In a serendipitous continuity of my last post, today the newspapers reported an event that I'd like to share with you. I think you'll find it rather amusing:

From today's edition of La Jornada [pardon the clumsy translation, text in brackets is of my own editing]

Witch Swindles Treasurer of the Quintana Roo Congress; takes $440 Thousand

Cancún, Quintana Roo, March 17th. The state Congress Treasurer, Lucía Sánchez Méndez, handed 440,000 pesos (approx. 33,850 US$) from the public funds to a witch who offered to perform a limpia [magical cleansing ritual] to the money, so that it would 'double' [in quantity].

The state Attorney, Bello Melchor Rodríguez Carrillo, announced that an apprehension order would be emitted against the government official, on the charge of 'abuse of trust'.

Rodríguez Carrillo said Sánchez Méndez acknowledged she used the payroll monies destined for the local Congress employees, so that the witch could perform the limpia. The woman had promised the Treasurer to double the quantity of the cash handed to her, and so she complied —but that was the last time she saw [the witch].

The attorney added that the abuse of trust is sanctioned in the state with up to 15 years of prison. However, Lucía Sánchez —sister of the Municipal Police Director, Luis Germán Sánchez Méndez [Mexican Nepotism 101 my friends!]— may return the money to the local Congress and plea for a pardon.

The head officer of the Legislative Power, Sergio de la Cruz Osorno, filed the report [against Sánchez Méndez] when he detected the missing money.

Sánchez Méndez abandoned her position last Friday, and she could be fired, although that won't stop the penal process against her. "We have given notice of the appeal, and the Human Resources Direction will apply the pertinent sanction", said the president of the Congress Grand Commission, Luis González Flores.

The lawmaker added that the public official had cashed some checks on her own, a transaction usually carried out by a reserve funds company.

As you can see, my boss is in good company ;)

This is was inspired by Jenny Randles’ Ufology in 2020: Does ufology have a future? over at the Fortean Times.

What intrigues me’s NOT what the UFO/paranormal fraternity/sorority gets up to over the next ten years but what their nemeses the so-called sceptics’re go’n’o get up to.

We've very recently had the case of one bunch of scientists forming a committee to reach over the heads of less powerful, less media sussed, less influential colleagues who differ with them to declare to the general public the notion a giant meteorite killed off the dinosaurs is now an ESTABLISHED scientific 'fact'.

Before that we had the big Darwin versus Everything Else push which started last year, culminating in the BBC’s Darwinius Masillae fossil documentary selling the idea everything the God of the Natural Selectionists’d ever claimed had been scientifically proven by someone suddenly fortuitously realising Darwinius was actually the missing link – and this in spite of the scientists who claimed and continue to claim it's not even a precursor to the ape lineage.

We’ve also had the recent outbreak of younger scientists and their mentors claiming Science’s become akin to a feudalistic medieval court in which their superior or even breakthrough research’s being excluded from being published or even merely referenced in order to advantage the more mediocre less important work of high ranking establishment scientists who’ve built reputations based on past glories to establish strangleholds on media access, or the work of more middle ranking scientists who understand quality of work’s less important than knowing how to maximise the advantages of the networking system and arse kiss your way up the pecking order.

But you see what I’m getting at here? A clear party politics style pattern of let’s use our more powerful and greater influential media connections to cut out or discredit those who disagree with or oppose us, with the ultimate purpose of establishing us as the sole arbiters of what’ll constitute acceptable scientific ‘truth’.

So when I read Richard Wiseman on Alex Tsakiris’ Skeptiko describing the gradual emergence of new paranormal paradigms as “jumping from one ship to another. It used to be card guessing, dream telepathy, and there’s Ganzfeld, there’s remote viewing. The reason those jumps have occurred is this stuff does not replicate…I think the healthier attitude would be to say, “Hold on a second. How can we stop this? How can we stop this happening in the future so that in the next ten years we’re not in the same position again and we can reach some kind of closure?”” I find myself wondering whether such sentiments coming from such a media savvy self promoter professional sceptic as Richard Wiseman means the next phase of the big Darwin push’ll be an attempt to establish with the likes of such media powers as the BBC the idea of a specific time limit within which the paranormal field, (UFOs, ghosts, Bigfoot, ESP, etc)’ll be required to deliver EXTRAORDINARY definitive proof of itself, after which it’ll be come taken as established scientific fact as PROVEN untrue.

In short, the next ten years might see a push in the media to deliberately marginalise UFOs et al. out of existence, and if it succeeds these may be looked on as halcyon days.

alanborky

Has it really come to this? God...

Yesterday morning, after enjoying a long weekend here in Mexico —well, as much enjoying as one can have without any money— I arrived at the former strip mall where the small office I work in is located.

