Inquiry

Would someone like to sponsor me to go to a conference? More information will be provided.

"There is no spiritual component to capitalism."-- Mark Llewellyn Biddle

Walter Mosley suggests that we need a Black voting block. I think we do too. Others can join as well.

Serious Question

Why does Smith-Barney, the brokerage firm, own a prison?

On Both Walter and Harry

Tonight Walter Mosley said some very inspiring things(so did Harry!--not to exclude him, but I wanted to focus on Walter's comments).He spoke of how most people, and most pressingly people of color, engage in the effort of narcotizing themselves in various ways---with drugs, with liquor, with food, as a means to not have to address the world we live in. I think this is very true. We need to move past our pain and become proactive once again in fighting our own apathy and in eradicating those structures that oppress us.Walter also said something that is very wise. He stated that "the only box to be in is inside of ourselves."

Harry Belafonte also made some beautiful and powerful comments tonight. He told the audience that right before King's death, King was speaking to him about their efforts to achieve integration. After much reflection, King told him "We(Black people) are integrating into a burning house." Meaning that America is on a fast track spiral and will ultimately cave in on itself. King's suggestion was that we must become, especially Black people, firemen.

Belafonte made a burning observation when he spoke of the "duality of the American Evolution." He pointed out the inconsistentcies in the United States and the development of their "American Dream," that while the people that settled here from Europe were escaping persecution and religious freedom, they were killing indigenous peoples, that while the so called founding fathers were fighting to stay free from King George they were enslaving Africans and Afro-Americans, that while they were seeking to compete in technological development and the space age, they maintained a system of segregation and oppression. These are definitely important contradictions to think about in the history of this country and the development of this failing experiment that we have today.

One of the most powerful and pressing things that he spoke of was the need for people in this country--and ESPECIALLY the oppressed--to think, act and live outside of the box. He said we should all be speaking with such truth that "people will question what level of insanity you are at, or if insanity doesn't apply then ponder as to what you have been smoking." THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE!! Harry Belafonte is a beautiful man and he has demanded of us all that we live "not to please those that control us inside of the box, but to live outside of the box and make those on the inside uncomfortable." God Bless Harry Belafonte. God Bless Walter Mosley.

Praise for Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte is the new Paul Robeson!

"Ain't nobody gonna free you but you."--Harry Belafonte's mother

"Cynicism will destroy us all."--Walter Mosley

We had a great media forum today. Tonight, I saw harry Belafonte and Walter Mosley in conversation on CSPAN! How inspiring!We should always have courage and speak truth to power! Truth will really set us free!

Mississippi Goddam

Protest Song
by Nina Simone

The name of this tune is mississippi goddam
And I mean every word of it

Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam

Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam

Can’t you see it
Can’t you feel it
It’s all in the air
I can’t stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer

Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam

This is a show tune
But the show hasn’t been written for it, yet

Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last

Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I’ve even stopped believing in prayer

Don’t tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I’ve been there so I know
They keep on saying go slow!

But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Washing the windows
Do it slow
Picking the cotton
Do it slow
You’re just plain rotten
Do it slow
You’re too damn lazy
Do it slow
The thinking’s crazy
Do it slow
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don’t know
I don’t know

Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about mississippi goddam

I made you thought I was kiddin’ didn’t we

Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say it’s a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me

Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you’d stop calling me sister sadie

Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You’re all gonna die and die like flies
I don’t trust you any more
You keep on saying go slow!
Go slow!

But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Desegregation
Do it slow
Mass participation
Do it slow
Reunification
Do it slow
Do things gradually
Do it slow
But bring more tragedy
Do it slow
Why don’t you see it
Why don’t you feel it
I don’t know
I don’t know

You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about mississippi
Everybody knows about alabama
Everybody knows about mississippi goddam

That’s it!

I wanted to elaborate further on CCDS. I very much have enjoyed and been inspired by participating in Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. The first meeting I attended, I was absolutely moved and I left there with a deeper sense of my purpose, of what needs to be done, and with agreater grasp of the beautiful humanity and soul of the progressive community in this country and in this world. God Bless CCDS and I am thankful that I have been able to participate.

