Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Everything Must Change
Barbra Streisand
Everything must change
Nothing stays the same
Everyone must change
No one stays the same
The young become the old
And mysteries do unfold
Cause that's the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged
There are not many things in life
You can be sure of
Except rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
And hummingbirds do fly
Winter turns to spring
A wounded heart will heal
But never much too soon
Yes everything must change
The young become the old
And mysteries do unfold
Cause that's the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged
There are not many things in life
You can be sure of
Except rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
And butterflies do fly
Rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
And music
And music
Makes me cry
Everything must change
Nothing stays the same
Everyone must change
No one stays the same
The young become the old
And mysteries do unfold
Cause that's the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged
There are not many things in life
You can be sure of
Except rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
And hummingbirds do fly
Winter turns to spring
A wounded heart will heal
But never much too soon
Yes everything must change
The young become the old
And mysteries do unfold
Cause that's the way of time
Nothing and no one goes unchanged
There are not many things in life
You can be sure of
Except rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
And butterflies do fly
Rain comes from the clouds
Sun lights up the sky
And music
And music
Makes me cry
What a Tragic Passing
What a shock it was for me when I turned on the Tom Joyner Morning Show this morning and heard that Dr. Donda West had died over the weekend. I always thought quite highly of her, having been the head of the English Department at Chicago State University and raising her son all by herself. I know Kanye must be quite undone by this loss. Much sympathy for him and that entire family.
A Federal Judge Rules Agains the White House
Putting holes in the Bush policy of secrecy, a federal judge orders this adminstration to keep all of their emails. Read the story here.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Taking Chances
Celine Dion
Don’t know much about your life.
Don’t know much about your world, but
Don’t want to be alone tonight,
On this planet they call earth.
You don’t know much about my past, and
I don’t have a future figured out.
And maybe this is going too fast.
And maybe it’s not meant to last,
But what do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there’s solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say? (2x)
I just want to start again,
And maybe you could show me how to try,
And maybe you could take me in,
Somewhere underneath your skin?
What do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there’s solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say? (2x)
And I had my heart beating down,
But I always come back for more, yeah.
There’s nothing like love to pull you up,
When you’re laying down on the floor there.
So talk to me, talk to me,
Like lovers do.
Yeah walk with me, walk with me,
Like lovers do, like lovers do.
What do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there’s solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say? (2x)
Don’t know much about your life
And I don’t know much about your world.
Don’t know much about your life.
Don’t know much about your world, but
Don’t want to be alone tonight,
On this planet they call earth.
You don’t know much about my past, and
I don’t have a future figured out.
And maybe this is going too fast.
And maybe it’s not meant to last,
But what do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there’s solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say? (2x)
I just want to start again,
And maybe you could show me how to try,
And maybe you could take me in,
Somewhere underneath your skin?
What do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there’s solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say? (2x)
And I had my heart beating down,
But I always come back for more, yeah.
There’s nothing like love to pull you up,
When you’re laying down on the floor there.
So talk to me, talk to me,
Like lovers do.
Yeah walk with me, walk with me,
Like lovers do, like lovers do.
What do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there’s solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say? (2x)
Don’t know much about your life
And I don’t know much about your world.
I Love This Picture of Desiree fairooz confronting Condoleeza Rice
When I was in the 11th grade I participated in this government competition with my AP government class that took place at the Statehouse. We divided up into teams of three and we were each supposed to argue specific cases in front of different panels, small three person panels, sort of like testifying before congress. I believe Harold Ford was one of the three judges on my panel. Well, I remember my question asked something to the effect of how did the 13, 14, and 15th amendments, lead up to the Voting Rights Act of 1965,how they better conditions for Blacks, and what might have been the instigators for the coming about of this legislation. Well, I laid out my case, talking about the NAACP and I don't remember what else, and I also made the arguement that U.S. society had become more liberal over the years from the passage of the 13th,14th, and 15th amendments to the Voiting Rights Act. Then, one of them asked me to give an example of how society had become more liberal. I couldn't think of anything. So, I started talking about contraceptives and how they had become available, totally unrelated to my topic. What an experience. I enjoyed it though.
John Edwards is so hot. At 54, Edwards looks better than men half his age. Wow.Sunday, November 11, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Friday, November 09, 2007
Iraqi Government Wants Voice in When U.S. Troops Leave
Iraqi Government to UN: 'Don't Extend Mandate for
Bush's Occupation'
By Joshua Holland and Raed Jarrar,
AlterNet. Posted November 9, 2007
Bush needs the U.N.'s cover to justify the
occupation, but the only way he can renew the
expiring U.N. mandate is to cut Iraq's frail
democracy out of the process.
The United Nations Security Council, with support from
the British and American delegations, is poised to cut
the Iraqi parliament out of one of the most significant
decisions the young government will make: when foreign
troops will depart. It's an ugly and unconstitutional
move, designed solely to avoid asking an Iraqi
legislature for a blank check for an endless military
occupation that it's in no mood to give, and it will
make a mockery of Iraq's nascent democracy (which needs
all the legitimacy it can get).
While the Bush administration frequently invokes sunny
visions of spreading democracy and "freedom" around the
world, the fact remains that democracy is incompatible
with its goals in Iraq. The biggest headache supporters
of the occupation of Iraq have to deal with is the
occupation itself. As far back as the middle of 2004,
more than nine out of 10 Iraqis said the U.S.-ledforces
were "occupiers," and only 2 percent called them
"liberators." Things have only gone downhill since then,
and any government that represents the will of the Iraqi
people would have no choice but to demand a timetable
for the withdrawal of foreign troops. This fact poses an
enormous problem, as the great triumph of the Bush
administration and its supporters has been in their
ability to convince Americans that Iraqi interests and
Washington's interests are in harmony, even when they're
diametrically opposed.
Crucial to this fiction is a U.N. mandate that confers
legal cover on the so-called "multinational" forces in
Iraq. The mandate is now coming up for renewal, and a
majority of Iraqi legislators oppose its renewal unless
conditions are placed on it, conditions that may include
a timetable for the departure of American troops.
The process of renewing the mandate is highlighting the
political rift that's divided the country and fueled
most of the violence that's plagued the new state.
That's the rift between nationalists -- those Iraqis
who, like most of their countrymen, oppose the presence
of foreign troops on the ground, the wholesale
privatization of Iraq's natural resources and the
division of their country into ethnic and sectarian
fiefdoms, and Iraqi separatists who at least tolerate
the occupation -- if not support it -- and favor a loose
sectarian/ethnic-based federation of semiautonomous
states held together by a minimal central government in
Baghdad.
In the United States, the commercial media has largely
ignored this story, focusing almost exclusively on
sectarian violence and doing a poor job giving their
readers and viewers a sense of what's driving Iraq's
political crisis. An understanding of the tensions
between nationalists and separatists is necessary to
appreciate the import of parliament being cut out of the
legislative process and the degree to which doing so
hurts the prospect of real political reconciliation
among Iraq's many political factions. (We've discussed
this dynamic in greater detail in an earlier article.)
The key ingredient to understand is this: The Iraqi
executive branch -- the cabinet and the presidency --
are completely controlled by separatists (including
Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and secular politicians). But the
parliament is controlled by nationalists -- nationalists
from every major ethnic and sectarian group in the
country -- who enjoy a small but crucially important
majority in the only elected body in the Iraqi
government.
In 2006, Maliki's office requested the renewal of the
U.N. mandate without consulting the legislature, a
process that many lawmakers maintained was a violation
of Iraqi law. The problem was that Maliki didn't have
the authority to make the request under the Iraqi
constitution. Article 58, Section 4 says that the
Council of Representatives (the parliament) has to
ratify "international treaties and agreements"
negotiated by the Council of Ministers (the cabinet).
Specifically, it reads: "A law shall regulate the
ratification of international treaties and agreements by
a two-thirds majority of the members of the Council of
Representatives."
Prime Minister Maliki had claimed that the constitution
didn't refer to the U.N. mandate. A senior Iraqi
lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of
the assertion: "If we are asked to approve a trade
agreement concerning olive oil, should we not have the
right to pass on an agreement concerning the stationing
of foreign military forces in our national soil?"
In June, we reported that the parliament had passed a
binding resolution that would force Maliki to go to the
parliament and give Iraqi lawmakers an opportunity to
block the extension of the mandate. It was signed by the
majority of the 275-seat legislature, then sent to the
president. According to the Iraqi constitution, the
president had 15 days to veto it by sending it back to
the parliament; otherwise it automatically became a
ratified law. The 15 days passed without a veto and the
resolution became the law of the land in mid-June 2007.
Something happened, however, between the passage of that
law and the latest report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki Moon. According to Moon's latest report to the
Security Council (PDF), dated Oct. 15, the law that had
been passed by the duly elected legislature of Iraq
became nothing more than a "nonbinding resolution":
The Council of Representatives passed a nonbinding
resolution on 5 June obligating the cabinet to
request parliament's approval on future extensions
of the mandate governing the multinational force in
Iraq and to include a timetable for the departure of
the force from Iraq.
