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Volume 1 Issue 52

by Dot Smith

Several DISH readers asked: "What prompted you to start the newsletter?" Succinctly, The DISH began a year ago. It grew out of frustration and feelings of helplessness fighting employment discrimination at the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Atlanta Service Center (ATSC). The first issue reported on the appearance of six high ranking IRS officials at my unemployment compensation hearing.

My IRS career began sometime before. In fact, armed with a master's degree, I accepted employment at ATSC in 1987. Starting as a GS-3 clerk, I worked my way up to middle level management. After spending several years in National Office, I returned to ATSC in 1997 as a GS-12.

The accompanying excerpts are from introductory remarks made to my work group. I believe these remarks, coupled with an already hostile work environment, led to the end of a successful career. My branch chief and supervisor, LuRae Buchalski, responded to these remarks with reprisal. A caustic public dressing down was accompanied by three weeks of harassment and intimidation. Aided by upper management, Buchalski manufactured documentation to justify demoting me to front-line management.

In seeking redress, everyone in upper management, including the center director, Dick Marsh, refused to discuss the matter. To obtain an audience with the in-house EEO officer, I had to contact Sen. Paul Coverdell's office. The EEO officer, Clemmy Perry, assured me I could request a downgrade to a non-managerial position, and I did. After being out on sick leave for six weeks, I was released to return to work with EEO's assurance a non-managerial position would be forthcoming. Oddly, upper management refused to grant me this option, which is routinely made available to others. Repeated requests for a downgrade and/or leave, including an unpaid leave of absence, were denied. Mentally unprepared to perform 100% in a front-line position orchestrated by Buchalski, I opted for healing, having been brutalized already. My situation screamed Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA); it was never extended; it was front-line management or nothing.

What does this say about the system? This is how upper management is kept lily white in government, like the boardrooms in the private sector. Equal Employment Opportunity is a joke! Pawns of upper management, in-house officials scheme to prevent any discrimination complaint from seeing the light of day, including orchestrating events to discredit the complainant

Adding insult to injury, after signing privacy release forms that gave Sen. Coverdell the right to look into this matter, except for the cancellation of an insurance policy, I have heard nothing. I suspect my situation is too commonplace; it is not reversed discrimination, so his office will not lift a finger to eradicate it. Were I white claiming reversed discrimination, politicians, like him, would be clamoring for an end to the practice, if not the Agency.

Sadly, Coverdell is no different than the rest of the Georgia delegation. Institutionalized racism and discrimination complaints are met with a wall of silence. Therein lies the source of the demise of innocence and the real death of outrage in America. If our duly elected representatives do not speak out about injustice, who will? The DISH is one voice shattering the silence! More Hot DISHES

The Dark Knight/White Ninja/Zorro made a call for all super heroes to help him save the world. Since his request was met with total silence, the Dark One-Batman/Ninja/Zorro will do it all.

Revolutionary Neo-Poet

By Yohannes Sharriff Smith

We are the new immortals

Our deeds shall live eternal

In the lives of those to come,

Our words will forever echo in the halls

Of infinite knowledge.

We are the hope that saves the past

And the faith that shall birth the future.

(Reprinted from T.H.I.N.C., 1997)

Disgruntled wants to know: Where is Rudolph, and I'm not talking about the reindeer?

Disgruntled feels: We all will come full circle!

Disgruntled says: If we stay out of other people's countries and pockets, there would be no war!

By John Burl Smith

For people of color the world over, this century changed relatively little! African Americans have never had the protection of the Constitution of the United States of America. We were excluded from its mandated rights when our Founding Fathers scribbled so nobly its hallowed precepts. Therefore, we were subjected to the caprice and arbitrary whims of men to guarantee rights. The current constitutional crisis represents the gravest threat to individual freedom since the 1960s when a President and two other leaders were shot from ambush to preserve the statue quo. Passing the laser scanner of history over the last two hundred years, one finds an almost perfect match in cycle and results for African Americans.

Juxtaposed, American society came to the exact same point in 1865 and again in 1965. Slavery and segregation formed these decisive junctures, and their affect had virtually the same impact on African Americans. Following the Civil War and the Civil Rights struggle, the federal government made feeble efforts to accommodate our demand for equal rights under the Constitution of the United States of America. Political deals by candidates seeking the Presidency ended efforts to grant full rights to African Americans.

The infamous Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and Richard M. Nixon, in 1968, rewarded the forces of hatred and division. Their deal unleashed the ugly monster of racism to ravish the soul of America. Today, America is reaping the whirlwind sowed by Reagan/Bush tax cuts that transferred wealth from the poorest seventy percent of Americans to the richest thirty percent. Deficit spending destroyed the social safety net. America seems stuck permanently in replay, living out a cycle even though it knows the outcome.

As with Abraham Lincoln's death, John F. Kennedy's paralyzed the nation. Sandwiched between the death of John and younger brother Robert was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Although assassins' bullets killed the national movement to bring African Americans under the full protection of the United States Constitution, the Dynamism of Dr. King's legacy held the battered remnants of his "Poor People's Campaign" together. Surviving FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's Co-Intel-Pro death squads during the 1970s and early 80s left only Dr. King's vision to guide isolated pockets of those holding on to the dream.

Unlike the period following Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy's assassinations, impeachment has brought citizens here prepared to take to the field to keep alive the dream. Slavery and segregation taught us the terror of night. Like land mines buttressing a horseshoe ambush, if Republicans are successful, all Americans will be reduced to the level of people of color around the world with guns held to their heads by men who circumvent the Constitution. Approvingly, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, peeks over America's shoulders!

Don't D-ck With the IRS

"To: All Male U.S. Citizens

From: I.R.S. Service Center

Re: Notice of increase in tax payments

The only thing that the I.R.S. has not taxed yet is your penis. This is due to the fact that 40% of the time it is hanging around unemployed, 20% of the time it is pissed off, 30% of the time it is hard up and 10% of the time it is in the hole. On top of that, it has 2 dependants and they are both nuts. Effective January 1, 1999 your penis will be taxed according to size.

------- The categories are as follows: -------

10 - 12 inches Luxury Tax $ 30.00

8 - 10 Pole Tax 25.00

5 - 8 Privilege Tax 15.00

4 - 5 Nuisance Tax 3.00

Males exceeding 12" must file a capital gains return. NOTE: Anyone under 4" is eligible for a refund. PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR AN EXTENSION! Sincerely, Pecker Checker IRS." Email: Makela Willis

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Volume 1 Issue 51

Participants in Turnout 75%! Many things are said about our President, William Jefferson Clinton. Although we have not always witnessed the best in him, his travails brought out the best in us. Faced with times like these, Americans must decide just what kind of nation we will be. America has come to this point many times in her past; each took years of struggle to reach resolution. Many lives have been needlessly lost trying to hold on to a dying magnolia plucked from the tree. Today we must decide anew what will be the nature of our tomorrow.

In 1865, the issue was settled; just shy of one hundred years later, Little Rock catapulted it into the nineteen sixties. The current question before this nation draws the same forces to the line cloaked this time in something called "The Rule of Law." No law can be enacted except through the process set forth in the Constitution. Therefore, no law is above the Constitution. Our Constitution grants every citizen the right of privacy. Consequently, no law or act thereof can take away that right. That is what this fight is about.

If the President of the United States of America can be railroaded out of office, what protects our freedom? Without trust in the Constitution, as our guarantor of democracy, citizens will have to trust men to guarantee rights. Who can stand against them, if this steamroller is not stopped? What prevents them from overturning election results at the ballot box?

The President stands for the Constitution. If the Constitution cannot protect him, who does it protect? Our job is clear! John Burl Smith

Southern Sedition and Slavery

For millions of Americans, Georgians included, the Confederate flag symbolizes slavery and sedition. Wherever it flies, these southern values reside. Besides, if they can fly the symbol openly, imagine what is done covertly. The DISH sees symbolic institutionalized racism.

James Coleman, the 41-year-old house repairman and former Atlanta mayoral candidate, must be commended for his efforts to rid Georgia of its seditious and segregationist symbols. The DISH not only applauds, but supports Coleman's effort, and wishes him Godspeed. With enough publicity, perhaps this year, the state legislature will listen to the people, and take up the subject.

Allow The DISH to suggest legislative language to rid us of the Rebel battle flag: "The state hereby surrenders all symbols of sedition and slavery forthwith and forever more." The legislature can then commission a new state symbol, one that is based on images that bind, rather than those that separate us.

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro calls on all super heroes. The Dark One/Ninja/Zorro needs help in saving the world.

  DISH-ing It Up Hot!

by Dot Smith

Growing up in southwest Tennessee, we went to church every Sunday. We attended Sunday school, choir practice, Sunday service and other activities. A large part of our lives was consumed with church activities. We loved to hate it; we went because momma insisted.

After a lifetime of church service, momma informed us she would no longer be attending church services. Furthermore, she would no longer insist we attend either. Calling momma's bluff, we immediately stopped going; she said nothing. A religious woman, she believed in the good book. Incessantly, she read it; she looked upon the Bible as though it held the key to life; it was revered in our house. We were encouraged to read it for its wisdom. Going to church, doing good deeds, taking care of her family and reading the Bible were hallmarks of momma's existence.

Following her church announcement, momma continued reading the good book and helping the needy. Though she too was needy, "There is always someone else worse off than me," was one of her little sayings. This 180 degrees turn on going to church confused us. Momma's explanation freed us from the yolk of earthy rituals, so we may concentrate on the spiritual side of life.

Allow me to paraphrase: 'I believe there is an all-knowing being - a power. I call it my heavenly father. He is here (pointing to her body) inside of me. He is with me wherever I go. When I feel the need to speak with him, I simply drop down on my knees and call on him in prayer. I do not have to go to church to gain an audience with Him. No one else has His ear more than I. Mine is but to believe in Him and do His will. And, when I have finished His task for me, He'll call me home. I don't have to go to church to fulfill my task, to do my father's bidding.

