Note: I wrote this last year when I saw all the hoopla surrounding Michael Vick, Paris Hylton and so on. It's so amazing how the American public is so easily distracted by stupidity and senselessness. With the president admitting to torturing the detainees to the recent meeting VP "Shotgun" Dick Cheney had planning and staging terrorist attacks, yet the American public remains numb. The society has been dumbed down to the point that the people don't care. When the fighting broke out between Russia and the Republic of Georgia, people here thought that the state of Georgia (USA) was being attacked. This is the real America. Where is the outrage???
Wow, with all the problems in the world, why all the outrage over the Michael Vick case? Whitey is up in arms over dog fighting and has been calling for Michael Vick’s head ever since the allegations surfaced. I heard dog lovers speak of these “poor animals being tortured.” WHAT??? The federal government has a policy of torturing detainees (human beings) in secret detention centers all over the world. Where’s the outrage in that? Animal rights? How about human rights? In the U.S. government’s kidnapping and torture program, they’ve taken children as young as seven years old. Where is the outrage? With the slaughter of cows, chickens, hogs, turkeys and fish, where is the outrage? Raised in crowded, unsanitary conditions and shipped off to the market for human consumption, where many get sick and even die. Where is the outrage?
White people treat their dogs better than Black people. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad said a long time ago that whitey would set a place at their table for a dog before they would a Black man. I’m sure most of you have already seen the news that Michael Vick has agreed to plead guilty in the dog fighting case. It’s bad enough that his boys turned state’s evidence against him and now his NFL career is in jeopardy. And to add further insult, the state of Virginia announced last week that they will be filing charges against Vick as well. This bullshit is pathetic.
America’s corporate media has helped to create a bloodlust for Michael Vick. I would not be surprised if a lynch mob is down at the courthouse the day he enters his plea. And speaking where is the outrage:
Where is the outrage (whitey in particular) for the Jena Six in Louisiana? An injustice is taking place before our very eyes, the target our children. Six young Black men face prison time over a fight with a white boy. One of the boys has been convicted by an all white jury, and faces a possible 22 years in prison. The other five boys were charged with attempted murder and face a possible sentence up to 100 years if convicted. Where’s whitey’s outrage when the prosecutor told the Black students at an assembly that he can ruin their lives with the stroke of a pen? These same devils speak of America being this beacon of human rights and justice in the world, but have problems giving Black people justice (due process). It’s blatant hypocrisy and these devils are full of shit.
Where is the outrage in the Kenneth Foster case? An innocent Black man is about to be executed by the state of Texas on August 21, 2007. The state acknowledged that Mr. Foster did not commit the murder, however he was convicted and sentence to death under the states’ “law of parties” statute. I can’t help wondering how many whites have been sentenced to death under this same statute? And how about the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal? Despite the fact he was not given a fair trial and all the constitutional violations committed in the process, Mumia has been unsuccessful at trying to get his conviction overturned, much less a retrial despite the overwhelming evidence that supports such action. To this day, brother Mumia still sits on Pennsylvania’s death row. The Supreme Court has refused to hear his petition. He sits on death row even though, police coerced witnesses into giving false testimony, Mumia’s hands were never tested for gunpowder residue to see if he even fired a gun, and the deceased officer’s partner said that Mumia allegedly confessed to committing the crime, which the officer reported about 60 days later. And that was entered into evidence. Where is the outrage? Where is whitey’s outrage, since they’re torchlight of justice and human rights for the rest of the world?
Where is the outrage in Bush’s illegal NSA spying program? Where is the outrage in the passage of the Military Commissions Act? Patriot Act II? The president now has the power to designate ANYBODY as a terrorist/enemy combatant and take people into military custody indefinitely. Congress recently passed the so-called Protect America Act of 2007, which goes beyond just wiretapping. It was recently revealed that this same law permits physical searches and financial records gathering without a warrant. The Bush Idiocracy’s (administration for the sensitive) attorney general for national security, Ken Wainstein told former [In]Justice Department lawyer Bruce Fein the administration does not consider itself bound by Congressional restrictions. Where the hell is the outrage? The president is running afoul of the law and not even a wimper. Let’s not forget the president and his propaganda machine lied the nation into a war that has resulted in the deaths of over one million Iraqi people and close to 4,000 U.S. soldiers and no impeachment for these high crimes. But Michael Vick is indicted and on his way to prison for dog fighting. It’s good to know that the American people got their priorities straight.
It’s rampant hypocrisy and it’s a goddamn shame that people in this country sit around and pretend nothing is going on. The media has joined the government’s scheme and now journalistic integrity is dead. From cuts in education and healthcare to rising unemployment and outsourcing of American jobs to places like India and China, I ask where is the outrage? But it doesn’t matter, the latest media blitz has passed with Paris Hilton’s confinement, to K-Fed and Britney Spears’ custody battle to Lindsay Lohan’s drug induced madness to the media lynching of Michael Vick over dogs. What’s going to be the next media blitzkrieg event that takes our focus off of government scandals and corruption? When the next political scandal breaks, outrage will be nowhere to be found.
-Aquil Aziz
Monday, August 18, 2008
FREE THE MOVE 9!!
via: onamovellja@aol.com
=========================
Today MOVE women were denied parole and this is an immediate response---
ONA MOVE, Ramona
Today, April 22, 2008, MOVE women that survived the August 8, 1978 police attempt to kill off MOVE were denied parole by the Pennsylvania Department of Probation and Parole. The parole board says that MOVE women were denied parole because they minimized or denied the nature and circumstances of the offense; refused to accept responsibility; lacked remorse and because the prosecutors office said MOVE should not be paroled because we act outside the “law”. In fact, it’s the parole board that is “acting outside the law” by demanding that any inmate (especially those that have maintained their innocence from the very beginning) say that they are guilty when they are not. MOVE is innocent, we ain’t guilty, we ain’t gonna say we’re guilty and the parole board has no authority to demand that we lie and say we’re guilty. That is the height of arrogance when the parole board knows that countless people are convicted in the courts daily, are sent to jail and end up being released after 20, 25, 30 years because they are innocent just like they said they were. Where would any “remorse” come from when you are innocent? Why would anybody take responsibility for a crime that they didn’t commit? Where is the wrong in denying something that you did not do. It is obvious that these officials are sending a very clear message to the people. The message is that they’re gonna do whatever they want to do and they don’t care about the truth , they don’t care that they’re breaking they very laws that they claim to have MOVE and millions of others in prison for breaking and they don’t even care that people know that they’re the ones that are breaking the law. Lynn Abraham (the district attorney of Philadelphia that used to be a judge) says that MOVE “acts outside the law” so we should stay in prison? In fact, She acted outside the law when she signed warrants for MOVE in May of 1977 even though the police commissioner said MOVE had committed no crime. Then mayor, Rizzo, “acted outside the law” on August 8, 1978 when he ordered MOVE HQ., vital evidence in a murder trial, the “scene of the crime” destroyed. The courts “acted outside the law” when they proceeded with the trial after destroying the scene of the crime because when they destroyed the evidence they destroyed the bases for any trial. Judge Malmed, the trial judge in the August 8th murder trial “acted outside the law” when he sentenced 9 innocent MOVE people to a maximum 900 years in prison for a crime that he could not say or prove that any 1 of the 9 committed, a crime that he admitted publicly that he didn’t have the “faintest idea” who committed. Lynn Abraham “acted outside the law” when she knowingly signed fraudulent warrants for cops to come out and murder innocent MOVE people in May of 1985. The proof of just how fraudulent those warrants were lie in the fact that every single charge listed in those warrants were dismissed as having no basis, every single charge. Is there any question why MOVE people are so bitter, so full of fight and so motivated to keep revolting against this rotten ass system? JOHN AFRICA has opened our eyes and HE keeps us motivated, keeps us full of fight. They can hurt MOVE because we’re alive, we have feelings, but thanks to JOHN AFRICA they WILL NEVER STOP MOVE!
LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA! LONG LIVE REVOLUTION!
=========================
Today MOVE women were denied parole and this is an immediate response---
ONA MOVE, Ramona
Today, April 22, 2008, MOVE women that survived the August 8, 1978 police attempt to kill off MOVE were denied parole by the Pennsylvania Department of Probation and Parole. The parole board says that MOVE women were denied parole because they minimized or denied the nature and circumstances of the offense; refused to accept responsibility; lacked remorse and because the prosecutors office said MOVE should not be paroled because we act outside the “law”. In fact, it’s the parole board that is “acting outside the law” by demanding that any inmate (especially those that have maintained their innocence from the very beginning) say that they are guilty when they are not. MOVE is innocent, we ain’t guilty, we ain’t gonna say we’re guilty and the parole board has no authority to demand that we lie and say we’re guilty. That is the height of arrogance when the parole board knows that countless people are convicted in the courts daily, are sent to jail and end up being released after 20, 25, 30 years because they are innocent just like they said they were. Where would any “remorse” come from when you are innocent? Why would anybody take responsibility for a crime that they didn’t commit? Where is the wrong in denying something that you did not do. It is obvious that these officials are sending a very clear message to the people. The message is that they’re gonna do whatever they want to do and they don’t care about the truth , they don’t care that they’re breaking they very laws that they claim to have MOVE and millions of others in prison for breaking and they don’t even care that people know that they’re the ones that are breaking the law. Lynn Abraham (the district attorney of Philadelphia that used to be a judge) says that MOVE “acts outside the law” so we should stay in prison? In fact, She acted outside the law when she signed warrants for MOVE in May of 1977 even though the police commissioner said MOVE had committed no crime. Then mayor, Rizzo, “acted outside the law” on August 8, 1978 when he ordered MOVE HQ., vital evidence in a murder trial, the “scene of the crime” destroyed. The courts “acted outside the law” when they proceeded with the trial after destroying the scene of the crime because when they destroyed the evidence they destroyed the bases for any trial. Judge Malmed, the trial judge in the August 8th murder trial “acted outside the law” when he sentenced 9 innocent MOVE people to a maximum 900 years in prison for a crime that he could not say or prove that any 1 of the 9 committed, a crime that he admitted publicly that he didn’t have the “faintest idea” who committed. Lynn Abraham “acted outside the law” when she knowingly signed fraudulent warrants for cops to come out and murder innocent MOVE people in May of 1985. The proof of just how fraudulent those warrants were lie in the fact that every single charge listed in those warrants were dismissed as having no basis, every single charge. Is there any question why MOVE people are so bitter, so full of fight and so motivated to keep revolting against this rotten ass system? JOHN AFRICA has opened our eyes and HE keeps us motivated, keeps us full of fight. They can hurt MOVE because we’re alive, we have feelings, but thanks to JOHN AFRICA they WILL NEVER STOP MOVE!
LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA! LONG LIVE REVOLUTION!
Judge to ex-pastor: 'You lied'
By ROCCO LaDUCA
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Feb 29, 2008 @ 05:25 PM
Last update Feb 29, 2008 @ 05:27 PM
UTICA — When the Rev. William Procanick put his hand on the Bible during his sex-abuse trial in Oneida County Court earlier this year, he swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
But as the former Clinton pastor was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for inappropriately touching a 7-year-old girl at his home last March, Judge Michael L. Dwyer said Procanick sacrificed his honesty the day he testified.
“As a minister of God, you got on the stand and you lied,” Dwyer told Procanick, the 54-year-old former pastor of Resurrection Assembly of God church on Kirkland Avenue.
A jury found Procanick guilty Jan. 22 of first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
Dwyer said he believes Procanick was being honest when he told the girl's mother in a recorded phone call that he was wrong to caress the girl's body while she was trying to fall asleep.
However, Procanick instead testified in court that he did nothing wrong other than spend time alone with the girl, who was a friend of the family, Dwyer noted.
If Procanick had accepted responsibility from the beginning instead of straying from the truth, Dwyer said, Procanick would likely have faced a lesser punishment and possibly avoided jail time.
“The truth would have set you free,” Dwyer said. “You had a chance to be a man and say, 'I made a mistake.' But as always, the cover-up is much worse than the original crime.”
Procanick's defense attorney, George Aney, noted that Procanick still received a sentence less than the maximum, which was up to seven years in prison.
“It's considerably less than the maximum, but considerably more than he deserved,” Aney said.
Aney also took issue with how Dwyer and the victim's mother used harsh language to attack Procanick's Christian values.
“You are just an evil man,” the victim's mother said Friday in court. “You lied, and you had your wife lie. And all these people who showed up in court to support you, did you lie to them, too?”
The Observer-Dispatch does not identify sex-abuse victims and their families.
The victim's mother said her daughter is still waking up scared at night because of what happened, and she continues to see a therapist. The young girl also feels that everybody is mad at her, the mother said.
Assistant District Attorney Doug DeMarche Jr. then read a note written by the girl, who did not appear in court Friday.
“Bill made me sad and scared,” DeMarche read. “I thought I did something wrong, because I trusted him.”
Dwyer gave Procanick an opportunity to speak in court, but Procanick had nothing to say to the victim and her family.
Aney did not plan to speak in court, he told Dwyer, but he felt obligated to respond to what the victim's mother said about Procanick and his wife.
“I believe she shows her own lack of Christianity by referring to people as liars,” Aney said.
After the sentencing, Aney further commented about what was said in court.
“I respect Judge Dwyer for what he said this morning, but I have to say I disagreed with him,” Aney said. “I have every right to express my feelings, and my feelings are that we are not permitted to call anybody a liar. That's a judgment someone higher than I makes.”
DeMarche, however, said he can understand why the girl's mother spoke of Procanick in such harsh terms.
“She had a lot of faith and trust in Mr. Procanick, and he violated that trust,” DeMarche said. “I think she's justified in being angry.”
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Feb 29, 2008 @ 05:25 PM
Last update Feb 29, 2008 @ 05:27 PM
UTICA — When the Rev. William Procanick put his hand on the Bible during his sex-abuse trial in Oneida County Court earlier this year, he swore to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
But as the former Clinton pastor was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for inappropriately touching a 7-year-old girl at his home last March, Judge Michael L. Dwyer said Procanick sacrificed his honesty the day he testified.
“As a minister of God, you got on the stand and you lied,” Dwyer told Procanick, the 54-year-old former pastor of Resurrection Assembly of God church on Kirkland Avenue.
A jury found Procanick guilty Jan. 22 of first-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
Dwyer said he believes Procanick was being honest when he told the girl's mother in a recorded phone call that he was wrong to caress the girl's body while she was trying to fall asleep.
However, Procanick instead testified in court that he did nothing wrong other than spend time alone with the girl, who was a friend of the family, Dwyer noted.
If Procanick had accepted responsibility from the beginning instead of straying from the truth, Dwyer said, Procanick would likely have faced a lesser punishment and possibly avoided jail time.
“The truth would have set you free,” Dwyer said. “You had a chance to be a man and say, 'I made a mistake.' But as always, the cover-up is much worse than the original crime.”
Procanick's defense attorney, George Aney, noted that Procanick still received a sentence less than the maximum, which was up to seven years in prison.
“It's considerably less than the maximum, but considerably more than he deserved,” Aney said.
Aney also took issue with how Dwyer and the victim's mother used harsh language to attack Procanick's Christian values.
“You are just an evil man,” the victim's mother said Friday in court. “You lied, and you had your wife lie. And all these people who showed up in court to support you, did you lie to them, too?”
The Observer-Dispatch does not identify sex-abuse victims and their families.
The victim's mother said her daughter is still waking up scared at night because of what happened, and she continues to see a therapist. The young girl also feels that everybody is mad at her, the mother said.
Assistant District Attorney Doug DeMarche Jr. then read a note written by the girl, who did not appear in court Friday.
“Bill made me sad and scared,” DeMarche read. “I thought I did something wrong, because I trusted him.”
Dwyer gave Procanick an opportunity to speak in court, but Procanick had nothing to say to the victim and her family.
Aney did not plan to speak in court, he told Dwyer, but he felt obligated to respond to what the victim's mother said about Procanick and his wife.
“I believe she shows her own lack of Christianity by referring to people as liars,” Aney said.
After the sentencing, Aney further commented about what was said in court.
“I respect Judge Dwyer for what he said this morning, but I have to say I disagreed with him,” Aney said. “I have every right to express my feelings, and my feelings are that we are not permitted to call anybody a liar. That's a judgment someone higher than I makes.”
DeMarche, however, said he can understand why the girl's mother spoke of Procanick in such harsh terms.
“She had a lot of faith and trust in Mr. Procanick, and he violated that trust,” DeMarche said. “I think she's justified in being angry.”
A Picture of What is Coming in America
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FDA Faulted for Approving Studies of Artificial Blood
By Rob SteinWashington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 29, 2008; A02
A new analysis concludes that the Food and Drug Administration approved experiments with artificial blood substitutes even after studies showed that the controversial products posed a clear risk of causing heart attacks and death.
The review of combined data from more than 3,711 patients who participated in 16 studies testing five different types of artificial blood, released yesterday, found that the products nearly tripled the risk of heart attacks and boosted the chances of dying by 30 percent.
Based on the findings, the researchers questioned why the FDA allowed additional testing of the products to go forward and why the agency is considering letting yet another study proceed.
