What Barack Obama Didn't Tell You About Those Deportations Down On The Border

I listened to president Obama's speech down on the American-Mexican border in El Paso, TX., yesterday. I was pleased that he actually took the time to address the issue at a time when politicians are focused on deficits and spending as opposed to job creating and economic boost. But I suppose when you're seeking reelection, a little pandering doesn't hurt; especially when it's related to a campaign promise long broken. He did make a good case for reform beyond the usual rhetoric; he made it clear that immigration reform is of economic imperative. Of course this is a point I've discussed before on this site.

I'm of the belief that if more people realized the economic benefit of comprehensive immigration reform, then at least we can see our way forward making positive changes. Unfortunately for the cause, the racist anti-immigration movement spends a lot of money suppressing this notion with nothing but ignorant lies as they push for enforcement of immigration laws, and the tired talk of securing the border. If they had it there way, all undocumented immigrants would be rounded and deported.

And of course it doesn't matter than doing so isn't cost effective; and, providing a path to legalization is. The anti-immigrant movement positions itself as pro-America, when in truth they're pro-racist. This is why I was happy Obama mentioned the  economic benefit. Enforcement is one thing, but the economic contributions to this country should not be ignored.

Speaking of enforcement, and the 70% increase in deportations since president Obama has taken office. Check out the following story which illustrates the "problem" with the ICE's Secure Communities program, and just why said detentions and subsequent deportations via effective policing, is working depending on who you ask or who is doing the pandering to secure reelection:

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), its Secure Communities program "improves public safety every day by transforming the way criminal aliens are identified and removed from the United States."

It's certainly transforming the way at least one alien was identified as criminals. Isaura Garcia is now embroiled in deportation proceedings after landing on the Secure Communities radar.

Her "crime"? Reporting to cops the domestic violence she was suffering.

Read more »

Florida's GOP Gov't Cuts Unemployment Benefits

There's a saying we often use that says, "you get what you pay for." I don't know who actually made that up, but if ever there was doubt to the validity of this assertion. One only has to look at what Republicans have been doing at the state level since last November's midterm elections. Surely this is what voters wanted when they rushed to the polls to ensure that "certain people" were able to "get their country back," like they did in Florida. So, me being the perpetual cynic and all around asshole, I must ask: are you people satisfied yet?

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A bill that would establish some of the deepest and most far-reaching cuts in unemployment benefits in the nation is heading for the desk of Gov. Rick Scott.

The Republican-controlled House and Senate passed the compromise measure just before the legislative session ended Friday night.

The legislation would cut maximum state benefits to 23 weeks from 26 when the jobless rate is 10.5 percent or higher.

If lower, the maximum would decline on a sliding scale until bottoming at 12 weeks if the jobless rate was 5 percent or less.

Both chambers were agreeable to a sliding scale, but the House wanted to cut the maximum to 20 weeks while the Senate wanted to keep it at 26.

The benefit reduction is expected to cut unemployment taxes paid by employers, but not until next year.

Florida has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, 11.5 percent, and already had some of the lowest unemployment benefits.

Critics called the legislation cruel and wrongheaded. But its supporters — including the bill’s sponsor, Representative Doug Holder, Republican of Sarasota — argued that it was needed to help businesses and to aid job creation.

Mr. Holder had said earlier that the average amount of time people remain on unemployment in Florida was 17.7 weeks and that most people would be unaffected by the legislation, at least in terms of how long they would collect benefits.

As of late March, more than 535,000 Floridians were receiving unemployment benefits.

Worker advocacy groups fought the legislation. But the business community, led by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, made passing the House version of the bill a priority, contending that businesses would benefit greatly from relief from the escalating tax to pay for jobless compensation. (source)

Yep, this is just what Floridians voted for. Of course I'm only guessing this is what they want, because, I have yet to actually ask one or many Floridians; yes, I haven't spoken to my man Max Reddick in some tome, so I don't know. Maybe someone who lives in Florida reading this can fill me in on just how satisfied Floridians are with the downsizing of that humongous gov't; the one that cared about unimportant matters such as unemployment benefits.

I feel bad for the unemployed residents of Florida, but their gov't isn't as sympathetic or empathetic. Clearly, they see themselves as offering the proper motivation for those lazy bums to get off their asses. But I'd be careful the next time I voted (or decided to stay at home and not vote) if I live in Florida. At the rate these Teapublicans are going, don't be surprised if they brought back slavery and forced the unemployed to pick oranges for free for the Koch Brothers.

Say Hello to Our Otherworldly Friends

It's been humming in the air for years. Or rather, the issue are ever buzzing lights in the sky that we seem to not really want to explain.

We talk about it, but don't talk about it. News forecasters dismiss it with "official" statements from government officials; yet Hollywood has an obsession of creating movies and series around the issue.

But I'm going to put it out there, Donald Trump is an alien. His galaxy is trapped in his hair, and Will Smith has his eyes on that ass for the Men in Black Agency.

If anyone needs a birth certificate verification it has got to be Trump. But I needn't worry about Obama's origin of birth. I am freaking the hell out on the decision to engage in war in Libya and the cuts in this ass-terity measure. All these fucking fancy words simply equal that the have-nots are being ganked further.

Past the satire, I always wonder what is out that and who is out there. To think that the bodies that occupy earth are the only living, walking, breathing, communicating entities is absolutely absurd.