I just saw some cow named Michelle Malkin on television denouncing an Asian woman on her campus(and she herself is asian) for "not following the rule" and complaining about racism. Ludicrous. Who is giving her a platform?

One thing. If I don't like the premises on which you operate--or your ideological make up, its most likely that I don't give a shit what you think about me.

We had a great CCDS meeting today. I have always enjoyed CCDS. I am glad that I have participated in their meetings here.

Jazz lee is one sharp cookie! It was great to have her here!

I often operate, not knowing what to do...second guessing and placing myself in betweel two parallel bars. I need to learn not to be conflicted within my self and to trust my self.

Hows This for the Pro-Lifers?

The Progressive reports that a woman was ticketed the other day for improperly using a carpool lane. She protested the ticket in court, at which a judge ruled that fetuses do not count when using carpool lanes.

No Comment--From the Progressive

The Progressivereports that Qantas airline chairwoman, Margaret Jackson was frisked and searched by a security officer in an L.A. Airport who suspected that she was a terrorist. When he found documents pertaining to airplanes in her bag, he asked her why she had them. When she told him that she was the head of an airline, his reply was "but you're a woman."

Here is a bio of Veronica Franco.

Tonight I sat down and watched the wonderful film Dangerous Beauty on WGN(what a wonderful station).Alas, I identify a,love, and cheer for the courtesans of old--and for the independence that those women had in that time. Ode to Veronica Franco, Ode to all of the creole women who made use of French,Spanish,and Portuguese men of wealth,Ode to Diane de Poitiers,Ode to Madame du Barry!

My task now is to get in touch with my erotic.

From the Huffington Post

138 Iraqis dead in the past 24 Hours. Iraq is on the verge of Civil War, their government is almost in collapse, and there is nothing approaching security in that country. Chaos is about to become the rule and not the exception(was it ever any other way since this damned invasion?!) Someone should force Bush to resign or impeach him. Or castrate him. I don't care which one. Oh how depressing.

New Slogan

"Castration is the Key to Our Liberation."

South Dakota is about to pass a ban on abortion. The bill, which was just passed by the South Dakota legislature, only needs the signature of the governor,who is anti-abortion. What I would do: Move to South Dakota and have an abortion and the cut off the penis of which ever man tried to stop me from doing it.

Depressing Things

There is so much violence in the world today. And Bush is still here.

I met this beautiful boy today at the coffeeshop. Interesting experience. We had quite a long conversation during which I was completely intrigued, so much so that I was going to blow off meeting Melissa to collect my hat and gloves: "honey, you may keep them." Today feels like a good day.

I LOVE Project Runway-- and Heidi Klum!

The Guardian reports that Iraq is on the cusp of civil war.

One thing I want to mention, as I have thought about this a lot as of recent, It troubles me that such vile people as Gonzales and Bush are being seen trampling into and over such precious landmarks such as the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and Coretta Scott King's funeral. It seems that all sense of decency and justice have flown out of the world. Something sacred has been violated when these people are not only present, but speak and come to bear a commanding presence in these places that have seen the tears and agony and struggle for humanity, freedom, and justice. It is an outright disgrace and an utter violation.

Further Probing into Horowitz

I am really wondering who is taking this man seriously and who, among the people that he is attacking, are paying any attention to him. Looking at his "list of dangerous professors," he has listed, Howard Zinn, bell hooks(and Im sure he intentionally capitalized her name!),Leonard Jeffries, Eve Sedgwick, Eric Foner,Manning Marable, Todd Gitlin!(Wtf, Gitlin is about as conservative as he is!),Noam Chomsky, Tom Hayden,Cornel West, Amiri Baraka(ha!),Bettina Aptheker and Angela Davis,Ward Churchill, Bill Ayers,Mary Frances Berry(wtf?),and Michael Eric Dyson. This is a mess. I am not going to pay much attention to it myself, at least not until the real McCarthyism starts--then I'll be ready to castrate. I am wondering what Baraka is saying about all of this?

