CLOSER TO GOD
Give Me Strength
I
God is out there somewhere. I don’t know where. Once, when I was in an African prison I yelled back at some would-be reborn Christian preacher: “God has never come to my bunk.” He had been, as is the custom of reborn preachers, ministers or flock-leaders, indicating that God had spoken to him in the night, and instructed him regarding something I ought to do. For some reason God never instructs His acolytes in what they ought to do on their own, other than raise money and make members of the flock serve them.
It does not say, anywhere in the Bible, that God will not give you a burden too heavy to carry. That common saying is just pure bullshit. Think about the death camps in Germany, just for a second, and consider such idiotic God-driven nonsense. I do not believe you can ‘Trust in God,’ or even ‘Let go and let God.’ I think those are buzz-phrases created by reborn idiots. I do believe that if you pray to Him for strength, however, that He will definitely send you more problems so you can grow stronger in attempting to deal with them. My own life is proof of that little homily.
Nobody knows I smoke. Not one soul living on this planet. A couple of people used to know, but they died shortly after they discovered my secret. I don’t like to execute people without some ceremony. Instead of offering the intended victim a cigarette, however, I have one myself. They get the extra time while I finish the process of smoking it. That’s only fair. I smoke Marlboro cigarettes. The long ones with filters. Like the guy on the horse in those old ads. He died of lung cancer, I heard sometime back. I don’t think I’m going to die of lung cancer. I picked a career, or rather it picked me, that will likely preclude that.
It was raining just beyond my tucked-in corner of the railroad station. I smoked there because the station was filled only with members of the native population.
They knew I was nearby, back pressed firmly into the peeling wooden boards, but they made believe I didn’t exist. To me that was the same as not knowing anything.
About my smoking secret, I mean. The natives were like Knuckle-draggers, they didn’t count as living souls. They were just there, like the rocks, the trees or even the rain. I’m not prejudiced on the basis of color. I’m just prejudiced on the basis of the business I’m in.
When it rains in Nairobi, it rains for quite some time. The water coming down is clean, however, unlike the rest of the dusty dirty city. I love Nairobi, don’t get me wrong. And I love the rain in Nairobi because it drives everyone inside, then cleans the streets and universally broken sidewalks. I walk in the rain. I breathe it in. Plus its cool. Nairobi is pretty hot most of the time. I like it cool, but I don’t get many assignments up on the Bering Sea, or down in Tierra del Fuego. Africa is kind of my beat. And I’m not a Knuckle-dragger either. I don’t do the wet stuff at all. I’m one of the rather more rare guys who have guys who do that sort of thing. Maybe there are a few women who do what I do, I don’t know. I’ve never met one, or even heard of one, but these are changing times. Some of those guys, the Knuckle-draggers, were who I was standing near the rain waiting for. The train was overdue out of Lake Victoria, stopping in Nairobi, before making its way down to Mombasa.
Across the tracks I could see old rusting steam engines sitting on bare ground. Steam had given way to diesel ten years back. I remember riding the steam- powered train down to Mombasa, so long ago. The night had been filled with burning cinders, falling down and away past the dining car windows. It had not seemed romantic at the time, but in retrospect it was all of that, and more. I wistfully drew in the last of the Marlboro smoke, then pinched out the stub and replaced it in my red and white cardboard pack. I would leave no evidence of my secret behind, not that anyone around me cared. Kenyan natives are great. They pretty much respect and appreciate white folk, like me. They give deference and they don’t get in your face, as in some other cultures.
The train came in. Just like that. No whistle of warning. I was not in Europe or America. The rules were different. The old cars rocked slowly to a stop, compressed air hissing out from the brakes, resembling steam, up and down the line. I waited.
The natives crammed aboard the train as the passengers tried to get off. It was a mess of water-soaked bedlam, but it wasn’t noisy. The people of Kenya are a quiet lot. Another feature I like.
My guys climbed down just as the whistle of the engine finally sounded, indicating that the train was pulling out. Conductors in blue sweaters and black caps pushed and pulled stragglers aboard. The train creaked as it eased from the station. I turned and headed for the gray Nissan Pajero parked illegally in front. It was an old rental thing with a five speed, unlocked because there were no locks, only holes in all the doors. But I had left nothing inside. I carried nothing except my cigarettes, money and a passport. The rental papers for the car were not even there, as I wouldn’t return the vehicle, just call and tell the agency where to pick it up. My guys would have stuff. It was what they did. If they got caught with any of it, then they’d have to count on some other operatives to get them out of trouble. Or not.
I drove. Two of them in the back and one up front with me. We didn’t talk. They knew the mission. We were not, and were not going to be, friends. If there was to be violence I didn’t want to be grieving over the loss of any of them, or they of me.
Fucking New Guy Syndrome we’d called it, after the Nam. And it had its proper place in our work.
I drove fast. As fast as a three liter Pajero would go, which was not that fast at all.
One hundred and forty kilometers per hour was about max, which was about seventy miles an hour, or so. The roads out of Nairobi were built for about half that, however, so it was a rough scary ride. The guys gave no indication of discomfort or fear, however. It was that kind of business.
We were headed for a village just South of the big National Wildlife Park outside of Nairobi. I never could remember the park’s name. The village is a Masai place. The Masai are tall lanky natives who wear weird throw-back attire and carry long ugly spears. The men, anyway. And they stink to high heaven, as they never ever wash. Ever. I like them, but then, my former wife had once told me that I had no sense of smell. I guess didn’t have much taste in women either. I’d never found any who trusted me. And I couldn’t be around people who didn’t trust me. If they were ‘inside the wire’ kind of women, part of my tribe, then my trustworthiness should have been beyond question. I trusted them. But women don’t trust so easy, I discovered. So I was alone. I worked in a field that did not lend itself well to either trust or believability. Alone was not okay, but it simply had to do.
The village appeared next to the road about twenty clicks on the other side of the park. The inside of the Pajero was filled with dust, even though the rain had done a lot to cut it back. The park had been nothing but dirt roads and dust. Rain only sealed the top inch of the dust, and the dust went down a good four inches deeper than that. The village was a ram-shackle affair of branch constructed hovels, mud huts and half-thatched roofs behind flimsy fences. The fences were to keep animals in, not out. No self-respecting lion would ever allow itself the indignity of being speared full of holes on the interior open plaza of a Masai village.
I drove through a likely hole in the fence. Chickens and a few dogs scattered. I knocked down a few small pieces of stacked junk, and maybe a three-stone fireplace or two. I parked in the center of the village and shut off the engine. We sat. Nobody appeared. The Knuckle-dragger next to me spoke for the first time.
“I’m Burt, and these are Tom and Walt,” he said, as he pointed toward the back seat.
I didn't laugh when a cloud of dust formed near the end of his extended finger.
“Hey,” I responded, looking carefully at each of them. We would not be friends, but our mutual survival was now dependent upon the performance of each of us. Missions involving violence seldom ever went smoothly. Aberrantly strange things were always cropping up.
“The target is being held somewhere nearby. I don’t know where. Our contact is supposed to meet us here." I said the words with finality. We were not going to go social at this tense point of the mission.
I looked at my Omega. It was the same watch the astronauts had worn to the moon. Or so the salesman had told me when I’d purchased it. It was pretty damned accurate, I had to admit. Our source had twenty minutes to make contact or I’d scrub the mission. While we waited, we were targets ourselves. It was a risk that came with the territory. We waited in the vehicle. It wasn’t likely that any force was going to take out four white guys, armed to the teeth, sitting inside a rental four-wheel-drive in the middle of a pacified Masai village. Getting out could lead to booby-traps or other hidden hazards. We waited inside.