We do share this solar system with other folk.

The astronauts have given numerous accounts of encountering UFOs while in flight. Gordon Cooper, the first man in history to orbit the planet 22 times, talks about incidents in 1951 and later on.



I just don't know why it is such a secret. I don't know why it is scarey.

And what if George Clinton's "Cosmic Slop" prophesies are accurate? If a mothership comes down and takes all the black people home, where would the bi-racial, quadroons, octoroons, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Mariah Carey be placed? Sorry Nick Cannon, even though you are a cornball, your ass is on the ship.



In the meantime, beam up your cousin Donald. And his slaves NeNe Leakes, Little John and Star Jones for not postulating themselves with his latest antics.

Michelle Obama Invites "Gangster Rapper" To The White House, & Guess Who's Mad

"Now Black music is Black music, and it's allgood, I wasn't salty she was with the boys in the hood." -- Common; "I Used To Love H.E.R."

Oh Lordy or Lordy, look what Michelle Obama dun did now up the the white people's White House. She dun seriously up and dun it inviting one a dem dar Chicago gansta' rappers she used to live next to to the White House. Word has it that she's having a poetry reading session on Wednesday, but I ain't buying it.

 It's bad enuff that them Obama Kenyans dun defiled the sanctity of the one true symbol of whiteness and err'thing right with Amuur'cuh by even living there. And now, they finna have this Negro and his posse bussin' spades, making it rain on hoes, and whatever else them there drug dealing Negroes do.

Of course them dar white folks over at The Daily Caller is madder den a mugg over tghis and had something to say about it. And lemme tell you, at last count, there was 274 comments mostly in disgust after the following post. Let's just say, judging from the comments, Flava Flav better tear up his invitation:

First Lady Michelle Obama has scheduled a poetry evening for Wednesday, and she’s invited several poets, including a successful Chicago poet and rapper, Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., AKA “Common.” However, Lynn is quite controversial, in part because his poetry includes threats to shoot police and at least one passage calling for the “burn[ing]” of then-President George W. Bush.

Back in 2003, First Lady Laura Bush held a poetry evening, and she invited several poets to reprise the work of Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman. Although none of those poets had urged violence against a president, Bush canceled the event after left-of-center poets protested and threatened to disrupt the event. (read more)

Oh well, lemme g'head and enjoy Common while I can; at least the pre-gangsta rapper Common; you know, back when he was less gangsta?

Sarah Palin jumped on the bandwagon, tweeting the Daily Caller story with a comment “Oh, lovely White House” — the virtual equivalent of rolling her eyes.

Pajamas Media, another conservative site, says Common supports Mumia Abu Jamal, convicted in the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia police officer, and was a member, along with the Obamas, of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Rev. Jeremiah Wright served as pastor. The rapper defended Wright during the 2008 campaign as Obama distanced himself from the controversial minister. The video below shows Wright in the background as Common performs.

A Fox News site called the multiple Grammy-winner a “vile rapper.” Common, who has also acted in several films, including "American Gangster" and "Terminator Salvation," also performed at a 2009 inaugural ball. (source)

Yeah, ain't no tellin' how much more gangsta' he's gonna get once he leaves the White House as he becomes more untouchable and public enemy number one, while Obama's still in office (watch this). Yep, big shouts out to the city of Chicago and all my peoples who live there; been a minute, but we'll kick it soon.

Osama Bin Laden:The Greatest Myth Ever Told

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

Osama Bin Laden has represented a host of ideas from various angles. But one thing he remains in the US mind is a myth, a fictitious being that has operated with God-like qualities in a cave, just like Jesus.

Nobody actually saw him, but people hated, feared and/or revered what he epitomized.

And then there are all of these questions surrounding his death. The un-Muslim sea burial with his body chained to a plank like in the movie Van Helsing. The supposedly unreleased photos of a man who remains elusive for over a decade, and the lack of explanation as to why a former CIA operative becomes a US enemy who initially declared he did not blow up the World Trade towers when he was blamed. And certainly, he did not blow up buildings 7 and 8, that mysteriously fell well after the planes crashed.


This mythic creature, Bin Laden, must now be placed in the arena of Santa, Tooth Fairy, Chupacabra, Sasquatch, Elvis and Tupac. His representation will live on in some way, shape or form.

Let me shift this discussion on the continual Fulture of Fear in US. Obama once emphasized that fear was so permeated in normal, everyday American life needed to be free from that type of living. Ironically, the Culture of Fear is becoming more pervasive, post-Bin Laden death.

We thought we were watching our backs then, well now, we will be watching even more! Big Brother is alive and well, and truthfully, he possesses our psyches like a Santeria Orisa mounting a devotee during ceremony.

Big Brother has been framed as a omnipotent technological presence in the form of satellite, eye scans, and computer surveillance, but that is not the most significant and effective weapon of Big Brother. WE ARE!

We are our own Big Brother. We monitor each other and judge our movements.Then we regulate ourselves from a template that is supposed to be "Patriotic" under Administrations that provide schizophrenic intelligence about various operations.

As blogger Rippa pointed out , the Bush Administration stopped looking for Bin Laden before the search every began, yet US culture, by way of the media, was haunted by a hunt that never really existed.

Nevertheless, war coffers were filled, and we are broker than a muthafuckah.

