Chavez Says Negroponte Involved In Assassination Plot

The Daily Journal reports that Hugo Chavez has identified John Negroponte's hand in a plot to assassinate the president of Venezuela. Chavez refers to Negroponte as the Bush administration's henchman. Castrate!

Jean Genet is a mess! I am currently reading The Thief's Journal.

NAACP President Resigns

Hallelujah! They needed to get rid of that man. They only elected him so they could kowtow to George Bush--get a grip, some gumption and a backbone! Bring back Merlie Evers-Williams!!!

Something Interesting That I Was Reminded Of.

French writer, Jean Genet, the flagrant homosexual author, was a guest of the Black Panther Party in the United States during the 1960s.

Anarchists are in the Streets!

Anarchists and other activists are rioting in Copenhagen in protest of police evictions of several squatters from an abandoned building that served as a meeting place for community activists, a building that has been connected with the progressive movements since the 1890s. "Solidarity among people has no borders, just like the Spanish civil war or the youth rebellion in the late 1960s. People recognize themselves in such causes" Rene Kopantschof, University of Copenhagen.

The Cherokee Indians, again, Are Acting Like White People

The Latino Pop Star Chavez is Gay!!

The beautiful latino pop star, Chavez has just come out of the closet--god there's hope!

American Rubbish

The United States is soo trying to do everything it can to get rid of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. I just did a search, trying to find out information about the gorgeous latino pop star, Chavez, and goddamn every newspaper in the United States it seems like has an article bad-mouthing Chavez and what he is doing in Venezuela. Go to hell America and your store-bought press!

I was just thinking today, I can identify quite a bit with the character of Beneatha Younger from A Raisin in the Sun. She has such a vibrant, youthful energy. She is a character I will explore further.

The Rich Man's House

Traditional Labor Movement Song

Well I went down to the rich man's house and I took back
what he stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
well I went down to the rich man's house and I took back
what he stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
Now he's under my feet, under my feet, under my feet
Ain't gonna let the system walk all over me!

Well I, went down to the Landlord's house and I took back
what he stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
Well I, went down to the landlord's house and I took back
what he stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
Now he's under my feet, under my feet, under my feet
Ain't gonna let the system walk all over me !

Well I, went down to the Welfare Office I took back
what it stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
well I, went down to the welfare office I took back
what it stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
Now it's under my feet, under my feet, under my feet
Ain't gonna let the system walk all over me!

Well I, went down to the Governor's house and I took back
what he stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
well I, went down to the governor's house and I took back
what he stole from me
took it back
took back my dignity
took it back
took back my humanity
Now he's under my feet, under my feet, under my feet
Ain't gonna let the system walk all over me!

Seize the Time

Elaine Brown

You tell me that the sun belongs
To you and should surround you
But, when I turn to look
I see they've snatched
The sun from all around you.
Why you hardly seem
To want whats yours
You hardly seem to care.
If you love the sun
It's where you've come from
Then you had better dare
To Seize the time
The time is now
Oh,Seize the time
and you know how

You tell me that the soul is real
and your soul must survive.
Yet, I see they've taken liberties
With your souls and your lives.
Don't tell me that you lack concern
For all that you must be
'Cause I know you know you must be turned
And I know that you can see
To Seize the Time
The Time is Now
Oh,Seize the Time
And you know how

You worry about liberty
Because you've been denied.
Well, I think that you're mistaken
Or then you must have lied.
'Cause you don't act like those who care
You've never even fought
For the liberty that you claim to lack
Or have you never thought
To Seize the Time
The Time is Now
Oh Seize the time
And you know how

I am officially sick of Anna Nicole Smith. Let her rest in her grave!

Lunar Eclipse Tommorow

Watch the moon tommorow as it is supposed to be in total eclipse and display beautiful colors.

There is something horrid and scary about these winds that are blowing through the midwest and the south.

Love Me In A Special Way

I am certainly a fanatical lover of Debarge. This song has been playing through my head all day.

You know you had me
With your sensuous charm
Yet you looked so alarmed
As I walked on by
In awsome wonder
You had to know why i did not respond to carry on

Chorus:
Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now
Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now (love me now)

Cause Im special
Not the average kind
Who'd accept any line
That sounds good
So reach into your chain of thoughts
Try to find something new
Because what worked for you so well before
For me it just wont do.

Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now
Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now (love me now)
So reach into your chain of thoughts
Try to find something new
What works so well with you before
For me it just wont do

Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now
Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now (love me now)

Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now
Love me in a special way
What more can I say
Love me now (love me now)

Human relations are explosive, murky,and volatile. We little know what we want and very little do we even understand ourselves.

God, What Destruction

Enterprise, Alabama has been torn to shreds by tornadoes. Thankfully my people are ok. That community has been devastated though.

Israeli Socialism: A Lost Cause?

