THIS WOULD HAVE MADE NUMBER ONE ON MY LIST

But the other 4 reasons he give are pretty darn interesting as well. I'm no fan of this economy as it is currently constituted, but I have to deal with the cards that I'm dealt for now. That being the case, this is one of the most rational explanations I have seen of what's really going on with this "Crisis".

Keep in mind, it's relatively easy to create (that means to manufacture or devise out of thin air) any number of "crisis". In fact the politicians in general, and recent Republican administrations in particular have made a living off of these so-called "crisis" that everyone could see coming but nobody did a damn thing to prevent.

But I digress into another rant, for which I've not the time right now. You will hear of this again.

clipped from www.commondreams.org Top 5 Reasons to Vote Against Wall Street's $700 Billion Bailout by David Sirota 5. CORRUPTION AND SLEAZE ARE SWIRLING AROUND THESE BAILOUTS - AND AMERICA KNOWS IT Warren Buffett is simultaneously advising Obama to support the deal, while he himself is investing in the company that stands to make the most off the deal. McCain's campaign is run by lobbyists from the companies that stand to make a killing off a no-strings government bailout. The New York Times reports that the person advising Paulson and Bernanke on the AIG bailout was the CEO of Goldman Sachs - a company with a $20 billion stake in AIG. The Obama campaign's top spokesman pushing this deal is none other than Roger Altman, who Bloomberg News reports is simultaneously "advising a group of investors who are trying to prevent their shares from being diluted in the U.S. takeover of American International Group Inc." - that is, who have a direct financial interest in the current iteration of the bailout.

Real Talk

Sometimes, in the midst of all the disinformation chatter we are inundated with daily, one can find a rare gem, a pearl of wisdom so to speak.

This makes more sense to me than pretty much every other analysis that I've read. What say you?

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com Why Bail? The Banks Have a Gun Pointed at Their Head and Are Threatening to Pull the Trigger There is no plausible scenario under which the no bailout scenario gives us a Great Depression. There is a more plausible scenario (but highly unlikely) that the bailout will give us a Great Depression. the worst case scenario is that we have an extremely scary day in which the markets freeze for a few hours. Then the Fed steps in and takes over the major banks. The system of payments continues to operate exactly as before, but the bank executives are out of their jobs and the bank shareholders have likely lost most of their money. the bailout rewards some of the richest people in the country for their incompetence. It provides little obvious economic benefit and could lead to long-term harm. Much of the country's political and economic leadership has been running around raising the prospect of the Great Depression and a breakdown in the banking system These stories are absolutely not true.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

I can't think of three words more frightening, especially when used in the context of our current economic and financial situation.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Isn't that how we got to the point where banks are failing and everyone is losing their retirement savings to Wall Street speculators trading shorts on insider information? Isn't that BUSINESS AS USUAL?

It also occurs to me that what we are seeing, right in plain view, is a massive consolidation of wealth into still fewer and fewer hands. Few of us are old enough to remember the breakup of the former monopolies that controlled U.S. economic and industrial interests. It was a mere footnote in all but the highest level of secondary and post-secondary history classes. We don't know the history so we can't learn from it, and the details of the present are all lies and distortions, propaganda that serves the status quo, Business As Usual. So we sit by an blithely watch as this company "acquires" that company; as all these banks with different names end up being controlled by the same one of two people. Same thing with oil companies and almost any other truly profitable enterprise. "Them that's got shall get, them that's not shall lose."

And yet our politicians and our news and information sources feed us this pap with perfectly straight faces. Bush couldn't figure it out but the phrase goes, "Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me." (Mr. Bush, just in case you read this, the phrase means if you let somebody get over on you the same way twice, then you are as much to blame as they are.) This clip is quite openly disingenuous, distorted, and blatant propaganda; it is being disseminated all over the place; and it will be accepted, by most, at face value.

You lucky reader, have the benefit of your own intellect, as evidenced by the fact that you continue to read the Exodus Mentality, as well as this no nonsense breakdown. How can any reasonable thinking person say "Wachovia didn't fail", and then two paragraphs later say the deal went through because if it hadn't, Wachovia would have failed? I keep telling you, they do indeed think you are stupid, that's why they don't even try to be more clever (I'm not sure they could if they did try.)

clipped from blogs.wsj.com FDIC: Citi to Buy Wachovia’s Banking Operations Citigroup Inc. will acquire the banking operations of Wachovia Corporation; Charlotte, North Carolina, in a transaction facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and concurred with by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the President. All depositors are fully protected and there is expected to be no cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund. Wachovia did not fail; rather, it is to be acquired by Citigroup Inc. on an open bank basis with assistance from the FDIC. “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual.” In consultation with the President, the Secretary of the Treasury on the recommendation of the Federal Reserve and FDIC determined that open bank assistance was necessary to avoid serious adverse effects on economic conditions and financial stability.

