New or newly discovered blogs

I've been busy with other projects-web and otherwise-- and posting has been unexcusably light. So let's start with a round-up of websites I've just recently discoverd.

Sisyphus Sharp political analysis of international events and great jazz videos. From Richmond, Virginia.

Vietnamese workers abroad Launched to support Vietnamese workers in Jordan working in a Taiwanese-owned factory. One of the new and most pernicious forms of exploitation.

The Pump Handle public health and worker safety issues.

Third Party Watch

Consider the Evidence Lane Kenworthy is a professor of Sociology and Political Science at the
University of Arizona. His blog has great stuff on the causes and consequences of poverty, inequality, mobility, employment, economic growth, and social policy in the United States and other affluent countries.

Slattery might be back in Senate Race

I've argued that there is a real chance for a Democrat to upset Kansas Senator Pat Roberts. And, I still think so. The latest Survey USA shows Roberts with a less than stellar approval rating. But I was beginning to think I was the only one who saw it that way. First, Jim Slattery decided to pass. Then, businessman Greg Orman entered the race and had a good month of fundraising--$450,00 or so, probably several times what recent Democratic sacrificial lambs have had, but he rather abruptly left the race.

Now it appears that former Congressman Jim Slattery may be re-thinking his decision not to take on Roberts. The KC Star's Prime Buzz blog reports

Slatts just called. He's looking. He's thinking. "It's not going to take long," he said of making a decision.
He'd like some clarity on the presidential race before pulling the trigger. "That's not the sole consideration, but it's certainly a factor, as you can imagine."
***
Former 2nd District Kansas Congressman Jim Slattery tells Prime Buzz he's reconsidering his decision not to challenge two-term incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts this year.
Slattery, a Democrat, weighed the race last year before backing away.
The only Democrat in the race now is Lee Jones, a 56-year-old railroad engineer from Overland Park who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2004.
Insiders say Jones is not positioned to give Roberts, a Republican, a major challenge.

Jonathon Singer comments on My DD

With Slattery in, this would likely be another one of those races that wouldn't be in the top-tier but would nevertheless potentially be competitive by November

Leonard Zeskind on Minuteman in KC

I left Wichita about 6 AM Saturday to drive up to Kansas City to attend an all-day conference on immigration and racism and got back to Wichita around 9:00 PM. A very long day, but well worth it. I'll try to find time to write up some observations, but for now I want to bring to your attention an analysis of the recent national Minuteman conference held in Kansas City and the impetus for yesterday's conference.

For those who don't know Zeskind, he is a legendary observer and analyst of the racist, far right.

He recently started a website, which has his writings over the years.

Zeskind promises new articles as part of the Zeskind fortnight, with the Minuteman report being the first.

Zeskind reports that at the Minuteman public rally, attended by over 500.

[Minuteman founder Chris] Simcox urged, first, an executive order to secure the borders (and build a bigger thicker fence line). Second, he wanted to put several thousand National Guard troops on the border. Both ideas were met with mild applause. When he proposed making English the official language, the crowd was a bit more enthusiastic. But the idea to abolish “birthright citizenship” for the children of “illegal aliens” made the crowd go wild.

And, this Zeskind points out is where the claim that the Minutemen and the anti-immigrant is not racist falls apart.

Any person or organization that advocates turning citizens into non-citizens, or that seeks to abridge the Fourteenth Amendment is, by any fair standard, a racist person or organization. They need not parade around in white sheets or swastika armbands; or spout racist obscenities like a barroom bigot; or make clever statements about the biological or cultural inferiority of certain peoples. They need only touch one hair on the Constitutional Amendment that guaranteed the citizenship rights of freed slaves after the Civil War, and they are ipso facto a racist.

And, there's reason to be worried.

... the Minutemen were well pleased with their performance at the Uptown Theater. Since that meeting they have been pushing hard for legislation in Kansas sponsored by Sen. Peggy Palmer (R. Augusta) entitled the “Kansas Illegal Immigration Relief Act.” A set of publicity ads they produced have been airing over the radio waves in southern Kansas, and they are gearing up for a recruitment drive at gun shows in the bi-state area.

Stephen Marglin's Heilbroner Memorial Lecture

Just came across this interesting lecture on Fora.tv, which looks like You Tube for intellectuals.



View Stephen Marglin on the Future of Capitalism on FORA.tv

"The Future of Capitalism: How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community with Stephen Marglin.

This was the third annual Robert Heilbroner Memorial Lecture at the New School in New York. Heilbroner wrote, "Capitalism's uniqueness in history lies in its continuously self-generated change, but it is this very dynamism that is the system's chief enemy." In recognition of what Heilbroner identified as "the deep human need to be situated with respect to the future," The New School is sponsoring a lecture series in his memory that focuses on capitalism's future. This year, we will host Stephen Marglin, Walter S. Barker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and author of The Dismal Science: How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community - New School

KC Conference on Immigration and Racism

There's an interesting conference next Saturday in Kansas City.

Saturday March 8 9 am- 4 pm
Cristo Rey School 211 West Linwood Kansas City Missouri

Learn the truth about immigration and the rise of groups that target immigrants and people of color and practice the politics of division. Hear ideas on how to fix our broken immigration system and how to stop the hate spread by the Minutemen and FAIR.

Download a flyer
Para un volante en español

Plenaries .
Voices of KC Immigrants
Strategizing & Framing
How to Get Involved

Bilingual Workshop Who’s Stealing Whose Job?

Workshops In Spanish

Your Workplace Rights
Your Immigration Rights

Workshops (selected)

Why Don’t They Just Get Legal?
The Political Climate That Discourages Inclusion
Retreat from Civil Rights
How To Get Involved
The Minutemen & FAIR
Youth Activism & Civil Rights
Immigration Wedge Politics
Immigration History

Cost: $15 or $5 low income Donations needed Lunch included

Spanish translation
Children welcome
Register ! Call 816-235-1470 Email: ancelj@umkc.edu


Sponsors: All Souls Immigration Taskforce, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Cristo Rey School, Cross Border Network, Institute for Labor Studies, Interfaith Worker Justice, Latino Civil Rights Task Force, Missouri Immigrant & Refugee Advocates, New Sanctuary Movement, Sons and Daughters of Immigrants, Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

March 6 Day of Acton in Solidarity with Iranian Workersi

On 6 March, trade unions around the world are holding an international day of action in solidarity with the workers of Iran. The day will include protests, meetings, and other actions. An on-line petition has been launched to support the campaign.

The Iranian government has been arresting workers who have stood up and tried to organize unions -- including Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi, who both languish in jails despite continuing health problems. There is a YouTube video which tells the story of Osanloo and the bus drivers of Tehran.

Castro steps down

Wise comments from Dave Osler, a British leftist who spent time in Cuba last year

Stay in one of the five star hotels, and Cuba is a fabulous place for a holiday. Sit down by that swimming pool and bask in the Caribbean sunshine, light up a cigar from beyond the wilder shores of Freudian symbolism and knock back cocktails blended from the finest rum on earth. And if it’s nightlife you want, there’s hot jazz and salsa clubs that stay open until four am. That’s on the weeknights. Convertible pesos only, of course.

But for most ordinary Cubans, life is pretty damn grim. I saw that for myself two years ago, when I spent four weeks in an ordinary home in Havana while studying Spanish. Even such basic foodstuffs as rice are rationed. Water supplies are sporadic, and power cuts regular occurrences. The housing stock is badly run down. Many everyday items are simply unobtainable.

Yes, of course the US blockade and the economic effects of the collapse of the USSR are part - although by no means all - of the explanation. But there is no getting away from the conclusion that Cuban society is deeply polarised.

Beyond a layer of older people who lived through the revolution in the late fifties, there are few strong supporters of the government. The younger a person is - and the darker the colour of their skin - the more likely they are to be hostile. Many of those at the sharp end of the multiple hardships would rather be living in Miami, and don’t think twice about saying that to a foreign journalist.

David Corn on the Mother Jones blog

Please, no tears for Comrade Castro, as he finally gives up power in Cuba. It's a good thing he's going. But his departure has taken far too long (in fact, decades too long) and, alas, in all that time he did little to ease the transition to the free society that Cuba will eventually be. His exit leaves Cuba a repressive state and a nation not prepared for the future.

Sam Farber, in an interview last year in Solidarity, detailed the indications that after Fidel Castro's death Cuba may follow the path towards the world capitalist market initiated by Deng Xiaoping in China.

Farber reported that Raul Castro (Fidel's presumed successor) has praised the "Chinese model", and notes "the role of the Cuban army, Raul's stronghold, as a big player in joint enterprises, including the tourist industry."

Message of the Kansas Caucuses

Everybody knows that Barack Obamma and Mike Huckabee were the big winners in the Kansas caucuses last week, but there were some other winners and losers.

Big losers were citizens of Kansas who were denied the opportunity to vote in a primary. Secretary of State Ron Thornburg estimated that 800,000 would have voted in a primary. That's 20 times that number that took part in the caucuses. The projected cost to taxpayers was a measly $ 2 million.

Looking at the caucus data shows that Democrats may have been big winners and Republicans big losers.

Nearly twice as many Democrats as Republicans caucused in Kansas--and the Democrats did it on a weekday night in the middle of a snowstorm instead of a warm-for- winter Saturday morning.

In raw numbers that was 37,089 Democrats versus 19,432 Republicans. The State GOP had predicted a turnout of 35,000. State Senator Phil Journey, a leader in the Republican right-wing went even further saying he expected a turnout of 50,000. This may have been more spin than real expectations; some caucus sites were overwhelmed and said they had many more than expected.

The contrast is even more striking when compared to party registration. 8.4 percent of Demorats participated as compared to 2.6 percent of Republicans. That's 1 of 12 Democrats and 1 of 38 Republicans.

Blog humor

Every once in a while, I stumble across some humorous posts on blogs. Here's some recent one's


Taner Edis writes a "cynic's guide to academic departments" on Secular Outpost

The Official Judeosphere Drinking Game (TM)

Requirements: A bottle of your favorite libation

Rules:

Drink one shot whenever...

• An opinion piece opens with the declaration, “You can’t criticize Israel without being accused of anti-semitism” (Note: Drink a second shot when the rest of the article inevitably degenerates into anti-semitism)

• Someone mentions the “cover-up” of the attack on the USS Liberty

• An author of a best-selling book criticizing Israel says that it’s impossible to publish a book or article criticizing Israel

Bigotry in Kansas athletics

It's no longer our state Board of Education which is giving Kansas a black eye, now it's our sports teams which are giving the state a bad reputation.

First, a "traditionalist Catholic" high school refuses to play if a women serves as referee. ("Traditionalist Catholics" regard the Catholic Church as having gone the wrong track ever since Vatican II.)

Then, the winning basketball coach at Heston College, a small Mennonite college, is reportedly told that his team with seven African American players looks "too much like a community college team and not enough like a Mennonite college team." The coach is told his contract won't be renewed. There are 14 African American students among the 430 at Heston.

Cain's Ballroom celebrates Bob Wills birthday

This is great. Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa has two special shows on Feb 29 and March 1 to celebrate Bob Wills birthday. Cains was--and is--known as the home of Bob Wills. His actual birthday was March 6.

Bob Wills is one of the giants of American music. Not quite the creator of Western swing, but certainly its most prominent and enduring pioneer.

I just recently got the 2-CD set Boot Hill Drag: the MGM Years. This 50 track set from 1947-1954 is really great stuff, though not rated his best.

And, if you can't make the drive to Tulsa, Ray Price, who kept Western Swing alive and evolving, though sometimes straying to other styles, will be at Wichita's Cotillion on April April 18. I don't know much about Price's shows. He's one of the great singers in American--not just country--music--so it ought to be very worthwhile.

Kansas Caucus Report

Wow. It was an amazing evening. Turnout at my caucus was about six times the 2004 turnout. And this was with very bad weather. The picture to the right is at the end of the night. It was this bad when the evening began. My candidate John Edwards dropped out of the race before Super Tuesday. I decided to go to the caucus anyway, even though I haven't yet been persuaded to back either Hillary or Barack.

Four years ago, on a Saturday afternoon, there were about 80 people who turned out for the 28th Senate District caucus. It was held at a mid-sized church. This year, our caucus was moved to the Machinist Hall on south Meridian.

And good thing it was. There were 502 people registered to participate. There were a handful of die-hard Edwards supporters--and some other folks I know who told me the had been Edwards supporters but had decided to caucus with one of the big candidates.

We had a very close caucus 253 Barack 249 Clinton (if I wrote it down correctly). Barack got 4 delegates to the next level, and Clinton got three.

Woody's turning in his grave: Arlo endorses Ron Paul

I heard this when briefly listening to one of the idiot, ring-wing radio hosts and thought it was just a joke, but I checked it out and it is sure enough true.


Arlo Guthrie, son of the legendary folksinger and songwriter, has endorsed Ron Paul for President.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Arlo said

“I love this guy,” Guthrie declared in a press release issued by the Paul campaign. “Dr. Paul is the only candidate I know of who would have signed the Constitution of the United States had he been there.”

Really? It's just as likely that Ron Paul would have opposed the Constitution and supported the Articles of Confederation.

It is clear that Ron Paul has allied himself with racists, that he supports a reactionary interpretation of the Constitution, opposes unions, and anti-discrination legislation, social security, the TVA, the Grand Coulee Dam.

It's hard to think of anyone more removed from the spirit of Woody Guthrie than Ron Paul.

Favorite English-language novelists

It's time to take part in the latest Normblog poll--this time it's favorite English-language novelists. Not only are the polls always interesting, but they are a good ocassion for a blog post. Norm emphasizes that it is "favorite" not best. Now my friend G. W. Clift who has kept a list of all the books he has read since college, who reads all of Dicken's novels--in order, and who reads when he walks his dog, might be better qualified to make a favorites list that could claim to be the best. But his list wouldn't be my list, though it would probably contain someone I'll inadvertently leave off. But that doesn't excuse me from trying.


At first, I thought a favorite lists would be easier, but I've changed my mind. Do I pick novelists that I was once crazy about (Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer, Tom Robbins), but haven't read in years? I've gone through periods when I've read lots of detective and crime novels, should I include them. On the positive side, my list of favorite crime novelists would have a better gender balance than this list is going to have. But it's going to hard to include Sue Grafton and leave out Sarah Paretsky, not to mention Evan Hunter, Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard, or James Elroy. Well, there's a good chance Norm will do another poll on crime writers. Do I include Ralph Ellison? His Invisible Man is a classic, but he never finished another novel.

So here's my criteria. Favorites have to have written more than one novel and I have to read and really enjoyed at least two of their novels. I was going to add without having hated or been unable to finish reading one or more, but that's really not fair. I'm thinking that every great novelists, whether for money or to fulfill a contract, has written a howler. Crime novelists are out. I would be interested in reading more novels by author and would be interested in re-reading.

So, at long last, here's the list. Norm asked for up to 10. I've come up with 8. You're also supposed to pick your top three and rank them. (They'll get extra points

1.Mark Twain
2. James Cain
3. Jane Austin
John Updike
Joseph Conrad
Charles Dickens
William Kennedy
George Orwell

PS: Wikipedia has list of American and British novelists

"Canadian " is the new N-word

The persistence and adaptability of racism in American life has been much in evidence recently. Some of it is familiar. Minister and Republican contender Mike Huckabee makes a totally crass appeal for white racist votes in South Carolina by defending the Confederate flag and, in the process, the anti-gay preacher expressed his desire to stick his pole up the a** of flag critics. Ron Paul, popular among some self-styled leftists, as well as freaked out libertarians.

Some of it is totally new.

According to an article in the National Post, a leading Canadian newspaper , it turns out that racists in the South and elsewhere have taken to using "Canadian" as code-word for African Americans.

a blogger in Cincinnati going by the name CincyBlurg reported that a black friend from the southeastern U.S. had recently discovered that she was being called a Canadian. "She told me a story of when she was working in a shop in the South and she overheard some of her customers complaining that they were always waited on by a Canadian at that place. She didn't understand what they were talking about and assumed they must be talking about someone else," the blogger wrote.

"After this happened several times with different patrons, she mentioned it to one of her co-workers. He told her that ‘Canadian' was the new derogatory term that racist Southerners were using to describe persons they would have previously referred to [with the N-word.]"

Brownback and Moran: what part of the frist amendment don't you undersrtand

According to an article in today's Kansas City Star, Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman Jerry Moran have gotten earmarks to give money to religious organizations.

Sam Brownback and Kit Bond used earmarks last year to direct about $1 million to an area group “empowering the un-churched urban poor for the kingdom of Christ.”
On the surface, the taxpayer-supported appropriations for World Impact Inc. raise constitutional questions about the separation of church and state.,,,

Brownback earmarked $850,000 to renovate the group’s Morning Star Ranch in Florence, Kan., and U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, a Hays Republican, set aside $50,000 more. In the end, that money was whittled to $600,000.

Huckabee's racist ties

I thought it was a little strange when Mike Huckabee picked up his electric bass and played "Sweet Home Alabama" the night of the Iowa primary. So it wasn't all that surprising to learn that Huck has been pandering to South Carolina racists by defending the confederate flag.

SHA is Lynyrd Skynyrd's answer song to Neil Young's "Southern Man" and has been named of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs by the National Review

The lyrics say

Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow

[They also extoll George Wallace and minimize Watergate]

Pretty much echoes Huck's stance on the Confederate flag.

What I didn't know was that the Huckster has a long relationship with the neo-confederate movement. Max Blumenthal discusses the connection on the Nation website

well before he was a nationally known political star, Huckabee nurtured a relationship with America's largest white supremacist group, the Council of Conservative Citizens. The extent of Huckabee's interaction with the racist group is unclear, but this much is known: he accepted an invitation to speak at the group's annual conference in 1993 and ultimately delivered a videotaped address that was "extremely well received by the audience."

The person behind the independent ads promoting the Huckster's flag stance is a neo-confederate. According to Right Wing Watch

a belated Civil War battle is being fought in this year’s Republican primary in South Carolina. But if advocates of flying the Confederate battle flag over the state capitol hope to convince people it’s unrelated to racism, they could hardly have a worse spokesman than Ron Wilson.

Wilson is the man behind the eloquently-named Americans for the Preservation of American Culture, which is running radio ads lambasting John McCain and Mitt Romney for their stances on the flag issue while praising Mike Huckabee.

The Southern Poverty Law Center says

Wilson is a former member of the League of the South and the Council of Conservative Citizens, both hate groups. His education expertise is limited to the business he ran out of his home selling textbooks to home-schoolers. One of these, Barbarians Inside the Gates, theorized that Jews are working towards world domination — and was specially touted by Wilson's Web site, which insisted, "You MUST READ THIS BOOK."

In his role heading the 32,000-member SCV, Wilson was part of a takeover attempt by extremists, and led efforts to purge more than 300 members for publicly condemning racism in the SCV. Since Wilson left that post in August 2004, the SCV has started to implode as the raging internal controversy continues.

Note: The intention of Lynyrd Synyrd in making Sweet Home Alabama may not have been racist as this webpage argues, but it can be a good indicator.

Presidential Matching

A friend told me he leaned towards one of the candidates, but wasn't really sure where s/he stood on the issues. So I thought I'd compile a list of on-line quizzes that claim to match your views with the candidates.

My experience is similar to that of the Seattle Times asked four readers to try several of the quizzes and concluded that the "results were all over the map."

Here are some of the quizzes I've found.

USA Today/ABC News Candidate Match Game

Comment: Very technically sophisticated. Gives a bar chart or matrix comparison, not a percentage comparison. Allows user to rate importance of issues. Doesn't seem to have caught Huckabee's shift to a strong anti-immigrant position.

No question about worker's rights or poverty.

Vote Match Quiz Not so high tech, everything on one page.

No workers right question. If you answer question "teach moral values in school" that means you favor official prayer in schools and believe "Judeo-Christian values are American valuea." Says that Ron Paul supports increased federal funding for health care.

Select Smart Presidential Candidate Selector.

This is not done by a big media company, there are annoying ads. Does have a labor question. Allow user to rate issues as more or less important. Last updated August 2007.

Didn't match well with my views.

Minnesota Public Radio

On education and other issues, it gives far too many options. Rates Ron Paul as being opposed to privatization of social security, but then explains "CANDIDATE'S POSITION: According to the Cato Institute, 'Paul contends that Congress must stop spending in order to best fix the problem of insolvency. Paul opposes personal accounts because he believes Social Security is unconstitutional. Instead, he believes that individuals should have total control over how to invest their money and is in favor of cutting payroll taxes to allow this to happen."'

Electoral Compass USA

From a Dutch company. High tech, rates user along economic and social axes.

