Friday, September 23, 2011

troy davis

troy davis
troy davis
troy davis
troy davis

Barack,Troy, and a falling satellite.

Just getting back from Washington. (Memo to self: Take Acela for my next mid week trip to D.C.) Shout out to all the folks who were at the digital civic engagement forum. Especially those of you who came up to me and showed me love. Jeff,Joseph,Navarrow, and Kristal, we have to do this again sometime.

Someone asked me today if I thought that the killing of Troy Davis will cost his O ness votes. Black folks are still mad that you could hear a pin drop in the White House during the days leading up to the state sanctioned killing of Davis.

Hey, what can I tell you? O is first and foremost a politician, and he did what politicians do when these types of "touchy" issues raise their ugly heads: He kept his mouth shut. Pro death penalty folks vote.

But back to the question: Will it cost him votes? Maybe. It's still too early to tell. I just don't think that blacks folks are going to be motivated to head to the polls this time around. He will still get 85% of the black vote, but there just won't be as much of them. A 16% unemployment rate will do that to you. We know that it wouldn't be better with a republican in charge, but we also realize, now, that no matter who is the HNIC, politics will always take center stage over everything else. It's back to business as usual in A-merry-ca. Just like it was under Reagan and those Bushes.

I keep telling you Negroes that it's time to stop looking to Washington and start taking care of yourselves. Work with your local governments to try to get things done in your neighborhoods. If they tell you that there is no money available, then work among yourselves. You would be surprised what you can do when you put your heads together. I am watching you do it with certain neighborhoods here in Philly. Some of you have wonderful community partnerships with certain institutions like Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania. And some of you work with non profits and religious groups. It's all good as far as I am concerned. Whatever it takes to keep us moving forward in these divided states of A-merry-ca.

Finally, I see that a very large satellite is about to fall to earth anytime now. They say what goes up must come down, and it looks like it's about that time for the school bus sized object. But don't worry, folks, the chance of it hitting us is slim....

"It just doesn't want to come down," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

McDowell said the satellite's delayed demise demonstrates how unreliable predictions can be. That said, "the best guess is that it will still splash in the ocean, just because there's more ocean out there."

Until Friday, increased solar activity was causing the atmosphere to expand and the 35-foot, bus-size satellite to free fall more quickly. But late Friday morning, NASA said the sun was no longer the major factor in the rate of descent and that the satellite's position, shape or both had changed by the time it slipped down to a 100-mile orbit.

"In the last 24 hours, something has happened to the spacecraft," said NASA orbital debris scientist Mark Matney.

On Friday night, NASA said it expected the satellite to come crashing down between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. EDT. It was going to be passing over the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans at that time, as well as Canada, Africa and Australia.
"The risk to public safety is very remote," NASA said in a statement.

The Aerospace Corp., which tracks space debris, also estimated the strike would happen sometime between about 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. EDT, which would make a huge difference in where the debris falls. Its projections also put almost all of the U.S. in the clear — with Washington state the lone holdout.

Any surviving wreckage is expected to be limited to a 500-mile swath.
The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, will be the biggest NASA spacecraft to crash back to Earth, uncontrolled, since the post-Apollo 75-ton Skylab space station and the more than 10-ton Pegasus 2 satellite, both in 1979.
Russia's 135-ton Mir space station slammed through the atmosphere in 2001, but it was a controlled dive into the Pacific.

Some 26 pieces of the UARS satellite — representing 1,200 pounds of heavy metal — are expected to rain down somewhere. The biggest surviving chunk should be no more than 300 pounds."

With any luck it will drop on a certain house in Florida.








      

Funky Friday

When this series of posts started out a few years ago it was dedicated to the life of Funk.  But I have adapted it as I feel and not always for the purpose of pure Funk.

Sorry Bootsy.

Hey I grew to maturity in the 80s and you know it never rains in southern California right?  Gotta love the New Jack Swing too, right?

What?

Ummmmm New Jack Swing is more than Al B. Sure! and Bobby Brown
OK :0)

Geez.

AnyHowze, this Chaka and Rufus cut has nine lives and it is as fresh and funky today as it was when Rufus was still around.

The version below is from the movie "Breakin" - remember that from 1984?  Bet some of you still be Popping at parties like Ana 'Lollipop' Sánchez did in the movie, right?

Oh yeah, did I tell you I sat a couple of rows behind Chaka Kahn on an overnite trip from Atlanta to Joburg a few years ago?

True story.  And yeah her hair is big like that even after 17 hours on an airplane.

Jumma Mubarak!


"... I make my wish upon a star
and hope this night will last forever ..."

Onward!

Troy Davis' Last Letter

I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.

As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can’t even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.

I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.
So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis’. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.

I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,

“I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!”

Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!
Comment: The death penalty on its own is a massive injustice.  Put the death penalty inside of a racist state like the US and you multiply the injustice many times over.

There was no justice in this case.  Not for the victim (Mark MacPhail) and not for Troy Davis (may both rest in peace).

Even in the best of circumstances the death penalty is an aberration.  Like Gandhi said:"An eye for and eye makes the whole word blind." 

