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Tag Archives: social justice
On International Women's Day
Today is International Women's Day. Truthfully, every day should be International Women's Day. Roughly half of humanity are women and most live lives of imposed poverty, under brutal repression, or in the killing fields of war. The threats of sexual or economic exploitation persist and the violence of patriarchy, authoritarianism and empire continue to be the dominant form of governance the world over.
Many stodgy politicians have taken to the stage to express their "admiration" for women. I guess it was nice of them to take a moment away from bombing their villages to smithereens, or polluting their water supplies, or enacting new laws to legislate their bodies; but I digress. Today is not about them.
From indigenous women fighting the mining companies polluting the land in Peru and Ecuador, or trying to protect the water from fossil fuel industries in North Dakota or Alberta,
to Palestinian and Jewish women struggling arm in arm against apartheid and women of colour standing courageously against police brutality in the US.
From women who work 20 hour days for a pittance in sweatshops in Bangladesh to Indian women protesting sexual violence.
And all the women who must traverse dangerous passages to safety for them and their families in the midst of imperialistic war and its turmoil, from Yemen to Iraq to Syria to Somalia to Afghanistan.
This day is about them. And it is an opportunity to renew our commitment of solidarity with all women, but especially those who face immediate and unmerciful violence and oppression.
Women have been at the forefront protesting wars, colonialism and racism and demanding fairer economic realities. They have been and continue to be warriors for the biosphere. And they have done this with great risk, often inviting death threats, discrimination and injury. But without a doubt, there could be no social justice, peace or ecological protection without the perseverance of women against the most brutal of regimes and cruel of systems. We remember, honour, and reaffirm our shared struggle today and everyday.
Kenn Orphan 2017
Note: The featured image for this essay is a painting by the Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913– 5 December 1941) and is entitled Tribal Women.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged human rights, racism, social justice, war, women on March 8, 2017 by Kenn Orphan.
Beware, the Misanthrope
There is, perhaps, no sadder or more dangerous a thing than when misanthropy overcomes the human heart. It is a malady no less deadly than cancer, and when it is allowed to fester too long it claims the soul itself. The body may follow but often not for many bitter sodden years. It begins quite innocently with otherizing, but moves rapidly to full blown demonizing and dehumanization. Throughout the process it whittles away empathy for the suffering or plight of others and denudes a person of their capacity for solidarity with the oppressed.
Misanthropy is like a drug. Seeing the world with all of its innumerable sufferings, the cruelty, personal failings, the destruction of the living earth by our species, and our dire, collective trajectory can create a deep anger toward our fellow human beings and a longing for separation from the pain. But instead of channeling that anger toward a greater love many succumb to the strong temptation to hatred of the other. It enables an illusion of supremacy making it intoxicating, at least for a while.
The ones who elevate it to an art form, or use it for entertainment, or employ it for success in politics or business or career, will often entice mobs or crowds of other misanthropes or the disaffected or alienated to follow them. Feeling quite empty themselves people are often drawn to the swoon of incendiary screeds, pitchforks and trials against a much needed scapegoat for everything that has gone wrong in the world. It has the power to kill movements for justice, extinguish the desire for a more equitable or decent world, or even sweep entire societies into the maw of maniacal totalitarianism.
In truth, we all have misanthropic feelings or thoughts on any given day. We can and should look at what is happening and be realistic about our situation. We can and should criticize our actions and apathy. We can even come to accept, as I have, the possibility that the human species may not survive given our trajectory. But the hardcore misanthrope sees the suffering of the world and the failings of human beings and instead of choosing solidarity with them, they choose its opposite.
In the dark days ahead humanity will likely see the rise of a myriad of misanthropes each vying for one last bit of attention. They will seize on the chaos of a biosphere in peril and the collapse of economies and empires. The despot and the tyrant will use this kind of hatred for their own ends; but far more insidious are the misanthropes within the masses; for they may decry hypocrisy and damn the powerful for their excesses, hubris or murderous legacy; but in an instant they will turn on their comrades, allies or followers. To the hardcore misanthrope all disagreement or dissent from their worldview is cause for suspicion and scorn. And this has the potential to turn to marginalization, banishment or even extermination.
Many of them will inflame emotions and suggest or encourage violence by innuendo or spreading scandals and falsehoods dressed up as truth. And this has the tendency to pave the way for atrocities, pogroms and genocide. Others will suck the oxygen out of dissent faster than any state crackdown could via invective, indifference or indignation at the struggles of ordinary people to make a difference in the world around them. Some will tap into base passions and bigotries, others will dress up their contempt in pseudo-intellectualism, and will insert doubt, derision and ridicule into discourse in order to demoralize and dampen the spirit of resistance. A few are looked at as leaders of a movement even while they crush the soul of it under their heel. And much of this is done without them being even barely conscious of their motives or impact. Make no mistake, though, the seasoned misanthrope garnishes a similar pleasure from inflicting misery or doling out abuse as the sadist. All of them are menacing specters to our species and are to be pitied.
But beware. If we countenance their cynicism for too long we will most assuredly court our own doom.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged antisemitism, genocide, human rights, Islamophobia, misogyny, racism, social justice on February 3, 2017 by Kenn Orphan.
The End of the Charade
This is going to be a sort of political rant, so for those of you who are sick of or hate that sort of thing I encourage you to scroll on.
It is a rant regarding the charade which is finally coming to an end. It is about the selected puppets of the ruling elite in the American Empire who will be paraded before the world a little more before its subjects are told that they have "chosen" one of them to lead.
Here is the deal. I should be happy for the absurd theatrics finally being over, right? But the thing is, I'm not. I shouldn't give a damn either, right? I no longer live in the heart of the most ruthless and powerful Empire the world has ever known. But the thing is, I do. America IS, in fact, the most ruthless and powerful Empire the world has ever known. And its machinations have effects very far from its contested borders.
I guess I fear what I know is coming next. If Hillary Clinton is crowned those of us on the far Left who weep will be ridiculed, maligned or chided for not celebrating with gusto the first female President and the continuance of American aggression and dynastic rule. If in some bizarre anomaly the orange tinted creep sweeps to the throne those of us on the Left who denounced Clinton's horrific war mongering and corporate loving record and refused to play the inane game of "lesser evilism" will be pilloried and blamed for enabling it all.
In all truth I will be thoroughly shocked if Clinton is not selected. Even George W. Bush, the vile war criminal of the previous administration, has given tacit endorsement of Hillary Clinton in a letter condemning Trump. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention, but it is remarkably simple to condemn that repugnant man with fire retardant flesh tone. And this letter speaks volumes because Bush knows full well that it will bolster Clinton in the neocon circles of the oligarchy. Scores of conservative newspapers have lined up endorsing Clinton also. So with Clinton nearly a shoe in, I know what else is coming.
With the Obama regime as historical precedent, it is safe to assume that white American liberals will shrug indifferent shoulders and fall asleep once more as their government drones children and grandmothers picking okra in their fields or subverts democratically elected governments in the Middle East or Africa or Latin America. They will become champions of reactionary nationalism as a Clinton administration leads the nation into open conflicts with nuclear armed Russia. They will once again turn their heads from the decades long Israeli apartheid regime as Clinton pledges even more support to the hard right despot Netanyahu. They will stay silent in criticism of Clinton's promotion of fracking or dismantling of social security, something which can be done without much protest under a Democrat. But they can continue to post noncommittal memes on Facebook and Twitter expressing outrage or solidarity with black or brown or red people besieged by a racist system without demanding the dismantling of the very system of capitalist exploitation that is the source of their misery in the first place.
They will rest on the laurels in smug slumber since, in that case, a woman with a big "D" will be sitting in the Oval office. And we should all applaud that, right? First woman president of the American Empire and all? Never mind that a woman named Jill Stein who, while far from perfect, had much greater progressive credentials. Never mind that Margaret Thatcher was also a woman, and one who had a remarkably similar neoconservative resume to Clinton. Never mind that Ms. Clinton supported (and continues to support) a rightwing coup in Honduras that has taken the lives of scores of indigenous, environmental and LGBTQ people, including indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres. Or pushed Obama into decimating Libya, once the richest state in Africa, and ghoulishly celebrated the gruesome murder of its president. Or in Haiti where she aided in the creation of a sweatshop economy on behalf of American garment corporations upon an already historically oppressed and humiliated people.
But really, who seriously believes that the privileged white Liberal class in America gives a rat's ass about those foreign black and brown people? How many white Liberals care about black, brown and red people here, the ones right at home labeled "super predators" by the Queen in waiting only a few years ago, or ignored by her at Standing Rock Sioux?
Forgive me if I fail to celebrate with the Liberal Class if Clinton is anointed Empress. It is beyond question that Trump is a racist vile creature of narcissism and arrogant stupidity. But if self described "progressives" think the Bloody Queen will promote a left friendly agenda that will stop military aggression, the collapse of the biosphere due to blatant rape of the earth by corporations, and cease support for Wall Street then they have been drinking a Kool-Aid far more lethal than any flag waving, Trump supporting, walking head wound.