I work for a very mall Architecture office, and recently we've been through particularly harsh times. On top of the fact that Mexico was one of the nations where the last economic crisis was felt the harshest, things at the office were getting tougher even before that. Long story short, there are currently two persons working here: myself and my workmate, the accountant; and our list of possible projects is on an indefinite stand-by —there was a Real Estate "bubble" in Mexico city over the past few years, and we all know what eventually happens with every bubble...

So, I was walking down the hallway at 9 in the morning, ready to open the office —I'm usually the first one to arrive, plus my workmate is coming to the office every other day currently— from the distance one can look not only the main windows of the office entrance, but also a small window from the top floor, and it was through that window that I noticed something odd.

From the distance it looked like a small glowing orange light. My first though was that my boss had left some cell phone charging or maybe a laptop; but then I realized this was not an electric light: it was flickering.

I panicked; I immediately though "SH*T! a fire!!"; I rushed to open the door, and the smell that poured down from the inside confirmed my suspicion: something WAS burning upstairs.

I climbed the 12-steps staircase as quickly as I could, and in the still-dark small attic-like space where my boss holds his desk and files, I scanned the surroundings and found the source of the flickering flame: a candle inside a transparent glass, the same type that you find inside Catholic temples.

"What the Hell?"

The religious candle, or veladora, as we call them around here, was over a desk on top of a sample piece of glass that we used in one of our projects a few years ago; it was obvious that it had been lit many hours ago, as the flame had consumed most of the candle, and the top of its glass presented smoke stains.

After calming me down a bit, I started to notice other strange things: the top of my boss' desk was rather filthy —and that was a shock considering his anal-retentive obsession with order and tidiness!— and it was covered with grains of salt. The floors upstairs and down were also covered with what looked like grains of rice and corn; and as I was retracing my steps to the entrance of the office, I noticed something else: the transparent glass of the metal door had weird stains, as though someone had sprinkled some kind of liquid on it from the inside.

It didn't took me long to add 2+2 on this whole mystery.

It was hilarious and pathetic at the same time: My boss had commissioned a limpia.

The limpia, or cleansing ceremony, is a sort of syncretic ritual that combines elements of the Catholic faith along with the pagan traditions left by our Mesoamerican ancestors. The purpose of it is to eradicate 'bad vibes' allegedly surrounding a person, an object or a concrete location. These kind of rituals are a very suggestive proof that, deep underneath, all Latin American countries still hold a pagan cosmovision; that one needs to perform rites and ceremonies to appease the spiritual entities that govern or influence the fates of our lives.

It also shows that such beliefs are not to be found only with the 'uneducated' illiterate masses who lack a good education. The idea that one can be affected by 'negative energy' is quite common among the Mexican higher classes as well —my boss has a college degree. Politicians and celebrities are known to seek the services of astrologers and shamans that would enable them to attain more status, or fend themselves against the attacks of adversaries.

Magic syncretic rituals can range from the seemingly innocuous —like the young teen asking St Judas for a boyfriend by placing an image of said saint upside-down, which to me always seemed more like a kind of spiritual coercion!— to more complicated ideas that demand the use of elaborate magical paraphernalia, plus the use of a 'professional'.

In Mexico city there's a very special place called El Mercado de Sonora, which is quite literally the Mexican version of Harry Potter's Diagon Alley; a place where you can purchase magic items of all kinds —and I do mean ALL— for using in both 'white' or 'black' magic rituals. Need a monkey tail to perform a love ritual? no problem! white candles to defend yourself? black candles to curse someone? an illegal endangered animal like a rare desert lizard or an ocelot? fancy an effigy of the Santa Muerte do you? you ask and either they have it or they can find it for you... for the right price, of course.

*Youtube video of some Gringo tourists visiting the market:

Back to my tale of my esoteric discovery, I didn't know what to do. Do I leave the candle lit or not (more on that later)? I eventually decided to phone my boss:

Me: Um, yeah? there's this religious candle lit that I found upstairs, wha—

My boss: Yes, I put it there; I'll be right over *hangs up*

And as you can probably imagine, by the time he came he NEVER mentioned the candle, nor did I ask him about it. My boss do love to keep his secrets —which can be a determent in productivity, as he considers the dates of the project deadlines to be a secret too!

So, to me the irony in all this —other than the fact that I had further proof I work for a complete pendejo— was to realize that some people will ALWAYS try to find explanations in external agencies beyond their control; just like that Vatican exorcist who sees the work of the Evil One in the recent calamities that have befallen on the Catholic church. Not once do they stop to consider that perhaps, just perhaps, the root of the problem lies somewhere a bit closer to home.

