Sunday, May 30, 2010

Back to Square One... and a very special daily dose of TMI

Another Daily Dose of TMI

Finally took a blue pill. Was able to relax and think for a while about my "daily dose" of TMI and #neverendingshit.

Unfortunately now I have done too much thinking and I'm back to square one..



I read the contracts, I see the numbers, but then I get to the same issue. What the fuck is wrong with this world? Can I be any more specific, redundant or annoying that I just want to fucking explode!

How very very sad for all of the people who may just happen to experience a few months, or a few years of what I go through every fucking day of my life.











My parents should be ashamed.

















My community should be ashamed. #WEareNASHVILLE should be crawling on their knees begging for forgiveness for the way they exploited the flood, the federal government and exhausted all possible avenues to attract sympathy, money, and attention.  I could puke right now.






















Every person that makes presumptuous jokes about "just ask daddy" or "I'm sure one of your "boyfriends" will do...


Give...


Respect...





NO! OBVIOUSLY the answer is no. And you know, I'm not even above taking such "gifts" from all the assholes who want to promote THEIR agendas, and all the bullshit that goes with it.



I don't like the world very much today. I don't like the people I see if around me, and I ain't talkin' bought the Mexicans in the yard.


Obviously, the people I speak of haven't "seen" me in over a year. Well, that might have to change. I have no expectations, but one might be smart to lift a finger, push a paper, or lend a hand to help me the fuck out of here before I start asking these questions "on the public timeline" instead of in my daily journal and the 35,000 emails that remain in my inbox.


I'll be cool in a few. What my mother has done (again) may just destroy the only thing she ever cared about: herself.

She is embarrassed, humiliated and financially devastated to have to the terrible misfortune and burden of having a daughters like my sister and myself. I once asked her how it made her feel to have two grown daughter that are so dysfunctional and "mean" that we rarely make the time to return her calls or the decency to put on make up when we leave the house.

Her answer, "it makes absolutely SICK to my stomach each time I think about the way you live your lives. Doing nothing. You can't even get a decent job at the local Walmart."




As You Move On, Remember Me... Elyssa Durant © 2009


In response, I asked if she ever considered the possibility that she may have contributed to the two of us being plagued with unrealistic expectations for perfection and grace.

She doesn't see it that way. She sees it as her cross to bear. HER personal trauma being forced to have "two grown daughters who never accomplished a single thing in their entire lives."

I can't say for certain if my sister would agree, and my sister has the added burden of working under the watchful eye of my father each day, but as for myself? I am quite certain I accomplished at least one thing extraordinary... I managed to grow up a mother and father who have both confessed that they believe the world would be better off without me in it; and yet somehow managed to escape with a shred of dignity,
integrity and purpose.



Certainly not character traits they recognize or appreciate, but in their world, that can only mean one thing. I must be doing something right.



Plan: Pay By The Day

Status Today: Not Paid

Current Plan Cost: $1.00

Balance: $0.04

Balance exp date: 08/12/2010

Hope $0.04 is enough to get this message through. I am ready to be heard.





I am "home" as usual here in Tennessee.





Good morning to all and thank you for listening.





This is just me. Always and only "just" me,



@ElyssaD



---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Virgin Mobile <virginmobile-service@my.vmu-mail.com>

Date: Sat, 29 May 2010 12:27:53 -0700

Subject: Your Virgin Mobile Monthly Charge Is Coming Up

To: elyssa.durant



Hey E,

This is a friendly reminder that your monthly charge will be deducted from your account in three days.

If you've already registered a credit/debit card or PayPal account with Virgin Mobile, then you should be all set. If you have enough money in your cash balance to cover the cost, we'll deduct it from there. If not, we'll charge it to your registered payment method.

If you haven't registered a payment method yet, you can do it here.

That way, you won't have to worry about adding money to your account each month to cover the charge. It's the worry-free way to pay for your service.

Or, if you'd rather pay with Top-Up cards and need to find a store, click here. If you have any questions, please visit virginmobileusa.com.

Thanks, bye.

Virgin Mobile

This message is about your Virgin Mobile phone number: (615) 752-8908.

My Phone

This email was sent to you by Virgin Mobile to provide important service information about your account. You may receive customer service emails even if you have requested that Virgin Mobile not contact you about promotional offers.

Your privacy is important to us. Therefore, we treat any information you give us with respect and in compliance with federal law and our own Privacy Policy.

Please do not reply to this message. If you have questions or comments, send an email to ourteam@virginmobileusa.com.

Or contact us at: Virgin Mobile USA, L.P., 10 Independence Blvd.,Warren, NJ 07059


--

Sent from my mobile device

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
Nashville, Tennessee


"You may not care how much I know, but you don't know how much I care."

______________________________

and why do i care?

i care about a lot of things... so perhaps a better question is why don't you?

http://bit.ly/bBUAzK

Sunday, May 23, 2010

This is to all of us...




this is to all of us 3:22/4:45 http://bit.ly/YAZke RT @ElyssaD: http://bit.ly/YAZke <- NICE "I want a sunburn just to know I'm a alive." ~thank you #namaste

:

ARE YOU AWARE?

Saturday, May 15, 2010

"Gold and the Myth of Free Markets" 05/11/2010

Financial Sense

Gold and the Myth of Free Markets

by Darryl Schoon | May 11, 2010

Print

Some conspire to take power; others conspire to keep it

What we don’t know explains what we don’t understand. This is why the work of the Gold Anti-Trust Action committee, GATA, is to be admired. Much of the exposure of the US government’s hidden hand in the manipulation of the gold markets is due to GATA’s work. What most still do not understand is the extent of that hidden hand and its effect on America, a nation many believe to be free.

The sewers of influence that course through America’s financial system are hidden from the public eye and for good reason. If Americans understood the intent and motives of those who control the nation’s finances, they would realize they’re the patsies in an on-going suckers game with political parties the hired hacks who work on behalf of those who run the country; but, of course, Americans don’t understand and the game goes on.

Voting: A sucker’s bet in a fixed game

On GATA’s Board of Directors is Catherine Austin-Fitts, a person not known to many. She should be. From 1978 to 1989, she was at Dillon Read, a powerful and prestigious New York investment bank (later merged with S.G. Warburg and then UBS) where she was both Managing Director and a Member of its Board of Directors.

It was at Dillon Read where Catherine Austin-Fitts witnessed America’s heavily denied transformation, a transformation where America’s elites and Wall Street conspired with the Clinton Administration to turn Nixon’s “War on Drugs” into profit-driven genocide.

