The OWL: March 2013

Saturday, March 30, 2013

OH NO! ...A DOCTOR, TOO??

"Jumpin' De Broom" Wid "Uncle Ben"

You might think, by now, most citizens, especially black ones, would know that the right to marry was denied to slaves in this country by their Christian Masters. In defiance, they invented the practice of "jumpin' de broom" to signify lasting commitment between parents and children and between husbands and wives. Our illustrious doctor seems to not realize that the institution of marriage has not always been as revered by Christians as he claims.

Then there's Henery! The Eighth, that is. Because the Christian Popes wouldn't let him divorce his wives, he killed them instead! This verifies what I was told when I was on the faculty at K.U. by an old, early black graduate of its medical school; medical school is for cutting and sewing. It is for training, not for education! Our famous doctor may be reknowned for his skill, but what about his "education"?

Where does our malignant white Right go to find these characters? After Condi, and Clarence, we are beginning to realize that this trick doesn't work. Black skin is not enough to cover up the fact that the messages are the same ones we get from original segregationist sources.

There must be some store where the Right shops for these characters. There must be a Mall, really, because they can get quite a variety: young Cubans posing as "Latinos", and wack-a-doodle white females posing as "mama bears". Quite the circus, really.

Stay Vigilant! Check Your Commitments!

Friday, March 29, 2013

ABRAHAM LINCOLN & BUFFALO SOLDIERS

An "Untold" Story??

Abraham Lincoln, in the Emancipation Proclamation, authorized black slaves to bear arms, in uniform, in defense of the United States. Crispus Attucks, in 1770, is perhaps the first black to die in defense of what would become the United States; in the Boston Massacre. Lincoln started something new. Whites in this country, because of Haiti's defeat of the French for their Independence, and fear of slave revolts, wrote laws and pursued policies to deny non-whites the right to bear arms. Following the Civil War, white soldiers went back to their pre-war lives, by and large, but, having no past to return to, the newly armned black soldiers were sent, by the hundreds of thousands, "out West" to make that part of our country safe for the railroads. Their territory extended essentially from the Mississipi River to the California Sierras, and from the Canadian Border into Northern Mexico.

I met my first real "Buffalo Soldier" at Fort Meade, Md, in 1962. An Army Major, and his wife be-friended my young family and became "adopted parents and grand-parents" almost immediately. They met, and were married in Bixby, Arizona in 1941, where he was enlisted at nearby Fort Huachucha. He was picked to become an Army Cavalry Officer in 1941, and served a long military career lasting from World War II through several tours in Viet Nam.

A raucous "all-nighter" of story-telling in a basement lounge of a home in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is one of my fondest memories; and a time when I learned things about WWII, not written anywhere. Among those things was the history of the Army campaign to prove that "Negros" were unfit for roles other than menial servants in our nation's military. Eisenhower, I was told, was one of the officers involved. But their major disgust was held for General Mark Clark, and his treatment of non-whites during the Italian Campaign.

Before the Army finds some excuse to get rid of it, everyone should visit their outstanding Museum at Ft Huachucha. That's where the Army hid black troops from the general public for decades. That is where "Black Jack" General Pershing used those troops to fight Pancho Villa, after they returned from taking San Juan Hill in Cuba, allowing Teddy Roosevelt to take credit; and later engage in ugly racism in order to win the Presidency. New Mexico was the location for more than 19 forts housing Buffalo Soldiers, and where the Army issued more than 30 Medals of Honor for the battle records of those soldiers. All except one, Lt Tipper, were kept under control of white officers.

Because Fort Meade's commanders decided to seize the new housing provided for Joint-Service officers, and use that housing for their own officers; other service officers (from Navy Admirals to Air Force junior officers) were pushed into old Wherry (WWII) housing. That policy formed a peculiar "ghetto" on Post that included enlisted Army and a hand-full of Joint-service officers. It became a community that worked closely together to support families. Those bonds lasted for our entire careers, even though most of us returned to our respective services.

Hollywood; from John Wayne to Steven Spielberg, have consistently managed to keep this part of our history hidden.

Stay Vigilant! Happy Easter!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

"DOMINANCE"

"Ain't Gonna 'Study' WAR No Mo' "

In the summer of 1961, I was a Cadet in Air Force ROTC Summer Camp at beautiful Hamilton AFB, California. It was a tough, but memorable time when I met students from the entire state. I had my first jet fighter ride, and the wonderful "new" Boeing 707 flew us to sites like Hoover Dam. One day, in preparation for a barracks inspection, I opened the attic hatch to hide my shone-shine equipment. I felt something in the dust of what had been an old, WW-II barracks, and pulled out a "mint-condition" issue of TIME magazine, with Eisenhower on the cover as Man of the Year. The issue was dated 1944. I still have it.

Little did I know then that my Air Force career would lead to the Nevada Desert, Washington, D.C., the states of Kansas and Nebraska, and the slums of New York city's boroughs. I arrived in Washington, D.C. in July of 1962, a fresh brown-bar attached to the NSA. I was there for four years of what I call the Hell Years of my first career: In the cross-hairs for the Cuban Missile Crises (three months after I arrived); the March on Washington (I did not attend); the March on the White House for the Birmingham Bombing deaths of four children (I participated); the assassination of President Kennedy (I still don't "get it" why the American People just "rolled over"); the Gulf of Tonkin and the early Johnson years; and the assassination of Malcolm X. I left for training in Ohio before the later assassinations of Bobby and Martin, and the riots that ensued. They rioted in Dayton, too!

In this Easter Season, I'm finishing Gaddis' book on the Cold War (see my 3/20/13 blog: RACE and the COLD WAR). Truman and Churchill, (not so much Ike, who thought we could use "tactical" nukes on the battlefield) shared the early notion -- (shared even by Stalin) -- that "The Bomb" made warfare obsolete. The destructive power of nuclear weapons was just too great for standing armies to counter.

We're, yet again, at a spot in world affairs (think the two World Wars) when the excesses of the rich cause wars. But this time, it looks like it really IS different! The focus for dominance seems to have shifted from "external" (between nation-states) to "internal" (within nation-states and trading regions). Nations like the United States wil seek to increase its oppression of the weak (as it has since its founding; from the 'exterminations' of the natives and 'workin' the slaves to death, to the current neglect and exploitation of non-white youths). The role of the malignant Right will become ever-more transparent as they try to breathe life into the extremism of Barry Goldwater, and the Republican "leadership" that followed in his wake. Think Syria, Think Cyprus!

