Monday, August 30, 2010

LAUGH OBAMA, LAUGH! As You Distract & Pimp the Peoples' Pain

“The wolf and the fox are both enemies of humanity, both are canine, both humiliate and mutilate their victims. Both have the same objectives, but differ only in methods.”

---Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz)

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”

---Steven Biko

Through a steady barrage of unceasing distractions and lies, the waters of informed public discourse in this nation are being deliberately poisoned and manipulated. Barack Obama, the Democrat and Republican parties, and the corporate-stream media engage in these tactics as a means of controlling and manipulating the pain of everyday people.

An example of this poisoning and distraction is the recent public foray by Barack Obama, regarding the possible building of a Muslim mosque near “ground zero” in New York City. Obama claimed that he was merely manifesting his respect for the U.S. Constitution by reminding the U.S. public of the constitutional right to build said mosque. This of course was nothing more than a cynical distraction on Obama’s part. Where is Barack Obama’s constitutional respect as he callously shreds the U.S. Constitution by supporting and extending the unconstitutional police-state ‘Patriot Act’ and the program of U.S. government kidnapping and torture known as ‘Extraordinary Rendition’?! No! Barack Obama, the Democratic Party foxes, the Republican Party wolves, and the ever subservient lap dog corporate-stream media utilized the mosque matter in New York City, as a cynical distraction away from the horrors of massive unemployment, home foreclosures, a rapidly deteriorating U.S. infrastructure, a burgeoning U.S. prison gulag population, corporate/Wall Street hegemony, the de facto continued U.S. occupation of Iraq, and the bloody U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. So laugh Obama, laugh! As you distract and pimp the pain of the people! In the paraphrased words of the great Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes: “Wake Up Everybody!…. (Listen closely to the words) Politicians stop lying!!!”


It is the year 2010, in the 21st century, and once again it is time to wake up and organize on behalf of ourselves: just plain everyday Black, White, Brown, Red and Yellow peoples!

As Barack Obama spends billions of dollars on overt wars abroad, he and his ilk are also spending billions more dollars conducting bloody, illegal, and secret wars of terrorism allegedly against those who are themselves arbitrarily defined as “terrorists,” all in the name of the ‘American’ people. This of course serves to enhance the bloody cycle of “terrorism,” not stop it. It also simultaneously financially enriches the bulging and bottomless coffers of the U.S. corporate / military elite at the expense of jobs, housing, schools, libraries, education, and the over-all infrastructure of this nation. (See New York Times, August 14, 2010).

How is it that Barack Obama could so cleverly, callously and cynically be leading this nation backwards to economic and social ruin, while in a perpetual state of wars abroad? The answer is not difficult. Consider that there is strong reason to believe that Barack Obama himself was fastidiously groomed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)/corporate complex in preparation for his role as the head of the U.S. corporate / military Empire. Moreover, his family, including his mother, father, step father, and grand father all had very close ties with the CIA and were most probably CIA operatives themselves. (Reference: The Story of Obama: All in The Company Part1 and Part 2).

Barack Obama did not rise from relative national obscurity on his own to become President of the United States. He was aided and abetted by the CIA/corporate complex with the eager and able assistance of the corporate-stream media. The CIA successfully subverted and manipulated so-called democracy in this nation with the blindly euphoric installment of Barack Obama as the first “black” president of this country. This however, is by no means the first time that the clandestine CIA, with its enormous and largely hidden budget, has subverted democracy in this nation and abroad, nor is it likely to be the last. [Remember how the CIA, orchestrated and funded the overthrow of the democratically elected governments of Iran in 1953, and Chile in 1973. Notwithstanding a shredded U.S. Constitution, it is ridiculous to assume that the ‘American’ people would somehow be immune to CIA subterfuge inside the United States itself.]

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, in addition to other so-called “intelligence” agencies have also unscrupulously infiltrated and subverted vast portions of the U.S. “news” media and public institutions in this nation. Thus, it is absolutely no coincidence that some who seek to expose Barack Obama and/or U.S. government lies, often find themselves as the targets of “dirty trick” activities of vicious discreditation, or imprisoned, or mysteriously disappeared, or yes, even murdered. The Obama / Dunham / Soetoro CIA connections stretch from the United States, to Kenya, to Indonesia, to Lebanon and beyond. No one should be surprised that the articulate, double-talking Barack Obama has escalated (for example) the U.S. wars Afghanistan and Pakistan, while enacting repressive legislation such as the “Patriot Act’ that in effect shreds the U. S. Constitution.

It should come as no surprise that the infamous COINTELPRO activities by the U.S. government have now been in essence codified into law within the ‘Patriot Act’ itself. The next time you hear Barack Obama speak or witness his sickly smile---remember well---who and what he really is and whose interests he actually serves. What you don’t know can not only hurt you—it can kill you. WAKE UP EVERYBODY—Wake UP!

Everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people in this nation are in terrible pain and are hurting like never before. Yet, Barack Obama, his congressional colleagues, and the corporate-stream media dare to pontificate about a so-called “economic recovery,” which is in fact nonexistent for the masses of everyday people. The lying rhetoric and smoke & mirror economics of Barack Obama, the Democratic Party foxes, and the Republican Party wolves have served the greedy corporate elite of Wall Street—not the everyday people.(Reference: Deceptive Economic Statistics: While the economists lied the US economy died).

Corporate greed must be addressed and stood up to everywhere. Moreover, the corporate government and its hand maiden corporate-stream media must be organized against just as the people did this past August 10, 2010, in the ongoing struggle against Whirlpool corporation’s greed and corruption in Benton Harbor Michigan. These kinds of people’s struggles are increasingly being organized throughout the United States. Everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people must assert their / our human rights to decent jobs, justice, and a life with dignity.

Educate, agitate, and organize! In the words of Joe Hill, “Don’t Mourn. Organize!!!” Link our issues and concerns together! Even while Barack Obama and his ilk cynically manipulate and laugh at the pain of the everyday people, we must organize!

There remains much work to be done. The time for slumber has long passed. Onward my sisters and brothers! Onward!

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board Member, Larry Pinkney, is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities in opposition to voter suppression, etc., Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS NewsHour, formerly known as TheMacNeil/LehrerNewsHour. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book).
http://www.blackcommentator.com/390/390_kir_laugh_obama.php

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Corporate and Government Interests Merging, says Dorothy Pinkney

People’s Tribune: Dorothy, what do you think about the state giving the Whirlpool Corporation tax incentives for a new $87 million office building and consolidation project?

Dorothy Pinkney: The Benton Harbor City Commissioners voted 7-2 on July 19, 2010, to approve a resolution supporting negotiation of financial incentives for Whirlpool, a multi-billion dollar corporation to develop the downtown lake front property. The deal is worth $50 million. This is free money to Whirlpool. Also, Whirlpool pays no taxes and pays no water bills. This is a very sad day for Benton Harbor’s residents. The greedy bloodsucking corporation known as Whirlpool has done it again. Whirlpool always finds ways to take money from Benton Harbor, a city that is $5 million in the red. What we have here is the merging of corporate and government interests to maximize profits for the few.

PT: How will the people of Benton Harbor benefit from these tax giveaways?

DP: The community will not benefit from this tremendous tax give away. There will be no jobs for the residents. Whirlpool just keeps on taking and taking. This is the last step for the residents of Benton Harbor before being evicted.

PT: Is poverty growing in Benton Harbor?

DP: The unofficial jobless rate has increased to 75%. The poverty level is over 90%. Homelessness is growing. The people are packed in with relatives and friends. The living conditions are bad. This is a tremendous change from when I was a child living here. There were plenty of jobs. That is before industry automated or moved away.

PT: What are the people of Benton Harbor saying about Whirlpool, the developers and the local government?

DP: The residents are sick of Whirlpool stealing from them.

PT: What can be done to stop the corporations and for people to have decent lives?

DP: Whirlpool is the enemy! If anybody can say differently, they are mentally, morally and socially corrupt and may be getting paid under the table by Whirlpool. Whirlpool’s 100-year lease with the city — for the leasing of three holes for the golf course in Jean Klock Park — is ridiculous. Whirlpool is stealing the future of our children by taking this prime land. The High School will be next as the school sits right on the lake.
http://www.peoplestribune.org/PT.2010.07/PT.2010.07.16.shtml

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Upton guilty of hypocrisy in health care vote

Editor,

Congressman Fred Upton voted "no" on the health insurance reform bill. He said on March 21 during the debate that he voted this way because "the national debt is at historic levels spending is out of control," etc. etc.

Didn't Mr. Upton vote for money for a drug prescription bill and a costly war in Iraq, which added billions to the national debt? Did he not also vote for tax reductions for wealthy Americans, which further increased the national debt? Has he forgotten that there was a surplus in the United States Treasury when George W. Bush took office in 2001?

Hypocrisy does not strengthen one's trust in government - a trust which is desperately needed today.

George S. Miller, South Haven

Herald Palladium, 2010 (exact date has been lost)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Michigan struggles focus on racism, police brutality
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Published Aug 19, 2010

The economic crisis has hit the workers in Michigan, a state of heavy industry, especially hard, and has also brought with it an intensified struggle against racism. These brief reports cover three different areas of the state.

March in Benton Harbor slams land grab

More than 100 people rallied and marched through the southwest Michigan city of Benton Harbor on Aug. 10 to protest the opening of the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. The course is located on Lake Michigan in part of Jean Klock Park, land that was deeded decades ago for use by the African-American working-class community. The course was built on a part of the park now known as Harbor Shores, where, in addition to the golf course, there are plans to construct expensive condominiums.

