[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Dot's Information Service Hotline
> "Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use"
> Visit The DISH online at www.thedish.org
> Vol. 9 No 36...Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race
> ********************************************************
>
>
>
> Table of Contents
>
>
>
> 1. Intuit's Vibe...Heroes...By C A Webb
> 2. Kudos! Kudos! "Rocky" Rocks the House
> 3. Bit of History...Alcee Lamar Hastings
> 4. Politics Y2K6...Hastings Haunts GOP
> 5. Retrospective on Heroism...By John Burl Smith
> 6. Disgruntled
> 7. Hood Notes ...End Electoral College?
> 8. Mailbox
>
>
>
> ****************************
>
>
>
> Intuit's Vibe
> Heroes
> By C A Webb
>
>
>
> A tribute to all the fearless warriors in our lives.
> Heroes don't die.
> They rest. After giving us their very best,
> we keep them alive by striving to remember
> the work they did and follow their example.
> Such is the case with Rosa Parks.
> When she fell asleep in death on October 24, 2005,
> it caused all of us to realize
> how so much of what she started remains undone.
> As influential as she was,
> I didn't know much about her.
> But as her life was reflected upon the tv,
> it became plain to see
> how big a hero this humble warrior was.
> Yes, I said a warrior. She was a leader
> who knew how to say enough is enough
> when things weren't turning out the way they should.
> Mrs. Parks, in her quiet, soft spoken way,
> was not going to be one who turned away
> when she saw others were being mistreated.
> And on that day—back in December 1, 1955—
> a simple test brought alive a moment when she said
> that no matter what her color,
> she had a right to her dignity.
> On that day the little lady started a big war
> that wasn't going away
> and is still enlisting soldiers today.
> By sitting down she stood up for herself
> and bared her weapons of live and non-violence,
> showing she was never giving up.
> And now she sleeps,
> yet we have been given our marching orders
> to keep the work she started going.
> So we must report for duty. I find it hard to believe
> that we say we respect such heroes
> when in the U.S. every nine seconds
> a woman like her is battered each day.
> Yes, the world is failing the test of humanity,
> so you see why it's so important
> to respect those like Mrs. Parks.
> Age is a gift that many abuse,
> refusing to understand the privilege
> of becoming a mature woman or man.
> Those around us that have been blessed to grow old
> should be told how much they mean to us,
> without feeling they have become a burden or tiresome load.
> I think about my grandmother, Quattie Webb,
> and how even I've failed to always show her consideration
> —no matter how much I tell her I love her.
> Yes, regardless how busy or important we think we are,
> it's never too late
> to start doing what we know to be the right thing.
> And as we proclaim ‘Let freedom ring'
> may we believe that when all of us show mutual respect.
> There is no way that we can expect anything less,
> Because we will all be heroes.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Kudos! Kudos!
> "Rocky" Rocks the House
>
>
>
> In late August, 2006, George W. Bush came to Salt Lake City, Utah.
> Protected by "free speech" zones from the sight of protestors, Bush
> delivered his terror speech before the American Legion National
> Convention. Despite Bush's anti-free speech zoning, thousands of
> protestors gathered.
>
>
>
> Perhaps, the most memorable speech that day was given by Salt Lake City
> Mayor Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson. Beginning by making the statement, "A
> patriot is a person who loves his or her country," Mayor Rocky Anderson
> unleashed a storm of criticisms of the Bush administration from its "abuse
> of power" to the "mission of lies" that led the country to war in Iraq.
> Mayor "Rocky" rocked the house by speaking truth to corrupt power! Kudos
> Rocky!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Bit of History
> Alcee Lamar Hastings
>
>
>
> Born September 5, 1936 in Altamonte Springs, Florida, where he attended
> Florida's public schools, Alcee Lamar Hastings graduated from Fisk
> University (1958). He earned his law degree from Florida A&M University in
> Tallahassee, Florida.
>
>
>
> In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed Hastings to a federal judgeship.