And since when did questioning your government excuse you from citizenship?

Furthermore, when did using rights as a citizen to question a US Administration that has habitually lied since its inception, become unAmerican.

To me, to be unAmerican is to allow a power structure that undermines its citizens dictate to me the order of the day; especially in a culture where black folks were legally slaves, indigenous people were kicked off of their land and slaughtered, Japanese were forced into internment camps, political activist were black listed in the "Red Scare" and Donald Trump is considering running for president.

Interestingly, the understanding of Patriotism has mutated into a different monster since 1776. Once upon a time, US citizens exercised protest, agitation, intellectual battle, fistocuffs, and even Civil War based on their citizenship rights.Interestingly, the Tea Party can throw vile, racist rants, but the Black Panther Party's fight for a shift in a racist and classist structure was neutralized.

Today, if you critique government, you are cast in an iron pot full of fuddy-duddies. Right now I'm dangling on funny rope with racist tea baggers and self-deprecating black folks. And I don't want to have anything in common with them, and am about to Geronimo jump off this bitch to NeverLand with Peter Pan and Michael.

Though my mama hates it when I rip into the current administration, I have to remind her that I have always scrutinized governments. It is the American way. And as long as their are third and fourth world conditions in one of the richest countries in the world, as well as people who are interested in impeaching the Head-of-State because he is black, I will have a lot to say.

But I digressed, so let me get back to the Culture of Fear.


With the talks of imminent terrorist attacks to come, the US is now "preparing" American citizens for repercussions. With that will come a host of methods that will tear down the right to privacy, a fundamental American right that was placed in the Bill of Rights due to England's intrusive colonial tactics.

Some of the things you will expect to see are things that have been long in the making, but will be forced to stay.

Eye, hand, DNA databases for travel and money transactions; Dismantling of social security and social programs; Privatization of public institutions such as education, roads media, and major ports; Complete privatization of the prison industrial complex.

This new American "lifestyle" are one of many issues, but the biggest strife will be the widening division amongst the citizens. As some people become more "Patriotic" others are distancing themselves from a hegemonic, boxed existence.

Blog on, Eco.Soul

Sorry Imams, Please Exit The Plane; Yes, You Look Like Bin Laden... Oh Yeah, Thanks

by Joanna

How is this for irony? Two imams were headed to a conference addressing Islamophobia and prejudice in America, and instead of flying to their destination in peace, they were confronted with the theme of the conference head on.

Transportation Security Administration agents escorted two Muslim imams from a plane heading from Memphis, Tenn. to Charlotte, N.C. on Friday.

The men were on the Atlantic Southeast Airlines plane heading to a conference of the North American Imams Federation. The theme of the conference was prejudice and Islamophobia. Atlanta Southeast Airlines runs connection flights for Delta Airlines.

The Memphis-based imams, Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul, were both dresses in traditional Muslim garb when the plane was told to return to the gate after taxiing to the runway.

Rahman and Zaghloul were put through secondary security screenings and not allowed back on the plane. Rahman told reporters that a Delta representative looked embarrassed after speaking with the pilot.

The men said they were treated kindly by TSA agents, but they still don’t know why they weren’t allowed to fly on the plane.

Rahman and Zaghloul eventually made it to the conference.

Their attorney said his clients have not yet decided to take legal action, but he wants the pilot to be held responsible for the incident. SOURCE

Could you imagine? I guess the fact that other passengers were "uncomfortable" sharing a plane with men dressed in traditional Muslim clothing was more important than the rights of those men to freely travel about the country. Next thing you know, the US will be passing laws outlawing traditional Muslim garb, like Belgium and France have already implemented. Because apparently Muslim clothing, in the minds of many Americans, is like a "terrorist" uniform.

Instead of government officials and corporate representatives like the TSA agents and airline pilot involved in this case attacking the biased thinking of these fools, they capitulate to the demands of the bigots.

Imagine if , after Timothy McVeigh, a so called "Christian" bombed the state building in Oklahoma, people wearing crosses were profiled on the streets, pulled over and confronted, treated as "extremists" and "terrorists". The whole world would be up in arms. Imagine if priests were not allowed to wear their collar while flying in a plane with children, for fear that they would molest the kids. How fast would there be laws passed banning this sort of treatment? Quick, fast and in a hurry. But no, these men were not Christian and not white, so they are considered fair game.

Donald Trump:"I Am The Least Racist Person There Is," Plus, A Black Guy Won 'Celebrity Apprentice' Before

"You see Randall, you can be anything in America except President."

QUESTION(S): Is it possible for one to be racist and totally unaware that they are? In 2011, can we still use ignorance as an excuse?

In all my years of being a professional racism chaser, I never knew there were varying degrees of racism. Yes, nobody ever told me there is an actual racism meter. Up until now I never knew that someone could actually be kinda racist, slightly racist, or extremely racist. Obviously I'm showing my ignorance here, and to you I offer my apologies. I'm sorry, I've been the product of an ill formed opinion all these years. Of course up until Donald Trump appeared on Fox & Friends this morning, I've always thought that this racism thing was pretty cut and dry, or black and white as they say. I mean, you're either racist, or you're not. Or so I thought, right? Post-racial rule changes are a bitch.

