Back from the bloggie-break. You guys have no idea how much time this can take up. Or, maybe you do. I started to think that I was falling behind in my work because I was staying up reading the news and choosing links.
A lot has happened in the world, and I got feedback that some of my readers enjoy the dating stories and personal life musing more than anything else I write here. Sorry folks, but there's nothing to report except a sad afternoon meeting with a certain librarian involving the exchange of various books and socks. The next day I met a nice couple at a party who enthusiastically told me the story of their previous break up a year ago. They exchanged their stuff and it was sad, they said, awful, hideous, but the very worst was disconnecting their joint phone account, for which they both had to go in person to the corporate office. The whole thing got so ridiculous that they got back together. They were a different type of couple entirely, obviously.
Other relatively trivial news involves my search for a room-mate, which has gone on much longer than I would like. Last night, I met a fellow who must not have read my room-mate ad very carefully. He was an odd character, an unemployed, fiftyish Southerner, a waiter of uncertain sexual preference, very nervous, never took his coat off while looking at the place, mentioned that one of his room-mate requirements was that the room-mate not have many overnight guests "loafing around" the place. That all seemed a bit of an awkward and repressed way to discuss his discomfort with my potential sex life, and then he let it out that he was actually a Republican. As a neo-con waiter, who seems much like a closeted Gay man, he won't have an easy time settling in NYC, but maybe his mental insulation is very strong.
Real "news": I woke up this morning listening to Marc Maron and Mark Reilly discussing file sharing with their listeners. Then there's the ongoing story about ipod subway thefts. Damn, I would hate it if someone ripped off my "creative zen" player because of its little white earphones just to get some of the music I stole on the internet. No, that's a joke, most of the tunes on there were legally acquired, I swear. I am sure that the reason for increased subway crime is not the desirable little pods, but rather the decrease in number of booth attendants, etc. I'm sure it's connected to all the Corporate welfare that sucks up all the money in this burg. On the same, hideous note, NY1's top story today was that suburb loving, city wrecking Governor is now officially planning on running for president. The whole thing makes me feel like crying or tearing my hair, the way people whose primary achievement in office was to destroy the places that they "represented" wind up getting rewarded for it by being "elected" president.
Speaking of music...for the first time in months perhaps, Amy Goodman is actually playing good music ("where's the love" - by the Blackeyed Peas, damn, I'd love to download that.) in between stories on her show "Democracy Now." Her taste is dictated entirely by the topicality of lyrics. And she mentioned, speaking of lyrics, the scandalous news of McDonalds' offer to rappers to advertise for them. I was noticing the number of brand-names in Jay-Z's raps the other day, and I felt much less guilty for downloading that stuff. If you read the story I just linked to, you'll find that this is not the first time. Apparently, Seagrams' gin has paid several rappers. What about Hennessy and Crystal? Have they paid to become the most name-checked brand liquors in rap lyrics?
I couldn't find out, but I did find this amusing little piece comparing rappers and bloggers.
and that's enough rambling for one day.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
The Results of "Starving the Beast"
Did you see this story about how the people in charge of testing kids in the public schools sent out tests rife with spelling errors and incorrect answers to math problems? Thank you soooo much for "raising standards." For all who haven't read it, I recommend reading the book Standardized Minds.
It's a double disservice. Thanks to the Daily News for covering the maddening transit delays. The Times had a similar story about worsening service. Unfortunately, the NYT seems to blame riders and workers instead of the stingy budget.
and finally, a friend mentioned this article about Pataki's influence on SUNY. The article at one point contrasts the reputation of CUNY in the State Legislature with SUNY, calling the City University a "darling" while SUNY is a "problem child." If that is so, then why are CUNY's faculty being offered a measley 2.5% raise -- out of which contributions to our collapsing welfare fund (which pays dental, eyecare, and prescription drug benefits) are supposed to be made?
It's a double disservice. Thanks to the Daily News for covering the maddening transit delays. The Times had a similar story about worsening service. Unfortunately, the NYT seems to blame riders and workers instead of the stingy budget.
and finally, a friend mentioned this article about Pataki's influence on SUNY. The article at one point contrasts the reputation of CUNY in the State Legislature with SUNY, calling the City University a "darling" while SUNY is a "problem child." If that is so, then why are CUNY's faculty being offered a measley 2.5% raise -- out of which contributions to our collapsing welfare fund (which pays dental, eyecare, and prescription drug benefits) are supposed to be made?
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Air America and its Listeners
Tonight I spent the time I should have spent reading about Victoria Woodhull, Teddy Roosevelt and others trying to figure out why Air America Radio decided to put Jerry Springer on the air where the show "Unfiltered" has been. I had stopped listening to the show during the election because I just couldn't take the obsessive focus on the Democratic party anymore, but I initially enjoyed it. I hadn't listened to the station at all until I went on a bus trip to DC for the pro-choice march last Spring with Lizz Winstead and Rachel Maddow and the female staff of the station (unfortunately no Janeann Garofalo). I was so impressed by both Lizz and Rachel. They were hilarious and smart, and actually, on the bus, sounded further to the left than they did on the radio. Lizz went on and on about how much she hated Clinton and the DLC, and Rachel Maddow knew a bunch of people who did prison work in California, it all gave me confidence in the station.
During my quest for info, I didn't find out much, but I did read the Unfiltered blog with its long threads of commentary of Maddow/Chuck D. and Winstead fans, AND I visited a right-wing blog dedicated to listening to Air America all day long and trying to find ways to attack it called Air America Listen. Look, I linked to it, but I don't recommend going there. The guy thinks that the democrats are socialists! He thinks taxes are a form of socialism. He opposes minimum wage laws because he says they would "put someone in jail" if they wanted to trade their labor for $5.00 per hour instead of $5.25. Here's a guy who has no understanding of the coercive force of the market, or even how the laws he opposes actually work. Maybe he would think Adam Smith was a socialist. I think he's a twenty-one year old guy with a bowtie, who keeps a copy of The Fountainhead under the bed next to his porno magazines.
I had a student who said things like this. She drove me crazy - not just because I disagreed with her politics, but because she was just objectively wrong: wrong about what socialism is, wrong about what the Democratic party's positions were, wrong about what the actual Republican policies were, wrong about how markets work, wrong, wrong, wrong. She was living in a universe of her making, as are so many of the far right people now. Because they believe in a vast, Soviet style conspiracy, liberal media, etc. that they think is weilding power over them, it is very hard to get them to see how distorted their perceptions of reality actually are without instantly being labled part of the conspiracy. This is the sort of thing that Hofstadter was talking about when he wrote that book, which I generally don't like because of its anti-communism, The Paranoid Style in American Politics This is what 20+ years of Reganomics, Rush Limbaugh and the rest have done...made total stupidity pass as wise, "refreshing" commentary.
During my quest for info, I didn't find out much, but I did read the Unfiltered blog with its long threads of commentary of Maddow/Chuck D. and Winstead fans, AND I visited a right-wing blog dedicated to listening to Air America all day long and trying to find ways to attack it called Air America Listen. Look, I linked to it, but I don't recommend going there. The guy thinks that the democrats are socialists! He thinks taxes are a form of socialism. He opposes minimum wage laws because he says they would "put someone in jail" if they wanted to trade their labor for $5.00 per hour instead of $5.25. Here's a guy who has no understanding of the coercive force of the market, or even how the laws he opposes actually work. Maybe he would think Adam Smith was a socialist. I think he's a twenty-one year old guy with a bowtie, who keeps a copy of The Fountainhead under the bed next to his porno magazines.
I had a student who said things like this. She drove me crazy - not just because I disagreed with her politics, but because she was just objectively wrong: wrong about what socialism is, wrong about what the Democratic party's positions were, wrong about what the actual Republican policies were, wrong about how markets work, wrong, wrong, wrong. She was living in a universe of her making, as are so many of the far right people now. Because they believe in a vast, Soviet style conspiracy, liberal media, etc. that they think is weilding power over them, it is very hard to get them to see how distorted their perceptions of reality actually are without instantly being labled part of the conspiracy. This is the sort of thing that Hofstadter was talking about when he wrote that book, which I generally don't like because of its anti-communism, The Paranoid Style in American Politics This is what 20+ years of Reganomics, Rush Limbaugh and the rest have done...made total stupidity pass as wise, "refreshing" commentary.
Schiavo, Iraq Vets Vs. War, Free Speech on College Campuses
Today, I really couldn't avoid this Terry Schiavo business, as everywhere I looked on the subway, people were reading AM New York, New York Metro and the Post, all of which had Schiavo headlines. As I noted the picture of the woman arrested for attempting to bring Schiavo a glass of water, it occurred to me that while DeLay and his cronies may have picked this issue as a convenient distraction from the any number of more important events, such as growing opposition to the 2 year old war, many people have glommed on to her as if she represents "the right for the unwanted to live."
One right-wing evangelical blogger, Dory Zinkand, whose blog Wittenberg Gate advertizes its function to "apply the scriptures to every sphere of life," was quoted in an abc news story on the Schiavo-blogging, "Terri's situation is important, not only because of her precious life, The truth is, many people are killed because someone decides their life would not be worth living." This speaks to some great sense of worthlessness among those who identify with Schiavo and make bizarre arguments about her supposed victimization by her husband. It's interesting to me that these concepts of life as valuable are always made in the case where life is an abstract quality that doesn't speak or act, a brain-dead woman, or a foetus. It is literally the concept of life that these people are defending, not the actual living people that we share our world with every day.
Juan Cole's March 22nd post on Schiavo and the "Islamization" of the Republican party is astute. I have to admit that I learned of his analysis not because I was diligently reading his site, but because I was listening to a two-day old podcast of "The Majorty Report" while I was watching people read about Terry Schiavo on the train today.
More importantly, there is real news to report. Yesterday, I heard several great speeches, including one by one of those CCNY students who were arrested for protesting military recruiters on their campus. The latest information is that three students were suspended and banned from the City College campus, accused of "posing a continual danger." A staff member was also arrested in connection with the events and is now the fourth of the group to face criminal charges. They are holding a town hall meeting in the NAC ballroom at City College on Thursday March 31st at 12:30pm, so if you're in the neighborhood, it should be worth going. You can reach them for more information at this email address: cityfreespeech@earthlink.net
Alex Ryabov, Victor Paredes and Carl Webb also gave great talks last night about military resistance. Ryabov, a 22 year-old Brooklyn college student, who returned from Iraq and helped found Iraq Veterans Against the War continues to impress with his clear presentation of his own story, politically astute without being strident or ideological. One of the things that all three agreed upon was that most people who go into combat don't go because of the mission that they are on, but because they are told they are going to protect their buddies in the military, to watch each others' backs. This kind of loyalty usually trumps people's political and personal opposition to the war, and explains why a lot of people will go even if they know the war is for oil, as Ryabov's commanding officer told his squad before they left for Iraq. They also talked about how much they disagreed with Op-Truth's analysis of the Fort Bragg protest as being "anti-troop." It was interesting to hear Webb and Ryabov, both members of the military, talk about what the best way to reach out to people in the military might be. All together, if you get a chance to hear them, I recommend going.
These people talk about the importance of valuing the lives not only of those guys that they served next to, but those of the people that they recognized as civilians left by the side of the road after they had been firing ammunition rounds.
One right-wing evangelical blogger, Dory Zinkand, whose blog Wittenberg Gate advertizes its function to "apply the scriptures to every sphere of life," was quoted in an abc news story on the Schiavo-blogging, "Terri's situation is important, not only because of her precious life, The truth is, many people are killed because someone decides their life would not be worth living." This speaks to some great sense of worthlessness among those who identify with Schiavo and make bizarre arguments about her supposed victimization by her husband. It's interesting to me that these concepts of life as valuable are always made in the case where life is an abstract quality that doesn't speak or act, a brain-dead woman, or a foetus. It is literally the concept of life that these people are defending, not the actual living people that we share our world with every day.
Juan Cole's March 22nd post on Schiavo and the "Islamization" of the Republican party is astute. I have to admit that I learned of his analysis not because I was diligently reading his site, but because I was listening to a two-day old podcast of "The Majorty Report" while I was watching people read about Terry Schiavo on the train today.
More importantly, there is real news to report. Yesterday, I heard several great speeches, including one by one of those CCNY students who were arrested for protesting military recruiters on their campus. The latest information is that three students were suspended and banned from the City College campus, accused of "posing a continual danger." A staff member was also arrested in connection with the events and is now the fourth of the group to face criminal charges. They are holding a town hall meeting in the NAC ballroom at City College on Thursday March 31st at 12:30pm, so if you're in the neighborhood, it should be worth going. You can reach them for more information at this email address: cityfreespeech@earthlink.net
Alex Ryabov, Victor Paredes and Carl Webb also gave great talks last night about military resistance. Ryabov, a 22 year-old Brooklyn college student, who returned from Iraq and helped found Iraq Veterans Against the War continues to impress with his clear presentation of his own story, politically astute without being strident or ideological. One of the things that all three agreed upon was that most people who go into combat don't go because of the mission that they are on, but because they are told they are going to protect their buddies in the military, to watch each others' backs. This kind of loyalty usually trumps people's political and personal opposition to the war, and explains why a lot of people will go even if they know the war is for oil, as Ryabov's commanding officer told his squad before they left for Iraq. They also talked about how much they disagreed with Op-Truth's analysis of the Fort Bragg protest as being "anti-troop." It was interesting to hear Webb and Ryabov, both members of the military, talk about what the best way to reach out to people in the military might be. All together, if you get a chance to hear them, I recommend going.
These people talk about the importance of valuing the lives not only of those guys that they served next to, but those of the people that they recognized as civilians left by the side of the road after they had been firing ammunition rounds.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
subways, stadiums, city council
I don't know how closely y'all read your local news, but there have been so many track fires and service disruptions recently that Flushing's John Liu, transportation chair of the City Council, is calling a meeting. Liu, who has often targetted the MTA for its lack of accountability in previous events, has also participated in at least one Straphangers/NYPIRG action in the city.
I found a great stadium news site today, which is a relief. It's Field of Schemes, a website maintained by Neil deMause and Joann Cagan, authors of the book of the same name. This site has got more information on stadium deals than you can possibly imagine, including a detailed discussion of today's city council meeting relating to the various offers on the MTA yards.
That horrendous shooting in Minnesota has already been linked to the neo-Nazi movement in an article in The Guardian. This shooting, unlike most of these types of shootings, which are discussed in the book Rampage originated on a poverty-stricken Indian reservation, which according to all the press I've seen, was also plagued by violence. The coverage has been different from the sort you see when you look at white suburban kids, as everyone noticed the differences in the desciptions of that type of school violence from violent incidents plaguing predominantly black schools. I think it's significant that the shooter's grandfather was a cop, though, and I am curious to know more about the circumstances of his life.
I found a great stadium news site today, which is a relief. It's Field of Schemes, a website maintained by Neil deMause and Joann Cagan, authors of the book of the same name. This site has got more information on stadium deals than you can possibly imagine, including a detailed discussion of today's city council meeting relating to the various offers on the MTA yards.
