Book Excerpt Of The Week: Part 1, "Soul Stories" By: Gary Zukav

"An intention is not a wish. A wish doesn't cause anything to happen. An intention pushes against the way things are in your life. Those things push back exactly the same way. (Remember, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction).

You can see what your intentions are by looking at what is happening around you. Are the people in your life kind and loving? If so, your intentions are kind and loving. (And you are a member of the love and kindness clubs). Are the people around you angry or jealous? If so, your intentions are angry or jealous. (And you are a member of the anger and jealousy clubs).

You intentions create everything you experience. For example, if you play baseball, your intentions, not the game, determine what you experience. If you intend to win, you will be anxious before each game. You will be miserable if you lose. You will worry about you teammates, and how they play. If you intend to do your best, your experience will be very different. You will look forward to playing. You will be relaxed and ready for anything. You will be grateful to the other team for giving you the chance to do your best." -From, "Soul Stories" By: Gary Zukav

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

According To The U.S. Government Printing Office's website, "The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 50 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 1926, the United States Code has been published every six years. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information."

TODAY IS...

PLEASE PASS THIS ON! (EACH ONE TEACH ONE OR TWO!) THIS IS PHASE ONE ON HOW WE CAN HELP TO STRENGTHEN & EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY:The 2008 not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell case evoked outrage, emotion, and debate. It is not an anomaly that the police officers involved in the Sean Bell slaying were acquitted of all charges on all counts in State Supreme Court. I could run out of ink printing the names of people who have been victimized by the inaptly named justice system.

The American justice system has been especially terroristic towards the African American community. Many community members can cite historic and personal accounts to prove this. Therefore, it would be foolhardy (at the least) to turn to a system that has methodically oppressed us, and request that they free us. We can only free ourselves through extreme discipline and intelligent planning.

As a community we have been too compliant with leaders who organize ineffective, delayed reactions. The only strategy that can save us in this last hour is one that calls for a collective code of conduct that will be conducive to improving the conditions of our community, and shifting the paradigm of how we are treated by outside entities. The first step of this code of conduct should be based on economics.

The old adage of “money talks,” still reigns true in the new millennium. Any political scientist worth his or her library card will tell you that: “Economic powerlessness equals political powerlessness,” and conversely “economic power equals political power.” This means that if we continue to allow our wealth to be extracted from our community, we will remain impotent.

The power of the collective “Black Dollar” is often discussed. However, that power has been left unchanneled. Today is the day to change that. A one-time boycott is not going to bring long-term change and respect to our community. Our community has launched boycotts before. Our success and ascension will be based on what we consistently do. For this reason, we should initiate “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS.”

BUY BLACK FRIDAYS is a small step towards our community acquiring power via controlling our economics. Every Friday, people who acknowledge the injustice and oppression that the African American community has been consistently subjected to should do one of the following:

Option #1: Spend $0 on Friday
Option #2: Spend no more than $10 on Friday
Option #3: Only Shop at Black Businesses on Friday
[PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE OPTIONS CAN & SHOULD BE EXERCISED ON A DAILY BASIS. However, we can all at the very least focus on Fridays. This way we can take a collective stand and build our collective discipline. Please remember that this is only Phase 1!].

To the people who are tempted to label “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS” as racist, I say this: In the big scheme of things, this is about right & wrong, justice & injustice. The African American community is a strong, proud community that has endured the brunt of America’s iron fist. We must stop the pounding. I feel that any fair-minded individual will concur, and join in.

ANY business that is privileged to enjoy the support of the African American community MUST return that support.

I thank you in advance for your effort and dedication.

-Elsie Law AKA Starface

Quote Of The Day

"Take advantage of every opportunity; where there is none, make it for yourself." -Marcus Garvey

Anecdote Of The Week: Do You Practice What You Preach?

"A mother brought her young son to Mahatma Gandhi. She begged, 'Please, Mahatma. Tell my son to stop eating sugar.'

Gandhi paused, then said, 'Bring your son back in two weeks.' Puzzled the woman thanked him and said that she would do as he asked.