> Hastings became the first black to sit on the federal bench in the state
> of Florida. He served for a decade. In 1989, Hastings was impeached by
> the U.S. House of Representatives for corruption and perjury. The
> Democratic-controlled Senate convicted him of accepting a bribe in 1981 in
> exchange for a lenient sentence and perjury. Hastings became only the
> sixth judge to be impeached and removed from office by the US Senate in
> the 200 year history of the Constitution.
>
>
>
> After his removal from office, Hastings ran for Congress to represent
> Florida’s 23rd District, which includes parts of Broward, home of the
> Election 2000 hanging chad, Palm Beach, Hendry, Martin and St. Lucie
> Counties. Elected in 1992, Hastings became the first black American from
> Florida since the Civil War to win a seat in Congress.
>
>
>
> A member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Hastings is a member of the
> House Rules Committee and a senior member of the House Permanent Select
> Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). Hastings is the ranking Democratic
> member of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which has
> oversight of the programs and activities of the intelligence community
> that relate to homeland security and counter-terrorism.
>
>
>
> A Senior Democratic Whip, Hastings is Vice Chair of the Florida
> Delegation. He serves on the U.S. Helsinki Commission. Selected to
> represent the U.S. Congress in the Organization for Security and
> Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, he served as Vice
> President. Vice Chair of the Democratic Select Committee on Election
> Reform, Hastings has received numerous awards and honors.
>
>
>
> Rep. Hastings became a hero in the black community, when he and a handful
> of the 538 congressional members defied the odds and stood for democracy
> by challenging the certification of Florida's twenty-five (25) Electoral
> College votes following the Election 2000 debacle. On Saturday, January
> 6, 2001, Hastings, Jesse Jackson, Jr., John Lewis, the gentle ladies--
> Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Cynthia McKinney, et al,-- and others
> made history. Their effort failed when none of the 100 Senators signed the
> challenge. Because they stood firm for democracy, Hastings and the others
> became heroes by defiantly opposing the Election 2000 travesty.
>
>
>
> For 2006, Rep. Hastings is unopposed in his reelection bid. He is working
> to elect Democrats. (Sources: http://alceehastings.house.gov/ and
> http://en.wikipedia.org)
>
>
>
>
> Politics Y2K6
> Hastings Haunts GOP
>
>
>
> The Republican Party controls all three branches of the US government,
> executive, legislative and judicial. Grand Ole Party (GOP) candidates are
> expected to take some hits in the 2006 mid-term election for how their
> party has run down the country. According to recent polls, likely voters
> are increasingly unhappy about the direction the country has taken, the
> war in Iraq and the economy.
>
>
>
> Consequently, the desire for change could be a bonanza for Democrats.
> Pundits are predicting enough seats will change hands to give Democrats
> control of the House of Representatives. With high GOP negatives,
> Democrats could regain control of the Senate, particularly if the
> elections are open, honest and votes are counted.
>
>
>
> Bush administration and GOP operatives are tarring those likely to serve
> as majority leader (Nancy Pelosi, D-California), committee chairmen, etc.,
> should Democrats prevail in November. Causing concern for the GOP are the
> likely changes in congressional oversight that should come with a new
> party in office, given the frightening direction the nation has taken
> under the Bush administration.
>
>
>
> While John Conyers (D-Michigan), the ranking member of the House Judiciary
> Committee, which initiates impeachment proceedings, is a threat on the
> horizon with a Democratic win in November, the real specter haunting the
> GOP is Alcee L. Hastings, (D-Florida). A member of the House Intelligence
> Committee, Hastings is the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee on
> terrorism and homeland security. Should Democrats prevail in November,
> Hastings becomes the likely House Intelligence Committee chairman.
>
>
>
> The prospect of Hastings heading the committee that oversees U.S.
> intelligence has conservative critics digging up dirt to discredit him and
> others as too far left to lead Congress. Thus far, they have been unable
> to change Hastings' chances; he continues to haunt the GOP.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Retrospective on Heroism
> By John Burl Smith
>
>
>
> Considering heroes as a child, John Wayne impressed me as a rough and
> rugged stalwart. Errol Flynn, a suave, gallant, flamboyant swashbuckler,
> kissed the girls while saving the world. And then, there was Shaft, “a
> complicated man” dishing it up hot with the hood as the backdrop. These
> images cut a real slash across the vivid imagination of an impressionable
> kid. Over the years however, life’s jagged edge gashed the thin rosy
> veneer coloring the cold dark reality of empty prospects for blacks.
