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Obama’s Meaningless War

torrid_wind — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:16:20 GMT

From: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090901_obamas_meaningless_war/ Posted on Sep 1, 2009 By Robert Scheer True, he doesn’t seem a bit like Lyndon Johnson, but the way he’s headed on Afghanistan, Barack Obama is threatened with a quagmire that could bog down his presidency. LBJ also had a progressive agenda in mind, beginning with his war on poverty, but it was soon overwhelmed by the cost and divisiveness engendered by a meaningless, and seemingly endless, war in Vietnam. Meaningless is the right term for the Afghanistan war, too, because our bloody attempt to conquer this foreign land has nothing to do with its stated purpose of enhancing our national security. Just as the government of Vietnam was never a puppet of Communist China or the Soviet Union, the Taliban is not a surrogate for al-Qaida. Involved in both instances was an American intrusion into a civil war whose passions and parameters we never fully grasped and could not control militarily. The Vietnamese Communists were not an extension of an inevitably hostile, unified international communist enemy, as evidenced by the fact that Communist Vietnam and Communist China are both our close trading partners today. Nor should the Taliban be considered simply an extension of a Mideast-based al-Qaida movement, whose operatives the U.S. recruited in the first place to go to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. Those recruits included Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attack, and financier Osama bin Laden, who met in Afghanistan as part of a force that Ronald Reagan glorified as “freedom fighters.” As blowback from that bizarre, mismanaged CIA intervention, the Taliban came to power and formed a temporary alliance with the better-financed foreign Arab fighters still on the scene. There is no serious evidence that the Taliban instigated the 9/11 attacks or even knew about them in advance. Taliban members were not agents of al-Qaida; on the contrary, the only three governments that financed and diplomatically recognized the Taliban—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan—all were targets of bin Laden’s group. To insist that the Taliban be vanquished militarily as a prerequisite for thwarting al-Qaida is a denial of the international fluidity of that terrorist movement. Al-Qaida, according to U.S. intelligence sources, has operated effectively in countries as disparate as Somalia, Indonesia, England and Pakistan, to name just a few. What is required to stymie such a movement is effective police and intelligence work, as opposed to deploying vast conventional military forces in the hope of finding, or creating, a conventional war to win. This last wan hope is what the effort in Afghanistan—in the last two months at its most costly point in terms of American deaths—is all about: marshaling massive firepower to fight shadows. The Taliban is a traditional guerrilla force that can easily elude conventional armies. Once again the generals on the ground are insisting that a desperate situation can be turned around if only more troops are committed, as Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal did in a report leaked this week. Even with U.S. forces being increased to 68,000 as part of an 110,000-strong allied army, the general states, “The situation in Afghanistan is serious. …” In the same sentence he goes on to say “but success is achievable.” Fortunately, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is given to some somber doubts on this point, arguing that the size of the U.S. force breeds its own discontents: “I have expressed some concerns in the past about the size of the American footprint, the size of the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan,” he said. “And, clearly, I want to address those issues. And we will have to look at the availability of forces, we’ll have to look at costs.” I write the word fortunately because just such wisdom on the part of Robert McNamara, another defense secretary, during the buildup to Vietnam would have led him to oppose rather than abet what he ruefully admitted decades after the fact was a disastrous waste of life and treasure: 59,000 Americans dead, along with 3.4 million Indochinese, mostly innocent civilians. I was reporting from Vietnam when that buildup began, and then as now there was an optimism not supported by the facts on the ground. Then as now there were references to elections and supporting local politicians to win the hearts and minds of people we were bombing. Then as now the local leaders on our side turned out to be hopelessly corrupt, a condition easily exploited by those we term the enemy. Those who favor an escalation of the Afghanistan war ought to own up to its likely costs. If 110,000 troops have failed, will we need the half million committed at one point to Vietnam, which had a far less intractable terrain? And can you have that increase in forces without reinstituting the draft? It is time for Democrats to remember that it was their party that brought America its most disastrous overseas adventure and to act forthrightly to pull their chosen president back from the abyss before it is too late.

Exciting Healthcare Update

torrid_wind — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:18:05 GMT

Friday, July 17, 2009 9:16 PM Dear Friends, With your support, your phone calls, your emails, we won a major legislative victory today for a state single payer health care option in the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. The House Education and Labor Committee approved the Kucinich Amendment by a vote of 27-19, with 14 Democrats and 13 Republicans voting yes. The amendment propels the growing single payer health care movement at the state level. There are at least ten states which have active single payer efforts in their legislatures. They are California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington. The amendment mandates a single payer state will receive the right to waive the application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which has in the past been used to nullify efforts to expand state or local government health care. Under the Kucinich Amendment a state's application for a waiver from ERISA is granted automatically if the state has signed into law a single payer plan. With the amendment, for the first time, the state single payer health care option is shielded from an ERISA-based legal attack. Now that the underlying bill has been passed, as amended, by the full committee, we must make sure that Congress knows that we want the provision kept in the bill at final passage! The state single payer option was one of five major amendments which I obtained support to get included in HR3200. One amendment brings into standard coverage for the first time complementary and alternative medicine, (integrative medicine). Another amendment drives down the cost of prescription drugs by ending pharmaceutical industry's sharp practices manipulating physician prescribing habits. An amendment stops the insurance industry from increasing premiums at the time when people are not permitted to change health plans; and finally an amendment imposing a requirement on insurance companies that they disclose the cost of advertising, marketing and executive compensation expenses (which generally divert money from patient care). Please make sure you post this message on your social networking site, ask all your friends to get involved and encourage everyone you know to sign up at http://www.Kucinich.us so we can build full momentum behind this movement for real health care. Let's do this! Dennis Kucinich

A SLAM-DUNK video moment from Michael Jackson's public memorial service

torrid_wind — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:11:59 GMT

There were other much more emotional moments at Michael Jackson's public memorial service at the Staple Center in Los Angeles yesterday. However, the SLAM-DUNK moment of the service was delivered by Reverend Al Sharpton. If you missed it, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MAKLq865bk If anyone missed Micheal Jackson's memorial service and want to see it without commentary from television commentators or even captions identifying people to take the stage at the service, you may see it on NYTimes.com (video courtesy of NBC): http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/arts/1194811622313/index.html?r=1386#1194841401033

...And, like THAT! - He was gone.

