Hope

A little over a year ago millions of people, mesmerized and energized by the message of change and hope delivered by Barack Obama, made him President of the United States. Undoubtedly that act in and of itself has changed history for the better, and is rightly recognized as a milestone. However it is time now to demand those promises of change and hope be kept; to this point they have been nothing but a cruel joke.  In fact as 2009 comes to an end we have witnessed the complete betrayal of these ideas with the failure of real health care reform, and the joke that was the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen (not to mention the troop escalation and so on).

As I am writing this- the Senate is planning a midnight vote on a bill that can hardly be called health care reform, which is predicted to pass (I will not take the time now to make an argument for why this is a terrible bill as I have wrote previously regarding that issue). Obama is just returning from Copenhagen where extremely rich, Western countries continued the practice of exploiting the Global South, and selling our’s and our grandchildren’s future for short- term profit, to be topped off with blatant blackmail and bullying by the United States. It has become clear Obama is a talented politician nothing more nothing less. Many of those who were so hopeful (many for the first time) are now instead disillusioned and overwhelmed by powerlessness. It is these people I write this for. Take heart family, there is hope as long as there is breath in our lungs. The hope was never with Obama, it was with us. The millions who made their voice heard electing the first African American President. That hope cannot be taken away, it can only be given away. Refuse to do that! Get involved and stay involved in our communities, organize, organize, organize. If you believe health care is a human right then make that known, call your elected officials, have your friends do the same, and if they don’t listen then vote them out! Vote for the people that represent you and your people. The time has come to stop choosing the lesser of two evils. If the candidates don’t represent your interest then run yourself.  It is time to move past this failed two party system- that has so clearly turned its back on us. Above all love and respect yourselves and each other. We are deserving of happiness, and have every right to demand equality. We will not be free until we are all free!

In Solidarity,

Ryan “BUGS” Virden

Congratulations! Wait really???

I woke up this morning to some disturbing news. The headline reads "Nobel Stunner: Obama Wins Peace Prize". The cited reasons for granting Obama the prestigious award include: his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world, and his efforts to focus on diplomacy rather than unilateralism. To many these might seem to be excellent reasons to award Obama the prize, and indeed they are, however these are not the entirety of Obama’s resume nor are they even 100 percent accurate. Let’s look at this through a different lens.

To many Barack Obama was and is an anti-war president. Many anti-war groups backed him during the campaign as did many individuals claiming to be pacifists. This has lead to a widespread belief that he himself is anti-war (one would think this should be a prereq of sorts for the Nobel Peace Prize). This however could not be farther from the truth. Currently we are bombing Pakistan, considering ratcheting up the war in Afghanistan, and supporting Israel. Not to mention the hypocrisy of stock piling nuclear weapons while demanding non-proliferation from other countries. If these are not enough let’s look at some closer to home examples of the violence supported by Obama and his administration: single payer universal healthcare was not even considered, housing is still not considered a human right, a livable wage has yet to enter the political discussion. As Gandhi famously stated "poverty is the worst kind of violence". In the interest of fairness these are not new to Obama or his administration these have long been characteristics of the American Empire.

I don't write this to try and burst any bubbles, or be a "hater". I am not looking for reasons to "bitch"; I do not want to find the negative in everything, or anything similar to these responses. The truth is actually quite to the contrary- I want a world of peace, a non-nuclear world. I want a world free from war and oppression, free from greed and poverty. I just received a text from my fiancée which says it the best “the wonders of the world we may never understand, but the mind possesses the capability of imagination, which is far more interesting. The world we can imagine can become our reality. Never give up, never stop fighting, keep revolting because God gave us a voice and life gave us the right!" I ask only this- that we have the courage to recognize and speak truth even in the face of facades that make it easy to become comfortable.

In Solidarity,

Ryan "BUGS" Virden

For clarity

In the last posting I mentioned what I saw as two major flaws in the right wings cries of socialism when asked about not only Obamas health care, but apparently his overall economic philosophy. I would like to take some time to expand on how ridiculous this is, mainly because we are still seeing and hearing these often times ignorant and misinformed claims being made quite passionately.