After five decades of being in one pastor's church or another, including my papa's, I have yet to find one where my heavenly father is Number one. The church is filled with sinners who pray on Sunday and prey on the poor and unsuspecting the remainder of the week. Those sinners care more about the clothes on a man's back and who he is fornicating with than what is in his heart. No one has to endure those demons on Sunday to gain salvation." More Hot DISHes

 Venue for an Artist

About me: Featured artist Angel writes, "Some folks say wisdom comes with age. I gain knowledge from experience! I never sleep; I'm always on point. You see; it's not about paranoia; it's about being paranoid enough. I break the stereotypes. I'm nobody's baby's momma. I'm nobody's welfare recipient. I'm 22, single, no kids, and I have a lot to say - Listen!"

 Precious Moments

by Angel

Those precious moments should be treasured

A gentle kiss, quality time.

The little ones cannot be measured.

I want forever! Nothing is promised.

Hold dear to every moment.

I will not, 60 years later

Be saying what I would say, if you were here.

Blood maybe thicker than water

Surely, words cannot describe the way a smile

Brightens my face knowing you are on my side.

Life changes in the blink of an eye

God takes you through to bring you out

The meek, they say, will inherit the earth

So just momentarily do without.

Talk to me; tell me your feelings

I cannot read your mind

When you walk, don't look for me

I'm always one step behind

The salty solution that fills my eyes

Cleanses my soul. I live my life; I follow my heart.

What I didn't do, I was never told

Loses cut like a twisted knife

A wound that never heals.

I dedicated my life and love

I'm telling you - because it's real

'Course you'd change if you knew the time

The hour and the day

Since we don't and time is short,

Kneel down and pray

For strength, understanding, miracles I cannot tell.

I cannot share them with you,

God knows them well!

Disgruntled wants to know: What kind of benefits do the Dickie police get, i.e., Ken Starr, Bob Barr and the Republican party?

Disgruntled feels: Relieved the Holiday season has ended!

Disgruntled says: Before Lewinsky, adulterous affairs were fodder for rumor mills and trashy tabloids! These tidbits were ignored in the main by gentleman's agreement. Thanks to Starr, the agreement is now null and void. Every speck of dirt can now be dished up to the consuming public! And, it seems there's plenty of dirt to keep the most salacious among us satisfied.

"Word on the street is you could hear knuckles cracking and kneecaps popping at the other end of Pennsylvania Ave. nights prior to the impeachment vote. With a moniker like "the hammer," where did Delay take his political science? "On The Waterfront" maybe back when "Casey Lowers The Boom" was number one on the charts." E-mail: The Phantom Scribbler: The hand that writes and moves on."

"Just out of curiosity, what does The DISH think of Republican front runner George W. Bush, Jr.? I have real reservations about him. Can the country afford another four years of a greedy Bush in the oval office?" J. Jackson - Tech grad.

by John Burl Smith

Last week the world learned one prerequisite for high leadership in the United States House of Representatives is the "gift of Merlin." Like a puritanical school mom, Rep. Tom Delay directed members of the Senate to the evidence room. Like "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Majority Leader Delay in exchanging his "hammer and hood" for a wand and robe explain the rabbit he pulled out of his hat. Referring to the vote to impeach the President of the United States of America, he confessed, "votes may appear out of thin air."

Like a bad trip at an Alice Copper concert with its smoke and mirrors, the "hammer" Delay toted conjured the overblown case the House will present to the Senate. It took some pretty good hocus-pocus to beguile so many people into voting against, not only their best interest, but, the nation's for partisan reasons. The signal America must not miss is engineer Delay and his gandy dancers that cannot whiz away the unintended consequences resulting in a puff of smoke.

.

I Wrote Myself a Letter

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

"...party like its 1999!" Bang

Gun shoots and sirens sound

Pop! The champaign is pouring

Like blood flowing in the streets.

I am Moses with a pen parting the Red Sea.

I wrote myself a letter. Sitting in the trenches,

Too tired to remember. Why was I fighting?

I sent myself a letter as a reminder

I volunteered for this. This hell of a life,

Spending most of it dying to survive.

I wrote myself a letter as a reminder

Never forget these times. The sights, sounds,

Smells of death and fear. Screams of pain and

Anguish haunt my dreams.

I hear the babies burning in the building

Friends dying all around me.

So much needless suffering,

So many wasted lives,

Even if their body survives

The killing fields murdered their minds.

"IN COMING!!!"

The war rages on

Invading my senses like swords.

Violently, I speed into the future.

A breath away from life,

My life before my eyes.

Still like falling mirror memories frozen (crash!).

Picture perfect pieces scattering.

A 1000 memories.

Those sweet Black Kodak color moments before

I knew of war. I wrote myself a letter.

Next week's edition marks the end of The DISH's first year in publication. The newsletters' staff would like to thank its readers, friends and foe for their comments and well wishes. It has been a year of growing pains and learning experiences. We look forward to many more years to come. From all of us to all of you, thanks for your kindness and patience. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! The DISH staff.

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by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

The Wind chimes, "Make time..." Take time

Appreciate the multi-color love

Falling on a winter day.

Clouds rolling across the blue

It's the glue...the woodwork...the frame

The fabric of your life lovingly stitched together.

A quilt: Patch work beautiful

Feel family wrapped around your soul.

Warm faces paint a timeless mosaic of life

Sharing the most intimate spaces

Reflection often cuts. Cuss and fuss.

"Shut Up!" slamming doors.

Put out, handcuffed adjusting to other's tendencies

Tenderly, we find common ground.

Gather around from every town...

Rapture found renewing bonds

Reunions, birthdays, holidays, and special occasions

Drum pound cake of the womb in surround sound.

Celebrate the ultra-sound of life happening

Family makes a house a home.

Like a stereo bumping Stevie Wonder,

Singing "Isn't She Lovely?"

They fill empty rooms with the reminders

Of your origins

We survive to die together

because we need each other to survive.

Even when christmas ain't so merry

We thrive on love; love is as essential as breath

Breath is life; life is love; life is love.

Love is God is Life is Breath is...God!

God is the quilt.

By John Burl Smith

In passing articles of impeachment, how does a Congressman answer the charge that the remedy proposed is far worse than the consequences of the act committed. The roaring 20s and prohibition are relevant lessons in American history. Though the 1919 Volstead Act tried to reestablish Christian morality, an unintended consequence created an environment where smalltime bootleggers and hoodlums syndicated and continue to plague us as "organized crime" today. Unintended consequences have the greatest impact, changing fundamental relationships in unforeseen, but profound ways. The reason none foresee un-intended consequences is that one cannot predict what dastardly opportunists, greedy bullies or well-intended moralists will actually do once in charge.

Those determined to impeach the President of the United States of America must answer the question: After impeachment, how will citizens be able to trust that the results at the ballot box will be honored? Once this dastardly deed is done, Americans will not trust any less or lose faith in Bill Clinton; they will lose faith in the process that produced President Bill Clinton. Voices of moderation and elder statesmen must reassert control, because extremists on both sides are committed to fighting to the death.

Those standing with the President of the United States of America stand here because he represents what holds us together: our vote. As a representative democracy, our agreement that disagreements over constitutional questions will not be partisan, and that the majority must never ride roughshod over the minority, represents the highest law. President William Jefferson Clinton is our choice. We chose him despite his frailties, because of his humanity. He reflects our imperfections. Like us, trapped in this fishbowl of public scrutiny, he has been victimized by the state's failure through Kenneth Starr to recognize the Constitution's grant of privacy.

The President of the United States of America is the only nationally elected person in the nation. The President's election is the only point at which a citizen can truly impact governmental policy. Abrogating the people's elected choice will have unintended consequences, like forgotten land mines. Prohibition disguised a hidden tragedy.

By John Burl Smith

Sometimes it seems National Football League referees are simply running around making it up as they go. In this respect, they remind me of the Republicans in Congress. Referees make costly mistakes, ruining the hopes and dreams of fans and teams. But a greater threat looms from blunders by House members, whose actions have brought America to the brink of a constitutional crisis.

First, Congressman Bob Barr was out front against the wind with impeachment. Stoking the fire, all other Republicans were sucked up in his back draft. This is why instant replay can not replace good referees and good judgement. A replay of Germany in 1933 reflects a democratic system put through what America faces. A young relatively obscure Adolf Hitler engineered a coup d'etat that forced Hindenburg to appoint him chancellor. With German fundamentalist cheering, Hitler's ultimate act of contempt was sacking and burning the Reichstag, then proceeding to incinerate 6 million Jews.

Retrospectively, like Adolf Hitler, at the beginning of the current impeachment train ride, Bob Barr was a relatively obscure Georgia Congressman. His dogged pursuit of the President of the United States of America has propelled him to the pinnacle of Republican leadership. Barr, Dick Armey, Tom Delay, Trent Lott are all affiliated with white supremacist groups, like the KKK/CCC, and are lying to cover it up. By the time this coup d'etat is completed Rep. Barr could be President. "Those who do not learn from the past are domed to repeat it." An Instant Replay!

With a big hug and a kiss, the Dark Knight -Batman /White Ninja/Zorro said, "Thank you grandma for helping me write the words. Thank you for the art." The Dark One/Ninja/Zorro spoke from the heart.

by Dot Smith

Filled with joy, hope and promise, annually I recall childhood memories that color Christmas present. While these images pale in comparison to famine, persecution and death in the Sudan, Iraq and other tinderbox regions around the world, they nonetheless reinforce my commitment to fight the commercialization of Christmas. In keeping with that tradition, again this year, fake trees and the jolly old gent headline my list of boycotted things. With the birth of Christ reduced to a visit to the discount mall, The DISH dubs the holiday X-mas.

Americans are programmed for mindless consumption; holidays unleash a buying frenzy. And, since more is better, disparities between the haves and have-nots are magnified. Ironically, both experience desperate moments at X-mas.

Gift giving for those who have it all must be stressful. Those without deep pockets sacrifice the remainder of the year mired in debt from the credit used to finance X-mas past. Depressed, hopes dashed and burdened with unrealized dreams, the poor become more desperate. Coupled with the actions of the white collar and greedy elite, their desperation pose a serious American dilemma.

Crime at X-mas normally rises. There are more suicides at Yuletide. X-mas in America is a mean season. With the Iraqi bombing and partisan presidential impeachment going on, this X-mas squarely ranks among the more destructive and dismal in memory. To commemorate X-mas 1998, The DISH is calling for an end to the commercialization of the holy day and mindless consumption in general.