…I decided to write “Dillon Read & Co Inc. and the Aristocracy of Stock Profits” as a case study designed to help illuminate the deeper system… Dillon Read…and the Clinton Administration with the full support of a bipartisan Congress ..[colluded to profit] by ensnaring our youth in a pincer movement of drugs and prisons and wins middle class support for these policies through a steady and growing stream of government funding and contracts for War on Drugs activities at federal, state and local levels… This is genocide — a much more subtle and lethal version than ever before perpetrated by the scoundrels of our history texts. Catherine Austin-Fitts, US Assistant  Secretary of Housing (HUD) Bush Administration 1989-1990, Managing Director and Member Board of Directors, Dillon Read, 1986-1989

Because of Wall Street’s participation in America’s War on Drugs, large amounts of money were involved; and to start the money flowing, more Americans would have to go jail and they did. It’s no coincidence that the US is now the world’s number one jailor with the highest percentage of its citizens behind bars.

Under President William Jefferson No, I did not inhale Clinton, America’s prison population began to significantly rise, surpassing the numbers arrested under President Ronald Reagan. Thus began the diaspora of America’s underclass, especially black Americans into increasingly private prison cells in larger and larger numbers.

1
http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/01-02_REP_TooLittleTooLate_AC.pdf

America’s genocide as told by Wall Street and Washington insider and GATA board member, Catherine Austin-Fitts, involves the US government, banks, powerful elites, both political parties and the Rothschilds. To read her story, see http://www.dunwalke.com/1_Brady_Bush_Bechtel.htm  

GATA, MARTIN ARMSTRONG AND FREE MARKETS

GATA was incorporated by Bill Murphy in January 1999 to advocate and undertake litigation against illegal collusion to control the price and supply of gold and related financial securities. Exactly one year later in January 2000, Bill Murphy was to become personally acquainted with Martin Armstrong of Princeton Economics.

At the time gold was $280/oz , silver was $5.18  and GATA’s Bill Murphy was hearing rumors that Martin Armstrong was heavily involved in shorting gold. Then, on January 5, 2000 the following article, a revelatory bombshell, was posted on Kitco.

Date: Wed Jan 05 2000 04:24

GoldBird1 ( Armstrong-Republic-manipulations ) ID#396247:

Copyright © 1999 GoldBird1/Kitco Inc. All rights reserved

Whilst I have read a lot on this site about Armstrong and his supposed short gold position, etc., etc., etc., I just thought everyone should know that it is all BS. I have worked inside Republic Bank and quite frankly the whole thing stinks of a major set up intended to frame Armstrong big time. Armstrong was right about the manipulation of silver and a whole lot more.

Not only was silver manipulated, they do it all the time. If you want to know the truth, it was Republic who has been behind almost every manipulation I know of for at least the last 10 years, I've seen it first hand. Buffet is not lily white and this silver purchase of his was not the first. The manipulation by Phibro in 1995 when they exercised the call options way out of the money was executed by Andy Heck who now works for Republic. The CFTC went to Phibro demanding to know who the client was behind the trade and they refused to give up the name. The CFTC did not do their job, as usual, and just walked away demanding that they exit the trade. Phibro was owned by Salomon Bros and the authorization to squeeze silver was given personally by Buffet.

Does anyone really think that a small sub like Phibro could do a $1 billion trade without board approval from above? It doesn't end there. Bribes were paid to Russian officials to "recall" platinum so it could be inventoried. Republic helped Tiger corner the market in palladium and stored it for them just like they moved the silver from NY to London for Buffet. This thing even goes back to the manipulation of the US Treasury Auctions. The govt boys are so stupid, when they threatened to take the license away from Salomon Bros, Buffet came to the rescue. Ha! He was behind that trade as well and his name was concealed then, as always. Then that trader left and started LTCM and had a real merry old time. Look at who his investors were! Just before it blew up, Buffet agreed to bailout that operation and wrote a letter stating that if his offer were ever revealed, it would be void. That letter was published in the WSJ because it blew up before Buffet could put the deal to bed.

The point is, Armstrong was trying to fight the crowd. He knew what was going on and the word inside the bank was that he might even have tapes of conversations between a lot of the players. Everyone is really worried about that for sure. These guys take the market up get all you suckers believing the rally is real and then slam it again. How do you think they make their billions? They don't care about bull markets. They shag the markets to make their billions off of the people who don't have a clue. They rotate between the markets. All the same names were on the short-side in copper. Sumitomo tried to fight these guys. They baited the Japanese into the trades offering them untold credit. They then would short copper against them. Sumitomo tried to defend their position and ended up buying the entire inventory. When they had Sumitomo loaded, they ran to the authorities and did them in calling it a manipulation. They made a fortune on that short trade. To add insult to injury, Sumitomo ran to Goldman Sachs for help, Goldman started selling thousands of contracts in copper that day and then accepted the work out the following day after front-running their own client. Jimmy Goldsmith was involved in this one as well as Safra, Tiger and a host of others. They amazingly are all on the right side of every one of these trades.

Hell - bribes were even paid to bank officials at the Central Bank of Thailand to start the Asian Crisis! That was the evidence the Japanese took to the G7 meeting and demanded controls against the organized hedge funds.

The US govt refused to do anything against the group of players because this thing is so dirty nobody wants the truth out there. They told the Japs they would agree to sanctions only. That's why Armstrong is being served up as the Xmas turkey. Quite frankly, he knows too much.

Safra was paying bribes to people inside the IMF as well. They all thought they had the IMF in their pocket. That's why they all invested so much into Russia. They even set up Bank of New York on behalf of a rival group of thugs in Russia and because Republic hates Bank of New York because they are not part of the club.

These markets are never going to breakout until someone breaks up this organized mob of billionaires. The govt is either too stupid or they are involved with them ==== a high probability! After all, Armstrong had a $1 billion credit line in the bank and everyone knew it. Suddenly, his credit line was pulled and Republic took $500 million of his clients money pretending it was never there. That order came from good old Mr. Safra himself and was carried out by George Wendler personally. And if anyone believes that story about Safra's death, I guess they believe in Santa Claus and a few other sudden deaths when the heat got turned up. If Armstrong or his clients got Safra on the stand, the whole thing could have unraveled. His bodyguard was changed just after this affair started. You fill in the blanks.

Armstrong was never short 700 tons of gold. In fact, to get the silver manipulation going, Armstrong was out of the country and they ran their orders through Republic to make everyone think it was Armstrong covering short positions he never had. The records are all there!

All this stuff is on tapes, docs and emails. The question is, will the govt go along with the big boys and cover everything up again? [They did] If so, they say already Armstrong won't make it to trial. They cannot afford a open trial with everything Armstrong knows. He probably knows far more than what has been written here. They just can't afford for the world to know how rigged this game truly is and how these billionaires really make their money at the expense of everyone else.

That's the real story. Take it for what it's worth.

End

[note: The govt is either too stupid or they are involved with them.. the answer may be some of both—some are too stupid and some are involved.]