One might have believed that the disconnect was a simple
mistake, if not for the fact that members of the Iraqi
parliament, still fuming over being cut out of the
process the year before, sent a letter to the U.N.'s
special envoy for Iraq back in April clarifying the
situation in very clear terms. According to an English
translation provide by the Global Policy Forum, it says:
"The Iraqi Cabinet has unilaterally requested a renewal
of the U.N. mandate keeping the occupation troops (MNF)
in Iraq" despite the fact that "such a request issued by
the Iraqi cabinet without the Iraqi parliament's
approval is unconstitutional." It continues: "The Iraqi
parliament, as the elected representatives of the Iraqi
people, has the exclusive right to approve and ratify
international treaties and agreements, including those
signed with the United Nations Security Council."
According to sources within the Iraqi delegation to the
United Nations, the letter, signed by 144 MPs --more
than half of Iraq's legislators -- was received in good
order by the special envoy, Ashraf Qazi, but never
distributed to the Security Council members, as is
required under the U.N. resolution that governs the
mandate. The parliament, and indeed the majority of the
Iraqi population, had been cleanly excised from the
legislative process.
The important thing to understand is that the run-around
goes beyond the issue of the mandate itself. Iraq is not
in the midst of an incomprehensible religious war over
some obscure theological differences between Sunni and
Shiite Muslims but is deeply and profoundly divided over
fundamental questions about the future of the country.
In cutting the nationalist majority in the parliament
out of the process of governing, the Maliki
administration, Bush administration and, apparently, the
U.N. secretary-general are making political
reconciliation much more difficult. History has offered
the lesson time and time again: Deny people the right to
participate in deciding their own destiny in a peaceful
political process, and they'll try to do so with guns
and bombs. The United Nations, like the administration
and its supporters, and like Sen. Joe Biden and those
who favor his plan for partitioning the country, is
taking sides in a political battle that should be
exclusively for Iraqis to decide.
If there were some similarities between the current
Iraqi-Iraqi conflict and the U.S. civil war it is in
having one side that wants to keep the country united,
and another side planning to secede. All of the foreign
forces that are intervening in Iraq's affairs -- whether
led by the United States, Iran or Al-Qaeda -- are on the
side of a minority of Iraqis who want to secede against
the majority's will.
This U.N. mandate issue is not occurring in a vacuum.
When it comes to the nascent Iraqi government,
supporters of the occupation have long had their cake
and eaten it too. On the one hand, they deny that the
U.S.-led military force is an occupying army at all,
maintaining that all those foreign troops are there at
the "request" of the Iraqi government. That's an
important legal nicety -- occupying forces have a host
of responsibilities under international law and
acknowledging the reality of the occupation would result
in more legal responsibilities for the administration to
ignore. At the same time, when the only people who all
those purple-fingered Iraqi voters actually elected to
office try to attach some conditions to the U.N.
mandate, demand a timetable for withdrawal or come out
against privatizing Iraq's natural resources, then
somehow the legislature magically disappears and the
hopes and aspirations of its constituents are discarded
as if they never existed.
It's time to force the issue: The Iraqi parliament, the
only body elected by the Iraqi people, wants some say
over the continuing presence of foreign troops on its
soil, and a majority of its lawmakers, like a majority
of both Americans and Iraqis, wants a timetable for
ending the occupation.
_____________________________________________
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
Bush's Occupation'
By Joshua Holland and Raed Jarrar,
AlterNet. Posted November 9, 2007
Bush needs the U.N.'s cover to justify the
occupation, but the only way he can renew the
expiring U.N. mandate is to cut Iraq's frail
democracy out of the process.
The United Nations Security Council, with support from
the British and American delegations, is poised to cut
the Iraqi parliament out of one of the most significant
decisions the young government will make: when foreign
troops will depart. It's an ugly and unconstitutional
move, designed solely to avoid asking an Iraqi
legislature for a blank check for an endless military
occupation that it's in no mood to give, and it will
make a mockery of Iraq's nascent democracy (which needs
all the legitimacy it can get).
While the Bush administration frequently invokes sunny
visions of spreading democracy and "freedom" around the
world, the fact remains that democracy is incompatible
with its goals in Iraq. The biggest headache supporters
of the occupation of Iraq have to deal with is the
occupation itself. As far back as the middle of 2004,
more than nine out of 10 Iraqis said the U.S.-ledforces
were "occupiers," and only 2 percent called them
"liberators." Things have only gone downhill since then,
and any government that represents the will of the Iraqi
people would have no choice but to demand a timetable
for the withdrawal of foreign troops. This fact poses an
enormous problem, as the great triumph of the Bush
administration and its supporters has been in their
ability to convince Americans that Iraqi interests and
Washington's interests are in harmony, even when they're
diametrically opposed.
Crucial to this fiction is a U.N. mandate that confers
legal cover on the so-called "multinational" forces in
Iraq. The mandate is now coming up for renewal, and a
majority of Iraqi legislators oppose its renewal unless
conditions are placed on it, conditions that may include
a timetable for the departure of American troops.
The process of renewing the mandate is highlighting the
political rift that's divided the country and fueled
most of the violence that's plagued the new state.
That's the rift between nationalists -- those Iraqis
who, like most of their countrymen, oppose the presence
of foreign troops on the ground, the wholesale
privatization of Iraq's natural resources and the
division of their country into ethnic and sectarian
fiefdoms, and Iraqi separatists who at least tolerate
the occupation -- if not support it -- and favor a loose
sectarian/ethnic-based federation of semiautonomous
states held together by a minimal central government in
Baghdad.
In the United States, the commercial media has largely
ignored this story, focusing almost exclusively on
sectarian violence and doing a poor job giving their
readers and viewers a sense of what's driving Iraq's
political crisis. An understanding of the tensions
between nationalists and separatists is necessary to
appreciate the import of parliament being cut out of the
legislative process and the degree to which doing so
hurts the prospect of real political reconciliation
among Iraq's many political factions. (We've discussed
this dynamic in greater detail in an earlier article.)
The key ingredient to understand is this: The Iraqi
executive branch -- the cabinet and the presidency --
are completely controlled by separatists (including
Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and secular politicians). But the
parliament is controlled by nationalists -- nationalists
from every major ethnic and sectarian group in the
country -- who enjoy a small but crucially important
majority in the only elected body in the Iraqi
government.
In 2006, Maliki's office requested the renewal of the
U.N. mandate without consulting the legislature, a
process that many lawmakers maintained was a violation
of Iraqi law. The problem was that Maliki didn't have
the authority to make the request under the Iraqi
constitution. Article 58, Section 4 says that the
Council of Representatives (the parliament) has to
ratify "international treaties and agreements"
negotiated by the Council of Ministers (the cabinet).
Specifically, it reads: "A law shall regulate the
ratification of international treaties and agreements by
a two-thirds majority of the members of the Council of
Representatives."
Prime Minister Maliki had claimed that the constitution
didn't refer to the U.N. mandate. A senior Iraqi
lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of
the assertion: "If we are asked to approve a trade
agreement concerning olive oil, should we not have the
right to pass on an agreement concerning the stationing
of foreign military forces in our national soil?"
In June, we reported that the parliament had passed a
binding resolution that would force Maliki to go to the
parliament and give Iraqi lawmakers an opportunity to
block the extension of the mandate. It was signed by the
majority of the 275-seat legislature, then sent to the
president. According to the Iraqi constitution, the
president had 15 days to veto it by sending it back to
the parliament; otherwise it automatically became a
ratified law. The 15 days passed without a veto and the
resolution became the law of the land in mid-June 2007.
Something happened, however, between the passage of that
law and the latest report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban
Ki Moon. According to Moon's latest report to the
Security Council (PDF), dated Oct. 15, the law that had
been passed by the duly elected legislature of Iraq
became nothing more than a "nonbinding resolution":
The Council of Representatives passed a nonbinding
resolution on 5 June obligating the cabinet to
request parliament's approval on future extensions
of the mandate governing the multinational force in
Iraq and to include a timetable for the departure of
the force from Iraq.
One might have believed that the disconnect was a simple
mistake, if not for the fact that members of the Iraqi
parliament, still fuming over being cut out of the
process the year before, sent a letter to the U.N.'s
special envoy for Iraq back in April clarifying the
situation in very clear terms. According to an English
translation provide by the Global Policy Forum, it says:
"The Iraqi Cabinet has unilaterally requested a renewal
of the U.N. mandate keeping the occupation troops (MNF)
in Iraq" despite the fact that "such a request issued by
the Iraqi cabinet without the Iraqi parliament's
approval is unconstitutional." It continues: "The Iraqi
parliament, as the elected representatives of the Iraqi
people, has the exclusive right to approve and ratify
international treaties and agreements, including those
signed with the United Nations Security Council."