Two weeks later, she returned with her son. Gandhi looked the youngster in the eye and said, 'Stop eating sugar.'

Grateful but bewildered, the woman asked, 'Why did you tell him to come back in two weeks? You could have told him the same thing then.'

Gandhi replied, 'Two weeks ago, I was eating sugar.'"

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

As defined by Black's Law Dictionary, bylaws are: "Regulations, ordinances, rules or laws adopted by an association or corporation or the like for its government. The word is also sometimes used to designate the local laws or municipal statutes of a city or town, though, more commonly the tendency is to employ the word 'ordinance' exclusively for this class of enactments, reserving 'bylaw' for the rules adopted by corporations."

Quote Of The Day

"In America, with all its evils and faults, you can still reach through the forest and see the sun. But we don't know yet whether that sun is rising or setting for our country." -Dick Gregory

Community Council Meetings

NYC police precinct's community council meetings are held monthly (with the exception of July and August).

At these meetings, members of the community gather and have the ear of the the precinct's Inspector, and the Community Council's Executive Board. Minutes are taken by the Board's Secretary, and community concerns are addressed. Other community representatives such as: Councilmen and Councilwomen, Assembly Persons, Senators, and other elected officials are also always in attendance. Therefore, if you would like to speak to your local or state representative, this is the place to be.

You should contact your local precinct for the time, place, and date of their community council meeting.

According to the bylaws of the community council, attending at least 3 community council meetings in a year for a particular precinct, will give you voting rights to vote for who sits on that precinct council's executive board. This voting privilege gives the community power to choose who their community/police liaisons will be.

[SIDEBAR: Community Council Meetings should not be confused with Community Board Meetings. I will be addressing Community Board meetings in an upcoming blog post.]

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words Pic Of The Week

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

According to Black's Law Dictionary: "Unemployment compensation law exclusion tests providing that an employer is not covered if individuals he employs are free from his control, the services are performed outside the employer's places of business, and employees are customarily engaged in independently established trades or professions are known as the 'ABC Tests.'"

Quote Of The Day

"A man is not a man until he is able and willing to accept his own vision of the world, no matter how radically this vision departs from that of others." -James Baldwin

Researchers Say Beware Of Sugar Free Red Bull

The popularity of Red Bull is astounding. In 2007, 3.5 billion cans of Red Bull were reportedly sold across the globe.

In 2003, the sugarless version of the popular "energy drink" was created. Although consumers almost always deem any food product that is marketed as "sugar free" as healthy, researchers are urging Red Bull fans to beware of Sugar Free Red Bull.

According to The Independent, "Australian researchers have found that the sugar-free version of Red Bull may increase the danger of blood clots, and creates 'sticky' blood, raising the risk of heart attack or stroke."

[Source]

Florida: The State Of The Disappearing Ballots, Is At It Again

It is unfathomable that a country as wealthy and technologically advanced as America could possibly have a problem tallying votes during elections. However, in 2000, the "leader of the free world" was ushered into office amidst a ballot-counting scandal in the state of Florida. For the most part, the U.S. government inexplicably placed the blame for the miscount on the butterfly ballots that were used in Florida.

Since the 2000 presidential election, Florida's counties have implemented multi-million dollar optical scan voting machines. You would think that these new, expensive contraptions would alleviate any voting mishaps; think again.

According to Wired Magazine, after a recent judicial election in Florida, in which the votes had to be recounted due to a close race, over 3,000 cast ballots "mysteriously disappeared ."

Wired reports that the Palm Beach County Election Supervisor stated that, "the discrepancy in the number of votes cast in the judicial race was likely due to the extra sensitivity of optical-scan machines used in the recount, which are different from optical-scan machines that counted the ballots on Election Day. The seven high-speed tabulating machines used in the recount are much more 'unforgiving' than those that processed the votes on election day." [SIDEBAR: ???...More excuses after a few million spent.]

Floridians should take this newest voting faux pas as a heads-up to be on high alert come this November. Make sure that your vote is counted.

