Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Hey, Hey, USA, How many did you kill today in Iraq and Syria?



Published on
by

As US Bombs Iraq and Syria, Who Exactly Is Being Killed?

Pentagon provides scant information about people dying at its hands, while reports of civilian casualties emerge from the ground
The rubble of a home reportedly hit by a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Kafar Daryan in Syria. (Photo: Sami Ali / AFP/Getty Images)
As the United States passes week seven of its expanded war on Iraq, and week two of air strikes across Syria, a critical question remains unanswered: Who exactly is dying in the air bombardments?
Many fear this question will remain unanswered. "I'm concerned that the U.S. is not held to the same standard as other countries when it comes to violating international law and killing civilians," Raed Jarrar, Policy Impact Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, told Common Dreams.

The U.S. military and government have provided virtually no information about civilian and combatant casualties and have denied on-the-ground reports that innocent people are being killed and wounded in the escalating attacks.

But this official version of events is contradicted by mounting reports from Syria. As recently as Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that overnight U.S. coalition bombings of alleged ISIS positions in northern and eastern Syria took civilian lives, the exact number unspecified. Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman told theAssociated Press that a strike on a grain silo in the town of Manbij in Aleppo province "killed only civilians there, workers at the site. There was no ISIS inside." He added that the bombings "destroyed the food that was stored there."

The U.S. military on Monday denied the civilian deaths to Reuters but presented no evidence backing its claims. A U.S. Central Command statement released Monday offered no further information about civilian or combatant deaths, stating that air strikes were conducted against a "ISIL vehicles within a staging area adjacent to an ISIL-held grain storage facility near Manbij," in addition to other targets.
The Observatory is not the only organization to sound the alarm on civilian deaths. Human Rights Watch released a report on Sunday that apparent U.S. missile strikes on Idlib in Syria on September 23 killed at least seven civilians. "Three local residents told Human Rights Watch that missiles killed at least two men, two women, and five children," reads the report. Video footage from local residents and the Shaam News Network, available on theHRW website, appear to verify that civilians were wounded and killed in the strikes. According to some estimates, as many as 24 civilians were killed in coalition air strikes on this day.

Pentagon Spokesperson Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby denied those civilian deaths as well, again offering no evidence. "This is a pretty remote area of the country, mostly just desert. It's not — it's not urban," he told the Associated Press. "We don't believe that there's much reason to be too concerned about any collateral damage, you know, to civilian property, that kind of thing."

But numerous journalists say their contacts corroborate reports of civilian deaths, including Foreign Policy's Shane Harris, who tweeted:
The Pentagon has also claimed that civilians are spared in its ongoing bombings of Iraq, which now number over 240 strikes since August eighth. But the U.S. has offered no evidence backing this claim, and numerous voices from Iraq and across the world warn that the renewed U.S. war in the country is bringing further militarization and death to ordinary Iraqis, who are squeezed between siege from ISIS and strikes from above.

According to Jarrar, the failure of the U.S. to account for the Iraqis killed in the 2003 warraises serious concerns about U.S. accountability and honesty over who it kills. "There is strong evidence that the U.S.-led attacks have killed dozens of civilians in Syria in the last few weeks and killed tens and thousands of civilians in Iraq over the last decade, and we haven't seen any investigations into these crimes," said Jarrar. "There is no reason to believe the U.S. will investigate itself."

Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, told Common Dreams, "There is a big danger here that U.S. air strikes in Syria are going to resemble the drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen in the sense that there is no accountability for who is killed. We have reports of civilian casualties from people in the area and the U.S. government says, 'No, they are bad guys.' There has to be some public accountability for what happens when there are allegations of civilian casualties."

According to Jarrar, the U.S. hand in civilian deaths extends beyond direct bombings. "The indirect U.S. intervention is left unchecked as well: U.S. training and funding and equipping proxy groups in Iraq and Syria. There is very strong evidence that many of the U.S. allies that have been receiving us military assistance and training and equipments have been committing gross human rights violations and the U.S. has not been held accountable."

Monday, September 29, 2014

WURD Speaks: Black Power Babies

Dis Ma Hair: Do Black Blonds have more fun?

