This one goes out to the struggling spirits out there. The ones who get struck by what they see. I’ll sit with you and watch the clouds drift by, watch the stream flow, watch the sun set and the moon rise. I’ll consider your questions, I’ll listen to your thoughts. I’ll walk with you where you fear to go, I’ll stand with you against what you fear to face, just let me know. Lets just do it, no more hesitation or procrastination. The wind is letting us know by the strength of its blows that it won’t wait for our conviction. It passes and is gone. I’m ready now to see what you’re made of, I’m ready to see what I’m made of. Will we pass the test or will we fall with the rest? Tell me, tell me what’s your meaning when you say love? Do you understand it, is it pure? Can you define it? Do you know what it means? Please tell me I need to know, I’m dying without you. We are surrounded by false realities, wrong predictions, immoral ethics. When can we start? I’ll lift you up first, just don’t forget to pull me up second. Any other way won’t work, do you believe me? We have to do the Works. I’ve seen the Works, and it works. I just need you there, one can’t do the work as one. Stop, do you hear my words? Stop, do you feel my heart? Stop, stop, stop. Wait…do you hear my words and do you feel my heart? Will you trust me? I won’t lie, it’s a heavy load we must carry. Undivided it will be done. Just know they will criticize, scrutinize, and deny us. All attempts to divide us. I won’t leave you, there is none good among them, but we can inspire them because we will stand undivided. I know its true because as I write to you He told me so, He turned the volume low and made my heart flow. I won’t ever trade that for this world of greed, it would take a weak heart to give in. I know yours is strong, I know yours will stand even alone until He rescues you. The setting suns and rising moons are numbered, believe when I say the peaceful hearts must stand. So make up your mind, no more confused attitude. Do you want to want or do you want to give? If you want to give then you’ll never want. I feel so much guiltiness for being handed material things and feeling bliss. They made all my desires into something I could hold, something I could touch. They tricked me, they tricked you…now the fire is burning. Up in smoke it goes, the revolution took place and they lost control. Its time to pass out torches, who wants one?

Compañeros y Compañeras

Listen up my friends. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be part of the events you see on the news, the stories you hear on the streets, the lives you read in the paper or on the internet? What if for a moment you could put yourself into that “other persons” shoes. What if you had been in Sri Lanka during the Tsunami, what if it was your father trapped in the Utah mine collapse or the Chinese mine collapse, what if it was your daughter that died in the latest bombing in Iraq, what if it was your family starving to death in Darfur? Think about all the people you hear that suffer, that die. All the family and friends that are left behind. The empty space that once was once filled by the love of someone’s life. What if for a moment you could see what they saw, feel what they felt, think what they thought. Would you be changed? What do you imagine would happen in your heart? Would you regret it? Would you be thankful? Would you look at it like a punishment or a blessing? Would you do something different?



This my friends is a plea to you all. A plea for your open ears and open hearts. We are living in a time of war. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. There is physical violence being waged on innocent people all over the world. There are mental raids taking place on your psychology. There is a drowning of your spiritual awareness each and every day. If you can’t picture what I’m saying it’s because they have stolen your imagination. The imagination you once had as a child has been replaced by visual and verbal facts of your reality. A reality you never would have imagined or wanted. We all understand that time is precious, but what in the past few years has any of us accomplished that will outweigh the horror we have ignored? Did I even think when I paid the $25 cover to enter the club that I could have supplied the basic health needs of more than 100 children for 3 months? While we party and enjoy our lives we die. Spiritually, mentally, and physically. How long will you keep ignoring the lies YOU KNOW exist.



We are falsely blessed my friends. Time is of the essence and they are hiding it from us. They haven’t told you how likely it is that by 2030 global warming will be irreversible. That haven’t told you how water may be the oil of the future and that lower end of the estimates put 2/3 of the worlds population in water distress by 2025. They haven’t explained that we are in debt for the rest of our lives to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), both private organizations making profit for undisclosed individuals for personal gains. They have yet to admit that we are failing our earth, our God, our ancestors, our children, and ourselves. Are you wondering who are “they”? Just know that they exist and that answer will surface. Ignore that they exist and it will be ignored that you exist.



-Livesoul



www.thefourthworldwar.blogspot.com

Animal Farm

One day, I was flipping through the channels, then I came across some news, I started listening about how the Iraq war is going, how far along we have come since we started the war in 2003, it was a brief segment so it left me with a lot doubt and thus it inspired me to question the true motives of this war and true price we citizens must eventually pay. It has been almost four years and there’s still a lot of battles going on and no resolution in sight even after President Bush had declared “mission accomplished” a few years back. They’re not really reporting what’s going on, there is a lot of distortion, and a lot of manipulation of the events and facts.

I’m thinking of all this because I’m concerned about the way we got into the war, why we got into the war, why is it taking so long, like it’s just their not telling the truth about anything anymore. How Washington tries to disguise everything. The media always seems to find facts and twists them. For every action they do, it seems to set things back up. All these things happening, all the war efforts, and borrowing all this money. All to be paid back by the citizens, and the people don’t realize they are going to pay all this money. Not just them, the generations and past through that. Further and further we go into debt as we try to plant democracy in a country that can’t be governed by the same elements by which we’re governed. The reason we can’t govern them is because we are invading them. And they see us as a threat to their sovereignty and way of life.

It seems it’s all a big experimental game. Where our media outlets say, that our troops are there to protect our freedom, to say we have “freed” the people of Iraq, it was for the cause of Liberty. And that we were there to bring down a tyrant, a fascist, a man who would have been no threat except for the fact that we armed him and his military years ago. Its all for the interest of these business, the big businesses and conglomerates, and its obvious you know. It’s obvious who they are because they are the ones winning all the bids to rebuild a country. Can you imagine the cost of rebuilding an entire country? You should, because so far we have spent we have spent over $500 billion dollars on this war. We were tapped for $84 billion here, $200 billion there $45 billion there. In increments that eventually dulled our mentality to it. And now the cost is going to be a burden on us and our children. Why aren’t we explained what this enormous debt means? At what rate is it being borrowed? How will this affect the way we live? When we as individuals are in debt, life is very hard. If we as a country are in debt, how come it doesn’t seem hard…yet.

The individuals that are in political roles are making decisions on behalf of the citizens to take out enormous loans. Who is it that’s loaning the money and at what interest rates and terms? The money borrowed is being used to pay companies to create military technology, take part in the reconstruction of Iraq, and establish a government with whom we can have approachable relations for interest groups benefits. Therefore, while they are making money off a venture that has no end or no resolution in the near future, we citizens are the ones paying the bill, literally. I don’t know why people seem to distance themselves from that. This endless war and stream of constant news has apathetically pushed the reality to the back of our minds. But it must be faced eventually.