From The Christian Science Monitor

KIBBUTZ GAASH, ISRAEL
The leaders of this agricultural commune - once young communists with visions of an agrarian Jewish state - say they are now prepared to take a once-unthinkable step: embracing the free market.
Kibbutz Gaash, a collective that has already replaced chicken coops with a strip mall, may be on the verge of rejecting its collectivist roots and privatizing. If it does, as an upcoming vote is expected to decide, it will provide further evidence that the era of the iconic kibbutz is over.
Mostly secular and leftist, kibbutzes were hailed as the building block of the Zionist enterprise, the crucible in which to remold the old-world Jew as the new Israeli.
But modern pressures mean communes must cope with bank debt, attrition, and the waning collectivist spirit.
What this U-turn means for the shrinking number of kibbutzniks is that they'll be living like most other Israelis: collecting a paycheck, competing on the open market, and balancing their own budget.
Stacked on the desk of Kibbutz Gaash Chairman Hanan Rogalin is the soon-to-be-voted-on plan to scrap the commune's egalitarian dream and allow members to live according to their own earning power.
"The contemporary kibbutz doesn't provide answers for life needs, and most important in my eyes, people's aspirations," says Mr. Rogalin. "The kibbutz creates too much friction. The secretariat dictates too many things to members. And people want more freedom to take responsibility for their lives."
The process of privatization among kibbutzes has been quietly proceeding for years, though two weeks ago, Israelis took notice when Kibbutz Degania, the first kibbutz established on the Sea of Galilee in 1909, took the step.
With two-thirds of the 273 kibbutzes across Israel already privatized, the demise of Degania was a ringing reminder of the seemingly inevitable extinction of the kibbutz as Israelis know it.
"Does the kibbutz have a chance?" asked an opinion article that mourned Degania on the movement's website. "As long as man feels in his soul the need to be in a society built on the bedrock of justice, of equality, of camaraderie, of mutual commitment and solidarity - there's a chance."
Frontiers of the new state
The communal agricultural estates laid down the fresh roots of Jewish settlement in the biblical land of Israel, assuring a degree of economic independence for the fledgling state. The communities were given the task of settling what would become the frontiers of the new state.
"The kibbutz was an attempt to create a miracle and transcend human nature. By trying to create a miracle, the kibbutz was instinctively seen by Jews as a worthy symbol of the miraculous return to Zion," says Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at Jerusalem's Shalem Institute.
"We're so past the point of being shocked by the decline of the collectivist dream that this isn't a moment that took anyone by surprise. Nevertheless there's poignancy.... We've lost something precious and essential in what defines Israeliness," he says.
Kibbutz members once dominated parliament and key spots in Israel's lionized military. Though secular and leftist, the movement, with its pioneering activism, inspired religious Jews who settled in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after 1967.
With large tracts of public land to cultivate, the kibbutz followed directives from the Israeli Agricultural Ministry on what to grow. "We didn't think if we were earning or losing money, we thought about what was good for the country," says Yossi Katz, founder of Kibbutz Gaash. "We were sure the entire country would become socialist."
Walking past the old boarded-up dining hall and the seedy building that housed Gaash's first chicken coop, he acknowledges that the kibbutz lifestyle could be oppressive and suffocating.
The kibbutz compelled members to turn over possessions for public use. Children were raised in communal dorms rather than in parents' homes. Social life revolved around the dining hall. A kibbutz committee approved plans for higher education and careers. Whoever left was considered a traitor.
With the ascension of the right-wing Likud party to power in the 1980s, the government cut off generous subsidies that exposed waste and unprofitable kibbutz operations, as well as billions of dollars in debt. A $17 billion bailout made the kibbutzes seem spoiled rather than selfless.
Meanwhile, observing Israel's growing prosperity, kibbutzniks lost sight of the ideals behind their Spartan existence and began seeking the same creature comforts. The collapse of the Soviet Union and communism also had an impact. In the past 20 years, the kibbutzes have lost one-fourth of their population and members today number 120,000, a small fraction of Israel's 7 million people.
"I know that if I work hard, that I'll earn the same as the person living next to me who works less," explains Sharon Tirosh, director of human resources at Gaash, who also supports the change. "There is something in the education, that begins at the bottom, that there's no point in being terribly successful."
Postprivatization kibbutzes cut down on waste, and experience a jump in member's earning power of almost 40 percent, says Rogalin, Kibbutz Gaash's secretary. Members keep their pay, and pay fees for services. They also contribute to a social safety-net fund. In addition to ideological stress, it has worried people afraid of providing for themselves for the first time.
"If someone gets used to something for years, and suddenly it's taken away, they lose focus," says Rogalin, who isn't willing to bet whether the proposal will get the 75-percent support necessary to pass.
Kibbutz ethic, high-tech times
At stake is the survival of economic enterprises - agriculture is now only a small part of kibbutz businesses that range from wineries to commercial real estate - employing some 30,000 workers, with combined output of $7.4 billion, in a $114.3 billion economy.
What remains of the kibbutz ethic of self-sacrifice, activism, and egalitarianism is unclear. In Israel's high-tech economy, do the old kibbutzes have a role to play?
Rogalin says that their role will be to cultivate a quality education system that will teach children values of social justice. And with a safety net for members, the kibbutz hopes to remain a model of social welfare in a society with a large gap between rich and poor.
Whatever the decision, founder Mr. Katz knows that the ideals upon which Gaash was founded are no longer attainable. "At my age, I've reached the conclusion that humans are egotists, and like to keep things for themselves rather than the general public," he says. "The idea that everyone will eat from the same plate doesn't exist anymore. I've done my part. It's over. We aren't an example for anyone."

Bridges

Diane Reeves

Bridges

I have crossed a thousand bridges
In my search for something real
There were great suspension bridges
Made like spider webs of steel
There were tinny wooden trestles
And there were bridges made of stone
I have always been a stranger and
I’ve always been alone
There’s a bridge to tomorrow
There’s a bridge to the past
There’s a bridge made of sorrow
That I pray will not last
There’s a bridge made of color
In the sky high above
And I pray that there must be
Bridges made out of love
I can see him in the distance
On the river’s other shore
And his arms reach out in longing
As my own have done before
And I call across to tell him
Where I believe the bridge must lie
And I’ll find it
Yes I’ll find it
If I search until I die
When the bridges is between us
We’ll have nothing to say
We will run thru the sunlight
And he’ll meet me halfway
There’s a bridge made of color
In the sky high above
And I know that there must be
Bridges made out of love

I adore the film Adventures of Felix.

Fabulous Film!

I definitely would love to have partied with Marie Antionette.

I was looking for pictures of Wentworth Miller, doing some research, and it definitely turned into a salivation session.

Maya Angelou's Interview with Cousin Betty

In the interview that Maya Angelou conducted with my cousin Betty Deramus, there was something very profound said that really sticks to me and is something to consider. Cousin Betty said that when she was in South Africa during the time when they were struggling to end apartheid, she asked a white south african whether or not he was afraid of the violence that would consume the country. He replied that he was not afraid because his house was well-insulated, well-padded and locked, etc. Cousin Betty's thought to this was that those who work to imprison someone else also imprison themselves....It is something to think about. Maya Angelou followed this with discussing the example of a person trying to keep someone pushed down to the ground--the one pushing down is also keeping him or herself down and exerts a negative force while the one pushing up exerts a positive force...a liberatory force. This was a very intriguing dialogue and powerful thoughts.

Dare I Laugh?

Haha!! It seems that Bush and Condoleeza will have to sit down and face the Iranians....unless this is some kind of prank. Oh the progressive struggle!!

Here is a Link the the 16th Cuba International Book Fair

This looks like a wonderful event with writers and publishers from all over the world including writer Wole Soyinka from Nigeria and thousands of books from Africa, Latin America, and Europe.

Todays News

Dick Cheney almost bought the farm.

This Is One of Those Moments

There are moments you remember all your life.
There are moments you wait for ans1 dream,
Of all your life.
This is one of those moments.
I will always remember this chair,
that window, the way the light streams in.
The clothes I'm wearing,
The words I'm heating,
The face I'm seeing,
The feeling I'm feeling,
The smell, the sounds, will be written
On my mind, will be written in my heart
As long as I live!
I can, travel the past and take what I need
To see me through the years
What my father learned and his
Father before him will be there
For my eyes and ears.
I can walk through the forests
Of the trees of knowledge
And listen to the lessons of the leaves.
I can enter rooms
Were there are rooms within rooms
Wrapped in the shawl that learning weaves.
I remember, Papa-everything you taught me
What you gave me, Papa-
Look at what it's brought me
There are certain things that once you have
No man can take away-
No wave can wash away-
No wind can blow away-
And now they're about to be mine!
No tide can turn away-
No fire can burn away-
No time can wear away...
I can open doors and take from the shelves
All the books I've longed to hold
I can ask all the questions,
The whys and the wheres
As the mysteries of life unfold
Like a link in a chain
From the past to the future
That joins me with the children yet to be,
I can now be a part
Of the ongoing stream,
That has always been a part of me!
There are certain things that once you have
No man can rake away-
No wave can wash away-
No wind can blow away-
No tide can turn away-
No fire can burn away-
No time can wear away-
And now they're about to be mine!
There are moments you remember all your life.
There are moments you wait for
And dream, of all your life.
This is one of those moments!