"It's hard to understand," said Charles Natanson, a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health who led the analysis, which was released early by the Journal of the American Medical Association so the data could be presented at an FDA meeting on the subject. "They already had data that these products could cause heart attacks and evidence that they could kill."
An FDA official defended the agency, saying it had carefully weighed the risks and benefits of each study individually and had convened this week's two-day meeting to address the very concerns raised by the analysis.
"FDA independently was aware of essentially the same concerns that have been raised, and indeed that is the reason we have convened this scientific workshop and is the reason why we have made careful decisions about allowing some studies to proceed and others not to proceed," said Jay S. Epstein, director of the Office of Blood Research and Review. "Our point of view is that FDA has been highly vigilant in its oversight."
An artificial blood substitute that has a long shelf life and does not need refrigeration could save untold lives by providing an alternative to trauma patients in emergencies, especially in rural areas and in combat settings.
But attempts to develop such products have been marred by repeated failures and fraught with controversy, in part because some products have been studied under rules allowing researchers to administer them without obtaining consent from individual patients. Such trials were permitted based on the argument that there was no alternative because trauma patients are often unconscious and time is often too limited to obtain consent from a family member.
Natanson conducted the analysis after becoming concerned about the consistent risks emerging from studies of various versions of products known as hemoglobin-based blood substitutes. After the Washington-based consumer group Public Citizen sued the FDA to gain access to data submitted to the agency, Natanson and colleagues at NIH and Public Citizen pooled data from studies conducted between 1998 and 2007.
"It didn't matter what type of patient you studied. There was no one product that was responsible for this. It was similar regardless of the patient population studied, the company that manufactured the product, whether the study was published or unpublished, or the chemical characteristics of the individual products," Natanson said. "The effect was robust."
Based on the available data, Natanson and his colleagues said, the FDA could have been aware of the risk as early as 2000.
"Since this time they did five more trials," he said, including a 2004 study involving 714 patients in which 11 patients receiving an artificial blood had heart attacks and 47 patients died.
The earlier findings should have been disclosed so that doctors at hospitals considering whether to participate in the studies would be better informed about the potential risks.
"Keeping data from being public represents real risks to patients," Natanson said. "If secret science is allowed, other companies can't build on the successes and failures and [outside reviewers] won't be able to fully assess the risk."
But Epstein said the FDA did block some studies from proceeding and allowed them to proceed only when officials were satisfied that the potential benefits outweighed the risks.
"We have viewed each product in its own right. We have needed to consider the extent to which different products and different clinical circumstances warranted an independent assessment of the relative risks and benefits. We have done that in every case," Epstein said.
Although none of the products have been approved in the United States, at least one has been approved in South Africa. Five studies are ongoing in eight other countries, and the FDA is considering a request by the Navy to conduct another study of Hemopure, an artificial blood product made by Biopure Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., on 334 trauma patients.
Biopure condemned the analysis as fundamentally flawed.
"There are vast differences among these products that make any pooling of data flawed, especially across different clinical experiences," A.G. Greenburg, the company's vice president of medical affairs, said in an e-mail. "Moreover, the analysis of Biopure's experience, based on pooling of heterogeneous trials, we believe to be significantly flawed as it fails to meet the homogeneity criteria of meta-analysis, thus invalidating the conclusions."
But a former Biopure official said yesterday that he agreed with the analysis.
"The risk appears to be a class risk. It appears to be present for all products," said William D. Hoffman, director of the cardiac intensive-care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who was Biopure's medical director and chief medical officer from 1998 to 2000. "They should all be on hold until they figure out what is causing the toxicity."
Hoffman said he tried to get the company to halt an earlier study when he became concerned about the product's safety.
"I went to the leadership at the company at the time and was outvoted," he said.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
Tuesday, April 29, 2008; A02
A new analysis concludes that the Food and Drug Administration approved experiments with artificial blood substitutes even after studies showed that the controversial products posed a clear risk of causing heart attacks and death.
The review of combined data from more than 3,711 patients who participated in 16 studies testing five different types of artificial blood, released yesterday, found that the products nearly tripled the risk of heart attacks and boosted the chances of dying by 30 percent.
Based on the findings, the researchers questioned why the FDA allowed additional testing of the products to go forward and why the agency is considering letting yet another study proceed.
"It's hard to understand," said Charles Natanson, a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health who led the analysis, which was released early by the Journal of the American Medical Association so the data could be presented at an FDA meeting on the subject. "They already had data that these products could cause heart attacks and evidence that they could kill."
An FDA official defended the agency, saying it had carefully weighed the risks and benefits of each study individually and had convened this week's two-day meeting to address the very concerns raised by the analysis.
"FDA independently was aware of essentially the same concerns that have been raised, and indeed that is the reason we have convened this scientific workshop and is the reason why we have made careful decisions about allowing some studies to proceed and others not to proceed," said Jay S. Epstein, director of the Office of Blood Research and Review. "Our point of view is that FDA has been highly vigilant in its oversight."
An artificial blood substitute that has a long shelf life and does not need refrigeration could save untold lives by providing an alternative to trauma patients in emergencies, especially in rural areas and in combat settings.
But attempts to develop such products have been marred by repeated failures and fraught with controversy, in part because some products have been studied under rules allowing researchers to administer them without obtaining consent from individual patients. Such trials were permitted based on the argument that there was no alternative because trauma patients are often unconscious and time is often too limited to obtain consent from a family member.
Natanson conducted the analysis after becoming concerned about the consistent risks emerging from studies of various versions of products known as hemoglobin-based blood substitutes. After the Washington-based consumer group Public Citizen sued the FDA to gain access to data submitted to the agency, Natanson and colleagues at NIH and Public Citizen pooled data from studies conducted between 1998 and 2007.
"It didn't matter what type of patient you studied. There was no one product that was responsible for this. It was similar regardless of the patient population studied, the company that manufactured the product, whether the study was published or unpublished, or the chemical characteristics of the individual products," Natanson said. "The effect was robust."
Based on the available data, Natanson and his colleagues said, the FDA could have been aware of the risk as early as 2000.
"Since this time they did five more trials," he said, including a 2004 study involving 714 patients in which 11 patients receiving an artificial blood had heart attacks and 47 patients died.
The earlier findings should have been disclosed so that doctors at hospitals considering whether to participate in the studies would be better informed about the potential risks.
"Keeping data from being public represents real risks to patients," Natanson said. "If secret science is allowed, other companies can't build on the successes and failures and [outside reviewers] won't be able to fully assess the risk."
But Epstein said the FDA did block some studies from proceeding and allowed them to proceed only when officials were satisfied that the potential benefits outweighed the risks.
"We have viewed each product in its own right. We have needed to consider the extent to which different products and different clinical circumstances warranted an independent assessment of the relative risks and benefits. We have done that in every case," Epstein said.
Although none of the products have been approved in the United States, at least one has been approved in South Africa. Five studies are ongoing in eight other countries, and the FDA is considering a request by the Navy to conduct another study of Hemopure, an artificial blood product made by Biopure Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., on 334 trauma patients.
Biopure condemned the analysis as fundamentally flawed.
"There are vast differences among these products that make any pooling of data flawed, especially across different clinical experiences," A.G. Greenburg, the company's vice president of medical affairs, said in an e-mail. "Moreover, the analysis of Biopure's experience, based on pooling of heterogeneous trials, we believe to be significantly flawed as it fails to meet the homogeneity criteria of meta-analysis, thus invalidating the conclusions."
But a former Biopure official said yesterday that he agreed with the analysis.
"The risk appears to be a class risk. It appears to be present for all products," said William D. Hoffman, director of the cardiac intensive-care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who was Biopure's medical director and chief medical officer from 1998 to 2000. "They should all be on hold until they figure out what is causing the toxicity."
Hoffman said he tried to get the company to halt an earlier study when he became concerned about the product's safety.
"I went to the leadership at the company at the time and was outvoted," he said.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
© 2008 The Washington Post Company
MOVE Confrontation
On today, May 13, 1985, 11 MOVE men, women and children were bombed, burned and shot to death in the city of Philadelphia. No police officer or city, state or federal official did one second of one moment of jail time for these horrific murders. The sole adult survivor, Ramona Africa, did seven years in prison simply for surviving that wicked day.
=======================================
via: onamovellja@aol.com
LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA
The MOVE Organization wants to alert people to a situation that happened at our home at approximately 11:pm on Thurs., May 8th. About eight young Black kids (between 16 and 18 years old) were jumping up and down in the back of and walking on top of our pick-up. When one of our supporters saw them, he told them to get out of our truck. They were getting belligerent with him and one our sisters came over and she gave them some information too. The kids got out of the truck, walked across the street and stood on the corner a few feet from our house. My brother came out and moved the truck, he parked it in front of our house. These kids wouldn’t leave, they just stayed on the corner eying us. A couple of us, including me, went over to ask them what was going on. We asked them if they were working for the cops and if they were trying to provoke something. We made it clear who we are and what represent. They remained belligerent and when we gave them information about who our fight is with, what we’ve been through and gave them examples about the bombing, Sean Bell, etc. they said things “we didn’t do it” and “what’s that got to do with us”. We told them that they were getting belligerent with us if the cops stopped them wouldn’t get loud with them. One of boys got on his cell phone and told whoever he was talking to to look under his bed and get his “piece” and bring it to him”. We were out there about 45 minutes when the cops came out, 2 cars and a wagon. This is extremely unusual because we live in a university area and the university security as well as bike cops patrol this area religiously to keep it a certain way for those students but while all of this was going on there was not one cop or university person around. We told the cops what happened, who we are and what our position was. Then they talked to those kids. They never asked them for ID. and never responded to us telling them how one boy had told somebody to bring him his gun. We are very suspicious about this situation. We know this system is on the hot seat about this parole issue and we also know that they would love to arrest MOVE people out here on the street. If we had got into a fight with kids, they would have arrested all of us and took our kids. We’re just letting people know what’s going on because we think this was no random situation. We think this government is trying to provoke something in order to justify this parole decision and possibly arrest us. Keep your eyes and ears open---Ramona
=======================================
via: onamovellja@aol.com
LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA
The MOVE Organization wants to alert people to a situation that happened at our home at approximately 11:pm on Thurs., May 8th. About eight young Black kids (between 16 and 18 years old) were jumping up and down in the back of and walking on top of our pick-up. When one of our supporters saw them, he told them to get out of our truck. They were getting belligerent with him and one our sisters came over and she gave them some information too. The kids got out of the truck, walked across the street and stood on the corner a few feet from our house. My brother came out and moved the truck, he parked it in front of our house. These kids wouldn’t leave, they just stayed on the corner eying us. A couple of us, including me, went over to ask them what was going on. We asked them if they were working for the cops and if they were trying to provoke something. We made it clear who we are and what represent. They remained belligerent and when we gave them information about who our fight is with, what we’ve been through and gave them examples about the bombing, Sean Bell, etc. they said things “we didn’t do it” and “what’s that got to do with us”. We told them that they were getting belligerent with us if the cops stopped them wouldn’t get loud with them. One of boys got on his cell phone and told whoever he was talking to to look under his bed and get his “piece” and bring it to him”. We were out there about 45 minutes when the cops came out, 2 cars and a wagon. This is extremely unusual because we live in a university area and the university security as well as bike cops patrol this area religiously to keep it a certain way for those students but while all of this was going on there was not one cop or university person around. We told the cops what happened, who we are and what our position was. Then they talked to those kids. They never asked them for ID. and never responded to us telling them how one boy had told somebody to bring him his gun. We are very suspicious about this situation. We know this system is on the hot seat about this parole issue and we also know that they would love to arrest MOVE people out here on the street. If we had got into a fight with kids, they would have arrested all of us and took our kids. We’re just letting people know what’s going on because we think this was no random situation. We think this government is trying to provoke something in order to justify this parole decision and possibly arrest us. Keep your eyes and ears open---Ramona
Philadelphia: City of Brotherly Thugs
[col. writ. 4/21/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
The scene is as common as sunlight: cops beating Black men in the streets.
This time, captured on videotape from a hovering helicopter, a malevolent swarm of cops pull occupants from a car, and then proceed to beat the paste out of the men, kicking, punching, and slamming with a club. At least 15 cops are seen in the broadcast beatdown; an average of 5 to 1.
Within moments of its broadcast came the predictable defense: cops in Philly are "stressed."
One need not even await such defenses anymore: just put a tape on speed dial, and repeat.
If ever there was irony, the three car occupants were charged with aggravated assault, and criminal conspiracy.
How much do you wanna bet that the cops, who were caught on film in the midst of aggravated assault, and as they committed the crime in common, criminal conspiracy, are never charged with these crimes -- and probably will never be arrested?
How can I dare make such a claim?
Well, I have plenty of practice.
Most folks flash back to the infamous Rodney King case, where cops in L.A. went into a whipping fit, because King tried to outrun them.
Were they too, stressed?
It also reminded me of the taped beating of Delbert Africa, a MOVE member who was beaten during the August 8th, 1978 police raid on MOVE's home.
These cops, too, were easily acquitted by explicit judicial decree.
If tape doesn't matter, what does?
In the case against three cops who rifle-butted, punched and kicked Delbert, the judge ignored the video tapes, and cited both Delbert's muscularity, and the claim of a Black TV reporter, who claimed she saw him armed --this, despite the tape showing him shirtless, empty hands opened, and naked from the waist up!
Prepare for the all but inevitable whitewash.
Look at that tape again, and you will see something that you'll see if you looked at a gang attack, for these are gangsters, pure and simple.
Only it's the Blue gang.
Welcome to Philadelphia: the city of brotherly thugs.
--(c) '08 maj
The scene is as common as sunlight: cops beating Black men in the streets.
This time, captured on videotape from a hovering helicopter, a malevolent swarm of cops pull occupants from a car, and then proceed to beat the paste out of the men, kicking, punching, and slamming with a club. At least 15 cops are seen in the broadcast beatdown; an average of 5 to 1.
Within moments of its broadcast came the predictable defense: cops in Philly are "stressed."
One need not even await such defenses anymore: just put a tape on speed dial, and repeat.
If ever there was irony, the three car occupants were charged with aggravated assault, and criminal conspiracy.
How much do you wanna bet that the cops, who were caught on film in the midst of aggravated assault, and as they committed the crime in common, criminal conspiracy, are never charged with these crimes -- and probably will never be arrested?
How can I dare make such a claim?
Well, I have plenty of practice.
Most folks flash back to the infamous Rodney King case, where cops in L.A. went into a whipping fit, because King tried to outrun them.
Were they too, stressed?
It also reminded me of the taped beating of Delbert Africa, a MOVE member who was beaten during the August 8th, 1978 police raid on MOVE's home.
These cops, too, were easily acquitted by explicit judicial decree.
If tape doesn't matter, what does?
In the case against three cops who rifle-butted, punched and kicked Delbert, the judge ignored the video tapes, and cited both Delbert's muscularity, and the claim of a Black TV reporter, who claimed she saw him armed --this, despite the tape showing him shirtless, empty hands opened, and naked from the waist up!
Prepare for the all but inevitable whitewash.
Look at that tape again, and you will see something that you'll see if you looked at a gang attack, for these are gangsters, pure and simple.
Only it's the Blue gang.
Welcome to Philadelphia: the city of brotherly thugs.
--(c) '08 maj
Food Wars
[col. writ. 4/21/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Like a shadowy echo out of history, angry throngs massed at the Big House in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. But this time, they were not clamoring for freedom.
Or, if they were, it was for freedom from hunger.
Their protests shook the government, and forced the Prime Minister, Jacques-Edourd Alexis, to step down.
Several years ago, we saw massive protests in Oaxaca, Mexico, against exorbitant hikes in corn prices, the grain which forms the basis, and is the staple of the national diet (tortillas and tacos).
In Egypt, bread prices are so high that the army has been called in to stifle dissent, and to distribute bread.
Wheat, corn and other such grains are becoming so expensive that millions of people around the world are seriously threatened by hunger.
The cause? In truth, there are many, but perhaps chief among them is speculation and anticipated demand for bio fuels, or the use of grains to produce fuel to run cars.
Many grains are held off the food markets, to await better prices for bio fuels. In other words, people are going hungry -- facing starvation - so that people can pump fuel into cars.
If ever there was an encapsulated image of the mercenary nature of capitalism, it can be seen in this one example: filling cars instead of feeding people.
This is also a window into what we have come to call globalism.
There are 5 major companies that control some 85% of the world's grain trade, and nearly half of the world's grain production. As huge multinationals, will they utilize this power to feed the people of the world, or to maximize profits?
The answer is obvious.
And even though kids in American schools aren't taught this truth, the fact of the matter is we all live closer to the age of gasoline than the age of the atom. For every item we purchase, from food to coats, from jewelry to DVD's, bears the cost of transportation in its price, and as the price of gas soars, that price is passed on to the consumer.
So fuel exacts a kind of double tax when it comes to grains. Through speculation and transfer to bio fuels, all such grain prices rise.
To this is added the price of transport.
The logic of the market leads to mass starvation.
