George Washington University's National Security Archives in conjunction with Proceso magazine are documenting and reporting on formerly secret documents about the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Below is the first report in a series and other sources:
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"The Blind Man and the Elephant: Reporting on the Mexican Military"
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 120
Edited by Kate Doyle
This new Electronic Briefing Book is based on a collaboration between Proceso magazine and the National Security Archive and launched on March 2, 2003. The collaboration grew out of a shared desire to publish and disseminate to a wide audience newly-declassified documents about the United States and Mexico. Each month, Proceso magazine will publish an article by the Archive's Mexico Project director, Kate Doyle, examining new documentary evidence on a chosen topic. The series - called Archivos Abiertos (or, Open Archive), will draw from U.S. and Mexican declassified records on a range of issues that could include, for example: drug trafficking and counternarcotics policy, Mexican presidential elections, human rights cases, immigration, U.S. training of the Mexican military, NAFTA negotiations, the role of the press, peso devaluations, and state repression during Mexico's "dirty war." On the same day that Proceso's article appears in Mexico, the National Security Archive will post an Electronic Briefing Book on its web site, containing an English-language version of the article, a link to Proceso's web site, and all of the declassified documents used for the piece, reproduced in their entirety.
Read the Report, Official Government Documents and More Links
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Kirsten Anderberg's Busking & Performance Page
Kirsten's BUSKING & PERFORMANCE PAGE
Also check out:
Lonely Amidst Applause"
Kirsten Anderberg's Articles
Kirsten's Blog
My main interest is street performing aka busking, as it is not documented properly for some unknown reason, thus I aim to document part of that culture. I also want to leave a road map for others who would like to start busking. But my busking career overlapped with careers playing in swing bands, performing with vaudevillians, etc...so this is a catch all page for performing information I have accumulated over the decades, through the eyes of a solo woman busker, for the most part. I enjoy busking, it is very different than other entertainment venues. It is very antiauthoritarian and a good use of the public square, in my opinion. Busking also helps keep free speech in exercise.
Also check out:
Lonely Amidst Applause"
Kirsten Anderberg's Articles
Kirsten's Blog
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Danielle S. Allen: Talking to Strangers
Last tuesday I was visiting this small town Midway, KY where Melissa is teaching a literature course at the local women's university and I found this cool little independent bookstore, Odyssey Books, located underneath a cafe. Impressed by its eclectic stock, comfortable space and friendly owner I decided to purchase a book from him. This is the book I got:
Talking to Strangers
An excerpt from
Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education
Interview With Danielle S. Allen
Video of Allen discussing why our political life is characterized by so much distress and her thoughts on how we can arrive at a place of more peaceful interaction.
Also the introduction to her previous book The World of Prometheus:
The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens is available in HTML and PDF formats.
Interview on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio on "American Citizenship"
NPR Interview "Race, Class and Talking to Strangers"
Talking to Strangers
An excerpt from
Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education
Interview With Danielle S. Allen
Video of Allen discussing why our political life is characterized by so much distress and her thoughts on how we can arrive at a place of more peaceful interaction.
Also the introduction to her previous book The World of Prometheus:
The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens is available in HTML and PDF formats.
Interview on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio on "American Citizenship"
NPR Interview "Race, Class and Talking to Strangers"
Giorgio Agamben: A Brief History of the State of Exception
Agamben, Giorgio. "A Brief History of the State of Exception." (Books Excerpt: University of Chicago Press, 2005)
“For Agamben, fingerprinting is not just a matter of civil liberties: it is symptomatic of an alarming shift in political geography. We have moved from Athens to Auschwitz: the West's political model is now the concentration camp rather than the city state; we are no longer citizens but detainees, distinguishable from the inmates of Guantanamo not by any difference in legal status, but only by the fact that we have not yet had the misfortune to be incarcerated—or unexpectedly executed by a missile from an unmanned aircraft.…But although his recent examples come from the war on terror, the political development they represent is not, according to Agamben, peculiar to the United States under the Bush presidency. It is part of a wider range in governance in which the rule of law is routinely displaced by the state of exception, or emergency, and people are increasingly subject to extra-judicial state violence.”—Malcolm Bull, London Review of Books
Crucial Texts of Democratic Thinking
(reposting--I'm still loking for good texts to use)
After reading the post below I conducted some research for the best introductory readers that collect many American "essential texts" of democratic radicalism. The best ones that I found were:
McCarthy, Timothy Patrick and John McMillan, eds. The Radical Reader NY: The New Press, 2003.
It would be great to teach this collection with a contemporary volume that has an international perspective, perhaps something like:
'We Are Everywhere: The irresistable rise of global anticapitalism' edited by Notes from Nowhere and published by Verso
It is described as '... a whirlwind collection of writings, images, and ideas from direct action by people in the frontlines of the global anticapitalist movement' and involved the untold stories of resistance, reclaiming and subversion all in a positive and life-affirming fashion.
Its a huge, inexpensive collection of activist statements/reports from around the world. It covers the years 1994-2002.
an excerpt says:
It's a radical intervention in publishing - a celebration of direct action movements across the planet, unfiltered by the mainstream media, and told through the words and images of the people who were (and still are) there. Framing and connecting their stories are seven essays , written by the editors, which explain some of the defining characteristics of this movement. We've also included how-to boxes on direct action tactics. Running along the bottom of each page is a time-line of actions and victories which spans from 1994 with the Zapatista uprising to the present. Interspersed amongst everything else are gorgeous photographs, which capture the diversity and playfulness of our actions. These elements all add up to a real overview of the movement: where we came from, what we want, who we are, and where we're going. We Are Everywhere is history as it should be told.
The website includes excellent links, essays and references to inspire:
We Are Everywhere
I would enjoy hearing other ideas/courses/plans...
Houghton-Mifflin has a nice little thumbnail sketch of radicalism
and lets not forget the patron saint of community activism, Saul Alinsky:
Rules for Radicals
The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The original posting at CULTSTUD-L that sent me on my search:
I have to disagree that the question of what "essential" texts undergraduates should receive is no longer worth asking. As I watch American universities increasingly move toward vocational training--as the liberal arts mission becomes unraveled and students take 70 hour majors in Physical Therapy that give limited options for electives and as requirements for students to take a broad range of courses that expose them to different traditions and ideas get increasingly watered-down--it
bothers me that students leave college without ever having read The Communist Manifesto or Thoreau's Resistance to Civil Government or King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail or the American Declaration of Independence or Darwin or Freud or *anything* that challeges the mindset which they bring with them to college or makes them uncomfortable. In fact, if current world events demonstrate anything, it's that students *need* to be exposed to "revolutionary" texts, texts that challenged and continue to challenge the status quo, texts that make them uncomforable, that ask them to reassess their beliefs. College in my opinion should be a glorious time during which students have the wonderful opportunity to read as much and as widely as possible--and to encounter startling ideas, different ideas, ideas that force them to think.
I do think there are texts that have changed the world (for better and for worse). I do believe that there are thinkers that have opened up new directions for exploration (what Foucault refers to as "founders of discursivity" in "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History"). I'm playing with the idea of a course that would emphasize such world-changing texts and my initial posting was to solicit suggestions as to what texts list members would include in such a course.
I agree that, ideally, any text can stimulate critical thinking. But I do believe that there are texts that are crucial for understanding the development of Western culture and that open up avenues of exploration and "lines of flight" in stunning ways.
Respectfully,
Jeffrey Weinstock
After reading the post below I conducted some research for the best introductory readers that collect many American "essential texts" of democratic radicalism. The best ones that I found were:
McCarthy, Timothy Patrick and John McMillan, eds. The Radical Reader NY: The New Press, 2003.
It would be great to teach this collection with a contemporary volume that has an international perspective, perhaps something like:
'We Are Everywhere: The irresistable rise of global anticapitalism' edited by Notes from Nowhere and published by Verso
It is described as '... a whirlwind collection of writings, images, and ideas from direct action by people in the frontlines of the global anticapitalist movement' and involved the untold stories of resistance, reclaiming and subversion all in a positive and life-affirming fashion.
Its a huge, inexpensive collection of activist statements/reports from around the world. It covers the years 1994-2002.
an excerpt says:
It's a radical intervention in publishing - a celebration of direct action movements across the planet, unfiltered by the mainstream media, and told through the words and images of the people who were (and still are) there. Framing and connecting their stories are seven essays , written by the editors, which explain some of the defining characteristics of this movement. We've also included how-to boxes on direct action tactics. Running along the bottom of each page is a time-line of actions and victories which spans from 1994 with the Zapatista uprising to the present. Interspersed amongst everything else are gorgeous photographs, which capture the diversity and playfulness of our actions. These elements all add up to a real overview of the movement: where we came from, what we want, who we are, and where we're going. We Are Everywhere is history as it should be told.
The website includes excellent links, essays and references to inspire:
We Are Everywhere
I would enjoy hearing other ideas/courses/plans...
Houghton-Mifflin has a nice little thumbnail sketch of radicalism
and lets not forget the patron saint of community activism, Saul Alinsky:
Rules for Radicals
The Democratic Promise: Saul Alinsky and His Legacy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The original posting at CULTSTUD-L that sent me on my search:
I have to disagree that the question of what "essential" texts undergraduates should receive is no longer worth asking. As I watch American universities increasingly move toward vocational training--as the liberal arts mission becomes unraveled and students take 70 hour majors in Physical Therapy that give limited options for electives and as requirements for students to take a broad range of courses that expose them to different traditions and ideas get increasingly watered-down--it
bothers me that students leave college without ever having read The Communist Manifesto or Thoreau's Resistance to Civil Government or King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail or the American Declaration of Independence or Darwin or Freud or *anything* that challeges the mindset which they bring with them to college or makes them uncomfortable. In fact, if current world events demonstrate anything, it's that students *need* to be exposed to "revolutionary" texts, texts that challenged and continue to challenge the status quo, texts that make them uncomforable, that ask them to reassess their beliefs. College in my opinion should be a glorious time during which students have the wonderful opportunity to read as much and as widely as possible--and to encounter startling ideas, different ideas, ideas that force them to think.
I do think there are texts that have changed the world (for better and for worse). I do believe that there are thinkers that have opened up new directions for exploration (what Foucault refers to as "founders of discursivity" in "Nietzsche, Genealogy, History"). I'm playing with the idea of a course that would emphasize such world-changing texts and my initial posting was to solicit suggestions as to what texts list members would include in such a course.
I agree that, ideally, any text can stimulate critical thinking. But I do believe that there are texts that are crucial for understanding the development of Western culture and that open up avenues of exploration and "lines of flight" in stunning ways.
Respectfully,
Jeffrey Weinstock
The Next American City #7
One of my regular purchases in print form is the magazine The Next American City. Issue #7: Kids and Cities has just been released and some of the essays are available online.
Issue #7
also check out the achives for earlier issues and I would definitely recommend the print versions if they are available in your area (if not request them at your local bookstore).
Issue #7
also check out the achives for earlier issues and I would definitely recommend the print versions if they are available in your area (if not request them at your local bookstore).
Zizek: The Documentary
(a message from Astra Taylor)
Hello everyone,
I am writing about an independent feature documentary I am just finishing about the Slovenian theorist Slavoj Zizek.
The documentary is part primer on Zizek's philosophy and part personal portrait. I am including a brief synopsis below.
You can also visit The Documentary (a more thorough website, Zizek: The Movie, is a work in
progress).
The film has not been released yet or publicly screened. I am looking to set up
campus events in the spring or next fall after the movie has premiered.
Please forward this notice to anyone who may be interested in organizing a university screening of the movie.
Thanks,
Astra
astra@documentarycampaign.org
ZIZEK! LONG SYNOPSIS
Slavoj Zizek has been called an "academic rock star" and the "Elvis of cultural theory." In major cities around the world lecture halls overflow with thousands
of fans anxious to catch a glimpse of the frenetic and iconoclastic style that makes Zizek so famous.
An unconventional and intimate portrait, ZIZEK! trails the thinker from New York City to Buenos Aires and back to his hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia. All the while Zizek never stops philosophizing, compulsively revealing the invisible workings of ideology through his unique blend of Lacanian psychoanalysis, Marxism, and critique of popular culture.
Footage of impromptu observations on street corners and sit- down interviews centering on his central counterintuitive critiques are combined with animated
passages from Zizek's main texts, giving the viewer a thorough and yet entertaining overview of the philosopher's work.
Over the course of the film Zizek leaves little untheorized, particularly his recurring themes – ideology, psychoanalysis, politics, revolution, Marxism, religion, love, sex, and the history of philosophy. But Zizek is also unafraid to turn his critical gaze on himself, astutely analyzing his private life and offering cutting commentary on his own personality to the camera.
Possessing the capacity to appeal to the uninitiated in a way no other philosopher before him could, Zizek's combinations of high and low culture, Marxism and The Matrix, will fascinate even those who once believed philosophy to be a bore.
Zizek! is the second feature length project of the Documentary Campaign, a non-profit working to combine progressive politics with artistic filmmaking. Generous support was also provided by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Hello everyone,
I am writing about an independent feature documentary I am just finishing about the Slovenian theorist Slavoj Zizek.
The documentary is part primer on Zizek's philosophy and part personal portrait. I am including a brief synopsis below.
You can also visit The Documentary (a more thorough website, Zizek: The Movie, is a work in
progress).
The film has not been released yet or publicly screened. I am looking to set up
campus events in the spring or next fall after the movie has premiered.
Please forward this notice to anyone who may be interested in organizing a university screening of the movie.
Thanks,
Astra
astra@documentarycampaign.org
ZIZEK! LONG SYNOPSIS
Slavoj Zizek has been called an "academic rock star" and the "Elvis of cultural theory." In major cities around the world lecture halls overflow with thousands
of fans anxious to catch a glimpse of the frenetic and iconoclastic style that makes Zizek so famous.
An unconventional and intimate portrait, ZIZEK! trails the thinker from New York City to Buenos Aires and back to his hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia. All the while Zizek never stops philosophizing, compulsively revealing the invisible workings of ideology through his unique blend of Lacanian psychoanalysis, Marxism, and critique of popular culture.