torrid_wind — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:59:45 GMT

Michael Jackson returned to the Essence. My heart has been reeling from this news, since yesterday afternoon. I think it's mostly the shock. I've been nostalgic and a bit sad since I heard the news. My siblings and I are the same ages as a few members of the Jackson 5. When the Jackson 5 became popular, I was in junior high school. Today, in between play periods on the Internet, I've been having an ongoing Michael Jackson DVD festival since last night. I watched part of Michael Jackson's Greatest Videos last night (until I realized I was dozing off). I finished watching it this afternoon. Then I put on Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour (from 1992). I finished watching that a few hours ago. What is vividly apparent in watching Michael Jackson perform to a live audience is not simply what a gifted performer he was, but the PHENOMENAL EXCITEMENT HE INSPIRED IN HIS FANS! Men and women singing along, crying, shrieking with adoration, young women fainting all through the concert (being passed hand to hand overhead by the fans to waiting paramedics in front of the stage - and being carried away on stretchers). I'd seen this type of hysteria during the height of Beatlemania in the sixties, but it was very limited by comparison. First, I only remember seeing white people in the Beatles' (television) audiences. Second, the Beatles first came to America in February, 1964. After touring practically non-stop all over the world for over two years, they gave their last live performance in Candlestick Park (San Francisco) in August, 1966. The band broke up in 1970. Out of the fifty years that Michael Jackson was with us, he constantly surpassed his own achievements in recording, record sales, and his incredible live performances - for forty years. Astonishing! As I watch his performances on DVD, I have to repeat to myself like a mantra, that he is gone. Yet, I realize I was very fortunate to have lived during his time on Earth. Many young people (age forty and younger) have grown up listening to Michael Jackson's music, yet never saw him perform. I was fortunate enough to have seen him three times. I saw the Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden (in 1970). I saw the Jacksons last tour, the Victory tour in 1984. I also saw Michael Jackson's Bad tour in 1986. He was simply astonishing.

Turning Point in History - By Mumia Abu-Jamal

torrid_wind — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:14:59 GMT

From: http://www.zmag.org/zspace/commentaries/3851 By Mumia Abu-Jamal May, 02 2009 As these words are being written, the G20 meeting is taking place in the world's second major banking city (London), and US president Barack Obama has arrived with a retinue not seen since an imperial king visited his dominions in the hinterlands, to impress upon the rabble the power and splendor of Empire. But, as always, looks can be deceiving, for the true princes wear no diadems, and sport no trains. They are the princes of Capital, and as Marx has aptly observed, they occupy the 'commanding heights' of economic power, and thus, the political leaders meet to kiss their rings, in private and in silence. But, for the last 5 months or so, those 'commanding heights' don't seem so commanding any more. As banks crumble overnight, and as long-term businesses and firms dissolve; as foreclosures gather speed, and unemployment rises like a thermometer in hell, capital's place hasn't seemed this insecure in several lifetimes. If we lived in a world ruled by logic and reason, it would appear that this should be the time of left ascendancy, when socialist ideas stormed the barricades of capital, sending their stone idols crashing to the earth. Yet, this is hardly our reality. Why, we wonder? It seems to me that some fundamentals need recounting here, as they've been no doubt through days of your panel and workshop meetings. Capital is like a vampire; it has many faces and many lives. In the last several decades, we've seen the erection of so-called think tanks, the well-capitalized repositories of court scholars, whose jobs it is to defend capitalist ideas and promote all manner of retrograde, anti-social and indeed, repressive ideas. Because of their wealth and influence, they have ready access to the mikes of media, and are thus able to amplify their volume and influence, and achieve the status of ubiquitous expert -- on all matters, big and small. Such figures such as these proved pivotal in the 2001 and 2002 selling of the Iraq War, and their voices peppered the aural universe like wallpaper, with claims that now seem quite ridiculous: "Americans will be greeted like liberators": "They'll toss flowers at our feet": "A garden of democracy will spring from our efforts", and the like. Now, of course, this was bull-manure, but the point is, it doesn't matter. They're back. Many are out of government, yet thanks to billions socked into the think tanks, they are a kind of shadow government, who still are able to bum rush the mike, now as think-tankers, immune from failure, for they have lifetime sinecures from capital. Not surprisingly, there is no left counterpoint (as far as I know). In part, I think, because the left doesn't possess the right's resources, or alternatively, such resources aren't utilized in this fashion. Thus, at a time when capital has come under serious question, few are the voices primed to offer any mass alternative, or if present, (as in this conference) how does it reach a mass audience? Or does it? We just saw a general election several months ago in which one party repeatedly tried to accuse the other of being "socialist." Of course, to a forum such as this, that's hardly a slur; but didn't you wish that the candidate really was a socialist? Of course, if he were, he could hardly have enjoyed the corporate largesse that made his candidacy possible (not to mention the support of the party apparatus). But, ultimately, it matters little what's at top, as long as folks at the bottom are mobilized and organized and militant in defense of their class and social interests. In a nutshell, there is no alternative to social movements. People should be crowding the streets in protest of the present economic situation, when bankers get hundreds of billions in public monies, and people get foreclosure notices, as well as lay-off slips, amid the terror of homelessness. But, as [Freidrich] Engels opined in the introduction to Marx's The Civil War in France (1871), "[T]he state is nothing else than a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed no less so in the democratic republic than in the monarchy" (26). In the Communist Manifesto,(150 anniversary edition (1998:Kerr Publ.) Marx reminds us that "The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing...the whole bourgeoisie" (14-15). That is, a democratic state is but an instrument of the bourgeoisie - nothing more, nothing less. Seen from this light, why should they not squander public wealth for private ends? Are they not tools of private wealth and influence? Social movements, movements of the masses of the people, break those links by forcing them to serve public needs with public resources - and to at least give a better show of serving their interests. We live in an era where wars are waged in the name of democracy, yet few institutions are as profoundly undemocratic as financial ones. The wealthy, in fact, the architects of economic ruin and failure, are [seen as] inherently worthy of multi-billion dollar bailouts - while the poor and unemployed deserve, at best, our sympathy; and at worst; our contempt. Those ways of thinking taint and poison our consciousness, and influence not only our thinking, but foreclose avenues of alternative resolutions. All around us, in the failing businesses, the joblessness, and the foreclosures which gave rise to homelessness, are proofs of capitalism's crises, which are growing as we speak. This is the essence of the business cycle - boom and bust; bust and boom. Wars in defense of corporate greed and industrial acquisition. More for the millionaires and billionaires - nothing for the many. What social condition could be better for our purposes? What more is needed to show that the present status quo is a recipe for more failure? This is a great opportunity that may not come again for generations - let us not waste it. Let us organize our movements with an eye towards the seriousness of the hour. For we live in an hour not seen since the 1930s, in a time when politicians owe their offices to the very forces of speculative capitalism that wrought this epic disaster, and thus are loath to go against their paymasters, even in a time of crisis. The epicenters of this economic earthquake are in New York and London, where the mortgage-trading scams originated and matured into new ways of creating great wealth. And in the capitals of both economic empires, the elected leaders, American President Barack Obama, and British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, fear the claim that they are socialists, and are thus hesitant to exert more than symbolic dominance over the banks that have demonstrated their inability to manage their own assets, not to mention the wealth of nations. Now is the time to organize, to expand our movements, to protest in our strength and our diversity, for if history teaches us anything, if the left fails to organize, the right will do so. I don't say this lightly, but as a result of my reading of a set of lectures delivered by the brilliant Marxist historian and revolutionary organizer, C.L.R. James, in Trinidad, during the summer of 1960. These were collected years later in Modern Politics (1973). James, speaking to Trinidad Public Library's Adult Education Program, discussed the pivotal turning point facing Germany in 1931-32. It was a period, he explained, in which the future of Europe would be decided. Here now, a direct quote from James: The German Communists got instruction from Moscow to let Hitler come into power. These things are very difficult to say to an audience that is not familiar with the material and cannot go to town tomorrow morning and buy books. I have brought here my own book, written in 1937. I have 52 pages (the Chairman will corroborate) on Germany in those days, and the title of the chapter is, "After Hitler Our Turn." That was the slogan of the German Communist Party in Germany from 1930 -1931 right up to the time that Hitler came into power in 1933. Let him come in. He will be a failure, and then we will make the revolution. They were the specific instructions of Stalin [p.58] My point here? If the Left fails to organize, the Right will do so. We are all at a critical turning point in American and world history. What happens next may depend on our efforts. Thank You! Ona Move! Long Live John Africa! From Death Row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal ************************************************ The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Mumia Abu-Jamal's appeal for a new trial based on racism in jury selection. The U.S Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will further consider the Philadelphia DA's appeal of the 2001/2008 rulings of two lower courts, which ruled that Abu-Jamal deserves a new sentencing hearing if the death penalty is to be re-instated. If the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of the DA, Abu-Jamal could be executed without a new sentencing hearing. In response, Abu-Jamal's lead attorney Robert R. Bryan will be filing a "petition for re-hearing" at the U.S. Supreme Court. Emergency meetings have been held in several cities to coordinate grassroots response, and over 3,000 people have signed an online petition <http://www.petitiononline.com/supreme/> in an effort coordinated by anti-death penalty activists. On Friday April 24 and 25, 2009 events were held in more than a dozen cities to organize and to celebrate the release of Mumia's new book with City Lights, JAILHOUSE LAWYERS. More info here:www.citylights.com <http://www.citylights.com/> Watch Angela Y. Davis speaking at the Oakland event on April 24, 2009 http://www.zmag.org/zvideo/3128 Listen to Mumia's response to the Supreme Court decision in an interview with Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. http://www.prisonradio.org/mumia_interview_4_6_09.htm Contact the White House to protest the unjust ruling www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT Emergency Rally | 4pm, Friday May 8th | 163 W. 125th St. in Harlem http://www.freemumia.com/may8.html Ongoing updates: http://www.freemumia.com/

Christopher Robin Coan (1989-2007)

torrid_wind — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:23:49 GMT

After 1.5 years, the body of Christopher Robin Coan (son of ArtistPriestess) has been found. He died in a single car accident less than twenty miles from his home. You may read his mother's blog entry and offer her your condolences (if you wish) at: http://people.tribe.net/artistpriestess/blog/992070c6-f184-4fa6-bd22-340559eb0741. “A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me.” – Kahlil Gibran (from The Prophet)

U.S. Boycotts Racism Conference

torrid_wind — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:29:41 GMT

The Obama administration said it will boycott the second World Conference Against Racism in Geneva April 20 - 25 because it feels a major document, the final statement of the conference, singles out Israel for too much criticism, among other concerns, a State Department spokesman said. "The current text of the draft outcome document is not salvageable," spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement. "As a result, the United States will not engage in further negotiations on this text, nor will we participate in a conference based on this text.” The administration also objected to any mention of reparations for slavery in the final document. The Racism Conference is a follow-up to the 2001 meeting held in Durban, South Africa where Israel came under heavy criticism from an overwhelming majority of world representatives, which caused both the U.S. and Israel to walk out. The Bush administration made the decision not to attend this second conference long ago but Obama opened the door for the U.S. to participate and appeared to be leaning in that direction. Both Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., and Samantha Power, the president’s advisor on foreign policy - and attendee at the first conference - were in strong support of attending the meeting. “The United Nations is indispensable,” Miss Rice said. However, Israel, and pro-Israel groups such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), fearing strong criticism for its treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza, lobbied hard for the administration to boycott the meeting, so hard that Obama gave in. A particular concern for Israel is being labeled a “racist” country by the world community. “President Obama’s decision not to send U.S. representatives to the April event is the right thing to do and underscores America’s unstinting commitment to combatting intolerance and racism in all its forms and in all settings,” AIPAC said in a statement. Human rights activists here and around the world were disappointed with the president's decision. The second World Conference Against Racism comes at a time when there is a well-documented world-wide rise in race based and ethnic based hate crimes. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed regret at the US pull out. “I appeal to all to uphold the consensually agreed objectives of the Durban Review Conference, and to bear in mind their importance to the millions of victims around the world,” she said. “I urge Member States to transcend their differences and to join efforts to confront racism and xenophobia.” —Sidney Brinkley From: http://www.blacklightonline.com/newsitems.html

HAPPY KWANZAA 2008! - Day Two: Dec 26th - Habare gani? - KUJICHAGULIA!

torrid_wind — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:57:59 GMT

Today, December 27th, is the Second Day of Kwanzaa! The Second Principle of Kwanzaa is: Kujichagulia (koo-jee-chah-goo-LEE-ah): Self-Determination - to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves. (Red Candle) Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Dec 27th: "Kujichagulia!" Find a meaningful way to instill Kujichagulia in your life today, and in the coming year. KNOW THYSELF! HAPPY KWANZAA "I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you…Because the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak. We can sit in our corners mute forever while our sisters and our selves are wasted, while our children are distorted and destroyed, while our earth is poisoned; we can sit in our safe corners mute as bottles, and we will still be no less afraid." - Audre Lorde (Peace Be Upon Her Forever) ******************************** "Nommo" to the Dogon people of Mali, West Africa means the magic power of the word. Words turned into moving images have a tremendous influence in the shaping of reality. Much of Black intellectual history is preoccupied with the principle of Nommo. We see it in the seriousness in which we address issues of naming and renaming ourselves. We see in reflected aesthetically, in our music...because ultimately...Nommo is not just the power of words, but the power of sound and thus.. the power of vibration. We see it in the ethnographic field work of Zora Neal Hurston... We see it in the proclamation of Baldwin.... Nobody Knows My Name We see it in the cinematic expression of Riggs' . . . "Tongues Untied".... We see it in the Admonishment to transform language into action by Audre Lorde.. Nommo is also a foundational principle of the Judeo-Christian tradition..."In the Beginning was the Word . . . " And I definitely see it through each of you, my Brothers.... Nommo is power...so keep on Speaking, writing, chanting, praying, naming yourselves, and evoking the names of the Universal power(s) of your understanding.... If every journey begins with a single step, then certainly the journey of social change begins with Nommo... Delighting in the Beauty of my Brothers Nebi...

HAPPY KWANZAA 2008! - Day One: Dec 26th - Habare gani? - UMOJA!

torrid_wind — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:54:20 GMT

Today, December 26th, is the First Day of Kwanzaa! The First Principle Kwanzaa is: UMOJA (oo-MOH-jah): Unity - to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race. (Black Candle) Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Dec 26th: "Umoja!" Find a meaningful way to instill Umoja in your life today, and in the coming year. In Oneness, I am your brother, Nasheed "Without community, there is no liberation." - Audre Lorde (1934-1992)

Goodbye and Good Riddance

torrid_wind — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:10:59 GMT

Tuesday 11 November 2008 by: Paul Waldman, The American Prospect After eight years of President Bush, we almost don't know how to function without him - almost. But before we move on, we should pause to remember just what we're leaving behind. Just over two years into George W. Bush's presidency, The American Prospect featured Bush on its cover under the headline, "The Most Dangerous President Ever." At the time, some probably thought it a bit over the top. But nearly six years later, it's worth taking a moment to reflect on the multifaceted burden that will soon be lifted from our collective shoulders. Since last week, I have stopped short and shaken my head in amazement every time I have heard the words "President-elect Obama." But it is equally extraordinary to consider that in just a few weeks, George W. Bush will no longer be our president. Let me repeat that: In just a few weeks, George W. Bush will no longer be our president. So though our long national ordeal isn't quite over, it's never too early to say goodbye. Goodbye, we can say at last, to the most powerful man in the world being such a ridiculous buffoon, incapable of stringing together two coherent sentences. Goodbye to cringing with dread every time our president steps onto the world stage, sure he'll say or do something to embarrass us all. Goodbye to being represented by a man who embodies everything our enemies want the people of the world to believe about America - that we are ignorant, cruel, and only care about foreign countries when we decide to stomp on them. Goodbye to his giggle, and his shoulder shake, and his nicknames. Goodbye to a president who talks to us like we're a nation of fourth-graders. And goodbye, of course, to Dick Cheney. Goodbye to the man whose naked contempt for democracy contorted his face to a permanent sneer, who spent his days in his undisclosed location with his man-sized safe. And while we're at it, goodbye to Cheney's consigliore David Addington, as malevolent a force as has ever left his trail of slime across our federal institutions. Goodbye, indeed, to the entire band of liars and crooks and thieves who have so sullied the federal government that belongs to us all. We can even say goodbye to those who have already gone, to Rummy and Scooter, to Fredo and Rove, tornados of misery left in their wake. Goodbye to the rotating cast of butchers manning the White House's legal abattoir, where the Constitution has been sliced and bled and gutted since September 11. Goodbye to the "unitary executive" theory and its claims that the president can do whatever he wants - even snatch an American citizen off the street and lock him up for life without charge, without legal representation, and without trial. Goodbye to the promiscuous use of "signing statements" (1,100 at last count) to declare that the law is whatever the president says it is, and that he'll enforce only those laws he likes. Goodbye to an executive branch that treats lawfully issued subpoenas like suggestions that can be ignored. Goodbye to thinking of John Ashcroft as the liberal attorney general. Goodbye to the culture of incompetence, where rebuilding a country we destroyed could be turned over to a bunch of clueless 20-somethings with no qualifications save an internship at the Heritage Foundation and an opposition to abortion. Goodbye to the "Brownie, you're doin' a heckuva job" philosophy, where vital agencies are turned over to incompetent boobs to rot and decay. Goodbye to handing out the Medal of Freedom as an award for engineering one of the greatest screw-ups of our time. Goodbye to an administration that welcomed gluttonous war profiteering, that was only too happy to outsource every government function it could to well-connected contractors who would do a worse job for more money. Goodbye to the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war. Goodbye to the lust for sending off other people's sons and daughters to fight and kill and die just to show your daddy you're a real man. Goodbye to playing dress-up in flight suits, goodbye to strutting and posing and desperate sexual insecurity as a driver of American foreign policy. Goodbye to the neocons, so sinister and deluded they beg us all to become fevered conspiracy theorists. Goodbye to Guantanamo and its kangaroo courts. Goodbye to the use of torture as official U.S. government policy, and goodbye to the immoral ghouls who think you can rename it "enhanced interrogation techniques" and render it any less monstrous. Goodbye to the accusation that if you disagree with what the president wants to do, you don't "support the troops." Goodbye to stocking government agencies with people who are opposed to the very missions those agencies are charged with carrying out. Goodbye to putting industry lobbyists in charge of the agencies that are supposed to regulate those very industries. Goodbye to madly giving away public lands to private interests. Goodbye to a Food and Drug Administration that acts like a wholly owned subsidiary of the pharmaceutical industry, except when it acts like a wholly owned subsidiary of the fundamentalist puritans who believe that sex is dirty and birth control will turn girls into sluts. Goodbye to the "global gag rule," which prohibits any entity receiving American funds from even telling women where they can get an abortion if they need it. Goodbye to vetoing health insurance for poor children but rushing back to Washington to sign a bill to keep alive a woman whose cerebral cortex had liquefied. Goodbye to the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. Goodbye to the philosophy that says that if we give tax cuts to the rich and keep the government from any oversight of the economy, prosperity will eventually trickle down. Goodbye to the thirst for privatizing Social Security and to the belief that the success of a social safety-net program is what makes it a threat and should mark it for destruction. Goodbye to the war on unions and to a National Labor Relations Board devoted to crushing them. Goodbye to the principle of loyalty above all else, that nominates Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and puts Alberto Gonzales in charge of the Justice Department. And goodbye to that Justice Department, the one where U.S. attorneys keep their jobs only if they are willing to undertake bogus investigations of Democrats timed to hit the papers just before Election Day. Goodbye to a Justice Department where graduates of Pat Robertson's law school roam the halls by the dozens, where "justice" is a joke. Goodbye to James Dobson and a host of radical clerics picking up the phone and hearing someone in the White House on the other end. Goodbye to the most consequential decisions being made on the basis of one man's "gut," a gut that proved so wrong so often. Goodbye to the contempt for evidence, to the scorn for intellect and book learnin', to the relentless war on science itself as a means of understanding the world. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye to it all. Though President Obama will be spending most of his time cleaning up the mess George Bush made, we probably won't have Dubya to kick around anymore. It's hard to imagine Bush undertaking some grand philanthropic effort on the scale of the Clinton Global Initiative, or hopping around to international trouble spots like Jimmy Carter. Republicans won't be asking him to speak on their behalf, and publishers are reportedly uninterested in the prospect of a Bush memoir. His reign of destruction complete, Bush will return to Texas and fill his days with the mundane activities of a retiree - puttering around the yard, reading some magazines, maybe enjoying that new Xbox Jenna gave him for Christmas ("I'm the Decider, and I decide to spend this afternoon playing Call of Duty 4"). This presidency is finally over. We can say goodbye to an administration whose misdeeds have piled so high that the size of the mountain no longer shocks us. In our lifetimes, we will see administrations of varying degrees of competence and integrity, some we'll agree with and some we won't. But we will probably never see another quite like the one now finally reaching its end, so mind-boggling a parade of incompetence and malice, dishonesty, and immorality. So at last - at long, long last - we can say goodbye. And good riddance. -------- Paul Waldman is a senior fellow at Media Matters for America and the author of "Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success." The views expressed here are his own. From: http://www.truthout.org/111208S

Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom (review)

torrid_wind — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:20:47 GMT

I ADORED Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom! The film was entertaining from start to finish. There is something about seeing a black gay film with a black gay audience that is thrilling. Unlike seeing movies where the audience is mixed (people of different races, old and young, poor and affluent, gay and straight, males/females and the transgendered, etc.) where the audience laughs or knows what's coming next at different points in the film, seeing a black gay movie with black gay audience heightens my enjoyment of these films. We hiss at the same times, explode in delirious laughter at other times, enjoy the love scenes together, and sometimes even contribute to making the entire audience erupt in laughter by saying something wickedly funny out loud at just the right moments. About eight years ago, I swore to myself that I wouldn't go to the movies anymore once the admission price reached $10 (Mind you, ticket prices were ALREADY $10 in NYC, but I was living in CT where the price was still $8). However, not only did I not mind paying $12 to see Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, I may very well go to see it again before it leaves area theaters. One final note, the film did record box office business for a gay film. The following quote is from Keith Boykin’s news blog site (http://thedailyvoice.com/): "Logo announced on Monday that its new romantic comedy Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, "soared" to the top of U.S. theatrical independent film box office with an estimated opening weekend gross of $161,302, or approximately $32,261 per screen. The per screen average was among the best of the year and makes it the highest grossing narrative gay film overall, according to IndieWire. The audience response to the film's opening weekend has prompted the company to add screens for the film's second weekend. "The stellar box office for Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom says as much about the intense loyalty of Noah's avid fan base as it does about ticket sales," said Lisa Sherman, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Logo." In a word, I found the film "delicious".

Gay Pride Photos from Around the World

torrid_wind — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:45:57 GMT

I enjoyed this slide show. It features 184 photos from Gay Pride Parades around the world this weekend. Several countries were openly celebrating Gay Pride for the very first time. Even the photos of the riot police in action restraining right wing extremists from violently disrupting Gay Pride Celebrations in several countries were uplifting to view. Check it out: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/-Gay-Pride-Parades/ss/events/wl/062908gaypride/s:/ap/20080630/ap_on_re_us/gay_pride;_ylt=Ao263BVbxXKdBsb88UIUDgRH2ocA

Tell Congress: Show some self-respect!

torrid_wind — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:57:00 GMT

Peace be upon you: In the coming weeks, we are going to find out whether members of Congress have any respect for the institution they represent. We will see whether they have the courage to stand up to the Bush administration and defend the Constitution they took an oath to protect. Specifically, we will discover whether they are willing to take the measures necessary to ensure that Bush administration officials testify before Congress. On July 10, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to investigate the firings of nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006 and the questionable prosecution and imprisonment of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman. Karl Rove, a potentially key figure in both incidents, has been issued a subpoena to testify before the committee. Rove’s lawyer has said that Rove will not appear. Congress has a few options here. First, if Rove fails to appear, they could pass criminal contempt charges against him, as they did against White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers. This is good, but will not result in immediate testimony. The second option is to have Karl Rove arrested, under the theory of inherent contempt, and brought to Congress to testify. This is better, but may still be eventually unsatisfying if Rove ends up testifying yet asserts executive privilege repeatedly in order to avoid disclosing important information. Another option -- which probably has the most potential for effectively compelling testimony -- is to tell the president immediately that he will be impeached if members of his administration do not provide full testimony before Congress by a date certain in July. This has historical precedent as one of the three articles of impeachment ultimately brought against President Richard Nixon was based on his refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas. THIS IS THE OPTION I SUPPORT. The final option is to do nothing and set a precedent for the future by which any administration can claim that Congress does not have the ability to force executive branch officials to testify before Congress. This would be an affront to our Constitution and Congress is dancing perilously close to this line already. We cannot allow Congress to become subservient to the executive branch. It must exert its oversight authority and force administration officials to testify. That is why I just sent an email from the American Freedom Campaign Action Fund Web site, urging my U.S. representative to take whatever steps are necessary to compel testimony. Please join me by using the following link: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25061 Thank you for joining me in this effort. I am your brother. Nasheed

Happy Birthday to El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz (aka Malcolm X)! He would have been 83 years wise today had he not been assassinated.

torrid_wind — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:59:36 GMT

El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz (1925-1965) was known as Malcolm X before leaving the Nation of Islam, renouncing his former teacher Elijah Muhammad and accepting Islam. Islam, as he himself was surprised to discover is a universal religion inviting all people, regardless of color, national origin or sex to come together as One people to worship One God. Today, in celebration of his birthday, I'd like to share a few quotations of our Beloved Brother Minister Malik El Shabazz that have inspired me since I was a teenager and hold no less inspiration for me today. Malik El Shabazz was a master-teacher. He was not known (outside of the African-American community for fiery sound bites, but for delivering powerful lessons to people struggling under the boot of an oppressor world-wide. His approach at the pulpit or podium was professorial. He came prepared with diagrams, maps and other visual aids to help people understand the depth and breadth of all the knowledge, wisdom and understanding he wished to share with us. We were SO BLESSED to have him even for a little while. I dare not ask myself the question where would we be without him. At age sixteen, he was my very first towering hero (outside of my parents). His stance, his defiance of black people continuing to be victims of oppression and horrific violence, political pawns and less than full American citizens were all compelling. His broad smile convinced me, as I'm sure it did for many others as well, that this man KNEW SOMETHING that made him seem to stand more erect than most men. He was the closest thing to a father of generations of African-American people of all ages. More than any other, this was the man I choose to emulate in my first wobbly attempts to walk like a man. If you should leave a comment on this blog entry today and you have a quotation of Brother Malcolm that is not included in the (much) abbreviated list I've listed below, please post the ones you have. Let all who leave comments depart with the feeling that they have just left a flower, a candle or some burning incense at this special place where we pay tribute to the Soul of this magnificent man. Peace Be Upon the Soul Known as El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz Forever. May Allah Bless him and Keep him. **************** "Anytime you beg another man to set you free, you will never be free. Freedom is something you have to do for yourself." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "Don't struggle only within the ground rules that the people you are struggling against have laid down; why, this is insane.” - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "Policies change, programs change, according to time. But objectives never change. You might change your method of achieving the objective, but the objective never changes. Our objective is complete freedom, complete justice, complete equality, by any means necessary." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "If you're not ready to die for it, take the word "freedom" out of your vocabulary." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come to Selma to make his job difficult. I really did come thinking I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King." - El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz, in conversation with Coretta Scott King (February 1965), as quoted in My life with MLK, Jr. (1969), page 256 "Did the Zionists have the legal or moral right to invade Arab Palestine, uproot its Arab citizens from their homes and seize all Arab property for themselves just based on the "religious" claim that their forefathers lived there thousands of years ago? Only a thousand years ago the Moors lived in Spain. Would this give the Moors of today the legal and moral right to invade the Iberian Peninsula, drive out its Spanish citizens, and then set up a new Moroccan nation ... where Spain used to be, as the European zionists have done to our Arab brothers and sisters in Palestine?..." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "It is impossible for capitalism to survive, primarily because the system of capitalism needs some blood to suck. Capitalism used to be like an eagle, but now it's more like a vulture. It used to be strong enough to go and suck anybody's blood whether they were strong or not. But now it has become more cowardly, like the vulture, and it can only suck the blood of the helpless. As the nations of the world free themselves, capitalism has less victims, less to suck, and it becomes weaker and weaker. It's only a matter of time in my opinion before it will collapse completely…." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "I do believe that there will be a clash between East and West. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the systems of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don't think that it will be based upon the color of the skin…." - El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz (1925-1965), January 1965 "You can't have capitalism without racism." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in America and the bad ones are the ones who seem to have all the power and be in these positions to block things that you and I need. Because this is the situation, you and I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't even call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "I've had enough of someone else's propaganda. I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I am for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "The political philosophy of black nationalism means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "You can't drive a knife into a man's back nine inches, pull it out six inches, and call it progress." - Malcolm X (1925-1965) "This religion (Islam) recognizes all men as brothers. It accepts all human beings as equals before God, and as equal members in the Human Family of Mankind. I totally reject Elijah Muhammad's racist philosophy, which he has labeled 'Islam' only to fool and misuse gullible people as he fooled and misused me. But I blame only myself, and no one else for the fool that I was, and the harm that my evangelical foolishness on his behalf has done to others." - El-Hajj Malik El Shabazz (1925-1965)

Alice Walker on Obama

torrid_wind — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:03:52 GMT

LEST WE FORGET, An Open Letter To My Sisters Who Are Brave From Alice Walker I have come home from a long stay in Mexico to find – because of the presidential campaign, and especially because of the Obama/Clinton race for the Democratic nomination - a new country existing alongside the old. On any given day we, collectively, become the Goddess of the Three Directions and can look back into the past, look at ourselves just where we are, and take a glance, as well, into the future. It is a space with which I am familiar. When I was born in 1944 my parents lived on a middle Georgia plantation that was owned by a white distant relative, Miss* May Montgomery. She would never admit to this relationship, of course, except to mock it. Told by my parents that several of their children would not eat chicken skin she responded that Of course they would not. No Montgomerys would. My parents and older siblings did everything imaginable for Miss May. They planted and raised her cotton and corn, fed and killed and processed her cattle and hogs, painted her house, patched her roof, ran her dairy, and, among countless other duties and responsibilities my father was her chauffeur, taking her anywhere she wanted to go at any hour of the day or night. She lived in a large white house with green shutters and a green, luxuriant lawn: not quite as large as Tara of Gone With the Wind fame, but in the same style. We lived in a shack without electricity or running water, under a rusty tin roof that let in wind and rain. Miss May went to school as a girl. The school my parents and their neighbors built for us was burned to the ground by local racists who wanted to keep ignorant their competitors in tenant farming. During the Depression, desperate to feed his hardworking family, my father asked for a raise from ten dollars a month to twelve. Miss May responded that she would not pay that amount to a white man and she certainly wouldn't pay it to a nigger. That before she'd pay a nigger that much money she'd milk the dairy cows herself. When I look back, this is part of what I see. I see the school bus carrying white children, boys and girls, right past me, and my brothers, as we trudge on foot five miles to school. Later, I see my parents struggling to build a school out of discarded army barracks while white students, girls and boys, enjoy a building made of brick. We had no books; we inherited the cast off books that "Jane" and "Dick" had previously used in the all-white school that we were not, as black children, permitted to enter. The year I turned fifty, one of my relatives told me she had started reading my books for children in the library in my home town. I had had no idea – so kept from black people it had been – that such a place existed. To this day knowing my presence was not wanted in the public library when I was a child I am highly uncomfortable in libraries and will rarely, unless I am there to help build, repair, refurbish or raise money to keep them open, enter their doors. *During my childhood it was necessary to address all white girls as "Miss" when they reached the age of twelve. When I joined the freedom movement in Mississippi in my early twenties it was to come to the aid of sharecroppers, like my parents, who had been thrown off the land they'd always known, the plantations, because they attempted to exercise their "democratic" right to vote. I wish I could say white women treated me and other black people a lot better than the men did, but I cannot. It seemed to me then and it seems to me now that white women have copied, all too often, the behavior of their fathers and their brothers, and in the South, especially in Mississippi, and before that, when I worked to register voters in Georgia, the broken bottles thrown at my head were gender free. I made my first white women friends in college; they were women who loved me and were loyal to our friendship, but I understood, as they did, that they were white women and that whiteness mattered. That, for instance, at Sarah Lawrence, where I was speedily inducted into the Board of Trustees practically as soon as I graduated, I made my way to the campus for meetings by train, subway and foot, while the other trustees, women and men, all white, made their way by limo. Because, in our country, with its painful history of unspeakable inequality, this is part of what whiteness means. I loved my school for trying to make me feel I mattered to it, but because of my relative poverty I knew I could not. I am a supporter of Obama because I believe he is the right person to lead the country at this time. He offers a rare opportunity for the country and the world to start over, and to do better. It is a deep sadness to me that many of my feminist white women friends cannot see him. Cannot see what he carries in his being. Cannot hear the fresh choices toward Movement he offers. That they can believe that millions of Americans –black, white, yellow, red and brown - choose Obama over Clinton only because he is a man, and black, feels tragic to me. When I have supported white people, men and women, it was because I thought them the best possible people to do whatever the job required. Nothing else would have occurred to me. If Obama were in any sense mediocre, he would be forgotten by now. He is, in fact, a remarkable human being, not perfect but humanly stunning, like King was and like Mandela is. We look at him, as we looked at them, and are glad to be of our species. He is the change America has been trying desperately and for centuries to hide, ignore, kill. The change America must have if we are to convince the rest of the world that we care about people other than our (white) selves. True to my inner Goddess of the Three Directions however, this does not mean I agree with everything Obama stands for. We differ on important points probably because I am older than he is, I am a woman and person of three colors, (African, Native American, European), I was born and raised in the American South, and when I look at the earth's people, after sixty-four years of life, there is not one person I wish to see suffer, no matter what they have done to me or to anyone else; though I understand quite well the place of suffering, often, in human growth. I want a grown-up attitude toward Cuba, for instance, a country and a people I love; I want an end to the embargo that has harmed my friends and their children, children who, when I visit Cuba, trustingly turn their faces up for me to kiss. I agree with a teacher of mine, Howard Zinn, that war is as objectionable as cannibalism and slavery; it is beyond obsolete as a means of improving life. I want an end to the on-going war immediately and I want the soldiers to be encouraged to destroy their weapons and to drive themselves out of Iraq. I want the Israeli government to be made accountable for its behavior towards the Palestinians, and I want the people of the United States to cease acting like they don't understand what is going on. All colonization, all occupation, all repression basically looks the same, whoever is doing it. Here our heads cannot remain stuck in the sand; our future depends of our ability to study, to learn, to understand what is in the records and what is before our eyes. But most of all I want someone with the self-confidence to talk to anyone, "enemy" or "friend,” and this Obama has shown he can do. It is difficult to understand how one could vote for a person who is afraid to sit and talk to another human being. When you vote you are making someone a proxy for yourself; they are to speak when, and in places, you cannot. But if they find talking to someone else, who looks just like them, human, impossible, then what good is your vote? It is hard to relate what it feels like to see Mrs. Clinton (I wish she felt self-assured enough to use her own name) referred to as "a woman" while Barack Obama is always referred to as "a black man." One would think she is just any woman, colorless, race-less, past-less, but she is not. She carries all the history of white womanhood in America in her person; it would be a miracle if we, and the world, did not react to this fact. How dishonest it is, to attempt to make her innocent of her racial inheritance. I can easily imagine Obama sitting down and talking, person to person, with any leader, woman, man, child or common person, in the world, with no baggage of past servitude or race supremacy to mar their talks. I cannot see the same scenario with Mrs. Clinton who would drag into Twenty-First Century American leadership the same image of white privilege and distance from the reality of others' lives that has so marred our country's contacts with the rest of the world. And yes, I would adore having a woman president of the United States. My choice would be Representative Barbara Lee, who alone voted in Congress five years ago not to make war on Iraq. That to me is leadership, morality, and courage; if she had been white I would have cheered just as hard. But she is not running for the highest office in the land, Mrs. Clinton is. And because Mrs. Clinton is a woman and because she may be very good at what she does, many people, including some younger women in my own family, originally favored her over Obama. I understand this, almost. It is because, in my own nieces' case, there is little memory, apparently, of the foundational inequities that still plague people of color and poor whites in this country. Why, even though our family has been here longer than most North American families – and only partly due to the fact that we have Native American genes – we very recently, in my lifetime, secured the right to vote, and only after numbers of people suffered and died for it. When I offered the word "Womanism" many years ago, it was to give us a tool to use, as feminist women of color, in times like these. These are the moments we can see clearly, and must honor devotedly, our singular path as women of color in the United States. We are not white women and this truth has been ground into us for centuries, often in brutal ways. But neither are we inclined to follow a black person, man or woman, unless they demonstrate considerable courage, intelligence, compassion and substance. I am delighted that so many women of color support Barack Obama -and genuinely proud of the many young and old white women and men who do. Imagine, if he wins the presidency we will have not one but three black women in the White House; one tall, two somewhat shorter; none of them carrying the washing in and out of the back door. The bottom line for most of us is: With whom do we have a better chance of surviving the madness and fear we are presently enduring, and with whom do we wish to set off on a journey of new possibility? In other words, as the Hopi elders would say: Who do we want in the boat with us as we head for the rapids? Who is likely to know how best to share the meager garden produce and water? We are advised by the Hopi elders to celebrate this time, whatever its adversities. We have come a long way, Sisters, and we are up to the challenges of our time. One of which is to build alliances based not on race, ethnicity, color, nationality, sexual preference or gender, but on Truth. Celebrate our journey. Enjoy the miracle we are witnessing. Do not stress over its outcome. Even if Obama becomes president, our country is in such ruin it may well be beyond his power to lead us toward rehabilitation. If he is elected however, we must, individually and collectively, as citizens of the planet, insist on helping him do the best job that can be done; more, we must insist that he demand this of us. It is a blessing that our mothers taught us not to fear hard work. Know, as the Hopi elders declare: The river has its destination. And remember, as poet June Jordan and Sweet Honey in the Rock never tired of telling us: We are the ones we have been waiting for. Namasté; And with all my love, Alice Walker Cazul Northern California First Day of Spring March 21, 2008

some time away from Tribe...

torrid_wind — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 13:02:34 GMT

My last blog post was (hopefully) the beginning of a turning point for me. I've needed to take some time away from Tribe. A wave is moving through me in the inner world. I'm not sure yet whether it's just passing through or if it will crest, break and bum-rush my life with newness and much needed Change. I peek in from time to time. I'll be back (insha Allah) ("by the Grace of Allah").

Reflecting on two quotes by Rainer Maria Rilke - Please allow me to share my STRESS!

torrid_wind — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:49:10 GMT

If the following two quotes of Rilke's are even remotely true, I'm in trouble. My nature/personality is practically the antithesis of these quotes on ADVERSITY [My comments are in parenthesis after each quote and in the summation at the bottom]: "He who does not at some time, with definite determination consent to the terribleness of life, or even exalt in it, never takes possession of the inexpressible fullness of the power of our existence." - Rainer Maria Rilke (from "Selected Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke) -- [Consent to the terribleness of life? Exalt in it even? I resolutely ABHOR the injustices and miseries of life.] "What is required of us is that we love the difficult and learn to deal with it. In the difficult are the friendly forces, the hands that work on us. Right in the difficult we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams: there against the depth of this background, they stand out, there for the first time we see how beautiful they are." - Rainer Maria Rilke (from "Selected Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke) -- [LOVE the difficult? Knowing that I must coexist with the difficult, I only seek to withdraw from any unnecessary contact with the difficult!! (Please stand back. I think my f**king head is about to explode!) LOVE the difficult?] On http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismdhikrlove.html it is said: "For the Sufi who is enraptured with the love of God (who is the source of all existence, or, as some might say, who is all of existence), all of existence is extraordinarily beautiful. In contrast, one who is not in love with God to this degree will not see what is so awesome about existence..." I am surely being worn out by the "terribleness of life". I find it all overwhelming (and ever-increasing in the world). The beauty of existence is more inadequate than I have words, time or the means to tell. I am not in love with God. I am merely inspired by the IDEA that by being completely enraptured with the love of God, as those mystics who are my heroes have, will enable me to "see what is so awesome about existence..." Am I doomed or merely on a very slow learning curve?

the thread that holds them all together...

torrid_wind — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 14:15:27 GMT

Today, January 1st, is the Seventh and Last Day of Kwanzaa! This is the Day of Meditation. The Seventh Principle of Kwanzaa is: Imani (ee-MAH-nee): Faith - believing that a better world can be created for communities now and in the future. (Green Candle) "IMANI is the seventh principle of Kwanzaa. Seven is a number that represents God. IMANI means faith. IMANI/Faith is belief in yourself. IMANI/Faith is the certainty of a positive outcome with which you set out to face desperate circumstances. IMANI/Faith restores health. IMANI/Faith frees you to trust your smallest intuition. IMANI/Faith is power. IMANI is a power from within. IMANI is the confidence others have in you & your abilities long before you have proven yourself. IMANI/Faith equals us to any task. IMANI/Faith is refusing to doubt yourself, your brother, your sister and your good outcomes. In this New Year of 2008, release yourself from the fear of failure in expressing your talents and pursuing your dreams. BREATHE DEEPLY OFTEN and use IMANI to reject fear. UMOJA, KUJICHAULIA, UJIMA, UJAMAA, NIA and KUUMBA are noble thoughts. IMANI is the thread which holds them all together." - Nasheed Abdul-Wakil Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Jan 1st: "Imani!" Find a meaningful way to instill Imani in your life today, and in the coming year. "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." ~ Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) "The most disastrous aspect of colonization which you are the most reluctant to release from your mind is their colonization of the image of God." - Dr. Frances Cress-Welsing

let's all pull together at once (Harambee)...

torrid_wind — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:49:19 GMT

Today, December 31st, is the Sixth Day of Kwanzaa! The Fourth Principle of Kwanzaa is: Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah): Creativity - to do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it. (Red Candle) Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Dec 31st: "Kuumba!" Find a meaningful way to instill Kuumba in your life today, and in the coming year. "Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change—it can not only move us, it makes us move." - Ossie Davis, Actor (1917-2005)

what are you doing for others? what is your PURPOSE?

torrid_wind — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 08:48:58 GMT

Today, December 30th, is the Fifth Day of Kwanzaa! The Fifth Principle of Kwanzaa is: Nia (NEE-ah): Purpose - setting goals that benefit the community. (Green Candle) Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Dec 30th : "Nia!" Find a meaningful way to instill Nia in your life today, and in the coming year. HAPPY KWANZAA! In Oneness, I Am. Nasheed "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the creative light of altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life's persistent and most urgent question is 'What are you doing for others?" - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (1929-1968)

nobody can get there unless everybody gets there...

torrid_wind — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:14:57 GMT

Today, December 29th, is the Fourth Day of Kwanzaa! The Fourth Principle of Kwanzaa is: Ujamaa (oo-jah-MAH): Cooperative Economics - to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together. (Red Candle) "...If we fail to support our own people, we are leaving our fate in the hands of other people. This gives them power over us, which can and has been used to hurt us and hinder us. Black professionals are as dedicated and skilled as their white counterparts, if not more. They have to be in order to survive in the hostile environment we create for our own people by treating them as if their service is inferior. There are times when Black professionals must charge higher prices to provide services, but only because they do not receive the patronage of Black customers. If we supported ourselves the way we supported the white men who laugh at us, we would have stronger communities. There would be more Black doctors, and they would be able to afford better equipment to provide better services. These services are no good to our community if they are only available outside our community. If we would shop at Black-owned businesses, white businesses would give us more respect because they would not take our money for granted." - Supporting Black Businesses [http://www.straightblack.com/culture/African-American-Articles/Supporting-Black-Businesses.html] Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Dec 29th : "Ujamaa!" Find a meaningful way to instill Ujamaa in your life today, and in the coming year. HAPPY KWANZAA! "Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there." ~ Virginia Burden (author of "The Process of Intuition")

...ONE as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress

torrid_wind — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:42:20 GMT

THE VALUES OF KWANZAA There is no way to understand and appreciate the meaning and message of Kwanzaa without understanding and appreciating its profound and pervasive concern with values. In fact. Kwanzaa's reason for existence, its length of seven days, its core focus and its foundation are all rooted in its concern with values. Kwanzaa inherits this value concern and focus from Kawaida, the African philosophical framework in which it was created. Kawaida philosophy is a communitarian African philosophy which is an ongoing synthesis of the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world. Today, December 28th, is the Third Day of Kwanzaa! The Third Principle of Kwanzaa is: Ujima (oo-JEE-mah): Collective Work and Responsibility - to build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together. (Green Candle) "Many hands make light work." Large tasks become small when divided among several people. Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Dec 28th: "Ujima!" Find a meaningful way to instill Ujima in your life today, and in the coming year. "In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress." ~ Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

your silence will not protect you...

torrid_wind — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:54:55 GMT

Today, December 27th, is the Second Day of Kwanzaa! The Second Principle of Kwanzaa is: KUJICHAGULIA (koo-jee-chah-goo-LEE-ah): Self-Determination - to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves. (Red Candle) Traditional Greeting: "Habare gani?" Response on Dec 27th: "Kujichagulia!" Find a meaningful way to instill Kujichagulia in your life today, and in the coming year. KNOW THYSELF! Happy Kwanzaa!!! :-) "I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you…Because the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak. We can sit in our corners mute forever while our sisters and our selves are wasted, while our children are distorted and destroyed, while our earth is poisoned; we can sit in our safe corners mute as bottles, and we will still be no less afraid." - Audre Lorde (Peace Be Upon Her Forever)

I cast my arms wide...

torrid_wind — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 08:13:21 GMT

HAPPY KWANZAA! The foundation of Kwanzaa are the Seven Principles, or Nguzo Saba. When Dr. Karenga created the celebration of Kwanzaa he wanted to reflect the best qualities and characteristics of the "first fruit" or harvest festivals that were celebrated throughout Africa. It was these these qualities that established the Nguzo Saba, or Seven Principles of Kwanzaa. (Nguzo Saba is Kiswahili for Seven Principles) Today, December 26th, is the First Day of Kwanzaa! Traditional greeting: Habare gani? (What's the news? What's happening?) Response on Dec 26: UMOJA! The First Principle Kwanzaa is: Umoja (oo-MOH-jah): Unity - to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race. (Black Candle) Find a meaningful way to instill Umoja in your life today, and in the coming year. "Policies change, programs change, according to time. But objectives never change. You might change your method of achieving the objective, but the objective never changes. Our objective is complete freedom, complete justice, complete equality, by any means necessary." - Malcolm X

this looks like hopeful news...

torrid_wind — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:26:56 GMT

This looks like hopeful news. Perhaps Tribe isn't going to bite the dust after all... Announcement delayed We're going to put out an announcement about the future of tribe.net in the next day or so. I was hoping to do it first thing this morning, but I have been working on some codebase changes that I wanted to announce and they aren't quite done with testing yet. Be patient, it's probably less than a day a away. Sing that song from Annie! posted in Tribe.net Company Blog - 0 replies Mon, November 26, 2007 - 8:31 AM