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Archive for the ‘African’ Category

Why Black People Are Suffering A Major Identity Crisis (Videos)

NB Commentary: I attended a predominately white high school and college. Them white folks loved to say they were French, German and Italian mixed. They knew their mother’s lineage and their father’s. They would tell you that before they would even say “American”. They were proud of their heritage even if they had been here four or 5 generations. Some of them knew their names before they changed them to more Anglo names, particularly the Polish, Russian and Germans.

What happened to Africans was that they were also very aware of their ethnicity before they were captured and brought out of Africa. They were Ibo, Hausa, Fulanai, Ashante, Zulu, San, Fante, etc. Africa is a continent with 52 countries and it full of diversity. They had their own customs, languages, food, style of dress, etc. just like the German, French, Italian, Polish, etc.

Ethnicity and cultural is what diversified all peoples not skin color.
Enslaved Africans being robbed of their ethnicity and culture, then forced to carry the culture of the oppressor had no other identity but the color of their skin.
Scattered like leaves upon the rushing stream, they ended up every where and nowhere.
Today, with some help from DNA tests which have not been proven to be 100% accurate, African descendant people can begin to trace back to a people, an ethnicity a clan.
However even with that knowledge, having been here for 6-7 generations, African descendant folk have adopted and inculcated the prevailing culture of their oppressor. This culture transmitted and transmuted and continues to do so, the notion of black inferiority. Therefore, like any sane person, those blacks who are offended by this applied inferiority find solace in rejecting being black.

The prevailing culture is American, and it has told the world it is greater than any other. A sane person would want to identify with that notion and reject the inferior one.
Unfortunately all of it is a destructive and almost irreparable lie. In fact, the European has barely maintained his own ethnicity except for a few holidays to celebrate. They may eat their national foods, or attend religious ceremonies surrounded by their own ethnic groups, they may even speak their native tongue in their homes, but it is more ceremonial.
The idea was to create a melting pot where all the rocks melted down to a this

soup of a new culture and identity, and out of this sprung the American. The American  prevailed, ethnicity went to the back burner.

To rob anyone of their ethnicity, white black or brown, is genocide. It creates a mental destabilization and robs a person of their cultural barring that keeps them grounded in an identity, a self knowing so to speak.
While people may want to focus on how the African was robbed of his heritage, that robbery was and is pervasive in American culture. 
You cannot reach a high office in this land proclaiming to be Irish, without the American attached. If you ran wearing your ethnic garb you would be chased out of the town meeting.
People fail to see the insidious consequences of the NWO on world government. They think it’s some elaborate plot that just started a few decades ago. However, it has been going on for centuries. And the secret societies behind this plot know full well that the idea is to create a new human, a one human along with one religion, one government and one currency. A One human who will lose all diversity and have no distinction from any other. A borg, a robot, a drone. They will eat alike, dress alike, talk alike and basically be identical and from any other human. This is control at its highest and most effective state.
So, they create the illusion that diversity is separation, playing on the humans fear of the different and genocide, pit humans against one another and then offer the solution, no ethnicity, no difference, no other culture but the one that is imposed upon all, the Great Melting Pot, where everyone gets along because they are all the same. A complete crock of shit. A garden is most beautiful due to its different flowers. 
It requires a skilled gardener who knows how to address the different needs of the different flowers. That’s too much work for the powers that be, so in order to control everyone, they pull them away from ethnicity to homogeneous way of like. The American hamburger for instance.
They scoffed at Gaddafi because he was proud of his African heritage and wore his garb gallantly. 
The other dignitaries primarily wear the “SUIT “that was designed to show you are civilized. The suit worn by conquerors of foreign lands, corruption politicians and world leaders coalesce and wear these “Suits“. There is a really big game that is played on the masses and most of us are barely aware of it if at all.
Thank you for reading my thoughts on this. NB
Links Of Interest:
Light Is Right?? 15 Black Celebrities Accused Of Bleaching Their Dark Skin For Beauty
Celebs who skin bleach
“Could it be that mainstream media has gotten bored with the typical Caucasian look? Has mainstream media finallydiscovered what we’ve known all our lives? Even still, with more black women on the pages of mainstream magazines there is still the debate that many of those photos are being air brushed to make the models and celebrities appear lighter in complexion. Remember the Beyonce L’Oreal ad debate?”
Indeed, the variety of ethnicities in America is often claimed to be the best mix in the world. Leonard Dinnerstein and David M. Reimers introduce their book, Ethnic Americans: A History of Immigration and Assimilation, by stating, “Never before – and in no other country – have as many varied ethnic groups congregated and amalgamated as they have in the United States” . With such reputation, here is exactly where the famous term “melting pot” arises. This conception has traditionally been perceived as the best expression to describe the multi-ethnicity of America. Its basic idea presents the whole nation as one large pot. Anyone who enters the United States is automatically thrown into this “pot” where, for the following years, a process of assimilation into the American belief systems is taken place. All the cultural aspects that one brings into are blended together, or melted, to form a new culture. The outcome of this massive procedure is the “melted” version of a culture, which is described as characteristically “American.” It is notable that in this assimilation, the identities of each original culture are extinguished to bring out a complete new mixture.
Analogies for America: Beyond the melting pot
In Reinventing the Melting Pot, twenty-one of the writers who have thought longestand hardest about immigration come together around a surprising consensus: yes, immigrant absorption still works-and given the number of newcomers arriving today, the nation’s future depends on it. But it need not be incompatible with ethnic identity-and we as a nation need to find new ways to talk about and encourage becoming American. In the wake of 9/11 it couldn’t be more important to help these newcomers find a way to fit in. Running through these essays is a single common theme: Although ethnicity plays a more important role now than ever before, today’s newcomers can and will become Americans and enrich our national life-reinventing the melting pot and reminding us all what we have in common.
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not traitor, he speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared.” – Cicero, 42 B.C. 
An Illustrated History of Hamburgers in America
Light Is Right?? 15 Black Celebrities Accused Of Bleaching Their Dark Skin For Beauty

