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Volume 9 Issue 16…Dedicated
to the Dialogue on Race…April 21, 2006
Alone At The Plate
He pulls on a helmet, picks
up the bat,
and walks to the plate,
"Gotta hit and that's
that."
The crowd starts to yell,
the game's on the line,
last inning, two outs,
the score's nine to nine.
Dad yells, "Go get
it,"
Mom wrings her hands,
coach hollers, "hit
it,"
but alone there he stands.
Heros are made in seconds
such as this,
but he's just a little boy,
what if he should miss?
Years after this game's
ended and he's little no more,
will he remember the
outcome or even the score?
No he'll have forgotten if
he was out, hit, or a run,
he'll only look back on his
friends and the fun.
So cheer this boy on,
alone with his fate;
help him remember with
fondness this stand at the plate.
Spend your time wisely and
help in his quest
to be a hitter with
confidence and always his best.
And when the game's over,
this boy can stand tall,
for you've helped him
prepare to give it his all!
Kucinich Questions Bush
In response to the assertion by Iran that it had enriched uranium,
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared Tehran's defiance of the
international community required "strong steps" from the UN Security
Council. The Bush administration has steadfastly maintained that it seeks a
diplomatic solution to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's declaration that Iran's enrichment of uranium is for peaceful
purposes is deemed not credible, and that the regime seeks weapons of mass
destruction.
The Bush administration discounted the New Yorker Magazine article
by Sy Hersh, in which he wrote military plans to deny Iran nuclear capability
include the use of tactical nukes. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), Ranking
Member of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security,
Emerging Threats and International Relations, sent George W. Bush two letters
asking questions about U.S. troop activity in Iran, efforts to foment
opposition and support military "operations in Iran among insurgents and Iranian
ethnic minority groups...operating from Iraq."
Rep. Kucinich cites news articles, including the Washington Times
(April 3, 2006) and Economists (April 15, 2006), which report that at least one
group (PEJAK) operates in the Kurdish region of Iraq, a few miles from the
Iranian border, has staged attacks across the border in Iran since 2004.
"Iran has denounced PEJAK as a terrorist group and has accused the U.S. of
funding PEJAK. According to an April 15, 2006 article in the Economist,
Iranians and Turks both believe that the U.S. is supporting PEJAK. It is hard
to believe that PEJAK is operating successfully from Iraq without U.S.
knowledge, support and coordination."
According to Kucinich, " The Mujahedin e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian
anti-government group which has been listed as a "terrorist group" by
the State Department since 1997, is another anti-government group that has
received U.S. support. An article by Jim Lobe published on Antiwar.com on
February 11, 2005 claims that Pentagon civilians and Vice President Cheney's
office are among those in the U.S. government who support the MEK." The
Seymour Hersh (April 10, 2006) article in the New Yorker seems to confirm U.S.
troop activity in Iran.
Rep. Kucinich believes, " US support for insurgent activity
in Iran is not tolerable," when the Bush administration has claimed the
"War on Terror targets lawless insurgent groups. Furthermore, " It is
a great breach of public trust to set this country on another path of war while
keeping the Congress and the American people in the dark." For the
complete letters and questions the congressman raises, visit http://kucinich.house.gov.
Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron
Born on February 5, 1934, Henry Aaron grew up during Jim Crow
segregation in Mobile, Alabama. He fell in love with baseball at an early age
and spent most of his spare time playing sandlot baseball at the Carver
Recreational Park near his home. Aaron excelled in baseball at Central High,
which won the Negro High School Championship two years.
Before turning 15, Aaron graduated to the semi-pro Pritchett
Athletics. The Mobile Black Bears recruited him for an exhibition game against
the Indianapolis Clowns, a professional Negro League team. Impressed with
Aaron's athletic abilities, scout Ed Scott signed him to play for the Clowns
(1951). In the1952 Negro League World Series, Aaron helped lead his team to
victory.
On June 14, 1952, the Milwaukee Braves acquired Aaron's contract
and assigned him to the Braves' Class C farm club in Wisconsin. He won the
Northern League's Rookie of the Year award. The following year, management sent
Aaron south to the Jacksonville Tars; he was constantly insulted by fans and
some teammates and denied hotel and restaurant accommodations. Named most
valuable player, Aaron led the South Atlantic League in runs, hits, doubles,
RBI and batting average.
On April 13, 1954, Aaron made his major league debut and got his
first major league hit, a single, on April 15, 1954. His first Major League
home run came on April 23, 1954. The Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966
and on April 20, 1966, Aaron hit his 400th home run. His 500th home run came on
July 14, 1968; Aaron became the eighth player to reach the milestone
On July 30, 1969, Aaron hit his 537th home run to capture third
place on the career home run list behind Willie Mays and Babe Ruth. On April
27, 1971, he hit his 600th career home run. He finished third in MVP voting for
the 6th time in his career.
In the summer of 1973, the race to break Babe's home run record
(714) heated up. Aaron received more than 3,000 letters a day. The following is
an example of the hate mail and death threats, which came from across the
nation: "Dear Nigger Henry, You are (not) going to break this record
established by the great Babe Ruth if I can help it. ...Whites are far more
superior than jungle bunnies. My gun is watching your every black move."