It does show that the Democratic and Republican contenders are in two distinct clusters.

But there's something deeply flawed about this test. It shows John Edwards to the right of Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson on the economic axis.It doesn't show Ron Paul--who wants to abolish social security, the Federal Reserve, anti-discrimination legislation--as furthest to the right on economics.

It doesn't ask a question about the right to form a union. It doesn't ask a question about so-called free trade.

Votematch USA

From another Dutch company. Has a question about teacher's unions. Has a question about trade, but it is framed in terms of protecting markets. Let's you rate issues as being of special importance. Gives a one-dimensional graph of how you compare to candidates. Shows the results for everyone who has taken the poll.

Latino Studies Conference at KU

This looks like an extremely interesting conference at Kansas University, February 8 -9. I don't think I'll be able to attend, but here are few sessions I would want to catch if I could. That should give you since of the conference.

The Friday morning plenary looks outstanding.

Juan Flores, New York University: "There Is No Americano Dream." Flores is author of From Bomba to Hip Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity and Divided Borders: Essays on Puerto Rican Identity

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, University of Southern California: "Migration Nation: Fronteras and Fences." Hondagneu-Sotelo is author of Doméstica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence and Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration

Emma Pérez, University of Colorado at Boulder: "Nuestra America: A Decolonial Landscape." Perez is author of Gulf Dreams and The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanas into History

Roberto Suro, Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California: " The Humpty Dumpty Moment." Suro is author of Strangers Among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America and Watching America’s Door: The Immigration Backlash and the New Policy Debate

Here's one panel I would like to hear.

Panel #3: Latinos/as in the Midwest (Kansas and Missouri)
3–4:20 p.m.Session IV —Friday, Feb. 8 Malott Room

Moderator: Lourdes Gouveia, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Donald D. Stull, University of Kansas, and Michael J. Broadway, Northern Michigan University: "Meatpacking and Mexicans on the High Plains: From Minority to Majority in Garden City, Kansas"

Lisa Y. Flores, Corinne B. Valdivia, Stephen C. Jeanetta, and Domingo Martinez, University of Missouri-Columbia: "Acculturation and Identity Development Among Latino Newcomers in Three Rural Communities in the Midwest"

Stephen C. Jeanetta, Corinne B. Valdivia, Lisa Y. Flores, and Domingo Martinez, University of Missouri-Columbia: "The Role of Social Capital in Latino Immigrants’ Efforts to Integrate in Rural Communities in the Midwest"

Katherine Acosta, University of Kansas: "New Immigrant Gateways: Latinos in the Heartland "

And another

Panel #1: No Mas Muertes and the New Sanctuary Movement: Humanitarian Immigrants Rights Groups

10:30–11:50 a.m.	Session VI — Saturday, Feb. 9

Moderator: Marta Caminero-Santangelo, University of Kansas

Angela Ferguson, Missouri/Kansas American Immigration Lawyers Association: "Current Immigration Spectrum — The Left, the Right and the Middle"

Jane Juffer, Pennsylvania State University: "The Limits of Tolerance: Latino Immigration and Religion in the U.S."

James Diego Frazier, University of Kansas: "¿Agua? ¿Comida? ¿Atención médica?: Diary of a No Más Muertes Volunteer"

Mónica Russel y Rodríguez, Northwestern University: "Moving and Staying: the Gendered Choreography in the Immigration Movement in Chicago"

Support Campaign To Stop Violence Against Iraqi Women

The British Trade Union Congress and others are supporting a new campaign to stop violence against Iraqi women. The campaign launched on January 3rd by the Iraqi Women's League (IWL) Co-ordinating Committee Abroad against violence against women in Iraq.

Their press release is below. You can sign the online petition at www.ahewar.org/camp/i.asp?id=111

Iraqi women are being killed and subjected to all forms of violence every day. What they have suffered in the city of Basra is perhaps something unprecedented in Iraqi society. Women have been killed and their bodies thrown in streets, especially since July 2007. According to Basra police chief Abdul Jalil Khalaf, the bodies of 50 women were found in different areas of the city during recent months. This may not be the real figure, as families of victims are often reluctant or too frightened to report these horrific crimes.

This phenomenon in particular, and violence against women in Iraq in general, has been a cause of great concern for us in the Iraqi Women's League. We have therefore launched this campaign to mobilize public opinion, exert pressure and intensify efforts to stop these inhuman and barbaric acts. It is also intended to allow the voice of Iraqi women, rejecting all forms of exploitation and abuse of dignity, to be heard by the world.

Your solidarity with Iraqi women will strengthen their resolve and their struggle to change this tragic reality. It will certainly contribute to speeding up the process of uncovering the perpetrators of heinous crimes and violence against women in Iraq, and help to put an end to this barbarism.

We appeal to all the people of free conscience in the world to uphold lofty humanitarian values and support our campaign.

The petition can be signed online in Arabic and English

The invisible candidate

My friend, Eric Lee, has an interesting column on the invisible candidate (John Edwards). You might also want to take a look at his post on which candidate should the unions back.

Implicit Presidential Preference

Okay, so you haven't been able to decide who to back for President. You could closely study the positions of the candidates, or you could take the Presidential Implicit Association Test.

The IAT is, according to Wikipedia, " an experimental method within social psychology designed to measure the strength of automatic association between mental representations of objects (concepts) in memory. The IAT requires the rapid categorization of various stimulus objects, such that easier pairings (and faster responses) are interpreted as being more strongly associated in memory than more difficult pairings (slower responses)."

Here's my Presidential IAT. On the intellectual and contribution level, I'm a strong Edwards supporter and no great fan of Hillary Clinton.

I've taken some of the IATs which deal with implicit prejudice, their first subject and felt more satisfied with the results.

Best of year-end lists (in progress)

When the calendar turns, it is time not only for making resolutions, but also for the best of the the year lists. Here are some that I've come across.

Hatewatch's 1st Annual Smackdown Awards Southern Poverty Law Center's list of the very worst in hate in 2007.

Americans United presents some resolutions for the religious right.

Midwest Skeptic has a list of secular-oriented charities.

Judeosphere has the top ten Moonbats of 2007

Middle East Web's "prophet and loss statement for 2007" --what they got right and wrong.

Scott McLemmee, perhaps today's best intellectual, picked three best books of 2007 for Newsday's

Top ten under-reported humanitarian stories from Doctors without Frontiers.

Progressive economists for Edwards

Economists pick Edwards because he will fight for sustained growth, full employment and an end to poverty

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Today, the John Edwards for President campaign announced that more than 30 leading U.S. economists have endorsed John Edwards for president. "Economists for John Edwards" includes such notable scholars as James K. Galbraith from the University of Texas at Austin; Deirdre McCloskey from the University of Illinois at Chicago; Thomas Palley, founder of the Economics for Democratic & Open Societies Project; Clyde Prestowitz, president of the Economic Strategies Institute; Harley Shaiken from the University of California, Berkeley; and Edward Wolff from New York University.