Take for instance the candle I found: clearly, the fact that someone decides to place a burning candle inside an unventilated room choke-full of flammable items —and with a FRAKING WOODEN FLOOR on top of that— shows a complete disregard to public safety and the needs of other people. And that is IMHO the very root of the current economic predicament in which my boss finds himself currently; this is the kind of man who thinks he's entitled to double-parking or be late with the fortnight salary payments —when the office phone rings and I hear it's from the bank, I just hang up— who thinks it's more important to satisfy his own personal aesthetic quirks than actually solve the needs of his clients. I could go on and on here...

I believe in the laws of Karma, not out of any mystical spiritual notions, but for its pure practical simplicity: what goes around comes around is in pure accordance with the laws of Physics. No matter what you do, sooner or later you'll have to respond to the laws of Thermodynamics, baby.

Abiding to the golden rule is just plain common sense. It's playing the odds, because there are a lot of people in this world and there's only one You; and sooner or later you'll be face to face with someone with more power than you.

Does that mean I think magic rituals are pure hogwash? not exactly. What I think is that, even if rituals can attain power, that power *must* be provided by the people believing in that ritual. And the way a ritual gains power is simple and universal: through sacrifice.

Sacrifice literally means "to make sacred", and in order to do that it is demanded that what is offered must be something valuable to the participant of the ritual. For Abraham, there was nothing he wanted more than to have a long line of descendants; so what does Yahweh demand from him to seal their pact? the life of his only son —I'm not condoning the validity of human sacrifice *OBVIOUSLY*, nor the moral high-ground of the Old Testament; I'm just trying to show that throughout history people have considered magic rituals to be something which demand costly offerings. And even that still makes sense to our 'modern' Western mentality; that's why we have a high respect for people who hold PhD's or a black belt in Karate.

So I ask you: what better sacrifice could be offered, in order to improve your life and your economic situation, than to commit yourself into improving your attitude toward other people? to stopping thinking about Me Me Me for a change and strive to be kinder to your fellow man?

Meh... I guess it's always easier (and CHEAPER) to pay a few pesos in candles, some rice and vial of holy water in order to scare away the bad juju. After all: it's NOT my fault that things are not turning the way I want, is it??

So, if you've been patient enough to read up to here, I bet there's a nagging question burning in your head: Why o WHY are you still working for this moron? Weeell... that's a topic for another blog, I'm afraid.

In the meantime, pray that next week I won't find a headless black chicken next to the fax machine ;)

I had a dream several nights ago when we set our clocks ahead an hour. I was standing out in the middle of the street. When i looked out to the horizon and the moon was eclipsing the sun. I stared for a few minutes trying to appreciate its beauty, when the bright grey light exploded in green sparks like fireworks. I wonder if there was any connection between the hour-change, and the Eclipse in my dream..

Last Wednesday morning, during my daily commute, I observed something quite remarkable. At least I think it was remarkable... though I may be the only person who thinks that way.

I was driving southward on a boulevard street called Periférico; instead of taking my usual shortcut to avoid traffic, I kept on this main street because I had to stop on my way to work in order to pick up some paperwork concerning my medical insurance at a nearby office.

The day was very windy and clear, and the clouds were long and with very defined edges, not quite lenticular, though. It was around 8:30 in the morning, and the traffic was very slow. On my left, in the southeast direction, and at approximately 2 o'clock altitude, I noticed that the clouds closer to the sun displayed the colors of the rainbow; I was shocked and at first thought this was some sort of illusion due to my car's windshield. I decided then to lower my left window to see this phenomenon as directly as I could.

This page, which displays some pictures taken in Iceland, shows exactly the kind of clouds I saw that day.

I admit that my first reaction was one of fear. My first thought was something like "Oh, sh*t! does this mean there's going to be an earthquake or something?" given that there had been a lot of discussion about weird clouds seen before the massive 8.8 earthquake that struck in Chile a few weeks ago —living in such a seismically-active area like Mexico, you'll hopefully forgive the paranoia.

Later I calmed down and started to enjoy the beautiful portent; I felt humbled and in awe and began to wonder if that's what the people gathered at Cova da Iria in 1917 felt like when they witnessed the events reported during the famous Fatima apparitions —the reason I thought of this it's because I've been reading 'Heavenly Lights'. The Fatima events fascinate me.

Admittedly my behavior was not entirely safe, given that I was paying more attention to the sky than the road ahead of me! still, as I explained, the traffic was so slow I was barely making 25 km/h (something quite common at Mexicans rush hours); during the whole time I kept wondering if the other drivers were also aware of these clouds, or were just minding their own business, either fighting the morning drowsiness like automatons, or performing their usual morning rituals like the haphazard appliance of make-up with the aide of the rearview mirror —for many Mexican women, their cars is another extension of their bathrooms.

