Last Days on Earth

This program , produced by 20/20 (no pun intended), tells of the seven greatest threats facing not just mankind but the planet. Iraq is not one of them.
Today the president gave a speech wherein his only focus was the so-called war on terror. This he asserted was the challange of our times.
"Despite their differences, these groups form the outline of a single movement, a worldwide network of radicals that use terror to kill those who stand in the way of their totalitarian ideology." To whom is he refering? His staff?
After watching two hours of how Western technology has created diseases, nuclear weapons and enough waste to drastically alter the climate one is left to wonder just who are the terrorists.

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gores playlist on itunes includes "Umi Says" by Mos Def from the album Black on Both Sides. I guess he took that election loss pretty hard.

Black Liberty Radio!

Well not Blackliberty radio really, but close enough.

Underground Scrolls

The X Clan mixtape "Underground Scrolls" comes 20 years after the release of "To the East Blackwards." Brother J's lyrical skills have not faltered. The music is still funky and to hear a black artist rap Marcus Garvey or Harriet Tubman instead of dro, crunk or hyp is welcome. "Do it Again" stands out with its old skool funk beat and Brother J's tirade against those haters ("How can I be considered 3/5th a man, my DNA is the master plan.")
X Clan (like Jeru, KRS1) attacks ignorance head on.
There are snippets of Professor X and at the end J acknowledges his "great life."
The black economists rating?
Vainglorious

Up from Slavery

"In all things that are purely social we can be separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress."
Booker T Washington

"Nothing about us, without us"
Overheard at a seminar.

The "pre-9/11 mindset"

The Iranian president also mentioned the 11th of september attacks in his letter.
"All governments have a duty to protect the lives, property and good standing of their citizens.
Reportedly your government employs extensive security, protection and intelligence systems
– and even hunts its opponents abroad. September eleven was not a simple operation. Could it
be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services – or
their extensive infiltration? Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various
aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their
responsibilities? And, why aren’t those responsible and the guilty parties identified and put
on trial?"
The black economist has long wondered why the first president with an MBA fired no one. He seems awfully hard on everyone else.
In the days since the infamous terror attacks the current administration has shamelessly exploited them for political gain. The threat of terror has been used to erode civil liberties, obfuscate politcal discourse and cover-up fraudelent elections at home and abroad. Most importantly it has served as a cover to ignore more pressing domestic needs.
Such is the clash of civilazations.

Dear Mr. President

The black economist was taught that you always have to read what others are saying about you. It is common sense I suppose. So he dutifully read the president of Irans' letter to President Bush.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comments concerning Africans:
"The people of Africa are hardworking, creative and talented. They can play an important and
valuable role in providing for the needs of humanity and contribute to its material and
spiritual progress. Poverty and hardship in large parts of Africa are preventing this from
happening. Don’t they have the right to ask why their enormous wealth – including minerals –
is being looted, despite the fact that they need it more than others?"

Bear in mind that many, many Africans would reply that Arabs have and are taking part in that looting. One need only look at the situation in oil rich Sudan.

Blacks, Islam & Terror

Shortly after the Million Man March the black economist recalls reading in the Washington Post a quote from Alexander Lebed , a Russian general. He said (to the best of my recollection), "People in Washington are sure to be concerned about joining Islam with the genetic imprint of slavery."
At the time what caught my attention were the words, "genetic imprint of slavery." I have since come across other references to that line of thinking from some black Hollywood actors but no concrete work on the concept.
As the war on terror has progressed more and more black Americans have been arrested on terror related charges. Louis Farrakhan, the most prominent black Muslim in America, has been a no show in the public eye for years now.
The implication is explicit.
The government has long known that the greatest threat to domestic security is its black population (think COINTELPRO). At this point in history that threat is even greater because a large domestic disturbance would prevent America from projecting it's power overseas and drastically increase security costs which in turn would send the economy into a tailspin.
The black economists predicts this issue will burst into the public eye spectacularly at some point in the near future.

Creating Black Wealth

Frederick Douglas and Booker T Washington (pictured with the National Negro Business League) both espoused the necessity of African-Americans building sustainable communities through ownership. So did Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad. In fact it's difficult to find a black leader who does not promote such ideas.
Why then have they not been realized? There are no black owned Fortune 500 companies or multinational corporations for instance.
admittedly, the barriers to entry in such markets are high. Many would argue that a minority group has no chance. Yet these firms are not owned collectively. Each one is held and run by a very small group of people. A "minority group" if you will.
The black economist brought this issue up to a real estate professional who promptly answered that, "We have to create the market." Meaning that we have to establish value for ourselves.
Bear in mind that cash is useless unless someone agrees to accept it. It's value is agreed upon. The art market is a prime example of this. Why pay millions for a Monet? Because it will keep it's value.
The secret to creating Black Wealth is to create value. As it stands black people are the ones being valued (your wages) or exploited (if you believe that profits are unpaid wages).

Media Doublespeak

The airwaves have been filled with commentators "discussing" the need to bring peace to Iraq and how it was immoral for the US to allow Saddam to threaten his neighbors. The black economist wonders if any of these commentators or politicians thought it was immoral to allow fellow citizens to be threatened by street gangs across the country. The cost of clearing up these problems would be much less and they are far closer to home.

The Ancient Future of the Near East

Creationism dates the genesis of the world as we know it at 4004 BC. The first man and woman were said to have lived in a garden of Eden located somewhere between the mighty Nile and Euphrates rivers. A cursory review of the histories (Old Testament, Akkadian, Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Egyptian etc. etc.) available from that period onward show that conflict was a way of life. Whether it be the bloody story of Cane and Abel or the necessity of the code of Hammurabi humanity has constantly been unsettled in that region. How could it not be so?
The Near East or the Middle East as it is now called, has for millennia greatly influenced world culture and events. Whether it be the library of Alexandria, the gardens of Babylon or more recently the oil riches of the Arabian peninsula, there is no doubt that control of the region is a great cultural and material prize.
No wonder then that the contemporary politics of the region are so explosive and involve such myriad and disparate players.
It is likely to remain that way for many years to come.
But will Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Afghanistan, & Syria lead to World War III? How likely is America to pull out?
Observing Joe Lieberman might help us to best answer those questions.
If Lieberman is willing to lose his senate seat for the sake of the war it is unlikely America has any intentions of drawing down it's forces anyime soon. In fact it is likely that the current administration will only expand the military presence in the region.

Bling: Consequences and Repercussions Part 2

Diamonds and Oil are not essential to human existence. Water is life on the other hand. Yet a glassfull of water costs much less than a glassfull of diamonds. A glassfull of oil costs marginally more than a glassfull of water but still much less than the glassfull of diamonds.
The reason for that, as the theory of marginal utility puts it, is that while water has the greater overall utility value oil and diamonds have a larger marginal utility value. Put another way, water is not considered to be as scarce as oil and diamonds though it is much more essential.
That marginal utility of oil and diamonds is quite impressive. It shows that once the basic needs are fulfilled that men and women are still driven to consume. Since goods are scarce , however, that drive to consume breeds conflict and competition.
Take the NFL for example. No one needs a superbowl ring, but men sacrifice their bodies and time to get it. More importantly, only one team gets it. The rest leave empty-handed.