The 1973 season ended with Aaron at 713 homers..
On April 8, 1974, Aaron broke Ruth's record. At the end of the
season, the Braves traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers. He broke baseball's all
time RBI record on May 1, 1975. On
July 20, 1976, Aaron hit his 755th and final home run. On retirement, he became
one of the first blacks in Major League Baseball upper-level management, when
he joined the Braves as vice president of player development.
On August 1, 1982, Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall
of Fame. His autobiography, I Had a Hammer, was published in 1990. On February
5, 1999, Major League Baseball announced the Hank Aaron Award to be presented
annually to the best American League and National League hitters. In Game 4 of
the 2004 World Series, Hammerin Hank Aaron personally presented the award to
Barry Bonds (NL) and Manny Ramirez (AL).
In 2002, Aaron received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He is
the owner of Hank Aaron BMW of south Atlanta; every car is sold with an
autographed baseball.
Statues of Aaron stand outside the front entrance of Turner Field
and Miller Park. Turner Field's home address is 755 Hank Aaron Drive SE, in
honor of Aaron's 755 career home runs. Aaron's jersey number "44" has
been retired by both the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Best known for the Major League home run record of 755, Aaron
holds the career marks for RBI (2,297), extra base hits (1,477) and total bases
(6,856). His single World Series ring and National League Most Valuable Player
Award came with the Milwaukee Braves (1957); he earned three Gold Glove Awards
and made 21 All-Star appearances. Yet, few Americans consider him the greatest
player of all time, a fact attributed by some to racism. (Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Aaron,
www.aaregistry.com,
www.baseballhalloffame.org
and www.hank-aaron.info/notes.htm)
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro officially attained that
great teenage milestone of thirteen years on Sunday. His day competed with
Easter (the commemoration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ)
for attention. All day long, he
alternated between anger and stoicism, saying little nice to anyone. But, by
late afternoon, family and friends gathered to sing "Happy birthday."
Basking in all the well wishes, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro remarked sotto voce,
"I thought it was called off!"
By John Burl Smith
Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities is set against the
tumultuous backdrop of the 1800s, as revolution in France threatens to entangle
England. It opens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times." A period of absolutism, courts served the interests of powerful
people, not justice.
Dickens uses themes, such as family ties, past actions and
incidental associations, to dramatize how one's past can overtake one's future.
The fact that people are very seldom whom they seem provides the intriguing
plot. Scoundrels become heroes, benefactors villains and the well-bred are
unmasked as corrupt and miserly tyrants. Dickens' timeless classic teaches that
often destinies fold back in a reversal of one's fortunes.
Some two hundred years later, Dickens' lesson is lost on US
society. Although upheaval in Baghdad causes tremors in Washington, it is the
role of the courts that makes the Tale of Two B's an apt comparison. Similar in
that powerful people use courts to avoid responsibility for their actions,
while holding the poor and disfavored to a more exacting standard, the two B's
in this tale of woe, George W. Bush, President of the United States, and Barry
Bonds, a baseball player, do not share fates.
The parallels in Dickens novel and these two B's are the
centrality of lies and the court. Placed in stark relief by his upbringing,
Bush's decisions impact the entire world. His nominations have corrupted the US
court system. Bonds conversely, may be corrupt, but his actions, which are
largely personal, only impact the world of baseball.
News accounts and court records reveal a conspiratorial deal to
enrich friends and financial supporters by attacking Iraq was struck before
Bush stole the 2000 presidential election. To accomplish the dirty deed, Bush
lied to Congress, US citizens and the world. His lies caused thousands of
deaths (Iraqis and Americans), untold destruction and wasted hundreds of
billions of dollars. But no prosecutor or court will challenge Bush's lies.
Contrasting the absurdity of wasting legal resource on Bonds, the
baseball player, for possibly lying about using performance enhancing drugs, no
one died, no tax dollars were wasted, no countries destroyed and nuclear
devastation does not loom. If there was a conspiracy, it only involved
increasing Bonds' ability to hit home runs. Ironically nonetheless, a grand
jury has been impaneled to investigate allegations printed in a book.
Which B's actions are more abhorrent, a lying world leader or a
lying baseball player? Whose actions hold the gravest consequences for the
world --lies about drugs that enhance performance on a ball field or the
performance of a liar that enhances the prospects for war? Which is more
demoralizing -- lies that aid the assault on a home run record or a record of
lies that assault the world? This tale of two B's is truly without heroes.
Bush, a modern day Robespierre, a villain on all accounts, lied his way to the
top, evaded responsibility in the courts, then sent others to the gallows in
order to make fine speeches, rather than making fine speeches to save people
from the gallows.
The other B, Bonds, may well be a scoundrel, if he used drugs to
boost his ball striking power. But, like any other drug addict, the real harm
was to himself. Rather than searching for ways to punish Bond, society should
look for effective treatment options. Although Bond's action may elude
detection, he will not escape the final justice meted out by his body. Remember
Lyle Alzado and many others who went down that road? Unlike Sydney Carton,
Dickens hero's last words, these characters can only say, " This is a far
far worst place I go than I have ever been!"