The Nicklaus Signature Golf Course will host the PGA Sr. Championships for both 2012 and 2014. Benton Harbor, a majority African-American city, has been devastated by the loss of jobs coupled with police repression, which sparked a four-day rebellion in 2003.

Demonstrators also blasted the Whirlpool Corporation — which is based in Benton Harbor — for its refusal to pay adequate taxes and utility costs for large-scale use of local land and resources. Whirlpool announced recently that it would build a new, world headquarters in the city, even though critics have accused the appliance manufacturing firm of not hiring local residents.

The Rev. Edward Pinkney, president of the local NAACP branch and a former political prisoner in Michigan, led the demonstration, which attracted Benton Harbor residents as well as people from around the country. The march began with a rally at City Hall and concluded with a picket at the gate of the golf course and then a speak-out in the park across from the new Harbor Shores development.

Those in attendance included Ralph Poynter of the Free Lynne Stewart Committee in New York; Fred Hampton Jr. of Chicago, son of slain Illinois Black Panther Party chairman, Fred Hampton; Larry Pinkney from Minneapolis and a writer for the Black Commentator; Ron Scott and Sandra Hines of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality; as well as members of other organizations from Detroit such as the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Workers World Party, the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) and the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs.

Arrest made in serial killing of Black men

A suspect has been arrested in the investigation surrounding the stabbing deaths of five African-American men in Flint, Mich., and the wounding of at least 15 other people, including one white male. Similar attacks have taken place in Leesburg, Va., and Toledo, Ohio, where four reported assaults, none of which were fatal, took place.

The suspect arrested is a citizen of Israel and is reported to be a Christian of Arab descent. Most people who knew the suspect, including family members, expressed shock over his arrest, which occurred as he was boarding a plane to Tel Aviv.

The attacks have come as a further affront to the residents of Flint, which is one of the hardest-hit cities in Michigan as a result of the economic crisis. Even during the 1980s, Flint experienced the unprecedented closing of automotive plants that left tens of thousands of workers idle.
http://www.workers.org/2010/us/michigan_0826/

Thursday, August 19, 2010

HELP LYNNE STEWART - SUPPORT THESE BILLS
 
These two bills are now in Congress and need your support. Either or both bills would drastically decrease Lynne's and other federal
inmates sentences substantially.

 H.R. 1475 "FEDERAL PRISON WORK INCENTIVE ACT AMENDED 2009"
 CONG. DANNY DAVIS (D-IL)
This bill will restore and amend the former federal B.O.P. good time allowances. It will let all federal prisoners, except lifers, earn significant reductions to their sentences. Good time would be calculated and earned by three methods. First, base good time, earned monthly on the length of sentence. Second, earn monthly good time days by working prison jobs. Third, allowances for performing outstanding services or duties in connection with institutional operations. In addition, part of this bill is to bring back parole to federal long term prisoners.

GO TO www.FedCURE.org and www.FAMM.org
AT THIS TIME FEDERAL PRISONERS ONLY EARN 47 DAYS PER YEAR GOOD TIME. IF H.R. 1475 PASSES LYNNE STEWART WOULD EARN 120 - 180 DAYS PER YEAR GOOD TIME!

H.R. 61 "45 AND OLDER"
REP. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE (18th Congressional District-TX)
This bill provides early release from federal prison after serving half of the inmate's sentence, if age forty-five or older and never convicted of a violent crime or violent conduct in prison.

PLEASE WRITE, CALL, EMAIL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS - DEMAND THEIR VOTES!

This information brought to you by Diane E. Schindelwig a federal prisoner #36582-177 and friend and supporter of Lynne Stewart.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Berrien County bar is racist from top to bottom

From an attorney in a Michigan county near Berrien:

I've been getting messages from Benton Harbor for years. The Berrien County abuse of blacks in Benton Harbor is nonstop. Berrien County bar is racist from top to bottom.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Fred has to GO - Vote Don Cooney for Congress in November

Fred Upton voted for low cost housing in Benton Harbor. HUD issued the check to Benton Harbor. BH in turn gave the money to Cornerstone Alliance [Whirlpool's development corp.], but low cost housing was never built. An investigator asked to see Cornerstone Alliance’s books per HUD rules. They refused to allow him to see the books and went after him. Since there is still no housing, who got the government money, Fred? Did it help build your golf course for Whirlpool? -West Mich. News Company

Friday, August 13, 2010

August 10 Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course Demonstration

About 100 people marched through Benton Harbor on August 10, 2010, the day Whirlpool opened it's Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, despite two court cases pending. We stopped at the golf course entry where we were met by at least 4 sheriff's deputies, 6 Benton Harbor Township police, and 4 Benton Harbor police. Our chanting was loud, especially when Julie Swidwa of the local Herald Palladium, attempted to interview Rev. Edward Pinkney, organizer of the demonstration and local NAACP president. "Julie is one-sided!!" was chanted over and over - the people had at least this one opportunity to let Swidwa hear what is thought of her "reporting," especially the hit jobs she's done on Pinkney over a decade. There was no interview. In a gratuitous show of power, police escorted her away. Whirlpool knows that media are the prime shapers of opinion; the company paper serves them well.