A tall Masai warrior appeared between two of the hovels to our front. He motioned with his characteristic spear. The four of us got out of the vehicle. I looked at my guys to assure myself that nobody was coming out locked and loaded. Violence escalates from the things you do before violence happens, I knew. We needed to be just four white guys walking, escorted, across the Serengeti. Everyone was cool.
We followed the nearly seven foot tall native through the saw grass just East of the village. It was a well-beaten path so we had no trouble. We could have followed the tribesman with blinders on, as his aroma was that overpowering, even twenty feet back. I do have a sense of smell I thought, sending a mental message to my ex-wife.
We came upon a clearing at the base of one of those huge Baobab trees, its trunk at least twenty feet thick. A man lay on his side next to the tree, his hands tied behind him with what appeared to be vines. The man was white, wearing the phony safari gear so common to visiting tourists. Even his canvas hat was there, on the ground next to him. I was surprised by that, as the Masai are known for stealing anything not tied, glued or welded down. The warrior stood next to the laying man, planting the base of his spear down on the man’s torso. He looked at me, but said nothing.
I pulled a two inch stack of Kenyan Shillings from my back pocket. I’d exchanged two hundred dollars worth of U.S. currency at the rail station. I handed the warrior the cash. He grabbed it, then walked away immediately, back toward the village. I waited until the five of us were the only humans evident out on the Savannah. Then I crouched.
“You alive?” I asked the downed man. His eyes opened. He nodded vigorously. I stepped back. Automatically, Tom and Walt grabbed the man by his shoulders and roughly seated him, back to the Baobab trunk. They backed away.
“Burt,” I whispered. Carefully, Burt took a medium sized automatic out from under his rain coat and handed it to me. Then he reached inside the coat a second time and came out with a polished black cylinder. I handed the automatic back. Burt finished assembling the silenced killing machine.
“We’re not supposed to talk to you, but what the hell, I never do exactly what they tell me to do anyway,” I offered to the man against the tree, by way of passing time, as I moved to get my pack of Marlboros out.
“I did it,” the man whispered out. “I know you’re his people. I did it. I went to that prison and told them about him. I admit it. But I had to do it. If I didn’t do it he’d have ruined my family. Our business would have been gone. We have nowhere to go. We’re Lebanese. We’re not welcome anywhere. We don’t even have passports.
I even dressed like a tourist, just like he told me.”
I sat on my haunches, no longer reaching for my box of cigarettes. The mission was to take out the man who had deliberately informed on one of our agents, getting that agent very dead, indeed. Payback was uncommon to the intelligence business, I knew, at least payback in violence, but there were certain circumstances. This had appeared to be one of them, as the dead agent had also been a highly decorated former Marine Officer and well connected politically. Unlike myself, he’d also been rumored to be well-liked. The fact that I’d been instructed not to talk to the target had not gone down well with me, although I had not remarked at the time. If I have to be involved in someone’s passing, I like to make certain that some sort of justice in the universe is being balanced.
“What have you got for me?” I asked. The Lebanese just looked back at me.
“If we are not to end this all right here, then you have to give me some reason why your passing should not take place.” I stared into the man’s black eyes, seeing nothing but truth. Everything thing he’d said so far had reeked of truth, and that made me very uncomfortable.
“I don’t have anything,” the man said, his chin sagging to his chest.
“Who was going to destroy your family?” I prompted him. He looked up. Then he looked from Burt to the other two Knuckle-draggers, then back at me. I stood, both knees and the small of my back in pain at the same time. I grunted.
“Take a hike out on the Serengeti for a bit,” I said to Burt. He grimaced, then handed the suppressed weapon to me. I took it. I knew the three of them probably had six more weapons among them, or more. Knuckledraggers were big on toys and equipment, cramming diplomatic sacks with all manner of pyrotechnics.
I waited for the guys to get a good thirty yards down the path, before I squatted back down.
“Paul Haggerty,” the Lebanese expelled with one soft breath. I said nothing back.
I didn’t have another question. I was too shocked. Paul Haggerty was the American
Ambassador to Kenya. Ambassadors never ever get involved in operational agency business, at least I had never heard of it happening before. For an Ambassador to be involved with the killing of a field agent was almost too impossible to consider.
“I understand that you have to kill me. But my family. They won’t be hurt, will they?
I have a wife and four children.” He tried to go on but I held up one hand in front of his face.
“Do you have any idea why Paul would want the agent dead?” The Lebanese shook his head violently. “Do you have any idea who killed our man?” I followed up, beginning to wonder exactly what had taken place in that prison outside of Nairobi.
Kenya was not exactly an enemy of the United States. The Soviets were long gone.
Terrorism was mostly a geographically limiting situation, excepting 9/11, of course.
Why the revelation that a man was an agent of the CIA would get him killed in a place like Kenya had no comforting answer that I could come up with.
The man shook his head again. I believed everything he’d told me. But I didn’t know what to do with it.
I rose to my feet once again with same groan. I stepped away from the Baobad and saw Burt pacing in the distance, nervously. If I got myself killed it would not look good in the after-action report, for him, or the other guys. They had to do what I said, but they also had to protect me. I waved him back.
“Cut him loose,” I said, when the three had shambled back. I handed the silenced weapon to Burt. “We won’t be needing that.”
Tom and Walt got the Lebanese to his feet and cut through the vines. The man glanced around him like he was some sort of hunted bird, looking for the next direction of attack.
“What do I do?” he asked, finally. I took the eighteen remaining hundred dollar bills of mission cash from my front pocket. I put the small stack into his hand.
“We’re taking you back to your family. Then you’re going to disappear for a few weeks while I get this all sorted out. And I mean disappear. Do you understand?”
“You did not know?” the Lebanese asked me, looking at my three guys, without going on. I shook my head.
“There will be trouble, I think,” he said, with an air of finality.
The village was as dead when we returned, as it had been when we’d arrived. It was obvious that no one had touched the Pajero. The villagers wanted nothing to do with us. As I drove madly toward Nairobi, the Lebanese wedged in between Tom and Walt in the back seat, I supposed that nobody in the U.S. Embassy was going to want anything to do with us either.
http://www.jamesstraussauthor.com
http://www.themastodons.com
http://www.from-the-chateau-dif.blogspot.com
copyright 2009
By Padmini Arhant
Tragedy strikes once again in the earthquake prone Indonesia causing a chain of events in other coastal territories viz. the Western Samoa hit with Tsunami, The Philippines embracing the worst casualties in the poorest region from the Typhoon, Japan and Hawaii remaining on alert due to the warnings issued by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Remaining articles available @http://www.padminiarhant.com
Thank you.
Padmini Arhant
The map, based on 18 months’ worth of satellite data, shows very high levels of NO2 above major European and North American cities and across much of north-east China. South-east Asia and Africa also have raised concentrations of the gas due to their burning of vegetation. “Ship tracks are visible in some locations,” says Steffen Beirle, one of the research team at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. “Look at the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean between the southern tip of India and Indonesia.” Although NO2 is formed naturally by lightning and by microbes in the ground, it is also released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels by power plants, heavy industry and vehicles. Large quantities of the gas can cause respiratory problems and lung damage, and can also contribute to harmful ozone forming near ground level.
Obama has commented on helping poor nations to develop clean technologies but as you can see, it is not the poor countries that harm the planet the most. It is the rich large countries doing all of the damage. We first need to look at home and prevent the devastation that has been ongoing. United States, China, and Europe need to change the way they live first before they can start criticizing other poorer nations that only amount to about 11% of emissions around the world. Our polar ice caps have lost nearly a third of its size from 1981 to 2003(NASA Data). Your plan is to reduce amounts of emissions by the year 2050. By your logic, we won’t have a polar ice cap left. There won’t be anything to save. The climates around the world are already beginning to shift. Melting glacial water changes the composition of the ocean and changes the weather patterns around the world. Yearly Warming Temperatures from NASA
http://politicalpete.com/
www.padminiarhant.com
The past week - April 20 -24, 2009, Geneva, Switzerland hosted ‘The Durban II conference’ on racism. The preceding event in 2001 held in Durban, South Africa marred by racial overtones and negative attacks against the state of Israel evidently led the United States and Western allies to boycott the recent U.N meeting.
