cop shoots someone, he gets put on paid administrative leave until everyone forgets about it.
Dellums: I'm asking both sides to be peaceful...
Me: Both sides? I haven't killed anybody, this crowd hasn't killed anybody. The police have killed somebody, and you're in charge of the police! Who runs this city? When will the prisoners be released?
Dellums: Soon...
Dellums then returned to City Hall, surveying the damage. But as he entered, the angry crowd booed thunderously. And despite his claim that the police had been ordered to stand down, clashes broke out immediately on the same block, more fires broke out, and more teargas was deployed. The mayor's intervention could do little to calm Oakland's frazzled nerves. His claim that the people have lost faith in the police rings empty for people who never had such faith in the first place, people who have seen vicious police murder after police murder without so much as an indictment.
The demonstrators continued to express their pent-up rage, engaging in running battles until nearly 11pm, when a mass arrest seems to have quelled the resistance for the moment. All in all, official numbers show 105 arrests (including 21 juveniles), more than 80 of which occurred after Dellums claims to have told OPD to stand down. Who knows if his promise of a speedy release means anything at all. Support and solidarity demonstrations are scheduled this week for the prisoners' arraignments, and with another mass mobilization scheduled for next Wednesday, this is far from over.
Intention as Privilege
As I have said, and at the risk of controversy I will repeat: it doesn't matter if Mehserle meant to pull the trigger. He had already assumed the role of sole arbiter over the life or death of Oscar Grant. He had already decided that Grant, by virtue of his skin color and appearance, was worth less than other citizens. And rather than acquitting the officer, all of the psychological analyses and possible explanations of the shooting that have been trotted-out in the press, and all the discussion of the irrelevant elements of Grant's criminal history, have only proven this fundamental point.
If a young black or Latino male pulls a gun and someone winds up dead, intention is never the issue, and first-degree murder charges are on the agenda, as well as likely murder charges for anyone of the wrong color standing nearby. If we reverse the current situation, and the gun is in Oscar Grant's hand, then racist voices would be squealing for the death penalty regardless of intention. And yet when it's a cop pulling the trigger, all the media and public opinion resources are deployed to justify, understand, and empathize with this unconscionable act. One side is automatically condemned; the other automatically excused.
For now, the fires are out. But despite the soothing words of Barack Obama and Ron Dellums, there is no lack of fuel and no lack of spark in Oakland.
George Ciccariello-Maher is a Ph.D. candidate in political theory at UC Berkeley. He lives in Oakland, and can be reached at gjcm@berkeley.edu.
January 9, 2009
Oakland.
In 1968, Amory Bradford penned a volume entitled Oakland's Not For Burning, documenting the tinderbox that the city had become, and the lamenting the inevitability with which it would explode. But the assertion contained in the book's title was hardly credible, coming as it was from a Yale-educated former Wall Street lawyer and New York Times general manager whose only business in Oakland came via the U.S. Commerce Department. Some forty years later, in the early hours of this year of ostensible hope, the reality of the persistence of racism in Oakland became devastatingly clear, sparking a powerful response the likes of which this city hasn't seen in years. But luckily, the condescending voices of moderation, like that of Bradford a generation prior, seem have little traction with those who have seen enough police murder.
A New Year's Execution
After responding to reports of "a fight" on a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train, BART police detained the train at the Fruitvale station, forcibly removing several young men from the train as dozens of bystanders watched. Several of the men, all young and mostly black, were lined up, seated, along the platform. Some were cuffed, Oscar Grant was not. As he was attempting to defuse the situation, BART police decided to detain him, placing him face-down on the platform, with one officer kneeling near his neck, and another straddling his legs. For some still unexplained reason, one officer, now identified as Johannes Mehserle stood up, pulled his gun, and fired a shot directly into Oscar Grant's back.
The bullet went through Grant's back, ricocheting off the platform and puncturing his lung.
There are gasps from the bystanders and shock on the face of the other officers, who clearly didn't expect the shot to be fired. Grant, who was begging not to be Tasered at the time of the shot, clearly didn't expect it either. But this surprise notwithstanding, the decision was then made to cuff the young man as he lay dying. As an added precaution, BART police then sought immediately to confiscate all videophones held by the train passengers, in an effort to cover up the murder. Luckily for everyone but the BART P.D. and Mehserle, several videos managed to make it into the public domain, where they went viral and were viewed on Youtube hundreds of thousands of times in the following days. In a rare show of journalistic integrity, local Fox affiliate KTVU aired one of the videos in its entirety.
The standard protocol---deny, distort, cover-up---had clearly been disrupted, and BART spokesman Linton Johnson even went so far as to criticize the leaking of the video, arguing that rather than clarifying events, public access to the video would "taint" the investigation. BART was on a back foot, and popular anger was on the offensive.
A Corporate Police Force
BART Police are a notoriously problematic organization, existing in a gray area between public and private, funded by taxpayers but operating under a corporate structure which lacks all accountability and oversight. According to the San Francisco Bay Guardian:
The structure of the BART police force is a recipe for disaster. BART's general manager (who is not an elected official and has no expertise in law enforcement) hires the BART police chief... There is no police commission, no police review board, not even a committee of the elected BART board designated to handle complaints against and issues with the BART police... There is, in other words, no civilian oversight.
And this "disaster" has been more than merely hypothetical: in 1992, a BART cop shot unarmed Jerrold Hall in the back of the head with a shotgun as he walked away, after firing a warning shot. In 2001, BART police shot a mentally ill man who was unarmed and naked. And according to Tim Redmond, writing in the same paper, "BART made a monumental effort to cover [the Hall slaying] up," and in the end, "Nothing happened... BART called the shooting justified." As of yesterday, BART hadn't yet interviewed the officer, Johannes Mehserle, who insisted on invoking Fifth Amendment rights not to speak. And just when they claim to have compelled him to do so, he abruptly resigned, thereby ending any internal affairs investigation that may have taken place. There still remains, according to BART, a criminal investigation, but if the past is any indicator, this won't get far.
But let's not fool ourselves. Even publicly-run organizations like the Oakland Police Department, which has all the ties in the world to elected power, operates with an informal shoot-to-kill policy for black teenagers. This was as clear in the 2007 murder of Gary King as it is with Oscar Grant today. And since the district attorney responsible for bringing charges against the police works closely with these same police on a daily basis and in a shared enterprise of delivering convictions, we should not be surprised that not a single police murder in recent years has even seen disciplinary action. "No one we talked with," writes the Chronicle, "from the district attorney's office to lawyers who work either side of police shootings - could remember a case in the last 20 years in which an on-duty officer had been charged in a fatal shooting in Alameda County."
Does It Matter What Really Happened?