Subsequent events have shown the writer was probably correct that Martin Armstrong was being set up and that market manipulation occurs far more often than anyone knows. Markets aren’t free. They’re rigged. Free markets are a myth. In actuality, markets have been rigged as long as it has been possible to do so

When investors have sufficient wealth and power, rigging markets is preferable to investing as the odds are far better when chance is replaced by manipulation; and, the belief that market regulators, e.g. the SEC, the CFTC, the FDA, etc. are neutral and honest is as vain and naïve as believing JFK was gunned down by a lone gunman or that Building 7 in the World Trade Center suddenly collapsed on 9/11 without any intervening exogenous force; or that bankers Edmund Safra, Michele Sindona, and Roberto Calvi were not in trouble with the powers that be when they were murdered—Safra burned to death by his newly-hired bodyguard trapped in his fortress-like penthouse in Monaco, Sindona poisoned in prison after drinking coffee laced with cyanide and Calvi found hanging by his neck beneath Blackfriar’s Bridge in London, his pockets filled with bricks while out on bail.

EVEN EVIL RUNS OUT OF LUCK

The governments and bankers behind the manipulation of gold are running out of options. Their supplies of physical gold are dwindling as demand is rising. Their attempts to force down the price of gold has lasted almost 30 years but even evil runs out of luck.

Their attempts to re-liquefy the markets are backfiring as Gary Dorsch, editor of Global Money Trends, points out that when central banks now pump in new debt, it forces the price of gold higher: The Fed has monetized trillions of dollars of new debt, through its QE scheme, and many investors have lost all faith in the value of paper money. In fact, the ballooning size of the US Treasury’s debt, which hit a record $12.8-trillion last month, has been a steady linchpin supporting the historic rally in the gold market over the past decade. As a general rule of thumb, every $1-trillion of fresh debt issued by the Treasury equates with a $125 /ounce increase in the price of gold. As long as the Fed and G-20 central banks continue to peg ultra-low interest rates, - and G-20 governments continue to flood the debt markets with huge quantities of IOU’s, - it translates into monetization, and the trajectory for the gold market would stay bullish. http://www.sirchartsalot.com/

2

Gold has now again broken above the $1200.mark. The price of gold has quadrupled since GATA was incorporated in January 1999. It will even go higher as central bankers continue to fight in vain to maintain capitalism’s crumbling fiefdom of paper money. John Exter’s inverse pyramid denoting the deflationary flight to safety has now reached government bonds, i.e. sovereign debt. Gold is the ultimate destination of deflating wealth. www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article13848.html

3

FREE MARKETS AND CAPITALISM

There is a controversy regarding capitalism that should be addressed. Rather than defining capitalism in contradistinction to communism, i.e. free versus managed markets, it is more useful to define what capitalism actually is:

Capitalism’s distinguishing feature is the nature of money used in capital markets

In his book, Capitalism (Polity Press 2008), Geoffrey Ingham writes: It might seem unnecessary to draw attention to the fact that money is an essential component of the capitalist systemCapitalist societies…share certain fundamental features: (i) the private credit and the banking system ‘money multiplier’: (ii) state debt as the ultimate foundation of credit-money; (iii) the pivotal role of the central bank: and, (iv) the three cornered struggle between state, money market and taxpayer.

Capitalist economies came into existence when the Bank of England was established in 1694, a central bank which issued money in the form of debt, a monetary phenomena that had never before occurred in history. In capitalist economies, money is debt.

The substitution of debt for savings as money led to the acceleration of Gresham’s Law where bad (debt-based) money drives out good (savings-based). This explains much about our present circumstances. The issue of free versus managed markets came only after the appearance of communism.

The rise of communism shifted the focus away from capitalism’s shortcomings (debt) and advantages (credit) to communism’s egregious, obvious and brutal oppression, a phenomenon that occurs whenever and wherever power is centralized.

The greater the centralization of power the greater the opportunity for oppression

It should be understood, especially today, that capitalism is no more a protector against oppression than is democracy (see Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville) and, if capitalist/democratic societies, e.g. the US, the UK, the EU, etc, continue their present trajectory; their end will be but another iteration of state tyranny.

democratic societies which are not free may well be prosperous, cultured, pleasing to the eye, and even magnificent, such is the sense of power implicit in their massive uniformity; in them may flourish many private virtues, good fathers, honest merchants, exemplary landowners, and good Christians too…But, I make bold to say, never shall we find under such conditions a great citizen, still less than a great nation
Democracy in America, Alexis de Toqueville, 1835

Today in America, under the guise of protecting the nation, long-standing constitutionally guaranteed freedoms are being dismissed and dismantled in the US at an accelerating pace. The dispersion of power that the Founding Father embedded in the Constitution in 1776 has now been replaced by a highly centralized government.

In America, markets aren’t free and neither are Americans

The US Patriot Act—Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001—is the blueprint for the new America. Written by legal hacks, foisted on the nation by the Republican Party in the darkly contrived shadow of 9/11 and extended by the Democrats, the right of the US government to intrude and override America’s civil liberties is now the law of the land.

MARTIN ARMSTRONG AND THE US GOVERNMENT

I am not sure what is going on. I have been told that the receiver is now going to try a contempt charge for my not handing in my keys despite the fact that the locks and security codes have been changed… It appears that a contempt-of- court can land you in jail for about one year. After that, higher courts deem it to be cruel and unusual punishment. Martin Armstrong

The above was excerpted from an email sent to GATA’s Chris Powell from Martin Armstrong in early January 2000. The court receiver who accused Mr. Armstrong of contempt was Alan Cohen, a lawyer at the powerful and prestigious firm, O’Melveny & Myers. On January 14, 2000, Martin Armstrong was arrested based on Mr. Cohen’s allegations.

4

For the next seven years, Armstrong would be held without trial. Appellate courts would dismiss Armstrong’s appeals that such an unprecedented incarceration on contempt charges constituted cruel and unusual punishment; the courts instead found that cruel and unusual rulings apply only to persons, not to corporations or corporate officers such as Mr. Armstrong.

This is legal parsing at its most scurrilous, equal to those written by John Yoo, the Bush Administration lawyer who provided cover for America’s legalization of torture; cover, that if extended, could exonerate those convicted at Nuremberg.

Such is the current state of American jurisprudence, a country based on the rule of law—or, so it proclaims. If so, the question must then be asked: Whose rule? Whose law? And, most importantly, whose country? If you haven’t asked those questions, you don’t know the answers.

As would be expected, those who serve power, e.g. John Yoo, Alan Cohen, Bill Clinton et. al., are well-rewarded in a country as wealthy and powerful as America. Yoo is a professor at Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley, Cohen is Executive Vice President and Global Head of Compliance at Goldman Sachs and Clinton receives $5-$8 million annually in speaking fees as a respected former US president.

Currently, Martin Armstrong is serving a five-year sentence at Fort Dix federal prison; as his time served on contempt charges—seven years (a record)—was not credited against his sentence. For Armstrong’s case and information on his incarceration, see http://princetoneconomics.blogspot.com/

Martin Armstrong’s Pi Cycle Economic Confidence Model which predicted the exact top of the Japanese stock market is a noteworthy achievement in matters of economic theory. While incarcerated Armstrong continues to write, even when in solitary confinement; and when he’s not allowed access to a typewriter, he will use a pen, see http://armstrongeconomics.com/writings/.  