From what I can see the major argument being made goes something like this... the constitution limits government involvement in the citizens lives, the health care reform bill equates to a government take over, violating the constitution and will leave us with national socialism in all areas, similar to Nazi Germany. Included in this group are those people that are waving copies of the constitution at town halls, because we apparently need a visual for the argument, or the ex-marine that demanded his congressman uphold the constitution, implying the health care bill was in violation of it. These arguments are so foolish and illogical if it wasn't so scary it would be comical. Lets deconstruct the lunacy. First and most importantly to view the constitution as a fixed document with no flexibility is absurd, it was written in 1787, pretty sure our world has changed since then. Health care is actually a great example of this, in 1787 the field of medical science was lacking to put it lightly, costing little money. It only makes sense with all the advancements that have been made in medical science, and what we know now about health that we spend money on it. Perhaps we can treat these peoples illness with similar tactics as the time they would like us all to stick too....where are the leeches? This also goes for the idiots bringing loaded guns to rallies; when the second amendment was penned there is no chance that AK-47s and automatic weapons were being imagined in the wildest of imaginations. Certainly the new massive potential for death needs to be considered. But hey if you want to adhere to the 2nd amendment that's fine, but then don't get all pissy when groups like the Black Panthers or MOVE arm themselves, after all they are just exercising their rights.

This brings me to the next aspect. This is not so much about ignorance as it is hypocrisy. A major aspect that, if not out rightly expressed is underlying these arguments, is one of free markets over a planned economy. The connection is made that free markets equal democracy and controlled economies (socialist) equal tyranny. This is hearkening back to the cold war and the red scare. It was foolish then, and is even more foolish now as we have clear proof free markets can not be left to there own devices (see the presidency of Ronald Regan or the current recession). However, beyond that simple observable fact there is another issue.... these very people who are so adamant about keeping the government out of their lives have no problem calling the police when in danger, calling the fire department if their house is on fire, sending their kids to public school, and maybe, just maybe (but I doubt it) they utilize the public library! You guessed it all of these things fall under the category of socialized! See as a country we have decided that some things are not a commodity and should be made available to everybody such as: saving your house if it is on fire, or calling the police if you have been a victim of crime. The problem, as I have stated before ,is health does not fall under that category, plain and simply there is too much money to be made from it. Imagine if we applied this way of thought to the above mentioned situations... you have just lost somebody to a violent crime and rather than calling 911 right away you have to consider how you will pay for the police to investigate- instead of calling the fire department when you come home to your house being on fire you have to borrow the money it will take to get them out to your house. Foolish right? Then I ask why do we take this approach with our health?

To deal with the Nazi comparison is simple. We live in a democracy which is a political philosophy. It is in no way an economic one. Nazi Germany was not a democracy, that is why the Nazis did what they did, not because of the economic system they chose. In fact material democracy (true socialism) is, in my opinion, the purest expression of democracy.

To sum it all up, the constitution was not written in stone for a reason ,and it should reflect our reality, secondly we already have socialized many many things and health should be included on that list!

Ryan "BUGS" Virden

R.I.P. Universal Health Care You Never Had a Chance

Today, for many, marked the death of the embattled public option. Amidst some of the most ridiculous ignorance to ever hit national television the familiar drumbeat of anti-socialism could be heard invoking the fear instilled by Reagan, Nixon and the rest of the usual suspects. Nevermind the logical sense that a single payer system makes or the examples that have come out of its success from places like Britain, or endorsements from people like Stephen Hawkin. Today lets identify the reason for the resistance.