Stay Vigilant! READ more than you WATCH!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

SILENT "GENOCIDE" OF U.S. MALES??

"Young" Males: All Colors: All Classes

In December, 1946, the General Assembly of the newly-formed United Nations issued, based on unanimous vote, a resolution affirming genocide as a crime. It issued its Convention on Genocide,

put in force January 12, 1951, after ratification by the required 21 nations. The United States did not ratify the Convention in 1951. The U.S. did ratify the Convention in November of 1988. President Reagan signed the bill. The Convention reads:

" any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,

ethical, racial or religious group as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring

about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Brewton Berry, Ph.D.(Edin.), Race and Ethnic Relations (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1951) p. 193.

In the early 90s, I remember reading an article in The Economist concerning the under-performance of young males in public schools in developed nations. Peter Drucker warned of the dangers of any society permitting large segments of its male population to be permanently idled. After watching for several hours, two shows aired last night on PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/education-under-arrest/ , and http://180schooldays.org/?gclid=CLf4-tfNnbYCFQzhQgod_zQA-g, I can't see how any person with an I.Q. above 50 can escape the conclusion that state governments in this country are heavily involved in practices and policies that place millions of black, brown, and poor white children (especially male children) in conditions that clearly can be described as "genocidal".

Even people in classes and racial grouping who feel "safe" from the conditions revealed in the shows cited; the overall under-performance of males versus females in educational attainment, remain. It seems to persist across many academic fields. It is reflected directly in our unemployment vs employment statistics. It figures directly in the school-to-prison industry.

We've let this silent rot of our social fabric persist for too long! We're fools if we think that any of us, or our children, can fully escape the consequences!

Stay Vigilant! Protect Our Children!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

NAZI(s) - Post War

A "Mysterious" History ??

Readers of this blog know that the fist ten years of my long life were packed with several events of global, as well as personal, significance. To a child whose world awareness was dawning, events like Pearl Harbor, WW-II, Roosevelt's Death, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were of major significance and had a daily impact; even on someone at or near the age of six.

Our child-hood play included "hunting for Tojo", and the drama of the "blackouts". Popular slang included many anti-Japanese terms, but, strangely, no slurs against Germans. That was probably because I grew up among, and was segregated against (along with the few Jews in our town) by German-Americans. We did know about "Hitler", though.

By the time I was ten, the war to defeat the Germans, the Naziis, and Hitler, was over; and, according to our media and institutions of the United States, quickly "vanished" from our daily awareness. All attention was switched to the "Red Menace" posed by our former ally in WW-II: the Russians. Attention was turned away from Naziis, toward Communists. A "switch" was flipped.

Over the next 30 years, I was drawn deeper and deeper into anti-Cold War activities, to include nuclear technology development and the development of delivery systems and methods.

The politics of that period of my life was dominated by the likes of Joe McCarthy and other extreme-Right reactionaries. There was general fear in the populace, much greater than that of the early War years. That kind of fear re-surfaced post 9/11. In both cases, the fear was driven by extreme-Right players, for domestic political purposes.

I remained haunted by the question: "What happened to all those Naziis who survived Hitler"? I was able, thanks to C-Span, to pose that question to the editor of a leading German magazine in the early 1990(s). His answer: "they all fled to the Americas".

In the latest issue of The Economist there appears a full-page obituary to Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist, recently dead at the age of 90. His career as a Nazi is detailed, to include the influence of Catholicism over him, and his influence over the likes of Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger, and Edward Teller. Have "They" become "Us"??

Stay Vigilant! Read Your History!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

TO ALL WHITE GRANDPARENTS

Bring Back The Whigs ??

You believe that the future of your grand-children is threatened. Well, so do I; because it includes the future of my grand-children. We differ sharply over what threatens their future! Why should I be concerned about Mayor Bloomberg's Stop and Frisk, and you're not? Why should I be concerned about the prison-industrial movement, and you're not? Why should I be concerned by the escalation of discrimination based on biology (race and gender), and you continue to back that discrimination; regarding marriage, access to education, the continued racialization of poverty and health care??

Before they became the Republican Party, they were the Whigs. The Whigs were the real "party of Lincoln", these current imposters have committed suicide as a legitimate political party by ignoring the will of the people in favor of their corporate sponsors. They need to go! Soon! We need to examine the original transition of the Whigs into Republicans, and determine whether reversal in feasible; or, whether a new, fresh, fair and open Party should be the answer.

You pretend that your concern is the Federal Budget. We all know that is not true, based on your silence, lack of concern, and cheer-leading of the Cheney/Bush crowd as they imploded our economy and loaded us down with war debt.

Its not hard to imagine the plight of your grand-children and mine if we don't act, quickly, to put an end to the madness the current Republicans are spreading (even in the face of losing elections). Moving into "red" states; our version of the South African "Laager", will not change the outcomes you fear. It simply makes those outcomes more serious. Think Syria, where biology-based conflict rages. You almost certainly will have to confront your religion to save your grand-children, and mine, but they are worth whatever that entails.

Kishore Mahbubani' new book: Asia, the West and the Logic of One World, warns the entire Western World of the need to change fundamentally and embrace all of the world's people on the basis of legal and cultural equality. Our Republicans are doing your grand-children no favor by leading them into the Laager!

We old folk don't have a lot of time. We have to work fast to undo the crap we see all around us!

Stay Vigilant! Face the "Truth"!!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

"AUTHORITARIANISM"

Threat to National Security??

Racism, Apartheid, Anti-Semitism, Communism, Fascism; all of these are forms and faces of Totalitarianism, or Authoritarianism, practiced during my lifetime. They all had large impacts on my life (WW II, Cold War and Vietnam Era military service, etc.) Vestiges of each are still in practice, and are being combined to pursue domestic politics. Most of these have been, and are still, cloaked in religion. Check out the anti-abortion cartoon depicting the new baby and the dead slave in Heaven. http://photobucket.com/images/abortion+cartoon/#/images/abortion+cartoon/?page=1&_suid=136405908976801786062823566738

We know that Democracy, when it declines, tends toward Facism. We also know that excessive participation in war by nation-states have caused the loss of empires and the weakening, or disappearance, of those states.

