Our Brother Ridwan Laher could use a Prayer or Two...From all of us...

Fatima and Ahmed's Son Ridwan Laher: Gonna Take Some Time Out
Four days ago I went to see a doctor about what I thought was just an allergy. Less than an hour later I was in an emergency room with very serious faces telling me I had blood clots on my lungs and I was lucky to be alive.

I dodged a medical bullet and now want to take some time to get healthy.

So I am going to stop writing here and want to thank those who read my posts. I am not sure if I will get back on the blog again but I remain very grateful for the friendships that developed here.

OK, no more confessions ;0)

So you can contact me at laher@iname.com and I will respond promptly.

Thanks again for your friendship and for reading me.

Peace and Onward! toward "One World and One People" like my good friend Dade says.

Ridwan

Mumbai Attack

Mumbai attack: Government 'has no evidence of British involvement'
The Government has "no knowledge" of any British suspects being among the terrorists who attacked Mumbai, the Home Secretary has said.

By Jon Swaine, 28 Nov 2008
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1488655367/bctid3460089001 http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1139053637

Jacqui Smith said that despite reports to the contrary, she had received no information suggesting two British men had been part of a group of eight militants captured by Indian commandos.

"We will do anything we can to help Indian authorities through what is obviously a very difficult time," Miss Smith said. "We will do what is necessary. At the moment the priority is to support the immediate needs.

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Mumbai, was earlier reported to have said that two British-born Pakistanis were among eight gunmen seized by Indian commandos who stormed buildings to free hostages.

The Foreign Office said it was investigating reports on NDTV, a local television news channel, that the terrorists – who swarmed into luxury hotels and other tourist sites in the city – included "British citizens of Pakistani origin".

Earlier on Friday, Gordon Brown said he "would not want to be drawn into early conclusions" over the claims.

The Prime Minister called for international co-ordination to combat terrorism in the wake of the attacks, which he called "atrocious". He said: "We have got to look at how international action against terrorism can be improved."

"Obviously when you have terrorists operating in one country, they may be getting support from another country or coming from another country, and it is very important that we strengthen the co-operation between India and Britain in dealing with these instances of terrorist attacks," he told Sky News.

The Prime Minister's comments came as Indian commando troops cleared the last terrorists from buildings across Mumbai.

The troops killed at least two militants at the Trident Oberoi hotel, where police found 24 bodies. About 93 guests and staff – including two Britons and another clutching a baby – were rushed out and loaded into waiting cars, buses and ambulances.

JK Dutt, the director general of India's National Security Guard, said the hotel had been brought "under our control".

"We have killed two terrorists today," he said. "There was lots of firing, they also lobbed hand grenades. Some of them are unexploded, we are going to defuse them – you may hear some sound of explosions."

It is thought that more than 100 commandos entered the Taj Mahal hotel – in which a hostage situation was thought to have ended on Thursday – and gunfire and explosions have been heard. Police reported finding at least 30 bodies in one hall of the hotel.

Troops also stormed the Nariman House complex in the south of the city, which houses a Jewish group. A woman and a child were seen leaving the building after the commandos, who arrived in helicopters, abseiled down ropes to secure the building.

Mr Brown, who is to talk to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later on Friday, said he did not believe there were any further Britons among the hostages.

Read more about the terrible situation in Mumbai, please click here.

More on the situation on Mumbai, please follow the links:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122781446844662087.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/29/india.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/3535230/Mumbai-attacks-Taj-Mahal-siege-ends-as-total-death-toll-rises-to-195-Bombay-India.html

Take AIDS fight into black communities

Believe it or not It's been 17 years since Magic Johnson was diagnosed with HIV. He has been fighting for more awareness of thw AIDS?HIV Epidemic in black communities. With World AIDS Day coming up Magic Johnson has written a plea for African American Communities to step up and do more in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Read his plea by clicking the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Carmen - Habanera

What Michelle Obama means to us

Check out this great article by Allison Samuels that appears in this weeks NewsWeek Magazine.

Here is an excerpt...The new First Lady will have the chance to knock down ugly stereotypes about black women and educate the world about American black culture more generally. But perhaps more important—even apart from what her husband can do—Michelle has the power to change the way African-Americans see ourselves, our lives and our possibilities. Read the entire article by clicking the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

WHITE SUPREMACIST RAGE BOILS OVER AFTER OBAMA VICTORY: Racist site crashes after election.

