S6K - Real University News

"Our position is that while she should have handled the matter differently, she will receive her diploma," Education Department spokesman Stephen Morello said.

"We'll also ask her if she'll come in and meet with regional district officials about our concerns and her concerns about the school."

The reversal came after the Daily News exposed Tiffany's plight, unleashing a flood of phone calls from supporters and lawyers willing to help.

"I got calls from teachers and from some people that I don't even know," the feisty teen said. "They said, 'I support you' and 'Stand your ground.' It made me feel proud."

After hearing of the officials' change of heart, Tiffany said, "It's very nice. I'm grateful for those who stood by me and for the support the Daily News has given me."

Administrators at the High School of Legal Studies in Bushwick were infuriated by Tiffany's address to the senior class, in which she spoke about overcrowding, lack of textbooks and unqualified teachers.

When she went to pick up her diploma on Friday, officials refused to hand it over, threw her out of the building and demanded an apology.

Tiffany said she had originally planned to give a motivational speech, focusing on her struggle to overcome a lisp with the help of her mother, Felicia. But when she realized how many of her fellow classmates were not graduating, "at the last minute, I just started typing," she said.

Before the ceremony, she submitted her speech to an assistant principal, as required, but he rewrote it and gave it back to her on graduation day, she said.

She stuck with her first speech, but couldn't finish giving it because the assistant principal cut the microphone - before she got to her positive comments about the school.

Friends and neighbors said they are solidly behind the teen, who is headed to Smith College on a full scholarship.

"I think that she spoke the truth. That is why they are mad," said pal Terri Perry, 16.

Under Reagan average working-class people were victimized and discarded by the harsh social climate he brought to bare. People forget, or never knew, Reagan called Nelson Mandela a "terrorist," while holding a shameless and capitalist policy of "constructive engagement" with apartheid South African companies and government. This is consistent with the actions of a person who was an informant, while he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, during the days of Joseph McCarthy and his relentless anti-Communist crusade witch hunt senate hearings.

Even though he came from modest beginnings and strategically worked his way up, he seemed to forget that when advocating and creating social and economic U.S. policy. That was when the idea of "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps" became a mantra to those who felt no true responsibility to the less fortunate and the blatantly oppressed. Ideology such as this negates the fact that some people had boots with no straps or simply had no boots, which made the bootstrap theory nearly ridiculous.

Now we are supposed to respectfully mourn his loss. Not a damn chance. I have had many close people die during my time on Earth, including both my parents and all the extended family known to me except two. As an honestly compassionate human, I send blessings to all whom were close to him or may mourn him. That said, I won't miss him or grieve...AT ALL.

A friend sent an email that perfectly articulated what I've been thinking since his death. I'll end this with his transmission;

Not since Nixon died do I feel as I do today. I am left haunted by the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War.":
"And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead"

Security firms play a huge - if fuzzy - role in Iraq, second only to US, British military. But rules are few, critics say.

For hundreds of foreign companies in the lucrative but perilous pursuit of business in violence-racked Iraq, security - especially the use of private forces instead of military personnel - has become an increasingly vexing issue.

As violence surged to new levels last month, many companies felt a need for the help of more security personnel. But they - as well as the US government, which hires private contractors for some security roles - are finding it harder to persuade highly trained, professional guards from the private sector to put their lives at risk, observers say.

The result, critics fear, may be a growing force of less disciplined, more mercenary guards thrown into a volatile situation with few rules to guide their actions.

Within Congress and among security experts, concern about the proliferation of private-sector guards in Iraq is mounting.

"A lot of those people are cowboys - cowboys and scary people," says Steven Schooner, a contracting expert at George Washington University Law School.

In a letter last month to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 13 congressional Democrats advanced the case that war-zone security was a job for the military, not private forces.

Over the past month, ever since the bodies of US contractors working for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) were hung from a bridge near Fallujah, many US and other foreign firms have shifted as much as 25 percent of their operating budgets to security, observers say. Security firms represent the third largest contributor of forces to the occupation, after the US and British militaries.

"Generally, what we do is fill the gaps that the military or police departments don't have the resources to fill," says David Katz, president of Global Security Group, a consulting firm with offices in New York and Chicago and clients in Iraq. "The best people have a combination of paramilitary experience and protective experience."

In Iraq, with highly trained military personnel sustaining casualties, such gap- filling may be too great a task, Mr. Katz adds. As trained contractors, who are often ex-military types, decline assignments in Iraq despite the high pay, "you may have other people filling the gap."

In general, some analysts say, it is more cost effective to hire support staff - cooks and truck drivers, for example - than to have trained soldiers fill those roles. That's despite a pay scale that has spiked in Iraq. Thomas Hamill, the driver for a Halliburton subsidiary who escaped his Iraqi captors over the weekend, went to the war zone for the pay - and, even now, may stay.

On the tactical security front, the number of private workers is unknown - "a problem of lack of accounting and accountability," says Peter Singer, national security fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. But he estimates that as many as 20,000 people in Iraq now handle jobs that used to be held down by military personnel. "Everything from logistics to training to security work," says Mr. Singer, regardless of whether the client is the US Defense Department, the CPA, or private firms.

The problem isn't only the numbers of these private guards, it's the fuzziness of their roles, critics say. Private firms - even ones with well-credentialed staff - have already stepped well beyond the job of guarding facilities and conducting other protective services, says Mr. Schooner.

"The bottom line is that contractors are fighting now," he says, citing a recent action in which security firm Blackwater USA reportedly engaged Iraqi resistance fighters to support US marines. The company "brought in their own reinforcements, they brought in helicopters, they brought in munitions," says Schooner.

"We've already got a contract on the street ... to use a firm" to secure an area in Baghdad known as the green zone, he adds. "That's military, man. That's all there is to it."

In the near term, Schooner says, tolerating private-sector mission creep toward soldiering in Iraq could allow Washington to "mask the human cost" of the military and reconstruction efforts, because deaths of private security guards are more difficult to monitor than are military losses.

The Defense Department counters that a bright, clear line exists between security and combat operations. Private security firms the department hires are forbidden to cross it. "None of them have been hired for combat operations," says Lt. Col. Joe Yoswa, a DOD spokesman.

The US government has hired private security firms for specific tasks, such as guarding top civilian administrator Paul Bremer and various facilities, which frees up soldiers for combat. Ties between the US government and specific security firms get murky, because many of the firms it hires subcontract work to others.

Government contractors employ small arms and their use of force is essentially limited to self-defense under "the laws of the country," Colonel Yoswa says. "Some companies that are working for the coalition do have some limited immunities." He would not elaborate on what that means.

Murkiness about the rules of engagement is what bothers critics and has the Defense Department scrambling.

"There is no policy, that is why we're trying to develop one," says Glenn Flood, another Defense Department spokesman. "We want to try to get something that can clarify, because right now we're all over the place - or they're all over the place - in trying to come up with something."

Singer is pleased to see more attention being paid to the roles of private companies in international conflict. Firms that did not even exist before the Iraq conflict have won major contracts there, he says.

"Suddenly people on the congressional and public side are saying, 'We didn't know there were this many guys, and they're doing what?' " Singer adds. "There is now a push for regulation and accounting that ... hadn't gotten any traction before."

By now, most everyone has heard about the torturing in Iraq. Maybe you've even heard about the torturing in Afghanistan...if you've been paying attention to media outside of the US.

Typical US media opinion seems to be aimed at a poorly trained prison staff and lack of leadership from superior officers. As usual, most of the primary issues aren't part of the general discussion.

The undertrained argument is foolish to say the least.

"We had no support, no training whatsoever, and I kept asking my chain of command for certain things, rules and regulations, and it just wasn't happening," Frederick said.

That argument is troubling because of a factoid I heard on 60 Minutes 2 & BBC World News. Frederick was a corrections officer at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va., until he was called up for active duty, said Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Corrections Department. CBS airs alleged GIs abuse of Iraqis - David Crary Associated Press

This begs the question, how could a correctional officer not know how to perform his duty as, Mmmm, a correctional officer? The correctional officer element is key to understanding this incident.

These are the same problems the Ella Baker Center and others are talking about in California youth prisons; torture, brutal beatings, rape, and sensory deprivation, all the tools of the trade when you believe you have God on your side.

It seems that we are mimicking the internal ills of the US society while using the standard tactics of war; humiliation and brute, unrepentant force.

In a typical move, Donald Rumsfeld stated that he couldn't correctly use the word "torture" when referring to the incident. "I'm not a lawyer," he stated, but he sure acted like one. How else can you explain this behavior.

The answer to why we can't find clear analysis about this behavior might be illuminated by another ongoing issue.

I present to you another story of rape and torment that has been completely hidden or intentionally forgotten.

Sunday, January 25, 2004
Female GIs report rapes in Iraq war
37 seek aid after alleging sex assaults by US soldiers
By Miles Moffeit and Amy Herdy
Denver Post Staff Writers

Female troops serving in the Iraq war are reporting an insidious enemy in their own camps: fellow American soldiers who sexually assault them.

At least 37 female service members have sought sexual-trauma counseling and other assistance from civilian rape crisis organizations after returning from war duty in Iraq, Kuwait and other overseas stations, The Denver Post has learned. The women, ranging from enlisted soldiers to officers, have reported poor medical treatment, lack of counseling and incomplete criminal investigations by military officials. Some say they were threatened with punishment after reporting assaults.

In the context of the prior excerpt, it's not hard to imagine that it might be the culture of the military and not a few "rogue" soldiers acting out. For years our military has been portrayed as a righteous and unbeatable killing machine. Similarly, these problems are rampant in the US domestic prison system. Maybe war naturally creates of culture of molestation?

(continued) All too commonly, whether implicitly or explicitly, women are the 'other'. Consequently, it becomes necessary in the eyes of those who seek Power Over to control and belittle women, and all aspects of womanhood. In many cultures, women are viewed as the possessions of their men. Therefore, when a woman is raped, it is effectively an attack on the manhood of her man.

Using this reasoning, women become the targets of war in order to attack the honor of the men of a particular culture, ethnic group or country. For these reasons, rape and other forms of sexual assault against women are always a part of war and conflict. When women are assumed to be possessions that can be attacked, stolen and dishonored, they become a means of feminizing and degrading the enemy.

Many types of violence against women are exacerbated by militarism, including the indirect effects on civilian populations and post-conflict situations. These include: Rape/sexual assault and harassment both within the military and perpetrated on civilian populations. Domestic violence. Prostitution, pornography and trafficking.

We can not confirm the validity of the two rape photos used in this article. We ran them because the depictions are all too real, even if these are found to be simulations. We found them on the same website as the "Iraqi Torture" photos. complete photo gallery

During the 1990's, more than 20,000 Muslim women were raped as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign in Bosnia. And as recently as 2003, the UN reported thousands of women and girls had been raped during fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gang rape was so widespread and brutal that doctors began classifying vaginal destruction as a combat-related crime.

Since the beginning of the patriarchal age, women have been considered the spoils of war, invisibilized under the euphemistic phrase, 'collateral damage'. In Rwanda, at least 250,000 women were raped in the 1994 genocide. During the 1990's, more than 20,000 Muslim women were raped as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign in Bosnia. And as recently as 2003, the UN reported thousands of women and girls had been raped during fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gang rape was so widespread and brutal that doctors began classifying vaginal destruction as a combat-related crime.

Military training frequently encourages the hatred and belittling of women. The use of gender slurs motivate men to act aggressively, both toward women within their own culture and women of the 'other' culture. Pornography and prostitution have always been unofficially sanctioned forms of entertainment for soldiers. Until 1999, pornography could easily be purchased by servicemen at US military base commissaries, which were one of the largest purchasers of hard core pornography. It's removal cost the commissaries at least $10 million. Complete story

We have to demand that every US troop obey the rules of global conflict. Understand, everything that the US public would like to say is done "by the government" or "by the military" is actually done for us and paid for by us. This is a repeated theme throughout my writings because it's important to remember the responsibilities of a democracy as much as you remember its benefits.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Volunteers hunting for bodies in
Fallujah find a woman and her daughter in their home,
killed in the siege but undiscovered for days. Chanting
mourners bury two boys caught in the crossfire of a
Baghdad gunfight. A morgue in Basra overflows with torn
and burned bodies from a suicide bombing.

Victims - young and old, women and men, insurgents and
innocents - have been piling up day by day, making April
the deadliest month for Iraqis - and Americans - since
the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago.

Official and complete death counts for Iraqis nationwide
are unavailable. But a count by The Associated Press
found that around 1,361 Iraqis were killed from April 1
to April 30 - 10 times the figure of at least 136 U.S.
troops who died during the same period.

The Iraqi tally was compiled from daily records of
violence reported by AP based on statements issued by
the U.S. military, Iraqi police and local hospitals. The
count includes civilians, insurgents and members of the
Iraqi security forces, though a detailed breakdown was
not possible. The Iraqi health ministry and the Red
Crescent could not be reached Friday.

Also, the tally is likely incomplete, because witnesses
reported deaths in some attacks that could not be
confirmed by a hospital, the Iraqi police or U.S.
officials.

The daily carnage, seen by Iraqis before their own eyes
and in bloody images and photos transmitted around the
country by Arab television and Iraqi newspapers, has
heightened anti-U.S. sentiment across the country - even
when the deaths were caused by insurgent attacks.

The siege of Fallujah, where Americans unleashed their
arsenal of warplanes and tanks, became a symbol of
resistance that rallied many Iraqis - Shiite and Sunni -
to the anti-occupation cause.

And the sheer variety of violence - car suicide bombs,
roadside bombs, insurgent rocket and mortar attacks on
civilian neighborhoods, gunbattles - has deepened
Iraqis' sense of instability and left them skeptical of
U.S. promises of peace and prosperity.

"For this to be happening a year after Saddam fell,
Iraqis are shocked," said Mahmoud Othman, a member of
the U.S.-picked Governing Council.

"This shows that the United States cannot rule Iraqi
properly. They thought they could do a better job than
if they created an Iraqi government right from the
start."

The majority of Iraqi deaths likely took place in the
Marine siege of Fallujah, but the toll there has been a
source of controversy. The head of Fallujah's hospital,
Rafie al-Issawi, said Friday his records show 731 killed
and around 2,800 wounded since the Marine siege began on
April 1, though he could not immediately provide a
breakdown on how many were women or children. His number
is factored into the AP count.

The Iraqi health minister, Khudayer Abbas, gave a much
lower number on April 22, saying 271 people were killed
in the city. He also put the total number of Iraqi dead
for the month so far, including Fallujah, at 576 - far
lower than the AP count.

U.S. officials have said they do not have a count of
Iraqi civilians killed this month. On April 20, Lt. Gen.
Ricardo Sanchez, the top commander of U.S. forces in
Iraq, said troops had killed 1,000 insurgents in April.
That number was not factored into the AP count because
it was not known what specific battles he was referring
to.

By comparison, the next deadliest month for Iraqis since
the start of the U.S. occupation was March, when 301
Iraqi civilians were killed, according to the Brookings
Institution, which keeps a rough but widely respected
monthly tally.

The Brookings number does not include insurgent or Iraqi
police deaths, as the AP's April tally does. But at the
most, a few dozen armed Iraqis died in March, not nearly
enough to reach the number of April's dead.

The April toll still falls short of the number of Iraqi
deaths during the U.S. invasion. An AP survey of records
from 60 of Iraq's 124 hospitals found that at least
3,240 civilians died from March 20, 2003, to April 20,
2003; the complete number during that period is sure to
be significantly higher.