And I don't think Gandhi was being ableist.  The blindness is a metaphor for the closing of the mind/spirit when it uses violence in any context.

The state has no right to take anyone's life.  In this case the execution of Troy Davis is a long standing practice of culling black men.  It is a modern day lynching.

May Troy Davis rest in peace until that day.
Onward!

Hat tip to Erica
Letter Credit
Picture Credit

Thursday, September 22, 2011

"For too long we have treated violence with violence, and that's why it never ends."*

"Field, you had a lot to say about Troy Davis. Why nothing about the white man who was put to death yesterday in Texas?"

Oh yes, Lawrence Brewer, the white supremacist who was tried and convicted of dragging James Byrd, Jr. to death(Shout out to Dick Gregory for being in Huntsville, Texas and protesting the death of even this scumbag.)

He should not have been killed by the state of Texas. (Derrick Mason should not be put to death tonight in Alabama.) I do not believe in the death penalty.Period. (I like what Coretta Scott King said about the subject.*heading*)) Killing this scumbag will not bring James Byrd, Jr. back, he should have spent the rest of his miserable life in prison.

Unlike Troy Davis, he admitted to killing Byrd, and he was proud of it:

 "As far as any regrets, no, I have no regrets. No, I'd do it all over again, to tell you the truth."

Sorry there big guy,you won't be doing much of anything ever again. But still, I did not want you to die at the hands of the state. As far as I am concerned, being raped over and over by Tyrone and Bubba would have been punishment enough for you.

Anyway, I was thinking about who actually puts the needle in Troy Davis, and Lawrence Brewer, or who is on the firing squad in Utah. Or, who is the hangman in Washington -Lawrence O'Donnell talked about it tonight.- Who does a job like that?

"So what do you do for a living? Ahhm...I work for the department of corrections. Really? What department? Ahhm......."

Poor guy. How does he live with himself?

Finally, speaking of playing executioner. I am glad that those animals masquerading as cops who allegedly murdered that homeless man in California while he was in custody were charged with murder and manslaughter.

Not so fast gentlemen, we have to have a trial and convict him first.

Obama Was for a Palestinian State before He Was against It

Ahmed Amr
Dissident Voice
September 21, 2011.
This time we should reach for what’s best within ourselves. If we do, when we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations — an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel.  (Obama’s speech before the General Assembly, September 23, 2010)
When Barack Obama uttered these lines, the assembled delegates rewarded him with a standing ovation. That was last year’s promise. This year, Obama is promising to veto a Palestinian state for reasons that he has yet to clearly articulate. The president could always come out and explain his dramatic change of heart in plain language – but that might prove a little embarrassing. When it comes to matters of state, plain language can have a disastrous impact on America’s standing in the world. In the midst of the great Arab awakening – this single veto will not be cost-free. Lest we forget, this is the same president who supported Mubarak before he supported the Egyptian revolution. So let it never be said that Obama is inconsistent. He’ll always do the right thing when it’s convenient.

Read the rest here.

Comment: Who even thought Uncle Tom would roll in the direction of principle when those who yank his chain are going the opposite way?

Even Judas has sh*t on the sellout duplicity of Obomber.

Onward!

The Execution of Troy Davis Provides Another "Haunting Reminder of Once Prevalent Southern Lynchings"

John Nichols
The Nation
September 22, 2011.

"I am innocent," said Troy Davis, moments before the the state of Georgia put him to death.

The state-sanctioned slaying, which former President Jammy Carter characterized as "a grave miscarriage of justice," was completed at 11:08 p.m. EST.

Before the execution, the man whose case inspired an international outcry against not just the death penalty but a dysfunctional "justice" system told the witnesses at the Georgia Diagnostic Prison facility: "The incident that night was not my fault. I did not have a gun."

Addressing the family of, Mark MacPhail, the off-duty Savannah police officer he was accused of killing, Davis said he was sorry for their loss. Then, he said: "I did not personally kill your son, father and brother. I am innocent."

To those who battled to save his life, Davis urged continued investigation, inquiry and struggle for justice.

The execution of Davis took place after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a Georgia native, led the high court in rejecting a plea that the killing be blocked. There were no dissents from the other justices on the current court.

But it is important to underline the word "current."

Former Justice John Paul Stevens, who left the high court last year, has argued in recent statements and interviews that the death penalty is "unconstitutional."

In particular, he cited the fact that African-Americans who are charged with murder (such as Troy Davis) are dramatically more likely than whites to be executed.

This fact, noted Justice Stevens, "provides a haunting reminder of once prevalent Southern lynchings." © 2011 The Nation

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

"The Killing"


“May God bless your souls” Those were Troy Davis’s last words to the men who killed him on behalf of the state of Georgia.
He is not here, so I will say those very words on his behalf to the rest of you in A-merry-ca: “May God bless your souls.”  

The McPhail family members who were there seemed to get some satisfaction from the entire process. Davis told them that he was sorry for their loss, but that he was innocent and did not kill their family member. According to reporters present, while Davis lay on the gurney they (the family members) stared at him, and after he took his final breath, they smiled and hugged each other. Justice was served.
What a country. Casey Anthony and OJ Simpson are alive, Charles Manson is alive, and Troy Davis is dead.  *shaking head*
I hope that he died quickly.

 America is dying as well, but her death has been slow and painful.

What happened to Troy Davis tonight just helped to speed up the process.     

The end is near.

The following is from Christopher Emdin writing for HuffPo today as Troy Davis is probably about to eat his last meal before his 7:00 date with a needle. *cheers from the pro death penalty crowd*

"For hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, the world seemed to come to a standstill when the news was released that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles had turned a deaf ear to pleas for clemency for Troy Davis. Hundreds of thousands of supporters, who range in profile from teenagers in public schools to former presidents, have written letters on behalf of Davis, and hoped that their words would sway the state of Georgia away from the Death Penalty.

Davis was convicted for the shooting death of off-duty police officer Mark Allen MacPhail 22 years ago in a case shrouded with allegations of police coercion of witnesses, blatant inconsistencies in witness statements, a drunken confession from another possible suspect, a lack of physical evidence, and consequently, doubts about whether or not Davis committed the crime.

The rallying cry from people around the globe has been loud and clear: we cannot put someone to death if there is some doubt about whether or not they committed the crime. Human Rights organizations are also expressing condemnation. The NAACP, who undoubtedly connects the Troy Davis case to the fact that he is a black man, a member of the racial group that is arguably, the most likely to interact with the criminal justice system and receive harsher penalties than other racial groups, is speaking up against the death penalty in this case.

As the Troy Davis case unearths the flaws in our justice system, and shines a light on the fact that there are many inequities in society at large, it has brought anger, frustration, and even a renewed sense of commitment to fighting injustice. However, in the midst of the bevy of emotions surrounding this case, it is important that we focus on the many teaching moments it provides us. Therefore, I outline 5 lessons that parents can learn from this case, and that must be shared with urban youth.

1) Urban youth must be aware of this case. In many ways, they are Troy Davis.
This is especially the case for black males. Parents must let youth know that Davis has been placed in a situation that many of them could potentially be placed in as well. Many urban kids exist around crime and it's possible that they could be a witness to one, or be accused of something they did not do. Parents should introduce their children to the case, and discuss any potential risk they have of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Let them know that it's important to voice complaints about what they feel is unjust so that they can make the world better. Encourage your children to write letters, or even write a reflection about how they feel about the case. Making them feel like they are part of a social movement empowers them, and also lets them vent their frustrations constructively.

2) All youth must be wary of the company they keep. They should be taught that if something doesn't look or feel right, they should leave immediately.
One of the most powerful pieces of the Troy Davis case is the set of events that led to the murder of an innocent man. Allegedly, Davis, was at a party, left with a friend, and got into an argument with another group of men. He then met with another man who was arguing with a homeless man. The second situation quickly escalated into the shooting of MacPhail, who came to the rescue of the homeless man. It is important for youth to know that any scenario where voices are being raised or someone is arguing with someone else has the potential to escalate into violence. When this happens, they should leave as soon as they can.

3) Remind youth that the unspoken "No snitching" rule is useless.
For many urban youth, their negative interactions with the criminal justice system have caused them to develop the idea that they should not "snitch" on each other, no matter what. The common belief is that a code of street ethics is broken when someone tells another person (especially the police) about a crime that has been committed. It is important to let youth know that this belief is often the source of an innocent person being implicated for a crime they did not commit. In the case of Troy Davis, he witnessed the shooting and did not report it. Instead, another person who has been accused to be the shooter, told police that Davis committed the crime.

4) Youth must be encouraged to describe exactly what they see. Nothing more, nothing less. In the Troy Davis case, many witness statements that were the anchor of the case against Davis were later recanted. Witnesses mentioned that they felt pressure by the police to make statements, and in one case, mentioned that she believed that the shooter had gotten away. This pressure by the police happens too often to urban youth, and has serious implications on who gets accused and/or convicted of crimes. Parents must let youth know that they do not have to bend to pressure by those who have more power than them. The truth is always sufficient if it is told respectfully.

5) Youth must know that when all is said and done, things may not go their way. However, they must handle every situation with dignity and grace
In the Troy Davis case, one of the most powerful things has been the response of Davis and his family to the recent decision to deny clemency. Even in the face of what they feel to be unjust, the family continues to remain in good spirits and fight until they can no longer do so. This response has done a lot for furthering their cause, and brought much needed visibility to this case. This certainly does not mean that what is right has been done. However, youth must see that this response does much more to further their cause than reacting violently. [Source]

All good rules and words to live by. But the killing of Troy Davis won't deter one single knucklehead in the hood from taking another life. (I guarantee you that there will be another murder in Georgia before the end of the week.) Those who should hear this message will not be reading Huffington Post, and they sure as hell won't be tuned in to the Troy Davis case. That is the reality of the world in which we live.

In a way, the killing of Troy Davis is society's revenge for all of those crimes committed by violent criminals in the hood. He might not have shot that officer, but somebody did. So we might as well sacrifice one (potentially) innocent person to send a message. Just think of all the killings that might be prevented in the future. Or so they think.