The majority of citizens are going deeply into debt while a fractional minority is increasing their wealth exceptionally. The owners of these corporations are the same people that are in political roles presently and through financial affiliations. This is all verifiable but never emphasized enough to signal a red flag. One of the obvious ones is Dick Cheney, the number two in command of our country. He uses to be the CEO of Halliburton, chief executive officer, that’s basically the number one or two of that company. And who is the largest contractor in Iraq?? HALLIBURTON. There is a danger to having a government that has the interests of a corporation in mind. It leaves the interest of the people vulnerable. Because there should be no interest, other than that of the people, in the political agenda of those that are suppose to be representing us. How is this dangerous? Let’s put it this way, would a father feed a child that’s not his and let his own be hungry?

Let me put this into perspective. Let’s say I own a construction company and I want more business. So I destroy a neighborhood so that I can rebuild it. Then I have a bank loan YOU money to pay ME to do the job. I will make an enormous amount of money and so will the bank off the interest, all from your income. This is all possible because we have elected these individuals into fiduciary roles that allow them these authorities. However, the reality is they have violated their fiduciary responsibilities and the law. Corporations are using their roles within governments to increase their wealth. This couldn’t be more obvious when you consider the actual verifiable corporate interests our elected officials have. Especially when you consider we have spent $500 billion dollars on a war and that it would only take $13 billion dollars to feed the poorest half of humanity and provide livable conditions for them for an entire year. Isn’t that the better way to fight “terrorism”, with kindness? The truth is that it’s not about terrorism, it’s about profit. The word “terrorism” happens to be the conduit into that profit. If $13 billion per year sounds like a lot just think that the USA and Europe spend more than that on perfume each year. And if you break down what we have spent so far on the war it’s over $125 billion per year. $13 billion dollars is truly not that much money when we could save over thirty million lives per year; eleven million of which are children’s lives. That doesn’t even include alleviating the daily suffering of two billion people from illness, disease, & mental torment resulting from malnutrition.


The next searing question is why doesn’t the media expose these relationships and realities on the level that they should. With very very few exceptions, the media corporations are also profit driven. KBPS, NPR, and maybe a few others still report decent and actual information on the events surrounding us. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and any of the larger corporate media outlets all are responsible for shareholders interests. The shareholders interest depends on ratings. So whether it’s their entertainment lineup like the comedy shows to drama shows, or the commercials, or the news show, they need to capture our attention. Conflict, drama, fear, all create an atmosphere of anxiety. The time before the war, what was the atmosphere like? Not how it is now, we have this war looming over our shoulders, we fight with family and friends and stranger citizens over perspectives, we fight within ourselves over thoughts, beliefs, morality. During war we are attached to the news, we are attached to the TV shows that distract us and conform us deeper into an insecure state of mind seeking a secure state of mind. Their ratings are skyrocketing, these companies are growing and monopolizing. For example; Time Warner, Disney, Viacom, and News Corp. Rupert Murdoch is the owner of News Corp. He is the majority shareholder, chairman, and managing director of this media conglomerate, one of the largest in the world and based right out of New York. The number of other companies that News Corp owns is staggering. It’s at a figure that taps nearly every American citizen with their influence. If you were to read the list located at the web address below you would be shocked as to how many of his companies you are familiar with. Just to name a few…FOX, Discovery Channel, DirecTV, Myspace, New York Post. He’s now looking to purchase the DOW Jones which also owns The Wall Street Journal. He literally owns hundreds of newspapers and TV channels in the United States as well as abroad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_corp

It became possible with the increase in international media (rather than national) and commerce that these companies have been able to more than triple in size just within the last 10 years. Everyone has felt greed, these companies are at a level of greediness which is unstoppable. Unstoppable like the child that won’t cease his wayward actions, at least not until he is shocked with the realization that comes with a spanking. For greed they don’t show us the truth. As they grow, their influence grows, and so grows their power. This source of power attracts other sources of power including the government and its leaders. So the collaboration begins between these powers to maintain their status and control.

The relationship can be established easily with the evidence available since the day the war started. There are clear reasons. And these states of affairs can be within any open minded individuals mental court and a better ability of discernment will be able to judge the difference between the sheep and the wolf in sheep’s clothing. We need to realize the atrocities going on outside our borders, as well as within. The Bush administration and Murdoch worked closely together to influence our country into war and heavily assisted Bush in getting re-elected by reporting biased polls, reports, and news. Murdoch was caught admitting in Switzerland that they “tried” to sway American’s into the war.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=83a89921-3590-4a8d-8b63-b206d9a238ba&p=News_Comment%20-%20Analysis&t=c1149&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19504943/&fg=

Imagine an alliance between the banks, the most powerful political figure in the world, The United States President, and the most powerful Media corporation in the world, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. We are like animals on a farm, trusting the shepherds to feed, shelter, and protect us while we work and provide them the resources necessary to accomplish that task. Instead they are misleading us, growing fat and making their homes huge while the barn and our lives deteriorate. How many must die until we realize they don’t care about us?



Read the book by George Wells, Animal Farm.

Plot summary (Pulled from Wikepedia)
Old Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm (or "Willingdon Beauty" as he is called when he is exhibited) calls the other animals on the Farm for a meeting, where he compares the humans to parasites, and then proceeds to teach the animals a revolutionary song: "Beasts of England."

When Major dies three days later, two young boars - Snowball and Napoleon - assume command, and turn his dream into a full-fledged philosophy. The animals revolt and drive Mr. Jones from the farm, renaming it "Animal Farm."

The Seven Commandments of Animalism are written on the wall of a barn for all to read. The most important is "all animals are equal." All animals work, but the workhorse, Boxer, does more than others and adopts the maxim — "I will work harder."

Snowball teaches the other animals to read and write (though few besides the pigs learn to read well), food is plentiful, and the entire farm is organized and runs smoothly. Meanwhile, Napoleon takes the pups from the farm dogs and trains them privately. When Mr. Jones tries to retake the farm, the animals defeat him at what they call the "Battle of the Cowshed." Napoleon and Snowball begin a power struggle for leadership. When Snowball announces his idea for a windmill, Napoleon quickly opposes it. Snowball makes a passionate speech in favour of the windmill, then Napoleon summons his nine attack dogs, which chase Snowball away. In Snowball's absence, Napoleon declares himself leader and makes changes. Meetings will no longer be held because a committee of pigs alone will decide what happens with the farm.