PillowTalk

Sylvia


I, I, I, I, I
Hey, baby, let me stay
I don't care what your friends are 'bout to say, ah-ah
What you friends all say is fine
But it can't compete with this pillow talk of mine
You can't find love on a one way street
It takes two to tangle, takes two to even compete, oh, yeah
So boy, just put that stop sign down
And let's get together before the day runs us down
I'm pleading to you now
Hey, baby, let me try
To be the one's who's gonna light your fire, ha-ha
What you friends all say is fine
But it can't compete with this pillow talk of mine
Ooh, I don't wanna see you be no fool
What I'm teachin' you tonight, boy, you'll never learn it in school, oh, no
So friends who tell me wrong from right
I'll ask to borrow their pants some cold and lonely night
Ooh, hey, baby, let me be
The one who turns you on from A to Z, ha-ha
What you friends all say is fine
But it can't compete with this pillow talk of mine
Ooh...baby
Ooh, baby, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Ah...would you, baby
Would you, baby, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I
Uno momento por quito
Uno momento por quito
I, I, I, I
Nice daddy, nice daddy, nice daddy
I, I, I, I
Oh, my God

Close Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Prison

There should be a concerted effort to close both the prison and naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The prison is the site of horrendous human rights abuses carried out by the United States and the entire naval base is illegally present on the island of cuba as the land and on which it sits rightfully belongs to Cuba. Close it down!

Best Dressed

My picks for the Best Dressed definitely have to be Naomi Watts, Jennifer Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz,and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Oscars

Congratulations to Jennifer Hudson!!! Hooray!! Kudos to Helen Mirren and Forrest Whitaker as well! Now that they have given Martin Scorese an Oscar for Best Director, they need to give one to Barbra Streisand!

A Wow Moment

I know that Al Sharpton is blown out of his mind by the revelation that he is related to Strom Thurmond. Well, at least he is also related to Strom Thurmond's Black Daughter. Also, he isnt the only Black person to be related to racist, evil white men from the south. Lena Horne's great-great grandfather was John C. Calhoun, the staunch pro-slavery senator from South Carolina.

IFC/ Spirit Awards

Its sad when the IndependentFilm Awards are hopelessly bought off and conformist.

Its a Start

The state of Virginia has officially apologized for slavery. I think it is a bold and hopefully well-intended move...now to bring the rest of this country forward.

A Message from Activists

Friends:
At 12:10 a.m. this morning, Toledo police arrived at Rep. Marcy Kaptur's office and told 10 members of the NW Ohio Peace Coalition who had been there nearly 15 hours, that they had to leave the building. 4 members of NWOPC: Jeff Klein, Steve Miller, Larry Coleman, and Trudy Bond replied they were prepared to be arrested and the other 6 of us (we started with 17 earlier) then left. The arresting officer said they were going to be charged with criminal tresspass, taken to the jail and booked where they would "likely" be released on o.r. sometime later this morning.
Terry Lodge, attorney for the four, said they were released in the early morning hours per a standing Federal Court order on overcrowded conditions in the Lucas County Jail. He will schedule a pretrial appearance for the activists in the near future.
During our stay in Kaptur's office as part of the Occupation Project, we talked informally with several of the staff and met for about 30 minutes with Steve Katich, chief of staff. He explained the purpose of Marcy's trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq which she is currently on, as being primarily to thank the troops, and get a better understanding of the needs of the military as the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, on which she is second most senior to Rep. Murtha, starts to shape the Bush administration's $93,000,000,000 request into specific legislation.
We made our position clear to him that Marcy should vote the whole request down; that there is sufficient money from previous supplemental spending bills and in the general Dept. of Defense budget to provide for the needs of the troops currently in Iraq and bring them home. We reiterated our position that we wanted Marcy to sign a pledge to that effect or we would not leave the office voluntarily.
He said several times that we and Marcy were on the same side of the issue of the Iraq war, and cited her many statements against the war, her membership in the House "Out of Iraq" caucus, and her vote against the use of force just prior to the U.S. invasion in 2003. He added that Marcy has consistently called for diplomatic means to be used as the way to end the conflict.
We responded that all those points were admirable, but that despite her initial vote against the war and her subsequent statements of concern, she has voted for 6 out of 7 bills to fund the conflict.
One NWOPC member participating in the day-long sit-in, Peggy Daly-Masternak, explained to Katich that, paricularly now with Kaptur being on the delegation to Iraq, signing a pledge to vote against the war money would be historic and help assure the war was brought to an end. She asked him what Kaptur or anyone would say to the families of those killed during period when a "diplomatic approach" was being pursued and money was still being voted for the war?
Nancy Roffey told Katich that the War Powers Act should be used to end the fighting.
Katich made it clear he really didn't want to have any of us arrested, and kept the office open with three staff people beyond the usual closing time of 5:30 pm until 11 pm, hoping we would leave before the building management closed the whole facitity at 11. Kaptur's staff was hospitable and supportive throughout our stay.
Throughout the day we took turns reading the name, rank, and home state of each of the 3,184 U.S. troops killed in Iraq, plus several hundred names and ages of the nearly 1,000,000 Iraqis killed in the war.
Mary Anthony, a member of Military Families Speak Out with a son on his second deployment to the Middle East, worked the phone diligently during the day to update local news outlets.
Commenting on Kaptur's stance and Katich's characterization that she "is on your side," Lodge later said, "How can she be on a side when she's sitting on the fence? She's so much like junk food: tasty, empty calories signifying nothing and unhealthy to boot."
A vote is expected on this latest "supplemental" spending request for the war, around March 14.
Check with the Occupation Project, linked above, for ways you can join people around the nation pressuring their elected officials to cut the money and stop the war.

Mike Ferner
www.mikeferner.org

If either the United States, Britain, or Isreal attack Iran...we know what has happened, why, and what its all about.

Questions of Race

How can I be black and you be white when we have the same granddaddy?

Musings on Afro-Americans, The United States, and the World.

I think that the test of the future will be who will control the minds of Afro-Americans--white capitalism or will Afro-Americans exist within the context of a revolutionary freedom.

Colin Powell Speaks at Purdue

Last night Colin Powell visited Purdue and gave a very unsurprising and very by the book speech. As a means of protest, we handed out flyers discussing Colin Powell's part in involving the United States in this quagmire that is now in Iraq. The more interesting things of the night happened not in the speech, but with what happened as we handed out fliers. As I finished up handing out the flyers, a girl came up to me and the following exchange took place.
She said "what you are doing is so rude!"
My reply was, "well, killing people is rude as well."
Her reply to that was "What?! That doesn't even make any sense!"
Mhm...enough said

I feel sorry for Colin Powell.

