Banking profits and USA investment security -- communism socialism marxism exploitation? power!

Brazil, a Nation Divided Between North and South, Middle Class and Masses
Written by Raúl Zibechi    Thursday, 30 November 2006

On October 29, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the second round of Brazil's
presidential elections with more than 60% of the vote. A large portion of
Brazilians, including several leftwing critics, believe that Lula's second
term (2007-2010) will center more on development than the first term,
model itself less after the demands of the market, and move closer to the
social movements.

The facts are clear: the poor, the black, and those with less education
won Lula the presidency. The middle class, elite, academics, and the white
voted for Geraldo Alckmin, the social democracy candidate who represents
the traditional right. In geographical terms, the division was equally
clear.

The first four years of Lula's administration created a radical change in
the population's voting preference, in large part because social policies
have favored the poorest while several reforms have marginalised the
middle and working classes. But the unknowns surrounding Lula's next
administration will become clear over the next few weeks as he announces
his cabinet. The primary struggle is over the economy, where there are at
least two opposing forces. Brazil's political scene is marked by a strong
rivalry between the elite class and social movements, the results of which
will set the course for South America's largest country.The Renewed Power
of the Elite

Compared with the elections of 2002, the Party of Workers (PT, for the
Portuguese initials) lost 2.1 million votes. This is a 13% decrease, from
16,094,000 votes four years ago to 15,990,000. It obtained only 83 seats
of the 513 that make up the House of Representatives, whereas four years
ago it held 91. The primary losses suffered by the PT occurred in the
south (22% loss) and the southeast (23% loss), where it lost almost one
million votes. In the state of São Paulo - the wealthiest, most powerful,
and most populous in the country - the PT lost a million votes, a 21%
loss. However, it grew in the northeast (up 13%) and the north (up 31%),
the poorest regions of the country.The opposition maintained their
positions: The social democrats (PSDB) held 65 seats and the right (PFL)
another 65. The center right (PMDB) is the largest legislative group with
89 representatives, some of whom will make alliances with the PT. In the
Senate, the outlook is even worse for the left: the PT gained only 11
senate seats, compared with 15 for the PMDB, 16 for the PSDB, and 18 for
the PFL, out of total of 81. Once more, the Lula administration will have
to establish alliances with small parties of the left and the center right
in order to govern.The electoral map reveals a divided country. The north
and northeast voted for the left, the south and southeast (the wealthiest
party of the country) voted for the right. But the PT will not control any
of the country's three largest states (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and
Minas Gerais). It also lost in the emblematic Porto Alegre, the capital of
Rio Grande do Sul, but it won in Bahia, a bastion of the traditional
right. The PT will not hold the majority of governorships, though it can
count on support from several governors belonging to the PMDB.In terms of
social sectors, significant changes have taken place. Afro-descendants,
which make up 47% of the 187-million population, voted strongly for Lula.
A poll released by DataFolha just before the second round of voting showed
that 63% of blacks favored Lula for the October 29 elections. Only 29%
indicated they would vote for Alckmin. Mestizos (or "pardos," as they are
called in Brazil) favored Lula over Alckmin by 54% to 40%. Among whites
the proportions were reversed: 51% favored the right while 42% supported
Lula.(1) These numbers are not, however, reflected in the congressional
makeup: according to predictions, afro-descendants will hold only 20 seats
out of a total of 513 representatives and 81 senators. The president of
the NGO Fala Preta (Black Talk), Deise Benedito, a defender of the rights
of the black population, especially women, argues that "the majority of
black parliamentarians are not committed to the cause of racial equality,"
and "black candidates do not, within their parties, make use of the same
financial and other types of support utilised by the whites."The
discrepancy between the parliamentary makeup and the social reality of
Brazil is abysmal and only serves to impede real change from taking place.
"One out of every three representatives elected is a millionaire," reports
the daily publication Folha de S. Paulo.(2) According to a report by the
same publication, 165 representatives report capital worth of over one
million reais (US$ 460 thousand). The average capital worth of those
"millionaires" is one million dollars, but the publication points out "it
is impossible to know if these declarations (of income) are consistent
with reality." During the next four years, the House will have 49 more
millionaires than the previous Congress, which only had 116, a fact that
reveals the growing influence of the elite over public office. In terms of
party makeup, the rightwing party PFL has 38 millionaires (more than half
of its representatives), the PMDB has 37, and the social democrats have
21. The PT has only six millionaires out of its 81 representatives. The
majority of the millionaire parliamentarians come from the southeast (62),
with São Paulo leading the crowd with 29, followed by Minas Gerais with
25.There is also a correlation between parliamentary members and ownership
of media conglomerates. A third of senators and more than 10% of
representatives (80 total) control radio or television stations, according
to a study carried out by the Institute for Communications Research and
Investigation.(3) This fact proves to be crucial, since winning an
election requires large investments in propaganda and publicity - a
formidable task for anyone who does not own or have ties with those who
own communications media. Virtually all members of parliament who own
communication channels belong to the right or center, which explains why
the media waged a massive campaign against Lula, forcing a second round of
elections when the president failed to procure 50% of the votes on October
1st.The social composition of the Brazilian parliament reflects the type
of policies pursued during the neoliberal decade of the '90s, which have
been continued and strengthened by Lula. In spite of social policies that
transferred $13 billion to the poor over the last four years, the banking
sector reaped its highest profits in history over the same period. Soaring
interest rates allowed the rich to continue amassing wealth, and the
concentration of wealth continued unabated in a country already considered
to have the biggest gap between the rich and the poor in the world. It
appears that under Lula, Brazil's elite have consolidated and increased
their power, a fact that is reflected in the congressional
makeup.Nevertheless, the power of the political oligarchy that began with
the military regime following the 1964 coup has visibly deteriorated.
According to Claudio Lembo, conservative PFL governor of the state of São
Paulo, "We are witnessing the biological end of a cycle of oligarchies
born during the military regime. We experienced its political demise with
democratization. Now we are experiencing its biological demise."(4) The
analysis of Lembo is one of the most interesting to come from an
intellectual of the right. He points out, "The military regime was a
centralised power, distributing goods among its friends across the
country. Since there was no rule of law or respect for the law, the
government could do whatever it wanted to help out its friends and local
allies. It was thus that the oligarchies came into existence and gained
power." The result was powerful political dynasties that controlled the
poorest states, such as Bahia, Pernambuco, and Maranhão, but also the
richest, like Santa Catarina, São Paulo, and others.These oligarchies came
to control state apparatuses and distributed favors in exchange for votes,
constructing a powerful system of clientelism that did not address the
problems of their constituents. The oligarchies impeded the
democratization of the country. But in the opinion of Lembo, "the
oligarchies will not disappear entirely," but rather, new ones are forming
through the vote. In any case, because Brazil has established a stronger
system of laws and regulations, "the distribution of favors and kickbacks
is slower. The cycle is being renewed, but it is not the same." These
changes have put these old family dynasties, which have controlled some
states ever since the first true democratic elections in 1989, in retreat.
The victory of PT candidate Jacques Wagner in Bahia, a state controlled by
the conservative Antonio Carlos Magalhães since the military dictatorship,
demonstrates this trend. What is occurring is a slow but steady process of
democratization of society, without which change - political, social,
cultural, and economic - could not take place.The Pressure of Social
Movements