--(c) '08 maj
[Source: Esteva, Gustavo and Madhu Suri Prakash, "From Global to Local: Beyond Neo liberalism to the International of Hope," in The Globalization Reader, 3d ed. Frank J. Lechner & John Boli, eds., p.455]
Like a shadowy echo out of history, angry throngs massed at the Big House in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. But this time, they were not clamoring for freedom.
Or, if they were, it was for freedom from hunger.
Their protests shook the government, and forced the Prime Minister, Jacques-Edourd Alexis, to step down.
Several years ago, we saw massive protests in Oaxaca, Mexico, against exorbitant hikes in corn prices, the grain which forms the basis, and is the staple of the national diet (tortillas and tacos).
In Egypt, bread prices are so high that the army has been called in to stifle dissent, and to distribute bread.
Wheat, corn and other such grains are becoming so expensive that millions of people around the world are seriously threatened by hunger.
The cause? In truth, there are many, but perhaps chief among them is speculation and anticipated demand for bio fuels, or the use of grains to produce fuel to run cars.
Many grains are held off the food markets, to await better prices for bio fuels. In other words, people are going hungry -- facing starvation - so that people can pump fuel into cars.
If ever there was an encapsulated image of the mercenary nature of capitalism, it can be seen in this one example: filling cars instead of feeding people.
This is also a window into what we have come to call globalism.
There are 5 major companies that control some 85% of the world's grain trade, and nearly half of the world's grain production. As huge multinationals, will they utilize this power to feed the people of the world, or to maximize profits?
The answer is obvious.
And even though kids in American schools aren't taught this truth, the fact of the matter is we all live closer to the age of gasoline than the age of the atom. For every item we purchase, from food to coats, from jewelry to DVD's, bears the cost of transportation in its price, and as the price of gas soars, that price is passed on to the consumer.
So fuel exacts a kind of double tax when it comes to grains. Through speculation and transfer to bio fuels, all such grain prices rise.
To this is added the price of transport.
The logic of the market leads to mass starvation.
--(c) '08 maj
[Source: Esteva, Gustavo and Madhu Suri Prakash, "From Global to Local: Beyond Neo liberalism to the International of Hope," in The Globalization Reader, 3d ed. Frank J. Lechner & John Boli, eds., p.455]
ILWU Strikes for Peace
[col./speech writ. 4/25/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
It should surprise no one that the mighty ILWU (International Longshoreman & Warehouse Union) is in the forefront of this 8-hour dock shutdown for peace.
The ILWU's proud and illustrious history is one of supporting peoples' movements, for life, freedom, workers solidarity and immigration rights, worldwide!
They remember the stirring words of Eugene V. Debs (socialist labor leader and 1900 presidential candidate), who said, almost a century ago "It is the master class that declares war. It is the subject class that fights the battles."
For these words, and his antiwar sentiments, Debs was cast into prison.
That the ILWU is echoing his words today is proof of their power and truth - 100 years later!
It also proves how little we have moved from the dawn of the 20th century, to the dawn of the 21st; for war is still a tool of imperial power, to fuel corporate wealth and global domination.
Who can deny that this is a war for oil?
Who can deny that this is and illegal occupation (that is, in violation of international law), more concerned with what's under the earth, than for the millions living in dread upon it?
For Iraq may not've been a barrel of laughs before the US invasion and occupation, but it's surely hell now.
And Congress, like Nero amidst the fires of Rome, does little more than twiddle its thumbs.
It's labor power that makes the wheels go round - and this powerful demonstration of the denial of labor for May Day, for peace and an end to occupation in Iraq is workers' solidarity made real.
Kudos to the ILWU!
For Labor Power, Peace and anti-Imperialism!
*******
It should surprise no one that the mighty ILWU (International Longshoreman & Warehouse Union) is in the forefront of this 8-hour dock shutdown for peace.
The ILWU's proud and illustrious history is one of supporting peoples' movements, for life, freedom, workers solidarity and immigration rights, worldwide!
They remember the stirring words of Eugene V. Debs (socialist labor leader and 1900 presidential candidate), who said, almost a century ago "It is the master class that declares war. It is the subject class that fights the battles."
For these words, and his antiwar sentiments, Debs was cast into prison.
That the ILWU is echoing his words today is proof of their power and truth - 100 years later!
It also proves how little we have moved from the dawn of the 20th century, to the dawn of the 21st; for war is still a tool of imperial power, to fuel corporate wealth and global domination.
Who can deny that this is a war for oil?
Who can deny that this is and illegal occupation (that is, in violation of international law), more concerned with what's under the earth, than for the millions living in dread upon it?
For Iraq may not've been a barrel of laughs before the US invasion and occupation, but it's surely hell now.
And Congress, like Nero amidst the fires of Rome, does little more than twiddle its thumbs.
It's labor power that makes the wheels go round - and this powerful demonstration of the denial of labor for May Day, for peace and an end to occupation in Iraq is workers' solidarity made real.
Kudos to the ILWU!
For Labor Power, Peace and anti-Imperialism!
*******
The Politics of Denunciation
[col. writ. 4/30/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
When was the last time that you saw a politician asked to denounce a religious leader with whom he or she was associated?
For generations, we have seen a succession of presidents, from both political parties, under the wing of the Rev. Billy Graham.
Historians have recently reported that Graham and his Oval Office acolytes have spoken in racist and xenophobic terms about both Blacks and Jews.
The Rev. Graham recently was lionized as the personal spiritual advisor to presidents, in times of stress, pressure, war and peace.
Neither he, nor his presidential prayer pals have ever been damned or denounced for profoundly racist speech in the palaces of the powerful.
Now, as a Black man begins to climb the greased pole of American political power, he is asked to either defend or denounce a man whom he has known and admired for a generation.
Barack Obama opted for the latter.
He has all but jettisoned the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright from the close circle to the cold periphery of the political realm.
Whence comes this demand for denunciation?
If we are honest, it arises from the specter of white fear, that demand of Black people a higher standard than that of their own.
For what reason has Jeremiah Wright been jettisoned - if not for his proud, open Blackness? Rev. Wright is an advocate of Black Liberation Theology - a school of Black religious thought that sees the hand of God in the liberation of Black people from bondage.
White Americans are so used to hearing Blacks speak with quiet and pacific tones, that when a man expresses himself fully, as did Rev. Wright, they are, quite frankly, frightened. (What do they fear, that Blacks will dare remember?)
Through the corporate media talking heads, they demanded that Obama "distance himself" from that scary, Black (uppity?) preacher - and do it fast.
Yowza, boss.
The politics of denunciation is, ultimately, the politics of betrayal. It asks - no - it demands that the candidate denounce those whom the White Nation opposes.
If they don't, then they are presumed to be a supporter of that person, or ideology. Meanwhile, white conservative preachers can say virtually anything, and calls for denunciation are swallowed into silence.
Former presidential candidate, and Republican supporter, Rev. Pat Robertson, called for the killing of a foreign head of state! (I speak here of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.)
Did the White House denounce this prominent religious supporter? Not to my knowledge (in fact, it would be rather difficult, given the current regime's failed coup d'etat against him).
But Barack, the son of a continental African, cannot be seen calling for Black Liberation; for he seeks not to become leader of the Black Nations, but the world's leading White Nation.
Once again, Blacks, and their deep indigenous concerns, are pushed to the periphery. Their free expression ain't free, for there is a cost.
When I saw his latest dis' of the Rev. Dr. Wright, I thought of a question posed in the Bible, in the words of Jesus of Nazareth speaking to his disciples (in Matthew 16:26): For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?...
What would you do to get a job?
--(c) '08 maj
[Source: Holy Bible, St. Matthew (King James Version.]
When was the last time that you saw a politician asked to denounce a religious leader with whom he or she was associated?
For generations, we have seen a succession of presidents, from both political parties, under the wing of the Rev. Billy Graham.
Historians have recently reported that Graham and his Oval Office acolytes have spoken in racist and xenophobic terms about both Blacks and Jews.
The Rev. Graham recently was lionized as the personal spiritual advisor to presidents, in times of stress, pressure, war and peace.
Neither he, nor his presidential prayer pals have ever been damned or denounced for profoundly racist speech in the palaces of the powerful.
Now, as a Black man begins to climb the greased pole of American political power, he is asked to either defend or denounce a man whom he has known and admired for a generation.
Barack Obama opted for the latter.
He has all but jettisoned the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright from the close circle to the cold periphery of the political realm.
Whence comes this demand for denunciation?
If we are honest, it arises from the specter of white fear, that demand of Black people a higher standard than that of their own.
For what reason has Jeremiah Wright been jettisoned - if not for his proud, open Blackness? Rev. Wright is an advocate of Black Liberation Theology - a school of Black religious thought that sees the hand of God in the liberation of Black people from bondage.
White Americans are so used to hearing Blacks speak with quiet and pacific tones, that when a man expresses himself fully, as did Rev. Wright, they are, quite frankly, frightened. (What do they fear, that Blacks will dare remember?)
Through the corporate media talking heads, they demanded that Obama "distance himself" from that scary, Black (uppity?) preacher - and do it fast.
Yowza, boss.
The politics of denunciation is, ultimately, the politics of betrayal. It asks - no - it demands that the candidate denounce those whom the White Nation opposes.
If they don't, then they are presumed to be a supporter of that person, or ideology. Meanwhile, white conservative preachers can say virtually anything, and calls for denunciation are swallowed into silence.
Former presidential candidate, and Republican supporter, Rev. Pat Robertson, called for the killing of a foreign head of state! (I speak here of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.)
Did the White House denounce this prominent religious supporter? Not to my knowledge (in fact, it would be rather difficult, given the current regime's failed coup d'etat against him).
But Barack, the son of a continental African, cannot be seen calling for Black Liberation; for he seeks not to become leader of the Black Nations, but the world's leading White Nation.
Once again, Blacks, and their deep indigenous concerns, are pushed to the periphery. Their free expression ain't free, for there is a cost.
When I saw his latest dis' of the Rev. Dr. Wright, I thought of a question posed in the Bible, in the words of Jesus of Nazareth speaking to his disciples (in Matthew 16:26): For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?...
What would you do to get a job?
--(c) '08 maj
[Source: Holy Bible, St. Matthew (King James Version.]
!*Part 2 - Boots Interviews Mumia/Block Report Radio!
The Minister of Information
JRPOCC Block Report Radio
www.blockreportradio.com
Another World is Possible: Boots of the Coup Interviews Mumia Abu-Jamal
PART 2
The POCC: Block Report Radio show recently recorded a conversation where internationally known musician Boots Riley of the Coup interviewed political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. Although people can hear Mumia on prisonradio.org with his weekly commentaries, the Block Report believes that it is important to hear from Mumia in a looser setting where he can talk casually and interact, rather than just try to make a few concise points with credible evidence. The interview that we produced before this was with M1 and Mumia; it can be found at www.blockreportradio.com, along with the audio from this interview in its entirety.
by The Minister of Information JR
This is the final segment of the interview that legendary political rapper Boots from the Coup did with political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, via telephone. This is one of the many interviews that Block Report Radio has done in its project, to expose political prisoners to cultural and political forces on the streets. There are more to come.
In the 2nd segment of this interview, Boots and Mumia talk about unions, Mumia's favorite writers, as well as Mumia's comments on a recent Supreme Court decision giving Guantanamo Bay prisoners the right to see a judge. Check it out.
Boots: And I think that that was kind of the thought that I was having, is that the union movements that we see now, they are definitely not revolutionary or radical. There is some really good people trying to do things, do you think that people who do consider themselves revolutionary or radicals or progressives, more of them need to get involved with some issues that have to do with labor or economics on the grassroots level?
Mumia: I do. That might mean joining a trade union. That might mean just organizing among trade unionist and union members. You know in order to make this thing happen, in order to change society , all the factors of society have to be organized, and touched, and moved, and motivated. You see, if it doesn't happen that way, then there'll be increasingly smaller groups of people involved in organizations. And there'll be less and less influential. When people organized those union things that I've talked about, they did it because their lives were hell, and they also did it, if you think back and check back, the Supreme Court said "criminal syndicalism or syndicalization".The Supreme Court criminalized unionization, saying it was a burden on production, and a burden on business, and the private property of corporations. It took millions and millions of people organizing all around the country, to change that into the kind of normalization that...We now think of unions as a background noise. It's a normal thing. It's not extraordinary. Instead of what they could be, they're much better than they were. They can be much much better, but its going to take a change in consciousness among union people, and among organizers to work together, and work outside of the realm of work, and in the area of culture for example. I mean, we can not under-estimate the power of culture in a society where entertainment is one of the biggest industries in this country, in the world really, because that's where people hear things, that's where their minds are changed. Think of the impact of a Bob Marley for example.
THIS CALL IS FROM THE STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION SC GREENE, AND IS SUBJECT TO MONITORING AND RECORDING.
Boots: You and Commandante Marcos are two of the most beautiful right-on writers that I have read, to break down how society works.
Mumia: Thank you, brotha.
Boots: And who are some of your favorite writers?
Mumia: I have a lot, given the situation, I read a lot, but I've found that some of Huey's early stuff is, and it hasn't really been read even by former members of the Party. He was brilliant. He truly was brilliant. There is an old-head, a West Indian, who's no longer among us, he wrote some really deep stuff. His name was C.L.R. James. He was from Trinidad. This brotha was brilliant, because you know, he was a scholar, a thinker, and all of that, and he was also an organizer, a revolutionary, a political figure, a thinker, a writer, and one of his greatest collections of interviews and speeches was something called, "Every Cook Could Govern", where he analyses the world. He was just a brilliant cat. So I read a great deal, and a lot of people have influenced me in different ways; Eldridge. I was a teenager when I first got turned on to Eldridge. Eldridge was a very very powerful and brilliant writer, who influenced me deeply when I was a kid, and I still have that influence with me today.
Boots: What do you think about the Supreme Court decision letting people in Guantanamo get to see a judge?
Mumia: You know what is most amazing about that Boots, that 4 members of the Court said "no they don't". (Sarcastically Laughing) You know, I am surprised pleasantly that 5 members of the Court said that the Constitution covers them because they are under the jurisdiction of the United States of Amerikkka, okay. So there has to be some kind of hearing, or the availability of habeus corpus in federal court. But 4 justices, including the chief justice said "no they don't", and when you think about that, that should astound people. You know in the space of 7 or 8 years, in addition to Guantanamo, you have so-called "black sites", secret prisons, you have legalized for all intents and purposes torture, and there are other prisons that we don't even talk about, called Diego Garcia, and others around the world, where people are tortured in the name of Amerikkka. And the fact that more people aren't crazy about it, or making noise about it, or demonstrating in the streets about it, is stunning, and it shows you how repression really does close down the minds of people. Because people must be paralyzed by fear, instead of energized by indignation to say "this is not my country", "this is not the country I want", "this is not the world that I want to live in". Now we know, as African-Americans, that Amerikkka has rarely if ever followed its own Constitution. I mean, it would be a good idea if they did that. They certainly violated it for centuries when it comes to African-Americans. It doesn't even matter what the Constitution say, they passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment and then said in so many words, this applies to everybody and corporations, but not niggers, you see? And denied Black people for a hundred years, the rights enshrined in the Constitution.
YOU HAVE 60 SECONDS REMAINING.
Mumia: It took people organizing in the streets, all across the South and the North to change those words into reality. Ona Move. Good to hear you Boots.
Boots: Thank you very much, and its an honor to speak to you.
Mumia: The honor is mine brotha. Keep doing what you're doing, because you're doing some real beautiful stuff.
Boots: Oh wow, I'm glad that you even know who I am. Thank you very much.
Mumia: I've read about you in the Bay View. I saw your interview, and it was all of that (laughing). Thank you brotha.
You could hear the entire audio version of this interview at www.blocktreportradio.com
-- The Minister of Information JRPOCC Block Report Radiowww.blockreportradio.com
JRPOCC Block Report Radio
www.blockreportradio.com
Another World is Possible: Boots of the Coup Interviews Mumia Abu-Jamal
PART 2
The POCC: Block Report Radio show recently recorded a conversation where internationally known musician Boots Riley of the Coup interviewed political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. Although people can hear Mumia on prisonradio.org with his weekly commentaries, the Block Report believes that it is important to hear from Mumia in a looser setting where he can talk casually and interact, rather than just try to make a few concise points with credible evidence. The interview that we produced before this was with M1 and Mumia; it can be found at www.blockreportradio.com, along with the audio from this interview in its entirety.
by The Minister of Information JR
This is the final segment of the interview that legendary political rapper Boots from the Coup did with political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, via telephone. This is one of the many interviews that Block Report Radio has done in its project, to expose political prisoners to cultural and political forces on the streets. There are more to come.
In the 2nd segment of this interview, Boots and Mumia talk about unions, Mumia's favorite writers, as well as Mumia's comments on a recent Supreme Court decision giving Guantanamo Bay prisoners the right to see a judge. Check it out.
Boots: And I think that that was kind of the thought that I was having, is that the union movements that we see now, they are definitely not revolutionary or radical. There is some really good people trying to do things, do you think that people who do consider themselves revolutionary or radicals or progressives, more of them need to get involved with some issues that have to do with labor or economics on the grassroots level?