"Davis's pending execution has sparked an extraordinary outcry nationally and internationally that continued Wednesday, with thousands of people expected to participate in evening protests and vigils at Georgia's death row prison and the state capitol. By early afternoon, dozens of protesters were already singing and praying in a small cordoned-off area on the prison grounds.

Earlier this week, the state's pardons board was bombarded by hundreds of thousands of petitions to spare Davis's life, including calls from former FBI director William Sessions and Bob Barr, a four-term Republican congressman from Georgia and death penalty supporter. Many of those opposed to the execution noted the lack of physical evidence tying Davis to the crime and the recantation of critical eyewitness, many of whom told attorneys for Davis that they had been pressured by police to testify that Davis was the shooter.
"Imposing an irreversible sentence of death on the skimpiest of evidence will not serve the interest of justice..." 

It might not "serve the interest of justice" Mr. Barr, but it sure feels good.

*Pic from Cleveland Leader.

The Dumbest Sh*t You Will Ever Read in Rainbow Delusion

Men caught raping dogs
IOL News
September 20, 2011.
Two cases of bestiality involving dogs were reported by police in two provinces on Tuesday.

In the North West, a man apparently had sex with a dog in a toilet in Mabopane, north-west of Pretoria, on Sunday.

Lt-Col Dikatso Thebe said the owner of a house in block EW, Mabopane, caught the 21-year-old with the dog and called nearby residents, who beat up the man.

He handed himself to the police the next day out of fear of the residents, Thebe said.

The man was expected to face a charge of bestiality in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

In Sun City village, near KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga, a man was arrested for allegedly having sex with a friend's dog.

The 48-year-old arrived at his friend's house at 8pm on Monday and asked for him, Sergeant Nonhlanhla Kgosana said.

His wife told him her husband was not home and the man walked back to the gate.

Once the woman was back in the house, the man grabbed the couple's dog and ran into the toilet with the animal, Kgosana said.

She heard the animal howling and ran out to call the neighbours.

They came across the man leaving the yard and found blood on the dog.

Kgosana said the man was linked to the crime when the police found dog fur and bloodstains in his pants.

He was expected to face a charge of bestiality in the KwaMhlanga Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. - Sapa
Comment: And there you were thinking there can be no more of these types of dumb sh*t news stories from Rainbow Delusion to make it onto the blog.

And you may be questioning my sanity to put this sorta stories up.

I mean why would a thinking man be drawn to these types of horrific stories even as Palestinian statehood is to be voted on in the UN General Assembly?

Well dawg there is a general undressing of my consciousness going on but this story above came across my screen after I just spent and hour playing with my two bulls in the front yard of number 11.

Somewhere in the games that can get rough when a boerbol and boxer comes rushing at your ass at speed I was thinking how lucky I am to have two such beautiful animal companions.

Where in the order of life is there even place for this kind of deviance that is described above?

I know newspapers in South Africa like to sell sensationalism.  And I know there are a whole grip of YTs sitting around and pontificating on the bestial quality of black life since both men above are black.

But, I want to set that aside and just say I would put a cap in the ass of both these f*ckers if it were up to me.

For real.

Onward!

Ps. Oh if your ass is still shaking yo' head incredulously then be prepared to shake some more after you read this pearl: "China Bans Dog Eating Carnival".

The Speed Limit Ain't the Problem Chief

The Minister of Transport, Sibusiso Ndebele, wants to reduce the national speed limit on South African roads from 120km/h to 100km/h.

The Minister says that the number of horrific accidents on our roads is unacceptable and thinks lowering the speed limit is the right place to start.

I can't fault him on being just exasperated with the carnage that is a daily part of road life in Rainbow Delusion.

Still, is the Minister even paying attention to all the other mitigating circumstances that make driving here an absolute nightmare (not to mention living here)?

Two weeks ago I announced to my closest that my dream to ride a motorcycle in my hometown was on indefinite hold.

Except for the tooth fairy no-one paid much attention to my aggrieved announcement.

Well my boy Cliff did say: "Ridi riding a motorcycle in South Africa is a death wish.  If the taxis don't kill you the potholes will."

His assessment is where I found myself when a taxi decided to drive headlong into my direction to pick up a fare on the opposite side of the roadway.  This he did with all the nationalized pride that says "f*ck you we do what we wanna" so get out of my way.

That was just one incident of many many others.  We are in serious trouble broer.

South Africa's infrastructure is crumbling as the head idiot plays international fool for all to see.  He declares war on Libya alongside YT and then feels a little bad but not bad enough to grab whatever YT was offering then he says that South Africa was not seeking regime change in Libya but yesterday he and the rest of the potbellied and pointy-shoe brigade officially recognized the rogue 'government' in Tripoli.

What's this got to do with the road carnage you may be asking?

Everything dawg.  The logic contained in the unthinking above is indelibly post-apartheid South African (il)logic.

Why pay attention to rules and principles?  Why be consistent and thoughtful because it is right to do so? 