They Came before Columbus – Dr Ivan Van Sertima (Video)

NB Commentary: Searching for the origin of man on this crazy planet. I once saw a video where a man was being interviewed and he said the original African was “green”. So in searching, I found this article written in 1994. The author really tries to sound like he ain’t being racist but it is clear that he is merely parroting what he was taught. It made me look up Ivan Van Sertima.
One thing I want to add, is that folks tend to make it seem like Africans migrated
on foot all across the globe. I find that very interesting. It would seem logical to me, that with all the wood around them, somebody would have thought of making a boat, in fact, Ivan Van Sertima  wrote in his book, “They Came Before Columbus” that there were seafarers.
Just saying, people tend to forget about the libraries burned in Timbuktu, the great buildings and structures, the riches man in the world was from Mali, the
Songhai Empire, etc. That’s why I am grateful to our African historians who
took the risk to expose our real history. And many of them, got their research
from whites who also took the risk of telling the truth about African history.

But yeah, 1994 was an interesting year.

How Africa Became Black

Africa’s racial history was not necessarily its racial destiny. To unravel the story of
Africa’s past, you must not only look at its faces but listen to its languages and harvest its crops.
By Jared Diamond|Tuesday, February 01, 1994RELATED TAGS: ARCHAEOLOGY

http://discovermagazine.com/1994/feb/howafricabecameb331
Excerpt: “Most Americans think of native Africans as black and of white Africans as recent intruders; and when they think of Africa’s racial history they think of European colonialism and slave trading. But very different types of peoples occupied much of Africa until as recently as a few thousand years ago. Even before the arrival of white colonialists, the continent harbored five of what many consider to be the world’s six major divisions of humanity, the so-called human races, three of which are native to Africa. To this day nearly 30 percent of the world’s languages are spoken only in Africa. No other continent even approaches this human diversity, and no other continent can rival Africa in the complexity of its human past.” To Read more click here 

Commentary by Nana Baakan: MODERN HIGH QUALITY WOMEN

Commentary by Nana Baakan: MODERN HIGH QUALITY WOMEN

I don’t agree with all that he says, but he really does have some strong points.

When I was in college I had a dynamic Professor and she would talk about stuff like this in terms of how we are kinda mixed up on what we perceive as what we want in a male partner, etc., etc., She really made me think about myself as a mother, wife and sister and how we actually do enable our men on too many levels in our efforts to make them be”???”  She said that because we knew that the Slave master was frightened of the power and strength of black men, in order to protect them, women would coddle their boys. These coddled boys became men who were literally dis-empowered and ineffective when it came to forming healthy partnerships.  One of the things that is so important to note is that without a societal construct that supports the male/female and familial construct and without the societal expectations matching, Black men are literally thrust into a whirlwind of inconsistencies and incongruities because it just don’t match up.

