Forms of Thought

Life Line

2010-05-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

For those who know...

Multiple tours in hell help to sharpen your focus.

It takes a while to get used to sleeping with out my 9mm,
but a week in the Mexican riviera goes along way.

Don't fuck with me,
unless you got a cold Mexican...

Remember this.
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Dont tread on me

2008-07-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

Its Route 66,
red convertibles,
and wet tits,

its big ass guns with damsels in distress,
flags that fly no matter the test,
its the good ol USA, knee deep, in all the rest.

can you feel me,
its Americana.

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top middle top

2008-04-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

look within...
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The Consumer Index.

2008-04-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

We are on parade.
The highest levels of lip service.

Big Dicks,
Big Tits,
Big Trucks,
Big ass TV's
Big is a way of life

The world is watching us consume.
The world is watching us destroy.

There is no such thing as environmentally friendly. Thats a fucking oxymoron. Some back door action, guilt complex, booty on the side, punk ass justification. Lessening your imprint? and for what. If you drive a subaru or an escalade your ass is still driving. Might as well feel good with your mistress.

Shit comes and shit goes its that easy...

The Consumer Index,
We are on parade.

Remember this.
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No Data Sent

2008-04-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

It never ends. The process of encoding, decrypting, synthesizing, a never ending struggle within your own personal operating system to make "sense" of the overload around you...

Remember this.
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Draconian Music

2008-04-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

13) In which manner, if any, do 'the possible' and 'the impossible' interact with the 'actual'
when seeing and image and thinking about it?

// De qué manera, si hay alguna, "lo posible" y "lo imposible" interactúan con lo "real"
al ver una imagen y pensar en ella?

It depends on the contextual reality of each one person. In my particular case, every sight -and more precisely, every image- means a reading, therefore, a question, an analisis, a criticism and a proposition of any or various reviews. Sometimes even an experimental imposition of meaning, just in order to work with my own reads & concepts.

// Depende de la realidad contextual de cada persona. En mi caso particular, toda visión -toda imágen- implica una lectura, y por ende, una pregunta, un cuestionamiento, un análisis, una crítica y una propuesta de otra o varias relecturas. En ciertos casos inclusive la imposición experimental de determinado sentido, como una manera de trabajar sobre mis propias lecturas y conceptos.

Still exploring the verse...
sometimes I come home,
to share,
to remember.
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Degree Conferral

2007-05-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

1 Master Of Arts
2 Graduate Certificates.

Not a bad days take...

Remember this.

The 7th

2007-04-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

The 7th was my home. I remember going to the tabac in the evening and picking up some smokes for my pops, and in the morning before school I'd hit the bakery and cop a couple of baguettes for moms, you know typical French shit. The whole scenario was pimp before I even knew what pimpin was, Ecole Militare, St Germain, The Tower, right around the corner from the American College in Paris, deep in it. The 7th was cool, the 7th was my home...
Remember This.

Concourse C

2007-02-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

"one is rejuvenated on an escalator, on an escalator
one grows older and older"

"Thats the kind of idea you get on an escalator"

"An escalator ride is a good time to reconsider, to reconsider everything"

Courtesy of: Book.-----> an excerpt from The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
NARO%

Madame

2007-02-12T07:54:00.000-08:00

Dame, again the thanks are all mine. I thank you for sharing such a striking image, and allowing my to bring it into my process. Sometimes we traverse levels, planes, space, just to become. That photo is alluring, intense, passionate, no doubt I was "feeling" it. I was compelled to transfer some of that energy, share some of that energy, become some of that energy...
No Madame,
the thanks are all mine.

Necessary

2007-02-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

Amalgam

2007-02-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Mastery is taking complex tools and producing a primitive product, Creativity is taking primitive tools and producing the complex.
Remember this...

Warped Cartography

2007-01-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

People talk of level playing fields, like this could ever possibly be a fair situation. Manipulated terrain,and you imagine a handout? You resign yourself to the thought that if you were just given an oportunity, you could make things right. You're more foolish than I thought. In this twisted elevation,this perversion of space, this distorted geography, you envision the possibility of a chance. Fuck chance, every inch of your habitus, your radial familiar, your stomping grounds is a mecha, a tool for the M/F, this is why you are so easy to predict, this is why they put the good shit on the top shelf and you fall for it every time, these bitches are mapping your mind.

Warped Cartography

Remember this...

Pyramid of Darkness

2007-01-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

COBRA (or CoBrA) was a European avant-garde movement active from 1949 to 1952. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels (Br), Amsterdam (A).

COBRA was formed from an amalgamation of the Dutch group Reflex, the Danish group Høst and the Belgian Revolutionary Surrealist Group. The group held two large exhibitions, one at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (1949) and the other at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Liège (1951). The primary focus of the group consisted of semiabstract paintings with brilliant color, violent brushwork, and distorted human figures inspired by primitive and folk art and similar to American action painting. Cobra was a milestone in the development of European abstract expressionism.

Remember this...

Jet Set

2007-01-01T13:05:00.000-08:00

JET SET

Shit was cool till the rhino showed up…

The party was flowing, just divine. Then suddenly from across the room I saw her face, it was a look of dismay. The look you never want to see at a society party. The look that lets you know a test was here…

And in comes the rhino, a freak of nature, the sideshow act.
Conjoined FUCKING rhino twins!!! Can you imagine the social/physical logistics involved in dealing with a creature of these dimensions. The oh shit factor just hit 1157, and now I have to hide my new fucking bvlgari china, since mister just because I been here since the creation of time showed up, I don’t give a shit if his horn is majikal. What will my guests say?

Shit was cool till the rhino showed up.
Remember this…

control theory

2006-12-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Control has many shapes, many forms...

Emile Durkheim believed that “society has to be present within the individual”, he saw religion as a mechanism that shored up or protected a threatened social order. He thought that religion had been the cement of society in the past, but that the collapse of religion would not lead to a moral implosion. Durkheim was specifically interested in religion as a communal experience rather than an individual one. He also says that religious phenomena occurs when a separation is made between the profane (the realm of everyday activities), and the sacred (the realm of the extraordinary and the transcendent); theses are different depending what man chooses it to be. An example of this is wine at communion, as it is not only wine but it represents the blood of Christ. Durkheim believes that religion is ‘society divinised’, as he argues that religion occurs in a social context. He also, in lieu of forefathers before who tried to replace the dying religions, urged people to unite in a civic morality on the basis that we are what we are as a result of society.

Durkheim condensed religion into four major functions:

Disciplinary, forcing or administrating discipline
Cohesive, bringing people together, a strong bond
Vitalizing, to make more lively or vigorous, vitalise, boost spirit
Euphoric, a good feeling, happiness, confidence, well-being

Remember this...
NARO%

Add to My Profile More Videos

Petroleum Icons

2006-12-24T07:35:00.000-08:00

So I'm getting my mocha, and dude starts rattling off bout Exxon. Talking big shit about how they got off and bout how much money the gas pimps made/ are making/ will make, like Mr Green jeans is on a soap box saying something we dont know already. You woulda swore this fool used hemp toilet paper (thats mine fool) and after a few more words of "enlightenment" his drinks are ready, so this cat steps out and gets into an excursion...

Petroleum Icons

Aqua Boogie

2006-12-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

I remember this game I used to rock back in the day, it was called GRAIDIUS . It was your typical NES scroller nothing too special cept for this one particular level. This was the level cheat codes were invented for, this was the level that kicked my ass (it was the floating ruby asteroid belt). The level where the game told you yo little ass was'nt about shit, the level where the game told you to up yo game. So after weeks of practice a friend suggested that I approach the game from a different state, a different perspective. Being the frequent flier that I was, my escalator trips were usually of the nautical variety, I liked the ebb and the flow... Needless to say this new perspective provided by this elevated state, allowed me to choose particular elements of focus, which in turn allowed me to play this game damn near blindfolded; and it was this skill, this method, this ability that I brought back with me upon my descent. Because some times you gotta bring the Aqua boogie back home, back to the "real world", so you can see.

Aqua Boogie, 20/20, Indonesia = escalator

the simple equations tend to be the most profound,

and this is why its BLOWVERBOD.

BLOWVERBOD

2006-12-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

THE SIGN SAYS IT ALL. WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE
EVERYTHING HAS A SIGN FOR SOMETHING. AND YET THE
REAL SIGNS ARE WHAT WE SEEM TO MISS THE MOST.
THE SIGNS THAT WE ARE FALLING OUT OF LINE, FALLING
THE HELL OFF, THAT WE HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE.
THESE ARE THE SIGNS THE WE RUN THROUGH
WITH IMPUNITY, THE SIGNS WE NEVER TAKE HEED OF. THESE
ARE THE SIGNS THAT THOSE WHO ARE IN CONTROL DON’T
WANT YOU TO FOLLOW. THE CONCEPT IS SO SIMPLE, AND
YET WE LOOSE THE ABILITY TO TRANSLATE THE NATURAL
OCCURANCE, THE NATURAL STATE, AS IF EVERYTHING YOU
EVER KNEW, FROM EVERY LIFE YOU EVER LIVED WAS BEING
HIDDEN FROM YOU. HIDDEN FROM YOU IN EVERY WAY
POSSIBLE THEN GIVEN TO YOU IN THE MOST RUDIMENTARY,
ELEMENTARY MEANS POSSIBLE. THEY DON’T WANT YOU
TO GET HIGH. IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME,
JUST READ THE SIGN.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

2006-12-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

I LIKE CHERRIES IN MY APPLE MARTINI’S ITS SO EXTRAVAGENT
YOU CANT EVEN NAME IT. ITS LIKE THE DEFINATIVE STATEMENT
IN DECADENCE, PIMPIN, PERIOD… AND YET WE STILL HAVE THE
PROCESS, THE THOUGHT, THE BELIEF, THAT WE CAN POSSESS
SOMETHING, THAT WE CAN LAY CLAIM TO ITS OWNERSHIP.
THOUGHTS THAT LEAD TO SELFISH DESIRES, THOUGHTS THAT
STIFLE CREATION, THOUGHTS OF GREED. WE HAVE DEVELOPED
THIS DISGUSTING TRAIT, THIS SICKENING DESIRE, TO SELL, TO
SELL EVERY THOUGHT, EVERY IDEA AS IF THESE ARE THINGS
THAT CAN BE TENDERED. HOW CAN YOU STEAL AN IDEA?
EVERYTHING THAT I THINK, CREATE, BESTOW, WHICH SOME HOW
MANIFESTS AS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BELONGS TO WHO?
LIFE IS A STATEMENT, JUST LIKE THE CHERRY IN MY FAVORITE
DRINK, ITS PROPERTIES UNIVERSAL, ENCOMPASED IN WHAT WE
CALL INTELLECTUAL.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Quantum Edition

2006-12-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

This is Forms of thought...