"I'm proud to endorse John Edwards and his campaign to build One America.," said James Galbraith, the Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. "Edwards understands that in order for America to prosper, our economy needs to reward work as well as wealth – and he's proposed detailed and comprehensive policies to address the growing income gap, the health care crisis, job loss and the other critical social issues facing our nation."

"I am honored to have earned the support of this distinguished group of economists," said Senator Edwards. "Today, families across the country are working harder than ever, but struggling to make ends meet. To help middle-class families get ahead, we need a president who will fight for universal health care, smarter trade policies and a new energy economy."

In their endorsement of Edwards, the "Economists for Edwards" signed on to the following statement:

"As professional economists, we support John Edwards for President of the United States in 2008 because we believe that John Edwards has best demonstrated the capacity and the policies to be the next president of the United States.

"We support John Edwards because we believe his campaign is the single best expression of progressive political values in American politics today.

"We support John Edwards because we believe that as president he will best wage the hard fight that lies ahead for the principles and programs we endorse.

"We support John Edwards because as economists, we seek effective public policy aimed at sustained growth, full employment, an end to poverty, and progress toward solving the major social and environmental problems associated with health care, education, trade, taxation and climate change.

"John Edwards' approach to these issues has been uniquely serious, honest, and far-reaching. We urge all Americans – and particularly the Democratic voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - to join us in supporting John Edwards for president."

A complete list of the members of "Economists for Edwards" is included below.
Economists for Edwards

Note that institutional affiliations are for identification purposes only.

Gar Alperovitz
Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy
University of Maryland-College Park

Lourdes Beneria
Professor of City and Regional Planning
Cornell University

Michael A. Bernstein
Provost
Tulane University

Martha Campbell
Associate Professor, Economics
SUNY Potsdam

Manuel Castells
Chair Professor of Communication Technology and Society
University of Southern California, and
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Science and Technology
MIT

Jane D'Arista
Former staff economist
U.S. House of Representatives

William Darity, Jr.
Arts & Sciences Professor of Public Policy Studies
Professor of African and Africa-American Studies and Economics
Duke University

Paul Davidson
Editor, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics
Bernard Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis
The New School University

Gerald Epstein
Professor of Economics
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Susan F. Feiner
Director of Women's Studies
Professor of Economics
University of Southern Maine

James K. Galbraith
Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations
LBJ School of Public Affairs
The University of Texas at Austin, and
Senior Scholar, Levy Economics Institute

Richard Garrett
Associate Professor of Economics
Division of Accounting and Business Management
Marymount Manhattan College

Mary King
Professor of Economics
Portland State University

Jan Kregel
Visiting Distinguished Research Professor of Economics
The University of Missouri - Kansas City

Peter Hans Matthews
Department of Economics
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont 05753

Deirdre McCloskey
Professor of Economics
University of Illinois at Chicago

Richard McIntyre
Honors Program Director and Professor of Economics
University of Rhode Island.

Thomas Michl
Professor of Economics
Colgate University

David Miller
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

John Miller
Professor of Economics
Wheaton College

Tracy Mott
Professor of Economics
University of Colorado at Boulder

Thomas Palley
Founder
Economics for Democratic & Open Societies Project

Dimitri Papadimitriou
President
Levy Economics Institute
Bard College

Chip Poirot
Associate Professor of Economics
Department of Social Sciences
Shawnee State University

Robert Pollin
Professor of Economics and Director,
Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)
University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Robert Prasch
Associate Professor of Economics
Middlebury College

Clyde Prestowitz
President
Economic Strategies Institute

Bruce Roberts
Professor of Economics
University of Southern Maine

J. Barkley Rosser
Professor of Economics
James Madison University

Harley Shaiken
Class of 1930 Professor
Graduate School of Education and Department of Geography
University of California, Berkeley

Nina Shapiro
Professor and Chair
Department of Economics and Finance,
Saint Peter's College

Edward Wolff
Professor of Economics
New York University

Martin Wolfson
Professor of Economics and Policy Studies
University of Notre Dame

L. Randall Wray
Research Director
Center for Full Employment and Price Stability
Department of Economics
University of Missouri-Kansas City, and
Senior Scholar, Levy Economics Institute

Serious reading on Islam and the democratic left

The magazine/website Reset: Dialogues on Civilization has a most interesting exchange of views between Nadia Urbinati and Michael Walzer on what approach the democratic left should take toward Islam. Four letter essays by Urbinati urging dialogue and three by Walzer saying there are limits to dialogue. Read them here. Warning these are not the easiest reading, but well worthwhile.

Here's a paragraph by Walzer that I like (from this essay.)

So, where does this leave us in the 21st century? What should Western leftists be doing with regard to Islam today? We should be strong critics of jihadist radicalism—and since we are, most of us, infidels and secularists, we are bound to be disconnected critics, focused on issues like life and liberty, which have universal resonance. We should befriend Muslim critics of religious zealotry, both inside Muslim countries and in exile, and try to understand the reasons for their critique and the experience out of which it comes. We should be happy to talk to Islamic intellectuals and academics—though we are not bound to “dialogue” with people whose public position is that we should be killed (or who make apologies for the zealots who hold that position). We should be tolerant of Islam in exactly the same way that we are tolerant of Christianity and Judaism—even as we maintain a general critique of, or skepticism about, religious belief. We should be connected critics of Western intellectuals who make excuses for religious zealotry and crusading fervor (Paul Berman provides an excellent model of how to engage in this critique). And we should defend leftist principles of democracy and equality on every possible occasion. Of course, we should also try to understand the material conditions of democratic politics, as Nadia urges, but we should not neglect the importance of polemical engagements with the defenders of oligarchy and clericalism. Democracy in Europe depended on engagements of that sort, and so does democracy in the world today. I don’t see anything intolerant or Manichean in this political position.

I have two reservations about the dialogue. First, it is a dialogue about a dialogue between Islam and the left. Urbinati, in particular, seems more concerned with the attitude that the left should have towards Islam, rather than actually beginning a dialogue. An example of one side of a real dialogue between liberal, Western values is Andrew F. March's, "Reading Tariq Ramadan: Political Liberalism, Islam, and 'Overlapping Consensus'".

A second reservation is that both Walzer and Urbinati draw a line between jihadi terrorists and the rest of Islam without confronting the pervasive and deeply-rooted opposition in Islamic theology and society to elementary rights of free citizens. The International Humanist and Ethical Union recounts the latest attacks on human rights by the Organization of the Islamic Conference at the UN.

Iowa reports

A few interesting reports from or about Iowa

Marc Cooper on the Edwards surge.

has toughened his tone, making him sound more like a Latin American populist than a genteel Southern Democrat. His speeches have become emotional incitements to "rise up" against the "small band of profiteers" who have clamped down an "iron grip" on American life. He has qualified any notion of politically investing in the Clinton campaign as an agent of change as "insanity" and has said that, unlike Obama, he would "never, ever" sit down to negotiate with powerful special interests like the health care lobby. "They will never give up power voluntarily," Edwards told a cheering crowd Saturday. "The only way they will ever give up power is when it is taken away from them." After listening to just such an Edwards speech this weekend, one veteran campaign observer quipped: "No Democrat has run a campaign like this since Fred Harris." In 1976 the former Oklahoma senator unsuccessfully challenged Jimmy Carter for the nomination from the left by running on an unabashedly populist platform

Thomas Edsall on will Edwards win?

