*Gives credit to the OBAAMA campaign for busting out the green marker.*
Archive for the ‘Social Upheaval’ Category
HARPER’s WEEKLY REVIEW…
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Editor’s note: Harper’s Magazine might be one of the most important periodicals published in these here United States. Don’t be fooled when some outlets regard it as liberal muckraking trash. The only thing that I find liberating is the honesty that they bring to the pillars or privilege. It’s definitely not good reading material for people who can’t handle the truth. I thought that a weekly feature on this site should include the magazine that I get some of my news from. Let me know what you think…
President George W. Bush called for $145 billion in tax cuts, describing the measures as a “shot in the arm” for the U.S. economy, which caused stock values to plunge in Australia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, China, and across Europe. “There’s something approaching panic in the market,” said an analyst with Bank of America. “The short-term risks,” explained Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, “are to the downside.” Researchers found that foreigners invested $414 billion in American companies in 2007, up 90 percent from 2006. “This is a vote of confidence in the American economy,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert M. Kimmitt. “Do we want the communists to own the banks, or the terrorists?” asked financial commentator Jim Cramer. “I’ll take any of it.” John McCain won the South Carolina Republican primary, Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton won in the Nevada caucuses, and the Supreme Court decided that Texas could exclude Dennis Kucinich’s name from the ballots in the Democratic primary because Kucinich refused to take a party loyalty oath. British researchers determined that children universally dislike clowns, finding them “unknowable,” and a German merchant ship set sail for Venezuela partially powered by a fuel-saving kite.
It emerged that the ongoing riots that followed the Kenyan presidential election, in which at least 650 people were killed, had been partially planned; leaflets calling for ethnic killings had been distributed prior to the election, and village elders had encouraged young Kalenjin men (allied with the defeated Raila Odinga) to hunt Kikuyus (allied with victor Mwai Kibaki) with bows and arrows. “We attack people, we burn their homes, and then we take their animals,” said a Kalenjin man. “The community raised the money for the gasoline.” A babysitter in Honolulu threw a toddler off an overpass into busy traffic, and parents in Australia were suing an embryo-testing clinic for allowing their child to carry a cancer gene. Researchers in San Diego announced that they had cloned human embryos from skin cells, the FDA determined that cloned animals are acceptable food, and Hungarian scientists created a computer program that, based on its analysis of 6,000 barks from 14 Hungarian sheepdogs, can exceed human capability in accurately classifying sheepdog barks. The thoughts of a monkey in North Carolina controlled the actions of a robot in Japan.
The lone power plant operating in Hamas-controlled Gaza was shut down for lack of fuel. “At least 800,000 people,” said official Derar Abu Sissi, “are now in darkness.” Chess master Bobby Fischer died in Iceland, a man in Las Vegas was arrested for killing his girlfriend by driving a six-inch stake into her head, and a Winchester, Virginia, man was arrested for burning an 11-year-old girl with a Hot Pocket sandwich. A New York City construction worker was suing a hospital for treating his head injury by knocking him out and giving him an unwanted rectal exam, and the ACLU filed a brief in support of Senator Larry Craig (R., Idaho), arguing that people who engage in sex acts in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy. Scientists funded by mobile-phone companies found that if the phones are used before bedtime their radiation can reduce sleep and cause headaches and confusion; the Mobile Manufacturers Forum insisted that the “results were inconclusive.” It was observed that Tahina spectabilis, a giant palm tree of Madagascar, commits suicide when it flowers at the end of its century-long lifespan, and New York researchers using carbon nanotubes created the darkest material known to history. Scientists in Chicago found that lonely people are more likely to assign human qualities to their pets and to believe in God, and Louis de Cazenave of the Fifth Senegalese Rifles, one of the last two French veterans of World War I, died at age 110. “War,” he explained in 2005, “is something absurd, useless, that nothing can justify.”
— Paul Ford
AMERICAN IDLE…
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Editor’s note: Hip-HopDX’s Ambassador gives us her latest drop while stuck in D.C. Beltway traffic. This is way better than any cellphone novel.
As much as I find government and political science to be quite interesting, I can’t stand taking classes on the subjects. Why, you ask? Because I don’t have it in me to keep my damn mouth shut. Nine times out of ten, I’ll leave the room all fired up and pissed at the system because some other person in the class decided to argue with me about something and get me all in a political rage. Now, for a half Palestinian girl in today’s society with three-fourths of my government name being quite tricky to pronounce, added to the fact that I live in a very politically volatile area, it’s a misconceived problem when I rant about things like that in public.
Especially when I’m walking back to my car sporting my kaffiyeh around my neck, only to put the key into the ignition and start blasting some Immortal Technique, Non Phixion, Dead Prez, Paris, etc., with my windows down while I’m stuck in traffic. Allah forbid that I should come across an interesting looking rock on the sidewalk that I had the urge to pick up, or else I may find myself getting patted down in search of a slingshot. It seems that post 9/11 life is like American Idol for revolutionary minds…
| “Randy, yes or no, what do you think?” |
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“Yo dawg, she dropped it like it was hot when the pressure was on, dawg. She really showed some true passion for what she does. That’s dangerous to the competition. She could take them all. I say yes. This girl could win.” |
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“Now how about you Paula, yes or no?” |
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“That’s a yes from me. So charming and charismatic. The people will love listening to her.” |
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“Well, that’s two out of three. It looks like you’re on to the next round.
Here’s your ticket to Guantanamo!” |
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One of these days somebody is bound to get the wrong impression. I don’t even think I have to say what that impression might be – you’re probably already thinking it.
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“Terrorist?!” |
Ah, the power of media brainwashing. It’s ok – I’m not holding this against you. I hold this against the regional cable monopolies that control what television channels you’re able to receive. How coincidental is it that those who cannot afford to have hundreds of TV channels or a satellite dish that receives foreign programming are the ones that end up stuck with a small handful of blatantly biased television news sources? How coincidental is it that it is this same demographic that probably has the most reasons to revolt against its leaders, for it is these people that face the harshest realities of the injustices in our society on a daily basis?
If you ask me, it’s not coincidental at all.
This financially imposed technological disadvantage could be argued by an opposing point of view. You could say, “yo, there’s always the public library. You can hit that place up and pick up some books for free to read up on some true knowledge.” Yeah, you can. But thanks to the Patriot Act, that search for true knowledge at the library might just dig your already suspicious looking ass into an even deeper hole.
On top of all of that, living in a constant financial struggle is not a simple state of being. Many work excessive hours at minimum wage jobs that tire them out and leave them with little free time. Sitting down to read doesn’t exactly pay the bills or put a hot meal into your kids’ stomachs. It’s like this never-ending trap that people on the lower end of the financial spectrum are seemingly stuck in. It doesn’t help that public school systems just seem to further the problem, which is even scarier seeing as how the youth (better known as our future) is in their hands. Think about how many overly privileged kids end up in those “smart” classes. Think about the types of characters that end up on school boards. Think about how much attention and praise the kids who effortlessly do well in school receive, despite the fact that they’re not the ones that truly need that treatment.
Think about the children you see as you drive down the streets of the city, and then think of society in 50 years when it’s up to them to be running things. Those same kids that had information that will prove irrelevant to their futures shoved down their throats, in order for them to regurgitate those facts into passing scores on standardized tests so that the school doesn’t lose their federal funding due to the No Child Left Behind concept. And don’t be too sure that the No Child Left Behind program will meet its demise when Bush leaves office – the wording of the title of that program is no accident. What’s the next President going to do? Say, “OK, we can leave some children behind again”? Yeah, that sounds so “politically correct”, doesn’t it?
Meanwhile, a ridiculous amount of money is being poured into programs like Homeland Security. Security? Oh yeah, we’re a lot more secure now. The fact that you can still run up on Capitol Hill with a samurai sword, a bow and arrow, guns, ammo, and some explosive-looking devices is proof of that. It seems as if our government doesn’t have its own finances prioritized correctly. But who am I to talk? After all, I’m just a lowly taxpayer. Far be it from me to be concerned with how the government spends my hard earned money.
Issues such as the aforementioned ones could be listed and explained in a multi-volume book, so let’s get to the point. America achieved its sovereignty by revolution. This country’s independence was achieved by people speaking out, standing up, and fighting for what they believed in. It’s a part of our history. Fast forward a couple hundred years, and this same land is now (and has been) in need of some serious reform once again. The difference between then and now, however, is that these days there has been a sense of fear instilled by the various forms of information technology into the citizens that prevents them from speaking out against what they believe is wrong. I’m constantly shocked when people come up to me after I go off on a verbal tirade in a government class and say “Thank you. You said what I always think but can never bring myself to say.”
Despite what you may have been lead to believe about the definition of what constitutes a possession of “patriotism” is these days, it is not illegal to speak what’s on your mind. It is not illegal to seek truth and understanding. It is not illegal to demand change. Nor are any of the aforementioned actions “unpatriotic”. Quite the contrary. Demanding a stop to injustice, an improved life, and therefore a better country, is to me the highest form of patriotism. Caring enough about the place you live in to put effort into making it safe and just for you, your family, and those that will come after you is nothing but noble. Unite with those around you who share your same ideals for positive change. With unity comes strength, and with that unified strength can come powerful amounts of positive reform. You are doing nothing wrong by speaking out. However be aware that the goals you may possess for the future will require more than speaking. So for those that are able, take part in your communities. Reach out to the youth. Anything. It’s time to stop letting fear control you.
MLK x J DILLA ‘I Have A Dream’
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
There But For The Grace Of GOD…
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
If you want to hang out with me and you live in New York City, but you need some advance notice, and you don’t have any money, then you should volunteer your time for the HOPE 2008 Street Survey.
Volunteers canvas portions of the city to count the homeless folks on the street. It’s fun and informative. You learn about the nooks and crannies of the city. I invariably run into someone I haven’t seen in awhile. You do some good for once in your miserable, selfish life.
I have lived the homeless lifestyle(by choice) before and I can tell you that there is nothing more hardbody than spending a winter night in New York City asleep on the sidewalk. There are so many reasons that these folks are in their predicaments. All of them don’t exist here by choice.
The following morning you can go back to stepping over the homeless or closing your eyes to panhandlers but your conscience will be set free. No, you are not really a good person and you are still a liar, but for one night you were bigger and better than all of that.
Volunteer.
F.Y.I. – I will be working as a team leader so if you do volunteer let me know so I can make sure we are on the same squad.