Posted: 2/19/2004 8:50:42 PM
Author: Zalala
The true patriots gathered near downtown Tampa in a large parking lot to see George Bush and his entourage on Monday, the 9th of February at 9PM. The patriots paid homage by blowing "Hail to the Thief" on their kazoos at GW's arrival. His words echoed loudly from amplifiers, music from the speakers on the effigy played the old Motown song, “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire” and local peace loving dignitaries were everywhere and EVERYONE had a great time! There were plenty of hot dogs, sodas and ice cream courtesy of Ben and Jerry! Well, maybe this wasn’t the George W. Bush you are thinking of, but the one created, made and sponsored by TrueMajority.com, an organization headed by Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream fame. The effigy of GW was wearing a flight suit, had flames shooting out of his butt (made with orange colored, illuminated fabric) placed on a platform and was being pulled around town by a very fancy black Crown Victoria in true VIP style. Most of the articles written about him in the local press managed to eliminate the words “LIAR LIAR.”
This particular George W. Bush is making a cross-country tour during this political campaign so that people will know all about
TrueMajority.com. There were many sightings of him in the local area this past week. Problem is, people did not know which one they were going to see and it was the cause of many mixed emotions and feelings!
The Tampa Bay area was also inundated with the planning, timing and all kinds of brouhaha regarding the REAL George W. Bush’s arrival to the Tampa Bay area during the same week! The REAL George W. Bush touted himself as the--I flew fighters when I was in the Guard and I like speed--President while at the Daytona 500 Stock Car Race on Sunday, February 15th. After his campaign visit/photo opportunity/public relations appearance at Daytona, he was scheduled to arrive in Tampa right after the race. He was greeted by more peace loving people, waving and holding up lots of signs as his plane arrived in Tampa airspace right after 4PM and flew low to approach the runway at Tampa International for landing. The crowd was waiting on the Gandy Bridge in complete view of the approaching aircraft and accompanied by the “Liar Liar, Pants on Fire” George and his entourage in all their pomp and glory.
The P-Resident and his wife had dinner at Bern’s Steakhouse, one of the most famous eateries and landmarks in Tampa. Later that night the local TV station reported that George W. Bush and his wife were staying in downtown Tampa at the Hyatt Regency and that the security there was set to HIGH MODE and everything was locked down for two square blocks on each side of the hotel. Guests with reservations that were staying at the same hotel had to walk 2 blocks with their bags in tow to get to the front desk to check in.
The REAL George W. Bush appeared at a company called NuAir on Monday, February 16th, President’s Day for yet another campaign visit/photo opportunity/public relations appearance combined with a town hall type meeting regarding his tax incentives for small, minority-owned businesses. This was rather unlike a regular type of Town Hall Meeting, however as the talk seemed scripted and very much biased. The conversation started with the P-Resident and the CEO of the company, Connie Horner, an attractive woman with flowing ashen blonde hair and a few other token people that said a few lines or asked questions. I kept wondering as I viewed this talk that was aired on local television, just how many of the 600 employees that were there made over $10 an hour and how many of them were single mothers with little or no benefits. One woman discussed how much she had received from the tax relief, over $2,400 and that she would use it to take a vacation. I do not know about all of you, but that does not even cover my bills for two months and I have not had a vacation in 5 years. "That may not sound a lot to some people in Washington, $2,400," Bush stated. "It's a lot of money. It's a lot of security. It's a lot of hope."
Bob Graham stated that at least 19,000 jobs have been lost in the Tampa area alone since George W. Bush took office. The President did not select any local companies that have had severe layoffs recently to visit during his time in Tampa. "The president has a tendency to go into a community, pick a place where he'll get a good response, declare victory and go home," Bob Graham was quoted as saying.
Well, which George would YOU rather hook up with? I know where I had the most fun!!! And I also know which one is the liar!
WILL THE REAL GEORGE W. BUSH PLEASE STAND UP!
Related Websites:
http://www.truemajority.org
http://www.blogwood.com/archives/000319.html
(Pictures included here!)
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Related Stories in the St. Petersburg Times:
(The information on these stories is noted rather than the links/URLs because the archived stories on the Internet tend to get reshuffled and then cannot be accessed by users. A search can be done on the titles in the ARCHIVES section.)
Better times are coming, Bush tells 600 in Tampa
TAMARA LUSH; St. Petersburg Times; Feb 17, 2004; pg. 1.A
PRESIDENTIAL VISIT // Bush swings across Central Florida
TAMARA LUSH; St. Petersburg Times; Feb 16, 2004; pg. 1.B
Company's growth draws political attention
STEVE HUETTEL; St. Petersburg Times; Feb 14, 2004; pg. 1.D
As a perk, Bush coming to Tampa
TAMARA LUSH; St. Petersburg Times; Feb 13, 2004; pg. 1.A
Mr. President, if I may have a moment of your time?
