Reflections: A Soul For Searching

The fear of being fragile

2007-09-20T11:44:00.000-05:00

I find it ironic that throughout the history of humanity and mankind, there has always been this lingering need for people to feel superior to another object; whether it has been through Gender, Demographics, Orientation, and/or Environment.

I sit here and ponder on why that is so. Is it because we are afraid of being human?
Of what it means to be vulnerable or able to be hurt or have abilities and talents less than that of others? Are we so afraid of being equal to others that we hide behind stereotypes and justify them via our cultures and ''common-knowledges".

In another sense of irony; In America, The women who were once excluded from attending university are now outnumbering the number of men graduating and not only that, but are also getting better grades than them as well.

I bring that up to show that all the 'common-knowledge' of the day was garbage. Common knowledge is merely a way for a certain group (primarily the majority) to tell others how they should 'fit' into society. What is deemed as acceptable behavior for a certain group of people. This is used to control, subjugate.

Common-knowledge is another fancy way to hold prejudice.

The imperialism of the British was fueled under the guise to civilize all of the savage peoples
of the world, of which included Africa, India, China, and America.

The Spanish did the same in Mexico, all of the Central American countries, Guam and Puerto Rico.

Common knowledge or Prejudice instructed others to rape native cultures, steal wealth, claim territories, and enslave people.

Religion justified the cause to 'civilize' native peoples by converting them or killing them.

And while others might proclaim, "Hey, All this happened during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. This is 2007. It doesn’t relate to today's day and age"

Well, we’ve all heard about workplace discrimination and more specifically the stories, when you have a Black male and a White male interview for the same job with the same résumés and similar attire, and see where the white male is lovingly embraced while the black male is told that his résumé will not suffice.

In short, people hide behind their ignorance and stereotypes promoted through the guise of 'common-knowledge' and spread throughout the culture.

This is something that will not go away as long as people roam around on this earth, but one way to curb it, is in our thinking.

First of all, one shouldn’t categorize what they 'should' be able to do and what others 'shouldn’t' be able to do. One should run away from mindsets and labels and engage people as ... well people. And I would be mistaken if I assumed people will do this, most people take the lazy path. And the lazy path is one where you and others around you tell yourselves that you’re better and use news articles to confirm your stereotypes.

Obviously, Alot of people don’t actively categorize and label people, but it’s the inactivity in our 'common-knowledge' that we must beat. 'common-knowledge' in our demographics tells us who belongs where. Who belongs in the board rooms. Who ought to perform certain jobs, who ought to wear suits.

I’m tired of the fact that just because I’ am a particular race that I represent a whole people and that I must justify the actions of the few onto the behavior of the many. I find it ridiculous, arrogant, ignorant and very upsurd that people easily do this, and almost expect you to be a newspaper and recite all of the issues, and concerns within your 'community'. People are not merely races or colors or genders, people are individuals and should be treated as such.

And I would be a fool if I didn’t think that 'common knowledge' affected the type of punishment a person gets based on the crime, and I would also be a fool if I thought that something like this could be changed, it will always be around, and the best that I can do, is understand how it affects me and not fall a victim to is. And the easiest way to do this is to stop worrying about people, leave them the hell alone, and live my own life.

What Makes a Man.

2007-03-07T19:56:00.000-06:00

I was listening to Richard Pryor recently and he said something that struck me profoundly, he said, "Men Cannot graduate until a woman breaks your fuckin heart, that is your diploma; it either kills you or makes you fat".

And while that at first seems silly, it later donned on me the type of logic behind this thinking on what it means to be a man.

I think that as men, we don't understand the value and power of emotions. Of how much they affect our humanity and daily lives, we assume we can slough everything off.

But faced with something that we can't deny, we are forced to deal with the fact that we are vulnerable to things unto which we can not readily control or understand.

I think a man graduates because he (hopefully) realizes and ponders on the exact ramifications of his actions. Its so easy for us men to shun other men, and not care but when we deeply care for women and are crushed, we become humble because the power of our heart, centers our actions. It focuses the mind, and it gives us a reference point on how to treat others and how we would like to be treated. But of course, this happens later after we are done, cursing everything and
taking every step toward blaming other people.

This process just re-affirms for me on the importance of introspection, of looking inside onesself and realizing that we can not force people to love us, we cant make people like us, they just do.

We can't make women love us, we have to earn it. Expectations and assumptions are a stain on the world because we use these to predict and prescribe behavior.

In my own life, It has helped me realize that no matter what you do nor say nor act, it wont make someone care for you if they don't. So instead of changing myself for another person, I simply do nothing and be myself and that seems to work, all the meanwhile, understanding on the importance of subtlety, inferences and on how someone views a relationship intheir own minds affects how they treat others .

Men think that masculinity is vainly measured in the amount of hair, how much bigger and stronger we are compared to others, this is very much for the self-fulfilling prophecies of most men, as it is, the nature of men, that instinct to want to be able to protect and fight, and seem larger than life, men want to be a force that is
reckoned with, and as we get older that urge fades away as we lost that sense of urgency.

In this age, We men graduate because once we get our hearts broken, we realize just how
important emotions are, how they play a role in everything we do, and we begin to respect them.

To me, A man is a man who respects himself and others and is not afraid to admit guilt, wrong-doing, and failure.

Superficiality is something that we must all break away from, and heart break seems to cause the most abrupt halt of this, but we must be open, honest and reflective on our own lives to fully grasp what it means to be who we are.

3 Types...

2007-02-21T18:33:00.000-06:00

I got to thinking recently, And have come to the conclusion that there are basically three types of people. The first type of person controls their situation, the second type lets the situation control them, and the third type of person controls themselves.

I would like to pretend and tell myself that I am the third type but that is not true, for the very act of labeling onesself allows the person to conform to the ideals of what it means to be that thing, that object, that construct.

In life, people always tell themselves and others that they will do this, that they will be that. Why not just be that thing, without placing the false conceptions of rules behind them?

My point being, This society and our cultures define for US what it means to be a thing, what it means to be strong, smart, confident etc.

In life, when something is important, it doesn't need an explanation. Music is magical in that, it requires no words and even when it has them, which could be in any spoken/imagined language in the world, that it requires no thought, no category; its simply music.

I struggle to apply this conception to my own life. I try to move away from the labels and be myself, but by simply trying to be me I realize that I am already that person, so I do not need to search for someone who I already am.

In truth, When a person actively tries to be themselves, when they attach themselves to their own personal pursuit they lose a piece of what they hope to find.

When I try to be myself, I know I end up looking like someone else, instead of simply listening to my heart with no words and treading my own path. A person simply needs to think and reflect about their life, their experiences and how people act and react around them to better see what they seek. And the choice answer is not to seek anything, not to attach onesself to perfection. This requires no fore-thought, no action, no justification.

To search for a soul is not to find one, to not look for a purpose is to discover a life.

So really the path to ones soul is no path, the journey to the understanding of ones life is no journey.

Just simply be, and that will suffice.

The very act of questioning is closer to being who we are than we could ever imagine.

Immortal Technique- Land of the Gun

2007-01-15T18:52:00.000-06:00

[James Nichols from Bowling for Columbine]
Them people, law enforcement, if you want to call them that
were here and they were shaking in their shoes. They were physically
shaking, scared to death. Because certain people, said I'm a radical
I'm a wild man, I got a gun under every arm, if you say anything
I'll shoot you. If the people find out how they've been
ripped off, and enslaved, they will revolt with the blood
running in the sheets

This is the place where the cops rush in the building???
Paramilitary death squads murder your children
Empty shell of a man rippin shots in the air
Soldiers dying out there, but nobody cares
Prepare for the future but make note of the past
Or be condemned to live it again and get blast
Class warfare kept outta the news
Replaced by a corporation's political views
Cause this is where the guns are manufactured and sold
The land that was stolen stripped of all of its gold
Old timers on the death bed speakin the wisdom
Immigrants crucified by conservative Christians
Now we all got freedom to die in the street
But the difference is more of us die in a week
Than they die in a year I made it clear
Where I stand when the line is drawn
But now the line is gone
And nigga anything goes
The land where the guns don't let anything grow
And what the fuck you niggaz know about living in hell
You not built like me you never lived in a cell
You never gambled with your soul
Fuck the ice on your hand, gun in your palm
But you got a niggaz life in your hand
Young man, just remember that slicing a gram
Is a bloody game, like throwin mice in a fan
My words flow like the rivers thats west of Iran
The fertile crescent moon, with the star in the middle
I reveal the depth of history's scars when I scribble
I gave you the world, and I ain't even charged you a little
The martyr is crippled
The prophets are dead and buried, but the message is simple
And its not written down in holy books as a riddle

Now we running through the streets, starvin
On that guerilla warfare
My people stuck in a guerilla warfare
Innocent children screamin in tears
You actin like the army ain't put hell here
Military industry havin a swell year
Swinging a gat while lying in heaven???
Living off a blank check after 9/11
But I'm have the truth brought back to the source
Fight for my land with physical force
Speak through music, the subliminal course
I need a tek??? and a clip, fuck a jag and a porsche
Land of the gun, land of the gun, land of the gun, land of the gun

-- Im no conspiracy theorist, not socialist or marxist, but I can strongly relate to this song, because the more and more I read up on American political history, policy, and involvement, the more I see examples like in this song that are going on, on a daily basis around me in my own backyard.

Iran

2007-01-05T13:27:00.000-06:00

I dont know if many of you know about the exact nature of foreign policy of any nation so I will explain it to you. Foreign Policy is about sublety, its about the appearance and perception of a thing rather than the truth to keep oneself afloat, stay seen as serious or to dictate ones' will on others or themselves.

In life, the perception of something is just as strong if not more powerful than the reality of it. That is why when UN inspectors wanted to inspect Iraq, in the run up to the Iraq War Saddam Hussein didn't allow them too. He did this to appear strong to Iran that he could defend his country if they decided to invade. He didn't have the WMDs others said he had, but didnt say anything, to bolster the confusion and further the appearance of solidarity.

So in this sense, and since we are in the Middle East already; I bring Iran to the the spotlight.

Initially, as i was ignorant on Iranian history, culture and affairs, I saw the test firing of missiles as defiant in the face of the UN SecurityCouncil, and the world, of which was true, but upon further consideration I have came to see it as a different type of defiance.

If you look at nations that the US said it would intervene in and did forcefully, the only 2 nations in history that were in direct defiance and didnt get touched were: the USSR and North Korea.