Here is Donald Trump's appearance on Fox this morning where he's discussing Obama, bin Laden, China, claims of him being racist, and whatever garbage falls out of his mouth. When asked about Von Jones' campaign to have celebrities denounce Trump's "racism", Trump said: "I am the least racist person there is" I'm sorry, but being "the least racist," isn't actually a denial. Which is kinda funny because as far as Trump, though I don't know his cracker-ass, I never thought he would be brave enough to play the racist card to jeopardize his brand. But here he is pretty much admitting, that he is in fact racist, but not like the other guys. Let's be honest: believing Barack Obama to be Kenyan and brought to this country so his parents and grandparents could get on Welfare, isn't really a racist theory because they're white. And neither is suggesting that president Obama is intellectually inferior and only got to Harvard via Affirmative Action, because George Bush was a C-Average student.

Nope, Trump might not be the kind to burn a cross on a front yard, drag a black person behind a moving truck, or even vote for Obama like all the racist blacks who did in 2008. Nope, that's not him. Besides, there's no way he can be that racist unlike him being the "least racist," simply because of the fact that Randal Pinkett, a black guy, actually won a season of Celebrity Apprentice. Now I'm not saying that Trump is in fact racist; I think if he was he would've said he has black friends. However, isn't it nice to know that though some people may think a black man isn't qualified to run the country, that at least one of us is capable of winning Trump's stupid-ass bore of a reality show?

When a Black Athlete Thinketh . . .

I love it when a brother shows he is not bound to any status quo contract. Now go and get the lawyer for the Dixie Chicks. And stay out of the strip clubs to keep your money up.

Biggups to Rashard Mendenhall for showing that he refuses to be a mis-educated negro, by simply stating his opinion.

Instead of being a 40 million dollar slave, he is priceless. He questioned the "Bin Laden is dead debauchery" that is currently unfolding as a botched political move. As a result, he lost his endorsement to Champion.

His quote:

“What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…”

Of course, he was bitch-slapped by his organization, the black and yellow (honey bees in my opinion) and shut down by the league.

Mendenhall, bravo and EcoSoul says, "fuck'em". Just go ahead and buy some property in Detroit and pimp the land and row houses out. They need a black man who is uncompromising.

What happened to the Jim Brown's of the NFL?

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

Bush Administration Did Not Pursue Osama Bin Laden Post 9/11

I really hate to go the partisan route given the discussion of Osama bin Laden's tragic yet joyous demise. However, I came across the following article and subsequent interview with historian and investigative journalist, Gareth Porter that I found rather interesting. Here's a tidbit from the article, and I urge you to read it in its entirety. Most importantly, if don't do anything else, be sure to watch the video that follows the piece:

The absence of any military planning to catch Bin Laden was a function of Bush's national security team, led by vice president Dick Cheney and secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, which had firmly opposed any military operation in Afghanistan that would have had any possibility of catching Bin Laden and his lieutenants.

Rumsfeld and the second-ranking official at the Pentagon, Paul Wolfowitz, had dismissed CIA warnings of an al-Qaeda terrorist attack against the United States in the summer of 2001, and even after 9/11 had continued to question the CIA's conclusion that Bin Laden and al-Qaeda were behind the attacks.

Cheney and Rumsfeld were determined not to allow a focus on Bin Laden to interfere with their plan for a US invasion of Iraq to overthrow the Saddam Hussein regime.

Even after Bush decided in favor of an Afghan campaign, Tommy Franks, commander of the US Central Command and responsible for the war in Afghanistan, was not directed to have a plan for Bin Laden's capture or to block his escape to Pakistan.  (read more)

So as you can see, clearly the intent was never to kill or capture bin Laden. Instead, it was the Bush administration following through by dancing to the tune of their neo-con  handlers who were bent on investing billions trillions in the military industrial complex. When you think about it, kinda explains how many of them were in support of Obama tripling troop levels in Afghanistan when he did. But now I think it's funny how they're bent on giving Bush any credit for bin Laden's death, and are now calling for an end to the war.

Check this out:


BIO: Gareth Porter is a historian and investigative journalist on US foreign and military policy analyst. He writes regularly for Inter Press Service on US policy towards Iraq and Iran. Author of four books, the latest of which is Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam

Hate To Tell You, But Osama Bin Laden Won [VIDEO]

Right Wing Authoritarians [Torture is Good for You]

[Editors Note: I am not the staunchest Obama supporter, in fact I believe there are legitimate critiques of his policies -- especially his (mostly wrong-headed conservative) economic policy decisions. However, much of the right-wing criticism of Obama is fueled by hatred and, yes, racism. I quantify that last assertion here, but today I find myself SMDH at the revolting scumbags on the right. I mean, they have no sense of fuckin decency, no fuckin shame at all. I believe these cretins would fuck their own mothers over without a second thought...]

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate Multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. p 53, The Strength to Love, 1963

First things first. It seems there’s a mini storm over the above quote by MLK. The quote, with the leading line, I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy... went viral immediately after the news of the murder of Osama Bin Laden was released. A rather irresponsible article penned by Megan McArdle at The Atlantic, noted that after having Googled said quote, she couldn’t find verification. Therefore, the reporter surmised, the quote isn’t accurate, and MLK never said it.