Footage of impromptu observations on street corners and sit- down interviews centering on his central counterintuitive critiques are combined with animated
passages from Zizek's main texts, giving the viewer a thorough and yet entertaining overview of the philosopher's work.
Over the course of the film Zizek leaves little untheorized, particularly his recurring themes – ideology, psychoanalysis, politics, revolution, Marxism, religion, love, sex, and the history of philosophy. But Zizek is also unafraid to turn his critical gaze on himself, astutely analyzing his private life and offering cutting commentary on his own personality to the camera.
Possessing the capacity to appeal to the uninitiated in a way no other philosopher before him could, Zizek's combinations of high and low culture, Marxism and The Matrix, will fascinate even those who once believed philosophy to be a bore.
Zizek! is the second feature length project of the Documentary Campaign, a non-profit working to combine progressive politics with artistic filmmaking. Generous support was also provided by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Media Venture Collective
If you are interested in the fight for strong independent media then you should check out Media Venture Collective
The Changing Role of Humanitarianism: A Study Guide to the Work of Bernard Kouchner
"The Changing Role of Humanitarianism: A Study Guide to the Work of Bernard Kouchner." Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (2005)
Bernard Kouchner was the co-founder of the Nobel prize-winning Doctors Without Borders. From 1999 to early 2001, he was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo. ... Bernard Kouchner’s passion for human rights, his unstinting commitment to humanitarian causes, and his charismatic personality have made him one of the most admired figures of our time. He is regularly voted the “most popular political figure” in his native France, and he was recently chosen as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2004, in the category of “Heroes and Icons.” But his career has not been without controversy. In this brief biography we chart the course of Kouchner’s involvement in humanitarianism. His life is at once a moving story and an up-close look at the fissures within the humanitarian aid community.
Military Homophobia Leads to Discharge of 26 Gay Linguists Who Are Vital to National Security Measures
Military Has Discharged 26 Gay Linguists
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer
Posted at Yahoo
SAN FRANCISCO - The number of Arabic linguists discharged from the military for violating its "don't ask, don't tell" policy is higher than previously reported, according to records obtained by a research group.
The group contends the records show that the military — at a time when it and U.S. intelligence agencies don't have enough Arabic speakers — is putting its anti-gay stance ahead of national security.
Between 1998 and 2004, the military discharged 20 Arabic and six Farsi speakers, according to Department of Defense data obtained by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The military previously confirmed that seven translators who specialized in Arabic had been discharged between 1998 and 2003 because they were gay. The military did not break down the discharges by year, but said some, but not all, of the additional 13 discharges of Arabic speakers occurred in 2004.
Aaron Belkin, the center's director, said he wants the public to see the real costs of "don't ask, don't tell."
"We had a language problem after 9/11 and we still have a language problem," Belkin said Wednesday.
The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts.
"The military is placing homophobia well ahead of national security," said Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit group that advocates for the rights of gay military members. "It's rather appalling that in the weeks leading up to 9/11 messages were coming in, waiting to be translated ... and at the same time they were firing people who could've done that job."
But others, like Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, a conservative advocacy group that opposes gays serving in the military, said the discharged linguists never should have been accepted at the elite Defense Language Institute in Monterey in the first place.
"Resources unfortunately were used to train young people who were not eligible to be in the military," she said.
In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 543 Arabic linguists and 166 Farsi linguists graduated from their 63-week courses, according to a DLI spokesman. That was up from 377 and 139, respectively, in the previous year.
Experts have identified the shortage of Arabic linguists as contributing to the government's failure to thwart the Sept. 11 attacks. The independent Sept. 11 commission made similar conclusions.
Ian Finkenbinder, an Army Arabic linguist who graduated from the Defense Language Institute in 2002, was discharged from the military last month after announcing to his superiors that he's gay. Finkenbinder, who said his close friends in the Army already knew he was gay, served eight months in Iraq and was about to return for a second tour when he made the revelation official.
"I looked at myself and said, `Are you willing to go to war with an institution that won't recognize that you have the right to live as you want to,'" said Finkenbinder, 22, who now lives in Baltimore. "It just got to be tiresome to deal with that — to constantly have such a significant part of your life under scrutiny."
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network last month sued the government on behalf of 12 other gay former military members seeking reinstatement. They argue that "don't ask, don't tell" violates their constitutional rights.
Report Link
By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press Writer
Posted at Yahoo
SAN FRANCISCO - The number of Arabic linguists discharged from the military for violating its "don't ask, don't tell" policy is higher than previously reported, according to records obtained by a research group.
The group contends the records show that the military — at a time when it and U.S. intelligence agencies don't have enough Arabic speakers — is putting its anti-gay stance ahead of national security.
Between 1998 and 2004, the military discharged 20 Arabic and six Farsi speakers, according to Department of Defense data obtained by the Center for the Study of Sexual Minorities in the Military under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The military previously confirmed that seven translators who specialized in Arabic had been discharged between 1998 and 2003 because they were gay. The military did not break down the discharges by year, but said some, but not all, of the additional 13 discharges of Arabic speakers occurred in 2004.
Aaron Belkin, the center's director, said he wants the public to see the real costs of "don't ask, don't tell."
"We had a language problem after 9/11 and we still have a language problem," Belkin said Wednesday.
The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy allows gays and lesbians to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts.
"The military is placing homophobia well ahead of national security," said Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit group that advocates for the rights of gay military members. "It's rather appalling that in the weeks leading up to 9/11 messages were coming in, waiting to be translated ... and at the same time they were firing people who could've done that job."
But others, like Elaine Donnelly of the Center for Military Readiness, a conservative advocacy group that opposes gays serving in the military, said the discharged linguists never should have been accepted at the elite Defense Language Institute in Monterey in the first place.
"Resources unfortunately were used to train young people who were not eligible to be in the military," she said.
In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 543 Arabic linguists and 166 Farsi linguists graduated from their 63-week courses, according to a DLI spokesman. That was up from 377 and 139, respectively, in the previous year.
Experts have identified the shortage of Arabic linguists as contributing to the government's failure to thwart the Sept. 11 attacks. The independent Sept. 11 commission made similar conclusions.
Ian Finkenbinder, an Army Arabic linguist who graduated from the Defense Language Institute in 2002, was discharged from the military last month after announcing to his superiors that he's gay. Finkenbinder, who said his close friends in the Army already knew he was gay, served eight months in Iraq and was about to return for a second tour when he made the revelation official.
"I looked at myself and said, `Are you willing to go to war with an institution that won't recognize that you have the right to live as you want to,'" said Finkenbinder, 22, who now lives in Baltimore. "It just got to be tiresome to deal with that — to constantly have such a significant part of your life under scrutiny."
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network last month sued the government on behalf of 12 other gay former military members seeking reinstatement. They argue that "don't ask, don't tell" violates their constitutional rights.
Report Link
Is Environmentalism Dying?
Of course not... but Grist is doing a special series on those that have jumped on the bandwagon declaring that it is dying and a collection responses to these declarations of the demise of environmentalism:
Don't Fear the Reapers.
The essay that has started the dialogue:
The Death of Environmentalism
Don't Fear the Reapers.
The essay that has started the dialogue:
The Death of Environmentalism
Friday, January 14, 2005
Home Fires: Me and My Big Fat Mouth
Lois Lane at Home Fires has posted a great personal narrative of an early act of theft and lessons learned:
Me and My Big Fat Mouth
Me and My Big Fat Mouth
Terry Tempest Williams: What is the Meaning of Democracy
There are a few basic concepts we must start re-thinking in order to understand what they mean for us as citizens of our communities, our nation, and the world. One of these is the concept that is at the center of how we define ourselves as Americans. What is the meaning of "democracy" for you?
Thivai
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Engagement"
by Terry Tempest Williams
Orion
(excerpts)
IN THE OPEN SPACE OF DEMOCRACY, we are listening -- ears alert -- we are watching -- eyes open -- registering the patterns and possibilities for engagement. Some acts are private; some are public. Our oscillations between local, national, and global gestures map the full range of our movement. Our strength lies in our imagination, and paying attention to what sustains life, rather than what destroys it.
...
In my private moments of despair, I am aware of the limits of my own imagination. I am learning in Castle Valley that imaginations shared invite collaboration and collaboration creates community. A life in association, not a life independent, is the democratic ideal. We participate in the vitality of the struggle.
The time has come to demand an end to the wholesale dismissal of the sacredness of life.... At what point do we finally lay our bodies down to say this is no longer acceptable?
Social change takes time. Communities are built on the practice of patience and imagination -- the belief that we are here for the duration and will take care of our relations in times of both drought and abundance. These are the blood and flesh gestures of commitment.
In thousands of local narratives being written around America, enlivened citizenship is activated each time we knock on our neighbors' doors, each time we sit down together and share a meal.
IN OUR INCREASINGLY fundamentalist country, we have to remember what is fundamental: gravity -- what draws us to a place and keeps us there, like love, like kinship. When we commit to a particular place, a certain element of choice is removed. We begin to see the world whole instead of fractured. Long-term strategies replace short-term gains. We inform one another and become an educated public that responds.
...
It is easy to believe we the people have no say; that the powers in Washington will roll over our local concerns with their corporate energy ties and thumper trucks. It is easy to believe that the American will is only focused on how to get rich, how to be entertained, and how to distract itself from the hard choices we have before us as a nation.
I refuse to believe this. The only space I see truly capable of being closed is not the land or our civil liberties but our own hearts.
The human heart is the first home of democracy. It is where we embrace our questions. Can we be equitable? Can we be generous? Can we listen with our whole beings, not just our minds, and offer our attention rather than our opinions? And do we have enough resolve in our hearts to act courageously, relentlessly, without giving up -- ever -- trusting our fellow citizens to join with us in our determined pursuit of a living democracy?
The heart is the house of empathy whose door opens when we receive the pain of others. This is where bravery lives, where we find our mettle to give and receive, to love and be loved, to stand in the center of uncertainty with strength, not fear, understanding this is all there is. The heart is the path to wisdom because it dares to be vulnerable in the presence of power. Our power lies in our love of our homelands.
The heart embodies faith because it leads us to charity. It is the muscle behind hope that brings confidence to those who despair.
Democracy depends on engagement, a firsthand accounting of what one sees, what one feels, and what one thinks, followed by the artful practice of expressing the truth of our times through our own talents, gifts, and vocations.
Question. Stand. Speak. Act.
We have a history of bravery in this nation and we must call it forward now. Our future is guaranteed only by the degree of our personal involvement and commitment to an inclusive justice.
In the open space of democracy, we engage the qualities of inquiry, intuition, and love as we become a dynamic citizenry, unafraid to exercise our shared knowledge and power. We can dissent. We can vote. We can step forward in times of terror with a confounding calm that will shatter fear and complacency.
It is time to ask, when will our national culture of self-interest stop cutting the bonds of community to shore up individual gain and instead begin to nourish communal life through acts of giving, not taking? It is time to acknowledge the violence rendered to our souls each time a mountaintop is removed to expose a coal vein in Appalachia or when a wetland is drained, dredged, and filled for a strip mall. And the time has come to demand an end to the wholesale dismissal of the sacredness of life in all its variety and forms, as we witness the repeated breaking of laws, and the relaxing of laws, in the sole name of growth and greed.
We have made the mistake of confusing democracy with capitalism and have mistaken political engagement with a political machinery we all understand to be corrupt. It is time to resist the simplistic, utilitarian view that what is good for business is good for humanity in all its complex web of relationships. A spiritual democracy is inspired by our own sense of what we can accomplish together, honoring an integrated society where the social, intellectual, physical, and economic well-being of all is considered, not just the wealth and health of the corporate few.
"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government," said Edward Abbey. To not be engaged in the democratic process, to sit back and let others do the work for us, is to fall prey to bitterness and cynicism. It is the passivity of cynicism that has broken the back of our collective outrage. We succumb to our own depression believing there is nothing we can do.
I do not believe we can look for leadership beyond ourselves. I do not believe we can wait for someone or something to save us from our global predicaments and obligations. I need to look in the mirror and ask this of myself: If I am committed to seeing the direction of our country change, how must I change myself?
We are a people addicted to speed and superficiality, and a nation that prides itself on moral superiority. But our folly lies in not seeing what we base our superiority on. Wealth and freedom? What is wealth if we cannot share it? What is freedom if we cannot offer it as a vision of compassion and restraint, rather than force and aggression? Without an acknowledgement of complexity in a society of sound bites, we will not find the true source of our anger or an authentic passion that will propel us forward to the place of personal engagement.
We are in need of a reflective activism born out of humility, not arrogance. Reflection, with deep time spent in the consideration of others, opens the door to becoming a compassionate participant in the world.
"To care is neither conservative nor radical," writes John Ralston Saul. "It is a form of consciousness." To be in the service of something beyond ourselves -- to be in the presence of something other than ourselves, together -- this is where we can begin to craft a meaningful life where personal isolation and despair disappear through the shared engagement of a vibrant citizenry.
Read Entire Essay
Thivai
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Engagement"
by Terry Tempest Williams
Orion
(excerpts)
IN THE OPEN SPACE OF DEMOCRACY, we are listening -- ears alert -- we are watching -- eyes open -- registering the patterns and possibilities for engagement. Some acts are private; some are public. Our oscillations between local, national, and global gestures map the full range of our movement. Our strength lies in our imagination, and paying attention to what sustains life, rather than what destroys it.
...
In my private moments of despair, I am aware of the limits of my own imagination. I am learning in Castle Valley that imaginations shared invite collaboration and collaboration creates community. A life in association, not a life independent, is the democratic ideal. We participate in the vitality of the struggle.
The time has come to demand an end to the wholesale dismissal of the sacredness of life.... At what point do we finally lay our bodies down to say this is no longer acceptable?
Social change takes time. Communities are built on the practice of patience and imagination -- the belief that we are here for the duration and will take care of our relations in times of both drought and abundance. These are the blood and flesh gestures of commitment.