In any case, we on the true Left must somehow stomach it all and struggle on against militaristic imperialism for the sake of building a more compassionate and just world while there is still time left. And I couldn't be more serious about the "while there is time left" part. We are running out of that one precious resource rapidly thanks to climate change, the ever present nuclear menace, global pandemic and biosphere collapse. But after all, if we are still in possession of a conscience what else can we do?
End rant here.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged capitalism, Donald Trump, ecocide, Haiti, Hillary Clinton, Honduras, human rights, imperialism, israel, lgbtq, Libya, militarism, President Obama, social justice, Wall Street, war on November 6, 2016 by Kenn Orphan.
More Than Hope
The summer of 2016 has only just started but it is already shaping up to be one fraught with acts of terror, sheer violence, and bloody aggression. This is true in so many places around the world. But in the United States, a nation which arrogantly declares itself both indispensable to world peace and stability and exceptional in its character, it is especially glaring due to the utter hypocrisy on display. In just the span of a couple months there have been mass shootings, heinous crimes and acts of blatant police brutality all with a backdrop of political rancor, corruption and unabashed saber rattling on the world stage.
This should cause ordinary Americans to pause and reflect on what got us here. It should make us revile the powers that be who seek to boost their careers by instilling fear, racism and prejudice. It should make us insist on rational laws about guns and who should have access to them, and it should cause us to reject the militaristic aggression that defines ALL of our foreign policy. It should make us unite behind leaders who only reflect truthfulness, transparency and the will to lead the nation away from the old order of entrenched aristocratic privilege, militarism and merciless despotism. It should be a catalyst for societal change that tears away the ugly cloak of racism that shrouds every aspect of our culture, our institutions and our national persona. It should create a dialogue between people of conscience about our differences and our strengths and build a bridge that connects them.
It is what I pray for but, sadly, not what I see happening. This is a broken nation slipping rapidly toward the maw of paranoid hatred and authoritarianism. It is a society which still celebrates the myths of the "Wild West" ignoring its genocidal and dystopic realities. It is a nation that delights in forgetting the crimes of its past and revels in creating false narratives that explain away its responsibilities today. It is a culture corrupted by the cupidity of capitalism and the mindlessness of consumerism even while the ecosystems around it which support the madness of its addiction are withering into extinction. It is a country not divided, but fractured into thousands of splinters held together, for now, with the most tenuous of threads.
Some have said that America is in its "1934 moment" referring to Europe prior to the second World War. This may be an over exaggeration since history does not repeat itself exactly, but it does reflect and rehash old forms more often than not. And with the earth's climate growing more chaotic and resources beginning to dwindle this is a recipe of the most horrifying kind. I hope that this is not so, but hope can be a capricious ghost distracting us with empty platitudes and leading us down a path to dangerous inaction. We need more than hope now. We need courage and cooperation. We need community building based on our relationship to the earth and social understanding that shuns the barriers that prevent dialogue. And we need it fast, because the streets of summer are becoming hot with the anger of the disenfranchised and red with the blood of innocents; and the scheming wolf of fascism is an opportunist always lurking at America's gates ready to pounce.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged capitalism, climate change, consumerism, fascism, human rights, militarism, police militarization, police state, racism, social justice on July 8, 2016 by Kenn Orphan.
The Future Belongs to You
Recently, I've seen calls from the Democratic Party, and many of their supporters, for progressives and the Left in general to "unite" behind Hillary Clinton. This is nothing new for those of us who have been around a few elections cycles; but for millennials this is becoming a lesson in how this sham of a democracy works. You see, the Democratic Party elite have been lurching toward the right for decades. They may be progressive when it comes to social issues for political reasons, like LGBTQ and women's reproductive rights, but they, along with their Republican counterparts, have forged an unbreakable bond forged in the gilded towers of the elite. It is called oligarchy. And there is not a shard of light between them when it comes to wealth, war and the preservation of empire.
The reality is that the vast majority of the American public does not vote in any of its shows, er, elections. Maybe they are apathetic, maybe they see it for the farce it is. But in any case they have checked out of the political process allowing the corporate, wealth class to take hold of all power in this country. The result, of course, is a plutocracy where the police are militarized, prisons are over flowing, the environment is imperiled and the wars of plunder are unending.
The call to unite from Party officials, campaign public relations and Hillary herself may be desperate, it may be cynical, or it may be a sincere rallying call for some, but it is not unique in the least. And it requires absolutely no real commitment to social, economic and environmental justice from those who are calling for it. It seems they can easily give a pass to Hillary's war mongering, or undying love of neoliberal capitalism, or her promotion of fracking and the funding she gets from the fossil fuel and private prison industry. They can overlook her support from Wall Street and multinational corporations too. And they expect everyone else to do the same.
But in the past week we have seen some Hillary supporters shut down Bernie Sanders Facebook pages by posting porn and other objectionable things on them; and we have learned that a pro-Hillary super pac is funding social media trolls to attack anyone who dares criticize the bloody queen of chaos. Grant it, there has been some of this on both sides, but the Clinton campaign has been far better funded; and this is what makes these calls of unity the supreme insult on top of injury for many people.
But there is hope. I have faith in millennials who have taken to the streets and organized. Whether it be Black Lives Matter or Climate Change activism or BDS, the energy for change is unmistakable. They have shamed my generation. They have shown us that "reform" is just a code word for the status quo and that revolution lies outside the two party hegemony, not within it. If they keep up their agitation of the establishment they may just topple this empire of lies, corruption and death. And in a time of looming climate chaos, we need this more urgently and soon.
But don't wait for Gen Xers to help you out. With some notable exceptions, most of us have eased into comfy armchairs and will not take to the streets unless it is to go for a latte. The future belongs to you, and I'll be right there in the streets with you.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged Bernie Sanders, capitalism, climate change, Hillary Clinton, human rights, militarism, neoliberalism, police militarization, police state, power class, social justice, Wall Street, war on April 27, 2016 by Kenn Orphan.
The Illusion of American Democracy
I have always been fascinated by the capacity of people to block out facts that either trouble them or do not align with their preconceived beliefs about the world. This is most evident when it comes to religion and politics. And we can see it clearly in the dog and pony show that is the 2016 American Presidential campaign. Trump supporters lovingly embrace a disconnect from reality partly due to entrenched racism and xenophobia, but mostly because of a deep sense of disenfranchisement and humiliation. However Clinton supporters on the other side are just as much, if not more, deluded in their blind devotion to the bloody queen of chaos.
Even though Ms. Clinton, and her philandering husband, have expressed their undying love for Wall Street time and time again, and are firmly embedded in the 1% elite, they believe she is for working people. Even though she was against marriage equality until as late as 2013, they think she supports the LGBTQ community. Even though she championed and still defends a right wing coup in Honduras which has led to the murders of scores of indigenous, environmental and LGBTQ activists, they think she supports universal human rights. Even though she pushed the US and NATO into decimating Libya, voted to decimate Iraq in a war based solely on lies and has consistently pushed for attacking Syria and Iran, they believe she will be the most level headed when it comes to foreign policy. Even though she has accepted boat loads of money from the fossil fuel industry, they believe she will defend environmental regulations and address climate change with urgency. Even though she and her husband carved up Haiti for neoliberal capitalistic profit through their notorious foundation, they believe she is for the underdog. Even though she has accepted truck loads of money from the private prison industry, they believe she will work to end the racist policies that imprison millions of Americans for non-violent offenses. Even though she attacked whistleblower Edward Snowden for allegedly helping terrorists when he revealed nefarious government malfeasance, they believe she will enforce transparency. Even though she defended her husband's economic policies which adversely effected women of color, they think she is a feminist who will champion the rights of all women.
It is cognitive dissonance on a grand scale.
As of today, Hillary Clinton is the projected winner of New York and, by proxy, the Democratic nomination. Not very remarkable given that the plutocracy selected her to be the executive director of Plunder the Planet, Inc. a long time ago. And it shouldn't be surprising that it matters little what the masses think to the corporate aristocracy. They hate Trump because he is too erratic and, frankly, too stupid. They despise Cruz because he is a religious nut case. They fear Sanders because he may be radicalized even further toward the left. But they adore Hillary because they know she will have their back. Her allegiances are clear to anyone who really wants to see them.
One thing is for sure, Hillary's win will be a hollow victory, and she knows this full well. She has only gotten this far by pandering to Wall Street, Hollywood A-listers, the fossil fuel industry, and a pro-Israel, right wing billionaire for years, not from common people interested in real social justice and change. But this is of little consolation, especially to the people who will undoubtedly suffer greatly under her policies of militarism and support for right wing, apartheid and repressive regimes around the world.