As I kept driving forward, eventually these amazing clouds were left behind and I was forced to re-focus on my driving, as I was coming near my first destination. I cursed the fact that I didn't own a cell phone with a camera that I could take a picture to share, but by that time I was confident that other people would report this incident and that it would even appear on the news —In the meantime, I decided use this fortuitous incident as my introduction for my Thursday News Briefs of the week.

Sadly, I was mistaken: I have been waiting for some international or local news media to mention the iridescent clouds that I watched, but there has been no mention of them whatsoever. None!

It's not that I'm conceding this unusual aerial phenomenon to have some mystical significance, as I'm pretty sure it can be explained due to the refraction of the sun light through the thin veil of the clouds. What REALLY pisses me off is that, in a city of 20 million people, I was the only person who bothered to look up to the sky and marvel at his gift of Nature.

So now I'm thinking that, even if those guys predicting all kinds of weird things happening in 2012 are right, there's a chance that most people will be so utterly submerged with their petty little daily chores that they won't notice a god damn thing.

Jesus Christ could come through a tunnel of light riding a winged unicorn, but that won't stop the morning commuters from humming their favorite radio tunes or yelling to the driver next to them for cutting them off!

It's a depressing an lonely feeling, because we humans often need consensual validation in order to rate our reality. As far as anyone else is concerned, the iridescent clouds over Mexico are a figment of my imagination; and yet I know I saw them. I know I shouldn't care whether people confirm my personal experiences or not, but sometimes we do need the 'other' to be part of our life journey. What's the point of learning new things if you don't have someone else to share with?

TAVIS SMILEY VERSUS REV. AL SHARPTON: LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE

By Fahim A. Knight-EL

This writer was listening to the Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS), which is a black syndicated radio program that he is geared toward black urban radio audiences. I was tuned in on Tuesday February 23, 2010, and Mr. Joyner had announced that Tavis Smiley was making a guest appearance on the show, and for those who do not know, Smiley is presently a television talk show host on PBS and prior to this assignment, he was a host on a Black Entertainment Television (BET) talk show. He also had been a radio commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show for a number of years and has made guest appearances on NPR as a political social critic.

So the morning, Joyner announced Smiley's appearance, I sat back, anticipating Smiley's commentary, this writer has always enjoyed Smiley's commentaries on the show and prior to his resignation from TJMS in 2008, he was one of the more serious voices on the show who was not always buffoning and clowning. He always appeared well prepared, organized and his commentaries were insightful and provocative. It was always evident that he had given his topics much thought and he stayed abreast of current events, as well as taking his assignment serious.

However, this writer did not always agree, with Smiley's political analysis, but often, his arguments were compelling and challenging. Thus, for close to ten years he made a bigger name for himself serving as the chief organizer and convener of the State of Black Union forums, that became an annual event in February, which was covered live on C-Span television. Smiley often assembled some of the most brilliant black intellectuals, academia, clergy, social scientist, legal professionals, educators, social activist, politicians, business personnel, writers, publishers, etc.

Tavis Smiley wrote in his book titled: "How to Make Black America Better": "A lot of our actions as Black people have been directed at trying to get white people to change. There are too many of us who allow our life decisions to be governed by the 'statement' we feel our actions might make to white people. The perceptions of white people even find their way into decisions we make about the clothes we buy or the hairstyles we wear. During the civil rights movement, we devoted a good bit of our energy and time to making it clear that we are equal, that our aspirations, concerns, and feelings about life are the same as those of white people, in the hope that the white community would come to understand and accept us as equals. Today, we can no longer afford to do this. It is time to give up on the idea of changing white people and seek change from within, among ourselves. For in the final analysis, it's not about their misbehavior but our behavior". (Reference: Tavis Smiley; "How to Make Black America Better"; p. 9).

Moreover, during the 2008 presidential elections Smiley ventured into uncharted waters by offering critical assessments of then Senator Barack Obama, the little known senator from the state of Illinois, an African American presidential candidate who shocked the nation by winning the Iowa Caucus, but he was still considered a long shot. However, after some of the early primaries Senator Obama was beginning to make serious political momentum (he immediately began to create enthusiasm amongst African Americans).

There were some blacks who believed, that any black criticism of Senator Obama would only hurt his chances of becoming America's first black president (black criticism of Obama was viewed internally within the race with suspicion and interpreted as betrayal). Smiley was being called everything but a child of God, for daring to raise questions, that you would have expected any intelligent group to make of a potential United States commander-in-chief. This writer applauded Smiley for not going soft on Obama and some of the TJMS listening audience accused Smiley of jealousy and player hating. This writer thinks that it was this opposition that left Smiley embattled and eventually ended his tenure as a member of TJMS.