I don’t think that traditional matriarchal societies are non-supportive of the male energy. I think that traditional matriarchal societies recognize the role and purpose of both males and females and honor both, but because every one is born through/from a female, like the earth produces, the woman brings forth, so in that vein she has respectability and is highly regarded. This expands and expresses itself through the way that matriarchal society folks take care of the land, animals and nature overall. Women farm and men are taught to cook, sew, and various other crafts.  There’s no stigma attached to a man being able to cook, clean, sew, etc.  But men hunt, protect and provide for their family’s security. Women run the market place. Men are the political leaders; in general but even here there is a sharing of responsibilities considering what is needed.

Often times, matriarchal societies include the concept of the extended family, community, village, clan, etc. So the support system is there.  When Africans were enslaved, they were thrusted into a totally alien environment, with different morals, preceps, values and lifestyle. That in and of itself caused mental distortions of various degrees, Post Traumatic Slave Disorder, if you will.

WHY SOME AFRICAN-AMERICANS DON’T GO TO AFRICA …

I think  that it’s the western world’s ideology and dominion over lifestyle and it’s definition of what male/female relationships should look like; what family structures should look like, that is perpetuated across the relationship/familial landscape and even they know the model doesn’t work or is ineffective, hence the high rate of divorce and broken families in the Western Patriarchal world.

AMONG PROFESSIONAL WOMEN, AFRICAN AMERICANS MOST LIKELY WANT TOP EXECUTIVE JOBS

I think that there is a middle ground, where mutual responsibility for the cultivation, sustenance and maintenance of a society can be shared by all involved. That with mutual respect and understanding and allowing individuals to reach their fullest potential with an air of cooperation; healthy relationships across the spectrum of human interactions can be achieved. I believe that no extremes are good and that there is something to learn from a comparative study of the matriarchal and patriarchal constructs, but with all historical indicators considered and not in a vacuum and certainly not using the present day dysfunctional societies as a yardstick.

 

Ebola, AIDS Manufactured by Western Pharmaceuticals, US DoD? | The Liberian Observer

Ebola, AIDS Manufactured by Western Pharmaceuticals, US DoD? | The Liberian Observer