That horrendous shooting in Minnesota has already been linked to the neo-Nazi movement in an article in The Guardian. This shooting, unlike most of these types of shootings, which are discussed in the book Rampage originated on a poverty-stricken Indian reservation, which according to all the press I've seen, was also plagued by violence. The coverage has been different from the sort you see when you look at white suburban kids, as everyone noticed the differences in the desciptions of that type of school violence from violent incidents plaguing predominantly black schools. I think it's significant that the shooter's grandfather was a cop, though, and I am curious to know more about the circumstances of his life.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Too Many Martyrs, Too Many Victims
Today, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting sent out an action alert about the under-reporting of Iraqi civilian casualties by all the major newsmedia. Instead of using Lancet's figure of 100,000+ Iraqi casualties, the networks have reported between 11,000 and 16,000 Iraqi civilian deaths.
For my friends who follow the work of Michael Klare and others, it should be refreshing to see this piece that Truthout picked up from the San Francisco Chronicle, about the actual "age of [oil] scarcity" of which this war is one example.
One of my favorite readers asked for more dish on the WWP split, and after some very brief google searching, I found an article on Bella Ciao which is not only an unusually good news site, but also must be named after that great Italian Partisan song, whose lyrics are to follow, first in Italian then in English. However, that article, which had the most information I could find, was still not completely clear, and this relates to the WWP's decision not to explain their split publicly.
And since I'm feeling a bit hopeless about things, on this second anniversary week of the U.S.'s continuing planet-wrecking, youth grinding, global crisis inducing war, maybe it's good to close with this old partisan song, that sees hope in the moment of martyrdom. I'm sure it's very much how those in the world's many occupied "zones" must feel today.
Bella Ciao.........
Una mattina, mi sono alzato
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
Una mattina mi sono alzato
e ho trovato l'invasor
O partigiano portami via
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
O partigiano portami via
perche mi sento di morir
E se muoio da partigiano
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
e se muoio da partigiano
tu mi devi seppellir
E seppellire lassa in montagna
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
e seppellire lassa in montagna
sotto l'ombra di un bel fior
E le genti che passeranno
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
e le genti che passeranno
ti diranno che bel fior
È questo il fiore del partigiano
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
è questo il fiore del partigiano
morto per la liberta
English translation
This morning I awakened
Oh Goodbye beautiful, beautiful, goodbye Goodbye Goodbye
This morning I awakened
And I found the invader
Oh partisan carry me away
Oh Goodbye beautiful, etc
Oh partisan carry me away
Because I feel death approaching
And if I die as a partisan
Oh Goodbye beautiful, etc.
And if I die as a partisan
Then you must bury me
Bury me up in the mountain
Oh Goodbye beautiful etc.
Bury me up in the mountain
Under the shade of a beautiful flower
And those who shall pass
Oh Goodbye beautiful (etc)
And those who shall pass
Will tell you what a beautiful flower it is
This is the flower of the partisan
Oh Goodbye beautiful (etc)
This is the flower of the partisan
Who died for freedom
For my friends who follow the work of Michael Klare and others, it should be refreshing to see this piece that Truthout picked up from the San Francisco Chronicle, about the actual "age of [oil] scarcity" of which this war is one example.
One of my favorite readers asked for more dish on the WWP split, and after some very brief google searching, I found an article on Bella Ciao which is not only an unusually good news site, but also must be named after that great Italian Partisan song, whose lyrics are to follow, first in Italian then in English. However, that article, which had the most information I could find, was still not completely clear, and this relates to the WWP's decision not to explain their split publicly.
And since I'm feeling a bit hopeless about things, on this second anniversary week of the U.S.'s continuing planet-wrecking, youth grinding, global crisis inducing war, maybe it's good to close with this old partisan song, that sees hope in the moment of martyrdom. I'm sure it's very much how those in the world's many occupied "zones" must feel today.
Bella Ciao.........
Una mattina, mi sono alzato
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
Una mattina mi sono alzato
e ho trovato l'invasor
O partigiano portami via
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
O partigiano portami via
perche mi sento di morir
E se muoio da partigiano
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
e se muoio da partigiano
tu mi devi seppellir
E seppellire lassa in montagna
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
e seppellire lassa in montagna
sotto l'ombra di un bel fior
E le genti che passeranno
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
e le genti che passeranno
ti diranno che bel fior
È questo il fiore del partigiano
o bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao
è questo il fiore del partigiano
morto per la liberta
English translation
This morning I awakened
Oh Goodbye beautiful, beautiful, goodbye Goodbye Goodbye
This morning I awakened
And I found the invader
Oh partisan carry me away
Oh Goodbye beautiful, etc
Oh partisan carry me away
Because I feel death approaching
And if I die as a partisan
Oh Goodbye beautiful, etc.
And if I die as a partisan
Then you must bury me
Bury me up in the mountain
Oh Goodbye beautiful etc.
Bury me up in the mountain
Under the shade of a beautiful flower
And those who shall pass
Oh Goodbye beautiful (etc)
And those who shall pass
Will tell you what a beautiful flower it is
This is the flower of the partisan
Oh Goodbye beautiful (etc)
This is the flower of the partisan
Who died for freedom
Friday, March 18, 2005
Anti-War Movement and the various Tendencies
Common Dreams had an interesting discussion of the marches today in the U.S.
I went looking for more info, because when I saw the address on the first "Troops Out Now" flier I assumed, that because its hq was that office on 14th street, that they were a new group aiming to sanitize the name of the IAC. That wouldn't stop me from going on the march - Hell, if you're in the city, you should go, unless you go on another march in the city. Even the IAC (or just a group that includes them) is still better than war in Iraq. If you thought it was OK to vote for Kerry, you should feel like it's OK to go on a march sponsored by some people whose politics you don't totally support.
But to be more specific...According to "sabate's" post on the Indymedia newswire,
TTruth be told, there was an internal split in WWP around the elections, and the strategic orientation of the antiwar movement, among other issues. A faction led largely by Brian Becker in Washington, DC Richard Becker, Gloria La Rivera on the West Coast - all active in the ANSWER national leadership, left the WWP to form the Party for Socialism and Liberation (http://socialismandliberation.org/mag/index.php) - which continues to work within the ANSWER coalition framework. Remaining Workers World Party loyalists continue to orient around the IAC, based in NYC. It was this split, along with the IAC's desire to actively engage groups like NY Labor Against the War that propelled the emergence of a new Troops Out Now Coalition in NYC.
The Troops Out Now group has sent an open letter out condemning UFPJ for being racist, etc.
UFPJ responded:
People in the NYC UFPJ coordinating committee had three different reasons for reaching this conclusion (not to co-sponsor the march):
(1) Major concerns that in some of the early materials for this protest there was language about supporting the Iraqi resistance, which is not a position that the NYC coalition (or the national UFPJ, for that matter) has taken, and is a position strongly opposed by some groups in our coalition.
(2) Concerns about the involvement of the International Action Center in the action. In an attempt to strengthen the antiwar movement United for Peace and Justice has spent much of the past three years attempting to work with the International Action Center (IAC) and ANSWER, two (at times) overlapping groups. Our experience with these groups has been extremely negative, even though we recognize that they have made contributions to the antiwar movement.
While professing to desire unity, ANSWER and the IAC have repeatedly misrepresented the positions of, attacked, and attempted to isolate and split UFPJ and other antiwar groups, even when we were supposedly in alliances.
In addition, many people in UFPJ have disagreements with the style and approach that the IAC and ANSWER take, an approach that sometimes makes it harder to reach the broadest constituencies possible and therefore limits the potential power of the antiwar movement.
(3) Capacity issues. In January the local UFPJ – NYC coalition committed to build several actions the weekend of March 18-20 (a send off rally for buses to Fayetteville, NC; nonviolent civil disobedience at military recruitment centers; a US Labor Against the War action (since cancelled); and an interfaith gathering in Riverside Church). In December UFPJ’s National Steering Committee decided to allocate staff time to building March 18-20 activities nationally and to support the major regional demonstration being organized in Fayetteville, NC by UFPJ member groups. They gave clear instructions to staff that they could only put a limited amount of time and resources into building any activity in New York. On top of that, through late February staff time was focused on organizing our national assembly in St. Louis. Given all this, many people felt the UFPJ – NYC coalition didn't have the capacity to spend many hours in negotiations over language and other issues with members of the Troops Out Now Coalition.
So readers, I don't know what your position on all this is, but I'm going to a War Resister's March in Brooklyn, and I'd like to see a group that would take an anti-imperialist stance, focus extensively on issues of racism, not get caught up in the electoral distractions, and NOT be a bunch of Maoist/Stalinist wingnuts.
I went looking for more info, because when I saw the address on the first "Troops Out Now" flier I assumed, that because its hq was that office on 14th street, that they were a new group aiming to sanitize the name of the IAC. That wouldn't stop me from going on the march - Hell, if you're in the city, you should go, unless you go on another march in the city. Even the IAC (or just a group that includes them) is still better than war in Iraq. If you thought it was OK to vote for Kerry, you should feel like it's OK to go on a march sponsored by some people whose politics you don't totally support.
But to be more specific...According to "sabate's" post on the Indymedia newswire,
TTruth be told, there was an internal split in WWP around the elections, and the strategic orientation of the antiwar movement, among other issues. A faction led largely by Brian Becker in Washington, DC Richard Becker, Gloria La Rivera on the West Coast - all active in the ANSWER national leadership, left the WWP to form the Party for Socialism and Liberation (http://socialismandliberation.org/mag/index.php) - which continues to work within the ANSWER coalition framework. Remaining Workers World Party loyalists continue to orient around the IAC, based in NYC. It was this split, along with the IAC's desire to actively engage groups like NY Labor Against the War that propelled the emergence of a new Troops Out Now Coalition in NYC.
The Troops Out Now group has sent an open letter out condemning UFPJ for being racist, etc.
UFPJ responded:
People in the NYC UFPJ coordinating committee had three different reasons for reaching this conclusion (not to co-sponsor the march):
(1) Major concerns that in some of the early materials for this protest there was language about supporting the Iraqi resistance, which is not a position that the NYC coalition (or the national UFPJ, for that matter) has taken, and is a position strongly opposed by some groups in our coalition.
(2) Concerns about the involvement of the International Action Center in the action. In an attempt to strengthen the antiwar movement United for Peace and Justice has spent much of the past three years attempting to work with the International Action Center (IAC) and ANSWER, two (at times) overlapping groups. Our experience with these groups has been extremely negative, even though we recognize that they have made contributions to the antiwar movement.
While professing to desire unity, ANSWER and the IAC have repeatedly misrepresented the positions of, attacked, and attempted to isolate and split UFPJ and other antiwar groups, even when we were supposedly in alliances.
In addition, many people in UFPJ have disagreements with the style and approach that the IAC and ANSWER take, an approach that sometimes makes it harder to reach the broadest constituencies possible and therefore limits the potential power of the antiwar movement.
(3) Capacity issues. In January the local UFPJ – NYC coalition committed to build several actions the weekend of March 18-20 (a send off rally for buses to Fayetteville, NC; nonviolent civil disobedience at military recruitment centers; a US Labor Against the War action (since cancelled); and an interfaith gathering in Riverside Church). In December UFPJ’s National Steering Committee decided to allocate staff time to building March 18-20 activities nationally and to support the major regional demonstration being organized in Fayetteville, NC by UFPJ member groups. They gave clear instructions to staff that they could only put a limited amount of time and resources into building any activity in New York. On top of that, through late February staff time was focused on organizing our national assembly in St. Louis. Given all this, many people felt the UFPJ – NYC coalition didn't have the capacity to spend many hours in negotiations over language and other issues with members of the Troops Out Now Coalition.
So readers, I don't know what your position on all this is, but I'm going to a War Resister's March in Brooklyn, and I'd like to see a group that would take an anti-imperialist stance, focus extensively on issues of racism, not get caught up in the electoral distractions, and NOT be a bunch of Maoist/Stalinist wingnuts.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Information Overload, Vai Passar
I got so much interesting information in my various information slots today that I could barely keep up. When I got up this morning, there was a new "Tomgram" in my email; it was Dilip Hiro, one of my faves, reviewing about a week's worth of stories on the current situation in the Middle-East. It's great. Go there and read it.
Then, when I was on my way to teach my class this afternoon, I opened up my campus mail and there was this cool green envelope full of actual newspaper clippings about the MTA! From AM New York (a paper I usually ignore when it is thrust upon me as I enter and leave the subway): Chuck Bennet writes that the increase in bridge/tunnel tolls,70% of which are actually paid by city residents, are being funneled out to the suburban rail systems, so that "a half-million suburban rail riders get about 1/2 of the subsidy while 7 million subway and bus riders get the other half."
The Brooklyn College student newspaper had a nice editorial on Monday criticizing the MTA that noted the "curious quiet" of the straphangers campaign.
Thanks, Alex!
And then there was more. I came home from my office with Robert Fiske's book on Lebanon, Pity the Nation in my bag. It's a beautifully written and completely informative story of the roots of the conflict now ongoing and is worth reading.
Juan Cole's blog was full of the usual excellent info, including the exciting news that the number of Americans opposed to the war is growing, and the more disturbing news of corruption in Iraq.
If you are sweating now about what you can do to oppose this brutal and dreadful war, don't forget that this Saturday is the second anniversary of the American invasiono of Iraq, and it will be a day filled with protest around the world. One of the many things you can do if you are in NY can be found at the war resister's league.
PS.....
As I've been writing today's entry, I've been listening to sambas, such as "Hino Da Bahia" by Maria Bethania and Gal Costa and "Vai Passar" by the immortal Chico Buarque. In a way, these happy songs connect the bad news and urgency to a breathing humanity, so that you can both appreciate the real pain and loss involved in the death and destruction, and feel hope at the same time. Someone else figured this about Carnaval music, and in the honor of the 2003 "Free Carnaval Area of the Americas" group," who wanted "Vai Passar" sung at the FTAA protests, I've reprinted the lyrics to Chico Buarque's song here (in both the original Portuguese and in an English translation (provided by the "FCAA" group w/minor edits by me.)
