::Culture, Constitution and Religious Conformity | By Ezrah Aharone::
The Juan Williams incident and the rhetoric of Bill O’Reilly that caused Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar to walk off the set of The View, fan the flames of an unbroken theme in history where no other “belief” has arguably been as unifying yet divisive, peaceful yet violent as religion.
Although the proposed Mosque at Ground Zero is widening the gap of intolerance between some Christians and Muslims, the tragedy of 9-11 (which involved extremist Muslims) is no more a window into Islam than the Atlantic Slave Trade (which involved extremist Christians) is a window into Christianity. Extremists have historically slain innumerable others in the name of all 3 major faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
And just as there are doctrinal distinctions among the world’s estimated 1.9 billion Christians such as Mormons, Anglicans, Catholics and Coptics of Ethiopia in East Africa, there are likewise distinctions among the world’s estimated 1.6 billion Muslims such as Sunnis, Shias, Ahmadiyyas and Murids of Senegal in West Africa. So it’s either dimwitted or deliberate agitation for someone like O’Reilly, who is Harvard-educated, to wholesale indict and generalize that “Muslims killed Americans on 9-11.”
While the masses of Christians would never fathom blowing-up a building as did Timothy McVeigh, the masses of Muslims would likewise never fathom flying an airplane into skyscrapers as on 9-11. But let’s be un-popularly frank but true about something . . . Islam, in any form, has been historically depreciated by this establishment as being alien and adverse to the cultural and ideological makeup of Americanization. 
::More Bad News, More Corruption, More Hard Times | By Junious Ricardo Stanton::
“If you have not figured it out yet, a lot of people on this planet are owed a staggering amount of money. These people are divided basically into two classes. There are the bondholders (the rich) and the rest of humanity, who are owed pensions, health benefits, and governmental services including infrastructure investments as well as teachers for their children, librarians, fire, policemen, and judges to protect them from thieves. It is an illusion and a heartbreaking fantasy to expect that there will be money for any of these things, and that is what civilization collapse in our modern times is going to be all about. There will be a breakdown in currencies and the entire financial and money system because the system cannot hide forever from the massive lack of money (unless printed in stupendous amounts causing a hyperinflationary collapse).” Thievery 101-Banks Stealing pensions Worldwide? http://bit.ly/bMAHnK
While the politicians and corporate media tell us the economy is fine, the truth is we are at the precipice of a major economic catastrophe. The federal, state, county and local governments are virtually insolvent, the banks are too but the banksters duped their puppets in government into giving them our money to keep them afloat in the short term. The trillions the banks got from taxpayers is still not enough to stave off long term financial collapse. So the banksters and the government are scheming to steal our retirement savings (pensions, 401K IRAs etc) to keep Wall Street and the government’s Ponzi schemes from collapsing. The super rich and the government are in competition to get their hands on our money. “In the near future, the government may be planning to take over your 401(k) and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and managing it on its own. Why, you ask? Well, mainly because there is an unprecedented trillion-dollar deficit that needs to be taken care of. So this is the deal: somewhere out there is a major deficit that is struggling to lower despite the government's efforts. However, there are tons of 401(k) and IRA accounts floating around with tons of money (well, at least what's left after the financial crisis). So now, according to BusinessWeek, the Treasury and Labor departments are asking for public comment on "the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individuals Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams.” [The Government Has Plans For Your 401K and IRA/http://bit.ly/c7pNxm]
Now I know a lot of us don’t have huge amounts of money in our mutual funds, 401(K)s or IRAs but we need to know what the banksters, Congress critters and their minions in the various departments are plotting and planning. The US banking system for all intents and purposes is a huge criminal enterprise.
::The Unabolishable N-Word By Ezrah Aharone::
To pacify society, “Media Band-Aids” are constantly placed on open wounds of unhealed racism as the Shirley Sherrod incident demonstrated. Although the William Morris Agency dropped Mel Gibson for spewing the N-Word among other rants, Leonard Rowe’s new Michael Jackson book shows Morris executives using the N-Word 232 times in emails he uncovered during a racial lawsuit. And Omar Thornton tragically killed 8 co-workers and himself after allegedly being fired for stealing at a job where employers called him the N-Word.
::Excuse Me, Can You Spare Some Change?:: By Norm Bond
"You see Washington has been telling us to wait for decades, even as the problems have grown worse.”
President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, January 27, 2010
I watched with great interest President Obama’s first State of the Union Address. It was a well delivered speech and had many good points for America as a whole. He hit on many areas including financial reform, encouraging American innovation, exporting more American goods, refinancing for homeowners, education and national security. But Mr. Obama was dead on when he said “it begins with our economy.
For African Americans these words should be emblazoned in our minds, placed on bumper-stickers and t-shirts included in rap lyrics and gospel hymns and delivered via social media and blogs, barbershops and beauty salons. It was Malcolm X who said “I don't see any American dream; I see an American nightmare." 
::Demanding New African American Consumer- Marketer Relationships By Norm Bond
The African American consumer market represents the largest emerging market in the world. With revenues projected to reach $1.2 trillion dollars by 2012 according to the US Census Bureau, this market segment has more retail purchasing power than Mexico, a nation to which many US companies are beating a path.