>
>
>
> A recent controversy involving Rev. Andrew Young prompted a retrospective
> on the great survival struggle of black people in the United States.
> Turning individuals, like Rev. Young, into icons change their story from
> one of collective effort into individual success. A more productive
> approach to understanding such dynamics is to begin by examining slavery’s
> impact on US society in general.
>
>
>
> Rising out of the depths of oppression, deprivation and powerlessness
> after emancipation (1863), blacks were destitute. Kidnapped from Africa,
> after almost 200 years of forced bondage, blacks were simply turned loose.
> Called free people, there was no returning to or reclaiming their
> homeland. They did not belong to one tribe or culture, which left very
> little to build upon. The only thing slaves had in common was their color
> and experience.
>
>
>
> Oppression produced an insidious self-hatred related to their
> powerlessness. Deprivation created an enormous level of illiteracy.
> Through segregation and lynching, whites maintained conditions that kept
> blacks in a state of socioeconomic and political slavery for another one
> hundred years. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) inflamed racial hatred. Fortified
> by law, the KKK helped foster a mind-set of institutionalized racism.
> Whites exercised the power of life or death at any time for any reason
> over blacks with impunity.
>
>
>
> Dominated by such dire circumstances, individuals lost importance and
> survival of the group gained significance. Amazingly, in less than twenty
> years after emancipation, blacks created a parallel society. Although not
> as many or as prosperous, whatever existed in the white society, blacks
> produced for their community. Starting around 1900, this collective
> identification developed into several socioeconomic hubs, like Harlem in
> New York City, Rosewood in Florida, Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Beale
> Street in Memphis, Tennessee.
>
>
>
> Leaders that developed during these times were motivated by a collective
> consciousness. Producing leaders like Marcus Garvey, Booker T.
> Washington, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, George Washington Carver, Rev.
> Benjamin Mays, Mary McLeod Bethune and many others, their mind-set was not
> motivated by personal fame and fortunes, rather by a desire to move blacks
> forward. Black stalwarts and trail blazers helped foster a collective
> ideal for progress: “Each generation must push the next generation up the
> hill a little further than where that generation began.”
>
>
>
> Actors like Wayne and Flynn are created by Hollywood productions or slick
> advertising. Blacks, like Rev. Young, acted out truly heroic roles in
> black and white and living color. Against real live bigots and racists,
> who believed killing blacks was a service to their community, many took
> bullets for the rest of us. Killing children and burning schools and
> churches were extensions of “picnics,” lynching where thousands of white
> families watched black men and women hung or burned alive for recreation.
> Rev. Young did not hide in his house or behind some clever title to
> justify looking the other way to avoid white retribution.
>
>
>
> Rev. Young spoke the truth about black people being exploited by everyone,
> including other blacks; it is an established fact. To validate this
> assessment, all one needs do is read history and travel through the black
> community.
>
>
>
> The present attack on Rev. Young is not intended solely to besmirch him.
> It is designed to undermine our willingness to identify with each other
> and trust in our collective ideal. Whites create the slave mind-set by
> controlling all resources. Doling out crumbs, they convinced some blacks
> that identifying with whites provided the only access to success or
> survival. Intimating Rev. Young as an untrustworthy scoundrel for
> speaking the truth undercuts our efforts to build unity. It is an
> insinuation designed to justify other people exploiting the black
> community. Looking back or forward, blacks see the same reflection of
> exploitation. What this controversy makes clear is that it is time the
> next generation of Rev. Youngs takes the stage!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Disgruntled feels: Unreal! The US public was so frightened by possible
> terror threats and brainwashed by corporate media in the lead up and
> aftermath of the attack against Iraq that many still believe Saddam
> Hussein played a role in the 9-11 attacks, one of the "reasons" for the US
> war against that nation. Reflecting poorly on US curiosity and intellect,
> it is unreal anyone still believes this lie in 2006.