As the race comes to a close on January 3, it has become increasingly apparent that Edwards and Obama are competing for the same constituency of anti-Clinton Democrats. Most importantly, Edwards has escalated his aggressive anti-corporate attacks, which are producing small, but potentially crucial, defections from the Obama camp of men who favor a bellicose response to their weakening economic position and to their lack of traction in the job market.

John Nichols in The Nation on Edwards having the right message at the right time.

Shiraz Socialist, a UK leftist, argues that US (as well as British) socialists should back Edwards.

Ron Paul is a racist, reactionary

Jeff Weintraub has a good take-down of Paul's view that the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a bad idea American civil war was a "senseless war" here.

Orcinus has the low-down on Paul's links to white racists.

Best of 2007 II-Books

The best books I read in 2007, most were published this year or last.

1. Michael Honey, Going Down Jericho Road. a history of the 1968 Memphis sanitation worker's strike and Martin Luther King's Jr. radical politics. A must for understanding US.

2. Sam Farber, The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered.

2. Jim Green, Death in the Haymarket.

4. Darren Cushman Wood, Blue Collar Jesus.

5. Joe Bagenant, Deer Hunting with Jesus

6. Taner Edis, An Illusion of Harmony

7. Robert Irwin, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents

8. Walter Dean Micahels, The Trouble with Diversity

9. Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival

10. Big Red Songbook. collects the lyrics of every song from the IWW's Little Red Songbooks through the mid-1970s, plus some interesting essays.

Best of 2007 I--CDs

The best CDs I purchased in 2007, not the best released in 2007, not the best I listened to.*

1. Vince Gill, These Days. a marvelous 4-cd set, each devoted to a specific style.
2. Joe Glazer, My Darling Party Line, a brilliant collection of anti-Stalinist parodies recorded in the early 1950s, but timeless and available from Smithsonian Folkways. Also recommended Glazer's Songs of the IWW.
   
3. Joshua Redman, Back East, a tribute of sorts to the classic Sonny Rollins Way Back West.
   
4. Betty Lavette, The Scene of the Crime
5. Joss Stone, The Soul Sessions, I'm still not sure how to evaluate the whole neo-soul trend--Madeline Peryoux sounds too much like Billie Holiday, but I really liked Stone.
6. Dwight Yoakum, Blame the Vain
7. Dave Douglass, Meaning and Mystery
8. Merle Haggard, Blue Grass Sessions
9. Dexter Gordon Getting Around DG was one of the first tenor sax players I got into, right after Rollins and Coltrane. very under-rated player.
   
10. Various artists, Song of America, a 3 CD tour of American history in song. One could question some of the selections (I could have done without "Little Boxes") but it is enthralling to hear contemporary artists do these historic songs.
    

BOX SETS: I bought and listened to far more Rolling Stones than Byrds back in high schools, but the new Byrds There is a Season set opened my ears far than the older London Singles box set. The Stones set had a better, because larger, booklet.

LOCAL MUSICIAN CDs: I enjoyed the alternative rock of Snapback's Purgatory and the celtic music of Rowan's Tolls Through Time.

I transferred a bunch of LPs and tapes to CDs, but didn't keep a running list, which I probably should.

Bloody Dawn: Lawrence Massacre Debuts

Put one of these on your 2008 resolutions.

Bloody Dawn is a documentary about Quantrill's raid on Lawrence, Kansas. In this event, over 150 unarmed civilian males were killed in cold blood.

The film produced by Lone Chimney films uses the "direct cinema" tradition of documentary films, but will also dedicate a portion of the film to docudrama, where the raid will be played out in cinematic detail.

The folks behind this project did the excellent 2005 documentary Touched by Fire: Bleeding Kansas about the Kansas oriignsrelude to the civil war.

Premiere of Bloody Dawn: The Lawrence Massacre
January 11, 2008 The Orpheum - Wichita, KS

*Premiere of Bloody Dawn: The Lawrence Massacre
January 12, 2008 Liberty Hall - Lawrence, KS


*Premiere of Bloody Dawn: The Lawrence Massacre
January 18, 2008 The Brown Grand Theater - Concordia, KS


*Premiere of Bloody Dawn: The Lawrence Massacre
January 19, 2008 The Columbia Theatre - Wamego, KS

Sign a letter supporting Iranian Students

I've added my name to the Campaign for Peace and Democracy letter supporting Iranian students imprisoned for speaking up.

Here's the text of the letter

RELEASE IRANIAN STUDENTS FROM PRISON NOW!


OPEN LETTER TO:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, Minister of Intelligence
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Republic
Gholamali Haddad Adel, Speaker of Parliament

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

We are writing to strongly condemn the arrests in early December of students in Tehran involved in courageous protests against repression; a key target of their protest was the arrest in May of three student leaders: Ehsan Mansouri, Ahmad Ghassaban and Majid Tavakkoli.

We call for the immediate release of the imprisoned students, as well as all others in Iran who have been unjustly imprisoned. A partial list of the students we understand to be still in prison is: Nader Ahsani, Roozbehan Amiri, Said Aqam, Anousheh Azadfar, Keyvan Amiri Eliyasi, Rosa 'Essa'ie, Mehdi Geraylou, Mohsen Ghamin, Ahmad Ghassaban, Mehdi Grabloo, Yaser Pir Hayati, Younes Mir Hosseini, Ilnaz Jamshidi, Ali Kalani, Ali Khalili, Ehsan Mansouri, Amir Mehrzad, Hamed Mohamadi, Milad Moini, Arash Pakzad, Rouzbeh Safshekan, Ali Salem, Nasim Soltan-Beigi, Majid Tavakkoli, Behruz Karimi Zadeh, and Behrang Zandi.

We wish to state that we are unalterably opposed to a military attack on Iran by the United States or any other nation. An attack would be devastating to the people of Iran. We reject too the hypocrisy of the U.S. government when it protests repression in Iran while turning a blind eye to or actively abetting comparable or worse repression in countries with which it is allied like Saudi Arabia, as well as undermining civil liberties at home and torturing prisoners. But that in no way deters us from protesting in the strongest terms the denial of basic democratic rights to the people of Iran. We protest because we believe in these rights, and also because we see social justice activists in Iran and all countries as our natural allies in building a peaceful, democratic world.

To add your name, go to www.cpdweb.org

I signed the CPD statement on Iraq in 2002 and the CPD statement of antiwar, social justice, and human rights activists protesting repression in Cuba.

Three Musical Restorations

Three important musical restoration projects have come to my attention in the last week or so.