The segment has richly rewarded many retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. Indeed the African American consumer has built entire television networks, established new fashion trends, and revolutionized the use of consumer electronic and communication tools from pagers to cell phones. We’ve “passed the Courvoisier,” “put a ring on it” and had “everybody in the club gettin’ tipsy.” We’ve made the words “bling-bling” part of the popular culture, created a market for overpriced football jerseys (“throwbacks’) and made more ways to wear jeans than Levi could have ever imagined. But what have we received in return? I guess we’d better “blame it on the alcohol.”
::STRANGE BEDFELLOWS - On Deck Capital and the National Urban League (NUL) By Jim Clingman
At first I could not believe it. On Deck Capital and the National Urban League (NUL) formed a joint venture to make loans in “urban” areas with high concentrations of “minority” businesses. As I read the details of this relationship I grew more and more disturbed at the relationship between these strange bedfellows.
The news release read as follows: “On Deck Capital will provide loans through Urban League local affiliates, starting in Philadelphia and Los Angeles and then expanding across the country…
The program offers one-year loans ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 at interest rates of 18 to 36 percent. All the loans must be repaid through automatic daily "micro-payments" from the business' bank accounts. To qualify, businesses should generally have between $500,000 and $2 million in annual revenue and have been operating for at least three years, said On Deck founder and CEO Mitch Jacobs.”
Is it just me, or can you also see the ridiculous nature of such an arrangement?
::MANIFEST DESTINY FROM "CIVIL RIGHTS" TO "SOVEREIGN RIGHTS" By Ezrah Aharone::
From emancipation to segregation to integration – from Tubman to King to Obama – the freedom of African Americans emerged from a continuum of political evolutions, each of which is built upon prior legacies and achievements. In advancing the forward flow of this political progression, Sovereign Evolution re-declares freedom and equality in 21st-century terms, using sovereign principles and standards.
"Today’s political world is light years from both the 1860's when segregation was progress, and the 1960's when riding the front of a bus was progress,” contends Aharone. “Where you sit on a bus today is becoming cosmetic, considering the webbings of geopolitics that control the chromium, oil, and rubber for its tires. Our conceptions and moral obligations of freedom must therefore continually evolve in pace with the political times.”
Privatized Prisons Are Big Business
By Junious
Ricardo Stanton
“Prison stocks also are valued on a “per
bed” basis — which is based on the number of beds provided and the profit per
bed. “Per bed” is really a euphemism for people who are sentenced to be housed
in their prison. For example, in 1996, when Cornell Corrections went public,
based on the financial information provided in the offering document provided to
investors, its stock was valued at $24,241 per bed. This means that for every
contract Cornell got to house one prisoner, at that time, their stock went up in
value by an average of $24,261. According to prevailing business school
philosophy, this is the stock market’s current present value of the future flow
of profit flows generated through the management of each prisoner. This, for
example, is why longer mandatory sentences are worth so much to private prison
stocks. A prisoner in jail for twenty years has a twenty-year cash flow
associated with his incarceration, as opposed to one with a shorter sentence or
one eligible for an early parole.
Are All Men Really “Created Equal”? By Ezrah Aharone
Ezrah Aharone
July 2nd, 2009 marked 45 years since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act to initiate racial equality. This anniversary coincides with the recent Senate Resolution “Apologizing for the Enslavement and Racial Segregation of African-Americans,” which expressed America’s “recommitment to the principle that all people are created equal.” While these gestures appear impressive as political theory, in actuality, “Created Equal” on paper differs from “Created Equal” in practice.
Get Your Mind & Your Money Right!
Have you ever received money
from a Chinese person for anything other than them making change
for you? No, is the answer I have been receiving when asking
this question as part of an informal survey to Black People.
The follow up question is, "Have you ever given money to a
Chinese person?" The answer invariably is yes. This imbalance of
give and take is reflective of the consciousness of Black people
and consequently our relationship with ourselves and others.
There is a reason why every Black Ghetto has a Chinese food
restaurant, but there are no Soul Food restaurants in Chinatown.
In fact, the most popular Soul Food restaurant in Harlem, New
York on 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard is owned and
operated by a Chinese family. Again, there are no Soul Food
restaurants in Chinatown and there certainly is no Chinese Food
restaurant in Chinatown owned and operated by a Black family. If
a Black person tried, the business would be shut down, before it
started. Why? Economic Violence.
Black
is Back! Continuous Need for Black Activism"
By Norm Bond
Amidst a mounting hail of attacks from
within the group and without, questions as to its
relevance and even its need to exist in today’s world, “BLACK” has emerged, and
appears to be attempting a grand return. Bigger, Badder and BLACKER than
ever BLACK is now making cameo appearances and even earning a few starring roles
in a variety of events and activities. These include Black economic summits, to
Black community development, to Black education, to Black politics and yes, even
Black consumer education and Black marketing efforts. It’s far too early to
predict the lasting impact and we know previous efforts have been de-railed, de-rided
and de-vastated but the sleeping giant is being prodded by many sides. We
certainly intend to do all within our power to continue to sound the wake-up
alarm and urge our readers to do the same. It’s not a day too soon and hopefully
not a day too late. This time BLACK promises to be BIGGER, BADDER and BLACKER
than ever.
Barackonomics- Are YOU Cashing In?