Among those benefiting from an end to the obsession will be the poor and innocent who believe all the lies from the Easter Bunny to Santa Clause. Consider for a moment, the jolly old gent programming from a poor child's perspective; it is asinine and should be ended. Children are needlessly disappointed, when Santa fails to arrive. Even the Santa lie is not as cruel as the promise of peace and goodwill men profess to desire. Instead of lying about Santa and promoting mindless consumption that commercializes holidays, everyday should be like Christmas, because we act with peace and love in our hearts. Only then, will we cease traditions that have nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas. More Hot DISHes

Disgruntled wants to know: How do people of faith reconcile the holy time of Ramadan, Hanukkah and Christmas with raining bombs marked "Merry X-Mas" on other people? Saddam Hussein may well be a monster, but our actions make us no better than him merely hypocrites

Disgruntled feels: At peace with the world...

Disgruntled says: Christmas is promoting love, peace and goodwill among men.

Another Monica Joke

"Monica Lewinsky walks into her dry cleaning store and tells the guy, "I've got another dress for you to clean." Slightly hard of hearing, the clerk replies, "Come again?" "No," says Monica. "Mustard!" Makela Willis

"Every year, media outlets present employees offering best wishes for the holidays. Except for the occasional cameraman, receptionists, pundits and janitors, all the personnel of these organizations are white. CNN is a prime example of a White Christmas. Whatever happened to equal opportunity in mainstream media? No wonder the news and information disseminated by these organizations is so one-sided! E-mail J. Prescott

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Merry Christmas!

By Yohannes Sharriff Smith

Stuck in a rut...Nigga!(repeat softly)

Your only concern is how to be a better slave.

Nigga! Insane stammering, stuttering, smothering, CIA covering up,

Like self-righteous advice for real world problems.

Slob! Get a job!

Resolving to dissolve in the situation,

Like flesh in acid...

Microwave solutions! Bing.

Resorting to the oldest profession

Feeding hungry babies.

Bobbing and slobbering...Violently raped!

Violated by high interest rates.

Let us pray...Dear lord, please help us forget

How the government murdered

Black Power. Yes Jesus!

Dear lord, teach these ignorant niggas

To keep their heads bowed. Lord have mercy.

Yes Jesus! Police play savior overseer.

(Pow...Pow!!) Merry Christmas! Cocaine cakes

And pies baked for children to sell after school.

Ringing bells jingle as the slay rides.

Late 70's White Jesus delivering crack wrapped

As plastic gifts and weapons to poor Blacks

Like religion. Merry Christmas!

Sodomized by a crucifix...

Merry Christmas! Stand beneath the missile

Towed under and sucked dry

By the 1^st of the month.

By design fronts provide plenty of bad credit

Blacks revolving in debt.

Merry Christmas lights so bright

Leave us too blind to see

The homeless and help-Less-ly.

We slave 3 jobs to buy

A little piece of middle class happiness

Creditors and collection agencies on the chase.

In your minimum wage case...Next

The State vs. N (as in nigga) 2,000

Chapter 13 means lawyers stay paid.

Trapped in this game...Solving nothing

But the temporary satisfaction of status...

Status quo..Stagnant retro active rhetoric

Delivered in the reverend's sermon.

Serving hot shit...No lye relaxer

Wax across your Christian senses.

Merry Christmas!

Bucked and fucked numb...Struck dumb...

Learning life in the slums...

Yearning survival on more than crumbs.

Burning Bibles to keep warm!...

In God we trust! Pass the collection plate.

by John Burl Smith

Although Correction Corp of America does not have a contract with the state of Georgia, it plans to build a $45 million facility in McRae. Set to open by February 2000, the prison will be within a few miles of two other prisons in Telfair County. The problem is that no one in state government has even signed off on the project. No need assessment was conducted or bid request solicited. This is purely private enterprise.

CCA's VP Peggy Lawrence, after admitting her company has no contract to build the 1,500-bed facility, stated "CCA does not build speculative prisons. That is not our business. We don't always do it with a signed document, but we do it with ... a good assurance that those beds will be used. Telfair County Commission Chairman Chester Swain while talking about negotiations that began two weeks ago said, "This thing is moving so fast. I've told you everything I can tell you. We needed something in the county for some employment. This supposedly will employ between 350 and 400 people." The DISH's concern is that counties like Telfair are becoming more and more dependent on prisons to provide jobs. For instance, even though there are four state prisons in the counties surrounding Telfair, local officials want more. They reason " the jobs boost the local economy."

State Corrections Commissioner Wayne Garner responded "We have not had any negotiations with them, period, about these facilities." But Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry Coleman, who represents Telfair says "The talks have progressed to the point where CCA has said it will charge the state the same $44.95 to $48.10 per inmate per diem that it charges at its other two prisons in Georgia. Governor Roy Barnes, who seems lukewarm on the project feels, "We've used a mixture of public and private, and I think it's an appropriate thing to use a mixture,"

Reporting on this story Rhonda Cook, AJC (12-9-98) revealed a CCA run prison in Ohio had five dangerous inmates escape. The U. S. Department of Justice reported, "the medium-security prison was housing high security inmates from Washington in its Youngstown facility." Among other things the report stated "CCA accepted inmates even though the Youngstown prison was not ready for occupancy. Furthermore, security was flawed and guards were not well-trained."

Although the Governor supports a mix, The DISH believes this whole concept needs to be reevaluated. When a state or county becomes dependent on incarcerating citizens as a means of reducing unemployment and boost its economy, citizens are at risk. Southerners have not forgotten the infamous chain gangs, and how counties used prisoners as a part of the local economy. The rights of black and poor whites were violated to feed this monstrous system. Housing prisoners is big business today. Wall Street is in the prison business, therefore justice moves to the back of the bus.

What does America's approach to incarcerating the young say about us as people? In our quest to turn a profit from the misery of those trapped at the bottom of the social and economic ladder, we now prey on children. State Governments will not provide rehabilitation for inmates. Private companies do not provide rehabilitation. Under present circumstances, prisoners are products. With the state and private industry competing for the same product, where is the incentive in giving probation or parole? Keeping people locked up has risen to the level of an economic asset. Shades of slavery!

Disgruntled wants to know: Why don't we celebrate the birth of Christ simply without all the commercial hype?

Disgruntled feels: Dr. Jekyll -Mr. Henry Hyde is a hypocrite and his sidekick, Kenneth Starr is a hound dog sniffing panty raider.

Disgruntled says: Menopause means a forty-something woman can have her own private summer any time of the year. For good measure, she can have her winter, too!

On Wednesday, December 9, 1998, Dr. Franklin Zimring announced the startling findings of The MacArthur Foundation's two-year study of juvenile crime statistics. As the author of the study, Prof. Zimring concluded that tougher laws aimed at youthful lawbreakers are based on "deeply flawed analyses of juvenile violence statistics." Following up on that statement, Dr. Zimring explained "We're not any more violent than we were 10 to 20 years ago. We're just paying more attention to the violence." What The MacArthur Foundation wants the American people to understand is that "A change in how police report juvenile crimes, particularly assault and aggravated assault, has resulted in an artificial crime wave. What you find out about aggravated assault and assault since the mid-1980s, quite independent of whether youth behavior has been changing, police behavior has been changing significantly." The inference is that "police have been reducing the threshold of what constitutes assault and aggravated assault, reflecting the apparent increase in crime."

Zimring et al reported "Since 1980 arrest rates for ages 13-17 showed no significant trend for rape and robbery, and have actually gone down since about 1993. Homicide arrest rates for ages 13-17 showed a sharp increase during the interval from 1984 to 1992, then fell by a third by 1996. In 1997 the decrease was 16 percent.

To prepare for the imagined "storm of juvenile violence," states like Georgia pasted laws lowering the age at which juveniles can be tried as adults. As of June 30, 1998, 2,300 youthful offenders have been subject to this law (Senate Bill 440). Young people have been pencil whipped into lower and stricter categories of criminality. Hence the need for more prisons.

The Dark Knight/White Ninja/Zorro is preparing for the holidays. He is being especially good at home and school. The Dark One/Ninja/Zorro is nobody's fool.

DISH-ing It Up Hot!

by Dot Smith

Within walking distance from where I grew up in south Memphis, there is a golf course. Back in the fifties and sixties, its lovingly manicured greens were off limits to the black community. Convenient to downtown Memphis, it was an idyllic spot with fairways and clubhouse nestled in a wooded lot complete with a duck pond, hiking trails, archery range and gazebo. Back then, no questions were asked, if a black man got shot trespassing on private greens, maintained with tax dollars.

"Golf Course Shooting Sign of Disparity" by Rheta Grimsley Johnson (AJC 12/14/98) reminded me of that Memphis golf course and the park preserved for whites only. The sign of disparity Grimsley-Johnson sees is an age old one. Thirty or forty years ago, black kids trespassed on golf courses like Riverside in defiance, sometimes stealing golf balls or arrows to play with and/or sell to golfers. These offenses are hardly worth a life. Of course, if the news account of the kid shot in the face by a golfer is true, today's kids from poor area neighborhoods are armed, as are the golfers. Like the good old days, no questions or charges are lodged against golfers who shoot alleged robbers in the act of stealing balls, cell phones, cash or some other thing.

More important than a sign of disparity, this shooting is a sign of the times, when life means less than things.

A Work in Progress......Coming Soon

Hood Notes by LaTonya S. McNeail

Blah on Bob for Lowering the Barr...

"After reading the impeachment articles, I am surprised they are not more specific or serious. All the charges refer to sexual misconduct and lying about it, reprehensible behavior that does not warrant disregarding the popular will of the people. Most folks don't want this president impeached. Continuing sets a dangerous precedence by lowering the bar for dismissing future presidents, nullifies our vote and diminishes the office. Soon, any offense will suffice for impeachment. With a zealous independent counsel and fanatical Congress, I am amazed it took so long to get something on Clinton. No one can withstand intense scrutiny- twenty-four-seven, not even the esteemed Mr. Hyde, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Newt couldn't, nor could Barr! The action of these radicals weakens the office even more than the accused, Mr. Clinton" A.J Weems

"If a white man can be treated like Congress is treating President Clinton, imagine what they would do if Jesse Jackson was elected President? Walk right up and shot him in the Oval Office! Now we know Hindenburg's terror and why the German people were so helpless as Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power." B. Campbell - Decatur

According to the Human Rights Watch and Sentencing Project, "1.4 million blacks nationwide cannot vote because of their criminal records. Barred from the polls, disenfranchisement laws form a patchwork of regulations across the country. The District of Columbia and 46 states bar inmates from voting. Many continue the ban through any period of probation or parole. Ten states require lifetime disenfranchisement for all convicted felons. Two states require a lifetime voting ban after conviction for a second felony. Only four states permit inmates to vote: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Utah. But, that list may grow even shorter: Both Massachusetts and Utah are taking steps that would bar inmates from voting. Current policies create a huge pool of political outcasts in America." Emails The Seventh Sun and R. Ward-Atlanta

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DISH-ing It Up Hot!