Actually, as I have correctly cited, the quote is a genuine MLK quote. What isn’t part of the quote, is the first line and here’s what happened. The sentiment was first posted as a Facebook status, and it read (verbatim):

I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy, “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” -- mlk [emphasis added]

Note the placement of the quotation marks. As the status was repeated, the quotes were misplaced, giving the impression that the leading sentence -- the sentence not part of the MLK quote -- was attributed to MLK. This then led other reporters, bloggers, commenters to assert that MLK never said it. And that’s a false conclusion. But the larger point here is that journalists are doing a piss-poor job of research. Indeed, the research can be found in the comments section of The Atlantic article. Has this journalist ever heard of... books? Direct sources? *The article has been picked in places like the WashPo, The CS Monitor, and if you Google the first line, you’ll easily get 50-60k hits (the last time I looked).

This is bullshit, lazy, hack writing, plain and simple.

Now on to the important stuff...

I guess it was to be expected. No sooner than the news of OBL’s assassination was released, that the right wing cretins went into feces flingin’ mode, and started patting themselves in the back for the deed. What’s that? Yes, the Bush administration spent trillions, sent us to two unnecessary wars where about 50,000 of our men and women were killed or maimed, and spent almost a decade without even getting close to OBL, but Bush should be given the honors. Obama is just the lawn jockey. he can’t possibly be smart enough to capture/ kill OBL, right?

Except that it isn’t true. In fact, only six months after 9/11, The Village Idiot publicly admitted he was no longer concerned about OBL. Let’s take it to the videotape, Johnny:

Spin that bitches. More importantly, Bush shut down the CIA unit weighted with the responsibility of capturing Bin Laden. Guess who opened it up again? Yup... Obama.

Read more »

Why I Cried When Osama Bin Laden Died

As I got ready to climb into bed, my husband looked up at me with an urgent look on his face. 

"Do you know that Osama Bin Laden was killed?  It's all over my Facebook."

I told him to turn it to CNN and sure enough there it was.  The screen showed happy people in front of the White House rejoicing, waving American flags.  They were rejoicing in New York.  The news was at a fever pitch. 

At first I was happy.  Not jump around happy, but I was very happy.  It was an amalgamation of feelings.  I felt that this would be beneficial to President Obama, and Democrats in general.  I wanted to feel like this made wrongs right, but then reality set in again, and I became deeply saddened.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that God is in control.  I am happy that Osama Bin Laden has transitioned because there's no justice we could ever dispense in this life that could ease, or sadly erase, the pain that man caused. 

The sad fact is his death didn't do anything to bring those lives back.  I wish to God that it could.  Wouldn't that seem fair?  Instead, he's gone on and we're all here, left with somber memorials and 9/11 observations to remember those who were murdered or killed because of his actions.

I didn't know why, but this emotion came over me.  This sadness.  A profound sadness.  One which found me trying to make sense of why I felt that way.  Like most Americans, on 9/11, I woke up to news and phone calls about planes flying into the World Trade Center.  I saw it with my own eyes.  I saw planes disappear into those towers and felt like my entire world was crashing down on me.  I wondered what the hell kind of world did I wake up to.  It was all good the night before.  I was active duty then.  Like most of my comrades, they could've handed me an M16 right outside my front door, and I would've happily landed in Afghanistan to avenge those who were killed on that chaotic day.  The pain we felt as servicemen and women was amplified because we pledged to protect the country against all enemies foreign and domestic, and somehow we didn't because Osama's hate was so compelling, that he violated the very rules of war we thought were understood everywhere.  Being in Hawaii didn't help.  I felt so cut off.  I felt like I couldn't grieve because I was in a paradise.  And thousands of miles away, the country--one that tends to forget about Hawaii unless it's vacation time--was feeling the pain of such unprecedented attacks.

The death toll grew and it became clear that--with action in Afghanistan and then Iraq--that Osama Bin Laden had set off, with the help of an eager American Military Industrial Complex, a chain of events that claimed lives over and over again.  Day after day after day with no end in sight.  The base became emptier and Hawaii lonelier.  As we prepared to get out of the Army, because our child was our priority, it became clearer that the blood on Bin Laden's hands would multiply; would swell like a river ushering forth.  In one day, in one fateful day, Bin Laden's actions and those of his minions would change the lives of thousands for days, weeks and years to come.  Naturally, everyone responsible, whether their intentions were good or otherwise, will be held accountable, if not in this life, the next.  However, the ONE man that made this insanity possible will have to answer not only for his actions, but for the actions of others on a grander scale. 

Tears sprang forth from my eyes.  I cried because all the memories came flooding back.  I cried because in some way, it felt like some lives were vindicated.  I cried because it was so anti-climactic.  That was it.  He was dead and did not even have to explain himself, and because of that, future generations will never learn the flawed logic of a megalomaniacal madman.  In turn, we may never learn from our mistakes.

So many sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, relatives taken away by IEDs, or suicide because of the strain of combat and the killing of one's fellow man.  So many lives gone never to get married or have children or see their parents grow old and wise.  So many flags draped over so many caskets.  So many grim processions through small town streets to a final resting place.  So many children without their parents.  So many veterans left to their own devices because they are no longer of "use."  I cried because it's not over and if we continue on this path in our foreign policy, it will never be over.  My husband tried to console me.  There was no fairness to this.  His death was as much a simple figurehead as he was.  It is but a chapter in a very large book filled with chapter upon chapter of the same old story, just with different characters.  The outcome in many ways is still the same.  They are all still gone.  Erased and forgotten.  The nation moves on as if they never existed.  The nation moves on as if those who survived tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq are lepers.  We, as a collective, pretend they are invisible.  We look on with some sort of sadness when we realize who they are and what they've lost, but that's it.  As a nation we expect that a "thank you for your service" will erase the fact that limbs are forever gone and psyches forever marred by nightmares and visions of fallen comrades; guilt for making it out alive.

