Jay-Z must have viewed one of my posts, have you?

In my previous post, “Dr. Cornel West’s response to  George Zimmerman’s acquittal and relative topics,” you will find a video, featuring Dr. West talking with Amy Goodman from Democracy Now. There are two things that Dr. West says in the video that have importance in this post. Just in case you missed it I posted the video below, for your convenience. The first thing that he said was that Stevie Wonder publicly stated that he will never perform in Florida as long as, ‘Stand Your Ground,’ law is active. The second thing that is relevant in this post is that Dr. West also said that Jay-Z has something to learn from Mos Def. Referring to the Yasiin Bey’s decision to under go force feeding as a sign of solidarity with the Guantanamo Bay prisoners; among other things. I wrote this post because I ran into an article posted by on slumz.bosxden.com???? Well, the article says that Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, The Rolling Stones, just to name a few. Have also decided to to follow Stevie Wonder’s foot steps and Boycott Florida. So I am being sarcastic when I say that Jay-Z read my blog and heard what Dr. West said. Causing him to boycott; I have copied and pasted the article below Dr. West’s video.

  Dr. West: Force-feeding, torture in its core—didn’t our dear brother Yasiin Bey point that out, the former Mos Def? God bless that brother. Jay Z got something to learn from Mos Def. Both of them lyrical geniuses, but Jay Z got a whole lot to learn from Mos Def.

to see how it felt, and broke down and started screaming “Stop! Stop!” in the middle of it, and it was a videotape that went viral.

The article below.

Rihanna, Jay Z, Kanye West Join Stevie Wonder’s Florida Boycott Following George Zimmerman Verdict

Florida concert ticket sales may be plummeting soon.

Performers such as Rihanna, Jay-Z Jay Z, Kanye West, Justin Timberlake and Madonna have reportedly decided to follow Stevie Wonder’s footsteps in boycotting Florida in protest of the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. April Ryan of American Urban Radio Network first broke the news, crediting “a source close to Wonder” for leaking a list of A-listers who’ve vowed to not perform at the Sunshine State in the wake of George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the 2012 k#lling of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.

Wonder earlier announced his intention to boycott any state with “Stand Your Ground” laws after a jury found Zimmerman — who police did not arrest weeks after the k#lling due to the law — not guilty of second-degree murk. The “Stand Your Ground” defense also appeared in instructions to jurors during the trial.

“I decided today that until the Stand Your Ground law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again,” Wonder said during a concert in Canada earlier this month. “As a matter of fact, wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world.”

According to Ryan, other notable celebs on the boycott list include Usher, Alicia Keys, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and will.i.am.

Jay Z and his wife, Beyonce, also showed their support for Martin, appearing at a recent rally in New York City to support the slain teenager’s family.

I like the article above, because it makes me think, ‘how far can this go?’ Will musicians also boycott states that have laws like, ‘Stop And Frisk,’ or states that have anti-immigration type laws? How many musicians will join?

In memory of Trayvon Martin.

While I was writing this post I found an interesting video on Youtube, posted by FPTV. The video is about FPTV’s coverage of people in River Oaks, protesting Trayvon Martin’s death, the ‘Stand Your Ground Law,’ etc. Watch this video it will make you HAPPY, sad, ffffffffrrrrrrrruuuuusssssstttrrrraaaaateed, ShOcKeD, DISAPOinted, and many other feeling. Some things that are said in this video are interesting, to say the least.

Reporter: Wouldn’t it be good, if we let all the black people and all the white people finish each other of?

Reporter: What is your motivation to come out today?

Protester A: Bull****

Reporter: What is your motivation to come out today?

Protester B: I am very upset about the, ‘Stand Your Ground Law!’

Protester C: Some of them, were either leaving! Or arming themselves.

Reporter: Can we ask you some questions?

River Oaks Resident: No!

Reporter: Do you think that Obama is a closet homosexual?

Protester D: I understand from his time in Chicago! That he is well known in the bath-house community!

Protester C: aaawww, it bit me!

Reporter: Can we come together in PEACE, LOVE and HARMONY?

With that said, I am so pumped about playing futball this morning. Then gardening after; have a wonderful day or night. Oh, I had some people from Sri Lanka visit this blog, a couple of days ago. I hope that you found something to take away from this blog. I am really have been working on improving what I do on this blog. As fellow bloggers know, running an active blog is a lot of work. Especially if you are writing about specialized fields, social issues, recent news, literature, politics, etc. In fact, I did not even expect to write this post, I am currently working on at least three other posts. I really do have a lot planned for this blog. Thank you to everyone that has shown support, commented (Charlster!) (Nancy!), liked (Mr. Nguyen), visited, helped (Amico!) etc. Thank so so Much.

Peace!