The AP count includes single attacks that caused large
numbers of casualties. In Basra, 74 people were killed
when suicide attackers set off five car bombs nearly
simultaneously outside police stations on April 21. A
day earlier, a mortar barrage by guerrillas against
Baghdad's largest prison, Abu Ghraib, killed 22
prisoners, all of them detainees held on suspicion of
being members of the insurgency.

It also includes U.S. reports of insurgents killed in
fighting with American troops. The military said 100
Sunni guerrillas were killed in a fierce battle April
12-13 in the village of Karma, outside Fallujah, and
that 64 Shiite militiamen died Monday in U.S. airstrikes
and a firefight outside Najaf, south of Baghdad.

But many of the deaths came in small incidents around
Baghdad or scattered around the country as violence
stretched from the far north to the far south.

A volley of mortars hit the eastern Baghdad neighborhood
of Sadr City on Saturday, some hitting a market, killing
six people. Another shell pierced a home, went through
two floors and tore a woman sleeping in her bed to
pieces.

In Baghdad on Thursday, Mostapha Fadhl, 6, and Mostapha
Salah, 7, were playing near a road in western Baghdad
when insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol nearby. In the
gunbattle that ensued, the boys were wounded and later
died.

The carnage in Fallujah, where U.S. Marines battled to
uproot Sunni insurgents from their greatest stronghold,
traumatized an entire city. Residents blame many of the
deaths on Marine snipers or bombings by warplanes,
including fearsome AC-130 gunships and F-18s dropping
500-pound bombs.

Two football fields were turned into cemeteries, with
hundreds of freshly dug graves, marked with wooden
planks scrawled with names - some with names of women,
some marked specifically as children. At one of the
fields, an AP reporter was told by volunteer
gravediggers on April 11 that more than 300 people had
been buried there.

On Friday, with the U.S. military trying to implement a
tentative deal to lift the siege, volunteers drove
around looking for the dead that never made it to
hospitals or graveyards. At least eight highly
decomposed bodies were loaded into station wagons,
including those of a woman and her daughter found in a
home in the Golan neighborhood, scene of heavy fighting
this week.

During the height of the siege, residents were unable to
get outside, so an unknown number of dead were buried in
backyards.

"We buried two of my relatives at home," said Ahmed
Ghanim al-Ali, a doctor at one of five local clinics in
Fallujah that have been treating the wounded and
counting the dead. "We cannot give the total number of
martyrs."

AP correspondents Abdul-Qader Saadi and Bassem Mroue in
Fallujah contributed to this report.
(c) 2004 The Associated Press

Maybe it was the credit card that rap superstar Nelly swiped through a woman's backside in a recent video. Here at Spelman, the most famous black women's college in the country, a feud has erupted over images of women in rap videos, sparking a petition drive and phone campaigns.

Nelly planned to visit Spelman earlier this month for a charity event enlisting students for a bone marrow registry. But the rapper canceled the appearance after hearing that a protest was in the works because of his videos — especially "Tip Drill," the one with the credit card, which also shows men throwing money between women's legs and women simulating sex acts with each other.

Misogyny in pop music, especially hip-hop, has been around for years.
(A Hell note) I find it odd that hip-hop is the poster child for misogyny. Hasn't anyone watched the rest of pop rock videos? At least they illude to that fact before indicting hip-hop as a lone offender.

What's new, students say, is an explosion of almost-X-rated videos passed around on the Internet or shown late at night on cable channels like Black Entertainment Television, also known as BET.

Never before, students say, have the portrayals of black women been so hypersexual and explicit.

"It's very harsh. This is something we have to see and listen to on a daily basis," said senior Shanequa Yates. "Nelly just didn't want to come here and face the criticism for the choices he's made."

Not all students agreed that rappers are to blame, or that the images were harmful to society. At a recent meeting at Spelman to decide what should be done to protest rap music, some pointed out that women in the videos know what they're doing and are paid to do it.

The issue especially incensed some men studying at Morehouse, a black men's college closely affiliated with Spelman. "These are grown women. I'm putting the blame on the women," said Kenneth Lavergne, a senior who was loudly booed by the 300 or so women at the meeting.

Another student, Bradley Walker from Clark Atlanta University, talked about the credit-card swiping. "Bottom line, a woman let him do that," he said. "I do think sometimes the total blame is put on artists themselves."

Nelly's record label agrees. A spokeswoman for Universal Records, Wendy Washington, complained that the charity event fell apart just because women at Spelman were looking for a scapegoat. She said the feud unfairly made Nelly an example to fire up urban radio stations and music writers across the country.

"He did not think it was appropriate at all for students to use that as a forum," Washington said. "I think he was profoundly frustrated. He was not the first, certainly, to do a video like that."

Spelman women have low hopes of getting a change from BET, which shows bawdy videos with genitals and breasts fuzzed out on "BET Uncut" at 3 a.m. ET.

The network has no plans to stop running it. "'Uncut' has developed an almost cult-like following because of the freedom of artists to express themselves," said network spokesman Michael Lewellen. "It is specifically for adults. These are music videos whose content is too strong for our day points. We exercise more scrutiny than is required."

That sums up the basic message Spelman women have gotten from rappers and TV executives — if you don't like it, don't watch the videos or listen to the music. But the student activists insist the stereotypes in rap music hurt black people even if they don't listen.

"Black entertainers have become the new myth makers, showing gangsters and bikini-clad women with hyperactive libidos," said Zenobia Hikes, vice president for student affairs. "For non-black children it creates a gross misrepresentation of the black experience."

The next move is a petition drive, and a campaign to phone complaints to TV networks and radio stations that run offensive material. If Janet Jackson's breast sparked such a crackdown on indecency in the media, the students say, surely a woman shaking so violently her bikini bottom pops off should anger people, too.

"We need to organize and say no to this stuff, this nasty, disgusting stuff," said Beverly Guy-Sheftall, director of the school's Women's Research and Resource Center.

"I don't see a solution as long as you have people willing to do it," said senior Nikole Howard. "You have to demand respect, but I doubt these women even thought they were being disrespected. It makes me sad, makes me realize how much work we have to do to educate women."

This Sunday in Washington D.C., women are claiming their rightful place and speaking out against a millenia of disrespect while being undervalued, human property, sex slaves, breeders and Barbie dolls.

If you don't speak up now, don't say that no one listened to you.
Go to feminist.org for all the info.

As I scream at the TV, once again, it becomes agonizingly clear about the 9/11 issue(s). I ask that EVERYONE watch the 2001 PBS documentary The Man Who Knew. Nothing more to say about that for now. I'll give you a chance to see it and then make my points later.

It feels kind of awkward to hear so many people speak about the images coming from Fallujah. For years Blacks have grown up and lived with images of people hanging from trees, bridges, overpasses, barns and custom-built structures of terror. Throughout it all, only a rare few were ever brought to justice.

If you look at the above pictures, you'll notice both have jubilant people happily pointing and posing with mutilated human trophies. My son is a teenager for the pic on the left. My dad was nearly a teenager for the pic on the right. How many people would agree with me saying that we should find everyone in the picture on the right, and charge them with murder, for which there is NO statute of limitations?

I've had images like the one above, and many others like it, in my mind for years. I imagine I should be desensitized to burned and mutilated bodies being sources of family / community entertainment, since it has been an American tradition for centuries. BUT I'M NOT. All I ask is that we show the same amount of outrage for completely innocent people being brutally murdered by terrorists. American terrorists. That's right. I'm talking about the bigoted relative you don't like to talk about or aren't proud of. The one that says nigger all the time and means it. The one that says they have the answer to the "Black problem." Or the one who "just doesn't like them."

Before you get weepy about the people who were killed in Fallujah. You should know that there was a number of civilian murders (collateral damage) incidents in that area, which were reported by the BBC, in the days that lead up to this seeming revenge killing. Odd how that didn't make it into any of the US mainstream media reports. Maybe people would have a different opinion if they knew people were getting revenge for a family member, friend, or even someone in their community who was killed or tortured by the occupiers.

[scroll over to change image]
This child is a victim of "collateral damage" paid for by our tax dollars.
Do you think he, or his family if they're alive, will be able to forgive us?
Or, does he think that he's "better off?"

WE ARE ALL OUTRAGED DAMNIT!
The only person that will be better off is Mother Earth when we finally, and I have no doubt that we will, blow ourselves into oblivion.

Until that point, flawed as I may be, I am dedicated to making the parts of the Earth that I come in touch with more humane and culturally aware.

Here's the beginning of the article.
A study released today by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) says that outsourcing white-collar jobs has thrown some Americans out of work, but predicts that the trend will ultimately lower inflation, create jobs and boost productivity in the United States.

The ITAA said the migration of tech jobs to low-paid foreigners has eliminated 104,000 American jobs, nearly 3% of the positions in the U.S. technology industry. But that's nothing, the ITAA said, compared with the home-brewed dot-com meltdown that has eliminated more than twice that many jobs since 2000.

"The myth is that we've started this long decline into the midnight of the technology work force,'' ITAA president Harris Miller said. "This report shows that, assuming the recovery continues, the number of IT jobs will actually increase.''

The first thing I wanted to know was, who is the ITAA, and even more telling, who is their board of directors chair. This is what I found.

Chairman of ITAA Board of Directors, Mr. Roy Haggerty is President & CEO of Ajilon LLC. It seems he would have a vested interest in international jobs outsourcing.

This is from the Ajilon website; "Ajilon is the global leader in managed services, consulting and specialty staffing, with 450 offices operating in 17 countries, in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Ajilon specializes in several industries: Information Technology, Communications, Engineering, Finance and Accounting, Legal, Office, Sales and Marketing."

Can a company that has a B.O.D. Chair who is the CEO and President for a company that's mission is to outsource the global workforce, for mega-millions in profit, produce a study that accurately analyzes outsourcing?

As I searched further, I found an article from the McKinsey Quarterly on CNET News.com. Here's an excerpt.
Cost savings
For every dollar of spending on business services that moves offshore, US companies save 58 cents, mainly in wages. Offshore services are identical to those they replace--and at times better because offshore workers, enjoying higher-than-usual wages, tend to be motivated. Reduced costs are by far the greatest source of value creation for the US economy.

New revenue
Indian companies that provide offshore services need goods and services themselves, ranging from computers and telecommunications equipment to legal, financial, and marketing expertise. Often, they buy these from US companies. We estimate that for every dollar of corporate spending that moves offshore, suppliers of offshore services buy an additional 5 cents worth of goods and services in the United States. Exports from the United States to India stood at $4.1 billion in 2002, compared with less than $2.5 billion in 1990.

I found this portion interesting. "Indian companies that provide offshore services need goods and services themselves, ranging from computers and telecommunications equipment to legal, financial, and marketing expertise. Often, they buy these from US companies."

It is true that "US companies" see a clear profit. And I'm sure it's also true that Indian companies require and purchase goods and services from US companies. But if the services that are being sought after are actually being produced by outsourced, offshore workers, how does that benefit the US population as a whole or deal with the overwhelming US unemployment problem.

Earlier in the article was this.
"Widely cited figures predict that by 2015, roughly 3.3 million US business-processing jobs will have moved abroad. As of July 2003, around 400,000 jobs already had.

Other research suggests that the number of US service jobs lost to "offshoring" will accelerate at a rate of 30 percent to 40 percent annually during the next five years. Vast wage differentials are prompting companies to move their labor-intensive service jobs to countries with low labor costs: For instance, software developers, who cost $60 an hour in the United States--the country that does the most offshoring of jobs--cost only $6 an hour in India, the biggest market for offshore services."

This is the kicker.
"Some 70 percent of jobs in the United States are in service industries such as retailing, catering and personal care. This work, by its very nature, cannot be moved abroad."

Now we've hit pay-dirt. Out of the people you know that are caterers or work in one of the zillion malls of the country, how many have health insurance and a solid living wage? Since the mid 80's, we've lost millions of jobs that had benefits and wages that we could raise families on and they've been replaced by "new economy" jobs. You may remember the joke during the Clinton administration, "They've created millions of new jobs...and I have two of them."

To me, this conversation is being discussed from the wrong direction. If the only concern is the fluctuation of the availability of white-collar jobs and bottom-line company profit, who will speak for the millions of blue-collar jobs around the country that will never be replaced. Throughout the country there are complete ghost towns that were once vibrant places where people raised families. I'm sure that you can name a few, wherever you live.

I'll end with this. If we continue to have "representatives" that either do not currently, or never had to, live on the wages the bottom 60% of the US population does, I'm afraid we've not seen the bottom. In twenty years we very well may look back on these times and wonder why we, in a democracy where we have the alleged power to change negative governmental policy, allowed this to happen.

Imagine if you will, it's 2027. The value of the dollar continued to decline, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 49%, and there are 11.7 million people incarcerated in US prisons and jails.

In contrast, the European Union became the second largest market behind the then powerful 15 year old P.A.S. (Pacific Allied States).

The leaders of Germany, China, Britain, and India, whom are all women, had decided that the US is incapable of treating its population of females and communities of color respectfully. By 2020, the US was the only major country to not have had a female leader.

After repeated UN attempts to bring the US into the twenty-first century in 2026, the UN was moved from New York City to Switzerland and numerous resolutions were passed condemning the US. China demanded action and Britain agreed that force should be used to remove the current US government.

Though the US public demanded a change in its government, the government refuses to acquiesce. In 2027 the UN votes unanimously to use force.

New Jersey is the first state to be bombed because of its strategic military interests. Unfortunately the military bases are placed in locations among the civilian population and there are reports of collateral damage. Two images are circulated on the Internet of collateral damage, which UN forces refuse to comment on.
[see circulated Internet images 1 - 2]

As the fighting intensifies, more images of collateral damage appear on US media while there is a media blackout of images throughout the rest of the world. Civilian deaths are either minimized or denied by UN forces.
[see blackedout images 1 - 2]

The US threatens to use nuclear weapons as the UN forces near Washington DC. The UN escalated its attack and an untold amount of US civilians are rumored dead, though the UN refuses to conduct a casualty count.
[see independent photos of the conflict 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6]

The rest of the world protests the amount of civilian deaths after Washington DC has fallen, while the UN demands the US population will have a long-term benefit from a restructured government.

Returning to reality and 2004, you may never have to know what it is like to walk in the shoes of the Iraqi population, for which you should praise the spritis for sparing you from having to.

As you know, the images you've seen are from Iraq and are BY NO MEANS RARE. There are thousands of pics like this, that you'll never see in the US media. These photos are from the website gallery of legendary journalist and war reporter, Robert Fisk. Though these images are harsh and I am on the verge of tears while I type, I ask you to closely look at each of the photos in the link below.

Imagine that each image you see is in a town that you grew up in, depicts friends and family you care about, went to school with and love. No political statement here. I merely think it's extremely important to understand what "shock and awe" really looks like...because WE (each and every american) paid for it. May the spirits forgive us all.
[photo gallery of Iraqi civilian casualties]

Anyone who believes that the US is honestly a " Nation under God," should really look at its culture. I ask you to look at the top 10 TV shows, music videos, magazines, and movies.

As the story goes, "God" said;
"Psalms 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil."
"Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."
[source: topical-bible-studies.org]

Now unless you want to cherrypick which parts of the bible you want to believe and those you can "righteously" ignore, which if you are a true Christian you can't, the US masses have definitely decided to ignore these passages in their daily lives.

To drag out God as an example to make yourself righteous when it's convenient is worse, in terms of Christianity I would think, then someone who states that there is no God, because they use the Lords name in vein and bare false witness.

I am hardly a bible-thumping Christian, nor do I believe that Christianity is the light. I see myself, and am commonly perceived as, as a pretty decent human, which still won't get me into heaven by the way.

The current fight about "Under God," in the Pledge of Allegiance seems disingenuous. How could it be a country under God when there is very little in the daily behaviors of the majority of Americans that resembles such?

