Friday, April 30, 2010
The Natural Order
In Cut Stones and Crossroads: A Journey in the Two Worlds of Peru, Ronald Wright encounters such literary figures as Waman Puma, an Inca philosopher from the 1600s, whose writings described the collapse of Inca society as the "world in reverse", the Conquest as a ghastly cosmic mistake--a reversal of the natural order, which had to be put right.
As a Runa who had survived the Andean apocalypse, Waman Puma chronicled the pachakuti -- Runasimi for apocalypse -- which literally means "world reversal". Puma's 1,200 page manuscript, written at the same time Shakespeare's plays debuted in London, was actually a letter to the Spanish emperor about restoring governance along Inca lines--a detailed and cogent rejection of colonialism from within an indigenous world view.
Waman Puma's petition for self-government, which presaged the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by four centuries, was evidently misplaced in Lima, only to be rediscovered three centuries later at the Royal Copenhagen Library. As an illustration of the sophisticated level of Inca knowledge and diplomacy, the story helps put into perspective the task before us today. After five centuries in reverse, colonialism in the form of global privatization now has our backs against the wall; perhaps as we struggle to put things right, the world view recorded by Waman Puma will help.
As a Runa who had survived the Andean apocalypse, Waman Puma chronicled the pachakuti -- Runasimi for apocalypse -- which literally means "world reversal". Puma's 1,200 page manuscript, written at the same time Shakespeare's plays debuted in London, was actually a letter to the Spanish emperor about restoring governance along Inca lines--a detailed and cogent rejection of colonialism from within an indigenous world view.
Waman Puma's petition for self-government, which presaged the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by four centuries, was evidently misplaced in Lima, only to be rediscovered three centuries later at the Royal Copenhagen Library. As an illustration of the sophisticated level of Inca knowledge and diplomacy, the story helps put into perspective the task before us today. After five centuries in reverse, colonialism in the form of global privatization now has our backs against the wall; perhaps as we struggle to put things right, the world view recorded by Waman Puma will help.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
First Nations
Rudolph Ryser reports from the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which, says Ryser, has co-opted and deflated the process of political development. By channeling indigenous peoples' energies into futile bureaucratic procedures, notes Ryser, "states like Canada and the US will continue to offer platitudes" until indigenous peoples force them to treat First Nations with the respect they deserve.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Growing Your Own
Winona LaDuke talks about building a durable society by growing your own humanity.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Outlaw Ursula McComas
Well, we're down to 48 hours before we leave our landlady from hell in the dust. Not surprisingly, given we've had to call the police five times in two weeks for her harassment, she broke in to our apartment this evening when she thought we were both gone. Only problem is, while I did go to the library, Marianne was here on the computer when Ursula McComas, former landlady, opened the door and walked in to our unit. Much to her chagrin, no doubt, Marianne asked her what she thought she was doing. When I returned from the library, McComas was shouting at Marianne and then turned her mental illness on me. Naturally, we promptly reported her to the police.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Nuking Obama
Pepe Escobar examines the Obama regime's projection of power.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Control Fraud
In his ongoing series on control fraud, John Robb looks at looting through taxation.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Remedying Injustice
In a recent communication about the UN protocols on climate change, Indigenous leaders observed that the process promoted by UN member states is designed to marginalize and wear down tribal participants who lack the resources to attend the multitude of meetings around the globe, let alone respond constructively to the complexities constructed by states to exclude all but the professional agents of states and international NGOs. Given this situation, UN declarations on human rights and programs created to pacify Indigenous activists might rightly be considered what some would call lip service.
Remedying this injustice is unlikely to ever be an aim of the UN regime, but rather, is a moral and political task to be undertaken by Indigenous nations themselves. As they say, working within the system only makes sense when the system works.
Remedying this injustice is unlikely to ever be an aim of the UN regime, but rather, is a moral and political task to be undertaken by Indigenous nations themselves. As they say, working within the system only makes sense when the system works.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Outrage
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Rastaman Wrap-up
Concluding what we hope will be a minor episode in the delinquent landlady series, Rastaman has apparently departed to deal with his problem of being deported. We had to phone the police twice this morning, after being threatened by Rastaman pounding on our door, yelling, swearing, challenging me to fight because the laundry drier door had come open from his tennis shoes banging against it during the tumble cycle. (He thought we did it.) When the police officer told him he was going to jail if he didn't knock it off, Rastaman told the police to fuck off and put a curse on them. As of half an hour ago, Rastaman is on his way to somewhere else--hopefully for good.