Martin Armstrong in prison at Fort Dix Federal Penitentiary and Catherine Austin-Fitts, Bill Murphy and Chris Powell at GATA deserve our support in these consequential times. John Yoo, Alan Cohen, Bill Clinton and the many others who serve power and wealth do not.

5

In America, real power is held by those who pay Yoo, Cohen, and Clinton to do their bidding; coalescing power, control and wealth in a nation that still believes itself free—while those who are governed remain oblivious and unconcerned as to their true state.

Sleep, America, sleep
Dream, America, dream
For only in your sleep and dreams
Are you free and awake

America, however, is about to wake up. Its awakening will not be pleasant. The pain has only just begun.

Copyright © 2010 Darryl Schoon
Editorial Archive

"How To Survive The Crisis And Profit In the Process"

contact information

Darryl Schoon | Personal Website | Survive the Crisis

The opinions of FSU contributors do not necessarily reflect those of Financial Sense.


wikileaks

Posted via web from ElyssaD's Posterous

Friday, May 14, 2010

Cop’s death in ‘78 clash was a spark | Philadelphia keep digging


RON WILLIAMS / Philadelphia Jounral via UPI
Police and firefighters duck after others were hit by gunfire at the start of the Aug. 8, 1978, shoot-out. Officer James Ramp was killed and many others were injured.
1 of 13
READER FEEDBACK

Post a comment
Posted on Thu, May. 6, 2010

Cop’s death in ‘78 clash was a spark

By KITTY CAPARELLA
Philadelphia Daily News
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/special/20100506_Cops_death_in_78_clash_was_a_spark.html/mailto:caparek@phillynews.com 215-854-5880
"OH MY GOD! They shot a cop!"
I shouted into the phone to a Daily News editor who was taking notes as police surrounded the MOVE compound in Powelton Village.
Cops were trying to get the radical cult members to drop their weapons and come out of the basement with their children.
Suddenly, gunshots came from the basement window of the MOVE house.
From a third-floor apartment window, I looked down to where stakeout cop James Ramp was slowly kneeling to take a shooting position on the sidewalk with others. Ramp abruptly fell backward, blood coming out of his mouth.
It was 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 8, 1978, in the first armed battle between MOVE and the Philadelphia Police Department. Ramp was killed and 16 cops and firefighters were injured.
At 6 a.m., an officer had read a warrant and ordered the MOVE members to surrender, then Msgr. Charles Devlin, of the Cardinal's Commission on Human Relations, and many others appealed to MOVE to end the siege.
"Please on behalf of everything that is sane and honest, send out the children," said Devlin.
Bulldozers shoved away the parapet where for 15 months MOVE had threatened a showdown if four of their members weren't released from prison. Using a battering ram, flak-jacketed cops rammed the front, side and basement windows, then a wall, revealing a bag of onions, peanut butter, potatoes and waxed paper.
Deluge tanks were positioned close to the house, where they discharged columns of water directly into the basement.
Hundreds of rats and dozens of dogs emerged from the house all morning, eventually followed by 11 MOVE members and 11 children.
But the rage felt by some police upset by the death of one of their own was saved for the vitriolic Delbert Orr Africa, an ex-Black Panther member and Army vet who counted dead soldiers before shipping them home from Vietnam.
When Delbert Africa climbed through the basement window, a cop grabbed his dreadlocks, dragging him down the street, while others kicked and pounded his body. Other officers jumped the cops to pull them off.
Daily News photographer Norman Lono, who had hidden in the shower of the same apartment as I had, documented the horror from beginning to end.
The next morning I awoke screaming from the images of war. Covering MOVE was a recurring nightmare.

The siege begins


Only 15 months earlier during a nine-hour standoff with police, 18 MOVE members, in tan fatigues and black berets, brandished rifles and handguns on the parapet at the MOVE compound, a twin house illegally taken over at 33rd and Pearl streets.
They demanded that four jailed members be freed and threatened to kill city officials, judges, cops and reporters. After nine hours, Civil Affairs Inspector George Fencl persuaded the members to put away their weapons.
From that day on - May 20, 1977 - police began a 24-hour surveillance of MOVE, whose members relished the attention and publicity, and incited crowds with racial epithets and harangues against city officials.
Page:   1  of  4  View All
1 |   2 |   3 |   4      Next»
it actually begins in 1972... perhaps even earlier. for additional reading, i suggest you follow the investigation into Police Corrupution that will take straight to the top. From Nixon to War on Drugs that apponted the infamous Five Squad. The hunted, the haunted and The Powers That Beat.
1978.
Next.... 1982.
1985.
1995.
1996.
Present.
The trial of Jofn Africa was memorable. The only one ever lost by a man named Les. And the man who would became who became John Africa lived and died as Vincent Leaphart.
It was not a suicide yet somehow it went down in the books that way... petitions curculated to change the cause of death.
Vincent broke the golden rule set forth by the chief prosecutor... he was given a choice... surrender now!
In the words Ghengis Kahn reveal a twisted pattern of criminal activity in the underbelly of The Powers That Beat.

The truth exists in the buried archives of "unpublished opinions"



What were the motives and was the voice beneath the statement, "Surrender Now?"
Surrender Now" will ultimately reveal a deep and disturbing pattern of corruption that goes far beyond the City of Brotherly Love.
just me.
@ElyssaD
FIVE SQUAD, CORRUPTION, WAR ON DRUGS, WAR ON CRIME,
THE WAR AT HOME!
Incorporated in Delaware, 1972.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/special/20100506_Cops_death_in_78_clash_was_a_spark.html#axzz0nsddhAcR

Thursday, May 13, 2010

An inauspicious beginning | Philadelphia Daily News | 05/07/2010

THE POLITICAL hellfires of the 1960s - like a lot of things - came a little late to Philadelphia. In the case of the radical group MOVE and the inferno that it sparked, the flaming embers have never fully burned out.

The beginnings seemed unremarkable. In 1972, a militant student activist named Donald Glassey came to Philadelphia from the Michigan State campus as a grad student and social worker.

One of the people he met in his Powelton Village neighborhood was a 41-year-old handyman with a third-grade education named Vincent Leaphart, who was known as something of a street-corner philosopher.

The white student radical, Glassey, was so taken with the urban black activist, that he transcribed some of Leaphart's ideas into a manuscript called The Guideline, a blueprint for a neighborhood activist group that at first was simply called "Vinnie's Gang" and then the Community Action Movement, later shortened to MOVE.

"MOVE is in the tradition of the more progressive leftist groups like the Black Panthers and groups like that, that were emerging. This was a variant," said Paul Wahrhaftig, author of The MOVE Crisis in Philadelphia: Extremist Groups and Conflict Resolution.

