http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/ The next level in Our community as we move our people from all talk and no action, to talk with action. In terms of organizing in respective communities to promote conscious discussion and solutions powered by The Talking Drum Collective. en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:02:11 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/images/misc_2/rss.jpg http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/ http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/183-why-should-we-care-about-whats-going-central-asia.html Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:50:10 GMT From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Why Should We Care About What's Going On In Central Asia?


On one of the Websites that carries my blog/column From The Ramparts , in the post a comment section, a Sistah inquired what the significance of my posting about the situation in South Ossetia was; and what did that situation have to do with the “black cause”? First of all, the essence of my article was, we (people of African ascent) were sleeping while a potential flashpoint for WWIII was being ignited in South Ossetia. For numerous reasons we should be aware of and concerned about what is going on not only in South Ossetia, the Caucasus region but the whole world. Why? Because the same forces that are aggressively at work fomenting strife, carnage, war and deprivation all over Africa (Sudan, Somalia, Congo and Chad just to name a few) and in our communities here in AmeriKKKa are at work in South Ossetia. The “powers that be”, the international bankers and multinational corporations, their front men in government, their bag men in the think tanks and media, their goons in the intelligence agencies, police and military are using the exact same tactics throughout Africa they are using now in the Caucasus: tribal and ethnic loyalties, personal ambition, corruption and political strife to get what they want: access to and control of mineral and natural resources, or the control of the overland routes to transport them to their markets.

Just as the West is exploiting and manipulating Arab and African differences to balkanize Sudan to get at the rich oil deposits in the Darfur region (that the US mass media never mentions) , they are using ethic loyalties to instigate dangerous and deadly games of geopolitcal intrigue and disastrous resource wars in the Caucasus. We must take a much broader view of current events and not rely on the corporate mind control apparatus for all of our information. The lying hypocrites who run the US corporate media have the audacity to paint Russia as the aggressor in Georgia while they continuously shill for US war criminals and the atrocities they are committing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The corporate mind control apparatus is doing the bidding of its’ ownership and hypocritically denouncing Russia despite the fact the US is guilty of much more heinous crimes around the world, specifically in places like Haiti, Iraq, Somalia (by proxy, using Ethiopia) and Afghanistan. The US media would have us believe Russia acted in a heavy handed fashion, hoping we’ll forget how the US military bombed Baghdad indiscriminately and pretty much wiped out the town of Fallujah, all based on lies the media helped propagate!

We must keep in mind that most Africans in AmeriKKKa opposed the invasion of Iraq and we were deeply appalled at the “shock and awe” overkill the US military used on innocent Iraqi civilians despite the US media’s and military’s lies and disinformation about “smart bombs” and the “precision and pin point accuracy” of US weapons of mass destruction. We must not allow ourselves to become desensitized to the moral implications and human suffering the warmongers are planning and executing as we speak. So what if the South Ossetians are white, all the more reason to consider how psychopathic the people behind Georgian puppet President Mikheil Saakashvili are, people like Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice and the corporations they work for like Chevron, Exxon-Mobil or BP, Bechtel, General Electric and Lockheed Martin.

Most black folks are not familiar with the agenda and program of David Rockefeller or George H.W Bu$h’s “New World Order”. For more information about one of the platforms of their nefarious program which is global depopulation, go to the library or use your browser to look up Global 2000 or type in words like: world depopulation, global depopulation, Henry Kissinger/depopulation or eugenics and see how much comes up. Of course you have to sift through and seriously examine the information but enough is there to convince a reasonable person there is a definite plan to kill off billions of humans. Not only that, once you take current world events into account you will see it for what it is, a massive genocidal conspiracy.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. We are in a war for our very survival against forces so sick and evil we can’t imagine. The fact their shill and bag men and women cloak their plan in noble sounding words like freedom, liberation, democracy reveal just how deviously psychotic they really are. We must stop falling for the okey-doke. Do not watch the news uncritically or passively. Think for yourself. Ask questions like “who benefits from this”, what are the connections to big banking, big oil, the military-industrial complex or big pharmaceutical and genetically modified foods if any in this? Think like the character Lester freeman in the HBO TV series The Wire, always follow the money. Lastly expand your horizons, like I told the Sistah, “the black cause” is global because black people are global and we are the true custodians of this planet. We have to regain our rightful place otherwise the crazies and warmongers will unleash deathly hell on the planet. Think Katrina without the flooding or imagine a twenty-first century “Middle Ages” and you can glean what the New World Order crowd intends for all of us. That’s why we should be concerned about what’s going on not only in South Ossetia but around the world.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/183-why-should-we-care-about-whats-going-central-asia.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/172-setting-record-straight.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:52:45 GMT Setting The Record Straight Junious Ricardo Stanton On July 3 the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition held their annual Black Independence Day Memorial on the site of the soon to be constructed Liberty Bell Center at 6th and Market Streets in Philadelphia. This site ironically is where... Setting The Record Straight
Junious Ricardo Stanton

On July 3 the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition held their annual Black Independence Day Memorial on the site of the soon to be constructed Liberty Bell Center at 6th and Market Streets in Philadelphia. This site ironically is where George Washington held in brutal captivity nine Africans who served him without pay while he served as the first president of the United States. Since 2002 ATAC has attempted to raise awareness of the vicious legacy of slavery and have that complex narrative included in the telling of America’s history. Telling the truth will enable all people to appreciate know how this country really developed and the important role Africans played in its’ growth and development. Each year since 2002 Attorney Michael Coard and ATAC have held protests, demonstrations and memorial services to agitate, remember, commemorate and honor the nine Africans, and the horrible system of slavery most Americans would love to dispatch to the memory hole. It is the mission of the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition to not allow America to indulge in willing amnesia when it comes to its’ history of racial oppression, exploitation and animus.

In 2002 when the US Park Service announced it was going to construct a New Liberty Bell Center local historians raised the issue about George Washington holding slaves at his Philadelphia residence. Black historian and bibliophile Charles Blockson along with a few white historians put out the call and local activists responded by aggressively challenging the US government to publicly acknowledge the existence of slavery and the quarters of the nine Africans George Washington kept while he was president. Major demonstrations shut down the demolition and excavation, and a coalition of historians, activists, residents demanded the government not only admit George Washington kept slaves but include an interactive exhibit at the Center to tell their stories. Activist communicators on the two black radio stations (WHAT and WURD) and in the community press kept the struggle front and center in the media. As a result, hundreds of protesters braved 100 degree heat to shut down the project while supporting efforts to tell the truth and open opportunities in the construction trades to Africans in America. The Park Service saw the enthusiastic crowd of demonstrators and decided to negotiate rather than stonewall.

The government relented and agreed to talk. Subsequently a steering committee was formed, Blockson and Michael Coard one of Philadelphia’s top criminal attorney’s took the lead in negotiating with the Park Service. The group adopted the name Avenging The Ancestors Coalition and began the arduous task of negotiating with the US Park Service. The media attention and community support provided ATAC with a platform and they adroitly used it to solicit support from US Congressmen Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady, former Mayor John Street and several councilpersons and state legislators. The US Parks Service was very cooperative they agreed to numerous requests and demands and demonstrated a good faith willingness to work with ATAC to see that a monument of some sort acknowledging the wide spread existence and implications of slavery and the nine Africans who served Washington were included in the new project. A nation wide search was begun for Black architects and professionals to design the memorial.

Progress on the Center is moving swiftly and ATAC members are pleased with the process. This year the memorial/educational ceremony was specifically in honor of the nine Africans. In addition to Michael Coard giving an update on the progress of the memorial, local historians, government officials and the Park Service Superintendent shared the importance of what was being done, how it benefits all Americans. Biographies of the men and women held by Washington were shared. Reenactors told the stories of Austin, Christopher Sheels, Giles, Hercules, Joe, Moll, Oney (Ona) Judge, Paris and Richmond. Their visual and oral presentations put human faces on the names. Their experiences personalized the horrors of slavery and provided a means for the audience to empathize with their plight as captive servants.

Despite the success of ATAC and the cooperative efforts of local, state and federal governments to tell the real story at the Liberty Bell Center, the struggle to include African-America history in “mainstream” history is far from over. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown shared with the audience the Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed legislation requiring anyone providing historical tours in Philadelphia to take a test on their knowledge of slavery and the role Africans have played in the development of America. She also informed the crowd a suit has been filed in court challenging the bill. The work of ATAC and similar activists is not over by a long shot.

For more information about the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition c all (215) 552-8751 or visit their Website at ATAC: Avenging the Ancestors Coalition

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/172-setting-record-straight.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/171-setting-record-straight.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:41:52 GMT Setting The Record Straight Junious Ricardo Stanton On July 3 the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition held their annual Black Independence Day Memorial on the site of the soon to be constructed Liberty Bell Center at 6th and Market Streets in Philadelphia. This site ironically is where... Setting The Record Straight
Junious Ricardo Stanton

On July 3 the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition held their annual Black Independence Day Memorial on the site of the soon to be constructed Liberty Bell Center at 6th and Market Streets in Philadelphia. This site ironically is where George Washington held in brutal captivity nine Africans who served him without pay while he served as the first president of the United States. Since 2002 ATAC has attempted to raise awareness of the vicious legacy of slavery and have that complex narrative included in the telling of America’s history. Telling the truth will enable all people to appreciate know how this country really developed and the important role Africans played in its’ growth and development. Each year since 2002 Attorney Michael Coard and ATAC have held protests, demonstrations and memorial services to agitate, remember, commemorate and honor the nine Africans, and the horrible system of slavery most Americans would love to dispatch to the memory hole. It is the mission of the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition to not allow America to indulge in willing amnesia when it comes to its’ history of racial oppression, exploitation and animus.
In 2002 when the US Park Service announced it was going to construct a New Liberty Bell Center local historians raised the issue about George Washington holding slaves at his Philadelphia residence. Black historian and bibliophile Charles Blockson along with a few white historians put out the call and local activists responded by aggressively challenging the US government to publicly acknowledge the existence of slavery and the quarters of the nine Africans George Washington kept while he was president. Major demonstrations shut down the demolition and excavation, and a coalition of historians, activists, residents demanded the government not only admit George Washington kept slaves but include an interactive exhibit at the Center to tell their stories. Activist communicators on the two black radio stations (WHAT and WURD) and in the community press kept the struggle front and center in the media. As a result, hundreds of protestors braved 100 degree heat to shut down the project while supporting efforts to tell the truth and open opportunities in the construction trades to Africans in America.
The government relented and agreed to talk. Subsequently a steering committee was formed, Blockson and Michael Coard one of Philadelphia’s top criminal attorney’s took the lead in negotiating with the Park Service. The group adopted the name Avenging The Ancestors Coalition and began the arduous task of negotiating with the US Park Service. The media attention and community support provided ATAC with a platform and they adroitly used it to solicit support from US Congressmen Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady, former Mayor John Street and several councilpersons and state legislators. The US Parks Service was very cooperative they agreed to numerous requests and demands and demonstrated a good faith willingness to work with ATAC to see that a monument of some sort acknowledging the wide spread existence and implications of slavery and the nine Africans who served Washington were included in the new project. A nation wide search was begun for Black architects and professionals to design the memorial.
Progress on the Center is moving swiftly and ATAC members are pleased with the process. This year the memorial/educational ceremony was specifically in honor of the nine Africans. In addition to Michael Coard giving an update on the progress of the memorial, local historians, government officials and the Park Service Superintendent shared the importance of what was being done, how it benefits all Americans. Biographies of the men and women held by Washington were shared. Reenactors told the stories of Austin, Christopher Sheels, Giles, Hercules, Joe, Moll, Oney (Ona) Judge, Paris and Richmond. Their visual and oral presentations put human faces on the names. Their experiences personalized the horrors of slavery and provided a means for the audience to empathize with their plight as captive servants.
Despite the success of ATAC and the cooperative efforts of local, state and federal governments to tell the real story at the Liberty Bell Center, the struggle to include African-America history in “mainstream” history is far from over. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown shared with the audience the Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed legislation requiring anyone providing historical tours in Philadelphia to take a test on their knowledge of slavery and the role Africans have played in the development of America. She also informed the crowd a suit has been filed in court challenging the bill. The work of ATAC and similar activists is not over by a long shot.
For more information about the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition c all (215) 552-8751 or visit their Website at ATAC: Avenging the Ancestors Coalition

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/171-setting-record-straight.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/169-amerikkka-sinking-deeper-into-fascist-quicksand.html Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:10:39 GMT AmeriKKKa Is Sinking Deeper Into Fascist Quicksand “The mainstream media is dominated by a handful of mega corporations who control what many of us hear, read, and believe. The propaganda masters are censoring and suppressing the truth from the American people. There are many reporters who know... AmeriKKKa Is Sinking Deeper Into Fascist Quicksand

“The mainstream media is dominated by a handful of mega corporations who control what many of us hear, read, and believe. The propaganda masters are censoring and suppressing the truth from the American people. There are many reporters who know the truth but dare not talk or write about it, and what some report they don't even believe themselves. Those who are courageous enough to stand up to the establishment are often ridiculed, intimidated, and blocked by editors and producers who are acting as gatekeepers to the truth. There have been calls for the arrests and even death of those who criticize the government. You know you have slipped into a fascist dictatorship when those who dissent are treated like traitors, terrorists, and enemies of the state. We are being brainwashed with all the propaganda that we are subjected to in our everyday lives in an effort to control our minds and shift us into massive groupthink. We are being told that we are spreading democracy around the world while our own freedoms are being systematically taken away.” Fake News and Propaganda: Shaping Our Reality by Dana Gabriel STOP LYING - A website exposing lies by people we trust to tell the truth.

Tim Russert’s sudden death witnessed the rallying and coalescing of the of the media prostitutes and elites to defend and praise one of their top reality shaping sycophants and disinformation gatekeepers. It was an exercise in collective self-aggrandizement and Orwellian revisionism. The media gatekeepers had to deify Russert because he was one of the top megaphones for the New World Oder. He was given ample air time and used it to promote the ruling elites’ nefarious agenda to a gullible and unsuspecting audience. For this Russert was given accolades and was richly rewarded. They called him a “nice guy”, they said he was kind and compassionate. He may have been in his personal life; but professionally he was an agent who uncritically promoted war, fascism and global imperialism.

Possibly Russert was a nice guy. Such descriptions and accolades are relative, depending upon one’s frame of reference, values and experiences. Maybe they just said it because compared to so many other’s he seemed like a decent person or because white people don’t like to say anything bad about a dead person. The media gatekeepers weld enormous power and influence and often it goes to their heads. Some don’t need a microphone or camera to pump them up or entice them to say or do something outrageous, they are already wacky. In the era of shock jocks and Jerry Springer type “reality show” incivility and whack behavior are promoted and handsomely rewarded. The media talking heads are no exception. For example, recently Michael Reagan the son of former president Ronald Reagan who makes his living as a nationally syndicated “conservative” talk show host actually called for the death of Mark Dice an activist who disagreed with or dissented against the party line of the ruling elites. He called for Dice’s murder because he questioned the veracity of the government’s story about 9-11. He said, “We ought to find the people who are doing this, take them out and shoot them. Really. You take them out, they are traitors to this country, and shoot them. You have a problem with that? Deal with it. You shoot them. You call them traitors, that's what they are, and you shoot them dead. I'll pay for the bullets. How about you take Mark Dice out and put him in the middle of a firing range. Tie him to a post, don't blindfold him, let it rip and have some fun with Mark Dice,” Reagan then had the video of this rant pulled from You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdJO-kUINMs .

Joseph Goebbels , Hitler’s cunning Minister of Propaganda would have been tickled pink. Reagan isn’t the only NeoCon who has uttered vitriolic verbiage at a guest or caller. Bill O’Reilly the king NeoCon shill at Fox is noted for his abuse of guests who disagree with him, he tries to intimidate anyone who doesn’t toe the fascist warmongering line on his program. But this is nothing new. AmeriKKKa has always been intolerant and hard on those who dissented against their policies of group think and wickedness. Whites ran Ida B Wells out of Memphis for daring to run an anti-lynching newspaper campaign when lynching was sport and a community past time for whites. Southern Democrats hauled Paul Robeson and Langston Hughes before the House Un-American Activities Committee because they disapproved of their essays, poetry, singing, acting and political activities. Now they are trying to browbeat Michelle Obama because of her comments about AmeriKKKa. The notions about freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly are a bunch of bs!

AmeriKKKa is sinking deeper into moral quicksand as the mind control apparatus defines and shapes the psyches of the masses who uncritically consume ever more pervasive media. The mass media shapes our reality and values. The programmers are masters of psychological manipulation. None of us are immune to the devastating impact of the ruling elites’ ongoing campaign of psychological warfare and menticide directed against us. “It is through propaganda that our minds are being shaped and molded. A mass conditioning is taking place through the media, television shows, commercials, and video games. It is being used as a tool to control, program, and manipulate our minds through the power of suggestion and repetition. Our values are constantly being shaped and re-shaped, and at times our subconscious minds are unable to distinguish between fact and fiction. Ideas and premises are stored in our memory banks, and when they do become reality, we will have already accepted or at least warmed up to such scenarios. Television, radio and print media dictate to us what is important, what is in fashion, what are the latest trends, what to eat, read, and watch. To many, what they see on TV becomes their reality. There is definitely a correlation between the dumbing down of the population, the moral meltdown, and the amount of television being watched. One need not look any further than reality TV, where we are being desensitized to endless degrading acts on shows like Big Brother. These shows are inundated with sexual content, vulgarity, and humiliating, conniving, and backstabbing acts. Today’s television is destroying our very moral fiber and what is left of our values. When we are subjected to the true reality TV like the Iraqi prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, where is the outrage? We have become a decadent society and are on the decline, being made to accept things like torture. Many television shows, such as 24, openly advocate torture and it seems as if art is imitating reality. America is the new Rome, and we aren’t that far away from so-called terrorist and other enemies of the state being abused and even killed for our viewing pleasure.” Fake News and Propaganda: Shaping Our Reality by Dana Gabriel

Unlike a totalitarian government where the dictators’ minions control the media, AmeriKKKa is a fascist oligarchy where the corporate elites own and control the media and the corporate directors and their flunkies dictate the content tone and tenor of the programming. AmeriKKKa is a fascist state and is becoming more repressive daily. The ruling elites have mastered the technique of making people think we live in a “democracy”, that we have some say over our lives when in fact every day they are scheming and conspiring to take away more and more of our “liberties”. We are kept distracted and the distractions are so pervasive we don’t realize what is going on. Even when some of us do wake up we tend to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the system oppressing us and awed by the apathy of our peers.

“What are its mechanisms of control? The use of telecommunications technologies for surveillance is obvious. So are willful alteration of computer data for public reportage, manipulation of television news for opinion-shaping, and use of microwave-emitting weapons for crowd control. Less obvious are what could be called ‘inverted mechanization’ whereby citizens blindly accept the march of technological development as an expression of a very inexact, some would say erroneous, concept of ‘progress.’ One mechanism propagating such blindness is the U.S. government’s invisible role as regulatory handmaiden to industry, offering little-to-no means for citizen determination of what technologies are disseminated; instead we get whatever GMOs and nuclear plants corporations dish out. A glaring example is the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that, seeking to not repeat the ‘errors’ of the nuclear industry, offers zero public input as to health or environmental impacts of its antennae, towers, and satellites – the result being that the public has not a clue about the very real biological effects of electromagnetic radiation. Inverted mechanization is thrust forward as well by unequal access to resources: corporations lavishly crafting public opinion and mounting limitless legal defenses versus citizen groups who may be dying from exposure to a dangerous technology but whose funds trickle in from bake sales.” Techno-Fascism Every Move You Make By CHELLIS GLENDENNING Chellis Glendinning: Every Move You Make

We live in challenging times. The CREATOR and ancestors are urging us on to rise to the occasion, shake off the lethargy and cowardice, tap into our innate genius and potential, reconnect with our African mind and SPIRIT, actualize our greatness, redeem and transform ourselves and restore Ma’at to planet earth. Now is the time. The word is depending upon us.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/169-amerikkka-sinking-deeper-into-fascist-quicksand.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/167-tim-russerts-death-gives-us-media-some-breathing-room.html Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:03:50 GMT Tim Russert’s Death Gives US Media Breathing Room “The notion that Russert asked the “tough questions” of those he interviewed, advanced by a host of former colleagues on a tribute broadcast this Sunday in place of “Meet the Press,” is absurd. During the run-up to the war, Russert, along with... Tim Russert’s Death Gives US Media Breathing Room

“The notion that Russert asked the “tough questions” of those he interviewed, advanced by a host of former colleagues on a tribute broadcast this Sunday in place of “Meet the Press,” is absurd. During the run-up to the war, Russert, along with the rest of the media, provided a platform for Vice President Dick Cheney and others to present their lying claims about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction without seriously calling any of them into question. On March 16, 2003, only days before the US-led invasion of Iraq, Russert virtually handed his program over to Cheney, providing the latter with a propaganda opportunity in front of a large national audience, much of it skeptical about the administration’s claims. Russert’s particular role here was to politely raise certain doubts and allow Cheney to allay them.” Tim Russert and the decay of the American media

The sudden transition of corporate shill Tim Russert of NBC has given the US mind control apparatus some much needed breathing room. The corporate media has come under fire in recent months for its handling of the presidential primaries, the perpetual pass they give the Bu$h administration and the decline of open minded analysis and hard hitting investigative reporting. The media is supposed to have a liberal bias but in truth it is fascist and right wing in nature. Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s recent book took the corporate media to task for being sock puppets for George W Bu$h’s preemptive invasion of Iraq. McClellan’s book put the big time media talking heads in an extremely awkward position. There were no WMDs, Saddam Hussein was not involved in 9-11 and the invasion and occupation has not been the “cakewalk” as the Bu$h-Cheney administration and the corporate media repeatedly told us it would be. Most AmeriKKKans have by now deduced we were snookered by the Bu$hites and the mainstream media. Folks are taking their revenge out on the corporate media; both newspaper readership, network and cable news viewing has declined precipitously over the years. More people now get their news from the Internet ,short wave radio and the foreign press now than ever before. Disingenuous sycophants and shills like Tim Russert were the catalyst for these changes.

Russert died suddenly last Friday of a heart attack while at work in the NBC Washington Bureau office. His death provides a respite from the scrutiny and scorn McClellan’s book and recent events have refocused on the US media. The news and cable channels took a hit for the contrived controversies they created during the recent presidential primaries. McClellan’s book provided additional fuel for the fire. The media talking heads were all back peddling denouncing McClellan as a crass opportunist and sell out who betrayed his former long time friend and associate George W Bu$h rather than owning up to their role in selling an illegal war.

But most AmeriKKKan’s knew the Bu$h administration conducted a prolonged propaganda campaign to dupe us into going along with his plans for imperialist wars beginning with the US invasion of Haiti, Afghanistan and then Iraq. But they had visions of cheap oil dancing in their head’s and did nothing to dissuade the invasion. Some of us pointed out the corporate media has given Bu$h a free pass on every major issue since he announced his candidacy for the presidency in 2000 but it fell on deaf ears. It was the corporate media who refused to grill Bu$h on his AWOL status during the Vietnam war, his inexperience on foreign affairs, his shady business history, the economy or the inconsistencies about the official government accounts of 9-11 or the obvious white wash and cover up of the 9-11 Commission! Now all that is obvious to all but the totally comatose and braindead.

Tim Russert was a flunky, a functionary of the corporate elites doing the bidding of his fascist masters. The ruling elites use the Sunday morning “public affairs programs” like Meet The Press to promote their fascist agenda and Russert was a willing shill albeit one who occasionally exposed his guest’s inconsistencies and contradictions. But Russert was no threat to the status quo whatsoever. If he were, he would never have been given the position at NBC on Meet The Press nor the wide latitude and free hand he was at MSNBC and CNBC. Russert was the quintessential company man and he was well paid for it.

But at his death, Russert’s contemporaries in the mainstream media went out their way to portray him as a sainted news hound. On MSNBC they were touting his devotion to Catholicism, how he contemplated going into the priesthood. On PBS he was canonized. It was sickening to see the talking heads sitting on stage making up history to make Russert a hero. In essence they were using Russert’s death to take the pressure off of themselves. By heaping praise on him they were using him to vicariously absolve themselves of their crimes of warmongering and deceit. His death gave them an opportune break from having to rationalize being cheerleaders for Bu$h’s fascist agenda that time has shown to be one of the colossal, costly and bone headed misadventures of this nation’s history.

While he portrayed himself as a blue collar guy from Buffalo New York, Russert was really a political insider having worked as the Chief of Staff for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s senatorial campaign as well as press secretary for Mario Cuomo’s campaign for New York governor. His experiences and political connections helped him land a job at NBC. From there he parlayed his connections, skills and willingness to shill for the power elites to become host of NBC’s Meet The Press. Make no mistake Russert was no blue collar working class radical. He was one of the good ol’ boys as far as toeing the line for the corporate oligarchy. “Russert became a household name during the period of the severe decline of the American media, when ignorance, superficiality and cynicism became the hallmarks of all that passed for news and analysis. It is worth noting that in its original format ‘Meet the Press’ had a single guest and a panel of questioners. It went through various permutations, until ‘Under Russert,’ as one commentator notes, ‘the show was expanded to one hour, and became less of a televised press conference and more focused on Russert, with longer interviews and Russert hosting panels of experts.’” Tim Russert and the decay of the American media By David North and David Walsh 16 June 2008 Tim Russert and the decay of the American media

In the Orwellian New World Order a shill and propagandist like Russert is painted by his colleagues as a tough minded interviewer and reporter. “CBS News ‘Early Show’ Co-Anchor Harry Smith: ‘Man did Tim Russert love politics. He ate it, lived it and breathed it. His knowledge of it was organic, internal and genetic. It showed in his every broadcast, in his every debate appearance. He was not afraid, nor was he intimidated. And because he was so good at what he did, we were the beneficiaries. He was in that chair for us, and we were damned lucky he was.’” Reactions To Tim Russert's Passing , Journalists, Politicians From Both Sides Of The Aisle Praise NBC Journalist - CBS News

The media is using Russert’s demise to take the pressure off of themselves, restore order and regain the initiative in the ongoing psychological war they are waging against the AmeriKKKan people. Russert himself admitted he wasn’t forceful in probing the administrations claims about the war on Terror and WMDs. Perhaps that’s why so many Washington insiders and media talking heads are singing Russert’s praises at a time when the corporate media has lost all credibility. They are cheering him on just like he cheered them and their polices that now have AmeriKKKa on the brink of fiscal collapse and moral ruin.

In fact the media’s coverage of Russert’s passing also allows the corporate media to keep the news of Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduction of thirty five articles of impeachment against George W Bu$h and the failure of the Democratic Congress to take serious action on it off the front pages or the TV news! The massive coverage of Russert’s death also allows all the news media to ignore the US Senate’s recently released report documenting Bu$h and Cheney lied about the threat of Saddam Hussein and Weapons of Mass Destruction, thus validating McClellan’s charges and Kucinich’s articles of impeachment . We certainly can’t have that, now so we see how the game is played; even in death Tim Russert is still performing useful service for his fascist masters.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/167-tim-russerts-death-gives-us-media-some-breathing-room.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/160-thank-you-mrs-rosalie-pazant.html Tue, 27 May 2008 19:57:34 GMT Thank You Mrs. Rosalie Pazant This past weekend I traveled with the Cheyney University National Alumni Association to the annual Gullah Festival in Beaufort South Carolina. This was my first trip to South Carolina. I had heard about the Gullah People years ago and the festival. Last Fall one of... Thank You Mrs. Rosalie Pazant

This past weekend I traveled with the Cheyney University National Alumni Association to the annual Gullah Festival in Beaufort South Carolina. This was my first trip to South Carolina. I had heard about the Gullah People years ago and the festival. Last Fall one of my fraternity brothers mentioned he was thinking about sponsoring a tour to the Gullah festival. To make a long story short, I didn’t hear anything more from him and when my alumni association announced it was sponsoring a tour I jumped on the chance.
The Gullah people are the direct descendants of West Africans who were kidnapped, captured and stolen from their native soil and brought to this hemisphere to work the cotton, sugarcane and rice plantations, clear the land, till the soil, to make it bloom and profitable for whites. The most interesting aspect about the Gullah people is because of their location and isolation on the islands off the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, their extremely limited contact with Europeans, they retained much of the culture, folkways and traditions of their immediate African ancestors. You probably have heard the term Geechee. That was the name given to Gullah people, which when I was growing up was an extremely demeaning term. To call someone a Geechee was an insult, on the order of calling you black before black became positive, or calling you trifling or a nigger.
Geechees are the Gullah people who spoke a blended language comprised of African and European words but with a distinctly African syntax and flow. While the Gullah people used European words, the sounds, phrasing and order were entirely different from the way Europeans, their imitators and surrogates sounded. As with all things African in this country, Gullah culture and language was viewed as “less than” backward and inferior by whites. It was also denigrated, derided and made fun of by black people who had no idea what Gullah culture was. To their credit however, the Gullah people steadfastly refused to acquiesce to white notions of what proper language was or what it meant to be human. The Gullah people are fiercely proud of their heritage and background. Over the centuries, even though they too were enslaved they developed a different approach to bondage, they were more self-sufficient and they were the first to be liberated when the Union troops invaded the area. It was in South Carolina where General Sherman, in attempting to deal with the “contraband” which is what they called our ancestors took it upon himself to order the Gullah people be given up to forty acres of land vacated by the whites who had fled the area. (This is where the term “forty acres and a mule” originated.) The Gullah people of South Carolina were the first large group of Africans to be land owners and to be given the opportunity to purchase land for themselves.
During the brief period following the US Civil War called Reconstruction, Africans in South Carolina as well as other parts of the South played a monumental role in shaping the reorganization of America with regard to how it treated all its citizens. Alas the democratic idealism and zeal of Reconstruction was short lived. The ruling elites in both the North and South reverted to their oppressive ways. Ironically they devised even more pernicious forms of peonage. But folks on the islands, because they were still isolated from whites and close knit, experienced more autonomy and self reliance then their mainland brethren. Because of this, the Gullah people tend to have more pride in who they are, their past and their potential albeit still living in a virulently racist country. It wasn’t until they ventured off the islands or as more and more whites infiltrated the coastal regions that the Gullah people experienced overt contacts with racism and a blatant denigration of their culture. In recent decades as more and more whites came to the coastal islands, as usual they brought their psychosis and greed with them. Over the years many Geechee families have lost their lands due to a myriad of reason and whites have eagerly gobbled up thousands of acres.
In the ‘80's a few descendants of the Geechees decided to do something to celebrate themselves, venerate who they were and honor their unique heritage. Mrs Rosalie Pazant who worked at Savannah State College at the time was retiring soon but she wanted to get involved in something positive to remain active. Some friends encouraged her to rekindle the spirit of a local tradition called “Decoration Day” but with an emphasis on education and preservation. So she and several others set out to plan what has evolved into what has become the Gullah Festival. The festival is a unabashed celebration of Gullah history, its’ African roots, its’ unique culture and legacy. This year the festival was held from Friday May 23 through Sunday May 25. The 2008 festival featured plays, panel discussions, artistic creativity, and assorted edutainment. But more importantly the Gullah Festival serves as a homecoming celebration ,it is also an initiation and baptism into Gullah culture. 2008 was the twenty-second year of the festival. The festival is held on the newly renovated waterfront area of the Beaufort River in downtown Beaufort. This is prime land. Naturally there are elements in Beaufort that don’t want a festival that unashamedly celebrates being African held at that location even though the festival brings in major tourist revenue for the hotels and restaurants in the region.
Mrs. Pazant and her supporters remain steadfast and undeterred. They plan to keep having the festival far into the future. If you want to experience what it genuinely means to be proud to be an African on a daily basis, attend the Beaufort Gullah Festival. In November the historic Penn Center in St Helena Island, across the bridge from Beaufort, also sponsors a Heritage Festival. This celebration is another opportunity to discover the richness and revitalizing power of the Gullah people. It is an opportunity to see first hand the Geechee people’s uncompromising pride in their African heritage. I was just as energized attending the Gullah Festival this weekend as I was in 2000 when I went to Kemet and saw for myself the wonders created by our ancient African ancestors. For facilitating this experience for me, I thank the Cheyney National Alumni Association but I especially appreciate Mrs. Rosalie Pazant who is now 91 years old. Mrs Pazant is still the president of the festival. I thank Mrs Pazant, her daughters who support her and their board for holding fast to the vision despite the myriad obstacles they’ve faced over the years. Thank you Mrs. Rosalie Pazant!

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/160-thank-you-mrs-rosalie-pazant.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/155-remembering-malcolm-x.html Mon, 19 May 2008 04:13:36 GMT From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Remembering Malcolm X

“You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. ” Malcolm X

It is right and proper to pause and remember the life, legacy and works of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz also known as Malcolm X on his natal day. His dedication and sacrifice for the upliftment and liberation of our people are exemplary. Malcolm Little aka “Red” aka Malcolm X aka El Hajj Malik El Shabazz is a shining example of transformation, personal redemption, true manhood, integrity and courage in an age of wholesale emasculation, cowardice, mindless treacherous self-negation. Many of us are familiar with his story, how he was born into a family who were supporters of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey. His father Earl Little was a fiery and courageous preacher who was an organizer for the UNIA. His father was killed under mysterious circumstances which left a gaping hole in the family structure. Malcolm’s mother who was suddenly forced to raise her family without the support of her murdered husband suffered a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized. The family was scattered, forced to live in foster homes and with relatives. Young Malcolm was naturally bright but his intellect was not nurtured in the white schools he attended in Michigan. Like many black boys, then and now, his white teachers discouraged him and deliberately attempted to crush his spirit and frustrate his dreams of becoming a lawyer.
Eventually Malcolm left the Mid-West and went to stay with a half sister in the Boston area where he fell into the thug life which landed him in jail. While incarcerated, Malcolm was introduced to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm was accepted into the organization and began training in its doctrines and philosophy. His mental agility and love of earning helped him grow and demonstrate his natural leadership skills which were soon recognized within the NOI . Malcolm went on to become one of the NOI’s top organizers and recruiters and eventually became the national spokesman for Mr Muhammad and the Nation of Islam. As subsequent rift with the Nation lead to his suspension and eventual departure from the NOI. Nevertheless, Malcolm used that situation to expand his horizons and offer a broader message of liberation, political engagement and global awareness. Once out from under the constraints of the Nation of Islam and their parochial message, Malcolm attempted to link up with world leaders in an effort to bring the United States before the World Court for its crimes against Africans in America and its imperialist and genocidal policies around the world. His activities caused the US government much concern and so he was “neutralized” to use their language in a futile effort to halt the rise of African consciousness and liberation.
Malcolm X was the catalyst for a much more militant and global response to European colonialism and AmeriKKKan oppression. His speeches and his fearlessness were a beacon showing the way to manhood to a new generation of Blacks. Hence the plutocrats exploited ideological differences between Malcolm and the NOI and used it as a cover for his assassination. They killed Malcolm but not the movement he ignited. Malcolm was the direct progenitor of the Black Power, Black Arts, Black Consciousness and Pan-African movements still alive today. Despite his assassination and the vicious counter insurgency activities of the US government like COINTELPRO, Operation CHAOS and the militarization of local police and the corporate media,these movements still percolate within our consciousness. Malcolm’s words are just as relevant and powerful today as they were in the mid ‘60's; mainly because our enemies are just as psychopathic and lethal , some might say even more so than they were then.
Regarding US imperialism and oppression which is just as rampant today in Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and threatening to erupt in Iran, Syria and Lebanon as it was in Southeast Asia in the ‘60's Malcolm said, “The same rebellion, the same impatience, the same anger that exists in the hearts of the dark people in Africa and Asia is existing in the hearts and minds of 20 million black people in this country who have been just as thoroughly colonized as the people in Africa and Asia.” Malcolm put our struggle in global context and this unnerved the ruling oligarchy. We have to familiarize ourselves with his message today because it; just like Martin Luther King’s later speeches makes the link between domestic violence and oppression here and the dastardly deeds the US government is doing overseas on behalf of their corporate masters. The system has neither repented nor reformed in the thirty three years since Malcolm’s murder. It has gotten worse.
Speaking of the system, just as Malcolm astutely revealed the weaknesses of the Civil Rights movement versus a genuine human rights struggle; I’m sure if he were alive today he would point out the blatant contradictions of Barack Obama’s candidacy. Malcolm was an uncompromising champion of truth and freedom. He knew the US system was throughly corrupt which is why he talked about revolution. In his “The Ballot or The Bullet” speech in Detroit he outlined the options, true reform or revolution. Given the stranglehold the corporate elites have on the government today, humane reform appears highly unlikely.
What are our options? Do we have any viable choices? Our options appear to be limited to: continuing the insanity, the delusion of inclusion or going into serious survival mode based upon race first, ethnocentric organization, mobilization and actualization of our innate genius, resources and energies. Once we do this we can begin providing for our own protection, security, food, commerce and necessities. This was the same message of Booker T Washington, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Noble Drew Ali, Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X. It is fitting on his natal day we revisit Malcolm’s message and rededicate ourselves to bringing it into fruition.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/155-remembering-malcolm-x.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/147-deja-vu-all-over-again.html Wed, 07 May 2008 03:37:32 GMT Deja Vu All Over Again?

“Iran has switched from dollar to euro and yen in oil trading, says international affairs director of the National Iranian Oil Company. Hojjatollah Ghanimifard in an interview with Fars news agency said since last year Iran's oil transactions have been conducted in euro and yen, and dollar has been completely replaced by these two major currencies. ‘Iran has reached agreements with all its crude oil buyers to pay in foreign currencies other than the US dollar,’ he added. Ghanimifard also noted that Iran's crude oil transactions in Europe are conducted in euro, while both euro and yen are used for its oil sales in Asia.” Iran using euro, yen in oil deals
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:33:23 http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id...tionid=3510213

The US corporate media serves as a megaphone for the Bu$h administrations continuous saber rattling and threats against Iran, charging that country is a nuclear threat to the region, the world. The Bu$h administration, and the Zionists are saying Iranian “special elements” are the ones supplying the Iraqi anti-AmeriKKKan occupation with moral support, weaponry and training. Of course just like the run up to the invasion of Iraq, there is not one iota of real proof any of these claims are true. They are repeated incessantly by the corporate media, key Bu$h administration officials and the Zionist lobby. As the master of the malapropism Yogi Berra once said, “this looks like deja vu all over again.”
It sure does, in more ways than one. Remember the lies and the deluge of anti-Iraq propaganda we were subjected to prior to the US invasion of Iraq? Remember when Colin Powell, the only person in the Bu$h administration who had one scintilla of credibility destroyed it all by going to the United Nations and putting on a dog and pony show to demonstrate to the world body Iraq had stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons? Remember how none of that turned out to be true? Remember Donald Rumsfeld saying at a press conference the US intelligence and military knew exactly where Saddam Hussein was keeping his store of WMD, then when they turned out not to be there he claimed he never said it? If you are not familiar with Rumsfeld’s lies about WMD watch yourself at http://youtube.com/watch?v=EYI7JXGqd0o&feature=related.