>
>
>
> Disgruntled says: Recently, we commemorated the one year anniversary of
> Hurricane Katrina. Much has been done to restore the lives and land
> ravaged by the natural disaster. Clearly, much more remains to be done.
> After the postmortem and speeches, the spotlight was dimmed. For a brief
> moment, Katrina forced us to take an uncomfortable look at that other
> America. With no national leadership, the dialogue the nation should have
> had on poverty and deprivation in the land of plenty never happened.
>
>
>
> Disgruntled wants to know: Only last week, George W. Bush addressed the
> American Legion National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. Referring to
> US Middle East policy, Bush waxed poetically about his vision. He
> asserted, "We see a day when people across the Middle East have
> governments that honor their dignity, unleash their creativity, and count
> their votes." Bush came to power by not counting votes. What would make
> folks in the Middle East believe Bush wants democracy for them, when he
> eschews it at home?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hood Notes
> End Electoral College?
>
>
>
> The US Electoral College system is an institution established by the US
> Constitution. Like slavery, the Electoral College was created based on
> the 3/5 Compromise. Used to elect the US president, the Electoral College
> negates one-man one-vote democracy. A constitutional amendment, which is
> a high hurdle, is required to abolish this unequal vote count system in
> which votes are weighed differently.
>
>
>
> Creating an end run around the Electoral College, without a constitutional
> amendment, the Democratic-controlled California Legislature passed
> Assembly Bill 2948. If signed into law, the legislation will give
> California's 55 electoral college votes to the national popular vote
> winner, rather than the presidential candidate capturing a majority of the
> state's votes. It will also make California part of an interstate
> compact in which members agree to cast their Electoral College votes for
> the presidential candidate receiving the national popular vote.
>
>
>
> Similar legislation is pending in Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana and
> Missouri. The movement to end the decidedly undemocratic Electoral
> College system began in reaction to the 2000 presidential election. The
> Democratic presidential candidate Vice-President Al Gore won the national
> popular vote, but lost the Electoral College votes to George W. Bush, when
> the Supreme Court stopped the Florida vote count and Bush received
> Florida's 25 electoral votes.
>
>
>
> California's Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not signed Assembly Bill 2948.
> A Republican up for reelection in November, Gov. Schwarzenegger is not
> expected the sign the legislation into law.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls
>
>
>
> Email www.washingtonpost.com 'Mortgage Moms' May Star in Midterm Vote With
> Wages Stagnant and Debt Growing, Democrats See an Opportunity By Jeffrey
> H. Birnbaum and Chris Cillizza..Every election cycle has its own important
> set of undecided, or swing, voters. In 2000, it was the "soccer moms,"
> targeted by both parties with appeals based on education and
> quality-of-life concerns. In 2004, it was the security moms, normally
> Democratic-trending women whose concerns about terrorism helped give Bush
> his margin of victory. This year could mark the emergence of what might
> be called mortgage moms -- voters whose sense of well-being is freighted
> with anxiety about their families' financial squeeze. Democrats are
> betting that this factor is strong enough to trump security or cultural
> values issues.
>
>
>
> Email www.informationclearinghouse.info "The Five Morons Revisited" by
> Paul Craig Roberts-- When the neocons launched the Bush administration's
> invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and announced plans for invading Syria
> and Iran, I labeled Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rice "the five
> Morons." With the passage of time, I see that I over-estimated their
> mental capabilities.
>
>
>
> Email www.cbs46.com/global .. A Korean grocers' group sued former UN
> ambassador Andrew Young for libel for claiming that they and other market
> owners "ripped off" blacks. The suit, filed last week in Los Angeles
> County Superior Court, also names the Wal-Mart store chain and seeks at
> least $7.5 million in damages. In an interview with the black-owned Los
> Angeles Sentinel, Young said that Wal-Mart competition had forced smaller,
> "mom-and-pop" stores out of his neighborhood. "But you see, those are the
> people who have been overcharging us, selling us stale bread and bad meat
> and wilted vegetables. And, they sold out and moved to Florida. I think
> they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was
> Koreans and now it's Arabs; very few black people own these stores," Young
> said. He later apologized for the comments.
>
>
>
> *********************************************
> For comments or to unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> *********************************************
>
>
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