Many African Americans began to back Obama and if nothing else they have had this historical longing of perhaps one day seeing and witnessing a black person becoming president of the United States of America (American style racism and white supremacy have left this longing for 4 centuries). Senator Obama's candidacy was symbolic of so many things to the African American and they began to embrace him in huge numbers and for many his candidacy represented a fulfillment of the Dream that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had so eloquently articulated of hope, pluralism and equality.

His selection (or "election") was being viewed as the ultimate sign of social progress and that America had turned a page in its over 450 year history relative to granting African Americans complete social-equality (these sentiments were coded in how his election was being perceived, in particular by non-African Americans). President Barack Obama's election was being sensed as so-called leveling the historical playing field and it signified an end to American racism and discrimination.

The United States had elected its first black president and this alone denoted the epitome of social and political progress, at least in theory. I think many citizens both black and white, got caught up in the moment and truly desired to believe that President Barack Obama's election represented a new beginning in how the question of race would be perceived in present and future discussions within the United States.

President Obama's election brought into question, the continued relevance of the old guard black leadership and their necessity in 2008 and beyond. Dr. Cornel West in his book titled, "Race Matters" stated: "The time is past for black political and intellectual leaders to pose as the voice for black America. Gone are the days when black political leaders jockey for the label 'president of black America,' or when black intellectuals pose as the 'writers of black America.' The days of brokering for the black turf--of posing as the Head Negro in Charge (H.N.IC.)--are over. To be a serious black leader is to be a race-transcending prophet who critiques the powers that be (including the black component of the Establishment) and who puts forward a vision of fundamental social change for all who suffer from socially induced misery." (Reference: Cornel West; "Race Matters;" p. 70).

Some actually believed that President Obama's election ended African Americans quest for civil rights and also naively believed that racism was no longer a problem in our society because of the political status that President Obama had achieved (they had turned a blind-eye to the pervasiveness of American racism and was in denial that President Obama was only a black token).

Tavis Smiley as a commentator on the Tom Joyner Show often took black folk and Barack Obama to task (he also took the listening audience out of their comfort zone and exposed their failure to exercise critical thinking). Smiley would often remind us that Obama was not above critique and critical assessment (this writer agrees with this common sense approach) should be rendered and not allow ourselves to get caught up in his race and forget about the game he has chosen to play, which was politics.

Politics is more about positioning and leveraging in order to access the political, economic and social benefits that is shrouded in the power apparatus, as well as help shape and mold public policy which to reflect constituents aspirations. Smiley felt that the black community was given Obama a free pass and although, he was being sensitive to other interest groups other than African Americans and this was viewed by Smiley and others as an act of disrespect. But we were allowing him as the premier black politician to overlook his most loyal base which was the African American community (this writer sees critical evaluation as being a very healthy exercise).

President Obama has taken black folk and the black vote for granted and black leaders are just starting to take him to task (I read recently where Princeton University Professor Cornel West made some critical remarks of President Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus is starting to appear dismayed). What has taken black leadership so long to wake the hell up?

This writer has always believed it to be literally insane for over 93% of African Americans to be registered Democrats (we vote party and not issues) in which this party has treated black folk like a step child. The Democratic party historically has always taken the black vote for granted and President Obama has strategically and tactfully used this reality, to his political advantage. But when it comes to black political neglect, his most important hold card is race--he believes this is an unbreakable bond and it carries more political weight than anything his black critics, in particular and pundits in general, could ever use against him.

He has measured that if he doesn't meet any of the political planks of African Americans, they are too tied and too loyal to the Democratic party to send him packing and understands that more than likely, he would not suffer any real political consequences from the black electorate; even if, he betrays their interest and political aspirations. When will so-called black leadership come to their senses and advocate breaking this slave-master relationship and hold the Democratic party to a higher standard?

Politicians have to know and understand that they will suffer political backlash, if they fail to acquiesce to the wants and desires of those who put them in office. Smiley has been one of the few black leaders that have gone against the grain and has been thinking outside of race loyalty, but have chosen to examine the real deal, which is President Obama's policy positions. President Obama in reality, does not have any loyalty to blacks, in particular and Americans in general. He is a Rothschild, Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger agent in which all roads lead to their interest and banks and swore loyalty to keep them in power and to keep the masses powerless.

Our so-called black leadership is weak and compromising--Reverend Al Sharpton (Action Network), Benjamin Jealous, (NAACP), Marc Morial (National Urban League), etc., these are nothing but card carrying window dressing Uncle Tom Negroes who are probably government agents put in place to keep us docile and under control. Most of the organizations they represent receive grants and funding from the Rockefeller Foundations and from Carnegie Mellon Foundation, or some other governmental funding sources (has anyone ever asked the question, how do these Negroes get paid?).