We have all seen the video, and rumors are swirling about how to interpret its contents. The officer clearly fires a fatal shot into Oscar Grant's back while the latter is face-down on the floor. A flurry of "experts" have intervened to give their analysis. While such expert testimony usually functions to justify the police, even among these experts some are shocked and disgusted by what they see. One expert, after concluding that the gun had accidentally gone off, watched video from another angle, after which he changed his conclusion: "Looking at it, I hate to say this, it looks like an execution to me."
Others are insisting that Mehserle meant to pull out his (less fatal) Taser, but this theory has since been discredited. Firstly, a Sig-Sauer handgun weighs three times what a Taser weighs, and the shape is completely distinct, and another expert noticed in the tape that the officer had previously withdrawn his Taser, located for safety reasons on the other side of his belt. In other words, he knew he was going for the gun. Hence the claim of accidental discharge, but this too raises a serious question of plausibility: when Mehserle drew his gun, Grant couldn't see it, and so there could be no claim that it was meant to threaten the victim into passivity. In the end, if Mehserle is ever forced to give a statement, he will likely turn to the tried-and-true excuse that he "suspected" Grant had a gun in his pants.
But none of this matters, all the debate of the officer's "intention" only serves to reinforce the fact that, while white cops are allowed to have intention, this is a quantity denied to their victims. This fact of racist double-standards is not lost on those who, realizing that there will be no "justice" in this case, have taken to the streets to demonstrate their rage at the unprovoked execution.
"I'm Feeling Pretty Violent Right About Now"
While friends and family were gathered for Grant's funeral, a number of organizations called a demonstration where he was killed, at Fruitvale BART station. Circulating by internet and Facebook, the call reached many thousands, and in the end some 500-600 protestors and mourners came together to make speeches and lament this murder. At a makeshift memorial behind the BART station, candles are burning, and hand-written messages appear: "Oscar, we watched you grow up from a lil' boy down the street into a man," and "O., RIP, peaceful journey, God only pick da best."
As an indication of the contrasting sentiments that divided the crowd, where someone had scribbled "Fuck the police," another had covered the expletive with another message: "Forgive." But forgiveness wasn't on the minds of many. Several of the more radical protestors climbed onto the BART turnstiles, displaying a red, black, and green flag. One shouted:
I've got the mentality of my parents who were Black Panthers, I'm tired of talking, I'm thinking like L.A. in 1992. Y'all can have your megaphone speeches, I been through that, I'm black, I don't need more speeches. Let's take a stand today, because tomorrow ain't promised!
While some on the mic attempted to soothe the crowd, insisting that burning up the city was "too easy" and "useless," the message didn't seem to resonate much with the crowd. And why should it? We were standing in the middle of "Fruitvale Village," a corporate paradise in the middle of a historically Latino district, which clearly doesn't belong to the local residents. It was clear where the momentum was going, as the biggest cheers went up for the more radical voices who seized the mic: "I'm feelin pretty violent right now," one insisted, "I'm on some Malcolm X shit: by any means necessary. If I don't see some action, I'ma cause a ruckus myself."
Oakland Burning
While some remained to hear additional speakers, including hyphy hip-hopper Mistah FAB and the recently-founded Coalition Against Police Executions (CAPE), several hundred set out on a militant and rapidly-moving march north on International Boulevard. The police response was initially hands-off, despite the tenor of the chants: "No Justice, No Peace: Fuck the Police," and "La Migra, La Policia: La Misma Porqueria." If those in the passing cars and stuck in traffic were of any indication, the local population knew exactly what was going on, why we were protesting, and were largely sympathetic.
As the march wound around Lake Merritt, it turned sharply to the left, a shortcut to BART headquarters. This seems to have thrown off the police, who were clearly unprepared for what came next. A single police car, parked sideways at 8th and Madison to prevent access to the BART headquarters, became the target of the crowd's increasing fury. Sensing the tone of the crowd, a cop reached in and grabbed her helmet before scurrying away. Within moments, the police car was destroyed and nearly flipped over, and a nearby dumpster was burning.
A few seconds later, the air was thick with teargas. Evidently, seeing their own property destroyed was too much for the police to stomach. (Note: there is no truth to the CNN report that tear gas was deployed to protect a surrounded officer). I get a noseful of teargas, and a protestor near me is shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet, and needs to be helped off, as the crowd quickly sprints north toward downtown. Passing through Chinatown, dumpsters full of fresh produce are emptied into the street to slow the march of a line of riot police. When the crowd reaches Broadway, there is momentary confusion, with some continuing straight to Old Oakland, some pushing left toward Jack London Square, and others urging a move rightward toward the city center.
The police took advantage of this momentary indecision, with a full line charge that send many of the furious demonstrators sprinting and left many arrested. When the crowd regrouped, it was promptly encircled at 14th and Broadway, and a standoff ensued. Either by design or by a predictable quirk of the police organization, nearly every riot cop in the street was white, some sneering defiantly. And if the crowd of demonstrators was largely multiethnic, it was clear by this point that the functional vanguard was composed largely of the young, black teenagers most acutely aware of their relationship to the police. There were chants of "We are all Oscar Grant!" and several protestors lay in the middle of the street with their hands behind their backs, mimicking the position in which Grant was executed.
Some small fires were set, and the police moved in again, pushing the crowd down 14th toward Lake Merritt. The spearhead of the demonstrators rushed forward to shouts of "We the police today!" smashing and torching vehicles, and while this was done out of anger it was far from irrational, as the press will certainly present it. Rather, it was the result of a very clear line of reasoning that goes something like this: we have to do something, and in the face of police impunity, this is all we can do. Nothing would be more irrational than a blind faith that the police will do the right thing, given all the historical evidence to the contrary. While the press is doing its best to find bystanders to decry the "vandalism" involved, it couldn't ignore the testimony Oakland Post reporter Ken Epstein, who was writing an article on the killing when he looked out his office window to see his Honda CRV in flames: "I'm sorry my car was burned," Epstein admitted, "but the issue is very upsetting."
The crisp wintry air swirled and the lights twinkled along the surface of Lake Merritt as demonstrators demolished a local McDonalds, at which point a line had clearly been crossed: a police armored personnel carrier came tearing down the street at 45 miles per hour, firing rubber bullets and sending the crowd scattering. The scene was surreal, with padded riot cops leaping off the vehicle in an effort to win an impossible footrace with younger and fitter demonstrators.
Dellums Steps In, Steps Out
From the early moments of the demonstration, the position of the mayor, Ron Dellums, was at issue. Here was a mayor with a great deal of popular respect, with longstanding civil rights credentials, but who had done little to slow the pace of police killing, among the other ongoing ills plaguing postindustrial Oakland. With tear gas swirling and the APCs circling, the mayor decided to make his appearance at around 9pm, walking the few blocks from City Hall down to 14th and Jackson to address the angry crowd himself. Several times he attempted to scurry away under hard questions that he could not answer, with the standard responses: we should all take it down a notch; there will be an investigation.
I don't remember what it was exactly that I yelled at the mayor, but it certainly got to him. As he was leaving the crowd, he turned and walked directly up to me, putting his face a mere inches from my own.