We're now several months past a national election in the United States, where one of our two major parties, the GOP, refuses to fully acknowledge the will of the voters in that election. The other Party appears confused and aimless. GOP dysfunction grows daily as they stubbornly refuse to permit our government to function properly. Were it not for the Federal Reserve, which their Libertarian wing despises, we may not have survived 2008!

The Founders of our Constitution did not provide for political parties; in fact the Founders warned us against "Factions" in the Federalist Papers. While the non-white part of this country is more interested in "buck-jumpin' and having fun", and the white part would rather watch football and ignore most of everything else (except for their religion), we drift more and more toward collapse.

Not a pretty picture. Our current President, likened to The Devil by a segment of the GOP, is returning from a triumphal tour to the Middle East, where he positively moved the region toward resolution of its horrific issues. He has slightly less than 4 years left on his second term. Will we significantly correct our drift and head off our slide into AUTHORITARIANISM while we can?

Stay Vigilant! Save our Democracy!!

Friday, March 22, 2013

"WMD" in the MIDDLE EAST ??

A Proper Focus for our Attention?

I am reading John Gadddis' recent book about the Cold War

http://www.amazon.com/Cold-War-New-History/dp/0143038273. I recommend it highly. It will certainly put in proper focus a lot of "crap" we're being fed by our Media! President Obama's trip to the Middle East, aside from revealing the widespread dysfunction in most of the world's governments, points us to the new use of Gas Weapons by the Syrians on their own people.

Gaddis cites in his book the fact that the use of Gas in World War I, and the use of nuclear weapons by President Truman to end WW II (the Japan part), were the only two instances in history that turned the world toward banning the use of advanced weapons. The enforcement of that ban is harder now than ever. Israel, alone, is reported to have nuclear weapons in the Middle East. We're struggling to prevent Iran from acquiring that capability.

While most of us are being led to watch our money; (Cyprus shenanigans), maybe we're better off focusing our our physical survival the way we had to at the height of the Cold War with Russia. Russian money is also implicated in the Cyprus mess. Gaddis cites the availability of new information from the collapse of the Soviet Union that reveals the espionage (in Britain, mainly) that allowed the Russians to "catch up" so quickly in the nuclear arms race with the U.S. A similar story is revealed by the Pollard case.

It's the Syrians, locked in a suicidal death struggle in their tribal civil war, that has re-opened the Gas WMD issue.

Put all of this up against the "horsesh*t" the Republicans are dishing up in our Congress and you immediately see why we should replace these childish incompetents with "adults"!! The sooner the better!! And we thought the Republicans were so worried about WMD in Irac??? Who's zoomin' who??

Stay Vigilant! Stay Informed!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

REPUBLICANS: "WE'RE NOT 'RACISTS' " ??

Let's Consider the "Definitions"

Never before has the phrase "consider the source" been more appropriate than when this term is used. In our post-Orwellian "Media" world, the word "racism" shifts meaning incessantly. These four months since the election of 2012 should erase all doubt that the GOP is "doubling down" on its stance on race -- it opposes anyone who is not white, for any reason! -- unless that person embraces their "principles". In their trip to Israel, Mitt and Adelson applied the GOP concept of race to the Palestinians, declaring them to be inferior to the Israelis.

The term, when applied to Jews, Jewish History, or the Jewish Religion, becomes Anti-Semitism. That brand of racism is studiously avoided by the GOP. Wikipedia lists historical race concepts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_race_concepts, dating as far back as the ancient Egyptians.

The Americas became plagued with the most malignant forms of racist belief systems when Chattel Slavery, introduced by Catholicism, adopted biology-based racism linked to the Bible. Since then, every form of this plague has infiltrated our laws and institutions. The skillful introduction into our politics began with the Black Codes, the Klan and, through many "distillations", Republican politics. Goldwater began the trend, Nixon overhauled it, Reagan blew new life into it aided by Lee Atwater, and "The Master" Karl perfected it for the Bush family of politicians.

Fueled by unlimited funding by corporate interests, our politicians now have to fear organizations like the NRA, which have distilled the powers of race-based fear mongering even further; imprisoning the politicians themselves! This latest stage explains why not only gun legislation, but our "education" problems, our "Obamacare" health issues, law enforcement, -- all are tainted and bedeviled by the power this force wields. We wonder why nobody seems to act "rationally" anymore? Well. DUH!!

It the embrace of young politicians that is most unsettling. Rubio and Cruz should cause us all to wonder where this is ultimately heading. Forget the "old" practitioners like McCain, Palin, and Graham. Don't be misled by those black adherents, like Condi, and Clarence, who have no problem embracing Republican "principles".

Stay Vigilant!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

RACE and the COLD WAR

Tangled Roots

In the year I was born, Russia, (led by Stalin), the world's leading Communist country, and Germany (led by Hitler), the world's leading Fascist country, signed a Pact of non-agression; freeing Germany to attack Poland. Britain acquiesced (Chamberlain). Hitler later attacked Russia, driving Stalin into the arms of Churchill (Britain) and Roosevelt (United States). My earliest memories are of the days of what followed: World War II.

In the year of my 6th birthday, that war ended and, two years later, the Cold War began. The Cold War pitted Stalin against Churchill and Truman (Roosevelt died in the year WW II ended). The Fascists waged war based on their beliefs of Race; based in biology. Biology-based racism was unique to the European approach to world conquest; which included chattel slavery and, later, colonialism. Roosevelt worked hard to get Churchill and the French to abandon colonialism and to base their post-war world order on freedom for all. The French and British ignored Roosevelt and returned to race-based colonialism - in the Middle East, and in Vietnam.

The United States adopted a policy of educating its citizens to the horrors of Communism while ignoring the horrors of Fascism. Race-based beliefs derived from Catholic (later Protestant) teachings and doctrines. We were taught that we opposed Communism, because it was "God-less".