Black Butterfly

Deniece Williams

Morning light, silken dream to flight
As the darkness gave way to dawn
You've survived, now your moment has arrived
Now your dream has finally been born

Chorus:
Black Butterfly, sailed across the waters
tell your sons and daughters
what the struggle brings
Black Butterfly, set the skies on fire
rise up even higher
so the ageless winds of time can catch your wings

ooh...ooh

While you slept, the promise was unkept
But your faith was as sure as the stars
Now you're free, and the world has come to see
Just how proud and beautiful you are

Black Butterfly, sailed across the waters
tell your sons and daughters
what the struggle brings
Black Butterfly, set the skies on fire
rise up even higher
so the ageless winds of time can catch your wings

Let the current lift your heart and send it soaring
Write the timeless message clear across the sky
So that all of can read it and remember when we need it
That a dream conceived in truth can never die
Butterfly

Cause now that you're free and the world has come to see
Just how proud and beautiful you are

Black Butterfly, sailed across the waters
tell your sons and daughters
what the struggle brings
Black Butterfly, set the skies on fire
rise up even higher
so the ageless winds of time can catch your wings

Fly
Butterfly
Yeah, yeah, yes
Fly

Intolerance and Bigotry in Fort Wayne

The Fort Wayne/East Allen County school district has threatened to fire a teacher--and has tried to walk all over one of their student's civil rights due to an editorial published in a high school newspaper advocating tolerance of homosexuality. I believe this child's parents should sue the fuck out of the school district and the principal should be castrated as he sounds like a mother fucker.

Abolish the Military Commissions Act

Congress has allowed this administration to destroy every shred of human decency secured under the Geneva Convention and with the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. We need to have this legislation renounced.

The Internationale

Arise ye workers from your slumbers
Arise ye prisoners of want
For reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of cant.
Away with all your superstitions
Servile masses arise, arise
We'll change henceforth [forthwith] the old tradition [conditions]
And spurn the dust to win the prize.

So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.

No more deluded by reaction
On tyrants only we'll make war
The soldiers too will take strike action
They'll break ranks and fight no more
And if those cannibals keep trying
To sacrifice us to their pride
They soon shall hear the bullets flying
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

No saviour from on high delivers
No faith have we in prince or peer
Our own right hand the chains must shiver
Chains of hatred, greed and fear
E'er the thieves will out with their booty [give up their booty]
And give to all a happier lot.
Each [those] at the forge must do their duty
And we'll strike while the iron is hot.

World Affairs

God Bless the Italians, God Bless Vladimir Putin!!!

Zoomin'

Lionel Richie

I may be just a foolish dreamer
But I don't care
'Cause I know my happiness is waiting out there somewhere
I'm searching for that silver lining
Horizons that I've never seen
Oh I'd like to take just a moment and dream my dream
Dream my dream
Zoom
I'd like to fly afr away from here
Where my mind is fresh and clear
And I'd find the love that I long to see
Where everybody can be what they wanna be
I'd like to greet the sun each morning
And walk amongst the stars at night
I'd like to know the taste of honey in my life
Well I've shared so many pains
And I've played so many games
But everyone finds the right way
Somehow
Somewhere
Someday
Zoom
I'd like to fly away far from here
Where my mind can be fresh and clear
And I'd find the love that I long to see
People can be what they wanna be
I wish the world were truly happy
Living as one
I wish the word they call freedom someday would come
Someday would come
Zoom
I'd like to fly far away from here
where my mind can be fresh and clear
And find the love that I long to see
Everybody acn be what they wanna be
Zoom
I'd like to fly away
Zoom
I'd like to fly away
Zoom
I'd like to fly away
You and me baby
Walking free
Don't you wanna go?
Don't you wanna go?

2007 Presidential Politics

They are already beginning to play the Black male against the white female.

Those in the know say that the U.S. wants to expand the war in Iraq into Iran.

The Presidential Election

I hope that Barak OBama and Hillary Clinton realize how very much they owe to Shirley Chisolm

Abuse of Guantanamo Prisoners in the Courts

This country will pay for what it does to people. The courts have just denied the prisoners at Guantanamo their right to sue over their treatment there.

Truth No. 2

Dixie Chicks

You don't like the sound of the truth
Coming from my mouth
You say that I lack the proof
Well baby that might be so
I might get to the end of my life
Find out everyone was lying
I don't think that I'm afraid anymore say that I would rather die trying
Woh-oh
Swing me way down south
Sing me something brave from your mouth
And I'll bring you
Pearls of water on my hips
And the love in my lips
All the love from my lips
This time when he swung the bat
And I found myself laying flat I wondered
What a way to spend a dime
What a way to use the time, ain't it baby
I looked at my reflection in the window walking past
And I saw a stranger
Just so scared all the time it makes me one more reason
Why the world's dangerous
Woh-oh
Swing me way down south
Sing me something brave from your mouth
And I'll bring you
Pearls of water on my hips
And the love in my lips
All the love from my lips
You don't like the sound of the truth
Coming from my mouth
You say that I lack the proof
Well baby that might be so
Tell me what's wrong with having a little faith
In what you're feeling in your heart
Why must we be so afraid
And always so far apart
Woh-oh
Swing me way down south
Sing me something brave from your mouth
And I'll bring you
Pearls of water on my hips
And the love in my lips
All the love from my lips

Move On

Barbra from Back to Broadway

You are complete, Yes, you are your own;
We do not belong together.
You are complete, just you all alone.
I am unfinished, I am diminished
With or without you.
We do not belong together,
And we should have belonged together.
What made it so right together
Is what made it all wrong.
No one is you and no one can be,
But others will do though.
No one is you, no, there we agree,
But no one is me, no, no one is me!
We do not belong together,
And we'll never belong...
There's nothing to say,
I cannot be what you want,
I did what I had to do,
Now it's up to you...
Move on...
Stop worrying where you're going,
Move on.
If you can go where you're going,
You've gone.
Just keep moving on...
I chose and my world was shaking, So what?
The choice may have been mistaken,
The chosing was not,
You have to move on.
Look at what you want
Not what might have been
Only what could be.
Look at all the things you did for me.
Opened up my eyes, taught me how to see,
Notice every tree,
Trust myself enough to move on,
I want to explore the world,
I want to find how to get through
Through this something new,
Something of my own.
Move on, move on!
Stop wondering which direction is right.
You think that you found perfection
And then overnight you keep moving on.
Look at what you want, not at where you are
Think of what you have, what can be?
Look at all the things you gave to me,
Let me give to you something in return.
Think of what we have,
Not the things we couldn't share,
Just the best of what was there
Like the care, and the feeling,
And the life moving on.
We do not belong together,
And we should have belonged together.
We have to move on,
Settle for the glow, time for letting go
Now the moment's gone...
Time for moving on.
Move on...
Move on...
Move on...

Salvador Allende was such a good man.

Corrie Ten Boom and the Ten Boom family were very godly and Christian people. Most people who talk about god today are going to burst hell wide open.

GoodBye Earl

The Dixie Chicks

Mary Anne and Wanda were the best of friends
All through their high school days
Both members of the 4H Club
Both active in the FFA
After graduation Mary Anne went out lookin'for a bright new world
Wanda looked all around this town
and all she found was Earl
Well it wasn't two weeks
after she got married that
Wanda started gettin' abused
She put on dark glasses and long sleeved blouses
And make-up to cover a bruise
Well she finally got the nerve to file for divorce
She let the law take it from there
But Earl walked right through that restraining order
And put her in intensive care
Right away Mary Anne flew in from Atalnta
On a red eye midnight flight
She held Wanda's hand as theyworked out a plan
And it didn't take long to decided
That Earl had to die
Goodbye Earl
Those black-eyed peas
They tasted all right to me Earl
You're feeling weak
Why don't you lay down
and sleep Earl
Ain't it dark
Wrapped up in that tarp Earl
The cops came to bring Earl in
They searched the house
high and low
Then they tipped their hats
and said 'Thank You ladies
if you hear from him let us know
'Well the weeks went by and
Spring turned to Summer
And Summer faded into Fall
And it turns out he was a missing person
who nobody missed al all
So the girls bought some land
and a roadside stand
Out on Highway 109
They sell Tennessee ham
and strawberry jam
And they don't
lose any sleep at night 'cause
Earl had to die
Goodbye Earl
We need a break
Let's go out to the lake Earl
We'll pack a lunch
And stuff you in the trunk Earl
Well is that all right
Good Let's go for a ride
Earl
hey

George Bush says he is not looking for a war with Iran. But he'll take one.

Those in the know say that the United States plans to expand their war in Iraq into Iran.

I just saw the film Proteus. Great film!

The U.S. Among the Worst Countries For Children To Live In

This is an interesting report from the San Francisco Gate concerning a study done comparing the well-being and welfare of children in the world's wealthiest nations. The United States ranked well in the bottom rungs.

Thinking along similar lines, when Carolyn Ho was here she spoke about encouraging her son to join the Boyscouts and do all of those activities and was speaking in terms of how all of that might have encouraged her son to become endoctrinated with militarism and further encouraged him to join the military. That made me think of my own experience with the Boyscouts. My father had me join when I was in junior high school, and he became the troop leader. I didn't mind and somewhat liked going to the meetings and talking with all of the other boys, however I do remember when they decided they were going to go on a camping trip. Me, sleeping on the ground? hmm. My father went on that trip and I stayed at home with my mama. I also remember that they let me design the troop flag and I remember it coming out a very nice shade of magenta. I got two pens for that and something else. I enjoyed it for as long as it lasted and for what it was worth.

I first heard of Corrie Ten Boom when I was about thirteen years old. I remember I went into the library to find something to read and came across this book called, The Hiding Place about a dutch family of clockmakers that hid Jews inside the walls of their house during World War II. Of course, I had to read it, me being a huge philosemite and a lover of all things Jewish and a lover of everything nonmilitary that related to WWII(especially stories of the Resistance--I was huge on Hannah Senesh). Alas, I devoured The Hiding Place and proceeded to read every book that Corrie Ten Boom ever wrote including Tramp for the Lord and In My Father's House. I gained and developed such a love and respect for Corrie Ten Boom and learned soo much from her. I still value her and the entire Ten Boom family, I have learned a lot from reading about them.I would love to go to Haarlem and visit the Ten Boom house. Alas, for a while I was on a Corrie Ten Boom high. I became president of the Fellowship of Christian Students for an entire year of high school during which time my sole effort was to talk about Corrie Ten Boom. What an interesting child I was. Haha. However, yesterday I ran across some of her writings on the internet and I was quite fondly reminiscent of my first discovery of this amazing woman and her wonderful family.

Poem For the People Who Fled Hurricane Katrina

A Refugee in my own country
A Fish Out of Water
Propelled from explosive material
internal combustion encompassing all things
How long does it take to clean up the streets in Arabi?

I love Corrie Ten Boom.

I know that the lord provides. I am such a blessed soul.

One thing I thought about recently was the diversity among Afro-Americans. We all did not originate in the same place, even here in the U.S. and are not homogenous in our experiences(however similar and kindred they may be). Blacks in the Northeast under wasps domination who experienced freedom earlier had different experiences than those in the southeast who lived under white rule--Anglo for the most part, but also German, Irish, French, etc who practiced their brand of slavery. Slavery for those Blacks that lived in territories under French and Spanish rule was different than that of all of the rest as well, even though after the Louisiana Territory became apart of the United States those experiences perhaps became more homogenized. However, slavery in Latin areas was much different than those in Anglo/Protestant areas...that is something to think about. I could elaborate more--there have been books written about this matter of course, but I will stop my musing here for the time being.

The Color Purple

Celie, Shug, and Ms. Sophia all encompass parts of me. They are among my spiritual mothers.

Miss Celie's Wonderful Quote

"Til You do right be me, everything you even think about's gonna fail."

Those in the know say that the United States wants to expand the war in Iraq into Iran.

Nancy Wilson won a Grammy! You go Nancy! She is one of the best there is.

Grammys

Kudos to Mary J Blige and the Dixie Chicks!

A Historic Day!

Stemming off of the Summers scandal, Harvard has made a bold and historic move and hired its first female president, Drew Gilpin Faust. She is not only a woman--but she is a feminist as well and her politics seem to be quite progressive!

How Patriarchy/Bullshit is Propagated/Promoted

Tonight I was riding the bus to the coffeeshops and there were these drunk white girls singing a song that I learned as a child, only I learned it differently. The lyrics I learned as a child went

"I don't wanna march in the infantry, Ride in the cavalry, Shoot with artillery, I don't wanna fly over Germany, I want to be friendly. CHORUS: I want to be friendly I want to be friendly I just wanna be real neighborly, Raise a family, Have two kids or three, I just want to live in peace you see, I want to be friendly . "

Well what I heard tonight, which they learned as children(as they said) went:


I may never march in the infantry, Ride in the cavalry, Shoot the artillery. I may never fly o'er the enemy, But I'm in the Lord's army. (yes, sir!) I'm in the Lord's army, (yes, sir!) I'm in the Lord's army, (yes, sir!) I may never march in the infantry, Ride in the Calvary, Shoot the artillery. I may never fly o'er the enemy, But I'm in the Lord's army. (yes, sir!)

Religion and Militarism at the age of 5

Alberto Gonzales Tries to Underhandedly Stop Investigations

Alberto Gonzales should be castrated for trying to hinder the investigations into republican bullshit in the Duke Cunningham case by firing left-leaning lawyers and replacing them with people loyal to him. We don't need this kind of man in power.

HPV Vaccination That I Oppose

The Governor of Texas has issued an executive order mandating all 6th grade girls recieve an HPV vaccination. I say no. I do not like how this is done and there is also a legacy of white men putting women of color on the chopping block with mandates and orders such as these....the sterilization of Puerto Rican women, of Afro-American women, institutionalized hysterectomies and other such procedures. This is not what needs to be done.

I posted that Lafayette equals death. What I meant to say is that Purdue equals death. This place has a death urge that is saturated into every aspect of it. The values upheld and maintained, the culture, and environment all exist on the death drive. I will be about life.

