Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Wednesday News on Issues

The bin Laden assassination has caused debate for years. Journalist Seymour Hersh wrote a 10,000 word essay about the U.S. killing of Osama bin Laden. He wrote that the official story about the death of Osama bin Laden is totally false. This has caused of course denials from the White House and other government officials. We certainly know that the war on terror has been based on lies and deceptions since the attacks on America on September 11, 2001. Hersh contends that the Obama administration lied about the raid by U.S. Navy Seals who killed bin Laden on May 1, 2011. Other media outlets have confirmed some of Hersh’s accounts. NBC News cited three unnamed sources (2 of them are found in U.S. intelligence) that a walk in from Pakistani intelligence told the CIA where Osama bin Laden was hiding a year before the U.S. raid. Also, NBC News said that the Pakistani government knew that bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad, which is a headquarters town for the Pakistani military. Many Pakistani news outlets name the former intelligence official who tipped off the CIA about bin Laden as former brigadier Usman Khalid of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (or the Pakistani military intelligence service). Khalid has been moved to the United States and is working with the CIA. They also confirmed that Pakistani officials at the highest level were aware of bin Laden’s presence and identified one intelligence official, Ijaz Shah, as the man who arranged to house bin Laden in Abbottabad, at the direction of then-president Pervez Musharraf. R. J. Hillhouse is a U.S. college professor and blogger on national security issues. She made similar allegations of the Pakistanis holding bin Laden, the Saudis paying the expenses, the “walk in” providing bin Laden’s location to the CIA, the Pakistani cooperation with the raid by the Navy Seals, the US plan to claim bin Laden had been killed by a drone-fired missile. She said that Hersh’s story is spot on, but she had different sources within the military intelligence apparatus. The establishment has denounced Hersh’s views, but he has a great track record. He accurately described the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War, Abu Ghraib, and other issues. We have the right to ask questions. The movie Zero Dark Thirty has promoted the official narrative of the death of Osama bin Laden. Today, we know the truth. It is a lie that the war on terror is meant to promote “freedom.” The origins of the 9/11 attacks came from the CIA recruitment and training of Islamic fundamentalist terrorists (like Osama) in Afghanistan against the Soviets. We know that the U.S., the Saudis, etc. had connections with Al-Qaeda in Syria and Libya (even after 9/11). These Al-Qaeda terrorists were involved in the regime change in Libya. 9/11 was exploited by the oligarchy to establish wars overseas and build up police state powers in America. We see the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon’s Northern Command, and the expansion of spying powers of the state. Militarized police were found in Boston and in other places like Baltimore. This has grown the crisis of world capitalism. It is immoral and impossible to allow a small fraction of the population to monopolize wealth of the Earth. The lies being shown about the war on terror deal with the Iraq War and other issues. Many in the corporate media have been complicit in promoting imperialism and capitalist exploitation too. We want democratic rights, freedom, and justice.


There is an excellent article from Tiffanie Drayton on the word Hispanic. Every sentence of this article is what I have been thinking on this issue. It is a myth to assume that being Hispanic is a race. There are Hispanic people who are Black, of white European heritage, and of Native American heritage (some are also of multi-ethnic background). The system of white supremacy is very slick. Just because we see a decline of non-Hispanic white people in America doesn't mean that we should lose vigilance in fighting oppression. We have to continue to fight evil with vigor and zeal. Also, another point is to be made as well. We have to be in solidarity with our Afro-Latino Brothers and Sisters too. Xenophobia is evil and it must be totally condemned. We have to unite with Afro-Brazilians, Afro-French, Afro-British, and all black people in the four corners of the Earth. Before Malcolm X died, he wanted international pan-African unity. I agree with him wholeheartedly on that issue. We can never be free unless we have true political, social, and economic unity (in opposition to imperialism and economic neoliberalism) with the billions of black people in the world. I also loved how the article used statistics, definitions, and great sociological analysis on this issue. For the past few years, I have been studying about the African Diaspora. I know more about Afro-Brazilians, etc. I even learn new information about Afro-Australian people too. The struggle for freedom continues and we are in the right side of history. We exist in the midst of a world revolution. Folks are tired of experiencing injustice and we want structural injustices to cease. Certainly, we are all in this together as one people. Ancient empires fall because of decay, defeat, or other reasons. The system of white supremacy is a nefarious entity. It is destructive, but it is not infallible. It is not omnipotent. I'm glad like you that some black folks are waking up. The recent events in Ferguson and in Baltimore (where some of my kinfolks live at) show us that resistance is not evil. The elders said it best. We have to love our own, help our own, build, and unite in order for justice to transpire for our people. Without a vision, everything perishes. Yet, with a vision and action, the Promised Land will be made real.

I understand where the professor was coming from. She is honest. I respect her more than a sellout who bows down and worships white people as divine & infallible. Also, as other commenters have mentioned, we have to be strategic too. We know the history of white people. We, as black people, know more about European history than some white Europeans living in Europe now. White reactionaries make it their duty to stalk the Tweets of black people, especially those of conscious black people (so, they can point something out as a means for them to try to ruin someone’s livelihood). So, Sister Saida Grundy doesn’t need slander or obscene ridicule. She needs more advice, more inspiration, and respect. People can agree or disagree with her tweets, but she is right to expose the evils found in white supremacy. She is right to mention that Rand Paul is not a true libertarian. There is nothing wrong with her not spending a dime in white owned businesses every MLK week. That’s her money and that’s her business. She is right to support resistance against oppression. If Sister Saida used the phrases of "some Europeans" and "some white people" in her various Tweets, then she can carry her points stronger (and that is more strategically better to carry the points home too). The white collective has issues. All white people benefit from the system of white supremacy either directly or indirectly. I don't feel like she is launching attacks on individual people. She is expressing opposition to the system of white supremacy in a strong fashion. Many white people deny racism as a means for them to promote the ignorant image of a post-racial reality when conscious people know better.

In life, disrespect shown by evil, disrespectful people will exist. The First Lady Michelle Obama has been the victim of not just disrespect, but slander by reactionary forces who don’t care about the human dignity of black people (or the dignity of people in general) at all. The First Lady gave a magnificent speech which inspired the new Tuskegee graduates to follow their own aspirations and not adhere to the whims of someone else. She accurately exposed how racists have disrespected her in a myriad of offensive, bigoted, and misogynistic ways. Yet, she is not deterred by them. She understands that hateful words don't define us. We are defined by our love for our families, by our deeds, and by our humanity. In that sense, we can carry onward with our lives with a sense of determination. Dissent ought to be embraced in society, but it is wrong to slander the humanity of Sister First Lady Michelle Obama. I have no problem with what she said about race, education, family, and other important issues that black people hold dear. We are further motivated to strive for more enlightenment, for the establishment of progressive social change, and for the liberation of all. We will not give in or give up. We will keep on moving forward as our ancestors or forbears would want us to do. It is obvious that principal Gordeuk made many mistakes. Principals are trained in handling many situations and she issued inappropriate words. She can easily speak about continuing with the ceremonies and using other methods in making a better graduation ceremony. The fact is that she made it about race initially. No one else did. She singled out black people and no one else did at first. Therefore, people like Gordeuk always issue the token apology and his son is really despicable by saying the N word. He had to learn that word from someone. The son needs to learn some manners about mentioning "come say it to his face." Many people will gladly say the truth to his face. The devil is not to be blamed for Gordeuck’s outburst. She is accountable for her own words. The same ones who lecture black people on personal responsibility readily will issue weak excuses for offensive behavior on the parts of some white people. I feel sorry for the students and their parents who had to deal with the rantings of a principal like that.


I’m in full solidarity with Mothers for Justice United, Hands Up Coalition, and other organizations that are opposed to the extrajudicial murder of black people. It is heartbreaking to witness how young people have died before the life expectancy of their own mothers. The death of Tamir Rice was truly evil and furthermore the police once blamed Tamir for his own death (which is the height of disrespect to Tamir Rice’s family. The city had to issue a token apology for those blatantly insensitive, evil comments). The mothers involved in this movement are right to say that Enough is Enough. No crooked cop or racist vigilante should oppress and murder anyone period. Black women also have been killed too. Structural racism is still a problem in America. The lives of both black males and black females matter. Following the ethos of altruism, cooperative activity, and unity can further change the world. The masses of the people are standing up and they desire real change. We need more mobilization, organization, economic power, and true political action. These mothers and other activists have been courageous. They seek economic inequality (which comes about via the structural capitalist exploitation of society) to end and for racial justice to develop. Angela Davis and George Jackson documented the evils of the prison industrial complex and we know that our criminal injustice system must be radically changed. We want an end to environmental degradation and we don’t agree with imperial aggression overseas too. These mothers definitely desire working people to have living wages and for police terror to end. This movement is comprehensive and strong (in focusing in decolonization mentally, so that we always love our blackness and oppose the system of white supremacy. For we not only want human rights. We want justice unconditionally too). We will not be intimidated. We are in a liberation struggle to end oppression. We will speak our minds and help our communities.
#Black Lives Matter


By Timothy

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