Is there ANYONE who believes that EVERY American has the same rights under the law, regardless of financial status, and is treated as such?

Lastly, please get back to us if you can find that the daily habits of the US population correlate with honestly being a country "Under God."

I am always amazed at the rights we as people have to fight for and who we have to beg and fight against for them. The fight for women to have complete control of their own bodies is thousands of years old. It's also a sad reality that this struggle will be fought for the foreseeable future. It seems the male dominated world would blow the world up before it would decide to share it with its female counterparts.

In full disclosure, I as a Black male can comprehend their plight, although I only have an academic comprehension of their day-to-day safety issues and reproductive rights.

Since women are the majority of the US population, why can't they have the rights they so rightfully deserve. In my opinion, the central issue is they have been socially indoctrinated to define themselves as individuals and not as a group. This is clearly seen in the 1800's during the Suffragette Movement. The women's movement was, and still is, separated by class, ethnicity, socialization, and race. This all but guarantees they won't have the collective focus required to achieve their objectives. Unfortunately this follows the same patterns of any group that has been considered less-than-equal to the White heterosexual, European male.

The UN was, and is, on high alert. We were told over and over, "No official authorization, no entry..." Now, I understand they have to be cautious. But we were supposed to be on the artist / performer list. As a number of people walked in, I told them we were part of the entertainment they were supposed to be experiencing. I was told days later that there were a number of people who weren't asked for ID, that were allowed in. The most aggravating aspect of this is seeing the "security" apparatus in action. It seems haphazard at best and ridiculously inept and worst.

Some of you may remember my article Happy New Fear, which explained my experience of working at a theater in the middle of Times Square, NYC and witnessing the "security" protocols executed from the inside. Both experiences have left me less than comfortable that these people can honestly protect us. I've seen enough clumsily executed security for "high-value targets" to feel my assertions are valid.

As I am typing this, I'm watching a TV interview on Nightline with four 9/11 widows. They are discussing their 2-year fight to get the leaders of this country to live up to their responsibilities, find out why so many security failures occurred in such a short period of time, ask all the questions that need to be asked, and then act accordingly. (Before today's session, they were told by Ex. New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, who heads the 9/11 Commission, that the commission was instructed not to ask certain questions. Hmm...)

The people who comprise our government, especially the executive branch, pride themselves on being God-fearing Christians. So, it seems our only solace is that they will have a crapload of things to answer for when they meet their maker...before God informs them they will have to get on the "down" elevator and won't be staying "upstairs." They seem to have a myriad of good reasons to be fearing God.

I've read many released FBI Counterintelligence documents that focus on infiltrating and disrupting Black rights groups. The history for this is age old and can be traced back to the "house nigger" syndrome, which is achieved by supplying a benefit to someone who will be a covert disruptive asset. The FBI is also well-known for activist surveillance and personal disruptive tactics to create fear and intimidation.

So I present this to you to ask the eternal question, when does the negative forces of this country become interested in someone and what tactics would they use?

When I began producing forums and installations in the heart of Times Square NYC, I realized that someone might rather I place my efforts in preaching only to the converted. I've had varied degrees of success in gathering audiences for the indoor events. On the other hand, by the nature of having an installation with audio to the street, you are reaching tens of thousands daily. This is where I believe we would come onto someone's radar.

Coincidence #1-Overeager camera bugs) When installing for a forum (The Bridge #1 2003) a "family" (father, mother, teenager, baby in carriage) walked by and snapped a picture. The element that made this strange was that the "father" snapped the picture without anyone in the family, including him, looking toward the window. All of them continued to look straight forward. The person assisting me had also saw this, so it wasn't just my overactive imagination.
Coincidence #2-Terror on the G) During my Black History installation February 2004, I was heading into the city. While waiting for the "G" train I had an alarming experience. An overweight white man circled the bench I was sitting on, doing some ridiculous rap to himself with no headphones on, and all the while he was playing with a knife with the blade half open. I kept my eye on him because I didn't want this freak stabbing me in the back. He couldn't see me eyes because I was wearing mirrored sunglasses. After circling me enough he snapped the blade shut directly in front of me as if to make sure I was aware he had it. I walked to the opposite end of the platform where others were until the train came. When the train arrived I entered the rear of the first car. He entered the front of the same sparsely filled car. He proceeded walk past several empty seats to sit directly across from me. He continued his "rapping," opened his bag and began digging through it. He exclaimed "Ah!," as if he had finally found what he'd been looking for. He pulled a case from his bag, opened it, revealed its contents and looked directly into my eyes. It was a big-ass straight razor! (By the way, there's no such thing as a small straight razor in a situation such as this!) I quickly began to think how to get my bag in front of me to block an attack. We then entered the next subway station, where I exited the train. He never stopped looking at me from the time he took out the razor until the train left the station...without me.
Coincidence #3-A question of Insanity) A woman walked into my office and told me a disturbed story about he father being responsible for shooting JFK, how she thought I was the only person who could help her, and how she needed me to believe her. She seemed more serious than two heart attacks. It was cool that my coworker was in the room with us to witness this. She went on for nearly 15 minutes before I could tell her that I needed to get to work, but would make time to talk to her again after the weekend on Mon. She stated, "that's too late," as if she'd be dead by then. I followed with an offer to meet on Sun before the window performance. She then asked, "How do I know that you're not setting me up?" I said that I had no intention of setting her up (turning her into the police or something). She only seemed extremely disturbed, not a danger to anyone. She left and moments later a very calm man came in asking a number of questions about the motives behind my activism. The thing that was strange with him was being less then clear about where he worked and was from when I inquired.

I have no idea whether any of these things are connected. I guess we'll know 5 or 10 or 50 years from now.

In any case. Like Swan said in the movie The Warriors, when he was alerted about being followed, he looked over at the people following him and said, "Now they know I know it."

This doesn't mean I think there's someone behind every tree. Or, that the many coincidences, of which I highlighted three, are anything more than coincidence.

I just think we ALL should pay close(r) attention to the "coincidences" in our lives.

Happy New Fear
My New Years celebration also served as a special look at the continual assertion about having the most stringent security in Times Square, NYC. I didn't, of course, want anything to happen. I also have to question what "...Go about your life as normal...be vigilant..." means.

As some of you know, I am technical director for a theater on 42nd st in Times Square. Our complex is between Broadway and 6th Ave. This gave me an inside look at the NYPD security apparatus to honestly assess it. I preface this with the understanding that, if there is a continued threat, I hope that the police does its job and makes its best effort to protect us. It is with that in mind that I file this report.

Every primary NYC news outlet announced 4pm as the time the Times Square area would be secured. 4pm came and went without any notice from the NYPD. I asked an officer in front of our flagship venue when the block would be locked down. "8 or 9pm," he stated.

There were NO official passes supplied to businesses to enter the restricted public areas. We had these ridiculously copied sheets of paper that were our passes. Anyone could have copied hundreds of them. When I had to show my "pass," I told the officer, "Here's this thing, and here's the keys to open the doors to most of the buildings on this block." He was only concerned with me showing the pass.

I saw people with huge bags walking in and out of buildings, and through Times Square all day. If someone were planning something, it seemed that they would simply have gone in earlier and still have the chance of killing tens of thousands.

This is what makes me mad. I know that they had to do something. But, even as the peaceful and harmless person I am, it didn't seem to me or any of our staff that we were safer.

I have no solutions to protecting the entire US from people who, for whatever reason, might do harm to US citizens inside or outside our borders. I do know that if the average person could see extreme faults in the US security strategies, I'm sure that a group of people who really want to do something, like Usama Bin Laden who had terrorist training from the CIA, sadly, would be able to. The lack of sophisticated weapon systems demands that they use non-traditional efforts. Remember, the tact of so-called "terrorists" is to hit you when you're NOT expecting it, with something you hadn't expected to get hit with.

By the way, I do have one solution. If our government (meaning you and me, because the United States government is "...of by and for the people...") could stop treating everyone else on the Earth as if they were our chattel servants, people might not give their lives to supply karma to a country that has far too much blood on its hands.

On a closing note. Did anyone see the hats that were passed out, free-of-charge, to the public in Times Square. If the answer to the first question was yes, then the obvious follow-up would be, what was the color?

Give up? ORANGE! Why the hell did they give out ORANGE top hats, who the hell is the "they" that passed them out, and who paid for them?
(update: It turns out Discover Card paid for the hats. Then the question becomes, why the hell did they pick orange? For info click here)
Was this some type of bizzare psychological operation using the party-goers in Times Square as a reminder of our then "Code Orange" status. Or, was it a message to the world, that we can party in "Orange" and we're not afraid.
(update: I guess it was just a bizzare boardroom choice.)

Click here to read an assessment of the Iraq situation from Milt Bearden. (a 30-year veteran in the C.I.A.'s Directorate of Operations, served as senior manager for clandestine operations. He was in charge of the training of the Mujahedeen - Usama Bin Laden 1986 to 1989. This was when Ronald Reagan called the Mujahedeen "Freedom Fighters.")

"Gay" Doesn't Always Mean Happy
I was told by a friend the other day that gay culture has been so mainstreamed that he thought that people needed to move beyond the topic. Then, on new years day during an NPR broadcast, it was discussed whether the success of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" meant the mainstreaming of gay culture. This installment is a reminder that we have a LONG way to go before we can consider the battle for a racist / sexist / homophobia free society won.

An acquaintance of mine and two of his friends were attacked in the East Village of NYC during Christmas weekend. They were saying good-bye and kissing when a carload of guys drove by and yelled "fagot." This was followed by my acquaintance I'll call "SB" blowing them a kiss. I see that as an equivalent action to putting a flower in the barrel of a soldiers gun. The car skidded to a stop and they poured out of the car. A second car joined the malay. "SB" was roughed up, but his two friends were brutally beaten. If you could believe it, his is is where things get sketchy.

"SB" ran to the local police precinct to report what had happened. After he told his story and pleaded for help, the "police officer" sifted through some papers on his desk . He pulled a Chinese restaurant menu out of the pile, turned it over, and wrote "SB's" name down. With this he stated, "We'll get right on it."

The idea that there are jackasses that continue to see " queer bashing" as a sport is a sad commentary on our "modern" society, especially in an area that is supposed to be the haven for personal freedom. But, the sad reality of the NYPD making arbitrary choices on who should get justice and who doesn't makes me insane. If the "SB" was a preppy for the Upper West Side reporting that he and his friends had been brutally beaten by two carloads of blacks, I would bet my last dollar that they would've picked up every person who remotely fit the profile.

Justice isn't honestly justice if it doesn't apply to everyone. Hopefully I'll hear that something was done to rightfully deal with the issue. If we don't fight for the rights of everyone, especially those in groups other than our own, when it comes to (y)our own rights, don't expect others to care about them.

Combing the Wool out of (Y)our Eyes
At a B-Day/holiday party, a conversation with a friend posed a number of interesting questions. "Why do we know every detail about Arafat, Arial Sherone, Saddam...but nothing about Brazil, the hemispheres 2nd largest democracy or India (The worlds largest democracy with 1,049,700,118 people-2003 census)...?," he asked? I couldn't get that out of my head since.

I decided to find an introduction to each. So, here we go...

Brazil in overview
A map of Brazil

Thanx D, now I'll pay closer attention to that which has been hidden in plain sight. In the future, I'll find more info about these and other governments we should know (more) about.

Next stop Columbia. By the way, how is the millions of dollars that the U.S. sent to fund Plan Columbia being spent? After 60 minutes did their story on Plan Columbia and its effects on the Columbian population, why has there been no visible follow-up in the mainstream media. When I say "visible" coverage, I mean coverage similar to that of the kiss between Madonna/Britney Spears or Michael Jackson's sorted "bed partners."

It's time to take off the sheep-suit and act like you live in a democracy...ask more questions.

"It's not that we have all the answers, it's that help you find better questions" Abstinence sample 1987

They "Got Him"...and Now What?
All today (Dec 14) I listened and watched the news about Saddam's capture. Strangely absent from the discussion was the thousands of Iraqi dead...killed since their "liberation." The spin was, the Democratic Presidential candidates will have a tough time now that G.W. has accomplished a major part of his objective.

Question 1: Is there a single rational person that thought he wouldn't eventually be caught?
Question 2: How does this deal with any of the issues that derive from the occupation of Iraq, like Halliburton overcharging over $60 million for services, innocent people being killed, the lack of cultural understanding exhibited by the "liberators", or the lack of trust in the "liberators" motives?

One of the most telling statements came from Casper Weinberger, who was Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan, when he was interviewed by the BBC, which aired on NPR (Dec 14/03 - afternoon) to discuss the Saddam issue. He said that now we might find out how Saddam was supported by the French and the Germans and to what extent. The interviewer then probed further and asked if Mr. Weinberger were concerned about what Saddam would say about the support the U.S. gave during the eighties, and possibly before, which were the years that most of the atrocities now cited by the pro-war camp occured. It was then that Casper responded with a very confusing statement. "Saddam is a ruthless dictator...he is an habitual liar...you can't trust anything that comes out of his mouth," said Weinberger.

This demands the question, how could Saddam be a source for wrongdoing by the French and the Germans, while being a completely fraudulent source of whether the US has any culpability in Saddam's rise to power?

Anyone whose heard the many cries of people who've lost loved ones at the hands of the "liberators," has to feel these people now require liberating from the "liberators."

I ask you to watch the PBS - Frontline program Truth, War and Consequences. (Click here to watch the program online) When you see the segment on Task Force 121, the people who had the job of going after Saddam, you will see them kill an innocent person, who was standing merely feet away from the cameraperson, with no justification. The cold way the military addressed the issue, as well as the many questions raised when Iraqis were interviewed, hopefully will give you a snapshot of the issues that aren't part of the typical "We're there to liberate them" conversation.

If this is truly a democracy and you believe in it, it is your right and duty to seek all the information available about what our government does in our name. It's better for you to ask and know now, than to be forced to inquire or assume after someone has executed an alleged act-of-revenge for something our government has done.

Additional information on the Iraq occupation can be found at:
occupationwatch.org

Happy Thankstaking
As I try to wrap my head around the myth of Thanksgiving, a thought continues to invade my mind. What are the chances this myth is no different than those of Santa Claus, Halloween or Valentines Day? When I mentioned the fact that this "holiday" is predicated on a gathering of people, of which one group has been torturously, genocidally, and systematically exterminated, I was told by a friend, "Chill out. It's Thanksgiving." Moments later she gave me her phone because she was talking to a friend who was making the same point I had previously made.

A day later, a dear friend sent me an email that basically answered it all for me.

For a version of "Thanksgiving" based on reports from colonial officials to their superiors and the king in England, and the private papers of Sir William Johnson, British Indian agent for the New York colony for 30 years in the mid-1600s, click here. Thanks Sheldon.

Lock, Stock and Two Lying Leaders
The plot thickens, while the poor people who went in the military for the chance to have an opportunity die. After the WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) was proved to be fallacious, it's now shifted to "...get them on their land instead of ours." They don't seem as comfortable now and their stories aren't as cohesive as they were in spring of 2003.

The most blaring example was the Jessica Lynch story. The timing of the revelation of her alleged rape, made-for-TV movie, and exclusive WABC-TV interview was questionable at best. The shock came when I actually tortured myself by watching the teledrama AND the interview.

As I watched the teledrama, I knew most of the real story from reports from the Pacifica Radio Network and other things I'd read. So, while each little lie was being told, I felt like I was watching a digital Nuremberg rally. I say that because the goals of those rallies were to indoctrinate the German masses around whatever the objectives of the state were. The Jessica ploy actually worked to indoctrinate tens of millions simultaneously, many more than could've ever fit in a stadium. From the "heroic" battle to the "evil" doctors who dropped her onto the table to the only people who treated her properly were Iraqi women to the Iraqi "gentleman" who called for the US to come to the rescue, ALL FALSE.