The 1970s was a tumultuous decade in Philadelphia - with urban unrest, gang warfare and the iconic law-and-order regime of tough-cop-turned-mayor Frank L. Rizzo. But as it wore on, MOVE began to stand out for its eccentric views on technology and "getting back to nature."

There were about 30 people in "Vinnie's Gang," many living in a large Victorian house in Powelton Village. They garnered headlines for protesting the captivity of animals at the nearby Philadelphia Zoo, while drawing complaints from neighbors for trash dumping and rat infestation.

MOVE gradually moved further from its community- activist roots and into stranger territory. Leaphart changed his name to John Africa, in keeping with a "back to Africa" philosophy. Soon most of his followers grew dreadlocks and changed their own surnames to "Africa" as well - some of John Africa's followers even believed he had supernatural powers - and the group became more militant. By the late 1970s, co-founder Glassey had split from the group and was cooperating with law enforcement.

On Aug. 8, 1978, Rizzo, armed with an order to evict MOVE from the Powelton Village home and then bulldoze it, ordered police to storm the building. A shootout ensued and when the smoke cleared, one police officer - James J. Ramp - lay dead. Nine members of the group were convicted of murder.

John Africa, facing weapons charges, spent several years on the lam, but MOVE did not disappear.

Instead, by 1981, the movement had regrouped in a house at 6221 Osage Ave. in West Philadelphia that was owned by John Africa's sister, Louise James. Soon, the MOVE members had fortified the home and also set up a loudspeaker that sent a constant barrage of noise into the surrounding streets.

The rowhouses on and around Osage had been settled by black working-class families in the 1960s. Many of these homeowners demanded action, especially after voters elected W. Wilson Goode as Philadelphia's first black mayor, who defeated Rizzo in a close election in 1983.

On May 1, 1985, the MOVE neighbors went public with their demands that City Hall act. Goode, who initially told neighbors he was stumped over what to do about the radical group, was convinced by cops and then-District Attorney Ed Rendell that there was enough evidence for a search warrant, signed by Common Pleas Judge Lynne Abraham, the future D.A. Police barricaded the neighborhood on Mother's Day, May 12, asked residents to leave, and took up their positions.

When the sun rose on Monday, May 13, 1985, then-Police Commissioner Gregore J. Sambor appeared with his own bullhorn to order MOVE out, announcing: "Attention, MOVE. This is America." The first shots were fired before 6 a.m., and police efforts to roust the radicals with water cannons and tear gas failed. At 5:27 p.m., as much of Philadelphia watched on TV, a state police helicopter dropped explosives on the rooftop bunker.

Soon flames appeared, but firefighters were initially paralyzed by the raging gunfighters. Two survivors, Ramona Africa and the then-13-year-old known as Birdie Africa, fled the home and were arrested while the fire spread through the neighborhood before it was brought under control, about midnight. Eleven bodies - including John Africa's - would be found in the rubble; 53 homes were destroyed, eight others were damaged and all 61 were razed.

A special commission created to probe the tragedy said that Goode and other top officials had acted with "reckless disregard" and that the debacle would not have happened in a predominantly white neighborhood. Panel member Bruce Kaufmann, now a federal judge, dissented: "The tragic events of that day were caused, purely and simply, by incompetence, bad judgment and other errors."

Goode again defeated Rizzo for re-election in 1987, but his own legacy is forever singed by the decision to drop the bomb. Meanwhile, efforts to rebuild the neighborhood and bring peace back to Osage Avenue have instead brought more turmoil.

An initial attempt to rebuild the destroyed block was plagued by shoddy construction and corruption. The developer, Ernest Edwards, went to jail. The city reached a settlement with homeowners, but today more than half the block remains vacant, windows shrouded in plywood.

On a recent warm April night, the jingle of an ice-cream truck passed by and only a couple of adults were outside on their front stoops. But James Taylor Jr., 45, who's lived on Osage Avenue since the early 1970s, said the people who are left still look out for each other:

"This isn't a block - it's an extended family," Taylor said.

Taylor is just one of many Philadelphians - from the powerful to everyday people - still dealing with the aftermath of May 13, 1985. In the following pages, you will hear their stories.

Posted via web from ElyssaD's Posterous

“The Roof is on Fire” and Philadelphia’s Burning” | Philadelphia Daily News | 05/10/2010

As summer broke in 1985, a thumping song boomed in nightclubs across the country. Here in Philadelphia, its lyrics were loaded, linked to a vivid travesty.

"The Roof Is on Fire" was released by Rock Master Scott and the Dynamic Three six months before the MOVE conflagration.

The lyrics, which had nothing to do with the incident, became a popular dance-floor chant:

"The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. We don't need no water, let the motherf----- burn. Burn, motherf-----, burn."

Charles "Charlie Prince" Pettiford, a member of the group from the Bronx that wrote and performed the song, said he knew nothing about the MOVE incident at the time and still knows very little about it now.

"What planet does he live on?" asked Ramona Africa, a MOVE survivor who spent seven years in prison after the incident.

Africa says she can't help but link the song and fire.

"It definitely reminds me of what happened on May 13," she said. "I never thought it was written for that. But you automatically connect the two."

The song entered popular culture linked to MOVE, but another tune inspired by the fire quickly became too politically hot to handle by local song legends.

Bunny Sigler, the famous Philadelphia R&B singer, songwriter and producer, said he was working with other musicians in a studio at 6th Street and Olney Avenue on the day of the MOVE fire. They could see the smoke off in the distance as the fire raged through the day.

Then they went to work.

"These guys started playing this song," Sigler recalled. "It was something. They felt that pain. They played the funkiest baseline that I ever heard."

But Sigler said his management, Philadelphia International Records, was "very tight" with then-Mayor W. Wilson Goode Sr. and didn't want the song.

"They said, 'Hands off! Hands off!' " Sigler said. "They wouldn't use it."

Sigler, who now has different management, started thinking about the song, "Philadelphia's Burning," this year, after a fire ravaged the offices of Philadelphia International Records. He decided to revive it, collecting footage from the incident and shooting scenes out on Osage Avenue for a new music video.

Some lyrics:

"Bullhorns were shouting profanities. Led to all this misery. People told the mayor we can't take no more. You do something before we knock down the door."

"Philadelphia's burning, what a shame. Philadelphia's burning, who's to blame?"

"When you hear the song, the whole story is there," Sigler said. "People might get mad at me but I'm going to tell the story."