In thousands of local narratives being written around America, enlivened citizenship is activated each time we knock on our neighbors' doors, each time we sit down together and share a meal.
IN OUR INCREASINGLY fundamentalist country, we have to remember what is fundamental: gravity -- what draws us to a place and keeps us there, like love, like kinship. When we commit to a particular place, a certain element of choice is removed. We begin to see the world whole instead of fractured. Long-term strategies replace short-term gains. We inform one another and become an educated public that responds.
...
It is easy to believe we the people have no say; that the powers in Washington will roll over our local concerns with their corporate energy ties and thumper trucks. It is easy to believe that the American will is only focused on how to get rich, how to be entertained, and how to distract itself from the hard choices we have before us as a nation.
I refuse to believe this. The only space I see truly capable of being closed is not the land or our civil liberties but our own hearts.
The human heart is the first home of democracy. It is where we embrace our questions. Can we be equitable? Can we be generous? Can we listen with our whole beings, not just our minds, and offer our attention rather than our opinions? And do we have enough resolve in our hearts to act courageously, relentlessly, without giving up -- ever -- trusting our fellow citizens to join with us in our determined pursuit of a living democracy?
The heart is the house of empathy whose door opens when we receive the pain of others. This is where bravery lives, where we find our mettle to give and receive, to love and be loved, to stand in the center of uncertainty with strength, not fear, understanding this is all there is. The heart is the path to wisdom because it dares to be vulnerable in the presence of power. Our power lies in our love of our homelands.
The heart embodies faith because it leads us to charity. It is the muscle behind hope that brings confidence to those who despair.
Democracy depends on engagement, a firsthand accounting of what one sees, what one feels, and what one thinks, followed by the artful practice of expressing the truth of our times through our own talents, gifts, and vocations.
Question. Stand. Speak. Act.
We have a history of bravery in this nation and we must call it forward now. Our future is guaranteed only by the degree of our personal involvement and commitment to an inclusive justice.
In the open space of democracy, we engage the qualities of inquiry, intuition, and love as we become a dynamic citizenry, unafraid to exercise our shared knowledge and power. We can dissent. We can vote. We can step forward in times of terror with a confounding calm that will shatter fear and complacency.
It is time to ask, when will our national culture of self-interest stop cutting the bonds of community to shore up individual gain and instead begin to nourish communal life through acts of giving, not taking? It is time to acknowledge the violence rendered to our souls each time a mountaintop is removed to expose a coal vein in Appalachia or when a wetland is drained, dredged, and filled for a strip mall. And the time has come to demand an end to the wholesale dismissal of the sacredness of life in all its variety and forms, as we witness the repeated breaking of laws, and the relaxing of laws, in the sole name of growth and greed.
We have made the mistake of confusing democracy with capitalism and have mistaken political engagement with a political machinery we all understand to be corrupt. It is time to resist the simplistic, utilitarian view that what is good for business is good for humanity in all its complex web of relationships. A spiritual democracy is inspired by our own sense of what we can accomplish together, honoring an integrated society where the social, intellectual, physical, and economic well-being of all is considered, not just the wealth and health of the corporate few.
"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government," said Edward Abbey. To not be engaged in the democratic process, to sit back and let others do the work for us, is to fall prey to bitterness and cynicism. It is the passivity of cynicism that has broken the back of our collective outrage. We succumb to our own depression believing there is nothing we can do.
I do not believe we can look for leadership beyond ourselves. I do not believe we can wait for someone or something to save us from our global predicaments and obligations. I need to look in the mirror and ask this of myself: If I am committed to seeing the direction of our country change, how must I change myself?
We are a people addicted to speed and superficiality, and a nation that prides itself on moral superiority. But our folly lies in not seeing what we base our superiority on. Wealth and freedom? What is wealth if we cannot share it? What is freedom if we cannot offer it as a vision of compassion and restraint, rather than force and aggression? Without an acknowledgement of complexity in a society of sound bites, we will not find the true source of our anger or an authentic passion that will propel us forward to the place of personal engagement.
We are in need of a reflective activism born out of humility, not arrogance. Reflection, with deep time spent in the consideration of others, opens the door to becoming a compassionate participant in the world.
"To care is neither conservative nor radical," writes John Ralston Saul. "It is a form of consciousness." To be in the service of something beyond ourselves -- to be in the presence of something other than ourselves, together -- this is where we can begin to craft a meaningful life where personal isolation and despair disappear through the shared engagement of a vibrant citizenry.
Read Entire Essay
Race Is On to Claim the Arctic Circle
"Race is on to claim the Arctic Circle."
New Zealand Herald
An excerpt:
Rest of the Article
New Zealand Herald
An excerpt:
Deep inside the Arctic Circle, hundreds of kilometres beyond the frontier of human habitation, a solitary red flag with a white cross flies in the freezing winds, its pole hammered into the unyielding rock of Hans Island. Next to it, a plaque tells the world the Vikings have returned.
The tiny island, a hostile wedge of rock poised between the north-west corner of Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island, where winter temperatures plummet to 40C below, is normally home to a seal colony and the occasional polar bear.
Now it's on the front line of the race to claim the North Pole, a modern scramble for the Arctic that has pitted tiny Denmark against its Nato ally Canada, with Russia and the United States lurking in the wings.
At stake, in what could be the last great territorial land-grab, is the promise of untold mineral riches that has prompted an increasing number of governments to throw tens of millions of pounds at scientific and military missions in a bid to get ahead.
Rest of the Article
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Protest Organized Against TV Show "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search"
Last week, a new reality show aired on NBC which shows women competing for the best body to be photographed in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The program, "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search", consists of six, one-hour episodes, airing Jan 4 - Feb. 16, 2005 in prime time. Not only do judges rate and berate women's bodies on the air, but all TV viewers are encouraged to judge each woman and vote on whose body "outrates" the others.
A national coalition of education and advocacy groups is speaking out against the program and its message to viewers of both genders, and is encouraging others to do the same. The coalition is comprised of the Girls, Women + Media Project, Mind on the Media, Dads and Daughters and the National Organization for Men Against Sexism-Boston Chapter.
"This program moves a few steps --- really unhealthy steps --- beyond traditional beauty contests or shows featuring women in lingerie or bikinis" says Tamara Sobel, of the Girls, Women + Media Project. "By encouraging any viewer, a young boy or girl, or an adult, to take on the role of judging a woman by her breast or waist or buttocks or leg size and shape, NBC, Sports Illustrated, and all their corporate sponsors are sending a really negative message about women,about sexuality, and what we consider acceptable in the way men and boys treat women, and in the way girls and women treat themselves. And its interesting to ask why aren't we rating mens bodies like this all the time if its perfectly OK." Even if these women are just strangers on a TV screen, even if they might be doing it for a chance to win loads of money, if we watch it, and support the sponsors, it reflects what is OK to do in our society.
Joe Kelly, President of Dads and Daughters suggests we ask the CEOs of these companies: 'Would you be so eager to put production and marketing dollars behind this show if it was your own daughter who had her body verbally dissected on national TV?' "
Caroline Ticarro-Parker, Exec. Director of Mind on the Media and the "Turn Beauty Inside Out" Campaign, adds that we must ask networks and corporate sponsors to change the message they are sending that "beautiful" is defined by a particular sized body and how little clothing a woman wears.
Jack Kahn, Co-chair, National Organization of Men Against Sexism, Boston Chapter, adds "We would like to see media and entertainment that encourages us to grow in our acceptance of others, rather than perpetuating unrealistic views of body image and men's views of women as sexual objects to be appraised."
TAKE ACTION:
What you can do: Speak out against sexist programs at NBC -- it just takes a minute or two!
Tell NBC and their corporate sponsors that programs that promote inspection and competition of women's body parts are sexist and unhealthy. (Feedback that is strong and informational but still civil is usually what gets heard.)
1. Pledge to stop watching NBC until February is over (February is "sweeps" month when networks calculate how many people watch their show and how much money they can make from advertising)
2. Write an email to or call NBC letting them know you think their shows make an unhealthy sexist statement for women and men, girls and boys, and that you won't be watching their network. Contact: nbcshows@nbc.com OR phone (212) 664 -2333 or (212) 664-4444.
3. Write to the programs corporate sponsors and let them know your objections to the program and that you won't support companies and their products if they are affilitated with this type of programming.
Sponsors include:
America Online
To give feedback, go to: Feedback for America Online
Nautica Clothing
To give feedback, go to: Feedback for Nautica Clothing
Verizon Wireless
To give feedback, email: James Gerace, Vice President, Verizon Wireless
james.gerace@verizonwireless.com
4. If you are a teacher, community leader, or parent-talk about what message this kind of program sends especially to young people, boys and girls. Does the act of rating women's bodies and their sexuality make women's bodies just like other "products" that are evaluated and sold to the public? Is that OK? Are there double standards for females and males?
Take action....Let your voice be heard!
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Girls, Women + Media Project
info@mediaandwomen.org
The Girls, Women and Media Project is a 21st century national consumer initiative and network working to promote media literacy, consumer activism, and fairer, healthier, more positive images of girls and women in the media. For more information, please visit our website or email:info@mediaandwomen.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in subject heading.
A national coalition of education and advocacy groups is speaking out against the program and its message to viewers of both genders, and is encouraging others to do the same. The coalition is comprised of the Girls, Women + Media Project, Mind on the Media, Dads and Daughters and the National Organization for Men Against Sexism-Boston Chapter.
"This program moves a few steps --- really unhealthy steps --- beyond traditional beauty contests or shows featuring women in lingerie or bikinis" says Tamara Sobel, of the Girls, Women + Media Project. "By encouraging any viewer, a young boy or girl, or an adult, to take on the role of judging a woman by her breast or waist or buttocks or leg size and shape, NBC, Sports Illustrated, and all their corporate sponsors are sending a really negative message about women,about sexuality, and what we consider acceptable in the way men and boys treat women, and in the way girls and women treat themselves. And its interesting to ask why aren't we rating mens bodies like this all the time if its perfectly OK." Even if these women are just strangers on a TV screen, even if they might be doing it for a chance to win loads of money, if we watch it, and support the sponsors, it reflects what is OK to do in our society.
Joe Kelly, President of Dads and Daughters suggests we ask the CEOs of these companies: 'Would you be so eager to put production and marketing dollars behind this show if it was your own daughter who had her body verbally dissected on national TV?' "
Caroline Ticarro-Parker, Exec. Director of Mind on the Media and the "Turn Beauty Inside Out" Campaign, adds that we must ask networks and corporate sponsors to change the message they are sending that "beautiful" is defined by a particular sized body and how little clothing a woman wears.
Jack Kahn, Co-chair, National Organization of Men Against Sexism, Boston Chapter, adds "We would like to see media and entertainment that encourages us to grow in our acceptance of others, rather than perpetuating unrealistic views of body image and men's views of women as sexual objects to be appraised."
TAKE ACTION:
What you can do: Speak out against sexist programs at NBC -- it just takes a minute or two!
Tell NBC and their corporate sponsors that programs that promote inspection and competition of women's body parts are sexist and unhealthy. (Feedback that is strong and informational but still civil is usually what gets heard.)
1. Pledge to stop watching NBC until February is over (February is "sweeps" month when networks calculate how many people watch their show and how much money they can make from advertising)
2. Write an email to or call NBC letting them know you think their shows make an unhealthy sexist statement for women and men, girls and boys, and that you won't be watching their network. Contact: nbcshows@nbc.com OR phone (212) 664 -2333 or (212) 664-4444.
3. Write to the programs corporate sponsors and let them know your objections to the program and that you won't support companies and their products if they are affilitated with this type of programming.
Sponsors include:
America Online
To give feedback, go to: Feedback for America Online
Nautica Clothing
To give feedback, go to: Feedback for Nautica Clothing
Verizon Wireless
To give feedback, email: James Gerace, Vice President, Verizon Wireless
james.gerace@verizonwireless.com
4. If you are a teacher, community leader, or parent-talk about what message this kind of program sends especially to young people, boys and girls. Does the act of rating women's bodies and their sexuality make women's bodies just like other "products" that are evaluated and sold to the public? Is that OK? Are there double standards for females and males?
Take action....Let your voice be heard!
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Girls, Women + Media Project
info@mediaandwomen.org
The Girls, Women and Media Project is a 21st century national consumer initiative and network working to promote media literacy, consumer activism, and fairer, healthier, more positive images of girls and women in the media. For more information, please visit our website or email:info@mediaandwomen.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in subject heading.
An Interview with Wangari Maathai
"Root Causes: An Interview with Wangari Maathai: The recent Nobel Peace Prize winner talks about sowing the seeds of democracy in Kenya."
by Dave Gilson
Mother Jones
Introduction to the interview:
by Dave Gilson
Mother Jones
Introduction to the interview:
In October, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is the latest distinction in a 30-year career that’s been defined as much by Maathai’s accomplishments as the controversies she has sparked. After studying in the United States in the early 1960s, Maathai returned home to become the first East African woman to earn a PhD. Shortly afterwards, her parliamentarian husband initiated a messy divorce. She fought back by quitting her university deanship to run against him for his seat. Though she lost the race, she’d found her calling as a fiercely outspoken activist. In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental group that restored indigenous forests and assisted rural women by paying them to plant trees in their communities. It has since planted over 30 million trees in Kenya, provided work for tens of thousands of women, and been replicated in dozens of other African countries.
What made Maathai’s movement remarkable, and would eventually attract the attention of the Nobel committee, was how it erased the distinctions between environmentalism, feminism, democratization, and human rights advocacy. Maathai saw a direct connection between problems such as deforestation and soil erosion and the failures of Kenya’s one-party state. “I got pulled deeper and deeper and saw how these issues become linked to governance, to corruption, to dictatorship,” she says. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, she boldly confronted the country’s ruling party and its autocratic president, Daniel Arap Moi. In their most visible showdown, Maathai led a successful campaign against Moi’s plan to build a 62-story party headquarters, complete with a larger-than-life statue of himself, in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park. Though her objections were largely environmental -- the park was one of the city’s few open green spaces -- it was clear that she also sought to humble a “Big Man” who was not used to being defied, especially by a woman.