The amazing thing is that it would be Jessica, herself, that would correct the story that permeated the mainstream media for over 7 months. In her interview they showed the actual placement of the people in her transport vehicle, the fact of her gun jamming, she NEVER shot anyone, she was treated excellently by the entire hospital staff, she was almost killed when the Iraqi doctors tried to return her to the U.S. forces, and a few other corrections that don't come to mind right now.

It's stunning that the mainstream media investigation seemed to stop with stating that was Jessica upset that she was used as a device of the administration. Shouldn't the questions be; How did the story go from the truth all the way to the "Rambo" version served up by the administration and the mainstream press, who is responsible for the blatant distortion, and why did they have to lie?

If we don't ask these questions now, in a hundred years (if that's even an option) the American public will have to answer for being sheep now.

He Had a Dream
40 years later people seem to have all but forgotten the first two-thirds of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The omitted element of the speech addresses the many promises from the U.S. government to treat Black people as human beings.

The first half of King's speech - "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights."
Click here for complete speech text

Now with King safely dead, his message has been reduced to one merely of integration instead of the realization of promised justice. At 4am EST (9/01/03) the BBC had a roundtable discussion with Roy Innis from C.O.R.E. (Congress Of Racial Equality) and a Black Bishop from the UK to debate the modern relevance of the speech. This was flawed from the start. They just babbled on about how much Black's are seen more frequently in positions that were previously unattainable and how Blacks need to stop "being a victim" and take charge of their own destinies. Some of this is clearly true. We simultaneously can't ignore the multitude of current federal investigations in housing, job, judicial, and educational discrimination that remind us that we still have a long way to go. It's easy for them to forget the centuries old epidemic of state-sanctioned brutality against Blacks. Instead of telling Blacks to "take charge..." maybe it would be more culturally advantageous to tell the people in power and on top that "the Black jellybeans" are sick and tired of being glued to the bottom of the bowl. As long as the person who's on the other side of the desk maintains the opinion that Blacks are somehow less than worthy when you are going for a job, getting a mortgage, or getting an apartment, it has little relevance how Blacks feel about themselves. It's simple. When someone was picked on in school, did it matter what they thought of themselves? Did their newfound self-empowerment stop the bullies from harrassing or alienating them? NO! It made others more determined to break their spirit and castigate them more intensely. Keep dreaming...

Bush has been arguing his case stating, "I've laid out the facts" in respect to justifying his hard-to-believe conflicting statements. But, no one who's taken the time to follow this issue (to the same extent that others follow the baseball season) can come to no other conclusion than the administration has something else in mind other than what's being stated.

Like "Ma" on the Golden Girls said, "I can't put my finger on it. But I know if I did I'd have to wash it". History is almost always the presenter of truth. I can wait...

The EPA and their lapse in truth telling
When the WTC turned into a smoldering 30-story mound, I was scared sh-tless because of what I saw coming down the pike. My friend lived, and still lives, only a few blocks away from "ground zero". She told me what the EPA said at meetings, in information they provided, and in the on-site testing/clean-up. I knew they were lying. They mentioned noting about the myriad of toxic gases released into the air that derived from tens of thousands of incinerated computers, copiers and ink, plastic chairs, and ceiling tiles. Now combine that with the laundry list of toxic chemicals brought to our attention from "rogues" within the EPA who could not in good conscience sign off on or ignore the overt deception of the public.

Here is a list of WTC toxins you should think about;
Building Materials - 1.2 million tons
Jet Fuel - thousands of gallons
Dioxins
Mercury from computers and light bulbs
Asbestos - 300-400 tons
Concrete - 424,000 tons
Fiberglass
Lead from 50,000 Personal Computers - 4 lbs. ea. - 200,000 lbs
Main Frame Computers - 300
Wire and cables - Hundreds of miles
Transformer Oil contaminated with PCB's - 130,000 gallons

From Plastics (still looking for amounts)
Polyvinyl
Chloride
Copper
Furans
polybrominated diphenyl ethers
Small hazardous waste generating entities

Click here for more info about the toxic truth of the WTC disaster

NRDC has estimated that there were approximately 50,000 pc's in the World Trade Center with 4 lbs of lead each. 50,000 X 4 = 200,000 lbs of lead just from the pc's. Office furniture, fabrics and human remains were transformed into dust in the time it took for the two towers to fall. Rescue workers report that they didn't find a single computer, desk or chair.

Any of you that have heard our Operation: Impact educational CD Distribution series knows that there is a definite historically documented pattern of police being less than protectors of the public.

As always when discussing police misconduct...the caveat. I, for the most part, have a great relationship with police officers. I see them in the subways, usually, being helpful and maintaining a positive presence, which makes people comfortable and safe from harm, especially women.

That said, I also see police leering at women, laughing at people that don't resemble their version of "Joe and Jane American", speeding through dark narrow streets in specific neighborhoods (with no emergency lights on), busting kids in Brooklyn and Harlem for smoking pot on the street-but not those whom are smoking pot on the streets in Tribecca or on the Upper West Side, being busted for lying under oath with NO PUNISHMENT, and creating an "us and them" psychology that is antithetical to creating a relationship of respect between the public and the police.

Until the police stop the macho crap and begin acting, no, BEHAVING like they advertise, they will continue to be seen and treated like the enemy by those whom are not protected but affected by them. Since I am older and not stereotypically dangerous looking (meaning I don't wear a hoodee or sportsgear), they leave me alone, except for the giggles. But I see them continually exerting their dominance over those who THEY deem dangerous in inappropriate and psychologically soul crushing ways.

For instance, there were some teens that walked on the train and the police in the subway car made a point to let the teens know they were being watched. As soon as the police got off the train, the teens went ballistic, freaking out over the police's behavior. After they calmed down, they seemingly resumed their discussion about the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) issue. They had obviously been talking about this prior and were interrupted by an example of exactly what the U.S. government is doing with others, on a larger scale, around the world.

Some people are considered "evil doers" and treated as such, whether they are or not, by those who end up doing evil in the name of some demented version of "justice", which brings me to my larger point.

The U.S. government and the public by consent (forcefully taken or willingly given), are currently KILLING people everyday in the name of justice and freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government says the violence and negative attitudes of the Iraqi people is the result of "Deadenders" that are sympathetic to Saddam's defunct cause. A question. If someone killed your daughter, sister, mother, father, friend, or anyone close to you because they believed your family member or friend was an "evil doer"or connected to one, would you be able to embrace them? I think not.

Real University recently screened the documentary "Afghanistan- From Ground Zero to Ground Zero", which was created by DCTV (Downtown Community Television NYC). It is the story of an American-Afghani woman who went to Afghanistan to see what happened to her family after the 9-11 retaliation bombing. She found that 19 members of her family had been killed in Allied bombing raids, and she wanted to know why. Her family had NO terrorists in it, just people trying to escape the wrath of the U.S. and allied military.

I end with a bit of homework.
- Take out your family album
- Get a roll of safety tape (that won't damage you pics)
- Then make tape "X's" over the faces of 19 people in it

They can be the ones you don't like, but I doubt you'll be able to count that many family members that you wouldn't mind seeing blown to bits in horrible ways, where they have to sometimes watch the others die.

- You must also pick 7 family members under the age of 10, for realism purposes.

This test will drive home the reality of what our government is discounting as merely "Dead Enders" or disgruntled people who need to get with our program.

Every person who is killed in Iraq is guaranteed to leave behind someone that will NEVER forget them or forgive their senseless death. A portion of these people will inevitably attempt to avenge their loved ones death. This "avenger" will be called a "terrorist" by the U.S. media and the people at the funeral of someone who died in a bombing, gas attack, or a plane that flies into another poignant landmark.

We don't want to die in a bombing, shooting or whatever. And neither does ANYONE else. If you don't want people to kill you or someone you love because they believe our government is "evil", don't kill someone because you think their government is "evil", especially since we are now their government.

By the way, in closing, we installed and paid for the "evil doer" our military is now trying to hunt down. Just a reminder.

The Pentagon Gets a "Great Idea"
...Then Gets Rid of It.
As I was listening to the BBC, I heard an interesting story about another of our Pentagon's brainstorms. The concept was; if there were an entity that could forecast the affects of terrorism on the stock market, they could minimize the negative economic affects. Sounds good right?

Well apparently not to even some conservative members. I didn't hear what politicians were for it or against. When I find out, I'll let you know. If you discover the breakdown, let us know. But I must say, it's scary they could mask the fact of making a huge profit on fear and sometimes death, and spin it into looking out for the better good.

It was said that they scrapped the idea after it didn't receive the welcome they had expected. Hey, that's kind of like some other situations the world is currently enveloped in. Not many people in Afghanistan or Iraq flying the American flag as of yet huh...

Oh yeh! What's going on with the Anthrax story? Has anyone heard anything beyond the admission that it was created in the U.S. and not in an "evil doers" lab? What about Osama? Isn't he planning evil as we speak, or more accurately, type? They would've been just the things the pentagon needed for their terrorism economic forecast scheme.

Now I should state, for those who think I am just babbling liberal rhetoric, I want to believe that the people who have the power and responsibility of protecting us are honest, you could take them on their word and if they couldn't tell me the truth, they would not tell me anything. History has proven, to believe everything that comes from government spokespersons, of ANY government, is like believing Bugs Bunny is going to stop by my house because I saw the episode that said he was born and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn. (The cartoon episode: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn)

I want peace and stability. I want to have representatives and government agencies that honestly and faithfully represent me / us. (democrats or republicans) But after I read their own literature, I don't see either, as a party, following their self-imposed mandates. I can name persons within the parties that seem to speak for me once in a while, though they usually aren't powerful enough to do much more that make a racket on the House or Senate floor, which sometimes gathers the ever so fleeting attention of the U.S. pubilc.

As Penny Arcade said, "I want what they promised me in 4th grade social studies, nothing more".

I realize it's naïve to think people can be rich and powerful while maintaining their understanding, and more importantly, unwavering concern for "the average citizen", as most politicians repeatedly proclaim with a gleem of patriotism in their eyes.

So I ask you, in a "democracy" where the system is alledged to be "open and fair", where does my naïveté stop and their truthfulness start? If you can't give me an answer, maybe you should figure out why not.

The Revolution Will be Webcasted...
I just came back (July 31st - 11:17pm) from a rally in Harlem at the Abyssinian Baptist Church that featured Bob Law, Ruby D, Ozzie Davis, Sonia Sonchez, Hakim, Cynthia McKinney, Calvin Butts, Gil Nobel and more! The focus was Taking Back Our Democracy. It was electrifying, like I was at something legendary...because I was.

The discussion was about reclaiming or realizing our collective strength as a way to remove the socially-imposed myth that people of color have no power and are mere spectators in their (our) own lives.

I had a great talk with someone on the train on the way home that had me pumped. Then I ran into someone I'd been trying to connect with for a while. It turned out that the person I ran into had recently met the people that I met from the event! We all promised to get in touch and I pointed them to check out our site, the one you're at now. :)-

So anyway, I decided to email all the people I met simultaneously so they could email each other. I feel it's important to facilitate communication between EVERYONE that has the slightest cohesion in motive or knowledge.

The key points the event made were great ;
1) Economic Sanctions
Don't spend your money in places that don't respect you or your culture. Some will say this is an old strategy. I feel it is a strategy that should ALWAYS be employed to make your voice count. That is how we've made the power structure pay attention in the past and allowed us to make positive strides forward. Remember, Black people, women, and other mistreated groups, represent the profit margin in many more companies than is commonly known. Use your strength and don't be a media sucker. You are honestly stronger than you know.
2) Target Voting [Power Voting]
Since such a small percentage of people actually vote, it's common sense to use our vote strategically. The government relies on your appathy so they can keep us in check...Whoever the us is that you'd like to name.
"Bush out the door in 2004" was the proclamation by Bob Law that brought the entire house to a thunderous roar.
3) Turning off disempowering media [A REAL Media Black-Out]
Most of the media aimed at the "urban market", a euphamism for Black people, isn't owned by Blacks...surprise! There's a reason why Black media in modernity has absolutely no resemblance to the powerful Black media of days gone by. So our people get, as Public Enemy said, "Blind to the facts", as a few people fill their bank accounts, and a few fools drive through the hood in their overpriced H2's with 2 billion video screens in them. Probably 95% of them won't be able to afford their pricy aquisitions 3 years from now. Now people sell Blacks an image of ourselves that many of us are less than comfortable with, said as diplomatically as possible. It's time to turn off media we find offensive, like everyone else does, and to send emails / letters and make phone calls to let the media company(ies) as well as their sponsors know we've had enough.

You'll be hearing more about this...we'll make sure of it.
As Bob Law said, "Get Ready".