"The Palocci era is over," pronounced Brazil's Minister of Institutional
Relations, Tarso Genro, in reference to the former Finance Minister, who
imposed a neoliberal agenda of strong fiscal surplus and cuts in social
spending. Immediately, Lula himself contradicted his own minister, saying
that Palocci's work has strengthened the economy, in spite of the fact
that the country is registering low levels of growth. In Latin America,
Brazil's low growth rate is trailed only by Haiti.PT leader Márcio Pochman
believes "the Finance Minstry is in the middle of a fierce battle." On the
one hand, there is the current minister Guido Mantega who "is moving
toward sectors and leaders with a more developmentalist attitude, like
Chief of Civic Affairs, Dilma Rousseff. On the other, we have Palocci
doing the same thing but with the opposite goal, to give the ministry the
appearance it had under his leadership."(5) In his opinion, it is Lula who
will set the economic tone of the future government. "Lula is very
pragmatic, and will choose a safe path based on the political backing he
manages to acquire as well as on the result of the correlation of forces."
He predicts the pressure of the market will be strong enough to force a
preliminary reform, which will be the first in a series of reforms during
the second term.The position being adopted by the social movements is
different. The Movement of Landless Workers (MST) presented an analysis of
the electoral results and explained why during the second round it chose
to mobilize in favor of Lula. Together with other movements, like the
Coordination of Social Movements and Via Campesino, it decided that after
the first round, "it was possible at that time to promote a serious debate
of ideas, political projects, and class struggles."(6) Nevertheless, they
point out the necessity for social movements to "maintain their autonomy,
develop theory, and mobilise." The strategy was to create the political
conditions necessary to promote economic development and redistribution of
wealth, which in the opinion of MST, requires "a break from the economic
policy of neoliberalism, and above all, a confrontation with the powerful
interests that hold monopolies on land (rural and urban), channels of
communication, and the financial system."The MST argues that a true
political reform will have to take place to create new avenues for popular
participation, on the path to "building grassroots struggles to construct
unified forces around a new project for the country." Movements agree that
under Lula's second term they will have to make their voices heard from
day one. Many note that during the first term (2003-2006), Lula caught
them by surprise by opting for neoliberalism, a choice that left them
disconcerted for quite some time. Sister Delci, who does social and
pastoral work for the Catholic Church, says, "After four years of
timidity, it has become clear how the government-church-movement
relationship should function. The actions of the executive branch over the
last four years have contributed to relaunching the debate." During the
electoral campaign, the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops - an
unconditional ally of the social movements - released a document
criticizing the government's economic rigidity to the detriment of social
policies. Delci assures, "the discourse of the social bases will be much
stronger over the next four years."(7)One of the more interesting analyses
was done by the sociologist Francisco de Oliveira, who helped found the PT
a quarter century ago. Oliveira left the PT at the start of Lula's
administration and founded the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL). The
PSOL ran Heloísa Helena as its candidate for president, receiving support
from a number of intellectuals around the world, among them Noam Chomsky.
The PSOL, created two years ago as a spin-off by PT members expelled from
the party, garnered 6.5% of the vote. In an article published by Folha de
S. Paulo the day after the elections, Oliveira explained why he voted for
Lula in the second round: "for a second chance to reopen spaces where the
left, perhaps or even in large part the portion of the left that chose to
remain with the PT, can in some way influence the direction of the new
administration. "I am skeptical about this. I don't think economic
policies will change; I predict that Luiz Inácio will promise that 'the
sky is the limit,' as is the duty of a demagogue, and that the left and
various other movements will be able to come together to set part of the
agenda."(8)It is difficult to find a clearer position than that
articulated by this intellectual, who has not hesitated to criticise his
old friend Lula head on. "It is necessary to create problems for the new
administration," he said. He argues that the government program Bolsa
Família (that serves 40 million poor families and accounts for Lula's
success in the north and northeast) must be made incompatible with the
primary surplus. He notes that the "30 years of glory" of capitalism were
possible because of Keynesian social policies. "Without the Keynesianism
of the war, the capitalist system would have fractured," he insists. Going
against the commonly held notions of the majority of the left wing, he
argues that the facts are becoming clear across the country: unity at any
cost opens the door to the enemies of change. "At certain times, the
method has been "divide to fight more effectively ": that's what a small
portion of the left did by leaving the PT, myself included, in order to
better grasp the complexity of the new situation in the face of the over
simplification being made by sectarians."His conclusion is similar to that
of MST and the movements: the first Lula government was a total failure,
but "without pressure from the left and popular movements, the second term
could transform into the neopopulism of the globalization era." One of the
most compelling aspects of this argument is based on his analysis of
social policies (the Zero Hunger Program, Bolsa Família, and others). He
argues that the social programs "are a confession of failure, a neoliberal
capitulation, a recognition that the nation no longer exists, since they
are merely last ditch survival programs. They are the programs for those
who are considered expendable. "(9)In the midst of the debates over the
government's new course, one of Lula's prominent inside men, Marco Aurélio
Garcia, international political adviser and coordinator of his electoral
campaign, assures that "we are not just going to maintain our foreign
policy, we are going to deepen it."(10) This is without doubt good news,
as it means a strengthening of regional integration and
multilateralism.And there is more good news. Lula plans to dismiss several
of the directors of the Central Bank who were responsible for the elevated
interest rates that stunted economic growth. Certainly, economic policies
will be one of the major points of contention between the elite class and
social movements.Most observers agree there will be little change, and any
changes will happen slowly and will not affect the current neoliberal
scheme. It is what they call "silent development within the rules," as
Carta Maior magazine titled their November 1st commentary. The Fifth
National Plenary of the Coordination of Social Movements, which met on
November 11, defined a platform of causes to sway the direction of
economic policies. "We have never had an environment so favorable for
advancing the struggle for Brazil to be more just, sovereign, and
supportive of economic and social development," the final document of the
meeting reads.(11) All indications are that as long as there are movements
willing to step up, Brazil's stage is open.Endnotes

1. Mário Osava, "Electores negros cruciales para Lula," online at
www.ipsenespanol.net.
2. Folha de S. Paulo, October 22, 2006.
3. "Entre os eleitos 80 parlamentares controlam radio ou televisão,"
October 24, 2006, online at www.mst.org.br.
4. Interview with Claudio Lembo, ob. cit.
5. Interview with Marcio Pochman, October 31, 2006, www.pagina12.com.ar.
6. MST, "Estimular as lutas sociais e construir um novo projeto para o
país", ob. cit.
7. Valor Econômico, "Movimentos ameaçam romper atrelamento," November 6,
2006.
8. Folha de S. Paulo, "Voto condicional em Luiz Inácio," October 30, 2006,
www.folha.com.br.
9. To explain his position on social programs that barely allow the poor
to survive, Fancisco de Oliveira refers to a book by the Italian
philosopher Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer, where he speaks of the "naked
life" forced to the very edge of survival, a condition tested in, for
example, the concentration camps of Nazi Germany or in the States of
Exception.
10. Interview with Marco Aurelio Garcia, November 10, 2006,
www.agenciacartamaior.com.br.
11. Letter from the Coordination of Social Movements, "Com a unidade e a
força dos movimentos sociais o Brasil vai mudar," Guararema, November 11,
2006.

For More Information

Interview with Claudio Lembo, governor of São Paulo, Estado de S. Paulo,
October 30, 2006.

Interview with Marcio Pochman, Página 12, October 31, 2006,
www.pagina12.com.ar.

Francisco de Oliveira, "Voto condicional em Luiz Inácio," Folha de S.
Paulo, www.folha.com.br.

MST (Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra), "Estimular las
luchas sociales y construir un nuevo proyecto para el país", November 3
2006, www.mst.org.br

Translated from "Lula: entre las elites y los movimientos" by Nick Henry,
IRC

Raúl Zibechi, a member of the editorial board of the weekly Brecha de
Montevideo, is a professor and researcher on social movements at the
Multiversidad Franciscana de America Latina and adviser to several
grassroots organizations. He is a monthly contributor to the IRC Americas
Program (www.americaspolicy.org).

from http://www.brazzil.com/content/view/9750/78/

Off for a little shopping trip...

I'm off to Holland tomorrow, spending Saturday at the record fair in Utrecht. Hopefully I'll return with a mountain of garish picture sleeves...In any case, I don't expect to post anything before Tuesday.
In the meantime -take care!
All the best
Robin

Forced to turn off our brains.

The Clownification of America

By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real. Posted May 31, 2006.