Napoleon, using Squealer as a mouthpiece, announces that Snowball stole the idea for the windmill from him. The animals work harder with the promise of easier lives with the windmill. After a violent storm, the animals find the fruit of their labor annihilated. Though neighboring farmers scoff at the thin walls, Napoleon and Squealer convince everyone that Snowball destroyed the windmill. Once Snowball becomes the scapegoat of the story, Napoleon begins to purge the farm, killing many animals he accuses of consorting with Snowball. Meanwhile, Boxer takes a second mantra, "Napoleon is always right."

Napoleon abuses his powers, and life becomes harder and harder for the animals; the pigs impose more and more controls on them while reserving privileges for themselves. The pigs rewrite history to villainize Snowball and glorify Napoleon(i.e stating that Snowball fought for the humans in the Battle of the Cowshed, and that Napoleon bit Snowball, when Snowball was actually hit by a pellet from Jones' gun.) Squealer justifies everything, even the occasions when the pigs alter the Seven Commandments— for example, "No animal shall drink alcohol" becomes "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess." The song "Beasts of England" is banned as inappropriate (as the dream of Animal Farm has been realized), and is replaced by an anthem glorifying Napoleon, who begins to live more and more like a human. The animals, though cold, starving, and overworked, remain convinced that they are still better off than when they were ruled by Mr. Jones, the previous (human) owner of Manor Farm. Squealer abuses the animals' poor memories and invents numbers to show their improvement.

Mr. Frederick, one of the two neighboring farmers, swindles Napoleon by buying lumber with forged money, and then attacks the farm, using blasting powder to blow up the recently restored windmill. Though the animals of Animal Farm eventually win the battle, they do so at a great cost, as many of the animals, including Boxer, are wounded. (Squealer, however, was mysteriously absent from the fight). However, Boxer continues to work harder and harder, until he finally collapses while working on the windmill. Napoleon sends for a van to take Boxer to the veterinarian, explaining to the worried animals that better care can be given there. However, Benjamin notices as Boxer is loaded up that the van really belongs to "Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler", but the animals' last desperate attempts are futile. Squealer quickly reports that the van had been purchased by the hospital and that the writing from the previous owner had simply not been repainted yet. He then recounts a dramatic and tear-felt tale of Boxer's death in the hands of the best medical care. In reality, the pigs sent Boxer to his death in exchange for money to buy more whiskey.

Many years pass, and the pigs learn to walk upright, carry whips, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are reduced to a single phrase: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs and the humans of the area (in the adjacent Foxwood Farm, run by Mr. Pilkington), who congratulate Napoleon on having the hardest-working animals in the country on the least feed. Napoleon announces his alliance with the humans, against the labouring classes of both "worlds". He then abolishes practices and traditions related to the Revolution, and renames the farm "the Manor Farm".

The animals, overhearing the conversation, notice that the faces of the ruling pigs have begun changing. During a poker match, an argument breaks out between Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington when they both play the Ace of Spades, and the animals realize that the faces of the pigs now look almost exactly like the faces of humans and they can no longer easily tell the difference between them.

Weakness in the mind...

Weakness in the mind…

Most everyone will agree that the human mind is one of the most complex organs in our bodies and of any living creature on this planet. The complexity of this organ means that to utilize it to its fullest capacity one is to practice and learn it. The problem lies in the difficulty to gage the threshold of its potential. So at whatever level the urge to increase its development requires self realization, determination, and pressure. What insistence is there when daily you are able to awake then sleep in a rhythmic manner?
Growing up in one of the richest countries in the world we most often aren’t faced with the adversities and situations laid upon the majority of the human population. Food, medicine, shelter, sanitation, & education are features allotted to us in greater proportion when compared to the rest of the world. The United States is guilty of being 5% of the world’s population while consuming 25% of the world’s resources. Since birth, we Americans are immediately imparted with less of an understanding of what true struggle actually means. Without our minds experiencing the different emotions and sensations that come with extreme hardship and radical misfortune we cannot understand the full spectrum of challenges the world faces outside of our personal environment. This is especially true if you are not seeking or not being taught the reality of being born on the other side of our borders.
There is a clear display of this ignorance when you consider that the social structure depends on the economic structure in the USA. In order to live a joyous comfortable life as defined by Americans you must have money. Money talks, money walks, money buys happiness. The issue with this is the false understanding of what happiness truly means. Which is why the saying money can’t buy happiness in its raw sense is simply true. Yet we don’t consider most issues from a basic moral perspective. At its root money is simply paper. We place an enormous value upon this material object without considering the consequences of establishing this mentality as faultless modus operandi (a method of operating or functioning).


We should question why we are constantly told to purchase the newest model car every year and the cell phone with the most features. We should ask why we feel guilty for not being able to give our loved ones a present every Christmas, fathers day, mothers day, thanksgiving, birthday, valentines, or anniversary. Where does the guilt come from and why? We should wonder why on the television, radio, internet, streets, buildings, and even the sky and water we are attacked with advertisements to spend and spend the paper we hold so valuable. We should wonder why especially when 11 million children die of illnesses resulting from malnutrition every single year soley because they lack the "paper", and every subsequent year the situation and numbers worsen.
The unfortunate path of our narrow minded or unaware society has caused death, oppression, and suffering comparable to the atrocities seen in the holocaust. Yet we don’t even realize it. A nation of blind hypocrites is what we are. A nation of false beliefs and ideas, a nation of selfish fake morality. Our foundation is laid upon greed and built up by lies so thick they appear like truths. Our minds are our greatest strength and yet they are our greatest weakness. And the ones that suffer most because of our ignorance are the ones we should love the most, children. The wisest man is not the one with all the answers, it’s the man with all the questions. If we question our lifestyles today we can alleviate the pain an innocent child is enduring by tomorrow.

To Believe

To Believe
You have never believed right until you wish for others what you wish for yourself. What does that mean? Simply to love. In life situations present themselves before you, these situations are paths offered to you by God. He splits the road ahead of you, giving an opportunity to turn from your straying ways. So often these opportunities are missed completely without even a hint of notice by the trotter. And why is that? There is a lack of awareness in the common individual to recognize his own ability to direct himself. With my eyes closed I’ve strapped myself to the track leading me in circles until eventual death.

Not until I witnessed my close friend sacrifice all his material possessions and donate his physical body to God did I understand this capability in an individual. I pondered how my friend could break the chains that held him dependent on the system I could not imagine "escaping". I began to study the knowledge that empowered him to lay at his feet the ruler of men. Greed, selfishness, lust, vanity, idolatry, and pride all lead to hate. I was trained to consider these characteristics as normal, acceptable and often encouraged. Then I learned to easily realize how they lead to hate, because I realized there was something to learn.