According to sources within the Iraqi delegation to the
United Nations, the letter, signed by 144 MPs --more
than half of Iraq's legislators -- was received in good
order by the special envoy, Ashraf Qazi, but never
distributed to the Security Council members, as is
required under the U.N. resolution that governs the
mandate. The parliament, and indeed the majority of the
Iraqi population, had been cleanly excised from the
legislative process.
The important thing to understand is that the run-around
goes beyond the issue of the mandate itself. Iraq is not
in the midst of an incomprehensible religious war over
some obscure theological differences between Sunni and
Shiite Muslims but is deeply and profoundly divided over
fundamental questions about the future of the country.
In cutting the nationalist majority in the parliament
out of the process of governing, the Maliki
administration, Bush administration and, apparently, the
U.N. secretary-general are making political
reconciliation much more difficult. History has offered
the lesson time and time again: Deny people the right to
participate in deciding their own destiny in a peaceful
political process, and they'll try to do so with guns
and bombs. The United Nations, like the administration
and its supporters, and like Sen. Joe Biden and those
who favor his plan for partitioning the country, is
taking sides in a political battle that should be
exclusively for Iraqis to decide.
If there were some similarities between the current
Iraqi-Iraqi conflict and the U.S. civil war it is in
having one side that wants to keep the country united,
and another side planning to secede. All of the foreign
forces that are intervening in Iraq's affairs -- whether
led by the United States, Iran or Al-Qaeda -- are on the
side of a minority of Iraqis who want to secede against
the majority's will.
This U.N. mandate issue is not occurring in a vacuum.
When it comes to the nascent Iraqi government,
supporters of the occupation have long had their cake
and eaten it too. On the one hand, they deny that the
U.S.-led military force is an occupying army at all,
maintaining that all those foreign troops are there at
the "request" of the Iraqi government. That's an
important legal nicety -- occupying forces have a host
of responsibilities under international law and
acknowledging the reality of the occupation would result
in more legal responsibilities for the administration to
ignore. At the same time, when the only people who all
those purple-fingered Iraqi voters actually elected to
office try to attach some conditions to the U.N.
mandate, demand a timetable for withdrawal or come out
against privatizing Iraq's natural resources, then
somehow the legislature magically disappears and the
hopes and aspirations of its constituents are discarded
as if they never existed.
It's time to force the issue: The Iraqi parliament, the
only body elected by the Iraqi people, wants some say
over the continuing presence of foreign troops on its
soil, and a majority of its lawmakers, like a majority
of both Americans and Iraqis, wants a timetable for
ending the occupation.
_____________________________________________
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
Smooth Road
Ella Fitzgerald
Smooth road clear day
But why am I the only one
Traveling' this way
How strange the road you love
Can be so easy
Can there be a detour ahead
Wake up slow down
Before you crash and brake your heart
Gullible clown
You fool, you're heading
In the wrong direction
Can't you see the detour ahead
The further you travel
The harder to unravel
The way he spins around you
Turn back while there is time
Can't you see the danger sign
Soft shoulders surround you
Smooth road clear night
Oh lucky me that suddenly
I saw the light
I'm turning back away
From all that trouble
Smooth road, smooth road
No detour ahead
Smooth road clear day
But why am I the only one
Traveling' this way
How strange the road you love
Can be so easy
Can there be a detour ahead
Wake up slow down
Before you crash and brake your heart
Gullible clown
You fool, you're heading
In the wrong direction
Can't you see the detour ahead
The further you travel
The harder to unravel
The way he spins around you
Turn back while there is time
Can't you see the danger sign
Soft shoulders surround you
Smooth road clear night
Oh lucky me that suddenly
I saw the light
I'm turning back away
From all that trouble
Smooth road, smooth road
No detour ahead
Students Call Protest Punishment Too Harsh
By Cynthia Yednak
November 7, 2007, The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/us/07protest.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
CHICAGO - A school superintendent's decision to suspend, and
perhaps expel, about two dozen students who took part in a
protest against the Iraq war at a suburban high school drew
criticism Tuesday from the students and their parents, who
demanded that their children be allowed to return to classes.
In a statement issued after the protest on Thursday at Morton
West High School in Berwyn, a working-class suburb just west
of Chicago, the district superintendent, Ben Nowakowski, said
the school's reaction had to do only with the interruption of
the school day, not with the students expressing themselves.
The administration 'did not say that the students could not
protest,' Dr. Nowakowski's statement said. 'Rather, we asked
that the students simply move their protest to an area of the
school that would not disrupt the ability of the other 3,400-
plus students at Morton West to proceed with their normal
school day.'
Dr. Nowakowski did not return repeated calls seeking comment
Tuesday.
But several students said the protesters, whose numbers had
dwindled to about 25, obeyed the administration's request to
move from a high-traffic area in the cafeteria to a less-
crowded hall near the principal's office. There, they
intertwined arms, sang along to an acoustic guitar and talked
about how the war was affecting the world, said Matt
Heffernan, a junior who took part.
'We agreed to move to another side of the building,' Matt
said. 'We also made a deal that if we moved there, there
would be no disciplinary action taken upon us.'
Matt said the group had been told that the most severe
punishment would be a Saturday detention for cutting class
that day.
Police officers were on the scene, and Berwyn's police chief,
William Kushner, said no arrests were made. 'It was all very
peaceful and orderly,' he said.
But at the end of the school day, Matt said, Dr. Nowakowski
gave the remaining protesters disciplinary notices stating
that they had engaged in mob action, that they were suspended
for 10 days and that they faced expulsion.
'I was shocked,' said Matt, 16. 'We had the sit-in. So I had
mixed feelings of confidence - of a job well done - and
fright, because my whole educational future is at risk.'
School officials also sent a letter to the parents of all the
school's students calling the protest 'gross disobedience'
and reminding parents that any disruption to the educational
process could lead to expulsion.
On Tuesday, a group of parents went to the school to demand
that their children be allowed return to classes. At most,
the parents said, the protesters' behavior amounted to
loitering, which should be punishable by detention or a
meeting with a guidance counselor.
The parents have also asked that the district provide the
students with some way to express themselves about issues
like the war.
'Who's the next group to go off to war?' said Adam Szwarek,
whose 16-year-old son, Adam, faces expulsion. 'These kids.
The kids do a peaceful sit-in and they're threatened with
expulsion, yet the military's running around the school
trying to recruit.'
Parents also complained that deans, teachers and coaches
singled out certain athletes and honor students and persuaded
them to drop out of the protest.
Rita Maniotis, president of the school's parent-teacher
organization, said the school called her husband to say that
their daughter, Barbara, a junior, was participating in the
protest and that he should come to get her. He did so, and
she was suspended for five days. But other parents were not
called and not able to intervene, Ms. Maniotis said. 'There's
no rhyme or reason to the punishment doled out,' she said.
The executive director of the A.C.L.U. of Illinois, Colleen
K. Connell, said she could not comment on the case because
her organization was investigating to determine whether it
will take it up. In general, public school students have
constitutional rights, she said, but they can be limited in a
school setting.
By Cynthia Yednak
November 7, 2007, The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/us/07protest.html?_r=2&ref=us&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
CHICAGO - A school superintendent's decision to suspend, and
perhaps expel, about two dozen students who took part in a
protest against the Iraq war at a suburban high school drew
criticism Tuesday from the students and their parents, who
demanded that their children be allowed to return to classes.
In a statement issued after the protest on Thursday at Morton
West High School in Berwyn, a working-class suburb just west
of Chicago, the district superintendent, Ben Nowakowski, said
the school's reaction had to do only with the interruption of
the school day, not with the students expressing themselves.
The administration 'did not say that the students could not
protest,' Dr. Nowakowski's statement said. 'Rather, we asked
that the students simply move their protest to an area of the
school that would not disrupt the ability of the other 3,400-
plus students at Morton West to proceed with their normal
school day.'
Dr. Nowakowski did not return repeated calls seeking comment
Tuesday.
But several students said the protesters, whose numbers had
dwindled to about 25, obeyed the administration's request to
move from a high-traffic area in the cafeteria to a less-
crowded hall near the principal's office. There, they
intertwined arms, sang along to an acoustic guitar and talked
about how the war was affecting the world, said Matt
Heffernan, a junior who took part.
'We agreed to move to another side of the building,' Matt
said. 'We also made a deal that if we moved there, there
would be no disciplinary action taken upon us.'
Matt said the group had been told that the most severe
punishment would be a Saturday detention for cutting class
that day.
Police officers were on the scene, and Berwyn's police chief,
William Kushner, said no arrests were made. 'It was all very
peaceful and orderly,' he said.
But at the end of the school day, Matt said, Dr. Nowakowski
gave the remaining protesters disciplinary notices stating
that they had engaged in mob action, that they were suspended
for 10 days and that they faced expulsion.
'I was shocked,' said Matt, 16. 'We had the sit-in. So I had
mixed feelings of confidence - of a job well done - and
fright, because my whole educational future is at risk.'
School officials also sent a letter to the parents of all the
school's students calling the protest 'gross disobedience'
and reminding parents that any disruption to the educational
process could lead to expulsion.
On Tuesday, a group of parents went to the school to demand
that their children be allowed return to classes. At most,
the parents said, the protesters' behavior amounted to
loitering, which should be punishable by detention or a
meeting with a guidance counselor.
The parents have also asked that the district provide the
students with some way to express themselves about issues
like the war.
'Who's the next group to go off to war?' said Adam Szwarek,
whose 16-year-old son, Adam, faces expulsion. 'These kids.
The kids do a peaceful sit-in and they're threatened with
expulsion, yet the military's running around the school
trying to recruit.'
Parents also complained that deans, teachers and coaches
singled out certain athletes and honor students and persuaded
them to drop out of the protest.
Rita Maniotis, president of the school's parent-teacher
organization, said the school called her husband to say that
their daughter, Barbara, a junior, was participating in the
protest and that he should come to get her. He did so, and
she was suspended for five days. But other parents were not
called and not able to intervene, Ms. Maniotis said. 'There's
no rhyme or reason to the punishment doled out,' she said.
The executive director of the A.C.L.U. of Illinois, Colleen
K. Connell, said she could not comment on the case because
her organization was investigating to determine whether it
will take it up. In general, public school students have
constitutional rights, she said, but they can be limited in a
school setting.
Read This
This is an interesting article on the use of the shock doctrine to allow capitalists to gain control of Latin America and the successful resistance to it. Apparently, the use of overthrowing elected leaders and economic manipulation by capitalists from the United States and large corporations is used to destabilize Latin American countries in order to bring them under U.S. domination. Since the 90s, however, as we have all witnessed, Latin America has become a hotbed of progressive politics and has made a powerful stand against capitalism and for humanity.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Accidental Hedonist provides a valuable list of products to stay away from--all of them containing the deadly high fructose corn syrup. What I want to find now is a list of products that DON'T have high fructose corn syrup.
People should not be fooled. Women can be just as patriarchal and phallocentric as men. No one loves their oppressor more than the oppressed. Here are some terms to know though:
Patriarchy-rule by men, male domination. Men may have an innate sense of superiority or authority.
Phallocentrism-power and/or language revolving arond the phallus(not the penis, but the phallus-which I will state is the symbol or image of the penis).
Phallologocentrism-male centered power and authority housed in language.
Patriarchy-rule by men, male domination. Men may have an innate sense of superiority or authority.
Phallocentrism-power and/or language revolving arond the phallus(not the penis, but the phallus-which I will state is the symbol or image of the penis).
Phallologocentrism-male centered power and authority housed in language.
Thoughts
George Bush is a mass murderer and a supporter of despots....I find it interesting that the Bush administration chose a woman to be their face-i.e. spokesperson. It seems they want to put a genteel face on their evil and also hide their penises to avoid castration....I don't think it will work, justice will out....Someone in Pakistan should find General Musharaff and aim straight for his crotch....Democracy Now reports they are beating journalists in the street in Pakistan.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Angel
Chaka Khan
Troubled little angel
Inconsistent flying blind most of the time
Drama queen
Preening and untangling feathers in her wings
Captured by her dreams, desperately she sings
Needy little baby
Open up your heart
Don't you be afraid to feel
Needy little baby hiding deep inside
Don't you know your love can heal
Troubled little angel
Inconsistent flying blind most of the time
Don't know who to be
Always rearranging the wreckage of her life
Ever holding tight to the hope that she'll be free
Needy little baby
Open up your eyes
Don't you be afraid to feel
Needy little baby hiding deep inside
Don't you know your love can heal
Talking to you angel
Angel
Deep inside of me
Talking to you angel
Angel
One day you'll be free
Troubled little angel
Inconsistent flying blind most of the time
Drama queen
Preening and untangling feathers in her wings
Captured by her dreams, desperately she sings
Needy little baby
Open up your heart
Don't you be afraid to feel
Needy little baby hiding deep inside
Don't you know your love can heal
Troubled little angel
Inconsistent flying blind most of the time
Don't know who to be
Always rearranging the wreckage of her life
Ever holding tight to the hope that she'll be free
Needy little baby
Open up your eyes
Don't you be afraid to feel
Needy little baby hiding deep inside
Don't you know your love can heal
Talking to you angel
Angel
Deep inside of me
Talking to you angel
Angel
One day you'll be free
Brazilian Supermodel Refuses U.S. Dollar
Oh my, what a story! Read aobut how this U.S. supermodel is refusing to have her contracts made in U.S. dollars. Haha! What a mess!
U.S. News and World Report reportsthat the Democrats are caving in and giving Bush everything he wants. Especially Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Chicago Students Suspended and Faced Police Harrassment Over Anti-War Protests
Chicago H.S. Students Face Expulsion Following Antiwar Sit-In
By Chicago Indymedia - November 4, 2007 | News
Click on the above image to sign the “In Defense of the Morton West Antiwar Students petitionâ€
Berwyn, IL - November 2, 2007. Over 70 students participated in a sit-in against the Iraq War on All Saint’s Day, Thursday, November 1st. It began third hour when dozens of students gathered quietly in the lunchroom at Morton West High School and refused to leave. The administrators and police became involved immediately and locked down the school for a half hour after class ended. Students report that they were promised that there would be no charges besides cutting classes if they took their protest outside so as not to disturb the school day. The students complied, and were led to a corner outside the cafeteria where they sang songs and held signs while classes resumed.
Despite a police line set up between the protestors and the student body, many other students joined the demonstration. Organizers say they chose November first because it is the Christian holy day called the feast of All Saints and a national day of peace. They wrote a letter and delivered it to Superintendent, Dr. Ben Nowakowski who was present at the time, stating the reason for their protest.
Deans, counselors and even the Superintendent tried to change the minds of a few, mainly those students with higher GPA scores to abandon the protest. The school called the homes of many of the protestors. Those whose parents arrived before the end of school and took their students home, or left before the protest ended at the final bell, received 3-5 days suspension. All others, an estimated 37 received 10 days suspension and expulsion papers. Parents report that Nowakowski stated those who are seventeen will also face police charges.
Sign the “In Defense of the Morton West Antiwar Students petitionâ€
Parents who are frantically trying to spare their child’s expulsion flooded the school yesterday to file appeals on the matter. So far, Superintendent Nowakowski has held firm on the punishments. They are expected to find out the results of the appeals on Tuesday. Parents and students report and the school’s videotape shown to some of the parents confirms that the students were non-violent in their action and there was no damage to property.
The protest came on the heels of a recent incident on October 15th, when a student reported hearing that another student had a gun on campus. The story of the eyewitness was deemed unreliable and the school was not locked down. Later that week (October 19), the Berwyn police, acting on a tip arrested one of the youths originally questioned for gun possession and he allegedly confessed to carrying an unloaded semi-automatic handgun that day. All these issues, plus the expected announcement of whether uniforms will be established in the school should make the next Board of Education meeting on Wednesday at 7:00pm at the Morton East campus very well-attended.
See the link below for the Superintendent’s statement on the matter:
http://www.jsmortonhs.com/news/contentview.asp?i=203515
For letters or phone calls of support, please see information below:
Dr. Ben Nowakowski, Superintendent
District 201
2423 South Austin, Cicero, IL 60804
bnowakowski@jsmorton.org
(708) 222-5702
Mr. Lucas, Principal
Morton West High School
2400 S. Home Ave.
Berwyn, IL 60402
jlucas@west.jsmorton.org
708-222-5901
Mr. Jeffry Pesek, President
Board of Education, District 201
3145 South 55th Avenue
Cicero, IL 60804
708-802-1863
For the rest of the Board Members see:
http://www.jsmortonhs.com/board/default.asp?c=4867
For parent contact:
Pam Winstead 708-749-3163, serp@comcast.net
Alma Moran 708-717-4202, qtalmita@yahoo.com
Adam Szwarek 847-587-8849, tsq9743@aol.com
Chicago Indymedia: http://chicago.indymedia.org/
--
Thomas Good, Editor
Next Left Notes (NLN)
By Chicago Indymedia - November 4, 2007 | News
Click on the above image to sign the “In Defense of the Morton West Antiwar Students petitionâ€
Berwyn, IL - November 2, 2007. Over 70 students participated in a sit-in against the Iraq War on All Saint’s Day, Thursday, November 1st. It began third hour when dozens of students gathered quietly in the lunchroom at Morton West High School and refused to leave. The administrators and police became involved immediately and locked down the school for a half hour after class ended. Students report that they were promised that there would be no charges besides cutting classes if they took their protest outside so as not to disturb the school day. The students complied, and were led to a corner outside the cafeteria where they sang songs and held signs while classes resumed.