Moi and his allies vilified Maathai as an overeducated, man-hating subversive. She received death threats, was arrested more than a dozen times, and once was beaten unconscious by police. Several of her colleagues were killed and the Green Belt Movement was nearly outlawed. In the early 1990s, while the government fomented a wave of violence against opposition figures and the ethnic groups believed to be supporting them, Maathai went in and out of hiding. Her public appearances, like the one I tried to attend in March 1993, were often broken up by police. Maathai recalls this period with characteristic equanimity, maintaining she was never demoralized. “I knew in my mind I was doing the right thing,” she says.
Indeed, during the past two years, Maathai has been vindicated. In December 2002, Moi stepped down and Kenya held its first democratic elections. The opposition swept to power in a landslide; Maathai was elected to parliament and was appointed assistant secretary for Environment, Wildlife, and Natural Resources. The Nobel Prize, she says, is further confirmation that Kenya is finally on the right path. The prize is also a tribute to the 64-year old’s impact not simply as an environmentalist and activist, but as a role model for a generation of Kenyans who are enjoying the fruits of her labor. After the award was announced, she recalls, “Young people, especially girls, came up to me with tears in their eyes, saying how happy they were and how inspired they were.”
Wangari Maathai spoke to MotherJones.com from New York, where she had started a short visit to the U.S. to celebrate her Nobel and promote her new book, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War
The Bush administration conceded today that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that Hussein did not have the capabilities to build weapons of mass destruction (at the time the US decided to invade). Of course this has been repeated by many people for awhile, anyways, I figured it is a good time to repost this:
“Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War.” Directed by Robert Greenwald. (2004: hosted by Information Clearinghouse) ["An impressive roster of experts is assembled to provide a generally withering commentary on the quality of evidence and possible motivations of the Neo-conservatives who provided the momentum and muscle behind America's venture into preemptive war. Among them are veteran CIA analysts and operatives, military officers, diplomats, politicians, arms inspectors, and U.S. and British government officials. The fig leaf of the possibility of an honest mistake on the matter of WMDs is stripped away; what is left is the stark and disturbing anatomy of deliberate deceit."]
More on this at Information Clearinghouse
“Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War.” Directed by Robert Greenwald. (2004: hosted by Information Clearinghouse) ["An impressive roster of experts is assembled to provide a generally withering commentary on the quality of evidence and possible motivations of the Neo-conservatives who provided the momentum and muscle behind America's venture into preemptive war. Among them are veteran CIA analysts and operatives, military officers, diplomats, politicians, arms inspectors, and U.S. and British government officials. The fig leaf of the possibility of an honest mistake on the matter of WMDs is stripped away; what is left is the stark and disturbing anatomy of deliberate deceit."]
More on this at Information Clearinghouse
The Globalist Person of the Year 2004: Joseph Darby
The Globalist’s Person of the Year 2004: Commoner Joseph Darby's Uncommon Courage
The Globalist
Globalist Person og the Year 2004
The Globalist
In selecting a person of the year, magazine editors often look to heroes and strong leaders. And yet, some of the world’s most remarkable individuals are people who are virtually faceless and nameless. The Globalist’s “Person of the Year 2004” is an American whose courageous actions reaffirmed the world’s belief in America’s true ideals in troubled times.
Globalist Person og the Year 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Groups Mount Major Challenge to Bush Plan: White House Economic Conference Rewards Big-Money Campaign Donors
I find it interesting and important the diversity of the groups that have allied themselves to battle Bush's plan to dismantle social security as we know it:
Campaign For America's Future report
Campaign For America's Future report
Mark Engler: Six Essays on War and Peace
Marke Engler's series of critical reflections on the "war on terror" (and much more) from 9/11/01 to 2004:
“Six Essays About War and Peace.” (2001-2004)
More articles by Mark Engler:
Mark Engler and Jeremy Varon: The C.I.A., Then and Now
Why Wendell Berry Matters
CAFTA and Costa Rica
"The Architect of Black Power" Mark Engler and Paul Engler
“Six Essays About War and Peace.” (2001-2004)
More articles by Mark Engler:
Mark Engler and Jeremy Varon: The C.I.A., Then and Now
Why Wendell Berry Matters
CAFTA and Costa Rica
"The Architect of Black Power" Mark Engler and Paul Engler
Monday, January 10, 2005
Vaclav Havel: On the Temptations of Political Power
Havel, Vaclav. "On the Temptations of Political Power." Reposted at Vladimir Lifschitz's Website.
"On May 28, 1991 President Václav Havel of Czechoslovakia accepted the Sonning Prize for his contribution to European civilization. The biennial prize has been awarded by the University of Copenhagen since 1950. This is the text of Havel's acceptance speech."
"On May 28, 1991 President Václav Havel of Czechoslovakia accepted the Sonning Prize for his contribution to European civilization. The biennial prize has been awarded by the University of Copenhagen since 1950. This is the text of Havel's acceptance speech."
Sunday, January 09, 2005
The Speechalist
A little humor courtesy of a post at Progressive Blog Alliance:
"The Speechalist." Comedy Central (Last Laugh 2004) "Andy Dick plays the genius behind Bush's famous flubs in this hilarious short."
"The Speechalist." Comedy Central (Last Laugh 2004) "Andy Dick plays the genius behind Bush's famous flubs in this hilarious short."
Joseph Masco: On "Desert Modernism" and Las Vegas
One of my major projects is the study of the representation, meaning and sense of places so I found this very interesting (I would appreciate any good sources on identity/place/memory/community):
Masco, Joseph. "Desert Modernism." Cabinet Magazine #13 (2004)
An Excerpt:
"Las Vegas is currently the fastest growing city in the United States, consuming water as if it were surrounded by ocean. It is also an island of public commercialism within a military-industrial crypto-state, that vast section of Nevada backcountry where secret military technologies are designed, atomic bombs detonated, and chemical weapons and nuclear waste stored. Nevertheless, the desert can still today take on the appearance of pristine possibility, unrolling toward the horizon as a rugged tabula rasa, a dreamspace for spectacular progress. This ability to reinscribe desert "purity" requires constant effort, as the pursuit of utopian potential is predicated on a continual emptying-out of dystopian realities— in this case, those of nuclear weapons, waste, and war. Thus, if the desert in the post-Cold War American imagination still signifies hope for an endlessly renewable frontier, such migration from self and nation remains fraught, as escapees to the western interior run headlong into an equally imaginative military-industrial economy that constructs the desert as a hyper-regulated "proving ground" for the super-secret, the deadly, and the toxic. To negotiate these conflicting approaches to the epic West, both citizens and officials have come to rely on tactical amnesias, temporal sutures enabling a precarious—if addictive—cosmology of progress, fueled by high-octane combinations of risk, silence, utopian expectation, and paranoid anxiety. It is this dual process of mythologizing and monumentalizing through cognitive erasure that I call "desert modernism."
Masco, Joseph. "Desert Modernism." Cabinet Magazine #13 (2004)
An Excerpt:
"Las Vegas is currently the fastest growing city in the United States, consuming water as if it were surrounded by ocean. It is also an island of public commercialism within a military-industrial crypto-state, that vast section of Nevada backcountry where secret military technologies are designed, atomic bombs detonated, and chemical weapons and nuclear waste stored. Nevertheless, the desert can still today take on the appearance of pristine possibility, unrolling toward the horizon as a rugged tabula rasa, a dreamspace for spectacular progress. This ability to reinscribe desert "purity" requires constant effort, as the pursuit of utopian potential is predicated on a continual emptying-out of dystopian realities— in this case, those of nuclear weapons, waste, and war. Thus, if the desert in the post-Cold War American imagination still signifies hope for an endlessly renewable frontier, such migration from self and nation remains fraught, as escapees to the western interior run headlong into an equally imaginative military-industrial economy that constructs the desert as a hyper-regulated "proving ground" for the super-secret, the deadly, and the toxic. To negotiate these conflicting approaches to the epic West, both citizens and officials have come to rely on tactical amnesias, temporal sutures enabling a precarious—if addictive—cosmology of progress, fueled by high-octane combinations of risk, silence, utopian expectation, and paranoid anxiety. It is this dual process of mythologizing and monumentalizing through cognitive erasure that I call "desert modernism."
Cabinet Magazine
Cabinet Magazine
Website Introduction: "Cabinet is an award-winning quarterly magazine of art and culture that confounds expectations of what is typically meant by the words "art," "culture," and sometimes even "magazine." Like the 17th-century cabinet of curiosities to which its name alludes, Cabinet is as interested in the margins of culture as its center. Presenting wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary content in each issue through the varied formats of regular columns, essays, interviews, and special artist projects, Cabinet's hybrid sensibility merges the popular appeal of an arts periodical, the visually engaging style of a design magazine, and the in-depth exploration of a scholarly journal. Playful and serious, exuberant and committed, Cabinet's omnivorous appetite for understanding the world makes each of its issues a valuable sourcebook of ideas for a wide range of readers, from artists and designers to scientists and historians. In an age of increasing specialization, Cabinet looks to previous models of the well-rounded thinker to forge a new type of magazine for the intellectually curious reader of the future. Cabinet was named "Best New Magazine" of 2000 by the American Library Association's Library Journal and "Best Art and Culture Magazine" for 2001 and 2003 by the New York Press."
Website Introduction: "Cabinet is an award-winning quarterly magazine of art and culture that confounds expectations of what is typically meant by the words "art," "culture," and sometimes even "magazine." Like the 17th-century cabinet of curiosities to which its name alludes, Cabinet is as interested in the margins of culture as its center. Presenting wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary content in each issue through the varied formats of regular columns, essays, interviews, and special artist projects, Cabinet's hybrid sensibility merges the popular appeal of an arts periodical, the visually engaging style of a design magazine, and the in-depth exploration of a scholarly journal. Playful and serious, exuberant and committed, Cabinet's omnivorous appetite for understanding the world makes each of its issues a valuable sourcebook of ideas for a wide range of readers, from artists and designers to scientists and historians. In an age of increasing specialization, Cabinet looks to previous models of the well-rounded thinker to forge a new type of magazine for the intellectually curious reader of the future. Cabinet was named "Best New Magazine" of 2000 by the American Library Association's Library Journal and "Best Art and Culture Magazine" for 2001 and 2003 by the New York Press."
History in the Making: Dems Force Debate on Ohio Voting Irregularities
History in the Making: Dems Force Debate on Ohio Voting Irregularities
Democracy Now
Listen/Watch/Read
Democracy Now
For only the second time in over a century, Congress debated certification of the Electoral College vote. The joint session vote tally was interrupted by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH) who, along with other House Democrats, mounted a challenge to Ohio's 20 electoral votes. The challenge was signed by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), forcing the House and Senate to split and have a two-hour debate on voting irregularities. We hear excerpts of Republicans and Democrats in both chambers.
Listen/Watch/Read
Robert Fisk: The Mire of Death, Lies and Atrocities
(courtesy of Matt at pas au-delà)
Fisk, Robert. “The Mire of Death, Lies and Atrocities.” Democracy Now (January 3rd, 2005)
Fisk, Robert. “The Mire of Death, Lies and Atrocities.” Democracy Now (January 3rd, 2005)
British “Veteran Middle East Correspondent Robert Fisk says, "Over the past year, there has been evidence enough that our whole project in Iraq is hopelessly flawed, that our Western armies - when they are not torturing prisoners, killing innocents and destroying one of the largest cities in Iraq - are being vanquished by a ferocious guerrilla army, the like of which we have not seen before in the Middle East."
Saturday, January 08, 2005
10 Young Students Strip-Searched in Texas School
Texas Justice? Teach them young!
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10 Young Students Strip-Searched in Texas
Yahoo
LA MARQUE, Texas - Ten students between the ages of 11 and 12 were strip-searched as officials at their charter school tried to find a missing $10 bill.
Seven girls and three boys at the Mainland Preparatory Academy were searched down to their underwear Thursday after one of the girls reported the money missing, said Principal Wilma Green. The money was not found.
"It's not illegal," La Marque Police Chief Richard Price said. "We don't see it as a criminal offense." But he said an investigation was underway.
The search angered at least one parent, who filed a complaint with police and pulled her four children out of the school.
"I have never signed a consent to let my kids be strip-searched — never," said Shelli Owens, the mother of a 12-year-old boy who was searched.
Green said the school has conducted such searches in the past without calling parents.
"Never had a complaint," she said. "I can't say if it happened again I wouldn't do the same thing."
In Thursday's search, the boys were sent off with a male teacher and the girls with a female teacher, who told them to strip to their underwear, Green said.
"Nobody objected to it. Most of the kids didn't mind because they wanted to get their name cleared," she said. "It was no different than what the students would be doing when they would be in P.E. We searched everything down to the socks."
La Marque is about 40 miles southeast of Houston.
Report Link
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10 Young Students Strip-Searched in Texas
Yahoo
LA MARQUE, Texas - Ten students between the ages of 11 and 12 were strip-searched as officials at their charter school tried to find a missing $10 bill.
Seven girls and three boys at the Mainland Preparatory Academy were searched down to their underwear Thursday after one of the girls reported the money missing, said Principal Wilma Green. The money was not found.
"It's not illegal," La Marque Police Chief Richard Price said. "We don't see it as a criminal offense." But he said an investigation was underway.
The search angered at least one parent, who filed a complaint with police and pulled her four children out of the school.
"I have never signed a consent to let my kids be strip-searched — never," said Shelli Owens, the mother of a 12-year-old boy who was searched.
Green said the school has conducted such searches in the past without calling parents.
"Never had a complaint," she said. "I can't say if it happened again I wouldn't do the same thing."
In Thursday's search, the boys were sent off with a male teacher and the girls with a female teacher, who told them to strip to their underwear, Green said.
"Nobody objected to it. Most of the kids didn't mind because they wanted to get their name cleared," she said. "It was no different than what the students would be doing when they would be in P.E. We searched everything down to the socks."