 

Posted via web from ElyssaD's Posterous

Daily Dose of TMI: May 13, 2010

Daily dose of TMI: May 13, 3010
Staus: Halted in progress (yay me @ElyssaD)

I don't if know if you received this email. My netbook crashed as I
was sending and it froze for 26 hours.
But I did the information for SafeLink program which is wonderful
because my extremely "bazaar" and changes the cell service every few
days without informing me. Tmobile will not provide information at all
so I can't access email because they reset the password.
As you know she claimed as a dependent on her tax returns without my
consent or knowledge.
The IRS informed me of this breach since every time I went to file my
taxed they were rejected by the IRS because it showed up a duplicate
Tax (Social Security ID)
She claims that her accountant did and she knew nothing about it (if
you could only picture my face and feel the sarcasm in voice as I am
forced to repeat this information time and time again to any and all
"agencies" who make inquired) she however does see this as a problem
and refuses to file an amended return (cost $70.00) so once again I am
rendered incapable of establishing independent (in every sense of the
word)
In addition, my father, well... Here we go...
My father as you know agreed to be my representative payee for Social
Security disability. Obviously that was a big mistake on my part and
has yet to be resolved. Congressman Cooper's office totally dropped
the ball and said there is nothing they can do. I requested that
reopen the investigation, and despite my persistent nce (which is both
annoying and immense) they simply do pretend that I don't exist.
Governor Bredesen sent an email telling me to call the President.
Seriously, are you kidding me?
So this is where we stand: no Social Security never received the money
that received in IOTOLA account during the months I spent sleeping in
my car or at the lake last summer.
And yes. I did spend a week or so at "The Mission" when I ran out of
gas, energy, and hope last August. My father still was receiving the
money, but did not pay bills, or release to me in time to prevent the
inevitable total disconnection of any and all services (utilities)
making it near impossible to re-establish service. They required
excessive fees for deposits and past due balances.
As per federal law, my father, Marc Durant is responsible for paying
those fees as they were a direct result of his failure to act in my
best interest but also a breach of fiduciary duty.
Now, to make matters worse, every time they seem to locate the
paperwork it gets redirected to the Philadelphia field office. So
The US Dept of Treasury located the funds that were never sent "in
error" some bank account (probably in the Cayman's or wherever rich
people go to hide there money ~ note both the sarcasm and the simple
fact that this is most likely true. It is sad that even to put in
these little side notes to even use the one things that through this
mess... Dark sarcasm and a little bit of humor. I'm sick of making
excuses for these people (mother: Karen, and father: Leslie Marc
Durant) so I am laying it down on the table for whomever it cares to
question and blame me for this "unfortunate situation".
These are the facts. And I need to take a break because my fingers are
getting cramps and my back is in spasm.
But I will continue to "the facts" out as long so that I can be free
of the constant struggle to be independent, self-sufficient and
EMPLOYED! This is absurdity and I realize I have people who do see the
obvious truth here. Yet in the real world and the everyday struggle to
be "human" continues.
My mother will always be #batshitcrazy. My father will always be #abovethelaw.
But I will not always have the strength or the ability to communicate
effectively given my financial, physical and emotional reality.
I am aware. I am aware that this is too much for one person to handle
and I don't blame those walk away in disgust and frustration because
they don't understand the intricate details of the law or the immense
emotional drama AND trauma that I face each day without resolution.
I understand that people need to believe that these are the ramblings
of a mad woman. If that were true I would say by all means, give me
the strongest does of anti psychotics asap. As I think most people are
starting to realize, unfortunately, these facts check out.
There is no treatment for the habitual and continued ignorance of the
public at large.
It is not my job soothe them or educate them as in law, sociology, and
"the world according to me @ElyssaD"
I do the best I can because I know how serious and pervasive certain
components of my story ring true for a number of people.
I will do the best I can to fight that stigma and the emotional
torture I live with every single say.
Goodammit, I hope this thing sends. It is bad enough that I am typing
all this shit on cell phone because AT&T wants a $400 non refundable
fee plus $150 deposit, plus $49 for installation for internet
So in the spirit of which it was intended:
Send, send, send!
and don't bounce back now, ya hear?
Wishing myself luck. I know these words are dangerous to some,
especially in light of the guy who got arrested for sending out a
threatening tweet. Yeah, ~ insert sarcasm about here ~ if you think
my words are "dangerous" than you need you deserve to be scared!
(Laughs to oneself as I know I am not a physical threat to anyone but
let's face it, if you don't get it you never will. And if this is a
lesson is Social Darwinism, let the dumb ones live in fear! And to
quote (without permission or proper citation to be added!) But
"If this tweet offends you, probably deserve it!" @icpchad
Yes. I am aware. Now format this bitch and enter it into your contest.
I deserve win something. Maybe an iTHINGY or iNTERNET. Not just iWANT
that is a legitimate iNEED in the world I live in.
File under: Disambiguation, Crime, Social Justice / Human Rights;
Crime, Crisis, Digital Divide, Cognitive Dissonance, Conspiracy Theory
This is me, just me
@ElyssaD
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elyssa Durant
Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 19:32:58 -0500
Subject: New Microsoft Office Word Document
To: elyssa.durant@yahoo.com, ELYSSA DURANT

Thanks Stacy... I had a hearing at Social Security about two weeks ago.
Very depressing. It cost $44 to or transportation, and they already
reversed the decision now I have to go back again and file the same
paperwork.
I have not received anything from Section 8 which has me concerned,
and my I am a really difficult time with without internet, TV,
transportation.... or even a library w/in walking distance.
Especially with the weather this weekend... I had no idea until I
heard the sirens. and then of everything was closed... and in 'the
hood" it is cash culture, so of course ppl became very aggressive [aka
mean] fighting over bottle of water and at the gas station when they
reopened.
my mother cancelled changed the password on the "family plan" after we
had "words" regarding well... really nothing... but today has just
been especially difficult since I don't have reliable phone service...
which of course is both a security and comfort issue for someone who
writes as a form of therapy..
I just this alert on my computer email... I don't even know where to start...
I received the invitation to the info session on WIPA that you guys
did...unfortunately transportation is problematic.
I have been receiving of lot of from people online... as silly as it
sounds there are so many ppl isolated and lonely. So I found they have
forums for ppl with PTSD and it has been very helpful to have eed back
that I am not the only one feeling left behind in the disability
movement.
Apparently I managed to reach a few ppl locally who call [my number is
public] to ask if I had any success with the housing and re-employment
programs. it makes me feel like I can be of some service to the
community... social services just got hear so I need to sign off but I
have received so many fraud alert that other people e.g., EFF and
other human right agencies have started to ask about my story.