With just a few bullets to his body, Osama Bin Laden was gone.  It was quick; probably painless.  A merciful death for a man who showed no quarter, not even to women or children.  In one day, it was over.  For us it's been a gradual punishment.  It's been a sick and twisted deja vu. 

"Two soldiers killed in bomb blast in Iraq"

"Soldier Killed in Afghanistan"

I cried because even after his death, more lives will be lost and now there won't be a major figure to blame, but the country won't care.  As time progressed I wiped my eyes, and proceeded with my night.  His death has become as meaningless and utterly irrelevant as his very existence.  In the end, we shouldn't mourn or even pay attention to his death any longer.  If we truly want to dish out some sort of justice; if we really want to make his death mean something, let's rally around the 9/11 families and survivors, those veterans who answered the call and came home, and those currently still answering the call.  Let's stop talking about that beast, and let's start talking about the forgotten war and the forgotten troops in the forgotten country we went to war with first.  While at it, let's help those who serve and served in Iraq, and the families of those who died there. 

The tragedy in all of this was Osama Bin Laden attacked us, and we were united, but then we let factions fracture us again, and then we discarded those who sacrifice and sacrificed everything, and then we forgot--or never bothered to care--about how Osama Bin Laden even rose to power on our watch.  The tragedy was not learning from the actions of the wicked to combat the wicked.  I guess only time will tell if the life and death of Osama Bin Laden and all those he touched, negatively or otherwise, will actually mean something more than just an "eye for an eye."

Was Killing Bin Laden Justice, Or Should He Have Been Brought To Trial?

I set off a a explosive discussion and pissed off a couple people (as only I can) on Facebook by the following status update in reference to the event that was the assassination (killing sounds less humane) of Osama bin Laden: The next time an unarmed Black man gets shot by the cops, I'm gonna call it justice and start chanting, "USA! USA!! USA!!!" Will you join me? I learned from the feedback I received, that my "thought" was inappropriate.

Many missed the hidden question or message as asked by Alan Colmes over at Liberaland: Was It Legal To Kill Bin Laden? It's a really nice quick read and I urge you to check it out. Like my Facebook status and subsequent comments alluded, the real question is whether bin Laden himself should have been afforded due process as afforded per the U.S. Constitution? Well, checkout the following via POLITICO, as some food for thought. Like Alan Colmes asked in his post: Can  you imagine if another country sent commandos to the United States to assassinate someone who was living here?

[...] human rights and civil liberties groups that have sharply criticized the Obama administration for its use of lethal force against terror suspects outside of war zones remained largely mum after the notorious bin Laden was shot by U.S. Navy SEALs in an operation that took place in Pakistan, where the U.S. is not involved in formally declared combat.

Tom Malinowski, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch, said his group wasn’t prepared to express an opinion “until we know more solid details about the facts of the operation.”

“There are certainly circumstances under which lethal force is justified even in a law enforcement situation far from the battlefield,” Malinowski said in an email. “But we'll have to know more about what actually happened before making a judgment.”

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Tucson, AZ. Students Occupy School Board Meeting to Defend Ethnic Studies

Last Sunday night on Twitter, just before president Obama's big announcement. I completely flipped out when I saw that Black folks were being encouraged to boycott the airing of Celebrity Apprentice that night. Supposedly this was in response to the antics of Donald Trump, who many now see as racist given his attacks on the president. I for one felt this was foolish. And me being the habitual line-stepper that I am, spared no seconds in letting people know how I felt. The way I see it, boycotting Trump who has not even as much utter a racial pejorative aimed at the president was ridiculous. In the grand scheme of things, a few Black people (who actually watch the show) boycotting Celebrity Apprentice, does nothing to impact society at large.

A few people were disgusted as I gave my take. In particular. they had a hard time understanding that this is indeed America, and love it or hate it, Trump can indeed say or do anything he wants within the law. They also had a hard time understanding my explanation that expanded to explain that Trump is not an elected official; and, he has not even declared whether he'going to run for president or not. Therefore, his has no direct impact on our lives as far as legislative policy. In short, there are and always will be racists in this country; and though I'm down with any anti-racism movement, I prefer a call to action on something significant. I'm all about making a difference and shining a light on where it's deserved, such as the following:



You see, racism or the tool that is racism is indeed applied systematically. Yes there are racial undertones associated with the claim of president Obama being Kenyan and not American. However, where were these so-called Black "activists" when Arizona were in the process of passing, or passed it's draconian SB1070 legislation. Further, where were these Black "activists" when the very same state passed a "Birther Bill" which supported the racist claims of irrational right-wing lunatics? From where I'm sitting legislation that bans ethnic studies in the state of Obama does more to negatively impact our society at large than Donald Trump could ever say or do - he's not an elected official.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a huge problem; that would be, the lack of participation by Black folks and true Black activists in the fight against the anti-immigrant movement. But I guess you have to be a Black immigrant like myself to truly understand just how laws such as HB 2281 and SB 1070 affects us all. The bottom line here folks: anti-immigrant legislation isn't just a "Mexican" problem; it's an American problem. In a country that was built and continues to be built on the backs on immigrants where we not only encourage diversity and the celebration of heritage and different cultures. It's time that we as Americans pull together and say no to what I see as the erasing of an individual ethnic and cultural identity; and that's not a good thing...