The Blackface Agenda #2: Its not just Texas A.M.

2006-11-17T01:04:00.000-08:00

This is the 2nd segment on the Blackface Agenda for more please hit up Ghetto Gold.

Lets take a look at some
numbers:
Texas A.M. Mens basketball has 13 black players on a team of 19. I am assuming from the promo pic that the Womens team mirrors this statistic as well, and lets not forget the pride of aggie land the mens football team. My question is how is it that in a time where blacks attending college (males especially) is supposed to be scarce, how is it that we have this saturation of black student athletes in the sports which happen to generate the most revenue for these schools? So the institutional minstrel show takes shape in the form "Collegiant Athletic Programs" its ok to do it formally, its the crude physical manifestations we happen to frown upon, hence the condemnation for the actions of some students doing exactly the same thing we see every time we turn on a TV. The statistical irregularites presented by the institutions of higher learning really dont require to much in the way of investigative reporting, take a look this coming March at the ratio of black players on each team (The Basketball tournament) and compare this number to the to overall enrollment of black students at the school and I am positive we will have some disparities. I guess the atheletic director didnt get the blacks are in short supply memo... And please spare me the "rising up from the challenges" scenario, its tired and condescending beyond relief. The segment you see on ESPN about how Little Latrell's (black athlete) momma had to work 3 jobs and lived in the projects, but by the grace of god (I am so blessed) and some serious tough love (throw in some white mentorship here) Latrell was one of the lucky ones. Latrell gets to dance on the big stage at my "institution" its an opportunity for him to make something of his life, and you should be thankful.

Now dont get me wrong Texas A.M. is just one of many (pretty much all) who fall into this scenario. But dont take my word for it look at the stats, and the stat that matters most is the money. Schools make big bucks from TV, the better the school the more money to throw around, (and spare me the booster club alumni BS because if that was the case Yale, Harvard, etc.would be winning everything hands down (which they are but in a different/same kinda spectrum)). The big sports bring in cash to help develop other programs, and in many cases carry them outright. Lets take a look at the swim team or in the case of Texas A.M. the womens volleyball team which has 1 black player (got this from their website) or for that matter any team out side of Football or Basketball, and I am sure you will get a much more realistic ratio of black students in attendance at the school in question based upon their representation on these particular teams. Now I like Womens Volleyball, and I am sure LaCrosse is a big deal to many people, but I dont see these programs bringing in multi-million dollar contracts (advertising, merchandising, telecast) to anyone/institution/program period, end of discussion, stop, let it go....

Blackface minstrelsy's groundbreaking appropriation, exploitation, and assimilation of African-American culture—as well as the inter-ethnic artistic collaborations that stemmed from it—were but a prologue to the lucrative packaging, marketing, and dissemination of African-American cultural expression and its myriad derivative forms in today's world popular culture. (wikipedia)

BlackFace incidents
Fraternity Skit Splits UW-Whitewater Campus
Matthew Schram is sorry that he appeared in a UW-Whitewater skit in blackface. I'd like to apologize," the junior said. "I'm sorry for my ignorant actions. I am not a racist. I was brought up to love my neighbor." But few students who attended a campus forum on diversity Monday were ready to accept his apology.

"We should have prevented it," Chancellor Jack Miller said. "We can do a better job in watching acts on and off stage." Mike, a Lutheran pastor, said his son has many black friends and never would intentionally do anything to offend them. "There were two black students in the variety show, and if they had thought it was a racist presentation, they would have objected,"

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee will not penalize six white fraternity members accused in a "blackface" incident, saying the right of expression must be protected even "when some find it to be insensitive and offensive."

This month, in a Web posting and an ad in the student newspaper, the university denounced the incident but said it would not punish the students or the fraternity. It said in a statement that the students' First Amendment rights limited the school's ability to punish them.

"The University of Tennessee is firmly committed to protecting the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression — even when some find it to be insensitive and offensive," the statement said.
"To African-Americans, blackface recalls old time minstrel shows that depicted African-Americans as ignorant simpletons — mere human scenery. Blackface resurrects latent stereotypes and undermines progress."

The 25,500-student university is about 7% black.

In the past , Auburn University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Virginia all have experienced fraternity blackface incidents.

Todos Somos Oaxaca

2006-11-14T03:57:00.000-08:00

Ali Knockouts #1

2006-11-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

Perfection...

2006-10-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

Been a fan since I was a little man...

15 Miles

2006-10-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

The one and only...

OCTOBER creations

2006-10-08T02:45:00.000-07:00

Been putting in some much needed time in the arts. Feel free to drop by my MYSPACE page for the latest and greatest.

Still in it, to win it...

holla!

Black Folk, are you still a slave?

2006-09-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

Many of the points brought up in this video I have written about (especially the importance of language), but it is always good to hear these things being spoken, being passed along, being thought about...
Slave Mentality

Peace,

Empire of Chaos: The Secret wars...

2006-09-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

Part 1

Part 2

For your Sunday viewing pleasure...
Peace

The Essentials...

2006-09-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

The essentials of speaking are in not speaking at all. If you think that you can finish something without speaking, finish it without saying a single word. If there is something that cannot be accomplished without speaking, one should speak with few words, in a way that will accord well with reason .To open one's mouth indiscriminately brings shame, and there are many times when people will turn their backs on such a person.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Nuff said.

Peace

Applied Science...

2006-09-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

Science math and beautiful things...

NARO%

Happy Birthday Lil' Shorty.

2006-09-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

Children come in all the colors of the earth-
The roaring browns of bears and soaring eagles,
The whispering golds of late summer grasses,
And crackling russets of fallen leaves,
The tinkling pinks of tiny seashells
by the rumbling sea.

Children come with hair like bouncy baby lambs,
Or hair that flows like water,
Or hair that curls like sleeping cats in snoozy
cat colors.

Children come in all the colors of love,
In endless shades of you and me.
For love comes in cinnamon, walnut, and wheat,
Love is amber and ivory and ginger and sweet
Like caramel, and chocolate, and the honey of bees.
Dark as leopard spots, light as sand,
Children buzz with laughter that kisses our land,
With sunlight like butterflies happy and free,
Children come in all the colors
of the earth and sky and sea.

Sheila Hamanaka

Happy Birthday Lil Shorty Daddy misses you...

For others on our behalf.

2006-09-03T01:26:00.000-07:00

I been on the art tip, at the moment my words are comming through the ink, So for now this is what I will share with you.

City Wide Karma

2006-08-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

These things we all feel, we all know. It's our common thread, the invisible commonality of all things.
Its City Wide Karma...

Kaiama Declaration

2006-08-24T02:06:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION

We, Ijaw youths drawn from over five hundred communities from over 40 clans that make up the Ijaw nation and representing 25 representative organizations met, today, in Kaiama to deliberate on the best way to ensure the continuous survival of the indigenous peoples of the Ijaw ethnic nationality of the Niger Delta within the Nigerian state.

After exhaustive deliberations, the Conference observed:

a. That it was through British colonization that the IJAW NATION was forcibly put under the Nigerian State

b. That but for the economic interests of the imperialists, the Ijaw ethnic nationality would have evolved as a distinct and separate sovereign nation, enjoying undiluted political, economic, social, and cultural AUTONOMY.

c. That the division of the Southern Protectorate into East and West in 1939 by the British marked the beginning of the balkanization of a hitherto territorially contiguous and culturally homogeneous Ijaw people into political and administrative units, much to our disadvantage. This trend is continuing in the balkanization of the Ijaws into six states-Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, mostly as minorities who suffer socio-political, economic, cultural and psychological deprivations.

d. That the quality of life of Ijaw people is deteriorating as a result of utter neglect, suppression and marginalization visited on Ijaws by the alliance of the Nigerian state and trans-national oil companies.

e. That the political crisis in Nigeria is mainly about the struggle for the control of oil mineral resources which account for over 80% of GDP, 95 %of national budget and 90% of foreign exchange earnings. From which, 65%, 75% and 70% respectively are derived from within the Ijaw nation. Despite these huge contributions, our reward from the Nigerian State remains avoidable deaths resulting from ecological devastation and military repression.

f. That the unabating damage done to our fragile natural environment and to the health of our people is due in the main to uncontrolled exploration and exploitation of crude oil and natural gas which has led to numerous oil spillages, uncontrolled gas flaring, the opening up of our forests to loggers, indiscriminate canalization, flooding, land subsidence, coastal erosion, earth tremors etc. Oil and gas are exhaustible resources and the complete lack of concern for ecological rehabilitation, in the light of the Oloibiri experience, is a signal of impending doom for the peoples of Ijawland.

g. That the degradation of the environment of Ijawland by trans-national oil companies and the Nigerian State arise mainly because Ijaw people have been robbed of their natural rights to ownership and control of their land and resources through the instrumentality of undemocratic Nigerian State legislations such as the Land Use Decree of 1978, the Petroleum Decrees of 1969 and 1991, the Lands (Title Vesting etc.) Decree No. 52 of 1993 (Osborne Land Decree), the National Inland Waterways Authority Decree No. 13 of 1997 etc.

h. That the principle of Derivation in Revenue Allocation has been consciously and systematically obliterated by successive regimes of the Nigerian state. We note the drastic reduction of the Derivation Principle from 100% (1953), 50% (1960), 45% (1970), 20% (1975) 2% (1982), 1.5% (1984) to 3% (1992 to date), and a rumored 13% in Abacha's 1995 undemocratic and unimplemented Constitution.

i. That the violence in Ijawland and other parts of the Niger Delta area, sometimes manifesting in intra and inter ethnic conflicts are sponsored by the State and trans-national oil companies to keep the communities of the Niger Delta area divided, weak and distracted from the causes of their problems.

j. That the recent revelations of the looting of national treasury by the Abacha junta is only a reflection of an existing and continuing trend of stealing by public office holders in the Nigerian state. We remember the over 12 billion dollars Gulf war windfall, which was looted by Babangida and his cohorts We note that over 70% of the billions of dollars being looted by military rulers and their civilian collaborators is derived from our ecologically devastated Ijawland.

Based on the foregoing, we, the youths of Ijawland, hereby make the following resolutions to be known as the Kaiama Declaration:

1. All land and natural resources (including mineral resources) within the Ijaw territory belong to Ijaw communities and are the basis of our survival.