On Aspartame

by Dot Smith

Fifty-five cents in coins slid down the machine's coin slot. Automatically, I pressed the Diet Coke button. The red and silver can containing the fat and calorie free soft drink fell noisily into the dispenser. Grabbing it, I wiped the top and popped the lid.

That first sip is always so refreshing. "Just for the taste of it. Diet Coke!" The commercial played in my subconscious. "I prefer the diet product to regular Coke," I explained to my luncheon companion. "There is nothing quite like a Diet Coke. I no longer drink it because it might aid in my weight loss efforts. I drink it strictly for the taste." Loyal Diet coke fans will understand and agree. Ah! That first sip is pure heaven.

"You drink it regularly?" the question pierced my pleasure. For some reason, I wanted to say no, but the truth was just the opposite. Drinking Diet Coke had become a daily habit. "You have headaches?" I wanted to say no, but I had one at the moment. The ensuing conversation proved extremely unnerving and eye-opening.

Later, I surfed the Internet for more information on the food additive that makes it possible for Diet Coke to be sweet with less than a calorie. Best known as Nutrasweet, aspartame is a sugar substitute that has been found to cause or exacerbate numerous health problems. It causes seizures and brain tumors in lab animals. It can mimic multiple sclerosis, according to research work by Dr. H. J. Roberts and others. More important, the overriding consensus among scientists and medical professionals is "aspartame is a poison." The scientific evidence is impressive and should be reviewed by everyone consuming products containing this additive.

Why did the Food and Drug Administration approve the use of this additive? According to Internet sources, an examination of the money trail in campaign financing provides the answer; this is frightening. The FDA is supposed to protect public health and welfare. However, the buyer must still beware. For more information on this food additive aspartame, visit www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/asp-com.lis.

The DISH is adding aspartame, products containing nutrasweet, such as Equal, Diet Coke, calorie free soft drinks and other products containing this additive to the ICIM list of boycotted places and things. More Hot DISHes

The Dark Knight/White Ninja/Zorro is an artist. This week he makes his first appearance in a live production. While the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro wanted the role of king of the rats, he is happy to be a rat soldier in his school play.

Black Angel

Everybody needs a Black Angel.

Sweet epiphany,

Angle your head just a li'l to the left

Let the light capture

Each finely etched stroke of genius.

Sitting in a small café in midtown

watching God at work. She held the muse,

drawing life from a gloomy palette.

Hauntingly beautiful melody caressing

My senses overwhelmed...flooding

Flowing over into art...movement

Formless like God or ecstasy... orgasmic. Organic.

Mother motion surges through my being.

It's a Black Angel humming Sade in a small café,

Sipping a cup of Deja vu

It's a Black Angel finding her Shelf Expression.

She is the paint of night

Dancing naked in a moonlit forest

Frosty breath of whirling mystery across Black ice.

Not afraid to fall for we fly. My Black Angel.

Delicate hand and eye made thee curiously soft.

Like pink blooming in midnight blue,

You tempt my wanting

Deeper meaning seduces my sleep

And I dream of art and Black Angels.

Ghostly reflections linger in smoke

Like ice in my soul. Shivering...

Feeling fingers shape and mold like jazz.

Pushing into my flesh...Rushing through my mind.

A violin soulfully crying. I am moved.

Disgruntled wants to know: Who are those characters jogging in the neighborhood? Are they really agents, i.e., FBI, CIA, etc?

Disgruntled feels: Winter in the air.

Disgruntled says: Since older men have been having sex with younger women for centuries, no one should be shocked or appalled that Bill did some sexual things with a young intern.

Governor, State of Mississippi

Sir:

Two weeks ago on November 14, 1998, Yohannes Sharriff Smith, author of T.H.I.N.C. (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution, performed in your state at a gathering in Columbus. The Dismukes family celebrated the return of its prodigal son, Robert. Tour manager for the "Brothers' Unlimited Band, "Captain Black brings his considerable experience to Yohannes' road show." This stopover gave Yohannes an opportunity to hang out and vibe with some extreme young brothers and sisters, while rocking a righteous message of personal responsibility.

The downside of this visit slammed us like a wraith from the 1930s, when Yohannes asked about performing for kids at a local shelter for troubled youth and orphans: the Palmer Home. He was taken aback by a young sister's jolting revelation, "They won't let you in that place. They don't admit black kids. They ain't never gonna let no black kids live there. I don't believe they have any black employees, either." Inquiring further, several adults confirmed the astute young sister's shocking statement. Currently, it is politically correct to speak of how far Mississippi has come in dealing with its racial problems, and how the state is a part of the new South. In reality, black people in Columbus have not experienced this change. Prime facie evidence indicates, there are certainly plenty of qualified young blacks to fill any vacancy at the Palmer Home as guests or clients.

This remaining vestige of segregation in 1998 affirms the state's commitment to the separate but equal philosophy blacks have endured since Reconstruction ended. Charity is the truest expression of love, and knows no color. In Luke 18:16, Jesus said "Suffer little children come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." If Mississippi is still a part of the United States of America, how can your state care for white children and allow black children to live on the streets?

Republicans are touting the Bushsonian politics emerging in the South, as the road to the White House in 2000. This so-called compassionate conservatism seems to be all show and no dough. On the stump, it is easy to proclaim a new frontier in race relations, but something else entirely to bring about real change. Republicans took over governors' mansions using the same tact as Republicans in Congress. Even though Republican governors have done little to change the everyday existence of black and poor people, the media is heralding junior as savior. An objective glance shows Texas as a state which house's children in the same prisons as adults, and which showed absolutely no compassion in executing Carla Faye Tucker. Do Americans want a President willing to execute human beings, simply to make political points with conservatives by showing he is tough on crime? The question here is, can we trust his finger on the nuclear trigger?

It is true; governors are closer to the people. Therefore, they have a great impact on their daily lives. Consequently, a lack of gubernatorial vigilance has perpetuated institutionalized racism. The taproot of segregation drew its nourishment through the state being the enforcement agency. The State of Mississippi was an active participant in denying blacks constitutional rights, and in its fight to preserve segregation, it never dismantled its enforcement apparatus. It has not put the effort and resources into ending segregation it put into enforcing it.

Today, the same denial continues. Justice demands all vestiges of de-facto segregation be rooted out immediately, starting with Palmer Home. Citizen action in Georgia brought about a federal investigation of its juvenile justice system. That investigation uncovered many of the same horror stories parents and friends say inmates are experiencing in Mississippi. African Americans have paid taxes as white Mississippians, and they demand the same benefits and protections. Whether the new Republican slogan rings hollow, or true, African Americans judge performance daily. The Bushsonains will have to ante up or follow Newt. I await your timely response regarding the resolution of this unfair and unequal situation.

Sincerely, John Burl Smith T.H.I.N.C.

Hood Notes by LaTonya S. McNeail

From the neighborhood salon to the night life, Ms. McNeail will give us a bird-eye's view of what we are doing in the hood both day and night.

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Venue for A Poet

Intuit Creative Ideas Manifested, Inc.(ICIM) was conceived by Yohannes Sharriff Smith as a much needed venue for struggling young artists, like himself. This week THE DISH spotlights a young poet named Desherick Jamaal Williams. A fourteen years old freshman at The Colony High School where he plays defensive tackle, he is known as "DJ" in his hometown of The Colony, Texas. An active member in the Youth Choir and Royal Ambassadors at the Friendship Baptist Church, the Colony African American Association, Youth Alive and BPA-Business Professionals of America, Desherick still sports a 3.4. grade point average in school. Not just a bookworm or nerd, DJ enjoys exploring African American history, but poetry is his first love. He plans to pursue a Mechanical Engineering and/or Law degree at Howard University.

From A Comforting Secret Admirer

by D. J. Williams-Boone

Beautiful black woman weep no more,

For I've come to take the pain away,

And to massage a heart that's sore.

Oh daughter of Ethiopia, I grovel at your feet,

I kiss the ground you walk on,

Hoping and knowing that someday we will meet.

Your every wish is my command.

My desire is to please,

Just lift up your eyes and you will see me

Down on bended knees.

Let me hold you, and kiss your tears away,

For I know, if we walk together,

We'll soon face a brighter day.

Queen of Africa, who started as a piece of coal,

Now you are a diamond, beautiful, bright, and bold.

Let me make all your dreams come true, I surely could,

Relax if you will and let me do all I should:

Comfort you and ease your fears,

All this as I drink a stream of tears.

Precious gemstone, whom Africa bore,

I can rebuild your heart, then I'll gently whisper:

"Beautiful Black Woman, weep no more."

To Mama, Love DJ

A mother's response: "After reading this I wondered, is he seeing sadness and grief in me when I'm trying to hide it? Does he always hear me when I cry, does he see my fears, is he sensing all this? I try to always be upbeat and smiling not letting DJ and my daughter, Bridgette, know my trials. I thought I was doing a good job of shielding them from my hurt and pain, but it seems like he sees through it all."

Disgruntled says: The Underground Railroad, slave uprisings, revolts and runaways are anomalies in the happy slave theory being espoused by Sons of the Confederate Veterans.

Disgruntled feels: Postpartum - the wrath of motherhood.

Disgruntled wants to know: Given children are a blessing, but good God Almighty, how can one have thirteen of them naturally, on a minuscule income and still maintain some tie to sanity?