Dellums: What I want people to do now is calm down. I've told the police to stand down, and I hope you all can do the same. Both sides need to be peaceful right now so we can find out exactly what happened.
Me: But we know what happened! We've all seen the video: A cop pulled his gun and shot an unarmed black man in the back. And you know there are reasons that certain people have guns pulled on them and others don't.
Dellums: There are two processes currently underway...
Me: The process is if I shoot someone, I'm arrested. But if a cop shoots someone, he gets put on paid administrative leave until everyone forgets about it.
Dellums: I'm asking both sides to be peaceful...
Me: Both sides? I haven't killed anybody, this crowd hasn't killed anybody. The police have killed somebody, and you're in charge of the police! Who runs this city? When will the prisoners be released?
Dellums: Soon...
Dellums then returned to City Hall, surveying the damage. But as he entered, the angry crowd booed thunderously. And despite his claim that the police had been ordered to stand down, clashes broke out immediately on the same block, more fires broke out, and more teargas was deployed. The mayor's intervention could do little to calm Oakland's frazzled nerves. His claim that the people have lost faith in the police rings empty for people who never had such faith in the first place, people who have seen vicious police murder after police murder without so much as an indictment.
The demonstrators continued to express their pent-up rage, engaging in running battles until nearly 11pm, when a mass arrest seems to have quelled the resistance for the moment. All in all, official numbers show 105 arrests (including 21 juveniles), more than 80 of which occurred after Dellums claims to have told OPD to stand down. Who knows if his promise of a speedy release means anything at all. Support and solidarity demonstrations are scheduled this week for the prisoners' arraignments, and with another mass mobilization scheduled for next Wednesday, this is far from over.
Intention as Privilege
As I have said, and at the risk of controversy I will repeat: it doesn't matter if Mehserle meant to pull the trigger. He had already assumed the role of sole arbiter over the life or death of Oscar Grant. He had already decided that Grant, by virtue of his skin color and appearance, was worth less than other citizens. And rather than acquitting the officer, all of the psychological analyses and possible explanations of the shooting that have been trotted-out in the press, and all the discussion of the irrelevant elements of Grant's criminal history, have only proven this fundamental point.
If a young black or Latino male pulls a gun and someone winds up dead, intention is never the issue, and first-degree murder charges are on the agenda, as well as likely murder charges for anyone of the wrong color standing nearby. If we reverse the current situation, and the gun is in Oscar Grant's hand, then racist voices would be squealing for the death penalty regardless of intention. And yet when it's a cop pulling the trigger, all the media and public opinion resources are deployed to justify, understand, and empathize with this unconscionable act. One side is automatically condemned; the other automatically excused.
For now, the fires are out. But despite the soothing words of Barack Obama and Ron Dellums, there is no lack of fuel and no lack of spark in Oakland.
George Ciccariello-Maher is a Ph.D. candidate in political theory at UC Berkeley. He lives in Oakland, and can be reached at gjcm@berkeley.edu.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Angel Of Death - Jedi Mind Tricks Feat. Immortal Technique
I can't stop rockin' this joint. It's straight fire.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
The Cure For Police Terrorism
When the terrorist cops in New York were found not guilty of all charges in the murder of Sean Bell and the attempted murder of two of his friends on his wedding day, that event set the precedent of open season on all Black people throughout America, with black men being the main targets in particular.
And now we fast-forward to January 2009 only to see a BART pig in California draw his weapon and discharge one round into the back of a subdued Black man, who already had two police officers on top of him.
This was done in front of several witnesses at a train station. All of a sudden, there must be an investigation of the circumstances that lead to the shooting. WTF??? Okay, let the investigation take place while the officer is in custody with charges pending. If anyone else had done the exact same thing that this murderous officer had done, that person would be charged and held without bail.
Pigs can commit crimes in front of a crowd of people, the media, a television audience and still get a verdict of not guilty; if they're even charged at all. The state has given the cops a greenlight to kill us and our children. What will it take? What are we going to do about it? March!
So what, the state don't give a damn, when Rev. Al Sharpton and those of his ilk march in the street chanting the same old mantra of "No Justice, No Peace!"
It's obviously clear that we will not be getting any justice. My question is when will the "No Peace" part of the action will be taking place? The police are killing us, so what are we going to do?
I've said this many times before: If we don't take radical acts of self-defense, then the pigs will be shooting our five to ten year old children. Before we know it, police will run up on our babies lying snug in their strollers discharging 60 rounds. Then the justification will be, while he was bundled up in his blanket, the infant pointed what appeared to be a firearm at police and the officers had to make a split second decision. Because of the courageous action of the officers, lives were saved.
Not only would the officers escape prosecution, they would be decorated with awards for valor and promoted.
This is reality. This is America!
Police departments hire people with criminal records and give them guns. I find it hypocritical that under the law a convicted felon cannot own or posess a gun, but if he or she goes the route of law enforcement then they can have own/posess one. Then they have the power to arrest people and do whatever the hell they want to do to.
And the cops with criminal records aren't arrests and convictions for petty crimes. Police departments are hiring people with records for assault, assault with a deadly weapon, even attempted murder. Don't take my word for it, go and look it up.
So in closing, I leave you with some food for thought from both the Bible and Holy Qur'an:
O you who believe, retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain: the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. . .And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves. Holy Qur'an 2:178-179
And fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you but be not aggressive. Surely Allah loves not the aggressors.
And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they drove you out, and persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it; so if they fight you (in it), slay them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.
But if they desist, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
And fight them until there in no persecution, and religion is only for Allah. But if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors.
The sacred month for the sacred month, and retaliation (is allowed) in sacred things. Whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on you and keep your duty to Allah, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty. Holy Qur'an 2:190-194
And be not weak-hearted in pursuit of the enemy. If you suffer they (too) suffer as you suffer, and you hope from Allah what they hope not. And Allah is ever Knowing, Wise. Holy Qur'an 4:104
And We prescribed to them in it that life is for life, and eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and for wounds retaliation. But whoso forgoes it, it shall be an expiation for him. And whoever judges not by what Allah has revealed, those are the wrongdoers. Holy Qur'an 5:45
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Exodus 21:24-25
And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
Leviticus 24:19-20
And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Deuteronomy 19:21
We are justified in defending ourselves against our oppressors, and it don't matter if they're police. We have a God-given right to protect, preserve and defend our lives and the lives of our children. The police will not stop killing us until we start killing a whole lot of them. For everyone of us that dies at the hands of cold-blooded murderous cops, five of them should die. Playtime is over. Either we rise up and fight back or die like a bunch of bitch ass wimpering cowards.
Black people better recognize that President Barack Obama is not going to do shit for us. This is not going to stop because he's the president. In fact, more and more Black people will be killed by the police and the Chosen One, Lord Obama will simply look the other way.