EURweb.com - WHITE SUPREMACIST RAGE BOILS OVER AFTER OBAMA VICTORY: Racist site crashes after election.
*In the aftermath of the election victory of Barack Obama, white supremacists rushed to online discussion forums to vent anger and disbelief that voters had chosen an African-American candidate as the next president of the United States.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which monitors and exposes extremist activity and rhetoric, said anger among white supremacists and other right-wing extremists in response to Obama's victory resulted in an avalanche of vitriolic postings on racist Web sites.

At one point, the chatter so overloaded the server of the most popular white supremacist Internet forum, Stormfront, that the site was temporarily shut down.

According to ADL, racists are incredulous that Obama was elected primarily by white voters and are seething with anger at the prospect of an America led by an African-American man.

"We always expect a reaction from the bigots when events occur that they believe are contrary to their interests and worldview," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "While it's clear that race didn't matter to the vast majority of the American people in this election, race matters to racists."

Aisha Ali: Dismantling Thanksgiving myths: a Native American story

D.C. Youth Issues Examiner: Dismantling Thanksgiving myths: a Native American story
In my eyes, Thanksgiving has never been about the Pilgrims-- and to many Americans, I question if this is their sole source of celebration, as many people blindly celebrate holidays and have no clue of their history. Although I am sure many people celebrate Thanksgiving as a way to express “thanks,” for me, Thanksgiving serves as another remembrance of how my Native American ancestors were maltreated; annihilated; ousted from their land; and consigned to reservations, eradicating every trace of their pre-existing life.

Thanksgiving rehashes memories of how the hospital staff, in its refusal to treat my great-great grandfather, sent him home to die from pneumonia because he was Native American. Thanksgiving reminds me of how my grandmother had “to pass” as a light-skinned black person to avoid being forced on a reservation. When thinking of Thanksgiving, I recall how my Nation, the Cherokees, was forced from its land in Georgia, leaving a “Trail of Tears.” As I sit around with my family and share thoughts while eating on Thanksgiving, I think of how the very ingredients with which my food was prepared, had been once picked by the hands of my Native American ancestors who served as slaves in North Carolina and the Caribbean. Needless to say, I also think of my African ancestors who toiled away in the fields to pick the very foods with which my food was prepared. America, to me, is not the “Land of Pilgrim’s pride," but should be and is to me, the "Land of Native American pride".

The national holiday, “Thanksgiving,” was not initially created in the way most Americans have come to know it.

Did the CIA Poison Paul Robeson?

Did the CIA Poison Paul Robeson? - FTP MOVEMENT
Paul Robeson, the black actor, singer, and political radical, may have been a victim of CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb's MK-ULTRA program. We have previously noted Gottlieb's death and outlined his career of infamy. In the spring of 1961, Robeson planned to visit Havana, Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. The trip never came off because Robeson fell ill in Moscow, where he had gone to give several lectures and concerts. At the time, it was reported that Robeson had suffered a heart attack. But in fact Robeson had slashed his wrists in a suicide attempt after suffering hallucinations and severe depression. The symptoms came on following a surprise party thrown for him at his Moscow hotel.

Robeson's son, Paul Robeson, Jr., has investigated his father's illness for more than 30 years. He believes that his father was slipped a synthetic hallucinogen called BZ by U.S. intelligence operatives at the party in Moscow. The party was hosted by anti-Soviet dissidents funded by the CIA.

Robeson Jr. visited his father in the hospital the day after the suicide attempt. Robeson told his son that he felt extreme paranoia and thought that the walls of the room were moving. He said he had locked himself in his bedroom and was overcome by a powerful sense of emptiness and depression before he tried to take his own life.

Robeson left Moscow for London, where he was admitted to Priory Hospital. There he was turned over to psychiatrists who forced him to endure 54 electro-shock treatments. At the time, electro-shock, in combination with psycho-active drugs, was a favored technique of CIA behavior modification. It turned out that the doctors treating Robeson in London and, later, in New York were CIA contractors. The timing of Robeson's trip to Cuba was certainly a crucial factor. Three weeks after the Moscow party, the CIA launched its disastrous invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. It's impossible to underestimate Robeson's threat, as he was perceived by the U.S. government as the most famous black radical in the world. Through the 1950s Robeson commanded worldwide attention and esteem. He was the Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali of his time. He spoke more than twenty languages, including Russian, Chinese, and several African languages. Robeson was also on close terms with Nehru, Jomo Kenyatta, and other Third World leaders. His embrace of Castro in Havana would have seriously undermined U.S. efforts to overthrow the new Cuban government.