Mumia: I do. That might mean joining a trade union. That might mean just organizing among trade unionist and union members. You know in order to make this thing happen, in order to change society , all the factors of society have to be organized, and touched, and moved, and motivated. You see, if it doesn't happen that way, then there'll be increasingly smaller groups of people involved in organizations. And there'll be less and less influential. When people organized those union things that I've talked about, they did it because their lives were hell, and they also did it, if you think back and check back, the Supreme Court said "criminal syndicalism or syndicalization".The Supreme Court criminalized unionization, saying it was a burden on production, and a burden on business, and the private property of corporations. It took millions and millions of people organizing all around the country, to change that into the kind of normalization that...We now think of unions as a background noise. It's a normal thing. It's not extraordinary. Instead of what they could be, they're much better than they were. They can be much much better, but its going to take a change in consciousness among union people, and among organizers to work together, and work outside of the realm of work, and in the area of culture for example. I mean, we can not under-estimate the power of culture in a society where entertainment is one of the biggest industries in this country, in the world really, because that's where people hear things, that's where their minds are changed. Think of the impact of a Bob Marley for example.
THIS CALL IS FROM THE STATE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION SC GREENE, AND IS SUBJECT TO MONITORING AND RECORDING.
Boots: You and Commandante Marcos are two of the most beautiful right-on writers that I have read, to break down how society works.
Mumia: Thank you, brotha.
Boots: And who are some of your favorite writers?
Mumia: I have a lot, given the situation, I read a lot, but I've found that some of Huey's early stuff is, and it hasn't really been read even by former members of the Party. He was brilliant. He truly was brilliant. There is an old-head, a West Indian, who's no longer among us, he wrote some really deep stuff. His name was C.L.R. James. He was from Trinidad. This brotha was brilliant, because you know, he was a scholar, a thinker, and all of that, and he was also an organizer, a revolutionary, a political figure, a thinker, a writer, and one of his greatest collections of interviews and speeches was something called, "Every Cook Could Govern", where he analyses the world. He was just a brilliant cat. So I read a great deal, and a lot of people have influenced me in different ways; Eldridge. I was a teenager when I first got turned on to Eldridge. Eldridge was a very very powerful and brilliant writer, who influenced me deeply when I was a kid, and I still have that influence with me today.
Boots: What do you think about the Supreme Court decision letting people in Guantanamo get to see a judge?
Mumia: You know what is most amazing about that Boots, that 4 members of the Court said "no they don't". (Sarcastically Laughing) You know, I am surprised pleasantly that 5 members of the Court said that the Constitution covers them because they are under the jurisdiction of the United States of Amerikkka, okay. So there has to be some kind of hearing, or the availability of habeus corpus in federal court. But 4 justices, including the chief justice said "no they don't", and when you think about that, that should astound people. You know in the space of 7 or 8 years, in addition to Guantanamo, you have so-called "black sites", secret prisons, you have legalized for all intents and purposes torture, and there are other prisons that we don't even talk about, called Diego Garcia, and others around the world, where people are tortured in the name of Amerikkka. And the fact that more people aren't crazy about it, or making noise about it, or demonstrating in the streets about it, is stunning, and it shows you how repression really does close down the minds of people. Because people must be paralyzed by fear, instead of energized by indignation to say "this is not my country", "this is not the country I want", "this is not the world that I want to live in". Now we know, as African-Americans, that Amerikkka has rarely if ever followed its own Constitution. I mean, it would be a good idea if they did that. They certainly violated it for centuries when it comes to African-Americans. It doesn't even matter what the Constitution say, they passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment and then said in so many words, this applies to everybody and corporations, but not niggers, you see? And denied Black people for a hundred years, the rights enshrined in the Constitution.
YOU HAVE 60 SECONDS REMAINING.
Mumia: It took people organizing in the streets, all across the South and the North to change those words into reality. Ona Move. Good to hear you Boots.
Boots: Thank you very much, and its an honor to speak to you.
Mumia: The honor is mine brotha. Keep doing what you're doing, because you're doing some real beautiful stuff.
Boots: Oh wow, I'm glad that you even know who I am. Thank you very much.
Mumia: I've read about you in the Bay View. I saw your interview, and it was all of that (laughing). Thank you brotha.
You could hear the entire audio version of this interview at www.blocktreportradio.com
-- The Minister of Information JRPOCC Block Report Radiowww.blockreportradio.com
War Declarations and Acts of Torture
Back on July 30, 2008 I received the following email message from the ACLU online and thought that I should post it up here. With a president who has no regard for the rule of law and a congress that sits back do nothing it's critical that the people, especially Black people recognize the truth and reality for what it really is. Complete separation from America and starting a nation of our own is the cure for the ills of our people. Integration has brought us nothing but self-destruction and setback after setback. America is going down into the abyss of hell fire and if you hang on to her you're going down with her.
Dear ACLU Supporter,
A few days ago, we alerted you to Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s demand that Congress issue a new declaration of war. This would make the entire globe -- including the United States itself -- a “battlefield” where the president gets to decide who is an “enemy combatant” and lock that person up forever.
The Bush/Mukasey plan also includes a congressionally-approved subversion of the Constitution and a cover-up of the Bush administration’s systemic torture and abuse of detainees.
At the same time, an ACLU lawsuit has uncovered new evidence that the torture and abuse Mukasey wants Congress to cover up was authorized by -- you guessed it -- the Justice Department. One of the documents obtained by the ACLU is a redacted version of a previously undisclosed 2002 Justice Department opinion that authorizes the CIA to use specific interrogation methods, including waterboarding.
Now, Mukasey -- as head of the Justice Department -- wants Congress to cover up torture committed under the watch of his predecessor, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. It’s outrageous!
Don’t let it happen. Read the alert I’ve attached below and take action now at: http://action.aclu.org/coverup
Dear ACLU Supporter,
A few days ago, we alerted you to Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s demand that Congress issue a new declaration of war. This would make the entire globe -- including the United States itself -- a “battlefield” where the president gets to decide who is an “enemy combatant” and lock that person up forever.
The Bush/Mukasey plan also includes a congressionally-approved subversion of the Constitution and a cover-up of the Bush administration’s systemic torture and abuse of detainees.
At the same time, an ACLU lawsuit has uncovered new evidence that the torture and abuse Mukasey wants Congress to cover up was authorized by -- you guessed it -- the Justice Department. One of the documents obtained by the ACLU is a redacted version of a previously undisclosed 2002 Justice Department opinion that authorizes the CIA to use specific interrogation methods, including waterboarding.
Now, Mukasey -- as head of the Justice Department -- wants Congress to cover up torture committed under the watch of his predecessor, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. It’s outrageous!
Don’t let it happen. Read the alert I’ve attached below and take action now at: http://action.aclu.org/coverup
The Vital Importance of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Sunday, April 13, 2008
by Walidah Imarisha
Mumia Abu-Jamal, award winning journalist, activist, organizer, "voice of the voiceless" and resident of Pennsylvania's death row, was denied his appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to receive a new trial. They did uphold the decision to give him life without parole instead of the death penalty, which the state will probably appeal.
They waited almost an entire year to hand down that verdict, I remember the big protest we had outside the court the day the hearing happened (a hearing Mumia was supposed to be allowed to appear at personally, until the last minute when they wouldn't let him come. It would have been his first in person court appears in over a decade).
The case of Mumia is so important to justice, to the state of things, and to me personally. My first protest I ever went to, at the age of 15 in Eugene, Oregon, was a Free Mumia protest. It was such a small protest now that I have been at gatherings with hundreds of thousands. But at the time it seemed massive.
The flyer had said to gather at the entrance to the University of Oregon. Unfamiliar with activist time, I had shown up about 20 minutes early, and had seen no one. I worried if I'd gotten the location wrong, if it had been cancelled, if it was really going to happen.
I had just begun my foray into political education, thanks to an internship I stumbled onto at a local social justice organization. My time in the office set in a creaky old building with pipes that rattled set the stage for the rest of my life. It was sitting in the frayed worn couches near the bay window that I first heard the words communism and socialism as more than just some dangerous evil that would devour me if it wanted. While typing up stories for the newsletter at the antiquated box of a computer, talk of the Zapatistas, political prisoners, Sandinistas, Central America, Cuba, apartheid, Assata Shakur, Malcolm X all swirled around me. I didn't know what the hell these people were talking about. But I knew they were individuals I already respected, who knew so much about things I had never dreamed existed. I knew I had to educate myself.
I asked my mentor, a young white man who wore cardigan sweaters and converse and looked more at home in a 50s car hop poster than organizing in support of farmworkers, timidly one day if he could recommend some books for me to read. He reached up without hesitation and handed me a small black book, with a dreadlocked man staring solemnly out of the cover. "You should really check this out, I think you might find some good stuff in here."
I started Mumia's Live From Death Row on the long bus ride home (I actually lived in another city, Springfield, so I had to transfer three times to get home). I stayed up until 3 in the morning, neglecting school work and my favorite show on tv, to finish the book. Mumia's words were elegant, poetic, searing and undeniable. He wrote about live on death row, vinettes about the people there with him, the supposed scum of the earth, he wrote them as humans, beautiful flawed tragic humans. He wrote about the larger prison industrial complex, wrote about why prisons exist and who benefits from them, not in safety but in real material dollars. And whose flesh is sold to make those dollars, poor and black and brown and illiterate and mentally delayed and never had a chance and nobody never listened to their voice. His book was not about him, he was the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth and the heart that drew it all together, linked connections I had never imagined, showed me the web of oppression that threaded through my entire life, tangling me without my realizing it. And he showed me how to begin to hack away at those threads. I believed and believe with all my heart Mumia when he says he's innocent. But his book and his commitment showed me that that is not the biggest question. The biggest question is who is guilty of what crimes, and why are those guilty of the worst atrocities against humanity rarely ever brought to justice?
Back at the gate to the University of Oregon, I looked up as about 10 young white people, some dreadlocked with patch work pants, a couple in all black with patches on their ripped up hoodies, came towards me, carrying signs that said "Free Mumia" and "Free All Political Prisoners". One young woman came up to me and asked, "Are you here for the Mumia protest?" I was so happy, I nodded my head vigorously. "Great," she said, handing me a sign, "We're almost ready to start."
In about 10 minutes, the group of 30 to 40 folks assembled set off down the street, marching through the business district around the University. I had never been in a crowd of people chanting and banging drums, yelling slogans, stopping traffic. I felt strong, and unstoppable. This is the power that people in the dilapadated office had talked about, the power that can stand up to bullets and batons and tanks and dictators and empires. The power of the people.
Someone pushed play on a boombox they had brought, and Mumia's rich voice, tempered with honey and with steel, burst from the speakers, rained down on the boutiques and pizza shops and on me. I had never heard Mumia's voice before. Listening to him read one of his commentaries he had written in prison, I knew why they didn't play Mumia's voice, why they were scared to let this radio journalist's voice free from the cage. You could not listen to Mumia's voice and not be moved by the power, the rationality and most of all the humanity in it. You could never believe this man was the rabid loose cannon crazy person they tried to paint him as. You couldn't hear Mumia's voice and not want to join in the fight to free him, and the fight to make sure there would be no more Mumia's on death rows ever again.
As he closed out his commentary, "Live from death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal," I hoisted my Free Mumia NOW sign as high as I could, and yelled with all my might with the dozens of throats around me, "Brick by brick, wall by wall we're going to free Mumia Abu-Jamal."
I screamed the same chant 13 years later, in front of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals last May as they heard evidence to decide Mumia's fate. What they don't understand, and what we have to, is that is is not their decision. The decision, as always, rests with the people, who have the real power. I still believe wholeheartedly in the chant, and I know you do too. Now is the time to make our voices and our determination heard.
by Walidah Imarisha
Mumia Abu-Jamal, award winning journalist, activist, organizer, "voice of the voiceless" and resident of Pennsylvania's death row, was denied his appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to receive a new trial. They did uphold the decision to give him life without parole instead of the death penalty, which the state will probably appeal.
They waited almost an entire year to hand down that verdict, I remember the big protest we had outside the court the day the hearing happened (a hearing Mumia was supposed to be allowed to appear at personally, until the last minute when they wouldn't let him come. It would have been his first in person court appears in over a decade).
The case of Mumia is so important to justice, to the state of things, and to me personally. My first protest I ever went to, at the age of 15 in Eugene, Oregon, was a Free Mumia protest. It was such a small protest now that I have been at gatherings with hundreds of thousands. But at the time it seemed massive.
The flyer had said to gather at the entrance to the University of Oregon. Unfamiliar with activist time, I had shown up about 20 minutes early, and had seen no one. I worried if I'd gotten the location wrong, if it had been cancelled, if it was really going to happen.
I had just begun my foray into political education, thanks to an internship I stumbled onto at a local social justice organization. My time in the office set in a creaky old building with pipes that rattled set the stage for the rest of my life. It was sitting in the frayed worn couches near the bay window that I first heard the words communism and socialism as more than just some dangerous evil that would devour me if it wanted. While typing up stories for the newsletter at the antiquated box of a computer, talk of the Zapatistas, political prisoners, Sandinistas, Central America, Cuba, apartheid, Assata Shakur, Malcolm X all swirled around me. I didn't know what the hell these people were talking about. But I knew they were individuals I already respected, who knew so much about things I had never dreamed existed. I knew I had to educate myself.
I asked my mentor, a young white man who wore cardigan sweaters and converse and looked more at home in a 50s car hop poster than organizing in support of farmworkers, timidly one day if he could recommend some books for me to read. He reached up without hesitation and handed me a small black book, with a dreadlocked man staring solemnly out of the cover. "You should really check this out, I think you might find some good stuff in here."
I started Mumia's Live From Death Row on the long bus ride home (I actually lived in another city, Springfield, so I had to transfer three times to get home). I stayed up until 3 in the morning, neglecting school work and my favorite show on tv, to finish the book. Mumia's words were elegant, poetic, searing and undeniable. He wrote about live on death row, vinettes about the people there with him, the supposed scum of the earth, he wrote them as humans, beautiful flawed tragic humans. He wrote about the larger prison industrial complex, wrote about why prisons exist and who benefits from them, not in safety but in real material dollars. And whose flesh is sold to make those dollars, poor and black and brown and illiterate and mentally delayed and never had a chance and nobody never listened to their voice. His book was not about him, he was the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth and the heart that drew it all together, linked connections I had never imagined, showed me the web of oppression that threaded through my entire life, tangling me without my realizing it. And he showed me how to begin to hack away at those threads. I believed and believe with all my heart Mumia when he says he's innocent. But his book and his commitment showed me that that is not the biggest question. The biggest question is who is guilty of what crimes, and why are those guilty of the worst atrocities against humanity rarely ever brought to justice?
Back at the gate to the University of Oregon, I looked up as about 10 young white people, some dreadlocked with patch work pants, a couple in all black with patches on their ripped up hoodies, came towards me, carrying signs that said "Free Mumia" and "Free All Political Prisoners". One young woman came up to me and asked, "Are you here for the Mumia protest?" I was so happy, I nodded my head vigorously. "Great," she said, handing me a sign, "We're almost ready to start."
In about 10 minutes, the group of 30 to 40 folks assembled set off down the street, marching through the business district around the University. I had never been in a crowd of people chanting and banging drums, yelling slogans, stopping traffic. I felt strong, and unstoppable. This is the power that people in the dilapadated office had talked about, the power that can stand up to bullets and batons and tanks and dictators and empires. The power of the people.
Someone pushed play on a boombox they had brought, and Mumia's rich voice, tempered with honey and with steel, burst from the speakers, rained down on the boutiques and pizza shops and on me. I had never heard Mumia's voice before. Listening to him read one of his commentaries he had written in prison, I knew why they didn't play Mumia's voice, why they were scared to let this radio journalist's voice free from the cage. You could not listen to Mumia's voice and not be moved by the power, the rationality and most of all the humanity in it. You could never believe this man was the rabid loose cannon crazy person they tried to paint him as. You couldn't hear Mumia's voice and not want to join in the fight to free him, and the fight to make sure there would be no more Mumia's on death rows ever again.
As he closed out his commentary, "Live from death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal," I hoisted my Free Mumia NOW sign as high as I could, and yelled with all my might with the dozens of throats around me, "Brick by brick, wall by wall we're going to free Mumia Abu-Jamal."
I screamed the same chant 13 years later, in front of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals last May as they heard evidence to decide Mumia's fate. What they don't understand, and what we have to, is that is is not their decision. The decision, as always, rests with the people, who have the real power. I still believe wholeheartedly in the chant, and I know you do too. Now is the time to make our voices and our determination heard.
The Boah They Called "Bushead"
[col. writ. 7/1/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
They called him "Bushead", and he is no longer on death row.
That's only because "Bushead" is no more.
He died on Sunday, June 29, 2008, in the early evening, after a long and valiant struggle against the ravages of Hepatitis C, which had wreaked havoc on his liver.
For those who have known him, they are undoubtedly sad at his passing, but as they remember him, perhaps they can't help but snicker, for "Bushead" was a man gifted with a priceless sense of humor.
