“One of the things that culture does is that it works like a family,” Mr. Clayton said. “If you know you come from a good family, it enables you to go out into the world, no matter what happens to you, and do O.K. It is the same thing with culture: If you know you come from a great people, it gives you that same feeling.”

Black History Trove, a Life’s Work, Seeks Museum
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 13 — Behind the dusty stools and the old towels, under the broken telephones and the picture frames, amid the spider webs, sits one of the country’s most important collections of artifacts devoted to the history of African-Americans.

Painstakingly collected over a lifetime by Mayme Agnew Clayton — a retired university librarian who died in October at 83 and whose interest in African-American history consumed her for most of her adult life — the massive collection of books, films, documents and other precious pieces of America’s past has remained essentially hidden for decades, most of it piled from floor to ceiling in a ramshackle garage behind Ms. Clayton’s home in the West Adams district of Los Angeles....

There are first editions by Langston Hughes and nearly every other writer from the Harlem Renaissance, many of them signed; a rare biography of the architect Paul R. Williams; and the oeuvre of the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. There is an edition of “The Negro’s Complaint,” a poem complete with hand-painted illustrations; books by and about every notable American of African descent from George Washington Carver to Bill Cosby; and thousands more items concerning those whose names were lost or never known.

Episcopalians Are Reaching Point of Revolt
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

For about 30 years, the Episcopal Church has been one big unhappy family. Under one roof there were female bishops and male bishops who would not ordain women. There were parishes that celebrated gay weddings and parishes that denounced them; theologians sure that Jesus was the only route to salvation, and theologians who disagreed.

Now, after years of threats, the family is breaking up.

As many as eight conservative Episcopal churches in Virginia are expected to announce today that their parishioners have voted to cut their ties with the Episcopal Church. Two are large, historic congregations that minister to the Washington elite and occupy real estate worth a combined $27 million, which could result in a legal battle over who keeps the property.

“Democracy is a partnership, not an exclusion of the others,” Mr. Abbas said. “It is not divine will but the people’s will.” Addressing Hamas, he said: “You shouldn’t label your government as divine. It is democracy, with supporters and opposition. If you try to intimidate us with divine will, this is impermissible.”

He said that Fatah would support a new unity government but would not take part in one, implying that he favored a technocratic government whose members would be approved by political factions but not necessarily be members of them.

Firing the current government is his right as president, he said. “The removal of the government is not a recipe for civil war, as suggested by Zahar,” he insisted, referring to the Hamas official. “Firing the government is a constitutional right that I can exercise when I want.”

Abbas Orders Early Elections to End Deadlock
By STEVEN ERLANGER

JERUSALEM, Dec. 16 — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Saturday ordered early presidential and parliamentary elections in a direct challenge to the authority of Hamas, the Islamic movement that won elections less than a year ago. But Mr. Abbas did not name a date, leaving room for further negotiations to break the impasse with Hamas and form a unity government instead.

Hamas leaders immediately called Mr. Abbas’s declaration illegal and tantamount to a coup, saying that he had no power to call early elections and that the Palestinian people had given them a majority in free and fair elections only 11 months ago.

Iraqi Chief Calls Forum to Press for National Reunification; Major Groups Are Absent
By MARC SANTORA

BAGHDAD, Dec. 16 — With violence raging on the streets, political consensus in America and Iraq lacking, and the United States discussing the possibility of sending thousands more troops here, Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, convened leaders from various communities across the country for talks about how to stem the bloodshed.

While the conference was billed as an attempt at reconciliation, no one claiming to represent either the Shiite militias or the Sunni extremists, who together are driving the current sectarian strife, was in attendance. And the Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni leaders who were at the gathering did not present any new ideas for how to rein in those groups.

Temple 3 on the discovery that those people so horrible that they had to go to Gitmo weren't so bad after all .

How is this possible? 200+ men arrested under the most absurd conditions and in strict violation of all that Americans (whores that they are) profess to hold dear. These Guantanomites were treated much like young Black men in cars…DWB (driving while Black - translation - for the American whores who profess one thing and live another) morphed into BWM (breathing while Muslim). The “detainees” (if that’s what you call someone locked in a cell for 4 years without a trial or compelling evidence to justify arrest much less incarceration) were branded as dangerous plotters of gloom and doom on all that is free and holy in the West. These same men, after a mere four years (some less) are being released without so much as a parole officer. Was this some sort of miraculous rehab in Cuba? Could the same principles be applied to those in Lewisburg and Marion and Lompoc (translation - max. sec. prisons for those American whores who profess one thing and live another)?

"I think there is an appropriateness one needs to have, and if that's the policy of the police department, then one has to come in compliance," Dixon said.

Then change the policy, at least for sisters. I'm not feeling a high probability of a lot of brothers wearing locks or cornrows applying to be cops. It should not be a big deal.

Police Appearance Policy Raises Racial Sensitivity Issues

BALTIMORE - The WBAL TV 11 News I-Team has obtained a new professional appearance policy for the Baltimore Police Department intended to promote a professional image, but it's also raising questions of racial insensitivity. The new policy is more specific than the old one. For example, tattoos must now be kept covered.

Whenever anyone writes intelligently on Groge Orwell's Politics and the English Language, I link approvingly and repost the whole essay.

This time I'll just link to the previous reposting ...and here come the approved op-ed.

Orwell was not the first historical figure to point out how, when a people lose control of their language, they may also lose control of their destiny.

In observing the downfall of Athens during the Peloponnesian Wars, Thucydides described a similar decline: "To fit in with the change of events, words too had to change," he wrote as Athens launched the misbegotten Sicilian campaign that led to its downfall.

"What used to be described as thoughtless acts of aggression was now regarded as the courage that one would expect to find in a party member; to think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was taken to be just an attempt to disguise one's unmanly character; ability to understand a question from all sides was taken to mean that one was totally unfitted for action. Fanatical enthusiasm was taken as the mark of a real man, and to plot against an enemy behind his back was viewed perfectly legitimate self-defense. ... Indeed, most people were more willing to call villainy rather than cleverness simple-minded honesty. They are proud of the first quality and ashamed of the latter."

Political cuttlefish spew the ink of obfuscation
Surrender of language risks loss of destiny
- Orville Schell
Sunday, December 10, 2006

"Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind," wrote George Orwell in his prescient essay "Politics and the English Language."

Beset as we Americans are by a misguided war, errant governance, unaddressed environmental threats and growing social injustice, it is perhaps easy to downplay the importance of language in solving our problems in a rationale manner.

While Orwell became familiar with the manipulation and corruption of language through the fascist and communist movements of the 1930s, he would most certainly be discouraged by the degree to which mutant parlance has advanced since he wrote his celebrated essay 50 years ago. Borrowing from the commercial advertisers and PR "consultants," politicians now spin, distort and lie to sell themselves with ever greater impunity, creating deceptive virtual worlds of pseudo reality in the process.

The changes wouldn't transform C-SPAN's coverage into gripping drama or even "Survivor: Capitol Hill." Nothing can do that, at least not since Congress put metal detectors at all the entrances to the Capitol. But they would add a needed dose of realism, which is why Pelosi is likely to turn Lamb down, just as incoming House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) did 12 years ago.

C-SPAN gets real
Its chief executive wants the network, rather than the House speaker, to control cameras and show more of the chamber at work.
December 16, 2006

FOR MOST TV viewers, the House of Representatives on C-SPAN is about as appealing as an infomercial for juicers or wrinkle creams. That's partly because any semblance of real debate on the House floor vanished years ago, replaced by scripted exchanges with occasional bursts of feigned emotion. But another problem is that the cameras are controlled by the speaker of the House. C-SPAN wants to change that.

This week, C-SPAN Chief Executive Brian Lamb asked incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to give viewers a more complete picture of the House floor. Citing Pelosi's pledge for a more open House, he urged her to let C-SPAN bring its own cameras into the chamber, under its own direction. That way, viewers would get more of the flavor of the House and the personality of its members. They would be more likely to see such excitement as members' reactions to provocative remarks, committee chairmen holding court in the back of the chamber and last-minute cajoling to win badly needed votes.

Lamb also wants immediate access to voting records. A giant electronic display board inside the chamber provides a real-time view of how individual members vote (and change their votes), but C-SPAN currently can show nothing but the total for each party until long after the tallying has ceased. It's not unusual for the majority party's leadership to extend the voting period while they woo holdouts, but unlike people watching from the gallery, C-SPAN viewers can't tell who those holdouts might be.

There has been some grumbling about the concept of an alternative fraternity. After the student newspaper wrote a story on the Dudes, one reader, commenting on the Web, called them "ridiculous."

"Greek letter societies were based on things much deeper than what they are trying to base this group on," the anonymous student said. "These people need to grow up."

But others have been more welcoming.

The Dudes, it seems, have stumbled on a political correctness that goes down easy on this conservative Southern campus. It's "We Are the World" served up with a worship of all things football — and an insatiable thirst for domestic beer.

"All we'll judge you on," said South African Alexis Assimacopoulos, hoisting a Rebel-red party cup after the game, "is how well you party."

A frat for misfits at Ole Miss
By Richard Fausset
Times Staff Writer
December 16, 2006

Oxford, Miss. — THE Ole Miss Rebel football team had taken a 7-0 lead over rival Mississippi State when a strange cheer erupted in a corner of the Rebels' home stadium.

It was emanating from a small group just behind the marching band's tuba section. A dreadlocked South African named Badidile Mazibuko was leading it.

"Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy!" Mazibuko yelled.

"Oi! Oi! Oi!" his friends responded.

"Ozzy!"

"Oi!"

"Ozzy!

"Oi!"

It was, to say the least, out of place at a Southeastern Conference football game. Other fans turned their heads toward the shouting and stared.

Who were these people, standing among the blue-blazered fraternity guys and their smartly dressed sorority dates? After all, this was an Ole Miss game — that famous, and sometimes notorious, celebration of Southern identity. This is where controversy raged over the banning of the Confederate battle flag in the late '90s, and where it simmers still whenever the band plays "Dixie."

Ozzy? Oi?

I just wanted to get off that line...the judges they're talking about are more like the sheriffs down in ol' Dixie. 

Assembly Hearing Looks at Reform of New York’s Town Courts
By WILLIAM GLABERSON

ALBANY, Dec. 14 — The Legislature began considering changes to New York’s vast network of town and village courts on Thursday, hearing testimony from judicial officials, prosecutors, local justices and court monitoring groups. Some insisted that a drastic overhaul was long overdue, while others said reforms already under way would suffice.

Radar has this article, Pray for Coal, The 10 most dangerous play things of all time. This one stopped me cold: I remember this ad; they must have sold them into the mid 60s.

I had a Daisy air rifle but I wanted a cannon too.

Golden State Fence's attorney, Richard Hirsch, admits his client broke the law. But he says the case proves that construction companies need a guest-worker program.

Border Fence Firm Snared for Hiring Illegal Workers
by Scott Horsley 

All Things Considered, December 14, 2006 · A fence-building company in Southern California agrees to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants. Two executives from the company may also serve jail time. The Golden State Fence Company's work includes some of the border fence between San Diego and Mexico.

After an immigration check in 1999 found undocumented workers on its payroll, Golden State promised to clean house. But when followup checks were made in 2004 and 2005, some of those same illegal workers were still on the job. In fact, U-S Attorney Carol Lam says as many as a third of the company's 750 workers may have been in the country illegally.

Military Taking a Tougher Line With Detainees
By TIM GOLDEN

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 10 — As the first detainees began moving last week into Guantánamo’s modern, new detention facility, Camp 6, the military guard commander stood beneath the high, concrete walls of the compound, looking out on a fenced-in athletic yard.

The yard, where the detainees were to have played soccer and other sports, had been part of a plan to ease the conditions under which more than 400 men are imprisoned here, nearly all of them without having been charged. But that plan has changed.

"...it is not the opinion of The Primary Source that there are no qualified black students at Tufts University or that any of the other generalizations in the song are true. I apologize that this carol did not accurately reflect the views of The Primary Source, and I take full responsibility for failing to edit it to ensure that it did."

If "it is not the opinion of The Primary Source that there are no qualified black students at Tufts University or that any of the other generalizations in the song are true," then the song was nothing more or less than an intentional insult. She's not only a racist but a coward.

U.S. to Armor-Plate Iraqi Police Vehicles
Program to Cover 1,300 SUVs, Trucks
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A14

Reacting to criticism that the United States has not provided the right equipment to Iraqi security forces, the Multi-National Command in Baghdad has been seeking a contractor to put armor on 1,300 American-made SUVs and pickup trucks used by the Iraqi National Police.

The awarding of the contract was scheduled for yesterday.

The program is being undertaken two years after Iraqis began to be recruited because the Iraqi National Police "have been losing policemen due to small arms fire and IEDs [improvised explosive devices] while operating in their patrol trucks," according to the solicitation for bidders published last month.

I was joking, man...

Where the 'Angry Young Men' Are
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, December 16, 2006; A19

"Now listen to this," he continued: " 'As Iraq descends further into violence and disarray, the Pentagon is turning to a weapon some believe should have been used years ago: jobs.' "

Mr. Carl reminded the barbers that the Bush administration prefers to let unemployed Americans fend for themselves, relying on the free market. Not so in Iraq, he said. Mr. Carl stated that Pentagon planners intend to -- reading again -- "bring life to nearly 200 state-owned factories." Continuing, he read: "Their goal is to employ tens of thousands of Iraqis in coming months, part of a plan to reduce soaring unemployment and lessen the violence that has crippled progress."

It's obviously time to move on because hip-hop is dead.

Last time I brought down the Fire of the Gods there were none of these damn satellites...

Solar Storm Disrupts Space Missions

An "energetic" storm on the sun disrupted signals in space and forced mission controllers to shut systems down to avoid damage to spacecraft orbiting Earth, the European Space Agency said.

The sun expelled a solar flare Wednesday after a buildup of magnetic energy triggered an explosion, the ESA said yesterday. The flare gave rise to a coronal mass ejection that sent a stream of fast-moving atomic particles toward Earth, the agency said.

One of four Cluster spacecraft operated by the agency lost power, and an instrument on another shut itself down after the burst of solar energy. Ten astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery and the international space station slept in a protected area as a precaution.

I am so feeling the trailer, though.

The Obama Argument

I thought that this was an interesting take on the whole Barack Obama thing. Especially how his stature may be viewed differently even among blacks, dividing along people who's roots are in America or like myself who is a first generation American (as the piece indicates, this also goes for Colin Powell who is from a family of Jamaicans like myself).

I'm inclined to believe that this is why I tend to put more stock into the idea of pulling yourself up by bootstraps rather than the "world owes me a living" mindset that I see affecting so many black Americans.

And email me to tell me about it?

Nice link from African American (Black) Political Pundit. Kinda long, though...pagination is your friend.

Anatomy of the American Empire

Neocolonialism

The American Empire is based on neocolonialism.  Neocolonialism is a social relation in which an imperialist nation economically exploits subordinate nation(s) that are formally independent.  The subordinate nation is officially independent with its own nation-state but is economically dependant on an imperialist nation which exploits it.  An indigenous elite controls the state but the means of production are still (mostly) controlled by foreign capitalists.  This is a form of economic imperialism.  This is different from old-fashioned formal (traditional) colonialism in which the subordinated countries do not have political independence.  Generally neocolonialism means that multinational corporations from the imperialist nation control a substantial portion of the economy of the subordinate nation(s).  

An example of neocolonialism is Brazil.  Brazil is very rich in natural resources and has a substantial amount of industrial development; if you go by natural resources it should be one of the richest countries in the world.  In 1964 a US-backed coup overthrew the elected government and installed a military dictatorship.  This dictatorship was sometimes called "Colonial Fascism" because of its combination of extreme repression (including torture and mass murder) with economic dependence on the United States.  Although there were elements of neocolonialism prior to this period they became much larger as a result of the policies implemented by the new regime.  Its policies greatly favored foreign capital, including free export of profits and reduced taxes on the income of foreign firms.  Essentially, they sold off most of the country's economy to foreign (mostly US) companies.  As a result by 1968 foreign companies controlled 62 percent of Brazil's foreign trade, 40 percent of the capital market, 77 percent of overseas air transport, 82 percent of its maritime transport, more than 80 percent of its pharmaceutical industry, 90 percent of its cement industry, 100 percent of its motor vehicle production and 100 percent of its tire production.  The majority of these foreign companies were American.  These policies simultaneously brought about immense poverty for the majority of Brazilians (Keen/Wasserman, p. 361-375).   This foreign domination of Brazil's economy (and many other countries' economies) continues today and is an example of neocolonialism.  

Somali peace 'no longer possible'

The president of the weak transitional government has ruled out further peace talks with the Islamist militia controlling most of southern Somalia.

With fears of war rising, Abdullahi Yusuf accused the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) of close al-Qaeda links.

"We are no longer under the illusion that peace is possible with the UIC," he told reporters at his Baidoa base.

The UIC denies links to al-Qaeda and vowed to attack Ethiopian troops if they have not left Somalia by Tuesday.