2. We cease to recognise all undemocratic decrees that rob our peoples/communities of the right to ownership and control of our lives and resources, which were enacted without our participation and consent. These include the Land Use Decree and The Petroleum Decree etc.

3. We demand the immediate withdrawal from Ijawland of all military forces of occupation and repression by the Nigerian State. Any oil company that employs the services of the armed forces of the Nigerian State to "protect" its operations will be viewed as an enemy of the Ijaw people. Family members of military personnel stationed in Ijawland should appeal to their people to leave the Ijaw area alone.

4..Ijaw youths in all the communities in all Ijaw clans in the Niger Delta will take steps to implement these resolutions beginning from the 30th of December, 1998, as a step towards reclaiming the control of our lives. We, therefore, demand that all oil companies stop all exploration and exploitation activities in the Ijaw area. We are tired of gas flaring; oil spillages, blowouts and being labeled saboteurs and terrorists. It is a case of preparing the noose for our hanging. We reject this labeling. Hence, we advice all oil companies staff and contractors to withdraw from Ijaw territories by the 30th December, 1998 pending the resolution of the issue of resource ownership and control in the Ijaw area of the Niger Delta

5.. Ijaw youths and Peoples will promote the principle of peaceful coexistence between all Ijaw communities and with our immediate neighbours, despite the provocative and divisive actions of the Nigerian State, transnational oil companies and their contractors. We offer a hand of friendship and comradeship to our neighbors: the Itsekiri, Ilaje, Urhobo, Isoko, Edo, Ibibio, Ogoni, Ekpeye, Ikwerre etc. We affirm our commitment to joint struggle with the other ethnic nationalities in the Niger delta area for self-determination.

6. We express our solidarity with all peoples organizations and ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and elsewhere who are struggling for self-determination and justice. In particular we note the struggle of the O'odua peoples Congress (OPC), the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Egi Women's Movement etc.

7. We extend our hand of solidarity to the Nigerian oil workers (NUPENG and PENGASSAN) and expect that they will see this struggle for freedom as a struggle for humanity

8. We reject the present transition to civil rule programme of the Abubakar regime, as it is not preceded by restructuring of the Nigerian federation. The way forward is a Sovereign National Conference of equally represented ethnic nationalities to discuss the nature of a democratic federation of Nigerian ethic nationalities. Conference noted the violence and killings that characterized the last local government elections in most parts of the Niger Delta. Conference pointed out that these electoral conflicts are a manifestation of the undemocratic and unjust nature of the military transition programme. Conference affirmed therefore, that the military are incapable of enthroning true democracy in Nigeria.

9. We call on all Ijaws to remain true to their Ijawness and to work for the total liberation of our people. You have no other true home but that which is in Ijawland.

10. We agreed to remain within Nigeria but to demand and work for Self Government and resource control for the Ijaw people. Conference approved that the best way for Nigeria is a federation of ethnic nationalities. The federation should be run on the basis equality and social justice.

Finally, Ijaw youths resolve to set up the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) to coordinate the struggle of Ijaw peoples for self-determination and justice.

The struggle is world wide, so while you're at home wondering about next seasons "survivor" spin, take a moment to think about the real survivors and the games being played to eleminate them...
NARO%

Mister Mooney: Straight, no chaser.

2006-08-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Paul Mooney, way to real...

NARO%

Hero Worship; The ancillary effects of cultural identity

2006-08-17T04:12:00.000-07:00

Deep down inside, every little white boy wants to be Earnest Hemingway, Peter Beard, The last Samurai, Lara Croft... The one who can travel the world and bring civility to the savages or at least survive the "perils" of life outside of the breadth of western civilization.

Indiana Jones, Congo, Sahara, Lord of War, Tomb Raider, the Mummy, all beautiful insights in to the prowess of the white man and woman. In all of these movies whats passed on as "entertainment" is an underlying sentiment that is being proliferated upon the masses of, I can do anything, my will has no bounds. Many have become "numb" to the outright significance of this message due to its sheer saturation upon our facilities. On TV we have Austrailian animal tamers, European deep sea explorers (old school Jacques Cousteau) who with the aid of "locals" travel and do things that only great men (white men) do. Take a look at Kevin Sites (CNN Reporter) in the "HOT ZONE" or any of the exploits written by young brave white men in so many of our periodicals, about traveling to Africa, South America, or Asia, and how they had to survive and adapt to make it back to civilization. Its the rite of passage to brave the savages, tame the wild, then return home and tell tall tales of bravado.

So where does this leave all the rest of us. In the periphery of the white male conquistador to be called up only when needed.
Mo tea Sir?
NARO%

3 of a kind...

2006-08-14T03:28:00.000-07:00

These were some reads to good to pass up, to good not to share, just too damn good. Take a look at what people are talking about, you might learn a thing or two, or 3. Kudos to Le Colonel, BLDG, and Thinkers all of you set it off. Your words my images, all forms of thought...

Le Colonel Chabert: What it is.
"The Arab people admire Hizbullah for reasons completely different to the ones people in the West and Israel suspect. The Arab public is drawn to Hizbullah precisely because it stands apart from Arab regimes and, simultaneously, from organisations like Al-Qaeda. Hizbullah is not corrupt and impotent like Arab regimes, and it does not cowardly target civilians like terrorist organisations. Rather, it has waged a valiant fight directly against the Israeli army"

BLDG BLOG: The Logistics of Distance

"Speaking of logistics, Wal-Mart has suddenly and – at least to me – unexpectedly become a kind of one-man cartographic avant-garde. In other words, Wal-Mart’s attempt to track all its goods in real-time – streamlining delivery, stocking shelves, tallying merchandise – has led to literally classified techniques for understanding economic geography: algorithms and radio technologies and so on. Which means that we’re at this rather strange moment when Wal-Mart, of all things, has become the most sophisticated modeler of data sets outside of, say, the NSA or DARPA – and yet it’s all to sell bath towels and non-stick pans. What do you make of Wal-Mart’s sudden ascension to the heights of geography, and how has Wal-Mart’s use of radio-frequency ID chips (RFIDs) facilitated this mastery of commercial space-time?"

Thinkers Room: A Hero Passes
"And as soon as the television cameras are off motorcades and helicopters will be hurriedly made for, and within a week, just like the many before him – Bildad Kaggia, Paul Ngei, Makan Singh – he will be forgotten.
Which is why I admire him even more and wish when the time comes I will be able to sacrifice everything for the good of my countrymen and women. Because he probably knew what he was doing was thankless and that he would suffer for the rest of his days.
But he did it anyway."

Around the world with a flick of the wrist
NARO%

Black Faciality.

2006-08-07T05:18:00.000-07:00

Similarly, the form of subjectivity, whether consciousness or passion, would remain absolutely empty if faces did not form loci of resonance that select the sensed or mental reality and make it conform in advance to a dominant reality. The face itself is redundancy. It is itself in redundancy with the redundancies of signifiance or frequency, and those of resonance or subjectivity. The face constructs the wall that the signifier needs in order to bounce off of; it constitutes the wall of the signifier, the frame or screen. The face digs the hole that subjectification needs in order to break through; it constitutes the black hole of subjectivity as consciousness or passion, the camera, the third eye.
Year Zero: Faciality
by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari

I had some thoughts lying just beneath the surface. this morning my alarm went off and I did my usual snooze for another 45 before waking, but during my twilight I felt some waves, some rhythms which didn't sound right yet were easily indentifiable. The black edifice is eroding, like the great Icons in Egypt, noses ripped off, to distort, disdain, deterretorialize our cultural fitness, the capital, the very core of our socio element. Its is this look into the space of our "Black" faciality where my subconscious mind happened to wander. Its Joe Liberman in black face, its a Navy midshipman catching a rape case, its the declining "kneegrow" intellectual base, Its about Cynthia McKinney losing the race, losing the race, left alone by her race? And as we frame the face, what have we to show, Harpo, Harpo, I bees a good rapper can I sit on yo couch? Talented "Gro's" cry at award shows, mimic the face that dis the race, black power gone with out a trace...
Fade away jumper, SWISH, IN YO FACE.
Black Faciality.
and then I woke up and realized my "dream" my thoughts, my viz. were real.

"Neva test my patience, nigga I'm high maintenance"

NARO%

Somebody was paying attention in class.

2006-08-04T05:41:00.000-07:00

I remember Hammer mania, back in the day when I was right in the epicenter. A freshman in college in the bay area at the dawn of Hammer time! Those were the good ol days. I remember everybody in Oaktown was on Hammer's staff, or knew somebody who was on Hammers staff. That shit was fantastic! I remember going to DV8, when it was in SF or Club X (before the 22,697 name changes), CW (tiny ass club), DAZ Klub, DNA Lounge or any of the other spots in the CITY Circa 88-91 (If you was cool you know where I was). Hammer was poppin and if you had yo shit right, could dance yo ass off and didnt mind crazy ass hair do's (ya'll remember that nigga with the Pattie Label triangle do) you could end up travelling round the world and selling out stadiums in far away lands. Everybody wanted to be Hammer, hell even Nino Brown wanted to be Hammer!! My favorite Hammer joint as you can see was "Turn this mutha Out" I was feeling this joint and so was the rest of the world, and this leads me to my point...

Every time we come up with some type of cultural phenomena like Hammer why is it that we loose the control mechanism? Aint to many black folks selling out stadiums in the US let alone the rest of the world. Getcha playbook right, and start being a team player instead of a player hater. Somebody, somewhere, said wow this cat just sold out a stadium in fucking Japan! And was quietly thinking of how to turn that into some money for his own pockets. We done already seen the E! Hollywood story (they still getting money off his ass) on Hammer so there is no need to repeat the "rise and fall story" but I think cats is still missing the other message in this story. Stop putting yourself before the people, you see Hammer brought up his peeps, and took em around the world. Them cats will be talkin bout that shit for the rest of they days, mad props to Hammer on that fo life.

Somebody somewhere was paying attention in class, why cant it be us for a change?

NARO%

Office space

2006-07-30T02:57:00.000-07:00

I Dropped this on Ghetto Uprising back in May but I've seen some interesting things going on at a few of my frequent spots, so I'll just send out an olive branch to just another girl and hope all is well in the cess pool. Stay up, and take some advice from Steve's Pops.

"The Lord loves a working man, Never trust whitey"
Steve Martin

"The Jerk"

Harold I wanted to post on this the other day but I knew this was gonna draw some good comments and as usual it did...