One Less Campaign--Gardisil Vaccination

I would like to say something about this new HPV vaccination. When I first heard about this and saw the commerical I approached it with much enthusiasm, believing it to be a good thing. Now that I have read more about it--and especially the way in which the state(federal and state governments) are going about trying to recruit parents to get their children to take this vaccine, and have factored in the implications of targeting vulnerable young girls, particularly young women of color, I absolutely do not support the Gardisil vaccine and I believe that the state should not impose itself upon the parents of these children or force this vaccine. I stand with the anti-gardisil crowd.

Who Would Attack Elie Wiesel?

I like the film Last Night.

Lafayette equals death.

What A Revelation: The Pentagon Lied!

I Don't Know Why This Saddens Me So

but Anna Nicole Smith died today. I felt sorry for her because her son died at such a young age and in such a tragic way. What a sad,sad tale.

The End of Silence

Elaine Brown

Have you ever stood
In the darkness of night
Screaming silently
You're a man
Have you ever hoped that
a time would come
when your voice could be heard
In a noon-day sun
Have you waited so long
'Til your unheard song
Has stripped away your very soul.

Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

Has a cry to live
When your brain is dead
Made your body tremble so.
And have unseen chains
Of too many years
Hurt you so bad 'til you can't
Shed tears
Have so many vows
From so many mouths
Made you know that words
Are just words
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

You know that dignity
Not just equality
Is what makes a man a man
And so you laugh at laws
Passed by a silly lot
That tell you to give thanks
For what you've already
Got
And you can't go on
with this time-worn song
That just won't change the way
You feel.
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

You don't want to think
You just want to drink
Both the sweet wine and the gall
You been burning inside
For so long a while
'Til Your old time grin
is now a crazed man's smile
And the goal's so clear
And the time so near
You'll make it or
You'll break the plow
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men

Yes it's time you know
Who you really are
And not try whitewash the truth.
You're a man you see
And a man must be
Whatever he'll be or he
won't be free
If he's bound up so tight
He'll hold back the night
And their won't be no light
For day
Well then, believe it my friend
That this silence will end
We'll just have to get guns
and be men.

Today I got home from campus and found the most wonderful and pleasant surprise of Elaine Brown's Seize the Time on my doorstep! After about fifteen minutes of giddy shrieking I listened to it and it was, as I always thought it would be, wonderful!

FREE THE PANTHER 8

Title: FREE THE 8 PANTHER VETS ON LOCKDOWNTime Frame: UNTIL VICTORY IS WON!Plan of Action: Make phone calls, write letters, attend hearings/meetings/rallies, broadly distribute information, provide financial support and resources towards the struggle for the release of 8 senior citizen Freedom Fighters.Eight former Black Panthers were arrested January 23, 2007 in California, New York and Florida on charges related to the 1971 killing of a San Francisco police officer. Similar charges were thrown out after it was revealed that police used torture to extract confessions when some of these same men were arrested in New Orleans in 1973. Richard Brown, Richard O'Neal, Ray Boudreaux, and Hank Jones were arrested in California. Francisco Torres was arrested in Queens, New York. Harold Taylor was arrested in Florida. Two men charged have been held as political prisoners for over 30 years – Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim are both in New York State prisons. A ninth man -- Ronald Stanley Bridgeforth – is still being sought. The men were charged with the murder of Sgt. John Young and conspiracy that encompasses numerous acts between 1968 and 1973.Harold Taylor and John Bowman (recently deceased) as well as Ruben Scott (thought to be a government witness) were first charged in 1975. But a judge tossed out the charges, finding that Taylor and his two co-defendants made confessions after police in New Orleans tortured them for several days employing electric shock, cattle prods, beatings, sensory deprivation, plastic bags and hot, wet blankets for asphyxiation.Purpose of Action: Let the world know of this federal witchhunt, harassment and kidnappings, as proof that this government will terrorize and torture freedom fighters, even in their senior years, to continue their war against those who dared to ever take a stand for the people.Bail Hearing and ArraignmentSet for Feb. 14, 2007The first court hearing for the four defendants who live in California-Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Richard O'Neal, and Ray Boudreaux-was held in San Francisco Superior Court on January 29, 2007. They are presently being held on bail of $3 million to $5 million each (!). Their arraignment and a bail reduction hearing was carried over until February 14 at 9:00 a.m.The Superior Court is at 850 Bryant Street in SF.ParticipateHow you can make a difference today:1. Attend the arraignment and bail reduction hearing on Valentine's Day at San Francisco Superior Court. These men need to get bailed out, which is impossible with the present absurd bail amounts.2. Write these Brothas and ask them what their specific needs may be (i.e. commissary, books, etc.). We must support them and let their captors know that they have folks on the outside looking out for them.3. Stay posted on ongoing developments and Action Alerts by subscribing to cdhrsupport's e-mail list (address below) as well as websites in solidarity with these men.Addresses:Bro. Herman Bell# 79C-0262, Sullivan Correctional Facility, Box 116, Riverside Drive,Fallsburg, New York 12733-0116Bro. Ray Boudreaux2301300, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco CA 94103.Bro. Richard Brown2300819, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco CA 94103.Bro. Henry (Hank) Jones2301301, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco CA 94103.Bro. Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom), # 77A4283, Auburn Correctional Facility, 135 State Street, P.O. Box 618, Auburn, NY 13024Bro. Richard O'Neal2300818, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco CA 94103Bro. Harold Taylor#07-00944, 5600 Nehi Road, Panama City, FL 32404Bro. Francisco Torres,#349071576, 1515 Hazen Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370.(taken from http://www.cdhrsupport.org/)Goals and OutcomesGoals:1. To make the release of these men a global issue.2. To expose this government's campaign of terror against hundreds of U.S. political prisoners, prisoners of war, and exiles.Outcomes:1. To achieve full acquittal of all charges on these freedom fighters, and completely clear Bro. John Bowman's name in connection with this.2. To raise the demand for amnesty for all US freedom fighters by building an even stronger movement!=================CHECK THESE WEBSITES REGULARLY!:http://www.cdhrsupport.org/ (sign up for e-mail list!)