Scientists allege deadly diseases such as Ebola and AIDS are bio weapons
being tested on Africans. Other reports have linked the Ebola virus
outbreak to an attempt to reduce Africa’s population. Liberia happens to
be the continents’s fastest growing population.
By: 
Dr. Cyril Broderick, Professor of Plant Pathology
Dear World Citizens:
I have read a number of articles from your Internet outreach as well as articles from other sources about the casualties in Liberia and other West African countries about the human devastation caused by the Ebola virus. About a week ago, I read an article published in the Internet news summary publication of the Friends of Liberia that said that there was an agreement that the initiation of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was due to the contact of a two-year old child with bats that had flown in from the Congo. That report made me disconcerted with the reporting about Ebola, and it stimulated a response to the “Friends of Liberia,” saying that African people are not ignorant and gullible, as is being implicated. A response from Dr. Verlon Stone said that the article was not theirs, and that “Friends of Liberia” was simply providing a service. He then asked if he could publish my letter in their Internet forum. I gave my permission, but I have not seen it published. Because of the widespread loss of life, fear, physiological trauma, and despair among Liberians and other West African citizens, it is incumbent that I make a contribution to the resolution of this devastating situation, which may continue to recur, if it is not properly and adequately confronted. I will address the situation in five (5) points:
1.    EBOLA IS A GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM (GMO)
Horowitz (1998) was deliberate and unambiguous when he explained the threat of new diseases in his text, Emerging Viruses: AIDS and Ebola – Nature, Accident or Intentional. In his interview with Dr. Robert Strecker in Chapter 7, the discussion, in the early 1970s, made it obvious that the war was between countries that hosted the KGB and the CIA, and the ‘manufacture’ of ‘AIDS-Like Viruses’ was clearly directed at the other. In passing during the Interview, mention was made of Fort Detrick, “the Ebola Building,” and ‘a lot of problems with strange illnesses’ in “Frederick [Maryland].” By Chapter 12 in his text, he had confirmed the existence of an American Military-Medical-Industry that conducts biological weapons tests under the guise of administering vaccinations to control diseases and improve the health of “black Africans overseas.” The book is an excellent text, and all leaders plus anyone who has interest in science, health, people, and intrigue should study it. I am amazed that African leaders are making no acknowledgements or reference to these documents.
2.  EBOLA HAS A TERRIBLE HISTORY, AND TESTING HAS BEEN SECRETLY TAKING PLACE IN AFRICA
I am now reading The Hot Zone, a novel, by Richard Preston (copyrighted 1989 and 1994); it is heart-rending. The prolific and prominent writer, Steven King, is quoted as saying that the book is “One of the most horrifying things I have ever read. What a remarkable piece of work.” As a New York Times bestseller, The Hot Zone is presented as “A terrifying true story.” Terrifying, yes, because the pathological description of what was found in animals killed by the Ebola virus is what the virus has been doing to citizens of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in its most recent outbreak: Ebola virus destroys peoples’ internal organs and the body deteriorates rapidly after death. It softens and the tissues turn into jelly, even if it is refrigerated to keep it cold. Spontaneous liquefaction is what happens to the body of people killed by the Ebola virus! The author noted in Point 1, Dr. Horowitz, chides The Hot Zone for writing to be politically correct; I understand because his book makes every effort to be very factual. The 1976 Ebola incident in Zaire, during President Mobutu Sese Seko, was the introduction of the GMO Ebola to Africa.
3.    SITES AROUND AFRICA, AND IN WEST AFRICA, HAVE OVER THE YEARS BEEN SET UP FOR TESTING EMERGING DISEASES, ESPECIALLY EBOLA
The World Health Organization (WHO) and several other UN Agencies have been implicated in selecting and enticing African countries to participate in the testing events, promoting vaccinations, but pursuing various testing regiments. The August 2, 2014 article, West Africa: What are US Biological Warfare Researchers Doing in the Ebola Zone? by Jon Rappoport of Global Research pinpoints the problem that is facing African governments. 
Obvious in this and other reports are, among others: 
(a) The US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), a well-known centre for bio-war research, located at Fort Detrick, Maryland; 
(b) Tulane University, in New Orleans, USA, winner of research grants, including a grant of more than $7 million the National Institute of Health (NIH) to fund research with the Lassa viral hemorrhagic fever; 
(c) the US Center for Disease Control (CDC); 
(d) Doctors Without Borders (also known by its French name, Medicins Sans Frontiers); 
(e) Tekmira, a Canadian pharmaceutical company;  
(f) The UK’s GlaxoSmithKline; and 
(g) the Kenema Government Hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone. 
Reports narrate stories of the US Department of Defense (DoD) funding Ebola trials on humans, trials which started just weeks before the Ebola outbreak in Guinea and Sierra Leone. The reports continue and state that the DoD gave a contract worth $140 million dollars to Tekmira, a Canadian pharmaceutical company, to conduct Ebola research. This research work involved injecting and infusing healthy humans with the deadly Ebola virus. Hence, the DoD is listed as a collaborator in a “First in Human” Ebola clinical trial (NCT02041715, which started in January 2014 shortly before an Ebola epidemic was declared in West Africa in March. Disturbingly, many reports also conclude that the US government has a viral fever bioterrorism research laboratory in Kenema, a town at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The only relevant positive and ethical olive-branch seen in all of my reading is that Theguardian.com reported, “The US government funding of Ebola trials on healthy humans comes amid warnings by top scientists in Harvard and Yale that such virus experiments risk triggering a worldwide pandemic.” That threat still persists.
4.    THE NEED FOR LEGAL ACTION TO OBTAIN REDRESS FOR DAMAGES INCURRED DUE TO THE PERPETUATION OF INJUSTICE IN THE DEATH, INJURY AND TRAUMA IMPOSED ON LIBERIANS AND OTHER AFRICANS BY THE EBOLA AND OTHER DISEASE AGENTS. 
The U. S., Canada, France, and the U. K. are all implicated in the detestable and devilish deeds that these Ebola tests are. There is the need to pursue criminal and civil redress for damages, and African countries and people should secure legal representation to seek damages from these countries, some corporations, and the United Nations. Evidence seems abundant against Tulane University, and suits should start there. Yoichi Shimatsu’s article, The Ebola Breakout Coincided with UN Vaccine Campaigns, as published on August 18, 2014, in the Liberty Beacon.
5.   AFRICAN LEADERS AND AFRICAN COUNTRIES NEED TO TAKE THE LEAD IN DEFENDING BABIES, CHILDREN, AFRICAN WOMEN, AFRICAN MEN, AND THE ELDERLY. THESE CITIZENS DO NOT DESERVE TO BE USED AS GUINEA PIGS! 
Africa must not relegate the Continent to become the locality for disposal and the deposition of hazardous chemicals, dangerous drugs, and chemical or biological agents of emerging diseases. There is urgent need for affirmative action in protecting the less affluent of poorer countries, especially African citizens, whose countries are not as scientifically and industrially endowed as the United States and most Western countries, sources of most viral or bacterial GMOs that are strategically designed as biological weapons. It is most disturbing that the U. S. Government has been operating a viral hemorrhagic fever bioterrorism research laboratory in Sierra Leone. Are there others? Wherever they exist, it is time to terminate them. If any other sites exist, it is advisable to follow the delayed but essential step: Sierra Leone closed the US bioweapons lab and stopped Tulane University for further testing.
The world must be alarmed. All Africans, Americans, Europeans, Middle Easterners, Asians, and people from every conclave on Earth should be astonished. African people, notably citizens more particularly of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are victimized and are dying every day. Listen to the people who distrust the hospitals, who cannot shake hands, hug their relatives and friends. Innocent people are dying, and they need our help. The countries are poor and cannot afford the whole lot of personal protection equipment (PPE) that the situation requires. The threat is real, and it is larger than a few African countries. The challenge is global, and we request assistance from everywhere, including China, Japan, Australia, India, Germany, Italy, and even kind-hearted people in the U.S., France, the U.K., Russia, Korea, Saudi Arabia, and anywhere else whose desire is to help. The situation is bleaker than we on the outside can imagine, and we must provide assistance however we can. To ensure a future that has less of this kind of drama, it is important that we now demand that our leaders and governments be honest, transparent, fair, and productively engaged. They must answer to the people. Please stand up to stop Ebola testing and the spread of this dastardly disease.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Dr. Cyril E. Broderick, Sr.