Conflict the Voltron analogy was priceless, and all of the comments for the most part show we all done/doing time on the from lines in the struggle. What I would like to contribute is my experience; Much like our anonymous commenter I have come across this somewhat brazen and condescending attitude for the last 10 years or so with my current multinational. White boys and girls come in with this nouveaux get over it attitude, and make slick ass comments, posture, engage, try to bust a nigga out in front of the man etc... We all know the moves so I just elevate on these niggas kinda like a karate joint when the young upstart gets his ass beat by master with a paint brush. Now dont get me wrong these lil fuckers come in just like anonymous said with the Darth Maul "Man up" intimidation face like they hard core. Since when did being a punk bitch, using proxies, and fucked up office diplomacy, make a mofo hard? So when I see a nigger like anonymous roll in I do what any true jedi would do in the face of a sith; CUT THAT BITCH IN HALF. I'll share some of my tactics with you that have helped my black ass way up the ladder sans sellout, slappin punk ass bitches all the way up.

1. Set up the space right away- Not the tone but the space. This is like the stage or a set on a movie scene

2. Keep whitey in your business- Let whitey think he knows you. Lie, give out false info (you can clown a bitch later when he tries to trump you in front of your peers by saying "what are you talking about." Especially if you have spread other misinformation to other white folks in the area (remember its about space) which counter this info he thinks he's betraying you with.

3. Be a good worker- That is what you are there for in the first place!!!

4. Dont isolate youself - This doesnt mean you gotta go play golf with YT but be visible.

5. At every opportunity try to bring another one of "us" up with you. The more of us we see around the office the less likely this shit will happen (it will still happen just under a different guise).

6. Be fair - I know this sounds crazy, but base this fairness on the surface value of office politics, not the undercurrent of filth that makes the place go. YT loves to juxtapose the rules of playing fair when shit hits the fan, and I have seen too many cats go down to the conference table and get the "white collar lynching" where they break other wise good working kneegrows of their "attitudes".

7. Engage the enemy in subtle ways. This will really piss that bitch off later when he is getting blasted by the man (especially when he/she knows somehow, someway,you had your hand in her/his demise; even if you didnt)

8. Keep educating yourself- All the little plaques on my walls filled with paper, have filled my pockets with MAD PAPER.

9. Dont Assimilate this works against you, be you - If you dont wear Khaki's thats cool. Just do what you do in moderation, this way they cant start up the "Jedi nigger mind control BS" Remeber YT will use everything EVERYTHING against you, so keep it real.

10. I am like a Navy SEAL team every day! Meaning you gotta always be on your best, Gameface, playmaker, Barry bonds HR #714, MJ final jumper over the jazz, Tiger "Negrito" Woods (google it!) at the masters, Venus and Serena williams killing them little girls all over the world, BREAK A NIGGA OFF WITH YO BEST SHIT MOVES 24/7/365!!!

Harold, you aint trippin bro, You right on point! Now lets all go back to work and chuck some spears, like the true African Warriors we are...
Peace

I get my thang in action

2006-07-29T03:01:00.000-07:00

When I was a little man, this was the joint that made my day, made my week, and later defined my life. The message of this one little cartoon has had a profound impact on who I have become. I always believed that lil boy in the movie was me and I wanted to do everything to become the hero. That whole scenario was pure motivation, I was feeling Verb for real. Icons, images, positive aspects of our culture displayed to the masses, hell thats like finding a diamond in a bag of charcoals, shits rare as hell son. So when you ask me who were your influences I'm gonna say Mom, Pops, and a saturday morning cartoon that made me believe I could do anything... and I am.

Thats Whats happening

NARO%

Who runs Barter Town? Thoughts on our next President.

2006-07-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

Politics aside this is a powerful image. As a culture where we are constantly under some form of social duress. Images like these need to be studied need to be understood. No matter what you say,think, or feel about the individuals above, one thing is true they are both black. Now while some may say it doesnt matter I have a few questions for you at the end of this post to answer, to think about, to discuss with your "BEST" black friends.

Thought #1 Condi is looking presidential as a mutha fucker up in this piece.
Thought #2 Condi for the most part hasnt shot anyone (cept for sorry ass Barbara Boxer at the confirmation hearings) next time bring yo A GAME!
Thought#3 Cats all over the world are feeling Condi. She got that icy ass dont fuck with me I'm a republican grill going on for real!

Ok here we have the Democratic Hopeful and former First Lady Mrs. Clinton. While Hillary is way more charismatic than ANY of her punk ass democratic peers I really dont think she has the juice to pull it of against Condi, and she knows this... For Hilliary to defeat Condi she is going to require a complement that as of today just aint happening at the ol party. Most Dems (Male) are just what Arnold said a while back "girly men" that shit would fuck any chances of Hilliary going up against Condi. Not to say that Hillary cant hold her own but I aint seen her ass go through days of grilling ass testmony infront of the world by some serious haters both Democrat and Republican. What I cant wait to see are the debates, that shits gonna be some pay per view shit, fo real... You see Condi has all the votes Hillary gonna need Oprah to win for her.

Thoughts for Hillary #1 You might wanna have your husband run as your VP on this one , cuz for some stupid ass reason black folks like his ass.
Thoughts for Hillary #2 If you gonna roll with Oprah you might wanna tie her ass down before Condi does, aint no way an old white lady gonna beat two strong ass black women(shit aint happening).

Now I been seeing some traffic on the Oprah running story and you can say what you like on this one but...I didnt expect dumb ass Arnold to run and look what happened to my own fucking state. I would like to entertain the fact that Oprah is more intelligent, powerful, and ready to co-lead our country with whomever moreso than, the dumb ass dope smoking womanizing muscle head fuck of a governor we have now. That being said here are my thoughts for Oprah.

Thought #1 Stop fucking around and do this shit!
Thought #2 If you run with Hillary You might win, but if you run with Condi its 8 years for real. No more getting locked outta Jewlery stores now girl!
Thought #3 You could do special editions of your show from the White house! Thus setting the stage for you to become the most powerful person in the world, The next President (and maybe you could convince Colin to run with you and secure another 8).

Ask a black person:

Would you vote for Condi or Hillary?

Ask them why?

Do you think white people would throw the vote?

Ask them why it isnt selling out if you vote for Condi?

Ask them why it is selling out if you vote for Hillary?

Questions for white people:

Do you think America is ready A Black Female President?

Do you think America is ready for both Senior Execs to be Black females?

Do you think black people would throw the vote?

Hit me up with the facts,
NARO%

More on Hair.

2006-07-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

Some after thoughts on hair. Some old images I had been storing to comment on when the time came around. I know there are thousands of images like this to be found and but these were easy targets. especially the "lucky brown" image.
Like I said, hair is deep.

Holla back

Expanding my exposure...

2006-07-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

As of late I have been expanding the levels of exposure for Naro% and FOT, all of my primary vehicles for communication are converging, its time for a paradigm shift, a new form for the chaos of my thoughts to manifest. So if you made it here by way of my website, ghettogold, myspace, or the many who happen to come across my path IRL and actually use my business card, please connect the dots. Entertain these spaces for what they are, and what they represent.

Peace
Naro%

PS: what in the FUCK is up with Barbara Walters grabbing peoples hair????
"

Deep in it...

2006-07-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Mesopotamia are you feeling me...

Lost in translation: Cante Hondo

2006-07-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

" Y una triste expresion, que nos es tristeza

sino algo mas y menos: el vacio del mundo

en la oquedad de su cabeza."

All around the world its the same song...
NARO%

The American Scene

2006-07-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

Davis, Stuart (1894-1964). American painter.
After a visit to Paris in 1928-29 he introduced a new note into US Cubism, basing himself on its Synthetic rather than its Analytical phase. Using natural forms, particularly forms suggesting the characteristic environment of American life, he rearranged them into flat poster-like patterns with precise outlines and sharply contrasting colors .
He later went over to pure abstract patterns, into which he often introduced lettering, suggestions of advertisements, posters, etc. (Owh! in San Pao, Whitney Museum, 1951). The zest and dynamism of such works reflect his interest in jazz. Davis is generally considered to be the outstanding American artist to work in a Cubist idiom. He made witty and original use of it and created a distinctive American style, for however abstract his works became he always claimed that every image he used had its source in observed reality: `I paint what I see in America, in other words I paint the American Scene.' (more)

Mr Davis, influence and inspiration comes in all places, races, faces. Paris in 28 -29 you know that spot was the jump off, still feeling the effects 70 plus years later, pop art creator?
Lifestyle innovator way before the sony psp,
cats was pimpin in gay Paris. Big names like Aaron Douglas, Langston Hughes, George Orwell, Josephine Baker, Picasso, Le Corbusier, E.E. cummings, and so many more made social ripples that still reach our shores.

Go get you some culture...
NARO%

The studio...

2006-07-01T02:02:00.000-07:00

Time to drop some of my own stuff for awhile...

Originally this blog was going to be a place where I was going to explain my ART, and the reasons behind many of my themes. So many times have I been asked "what does this piece mean?" That I went on to write a book about my concepts which turned into a whole web site on its own. So at least for the next few entries I am going to turn the focus, Inward. Just to give you a taste of what it is I see and how I translate this internally. So for those of you who happen to visit here or GhettoGold, Art is and always will be my passion, my life, my codification and regurgitation of the stimulus within my radius.

As with everything around us there is a message in the "facial" the direct viz. the focus of our consciousness. What is interesting is that the subcontent, the inattentional, lies in this very same space and yet we are "tuned out" so as to not focus on specifics, in such a manner that we lose the ability to visualize the system as a whole. What is apparent is not always RECognized, meaning most codes are not hidden, they just aren't understood...

Some pieces reflect certain themes merely by the mediums that I choose to present them on; Newpaper, Plywood, Canvas, Cardboard, Digital, all play a significant part in the joints I drop. Being a fan of the "ready made" I love the context of working with certain materials and working around their "realm" expanding the Rhizome... So I get down, in many mediums; Its cool for my thought process and it helps me to understand what it is that my OS is trying to crunch.

The Book mark series came from my Mom's she was always telling me to make my own joints so I did. A while back I used to run with this art crew on EBAY where we sold our joints, it was cool and I really got the Idea for the blog around my descriptions for my pieces. My shit was hot, I had to use some extra space from a fellow members server just for my listings, because you know I had to set it off... So after the usual list and sell, list and sell, I really wanted to drop something beyond a painting, which brought about the Book mark joints. I ran with the old RIF slogan "Reading is Fundamental" and pimped my goods on EBAY. These were some of my favorite joints because I knew they were floating around (its all about exposure IRL as well as in virtuosity) and I was dropping bite size nuggets of insurrection and cats were helping me convey the message...