Further on that note, I wonder how Angela Davis and Bettina Aptheker are responding (if at all) to Horowitz, as he has attacked them as well.

David Horowitz is stupid and evil. I can't believe he would attack Harry Targ on national television. Of all people? and Harry? Oh my, what a mess. I would dare him to mess with me.

I am very pleased that the medical community, at least in part, is taking such a strong stand against the death penalty! Alas, I am quite pleased with the Judge's stay of the Morales execution in California. Abolish the death penalty!

My Opinion

I personally do not care whether they sell these ports to a Dubai owned company--and I do see some racism among those who are opposed. However, Bush is absolutely stupid as he keeps saying that Congress has nothing to worry about because "the government has already looked into it." Congress is the government! He is a dumbass.

Last night, I also watched a wonderful Israeli film called Yossi and Jagger. Quite beautifully done.

Mercy Mercy Me

by Marvin Gaye

Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue sky go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north, east, south, and sea
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Radiation in the ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land?
How much more abuse from man can you stand?
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord

So tonight I satisfied my curiosity and saw the film, I am Curious (Yellow), which I have wondered about ever since I was in the eleventh grade when I read about it in a history book. My initial reaction could be best expressed with some kind of phrase like "Wow" or "Oh My God" , but needless to say, I found the film to be absolutely interesting. Wow. To have been released in 1968. Im surprised we still have an FCC, I thought they would have killed over from heart attacks after this one.

I just got through rereading the excerpt, "Serving in Florida," from Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickle and Dimed:On Not Getting By In America in which she details her account of going undercover to work in the minimum and low-wage paying jobs around the country. Econmics is so important. Even more so class. Class is definitely one of the most important factors in American society. We are definitely behooved to be aware of class and those who are oppressed within this society. We should all be aware of our privilege.

Further on thinking about class, I overheard two black girls on the bus today talking about one of the locals who is homeless, an eighteen year old Latino kid named Joshua, who with his father, Abraham, are regular sites all around town. Their conversation was interesting and somewhat amusing. To paraphrase, the conversation went something like this: "GirlThat boy Joshua is a mess! To be homeless he lives better than me! He's always dressed in nice clothes, and he's got that portable CD player which he is always walking around with--which means that he can A: afford the batteries and B: buy the CDs!" Other Girl--"Honey I saw him the other day at McDonalds--somebody had bought him an ENTIRE breakfast!"

Designer Humans

This is an article concerning the government's efforts to enhance human capacity and tamper with our genetics, technologies,and other things. This article, along with thse books uner urgent materials, definitely need to be read and discussed.

Troubling

In San Juan de Sabinas, Mexico, where they earn on average $60 a month, these poor miners are trapped and probably on the verge of death due to the lackadaisical concern of the corporations that own the mine's towards these people's well-being. I will pray for them and hope they make it out alive. God, just to think, if they can do what they do to workers here in the United States, I can only imagine what corporate greed is able to do in Mexico. What a horrid situation.

I am absolutely saddened by the state of Afro-American/Black peoples, specifically here at Purdue, and I am speaking somewhat specifically to those who have come up from a lower socioeconomic background. It pains me that they are caught up on money/in capitalism and totally place too much value in the capitalist system. They define sucess by white male, business terms and live to achieve along those avenues. It pains me. There is one that I see all the time who is constantly caught up in "business propositions" and "the fast trak to wealth." I am horribly saddened. WE NEED A TOTAL REVOLUTION IN VALUES!! I think bell captures a lot in Where We Stand: Class Matters.