It's racist!

Bin Laden Didn't Blow Up The Projects

“Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.


I hate to be the piss in your morning coffee, but Bin Laden wasn't the one who caused the housing bubble to burst; and the reason the economy is to' up from the flo' up. If you're making the news of Bin Laden's death out to be a victory for Obama and a loss for Bush, you're an idiot. Nobody wins in a war; that is, with the exception of cprporation on Wall Street. You know, the same people who raped what little wealth common folk held as they targeted minorites with their predatory lending scheme? So yeah, you fools can run around slapping high fives and chanting , "USA, USA," all you want. Innocent lives were lost, and for what? So that wealthy elites can use fear to rule our lives?


To me, that's all that matters. Because at the end of the day, my Black ass wasn't looking over my shoulder for some 6' 9" cave-dweller with a ZZ Top beard and a towel on his head frothing at the mouth ready to take me out. No, it was never him; instead it's the crowd of people celebrating his death reminiscent of those vintage town square lynching photos. Those are the Americans who scare me. Because the truth is, while I'm struggling to survive and navigate this cold harsh world of ours. Instead of trying to kill me, they'd rather have fun keeping me and anybody who looks like me in perpetual servitude: or, trapped in a life of accepted economic inequality as I chase the carrot that is the American Dream, while they take what little wealth we have?

SIDENOTE: If George Bush caught Bin Laden in his 2nd term there'd be no president Obama. Just something to think about while making this a partisan discussion. And, it kinda sucks that they killed Bin Laden. I would've loved to hear him tell how he pulled off the Building 7 thingy after trial. But I guess we can still count on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to tell us just how they pulled off that magic trick.

Yes, it isn't Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, or any foreign entity that I'm afraid of. It's the ones who call themselves American, to whom God has entrusted the right to fuck me, and anyone else in the world who looks like me over, I see as a threat. If I were you I'd be worried about them too. Because it ain't about a difference in skin color. It's about generation after generation of them being born into wealth, while we live and die poor doing their dirty work for crumbs. I didn't mean to depress you, and hopefully you're not. This is just something to think about while Bin Laden lies at the bottom of the sea like "Megatron".

Hopefully you can sleep better at night now that Osama sleeps with the fishes...

I know for me, it makes no damn difference.

Dismantling Schools to Privatize Education

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

After the United States was founded, there were three institutions that were forged into the country's development in order to progress the new nation and disseminate the democratization process in quickening speed.

The institutions were the Post Office, the Free Press, and Education.

Soon free education was a national debate. Should it be the responsiblity of the US to fund education? The overwhelming answer was yes, and women were included. As a result, it was discovered that a more literate and educated society would be exponentially creative, productive, and engaging citizens.

Now of course, this discourse occurred within the realms of whites who at the time were the only ones who could be US citizens. Nevertheless, once enslaved black people were Emancipated, the resurrection of schools throughout the South for former slaves paralleled an economic growth in the country.

Just like after the Revolutionary War, those who were educated began to invent technologies that afforded easier functionings of society. Great thinkers were developed and re-constructed the flaws of social order. Women, yes women, and people of color, provided an essential perspective in the meaning of citizenship.

The United States grew, and flourished.

Literacy, hence, education provides you the option of garnering more options. And education has the potential of building intellectually saavy populations.

But since the mass Americanization of European immigrants and the mass exodus of whites out of inner cities to the suburbs across the US, public education has slowly disolved into a vaguely operational entity.

It is a blah more than an institution.

Suburban education provided these spaces of development, but they also cloned a sheltered an socially-ignorant middle and upper middle class that could not think farther than their local parks.

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Osama Bin Laden Buried At Sea? You Mean Like Megatron?? Hmm...

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

After years of being this elusive figure, the "killing" of Osama Bin Laden occurs in a shroud of mystery, then his body is dumped in the sea. Reports say he was killed in Abbotabad, a city between Gilgit and Ismabad, which is located in the northern part of the country, which is well over 1,000 km from the Arabian Sea.

Very fishy.

Who buried the body? Where is the ceremony? Where are the photos? Come on . . . my conspiracy nose is itching like I have pollen allergies. Just doesn't sit right is all I'm saying.

Then I look at the covers of the Daily News and shake my head. The "report" of this death without concrete data is irresponsible, but the way in which it was handled by this paper is beyond crude. It actually debases the American deaths that are connected to this search of Bin Laden, and in my opinion, pours fuel onto a oil field.

There is this idea that justice has been served. However, in war, there is no justice, just killing, and disrupted lives, and grief. The Bin Laden "killing" doesn't give a father who lost his daughter in Iraq a boner. It doesn't lessen the heartache of a sister who lost her brother at ground zero.

When you are dealing with a population of folk who will use children in diapers to blow up a couple of soldiers, the last thing you want to do is agitate people more. Oh, I thought I was speaking about the US military.