Iran recognizes that to be taken seriously by the US and the world, is through Nuclear Proliferation. They see it as a necessity for their survival as a nation, and will do anything to be seen as force to be reckoned with. Its all economics on that front. And being placed in the 'Axis of Evil' further pushes them to secure arms and keep up the perception of strength, and hostility even if none exists. When a person looks at it from that perspective, the can understand a little bit more about the country.

That's one side, on the other, you see Iran, supporting (financially, arms, training) Hamas and Hizbullah, and one can relate to why the US sees them as a threat, since Ahmadinejad exclaimed about wanting to wipe Israel off the map. The US is obviously skeptical and biased since the AIPAC has helped provide Israel with 3 billion in aid per year, and nuclear secrets (all under the table, of course) We see this too.

But some clarification and understanding of the Middle East is required as well. While we may see such actions as wrong, AND THEY ARE; almost every country involved in the Arab-Israel conflict are doing things to undermine peace. Be it (financially or militarily), so the whole American concept of corruption is different than the one in the region. The concept of justice is different, the concept of equality too. I could name 7 or 8 countries that have a hand in some of the aggression, arms dealing, drug and oil trafficking and violence over there.

I believe their supreme convictions to Allah, has been a source for people readily seeing the differences in others through religious sects that causes the most violence there; especially in an Arab-Israeli sense. Since, the Quran is literally followed to the 'T' in the region.

On Another side, you see the Iranian people, who are generally young, very techno savvy and hip to MTV that are ready for political, and social change and you wonder, how do we appeal to them, to better their society? Economic sanctions only hurt the people not the governments. They dont work.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/iran/2006/12couldsanction.htm

The UN Security Council just issued an additional sanction against Iran on Dec. 23rd, 2006, called Resolution 1737 that says, " The Security Council unanimously imposed sanctions against Iran. The text, calling for steps required by the IAEA, bans trade with Iran of all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to Tehran’s uranium enrichment program and contains a list of persons and entities, whose assets are subject to a freeze. It also established a new sanctions committee to monitor compliance of the resolution. "

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/iran/2006/resolution1737.pdf

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul317.html

If you read the attached PDF, it seems like a good thing, and wont cause harm to the people, it will inadvertedly, since more money, time and attention is paid to proflierating, and finding trade partners instead of improving services and the economy, such was the example of Russia, North Korea and to an extent Cuba; and makes the country even more dangerous.

No, you accept nations and agree to trade with them, and through that trade, transparency of policy, trust and cooperation greatly increases. And which could become a cultural ally in the region, except for the Hating Israel part, which is another issue in and of itself.

This is by no means, intended to be a pardon, or alignment or sympathy for all things Iranian, but is simply a case study on all thats that are, were and could be.

Democrat take-over

2007-01-05T10:17:00.000-06:00

I don't see what all the fuss is about. People are touting that Nancy Pelosi, is the first woman in such a position ever since the inception of the United States as if she will bring changes to the US, congress and the world. She may be a woman but she is a POLITICIAN first, backed by her constituents and lobby buddies, like the rest.

Fighting politics from within only corrupts you, and the problem with politics is not having dissimilar people from all different backgrounds serving on the House and Senate, but is in the similarity of personalities, of interests, and ideals. These people are cookie cutter, because we all know that, today, in the year 2007, it would be political suicide to appear different from the rest. To declare oneself as an athiest, or gay would be a horrendous thing. And that is part of the problem right there. Instead of worrying about the political process, of serving the broad interests of the people, they are concerned with re-election.; which I can understand, but its part of the problem too.

There is always the part of the story that people fail to mention. Like, when republicans say, 'Hey, I supported raising the minimum wage, while, They DIDN'T!!' and thats true but its the half-truth since the bill involving minimum wage increases also included tax breaks and reductions for corporations and businesses as well.

My biggest issue with politicians is the fact that they dance around bills and decide whether or not to support a bill, no matter, how much good it will do for people; as to whether or not their agendas get supported and passed. They trade off and debate portions of bills and such to get what they want.

And, These issues we have seen in the media in the past year, are voted on, irrespective of the knowledge, based on the recommendations and insights of scientists and labor economists.

The politicians vote on the idea of something, instead on the hard science that proclaims the best way to approach the situation. Like Stem Cell Research and Global Warming for example.

Science is seen as skeptical, but what is more skeptical than using faith? Using religion to determine policy, and action is a very misappropriate use of power in America.

Im starting to feel disillusioned with the political process because as I expand my knowledge, insight and experiences with politics I begin to see an apparent pattern in American politics, which is using the scare tactics on the people to make then vote and how the decisions that govern America are came about. Then they disregard us, only to use them for the justification of actions.

After, 9-11 the Bush Administration used the vulnerability and ignorance of the people to push his agenda and use rhetoric to make people believe that Iraq, was the place that we needed to be. Using old footage, reports and evidence to sell the war. (Colin Powell dd this)

We Americans are drunk on the ideals on what it means to be American. On Pride, Honor, Courage etc, but are ignorant to the actions that our country has done; thats why we criticize anyone against the war, as being against the troops, thats their knee jerk reactions.

Being different, being a liberal is a bad thing but people forget that dissent is very important for a society and their is some truth to what an opponent can sometimes say as to why they disagree.

Americans dont know what the CIA has done, nor the history of US foreign policy, and even domestic policy; they simply know what others wish them to know. They don't know what we did in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Grenada, Iran, Iraq, and Cuba. Dont know what Dictators we supported and put into power. They are fed the same story, "We are combating the spread of: communism, terrorism (whatever adjective you want)" but how and why are they doing that is the question we should as ourselves. Was the tiny latin american country, Panama, any threat to the might of the US?

Going back to Iraq: Do your research, understand who Ahmed Chalabi is, and his role. Look at The Project for the New American Century and who is involved with them.

Instead of writing people off, because they aren't like you, be it the other party, a dissimilar faith or set of ideas, practice real democracy by putting aside the bickering and concentrate on the issue; even though I dont believe that could ever happen.

Mumia Speaks: The Taming of the Democrats

2006-12-28T08:36:00.000-06:00

Since the recent democratic wins in the U.S. House and Senate. There has been a concerted effort from the corporate media to evoke from them pre- installation promises of moderation and a mass denial that there are any plans to impeach a widely unpopular president, George W. Bush.

There has been equally aggressive attention paid to house speaker elect, Nancy Pelosi, who makes history as the first American woman, to reach what is essentially the 3rd most powerful office in the nation.

With few exceptions, most outspoken legislators have poo-pooed the idea of impeaching the president, even before there has been hearings into the events that led to the ruinous disaster in Iraq. Columnists lecture, it would be too divisive, others, decry such talks as: radical. What is more radical than war? Why are the same voices and institutions that lead the cheerleading squad to war, now setting the parameters of acceptable political debate and activity?

Perhaps the most influential newspaper in the U.S., the New York Times used its front pages as a virtual billboard for the Bush Administration, and high ranking people like Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State then, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice quoted the New York Times incessantly in the run up to the Iraq war.

Pulitzer Prize winning times reporter Judith Miller essentially served as scribe for the White House, it was press scrutiny that led to the recent downfall of outspoken antiwar figure, Congressman John Murtha Pennsylvania, in the race for House majority Whip using grainy tapes from almost 3 decades ago, the FBI ABSCAM attempts to bust corrupt politicians.

It certainly appears like the so called Washington consensus was unilaterally opposed to Murtha in the Whip post; for it would have provided the critic with a platform that could not be easily be ignored. It was precisely this so-called consensus that lined up to support the Iraq adventure virtually without a whisper of dissent.

It very well may be the case that these same forces wanted to humble the house speaker elect, and yet it was the same alleged consensus driven to be sure, by the mad neo-cons in the White House, the defense department and the corporate think tanks that led to this mess.

Consensus here in the U.S. is actually the agreement of a fairly narrow slice of the American and sometimes foreign elite, in the brief but brilliant book, ‘Behind the Invasion of Iraq’ written by the Mumbai, India based Research Unit For Political Economy, this theme’s argued quite strongly.

Typically apart from legislators and the press; a proliferation of research institutes, semi-government bodies and academic forums, circulate proposals voicing the case of one or the other lobby. Leaving the administration free to deny that they constitute official policy, these proposals elicit objections from other interests, through similar media.

Other powerful countries press their interests directly or indirectly and the entire discussion in the light of the strength of their respective interests help shape the course of action finally adopted and helps coalesce the various ruling class sections around it.

This process of course has nothing to do with democratic debate since the people are excluded as participants and are included only as a factor to be taken into account.

We shouldn’t haggle with theory here; one need only recall the unprecedented mass protests all around the nation and abroad, the experts and think tank types decried the ignorance of the masses but time has proven that the mass demonstrations were right. Now the democrats being seduced by the lobbyists, the media, and the know-it-alls, who might be best called the know-nothings are being persuaded to be bi-partisan to take impeachment off the table, to cool that rap about ending the war.

That like before is the recipe for disaster for it ignores the people who turned out to vote, largely disgusted with Bush’s war. People are sick to the soul about Iraq If they ignore the public mood, they will once again be digging their political graves for this war from beginning to now has been an unholy disaster causing the deaths of at least half a million people, that ain’t impeachable?

From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Manifest(ed Ignorant) Destiny

2006-12-01T09:21:00.000-06:00

I think that the American people are very ignorant to what occurs outside of this country. They don’t understand foreign policy, they don’t see diplomacy and they wouldn’t know what it means to deal with a foreign power equally. In their defense, the media does not do a good job of informing people of how certain things are important. It’s about entertainment news. What some leader said about the “noble and brutally honest” United States, like it could never be true. Like Hugo Chavez does not make any sense, and why he is making more friends now in the world that rally against the U.S. than 10, 20, 30 years ago. Have you ever wondered why? The obvious answer is a ‘patriotic’ defense against this by saying, “They just hate Americans because we are Americans.” But that’s untrue.

They hate Americans because we impose our imperialistic will on others, to further our economic devices and vices. We tell nations how to govern themselves; we fund secret coups to overthrow democratically elected governments and quellish rebellions that support the true democracy of THAT people. Our foreign policy in the corners of the world and for the reasons unto which they were perpetrated is what people see as hypocritical.

We rattle the cage against tariffs and taxes but offer protectionism for our own industries against Japanese steel, which is cheaper, better and is more efficient than U.S. steel, which will in turn, lower car prices, and spread the savings to the consumer.

