The DISH
Unbossed and unbought
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Vol. 13 Issue 4…Dedicated to the Dialogue on
Race…January 24, 2010
Venue for an Artist
By Dorothy Terry
Was smaller than before
The pebbles washed up on the shore
And all we ever did adore
Turned to wormwood.
We walked along the stonewall,
We did not talk
We knew not when our time would come
But that was
yesterday.
Above, the stars had hid from sight.
The longest day returned to Night -
The moon came up with portent's sigh,
The days grew long, the nights flew by,
We hid in grandma's tower room,
Where crows still cawed
Their cries of doom
Explicit nothingness
of Hell!
Up there among the wreck and wrack,
We listened for the call
"Give Back," give back the all you'll ever know,
Return the crackling icy flow.
Return the stinging summer heats,
The metronomic heart that beats.
Return the simple, lasting things,
The moon that winks
-- the sun that sings…."
You are the lost and weary ones -
The ones who threw away their Guns,
To die in haven's craggy place,
To die ascending rocky face,
To die alone, and scared and cold
To die too soon, before you're Old,
To die tomorrow or today,
In one Portentous
giveaway.
About Me: Terry is a
little known
Greg Mortenson
The son of American missionaries, Irvin "Dempsey" and Jerene
Mortenson, Greg was born December 27, 1957 in
Greg's life as a humanitarian,
international peace-maker and mountaineer took root in this fertile African
environment. Surrounded by children of many races and religions, he learned a
number of languages from the children with whom he attended school. Mountain
climbing became a passion when Greg climbed
Greg enlisted in the US Army,
where he trained as a medic. After two years in
Christa's sudden death had a
profound affect on Greg. Having turned to mountain climbing for a sense of
freedom, he lacked purpose in his life. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area,
he worked in a number of hospitals to finance his climbing expeditions in the
Sierras of California and as far away as the Himalayas of Nepal. Greg decided on
a dramatic gesture in memory of Christa that changed his life forever in 1993.
Greg Mortenson, a superb mountain climber in great physical condition, joined
an expedition of English, Irish, French and American climbers, who were
attempting to climb K2, which crowns the Karakoram Range that divides
Greg's pledge to place an amber bracelet from
Starving and disoriented, he wandered into the
Mortenson, deeply moved by the
kindness and generosity of these people, who gave a stranger so much when they
had so little, learned their language and customs. Poor by western standards,
but rich in humanitarian spirit, the thing they lacked but wanted most was a
school for their children. Without a teacher, the children gathered every day
in an open field, where the older children tried to relay whatever they had
learned from the last teacher to pass through. Using sharpened sticks for
pencils, they scratched figures in the frozen earth.
Greg Mortenson found a challenge
more inspiring than any mountain in the most unlikely of places. He promised
the children of Korphe that he would return and build them a school. Back in
Following that initial success,
Dr. Jean Hoerni read a short article on Mortenson's effort published in the
American Himalayan Society's newsletter. The Swiss-born physicist, as well as
mountaineer, was a millionaire philanthropist, a pioneer of microprocessors and
a founder of the
Since those inauspicious beginnings, Greg Mortenson has built over 131 schools
in some of the poorest, most inhospitable and violent places in
Residing with his wife Dr. Tara Bishop, a clinical psychologist, and their two
children in
Greg has received numerous awards
including the Sitara-e-Pakistan ("Star of Pakistan"), Pakistan's
highest civil award for his 15 years of humanitarian service promoting girls'
education in rural areas (2009), the Golden Fleur-de-lis Award from Comune
Firenze, Italy 2006, District School Board - Award For Peace Toronto,
(Canada)2010 and Jeanette Rankin Peace Award - Institute for Peace 2004. He has
also been given many honorary doctorate degrees from schools such as
A
By John Burl Smith
The awarding of the Nobel Peace
Prize to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1964) recognized his life's work of
standing up against violence, injustice and war. Dr. King demonstrated an
intrepid spirit, audacious courage and an indomitable will in the face of
bigotry, hatred and oppression of the weak by the strong. It reflected the
belief that all people's humanity hangs in the balance when war, whether it is
nation against nation or a nation against one people, is the preferred solution
to problems rather than human discourse.
The 2010 Nobel Committee's
selection of United States President Barack Obama was a retreat from those
noble standards by passing over such a worthy individual as Greg Mortenson.
Rather than being humbled by the prize, Mr. Obama has become arrogantly
aggressive prosecuting a war that is killing more elderly, women and children
than combatants.