I learned to see how greed leads men to hate those that had and that didn't have. It trained men to envy the rich and resent himself, the poorer. This selfishness compounded the desire for pride. The hate to lift himself above those on his own level because of his desire to be like the "high ups" that in turn hated him for his lowliness. We can see it at all levels of society throughout the world. I can see the young gangster hustler buying up the fancy jewelry, rims for his car, and any other material item that gives the illusion of prominence. In the end where does this money go? To the ruling designers of the economic system that do nothing to realistically benefit these individuals.

Imagine this scenario, the farmer grows his corn and sells his crops to the distributor. Then with the money he made from the sale he purchases more seeds to grow more corn. And who does he purchase the seeds from? The same distributor, not even disguised as a non-affiliated entity. So what is wrong with this? The farmer is being raped; he is being raped and kept at leash end. This is an actual depiction of what takes place throughout the agricultural industry all over the world. Corporations trademark certain strains of crop that they genetically engineer to not produce seeds which would allow for replanting. This forces the farmer to purchase seeds in order to grow that strain of crop. He is obligated to grow only that strain of crop because the purchaser of the crops regulates that only that strain is allowed. This is achieved by implementing food and trade policies that control the crop, allowing it to be considered property. These corporations patent the seeds and threaten the farmers with lawsuits if they set aside seeds for the next year or even if they shared seeds with other farmers. The corporations are able to dictate the prices they pay and the costs for the farmers to do business because they control all aspects of the business. This converts the farmers into slaves. They are no longer business owners, merely servants of the employers. Historically the races of humans have known the practice of farming. We have worked with each other sharing seeds, learned techniques, material, & experience out of selflessness. The breakdown of a community style trade has been instigated by selfishness and greed.

This economic structure is a reflection of the social structure. With these successful ventures increasing the wealth of few rather than many we see the true desires of these individuals. Unfortunately the “democracy” of America eagerly associates wealth with leadership. The more money a corporation or individual has the more power they wield. Our society is an imitation of the ideas and desires of the ruling class. When we watch our televisions (which has become a tool used successfully for evil purposes) we see fairytale worlds. We as individuals concern ourselves more with the breakup of Nick and Jessica than the deaths of millions of children every year around the world. We vibe to the music of Ludacris and admire his material possessions and lifestyle. We envy all that these social role models portray, which includes their lack of respect and lust for women. I see him riding his pimped out Mercedes with three fine bitches while smoking a blunt and laughing at the sorry brother on the street that never “cops” nothing. His name is exactly what he is, ludicrous. The majority of youth grow up watching these images with admiration, the majority of youth only witness these images on the television. They see none of that as reality. Their reality is watching their parents struggle to survive. They grow to hate the idea of struggle and see the lifestyles of these “role models”, their methods to fame, and they imitate. They learn that it’s a dog eat dog world. They want to satisfy their dictated desires of physical satisfaction. The tactics in a dog eat dog world include lying. Everyone has been trained to lie. Everyone lies. It can be one of the hardest things in the world to accomplish, a mentality to NOT lie. Lying leads to secrecy and secrets are kept within yourself or individuals. This then leads to selfishness, and when you admire yourself you create an ego and pride.

The thought, wishing for others what you wish for yourself, lingers on in the back of our minds. We were all born without the mentality of hate and selfishness. These dispositions have been trained into your minds. And fortunately there is the mentality gifted to humans that never kills our conscious, at most we suck the blood from it leaving it numb. One critical milestone that needs to be achieved is realization that true happiness is living as equals with love. True happiness comes from others and not yourself. When you are surrounded by people that love and bless you with all their hearts, then you shall understand. Building a community based on love and selflessness is a solid stake for the foundation of a world based on love and selflessness. Figuring out the method to best achieve this foundation is what we need help on. The first step is learning to wish for others what you wish for yourself. This is the ideology we all must conceive and make reality.

This can be especially difficult for the believer of this ideology. Understanding the true meaning of loving others means to dissect your own soul and mentality. It’s much simpler to judge others than yourself. This is why it is so critical to endure the faults of fellow people that hear and try. You yourself have faults that you won’t be able to identify without an outside voice that can recognize them. Another person in my life helped point out my selfish nature hiding behind the front of selflessness. I am forever thankful that these individuals were there to point out the correct path in the fork in the road for me. No one is able to unbind the cuffs around their hands without help. Once we are able to be 100% honest with ourselves and others we realize that we need the help and love of others. And though we’ve been shown there are paths to choose, we still need the experience of others to know which is the way leading to peace and love. We must unite and be dedicated to the right revolution.

-Livesoul

::To be Continued::

Blood is Forever

Who’s world is this?
Waking up in shortness of breath
Missing five fingers, I left them with death

Dusty eyes prepared for the dark.
From early morning night to the late dusk of dawn
Lifes a twilight when your in a constant run

Bystanders throwing their leaves…
The strain to see is a gift bestowed upon we
The crystal clear are as blind as life appears to me

The desire becomes stoked the more I choke
Your tempted by the material shine
Drawn to this world that’s not mine.

So its ok to call it precious
As long as its wiped of the carbon stenches
and the bloods drained into the trenches

That that they love is what is seen
All the colors of the rainbow and everything in between
Unimaginable but somehow possible for them to see…

That that they hate is what is not seen
All the emotions of my heart and everything in between
Recognizable but somehow impossible for them to see…

The torments aren’t heard like the Leone Roar
Instead its ignored like a child begging for more
The plunder is restrained to the capacity of causality
And you act like you don’t know the fact of mortality
The most high knows the level of your morality.

Fuck Occupation

Walking the mile with the wind clutching my voice
I had no choice
My brothers too far to feel its vibration
I feel hesitation
I look to see blind backs eclipsing positive reception
Worse than poison and contraception
The tears of pain roll towards the inevitable destination
Creation of a new sensation
When lightening strikes I’m shocked with the light
A vision of a fight
What chance is there for the seed shaded by the tree
All of a sudden, ranking can’t be seen
Cascades of blood ready to drop and drown me
But faith parted the red sea
The pace quickens in an attempt to escape causation
No fear creates liberation
The moon creates the moisture and sun forms the dew
Consciousness creates truth, does it create in you?

My Reaction To Saddam Husseins Words

What is difficult to comprehend is the difference in character this letter shows us of Saddam compared to what we were fed from the media. My confidence in my government and medias integrity has deteriorated to the point of exhaustion because of so much obvious misinformation on nearly every critical and even trivial matters. And then I read for the first time probably the only piece directly from the so called dictator that addresses the people attacking him directly and indirectly. These words and thoughts can only come from a man of quality, all factual material in the letter can be verified with conclusive proof or at the minimum indication of likely substantiation. And all attitude clearly is inspired by belief which in truth is the most important aspect of the letter.