The lattest was Friday's NPR report on Moby Grape

All Things Considered, December 21, 2007 - Mention the name Moby Grape to a roomful of rock critics, and you'll hear nothing but praise for the 1960s San Francisco rock band. But aside from fans and critics, few people today have ever heard of Moby Grape. Why? Bad advice, bad breaks and bad behavior are three short reasons. Now that a label is trying to right these wrongs by reissuing the group's first five records, old problems still stand in the way.
The name Moby Grape comes from an absurdist punch line: What's big, purple and swims in the ocean? But the band that influenced groups ranging from Led Zeppelin to The Pretenders was no joke. Neither was its 1967 debut, according to Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke.
"It's one of the few rock 'n' roll albums of any era that you can say, 'That is a perfect debut album.

I was a big Moby Grape fan. I once owned most of their LPs, but at some point they vanished from my collection. Did I sell them at a second hand record store, possibly, but more likely I loaned them to someone who forgot to return them. My brothers, however, deny this. The NPR story made me want to hear them again.

Since the reissue of the classic Grape LP's has been sabotaged by the band's ex-manager, I;ll have to choose between the two CD compilations. I'll add one to my collection in 2008.

While doing some holiday shopping Friday night, I decided to buy a CD for myself. I considered Dwight Yoakum's tribute to Buck Owens Dwight Sings Buck, but chose Betty Lavette The Scene of the Crime.

Who is Bettye Lavette, you ask? Short answer: the best soul singer you've never heard of. Longer answer, listen to Terry Gross interview Lavette on NPR's Fresh Aire.

In 1972, Atlantic shelved an LP Lavette recorded at Muscle Shoals. If it had been released, chances are she might have been as well-known as Aretha Franklin. Finally,thirty years later a French company leased the masters for a Euro release. Rhino put it out in the US a little later with a few additions as "Child of the Seventies." That revived her career. For The Scene of the Crime, Lavette returned to Muscle Shoals and recorded with some of the same musicians and members of the Drive By Truckers. Truckers leader Patterson Hood is the son of Muscle Shoals bassist David Hood, who plays on the new Lavette CD.

The third restoration project is the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project. I learned about this when I heard Robert Darden, former gospel editor for Billboard, and author of People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music, interviewed on NPR's "Fresh Air" this week.

The goal of the project is to preserve as much as possible of the thousands of black gospel 78s, 45s, and LPs recorded between 1945 and 1970. These were mostly done by small labels which have disappeared. Hence, the importance of the project. The records are being gathered not only from collectors, but from flea markets, estate sales, and so forth. They are also interested in publicity photos, posters, and the like.

Information on how you can loan or donate materials is here. I hope that KMUW's Gospel Reminiscences, The Community Voice, and the black churches will get the word out about this valuable project.

Sunflower activists acquitted

I commented (here, here, and here) on the travesty of leaders of Sunflower Community Action being prosecuted for leaving a few signs at the home of Wichita City Manager George Kolb in a protest about the city's failure over years to clean up a lot in Wichita.

This week, a jury acquitted them of the charges.

After the group protested at his house, Kolb asked the city to charge Perry Fisher and Sunflower leaders J.J. Selmon and Louis Goseland with trespassing and illegal dumping, accusing the group of more than a dozen of leaving protest signs scattered across his lawn on Dec. 9, 2006.

After testimony on Monday and closing arguments Tuesday morning, the Sedgwick County jury of three men and three women found them not guilty.

"We can all sleep tonight, finally," Perry Fisher said after the verdict. "I am happy, happy, happy.

Meanwhile, Kolb resigned in a mutual agreement with the City Council, which gave him an extremely generous severance package. Eagle columnist Randy Schofield had some germane comments

Council members cited "philosophical differences."

Philosophical differences?

What's that supposed to mean? Did they argue about Kant's categorical imperative? Bicker about the symbolism of Plato's cave?

Schofield rightly points to problems with Wichita's city manager form of government. It seems that the city manager view themselves as being the real boss of the city. The mayor and council members like corporate board of directors are to do what the manager wants. And the citizens are just an awkward encumbrance. When Kolb resigned he wished the "organization" well in the future. The ORGANIZATION? As if the city of Wichita were a corporation or a non-profit.

Ike Turner

From all accounts, Ike Turner was a sob in his private life, but he was one of the great figures in rock and rhythm and blues. He passed away on December 12.

His 1951 recording of "Rocket 88" has a very strong claim to be the first rock record. (There are least 50 other candidates, but I agree with those who think this song peformed by Jackie Berenson and his Delta Cats--actually Ike's Kings of Rhythm band from St. Louis has the best claim.)

Strangely, the first NPR obit, didn't even mention Rocket 88. It also didn't mention "River Deep, Mountain High" the legendary 1965 Ike and Tina Turner single. This tune is #33 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest rock songs. This omission is understandable, since the song was produced by Phil Spector on the condition that Ike stay out of the studio.

Here's a very nice video "Huck" put together in a visual tribute to this great rock song.




I discovered Ike and Tina about the time they were discovered by the rock world. I bought and wore out "Outta Season" and "The Hunter" two late '60s LPs on Blue Thumb, but I suspect that the really great Ike and Tina Turner was a little bit earlier. This clip shows why.

Tiahrt aide resigns to take post as...

...manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Andover. Chuck Knabb, communication director for Rep. Todd Tiahrt is resigning to take that lofty position here.

The Hill quotes one staffer as saying

"I knew times were tough for Republicans on the Hill but looks like things might be sinking to a whole new level if these are the only options we have left...”

Daily Kos observes

the freak out amongst GOP staffers is still hilarious.

And since Republicans will have far fewer seats in Congress and will lose the White House, their job prospects will certainly look bleak. There's only so many staffers that can be picked up by wingnut welfare (the think tanks), so the rest will probably be left taking "real" jobs -- but against their will.

US LEAP: a valuable anti-sweatshop group

US LEAP (U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project), one of the more effective anti-sweatshop, anti-"free trade" groups celebrated in 20th anniversary recently.

Among the speakers at the event was, Gabriela Lemus, executive director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).

The AFL-CIO Blog ran a report on her speech which contained a good round-up of the failures of NAFTA. You can find it here.

Here are some highlights

Globalization, immigration and trade policies are intertwined—and you can’t solve one without addressing the other two...

Lemus says the global economy is not working because “there is a huge disconnect between the multinational corporations and consumers, and it is threatening our democracy.”

“Corporations are no longer loyal to one market, and as a result they have no sense of national identity. They are actually becoming so big they are competing with nation states. They don’t respect boundaries, but they expect us to.”

If we really cared about the people of Mexico, we would create jobs there that would allow them to make a decent living. We’re scapegoating immigrants for a problem they didn’t create. We’re attacking the symptom, but not getting at the root causes.

Check out the attractive and informative US LEAP website.

Kansas Citizens for Science Annual Meeting

The Annual Kansas Citizens For Science Membership Meeting

Sunday, November 18, 2007
1:00 PM
Topeka Public Library Anton Room 202
1515 SW 10th Ave. Topeka, Kansas

KCFS is the leading grass roots group in Kansas advocating for sound science in our education system and opposing the imposition of creation and intelligent design.