These Negroes continue to convene conferences at white owned hotels and convention centers, which to talk about the problem and are constantly servicing everybody else economy but their own (we are meeting in white folk five star hotels and banquet halls which to analyze racism, if this isn't a contradiction, what else could it be?). Why do not these Negro leaders pool their resources and buy a five star hotel and convene at an establishment that they own and operate. Moreover, the corporate sponsorship of these Negro conventions are often alcohol, tobacco and food conglomerates that deals death and destruction to the black community (Budweiser the King of Beers and McDonald's, etc).

Tony Brown in his book titled: "Empower the People" stated: "Black Americans possesses great wealth, and has learned to use its wealth to buy its freedom! It is the quintessential example of a community of interest that could become empowered if it developed a 'root economy' and used its own money system. Numbers do not lie. As already noted, Black America's annual income of $500 billion is the equivalent to the GNP of the tenth richest nation in the world. . . However, Blacks were historically organized by their elitist, Socialist leaders, mostly white, to boycott themselves. Although, the income of Blacks is growing faster than that of any other group of Americans, they spend only 3 percent of their $500 billion income with one another. That is why the most successful economic boycott in history is the current one that Blacks wage against their own entrepreneurs. On average, other ethnic and racial groups recycle 80 percent of their income within their own community. In addition to recycle 3 percent of its income, the Black community turns a dollar over less than once. Conversely, a dollar turns over five to twelve times before it leaves a Jewish American, Chinese-American, Indian-American, or numerous other ethnic communities." (Reference: Tony Brown; "Empower the People"; pp. 306-307).

But most Negro leaders themselves are corporate pimps and sophisticated hustlers who plays on the ignorance and emotions of black people. I recently read an article where someone exposed the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) who raised 55 million dollars in foundation money air marked for black scholarships; moreover, after completing the article and analyzing the content, this writer came to the conclusion, that they should be investigated for possible misappropriation, fraud, embezzlement, etc., and their 501-C3 (R) nonprofit and tax exempt status should be revoked.

The CBC to date has only spent over a half million dollars on scholarships, but during the CBC annual gala weekend event they spent over a million dollars in parties, socializing and window dressing (where is the priority of our established black leadership?). Yet, black males have the highest high school dropout rate in the nation and often lack financial resources to pursue post secondary education and these Negroes are sitting on 55 million dollars and putting on extravagant parties and the black community is in crisis.

This writer has very little respect for Negro leaders and the organizations that they represent. We have forty black congress-persons and they lobby for everyone else causes accept the black community. It is inexcusable for Africa and the Caribbean to be in their present condition with the power and influence that black Americans have and it is a shame that these black lawmakers don't play a larger role in the foreign policy decision making which effects how international foreign aid is decided upon and dispensed (they should be front and center assuring when the back room deals are cut that we should get our fair share).

Many of these Negro leaders see themselves as elitist and part of the reactionary petit-bourgeoisie class and they constantly dupe the black masses into believing that they share a common cause and interest with the black have-nots. (Reference: E. Franklin Frazier; Black Bourgeoisie"). The black masses have brought into skin color, race and ethnicity as variables in determining allies and enemies; these artificial variables have led to many historical setbacks and acts of betrayal. (Reference: Frantz Fanon: "Black Skin White Mask).

I heard Minister Louis Farrakhan state years ago "politics without economics is just like symbol without substance," we have over 6000 black elected and appointed officials, yet we are still a powerless people in 2010 and we can not continue to blame white folk for our predicament. Why do not we place some of the blame on black leadership for their ineffective role as leaders and their failure to move us beyond consumers?

Let's try doing for self and work to create a new political and economic paradigm--this will allow us to foster a new relationship with all civilize people of the earth. Who elevated Reverend Al Sharpton to the status and spokesperson and black leader over the masses? Where is his following? Most black leaders are mere creations of the media and serve the interest of the status quo.

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson in his book titled: "Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line," stated: "Complicating matters further was the fact that the choice of spokespersons didn't always turn on issues that were of greatest interest or importance to blacks. Often a spokesperson was selected because his themes, style, and ideology were acceptable to the white majority. Many black leaders were viewed skeptically by their constituencies. Booker T. Washington is a prime example of this model of leadership. Naturally, these conditions introduced considerable tension into the relationship between those who did the speaking and those who were spoken for. Black spokespersons acquired influence because they were given legitimacy by the white majority, whose power to establish such legitimacy was far greater than that of the black minority. As a result, these spokespersons used their power in black communities to reward loyal blacks and to punish dissidents. This arrangement meant that patronage more than moral principle determined the allocation of the limited resources for which the spokesperson was a funnel. As a result, few blacks benefited from the leadership that was supposed to speak for them all." (Reference: Eric Dyson; "Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line;" p. 52).