The infamous “Handshake” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Handshake300.jpg

IRAN

The British with the help from the U.S. worked to overthrow and discredit the Iranian Mohammed Mossadegh who in 1953, supported and worked towards Iran’s nationalization of its Oil industry, its independence and modernization and to push further away from the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (today known as British Petroleum (BP)). He was working towards sociopolitical changes within the country that would be viewed as positive and progressive to the Western world, If it wasn’t for his fight against foreign oil interests; entitled, “Operation Ajax” http://www.fff.org/comment/com0501i.asp

We are hypocrites

We impose our hegemony will publicly on other nations and privately work to overthrow anyone who doesn’t become its lapdog.

We aren’t innocent.

IRAQ

“The U.S. was officially neutral regarding the Iran-Iraq war, and claimed that it armed neither side. Iran depended on U.S.-origin weapons, however, and sought them from Israel, Europe, Asia, and South America. Iraq started the war with a large Soviet-supplied arsenal, but needed additional weaponry as the conflict wore on.

Initially, Iraq advanced far into Iranian territory, but was driven back within months. By mid-1982, Iraq was on the defensive against Iranian human-wave attacks. The U.S., having decided that an Iranian victory would not serve its interests, began supporting Iraq: measures already underway to upgrade U.S.-Iraq relations were accelerated, high-level officials exchanged visits, and in February 1982 the State Department removed Iraq from its list of states supporting international terrorism.”

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/

- So when people say that Saddam gassed his own people, its true but we knew about that, because Iran kept telling us but we didn’t listen, and didn’t care.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/iraq25.pdf

- In this declassified document it was revealed that the U.S. would back Iraq,(They previously supported Iran) in ending the Iran-Iraq War, and that over 800 Western companies were involved in Iraqi oil, so in turn it affected the U.S. economically and was not considered an isolated conflict.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/iraq30.pdf

- Now back to the American people, they don’t see these actions; they don’t read them on the news. They are told what is important and they accept it without question. I don’t blame them for that, but they replace truth for patriotism and nationalism, like any action we partake in foreign lands is in the best interests of those people. If we are so humanitarian, why go overseas to give others democracy, when we have people starving and dieing over here? Why do we see politicians talk about numbers of economic prosperity, and then we hear about their being 5 million more homeless than 2000, and about soaring CEO salaries and options packages for little work or loss and sometimes at the expense of cutting benefits plans for employees.

In closing, Hugo Chavez is gaining more clout because others are beginning to see how our actions in the Middle East, in Latin America. Our ignoring of the international community. Our hypocritical actions and stance on terrorism. This creates distance between how we wish to be seen and how we are seen.

More and more people are recognizing, the imperial hubris that we operate behind in the name of freedom and equality.

This country, this world is run by economics. The real truth behind any foreign policy issue is who profited from it, and why certain nations take certain the steps to help other nations.

The problems with Americans is that we view everything we do as being noble and justified, and any nation that judges us, as hating freedom and being against our founding principles; of which are an illusion. Imagine slave owners screaming about freedom from the British during the 1760s and 70s, how ironic.

Foreign Policy is not supposed to be ironic...

2006-11-13T18:49:00.000-06:00

Foreign Policy is not supposed to be ironic...

People live up to and down to the labels that others give them. If you call someone fat, stupid, ugly; they sometimes begin to think they are, or act like that and sometimes they do both. The power of suggestion is very inherent in people.

So when you label a nation as “evil” or “third world” they see themselves as such, and so do you. And while proclaiming a nation to be 3rd world, while yours is 1st world may not seem like such a big deal. Labeling a nation as “EVIL” has devastating effects on how other nations interact with that nation, for one: It creates divisions between the nations and arises an mentality like “Us versus them”, and secondly, they become more “evil”, they do the exact same things that you label them as being. They proliferate, and that label radicalizes the moderate citizens in that country, and adds more ammunition for the extremists.

How we view and see people in our minds is a direct reflection on how we treat them. Mindset always precedes action.

Think of every nation in history that the United States or any other nation has called Evil. By attaching that label, they are instantly transformed into more of an ideal, instead of a nation or a people. Think of the U.S.S.R., Germany, and Japan.

-- On a side note, any person who labels anything whether, as an absolute or not, in any sense of that word or concept, is either hurting themselves or hurting others, and those actions always have ramifications.

The reason that I bring this up, is because if you roll back the clock to the year 2003, you hear the names of the countries in the, “AXIS OF EVIL” (IRAN, IRAQ, and NORTH KOREA) and you read the headlines today in 2006, you hear how Bush and Blair, are reaching out to Syria, and Iran to solve the “Iraq Problem” Are you serious? These were are sworn hated enemies, and now they are own allies?

--The defiance of Iran as it test fired its missiles while the world watched, its aggressive race for nuclear proliferation?

-- Syria’s support and supplying of Hizbollah?

And now we are seeking their help and attention with our “problem”?

The problem with labels is that you can’t take them back, as the U.S. and U.K. (I’m sure) will learn when members of the “Axis of Evil” turn down their requests or are offered “incentives” to wipe the slate clean.

So in the future while these nations continue to act more “Evil”, the world will be an even darker, and more dangerous place, ever-supporting this trend since 2000.

-- Check out this article, it’s an interesting read.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article1981732.ece

Peace.

You Can Get Rich, But You'll Die Trying.. :p

2006-11-02T09:33:00.000-06:00

If you look at prime television these days and look at the types of programs that are offered you will see an apparent pattern. The shows are either: Reality shows, Crime shows, Dramas, Game shows, Celeb-Reality shows or the Pop News like Entertainment Tonight. It’s all about entertainment, and the “Real World Issues” out there are spun up by corporate media, who alter, modify and focus the reports and situations in the ways that they please. But today, my issue is with the Game shows.

If you look at the type of programming on TV for game shows, you’ll see: 1 vs. 100, Deal or No Deal, The Rich List, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Oh yeah, and Jeopardy, The Price Is Right, and Wheel of Fortune is still running around too. The problem I have with these shows is that, they continue in the tradition of the out-dated American dream.

The American dream is essentially a fantasy because it has the assumption that a person can make something of themselves and be on the level of the millionaires and television stars that they see on TV. Now, I think that first generation Americans and individuals who come to this country to work and become successful embody what it means to be American, and I respect these people.

But the AMERICAN DREAM IS TO BE RICH, not just RICH, but insanely WEALTHY with lots of property. To have more than others, to live in the mansions and drive the cars, boats and trucks that they see as being the symbol of success. It’s very sickening. We, as Americans, are obsessed with status and that is what the American dream is.

But the truth is that the only people who actually live this lifestyle are: Musicians, Actors, Politicians, CEOs, and Athletes.

Because if you’re an American and you think that you can get rich, honestly, it’s better to keep dreaming. Especially during this time in history it’s increasingly hard to leave your economic level. It’s very difficult to escape the pit of poverty because if the key to uplifting oneself is through education, how can one truly pay for it?

According to figures presented by college board.com, http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/4494.html

The costs of attending a 4 year public university per year are $5,836 dollars, and while one may say, that is not a lot of money per year to pay for an education, it adds up really quick, and

$23,444 dollars for the whole college experience is daunting, especially, If you’re a person without experience, making minimum wage (5.15/ Hr), after taxes (20%) and such, that equates to about $8927 dollars per year in salary.

So unless a person can save half of their salary for a year, they can pay for their tuition, but in truth they must have $2918 every 16 weeks to pay for school, and when your take home pay is $172 per week, that $2918 (172 * 16 = 2752) looks very far away from you, unless you don’t own an apartment, have children, and don’t wear clothes, transportation or EAT. College is out of the question.

If the key to uplifting oneself is through experience, how can a person get experience? How can a person gain the knowledge it takes to advance themselves and their situation in America? Conservatives are complaining that the immigrants, who come here to work, drag down the economy because they stay in the same economic conditions and it stays generational. Of course that’s true, and it’s true in tons of neighborhoods across America. But the problem is a two-pronged issue, the first prong being, the absence of any way to elevate oneself from poverty, and two) the absence of any education on telling people to better their situations.

These conservatives don't care about the poor, the black, and the sick people in America. They could care less and are seen as the invisible minority in America, just as muslims were before 9/11.

On a very big note though, that individuals in the most impoverished regions are not taught within their own communities, schools, and by their own governments that they need to advance themselves and get away from that type of environment, by the best means necessary. And they are helped not to do so inadvertedly.

The economy is terrible right now because people who are affluent, tell you to get an education, get a good job, work hard and the rest will follow. But truthfully, that doesn’t happen. If you work to get an education, what experience do you have? How can you get that good job? If jobs are making it a requirement to have a bachelor’s degree and its getting ever-so-difficult for the working class to attain that degree, how can the poor get to that level?

My problem with the economy is that, a person must have experience for these ENTRY-LEVEL positions. I myself have asked employers, “How can I get experience if this job is an entry level position?”

The only jobs out there for poor individuals are either through construction, auto repair, retail or restaurants.

The true face of America is obscured by the Anglo veneer of prosperity, of immense wealth, and of peace.

And the point to all of this is that people shouldn’t expect to be rich and famous, and loved by many. And have numerous cars and leisure time to go along with that.

You won’t be that person, I won’t be that person and you shouldn’t hold on to that dream as if it will come true. Just focus on bettering yourself through any means necessary and working to become a better person.

Most people work all of their lives, and work very hard to survive, while others who have the wealth, extend more of it to themselves, to their kids and to their friends.

Case in point, the opportunities to move from poor to middle class to upper class are falling very fast.

The American Dream is a lie to keep us working, while the CEOs take our hard work to the bank, and on golf tournaments. Keep Dreaming.

An article in Commondreams.org, exclaims the exact tone and posture of corporate America.

“The United States long has had the industrialized world's largest gap in pay between chief executives and blue-collar workers. CEO compensation swelled from 85 times what workers earned in 1990, to 209 times in 1996, and 326 times the following year. .In 1999, CEO pay surged to a record 419 times the average worker's wage, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U.S. CEOs' pay rose 313 percent from 1990 to 2003, UFE said. By contrast, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose 242 percent and corporate profits gained 128 percent.

During the same period, average worker pay rose 49 percent while inflation climbed 41 percent.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0412-10.htm

Mumia speaks about: Of Radicals and Extremists...

2006-10-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

OF RADICALS AND EXTREMISTS,

If the minions of the neo-con right are to be believed, the struggle in Iraq and by extension, the Middle East is essentially a war against, what they call Extremism.