America is a dying, but well armed, empire. And historically, empires drown themselves in farce, fiction and mythology as they collapse. A Clinton presidency will ensure the illusion of American democracy will continue to sputter forward for at least a few more years. But illusions are like junk food, they will never sate the demands of reality. And I feel nothing but sadness and dread when I think about the continuing massacres, coups, interventions and wars which are now all but assured on a planet spiraling mindlessly into ecocide.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged ecocide, fossil fuels, Hollywood, human rights, militarism, neoliberalism, police state, power class, social justice, Wall Street, war crimes on April 20, 2016 by Kenn Orphan.
An All American Fascism
The resurgence of white nationalism in mainstream American politics has left many nonplussed and baffled. White power flags, tattoos and symbols have made a stunning comeback, and they are coupled with threats, violence and Nazi salutes at huge rallies in support of presidential candidate, and front runner, Donald Trump. At a recent event one supporter shouted at a protester "go to fucking Auschwitz," and in a rally held last month an audience member unabashedly asked the candidate how "we are going to get rid of" Muslims. Mr. Trump did nothing to condemn this overtly racist point of view. This is a phenomenon that should not be downplayed or dismissed as an anomaly. Indeed, it is representative of a much larger and far more dangerous feature of American society itself.
There has always been a persistent strain of fascism in this country, one that has been poised to sweep in to power the kind of charismatic authoritarian of the Hitler/Mussolini stripe. This is no more visually apparent than within Trump's base. Stripped of agency and laden with humiliation, Trump supporters are the very emblem of an unforgiving vengeance within the disenfranchised mob. Torches and pitchforks aside, these demoralized masses are more than ready to pounce on the last vestiges of an anemic, American civil society already weakened by the barbarity of neoliberal (free market) capitalism and plutocratic despotism. And with environmental catastrophe and economic meltdown ever looming, this so called "fringe" may just succeed in doing the unthinkable.
With the obvious implosion of the Republican Party underway many Americans hold fast to the myth that the Democrats will save them from this unfolding nightmare. The truth, however, is that they will painfully prolong the inevitable. No matter how much they would like to paint it otherwise, they are just as much the party of the aristocratic class as the Republicans. They represent their interests, albeit in a less obnoxious manner than their conservative counterparts. But the effect is the same. Their aim is to preserve the status quo that is steadily demolishing any chance of a viable future for coming generations. Indeed, their plunder may usher this present generation into a dystopia only imagined in science fiction.
Their star candidate, Hillary Clinton, has a long, bloody history of supporting right wing coups and wars that decimated sovereign societies. Unsurprisingly, her mentor is none other than the preeminent war criminal Henry Kissinger. And she has all but vowed to aggressively provoke a nuclear armed Russia and attack Iran on behalf of her Israeli benefactors. But what is perhaps more troubling is her allegiance to the 1% of Wall Street, evidenced by her exorbitant speech fees at well heeled engagements and her condemnation of the Occupy Movement which sought to hold banks and corporate robber barons accountable for their malfeasance. If she seizes power in the coming election we can be assured of an acceleration of plutocracy, not its reverse.
To be sure, the only real change in American policy has come from grassroots mass movements which upended the comfortable privilege of the aristocratic elite. Whether demanding the end of the Vietnam War or equal rights for Black Americans, the power of social change has always stemmed from direct action from below, never from above. But we are in new territory now and the outlook is uncertain. Fascism is undeterred by reason or reform. It is their antithesis. It festers in the dark corners of social hatred ever in search of a new scapegoat, and it thrives in an environment where there are fewer options for advancement or hope. It replaces cooperation and rational debate with violent ridicule and meaningless, nationalistic jingoism.
We should not expect to see a fascism that mimics that of Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy or Franco's Spain. This fascism is uniquely American in its flare. Years of unfettered worship of all things military and an undying celebration of capitalism have furnished the masses with a disdain for the sustaining institutions that define a liberal democracy. And the indifference of the liberal elite to the suffering of working people has stoked an animus that is palpable. They will not endure sanctimonious preaching from the left on the deeply held virtues of tolerance and inclusion for much longer. And this is largely due to being mercilessly thrown to the side for corporate privilege. Their ranks are fed up and they are rising.
One thing is certain. A toxic brew of economic malaise and ecological decimation is simmering ever closer to the boiling point. Alternatives to this horrifying future do exist within movements like Black Lives Matter, indigenous rights and climate justice; but if we do not face the dire outcome of this poisonous concoction with demands for revolutionary change soon, it may spill over faster than anyone can imagine. And in its wake it will drown the civil rights and liberties that had been hard fought for, yet utterly taken for granted, in smoldering ruins.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged capitalism, ecocide, fascism, human rights, Iran, israel, jingoism, militarism, neoliberalism, police state, power class, racism, social justice, Wall Street, war crimes, Washington on March 18, 2016 by Kenn Orphan.
The Seeds of Empathy
In the days following the horrific attacks in Paris, which claimed the lives of over 100 civilians and injured hundreds more, I returned to the United States from Europe after a long visit with family and friends. I was not in Paris this time, but I did spend time in France. I, like so many others, have a connection with the 'City of Light' so this tragedy struck me in a visceral way. Whenever something like this happens there is shock accompanied by despair. But I am reminded that despite how abhorrent this incident was, there is a big world outside Western borders that suffers this each and every day and on a much larger scale. And its misery is mostly due to our willful ignorance and our leaders penchant for division, aggression and plunder.
To the powerful of the world irony is something reserved for satirists. It is easily dismissed. Hypocrisy is not in their vocabulary either. In response to the attacks French President Francois Hollande said "France is at war." This statement is astonishing given the country's long history of colonialism and recent events in its foreign policy.
One might ask Mr. Hollande what the assault on Libya that left thousands dead and demolished one of the richest nations in Africa was if it was not war? Or the continued military aid to Saudi Arabia and Israel which have mercilessly slaughtered thousands in Yemen and Gaza in the last two years alone? Or France and NATO's relentless bombing of Syria over the past few years which has done nothing but create unimaginable suffering in what once was a jewel in the Middle-East's crown?
Unsurprisingly, in the United States political opportunists have used the tragedy in Paris to ramp up anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-Syrian refugee rhetoric. Incredulously, these are the same ones who drone on endlessly each year about the non-existent "war on Christmas" on a holiday which commemorates a Middle-Eastern family seeking refuge from terror over 2000 years ago. But they cannot be bothered by such irony either, nor can they take any responsibility for a legacy of American imperialistic plunder that has fostered constant misery for millions of people daily around the world. By all accounts, crippling sanctions and the invasion of Iraq, a war based upon lies, spawned the creation of ISIS. But now it is being talked about as if it sprang out of nowhere.
The propaganda of politicians and the mainstream media, which revel in beating the drums of nationalistic xenophobia, is ubiquitous these days. And their selective grief and outrage encourages a largely misinformed public to ignore the long list of Western backed atrocities that have caused the refugee crisis to begin with. For instance, just weeks ago the US military bombed a Doctors Without Borders run hospital in Afghanistan, burning patients to death in their beds and incinerating doctors and staff alike. But critical coverage of this was scant in the mainstream press. The same applies to grief. On the same day as the attacks in Paris suicide bombers killed scores in Beirut, but media coverage of this tragedy was dwarfed by the enormous attention that has been paid to Paris.
For the rest of us there is a choice. We can ignore the enormous costs of imperialism and neoliberal capitalism and believe the lies of the war profiteers; or we can choose a path toward shared humanity that sees no boundaries of worthiness when it comes to suffering. We can also oppose the political and economic order that is rapidly destroying fragile ecosystems and that perpetuates alienation and misery in most of the world.
Solidarity with those suffering in Paris is to be commended; and there is no shame in expressing it publicly. But if we do not come to realize soon that we must seed the fields of empathy for all who suffer needlessly on this ever smaller and beleaguered planet, I fear we will doom ourselves and our children to a world of perpetual savagery or even, possibly, end civilization itself once and for all.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged civilization, Gaza, grief, human rights, imperialism, iraq, israel, mainstream media, neoliberalism, racism, Saudi Arabia, social justice, war, Yemen on November 18, 2015 by Kenn Orphan.
Justice is a Verb
It has always been easy for the powerful and the general public to look back at crimes against humanity in the deep closet of history and feel appalled. It is easy for politicians to stand before eternal flames bemoaning the Slave Trade or the Holocaust. and feel solidarity and compassion for the victims of some long ago mass murder. What still eludes most of society, though, is the application of that same outrage for similar crimes being perpetrated right at this moment.
There is a simple reason for the elite's willful ignorance toward today's atrocities. Apathy is a celebrated virtue among the wealthy; and many, if not most, benefit richly from each and every occupation, oppression and act of ethnic cleansing. In many cases they are even perpetrating these crimes with the use of mercenary armies, proxy states and client dictators.