Despite a police line set up between the protestors and the student body, many other students joined the demonstration. Organizers say they chose November first because it is the Christian holy day called the feast of All Saints and a national day of peace. They wrote a letter and delivered it to Superintendent, Dr. Ben Nowakowski who was present at the time, stating the reason for their protest.
Deans, counselors and even the Superintendent tried to change the minds of a few, mainly those students with higher GPA scores to abandon the protest. The school called the homes of many of the protestors. Those whose parents arrived before the end of school and took their students home, or left before the protest ended at the final bell, received 3-5 days suspension. All others, an estimated 37 received 10 days suspension and expulsion papers. Parents report that Nowakowski stated those who are seventeen will also face police charges.
Sign the “In Defense of the Morton West Antiwar Students petitionâ€
Parents who are frantically trying to spare their child’s expulsion flooded the school yesterday to file appeals on the matter. So far, Superintendent Nowakowski has held firm on the punishments. They are expected to find out the results of the appeals on Tuesday. Parents and students report and the school’s videotape shown to some of the parents confirms that the students were non-violent in their action and there was no damage to property.
The protest came on the heels of a recent incident on October 15th, when a student reported hearing that another student had a gun on campus. The story of the eyewitness was deemed unreliable and the school was not locked down. Later that week (October 19), the Berwyn police, acting on a tip arrested one of the youths originally questioned for gun possession and he allegedly confessed to carrying an unloaded semi-automatic handgun that day. All these issues, plus the expected announcement of whether uniforms will be established in the school should make the next Board of Education meeting on Wednesday at 7:00pm at the Morton East campus very well-attended.
See the link below for the Superintendent’s statement on the matter:
http://www.jsmortonhs.com/news/contentview.asp?i=203515
For letters or phone calls of support, please see information below:
Dr. Ben Nowakowski, Superintendent
District 201
2423 South Austin, Cicero, IL 60804
bnowakowski@jsmorton.org
(708) 222-5702
Mr. Lucas, Principal
Morton West High School
2400 S. Home Ave.
Berwyn, IL 60402
jlucas@west.jsmorton.org
708-222-5901
Mr. Jeffry Pesek, President
Board of Education, District 201
3145 South 55th Avenue
Cicero, IL 60804
708-802-1863
For the rest of the Board Members see:
http://www.jsmortonhs.com/board/default.asp?c=4867
For parent contact:
Pam Winstead 708-749-3163, serp@comcast.net
Alma Moran 708-717-4202, qtalmita@yahoo.com
Adam Szwarek 847-587-8849, tsq9743@aol.com
Chicago Indymedia: http://chicago.indymedia.org/
--
Thomas Good, Editor
Next Left Notes (NLN)
Thank God for Martha Stout--Terms and Definitions from The Paranoid Switch
Contrast Effect- enhancement or diminishment of an experience by previous experience or expectation.
Perceptual Contrast Effect- an example of this phenomenon is looking at supermodels. How pretty do you feel after looking at them? This is called Perceptual Contrast Effect.
Safety Signal-a symbol that indicates by its presence that danger is gone.
Limbic Resonance-ability to sense the emotions of other people; emotive connectivity.
Limbic Wars-the manipulation of group trauma by political leaders to engage in military or emotional warfare. Examples that she include the "War on Terror" in which the Bush administration capitalizes on the U.S. populations fear of terrorism and their recent trauma from the terrorism that occurred on 9/11 in order to push their agenda for war in Iraq, and now with Iran. Other examples in the book are the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, the reign of terror eked out by the Ku Klux Klan, McCarthyism, and the Cold War. Other examples that I can think of are the Spanish-American war, the Nazi campaign against the Jews,and the race riots in the early part of the 20th century with white mobs terrorizing urban Black communities.
Systematic Desensitization- process of incrementally reducing a person(or a people's) emotional response. Psychotherapists use this to help trauma victims overcome their fears. Perpetrators of fear, including politicians use this to strip populations of their emotional reactions to illicit activities around them. For example, responses to Abu Ghraib and the erosion of civil and human rights in the United States.
Perceptual Contrast Effect- an example of this phenomenon is looking at supermodels. How pretty do you feel after looking at them? This is called Perceptual Contrast Effect.
Safety Signal-a symbol that indicates by its presence that danger is gone.
Limbic Resonance-ability to sense the emotions of other people; emotive connectivity.
Limbic Wars-the manipulation of group trauma by political leaders to engage in military or emotional warfare. Examples that she include the "War on Terror" in which the Bush administration capitalizes on the U.S. populations fear of terrorism and their recent trauma from the terrorism that occurred on 9/11 in order to push their agenda for war in Iraq, and now with Iran. Other examples in the book are the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, the reign of terror eked out by the Ku Klux Klan, McCarthyism, and the Cold War. Other examples that I can think of are the Spanish-American war, the Nazi campaign against the Jews,and the race riots in the early part of the 20th century with white mobs terrorizing urban Black communities.
Systematic Desensitization- process of incrementally reducing a person(or a people's) emotional response. Psychotherapists use this to help trauma victims overcome their fears. Perpetrators of fear, including politicians use this to strip populations of their emotional reactions to illicit activities around them. For example, responses to Abu Ghraib and the erosion of civil and human rights in the United States.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Rightwing Propaganda in Hiphop
I am so not a hiphop person, but I am absolutely curious as to the right-wing rhetoric that has overtaken some of hiphop. I am specifically thinking about that song Soulja Boy. There is another song called "I need a soldier." I wonder what ties these people have to the Bush administration. I only think of this because I hear this stuff played around me all of the time by various people.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Stop the Muckasey Nomination
Act today to rescue the Constitution and oppose the nomination of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General! The Bush administration has been shredding our Constitution from day one. Watch a new video by CCR that illustrates the damage done to our most basic rights.
Watch the video: www.BeyondGuantanamo.org
Write a letter to your Senator: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/383/t/4089/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21384
President Bush's nominee for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, supports torture, illegal spying on Americans and limitless powers for the Executive Branch. Mukasey must not be confirmed as Attorney General. We need you to write your Senators today to stop his nomination.
Mukasey, during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, refused to denounce waterboarding and wouldn't even acknowledge that waterboarding is torture unless he knows "the actual facts and circumstances" of its use. The "facts and circumstances" of water-boarding are quite straightforward - a person is brought repeatedly to the edge of drowning until they are inhaling water and certain they will die. Waterboarding is torture.
Mukasey believes the President's powers as Commander-in-Chief give him the right to spy on Americans without any oversight and the right to act above the law. He believes we should create a special new 'national security court' with separate rules and procedures and that the racial profiling of Arab and Muslim men post-9/11 was entirely justified and violated no laws.
CCR represents people who were tortured by the U.S., Americans who were illegally spied upon, and men who have been locked up for six years at Guantanamo without a fair hearing before a real court. We know what happens when politicians play politics at the expense of human beings. Mukasey represents business as usual for the Bush administration.
If his nomination leaves the Senate Judiciary Committee and reaches the full Senate floor, your Senator must vote NO on Mukasey. We need you to write a letter today and tell your Senator that Mukasey must not be the next Attorney General.
We must not have another Attorney General who refuses to say that torture is torture. The American public must demand an Attorney General who will uphold the Constitution.
Join us today to help stop the Mukasey nomination and rescue the Constitution!
Sincerely,
Vincent Warren
CCR Executive Director
P.S. - Please watch our new video and forward it far and wide. The more people see what the Bush administration is doing to the Constitution in our name, the better chance we have of stopping them.
Watch the video: www.BeyondGuantanamo.org
Write a letter to your Senator: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/383/t/4089/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=21384
President Bush's nominee for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, supports torture, illegal spying on Americans and limitless powers for the Executive Branch. Mukasey must not be confirmed as Attorney General. We need you to write your Senators today to stop his nomination.
Mukasey, during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, refused to denounce waterboarding and wouldn't even acknowledge that waterboarding is torture unless he knows "the actual facts and circumstances" of its use. The "facts and circumstances" of water-boarding are quite straightforward - a person is brought repeatedly to the edge of drowning until they are inhaling water and certain they will die. Waterboarding is torture.
Mukasey believes the President's powers as Commander-in-Chief give him the right to spy on Americans without any oversight and the right to act above the law. He believes we should create a special new 'national security court' with separate rules and procedures and that the racial profiling of Arab and Muslim men post-9/11 was entirely justified and violated no laws.
CCR represents people who were tortured by the U.S., Americans who were illegally spied upon, and men who have been locked up for six years at Guantanamo without a fair hearing before a real court. We know what happens when politicians play politics at the expense of human beings. Mukasey represents business as usual for the Bush administration.
If his nomination leaves the Senate Judiciary Committee and reaches the full Senate floor, your Senator must vote NO on Mukasey. We need you to write a letter today and tell your Senator that Mukasey must not be the next Attorney General.
We must not have another Attorney General who refuses to say that torture is torture. The American public must demand an Attorney General who will uphold the Constitution.
