America's Gulf: An Ongoing Catastrophic Disaster (tags)
Obama complicity in worst ever environmental crime
Lawless Spying in America to Obstruct First Amendment Freedoms (tags)
lawless spying
Cell Phone Picture Called Obstruction Of Justice (tags)
Man Arrested For Shooting Photo Of Police Activity
CyberRadicalism: Book by Carl Davidson & Jerry Harris (tags)
15 essays developed over the past decade through the Chicago Third Wave Study Group's efforts to redefine a new Marxism for the 21st Century. .
Mexican stamp with racist motif (tags)
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- The Mexican government has issued a postage stamp depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin, just weeks after remarks by President Vicente Fox angered U.S. blacks. The series of five stamps released for general use Wednesday depicts a child character from a comic book started in the 1940s that is still published in Mexico. The boy, hapless but lovable, is drawn with exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book. Activists said the stamp was offensive, though officials denied it. "One would hope the Mexican government would be a little more careful and avoid continually opening wounds," said Sergio Penalosa, an activist in Mexico's small black community on the southern Pacific coast. "But we've learned to expect anything from this government, just anything," Penalosa said. In May, Fox riled many by saying that Mexican migrants take jobs in the United States that "not even blacks" want. Fox expressed regret for any offense the remarks may have caused, but insisted his comments had been misinterpreted. Carlos Caballero, assistant marketing director for the Mexican Postal Service, said the stamps are not offensive, nor were they intended to be. "This is a traditional character that reflects part of Mexico's culture," Caballero said. "His mischievous nature is part of that character." However, Penalosa said many Mexicans still assume all blacks are foreigners, despite the fact that at one point early in the Spanish colonial era, Africans outnumbered Spanish in Mexico. "At this point in time, it was probably pretty insensitive" to issue the stamp, said Elisa Velazquez, an anthropologist who studies Mexico's black communities for the National Institute of Anthropology and History. "This character is a classic, but it's from another era," Velazquez said. "It's a stereotype and you don't want to encourage ignorance or prejudices." The 6.50-peso (60 cent) stamps -- depicting the character in five poses -- was issued with the domestic market in mind, but Caballero noted it could be used in international postage as well. A total of 750,000 of the stamps will be issued. Ben Vinson, a black professor of Latin American history at Penn State University, said he has been called "Memin Pinguin" by some people in Mexico. He also noted that the character's mother is drawn to look like an old version of the U.S. advertising character Aunt Jemima. The stamps are part of a series that pays tribute to Mexican comic books. Memin Pinguin, the second in the series, was apparently chosen for this year's release because it is the 50th anniversary of the company that publishes the comic. Publisher Manelick De la Parra told the government news agency Notimex that the character would be sort of a goodwill ambassador on Mexican letters and postcards. "It seems nice if Memin can travel all over the world, spreading good news," de la Parra said, calling him "so charming, so affectionate, so wonderful, generous and friendly."
Bush & Jesus Got Their Own Thing Goin' - Ban on "Gay Marriage" (tags)
The editor of Boston's Axis of Logic , Les Blough, is a former fundamentalist Christian minister and a graduate of Bob Jones University, University of Tennessee and Penn State University. In this article, he examines the alliance of the Bush regime and Evangelical Christians and the pressure they exert against Gays and Lesbians. Lesbian and Gay issues are viewed as a tool of the government to divide and control Americans. Blough provides a detailed analysis of the thought processes of "Born Again Christians", contrasting their ideology with the precepts of the historic Jesus.An in-depth analysis of the intrapsychic processes of change and paradigm-shift are also explored. The article ends with a powerful Tom House satirical lyric and a word or two about George W. Bush's brand of Christianity.
Friendships between women good for health (tags)
A landmark UCLA (University of California - Los Angeles) stu
Libertarian Militia leader claims he was just preparing for WWIII (tags)
The Libertarian Party of Oklahoma posted Hertzog's letter stating that he would come out of prison "bigger, badder and better" than when he went in. The militia leader admitted to having machine guns, explosive devices and counter-surveillance equipment.
Downtown Los Angeles CD and SoCal student walkouts make the Global Headlines (tags)
The Global Media couldn't help but put today's student mobolizations near the top of the world news, and at the top of most local news. And this mornings Civil Disobedience in LA, the highest profile CD of the day in the U.S., also garnered a fair share of attention. The following report was crafted for the LA Times; in the rest of the world, the LA CD was in the seventh paragraph of the AP's summary report.
My younger sister is an undergraduate at Penn State University, where an escalating series of hate letters to black leaders, athletes, and athletes' parents has culminated in the death of an unidentified person (the sender of the hate mail has taken credit for the murder). While the mail has been sent assiduously since last October, President Graham Spanier and the PSU administration have done next to nothing to protect the lives and well-being of their students.