All I can say is that I did write a review online for the Ctr 4 Ind
living at disabilty.gov website when they were looking to for feedback
on reemployment programs... I also had an I usa today and the
hufffington post that made me hopeful and regret at the same time...
this is a recent post ii got tons of feed back on... it is long, but
ppl really seen=m to relate...
I feel
Activity on this account

This feature provides information about the last activity on this mail
account and any concurrent activity. Learn more
This account does not seem to be open in any other location. However,
there may be sessions that have not been signed out.
Recent activity:

If the activity below doesn't look like yours, change your password
immediately. Learn more

Access Type [ ? ]
(Browser, mobile, POP3, etc.)
Location (IP address) [ ? ]
Date/Time
(Displayed in your time zone)

Unknown
United States (IL) (174.129.93.190)
May 1 (4 days ago)

Unknown
United States (CA) (75.101.223.83)
May 1 (4 days ago)

Browser
* United States (TN) (69.171.173.160)
2:45 pm (0 minutes ago)

Browser
United States (NY) (68.171.235.26)
May 4 (1 day ago)

Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.235.26)
May 4 (1 day ago)

Mobile
United States (CA) (206.53.157.233)
May 4 (1 day ago)

Mobile
United States (CA) (206.53.157.244)
May 4 (1 day ago)

Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.234.76)
May 4 (1 day ago)

Mobile
United States (CA) (206.53.157.186)
May 4 (1 day ago)

Mobile
United States (DC) (206.53.153.169)
May 3 (2 days ago)

Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.233.175)
May 3 (2 days ago)

Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.233.42)
May 3 (2 days ago)

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
Nashville, Tennessee
(615) 424-8810

"You may not care how much I know, but you don't know how much I care."

ungman , post, Activity on this account,
This feature provides information about the last activity on this mail
account and any concurrent activity. Learn more, This account does not
seem to be open in any other location. However, there may be sessions
that have not been signed out. Recent activity:, If the activity below
doesn't look like yours, change your password immediately. Learn more,
Access Type [ ? ], (Browser, mobile, POP3, etc.) Location (IP address)
[ ? ] Date/Time, (Displayed in your time zone), Unknown
United States (IL) (174.129.93.190) May 1 (4 days ago),
Unknown United States (CA) (75.101.223.83) May 1 (4
days ago), Browser * United States (TN) (69.171.173.160)
2:45 pm (0 minutes ago), Browser United States (NY)
(68.171.235.26) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States (NY)
(68.171.235.26) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States
(CA) (206.53.157.233) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States
(CA) (206.53.157.244) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States
(NY) (68.171.234.76) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United
States (CA) (206.53.157.186) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United
States (DC) (206.53.153.169) May 3 (2 days ago), Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.233.175) May 3 (2 days ago), Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.233.42) May 3 (2 days
ago)______________________________

On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Stacy Youngman wrote:
Hey Elyssa,
I was just wondering how things are going and if you are doing ok.
Please let me know!
Hope you are well.
Thanks,
Stacy Youngman, MSSW
Community Work Incentives Coordinator
Center for Independent Living
955 Woodland Street
Nashville, TN 37206
Phone: (615) 292-5803
ungman , post, Activity on this account,
This feature provides information about the last activity on this mail
account and any concurrent activity. Learn more, This account does not
seem to be open in any other location. However, there may be sessions
that have not been signed out., Recent activity:, If the activity
below doesn't look like yours, change your password immediately. Learn
more, Access Type [ ? ], (Browser, mobile, POP3, etc.) Location (IP
address) [ ? ] Date/Time, (Displayed in your time zone), Unknown
United States (IL) (174.129.93.190) May 1 (4 days
ago), Unknown United States (CA) (75.101.223.83) May
1 (4 days ago), Browser * United States (TN) (69.171.173.160)
2:45 pm (0 minutes ago), Browser United States (NY)
(68.171.235.26) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States (NY)
(68.171.235.26) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States
(CA) (206.53.157.233) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States
(CA) (206.53.157.244) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States
(NY) (68.171.234.76) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United
States (CA) (206.53.157.186) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United
States (DC) (206.53.153.169) May 3 (2 days ago), Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.233.175) May 3 (2 days ago), Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.233.42) May 3 (2 days ago)
On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Stacy Youngman wrote:
Hey Elyssa,
I was just wondering how things are going and if you are doing ok.
Please let me know!
Hope you are well.
Thanks,
Stacy Youngman, MSSW
Community Work Incentives Coordinator
Center for Independent Living
955 Woodland Street
Nashville, TN 37206
Phone: (615) 292-5803
ungman , post, Activity on this account,
This feature provides information about the last activity on this mail
account and any concurrent activity. Learn more, This account does not
seem to be open in any other location. However, there may be sessions
that have not been signed out., Recent activity:, If the activity
below doesn't look like yours, change your password immediately. Learn
more, Access Type [ ? ], (Browser, mobile, POP3, etc.) Location
(IP address) [ ? ] Date/Time, (Displayed in your time zone),
Unknown United States (IL) (174.129.93.190) May 1 (4
days ago), Unknown United States (CA) (75.101.223.83) May 1
(4 days ago), Browser * United States (TN) (69.171.173.160)
2:45 pm (0 minutes ago), Browser United States (NY)
(68.171.235.26) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States (NY)
(68.171.235.26) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United States (CA)
(206.53.157.233) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United
States (CA) (206.53.157.244) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile
United States (NY) (68.171.234.76) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile United
States (CA) (206.53.157.186) May 4 (1 day ago), Mobile
United States (DC) (206.53.153.169) May 3 (2 days ago),
Mobile United States (NY) (68.171.233.175) May 3 (2 days
ago), Mobile United States (NY) (68.171.233.42) May 3 (2 days
ago)

_________________________________________________________________
The New Busy think 9 to 5 is a cute idea. Combine multiple calendars
with Hotmail.
http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multicalendar&ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_5

MOVE 25 years later | Philadelphia Inquirer

MOVE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit

Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the organization MOVE. For other uses, see Move (disambiguation).

MOVE or the MOVE Organization (though the name is not an acronym, it is spelled by followers in capital letters) is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group founded by charismatic leader John Africa. MOVE was described by CNN as "a loose-knit, mostly black group whose members all adopted the surname Africa, advocated a "back-to-nature" lifestyle and preached against technology."[1] It has had notable confrontations with the Philadelphia Police Department in 1978 and later in 1985. During the latter event, the Philadelphia Police dropped a bomb on MOVE headquarters, resulting in multiple deaths of MOVE members including children.[2] On the 25th Anniversary of the confrontation, the Philadelphia Inquirer created a detailed multimedia site containing retrospective articles, archived articles, videos, interviews, photos, and a timeline of the events.[3]

Contents

[hide]

[edit] History

[edit] Origins and belief system

MOVE was founded in 1972 as the Christian Movement for Life by John Africa, a charismatic leader who, though functionally illiterate, dictated a document describing his views known as The Guideline to graduate student Donald Glassey. Africa and his followers (the majority of them African-American), wore their hair in dreadlocks and advocated a radical form of green politics and a return to hunter-gatherer society while stating their opposition to science, medicine and technology[citation needed]. As John Africa himself had done, his devotees also changed their surnames to show reverence to Africa, which they regarded as their mother continent.