It was a United Nations gathering to address the persisting contemporary discriminatory practices often transforming into persecution, oppression and even genocide in some parts of the world. According to the White House and media reports, the reason behind United States and allies’ absence at the symposium was the blue print content notably against Israel by the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the United Nations’ assurance to eliminate any anti-Israeli inflammatory remarks from the Iranian President’s speech failed in convincing the United States, Israel and others to attend the world forum.
Meanwhile, predictably the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad’s rhetorical speech caused spectacle prompting other European diplomats to briefly abandon the summit. To the United Nations’ credit, the subsequent address by the Iranian President modified to reflect reality on the tragic holocaust previously denied by the political figure.
Whenever a consortium organized to deal with sensitive humanitarian issue of great magnitude, the stage is set for fireworks and doesn’t require more than a spark to ignite the flame into blazing fire. All those refuting the one nation’s contentious repetitive conduct, regrettably ignored the wide spectrum of humanitarian crises around the world. The objection against a particular nation’s demeanor effectively dismissed the urgency for unanimous solutions to global problems affecting humanity. Further, such action conspicuously displayed hierarchy prevalent in the humanitarian priorities.
Every continent has nations with dark legacy and embarrassing episodes of human rights violation. In the new millennium, the global community challenged to empathize with those currently enduring incessant suffering due to lack of freedom, inequality, injustice including intolerance.
The Geneva conference was a great platform for the nations that boycotted the meeting exclusively the United States and Israel to express serious commitment in resolving the age-old Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine. Any glimpse of hope in the two states solutions approved by vast majority of population on both sides with a free Palestine comprising West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem alongside the democratic Israel unequivocally accepted as a sovereign state in the entire region would have instantaneously gained credibility in the large presence of the United Nations.
Needlessly, as holocaust victims Israel was better qualified to condemn any crime against humanity and set an example by leading the world in the establishment of peace and democracy with its neighbor Palestine. Israel had a unique opportunity in Geneva to demonstrate solemn pledge and action to aid those, relevantly the Palestinians deserving similar liberty granted to Israel predominantly with the support and solidarity among the nations around the world. Israel’s unprecedented humanitarian gesture would have made it incumbent on the Arab nations at the conference to forge alliance in promoting regional unity and peace.
If the world would not have heeded to the humanitarian call for an Independent Israel, it could have resulted in the devastating annihilation of a specific human race. Likewise, South Africa proudly declaring results from a democratic election today would have succumbed to oppressive apartheid without the international community’s involvement in the freedom of that nation.
There is immense misery and extreme hardships in various parts of the world. People in these regions generally exposed to despair, depression and death at infancy consider themselves fortunate if they live beyond the short life expectancy because of poverty, disease, war and deprivation of basic human rights.
Geneva conference reached a broad based consensus against racial and gender discrimination, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia other than human rights abuses across the globe. An international assembly by governments from most parts of the world had the moment and venue to review pertinent matter concerning different nations and people. Unfortunately, the U.N committee presumably under intense pressure from nations prioritizing political agenda in their allegiance to a single ally, did not layout the importance of relieving humanity from the perpetual violence through war, invasion and occupation reminiscent of the twentieth century’s imperialism and colonialism .
Is there deficiency in related topics involving the remaining population on the planet seeking entitlement to the international representation, rescue and relief from burgeoning crimes against innocent civilians?
Only if rationality and utilitarianism prevailed over popular political dogma of individualism, the desirable goals for fairness and justice are attainable in human affairs.
Is the struggle for peace and independence by the population in Palestine, Burma, Tibet, and North Korea any less significant than the international feud between Israel and Iran?
What about the status quo of civil wars contributing to genocides in Rwanda, Darfur, Congo and other parts of Africa?
Should the world ignore the escalating ethnic cleansing in Sri Lanka as an internal matter rather than an international moral issue?
Where was the denunciation of the pervasive Taliban abuse of women in Afghanistan now dangerously spreading to the Northwestern regions of Pakistan?
Why did the summit not extensively focus on the various abuses in Latin, Central and South America and China, notwithstanding the denial of equal status to women in the Middle East and other Islamic nations?
On the generic concept of racism, xenophobia - typically the fear of the unknown, homophobia - the overt hate crimes against gay and trans-gender community and other horrific incidents in human trafficking, child pornography and numerous offenses were excluded during the five-day long international meeting.
Apparently, the interpretation of ‘tolerance’ in the crimes against humanity is subject to the relationship among existing and emerging economic and political powers in the global society.
The protocol on protests, boycott and co-operation alike varies depending on the nations along with political and economic repercussions arising from such action.
For example, the Iranian President’s controversial stance against Israel held responsible for the Western nations’ boycott of the latest Geneva conference on racism while implying the other attendees’ motive questionable.
Nevertheless, the human rights activists’ plea to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics to draw attention towards the plight of the Tibetan population persecuted by the hour and suppression of the democracy movement in the People’s Republic of China rejected by the participating nations prominently those who recently boycotted the Geneva conference.
It is widespread knowledge that the emerging economic power China being the treasury and Exchequer for the world economy, a nuclear nation possessing veto power routinely exercised against common benefit in the U.N. Security Council decisions, privileged with supreme diplomatic immunity in all things inhumane.
In the recent G-20 summit, call for globalization over protectionism dominated the theme for global economic revival. Synonymously, in the environmental matter and international security collective effort embraced as a successful strategy. Henceforth, collaborative action regarded imminent to resolve international crises.
Ironically, abstaining from leadership at the summit to formulate policies in the restoration of human rights, freedom and civil liberties, the fundamental requirements for peace, progress and prosperity, creates a vacuum rather than serving the real purpose.
History is testimony to the rise and fall of civilizations that fair well when guided by wisdom, compassion and courage for universal good.
April 26, 2009, Charleston, SC- The campers have moved to the corner of a busy intersection behind a suburban Barns and Nobel where cars wiz by on their way to the beach on a warm April Sunday afternoon. They are trapped and await rescue as do the thirty thousand children in Uganda, the Congo and Sudan who are carrying weapons in a war they did not start, do not understand and cannot escape without our help.
These campers have committed to live in third world conditions like that of the child soldiers until major political leaders acknowledge their movement and agree to work towards bringing the abductor war lords in Uganda, the Congo and Sudan to justice and the battle scarred and abused children home to their families. As of 1 pm Sunday, they’re out at the corner of Highway 61 and Old Wallace Road, behind the Barnes and Noble waiting on a Senator, Mayor or Congressman to visit and “liberate” them.
Some of the campers have gone back to school. Others, from Cities where the event has already been successfully concluded by the arrival of a person of compassionate influence have been liberated and are on their way to reinforce Charleston. They’re going to camp on a nearby lot and demonstrate on that corner until the Political system responds. They are peaceful, positive and friendly, but they’re out there trying to change the world.
You can call Lauren Henke at (214) 334-4547 at the camp for an update on how they’re doing. You can follow this hundred city international effort on their website http://store.invisiblechildren.com/.
They have circulated petitions and written letters, but the indifference of our times pushes those of goodwill and hope to commitments which confront a society obsessed by the recession’s disruptions of their shallow material expectations. We may miss a vacation. Our children may have to trade their worn out Nikes for shoes from pick and pay. It’s hard to remember how lucky we are.