April 11 update: Rastaman Shawn is back but laying low. Not the former landlady, Ursula McComas, however. We had to phone the police on her and her boyfriend Brian Klevickis for ongoing harassment and illegal interruption of utilities.
Further info: It appears that the Rastaman given food, shelter and other sustenance by McComas and Klevickis is named Kishorn Herbert.
April 11 update: Rastaman Shawn is back but laying low. Not the former landlady, Ursula McComas, however. We had to phone the police on her and her boyfriend Brian Klevickis for ongoing harassment and illegal interruption of utilities.
Further info: It appears that the Rastaman given food, shelter and other sustenance by McComas and Klevickis is named Kishorn Herbert.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Legitimacy of Authority
In another of her predictable, commercial tirades, the other Sara continues her hyperbolic screed against opponents of Emperor Obama. Inflating fears of insidious fascism for the last several years has been modestly profitable for Sara and her milieu, but to get the gravy train rolling again, they need another Waco, Ruby Ridge, or Oklahoma City. Killing a few idiots with guns might help.
Still, the fundamental message littered throughout her tiresome rant is that the legitimacy of the US Government and Emperor Obama must not be challenged; the democratic process of bribery, thievery, and money-laundering by Congress and the White House is sacrosanct!
Unless we want Hitler (e.g., the main Sarah) in the White House, we must support Emperor Obama. All the Democratic Party front groups, think tanks, and pundits agree!
Still, the fundamental message littered throughout her tiresome rant is that the legitimacy of the US Government and Emperor Obama must not be challenged; the democratic process of bribery, thievery, and money-laundering by Congress and the White House is sacrosanct!
Unless we want Hitler (e.g., the main Sarah) in the White House, we must support Emperor Obama. All the Democratic Party front groups, think tanks, and pundits agree!
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Tandem Blockades
Jasmin Ramsey examines the dire situation for children's health services in Gaza due to the combined efforts of the Israeli blockade of health equipment and the US blockade of non-profit charities trying to help Palestinian health authorities deal with the ongoing traumas.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Battles in Seattles
Last fall, on the tenth anniversary of the Battle in Seattle, many journalists explored the meaning of the event commemorating the democratic uprising against global privatization. Perhaps unmentioned during this celebration was the 1st Battle in Seattle, otherwise known as the Puget Sound Indian War, which took place between indigenous tribes like the Muckleshoot and white settlers in the 1850s. Since my mother and I were both born in Muckleshoot territory on Seattle’s Lake Washington shore, the resurgence of Salish tribal culture and its enduring participation in the fight for freedom from privatization continue to intrigue me.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Surviving the Onslaught
Keeping a journal of the unraveling of American society can be a sober analysis of systematic looting, but more often than not blogs chronicling our social demise tend to frantically run from one crisis to another without taking time to breathe. While the growing number of aspects of surviving this onslaught by corporate criminals and government accomplices does make one more than a little edgy, keeping things in perspective sometimes helps. Easier said than done if you’re living in your car and eating at soup kitchens, but hysteria and panic are never useful tools for effective social organizing, which is what we need in order to endure the now inevitable descent into chaos brought on by the warlords of Wall Street.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Three Strikes
It is sad that liberal Americans are so gullible that they believed a totalitarian state would be accomplished under the reign of the idiot son of an aristocratic family, rather than by a slick-talking, well-marketed, black man from Wall Street. It is doubly sad that those who pay fervent lip service to freedom are busy demonizing religious fanatics and more sober sorts who were willing to call things as they were from the beginning. It is triply sad that progressives have learned nothing.
Disrupting Peaceful Assembly
Kathleen Kirwin, attorney and peace activist, discusses the arbitrariness of police lines used to disrupt lawful, peaceful assembly for the purpose of petitioning our government. As a violation of our constitutional rights, protest zones and police lines are clearly used to intimidate and provoke protestors. Unlawful arrest of those exercising their constitutional rights is one way those in power prevent public discussion of high crimes and crimes against humanity.
Friday, April 02, 2010
The Cochabamba Agenda
The establishment of an International Climate Justice Tribunal, as part of defending Mother Earth from markets and militaries, is key to the Cochabamba agenda.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
An Amoral Cretin
As Charles Davis notes, Barack Obama isn't just a one trick pony, reciting the same old tired lines about being a centrist; he's actually an amoral cretin, not so different from all the other corporate hacks inhabiting the cesspool on the Potomac.
Sacred Trust
UN Human Rights Council hears complaints from Native Americans against the United States.