His jests and jokes were so keen, so sharp, that men often laughed until they cried, their sides gripped in delicious pain.
On the prison rosters he was recorded as Billy Brooks, but he was born Larry Shavers on April 1, 1958. On the mean streets of Philadelphia, and throughout the meaner halls of state and county prisons, he was known simply as Bushead.
Relatively short in height, of once stocky build, Bushead was, simply put, a hell raiser. He took no stuff from anyone, and would fight at the drop of a hat.
His fiery temper would send him to Death Row in the '80's when he got into a conflict with a prisoner in Philadelphia county prison over a bathrobe. When they fought over possession of knife, he gained control, and he stabbed the other young man, which would've normally resulted in a voluntary manslaughter, or third degree homicide conviction, except the deceased was the son of a prominent state prison warden. The notoriety meant the State would seek and receive the death sentence against him.
Stories about him abound from all who knew him. One fellow on Death Row recalled:
"Once, me and Bushead was in the yard, and I was braiding his hair. A guard came out and said I had to stop doing this because it violated the rules. Bushead told the guard, 'If you
don't stop that dumb stuff, I'm gonna ball your old ass up!'
Later, when we was at work, Bushead found a rule book, strolled into the office, and said, 'Find that rule in the rule book!'
The Sgt. had to admit there wasn't such a rule -- and Bushead hollered, 'I told ya'll! I told ya'll!"
That was Bushead; outspoken, loud, earthy, and wildly funny.
When he was housed at the state prison in Pittsburgh, he participated in the Scared Straight program, and spoke to young people coming into the prison, deeply impressing upon them the emptiness and loss of imprisonment. He did all he could to convince them to avoid this fate.
Bushead was 50 years old. He lived from the streets to the prison, a high octane, high energy, high volume life. His illness, which led to his long and tortuous suffering, was utterly debilitating.
Hi memory among many prisoners, will evoke smiles, and hearty laughter, despite the manner of his passing.
--(c) '08 maj
They called him "Bushead", and he is no longer on death row.
That's only because "Bushead" is no more.
He died on Sunday, June 29, 2008, in the early evening, after a long and valiant struggle against the ravages of Hepatitis C, which had wreaked havoc on his liver.
For those who have known him, they are undoubtedly sad at his passing, but as they remember him, perhaps they can't help but snicker, for "Bushead" was a man gifted with a priceless sense of humor.
His jests and jokes were so keen, so sharp, that men often laughed until they cried, their sides gripped in delicious pain.
On the prison rosters he was recorded as Billy Brooks, but he was born Larry Shavers on April 1, 1958. On the mean streets of Philadelphia, and throughout the meaner halls of state and county prisons, he was known simply as Bushead.
Relatively short in height, of once stocky build, Bushead was, simply put, a hell raiser. He took no stuff from anyone, and would fight at the drop of a hat.
His fiery temper would send him to Death Row in the '80's when he got into a conflict with a prisoner in Philadelphia county prison over a bathrobe. When they fought over possession of knife, he gained control, and he stabbed the other young man, which would've normally resulted in a voluntary manslaughter, or third degree homicide conviction, except the deceased was the son of a prominent state prison warden. The notoriety meant the State would seek and receive the death sentence against him.
Stories about him abound from all who knew him. One fellow on Death Row recalled:
"Once, me and Bushead was in the yard, and I was braiding his hair. A guard came out and said I had to stop doing this because it violated the rules. Bushead told the guard, 'If you
don't stop that dumb stuff, I'm gonna ball your old ass up!'
Later, when we was at work, Bushead found a rule book, strolled into the office, and said, 'Find that rule in the rule book!'
The Sgt. had to admit there wasn't such a rule -- and Bushead hollered, 'I told ya'll! I told ya'll!"
That was Bushead; outspoken, loud, earthy, and wildly funny.
When he was housed at the state prison in Pittsburgh, he participated in the Scared Straight program, and spoke to young people coming into the prison, deeply impressing upon them the emptiness and loss of imprisonment. He did all he could to convince them to avoid this fate.
Bushead was 50 years old. He lived from the streets to the prison, a high octane, high energy, high volume life. His illness, which led to his long and tortuous suffering, was utterly debilitating.
Hi memory among many prisoners, will evoke smiles, and hearty laughter, despite the manner of his passing.
--(c) '08 maj
The Perils of Black Political Power
[col. writ. 8/6/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
As we are on the eve of what may be the most powerful Black achievement in U.S. history, it would be well to examine the history of Black political leadership in this country.
Most historical researchers look to the 1967 election of Carl Stokes, (1927-1996), as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio as the emergence of black political power in major American cities. Many Blacks saw this as the beginning of an age of freedom for our people.
From the 1960's to now, we most certainly have been disabused of that notion.
For while black political leadership has surely been a source of pride, they have not been a source of black political power.
That's because as agents of the States, they must defend the interests of the State, even when this conflicts with the interests of their people.
For example, let's look at the experience of Mayor Stokes.
Shortly after taking office, Stokes appointed former U.S. Army Lt.-General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. as his public safety director (a kind of super police chief). Gen. Davis, fresh from the rigors of Vietnam, ordered 30,000 rounds of hollow point (or dum-dum) bullets, items in violation of the laws of war.
The object of his ire? The Cleveland branch of the Black Panther Party, and a local office of the National Committee to Combat Fascism, a Panther support group.
In Aug. 1970, Gen. Davis resigned from the post, and criticized Mayor Stokes for not giving him sufficient support in his battle against radicals (like the Panthers).
Stokes, the more politically adroit of the two, made Davis look bad for ordering ammo which violated the Geneva Conventions, but Stokes' personal papers revealed meetings between the two men, and their agreement on dum-dums as appropriate arms to be used against Panthers.
Just because he was a Black mayor, didn't mean he wasn't dedicated to destroying a Black organization. Indeed, in times of Black uprising and mass discontent, Black mayors seem the perfect instrument of repression, for they dispel charges of racism.
If Barack Obama wins the White House, it will be a considerable political achievement. It will be made possible only by the votes of millions of whites, most especially younger voters.
This does not diminish such an achievement, it just sharpens the nature of it.
But Black faces in high places does not freedom make.
Power is far more than presence. It is the ability to meet people's political objectives of freedom, independence and material well-being.
We are as far from those objectives as we were in 1967.
--(c) '08 maj
[Source: Nissim-Sabat, Ryan, "Panthers Set Up Shop in Cleveland," p.111; from Judson L. Jeffries, ed., COMRADES: Local History of the Black Panther Party (Blomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2007), pp. 89-144.]
As we are on the eve of what may be the most powerful Black achievement in U.S. history, it would be well to examine the history of Black political leadership in this country.
Most historical researchers look to the 1967 election of Carl Stokes, (1927-1996), as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio as the emergence of black political power in major American cities. Many Blacks saw this as the beginning of an age of freedom for our people.
From the 1960's to now, we most certainly have been disabused of that notion.
For while black political leadership has surely been a source of pride, they have not been a source of black political power.
That's because as agents of the States, they must defend the interests of the State, even when this conflicts with the interests of their people.
For example, let's look at the experience of Mayor Stokes.
Shortly after taking office, Stokes appointed former U.S. Army Lt.-General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. as his public safety director (a kind of super police chief). Gen. Davis, fresh from the rigors of Vietnam, ordered 30,000 rounds of hollow point (or dum-dum) bullets, items in violation of the laws of war.
The object of his ire? The Cleveland branch of the Black Panther Party, and a local office of the National Committee to Combat Fascism, a Panther support group.
In Aug. 1970, Gen. Davis resigned from the post, and criticized Mayor Stokes for not giving him sufficient support in his battle against radicals (like the Panthers).
Stokes, the more politically adroit of the two, made Davis look bad for ordering ammo which violated the Geneva Conventions, but Stokes' personal papers revealed meetings between the two men, and their agreement on dum-dums as appropriate arms to be used against Panthers.
Just because he was a Black mayor, didn't mean he wasn't dedicated to destroying a Black organization. Indeed, in times of Black uprising and mass discontent, Black mayors seem the perfect instrument of repression, for they dispel charges of racism.
If Barack Obama wins the White House, it will be a considerable political achievement. It will be made possible only by the votes of millions of whites, most especially younger voters.
This does not diminish such an achievement, it just sharpens the nature of it.
But Black faces in high places does not freedom make.
Power is far more than presence. It is the ability to meet people's political objectives of freedom, independence and material well-being.
We are as far from those objectives as we were in 1967.
--(c) '08 maj
[Source: Nissim-Sabat, Ryan, "Panthers Set Up Shop in Cleveland," p.111; from Judson L. Jeffries, ed., COMRADES: Local History of the Black Panther Party (Blomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2007), pp. 89-144.]
"Oooh! -- Sorry About that Slavery Thing!"
[col. writ. 8/9/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Several days ago, a majority of the US House of Representatives approved a resolution apologizing for slavery. The Senate has not yet moved on such a measure, and probably has no intention to do so.
That it comes today, some 143 years after slavery was prohibited in the Constitution (notice I said 'prohibited', and not stopped, for historians and scholars have uncovered that the trade continued long thereafter, as an underground one, kind of like drugs today), gives us some idea of how deeply slavery still resides in American consciousness, and how empty such an apology is in light of all that has intervened in the century and a half since the cessation of the Civil War.
It's like robbing someone, growing fat and rich on stolen wealth, and then passing that person on the street, who is now homeless, destitute and starving -- and tossing him a nickel. (Except, of course, in the case of the US House resolution, there isn't even a nickel!).
As the great Black historian, J. A. Rogers taught us (especially in his Africa's Gift to America {1961} ) the wealth of America was founded on African slavery. One need look no further than the brilliant young W.E.B. DuBois, who published his doctoral thesis, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America: 1638-1870 (1896). For, citing contemporary sources, DuBois quoted the following: "The number of persons engaged in the slave - trade, and the amount of capital embarked on it, exceed our powers of calculation. The city of New York has been until of late {1862} the principal port of the world for this infamous trade..." [p. 179].
Centuries of slavery, the intentional destruction of families, tribes, and nations; ripping people asunder from their religions, their clans, their spouses, children, lands and all that they knew and loved -- for centuries -- to build and enrich a nation of strangers -- who enforced the practices of slavery for a hundred years after it's supposed abolition; only to consign the grandchildren of these people to the bitter half-lives of sub-par education, poor housing, second rate health care, under/employment, the cruelties of mass incarceration and a cynical judicial and political system that endlessly engages in white supremacy (without the labels)....
Yeah, a political apology should just about cover that.
--(c) '8 maj
============
The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia! PLEASE CONTACT: International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ P.O. Box 19709 Philadelphia, PA 19143 Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180 E-mail - icffmaj@aol. com Web - www.freemumia. comAND OFFER YOUR SERVICES! Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at: Mumia Abu-Jamal AM 8335 SCI-Greene 175 Progress Drive Waynesburg, PA 15370
WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!
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[Check out Mumia's latest: *WE WANT FREEDOM: A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South End Press (http://www. southendpress. org); Ph. #1-800-533-8478. ]
Several days ago, a majority of the US House of Representatives approved a resolution apologizing for slavery. The Senate has not yet moved on such a measure, and probably has no intention to do so.
That it comes today, some 143 years after slavery was prohibited in the Constitution (notice I said 'prohibited', and not stopped, for historians and scholars have uncovered that the trade continued long thereafter, as an underground one, kind of like drugs today), gives us some idea of how deeply slavery still resides in American consciousness, and how empty such an apology is in light of all that has intervened in the century and a half since the cessation of the Civil War.
It's like robbing someone, growing fat and rich on stolen wealth, and then passing that person on the street, who is now homeless, destitute and starving -- and tossing him a nickel. (Except, of course, in the case of the US House resolution, there isn't even a nickel!).
As the great Black historian, J. A. Rogers taught us (especially in his Africa's Gift to America {1961} ) the wealth of America was founded on African slavery. One need look no further than the brilliant young W.E.B. DuBois, who published his doctoral thesis, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America: 1638-1870 (1896). For, citing contemporary sources, DuBois quoted the following: "The number of persons engaged in the slave - trade, and the amount of capital embarked on it, exceed our powers of calculation. The city of New York has been until of late {1862} the principal port of the world for this infamous trade..." [p. 179].
Centuries of slavery, the intentional destruction of families, tribes, and nations; ripping people asunder from their religions, their clans, their spouses, children, lands and all that they knew and loved -- for centuries -- to build and enrich a nation of strangers -- who enforced the practices of slavery for a hundred years after it's supposed abolition; only to consign the grandchildren of these people to the bitter half-lives of sub-par education, poor housing, second rate health care, under/employment, the cruelties of mass incarceration and a cynical judicial and political system that endlessly engages in white supremacy (without the labels)....
Yeah, a political apology should just about cover that.
--(c) '8 maj
============
The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia! PLEASE CONTACT: International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ P.O. Box 19709 Philadelphia, PA 19143 Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180 E-mail - icffmaj@aol. com Web - www.freemumia. comAND OFFER YOUR SERVICES! Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at: Mumia Abu-Jamal AM 8335 SCI-Greene 175 Progress Drive Waynesburg, PA 15370
WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!
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[Check out Mumia's latest: *WE WANT FREEDOM: A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South End Press (http://www. southendpress. org); Ph. #1-800-533-8478. ]
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
THE WAR AT HOME
U.S. MILITARY CIVIL DISTURBANCE PLANNING
By Frank Morales
Under the heading of "civil disturbance planning", the U.S. military is training troops and police to suppress democratic opposition in America. The master plan, Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2, is code-named, "Operation Garden Plot". Originated in 1968, the "operational plan" has been updated over the last three decades, most recently in 1991, and was activated during the Los Angeles "riots" of 1992, and more than likely during the recent anti-WTO "Battle in Seattle."
Current U.S. military preparations for suppressing domestic civil disturbance, including the training of National Guard troops and police, are actually part of a long history of American "internal security" measures dating back to the first American Revolution. Generally, these measures have sought to thwart the aims of social justice movements, embodying the concept that within the civilian body politic lurks an enemy that one day the military might have to fight, or at least be ordered to fight.
Equipped with flexible "military operations in urban terrain" and "operations other than war" doctrine, lethal and "less-than-lethal" high-tech weaponry, US "armed forces" and "elite" militarized police units are being trained to eradicate "disorder", "disturbance" and "civil disobedience" in America. Further, it may very well be that police/military "civil disturbance" planning is the animating force and the overarching logic behind the incredible nationwide growth of police paramilitary units, a growth which coincidentally mirrors rising levels of police violence directed at the American people, particularly "non-white" poor and working people.
Military spokespeople, "judge advocates" (lawyers) and their congressional supporters aggressively take the position that legal obstacles to military involvement in domestic law enforcement civil disturbance operations, such as the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, have been nullified. Legislated "exceptions" and private commercialization of various aspects of U.S. military-law enforcement efforts have supposedly removed their activities from the legal reach of the "public domain". Possibly illegal, ostensible "training" scenarios like the recent "Operation Urban Warrior" no-notice "urban terrain" war games, which took place in dozens of American cities, are thinly disguised "civil disturbance suppression" exercises. In addition, President Clinton recently appointed a "domestic military czar", a sort of national chief of police. You can bet that he is well versed in Garden Plot requirements involved in "homeland defense".
Ominously, many assume that the training of military and police forces to suppress "outlawed" behavior of citizens, along with the creation of extensive and sophisticated "emergency" social response networks set to spring into action in the event of "civil unrest", is prudent and acceptable in a democracy. And yet, does not this assumption beg the question as to what civil unrest is? One could argue for example, that civil disturbance is nothing less than democracy in action, a message to the powers-that-be that the people want change. In this instance "disturbing behavior" may actually be the exercising of ones' right to resist oppression. Unfortunately, the American corporate/military directorship, which has the power to enforce its' definition of "disorder", sees democracy as a threat and permanent counter-revolution as a "national security" requirement.
The elite military/corporate sponsors of Garden Plot have their reasons for civil disturbance contingency planning. Lets' call it the paranoia of the thief. Their rationale is simple: self-preservation. Fostering severe and targeted "austerity", massive inequality and unbridled greed, while shifting more and more billions to the generals and the rich, the de-regulated "entities of force" and their interlocking corporate directors know quite well what their policies are engendering, namely, a growing resistance. Consequently, they are systematically organizing to protect their interests, their profits, and their criminal conspiracies. To this end, they are rapidly consolidating an infrastructure of repression designed to "suppress rebellion" against their "authority". Or more conveniently put, to suppress "rebellion against the authority of the United States." And so, as the Pentagon Incorporated increases its¹ imperialist violence around the world, the chickens have indeed come home to roost here in America in the form of a national security doctrine obsessed with domestic "insurgency" and the need to pre-emptively neutralize it. Its' code-name: "Garden Plot".
Recently, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon "acknowledged that the Air Force wrongfully started and financed a highly classified, still-secret project, known as a black program without informing Congress last year." The costs and nature of these projects "are the most classified secrets in the Pentagon."(1) Could it be that the current United States Air Force Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2 Garden Plot is one such program financed from this secret budget? We have a right to know. And following Seattle, we have the need to know.