Joani Ward, author of You Don't Have To Be Broke: So Wake Up, Shake It Up, and Make A Change, shifts from writing about numbers and entrepreneurship to writing about real life experiences in Black Girls Gone Blonde: Stories From A Newly Discovered Sisterhood, to be launched on October 15, 2014
The question: Is it true that blondes have more fun? African American women are coming out of the woodwork with blonde hair. They are beautiful, bold, blonde, and would probably answer yes to this question. Black Girls Gone Blonde captures real life experiences of 8 women who live in the DC metropolitan area. The stories captured include challenges and obstacles that have been overcome. Stories such as the challenges of living in Potomac Gardens (the projects) and hating it, a career that almost ended due to a terrible accident, parental abuse, drug addiction, and molestation.
Every story has a positive outcome. Black Girls Gone Blonde: Stories From A Newly Discovered Sisterhood shows that anything is possible, there is light at the end of the tunnel, it’s never too late to pursue your dreams, and that dreams do come true. Readers might see themselves in the women interviewed for the book, but they will also see how exactly each of them were able to overcome the challenges in their lives.
For more details about the book, visit www.blackgirlsgoneblonde.com or www.joaniwardbooks.com
Joani Ward is also the author of three other books, Business Quotations Every Entrepreneur Should Know: 52 Weeks of Motivation and InspirationCreate Your WordPress Website in 27 Minutes: Believe Me It's Possible, and How To Write and Self Publish Your Own Book: 7 Steps To A Finished Product in 30 Days.


Sunday, September 28, 2014

Mythology of Pussy and Dick: Women rape men--from Chicago to Seattle!



TWO CHICAGO WOMEN RAPE MAN AT GUNPOINT ROB HIM BEFORE MAKING HIM RUN AWAY NAKED



1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars 

Shocking news has dropped of an incident involving a 33 year old Chicago man who was RAPED at gunpoint – by two Chicago women!!!
The victim was walking down a Chicago street when when 25 year old Cierra Ross pulled up next to him and offered him a ride home.
Things went all the way left a short time later when Cierra allegedly pulled a gun on him. She then ordered him to climb into the backseat and take off his clothes.
Police claim that Cierra then forced the 33-year-old at gunpoint to have sex with her friend.
In addition to intercourse, the man was allegedly instructed to fondle the woman’s breats and buttocks. The two female suspects also allegedly robbed their victim, getting away with $200 in cash, credit cards and an iPhone.
The unnamed man reportedly begged the women to stop, but was eventually able to escape withhis life. By busting out of the car and, running down the street naked from the waist down.
The 33-year-old victim managed to flag down a taxi nearby and asked for the driver’s help. The taxi driver also managed to snap a photo of Cierra’s license plate. Police eventually tracked her down and arrested her.
WTF is going on in Chicago?! The stories we hear continue to get worse and worse, and President Obama is worried about what’s going on in Syria?


Woman Charged With Breaking Into Home 

Raping Man In Seattle


Chantae M. Gilman.
A Seattle prosecutor has charged 26-year-old Chantae Gilman with second-degree rape after a man reportedly awoke from a deep sleep and found her on top of him in his bed.
The alleged sexual attack occurred more than a year ago, but a recently completed DNA test led prosecutors to file charges against Gilman, according to Q13 Fox.
The unidentified, 31-year-old man said he awoke at 2 a.m. on June 17, 2013 to Gilman straddling him and having sexual intercourse with him. Police say he told the 240-pound suspect to get off, but she allegedly refused and told him to be quiet. He was able to break free from underneath her and said he pushed her out of the apartment.
The victim said he'd gone to sleep following a night of partying and a "long day." He didn't know Gilman but recognized her as a "drug user in the area," a detective told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Local hospital staff performed a sexual assault examination later in the day. The DNA collected during the case matched Gilman's this year.
Gilman told police that she didn't remember the incident or being in his home. She described herself as mentally ill.
Seattle police acknowledged to KOMO-TV that an arrest of a female rapist is unusual.
"From a statistical standpoint, yes, it is atypical to have a female aggressor," SPD Det. Drew Fowler told the station. "But we work to hold all people responsible for their actions. The law is specifically written to be gender-equitable and we will charge anybody with a crime that they've committed."
Gilman is a mother of four who is eight months pregnant with her fifth child, said Elwin Hartfield, a friend who answered the door at her last known address in Seattle. Hartfield said Gilman was in treatment in Eastern Washington, and that she'd been treated for mental health issues and drug abuse in the past.
Gilman is set to be arraigned on Sept. 22. She's being held on $100,000 bail.


For a better understanding of sexual abuse and slavery in the patriarchal society, wherein women and men are chattel or personal property, search Marvin X's Mythology of Pussy and Dick. Of his 30 written books, this 18 page pamphlet is the most controversial piece of his writings. It is life saving for the young and old; they read it and are changed forever. Perhaps the NFL brothers
( and their partners) should read it ASAP. Google it!
Who will donate to the Marvin X Books Project on Indiegogo? Send the brother $5, 10, 20, 100, 1000. Sho yo love!


Young lady from the ATL visiting Marvin X's Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. 

