The Blade of the IRS

If you can believe it, Wesley Snipes actually filed a tax return requesting an Administrative Law Judge review his request for a 7.363236 million dollar refund.
More fantastic is the indictment showing him falling in with the Guiding Light of God ministries who convinced him not to pay taxes.

Supreme Mathematics

The 5% album by Lord Jamar of Brand Nubian was inevitable. Its' like a black wax crest sealing the scroll of hip-hop.
It is also a wake-up call and challange to listeners. He plainly says don't spend your money on gangsta that does nothing for the mind, body or soul.
The 90 page booklet included with the disc was much appreciated. After all, how often does a rapper include the printed word with their music? It focuses on the history of the 5% , or the Nation of Gods and Earths, and its influence on hip-hop.
Interestingly, while they have appropiated many Islamic words and phrases five percenters insist they are not Islamic. The words are but keys to the philosphy which bears a strange resemblance to the esoteric knowledge of old.

Black Economics

Black economics is the study of the means by which black people (Afikans if you will) maintain their material integrity. This includes land, resources, commodities, physical health, and of course their Liberty.
It follows then that there would be a political element; because on a large scale these decisions would be made by a body politic. For Afrikans that body politic suffers severe distortions because we do not exercise total control over our material integrity.
You have heard it all before, we don't own land, produce crops or for the most part teach our children. We rely on the white people for those things. For in America they own the land, multinational corporations and occupy every seat of public and private authority.
The challange of the black economist then is to formulate and research means by which Afrikans can maximize their wealth, health and knowledge of self.

25 million reasons to be alive

Suicide is no laughing matter. There are more suicides than murders in the United States. Black male suicide , in particular, has been on the increase over the past two decades.
Suddenly a very serious subject (two if you count allergic reactions to medication) has been trivialized (not deliberately) by the prototypical narcissistic sports star who could not possibly commit suicide because he has 25 million reasons to be alive according to his publicist.
Does this mean impoverished black men are justified in killing themselves?

Africans, Islam and Terror

The "Arc of instability" not to be confused with the "ark of the covenant" is a imaginary band that surrounds the middle of the earth. The countries that fall within it are clinically referred to as the non-integrated gap. The countries that fall outside are called the functioning core. So named by Thomas P.M. Barnett.
Notice that the continent of Africa falls almost completely within the non integrated zone. According to African journalists this is because the countries are resource rich.
According to western policy analysts it is because of the continent's potential as a terrorist breeding ground.

FreeMasonry and the Wu-tang

Masonry is said to have it roots in the mystery systems of ancient Egypt, which in turn received them from the disputed civilizations of Atlantis and Mu.
The mystery systems themselves are said to have focused on the "rebirth" of the initiate into a being at one with themselves and the universe around them or some such variant. In some systems the initiated become either "like-god" or "with-god." In other mystery schools initiates merely become fully human for the first time, meaning that that are free to think for themselves and act upon those thoughts .
All involve the dissemination of secret or hidden knowledge. There is ample evidence to suggest that humans have a strong genetic need to be initiated into social systems.
Anyway, the most common reason the knowledge was occult or esoteric was because the general populace could never be trusted with it and to profit the owners of it. Throughout Western history we see emperors, kings, queens, priests, scientists, merchants and the like working to see that the masses were indoctrinated in one way while they themselves practiced or sought after different philosophical ideals.
Many times these same ideals they sought in private they would lampoon in public.
The founding fathers of America saw things differently. They believed that the minds of the masses could be loosed. As time has progressed however the same old rigid structures of society have again been rebuilt in America. Some would say it is inevitable because the great masses of men are content to run the treadmill of life and peacefully go away while only one in a thousand is truly interested in acquiring knowledge and acting on it.
In other words only 5% percent know or seek the truth.

A Dangerous Game

Telling American citizens they are safer with less liberty is a dangerous political game.
Saying the current tactics of the "war on terror" are working simply because there have been no reported incidents in five years is also very dangerous.
It was nine years between original bombing and the second attack on the world trade. Would you work in the pentagon now?

The Way to Wealth

The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin is an accesible book for anyone interested in that subject. So is Working with the Hands by Booker T Washington. In both cases hard work or industry as they referred to it brought a man wealth of all kinds.
For wealth is not measured in money alone, if at all, as money is only a means to an end.
Health is the most realistic metric of wealth. No wonder the healthcare industry is booming.

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.