What do you think about lab-grown meat?

I recently stumbled upon a video about Google’s Sergey Brin and his support for the first lab-grown hamburger patty. I have mixed feelings about this because on one hand, I know what the environmental and social consequences are as a result of current and previous demands for meat consumption.  The current production of meat requires 70% of the earths air-able land, 70% of the antibiotics produced and not to forget that meat consumption is one of the leading producers of methane gas. The current global meat consumption is much higher than current meat supply. So at face value I see that lab-grown meat production could be a positive thing.

On the other hand, I have questions that cannot be answered today. For example, we have no idea what the long-term consequences are for consuming lab-grown meat; if there are any at all? Who will have rights, if there are rights, to produce meat? How will the meat reach the poorest? Will meat production be regulated, if so how do you regulate it? Will communities be responsible for producing meat based on their community needs? These are the types of questions I have.

Below is a video featuring Sergey Brin and others, in support of the lab-grown hamburger meat. This video(1) was posted on August 5, 2013.

The next video is on the same topic of course but the video makes me feel like, ‘the hamburger is now made.’ Even though the videos(2) were posted  on the same day, August 5, 2013.

The video below is Al Jazeera’s coverage on this topic. I added this video mostly because of environmentalist,  Kirtana Chandrasekaran’s comment towards the end of the video. Video was posted on August 5, 2013.

Last but not least we have a video which features the taste test of this new lab-grown hamburger. The female critic is Australian nutritionist, Hanni Rutzler and the other critic is a professional food critic named Josh Schonwald. The other man sitting there you might recognize from the other video, is Mark Post and he is a member of the team responsible for the production of this lab-grown hamburger. Video was posted on August 6, 2013.

Peace!

Dr. Cornel West’s reponse to George Zimmerman’s aqquital and relative topics

Hello!

This post will focus on the conversation between Dr. Cornel West and Amy Goodman. I always welcome the opportunity to listen to Dr. West, there are many scholars who are in the public’s eye but few match up to the  consistency and determination that Dr. West possess. I mean how many scholars do you know, publicly criticize society and how we can improve the state in the world. Dr. West talks about poverty; in the US and abroad, gay marriage, the environment, drones, wars, indigenous rights, etc. Such work and determination is tiring, that is one of the reasons why very few, take up the challenge.

The video is from Democracy Now it was posted on Monday July 22, 2013. Dr. West responds to Amy Goodman’s questions about Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, Drones, President Obama, Anwar al-Awlaki, Ray Kelly Civil Rights, etc.

Give it your all Brazil

In the previous post, ‘Jumping over the Bandwagon, I had mentioned that it is really crucial that the people of Brazil rose up now because the world is watching the country in anticipation of the World Cup.  Besides hosting the World Cup there are several reasons why we should be watching Brazil: it is the largest economy in Latin America, it takes the seventh position when it’s economy is compared to the rest of the world and it has arguably the best international soccer team in the world. If you look at the growth of Brazil in the recent years you will see that it has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world, according to Trading Economics, this is due to it’s export potential. The country benefits from its diversity in agriculture as well as manufacturing production. Not to forget the country has an enormous supply of natural resources, all these factors helps the country lure in foreign investors. But all this growth is worth nothing if the country is plagued by a weak infrastructure, a failing education system, corruption, greed, and inequality.

The Brazilian people know that the country is growing and changing; they currently have in office the first female president, Dilma Rousseff leading the country.  So it is only natural that the people want their livelihood to grow with the country; this is one of the reasons why they are protesting.

The World Cup is going to attract the attention of the public and potential investors, which means growth for Brazil. But who is going to benefit from the growth? According to the article, ‘Grumbling in the Terraces,’ found at The Economist, one of the biggest demands made by the Brazilian people, is that schools, hospitals, and other public service facilities, reach the same building standards that stadiums currently in Brazil are reaching.

Two months back the country hosted the Confederations Cup, during that time, FIFA, took over management of the stadiums. Bringing in money, volunteers and order, many would argue that this was a good thing. I would agree as well but the problem is that it does not last, when the show is over no one cares.  If you want to see how fast things change, here is a quotation from the same article mentioned above, found at The Economist:

The 52,825 people who watched Flamengo play Coritiba on July 6th were treated rather differently to the elites who paid top prices to attend the inaugural Confederations Cup match three weeks earlier. Gone were the neat concession stands, the hundreds of volunteers and the top-class facilities for media. Instead, fans and press had the kind of experience that is depressingly familiar at Brazil’s football grounds.

The internet didn’t work, the radio reporters were forced to narrate the game from the stands, and fans were tossed drinks from a big fridge rather than served from behind counters. Even getting to the stadium was difficult: whereas busy avenues were closed to traffic during the Confederations Cup to improve access to the venue, fans now have to run a gauntlet of cars in order to reach the turnstiles. The promised tramlines have yet to materialise.