For the general public it is a bit more nuanced, but not much. In the West we have been meticulously trained to avert our eyes to current injustices. Distraction in the form of vapid entertainment is ubiquitous, selective outrage is a staple of the mainstream media, and nationalistic hypocrisy is exonerated and sponged from the record every day.
Today's oppressed are no different than yesterday's. They are just as reviled by the powerful, misrepresented by the press, and ignored by society at large. But their plight is no less worthy of justice. Their suffering does not pack theaters or hackneyed film festivals in Colorado with tear-jerking cinematography and musical scores. And they have no memorials in Washington on which to lay wreaths.
Instead they themselves pack sinking ships in the Mediterranean and Andaman Seas, or open air prisons and Bantustans in Gaza or the West Bank, or atop lumbering trains heading north in Mexico. They grope desperately in the dark for survival on the margins of empire.
Our solidarity with them should not wait for some Hollywood production after all the graves have been dug. And we should never take our cue from the powerful as to when it is appropriate to speak out. Justice is not the dusty, bronze scales that adorn the mantelpieces of the elite. It is not a trophy. It is a verb that refuses to rest; and it is always on the side of the oppressed in what ever page of history they may inhabit.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged Gaza, genocide, Hollywood, human rights, imperialism, mainstream media, power class, Refugees, Rohingya, social justice, war crimes on October 27, 2015 by Kenn Orphan.
Defining BDS
Since the recent spate of violence in Israel/Palestine, there has been a well oiled response by apologists to defend the ongoing dispossession, apartheid and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by the Israeli regime, a crime which has been permitted to continue for over 60 years. This response is not anything new, but due to the successes of the Boycott, Divest, Sanction Movement (BDS) the rhetoric has been ratcheted up.
The situation, as usual, is portrayed by most of the mainstream press as a conflict between two peoples over religion, where both are relatively equal in power. Context and history be damned. The acts of violence committed by the Palestinians is covered as if they were random and born from a "culture of hate." But facts remain facts.
Israel has an army, navy and air force. The Palestinians do not. Israel has nuclear weapons and military aid from the most powerful nation on earth. The Palestinians do not. Israel has blockaded Gaza since 2007, subjecting nearly 2 million people to intolerable conditions that amount to collective punishment. It has carved up the occupied West Bank into administrative zones that allow for military exercises and settler expansion for Jewish-only communities, and has built a wall of separation that limits Palestinian access to their jobs, farmland, medical facilities and schools.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have no access to civil courts like Jewish settlers. They have been under military rule for decades with the Palestinian Authority, a proxy government, enforcing Israel Defense Force orders; and they are subject to military tribunals. Even children are routinely whisked away in the middle of the night with no warning by the IDF, and taken to undisclosed detention facilities where they are often placed in solitary confinement. And last summer the Israeli regime flattened much of Gaza killing over 2300 people, mostly civilians including hundreds of children, and injuring and displacing thousands more. But, astonishingly, if one dares question any of this they are often accused of antisemitism.
Antisemitism is as abhorrent as any other kind of social hatred. And it is not any less repulsive when applied to one group over another. But what is interesting is that many who have decried antisemitism seem to have no problem spewing repugnant, anti-Arab screeds and, incredulously, not seeing any irony in doing so. This has enabled the glossing over of right wing, nationalist mobs taking to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv chanting "Death to Arabs" and attacking anyone whom they believe Palestinian or a leftist.
What has been convoluted in this discourse is the conflation of the criticism of Zionism with antisemitism. Zionism and Judaism are not one and the same, although many prominent Zionists would love for people to think so. Judaism is an ethnic/religious identity with a rich tradition and culture that goes back millenia and spans dozens of societies, from Russia to Iran to Europe and the Americas. Zionism is a nationalistic, political ideology that was born of antisemitism in Europe and fashioned after European colonialism itself.
In the early days of the Zionist movement several places were considered for a Jewish homeland, including Argentina and Uganda. But because of cultural and religious ties, the Zionists settled on Palestine. As in any colonial structure, Zionism created an ethnocracy, where the indigenous people were forcibly removed to make way for another group who are placed in a higher class than other ethnic, religious or racial groups through laws, institutionalized racism, expulsion, dehumanization and military terror. Essentially apartheid.
Contrary to some misguided assumptions, the focus of the BDS movement is not to expel Jewish people who live in the region or are native to the land. It is a non-violent protest to end the occupation, lift the crippling blockade on Gaza, and dismantle apartheid, just as was done in South Africa. The ultimate goal is one secular, democratic state, where all religious traditions and ethnicities are protected.
Many Israeli regime apologists have countered that the BDS movement singles out Israel, while ignoring the egregious and barbarous atrocities of other regimes in the area and around the world. This is also untrue. The brutal state violence and oppression of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Turkey and others is unequivocally condemned and opposed. The universal demand is an end to all military aid to these governments as well as Israel. BDS is a non-violent response to Israeli apartheid specifically; but is an integral part of the global struggle against colonialist racism and imperialism, from the Americas to Africa to the Middle-east and Asia.
There are, as in any movement, some who employ the use of antisemitic language in their criticism of the Israeli regime. This is intolerable, and it is also antithetical to the cause of universal human rights. These individuals or groups have their own agenda, and Palestinian solidarity is not one of them. But there are many Jewish and Israeli human rights group who share similar ideals in their support of Palestinian rights and self-determination, including Jewish Voice for Peace, B'Tselem and Rabbis for Human Rights among many others.
These voices are usually stifled or excluded from mainstream media coverage in favor of more reactionary groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) or the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), who are experts at conflating criticism of Zionism with antisemitism in the public sphere. Until all voices are heard equally there will be no real justice or peace, and apartheid, alienation and dispossession will continue and grow. BDS worked to end South African apartheid, where political and diplomatic interventions failed by design. And after decades of misery, conflict and strife, it appears to be the only viable option in this case as well.
Solidarity with the oppressed is not taking the side of one ethnic, religious or racial group over another. It is taking the side of justice and universal human rights against racism, tyranny and state violence, something that all human beings, regardless of social identity, should be entitled to.
This entry was posted in Archived and tagged BDS, Gaza, human rights, imperialism, israel, Israel Defense Force, Israeli government, Palestinians, racism, social justice on October 15, 2015 by Kenn Orphan.
The Corporate State is Not Our Friend
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Graham Allen and the Phenomenon of the Toxic Internet "Personality"
On Susan Rosenberg and Black Lives Matter
Donald Trump was Never the Real Problem
Grieving in Silence
The Human Spirit is Stronger
In Remembrance of Mary Oliver


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text:
Modernizing Nationalism: Masculinity and the Performance of Anglophone Caribbean Identities
Nadia Indra Johnson, University of MiamiFollow
English (Arts and Sciences)
Patricia Saunders - Committee Chair
Sandra Pouchet Paquet - Committee Member
Tim Watson - Committee Member
Natasha Barnes - Outside Committee Member
This study examines Anglophone Caribbean national identities to interrogate multiple and varied economies that manage citizens in the interest of economic and social production and/or the policing of national identities. It is particularly concerned with the gendered character of these economies. The formation and preservation of these national identities rely heavily on gender and sexual difference as Anglophone Caribbean national identities are inextricably linked to expressions of Afro-Caribbean masculinity. Thus I analyze novels and cultural representations of Afro-Caribbean masculinity in cricket, calypso and chutney-soca music in Trinidad's carnival. I also examine Afro-Caribbean religions, Revivalism and Rastafarianism, as well as Afro-Caribbean practices of masking. I examine these practices in order to interrogate the reproduction of colonial practices of marginalization and exclusion. These colonial practices, I argue, are inherent in the cultural politics that inform these cultural performances while denying modes of national belonging that refuse dictated performances of national identities. The literary and cultural performances in this project span three epochs in Caribbean history: post emancipation, independence, and post independence to assess the shifting cultural landscapes that shape postcolonial subjectivities. In Sylvia Wynter's The Hills of Hebron and Orlando Patterson's The Children of Sisyphus, I examine sexual economies in which power is negotiated and contested in a struggle to chart the gendered borders of citizenship and production. I then turn to Lakshmi Persaud's For the Love of My Name to analyze violence exacted against ethnically marked national collectives as an instrument of political and economic aggression that disproportionately affects women. My critique of Earl Lovelace's The Dragon Can't Dance and contemporary performances in calypso and chutney-soca carnival competitions, considers how operative traditions seek to govern post-independent cultural politics. By drawing parallels between the formation of Afro and Indo-Trinidadian nationalisms, I argue that these identity formations establish cultural difference while also dictating cultural performances to advance and police national identities. Lastly, I engage Lovelace's Salt, Garfield Ellis' Such as I Have and contemporary discourses concerning cricket performance, remuneration, and women's limited access to cricket. I argue that cricket becomes a cultural commodity in the perpetuation of a regional national identity that is dependent on gender constructs. Thus this study demonstrates how representations of culture can be mobilized to challenge ideologies and political practices of exclusion, marginalize women in the formation and performance of national identities and govern cultural politics.