To be so smart, especially as a news source, some folk sure are stupid.

I have to conjure up King's quote, "War no more."

CNN Reports

(CNN) -- Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil, is dead -- almost 10 years after the attacks that killed about 3,000 people.

The founder and leader of al Qaeda was killed by U.S. forces Monday in a mansion in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, U.S. officials said.

Four others in the compound were also killed. One of them was bin Laden's adult son, and another was a woman being used as a shield by a male combatant, the officials said.

Bin Laden's body was later buried at sea, an official said. Many Muslims adhere to the belief that bodies should be buried within one day.

The official did not release additional details about the burial, but said it was handled in keeping with Muslim customs.

In an address to the nation Sunday night, U.S. President Barack Obama called bin Laden's death "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda." Washington is nine hours behind Pakistan.

 Click here for the whole story.

Bloody Hands on Your Watch: Obama Continues US Warmonger Culture

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

NATO airstrikes on the known residence of Moammar Gadafi resulted in the killing of his youngest son and three grandsons on Saturday, April 30. Gadafi and his wife who were also there visiting were not harmed.

The airstrikes are from the United States and European allies, and are one of many coordinated airstrikes in Tripoli and other "known" Gadafi sites for about a month.

This incident comes during a time Gadafi has expressed an interest in negotiating and the African Union has declared an immediate cease of the "no fly" zone policy due to concern of civilian casualties. However, Libyan rebels rejected the AU plan since it did not include the removal of Gadafi.

As well, the Russian government has called for an end to violence from all parties; but blood is pouring from the streets as Libyan military increases its aggressive attacks on protestors and anti-Gadafi population.

And now the Chinese government has criticized the US for using military aggression to expand its global positioning; especially after the revolutionary movements in Egypt and Tunisia.

There are a lot of political interests in this fight over Libyan land and oil. First, my conspiracy nose points to the obvious quid pro quo deal between US and the English/French government. The US is simply paying back a "debt" for England and France's "assistance" in the Iraq war.

As you can see good ole U.S of A, payback, my dear, is a muhfuckah.

China, the biggest trading partner with Africa (if you didn't know, Libya is in Northern Africa), has been asserting its position as a key trading partner with the continent for decades.

On the other hand, the United States has been aggressively attempting to monopolize mineral and energy resources.

Additionally, Russia has significant arms contracts with Libya.

And here we have Libya, a horrible botox pawn in a chess game that is clearly fixed. Gadafi is the not the issue. The fear of losing access to natural resources is the problem. Libya is a modern day Louisiana Territory that Napoleon Bonaparte planned to use in world dominance starting in the New World.

The US, England and French needed a new strategic location in a post-Jasmine revolution. Gadafi has been off the chain for years, and nobody did anything about it. Plus, there

Dammit Obama you have been complicit in a dirty cowboy move in a country where waahoo cowboys don't even like your ass.

There will be no gain as the worldwide sentiment of a bloody, bullying America expands.

Obama, take your long form birth certificate and shove it up your penis hole.

Post-Racial America Update: Nightclub Kicks Out Patrons Because of "Too Many Blacks."

by Joanna

A Buffalo bar is coming under fire for racism. Rather than allow the majority Black crowd, the manager of the 4Play nightclub shut operations down, and ordered all of the patrons out because of, "Too many Blacks."

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - There are claims of racism against a Chippewa hot spot. Patrons at the 4Play Nightclub on Chippewa Street were outraged when they were all ordered to leave at 11 p.m. Saturday night.

A patron said, "They say there's not enough white people, so they're shutting us down."

In a video shot by a professional photographer hired by event promoters, people said they heard the club's management and some security staffers saying there were too many blacks in the establishment.

"They kicked us out specifically because there's not enough white people," said one patron.

Another patron said, "Too many black people in the club, talking about they didn't want our money."

Giovanni Centurione said, "They were outside on the patio and they basically said there was way too many black people in here, and my business partner Chris and I had heard them say that and looked at each other and said, "Did you really just say that?""

Rinaldo Moss said, "And everyone was kicked out and no sooner than when we were kicked out, they re-opened the bar about 20 minutes later, and let more people in." SOURCE

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Black History Month Can Learn a Moral Lesson from Talib Kweli

by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

Tonight in Lawrence, Kansas, hip hop artist Talib Kweli Greene is performing sucker free.

Last week the New York lyricist announced that he requested gut-bucket liquor company Colt 45 to pull out as co-sponsors for his concert in the Mid-western region.

If only Black History Month could take a lesson from Kweli and stop selling our history for a couple of cases of Budweiser. And prolly Diddy with his tired Ciroc endorsements, along with Ludacris and Voodoo, or all the free Cristal Champagne advertisements, even Lee and his Absolut Brooklyn stint can recognize.

And someone puhlease tell the negro-thug rapper, Snoop to get off of Colt's payroll. He should've learned that hard living can kill after the death of Nate Dogg who was reportedly living a life of hard drink and bad eating before his strokes and ultimate departure.

Plus, black people already have funded liquor companies for seven generations.

Ask Haitians, they know all too well. It was the sugar plantations of Santo Domingo that started Brandy and Cogniac distilleries in France in the 17th century. And Brandy nor Cogniac is offering reparations any time soon.

Bravo Talib.