The DISH
"Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use"
Volume 5 Issue 43…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…November 1, 2002
By John Burl Smith
Poets for Peace mourn the loss of another dynamic voice for peace, justice and equality. The untimely and very tragic death of Senator Paul Wellstone, his family and all who were aboard the ill-fated flight leaves us pondering providence's wisdom. Joining such fallen heroes as the Kennedy brothers, John and Robert, El Hajj Malik El Shabbazz (Malcolm X), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Derrick "Teddy" Withers, and Richard L. Kirksey, Jr., Senator Wellstone's demise takes us to a place without solace.
Unable to comprehend why such shining beacons are extinguished at the height of their brilliance, if not to make those left struggle harder, we search for a survivor willing to pick up the torch. Caught at the crossroads of time, Rev. Hosea Williams accepted just such a challenge following the death of Dr. King. Dismissed by most or only tolerated by the more illuminated personalities surrounding Dr. King, Hosea had been the setup man who made things happen in the small towns and hamlets where Dr. King's poor people's campaign began.
Sharp differences in tactics developed between Dr. King and some aides over his decision to oppose the Vietnam War. Knifed in the back, they threatened to walk out and start their own organizations, if Dr. King and Rev. Williams did not abandon plans to take the "Poor Peoples Campaign" to Washington D. C. Dr. King's assassination began the struggle to control the direction of civil rights. Crabs in a barrel, top aides challenged Dr. King's chosen successor, Dr. Ralph David Abernathy and Rev. Williams who struggled to keep the dream alive. Preferring to work behind the scenes supporting Dr. King, Hosea was forced to become a spokesperson as Dr. Abernathy's health failed.
Splintered, civil rights movement lost potency, as Rev. Williams tried to lead people, who did not know how to follow. Nevertheless, Hosea filled the void created by the tug-of-war for top dog in civil rights. Were it not for his fortitude and dedication, Dr. King's opposition to the war and efforts to address poverty, injustice and oppression may have ended with a sniper's bullet. As renegade civil rights leaders chased money and white acceptance, blacks slipped backward as overt racism continued. We remember Rev. Williams' marches into Forsyth County, Georgia and how other civil rights leaders refused to help. Going alone into a county where whites had lynched blacks, took their land and barred blacks from living in Forsyth County until Rev. Williams marches, Hosea remained "unbossed and unbought."
Such courage is needed today. The warmongers had gathered and Senator Wellstone was one of the few to continue fighting for human rights. Wellstone's death begs the question, who will be the Rev. Hosea Williams and pick up the standard? Those who believe in the promise of America must make their stand now. Citizens must decide individually the kind of world we will leave our children. That was the fight of Senator Paul Wellstone and it is the fight we must continue. Other essays by John Burl Smith
Vote!
Black voters all across the USA are faced with the unpleasant task of choosing on November 5 between the lesser of two evils. This is the real conundrum we face, yet because of the blood, sweat and tears our ancestors shed in order for us to exercise the right to vote, we cannot stay at home or sit idly on the sidelines. Moreover, the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans could well hinge on how many of us choose to get out November 5 and vote. If Republicans gain control of both Houses of Congress, nothing will prevent them from implementing Bush's agenda. Vote! Politics Y2K2
Make the Pie Higher
By George W. Bush
I think we all agree,
the past is over.
This is a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.
Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope,
where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher!
Make the pie higher!
About Me:
This poem is composed entirely of actual quotes from George W. Bush. The quotes were arranged for aesthetic presentation and send to The DISH by afroshoe@yahoo.com. Intuit's HomepageBlood Money
According to savvy sources on the ground in the Middle East and in the West Wing, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's most recent visit to the US had a duel purpose. With his country's economy in a deep recession, Sharon was begging. For more US dollars, Sharon proposed a deal that Bush is unlikely to refuse.
Since September 2000, more than 1,600 Palestinians and 600 Israelis have been killed. Israel's tourism industry is wrecked and other sectors of its economy are depressed. Sharon needs additional dollars to quiet dissension in his coalition government and offset declining tax revenues and increased defense spending. In exchange for an additional $10 billion in US aid, Sharon will deploy Israeli forces in an attack on Saddam Hussein and use its secret police and weapons of mass destruction as the US deems fit including assassination.
Additional US dollars will maintain Sharon in power. The Labor Party, a key faction in Sharon's coalition government, has threatened to vote against the 2003 budget, a move that could force early elections. The Labor Party wants funds allocated for the more than 145 illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to be used on programs for the poor.