We could be losing sleep at night wondering if our 12 year old son has been killed in the unending civil war in Uganda, an unwilling and uncomprehending conscript in a contest which looks more like a war between street gangs than a military contest. We don’t have to live that way and we forget that tens of thousands of families in villages in Africa do. Some children get wounded. Some get raped. Some get killed.
These Rescue campers in Charleston want us to remember. They want our leaders to act. They didn’t fully understand how conservative and complacent South Carolina is when they committed to this. Most have little experience with politics and community organizing. They’re a collection of college students and church volunteers led by a few activists.
If you know someone of political influence, ask them to pay a visit. Go by yourself to say thanks and shake hands. Learn about what they are doing.
Remember we are all captives of the indifference and complacency which surrounds us. Even those of us who fight hard and long know the frontiers of what we achieve are limited by the attitudes which infect our culture. Let’s make sure our encouragement reaches these people so they successfully conclude their campout and their witness reaches and liberates the children whose pictures hang from the tent ropes.
END END END
The US/Britain 200 Years war against Islamic pirates - terrorists
For young Somalis, piracy offers power, prosperity The Associated Press There are several known pirate groups in Somalia. One is based in the southern port town of Kismayo, which is controlled by Islamic insurgents. … http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iR9XICoYi0CQt77GJUw5lNAPpG_AD97EGS200
Hot Air » Blog Archive » Somali pirates seize American ship, crew … by Ed Morrissey Jefferson Versus the Muslim Pirates …one cannot get around what Jefferson heard when he went with John Adams to wait upon Tripoli’s ambassador to London in March 1785. When they inquired by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping … So here was an early instance of the “heads I win, tails you lose” dilemma, in which the United States is faced with corrupt regimes, on the one hand, and Islamic militants, on the other—or indeed a collusion between them. … http://hotair.com/archives/2009/04/08/somali-pirates-seize-american-ship-crew/
A look back at history
Britain’s 200-year jihad (and US facing them)
Britain’s 200-year jihad There are many similarities between the stateless jihad of the 1700’s and ….. The pirate ships set sail for Algeria later that day, with the captives on … http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/008320.php
America’s Earliest Terrorists
Lessons from America’s first war against Islamic terror.
December 16, 2005, 9:55 a.m. By Joshua E. London At the dawn of a new century, a newly elected United States president was forced to confront a grave threat to the nation — an escalating series of unprovoked attacks on Americans by Muslim terrorists. Worse still, these Islamic partisans operated under the protection and sponsorship of rogue Arab states ruled by ruthless and cunning dictators. Sluggish in recognizing the full nature of the threat, America entered the war well after the enemy’s call to arms. Poorly planned and feebly executed, the American effort proceeded badly and at great expense — resulting in a hastily negotiated peace and an equally hasty declaration of victory. As timely and familiar as these events may seem, they occurred more than two centuries ago. The president was Thomas Jefferson, and the terrorists were the Barbary pirates. Unfortunately, many of the easy lessons to be plucked from this experience have yet to be fully learned. The Barbary states, modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, are collectively known to the Arab world as the Maghrib (”Land of Sunset”), denoting Islam’s territorial holdings west of Egypt. With the advance of Mohammed’s armies into the Christian Levant in the seventh century, the Mediterranean was slowly transformed into the backwater frontier of the battles between crescent and cross. Battles raged on both land and sea, and religious piracy flourished. The Maghrib served as a staging ground for Muslim piracy throughout the Mediterranean, and even parts of the Atlantic. America’s struggle with the terror of Muslim piracy from the Barbary states began soon after the 13 colonies declared their independence from Britain in 1776, and continued for roughly four decades, finally ending in 1815. Although there is much in the history of America’s wars with the Barbary pirates that is of direct relevance to the current “war on terror,” one aspect seems particularly instructive to informing our understanding of contemporary Islamic terrorists. Very simply put, the Barbary pirates were committed, militant Muslims who meant to do exactly what they said. Take, for example, the 1786 meeting in London of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, the Tripolitan ambassador to Britain. As American ambassadors to France and Britain respectively, Jefferson and Adams met with Ambassador Adja to negotiate a peace treaty and protect the United States from the threat of Barbary piracy. These future United States presidents questioned the ambassador as to why his government was so hostile to the new American republic even though America had done nothing to provoke any such animosity. Ambassador Adja answered them, as they reported to the Continental Congress, “that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.” Sound familiar? The candor of that Tripolitan ambassador is admirable in its way, but it certainly foreshadows the equally forthright declarations of, say, the Shiite Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the 1980s and the Sunni Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, not to mention the many pronouncements of their various minions, admirers, and followers. Note that America’s Barbary experience took place well before colonialism entered the lands of Islam, before there were any oil interests dragging the U.S. into the fray, and long before the founding of the state of Israel. America became entangled in the Islamic world and was dragged into a war with the Barbary states simply because of the religious obligation within Islam to bring belief to those who do not share it. This is not something limited to “radical” or “fundamentalist” Muslims. Which is not to say that such obligations lead inevitably to physical conflict, at least not in principle. After all peaceful proselytizing among various religious groups continues apace throughout the world, but within the teachings of Islam, and the history of Muslims, this is a well-established militant thread. The Islamic basis for piracy in the Mediterranean was an old doctrine relating to the physical or armed jihad, or struggle. To Muslims in the heyday of Barbary piracy, there were, at least in principle, only two forces at play in the world: the Dar al-Islam, or House of Islam, and the Dar al-Harb, or House of War. The House of Islam meant Muslim governance and the unrivaled authority of the sharia, Islam’s complex system of holy law. The House of War was simply everything that fell outside of the House of Islam — that area of the globe not under Muslim authority, where the infidel ruled. For Muslims, these two houses were perpetually at war — at least until mankind should finally embrace Allah and his teachings as revealed through his prophet, Mohammed. The point of jihad is not to convert by force, but to remove the obstacles to the infidels’ conversion so that they shall either convert or become a dhimmi (a non-Muslim who accepts Islamic dominion) and pay the jizya, or poll tax. The goal is to bring all of the Dar al-Harb into the peace of the Dar al-Islam, and to eradicate unbelief. The Koran also promises rewards to those who fight in the jihad, plunder and glory in this world and the delights of paradise in the next. Although the piratical activities of Barbary genuinely degenerated over the centuries from pure considerations of the glory of jihad to less grandiose visions of booty and state revenues, it is important to remember that the religious foundations of the institution of piracy remained central. Even after it became commonplace for the pirate captains or their crew to be renegade Europeans, it was essential that these former Christians “turn Turk” and convert to Islam before they could be accorded the honor of engagement in al-jihad fil-bahr, the holy war at sea. In fact, the peoples of Barbary continued to consider the pirates as holy warriors even after the Barbary rulers began to allow non-religious commitments to command their strategic use of piracy. The changes that the religious institution of piracy underwent were natural, if pathological. Just as the concept of jihad is invoked by Muslim terrorists today to legitimize suicide bombings of noncombatants for political gain, so too al-jihad fil-bahr, the holy war at sea, served as the cornerstone of the Barbary states’ interaction with Christendom.