This last weeks news coverage has been dominated by the town halls taking place across the country. By far the majority of people at these town halls were skeptical of the proposed bill, mainly because they were/are afraid of government taking over health care, and of socialism in general. Lets look at some of these fears and arguments. First, we live in a democracy (at least that is what they tell us, and that is indeed the belief of those attending these meetings) in a democracy the government is made up of the people... so then I ask -how can it be a bad thing for the government to meet the peoples needs? Unless of course the said democracy is an unhealthy one. The second problem with many of these arguments is this, socialism is accepted in many, many other areas, the police, fire department, public schools, libraries, parks, all of which you would be hard pressed to find support for dismantling (with the possible exception of the police). The fact of the matter is this- Republicans are taking advantage of the ignorance and miseducation of many of their supporters in order to serve the needs of big business, specifically the insurance companies. The largest lobbying group in the country belongs to the health care industry. There is no way, without a huge popular movement, that health care reform would be passed if it did not increase their profits. Which is exactly what would happen with this current bill (see "health insurers have already won" http://www.democracynow.org/). They knew they could count on the deeply seeded fears and prejudices of the Republican party's base. Enter this past week, and any of the examples of racism, hatred, stupidity, and foolishness that you would like. Capitalism runs on private ownership and free market. It is not concerned with anything but profit, the idea of human rights is antithetical to capitalism. Therefore as long as there is the current mix of a) deep fear of anything anti-capitalist and b) the lack of a viable non-capitalist political party there is little hope of ever seeing a single payer system in this country, or for that matter the realization of other human rights such as housing. It is worth noting we could pay for single payer now simply by diverting funds from military spending, but alas due to the imperialism and exploitation necessary for capitalism's continuation this is not even considered in this country.

By far the majority of people want to do the right thing by each other, there are countless examples of this I could point to. The problem is the people profiting from our collective ignorance. Make no mistake this is deliberate, and if we truly want to create a better world this will have to be the first thing that changes. Educate yourselves and each other and together maybe we can revive not only health care but create a truly beautiful world. Peace Love Respect

Ryan "BUGS" Virden



the federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2009 is[1]:
Components
Funding
Change From FY08
Operations and maintenance
$179.8 Bil.
+9.5%
Military Personnel
$125.2 Bil.
+7.5%
Procurement
$104.2 Bil.
+5.3%
Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation
$79.6 Bil.
+4.1%
Military Construction
$21.2 Bil.
+19.1%
Family Housing
$3.2 Bil.
+10.3%
Resolving and Management Funds
$2.2 Bil.
-18.5%
Total Base Spending
$515.4 Bil.
+5.7%

Not included in the DoD budget is $23.4 billion to be spent by the Department of Energy to develop and maintain nuclear warheads.[3]

What are we waiting for?

So I just got done reading about how Obama is stepping back his support for the illegally ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. People this is a vital moment in our history, not just as americans, but Humans. The United States has a long, ugly history of interference in Latin America, including violence and intimidation against the people of this region. The fact that Obama has not cut off support to Honduras speaks volumes. If President Obama was as dedicated to Democracy as he and the rest of the Democrats led us to believe then it would be absolutely necessary to not only cut off support to a country that used it's military to overthrow the Democratically elected President, but to speak out against it publicly and with conviction. Instead what we have is the same tired politics from a new politician. There should be little doubt regarding the true reason behind the refusal to take action and show true support for Democracy... President Zelaya is a friend to Venezuela and Bolivia, two socialist countries with immense popular support among the poor and indigenous of their respective countries. This poses a threat to american capitalism something that can not be tolerated by the powers that run this country. I ask, when will we, the people of this country, decide that enough is enough and live up to the potential of our own Democracy? What are we waiting for? If we do not put down our distractions, if we don't get over our own fear about what we have to lose, we will lose more than we could ever imagine... our humanity. It does not take much,even if you just write a letter expressing your concern, or talk to a friend about it, you are raising awareness... the first step. Ona move! Ya Basta

In hope and solidarity
Ryan "BUGS" Virden

An Open Letter: Listen White People!!!!