So while I was getting my hustle on, I was also spreading my message. Reaching out and letting suckas know "I gets down like that". As for the group it came and went like many things do, but you can best believe I am still dropping hot fire on the canvass. Most of the time cats just roll in and say "Thats mine dawg, DON'T PLAY" and that's that ...

ECHELONS ABOVE THE ORDINARY

NARO%

My Mom: The Greatest Teacher in the World...

2006-06-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

A certain swordsman in his declining years said the following:
In one's life, there are levels in the pursuit of study. In the lowest level, a person studies, but nothing comes of it, and he feels that both he and others are unskilful. At this point he is worthless. In the middle level he is still useless, but is aware of his own insufficiencies and can also see the insufficiencies of others. In a higher level he has pride concerning his own ability, rejoices in praise from others, and laments the lack of ability in his fellows. This man has worth. In the highest level a man has the look of knowing nothing.

These are the levels in general. But there is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all. This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way and never thinks of himself as having finished. He truly knows his own insufficiencies and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded. He has no thoughts of pride but with self-abasement knows the Way to the end. It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked, "I do not know the way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself”. Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skilful than yesterday, more skilful than today. This is never-ending.

In the Shadow of Leaves
by
Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Sending out mad props to my Mom, my inspiration, my Life Model... Congrats to you for holding it down in the school system they made movies to scare lilly ass liberal art wannbes away with. 60 plus and still holding it down in the L.A.U.S.D. what do any of you know about that?Teaching lil bad ass kids how to speak proper spanish, so they could speak proper english. This is grass roots, this is frontlines, this is MAYA AGELOU phenomenal woman, hall of fame, NOBEL prize for teaching... So any of you "Smarty art Niggas" who think they know a little something about education think again, because most of ya'll just running ya mouth about reaching out (dont get mad do something, FOOL).

One of Mills College greatest graduates, her many acomplishments include:

Teaching in some of the grimey-est locations in Oakland, Los Angeles.

Working for the National Childrens Center Washington DC

Working for the Smithsonian Institution (WIsh you had her now dont you suckas!!)

and countless other institutions (all over the world) for children with disabilities.

When you look up the word teacher my Mom is the example, the standard, the bar. Nuff said... Mom you are the greatest person I have ever known, I would hope to one day reach the heights that you have reached in the places where you have fought and won the wars for the countless children of the ghetto, often talked about, but seldom seen.

Now thats some real ass gangsta shit!

Naro%

America's Top Model

2006-06-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

This was a comment I tried to leave on Mixed Media Watch a while back (i couldnt get it posted so I'll just drop it here):

"The ability to codeswitch from black english to a more mainstream dialect is a useful skill in mixed circles expecially in a professional environment"

Dcase That was hot, and while I see and recognize the need for Codeswitching in mainstream (white acepted) society, are we actually doing a dis-service to the advancement of in this case of black models if we are forced to assimilate?

I have seen Tyra's joint on several occasions and like the entry pointed out I have come across several of Tyra's "Tough love" sessions on black women, and each has left me a little perplexed... While I appreciate Tyra's move to create a platform, which for the most part has provided "opportunities for diversity" in the introduction of models to the world. My Question (or problem) is; why would she go about indirectly telling future black models that if I can assimilate (act and talk "White") you can too. Now dont get me wrong, Tyra is my girl and what makes her beautiful is exactly what sets her apart from her contemporaries. I think that Tyra may want to take this to an even higher level where the "Codeswitch" is unnecessary, her own agency where "alternatives" to the common variety cookie cutter models are found, hell I thought that this is what they were looking for in the first place; "Unique" "Exotic" "Captivating" you know the adjectives... Being able to "Cut it" in the world of modeling where black women (in this case southerners) are forced to follow Tyra's trials and tribulations leaves a crappy taste in my mouth. It makes me feel as if what I bring or what I represent is lesser, not good enough, not right, not white... If Tyra is a "path finder" trying to provide new venues for "diversity" shouldnt she embrace all of what these young ladies are bringing to the table? Just a thought.
Holla at ya boy!
peace

NARO%

Calm like a what?

2006-06-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

Calm like a bomb
I be walkin' god like a dog
My narrative fearless
My word war returns to burn
Like Baldwin home from Paris
Steel from a furnace
I was born landless
It's tha native son
Born of Zapata's guns
Stroll through tha shanties
And tha cities remains
Same bodies buried hungry
But with different last names
These vultures rob everything
Leave nothing but chains
Pick a point on tha globe
Yes tha pictures tha same
There's a bank a church a myth and a hearse
A mall and a loan a child dead at birth
There's a widow pig parrot
A rebel to tame
A whitehooded judge
And a syringe and a vein
And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha unheard

Calm like a bomb

This ain't subliminal
Feel tha critical mass approach horizon
Tha pulse of tha condemned
Sound off America's demise
Tha anti-myth rhythm rock shocker
Yes I spit fire
Hope lies in tha smoldering rubble of empires
Back through tha shanties and tha cities remains
Tha same bodies buried hungry
But with different last names
These vultures rob everyone
Leave nothing but chains
Pick a point here at home
And tha picture's tha same
There's a field full of slaves
Some corn and some debit
There's a ditch full of bodies
Tha check for tha rent
There's a tap, tha phone, tha silence of stone
Tha numb black screen
That be feelin' like home
And tha riot be tha rhyme of tha unheard

Calm like a bomb

There's a mass without roofs
A prison to fill
A country's soul that reads post no bills
A strike and a line of cops outside of tha mill
There's a right to obey

And a right to kill

Rage Against the Machine

Just a mental quote, some thoughts that I tote. Seething just below the surface, cat like me got some nervous while others think they know me, wouldnt let you punk bitches show me. shit, I am to legit to quit. When you prop up that mediocre bullshit that I'm quick to rip, bitches like you wanna go on and trip, buts its cool cuz quietly I'm making some new rules as you try to read me, thinking I'ma roll out like Jay-z, ya'll bitches cant phase me. Each and everyday you thinking, you testing my wit, I see you suckas, better get a grip, naw fool dont even trip. Getting mines wonderin why I gotta say "hi to the bad guy", shit dont even fly. As we tussle I beat thee,cuz like my mans "no one can defeat me" I smile leaving you stymied in my wake, like you just got Abdou by jake, been seen the sign across yo chest "watch out I'm a snake". Dont think for one moment my ass is gonna break, bootlick hell naw you can suck my.... And if you think I dont notice I do, stupid ass bitches I'm the one thats playing you. Every now and then I peel back a layer and scare, leave you saying damn didnt know that was in there. So as I walk in your midst, just remember this and you wont go wrong:

Bitch I'm calm like a bomb

2006 Remix fo yo ass!!!

Nerves of Steel

NARO%

War Crimes in Iraq: Bespredel American Style?

2006-05-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

With the news today and everyday for that matter about our troops in Iraq, I decided to go "digging in the creates" for an old war story eerily similar to what I was reading in my NY Times over my Venti mocha:

War Has No Rules for Russian Forces Fighting in Chechnya
Troops admit committing atrocities against guerrillas and civilians. It's
part of the military culture of impunity, they say. They call it bespredel--literally, "no limits." It means acting
outside the rules, violently and with impunity. It translates as "excesses"
or "atrocities."

Chechnya = Iraq

"What rules? What Geneva Conventions? What difference does it make if
Russia has signed them?" said a 25-year-old army officer. "I didn't sign
them, none of my friends signed them. . . . In Russia, these rules don't
work."

About a dozen Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, are being investigated for war crimes in connection with the incident to determine if they violated the rules of military engagement.

Perhaps most important, the servicemen described a pervasive and
powerful culture of impunity in the Russian armed forces. They believe that
authorities say one thing in public but deliberately turn a blind eye to
many war crimes. A few even said investigators helped cover up such
atrocities. Right or wrong, the soldiers are confident that authorities
will make no serious effort to investigate war zone misconduct.
"You don't make it obvious, and they don't look too hard,"

The military at first described the encounter as an ambush during a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol that involved a roadside bombing in which a Marine died and then a firefight. However, residents of the neighborhood contended that only U.S. forces were shooting after the explosion.

The report concludes that a dozen Marines acted improperly after a roadside bomb explosion killed a fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. Looking for insurgents, the Marines entered several homes and began firing their weapons, according to the report.

Killing for Revenge

Notions of provocation and revenge are central to the servicemen's
mind-set. In Russian culture, a man not only has the right but is also
honor-bound to respond to a "provocation." When a Russian serviceman is
killed or mistreated by the enemy, his comrades must take revenge.
Nearly all of the servicemen who recounted incidents of bespredel--a
slang term that originated in Russia's prisons--described them as revenge
attacks for the deaths of their comrades.

"When you see your mates drop down on the ground, when you take your
dead and wounded to the hospital, this is when hatred rises within you,"
said a 23-year-old army officer. "And the hatred is against all Chechens,
not just the individual enemies who killed your friends. This is when
bespredel starts."

Notice the parallels of War? Chechnya, Iraq, Africa, Vietnam, Somalia, Kosovo. In the end are the professionalism and standards of our nations armed forces doomed to the conditions of man and his inability under extreme conditions to maintain whatever shreds of emotional intelligence happen to remain?

Content Sources:
WAR HAS NO RULES
Probe finds Marines
FULL METAL JACKET
CDI (Center for Defense Information)

"Anyone who runs is VC. Anyone who stands still is well-disciplined VC ..."
Naro%

I wanna be a Nigerian Movie star: Hype Williams where you at?

2006-05-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Nigerian film industry emerged in the late 1970s, as the nation's economy collapsed. Public funding of movies and original television programming vanished, and crime made cinemas too dangerous to visit. European and American shows soon dominated national television. But, disturbed by the absence of black faces on Nigerian television, the country's fledgling filmmakers began spinning vibrant tribal plays onto the screen. By the early 1990s, filming on celluloid had become too expensive and production shifted to video.