[edit] Activities prior to 1978

The MOVE members lived in a commune in a house owned by Donald Glassey in the Powelton Village section of West Philadelphia. MOVE members staged bullhorn-amplified, profanity-laced demonstrations against institutions which they opposed morally, such as zoos (MOVE having strong views on animal rights), and speakers whose views they opposed. MOVE made compost piles of garbage and human waste in their yards which attracted rats and cockroaches; they considered it morally wrong to kill the vermin with pest control.[citation needed] MOVE attracted much hostility from their neighbors. Their actions brought close scrutiny from the Philadelphia police.[citation needed]

[edit] 1978 shoot-out

In 1978, an end was negotiated to an almost year-long standoff with police over orders to vacate the Powelton Village MOVE house. MOVE failed to relocate as required by a court order.[4] When police later attempted entry, Philadelphia police officer James J. Ramp was killed in a shootout. Seven other police officers, five firefighters, three MOVE members, and three bystanders were injured.[5] As a result, nine MOVE members were found guilty of third-degree murder in the shooting death of a police officer. Seven of the nine became eligible for parole in the spring of 2008, and all seven were denied parole.[6][7] Parole hearings now occur yearly.

[edit] 1985 bombing

In 1981, MOVE relocated to a row house at 6221 Osage Avenue in the Cobbs Creek area of West Philadephia. On May 13, 1985, responding to months of complaints by neighbors that MOVE members broadcast political messages by bullhorn at all hours and also about the health hazards posed by of the piles of compost, the police department attempted to clear the building.[8] After a standoff, police lobbed tear gas canisters at the building and the fire department battered the roof of the house with two water cannons. A burst of gunfire came from the house, touching off a return volley of thousands of rounds from police lasting 90 minutes. The police tried to remove two wood-and-steel rooftop structures, called bunkers by the police, by dropping a four-pound bomb made of C-4 plastic explosive and Tovex, a dynamite substitute, onto the roof.[9] The resulting explosion caused the house to catch fire, igniting a massive blaze which eventually consumed almost an entire city block.[10] Eleven people, including John Africa, five other adults and five children, died in the resulting fire.[11] The resulting fire was unable to be put out due to the fact that firefighters were being shot at. Ramona Africa and one child, Birdie Africa, were the only survivors.

Mayor W. Wilson Goode soon appointed an investigative commission called the PSIC or MOVE commission. It issued its report on March 6, 1986. The report denounced the actions of the city government, stating that "Dropping a bomb on an occupied row house was unconscionable."[12]

In a 1996 civil suit in U.S. federal court, a jury ordered the City of Philadelphia to pay $1.5 million to a survivor and relatives of two people killed in the incident. The jury found that the city used excessive force and violated the members' constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure.[11]

[edit] 2002 murder of John Gilbride

Subsequent to the death of John Africa, his widow, Alberta, married John Gilbride Jr, and had a child, Zackary Africa, circa 1996. The couple divorced in 1999. Following a custody battle, a court ruling granted Gilbride partial custody of Zachary which allow him unsupervised visits with his son. Gilbride moved to Maple Shade, NJ. Prior to his first visitation date with Zackary, an unknown assailant shot Gilbride dead by automatic weapon fire as he sat in his car shortly after midnight on September 27 while parked outside his home in an execution-style slaying. The case remains, to date, unsolved. MOVE initially conjectured that the US government had assassinated Gilbride in order to frame MOVE. Alberta Africa, who initially acknowledged the murder, claimed in 2009 that Gilbride "is out hiding somewhere".[13]

[edit] Present activities

Ramona Africa acts as a spokesperson for the group and has given numerous talks at leftist events throughout the US and in other countries. MOVE continues to advocate for the release of jailed MOVE sympathizer and former resident of Philadelphia, Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner. MOVE has also called for the release of MOVE members behind bars, who the group considers political prisoners.

[edit] References in music

[edit] List

[edit] Notes

"The Roof is not on Fire" by Kock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three is sometimes assumed to have been inspired by this incident. In fact, the single predated the MOVE bombing by a year. The song was, however, played during the ensuing protests near the site of the bombing.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Philadelphia, city officials ordered to pay $1.5 million in MOVE case; 1996-06-24; CNN.
  2. ^ Brian Jenkins (April 2, 1996). "MOVE siege returns to haunt city". CNN.com. http://edition.cnn.com/US/9604/02/move_court/. Retrieved 2008-08-01. 
  3. ^ "MOVE 25 years later". The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/93137669.html. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 
  4. ^ "Nose to Nose: Philadelphia confronts a cult". TIME magazine. August 14, 1978. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946962,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-20. 
  5. ^ "Surrender Immediately". TIME magazine Nine members of the organization were sentenced to a minimum of thirty years for third degree murder. August 21, 1978. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919800,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-20. 
  6. ^ Emilie Lounsberry (February 28, 2008). "MOVE members due for parole hearing". The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20080228_MOVE_members_due_for_parole_hearing.html. Retrieved 2008-03-05. 
  7. ^ Lounsberry, Emilie (June 5, 2008), "MOVE members denied parole", The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper: B06 .
  8. ^ Account of 1985 incident from USA Today.
  9. ^ Brian Jenkins (April 2, 1996). "MOVE siege returns to haunt city". CNN.com. http://edition.cnn.com/US/9604/02/move_court/. Retrieved 2008-08-01. 
  10. ^ Frank Trippett (May 27, 1985). "It Looks Just Like a War Zone". TIME magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956982,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-15. "The Move property on Osage Avenue had become notorious for its abundant litter of garbage and human waste and for its scurrying rats and dozens of dogs. Bullhorns blared forth obscene tirades and harangues at all times of day and night. Move members customarily kept their children out of both clothes and school. They physically assaulted some neighbors and threatened others." 
  11. ^ a b "Philadelphia Held Liable For Firebomb Fatal to 11". The New York Times. 1996-06-25. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEFDE1239F936A15755C0A960958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. 
  12. ^ "Philadelphia Special Investigation (MOVE) Commission Manuscript Collection". http://library.temple.edu/collections/urbana/psic-01.jsp. Retrieved 2008-04-12. 
  13. ^ September 26, 2009, Nark, Jason, "Slaying of ex-MOVEr still roils feelings 7 years later" http://www.phillyimc.org/en/slaying-ex-mover-still-roils-feelings-7-years-later

[edit] Further reading

  • Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Discourse and Destruction: The City of Philadelphia versus MOVE (1994) University of Chicago Press
  • Johanna Saleh Dickson; Move: Sites of Trauma (Pamphlet Architecture 23) (2002) Princeton: Architectural Press
  • Toni Cade Bambara The Bombing of Osage Avenue Philadelphia: WHYY. DVD OCLC 95315483
  • Margot Harry, Attention Move! This is America (1987) Chicago: Banner Press, ISBN 0916650324
  • Michael Boyette & Randi Boyette, Let it Burn! (1989) Chicago: Contemporary Press, ISBN 0809245434
  • Ramona Africa (Contr. Author). "This Country Must Change: Essays on the Necessity of Revolution in the USA" (Arissa Media Group, 2009) ISBN 9780974288475

[edit] External links

[edit] Pro-MOVE

[edit] Anti-MOVE

[edit] News media

[edit] Primary sources

Posted via web from ElyssaD's Posterous