Dear White Person,
Let me start by apologizing if this comes off as too rough, but I believe it is necessary. STOP IT! Please! Stop saying you had nothing to do with slavery therefore you have no privilege, or you are poor and struggling so "how the hell do you have privilege" you do, end of story! It has nothing to do with your personal experience, it is simple you never have to consider your race. YOU have never had your skin color associated with evil, YOU have never been considered 3/5 of a human simply due to your skin color, YOU have never been systematically excluded from housing, education, or jobs because you were white. YOU HAVE however been able to blend in with the crowd at any college, walk into a corner store without being followed, drive your car without having to worry about being pulled over for being brown, been able to identify physically with the vast majority of the characters in your American History book, saw yourself in the heroes of Disney movies, in the 43 previous presidents, in the majority of CEO's, YOU get to be a jury of your peers, YOU also get to call the police when you see two black men struggling to open the front door to a house in a neighborhood and city that well let’s just say lacks diversity, YOU also get to be the cop that arrests one of those two men for disorderly conduct even though it is his home, he is a professor at Harvard, and one of the most well respected thinkers of the time; when he becomes a little irritated at you not leaving his home after he has proven it to be so. YOU get to claim that he is being ridiculous when he says race played a part in how he was treated. YOU will go on Fox news and woof all day and night about who the hell knows what, as long as it makes you feel comfortable. White people if we don't start acknowledging our privilege and actively working against it WE will never see an end to the hate and anger that has dominated our country for so long. WE will only see more and more Fong Lee's, Oscar Grants, Sean Bells. WE will have more and more Assata Shakurs, Mumia Abu Jamals, Leonard Peltiers, and Troy Davis. WE will see more events like what happened to Professor Gates in Cambridge. PLEASE white people do your part!!

In suspended hope,

Ryan "BUGS" Virden

Lets not judge Iran quite yet

Peace, there is little doubt that if you are reading this you have read or heard or are in some way familiar with the events taking place in Iran. I am not going to pretend to shed any light on this situation or to act like I have some sort of knowledge that others don't. I have never been to Iran, and will leave the political evaluation up to those better suited. I have however lived in the United States all my life, and spent a considerable amount of my education studying the history of our country. Given this I feel like there is something missing in our discussion of the current Iranian situation. It seems that in all our commentary and disgust (which, I think is often the appropriate emotion) we forget that we are less than a year removed from robocops patrolling downtown St. Paul, from our own assault on basic rights like dissent, just ask the RNC 8. We also have our own fraud issues just ask Al Gore or any non-white in Florida, or for that case non-whites anywhere. Now I am not trying to justify what is taking place in Iran, all I am saying is that before we allow President Obama to claim a position of authority on allowing the freedom of speech etc. we hold ourselves to the same standard. Professor Chomsky calls it the principal of universality... if we wouldn't want it done to us don't do it to anybody else and vice versa... Jesus called it the golden rule, but I think doing the right thing will do. So yes, be upset, be outraged, demand a more see through process, demand rights be observed, do this all for Iran and the Iranians, but don't leave out America and Americans.

Live Poetry

It’s one of those nights… you know the ones where you want to go to sleep, but every time you close your eyes your mind goes into overdrive. Yeah it’s one of those nights. Instead of fight it I got up and decided to enjoy some poetry maybe that would rest my mind (I knew better). I found myself listening to one of my favorite pieces “Poetic Bloodline” by Gemineye. I had heard the piece close to 1,000 times, but tonight it was like the first time, and as I sat there trying to sort out in my head what was different it hit me…. I understand it. The piece is an ode to the poets of the past framed in an encounter Gemineye is having with God in which poetry is the tool that has been, and will be used again to create change and bring positivity (of course there is more to it like being a poet is a sacred charge not to be disrespected by misrepresenting yourself, but that is a whole different issue any way back to the point). One of the lines in particular struck me “I need poets to take the world back and undo the curse”, and I understood then more clearly than ever before why the world needs poets. We have a responsibility, an opportunity to leave this world a better place in a way that very few have the chance to ever even think about. Our job is to be the voice for those who cannot use or do not have their own. It is up to us to tell the stories of those who would otherwise be easily forgotten, to unveil the beauty in the seemingly ugliest places, it is up to us to manifest love and freedom. It seems so often we lose ourselves in slam scores or booking shows or writing the illest metaphor or whatever, that we forget our only true responsibility is to live as honestly as possible. This is the true meaning, I think of taking art to action without this everything else is hollow. Now it is not my place to tell anybody what this does or doesn't look like I am simply saying without connecting the art to your community, and eventually the larger community of humanity, we have missed the point.... we missed what God told Gemineye and what Gemineye in turn showed me, mainly poetry has a purpose, and that purpose is to create and build community. It is important to note that I believe all of us in some way or another are poets, whether we write or just get up every morning to face the daily grind we make something beautiful and unique. Our pencils might be a smile to a stranger or not lying to a friend, but somehow we are all contributing to the creation of our reality, and it is important to remember we share in the responsibility of living honestly and representing our community. I believe that when we truly own this responsibility greed, and hate and all the other things that serve to keep us so numb to one another lose their hold, and will eventually disappear. Notice this does not demand time from schedules, or money, just a commitment to positivity and community. So to my fellow poets, writers, humans I thank you and encourage all of us to Live Poetry. Sai Werd