In times of conflict, America tends to focus on personalities over ideas or movements, trying to play the man, not the board — as if capturing or killing Osama bin Laden, for example, would instantly end the present conflict. But such thinking loses sight of the fact that ideas have consequences. If one believes that God commands something, this belief is not likely to dissipate just because the person who elucidated it has been silenced. Islam, as a faith, is as essential a feature of the terrorist threat today as it was of the Barbary piracy over two centuries ago. The Barbary pirates were not a “radical” or “fundamentalist” sect that had twisted religious doctrine for power and politics, or that came to recast aspects of their faith out of some form of insanity. They were simply a North African warrior caste involved in an armed jihad — a mainstream Muslim doctrine. This is how the Muslims understood Barbary piracy and armed jihad at the time, and, indeed, how the physical jihad has been understood since Mohammed revealed it as the prophecy of Allah. Obviously, and thankfully, not every Muslim is obligated, or even really inclined, to take up this jihad. Indeed, many Muslims are loath to personally embrace this physical struggle. But that does not mean they are all opposed to such a struggle any more than the choice of many Westerners not to join the police force or the armed services means they do not support those institutions. Whether “insurgents” are fighting in Iraq or “rebels” and “militants” are skirmishing in Chechnya or Hamas “activists” are detonating themselves in Israel, Westerners seem unwilling to bring attention to the most salient feature of all these groups: They claim to be acting in the name of Islam. It is very easy to chalk it all up to regional squabbles, economic depression, racism, or post-colonial nationalistic self-determinism. Such explanations undoubtedly enter into part of the equation — they are already part of the propaganda that clouds contemporary analysis. But as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams came to learn back in 1786, the situation becomes a lot clearer when you listen to the stated intentions and motivations of the terrorists and take them at face value. — Joshua E. London is the author of Victory in Tripoli: How America’s War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation (John Wiley & Sons, September 2005); for more about the book visit www.victoryintripoli.com. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/london200512160955.asp
Jihad in the Days of Jefferson http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961230585&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
When the Founding Fathers Faced Islamists May 27, 2008 … birth of US Naval power and the campaign against the Barbary pirates: …. that United States did not start the war with the Jihadists. … http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/when-the-founding-fathers-faced-islamists/
Sally Rovers incident, at the height of North African Arab Muslim pirates’ crimes against Christians, mainly British
Britain’s 200-year jihad
On my travels for the past few days, I have been reading a book which tells the story of a quite astonishing part of British history of which I was previously unaware. In ‘White Gold’, Giles Milton records the appalling details — gleaned,it appears, from a wealth of historical documents including diaries and letters — of a seaborne Islamic jihad against Britain which lasted for no less than two centuries.
From the early seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, thousands of British men women and children were kidnapped by Arab corsairs and sold into slavery in Morocco where they were kept in conditions of unspeakable barbarism. The astounding thing is that these British victims were not merely seized at sea where they ran the gauntlet of such pirates in places such as the Straits of Gibraltar. They were actually abducted from Britain itself.
Corsairs from a place in Morocco called Sale — who became known in Britain as the ‘Sally Rovers’ — sailed up the Cornish coast in July 1625, for example, came ashore dressed in djellabas and wielding damascene scimitars, burst into the parish church at Mount’s Bay and dragged out 60 men women and children whom they shipped off to Morocco. Thousands more Britons were seized from their villages or their ships and dispatched to the hell-holes of the Moroccan slave pens, from where they were forced to work all hours in appalling conditions building the vast palace of the monstrous and psychopathic Sultan, Moulay Ismail, who tortured and butchered them at whim. Most of them perished, but the book records the survival of a tenacious Cornish boy Thomas Pellow, who survived 23 years of this ordeal and whose descendant, Lord Exmouth, finally ended the white slave trade when he destroyed Algiers in 1816.
The book makes clear that this assault upon the British people (and upon Europeans and Americans who were similarly seized) was a jihad. The Sally Rovers, writes Milton, were called ‘al-ghuzat’– the term once used for the soldiers who fought with the Prophet — and were hailed as religious warriors engaged in a holy war against the infidel Christians who were pressurised to convert to Islam under threat of hideous punishment. What is even more striking was the response of the British crown. For almost two centuries, it made only the most ineffectual attempts to rescue its enslaved subjects. Those who had succumbed to the torture and inhumanity of the Sultan and converted to Islam were deemed to be no longer British and therefore outside the scope of any rescue. The pleas of Pellow’s parents were simply brushed aside. Popular outrage forced successive Kings to dispatch a series of feeble emissaries to try to get the Sultan to end this vile traffic and release the slaves, all to no avail.
But this went on for virtually two centuries. For almost 200 years the British state either sat on its hands or wrung them impotently while the Islamic jihad seized, enslaved and butchered its people. And then it appears, this staggering onslaught was all but airbrushed out of our history.
Food for disquieting thought. http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/archives/001423.html
‘Pirates of Penzance’ redo? James Zumwalt Thursday, October 2, 2008 Soon after winning independence from England, the United States faced another war. Muslim pirates operating off North Africa’s Barbary Coast were seizing U.S., as well as European, ships sailing in international waters, holding them for tribute payment or plunder. In 1786, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, meeting in London with Tripoli’s Muslim ambassador to Britain, inquired as to the reason for such Arab hostility. Acknowledging their attacks were unprovoked, the Tripoli ambassador explained it was their right and duty under the Koran as faithful Muslim followers to plunder and enslave the unfaithful - with those Muslims dying in the process going to paradise. To stop the attacks, the United States initially agreed to pay the Barbary pirates tribute, equal to about 20 percent of government revenues. Only later did an indignant United States launch two wars against them, ending in victory in 1815 and no further payments. European nations, acting individually and collectively, suppressed pirate activity as well, with the French conquest of Algiers in 1830 providing the last nail in the Barbary Pirates’ coffin. Today, Muslim pirates again sail the seas off Africa’s coast. Mostly Somalis, these pirates have already attacked more than 60 ships this year in the vicinity of the Gulf of Aden - almost 5 times more than occurred all last year. Pirates gain confidence as owners prove willing to pay ransoms for the safe return of ships and crews, much like the United States first did with the Barbary Pirates. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/02/pirates-of-penzance-redo/
Amazing how C.E.O. 's could walk out with 18 Billion Bonuses.
Amazing too, how the U.S. taxpayer is coming to their aid.
In the capitalist world, a person that works hard has a right to earn more than the others.
In this case, people who have brought financial ruin on their company walk away with Millions
in Bonuses.
Something must be wrong with our system.
I remember 2 years ago when the FORD leadership met, introducing its new C.E.O. who promised to reverse the losses his predecessor made, I thought, another loud mouth shnook.
Two years after, all car companies are on the brink or ruin.
It might not all be their fault, but flying to Washington with Private Jets, and then cry for more funds from the taxpayer is impertinent, to say the least.
Any massive lay-offs will create turmoil, so blackmailing the government is very easy.
President Obama tries to rectify some of the past mistakes, yet resistance from the Republicans is overwhelming as expected.
Any legislation, bill passing becomes a frustrating matter, with Republicans eager to put the blame on President Obama's government.
In the meantime those who managed to rob the Banks and Financial houses sun themselves in the Bahamas and Mexico, and the rest of the crowd is living from unemployment benefits.
It has to be said, people like Madoff do not belong in Park Avenue, they belong into the slammer.
Justice in America has its own arm.
I hope that President Obama 's stimulous package will bring the desired effect on the economy, I am afraid though, the Trillions spent on Iraq ( in Arms contracts ) should have been utilized in a different way.
Bush, Cheney, Rice should be held responsible for their negligence.
This tantamounts to gross negligence in the best case.
Heinz Rainer - Obama President
Moringa Oleifera
In an article authored by Hari Sud for UPI Asia, I found out what has happened to my country of America the past thirty years and especially the last ten years.
I have reprinted the article in its entirety, since I strongly belief it should be read and considered by all; the article is entitled: “What’s next for globalization?” I have taken the liberty of high-lighting sections and phrases, which I deem most important to our current financial burden.
What’s next for globalization?
By Hari Sud Column: Abroad View Published: February 20, 2009
Toronto, ON, Canada, — As the U.S. financial meltdown continues in 2009, attention is now directed toward the wider and long-range impact of globalization. In theory, globalization is increasing the mobility of goods, services and capital throughout the world by removing the barriers to free trade and increasing closer integration and the inter-connectedness of national economies.