What arguments or thoughts can anyone bring against or about this letter? I would love to hear them. Not that I am picking a fight, but because I truly am caught. I also perhaps am being biased. Because of my disgust with our government maybe my vision is blurred. However I do consider the entire impulse of falsehood among our leaders in the other aspects of our society. I consider the character painted of Fidel Castro, also an "evil dictator" that is oppressing his people as well as our intent to liberate them into democracy. When after very little study the oppressors can more accurately be identified as the enforcers of the embargos. The same style embargo that wouldn't allow Iraq to import pencils for their school children is the same embargo that doesn't allow the tiny island of Cuba to do any business with ANY company of the USA or any company that is affiliated with a US company abroad as well. The same false image of Iraqis welcoming US forces is the same notion flaunted when a tiny group of exiled Cubans in Florida celebrated news of Castro's failing health. We aren't shown the resilience of the Cuban peoples unity or the love they nearly all share for Fidel. We aren't reminded ever that one of the most righteous figures recognized alive today, Nelson Mandela, considers Fidel Castro more honorable than himself. Even that Malcolm X did and would still give praise to Fidel. In my understanding we are lied to about everything, so I am driven to believe this letter from Saddam is written in the aspiration of genuineness. So then this is another blow to my conscience for at one point believing that perhaps he deserved what he got.


TO THE IRAQUI RESISTANCE FIGHTERS "...I also call on you, brothers and sisters, my children and the children of Iraq. I call on you, oh comrades of jihad; I call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us. You should distinguish between the decision-makers and the people. Just hate the action. Even those whose actions deserve to be fought--do not hate them as human beings or by their names, appearances. Also, the doers of evil, do not hate them, but hate the evil deed itself and fight the evil with what it deserves. Whoever changes to the better or does good inside or outside Iraq, give him clemency and open a new page for him because God forgives and loves whoever forgives out of willingness. Firmness is necessary if the situation calls for it. To be accepted by the people and the nation, one should base things on the law and must be fair and just. One should not be hostile on the basis of spitefulness and illegal pursuits."

TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE I address you in this letter from the place of my confinement, as my attempt on the basis of my moral, human, and constitutional responsibility so that no one among you might say that no one came to us with a message of peace after the war began, refuting the arguments for it and desiring peace for you and for our upright, loyal, heroic people. And as I say this, I do no know whether my brothers and comrades who are leading the Resistance outside the prison have come to you with a letter before or not. That is because the "democracy" of your leaders has prevented me since my arrest and until now from getting newspapers and magazines or hearing radio and television and has isolated me from the world and has isolated the world from me so that I might not hear or see anything from outside my place of confinement.

Is this the true face of democracy and human rights that they advocate outside America!? Or have your rulers lied about it? This includes the killing of people in prisons and jails, some of them by means of the pistols of the American investigators. Or has all of this along with other details that would turn an attentive person's hair white been concealed from you by your officials such that you do not know the truth!?

I address you with this letter of mine in the hope that it will reach you and that you will hear it or read it. And on the basis of my responsibility to bring the facts before people, whatever their color or nationality, for that is our duty to them, just as they have a duty to us not to accept evil.

I address you today as my attorney the eminent lawyer and Professor Ramsey Clark has asked that I write this letter of mine to you. Professor Ramsey has presented an excellent example of a humanitarian in his person and in his colleague Professor Curtis Dobler, both of whom left a positive personal impression on me. On this occasion I wish to salute their courage as they have volunteered for the task although they know the dangers that surround them in carrying out their duty, in particular after criminals have killed four of the defense attorneys.

People of America, it still seems to me that the officials in your government are still lying to you and are not giving you true explanations of the reasons that led them to embark on their aggression against Iraq. In what they have said about the reasons they have deceived, from the starting point, not only the international community, and in particular the European Community but also the peoples of America themselves, knowing beforehand that the facts were contrary to what they were declaring. Untrue is what they said, after their lies were exposed, about having been deceived by their intelligence agencies and by the stooges that they brought along to serve as their puppets in Iraq, just as old imperialism and the old empires of the 19th and 20th centuries used to do. What we are saying is based on many facts, the major ones being as follows:

1. The inspection teams – that came to Iraq in the name of the United Nations and carried out searches even of some private houses as well as government departments, presidential palaces and government documents – those teams knew that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction because most of the leading members in those teams were Americans and British and in addition they had spies and volunteers of other nationalities. Those teams searched Iraq piece by piece from one end to the other and never found any information contrary to what they and others were told by Iraqi government representatives. The inspections lasted for more than seven years. And in addition to the teams that traveled by car and on foot, they used spy planes, helicopters, and satellites in space. The American and English officials thought that this was their historic chance to strike Iraq and destroy its legitimate aspirations and the lofty cultural and scientific achievements made in the course of 35 years, making use of the information gathered by their spies in the inspection teams and making use of the so-called war on terror after the 11 September incident that struck America. They shuffled the cards to bring up the goals that they had already decided upon earlier, and these were not the goals that they publicly announced at the starting line.

It was their assessment that the unjust embargo had not destroyed Iraq's will nor halted its legitimate aspirations to develop economically, culturally, scientifically, and as a civilization in the conditions of a new independence. They believed that Iraq had come close at that time to breaking the economic embargo as the result of the cooperation of those who cooperated with Iraq on the basis of mutual benefit and fraternal national feelings as far as the Arabs were concerned. The officials in your country thought that this was their chance to impose their will on the world by means of their control of the Middle East's oil and its production and marketing in new ways and for new goals – those about which we spoke in and before the year 2003 – in addition to attaining one of their Zionist goals and winning support in the election. Iran and its lackeys played a dirty role in making aggression appear attractive and in facilitating its implementation.

2. The American officials did not withdraw from Iraq after they became hard pressed, but declared that the facts were contrary to what they had claimed before the invasion that took place in March and April of the year 2003. If they had been truthful when they claimed that they had been deceived as a result of the information they had been given and which they used as the cover for their invasion, and which they declared at the time was sufficient justification for the invasion – declaring at the time that it involved things that they said affected the security of the United States – then they would have withdrawn from Iraq after discovering that that information had been false. They would have apologized to the heroic Iraqi people, to the American people and to the people of the world for what they had done.

None of the Americans asked their government before the war how Iraq, a country that had still not emerged from backwardness, could threaten the security of a country like America across the Atlantic. And for that matter why would Iraq want to threaten America, which at that time had not violated the territory of Iraq. If the American officials wanted to promote the claim that Iraq's threat was precisely involved in the opposing stances taken by Iraq and America over the Zionist occupation of the land of Palestine and other Arab land, it could be said that Iraq is not the only state that takes an opposing stance to that of America in regards to the issue, whether that be Arab states or other states in the world. Furthermore, who has authorized America to make the countries of the world tailor their policies to America's measurements, and if they don't oblige, then war should be waged against them? How can one understand America's call for democracy if it does not permit a difference of opinion even in issues of a regional character, to say nothing of international ones?