The Black Arts Movement Celebrating Amiri Baraka

Saturday, September 27, 2014

SOS--Calling All Black People, A Black Arts Movement Reader edited by John H. Bracey Jr., Sonia Sanchez and James Smethurst


This volume brings together a broad range of key writings from the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, among the most significant cultural movements in American history. The aesthetic counterpart of the Black Power movement, it burst onto the scene in the form of artists’ circles, writers’ workshops, drama groups, dance troupes, new publishing ventures, bookstores, and cultural centers and had a presence in practically every community and college campus with an appreciable African American population. Black Arts activists extended its reach even further through magazines such as Ebony and Jet, on television shows such as Soul! and Like It Is, and on radio programs.

Many of the movement’s leading artists, including Ed Bullins, Nikki Giovanni, Woodie King, Haki Madhubuti, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Touré, Marvin X and Val Gray Ward remain artistically productive today. Its influence can also be seen in the work of later artists, from the writers Toni Morrison, John Edgar Wideman, and August Wilson to actors Avery Brooks, Danny Glover, and Samuel L. Jackson, to hip hop artists Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Chuck D.

SOS—Calling All Black People includes works of fiction, poetry, and drama in addition to critical writings on issues of politics, aesthetics, and gender. It covers topics ranging from the legacy of Malcolm X and the impact of John Coltrane’s jazz to the tenets of the Black Panther Party and the music of Motown. The editors have provided a substantial introduction outlining the nature, history, and legacy of the Black Arts Movement as well as the principles by which the anthology was assembled.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Baba Herman Ferguson has joined the Ancestors--Long Live his revolutionary black nationalist spirit!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Endgame of ISIS, Crusaders, Uncle Abdullahs and the Righteous

ISIS, made in the USA. Osama Bin Laden, made in the USA. 9/11, made in the USA, terror, made in the USA, Indians, made in America, Negroes, made in America, concentration camps/reservations, made in America. 






It will indeed take a rocket scientist to unravel the conundrum of the Middle East battle of Armageddon. We suspect the Crusaders are embarking on another 100 Years War to cleanse the so called filth of ISIS and related groups. But we wonder how the Crusaders can distinguish the evil and filthy ones from the good guys. Surely the Uncle Abdullahs (Arab Uncle Toms), those leading the reactionary regimes in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, cannot classify themselves as the good guys, even if they have allied themselves with Crusaders in the white hats, off to recapture the holy lands for....themselves, of course, to reinstitute their colonial ideology of domination and exploitation that is the first cause of the present situation. The second cause is those Uncle Abdullahs and their reactionary regimes that give rise to so called fanaticism, i.e., when no other outlet is available to escape poverty, ignorance and disease, sectarianism and dogmatism or shall we say simple freedom, justice and equality.

I hesitate to attempt an unravelling of the Middle East onion, for the layers are so often indistinguishable and inseparable, connected in such a symbiotic relationship that it is simply impossible to deconstruct this phenomena unless one is, again, a rocket scientist. For example, shall we say America is with the Shia, Iranian allied, Iraqi regime, or is America with the Sunni citizens allied with Saudi Arabia. Well, we are told 90% of the Saudi Arabians support ISIS and would, if able, overthrow the Saudi regime of decadent Saudi princes so backward women are not allowed to drive cars.

Much of the matter is simple tribalism, originating from the time of Prophet Muhammad. Alas, Sunni Muslims consider Shia heretics who can indeed suffer beheading for their Shia mythology. The new prime minister in Iraq is every bit a part of the Shia brotherhood of the previous prime minster Malaki, and we understand his ministers are dominated by Shia, despite the call for inclusion of Sunni in his restructured government.

ISIS marches on. The Crusaders come from heaven with their planes and drones, missiles and bombs. The Crusaders vow none of their troops shall touch the ground. But how many private contractors are on the ground, how many never departed when the US troops left Iraq? How many soldiers comprise the 16,000 workers at the US embassy in Iraq, the largest US embassy in the world?

Let us travel the road to Damascus. How can we avoid the onions on the road, and the rat packs scurrying on the road where Saul was transformed into Paul. Alas, today Paul has reverted to Saul, the Zionist.

Oh, where are the righteous in this quagmire, oh where are the holy ones who seek only justice, freedom from religious extremism and sectarianism. They have fled into the night with only the clothing on their backs, on the road away from Damascus, roads through the woods, forests, mountains, with children in hand and nothing more.