Vai passar
Francis Hime - Chico Buarque
1984
Vai passar
Nessa avenida um samba popular
Cada paralelepípedo
Da velha cidade
Essa noite vai
Se arrepiar
Ao lembrar
Que aqui passaram sambas imortais
Que aqui sangraram pelos nossos pés
Que aqui sambaram nossos ancestrais
Num tempo
Página infeliz da nossa história
Passagem desbotada na memória
Das nossas novas gerações
Dormia
A nossa pátria mãe tão distraída
Sem perceber que era subtraída
Em tenebrosas transações
Seus filhos
Erravam cegos pelo continente
Levavam pedras feito penitentes
Erguendo estranhas catedrais
E um dia, afinal
Tinham direito a um alegria fugaz
Uma ofegante epidemia
Que se chamava carnaval
O carnaval, o carnaval
(Vai passar)
Palmas pra ala dos barões famintos
O bloco dos napoleões retintos
E os pigmeus do bulevar
Meu Deus, vem olhar
Vem ver de perto uma cidade a cantar
A evolução da liberdade
Até o dia clarear
Ai, que vida boa, olerê
Ai, que vida boa, olará
O estandarte do sanatório geral vai passar
Ai, que vida boa, olerê
Ai, que vida boa, olará
O estandarte do sanatório geral
Vai passar
there will pass
in this avanue a samba popular
every stepping stone
of this ancient city
tonight
will shudder
to remember
that by here passed by immortal sambas
that here here we bled by our feet
that here samba-ed our ancestors
once
un unhappy page in our history
a passage erased in the memory
of our new generations slept
our mother land so distracted
without percieving that she was in the underground
of shadowy transactions
her children
wandered blind across the continent
lifted penitent stones
raising strange cathedrals
and one final day
they had a right to an fleeting happiness
a breathless epidemic
that we call
carnival, o carnival
this will pass...
palmos for the famished barons
the block of painted napoleons
and the pygmies of the boulevard
god, come see
come see close up a city singing
the evolution of liberty
until the day clears up
o what a beautiful life, hey
o what a beautiful life, hey
the banner of the madhouse will pass by
o what a beautiful life, hey
o what a beautiful life, hey
the banner of the madhouse
will pass by
Then, when I was on my way to teach my class this afternoon, I opened up my campus mail and there was this cool green envelope full of actual newspaper clippings about the MTA! From AM New York (a paper I usually ignore when it is thrust upon me as I enter and leave the subway): Chuck Bennet writes that the increase in bridge/tunnel tolls,70% of which are actually paid by city residents, are being funneled out to the suburban rail systems, so that "a half-million suburban rail riders get about 1/2 of the subsidy while 7 million subway and bus riders get the other half."
The Brooklyn College student newspaper had a nice editorial on Monday criticizing the MTA that noted the "curious quiet" of the straphangers campaign.
Thanks, Alex!
And then there was more. I came home from my office with Robert Fiske's book on Lebanon, Pity the Nation in my bag. It's a beautifully written and completely informative story of the roots of the conflict now ongoing and is worth reading.
Juan Cole's blog was full of the usual excellent info, including the exciting news that the number of Americans opposed to the war is growing, and the more disturbing news of corruption in Iraq.
If you are sweating now about what you can do to oppose this brutal and dreadful war, don't forget that this Saturday is the second anniversary of the American invasiono of Iraq, and it will be a day filled with protest around the world. One of the many things you can do if you are in NY can be found at the war resister's league.
PS.....
As I've been writing today's entry, I've been listening to sambas, such as "Hino Da Bahia" by Maria Bethania and Gal Costa and "Vai Passar" by the immortal Chico Buarque. In a way, these happy songs connect the bad news and urgency to a breathing humanity, so that you can both appreciate the real pain and loss involved in the death and destruction, and feel hope at the same time. Someone else figured this about Carnaval music, and in the honor of the 2003 "Free Carnaval Area of the Americas" group," who wanted "Vai Passar" sung at the FTAA protests, I've reprinted the lyrics to Chico Buarque's song here (in both the original Portuguese and in an English translation (provided by the "FCAA" group w/minor edits by me.)
Vai passar
Francis Hime - Chico Buarque
1984
Vai passar
Nessa avenida um samba popular
Cada paralelepípedo
Da velha cidade
Essa noite vai
Se arrepiar
Ao lembrar
Que aqui passaram sambas imortais
Que aqui sangraram pelos nossos pés
Que aqui sambaram nossos ancestrais
Num tempo
Página infeliz da nossa história
Passagem desbotada na memória
Das nossas novas gerações
Dormia
A nossa pátria mãe tão distraída
Sem perceber que era subtraída
Em tenebrosas transações
Seus filhos
Erravam cegos pelo continente
Levavam pedras feito penitentes
Erguendo estranhas catedrais
E um dia, afinal
Tinham direito a um alegria fugaz
Uma ofegante epidemia
Que se chamava carnaval
O carnaval, o carnaval
(Vai passar)
Palmas pra ala dos barões famintos
O bloco dos napoleões retintos
E os pigmeus do bulevar
Meu Deus, vem olhar
Vem ver de perto uma cidade a cantar
A evolução da liberdade
Até o dia clarear
Ai, que vida boa, olerê
Ai, que vida boa, olará
O estandarte do sanatório geral vai passar
Ai, que vida boa, olerê
Ai, que vida boa, olará
O estandarte do sanatório geral
Vai passar
there will pass
in this avanue a samba popular
every stepping stone
of this ancient city
tonight
will shudder
to remember
that by here passed by immortal sambas
that here here we bled by our feet
that here samba-ed our ancestors
once
un unhappy page in our history
a passage erased in the memory
of our new generations slept
our mother land so distracted
without percieving that she was in the underground
of shadowy transactions
her children
wandered blind across the continent
lifted penitent stones
raising strange cathedrals
and one final day
they had a right to an fleeting happiness
a breathless epidemic
that we call
carnival, o carnival
this will pass...
palmos for the famished barons
the block of painted napoleons
and the pygmies of the boulevard
god, come see
come see close up a city singing
the evolution of liberty
until the day clears up
o what a beautiful life, hey
o what a beautiful life, hey
the banner of the madhouse will pass by
o what a beautiful life, hey
o what a beautiful life, hey
the banner of the madhouse
will pass by
Update on CCNY arrests from Znet, Paredes links
What do my gentle readers think of Ferrer's comment to the City Cops' union that the Diallo shooting wasn't a "Crime" and was "over-convicted?"
It seems pretty weak to me. It seems as if Ferrer had counted on any news organizations publishing the content of this speech to the cops, and now I can't imagine it will help his campaign.
..In another NYPD story, Znet just published an article about the arrests at City college, which says that at least one of the students has been suspended from school. This is really an outrage. Unfortunately, with Znet, it's hard to get page links, but you can find this one by looking for the article on recruiting protests. Students are urging people to call a whole set of people. You can find out about action plans on the campus anti-war network website.
And speaking of Znet, I hadn't read Norm Solomon lately, but I almost always appreciate his comments. He has a short piece from 3/11 about Moveon's refusal to take a strong stand against the war. I have been quickly deleting their mailings for a while now.
Finally... The recent Democracy Now story on AWOL soldiers, which began with a Harper's cover story was really excellent and provided a new take on how best to support the troops. People representing AWOL soldiers (including Pablo Paredes) will be speaking next week at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, March 23rd at 7pm - It's definetely worth going if you can. You can find more info about Pablo, along with comments from Howard Zinn, Chalmers Johnson and Ron Kovic at swiftsmartveterans.com There is also a bizarre comment from Oliver Stone there that sounds like someone trying to be clever and ironic, but doesn't make any sense.
It seems pretty weak to me. It seems as if Ferrer had counted on any news organizations publishing the content of this speech to the cops, and now I can't imagine it will help his campaign.
..In another NYPD story, Znet just published an article about the arrests at City college, which says that at least one of the students has been suspended from school. This is really an outrage. Unfortunately, with Znet, it's hard to get page links, but you can find this one by looking for the article on recruiting protests. Students are urging people to call a whole set of people. You can find out about action plans on the campus anti-war network website.
And speaking of Znet, I hadn't read Norm Solomon lately, but I almost always appreciate his comments. He has a short piece from 3/11 about Moveon's refusal to take a strong stand against the war. I have been quickly deleting their mailings for a while now.
Finally... The recent Democracy Now story on AWOL soldiers, which began with a Harper's cover story was really excellent and provided a new take on how best to support the troops. People representing AWOL soldiers (including Pablo Paredes) will be speaking next week at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, March 23rd at 7pm - It's definetely worth going if you can. You can find more info about Pablo, along with comments from Howard Zinn, Chalmers Johnson and Ron Kovic at swiftsmartveterans.com There is also a bizarre comment from Oliver Stone there that sounds like someone trying to be clever and ironic, but doesn't make any sense.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Dollars, Stadiums and Staff-Run Unions: It's a background day
Interesting Take on U.S. Foreign Policy
I was crusing along with my mp3 player yesterday, listening to the podcast of last Sunday night's Laura Flanders' show and heard this guy Jim Willie talking about the U.S. dollar, the Euro and the invasion of Iraq. He is one of those who argues that one of the major reasons for the invasion was Sadaam Huseein's shift to the Euro. Apparently, Iran has also made this move, and this, he says explains the U.S's increasingly threatening posture there. He was on the show talking about a number of things, including the notion that the real topic of Bush and Putin's meetings was the currency used in oil exchange. His "Hat Trick Letter" is part investment advice, part anti-Greenspan diatribe, part dire prediction of complete, Germany-in-the-1920s-styel collapse.
MTA/stadium update: Yesterday's NYT reported that the NFL have picked the non-existent (and as The Gothamist says) possibly doomed West-Side stadium as a site for the 2010 Superbowl.
and back-ground, as PPRM (That's a "pissed-off Puerto Rican Medievalist" in case you were wondering) pointed out in a comment on the last post, Stadiums are a bad sell. Andrew Zimablist's and Roger Noll's 1997 study found
that stadiums did not put money into local urban economies as promised. A more recent study by economists Victor Matheson and Robert Baade says that the Superbowl usually delivers about 1/4 of what the promoters promise.
But will that stop the corporate welfare?
Finally: What ya gonna do with a "staff-run" union ?
There's an interesting debate from last April's Labor Notes on the problem of union professional staff that covers a lot of the reasons for the problems of staff-run unions. I've had my own experiences with this phenomenon, and noted in a talk I gave back in 1998 at the American Studies Association, that the power of "professionally trained" union staffers to over-rule the rank and file members may actually be magnified where you'd least expect it, in academic unions, where new union activists from the middle-class see themselves as "bourgeois" while their staff (often from the same class as themselves) are defined as "working-class" simply because of their status as union activists. At the same time, academics and other white-collar union members tend to respect the authority of professionals and bureaucrats in a way that blue-collar unionists might not. More on this later.
I was crusing along with my mp3 player yesterday, listening to the podcast of last Sunday night's Laura Flanders' show and heard this guy Jim Willie talking about the U.S. dollar, the Euro and the invasion of Iraq. He is one of those who argues that one of the major reasons for the invasion was Sadaam Huseein's shift to the Euro. Apparently, Iran has also made this move, and this, he says explains the U.S's increasingly threatening posture there. He was on the show talking about a number of things, including the notion that the real topic of Bush and Putin's meetings was the currency used in oil exchange. His "Hat Trick Letter" is part investment advice, part anti-Greenspan diatribe, part dire prediction of complete, Germany-in-the-1920s-styel collapse.
MTA/stadium update: Yesterday's NYT reported that the NFL have picked the non-existent (and as The Gothamist says) possibly doomed West-Side stadium as a site for the 2010 Superbowl.
and back-ground, as PPRM (That's a "pissed-off Puerto Rican Medievalist" in case you were wondering) pointed out in a comment on the last post, Stadiums are a bad sell. Andrew Zimablist's and Roger Noll's 1997 study found
that stadiums did not put money into local urban economies as promised. A more recent study by economists Victor Matheson and Robert Baade says that the Superbowl usually delivers about 1/4 of what the promoters promise.
But will that stop the corporate welfare?
Finally: What ya gonna do with a "staff-run" union ?
There's an interesting debate from last April's Labor Notes on the problem of union professional staff that covers a lot of the reasons for the problems of staff-run unions. I've had my own experiences with this phenomenon, and noted in a talk I gave back in 1998 at the American Studies Association, that the power of "professionally trained" union staffers to over-rule the rank and file members may actually be magnified where you'd least expect it, in academic unions, where new union activists from the middle-class see themselves as "bourgeois" while their staff (often from the same class as themselves) are defined as "working-class" simply because of their status as union activists. At the same time, academics and other white-collar union members tend to respect the authority of professionals and bureaucrats in a way that blue-collar unionists might not. More on this later.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Outfoxed on "Boston Legal" : Again with the "Liberal Media" Canard. Oy!
I just got done watching the "Boston Legal" episode which featured clips from Robert Greenwald's documentary, Outfoxed. The episode, which focused on a school principle who had put a "Fox blocker" on the TVs in his school being sued by a student for censorship, was edited by the network execs, who forced the writers to take out all mentions of the network's name. How ironic.... The "fox blocker" became a "news blocker," for example. The best line in the episode was Spader's. He turned to his colleague and said that the First Ammendment is edangered, noting that some major networks even edit fictional TV shows for content these days. (oh ho!, so daring, David Kelley.) It has gotten a bit of media coverage, particularly because Greenwald's effort to buy an ad for his doc. during the show was rejected. If you've never watched Fox, you might want to check out this website, or this one.
The episode was pretty weak and not just because no one asked why there were televisions in the school at all. What bothered me most was that during the courtroom scene, judges, lawyers, defendants and everyone kept repeating this idea that Fox represents just one of many widely varying views presented on major television. Some networks have a liberal slant, and some are conservative," actors kept saying, while others nodded. I think that it was the Judge who said to the defendant that one network even "lied about the President's military record." Despite the fact that pretty much every TV show, except Democracy Now! (of deepdish, public access, and internet tv fame) just keeps boosting the prez, announcing the cause-of-the-week for the occupation of Iraq, etc. etc. etc.,no one challenged the notion of a widely varying set of representations on television news.
The script was virtually a mirror of all that is wrong with the effort to present a "balanced" and "unbiased" view when one of the sides of the "debate" is simply bullshit, and the OTHER side just isn't even discussed. Therefore...while some say that the sky is green, there are others who say it is a lighter shade of green. Who can say, Marty, who's right? The only people who could possibly think that the U.S. media has "liberal" bias must either be such Fascist innovators or such Medieval reactionaries that they reject even the Enlightenment liberalism that gave us the First Ammendment and dis-establishment of religion as too liberal.
It's funny to think about this attack on classical liberalism, because I just got done with a lecture in which I insisted (perhaps too strongly) on the continuing influence of Enlightenment values on our current lives (no, that doesn't mean that people actually live up to the values, simply that their ideas of what's good and bad are based on the oppositiona of reason vs. unreason, individuals vs. herds, etc. regardless of how they behave). I may not be able to give that lecture for much longer.
The episode was pretty weak and not just because no one asked why there were televisions in the school at all. What bothered me most was that during the courtroom scene, judges, lawyers, defendants and everyone kept repeating this idea that Fox represents just one of many widely varying views presented on major television. Some networks have a liberal slant, and some are conservative," actors kept saying, while others nodded. I think that it was the Judge who said to the defendant that one network even "lied about the President's military record." Despite the fact that pretty much every TV show, except Democracy Now! (of deepdish, public access, and internet tv fame) just keeps boosting the prez, announcing the cause-of-the-week for the occupation of Iraq, etc. etc. etc.,no one challenged the notion of a widely varying set of representations on television news.
The script was virtually a mirror of all that is wrong with the effort to present a "balanced" and "unbiased" view when one of the sides of the "debate" is simply bullshit, and the OTHER side just isn't even discussed. Therefore...while some say that the sky is green, there are others who say it is a lighter shade of green. Who can say, Marty, who's right? The only people who could possibly think that the U.S. media has "liberal" bias must either be such Fascist innovators or such Medieval reactionaries that they reject even the Enlightenment liberalism that gave us the First Ammendment and dis-establishment of religion as too liberal.