Masculinity; National Identity; Gender Performance; Anglophone Caribbean
Johnson, Nadia Indra, "Modernizing Nationalism: Masculinity and the Performance of Anglophone Caribbean Identities" (2009). Open Access Dissertations. 350.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
FRESNO CITY COLLEGE MEN'S
California Champions
GO RAM'S
Walberg's news from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Fresno city college<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Coach Vance Walberg's Fresno City hoops team again
is ranked No. 1 in the state and undefeated.
Columbia College was shooting the lights out —
seven 3-pointers in the first half — but trailed by
15 points against Fresno City College last week at Oak Pavilion.
But Fresno City assistant Loren LeBeau wasn't worried that the
Claim Jumpers would shoot themselves back into the game.
"Let's see if they can keep that up," said LeBeau, knowing full
well that few teams have maintained momentum in the face of
the Rams' relentless pressure defense.
Sure enough, Columbia's output fell to just two 3-pointers after
halftime and the Rams rolled to a 111-81 victory in their Central Valley
Conference opener.
Fresno City coach Vance Walberg's assessment of Columbia's second-half
shooting was succinct: "They hit a wall."
That wall is a familiar, unpleasant sight to Fresno City opponents,
who have managed to beat the Rams just five times in the Walberg
era. In most of those wins, the Rams' press has beaten down the
opposition.
Yet despite sporting an 83-5 record 2 1/2years into his tenure at
Fresno City — after a stellar coaching career at ClovisWest High —
Walberg sometimes finds himself having to prove his run-and-press
basketball system to skeptics.
He has heard the labels — "junk" and "phony." They come from coaches
and observers who don't understand the discipline it takes to play that
frenetic style of run-shoot-press basketball.
The skepticism began before Walberg's first season in 2002-03, when
some observers wondered if his style of play would translate from high
school to junior college. "People who saw us work out said we'd be a
.500 team," he recalls.
The Rams went 38-2 that year and lost in the state championship
to Los Angeles City College.
Last year, with a team that included his son Jason Walberg and Tyrone
Jackson — two current NCAA Division I players who grew up playing in
Walberg's system — Fresno City finished 28-3. Still, the Rams felt like
underachievers after losing in the second round of the playoffs to American River.
This year, the skeptics said, "Let's see what he does when he doesn't have
Tyrone and Jason."
Hoover High coach Peter Sharkey, a supporter of Walberg's coaching, said,
"I think that question has been answered."
Indeed, after its 129-73 victory over Merced on Saturday, Fresno City is 17-0
and ranked No. 1 in the state.
The Rams enter their first home game of the season Wednesday averaging
105.9 points per game — more than 16 points better than the second-best
offensive team, Chaffey (89.5). Eight players are averaging eight or more
points per game.
Walberg insists there's no magic to his formula, just hard work and a simple
ethic: attack on offense, attack on defense.
That means a 40-minute full-court press and an offense that runs the floor
for layups or pulls back for 3-pointers — faster pace, more possessions,
defense creating offense: Run your opponent into the hardwood.
"Fresno grinds you down," Columbia coach Nate Rien said. "We played
well for 30 minutes, then fatigue became a factor."
Walberg started that fast-break, full-press system at Clovis West in the
1997-98 season after continuously being blown out by taller, more
athletic teams from Southern California.
Then, in 1999 and again in 2001, his Clovis West teams defeated
powerhouse Dominguez of Compton, which featured center Tyson
Chandler, now of the Chicago Bulls.
In the 2001 matchup, at a tournament in Los Angeles, his Golden
Eagles forced 31 turnovers. Walberg's teams have been doing that ever since.
And so have a lot of other teams, hoping to copy Walberg's success.
"Look at the teams that mirror his system," Clovis East High coach
Tim Amundsen said. "Clovis, Central, myself, Hanford — we don't
do it as well but we've had some success."
Amundsen, who played for Walberg at Newark Memorial and
assisted him at Clovis West, said Walberg's system is more
complex than it seems at first glance.
"There's a lot to it," he said. "Some people think it's just the defense,
some think it's the offense. It is a combination of both, and the tempo.
"You play at a pace that takes teams out of what they want do, get them
to play the way they're not used to playing.
"If I'm a player, I love to play his system. When you're open, you shoot
the dang thing. It's funner to play, funner to watch, funner to coach."
Pell-mell offense and intense, pressing defense are not new concepts
for basketball fans who recall Paul Westhead's fast-breaking Loyola
Marymount teams, Nolan Richardson's "40 minutes of hell" at Arkansas
and the Kentucky Wildcats under Rick Pitino. In more recent years,
Alabama-Birmingham has given opponents fits with its frenetic style.
Hoover's Sharkey is among a growing crowd who believe Walberg could
be effective at the four-year college level.
"Vance's system, I think, is successful because of him," the veteran
coach said. "He is a very thorough teacher and an excellent coach. He
believes in [the system] 100% and he gets players to believe 100%.
"People said it wouldn't work at the next level because guys are better
ballhandlers and passers. But the guys he [recruits] are better shooters,
better defenders, bigger, faster, stronger, too."
Columbia's Rien said Walberg's teams do the little things that win games.
"Other teams might be more athletic," he said. "But they don't always
pay attention to details."
Former Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian also is a convert.
"Maybe another coach wouldn't make it work," he said. "But Vance
believes in it and teaches it. I think it might work [at a four-year school];
I'd like to see him get a shot somewhere.
"Players like playing that way. How could you not? You shoot the ball
freely and even if you're the 14th guy, you get [playing time] and you're happy."
That's another key to Walberg's system — he regularly plays 13players,
sometimes 14, and five to seven guys will score in double figures during a game.
Against San Bernardino in the final of the San Jose Tournament, 13th-
man Alex Hansen created a key turnover in the final minute to help the
Rams secure a 102-100 come-from-behind win.
"How many teams have their 13th player on the floor in the final minute
of a close game?" Walberg asks.
Everyone plays, everyone shoots, everyone presses. That balance
throws off opponents — especially this season, when the Rams don't
have Jackson, Walberg and Adam Wall as a reliable top three.
"That's the difference," Jon Black said. "Last year, we had two or three
go-to guys. This year we've got 10-12 guys every night. You don't
know who is going to contribute. You can't plan for us, because it's
a different guy every night.
"I wouldn't know what to do if I was the opposition."
Walberg believes this year's team has more depth than last year's
and even questions whether he relied too much on his son and Jackson last year.
As the Rams rolled to five tournament championships before this
conference season, Walberg was most proud that three different
Rams had earned tournament MVP honors and seven had made
all-tournament teams.
"Our bench scores as much as the starting team," said Jordan
Farley, who came off the bench to earn MVP honors at the Chabot
Tournament.
Running is the key to the Rams' success, and the players work
harder in practice than they ever have. The games, they said,
are the easy part.
"If there is a negative to this system, it's that we ask the guys
to work hard," Walberg said. "But if that is a negative to a kid,
we don't want him."
Reggie Butler, who transferred to Fresno City after playing last
year for Fresno State's Ray Lopes, said Walberg sold him in the first week.
"Coach said, 'We're a running team, if you don't want to run, get
the hell out,'" Butler recalled with a smile. "How can you be mad
at somebody that forward."
Some skeptics cite the difficulty of getting players — especially
blue-chip collegians — to buy into pressing full time, or that the
Rams give up several easy layups each game when teams beat
the press. Fresno City gives up 80.5points per game to rank 87th
out of 90 state junior colleges.
But the Rams' modus operandi is to convert opponents' turnovers
into points more often than they get burned.
"If we don't score off our defense, we struggle," Walberg said.
"Some people say we don't play defense. But teams hate to play against our press."
The way to beat Fresno City is to have two guards who don't fall
apart under the constant pressure — as Sequoias' Ja'Vance
Coleman and Teddy Fletcher showed last year — or catch the
Rams on a cold shooting night, as happened against American
River last year and in the 2003 state final against Los Angeles City.
Such events are rarities, thus squelching the skeptics. But Walberg
is less interested in proving people wrong than simply proving his team is right.
"As a coach, you want to prove yourself every year," he said.
"I don't feel like I have to prove [anything] to other people.
"I just hate to lose, to be honest with you."
To reach title tilt,Fresno city college Rams go inside out
With 3-pointers limited, they drive and shoot 71%.
SAN DIEGO -- Coaches on the losing end of games
against the Fresno City College men's basketball
team -- and that includes everyone the Rams
have played this season -- frequently use the
same phrase to explain Fresno City's offensive versatility:
"Pick your poison."
Saturday's poison? Driving to the basket.