Assistant Attorney General

As your first year draws to a close, the nation watches with admiration and waits patiently for the new Congress to remove the asterisk. Americans are grateful for your steadfast pursuit of justice, and a thankful nation salutes your efforts in bringing some culprits before the bar. Your performance has rekindled hope "America may yet live out its true creed, and in the words of that old Negro spiritual be free at last. Free at last."

That is the American dream, but as you know all to well, that dream is a nightmare for too many American families. As one such family, I approach your office requesting guidance on an issue of fairness and equal justice. To wit, Public Law 103-3 Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted to give employees certain rights. If any employee in America enjoy those rights, all employees in America should enjoy them. To deny some employees those protections simply because they are employees of the federal government is unfair and denies equal justice under the law. Two cases in point, docket number AT-0752-98-0193-1-1 and AT-0752-97-1017-1-1 illustrate the catch-22 Public Law 103-3 affords the federal government in its unfair and unequal treatment and subsequent firing of employees for taking time away from the job for health reasons.

Both were career employees with excellent records as manager, when their health problems became apparent. Both were denied all leave options, summarily ordered back to work, threaten with loss of employment, if they did not return immediately, and fired when they did not respond as ordered. Although the United States Postal Service and Internal Revenue Service are covered by FMLA, the United States of America's Merit System Protection Board supported these Agencies' violation of Public Law 103-3. In case AT-0752-97-1017-1-1, the Merit System Protection Board sanctioned IRS behavior your agency routinely prosecutes in the private sector. Under such circumstances, if the federal government is free to disregard the mandate and the rigors of Public Law 103-3, what good is FMLA to federal employees with health problems?

Regarding FMLA practices, the United States Postal Service uses a double standard. On the one hand, it trains its managers about Public Law 103-3, but then allows them to apply their own rules when it comes to granting FMLA. This fact is illustrated most forcefully in AT-0752-98-0193-1-1. Here the Agency was allowed to get off without addressing its lack of a procedure for processing employees' request for FMLA. It did not have to admit it has no appeal procedure, if employees feel their request was not handled properly, or denied unjustly. Moreover, the Merit System Protection Board erred in finding the Agency acted properly, agreeing that the Agency had the right to bludgeon employees with the threat of firing to force sick employees to return to work. Furthermore, the Board agreed that, the Agency had the right to deny an employee access to any leave, even though the employee made a legal request for leave.

The judge joined in the browbeating by trying to force a settlement. He ridiculed the plaintiff's efforts to meet the Agency's demands. (29 U.S.C. Section 2611 et. seq.) By rejecting the plaintiff's choice of healing as nontraditional, therefore unacceptable, the court took on the mantle of physician. Even more frightening is the court's opinion that citizens are incapable of making good decisions about their health. More important, the supported the notion, only some state sanctioned medical facility is capable of making such decisions. Finally, both employees filed EEO complaints with the in-house process that supposedly gives employees an advocate. In reality, these units function as arms of management and do not work in the employees' behalf. They are like black holes; complaints go in and are never seen again. There is no follow-up process, once the complaint is filed. My wife and I have been waiting to hear something, anything from any body about our complaints. I am directing my inquiry to you in the hope that there is some place we have not tried. What are citizens to do, when they are up against the awesome power of the government? When the system is closed, where do citizens go?

The overriding point of this request for assistance is to clarify whether rights ascribed in Public Law 103-3 are legally binding on the federal government? Further, as the law of the land, are employers liable for willful violations of the intent of Congress? Working class Americans need to know, if they take time off from work for health reasons or to care for a loved one, are employers legally bound to obey the law as set forth in Public Law 103-3 FMLA? Families need guidance from your office and Congress, as to what was the intent of the Law. Thank you. John Burl Smith

Just a Footnote in History

"A few weeks ago, I ran across this brief article, little more than a footnote, on the potential merger of Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust, the eighth largest American bank. If allowed to take place, the merger will create a global financial powerhouse.

Will this marriage place the U.S. money supply outside domestic control? How does that benefit us? Is this an insecure position for America? This country is not immune to the financial exuberance which led to Japan and Southeast Asia's economic meltdown. More important, the global nature of today's mergers and acquisitions make the nation substantially more vulnerable to the whims of financial markets.

Whether domestic or foreign, mergers and acquisitions among banks and other financial institutions should generate more concern than a footnote. If allowed to continue, before you know it, a company will run the world. While I am not so sure this would be much worse than current conditions, I shudder to think, what if the enterprise is guided by a pure profit motive? Then, I imagine more of us are in for troublesome times ahead." A. Harris

Hit and Run Over in Metro Atlanta

"If you read the newspaper, you have probably been following Atlanta's hit and runs. The statistics surprised me; less than thirty (30) people have died so far this year. Granted, one such death is too many. However, the media would have us believe someone is hit and killed weekly, if not daily in the metropolitan area; hit and runs stay in the news.

Violent crimes may be down, but the news reporting overkill makes Atlanta's "mean streets" seem even meaner. Beyond violence reporting, could hit and runs be another form of hate crime being perpetrated in the streets of the city too busy to hate?" L. Sims

by Dot Smith

Two recent incidences reported in the local media provide object lessons that reinforce the T.H.I.N.C. assertion that "black hair is one of those areas in which conditioned subordinate psychology(CSP) plays a large role in the negative image and subsequent hang ups African Americans have about their hair." These incidents are perfect examples of the black hair inferiority complex (BHIC).

Like the black hangup about reading, BHIC goes back to slavery. What blacks were taught about their hair came from slave masters, especially in the South. Blacks were conditioned to believe their tightly curled hair was "nappy," unlike the straight tresses of the master. Black hair is nappy hair; nappy hair is, therefore, bad hair! African Americans are so uptight about hair that "nappy" is a fighting word in the black community.

In an incident involving Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), a debutante's invitation to the black sorority ball was rescinded; she planned to wear her hair in dreads down her back, rather than piled atop her head. How superficial! Black organizations, like fraternities and sororities, tend to deny rather than embrace their natural heritage. For them, it is all about imitation to achieve assimilation. No one is surprised these artificial highbrows would make it publicly known dreads are unacceptable at one of their glitzy gatherings. For such affairs, black hair must be pressed or chemically treated into obedience.

The other incident involved a furor over a book. (AJC 11/25/98, B2). "Nappy Hair" by Carolivia Herron caused an uproar among parents when a white Brooklyn, NY teacher tried to use the book to impart some self-esteem to her African American and Hispanic students. I wonder would the parents have reacted differently had the teacher been black? Probably not. Most of the parents shouting this book down probably never read the book to know its message, or care. A charge of "nappy hair" is a call to arms.

These incidences reminded me of a family hair story. I suppose, most African American families have a similar story. I dubbed mine Rare Hurry; it is about one of my older brothers, a member of the Honey Bun Bandits, one of Ada's baker's dozen, Booker T. We call him Book for short, a really busy body who walked before he crawled. As a child, my elder siblings teased him about his hair. It was generally agreed that Book had the worst hair in the house. Cropped short, his tight locks were often the brunt of jokes. Family legend has it that Book's locks resisted every effort to tame them. No amount of combing and brushing could keep the course scruffy locks from rolling up into curls so tight, some family members called them buck shots or cuckerbugs.

According to the legend, Book became boastful and bragged about his good hair after a visitor to the family farm persuaded him he had a rare special kind of hair. The man called it rare hurry. As they rolled from the stranger's tongue, those words were music to the young boy's ears. A lad of four at the time, Book loved the sound. No one could convince him rare hurry was not complimentary. Explanations about naps racing from the comb to hurry back to the scalp did not penetrate Book's euphoria about his special hair.

Though he later understood what rare hurry really meant, and cried about it, for a while, Book felt pride in his special hair. The stranger did what the white teacher tried to do, change Book's perception of his hair. Too bad his world would not allow him to hold on to it. Today, Book still has a hair complex. He keeps his course hair cut short, fearing what his hair would be like, if he dared allow it to grow out. Strangely, Book still loves the sound of rare hurry. I guess; most black folks love the sound of rare hurry, too, because they are in a powerful rush to change the natural state of their hair. More Hot DISHes

The Dark One/White Ninja needed a break after his holiday. The Dark Knight/Ninja will return next week.

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Letter to: Mr. Bill Lan Lee

Assistant Attorney General

As your second year draws to a close, the nation watches with admiration and waits patiently for the new Congress to remove the asterisk. Americans are grateful for your steadfast pursuit of justice, and a thankful nation salutes your efforts in bringing some culprits before the bar. Your performance has rekindled hope "America may yet live out its true creed, and in the words of that old Negro spiritual be free at last. Free at last."

That is the American dream, but as you know all to well, that dream is a nightmare for too many American families. As one such family, I approach your office requesting guidance on an issue of fairness and equal justice. To wit, Public Law 103-3 Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted to give employees certain rights. If any employee in America enjoy those rights, all employees in America should enjoy them. To deny some employees those protections simply because they are employees of the federal government is unfair and denies equal justice under the law. Two cases in point, docket number AT-0752-98-0193-1-1 and AT-0752-97-1017-1-1 illustrate the catch-22 Public Law 103-3 affords the federal government in its unfair and unequal treatment and subsequent firing of employees for taking time away from the job for health reasons.

Both were career employees with excellent records as manager, when their health problems became apparent. Both were denied all leave options, summarily ordered back to work, threaten with lost of employment, if they did not return immediately, and fired when they did not respond as ordered. Although the United States Postal Service and Internal Revenue Service are covered by FMLA, the United States of America Merit System Protection Board supported these Agencies' violation of Public Law 103-3. In case AT-0752-97-1017-1-1, the Merit System Protection Board sanctioned IRS behavior your agency routinely prosecutes in the private sector. Under such circumstances, if the federal government is free to disregard the mandate and the rigors of Public Law 103-3, what good is FMLA to federal employees with health problems?

Regarding FMLA practices, the United States Postal Service uses a double standard. On the one hand, it trains its managers about Public Law 103-3, but then allows them to apply their own rules when it comes to granting FMLA. This fact is illustrated most forcefully in AT-0752-98-0193-1-1. Here the Agency was allowed to get off without addressing its lack of a procedure for processing employees' request for FMLA. It did not have to admit it has no appeal procedure, if employees feel their request was not handled properly, or denied unjustly. Moreover, the Merit System Protection Board errored in finding the Agency acted properly, agreeing that the Agency had the right to bludgeon employees with the threat of firing to force sick employees to return to work. Furthermore, the Board agreed that, the Agency had the right to deny an employee access to any leave, even though the employee made a legal request for leave.

