The Largest Minority

July 3rd, 2009 by Manila Ryce

Former congresswoman and presidential candidate for the Green Party Cynthia McKinney calls WBAIX during her second day in prison. She was kidnapped by Israel for attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. There has been no statement from the Obama Administration, which is apparently intent on making Cynthia invisible like they did during the campaign. Coverage has also been non-existent from the Western media, which recently couldn’t stop reporting about the strong arm tactics and human rights violations of the Iranian regime. Rather, what’s been dominating not only the corporate news but the blogosphere and twitter is Sarah Palin’s latest plea for attention.

July 3rd, 2009 by Manila Ryce

Alan Woods, editor of marxist.com, speaks to a meeting in London on June 25, 2009.

June 24th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

h/t Rebel Reports

June 21st, 2009 by Manila Ryce

When you combine two legends in their respective genres - Communist rapper Boots Riley and anarchist guitarist Tom Morello - you’ve got a dangerous mixture of passion and creativity poised to reclaim American youth culture from the bourgeois entertainment industry and their one dimensional focus group creations. Get Breckin Meyer to play the antagonist for your video and things are guaranteed to get awesomely weird.

After following up his role in Rage Against the Machine with the more mellow Audioslave and a subsequent solo career, Morello once again takes up his beloved role in Street Sweeper as the front and center DJ who uses a guitar rather than turntables. To compliment that foundation, Boots delivers the ammunition like only a genuine rapper who’s perfected his craft can, spitting thoughtfully condensed imagery with every line.

This is the soundtrack of the revolution. Bump it loud enough for the walls of capitalism to come crashing down (lyrics available below the fold).
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June 19th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

Delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University, Khamenei backed the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the president after the June 12 election.

“Candidates were put forward into public eye, everyone could judge for themselves … they have identified the person they wanted,” he said.

Khamenei refuted accusations of vote rigging, and insisted the poll was an “absolute and definitive victory”.

Ruling out fraud behind Ahmadinejad’s victory, he said “the Islamic establishment will never manipulate people’s votes and commit treason.

“The legal structures and electoral regulations of this country do not allow vote rigging.”

He said that any doubts concerning the results must be investigated through legal channels and called on supporters of defeated candidates to cease street protests, adding, “otherwise they will be responsible for its consequences, and consequences of any chaos”.

Farzad Agha, an Iranian analyst, told Al Jazeera: “This clearly is a threat to the demonstrators and supporters of the opposition candidates … He is saying that if you continue we will deal with you.”

read more…

June 16th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

I’ve never seen this interview before so props to Phalary for posting it on her own blog.

Tupac was named after Túpac Amaru II, an Incan revolutionary who led a Peruvian uprising against the Spanish. While early pioneers like NWA may have laid the foundation to put Cali on the map, Pac had a revolutionary spirit strong enough to shape the entire personality of the West Coast to this day.

Fallen Rock & Roll legends are often referred to by their last names by fans as a sign of respect. In contrast, the hip-hop community honors its heroes with affectionate abbreviations like “Pac” or “Biggie,” as if they were close family and not unapproachable gods. So great is this undying affection for Pac that the man and the art are intertwined as two parts of one whole. To love hip-hop and not love Tupac is an unforgivable contradiction.

While the media described Tupac’s philosophy of “Thug Life” as a call for criminal conduct, it was actually a philosophy of liberation which encompassed many classically liberal principles such as the right to food, health care, education, and self-defense. Tupac was not satisfied with legitimizing a thieving American power structure by asking it for handouts like a slave. Rather, he advocated standing up to your oppressor as an equal and taking what you are entitled to.

“The tragedy of Tupac is that his untimely passing is representative of too many young black men in this country. If we had lost Malcolm X at 25, we would have lost a hustler nicknamed Detroit Red. If Martin Luther King died at 25, he would’ve been a local Baptist minister who had not yet arrived on the national scene. And if I had left the world at 25, we would have lost a big-band trumpet player and aspiring composer — just a sliver of my eventual life potential.” - Quincy Jones

June 14th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

June 4th, 2009 by Manila Ryce

Perhaps it’s time to cut funding to Israel.

Obama is undeniably pro-Israeli, so you may be asking, “What more do the Jews in this video want?” Nothing short of complete eradication of all Muslims. Ironic isn’t it? Despite the overuse of Goldwin’s Law these days, comparisons between Zionists and Nazis are frighteningly valid.

Zionists frankly don’t want peace. They want all the land they think they’re entitled to (which extends far beyond Israel) and think any negotiation is unacceptable. Putting Libertarian conspiracy theories about 9/11 aside, Zionists actually do pose a huge threat to the President’s life and US security. If I were Obama I’d be keeping a close eye on Rahm Emanuel’s father, a former Irgun terrorist, and I’m only half-joking when I say that.

A militant Israeli state served our imperial interests for decades, but now that we can no longer sustain our empire we face perhaps the largest example of “blowback” we have ever seen. So how do we quell a Zionist monster we’ve been feeding for decades? Backing international law regarding Israel would be a good start. Supporting the Palestinian Right of Return would turn Israel from a right-wing “Jewish State” which breeds extremism into a democratic one which respects human rights.

h/t Allison Kilkenny who also has a great piece on why Obama’s Cairo speech was a failure.