Fresno City drove, drove and drove some more for a 95-82
victory over Saddleback in the semifinals of the California
Community Colleges Basketball Championships at the University
of San Diego's Jenny Craig Pavilion.
That sets up a state championship showdown at 1 p.m. today
against San Bernardino Valley, which defeated San Joaquin
Delta 85-84 in overtime in the other semifinal. It's the second
title game for coach Vance Walberg in three seasons at Fresno
City. In 2003, the Rams finished runner-up to Los Angeles City, 90-82.
On Saturday, Saddleback decided to "hug" the Rams on the
perimeter, taking away the 3-point shot. It's the same strategy
that failed for Ventura in Thursday's 114-103 loss to the Rams.
Both times, Walberg's team responded by attacking the basket.
Bubba Tolliver scored 29 points against Saddleback, mostly by
driving the lane. Anthony Esparza added 28, many coming on
baseline drives. Geoffrey Clayton drove the key for 13 points.
The Gauchos were floored that the Rams shot 70.6% against
their vaunted defense.
"They're an unbelievable team," Saddleback point guard D.J. Smedley
said. "[Shooting 70.6%] has never been done against us. We hold
teams to 60 points." (The Gauchos yielded an average of 64.1 points
a game this season.)
Gauchos coach Bill Brummell admitted his strategy was to take away
the 3-pointer from the Rams' arsenal.
"We thought we'd do a better job individually [against] the drive," he
said. "But we couldn't do it. You take away something and you give
something. Fresno took exactly what they needed. They read our
defense well."
That's the simple brilliance of Walberg's system.
"Whatever they give, we'll take," he said. "We've shot 50 3s
a couple times this season."
The Rams did manage to hit 11 of 18 from 3-point range to
complement the damage they did inside.
The attitude was set early, when Rams assistant Loren LeBeau
noticed the Gauchos had 6-foot-8 forward Derek Risper guarding the 6-1 Tolliver.
"Coach told me I should take it personally, that by putting a slower
guy on me they were disrespecting me," Tolliver said. "I took advantage."
Tolliver shot 12 of 15 from the field, including 3 for 6 on 3-pointers.
Esparza was 9 for 11, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
"All year we've used our size to our advantage," Smedley said.
"Fresno took the advantage with smaller, quicker guys."
Saddleback stayed even in a 45-45 first half behind 18 points
from Mikel Watson, who made 4 of 6 3-pointers. The Rams didn't
guard Watson that closely after watching him shoot 1 of 11 Thursday
against West Valley.
Fresno City moved ahead after halftime, opening a 12-point lead at
69-57 with 10 minutes remaining. Saddleback never got closer
than six the rest of the way.
Watson finished with 25 points and forward Dominique Ricks
added 22 from inside.
Walberg now is 99-5 in three years at Fresno City, but a state
championship has eluded him. As the Rams have rolled to a 33-0
record this season, their mantra has been anything short of a state
title would be a disappointment.
"It's too deep in the season to take a loss," freshman forward
Jordan Farley said. "At this point, 33-1 would not be acceptable."
For Jon Black, one of two players returning from last season's
team that failed to reach the state tournament, winning the
championship is the logical final step in an undefeated season.
"It's what we came here to do," he said
THE BEST GAME EVER FRESNO CITY COLLEGE
Fresno City caps 34-0 season with a victory in the state title game.
SAN DIEGO — "I don't know how to lose," Fresno City College's
Geoffrey Clayton exulted after the Rams had just polished off
an undefeated season by winning the men's title Sunday at the
California Community Colleges Basketball Championships.
"Coach Walberg taught me how not to lose."
Fresno City — and coach Vance Walberg — left no doubt it was
California's best team with a convincing 83-68 victory over San
Bernardino Valley at the University of San Diego's Jenny Craig
Pavilion, the culmination of a 34-0 season.
The Rams did it despite 36 points from San Bernardino's Aaron
Nixon, who hit his first 11 shots after halftime and scored 28
of his team's 41 second-half points.
But even that couldn't derail Fresno City, led by the irrepressible
Clayton and M'Jumbe Williams and the calmer (by comparison)
Anthony Esparza and Jordan Farley.
Clayton's bravado — as well as his funky dance moments after the
game — can be explained, given what the Rams accomplished:
The first undefeated men's junior college state champion since
Compton in 1970 and just the third in history
(with Jerry Tarkanian's 1964 Riverside team).
Fresno City's third men's state championship, the first since
1963. The other was in 1955, so it's safe to say few of the fans
who accompanied the Rams to San Diego had seen this happen before.
Walberg's first state championship, after losing with the Rams
to Los Angeles City in the 2003 title game and to De La Salle of
Concord in the state high school title game in 2000 while he
was at Clovis West High. "This is weird," Rams guard Alex Hansen
said. "Not to lose a game for a whole year. I'm still in awe."
Fresno City saved its best for last, playing tough defense, shooting
51% and turning Southern California Player of the Year Kevin
Henderson into a non-factor.
Henderson — a point guard who scored 33 points, including the
two winning free throws in overtime, in Saturday's 85-84
semifinal win over San Joaquin Delta — had five points Sunday
and committed 13 turnovers against Fresno City's pressure defense.
That left Nixon as San Bernardino's main threat. No other Wolverine
scored more than seven points.
The Rams countered with a balanced attack led by Williams' 18 points,
16 each from Esparza and Farley and 13 from Clayton.
Fresno City took a 40-27 halftime lead, weathered Nixon's second-half
run and coasted to the 15-point win.
The finish set off a wild celebration, with a few of the Rams jumping
over the scorer's table to embrace fans. The award ceremony was
a raucous affair, with Clayton video-taping as he, Williams and Bubba
Tolliver made the all-tournament team and Esparza was named MVP.
The Fresno contingent — about a couple dozen — cheered as Walberg
held up the state championship trophy.
"We've worked so hard," said Esparza, who also was named
All-Northern California. "This was our goal from the very beginning:
a state title. Being undefeated and everything else is just the icing."
San Bernardino coach Phil Matthews praised the Rams:
"They shot the ball extremely well and took us out of our game.
They come at you in waves."
Nixon said he and his teammates were outmanned and outhustled.
San Bernardino, ranked No. 2 in the state behind Fresno City, finished its season 27-5.
"They have more firepower than we do," he said. "Their 12 [players]
wanted it more than our seven did."
Fresno City guard Jon Black said the championship came down to
desire and confidence.
"This was our goal from the beginning, but at first it was a far-off goal,
" he said. "Then, as the season progressed, we became believers."
Belief and hustle are a potent combination. The Rams players and
coaches agreed that the key to winning 34 straight games was
working and playing harder than anyone else.
So it was fitting that in their last gathering, in the courtyard outside the
arena before heading home, the Rams huddled one final time and paid
tribute with one final chant:
"One, two, three. Hustle!"
FCC's Williams makes his points in title game
SAN DIEGO — When the basketball season began, coach Vance
Walberg said his Fresno City College Rams would go as far as
their point guards would carry them.
In Sunday's state championship game, the performance of both
teams' point guards were the key to the Rams' 83-68 men's victory
over San Bernardino Valley that capped a 34-0 season.
Fresno City clamped down on San Bernardino's Kevin Henderson.
The Southern California Player of the Year scored five points and
committed 13 turnovers before fouling out.
Fresno City point guard M'Jumbe Williams led the Rams with 18 points,
including four 3-pointers, and generally hustled his way to an all-tournament berth.
He had a great tournament for us," Walberg said. "He carried us at
stretches." Williams, a transfer from Fresno State, said Saturday
he had felt the pressure of the state championship and knowing
there were college scouts in the audience.
"Yesterday I put a lot of pressure on myself and I struggled like
heck," he said of his effort in the Rams' semifinal win over Saddleback,
when he shot 2 of 7 and had seven turnovers.
"I was trying to thread the needle [with passes], trying to overdo it."
On Sunday he turned over the ball once and shot 7 of 13, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Sunday's victory left Walberg at 100-5 in three years as coach of the Rams.
Former Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian, a Walberg supporter, was
impressed.
"I was 98-8 [at Riverside in the 1960s]," Tarkanian said.
Walberg still has a ways to go to better Tarkanian's record of four straight
state titles, from 1964-67.
"More and more people are realizing what a really great coach Vance is,"
said Tarkanian, sitting courtside.