If the government is dissolved, elections will be held 90 days later, nearly a year earlier than expected. Bush wants to keep Sharon's coalition government intact. His coalition government is supportive of the attack on Iraq. Insiders bet Bush will provide the additional blood money to maintain Israel in his camp. Phantom Homepage
Disgruntled feels:
Strictly screwed! As presidential candidate, George W. Bush promised to appoint jurists to US courts that strictly construct the Constitution. A Bush court will turn back the clock on civil and individual rights and rule in favor of businesses that pollute the environment and compromise the health of millions. If Republicans control the Senate, they will stack US courts so lawsuits against the world's worst polluters will be dismissed. The people will be screwed!Disgruntled says:
When I was young, spendthrift Democrats controlled Congress and the national purse string. Republicans advocated balancing the federal budget and reducing the national debt. Now that Republicans control Congress, the government is operating without a budget. As the projected federal budget went from a surplus of more than $100 billion to a deficit of more than $150 billion, Congress passed another continuing resolution and took a break for the mid-term elections. The national debt is off the chart at more than $6.2 trillion dollars. This is truly a reversal of fortunes of astronomical proportions. More of DisgruntledIrradiated Meat in School Lunches
According to the General Accounting Office (GAO), Congress' investigative arm, foodborne illnesses have been increasing about 10 percent each year. In 1999, there were 50 outbreaks nationwide in schools with 2,900 illnesses. Many were linked to salmonella and gastrointestinal viruses. To rid food of parasites and bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella, the meat industry developed irradiation, a technique that exposes the meat to low levels of gamma rays or electrons.
The government allowed companies to sell irradiated meat to the public in 1999. However, treated foods were prohibited in the school lunch program, which provides free and reduced price meals to about 25 million children. The meat industry successfully lobbied the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow irradiated meat in the school lunch program. Approved in May, the farm bill gives schools the option of purchasing irradiated meat by the end of the year.
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) and American Medical Association (AMA) claim irradiated meat is safe, some activists say it is unhealthy. Irradiation supporters contend it could reduce the number of foodborne illnesses among U.S. school children. The group Public Citizen strongly opposes it and argues that the process not only destroys vitamins and nutrients in the food, it can develop chemicals that are linked to birth defects and cancer. Obviously, more research is needed. More Hood Notes
Landfills and Polluted Parks
Majority black DeKalb County, Georgia provides the classic case of environmental racism. Every type of landfill and conceivable funk factory is located in South DeKalb, where a majority of the residents are black. Environmental racism is a hot issue that touches the everyday lives of South DeKalb citizens. Because this is an election year, this issues has received more attention than normal from those seeking elective office.
On Monday, area residents criticized state and local officials for refusing to close a public park until workers complete the removal of drums containing hazardous materials. Tests conducted at the site found arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc in old drums abandoned in heavily wooded areas of Wade-Walker Park. The park is one of more than 600 hazardous sites monitored by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Rather than agree to close the park until the cleanup has been completed, DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones' office tried to reassure area residents that the park was a safe play area for local children and their families. Few of those present left reassured and promised to continue pressing for the park's closure.
On Saturday, October 26, DeKalb Commissioners Burrell Ellis and Lou Walker convened a meeting on the Scales Road Landfill. Located near Lithonia, the landfill is scheduled to close in June 2003. Continental Technologies, the company that owns the property, has filed for bankruptcy and claims it does not have the $2.5 million needed to close the site. A court-appointed trustee has filed an application with the county to keep the landfill open for another five years.
The law firm representing the trustee, McKenna, Long and Aldridge, has made campaign contributions to several members of the county commission, including Lou Walker, Hank Johnson and CEO Vernon Jones. On Tuesday, November 12, 2002, the commission will address the application. Concerned county residents are encouraged to attend the board meeting. Will the commission honor the wishes of area residents and work to end environmental racism, or will our elected officials be swayed by big money campaign contributions? More from the Funky Hood
Mailbox: Emails, Faxes & Phone Calls
Email http://www.indystar.com October 27, 2002..A 23-year-old man was found dead Saturday, hanging from a tree on the Westside. Residents of the 7400 block of West Henry Street near Girls School Road called authorities to report finding the victim about 5:30 A.M. strapped to a tree with a chain and with his hands bound behind his back. He later was identified as Roger McCainn. Marion County sheriff's investigators said they have few clues in the case. Anyone with information about this lynching is asked to call the Marion County Sheriff's Department at 1-317-231-8200.