HOWARD TROXLER; St. Petersburg Times; Feb 15, 2004; pg. 1.B
PARTISAN ARTISTRY // In Tampa, a tour of high office hot pants
TAMARA LUSH; St. Petersburg Times; Feb 14, 2004; pg. 3.B
Posted: 2/15/2004 5:46:27 PM
Author: Zalala
It was quite an honor to be able to speak with Faith Fippinger, the Human Shield last week about her sentencing to 3 months in a federal prison for performing humanitarian aid to the Iraqis at the beginning of the war. Faith’s voice is sweet, kind, very much the voice of a teacher and inflected throughout with the emotion of what she has seen and what has happened to her since her sojourn to Iraq. I cried with her when I told her to feel free to shed a tear or two and that many others and I were crying with her.
I asked her how she felt at becoming the media darling of the so-called liberal and progressive left. She feels very humbled by being compared to other great peacemakers. It is a situation that she does not feel comfortable with...she is not what she calls a public speaker and does not feel that she excels at writing, so she feels at times like she was thrown into this position. She did not think that she would ever receive recognition for anything she had ever done previously either, to include teaching the blind, being an active voice against the School of the Americas and other political actions that she has had a part in. She did envision playing tennis, reading and gardening during the sunset years of her life. Instead, by being a concerned citizen, she has become an impressive and loud but humble voice for change!
There is an old media image about strong women, "You've come a long way, baby!" from an old cigarette ad, and I told her that this truly describes women like her, who are brave and will not back down while facing so much adversity. She did not see herself as a liberated woman, so to speak, but one who wants to be a voice for change. She encourages others who are in situations similar to the one she is in to keep doing what they are doing, to rise up. “Never back down! Never deny who you are!” she stated emphatically.
What were her impressions in the courtroom? That the sentences for all who were guilty of what she had done—as she was sentenced with others were previously set and nothing that she or her attorney could have done would have changed the outcome. She remembered that there was a quote on the wall in the courtroom by Jimmy Carter about justice, but she could not remember the quote. She did note that it seemed eerily out of place with what was really happening there in the courtroom. One of those being tried with her lost his mother in a car accident and his father had survived the same accident. This had occurred during the proceedings and he still received 3 months of incarceration. Faith was sure that the decisions about the sentencing were all set before any of them had even walked into the courtroom. She considers herself fortunate to have a very small sentence in light of the possibilities of how long the sentence could have been and how much she could have been fined.
Her family and friends are wonderful and continue to support her and what she is doing and her faith sustains her. She is a Buddhist. She takes solace in knowing that there are others who do the same things as she does. She keeps in touch with a whole network of people from all over, SOA people and others. She listens to music and meditates for stress relief. She does not think that she suffers from any stress related illnesses at this time. But she does cry all the time for those that are suffering or being killed in the war zone. She wonders about the specific people that she met in the hospitals in Iraq; about the man who had lost his whole family and the woman who could not hold her baby because her arms had been blown off.
I asked Faith how she will spend her time while incarcerated as a political prisoner here in her own country? She said she would go outward and inward, write, and spend time with different people from a whole different system of disenfranchisement and oppression. She is aware that many of the people that she will be incarcerated with are black and poor and she is white and grew up privileged and that there are many lessons to be learned from that. She will take the opportunity as a time to do well and to help others and to spread the word about peace and love.
Faith does not let a lot of negative enter in her world and that is a good thing for her. She is not connected to the Internet right now and uses her brother’s computer when she needs to be updated or check out certain websites. She does not watch TV, but she listens to radio programs and community radio, WMNF-FM and reads the newspapers. She is aware of the propaganda in the mainstream media and works at discerning what is truth and what is false.
Faith has been asked to write about her experiences but does not feel comfortable doing that at this time. She has left her options open, but takes each day as it comes and feels that the decision-making needs to be done after her time of incarceration is served.
I told her that for a woman who does not get on the Internet very much, there sure were countless pages, websites, blogs and a tribute site made for her that I was able to get by just putting her name into a search. She laughed at that and seemed quite surprised. I described her tribute site to her, the painting on the main page, the colors, etc., and gave her the URL so she could look it up. Then I read the poem on the main page of the site to her, the one by Helen Keller. She cried and I did too! We can only aspire to how this soft spoken and dedicated woman looks at life!
Bless you, Faith!
“Doubt sees the obstacles, Faith sees the way,
Doubt sees the darkness, Faith sees the day!
Doubt dreads to take a step, Faith soars on high,
Doubt asks, “Who believes? Faith answers, “I””
http://www.faithinamerica.org/
http://www.faithinamerica.org/main.html
Originally Posted on Tampa IndyMedia:
1/26/2004 9:47:45 PM
Author: Zalala
The night of Friday, October 3rd, 2003 was just like most any other weekend evening at Baywalk Center in St. Petersburg. Young people gathered in the clubs and bars or walked through the courtyard on their way to the movies or the shops. The early fall weather was perfect and enticing. The vibe was festive and everyone was ready to have an evening of fun after a long work week.