Unlike African art films, which appear on the global film circuit and are commonly financed by European investors, Nollywood films are backed by African merchants. For instance, a merchant-investor could pay a director $10,000, covering the production costs and procuring the film's distribution rights. About two weeks later, the merchant-investor gets the film's master tape, then sends it to one of many mass-dubbing centers in Nigeria. The movie is copied onto a Video Compact Disc, known as a VCD and widely used across the developing world. VCDs cost $1.50 to make and are usually sold to consumers at outdoor markets in Nigeria for $3, or less. (more)

The Cinema of Nigeria is colloquially known as Nollywood, the name given to the Nigerian video movie industry. The term is of uncertain origin, but was derived from Hollywood in the same manner as Bollywood (see also: Tollywood and Kollywood). Nollywood has no "studios" in the Hollywood sense. Many of the big producers have offices in Surulere, Lagos. Idumota market on Lagos Island is the primary distritution center. The video movies are shot in locations all over Nigeria with distinct regional characteristics in northern movies (primarily in Hausa language), the Yoruba language movies produced in the west and the popular English language movies shot in the southeast. Many foreign and local critics have criticized Nollywood for trite plots, poor dialogue, and poor production values. Some worry that the prevalence of witchcraft and violence in the movies may encourage the worst stereotypes about Africans. At the same time, these local movies have achieved the difficult feat of outselling Hollywood films in Nigeria and many other African countries. Nigerian video movies are distributed through the informal economy of petty traders in Africa. In this way they are available in even the most remote areas of the continent. (more)

"We have the stories to tell, thousands of them, but there's a lot to be done," says Charles Novia, a popular director who has 28 films to his credit. "We need to be more in tune with the new cinematic techniques across the world; we need courses in production techniques. But what is most striking is how popular our films are, not just among our fellow Nigerians, but across the continent. It's mind-blowing."

Shell Oil: Pay Up, Shut Up, or Get out...

2006-05-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

A Nigerian court has given Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) a Monday deadline to pay $1.5 billion in damages for pollution in the oil-producing state of Bayelsa, the energy giant said on Saturday.

Shell said it had appealed against the order by Justice Okechukwu Okeke, who in February upheld a resolution by parliament that the firm should pay the money to ethnic Ijaw communities in Bayelsa in the Niger Delta, which produces all of Nigeria's output of 2.4 million barrels of oil per day.

"The court ordered that we pay the money into an escrow account by Monday, while the case continues. We have filed an appeal against the judgment," said a spokesman for Shell, Nigeria's biggest producer. Communities often accuse Shell of allowing its oil to spill into the rivers and swamps of the Niger Delta, spoiling crops and driving fish away.

Shell says most spills are caused by saboteurs trying to steal the oil for sale by international criminal syndicates on the world market.

The payment of $1.5 billion to Ijaw communities is one of several demands made by a militant group that has hit a quarter of Nigerian oil exports in a five-month campaign of sabotage and kidnapping against the oil industry.

Decades of living alongside the multibillion dollar oil industry have brought few benefits to the estimated 20 million people who live in the delta, mostly in extreme poverty. (More)

A statement today from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the armed ethnic Ijaw group, said: "There have been reports that negotiations are ongoing towards the release of these individuals. This is absolutely untrue."
It added: "We are continuing with our attacks on oil facilities and oil workers in the next few days. We will act without further warning."
Following the violence, Shell - the biggest oil producer in Nigeria - has halved its output from the country.

A spokeswoman for the company told Times Online that the company was unable to comment on the court ruling because it had not yet been made aware of it.

she added Shell remained convinced "independent expert advice" showed that it strong grounds to appeal the order to pay compensation.

"We remain committed to dialogue with the Ijaw people," she said.

According to the BBC, Shell's lawyers argued in the Pourt Harcourt Federal Court that the joint committee of the Nigerian National Assembly that made the order in 2000 did not have the power to compel the oil company to make the payment. (More)

So the plot thickens in Nigeria on the eve of elections sans President Obasanjo, will Shell (aka The One Eyed Wooden Shoe Pirate) break the law passed down by the land? You better believe it, Nobody on earth wants to pay a $1 billion plus fine for anything. Shell's excuse of saboteurs is like RJ Reynolds blaming BIC (the people who make lighters) for smoking!!! Note to anybody in the US who thinks this is a little matter, If you got a shell credit card just watch how you interest rates jump the hell out of the roof if they already havent. THESE CATS ARE GONNA GET PAID ANY WHICH WAY THEY CAN.

"Yo potna, Can I get those ends, cuz you delinquent"
NARO%

Charles Taylor: Sleeping with the enemy?

2006-05-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

The 2003 intervention by the Bush administration in the Liberian crisis, which led to the forcible exile of Charles Taylor, was seen as a welcoming surprise by many Liberians, regional and international human rights groups and advocates. It was also considered a major shift by the United States government in its efforts, to help end human rights atrocities, restore peace and stability in Liberia and West Africa.
While Liberians and other citizens applaud the United States involvement in Liberia, there is still the question: After over a decade of silence and inaction, what prompted the U. S. to intervene in Liberia? This analysis will provide and discuss some of the major Cooperate Government Relations tools and strategies that were used to highlight the Liberian situation, and also influence the U.S. government to intervene. (More)

The goals and vision set by the International Crisis Group in influencing U.S. intervention in Liberia, the removal and trial of Taylor were achieved because of the efficient and effective use of few Cooperate Government Relations tools.
Musue N. Haddad

A very interesting piece on the ousting of former President Charles Taylor: Strategic Diplomacy or Honest to goodness lets make the world a better place for all mankind propaganda? I got it, Lets line up all of the former leaders put in place under rather ambiguous terms and start a global regime change effort under the guise of The Global War on Terror. Somebody must be a Star Wars fan somewhere out there because this is eerily reminiscent of the Anikin / Count Doku decapitation in front of the chancellor scene...

Sites of interest:
International Crisis Group
CATO Institute
Liberian History and Govt.

"Can you hear me now?"
NARO%

Phase Zero Operations: Preventing wars in Africa?

2006-05-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

Nigeria faces turbulent election race
On Tuesday, Nigerian senators rejected a bill that would have paved the way for an amendment to allow Mr Obasanjo to stand for president in elections early next year. The polls are set to mark the first time a civilian president hands over to another since independence from colonial rule in 1960.

The rejection of the bill has been welcomed by western governments who feared an extension could have provoked widespread turmoil and chaos in the world’s eighth largest oil exporter. Despite the end of military rule, Nigeria is still beset by political thuggery, chronic corruption and bouts of politically motivated ethnic and religious violence. This year alone, scores have been killed in religious violence in the north and southeast, while insurgents in the oil producing delta region have cut Nigeria’s oil output by a fifth.

Mr Obasanjo is a Christian southerner and many Muslim northerners feel the next president should be from the north. This has angered other regional politicians who say the north has dominated the presidency in the last four decades.
(More)

We do have a vision of the sort of society we want for Nigeria: one in which there will be no sharp differences in prosperity between one part of the country and another; in which the role of government is more limited and there is more scope for the initiative and skills of our people; in which there is more freedom of choice for consumers with stability of prices and more freedom for parents and those seeking a home; in which we are able to do more for the old, the sick and the disabled. We have a vision to reduce the level of absolute poverty within our nation. In short, we envision a prosperous and united country with fulfilled and contented citizens. (SITE)

Phase Zero Ops:
Soldiers from special operations, civil affairs and other units will be working with their African counterparts in an ongoing effort to make their nations more stable and less susceptible to extremists, especially ones who threaten the U.S. and like-minded nations.Training of African troops will represent the bulk of the exercise, but there will be another part, a four-day command post exercise to be performed in Dakar, Senegal. Troops from the seven nations will be thrown into a crisis to solve. In addition to Senegal, the participating nations are Niger, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Algeria and Tunisia. Flintlock 05, like a number of recent U.S. military initiatives in Africa, is what the U.S. European Command calls a “Phase Zero” exercise. They also call it “peace operations” that are meant to prevent the need for future “phases” used in the buildup to war. “Phase Zero” operations use expertise from different agencies, such as the State Department, to help determine how U.S. troops can best be used in peace operations. (More)

Alliance of Somali Warlords Battles Islamists in Capital
A new front in the fight against terrorism has broken out on the streets of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, as a group of Islamists battle Somali warlords allied with Washington's aim of rooting out Muslim extremism from the region. Nearly 150 people have died in six days of fighting in Mogadishu. In six days of some of the worst street combat since the central government collapsed in 1991, nearly 150 people have been killed, most of them noncombatants caught in machine-gun and artillery fire. On Friday morning, heavy shooting could be heard in some parts of the disintegrating capital, although the gunfire appeared to subside somewhat later in the day, according to Mogadishu residents reached by telephone from Kenya. (More)

US accused of funding Somali clash
MORE than a decade after its troops withdrew from Somalia following a disastrous military intervention, the United States is secretly supporting secular warlords waging fierce battles against Islamist groups for control of the capital, reports suggest. The information comes from officials of Somalia's interim Government and some US analysts of Africa policy. Clashes last week and at the weekend — some of the most violent in Mogadishu since the end of the American intervention in 1994 — left 150 dead and hundreds more wounded. Leaders of the interim Government blamed US support of the militias for provoking the clashes. (More)

"A group of powerful warlords controlling the Somali capital on Tuesday held secret talks with US agents in a provincial town in a bid to fight terrorism in the Horn of Africa nation, witnesses said. The talks between the warlords, who recently formed the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), and the US agents were held in Jowhar, 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu. 'The meeting was convened to discuss the future of peace in Somalia and the best ways of kicking out foreign extremists and their hosts from Somalia,' an ARPCT member, who insisted on anonymity, told AFP. They said the delegates arrived in Jowhar, the seat of Somali transitional government, in two planes -- one carrying the warlords and the other carrying the US agents." (More)

Some Members of the ARPCT:

Just when you thought there couldnt be a sequel to Black Hawk Down some good ol diplomacy brings former warlords in to play the role of "Anti-Terrorist Force". Somebody, Somewhere needs a really really good kick in the nuts...
As for the Phase Zero Operations going on across the continent I am sure that all of the future warlords are taking extremely good notes...

The way to peace should not be achieved through WAR...
NARO%

2020 Vision: Africa of tomorrow

2006-05-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Just coolin and thinkin about some of the projects I would like to set off in the mother land, you could say I was doing a bit of brainstorming but then again most of these are no brainers...
I have never done a top ten list but if I did this is what it would look like:
The Top Ten Visions for Africa by 2020

#10 Transcontinental Rail/Highway System
We gotta bring the people together. The primary resource for the continent is its people. African has a tendency to have roads where they are needed by those who wish to exploit its riches. Can we get some real infrastructure going on or do we have to keep on with the dirt roads, and tore up river boats?