From Venezuelanalysis.com

Communications Minister Rejects CPJ Report on Venezuela
Tuesday, Feb 06, 2007



Venezuela’s Minister of Communications and Information, Willian Lara, yesterday rejected a report by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) which accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of “controlling, intimidating and censoring the media.”
The “Attacks on the Press” report by the New York-based CPJ, which calls itself “an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide” and which is funded by individuals, corporations and foundations, identified Chavez and his Russian counterpart President Putin among the worst offenders stating, “Presidents Chavez and Putin represent a generation of sophisticated, elected leaders who have created a legal framework to control, intimidate, and censor the news media,” according to the news agency AFP.
In response Lara stated, “The report by the self-proclaimed Committee for the Protection of Journalists is a rehash of the same old anti-governmental propaganda used by forces of the opposition through its television companies, radio stations, and newspapers since 1999,” according to the state news agency, ABN.
“Its falseness is patent when we observe the absolute freedom -even to spread lies for political ends- with which the press operates in Venezuela,” Lara added.
According to the CPJ report, “The rise of 'democratators' -- popularly elected autocrats -- is alarming because it represents a new model for government control.”
Lara hit back saying that Chavez was the most tolerant of all Venezuelan presidents in Venezuela’s democratic era, and pointed out that Chavez did not suspend constitutional guarantees following the short-lived military coup against his government in April 2002, or during the two month long opposition-led oil strike in December 2002.
Lara’s response to the CPJ report comes in the wake of widespread criticism of the government’s decision announced in December last year not to renew the broadcast license for the privately-owned RCTV television channel, which expires in May this year.
In June 2006, the government announced it would be evaluating broadcasters’ adherence to the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, and warned that licenses up for review in 2007 might not be renewed. According to this media regulation law, passed in November 2004, violations of the law’s provisions can lead to fines and, in extreme cases, to a temporary or even permanent suspension of broadcast licenses.
CPJ immediately condemned the announcement saying, “We urge President Chavez to abstain from making these kinds of threatening commentaries, which inhibit the work of the press,” according to AFP. International media groups such as Paris-based Reporters without Borders and the International Press Institute also expressed their concern at the decision. The government argues it has good reason not to renew RCTV’s license, saying the channel was one of the main protagonists in the organization and execution of the 2002 coup, and actively misinformed the public during the coup when it claimed that Chavez government supporters were shooting at opposition demonstrators. The channel also hosted exclusive interviews with coup plotters and is accused by the government of failing to provide news coverage of the anti-coup demonstrators who took to the streets in support of Chavez, broadcasting cartoons instead. To top it all off, RCTV’s reputation as a coup-plotting channel stems from its support for the December 2002 oil strike, an attempt to force Chavez from office.

The horrible thing that I have come to the realization of is that we have become a nation of Booker T. Washingtons.

Yes

I just rebought The Waiting to Exhale CD. Two previous copies went missing(with some suspected places of where they went) and it was definitely a gaping hole in my music collection.

This Is How It Works

TLC

Not everybody knows just how to do it
Some just learn it on the way
Once you get it right, ain't nothin to it
If you wanna get it right, you gotta learn to pace
Make it smooth, take your time
Make it groove, in, out, in
Make it last, kiss, kiss, kiss, Kiss my ---,
ah, ah, ah
This is how it works
Wrap your hands around my body
This is how it works
Go due south and
This is how it works
Melt yourself into my body
This is how it works
Kiss my mouth
Some guys think they know the answers
Everybody knows how to make you scream
If most guys took time out their fantasies
Maybe we could stop our make believe
Make it smooth, take your time
Make it groove, in ,out, in
Make it last, kiss, kiss, kiss,
Kiss my ---, ah, ah, ah
This is how it works
Wrap your hands around my body
This is how it works
Go due south and
This is how it works
Melt yourself into my body
This is how it works
Kiss my mouth
Ready set go, you don't have to know
We can take forever, learn together any flow
Touch me slow, watch it grow
Kiss the tip, gently flow, be my ho and take the show
We can watch it in slo mo, when the sweet & lo drips
Don't forget to let me wet my finger tips
Write love letters back & forth across your lips
Spread my hips, count to eighty, eighty ways, eighty trips
Make it smooth, take you time
One time for you mind, two times if ya tense baby let it unwind
Make it groove, in, out, in
Three counts let it bou--nce to the motherfucking ounce
Make it last, kiss, kiss, kiss
Here we go, now you know, 4th down, let if flow back around come on Kiss my --- Kiss my, kiss my , mm-wah
This is how it works
Wrap your hands around my body
This is how it works
Go due south and
This is how it works
Melt yourself into my body
This is how it works
Kiss my mouth

Everything

Mary J. Blige

My everything, everything, everything
You are my everything, you are my everything
You, my everything
It's all because of you
I'm never sad and blue
You brighten up my day
In your own special way
Whenever you're around
I'm never feeling down
You are my trusted friend
On you I can depend

You take me away from the pain and you bring me paradise
And then on a cloudy day, you brought sunshine into my life
It never occurred to me, the first time I saw your face
I would fall so deep in love that your love can't be replaced
You are my (you are) everything (you are my everything)
Love so good (love so good, so good, so good, so good) only you can bring
You are my (you are my) everything
You are everything, and everything is you
My darling, only you can make my dreams come true
And every night I pray you'll never go away
I promise I will try until the day I die
To treat you like a king cause you are my everything
(When your loving me) with your loving arms around me
(When your loving me) said i feel so safe about security
(When your loving me) forever oooo i want you to hold me
my every every every everything everything
(Repeat Chorus til End)
Take me away
[fading]

An Update on Ortega in Nicauragua

I certainly haven't been keeping up completely-but it is great news that Daniel Ortega won his election in Nicauragua!

HungryBlues Post on First Reagan Campaign

1980 Recording of Reagan at Neshoba County Fair Found
Last week the Neshoba Democrat reported the discovery of a recording of Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign kickoff speech at the Neshoba County Fair in Mississippi.
While we wait to find out whether there will be public access to Reagan’s speech, it may be informative to peer into the place where Reagan spoke. Melina was at the 2005 Neshoba County Fair, just one month after Edgar Ray Killen was convicted on three counts of manslaughter for the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman:
The Neshoba County Fair’s most famous role is as a venue for Mississippi political speakers. There are only 2.8 million people in the state, and a lot of the most important ones like to hang out at the Fair in their expensive hovels, so as a result, any Mississippi politician who is seriously stumping for office has to put on his shirtsleeves and take a turn sweating it out at the outdoor podium. It’s traditional. Sometimes it’s not just Mississippians who show up to pay their dues — none other than Ronald Reagan kicked off his first presidential campaign at the Neshoba County Fair. This year was not an election year, so the schedulers tried to book current and former elected officials to speak. The turnout was great. There were about four former state governors who showed up, as well as the current one, which made for an astonishing sight….
Before any governors spoke, the state attorney general Jim Hood had spoken - briefly, but intensely. He was the one who made the decision to re-open the case of the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner, which had ended only a few weeks before in Neshoba County with the conviction of Edgar Ray Killen, a native Neshoban. My boss was very apprehensive that he would not get any support from the audience when he spoke or that he might even be booed.
Well, he was not booed, but there was no standing ovation either. He got a little polite applause when he came up to the podium, but in the noisy outside auditorium, wood-hewn benches under a roof with fair-goers milling all around, you could hear a pin drop when he began to speak. And he didn’t mince words. “Aren’t you proud of Mississippi?” he started off. “Aren’t you proud to be from Neshoba County and proud to know that Mississippi did the right thing?”
The audience seemed, I’d say, maybe a little bit proud. They did clap, a little bit. But many of them sat very, very quietly, thinking who knows what. Overt racism is not in fashion in Mississippi politics. You just get these little crypto-racist moments … and also this weird overall attitude toward their history: as far as I can tell, the general mentality of white politicians and of many white Mississippians is that they work very hard to believe that there were never any Klan members and lynching-watchers and quiet racists among their parents and friends and family. They kind of like to think that Killen and the other men who murdered the civil rights workers were evil men from a little evil space ship, who made landfall in Neshoba county, did their evil deeds without any knowledge or support from the community, and were either brought to justice or quietly disappeared somewhere (perhaps to their evil home planet) where they are far too far away for the arm of justice to reach. And so, we should put the past behind us. And so, Mississippi and her fair native (non space-ship-based) citizens have nothing to be ashamed of. And so, everything is fine now and equal now. And so, it’s not very nice of Attorney General Jim Hood to go on bringing it up, even if he is praising Mississippians for “doing what was right.”
Essentially, they’re fighting a battle to avoid historical context. Holocaust eduation is mandatory in Mississippi public schools. Civil rights history education is not.
Neshoba County is 20% black, and Mississippi is 36% black. But I only saw about two black families visiting the fair the entire day I was there, and one local said that she thought that *none* of the cabins were owned by black families. But it’s not that they’re not there –it’s that they’re not guests, not visitors. Black people maintain the fair grounds. They drive the horses in the harness races that fairgoers bet on.
The current governor was the last to speak. He is this big red-faced guy who, rumor has it, is planning to run for president in 2008…. He gave a cheerful speech about his his successes (after a year and a half in office, he claims, job creation rates are at their highest since 1999) and declared Mississippi to be the safest state in the country for the unborn. He was also the only governor to not mention the trial at all. I guess he thinks it’s over and done with, and that everyone should just be looking toward the future.
This long excerpt includes the parts of Melina’s account that relate most directly to what I cover here, but there is quite a bit more, and it is all worth reading.
In 1980 Neshoba County’s only claim to fame was as the location where a band of Klansmen murdered James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman on June 21, 1964. As noted in the Neshoba Democrat article about the Reagan recording,
Reagan’s visit to the Fair was his first public appearance following his nomination with over 30,000 said to be in attendance.
Before the assembled throng, the presidential hopeful declared:
I believe in states’ rights. I believe that we’ve distorted the balance of our government by giving powers that were never intended in the Constitution to the federal establishment.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson has rightly called this a battle cry, the launching of the Reagan revolution, a coded promise to “roll the clock back to the pre-civil rights days when blacks, minorities and women knew their place.”