La Marque is about 40 miles southeast of Houston.
Report Link
Frank Zappa: On Censorship
(many thanks to Buyankasha of Pooponpolitics)
Zappa, Frank. “On Censorship.” Crossfire (CNN: 1986)
The musician Frank Zappa was an intelligent, articulate and important voice in the battle against censorship. In this Crossfire episode we see him debating the censorship of music lyrics—he is, of course, against this censorship of “words.” This debate really gets to some of the core issues surrounding the “call for censorship” and the defenders of “freedom of expression.” Frank Zappa just devastated those pundits, exposing their idiocy... for me, I will not miss Crossfire. I miss Frank Zappa!
Zappa's Statement to Congress About Censorship of Music Lyrics
Zappa, Frank. “On Censorship.” Crossfire (CNN: 1986)
The musician Frank Zappa was an intelligent, articulate and important voice in the battle against censorship. In this Crossfire episode we see him debating the censorship of music lyrics—he is, of course, against this censorship of “words.” This debate really gets to some of the core issues surrounding the “call for censorship” and the defenders of “freedom of expression.” Frank Zappa just devastated those pundits, exposing their idiocy... for me, I will not miss Crossfire. I miss Frank Zappa!
Zappa's Statement to Congress About Censorship of Music Lyrics
Friday, January 07, 2005
Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley: Conversations with History
Conversations With History: Research Galleries. (Extensive online video and audio archive of interviews broken down into easily browsed categories)
Listed by Subject and Recent Conversations
Listed by Subject and Recent Conversations
William Vollmann: Rising Up and Rising Down
KCRW's literary show Bookworm hosts a regular series on authors that are a must for avid readers. Here is a current episode:
BookWorm Interview of William Vollmann
Excerpt from Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means
More by/about Vollmann:
On the Necessity of Freedom of Speech
The Royal Family and Interviewing Prostitutes
BookWorm Interview of William Vollmann
Excerpt from Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means
More by/about Vollmann:
On the Necessity of Freedom of Speech
The Royal Family and Interviewing Prostitutes
P! Launch
(courtesy of Ddjango at Progressive Blog Alliance)
A new collective progressive blog set to launch this week:
P! Launch
A new collective progressive blog set to launch this week:
P! Launch
Officer: Army May Change Reserves Policy
I have a very large college debt because I had to pay my own way from community college through grad school (other than some early grants). At one time I considered joining the Army reserves to pay for my education (the unit was sent to the first Gulf War a month afterwards) but youthful indiscretions made it difficult, so I decided against it (I bet they take anyone now). This report makes me think that my debt is not quite as large as it could have been:
Offcier: Army May Change Reserves Policy
Offcier: Army May Change Reserves Policy
Leading GOP Senator Critiques Plan to Hold Guatanomo Prisoners Indefinitely
Regan, Tom. U.S. Wants to Hold Gitmo Prisoners Indefinitely: But Leading GOP Senator Says It’s a Bad Idea. Christian Science Monitor (January 3, 2004):
Gonzalez Memos
Alternet, Chelsea Green Publishing, and Why War?
Read the memos from Alberto R. Gonzales, the man George Bush has tapped to be Attorney General. They show how Gonzales gave Bush exactly what he wanted: permission
to fly in the face of the Geneva Conventions regarding treatment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. This is a free except for AlterNet readers from "Guantanamo: What the World Should Know," by Michael Ratner and Ellen Ray, from Chelsea Green Publishing. Should Gonzalez be the next U.S. Attorney General? You decide!
Gonzalez Memos
More from Swerve Left on the Gonzalez hearings:
Back-bone Donors Needed
From Majikthise:
Modal Illogic
Read the memos from Alberto R. Gonzales, the man George Bush has tapped to be Attorney General. They show how Gonzales gave Bush exactly what he wanted: permission
to fly in the face of the Geneva Conventions regarding treatment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. This is a free except for AlterNet readers from "Guantanamo: What the World Should Know," by Michael Ratner and Ellen Ray, from Chelsea Green Publishing. Should Gonzalez be the next U.S. Attorney General? You decide!
Gonzalez Memos
More from Swerve Left on the Gonzalez hearings:
Back-bone Donors Needed
From Majikthise:
Modal Illogic
Word of the Day: Claque
Merriam-Webster Word of the Day
claque \KLAK\ noun
1 : a group hired to applaud at a performance
*2 : a group of sycophants
Example sentence:
The most popular girl in school was routinely accompanied by a claque of hangers-on.
Did you know?
The word "claque" might call to mind the sound of a clap, and that's no accident. "Claque" is a French borrowing that descends from the verb "claquer," meaning "to clap," and the noun "claque," meaning "a clap." Those French words in turn originated in imitation of the sound associated with them. English speakers borrowed "claque" in the 19th century. At that time, the practice of infiltrating audiences with hired members was very common to French theater culture. Claque members received money and free tickets to laugh, cry, shout — and of course clap — in just the right spots, hopefully influencing the rest of the audience to do the same.
and from January 7th:
coterie \KOH-tuh-ree\ noun
: an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose
Example sentence:
Dorothy Parker belonged to a literary coterie known as the Algonquin Round Table, whose members were legendary for their terse, acerbic writing.
Did you know?
In the days of feudalism in France, a "coterie" was a group of peasants who jointly held a parcel of land. These "tenants in common" were named from the Old French word for a peasant who occupies a cottage and a bit of land — a "cotier." Such associations of country people inspired later French speakers to use "coterie" more broadly and apply it to other kinds of clubs and societies. By the time the word began appearing in English texts in the 1730s, its meaning had been extended to refer to any circle of people who spent a great deal of time together, who shared the same basic attitudes, and who held a passion for some particular topic — in other words, to any tight-knit group.
claque \KLAK\ noun
1 : a group hired to applaud at a performance
*2 : a group of sycophants
Example sentence:
The most popular girl in school was routinely accompanied by a claque of hangers-on.
Did you know?
The word "claque" might call to mind the sound of a clap, and that's no accident. "Claque" is a French borrowing that descends from the verb "claquer," meaning "to clap," and the noun "claque," meaning "a clap." Those French words in turn originated in imitation of the sound associated with them. English speakers borrowed "claque" in the 19th century. At that time, the practice of infiltrating audiences with hired members was very common to French theater culture. Claque members received money and free tickets to laugh, cry, shout — and of course clap — in just the right spots, hopefully influencing the rest of the audience to do the same.
and from January 7th:
coterie \KOH-tuh-ree\ noun
: an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose
Example sentence:
Dorothy Parker belonged to a literary coterie known as the Algonquin Round Table, whose members were legendary for their terse, acerbic writing.
Did you know?
In the days of feudalism in France, a "coterie" was a group of peasants who jointly held a parcel of land. These "tenants in common" were named from the Old French word for a peasant who occupies a cottage and a bit of land — a "cotier." Such associations of country people inspired later French speakers to use "coterie" more broadly and apply it to other kinds of clubs and societies. By the time the word began appearing in English texts in the 1730s, its meaning had been extended to refer to any circle of people who spent a great deal of time together, who shared the same basic attitudes, and who held a passion for some particular topic — in other words, to any tight-knit group.
Know Your Rights: Poster and Guidelines
From the National Lawyer's Guild a guide to your rights. Learn them, memorize them, tatoo them on your body/brain, print out the poster and paste them around the city, bring a discussion of your rights into random conversations, etc...
This is the first step:
Know Your Rights: Printable PDF Copy
Know Your Rights Links
Also check out their Political Protest Manuals:
Exercising Your Rights Of Political Protest Manuals
Right to Protest
This is the first step:
Know Your Rights: Printable PDF Copy
Know Your Rights Links
Also check out their Political Protest Manuals:
Exercising Your Rights Of Political Protest Manuals
Right to Protest
One World TV
One World TV is a free site that allows everyday people to create and broadcast their stories. It looks like there are over ver 5,000 entries so far. This is an amazing project that shows us the power of these new technologies to share stories from around the world. Media for and by the people.
Miles Ogborn: Knowledge is Power
(notes from current studies)
Power...
Understanding culture in terms of relationships of power is what lies behind the argument that questions of meaning, interpretation and identity are political issues, and that we can talk about ‘cultural politics’ or ‘the politics of identity’. Power is often defined in terms of one set of people exerting power over another set of people, or over space, or nature, or the landscape in order to control them and their meanings in various ways. This ‘negative’ definition of power is useful in that it makes it clear that there are different interests and that they come into conflict (often over cultural issues). It also raises the questions of the forms of resistance (again often cultural) which contest the exercise of power. However, we might also understand power as being ‘positive’. This means that power is not just about preventing things from happening, it is also the capacity to make things happen. Here power is part of all sorts of forms of social and cultural construction. Power is involved in constructing identities (including those of the individuals or social groups who are understood to ‘hold’ power), social relations (such as the relationships between men and women), and cultural geographies (such as the definition of national identities, or of ‘East’ and ‘West’ in Orientalism). (Ogborn, 9-10)
First, it is clear that “States… state (Corrigan and Sayer, 1985: 3).” Part of the operation of state apparatuses is the production of statements—in reports, policy documents, speeches, press releases and parliamentary debates—about the situations they are dealing with and about what they are doing. We can use the idea of discourse to interpret what is being said in terms of the construction and contestation of state power. Indeed, we need to be aware that the meanings that the state produces are not always written or spoken but can take the form of rituals (like the rules of dress in British law court), ceremonies (like the displays of Soviet military might on May day), or monuments (like the Vietnam war memorial in Washington D.C.). One important way of interpreting these statements is the state’s need for legitimation, for processes of state formation to be acceptable to people outside the state apparatus. Who is appealed to will depend on the context—for example, taxation increases in medieval France only needed to be legitimated to a relatively small group of powerful nobles, in contemporary France they need the support of a much wider public—but it always means that one part of state formation must be the making and negotiation of meanings about the world and about itself with other social groups. Second, states act. Processes of state formation are about attempts to shape and regulate ways of life and identities. Not only do states attempt to define things discursively, but these statements are a crucial part of policies and programmes which seek to alter people’s ways of life and their identities. … As a result, it is important to understand processes of state formation in terms of the meanings and identities that are being put into place both for those making the rules and those subject to them. It is also important to understand that resistance to state formation is also often conducted in terms of challenging the meanings that the state is trying to make and the identities and ways of life that it is trying to construct. (Ogborn, 10-11)
Discourse
Discourse is a way of thinking about the relationship between power, knowledge and language. It is a concept most associated with the work of the French theorist Michel Foucault, who understood discourses as the frameworks that define the possibilities of knowledge. As such, a discourse exists as a set of ‘rules’ (formal or informal, acknowledged or unacknowledged) which determine the sorts of statements that can be made. These ‘rules’ determine what the criteria for truth are, what sorts of things can be talked about, and what sorts of things can be said about them. One of the most carefully worked through and explicitly geographical examples is Edward Said’s (1978) Orientalism where he sets out the discourse (which he calls ‘Orientalism’) through which ‘the West’ has made statements about ‘the East’, defining the sorts of things that get said about ‘the oriental mind’, ‘the oriental landscape’, or ‘oriental despotism’, and defining itself as the opposite in process. This raises two important points. First, that the aim of the idea of discourse is to suggest that there are many discourses, none of which simply tells the truth about the world. All of these discourses are ways in which our knowledge and language create the world as well as reflecting it (so you can only find a ‘typical oriental landscape’ or a ‘classical oriental city’ if you already have some idea of what you are looking for). The second point is that the discourse that prevails is a matter of power not simply truth. Since discourses define the way things are understood, even whether things can be understood to exist or not, then part of any struggle for power is a struggle over language and knowledge, over discourse. So Said directly connects the discourse of Orientalism to the power relations of colonialism and imperialism which it justified and which forged the relationships between the entities created in the discourse of Orientalism as either ‘West’ (the colonizers) or ‘East’ (the colonized). (Ogborn, 11)
There is no political power without control of the archive, if not of memory. Effective democratization can always be measured by this essential criterion—the participation in and access to the archive, its constitution, and its interpretation. (Jacques Derrida, quoted in Kurtz, 2001: 27)
Corrigan, Philip and Derek Sayer. The Great Arch: English State Formation as Cultural Revolution. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1985.
Kurtz, Matthew. “Situating Practices: The Archive and the File Cabinet.” Historical Geography 29.1 (2001): 26-37.
Ogborn, Miles. “Knowledge is Power: Using Archival Research to Interpret State Formation.” Cultural Geography in Practice. Eds. Alison Blunt, et al. NY: Oxford University Press, 2003: 9-20.
Power...