Join us today to help stop the Mukasey nomination and rescue the Constitution!
Sincerely,
Vincent Warren
CCR Executive Director
P.S. - Please watch our new video and forward it far and wide. The more people see what the Bush administration is doing to the Constitution in our name, the better chance we have of stopping them.
Bridges
Dianne Reeves
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 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
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Free the San Francisco 8
Read about the case of the San Francisco 8. This is a part of an ongoing pattern of police and FBi harrassment of members of the Black Panther Party
Condoleeza Rice and the Revolt of the Diplomats
Honey, if Condoleeza Rice sent me a letter asking me to serve as a diplomat in Iraq, I would tell her to go back to Birmingham and do something about all of that processed hair in her head. And today on the local news, the local anchor people all but put out an ad for people to volunteer as diplomats.
911 Theories
I am not one for conspiracy theories and really, truly, I think it is absolutely behind us now and beside the point as to who toppled the world trade center. Discussion of 911 and all of the theories surrounding it does however make me think of and point in the direction of "Remember the Maine," which was the excuse for the U.S.'s entrance into the Spanish-American war, which we subsequently found was planned in order to give reason for the war, which ultimately was fought so that American sugar and coffee industries could gain control of Sugar and coffee crops in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Phillipines--and--as a coin tossed to the American public-to ensure a $.15 cup of coffee in the United States.
Martha Stout's The Paranoia Switch
The Paranoia Switch may well be the most important book published in our time. A clear, definitive guide to understanding the collective fear experienced by many Americans since 9/11. This book could save the people of this country.
National Day of Protest for the Jena 6
The Jena 6 Are Back in Court -- Protests Nationwide on Nov. 7
by A.N.S.W.E.R. Wednesday, Oct 31 2007, 1:27am
info@internationalanswer.org
national / race issues / press release
Wed., Nov. 7: The Jena 6 Are Back in Court
Nationwide Rallies to Free the Jena 6!
"Until the 6 Are Free, Neither Are We"
On Wednesday, Nov. 7, the growing movement to free the Jena 6 will face an important challenge. On that day, four of the Six -- Theodore Shaw, Robert Bailey, Bryan Purvis, and Mychal Bell -- are expected in court for pre-trial hearings. The ANSWER Coalition is calling on all progressive and anti-racist forces to come together for rallies in front of local courthouses across the country with the demand to free the Jena 6, and drop all the charges. Demonstrations are already confirmed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and New Haven (CT), Ft. Lauderdale (FL), and Sioux Falls (SD).
On Sept. 20, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jena, Louisiana and in other cities around the country to demand the complete freedom of the Jena 6, and the release of Mychal Bell. A week later, after 10 months in prison, he was granted bail and released. But shortly afterwards, the Louisiana judge that originally convicted Bell struck back, ordering him back into custody.
Below is a listing of cities that are organizing rallies on Wednesday, November 7th.
Washington, DC
Wed., Nov. 7, 5:00 pm
Justice Department
9th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Contact 202-544-3389 or dc@internationalanswer.org for more information.
Los Angeles
Wed., Nov. 7, 6pm
Leimert Park
Crenshaw and 43rd
Contact 213-251-1025 or answerla@answerla.org for more information.
San Francisco
Wed., Nov. 7, 5pm
Federal Courthouse
7th and Mission
Contact 415-821-6545 or answer@answersf.org for more information.
New York City (in the Bronx)
Wed., Nov. 7
Bronx Courthouse
161 St. and Grand Concourse
Contact 212-694-8720 or email nyc@answercoalition.org for more information.
Chicago
Wed., Nov. 7
Details to be announced shortly
Contact 773-463-0311 or ANSWER@ChicagoANSWER.net for more information.
Seattle
Wed., Nov. 7, 5 pm
Westlake Park (4th and Pine).
Contact 206-568-1661 or answer@answerseattle.org for more information.
New Haven, CT
Wed., Nov. 7, 5 pm
Federal Courthouse, 141 Church St
Contact 203-606-0319 or Connecticut@answercoalition.org for more information.
Boston, MA
Wed., Nov. 7, 5:30pm
Roxbury Crossing T-Station (Orange Line)
Contact 857.334.5084 or boston@answercoalition.org for more information.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Wed., Nov. 7, 9:30am
Sistrunk Blvd and 7th Ave.
Contact answerflorida@gmail.com for more information.
Sioux Falls, SD
Wed., Nov, 7, 12 Noon
Court House
Contact: sodak@answercoalition.org for information.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
National press contact:
Sarah Sloan, 202-904-7949
For local numbers, see the listing above
http://www.answercoalition.org/
by A.N.S.W.E.R. Wednesday, Oct 31 2007, 1:27am
info@internationalanswer.org
national / race issues / press release
Wed., Nov. 7: The Jena 6 Are Back in Court
Nationwide Rallies to Free the Jena 6!
"Until the 6 Are Free, Neither Are We"
On Wednesday, Nov. 7, the growing movement to free the Jena 6 will face an important challenge. On that day, four of the Six -- Theodore Shaw, Robert Bailey, Bryan Purvis, and Mychal Bell -- are expected in court for pre-trial hearings. The ANSWER Coalition is calling on all progressive and anti-racist forces to come together for rallies in front of local courthouses across the country with the demand to free the Jena 6, and drop all the charges. Demonstrations are already confirmed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and New Haven (CT), Ft. Lauderdale (FL), and Sioux Falls (SD).
On Sept. 20, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jena, Louisiana and in other cities around the country to demand the complete freedom of the Jena 6, and the release of Mychal Bell. A week later, after 10 months in prison, he was granted bail and released. But shortly afterwards, the Louisiana judge that originally convicted Bell struck back, ordering him back into custody.
Below is a listing of cities that are organizing rallies on Wednesday, November 7th.
Washington, DC
Wed., Nov. 7, 5:00 pm
Justice Department
9th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Contact 202-544-3389 or dc@internationalanswer.org for more information.
Los Angeles
Wed., Nov. 7, 6pm
Leimert Park
Crenshaw and 43rd
Contact 213-251-1025 or answerla@answerla.org for more information.
San Francisco
Wed., Nov. 7, 5pm
Federal Courthouse
7th and Mission
Contact 415-821-6545 or answer@answersf.org for more information.
New York City (in the Bronx)
Wed., Nov. 7
Bronx Courthouse
161 St. and Grand Concourse
Contact 212-694-8720 or email nyc@answercoalition.org for more information.
Chicago
Wed., Nov. 7
Details to be announced shortly
Contact 773-463-0311 or ANSWER@ChicagoANSWER.net for more information.
Seattle
Wed., Nov. 7, 5 pm
Westlake Park (4th and Pine).
Contact 206-568-1661 or answer@answerseattle.org for more information.
New Haven, CT
Wed., Nov. 7, 5 pm
Federal Courthouse, 141 Church St
Contact 203-606-0319 or Connecticut@answercoalition.org for more information.
Boston, MA
Wed., Nov. 7, 5:30pm
Roxbury Crossing T-Station (Orange Line)
Contact 857.334.5084 or boston@answercoalition.org for more information.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Wed., Nov. 7, 9:30am
Sistrunk Blvd and 7th Ave.
Contact answerflorida@gmail.com for more information.
Sioux Falls, SD
Wed., Nov, 7, 12 Noon
Court House
Contact: sodak@answercoalition.org for information.
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 213-251-1025
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
National press contact:
Sarah Sloan, 202-904-7949
For local numbers, see the listing above
http://www.answercoalition.org/
Ralph Nader's Lawsuit
I am so not interested in Ralph Nader. Not really. My paranoid side tells me that Bush paid Nader to run in 2000 just to fuck up the election. I have very little for Nader, Susan Sarandon or her husband.
Bush Seeks to Rule By Executive Order
George Bush cannot make policy by executive order. Where is the effort to stop him? WAKE UP PEOPLE! This man should lose his penis. Read this article by Josh Feit on the ways in which the Bush adminstration has sought to undermine the U.S. Constitution and render irrelevant the legislative branch of government(which renders itself irrelevant as well). We have to use gusto to get this man off of his horse and back where he belongs-with his damned daddy in a rathole in Texas. As my grandmother says, he needs to learn that fat meat is greasy. He is not god.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Love for Martha Beck
Martha Beck of O Magazine is truly a blessing. She is a profound and wonderful presence in the world.
Tiki BarberMohammad El Baradei Says Iran Has No Nuclear Weapons
Mohammad El Baradei, head of UN Nuclear Monitoring, declared recently that Iran does not possess Nuclear weapons. The Bush administration should be absolutely stopped in its efforts to make war with Iran.