"We've turned into this nation of overfed clowns, riding around in clown
cars, eating clown food, watching clown shows. We've become a nation of
cringing, craven fuckups." --James Howard Kunstler, author of "The Long
Emergency"

When I saw this Kunstler quote a couple of weeks ago, I thought it a bit
harsh. Then I picked up my morning paper -- and, all at once, I got it.
There, in 120-point bold headline type, above the fold, the lead story of
the day, was the "news" that:

In less than 24 hours, singer Taylor Hicks would battle singer Katharine
McPhee for the title of American Idol!

Clowns. We have indeed become a nation of frivolous, self-indulgent,
overweight, undereducated, unserious, clowns. When an event of such
monumental unimportance wins precious front-page status, what other
conclusion can be reached? Art has stopped imitating life and simply
become a substitute for it. I flashed back to the 1967 cult TV series "The
Prisoner," starring Patrick McGoohan -- a British spy kidnapped and
imprisoned on an island with an Orwellian-like society. Each morning
radios, newspapers and speakers announced it was "another wonderful day on
the island." Every day was another wonderful day. There never was a bad
day -- never mind that everyone on the island was a prisoner.And so it has
come to pass on our island, where the papers, radios and televisions no
longer differentiate between news and entertainment. Where "American Idol"
finals get page 1 treatment and genocide in Darfur is pushed deep inside
the paper in the shadow of a 1/2-page Best Buy ad trumpeting a sale on
iPod accessories.Oh, lighten up Pizzo! People need entertainment as much
as they need to know about all the bad news out there.

Yeah, fine. But let's keep the entertainment news in the entertainment
section of the paper where it belongs. Can we do that? Oh, and keep the
sports news on the sports page as well. The only time I want to see the
name "Barry Bonds," in the news section of the paper is if major league
baseball ever kicks his cheating ass out of the game. Or if he robs a
bank. Or if George Bush appoints Barry head of the FDA. Otherwise, keep
him and all other baseball-relating "news" where it belongs … in the
sports section.And, unless the losing singer on "American Idol" pulls a
gun and opens fire after hearing the verdict, everything else about that
show belongs in the entertainment section and NOT on my front page. The
same rules apply to everyone and anyone whose only claim to fame is that
they sing, dance, submerge themselves in a Plexiglas globe, eat the most
hot dogs in the shortest time or own a cute dog that fetches beer on
command.None of that is news. Not one word, factoid or photo-op of it is
news.It's not as if there was not real news the day "American Idol" found
its way onto my front page. During that same news cycle almost anything
that happened in Iraq was more important, as were the doings that day on
Capitol Hill, at the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department or in
Iran. On the day my paper put "American Idol" above the fold on the front
page, the editors could have thrown a dart at that list of the above
newsmakers and found a story more worthy of the front page.Who wins or
loses on "American Idol" may send a few thousand teenage girls squealing
off in tears, but that's about the extent of the damage. On the other
hand, we live in extraordinarily dangerous times. A convergence of
economic, geopolitical and environmental challenges confront the human
race … any one of which could tomorrow trigger a series of events that
would turn all our lives inside out.So, news editors everywhere, let's get
back to treating the front page as the sacred trust it is -- the place
reserved for the most important news we need to know that day in order to
exercise our responsibilities as citizens and members of the human
race.The mainstream media has become complicit in the "clownification" of
the American public. As more and more newspapers and broadcast entities
are gobbled up by a handful of giant media conglomerates, the news
business has become a circulation/ratings game. News people now cover
entertainers as though they are newsmakers. And, as if that's not bad
enough, news people themselves now become entertainers -- appearing on
Larry King Live and then interviewing one another. Newsmen become showmen
-- the news biz, show biz.Media companies feel they have to lure us in by
blending news and entertainment into a single tasty, calorie-filled but
nutrition-free product. Once hell-raisers, they are becomng
clownmakers.Aren't you embarrassed? Well damn it, you oughta be. Stephen
Pizzo is the author of numerous books, including "Inside Job: The Looting
of America's Savings and Loans," which was nominated for a Pulitzer.

http://www.alternet.org/story/36887/

===========

American Idolized

Monday, 27 November 2006

by Frank Pitz

So, the Democrats won, Rummy quit, why am I not jumping for joy and
getting out here in cyberspace with more rah, rah postings?  Perhaps a
psychological impediment has grabbed hold; or could it just be plain old
skepticism?   But then again, it may just be a case of the blahs, caused
by the daily bombardment of “stuff.”

I’m generally “the glass is half full” kind of person, and meditate on a
semi-regular basis, which tends to help through most down
episodes.    But, sometimes you want to just chuck it all and scream,
“stop the world, I want to get off.”   Read a piece recently on AlterNet
titled “The Clownification of America” by Stephen Pizzo.  He wrapped an
article around that particular quote by James Howard Kunstler.  It summed
up for me-in a small way- just why I am feeling a bit of disquiet right
now.

We’ve been American Idolized damn near to the point of no return.  It is,
after all, Orwell personified; up to and including the ubiquitous
electronic eyes and ears of Big Brother surrounding us completely.

As well, there is no identity anymore; we have lost that over these past
many years as we aimlessly search to co-opt another feel-good panacea
offered via the electronic airwaves or the “How to” genre to divorce us
from reality.

Americans want to be Native American, Buddhist, Hindi, Pagan, Celt, or
immerse themselves in the Kabbalah.  They wish to have “life coaches” to
help them make their way through it all.  What happened to common
sense?  You know, that old “All I ever needed to know I learned in
kindergarten” type thing.  Are we that disgusted with ourselves that we
have this overwhelming desire to find something (someone) else to be?  Is
there a national, collective guilt trip going on here?  Are we finally
horror-struck with ourselves for the global death and destruction always
being carried out in our name?   Do we all really need a daily dose of Dr.
Phil, Oprah, or for Christ’s sake – The View?  

We are the “bully on the playground,” and very few want to admit it – much
less talk about it.  Bush and company are committing the most horrendous
war crimes and genocide; and through it all some 50 million plus souls
call in a vote for their favorite idol.  For me, that’s depressing as
hell.  It makes one want to just reach out and smack the crap out of
someone.  Perhaps that is just what is called for; a huge collective smack
across the chops to see if possibly some sense could still be instilled in
the Amerikan psyche.  Somehow I quite doubt it, wishful thinking on my
part.

The loss of intellect is but one small part of this Clownification of
America.   Being viewed as possessing intelligence and a streak of
individualism is to be scrutinized in this day and age of mass corporate,
political and media control.  To be an individual and think intelligently
(logically) is to bring oneself into the spotlight of the Department of
Homeland Security – the Defenders of the Fatherland, as it
were.  Individual thought runs counter to the dictates of the corporate
state and will get you thrown off a plane, or worse thrown in jail.

In no way do I consider myself to be an “intellectual” along the lines of
the great thinkers of this – or past  - ages.  I can’t be a Noam Chomsky,
or a Susan Sontag, Howard Zinn, or Cornell West much as I’d like to be at
times.  No, I’m just a logical, always searching, kind of human that likes
to believe I am a free thinker; of course Bush and Company despise all
free thinkers, regardless of their intellectual prowess.  

I read a great line attributed to Orson Scott Card: “Forced to turn off
our brains.”  For me, that says a hell of a lot, the vast majority of John
and Jane Q. (Amerikan) Public have done just that; turned off their
fucking brains.  How else to explain the fact that a nation of otherwise
(supposedly) intelligent human beings will allow themselves to submit to a
type of mass hysteria every time the fucking government, through the
corrupted media, issues a specific color code?  Isn’t that sort of, kind
of, nuts?  Crazy even?  We are creatures of our fashioned environment; an
atmosphere created whole cloth by plutocrats with the twin goals of greed
and control.  And we eat it the fuck up.  

It’s really challenging for me to try and follow that concept, I can think
of no close, familiar, or personal precedents that I can wrap my brain
around.  There are a few that come close; the military, which is
automatically set up to control and instill the model of group think and
blind allegiance to orders.  But that doesn’t really explain (for me) why
the Amerikan public is where they are at today, blind, unquestioning,
submission; despite the fact that most of what they are being asked to do,
or believe, flies in the face of reality, or logic. 

I suppose it really is easy to brainwash an entire country.  History tells
me that people have blindly followed dictators, despots and Presidents
through the ages, but history also tells me that eventually (in most
cases) the people finally woke the hell up.  Will the Amerikan public
ultimately wake up?  I’m entering my 70th year traversing this Universe, I
sure as hell would like to live long enough to see that awakening, and my
optimism is draining fast.   And no, I’m not just another “keyboard
warrior,” I’ve been knocked around plenty over the years by the enforcers
of this police state we live in, no doubt will be knocked around some more
before it’s all over.  But, that isn’t the point; the point is that many
more millions of us need to be knocked around before we can make a change
for the better.  We cannot keep on being dictated to and walking this
hateful edge that is being made up for us daily.  We’ve become a nation of
haters, brainwashed into this all-consuming hatred by those who would
control us. 

Had a phone conversation with a good friend (JP) the other day and we
talked about hate and just how much it permeates the day-to-day dialogue
in this country.  The media – parroting the Bush Administration – is
particularly fond of keeping the hate thing on the front burner, vis-à-vis
“why do they hate us?”  The media also “stir the pot” in other insidious
ways – and we are all familiar with those.  We hate the immigrants, we
hate the gays, we hate blacks, anyone who thinks or acts differently than
we do.   Most of us recognize it as a stupid, rhetorical, redundant tool,
no more than just another weapon used to keep the “fear factor” at
elevated levels and because of that we also hate ourselves; enough to turn
off our brains.  Or, as Howard Zinn states it: “Hysteria cripples
consciousness.”

All one need do is take a look at the dialogue engendered in the various
chat rooms, blogs and comment sections on this big Internet community out
here, it may start out as civilized discourse but then, it always seems to
degenerate into vitriolic name calling.  None of us are immune from that;
we all tend to gravitate that way even in some small fashion, I know I am
guilty of it as well. 

All one needs do is look at our history.  We hated the Indian, the
Chinese, the Italians, the Irish, the Japanese, the Germans, the
Spaniards, the Phillipinos and the Vietnamese ad infinitium.  When you
think about it we pretty much have enclosed ourselves in a xenophobic
bubble here.   Just think about that very popular phrase of a few
generations back, “free, white and 21.”  That pretty much sums it up,
don’t you think?  We’ve always been a racist nation, made up of the many
individual (and corporate) racists amongst us. 

We’ve always been the bully on the playground; it’s ingrained in our
psyche.  Part of that is because we have always been able to back up our
truculent demeanor by force and that power has generally flowed
unobstructed.  I believe the Vietnam War altered that unhindered flow of
U.S. power; the bully’s Achilles’ heel was exposed and it was global
opposition that exposed it.  Of course, the right wing would have us
believe that Vietnam was lost because of a bunch of liberal, godless
appeasers parading in the streets. 

Since Vietnam we’ve had to buck up our self-esteem, pick up the guns and
run amok on the playground beating up on the smaller guys.  A sort of give
the folks something to feel good about scenario, never mind that we are
beating up on defenseless people here, using the media we’ll make it all
right.  And now we are in Iraq and Afghanistan, killing men, women and
children with impunity, no one wants to stand up to the bully of the
playground and he runs unimpeded.  One wonders, for how long?

If one looks at US interventions – either overt or covert - in sovereign
countries, just since the end of WWII we have used millions of tons of
bombs and bullets and have killed – or caused to “be disappeared” –
millions of people; that’s known as Genocide folks.  Since the first Iraq
venture by the US and subsequent sanctions, up to and including the
present crimes against humanity now happening, we have murdered over a
million men, women and children.  That’s known as “ethnic cleansing”
folks.   Are our leaders any different than those leaders who stood for
trial at Nuremberg?   Is ex-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld any different
than Adolph Eichmann?   Is Bush any different than Hitler?  I think not. 

And if we dared pay attention to our history we would know that for a
couple of hundred years we have been – in addition to the bully on the
playground – the murderer of the world.  The tried and true comeback: “But
others have murdered also,” as if this qualification somehow excuses our
terrorism.  It’s no more than the old childhood wail; “Johnny was in the
cookie jar too.”   As my mother was fond of rebuking whenever I rolled out
that excuse, “If Johnny jumped off the bridge, I guess you would also?”

I don’t know if that can sum up our foreign policy or not, somehow we all
know that it is more a case of getting in first and taking what we want,
rather than following anyone else.  After all, the bully of the playground
always wants to be “first in line,” and will use whatever means – or
excuses – to get there.  Making the world safe for democracy is, of
course, the current phrase (excuse) de rigueur used to justify terror and
genocide.  If you understand history, if you read, know, history, you
realize in your soul that we murder with impunity, for the twin gods of
control and greed. 

Control and greed, the omnipresent nocturnal emissions that guide the
plutocracy.  Thinking with their penis – not for sex – as they rampage the
Universe while bowing at the phallic altar of ravenousness.

Isn’t it time to wake up Amerika?  How about slapping yourself in the
face, or taking a cold shower?  Or, perhaps, visit your nearest orthopedic
surgeon and have a backbone inserted, they do wonders with transplants
these days.

Take care out there.

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/333/81/

===========

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow,
and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger
readers, and are increasingly used in schools.

Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary
fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone
Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series The Tales
of Alvin Maker (beginning with Seventh Son), poetry (An Open Book), and
many plays and scripts.

Card was born in Washington and grew up in California, Arizona, and Utah.
He served a mission for the LDS Church in Brazil in the early 1970s.
Besides his writing, he teaches occasional classes and workshops and
directs plays. He recently began a longterm position as a professor of
writing and literature at Southern Virginia University.

Card currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife,
Kristine Allen Card, and their youngest child, Zina Margaret.

http://www.hatrack.com/osc/about.shtml

Kool Herc on Damage Control!Alongside Grit Boys, J. Kapone, 14K, K-Rino, Kuwait, Wolftown Committee, Joleon, Lil J Xavier, It Went Down!

Yeah y'all it's that truth! The father of hip-hop himself, the Creator KOOL HERC was in the building. We had the honor of talking with hip-hop's founding father and you can hear it below. As always, download, please do not stream...

LAST NIGHTS DAMAGE CONTROL WITH KOOL HERC!

Catch him spinning LIVE tonight at the Meridian. In reality, you should not miss a Kool Herc party when a Kool Herc party comes to town! Witnes is spinning too and I'm sure that's not it. It's the kick off party for B-BOY HODOWN 2006. Last year that shit was amazing too. You gotta pass thru the Meridian sometime, anytime this weekend and see how they do.

Here's some flicks from last night.


Get on MY level fools. Kool Herc and Me.


B-Boy Rob NYC, Kool Herc with the Grit Boys


Kool Herc and Rad Rich - the founding father of hip-hop at KPFT


Two classics! K-Rino and Kool Herc!


Kuwait of the SPC


Lord Metatron, Kuwait, K-Rino, Big Chance,


Shaian, Scooby, Pretty Todd, Joleon


Freeze, King Tutt


UZ, Lexi, J. Kapone - Top Dollar Records came thru with the "15's Stutter Remix" and some shirts WHAT UP CARLOS!


Circle G's in the building




Fly


Lexi is a singer as I have told you before, however she never sings.


Tricksta of the Wolftown Committee (HOW DID I NOT GET ANY PHOTOS OF LATE AND JAI BOO LAST NIGHT?!?!?!) got on them tables and laced us with a tight UK set. Not on the grime tip, on the Wolverhampton gangsta tip. What you know bout that? He spun a few of his beats to start off the freestyle, but you know, these dudes were baffled y the new sounds. It was kind of hard for them I guess. I don't know but I hate when that shit happens.


UZ!


You can see the freestyle was THICK!




14 K ripped the fuck out of the freestyle. What up Coughee Brothaz!


For real they did


Wood, 14K


Quad, 14K


And Big Head gonna round thangs up.

No updates available on the Bun B impersonator tip. So I guess stop asking.

And December 14th BERGEN, NORWAY WATCH OUT NOW! Devin the Dude and myself coming to see you.

Beyonce - Listen (World Premiere)

artist: Beyonce
song: "Listen"
label: Columbia
director(s): Matthew Rolston production co: Venus Ent./HSI

Matthew Rolston, director
In support of the upcoming feature film adapatation of Dreamgirls, starring Beyonce and Jamie Foxx.
MTV news.


Beyonce is slowly making her way in the movie industry too and, judging by the way she was received by the critics, she is just a step farther down the road. If there are still people out there who still don't know which movie I'm referring to, let me say this: 'Dreamgirls'.

The movie/musical is directed by Bill Condon and can brag of a cast so famous that it can hardly be a flop (Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and Danny Glover). But, mostly, it's Beyonce the one that attracts all the attention and I guess there's no need to ask ourselves why anymore.
Despite a rather poorly received second solo album, the singer really managed to get inside the character she portrays in 'Dreamgirls': she lost a lot of weight, took acting classes and even had a personal voice trainer to show her how to sing like a '60s diva.

Big money were put in the publicity campaign for the musical, but its main star is also doing her best to show people that they would not be wasting their money on a ticket. Last night, Beyonce was invited on Oprah Winfrey's show and she thought singing a track featured in the movie would do a much better job at convincing people than just talking about it.

And now we get to what I wanted to say from the very beginning: Beyonce has a great voice and, even if her music is not to everybody's liking, she is one of the few real artists on the market. 'Listen', the track I was telling you about, only goes to clearly show that: her impeccable voice and the way she can use it in a wide range of sounds literally sends shivers down anyone's spine.
Maybe it's just me, but Beyonce really has enough talent and skills to be considered a true performer. Again, you don't have to take my word for it...

Beyonce - Listen (World Premiere)


BEYONCE-B’Day. Download free CD here!
!!! RAR PASSWORD - "123" !!!

things that go stata in the night

The variable on the x-axis is a uniformly distributed variable, as in say "deciles." The y-axis is the probability of observing the outcome. As you move from the lowest to highest "decile," the probability of observing the outcome increases from less than 10% to almost 80%. By the standards of social science, I would call this a "strong effect." Would you call this a strong effect? Someone, validate me!

I will post about what this graph is actually a graph of when I get a chance. It is not a graph of the probability of my getting on a mechanical bull by the number of vodka-and-cranberry-juices consumed. Guesses welcome, with the usual coveted JFW kewpie doll as prize.

blogging: the new smoking?

There is this finding from some network analysis that smokers had the most interesting connections in a business organization--in the sense of having the interactional ties across different levels of the organization that made it more of a "small world"--because being driven onto the same huddled outdoor posts gave them various connections with fellow smokers that they would not otherwise have.* I've never smoked--despite strong familial patterns to the contrary, not one cigarette ever--so I can't vouch for the finding ancedotally.

Anyway, the point is that I've had more than one conversation in the last couple years where someone's name X has come up, and I say: "Sure, I know X." And the person asks, reasonably, "Why would you know X?" And some part of the answer, whether I articulate it out loud or not, is that the person either has a blog, has had a blog, or has commented on my blog, etc.. In other words, I've had interactions with people through blogging who, by usual mechanisms of social tie formation, I would have no especial reason to have any connection to.

I cannot be alone in this. Participation in blogging is relatively uncorrelated with what kind of sociology a person happens to do--more uncorrelated, I suspect, than smoking is nowadays--and where one is and has been located, so it lends itself toward forming intriguing ties. So, one gets the network benefits of smoking, without the icky carcinogenic aftertaste.

The other nice thing is the by-now-well-established pattern that, the present author excepted, the average person in sociology who has a blog or reads blogs seems to be more interesting and, well, "intellectually alive" than the average person who does not. (Don't tell the members of the latter group this, or at least don't attribute it to me, as they tend to be touchy about it and launch into the whole haughty "I have better things to do with my time [like watch television]" thing, etc., etc..)

* I should say I think this is an actual finding given the number of times I've heard people mention it, but I have no idea what the originating paper is.

The Mad Hatters –The Humphrey Song

The Mad Hatters –The Humphrey Song/Loving You Ain’t Easy – Epic S EPC 4151 (1976 UK)

The Mad Hatters were in fact Mike Batt with Chris Spedding and this song was based on a very popular 70’s advert for Unigate Dairies. The Humphreys were red and white straws (or more probably milk drinking elemental spirits) who “humphreyed about” nicking other peoples’ cow juice. Mike Batt beefed up his original Humphrey March into this very weird single that somehow adds its own sinister spin. The chorus and the near subliminal ghostly whispers are positively eerie … Here is a link to more information on the original campaign including some videos of the original adverts: http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/images/humphrey/humphrey.html

Watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out –there’s a Humphrey about!

Click on title for soundclip

Transplants - Haunted Cities (download mp3)

Punk rock veterans Tim Armstrong, Travis Barker, and Rob Aston formed Transplants in 2002. This supergroup was a friendly experiment, for Armstrong made a name for himself with Rancid and Barker was enjoying success with "Blink-182". Aston was a friend of theirs who moved to Los Angeles, but eventually music was at the center of their bond. Armstrong and Aston jammed for fun for the next two years, but recording made things more real. Transplants had something - something good. Barker was ecstatic with the results, too. The band's hard-edged self-titled debut appeared from Hellcat in October 2002. Haunted Cities was the follow-up. Issued by La Salle in June 2005, it featured guest shots from Sen Dog, B Real, and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. A fall tour in support of the album, however, was subsequently canceled and the guys announced their dissolution in late 2005.

Album: Haunted Cities
Artist: Transplants
Release Date: 11/1/2005
Genre: Rock/Pop/Punk

Download free MP3 Album (67,61 MB) rar password - "123"

1. Diamonds & guns
2. Not today (feat sen dog)
3. Apocalypse now
4. Gangsters & thugs
5. What i cant describe
6. Doomsday
7. Killafornia (feat_b_real)
8. American guns
9. Madness
10.Hit the fence
11.Pay any price
12.I want it all
13.Krash and burn (feat_rakaa)

take one joke, and gun it into the round

I've always liked spoonerisms, ever since I was a kid listening to Metallica's "Pastor of Muppets" CD or engaging the whole "bottle in front of me" vs. "frontal lobotomy" debate. Anyway, my word-of-the-day e-mail (today: pencel) had an ad for this holiday children's book of spoonerisms, so, wracked with insomnia as ever, I clicked on it.

Then I looked at the page and was overcome with this slow, "My God, this is so unrelentingly unamusing that my sleep may be permanently disturbed" eyescalding sensation. It's amazing enough that there are like forty-some stories with names like "The Gnion and the Latt" and "The Loat and the Gyon," but then the site also provides wample sext as tell. It's kind of like imagining how amusing Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" would be if only he'd released the special 630-page original edition. Calooh! Callay! "Loldy-fox and the Bee Thrairs," Yay!

I hate not being able to sleep. I'm not sure easy access to the Internet from bed is good for the forces of slumber (I'll resist backspacing and changing to sources of flumber.)

sorry the photo is blurry. maybe some vision therapy would help.

Sign from a local center for alternative/complementary health services. Does anyone know what zero-balancing is? I've never heard of it. Is it a treatment one can get that will help take care of the debt a person runs up using the other services available at this center?

I've never heard of "Aston-Patterning" either, actually. These are things that, as far as I can tell, aren't even on Wikipedia. I understand how a place can offer services without any good scientific evidence as to their efficacy--note that I am not suggesting this for everything on the sign--but should you really be allowed to have painted signs offering health services that haven't even made it to Wikipedia? Scrying has a perfectly respectable Wikipedia entry with subpages for hydromancy and crystallomancy; are you really expected to put your trust in a place that offers a certified "zero-balancer" and board licensed "Aston-Patterner" but no town scryer?

Help Picnic Tyme!Twisted Black Get's Life in PrisonBun B Impersonator?

Before I get into all the madness, I need to let everyone know something of dire importance. Many of you in the Texas hip hop community know my man Picnic Tyme from the group PPT. He's produced music for Devin and the Coughee Brothaz as well as many good folks from Dallas.


Seen here in the middle between Pikahsso and Tahiti.

Anyway, last week Picnic lost everything he owns in a fire. If you can help (YES CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT REPS I AM TALKING TO YOU!) Holler at me cuz he needs help and is a great dude. He lost all his clothes. Step up to the plate and gimme a call. I'll give you his sizes. HELP!

-----------------------------------

It’s been a weird day for Texas hip-hop. First I get a call this morning from Bun B and his manager on 3-way asking me if I know who does the site “HHNLive.” I honestly wasn’t sure but then when I looked at it I remembered it was my dude Adam from Toronto’s site. Today they published an interview, supposedly with Bun B in which Bun says things like “Fuck BET.” From what sources have told me, there was a campaign linked to Bun’s MySpace page that said the same thing, complete with graphics and the title to UGK’s latest leaked song “Quit Hatin’ The South.”

The writer claims to have interviewed Bun B at the popular north side strip club Harlem Nights this past Saturday. Said interviewer also says he has audio of the interview.

Now I have been a writer for many years and have many tapes of many rappers speaking into my tape recorder. When there’s background noise, it gets really hard to transcribe. At Harlem Nights, there’s more than background noise. It’s total fucking chaos. The music is obscenely loud and distorted, people jump on the mic, asses clap, bracelets clang, anklets shudder, pussies pop, that sort of thing. So I honestly don’t think dude got much from an interview at a club like that, on a Saturday night.

Bun says he was not at Harlem Night’s on Saturday.

READ THE INTERVIEW HERE.

Also, after reading the interview I have to stand by my dude and say that the shit being said throughout does not sound like Bun B’s words. Take that from a man who talks to Bun every other day on the phone about a variety of topics from politics to music to marijuana strains. I’ve interviewed Bun B at least 20 times. I know that dude would not say “Fuck BET” ever, let alone a month before his CD comes out. In fact, he’s even stopped me from saying things like “Fuck BET, MTV, Viacom, etc.” And has explained why doing such a thing would be straight hating and get me nowhere. Still at times, I say it, and look at me now. I’m a blogger. Not an international super star. Dude has a point.

That being said, Pimp C said the same words, unequivocally on the classic track “Top Notch Hoes” from Dirty Money. Which of course originally was on Trill Azz Mixes as well. The verse also appeared on a song Pimp did with Patchwerk artist Mean Green entitled “Deep in the Game.” Thanks to my cousin PUSHINBIGBODY in Dallas for helping refresh my memory.

You can check the various links and see for yourself, but I have to wonder if there is a Bun B impersonator out there in these streets. Might sound funny, but shit man, Bun says he wasn’t at Harlem Nights, did not do the interview and the writer says he has audio. Will this audio surface? If so, what will it tell us? It needs to surface, like now. I keep every tape for just this reason.

NO RAPPER CAN EVER COME TO ME AND SAY I MISQUOTED HIM/HER. Ever. Cuz I have the tapes and that’s final. So dude, come with the tape if you got it. I’ma stand by Bun on this one.

READ WHAT HHN POSTED AFTER TALKING TO BUN.

Note this part: * HHNLive.com stands by its writers and believes there was an interview conducted by Freezefiya with Bun B. The interview portion of Freezefiya's article has since been removed as a courtesy to Bun B and UGK *

ALSO PEEP THIS.

I've also been told that there have been multiple messages sent from Bun B's MySpace account saying "Fuck BET." I am also a "friend" of Bun B on MySpace and the person who maintains my MySpace and checks the messages for me said he/she never saw this. I don't know. I try not to look at MySpace. I'm 34 freakin' years old and only use that shit for promotions.

(A rapper recently told me that he "Be 'workin'' on that MySpace every day! It's work." Yeah. MySpace is work now. If so, send me a check. I can't stand that shit. I understand it's purpose but really it's just another way to make people think they are blwoing up when in reality only 5 people on the internet really know who they are. Like blogs. Anyway.

------------------------------------
On a related note, the non-profit division of Sonzala Information Systems, Inc. is now closed for good. You want a phone number, a confirmation, or anything from me you’re gonna have to hit me on the PayPal first. There’s about five people in this industry who I’m down for anymore and honestly, you probably aren’t one of them.
------------------------------------

Another funny thing is this weekend I have been working on a post entitled “An Open Letter to Jive Records.” In which I was gonna blast these fools at Jive for once again not doing shit for UGK at all. No video, no single working, no nothing but a couple ads and a few leaks. The shit is supposed to come out in three weeks, get on the stick you haters.

I may still finish the post. I don’t know.

--------------------------------------

In much worse and more serious news, my man Twisted Black from Fort Worth has been sentenced to life in prison for “Conspiracy” to sell crack I guess.



READ ABOUT IT HERE.

Listen I don’t know all the details, but I’ma say it just like this…

People do not deserve to get life in prison for anything less than Rape or Murder. I don’t give a fuck how much crack a man might have sold, he don’t need to go away for life, maybe he needs help.



That being said I heard it’s his 4th felony conviction – however it was his first Drug Charge. The others were for things like changing VIN numbers on cars, (thanks again Push) sooooo…. It’s hard to really judge here. I know that when I got a speeding ticket last year, I stopped speeding. Cuz I don’t need that shit. I wish some of these fools in the game could figure out how to stay out of prison. Especially a guy like Twisted Black, he’s seriously one of the most talented dudes in Texas rap ever. Real lyrics, dope flow, heartfelt songs, etc. I would never yell to Free a Murderer, but I’ma have to say FREE TWISTED BLACK cuz putting someone in a cage for a drug offense is just Naziesque in my book. Mother Fuckers.

Harpo – My Teenage Queen

Harpo – My Teenage Queen/ I Don’t Know Why – EMI 4E 006-35115 (1974 Sweden)

Prior to his more widely known Peter Sarstedt/ om-pah band hit Moviestar, Sweden’s Harpo (née Jan Svensson) released this Neanderthal Glam Thumping Cruncher to little effect in ’74. Perhaps the fact that the lyrics have him lusting after a 15 year old Teenage Queen curtailed his chances of a worldwide hit, but today they would more likely get him listed on the S O register. The track is great though, perhaps only a killer guitar break short of making the top grade. Still what a scary looking guy… Leo Sayer meets Skeletor anyone? ANYONE????

Click below for soundclip

Danity Kane! Free mp3 Album!

Do you like this new pop group? You may download free mp3 album right here!
Tracklist:
1 Show Stopper 3:39
2 Want It Form Me 3:53
3 Tell Me (Interlude) 0:39
4 Hold Me Down 3:57
5 One Shot 3:44
6 Want It 3:28
7 Ride 4 You (Interlude) 1:23
8 I Wish 3:32
9 Touching My Body 2:34
10 Forever (Interlude) 1:08
11 So What 4:03
12 Show Stopper (Remix) 3:54
13 Let’s Go 3:30
14 Sleep On It (Outro) 0:59
15 Right Now 3:35

Download the Danity Kane album (!!!for unarchive put password “dakane”!!!)

just because it's a tactic illegal even in 'no-rules' ultimate fighting, doesn't mean you can't use it to sell chips

(HT: Dorotha, from here)

why get help when you can help science?

(clinical trial advertisement in boston subway car)

Do you have not one, but two separate problems that are associated with making bad decisions? If so, why don't you choose to have a 50% chance of forgoing treatment for both for three months, in exchange for $600? If you don't have good social support, you've probably lost enough in one way or another from the costs of bad behavior resulting from these problems that $600 is maybe enough to get you to go for it, especially since you don't have prudent people around you to talk you out of it.

Don't worry: you can rest assured you'll be in the most capable, professional hands -- just look at the quality of our graphic design! Yes, that's a picture of a human brain we got off the web, with a martini glass superimposed on top of it. And, see, there's a photo of an anguished woman, just below a photo of a cartoon man so excited he's raising his arms with glee (if you didn't know: in bipolar disorders, it's common for people to switch not only from very low to very high moods, but also from female to male, from actual to cartoon, and from normal size to being only three inches tall).

I'm tempted to call the number and see what their screening procedure is like. I would love to see an ethnographic investigation of clinical trials.

BTW, on the science front, I made my first trip the other night to the famous Miracle of Science Bar and Grill near MIT's campus. I was expecting there to be more science. Sure, the chalkboard menu was arranged like a periodic table, and the tables and stools were like those from a chemistry lab, but apart from some radio equipment sitting above the bottles of alcohol there really wasn't much science in there. I have more science toys-y stuff in my Madison office. The patrons also looked sadly ungeeky; I was expecting to feel some deep geekinship. The bar did, at least, serve it's drinks up in beakers:

[Josef Shafer] The Massive, Bristol, Vermont

On December 26th-30th, 2006, Nine37 Productions will host it's 8th Annual FIVE TOWN MASSIVE!! Featuring: new paintings from ELENA PEABODY, photos by MIKAEL KENNEDY, films by ETHAN CLARKE, GRAHAM HUBER and Rooftop Films and music by THE G13, MINEFIELD and BROWN BIRD!!!!!!!!!

--
Posted by M. Josef Shafer to Josef Shafer at 11/26/2006 09:01:00 AM

911blogger kids email exchange with Uncle Chomsky

You proclaim that to challenge the assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK as
being anything other than as officially described would be the "Death of
the Left". No, sir people you are becoming the "Death of the Left",
because you and the other foundation funded "Leaders" have been
politically castrating the political Left. And all with the anaesthetic of
half-truths and micro revelations that steam valve just how corrupt things
are. So the “Death of the Left” will be the slow political impotency that
no longer inspires new generations to challenge the things that need
challenging the most, “politically correct” or not. Above all though your
constant dismissal of the 9/11 issue is frankly vomit inducing. There are
credible, valid and rational reasons to doubt the official narrative
describing that attack, yet you plead ignorance and show distain for such
a critical subject, why? Beucase of this enigmatic stance of yours I
actually now sympathise with those who would call you a gutless,
visionless charlatan and coward.

And you might find that rather somewhat impolite, but given that you abuse
your influence by actively discouraging debate and investigation into this
issue, which helps to prevent the emergence of vital truths about acts so
heinous, I don’t believe politeness in this case deserves a relevancy any
longer.

Most Disgusted,
Dem Bruce Lee Styles

Fri, 11/24/2006 - 4:37pm

=============

Here's his reply;

"Since I have never taken the position you describe, I cannot respond to
your letter."

==============

And here's my second;

Well, regardless you must have heard by now that the state of Venezuela
recently passed a resolution declaring that to the countries’ official
judgement, the 9/11 attacks were quote “self-inflicted”;

“Venezuela's president continued his criticism of President Bush after the
pro-Chávez legislature declared that the 9/11 attacks were
`self-inflicted.'”

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/5min/15965767.htm

I am well aware of your publicly stated opinion that you believe sceptics
of the official 9/11 narrative are citing “arcane and dubious theories” as
the basis for their objections (http://blog.zmag.org/node/2779). Do you
now intend to extend that courtesy to President Hugo Chavez (who highly
praised your latest book at the UN, which is perhaps foolish of me
mentioning because you undoubtedly know that) and the Government of
Venezuela?

Personal assessments of your particular stance on this issue like mine may
be worthless to you, but this is not an issue to rationalize away
opposition and vital questioning. Wars are being waged, civil liberties in
multiple countries are under threat and great damage globally is being
done, all with the justification of the event in question. Is it not right
to demand absolute scrutiny of that event, when so much is at stake?

I believe there are a number of understandable reasons as to why you may
not wish to contemplate such a disturbing notion. And I’m sure you might
also be conscious of not wanting to venture into something that you may
think might tarnish your credibility and reputation. But I think these
grounds for inactivity on this issue are erroneous, indeed it is difficult
to contemplate but I feel the need for a new investigation outweighs that
discomfort, and is in fact a duty at this stage.

Please at the very lest devote some attention to this matter, I believe
C-Span’s Book TV is airing a recent event titled “9/11 and American
Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out” with speakers David Ray Griffin, Peter
Dale Scott, Peter Phillips, Kevin Ryan and Ray McGovern. The program times
are;

“Friday, November 24 at (EST) 4:00 pm and Saturday, November 25 at (EST)
3:30 am and at 10:00 pm”

If those times are inconvenient for you the website 911blogger.com will be
hosting the video of the broadcast within the next few days or sooner I’d
imagine;

http://911blogger.com/

Thanks for your response,
Dem Bruce Lee Styles

==================

Here's his second reply;

I wasn't aware of the Venezuelan government's resolution, and have no idea
what their reasons are, so can't comment on them.

You're quite right that 9/11 is being exploited to provide a pretext for
some of the crimes of the Bush administration, though the most serious
ones, which really threaten species survival, precede 9/11. Those who
oppose those crimes have two clear choices: (1) take energetic action to
bring them to an end; (2) engage in debates over the question of the
responsibility for 9/11. My priorities happen to be (1), and I think one
of the most harmful effects of the Truth Movement has been to draw
enormous energies away from such efforts. But I don't have the arrogance
to demand that others accept my priorities.

Those who prefer (2) know exactly how to proceed. E.g., those who believe
that the physical evidence is significant should do what everyone else
does who reaches some conclusions physical evidence: submit a paper to a
serious professional journal raising the issues, and raising questions
about the reports of the professional society of civil engineers and
others -- an action that carries not the slightest cost, contrary to what
adherents of the Truth Movement like to believe about themselves. To my
knowledge, there is not even a single submission. The remainder of the
evidence should also be evaluated by those who regard debate over
responsibility as a higher priority than action to bring serious crimes to
an end.

I've been involved in political activism for 60 years, but have never run
across anything like the extraordinary self-righteousness and arrogance of
the Truth Movement, for example, its amazing claim that those who don't
find its assertions credible must be concerned about tarnishing their
credibility, etc. It's apparently inconceivable that they simply disagree.
As for tarnishing credibility, that's a joke. Adopting the position of the
Truth Movement does not even remotely compare with the consequences of
actions that I and other dissidents undertake routinely, even putting
aside organization of direct resistance and facing the likelihood of long
prison sentences. Have Falk and Griffin suffered any repercussions for
their book, for example? Or Scott? Or any of those who are offered quite
unusual exposure in the media, as in the example you mention?

=============

Now CHRIS writes to Chomsky:

heres one i just wrote to him. i even kept my anger in check! hahaha:

I'll keep this short. You owe it to yourself to read
this book(Towers of Deception:The Media Cover-Up of
9/11.

http://www.amazon.com/Towers-Deception-Media-Cover-up-11/dp/0865715734/rc3389-20

but im sure you wont since you have shown you cant grasp the concept of
"false flags" and dont(or refuse to allow yourself to) find them
important. You have stated numerous times that there are "more important
things". I can respect that even if I dont quite buy it. That said, you
should at least read the chapter that Barrie Zwicker wrote about you and
other
"gatekeepers"(he wrote the chapter because like myself and many others he
once respected your work but is perplexed by your silence on certain
issues). I dont know if anyone has brought this book to your attention,
but Zwicker has you pegged perfectly. I await your typically haughty
response. Chris R.

Submitted by Chris on Sat, 11/25/2006 - 5:00pm.

==============

Noam Chomsky answers:

Thank you for the reading suggestion. Though perhaps you will find it
"haughty," I do not have the arrogance to instruct you to shift your
priorities to matters that I think are far more important, and am
intrigued that advocates of the "Truth Movement" do feel that it is their
right to issue such instructions from on high. In 60 years of activism,
I've never come across anything like it.

I don't know you, but I do see something of Zwicker's work, and have had
discussions with him, and am aware of his disregard of issues that seem to
me far more significant than the one he devotes himself to with such ardor.
However, I am not "perplexed" because he makes his own judgments, rather
than following mine. And though at one time I was "perplexed" that Truth
Movement advocates, from their lofty position, feel entitled to issue such
orders and are "perplexed' when others don't follow them, I know longer am.
I've come to undertand that it is a component of the Truth Movement.
In brief, we have two choices: (1) act to bring to an end crimes of state
that are vastly worse even than participation in 9/11 would be, for the
most part bipartisan, and supported by Canada, UK, etc.; (2) engage in
debates about the background for 9/11. Of course, (2) is far easier, as
anyone with any activist experience knows. But if you think it more
important than (1), by all means follow your own judgment, without my
being "perplexed" about your silence and inaction on matters that seem far
more significant to me.

==============

Chris writes again:

Just as haughty and condescending as I thought you
would be, you do not dissapoint sir. In 60 years of
activism you have never been confronted with a
movement(one you do a terrible job of hiding your
disdain for. Is that fear I smell?) such as ours, one
that sees through your BS. You must hate technology,
specifically the internet, which makes it so much
easier to see what purpose steam valves like yourself
serve. Oh and Noam, you have more than enough
arrogance for all of us. The 9/11 truth movement(sort
of like the JFK movement that you also curiously
oppossed. I see a pattern. Still think it doesnt
matter who killed JFK? Yeah, hes just a cold warrior
and his death had no real geopolitical effect right?)
threatens establishment dissidents like yourself, I
understand that, but to call the unexplained murder of
3000 innocents(I know, you have done so much activism
for so many innocents in the past, whats 3000 lives
right? Especially when they are american lives right?)
unimportant is an insult on so many levels to so many
people. I dont need to tell you what 9/11 lead to and
how many deaths and injustices it spawned and still
spawns. Still you find it unimportant. I dont expect
you to broach the subject of 9/11 with full honesty,
but do you really have to disrespect the people that
are trying to find real answers? How about that
chapter Zwicker wrote on you? Did you read it? He had
you pegged didnt he? Chris R.

=======================

Chris says:

looks like Chomsky is offended. again he fails to respond to any of the
substance of my e-mail and chooses instead to turn it around on me. this
guy is good:

If you ever decide that you have some serious comment or query,
I'll be glad to consider it, and respond, as I do to maybe 100 every
night.
If you prefer to ignore and evade every word in response to your charges,
and to react with nothing more than a stream of insults,
that's OK, but there is really no need to waste your time and mine.

Submitted by Chris on Sat, 11/25/2006 - 7:31p

==================

Chris writes again:

I made valid points and valid criticisms. Im sorry you
failed to respond to any of the content in my e-mail
and decided to take it as an insult. The statement on
your arrogance might have been a bit much, but that
was only in response to your bashing of an entire
movement. I know you dont like to be painted with a
broad brush, neither do I. I do find it interesting
that you failed to respond to any of the points I made
in both of my e-mails though. Par for the course I
guess. Chris R.

=============

quantum leaps

So, every day, I get a day older. I understand this. I even get that every day, everyone else gets a day older, even if I do not see them or think about them. (I understand the latter point and yet reserve the right to be continually amazed by it in particular instances.)

This is not, however, how I have experienced aging over the last 15 or so years (prior to that, to my knowledge, I did not experience aging at all, but just growing.) The way I have experienced aging has been more punctuated, where I will go through some extensive time where I feel I'm basically a certain age, and then over a relatively rapid period I come to feel I am a different (older) age, then I will feel that different age for an extended while, and so on. Graduate school basically had three phases for me. As those phases were beginning I had this rapid-accumulating sensation of feeling older, but while the phases themselves were going on I felt basically the same age.

We are coming up on the sixth anniversary of my finishing my dissertation and moving to Madison. In that time, I do feel like I've aged about six years. But like about my 5th or 6th semester, I felt like I abruptly aged two years, then in the months before moving to Cambridge I aged another two years, and then this fall I've felt the sudden phenomenochrono-lurch forward again another two years. Is this normal? I presume this has to be normal. Other people must also experience age discretely, rather than continuously.

BTW, I'm not entirely convinced it's a good thing that the cumulative consequence is that I do feel like I am tracking the actual chronological passing of time fairly well, as opposed to some benign delusion that I am somehow decoupled from the calendar by a magic internal preservative. Although one happy consequence, perhaps not always evident on this blog, has been large gains on the maturity front, as well as in matters of wisdom, even if there I still have a-ways to go.

on anon

I have re-enabled anonymous comments. We shall see.

loser!

When I made my recent list of what the seven dwarves would be if the story was staged in my brain, I did not include "Loser." But maybe that was an omission, or at least would be the added dwarf if the story morphed from "Snow White" to "Eight Is Enough." Because, whoa, am I a loser. Not in the broad sense where y'all should be worried about my self-esteem, but in the literal sense of someone who loses things. Whenver I see that bumper sticker that says "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most," I think the person clearly has not lost the things I've lost. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my iPod the most. Or, maybe my last cel phone. Or, maybe the cel phone before that. Or, maybe one of the 183 stocking caps, 327 umbrellas, or 978 pairs of gloves I've lost over the years. I bought a new blazer this month; if not for someone chasing after me, I would have left it in the room where I gave my talk in Dallas. The lost-and-found tag above is for the man-purse that someone found in the hotel, which if not for someone's honesty would have resulted in the loss of my digital camera (yeah, Mom, the one you gave me) and my wrestling mask (yeah, Sal, the one you gave me).

Tonight: I had Thanksgiving with a friend in Dorchester, which involved a 45 minute subway ride. On the ride home I was reading Jon Elster's Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. I walked directly from the train station home. I get home, and I realize the book is gone. Did I somehow leave it behind on the train? Did I drop it? Did it self-destruct? Did it fall into the same strange spatiotemporal fold that also holds roughly 25% of the would-be-reimbursable travel receipts I accumulate over the course of a professional trip? Who knows?

Stud Leather – Cut Loose

Stud Leather – Cut Loose/ Emma Louise –Seabird 63002 (1974? French issue)

OK, you’ve got to look beyond one of the most ugly sleeves ever as Cut Loose is a frenetic primitive Punker powered by slap-back echoed drums, raw guitar and a simplistic piano pounding. The track builds and builds and the vocals get wilder, ending in near hysterics. The track finally turns into a wild cacophonous Freak Out concluding in a final explosion…Hallelujah indeed - it’s totally bonkers! The B side is more like a late 60’s mild Psych Pop number and is a haven of sanity in comparison. Again not much of an indication who this was. The single was released on Dart in the UK and both tracks were written by Roger Cook and Alan Kerkham.
Thanks to Ryohei of Warehouse in Japan (http://www.ware-h.com) for doing a trade for this.

Click on title for soundclip

Happy DayKilla Kyleon Freestyle and Interview - DAMAGE CONTROL!

Man it went down! Killa Kyleon passed thru and dropped a gem of an extended freestyle. Played a few new tracks. PKT, Circle G's, man it went down...


Killa Kyleon

DOWNLOAD DO NOT STREAM DAMAGE CONTROL 11/23/06


Boy ate up the booth.






DJ Gloss and DJ Chill


Michelle Ngomi


The Dime Pieces, well two of them swang thru and brought some new music.







Earlier in the day me and Lin Yee passed thru Chill Factor Music. DJ Chill's store on Old Spanish Trail and Scott. Another essential Houston destination.


Cotorola!


Lin Yee, DJ Chill