Even the verbally challenged President George W Bush has argued quite strenuously against Islamic extremists. It seems like many in the right are trying out new terms every week to stoke the fires of fear about new and foreboding threats to the besieged American republic.

Extremists, Islamic extremists, Islamo- fascists, dead-enders etc al.

For politicians, words are weapons which are used to sell images much like Madison Avenue sells soap, every so often even the best product must be made new and improved. And why shouldn’t they? Hasn’t it worked before? We now sneer at the phrase, Weapons of Mass Destruction, but several years ago it rang in the head like a klaxon.

Is it radical or extremists to fight against foreigners who invade your country and try to impose strangers who function as puppets for those foreigners?

Why is the administration never seen as extremist for invading a foreign country based on false pretenses? Why isn’t it viewed as extreme for its mad plan to remake the face of the Middle East? Why isn’t its response for the desperate acts of 19 men, 9-11, of invading a nation that has nothing to do with that act, seen as extreme? That it isn’t is largely because of the obedient services of the corporate media. Which sought obscene ratings by playing the fear card, in waving the flag.

They did so because their pay checks are signed by big business. And this administration has been good for big business; they serve their corporate masters but betray their publics. Yet this is hardly a new thing. Scholar and writer Michael Parenti, in his 2004 book, Super Patriotism, published by city lights books, looks beyond the present manic bush regime to view a long history of U.S. extremism all around the world.

U.S. leaders have long professed a dedication to democracy, yet over the last half-century they have devoted themselves to over-throwing democratic governments in: Guatemala, Guyana, The Dominican Republic, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Syria, Indonesia under Sukarno, Greece twice, Argentina twice, Haiti twice, Bolivia, Jamaica, Yugoslavia and other countries. Parenti, these countries were all guilty of pursuing policies that occasionally favored the poor elements and infringed upon the more affluent. In most instances, the U.S. sponsored coups were accompanied by widespread killings of democratic activists.

U.S. leaders have supported covert actions, sanctions or proxy mercenary wars against revolutionary governments in: Cuba, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Iraq; with the CIA ushering in Saddam Hussein’s reign of Repression. Portugal, South Yemen, Nicaragua, Cambodia, East Timor, Western Sahara and elsewhere.

U.S. intervention and de-stabilization campaigns have been directed against other populist nationalist governments including: Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Zaire, Venezuela, the Fiji Islands, and Afghanistan; before the Soviets ever went into the country.

And since, World War 2 direct U.S. military invasions, or aerial attacks or both have been perpetrated against: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, North Korea, Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Libya, Somalia and Iraq twice. Parenti.

There is no rogue state, axis of evil or communist country that has a comparable record of such criminal aggression against others nations; that scholar writer, Michael Parenti. In light of this kind of history, who are the extremists? In light of this history, who are the radicals?

This isn’t a war against extremism, it is a war waged by extremists, it is a war waged by ideologues drunk on power and willing to break a nation to prove their theories of the so- called free market.

Iraq is an essentially broken state awaiting its final crack. Like hungry wolves, these dudes are waiting for their next morsel to munch on. From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.

--These events occurred throughout history and are still happening today in one form or another, if someone feels like we needed to go to war against, Viet Nam, ask yourself this question, “Could a little South-East Asian country like Viet Nam North or South, really threaten or do anything against a global powerhouse like the United States?” Nope, so why waste money swatting flies when we have/had bigger fish to fry? Sounds a lot like Iraq to me!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_Incident

If you say, it was about spreading democracy, then, why didn’t we “liberate” them during the First Indochina War which lasted from 1945-1954 when France tried to re-control Viet Nam after occupying it since 1883? Because it wasn’t about freedom then, as it isn’t about it now.

How To Prevent Terrorism...

2006-10-19T19:14:00.000-05:00

I'am currently Reading a book, titled, "Friendly Fire: Losing Friends
and Making Enemies in the
Anti-American Century" by Julia E. Sweig.

The book has many interesting points, and one specific passage that I will quote here.

"Well before the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration signaled a belief that U.S.
power alone
was adequate to the task of addressing
what many at home and in the international community regarded as the critical
global challenges of the twenty-first century,

After 9/11, the United States declared war on a tactic, terrorism,
without a strategy to undermine
those who employ terrorist tactics.

As if straight out of some Manchurian Candidate spin-off, the White House conducted itself as though it somehow intended to hand one psychological victory after another to the truly dangerous ( as opposed to just politically hostile) Anti-Americans. "

and in another paragraph in the same page, she writes, " The arrests and jailings of thousands of Islamic men at home reinforced the message, intended or not, that Christian America was waging an anti-Muslim crusade."

Alright, Now that my mindset is very much established, here is my point.

The U.S. actions throughout the region are causing more terrorism, and reading this book begged me to question; JUST HOW DO WE PREVENT AND ELIMINATE TERRORISM, SINCE IT SEEMS LIKE WE ARE SO GOOD AT PROVOKING AND CAUSING IT?

I've researched this issue extensively, and sadly, could NOT find any official government reports or statements or findings saying on how to prevent terrorism, or what even causes it to begin with. So what is that point in fighting a war, if we don't know what we are doing?

The Bush administration is romanticized behind the idea of "Nation-Building", Of bettering a state. However,

That idea is very out-dated, it is a concept very much alive during World War II, but is inadequate today, since these "insurgents"
are without nations, and without governments so its not as easy, as pinning the actions on a single policy, or individual or cabinet of another nation.

In a strategy research project, written, by Kenneth D. Comfort of the United States Army War College, entitled, "Preventing Terrorism Through Nation-Building, A Viable Way?"  www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army-usawc/comfort.pdf He offers some very interesting points.

First of all, he exclaims that, Granting aid and giving nations food does NOT necessarily prevent terrorism.

Poverty can exist without terrorism, and terrorism without poverty; so the link between poverty and "failed states" terrorism, is not necessarily true

and lastly,

Going after nations, that give aid to terrorists doesn't stop/end/ reverse the trend of terrorism.

-- These points are very valid, in that, they are basically the ideals behind U.S. Foreign Policy, and It is very clear to see that our actions in the region, using these ideals have helped the region.

Now to the solution, An issue is pretty much dead in the water, without a solution. The moral of the story is that, if you intend to solve a problem. You first need to understand that problem before you can understand how to fix it.

The U.S. is only 200 years old, and is struggling to use democracy and shape Mesopotamia and the Arab world into its image, without having a clear understanding of its people, its culture and its history. We lack "on-the-ground" intelligence to discern what is going on, what the general consensus of the country is, and who these people are.

I have never agreed on going into Iraq, so don't think thats where I'm going with this. The point is that this solution is something that I think is fundamental, and universal in every sense on foreign policy and foreign relations.

I found a website, that composes these ideas together(tee hee)
http://www.afghan-network.net/911/terrorism.html

Preventing Terrorism
Towards a New Approach

By Nicholas Abbey

-- I reorganized the list, per what was most important to me.

1. Refocusing government resources on prevention and solving social, economic, and environmental problems.

2. Vigilance against racial vilification, the violation of civil liberties, and the use of apocalyptic language.

3. Unequivocal condemnation of all acts of terrorism.

4. Bringing the perpetrators to justice based on lawful procedure and respect for the rights and safety of innocent civilians.

5. Preventing the strategic escalation of conflict and a new 'cold war'..

6. A comprehensive strategy under the auspices of the United Nations and linked to non-governmental organizations.

The Organization for The Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) issued a press release in September 8th, 2006, exclaiming how "The United Nations Adopts Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy" http://www.opcw.org/pressreleases/2006/PR58_2006.html

The report states that, "5. To strengthen coordination and cooperation among States in combating crimes that might be connected with terrorism, including drug trafficking in all its aspects, illicit arms trade, in particular of small arms and light weapons, including man-portable air defence systems , money laundering and smuggling of nuclear, chemical, biological, radiological and other potentially deadly materials. (...)

13. To step-up national efforts and bilateral, sub-regional, regional and international co-operation, as appropriate, to improve border and customs controls, in order to prevent and detect the movement of terrorists and to prevent and detect the illicit traffic in, inter alia, small arms and light weapons, conventional ammunition and explosives, nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological weapons and materials, while recognizing that States may require assistance to that effect. (...)

Let us be clear and realistic here. The reason terrorism is flourishing is because of the Arms trade, because of Drug-Trafficking, and because of Oil, and the truth of the matter is, these issues will not be resolved, because too many rich
nations are involved, too many corporations have their greedy hands in the pot.

Desmond Tutu, in an article written in September considers it a new slave trade.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article1523112.ece

- The richest nations like, Germany, France, Israel, USA and Russia, in 2005, made 82 percent of the arms that entered conflicts in Africa in the Middle East during that year,

Did you think Hezbollah makes their own AK-47s?

Too many goverments get too much money from the darkest corners of the globe. Thats why we 'LOVE' Afghanistan so much. The U.S. and the CIA, have funded and supported drug smugglers, arms dealers and dicatators in Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador and of course funded Bin Laden's MAK organization.

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines01/0708-03.htm

Our hands are too dirty in this, to get out. So we won't ever, ever EVER work to prevent terrorism or separate ourselves from nationalism.

So while we may have a viable answer to the question, it will never be put into action.
Because behind the face of nationalism lies, out bedding with the supposed "enemy"

-- Sorry I got a bit carried away, but alot of these issues are connected in a way, that we wished was a nightmare.

And If you still believe in all our speeches on "Freedom" and "Justice", and "Spreading American Freedom through Democracy", well I'm sorry but your wrong, we aren't the proud, perfect and honest nation that we want others to think that we are.

Our ideas dicate our actions, and our beliefs provide us with motives. No one is immune from that.

Afghanistan...

2006-09-20T20:32:00.000-05:00

I was coming home from work and I caught a blurb of a radio interview on NPR with Sonali Kolhatkar author of "Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence"

What she said really got me thinking, and I would like to re-iterate what was said on here.

It's not bombs that save and liberate nations, its not the intelligence communities nor the
government sanctions that render the supposed "hostile" nations docile, nor is it the way to bring democracy to a region.

on a side note, (you can't give a person democracy or freedom they have to want it. Freedom isn't free and it's never one through violence, aggression, and hatred beset by an opposing faction)

In many if not all cases, You win the war by winning the people, meaning, if you want the taliban and afghani's to separate themselves from extremists, its through ECONOMICS.

Economics is the name of the game, Thomas Friedman calls it the "Golden Straight-Jacket" because it forces you to play by the rules if you want to continue getting resources, revenues, and growth in ones country. This example is best met by the country of CHINA. The more and more they globalize, the more and more they don't step out of line.

In Afghanistan, As an average citizen there are only 2 choices on how to make a living. Either 1) Grow Poppy seeds, which are used to produce Opium, or 2) Join the taleban, who provide food, shelter and security.

If America wants to spread democracy, they must spread choices, and if they want to curb fundamentalism, they need to give the Afghan people options on how to survive,

No one is building up social welfare programs on a large scale. The troops may be administering vaccines and cereal and medicine to the people, but
aren't providing any means as an alternative to the "2 choices". So when the american soldiers leave, the taleban is back and in power because they are
giving afghans the means to survive.

The foundation on how to defeat fundamentalism is through economics.

Because you won't change and/or de-radicalize your ideologies and culture if not given the opportunity to advance your social status and affect your future.

There are 3 sequential spheres of change that transfer a region

The first is Economic Change,
                                    -once this change is enacted it is transformational to a region and starts a place on an upward slope of progression.

Secondly is Cultural Change
                                    - Economics affects the culture because it is forced to change to compete with the new lifestyle.

and lastly, is Political Change
                                      - Once the culture is changed, the policies to support that culture change and grow along with it as well.

Its a progression, and sequence that is the only way to bring a nation farther away from extremism and violence.

If you don't believe me, look at history and see if any nation in history through its own means and not by being conquered by others has used self-determination to better itself. Of the top of my head i can think of Brazil, the Nordic countries, and even India is using globalization to its advantage. Its not perfect but its a damn better start then capturing
and killing combatants to transform a nation.

Mumia speaks about 9/11: 5 years later...

2006-09-17T20:07:00.000-05:00

This is an excerpt from a recent radio essay by death row prison inmate, Mumia Abu-Jamal.

“5 years later, Feel safer yet? It has been 5 years since the disaster of September 11th, and the question that not only must be posed but be answered looms large before us. Do you feel safer yet?

Some may quibble about the short length of time, “Yo, Mu it’s only been 5 years, what do you expect so soon?” others will look at the direction that the U.S. has taken in the last 5 years; try to peer into the ominous future and despair for wrong roads can only lead to wrong destinations.

As the smoke was still rising from the rubble of the hole in the ground in Manhattan. President George W. Bush would go before the congress and lifted on a cloud of evanescent political applause announce his intention saying, apparently, with an aside to the military. The hour is coming when America will act and you will make us proud. Two years later, he would make another announcement, this time described by writer Michael Parenti, in his book, Super Patriotism.

On June 27th, 2003 President Bush announced, God told me to strike at Al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam which I did. And now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. God told me? He instructed me? Does it become a cause for concern, that the U.S. president, sounding like an Old Testament prophet, is justifying his war policy, by claiming to be in direct communication with the almighty? The images arising from the ravaged Middle East may make you think of many things, but I doubt God is one of them.

The U.S. revolution made its mark in the world by forcefully rejecting the notion of divine right of kings. It had resonance in Europe, precisely because it was an anti-royal war, which sought to elevate reason as the highest authority in the state, now we are back to the divine right of precedence.

Iraq by any measure has been an unmitigated disaster. Voices from the right now admit this as they hawk books promoting the splitting of Iraq into 3 separate states or predict unbridled civil war.

Meanwhile, if Iraq was fought to protect the homeland, a lie at any rate, it has served as a live training ground for insurgency. With graduation being, the successful slaying of U.S. soldiers. Iraq prior to September 11th 2001 was many things, but a terrorist training camp it wasn’t. It is now, and it is tying both the Americans and their Iraqi puppets into knots, the question remains, “Do you feel safer yet?”

The U.S. government from the top to the bottom has been a parade of incompetence. Former homeland security chief Tom Ridge was in over his head from day one. If emergency response is any measure that the mega-agency is supposed to divest, we saw its utter lack when the flood struck New Orleans and the gulf coast. The silence was deafening. Across the nation there have been scandals about the theft, misuse, and misappropriation of billions with money flowing to areas clearly unrelated to their stated purpose, its like pigs slurping at the trough.

Has Iraq with all of its blunders, its cruelties, and its hypocrisies made America safer or the reverse? It’s easy to be Poly Ann-ish about this and speak of illusive successes since 9/11, easy and deceitful, wrong roads lead to wrong ends.

And the Iraq adventure driven less by fate then by greed and imperial arrogance has led to repetitive disasters, America may indeed remake the world but it won’t be a world that it finds to its liking.

From Death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.”

Mumia Speaks about Katrina: One year later...

2006-09-17T18:52:00.000-05:00

This is a transcript of Mumia Abu-Jamal's radio essay comments on Hurricane Katrina.

"Katrina, A year later.

It is amazing, the evocative power of one word, one name: Katrina.

It resonates like a klaxon in the dark of night. An alarm that quickens the pulse, forces sweat from our armpits and causes the heart to beat at a faster pace.

It is as much name, as it is nightmare, but it is more; it is Revelation,

The brief moment when lightning turns the night sky into bright as day, until the ears echo with the roar of thunder. For decades, at least, since the high points of the civil rights movement or the hey days of the black liberation movement.

U.S. blacks were able to live with the illusion, that while things were far from perfect, they were getting better. We were, as the theme song of 'The Jeffersons' went, "Movin' on up", to places of power, respect, prestige and responsibility. There were hiccups of course, but racism, that great dragon, Leviathan, was receding into its dark cave, perhaps for good, and then came Katrina.

In a flash, in a hour, in a day, in a week, we saw with our own eyes, the loss, the waste, the death and perhaps worse, the dismissal of black life by virtually every agency of state power:
Local, state and federal government. As well as other agencies such as the media, for if the state was deadly by its ignoring of black suffering. The media was deadly by its poisonous attention and its perversion of the truth.

The media gave the state license to ignore, to disappear, to downplay and to discard black life. For in there twisted racist coverage, blacks were savages and thus unworthy of saving.

If U.S. blacks had any illusions, the dark setted waters of Katrina washed them away. Nationalism, citizenship, belonging to the white nation were lies. The waters of Katrina cleared the crust of sleep from our eyes and taught us that, if you are black and poor then you are utterly on your own.

With the death of this illusion of nationalism, we learned that we are Rwanda, we are Burundi, we are united in our blackness, our social isolation, our distancing from the very definition of humanity; we are them.

A year has passed and disaster yet remains. Over half the city, over a quarter of a million people have not returned to the Crescent City. The lower ninth ward, the hub of black, poor and working class New Orleanians has neither running water nor electricity today. Between fighting the government and insurance companies, tens of thousands of people are still fighting for money, to rebuild their homes and lives.

Katrina standing alone is a beautiful name. But it may be many years before it stands alone again. For it is a event now, of historic proportions that impacts all that flows from it; Like a war, like a massacre, like a hurricane that transforms terrain, that shatters landscapes, that explodes myths of who we thought we were.

From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal."

In Retrospect...

2006-09-12T15:51:00.000-05:00

Lately, I have been thinking extensively about religion and its implications, more specifically, about it's impact on not just religious peoples' lives but the people that these people interact with.

So without further ado, here is my soliloquy.

I have this line from "Flight of the Phoenix" stuck in my head.

"Spirituality is not religion.
Religion divides people.
Belief in something unites them."

And through my own personal experiences with deeply religious people, I have found them to be one of the most close-minded and willingly ignorant people around. Not to talk about all religious people but more specifically the ones who follow scripture to the 'T' irregardless of facts or logic.

These people are supposed to be one the most accepting, open and humane people on Earth, however, many close themselves off and judge others out right.

The problem with religion is that as soon as you take one god or form as your supreme being, you separate and 'divide' yourself away from people, because 'Your God is better than theirs', People have been fighting since the dawn of man, for the truest sense of spirituality through Religion. but where they fail is in it's expression. Rituals and symbols are what alert others' to the level of a person's devotion to faith. but should that matter?

If God is omniscience, and knows and sees all, why DO I HAVE to pray? Because he will hear me better? why DO I HAVE to confess to a priest? How is it that the voice of God is clearer in their minds?

With spirituality and religion,herein, invites the human element, and people do whatever they can to stay/gain/advance in power. The church is an institution and only through the past can we understand the future. If God loves all and judges none, then why can't women be priests or lesbians or gays? Thats because it's people who decided this. So even in that regard we are contradicting His teachings of acceptance of all peoples. We are judging them, and being prejudice against them. IS man better than a woman? Most would say 'No' but that what's apparent in the bible, why don't you believe that, and shouldn't you preach that to your children as well? You can't draw a line between good prejudices and bad ones. No one should be so structured as to live their lives based on how others think they should.

The human being is a goal-oriented and goal-seeking being, one who is always seeking for things beyong our own humanity, something to believe in. But with belief comes direction, and when you are labeled as the authority on something, people listen and that person's influence shapes lives.

One musn't be so religious or close-minded as to shudder away from dissention, whenever a person disagrees with them. And who are they to 'convert' them?

Thats basically telling another person that their history, culture and own religion is wrong, and that they are savages.

Every example of religion in history has been presented from the end of a bayonet, sword, musket, gun or bomb. So if im forced to believe in it, how is it such a great thing?

Why is blind faith viewed higher than tempered faith? Why Must I DO SOMETHING? If history is any indicator of anything, its that whenever a person is made to do something, its not a good thing. Free will is the path to humanity. I ask people sometimes, why cant I believe in God my way? its not about how many times you pray, or if your celibate, or your music choices or garments, its how you treat people.

These extremely religious people are almost brainwashed in a tunnel vision where anything that isn't stereotypical of a way to show people's one love of God, is bad. Music, art, movies, video games.

Life isn't about living like a automaton, its about free will, choice and discovery.

The best way to live God's teachings is to be who we are, regardless our beliefs, its our actions and how we treat people that should truly matter in this world. at the end of the day, humanity is what prevails, for humanity is the element that we seek in all circles of our life like: acceptance, connection, and respect.

I don't believe in God like you do, and I shouldn't. I believe in him in my own way and I try not to be blind enough to let life pass me by.

Why is it that only listening to Gospel music makes you a better christian? Why MUST i do that? To prove to others my resolve?