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	Coming Soon Stay Tuned... feature link above site directory below WBAI 99.5 fm NYC Pacifica Radio Official Media Sponsor of s6k / Real University Madama Griffitts LLP Official Legal Council for s6k CUNY Worker Education Resource Library s6k Arts Events Links Real University About RU Real University News The Claims of the Negro (our Black history link library) Impact Unit Educational CD Distribution Program Impact Unit Community Outreach programs Info Unit Monition E-Zine Juneteenth			Click image to enlarge Images for logo provided by http://www.free-stock-photos.com/ Real University Staff Forwarded Stories, Articles and Editorials Words from Hell Darryl Hell - s6k / Real University Director cultural/political/arts A letter from the Editor of Real University News June 2004 Diploma for teen Ed bigs cave after speech By Veronika Belenkaya, Helen Peterson & Tracy Connor- Daily News Writers Tiffany Schley The Brooklyn valedictorian denied a diploma for criticizing her high school in a graduation speech is getting her sheepskin after all. After insisting Tiffany Schley, 17, apologize for her brutal honesty, education officials relented last night and said she can pick up the certificate tomorrow. "Our position is that while she should have handled the matter differently, she will receive her diploma," Education Department spokesman Stephen Morello said. "We'll also ask her if she'll come in and meet with regional district officials about our concerns and her concerns about the school." The reversal came after the Daily News exposed Tiffany's plight, unleashing a flood of phone calls from supporters and lawyers willing to help. "I got calls from teachers and from some people that I don't even know," the feisty teen said. "They said, 'I support you' and 'Stand your ground.' It made me feel proud." After hearing of the officials' change of heart, Tiffany said, "It's very nice. I'm grateful for those who stood by me and for the support the Daily News has given me." Administrators at the High School of Legal Studies in Bushwick were infuriated by Tiffany's address to the senior class, in which she spoke about overcrowding, lack of textbooks and unqualified teachers. When she went to pick up her diploma on Friday, officials refused to hand it over, threw her out of the building and demanded an apology. Tiffany said she had originally planned to give a motivational speech, focusing on her struggle to overcome a lisp with the help of her mother, Felicia. But when she realized how many of her fellow classmates were not graduating, "at the last minute, I just started typing," she said. Before the ceremony, she submitted her speech to an assistant principal, as required, but he rewrote it and gave it back to her on graduation day, she said. "He typed over it and had me glorifying the school," she said. She stuck with her first speech, but couldn't finish giving it because the assistant principal cut the microphone - before she got to her positive comments about the school. Friends and neighbors said they are solidly behind the teen, who is headed to Smith College on a full scholarship. "I think that she spoke the truth. That is why they are mad," said pal Terri Perry, 16. With Kerry Burke Originally published on June 27, 2004 Reagan's Legacy from the Perspective of His Victims If you talk to people in the average suburban enclave about Ronald Reagan's death they would say he was a good man, even if they didn't agree with his policy. If you were to ask someone in a poor neighborhood, they would discuss the effect he had on them. Iran / Contra, trickle down economics, the war on drugs, the mainstreaming of conservative & racist rhetoric, and the destruction of "working class." Under Reagan average working-class people were victimized and discarded by the harsh social climate he brought to bare. People forget, or never knew, Reagan called Nelson Mandela a "terrorist," while holding a shameless and capitalist policy of "constructive engagement" with apartheid South African companies and government. This is consistent with the actions of a person who was an informant, while he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, during the days of Joseph McCarthy and his relentless anti-Communist crusade witch hunt senate hearings. Even though he came from modest beginnings and strategically worked his way up, he seemed to forget that when advocating and creating social and economic U.S. policy. That was when the idea of "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps" became a mantra to those who felt no true responsibility to the less fortunate and the blatantly oppressed. Ideology such as this negates the fact that some people had boots with no straps or simply had no boots, which made the bootstrap theory nearly ridiculous. Now we are supposed to respectfully mourn his loss. Not a damn chance. I have had many close people die during my time on Earth, including both my parents and all the extended family known to me except two. As an honestly compassionate human, I send blessings to all whom were close to him or may mourn him. That said, I won't miss him or grieve...AT ALL. A friend sent an email that perfectly articulated what I've been thinking since his death. I'll end this with his transmission; Not since Nixon died do I feel as I do today. I am left haunted by the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War.": "And I hope that you die And your death'll come soon I will follow your casket In the pale afternoon And I'll watch while you're lowered Down to your deathbed And I'll stand o'er your grave 'Til I'm sure that you're dead" May 2004 War-zone security is a job for ... private contractors? By Clayton Collins \| Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 5.03.04 Security firms play a huge - if fuzzy - role in Iraq, second only to US, British military. But rules are few, critics say. For hundreds of foreign companies in the lucrative but perilous pursuit of business in violence-racked Iraq, security - especially the use of private forces instead of military personnel - has become an increasingly vexing issue. As violence surged to new levels last month, many companies felt a need for the help of more security personnel. But they - as well as the US government, which hires private contractors for some security roles - are finding it harder to persuade highly trained, professional guards from the private sector to put their lives at risk, observers say. The result, critics fear, may be a growing force of less disciplined, more mercenary guards thrown into a volatile situation with few rules to guide their actions. Within Congress and among security experts, concern about the proliferation of private-sector guards in Iraq is mounting. "A lot of those people are cowboys - cowboys and scary people," says Steven Schooner, a contracting expert at George Washington University Law School. In a letter last month to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 13 congressional Democrats advanced the case that war-zone security was a job for the military, not private forces. Over the past month, ever since the bodies of US contractors working for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) were hung from a bridge near Fallujah, many US and other foreign firms have shifted as much as 25 percent of their operating budgets to security, observers say. Security firms represent the third largest contributor of forces to the occupation, after the US and British militaries. "Generally, what we do is fill the gaps that the military or police departments don't have the resources to fill," says David Katz, president of Global Security Group, a consulting firm with offices in New York and Chicago and clients in Iraq. "The best people have a combination of paramilitary experience and protective experience." In Iraq, with highly trained military personnel sustaining casualties, such gap- filling may be too great a task, Mr. Katz adds. As trained contractors, who are often ex-military types, decline assignments in Iraq despite the high pay, "you may have other people filling the gap." In general, some analysts say, it is more cost effective to hire support staff - cooks and truck drivers, for example - than to have trained soldiers fill those roles. That's despite a pay scale that has spiked in Iraq. Thomas Hamill, the driver for a Halliburton subsidiary who escaped his Iraqi captors over the weekend, went to the war zone for the pay - and, even now, may stay. On the tactical security front, the number of private workers is unknown - "a problem of lack of accounting and accountability," says Peter Singer, national security fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. But he estimates that as many as 20,000 people in Iraq now handle jobs that used to be held down by military personnel. "Everything from logistics to training to security work," says Mr. Singer, regardless of whether the client is the US Defense Department, the CPA, or private firms. The problem isn't only the numbers of these private guards, it's the fuzziness of their roles, critics say. Private firms - even ones with well-credentialed staff - have already stepped well beyond the job of guarding facilities and conducting other protective services, says Mr. Schooner. "The bottom line is that contractors are fighting now," he says, citing a recent action in which security firm Blackwater USA reportedly engaged Iraqi resistance fighters to support US marines. The company "brought in their own reinforcements, they brought in helicopters, they brought in munitions," says Schooner. "We've already got a contract on the street ... to use a firm" to secure an area in Baghdad known as the green zone, he adds. "That's military, man. That's all there is to it." In the near term, Schooner says, tolerating private-sector mission creep toward soldiering in Iraq could allow Washington to "mask the human cost" of the military and reconstruction efforts, because deaths of private security guards are more difficult to monitor than are military losses. The Defense Department counters that a bright, clear line exists between security and combat operations. Private security firms the department hires are forbidden to cross it. "None of them have been hired for combat operations," says Lt. Col. Joe Yoswa, a DOD spokesman. The US government has hired private security firms for specific tasks, such as guarding top civilian administrator Paul Bremer and various facilities, which frees up soldiers for combat. Ties between the US government and specific security firms get murky, because many of the firms it hires subcontract work to others. Government contractors employ small arms and their use of force is essentially limited to self-defense under "the laws of the country," Colonel Yoswa says. "Some companies that are working for the coalition do have some limited immunities." He would not elaborate on what that means. Murkiness about the rules of engagement is what bothers critics and has the Defense Department scrambling. "There is no policy, that is why we're trying to develop one," says Glenn Flood, another Defense Department spokesman. "We want to try to get something that can clarify, because right now we're all over the place - or they're all over the place - in trying to come up with something." Singer is pleased to see more attention being paid to the roles of private companies in international conflict. Firms that did not even exist before the Iraq conflict have won major contracts there, he says. "Suddenly people on the congressional and public side are saying, 'We didn't know there were this many guys, and they're doing what?' " Singer adds. "There is now a push for regulation and accounting that ... hadn't gotten any traction before." Many People Can't Forget the Past 12,000 annual casualties by landmines 32.876 per day 1.369 per hour International Campaign to Ban Landmines Landmine Monitor Do as We Say, Not as We Do By now, most everyone has heard about the torturing in Iraq. Maybe you've even heard about the torturing in Afghanistan...if you've been paying attention to media outside of the US. Typical US media opinion seems to be aimed at a poorly trained prison staff and lack of leadership from superior officers. As usual, most of the primary issues aren't part of the general discussion. The undertrained argument is foolish to say the least. "We had no support, no training whatsoever, and I kept asking my chain of command for certain things, rules and regulations, and it just wasn't happening," Frederick said. That argument is troubling because of a factoid I heard on 60 Minutes 2 & BBC World News. Frederick was a corrections officer at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va., until he was called up for active duty, said Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Corrections Department. CBS airs alleged GIs abuse of Iraqis - David Crary Associated Press This begs the question, how could a correctional officer not know how to perform his duty as, Mmmm, a correctional officer? The correctional officer element is key to understanding this incident. These are the same problems the Ella Baker Center and others are talking about in California youth prisons; torture, brutal beatings, rape, and sensory deprivation, all the tools of the trade when you believe you have God on your side. It seems that we are mimicking the internal ills of the US society while using the standard tactics of war; humiliation and brute, unrepentant force. In a typical move, Donald Rumsfeld stated that he couldn't correctly use the word "torture" when referring to the incident. "I'm not a lawyer," he stated, but he sure acted like one. How else can you explain this behavior. The answer to why we can't find clear analysis about this behavior might be illuminated by another ongoing issue. I present to you another story of rape and torment that has been completely hidden or intentionally forgotten. Sunday, January 25, 2004 Female GIs report rapes in Iraq war 37 seek aid after alleging sex assaults by US soldiers By Miles Moffeit and Amy Herdy Denver Post Staff Writers Female troops serving in the Iraq war are reporting an insidious enemy in their own camps: fellow American soldiers who sexually assault them. At least 37 female service members have sought sexual-trauma counseling and other assistance from civilian rape crisis organizations after returning from war duty in Iraq, Kuwait and other overseas stations, The Denver Post has learned. The women, ranging from enlisted soldiers to officers, have reported poor medical treatment, lack of counseling and incomplete criminal investigations by military officials. Some say they were threatened with punishment after reporting assaults. In the context of the prior excerpt, it's not hard to imagine that it might be the culture of the military and not a few "rogue" soldiers acting out. For years our military has been portrayed as a righteous and unbeatable killing machine. Similarly, these problems are rampant in the US domestic prison system. Maybe war naturally creates of culture of molestation? (continued) All too commonly, whether implicitly or explicitly, women are the 'other'. Consequently, it becomes necessary in the eyes of those who seek Power Over to control and belittle women, and all aspects of womanhood. In many cultures, women are viewed as the possessions of their men. Therefore, when a woman is raped, it is effectively an attack on the manhood of her man. Using this reasoning, women become the targets of war in order to attack the honor of the men of a particular culture, ethnic group or country. For these reasons, rape and other forms of sexual assault against women are always a part of war and conflict. When women are assumed to be possessions that can be attacked, stolen and dishonored, they become a means of feminizing and degrading the enemy. Many types of violence against women are exacerbated by militarism, including the indirect effects on civilian populations and post-conflict situations. These include: Rape/sexual assault and harassment both within the military and perpetrated on civilian populations. Domestic violence. Prostitution, pornography and trafficking. Since the beginning of the patriarchal age, women have been considered the spoils of war, invisibilized under the euphemistic phrase, 'collateral damage'. In Rwanda, at least 250,000 women were raped in the 1994 genocide. We can not confirm the validity of the two rape photos used in this article. We ran them because the depictions are all too real, even if these are found to be simulations. We found them on the same website as the "Iraqi Torture" photos. complete photo gallery During the 1990's, more than 20,000 Muslim women were raped as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign in Bosnia. And as recently as 2003, the UN reported thousands of women and girls had been raped during fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gang rape was so widespread and brutal that doctors began classifying vaginal destruction as a combat-related crime. Many types of violence against women are exacerbated by militarism, including the indirect effects on civilian populations and post-conflict situations. These include: Rape/sexual assault and harassment both within the military and perpetrated on civilian populations. Domestic violence. Prostitution, pornography and trafficking. Since the beginning of the patriarchal age, women have been considered the spoils of war, invisibilized under the euphemistic phrase, 'collateral damage'. In Rwanda, at least 250,000 women were raped in the 1994 genocide. During the 1990's, more than 20,000 Muslim women were raped as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign in Bosnia. And as recently as 2003, the UN reported thousands of women and girls had been raped during fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gang rape was so widespread and brutal that doctors began classifying vaginal destruction as a combat-related crime. Military training frequently encourages the hatred and belittling of women. The use of gender slurs motivate men to act aggressively, both toward women within their own culture and women of the 'other' culture. Pornography and prostitution have always been unofficially sanctioned forms of entertainment for soldiers. Until 1999, pornography could easily be purchased by servicemen at US military base commissaries, which were one of the largest purchasers of hard core pornography. It's removal cost the commissaries at least $10 million. Complete story We have to demand that every US troop obey the rules of global conflict. Understand, everything that the US public would like to say is done "by the government" or "by the military" is actually done for us and paid for by us. This is a repeated theme throughout my writings because it's important to remember the responsibilities of a democracy as much as you remember its benefits. We'll see what information unfolds over the next month or so. AP Toll Says 1,361 Iraqis Killed in April washingtonpost.com By Lee Keath The Associated Press Friday, April 30, 2004; 9:49 PM BAGHDAD, Iraq - Volunteers hunting for bodies in Fallujah find a woman and her daughter in their home, killed in the siege but undiscovered for days. Chanting mourners bury two boys caught in the crossfire of a Baghdad gunfight. A morgue in Basra overflows with torn and burned bodies from a suicide bombing. Victims - young and old, women and men, insurgents and innocents - have been piling up day by day, making April the deadliest month for Iraqis - and Americans - since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago. Official and complete death counts for Iraqis nationwide are unavailable. But a count by The Associated Press found that around 1,361 Iraqis were killed from April 1 to April 30 - 10 times the figure of at least 136 U.S. troops who died during the same period. The Iraqi tally was compiled from daily records of violence reported by AP based on statements issued by the U.S. military, Iraqi police and local hospitals. The count includes civilians, insurgents and members of the Iraqi security forces, though a detailed breakdown was not possible. The Iraqi health ministry and the Red Crescent could not be reached Friday. Also, the tally is likely incomplete, because witnesses reported deaths in some attacks that could not be confirmed by a hospital, the Iraqi police or U.S. officials. The daily carnage, seen by Iraqis before their own eyes and in bloody images and photos transmitted around the country by Arab television and Iraqi newspapers, has heightened anti-U.S. sentiment across the country - even when the deaths were caused by insurgent attacks. The siege of Fallujah, where Americans unleashed their arsenal of warplanes and tanks, became a symbol of resistance that rallied many Iraqis - Shiite and Sunni - to the anti-occupation cause. And the sheer variety of violence - car suicide bombs, roadside bombs, insurgent rocket and mortar attacks on civilian neighborhoods, gunbattles - has deepened Iraqis' sense of instability and left them skeptical of U.S. promises of peace and prosperity. "For this to be happening a year after Saddam fell, Iraqis are shocked," said Mahmoud Othman, a member of the U.S.