It's funny to think about this attack on classical liberalism, because I just got done with a lecture in which I insisted (perhaps too strongly) on the continuing influence of Enlightenment values on our current lives (no, that doesn't mean that people actually live up to the values, simply that their ideas of what's good and bad are based on the oppositiona of reason vs. unreason, individuals vs. herds, etc. regardless of how they behave). I may not be able to give that lecture for much longer.
Understanding War
Instead of reading news I've been living in the past for several days, reading three different books from three different eras. Some seem truly past, such as The Federalist Papers, which I'm supposed to be teaching next week, and Barbara Goldsmith's book on Victoria Woodhull and 19th century reform movements, Other Powers. While the conflict between debtors and creditors that shaped the constitution remains pressing, and the intersection of sex and evangelical christianity does continue to amuse today, it was the third book on my list that was eerily current.
14-18: Understanding the Great War is part of a growing field of French scholarship about memory, and is part critique of myths of WWI in contemporary European (particularly French) society, and part an attempt to correct war nostalgia by reanimating the gore and pain of the battlefied and the prison camp. This book is pretty fascinating as an approach to war in general, and I think its familiarity comes largely from the fact that WWI so shaped the twentieth century and modern wars. While much of the book illuminates differences between European and American memories of the 20th century, there were aspects of the experiences and mythologies surrounding WWI itself that felt creepily familiar.
For instance, the authors note the intense religiosity of the war and the way that religious mysticism permeated the culture as a whole during the war.
One of the central points in the book is that in contemporary European memorials to soldiers, the young men are described as victims only, and the acts of cruelty, even the breaking of common conventions of warfare up to that time, are rarely discussed. The book questions this notion of the WWI soldiers as victims and argues that many of the young men had volunteered for the war. It also challenges the idea that propaganda came from above and disseminated the myths of war to the population. On the contrary the authors say, the propaganda came from below, in a massive welling-up of patriotism. This part of the book seems on shakier ground, as it does not present much evidence to explain this point, or to discount the concentrated propaganda efforts of all sides during the war.
Also, much of the presentation of soldiers as victims seems reasonable. When I've taught the "Great War" in the past, I've always relied on Rosa Luxemburg's Junius Pamphlet with its evocative introductory passages:
Gone is the euphoria. Gone the patriotic noise in the streets, the chase after the gold-colored automobile, one false telegram after another, the wells poisoned by cholera, the Russian students heaving bombs over every railway bridge in Berlin, the French airplanes over Nuremberg, the spy hunting public running amok in the streets, the swaying crowds in the coffee shops with ear-deafening patriotic songs surging ever higher, whole city neighborhoods transformed into mobs ready to denounce, to mistreat women, to shout hurrah and to induce delirium in themselves by means of wild rumors. Gone, too, is the atmosphere of ritual murder, the Kishinev air where the crossing guard is the only remaining representative of human dignity.
It is coming up on the second anniversary of the U.S.'s sadistic "shock and awe" air attack, and it seems that for about 50% of us, the patriotism has not yet dimmed. So Bush makes Wilsonian claims for his invasion and occupation of Iraq, and some call him Wilsonian, also drawing parallels between WWI and the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Let's hope that the emergence of IVAW and similar groups signals a similar disillusionment to follow.
14-18: Understanding the Great War is part of a growing field of French scholarship about memory, and is part critique of myths of WWI in contemporary European (particularly French) society, and part an attempt to correct war nostalgia by reanimating the gore and pain of the battlefied and the prison camp. This book is pretty fascinating as an approach to war in general, and I think its familiarity comes largely from the fact that WWI so shaped the twentieth century and modern wars. While much of the book illuminates differences between European and American memories of the 20th century, there were aspects of the experiences and mythologies surrounding WWI itself that felt creepily familiar.
For instance, the authors note the intense religiosity of the war and the way that religious mysticism permeated the culture as a whole during the war.
One of the central points in the book is that in contemporary European memorials to soldiers, the young men are described as victims only, and the acts of cruelty, even the breaking of common conventions of warfare up to that time, are rarely discussed. The book questions this notion of the WWI soldiers as victims and argues that many of the young men had volunteered for the war. It also challenges the idea that propaganda came from above and disseminated the myths of war to the population. On the contrary the authors say, the propaganda came from below, in a massive welling-up of patriotism. This part of the book seems on shakier ground, as it does not present much evidence to explain this point, or to discount the concentrated propaganda efforts of all sides during the war.
Also, much of the presentation of soldiers as victims seems reasonable. When I've taught the "Great War" in the past, I've always relied on Rosa Luxemburg's Junius Pamphlet with its evocative introductory passages:
Gone is the euphoria. Gone the patriotic noise in the streets, the chase after the gold-colored automobile, one false telegram after another, the wells poisoned by cholera, the Russian students heaving bombs over every railway bridge in Berlin, the French airplanes over Nuremberg, the spy hunting public running amok in the streets, the swaying crowds in the coffee shops with ear-deafening patriotic songs surging ever higher, whole city neighborhoods transformed into mobs ready to denounce, to mistreat women, to shout hurrah and to induce delirium in themselves by means of wild rumors. Gone, too, is the atmosphere of ritual murder, the Kishinev air where the crossing guard is the only remaining representative of human dignity.
It is coming up on the second anniversary of the U.S.'s sadistic "shock and awe" air attack, and it seems that for about 50% of us, the patriotism has not yet dimmed. So Bush makes Wilsonian claims for his invasion and occupation of Iraq, and some call him Wilsonian, also drawing parallels between WWI and the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Let's hope that the emergence of IVAW and similar groups signals a similar disillusionment to follow.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Students Arrested for Counter-Recruitment Activities at CCNY
"There comes a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part, you can't even passively take part,...And you've got to put your bodies on the gears, and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus. And you've got to make it stop."
- Mario Savio, Berkeley, 1964
If you try googling various combinations of "three students arrested" "City College," CCNY and similar things, you'll wind up with a whole history of student activism, but not news of the recent arrests at City.
To learn more about why three students were arrested for protesting military recruiters on campus, and how it is that they came to be charged with assaulting the police, you must go to:Indymedia, which will send you to a story on an indymedia blog dedicated to activism against military recruitment called: Counter Recruiter. The same site also has information about how to support Tom Keenan, who was arrested for handing out anti-recruitment fliers at William Patterson University in New Jersey.
The students are also struggling over the college president's assertion that if protests occur on campus, they must do so in "pens" as a condition of "free assembly." Keep your eyes peeled; Atty. Ron McGuire has (perhaps hyperbolically, perhaps not) compared the coming protest to Berkeley's free speech movement of 1964. Regardless, the number of arrests made of people for simple speech acts should be increasingly difficult for all of us to either ignore or accept.
- Mario Savio, Berkeley, 1964
If you try googling various combinations of "three students arrested" "City College," CCNY and similar things, you'll wind up with a whole history of student activism, but not news of the recent arrests at City.
To learn more about why three students were arrested for protesting military recruiters on campus, and how it is that they came to be charged with assaulting the police, you must go to:Indymedia, which will send you to a story on an indymedia blog dedicated to activism against military recruitment called: Counter Recruiter. The same site also has information about how to support Tom Keenan, who was arrested for handing out anti-recruitment fliers at William Patterson University in New Jersey.
The students are also struggling over the college president's assertion that if protests occur on campus, they must do so in "pens" as a condition of "free assembly." Keep your eyes peeled; Atty. Ron McGuire has (perhaps hyperbolically, perhaps not) compared the coming protest to Berkeley's free speech movement of 1964. Regardless, the number of arrests made of people for simple speech acts should be increasingly difficult for all of us to either ignore or accept.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
more on the MTA and its doings
After the Educators to Stop the War conference, I met Alex Vitale, a really great NYC activist & Brooklyn college prof. who has his own website dedicated to navigating "the complex world of criminal justice activism" in NYC. This is a really cool website, with all kinds of otherwise hard-to-find information. It's easy to navigate and includes a calendar of local activist events. Go there and check out what's going on.
He also posted a cogent comment to the last in my series of fumbling subway politics posts, suggesting that I write more about Pataki's general preference for funding commuter rail projects, also noting that the gov.doesn't have complete control over the MTA, but that the Mayor too has a say on who sits on the board. Specifically, Bloomberg appoints four out of seventeen of the board-members, and according to the Straphangers' campaign, these members have made a difference in the past, for example, creating "cityticket" for w/in the city stops on the Metro-North and LIRR.
The relationship between these "duelling" republicans is confusing, and I don't usually trust NY Magazine, because I think of it as a yuppie-scum rag (really, I think of it in 80s parlance, when I first became aware of its existence when I was a wannabe punk rock college kid). However, it makes this nice point, "Pataki is doing whatever it takes to keep his presidential fantasy alive, and if that means cutting taxes while the subway crumbles, well, no one voting in the Iowa caucuses cares about the subway part. The mayor’s failure, though, is his inability to find an effective substitute for public ranting. He could have used the rebuilding of downtown as a lever against Pataki, but largely ceded ground zero to the governor in favor of taking the lead role in the development of the far West Side."
As stadium politics become more confusing, and more exciting, I paid a brief visit to the anti-Nets stadium activists' site: Nolandgrab which led readers to this article from the NY Observer. It's all up for sale, and these stadium deals with all their complications remind me of old stuff, like those bond issues that went out to the RRs in the 1870s. Oh yeah, I think that this book by Matthew Josephson should provide most of the gory details on that era.
I guess it's important to understand some of the complexity of the local politics when it matters for deciding strategy, but generally I think it's safe to assume that when it comes to big capital in action, the larger similiarities tend to outweigh the differences. As much as we tend to attribute anything to the personalities, hopes, and ambitions of the key elected players, about a hundred years from now, it's likely that the history books will have more to say about the corporate giants than they will about the goings on in City Hall and Albany. The actual politicians will be more and more like the Grover Clevelands and Chester Arthurs: interesting if you really know about them, but somewhat remote and even picayune... significant and comprehensible only when examined for their facilitation of the actions of the true giants of the age: major league sports owners, media conglomerates, oil companies and the rest.
He also posted a cogent comment to the last in my series of fumbling subway politics posts, suggesting that I write more about Pataki's general preference for funding commuter rail projects, also noting that the gov.doesn't have complete control over the MTA, but that the Mayor too has a say on who sits on the board. Specifically, Bloomberg appoints four out of seventeen of the board-members, and according to the Straphangers' campaign, these members have made a difference in the past, for example, creating "cityticket" for w/in the city stops on the Metro-North and LIRR.
The relationship between these "duelling" republicans is confusing, and I don't usually trust NY Magazine, because I think of it as a yuppie-scum rag (really, I think of it in 80s parlance, when I first became aware of its existence when I was a wannabe punk rock college kid). However, it makes this nice point, "Pataki is doing whatever it takes to keep his presidential fantasy alive, and if that means cutting taxes while the subway crumbles, well, no one voting in the Iowa caucuses cares about the subway part. The mayor’s failure, though, is his inability to find an effective substitute for public ranting. He could have used the rebuilding of downtown as a lever against Pataki, but largely ceded ground zero to the governor in favor of taking the lead role in the development of the far West Side."
As stadium politics become more confusing, and more exciting, I paid a brief visit to the anti-Nets stadium activists' site: Nolandgrab which led readers to this article from the NY Observer. It's all up for sale, and these stadium deals with all their complications remind me of old stuff, like those bond issues that went out to the RRs in the 1870s. Oh yeah, I think that this book by Matthew Josephson should provide most of the gory details on that era.
I guess it's important to understand some of the complexity of the local politics when it matters for deciding strategy, but generally I think it's safe to assume that when it comes to big capital in action, the larger similiarities tend to outweigh the differences. As much as we tend to attribute anything to the personalities, hopes, and ambitions of the key elected players, about a hundred years from now, it's likely that the history books will have more to say about the corporate giants than they will about the goings on in City Hall and Albany. The actual politicians will be more and more like the Grover Clevelands and Chester Arthurs: interesting if you really know about them, but somewhat remote and even picayune... significant and comprehensible only when examined for their facilitation of the actions of the true giants of the age: major league sports owners, media conglomerates, oil companies and the rest.
Cold Chillin': Party Schools, Robot Soldiers and More
Yesterday I was walking through the halls of the urban community college where I teach and one of my former students shouted across the lobby, "Hey professor, how ya' doin?...Chillin?....Thanks for that F!" The F has been on the books for a year now, so I'm not sure why he chose today to be upset. Once, last semester he was lurking around outside the office, and I guess he's somewhat notorious, as my office mate began shouting: "What! You haven't flunked out yet?"
I was surprised to see him still hanging around, but there was a DJ in the cafeteria that day, so maybe he came just to hang out. Or maybe he was there on some business involving his transcript and discovered that the F he received in my class had seriously hampered his progress through college. As I was standing on the escalator, I overheard some students talking:
"We have our own DJ! Cool!"
there must have been some non-verbal communication, for then the same student said something like:
"Oh, I'm embarrassed, you must think I'm stupid...I just got excited"
"This place is so high-school," said her friend. It's a complaint I sometimes hear from our students, who don't, contrary to popular belief, always appreciate all the user-friendly character of the school. This particular group of fashionable young women then launched into an intense discussion of our institution's reputation as a "party school."
When I think "party school" my thoughts automatically go to insulated and pampered environment that produces suburban fraternity boys, not the collapsing contraption where I work.
Later that same day, one of my current students, worried about her grade asked, "professor, am I getting a C?" (no, I think the B range right now, and potentially A, but I couldn't discuss it in the middle of class). She turned to a friend and said, "Well the president had a C average, so that makes it all right." I knew she was joking, but said anyway, "The President had a leg-up that you don't have." Another student nodded, "Too true."
Speaking of a leg-up, I think it was my anonymous Mom who wrote that post about the robot soldiers yesterday - thanks for the reminder. Here's article from the BBC about the project. It is chilling.
Also chilling is the story of another American student, born in Houston, that land of party schools, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the young man accused of plotting to assasinate the president. Elaine Cassel described what the issues are in his case in Counterpunch. He was far from the partying atmosphere of Texas fraternities when he was in college, and "Apparently," Cassel writes, "the U.S. had taken advantage of this U.S. citizen's choice to attend school abroad, to make sure he was held in prison there--where torture would be permitted, and counsel would not be provided."
While some GOP hacks might have tried to pass off Abu Ghraib as a series of "fraternity pranks," we know that the s-m practices of our president at Yale and the humiliating tactics used by American, British and Israeli troopsagainst Muslim political prisoners may not be totally disconnected in their psychological roots, but they are not equivalent.
