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Showing posts from May, 2008

The Passion of Reverend Ruckus

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Some people hate satire. If you're one of them, you definitely don't want to watch this video .

Fela Anikulapo Kuti: Army Arrangement

Fela was brilliant. Band leader, singer, lyricist, xylophone player, keyboard player, sax player, creator of his own political party and candidate for the presidency of Nigeria. He lived a huge life--huge with artistic glory, and huge with mistakes. But in many ways he's a hero to me: part Duke Ellington, part Rick James, part Thomas Sankara. Some say that James Brown influenced him, but experts and witnesses claim that Brown's drummer copied the work of Tony Allen (Allenko), co-creator of Afrobeat and Fela's drum/percussion leader. Enjoy "Army Arrangement." Typical brilliant Fela .

Minister Faust performance poetry: "'Hug' is Not a Verse-itile Word"

I wrote this poem at the end of 2000 for a woman I wanted to date. The poem worked out in the short term (we dated) although things didn't work out between us in the long term (we were like TNT). It wasn't the first time I'd gone through that poetry-date-relationship-breakup cycle, either. Anyway, it's all for the best as I later met the woman who would become my wife and then we got married and are raising a daughter and we're all happy although I write fewer poems. Anyhoo... the poem. Yeah, I was asked by CBC's Christine Chomiak to perform it for the network's late night alt-culture show ZeD-TV, and I now present it to you all. And don't freakin' steal it to score with. Make your own freakin' moves (and movies). UPDATE: Because of an intrepid reader pointing out to me a continuity error on this entry, I have just now corrected the above date. It now correctly reads "2000" instead of "2001," which would have meant an entirel

Minister Faust speaks against Top Ten war propaganda terms

In January 2003, I spoke at a rally in Edmonton, Alberta, against government and corporate propaganda terms being used to justify the then-impending illegal invasion of and war against (i.e., aggression) the people of Iraq.

Globalization's New Logic: The Rise of Developing-World Multinationals

2007 May 2008 - World Politics Review Exclusive Simon Roughneen writes: In March, India's Tata Group made headlines with its $2.3 billion acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) from Ford, the latest in a series of high-profile mergers and acquisitions in which well-known Western brands such as IBM, Barclays Bank, Tetley Tea and Corus steel have been bought, in part or entirely, by multinational corporations from developing economies. Those with a longer historical view might recall that it was private business -- the British East India Company -- that imposed imperial control over the "brightest jewel in the empire," before crown rule was implemented in 1858. With Tata scooping up two high-prestige British brands, a reversal of historic proportions appears to be taking place. Meanwhile, during the recent worldwide credit crunch, sovereign wealth funds, state-run investment vehicles often controlled by resource-rich developing countries, have helped bail ou

Minister Faust speaks on youth activism

Introduction by Jon Jon Rivero The speech from summer 2006

Watch ETHNIC NOTIONS, the brilliant decoder of race in North American popular culture

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The late Br. Marlon Riggs was a brilliant documentarian. Here's his classic work Ethnic Notions , which should be required viewing for North Americans or anybody globally who consumes North American pop culture of any form. The link to the remaining segments is here . Thanks, Br. Marlon.

Minister Faust on religion, spirituality, politics, social justice and human rights

Below is a feature conversation recorded for Up Close, an interview progamme on Canada's Christian Television Service. The interviewer is sketch comic and independent filmmaker Neil Grahn. We met at CJSR and then reconvened at Sharifa's Sambusa House, a mainstay in the Somali community here, to discuss religion, spirituality, politics, social justice and human rights. PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR PART FIVE PART SIX

Minister Faust speaks about Philip K. Dick

The Word This Week special hosted by Kim Clarke Champniss about visionary SF author Philip K. Dick. Guests include your truly (a two-time PKD nominee), as well as Jonathan Lethem, Chris Miller, Mark Askwith, Winona Ryder, Michael Bishop, Richard Linklater and William Gibson. PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE

Who funds Clibamacain?

Here's the man who SHOULD be the US president

TONIGHT ON THE TERRORDOME: Glen Ford on Barack Obama

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CJSR FM88 www.cjsr.com 6 PM Mountain Time The candidacy of Barack Obama for the presidential nomination of the US Democratic Party has created a level of interest not seen in the US since, perhaps, that of Robert Kennedy. Obama is intelligent, handsome, tall, occasionally eloquent, and at the centre of a super-powerful myth-making machine which has cast him as a saviour, a new breed of politician and a new species of post-racial hum anity. For some, the image of Obama says, “The future is finally here!” And for others, the image of Obama says, “The past is finally over.” But the future is not here, and the past is never really past. And through tonight’s guest, we’ll find out just how true that is. Glen Ford is a journalist and editor, a co-founder of the online magazine The Black Commentator , and a founding editor of the online magazine The Black Agenda Report . His career in news and broadcasting started early. Ford was only 11 years old when started reading newswire copy on

Robert Fisk explains his reasons for retirement

I feel deeply sad that Dr. Fisk has retired, and that it happened many months ago and I didn't even know. He's one of my favourite journalists in the world. His work is of enormous value. It's hard to imagine he'll really stay away from journalism. Who knows? A fine report, by the way, from the journalists who created the piece. Here's Fisk on Western corporate media distortion of Hezbollah: Fisk on Turkey's holocaust against the Armenians... a genocide which Turkey still refuses to acknowledge: Fisk reflects on the experiences of his career: