http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:33:24 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/images/misc_2/rss.jpg http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/ http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39898-supreme-irony.html Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:01:09 GMT From the Ramparts Junious Ricardo Stanton “Irony- A figure of speech in which the literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning; used in ridicule, contempt or humor. Liter. A technique often used in writing satire; a method of expression in which the author veils his real meaning... From the Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton


“Irony- A figure of speech in which the literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning; used in ridicule, contempt or humor. Liter. A technique often used in writing satire; a method of expression in which the author veils his real meaning behind plot or character development which portrays the opposite. AN outcome opposed to that which one has been lead to expect.” - The New Webster’s Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language

The gym where I work out has several television screens tuned to a variety of stations. I went to the gym early Friday because I had a full day of activities: a memorial service later that morning, I had to get back home to finish packing and head to Cheyney University for Homecoming Weekend. I was amused when I saw on the television monitor tuned to CNN that Barack Obama had been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize! I have always wondered what the criteria was for one to be awarded the Noble Peace Prize? A Martin Luther King Jr or a Desmond Tutu I could see because they challenged extremely vicious systems of European oppression and genocide using non-violent tactics; so of course white folks would give them a prize. But over the years there have been some truly questionable picks for the Noble Peace Prize; like Henry Kissinger whose actions resulted in massive loss of life all around the world on behalf of Western imperialist geo-political and economic interests.

In literature there is a style of writing called irony whereby the writer's words disguise: the true goings on, the motives of the characters, the outcome of their plotting or the resulting circumstances. In the real world, the Noble Prize is itself a form of irony. Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm Sweden in 1833. He was the son of an engineer. He too became an engineer, an inventor and entrepreneur. When I think of Alfred Noble, I think of destruction and devastation because he invented dynamite. Nobel's father was an engineer who had developed naval mines, and explosives. Alfred Noble was sent to school to study chemical engineering. Upon graduation he worked for his father's company which had contracts for both civil and military work. His father went bankrupt for a second time and Alfred Nobel went to work on a process to create a way to stabilize nitroglycerin which was an extremely volatile liquid. Noble eventually developed a way to turn it into a paste and make it practical by using a blasting or detonating cap. He kept at it and developed a totally new compound he called dynamite . Noble also invented smokeless gun powder.

Dynamite was first used as an excavating tool to blast heavy rock but it didn't take long for a people who love war to use it as the most potent weapon of mass destruction of its day and well into the future. Noble traveled throughout Europe and America obtaining patents and setting up companies. He and his investment partners set up sixteen dynamite companies in fourteen countries. Noble flourished and became extremely wealthy. Mining, excavating and war were and are very lucrative businesses.

Due to the extensive travel required to maintain his business empire during that time, Noble's health began to deteriorate. He developed a heart condition ans was forced to use nitroglycerin as a treatment (another irony). Noble, according to most accounts, never married and had no heirs. He died alone on December 10, 1896 in Sanremo Italy. In his will he ordered a committee be established to award monetary prizes for developments and accomplishments in the fields of: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and world peace.

The supreme irony is that Alfred Noble the man who helped make it easier for Europeans to terrorize and subjugate the world (keep in mind his father developed naval mines), became rich beyond measure and in his will decreed an award be given for those who work for “world peace”. There is no definitive evidence that I could find proving Alfred Noble was ever a pacifist. Certainly if Alfred Nobel a white man had been one during the late nineteenth century, he would have been an anomaly. Is it possible the establishment of the Noble prize was a PR ploy to clean up the legacy of the man who invented true weapons of mass destruction and human devastation. Keep in mind the Chinese invented gun powder and used it to make flame, as an elixir for immortality and for public celebrations hundreds of years before the Mongols and Arabs developed and used it for weaponry. Europeans subsequently saw it and took it to a whole new level in terms of warfare and destruction.
This brings me back to Barack Obama. Here is a man who campaigned and won the US presidency in 2008 on the slogan of “change”, who as President continues his predecessor’s global imperialist wars. It's diabolically ironic Obama was awarded the Noble Peace Prize despite: using drones to bomb and kill innocent people in Afghanistan and expand the war into Pakistan, is maintaining Iraq as a colony, is continuing a proxy war in Somalia, is threatening to use force against Iran for their pursuit of peaceful nuclear energy; meanwhile he never says anything about Israel's nuclear arsenal or its mischief throughout the world?! Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize (an item of irony itself) is the epitome of Orwellian doublespeak; where war is peace, oppression is freedom and death is life. ]]> Junious Ricardo Stanton JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39898-supreme-irony.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39830-celebrating-labor-day-while-jobs-disappear.html Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:15:05 GMT From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton



“The capitalist cabal that's seized control of the political and economic systems in the United States suffers under the totally insane delusion that it can loot as much money from worker-taxpayers as it wants--and still come out with a viable society. The cabal delusively believes that while millions of workers are being laid off, denied welfare, their tax money stolen by wealthy looters, their homes foreclosed because of criminal subprime mortgages, and their very lives threatened with extinction they will continue to tolerate such abuse indefinitely. American workers will--and must--rise up against their genocidal oppressors, not just to enact minor revisions in their capitalist society but to build a completely new commonwealth culture for the benefit of all citizens.” Capitalist Genocide http://www.hermes- press.com/ capitalist_ genocide. htm

As we celebrate Labor Day 2009 it is imperative we realize that a concerted plan and program of economic and social destabilization, wealth transfer and peonage is being executed by the ruling oligarchs against working folks. Just as the international bankers deliberately caused the depressions of 1907 and 1930 to further their nefarious agendas and steal the farms, businesses and savings of the people the same players (now their heirs) are working assiduously to destroy the US industrial base, ship high paying jobs overseas and destroy the current standard of living of the average working person. Like much in US culture today, the Labor Day holiday has devolved into a meaningless charade to cover the looting, pillage and theft that is really going on: “35.9 million Americans now live below the poverty line, including 12.9 million children at least 25% of American workers are unemployed, though the rigged government figures report it to be only 9.4 %., over 2 million Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure since January, 2007; 12,000 homes a day continuing to go into foreclosure, American workers have lost $10 to $15 trillion in the value of their homes, 4 million Americans are now homeless, subsisting on the streets or in tent cities, American retirees have lost $2 trillion in retirement funds (of the total of $9 trillion in late 2007) due to the fall in the stock market and the United States has the third worst level of income inequality and poverty among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 30 member states (only Mexico and Turkey ranked worse in those categories)” Capitalist Genocide http://www.hermes- press.com/ capitalist_ genocide. htm

While Joe and Jane Sixpack, Shananay and Pookie are out bar-b-queing, swilling beer, smoking dope and partying this Labor Day; the ruling elites are plotting to steal what’s left of our wealth, dignity and sanity. Most people know things aren’t getting better and things haven’t really changed, that’s why Obama’s approval ratings are dropping like a dead body weighed down with rocks. Most people know their situation is worse than it was five years ago but they don’t fully grasp the fact the US is devolving into a fascist police state with a clear demarcation between the haves and the have not’s.

The ruling elites who control both political parties have bought and paid off candidates and elected officials on the national, state and local levels. On the national level our elected officials do not work for us. Nor do they look out for our best interests because they are bribed daily by “lobbyists” and “special interest” groups who use money, intimidation and any other means to get what they want. “Corporate domination of the democratic process by means of campaign contributions blocks the emergence of independent voices willing to defend the public interest. Lobbyists subvert the integrity of the Congress and of state legislatures throughout the land by buying influences and votes. Big oil, media, pharmaceutical, tobacco, gambling, insurance, and financial companies thus dominate the legislative process. For example, the banks and credit card companies charge usurious rates and use deceptive marketing practices, fleecing millions of unwary consumers and forcing them into bankruptcy, yet effective legislation to protect consumers was blocked in Congress by the banking industry. Surreptitiously, large companies are now reducing retirement benefits with nary any political opposition.” The New American Plutocracy by Paul Kurtz

Honest work that pays good wages is dissipating like fog on a hot sunny day because of the anti working class policies of our so called elected officials. The Labor Day holiday was originally created to honor organized labor and working class men and women. It’s ironic that as we celebrate Labor Day 2009 organized labor is virtually impotent in the US and working class men and women working jobs that pay a living wage are disappearing faster than cold beer at a hot Summer bar-b-que. ]]> Junious Ricardo Stanton JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39830-celebrating-labor-day-while-jobs-disappear.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39829-media-lies-crimes-omission.html Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:12:08 GMT From The Ramparts Junious Ricardo Stanton “Right now, many media outlets are reinforcing the idea that a recovery is underway pointing to a rise in the stock market and some signs of improvement, even as joblessness continues to climb along with bankruptcies and foreclosures. The dissents... From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton



“Right now, many media outlets are reinforcing the idea that a recovery is underway pointing to a rise in the stock market and some signs of improvement, even as joblessness continues to climb along with bankruptcies and foreclosures. The dissents of informed analysts like Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini and George Soros are heard but marginalized. The signs of another collapse tired to an insolvent banking sector are discussed in the financial blogs but not yet on TV. And the crime angle that I investigate is still seen as minor, except in all the stories about Bernie Madoff or the corporate lawyer Marc Dreier just profiled by 60 Minutes which wanted to get him to be more “emotional” (ie cry for the camera). These ‘poster boys’ for corporate crime get the visibility while reports on pervasive ‘epic’ fraud in our financial institutions are buried in trade outlets like Information Week which notes ‘Seventy percent of financial institutions in the past 12 months have had cases of insider fraud, new survey says.’” A Media Failure Compounds The Financial Failure: The Press Is Still Missing The Story Of Fraud and Economic Decline Ahead by Danny Schechter A Media Failure Compounds The Financial Failure:

When you turn on NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC PBS CNN and Fox it is important to keep in mind you are being targeted and subjected to a massive propaganda campaign designed to keep you dis-informed, distracted and grossly ignorant about what is really going on in the world; particularly regarding the US economy and the ongoing wars this government is waging in places like Columbia, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Even the Negro press ignores the illegal occupation of Haiti and rarely reports on the resources wars plaguing the African continent. We have been brainwashed to believe the media is objective, fair and obligated to keep us informed, to ferret out the truth, uncover corruption and malfeasance in the marketplace and government. Not so. In fact the news today is basically barefaced propaganda, regurgitating government spin and lies; like the preposterous tale about 9-11 being engineered and executed from caves in Afghanistan. At no time did the mainstream media question the obvious silliness, improbability or the inconsistencies of the government narrative about 9-11. Nor have they challenged the governments account of the financial meltdown, why their so called solutions have not benefited average Americans, or why their actions haven't really improved Wall Street or Main Street?
We were told in grade school “freedom of the press” meant openness and transparency into society's workings so the people could be well informed about what was going on. Nowadays it seems the only way you can have true freedom of the press is to own your own. But even that is no guarantee since the media model in this country depends upon advertising; and the monied powers that be want to keep the masses ignorant. So they control the ad agencies and programming in the media. Several decades ago the notion of the relentless reporter sifting and digging to get the facts or the crusading editor fighting for a just cause were popular themes in Hollywood motion pictures. Not any more. But even while we were watching those flights of fantasy, we were unaware that following WWII the US CIA began executing Operation Mockingbird which was designed to suborn the media and turn them into propaganda organs for their fascist agenda. The quest for truth wasn’t totally snuffed out, during the Vietnam War a vibrant anti-war movement sprang up featuring alternative newspapers which caused the government warmongers and the military industrial complex major consternation and grief. Then unlike today, there were national politicians like Eugene McCarthy who were vocal in their opposition to the war and men like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr who boldly opposed US imperialism in Southeast Asia. You rarely see or read about people like that today. Why? Because the mainstream media is owned by the warmongering fascists who run this country.
This country has devolved into a fascist police state under the pretext and guise of “national security”. Following 9-11 the US launched a series of wars and invasions supposedly to stop the spread of international terrorism but did nothing to protect our borders or sea ports. Doesn't that seem odd and backwards to you? Last year when Wall Street imploded, the Bu$h and Obama administrations bent over backwards to bail out the same people whose recklessness and hubris caused the problem yet they have done almost nothing for the little people. The media whose job, it seems, is to befuddle and obfuscate the issues paints Obama as a “Socialist” when in fact he like his predecessors is an ardent fascist, meaning he is in cahoots with the corporatocracy and banking elites who have corrupted the government. Most black radio stations no longer offer news or at least not any serious commentary and far too many black newspapers get their news for national feeds which are nothing more than stenographers, shills and PR agents for the government.
This is why the corporate media promotes the lie the economy is improving despite the fact almost all indications are we are in the throes of a protracted recession (depression?). Ninety- eight banks have failed thus far in 2009 and predictions are for hundreds more to fail in 2010. Manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas and they are not coming back. Domestically, banks aren’t lending money and as a result, businesses can’t get loans to purchase inventory, expand or hire workers. The corporate media is not focusing on this like they focused on the minutia of Michael Jackson's death, why not? Nor is it reporting such important stories as: US commercial real estate is collapsing (notice all the empty strip mall stores), skyrocketing unemployment, personal bankruptcies, loan defaults and foreclosures. Why are these stories and the why and how behind them not extensively reported?
I did see this on the Internet but it wasn’t reported on PBS, CNN or FOX . This story was in Bloomberg; but Bloomberg is not your every day blue collar working class publication so most of us won't have seen it or known about it. “Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Vacancies at U.S. shopping centers rose in the third quarter to a 17-year high as unemployment climbed, consumers cut spending and stores closed, real estate research company Reis Inc. said. Vacancies at neighborhood and community shopping centers increased to 10.3 percent, the highest level since 1992, from 8.4 percent a year earlier, New York-based Reis said today. Vacancies at regional and super-regional malls rose to 8.6 percent from 6.6 percent a year earlier, a high for this decade... U.S. payrolls dropped by 263,000 in September and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest since 1983, according to Labor Department data. Retail sales excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants fell 4.3 percent in August from a year earlier, according to the Washington-based National Retail Federation.” Top Financial News
Another extremely under reported story is, state and local governments are facing deep fiscal travail and are forced to put the squeeze on their taxpayers via increased taxes and indirect taxes like when they raise marriage license, hunting and fishing fees. It's not in the news but we are experiencing it. Perhaps that's one of the reasons newspaper sales are down and many papers are going out of business, they are no longer relevant. TV news viewing is down too, maybe for the same reason. Serves them right, no one likes a liar. ]]> Junious Ricardo Stanton JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39829-media-lies-crimes-omission.html http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39741-michael-vick-other-scapegoats.html Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:58:04 GMT From The Ramparts Junious Ricardo Stanton Scapegoat: an individual or group that is the object of blame or displaced aggression-Dictionary of Psychology On August 13th, the Philadelphia Eagles football team signed former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to a one year contract... From The Ramparts

Junious Ricardo Stanton


Scapegoat: an individual or group that is the object of blame or displaced aggression-Dictionary of Psychology

On August 13th, the Philadelphia Eagles football team signed former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to a one year contract with an option for a second year. Vick had been released from federal prison after serving eighteen months of a two year sentence on charges of cruelty to animals and running an illegal dog fighting gambling operation. Vick, a talented athlete ,was subsequently reinstated and deemed to be eligible to play professional football by NFL Commissioner Roger Godell. The signing of Vick raised the ire of many “animal lovers”. in the Philadelphia region. The controversy clearly broke along racial and cultural lines pro and con Vick’s signing by the Eagles. Many whites opposed the deal while blacks generally were happy for Vick and the Eagles.
Keep in mind, Europeans love their dogs. Whites have a long history with dogs beginning with their domestication of the canine in the Steppe region and caves of Eurasia. In the cultural and historic background of whites, dogs have played an integral part in their existence. In fact whites have a saying “a dog is man’s best friend”. Needless to say many dog lovers were outraged by Vick returning to the NFL. Some white Eagles fans are upset with the team for signing him. In my view, this controversy and the venom spewed against Vick seems totally out of proportion to these people’s lack of indignation concerning so many other current events and issues. As usual the media is using this to create controversy and a diversion to avoid covering more important matters. There aren’t that many hard core dog lovers out there to warrant the amount of coverage they have given this story.
It dawned on me, it’s not about Michael Vick or what he did to some dogs although whites do love themselves some dogs. Michael Vick is being used as a scapegoat. Many of you are familiar with the Biblical ritual of scapegoating where two identical goats would be presented to the high priest. Lots would be chosen, one goat would be ritualistically sacrificed to the Israelites notion of god while their sins were vicariously projected upon the other goat by the high priest. That goat was taken into the wilderness and released at the edge of a very steep cliff so that it fell and died from the fall. The goat that was not ceremonially sacrificed by the priest, the one that had the sins of the people placed upon its head and lead out from the temple into the wilderness was called the scapegoat. It was a collective ritualistic form of absolution, healing and atonement.
In psychology the term scapegoat also denotes projection of guilt or other negative emotions onto an external object or person. In this case the misfortune or behavior of another is the focus of attention which allows those passing judgement on him or her to assume a position of morality and righteousness that is undeserved. In this case Michael Vick becomes the target and recipient of the scorn and animus of white people. This projection of their anger and hatred against Vick allows them to ignore their own transgressions, their inability or unwillingness to address the ills of society and their own personal shortcomings. Instead they rail against Michael Vick the wretched scapegoat. He becomes the object of their displeasure and frustration about whatever is going on in their lives and their uneasiness about themselves.
This is called the Scapegoat Syndrome in Jungian psychology. “Today we use the term ‘scapegoat’ easily in discussions of collective morality. We have become attuned to finding the phenomenon of scapegoating in social psychology and there are many studies of the scapegoat pattern in small groups, in families, in ethnic and national politics. We apply the term ‘scapegoat’ to individuals and groups who are accused of causing misfortune. Thus, they seem to relieve others, the scapegoaters, of their own responsibilities, and to strengthen the scapegoaters' sense of power and righteousness. In this current usage a search for the scapegoat relieves us also of our relationship to the transpersonal dimension of life. For in the present age we function with a perverted form of the archetype that ignores the gods; and we blame the scapegoat and the devil for life's evils. We forget that originally the scapegoat was a human or animal victim chosen for sacrifice to the underworld god to heal the community. The scapegoat was a pharmakon or healing agent.” The Scapegoat Complex — Sylvia Perera Massell.
Unfortunately for us the scapegoating of African people does not actually heal whites, it merely serves as a temporary release or relief of their stress and frustrations. For white folks scapegoating Michael Vick allows them to demonize another black man (Vick is dark skinned) to make themselves feel morally superior at a time the country illegally occupies two countries killing thousands of innocent people around the globe on a daily basis! Ironically whites demonize Vick for making money being associated with a despicable underground sport (organized dog fighting/betting) which in reality is controlled (especially in the South) by white men! “Dog fighting in the United States is a controversial and illegal activity. Arranged fights between two game dogs have been staged as a form of entertainment and gambling since at least the early 19th century in the United States; originally legal, it was gradually outlawed in all states but continues as an illegal underground activity in both rural and urban locations.[1] In the late 20th and early 21st century, research and criminal investigation showed that problems associated with dog fighting in the United States go beyond serious animal welfare violations to links with organized crime and social problems; police and animal control law enforcement task forces of primarily local and state authorities have been formed in many parts of the country to combat dog fighting rings. In 2007 the U.S. Congress passed a federal law against interstate dog fighting activities, providing for felony-level penalties including multi-year prison sentences and large fines for each offense; passage of this law was followed by the involvement of the Inspector General's Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in ongoing investigations around the country.” Dog fighting in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Once again the hypocrisy of white folks manifests itself. Most large dog fighting rings and gambling set ups are operated by whites and most of the money goes to whites. On another level Vick serves as a scapegoat for the frustrations of whites as they watch their economic situation worsen and their socio-economic and political systems collapse. Before the recent town meetings on Healthcare, whites had nowhere to vent or no one to accost about the rampant favoritism shown to the rich, the growing income disparities between the super rich and working folks or the corruption and immorality metastasizing throughout the country.
Conditions aren’t getting better, more and more whites are feeling duped because Obama hasn’t changed policies or conditions to benefit them. Recent opinion polls indicate an increasing number of people still say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Frustration levels are rising along with unemployment, economic destitution, homelessness, distress and feelings of powerlessness. That is why the reactions at the recent town meetings have been so visceral and caustic. Of course some of the people acting out at these town meetings are Republican plants or right wing provocateurs.
Historically, it is easier for whites to project their angst and animus onto blacks than onto their own kind. It has always been easier psychologically for whites to demonize and attack blacks either verbally or by actions such as lynching, than to confront their own leaders. All too often whites scapegoat us in an attempt to avoid dealing with situations in their own lives or taking responsibility for their own problems. In their frustration and angst, whites now have Michael Vick and Barack Obama; two black men they can hate with impunity. Vick and Obama are their scapegoats.
Meanwhile black folks remain staunchly loyal to Barack Obama despite the fact he ignores us other than to use the tried and true political tactic of coming before the NAACP to castigate and chastize a segment of the black community at a time when his policies are under increasing fire. Remember Bill Clinton did the same thing when he was facing difficulties at home. They do it because it works.
Black folks have taken a supportive wait and see attitude towards Michael Vick. We are willing to give him the benefit of doubt. We feel Vick paid his debt to society and deserves a new start. But whites need someone to scorn and think they are better than; especially during tough times. Rather than think for themselves and discern what is really going on, realizing their politicians have sold them out yet again; rather than confronting their elected officials and demanding the justice system prosecute the fraudsters, crooks and warmongers who are stealing their wealth and standard of living and getting away Scott free, they direct their anger at the newest black scapegoat. ]]> Junious Ricardo Stanton JRSWRITER http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/junious-ricardo-stanton/39741-michael-vick-other-scapegoats.html