I am Quite Moved

My cousin Clarissa and I have been going back and forth about geneological stuff with my family. I have blogged about them before. Anyway, I had previously found an obituary for my great-great-great-grandmother Caroline Roper's father, the white methodist minister(indeed, she herself was a white woman),the Reverend John Thompson Roper, at my alma mater. I didn't copy it then, but I just recently wrote to the United Methodist Historical Collection and they sent it to me. This is my g-g-g-g grandfather, the Reverend John Thompson Roper's, obituary:


REV.JOHN THOMPSON ROPER was born in Mecklenburg *county, North Carolina,
March 30, 1810, and died at his home in Chilton county, Alabama, June 4, 1885. He
was reared principally in Gwinnett county, Georgia, and moved to Algama in the
winter of 1834-5. In the year 1836 he was converted and joined the Methodist Churr 11
A friend writes this concerning him: l' His conversion was of the old Methodist tyne -
cleargut, instantaneous and attended by the witnes~ of the spirit." He was licensed
to preach in June, 1838; joined the Alabama Conference in Januan, 18'39, and remained
a member of this Conference until his death, Jnne 4, 1885.
In 1858 he was superannuated on account of temporary blindness caused by
cataract. In this relation to the Conference he remained until called to his rest in
heaven. This man was a "pioneer preacher." If there are easy places in the life
of an itinerant Methodist preat her, he never found one. On large rircuits, on mlssions
to whites, on missions to blacks, he held on his way until his poor blind eyes
could no longer find the way. He wa8 made of firm stuff. Naturally firm as. the
storm-defying oak, he could become as flexible as the willow where no principle was
involved. Touched and fashioned by Divine grace, he learned to weep with them
that weep, and to rejoice with them that do rejoice. His saintly wife. the companion
of his toils and trials for fifty-four years, still lingers in age nnd feebleness extreme.
awaiting the call to go up higher. John T. Roper is with the dead who died in the
Lord, and his worka follow him

Oh for the sake of castration.

I met this interesting elderly man on the bus this afternoon who wore a fabulous black London Fog coat and a great grey scarf. Interesting the people that you meet.

Perk Your Ears--More Efforts to Disabuse People in the United States of Their Civil and Human Rights

I am providing a link to J. Edgar Hoover's Emergency Detention Program which came about in the 1940s and which is being revived by the Bush administration. HungryBlues' post Vague and Overbroad Powers provides a great analysis.

I wonder what would happen if the state of Israel were dissestablished and the entire area of Palestine were made into an international territory--as one plan had it--with equal rights and equal everything for Palestinians and Jews? No more Israel?

Michael Lerner gave a great talk today at American University about returning a sense of moral urgency to the Left. Very inspirational.

My sister played Double Dutch with the Thompson girls. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon had a daughter, but I don't know if she played or not.

Why is that cow Condoleeza Rice posturing against the Venezuelan government and trying to overthrow him? I believe Chavez and the Venezuela-Cuba alliance will absolutely be a force to reckon with. Chavez is a popular man with wonderful ideas....this is the reason why the Bush administration hates him as well as the reason why he just might be the sword to pierce their underbelly.

An Outrage

Its absolutely infuriating that in this day and age the power structure still believes it can murder Black people. The death of this fourteen year old in Florida, Martin Anderson, needs to become a rallying cry.

Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas is enacting legislation to change the laws concerning Bush's secret wiretaps.

"I may look like the picture of Southern Gentility, but believe me when I get riled, I make Rambo look like Miss Little Mary Sunshine!" Julia Sugarbaker from Designing Women

This article at TruthOut talks about the registry of names, including those of U.S. citizens, that the government keeps as "potential terrorists."

Ann Coulter at Purdue

She praised Joseph McCarthy. Enough said.

The three books that I listed under urgent materials are all related to the nanotechnology stuff that I mentioned in the previous post. They should defintiely be paid attention.

Horrifying Stuff

Today, Rev. Randy H. Schmidt gave a talk at the Lunch and learn on developing Nanotechnology studies and what the U.S. government is spending out tax dollars on developing. Nanotechnology is serious and frightening. The government is trying to develop human capacity so that soldiers can go without sleep for days at a time and also manipulate their vision for nighttime warfare. There are some other serious things that aren't being discussed in the National Dialogue that will definitely have major impacts in ever aspect of humanity in the long run.