Physics (the atomic bomb), and the Industrial Might of the United States, combined to enable Britain, the U.S., and Russia to win World War II. It was physics (again) and weapons engineering that enabled the United States to prevail over Russia and the Soviet Union to "win" the Cold War; while simultaneously rebuilding the economies of Europe and Japan. The "end" of the Cold War also produced the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Race-based colonialism also came under pressure during this period, leading to the freeing of India in 1947, and the formation of the "Bandung" (non-aligned) nations - India, China, and the African nations. This part of the Cold War is still on-going. The world's largest Communist country, China, is now our biggest trading partner; and Russia, the former Cold War foe, plays a role only in terms of its lingering nuclear threat.

In the Americas, the Catholic Church dominates today, as it has since the days of Columbus. It has divided the people into Red, White, and Black races (they symbolize this in their dress). The white races are held supreme. It has defined the after-life in terms of race (their all-white view of Heaven, is depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel). The Spanish-heritage parts of the Americas operate under the belief that there are sixteen races, based on the mixtures of red, white, and black.

Stay Vigilant!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Their "FINAL" Position??

Propaganda: No Resolution ??

Sarah Palin: that V.P. threat McCain imposed upon us in 2008, was in full flight on C-PAC.

Either she believes what came out of her mouth, or, as the Brits would say, "she's having us on".

The worst of options would be that both are true. The steps taken to "package" the creature we witnessed on the tube at C-PAC, are obvious (the hair, the bolemic figure, the Dominatrix clothing, the comedic "timing") and serve well her goal of enraging her audience. I'm old enough to remember Tokyo Rose: the propaganda spewed by Palin is dangerous! The mob she is encouraging is made up of those who, in extremis, are clinging to what is left of the Republican Party. It may be impossible to save what is left of that Party. The citizens of this country will increasingly turn their back on this bunch.

Then there is Ted Cruz of Texas. Palin claims, and Cruz confirms, that she is responsible for his Senate win. Big Mama "Di-Fi" slapped the holy crap out of this shallow, ultra-Right greenhorn on T.V. last week. Cruz is dangerous in ways that Master Marco will never be.

Both of these new guys in our Senate pose serious questions about the Republican strategy involving the Cubans. The Party devised their Cuban strategy and they also devised their "Southern" strategy. There may be no plausible path for returning the Republican Party to anything that could resemble the old "Party of Lincoln" that Nixon re-configured. Thank God; Cruz was born in Canada, and could never be President of this country.

If we carefully deconstruct the propaganda of Palin and her ilk, we will discover the way to dispense with them and the threat they pose to our politics, our economy, and to our government. They have seriously primitive understanding of terms like "Socialist", "Freedom", and "Liberty". They display a desire for white, race-based authoritarianism as their method for governing our future.

Stay Vigilant!

Copyright © 2013: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC

Monday, March 18, 2013

THE ISRAELI SOLDIER

More "Hidden" Truths??

I retired from my first career in 1982. Early in that decade, I began my second career, and, on a business flight from Albuquerque to Seattle, my seat-mate was a young Israeli Officer who had recently completed his term of obligatory service in Israel; and was touring "the states" before returning to his practice as a lawyer in Israel. One thing I'll always remember from our conversation was his statement that the Israelis and Palestinians were "cousins".

I had always been taught that the real Jesus was a Palestinian, but to hear it from a young Israeli was somewhat shocking. Our Reactionary Right was beginning to get "cozy" with Israel (especially the religious part). Their view of the Israelis was distinctly opposite from their view of the Palestinian. Those were the days before "W" and Sharon "did their number" on Arafat.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0712/jesus_palestinian.php3

The young Israeli went on to state that there would "never be peace" between the Palestinians and the Israelis because of their blood-line relations, and the fact that the birth rates were so much greater among the Palestinians. He said: "within 5 years of peace, we would disappear".

Remember, this conversation took place when Rabin was still alive. It was a different country then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Rabin.

I often think of that Officer, and wonder what he thinks of the situation in Israel today; Post-Arab Spring. No one seems to know what direction the Middle East is pursuing, as Syria continues its slow demise.

Our President departs for a visit to that region, lasting several days. It will include Israel and Palestine. Perhaps we can all get a clearer view of those issues the young officer raised in our decades-old conversation.

Stay Vigilant! Stay Informed!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

"UNFETTERED" Nation??

Beyond Our "Limits"

On this "St. Pattie"s Day"; Congratulations to my long-distant "cousins"; whether they would recognize their "kin" or not. After 500 years of "bed-swapping" on this side of our planet, European "immigrants" to the Americas will simply "have to" acknowledge all their progeny! In these days of DNA and Mormon "research", anything less is ludicrous!

My story began on the Prairie, led to the Ocean, and I now reside in the Mountains, in that part of the Americas known as the United States. Our town contained a College for "Negroes", founded in 1882. This was 43 years after the state University was founded (for whites only); and 16 years after the Land-Grant state University was founded (for blacks only). The Klan burned down our college in 1925. The ignorant and rabidly racist whites who ruled our town, and, until today, the state, had no use for formal education -- for anyone, especially the segregated blacks.

In search of an answer to the question: "how did the ignorant whites gain so much power over people of color?", I researched a Master's Thesis in 1972. That research led me back to Zoroaster, prior to 6000 BC. It was introduced into what is our current religion, politics, and economics in the United States by Julian the Apostate, a Roman emperor in the 4th Century. The Romans borrowed their ideas on race and skin color from the Egyptians. The Catholic Popes introduced to the Americas and brought us Chattel Slavery.

To confront any aspect of racism in the United States today on any level inside the religious teachings of Christianity is absurd. Our unwillingness or inability to embrace our future from a level unfettered by religion explains the insanity we are currently pursuing in our politics, in our social lives, and our ability to acurately identify who we are. We simply keep re-arranging the deck chairs!

Inside the United States, our founders created the game of deciding who was "human", and thereby entitled to Human Rights or Natural Rights. All others are "civilized" lesser peoples who deserve Civil Rights that are issued by whites and contain "expiration dates".

These classic, self-imposed "Limits" of race, religion, nationality, East/West cultures, and "human status", must be overcome! Our Problem is in our Heads!

Stay Vigilant! Free Your Mind!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

HAVE "BLACKs" & "LATINOs" LOST Thier Way??