As this and numerous other documents reveal, U.S. military training in civil disturbance "suppression", which targets the American public, is in full operation today. The formulation of legitimizing doctrine, the training in the "tactics and techniques" of "civil disturbance suppression", and the use of "abusable", "non-lethal" weaponry, are ongoing, financed by tax dollars. According to the Pentagon, "US forces deployed to assist federal and local authorities during times if civil disturbanceŠwill follow use-of-force policy found in Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan-Garden Plot." (Joint Chiefs of Staff, Standing Rules of Engagement, Appendix A, 1 October 1994.)
ORIGINS OF OPERATION GARDEN PLOT: THE KERNER COMMISSION
By Frank Morales
Under the heading of "civil disturbance planning", the U.S. military is training troops and police to suppress democratic opposition in America. The master plan, Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2, is code-named, "Operation Garden Plot". Originated in 1968, the "operational plan" has been updated over the last three decades, most recently in 1991, and was activated during the Los Angeles "riots" of 1992, and more than likely during the recent anti-WTO "Battle in Seattle."
Current U.S. military preparations for suppressing domestic civil disturbance, including the training of National Guard troops and police, are actually part of a long history of American "internal security" measures dating back to the first American Revolution. Generally, these measures have sought to thwart the aims of social justice movements, embodying the concept that within the civilian body politic lurks an enemy that one day the military might have to fight, or at least be ordered to fight.
Equipped with flexible "military operations in urban terrain" and "operations other than war" doctrine, lethal and "less-than-lethal" high-tech weaponry, US "armed forces" and "elite" militarized police units are being trained to eradicate "disorder", "disturbance" and "civil disobedience" in America. Further, it may very well be that police/military "civil disturbance" planning is the animating force and the overarching logic behind the incredible nationwide growth of police paramilitary units, a growth which coincidentally mirrors rising levels of police violence directed at the American people, particularly "non-white" poor and working people.
Military spokespeople, "judge advocates" (lawyers) and their congressional supporters aggressively take the position that legal obstacles to military involvement in domestic law enforcement civil disturbance operations, such as the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, have been nullified. Legislated "exceptions" and private commercialization of various aspects of U.S. military-law enforcement efforts have supposedly removed their activities from the legal reach of the "public domain". Possibly illegal, ostensible "training" scenarios like the recent "Operation Urban Warrior" no-notice "urban terrain" war games, which took place in dozens of American cities, are thinly disguised "civil disturbance suppression" exercises. In addition, President Clinton recently appointed a "domestic military czar", a sort of national chief of police. You can bet that he is well versed in Garden Plot requirements involved in "homeland defense".
Ominously, many assume that the training of military and police forces to suppress "outlawed" behavior of citizens, along with the creation of extensive and sophisticated "emergency" social response networks set to spring into action in the event of "civil unrest", is prudent and acceptable in a democracy. And yet, does not this assumption beg the question as to what civil unrest is? One could argue for example, that civil disturbance is nothing less than democracy in action, a message to the powers-that-be that the people want change. In this instance "disturbing behavior" may actually be the exercising of ones' right to resist oppression. Unfortunately, the American corporate/military directorship, which has the power to enforce its' definition of "disorder", sees democracy as a threat and permanent counter-revolution as a "national security" requirement.
The elite military/corporate sponsors of Garden Plot have their reasons for civil disturbance contingency planning. Lets' call it the paranoia of the thief. Their rationale is simple: self-preservation. Fostering severe and targeted "austerity", massive inequality and unbridled greed, while shifting more and more billions to the generals and the rich, the de-regulated "entities of force" and their interlocking corporate directors know quite well what their policies are engendering, namely, a growing resistance. Consequently, they are systematically organizing to protect their interests, their profits, and their criminal conspiracies. To this end, they are rapidly consolidating an infrastructure of repression designed to "suppress rebellion" against their "authority". Or more conveniently put, to suppress "rebellion against the authority of the United States." And so, as the Pentagon Incorporated increases its¹ imperialist violence around the world, the chickens have indeed come home to roost here in America in the form of a national security doctrine obsessed with domestic "insurgency" and the need to pre-emptively neutralize it. Its' code-name: "Garden Plot".
Recently, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon "acknowledged that the Air Force wrongfully started and financed a highly classified, still-secret project, known as a black program without informing Congress last year." The costs and nature of these projects "are the most classified secrets in the Pentagon."(1) Could it be that the current United States Air Force Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2 Garden Plot is one such program financed from this secret budget? We have a right to know. And following Seattle, we have the need to know.
As this and numerous other documents reveal, U.S. military training in civil disturbance "suppression", which targets the American public, is in full operation today. The formulation of legitimizing doctrine, the training in the "tactics and techniques" of "civil disturbance suppression", and the use of "abusable", "non-lethal" weaponry, are ongoing, financed by tax dollars. According to the Pentagon, "US forces deployed to assist federal and local authorities during times if civil disturbanceŠwill follow use-of-force policy found in Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan-Garden Plot." (Joint Chiefs of Staff, Standing Rules of Engagement, Appendix A, 1 October 1994.)
ORIGINS OF OPERATION GARDEN PLOT: THE KERNER COMMISSION
A Message to Grassroots Hip Hop
by Davey D
Listen to the Breakdown FM Speech by clicking HERE:
http://odeo. com/episodes/23162473-A-message-to-the-Hip-Hop-Grassroots-from-former-Political-Prisoner-Black-Panther-Dhoruba-Bin-Whad
This is an incredible speech from long term Freedom Fighter and fomer political prisoner Dhoruba Bin Wahad..It took place during the recently held National Hip Hop Political Convention in Las Vegas. Dhoruba sat on a panel that focused on the legacy of Cointel-Pro which took down the Panthers, the anti-war movement and other organizations during the 1960s.. The purpose of this panel was to see how this insidious policy of domestic spying had manifested itself within Hip Hop.
Dhoruba was scheduled to be part of a panel, and offer brief remarks, but people were so moved by him and his unwavering commitment to the freedom struggle, he was asked at the last moment to address the entire convention.. He really dropped some bombs.
He talked about this country's ascension into being an empire and starts off with the landmark year of 1968... Its interesting to note that Dhoruba's breakdown of social and political events that took place in 1968 parallels the social and political events chronicled by author Jeff Chang in his landmark book about the Hip Hop generation called'Can't Stop Won't Stop'.
The message that Dhoruba delivers is an important one and hopefully it will motivate all of us to pay closer attention and get more involved in the day to day political discourse that impacts our communities.
Enjoy, Get Enlightened and Evolve..
PS.. The song you hear in the beginning is brand new music from the Black Panther of Hip Hop- Paris is new album Acid Reflex is due out in early September. It was almost as if he wrote this song for Dhoruba.
Listen to the Breakdown FM Speech by clicking HERE:
http://odeo. com/episodes/23162473-A-message-to-the-Hip-Hop-Grassroots-from-former-Political-Prisoner-Black-Panther-Dhoruba-Bin-Whad
This is an incredible speech from long term Freedom Fighter and fomer political prisoner Dhoruba Bin Wahad..It took place during the recently held National Hip Hop Political Convention in Las Vegas. Dhoruba sat on a panel that focused on the legacy of Cointel-Pro which took down the Panthers, the anti-war movement and other organizations during the 1960s.. The purpose of this panel was to see how this insidious policy of domestic spying had manifested itself within Hip Hop.
Dhoruba was scheduled to be part of a panel, and offer brief remarks, but people were so moved by him and his unwavering commitment to the freedom struggle, he was asked at the last moment to address the entire convention.. He really dropped some bombs.
He talked about this country's ascension into being an empire and starts off with the landmark year of 1968... Its interesting to note that Dhoruba's breakdown of social and political events that took place in 1968 parallels the social and political events chronicled by author Jeff Chang in his landmark book about the Hip Hop generation called'Can't Stop Won't Stop'.
The message that Dhoruba delivers is an important one and hopefully it will motivate all of us to pay closer attention and get more involved in the day to day political discourse that impacts our communities.
Enjoy, Get Enlightened and Evolve..
PS.. The song you hear in the beginning is brand new music from the Black Panther of Hip Hop- Paris is new album Acid Reflex is due out in early September. It was almost as if he wrote this song for Dhoruba.
August 8th
[col. writ. 8/4/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
For most people, August 8th is merely a reference to the upcoming
Beijing Olympics.
Because of the sheer passage of time, most people have forgotten
August 8th, 1978, when police in Philadelphia unleashed a blitzkrieg
against members of the MOVE Organization.
There, police fired hundreds of rounds into the house, fired tons of
water, and after people were flushed from their house, several were
beaten on the street. The cops who beat one man, Delbert Africa, for
example, were /ordered/ acquitted by a local judge, /despite videotape!/
When MOVE members went to trial, 9 men and women were railroaded on
dubious charges for killing a cop who almost certainly was the subject
of so-called friendly fire.
The city of Philadelphia made sure that this question couldn't be
resolved by literally tearing down MOVE's house -- allegedly an active
crime scene -- by nightfall.
But none of this mattered, for there was a railroad in process, and
9 MOVE people were sent to state gulags for 30 to 100 years!
Behind the attack on MOVE was certainly their radical lifestyle and
opposition to state power, but there was also the dynamic of powerful
real estate interests which wanted to expand their holdings to create a
greater University City.
For MOVE, August 8th isn't 30 years ago; it's yesterday. It's that
close.
They need your support to end this injustice!
--(c) '08 maj
For More Information: write the MOVE Organization, P.O. Box 19709,
Phila, PA 19143; or contact them on the web at: www.onamove.com.
For most people, August 8th is merely a reference to the upcoming
Beijing Olympics.
Because of the sheer passage of time, most people have forgotten
August 8th, 1978, when police in Philadelphia unleashed a blitzkrieg
against members of the MOVE Organization.
There, police fired hundreds of rounds into the house, fired tons of
water, and after people were flushed from their house, several were
beaten on the street. The cops who beat one man, Delbert Africa, for
example, were /ordered/ acquitted by a local judge, /despite videotape!/
When MOVE members went to trial, 9 men and women were railroaded on
dubious charges for killing a cop who almost certainly was the subject
of so-called friendly fire.
The city of Philadelphia made sure that this question couldn't be
resolved by literally tearing down MOVE's house -- allegedly an active
crime scene -- by nightfall.
But none of this mattered, for there was a railroad in process, and
9 MOVE people were sent to state gulags for 30 to 100 years!
Behind the attack on MOVE was certainly their radical lifestyle and
opposition to state power, but there was also the dynamic of powerful
real estate interests which wanted to expand their holdings to create a
greater University City.
For MOVE, August 8th isn't 30 years ago; it's yesterday. It's that
close.
They need your support to end this injustice!
--(c) '08 maj
For More Information: write the MOVE Organization, P.O. Box 19709,
Phila, PA 19143; or contact them on the web at: www.onamove.com.
Beyond Politics
[col. writ. 7/23/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
If TV channels are any measure, the US presidential elections, now
less than 4 months away, are the permanent stuff of headlines.
If candidate A sneezes, it's breaking news; if candidate B hiccups,
it's film at eleven.
It's hardly worthy of headlines, but the beast [the media] must be
fed.
For far too many people this news overdose on the elections has
bred a kind of passivity among millions, as they wait in front of TV
screens and computers, like deer caught in headlights.
What happened to anti-war protests?
What happened to housing rights protestors?
What happened to anti-FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)
activists?
People are dulled by the almost sure expectation that the Democrats
will prevail in the next election due to the low ratings of the
Republican Party, and its lame duck President George W. Bush.
And those dull expectations are based upon the totally unfounded
faith that a Democratic win of the White House really means an end to
the war. (We might ask, /which war?)/
Millions have apparently forgotten the bitter lessons from the 2006
mid term election, when Democrats prevailed in congressional
elections, formed a slight majority in both houses, and proceeded to
do -- nothing.
Peace in Iraq? Off the table. Instead, like lemmings leaping off
a cliff they voted for more and more billions for war.
And what of the recently renewed FISA bill, which legalized the law-
breaking of the Bush Administration -- and gave retroactive protection
to phone an communications companies which violated prior law?
FISA -- signed, sealed and delivered: and even the Democratic
candidate (Sen. Barack Obama, D.IL), who blasted the measure, put his
John Hancock on it, voting 'yes.'
The great abolitionist (and women's right supporter), Frederick
Douglass, supported Abraham Lincoln, yet that didn't stop him from
protesting against him, when he moved too slowly, or not at all.
Reading his criticisms are still biting, even though over a century
has passed. And yet, his teaching remains just as relevant, for
Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing without demand."
If people demand nothing, that is precisely what they will get.
These lessons from history must teach us today, that protesters
must PROTEST.
Elections aren't endings -- they are beginnings -- and movements
mustn't stop moving; they should protest more!
-(C) '08 maj
If TV channels are any measure, the US presidential elections, now
less than 4 months away, are the permanent stuff of headlines.
If candidate A sneezes, it's breaking news; if candidate B hiccups,
it's film at eleven.
It's hardly worthy of headlines, but the beast [the media] must be
fed.
For far too many people this news overdose on the elections has
bred a kind of passivity among millions, as they wait in front of TV
screens and computers, like deer caught in headlights.
What happened to anti-war protests?
What happened to housing rights protestors?
What happened to anti-FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)
activists?
People are dulled by the almost sure expectation that the Democrats
will prevail in the next election due to the low ratings of the
Republican Party, and its lame duck President George W. Bush.
And those dull expectations are based upon the totally unfounded
faith that a Democratic win of the White House really means an end to
the war. (We might ask, /which war?)/
Millions have apparently forgotten the bitter lessons from the 2006
mid term election, when Democrats prevailed in congressional
elections, formed a slight majority in both houses, and proceeded to
do -- nothing.
Peace in Iraq? Off the table. Instead, like lemmings leaping off
a cliff they voted for more and more billions for war.
And what of the recently renewed FISA bill, which legalized the law-
breaking of the Bush Administration -- and gave retroactive protection
to phone an communications companies which violated prior law?
FISA -- signed, sealed and delivered: and even the Democratic
candidate (Sen. Barack Obama, D.IL), who blasted the measure, put his
John Hancock on it, voting 'yes.'
The great abolitionist (and women's right supporter), Frederick
Douglass, supported Abraham Lincoln, yet that didn't stop him from
protesting against him, when he moved too slowly, or not at all.
Reading his criticisms are still biting, even though over a century
has passed. And yet, his teaching remains just as relevant, for
Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing without demand."
If people demand nothing, that is precisely what they will get.
These lessons from history must teach us today, that protesters
must PROTEST.
Elections aren't endings -- they are beginnings -- and movements
mustn't stop moving; they should protest more!
-(C) '08 maj
Obama Abroad
[col. writ. 7/27/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
The recent world tour of freshman Sen. Barack Obama, was, by any measure, a blockbuster.
The senator's trek to Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France, and England was a hit, from the word go.
What was more impressive, however, were the graphics. The crowds (especially in Germany) were nothing if not spectacular.
In political terms, the senator's campaign could hardly have asked for more.
If it wouldn't seem to smarmy, perhaps they ought to give thanks to the Republican candidate, John McCain, who harped on Obama's lack of travel to Iraq for weeks.
What happens?
Obama goes to Iraq, and the U.S. supported Iraqi puppet, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, essentially endorses Obama's timetable to remove the bulk of US troops.
McCain sought airtime in ethnic eateries, or geriatric golf greens.
His comments attacking Obama seemed, by contrast, petulant and small.
It was, quite frankly, stunning to see world leaders fall under his sway, as if the election were a mere formality.
When he met Germany's Prime Minister, Angela Merkel, one could only flashback to lame duck President Bush's impolitic grasp of her shoulders, which forced her to grimace and gasp at the invasion of her personal and political space.
Right wingers have, predictably, attacked his tour on numerous counts. "He thinks he's already president", some said. "He's arrogant", said others. Still others opined that he was 'inexperienced.'
If his global tour had one flaw, it was that it was too successful, for it cast an unflattering light on the incumbent Bush Administration, which is, to put it lightly, far from popular in the world today. This, of course, also impacts McCain's campaign.
Whether he helped his domestic campaign is questionable.
What is not is the palpable hunger of many countries for a change from what has been.
--(c) '08 maj
The recent world tour of freshman Sen. Barack Obama, was, by any measure, a blockbuster.
The senator's trek to Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France, and England was a hit, from the word go.
What was more impressive, however, were the graphics. The crowds (especially in Germany) were nothing if not spectacular.
In political terms, the senator's campaign could hardly have asked for more.
If it wouldn't seem to smarmy, perhaps they ought to give thanks to the Republican candidate, John McCain, who harped on Obama's lack of travel to Iraq for weeks.
What happens?
Obama goes to Iraq, and the U.S. supported Iraqi puppet, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, essentially endorses Obama's timetable to remove the bulk of US troops.
McCain sought airtime in ethnic eateries, or geriatric golf greens.
His comments attacking Obama seemed, by contrast, petulant and small.
It was, quite frankly, stunning to see world leaders fall under his sway, as if the election were a mere formality.
When he met Germany's Prime Minister, Angela Merkel, one could only flashback to lame duck President Bush's impolitic grasp of her shoulders, which forced her to grimace and gasp at the invasion of her personal and political space.