Understanding culture in terms of relationships of power is what lies behind the argument that questions of meaning, interpretation and identity are political issues, and that we can talk about ‘cultural politics’ or ‘the politics of identity’. Power is often defined in terms of one set of people exerting power over another set of people, or over space, or nature, or the landscape in order to control them and their meanings in various ways. This ‘negative’ definition of power is useful in that it makes it clear that there are different interests and that they come into conflict (often over cultural issues). It also raises the questions of the forms of resistance (again often cultural) which contest the exercise of power. However, we might also understand power as being ‘positive’. This means that power is not just about preventing things from happening, it is also the capacity to make things happen. Here power is part of all sorts of forms of social and cultural construction. Power is involved in constructing identities (including those of the individuals or social groups who are understood to ‘hold’ power), social relations (such as the relationships between men and women), and cultural geographies (such as the definition of national identities, or of ‘East’ and ‘West’ in Orientalism). (Ogborn, 9-10)
First, it is clear that “States… state (Corrigan and Sayer, 1985: 3).” Part of the operation of state apparatuses is the production of statements—in reports, policy documents, speeches, press releases and parliamentary debates—about the situations they are dealing with and about what they are doing. We can use the idea of discourse to interpret what is being said in terms of the construction and contestation of state power. Indeed, we need to be aware that the meanings that the state produces are not always written or spoken but can take the form of rituals (like the rules of dress in British law court), ceremonies (like the displays of Soviet military might on May day), or monuments (like the Vietnam war memorial in Washington D.C.). One important way of interpreting these statements is the state’s need for legitimation, for processes of state formation to be acceptable to people outside the state apparatus. Who is appealed to will depend on the context—for example, taxation increases in medieval France only needed to be legitimated to a relatively small group of powerful nobles, in contemporary France they need the support of a much wider public—but it always means that one part of state formation must be the making and negotiation of meanings about the world and about itself with other social groups. Second, states act. Processes of state formation are about attempts to shape and regulate ways of life and identities. Not only do states attempt to define things discursively, but these statements are a crucial part of policies and programmes which seek to alter people’s ways of life and their identities. … As a result, it is important to understand processes of state formation in terms of the meanings and identities that are being put into place both for those making the rules and those subject to them. It is also important to understand that resistance to state formation is also often conducted in terms of challenging the meanings that the state is trying to make and the identities and ways of life that it is trying to construct. (Ogborn, 10-11)
Discourse
Discourse is a way of thinking about the relationship between power, knowledge and language. It is a concept most associated with the work of the French theorist Michel Foucault, who understood discourses as the frameworks that define the possibilities of knowledge. As such, a discourse exists as a set of ‘rules’ (formal or informal, acknowledged or unacknowledged) which determine the sorts of statements that can be made. These ‘rules’ determine what the criteria for truth are, what sorts of things can be talked about, and what sorts of things can be said about them. One of the most carefully worked through and explicitly geographical examples is Edward Said’s (1978) Orientalism where he sets out the discourse (which he calls ‘Orientalism’) through which ‘the West’ has made statements about ‘the East’, defining the sorts of things that get said about ‘the oriental mind’, ‘the oriental landscape’, or ‘oriental despotism’, and defining itself as the opposite in process. This raises two important points. First, that the aim of the idea of discourse is to suggest that there are many discourses, none of which simply tells the truth about the world. All of these discourses are ways in which our knowledge and language create the world as well as reflecting it (so you can only find a ‘typical oriental landscape’ or a ‘classical oriental city’ if you already have some idea of what you are looking for). The second point is that the discourse that prevails is a matter of power not simply truth. Since discourses define the way things are understood, even whether things can be understood to exist or not, then part of any struggle for power is a struggle over language and knowledge, over discourse. So Said directly connects the discourse of Orientalism to the power relations of colonialism and imperialism which it justified and which forged the relationships between the entities created in the discourse of Orientalism as either ‘West’ (the colonizers) or ‘East’ (the colonized). (Ogborn, 11)
There is no political power without control of the archive, if not of memory. Effective democratization can always be measured by this essential criterion—the participation in and access to the archive, its constitution, and its interpretation. (Jacques Derrida, quoted in Kurtz, 2001: 27)
Corrigan, Philip and Derek Sayer. The Great Arch: English State Formation as Cultural Revolution. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1985.
Kurtz, Matthew. “Situating Practices: The Archive and the File Cabinet.” Historical Geography 29.1 (2001): 26-37.
Ogborn, Miles. “Knowledge is Power: Using Archival Research to Interpret State Formation.” Cultural Geography in Practice. Eds. Alison Blunt, et al. NY: Oxford University Press, 2003: 9-20.
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Nelson Mandela's Son Dies of AIDs
(communication from Juno in South Africa)
Dear Michael,
Today Mr. Mandela demonstrated on National T.V. why he is a hero. While the present President, Mr. Mbeki and the minister of health both deny that Hiv AIDS kills, and both refuse to give the millions in South Africa access to treatment, while the present President says he does not know anyone who has died of AIDS (his personal assistant died from this disease), today, Mr. Mandela announced that his oldest son and only surviving son, died of AIDS.
Mandela, a decent honest man. Why aren't there more !!!?
Regards, Juno
Vivisimo Search On This
Dear Michael,
Today Mr. Mandela demonstrated on National T.V. why he is a hero. While the present President, Mr. Mbeki and the minister of health both deny that Hiv AIDS kills, and both refuse to give the millions in South Africa access to treatment, while the present President says he does not know anyone who has died of AIDS (his personal assistant died from this disease), today, Mr. Mandela announced that his oldest son and only surviving son, died of AIDS.
Mandela, a decent honest man. Why aren't there more !!!?
Regards, Juno
Vivisimo Search On This
For Lexington Musicians
Music is played regularly in the lobby of the Downtown Arts Center and we would like to get some local tunes going through the system. If you are interested in this opportunity, send a cd to the Downtown Arts Center at 141 E. Main Street here in Lexington (40507) and we'll start spinning.
ALSO, if you would like us to have your cd available for sale at the DAC, let us know and we will set up a little local cd display in the lobby as well. Bring us a stack and let us know how much you want for them and your contact info of course. We will add one dollar to your price as a handling fee so price them accordingly.
Pass the word around if there are any musicians who aren't on this listserv.
Travis Robinson
Community Arts Director
Lexington Arts & Cultural Council
161 North Mill Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
859.255.2951
ALSO, if you would like us to have your cd available for sale at the DAC, let us know and we will set up a little local cd display in the lobby as well. Bring us a stack and let us know how much you want for them and your contact info of course. We will add one dollar to your price as a handling fee so price them accordingly.
Pass the word around if there are any musicians who aren't on this listserv.
Travis Robinson
Community Arts Director
Lexington Arts & Cultural Council
161 North Mill Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
859.255.2951
Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman: On the Electoral College Challenge
(courtesy of Mason)
"On Thursday, January 6, the Electoral College will be challenged by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and other members of Congress under a law passed in 1887 in reaction to the fraudulent election of 1876. A fuller investigation requires assent by at least one Senator."
Ten preliminary reasons why the Bush vote does not compute, and why Congress must investigate rather than certify the Electoral College (Part One of Two)
"On Thursday, January 6, the Electoral College will be challenged by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and other members of Congress under a law passed in 1887 in reaction to the fraudulent election of 1876. A fuller investigation requires assent by at least one Senator."
Ten preliminary reasons why the Bush vote does not compute, and why Congress must investigate rather than certify the Electoral College (Part One of Two)
Ohio Secretary of State Boasts How He Delivered Ohio to Bush Before the Votes Were Counted
(courtesy of Tom Paine)
"As the co-chairman of Bush/Cheney '04 in Ohio, I want to say thank you for helping deliver the great Buckeye State for George W. Bush."
—Dec. 31st letter from J. Kenneth Blackwell, the Ohio secretary of state, to potential supporters in his race for governor.
The Blue Lemur and Raw Story report on Blackwell's recent comments about his "deliverance" of Ohio to Bush:
Blue Lemur Report
"As the co-chairman of Bush/Cheney '04 in Ohio, I want to say thank you for helping deliver the great Buckeye State for George W. Bush."
—Dec. 31st letter from J. Kenneth Blackwell, the Ohio secretary of state, to potential supporters in his race for governor.
The Blue Lemur and Raw Story report on Blackwell's recent comments about his "deliverance" of Ohio to Bush:
Blue Lemur Report
Blogging the Gonzalez Confirmation Hearing
(courtesy of Tom Paine)
Human Rights First will be running blog updates on the Gonzalez confirmation hearing for those that want to keep up on the process.
Human Rights First will be running blog updates on the Gonzalez confirmation hearing for those that want to keep up on the process.
National Lawyers Guild: The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly, and Dissent
A very important document on the continuing assault on the right to demonstrate and protest. I've posted this before and I'm going to keep posting it until everyone in the US reads it, or, I overhear a citizen bring it up in daily conversation.
“The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly, and Dissent.” National Lawyers Guild (A National Lawyers Guild Report on Government Violations of First Amendment Rights in the United States: 2004)
Lewis Lapham also writes about the importance of this document (he also wrote the forward) in the latest issue of Harper's magazine.
“The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly, and Dissent.” National Lawyers Guild (A National Lawyers Guild Report on Government Violations of First Amendment Rights in the United States: 2004)
Lewis Lapham also writes about the importance of this document (he also wrote the forward) in the latest issue of Harper's magazine.
In the Fray Call For Papers: Belonging
It is something we seek throughout our lives: belonging. From the playground to the workplace, on the Internet and in the living room, from birth until our final breath, we long to be among people like us. We desire to be part of a community that spans time and place. We hunger for connection, for bonds of friendship, family, and sexuality. In a world spinning ever faster, we seek out roots to keep us on stable, comfortable ground.
This spring, INTHEFRAY Magazine asks what it means to belong to a culture, community, or another person. We ask you to interpret this topic as best suits you and consider what lengths are we willing to go to connect with our heritage, our homeland, our families-real or imagined-to uncover our roots? How do we cope with the obligations of belonging, or the ambiguities of not belonging? When do our desires for belonging lead us astray, our solidarity turning to conformity, our possession to a sense of entitlement? Where do we find new sources of belonging in a society that is increasingly individualistic? Why do we need to feel part of something larger than ourselves, and what happens when we are left out?
INTHEFRAY Magazine invites readers and contributors to share their own thoughts of the meaning and necessity of belonging:
1. INTHEFRAY¹s commentary channel, INTERACT, is looking for personal essays of 1,000-1,500 words addressing these questions of belonging, broadly defined. Please send pitches to belonging@inthefray.com NO LATER THAN February 7, 2005.
2. Contributors interested in pitching related visual essays, news features, or cultural criticism for the magazine¹s IMAGE, IDENTIFY, or IMAGINE channels can also e-mail us at belonging@inthefray.com. You should send us a well-developed, one-paragraph pitch for your proposed piece NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 7, 2005.
All potential contributors should review our guidelines for writers and artists at Guidelines . Please direct any general questions to recruiting@inthefray.com. Thank you for your interest!
This spring, INTHEFRAY Magazine asks what it means to belong to a culture, community, or another person. We ask you to interpret this topic as best suits you and consider what lengths are we willing to go to connect with our heritage, our homeland, our families-real or imagined-to uncover our roots? How do we cope with the obligations of belonging, or the ambiguities of not belonging? When do our desires for belonging lead us astray, our solidarity turning to conformity, our possession to a sense of entitlement? Where do we find new sources of belonging in a society that is increasingly individualistic? Why do we need to feel part of something larger than ourselves, and what happens when we are left out?
INTHEFRAY Magazine invites readers and contributors to share their own thoughts of the meaning and necessity of belonging:
1. INTHEFRAY¹s commentary channel, INTERACT, is looking for personal essays of 1,000-1,500 words addressing these questions of belonging, broadly defined. Please send pitches to belonging@inthefray.com NO LATER THAN February 7, 2005.
2. Contributors interested in pitching related visual essays, news features, or cultural criticism for the magazine¹s IMAGE, IDENTIFY, or IMAGINE channels can also e-mail us at belonging@inthefray.com. You should send us a well-developed, one-paragraph pitch for your proposed piece NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 7, 2005.
All potential contributors should review our guidelines for writers and artists at Guidelines . Please direct any general questions to recruiting@inthefray.com. Thank you for your interest!
In Memory of Guy Davenport: 1927-2005
Lexington Herald Leader Remembrance
University of Kentucky Remembrance
“If the language of fiction is to be of any lasting use . . . it must struggle to define—and, in so doing, attain—moments of liberty. Davenport has succeeded in that regard, finding new ways to dramatize one, suggestive question: What if we were free? In their language and form, their intelligence and art, his stories remain some of our most eloquent, individual, and lasting answers to that inexhaustible question.”
—Harper’s Magazine
When Guy Davenport looks at the world, the world changes, sometimes just a little and sometimes a lot. And no reader is the same after reading his or her first Davenport essay or story. He is a writer perfectly described by the term “singular,” and in praising his work, from fiction to poetry, from translations to essays, critics all over the world have noted his unique manner, his remarkable erudition, and his startling humor. He is the finely realized perfection of high modernism blended with an American sensibility as old as Emerson’s.
A blurb about his book The Death of Picasso
Elimae Interview
Guy Davenport's Heretical Fictions
The Life of the Mind
Review of Logia of Yeshua
Reviews of The Cardiff Team and The Hunter Gracchus
Chuck Ralston's Guy Davenport Site
A Form of Incomprehenison
An Introduction to Archilochus
When Novelists Become Cubists
Master Taxonomist (New Criterion)
Davenport Remembers Hugh Kenner
University of Kentucky Remembrance
“If the language of fiction is to be of any lasting use . . . it must struggle to define—and, in so doing, attain—moments of liberty. Davenport has succeeded in that regard, finding new ways to dramatize one, suggestive question: What if we were free? In their language and form, their intelligence and art, his stories remain some of our most eloquent, individual, and lasting answers to that inexhaustible question.”
—Harper’s Magazine
When Guy Davenport looks at the world, the world changes, sometimes just a little and sometimes a lot. And no reader is the same after reading his or her first Davenport essay or story. He is a writer perfectly described by the term “singular,” and in praising his work, from fiction to poetry, from translations to essays, critics all over the world have noted his unique manner, his remarkable erudition, and his startling humor. He is the finely realized perfection of high modernism blended with an American sensibility as old as Emerson’s.
A blurb about his book The Death of Picasso
Elimae Interview
Guy Davenport's Heretical Fictions
The Life of the Mind
Review of Logia of Yeshua
Reviews of The Cardiff Team and The Hunter Gracchus
Chuck Ralston's Guy Davenport Site
A Form of Incomprehenison
An Introduction to Archilochus
When Novelists Become Cubists
Master Taxonomist (New Criterion)
Davenport Remembers Hugh Kenner
Nation Needs Web Editor
NATION SEEKS WEB EDITOR
The Nation seeks a full-time web editor with progressive politics, boundless energy and a strong commitment to help amplify the influence and scope of the magazine's online presence.
The web editor will work closely with magazine editors as well as business staffers in developing the site. Major responsibilities include planning, creating and implementing new Nation online features; Conceiving and executing the creation of online enhancements to articles originating from the print magazine; Assisting in outreach to other online media; Coordinating breaking online news coverage, and editing original Nation online articles.
Ideal candidate has at least three years experience working at a political website, closely follows the news media--print, broadcast and online, has broad familiarity with the progressive community, keeps abreast of alternative and youth culture, works well with a wide array of individuals, internal departments and outside organizations, and is comfortable with very tight deadline pressure. Familiarity with HTML, and online production and content management a plus. Applicant must work in The Nation's New York City office.
Position offers generous benefits and a convivial work atmosphere. The Nation is an equal opportunity employer, people of color and other minorities strongly encouraged to apply. Email resume, cover-letter and salary requirements to:
webjob@thenation.com. No calls please.
The Nation seeks a full-time web editor with progressive politics, boundless energy and a strong commitment to help amplify the influence and scope of the magazine's online presence.
The web editor will work closely with magazine editors as well as business staffers in developing the site. Major responsibilities include planning, creating and implementing new Nation online features; Conceiving and executing the creation of online enhancements to articles originating from the print magazine; Assisting in outreach to other online media; Coordinating breaking online news coverage, and editing original Nation online articles.
Ideal candidate has at least three years experience working at a political website, closely follows the news media--print, broadcast and online, has broad familiarity with the progressive community, keeps abreast of alternative and youth culture, works well with a wide array of individuals, internal departments and outside organizations, and is comfortable with very tight deadline pressure. Familiarity with HTML, and online production and content management a plus. Applicant must work in The Nation's New York City office.
Position offers generous benefits and a convivial work atmosphere. The Nation is an equal opportunity employer, people of color and other minorities strongly encouraged to apply. Email resume, cover-letter and salary requirements to:
webjob@thenation.com. No calls please.
LibeMeme
Found at About Politics who "snagged" from other sites (listed in his LebeMeme
Here's the game:
Copy the list of ten authors below. Replace any that are not included in your home library with one(s) that are. Note any replacements in boldface. Reference where you found LibeMeme when you post.
1. George Orwell
2. Howard Zinn
3. Jon Krakauer
4. Herman Melville
5. Guy Debord
6. Chuck Palahniuk
7. Jack Kerouac
8. Ayn Rand
9. Hannah Arendt
10. William Shakespeare
Authors that were dropped because I didn't have them in my books: Jorge Armado; William Shirer; P.J. O'Rourke; Joseph Heller; Willa Cather; David Halberstam
Here's the game:
Copy the list of ten authors below. Replace any that are not included in your home library with one(s) that are. Note any replacements in boldface. Reference where you found LibeMeme when you post.
1. George Orwell
2. Howard Zinn
3. Jon Krakauer
4. Herman Melville
5. Guy Debord
6. Chuck Palahniuk
7. Jack Kerouac
8. Ayn Rand
9. Hannah Arendt
10. William Shakespeare
Authors that were dropped because I didn't have them in my books: Jorge Armado; William Shirer; P.J. O'Rourke; Joseph Heller; Willa Cather; David Halberstam
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Geri L. Dreiling: Deconstructing Alberto
Deconstructing Alberto
Geri L. Dreiling
Alternet
Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales is taking some heat from progressives. But his mixed record shows why so few are trying to block the nomination.
Deconstructing Alberto
Geri L. Dreiling
Alternet
Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales is taking some heat from progressives. But his mixed record shows why so few are trying to block the nomination.
Deconstructing Alberto
Questions That Should Be Asked at Spelling's Senate Confirmation Hearing Tomorrow
A Final Test For Spellings
by Robert Borosage and Earl Hadley
Tom Paine
Entire Article
by Robert Borosage and Earl Hadley
Tom Paine
If the Senate's doing its job, Bush's pick for education secretary should face some tough questions tomorrow.
...
After gaining bipartisan support for passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Bush administration broke its own promise to provide the funds to help schools meet the challenge. And Secretary Rodney Paige bungled management of the law, equating the criticisms coming from teachers in the classroom with treason, and accusing teachers of belonging to a "terrorist organization."
Now Bush seeks to replace Paige with the person who has been pulling the strings all along: Margaret Spellings, a former White House domestic policy adviser and longtime Bush loyalist. Hearings on the Spellings nomination take place tomorrow, but she's already been given the nod by Sen. Kennedy and other key Democratic senators. But before the Senate confirms the nomination, senators would be wise to probe whether the trail of broken promises, bungled administration and distorted priorities will continue. Here are a few common-sense questions that American parents have the right to know.
Entire Article
Janus Head: Addiction II
Janus Head (what a great title!) has just published their second special theme issue on Addiction. I've battled various addictions from the benign to the destructive and have long reflected on addiction which is so much a part of the human condition and how addiction defines/molds/illuminates/mutates/destroys:
Janus Head
and here is the earlier issue:
Addiction I
Janus Head
and here is the earlier issue:
Addiction I
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Latest Monstrosity From Texas
Texas Governor Rick Perry in a supreme act of hubris wants to build a superhighway that will be a 1/4 mile wide and cut across the Texas landscape, complete with underground fueling stations...
Texas Thinking Big on Transportation
By Lianne Hart Times Staff Writer
Yahoo
Do not mistake the Trans-Texas Corridor for a mere superhighway. As imagined by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the $175-billion project will be a transportation behemoth of mind-boggling proportions: 4,000 miles of mostly toll lanes perhaps a quarter-mile wide, capable of carrying cars, trucks, and high-speed freight and commuter trains.
There would be room underground for oil, water, electric and gas pipelines, and the whole works would be built largely with private money. "It's a blueprint for our transportation and population needs for the next 50 years," Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gaby Garcia said. "It's the wave of the future to plan for different modes [of transport] in one corridor."
Opponents call the ambitious scheme ill-conceived and absurdly expensive. "It's so grandiose and outlandish that people at first didn't think it would happen," said David Stall, who founded a group called Corridor Watch to keep tabs on the project. "But they're railroading it through — and most Texans don't even know what it is."
Perry introduced what he called a "visionary transportation plan" during his 2002 reelection campaign, and continued to push for it after he was sworn in. In 2003, he signed a transportation bill that authorized construction of the mammoth roadway. The corridor is meant to ease congestion on existing interstates by diverting long-distance and regional traffic onto mega-highways, which would largely skirt urban areas. Trucks carrying hazardous materials could bypass populated cities by traveling on the new system.
"We can slowly try to address traffic in cities with very expensive Band-Aids, which means making four lanes into six or eight," said state Rep. Mike Krusee, who wrote legislation to make the corridor possible. "But wouldn't it be cheaper to build basically a parallel corridor, where land is cheaper and there's room to expand?"
Backers say the project is badly needed in Texas because of a rapidly growing population and increased traffic from a post-NAFTA flow of goods to and from Mexico. The linchpin of the plan is its financing: Though the state would own the right of way to the roads, private contractors would pay to build them. In return, the contractors could charge concessions — such as tolls — for as long as 50 years. Similar projects in other countries have been financed this way, Krusee said, and it is how the Texas Department of Transportation intends to do it.
"Our problems are urgent in Texas, but we don't have the money to do this sort of thing," said Krusee, who is chairman of the state House Transportation Committee. "By putting it up for bid from private companies, it's a way for growth to pay for itself." In mid-December, the state Department of Transportation agreed to let a private consortium led by Spanish toll-road operator Cintra build the first section of the corridor — a $6-billion, 316-mile turnpike from Dallas to San Antonio.
As part of the deal, the group will add $1.2 billion more for other state transportation projects, Garcia said. In return, the consortium will be allowed to charge tolls on the road at rates approved by the state. The Dallas-San Antonio toll road will be part of an 800-mile corridor that will run parallel to Interstate 35 from Oklahoma to Mexico. Other potential corridors could run east-west from the Texas Gulf Coast to El Paso and north-south from the Panhandle to Laredo.
Stall is skeptical of the Cintra deal, reserving judgment until the contract becomes public, assuming it ever does. "They say no state dollars will go into the corridors, and that may be semantically true. But someone who is investing billions of dollars expects to get their money back and more, and ultimately Texans will pay for it through tolls and other concessions," Stall said.
The Trans-Texas Corridor is a revenue-raising plan masquerading as transportation development, Stall said. The state can acquire private land for the roads through the power of eminent domain, then sell or lease the property for any purpose — whether it's for the highway, a gas station, restaurant or a billboard. "The state is using its powers to create a monopoly [along the corridor] for the state and concessionaires," Stall said.
Texas economist Ray Perryman has estimated that the project could generate about $135 billion for the state over 50 years. But Stall is not alone in his objections. Environmentalists are concerned about the effect of massive construction on rural lands. And members of the Texas Farm Bureau — who generally support Perry, who was raised on a West Texas farm — voted to oppose the plan.
"The roads will split through farms," bureau spokesman Mike Barnett said. "The way we understand it, it will spread over a number of miles, so it will be hard to get from one side of the farm to another." With minimal exits, the corridor will cut off access to many rural towns already economically pinched, he said. "They're talking about a quarter-mile swath through wherever it goes. That hurts. You lose the tax base because the land goes to the state," Barnett said.
Marc Maxwell, city manager of Sulphur Springs — population 14,551 — in northeast Texas, said his town "lucked out" during the Cintra negotiations. It appears the corridor will come by his city, bringing more trade to local businesses, he said. But Maxwell worries about Texans getting a fair price for their land, and the fate of rural towns bypassed in construction. "The state has got their backs against the wall. They've got to do something about the demand for more roads," he said. "But these are huge stakes, with huge implications positive and negative. You hope this is the right thing."
Article Link
Texas Thinking Big on Transportation
By Lianne Hart Times Staff Writer
Yahoo
Do not mistake the Trans-Texas Corridor for a mere superhighway. As imagined by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the $175-billion project will be a transportation behemoth of mind-boggling proportions: 4,000 miles of mostly toll lanes perhaps a quarter-mile wide, capable of carrying cars, trucks, and high-speed freight and commuter trains.
There would be room underground for oil, water, electric and gas pipelines, and the whole works would be built largely with private money. "It's a blueprint for our transportation and population needs for the next 50 years," Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gaby Garcia said. "It's the wave of the future to plan for different modes [of transport] in one corridor."
Opponents call the ambitious scheme ill-conceived and absurdly expensive. "It's so grandiose and outlandish that people at first didn't think it would happen," said David Stall, who founded a group called Corridor Watch to keep tabs on the project. "But they're railroading it through — and most Texans don't even know what it is."
Perry introduced what he called a "visionary transportation plan" during his 2002 reelection campaign, and continued to push for it after he was sworn in. In 2003, he signed a transportation bill that authorized construction of the mammoth roadway. The corridor is meant to ease congestion on existing interstates by diverting long-distance and regional traffic onto mega-highways, which would largely skirt urban areas. Trucks carrying hazardous materials could bypass populated cities by traveling on the new system.
"We can slowly try to address traffic in cities with very expensive Band-Aids, which means making four lanes into six or eight," said state Rep. Mike Krusee, who wrote legislation to make the corridor possible. "But wouldn't it be cheaper to build basically a parallel corridor, where land is cheaper and there's room to expand?"
Backers say the project is badly needed in Texas because of a rapidly growing population and increased traffic from a post-NAFTA flow of goods to and from Mexico. The linchpin of the plan is its financing: Though the state would own the right of way to the roads, private contractors would pay to build them. In return, the contractors could charge concessions — such as tolls — for as long as 50 years. Similar projects in other countries have been financed this way, Krusee said, and it is how the Texas Department of Transportation intends to do it.
"Our problems are urgent in Texas, but we don't have the money to do this sort of thing," said Krusee, who is chairman of the state House Transportation Committee. "By putting it up for bid from private companies, it's a way for growth to pay for itself." In mid-December, the state Department of Transportation agreed to let a private consortium led by Spanish toll-road operator Cintra build the first section of the corridor — a $6-billion, 316-mile turnpike from Dallas to San Antonio.
As part of the deal, the group will add $1.2 billion more for other state transportation projects, Garcia said. In return, the consortium will be allowed to charge tolls on the road at rates approved by the state. The Dallas-San Antonio toll road will be part of an 800-mile corridor that will run parallel to Interstate 35 from Oklahoma to Mexico. Other potential corridors could run east-west from the Texas Gulf Coast to El Paso and north-south from the Panhandle to Laredo.
Stall is skeptical of the Cintra deal, reserving judgment until the contract becomes public, assuming it ever does. "They say no state dollars will go into the corridors, and that may be semantically true. But someone who is investing billions of dollars expects to get their money back and more, and ultimately Texans will pay for it through tolls and other concessions," Stall said.
The Trans-Texas Corridor is a revenue-raising plan masquerading as transportation development, Stall said. The state can acquire private land for the roads through the power of eminent domain, then sell or lease the property for any purpose — whether it's for the highway, a gas station, restaurant or a billboard. "The state is using its powers to create a monopoly [along the corridor] for the state and concessionaires," Stall said.
Texas economist Ray Perryman has estimated that the project could generate about $135 billion for the state over 50 years. But Stall is not alone in his objections. Environmentalists are concerned about the effect of massive construction on rural lands. And members of the Texas Farm Bureau — who generally support Perry, who was raised on a West Texas farm — voted to oppose the plan.
"The roads will split through farms," bureau spokesman Mike Barnett said. "The way we understand it, it will spread over a number of miles, so it will be hard to get from one side of the farm to another." With minimal exits, the corridor will cut off access to many rural towns already economically pinched, he said. "They're talking about a quarter-mile swath through wherever it goes. That hurts. You lose the tax base because the land goes to the state," Barnett said.
Marc Maxwell, city manager of Sulphur Springs — population 14,551 — in northeast Texas, said his town "lucked out" during the Cintra negotiations. It appears the corridor will come by his city, bringing more trade to local businesses, he said. But Maxwell worries about Texans getting a fair price for their land, and the fate of rural towns bypassed in construction. "The state has got their backs against the wall. They've got to do something about the demand for more roads," he said. "But these are huge stakes, with huge implications positive and negative. You hope this is the right thing."