Tavis Smiley called Reverend Sharpton out because he and Morial and Jealous had a closed meeting with President Obama relative to the president's jobs bill initiative (I called it a butter biscuit and chicken session). Smiley stated like any other president in office, our conversation with the president should be centered on putting forward a black agenda in which if he was a white president, it would have been top priority for Negro leadership to demand that the White House is sensitive to the political aspirations of African Americans (Sharpton, Smiley, Watkins ).

This has been standard political operational procedure and not to do this with President Obama would be a noticeable deviation from the norm. Sharpton reacted to Smiley, as though he had committed an unpardonable sin for daring to raise the question of the black agenda and went on an emotional tirade of accusing Smiley of misrepresenting his agenda. What is Al Sharpton's agenda? What is Tavis Smiley's agenda? Perhaps their squabble is more rooted in ego and an unwillingness to concede that the problems confronting black America is far beyond their grandiose and self-aggrandizing dispositions.

I think both of them acted very poorly in public and displayed a poor examples of what black leadership should be about and stood to be condemned. Yet, I see nothing fundamentally wrong with open debate, critique and disagreeing (we should be able to disagree without being disagreeable); I think Smiley had every right to challenge Reverend Al Sharpton and think Sharpton equally had the right to answer the criticism being spewed by Smiley. But where does this leaves black America, as far as direction and need for unapologetic black leadership? We have had enough grand standing and ego driven black leadership, which have never benefited the masses and unity is the only solution to the problems that are plaguing black America.

Lastly, Sharpton and Smiley owes the black community an apology. Yes, I will be tuned into Smiley's forum that will be taking place on March 20, 2010 at Chicago State University, which will be televised on C-Span and I believe Al Sharpton is conducting a forum from New York on April 17, 2010. Now, I am of the opinion, that we do not need any more BIG MEETINGS. Here is the solution, lets break this cycle of dependency and get up and do something for self.

Fahim A. Knight-EL Chief Researcher for KEEPING IT REAL THINK TANK located in Durham, NC; our mission is to inform African Americans and all people of goodwill, of the pending dangers that lie ahead; as well as decode the symbolism and reinterpreted the hidden meanings behind those who operate as invisible forces, but covertly rules the world. We are of the belief that an enlightened world will be better prepared to throw off the shackles of ignorance and not be willing participants for the slaughter. Our MOTTO is speaking truth to power. Fahim A. Knight-EL can be reached at fahimknight@yahoo.com.

Stay Awake Until We Meet Again,
Fahim A. Knight-EL

Eight Martinis remote viewing magazine is also now available as a full-colour printed and delivered direct to your door magazine. This issue has a general CRV focus with great articles from people like Lyn Buchanan and CRV examples from the creator himself Ingo Swann including parts of an operational CRV session with an evaluation of its operational use.

Issue 3 contains the following articles:

• Searching...
• The Role of Sketching in Remote Viewing.
• Remote Viewing Processes and Layers of Meaning.
• A Remote Viewing Experiment.
• Frontloading and Throughput in Remote Viewing.
• The Road Ahead.
• The Cassandra Syndrome.
• Remote Viewing & Project Stargate; An interview with Lyn Buchanan.
• Remote Viewing Websites & blogs.
• Ah, the Wonderous Joy of Doing Demo Sessions.
• Remote Viewing Documents: The DIA Grill Flame Report - January 1983.

Free download of Issue 3: http://www.eightmartinis.com/

Over at the Times Online Eureka Zone blog, guest poster Martin Robbins has put up his piece The Homeopaths Strike Back which, far from being a pro or even neutral piece on the subject of homeopathy is an out an out hatchet job. It'd've been more honest if he'd crowingly titled it The Homeopaths Strike Out.

Setting aside the issue of his flippance over the homeopaths' own differences in opinion over the number of shakes required, (which might be a clue to the effect detected by Madeleine Ennis, namely the more shakes the greater the quantum entanglement), I'd like to turn the whole thing on its head and make another point.

Why do various scientists - and countless hordes of Science's camp followers - expend so much time and energy going after those interested in various paranormal and New Age subjects?

It can't be because they're convinced if only they tell adherents of such subjects how it's all a load of nonsense somehow that'll make them go, "Oh, no! Really? Why didn't somebody tell me before now? God, I've wasted so much of my life! I feel such an idiot..." because they've been saying it for centuries and the penny still hasn't dropped.