How many of you South Africans have watched fools drive on sidewalks (pavements) to get around a line of cars at a red traffic light (robot)?

How many times have you watched fools overtaking each other at twice the speed limit in residential areas where there are schools and pedestrians everywhere?

Road rules?  Who the hell obeys those?

Driving drunk?  Hell fools drive and drink at the same time.  It is a national pastime.  And then you find them at those construction stops on national roads staggering and relieving themselves in full view of everyone.

Don't have a driver's license?  No worries chief.  Some dumb crooked ass will sell you one at your traffic department.

Don't wanna do that cause you think the big guy upstairs is watching?  Well then sit in line and expect to spend the next couple of years trying to get a license the legal way.

When you do get your plastic you have the right to drive on the pock-marked death traps the government call roads.

And just when you think it can't get worse the idiots that run this circus decide to put toll roads everywhere to f*ck with your bottom line even more.

But it is not all about the dumb assess that run this delusion.

The average mentality of just about every f*cking South African must be called into question.

Why the hell are we such a rude and arrogant nation?  And why would we run over just about anyone to get just about nowhere?

Last week when the momster, Aunty Mavis, and I went to Game we literally had to dodge speeding cars in the parking lot as we crossed to enter the mall.

Not one f*ck would stop and allow two seventy-plus women to cross over to the sidewalk.  And if you thinking yeah they were probably niggaz then check your ass.

White men are among the most arrogant sh*theads on our roads.  These idiots have some pent-up anger because they think their daddies gave the country to the idiots who are now in charge.

A second equally arrogant group of sh*theads on our roads are black women of the new dispensation.

Yeah call my ass a racist I am not even sweating the label.  I have had countless run-ins with Indian-hair-wearing post-apartheid aunties who think their government subsidized Benz should be the only car on the road.

Last week a heffa of this deluded class pushed me off the road because in our constitution there is clause that says "f*ck you my obese ass needs to get in front of you no matter what".

Then there is the Indian spiked hair crew who roll on blinged out wheels their daddy bought for them when they could not get into medical school.

These b*tches like to do tire burnouts everywhere to vent subconscious dissent against the usual trajectory of ending up working for their daddies and marrying their first cousins.

We a rude and lawless nation.  Add arrogant and just plain crude to that formula and you know where to start tinkering with the 'system' that has so many people dying on our roads.

Lowering the speed limit ain't gonna do sh*t but put more money in the coffers of the efficient thievery that run just about everything in this country.

Remember when I wrote about almost being killed by a car that cut across me on a dual carriageway and then hitting a pothole(s) that shattered my hatchback's windshield?

Well dawg you should know that trip from hell was punctuated by a speeding ticket that arrived in the mail two weeks ago.  Apparently one of those revenue garnering robots they got up everywhere caught me speeding around the potholes and now the government wants two hundred bucks from me.

Whatever muthaz.  I ain't paying your crooked ass sh*t until my taxes are used to improve the quality of roads everywhere and that includes in-front of my damn house.

Maybe the plan to move fourwaaad is to start with a systematic national cull of all the rude idiots on our roads.

Let's get these f*ckers out of the road-using gene pool and then maybe I will think about that motorcycle dream again.

Onward!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Dumb Sh*t You Hear While Watching India's NDTV

The following is the selling line for a company known as Elite Matrimony.  I just saw their advert on India's NDTV, a channel carried here on DSTV in South Africa.

"Give your children life's most precious gift.  A happy marriage."

What the hell hey?

No pappa and mamma money bags you should be thinking about you.  It makes more cents.

In 2011 you should not be giving a f*ck or buying a f*ck for your damn kids.  Leave them bitches to fend for themselves.

It just ain't right no matter how ugly they "upper crust(y)" asses my be.

Onward!

American Justice?

This is another sad day for these divided states of A-merry-ca. No, not because Ron Artist sucked on Dancing with the Stars, but because, once again, we have diminished ourselves as a people and a country by our actions.

Troy Davis was denied clemency by the Georgia board of pardons and parole, and he will be killed by the state of Georgia tomorrow. Not that I am surprised, this was an uphill battle all along. Davis didn't have much going for him; just the people who believed in his innocents and that the death penalty is wrong 

For the record, after reading the trial transcript from the case; I believe that Mumia Abul Jamal was guilty, which is why I have never advocated for his release on this site. (Although I do not think he should be given the death penalty) But I am not so sure about the guilt of Troy Davis, and if the folks clamoring for him to get the needle are going to be honest with themselves;  they would have to tell you that they aren't either.   
But vengeance is mine sayeth the state of Georgia, even if it means the wrong person will be sacrificed. The relatives of that slain officer want justice, and they want someone to pay for their loss. Anyone. Troy Davis fits a profile, and he was arrested, tried, and found guilty. I suppose that's good enough for them. Given their emotional stake in the outcome, that’s understandable. What is not understandable, are the actions of so called reasonable people who are charged with making important decisions.