2004-05 Fresno City College Men's Basketball
Game-by-Game Log (32)
Day Date Opponent Location Result
Fri 11/12 ^ Contra Costa College San Jose W, 129-61 (1-0)
Sat 11/13 ^ San Jose City Coll. San Jose W, 91-81 (2-0)
Sun 11/14 ^ San Bernardino Vall. Coll. San Jose W, 102-100 (3-0)
Thur 12/2 # Sacramento City College Sacramento W, 121-99 (4-0)
Fri 12/3 # West Valley College Sacramento W, 88-78 (5-0)
Sat 12/4 # Shasta College Sacramento W, 101-81 (6-0)
Thu 12/9 + El Camino College Los Angeles W, 105-85 (7-0)
Fri 12/10 + Mt. San Antonio College Los Angeles W, 122-117 (8-0)
Sat 12/11 + L.A. Southwest College Los Angeles W, 83-72 (9-0)
Tue 12/21 & De Anza College Hayward W, 118-80 (10-0)
Wed 12/22 & Gavilan College Hayward W, 106-60 (11-0)
Thur 12/23 & Chabot College Hayward W, 100-81 (12-0)
Tue 12/28 % Irvine Valley College Santa Maria W, 90-72 (13-0)
Wed 12/29 % Santa Barbara City Coll. Santa Maria W, 83-70 (14-0)
Thur 12/30 % Cuesta College Santa Maria W, 123-78 (15-0)
Wed 1/5 * Columbia College Sonora W, 111-81 (16-0, 1-0)
Sat 1/8 * Merced College Merced W, 129-73 (17-0, 2-0)
WED 1/12 * MODESTO JR. COLL. FRESNO W, 111-63 (18-0, 3-0)
SAT 1/15 * REEDLEY COLLEGE FRESNO W, 123-82 (19-0, 4-0)
Wed 1/19 * Porterville College Porterville W, 94-74 (20-0, 5-0)
SAT 1/22 * WEST HILLS COLL. FRESNO W, 117-96 (21-0, 6-0)
WED 1/26 * COLL. of the SEQUOIAS FRESNO W, 97-65 (22-0, 7-0)
SAT 1/29 * COLUMBIA COLLEGE FRESNO W, 118-70 (23-0, 8-0)
WED 2/2 * MERCED COLLEGE FRESNO W, 125-75 (24-0, 9-0)
Sat 2/5 * Modesto Jr. College Modesto W, 101-85 (25-0, 10-0)
Wed 2/9 * Reedley College Reedley W, 104-79 (26-0, 11-0)
SAT 2/12 * PORTERVILLE COLL. FRESNO W, 82-67 (27-0, 12-0)
Wed 2/16 * West Hills College Coalinga W, 99-83 (28-0, 13-0)
Sat 2/19 * Coll. of the Sequoias Visalia W, 110-88 (29-0, 14-0)
SAT 2/26 $ AMERICAN RIVER FRESNO W, 112-76 (30-0)
SAT 3/5 $ CABRILLO COLL. FRESNO W, 76-57 (31-0)
Thur 3/10 $$ Ventura San Diego W,114-103(32-0)
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP ALL - TOURNAMENT TEAM
COA Championships games from San Diego
Men's Pairings
Jenny Craig Pavilion, University of San Diego
#1S San Bernardino 78, #4N Siskiyous 65
#1N Fresno 114, #4S Ventura 103 —
#2S Saddleback 80, #3N West Valley 76, OT
#2N San Joaquin Delta 74, #3S Desert 62
#1S San Bernardino 85, #2N San Joaquin Delta 84, OT
#1N Fresno 95, #2S Saddleback 82
Championship game, 1 p.m.
#1N Fresno 83, #1S San Bernardino 68
FCC Men's Basketball Roster
Reggie Butler
Long Beach (Poly)
McClenon Tolliver
Portland, Ore. (Jefferson)
Alex Hansen
Madera (Madera)
Adrian Sanchez
Merced (Le Grand)
Jon Black
Clovis (Clovis)
Geoffrey Clayton
Los Angeles (Fremont)
Anthony Zuniga
Fresno (Clovis West)
Heath Colvin
Riverdale (Riverdale)
Roy Armstrong
Bakersfield (Bakersfield)
M'Jumbe Williams
Los Angeles (Crenshaw)
Anthony Esparza
Bakersfield (Garces)
David Lange
Cedrick Kalombo
South Africa (Wits Tutorial)
Jordan Farley
Clovis (Buchanan)


Rockers Papa Roach will play the Chance Theater at 6:30 p.m. July 19 in Poughkeepsie.
Papa Roach is known for the songs "Lifeline," "Scars" and "Getting Away with Murder."
Call 471-1966 or visit www.thechancetheater.com.


text:
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HomeFacts
How to Spot Network Marketing? | Pyramid Scheme
byTanuj Sarva — July 07, 2020 0
In 2004, a new company called Vemma Nutrition started offering a life-changing opportunity to earn full-time income for part-time work.
Vemma's offer was open to everybody, regardless of prior experience or education.
There were only two steps to start earning: purchase a $500-600 kit of their liquid nutrition products and recruit two more members to do the same.
Vemma Nutrition Company grew quickly, becoming a global operation that brought in 30,000 new members per month at its peak.
There was just one problem while the company generated $200 million of annual revenue by 2013, the vast majority of participants earned less than they paid in.
Vemma was eventually charged with operating a pyramid scheme: a common type of fraud where members make money by recruiting more people to buy-in.
Typically, the founder solicits an initial group of people to buy in and promote the scheme.
They are then encouraged to recruit others and promised part of the money those people invest, while the founder also takes a share.
The pattern repeats for each group of new participants, with money from recent arrivals funneled to those who recruited them.
This differs from a Ponzi scheme, where the founders recruit new members and secretly use their fees to pay existing members, who think the payments come from a legitimate investment.
As a pyramid scheme grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for new recruits to make money. That's because the number of participants expands exponentially.
Take a structure where each person has to recruit six more to earn a profit. The founder recruits six people to start, and each of them recruits six more.
There are 36 people in that second round of recruits, who then each recruit 6 people— a total of 216 new recruits.
By the twelfth round of recruiting, the 2.1 billion newest members would have to recruit over 13 billion more people in total to make money– more than the entire world population.
In this scenario, the most recent recruits, over 80% of the scheme's participants, lose all the money they paid in. And in real life, many earlier joiners lose out too.
Pyramid schemes are illegal in most countries, but they can be difficult to detect.
They are presented as many different things, including gifting groups, investment clubs, and multi-level marketing businesses.
The distinction between pyramid schemes and legitimate multi-level marketing can be particularly hazy.
In theory, the difference is that the members of the multi-level marketing companies primarily earn compensation from selling a particular product or a service to retail customers, while pyramid schemes primarily compensate members for the recruitment of new sellers.
In practice, though, many multi-level marketing companies make it all but impossible for members to profit purely through sales.
And many pyramid schemes, like Vemma Nutrition, disguise themselves as legal multi-level marketing businesses, using a product or service to hide the pay-and-recruit structure.
Many pyramid schemes also capitalize on already existing trust within churches, immigrant communities, or other tightly-knit groups.
The first few members are encouraged to report a good experience before they actually start making a profit.
Others in their network follow their example, and the schemes balloon in size before it comes clear that most members aren't actually profiting.
Often, the victims are embarrassed into silence. Pyramid schemes entice people with the promise of opportunity and empowerment.
So when members don't end up making money, they can blame themselves rather than the scheme, thinking they weren't tenacious enough to earn the returns promised.
Some victims keep trying, investing in multiple schemes, and losing money each time.
In spite of all these factors, there are ways to spot a pyramid scheme.
Time pressure is one red flag— be wary of directives to "act now or miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Promises of large, life-altering amounts of income are also suspect.
And finally, a legitimate multi-level marketing business shouldn't require members to pay for the opportunity to sell a product or service. Pyramid schemes can be incredibly destructive to individuals, communities, and even entire countries. But you can fight fire with fire by sharing this article with three people you know, and encouraging them to do the same.
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Groupon MyCityDeal
Groupon the largest group buying site in the world, first established in the US, the site offers great discounts on products and services such as Restaurant Deals, Spa Deals, Massage deals, Vacations and Travel deals, Hair Salon Deals, Fashion Deals and much more…
Expanding its operations worldwide, Groupon has acquired the South Africa group buying site Twangoo in January 2011 and launched its local daily deals service Groupon MyCityDeal (also known as MyCityDeal) under the domain groupon.co.za (The domain was bought from Wicount, which is a competitor daily deals site that have registered the domain in South Africa). At the time, Twangoo was the leading group buying site in South Africa, offering new deals in almost every city in South Africa.
Groupon is currently the largest daily deals site in South Africa and have received the most attention among all daily deals sites. Groupon has received mixed reviews about its level of service and though Groupon's site's clearly states that the company will "make things right" in case of issue arising, many people have complained about the level of service received (as can be seen on HelloPeter).
Nonetheless, Groupon is by far the leading site in South Africa both in terms of the variety of deals that it offers and its customer reach. Since the final site was launched in August 2011, it has changed the group buying market in South Africa and has made it grow many times than what it was in 2010. It will be interesting to see how Groupon will advance in 2012 and what new surprises will they bring to the group buying arena.