Video Of The Week

Spoken Word=Spoken Truth

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

Three Latin Legal Terms:

1)Actus Reus= "Guilty act." (The offense that the defendant is accused of).
2)Res Judicata= "A thing adjudged." (Once a case has been finally decided upon by a court, the same parties cannot attempt to raise the issue by or during further proceedings).
3)Sine Die= "Without a day." (A hearing that has been adjourned sine die, is one that stands open indefinitely without a future hearing date having been set).

Quote Of The Day

"The real slave needs no chains." -Dick Gregory

Why Do I Get The Feeling That The Republicans Aren't Even Trying To Win...

The puppet show that is U.S. politics never ceases to baffle me. The way the Republicans are campaigning is not indicative of a party that is out to win. They have been very sloppy in their campaigning maneuvers...The question is, "Why???"

Why would such a highly competitive political party be so lackadaisical in operating such a pivotal campaign. I can't call it, but feel free to let your imaginations run wild...

[SIDEBAR: I've officially become jaded...I find it close to impossible to rout for political candidates.]

Hurricanes Continue To Hit The Caribbean

This year's hurricane season has been no joke. The Caribbean has been especially hard hit. According to the BBC, Hurricane Ike, the most recent hurricane to hit the Caribbean Islands, has "killed 61 people in Haiti and reportedly damaged 80% of the homes on the main Turks and Caicos islands."

Cuba has also been hit with unprecedented storms. The BBC reports that Jose Rubiera, the head of Cuba's meteorological service, told state TV that, "In all of Cuba's history, we have never had two hurricanes this close together."

After being hit by Hurricane Gustav, Ike hit Cuba with 100 mile winds which created 50 foot waves (SEE picture above), and reportedly lead to the evacuation of approximately 1 million Cubans from their homes.

Please continue to help those in need anyway that you can.

Are Marches Still A Viable Option For Bringing About Social Change?

Although marches have often been used as a tool to help encourage social change, this tool is only effective when it is combined with other strategies.

Historians often give a myopic view of how the marches of the 60s were a catalyst for civil rights advances for African Americans. We frequently hear that the March on Washington, the sit-ins, and other public rallies were successful in forcing America's hand when it came to racist practices. However the potency of protest tools such as: community organizing, boycotts, education, and economic self-reliance are often downplayed or down-right forgotten. The all-important spiritual factor is also hardly ever mentioned.

Martin Luther King Jr., himself- one of the most famous march organizers in history- contemplated the effectiveness of marches as a political tool to bring about the necessary changes that the Black community needed. In, "Let The Trumpet Sound," a biography about Dr. King, the author- Stephen B. Oates, notes how Martin Luther King began to refine his reliance on marches as a political strategy. An excerpt from the book states: "The failures of Chicago had convinced him that the southern tactics of street marches and demonstrations were unsound in the northern ghetto. As he [Martin Luther King Jr.] pointed out, a march down a street in Selma, Alabama was a revolutionary step, but a march through the northern ghetto was scarcely even distracting because the turbulence of city life absorbed the march 'as mere transitory drama.' In the south, the street march has caused a social earthquake. In the North, it was only 'a faint, brief exclamation of protest.' Something else had to be found 'within the arsenal of nonviolence,' a new approach that would salvage nonviolence as a tactic, as well as dramatize the need for job and economic advancement for the poor."

It should also be noted that Dr. King also staged successful boycotts, like the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Also, at the time of his death, he was organizing a "Poor People's Campaign" that was to combine the tools of public protests, boycotts, and civil disobedience at the gates of Washington to disrupt the government's daily meanderings.

It is important for people who are trying to replicate some of the success of the past to have a full and accurate picture of it. If the vision is not clear, failure is inevitable. With that being said, we all must ask ourselves, "How will we bring about the necessary changes in 2008?"

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

Voir Dire is a french term that literally means, "to speak the truth." This term is also used in the American legal system as "a phrase that denotes the preliminary examination which the court may make of one presented as a witness or juror, where his competency, interest, etc., is objected to." [Definition quoted from Black's Law Dictionary.]