Still, this too will pass, and they know it. As I write this post the name Troy Davis is not even trending on Yahoo. Sarah Palin, Brooke Burke, Jeff Conaway, Cam Newton, the Boston Red Sox; all of them are getting more play in the American psyche than some black man in Georgia charged and convicted of killing a police officer many years ago.  Hey, if the state of Georgia didn’t kill him, some other black man would. Or, maybe high blood pressure, diabetes, or any one of those other diseases that Negroes tend to get. He lived to the ripe old age of 41, which is more than we can say for other men who look like him in A-mery-ca. So what’s the big deal?     

Those of you (black and white) who advocated and fought on this man’s behalf should be proud of yourselves. I know that it’s hard to see a person who might be innocent of the crime for which he was charged put to death, but your conscience should allow you to sleep tonight, which is more than I can say for Terry Bernard, Robert Keller,Albert R. Murray,James E. Donald, L. Gale BucknerSteve Hayes, and the rest of you in A-merry-ca.
Oh well, at least Nancy Grace's debut went alright.








Resisting the Corporate Theft of Seeds by Vandana Shiva

The Nation
September 20, 2011.

Vandana Shiva
We are in a food emergency. Speculation and diversion of food to biofuel has contributed to an uncontrolled price rise, adding more to the billion already denied their right to food. Industrial agriculture is pushing species to extinction through the use of toxic chemicals that kill our bees and butterflies, our earthworms and soil organisms that create soil fertility. Plant and animal varieties are disappearing as monocultures displace biodiversity. Industrial, globalized agriculture is responsible for 40 percent of greenhouse gases, which then destabilize agriculture by causing climate chaos, creating new threats to food security.

But the biggest threat we face is the control of seed and food moving out of the hands of farmers and communities and into a few corporate hands. Monopoly control of cottonseed and the introduction of genetically engineered Bt cotton has already given rise to an epidemic of farmers’ suicides in India. A quarter-million farmers have taken their lives because of debt induced by the high costs of nonrenewable seed, which spins billions of dollars of royalty for firms like Monsanto.

I started Navdanya in 1987 to address the challenge of GM seeds, seed patents and seed monopolies.  We have been successful in reclaiming seed sovereignty and creating sixty community seed banks to reclaim seed as a commons. We have proven that biodiverse ecological agriculture produces more food and nutrition per acre than monocultures, while reducing costs to the planet and to farmers.
But our efforts are like a little lamp in a very dark room. We keep the lamp of possibilities and alternatives burning. The food emergency, however, calls for a much wider response.

The food movement must become more integrated, from seed to table, from village to city, from South to North. We need to be stronger in challenging the corporate control of our food system and the role of governments in increasing, rather than stopping, the corporate abuse of our seeds and soils, our bodies and our health. Michelle Obama has an organic garden at the White House, but the Obama administration is embracing GMOs in the United States and around the world. The US-India agriculture agreement—signed by President Bush and Prime Minister Singh in 2005, at the same time as the signing of the US-India nuclear deal—has on its board representatives from Monsanto, ADM and Walmart. The hijacking of our food systems is the hijacking of our democracy.

That is why we have to make food democracy the core of the defense of our freedom and survival. We will either have food dictatorship for a while and then a collapse of our food systems and our societies, or we will succeed in building robust food democracies, resting on resilient ecosystems and resilient communities. There is still a chance for the second alternative.

See more articles by Vandana Shiva here.

Picture Credit

This Constant Mind Rape

Linh Dihn
Dissident Voice
September 19, 2011.
"... though it has been proven in court that the US government was behind the killing of Martin Luther King, he now has a huge statue on the National Mall, the very Mall where he organized Resurrection City, a poor people’s protest which hastened his assassination. With typical cynicism, our government is celebrating and appropriating a man it exterminated in cold blood.

Likewise, 9/11. It was nauseating for me to watch the ten-year commemoration of that tragedy without any airtime given to those who desperately wanted to probe deeper into exactly what happened. The many architects, engineers, pilots, first responders and relatives of victims who doubted the official version of 9/11 were shunted aside so a self-justifying and congratulatory narrative from this criminal government could proceed without interruptions. This was the moment for sinister butchers like Bush and Obama to appear caring and statesmanlike, as father figures consoling us in our moment of grief, when they are, in fact, the authors of so much past and ongoing grief.

The truths about many key events in this nation’s history, Pearl Harbor attack, Gulf of Tonkin Incident, Martin Luther King’s, John’s and Bobby Kennedy’s assassinations, etc., have never fully come out, or only came out decades after the fact, so Americans should have learnt to suspect, by now, routine duplicity from Washington, yet many of us continue to believe. Such is the power of brainwashing. As they kill and lie in our names, we keep nodding and nodding.

We are not expected to ask questions, but merely to swallow whole the spoon-fed kitsch and bullshit. Recently, Americans were shown a photo of a dog that refused to leave the coffin of his master, a dead SEAL member, one of those “heroes” who supposedly killed Bin Laden. Though there was no physical proof whatsoever, no corpse, film or photo, we were told that a successful raid had occurred, and though an American helicopter tail was left behind, no American had died, incredibly, then we were told, three months later, that 22 of the SEALs involved, i.e., potential witnesses who could contradict the official narrative, were conveniently killed in an unprecedented attack by the Taliban.