Obama’s Intelligence Agenda: More of the Same from the “Change Administration”

portland imc - 2008.11.16 - Obama’s Intelligence Agenda: More of the Same from the “Change Administration”
According to The Wall Street Journal, "President-elect Barack Obama is unlikely to radically overhaul controversial Bush administration intelligence policies, advisers say, an approach that is almost certain to create tension within the Democratic Party."

With hyperbolic "change" rhetoric in the air, Obama is relying on a gaggle of former intelligence insiders, warmed-over Clinton administration officials and "moderate" Republicans, many of whom helped Bush craft his administration's illegal policies.

With U.S. street cred at an all-time low, due in no small measure to Washington's hubristic fantasies that it really is an empire and not a rapidly decaying failed state, ruling elites have literally banked on Obama to deliver the goods.

During his run for the White House, the Illinois senator may have mildly criticized some of the administration's so-called "counterterrorism" policies including the Bushist penchant for secrecy, the disappearance of "terrorist" suspects, driftnet surveillance of American citizens and legal residents, CIA "black site" gulags and the crushing of domestic dissent.

But in the few scant days since the November 4 general election, the contours of what Democratic party corporatist grifters will roll-out come January 20 are taking shape. Citing Obama's carefully-crafted public relations blitz on the campaign trail opposing illegal spying, the Journal reports:

Yet he ... voted for a White House-backed law to expand eavesdropping powers for the National Security Agency. Mr. Obama said he opposed providing legal immunity to telecommunications companies that aided warrantless surveillance, but ultimately voted for the bill, which included an immunity provision.

The new president could take a similar approach to revising the rules for CIA interrogations, said one current government official familiar with the transition. Upon review, Mr. Obama may decide he wants to keep the road open in certain cases for the CIA to use techniques not approved by the military, but with much greater oversight. (Siobhan Gorman, "Intelligence Policy to Stay Largely Intact," The Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2008)

MALL HALL OF FAME: Salem Mall, R.I.P.

MALL HALL OF FAME: SALEM MALL, DAYTON, OHIO

Abuse Victim Alejandra Vazquez Laid To Rest

Tears flow for 'another Nixzmary Brown' as 11-year-old laid to rest
BY ERICA PEARSON and LEO STANDORA DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS


A sad and steady procession of mourners came to a Brooklyn funeral home Thursday to bid farewell to Alejandra Vazquez, the 11-year-old schoolgirl cops say was beaten to death with a mop handle by her mom.
Many of the relatives, friends, neighbors - and more than a few strangers touched by her tragic story - arrived at the Ponce Funeral Home on Fourth Ave. with their arms full of flowers.
One small child went in clutching a single red rose to her heart.
Almost all had tears in their eyes, prayers on their lips - or both.
"This is so sad, so horrible," said one mourner who only gave the name Maria, gesturing at the open casket where Alejandra's body lay in a glistening white dress, her face heavily made up to mask her injuries.
"This should happen to nobody, but it seems worse when it happens to such a little girl."
Nearby, Barbara Medina, who helped collect money for Alejandra's dress through a nonprofit organization, nodded agreement.
"This didn't have to happen. This is like another Nixzmary Brown," she said. "This child died by herself and is leaving us by herself."
Alejandra's uncle, Celerino Vazquez, 30, said the family was struggling to cope with the tragedy. "We're all praying. It's something we just have to get through."
Florencia Vazquez, 36, confessed to beating her daughter to death with a mop handle and leaving her to die in her own bed, but later claimed the girl suffered her fatal injuries in a fall.
Alejandra was found dead Sunday morning. The case is going to a grand jury.
Meanwhile, the concerns of close family friend Sophia Morales, 23, are for Alejandra's three siblings - ages 6, 3 and 1.
"They are wondering what happened," she said. "I just don't know how to answer them."

Julian King, RIP