In 2000 Saddam Hussein instituted a change in policy and began exchanging Iraqi oil not for US dollars but with European Union Euros. Following WWII the US dollar was the world medium of exchange even during recessions and slumps. At first Hussein’s move didn’t make much of a splash because the US dollar was valued higher than the Euro. But by 2003 when Bu$h fabricated his lies about WMD, the US dollar was in decline and the Euro was on the rise, threatening US dollar preeminence. Hussein’s move posed a major dilemma for the keepers of the dollar. As his move benefitted Iraq’s economy (the Euro was beginning to overtake the dollar in value) and other OPEC members started to think about doing the same thing, Uncle Sam said, “oh, hell no!” Since the US was pummeling Iraq via sanctions and thirteen years of bombing they couldn’t change course so they escalated the assault into a full scale invasion. They deposed Hussein to teach the rest of the world a lesson.
“It is now obvious the invasion of Iraq had less to do with any threat from Saddam’s long-gone WMD program and certainly less to do to do with fighting International terrorism than it has to do with gaining strategic control over Iraq’s hydrocarbon reserves and in doing so maintain the U.S. dollar as the monopoly currency for the critical international oil market. Throughout 2004 information provided by former administration insiders revealed the Bush/Cheney administration entered into office with the intention of toppling Saddam Hussein. Candidly stated, ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ was a war designed to install a pro-U.S. government in Iraq, establish multiple U.S military bases before the onset of global Peak Oil, and to reconvert Iraq back to petrodollars while hoping to thwart further OPEC momentum towards the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency (i.e. “petroeuro”). However, subsequent geopolitical events have exposed neoconservative strategy as fundamentally flawed, with Iran moving towards a petroeuro system for international oil trades, while Russia evaluates this option with the European Union.” Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse by William Clark http://www.energybulletin.net/7707.html
Iran recently announced the opening of its oil exchange and they are only selling their oil in exchange for Euros and Japanese Yen! This of course does not sit well with Wall Street and the big oil consortium. Since the Bu$h administration is their lackey, they are now poised to try to intimidate and coerce Iran back into the US dollar fold. Keep in mind neither Saddam Hussein nor the Iranian leaders want war with the US. They want to be sovereign nations, left alone to do what is best for them and their people.
The US government is like the bullies we may have dealt with in junior high school who tried to take your lunch money. If you gave in, they took your money any and every time they felt like it. If you fought maybe you lost, but often if you fought at least you got respect and quite often they left you alone. If you won, their reputation as a tough guy and bully was obliterated and you, the under dog, became a hero.
Saddam Hussein stood up to the bullies. He refused to back down. He had no air force or missile defense to counter the US vicious “Shock and Awe” bombardment of Baghdad that killed thousands of innocent men women and children. Nevertheless he stood his ground refusing to flee or abandon his people. Now the bully is bogged down in a convoluted and winless occupation in Mesopotamia. Keep in mind this is the ancient land of “an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth” philosophy. The NeoCons planned to make the Iraq occupation, colonization, permanent (the US has been in the Philippines for over a hundred years, Japan and German for over sixty years) but now they have Iran in their cross-hairs. Iran like many other countries, is looking outside the US dollar as their medium of exchange, especially since the Federal reserve is devaluing the US dollar almost weekly. So holding or trading in a devalued currency is not in Iran’s best interests. Naturally in a situation like this, there is tension. But for the US empire to survive, they cannot allow another country especially a major oil producing country to abandon the US dollar for another currency.
The saber rattling and sending the US carriers into the Persian Gulf has nothing to do with Iran’s supposed nuclear weaponry (remember what they said about Iraq), it is about their dropping the US dollar and selling their oil in Euros and Yen. The Iranians originally scheduled to open their oil exchange in 2006 but they set the time frame back. Now it is open. The US is frantic getting ready to go into panic mode. As the threats and bellicose posturing escalate, the US is faced with major decisions: attack Iran and risk a larger regional (and possibly global) war, do nothing and watch the empire collapse faster or negotiate and try to work something out.
The bully is in a precarious predicament. But Iran is not Iraq. Iran has allies and business relationships with Russia and China. Iraq had relationships with France and Germany. Which countries do you think are more likely to give the bully are rougher time? Plus, Iran is a greater threat militarily because it has powerful allies in Russia and China. “Beijing's increasingly close ties with Moscow and Tehran will thwart Washington's foreign policy goal of expanding US security footholds in the Middle East, Central Asia and Asia. However, the primacy of economic stability will most likely prevent a proxy-style military confrontation, in Iran or North Korea, between China and the US. Initially, Moscow supported Washington's 'war on terrorism'. However, the US invasion of Iraq changed this support into resistance, and later into active efforts to counterbalance the US. In the past two years both Washington and Moscow have sought to strengthen their influence in Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... More significantly, Moscow is working diligently to strengthen its ties with Iran, Syria and China - countries that Washington considers to be adversaries,’ Gundzik wrote in March 2005. Additionally, since the ‘beginning of the war in Iraq,’ he said, ‘Beijing has worked feverishly ... in an apparent effort to prevent US military action against the remaining 'axis of evil' members, Iran and North Korea. In addition to recent massive energy deals with Teheran, which place Iran in China's security web, both Beijing and Moscow have accelerated the transfer of missile technology to Teheran, while selling the Islamic republic increasingly sophisticated military equipment. ‘Armed with a vast array of anti-ship and long-range missiles, Iran can target US troop positions throughout the Middle East and strike US Navy ships. Iran can also use its weapons to blockade the Straits of Hormuz through which one-third of the world's traded oil is shipped. With the help of Beijing and Moscow, Teheran is becoming an increasingly unappealing military target for the US.’” China-Iran-Russia axis http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php...an-Russia_axis
Can the US, NATO and Israel afford to get into a real war with Russia, China, Iran and a host of stateless adversaries? Iran is not Iraq! The US is broke. What if Japan, China or the international bankers decide to stop lending the US money to operate every day? This is the one thing that will make the psychopaths pause before they do something insane. Is this deja vu all over again or will sanity be the order of the day?

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/147-deja-vu-all-over-again.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/140-flipping-script.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:33:04 GMT From The Ramparts Junious Ricardo Stanton Flipping The Script “If we look at the history of the European imperialists we see their psychology. As I have said on numerous occasions, the psychology of the rulers of this world, the psychology of eurocentrically... From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Flipping The Script

“If we look at the history of the European imperialists we see their psychology. As I have said on numerous occasions, the psychology of the rulers of this world, the psychology of eurocentrically oriented people is not in the psychology books but in the history books; and one merely needs to read their history to get at their psychology. And that history of course is not written be me, not written by Black scholars,. It is not written by us ‘prejudiced nationalists’. It is written of course by the imperialists themselves, and therefore is a form of self-indictment, and it is there for all to see. It is an admission in and of itself of the insane nature of the people who are in the control of the world today.” Amos N Wilson The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness Eurocentric History, Psychiatry and the Politics of White Supremacy page 72.

El Hajj Malik El Shabaaz (Malcolm X) warned us many years ago about the cunning deviousness of the Europeans who in order to maintain their oppressive death grip on our lives will make those of us who languish under the weight of their oppression the criminals, and portray themselves as the righteous victims. The flap about Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the Obama candidacy is a classic example of this ploy. In order to castrate Obama who the ruling oligarchy isn’t completely certain will mindlessly toe their imperialist New World Order line, they employed the media to tar and feather Obama vicariously by linking him to Jeremiah Wright a “pro Black, Afrocentric” clergyman. They wanted to play the race card, keep the controversy brewing and they knew Wright would jump at a chance to “vindicate” himself on a supposedly objective forum program. They shrewdly set him up to be interviewed by Bill Moyers. The program was aired Friday evening. Moyers’ job was to get Wright to say something provocative so they could use it to hang him and by extension Obama. But Moyers was too fair and too intellectual. He did try to get Wright by bringing up the term “liberation theology”. Wright explained its origin in its’ Latin American context and he also explained the term “black liberation theology” as it applied to the US. But the jackals in the media let that slide opting for something more controversial and more graphic. CNN pretending they wanted to give him a fair and complete look aired Wright’s NAACP speech in Detroit on Sunday in its entirety. But he didn’t provide much ammunition on that occasion. It wasn’t until he went to the National Press Club and his speech was aired live on C-Span Monday and subsequently played over and over during the day that the ambush was complete. They caught Wright in full stride in a venue where he had black support (call and response) as he reacted to questions posed by an adversarial white press. Wright probably thought this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate he was not a punk and was not going to back down from his detractors. He couched is remarks as a defense of the Black Church not himself. But his antics were aired for all to see and the media as they always do, flipped the script. They cunningly made Wright the villain and to add insult to injury played additional sound bytes that made him look like a buffoon. Mission accomplished!

This put the onus on Obama. Obama was forced to react and distance himself from Wright lest the media spin masters paint him as an anti-AmeriKKKan kook too. Meanwhile the Clintons laid in the cut and watched as the media chipped further away at Obama’s non-threatening Negro image. Now Obama is forced to really cheese, shuffle and buck dance to keep his candidacy alive. This was all preplanned and orchestrated. This is just the tip of the iceberg. If he manages to survive this, they will do it again. Only next time they will really put Obama on the defensive about his stance concerning Israel. That will be the death blow, unless he totally compromises himself, bows down, prostrates and prostitutes himself to the Zionist cabal. The questions now are: how badly does Obama want this, what is he willing to do to stay in the race, how low will he debase himself, how much more will he sell of his soul to accomplish his goals?

This is not about Jeremiah Wright, it is about Barack Obama. Rev. Jeremiah Wright is no serious threat to the Empire. His so called Afrocentric theology is suspect because Trinity United Church of Christ is in an all white denomination! Plus we must remember, historically the ancient Hebrews may have had some melanin but they were a mixed brood whose phenotype and culture had been infected by the Caucasoid invaders into Mesopotamia (Chaldea) thousands of years before “Abram” allegedly left there to wander into Africa. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were nomads, not the sedentary, highly cultured people of Africa (Kmt, Cush, Nubia, Ethiopia or Canaan). If Wright is so Afrocentric why aren’t his liturgy and rituals like the Coptic Church or a new wave African style of ceremony? If Wright is preaching a liberation theology, it is certainly not like the theology of Nobel Drew Ali, Elijah Muhammad or Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman (Rev. Albert Cleage) all of whom borrowed heavily from Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Wright was not preaching Black self-sufficiency, acquiring land, skills and building a coherent common interdependent social network like they did. Nor does he suggest Europeans as a whole are devils or mutants. Nevertheless Wright is being demonized and vilified in the corporate media who are doing the dirty work of their masters who happen to be the most bloodthirsty warmongers on the planet.

Don’t go for the okey-doke. This is not about Jeremiah Wright. It is a vicious media psy-op on Barack Obama and Black people. Remember during slavery whites said we had a disease they called Dysaethesia Aethiopia because the field folks actively resisted and refused to work ourselves to death like beasts of burden for the white man. The ruling elites know Black folks opposed the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. They know most older Black folks don’t trust the government and rightly so. They know a lot of us suspect 9-11 was an inside job or at the very least the US government allowed it to happen. They must castrate us and turn us into gutless, go along Negroes for their New World Order agenda. Just like Obama must do if he is to become the Democratic nominee. They don’t have that problem with Hillary Rodham Clinton or John McCain. Both of them are totally down with the NWO program. To accomplish our castration and surrender, they are doing what they’ve always done, making the victim (us) criminals and the criminals (themselves) the victim.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/140-flipping-script.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/134-sign-up-living-black.html Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:05:48 GMT Sign Up For Living In Black Many of you are familiar with You Tube, MySpace, FaceBook and MyBook,how they have caught on and hooked the nation on the possibilities and potentialities of networking, information sharing and communication building. When you visit these sites you are struck by... Sign Up For Living In Black


Many of you are familiar with You Tube, MySpace, FaceBook and MyBook,how they have caught on and hooked the nation on the possibilities and potentialities of networking, information sharing and communication building. When you visit these sites you are struck by the reality the content reflects the consciousness of the senders and the viewers who participate. There is content for almost every level of social and political thought and the whole spectrum of human interest. Except that is, for seriously African centered consciousness. Well that void has just been filled. Keidi Obi Awadu the brilliant founder of LIB Radio www.LIBradio.com has created a unique networking/communications entity on the Web called Living In Black. True to his consciousness he envisions Living In Black to be the primary vehicle for conscious African people to come together to share our creativity, brilliance, ideas and actionable energies to improve our lives and the world. This is a tall order but it is a medium we need for a host of reasons. Knowing Keidi as I do Living In Black will continue to evolve and be cutting edge reflecting Keidi’s consciousness and love for Black people. It already it has capabilities for videos, photos, music and Webcasting. Folks are joining and using it get in touch and network.
Log onto to http://livinginblack.ning.com and check it out. Invite like minded friends to join, be aggressive helping Living In Black expand around the globe. You will see some familiar folks here, people like Dalani Aamon the founder of Harambee radio and television network and Kwasi Akyeampong the founder of TheBlacklist List serve and our own Brother Jacuma. At Living in Black you can start and maintain your own Blog, express your creativity and share your thoughts, opinions and experiences. You will be among evolving brothers and sistahs, men and women of action searching for truth, working towards self and group actualization. So come on board. The potential is limited only by our imagination and volition. Long term we can engage in commerce, social networking and build a global communications network. On Living In Black we can provide our own programming, our own news, images and videos. Living In Black is a medium for the exchange ideas and information as well as enjoying each others company. The official launch was April st. It’s up and running now. When you join you will see me there. I’m inviting you to join and help it grow. I hope to see you soon on Living In Black.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/134-sign-up-living-black.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/131-bankruptcies-rise.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:13:53 GMT Bankruptcies Are On The Rise “In the past, many Chapter 13 debtors have been able to keep their homes through the use of repayment plans that stopped foreclosures or repossessions. However, the 2005 bankruptcy law changes imposed so many additional requirements and restrictions that Chapter 13... Bankruptcies Are On The Rise