HIs Heart Is In The Right Place

The Senator just can't seem to connect the dots. While he is more than willing to concede that most (if not all) of the major parts of the economic system and the financial industry are broken, he still can't seem to grasp the idea that maybe it's time for something new. Instead it's more of the same old, hurry up and wait until the whole thing collapses under the weight of neglect, hypocrisy, and apathy.

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com Sen. Bernie Sanders Posted September 21, 2008 | 10:47 AM (EST) The Middle Class Must Not Be Forced to Bail Out Wall Street Greed Now, we are being told that if Congress does not act immediately and approve the $700 billion Wall Street bailout proposal these "free marketers" have just written up, there will be an unprecedented economic meltdown in the United States and an unraveling of the global economy. If the potential danger to our economy was not so dire, this blatant effort to essentially transfer $700 billion up the income ladder to those at the top would be laughable. Finally, we need to protect ourselves from being at the mercy of giant companies that are "too big to fail," that is, companies who are so large that their failure would cause systemic harm to the economy. We need to assess which companies fall into this category and insist they are broken up.

Some Plain Talk From The AfroSphere

Sonya is Making It Plain. Go on over and check it out.

clipped from make-it-plain.blogspot.com Slavery Never Ended in America Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery everywhere except inside the prisons where countless numbers of black men have toiled and died as victims of a system rooted in the peculiar institution known as chattel slavery. Black Agenda Report has an article posted on its site entitled, "Slavery Haunts America's Plantation Prisons:" None of the presidential candidates addressed this issue during the primaries because it goes against the "law and order" mantra that has become part and parcel of every political campaign in America regardless of the office sought.

Captialism As Big A Failure As All Other Econoimic Systems

I clipped this from the HuffPo because I know most of us aren't even paying attention to this kind of news. We (the Afrosphere and our readers) are far more focused on who the next President of these (soon-to-be-bankrupt) United states will be.

I can't see why Barak would want to take the helm of this sinking ship, as most folks who know have to realize that the system as it stands is not salvageable. Nonetheless, it's all most of us can even generate any brain cell activity about.

Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch and Lehman crash and burn around us, many of our dollars and assets are caught up in the mix and maelstorm and yet we know little, say less, and do nothing. But never fear. The big money interests will not suffer, only the little guy who isn't in a position to hedge his or her bets. The Central Banks (the entities that really control monetary policy, and thus the economy, and thus the world) have already moved to make things easier for their banking and finance buddies to get more money to play with.

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com NEW YORK — In a stunning reshaping of America's financial landscape, two venerable Wall Street firms fell from the shock waves of a credit crisis that has plunged the financial system into turmoil, as stocks tumbled across the globe Monday in response. Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old bank burdened by $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings, filed for federal bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after attempts to rescue firm failed. Bank of America Corp. said it is snapping up Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in a $50 billion all-stock transaction. The Federal Reserve also chipped in with more largesse in its emergency lending program for investment banks. The central bank announced late Sunday that it was broadening the types of collateral that financial institutions can use to obtain loans from the Fed. Europe's major central banks also moved quickly to calm markets, pumping billions of euros and pounds into the financial system to shore up confidence.

A Vivid Example of Improper Use of A Taser

Tasers are supposed to be a non-lethal (I think we should actually use the term "less" lethal) weapon that law enforcement official used to subdue uncooperative and/or violent subjects to effect legitimate arrest with less danger to the officer while, perhaps paradoxically, subjecting the subject of the arrest to less injury.

Re-read that if you didn't catch it the first time. Now watch this video and see if the incident shown fits into your understanding of this concise reasoning about the Taser. You will find it hard to watch the video because the audio of the ignorant Fox news anchors as they gleefully deride the young man engaged in the criminal activity is far too reminiscent of the unreasoning and racist joy of the white lynch mob that has been depicted in literature and film. As best you can, try to ignore this for now, but know that it is not just Fox, they are just more blatantly and blissfully carefree about how they express it.



I can tell you right off the bat that this Taser use falls under my definition of excessive force, and the officer should be brought up on charges and fired. He is unfit (in several respects) for the job and duties of a police officer. I know this will never happen, because most folks will look at this video and say, "an obvious criminal got what was coming to him." These would be the same people who probably said the same thing about Rodney King. I know some of my compatriots may be shocked to hear me say this, because I have somehow developed somewhat of a reputation as an apologist for the Taser. While I make no apologies for any stance I've taken on this in the past, this video offers an excellent teaching moment for those interested in knowing how police operate, how Tasers are being used, and what should be done about it.


The first thing to notice in this video is that the suspect is fleeing but it takes little observation to see that he has no weapon at hand because his hands are too involved with holding up his saggy pants. (The fact that he's not a very smart criminal is not germane to this discussion.) Officers involved in "hot" pursuit, are supposed to be trained to still keep their cool so they can make the proper observances like this even while chasing. Let's assume this was the case in this instance. Also note the suspect runs one way, turns, and runs back the other way. He is obviously surrounded; there are obviously a number of police officers in the area. Numerical superiority, wherever possible, is the best way to insure non-violent cooperation from criminal suspects. All the visual evidence in this video shows that the numbers were on the side of the police.

The last thing to notice, before the Tasering occurs, is how the first officer chooses to handle the suspect (properly I might add). The first officer to get close maintained a safe distance while issuing verbal commands to try to control the suspect. We'll never know if those verbal commands would have been heeded because the next officer immediately uses the Taser. I don't know if the first cop even had a taser, but I think it's a demonstration of what should have happened regardless. In far too many instances, you will find that the kamikaze cop will run right over to a suspect and jump on him. I'm not saying cops should never get physical, but the sensible and proper way to handle these situations is with as little physical exertion as possible.

So why is this excessive or unnecessary force? Look at this second video of a Tasering incident and see if you can see a difference (other than the suspects' race).



Numerical superiority? Achieved. Maintain Safe distance? Achieved. Issue verbal commands? Achieved. Deploy Taser when verbal commands are obviously not going to be obeyed? All equal proper and reasonable use of the Taser, and decent police tactics and action. Why shouldn't the cops in Miami and everywhere else be held to the same standard?

And finally, an example of storm troopers who are unabashed storm troopers. The problem is they don't even realize that they are storm troopers.

Disregard the video title, I don't know if the person who posted the vid is an ignorant redneck or not, but he has the right to his opinion. Forget how much this young man's attitude needed to be adjusted. Disregard how completely his attitude does change to a much more reasonable tone once he gets Tased, although the same result would likely have happened just by the numerical superiority that was achieved as soon as he started to get belligerent with the first intake officer. It's not part of this discussion that he would never have had this particular problem if he had started out with the attitude that he found after he got tased. I'm not asking the brother to surrender his manhood, but you can maintain your personal respect while giving others the respect they are due as well, and too many of our streetwise, law of the jungle, brothers and sisters pretend to be unaware of this fact, until it causes them undue suffering.

The instructive part of this last video is the dialog that is occurring. Listening to the officers, all of them who spoke, their main goal was establishing dominance. They approach the job like a turf war, a situation in which they have to be proven to be the toughest gang, or personally the toughest member of the toughest gang. It's funny that the young brother is likely absolutely 100% correct in that not one of those officers would dare to try him one on one in the street, and they know it, but they can't show that kind of weakness in this kind of situation. That fake bravado has resulted in more incidences of police force, and is a big part of what has shaped the worst of the law enforcement culture since the Civil War.

Does Your Vote Count? Watch "American Blackout" and Find Out.

Why Not Vote Your REAL Conscience

Hat Tip To Black Agenda Report for reprinting this speech by Presidential Candidate, and my former congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney. Click the title to go to BAR for the full speech

Say No to Lying, Spying and Torture

by Cynthia McKinney

Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, a former Georgia congresswoman, delivered the following remarks to the "Fighting Bob" Fest in Baraboo, Wisconsin, September 6, 2008.At what point do the American people say, "No"? When the Pentagon admits it "lost" $2.3 trillion? "Yet both the Democratic and Republican nominees plan to increase the Pentagon's budget, continue to add countries to Dick Cheney's list of 60 against which the United States must be prepared to go to war," says Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. Executive impunity is the order of the day. "Torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity, lying to and spying on the American people, and crimes against the peace are all hallmarks of our country today, and yet impeachment has been taken off the table!"

I know what I just said about electoral politics. I stand behind that. However, I am constantly bombarded by people who say things like "your ancestors died for you to have the right to vote and you are a disgrace to their sacrifice if you don't get out and vote", or "you have to work from inside the system to change it", or other things that basically require that I maintain the status quo at the expense of my principles, and theorize that voting is the best way to effect change.

For the record, MY ancestors did fight and die so that I could enjoy FREEDOM. I sincerely doubt they fought and died so that I could be allowed to participate in meaningless exercises of "civic duty" that consistently fail to deliver the desired result of freedom, equality, and justice for all.

Ever since the struggles in the 60's somehow FREEDOM has become equated and conflated with voting. I suppose it was a well intentioned co-mingling. After all we were still fighting to get full access to the ballot nearly 100 years after our supposed freedom and constitutional inclusion into American citizenship. It's not hard to imagine that many people felt that this voting thing was the final (and most crucial) step in achieving our ultimate freedom, equality, and citizenship in this country. And yet, some 40 years after we won the universal right to vote, we still appear to be almost the same distance from true equality in this country. Yes we now have more dark faces in high places, but this country more and more stands for the oppression of those who do not blindly follow the hegemonic designs of the ruling class, the economic powers that be.

But, EX, You still have to vote!

Fine. If I have to vote then I will vote my conscience.

I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE U.S. HAS THE RIGHT TO BE CONDUCTING MILITARY ACTIVITIES ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. Most especially, I firmly disagree with U.S. military involvement in countries where the majority of the people have brown skin. Call me a racist all you want, but there has been not one time in history where the military might of this country (or any Anglo-European dominated country) has been used to the benefit off dark skinned people in their own countries. On the contrary, the history clearly shows us that this type of activity has ALWAYS had a detrimental effect on the people.

I BELIEVE THAT OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ALMOST TOTALLY CORRUPTED AND TAKEN OVER BY ECONOMIC INTERESTS OF A FEW PEOPLE WHO CONTROL THE VAST MAJORITY OF THIS COUNTRY'S WEALTH. I believe this to be the cause of most of this country's and this world's problems. I do not believe that there are people who are a part of this power system who have any interest in changing the status quo.

Therefore, if I am to vote, I can only vote one way. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY. There is only one candidate who comes anywhere near to believing what I believe and having the AUDACITY to speak her mind and speak truth to power.

And if you dare to say, McKinney can't win so I am wasting my vote, I ask you this; if your candidate wins and you gain nothing, haven't you also WASTED YOUR VOTE? And since that is obviously true, haven't our votes have been wasted for 40 years because we didn't vote our conscience, we voted the party line, even though we were never really invited to the party?

Do Elections Really Promote Democracy? For Anyone?

H/T Makheru (Thomas Bradley) for sending us the link to this Prospect Magazine article about the legacy of European Democracy in Africa. I've read the sparse accounts of events in Africa, and the many diatribes from this viewpoint or the other about this dictator or the other, about this genocide or the other. I admit to a great deal of frustration because it is often hard to find a righteous point of view in the midst of so much confusion; it is often difficult if not impossible to discern truth and reality amongst all the hyperbole and angst.

But every now and then there is a break in he clouds, a ray of sunshine so to speak, a glimmer of undeniable light and clarity. This article has that refreshing aura of clarity. For all the many myriad governments and sects, ethnic groups and tribes that make up the African continent, this article appears most applicable. The article asks the question, can electoral democracy work in Africa, and then proceeds to make a compelling argument that electoral democracy may be inimical to the makeup of the African culture. But hidden in that analysis are many seeds which if fertilized, would inevitably lead to the question of whom does electoral democracy actually serve, and then inexorably to the answer, it serves only the ruling class.

Can electoral democracy work in Africa? After catastrophically bad elections in Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe, many people, both inside and outside the continent, are starting to have doubts. There is certainly no lack of elections—almost all the continent's 53 countries are multi-party democracies and since the beginning of 2007 they have held 35 presidential or parliamentary elections—just not very much real democracy. Since multi-party democracy swept across the world after the end of the cold war, only three sitting African presidents have run for re-election, lost and retired gracefully: Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia, Mathieu Kérékou in Benin (both 1991) and Abdou Diouf in Senegal (2000).

Imagine if you will that it's 1992, and G. Bush I is seeking re-election against Bill Clinton. Clinton wins, and Bush is arrested and summarily executed. Or Clinton wins, Bush invalidates the elections and has Clinton arrested and violence erupts in the streets. That's how it often happens in African countries. We're not that far from something eerily similar happening here.