The Guardian reports that the Bush administration has asked Congress for a great sum in order to sell their probable war with Iran.

An Outrage Via BitchPhd

BitchPhd reports on her blog that,

An undocumented Mexican immigrant was shot and killed Sunday evening in an apparent hunting accident on a Webb County ranch owned by the family of former U.S. diplomat John G. Hurd.

"The illegals were crouching out in the brush. They said they mistook this guy for a hog," said Webb County Sheriff Juan Garza....

Juan Garza Mendoza, 34, an employee of the ranch, was charged Monday with manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison....
"They mistakenly shot a human being," he said. "It's reckless. It's inexcusable."

Stevie Wonder is my favorite male singer. Close runner up Michael McDonald.

Quote

"Im sick and tired of being sick and tired."
Fanny Lou Hamer

Wake Up Everybody

By Melvin and the BlueNotes

Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
there is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
when you teach the children teach em the very best you can.
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.
Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away.
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.

I read some horrible quote that someone said in the Exponent today about "we are nothing as individuals, we can only act as a community." Indeed, I was quite disheartened that it was someone black who said it. We all need to be Individuals. We all need our own identity. We all need to be PEOPLE and PERSONS as we were created. Until we are ourselves, there can never be anything such as community. A man with his legs missing cannot stand. You have to be individuals and be people before you can fully integrate and interact with other people. To move as a unit that does not allow for people to be and express themselves is against humanity. We can only bring our common humanity to the table in unity when we each have our own measure of common humanity. This is what saddens me a bit about the Afro-american community. We need to find our humanity. Malcolm showed the way. Take it.

At the moment, I am thinking of when we were still living on 73rd in Chicago and my sister would be playing double dutch with the Gordon girls and other neighborhood children. I would always want to play, and try to, but I hated it because I would always get hit with those damned ropes and it hurt like hell.

Why is the Chinese government censoring websites? Diane Rehm has a show on that today.

Nature really does speak to us.

Very Serious Stuff

The British Police have arrested the man who revealed the tape exposing British abuse of Iraqi civilians. This is a definite case of fascism at work.

Sign this petition to have the U.S. remove its bounty off of the head of Assata Shakur and to have them leave her alone!

Cheney has accidentally shot someone. How absolutely scary he is.

So, this weekend I bought the package DVD set of Funny Girl and Funny Lady. I've seen both of these before, but I definitely need them in my Streisand collection, for sure. So, I watched Funny Lady and then I turned to watch Funny Girl today and I must say I came to some new revelations. I can see what an absolutely unprogressive, anti-feminist, heteronormative, Eurocentric message is being sent out from this film. This is not to do with Barbra or any of her fault, but lays all at the hands of Ray Stark and the writers of this film who romanticized and sought to make a profit off of the love life of Stark's mother-in-law, Fanny Brice. Alas, I so realized the irony of myself, in that when I was ten and twelve years old and saw this film(indeed, really up until I was halfway through college) everytime "My Man" came around at the end of Funny Girl, I was bawling, morose, and bemoaning Fanny's having lost her love. Nick Arnstein was a real treat(right). Alas, I have long realized what BS "My Man" is...and I have realized Barbra's realization of this, perhaps right after Elliot Gould.

The message that the filmmaker's send out through Funny Girl is absolutely awful (and that is contrasted against the aura which Barbra gives it, which is absolutely wonderful and truly makes the film. Firstly, Barbra's not supposed to really get this man, of course because she isn't blond and she is a Jewish girl with an ethnic look, and not Sandra Dee. So, there in lies the delight of seeing this poor sloven thing actually get this man, for a time. Absolutely Eurocentric views....alas, I have written and thought about before Barbra's positioning as the first ethnic-looking Jewish star of the modern era (Fanny herself was the one of the bygone era). She never changed her look, she wasn't a "classic" eurocentric beauty, where as Lauren Bacall quips about her experience of how she overheard a director saying to someone about her that she was beautiful and she "didn't even look Jewish." Barbra was an absolute groundbreaker. Absolutely unique.