I was surprised to see him still hanging around, but there was a DJ in the cafeteria that day, so maybe he came just to hang out. Or maybe he was there on some business involving his transcript and discovered that the F he received in my class had seriously hampered his progress through college. As I was standing on the escalator, I overheard some students talking:
"We have our own DJ! Cool!"
there must have been some non-verbal communication, for then the same student said something like:
"Oh, I'm embarrassed, you must think I'm stupid...I just got excited"
"This place is so high-school," said her friend. It's a complaint I sometimes hear from our students, who don't, contrary to popular belief, always appreciate all the user-friendly character of the school. This particular group of fashionable young women then launched into an intense discussion of our institution's reputation as a "party school."
When I think "party school" my thoughts automatically go to insulated and pampered environment that produces suburban fraternity boys, not the collapsing contraption where I work.
Later that same day, one of my current students, worried about her grade asked, "professor, am I getting a C?" (no, I think the B range right now, and potentially A, but I couldn't discuss it in the middle of class). She turned to a friend and said, "Well the president had a C average, so that makes it all right." I knew she was joking, but said anyway, "The President had a leg-up that you don't have." Another student nodded, "Too true."
Speaking of a leg-up, I think it was my anonymous Mom who wrote that post about the robot soldiers yesterday - thanks for the reminder. Here's article from the BBC about the project. It is chilling.
Also chilling is the story of another American student, born in Houston, that land of party schools, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the young man accused of plotting to assasinate the president. Elaine Cassel described what the issues are in his case in Counterpunch. He was far from the partying atmosphere of Texas fraternities when he was in college, and "Apparently," Cassel writes, "the U.S. had taken advantage of this U.S. citizen's choice to attend school abroad, to make sure he was held in prison there--where torture would be permitted, and counsel would not be provided."
While some GOP hacks might have tried to pass off Abu Ghraib as a series of "fraternity pranks," we know that the s-m practices of our president at Yale and the humiliating tactics used by American, British and Israeli troopsagainst Muslim political prisoners may not be totally disconnected in their psychological roots, but they are not equivalent.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Amputees in Battle, Ressentiment on a Grand Scale
During their workshop at the Educators to Stop the War conference, Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson of Military Families Speak Out mentioned that amputees are going back into Iraq. I was mistaken in my impression that the amputees were actually being called up, but MFSO's point was that things must really coming to serious crisis for the US military if they're even allowing people to go back into battle with "bionic" legs. (What do you think of how the military is spinning this disability to make us imagine that we are producing super-duper soldiers, instead of grinding up our young men in the war machine?)
One thing that is clearly the case is that the military is calling up people for second tours in Iraq even when they are suffering from what's now called PTSD. Last night, I watched an episode of Frontline called "The Soldier's Heart" which discussed this issue in great depth, and included Rob Serra of IVAW.
The story about amputees going back voluntarily into battle is bizarre to me, and is full of sentences such as this one, "For many amputees, returning to combat duty may be an impossible dream. Some have multiple amputations. And those who've lost arms find it very difficult to learn to fire a weapon again."
Given what I heard from Alex Ryabov of IVAW, and what I saw last night on PBS' Frontline documentary, it's hard to imagine that anyone would "dream," in impossible Don Quixote style, of returning to Iraq. However, rather than thanking these men for their devotion and then calling for a therapist, George Bush smilingly told the wounded he-men that he'd do everything he could to help them get back to the field. His reaction to the soldiers reminds me of his remark on his speaking tour to an audience member who said that she had to work "three jobs" to support her family, which was: that's "fantastic" and "Uniquely American."
I don't agree with Friedrich Nietzsche on everything, but I think he was right to argue that there is something actually wicked about the kind of Christian morality that celebrates such life-denying and soul killing behavior as being the best kind of humanity. I don't want to be unempathic to those who are dying to get back into combat, but the celebration of such sacrifice makes me want to scream with Nietzsche, "The foul smell!" the foul smell of ressentiment is everywhere.....and especially in the Bush administration.
One thing that is clearly the case is that the military is calling up people for second tours in Iraq even when they are suffering from what's now called PTSD. Last night, I watched an episode of Frontline called "The Soldier's Heart" which discussed this issue in great depth, and included Rob Serra of IVAW.
The story about amputees going back voluntarily into battle is bizarre to me, and is full of sentences such as this one, "For many amputees, returning to combat duty may be an impossible dream. Some have multiple amputations. And those who've lost arms find it very difficult to learn to fire a weapon again."
Given what I heard from Alex Ryabov of IVAW, and what I saw last night on PBS' Frontline documentary, it's hard to imagine that anyone would "dream," in impossible Don Quixote style, of returning to Iraq. However, rather than thanking these men for their devotion and then calling for a therapist, George Bush smilingly told the wounded he-men that he'd do everything he could to help them get back to the field. His reaction to the soldiers reminds me of his remark on his speaking tour to an audience member who said that she had to work "three jobs" to support her family, which was: that's "fantastic" and "Uniquely American."
I don't agree with Friedrich Nietzsche on everything, but I think he was right to argue that there is something actually wicked about the kind of Christian morality that celebrates such life-denying and soul killing behavior as being the best kind of humanity. I don't want to be unempathic to those who are dying to get back into combat, but the celebration of such sacrifice makes me want to scream with Nietzsche, "The foul smell!" the foul smell of ressentiment is everywhere.....and especially in the Bush administration.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Educators to Stop the War
On Saturday, I went to a one day conference of a group called Educators to the Stop the Warthat brought together teachers and students from New York area high schools, colleges, and elementary schools. It was one of the more positive events that I've gone to recently, with 750+ people who stayed for a day's worth of workshops; I hope that it will motivate and coordinate greater anti-war activity in high schools and colleges.
The conference was unusually good both because there were people there with new information and insights and because the overwhelming focus of the conference was to put information into practical action.
Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominanceand keeper of the blog Empire Notes, was particularly impressive during the morning plenary. His speech differed substantially from the usual type of analysis. In it, he chided the American anti-war movement for its failure to recognize the successful elements of the recent elections in Iraq, which were, he said, the result of activism in Iraq, not the occupation. Because so many criticized the elections as a total sham, Mahajan said that the anti-war movement left the public with the confused impression that we didn't support democracy in Iraq. In order to be on the "right side of history," he said that we should be informed of and ready to speak about the democratic movements in Iraq, most of which oppose the occupation.
Also excellent were two speakers from Iraq Veterans Against The War. One of them appeared in the morning plenary, and emphasized the importance of educators with his comment, "If Vietnam had been more than a footnote in my highschool textbooks, I never would have joined the military." Although IVAW only has 150 members, it will grow as more vets can finally get back from Iraq.
The small workshops were also better than usual. I went to one on the role of the Israel/Palestine conflict in the anti-war movement, during which there was a great deal of audience participation, as well as clear disagreement among the panelists themselves. One of the panelists, Phyllis Bennis, began her remarks by challenging the organizers to work better to have a more representative panel next time, as there were four Jews and only one Palestinian on the panel. She also made the argument that Israel is "no longer the third rail" in progressive politics, but some of the comments from the audience made me question her confidence on that score.
The other workshop that I attended was run by Military Families Speak out,who were very concrete in their efforts to make links between military families, veterans and our schools. They were also very informative. I learned at this workshop, for example, that the army is now calling up amputees to return to Iraq. Here is an ABC news story about the first one to go. I think that this particular workshop, which was held twice during the day, was highly influential, and based on what I saw and heard, I'd say that the most direct result of the conference will be a renewed focus on military recruiters in the highschools and jr. colleges. Generally, I also imagine that many of us will become more focused in our efforts to bring specific information about the war into the classroom.
I don't see any scandal-mongering headlines in the Post today, which is at least one good sign.
The conference was unusually good both because there were people there with new information and insights and because the overwhelming focus of the conference was to put information into practical action.
Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominanceand keeper of the blog Empire Notes, was particularly impressive during the morning plenary. His speech differed substantially from the usual type of analysis. In it, he chided the American anti-war movement for its failure to recognize the successful elements of the recent elections in Iraq, which were, he said, the result of activism in Iraq, not the occupation. Because so many criticized the elections as a total sham, Mahajan said that the anti-war movement left the public with the confused impression that we didn't support democracy in Iraq. In order to be on the "right side of history," he said that we should be informed of and ready to speak about the democratic movements in Iraq, most of which oppose the occupation.
Also excellent were two speakers from Iraq Veterans Against The War. One of them appeared in the morning plenary, and emphasized the importance of educators with his comment, "If Vietnam had been more than a footnote in my highschool textbooks, I never would have joined the military." Although IVAW only has 150 members, it will grow as more vets can finally get back from Iraq.
The small workshops were also better than usual. I went to one on the role of the Israel/Palestine conflict in the anti-war movement, during which there was a great deal of audience participation, as well as clear disagreement among the panelists themselves. One of the panelists, Phyllis Bennis, began her remarks by challenging the organizers to work better to have a more representative panel next time, as there were four Jews and only one Palestinian on the panel. She also made the argument that Israel is "no longer the third rail" in progressive politics, but some of the comments from the audience made me question her confidence on that score.
The other workshop that I attended was run by Military Families Speak out,who were very concrete in their efforts to make links between military families, veterans and our schools. They were also very informative. I learned at this workshop, for example, that the army is now calling up amputees to return to Iraq. Here is an ABC news story about the first one to go. I think that this particular workshop, which was held twice during the day, was highly influential, and based on what I saw and heard, I'd say that the most direct result of the conference will be a renewed focus on military recruiters in the highschools and jr. colleges. Generally, I also imagine that many of us will become more focused in our efforts to bring specific information about the war into the classroom.
I don't see any scandal-mongering headlines in the Post today, which is at least one good sign.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Regressive Sales Taxes, Ripping off Retirees...What will they think up next?
"How could they tax the peasants more than the rich people?" My students always ask when I teach them about 17th century France, dumbfounded, "How could people put up with that?"
I wonder if they'll be as surprised with the new U.S. tax policy proposal. I read in the New York Times today about Bush and Greenspan's advocacy of a plan to replace income taxes with a national sales tax. The president's economic report doesn't even make sense to me. For example, it states: the tax "could increase personal savings by as much as 43 percent in the first year and ultimately lead to higher output and higher wages. By removing the tax on the return to savings and investment, a consumption tax would increase savings and investment," the report contended. "With a larger stock of capital, workers would be more productive and output and wages would rise."
I can see how it might increase wages, something that the Bushes haven't supported EVER, but how exactly will a larger stock of capital make workers more productive? Even if increasing worker wealth were the goal of the plan (which it isn't), I don't understand the cause/effect argument here. I know I personally wouldn't start working harder just because I had more money in the bank. The speedup we're living in now has already got most workers (including me) producing more for less reward, and capital likes that just fine.
Of course, the idea of saving/investing workers is just a smoke-screen. The reality is that most workers don't have money to save, and spend most of their income on basic necessities. This is simply a tax cut for the rich, who have more money to save and invest. What will the outcome of such a policy be? What,for example, would its impact be on consumer spending, which in recent years has been financed increasingly by debt? This article from Monthly Review provides the long term context of the latest taxation scheme, suggesting that it might be an effort to adjust the balance between investment and spending, The article written in the context of the waning Clinton "boom" in the Spring of 2000 argues that "The share of consumption expenditures in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the current expansion has risen nearly five percentage points above the average for all previous post-Second World War expansions, while the share of total fixed investment in GDP has fallen 1.4 percentage points below the average for all earlier expansions. Hence, investment remains semi-stagnant when compared with earlier expansions—reflecting the powerful tendency toward stagnation that continues to characterize the capital accumulation process."
Regardless of its logic, the tax plan would basically shift more of the tax burden from the rich and place it on the working class - and that fits with a whole bunch of neocon policies. Paul Krugman's column explained yesterday, it fits in with the "Starve the Beast" method of defunding and then wrecking social programs which has been going on since the 1980s. As Dave Lindorff points out, anyone who goes with Greenspan at this point is a supply-siding neocon.
The three prongs of this policy assault: the Social Security Privatization scheme, the insane sales-tax plan, and finally the bankruptcy law are all pretty obviously just different forms of handing money to the rich. In combination, they will have the "side effect" of creating some kind of debt-peonage for the vast majority of people, and dragging consumer spending further downward, which I can't imagine will be good even from the point of view of the capitalist "business cycle."
I wonder if they'll be as surprised with the new U.S. tax policy proposal. I read in the New York Times today about Bush and Greenspan's advocacy of a plan to replace income taxes with a national sales tax. The president's economic report doesn't even make sense to me. For example, it states: the tax "could increase personal savings by as much as 43 percent in the first year and ultimately lead to higher output and higher wages. By removing the tax on the return to savings and investment, a consumption tax would increase savings and investment," the report contended. "With a larger stock of capital, workers would be more productive and output and wages would rise."
I can see how it might increase wages, something that the Bushes haven't supported EVER, but how exactly will a larger stock of capital make workers more productive? Even if increasing worker wealth were the goal of the plan (which it isn't), I don't understand the cause/effect argument here. I know I personally wouldn't start working harder just because I had more money in the bank. The speedup we're living in now has already got most workers (including me) producing more for less reward, and capital likes that just fine.
Of course, the idea of saving/investing workers is just a smoke-screen. The reality is that most workers don't have money to save, and spend most of their income on basic necessities. This is simply a tax cut for the rich, who have more money to save and invest. What will the outcome of such a policy be? What,for example, would its impact be on consumer spending, which in recent years has been financed increasingly by debt? This article from Monthly Review provides the long term context of the latest taxation scheme, suggesting that it might be an effort to adjust the balance between investment and spending, The article written in the context of the waning Clinton "boom" in the Spring of 2000 argues that "The share of consumption expenditures in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the current expansion has risen nearly five percentage points above the average for all previous post-Second World War expansions, while the share of total fixed investment in GDP has fallen 1.4 percentage points below the average for all earlier expansions. Hence, investment remains semi-stagnant when compared with earlier expansions—reflecting the powerful tendency toward stagnation that continues to characterize the capital accumulation process."
Regardless of its logic, the tax plan would basically shift more of the tax burden from the rich and place it on the working class - and that fits with a whole bunch of neocon policies. Paul Krugman's column explained yesterday, it fits in with the "Starve the Beast" method of defunding and then wrecking social programs which has been going on since the 1980s. As Dave Lindorff points out, anyone who goes with Greenspan at this point is a supply-siding neocon.
The three prongs of this policy assault: the Social Security Privatization scheme, the insane sales-tax plan, and finally the bankruptcy law are all pretty obviously just different forms of handing money to the rich. In combination, they will have the "side effect" of creating some kind of debt-peonage for the vast majority of people, and dragging consumer spending further downward, which I can't imagine will be good even from the point of view of the capitalist "business cycle."
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Subway Politics Part three, Corrections and Additions
After reading my previous blog entries, my irrascible office-mate weighed in. He walked in the door, shook his head and uttered, "It's not corruption." It took me a minute before I figured out what he was talking about; he went on.. "Think about it, corruption is so much less expensive to fix than a subway system that's falling apart."
And then, my urban planner friend added more, "I can't believe right after we talked that there was this article in the Times, which said that Peter Kalikow is bucking the people who hired him in a way that his predecessor never did.
So, I guess the Straphangers are making a dent - but not enough of one to keep us from the regressive taxation of another fare hike, which was ushered in by a train derailment,just for the purposes of poetic justice or something.