Ole Nelllie Bit the Dust

Who is Ole Nellie, you may ask. Well, she is part of a family of Nellie’s. In fact, once we have gotten all that we can get out of her, she is replaced with a new Nellie. But she is never called New Nellie, as that has absolutely no catchy ring to it. So now my once New Nellie, named ole Nellie has gone to the Great Car Heaven in the Sky. I feel very sad about that right now.

My first Nellie was a 1976 Toyota Corolla. I never really learned to drive by someone teaching me, I learned by watching other folks drive. A few years after college I was ready and passed my test with a minor error, I leaned to the side when I made the turn. The lady didn’t know I was a low rider, but she let me pass.

First car came from GMC, paid off and good credit rating to boot. She was just what we needed, for our family of 5 at the time. Everybody was little, and we didn’t have a bulky car-seat taking up room in those days. Unfortunately, she died for lack of lubrication over many, many months. Engine locked up and that was it!!

Found a New Nellie, a little while later. Great car for growing children and friends children too. We only had one issue with this one, the hatch had a tendency to not catch. So we would slam it extra hard till we broke it and then would have to repair it, especially after we lost a kiddie out the back door. Hairy scary times. I was speechless, how could I explain to the little boy’s mom, that he fell out the back of the car into oncoming traffic. The Angels saved him so he could live and continue to drive his family up the wall, but that’s another story.  This Nellie had engine trouble early on. Had a great mechanic in the Northeast who did all he could, several times to bring her back to life. But she ultimately left us for the Great Car Heaven in the Sky but not after we got good use out of her!!

Now, here I vaguely remember another Nellie. But she was very, very short lived. Her engine caught on fire one day, and that was that. Another one bit the dust and went to the Great Car Heaven in the Sky.

Every Nellie was a gift in some way or other. They got me out of tight squeezes and provided a great service that I am still grateful for to this day. Whenever they broke down, there was always a car Angel around to help me out with a carload of children they were certainly heaven sent.