From the wilderness of North America, this is Aquil Aziz
Aquil.Aziz@gmail.com
And now we fast-forward to January 2009 only to see a BART pig in California draw his weapon and discharge one round into the back of a subdued Black man, who already had two police officers on top of him.
This was done in front of several witnesses at a train station. All of a sudden, there must be an investigation of the circumstances that lead to the shooting. WTF??? Okay, let the investigation take place while the officer is in custody with charges pending. If anyone else had done the exact same thing that this murderous officer had done, that person would be charged and held without bail.
Pigs can commit crimes in front of a crowd of people, the media, a television audience and still get a verdict of not guilty; if they're even charged at all. The state has given the cops a greenlight to kill us and our children. What will it take? What are we going to do about it? March!
So what, the state don't give a damn, when Rev. Al Sharpton and those of his ilk march in the street chanting the same old mantra of "No Justice, No Peace!"
It's obviously clear that we will not be getting any justice. My question is when will the "No Peace" part of the action will be taking place? The police are killing us, so what are we going to do?
I've said this many times before: If we don't take radical acts of self-defense, then the pigs will be shooting our five to ten year old children. Before we know it, police will run up on our babies lying snug in their strollers discharging 60 rounds. Then the justification will be, while he was bundled up in his blanket, the infant pointed what appeared to be a firearm at police and the officers had to make a split second decision. Because of the courageous action of the officers, lives were saved.
Not only would the officers escape prosecution, they would be decorated with awards for valor and promoted.
This is reality. This is America!
Police departments hire people with criminal records and give them guns. I find it hypocritical that under the law a convicted felon cannot own or posess a gun, but if he or she goes the route of law enforcement then they can have own/posess one. Then they have the power to arrest people and do whatever the hell they want to do to.
And the cops with criminal records aren't arrests and convictions for petty crimes. Police departments are hiring people with records for assault, assault with a deadly weapon, even attempted murder. Don't take my word for it, go and look it up.
So in closing, I leave you with some food for thought from both the Bible and Holy Qur'an:
O you who believe, retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the slain: the free for the free, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. . .And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding, that you may guard yourselves. Holy Qur'an 2:178-179
And fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you but be not aggressive. Surely Allah loves not the aggressors.
And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they drove you out, and persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it; so if they fight you (in it), slay them. Such is the recompense of the disbelievers.
But if they desist, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
And fight them until there in no persecution, and religion is only for Allah. But if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors.
The sacred month for the sacred month, and retaliation (is allowed) in sacred things. Whoever then acts aggressively against you, inflict injury on him according to the injury he has inflicted on you and keep your duty to Allah, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty. Holy Qur'an 2:190-194
And be not weak-hearted in pursuit of the enemy. If you suffer they (too) suffer as you suffer, and you hope from Allah what they hope not. And Allah is ever Knowing, Wise. Holy Qur'an 4:104
And We prescribed to them in it that life is for life, and eye for eye, and nose for nose, and ear for ear, and tooth for tooth, and for wounds retaliation. But whoso forgoes it, it shall be an expiation for him. And whoever judges not by what Allah has revealed, those are the wrongdoers. Holy Qur'an 5:45
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Exodus 21:24-25
And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
Leviticus 24:19-20
And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Deuteronomy 19:21
We are justified in defending ourselves against our oppressors, and it don't matter if they're police. We have a God-given right to protect, preserve and defend our lives and the lives of our children. The police will not stop killing us until we start killing a whole lot of them. For everyone of us that dies at the hands of cold-blooded murderous cops, five of them should die. Playtime is over. Either we rise up and fight back or die like a bunch of bitch ass wimpering cowards.
Black people better recognize that President Barack Obama is not going to do shit for us. This is not going to stop because he's the president. In fact, more and more Black people will be killed by the police and the Chosen One, Lord Obama will simply look the other way.
From the wilderness of North America, this is Aquil Aziz
Aquil.Aziz@gmail.com
Video Clip Of Police Terrorism In California
Last night I posted the link to this from a California news web site. I got the video clip of the actual shooting below from www.infowars.com. The only difference between Bush and Obama is that tyranny is now wearing a black mask. Presidents like Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43 have built the FEMA camps across this country. And now it looks like it will be President Obama's job to start filling them up.
The day is near when retaliation against the terroristic police will be a common thing. People so sick and tired of what's happening will be showing at the pig's homes and gun them down and their families. And the majority of the people that will be doing this is going to be white people. I give white people credit, when they wake up and see that their rights and property is being threatened, they grab their guns and get it poppin'. I'm all for Satan casting out Satan. Gun sales are up all over the country and when the federal government decides to go with full scale confiscation, there will be a lot of shooting. I am so sick and tired of seeing my people being beaten and murdered by jack-booted racist thugs and they call this law enforcement. I just laugh as white people sit there on the television giving us the corporate media propaganda that America has turned the corner and race does not matter at all. Whitey just pat themselves on the back and they foam at the mouth with glee. Just because there is a black president in Amerikkka doesn't mean that the police terrorism will stop and that the disproportionate number of Black men being tossed into the Amerikkkan gulags will slowdown. I say God curse America, tear this motherfucker down!!!
The day is near when retaliation against the terroristic police will be a common thing. People so sick and tired of what's happening will be showing at the pig's homes and gun them down and their families. And the majority of the people that will be doing this is going to be white people. I give white people credit, when they wake up and see that their rights and property is being threatened, they grab their guns and get it poppin'. I'm all for Satan casting out Satan. Gun sales are up all over the country and when the federal government decides to go with full scale confiscation, there will be a lot of shooting. I am so sick and tired of seeing my people being beaten and murdered by jack-booted racist thugs and they call this law enforcement. I just laugh as white people sit there on the television giving us the corporate media propaganda that America has turned the corner and race does not matter at all. Whitey just pat themselves on the back and they foam at the mouth with glee. Just because there is a black president in Amerikkka doesn't mean that the police terrorism will stop and that the disproportionate number of Black men being tossed into the Amerikkkan gulags will slowdown. I say God curse America, tear this motherfucker down!!!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Police Terrorism - Cop Shoots Black Man While Face Down
The terrorist pigs are at it again. Click on the link below to see a cold-blooded devil cop draw his gun and shoot the man while he was face down on the ground. The shoots him in the back and he dies. This was an act of state terrorism and first degree murder.
http://www.ktvu.com/video/18409133/index.html
http://www.ktvu.com/video/18409133/index.html
Monday, January 05, 2009
Orange drinks with 300 times more pesticide than tap water
By Sean Poulter
Last updated at 12:53 AM on 05th January 2009
Fizzy drinks sold by Coca-Cola in Britain have been found to contain pesticides at up to 300 times the level allowed in tap or bottled water.
A worldwide study found pesticide levels in orange and lemon drinks sold under the Fanta brand, which is popular with children, were at their highest in the UK.
The research team called on the Government, the industry and the company to act to remove the chemicals and called for new safety standards to regulate the soft drinks market.