“In the past, many Chapter 13 debtors have been able to keep their homes through the use of repayment plans that stopped foreclosures or repossessions. However, the 2005 bankruptcy law changes imposed so many additional requirements and restrictions that Chapter 13 no longer is a practical way for many wage earners to save their houses from foreclosure, Mullin said. Also, the extra work required by the new law has caused the typical attorney's fee to double, putting it beyond the reach of most people. ‘The passage of the bankruptcy amendments in 2005 will without a doubt lead to many more foreclosures, distressed sales of real estate, neighborhoods going into decay and families shattered,’ Mullin said. ‘We are seeing only the tip of the iceberg at this time unless some changes in the bankruptcy law are passed to allow this valuable remedy to one again be efficiently offered.” http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/04/

Despite the recent passage of a revised bankruptcy law The Bankruptcy Abuse and Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 which was virtually written for our Congress critters by the banks and credit card companies, bankruptcies are on the rise as the US economy unravels. Reflecting the tenuous financial predicament many AmeriKKKans find themselves, the law has not stopped people from filing for bankruptcy. The 2005 law was intended to discourage the rash of filings to get out from onerous debt. For a while it was working. Recent figures from the American Bankruptcy Institute reveal the number of bankruptcy filings both personal and business are skyrocketing. “An increase in March bankruptcy filings is another indication that the U.S. economy is in recession, led by states where the housing boom turned to bust. More than 90,000 bankruptcy filings were made in March, the highest since insolvency laws became more restrictive in October 2005, according to statistics compiled from court records by Jupiter ESources. Filings in March were 30% above the pace in 2007. California led the nation with a 42% increase in bankruptcy filings at an annual pace in the first quarter, according to Jupiter Esources. Rising bankruptcies, together with mounting foreclosures and fewer jobs, are further signs the biggest housing slump in a generation is hurting consumers and businesses. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke this week for the first time acknowledged that the economy might be facing a recession and vowed to act to cushion the slowdown.” Bankruptcy filings jump 30% From Bloomberg News April 5, 2008 http://www.latimes.com/business
These figures, as alarming as they are, do not bode will for the rest of 2008 because economists and bankruptcy experts say there is a lag between six to nine months before a trend can be detected. One this is certain for 2008 and beyond, bankruptcies will continue to balloon. Things are predicted to be so bad, bankruptcy is now being touted as a growth industry! “The full impact of the nation's sliding economy is not reflected in the most-recent figures — that may take a few more months — and many lawyers believe there will be a lot of bankruptcy-related business up for grabs this year. ‘Nationally, people think that the No. 1 area of growth this year will be bankruptcy,’ said Carrie Titus, division director of Robert Half Legal, which provides legal staffing to law firms and corporate legal departments. The reason the increase is expected later this year is because the impact of bad economic developments doesn't translate immediately into a sharp hike in bankruptcy filings, said Jack Williams, scholar-in-residence for the Alexandria, Va.-based Bankruptcy Institute. He's also a bankruptcy professor at Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta. ‘That spike generally lags about six to nine months behind the economy,’ Williams said. ‘Bankruptcy is a lagging economic indicator.’ Because of this, Williams predicted that the number of filings across the country, including business and individual cases, will rise to between 1.2 million and 1.4 million by the end of 2008. Most cases are filed by individuals.” From Bankruptcies The Number 1 Growth Area for 2008 http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/04/
This is just the beginning, the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In 2008 over 2 million adjustable rate mortgages are scheduled to reset to a higher rate forcing the borrowers to come up with additional cash at a time when the US dollar is being devalued almost daily and wages are actually in decline when you take monetary inflation into account. Theses borrowers are going to be hard pressed to meet the higher interest rates. Many will be forced to default on their loans. As more and more businesses downsize, go bankrupt or merge the US unemployment rate will increase forcing people to make very painful choices. As a result, bankruptcy rates are also going to shoot up because the US economy is down. “The unemployment rate rose from 4.8 to 5.1 percent in March, and non-farm payroll employment continued to trend down (-80,000), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the past 3 months, payroll employment has declined by 232,000. In March, employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and employment services, while health care, food services, and mining added jobs.” April report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
To understand just how ominous conditions are, the US economy needs to generate 150,000 new jobs every month to keep pace with the population. Over the last three months the Us economy has lost 232,000 jobs! The unemployment figures are actually higher because the US Bureau of Labor Statistics routinely undercounts the jobless because they do not include people they call “discouraged workers”, those who have been out of work so long, they have given up looking for work.
The US economy is imploding but it need not be the end of the world. We can survive and thrive even in the midst of economic uncertainty. It will require making changes in our lifestyles being more savvy and discerning how we spend our money. If you have a job(s) be thankful. Remember the best way to make it through these difficult financial times is curb your spending, get out of debt and reorient your priorities.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/131-bankruptcies-rise.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/126-dont-expect-any-real-help-bu-h.html Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:25:10 GMT From The Ramparts Junious Ricardo Stanton Don’t Expect Any Real Help From Bu$h “April 5 (Bloomberg) -- The jump in March bankruptcy filings is another indication the U.S. economy is in recession, led by states where the housing boom turned to bust. The more... From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Don’t Expect Any Real Help From Bu$h

“April 5 (Bloomberg) -- The jump in March bankruptcy filings is another indication the U.S. economy is in recession, led by states where the housing boom turned to bust. The more than 90,000 bankruptcy filings in March were the highest since insolvency laws became more restrictive in October 2005, according to statistics compiled from court records by still Jupiter eSources LLC. At a daily rate, filings in March were 30 percent above the pace in 2007. Rising bankruptcies, together with mounting foreclosures and fewer jobs, are further signs the biggest housing slump in a generation is hurting consumers and businesses. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke this week for the first time acknowledged the economy may be facing a recession and vowed to act to cushion the slowdown.” http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...efer=worldwide

If you take a tabletop look at what’s going on in AmeriKKKa even the most comatose and delusional among us have to admit something is amiss, things are not going well economically. The latest unemployment figures, personal bankruptcy data, rising home foreclosures and loan defaults, large bank failures and skyrocketing prices are signs the US economy is imploding. Bu$h’s imperialist follies in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia are not going well. George W Bu$h in another clear indication of his detachment from reality about six weeks ago actually claimed the US economy was “robust” and “growing” and his bogus War on Terrorism was a success. Most of us recognize Bu$h and Cheney live in a parallel universe where in their minds: up is down, evil is good, failure is progress, war is peace and oppression freedom; which is why most AmeriKKKans loath them and want them brought to swift justice. I say most, because the US Congress, the most compromised assembly money can buy, continuously abdicates its responsibility to reign in an administration made up of crooks, war criminals and sociopaths who have driven this country to the precipice of wreck and ruin. Congress’ cowardice is especially egregious when you consider the 2006 mid-term elections gave them a clear mandate to end the war and bring the troops home. It is clear the US Congress has an alternative agenda from the people.
AmeriKKKa is in deep trouble politically, morally and financially. Bu$h’s resurrection and implementation of the voodoo economics of the Ronald Reagan era have bankrupted the nation. His tax cuts for the rich and connected, the rampant corruption, plutocratic favoritism and cronyism which are the hallmarks of his administration have made it plain this administration if not the government itself, are components in a major criminal enterprise. 9-11 happened on Bu$h’s watch yet not one member of the Joint Chiefs of the military, nor the heads of the FAA, the CIA and FBI were reprimanded, fired or punished. In fact they were either promoted or given medals! Bu$h even resisted forming a commission to investigate what happened on 9-11 and how. He was subsequently forced due to relentless pressure from family members of the victims who died in the plane crashes into the World Trade Centers and Pentagon to give in and initiate an investigation into what happened that fateful day. Much like previous government investigations such as the assassinations of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr, and Robert Kennedy the “official government inquiry” into 9-11 turned out to be a complete white wash. The 9-11 Commission was a sham. Their job was essentially to cover up the Bu$h and Clinton administrations’ failures to respond to the numerous, clear and direct warnings from foreign governments about the pending attacks and how the government itself facilitated what happened. Log onto http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/e...ytriedtowarnus and read about the myriad early warnings given directly to the US government about pending attacks.
Think about Bu$h’s impotent response to warning about the onrushing Hurricane Katrina from FEMA, satellite imagery that was available to him from the military and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, remember he ignored all that. This imagery and information, had Bu$h chosen to heed and use it, would have prompted a far different government response and outcome to the disaster if he were really a servant of the people. It is clear to me, Bu$h’s inaction during Katrina demonstrated at the very least criminal callousness and unconcern; and at worst, a malfeasance that should be prosecuted. It was the same unconcern Bu$h demonstrated, the same deer in the headlights look he showed when first inform about the plane crashing into the World Trade Center while he was at a Florida elementary school.
I point out these circumstances just as I pointed out Bu$h’s diminishing grasp of reality as demonstrated by his statements about the economy as a warning. If his pattern remains true to his responses to 9-11, the invasion of Iraq and Katrina, Bu$h’s response to the economic crisis will be just as beneficial and rewarding to his buddies on Wall Street as it was for his crew in the military industrial complex following 9-11 and Iraq and the crooks and fraudsters who’re making out like bandits following Hurricane Katrina. His recently enacted “stimulus package” is total a sham. The calls for reform by Henry Paulson the Secretary of the Treasury who is a former CEO of Goldman Sachs a major investment bank, whose personal fortune is estimated to be over $700 million dollars is really a scam, a con game to give the same bankers who created the problems in the first place even more power. It’s like deputizing wolves to guard the hen house!! Paulson is trying to get the onus off of Wall Street and get the taxpayers, us, to bail out banks like Goldman Sachs. His scheme calls for pushing more loans onto the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and increasing capitalization to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae entities that are backed by the US Treasury and taxpayers, which are currently in deep financial difficulty themselves so they can make more loans! This is a two-for, the banks get out from under onerous debt, plus the vampires now have an entity (FHA) that holds the liens on the loans. When it comes time to foreclose on the hapless borrowers, they can snatch the properties up for pennies on the dollar; something they can’t do now because the existing mortgages have been packaged and sold in bundles of debt all around the world. Please be advised, Paulson’s “plan” is not going to alleviate the stress, strain or trauma of folks currently facing default or foreclosure. This is a way to get the big banks off the hook, similar to the way they stiffed the taxpayers for the Savings and Loan fraud in the ‘80's. Just like the stimulus package a measly few hundred dollars from the bankrupt US treasury, isn’t going to really revive the slumping economy. It’s all a PR show.
Don’t go for the okey-doke. This is not the Twilight Zone. Up is still up and down is still down.The US economy is in big trouble. Bu$h’s imperialism and his insane fiscal policies have ensured this country’s financial demise. Keep your eyes open for more bank failures, the Fed keeps forestalling it by propping them up with more “liquidity” which is banker speak for money printed out of thin air. Keep an eye on the real value of your stocks and investments, if you have any. The Fed’s policies are trashing the US dollar. Inflation will continue to skyrocket as the Fed prints more and more money out of thin air. Even if you get a raise which you probably won’t any time soon, (be thankful if you have a job) your salary is not going to keep pace with the rising costs of living. The skyrocketing costs of living is due to the devaluation oft the US dollar which is caused by a significant increase in the money in circulation. This is what inflation really is. Couple that with stagnant wages and we’re experiencing what is called stagflation. If credit, interest rates and monetary fluctuations (bubbles and bursts) cause a slowdown in production, hiring or output, then you have a recession. If the recession is protracted, lasting over a long time, you have a depression!
This is what is going on now. Don’t expect the Bu$h administration to do anything to genuinely help you since they exacerbated it with their policies. The only ones who will get relief or rewards are Bu$h’s cronies on Wall Street. Instead of going to jail for causing this mess, they will be living large on an island somewhere. The bankers and executives left standing will make out like the bandits they are. They always have and they will again.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/126-dont-expect-any-real-help-bu-h.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/120-beware-wall-streeters-baring-solutions.html Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:13:32 GMT Beware Wall Streeters Baring Solutions “WASHINGTON - The Bush administration Monday proposed the most far-ranging overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. The plan would change how the government regulates thousands of... Beware Wall Streeters Baring Solutions

“WASHINGTON - The Bush administration Monday proposed the most far-ranging overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. The plan would change how the government regulates thousands of businesses from the nation's biggest banks and investment houses down to the local insurance agent and mortgage broker. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled the 218-page plan in a speech in Treasury's ornate Cash Room. He declared that a strong financial system was important not just for Wall Street but also for working Americans. The administration's plan was already drawing criticism from Democrats that it does not go far enough to deal with abuses in mortgage lending and securities trading that were exposed by the current credit crisis.” By MARTIN CRUTSINGER | AP Economics Writer 9:07 AM CDT, March 31, 2008

US Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson is calling for massive government reform of the financial regulatory system and the corporate media megaphones are touting it as a major initiative. On one level you could say this is a good thing, the government is acting aggressively and responsibly to stem the financial implosion. On the surface it is. However given the Bu$h administration’s abysmal track record for truth, honesty and accountability there is more to this than meets the eye. We must recognize the nexus between people like Henry Paulson a former managing partner and CEO of Goldman Sachs one of the largest and successful investment banks in the country and the present crisis facing the US economy and financial system. Paulson has a reported worth of over $700 million dollars. Goldman Sachs is an elite company and they have sent representatives to the government to serve as key economic advisers and policy makers. Prior to taking the position of Secretary of Treasury, Paulson served as the managing partner of the firm’s Chicago office, then he became the COO and eventually the CEO. While to some these credentials are quite impressive, to me they serve as a cautionary warning, a red flag that something shady and unscrupulous is going on. Keep in mind a hallmark of George W. Bu$h’s administration is no one ever gets reprimanded, punished or goes to jail even when there is clear evidence of malfeasance like in 9-11, the Iraq invasion or Hurricane Katrina. Here we go again. Even though the FBI is investigating the Subprime fiasco I doubt any big time Wall Street firms or executives will get indicted or go to jail. Maybe if Elliot Spitzer the disgraced former governor of New York and former New York Attorney general was on the case, but Bu$h’s Justice Department, no way.
Now comes Henry Paulson the consummate Wall Street insider offering a plan supposedly to rectify a gargantuan unregulated financial system as it teeters on the brink of imploding upon itself. It’s like closing the barn door after all the animals have escaped. This is supremely ironic because it was the repeal of 1930's era legislation like the Glass-Steagall Act in the ‘90's under Bill Clinton that helped Wall Street and the financial insiders put us in the mess we are all in now. The Glass Steagall Act was repealed on November 12 1999, just four months after a former Goldman Sachs honcho named Robert E. Rubin stepped down as Secretary of Treasury. Coincidence? Goldman Sachs is one of the top investment banks in the country and an important player in the global scheme. Although rarely in the news about the subprime debacle, Goldman Sachs is just as culpable for the current crisis as was Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Bank of America and the various hedge funds, derivatives and other components of the shadow banking system. This crisis is of their making, they created it and now they are assiduously working to avoid paying the piper.
“The doubts burst into the open on August 9th when central banks were forced to inject liquidity into the overnight money markets because banks were charging punitive rates to lend to each other. At first, the problems appeared more serious among European banks, especially in Germany, where low profitability among state banks led them to take risky bets in subprime markets. The pain in America was concentrated in the largest hedge funds, including those run by Wall Street's biggest name, Goldman Sachs. Increasingly, however, analysts worry about the exposure of American, Canadian and Asian banks to mortgage-backed securities and especially those funded by short-term commercial paper that is becoming increasingly hard to roll over. On August 15th shares in Countrywide Financial, a large American mortgage lender, fell 13% after a Merrill Lynch analyst abruptly changed his buy rating on the stock to a sell, warning of possible funding difficulties. Despite a large liquidity injection by the Federal Reserve on August 15th, the S&P 500 index fell 1.4%. The heavy selling spread to Asian stocks on August 16th.” Banks in trouble The game is up Aug 16th 2007 http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory
The whole system is in deep trouble including Goldman Sachs. Things are getting worse daily, they need a miracle to stave off another 1929 type crash. Thus far the Federal Reserve Bank’s strategy of pumping money and credit into the banking system and bailing out a major player like Bear Sterns is proving to be a band-aid on a metastasized cancer. So who comes to the rescue? Their boy Henry Paulson, Secretary of the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve Bank a collection of private banks who set US monetary and credit policies. The last thing a man like Paulson who is worth a reported $700 million wants is to see his own wealth and the wealth of his peers crumple to nothing. So he is coming with a “reform plan”. This plan is not designed to help us; meaning working class folks. It is designed to create the illusion something is being done. Paulson’s reforms amount to reshuffling the deck chairs and life boats on the Titanic. It is a total sham. “In response, despite its obsession with surges and bombing Iraq back to its idea of ‘normalcy,’ the White House says it now feels our pain and has decided to act. Well, at least, to let former Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson, now our Treasury Secretary, (in the tradition of former Goldman Sachs exec Robert Rubin who followed the same career path) impose yet another new pacification plan. Paulson has studied the crisis, studied it deeply, and realized the culpability of the brokers and the banks in engineering the disaster. His solution: kick the ball over to The Federal Reserve Bank. He's enlisting the Fed foxes to guard a Wall Street chicken coop at risk from a dangerous form of bird flu. (The technical term is 'greeditis’ enabled by regulatory arthritis.) He knows that most Americans--and most of the media -- think the Fed is a neutral government agency with a public interest mandate. They think it has the expertise and the power to swoop down and save us from our misery despite the fact that eights months of rate cuts and capital ‘injections’ have failed to stem the contagion of collapse. The New York Times pictures the exercise clinically in positive terms as a police raid, sort of like a SWAT team... Sorry to disabuse the newspaper of record and anyone who believes this formulation but the Fed is a private agency with no Constitutional authority run by bankers for bankers. It is a privately owned central banking system. Bankers sit on its many boards. The banks in turn get to borrow money at rates the Fed sets, and tack on interest and fees for loans. The Bank is there to do their bidding, and save them from themselves. When they run into trouble, they are often bailed out.” Danny Schechter http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-...y-the-bushpaul
I agree with Schechter. This is total BS. Most people who have reviewed the plan know it will take months if not years to accomplish; long after George W Bu$h leaves office, and it will not resolve the current crisis on bit. But the real kicker is, the essence of Paulson’s plan calls for bankers to regulate themselves!? That’s like the lions guarding sheep. When all is said and done, what’s done counts more than what’s said. Beware Wall Streeters baring solutions.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/120-beware-wall-streeters-baring-solutions.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/117-beat-goes.html Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:08:19 GMT The Beat Goes On “As hindsight is always 20/20, we should take the time to highlight what we can learn from these past tragedies. First off, we should point out that most market volatility is all our fault. In reality, people create most of the risk in the market place by inflating stock... The Beat Goes On

“As hindsight is always 20/20, we should take the time to highlight what we can learn from these past tragedies. First off, we should point out that most market volatility is all our fault. In reality, people create most of the risk in the market place by inflating stock prices beyond the value of the underlying company. When stocks are flying through the stratosphere like rockets, it is usually a sign of a bubble. That's not to say that stocks cannot legitimately enjoy a huge leap in value, but this leap should be justified by the prospects of the underlying companies, not just by a mass of investors following each other. The unreasonable belief in the possibility of getting rich quick is the primary reason people get burned by market crashes. Remember that if you put your money into investments that have a high potential for returns, you must also be willing to bear a high chance of losing it all. Another observation we should make is that regardless of our measures to correct the problems, the time between crashes has decreased. We had centuries between fiascoes, then decades, then years. We cannot say whether this foretells anything dire for the future, but the best thing you can do is keep yourself educated, informed, and well-practiced in doing research.” Crashes http://www.investopedia.com/features...s/crashes9.asp