Fong Lee Verdict

First let me say to the family of Fong Lee my thoughts and energy go out to you. Now to all the people like me, who feel that this case is much bigger than one person, one family or even one community let me say this... What are we going to do? For those of you that are not familiar with the case, Fong Lee was murdered by Officer Jason Andersen of the Minneapolis police. He was shot eight times. Yesterday it was decided that he (Andersen) did not use excessive force; based mainly on trivial differences in accounts, and on testimony from the police departments expert stating, what matters to determine if excessive force was used or not is if Officer Andersen perceived Fong had a gun. It is important to note this was a civil case not even a criminal trial, in essense Andersen has already gotten away with murder, literally. We will get into the implications of this later, and I will not get into the details of the case here as they can be easily found by anyone interested enough to do a Google search. I would prefer to use this time and space to examine the implications and possible responses to it (side note: while any action would be a response I think it is important that the response is not reactionary).

Lets start with what I believe is the most ridiculous claim, and perhaps the most disturbing aspect to come out of this debacle (at least in terms of implications for the future). The idea that what is key is whether or not Officer Andersen perceived Fong had a gun. If this is the standard we are holding for the taking of life, we are in serious trouble. It is not unrealistic to imagine a similar case five years from now where another young non-white male has had his life ended by the MPD, and we are told it is acceptable because he was thought to be a gang member and the officer perceived he had a gun. This should scare everybody if for no other reason then we don't need to look five years in the future, on the contrary just a few months in the past, to a Bart station in Oakland and a young man named Oscar Grant. Add this to what can only increase the aura of invincibility enjoyed by police forces across the country, and we are not far at all from what can only be described as an occupation.

I am not going to pretend to have any big ideas for what we should do as concerned citizens. I will say this we need to do something. Please if you feel the same way find the time and energy to make it known because believe it or not
next time it could be you. Ona Move!
Peace Love Respect!

Day of Awareness for Troy Davis

So I am just going to be honest, today has sucked, actually most of this month has sucked. This is mainly because money is funny, more so than it normally is. So I am sitting at work this morning talking to my fiance and trying to figure out what to say to ease the irritation and frustration we were both feeling. I couldn't think of anything. Then it hit me... about 20 minutes to late, but it hit me... things could always be worse, and not in the cliche kind of way. I could be Troy Davis right now and literally be running out of options to save my life. For those of you who are not familiar Troy Davis is currently on death row in Georgia and is running out of time on a 30 day stay of execution he was issued. Troy was convicted of killing a cop with no physical evidence linking him to the crime. Since his conviction all but two witnesses that testified in his trial have recanted, and stated that they were threatened and intimidated by the police to testify in the first place. One of the two witnesses that has not recanted is the other possible suspect. This case is yet another example of the failure of our "Justice" system. Please take the time today to talk to somebody about Troy Davis or do something to add your voice to change.
Peace Love Respect

Justice For Troy Davis

For Real... Boycotting Conference on Racism??