Mortenson has proven that bullets
and bombs will never win the hearts and minds of as many people as books and
education. Building schools to educate primarily girls in places where people
are thought to be hostile to that concept, religiously intolerant, ignorant and
too poor to care, Mortenson is seen much like how former American slaves saw
St. Katharine Drexel, who built schools for slaves and Native Americans in the
early 20th century. Very measured in his comments but very clear in his intent,
he is opposed to the
Mortenson is quick to outline his strategy, "Well, I was very fortunate to
grow up in
Fighting terrorism only perpetuates a cycle of violence; there should be a
global priority to 'promote peace' through education and literacy, with an
emphasis on girls' education. I believe that education and literacy for girls
globally is the most important investment all countries can make to create
stability, bring socio-economic reform, decrease infant mortality, decrease the
population explosion, and improve health, hygiene, and sanitation standards
globally. You can drop bombs, hand out condoms, build roads or put in
electricity, but unless the girls are educated, a society won't change."
Undaunted by the fact that in
these societies males dominate everything, Mortenson insists, "There is an
African proverb which says, 'If we educate a boy, we educate an individual. But
if we can educate a girl, we educate a community.' What that means is when
girls grow up and become mothers, they are the ones who promote the value of
education in the community. The education of girls has very powerful impacts in
a society. Number one, infant mortality is reduced. Number two, the population
is reduced. Third, the quality of health improves. And, from my own
observation, when girls learn how to read and write, they often teach their
mother how to read and write. Boys, we don't seem to do that as much. Educating
girls is very powerful.
One example is Aziza from the
tribal areas. She's the first educated female out of 4,000 people in her
valley. In elementary school the boys threw stones at her. Teachers refused to
teach her in high school. But she persevered, graduating in 1998 and at a cost
of $800 got two years of maternal healthcare training. Before she started
working in her valley in 2000, 20 women a year died in childbirth. Nine years
later, as a midwife, not one woman has died in childbirth."
Mortenson relies on an age old technique for success no matter how hostile the
people. "These are the people we deal with. And we're working in
Audaciously, Mortenson remains
steadfast in his commitment even in the face of Pres. Obama's military
escalation. "There are some things worth fighting for, so our work will go
on whether or not the
The other thing is that there was no consultation with the elders or the shura
in
When one looks at the numbers and
the reality of
Mortenson follows up with this
caveat, "It costs the US a million dollars a year to keep one soldier in
Colonies Still?
By Mumia Abu-Jamal
One of the greatest theorists,
analysts and critics of colonialism was the late Martinican psychiatrist Frantz
Fanon, but Dr. Fanon's work dwelled on the crises of colonialism in
We like to think that colonialism
was a problem of yesteryear -- the '60's, '70's and early '80's. It's history
-- right?
Well, what really matters isn't what we think, but what others in those
countries think. We should also note that things change; sometimes in form but
not in essence.
Earlier this year, a group of Pakistani intellectuals, activists, lawyers and
political leaders produced a brief but collective report detailing the problems
facing the nation. The 12-page report, entitled "Making Pakistan a Tenable
State," lists 185 points of concern. Among them is the following, pt. 14
which states:
Today,
Frequent visits to
It's like the 21st century version
of colony. For, if a nation can't freely make its own foreign policy, and must
abide by the will of another, client is but a polite term. The report covers
When we speak of such states as
"democracies" we are hardly being honest. They are democracies in
name only' client-states of the superpower.
Going Rogue in Combat Boots
By William Astore
Here's a bit of cheery news: Last
week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates met with the nation's top defense
company executives, including the CEOs of those mega-military-industrial
combines Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and called for a "closer
partnership." He also made them a promise. He pledged, according to his
spokesman, "to work with the White House to secure steady growth in the
Pentagon's budgets over time."
Let's put that pledge in context. Last week, President Obama did something
common in the Bush years, something he swore never to do; he requested a
supplemental $33 billion over and above the fiscal year 2011 defense budget,
mainly for his Afghan surge. That sum, when appropriated by Congress, will
bring the total official Pentagon budget to $708 billion dollars ($159 billion
of which will be directly slated for Afghan and
By the way, if you were to add up
the real "defense"
budget, including funds for the Department of Homeland Security, the Energy
Department (which handles the U.S. nuclear arsenal), veterans' care, the State
Department's planned near-billion-dollar expansion of its embassy in Pakistan
into a mega-command post for the region and the planned doubling of the number
of personnel in its already monstrous embassy in Baghdad for a similar purpose,
and many other relevant things, you would be closing in on $1 trillion per
year.