In the meantime, you can take a look at how the Groupon South Africa site looks like
Groupon also have a very active community on Facebook, with nearly 100,000 members Groupon's Facebook community is the largest group buying fan page in South Africa and one of the largest Facebook communities in South Africa in general.
Groupon MyCityDeal Website
Groupon MyCityDeal Facebook Page
Groupon MyCityDeal on Twitter
VuvuPlaza
Bidorbuy
Daily Deals Sites #daily deals websites #Groupon #Groupon MyCityDeal #Groupons #MyCityDeal #Twangoo
Marlene de Beer
I want to adverize my bussinus what do I havto o.


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MILLBURN SHORT HILLS
Police search for driver in Millburn fatal hit-and-run
Joshua Jongsma
Authorities are searching for the driver in a suspected hit-and-run in Millburn that left a 76-year-old woman dead.
Lynne Crow was found on the street near Chatham and Woodland roads Jan. 8, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Responders at first thought Crow had a medical episode but a doctor at Morristown Memorial Hospital told police that her injuries seemed to be caused by a car.
An autopsy confirmed that Crow died from blunt force trauma consistent with being hit by a vehicle, and her death is being investigated as a vehicular homicide.
No suspects have been identified and the prosecutor's office did not release details on the suspected vehicle.
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run can contact Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force tips line at 1-877-847-7432.
Pedestrian deaths:Bloomfield man identified as pedestrian fatally struck by truck
Essex:Montclair luring suspect was just an Uber driver looking for a scheduled pick-up
Email: jongsma@northjersey.com


At a recent show that included a couple of my gravestone photos from "As We Are Now," some viewers apparently believed I had added the photo on a stone with Photoshop. I guess they didn't know what's been happening with some modern gravestones.
Death doesn't change. But that doesn't mean that death escapes its time or culture. The older sections of Washington Cemetery have an identifiable style, too, Ciamaga said. The new stones are just the latest one. But if that's true, then these stones say something about the times in which we now live and die.
Photographs is © Dave Higgins and "Dave Higgins Photography," 2017; all rights reserved.
If you'd like to learn more about Puritan gravestone iconography, the City of Boston has a helpful web page. You can explore things even further in either a lighter (with photos) or heavier (with charts) vein. As these links demonstrate, Puritan cemetery folk art can be fascinating. And who knows? Maybe some day in the distant future historians will be similarly fascinated with the cemetery folk art from our time.


Our barbers are more than adept in the art of the close shave. A shave by an expert is an experience that every man deserves. Inside our establishment, you might enjoy the best shave of your life with a precision that can't just be replicated at home.
The shaving cream, hot towels, massages and moisturisers our barbers use and offer are all top-shelf.
With our service, you can achieve a shave that's also good for your skin. A series of hot towels will open up your pores, allowing for a much closer and gentler shave. Our lotions and creams will soothe and reinvigorate. A close shave also exfoliates the skin of dead cells.
The barbers in our shops have experienced hands that know exactly how to perform a shave. Barbershop shaving is not just about cutting hair close to the skin; it's also about where to cut.
Our barbers can shape the hairlines of your sideburns and beard to create a very polished look that frames the face.
A shaved head is a popular look for men. They are easy to maintain, and they accentuate the natural features of the face. Let our barbers shave your head for you. Our shaving process uses lather that will keep your scalp moisturised during the process.
Our tastefully-furnished interiors, vintage barber's chairs and complimentary drinks go beyond just a grooming service. For more information, you may book an appointment or walk into a Porters Barbers location near you right now.


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BREAKING: Tracy Morgan In Critical Condition After Fatal Bus Wreck
S. Samuel June 7, 2014 1:19 pm
Hollywood actor Tracy Morgan is reportedly in critical condition after being involved in a New Jersey bus wreck which already has killed one person. #Prayers
Details of Morgan's horrific accident surfaced online early Saturday (June 7).
The 45-year-old former Saturday Night Live star was traveling in a limo bus that overturned around 1 a.m. Saturday morning of Exit 7A of the Turnpike in Cranbury, N.J., state police tell NBC10.com. That's just north of Trenton. State police say a preliminary investigation has found that a tractor trailer came up upon slow moving traffic and caused the crash. Six vehicles — two tractor trailers, an SUV and two cars — all were involved, state police said. (NBC Philadelphia)
The comedian is in critical condition and receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
The 30 Rock actor was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Center in New Brunswick, N.J. He is in intensive care, state police confirm. The bus was carrying six passengers in all. One passenger on the bus has died, state police say. Three were critically hurt and one is in fair condition, hospital officials say. (NBC Philadelphia)
Despite the graphic nature of the accident, neither drugs or alcohol are suspected factors to the wreck.
Morgan, 45, was traveling in a limo bus on the New Jersey Turnpike in Cranbury around 1 a.m. when the vehicle overturned, New Jersey State Police Sgt. Gregory Williams told FoxNews.com. Two tractor-trailers were involved, and one of them may have rear-ended the limo bus, Williams said. An SUV and two cars were also involved in the crash. Drug or alcohol use is not suspected as a cause of the accident, Williams added. (Fox News)
The famous actor has made a name for himself for nearly two decades in the entertainment biz.
The 45-year-old Morgan joined "Saturday Night Live" in 1996 and was on the sketch-comedy program for seven years before leaving to star in "The Tracy Morgan Show" in 2003. That show lasted just one season. In 2006, Morgan found a long-running role in NBC's hit show "30 Rock," which was created by SNL co-star Tina Fey. (Boston)
#Prayers
IndustryMedicalTracy Morgan
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For all my beloved readers I am giving away 20 (that's right 2-0) free passes to the upcoming Bloggers United 2 next Saturday, December 3, 2011 at Treston International College in Taguig. Just make sure to follow my blog, forward me your contact info (name, email addy and mobile number) and help me promote this awesome event.
I will be participating together with my FFT Family (Karl Leuterio, Mike Magallanes, Paul Jatayna, Nicole Puentevella, Kookie Buhain, Aivan Magna and Gelo Arucan).
I would love to meet all my readers. So please drop by our fab booth! Extra points if you shop with us!
I will be selling stuff from my Unisex store and some pre-loved clothing, shoes and accessories straight from my closet. And for the ladies I will have a few items from my Mom's closet as well. Portion of the sales will be donated to GMA Kapuso Foundation for its class building project. So don't miss this opportunity to look fab this Yuletide season while reaching out to our less fortunate brothers and sisters! Thanks for the support and hope to see everyone at this fabulous event.
Special thanks to the lovely ladies, Melai Entuna, Aisa Ipac and Ana Gonzales for making this event possible! You guys rock!
PS: I'M GIVING AWAY TICKETS TO ALL MY FAB READERS UNTIL NOVEMBER 29TH ONLY!!!
hi, shall I leave my infos here? I'd love to come to this event. thanks.
thanks! deadline of the giveaway is nov 29!!!


If you are in the market for braces, you have a lot of things to take into consideration. After all, the path to beautiful and straight teeth is not always a path that is easy. Depending on your orthodontic situation, you might be in need of some serious work in order to achieve that smile. For others, a simpler and less painful solution is available. After all, we are all different and all have different needs when it comes to braces. It just makes sense that there wouldn't be a one-size fits all kind of solution for orthodontics! With the latest advancements in orthodontic technology, it is easier than ever to ensure that when you walk into your orthodontist office, you will be able to find an option that truly does make sense for you.
One of the often touted options for braces that allows you to make choices that do not involve the traditional wires and brackets is the Invisalign system. This system has often been discussed as a way to get those beautiful teeth you crave without having to go through the process of wires and brackets. Indeed, this is a really powerful option for people of all different walks of life. It can be ideal for adults who are having orthodontic work done later in life and who fear the stigma associated with traditional braces. For these adults, being able to remove the Invisalign aligners at any time can help when they are making presentations or eating at a work function or out on a first date. It can also be ideal for teens and adults alike who might be in careers that rely on appearance for success. While braces can certainly work for people who are models and actors, many times studios will be seeking a certain look, and achieving that look can be difficult if you are wearing braces. The flexibility of Invisalign allows you, again, to remove the aligners as needed, while still benefiting from the movement of your teeth through this nearly invisible system. If you are an athlete, Invisalign might also be for you. Imagine getting hit in the mouth while playing an intense contact sport. With braces, your lips and gums will get torn up; with Invisalign, you'll be able to play free from the worry associated with having dangerous brackets and wires in your mouth!
You can see why so many people are switching to the Invisalign system when they are searching for braces. It's a great way to get the smile you've dreamed of in an alternative fashion. We all deserve to have the smile that makes us feel like who we truly are, and the team at Invisalign is helping make that possible for people everywhere! Talk to your dentists and the team at I-Braces VIP to find out more about Invisalign and to see if this system could work for you! With so many reasons to use Invisalign out there, it just makes sense to see if this system could be a good fit for you.