"REAL" Leadership!!

John Kenneth Galbraith taught us that "real" power consists, at minimum, of money, charismatic leadership, and organization. Under Segregation, black citizens were "contained" in such a way that the power of smaller, less wealthy, and less coordinated/focused organizations achieved enhanced power. Integration removed that effect upon the ability of blacks to resist white supremacy in this country.

Having lost, resoundingly, the 2012 election, Romney told CPAC yesterday that they should stand their ground in the nation's state legislatures and governorships to maintain the hold of white supremacy in this country. The governor of Michigan is doing exactly that by disenfranchising the voting citizens of the city of Detroit and thereby, seizing the city. What this does for the voting power of black citizens in the state of Michigan is something every citizen of this country should be alarmed by! We're focused on voting rights, but, more importantly, we should be concerned with what happens to their property rights??

In the Jan/Feb 2013 issue of The American Prospect, in response to the poll question: "Racism in the United States is by and large a thing of the past.", 58% of Blacks, 34% of Whites, and 32% of Latinos AGREED!! This response should scare Hell out of ALL voting citizens. The late Senator Moynihan warned white citizens decades ago to pay attention to what happens to our black citizens because the same fate will befall white citizens within 10 years time.

Whatever forces have lulled black citizens into such a stupor (mis-education, "sports", "entertainment", "religion", "first black President") the impact for our future could be devastating.
The black voters of Michigan are witnessing that future NOW!

While the nation is lucky enough to have a charismatic leader and the Republicans are still scrounging for one; we must find a way to strengthen the organizational impact of all who want to end our racial, and supremacist ways of the past. We could all, for example, become "citizens of Detroit by buying property there; and then defy the state government to take away our property rights!. That property must be dirt cheap right now.

Stay Vigilant! "Buy" Detroit!!

Copyright © 2013: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC

Friday, March 15, 2013

THE "BROWN" REVOLUTION

From "Pat" to Jerry -- and "back" to Future?

Readers of this blog must know by now that I escaped Missouri, driving (alone, for hire) a Ford station wagon, loaded to the gills, with a wooden canoe on top. I landed in California; seeing for my first time, mountains and oceans. Of all my travels, that was the journey of my life!

I landed in a pristine Bay Area, in a state governed by Edmond G. "Pat" Brown; the father of the present governor. The area was full of wonders to a small town boy from Missouri, and beautiful beyond belief! It is so sad to see what has happened to it since.

The Alumni Office of San Francisco State informs me that the typical cost of an out-of-state tuition today is around $10,000 per semester. I paid $150.00! I had to sweat blood on several jobs to raise that tuition in 1960.

Most of the demise can be laid at the feet of Republican governors; from "Mad Ronnie" to "Arnie".

The Republican tactics for weaking and destroying government was transformed by Republicans (same bad actor) to our national government. California was reduced to paying I.O.U.'s because the Republicans in the state legislature refused to pay the state's bills. In the same period, the state's white population declined from 80% to 40%. Just as with our large cities, when "white flight" takes place, revenue declines follow. The parallels with what the Republicans in the House of Representatives are up to are downright scary.

Good News! After a failed attempt in the 70's "Pat's" son, Jerry, has returned and, this time, has turned the state around; setting in on a path back to its former glory. The voters of this nation should pay heed. The Republicans first drag us into debt and bankruptcy; then scare Hell out of us with their debt.

THEN, they manage to convince that we should "stay the course". Are we nuts??

The end to our national nightmare will be a Jerry Brown in every statehouse!

Stay Vigilant! Check out California!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

SCOTT PROUTY: "PAUL REVERE" ??

Truly a Man for This Season!

It was reassuring to watch the interview of Scott Prouty on the ED Show last night.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/13/1193929/-Why-isn-t-Scott-Prouty-at-the-top-of-the-Rec-list-right-now My kind of white guy, both Prouty and Schultz, they both revealed in their interview a deep belief of the "Average Citizen" of the United States. The kind of citizen who rallied in support of their government, deprived themselves of basic pleasures, and won World War II. Those days form the earliest and fondest memories of my life.

Yesterday the Church selected a second Pope; who will help the recently resigned Pope to tackle the problems of the Catholic Church in South America (See my blog: The Cross: In The Laager?; written yesterday, at a time when the smoke was still black).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/the-smiling-pope-will-transform-the-papacys-tone/article9733320/

Scott Prouty issued what should be a profound warning to us all when, during the interview, he stated that he was neither for or against Romney until he heard the part of his speech describing the Chinese factory he purchased, and his visit to that factory. Prouty felt that we should all see this man for who he was and what he represented.

From our founding as a nation, this country has always had a deep streak of revulsion for Reactionaries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactionary We don't like it in our politics or our religion.

With their selection for Pope yesterday, the Church has returned to its historic roots as participants in the dealings of Royalty and a visceral disdain for those who have to work for a living. Mitt's gleeful description of the Chinese factory portends tough days ahead for all people who live on paychecks in this country.

If President Obama doesn't find a way to break the back of the Reactionaries who have a lock on our national treasury from their laager-like gerrymandered districts, the entire nation may see our 200-year-old experiment in Democracy die an ugly death.

Stay Vigilant! Get Involved!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

THE CROSS: In The "LAAGER" ??

"PRIVILEGE": "in Extremis" ??

What if, by magic, we could "paint" a portrait of our present, and project from such a painting, our future? If that were so, and I could choose from current events to "paint"; I would choose the following events: The Papal Conclave; The Death of Chavez, The Trial of Pistorius, and the Struggle Against Gun Violence in the United States.

I would start with the Papacy, and end with Pistorius, because the "Portrait" would have closure -- from the beginning to what may harbinger "the end".

It began several hundreds of years ago when Europe's Crowned Heads, under leadership of the Popes, marched across our planet inflicting a "Cross" on all encountered, at a point of steel, and the gun. That cross, used as a tool to sort the peoples of the world, was composed of two members; a short one denoting Color (skin, eyes, hair) and the other denoting Wealth. The world has languished under the yoke of these actions for more than half a Millenium. Offered conversion or death; those who chose conversion found death by slower and crueler means.