Peace Peace, so there is alot going on in the world right now, but one thing I have been following is the UN conference on Racism, and specifically the US boycotting it. The United States and other Western nations have boycotted due to pressure from the Israel lobby AIPAC which is concerned that the conference will come to an anti-Zionist conclusion. In order to understand this we need to be able to understand the difference between Zionism and anti-Sematism. Zionism is support for the political state of Israel and anti-Sematism is racism specifically aimed at Jews. This is important to note because anti-Zionism is often portrayed in the media as being anti-Semetic; when for the most part the stance taken is expressly opposed to the policies of apartheid adhered to by the Israeli government against Palestineans. However this is not the most important observation to make in this situation. It speaks volumes when the US, which just elected its first African American president refuses to partake in a conference addressing racism. After the election of Barack Obama it was heralded as a new day for America, there was constant talk of Dr. Kings dream being realized, and analysis being offered through a post racial lens. Nothing can be more dangerous. Racism is as real now as it ever was, and possible even harder to fight against as it has shifted its form. It is true we no longer have chatel slavery (we have exchanged the physical chains for invisible ones) and yes it is a very big deal that a Black man is now the president of the United States. However we can not be fooled to think that this some how means we live in a post racial world. All one has to do is look at this conference to see that Racism is alive and well. Let me pose a question... What must happen to a Black man to not hold an ounce of solidarity with the Palestineans? The answer Racism has changed its face, it now comes in a lighter shade of brown and prays to Allah. Another question... when will we see that our enemy is not a color but a mindstate? Obama has bought into a vision of America that is a violence to the rest of the world and he can not see his own freedom in the freedom of others. This is not a specific disease to Obama, many suffer from this. It is up to those that can see our futures are tied together to put a stop to the greed and shortsightedness that will lead to the destruction of life. This starts with not playing politics with the lifes of fellow humans and simply attending a conference. Ona Move

Knaan on the Somali Pirates

Why We Don’t Condemn Our Pirates in Somalia by Knaan

Posted on April 14, 2009 by Davey D

Why We Don’t Condemn Our Pirates in Somalia
By K’Naan , URB Magazine. Posted April 14, 2009.

Can anyone ever really be for piracy? Well in Somalia, the answer is: it’s complicated.

http://www.alternet.org/story/136481/why_we_don%27t_condemn_our_pirates_in_somalia/?page=entire

Can anyone ever really be for piracy? Outside of sea bandits, and young girls fantasizing of Johnny Depp, would anyone with an honest regard for good human conduct really say that they are in support of Sea Robbery? Well in Somalia, the answer is: it’s complicated. The news media these days has been covering piracy in the Somali coast, with such lopsided journalism that it’s lucky they’re not on a ship themselves. It’s true that the constant hijacking of vessels in the Gulf of Aden is a major threat to the vibrant trade route between Asia and Europe. It is also true that for most of the pirates operating in this vast shoreline, money is the primary objective. But according to many Somalis, the disruption of Europe’s darling of a trade route is just Karma biting a perpetrator in the butt. And if you don’t believe in Karma, maybe you believe in recent history. Here is why we Somalis find ourselves slightly shy of condemning our pirates.

Somalia has been without any form of a functioning government since 1991. And despite its failures, like many other toddler governments in Africa, sprung from the wells of post-colonial independence, bad governance and development loan sharks, the specific problem of piracy was put in motion in 1992.

After the overthrow of Siyad Barre, our charmless dictator of twenty-some odd years, two major forces of the Hawiye Clan came to power. At the time, Ali Mahdi, and General Mohamed Farah Aidid, the two leaders of the Hawiye rebels were largely considered liberators. But the unity of the two men and their respective sub-clans was very short-lived. It’s as if they were dumbstruck at the advent of ousting the dictator, or that they just forgot to discuss who will be the leader of the country once they defeated their common foe. A disagreement of who will upgrade from militia leader to Mr. President broke up their honeymoon. It’s because of this disagreement that we’ve seen one of the most devastating wars in Somalia’s history, leading to millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead. But war is expensive and militias need food for their families, and Jaad (an amphetamine-based stimulant) to stay awake for the fighting. Therefore a good clan-based Warlord must look out for his own fighters. Aidid’s men turned to robbing aid trucks carrying food to the starving masses, and reselling it to continue their war. But Ali Mahdi had his sights set on a larger and more unexploited resource, namely: the Indian Ocean.