-picked Governing Council. "This shows that the United States cannot rule Iraqi properly. They thought they could do a better job than if they created an Iraqi government right from the start." The majority of Iraqi deaths likely took place in the Marine siege of Fallujah, but the toll there has been a source of controversy. The head of Fallujah's hospital, Rafie al-Issawi, said Friday his records show 731 killed and around 2,800 wounded since the Marine siege began on April 1, though he could not immediately provide a breakdown on how many were women or children. His number is factored into the AP count. The Iraqi health minister, Khudayer Abbas, gave a much lower number on April 22, saying 271 people were killed in the city. He also put the total number of Iraqi dead for the month so far, including Fallujah, at 576 - far lower than the AP count. U.S. officials have said they do not have a count of Iraqi civilians killed this month. On April 20, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said troops had killed 1,000 insurgents in April. That number was not factored into the AP count because it was not known what specific battles he was referring to. By comparison, the next deadliest month for Iraqis since the start of the U.S. occupation was March, when 301 Iraqi civilians were killed, according to the Brookings Institution, which keeps a rough but widely respected monthly tally. The Brookings number does not include insurgent or Iraqi police deaths, as the AP's April tally does. But at the most, a few dozen armed Iraqis died in March, not nearly enough to reach the number of April's dead. The April toll still falls short of the number of Iraqi deaths during the U.S. invasion. An AP survey of records from 60 of Iraq's 124 hospitals found that at least 3,240 civilians died from March 20, 2003, to April 20, 2003; the complete number during that period is sure to be significantly higher. The AP count includes single attacks that caused large numbers of casualties. In Basra, 74 people were killed when suicide attackers set off five car bombs nearly simultaneously outside police stations on April 21. A day earlier, a mortar barrage by guerrillas against Baghdad's largest prison, Abu Ghraib, killed 22 prisoners, all of them detainees held on suspicion of being members of the insurgency. It also includes U.S. reports of insurgents killed in fighting with American troops. The military said 100 Sunni guerrillas were killed in a fierce battle April 12-13 in the village of Karma, outside Fallujah, and that 64 Shiite militiamen died Monday in U.S. airstrikes and a firefight outside Najaf, south of Baghdad. But many of the deaths came in small incidents around Baghdad or scattered around the country as violence stretched from the far north to the far south. A volley of mortars hit the eastern Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City on Saturday, some hitting a market, killing six people. Another shell pierced a home, went through two floors and tore a woman sleeping in her bed to pieces. In Baghdad on Thursday, Mostapha Fadhl, 6, and Mostapha Salah, 7, were playing near a road in western Baghdad when insurgents attacked a U.S. patrol nearby. In the gunbattle that ensued, the boys were wounded and later died. The carnage in Fallujah, where U.S. Marines battled to uproot Sunni insurgents from their greatest stronghold, traumatized an entire city. Residents blame many of the deaths on Marine snipers or bombings by warplanes, including fearsome AC-130 gunships and F-18s dropping 500-pound bombs. Two football fields were turned into cemeteries, with hundreds of freshly dug graves, marked with wooden planks scrawled with names - some with names of women, some marked specifically as children. At one of the fields, an AP reporter was told by volunteer gravediggers on April 11 that more than 300 people had been buried there. On Friday, with the U.S. military trying to implement a tentative deal to lift the siege, volunteers drove around looking for the dead that never made it to hospitals or graveyards. At least eight highly decomposed bodies were loaded into station wagons, including those of a woman and her daughter found in a home in the Golan neighborhood, scene of heavy fighting this week. During the height of the siege, residents were unable to get outside, so an unknown number of dead were buried in backyards. "We buried two of my relatives at home," said Ahmed Ghanim al-Ali, a doctor at one of five local clinics in Fallujah that have been treating the wounded and counting the dead. "We cannot give the total number of martyrs." AP correspondents Abdul-Qader Saadi and Bassem Mroue in Fallujah contributed to this report. (c) 2004 The Associated Press April 2004 Black College Women Take Aim at Rappers MSN Enetrtainment News Apr 23, 2:46 PM EST Maybe it was the credit card that rap superstar Nelly swiped through a woman's backside in a recent video. Here at Spelman, the most famous black women's college in the country, a feud has erupted over images of women in rap videos, sparking a petition drive and phone campaigns. Nelly planned to visit Spelman earlier this month for a charity event enlisting students for a bone marrow registry. But the rapper canceled the appearance after hearing that a protest was in the works because of his videos — especially "Tip Drill," the one with the credit card, which also shows men throwing money between women's legs and women simulating sex acts with each other. Misogyny in pop music, especially hip-hop, has been around for years. (A Hell note) I find it odd that hip-hop is the poster child for misogyny. Hasn't anyone watched the rest of pop rock videos? At least they illude to that fact before indicting hip-hop as a lone offender. What's new, students say, is an explosion of almost-X-rated videos passed around on the Internet or shown late at night on cable channels like Black Entertainment Television, also known as BET. Never before, students say, have the portrayals of black women been so hypersexual and explicit. "It's very harsh. This is something we have to see and listen to on a daily basis," said senior Shanequa Yates. "Nelly just didn't want to come here and face the criticism for the choices he's made." Not all students agreed that rappers are to blame, or that the images were harmful to society. At a recent meeting at Spelman to decide what should be done to protest rap music, some pointed out that women in the videos know what they're doing and are paid to do it. The issue especially incensed some men studying at Morehouse, a black men's college closely affiliated with Spelman. "These are grown women. I'm putting the blame on the women," said Kenneth Lavergne, a senior who was loudly booed by the 300 or so women at the meeting. Another student, Bradley Walker from Clark Atlanta University, talked about the credit-card swiping. "Bottom line, a woman let him do that," he said. "I do think sometimes the total blame is put on artists themselves." Nelly's record label agrees. A spokeswoman for Universal Records, Wendy Washington, complained that the charity event fell apart just because women at Spelman were looking for a scapegoat. She said the feud unfairly made Nelly an example to fire up urban radio stations and music writers across the country. "He did not think it was appropriate at all for students to use that as a forum," Washington said. "I think he was profoundly frustrated. He was not the first, certainly, to do a video like that." Spelman women have low hopes of getting a change from BET, which shows bawdy videos with genitals and breasts fuzzed out on "BET Uncut" at 3 a.m. ET. The network has no plans to stop running it. "'Uncut' has developed an almost cult-like following because of the freedom of artists to express themselves," said network spokesman Michael Lewellen. "It is specifically for adults. These are music videos whose content is too strong for our day points. We exercise more scrutiny than is required." That sums up the basic message Spelman women have gotten from rappers and TV executives — if you don't like it, don't watch the videos or listen to the music. But the student activists insist the stereotypes in rap music hurt black people even if they don't listen. "Black entertainers have become the new myth makers, showing gangsters and bikini-clad women with hyperactive libidos," said Zenobia Hikes, vice president for student affairs. "For non-black children it creates a gross misrepresentation of the black experience." The next move is a petition drive, and a campaign to phone complaints to TV networks and radio stations that run offensive material. If Janet Jackson's breast sparked such a crackdown on indecency in the media, the students say, surely a woman shaking so violently her bikini bottom pops off should anger people, too. "We need to organize and say no to this stuff, this nasty, disgusting stuff," said Beverly Guy-Sheftall, director of the school's Women's Research and Resource Center. It won't be easy. "I don't see a solution as long as you have people willing to do it," said senior Nikole Howard. "You have to demand respect, but I doubt these women even thought they were being disrespected. It makes me sad, makes me realize how much work we have to do to educate women." On The Net: Spelman College: http://www.spelman.edu Nelly: http://www.nelly.net/main.html BET: http://www.bet.com Stand Up and Be Counted This Sunday in Washington D.C., women are claiming their rightful place and speaking out against a millenia of disrespect while being undervalued, human property, sex slaves, breeders and Barbie dolls. If you don't speak up now, don't say that no one listened to you. Go to feminist.org for all the info. REMEMBER...IT'S THIS SUNDAY! The Man They Hated, was Jealous of, and Ignored As I scream at the TV, once again, it becomes agonizingly clear about the 9/11 issue(s). I ask that EVERYONE watch the 2001 PBS documentary The Man Who Knew. Nothing more to say about that for now. I'll give you a chance to see it and then make my points later. A Matter of Perspective Iraq USA It feels kind of awkward to hear so many people speak about the images coming from Fallujah. For years Blacks have grown up and lived with images of people hanging from trees, bridges, overpasses, barns and custom-built structures of terror. Throughout it all, only a rare few were ever brought to justice. If you look at the above pictures, you'll notice both have jubilant people happily pointing and posing with mutilated human trophies. My son is a teenager for the pic on the left. My dad was nearly a teenager for the pic on the right. How many people would agree with me saying that we should find everyone in the picture on the right, and charge them with murder, for which there is NO statute of limitations? [scroll over to change image] I've had images like the one above, and many others like it, in my mind for years. I imagine I should be desensitized to burned and mutilated bodies being sources of family / community entertainment, since it has been an American tradition for centuries. BUT I'M NOT. All I ask is that we show the same amount of outrage for completely innocent people being brutally murdered by terrorists. American terrorists. That's right. I'm talking about the bigoted relative you don't like to talk about or aren't proud of. The one that says nigger all the time and means it. The one that says they have the answer to the "Black problem." Or the one who "just doesn't like them." Before you get weepy about the people who were killed in Fallujah. You should know that there was a number of civilian murders (collateral damage) incidents in that area, which were reported by the BBC, in the days that lead up to this seeming revenge killing. Odd how that didn't make it into any of the US mainstream media reports. Maybe people would have a different opinion if they knew people were getting revenge for a family member, friend, or even someone in their community who was killed or tortured by the occupiers. [scroll over to change image] This child is a victim of "collateral damage" paid for by our tax dollars. Do you think he, or his family if they're alive, will be able to forgive us? Or, does he think that he's "better off?" WE ARE ALL OUTRAGED DAMNIT! The only person that will be better off is Mother Earth when we finally, and I have no doubt that we will, blow ourselves into oblivion. Until that point, flawed as I may be, I am dedicated to making the parts of the Earth that I come in touch with more humane and culturally aware. March 2004 U.S. Jobs Outsourcing Study: Behind The Numbers I was logging onto my Hotmail and was bombarded by a news article that had me screaming. So, instead of screaming at my computer, that hasn't done anything to me, I began my research. Here's the beginning of the article. A study released today by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) says that outsourcing white-collar jobs has thrown some Americans out of work, but predicts that the trend will ultimately lower inflation, create jobs and boost productivity in the United States. The ITAA said the migration of tech jobs to low-paid foreigners has eliminated 104,000 American jobs, nearly 3% of the positions in the U.S. technology industry. But that's nothing, the ITAA said, compared with the home-brewed dot-com meltdown that has eliminated more than twice that many jobs since 2000. "The myth is that we've started this long decline into the midnight of the technology work force,'' ITAA president Harris Miller said. "This report shows that, assuming the recovery continues, the number of IT jobs will actually increase.'' The first thing I wanted to know was, who is the ITAA, and even more telling, who is their board of directors chair. This is what I found. Chairman of ITAA Board of Directors, Mr. Roy Haggerty is President & CEO of Ajilon LLC. It seems he would have a vested interest in international jobs outsourcing. This is from the Ajilon website; "Ajilon is the global leader in managed services, consulting and specialty staffing, with 450 offices operating in 17 countries, in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Ajilon specializes in several industries: Information Technology, Communications, Engineering, Finance and Accounting, Legal, Office, Sales and Marketing." Can a company that has a B.O.D. Chair who is the CEO and President for a company that's mission is to outsource the global workforce, for mega-millions in profit, produce a study that accurately analyzes outsourcing? As I searched further, I found an article from the McKinsey Quarterly on CNET News.com. Here's an excerpt. Cost savings For every dollar of spending on business services that moves offshore, US companies save 58 cents, mainly in wages. Offshore services are identical to those they replace--and at times better because offshore workers, enjoying higher-than-usual wages, tend to be motivated. Reduced costs are by far the greatest source of value creation for the US economy. New revenue Indian companies that provide offshore services need goods and services themselves, ranging from computers and telecommunications equipment to legal, financial, and marketing expertise. Often, they buy these from US companies. We estimate that for every dollar of corporate spending that moves offshore, suppliers of offshore services buy an additional 5 cents worth of goods and services in the United States. Exports from the United States to India stood at $4.1 billion in 2002, compared with less than $2.5 billion in 1990. I found this portion interesting. "Indian companies that provide offshore services need goods and services themselves, ranging from computers and telecommunications equipment to legal, financial, and marketing expertise. Often, they buy these from US companies." It is true that "US companies" see a clear profit. And I'm sure it's also true that Indian companies require and purchase goods and services from US companies. But if the services that are being sought after are actually being produced by outsourced, offshore workers, how does that benefit the US population as a whole or deal with the overwhelming US unemployment problem. Earlier in the article was this. "Widely cited figures predict that by 2015, roughly 3.3 million US business-processing jobs will have moved abroad. As of July 2003, around 400,000 jobs already had. Other research suggests that the number of US service jobs lost to "offshoring" will accelerate at a rate of 30 percent to 40 percent annually during the next five years. Vast wage differentials are prompting companies to move their labor-intensive service jobs to countries with low labor costs: For instance, software developers, who cost $60 an hour in the United States--the country that does the most offshoring of jobs--cost only $6 an hour in India, the biggest market for offshore services." This is the kicker. "Some 70 percent of jobs in the United States are in service industries such as retailing, catering and personal care. This work, by its very nature, cannot be moved abroad." Now we've hit pay-dirt. Out of the people you know that are caterers or work in one of the zillion malls of the country, how many have health insurance and a solid living wage? Since the mid 80's, we've lost millions of jobs that had benefits and wages that we could raise families on and they've been replaced by "new economy" jobs. You may remember the joke during the Clinton administration, "They've created millions of new jobs...and I have two of them." To me, this conversation is being discussed from the wrong direction. If the only concern is the fluctuation of the availability of white-collar jobs and bottom-line company profit, who will speak for the millions of blue-collar jobs around the country that will never be replaced. Throughout the country there are complete ghost towns that were once vibrant places where people raised families. I'm sure that you can name a few, wherever you live. I'll end with this. If we continue to have "representatives" that either do not currently, or never had to, live on the wages the bottom 60% of the US population does, I'm afraid we've not seen the bottom. In twenty years we very well may look back on these times and wonder why we, in a democracy where we have the alleged power to change negative governmental policy, allowed this to happen. Here are some additional resources to help you understand this issue Poverty Rate Rises, Household Income Declines, Census Bureau Reports - Press release September 24, 2002 - from the US Census Bureau Website Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed; A scathing investigation that gives you a real look at those great service jobs touted by the government and conservative economists. The complete CNET article I cherrypicked from to write this story. The original story that I saw on MSN Walking a Mile in Their Shoes Imagine if you will, it's 2027. The value of the dollar continued to decline, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 49%, and there are 11.7 million people incarcerated in US prisons and jails. In contrast, the European Union became the second largest market behind the then powerful 15 year old P.A.S. (Pacific Allied States). The leaders of Germany, China, Britain, and India, whom are all women, had decided that the US is incapable of treating its population of females and communities of color respectfully. By 2020, the US was the only major country to not have had a female leader. After repeated UN attempts to bring the US into the twenty-first century in 2026, the UN was moved from New York City to Switzerland and numerous resolutions were passed condemning the US. China demanded action and Britain agreed that force should be used to remove the current US government. Though the US public demanded a change in its government, the government refuses to acquiesce. In 2027 the UN votes unanimously to use force. New Jersey is the first state to be bombed because of its strategic military interests. Unfortunately the military bases are placed in locations among the civilian population and there are reports of collateral damage. Two images are circulated on the Internet of collateral damage, which UN forces refuse to comment on. [see circulated Internet images 1 - 2] As the fighting intensifies, more images of collateral damage appear on US media while there is a media blackout of images throughout the rest of the world. Civilian deaths are either minimized or denied by UN forces. [see blackedout images 1 - 2] The US threatens to use nuclear weapons as the UN forces near Washington DC. The UN escalated its attack and an untold amount of US civilians are rumored dead, though the UN refuses to conduct a casualty count. [see independent photos of the conflict 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6] The rest of the world protests the amount of civilian deaths after Washington DC has fallen, while the UN demands the US population will have a long-term benefit from a restructured government. Returning to reality and 2004, you may never have to know what it is like to walk in the shoes of the Iraqi population, for which you should praise the spritis for sparing you from having to. As you know, the images you've seen are from Iraq and are BY NO MEANS RARE. There are thousands of pics like this, that you'll never see in the US media. These photos are from the website gallery of legendary journalist and war reporter, Robert Fisk. Though these images are harsh and I am on the verge of tears while I type, I ask you to closely look at each of