MF GALAXY

6 PM CJSR FM-88.5 Edmonton www.cjsr.com In 2000, the res ults of the American presidential election hinged not, as many critics charged, on the candidacy of Ralph Nader. The actual axis was racial profiling in voting. Thousands of African-American voters were purged from voter lists without their k nowledge and did not find out until they arrived to vote. In other cases, thousands of ballots fro m majority African-American voting precincts were simply not counted. In 2004, touch-screen elect ronic voting machines manufactured by Diebold, a company linked to the Republic party, helped deliver the White House to George W. Bush. I n each case, substantial evidence pointed to the theft of the ele ction, events which obviously shaped the world for the last six and a half years. Yet corporate press ignored the vast body of evidence, in fact dismissing those concerned about it as “conspiracy nuts.” It remains fascinating that corporate journalism is dominated by what should be called “...

I was having a conversation today with a friend and the topic of anti-Semitism came up. The prevalence of this hatred, a European White-on-White violence that devolved over history into genocide, continues in some quarters to this day. Those of us who are progressives and who maintain a strong critique of Israel must resolutely oppose anti-Semites at every turn , just as, while defending our Muslim brothers and sisters, we must unceasingly oppose the tyrannical governments of and reactionary movements inside any of the predominantly Muslim countries. Our Jewish brothers and sisters, like our Muslim brothers and sisters, are often excellent allies in the struggle for a better world, and I’m proud to call journalists such as Amy Goodman, Jeff Cohen and Greg Palast, writers such as David Simon, and analysts such as Noam Chomsky, among my heroes. In the spirit of that conversation, below is a list of what I hope are some helpful resources. Fighting anti-Semitism Cana...

6 PM CJSR FM-88.5 Edmonton www.cjsr.com Thirteen years ago, reactionary forces in Rwanda executed a wide-ranging plan involving a months-long radio propaganda campaign, Western military training, blitzkrieg militia-strikes, Western diplomatic cover-fire and finally Western sanctuary . That plan and its horrifying results are known today as the Rwandan genocide. While a final accounting of the death toll remains controversial, at minimum, the militias called the Interahamwe systematically slaughtered three-quarters of a million people in a matter of weeks. Most of the victims belonged to the Tutsi nationality, groomed by decades of Belgian occupation and divide-and-rule tactics to be the privileged and dominant group in Rwandan society. The militias belonged primarily to the Hutu nationality, those destined by Belgian dictatorship to be the doormats of occupation and post-colonial rule. Such Belgian interference was mild compared to Belgium ’s role in Congo , which around 1900 wa...

Some people say hip hop is dead. But really, it's simply reached the same equilibrium as every other art medium: 90% crap, 10& excellent. Falling firmly in the latter category is the superb band The Perceptionists , including MCs Akrobatik and Mr. Life, and DJ Fakts One. What makes these brothers so excellent--even though they might not appreciate this as a sales pitch--is that they're creating hip hop for those of us who've been listening to hip hop for at least two decades. In other words, this is hip hop for grown-ups. That's not to say younger people can't enjoy this crew--one of my students, a young MC named Ejaz the Poet , loves them. But the range of topics and the sophistication of the commentary is as excellent as the lyrical rhythm and the vocal flavour of this band. I'd already loved Akrobatik. Now this crew is one of my favourite. I listen to their lyrics the way I listen to KRS-One lyrics, i.e., closely, as if I'm reading a book (and I...

6 PM CJSR FM-88.5 Edmonton www.cjsr.com The crisis in Darfur specifically and Sudan generally is horrifying. According to some sources, “ Since 2003 between two and four hundred thousand people have been killed by the armed militias known as the Janjaweed; as many as two and a half million people, 75 to 85 percent of them women and children, have been displaced.” Yet finding solutions to the problem is made worse by several factors, especially popular misunderstanding of the crisis and ongoing debate over the appropriateness of the term genocide . Worse still is the decision of a number of groups to exploit the crisis for their own political or even financial benefit. The popularity of the “Save Darfur” campaign among groups traditionally indifferent to Afrikan suffering is more easily understood when scanning for anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias among the organisers. By their own descriptions, Sudan is a struggle of so-called Arabs against what they describe as “Black Africans....

I've never met Ryan Oakley, but I hope to, and soon. He's a mad man, and an excellent writer. There will probably come a time in the fairly near future when his first book will ec lipse all my sales and all my reviews, and I will have a jealous moment of gnashing what's left of my baby teeth, but then I will settle down and in my heart of hearts admit that this kid has got the kot-tam nards (or, really, they're better... they're gnards ). If you don't believe me, check out his top-notch blog called The Grumpy Owl. It's frequently outrageous, definitely inappropriate, usually fun, and always perfectly written. Read one of his recent posts which I have snarfed in full. I think he should either put it in a book (he's an up and coming novelist) or start a book with it: "Partially spearheaded by recent comments from Stephen Hawkings and George W. Bush --just using their names in the same sentence makes me feel dirty-- there is a movement afoot to fi...

SFSITE.COM : “A whirlwind of jokes, satire, obscure pop references, devastating cultural analysis and prose poetry that never lets up from beginning to end .... "A darker story lurking underneath all the comic book violence and plot twists... exposes the darker trends of a society that both values honesty and courage and indulges in racism and hate.... “Minister Faust is following no one's lead but his own. Coyote Kings and Dr. Brain are wholly original in their style and use of the traditions of SF and pop culture.... Dr. Brain uses humor and insight to expose an underlying horror, the horror all the worse for the comparison. The jokes and commentary are fast, funny, and furious. This is political and cultural satire of the highest sort, and Faust is earning a place among the masters of the craft. ” See more stunning reviews here .