The industry denies children are at risk and insists that the levels found by researchers based at the University of Jaen in southern Spain are not harmful.
The researchers tested 102 cans and bottles of soft drinks, bought from 15 countries, for the presence of 100 pesticides. The UK products were bought in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh, St Andrews and at Gatwick Airport.
The experts said the levels found were low under the maximum residue levels allowed for fruit, but they were 'very high' and 'up to 300 times' the figure permitted for bottled or tap water.
The chemicals detected included carbendazim, thiabendazole, imazalil, prochloraz, malathion and iprodione. They are mainly applied to fruit after harvest to stop it developing fungal infections and rotting.
A total of 19 products were bought in the UK, all made by Coca-Cola.
Two orange drinks bought in the UK contained imazalil at 300 times the limit permitted for a single pesticide in drinking water.
Two similar products contained 98 times the legal drinking water limit for thiabendazole.
The average level of the total pesticide contamination of the British drinks was 17.4 parts per billion - 34.6 times the EU maximum residue level for water.
Coca-Cola GB insisted the products are safe. A spokesman said: 'All of the drinks tested meet the safety regulations relating to food products made from agricultural ingredients, which include drinks with fruit juice as an ingredient.
'The generally miniscule levels that were detected were well within the acceptable daily intake levels and these findings should reassure consumers there is no safety issue here.'
Last updated at 12:53 AM on 05th January 2009
Fizzy drinks sold by Coca-Cola in Britain have been found to contain pesticides at up to 300 times the level allowed in tap or bottled water.
A worldwide study found pesticide levels in orange and lemon drinks sold under the Fanta brand, which is popular with children, were at their highest in the UK.
The research team called on the Government, the industry and the company to act to remove the chemicals and called for new safety standards to regulate the soft drinks market.
The industry denies children are at risk and insists that the levels found by researchers based at the University of Jaen in southern Spain are not harmful.
The researchers tested 102 cans and bottles of soft drinks, bought from 15 countries, for the presence of 100 pesticides. The UK products were bought in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh, St Andrews and at Gatwick Airport.
The experts said the levels found were low under the maximum residue levels allowed for fruit, but they were 'very high' and 'up to 300 times' the figure permitted for bottled or tap water.
The chemicals detected included carbendazim, thiabendazole, imazalil, prochloraz, malathion and iprodione. They are mainly applied to fruit after harvest to stop it developing fungal infections and rotting.
A total of 19 products were bought in the UK, all made by Coca-Cola.
Two orange drinks bought in the UK contained imazalil at 300 times the limit permitted for a single pesticide in drinking water.
Two similar products contained 98 times the legal drinking water limit for thiabendazole.
The average level of the total pesticide contamination of the British drinks was 17.4 parts per billion - 34.6 times the EU maximum residue level for water.
Coca-Cola GB insisted the products are safe. A spokesman said: 'All of the drinks tested meet the safety regulations relating to food products made from agricultural ingredients, which include drinks with fruit juice as an ingredient.
'The generally miniscule levels that were detected were well within the acceptable daily intake levels and these findings should reassure consumers there is no safety issue here.'
Unrest caused by bad economy may require military action, report says
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 12/29/2008 12:00:00 AM MST
EL PASO -- A U.S. Army War College report warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freir wrote the report "Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development," which the Army think tank in Carlisle, Pa., recently released.
"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities ... to defend basic domestic order and human security," the report said, in case of "unforeseen economic collapse," "pervasive public health emergencies," and "catastrophic natural and human disasters," among other possible crises.
The report also suggests the new (Barack Obama) administration could face a "strategic shock" within the first eight months in office.
Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said the Army post is not involved in any recent talks about a potential military response to civil unrest.
The report become a hot Internet item after Phoenix police told the Phoenix Business Journal they're prepared to deal with such an event, and the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Khan, said social unrest could spread to advanced countries if the global economic crisis worsens.
Javier Sambrano, spokesman for the El Paso Police Department, said city police have trained for years so they can address any contingency, but not with the military.
"The police (department) trains on an ongoing basis as part of its Mobile Field Force Training," Sambrano said. "As a result, the police will be able to respond to emergency situations, such as looting or a big civil unrest. The police (department) does not train with soldiers."
Earlier this year, Pentagon officials said as many as 20,000 soldiers under the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) will be trained within the next three years to work with civilian law enforcement in homeland security.
Joint Task Force-North, a joint command at Biggs Army Airfield, which conducts surveillance and intelligence along the border, comes under NORTHCOM. No one was available at JTF-North to comment on the Army War College's report. NORTHCOM was created after the 9-11 attacks to coordinate homeland security efforts.
Soldiers under the former Joint Task Force-6 (now JTF-North) supported the Border Patrol in El Paso with its drug-interdiction operations.
In case civilian authorities request help or become overwhelmed, El Paso has several National Guard and military reserve units that can be called on. In 1992, National Guard and active Marine and Army units were deployed to help police control riots and looting in Los Angeles.
Charles Boehmer, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, was skeptical about the Army War College report.
"The military was not called out during the Great Depression, and I don't think our economic problems are as bad as they were then," he said. "The military always has contingency plans. It's a think tank's job to come up with scenarios, but that doesn't mean it represents an active interest on the part of the (Pentagon)."
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.
Posted: 12/29/2008 12:00:00 AM MST
EL PASO -- A U.S. Army War College report warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freir wrote the report "Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development," which the Army think tank in Carlisle, Pa., recently released.
"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities ... to defend basic domestic order and human security," the report said, in case of "unforeseen economic collapse," "pervasive public health emergencies," and "catastrophic natural and human disasters," among other possible crises.
The report also suggests the new (Barack Obama) administration could face a "strategic shock" within the first eight months in office.
Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said the Army post is not involved in any recent talks about a potential military response to civil unrest.
The report become a hot Internet item after Phoenix police told the Phoenix Business Journal they're prepared to deal with such an event, and the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Khan, said social unrest could spread to advanced countries if the global economic crisis worsens.
Javier Sambrano, spokesman for the El Paso Police Department, said city police have trained for years so they can address any contingency, but not with the military.
"The police (department) trains on an ongoing basis as part of its Mobile Field Force Training," Sambrano said. "As a result, the police will be able to respond to emergency situations, such as looting or a big civil unrest. The police (department) does not train with soldiers."
Earlier this year, Pentagon officials said as many as 20,000 soldiers under the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) will be trained within the next three years to work with civilian law enforcement in homeland security.
Joint Task Force-North, a joint command at Biggs Army Airfield, which conducts surveillance and intelligence along the border, comes under NORTHCOM. No one was available at JTF-North to comment on the Army War College's report. NORTHCOM was created after the 9-11 attacks to coordinate homeland security efforts.
Soldiers under the former Joint Task Force-6 (now JTF-North) supported the Border Patrol in El Paso with its drug-interdiction operations.