The judge joined in the browbeating by trying to force a settlement. He ridiculed the plaintiff's efforts to meet the Agency's demands. (29 U.S.C. Section 2611 et. seq.) By rejecting the plaintiff's choice of healing as nontraditional, therefore unacceptable, the court took on the mantle of physician. Even more frightening is the court's opinion that citizens are incapable of making good decisions about their health. More important, only some state sanctioned medical facility is capable of making such decisions.

Finally, both employees filed EEO complaints with the in-house process that supposedly gives employees an advocate. In reality, the units function as arms of management and do not work in the employees' behalf. They are like black holes; complaints go in and are never seen again. There is no follow-up process, once the complaint is filed. My wife and I have been waiting to hear something, anything from any body about our complaints. I am directing my inquiry to you in the hope that there is some place we have not tried. What are citizens to do, when they are up against the awesome power of the government? When the system is closed, where do citizens go?

The overriding point of this request for assistance is to clarify whether rights ascribed in Public Law 103-3 are legally binding on the federal government? Further, as the law of the land, are employers liable for willful violations of the intent of Congress? Working class Americans need to know, if they take time off from work for health reasons or to care for a loved one, employers are not legally bound to obey the law as set forth in Public Law 103-3 FMLA. Families need guidance from your office and Congress, as to what was the intended intent of the Law. Thank you. John Burl Smith

Disgruntled says: The Underground Railroad, slave uprisings, revolts and runaways are anomalies in the happy slave theory being espoused by Sons of the Confederate Veterans.

Disgruntled feels: Postpartum - the wrath of motherhood.

Disgruntled wants to know: Given children are blessings, but good God Almighty, how can one have thirteen of 'em naturally, on a minuscule income and still maintain some tie to sanity?

"A few weeks ago, I ran across this brief article, little more than a footnote, on the potential merger of Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust, the eighth largest American bank. If allowed to take place, the merger will create a global financial powerhouse.

Will this marriage place the U.S. money supply outside domestic control? How does that benefit us? Is this an insecure position for America? This country is not immune to the financial exuberance which led to Japan and Southeast Asia's economic meltdown. More important, the global nature of today's mergers and acquisitions make the nation substantially more vulnerable to the whims of financial markets.

Whether domestic or foreign, mergers and acquisitions among banks and other financial institutions should generate more concern than a footnote. If allowed to continue, before you know it, the world will be run by a company. While I am not so sure this would be much worse that current conditions, I shudder to think, what if the enterprise is guided by a pure profit motive? Then, I imagine more of us are in for troublesome times ahead.

If you read the newspaper, you have probably been following Atlanta's hit and runs. The statistics surprised me; less than thirty (30) people have died so far this year. Granted, one such death is too many. However, the media would have us believe someone is hit and killed weekly, if not daily in the metropolitan area; hit and runs stay in the news.

Violent crimes may be down, but the news reporting overkill makes Atlanta's "mean streets" seem even meaner. Beyond violence reporting, could hit and runs be another form of hate crime being perpetrated in the streets of the city too busy to hate?

 Intuit's Weekly Vibe

Venue For A Poet

Intuit Creative Ideas Manifested, Inc.(ICIM) was conceived by Yohannes Sharriff Smith as a much needed venue for struggling young artists, like himself. This week THE DISH spotlights a young poet named Desherick Jamaal Williams. A fourteen year old freshmen, at The Colony High School where he plays defensive tackle, he is known as "JD" in his hometown, The Colony, Texas. An active member in the Youth Choir and Royal Ambassadors at the Friendship Baptist Church, The Colony African American Association, Youth Alive, and BPA-Business Professionals of America, Desherick still sports a 3.4. grade point average in school. Not just a bookworm or nerd, JD enjoys exploring African American history, but poetry is his first love. He plans to pursue a Mechanical Engineering and/or Law degree at Howard University.

by D. J. Williams-Boone

Beautiful black woman weep no more,

For I've come to take the pain away,

And to massage a heart that's sore.

Oh daughter of Ethiopia, I grovel at your feet,

I kiss the ground you walk on,

Hoping and knowing that someday we will meet.

Your every wish is my command and my desire is to please,

Just lift up your eyes and you will see me down on bended knees.

Let me hold you, and kiss your tears away,

For I know if we walk together

We'll soon face a brighter day.

Queen of Africa, who started as a piece of coal,

Now you are a diamond, beautiful, bright, and bold.

Let me make all your dreams come true, I surly could,

Relax if you will and let me do all I should,

Comfort you and ease your fears,

All this as I drink a stream of tears.

Precious gemstone, whom Africa bore,

I can rebuild your heart, then I'll gently whisper:

"Beautiful Black Woman, Weep on More."

To Mama, Love DJ

Mom's response:

"After reading this I wondered, is he seeing sadness and grief in me when I'm trying to hide it? Does he always hear me when I cry, does he see my fears, is he sensing all this? I try to always be upbeat and smiling not letting DJ and my daughter Bridgette know my trials. I thought I was doing a good job of shielding them from my hurt and pain, but it seems like he sees through it all."

by Dot Smith

Two recent incidences reported in the local media provide object lessons that reinforce the T.H.I.N.C. assertion that "black hair is one of those areas in which conditioned subordinate psychology(CSP) plays a large role in the negative image and subsequent hang ups African Americans have about their hair." These incidents are perfect examples of the black hair inferiority complex (BHIC).

Like the black hangup about reading, BHIC goes back to slavery. What blacks were taught about their hair came from slave masters, especially in the South. Blacks were conditioned to believe their tightly curled hair was "nappy," unlike the straight tresses of the master. Black hair is nappy hair; nappy hair is, therefore, bad hair! African Americans are so uptight about hair that "nappy" is a fighting word in the black community.

In an incident involving Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), a debutante's invitation to the black sorority ball was rescinded; she planned to wear her hair in dreads down her back, rather than piled atop her head. How superficial! Black organizations, like fraternities and sororities, tend to deny rather than embrace their natural heritage. For them, it is all about imitation to achieve assimilation. No one is surprised these artificial highbrows would make it publicly known dreads are unacceptable at one of their glitzy gatherings. For such affairs, black hair must be pressed or chemically treated into obedience.

The other incident involved a furor over a book. (AJC 11/25/98, B2). "Nappy Hair" by Carolivia Herron caused an uproar among parents when a white Brooklyn, NY teacher tried to use the book to impart some self-esteem to her African American and Hispanic students. I wonder would the parents have reacted differently had the teacher been black? Probably not. Most of the parents shouting this book down probably never read the book to know its message, or care. A charge of "nappy hair" is a call to arms.

These incidences reminded me of a family hair story. I suppose most African American families have a similar story. I dubbed mine Rare Hurry; it is about one of my older brothers, a member of the Honey Bun Bandits, one of Ada's baker's dozen, Booker T. We call him Book for short, a really busy body who walked before he crawled. As a child, my elder siblings teased him about his hair. It was generally agreed by everybody that Book had the worst hair in the house. Cropped short, his tight locks were often the brunt jokes. Family legend has it that Book's locks resisted every effort to tame them. No amount of combing and brushing could keep the course scruffy locks from rolling up into curls so tight, some family members called them buck shots or cuckerbugs.

According to the legend, Book became boastful and bragged about his good hair after a visitor to the family farm persuaded him he had a rare special kind of hair. The man called it rare hurry. As they rolled from the stranger's tongue, those words were music to the young boy's ears. A lad of four at the time, Book loved the sound. No one could convince him rare hurry was not complimentary. Explanations about naps racing from the comb to hurry back to the scalp did not penetrate Book's euphoria about his special hair.

Though he later understood what rare hurry really meant, and cried about it, for a while, Book felt pride in his special hair. The stranger did what the white teacher tried to do, change Book's perception of his hair. Too bad his world would not allow him to hold on to it. Today, Book still has a hair complex. He keeps his course hair cut short, fearing what his hair would be like, if he dared allow it to grow out. Strangely, Book still loves the sound of rare hurry. I guess, most black folks love the sound of rare hurry, too, because they are in a powerful rush to change the natural state of their hair.

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Volume 1 Issue 45

The Dark One/White Ninja decided to walk home from school, when his ride failed to show up at the appointed time. The Dark Knight/Ninja is not one for standing around waiting, especially when there are things to do!

Disgruntled says: With Tripp tripping and taping and Monica tramping, everybody got tricked. With friends like Tripp, who needs the police or a private dick.

Disgruntled wants to know: What happened to the good old days when we used to meet and greet our neighbors? Communities are so divided today, people don't know who their neighbors are.

by Dot Smith

Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, the Al Stewart Foundation is headed by its namesake, a.k.a., King Mosupatela Tyehimba. Though he officially changed his name, Al Stewart still answers to the name of his birth. With offices in places like Sierra Leone and the Republic of Guinea, the foundation is recognized internationally for its humanitarian philanthropy.

Much has been written about the foundation, as well as its founder and enigmatic leader. Described as a one time playboy turned homeless, Al Stewart changed his life by helping others obtain the basic necessities of survival, food, clothing, shelter and medicine. According to various biographical sketches published in local magazines, after his military service, Dr. Stewart hobnobbed with the Hollywood jet set, before returning to St. Louis, MO, his birthplace. In Hollywood, Stewart took advantage of a skill acquired in the military to become a successful photographer and sought after public relations man. From Hollywood to his hometown, the PR hotshot enjoyed financial success. He spent a brief period in Gary, IN before succumbing in the early '80s to the encouragement of friends and business associates to move to the Black Mecca. Recognized as a hotbed of economic prosperity for African Americans, Atlanta, GA beckoned, and Stewart came expecting to continue his prosperous jet set lifestyle; it never happened. A series of unfortunate incidents that included a house fire eventually led to Stewart becoming an Atlanta homeless.

In the process of changing his situation, Stewart found his life's mission. Since 1983, Al Stewart has been helping others do likewise and making a real difference for those thrown away by society. Today, though Stewart is not a "Grady baby", he considers Atlanta home. Based on the numerous awards, certificates and proclamations issued by city officials over the years honoring Dr. Stewart, Atlanta is proud to call him one of its own.