#9 The Worlds Largest Telescope
building a telescope double the size of of the 305 meter Arecibo Radio Telescope or even better; build an array of Arecibo's. Its stuff like this that brings really smart people around and for the most part helps us collectively as a species.

#8 Move the the UN Headquarters to Africa
(its closer to the rest of the world anyways)
I think its well past due for a new "NON Western" venue it just seems like every time you goto the UN in NYC and you not from the west its like you already got your hand out...

Dont get me wrong I love NY but this place has more than its share of Icons to humanity. if you wanna be global you gotta "Be global" meaning doing shit out in the rest of the world instead of bringin the rest of the world to you...

#7 Restore the Pyramids and every other monument to civilization on the continent. Every country treats their monuments with such pride and care, why cant we do the same for some of the greatest Icons in the HISTORY OF HUMANKIND?

#6 FREE Global Communications
Its way too late in the game to try and make money off of "emerging markets" Note to Boeing You need to ease up off some of that technology and help the world grow... MSAT could do a lot of good for a alot of people

#5 African Information Project A continental summation of Africa's history into one collective digital database. If you pimp this with the global communications I think we could see some serious technological leaps not just for Africa but for the entire world as well...

#4 Give the resources back to the people/ end colonialism in all of its forms. This means all of you Funky Ass Corporations
continuing the oppression under the the guise of private enterprise. Note to China Dont be the next in a long line of assholes who have gone way beyond to bounds of assholism in order to exploit your fellow man. I think you have come along way in your rise to power just dont go too "Capitalist Swine" on me and my peeps okay?

#3 Unity One Nation Many Peoples
The sooner we unite the sooner we will rise. Just look at the rest of the world and see how every "modern" group of nations is converging for the advancement of all involved in the union.

#2 Peace! End the Genocide
This is worst that humankind has to offer
Peace and stability are the true keys to our success. This shit is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay outta control, and some where (I have the distinct feeling) someone likes all of this death and destruction (or at least they dont seem to mind)

#1 Stop HIV/AIDS and all of the other diseases that destroy the future of our planet...
so as Bono heads back to Africa, and Brad n' Angelina prep for that Namibian bundle, and Mr Clooney voices off about the genocide that just seems to rotate around the continent, and how Oprah
does what she always does (make anything popular), I have chosen to share my 10 cents on what I plan to do/promote/foster/create in the near future for the continent of Africa.

Wisdom,
Peace,
Unity

NARO%

Uganda

2006-05-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Something I came across and just wanted to share with you...

Expand your viz,
NARO%

Tabitha Khumalo:Fighting for human rights

2006-05-07T22:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who dont know Tabitha Khumalo:

SHE has been arrested 22 times, tortured so badly that her front teeth were knocked into her nose and had an AK-47 thrust up her vagina until she bled. Thabitha Khumalo’s crime: to campaign against a critical shortage of tampons and sanitary towels in Zimbabwe, one of the least talked about and most severe side-effects for women of the country’s economic crisis.

So desperate is the situation that women are being forced to use rolled-up pieces of newspaper. Zimbabwe already has the world’s lowest life expectancy for women — 34 — and Khumalo believes these unhygienic practices could make it drop to as low as 20 because infections will make them more vulnerable to HIV. “It’s a time bomb,” she said. The shortage is forcing schoolgirls to stay at home when they start menstruating. (MORE)

THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has finally taken delivery of a consignment of badly needed sanitary towels donated by well-wishers after paying $1.7 billion in import duty.
ZCTU secretary-general Wellington Chibebe said the labour body received the 19 tonnes of sanitary towels, which had been stuck in South Africa for over a month, last Saturday and would soon distribute them to the working women of Zimbabwe through its structures.
The delivery of the pads, which is part of the ZCTU's efforts to ease a crisis most Zimbabwean women are facing, came following an appeal by the Women's Advisory Council (WAC) to sympathisers in South Africa.
WAC had realised that sanitary pads were becoming scarce and that, where they could be found, they were being sold at exorbitant prices. (MORE)

WTF people, this is truly a sad day on our planet, when in this day age women cant even get basic necessities like tampons. I am at a loss for words... Tampons, this should be some top level UN shit for real. This is straight outlandish, hell if i owned Tampax I'd give away 10 super tankers full of pads just on GP. Support our people, because we are dying faster than you think...

Props to: This is Zimbabwe
Support: Dignity Period

"The battle for respect is a global event"
NARO%

Rest In Peace

2006-05-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Now I know that I am the sphere, and all life in rhythmic fragments moves within me.

Khalil Gibran

E.R.S
June 1942 - May 2006
Rest in Peace Pops

You are and always will be my Hero!
NARO%

Unterscheidungen: Ease up off my foot sucka!!

2006-04-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

Communication within a system operates by selecting only a limited amount of all information available outside. This process is also called reduction of complexity. The criterion according to which information is selected and processed is meaning. Both social systems and psychical or personal systems operate by processing meaning. Further, each system has a distinctive identity that is constantly reproduced in its communication and depends on what is considered meaningful and what is not; Our current status has the FG (Focus Group/Afro-Americans) being manipulated via the Mass Media in a global fashion. We constantly hear of people saying “So and So set the race back so many years” but does one ever wonder who facilitated the “Setback”. Individuals say they cannot represent the “entire race” but our entire "race" is being selectively embellished for the world to see/judge/interpret. We are being systematically reduced on the largest stage possible to the entire world, through the well selected (fantastical distortions) exploits of our people via the mass media. We must re-define, re-communicate, re-cognize, re-place, the images that are detrimental to every black person on earth…

We need the greatest make over in the history of civilization, not in the negative sense, but in the sense of how our “Cultural Image” has been continually distorted for the benefit of others at our expense. Errrtime you shake that booty somebody some where sees it and they develop a perception, plain and simple. Errrtime you run around tossing money, rocking the throw backs, somebody some where sees it and they develop a perception. Errrtime that very same video comes on TV somebody is making a lot of money from your willingness to promote/propagate this “Limited amount of information” to the outside world. A quick look into the process of how the mind interprets images, you can hit up wikpedia for the long version. In a nutshell we are bombarded by “Images and Sounds” which both consciously and unconsciously affect our system both as a group and as an individual. These images communicate with our OS (operating system) and affect our attitudes, feelings, actions, etc. It is this process that we as a people need to gain control of. Streams of thought are being manipulated on a daily basis in an attempt to manufacture “Blackness”, what does the “Mainstream” consider black, all you have to do is watch TV to find out.

Image processing-The primary visual cortex is the best studied visual area in the brain. It is the part of the cerebral cortex that is responsible for processing visual stimuli. It is the simplest, earliest cortical visual area. It is highly specialized for processing information about static and moving objects and is excellent in pattern recognition.
Unconscious inference- Inference requires prior assumptions about the world: two well-known assumptions that we make in processing visual information are that light comes from above, and that objects are viewed from above and not below. The study of visual illusions (cases when the inference process goes wrong) has yielded a lot of insight into what sort of assumptions the visual system makes.

NLP 1. The image is projected on the retina and will make an impact depending on the number of receiving cells and neurons concerned.
2. This image goes through the optical chiasma, and relayed to the core amygdala. 3. the nerves are recruited and in turn goes to the limbic system (emotional)/kinesthetic. If the emotion is sufficiently strong, this stimulus associated with the emotion is engram (association V=K).
4. Then information passes towards the occipital cortex where it "is perceived", because we perceive on the neurological level.
5. The occipital cortex sends information to the prefrontal lobes, where information is analyzed and interpreted.
6. According to the direction given, information can continue while following down the line towards the limbic system. This neurological data clarifies the level of NLP interventions. Anchoring and submodalities act this way: By breaking the engram (V=K) by sending contradictory information, the subject can act in dissociation or deactivating anchors as in the NLP 10 minute phobia cure.

Music video analysis- I came across this project while surfing and thought what an excellent tool. Why not use this as a means to CONSTRUCT better images about what it is we (They) project as a culture (our culture). This analysis when used preemptively can redefine what it is to be black and thus allow us to regain control of the “Stream” when it deals with our Cultural Capital and how it is interpreted globally.

PROJECT Overview:

Analyze images for historical/cultural significance What does the video say about the United States? (purpose) What four or five specific images support that view? (supporting artistic details) What has research shown you about the historical background of the video's images? Is the video historically/culturally accurate? How do you know that? (Historical research is your evidence.)
Does your group agree with the focus or theme of the video? Explain. Group Work: Your group will: Select a video you can all agree on Present your analysis to the class using the above overview as a guide. You should go beyond the question and answer format to make a presentation that engages your viewers, uses visual material and explains both the video and your research.
Group Roles: 1. Organizer, scheduler and chief researcher Makes sure all tasks are done on time Has primary responsibility for organizing group members to do research, which may take place on-line with the Internet and Bookshelf Encyclopedia, and at the college library, or public library, or libraries at Napa, Vintage, or Sonoma State.
2. Discussion moderator and note-taker Makes sure all students contribute and are heard Records discussion notes and distributes them daily to group members
3. Writer/Producer for presentation Puts together the pieces of the presentation made to the class Makes certain that all group members participate in the presentation
4. Main Presenter The "star" of the presentation Has secondary responsibility for organizing and conducting research
5. Technician Manages equipment, making sure the group uses equipment only for allotted time E-mails presentation outline to entire class after getting an OK from instructors Gets permission to use a video different from those brought by instructor if group wants to use own video Note: All students in a group should participate in all aspects of the presentation. All students are responsible for research. No one group member is "finished" with his/her job until all group members are finished with the work of the group. Individual Work: In addition to the work of the group, each student will write an individual analysis of the video the group analyzed, or, if s/he prefers, an analysis of a different video.

What does all of this mean? Well for one it leads to the fact that we need some new data for our I/O peripherals. We need to focus our fight, avoid distractions, and all of the other false positives, by taking this battle to the source. This is one of the many steps is winning back the “control” of our image and how it is “streamed” to the world…

"apologies made to whoever pleases, still they got me like Jesus"
Naro%

Asset Based Thinking...

2006-04-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

I picked up some motivational joint in Barnes and Noble yesterday on a humm bug. The book was a quick read and focused on the potentials of asset based thinking (expanding your lens and reframing negatives) on the whole the book was a look into the the power of positive thinking and when used correctly can be a very powerful tool. But where I am a little perplexed is with their theory of looking at every senario and finding a positive...
Now I know it's easy to Juxtapose this particular self help theory against the back drop of something like the political problems we face in Africa and America, but the concepts have got to be of use in situations outside of the business world. So if you get a chance hit the site, or pick up the book, I would love to see what you come up with. Because I am sooooooooooo tired of seeing pics like the one above (In the US and Africa), and as much as I try I cant seem to change the way I see everything (especially in this picture).