In the continuing selling off of anything resembling public property to various corporate charity cases, the MTA is now actually standing up a bit to the Mayor over the Jets' railyards. Juan Gonzales, whom I trust, wrote a story in the Daily News which explains what's going on now. Public pressure is finally making some kind of impact, so that the city's big corporate welfare plan for the NY Jets is looking less certain. Bloomberg continues to push for the stadium proposal, and most people continue to oppose the use of public money to finance the stadium. Interestingly, Cablevision, which is also a bidder for the railyards is running anti-stadium ads, according to this NYT article.
I find the whole situation of cities paying off businesses just to "give" people jobs so pathetic. I can think of a million bad examples, and one great success story, when Progressive Minnesota (a leftover of the New Party) sponsored a ballot initiative limiting public contributions on any stadium building plan to $10 million - which passed with overwhelming support. I went looking for articles about the campaign and found that the fight is not over. More on that particular municipal struggle tomorrow.
And then, my urban planner friend added more, "I can't believe right after we talked that there was this article in the Times, which said that Peter Kalikow is bucking the people who hired him in a way that his predecessor never did.
So, I guess the Straphangers are making a dent - but not enough of one to keep us from the regressive taxation of another fare hike, which was ushered in by a train derailment,just for the purposes of poetic justice or something.
In the continuing selling off of anything resembling public property to various corporate charity cases, the MTA is now actually standing up a bit to the Mayor over the Jets' railyards. Juan Gonzales, whom I trust, wrote a story in the Daily News which explains what's going on now. Public pressure is finally making some kind of impact, so that the city's big corporate welfare plan for the NY Jets is looking less certain. Bloomberg continues to push for the stadium proposal, and most people continue to oppose the use of public money to finance the stadium. Interestingly, Cablevision, which is also a bidder for the railyards is running anti-stadium ads, according to this NYT article.
I find the whole situation of cities paying off businesses just to "give" people jobs so pathetic. I can think of a million bad examples, and one great success story, when Progressive Minnesota (a leftover of the New Party) sponsored a ballot initiative limiting public contributions on any stadium building plan to $10 million - which passed with overwhelming support. I went looking for articles about the campaign and found that the fight is not over. More on that particular municipal struggle tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Harrassment of NY Solidarity by the FBI
In early February, police arrested nineteen-year-old David Seigel, accusing him of vandalizing a military recruiting station in the Bronx. You can read an article from that odious rag, The New York Post, with more information on the Thunderbay Indymedia website.
It seems that the FBI is now using this as an excuse to harrass New York activists involved in the anti-war movement.
My colleague, Charlie Post, was recently visited by the FBI. He writes:
On Friday, February 27, 2005, two FBI agents came to my home in Brooklyn. I was at work and they began to question my partner about Solidarity, the socialist organization I belong to, and its possible connection to a young man who was arrested for allegedly vandalizing a military recruitment center
in the Bronx, NY. The FBI agents indicated that they had obtained our address from the Solidarity website, where I am listed as the NY contact person. They asked my partner numerous questions, including whether or not we knew the young men who had been arrested, how long she (who is not a member) and I have been members of Solidarity and whether Solidarity had a "web forum."
It is not clear whether this is the beginning of a new wave of harrassment and repression against anti-war activists, but it is important to be prepared. Should the FBI come to see you for any reason: know your rights. You are not obligated to speak to them. If they do not have a warrant, you do not have to let them into your home. Remember: Silence is your best defense, and if they do come with a warrant a subpoena, contact a lawyer immediately. Don't get paranoid, but do be careful.
Furthermore, this incident should be widely publicized, as it is one more example of the way that the war has led to repression of dissent at home. I'm sure some of you remember the young woman who was visited by the police and the U.S. Secret Service because of a poster of George Bush in her home.
In this climate, we have heard of these incidents and many others, but attempts to tie activists to federal crimes simply because of organizational affiliations are especially sinister and have potentially serious consequences.
It seems that the FBI is now using this as an excuse to harrass New York activists involved in the anti-war movement.
My colleague, Charlie Post, was recently visited by the FBI. He writes:
On Friday, February 27, 2005, two FBI agents came to my home in Brooklyn. I was at work and they began to question my partner about Solidarity, the socialist organization I belong to, and its possible connection to a young man who was arrested for allegedly vandalizing a military recruitment center
in the Bronx, NY. The FBI agents indicated that they had obtained our address from the Solidarity website, where I am listed as the NY contact person. They asked my partner numerous questions, including whether or not we knew the young men who had been arrested, how long she (who is not a member) and I have been members of Solidarity and whether Solidarity had a "web forum."
It is not clear whether this is the beginning of a new wave of harrassment and repression against anti-war activists, but it is important to be prepared. Should the FBI come to see you for any reason: know your rights. You are not obligated to speak to them. If they do not have a warrant, you do not have to let them into your home. Remember: Silence is your best defense, and if they do come with a warrant a subpoena, contact a lawyer immediately. Don't get paranoid, but do be careful.
Furthermore, this incident should be widely publicized, as it is one more example of the way that the war has led to repression of dissent at home. I'm sure some of you remember the young woman who was visited by the police and the U.S. Secret Service because of a poster of George Bush in her home.
In this climate, we have heard of these incidents and many others, but attempts to tie activists to federal crimes simply because of organizational affiliations are especially sinister and have potentially serious consequences.
Leave Me Alone, I'm Crampin'
That's what my college boyfriend said that men would say if they had cramps, and yes, today's post is brought to you by my lower abdomninal region. I awoke at six this morning with those rare and unforgettable, knee-buckling, all-absorbing menstrual cramps. I went to the web for answers as to "why now?" and learned from one Dr. Susan Lark, who writes books on women's health that alcohol and sodium can cause cramping. I guess those two glasses of wine accompanied by nachos and french fries and followed by fistfuls of chocolate, the latter of course being PMS related, were all more costly than I realized.
I am now thanking science for ibuprofen.
But...enough about that. I remain ever hopeful, despite all previous experience, that the American people are going to become outraged by the misdeeds of this administration. Another chance for the moment of revelation has arrived: today, I read that eight prisoners are suing Donald Rumsfeld. Here is the story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Here is an article posted on Truthout. A while back, my librarian friend alerted me to an an excellent analysis of torture by Alfred McCoy, who also wrote The Politics of Heroin. You can listen to an interview with him
here. What do you think, will Americans rise en masse over these actions, or will opposing torture be interepreted as a sign of "disloyalty" and "not supporting the troops/president/flag" ? For more on supporting the troops, see this article in The Onion under the title, "I support the Occupation of Iraq, but I don't support our troops." Once again, while writing satire, The Onion has managed to speak truth to power, pointing out in the article, "Yes, occupying Iraq does require troops, but they are there for one reason and one reason only: to carry out the orders of the U.S. Defense Department. As far as their overall importance goes, they are no more worthy of our consideration than a box of nails. Ribbons and banners in ostensible "support" of the troops miss the whole point of the invasion, which is to gain a strategic hold over that volatile and lucrative geopolitical region. Brilliant.
I am now thanking science for ibuprofen.
But...enough about that. I remain ever hopeful, despite all previous experience, that the American people are going to become outraged by the misdeeds of this administration. Another chance for the moment of revelation has arrived: today, I read that eight prisoners are suing Donald Rumsfeld. Here is the story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Here is an article posted on Truthout. A while back, my librarian friend alerted me to an an excellent analysis of torture by Alfred McCoy, who also wrote The Politics of Heroin. You can listen to an interview with him
here. What do you think, will Americans rise en masse over these actions, or will opposing torture be interepreted as a sign of "disloyalty" and "not supporting the troops/president/flag" ? For more on supporting the troops, see this article in The Onion under the title, "I support the Occupation of Iraq, but I don't support our troops." Once again, while writing satire, The Onion has managed to speak truth to power, pointing out in the article, "Yes, occupying Iraq does require troops, but they are there for one reason and one reason only: to carry out the orders of the U.S. Defense Department. As far as their overall importance goes, they are no more worthy of our consideration than a box of nails. Ribbons and banners in ostensible "support" of the troops miss the whole point of the invasion, which is to gain a strategic hold over that volatile and lucrative geopolitical region. Brilliant.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Trade Union Activists Murdered In Iraq
I was just reading today's Labor Notes and see that there have been numerous trade union activists targetted and assassinated in Iraq. I'm not clear on why this is happening or who the people are who are involved, but this is a story that deserves wider attention. If anyone reading has more information on the killings, please post a comment.
Also from Labor notes, I found this blog, which has news of people killed at work this week. These kinds of everyday work deaths are rarely reported anywhere, but when the numbers of job-related deaths are calculated they always reveal the callousness of capitalism.
Also from Labor notes, I found this blog, which has news of people killed at work this week. These kinds of everyday work deaths are rarely reported anywhere, but when the numbers of job-related deaths are calculated they always reveal the callousness of capitalism.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
A Guest Post from my Colleague, Josh: City Hall Can Be Veeeeeerrrry Slippery! Written 2/25/05
This is the tale of one mildly concerned citizen hoping to lower the incidence of broken hips on a wet snowy night. On Feb. 24 at about 6:30 PM, I crawled out of the subway on the SW corner of Chambers and Centre Streets. It had been snowing for an hour or 2. About 30 or 40 feet north of the subway exit I saw a businessman in his 40s or 50s slip and fall on his back, an elegant bit of stuntery that took approximately 0.03 seconds. I turned toward him asking if he was OK as a woman did the same. He said yes, got up, and walked on. The woman explained to him and me while wiping the sidewalk w/ her foot that it was really slippery right there because of a plaque in the sidewalk. As I walked away, I thought why not call 311 about this. Maybe they'll put up a yellow cone or something. I was walking heading west across Chambers to Greenwich St. and up about 4 blocks. The process was a bit more involved than I had imagined. I was on my cell until about 10 steps from my destination, some 10 to 15 minutes later. I talked to 3 individuals, all of whom were pleasant.
I explained to 2 of the 3 people that "there is a very slippery spot about 40 feet north of the subway on the corner of..... and I just thought you might mark it for other pedestrians." The second person I spoke w/ asked if that was in Brooklyn.
The third person, who took down my info, was courteous but a bit slow on the uptake. After waiting for her for what seemed like several minutes, she explained that "there is so much to put in before I can take your information, sorry!" "No problem," I assured her. Eventually, as I came within a block of my destination, I mentioned that I had to go soon. I decided not to mention to her toward the end that my phone hand was about to freeze and fall off. I sensed that she had all she could handle already.
At about 8:30 that night I went back to the same spot on my way home, and there was no evidence that the authorities cared. Maybe I should have said something to the 311 folks about how routine dangers add up to a terrorized mentality for working people and that budget cuts are destroying our public spaces and communities. That might have occasioned alerting Bloomberg, who would have taken time off from his busy schedule to fix this problem. After all, there must be some money in it.
Signed, Josh, sociologist and occasional thoughtful citizen.
I explained to 2 of the 3 people that "there is a very slippery spot about 40 feet north of the subway on the corner of..... and I just thought you might mark it for other pedestrians." The second person I spoke w/ asked if that was in Brooklyn.
The third person, who took down my info, was courteous but a bit slow on the uptake. After waiting for her for what seemed like several minutes, she explained that "there is so much to put in before I can take your information, sorry!" "No problem," I assured her. Eventually, as I came within a block of my destination, I mentioned that I had to go soon. I decided not to mention to her toward the end that my phone hand was about to freeze and fall off. I sensed that she had all she could handle already.
At about 8:30 that night I went back to the same spot on my way home, and there was no evidence that the authorities cared. Maybe I should have said something to the 311 folks about how routine dangers add up to a terrorized mentality for working people and that budget cuts are destroying our public spaces and communities. That might have occasioned alerting Bloomberg, who would have taken time off from his busy schedule to fix this problem. After all, there must be some money in it.
Signed, Josh, sociologist and occasional thoughtful citizen.
Subway Riding Part Two
This urban planner that I just met was explaining to me that the MTA is a state agency whose head is appointed by the Governor, so there really isn't any difference between The MTA and Pataki. "The MTA is Pataki," he said, and when Hevesi goes after them for mismanagement he's being a clever Democrat who's showing the people of NY that he's "looking out for us" - although of course that may be all about image and not much about substance. Aha! so, I didn't understand this at all when I made my last post, as I thought that the MTA was a city agency that was being starved by the state, sort of like CUNY, which also doesn't get enough money and then makes up the differences through tuition hikes and reduced services (such as cutting the counseling services).
Given that, I'm a bit confused about the way that the Straphangers' campaign is presenting the problems. What's the long story behind their backing of the five year capital plan? Some of the people on the "riders' diaries" on their page seem to see the whole plan as a boon-doggle while others feel that the Governor is on the right track. I don't get it. I hope that some expert in local politics who's reading will weigh in with an informed opinion here.
Meanwhile....in other news:
The weekend edition of Counterpunch is especially good today, and features an interesting, if
typically distressing article by Noam Chomsky. Chomsky mentioned this plan of the scary military-industrial complex types to put nuclear weapons in space the last time I heard him speak in NYC, about a year and 1/2 ago, and yet, as he points out in the article, despite plans to move ahead w/the strategies, there has been virtually no news coverage of it at all.
Also in this issue is an article about the royal coup in Nepal. The only problem with this article is that it assumes a good deal of prior knowledge of the Nepalese/British/and Indian politics, and unfortunately, I'm guessing most Americans don't know a lot. This would include me, although I went on a NJrve date last Summer with someone who explained a little bit to me about the Maoists, and the royalists and the rest. He had some interesting things to say about the role that the Buddhists play in the economy there, as well, but I didn't know enough from other sources to be able to evaluate any of what he said. I wrote to Chandra, and I'll post his response here if I get one. Counterpunch authors usually respond personally to letters, which makes me feel special. In fact, Alexander Cockburn, in this week's column, quoted extensively from several readers. Now, isn't that a nice way to run an online magazine?
Oh right, how could I forget? There's going to be a super-duper important and expensive awards show on TV tonight. I'm sure that will be the headline coverage on Monday's mainstream news shows. And the more people who do cover it, the more that people feel it's news and that they need to actually watch it. It's such a scam, although I've usually watched it, mostly in hope that someone will say something against American foreign policy. This year, because certain people would only go see movies at the Film Forum, I've barely seen any of the movies that are nominated, but I think that this is a good thing, generally.
Given that, I'm a bit confused about the way that the Straphangers' campaign is presenting the problems. What's the long story behind their backing of the five year capital plan? Some of the people on the "riders' diaries" on their page seem to see the whole plan as a boon-doggle while others feel that the Governor is on the right track. I don't get it. I hope that some expert in local politics who's reading will weigh in with an informed opinion here.
Meanwhile....in other news:
The weekend edition of Counterpunch is especially good today, and features an interesting, if
typically distressing article by Noam Chomsky. Chomsky mentioned this plan of the scary military-industrial complex types to put nuclear weapons in space the last time I heard him speak in NYC, about a year and 1/2 ago, and yet, as he points out in the article, despite plans to move ahead w/the strategies, there has been virtually no news coverage of it at all.