Voluminous press clippings and memorabilia though fail to capture the large heart and essence of Al Stewart, world citizen extra ordinaire. Called "Doc" by many, Stewart "holds an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the Technical Institute of Biblical Studies." Though he is no reverend, Stewart ministers to many as a "servant of the people." His signature outfit is a modified waiter's uniform of white shirt and dark trousers.

"Servant of the people, "does not do Dr. Stewart justice either, nor does it convey a complete picture of the complex individual. Stewart comes across initially as an ordinary guy. And, in so many ways he is just like you or me. In conversing with him, it is obvious his life has been blessed with some extraordinary experiences and opportunities. Certainly, those experiences, coupled with his passion for art and his desire to help others makes Stewart a radical in an era of "dog eat dog" capitalism.

Stewart is a real character, someone hard to figure. He has done and been involved in so many activities over the years, his life story is to say the least "unbelievable." For example, according to "Doc," the ring he wears on a right finger that resembles a human eye is really one of "Sammy Davis' many glass eyes." Dr. Stewart readily admits he has told others something entirely different, something he hoped would "impress" them.

An avid conversationalist, Stewart does not mind making people think twice and defend their position on any issue. His mission is to get things done, and sometimes you have to get people to talking about a problem before anything is accomplished, especially when you are working to improve conditions for people on the grassroots level. Many of those lively conversations occur around Stewart's breakfast table where local politicians gather to share coffee, a meal and stimulating conversation about local, national and international issues. The public is invited to break bread and join the discussions on current topics from the arts to politics.

Without question a controversial figure, Al Stewart's life emulates that of Jesus Christ, a true radical, helping the poor and downtrodden. Having been born into an impoverished family, Dr. Stewart is intimately acquainted with the vagaries of poverty. Today, Stewart feeds many of those who daily make their way to his table at the Institute of Christian World's (ICW) soup kitchen at 19 Ashby Street over in the West End. In addition to providing hot meals, Stewart's ministry provides clothing, shelter and spiritual nourishment through its nondenominational temple.

Dr. Stewart's attitude about life, himself and the world around him make him a unique and interesting individual. While he is no longer homeless, he is by no means wealthy, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Though his means are modest, Stewart still provides the basic necessities of food, clothing, shelter and medicine for numerous poor and homeless in the metro Atlanta area. To do so, "Doc" wears many hats, i.e., entrepreneur, publisher, teacher, minister, mediator, etc.

So, who is Al Stewart? Like all of us, Stewart is a work in progress (AWIP). The Creator blessed each of us with some special talent (s) or gift (s). Al Stewart is blessed with many abilities that he continuously cultivates. He is always learning something new or taking on a new project that will allow him to reach out and help even more people. His evolution has helped and continues to aid so many in the world community.

In the arts, without question, his ability to capture poignant life moments makes him a gifted photo artist. Dr. Stewart's photography provides the main stay of his personal survival and the roots of his good work helping to provide for others. "Photography helps pay the bills," is how Dr. Stewart sees his gift. He is also a writer, editor and publisher with several local literary efforts to his credit. Stewart is currently publishing People, Going Places, Doing Things. The bi-weekly newspaper highlights the positive achievement of African-Americans. King Tyehimba uses all his gifts in service to others. As he serves, he evolves. His gifts are enhanced or magnified in the process. This Dr. Stewart believes, and it is why today he is recognized internationally as a philanthropic humanitarian. For Atlanta's homeless and thrown away, as well as those in several African countries, Tyehimba's evolution is our blessing.

Operating on a shoestring budget, the Al Stewart Foundation is always in need of assistance in serving the people. If you would like to volunteer and/or make a monetary tax-deductible contribution, please call today at 404-688-2294. More Hot DISHes

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

Family,

A most scared word in the English language,

An institution where one can find love and support.

When the world's ways have left too deep a wound,

And, material wealth has escaped you

Seek haven with those who love you most.

If lost, look into our eyes to find your reflection.

No guises required. Come as you are.

Family loves because, not in spite of.

Home is a state of being,

An emotional warmth filled with tenderness

Safety, peace and overstanding.

With my family, I am home.

"I enjoy receiving your newsletter every week. Don't know how I ended up on the mailing list -- but I appreciate the fact that I am. I have a question for you -- a multi-part question -- and it greatly concerns the idea of the dialogue on race.

My wife and I are in the beginning stages of adoption proceedings. One of the options we have discussed is adopting a child from overseas (probably Asian), or from South America. Another option is domestic --and, one of the agencies we have contacted lists children of color (African, Asian, Hispanic, etc...) as "special needs" children. These "special needs" children are both "cheaper" and more readily available.

My question is this -- do you have an opinion on whether a predominantly white couple could "successfully" raise one of these children? I'm not asking out of ignorance. I'm not asking as a white man feeling guilty, and wanting to help out a "poor, underprivileged" child. I'm not asking as a person interested in saving money on my adoption. I'm asking because I've heard arguments on both sides of the issue. These arguments are going to play a role in how we go about adopting our child -- and how that child is raised.

Please -- if you have an opinion, I would appreciate your sharing it with me. I hope I haven't come across sounding like a complete idiot. Thanks for your time." email- Keith

"The DISH should do a kudo box to Tom Teepen for peeping the truth on disenfranishment and the detriment it does to the individual and society. His "Denying Ex-cons the Vote No Way to Rehabilitate." Atlanta Journal Constitution 11/1/98 is on the money. Where is the conversation on this important issue. It's racial!" E-mail - A. Ramey..

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by John Burl Smith

When one considers the amount of knowledge that can be assimilated in a relatively short time frame, it is amazing. However, an even more startling realization is that human beings are capable of retaining esoteric information in memory, and associating it unpredictably with seemingly unrelated situations in very generalized and speculative ways. The fruit this thesis bears strengthens claims that some totally new dynamics were at work in last week's midterm elections. Retrospectively, sometimes a portal to the future provides a reflection from the past that reveals its relevance to the present.

For instance, on April 4, 1968, the Invaders meet with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Loraine Motel to discuss tactical support for the sanitation workers' strike and march. Dr. King laid out his strategy for Memphis and implored us to join the "Poor Peoples March" to Washington D. C. later that summer. He envisioned the Invaders spearheading an effort to link black power groups across America into a support network. Black militant groups were needed to supply field workers to help organize and mobilize for the "Poor Peoples Campaign."

Years later, in 1977, while taking a political science course taught by long time west Tennessee Democratic strategist John Spence at Shelby State Community College in Memphis, the significance of Dr. King's "Poor Peoples Campaign" blossomed. Professor Spence's lectures examined the dynamics of power relationships. Developed during the Cold War, the balance of power model applied to a bipolar versus a multi-polar world in framing its parameters. The antithetical balance of power paradigm dictated an American foreign and domestic policy status quo steeped in a bipolar world.

Multi-polar dynamics was the goal Dr. King envisioned for the "Poor Peoples Campaign." His strategy was to build coalitions among blacks, poor whites, native Americans, Hispanics, women, labor and other groups mired in poverty. He planned to galvanize them around welfare, political and economic rights. Dr. King hoped to change the relationship between this class and the powers that be. He theorized, by bringing large numbers of poor together in Washington D.C., these constituencies would not only offer a show of force, but engage one another face-to-face on an individual level. Dr. King believed such dynamic interactions would debunk the balance of power theory which pitted these groups against one another to maintain political and economic power in America.

That assassins' bullet not only cut down a mighty tree, it left the fruit rotting in the field. The Invaders commitment to Dr. King's strategy of a multi-polar world required forging a totally new ideological and methodological approach. The Invaders' needed a completely new philosophy to determine true needs, and a totally new psychology for satisfying those needs. Like a horticulturist's worst nightmare, the seeds of today's new political dynamics germinated in rock hard ground, however, the soil was made fertile by his blood. As Dr. King's strategy predicted, the symbiotic relationships developed during the "Poor Peoples Campaign" matured allowing issues such as welfare, political and economic equality to be pursued as coalition goals. This shift mitigated other narrowly focused competing interests. Hence the new political dynamics.

A recent movie, "The Long Kiss Goodnight," presents a surreal relationship between Gena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. In caricature, their relationship reflects America's political and economic dilemma, while pointing out the difficulty in changing cold war dynamics. Under such circumstances, as Dr. King saw it, alone one will never succeed. So, it is with these intrepid heroes. The need to commit to one another fortified the demand to commit to something greater than the individual, if they hoped to foil their well- funded and very powerful adversary. In very real terms, the last election proved it is possible for such a diverse coalition to commit to something greater than self- interest. The true test of consolidating political power is whether or not they can commit to each other, so that all groups share power equally?

The Dark One/White Ninja received all good check marks on his progress report this week. The Dark Knight/Ninja responded to praise, "Gosh, it was nothing."

Disgruntled Says: When it's all said and done, the wench got punched out because she wouldn't leave me alone.

Disgruntled wants to know: How can adults, parents especially, expect children to speak well when they break verbs and otherwise butcher the language routinely?

On Protesting for Change

The DISH is all for black Americans closing the economic welfare gap created by slavery and perpetuated by racism and discrimination. Granted, the need for change is sufficient and all too evident; elsewhere The DISH has expounded ad nauseam on the economic consequences of racism and the chasm of inequality. Some black "leaders" are exalting our youth to take to the streets in protest to change this situation. Will streets protest be the strategy in the new millennium to bring about change for African Americans? There are serious consequences for protesting; this call by some black "leaders" to do so should be carefully examined.

Daring to sit in all white diners while being spit on, kicked and mistreated as youth of the sixties did burden many parents. Thanks to those valiant youth, blacks can drink from public water fountains, enter and exit buildings via the main entrance and sit anywhere on the bus. These social changes are largely window dressing in the grand scheme of things, although they did improve the quality of life. Nonetheless, relatively speaking, little real economic change has occurred since the institution of slavery.

Moreover, whether or not integration and affirmative action, by-products of protesting, provide a net socioeconomic benefit is the subject of much controversy. Obviously, any economic benefit from such gains is significantly diminished by resistance, which includes disobedience of the laws passed to redress African American grievances. Examine the impact of integration on the public school system and the full frontal attack on affirmative action for supporting evidence. Integration gave blacks the crumbing overcrowded structures attended by our children. Most often characterized by low test scores, trailer classrooms and zero tolerance, these schools function more as holding pens for the criminal justice system, rather than institutions of learning.