Having exhausted their methods of extorting wealth from the darkest of peoples, the process now is applied to those of lighter hue. Only the whitest of whites, and the most wealthy, rule in this global economy. Those whites without money are now feeling "the heat". Witness their reaction to the (second) election of the first black President in the United States, and you can get the "picture". We learn that gun ownership by household is at an all-time high in the United States, while the number of households owning guns is steadily declining.

Nowhere on Earth, outside of Europe, is the power of the Popes more in evidence than in South America. The death, and recent memorial ceremonies, for Hugo Chavez, reveal an "awakening" in South America, that signals rough days ahead for Catholicism and its historic rule. Given the changes in Brazil, Bolivia, and other countries surrounding Venezuela; the "past" cannot be restored.

Fast forward to the end of this story, which may be signalled by the "laager mentality" of white South Africans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laager. TIME Magazine (March 11, 2013) describes in detail that mentality. It also shows the desperation of those who hoard all of the wealth, and then try to live safely behind a wall of guns and other firepower. (Where is the power of the Pope, when the wealthy really need it?) A similar story could be told when we examine closely what the wealthy are doing to their societies and economies in the United States and Europe as they cling to wealth and privilege; to the detriment of all else. What happens when Mandela passes on? Maybe the world's terrified, white, male "shooters" are not so "crazy", after all?

Stay Vigilant! Stay Informed!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

RACE and Health "CARE"?

How those "Left Out" Survived?

Kudo's, again, to Melissa Harris-Perry for exposing a hidden "known" in our not-so-distant past. Health care for racial minorities was denied, based on skin color, in many states of the United States before 1965. When I left Missouri in 1959, the health care I had came from our "Negro" doctor, at birth. No white provider or hospital would serve persons of color. My first dental care was accomplished in San Francisco, in 1960 (repaired 27 cavities).

On her show this morning, Melissa shows the statistics of the wildly out-of-proportion deaths of minorities due to the lack of, or dangerously mis-applied "health-care". The problems within the health community, from doctors, from hospitals, from insurance companies providing health policies; are huge. Add to those, the societal habits and unhealthy environmental factors, and there is a wonder any of us survive.

My mother and father were married in 1930. They produced 9 children. My mother, and the 9th child, a boy, lived for only moments in 1945, following a horrendous "problem" delivery. That event was attended only by "nurses". No medically-trained personnel would, or could attend.

There may be something endemic in the medical profession that supports this type of behavior. That profession was unique in its support for Nazi practices during their rule in Germany.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_groups_in_Germany_society_were_the_biggest_supports_of_the_Nazis

Today, you find vestiges of these old "practices" mostly in the former slave states (Missouri was a former slave state). There, you find immigrant doctors from places like India or Mexico, who are discriminated against by their white medical "colleagues" in the United States.

I lost 2 brothers, one in Missouri and one in Louisiana within the past 5 months. Their medical "care" was out of the ordinary in its poor quality. The fact that we have "3rd-party-payer", or un-questioned, government-paid, care for minority patients, allows doctors and other health providers to deliver shoddy, or worse, services -- and get paid for it! No questions asked! There were seven "doctors" participating in the Missouri death. Its not clear who would have "standing" to question such practices.

Of the 9 births my mother had, 3 of us remain; one in her 80's, and 2 in our 70's. The others died at ages of 43, 38, 62, 71, and 74. We survived mostly on home remedies learned from our father.

I was fortunate enough to work in and around the medical profession while in California. You should have heard those doctors I worked with "bitch" about Socialized Medicine in 1960! I can hold my own with the profession!

Stay Vigilant! Stay Healthy!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Can U "Think" for UR-SELF!! (??)

THE Survival Question for the Media Age?

I'm not so concerned about us old fools; Time eventually takes care of us. (Although Carl Levin's departure from the Senate should worry all of us, maybe?). Its the young I'm concerned for the most. Our Media-driven environment, with deceits lurking in every crack and crevice, will be very difficult to navigate; except for those with the most disciplined ability to think independently.

Last week our Media has displayed prominently Jesse Jackson Jr., Rand Paul, Cruz of Texas, and, always, Master Marco. Successful politicians must master disbursing deceits while managing not to do too much harm to our social fabric, or our economy. The Republicans have been earning a big fat "F", in this regard, since they rose again to power in 2000.

But, what could the young pols listed above be thinking? Could they possibly think we wouldn't notice while they steal our money and our trust? The old pols, coming from the ages of government-led extortion known as peonage, can be expected to be crass, hide-bound, and un-thinking. Many, but not all, fortunately for us, managed to benefit from their old ways of doing business. But these young guys??

The empty wagons in the media rattled on about our "Mr. Smith" moment, but Rand Paul only managed to deliver "trickle-down Ayn Rand". After Alan Greenspan's spectacular display of the benefits of that Libertarian Darling's thinking, everyone should have had enough by now.

Master Marco thinks he can mask his oversized ambitions with rap references. Cruz of Texas is channeling Senator McCarthy. Are our young really that bereft of core principles? The crap they are handing out is too far ranging to blame on "poor communication". There is that, however! And in a Media (read communication) age!

How do you develop the survival skill of thinking for yourself? READ (and research) as many, and as wide-ranging, materials as you can. LISTEN to those not featured prominently by our media (you have to work at it). WATCH channels from outside the United States. TALK (or text) with people you don't agree with (civil-ly). Then, form your own thoughts.

Test out your knowledge and thinking against those who would presuade you to BUY anything! From cars to political policies. For those of you of the female gender, beware this new turn back to old feminists ideas. ACCESS (denial) is really the issue -- but they won't tell you that. Read my earlier blog: MOMMY (4/13/12).

Stay Vigilant! Free Your Mind!

Friday, March 8, 2013

STATE LEGISLATURES (Red/Blue)

Where the "Action" Is??

All Black American readers might recall an earlier blog about state legislatures (SMART-ALEC? - 4/17/12) in which I raised the question whether these law-writing bodies were undermining Democracy in the United States. As more states turn "red" during this period of political/social/economic transition in our country, we all need to stay focussed on these law-makers.

The fact that we have been in a long transition away from a Peonage Economy, lasting from the end of Reconstruction (1877) until 1965, obscures the economic meaning of many events since 1965. Instead, we've been consumed with the political and social aspects of our transition.