Article Link
Sunday, January 02, 2005
fem * mass: The Personal Websites of the Female Masses
Huge archive of female bloggers. Website description:
fem * mass
No commercial sites. No men. No fluff. Just the Real Deal. You can leave those preconceived notions at the door because nobody here hides behind a webpage. And nobody here substitutes a personality with a list of links.
fem•mass is dedicated to the women of the Web whose personal websites shine. Have you lost your way? Well, just hang on to that keyboard, little mama. These pages are gonna bring you home.
fem * mass
Censored 2005: The Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2003-2004
Project Censored 2005
Includes:
#1: Wealth Inequality in 21st Century Threatens Economy and Democracy
#2: Ashcroft vs. the Human Rights Law that Holds Corporations Accountable
#3: Bush Administration Censors Science
#4: High Levels of Uranium Found in Troops and Civilians
#5: The Wholesale Giveaway of Our Natural Resources
#6: The Sale of Electoral Politics
#7: Conservative Organization Drives Judicial Appointments
#8: Cheney's Energy Task Force and The Energy Policy
#9: Widow Brings RICO Case Against U.S. government for 9/11
#10: New Nuke Plants: Taxpayers Support, Industry Profits
#11: The Media Can Legally Lie
#12: The Destabilization of Haiti
#13: Schwarzenegger Met with Enron's Ken Lay Years Before the California Recall
#14: New Bill Threatens Intellectual Freedom in Area Studies
#15: U.S. Develops Lethal New Viruses
#16: Law Enforcement Agencies Spy on Innocent Citizens
#17: U.S. Government Represses Labor Unions in Iraq in Quest for Business Privatization
#18: Media and Government Ignore Dwindling Oil Supplies
#19: Global Food Cartel Fast Becoming the World's Supermarket
#20: Extreme Weather Prompts New Warning from UN
#21: Forcing a World Market for GMOs
#22: Censoring Iraq
#23: Brazil Holds Back in FTAA Talks, But Provides Little Comfort for the Poor of South America
#24: Reinstating the Draft
#25: Wal-Mart Brings Inequality and Low Prices to the World
Includes:
#1: Wealth Inequality in 21st Century Threatens Economy and Democracy
#2: Ashcroft vs. the Human Rights Law that Holds Corporations Accountable
#3: Bush Administration Censors Science
#4: High Levels of Uranium Found in Troops and Civilians
#5: The Wholesale Giveaway of Our Natural Resources
#6: The Sale of Electoral Politics
#7: Conservative Organization Drives Judicial Appointments
#8: Cheney's Energy Task Force and The Energy Policy
#9: Widow Brings RICO Case Against U.S. government for 9/11
#10: New Nuke Plants: Taxpayers Support, Industry Profits
#11: The Media Can Legally Lie
#12: The Destabilization of Haiti
#13: Schwarzenegger Met with Enron's Ken Lay Years Before the California Recall
#14: New Bill Threatens Intellectual Freedom in Area Studies
#15: U.S. Develops Lethal New Viruses
#16: Law Enforcement Agencies Spy on Innocent Citizens
#17: U.S. Government Represses Labor Unions in Iraq in Quest for Business Privatization
#18: Media and Government Ignore Dwindling Oil Supplies
#19: Global Food Cartel Fast Becoming the World's Supermarket
#20: Extreme Weather Prompts New Warning from UN
#21: Forcing a World Market for GMOs
#22: Censoring Iraq
#23: Brazil Holds Back in FTAA Talks, But Provides Little Comfort for the Poor of South America
#24: Reinstating the Draft
#25: Wal-Mart Brings Inequality and Low Prices to the World
Word of the Day: Apprehension
apprehension \ap-rih-HEN-shun\ noun
1 a : the act or power of perceiving or comprehending b : the result of apprehending mentally : conception
2 : seizure by legal process : arrest
3 : suspicion or fear especially of future evil : foreboding
Merriam-Webster Online
1 a : the act or power of perceiving or comprehending b : the result of apprehending mentally : conception
2 : seizure by legal process : arrest
3 : suspicion or fear especially of future evil : foreboding
Merriam-Webster Online
Farish A. Noor: Hatred for the Moderate
An editorial response to the recent hacker attacks and death threats on the website MuslimWakeUp!
Hatred for the Moderate
Farish A. Noor
Daily Times
Entire Editorial
Hatred for the Moderate
Farish A. Noor
Daily Times
Let us, the growing and increasingly visible fraternity of moderate Muslims, lay our cards on the table and be honest with ourselves. While we must — as it is our ethical duty — condemn the rising tide of militarism worldwide, the brutal abuse of human rights, the economic exploitation of the poor, the growing power differentials between the developed and developing worlds; we must not spare ourselves and our community the criticism.
I write this as person who has studied the political Islam for nearly a decade. In the course of my travels and research I have come across some of the most astounding, redemptive and uplifting examples of religio-politics that underscores my faith in political Islam as a counter-hegemonic and anti-systemic discourse that can safeguard humanity against the predatory forces of economic globalisation. I am proud of being an Islamist-democrat myself and have worked with Islamist activists in Malaysia and Indonesia who have been, and remain at the forefront of the struggle for human rights, democracy and justice for all human beings.
But in the course of this long sojourn in the ever-shifting terrain of Islamic/Islamist political praxis, I have also come across a wide spectrum of losers, cop-outs, desperados and hapless ne’er-do-wells, ranging from closet homophobes, latent racists, self-denying bigots and downright fascists masquerading behind a presumed religiosity that in my opinion they are not entitled to.
To get off the ground progressive Islam needs to prioritise and enunciate its concerns in the most inclusive, tolerant and universal manner. It must seek meaningful strategic alliances with all groups and communities that are likewise fighting for social justice and the uplift of humanity. In the course of my own struggle as an academic and activist, I have found allies among fellow Islamists as well as secular democrats.
I have never found, on the other hand, any of the hothead Muslim bigots to be genuine defenders and promoters of democracy, human rights or human dignity. I find it hard, if not impossible, to take seriously those so-called ‘Islamic groups’ that claim to defend the rights of Palestinians when their own websites are festooned with articles and postings taken from neo-Nazi and Fascists websites, dripping with bile and venom. Xenophobes are not our allies and they never will be. We can never defend them. Nor should we try.
Entire Editorial
Eric J. Hobsbawm: Spreading Democracy
Spreading Democracy: The World's Most Dangerous Idea
Eric J. Hobsbawm
Foreign Policy
Entire Article
Eric J. Hobsbawm
Foreign Policy
We are at present engaged in what purports to be a planned reordering of the world by the powerful states. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are but one part of a supposedly universal effort to create world order by “spreading democracy.” This idea is not merely quixotic—it is dangerous. The rhetoric surrounding this crusade implies that the system is applicable in a standardized (Western) form, that it can succeed everywhere, that it can remedy today’s transnational dilemmas, and that it can bring peace, rather than sow disorder. It cannot.
Entire Article
Norimitsu Onishi and William Blake
(The first poem I memorized)
Onishi, Norimitsu. “Does a Tiger Lurk in the Middle of a Fearful Symmetry?” The New York Times (September 5, 2004)
The Tiger
by William Blake, 1757–1827
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Onishi, Norimitsu. “Does a Tiger Lurk in the Middle of a Fearful Symmetry?” The New York Times (September 5, 2004)
The Tiger
by William Blake, 1757–1827
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Saturday, January 01, 2005
When Buying Books Buy From Independents First, But If You Have To Shop Corporate, Buy Blue
Here's some interesting information that may affect where you choose to make your book purchases. 98% of Barnes & Noble's corporate political donations went to the Democrats, while 61% of Amazon's went to the Republicans? Borders gave 100% or its donations to Democrats. Those are some of the revelations to be found at Buy Blue.
---------------------------------------------------------------
OK, since I posted this I received some good responses, so I brought them into the original post--Thanks!
Harry suggests a different perspective from Klintron's Brain on the buy blue program and whether it makes any sense at all--including different facts that should be considered.
Oso suggests that we check out the great northwest independent bookstore Powell's (and if you are ever in Portland, OR, you must stop in at their massive downtown store) and I would also list the incredible independent bookstore/gathering-place Tattered Cover in Denver, CO (both of these stores are also great online resources for used and new books).
For my fellow Kentuckians check out Carmichaels in Louisville and Lexington has what claims to be an independent bookseller, Joseph Beth's, but can you really consider a bookstore business that has stores in four cities (Lexington, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland) an independent bookseller? Powell's does have 6 stores but they are all in Portland, OR and Tattered Cover has three but they are all in Denver, CO?. What do you think? How do we define Independents (here is one reason why Tattered Cover will always be a favorite--beyond their amazing stores)? While I enjoy cruising through Joseph Beth's they remind me of St. Louis's once great independent Library Ltd. that was bought out by Border's (just weeks after the owners told all of us loyal workers that they were committed to remaining independent--of course, St Louis being the great small city it is, still has a thriving independent bookstore scene, including the excellent Left Bank Books). Last, but definitely not least, in Lexington, for a wide selection of mags/zines, head to the small, but vital, Lexinton independent Sqecial Media (and if you are that close to the campus we might as well arrange to meet for drinks).
I live in a place that doesn't have a lot of reading materials that I need (Lexington is generally yuppie, traditional, and conservative) so I do a lot of reading-material shopping online, but nothing beats a real, independent bookstore that one can browse and find hidden treasures.
---------------------------------------------------------------
OK, since I posted this I received some good responses, so I brought them into the original post--Thanks!
Harry suggests a different perspective from Klintron's Brain on the buy blue program and whether it makes any sense at all--including different facts that should be considered.
Oso suggests that we check out the great northwest independent bookstore Powell's (and if you are ever in Portland, OR, you must stop in at their massive downtown store) and I would also list the incredible independent bookstore/gathering-place Tattered Cover in Denver, CO (both of these stores are also great online resources for used and new books).
For my fellow Kentuckians check out Carmichaels in Louisville and Lexington has what claims to be an independent bookseller, Joseph Beth's, but can you really consider a bookstore business that has stores in four cities (Lexington, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland) an independent bookseller? Powell's does have 6 stores but they are all in Portland, OR and Tattered Cover has three but they are all in Denver, CO?. What do you think? How do we define Independents (here is one reason why Tattered Cover will always be a favorite--beyond their amazing stores)? While I enjoy cruising through Joseph Beth's they remind me of St. Louis's once great independent Library Ltd. that was bought out by Border's (just weeks after the owners told all of us loyal workers that they were committed to remaining independent--of course, St Louis being the great small city it is, still has a thriving independent bookstore scene, including the excellent Left Bank Books). Last, but definitely not least, in Lexington, for a wide selection of mags/zines, head to the small, but vital, Lexinton independent Sqecial Media (and if you are that close to the campus we might as well arrange to meet for drinks).
I live in a place that doesn't have a lot of reading materials that I need (Lexington is generally yuppie, traditional, and conservative) so I do a lot of reading-material shopping online, but nothing beats a real, independent bookstore that one can browse and find hidden treasures.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions
Democracy Now
Audio/Transcript
(courtesy of Goose who posted about this at the Progressive Bloggers Alliance)
Earlier posting on this
Democracy Now
We spend the hour with John Perkins, a former respected member of the international banking community. In his book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man he describes how as a highly paid professional, he helped the U.S. cheat poor countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then taking over their economies.
Audio/Transcript
(courtesy of Goose who posted about this at the Progressive Bloggers Alliance)
Earlier posting on this
Matt Ruff: Sewer, Gas & Works
A voice of (un)reason from Capitalism magazine that is against charity (per its Ayn Rand radical individualist perspective signified by her quote on the masthead), yet asks for donations at the bottom of the page:
U.S. Government Should Not Help Tsunami Victims
As a taxpayer I'm very happy that my country would help countries/peoples in need, its the money spent on bombs blowing the shit out of other lands that bothers me (makes me angry--hurts me). To make matters worse this militaristic agenda is becoming something of a religion that seeks to burn-at-the-stake anyone who dares to criticize it.
I just finished Matt Ruff's very intelligent, engaging, wild, futuristic novel called Sewer, Gas & Works: The Public Works Trilogy that includes a technological reincarnation of Ayn Rand (along with eco-pirates, a mutated shark called Meisterbrau, a genius-capitalist, activists publishers, disabled vets, the genocidal G.A.S. and homicidal robots). It was the perfect holiday antidote to the current ideology of solipsistic individualism that is gripping our nation (to be clear I do not oppose pleasure, individualism, or self-interest--these are good and necessary--what I do oppose is monadic solipsism that denies the interest of others through glorified worship of the self/group).
U.S. Government Should Not Help Tsunami Victims
As a taxpayer I'm very happy that my country would help countries/peoples in need, its the money spent on bombs blowing the shit out of other lands that bothers me (makes me angry--hurts me). To make matters worse this militaristic agenda is becoming something of a religion that seeks to burn-at-the-stake anyone who dares to criticize it.
I just finished Matt Ruff's very intelligent, engaging, wild, futuristic novel called Sewer, Gas & Works: The Public Works Trilogy that includes a technological reincarnation of Ayn Rand (along with eco-pirates, a mutated shark called Meisterbrau, a genius-capitalist, activists publishers, disabled vets, the genocidal G.A.S. and homicidal robots). It was the perfect holiday antidote to the current ideology of solipsistic individualism that is gripping our nation (to be clear I do not oppose pleasure, individualism, or self-interest--these are good and necessary--what I do oppose is monadic solipsism that denies the interest of others through glorified worship of the self/group).
Bitch. Ph.D.
A fellow blogger helped me out and I would like to recommend her site.
First get a taste of a classic post:
Do I Bitch About Students Too Much
and then catch up on her current posts:
Bitch. Ph.D
First get a taste of a classic post:
Do I Bitch About Students Too Much
and then catch up on her current posts:
Bitch. Ph.D
Kirsten Anderbergh: Too Angry For What
(courtesy of Dr. Menlo who posted about it at American Samizdat)
A great essay that points out how the accusation of being "too angry" is used against those with a critical perspective:
Too Angry For What
Kirsten Anderberg's Homepage
A great essay that points out how the accusation of being "too angry" is used against those with a critical perspective:
Too Angry For What
Kirsten Anderberg's Homepage
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