Backlash Blues
Nina Simone
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just who do think I am
You raise my taxes, freeze my wages
And send my son to Vietnam
You give me second class houses
And second class schools
Do you think that alla colored folks
Are just second class fools
Mr. Backlash, I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
When I try to find a job
To earn a little cash
All you got to offer
Is your mean old white backlash
But the world is big
Big and bright and round
And it's full of folks like me
Who are black, yellow, beige and brown
Mr. Backlash, I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just what do you think I got to lose
I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
You're the one will have the blues
Not me, just wait and see
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just who do think I am
You raise my taxes, freeze my wages
And send my son to Vietnam
You give me second class houses
And second class schools
Do you think that alla colored folks
Are just second class fools
Mr. Backlash, I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
When I try to find a job
To earn a little cash
All you got to offer
Is your mean old white backlash
But the world is big
Big and bright and round
And it's full of folks like me
Who are black, yellow, beige and brown
Mr. Backlash, I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
Mr. Backlash, Mr. Backlash
Just what do you think I got to lose
I'm gonna leave you
With the backlash blues
You're the one will have the blues
Not me, just wait and see
Take a Look at the New Bullshit Coming Out of Congress
Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act of 2007. We need some castration. Instead of ending these two horrid wars, Congress is trying to revive Joseph McCarthy. Jane Harman sponsored this bill. Someone needs to get on her case for sure.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Eli's Comin'
Laura Nyro
Eli's comin'. Eli's comin' (Eli's a-comin'). Well, you better hide your heart, your loving heart.
Eli's a-comin' and the cards say a broken heart, a broken heart.
Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl.
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide.
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl.
You better, better hide your heart, Eli's comin', better walk.
Walk but you'll never get away, no, you'll never get away from the burning a-heartache.
I walked to Apollo by the bay, everywhere I go though,
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she never got away).
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she never got away).
Eli's a-comin' and he's comin' to get ya (she walked but, she walked but)
Get down on your knees (she walked but she never got away), Eli's comin',
(Hide it, hide it, hide it) Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide. Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl (hide it).
You better, better hide your heart Eli's comin', better walk.
Walk but you'll never get away, no, you'll never get away from the burning a-heartache.
I walked to Apollo by the bay, everywhere I go though,
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she'll never get away).
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she'll never get away).
Eli's a-comin' and he's comin' to get ya (she walked but, she walked but).
Get down on your knees (she walked but she'll never get away). Get down on your knees.
No, no, no, no Lord, I said no, no, no, no, no, no (hide it).
She can (hide it) hide it, (hide it). You better (hide it). Somebody (hide it). You got to (hide it).
Eli's comin'. Eli's comin' (Eli's a-comin'). Well, you better hide your heart, your loving heart.
Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl. Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl.
Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl. Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl…
Eli's comin'. Eli's comin' (Eli's a-comin'). Well, you better hide your heart, your loving heart.
Eli's a-comin' and the cards say a broken heart, a broken heart.
Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl.
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide.
Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl.
You better, better hide your heart, Eli's comin', better walk.
Walk but you'll never get away, no, you'll never get away from the burning a-heartache.
I walked to Apollo by the bay, everywhere I go though,
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she never got away).
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she never got away).
Eli's a-comin' and he's comin' to get ya (she walked but, she walked but)
Get down on your knees (she walked but she never got away), Eli's comin',
(Hide it, hide it, hide it) Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide. Girl, Eli's a-comin', you better hide, girl, Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl (hide it).
You better, better hide your heart Eli's comin', better walk.
Walk but you'll never get away, no, you'll never get away from the burning a-heartache.
I walked to Apollo by the bay, everywhere I go though,
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she'll never get away).
Eli's a-comin' (she walked but she'll never get away).
Eli's a-comin' and he's comin' to get ya (she walked but, she walked but).
Get down on your knees (she walked but she'll never get away). Get down on your knees.
No, no, no, no Lord, I said no, no, no, no, no, no (hide it).
She can (hide it) hide it, (hide it). You better (hide it). Somebody (hide it). You got to (hide it).
Eli's comin'. Eli's comin' (Eli's a-comin'). Well, you better hide your heart, your loving heart.
Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl. Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl.
Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl. Eli's comin', better hide your heart, girl…
Golden Time of Day
Frankie Beverly and Maze
There's a time of the day
When the sun's going down
That's the golden time of day
It's a time that the sun
Shines the gold of her love
That's the golden time of day
I'm thinking of the day
When the wind is soft and low
All the leaves and flowers sway
When the sun settles down
And it takes a lovely morn'
That's the golden time of day
Wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooooohh
Wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooooh, wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
People let me tell you that the time
In your life, when you find who you are
That's the golden time of day
And then in your mind you will find
You're upright, shining star
That's the golden time of day
When you feel deep inside
All the love you're looking for
Don't it make you feel okay
That's like the time of the day
When the sun's going down
That's the golden time of day
Ooh-oooh, that's the golden time of day
Oh-ooh-hah-ooh-aah-aahhh, that's the golden time of day
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Ooh, shine children, shine
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Let your lovelight shine
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Feel it, feel it
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Oh, shining, to believe in love
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Look above and give your heart, yeah, yeah
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Yeah, if you believe in love, shine
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Shine, shine your love, shine your love, shine your love
(Shining, can't you see it shining)...............FADE
There's a time of the day
When the sun's going down
That's the golden time of day
It's a time that the sun
Shines the gold of her love
That's the golden time of day
I'm thinking of the day
When the wind is soft and low
All the leaves and flowers sway
When the sun settles down
And it takes a lovely morn'
That's the golden time of day
Wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooooohh
Wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooooh, wooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
People let me tell you that the time
In your life, when you find who you are
That's the golden time of day
And then in your mind you will find
You're upright, shining star
That's the golden time of day
When you feel deep inside
All the love you're looking for
Don't it make you feel okay
That's like the time of the day
When the sun's going down
That's the golden time of day
Ooh-oooh, that's the golden time of day
Oh-ooh-hah-ooh-aah-aahhh, that's the golden time of day
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Ooh, shine children, shine
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Let your lovelight shine
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Feel it, feel it
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Oh, shining, to believe in love
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Look above and give your heart, yeah, yeah
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Yeah, if you believe in love, shine
(Shining, can't you see it shining, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-aah)
Shine, shine your love, shine your love, shine your love
(Shining, can't you see it shining)...............FADE
Disturbing Racial Case in Palmdale, California
White security guards tackled a young, Black teenage girl after she failed to clean up a lunch room floor to their satisfaction. Read the story above.
Black-Out Planned in Support of Jena 6 from Harold Bulletin
Residents of Anderson, Indiana are planning to wear black and not participate in consumerism on November 2 in support of the Jena 6.
Monday, October 29, 2007
The US Government is Covering for Blackwater
Corruption abounds. We have to put a stop to Blackwater.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Christina Kirchner will be the first female president of ArgentinaSaturday, October 27, 2007
Martha Stout is Absolutely Brilliant-From the Paranoia Switch
...."In the same interview, Peters succinctly summarized his and our belief that envy is the prime motivating factor in terrorism: "You've heard it before, and its all too true. They hate us for our success."
This is an appealing hypothesis. Somehow, it simultaneously addresses our vanity concerning our relative wealth and progress, and the uneasy guilt we sometimes feel over the same blessings when we reflect on the plight of many of our fellow human beings. In addition, the notion that terrorists "hate us for our success" allows us to view the enemy as completely irrational, and conforms to experiences some of us have had with envious acquaintances who became hostile and unreasonable when we acquired or achieved something positive in our personal lives.
But this viewpoint is oversimplified and misleading. it soothes us somewhat, with an extra boost to our well-known sentiments of being biggest and best, but it also abandons us in a dangerous position of ignorance regarding the actual roots and possible futures of terrorism. Seen through lenses that color terrorists uniformly green, all terrorist events are utterly straightforward, and their goal is acheived immediately and almost by definition. Terrorists hate and envy us, and therefore they desire to hurt us and to destroy our accomplishments. Thus motivated, they carry out terrorist acts, which are, by their nature, extremely destructive and hurtful.
And there you have it:the terrorists' vengeful objective is achieved instantly, every time. Terrorism always works, and, after the fact, there is nothing we can do about it.
.....
The playing field is not the one we think it is. Terrorism's most important aim is not to damage bodies or our material accomplishments or our governments, although these are certainly its most conspicuous effects. Rather, its most cherished ambition is to affect us psychologically, to instill a sense of helplessness....
This is an appealing hypothesis. Somehow, it simultaneously addresses our vanity concerning our relative wealth and progress, and the uneasy guilt we sometimes feel over the same blessings when we reflect on the plight of many of our fellow human beings. In addition, the notion that terrorists "hate us for our success" allows us to view the enemy as completely irrational, and conforms to experiences some of us have had with envious acquaintances who became hostile and unreasonable when we acquired or achieved something positive in our personal lives.
But this viewpoint is oversimplified and misleading. it soothes us somewhat, with an extra boost to our well-known sentiments of being biggest and best, but it also abandons us in a dangerous position of ignorance regarding the actual roots and possible futures of terrorism. Seen through lenses that color terrorists uniformly green, all terrorist events are utterly straightforward, and their goal is acheived immediately and almost by definition. Terrorists hate and envy us, and therefore they desire to hurt us and to destroy our accomplishments. Thus motivated, they carry out terrorist acts, which are, by their nature, extremely destructive and hurtful.
And there you have it:the terrorists' vengeful objective is achieved instantly, every time. Terrorism always works, and, after the fact, there is nothing we can do about it.
.....
The playing field is not the one we think it is. Terrorism's most important aim is not to damage bodies or our material accomplishments or our governments, although these are certainly its most conspicuous effects. Rather, its most cherished ambition is to affect us psychologically, to instill a sense of helplessness....
Friday, October 26, 2007
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
John Lennon
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Say you want a revolution
We better get on right away
Well you get on your feet
And out on the street
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
A million workers working for nothing
You better give 'em what they really own
We got to put you down
When we come into town
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
I gotta ask you comrades and brothers
How do you treat you own woman back home
She got to be herself
So she can free herself
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Now, now, now, now
Oh well, power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Yeah, power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Say you want a revolution
We better get on right away
Well you get on your feet
And out on the street
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
A million workers working for nothing
You better give 'em what they really own
We got to put you down
When we come into town
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
I gotta ask you comrades and brothers
How do you treat you own woman back home
She got to be herself
So she can free herself
Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Now, now, now, now
Oh well, power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Yeah, power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Thursday, October 25, 2007
I saw Maher Arar's testimony before Congress. I have never heard anything more damning of the U.S. system. Maher Arar is a Syrian and Canadian citizen who was detained by the United States at an airport in 2002. He was denied access to a lawyer and was then transferred to Syria by U.S. agents where he was subsequently tortured. You can read his story here.
Jena 6
We must have justice in this case. There should be a movement to get rid of the judge that put Mychael Bell in jail.
George Bush on Cuba
George Bush is pretending he owns Cuba. God bless Fidel and the Cubal people. Bush should be relieved of his penis and no more white males should ever feel they have the authority to speak over Cuba(or any part of the world) ever again.
George Bush on Iran/Missiles in Eastern Europe
George Bush is a dumbfuck and no one should ever listen to him. He should definitely not be given any money to put missiles in eastern Europe. He should be relieved of his penis.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
U.S. Base Closes in Ecuador!
Hooray to President Correa of Ecuador for closing the U.S. base in Ecuador! Now we should close Guantanamo!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Benazir Bhutto
When I was a little boy, I used to love Benazir Bhutto because she was a pretty lady and because she was the same age as my mother. I hope she can be a progressive figure in Pakistan.
The Don Siegelman Case
I have, of course, been hearing bits and pieces about the Don Siegelman case. I knew it was political when I first heard aboutg it--and Im sure Riley had his hand in it. I am glad the progressive media and congress are investigating. I hope they can do something to Karl Rove.
Again?
The most wonderful leaders of the United States just lost $1.2 billion dollars allocated for the war in Iraq. Oh, this country.
FCC Wants to End RulesThat Uphold Democratic Principles in Media
Kevin Martin of the FCC should lose his penis. Above is a link to the Democracy Now article about his attempt to allow greater media consolidation.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Simple,Beautiful, Just
Simplicity in Justice. There is nothing more beautiful, simple, just than a nun taking a hammer to a nuclear weapon. Justice, love,integrity, peace, simple concepts...not complicated.
This is a beautiful post from meandering trevor about his experiences as a gay man at the beginning ofthe aids epidemic.
Naomi Wolf and The End of America
I watched Naomi Wolf on CSPAN last night and she said some very interesting things that caught my attention. Talking about the perpetuation of war, she spoke of the industries that perpetuate war and it simply clicked in my head like never before.
In WWII--and they boast about it--it was the manufacturers--looking for profits other than automobile sales who pushed the U.S. to get involved.
During the Cold War/Vietnam era it was the Military industries--those that made chemical and other sorts of weapons.
In this post 9/11 era it is the security industries who are pushing the war in iraq and trying to keep people scared of terror alerts, orange alerts, whatever. Buy an alarm system to put in your house. You know, this makes me think of something else. The selling of fear and its real effects. A few weeks ago a gun was fired in broad daylight, just as a group of small children were getting on a school bus and a little boy stated that he thought "the Iraqis were coming." The selling of fear, the propagation of war.
In WWII--and they boast about it--it was the manufacturers--looking for profits other than automobile sales who pushed the U.S. to get involved.
During the Cold War/Vietnam era it was the Military industries--those that made chemical and other sorts of weapons.
In this post 9/11 era it is the security industries who are pushing the war in iraq and trying to keep people scared of terror alerts, orange alerts, whatever. Buy an alarm system to put in your house. You know, this makes me think of something else. The selling of fear and its real effects. A few weeks ago a gun was fired in broad daylight, just as a group of small children were getting on a school bus and a little boy stated that he thought "the Iraqis were coming." The selling of fear, the propagation of war.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Gravedigger
Dave Matthews Band
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Muriel Stonewall 1903 to 1954,
she lost both of her babies in the second great war
now you should never have to watch your only children lowered in the ground
I mean you should
never have to bury your own babies
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Ring around the Rosy
Pocket full of posies
ashes to ashes
we all fall down
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
oh Gravedigger
Little Mikey Parsons, 67 to 75
He rode his bike like the devil until the day he died
when he grows up he wants to be Mr. Vertigo on the flying trapeze
oh, 1940 to 1992
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
I can feel the rain
I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Muriel Stonewall 1903 to 1954,
she lost both of her babies in the second great war
now you should never have to watch your only children lowered in the ground
I mean you should
never have to bury your own babies
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Ring around the Rosy
Pocket full of posies
ashes to ashes
we all fall down
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
oh Gravedigger
Little Mikey Parsons, 67 to 75
He rode his bike like the devil until the day he died
when he grows up he wants to be Mr. Vertigo on the flying trapeze
oh, 1940 to 1992
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
I can feel the rain
I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Gravedigger
when you dig my grave
could you make it shallow
so that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger
Me, Out Of The Loop A Bit
I had no clue that Phil Donahue was back on the air until recently. I used to watch him all the time when I was a little boy though.
Jindal and the Jena 6
Here is a link to an article concerning Jendal and the Jena 6. I hate to mess with our Indian brothers, but if he fucks with these children, someone should cut his penis off.
Thank God For Sheila Jackson Lee
Sheila Jacskon Lee on Real Time With Bill Maher: We Will Have No War With Iran!
Stokely Carmichael in Prattville, Alabama
I have always been told that Stokely Carmichael came and burned down part of Prattville, Alabama at some point in the sixties, however I had never read anything to confirm it(although anecdotally this story has been confirmed. However, tonight, while googling on the internet, I did run upon a document about Stokely Carmichael's visit to Prattville. The webpage, which is titled "Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement: Don Jelinek" is an interview in which Mr. Jelinek, an attorney who was affiliated with SNCC and civil rights workers and who was present in Selma and the deep south during that era reports that:
"Prattville: Your Wife and Children will Be Killed if Stokley or Any of Our People Die Tonight."
In late May of 1967, Stokely decided not to run again for chairman of SNCC, and was succeeded by Rap Brown. A few weeks later, on June 11, 1967, Kathy and I were visiting a professor couple at Tuskegee, who had worked on our survey, when a call came for me. It was Lowndes County SNCC leader Johnny Jackson.
"Don, we're trapped in Dan Houser's home in Prattville, a whole army's outside shooting at us," he yelled into the phone. I could hear gunshots in the background. "We're all going to be killed, Atlanta says you're the nearest. Don, try . . . "
The phone went dead. I quickly turned on the radio and heard a bulletin that martial law had been declared in Prattville, near Lowndes County, and that Stokely Carmichael had triggered off a riot. The phone rang again. Johnny told me that he could call out, but no calls could come in and his phone has been cutting off suddenly. He repeated that the house was surrounded and that I should do something. I said I would try."
"Prattville: Your Wife and Children will Be Killed if Stokley or Any of Our People Die Tonight."
In late May of 1967, Stokely decided not to run again for chairman of SNCC, and was succeeded by Rap Brown. A few weeks later, on June 11, 1967, Kathy and I were visiting a professor couple at Tuskegee, who had worked on our survey, when a call came for me. It was Lowndes County SNCC leader Johnny Jackson.
"Don, we're trapped in Dan Houser's home in Prattville, a whole army's outside shooting at us," he yelled into the phone. I could hear gunshots in the background. "We're all going to be killed, Atlanta says you're the nearest. Don, try . . . "
The phone went dead. I quickly turned on the radio and heard a bulletin that martial law had been declared in Prattville, near Lowndes County, and that Stokely Carmichael had triggered off a riot. The phone rang again. Johnny told me that he could call out, but no calls could come in and his phone has been cutting off suddenly. He repeated that the house was surrounded and that I should do something. I said I would try."
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