Then Came the Greatest Nellie Of Them All!!!
Why do I say that? Well, for a number of reasons, four reasons to be exact. My 4 younguns who were terribly embarrassed to rid in this New Nellie. Puuuulease!!! They simply did not realize that this New Ole Nellie was a Cadillac! I mean, power steering, disk breaks, power windows, air conditioning, seats that did all kinds of stuff. Who cared if she was once a cab??!! And for $50 and a title, who could beat that, especially since we had been walking and taking the bus everywhere. No one understands what it feels like to have the stares of well meaning folk pitying me as I would climb on the bus with 4 little people going in four different directions. The youngest did not like sitting next to anyone, the second oldest was always falling asleep and had to be awakened at least 20 minutes before we got off. The second daughter loved to wear her clothes and shoes on backwards…. um, before it was a style and the oldest one, well he was quite helpful, but he was just a little tike himself. I had 4 children in 6 years. Yay, me!!!! So imagine the adventure we went on whenever we boarded an inner train or bus.
To me this car was a Godsend… To my young’uns, quite the contrary. They were mortified, they were embarrassed, they hated that car!!! The jeers they got from neighboring children yelling “Taxi”!!! Jeez, children can be cruel, but that car was awesome, little did they realize they were riding in style in an expensive gift car, painted like a taxi.

And right around the corner, was a wonderful mechanic who did all he could to keep her on the road. I think that is why I am writing this blog post. I have certainly been blessed with cars right at the right time when they were most needed and when there was a wonderful mechanic not to far away. I’m talking about a mechanic that didn’t see a woman coming and decide to take advantage. I am talking about a mechanic who saw this woman coming with a carload of children and did all he could to keep me on the road with them.

Well as the story goes, Ole Nellie died and she stayed dead for 10 years. Imagine, ten years without a vehicle!! Living in the inner city did make it a bit easier, but I rode my bike and homeschooled during this time. We walked to wherever we had to go or took the bus, and again, they were a bit older, but not much different and certainly quite noisey. Nothing like the chatter of stairsteps, enjoying each others company or not!

It took Ole Nellie 10 whole years to re-incarnate. I would question myself as to why I was back on foot. Did I offend the Great Car Heaven God in the Sky by the way I treated his servant? Did I drive his servant into the ground, so now it was my turn to take another look and be more circumspect about how I would be treating Nellie, when she incarnated again?? I don’t know if I ever figured that out. Nevertheless, another gift came, and Ole Nellie re-incarnated as a Ford Station Wagon. It was once used as a cab but I dared not to tell my children. By now the boys were gone and only the girls remained. New/Ole Nellie was a blessing as well. Someone I knew had her and sold her to me for cheap. She only last 2 years but I was grateful to have her for that long. She blew a hose in her engine and caught on fire that would have cost more than she was worth to fix. I think I had her towed away, or sold her for parts but I don’t remember. Something about trauma and how it affects your memory.

But this time Nellie decided to come back a little faster this time around. She manifested as a 1988 Toyota Corona Station Wagon. And guess what, I paid $1 for her and the registrations fees. Long story short, she had been sitting there waiting for her other owner who moved away and never came back to get her. She was a gift from the Gods cause surely, I really needed a car so I could get to some of VOA events without having to spend money on rentals. Ha, I spent so much money on rentals I could have bought at least three luxury cars.

But of course the VOA folks love luxury, and preferred to ride in the new cars instead of my Ole Nellie, so many times we would pack them in the rental and I would take Nellie, we had an unbelievable bond, we did!!!! True story..

New/Ole Nellie lasted for about 2 or 3 years.. Again, I had a great mechanic who did all he could to keep her on the road. She was old and tired and while she was willing to get me from point “A” to point “B”, she didn’t feel like it all the time. So sometime we would leave her for another traveling option cause she was a bit finicky. But still a wonderful companion that I totally appreciated, especially for only $1!!!!!

She carried our VOA instruments and one day, someone decided to break into the car and take them out. Now that was the funniest ever. We could barely figure out why anyone would go through the trouble of stealing a bunch of African drums, agogo bells and shekeres that they could not sell on the black market. Ha, we could barely sell them on the open market. And if folks didn’t know how to use them or play them, then what??