For the West, that has translated into relocating labor-intensive and smokestack industries to countries where costs are lower. Europe and the United States have envisioned themselves as the world’s bankers, financial masters and influence peddlers – which was great in theory, if only the crooks in the U.S. financial sector had been kept away from the proceeds of globalization.
Since 2001, the United States has been awash with cash. It came from oil-producing Arabs and from the export proceeds of China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and India. That cash found a home in the subprime mortgages that have started the financial meltdown that is pulling the world down.
Europe and the United States were winning the globalization race until 2008, as master bankers handling the export earnings of other states. On the sidelines, China, Asia’s Tiger economies, Brazil and India began generating some cash and technology and building their own economies, leading to rapid increases in their gross national products. However, the benefits did not extend to the rest of Asia, Africa and other less-developed countries.
I’ve also posted this blog entry on my blog: http://www.theparadigmshiftshere.com
I'm sure you're all familiar with the sensational 'war' declared by the wealthy and the mighty on the pirates (mostly) from 'Somalia'...if you're not, view THIS article for the big 'spin' served to you courtesy of massive sponsorship by some very wealthy 'special-interest' groups...
Now for 'a' truth about the matter...
The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.
Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.
Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when
Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.
Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
Las grandes potencias mundiales anuncian que combatirán la crisis a golpe de talonario, cueste lo que cueste, pero se equivocan. No todo vale para salir del túnel si no se hace antes un análisis en profundidad sobre los errores cometidos en los últimos sesenta años y una adecuada proyección de objetivos hacia el nuevo mundo al que nos dirigimos. La falta de una adecuada respuesta por parte de los países más desarrollados a los grandes retos del planeta ha provocado el colapso de un sistema donde en demasiadas ocasiones ha primado la especulación.
El colapso del sistema financiero no es más que el estallido de una enorme burbuja ocasionada por la especulación que afecta a todos los sectores productivos. ¿Cómo es posible que en los últimos años las entidades financieras hicieran gala de más de un 30% de beneficios cuando el precio del dinero no alcanzaba el 4% en la eurozona? ¿Quién podía imaginar que el precio de cuatro paredes y un techo supusieran casi 20 años del sueldo medio de un joven español? ¿Hasta donde podíamos llegar con el precio de barril del petróleo superando los 160 dólares y con el cartel de que se agotan las reservas para lo que queda de siglo? ¿Por qué siguen las autoridades europeas y nacionales mirando a otra parte cuando se quintuplica el precio en el mercado de los productos agrícolas mientras se paga a los productores que hacen el esfuerzo precios miseria? ¿Hasta cuando esta dispuesto el planeta a aguantar los abusos sobre sus recursos naturales, sobre el equilibrio biológico y natural que garantiza la vida? ¿Cuántas muertes de inocentes son necesarias para que la solidaridad de quienes tienen el 80% de la riqueza la repartan con el 80% de la población que no tiene nada, y de la nada no salen más que para morir de hambre o de enfermedades? ¿Y quien alzará una voz que permita escuchar el silencio de 26.000 niños inocentes que mueren al día por falta de agua, alimentos o una simple vacuna?
Ese es el mundo en el que vivimos, el que algunos pretenden perpetuar con planes anti crisis que enterrarán miles de millones para salvar grandes corporaciones financieras y comprar activos sobrevaluados tras las bendiciones de las cumbres de turno. Pero se equivocan. La respuesta a los nuevos tiempos requiere de nuevas políticas, nuevos liderazgos y nuevos comportamientos éticos, incluso a nivel global. No saldremos de esta crisis sin el compromiso y una respuesta a las necesidades energéticas que necesariamente pasan por lograr las máximas cotas de independencia energética. El desarrollo de la energía del hidrógeno, pasando por las alternativas y hasta incluso llegar a la nuclear antes que depender de un petróleo que esclaviza y empobrece a las sociedades y es el principal factor del cambio climático. Además, este nuevo tiempo requiere de una respuesta clara a la mayor tragedia del mundo actual que se llama África, el continente olvidado y condenado a vivir en el hambre, el SIDA y la nada. Una lenta destrucción que contrasta con la codicia de estados y especuladores que compran hoy ingentes cantidades de suelo con los que cultivar los agros combustibles, generar mayores reservas para garantizar sus suministros alimenticios y de papel mientras la mitad del continente se muere de hambre. La ONU ha dado la voz de alerta sobre esta situación en un continente que requiere otras respuestas encaminadas al desarrollo de las personas y de un territorio masacrado por la codicia del llamado mundo desarrollado.
La lucha concertada contra la pobreza y las enfermedades será sin duda una señal de progreso para todos, ya que el desarrollo del llamado tercer mundo será también la garantía de supervivencia del estado de bienestar de los países desarrollados, desde la cooperación. En apenas cincuenta años el mundo en el que vivimos ha multiplicado por cuatro su población y los recursos siguen siendo los mismos, o menos según se mire. El reciclaje será sin duda una necesidad y también uno de los nichos de nuevo empleo, junto al de las energías alternativas, la agricultura ecológica y la cooperación social. Europa debe ser consciente de su enorme responsabilidad a la hora de garantizar una agricultura europea capaz de hacer frente a cualquier crisis alimentaria futura, con garantías de calidad en sus productos para su población y también para atender la demanda creciente. Bruselas debe brindar un apoyo real a los productores y vigilar a quienes utilizan los productos básicos para la especulación. Este nuevo mundo requiere también de respuestas a los enormes problemas del agua y su suministro, desde la solidaridad, el reciclaje continuo y el uso racional, así como una inmigración que demanda mayor cooperación y desarrollo en sus países de origen. La actual crisis es la antesala de un nuevo tiempo, que requiere de nuevas respuestas en las relaciones mundiales, en las alianzas para combatir el terrorismo del hambre o la falta de libertad, de personas y de los pueblos. El presidente electo de EEUU, Barack Obama, es sin duda el inicio de una nueva generación de líderes que deberán dar respuesta a los nuevos retos, siendo conscientes de los errores cometidos en el pasado. Obama ha anunciado un plan para crear 2,5 millones de empleo así como una revolución energética con el aprovechamiento de las energías alternativas y el hidrógeno. También anuncia la retirada de las tropas de Irak en un tiempo máximo de año y medio, entre otras medidas como un plan de salud publica en un país en el que hasta morir es un triste negocio. Obama es consciente también de la importancia del desarrollo de una agricultura por su valor ambiental, de desarrollo local y empleo que permita atender las urgencias alimentarias que se desatan en el mundo y hasta que algún día podamos poner fin a las plagas de hambruna. Son sin duda nuevos tiempos que no solo está en manos de nuestros gobernantes dar respuesta, sino fundamentalmente en nuestros propios comportamientos, en el consumo de agua, de energía, de alimentos saludables, así como la hora de exigir el respeto al medio ambiente e incluso la justicia que merecen nuestros agricultores antes de que sea demasiado tarde.
Gonzalo Gayo
gonzalogayo@gmailcom
what should Obama do in the first 100 days or what should be the top 20 things that he should do?
1. end the dealth penity! it should be life without any patrol or 50 years with 20 years in solitary confindment with no early patrol2. grant pardons, patrol, or retry political prisoners and either let them go or keep them behind bars3. subspend all forecloser for 180 days and order all parties involed to redo the payments and terms of the contract those who can aford the home keeps it those who can be moved to loans, grants, and payment programs that will aloud them to keep their homes get to stay and those who can't keep their homes are moved to apartments or trailers that they can aford.4. fix the credit and securities market get moneys flowing again to the people not the greedy enforce the regulations!5. fully fond health and wellness programs mental & phyical health programs that work6. create a national jobs and infrastructure building program now!7. get rid of laws that prevent people from getting jobs if they commit a crime and have served their time, have low credit, or test positive for drugs or health disablities and vote8. make all schools equal in every community train teachers so that they can and want to teach also why would you place a newbe in a classroom without an experience teacher in it. every classroom needs a manager and an assitance manage got it. in chicago il white kids in one public school have a spa high price gym & fitness center state of the arts computers and college level labs but the black school are getto roach infected is this support to be equal non racial schools9. get ever member of the black caucus passports then send and take them around the world to meet world leaders, movers & shakers10.rebuild the gulf coase line11.fully fund the community redevelopment zones so that black businesses can develop12.help black colleges come up to 21th standards if I can go to a majority white college and be educated to be prepared for the world then why can someone go to a majority black college and recieve the equal education?13.send an army of social workers and students into the community to work with and help people help themselves14.send an army of citizens into the world's community to help bring the world together15.racism is terrorism to we need to find and bring those crimals to justise and protect people so that no one will even think of committing a terror crime if we can do it for the jews them what is the problem and we can too say, "never again on in this country and world"16.increase the number of police, marshals, & sheriff of color now! Black Person Head of FBI17.charter schools not prisons get the states and the federal government commitment to it18.national public mass transit systems if your popluation is over 100,000 people you need buses, trains, shuttles, and taxi services and they can be green powered we need roads but more cars mean more problems if you build it they will come and create jobs19.don't let the new green economy leave blacks and other non whites behind in innovation & protection, jobs, and business ownerships and wealth creation20.immigration we need them for new blood, new ways, new workers, & new attitudes. they tipped the balance of power. they were not scared to bring about real change.
Also make all voting offices have uniformed protected ways to conduct and count the vote! when you are 18 you must register for selective service but you don't have to register to vote that's unequal! why is on punishable but the other is, "so what"? If ATM's can record every penny and knows whos penny it is then why can't the government record every vote?
why is it wrong to have African American ambassadors to Africa?
lastly your appointments don't forget this is a country of color and white is not the only one in the crayon box and black is also very quailfied to be there too. We want you there for eight years.
So,
Go Team Obama
A great interview with a great tribute to Obama's Internet Army - the "foot Soldiers" of the victory:
(FROM THE CHIA REPORT @ www.chiareport.com)
http://www.chiareport.com/2008/11/by-innocent-chia--as-global-citizens-continue-expressing-joy-and-disbelief-in-the-election-of-barack-obama-as-the-44th-us-pre.html
Imagine this Scenario
1. AFRICA With its Many small countries, Imagine if these People had money in their Hands now.
2. It is a Huge Market, Unexplored
What is their Positive outlook
1. SUN is the number one resource in AFRICA
2. Exploit it, Construct Solar Power Plants, Geo Thermal Power Plants
3. Supply Energy to Europe
What are their Negative outlook
1. Rebel Armies
2. Give them Jobs, Cease fire with them
I am from Turkiye but a man who belongs to this world.
I am an independant film-maker and my passion is telling stories with images. That's why I am not going to prolong my blog. Here is why I support Obama, with a short movie I've made two years ago. The African child in the movie would be Obama's daughter If she wasn't born in America or Obama was still living in Africa. And I believe that he would be the only person who would handle with this truth... The truth, that is not only in my film,
The truth, that is all "in front of our eyes".
Here it is, the film:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=42734492
Resolving Your Obama Race Dilemma -- How You Got it and Where to Put It
by
David Scheinman
Are you reluctant to vote for Obama because he is black? Hesitant to pull that lever or punch the keyboard even though his ideas and character are compelling? Do you think, if only Hillary had won I wouldn’t have this dilemma? To make matters even worse, are you hesitant to share your latent – and somewhat embarrassing -- uncomfortable feelings with others? Did you grow up in the 1940’s, 50’s or 60’s? If so, your feelings are perfectly understandable, especially if you grew up in a home where equality wasn’t taught. Have you always thought you were an open minded person, yet here you are, surprisingly reluctant to vote for Obama?
Where Were the Black Professionals When You Were Growing Up?
Did you have relatives who told you blacks were dumb, lazy, and good for nothing? That’s what an uncle told my good friend Dennis in Tennessee in the 1950’s. When Dennis came home and told his mom he met the niggers, his school teacher mom was furious. She set Dennis straight and banned the uncle from her home. Dennis clearly remembers being taken around a poor black community and receiving the racist indoctrination from his uncle. “Dennis, these are niggers, and this is how they live. “ If his mom hadn’t sternly told him his uncle was full of crap, Dennis could be experiencing a similar dilemma. Dennis wound up marrying a black woman. They have three adorable teenage girls and are still married.
My mom drummed equality into my soft head. In the 1950’s my mom told me about a black singer named Marian Anderson who was not allowed to perform in Washington’s Constitution Hall in 1939 by its owners, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) , because she was black. It was one of the earliest incidents that brought racial discrimination to our attention. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited Anderson to perform in front of the Lincoln Memorial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQnzb0Jj074 ?
She was introduced by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYZoeMKkxkg&feature=related
Where We Were and Where We Are Today -- From Slavery to Obama
Due to many factors, the black people you encountered growing up were probably maids, factory hands, garbage men, and laborers. They lived in segregated run down communities on the wrong side of the tracks. They spoke funny slang, hung around together, ate weird foods like collard greens, weren’t seen at the restaurants your folks ate in – except as busboys and waiters – BUT they were easily identified by their color.
So how did all this happen, and why in 2008 is our society suddenly chock-a -block with black professionals? Go to any school now and you will see black teachers, administrators, and principals – not just janitors. Go shopping and you will meet black supervisors. Buy a car, insurance, or clothes and you will often see black personnel. Turn on your TV and there is a black anchor or expert being interviewed in his area of expertise, which is not race relations.
And most intriguingly, why did many African students studying here in the 1980’s and 90’s return to Africa and tell me they had more white friends than black ones on campus? Why were black Africans readily accepted into white social circles when black Americans were either excluded or segregated themselves into all black dorms?
To get to the bottom of this, and to get you off the hook, let’s return to how black people wound up living on the wrong side of the tracks and how in 2008, many more of them are your neighbors or workmates. What in world changed? Why do kids of all colors in my son’s high school eat lunch together in 2008?
Blacks were the only group that came here involuntarily, in chains. They were captured by rival black tribesmen and sold to Arabs who subsequently sold them to slave dealers. Coming from different tribes, most of the slaves couldn’t even communicate with each other in a common language. Thousands of slaves from all over Africa converged in the American south and didn’t even share a common language or history. They were ripped away from their familiar world and, unlike prisoners of war, couldn’t even talk to each other initially. They weren’t allowed to learn how to read, write, or even swim.
They eventually had kids, but these kids could never be taught the legends or stories that make up a culture. They lacked the fundamental accouterments of culture that include shared beliefs, art, language, institutions, manners, dress, religion, rituals, and so forth. All they knew was the plantation and their narrow world. So when freed from slavery in 1865, they had no skills, capital, land, or even literacy. Their real culture was agriculture – plus what they created as slaves. They had the slang they created and, of course, each other. Since whites gave them few responsibilities, they developed few skills and consequently had the reputation of being lazy, shiftless, and dumb. They learned to believe they were inferior -- and often reinforced that stereotype by acting commensurately.
Imagine for a moment how that gets into your head. Most of what we become as adults is tattooed onto our soft brains as toddlers. My mom used examples to teach me that all people were equal. Having the term inferior branded onto your character often relegates a person to life’s junk heap. Ambition and dreams are snuffed out. People who define themselves as being not good or smart enough just shuffle along life’s paths. They don’t feel they can succeed, so often don’t even try.
If you think the effects of slavery and segregation have vanished, you are wrong. I recently chatted with a racially mixed mom – her dad was white mom black – at a football game both our kids were playing in. We started chatting about where we were from. She was from Louisiana so I asked about segregation in the 1950’s.