Meanwhile, in December 2009, the
total funds Congress has so far appropriated since 2001 only for our two wars
topped $1 trillion dollars, with no end in sight, and that figure doesn't
include projected future costs ranging from care for soldiers wounded in those
wars to the cost of replenishing worn out military equipment. At the
war-fighting level, the Congressional Budget Office has already projected
direct war costs over the next decade at $867 billion.
The Pentagon's 2011 budget is already the highest since World War II, according
to defense analyst Winslow T. Wheeler. Now, consider that the secretary of
defense has just "pledged" more of the same for years to come. And
note that none of this -- with the possible exception of that $33 billion
supplemental request -- is considered particularly controversial by anyone who
matters in
On Collateral Damage!
By Dot
Far removed from the violence, we
call their suffering collateral damage. They do not make the decisions and
exert no power or influence over the officials running their country. Many are
too young to care for themselves, but they are the biggest losers and worst
victims of the decisions made by their elders and foreign occupiers, who
promise to liberate them from oppression and injustice.
According to Afghanistan Rights
Monitor (ARM), more than 1,050 people under age 18 years were killed in 2009
alone. While the Afghan human rights watchdog has linked 64 percent of those
deaths to Taliban militant actions, all sides in the
Press-ganged, sexually exploited,
deprived of health and education and illegally detained by all sides, children
were killed in suicide attacks, roadside bombings and Predator drone air
strikes. And as the war enters its ninth year with a pledge by the
ARM has called on Afghan
authorities to set up an official child protection agency and work in
cooperation with all the warring parties to protect children's rights. But,
tensions are running high in the wake of a report that eight unarmed students
were killed by Western military forces in Kunar province in late December. The
deaths sparked a series of demonstrations and anti-government violence, fueling
distrust and minimizing the likelihood that changes will be instituted that
lead to the protection of young people.
In the meantime, children
continue to suffer. And, while we are far removed from the violence and carnage
created by our military-industrial complex, we are nonetheless responsible for
the collateral damage. Our tax dollars, borrowed and otherwise provided, make
war possible.
Disgruntled feels:
Betrayed! I know it is unpopular to criticize President Obama. His supporters
will loudly shout that he must be given time to bring change about! Some even
want black folks like me to say nothing about his silence on issues of
importance to our community. After all, he is president of the entire country
and not the black community. I even empathize and not question the reasons they
idolize and want to protect the image he projects. After all, our children need
positive role models. But, I am also a realist, as well as an idealist, who
would like for our children to see something more than fluff-- a dashing
appearance and a way with words are not enough. I recognized the subterfuge, a
coup of sorts that put him in the Oval Office. Times are tough and are likely
to get a lot rougher. What better time to have a black face claiming to hold
the reins of power? Even though I knew Obama was and is controlled by the same
interests than controlled his predecessors, I foolishly expected more, against
my better judgment. The only difference between his predecessor and he on the
issues that matter most to me and my ilk is the silk with which he delivers his
teleprompter-assisted speeches. That is simply not enough to silence this
critic, who feels betrayed by his failure to deliver on the promise of change.
Disgruntled
wants to know: Press reports over the last year have quoted Admiral Mike
Mullen 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General David H. Petraeus,
head of the Central Command in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, top U.S.
Commander in Afghanistan, and General James T. Conway, Commandant US Marine
Corps, as saying they believe "the US will not get a military victory in
Afghanistan." These are the men who were behind the increase in US forces.
If it costs a million dollars a year to keep one
Disgruntled
says: Black voters along with the young, elderly, women and other
minorities gave President Obama and the Democrats an overwhelming victory in
November 2008. They promised if we gave them majorities in the US Senate and
House of Representatives, they would give us change. Once in office, Mr. Obama
flushed change down the toilet, put black people at the back of the line and
joined the status quo. Saving the economy -- bailing out Wall Street, i.e.,
banks, insurance and mortgage companies -- the very crooks that caused the
problem - became the priority. Consumer credit reform turned out to be a huge
profit for credit card companies. Healthcare reform, if passed, will probably
become a big windfall for healthcare providers. Ending the War in
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls
Email www.sauvessanges.com ...Most Americans oppose
Email www.niemanwatchdog.org...There Hasn't Been
Two Seconds Of Intelligent Discussion About Living Standards In
Email http://news.bbc.co.uk ...US warned on deadly
drone attacks...The US has been warned that its use of drones to target
suspected terrorists in
Email trelaster@rocketmail.com ...In 1998,
Dick Cheney, former
Email www.cubanews.ain.cu ...Cuban Doctors Help More
than 18,000 Haitians Earthquake Victims...Cuban health collaborators in