The US economy is faltering. It is teetering on the brink of a major implosion. The US dollar has been sacrificed by the Federal Reserve Bank in order to save the big Wall Street investment banks who created the fiasco in the first place. Even the most conservative and cautious economists are predicting a protracted recession in the US. Other economists around the world who are more grounded in reality are forecasting an outright global depression that will rival the 1930's. Booms and busts are part of the US economic landscape. There were major Stock Market crashes in 1987, 1998 and 2000 and we survived all of them. Most of us weren’t even aware there was an economic downturn other then possibly a change in our employment status. I was keenly aware of the Dot.com crash because in 2000 and 2001 I was working part time for an Internet radio station and it went belly up. Despite our much vaunted disposable income in the billions (trillions within the next few years) most black people are only marginally involved in the US economy. What happens on Wall Street, in London or the global financial markets rarely impacts us directly. We’re just not in the mix like that. Sure a nationwide economic downturn impacts us, but its not like we have huge stock portfolios that are going to collapse or our generations old myriad investments will vanish overnight. We’re just not that into “investing’ or getting sucked into Wall Street Ponzi schemes.
I say this because even though there is an economic tsunami coming, just as sure as the sun will rise in the East, the US economy, the stock market and shadow banking systems are unraveling, we will be ok. We will not go under nor will we be destroyed. Most Black people have experienced hard times at one time or another so when the collapse comes, we will be in a better position psychologically to survive. Why, because even though many of us bought into the crass materialism and the foolish chase for the bling, we will be resourceful enough to make it as the coming economic crash plays itself out. We did it in 2000 when the recession came and went and AmeriKKKa experienced a “jobless recovery”. The term jobless recovery meant we didn’t get new jobs or higher pay as the recession supposedly abated. We survived the 1998 and 1987 stock market crashes. Most of us didn’t even know what was going on. We were clueless conditions on Wall Street were that bad. What is different now from then is today there are more immigrants who are willing to work for much less money which will impact an economy that is laying off more and more people. There will be more competition for fewer jobs and the competition will be more vigorous as more and more white folks get laid off. This will force us to become more resourceful and resilient as conditions worsen.
Boom and busts cycles are a part of the capitalist system. Many are deliberately caused by the big Wall Street investment banks, the Federal Reserve Bank (a privately owned cartel of private banks who set US monetary and credit policies) insider financiers and politicians. “A bubble is a type of investing phenomenon that demonstrates the frailty of some facets of human emotion. A bubble occurs when investors put so much demand on a stock that they drive the price beyond any accurate or rational reflection of its actual worth, which should be determined by the performance of the underlying company. Like the soap bubbles a child likes to blow, investing bubbles often appear as though they will rise forever, but since they are not formed from anything substantial, they eventually pop. And when they do, the money that was invested into them dissipates into the wind. A crash is a significant drop in the total value of a market, almost undoubtedly attributable to the popping of a bubble, creating a situation wherein the majority of investors are trying to flee the market at the same time and consequently incurring massive losses. Attempting to avoid more losses, investors during a crash are panic selling, hoping to unload their declining stocks onto other investors. This panic selling contributes to the declining market, which eventually crashes and affects everyone. Typically crashes in the stock market have been followed by a depression.” Crashes: What are Crashes and Bubbles? http://www.investopedia.com/features...s/crashes1.asp
Crashes and busts have been more frequent in recent years as increasing manipulation of markets has occurred as more and more suckers fall for the get rich quick schemes of the Wall Street con men. Wall Street insiders call this “pump and dump”. The brokers and Wall Street con men drive up stock prices by buying the stock themselves or promoting the stock or company to make it attractive to suckers. And when it gets to a certain high level, the con men start selling it. Next they dump the stock altogether so it inevitably collapses. The drop in the stock’s prices creates a panic and people start selling. Then the Banksters either buy the stock at a much reduced rate and then turn around and pump it again making huge profits. Or, they let the stock continue to crash like a lead balloon. Either way, the Wall Street con men make huge profits and move onto their next scam. In the event Wall Street gets caught short in their own con game, they put pressure on their politician friends and puppets who devise a taxpayer bail out. They did this for the Savings and Loan scandal (in which the Bu$h family: Daddy George, Jeb and Neil made out like the bandits they are) and they are toying with a bail out now to save Wall Street from itself.
Don’t get bent out of shape over the current and coming economic fiasco. The beat goes on. We’ve been through this before, we’ll survive. Make the necessary personal and collective adjustments. Try to get out of debt as best you can. If you default on your loans, don’t become discouraged, keep your head up, find or form a collective of good folks you can depend upon. Work within a social support network to bolster your spirits and help you navigate your financial affairs during these trying times. Wall Street is Wall Street, Washington is Washington and until the masses wake up and agitate for change; don’t allow the crooks and con men dampen your spirits or get you down. As bad as things are, we will survive. The beat goes on. There is a law in physics that says, a body (system) in motion remains in motion unless (until) it is acted upon by another countervailing force. This law has a corresponding application in the metaphysical realm. In order for things to be different (change), we will have to change our thinking, and do things very differently.

-30- ]]> JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/117-beat-goes.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/blogs/jrswriter/110-hi-tech-lynching.html Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:35:36 GMT From the Ramparts Junious Ricardo Stanton A Hi Tech Lynching The Clinton’s fiendishly cunning plan to destroy Barack Obama’s non-threatening public image by directly linking him to an outspoken unabashedly pro-black minister is succeeding beyond their widest... From the Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
A Hi Tech Lynching

The Clinton’s fiendishly cunning plan to destroy Barack Obama’s non-threatening public image by directly linking him to an outspoken unabashedly pro-black minister is succeeding beyond their widest expectations. This was a calculated and choreographed campaign to destroy Obama in the minds of white folks. The groundwork was laid by Clinton supporters like Geraldine Ferraro and Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell. Ferraro played the “bad cop” charging Obama was only where he was because he was Black. She was adamant; she refused to back down from her statement and she willingly took the hit. Her resignation helped bolster Clinton’s position with whites because it played out older whites’ worst nightmare, a white person losing their job because of a black person. That incident forced white people to acknowledge the elephant in the room, race. Ed Rendell played the “good cop” by making the rounds on the cable networks when Hillary Rodham Clinton was at her nadir. Obama was beating Clinton like she stole something making her look bad as he garnered delegates left and right winning eleven straight primaries. Rendell went on the air whining that Obama was getting a free pass from the media. Rendell even had the audacity to say the media was not scrutinizing Obama’s speeches or his campaign. Yet no one in the mainstream media challenged Clinton or her supporters on their cockamamie assertion she had more experience to be Commander in Chief; as if being married to Bill Clinton gave her presidential experience!?
Both Ferraro and Rendell were setting us up for what was to come, a vicious yet subtle attack on Obama by playing the race card. The attack was aimed primarily at Obama’s core, the young white people. That’s why they first used You Tube to get the snippets of Rev. Wright out to the people who use that particular medium, young folks. As many of us who are familiar with You Tube know, something can be hot there but not make any impression outside that medium or have any impact or influence beyond the circle of folks who frequent You Tube. To penetrate the consciousness of older whites who don’t know anything about that technology and to get more folks to log onto You Tube to see it, the corporate media colluded with the Clinton’s to manufacture a controversy. Images of a Black preacher railing against the hypocrisy, mendacity and rapine of AmeriKKKa, daring to make moral judgments about AmeriKKKa’s crimes against humanity triggered deeply rooted psychological angst. The images and words of Rev. Jeremiah A Wright Jr. shocked and unsettled most white people. Wright’s words immediately put them on the defensive, a position that makes them extremely uncomfortable. Wright exposed their evil. The righteous indignation of his sermon was genuine, rightly so because he was chastising AmeriKKKa for her wickedness and wanton inhumanity. But for whites who have been snookered and brainwashed into believing they have exemption from moral accountability and their perceived “white skinned privilege” gives them the right to do whatever they want, anywhere they want, Wright’s message cut to the quick. Wright challenged their “we’re the good guys” delusions.
The Clinton’s knew this strategy would work. They knew showing an angry Rev. Wright denouncing AmeriKKKa’s ruthlessness and the imperial blood lust that has guided AmeriKKKa since before its founding as a nation, would generate animosity against Wright and by extension Barack Obama. “How dare he say such things.” is the thought of many whites. To them Wright is unpatriotic even though he served honorably in the US military. By linking Obama to Wrights’s words, Obama was put on the defensive just like the Clinton’s knew they would. When they tried to tie him the Louis Farrakhan, that didn’t work. When they tried to say he was a Muslim to exploit the Islamophobia the US mainstream media has created, that didn’t work either. But they knew about Rev. Jeremiah Wright from the git go. They knew he was pro-black, an anathema to most whites, because their fragile self-images are threatened by people who are not mindlessly Eurocentric. The media tried to make an issue about Wright’s theology early on, but Obama cut them off at the pass by disassociating himself from Wright and not inviting him to participate in his campaign launch. The Clinton’s, simply filed the information away for use another day.
While Obama has faced the firestorm and controversy head on, major damage has been done. He was sailing smoothly along as the “Good Negro”, articulate, enthusiastic and intelligent a Black (the one drop rule is still in effect) candidate who never mentioned race. Obama eschewed the topic because to do so made whites uncomfortable, and to make white people uncomfortable is to court disaster. Race and color are the festering sins of AmeriKKKa, sins white folks avoid ‘fessing up to at all costs. Like the sin of genocide against the Native Americans, which also undercuts their “we are moral and civilized” image, the race issue also forces them to see themselves outside the bogus parameters they have constructed about themselves. They are forced to confront behaviors that undermine their delusional notions of being civilized. Their collective behaviors are so egregious and pervasive, to maintain their sense of comfort and domination whites and their victims, the Native Americans and Blacks expend inordinate amounts of energy deluding ourselves things are getting better, but they are not.
Racism and violence have metastasized deep into the marrow of AmeriKKKa. Obama’s message offered hope, he exhorted the need for change generating a false sense of healing. He seems to actually believe AmeriKKKa can be better. Alas even if that is true, people like the Clintons really don’t want change. They want the status quo because they benefit from things not changing. So to prove how committed they are to the status quo they offered up Rev Jeremiah Wright Jr to the racism gods as their sacrifice; just like Bill Clinton offered up Sistah Souljah when he was running. Now Rev. Wright is being demonized, vilified and castigated by the white media. They have to, because he poses a serious threat to their self-image and their policies. If this were sixty years ago an uppity Negro like Buddy Wright would have been found hanging from a tree or his church would have been bombed. But today they lynch you electronically, for the whole world to see. The difference between the old time lynchin’ and today’s version is, back in the day when they lynched you, you were dead for good. Today if you aren’t strong enough to withstand the vilification, and character assassination, you become a living example of a broken man or woman, which is what they really want. They want a symbolically castrated, emasculated man, psychologically wounded and hobbling for all the world to see. Buddy Wright can take it and he will bounce back stronger than ever.
The Clintons and the media mind control apparatus are playing the tried and true slave massa role/game: beat down or lynch an “uppity” black leader and the rest of us will fall in line. By fall in line whites mean: go along with their okey-doke, swallow your manhood and humanity, think like they tell us to think and don’t get out of our “place”. It remains to be seen how successful that part of their strategy will be.

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