In case civilian authorities request help or become overwhelmed, El Paso has several National Guard and military reserve units that can be called on. In 1992, National Guard and active Marine and Army units were deployed to help police control riots and looting in Los Angeles.
Charles Boehmer, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, was skeptical about the Army War College report.
"The military was not called out during the Great Depression, and I don't think our economic problems are as bad as they were then," he said. "The military always has contingency plans. It's a think tank's job to come up with scenarios, but that doesn't mean it represents an active interest on the part of the (Pentagon)."
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.
Corporate Media Notices War College Report on Economic Crisis
Kurt Nimmo
[1] Infowars
Wednesday, Dec 31, 2008
It took a while for them to come around, but the corporate media has finally taken note of the U.S. Army War College report predicting civil unrest due to the private bank engineered economic crisis now gearing up and threatening to kick into Mad Max mode.
From the El Paso Times:
A U.S. Army War College report warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freir wrote the report “Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development,” which the Army think tank in Carlisle, Pa., recently released.
“Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities … to defend basic domestic order and human security,” the report said, in case of “unforeseen economic collapse,” “pervasive public health emergencies,” and “catastrophic natural and human disasters,” among other possible crises.
The report also suggests the new (Barack Obama) administration could face a “strategic shock” within the first eight months in office.
[2] Read the rest of the story at the El Paso Times.
And there is Motley Fool CAPS, the website supposedly designed to help the little guy beat the market. Motley does a follow-up on the original corporate media story published by the [3] Phoenix Business Journal and little covered beyond the blogosphere and alternative news websites like Infowars and Prison Planet. Raw Story and Newsmax also covered the story.
A CAPS blogger attempts to make a funny out of the situation, although it is no laughing matter:
This likely has been posted before…..sorry if you are reading it again. But with this being the Holidays and all, with some of us busy lighting candles, or partying with Santa, or whatever…..a few may have missed it.
I am not saying any of the above will happen…..simply the Pentagon now thinks it is a possibility and is making preparations for civil unrest. If the Pentagon thinks economic collapse is a relevant issue….should we at CAPs?????
Should we red thumb or green thumb in the event of an economic collapse??? Which symbols would you red and which would you green??? Just like the Pentagon, Alstry plays to win….regardless what comes our way.
CAUTION!!!!!!….for those of you that actually like the Constitution and its implications….contemplating the above can have serious adverse consequences on your mental well being and potentially your physical health. For immediate relief of emotional symptoms, my suggestion is try some prosecco with fresh pomegranete sprinkled thoughout….the bubbles causing the seeds to dance will make you smile…..drinking them will make you feel more relaxed….in moderation of course……you don’t want the cure to be worse than the disease…..otherwise you might be just like the Fed:)
[4] Read the Motley Fool CAPS article.
Alex Jones has talked about martial law and a military dictatorship on his radio show and in his films for years. It now appears, with the release of the in-your-face War College report, at least a few corporate media outlets are beginning to pay attention, although Motley Fool and the El Paso Times are hardly the Washington Post or the New York Times.
But then it is the role of the corporate Mockingbird media to ignore the obvious and when confronted with the facts denounce those who speak the truth as nutty conspiracy theorists.
Research related articles:
IMF Chief Warns Of Riots In Response To Economic Crisis
Corporate Media Reporting Mistakes on NIST WTC 7 Report
India, Corporate Media Moves To Frame Pakistan For Suspicious Attacks
Glenn Beck Highlights Threat Of Martial Law Following Economic Crisis
False flags attacks common but rarely reported in the corporate media
Did John Negroponte Help Create the Economic Crisis?
America’s economic crisis is beyond the reach of traditional solutions
Kucinich: Bankers partied as economic crisis hit
Media Endorse $700 Billion Economic ‘Rescue’
Icelanders Protest Economic Crisis
The Week that America Woke Up to the Economic Crisis
Bankers Want World Economic Government To Solve Financial Crisis They Created
[1] Infowars
Wednesday, Dec 31, 2008
It took a while for them to come around, but the corporate media has finally taken note of the U.S. Army War College report predicting civil unrest due to the private bank engineered economic crisis now gearing up and threatening to kick into Mad Max mode.
From the El Paso Times:
A U.S. Army War College report warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freir wrote the report “Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development,” which the Army think tank in Carlisle, Pa., recently released.
“Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities … to defend basic domestic order and human security,” the report said, in case of “unforeseen economic collapse,” “pervasive public health emergencies,” and “catastrophic natural and human disasters,” among other possible crises.
The report also suggests the new (Barack Obama) administration could face a “strategic shock” within the first eight months in office.
[2] Read the rest of the story at the El Paso Times.
And there is Motley Fool CAPS, the website supposedly designed to help the little guy beat the market. Motley does a follow-up on the original corporate media story published by the [3] Phoenix Business Journal and little covered beyond the blogosphere and alternative news websites like Infowars and Prison Planet. Raw Story and Newsmax also covered the story.
A CAPS blogger attempts to make a funny out of the situation, although it is no laughing matter:
This likely has been posted before…..sorry if you are reading it again. But with this being the Holidays and all, with some of us busy lighting candles, or partying with Santa, or whatever…..a few may have missed it.
I am not saying any of the above will happen…..simply the Pentagon now thinks it is a possibility and is making preparations for civil unrest. If the Pentagon thinks economic collapse is a relevant issue….should we at CAPs?????
Should we red thumb or green thumb in the event of an economic collapse??? Which symbols would you red and which would you green??? Just like the Pentagon, Alstry plays to win….regardless what comes our way.
CAUTION!!!!!!….for those of you that actually like the Constitution and its implications….contemplating the above can have serious adverse consequences on your mental well being and potentially your physical health. For immediate relief of emotional symptoms, my suggestion is try some prosecco with fresh pomegranete sprinkled thoughout….the bubbles causing the seeds to dance will make you smile…..drinking them will make you feel more relaxed….in moderation of course……you don’t want the cure to be worse than the disease…..otherwise you might be just like the Fed:)
[4] Read the Motley Fool CAPS article.
Alex Jones has talked about martial law and a military dictatorship on his radio show and in his films for years. It now appears, with the release of the in-your-face War College report, at least a few corporate media outlets are beginning to pay attention, although Motley Fool and the El Paso Times are hardly the Washington Post or the New York Times.
But then it is the role of the corporate Mockingbird media to ignore the obvious and when confronted with the facts denounce those who speak the truth as nutty conspiracy theorists.
Research related articles:
IMF Chief Warns Of Riots In Response To Economic Crisis
Corporate Media Reporting Mistakes on NIST WTC 7 Report
India, Corporate Media Moves To Frame Pakistan For Suspicious Attacks
Glenn Beck Highlights Threat Of Martial Law Following Economic Crisis
False flags attacks common but rarely reported in the corporate media
Did John Negroponte Help Create the Economic Crisis?