Other chants included, "Jack Nicklaus Go Home!," "Marcus Robinson Go Home!," and "Jean Klock Park was deeded to the people!" (Robinson works in "community development" for Whirlpool.) 130 media outlets sent reporters to cover the opening, so people in many states viewed the demonstration as part of the golf course coverage.

After the golf course protest, a rally was held on a nearby grassy area with speakers from Benton Harbor, Detroit, New York, Minneapolis, southern Illinois, Chicago, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, and elsewhere. Their insightful words made evident their understanding of the era of corporate control we now live under. Government and corporation as one (fascism). And, how corporations prey on the poor. In the case of Benton Harbor, Whirlpool is carrying out a hostile takeover of the city's Lake Michigan beaches, parks, and land. Endangered plant and animal species are of no concern to Whirlpool. African-American people were also in the way, hence, arguably the most aggressively prejudicial and harsh law enforcement/court system in the state (Berrien County). Benton Harbor citizens get time for walking down the "wrong" street. As attorney Buck Davis wrote:

“The thrust [of the county courthouse] is to physically remove and destroy families through the use of the criminal justice system. Every person they can put in jail; every person whose voting rights they can revoke with a felony conviction; every person they can cause to lose their job by putting them on probation; every person they can cause to lose the ability to pay for basic necessities through imposing ruinous court costs and probation is all part of the process. In the 1960s, it was called Negro removal. In Bosnia, it was called ethnic cleansing. It could be called genocide, the removal of the minority population for the purpose of redevelopment of the land. That’s what’s happening in Benton Harbor and the foremost leader of the resistance is Rev. Edward Pinkney.”

Whirlpool Vice President Jeff Noel told U. of Mich. business school students and faculty that if you want poor peoples' land, and have justice groups "on your back," simply bring in Habitat for Humanity to build a few houses and donate some appliances. Part of the land he and his corporate partners wanted was deeded in perpetuity to the citizens of Benton Harbor in 1917 by John Klock, a land owner who's infant daughter died. In a town ceremony, Klock spoke of people who owned no land but would always have this park, and named it after his infant daughter: Jean Klock Park. The largest appliance manufacturer in the world, which has outsourced most of it's jobs leaving Benton Harbor in dire poverty, has enough lawyers to get around the minor inconvenience of a deed.

In a video no longer accessible on the web, former Whirlpool CEO Dave Whitwam stated that this is the last and largest piece (530 acres) of prime real estate along the Lake Michigan shoreline. (Parkland is real estate?) Whirlpool is busy inventing terminology to justify their takeover. An example: they call this the first ever "Master Planned Community." It will have a town center with retail shops and restaurants. (Are they replacing Benton Harbor with a new town?) Deeded parkland for the people is becoming a posh enclave for the wealthy.

A stretch of the most pristine, natural beach front is to be no more. Ever. One protester said that people who grew up in this area and love the land and lake feel like an arm is being cut off.

Judges keep ruling in favor of Whirlpool in cases brought by preservationists.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

TRUE FIGHTER FOR THE POOR PASSES

Mary E. Carter(age 75) of Benton Harbor, MI died Sunday, July 11, 2010 in Grand Rapids, MI.
Mary was a true hero and warrior. She was always on the front lines, fighting to save the people of Benton Harbor from the corporations.
Mary received the People's Champion Citation of Honor Resolution from the city of Benton Harbor for her selfless service and dedication to the city and the people. Mary served on city committees, including the Mayor's Advisory Board and the city's Legislative Committee and she gave her time to many city residents. Mary was also the chairman of the Right on Time Block Club. She helped set up many community food gardens and did landscaping on city-owned properties.
Mary Carter lived a life of ultimate sacrifice for God with much humanity and unselfish love for her family and community. peoplestribune.com

Monday, August 02, 2010

MASS DEMONSTRATION

Benton Harbor, Mich. - August 10, 2010

STOP WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION FROM STEALING LAND FROM THE RESIDENTS OF BENTON HARBOR

PROTEST THE OPENING OF THE JACK NICKLAUS SIGNATURE GOLF COURSE FOR THE RICH. JACK NICKLAUS, ARNOLD PALMER, TOM WATSON, AND JOHNNY MILLER WILL ALL BE THERE!

BENTON HARBOR CITY HALL
200 WALL ST.

Questions: Contact Rev. Edward Pinkney, 269-925-0001