And what of the Syrian monster king, a butcher like his father who killed 30,000 in one town, Hama. The butcher Assad is amazed the Crusaders are now bombing in his land. Will he call his Russian and Iranian allies for assistance or will the Crusaders assist him by degrading ISIS and their cohorts so he can step in for that final dagger touch. We understand his doom was sealed when he refused to give up the Golan Heights, much like Saddam Hussein and poor Qaddafi in Libya, now in a dance with death as Qaddafi predicted if he was removed. His arms have found their way from Nigeria to Sinai, to Iraq and Syria.

Do you think Israel is sitting around with his dick in his hand and heart racing? Oh, no, he is most assuredly in bed with all the rats, Crusaders for sure, Uncle Abdullahs, for sure,  mixed with the other spies and agents who  play all sides in this classic Middle Eastern drama of political chicanery. Israel is happy the global village has shifted from observing his bloody behavior in Gaza now that the Crusaders have mobilized from the sky to save the...who, the people, or the oil fields, to prevent Shia expansion from the Tigris and Euphrates to the Mediterranean.

We support the righteous people, the suffering masses who only want a better day, the righteous caught in the middle of the geo-political, ideological and sectarian madness that will not last 100 years, we predict. Before long, the specter of nuclear weapons will enter the battlefield. The Atom bomb was dropped when I was only months old. We seem edging closer to the ultimate weapon as I grow old, I grow old.

The endgame: after the sweat, blood and tears, how 'bout sweet democracy with authoritarianism, i.e., state democracy/capitalism, Islamic democracy with a theological (Sharia law) touch. Isn't this what we wanted?

"That is not what I meant
that is not what I meant at all
In the room the women come and go
talking of Michelangelo.... "


Black Bird Press News & Review: Two Poems for the People of Syria by Marvin X and Mohja Kahf

Black Bird Press News & Review: Two Poems for the People of Syria by Marvin X and Mohja Kahf:

Oh, Mohja
how much water can run from rivers to sea

how much blood can soak the earth

the guns of tyrants know no end....




Syrian poet/novelist/professor Dr. Mohja Kahf invited poet/activist Marvin X to speak and read at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 

The Washington DC Jazz Network supports Marvin X--will you please donate to the Marvin X Books Project/Indiegogo


Advocate for Preserving America's Classical Music, "JAZZ",
it's African American Legacy, Roots and Heritage!
MARVIN X
BAM Master Poet Marvin X and the BAM Poets Choir & Arkestra are now available for booking.
The group performed at the University of California, Merced, Feb./Mar. 2014
Oakland's Malcolm X Jazz/Art Fest, May 17, 2014.
For booking: 510-200-4164
Poet/Bandleader Marvin X, sax man David Murray and trumpet man Earl Davis
 
Marvin X was born May 29, 1944, Fowler CA, nine miles south of Fresno in the central valley of California. In Fresno his parents published the Fresno Voice, a black newspaper.
Marvin attended Oakland’s Merritt College where he encountered fellow students who became Black Panther Party co-founders Bobby Seale
and Huey Newton. They taught him black nationalism.  Marvin’s first play Flowers for the Trashman was produced by the Drama department at San Francisco State University, 1965.  
Marvin X dropped out to established his own Black Arts West Theatre in the Fillmore, 1966, along with playwright Ed Bullins.
Months later Marvin would co-found Black House with Eldridge Cleaver, 1967.
Marvin introduced  Eldridge Cleaver to Huey Newton and Bobby Seale.  Eldridge immediately joined the Black Panther Party.  Huey Newton said, “Marvin X was my teacher, many of our comrades came from his Black Arts Theatre: Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver,  Emory Douglas and Samuel Napier.”
One of the movers and shakers of the Black Arts Movement
Marvin X & Sun Rah



 (BAM) Marvin X has published 30 books, including essays, poetry, and his autobiography
Somethin’ Proper.
Important books include Fly to Allah, poems, Beyond Religion, toward Spirituality, essays on consciousness, and
How to Recover from the Addiction to White Supremacy, a manual based on the 12 step Recovery model.
Marvin received his MA in English/Creative writing from San Francisco State University, 1975. He has taught at San Francisco State University, Fresno State University, UC Berkeley and San Diego, Mills College, Merritt and Laney Colleges in Oakland, University of Nevada, Reno.  He lectures coast to coast at such colleges and universities as University of Arkansas, University of Houston, Morehouse and Spelman, Atlanta, University of Virginia, Howard University, Univ. of Penn, Temple Univ., Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, UMASS, Boston.
His latest book is the Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables/fables, Black Bird Press, Berkeley. He currently teaches at his Academy of da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland. Ishmael Reed says, “Marvin X is Plato teaching on the streets of Oakland."

For speaking, readings and performance, contact Marvin X @ jmarvinx@yahoo.com,
510-200-4164. www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com