America’s economic crisis is beyond the reach of traditional solutions
Kucinich: Bankers partied as economic crisis hit
Media Endorse $700 Billion Economic ‘Rescue’
Icelanders Protest Economic Crisis
The Week that America Woke Up to the Economic Crisis
Bankers Want World Economic Government To Solve Financial Crisis They Created
A Ponzi Scheme Within A Ponzi Scheme
Bob Chapman
Infowars
December 30, 2008
Dwarfing the Madoff Ponzi scheme, which in the end may turn out to be, at least in part, a scam to feign investment losses for purposes of ripping off insurance companies with invalid claims for fraud while bilking taxpayers out their hard-earned money with deceitful requests for government bailouts and tax breaks, is the Social Security Ponzi scheme. While the Madoff Ponzi scheme, so-called, may be measured in the tens of billions, the Social Security Ponzi scheme can be measured in the tens of trillions, making it a thousand times worse. The Social Security system is truly a Ponzi scheme in the classic sense, where the first contributors to the fund are paid benefits mainly out of the funds received from the contributions of later participants.
The Social Security system we are familiar with was originally enacted in 1935 by an incredibly corrupt Congress (much like the current one), and signed into law by FDR, a corrupt and ardent Illuminist who did as he was told to do by his Illuminist Puppet Masters (principally John Rockefeller, Jr. and J P Morgan, Jr.). At that time, the Social Security system was known as the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. The OASDI was not implemented until 1937 due to Constitutional challenges, but suffice it to say, the Illuminist puppets in the Supreme Court of that day, who were every bit as corrupt as FDR and the Congress, made sure the Socialist agenda went forward.
The Ponzi aspects of this Social Security scam were enhanced by one of the main conspirators in this scheme, the Federal Reserve. Shortly after the Social Security system was implemented in 1937, our central bank inflated our currency by increasing the supply of money and credit in order to boost prices and incomes and take us out of depression. This process accelerated in 1941 in order to fund the war effort as WWII got underway following the 911 event of that time, namely, the attack on Pearl Harbor, which our government knew was coming way before it happened, but then turned a blind eye to the upcoming attack so we could be dragged kicking and screaming into the next Illuminist war for profit. Incomes and prices rose as Americans went to work to power the war effort, thus causing incoming Social Security contributions to burgeon, while simultaneously debasing the value of the benefits being distributed, thus further enabling the Ponzi scheme to be perpetuated.
Note how in 1933, just prior to the enactment of the OASDI in 1935, bankster-buddy FDR took us off the gold standard domestically, leaving only dollars and dollar-denominated accounts held by foreigners backed by gold. That meant we had a domestic fiat currency, which allowed the Fed to do as it pleased with the supply of money and credit in the US, and as you may have guessed, the Fed chose to increase the supply quite dramatically to fund WWII so the military-industrial complex could grow filthy rich. This tied in perfectly with the Social Security Ponzi scheme as we became an economic powerhouse in the aftermath of WWII, with a peak in the late 1960s, by filling the Social Security fund with fresh infusions of inflated cash to keep the Ponzi scheme going, while debasing the fixed benefits being paid out to retirees.
Next came the Vietnam War, and more debt, especially to foreign nations, and more inflation from an increase in the supply of money and credit to fund the latest war for profit. This brought about the final debasement of our currency after the London Gold Pool failed to cap the price of gold, resulting in a bank holiday in Britain during the Johnson Administration. President Nixon, also an ardent Illuminist, at the request of his Puppet Masters, in order to stop the outflow of our national gold to foreigners due to war debt and to enhance the Fed’s ability to increase money and credit to fund Johnson’s Great Society welfare programs, took us completely off the gold standard in 1971. As a result, inflation went out of control as our currency became purely fiat in nature, with double-digit inflation peaking in the early 1980s. Once again, the resulting inflation furthered the Social Security Ponzi scheme, which was an integral part of Johnson’s Great Society program.
In order to placate complaints about the effects of inflation on the purchasing power of benefits, which grew quite pronounced with the passage of time, an attempt was made to counteract the impact of inflation by providing for cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) based on official inflation rates. Not to be daunted, the elitists made sure that the Bureau of Lying (Labor) Statistics (BLS), which they totally control with their puppets at the BLS, put out greatly understated official inflation statistics, usually at one half to one third of actual inflation, a process known as hedonics, which they use to screw Social Security recipients out of their proper COLA increases.
As you can see, Inflation is the best tool available to perpetuate the Social Security Ponzi scheme, by burgeoning incoming money at the full rate of inflation while benefits are increased by only a fraction of the actual rate of inflation. This has changed recently, because wages have stagnated, and this has put stupendous pressure on our already bankrupt Social Security system, a huge, gargantuan Ponzi scheme that is about to unravel.
Make no mistake about it; this was an Illuminist scheme to impoverish the middle class, not to provide for people’s security. Ask Social Security recipients how many of them feel secure based on the miniscule benefits they are receiving. This was a Communistic spreading of wealth from the middle class to the poor, not from the wealthy to the poor, since FICA contributions have always been cut off at a level of income associated with the middle class, leaving the wealthy free of FICA liability on most of their income because Social Security benefits are capped, presumably making FICA deductions, above the designated maximum level of income, unfair. In the end, the poor are still poor, the middle class has now joined the ranks of the poor, and the wealthy are now fabulously wealthy, which results are characteristic of any Communistic or Fascistic form of governance. Between the Social Security system, the Income Tax system and the Federal Reserve System, they will spend, tax and inflate, respectively, the American sheople into oblivion.
Their Communistic, Fascistic mantra has been: Give us your money and we will take care of you from the cradle to the grave. They will take care of you all right — in a Halliburton-built, slave-labor internment camp, complete with disinformation centers where they will brainwash your children to make them into good, quiet, dumb, cooperative sheople-serfs. This mantra has in fact been used to help fund all their plans for world government by extorting a myriad of taxes out of you, and one of the main taxes which has been used to fund their plans has been the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), which funds their Social Security Ponzi scheme, which, as a result, has actually become a Ponzi scheme within a Ponzi scheme.
So how has our Social Security system become a Ponzi scheme within a Ponzi scheme? We’ll tell you how. Our reprobates and sociopaths in Congress have regularly, over many decades, overspent money to fund their pork projects and social welfare programs to win votes, and to grease the wheels of the Illuminist wars for profit which power the military-industrial complex. This has resulted in massive budgetary current account deficits.
Adding to our woes are the trade deficits, which we have to fund by borrowing from foreign nations, thus increasing our national debt. These trade deficits have been caused by the gutting of our manufacturing sector through free trade, globalization, off-shoring, outsourcing, and both legal and illegal immigration. Illegal currency manipulations by exporting nations like China, Japan, Russia and EU nations have also contributed to the trade imbalance by giving these nations unfair trade advantages via debasement of their currencies, which makes their exports cheaper in our country, and which makes our exports more expensive in their countries. These nations also provide subsidies to their domestic industries, thus decreasing their cost of goods and increasing their bottom lines. All these currency manipulations and subsidies make a mockery out of the concept of free trade. We need fair trade, not free trade.
Infowars
December 30, 2008
Dwarfing the Madoff Ponzi scheme, which in the end may turn out to be, at least in part, a scam to feign investment losses for purposes of ripping off insurance companies with invalid claims for fraud while bilking taxpayers out their hard-earned money with deceitful requests for government bailouts and tax breaks, is the Social Security Ponzi scheme. While the Madoff Ponzi scheme, so-called, may be measured in the tens of billions, the Social Security Ponzi scheme can be measured in the tens of trillions, making it a thousand times worse. The Social Security system is truly a Ponzi scheme in the classic sense, where the first contributors to the fund are paid benefits mainly out of the funds received from the contributions of later participants.
The Social Security system we are familiar with was originally enacted in 1935 by an incredibly corrupt Congress (much like the current one), and signed into law by FDR, a corrupt and ardent Illuminist who did as he was told to do by his Illuminist Puppet Masters (principally John Rockefeller, Jr. and J P Morgan, Jr.). At that time, the Social Security system was known as the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. The OASDI was not implemented until 1937 due to Constitutional challenges, but suffice it to say, the Illuminist puppets in the Supreme Court of that day, who were every bit as corrupt as FDR and the Congress, made sure the Socialist agenda went forward.
The Ponzi aspects of this Social Security scam were enhanced by one of the main conspirators in this scheme, the Federal Reserve. Shortly after the Social Security system was implemented in 1937, our central bank inflated our currency by increasing the supply of money and credit in order to boost prices and incomes and take us out of depression. This process accelerated in 1941 in order to fund the war effort as WWII got underway following the 911 event of that time, namely, the attack on Pearl Harbor, which our government knew was coming way before it happened, but then turned a blind eye to the upcoming attack so we could be dragged kicking and screaming into the next Illuminist war for profit. Incomes and prices rose as Americans went to work to power the war effort, thus causing incoming Social Security contributions to burgeon, while simultaneously debasing the value of the benefits being distributed, thus further enabling the Ponzi scheme to be perpetuated.
Note how in 1933, just prior to the enactment of the OASDI in 1935, bankster-buddy FDR took us off the gold standard domestically, leaving only dollars and dollar-denominated accounts held by foreigners backed by gold. That meant we had a domestic fiat currency, which allowed the Fed to do as it pleased with the supply of money and credit in the US, and as you may have guessed, the Fed chose to increase the supply quite dramatically to fund WWII so the military-industrial complex could grow filthy rich. This tied in perfectly with the Social Security Ponzi scheme as we became an economic powerhouse in the aftermath of WWII, with a peak in the late 1960s, by filling the Social Security fund with fresh infusions of inflated cash to keep the Ponzi scheme going, while debasing the fixed benefits being paid out to retirees.
Next came the Vietnam War, and more debt, especially to foreign nations, and more inflation from an increase in the supply of money and credit to fund the latest war for profit. This brought about the final debasement of our currency after the London Gold Pool failed to cap the price of gold, resulting in a bank holiday in Britain during the Johnson Administration. President Nixon, also an ardent Illuminist, at the request of his Puppet Masters, in order to stop the outflow of our national gold to foreigners due to war debt and to enhance the Fed’s ability to increase money and credit to fund Johnson’s Great Society welfare programs, took us completely off the gold standard in 1971. As a result, inflation went out of control as our currency became purely fiat in nature, with double-digit inflation peaking in the early 1980s. Once again, the resulting inflation furthered the Social Security Ponzi scheme, which was an integral part of Johnson’s Great Society program.
In order to placate complaints about the effects of inflation on the purchasing power of benefits, which grew quite pronounced with the passage of time, an attempt was made to counteract the impact of inflation by providing for cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) based on official inflation rates. Not to be daunted, the elitists made sure that the Bureau of Lying (Labor) Statistics (BLS), which they totally control with their puppets at the BLS, put out greatly understated official inflation statistics, usually at one half to one third of actual inflation, a process known as hedonics, which they use to screw Social Security recipients out of their proper COLA increases.
As you can see, Inflation is the best tool available to perpetuate the Social Security Ponzi scheme, by burgeoning incoming money at the full rate of inflation while benefits are increased by only a fraction of the actual rate of inflation. This has changed recently, because wages have stagnated, and this has put stupendous pressure on our already bankrupt Social Security system, a huge, gargantuan Ponzi scheme that is about to unravel.
Make no mistake about it; this was an Illuminist scheme to impoverish the middle class, not to provide for people’s security. Ask Social Security recipients how many of them feel secure based on the miniscule benefits they are receiving. This was a Communistic spreading of wealth from the middle class to the poor, not from the wealthy to the poor, since FICA contributions have always been cut off at a level of income associated with the middle class, leaving the wealthy free of FICA liability on most of their income because Social Security benefits are capped, presumably making FICA deductions, above the designated maximum level of income, unfair. In the end, the poor are still poor, the middle class has now joined the ranks of the poor, and the wealthy are now fabulously wealthy, which results are characteristic of any Communistic or Fascistic form of governance. Between the Social Security system, the Income Tax system and the Federal Reserve System, they will spend, tax and inflate, respectively, the American sheople into oblivion.
Their Communistic, Fascistic mantra has been: Give us your money and we will take care of you from the cradle to the grave. They will take care of you all right — in a Halliburton-built, slave-labor internment camp, complete with disinformation centers where they will brainwash your children to make them into good, quiet, dumb, cooperative sheople-serfs. This mantra has in fact been used to help fund all their plans for world government by extorting a myriad of taxes out of you, and one of the main taxes which has been used to fund their plans has been the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), which funds their Social Security Ponzi scheme, which, as a result, has actually become a Ponzi scheme within a Ponzi scheme.
So how has our Social Security system become a Ponzi scheme within a Ponzi scheme? We’ll tell you how. Our reprobates and sociopaths in Congress have regularly, over many decades, overspent money to fund their pork projects and social welfare programs to win votes, and to grease the wheels of the Illuminist wars for profit which power the military-industrial complex. This has resulted in massive budgetary current account deficits.
Adding to our woes are the trade deficits, which we have to fund by borrowing from foreign nations, thus increasing our national debt. These trade deficits have been caused by the gutting of our manufacturing sector through free trade, globalization, off-shoring, outsourcing, and both legal and illegal immigration. Illegal currency manipulations by exporting nations like China, Japan, Russia and EU nations have also contributed to the trade imbalance by giving these nations unfair trade advantages via debasement of their currencies, which makes their exports cheaper in our country, and which makes our exports more expensive in their countries. These nations also provide subsidies to their domestic industries, thus decreasing their cost of goods and increasing their bottom lines. All these currency manipulations and subsidies make a mockery out of the concept of free trade. We need fair trade, not free trade.
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