the photos in the link below. Imagine that each image you see is in a town that you grew up in, depicts friends and family you care about, went to school with and love. No political statement here. I merely think it's extremely important to understand what "shock and awe" really looks like...because WE (each and every american) paid for it. May the spirits forgive us all. [photo gallery of Iraqi civilian casualties] Under God, Completely Divided, With Liberty and Justice...For Those who Can Afford it. Anyone who believes that the US is honestly a " Nation under God," should really look at its culture. I ask you to look at the top 10 TV shows, music videos, magazines, and movies. As the story goes, "God" said; "Psalms 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." "Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." [source: topical-bible-studies.org] Now unless you want to cherrypick which parts of the bible you want to believe and those you can "righteously" ignore, which if you are a true Christian you can't, the US masses have definitely decided to ignore these passages in their daily lives. To drag out God as an example to make yourself righteous when it's convenient is worse, in terms of Christianity I would think, then someone who states that there is no God, because they use the Lords name in vein and bare false witness. I am hardly a bible-thumping Christian, nor do I believe that Christianity is the light. I see myself, and am commonly perceived as, as a pretty decent human, which still won't get me into heaven by the way. The current fight about "Under God," in the Pledge of Allegiance seems disingenuous. How could it be a country under God when there is very little in the daily behaviors of the majority of Americans that resembles such? Is there ANYONE who believes that EVERY American has the same rights under the law, regardless of financial status, and is treated as such? What as a society are we "indivisible" about? Lastly, please get back to us if you can find that the daily habits of the US population correlate with honestly being a country "Under God." *Why are You Still* Fighting Over Your Ovaries? I am always amazed at the rights we as people have to fight for and who we have to beg and fight against for them. The fight for women to have complete control of their own bodies is thousands of years old. It's also a sad reality that this struggle will be fought for the foreseeable future. It seems the male dominated world would blow the world up before it would decide to share it with its female counterparts. In full disclosure, I as a Black male can comprehend their plight, although I only have an academic comprehension of their day-to-day safety issues and reproductive rights. Since women are the majority of the US population, why can't they have the rights they so rightfully deserve. In my opinion, the central issue is they have been socially indoctrinated to define themselves as individuals and not as a group. This is clearly seen in the 1800's during the Suffragette Movement. The women's movement was, and still is, separated by class, ethnicity, socialization, and race. This all but guarantees they won't have the collective focus required to achieve their objectives. Unfortunately this follows the same patterns of any group that has been considered less-than-equal to the White heterosexual, European male. The articles below (sent to us by Elanit K.) explain the reproductive issues that women in the United States currently face. I've also included a number of links to further elucidate the issue from a global and historical aspect. Ashcroft Terrorizes New York Doctors Justice Dept. Seeks Hospital's Records of Some Abortions More links on women's reproductive rights and issues For historical info on chemical birth control and related issues National Organization for Women NARAL Pro-Choice America Center For Reproductive Rights National Women's Law Center International Planned Parenthood Federation Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights Women's Rights are Human Rights Women's Health Project The UN-Equinox Experience** As Spring approached, I was asked to perform at the United Nations to celebrate the Equinox. Let's fast forward through the excitement of performing there, preparing for it, and psyching myself up for it. Let's get straight to the point. I, and four other performers, DIDN'T GET IN!!!!! The UN was, and is, on high alert. We were told over and over, "No official authorization, no entry..." Now, I understand they have to be cautious. But we were supposed to be on the artist / performer list. As a number of people walked in, I told them we were part of the entertainment they were supposed to be experiencing. I was told days later that there were a number of people who weren't asked for ID, that were allowed in. The most aggravating aspect of this is seeing the "security" apparatus in action. It seems haphazard at best and ridiculously inept and worst. Some of you may remember my article Happy New Fear, which explained my experience of working at a theater in the middle of Times Square, NYC and witnessing the "security" protocols executed from the inside. Both experiences have left me less than comfortable that these people can honestly protect us. I've seen enough clumsily executed security for "high-value targets" to feel my assertions are valid. As I am typing this, I'm watching a TV interview on Nightline with four 9/11 widows. They are discussing their 2-year fight to get the leaders of this country to live up to their responsibilities, find out why so many security failures occurred in such a short period of time, ask all the questions that need to be asked, and then act accordingly. (Before today's session, they were told by Ex. New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, who heads the 9/11 Commission, that the commission was instructed not to ask certain questions. Hmm...) There's a reason why I mentioned the 9/11 widows. They have the same assessments of the government as I, and many others, have. (Click here to go to C-Span's website, look in the LATEST VIDEO column and click on the 9/11 hearing to watch for yourself.) It seems the government is unable or unwilling to honestly investigate itself the same way it would investigate the average American citizen. The people who comprise our government, especially the executive branch, pride themselves on being God-fearing Christians. So, it seems our only solace is that they will have a crapload of things to answer for when they meet their maker...before God informs them they will have to get on the "down" elevator and won't be staying "upstairs." They seem to have a myriad of good reasons to be fearing God. February 2004 A Question of Coincidence As I have placed my efforts into exploring the truth about the US and the world its a part of, I've wondered who would care and would it bring the attention from people who make the image of the American dream the nightmare (for many who look like me) its been for hundreds of years. I've read many released FBI Counterintelligence documents that focus on infiltrating and disrupting Black rights groups. The history for this is age old and can be traced back to the "house nigger" syndrome, which is achieved by supplying a benefit to someone who will be a covert disruptive asset. The FBI is also well-known for activist surveillance and personal disruptive tactics to create fear and intimidation. So I present this to you to ask the eternal question, when does the negative forces of this country become interested in someone and what tactics would they use? When I began producing forums and installations in the heart of Times Square NYC, I realized that someone might rather I place my efforts in preaching only to the converted. I've had varied degrees of success in gathering audiences for the indoor events. On the other hand, by the nature of having an installation with audio to the street, you are reaching tens of thousands daily. This is where I believe we would come onto someone's radar. Coincidence #1-Overeager camera bugs) When installing for a forum (The Bridge #1 2003) a "family" (father, mother, teenager, baby in carriage) walked by and snapped a picture. The element that made this strange was that the "father" snapped the picture without anyone in the family, including him, looking toward the window. All of them continued to look straight forward. The person assisting me had also saw this, so it wasn't just my overactive imagination. Coincidence #2-Terror on the G) During my Black History installation February 2004, I was heading into the city. While waiting for the "G" train I had an alarming experience. An overweight white man circled the bench I was sitting on, doing some ridiculous rap to himself with no headphones on, and all the while he was playing with a knife with the blade half open. I kept my eye on him because I didn't want this freak stabbing me in the back. He couldn't see me eyes because I was wearing mirrored sunglasses. After circling me enough he snapped the blade shut directly in front of me as if to make sure I was aware he had it. I walked to the opposite end of the platform where others were until the train came. When the train arrived I entered the rear of the first car. He entered the front of the same sparsely filled car. He proceeded walk past several empty seats to sit directly across from me. He continued his "rapping," opened his bag and began digging through it. He exclaimed "Ah!," as if he had finally found what he'd been looking for. He pulled a case from his bag, opened it, revealed its contents and looked directly into my eyes. It was a big-ass straight razor! (By the way, there's no such thing as a small straight razor in a situation such as this!) I quickly began to think how to get my bag in front of me to block an attack. We then entered the next subway station, where I exited the train. He never stopped looking at me from the time he took out the razor until the train left the station...without me. Coincidence #3-A question of Insanity) A woman walked into my office and told me a disturbed story about he father being responsible for shooting JFK, how she thought I was the only person who could help her, and how she needed me to believe her. She seemed more serious than two heart attacks. It was cool that my coworker was in the room with us to witness this. She went on for nearly 15 minutes before I could tell her that I needed to get to work, but would make time to talk to her again after the weekend on Mon. She stated, "that's too late," as if she'd be dead by then. I followed with an offer to meet on Sun before the window performance. She then asked, "How do I know that you're not setting me up?" I said that I had no intention of setting her up (turning her into the police or something). She only seemed extremely disturbed, not a danger to anyone. She left and moments later a very calm man came in asking a number of questions about the motives behind my activism. The thing that was strange with him was being less then clear about where he worked and was from when I inquired. I have no idea whether any of these things are connected. I guess we'll know 5 or 10 or 50 years from now. In any case. Like Swan said in the movie The Warriors, when he was alerted about being followed, he looked over at the people following him and said, "Now they know I know it." This doesn't mean I think there's someone behind every tree. Or, that the many coincidences, of which I highlighted three, are anything more than coincidence. I just think we ALL should pay close(r) attention to the "coincidences" in our lives. Check out this link to see some "coincidences" other people have had in the past. I realize that "they" probably have no interest in myself nor the people I work with...but what if they did? January 2004 Happy New Fear My New Years celebration also served as a special look at the continual assertion about having the most stringent security in Times Square, NYC. I didn't, of course, want anything to happen. I also have to question what "...Go about your life as normal...be vigilant..." means. As some of you know, I am technical director for a theater on 42nd st in Times Square. Our complex is between Broadway and 6th Ave. This gave me an inside look at the NYPD security apparatus to honestly assess it. I preface this with the understanding that, if there is a continued threat, I hope that the police does its job and makes its best effort to protect us. It is with that in mind that I file this report. Every primary NYC news outlet announced 4pm as the time the Times Square area would be secured. 4pm came and went without any notice from the NYPD. I asked an officer in front of our flagship venue when the block would be locked down. "8 or 9pm," he stated. There were NO official passes supplied to businesses to enter the restricted public areas. We had these ridiculously copied sheets of paper that were our passes. Anyone could have copied hundreds of them. When I had to show my "pass," I told the officer, "Here's this thing, and here's the keys to open the doors to most of the buildings on this block." He was only concerned with me showing the pass. I saw people with huge bags walking in and out of buildings, and through Times Square all day. If someone were planning something, it seemed that they would simply have gone in earlier and still have the chance of killing tens of thousands. This is what makes me mad. I know that they had to do something. But, even as the peaceful and harmless person I am, it didn't seem to me or any of our staff that we were safer. I have no solutions to protecting the entire US from people who, for whatever reason, might do harm to US citizens inside or outside our borders. I do know that if the average person could see extreme faults in the US security strategies, I'm sure that a group of people who really want to do something, like Usama Bin Laden who had terrorist training from the CIA, sadly, would be able to. The lack of sophisticated weapon systems demands that they use non-traditional efforts. Remember, the tact of so-called "terrorists" is to hit you when you're NOT expecting it, with something you hadn't expected to get hit with. By the way, I do have one solution. If our government (meaning you and me, because the United States government is "...of by and for the people...") could stop treating everyone else on the Earth as if they were our chattel servants, people might not give their lives to supply karma to a country that has far too much blood on its hands. On a closing note. Did anyone see the hats that were passed out, free-of-charge, to the public in Times Square. If the answer to the first question was yes, then the obvious follow-up would be, what was the color? Give up? ORANGE! Why the hell did they give out ORANGE top hats, who the hell is the "they" that passed them out, and who paid for them? (update: It turns out Discover Card paid for the hats. Then the question becomes, why the hell did they pick orange? For info click here) Was this some type of bizzare psychological operation using the party-goers in Times Square as a reminder of our then "Code Orange" status. Or, was it a message to the world, that we can party in "Orange" and we're not afraid. (update: I guess it was just a bizzare boardroom choice.) Click here to read an assessment of the Iraq situation from Milt Bearden. (a 30-year veteran in the C.I.A.'s Directorate of Operations, served as senior manager for clandestine operations. He was in charge of the training of the Mujahedeen - Usama Bin Laden 1986 to 1989. This was when Ronald Reagan called the Mujahedeen "Freedom Fighters.") From everyone at s6k we wish you peace and blessings. "Gay" Doesn't Always Mean Happy I was told by a friend the other day that gay culture has been so mainstreamed that he thought that people needed to move beyond the topic. Then, on new years day during an NPR broadcast, it was discussed whether the success of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" meant the mainstreaming of gay culture. This installment is a reminder that we have a LONG way to go before we can consider the battle for a racist / sexist / homophobia free society won. An acquaintance of mine and two of his friends were attacked in the East Village of NYC during Christmas weekend. They were saying good-bye and kissing when a carload of guys drove by and yelled "fagot." This was followed by my acquaintance I'll call "SB" blowing them a kiss. I see that as an equivalent action to putting a flower in the barrel of a soldiers gun. The car skidded to a stop and they poured out of the car. A second car joined the malay. "SB" was roughed up, but his two friends were brutally beaten. If you could believe it, his is is where things get sketchy. "SB" ran to the local police precinct to report what had happened. After he told his story and pleaded for help, the "police officer" sifted through some papers on his desk . He pulled a Chinese restaurant menu out of the pile, turned it over, and wrote "SB's" name down. With this he stated, "We'll get right on it." The idea that there are jackasses that continue to see " queer bashing" as a sport is a sad commentary on our "modern" society, especially in an area that is supposed to be the haven for personal freedom. But, the sad reality of the NYPD making arbitrary choices on who should get justice and who doesn't makes me insane. If the "SB" was a preppy for the Upper West Side reporting that he and his friends had been brutally beaten by two carloads of blacks, I would bet my last dollar that they would've picked up every person who remotely fit the profile. Justice isn't honestly justice if it doesn't apply to everyone. Hopefully I'll hear that something was done to rightfully deal with the issue. If we don't fight for the rights of everyone, especially those in groups other than our own, when it comes to (y)our own rights, don't expect others to care about them. December 2003 Combing the Wool out of (Y)our Eyes At a B-Day/holiday party, a conversation with a friend posed a number of interesting questions. "Why do we know every detail about Arafat, Arial Sherone, Saddam...but nothing about Brazil, the hemispheres 2nd largest democracy or India (The worlds largest democracy with 1,049,700,118 people-2003 census)...?," he asked? I couldn't get that out of my head since. I decided to find an introduction to each. So, here we go... Brazil in overview A map of Brazil Bio & info about Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Amnesty International in Brazil Memorandum to the Brazilian President on the occasion of the visit of Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General, to Brazil November 2003. India in overview Map of India India historical timeline India historical overview Thanx D, now I'll pay closer attention to that which has been hidden in plain sight. In the future, I'll find more info about these and other governments we should know (more) about. Next stop Columbia. By the way, how is the millions of dollars that the U.S. sent to fund Plan Columbia being spent? After 60 minutes did their story on Plan Columbia and its effects on the Columbian population, why has there been no visible follow-up in the mainstream media. When I say "visible" coverage, I mean coverage similar to that of the kiss between Madonna/Britney Spears or Michael Jackson's sorted "bed partners." It's time to take off the sheep-suit and act like you live in a democracy...ask more questions. "It's not that we have all the answers, it's that help you find better questions" Abstinence sample 1987 They "Got Him"...and Now What? All today (Dec 14) I listened and watched the news about Saddam's capture. Strangely absent from the discussion was the thousands of Iraqi dead...killed since their "liberation." The spin was, the Democratic Presidential candidates will have a tough time now that G.W. has accomplished a major part of his objective. Question 1: Is there a single rational person that thought he wouldn't eventually be caught? Question 2: How does this deal with any of the issues that derive from the occupation of Iraq, like Halliburton overcharging over $60 million for services, innocent people being killed, the lack of cultural understanding exhibited by the "liberators", or the lack of trust in the "liberators" motives? One of the most telling statements came from Casper Weinberger, who was Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan, when he was interviewed by the BBC, which aired on NPR (Dec 14/03 - afternoon) to discuss the Saddam issue. He said that now we might find out how Saddam was supported by the French and the Germans and to what extent. The interviewer then probed further and asked if Mr. Weinberger were concerned about what Saddam would say about the support the U.S. gave during the eighties, and possibly before, which were the years that most of the atrocities now cited by the pro-war camp occured. It was then that Casper responded with a very confusing statement. "Saddam is a ruthless dictator...he is an habitual liar...you can't trust anything that comes out of his mouth," said Weinberger. This demands the question, how could Saddam be a source for wrongdoing by the French and the Germans, while being a completely fraudulent source of whether the US has any culpability in Saddam's rise to power? Anyone whose heard the many cries of people who've