If I get any comments regarding this, please think about what you're going to say, and have logical, thought out statements, not cop out. If your gonna fight for anything, stand up completely and be willing to see things from all sides. Thats how an adult is supposed to discuss issues.

well

2006-08-04T08:51:00.000-05:00

Its been a while but I'm back for a minute. Ive been thinking lately that when we talk to a person one-on-one, its like having six people in the room. Because its who we are, who we wish to be, and who we try to percieve ourselves to be, and that is true for the other person.

With people we always want to be seen as someone or something else to a degree. An archetype. Why is that? I think that people need to understand that there is something about each other that we pick up on, certain qualities or vibes, it essentially helps us to determine how to act/react to another person. Its instinctual in us.

We as adults are so fake sometimes, we front and put up personas to keep our true selves safe Because we are afraid of others seeing who we really are. Is that because we truly dont know or because we are ashamed of our lives and issues? Why should we conceal ourselves?

We all have ideas about how a person should be, and its so easy to get caught up in those because when dealing with adults, you are essentially dealing with perception, and a willingness for the person to look and sound well-balanced.

Being an adult is so different from being a child, because one always wants to feel respected and valued as a person, and taken seriously. You see this when instructing adults, they have their values and ideas and are immediately turned off when others shun or discourage what they have to say, there is a great lesson there.

That as we age, we tend to want to be seen as equal and credible, that no one wants to be inferior to anyone else. We should teach this to our children, we should teach ourselves to listen and respect to our children, we should make it our duty to understand their situation, their issues and their personality.

We dont need to treat children as adults, but simply acknowledge that they exist, and thats all that people want anyway.

The goal for all of humanity is understanding, respect and compassion. Relating to people is often what we strive for in everything we do. In our loves, our jobs and our families.

The world full of people is becoming a right-brained world because technology is rendering the left-brained side not as fundamental to our growth as a society.

Bill Maher

2006-05-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Real Time with Bill Maher, May 5th 2006

"And finally, New Rule: If you want to live the American dream, move to Europe. According to a new study, climbing up the economic ladder in this country is much harder than in just about every other wealthy nation.

If you're born poor here, you pretty much stay that way. And fat-cat catering Republicans get poor people to vote for them because they get them to vote their dreams, not their self-interests. That's why lots of people of modest means are all for getting rid of the estate tax, a tax which affects one percent of us, the richest one percent of us. You know, the ones with estates.

A category also familiar by the name, "Not you." You know, America has a lottery mentality. We think we can party till we're 40, fail in business after business, and then somehow wind up as president of the United States.

Okay, bad example. But our philosophy does come from the lottery. Hey, you never know! Yes, I do. In America, if you're not born rich, you'll die tryin', bitch. Because you're not going to win the lottery. You're not going to inherit a fortune from a distant relative. Or marry a prince. Or get that call from Hollywood saying they're making a movie out of your MySpace page.

Oh, yeah. According to a recent survey, 98% of college freshman agreed with the statement, "I am sure that one day I will get where I want to be in life." I'm sorry. You have yourself mixed up with the Asian kid.

You know, I have never understood how Americans can talk so much about dreams, how great it is to have a dream, but make absolutely no judgments about what the dream is! Does it matter that your kids all want to be rockers and rappers and ballers and divas? Watch MTV for a day. You'll see.

Your kid's dream is to be on "Cribs," living in a 50-room mansion with a shark tank and a Whitney Houston "crack nook." It's a dream about being able to spend your life pigging out on ego and money and attention in the way only this wonderful business of our allows.

So, fine. But do we have to admire it? Do we have to treat that dream the same as if it was a dream to teach, or join Doctors Without Borders? Do we have to...do we have to honor our kids for wanting to go from rags...to bitches? For wanting to live out an eternal weekend that never turns to Monday, snorting caviar off their Bentleys and air-guitaring their way to the cover of US magazine? Sadly, yes. Or they'll refuse to teach you how to clear the porn trail off your computer.

So I'm not saying, "Stop dreaming." I'm just saying, "Wake up." Because no one is ever going to give you half-a-billion dollars for sitting around like a lump. They can't. They've already given it to this "bastard."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Raymond
this is scary and daunting, if i do say so myself.

How stupid are we?

2006-05-06T17:57:00.000-05:00

I read recently a study conducted by National Geographic, on the literacy and overall knowledge of young americans age 18-24 and it was pretty scary i tell ya, here is the jist of it.

74% of people said that English was the most widely spoken language in China. (wth?)

74% have traveled to another state in the past year, but 7 in 10 haven't traveled abroad in the past 3 years.

Only 2 in 10 have a passport.

54% of young americans dont know that Sudan is a country in Africa.

Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map—though U.S. troops have been there since 2003.

6 in 10 young Americans don't speak a foreign language fluently.

20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia. (It's the largest country in Africa.)

48% of young Americans believe the majority population in India is Muslim. (It's Hindu—by a landslide.)

Half of young Americans can't find New York on a map.

-- This truly explains alot, and illustrates how people around the world are outperforming Americans left and right, and we wonder why we lose jobs overseas. We have an education problem in the U.S. because it's non-existent in regards to foreign affairs, history and culture.

More than likely, we had to take spanish or french maybe german but those classes didn't truly acculturate or educate the youth, its just like another english class in another language, thats all.

we act like we are the only country in the world and that we shouldnt be involved in international affairs or at least know where these countries are.

Young people are ignorant as to where Darfur is, and Iraq, so the odds of them being cognizant to whats going on, are alot less likely and that explains alot.

here is the link so you can read the report for yourself:
http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/findings.html

In closing, Education is essential to any society. It dictates social norms and behaviors. And it looks like to compete in this global world, we need to understand the world and study it.

If a person reads this, and decides not to fall into the bunch with the others they are already getting a leg up on 'THE FUTURE' its a necessity in today's world.

Immortal Technique

2006-05-01T11:49:00.000-05:00

THIS IS THE REAL FACE OF AMERICA, YOU CAN RUN AND HIDE OR ACCEPT THAT ARE COUNTRY IS RUN BY IGNORANT, RACIST AND ETHNOCENTRIC ASSHOLES BECAUSE IF YOU DONT ACCEPT THAT, THEN YOUR PROBABLY ONE OF THEM.

Immortal Technique- The 4th Branch

"[Talking]
The new age is upon us
And yet the past refuses to rest in its shallow grave
For those who hide behind the false image of the son of man
shall stand before God!!! It has begun
The beginning of the end
Yeah..
Yeah... yeah, yeah

[Verse 1]
The voice of racism preaching the gospel is devilish
A fake church called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist
Forgetting God is not a religion, but a spiritual bond
And Jesus is the most quoted prophet in the Qu'ran
They bombed innocent people, tryin' to murder Saddam
When you gave him those chemical weapons to go to war with Iran
This is the information that they hold back from Peter Jennings
Cause Condoleeza Rice is just a new age Sally Hemmings
I break it down with critical language and spiritual anguish
The Judas I hang with, the guilt of betraying Christ
You murdered and stole his religion, and painting him white
Translated in psychologically tainted philosophy
Conservative political right wing, ideology
Glued together sloppily, the blasphemy of a nation
Got my back to the wall, cause I'm facin' assassination
Guantanamo Bay, federal incarceration
How could this be, the land of the free, home of the brave?
Indigenous holocaust, and the home of the slaves
Corporate America, dancin' offbeat to the rhythm
You really think this country, never sponsored terrorism?
Human rights violations, we continue the saga
El Savador and the contras in Nicaragua
And on top of that, you still wanna take me to prison
Just cause I won't trade humanity for patriotism

[Hook]
It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain
Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change
They wanna rearrange the whole point of view of the ghetto
The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle
A bandana full of glittering, generality
Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?
Read about the history of the place that we live in
And stop letting corporate news tell lies to your children

[Verse 2]
Flow like the blood of Abraham through the Jews and the Arabs
Broken apart like a woman's heart, abused in a marriage
The brink of holy war, bottled up, like a miscarriage
Embedded correspondents don't tell the source of the tension
And they refuse to even mention, European intervention
Or the massacres in Jenin, the innocent screams
U.S. manufactured missles, and M-16's
Weapon contracts and corrupted American dreams
Media censorship, blocking out the video screens
A continent of oil kingdoms, bought for a bargain
Democracy is just a word, when the people are starvin'
The average citizen, made to be, blind to the reason
A desert full of genocide, where the bodies are freezin'
And the world doesn't believe that you fightin' for freedom
Cause you fucked the Middle East, and gave birth to a demon
It's open season with the CIA, bugging my crib
Trapped in a ghetto region like a Palestinian kid
Where nobody gives a fuck whether you die or you live
I'm tryin' to give the truth, and I know the price is my life
But when I'm gone they'll sing a song about Immortal Technique
Who beheaded the President, and the princes and sheiks
You don't give a fuck about us, I can see through your facade
Like a fallen angel standing in the presence of God
Bitch niggaz scared of the truth, when it looks at you hard

[Hook]
It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain
Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change
They wanna rearrange the whole point of view in the ghetto
The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle
A bandana full of glittering, generality
Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?
Martial law is coming soon to the hood, to kill you
While you hanging your flag out your project window

[Talking]
Yeah..
The fourth branch of the government AKA the media
Seems to now have a retirement plan for ex-military officials
As if their opinion was at all unbiased
A machine shouldn't speak for men
So shut the fuck up you mindless drone!
And you know it's serious
When these same media outfits are spending millions of dollars on a PR campaign
To try to convince you they're fair and balanced
When they're some of the most ignorant, and racist people
Giving that type of mentality a safe haven
We act like we share in the spoils of war that they do
We die in wars, we don't get the contracts to make money off 'em afterwards!
We don't get weapons contracts, nigga!
We don't get cheap labor for our companies, nigga!
We are cheap labor, nigga!
Turn off the news and read, nigga!
Read... read... read..."

This song is undenieable, it speaks the truth in so many frightening levels. Peace.

New Jack City

2006-04-30T19:44:00.000-05:00

From "New Jack City", The Drug dealer Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) giving a statement before the verdict during his trial, at the end of the movie.

"I'm not guilty, Your the one whose guilty. Lawmakers, the politicians, the columbian drug lords; all you who lobby against making drugs legal, just like you did with alcohol during the prohibition. Your the one whose guilty, I mean come on, lets kick the ballistics here, Ain't no uzi's made in Harlem, not one of us in here owns a poppy field. This thing is bigger than Nino Brown, This is Big Business"

I think about this statement and it fuckin pisses me off, black people are pumped cocaine, heroin and marijuana into their communities by big business, and the white elitists and they turn a blind eye, like those drugs and weapons magically appear, and it further demonizes minorities to the average caucasian person.