Email notinournames@aol.com To end the theater standoff with Chechen rebels, Russian President Vladimir Putin gassed his own people. All the rebels were killed, some say with bullets to the head, and more than one hundred fifty hostages died from the gas used to end the crisis. Saddam Hussein gassed the Kurds to put down a separatist rebellion. Will Bush make Putin part of the axis of evil for gassing his people?
Email bgarret@yahoo.com The Bush Administration's economic team pretends the US economy is well on the road to a full recovery. However, many people are experiencing economic conditions that mirror depressions. In the world's greatest economy, child poverty and unemployment rates among some groups remain in double digits. For these people, the economic picture is not rosy; it is downright depressing!
Email www.washingtonpost.com US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan gave lawyers representing Vice President Dick Cheney until Nov. 5 to produce documents that detail the membership rolls and meeting schedules of the National Energy Policy Development Group, which Cheney chaired. Sullivan had ordered the documents turned over in August. If the government does not produce them, the administration must submit a claim of executive privilege and the reason for it.
Email vhobson57@yahoo.com I say there's more to the Bushes than is being told. I believe the bottom line behind this "war on terrorism" is Caspian Sea oil. They know Saudi Arabia has them by the balls with their oil and whoever is behind the Big Machine running the U.S. doesn't like this position. The unfortunate attack on the World Trade Center Towers gave them the excuse they needed to position themselves into the region to control Afghanistan. Of course that's not all that will eventually come out; we'll just have to watch until this story unfolds.
Email www.nytimes.com A former Enron trader pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to illegally manipulated the California power market during the state's energy crisis, driving up prices and generating millions of dollars in excess profits for Enron. According to deputy attorney general Larry D. Thompson, "Belden and others conspired to defraud California electricity consumers and customers through a variety of schemes designed to artificially increase payments from the California power manager to Enron. The conspiracy allowed Enron to exploit and intensify the California energy crisis and prey on energy consumers at their most vulnerable moment."
Email ebontek@earthlink.net Gore Vidal writes: 'We still don't know by whom we were struck that infamous Tuesday, or for what true purpose. But it is fairly plain to many civil libertarians that 9/11 put paid not only to much of our fragile Bill of Rights but also to our once-envied system of government which had taken a mortal blow the previous year when the Supreme Court did a little dance in 5/4 time and replaced a popularly elected President with the oil and gas Bush-Cheney junta.' More from the Mailbox
Avoid Florida's Timeshares
Timeshare is a real estate scheme designed to con people who cannot afford to purchase vacation homes into believing they actually own vacation property. The purchaser buys a week of vacation time at a resort and agrees to pay an annual maintenance fee, which goes up every year. Like real property, this timeshare week can be sold, rented, willed to heirs, etc. If you do not wish to use your week, it can be banked or traded for a week at another resort. However, to enjoy this flexibility, you must purchase membership in another organization. Contrary to their sales' pitches, timesharing at its best is extremely expensive.
Unlike real property, the management company that runs the day-to-day resort operations can tack on fees and other hidden charges. These management companies are really real estate agents and brokers who make their money through the resell of timeshares and by overcharging unsuspecting timeshare owners. To keep a ready supply of units on the market, they control the board of directors and scheme with collection agencies to foreclosure on timeshare owners using the exorbitant fees they assess through board resolutions that have nothing to do with annual maintenance.
Some timeshare management companies are independent agents; others are subsidiaries of large corporations in the resort and hotel business, such as the Marriott. Timeshare management companies operate much like sub-prime lenders, whose predatory practices rob poor and elderly homeowners of equity. Sub-prime lenders are often arms of international banking concerns such as Citicorp. Both timeshare management and sub-prime lenders profit by preying on the unsuspecting.
Among Florida timeshares, particularly St. Augustine Beach and Tennis Resort (SABTR), this predatory practice is rampant. SABTR uses a California company - Alternative Recovery Management - to strip owners of equity by charging collection fees in excess of 50% of annual maintenance. Florida and California rely on tourist dollars, but both states have a habit of price gouging on everything from energy to anything involving tourism. Save yourself thousands of dollars and untold hours of heartache by avoiding the timeshare trap. Do not be fooled by timeshare sales' pitches; they are pure fiction. Boycott SABTR and avoid being duped by scenes of California and Florida beaches. More News You Use
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