A young African-American man, Keith Stewart aka Mtundu was there that night hanging with a few friends at Wet Willie's on the upper level of Baywalk Center. He is the nephew of the founder and leader of the Uhuru Movement and a member and organizer himself, handsome, reserved and well-spoken, he was getting ready to leave the bar and head over to Tampa to meet some more friends at a club over there.
As he left Wet Willie's and walked onto the upper level of the courtyard, he saw several policeman beating up a young black man. The young man was not resisting or fighting the police, but he was being strong-armed by the police. He had been thrown to the ground by the police and they were forcing their knees onto the back of his head as his face was being mashed into the cement. A crowd had gathered and people in the crowd were aghast at what was happening and several were speaking out and asking the police not to hurt him.
Keith could not ignore what was happening and just stand there and LET it happen. His sense of right and wrong, his knowledge of peace and justice at any cost, he felt motivated to speak out! He asked the police why they were being violent with the young man. Others in the crowd, which was mixed in age and ethnicity, began to ask the policemen the same questions. Keith had taken the names of the police from their name tags to document later. He then got on his cell phone. First, he called his mother and asked her to call the city police department so they could be informed about a few of "their own" who were arresting a young black man with unnecessary brute force. He then called the Chairman of the Uhuru Movement, Omali Yeshitela, to state what he saw taking place in front of him. .
As Keith was speaking with Omali on his cell phone, a few of the police made their move. They walked over to him with the handcuffs. Keith let his cell phone drop to the ground and put his arms behind his back as he realized within those few seconds that the police were going to arrest him. He did not know why he was being arrested. Any observer to all of this would have thought that this earnest young man was simply being a good citizen. The cuffs were put on.
Another young man named Sean Pinkney, whom Keith had never met before, picked up Keith's cell phone and asked him who he could call for him, simply offering him a helping hand in a time of need. The police standing nearby also slapped handcuffs on Pinkney. Both young men were arrested for inciting a riot and resisting arrest without violence.
Funny, as there are no records anywhere that state that a riot has ever occurred at Baywalk Center and one would THINK that if one is being arrested for inciting a riot than that said riot had to take place.
How can one resist arrest without being violent? This was defined by a policewoman at the Clearwater Police Department as a person being arrested that did not fully cooperate with the police. This is very open-ended terminology. It was stated that Keith Stewart dropped his phone and put his hands behind his back. By all accounts, that does not sound like resisting arrest.
Friday, January 23, 2004 at the Pinellas County Courthouse, the State of Florida wanted to try these young men, Stewart and Pinkney seperately for the same crimes and scheduled a trial date for March 16, 2004 for both of them. Keith Stewart waived his right to a speedy trial.
What are the REAL and underlying issues here besides the charges against these men?
So far, the facts are these: black teenagers are not permitted to gather in groups of larger than two people in Baywalk Center according to Sembler policies. There is a dress code enforced for the young black teenagers and young adults and the same rules do not seem to be enforced or applied with the white visitors to Baywalk Center. The Sembler Company that owns Baywalk Center has created a racially motivated "profile" of the typical black patron and this includes "gang attire." The company also counsels local police and security officers on how to treat these customers.
For some time now, young black people are saying they are being harrassed during their visits to Baywalk Center. This is happening even if they are going to the movie theatre in the courtyard and not frequenting the clubs. It is a stark reminder of the tension that never really went away after the riots in St. Petersburg's black communities that were spawned by the police killing of the teenager, Tyron Lewis in October of 1996.
Baywalk Center was built with $12 million of taxpayer's money, and this includes monies from black citizens as well. Instead of public funds being used to upgrade and revitalize the black communities and their neighborhoods as originally planned, all of that planning got put on the back burner. These funds were then allocated for the building of Baywalk Center, revamping the surrounding city blocks and for the promotion of more tourist attracting businesses within the downtown area.
The Sembler Company also owns the new and rebuilt Clearwater Mall on the corner of Route 19 and Gulf to Bay Boulevard. One only has to look at the planning of that Mall and know that the Sembler Company did not want to repeat what they had done with Baywalk Center. The parking lot and traffic is hazardous and the Mall was built with separate buildings housing three to four stores each and situated very far away from each other. A customer has to drive and park again to go from store to store. There are no movie theatres and no drinking establishments. And no young people, black or white, gathering or congregating. This appears to have been planned very carefully.
This blatant disenfranchisement of the black population in "Midtown" St. Petersburg as an entity that is not welcome in Baywalk Center, when their taxes were used to build the complex has many grassroots groups and activist leaders at edge with the local government. Friction in the downtown area is bound to escalate as these injustices continue to be carried out unabated.
Just wanted to say HI and Greetings to all those out there in Space and Cyberspace!
I am the Empress of Planet Claire, a cosmic day and night tripper and writer extraordinaire! This blog will be a collection of my rantings, ravings and musics for all of you to read, be informed and enjoy!
You can see some of my work at
http://www.tampaindymedia.org
More will come later!
"Z"