Already by this time, local fishermen in the coastline of Somalia have been complaining of illegal vessels coming to Somali waters and stealing all the fish. And since there was no government to report it to, and since the severity of the violence clumsily overshadowed every other problem, the fishermen went completely unheard. But it was around this same time that a more sinister, a more patronizing practice was being put in motion. A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company called Progresso, made a deal with Ali Mahdi, that they could dump containers of waste material in Somali waters. These European companies were said to be paying Warlords about $3 a ton, where as in to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton.

In 2004, after Tsunami washed ashore several leaking containers, thousand of locals in the Puntland region of Somalia started to complain of severe and previously unreported ailments, such as abdominal bleeding, skin melting off and a lot of immediate cancer-like symptoms. Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the United Nations Environmental Program, says that the containers had many different kinds of waste, including “Uranium, radioactive waste, lead, cadmium, mercury and chemical waste.” But this wasn’t just a passing evil from one or two groups taking advantage of our unprotected waters, the UN Convoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, says that the practice still continues to this day. It was months after those initial reports that local fishermen mobilized themselves, along with street militias, to go into the waters and deter the Westerners from having a free pass at completely destroying Somalia’s aquatic life. Now years later, that deterance has become less noble, and the ex-fishermen with their militias have begun to develop a taste for ransom at sea. This form of piracy is now a major contributor to the Somali economy, especially in the very region that private toxic waste companies first began to bury our nation’s death trap.

Now Somalia has upped the world’s pirate attacks by over 21 percent in one year, and while NATO and the EU are both sending forces to the Somali coast to try and slow down the attacks, Blackwater and all kinds of private security firms are intent on cashing in. But while Europeans are well in their right to protect their trade interest in the region, our pirates were the only deterrent we had from an externally imposed environmental disaster. No one can say for sure that some of the ships they are now holding for ransom were not involved in illegal activity in our waters. The truth is, if you ask any Somali if they think getting rid of the pirates only means the continuous rape of our coast by unmonitored Western vessels, and the production of a new cancerous generation, we would all fly our pirate flags high.

It is time that the world gave the Somali people some assurance that these Western illegal activities will end, if our pirates are to seize their operations. We do not want the EU and NATO serving as a shield for these nuclear waste-dumping hoodlums. It seems to me that this new modern crisis is a question of justice, but also a question of whose justice. As is apparent these days, one man’s pirate is another man’s coast guard.

K’naan is a Somali-Canadian poet, rapper and musician.

Below are links to the interviews we did with Knaan a couple of weeks before all this drama unfolded

In the first clip he talks about Somali Pirates

In the second clip he talks about the US attempts to classify Somalis here in the US as Terrorists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrwgiprDBtA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i67euACNhmA

FDA Blood Donor Restrictions

So we have a new issue we are trying to shed some light on, and organize around. Many of you may already know this and I am sure many of you will not, but since the 70's the FDA has made it illegal for any blood bank i.e. Red Cross to accept blood from homosexual men by asking the question: Since 1977 have you ever slept with a man who ever ,even once slept with another man. A simple google search and a few phone calls leads to uncovering what is a very shallow attempt at justifying discrimination. The guidelines were put in place as a reaction to the AIDS epidemic in amerika, and is rooted in the idea that AIDS is a gay disease. This guideline has been kept in place every year since, and we believe it is time to change this. The rationale used by the FDA to justify putting this guideline in place, and keeping it in place fails a simple and quick examination. They claim that the gay male population is the hardest hit, which is actually false, nearly half (48%) of the people living with AIDS in amerika are African Americans; this group also has the highest rate of newly effected people. There are no restrictions on other "at risk groups" such as men and women who have multiple partners, straight couples that engage in anal intercourse; it is worth noting that this act is the actual risk factor whether or not the couple is hetero or homosexual. With the current technology and testing capabilities the chances that HIV infected blood enters into circulation is negligible and the chances that that comes from a gay man is even smaller. The time has come to remove all discriminatory laws and regulations, and we believe removing this restriction is moving in that direction. We will be putting on shows, discussions and brainstorming sessions with the community around how we move forward with this. Please contribute your opinions and ideas to the conversation. More info to come. Peace Peace