During the transition of 1877 - 1965, the various states enacted laws (Codes) to re-define the economic relations between former black slaves and whites in their state. Those "black codes" addressed every aspect of economic and social relationship that existed between blacks and whites in their states.

Our Supreme Court is currently reviewing an Alabama law regarding the lifting of provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. As the operations of ALEC reveal, the state legislatures are busy re-fashioning economic relations between the races in many other ways. The Media pays very little attention.

Citizen/voters in the various states of the United States are notorious in their neglect of code-writing at the state level (from City Councils to State Legislatures). Yet, the laws they write; some of which seriously impact our daily lives, go un-noticed! This is especially true for minorities -- blacks in particular. In the "old" days, legislatures were free to state openly their racial motives. Today, everything has to be more "implicit".

Our mind-sets and habits have to change; if any "gains" from this transition are expected to last.

Stay Vigilant! Run for Local Office!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

POWER: Gender and Complexion

PERMANENT Change?

The President "sprung" for dinner last night at a posh Washington hotel with his arch (mostly "Johnny Reb") Republican enemies in the Senate. His guests might be the first to recognize that the window of opportunity is closing for one of them to become the "first" to declare he's made "friends" with the first Black President. They won't have Obama to kick around for much longer. His second term can go by pretty fast.

They're already targetting Hillary, who is cued up to become the first Female President in 2016. Johnny Rebs can't be politically viable at home if they are "friendly" with any non-white who is a serious competitor for power in this country. The same applies, to a somewhat lesser degree, if the contender is white, but female.

What about those non-white, and female, voters who voted for Obama? What will they do after this term passes? One thing that the non-white voters (both male and female) must recognize is the economic impact of a return to white rule (whether female or male). After all, the real color of racism is GREEN! Failure to learn the true meaning of the change brought about with the 2008 and 2012 elections could be disastrous for those minorities who have always fared poorly under white rule. If these past eight years have not convinced them to permanently change the way they acquire and manage money, their return to the bottom of the economic pile will be accelerated after 2016.

Scott Joplin, inventor of Ragtime, named one of his most famous rags, The Entertainer. Eldridge Cleaver, in Soul On Ice, draws the distinction between what he called The Omnipotent Administrator and the Super-Masculine Menial. Entertainment, in music, dance, sports, etc., have been a mainstay for black citizens of this country since the days of the Minstrel. Their creations have wide appeal all over this planet. The entertainment path, however, has not produced much lasting wealth for blacks, for more than a hundred years! Its time to learn 21st century economics and learn how wealth must be built in the future.

The green lessons are the ones to be learned as we adjust to 21st century global economics. If we succeed, we will become the change we seek! The Obama family is a model for some of us; not Messiahs!

Stay Vigilant! Check your wallet!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

SLAVERY IS ...

Check-Out "YOUR" Circadian Rhythms

As governments continue to weaken and crumble under the forces of global corporatism, we all need to review the bidding, so to speak. Whatever we were taught as children was "right", "normal", or somehow to be expected, is being up-ended everywhere these days -- in so many ways.

In Black Voices From Reconstruction mentioned in yesterday's blog, the New York Daily Tribune reports a meeting in 1865, in Savannah, Georgia, of "black leaders" with Secretary of War, Stanton, and General Sherman. Their Spokesman, a 67-year-old Baptist preacher named Garrison Frazier, told them that blacks believed that: "slavery is, receiving by irresistable power the work of another man, and not by his consent."

One explanation we're given for the soaring stock market, while unemployment remains high, and wages are stagnant; is that productivity gains are huge!

As the Republican Party, shock troops for corporate interests, continue to press austerity onto the workers and house-holds of this country, we should all be able to resonante with the good Reverend Frazier. Productivity Gains will continue to mount as we work longer hours, on multiple jobs, under steadily worsening conditions.

Your Circadian Rhythms are probably suffering mightily under these forces. Are you anxious a lot lately? Do you get restful sleep? Do you get any sleep? Right behind sleeping problems lie eating problems. As a single parent, I had to invent ways of appearing to be in two places at once. Now, all parents face this problem; due to insufficient hours in a day!

We can no longer afford to separate our politics from our economics, or from our health concerns.

Stay Vigilant! Get Some Sleep!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

BOTH "SIDES" Are To "BLAME"! (??)

What'a Load'a Crap!!

The Cracker Media (not the Respected Media) is in high gear spreading the theme that both "sides" are to blame for the miserable excuse we have for government in the United States today. This is blazoned on the Republican shield, as they go down to resounding defeat on issue after issue, and is their only defense for their deeds over the past 13 years! After losing the election in 2012, they are now dedicated to destroying President Obama's second term and regaining national power.

But, let's just consider their deeds since 2008; since the election of the first black President of the United States: Who represented the other "side" of Rush Limbaugh? Who was the other "side" opposing Mitch McConnell?

What was the other "side" opposing Donald Trump? John Boehner? Eric Cantor? Paul Ryan? Can we get serious, here?? If you're trying to make the case that the Democrats were largely absent in their role as "loyal opposition", -- to just about anything --; Touche!! The President won re-election with little support from his Party. Bill Clinton, at the midnight hour, proved to be the only exception. What's up with Harry Reid?? Fixing the 60-vote-rule in the Senate was a "no-brainer". What castrated him?? Thank God for computer-savvy kids!

So, where are we? Amazon sells Black Voices From Reconstruction, by John David Smith. This 1997 book prints the words of emancipated slaves at the end of the Civil War; their first experiences with "freedom" (with whites from North and South); their understanding of "freedom"; and the general attitude of the winning North and losing South toward black people; are there to read.

Most importantly, however, you will see the blueprint the Republicans are following today in their fight against President Obama. It is strangely the reverse of what the Republican Party of that day did in Congress, and to President Johnson, as they rammed through the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to our Constitution.

That period in our history from 1865-1877, represents 12 years of Congressional response to the defeated South, and strangely defines the mind-set of the Republican Party today -- in reverse! What the Republican Party of today is up to, is the fashioning of a 21st century Jim Crow. One that is sized to handle the global economy we find ourselves in. In the new Jim Crow, not only black Americans, but young women of all colors, Hispanics (who can't "pass" for white), poor whites, all other non-whites (regardless of income class), and gays; will be included among those "out of power"! Read the book and see if you see what I see. You may see your own "dog" in this fight!