Right wingers have, predictably, attacked his tour on numerous counts. "He thinks he's already president", some said. "He's arrogant", said others. Still others opined that he was 'inexperienced.'
If his global tour had one flaw, it was that it was too successful, for it cast an unflattering light on the incumbent Bush Administration, which is, to put it lightly, far from popular in the world today. This, of course, also impacts McCain's campaign.
Whether he helped his domestic campaign is questionable.
What is not is the palpable hunger of many countries for a change from what has been.
--(c) '08 maj
The Struggle for the Safe Release of Lovinsky, Haitian Human Rights Activist
[col. writ. 7/30/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
For Haitians, this coming August is a reminder of the kidnapping and disappearance of their brother, Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, who was taken after a meeting with a US-Canadian human rights delegation visiting Haiti in mid-August, 2007.
Pierre-Antoine was a co-founder of the Fondayson Trant Septenm, (Kreyol for September 30th Foundation), a group which assisted and supported the people who during (and especially after) the 1991 and 2004 coups against the democratically-elected president, Bertrand Aristide. Members of the Fondayson have been targeted for years.
Around the world, activists have been organizing in Lovinsky's support, calling on various governments, from Haiti's President Rene Preval, Brazil (which forms the bulk of the United Nations forces in the country), Canada, the US and France, which organized the latest coup against Haitian democracy.
When Pierre-Antoine was abducted, it forced other democracy and human rights activists in Haiti to go into hiding to avoid waves of state repression.
Haiti has a proud and illustrious career on the world's stage, becoming the first free Black republic in the West after its 1804 revolution against France, which abolished slavery almost 70 years before the US Civil War spelled the end to human bondage in the US. Their freedom spread the bright lights of liberty and independence throughout the Caribbean, and when South America rose against Spain, it was to Haiti that their Liberator Simon Bolivar turned for support, arms, and a place to rest.
For their bold struggle to bring Black freedom to the West, the US and Europe have unleashed an unholy war. France forced reparations (!) on Haiti -- an act unprecedented in history, forcing the victor in war to pay away it's wealth for almost a century. The US repeatedly invaded the country, brutalized its people, and imposed an assortment of puppet dictators to exploit the country for foreign benefit, and national impoverishment, /for generations/!
Because Haiti's popularly elected Bertrand Aristide dared to oppose Haiti's rich elite, and tried to make things nominally better for its peasantry, US Marines forced him into exile.
Because Lovinsky comes from the popular mass movements, he was snatched off the streets of Haiti a year ago, and the movement is building to bring him back home to his family, his community, and the popular movements of which he was a part.
Haiti must never be forgotten, and neither must we forget Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine.
[For petitions to circulate and sign, contact: womenstrike8m@servor101.com <mailto:womenstrike8m@servor101.com>; or call: (215) 848-1120. Or sign online:www.petitiononline.com/lovinsky/petition.html--(c) '08 maj
Friday, August 01, 2008
Of Terrorist Lists & Listers
[col. writ. 7/5/08] (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
With the news that Nelson Mandela, former South African president, was, until some scant days ago, on a U.S. government terrorist watch list, comes knowledge of how false and political such a process is.
For, you can bet your bottom dollar that no U.S. terrorist list ever included the names of the white Afrikaners who led South Africans Nationalists, who used the machinery of government to inflict terror on millions of Africans for generations.
Mandela though, as part of the Black resistance movement against racism and apartheid, had his name, and those of others who were members of the African National Congress, added to U.S. government terrorist lists.
Does this at least suggest that something other than terrorism motivated American list-makers?
The government that shot down Black school kids for protesting at Sharpville didn't merit listing.
The government that relegated the lives, hopes and dreams of millions - the majority of its population -- to half-lives of poverty, ignorance and servitude through brutality and violence, didn't merit such a listing.
Yet those who opposed it did.
What does this tell you about the list-makers?
When the International community, voting through the United Nations, opposed the racist apartheid regime, one government in the world used its vote to veto and block all actions against the South Africans: the United States.
When young people around the world protested, the U.S. (often through president Ronald W. Reagan, and his colleague in the Senate, the late Jesse Helms) called for "constructive engagement."
The State terrorists who ran South Africa had no greater ally than the USA.
Why should it then surprise us that the opponents of that racist, white supremacist government were listed (until a few days ago) by the U.S. government, as terrorists?
--(c) '08 maj
With the news that Nelson Mandela, former South African president, was, until some scant days ago, on a U.S. government terrorist watch list, comes knowledge of how false and political such a process is.
For, you can bet your bottom dollar that no U.S. terrorist list ever included the names of the white Afrikaners who led South Africans Nationalists, who used the machinery of government to inflict terror on millions of Africans for generations.
Mandela though, as part of the Black resistance movement against racism and apartheid, had his name, and those of others who were members of the African National Congress, added to U.S. government terrorist lists.
Does this at least suggest that something other than terrorism motivated American list-makers?
The government that shot down Black school kids for protesting at Sharpville didn't merit listing.
The government that relegated the lives, hopes and dreams of millions - the majority of its population -- to half-lives of poverty, ignorance and servitude through brutality and violence, didn't merit such a listing.
Yet those who opposed it did.
What does this tell you about the list-makers?
When the International community, voting through the United Nations, opposed the racist apartheid regime, one government in the world used its vote to veto and block all actions against the South Africans: the United States.
When young people around the world protested, the U.S. (often through president Ronald W. Reagan, and his colleague in the Senate, the late Jesse Helms) called for "constructive engagement."
The State terrorists who ran South Africa had no greater ally than the USA.
Why should it then surprise us that the opponents of that racist, white supremacist government were listed (until a few days ago) by the U.S. government, as terrorists?
--(c) '08 maj
"What I Meant to Say Was....Uh...."
[col. writ. 10/30/07] (c) '07 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Once again, a major American scientific figure has emerged from the shadows of his laboratory, to insult Black people, and their genetic inability.
The latest, James D. Watson, a co-winner of the 1962 Nobel prize for deciphering the double-helix of DNA, made statements in a recent interview that spanned the globe.
Speaking to the Times of London (published Sun., 10/14/07) he spoke of "the prospect of Africa" as "inherently gloomy". The British newspaper quoted Dr. Watson as saying, "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really."
Presumably, by "ours" Dr. Watson meant, not Americans, but white people.
Days later, Dr. Watson issued a statement saying he couldn't "understand" how he could have said such a thing. Added the biologist, "There is no scientific basis for such a belief."*
Some of us remember similar slurs launched by Nobelist, William B. Shockley, who asserted that inherent characteristics like intelligence are attributable to skin color.
These scientific slurs aren't the first such attacks on Black intelligence; it won't be the last.
They remind us that scientists are often experts in their fields of study, but idiots in other areas of life.
Dr. Watson studied biology. Dr. Shockley won his 1956 Nobel in physics, for his part in the discovery of the transistor.
Neither man had expertise in the social sciences.
For them not to know of such studies is equivalent to the old Sufi story of the mullah who lost his purse, but was looking in the wrong place to find it. When others asked Mullah Nasruddin why he was looking in a place where he couldn't have lost his purse, he replied, "Because the light is better here."
Drs. Watson and Shockley looked within to explain something that they saw around them, and we shouldn't be surprised at their observations.
That said, it is undeniable that Black Americans perform woefully worse than their white, Asian, or Latina counterparts in educational testing. Could the reasons lie in the equally undeniable fact that school funds are raised, almost universally, on property taxes, which, in most inner cities, amounts to little? That such a design was guaranteed not just to create a failing, under funded and under resourced educational system -- but one that continues to be so?
Just several months ago, an American monthly magazine published a special article on Africa. In an article penned by Kenyan writer, Wainaina Binyavanga, a 2003 study by a State University of New York - Albany sociologist showed that "Africans averaged the highest attainments of any group in the United States -- higher even than whites and Asians."
Africans are the highest academic achievers in U.S. colleges?
I don't remember reading this in my local [or national] newspaper!
Apparently, neither did Dr. Watson.
Perhaps if he did, he would have rethought his ideas, for if African-Americans perform one way, and continental Africans perform another way, then genetics is clearly not the culprit.
In Black America, which has had its share of slurs cast its way, it should also be inspiring to know that Africans coming here are outscoring all of their peers.
It shows what is possible.
-(c) ''07 maj
[*Sources: Dean, Cornelia, "Nobel Winner Issues Apology for Comments About Blacks," New York Times, Fri., Oct., 19,2007, p.A24. ; Binyavenga, Wainaina, "Generation Kenya, "Vanity Fair (July 2007), pp.84-94, citing 2003 study by Dr. John R. Logan, Lewis Mumford Center/ SUNY-Albany.]
Once again, a major American scientific figure has emerged from the shadows of his laboratory, to insult Black people, and their genetic inability.
The latest, James D. Watson, a co-winner of the 1962 Nobel prize for deciphering the double-helix of DNA, made statements in a recent interview that spanned the globe.
Speaking to the Times of London (published Sun., 10/14/07) he spoke of "the prospect of Africa" as "inherently gloomy". The British newspaper quoted Dr. Watson as saying, "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really."
Presumably, by "ours" Dr. Watson meant, not Americans, but white people.
Days later, Dr. Watson issued a statement saying he couldn't "understand" how he could have said such a thing. Added the biologist, "There is no scientific basis for such a belief."*
Some of us remember similar slurs launched by Nobelist, William B. Shockley, who asserted that inherent characteristics like intelligence are attributable to skin color.
These scientific slurs aren't the first such attacks on Black intelligence; it won't be the last.
They remind us that scientists are often experts in their fields of study, but idiots in other areas of life.
Dr. Watson studied biology. Dr. Shockley won his 1956 Nobel in physics, for his part in the discovery of the transistor.
Neither man had expertise in the social sciences.
For them not to know of such studies is equivalent to the old Sufi story of the mullah who lost his purse, but was looking in the wrong place to find it. When others asked Mullah Nasruddin why he was looking in a place where he couldn't have lost his purse, he replied, "Because the light is better here."
Drs. Watson and Shockley looked within to explain something that they saw around them, and we shouldn't be surprised at their observations.
That said, it is undeniable that Black Americans perform woefully worse than their white, Asian, or Latina counterparts in educational testing. Could the reasons lie in the equally undeniable fact that school funds are raised, almost universally, on property taxes, which, in most inner cities, amounts to little? That such a design was guaranteed not just to create a failing, under funded and under resourced educational system -- but one that continues to be so?
Just several months ago, an American monthly magazine published a special article on Africa. In an article penned by Kenyan writer, Wainaina Binyavanga, a 2003 study by a State University of New York - Albany sociologist showed that "Africans averaged the highest attainments of any group in the United States -- higher even than whites and Asians."
Africans are the highest academic achievers in U.S. colleges?
I don't remember reading this in my local [or national] newspaper!
Apparently, neither did Dr. Watson.
Perhaps if he did, he would have rethought his ideas, for if African-Americans perform one way, and continental Africans perform another way, then genetics is clearly not the culprit.
In Black America, which has had its share of slurs cast its way, it should also be inspiring to know that Africans coming here are outscoring all of their peers.
It shows what is possible.
-(c) ''07 maj
[*Sources: Dean, Cornelia, "Nobel Winner Issues Apology for Comments About Blacks," New York Times, Fri., Oct., 19,2007, p.A24. ; Binyavenga, Wainaina, "Generation Kenya, "Vanity Fair (July 2007), pp.84-94, citing 2003 study by Dr. John R. Logan, Lewis Mumford Center/ SUNY-Albany.]
"What I Meant to Say Was....Uh...."
[col. writ. 10/30/07] (c) '07 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Once again, a major American scientific figure has emerged from the shadows of his laboratory, to insult Black people, and their genetic inability.
The latest, James D. Watson, a co-winner of the 1962 Nobel prize for deciphering the double-helix of DNA, made statements in a recent interview that spanned the globe.
Speaking to the Times of London (published Sun., 10/14/07) he spoke of "the prospect of Africa" as "inherently gloomy". The British newspaper quoted Dr. Watson as saying, "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really."
Presumably, by "ours" Dr. Watson meant, not Americans, but white people.
Days later, Dr. Watson issued a statement saying he couldn't "understand" how he could have said such a thing. Added the biologist, "There is no scientific basis for such a belief."*
Some of us remember similar slurs launched by Nobelist, William B. Shockley, who asserted that inherent characteristics like intelligence are attributable to skin color.
These scientific slurs aren't the first such attacks on Black intelligence; it won't be the last.
They remind us that scientists are often experts in their fields of study, but idiots in other areas of life.
Dr. Watson studied biology. Dr. Shockley won his 1956 Nobel in physics, for his part in the discovery of the transistor.
Neither man had expertise in the social sciences.
For them not to know of such studies is equivalent to the old Sufi story of the mullah who lost his purse, but was looking in the wrong place to find it. When others asked Mullah Nasruddin why he was looking in a place where he couldn't have lost his purse, he replied, "Because the light is better here."
Drs. Watson and Shockley looked within to explain something that they saw around them, and we shouldn't be surprised at their observations.
That said, it is undeniable that Black Americans perform woefully worse than their white, Asian, or Latina counterparts in educational testing. Could the reasons lie in the equally undeniable fact that school funds are raised, almost universally, on property taxes, which, in most inner cities, amounts to little? That such a design was guaranteed not just to create a failing, under funded and under resourced educational system -- but one that continues to be so?
Just several months ago, an American monthly magazine published a special article on Africa. In an article penned by Kenyan writer, Wainaina Binyavanga, a 2003 study by a State University of New York - Albany sociologist showed that "Africans averaged the highest attainments of any group in the United States -- higher even than whites and Asians."
Africans are the highest academic achievers in U.S. colleges?
I don't remember reading this in my local [or national] newspaper!
Apparently, neither did Dr. Watson.
Perhaps if he did, he would have rethought his ideas, for if African-Americans perform one way, and continental Africans perform another way, then genetics is clearly not the culprit.
In Black America, which has had its share of slurs cast its way, it should also be inspiring to know that Africans coming here are outscoring all of their peers.
It shows what is possible.
-(c) ''07 maj
[*Sources: Dean, Cornelia, "Nobel Winner Issues Apology for Comments About Blacks," New York Times, Fri., Oct., 19,2007, p.A24. ; Binyavenga, Wainaina, "Generation Kenya, "Vanity Fair (July 2007), pp.84-94, citing 2003 study by Dr. John R. Logan, Lewis Mumford Center/ SUNY-Albany.]
Once again, a major American scientific figure has emerged from the shadows of his laboratory, to insult Black people, and their genetic inability.
The latest, James D. Watson, a co-winner of the 1962 Nobel prize for deciphering the double-helix of DNA, made statements in a recent interview that spanned the globe.
Speaking to the Times of London (published Sun., 10/14/07) he spoke of "the prospect of Africa" as "inherently gloomy". The British newspaper quoted Dr. Watson as saying, "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really."
Presumably, by "ours" Dr. Watson meant, not Americans, but white people.
Days later, Dr. Watson issued a statement saying he couldn't "understand" how he could have said such a thing. Added the biologist, "There is no scientific basis for such a belief."*
Some of us remember similar slurs launched by Nobelist, William B. Shockley, who asserted that inherent characteristics like intelligence are attributable to skin color.
These scientific slurs aren't the first such attacks on Black intelligence; it won't be the last.
They remind us that scientists are often experts in their fields of study, but idiots in other areas of life.
Dr. Watson studied biology. Dr. Shockley won his 1956 Nobel in physics, for his part in the discovery of the transistor.
Neither man had expertise in the social sciences.
For them not to know of such studies is equivalent to the old Sufi story of the mullah who lost his purse, but was looking in the wrong place to find it. When others asked Mullah Nasruddin why he was looking in a place where he couldn't have lost his purse, he replied, "Because the light is better here."
Drs. Watson and Shockley looked within to explain something that they saw around them, and we shouldn't be surprised at their observations.
That said, it is undeniable that Black Americans perform woefully worse than their white, Asian, or Latina counterparts in educational testing. Could the reasons lie in the equally undeniable fact that school funds are raised, almost universally, on property taxes, which, in most inner cities, amounts to little? That such a design was guaranteed not just to create a failing, under funded and under resourced educational system -- but one that continues to be so?
Just several months ago, an American monthly magazine published a special article on Africa. In an article penned by Kenyan writer, Wainaina Binyavanga, a 2003 study by a State University of New York - Albany sociologist showed that "Africans averaged the highest attainments of any group in the United States -- higher even than whites and Asians."
Africans are the highest academic achievers in U.S. colleges?
I don't remember reading this in my local [or national] newspaper!
Apparently, neither did Dr. Watson.
Perhaps if he did, he would have rethought his ideas, for if African-Americans perform one way, and continental Africans perform another way, then genetics is clearly not the culprit.
In Black America, which has had its share of slurs cast its way, it should also be inspiring to know that Africans coming here are outscoring all of their peers.
It shows what is possible.