Another lie was the claim of American officials that Iraq had links to what they called terrorism, although British Prime Minister Blair declared that Iraq does not have any ties to so-called terrorism and had no internationally prohibited weapons, forcing Bush to declare the same thing. Despite that, none of the important American personalities asked President Bush on what sort of rational analysis or what sort of realistic information this claim rested. Do you know, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, why they didn't ask? Because some of your prominent personalities are directed in what they do by hidden forces that distorted the image you received of Iraq's positions. They had been laying the groundwork for years to facilitate aggression from the start. Therefore no one asked the American officials, for example, why no Iraqi took part in the events of 11 September!? And if the participation of individuals in the attack on American targets isn't to be taken as proof of the involvement of any country in those events, then how do you accuse a state like Iraq, the features of whose political system are known, of so-called relations with terror? How can you consider this charge to be one of only two on the basis of which aggression was launched against the people of Iraq, destroying their property and achievements and bringing their lives under daily and direct threat?

Do you know, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, that I asked one of the American officials who talked with me perhaps two weeks after my arrest, just what was it that you based those false charges on? He said that as far as the weapons of mass destruction were concerned, "we didn't have anything to confirm what you were saying." And as for the links to terrorism, he said, because you, Saddam Hussein, did not send a letter of condolence to President Bush after the incident [of 11 September].

I smiled bitterly and told him: as regards your claim that you didn't have confirmation of our statements, it seems that your officials lie and imagine that officials in countries around the world do not tell the truth, or that many of those who have relations with you in fact do not tell you the truth, neither when they oppose your policies nor when they agree with them. This is a dangerous matter, not only for the countries of the world but because they then pose a danger for America as well, if nobody in the world will tell America: 'this is a mistake' and 'this is unacceptable'! And at that time when American planes were striking targets in Iraq and destroying public and private property, killing Iraqi citizens including women and children for no reason and imposing on Iraq their unjust embargo, prohibiting Iraq from importing even pencils for children to use in primary schools, what exactly is it that should obligate Saddam Hussein to send a telegram of condolences to the president of the state whose officials have committed all those crimes, unless it be out of hypocrisy and weakness? But because I am neither a hypocrite nor a weakling I didn't send Bush a telegram of condolence. But I did agree on the telegram sent containing condolences in the name of the government of Iraq and sent by Comrade Tariq Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, to our friend Ramsey Clark and through him to the stricken families.

Are the great states so deluded as to imagine that whoever does not send a letter of condolence deserves that war should be waged against him, his country, and his people!? Here you see how the American officials used even your own blood to promote their reckless, aggressive policy. Is this the kind of morality that people should have? Or men? Or officials? There is nothing graver than for disasters to ravage people who have been stricken by delusions, committed wrongs, and wantonly despised the roles of others. The worst disease of the American officials who involved the Americans in war against Iraq is this.

3. **After I was arrested they made vain attempts to use intimidation and threats against me. One of their generals conveyed that intimidation and host threats and tried to bargain with me, promising to let me live if I agreed to read in my own voice and sign a prepared announcement that was shown to me. That stupid announcement called on the people of Iraq and the courageous Resistance to lay down arms. They said that if I refused, my fate would be that I would be shot just like Mussolini, as my interlocutor put it. But, as you know me and would expect of me, I disdainfully refused, not even touching that dirty document with my hand and sullying myself with it. I told them if I were given the chance to address my people, I would call them to more resistance.

Seven days later, to reinforce themselves, they sent a group to talk with me. They said they were from an American University and that they wanted to engage me in a broad discussion. I agreed and I confirmed to them that Iraq didn't have any of the things the American officials claimed and I advised them [the US] to leave Iraq quickly and apologize to the people, warning them that they were going to get what they now are facing and what they are now embroiled in – in fact, the fate I expect for them is worse than what they are facing now – and they will never have an adequate chance to pull their arms and equipment out of Iraq if the two halves of Iraq engulf them, and they will engulf them, God willing, because our people are deeply rooted and conscious. They know that our liberation can be clean and complete only with their unity, and that tolerance must be the basis for the orientations of our people within their ranks, and that wounds must be bound up, not ripped open.

I say, I told them all that at that time but they didn't change their methods; they didn't replace the keys of falsehood, and they are still knocking on the doors of wrong, failing to try the door of legitimacy, even though they now know. In this connection, attached to this letter are some verses from a long ode; a selection of 56 verses. [Not translated here.]

4. It is neither reasonable nor convincing that a country like America to which the doors of the intelligence agencies in the east and most of the countries of the west have been opened did not know the truth and could not know the truth. Although I am convinced and believe that many countries in the world have an interest in war or wars, she [the United States] does not have an interest in war even though she might believe she does. The contrary, in fact, is the case.

America is a big country on the other side of the Atlantic. It has developed a unique unparalleled power such that I think some people there imagine that it is on its way to attaining the crown of the world all for itself as a world empire. Have they not learned a lesson from their war in Viet Nam? The west used to promote the idea that world Communism and the Soviet bloc threatened their interests and also the security of the entire west. But despite that promotion, this was nothing but a flimsy cover. Nevertheless, America used it and wrapped itself in it until the heroic Vietnamese people expelled them by force.

As to their invasion of Iraq, it came in a situation that made the first step easy from the standpoint of the reaction of the international community because of the international balance of forces. But it came in a situation that might make it more costly that its war in Viet Nam. That is because when America was expelled from Viet Nam it did not lose its standing, or we might say it only lost a small part of its standing. But when it is expelled and routed from Iraq, which has no great power to support it directly, it will lose the fundamental basis of its standing.

In fact it has now already lost the foundation for that standing and its reputation has begun to decay. It is no longer able to wield the big stick that it formerly threatened to use. It used to accomplish more by threatening to use force than by really using force. I will go further and say that after its war in Iraq, that stick no longer frightens many people and America has come to need the silence of the smallest and simplest countries and tries to please them in order to get them to stay quiet about America's crimes and reckless, deviant policies.

Before, many of the world's countries used to court the United States and most countries in the world, all except a few, used to fear her threats or parried them with defensive arguments. But now Mao Zedong of fond memory is laughing in his grave because his prediction has been fulfilled and America is a paper tiger. This is by the will of the Living Eternal God, and by His agents on earth, the heroic Mujahideen in glorious, virtuous, militant, jihadist Iraq. So God bless the heroic people of Iraq and God bless the jihad and the mujahideen.

Esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the peoples of America, the time has come to an end in which greatest and best-equipped armies could scatter the organized formations of the opposing army and thereby bring a war to a close. Now you see our courageous army, our heroic people, and our Mujahideen replacing the system of organized formations with a new kind of warfare. And when the Americans on the ground become targets in the vicinity of the guns of the revolutionaries, who attack them as deadly human bombs with nothing more than their bodies filled with faith in God, American superiority is worn down over time. In fact in the near future that superiority will become a burden whose equipment will be difficult to withdraw. So, will America trust the voice of rationality and logic that calls for the preservation of what still remains, or will Satan the deceiver and the hate-filled supporters of Zionism keep pushing the Americans until the waves swallow them and they sink to the depths of the raging sea?

Who, after all, appointed the American government to be the world policeman, to form the world in the mold that it likes, giving national orders to the countries of the world?

But I must say to you that your country will discover more, esteemed ladies and gentlemen. It has lost his reputation and his standing. Indeed the American who used to travel around the world respected and safe and welcomed wherever he went, is now no longer able to step outside America without a mine detector. And the State Department issues warnings for you constantly about what world regions are dangerous to American lives

It was American officials and their polices themselves that have created an atmosphere of anti-American hatred in the world by means of their arrogant behavior, their haughty aggressive attitude, their lack of respect for international law and the security of the world – including the security of my Arab Nation through their support for the Zionist entity in Palestine – and other world and human rights issues.

Today you are in a bad predicament with the world and nobody can rescue you but yourselves. If you reform, you will open for the world and for yourselves a new opportunity. But if you are heedless, that is your decision. What you need is free and fair competition and peace in order to have security...

People of America, despite the crimes your government inflicted on our people, our Arab Nation and humanity, the people of Iraq – and I mean by that the Iraqis, not those with split loyalties who prefer to serve foreigners rather than their own people – I say the free people of Iraq even in their present circumstances are not thinking about their destiny alone but about the destiny of others wherever it's possible to create a solution that treats a painful problem.

On this basis I said to some Americans when I was in my prison, why don't you come to an agreement with the Resistance to designate a country with a charter and power to which the Resistance can hand over those American soldiers whom they capture, rather than executing them as currently is said to be taking place. In fact the extent to which the Resistance is responsible for this is unknown, but people who are equitable know that America has not abided by international law in any of its activities in Iraq, including the Geneva Conventions regarding prisoners and detainees. The Resistance has no secure place in Iraq where prisoners can be kept. So whether the Resistance is at all responsible, or whether the responsibility lies with some other parties that have no connection to the Resistance, the justification for it is that there is no secure place for prisoners to be kept.

Therefore in order to fulfill humanitarian needs and to eliminate the justification [for killing prisoners] I make this proposal to you and to the national Resistance and to anyone concerned, and I make this with the best of intentions. If you accept it and respect the Geneva Conventions then the argument of those who kill rather than detain prisoners will have vanished. But if your government does not accept it, then it will bear the responsibility for refusing and for whatever befalls our people and the heroic Resistance as a result of your government's violation of international law. This will be particularly true if the number of American prisoners increases in the future, and we think that it will increase. Or is it that your government can't see anything until it feels it?

Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for your government to look at all people as equals before international law regardless of the size of the countries to which they belong. Whoever violates international law in his policies and the behavior of his army, he alone must bear the consequences for that policy. And if his policies are not in accordance with the letter of international law, he has no right to call others to protect his rights in accordance with that law.

Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, whoever missed his or her chance to take action to try to prevent the war still has a chance to act to end it and bring back peace and freedom to Iraq in accordance with the choice of its people without foreign interference by anyone whoever that may be! People of America, I address you not from weakness nor as a supplicant. I, my people, my brothers, comrades, and my nation – we address you on the basis of our moral and human responsibility. I tell you that officials whom you know, and first among them your President, lied to you and deceived you and tricked you using the media that portrayed Iraq to you as incorrigible, and Saddam Hussein as a hateful dictator, and that his people hate him and that his people are just waiting for their chance to get at him. Some of them just wallowed in lying falsehood to the point that they openly declared that the Iraqis would meet the invading armies with roses and celebration.

I know that lots of people don't do a lot of analysis; they don't have the time or the ability or the desire to do careful assessments when presented with falsified news so as to uncover the truth. The American peoples had no chance to inquire, for example: why, if the people of Iraq hate Saddam Hussein, how he managed to defeat the Iran of Khomeini after eight years in the aggressive war that Iran sought to impose on us under the slogan of exporting the revolution beginning with Iraq? People of America, the victory over Khomeini's Iran was not due to the short length of the war, but came only after eight years of grinding warfare in which tens of thousands fell and hundreds of thousands on the Iranian side.

Then if Saddam Hussein were a dictator, why did he establish a parliament with elections for the first time in the year 1980 during wartime, when there had been no parliament in Iraq since 1958? If he and his government were dictators, how could he visit schools, universities, towns, and villages and spend the night with the people wherever the sun went down? How could he travel around and lead at the battle front at night and during the day even in the trenches in the front lines on the battlefield among the Muslim soldiers!?

Yes, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, your government deceived you, and you, or rather most of you, had no chance to inquire of themselves or of others in order to discover the truth because the Zionists in the lobby who advocated the war together with some of the centers of power were deceiving you and tricking you, hiding from your eyes the real truth, exchanging the facts for falsified and slanted information. Last but not least in this regard, if Saddam Hussein were a dictator hated and despised by his people, how is it that his people endured him and why was he chosen President by referendum?

People of America, the misfortunes that have afflicted you and afflicted our Arab Nation and within it our heroic Iraqi people – including the breakdown of America's standing and reputation – were only caused by the reckless behavior of your government and by pressure from Zionism and power centers that influenced the government to commit those crimes and scandalous actions for specific ends that have nothing to do with the interest of the American peoples. The massacres and blood that now flows in the streets and countryside of Iraq in torrents – the responsibility for that falls on America before all others. You know, or rather you have now come to learn, that neither the stooges whom the American forces brought in on board their aircraft or as shamefaced presents aboard their tanks, nor Iran, which pushed and still pushes forward those who support it and whom they support, would be able to cause the bloodshed, or the destruction of the honor, and property of our people and our state had not America undertaken the aggression and invasion and issued the orders. It is still issuing orders in the Green Zone. Therefore America bears the burden of all those crimes and outrages. So, will you put an end to what is going on by using the methods of direct truth without evasion and digression? Or will you invite the machine of death to continue to eat away at the flesh of Iraqis and the flesh of Americans without doing anything to resolve this?