Also in this issue is an article about the royal coup in Nepal. The only problem with this article is that it assumes a good deal of prior knowledge of the Nepalese/British/and Indian politics, and unfortunately, I'm guessing most Americans don't know a lot. This would include me, although I went on a NJrve date last Summer with someone who explained a little bit to me about the Maoists, and the royalists and the rest. He had some interesting things to say about the role that the Buddhists play in the economy there, as well, but I didn't know enough from other sources to be able to evaluate any of what he said. I wrote to Chandra, and I'll post his response here if I get one. Counterpunch authors usually respond personally to letters, which makes me feel special. In fact, Alexander Cockburn, in this week's column, quoted extensively from several readers. Now, isn't that a nice way to run an online magazine?
Oh right, how could I forget? There's going to be a super-duper important and expensive awards show on TV tonight. I'm sure that will be the headline coverage on Monday's mainstream news shows. And the more people who do cover it, the more that people feel it's news and that they need to actually watch it. It's such a scam, although I've usually watched it, mostly in hope that someone will say something against American foreign policy. This year, because certain people would only go see movies at the Film Forum, I've barely seen any of the movies that are nominated, but I think that this is a good thing, generally.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Being an intellectual is easier than being a human being
Actually, it's been hard to be an intellectual today because the human being part has been so time-consuming, what with looking for a new room-mate and trying to understand what I was doing for the last seven months while I thought I was so blissfully happy in love. I always tell people that once something doesn't work out, that it's not so helpful to go back and rewrite the past as a bunch of meaningless foolery, but it feels that way today for a number of reasons I won't go into.
Today, I barely read the current news, but I have been back in the depths of Farrell Dobbs' Teamster Rebellion, a book that describes a model of well-organized militancy: the Minneapolis Truckers Strike of 1934. The truckers' success in getting the farmers and the unemployed on their side was especially impressive, and the coordination with workers to meet day to day needs of strikers and unemployed reminded me of the efforts made (in a very different situation) during the right wing trucker's strike in Chile. Today such a strike seems almost unimagineable, and not just because of the Taft-Hartley act.
And speaking of Chile, what's going on in Venezuela today, I wonder?
I'm so glad I wondered, Chavez is in the newsfor for declaring publicly that socialism, not capitalism is the only answer to poverty and inequality. Of course, this has got the American corporate media screaming "Castro," etc. "Venezuelan Analysis" has pointed out the distorting nature of such claims here.For A more reliable and nuanced discussion of Chavez's economic programs appears here in an article comparing Chavez to Abraham Lincoln.
And while the U.S. has shrugged off and dismissed Chavez's recent charges that the U.S. is planning to intervene again against the Venezuelan government, the U.S.'s behavior in the past towards Allende, Aristide, and going further back -- to Mossadeq and others, gives us plenty of justification for taking the news of pending American intervention against Chavez (socialist or no) very seriously.
Today, I barely read the current news, but I have been back in the depths of Farrell Dobbs' Teamster Rebellion, a book that describes a model of well-organized militancy: the Minneapolis Truckers Strike of 1934. The truckers' success in getting the farmers and the unemployed on their side was especially impressive, and the coordination with workers to meet day to day needs of strikers and unemployed reminded me of the efforts made (in a very different situation) during the right wing trucker's strike in Chile. Today such a strike seems almost unimagineable, and not just because of the Taft-Hartley act.
And speaking of Chile, what's going on in Venezuela today, I wonder?
I'm so glad I wondered, Chavez is in the newsfor for declaring publicly that socialism, not capitalism is the only answer to poverty and inequality. Of course, this has got the American corporate media screaming "Castro," etc. "Venezuelan Analysis" has pointed out the distorting nature of such claims here.For A more reliable and nuanced discussion of Chavez's economic programs appears here in an article comparing Chavez to Abraham Lincoln.
And while the U.S. has shrugged off and dismissed Chavez's recent charges that the U.S. is planning to intervene again against the Venezuelan government, the U.S.'s behavior in the past towards Allende, Aristide, and going further back -- to Mossadeq and others, gives us plenty of justification for taking the news of pending American intervention against Chavez (socialist or no) very seriously.
When Reading About Iraq Becomes a Distraction from the Really Bad News
At least the horrors of war, tyranny, etc. seem part of the potentially reversible damage that humans regularly inflict upon each other. Much worse is the new found fact that women's breast milk in the U.S. contains enough rocket fuel residue to expose infants to thyroid damage. Of course, in countries such as Iraq, where the U.S. has been using depleted uranium it's obvious that major environmental problems and the military-industrial complex are not separate issues. After all, rocket fuel is connected to the "defense" of the country, and is apparently showing up in bovine and human milk because chemical waste in water used in irrigation that somehow gets into the food we eat. Isn't it sad? To read more, go here.
But wait, there's more....The global warming news is very, very bad right now. This website has succinct easy to read stuff about what's going on, and also some simple actions that individuals can take to reduce CO2 emissions. I don't know anything about these guys at Black Rhinoceros, but they seem cool to me. What about the terrifying news about water? You can read a lot from that book, Blue Gold on the Third World Traveler website. That, by the way, is a great resource for information. They have William Shawcross's stuff on Cambodia there too, which again, is less terrifying to read about than the long-lasting, catastrophic environmental news that gets worse every day. Oh yeah, and of course, that war in Iraq is all about controlling the fossil fuel whose burning is sending our planet straight toward what those radical right christians call the "end times."
It's enough to make you want to either become a full time environmental activist and or spend your time on such less difficult problems to solve as war, poverty, and the protection of civil liberties, oh, but they're connected, for as Ross Gelbspan put it in his interview with Kelpie Wilson of Truthout, "If one honestly acknowledges the scale and urgency of the problem, it becomes clear that it cannot be effectively addressed without major structural changes to global economic dynamics. And, from what I've seen, the major environmental groups - and especially their funders - are not prepared to address that reality."
I agree, and I think that both the media and a lot of people would just rather that most of us not know anything at all.
But wait, there's more....The global warming news is very, very bad right now. This website has succinct easy to read stuff about what's going on, and also some simple actions that individuals can take to reduce CO2 emissions. I don't know anything about these guys at Black Rhinoceros, but they seem cool to me. What about the terrifying news about water? You can read a lot from that book, Blue Gold on the Third World Traveler website. That, by the way, is a great resource for information. They have William Shawcross's stuff on Cambodia there too, which again, is less terrifying to read about than the long-lasting, catastrophic environmental news that gets worse every day. Oh yeah, and of course, that war in Iraq is all about controlling the fossil fuel whose burning is sending our planet straight toward what those radical right christians call the "end times."
It's enough to make you want to either become a full time environmental activist and or spend your time on such less difficult problems to solve as war, poverty, and the protection of civil liberties, oh, but they're connected, for as Ross Gelbspan put it in his interview with Kelpie Wilson of Truthout, "If one honestly acknowledges the scale and urgency of the problem, it becomes clear that it cannot be effectively addressed without major structural changes to global economic dynamics. And, from what I've seen, the major environmental groups - and especially their funders - are not prepared to address that reality."
I agree, and I think that both the media and a lot of people would just rather that most of us not know anything at all.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The Daily Insult of Subway Riding
Last night on my way home, I saw a headline on a newstand, "The Coming Subway Crisis". I was anxious to read it, and thought of it just this morning, as my room-mate and I stood wedged between other riders on the crawling, Manhattan Bound F out of Brooklyn. We compared horror stories from the previous weeks, during which one or the other of us had experienced trains skipping our station with no posters warning of ride changes, or simply horrendous delays. We're not alone in the city, as service cuts and fare hikes go together to create just one more (at least twice) daily insult to the working people of NYC.
Let me share my stories. On Jan 27th, the first day of classes at CUNY, I left the house at 12:20, leaving ample time to get to my 2pm class. However, once I was in the train we moved a few feet and sat in the tunnel, moved a few feet and then sat in the tunnel. This went on until we got to the FIRST express stop....50 minutes later. Realizing that I would miss my class, I left the train, ran out of the station and called my office, asking them to put a note on the door for the students. I got done with the conversation and went back to the station only to find that the same train, complete with all the riders I'd seen on the way was still sitting there, only now the doors were closed and several people were standing on the platform, waiting to get on. I did finally make it to Chambers street at exactly 2pm. What I find especially outrageous about all this was that there were absolutely no indications that there were going to be delays. About a week ago, I was on another F train that sat and sat and sat in the tunnel, then spit us out at Bergen street and went out of service.
"It gets worse every day," a man on the platform said.
And yet, where is the news about the egregious service on the F train? I heard a lot about disrupted A/C service, but there was nothing so bad on those lines during the track fire repairs as there were on the F train during "regular" service. With today's snow, I don't know whether I'll be able to get back from Manhattan tonight, as the trains will no doubt be backed up on that rickety bridge over the Gowanus canal. Yes, D, the Smith and 9th street stop is the highest point in the subway system, according to the people at nycsubway.org, and that is why our train is the little engine that couldn't.
Why is the service getting so shitty? Most of the articles I found say that this is beyond MTA corruption, which was the focus of protest in the 2003 fare-hike, but that it is the more general problem of lack of state support. The state and city have reduced the amount of money given to subsidize the subways, leading to crappier service and higher fares. It's the same problem that we face in most public institutions, like public universities and the Post Office (which, in my neighborhood, is falling apart and has an average wait of 45 minutes whether you're picking up a package or mailing something). This article today's Newday, for example, says that the state subsidy to the MTA has gone from 19% to zero since the 1980s.
Soon after the fare-hike proposal was made, Bruce Schaller explained the situation well,And of course, there's also the corruption and fraud in the MTA. Remember this? and don't forget the close ties between the MTA head and ALfonse D'Amato. However, there is something about Alan Hevesi's ideas that I don't trust. He seems like one of those fiscal conservatives, and I guess that's the program, since he's comptroller. Anyone out there have any comments on this?...any far left policy analysists reading?
After reading the Straphangers' campaign web-page I learned that my impression that service is better in wealthier neighborhhoods is supported with evidence. The 6 train, which serves the Upper East Side (and apparently the Mayor) got the highest rating. Once again, the G (cross Brooklyn) got the worst. The F, which gets worse with every passing week, actually rated 12th out of 21. I suggest that if you ride the F train and have complaints that you take action. Here is the straphanger's campaign, where you can read more and get involved.
As regular service has gotten exponentially worse since the snow storm followed by the track fire, I feel daily that I am being ignored and disregarded by the city as Manhattan remains the playground or the super-wealthy while the rest of us are crowded in Brooklyn/Queens/Bronx and forced to ride trains that feel as if any minute they will shudder right off the tracks.
Let me share my stories. On Jan 27th, the first day of classes at CUNY, I left the house at 12:20, leaving ample time to get to my 2pm class. However, once I was in the train we moved a few feet and sat in the tunnel, moved a few feet and then sat in the tunnel. This went on until we got to the FIRST express stop....50 minutes later. Realizing that I would miss my class, I left the train, ran out of the station and called my office, asking them to put a note on the door for the students. I got done with the conversation and went back to the station only to find that the same train, complete with all the riders I'd seen on the way was still sitting there, only now the doors were closed and several people were standing on the platform, waiting to get on. I did finally make it to Chambers street at exactly 2pm. What I find especially outrageous about all this was that there were absolutely no indications that there were going to be delays. About a week ago, I was on another F train that sat and sat and sat in the tunnel, then spit us out at Bergen street and went out of service.
"It gets worse every day," a man on the platform said.
And yet, where is the news about the egregious service on the F train? I heard a lot about disrupted A/C service, but there was nothing so bad on those lines during the track fire repairs as there were on the F train during "regular" service. With today's snow, I don't know whether I'll be able to get back from Manhattan tonight, as the trains will no doubt be backed up on that rickety bridge over the Gowanus canal. Yes, D, the Smith and 9th street stop is the highest point in the subway system, according to the people at nycsubway.org, and that is why our train is the little engine that couldn't.
Why is the service getting so shitty? Most of the articles I found say that this is beyond MTA corruption, which was the focus of protest in the 2003 fare-hike, but that it is the more general problem of lack of state support. The state and city have reduced the amount of money given to subsidize the subways, leading to crappier service and higher fares. It's the same problem that we face in most public institutions, like public universities and the Post Office (which, in my neighborhood, is falling apart and has an average wait of 45 minutes whether you're picking up a package or mailing something). This article today's Newday, for example, says that the state subsidy to the MTA has gone from 19% to zero since the 1980s.
Soon after the fare-hike proposal was made, Bruce Schaller explained the situation well,And of course, there's also the corruption and fraud in the MTA. Remember this? and don't forget the close ties between the MTA head and ALfonse D'Amato. However, there is something about Alan Hevesi's ideas that I don't trust. He seems like one of those fiscal conservatives, and I guess that's the program, since he's comptroller. Anyone out there have any comments on this?...any far left policy analysists reading?
After reading the Straphangers' campaign web-page I learned that my impression that service is better in wealthier neighborhhoods is supported with evidence. The 6 train, which serves the Upper East Side (and apparently the Mayor) got the highest rating. Once again, the G (cross Brooklyn) got the worst. The F, which gets worse with every passing week, actually rated 12th out of 21. I suggest that if you ride the F train and have complaints that you take action. Here is the straphanger's campaign, where you can read more and get involved.
As regular service has gotten exponentially worse since the snow storm followed by the track fire, I feel daily that I am being ignored and disregarded by the city as Manhattan remains the playground or the super-wealthy while the rest of us are crowded in Brooklyn/Queens/Bronx and forced to ride trains that feel as if any minute they will shudder right off the tracks.
SO much going on in the World
It's not the morning yet, but I sat down at my desk just now and was sadly looking at this cute, chunky little "Democracy Now" coffee cupthat I bought for that librarian. It came in the mail today, so I sat and looked at it and thought, "this cup is so cute and solid, so much more so than the flimsier lightweight cups over at his place. I should give it to him because he actually needs it." This went on for a while and I decided that this sort of thing is boring for you to read and I'm keeping the cup.
I couldn't find much more information about the Friendster/Eharmony deal, except that the CEO, Scott Sassa, was recently brought in in August. He made news in the world of computer types because he fired troutgirl for some pretty innocent blog entries about Friendster's switch from Java to PHP. Silly, huh?
But then, there were other important things going on, more important that the receipt of the shiny Democracy Now mug in the mail, more truly terrifying than corporate media gossip, more depressing than breaking up.
It is very scary, for example, that Israel's defense minister made a public threat against Iran and called for U.S. support. This reminded me of that prescient article that some of you may have read by Seymour Hersh
This should be a worthwhile event to go: Greg Palast and Pratap Chatterjee are speaking on Monday the 28th at Columbia's Teachers' college. I'm teaching that night, but maybe someone else will go and describe the event.
I was looking for more about that story in Ha'aretz and found out that someone has just been arrested and charged with plotting an assassination attempt on President Bush. You can read about it here in the Guardian
(I found the timing of this somewhat bizarre, as I was just in the gym listening to Will Durst on my mp3 player as he talked about how loose Bush's security seemed to be in comparison with Cheney's after 9/11....for, it is really Cheney who is president after all, as this book will explain.
I'm anticipating that when I get up to drink coffee out of my sparkling new mug and head off to my luxiurious open rehearsal at the Philharmonic tomorrow morning that there will be all kinds of fresh panic in the air, and especially since they just convicted Lynn Stewart for what seemed like perfectly reasonable activities for a lawyer in a political case, I can't imagine that it's going to be easy for this guy to get decent, aggressive defense.
I couldn't find much more information about the Friendster/Eharmony deal, except that the CEO, Scott Sassa, was recently brought in in August. He made news in the world of computer types because he fired troutgirl for some pretty innocent blog entries about Friendster's switch from Java to PHP. Silly, huh?
But then, there were other important things going on, more important that the receipt of the shiny Democracy Now mug in the mail, more truly terrifying than corporate media gossip, more depressing than breaking up.
It is very scary, for example, that Israel's defense minister made a public threat against Iran and called for U.S. support. This reminded me of that prescient article that some of you may have read by Seymour Hersh
This should be a worthwhile event to go: Greg Palast and Pratap Chatterjee are speaking on Monday the 28th at Columbia's Teachers' college. I'm teaching that night, but maybe someone else will go and describe the event.
I was looking for more about that story in Ha'aretz and found out that someone has just been arrested and charged with plotting an assassination attempt on President Bush. You can read about it here in the Guardian
(I found the timing of this somewhat bizarre, as I was just in the gym listening to Will Durst on my mp3 player as he talked about how loose Bush's security seemed to be in comparison with Cheney's after 9/11....for, it is really Cheney who is president after all, as this book will explain.
I'm anticipating that when I get up to drink coffee out of my sparkling new mug and head off to my luxiurious open rehearsal at the Philharmonic tomorrow morning that there will be all kinds of fresh panic in the air, and especially since they just convicted Lynn Stewart for what seemed like perfectly reasonable activities for a lawyer in a political case, I can't imagine that it's going to be easy for this guy to get decent, aggressive defense.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Friendster and Eharmony - Friends or not?
Here's something interesting.
I was upset about what I learned about Neil Clark Warren and wrote a letter to Friendster complaining about their "match up" with the edating service. Did they not know that NCW was connected to "Focus on the Family?" I wondered....
Friendster's customer service reps. wrote back:" We are NOT partnered with eHarmony, someone started this rumer. It is a hoax.
thank you"
Unless something has changed since Nov. 30th, Eharmony and Friendster may not be partners, but they did make a big deal together, as Friendster made eharmony the exclusive matchmaker that could advertise on its site.
Eharmony's own press releases announce the agreement, which was also covered in MSNBC's business news section:
eharmony press release
msnbc article
This has been reported on earlier in the Month, and others have contacted Friendster about the deal. Note this article by David Evans on Corante.com
Later on, I'll try to find out more information about the relationship between the two sites, and update you on my correspondence with Friendster.
I was upset about what I learned about Neil Clark Warren and wrote a letter to Friendster complaining about their "match up" with the edating service. Did they not know that NCW was connected to "Focus on the Family?" I wondered....
Friendster's customer service reps. wrote back:" We are NOT partnered with eHarmony, someone started this rumer. It is a hoax.
thank you"
Unless something has changed since Nov. 30th, Eharmony and Friendster may not be partners, but they did make a big deal together, as Friendster made eharmony the exclusive matchmaker that could advertise on its site.
Eharmony's own press releases announce the agreement, which was also covered in MSNBC's business news section:
eharmony press release
msnbc article
This has been reported on earlier in the Month, and others have contacted Friendster about the deal. Note this article by David Evans on Corante.com
Later on, I'll try to find out more information about the relationship between the two sites, and update you on my correspondence with Friendster.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Neil Clark Warren, Not Just Christian, Creepy Christian
Thanks to that anonymous commenter who alerted me to the fact that Neil Clark Warren, whose "eharmony.com" is constantly advertised on Air America Radio, is not just sorta Christian, but a pal of right-wing wacko, James Dobson. It does say right on Warren's profile on the eharmony page that he has appeared on "Focus on the Family" but I never noticed this before. Thank goodness I didn't give them any of my money.
It is sort of old news. I did a little googling and discovered a few articles, including this one one which sent me to this one at the Daily Kos,. Finally, I found this oneat monkeyfilter which has a lot of astonished commentary following it, including the interesting fact that (Bush contributors) Sequoia Capital and Crossover Ventures just invested $110 million in the company at the end of last year.
There's nothing wrong with creating a Christian dating service, but there is something troubling about the "stealth" quality of eharmony and the weird, panicky ideas that you can find in their published work.
Here, for example, is :
one of NCW's articles for FOF
One Christian database said that Dr. Warren founded an outfit called the "Associated Psychological Services" in Pasadena, CA. Here's something by one of their on-staff counselers, which describes the plague of pornography and how it can disrupt a happy marriage:
"Secret Sins of the Heart"
And what about Dr. Warren's previous academic deanship? Well that was at an institution called the Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical college whose history you can read about here. Basically, it seems that it began with a radio ministry.
Now what types of fellows will we find there?
According to C. Eugene Walker's 1965 book review of one of the founder of the psychology program, Donald J. Tweedie, Jr., (the one where Warren once was the dean), Tweedie's book contains "admonitions to use Bible reading and prayer with virtually all counselers (whether Christian or not) since herein lies the only hope of help; and, the view that non-Christian psychotherapists really can't help their patients. However, he grants that God may choose to help some of them in spite of the nonChristian therapist. These discussions are sprinkled with references to the Holy Spirit as the "Great Psychologist" and as a "participant observer" in therapy" For more, go here
I suppose it's possible that the college has gotten more relaxed since the 1960s, but I doubt that, given the climate in the country, and in Southern California in particular during the 1970s and 80s.
So, Eharmony promises true love, unbelievable compatibility and then takes your money for their crazy right wing causes. While some say it is old news, why then is Air America happily taking their money and why is it that Friendster just made a big advertizing deal with them? Did either business look very far into this new client?? If people freaked out that Bowlmor lanes had Palestinian investors, it seems that people should freak out that eharmony is a stealthy right wing Christian cash cow.
It is sort of old news. I did a little googling and discovered a few articles, including this one one which sent me to this one at the Daily Kos,. Finally, I found this oneat monkeyfilter which has a lot of astonished commentary following it, including the interesting fact that (Bush contributors) Sequoia Capital and Crossover Ventures just invested $110 million in the company at the end of last year.
There's nothing wrong with creating a Christian dating service, but there is something troubling about the "stealth" quality of eharmony and the weird, panicky ideas that you can find in their published work.
Here, for example, is :
one of NCW's articles for FOF
One Christian database said that Dr. Warren founded an outfit called the "Associated Psychological Services" in Pasadena, CA. Here's something by one of their on-staff counselers, which describes the plague of pornography and how it can disrupt a happy marriage:
"Secret Sins of the Heart"
And what about Dr. Warren's previous academic deanship? Well that was at an institution called the Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical college whose history you can read about here. Basically, it seems that it began with a radio ministry.
Now what types of fellows will we find there?
According to C. Eugene Walker's 1965 book review of one of the founder of the psychology program, Donald J. Tweedie, Jr., (the one where Warren once was the dean), Tweedie's book contains "admonitions to use Bible reading and prayer with virtually all counselers (whether Christian or not) since herein lies the only hope of help; and, the view that non-Christian psychotherapists really can't help their patients. However, he grants that God may choose to help some of them in spite of the nonChristian therapist. These discussions are sprinkled with references to the Holy Spirit as the "Great Psychologist" and as a "participant observer" in therapy" For more, go here
I suppose it's possible that the college has gotten more relaxed since the 1960s, but I doubt that, given the climate in the country, and in Southern California in particular during the 1970s and 80s.
So, Eharmony promises true love, unbelievable compatibility and then takes your money for their crazy right wing causes. While some say it is old news, why then is Air America happily taking their money and why is it that Friendster just made a big advertizing deal with them? Did either business look very far into this new client?? If people freaked out that Bowlmor lanes had Palestinian investors, it seems that people should freak out that eharmony is a stealthy right wing Christian cash cow.
Hunter S. Thompson, Rest in Crankiness
Good morning, oh my devoted readers.
It's another depressing day in the Heartland. Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide last night. When I was in highschool in Chapel Hill. I spent many an insomniac night reading The Great Shark Hunt which I'd gone to straight after Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. What I remember best about Thompson was his description of watching the Watergate hearings, funneled through his alter-ego, Raoul Duke,
"The slow-rising central horror of Watergate is not that it might grind down to the reluctant impeachment of a vengeful thug of a president whose entire political career has been a monument to the same kind of cheap shots and treachery he finally got nailed for, but that we might somehow fail to learn something from it. Already - with the worst news yet to come - there is an ominous tide of public opinion that says whatever Nison and his small gang of henchmen and hired gunsels might have done, it was probably no worse than what other politicans have been doing all along, and still are. Anybody who really believes this is a fool -...What almost happened here- and what was only avoided because the men who made Nixon president and who were running the country in his name knew in their hearts that they were all mean, hollow little bastards who couldn't dare turn their backs on each other- was a takeover and perversion of the American political process by a gang of cold-blooded fixers so incompetent that they couldn't even pull off a simple burglary...which tends to explain among other things why 25,000 young Americans died in Vietnam while Nixon and his brain trust were trying to figure out how to admit the whole thing was a mistaske from the start."
Obviously, back then he was at least partially right. People didn't learn from the Watergate scandal, and the scandalousness of his presidency wasn't just the tapes - it was the war in Vietnam. Reading back through this now, it's clear to me that what I loved about Thompson when I was a highschool kid in the empty eighties was partly that intense wordiness and that he made the obsession with politics seem as cool as rock and roll. The drugs were the "excuse" for the excessiveness of the prose, and they became a distraction for the readers. I think the excesses of his lifestyle finally reduced the sharpness of his political commentary in print, and that we had lost him a long time ago. His suicide is very sad and I do want to know what the immediate cause was. I'm sure many will speculate and that the speculations will be facile.
I wish I knew what Thompson would say about the literal prostitution scandal now unfolding? The Gannon/Guckert circus.. There's a good article about it by Gary Leupp in Counterpunch.
Here's another onethat posits a connection between Karl Rove and Gannon.
And finally, here's something that's just silly: Art in the park
It's another depressing day in the Heartland. Hunter S. Thompson committed suicide last night. When I was in highschool in Chapel Hill. I spent many an insomniac night reading The Great Shark Hunt which I'd gone to straight after Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. What I remember best about Thompson was his description of watching the Watergate hearings, funneled through his alter-ego, Raoul Duke,
"The slow-rising central horror of Watergate is not that it might grind down to the reluctant impeachment of a vengeful thug of a president whose entire political career has been a monument to the same kind of cheap shots and treachery he finally got nailed for, but that we might somehow fail to learn something from it. Already - with the worst news yet to come - there is an ominous tide of public opinion that says whatever Nison and his small gang of henchmen and hired gunsels might have done, it was probably no worse than what other politicans have been doing all along, and still are. Anybody who really believes this is a fool -...What almost happened here- and what was only avoided because the men who made Nixon president and who were running the country in his name knew in their hearts that they were all mean, hollow little bastards who couldn't dare turn their backs on each other- was a takeover and perversion of the American political process by a gang of cold-blooded fixers so incompetent that they couldn't even pull off a simple burglary...which tends to explain among other things why 25,000 young Americans died in Vietnam while Nixon and his brain trust were trying to figure out how to admit the whole thing was a mistaske from the start."
Obviously, back then he was at least partially right. People didn't learn from the Watergate scandal, and the scandalousness of his presidency wasn't just the tapes - it was the war in Vietnam. Reading back through this now, it's clear to me that what I loved about Thompson when I was a highschool kid in the empty eighties was partly that intense wordiness and that he made the obsession with politics seem as cool as rock and roll. The drugs were the "excuse" for the excessiveness of the prose, and they became a distraction for the readers. I think the excesses of his lifestyle finally reduced the sharpness of his political commentary in print, and that we had lost him a long time ago. His suicide is very sad and I do want to know what the immediate cause was. I'm sure many will speculate and that the speculations will be facile.
I wish I knew what Thompson would say about the literal prostitution scandal now unfolding? The Gannon/Guckert circus.. There's a good article about it by Gary Leupp in Counterpunch.
Here's another onethat posits a connection between Karl Rove and Gannon.
And finally, here's something that's just silly: Art in the park
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Computer Dating
So, it's true, "eharmony" is based on Christianity. Check out this article by Joel Keller. (you'll have to skip a sort of weird sexist intro about the guy's date, but his other comments are interesting).
From there, procrastinating in full gear, I started reading more issues of "Blacktable" and came up with this story. Since I used to be an anarchist, though sort of reluctant at the time, I totally enjoyed
this representation of anarchist demos.
It's true that anarchists are great at organizing themselves. They(we) are more concerned with process than anyone, and unfortunately, they are really, really concerned, perhaps unbeknownst to Ashley Glacel, about "intra-movement politics"
From there, procrastinating in full gear, I started reading more issues of "Blacktable" and came up with this story. Since I used to be an anarchist, though sort of reluctant at the time, I totally enjoyed
this representation of anarchist demos.
It's true that anarchists are great at organizing themselves. They(we) are more concerned with process than anyone, and unfortunately, they are really, really concerned, perhaps unbeknownst to Ashley Glacel, about "intra-movement politics"
Monday, November 29, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
in Case you forgot...The other Left
It's two days till election day and everyone's talking about Bush and Kerry. Last night my room-mate and I watched Alexandra Pelosi's "Diary of a Political Tourist," a shallow commentary on the primary season that eliminated the candidates Pelosi could probably have gotten the most access to: Kucinich, Braun and Sharpton. Gee, it's great to have all these "independent" documentary films out there isn't it ?
I bet HBO is wishing they hadn't given her so much cash to make that movie. She even got a hug from huggy-bear Karl Rove himself.
In contrast, the last episode of Altman and Trudeau's "Tanner on Tanner" was spot-on.
So, visit counterpunch for a dose of reality regardless of who you're voting for:
http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair10192004.html
and try not to confuse voting with political action.
Here are some interesting views on the big day:
http://members.aol.com/vlntryst/dissenting.html
This one is interesting:
http://www.dennisfox.net/papers/antiauthoritarian.html
enjoy your Tuesdays,
I bet HBO is wishing they hadn't given her so much cash to make that movie. She even got a hug from huggy-bear Karl Rove himself.
In contrast, the last episode of Altman and Trudeau's "Tanner on Tanner" was spot-on.
So, visit counterpunch for a dose of reality regardless of who you're voting for:
http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair10192004.html
and try not to confuse voting with political action.
Here are some interesting views on the big day:
http://members.aol.com/vlntryst/dissenting.html
This one is interesting:
http://www.dennisfox.net/papers/antiauthoritarian.html
enjoy your Tuesdays,
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