We later found out that they took them to a thrift/boutique store who gladly took them off their hands, cause she knew what they were. Ironically, most folks aren’t gonna buy drums off the street peddler anyways. I mean really!!! And what would they do with this thing?

Well, it was late January, and after the news outlets were informed by my enraged daughter that we had been robbed, they all flocked to my door questioning us over and over again about this event. It had become a “Black History Month” Story that everyone wanted to tell. Strange indeed.
For an entire week, our lives belonged to the media, they were in our hair for 7 days straight. We had TV cameras in our faces, we were on the radio and we had a serious 15 minutes of fame, that brought folks out of the woodwork to donate drums and instruments to us, along with money to buy more stuff!! It was incredible!! The outpouring of love from the community was overwhelming and we went on tour with all new instruments but at least we had some!!!!! Even a Jewish Agency called us up and offered to raise money for us to get new instruments! Now imagine that!!!!!

I must say, that every single Nellie brought a wonderful experience with her. She did her part and made up for the parts she couldn’t do. Like she didn’t have an alarm so she was able to be robbed, but she got her picture took by NBC news and ended up in the paper and that made headlines. She smiled and I was so thankful for all her help!!!

And for a little bit of Poetic Justice, in May, a temporary office assistant arrived to work in the office. When I told her about the Event she said: “Oh was that your stuff?? My brother tried to sell it on the corner to some Africans who were walking by and they said they didn’t want it.” That was absolutely too funny. There she was working in the office of the person whose car her brother broke into and stole the contents. Which were partially found by the way.

Then Ole Nellie got the call.. It was a small call, a short call at first, a little kink here and another kink there, but she held off. She did not break down in some dark deserted place where I was in danger. And the few times she did break down, the Car Angel was right there to pull her through. Wonders…!! But she was old and tired. She had sat too long and it was a little harder for her to completely revive herself for the long journeys and traveling back and forth that I needed her to do. But she did give me a good trade in and with that she was reborn into my current New/Ole Nellie.

Ole Nellie

The current New/Ole Nellie had only been in my possession for approximately 11 of the 12 weeks she was under factory warranty, she decided to break down in NY city! Needless to say, I was dumbfounded, I barely had her and she was breaking down?? Of course the Car Angels showed up and tried all they could to figure out her problem but to no avail. She had to be towed. I had two choices, tow her to Philly, or get her fixed in NY. Triple A’s mechanic claimed to have fixed her, and after borrowing $300 from my godmother and driving home two days later, she cut off again.

I took her back to where I bought her just within the warrantee time and they fixed her, free of charge. They fixed her so good she never had a serious problem again!!!! It was a clogged up engine. Turns out these Toyota Sienna’s 2000, were known for that problem. She did me good for 10 years folks!!!!! TEN WHOLE YEARS!! I swear by Toyota’s they are really good cars. The only weather Nellie didn’t like was rainy weather, she always started right up. Even now.
Again I had a wonderful mechanic, in fact I used the same mechanic I had till I moved to Darby, and would you believe it, another wonderful mechanic was one block away from my house. He was marvelous and did not overcharge me at all!!! I would refer him to anyone who needs a good mechanic.
Even now, she cuts on, but she leaked all her transmission fluid out and she won’t go. Now I not only need the Car Angel, but I need another Car Angel who wishes to gift me with a new car, or a New/Ole Nellie.
I ain’t mad at her, not one bit, she kicked it out, really hard for me. We have many, many shared memories. The journeys we took with her were each adventures in their own way. She was the most awesome of all the Nellie’s that preceded her, in respect to her endurance and functionality. She road as far north as Wisconsin and as far south as Florida. She has only the dents I put in her, her tires are in good shape and she has a few quirks but other than that, she was a darned good car!!! She also hauled around the VOA paraphernalia and with good measure.
But I get the feeling this is it for her. She won’t go. 

Last August, I moved to New Jersey.
I am happy about my move. And didn’t think that I would move here of all places, and not have a vehicle. I am sure there is a lesson in here somewhere, but when it came down to making the choice between getting the car fixed and paying my rent… well, I guess you could say I did the thing that makes most sense. I paid the rent.
Meanwhile, Ole Nellie is collecting dust from not having moved in over 2 weeks. About the same amount of time I have been a bonafide NJ-ite. 
I feel some kinda way about all this…. just not sure what way that is right now.
I guess I am writing this for several reasons
1. to pay homage to parts of my life that I may have taken for granted.
2. to have a memorial for Ole Nellie
3. to ask the Universe to let her re-incarnate in the magical way she has done over and over again
4. and to thank her and wish her well.