“My dad made me lay down on the rear floor of our car when we stopped to eat. I wasn’t allowed to go inside so he’d buy my favorite food and bring it to our car.” So imagine growing up and not being allowed to have a fun vacation meal with our parents on the way your Florida vacation. From the day she was born, society told her she wasn’t good enough to enter public facilities in her home state. And do these feelings trickle down to her 16 year old son in 2008? Probably.
After slavery ended, blacks had freedom FROM, not freedom TOO. Since they had no access to the adequately funded schools we white kids attended by the accidents of our births, they never learned the essential survival and social skills we white kids acquired naturally. Their segregated educations were inferior; they were banned from attending the flagship state universities in the south until 1962 when James Meredith was escorted to class at the University of Mississippi by federal marshals.
During the hundred years from emancipation in 1863 to 1962, black people just shuffled around generally carrying out jobs immigrants perform today. Consequently they banded together for community and self preservation. They lived in segregated communities, founded black churches and over 100 black universities and colleges, developed their own way of speaking English, and lived in an inferior parallel society.
Results of School Integration and the Civil and Voting Rights Acts Are Huge
The civil rights movement sprung out of the black churches in the 50’s and 60’s. This led, after much bloodshed, to the civil and voting rights bills being passed in the mid 1960’s. Prior to the voting rights act of 1965, many blacks were excluded from voting due to poll taxes, literacy tests, and residency requirements that were applied only to black voters, particularly in the south. That was barely two generations ago! When the Civil and Voting Rights bills were passed in 1964 and 65 and the Supreme Court ruled segregation was unconstitutional in 1954, the doors of limited privilege began to creak open.
As these doors opened in the 1950’s and 60’s, blacks began slowly entering mainstream society. In the 1970’s and 80’s we began seeing black reporters on TV and some blacks were featured in TV commercials. More and more black faces were seen on college campuses. Yes, many felt insecure and kept to themselves. Many had congenital inferiority complexes caused by lying on the floors of cars and being banned from selected business and public places, like bath rooms and schools. They also knew from their parents that keeping a low profile was a survival skill. Who wanted to wind up lynched like Emmet Till?
Now, just 46 years after James Meredith integrated Ole Miss, 20% of the student population there is composed of students from minority groups. Most surprisingly and positively, the university sponsored the prestigious first presidential debate this season. And who could have imagined in 1962 that this would occur and that one of the major candidates would be black? Black professionals are in every profession and serve all customers, not just blacks.
Beneath Our Radar, Dynamic Shifts are Taking Place in Schools Today
Folks my age just shake our heads in bewildered awe. It happened again yesterday at another football game on a glorious afternoon. I chatted with a well dressed white woman – native Houstonian -- from an oil services company.
As helmets loudly cracked on the field, we discussed Obama and, more importantly, how much racial mixing there was at both our high schools. She was astonished that her son once dated a black girl without the slightest sense of scandal or tittle-tattle. According to her son, kids of all colors shared lunch table in the cafeteria, and there was no racial tension. She was also astounded that these changes were occurring out of the blue and beneath her radar.
My son’s school is 30 percent each black, brown, white, and 10 percent Asian. They hang around together, enjoy the same lousy music, and don’t cluster in segregated groups. Looking at the legs of the football players from the stands provides a vision of the new America – every shade of human color is represented. It is the same watching 3000 kids as they stream out of school in the afternoon, chattering away in diverse groups. And when I ask my son about racism – he is mixed – he sighs and says “Dad that is such an old school question.” I don’t even ask any more.
Black accents are fading as more and more blacks enter mainstream society and worry more about their job prospects, portfolios, and retirements than racism. Parents of racially mixed kids (me) are dumbfounded and thrilled that the racism I anticipated when my little girl was born in 1986 never materialized. Problems arose more from selected black peers who felt there should be black solidarity. Like my African friends experienced, the racism came from the blacks, not the whites.
This occurred amongst some old-school Blacks when Obama initially declared his candidacy. Some blacks felt because he didn’t grow up in the ghetto he wasn’t a legitimate black person. They slowly came around, but initially there was much skepticism and resentment. Finally many realized that their sacrifices paved the way for an Obama to emerge.
Relax, Your Racial Dilemma is Normal
When you saw a fellow white person, you had no idea who he was, where he came from, or what he stood for, especially if he dressed appropriately. There were many poor whites, but their skin bestowed immunity on them. They blended in and did not have the stigma of coming to America as involuntary slaves. No one owned their great grandparents.
Since your impression of blacks was forged prior to blacks entering mainstream society, those old programs are still running in the background of your brain. And that is as normal as all the other values you picked up as a kid like rooting for your favorite sports team, liking a certain food, or knowing hard work is a virtue. You grew up seeing black people as chronic underachievers. Of course many were. They had no access to the institutions you accessed due to the lucky accident of your birth.
It Is Class, Not Color
These negative ideas do not automatically make you a racist. Now I’ll demonstrate that you really aren’t racist after all. When I quizzed African students who studied here, some mentioned that American blacks often gave them an ultimatum. Don’t hang out with whites. Choose us or them! If you hang out with whites you will not be welcome in our black society. A black girlfriend I had in 1979 when in grad school received the same treatment from her black peers. “Why are you dating a white boy? Aren’t we good enough?
It eventually dawned on me that racism was a socioeconomic phenomenon. And people were “racist” only because blacks stood out like sore thumbs due to their color. But why were Africans welcomed into white society, why did they readily accept the friendship of their white peers, and why didn’t they care about the threats they received from black Americans? One Somali friend of mine even hung out at a redneck country bar in Michigan where he was the only black person. He went because he liked the music and it was the easiest place to pick up girls. “And the redneck guys?” I asked. “I was polite, sized up the situation, wasn’t pushy, and gradually got to know everyone and became a regular. No one cared that I went home with white girls. They even asked around if I missed a few days.”
Soon I realized that the Africans were middle to upper class kids who had much more in common with middle to upper class white kids on campus than they did with black students who grew up in poor segregated communities . It was culture that mattered, not color. The Africans never defined people by color. They discriminated instead by tribe. Where they came from, everyone was black. Consequently they had little in common with black American students, aside from their shared skin color. The American blacks were yet another alien tribe to them – and a subservient one at that! Color counted for nothing, just like white skin is not the number one catalyst for white bonding.
The Africans were never denied anything in their home countries due to race. So they naturally hung out with their social class peers, white middle class kids. Few reported any racial problems in the 15-20 years I posed the question. They knew some of their most brutal repressive dictators, like Idi Amin from Uganda and Mengistu from Ethiopia, were black.
Now You Can Vote For Barack
And your perceived racism? A myth. You just want to hang out with your peers and don’t want to spend time with people you have little in common with. Since African students and white kids shared a common class background, they were well matched -- far better than black Americans whose criteria for friendship were based on shared discrimination and color. Black Americans and black Africans shared little in common at all, just pigment. Hence the reluctance of the African students to be friends with them just because they shared a common color.
Back to Barack. You are attracted to him. You like his message of hope. You admire how he took withering fire over Reverend Wright and survived. He is battle tested. You also recognize that McCain clumsily stumbles from issue to issue and has a weak grasp of economics. He said the fundamentals of our economy were strong, and then abruptly reversed himself just fours later. You like Obama’s choice for vice-president and think McCain used poor judgment and acted impulsively and irresponsibly when he chose Sarah Palin. You thought when McCain suspended his campaign it was a gimmick. You worry about your retirement, yet McCain offers no solutions. And you know you would vote for Obama in a heartbeat if only he were white.
tanga4@yahoo.com
Available for Distribution:
www.tashi48.wordpress.com
Please copy and distribute to all wavering voters.