These fairy tales are so bizarre but, before you can pause to parse one, if you’re so inclined, and most of us are no longer inclined or capable, another one comes down the chute, then another, then another. When one commits as many killings, lootings and rapes as this government does, one must lie constantly."
Read the rest here.

Comment: If the US was forced to accept the truth about the genocide and continued violence that characterizes its essence it would implode into non-existence.

The official myth of the US needs lying as much as you and I need air.  Without lying the myth of America would be nothing more than a lie.

I am not alone among the many out there who can't sit through another bumptious speech by Obama or Hillary Clinton who looks more and more like Ms Piggy from Sesame Street.

I started thinking about my growing repulsion last week at a conference when an American academic decided to wow the crowd by speaking a few lines of a local African language before he delivered his paper.

The man sitting next to me turned knowingly and laughed saying: "You Americans".

The man knows me well and was being sarcastic by showing his version of the repulsion that non-Americans feel under the arrogant weight of the crumbling empire.

Now there is obviously nothing wrong with what that academic may have intended.  What is wrong is that his intention cannot just be assumed to be separate from the empire that seeks to contain and dominate everything.

This repulsion may seem to inconsequential in a world dominated by sound and picture bytes that make American values and life the ultimate "commonsense".

I see it different though.  If you pay close attention you will see more and more folks withdrawing their consent to be contained and dominated by Americanisms.

This is more than just a small revolt now.  It is a growing revolution in its full complexity.

Onward!

Monday, September 19, 2011

No "American Dream" for Bill.

I would like to thank Bubba for saying publicly and giving more recognition to what some of us so called "secular progressives" have been saying all along. 

"Being a former president in the internet age means you don't necessarily need a TV network to interview you in order to get some talking points out there.
Case in point is former President Bill Clinton, who sounded off about the current sorry state of the American economy in a video produced by his Clinton Foundation. That video was then posted as an exclusive on the Yahoo homepage, giving his message reach well beyond what a typical network news interview might offer.

Some of Clinton's talking points:

>> Clinton said "the American Dream has been under assault for the last 30 - 35 years." Leading the charge, he noted, has been the changing priorities of multinational corporations, which have enhanced the influence of their shareholders while downplaying the role of their employees and the general public.

>> Among leading industrialized nations, America is alone in its fixation on "choking off" the federal government.

>> The United States is only about half as energy-efficient as some of its global competitors -- millions of jobs could be created by kick-starting some serious retro-fitting." [Source] 

Tell us something we don't already know there Bubba. Of course the "American Dream" has been "under assault", and corporations have been the main perpetrators. This, of course, could not be possible without the help of at least half of the A-merry-can people who seem to believe that corporations really do care about them and their dream. They don't. These "cash hoarders" care about you about as much as I care about the republican presidential candidates.  

For the next few days we will all enjoy how the party- bought and paid for by the wealthy-will claim that all attempts to raise taxes on those who are very rich will be an attempt at "class warfare".

Well, I will put it to you like this: If you are not paying your fair share and making it harder for the rest of us to achieve our A-merry-can dream; maybe, just maybe, there should be a war.

     

PRESS RELEASE.

I would like to interrupt your daily scheduled life to give you the following information:

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
19 September 2011

CONTACTS:
Kimberly Davis, Petition Author, contact Wende Gozan Brown (212) 633-4247 wgozan@aiusa.org
Jonathan Perri, Change.org Senior Organizer for Criminal Justice (401) 265-9445 jon@change.org

***MEDIA ADVISORY***
GEORGIA PAROLE BOARD TO VOTE TODAY ON TROY DAVIS
Death row inmate Troy Davis’ last chance to avoid a September 21 execution to take place this morning at a hearing before the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons. Nearly a quarter million people join Davis’ sister Kimberly’s campaign on Change.org asking for clemency.

ATLANTA, GA – Death row inmate Troy Davis will face the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons this morning at a clemency hearing in Atlanta. Nearly 250,000 people from around the world have joined an online campaign on Change.org created by Davis sister Kimberly, calling on the board to grant Davis clemency.

“In the past two decades, seven of the nine witnesses in this case have recanted their testimony or changed their stories,” said Kimberly Davis, who launched the campaign on Change.org. “There is too much doubt to execute Troy.”

Last week more than 650,000 signatures from multiple petitions seeking to stop the September 21 execution were delivered by supporters to the Georgia Board of Paroles and Pardons at a press conference in Atlanta. Over 220,000 of these signatures came from the campaign created on Change.org by Kimberly Davis, a Savannah, GA resident and Troy Davis’ sister.