Take this quote from the article, "Many African rulers have neither the will nor the capacity to improve the lives of their people, and the people do not, at this stage, have the political power to force change through democratic mechanisms. Vote-rigging and election-related violence are getting worse, not better."

The highlight of "African rulers" and "violence" are mine. Replace African rulers with "Political leaders" and violence with "malfeasance" and you have a very accurate description of electoral politics in general, not only in most of the world's fledgling democracies, but right in the heart of the supposed leader of the free world, the US of A. How quickly we forget hat G.W. Bush was installed by judicial fiat in 2000, and the "opposition party" meekly went along with it. And again in 2004, where the level of election tampering went so far and was so transparent as to actually receive congressional scrutiny, at least until the time and other more pressing issues relegated it to the back burners of the American consciousness.

Barak Obama asked in a recent speech, "Do they think we're Stupid?" The answer is a resounding yes. "They", and this includes the entire ruling class regardless of professed party affiliation, most certainly require that you be stupid and remain ignorant of the simple facts that your vote counts less and less on election day, and not at all anytime before or after that. The people in power in Africa use elections to remain in power. They learned this from the people who pushed "Democracy" on the African countries when they were just colonies.

Time to connect the dots and Free Your Mind.

Another INstallment of "Ask A Real Black Man"

That's right dear friends, those of you who still drop by here in spite of my total lack of blogging, we are still here. Things have been hectic for the past month so I haven't had time to think, much less to blog. Needless to say, there's a lot of stuff piling up on my chest, and it's gonna blow soon. Please bear with me, there's more Exodus Mentality on the way real soon.

In the meantime, my word is bond, and the offer still stands. I will answer any and all questions that anyone cares to ask a real black man. We've had a few bold enough to address their ignorance, and for your edification, I present yet another supplicant. Again, I promise you, I have neither the time nor the inclination to make this stuff up.

Real Black Man,

I would like to pose a question in reference to an email I received today. The email stated that the 5TH digit of the social security number of all blacks is an even number. The reason for this is supposedly to identify blacks in the employment arena (amongst other things) and give perspective employers the ability to discriminate in their hiring practices if they desire.

My 5TH number is even and so are the 5TH numbers of the few others that I've asked.

Is there any truth to this email or another "urban legend" so to speak.

Thanks,

Cynthia

Well Cynthia, I too am somewhat of a conspiracy theorist. At the same time, I see a lot of validity in Occam's razor, so I try to keep things in perspective. I've heard this, or a similar rumor before. The short and simple answer is there is no truth to this urban legend. I have extensive personal expereince working with social security numbers and while there is identifying information to be found within those numbers, none of it relates directly to race. In fact, mine doesn't fit the odd even profile. But you didn't come here for the simple truth, so let me throw this at you as well.

First, you have access to a computer and the internet, you have got to take advantage of the vast amount of information that is at your fingertips. You'll be receiving many more emails like this, one of which tells you that Bill Gates wants to give you money for a beta test. You're the test subject to see if you're simple enough to follow the instructions. A simple Google search would have turned up several sites giving you more than enough information to debunk this misinformation on your own. I can vouch for the information on this site, http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/blackssn.asp

Not that I mind answering questions, and there's no such thing as a dumb question. But you're missing out on the joy of self discovery. Not enough people in this world appreciate their God given ability to expand their knowledge base. Your brain isn't technically a muscle, but it will not work at it's optimal levels if you don't exercise it.

Speaking of which, go smack the person who told you this nonsense. They deserve a smack because they are passing on bad information. At least you had the common decency to check into the validity of this story before you went all Bonita Botrell and spread the bad word.

Which leads me to my next point. Be careful about the company you keep, and who you get your information from. You can judge yourself by the five people closest to you. If you look at them and you don't like where they are headed, you had best remove yourself from their company or you will find yourself going along for the ride, if not an active particiapnt in the journey.

See this is what you get when you ask a real Black man a question. I could go on and on, but here's just one last thing you should be thinking about. There is a lot of bad information intentionally put out there. It's done for any number of reasons. There are people and institutions who benefit from the ignorance of the masses. There is a continuous barrage of misinformation and disinformation (mostly from your tel-lies-vision). It occupies your mind with trivialities, and blinds you to realities. Then when you find out you've been misled, you become cynical, and begin to distrust the evidence of your own eyes.

Let them that have ears hear.
Thus endeth the lesson.