The black person in the ghetto doesnt own resources to coordinate global drug operations, nor tankers, nor setting up the coke farms in central america, nor corporations to syphon the money through.

The latin (Columbians, Peruvians, Nicaraguans etc) people who work these farms don't buy cocaine, it costs too much and they only farm what they can sell for pennies a day. The same with the Afghans selling heroin.

These rich, white people using government and corporate resources are flooding the impoverished regions in America with this poison and the poor people are playing right into it, every time.

Im pissed because minorities are playing right into the sterotypes that they fight to escape, and i believe partly because NO ONE IS TEACHING MINORITIES HOW TO ESCAPE POVERTY, NO ONE IS EDUCATING THE POOR, THE SICK AND THE HUNGRY. NO ONE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE, AND BLACK PEOPLE IN THE GHETTO CERTAINLY DONT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THEMSELVES. ITS JUST A CONTINOUS CYCLE RUNNING THROUGHOUT AMERICA, THAT PAINS ME TO SEE.

I'm using "white people" exclusively because they are ones who own these corporations and industries and who fight to keep their fellow men in power. I also feel like they are the loudest, and first to say to poor people, "If they can just get an education and just pull themselves up from their bootstraps then they can make something of themselves"

Well, these detached people are the ones who judge minorities and garner their own superiority over them. Poverty is a double edged sword, IF YOU DONT HAVE MONEY TO BECOME EDUCATED HOW CAN YOU BETTER YOUR SITUATION?, AND LASTLY, WHO IS TEACHING THE POOR TO BETTER THEMSELVES? WHITE AMERICA? NO, THEY SHOW BLACK ATHLETES, ENTERTAINERS AND CRIMINALS TO SOCIETY AND THE LIE BLACK PEOPLE TELL THEMSELVES IS THAT THESE ARE THE ONLY WAYS TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL IN AMERICA, AND SADLY ITS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY WAY BLACKS ARE SEEN AS SUCCESSFUL IN AMERICA AS WELL. ITS SICK AND ITS DISGUSTING.

and anyone who talks shit, and says that none of this is true, then those are the people who grew up middle to upper class, white, conservative and/or ignorant to the societal suffering around them,

I urge you, and plead with you to see life from a different point of view and not just associate the world, and equate that with reality based on the people around you with the same income levels and gated communities.

Bin Laden

2006-04-25T20:47:00.000-05:00

Bin Laden- Immortal Technique feat. Mos Def

[Mos] Man, you hear this bullshit they be talking? Everyday man, it's like these motherfuckas is just like professional liars, you know what I’m sayin? It's wild. Listen

[Mos] Bin laden didn't blow up the projects, it was you nigga, tell the truth nigga

[Chorus] Bush knocked down the towers,

[Mos] Tell the truth nigga.

[Chorus] Bush knocked down the towers,

[Immortal] I pledge no allegiance, nigga, fuck the president speeches. I’m baptized by America and covered in leeches.

The dirty water that bleaches your soul or your facial features. Drowning you in propaganda that they spit through the speakers.

And if you speak about the evil that the government does, the patriot act detract you to the type of your blood, they try to frame you and say you was trying to sell drugs and throw a federal indictment on niggas that show you love.

‘Cause shit is run by fake Christians, fake politicians look at they mansions and look at the conditions you live in. all they talk about is terrorism on television they tell you to listen, but they don’t really tell you they mission.

They funded Al Qaeda, and now they blame the Muslim religion. Even though Bin Laden was a CIA tactician.

They gave him billions of dollars and they funded his purpose. Fahrenheit 911 that’s just scratching the surface.

[Mos] Bin laden didn't blow up the projects, it was you nigga, tell the truth nigga

[Chorus] Bush knocked down the towers,

[Mos] Tell the truth nigga.

[Chorus] Bush knocked down the towers,

[Immortal] They say the rebels in Iraq still fight for Saddam but that’s bullshit I’ll show you why it’s totally wrong,

Cause if another country invaded the ‘hood tonight, it would be warfare through Harlem and Washington Heights.

I wouldn’t be fighting for Bush or white America’s dream. I would be fighting for my people’s survival and self esteem. I wouldn’t fight for racist churches from the south, my nigga;

I would be fighting to keep the occupation out my nigga.

You ever clock someone who talk shit, or look at you wrong, imagine if they shot at you and was raping your moms.

And of course Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons; we sold him that shit after Ronald Reagan’s election.

Mercenary contractors fight in a new era. Corporate military banking off the war on terror.

They controlling the ghetto with the fear of attack trying to, distract the fact that they engineering the crack.

So I'm strapped like Lee Malvo holding a sniper rifle, these bullets will touch your kids and I don’t mean like Michael.

Your body be sent to the morgue stripped down and recycled. I’ll fire on house niggas that support you and like you, because innocent people get murdered in the struggle daily and poor people never get shit and struggle daily,

This ain’t no alien conspiracy theory, this shit is real. Written on the dollar underneath the Masonic seal.

Of Common-Wealth

2006-04-25T17:46:00.000-05:00

Thomas Hobbes Leviathan(1651)
Part II

Chapter XIX

Of the severall kinds of common wealth by institution, and succession to soveraigne power.

For seeing every man by nature seeketh his own benefit, and promotion; to put an infant into the power of those, that can promote themselves by his destruction, or dammage, is not tuition, but trechery.

- for those of you, who have a hard time reading 17th century English, I'll translate it for you.

it's simply stateing that a person does things for him/herself because it's a part of their nature. So to put a baby in charge, like in a monarchy and name him/her ruler is not a service to the people, but is a betrayal to all the people in that nation because their lives are in the infant's hands.

and if you think about it in that sense, a corporation is like a monarchy, which is a frightening realization.

Mumia Speaks again...

2006-04-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

The war against us all,

This war in Iraq isn't the end, Its the beginning of wars to come. All around the world at the whim of the neocons in the white house.

This is the Bush Doctrine come to life.

War war and more war. War brought to you by the big corporate masters who run the show.

This isn't just a war on Iraqis or Afghanis or even Arabs or Muslims, it is ultimately a war on us all, that's because the billions and billions of dollars that are being spent on this war, the costs of tanks, rocketry, bullets and yes even salaries for the 125,000 plus troops is money that will never be spent on education, on health care, on the reconstruction of crumbling public housing.

Or to train and place the millions of workers who have lost manufacturing jobs in the past 3 years alone.

The war in Iraq, is in reality, a war against the nation's worker and the poor who are getting less and less while the big defense industries are making a killing, literally.

what's next? Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela? we've already seen the corporate media play megaphone to the white house to build and promote a war based on lies,

War is utilized by the imperialist, first and foremost to crush internal enemies, we're seeing the truth of its insight.

When we see the sad state of American education, the rush of seniors to buy affordable medications from the Canadians because American drugs are just too expensive. The threatened privatization of social security and the wave of repression that comes with an increasingly militarized police; this is a war on all of us.

And the struggle against war is really a struggle for a better life. For the millions of folks who are in need here; in this country.

The fight against the war is, really, to fight for your own interests, not the false interests of the defense industries or the corporate media or the white house. Down with the wars for empire.

From death row, This is Mumia Abu-Jamal

Mumia Speaks...

2006-04-23T13:15:00.001-05:00

Homeland and hip hop,

To think about the origins of hip hop in this culture and also about homeland security is to see that there are at the very least 2 worlds in america, one of the well to do and another of the struggling.

For if ever was the absence of homeland security it is seen in the gritty roots of hip hop. For the music arises from a generation that feels, with some justice, that they have been betrayed by those who came before them.

That they are at best: tolerated in schools, feared on the streets and almost inevitably destined for the hell holes in prison,

They grew up hungry, hated and unloved. And this is the psychic fuel that generates the anger that seems endemic in much of the music and poetry.

One senses very little hope above the personal goals of wealth to climb above the pit of poverty. In the broader society the opposite is true, for here, more than any other place on earth, wealth is so widespread and so bountiful, that what passes for the middle class in america could pass for the upper class in most of the rest of the world.

They're very opulent and relative wealth makes them insecure and homeland security is a governmental phrase that is as oxymoronic ,as crazy as say, military intelligence or the U.S. Department of Justice. They're just words that have very little relationship to reality.

Now do you feel safer now? Do you think you will anytime soon? Do you think duct tape, and kleenex and color codes will make you safer? From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.

So true...

2006-04-02T19:41:00.000-05:00

here is a quote that i felt worthy of commenting on:

All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If you speak or act with a harmful thought, trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If you speak or act with a harmonious thought, happiness will follow you as your own shadow, never leaving you.

-Dhammapada

In my opinion, this is one of the realest things in our lives, it is so prevalent where ever we go, it affects everything.

how we think , why we do certain things.

life is crazy in that, we strive to have this identity, this voice above all of our thoughts something clear and beyond words and ideas,something beyond our humanity. we find this in religion.

in reality we can't escape ourselves, so then why do we run from our humanity or make it what it is not?

Which people feel is above the mundane ramblings of today and yesterday.

Our thoughts direct our behaviors, our thoughts create prejudice and behaviors that tell us, what is "right" and what's not. Our thoughts= our culture. Even why you think about something is dependent on our environment. knowledge is liberating because it forces us to see things from all angles. and deal with ourselves as we are. But most people dont want that, they dont want to deal with themselves, why? why don't people want to hear the truth? we are all people, no one is perfect.

We have this tendency to simply see ourselves as we would like, and then we stop there, we don't look at others to better understand ourselves, our thoughts our little minds our little goals.

ideas without experience or knowledge are one of the most dangerous things on this planet, preconceptions, prejudices, exaggerations are deadly because they spell a disconnect between the people and their ideas.

millions of people die because of ideas and conceptions, concepts on how someone else is/should be, acting in response to that, and reinforcing such behavior in their minds.

thinking changes lives, knowledge opens doors, experience is necessary. humanity is organic, alive and ever-so changing, you cant pick and choose which aspects of humanity we like and disregard the rest, life is too vast to live one way. live your way but know who you are in the process.

Qu'ran Impressions

2006-03-27T14:28:00.000-06:00

I receive quotes from Hindi, Buddhist, and Muslim books and persons via email and I can't but see an apparent pattern in Moslem writing. So i will offer some quotes to back up my argument,

Do not let their speech grieve you. For all glory is Allah's. He hears all and knows all.