Also From Hungry Blues

Money for Meals for Public Housing Residents Going to DC!
I received this email from Bill Quigley today. Bill Quigley is one of the lawyers for the public housing residents in New Orleans who have brought a class action suit against HANO and HUD to stop the planned demolitions of their homes. Please consider helping out.
From: bill quigley Date: Jan 31, 2007 11:13 AMSubject: Raising $ for Meals for Public Housing Residents Going to DC!
Friends:
On Sunday morning, about 50 public housing residents will be boarding a bus to go to DC where they will tell their stories, meet with legislators and publicly advocate for the right of public housing residents to return to NOLA. They will return Wednesday.
The residents have taken time off of work, had to make their own arrangements for child care, and the like. The bus trip and a place to stay will be donated.
But people still need to eat. This is a very long bus ride.
I estimate that people will need at least $50 per person to eat during the trip up and back.
This is a chance for the rest of us who are not going with our sisters and brothers to show our solidarity with them.
Please donate as much as you can to help pay for meals.
I will collect the money and distribute it directly to the residents as they board the bus. Please send or deliver donations (preferably cash or check made out to me) to me at:
Loyola Law ClinicRoom 120 (Law School)526 Pine StNew Orleans, LA 70118
I will send out an email listing everyone who donated.
Show your support - and pitch in please.
Peace,
Bill Quigley
For more information on the class action suit and the public housing residents’ fight for justice, see the justiceforneworleans.org, a website of the Loyola Law Clinic.

From HungryBlues

Ask Barney Frank to Let New Orleans Public Housing Residents Speak THIS TUESDAY (2/6)
ACTION ALERT
Without any input from New Orleans public housing residents, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has approved plans to demolish thousands of livable public housing apartments in New Orleans.
MA Residents Can Help Make New Orleans Public Housing Residents Heard
Please call Representative Barney Frank today and ask him to guarantee two slots for New Orleans public housing residents to speak at this Tuesday’s (Feb. 6) meeting of the House Committee on Financial Services. Representative Frank is Chair of the Financial Services Committee, which has oversight of HUD.
Call Barney Frank now at 202-225-5931 (DC office) or 617-332-3920 (District Office, Newton).
(Make sure you let Frank’s staff know if you are his constituents from the 4th Congressional District of MA. In Metro Boston that includes Brookline and Newton.)
On Sunday morning, February 4, fifty New Orleans public housing residents boarded a bus to Washington, DC, where they will tell their stories, meet with legislators and publicly advocate for the right of public housing residents to return to New Orleans.
The residents have taken time off from work, made arrangements for childcare and have made other sacrifices in hopes that they will be allowed to speak about their desire and their right to return to their homes. Please take a few minutes out of your day to call Representative Frank and let him know you want the New Orleans public housing residents to speak at the House Financial Services Committee meeting this Tuesday, February 6.
For more information, visit the Gulf Coast Fair Housing Network:
Fact Sheet: http://fairhousingnetwork.org/node/30
Condition of the Projects (includes photos): http://fairhousingnetwork.org/node/10
4th Congressional District: http:// fairhousingnetwork.org/node/8

U.S. Involved in Kidnapping of Iranian Official

This was on the newswire this morning. This comes not to long after several Iranian diplomats were illegally detained in Iraq and admist growing talk amongst people in the knew that the United States intends to widen the war in Iraq into Iran. Write your congresspeople, write the white house and tell them this must stop!

Bush Budget Proposal

Strike it Down!

Strangefruit

Billy Holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Here is the fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Something to Think About

It was pointed out to me tonight that the U.S. and the British may be using their old methods of divide and conquer in Iraq amongst the Shiite and Sunnis.

Tainted Love

Sometimes I feel
I've got to
Run away
I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night (chorus)
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh...tainted love
Tainted love
Now I know
I've got to
Run away
I've got to
Get away
You don't really want
IT any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you'LL think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way (chorus...)
Don't touch me please I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love (x2)
Touch me baby, tainted love (x2)
Tainted love (x3)

Wentworth Miller is a gorgeous man.

My Oscar Picks

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)

Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson” (THINKFilm)

Peter O’Toole in “Venus” (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council)

Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)

Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children” (New Line)

Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)

Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)

Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Penélope Cruz in “Volver” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)

Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)

Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox)

Kate Winslet in “Little Children” (New Line)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Adriana Barraza in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)

Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)

Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)

Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)

Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth”(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge

“Listen” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger and Scott CutlerLyric by Anne Preven

“Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry KriegerLyric by Siedah Garrett

“Our Town” from “Cars”(Buena Vista)Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Patience” from “Dreamgirls”(DreamWorks and Paramount)Music by Henry KriegerLyric by Willie Reale

Best motion picture of the year

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films ProductionAlejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)A Warner Bros. Pictures Production Graham King, Producer

“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures ProductionClint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers

“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)A Big Beach/Bona Fide ProductionDavid T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, Producers

“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)A Granada ProductionAndy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers