Monday News in early May of 2014

I am learning more information about the Nigerian situation. It is complex. First, I wish the Nigerian missing girls to return home ASAP. People who have outlined their free speech right to express outrage at the situation and desiring the girls to come home ought to be commended. Now, we see that some want to use the BringBackOurGirls as an excuse to enthrone the authoritarian regime of the current Nigerian President. For years, the Nigerian military have rounded up dissidents and killed them (who opposed the regime). We see that the Amnesty International have received testimonies that reveal that the Nigerian security forced failed to act on advance warnings about Boko Haram’s armed raid on the state run boarding school in Chibok. The theocratic terrorists from Boko Haram kidnapped more than 240 schoolgirls on April 14-15. The Nigerian security forces did not stop it after having more than 4 hours of advance warning. That is disgraceful. The current Nigerian government continues to unlawfully detain hundreds of people who are suspected of having links to Boko Harma. The present Nigerian government is an authoritarian dictatorship that is backed by Chevron’s Oil including other imperialist interests. There are still human rights abuses in Nigeria. The security forces in Nigeria have especially done war crimes of rape, torture, forced labor, infringement of privacy rights, etc. President Goodluck Jonathan delayed his response to the kidnapping in the span of 3 weeks, which is wrong. He works with the World Economic Fund and its neo-liberal economic agenda. Massive economic inequality continues to Nigeria. Unfortunately, the person who started the #BringBackourgirls is on the board of Transparency International/Open Society Foundation. She of Obiageli Ezekwesili was the Vice President of the World Bank’s Africa division. There is a strong Occupy Nigeria movement fighting for freedom. We know that Africom wants to build military bases around Africa as a means to control African resources. Also, the members of Boko Haram are tied to the very same forces (of the AQIM and the LIFG) that the U.S. and NATO armed to fight in the Libyan conflict. In January 2013, President Barack Obama announced that he had secured an agreement with the Nigerien government to deploy 250 to 300 military personnel, including remote pilots and security and maintenance crews, in Niger, in the first instance in the capital Niamey. There were reportedly “no constraints to military-to-military cooperation” within that agreement. Ken Saro Wiwa tied in fighting for liberation in Nigeria too, so his life should be respected too. Therefore, the young girls should return ASAP. They need prayers. Also, we need to know the geopolitics going on in Nigeria as well. We have to care about the oppressed globally, because are human beings.

There has been the Mariupol killings. The U.S. backs the Ukrainian regime’s reign of terror. Washington and its European allies support the regime. The fascist led putsch in last February was a disgrace. The regime is extending it reign of terror against the popular resistance in Ukraine. There are events happening in the major eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. There were tanks, armored personnel carrier, and heavily armed troops. They were unleashed on unarmed civilians in the city. The Kiev regime has killed some 20 people in the city. The White House solely blamed the violent repression on “pro-Russian separatists.” The violence is similar to a calculated provocation on the 69th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Red Army. “Victory Day,” long a day of celebration and pride among Russian and Ukrainian workers, who made immense sacrifices to end the Nazi war of extermination in the east, is hated and despised by the neo-Nazi gangs that propelled the US puppet regime in Kiev into power. These admirers of Hitler and his Ukrainian collaborators are now serving, with Washington’s full support, as the regime’s shock troops against popular opposition centered in the industrialized east of the country as well as in Russian-speaking centers such as Odessa in the south. The regime forces have attacked folks who dare resist the fascistic government in Kiev. Many accounts from residents of Mariupol (verified by journalists on the ground) said that many of those targeted by the Ukrainian National Guard and associated fascist elements on Friday had been participating in a Victory Day rally commemorating the anniversary. Those in the rally came to the defense of the police officers who were barricaded inside the local Interior Ministry building after refusing to fire on civilians. Kiev’s armed forces then assaulted the building, using heavy weaponry and tanks, and turned their weapons on residents who flocked to the scene. Later, in scenes reminiscent of last week’s massacre in Odessa, the building was torched. Government troops then evacuated the city along streets lined with incensed and jeering residents. There are video footage, photos, and eye witness accounts appearing on social media (that show tanks and armored personnel carriers rampaging through city streets and parks including troops confronting residents). There are other postings that document how Ukrainian forces are setting fire to the police building in which officers were barricaded and opened fire on unarmed protesters. Ukraine’s interim interior minister, Arsen Avakov, gloated on his Facebook page that security forces had killed about 20 “terrorists”—the regime’s term for all those who have opposed the Kiev putsch. Mariupol is a large working class port city of a half million people. “The National Guard went to war with local police,” local anti-fascist committee representative Pyotr Komissarov told the Russian media outlet RT. Neo-Nazi Right Sector elements were identified, he said, and described the attackers as “volunteers, mercenaries” from central and western parts of the country. Ukrainian MP Oleg Lyashko, who represents the ultra-nationalist Radical Party, claimed on his Facebook account that Kiev’s forces had orders “not to take anyone alive.” During the assault on the Interior Ministry building in Mariupol, he wrote: “Terrorists are barricaded inside and are now returning fire. An order has been issued not to take anyone alive.” So, the extremist Kiev government is deceptive. There should be peace, but not under a Kiev puppet regime at all.


We know now that eating nuts can fight heart disease and lower cancer risks. Nuts are very plentiful in the world. It has been used as a snack and a regular part of the human diet. It is inexpensive and easy to pack up for traveling. Nuts are very diverse too. There is more, recent research that documents the benefits of eating nuts too. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study recently. It showed how well that nuts can protect a person’s health. People who ate just one serving of nuts each day had a significantly reduced incidence of heart disease. In fact, adding a daily dose of nuts resulted in a close to 30% lower risk of heart disease. Also, over the course of the study, those people who ate nuts on a daily basis were 20% less likely to die of any cause compared to those who did not eat nuts. Three esteemed medical institutions -- Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital -- charted the results of two studies in an effort to correlate a connection between nut consumption and increased health benefits. The Health Professionals' Follow-up Study followed 42,000 men over the course of 25 years, while the Nurses' Health Study followed 76,000 women for more than 30 years. Every few years, participants in both studies filled out surveys with questions detailing their lifestyle choices including their diets. The researchers not only found that people who ate a serving of nuts daily had a 29% reduction in the amounts of deaths from heart disease. There was also a reduction in deaths from cancer. These deaths fell about 11%. A servicing size of nuts is about the same amount that is available in a bag of nuts purchased from a vending machine. The researchers also discovered that people who often ate a serving of nuts each day also tended to be healthier than those who did not include nuts in their regular diets. They outlined that the eaters of nuts were more likely to be thinner, be nonsmokers, consumer healthy foods regularly and engage in exercise regularly than those people who did not ear nuts. There are all factors that could influence the death and disease rates of the study participants, but the researchers used statistical methods to remove the other factors. The researchers found that the type of nut did not influence the results. Participants benefited from eating nuts whether they consumed peanuts or one of the varieties of tree nuts. Tree nuts are considered to be cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts and pecans. Because nuts can be high in calories, the FDA recommends limiting their consumption to 1.5 ounces each day.

The culture of anti-black hate by white racists ought to confronted & condemned. The Sister Tamika D. Mallory gave excellent examples of how reactionary extremists have scapegoated, demonized, and lied about the black community in many ways. We know how they think about us, but we should not think of ourselves as what they think of us. Some people talk about building families, treating black people among both genders right, and parents teaching children basic ethical behaviors (as parents playing an active role in enhancing the lives of the children early on will reap huge dividends in the child's lives for the long term). Others talk about addressing socioeconomic issues. There is nothing in the rule book that mentions that we can't do both. We can both encourage the young to not participate in crime (and live ethically) while at the same time advocate workers’ rights, economic justice, and fighting to end unjust laws that harm our communities too (e.g. various War on Drugs laws like mandatory minimum sentences). It is a shame that many of the Wall Street bankers responsible for the financial recession are not jailed at all. The large bankers own trillions of dollars. A report from the Real Economy Project shows how Wall Street’s (known) crimes are methodically decriminalized by Justice Department “settlements.” Their actions violate the Sarbanes-Oxley Act including other laws. We need more constructive action too. We all go through ups and downs. Yet, I rather have a positive mentality going through various storms in my life than have a permanent pessimistic attitude about life. Some folks are successful by hard work, determination, and positive thinking. Other folks are "successful" (by the world's standards) or extremely wealthy by literally being crooks, using slickness, and having various connections. I have to keep it real. Folks know me. :) The overarching theme is that preparation, altruism, and being focused are legitimate ways for a person to achieve their highest potential. Folks have to know their SELF, understand their culture, respect their heritage, and love their true being in order for them to achieve their goals. Also, there is nothing wrong with folks having POWER if it is used correctly & morally. Constant complaining and constant whining are obvious not real ways for a human being to go. There should be balance and looking at life as a journey. Listening to music can inspire humanity too as history documents. Blessing others who are honorable people is a way to bless ourselves.


Learning about pan-Africanism is important since pan-Africanism is part of our history and world history too. It has inspired revolutionary movements globally not just in Africa. There are many people who influenced pan-African thought. One of the greatest scholars and leaders of pan-Africanism is named Kwame Nkrumah. To learn about modern African thinking fully, you have to learn about Nkrumah regardless if you agree with all of his views or not. We have to learn about our history too. We should learn that Queen Nzinga of Angola/Congo led a war against slavery. We know about the slave revolts from the 1500’s well into the 20th century. We know that the anti-slavery movement spread globally, especially in Haiti. There is the paper called, "Pan-Africanism: Haiti as a Birth Place of the African Revolution." The Haiti Revolution inspired much of the Pan-African movement globally. In fact this Haitian freedom movement is called Haitianismo. Haitianismo is the foundation of Pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanist thinking spread under Marcus Garvey, George Padmore, W. E. B. Dubois, and Kwame Nkrumah. There have been other black revolutionary leaders among many eras too like Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fannie Lou Hamer, Nelson Mandela, Paul Robeson, Richard Wright, Oliver Cox, Angela Davis, George Jackson, etc. George Jackson saw himself as both a Nkrumahist and a Fanonian. He admired both men as revolutionaries, and highly regarded their insightful critiques of neocolonialism. This is evident both from SOLEDAD BROTHER (his collection of letters) and BLOOD IN MY EYE (his treatise on revolution and revolutionary warfare in which he draws upon Nkrumah and Fanon, as well as Giap and Che Guevarra). “AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY: ESSENTIAL READING” is a book written by Tsenay Serequeberhan, a well known brother philosopher from Eritrea. Dr. Gamal Nkrumah has written great articles too. One person was Franz Fanon. He wrote about colonialism and imperialism (and how it has harmed many black people in the world). He wrote four books. One complication book entitled, “TOWARD THE AFRICAN REVOLUTION” was a complication and it appeared posthumously. There is a very good biography on the man entitled, “FRANTZ FANON: A PORTRAIT” by Alice Cherki, co-worker and comrade of Fanon during the Algerian Revolution. Fanon’s strength was that he evaluated the wicked psychology of colonialism in a great sense of depth. He studied Philosophy, Psychiatry, etc. at the University of Lyon. His work dealt with philosophy including Cabral. Fanon made the great point that decolonization starts at the being. It starts at the individual self. We all go through ups and downs. Yet, I rather have a positive mentality going through various storms than have a permanent pessimistic attitude about life. Some folks are successful by hard work, determination, and positive thinking. Other folks are successful by literally being crooks, using slickness, and having various connections. I have to keep it real. LOL. The overarching theme is that preparation, altruism, and being focused are legitimate ways for a person to achieve their highest potential. Constant complaining and constant whining are obvious not the way for a human being to go. There should be balance and looking at life as a journey. Blessing others who are honorable people is a way to bless ourselves. With Sterling’s stubborn attitude, there will be a legal battle most probability. I heard of Richard Parsons before. The lesson of this situation is that you have to treat people right. Also, folks can use this controversy as a learning lesson that we don’t live in a post racial society at all. To end racism, we have to fight it day by day. We have to advance true insights on how to help the world, encourage our youth, and to give hope to human beings suffering. Hopefully, in the long term, Sterling will not own the LA Clippers ever again.


By Timothy