Change The Way You See Everything

Photo Link

Peace,
NARO%

Learning to love Africa

2006-04-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

Monique Maddy speaks at Google...
Upon graduating from Harvard Business School, Maddy, born in Liberia and educated in Britain and the U.S., relocates to Tanzania to execute a start-up business providing telephone service. With the excitement attendant to starting a new company and the soul-searching of a young woman on a mission, Maddy brings personal experience and a different perspective on the troubled history of conquest and colonization of Africa, including the resettlement of American slaves in Liberia. Having worked for the UN, Maddy also brings a perspective on capitalism versus the benevolent efforts of world organizations. She contrasts their ineffectiveness with the entrepreneurial heritage of the Mandingo, who have an extensive network of trade and finance throughout Africa, as well as her father's business enterprises and the foreign investment of Firestone and other companies in small, isolated towns that stand in stark contrast to the chaos of the surrounding country. Maddy is ultimately disappointed when her enterprise fails owing to local corruption, ineptitude, and bureaucracy, and she struggles to maintain her vision for self-reliance and entrepreneurialism in Africa.

See Video here

Monique Maddy Website

Africa is talking, are you listening?
Naro%

Peep This

2006-04-07T00:09:00.000-07:00

Something I came across in my travels (around the web). Sounds like he's pitching the same thing I been ranting about for some time now...

"Live wires connect"
Naro%

More on Framing... Bending reality Mass Media style

2006-04-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Definition:

Framing is a way to use language to manage meaning. It's a way for leaders to influence how events are seen and understood. It involves the selection and highlighting of one or more aspects of a subject while excluding others.
Organizational Behavior
Stephen P. Robbins
pg 362

I used this in a previous post but it seems like The Mass Media in all of is non baised glory is still missing the point (AP can kiss my black ass). What appears to be a piece of news on the Duke Rape case is really a not so discreet attempt at swaying mass opinions about the case through the not so subtile use of Framing.

Alleged Rape at Duke Plays to Stereotypes
This already sets the tone two fold (the race card and the ol lying ass Tawanna Brawley a double dose of some classic framing techniques; prep the reader with doubt and skepticism before the story even unfolds)

The first line kicks off:
The case seems to fit the stereotypes so perfectly. The accused rapists are white, the woman is black.

What stereotype is this? The ol Evil white rapist Stereotype, WTF? Its usually (always)the other way around! and I like the second usage of the word accused it instills even more doubt on top of the underlying attempt to discredit the entire event by calling it a stereotypical event.

Then they bust out the ol us against them move. I thought "they" used this one up during the OJ trial, guess not.
The men go to Duke University, the expensive private college with the championship sports teams and big TV deals. The woman studies across town at chronically underfunded and oft-overshadowed North Carolina Central University.
What the hell does this have to do with anything? Preping the reader for the good ol "Us against Them" story (this move is so old you can see it coming a mile away).

It's so easy to see the incident at the shabby university-owned house — just a mile from the iconic Gothic Duke Chapel — in terms of powerlessness and privilege, town and gown, black and white. Many on campus and in the streets of this gritty working-class vertex of the famed Research Triangle are framing it just that way.
And what is so easy about picturing a bunch of drunk asses raping a woman? Another attempt at discrediting the entire "story" as if this is an easy way to pick on the poor white boys who were just out for a little fun who got jacked by some gold digging big booty strippers.

Why is it when YT is on the spot "they" make sure EVERYONE understands guilty until proven innocent opps I mean Innocent until proven guilty, yet the press seems to lose this notion when it comes to people of color?

Speaking of which lets take a look at some classic headlines:
OJ Simpson murder case
Kobe Bryant rape case
Micheal Jackson molestation case

Where in the world was the word alleged? In the Kobe case some times the word alleged was never even used!

I find it interesting that people continually consider this type of reporting as news and fail to see it for what it actually is: A constant cultural psychological operation (a weak one at that) designed to influence, polarize, dictate, control our entire thought process.

Yahoo News story here

FREE YOUR MIND
Naro%

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

2006-03-29T16:11:00.000-08:00

Now thats what i call deep seeded hate... some ol furious boiling to the bone hate. And to think this was right around the time (or soon after) that some of us were born.

A short post today, on my way back to the U.S. after a bit of traveling. Just want to shout out to my peeps on the link:Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

The DVD, the book, the whole damn joint is going deep into the collection as soon as I touch down. Holla back!!

"Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome"

The Theory of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome suggest that centuries of slavery followed by systemic racism and oppression have resulted in multigenerational adaptive behaviors, some of which have been positive and reflective of resilience, and others that are detrimental and destructive. In brief, Dr. Leary presents facts; statistics and documents that illustrate how varying levels of both clinically induced and socially learned residual stress related issues were passed along through generations as a result of slavery.

Dr. Joy DeGruy-Leary

"Better act like you know, fool"

Peace,
NARO%

Blowin Glass

2006-03-18T16:42:00.000-08:00

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Unveils Fireworks of Glass, Dale Chihuly's Largest Permanent Sculpture of Blown Glass
Saturday March 18, 6:00 am ET

Dedicated to creating extraordinary family learning experiences across the arts, sciences and humanities, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis in conjunction with renowned artist Dale Chihuly, opens Fireworks of Glass, the largest permanent sculpture of Chihuly blown glass ever created. The 43-foot Tower rises above a floating glass ceiling under which an innovative hands-on glassblowing exhibit for children and families is housed. Fireworks of Glass is a permanent world-class work of art for children and families to explore, learn about and create their own works of art. As visitors circle the ramps, labels on the railings will provide information about Chihuly and how the tower was created.

Go out and get you some of this, I've had the chance to see a few of these around the way. Open the little minds to something just short of magical, it will last a life time..
ART IS A GOOD THING!
NARO%

The Standard

2006-03-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about how it is that we measure ourselves, (a loose interpretation of collective black social quantification) what we look at as a culture and say “ok that’s how it should be done” and then move in that direction. This isn’t to say that we don’t have our own goals and aspirations, but historically what it is we aspire to has been established by white people (people of European descent/can be classified as white, etc.). Our pecuniary taste, our social norms, work ethic, all revolve around a standard (propagated through the mass media extra nice move) which reinforces what it is we all accept as “common”. The “standard” is what we all know as socially as being credible, and when I say socially I mean socially, its the difference between a Golden Globe and an Oscar, everyone knows the latter is the standard, emplaced by the standard, to quantify and further maintain the impression of the standard. The standard is the method of comparison for/against things people often describe as “Ghetto” or whatever description of the day is appropriate for the situation. It is this (the comparison to our particular focus group based on the standard) that we are confronted with on a daily basis, these micro level impressions on our cultural capital which continually both consciously and sub reinforce the standard upon us.

What the standard is: A socially accepted condition or form of thought that is manifested socially and expressed culturally among all people to establish a certain order of things. It is this certain order of things that has been the catalyst for the socio-technical development of Eurocentric thought and its propagation through out the world. While my half-assed attempt at a definition of the standard may come off as a “blanket white supremacy” rant the actual intent is to focus on the things which have become so common place in our society that we take them no questions asked, regardless of their face value. Before I go any further I would like to send a big shout out to BLACKADEMIC her blog hit some mental notes that I had filed away on attempts at practicing diversity. The standard is at face value Eurocentric thought, practice, and values, exposed upon all non European (non white people).

Social acceptance
Our first and most probable reason for aspiring to the standard is social acceptance. The more we aspire/display our ability to assimilate/attain the standard, the more “we” feel the “right” to acceptance by those who have emplaced the standard. We meaning anyone who is not of the standard, and right by the fact of “due process” or meeting the quals socially/culturally of the standard (yes I am leaving out the race portion, saving that for the book). It is this inherent desire to “act right” (act white?) “talk right” (talk white?) or what ever of form or fashion of cultural interaction that is deemed appropriate by the standard. In other words the standard is maintained by white people (an important element of racial identity/supremacy) and white people only. Words like “western”, “modern society”, “mainstream” are all a direct translation of the standard, and deviations are referred to as “Diverse”, “Minority”, “Ghetto”, “Inner City”, “at risk youth”, “Third World”, or “Developing Nations” (all code words for nigger). What we fail to realize or take at “face value” is that by the continual usage/assimilation of such terms by those who “meet the criteria” for such a categorization only lends itself to the standard.

Transcending the plane
So how is it that we step outside of construct, move above an beyond the architecture that has been so intricately established so as to become visible/non-visible (a social tactic and tool) in all aspects of people interaction and thought. First we must identify the “Prima Facie Evidence” ( I couldn’t resist). The most out right and common tools/architecture the we cannot deny:
English- Language the most common element of the standard. All of your communication is based on a language created by Europeans. So from the first day of school you are learning in essence to talk white.
Math- Why is it that we are all taught “Roman Numerals” at a very young age? Any one progressive enough to start teaching “Chinese Numerals”, with the current geo-political landscape it seems to be a pretty relevant question.
Sport- Isn’t an “Athlete” one who participated in the public games in Greece and Rome? This is a double dose of the standard, not only do you get the Eurocentric title you get the added bonus of knowing that most of the “participants” were slaves or people captured on various campaigns etc. Which leads to many interesting correlations in “our” society today centered around “Professional Sports”. The standard creates entertainment based on the notion of the spectacle. The spectacle is a space with its own dynamic effectively managed by the standard. So with this you can (or cannot see) where I am going with this whole analogy, I mean for every rationalization that I get about the conditions and situations of our people, there are several things that cannot be explained away by some slick ass comment. Like the effects of the standard upon our education system, and the utterly ridiculous comments that I have heard from some of our own. Now I have mentioned this before but when you are ridiculed for learning (possessing knowledge or the ability to articulate with a lil bit o form) and labeled as acting white, has the standard superceded its own intent by causing those which may yearn for acceptance to actually resent those who possess the ability to transcend some of the quantifiable aspects presented like reading, writing and speech? Or is this just a sick and perverted bonus to the whole system, which in the end will not provide the playing field that is dangled like the carrot in front of the horse. And why is that you ask, because the standard was never about class, it has and will always be about race, and we all know who comes in first. The gold medal winner for the last couple millennia hands down no questions asked…
TO BE CONTINUED.

"This aint no after school special"
NARO%