lost loved ones at the hands of the "liberators," has to feel these people now require liberating from the "liberators." I ask you to watch the PBS - Frontline program Truth, War and Consequences. (Click here to watch the program online) When you see the segment on Task Force 121, the people who had the job of going after Saddam, you will see them kill an innocent person, who was standing merely feet away from the cameraperson, with no justification. The cold way the military addressed the issue, as well as the many questions raised when Iraqis were interviewed, hopefully will give you a snapshot of the issues that aren't part of the typical "We're there to liberate them" conversation. If this is truly a democracy and you believe in it, it is your right and duty to seek all the information available about what our government does in our name. It's better for you to ask and know now, than to be forced to inquire or assume after someone has executed an alleged act-of-revenge for something our government has done. DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT. It's time you played. Additional information on the Iraq occupation can be found at: occupationwatch.org November 2003 Happy Thankstaking As I try to wrap my head around the myth of Thanksgiving, a thought continues to invade my mind. What are the chances this myth is no different than those of Santa Claus, Halloween or Valentines Day? When I mentioned the fact that this "holiday" is predicated on a gathering of people, of which one group has been torturously, genocidally, and systematically exterminated, I was told by a friend, "Chill out. It's Thanksgiving." Moments later she gave me her phone because she was talking to a friend who was making the same point I had previously made. A day later, a dear friend sent me an email that basically answered it all for me. For a version of "Thanksgiving" based on reports from colonial officials to their superiors and the king in England, and the private papers of Sir William Johnson, British Indian agent for the New York colony for 30 years in the mid-1600s, click here. Thanks Sheldon. Lock, Stock and Two Lying Leaders The plot thickens, while the poor people who went in the military for the chance to have an opportunity die. After the WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) was proved to be fallacious, it's now shifted to "...get them on their land instead of ours." They don't seem as comfortable now and their stories aren't as cohesive as they were in spring of 2003. The most blaring example was the Jessica Lynch story. The timing of the revelation of her alleged rape, made-for-TV movie, and exclusive WABC-TV interview was questionable at best. The shock came when I actually tortured myself by watching the teledrama AND the interview. As I watched the teledrama, I knew most of the real story from reports from the Pacifica Radio Network and other things I'd read. So, while each little lie was being told, I felt like I was watching a digital Nuremberg rally. I say that because the goals of those rallies were to indoctrinate the German masses around whatever the objectives of the state were. The Jessica ploy actually worked to indoctrinate tens of millions simultaneously, many more than could've ever fit in a stadium. From the "heroic" battle to the "evil" doctors who dropped her onto the table to the only people who treated her properly were Iraqi women to the Iraqi "gentleman" who called for the US to come to the rescue, ALL FALSE. The amazing thing is that it would be Jessica, herself, that would correct the story that permeated the mainstream media for over 7 months. In her interview they showed the actual placement of the people in her transport vehicle, the fact of her gun jamming, she NEVER shot anyone, she was treated excellently by the entire hospital staff, she was almost killed when the Iraqi doctors tried to return her to the U.S. forces, and a few other corrections that don't come to mind right now. It's stunning that the mainstream media investigation seemed to stop with stating that was Jessica upset that she was used as a device of the administration. Shouldn't the questions be; How did the story go from the truth all the way to the "Rambo" version served up by the administration and the mainstream press, who is responsible for the blatant distortion, and why did they have to lie? If we don't ask these questions now, in a hundred years (if that's even an option) the American public will have to answer for being sheep now. September 2003 *He Had* a Dream 40 years later people seem to have all but forgotten the first two-thirds of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The omitted element of the speech addresses the many promises from the U.S. government to treat Black people as human beings. The first half of King's speech - "Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights." Click here for complete speech text** Now with King safely dead, his message has been reduced to one merely of integration instead of the realization of promised justice. At 4am EST (9/01/03) the BBC had a roundtable discussion with Roy Innis from C.O.R.E. (Congress Of Racial Equality) and a Black Bishop from the UK to debate the modern relevance of the speech. This was flawed from the start. They just babbled on about how much Black's are seen more frequently in positions that were previously unattainable and how Blacks need to stop "being a victim" and take charge of their own destinies. Some of this is clearly true. We simultaneously can't ignore the multitude of current federal investigations in housing, job, judicial, and educational discrimination that remind us that we still have a long way to go. It's easy for them to forget the centuries old epidemic of state-sanctioned brutality against Blacks. Instead of telling Blacks to "take charge..." maybe it would be more culturally advantageous to tell the people in power and on top that "the Black jellybeans" are sick and tired of being glued to the bottom of the bowl. As long as the person who's on the other side of the desk maintains the opinion that Blacks are somehow less than worthy when you are going for a job, getting a mortgage, or getting an apartment, it has little relevance how Blacks feel about themselves. It's simple. When someone was picked on in school, did it matter what they thought of themselves? Did their newfound self-empowerment stop the bullies from harrassing or alienating them? NO! It made others more determined to break their spirit and castigate them more intensely. Keep dreaming... The Way things Were It seems that "shrub" Bush is very likely to experience the same fate of his father. Now that many of warnings which came from the protestors have been proven true by history, Bush's administration is scrambling to create a feasible defense for his policies or lack there of. Even people who once took Bush "on his word" are now rethinking their positions. The media that have seemingly refused to ask relevant questions or investigate many of the far flung statements that have come from the administration are now forced to ask pertinent questions. Military families and friends are no longer accepting the "...we're bringing democracy to Iraq (Afghanistan)" anymore. They want to know why their kids are in harms way, missing limbs, injured, mentally stressed to the breaking point, and being used as fodder for a president who's insensitive enough to say, "...bring it on" in the midst of increasing attacks against the occupations. Bush has been arguing his case stating, "I've laid out the facts" in respect to justifying his hard-to-believe conflicting statements. But, no one who's taken the time to follow this issue (to the same extent that others follow the baseball season) can come to no other conclusion than the administration has something else in mind other than what's being stated. Like "Ma" on the Golden Girls said, "I can't put my finger on it. But I know if I did I'd have to wash it". History is almost always the presenter of truth. I can wait... The EPA and their lapse in truth telling When the WTC turned into a smoldering 30-story mound, I was scared sh-tless because of what I saw coming down the pike. My friend lived, and still lives, only a few blocks away from "ground zero". She told me what the EPA said at meetings, in information they provided, and in the on-site testing/clean-up. I knew they were lying. They mentioned noting about the myriad of toxic gases released into the air that derived from tens of thousands of incinerated computers, copiers and ink, plastic chairs, and ceiling tiles. Now combine that with the laundry list of toxic chemicals brought to our attention from "rogues" within the EPA who could not in good conscience sign off on or ignore the overt deception of the public. Here is a list of WTC toxins you should think about; Building Materials - 1.2 million tons Jet Fuel - thousands of gallons Dioxins Mercury from computers and light bulbs Asbestos - 300-400 tons Concrete - 424,000 tons Fiberglass Lead from 50,000 Personal Computers - 4 lbs. ea. - 200,000 lbs Main Frame Computers - 300 Wire and cables - Hundreds of miles Transformer Oil contaminated with PCB's - 130,000 gallons From Plastics (still looking for amounts) Polyvinyl Chloride Copper Furans polybrominated diphenyl ethers Small hazardous waste generating entities Click here for more info about the toxic truth of the WTC disaster NRDC has estimated that there were approximately 50,000 pc's in the World Trade Center with 4 lbs of lead each. 50,000 X 4 = 200,000 lbs of lead just from the pc's. Office furniture, fabrics and human remains were transformed into dust in the time it took for the two towers to fall. Rescue workers report that they didn't find a single computer, desk or chair. Fallout: The Hidden Environmental Consequences of 9/11 By Juan Gonzalez, In These Times September 10, 2002 We've all been had. Peaceness.. August 2003 Can justice be found here? It seems that everyday there is either another story about police misconduct in the media and or I have to hear about something the police did on the train or while I'm walking home. ANYONE can see the police driving through red lights, when this is STRICTLY ILLEGAL. (Police MUST follow ALL laws of traffic unless they are in an emergency situation with their lights on. This DOES NOT include wanting to get through a light quicker and turning on their lights just to go through the light.) Any of you that have heard our Operation: Impact educational CD Distribution series knows that there is a definite historically documented pattern of police being less than protectors of the public. As always when discussing police misconduct...the caveat. I, for the most part, have a great relationship with police officers. I see them in the subways, usually, being helpful and maintaining a positive presence, which makes people comfortable and safe from harm, especially women. That said, I also see police leering at women, laughing at people that don't resemble their version of "Joe and Jane American", speeding through dark narrow streets in specific neighborhoods (with no emergency lights on), busting kids in Brooklyn and Harlem for smoking pot on the street-but not those whom are smoking pot on the streets in Tribecca or on the Upper West Side, being busted for lying under oath with NO PUNISHMENT, and creating an "us and them" psychology that is antithetical to creating a relationship of respect between the public and the police. Until the police stop the macho crap and begin acting, no, BEHAVING like they advertise, they will continue to be seen and treated like the enemy by those whom are not protected but affected by them. Since I am older and not stereotypically dangerous looking (meaning I don't wear a hoodee or sportsgear), they leave me alone, except for the giggles. But I see them continually exerting their dominance over those who THEY deem dangerous in inappropriate and psychologically soul crushing ways. For instance, there were some teens that walked on the train and the police in the subway car made a point to let the teens know they were being watched. As soon as the police got off the train, the teens went ballistic, freaking out over the police's behavior. After they calmed down, they seemingly resumed their discussion about the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) issue. They had obviously been talking about this prior and were interrupted by an example of exactly what the U.S. government is doing with others, on a larger scale, around the world. Some people are considered "evil doers" and treated as such, whether they are or not, by those who end up doing evil in the name of some demented version of "justice", which brings me to my larger point. The U.S. government and the public by consent (forcefully taken or willingly given), are currently KILLING people everyday in the name of justice and freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. The government says the violence and negative attitudes of the Iraqi people is the result of "Deadenders" that are sympathetic to Saddam's defunct cause. A question. If someone killed your daughter, sister, mother, father, friend, or anyone close to you because they believed your family member or friend was an "evil doer"or connected to one, would you be able to embrace them? I think not. Real University recently screened the documentary "Afghanistan- From Ground Zero to Ground Zero", which was created by DCTV (Downtown Community Television NYC). It is the story of an American-Afghani woman who went to Afghanistan to see what happened to her family after the 9-11 retaliation bombing. She found that 19 members of her family had been killed in Allied bombing raids, and she wanted to know why. Her family had NO terrorists in it, just people trying to escape the wrath of the U.S. and allied military. I end with a bit of homework. - Take out your family album - Get a roll of safety tape (that won't damage you pics) - Then make tape "X's" over the faces of 19 people in it They can be the ones you don't like, but I doubt you'll be able to count that many family members that you wouldn't mind seeing blown to bits in horrible ways, where they have to sometimes watch the others die. - You must also pick 7 family members under the age of 10, for realism purposes. This test will drive home the reality of what our government is discounting as merely "Dead Enders" or disgruntled people who need to get with our program. Every person who is killed in Iraq is guaranteed to leave behind someone that will NEVER forget them or forgive their senseless death. A portion of these people will inevitably attempt to avenge their loved ones death. This "avenger" will be called a "terrorist" by the U.S. media and the people at the funeral of someone who died in a bombing, gas attack, or a plane that flies into another poignant landmark. We don't want to die in a bombing, shooting or whatever. And neither does ANYONE else. If you don't want people to kill you or someone you love because they believe our government is "evil", don't kill someone because you think their government is "evil", especially since we are now their government. By the way, in closing, we installed and paid for the "evil doer" our military is now trying to hunt down. Just a reminder. The Pentagon Gets a "Great Idea" ...Then Gets Rid of It. As I was listening to the BBC, I heard an interesting story about another of our Pentagon's brainstorms. The concept was; if there were an entity that could forecast the affects of terrorism on the stock market, they could minimize the negative economic affects. Sounds good right? Well apparently not to even some conservative members. I didn't hear what politicians were for it or against. When I find out, I'll let you know. If you discover the breakdown, let us know. But I must say, it's scary they could mask the fact of making a huge profit on fear and sometimes death, and spin it into looking out for the better good. It was said that they scrapped the idea after it didn't receive the welcome they had expected. Hey, that's kind of like some other situations the world is currently enveloped in. Not many people in Afghanistan or Iraq flying the American flag as of yet huh... Oh yeh! What's going on with the Anthrax story? Has anyone heard anything beyond the admission that it was created in the U.S. and not in an "evil doers" lab? What about Osama? Isn't he planning evil as we speak, or more accurately, type? They would've been just the things the pentagon needed for their terrorism economic forecast scheme. Now I should state, for those who think I am just babbling liberal rhetoric, I *want* to believe that the people who have the power and responsibility of protecting us are honest, you could take them on their word and if they couldn't tell me the truth, they would not tell me anything. History has proven, to believe everything that comes from government spokespersons, of ANY government, is like believing Bugs Bunny is going to stop by my house because I saw the episode that said he was born and grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn. (The cartoon episode: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn) I want peace and stability. I want to have representatives and government agencies that honestly and faithfully represent me / us. (democrats or republicans) But after I read their own literature, I don't see either, as a party, following their self-imposed mandates. I can name persons within the parties that seem to speak for me once in a while, though they usually aren't powerful enough to do much more that make a racket on the House or Senate floor, which sometimes gathers the ever so fleeting attention of the U.S. pubilc. As Penny Arcade said, "I want what they promised me in 4th grade social studies, nothing more". I realize it's naïve to think people can be rich and powerful while maintaining their understanding, and more importantly, unwavering concern for "the average citizen", as most politicians repeatedly proclaim with a gleem of patriotism in their eyes. So I ask you, in a "democracy" where the system is alledged to be "open and fair", where does my naïveté stop and their truthfulness start? If you can't give me an answer, maybe you should figure out why not. July 2003 The Revolution Will be Webcasted... I just came back (July 31st - 11:17pm) from a rally in Harlem at the Abyssinian Baptist Church that featured Bob Law, Ruby D, Ozzie Davis, Sonia Sonchez, Hakim, Cynthia McKinney, Calvin Butts, Gil Nobel and more! The focus was Taking Back Our Democracy. It was electrifying, like I was at something legendary...because I was. The discussion was about reclaiming or realizing our collective strength as a way to remove the socially-imposed myth that people of color have no power and are mere spectators in their (our) own lives. I had a great talk with someone on the train on the way home that had me pumped. Then I ran into someone I'd been trying to connect with for a while. It turned out that the person I ran into had recently met the people that I met from the event! We all promised to get in touch and I pointed them to check out our site, the one you're at now. :)- So anyway, I decided to email all the people I met simultaneously so they could email each other. I feel it's important to facilitate communication between EVERYONE that has the slightest cohesion in motive or knowledge. The key points the event made were great ; 1) Economic Sanctions Don't spend your money in places that don't respect you or your culture. Some will say this is an old strategy. I feel it is a strategy that should ALWAYS be employed to make your voice count. That is how we've made the power structure pay attention in the past and allowed us to make positive strides forward. Remember, Black people, women, and other mistreated groups, represent the profit margin in many more companies than is commonly known. Use your strength and don't be a media sucker. You are honestly stronger than you know. 2) Target Voting [Power Voting] Since such a small percentage of people actually vote, it's common sense to use our vote strategically. The government relies on your appathy so they can keep us in check...Whoever the us is that you'd like to name. "Bush out the door in 2004" was the proclamation by Bob Law that brought the entire house to a thunderous roar. 3) Turning off disempowering media [A REAL Media Black-Out] Most of the media aimed at the "urban market", a euphamism for Black people, isn't owned by Blacks...surprise! There's a reason why Black media in modernity has absolutely no resemblance to the powerful Black media of days gone by. So our people get, as Public Enemy said, "Blind to the facts", as a few people fill their bank accounts, and a few fools drive through the hood in their overpriced H2's with 2 billion video screens in them. Probably 95% of them won't be able to afford their pricy aquisitions 3 years from now. Now people sell Blacks an image of ourselves that many of us are less than comfortable with, said as diplomatically as possible. It's time to turn off media we find offensive, like everyone else does, and to send emails / letters and make phone calls to let the media company(ies) as well as their sponsors know we've had enough. You'll be hearing more about this...we'll make sure of it. As Bob Law said, "Get Ready". Peaceness... S6K Home Audio Video People Contact