“When Troy saw that more than 650,000 signatures had been delivered to the board in his name, he called to tell me he was deeply moved,” Kimberly Davis said. “He told me he knew that he had supporters around the world, but he had no idea that the support was that widespread.”
Convicted in 1991 of the 1989 murder of a Savannah, GA police officer, Davis’ case has attracted international attention because of recantations of witness testimony and a lack of physical evidence tying Troy to the murder. Seven witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony against Davis and others have implicated another man as the killer.
Georgia Representatives John Lewis and Hank Johnson sent the parole board a letter signed by over 50 members of Congress supporting clemency for Davis. In addition to that letter, other public figures who support commuting Davis’ death sentence include Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop of Atlanta Wilton Gregory, President Jimmy Carter, activist and singer Harry Belafonte, the European Parliament, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and many others.
Pro-death penalty figures have also voiced their opposition to the execution, including former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, former Texas Governor Mark White, and Norman Fletcher, a former Georgia Supreme Court Justice.


Kim Davis’ campaign has been one of the most popular ever launched on Change.org” said Jonathan Perri, Senior Organizer for Criminal Justice at Change.org. “Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it’s clear that there is overwhelming support for granting Troy Davis clemency.”

At 7:30 a.m. today, supporters will gather outside the Parole Board meeting in the "Sloppy" Floyd Building, 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30334 for a day long vigil.

Live signature totals from the Kim Davis’ campaign:
http://www.change.org/petitions/7-of-9-witnesses-say-my-brother-is-innocent-stop-troy-davis-execution-on-sep-21

Journalists interested in interviewing members of the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles should try doing so through:

Steve Hayes
Director of Public Affairs, Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles
(404) 657-9450

Members of the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles

James E. Donald
Chairman, Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles
404-651-6667
Albert R. Murray
Vice Chairman, Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles
(404) 651-6599
L. Gale Buckner
Member, Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles
(404) 651-6595
Terry Barnard
Member, Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles
(404) 651-6667
Robert E. Keller
Member, Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles
(404) 651-6695


For more information on Change.org, please visit:
http://www.change.org/about
Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country."

Carry on.



Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Silence Of The Ewes.

I just read in interesting post from Monica Roberts over at TransGriot, and I think I will share it:

"Despite claiming that fighting sexism is a concern of feminists, attacks against Michelle Obama continually get ignored. It is left to women of colour to point out the link between sexism and racism that combine to oppress her. Womanist Musings, May 9, 2011
One of the things I'm not surprised about but it really irritates the hell out of me is the way the vanillacentric feminist blogosphere can rush to the defense of any white female attacked in any way by the 'menz'.

But let those attacks be aimed at a woman of color or First Lady Michelle Obama, and this is their reaction:" *Chirping sound effects* 


Once again Oxycontin Man went on the attack against the First Lady making cracks about her weight. Two Tons Of Not So Much Fun made the crack that 'President Obama’s limousine “weighs 8 tons without Michelle Obama in it.”

First of all, you drug addled bigoted dufus, you are the last person to be mocking people about their weight.

Besides that, the FLOTUS isn't F-A-T, she's P-H-A-T, fine, beautiful, intelligent and got it going on. You're just jealous because you're bitter, lonely and have had four women dump your azz while the POTUS has been happily married to the same fine brown framed sistah since 1993.


Now that I'm done verbally slapping around Cetaceas Oxycontinus, back to you feminist blogosphere.

I find it interesting that this is the same blogosphere that rose up en masse to defend Kirstie Alley, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin and a host of white females on both sides of the political spectrum but can't be bothered to type one sentence when it comes to the FLOTUS or any non-white woman under attack.

What, some of y'all still hatin' and fuming because Michelle's hubby beat Hillary for the Democratic presidential nomination back in 2008?

And don't think it's just Moni that has noticed your glacial pace and benign neglect when it
comes to defending the FLOTUS, much less any Black woman. It's kinda sad when even white men are quicker to defend the First Lady than y'all are

Well, won't be the first or last time that's happened (Satoshi Kanazama controvery ring a bell?) or the first or last time that Black women have had to be the ones to have our own or
Michelle Obama's back.

And you wonder why Black women left feminism back in the late 80's early 90's." [Source]


Oh my! Where is Oprah when you need her? Shouldn't she be speaking out? Isn't Oprah the link between black and white feminist here in A-merry-ca?

Yes Monica, it is a shame. But welcome to the "New Reconstruction Era" here in A-merry-ca. White feminist (sorry to single you out there girlfriend) won't check Rush, because Rush is speaking about a women of color. It's that simple.

Sadly, this is "Animal Farm" form of feminism: Some women are more equal than others.    

Finally, I saw the fight last night between $ Mayweather and Victor Ortiz, and I had flashbacks of the second Holyfield Tyson fight, where my man Iron Mike went all Hannibal Lecter on Holyfield. It wasn't pretty. But, in the end, the best man won.

 I thought that Mayweather was on his way to a decision before the headbutt and quick punch. (I won't call it a sucker punch because it was legal.) It's a shame that it had to end that way, because it looked like it was going to be a pretty good fight.

-BTW, I am so through with those two frauds (Lampley and Merchant) who call the fights for HBO. I thought commentators were supposed to be impartial?
No wonder $ Mayweather got in Merchant's grill after the fight. (I would show it to you, but HBO blocked all the videos.)-   

Here is the bottom line: Mayweather and Pacquiao will have to get together for that super fight that we all have been jonesing for.The fight game needs it now more than ever.