Complaints are not aimed at FIFA, which during the Confederations Cup provided a level of service to match the ticket prices. Rather, it is aimed at the Brazilian stadium managers who seem to be incapable of providing the same treatment.

The quotation above shines light on one of the problems that surrounds competitions like the World Cup or the Olympics. These games/competitions bring money and build stadiums but they also have a dark side that negatively affects the poor people in the hosting country.

A Geneva-based advocate group, Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), publicized in 2007 that it had an on-going three year study that covered seven past and at that time future events hosted by the Olympics. These events took place Beijing, Atlanta, Seoul, Sydney, Athens, London, and Barcelona; the topics covered included homelessness, crime, and cost of housing.

The study included very credible information which would be crucial in bringing justice to events like these:

For the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, 720,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes and homeless people were rounded up and detained in facilities outside the city, the report said. Development and urbanization led to unaffordable housing.

Leading up to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, more than 400 families were displaced to make room for the Olympic Village, 20 families were evicted from the site of the Olympic stadium and 200 other families were displaced for the construction of ring roads. Housing prices and rents increased 139 and 149 percent respectively during the six-year period before the games and the lack of affordable housing forced low-income earners out of the city.

For the 1996 Atlanta Games, some 30,000 poor residents were displaced due to gentrification. About 2,000 public housing units were demolished.

Legislation was introduced to criminalize homelessness, the report said.Legislative measures also were introduced ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympics to simplify the expropriation of private property. Hundreds of Roma were evicted from their settlements.

 Because the main sporting complex for the 2000 Sydney Games was built on surplus government wasteland, no one was directly evicted or displaced for those games. But the city’s gentrification caused housing prices to more than double between 1996 and 2003. Rents soared 40 percent, forcing many to move to the city’s fringe.

The quotation is from COHRE’s study. You can see that the in justice is something that is not new. Erica Bulman (2007) wrote in an article for USA Today, that COHRE’s same study had details about 1.5 million people being displaced in Beijing ahead of the 2008 Olympics. The media following this were few because we are talking about China (the countries censorship is ridiculous) this is why the upraising in Brazil is necessary; because the world is watching.

The world was watching South Africa but corruption being the blame for many problems in Africa discourages many from expecting any change in Africa. You know that excuse that some people use when the words change and Africa are put in the same sentence. But I will be the first to admit that corruption does run deep in the South African government but the same goes for the Olympics and World Cup organization.

In an article by Gary Anderson called, “South Africa to kick homeless off  streets before the World Cup (2010),” written for Global Research. Mr Anderson wrote this:

More than 800 tramps, beggars and street children have already been removed from Johannesburg and sent to remote settlements hundreds of miles away.

And in Cape Town, where England face Algeria on June 18, up to 300 have been moved to Blikkiesdorp camp where 1,450 families are crammed in a settlement of tin huts designed for just 650 people.

Johannesburg councillor Sipho Masigo was unrepentant. “Homelessness and begging are big problems in the city,” he said. “You have to clean your house before you have guests. There is nothing wrong with that.

You can see that the fault is on both sides, both are necessary for the system to continue. Some of these stadiums in South Africa, which cost at least 30 million US dollars, were only used four times throughout the whole competition. If Sipho Masigo was homeless he would have a problem with being relocated instead of being taken care of.

Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, is kept up by 18 orange iron, ‘giraffes.’

The article, “Human cost of the World Cup (2010),” posted by Al Jazeera, provided more proof of the collaboration of local officials and the representatives of the Olympics and the World Cup. The article showed corruption in England, “In Britain, 400 people were forced out of the Clays Lane estate, which was demolished to make way for the 2012 Olympic Park in East London.” So far it seems like it does not matter where they go these people continue to prey on the vulnerable.

There was some positive news in the article posted by Al Jazeera (2010), the news is that Chicago ahead of the 2016 Olympic bid pledged to be the first city to disallow evictions. The city lost the bid of course but what a moment.

Give it all you got Brazil;Peace!

Reference:

Anderson, Gary. (2010, March 28). South Africa to kick Homeless off streets before World Cup. Global Research. http://www.globalresearch.ca/south-africa-to-kick-homeless-off-streets-before-world-cup/18401

Bulman, Erica. (2007, June 5). Rights group: 1.5 million people displaced by preparations for 2008 Beijing Olympics. USA Today. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-06-05-3431055449_x.htm

Smith, David. (2010, June 2). Nelspruit’s brutal inequalities test World Cup’s legacy. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2010/jun/03/nelspruit-world-cup

http://www.aljazeera.com/sport/2010/03/20103816395976656.html