-(c) ''07 maj
[*Sources: Dean, Cornelia, "Nobel Winner Issues Apology for Comments About Blacks," New York Times, Fri., Oct., 19,2007, p.A24. ; Binyavenga, Wainaina, "Generation Kenya, "Vanity Fair (July 2007), pp.84-94, citing 2003 study by Dr. John R. Logan, Lewis Mumford Center/ SUNY-Albany.]
Richard Viguerie: Bush White House Hides True Scope of Federal Deficit
Last update: 6:29 p.m. EDT July 29, 2008
MANASSAS, Va., July 29, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following is a statement by Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, regarding the White House projection of a $482 billion deficit for Fiscal Year 2009:
"The White House has issued figures indicating that President Bush and his enablers in Congress will leave his successor with a budget deficit of $482 Billion for Fiscal Year 2009, which is a record. How's that for a legacy?
"As shocking as this deficit figure is, that's still not the true scope of our budget woes because it excludes $80 billion in war costs and $227 billion borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund.
"The real budget deficit is therefore $789 billion.
"Under accounting trickery that would probably land the top officers of a publicly traded company in jail, the money borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund -- and spent on anything and everything except Social Security payments -- is not counted towards the budget deficit, although it is part of our $9.49 Trillion National Debt.
"It's way past time for Washington politicians to have their own Sarbanes-Oxley.
"But this is how corrupt Washington has become. Besides the dangerous practice of massive deficit spending, which will saddle our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars of debt, the Bush White House and Congress are conspiring to conceal the true nature and scope of the problem.
"This year's budget deficit will actually be $307 billion worse than the politicians are saying. This fraud on the American people is a conspiracy of silence by both major political parties.
"In stunning hypocrisy, the White House blamed the record budget deficit on the slowing economy and the $150 billion stimulus package passed earlier this year.
"No, Mr. President, the buck stops with you. Stand up and accept the responsibility -- and your legacy -- for massively expanding government."
NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times). His latest book is Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books), which, Jerome Corsi wrote in WorldNetDaily, is "destined to become a classic of conservative thinking" and "may be the most important conservative book written in the last quarter century."
SOURCE ConservativeHQ.com http://conservativehq.com
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
MANASSAS, Va., July 29, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The following is a statement by Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, regarding the White House projection of a $482 billion deficit for Fiscal Year 2009:
"The White House has issued figures indicating that President Bush and his enablers in Congress will leave his successor with a budget deficit of $482 Billion for Fiscal Year 2009, which is a record. How's that for a legacy?
"As shocking as this deficit figure is, that's still not the true scope of our budget woes because it excludes $80 billion in war costs and $227 billion borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund.
"The real budget deficit is therefore $789 billion.
"Under accounting trickery that would probably land the top officers of a publicly traded company in jail, the money borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund -- and spent on anything and everything except Social Security payments -- is not counted towards the budget deficit, although it is part of our $9.49 Trillion National Debt.
"It's way past time for Washington politicians to have their own Sarbanes-Oxley.
"But this is how corrupt Washington has become. Besides the dangerous practice of massive deficit spending, which will saddle our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars of debt, the Bush White House and Congress are conspiring to conceal the true nature and scope of the problem.
"This year's budget deficit will actually be $307 billion worse than the politicians are saying. This fraud on the American people is a conspiracy of silence by both major political parties.
"In stunning hypocrisy, the White House blamed the record budget deficit on the slowing economy and the $150 billion stimulus package passed earlier this year.
"No, Mr. President, the buck stops with you. Stand up and accept the responsibility -- and your legacy -- for massively expanding government."
NOTE TO EDITORS: Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine) and one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times). His latest book is Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books), which, Jerome Corsi wrote in WorldNetDaily, is "destined to become a classic of conservative thinking" and "may be the most important conservative book written in the last quarter century."
SOURCE ConservativeHQ.com http://conservativehq.com
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
Police Raid Wrong House, Shoot it up and gets Rewarded
Minneapolis police: A mistake, an apology and then medals
By RODRIGO ZAMITH, Star Tribune
July 30, 2008
First, the city apologized. Then it gave awards.
Eight Minneapolis officers received medals in City Hall Monday for their valor in a botched raid that the city apologized for last year. That isn't sitting well with the family shot at multiple times by the officers.
"I'm shocked that they're receiving awards for that night," said Yee Moua. "My family is a mess right now. My [9-year-old] son, who saw the shooting, still has nightmares and has needed therapy. They've ruined a life, and I don't understand why they would get rewarded for that."
The awards stemmed from a high-risk search in December. The eight officers -- who had SWAT training -- entered the house expecting to find a violent gang member. Instead, they found Vang Khang, a 35-year-old homeowner who thought he was being robbed. Khang shot through his bedroom door at the officers until he understood who they were.
In the midst of the shootout were Moua, who is Khang's wife, and their six children, who range in age from 3 to 15. Moua said her family has since abandoned the house and can no longer afford to keep it.
Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer said Tuesday the department has acknowledged the raid was a mistake and has apologized to the family. But he said the officers "performed very bravely under gunfire and made smart decisions."
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said that he knew giving the award might get negative attention but that "we've never not recognized an officer shot in the line of duty."
Three officers received shrapnel damage to body armor and their ballistic helmets, Palmer said.
Dolan said he did not speak with the family prior to the award ceremony, but he did speak with Hmong community leaders in north Minneapolis who were "mostly understanding."
"I can understand [Moua's] feelings, but the officers didn't make any mistakes and they were able to stop things from getting worse," Dolan said. "Like the old maxim says, 'You don't punish your officers for the mistake of the general.'"
'We almost died that night'
Police said they acted on bad information from an informant, who reportedly was a victim of a crime at a house in the 1300 block of Logan Avenue N. Police said they had no reason to believe the information was inaccurate and they had the right address on the warrant, but the house wasn't occupied by anybody they wanted.
The raid was part of an investigation by the department's Violent Offender Task Force, which typically goes after the most violent gang members and drug dealers. Officers had retrieved guns in searches connected with the case before the raid.
According to police, officers entered the home without knocking -- a standard procedure in cases where officers expected to find weapons -- and called out, "Police!" as they searched the home's first floor. They didn't find anybody, so went to the second floor. At a small landing at the top of the stairs, they again shouted, "Police!"
Shots then came through the walls and doors as officers searched two bedrooms, police said. It was Khang shooting from a third bedroom.
Authorities said there were children in the other bedrooms, and the officers quickly realized there was a language barrier. The older children were able to communicate to their father that police were in the house and to stop shooting.
"As soon as they started taking fire, [officers] got in front of the kids and used their body as a shield," Palmer said. "They used great restraint and shot precisely at where the bullets were coming back from."
Moua disputed the police account.
"They never identified themselves; we thought they were a whole bunch of drunk, crazy guys," she said. "We didn't know anything until my oldest son yelled, 'Dad, it's the police!'"
She also said the officers did not try to protect her children, but rather hid themselves behind furniture and shot back indiscriminately. She said officers treated her and her husband roughly, and did not explain the situation after the two surrendered.
"They stepped on my husband, and we kept asking, 'Where are the bad guys?'" she said. "We were just trying to protect ours kids. We almost died that night."
Lawsuit against the city
Sgt. Jesse Garcia said the city conducted an internal affairs investigation after the raid and the SWAT team was cleared of any wrongdoing. He said no other details were available because the investigation was still open.
Casper Hill, a spokesman for the city of Minneapolis, said the city has reimbursed the Khang family $7,500 for "miscellaneous expenses."
The family's lawyer, Thomas Heffelfinger, said that he has had ongoing conversations with the city attorney's office and that there will be a lawsuit if they cannot reach a resolution.
"They fired 22 rounds with 9 millimeter automatic weapons into a room with two adults and four children," Heffelfinger said. "That's not protecting kids. They were firing at a room they couldn't see into. They fired with the intent to kill the person on the other side of the door.
"To give these men awards for that behavior is nothing more than an attempt to sanitize their conduct."
Heffelfinger also said the family had lived at the house for four years and had no history of wrongdoing. He said police "failed to do their homework" and "acted outrageously once they got there."
Officers receiving medals of commendation included Sgt. Nicholas Torborg and officers Steven Blackwell, Matthew Kaminski, Ricardo Muro and Craig Taylor. Sgt. Michael Young and officers John Sheneman and Alan Williams received medals of valor.
"We knew there might be political implications with this," Palmer said. "We're not passing judgment today on the rest of what happened there. But those officers were shot in the line of duty, and there isn't an appropriate level of award for that."
Staff writer Abby Simons contributed to this report. Rodrigo Zamith • 612-673-4895
© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
By RODRIGO ZAMITH, Star Tribune
July 30, 2008
First, the city apologized. Then it gave awards.
Eight Minneapolis officers received medals in City Hall Monday for their valor in a botched raid that the city apologized for last year. That isn't sitting well with the family shot at multiple times by the officers.
"I'm shocked that they're receiving awards for that night," said Yee Moua. "My family is a mess right now. My [9-year-old] son, who saw the shooting, still has nightmares and has needed therapy. They've ruined a life, and I don't understand why they would get rewarded for that."
The awards stemmed from a high-risk search in December. The eight officers -- who had SWAT training -- entered the house expecting to find a violent gang member. Instead, they found Vang Khang, a 35-year-old homeowner who thought he was being robbed. Khang shot through his bedroom door at the officers until he understood who they were.
In the midst of the shootout were Moua, who is Khang's wife, and their six children, who range in age from 3 to 15. Moua said her family has since abandoned the house and can no longer afford to keep it.
Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer said Tuesday the department has acknowledged the raid was a mistake and has apologized to the family. But he said the officers "performed very bravely under gunfire and made smart decisions."
Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said that he knew giving the award might get negative attention but that "we've never not recognized an officer shot in the line of duty."
Three officers received shrapnel damage to body armor and their ballistic helmets, Palmer said.
Dolan said he did not speak with the family prior to the award ceremony, but he did speak with Hmong community leaders in north Minneapolis who were "mostly understanding."
"I can understand [Moua's] feelings, but the officers didn't make any mistakes and they were able to stop things from getting worse," Dolan said. "Like the old maxim says, 'You don't punish your officers for the mistake of the general.'"
'We almost died that night'
Police said they acted on bad information from an informant, who reportedly was a victim of a crime at a house in the 1300 block of Logan Avenue N. Police said they had no reason to believe the information was inaccurate and they had the right address on the warrant, but the house wasn't occupied by anybody they wanted.
The raid was part of an investigation by the department's Violent Offender Task Force, which typically goes after the most violent gang members and drug dealers. Officers had retrieved guns in searches connected with the case before the raid.
According to police, officers entered the home without knocking -- a standard procedure in cases where officers expected to find weapons -- and called out, "Police!" as they searched the home's first floor. They didn't find anybody, so went to the second floor. At a small landing at the top of the stairs, they again shouted, "Police!"
Shots then came through the walls and doors as officers searched two bedrooms, police said. It was Khang shooting from a third bedroom.
Authorities said there were children in the other bedrooms, and the officers quickly realized there was a language barrier. The older children were able to communicate to their father that police were in the house and to stop shooting.
"As soon as they started taking fire, [officers] got in front of the kids and used their body as a shield," Palmer said. "They used great restraint and shot precisely at where the bullets were coming back from."
Moua disputed the police account.
"They never identified themselves; we thought they were a whole bunch of drunk, crazy guys," she said. "We didn't know anything until my oldest son yelled, 'Dad, it's the police!'"
She also said the officers did not try to protect her children, but rather hid themselves behind furniture and shot back indiscriminately. She said officers treated her and her husband roughly, and did not explain the situation after the two surrendered.
"They stepped on my husband, and we kept asking, 'Where are the bad guys?'" she said. "We were just trying to protect ours kids. We almost died that night."
Lawsuit against the city
Sgt. Jesse Garcia said the city conducted an internal affairs investigation after the raid and the SWAT team was cleared of any wrongdoing. He said no other details were available because the investigation was still open.
Casper Hill, a spokesman for the city of Minneapolis, said the city has reimbursed the Khang family $7,500 for "miscellaneous expenses."
The family's lawyer, Thomas Heffelfinger, said that he has had ongoing conversations with the city attorney's office and that there will be a lawsuit if they cannot reach a resolution.
"They fired 22 rounds with 9 millimeter automatic weapons into a room with two adults and four children," Heffelfinger said. "That's not protecting kids. They were firing at a room they couldn't see into. They fired with the intent to kill the person on the other side of the door.
"To give these men awards for that behavior is nothing more than an attempt to sanitize their conduct."
Heffelfinger also said the family had lived at the house for four years and had no history of wrongdoing. He said police "failed to do their homework" and "acted outrageously once they got there."
Officers receiving medals of commendation included Sgt. Nicholas Torborg and officers Steven Blackwell, Matthew Kaminski, Ricardo Muro and Craig Taylor. Sgt. Michael Young and officers John Sheneman and Alan Williams received medals of valor.
"We knew there might be political implications with this," Palmer said. "We're not passing judgment today on the rest of what happened there. But those officers were shot in the line of duty, and there isn't an appropriate level of award for that."
Staff writer Abby Simons contributed to this report. Rodrigo Zamith • 612-673-4895
© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Cheney, Neocons Considered Killing Americans in Pretext to Attack Iran
In the video here, taped at the Campus Progress journalism conference earlier this month, the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh reveals how the neocons convened around Dick Cheney and brainstormed ways to kick off World War IV, as they fondly call their pet project to take out the Muslims and foment a contrived “clash of civilizations.”
According to Hersh, this meeting occurred after the neocons failed miserably to stage a rehashed version of the Gulf of Tonkin incident in the Strait of Hormuz, mostly because it is no longer 1964 and such Big Lies — thanks to the internet and bloggers — are far more difficult to float. “For all I know, our Navy was shooting at whales out there,” quipped LBJ about the imaginary act of North Vietnamese boats supposedly attacking U.S. ships, leading to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and undeclared war in Southeast Asia, ultimately resulting in the death of nearly 60,000 Americans and around 3 million Southeast Asians.
In an exclusive Think Progress story, we learn the meeting took place in Cheney’s office and the subject on the table was “how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,” part of an ongoing effort to provide an excuse to attack Iran. “There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war,” Hersh explains. “The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up.”
Hersh would have us believe this scenario did not play out because “you can’t have Americans killing Americans,” an absurd explanation considering the fact the attacks of September 11 were just that — “Americans killing Americans,” a calculated and cold-blooded act of mass murder carried out by elements in the U.S. government as a “new Pearl Harbor,” a cynical pretext to launch the “war on terror,” now grinding into its seventh year.
Ominously, these “ideas” hark back to Operation Northwoods, the JSC plan to stage a false flag terror event — or a number of events — designed to provide a pretext to invade Cuba and take out Fidel Castro. Such “ideas” included “friendly Cubans” attacking the U.S. base at Guantanamo, shooting down a drone disguised as a chartered civil airliner and blaming it on Cuba, inciting riots and staging terror attacks in Miami, and other terrorist acts. Fortunately, then Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, put a kibosh to this insane plan.
More recently, in January, 2003, in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion George Bush and Tony Blair discussed painting planes in United Nations colors “in order to provoke an attack which could then be used to justify material breach” and thus set in motion an invasion, according to Philippe Sands, a leading British human rights lawyer (see Revealed: Bush and Blair discussed using American Spyplane in UN colors to lure Saddam into war, Channel Four News).
In fact, the neocons have not rested in their effort to foment war and force the support of the American people by way of deception. On May 16, 2008, Paul Joseph Watson, writing for Prison Planet, noted confidential recordings released under the Freedom of Information Act revealing the efforts of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top military analysts to cook up another terrorist attack on America in order to gain support for their ambitious plans to decimate Muslim culture. “The most extraordinary exchange takes place when Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong bemoans shrinking political support for Neo-Con war plans on Capitol Hill and suggests that sympathy for the Bush administration’s agenda will only be achieved after a new terror attack,” writes Watson. “Rumsfeld agrees that the psychological impact of 9/11 is wearing off and the ‘behavior pattern’ of citizens in both the U.S. and Europe suggests that they are unconcerned about the threat of terror.” Rumsfeld characterizes Bush as “a victim of success” because America has not suffered “an attack in five years” and for Rumsfeld and the neocons this state of affairs is indeed lamentable.
Obviously, the neocons will stop at nothing — including the murder of more Americans in a false flag terror attack — to realize their agenda.
Finally, Sy Hersh casts suspicion on himself during the interview when he admits he did not bother to write an article on the neocon casus belli brainstorming session because it did not go forward. “So I can understand the argument for not writing something that was rejected — uh maybe. My attitude always towards editors is they’re mice training to be rats…. But the point is jejune, if you know what that means.” It was “jejune” because Hersh believes the “American public, if you get the right incident, the American public will support bang-bang-kiss-kiss. You know, we’re into it.”
Of course, that may be true for some of the American public, even a large segment, but for those of us up to speed on the master plan of the neocons — total war, so the children of the neocons will “sing great songs about us years from now,” as Richard Perle once said — this comment stinks of irresponsibility. It avoids discussion of the criminal mindset of the neocons, who are determined to start WW IV, even if such a conflict leads to the distinct possibility the Prince of Darkness’ children may not be around to sing great songs.
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