Obama Plans African Wars

By Stephen Lendmen

Obama Plans African Wars

Obama’s warmaking appetite exceeds all his predecessors and then some. He’s already waging

multiple direct and proxy wars.

His rhetoric about winding them down rings hollow. He wants to make the most of the next four years.

No targeted country left behind reflects his agenda. He’s ravaging the world multiple countries at a time. He’s out-of-control. He governs like a serial killer.

He plans more war on Iran, perhaps Lebanon, and full-scale intervention against Syria. He has other targets in mind. He’s insatiable. Africa dreaming explains what’s on his mind.

On December 15, 2006, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) was authorized. On February 6, 2007, it was announced. On October 1, 2007, it was established, and on October 1, 2008, it became operational.

It’s based in Stuttgart, Germany, not Africa. It’s responsible for warmaking and military relations throughout the continent. It’s comprised of 53 countries. Many potential targets are represented.

Washington wants the entire continent colonized and controlled. It’s resource rich. It has large amounts of oil, gas, water, gold, silver, diamonds, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, manganese, other valued minerals, and rich agricultural land.

In early July 2009, Obama visited sub-Saharan Africa. He signaled his intentions. In Accra, Ghana, he said:

“We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don’t, and that is exactly what America will do.” He said Ghana and other African governments must achieve “good governance.”

His message was clear. Open the continent to Western investment and development. Privatize, privatize, privatize. Forget about providing healthcare, education, and other vital services.

Give US and other Western corporate predators free reign. Play the game the way Washington demands or suffer the consequences. Ghana got the message. Why else would Obama show up.

Libya didn’t. Gaddafi paid with his life. The country became another NATO trophy. Africa’s most developed country became a charnel house.

Egypt’s on the boil. Morsi is Washington’s man in Cairo. Street protests strongly contest his dictatorial governance. As long as he maintains US support, he can rule any way he wishes.

On December 7, the Wall Street Journal headlined “Terror Fight Shifts to Africa,” saying:

Obama may ask Congress to wage America’s war on terror against Mali, Nigeria, Libya, “and possibly other countries where militants have loose or nonexistent ties to al Qaeda’s Pakistan headquarters.”

Washington’s war on Libya created out-of-control violence and instability. Tribes, rebel gangs, and green resistance fighters battle for dominance. Puppet leaders America installed have little or no authority. No end of conflict looms.

Mali’s late March military coup appears fallout from Libya. It may be replicated elsewhere in North Africa and other areas. Niger’s endangered.

There’s more involved than meets the eye, including controlling regional resources. Besides oil, Libya, Mali, and Niger have valuable uranium deposits. Washington seeks control.

In October, EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy head, Catherine Ashton, was involved in developing a Mali mission within 30 days. According to EU diplomats, it involves deploying 150 European military experts to train Malian and other African forces over a four to six month period.

On October 12, the Security Council approved an international military mission to Mali. Ban Ki-moon was enlisted to help develop military intervention plans. Finalizing them was planned for end of November.

France drafted the UN resolution. It was Washington’s lead attack dog on Libya. It may have the same role on Mali. In late March, monsoon season starts. Expect something early next year in advance. African troops will be involved.

Germany agreed to participate. Britain likely also. Washington remains in charge. Whatever is coming will be another Obama war. Officially it’s because Islamists seized power in northern Mali. The area replicates France in size.

Before his ouster, Gaddafi was a stabilizing force. Investments and mediation efforts prevented conflict between governing authorities and Tuareg rebels.

Things change a year ago. Heavy armed rebels mobilized. In March 2012, Long-time Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure was deposed.

Local Islamists controlled northern areas with Tauregs. Islamists with Al Qaeda ties drove them out. According to the Wall Street Journal, Obama wants congressional approval to intervene. With or without it, he’ll do what he wants.

US special forces and drone attacks may be planned. Operations may be similar to Washington’s proxy wars on Somalia and Yemen.

Continue Reading Here…. http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/12/09/obama-plans-african-wars/