What can we learn from Northern Ireland

"No Justice No Peace!!" if you are at all familiar with protests or rallies there is little doubt you have heard this being shouted in the streets. For some the rallies, the chants, and everything that goes along with them is nothing more than another annoying distraction. Even for some participating it is rather hollow, just another slogan for the hour or so before they go back to their seemingly comfortable existence. They have no intention of actually disturbing the peace now or anytime in the future. I have some theories about why this is, but I will save them for a different time. Today I want to focus on the spirit of this particular mantra, mainly because in other parts of the world it is anything but hollow. There are countless examples one could point to as evidence to back this up, lets use the most recent, the real IRA attacks in Northern Ireland. Now for the record and to clear up any accusations of..." I'm just an anarchist rebel who only wants to see chaos." I am in support of a free and sovereign Ireland, but I do not know enough about the real IRA to say I am a supporter. This actually brings me to the point. The argument about whether or not the attacks were justified is a fruitless conversation, and misses the underlying truth, there will never be peace in occupied territories.

It does not matter if we are talking about Belfast or Baghdad, Gaza, Oakland or north Minneapolis there will never be peace when the people of the area have no control and are constantly being manipulated and oppressed for the benefit of others. This occupying force can come in a number of forms: the United States military, the Police, or multi-national corporations, but without exception the common bond is control for selfish purpose. Our history is rich with instances of the United States (and other European white countries) using its military powers to impose policies beneficial to them but harmful for the invaded country; for a prime example look at our seizure of Mexican land we now call California, Colorado, Arizona etc. etc. you get the gist. The police perform much the same task on a smaller scale. Instead of a country the police control a specific population mainly poor black communities, but specifically poor. Whenever these communities have joined together to demand equality without exception the police are there to put them down. Still perhaps the most dangerous form of occupation comes in the form of multi-national corporations that operate for the sole purpose of profit, leaving entire populations living in conditions of crushing poverty. You only need to look at the effects of World Bank and IMF policies to see the proof of this. What is interesting is that in all cases without exception violence plays a major role in implementing these systems of control. Either through military attacks (Iraq), police violence(murder of Fred Hampton) or sponsored coups so favorable policies can be implemented (Pinochet in Chile) violence is an essential ingredient to maintaining the order, even when those dissenting are doing so non-violently (Civil Rights Movement, Gandhi in India). So, does it make sense then to expect those that have been the victims of constant violence to not react in the same way; I would say no. We can see this playing out currently in Northern Ireland and all across the globe in groups like the real IRA, Hamas, and the Zapatistas. In our own country we can see this manifested in street gangs; which are largely a response to domestic oppression and an often times justified feeling of marginalization due to exclusion from opportunities such as quality education, jobs, and healthcare. There then becomes an overwhelming feeling of anger, disrespect, and worthlessness that all get fulfilled with- in the gang. All of these are very real and current examples of the cause and effect relationship between imperialism and its resulting occupation and the violence that is seen in reaction to it (which interestingly enough dominates the news and mainstream discussion on the subject).
I want peace just as much as anybody and I know the only way to reach peace is to stop the manipulation and exploitation of those countries and peoples that do not have the privilege of a lack of melanin. Only when all peoples have the right to self-determination can there be realistic talks of sustainable peace world wide. But until then you can count on very real cries of "NO JUSTICE NO PEACE!!"

Whats Crackin With Us

Peace Peace so there is alot coming up these next couple of months. Make sure you get out there and support.

-Quest for the Voice semi finals and finals are coming up March 13th at Central and the 14th at the Capri.

- Spoken Explosion New School and Old School Walker Church

- April 3rd Minnesota Spoken Word Awards Varsity Theatre

-April 24th and 25th Poetic Assassins Eliminating Oppression One Ink Shell at a Time

Whats Coming Up

First we would like to thank everybody that cam out to our show at Bryant Lake Bowl. It was a real dope night good vibes good people you really can't ask for more! Plus we sold out! We got alot of stuff coming up so make sure you keep alook out for us. The next show is March 27th at the Capri theatre on the north side. Peace Peace