-Qur'an, Yunus, Surah 10:65

You see throngs of afflicted feeble folk seated at the door in ardent hope. O you who are crushed, your pleas have been heard. Hark! Rush toward the mercy of God and be delivered of pain.

-Rumi, "Mathnawi"

True ecstasy is passive: it overwhelms the heart without any intention or deliberate effort. It is the fruit of spiritual devotion and worship. The deeper is your devotion to God, and the more intense is your worship, the more likely you are to receive ecstasy from God. In a state of ecstasy the heart is lost to God.

-Qushayri, "Risalah"

Demolish this house that a hundred more may be built. Do not be afraid that treasure lies beneath this house. A thousand houses more shall you build with just one treasure in hand. This house is destined to fall to ruin. That treasure is bound to be unearthed, but then that treasure will not be yours.

-Rumi, "Mathnawi"

Without any disrespect I see a clear understanding that tells people not to worry about anything in this world because God will provide when you die. It only depends on how deep your devotion is to him,

How is our devotion defined? Through social gatherings, and rituals, I thought that God loves us eternally and if he does, then why judge us? If he is accepting of all people why deem some more worthy of heaven than others?

I think it's because people judge people, and tell them how to behave to APPEAR to be closer to God to others, by conforming to social norms and standards. I don't think God said this to his people, and i strongly believe that God doesn't speak through any prophet, any cleric or pastor. They are individuals.

If you look at history, Religion was a way to subjugate people and enslave them because the typical practitioner couldn't read or write so the clerics would read what they THINK the people should know, and when you hold knowledge, you hold power. Not to forget, every major religion in the world, has always spread its 'Love' through conquest, hatred and death.

I think it neglects the issues in this world, the very HUMAN ELEMENTS that make us truthly closer to God such as: Kindness, Fairness, Equality, Morality.

This is the universal truth, that peace lies in humanity and acceptance.

BTW, who is to know who God is? if he is omniscient, all knowing, all seeing and without a doubt, who can relate to that, who even knows what that means? Or even if God is that at all?

we all live with desires, goals, fantasies and wants,

We are all presented IMPRESSIONS on who others THINK God is, the Bible wasn't written by God, it was written by a group of men, throughout history, even if it were spot on, everyone knows how stories can get distorted,

for example, tell someone a story, have them tell someone else, than have that person tell you again, It won't be the same story, not to mention, all of the translations going back and forth that causes some words to be misunderstood, left out, and/or replaced. Not to mention it's filled with enormously contradictory statements and stories.

In my opinion, The quickest path to God is through love, and fair treatment of all persons, to be a HUMAN BEING, not deny parts of ourselves by hiding our women away in Hijabs, holding them as equity and lying to each other on who God is,God is whoever we make him out to be, in some cases thats good in most it's terrible and divides people because of that, which in and of itself, can not be farther from this universal truth that the Bible, Talmud, Qu'ran supposedly holds.

You can't know or love God fully, when you censure/ frown on your sexuality, promise sex after death, stay a virgin throughout your whole life, or only allow male priests.

Religion has it's downsides to it, like anything else, so why do we choose to not look at it from all sides? I think because it's not convenient to do so.

Logic, and Morality have no place in Religion.

In my closing statement i would like to include something my parents said to me once, "You question God, but eventually you always go back to him"

to tell me the truth...

2006-01-16T16:40:00.000-06:00

No matter what we do in our lives, we can't run from who we are;
and because we cant run from ourselves, i believe that our destiny finds us, not the other way around. Lastly, what we are resides inside the choices we make.

i dont know

2006-01-12T03:08:00.000-06:00

i dont know what it is, but i just have this music bug in me, right now, i should be sleeping and it doesnt help that its almost 4 ok in the morning and my final is tomorrow *sigh*

But nevertheless, this sound, this rhythm must be created, it must have a voice, i dont listen to rock but when i hear this sound it speaks to me, it sings to me and i get wrapped up in it's beauty.

it just reminds me that where ever im goin, its going to be great. and that it will have an immense effect on tons of people.

just a thought..

2006-01-11T23:03:00.000-06:00

Im often bombarded with the questions on what makes me, well me. Why am i this way? I often wonder because i see situations where the reward for conducting myself with honor and dignity arent really encouraged nor fought to keep.

At work, i see people doing wrong things under the noses of people around able to make a difference, and yet those people say nothing. should i do that to?

what motivates me to live with compassion, respect and empathy? why not, simply slack off, do what i have to do, go home and not worry about the reprocussions since their wont be none anyway?

Why am i at such a place in my life? i often feel like the choices i make are above and beyond the level of the people i work with and at times me peers and others. My focus is on morality, humanity and physicality and i try to treat everyone with kindness and respect them.

But is this world a place that i live in, or just my ideals running rampant in my head? We always hear stories of malice and wrong-doing, but what makes me see the human being in the human being?

i see this glimmer of hope in the hearts of others, that spark that reminds me of the nature of people. the true nature of us, beyond our prejudices, our cultures our biases. i see the love in our hearts and i choose to see people as such, interesting hmm.

Interesting

2006-01-10T11:28:00.000-06:00

Im not a Hindu or a Buddhist but i can relate to their pursuit of self-actualization, i can respect it, and understand it and hopefully use it to understand myself, so this quote here makes me really think about life.

They live in freedom who have gone beyond the dualities of life. Competing with no one, they are alike in success and failure and content with whatever comes to them. They are free, without selfish attachments; their minds are fixed in knowledge. They perform all work in the spirit of service, and their karma is dissolved.

-Bhagavad Gita 4:22-23

The ultimate goal of any warrior is the realization that to fight, means not to fight, that fighting only ends in itself, that through our training and sacrifices we understand that all of our skills are unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.

All of our goals, hopes, dreams and relationships come and go,all of our illusions build themselves up inside our own minds, but what is consistent and constant in our lives is our humanity, for it links us to every and anything on this planet.

It's a shame on the face of our potential as people to dismiss each other as evil, bad and corruptible. For the faces of people have many, and the shades of each face are vast. The human condition is not one of evil, contempt and revenge, but one based on our goals, and our pursuits of them. The world is driven by our ideas on what is and what should be.

maybe thats the duality that the quote speaks of? The person is motivated by themself and what they feel they need to attain.

Personally i think living means accepting our own bias, prejudices, and assumptions, stepping outside of ourselves and living everyday to make our lives better, not meerly to perfect but to transform. to enrich our lives with goals beyond our superficial and physical needs.

All societies in history have or had a sort of religion or spirituality in their culture to emphasize a connection to something greater than themselves.

The greatest goal people can hope to attain, is to simply be themselves, humble, understanding on all things, free to break away the chains of our experiences and cultural preferences and self-referenced criterion.

To not hide from our fears, to embrace ourselves not to wish to change, fear is real fear is pure, it shouldnt be shunned, it should be understood and contained, not allowed to corrupt our lives and govern our lives.

we see so much in our lives and in the world that the escape from fear is everywhere, the suppression of our humanity the elements which we deem weak or irrelevant. But to deny our fear is to deny our lives. to deny our processes is truly denying our own existence.

Our everyday goals can be banal, selfish and ignorant, and to fight means not to fight, so to be free we must escape our own conditioning, escape our mundane existence and strive for more. Strive for humanity.

if humanity lies in benevolence, who better to be charitable to than to ourselves.

So obvious...

2006-01-10T00:00:00.000-06:00

People live up to and down to labels, people run to idealism and live in what they feel is the best social way to prosper. Tbey act like things they are not, protray archetypes to others, ironically, thats what makes Halloween work so well. We are shown a visualization of an ideal character that some of us wish to be. is this because we are afraid of ourselves?

afraid of confronting our own weaknesses and processes? People from all walks of life personify so many ideals that others have created. some people admire the vampire, so wish to be them. others want to have their powers. why?

why seek to be like a thing someone made up?

we as people are obsessed with elements that we wish to have such as power, money, respect, and love. they corrupt us because they provide us with this need to attain them and if we dont, then are are weak and only human.

throughout history, through our stories and fairy tales we here stories of people being things above and beyond a human. we all seek, hope, and dream about being more than a person.

what is there to admire about power? why do we need it, why do we act to infantile and in so many ways to achieve this mindset.

mindsets like cultures change. mindsets are idealized excerpts on how we wish reality to be, but since we run to and from mindsets constantly, whats the real truth?

truthfully speaking, the world is our perspective, the world is everything and nothing we wish it to be.

status, prestige, ethnic backgrounds are all superficial, and the person who seeks to break away from their conditioning sees no distinction, no sense of betterment over others, no affiliation with these labels.

for when we live our lives through labels, we are expected to operate like our labels are supposed to act.

oh well

2006-01-09T21:26:00.000-06:00

im listening to Slum Village's new self- titled album, its ok, i feel like most of the beats can be better ones, they are nice but i can do better. Yes, im a beat maker, ive been making music for about 3 years or so, and took me some time to get good, i dont think im the best but im motivated to get better, its just like im motivated to seek change, why is that?

why is it that i must have change in my life? its a constant force in my life, the experience, the life, the newness of perspective, i find it fun and interesting but wonder what it means to seek sameness, to seek a stillness. Does it mean that im looking for a stillness in change, or a change in stillness?

My life is such that, i ask myself questions not necessarily for the answers but for the action of questioning. which i feel is more important than the answer.

so much emphasis on the goal, but the journey really encompasses the goal, it really defines the goal. The power of triumph is the struggle. why cant people understand that? life isnt about the end product, but about 'why',

when we see how other people operate their behavior is so obvious to us, unlike our own , which, at times can seem so irratic. So the question isnt 'what' but 'why' , thats the eternal one, since why someone does something can at times be more important than what they did.

'why' would i think like that? why would i pursue that goal, why am i focused on this part of my life?

My life is such that, im constantly looking outward at what is, at why is. my life is organic because it doesnt accept it's own biased forms of truth. It searches culture, history, people, and every other sphere of influence to find what it means to be me, and why it means to be me, with respect to how others view themselves.

thinking percedes action, why do i think in my own bias way? if one can see and understand this in themselves than they will know that the world is based on perspective and experience. change the perspective and the view changes, and once the thinking changes, so does the actions behind it.

My intention is not to seem bigger or better than others, it is to incite the questions inside myself that i ask. Because the act of questioning is more important than the answer.

Fresh start

2005-11-28T17:23:00.000-06:00

Here i go, my first post on my new blog, hope you enjoy and if you dont then at least think about it, be respectful and offer your opinions and thoughts.