Arkansas and Georgia offer excellent examples of court ordered desegregation gone awry, creating systems as segregated today as before the protesting. Blacks in these states are falling even further behind. The court decrees mandating integration were met with outright resistance and white flight. Pearl High School in Little Rock is a microcosm of the trend observed in the south. The onus of integration rested entirely on black students. Our children were bused, but whites are not bused to Pearl now that the school is majority black. More important, the school system still unfairly distributes resources among its schools.

Affirmative action is under attack for reversed discrimination. The DISH assumes the posture that such remedies are interest on a debt whose principal remains outstanding. That the debt is outstanding and never discussed epitomize the nation's commitment to racial inequality. Best characterized as hypocritical, the national response to past protest and subsequent legislation illustrates the shortcomings of this approach when it comes to changing the heart and soul of a nation.

The DISH would like to offer an alternative course of action. If we learned anything from the sixties, we know our children will die and/or be crippled for life for protesting. Rather then sending our young people that route, adults working in factories, offices, schools, churches and kitchens of America need to say no to the daily acts of racism and discrimination they encounter.

Black adults must assume responsibility. Another generation of children should not be squandered for rights guaranteed them under the Constitution. A single black woman with aching feet refused to stand so a white man could have her seat; she ignited the civil rights struggle of the sixties. Blacks flexed some muscle by coming out to vote in the mid-term elections recently. When all grownups get a little Rosa backbone and take responsibility, we will ignite a true revolution. The next wave of real change will come when that happens. Black people must individually stand up for their rights and refuse to accept being treated niggardly in every arena of life. More Hot DISHes

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

We stood at the edge of forever and watched her paint

Deep torrent Atlantic blue against the rocky shore.

Mist and spray danced light in crystal air.

The sun cooperated benevolently,

Creating gentle rainbows,

Signifying our little moment in heaven.

Father rested his hand upon my shoulder

We gazed into the hereafter

Where the pale azure sky

Made love to life stirring liquid.

As they lost definition,

Forms melted into one another.

With violent passion,

That shapeless body of chaos and creation

Let its power be known.

Anxious to consume.

Congratulations to State Senator Nadine Thomas (D-10) and all the other candidates winning election and reelection to office. Perhaps, now with all the politics of electioneering aside, we can have a Senate District meeting to discuss the environmental racism in south DeKalb County without politics intervening.

At issue is the public safety and health of residents living near private and public waste facilities, in particular Seminole Landfill, an unlined dump owned and operated by DeKalb County. Funky Hood

"What is The DISH's take on Newt Gingrich stepping down on such short notice? I don't buy into that crap about him bowing out for the sake of the party. I think somebody got something on the rat and he is jumping ship before being exposed. Out of the public eye, Newt can throw stones and hide his hands. I just hope whoever got the dope on him exposes him for the fink he is anyway. I live in Cobb, but I am definitely no Newt fan. Email Abby - Marietta

"I think the recent electoral turnout just goes to show the best information is not necessarily found in the mainstream media. The DISH is to be congratulated for its insightful analysis! I look forward to the weekly installment, and I recommend it to all my friends and acquaintances." DASTOR@aol.com

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By John Burl Smith

In most cases, considering the choice between liberal verses extreme , American voters choose liberal. Accordingly, these broad labels are applicable to candidates this year.

Current Republican conservatism is a thinly veiled make-over of the southern plantation strategy developed in the antebellum south. Until the 1960s, segregation was the instrument of southern political power. As during slavery, segregationists used the tactic of creating a cloud of suspicion to isolate blacks. This wedge maneuver kept white women from viewing blacks empathetically. Conversely, it forced them to support slavery and segregation, while accepting white male domination.

By interjecting the cloud of suspicion, white men maintained control and separation of the races. The psychology justifying the suspicion is: "All niggers lie. Name one you can trust." No matter how relevant the issue, women are constrained, and do not persist beyond this point without drawing suspicion upon themselves.

Projected larger than life, efforts to impeach cast the Presidency under the same old cloud of suspicion. Essentially, Republican conservative religious zealots view breaking the bond between blacks and women as their key to political power. Strong connections developed during the civil rights movement and affirmative action efforts yielded an effective coalition. Republican extremists have always behaved antithetically toward any gains made by this group.

The Republican wedge strategies divide women on issues of sexual harassment, affirmative action, and reproductive freedom. Fractured along these lines, women lose their forceful political voice. Collaterally, their effectiveness in framing women's concerns become suspect. Trapped in such circumstances, white women accept domination. Forcing women to choose against their better interests is the key to male dominance. Retrospectively, the tragedy and suffering endured by women in Walton County, Georgia mirrors the fate of women today, if the radical Republican strategy succeeds.

Women in Walton County were dominated by a system so complete that black and white women saw each other as the enemy. Terrorized by gangs of white men, black women were raped at will, and black men who spoke out were lynched. However, pinched between confronting their husbands, who represented the law, and the truth everyone knew, white women steadfastly avoided suspicion of being "nigger lovers" by remaining silent. In Walton County at Moore's Ford in 1946, two black couples were lynched. One wife was pregnant. During slavery, white women accepted domination and looked the other way, while their husbands raped black women as a matter of economic policy.

The objective of the cloud of suspicion is to keep everyone conscious of the fact that they could become a target. Women, blacks, gays, native Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Muslims are all on the list. For these citizens, the results of Tuesday's election means conservative religious extremism will only increase. Republicans will never relinquish the philosophy which brought them to power. Extremism over all else; extremists never quit.

After Halloween, the Dark One is seriously entertaining a role change. The Dark Knight is always and forever a Work in Progress, so change is to be expected. For a while at least, he may be a white ninja; he likes the costume.

Disgruntled Says: It seems easier to get a job when you got one or you're not particularly looking for employment.

Disgruntled wants to know: How is it possible with just a grainy videotaping of an individual that the FBI can identify, make him a prime suspect, arrest and extradite him within forty-eight hours when we know what Eric Robert Rudolph looks like, where he is holed up and the FBI still cannot put a cuff on him?

Recently, someone who faces a serious childcare dilemma asked for my assistance. Without all the facts, I agreed to help the single parent. Even with some family members sporadically helping out, consistent childcare for her four year-old is required, because she works full time. The young mother's annual income is so low she qualifies for assistance from the Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS); the childcare program assists working mothers with the cost of childcare. Last year, it paid for daycare. Thanks to the lottery-funded pre-K program, this year her child attends public school, saving taxpayers and the low-income working mother the expense of daycare.

Unfortunately, she works odd hours that differ substantially from the time her child is at school, making after school care essential. In addition to a non-traditional work schedule, the young mother is a full-time student. She wants to go into nursing, but finds herself on a waiting list for the program she plans to pursue. In the meantime, she attends beauty college and hopes to one day own her own salon and be an independent businesswoman, her fallback position. She is not giving up on nursing, since she is already in the medical field. For now, she makes ends meet to provide for herself and her child with an eye on the future. In particular, this situation brought home the fact that some working parents need childcare at unusual hours.

For anyone interested, DFACS pays a maximum of $27.00 per week to an individual care provider. In order to certify, one must be fingerprinted and pass a GBI background investigation. The parent is responsible for a $24 application processing fee payable with a money order. In addition, the parent pays for the fingerprinting cost of $10.00. The DeKalb Police Department charges $5.00 per set of prints, and DFACS requires two sets.

Based on a forty-hour week, DFACS' twenty-seven dollars translate into sixty-eight cents per hour. Since the mother must pay $5.00 of that amount, DFACS values childcare at fifty-five cents per hour. In my friend's particular situation, the per hour pay is even lower, forty cents per hour, because she requires childcare sixty-six hours. With another twenty-eight dollars per week from the parent, the total payment is fifty dollars or an hourly pay to seventy-five cents.

It is amazing what little value is placed on childcare, not just by this agency and in this particular instance, but throughout our society. Teachers are still some of the lowest paid professionals in the workplace. Though it takes considerable skill, patience and tolerance to deal with groups of young people, especially small children, those who teach and tend them in America's schools and daycare centers are among the lowest paid in the labor market.

Without question, American homemakers are undervalued. Yet, their work and the contribution of other care-givers play a tremendously important role in the rearing of future generations. What is more important for any generation? Compensation for such important work should be commensurate with the awesome responsibility. More Hot DISHes

Intuit's Weekly Vibe

By Dot Smith

I love the sound of rain

It strums a soothing refrain

Against the roof and window panes

It quenches the thirst of sun scorched earth

Cleansing away dust and dirt,

From all of nature's foliage.

The air smells sweet and so refreshed.

After the rain's passage.

I love the sound of rain

Its melodic refrain,

Assures the Earth grows green again.

Mailbox: Telephone Calls, E-mail, Letters and Faxes

..."The DISH is well-written and insightful. While I do not agree with everything written in it, it sure makes you think about things a bit more. Keep me informed and on my toes. Thanks" email -.Leslie Abrams- Lawrence

"Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell is a boob. I say that, not so much in agreement with that radical Republican scandal monger Mitch Skandalakis, the scandalous sap, but because it is a matter of the Campbell administration's dismal corrupt record. However, Atlanta did not need its woes interjected and personalized in a statewide political contest in which Campbell has no bearing beyond being a voter. Mitch should get run out of Fulton County." K. S. Sims - Atlanta, GA

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 Volume 1 Issue 42

On the Absence of Falling Prices

by Dot Smith

Some time ago, The DISH boldly stated, "Even if the United States' financial markets miraculously escape negative fallout from the global financial crisis sweeping Japan, Southeast Asia and Russia, the economic slowdown should still dampen global demand enough to pull down prices." The short run DISH scenario saw American consumers enjoying relatively low prices, an anticipated response to a reduction in global demand in a competitive market economy.

With inflation in the toilet and global demand down, why are American consumers paying relatively higher prices for most goods and services? American households are burdened with double digit interest rates on homes, cars and credit card balances. Rent is up; grocery prices are not going down; ask any supermarket shopper.

The global economic structure and the size of the U.S. debt are si