Disgruntled wants to know: A number of retired US generals are speaking out as private
citizens and demanding the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for
the failed Iraq war policy. According to an article by Robert Scheer (Now Powell
Tells Us), "The President played the scoundrel--even the best of his
minions went along with the lies--and when a former ambassador dared to tell
the truth, the White House initiated what Special Prosecutor Patrick J.
Fitzgerald calls "a plan to discredit, punish or seek revenge against Mr.
Wilson." That is the important story line. If not for the whistleblower,
former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, President Bush's falsehoods about the Iraq
nuclear threat likely would never have been exposed. On Monday, former
Secretary of State Colin Powell told me that he and his department's top
experts never believed that Iraq posed an imminent nuclear threat, but that the
President followed the misleading advice of Vice President Dick Cheney and the
CIA in making the claim." While the generals could not speak out as active
members of the military and could only do so once they retired from service,
what is Powell's excuse for lying to the nation and the world?
Disgruntled feels: Befitting! Vice President
Dick Cheney is the most secretive member of the Bush administration. He has
tirelessly fought to keep his actions from cherry-picking intelligence to build
a case for war against Iraq and awarding no-bid contracts to his former
employer Haliburton to the White House Energy Task Force, which gave us the
current national energy policy most noticeable for historically high oil and
gasoline prices, very hush-hush. With poll numbers lower than Bush's, Cheney
only ventures from his bunker on special occasions to address carefully vetted
audiences and perform certain ceremonial functions and official duties. Flanked
by wounded US servicemen, Cheney recently threw out the ceremonial first pitch
at a Washington Nationals baseball game. Befitting the occasion and public
sentiment, a majority of those at RFK Memorial Stadium resoundingly booed
Cheney.
Disgruntled says: In
"Trans-Generational Black Poverty," writer Junious Ricardo Stanton,
examined research studies that show a strong correlation between the incomes of
fathers and their offspring. A series of Century Foundation publications on
class warfare at www.tcf.org
found, "The correlation is even higher for families with low wealth, the
poor, than for the wealthy; it is also higher for black families than for
white." The strong correlation absolutely destroys the myth about American
upward economic mobility. Like others before him, Stanton acknowledges
education is a key factor in "upward mobility." Nonetheless, he
forthrightly states that the black "experience in AmeriKKKa suggests
higher educational advancement does not cancel out racism!" On this
conclusion, I could not agree more.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Phone
Calls
Email www.uruknet.info/?p=22658
The Real WMD'S In Iraq - OURS...By Douglas Westerman...Weapons of mass
destruction are all over Iraq. Iraqi children play among daily. According to
Iraqi doctors, many are developing cancer as a result. The WMD in question is
depleted uranium (DU). DU is 1.7 times denser than lead - effective in
penetrating armored vehicles such as tanks. After a DU shell strikes, it
penetrates before exploding into a burning vapor that turns to dust.
"Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.7 billion years - that means
thousands upon thousands of Iraqi children will suffer for tens of thousands of
years to come. This is what I call terrorism," says Dr Ahmad Hardan.
Email juliebrown222@aol.com
...McKinney fiasco shakes Capitol Police, officer knew her...By Robert Redding,
Jr. A source said an officer, who says Rep. Cynthia McKinney assaulted him,
knew who she was, and claims the incident has caused infighting among U.S.
Capitol Police. The source, who is close to the ongoing grand jury
investigation of the March 29 scuffle, said Paul McKenna, a third year officer
in the U.S. Capitol Police, was given a picture of the congresswoman in
training. "No one believes a man with a name that similar to hers would
not know who she is. He clearly knew who she was and what she looked like but
stopped her anyway." McKinney faces charges that she assaulted McKenna,
who is white. She has apologized for the misunderstanding, which she first
hinted may have been racism. The source - who did not want to be identified in
fear that they might lose their job - also said the incident has resulted in
"fighting and heated arguments between white and black officers." The
department, which is to protect Congress, has had a history of rifts between
black and white officers dating back to 2001.
Email jrswriter@comcast.net
Current Immigration Debate From A Black Perspective...By Junious Ricardo
Stanton...In many ways the brouhaha over immigration policies is a bogus issue.
It is a distraction being used by the administration to take our focus off the
escalating federal debt, the ongoing debacle in Iraq, the administration's
subterranean approval ratings and the growing discontent with the way it does
business. The administration hopes the resulting debate both pro and con
immigration reform will take people's minds off their own dismal performance.
The other oddity is while reciting his 9-11-National Security mantra as the
rationale for everything he does, Bu$h supports amnesty for illegal aliens
while doing nothing to shore up security along the nation's borders and ports.
Email www.marketwatch.com
Exxon chief made $144,573 per day: report...By Greg Robb...Lee Raymond, the
chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp., earned $144,573 for
each day of the 13 years he served at the top of the oil company, according to
a report in Saturday's New York Times. Raymond, who retired from Exxon in
December, received more than $686 million from 1993 to 2005, according to an
analysis done for the paper by an independent compensation consultant. Raymond
received more that $400 million in the final year of his contract.
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