Stay Vigilant! Get Involved! Get Prepared for 2014!

Monday, March 4, 2013

If MACHIAVELLI Led a RELIGION??

Would it be JUDEO/CHRISTIAN?

Read the news today and you have to do some serious research to understand the "real" story that is unfolding before you. Just as most opera-goers rely on the their programs to tell them the story (because they don't "speak the language"); most consumers of today's "news" have to work hard to avoid being "mushroomed" by what they're being told.

Check out Machiavelli:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli , and the history of the Jews in Spain:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Spain, and you're returned to 1492.

You find Popes involved in the budding Atlantic Slave Trade; Queen Isabella in Spain cleansing Christianity of Muslims and Jews; and the earliest days of Europeans in the Americas. A great starting point for understanding what's unfolding (or unraveling) before us today. Major, time-worn, stories are "cracking" in many ways that foreshadow a very different future for us all. Could we be approaching a new "Enlightenment"? Is the White Supremacist world, that began forming then, finally approaching its end? Will we emerge with new world religions? Or any religions at all?

We're taught that "truth, crushed, shall rise". Is now the time we all have to face some stark, uncomfortable, and revolutionary "truths"? Could we have spared ourselves a great deal of grief if we read, and took seriously, The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio , written in the 1300's?

Machiavelli reveals the source of the morals, politics, and economics that prevail today. Boccaccio connects that to early Christianity. Syria shows the stresses, or cracks, within the third Abrahamic Religion: the Moslem faith. Israel shows us the stresses, or cracks, within the Abrahamic Religions.

The Protestant off-shoots from early Christianity profitted mightily from chattel slavery and the re-ordering of world affairs along color and racial lines. The cracks within the Protestant faiths of the world, and the realignment of those U.S., fundamentalist, deep-South, Protestants, with the politics of Israel; complete the circle of woe.

Stay Vigilant! Stay Involved!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

WAR: In this AGE of MEDIA

We Make War the Way we Make Money??

It is somewhat true, as the Wag said, we make war, based on the same economy we have at the time. During the Agricultural Period, people packed picnic baskets and went out to "watch" the war. During the Industrial Period into which I was born 73 years ago, the factory produced the ways and means of war. Today, the media is the weapon. From the Arab Spring to Syria, we should all sit up and take notice.

We've been absorbed in the past year or two with the drama unfolding in our national politics and economy; and rightly so. We've dodged a "bullet"; this time from domestic enemies. But their prime weapon was media. They inhabit that portion of the media I call "Cracker Media". It is driven by people who are racist, overly "religious", hateful against women, and so ignorant it would make your head spin (if the brain in that head has not been "zombiefied").

The Cracker Media sprang from the political base fashioned by the Republican Party under President Nixon. Over the many years since, they've taken over our government, while preaching their hatred for "government". They say it's "too big". They're too stupid to realize that the population at the time of Nixon had grown by more than 100 million people by the time "W" and the Supremes set upon us in 2000 (a 50% increase). These media operatives are found even in "respected" networks; fed also by talk-radio.

The "war" in Syria is the one we should pay most attention to. The future wars may look like this.

As the skullduggery of religions over centuries comes undone, people set upon each other, fed by religious lies and tribal wounds. Reason and knowledge seem to be helpless in the face of it. That should scare the crap out of all of us.

Be aware, it was technology, not some hack actor from Hollywood playing the role of President, that "won" the Cold War. As someone on the front-lines as those technological breakthroughs were made, I know for a fact that the Cold War was "done-for" before 1980. It was known in government circles in the 70's, that the Soviet Union could not "keep-up" and was on the verge of collapse. That same technology advance brought us the Media Age.

But, guess what? Those wise heads who designed this government are getting the last laugh. Even against big Media. After 5 years of throwing everything -- all the king's horses and Queen Ann too -- the Cracker Media has been bested by a wiser President. The Republican Party is staggering toward oblivion!

Stay Vigilant! Get Involved!

Friday, March 1, 2013

CPAC - "CRACK" ??

Conservative "Ingredient"?

Welcome to Romneyworld!

CPAC, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Political_Action_Conference , the "embryo" of Republican "leadership" is displaying a curious crack. Crack; a crevice, an opening, something to smoke, seems in evidence at the top of CPAC, and the Republican Party. In their up-coming session, those Republican candidates who lost the 2012 election will headline CPAC. Their best candidate for winning a national election in the future is not invited!

Not since Papal Schisms in the Catholic Church, have we had more than one Pope at a time. We have two Popes now. Another crack appears; this time at the top of the Christian religion. Since the rise of CPAC in the 1970's, religion has played a strong role in our Conservative Politics. From Fallwell until today, a blend of right-wing religious fundamentals have provided the base of the Republican party. The Catholic Church has moved into a prominent position within CPAC, in opposition to the Obama administration. The 2012 election results show that they no longer are supported by the majority of voters.

Due to some substance they seem to share, CPAC members don"t seem to care about not having the support of the majority of the voters in this country. They could be heading into a future wherein they act as a permanent "drag" on our national economy and politics. A series of "manufactured" crises looms ahead.

Following the 2012 election, the first crisis they presented was the Fiscal Cliff. Losing the showdown on that, they have next presented us with Sequestration. It will take months to determine how this country and the Republican Party fare in this caper. Using the filibuster rules in the Senate and the "power of the purse" in the house, the Republicans can hamper the political function and the personal finances of many citizens. Continuing Resolution, and Debt Ceiling crises lie ahead. Many of those who will be hurt can not afford to support the Party financially. If, over the long road ahead, they withdraw their support, we may snap back to some type of normalcy.

The Catholic Church is also a nation-state that intervenes in politics and personal lives all over the world. This split signifies difficulties for the Church as they confront their history. Centuries of deception and cover-up have been recently revealed. It is questionable where this "crack" leads.

It should be no surprise that confusion and harm reign whenever and wherever religion invades politics.

Stay Vigilant! Stay Involved!