It is your historical responsibility, esteemed ladies and gentlemen. If you reform, you could save what remains of the standing and reputation of America and its legitimate interests. If you do nothing, you will be keeping silent over something evil. "God grant us patient perseverance and let us die as Muslims." [Qur'an, 7:126]

People of America, the wars that your government promotes in the world – one of them being the war in Iraq – with input from certain centers of power – which you know better than we – are not in the interests of the American people. You know better than many how you paid in blood so that you might liberate yourselves from British colonialism and after that how the United States of America was unified and what rivers of blood were shed in order for that to come about. So, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, how do you accept this interference that abases America before it abases Iraq? How can you accept not only the invasion but becoming mired in the internal affairs of Iraq? You know that Iraq is a land of prophets, messengers, and righteous figures. You know that Baghdad is the fourth holiest city in the Arab homeland – after Mecca, al-Madinah, and Jerusalem – in the sight of all of the Islamic world and all of our Arab Nation. How can one imagine that Iraq could reconcile itself to colonial rule, even if it comes, this time, under another name and with other slogans? Save your country, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, and leave Iraq.

Saddam Hussein
The President of the Republic and the Chief Commander of the Combatant Armed Forces

An United Nations expert human rights law body has declared the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before an Iraqi special court illegal because it violated the right to fair trial under international law.

My Experience of Oaxaca

My Experience of Oaxaca

I just want to give my point of view. I was in Oaxaca during the first week of August, totally by accident. I was supposed to be in Venezuela as part of a delegation that was visiting some missions and social programs in the rural areas of the State of Laura & Falcon. The purpose to see first hand the money the Hugo Chavez has been investing to the real people, the real Venezuelans and not the descendants of the conquering Spanish that have controlled the countries wealth prior to. I actually missed my flight in Mexico City and missed the rendezvous in Caracas. It turned out to be a blessing. I still plan to go to Venezuela but at that point in time God had sent me forth for another agenda. After witnessing first hand the major 2nd rally in the Zocalo in Mexico City for Presidential Candidate Obrador I was incredibly thankful. It was an experience I would call once in a life time. There were 2 million Mexican citizens from all states, parties, organizations, and social classes concentrated in the famous Zocalo in a massive peaceful demonstration in support of the candidate for the people. I often found myself staring into the eyes of these people, and seeing the patriotic intentions and soulful hopes to see true democracy withstand this test not for themselves, but for their children. Mexicans are a people of culture, still attached to their roots. Their was no such protest in the USA when Gore lost to Bush. It's sad to say but the lifestyle of Americans cuts us from our roots. The USA is full of broken families, widespread drug use, international ignorance, & driven by out of control materialism. We are clones cut away from our mother's roots and set under the grow light to quickly consume and become profit for our capitalistic gardeners. Mexico is a country that recognizes as heroes the revolutionaries that battled the corrupt governments often to the death, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Miguel Hidalgo, José María Morelos y Pavón, and the currently alive Subcomandante Marcos.

Since becoming familiar with the struggle I have followed stories from both the governments media pawns as well as the battle ground positioned Indy media journalists. It sickening to see what's been happening. The mainstream media has portrayed the leaders and APPO movement as a violent destabilizing quest to oust Governor Ulises Ruiz. The inception of the movement was construed by a teacher's strike which terms were increased wages & benefits. Some 70,000 teachers were on strike throughout the entire Oaxaca state, they centralized their movement into the Oaxaca capital. This was a result of many petitions, propositions, & negotiations that often went unheeded by the government. Unfortunately, the situation has another side to it. It may not necessarily have been the "intent" of the government to "ignore" the strikers. It comes down to money, and Mexico doesn't have it. This is not to say that what the government did was excusable. In fact, it justifies the opposite. The situation in Mexico is the result of corrupt government officials creating agreements with the United States that proliferate their own political agenda at the expense of the Mexican populations welfare. One specific example being the NAFTA agreement between Mexico, the USA, & Canada. This has resulted in increased imports into Mexico & plummeting prices for almost all of the countries crop exports. Causing the most direct impact on the small acreage farmers of Mexico, this happens to be the majority of the population.

In a democratic system the people have the right to ask their elected officials to speak on their behalf. Instead of accepting this responsibility the elected officials bow to their powerful superiors, becoming a voice against the people. Which it what the entire democratic system has molded itself into, whether it's Mexico or the United States. The governor of Oaxaca should have stood by the side of the teachers and promoted their cause. Instead, just weeks into the strike, Governor Ulises Ruiz sends a force of 800 police with military like ground & aerial support into the Zocalo during the dead of the night to clear out the strikers. Resulting in casualties, missing persons, and collateral damage to the physical town and spiritual souls of the people. This sadistic manner in which Ruiz attempted to end this strike led to increased support for the cause. The six months the proceeded this engagement can only be described as absolute tyranny by a government onto its own citizens. The incredible finale to this movement capitalizes the methods of the capitalistic system running our societies. With the controversially elected President at the reigns an actual military invasion took place in November, an attempt to violently end the strike permanently.

The invasion was successful in dispersing the people from their headquarters in the town Zocalo. And the media has done its part in attempting to illustrate a city returning to "normal". However, it's the government that has lost ground. The people have learned how to be unified. They have learned the tactics of the oppressors and found methods to counter them. During this conflict I saw the citizens, both compañeros and compañeras, young and old working together building blockades, organizing patrols, creating a radio station to keep their followers informed and organized, designating responsibilities and tasks amongst themselves. We witnessed the hope of a population transformed into actions, we saw leaders born into rank, and we were given a glimpse of an organized revolution formed out of the strategy that only truth & faith can erect. I would just like to say how grateful I am to have the honor to say I have born witness to the dreams of my true brothers and sisters. That I one day hope to endure the sacrifice required to wipe away the dark wickedness that engulfs this world. Just as the flame of a candle light can illuminate a room, the revolution will illuminate the world. And as the flame grows and the light spreads, more people will see it and will be guided through and out of the darkness because its strength comes from truth…Hasta La Victoria Siempre!

-Livesoul

"They don't know that there is no better tactic, no better strategy than to fight with clean hands, to fight with the truth. Because these are the only weapons that inspire confidence, that inspire faith, that inspire security, dignity, and morale. And these are the weapons we revolutionaries have been using to defeat and crush our enemies. Lies. Who has ever heard a lie from the lips of a revolutionary? Lies are weapons that help no revolutionary, and no serious revolutionary ever needs to resort to a lie. Their weapon is reason, morality, truth, the ability to defend an idea, a proposal, a position." --Fidel Castro--