Alas, this film is absolutely saved, torn from the grips of heteronormativity, and turned into the mantra of the Other, the ultimate other (Barbra) and "Don't Rain on My Parade," ceases to become a song about a woman going to chase after a man and becomes the mantra of those who refuse to be put down and held back, and the portrait of Fanny is not that of the kooky Jewish girl who lands a ruffled shirt, but becomes the Kooky, Jewish girl who becomes the most power woman in Hollywood.....and there in lies the rub.

I Love This Song

Great Day

by Barbra


When you're down and out

Lift up your head and shout

There's gonna be a great day

Angels in the sky

Promise that be by and by

There's gonna be a great day

Gabriel will warn you

Some early morn

You will hear his horn

It's not far away

Lift up your head and say

There's gonna be a great day

Great day



When you're down and out

Lift up your head and shout

There's gonna be a great day

Angels in the sky

Promise that by and by

We're gonna see a great day

Gabriel will warn you

Some early morn'

You will hear his horn, his horn

It's not far away

Lift up your head and say

There's gonna be a great day

When the skies went darker, oh lord!

Came noah's ark, oh lord!

Amen and amen!

Amen and amen!



He came in january, february, march, april, may, june

July, and august, september october, november,

De de december

It was a great day

It was a great day

The Lord helps those who pray

And on judgment day

If you believe he will receive you Amen

Gabriel will warn you

Some early morn

You will his horn, his horn

It's not far away

Lift up your head and say

There's gonna be a great

We're gonna see a great

There's gonna be,

Be a great day!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melissa is funny as shit! Great people to hang out with!

I think everyone should be able to move with the freedom of Martha Grahame.

Thoughts

They need to get H. Rap Brown out of prison. Send him to Cuba, something!

The Spanish newspapers are carrying the story of the former CIA agent who is coming forward and stating that Bush new that the excuses he used to go to war were faulty.

Fourteen Characteristics of Fascism

By Dr. Lawrence Britt

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

According to the Guardian, Tony Blair will from now on be one of Two Prime Ministers in England, effectively running the state with Chancellor Gordon Brown. This is all apart of a scheme that will be introduced tommorow in a speech where Blair will argue for identity cardsin Great Britain. Very scary indeed.

I've been watching Funny Lady a lot, which I just bought recently. I love the numbers "Great Day," and "Let's Hear it For Me." Alas, I also came to the realization that I have for a long time been romanticizing and glorifying the story of Fanny Brice and Nick Arnstein, looking at it through the lense of a fairy tale. How awful really that she spent so much time running after him--and belittling herself before him in the process. Alas, I have for a long time been aware of the irony of "My Man," and of how Barbra probably was laughing and cringing her way through the notes of the song after a while....like Nina Simone's very telling "Hmmmm," in the middle of "Wild is the Wind." That let you know that that song was bullshit and no man was ever gonna be her life. Thank you lord. God Bless Nina and Barbra!

It was an interesting night. However, it was sort of paradoxical, because it was interesting, but then again it wasnt. Meaning that Lafayette is dull as shit so what could ever be that intriguing? Alas, we had a great anti-military recruitment forum.

Laughing At Myself

I was just thinking how absolutely crazy I must have seemed when I was in college. The main building on our campus was the chapel, which is a beautiful pseudo-victorian chapel, three storied, done in burnt orange and white. This is where most of my classes were and it was also the main building for administration, etc--the heart of the campus. Well, in the mornings I would wake up --I've always been one to wake up very early and I would go sit in the huge bay stained glass window in the chapel with my book and read til time to go to class. I would sit there contently reading to myself, and in the process watch the janitors come in in the morning to clean. It must have been 5:30,6 O'clock when I would first get there, because it was a good thirty minutes before I saw anybody else. They would all greet me and speak to me in the mornings. I thought nothing of it. But I know they all must have thought I was one odd child. Adding to that, I remember at one point, perhaps in my junior year, when I suggested to my friend Clay, who was in the choir, that perhaps a great way to wake everyone up would be to have the choir stand on the steps of the chapel every morning and sing. No comment.

Yesterday was absolutely great. Bernadine Dohrn is absolutely inspirational.

At the moment some interesting stuff is going on in terms of research being done on my family tree.

This Song Just Popped Into My Mind.

I Know It Was the Blood

I know it was the blood I know it was the blood
I know it was the blood for me
One day when I was lost He died upon the cross
And I know it was the blood for me(Repeat)

This is a very well done page about Fannie Lou Hamer.

I would definitely be intrigued to learn more about the friendship between Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, and Dorothy Dandridge.

About Me

I'm too much of a pragmatist to be a philosopher and I'm too much of a philosopher to be a pragmatist.

Today, I have heard many different voices talking about how awful it is that many arabs have turned to violence in response to the horrible disrespect done to them by several European papers.My initial response is: whatever, bullshit. How dare you people try to admonish these people at all for anything they have done in response to this and in retaliation to the utter disregard for their humanity that is being handed them by the west. It is definitely not like the Western powers that be have not been trying to villify and demonize Islam and people of arab descent for the past thirty years or more, or that Europe for the most part went part and parcel with Bush in totally disregarding their humanity, invading their country, abusing their people, totally interrupting and disrupting their lives. Not only would I be at the point right now of trying to burn down your embassy, I would absolutely be prepared to slice your throat....

God Bless Jimmy Carter for the wonderful and courageous words that he spoke over Coretta Scott King today. He soundly admonished Bush for his wiretapping and took him to task for all of the evils that he ias committed since he took the white house. Kudos also to the Reverend Joseph Lowery for browbeating the Bushes(both father and son). I can't believe that asshole was allowed to speak over Coretta Scott King. What an outrageous disrespect. Someone should have castrated him while he was standing there. Alas, it is definitely quite clear how very much inside the belly of the beast the King family has come to be in the United States. They are the new dignitaries that command respect....

I was at the bookstore earlier today and I was reading some of Susan Brownmiller's Against Our Will. She made some interesting points that I definitely had not considered before. Rape is not a natural occurrence, it is a poltitical one peculiar to humans. Also, the idea that the first instances of "male bonding" perhaps occurred around an incident of gang rape. What a crude, crude world we live in.

I absolutely admonish those elements within the Islamic community who are calling for death to Israel and a return of the Holocaust. Alas, as the Danish government ANd the newspapers have apologized, I do believe that this situation has been rectified. However, that does not even begin to excuse the bigotry and awful imperialistic asshole-like nature and attitude that produced the cartoon in the first place.

COINTELPRO AND White Male Bullshit

Today as I was in the Undergraduate library printing something off, when I went to pick up my printing I saw two items laying on the priter that someone had left there. One was entitled, "Bullets Spray Home of BLack Militant, Peril Two Children" The other entitled "Liability."

Kudos!to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco for putting the pressure on Washington! I am so very glad that she is letting it be known that Washington has completely forgotten and wants to further forget about the disaster that is now the Gulf Coast.

I ran into Vanessa this evening as she was up from Bloomington. She looked so vibrant and happy. I long to be there. That is, to be happy.

I just sent letters to the editor to two Danish newspapers officially damning them to hell. I hope they actually go.

There was a major demonstration in D.C. this past Saturday with thousands in the streets calling for Bush to be impeached. I wonder if it received good media coverage.

The Slow Erosion of Progress

I am a bit sad these days, somewhat depressed. It seems everyone is dying and going away. What will we do now that those who have led us are gone? Where will we find other people who have vision and who will speak out?

Another Death

Betty Friedan, one of the mother's of the second wave of feminism died yesterday. She was 85.

There has been talk for many years now concerning the U.S.'s plan to make Iran their next target. What's in the news these days?

About Purdue

White people move in their own little circles...and try their best to ignore the racism that they live in.

I am glad they burned the Danish Embassy in Beirut.

Yes, the European press does have the right to be racist sons of a bitches. However, they should be castrated and never supported again.