In fact, if anything, scientifically discredited phenomena like the stones dropping out of the sky reported by ignorant peasants, mega waves reported by yarn spinning old sea dogs, red and green flashes of light above thunder storms reported by aeroplane pilots with brains pickled by alcohol, not to mention showers of fish, ball lightning, continents that fit into each other, etc., have all been subsequently embraced.

Is it then because their scientific creativity's abandoned them, or they can't get a grant to pursue the research they really want to do?

Is it because they think everybody but them's idiots and they must keep repeating their message until they finally get it into our thick skulls?

I don't know.

What I DO know is I'd love to be able to snap my fingers and make the source of all this 'scientific' obsessiveness - homeopathy, astrology, religion, Bigfoot, alien abduction, UFOs, Nessie, ghosts, New Agery in general, etc. - vanish off the face of the earth.

Because then I could do a Felix the Cat and roll about the floor in side-splitting laughter as all The Professor types turned on each other in the scientific blood bath that'd inevitably result the moment that happened.

Look at what's going on over Global Warming - that's only a pale shadow of the innumerable internecine controversies bubbling under the surface of ALL the sciences.

Look at the recent big propaganda push to re-establish the idea the dinosaurs were wiped out by a giant meteorite - maybe they were. But that wasn't Science - that was one set of scientists going over the head of another set of scientists disagreeing with them to make sure the unwashed masses unquestioningly believe THEIR assertions, not unlike a larger, richer, more powerful, influential, and media astute political party using all their resources to knock out a smaller potential political competitor before they can gain more ground.

And the laugh of it's just like people no longer unquestioningly trust their political leaders, the more scientists descend into the gutter of politics and media manipulation, the more people distrust scientists.

In short, for all some scientists and supposedly scientific types mock and even attack the likes of homeopathy, they NEED New Age and paranormal subjects as buffers to prevent them from turning on each other, because far from scientists being the noble detached objective placidly contemplative aloof selfless types some imagine, they're as nutty, cracked, obsessive, greedy, selfish, self-concerned, petty, ambition, image conscious and downright deceptive as all the rest of us.

Salve

On the occasion of International Women's Day I show you really interesting artist
In occasione della Festa della Donna vi mostro 2 artiste davvero interessanti

- Sofonisba Anguissola
http://pics.livejournal.com/0rchid_thief...
English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofonisba_A...
Italiano
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofonisba_A...
Video

- Marina Abramović
http://marinafilm.com/
English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramović
Italiano
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Abramović
Video

Ciaooooooooooooo
Katya

This was inspired by Michael Hanlon's blog The Mystery of the Silent Aliens on New Scientist's CultureLab.

I wonder when members of stone age level tribes living deep in the Amazon rain forest report seeing mysterious aerial craft - planes? - or beings somehow LIKE tribesmen yet also NOT like tribesmen - helicopter crews? - passing overhead through holes in the jungle canopy, do the other tribal members laugh at them and say, "If there really were such things then why haven't those who use them visited our tribal wise men or at least acknowledged our tribe's existence?"

If they do, then I wonder what answer we'd give them if we were to one day suddenly pop up in their midst:

Because we didn’t want to culture shock you?

Because until now you had nothing we wanted?

Because we didn’t want to get dragged into your endless tribal wars over issues and beliefs which to us’re so piddlin' you seem practically insane?

Because we didn’t want to be bothered by tribal potentates endlessly jockeying for position and seeking preference with OUR kind through offers of unlimited prestige, status and influence among YOUR kind?

Because we didn’t want to be bothered by wizards offering us the opportunity to magically transform mountains of our supposedly precious materials and indispensable goods into even greater mountains of your supposedly precious materials and indispensable goods?

Because we didn’t want to be offered our pick of tribal members for the purpose of initiating any sexual activity we liked, in return for allowing every sordid detail of the whole thing to be luridly embellished before being repeated up and down the jungle ad nauseam by the drums of the jungle telegraph?

Because we didn’t want various tribes and tribal federations imagining they had a privileged relationship with us, only to become mortally offended, paranoid and finally downright hostile if we happened to open lines of communications with other tribes and tribal federations without their express permission or supervision?

Because we didn't want many of those who'd inevitably take an initial shine to us turning us into idols they could make offerings to or threaten in return for favours we couldn't in all conscience grant?

Because we didn't want many of those who'd inevitably be initially suspicious of our intentions gradually becoming more and more confirmed in their prejudices until, thanks to our complete failure to make any kind of ingratiating overtures, they finally denounced us as demons?

Then again, maybe we'd just keep on doing what we do now, coming and going as we please and just generally ignoring the locals until chance forces us into what's for them strange and confusing encounters, but for us opportunities to screen for suitably discrete individuals capable of acting as our eyes and ears in return for thrilling secrets and the odd exhilarating joyride.