Although moderates now control the state Board of Education, it won't necessarily stay that way. There will be elections for five state Board of Education seats in 2008, including seats held by staunch supporters of science from Topeka/Lawrence, the metropolitan Kansas City area, and Wichita, and by opponents of good science standards from Manhattan and the area south of Wichita.

Membership in KCFS is inexpensive. $25 for regular membership and $15 for students and teachers. Come to the meeting or join by mail by sending a check to KCFS
PO Box 442136 Lawrence, KS 66044.

Congrats to Roy Nitzberg

Lots of people have a musician or two or more in their circle of friends, but damn few of us have a music theorist.

My longtime friend Roy Nitzberg has co-authored (with Henry Burnett) Composition, Chromaticism and the Developmental Process New Theory of Tonality.

Here's the synopsis.

Musicology, having been transmitted as a compilation of disparate events and disciplines, has long necessitated a 'magic bullet', a 'unified field theory' so to speak, that can interpret the steady metamorphosis of Western art music from late medieval modality to twentieth century atonality within a single theoretical construct. Without that magic bullet, discussions of this kind are increasingly complicated and, to make matters worse, the validity of any transformational models and ideas of the natural evolution of styles is questioned and even frowned upon today as epitomizing a grotesque teleological bigotry. Going against current thinking, Henry Burnett and Roy Nitzberg claim that the teleological approach to observing stylistic change is still valid when considered from the purely compositional perspective. The authors challenge the traditional understanding of development, and advance a new theory of eleven-pitch tonality as it relates to the corpus of Western composition. The book plots the evolution of tonality and its bearing on style and the compositional process itself. The theory is not based on the diatonic aspect of the various tonal systems exploited by composers; rather, the theory is chromatically based - the chromatically inflected octave being the source not only of a highly ingenious developmental dialectic, but also encompassing the moment-to-moment progression of the musical narrative itself. Even the most profound teachings of Schenker, and the often startlingly original and worthwhile speculations of Riemann, Tovey, Dahlhaus and others, still provide no theory of development and so are ultimately unable to unite the various tendrils of the compositional organism into a unified whole. Burnett and Nitzberg move beyond existing theory and analysis to base their theory from the standpoint of chromatic 'pitch fields'. These fields are the specific chromatic pitch choices that a composer uses to inform and design a complete composition, utilizing specific chromatic inflections to control a large-scale working out process that is the very essence of 'development'. In short, the authors claim that a chromatic background that coexists with a diatonic contrapuntal background may define the process of compositional development. These chromatic and diatonic events are the two genus expressions of slowly unfolding tonic octaves.

BTW, my connection with Roy is more political than musical. Roy is senior US correspondent for LabourStart.

Strangers in our midst

I'm not shocked when the Minutemen and FAIR have an organizing meeting at the Wichita Public Library. I'm not surprised when college Republicans at Wichita State have a fundraiser with anti-immigrant themes.

But I'm disappointed that two forces which normally play a progressive, humane role on immigration issues have been less than stellar.

First, a Catholic school in Wichita has imposed an English-only policy on its students. Not only in the class room, but even on the play grounds. One the people upset is a social worker for the Wichita school district who has been involved in the diocese's Hispanic ministry program.

Bob Viboril. the Catholic school superintendent is quoted as saying

"As people take it away from being a simple disciplinary action, it tends to harden the position of people who want to make everything into a Hispanic-rights issue or those who want to make everything as an excuse to push Hispanics away...I am not on either side."

Not on either side! Not wanting to side with bigots or too over-zealous defenders of the marginal. One of the strongest points of Catholic social teaching in recent years has been the preferential option for the poor. It's sad Catholic leaders seemingly forget this principle.

Kansas Protestants also disappointed. The planned what looked like an interesting conference on Hispanic immigration, but cancelled it when there wasn't enough registration.

Bishops' Conference on the Common Good

Bishops Scott J. Jones of the Kansas Area of The United Methodist Church, Dean E. Wolfe of The Episcopal Diocese of Kansas and Gerald L. Mansholt of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will host an event examining the issues surrounding Hispanic immigration on October 21 from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. A light supper will be provided, and a free-will offering will be taken.

Annapolis Peace Conference: Guide for the Perplexed

Meretz USA has prepared an excellent guide to the upcoming peace conference in Annapolis between Israel and the Palestinian authority.

Whether you follow the Middle East just a little or consider yourself an expert, this should be a very valuable resource.

Don't know who Mertz USA is?

MeretzUSA is "a US non-profit organization that supports a genuine peace between the State of Israel and its neighbors (including the Palestinian people) based on a negotiated land-for-peace solution. Meretz USA supports full civil and human rights for Israeli citizens, regardless of ethnicity, race, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation."

It is independent of, but philosophically attuned to Meretz-Yachad, the left-wing, social democrratic party which has 5 seats in the Israeli Knesset.

Also, check out the Meretz USA blog.

Co-op Month

Bet you didn't know that October is co-cop month. I didn't.

Find out more information about co-ops here.

About 170 million million Americans are members of co-ops. True. the biggest number of these are members of credit unions. Co-ops represent a real alternative to the corporate model. Radicals and economic democrats should make a more serious effort to understand both the real role of co-ops and their potential. Liberal and progressive candidates, likewise, should include support for co-cops in addition to the standard affirmations of small business.

A 2003 poll for co-op month had some interesting findings showing wide support for the ideas of the co-op movement.

Respondents were read a list of corporate governance characteristics and asked if that characteristic makes a business more or less trustworthy.

• 68% said that a business that has consumers on its board of directors is more or much more trustworthy;
• 66% said that a business that is owned by the people who use the services of the company or buy its goods is more or much more trustworthy;
• 63% said that a business that is governed by a board of directors made up of the people who use the services of the company or buy its goods is more or much more trustworthy;
• 62% said a business that is locally owned and controlled is more or much more trustworthy; and
• 55% said a business that allows its customers to democratically elect its board of directors is more or much more trustworthy. Perceptions of Co-ops vs. Publicly Traded Corporations

Respondents were given nine positive business attributes and asked if they agreed or disagreed whether each attribute described co-ops and publicly traded corporations;

• 81% agreed that co-ops can be counted on to meet their customers needs, compared to 65% for publicly traded corporations;
• 79% agreed that co-ops are committed to providing the highest quality service to their customers, compared to 58% for publicly traded corporations;
• 78% agreed that co-ops are committed to and involved in their communities, compared to 53% for publicly traded corporations;
• 77% agreed that co-ops have the best interests of consumers in mind when conducting business, compared to 47% for publicly traded corporations;
• 76% agreed that co-ops run their businesses in a trustworthy manner, compared to 53% for publicly traded corporations;
• 74% agreed that co-ops provide products and services that are of high value, compared to 63% for publicly traded corporations;
• 68% agreed that co-ops are ethically governed, compared to 45% for publicly traded corporations;
• 64% agreed that co-ops offered the most competitive prices, compared to 58% for publicly traded corporations; and
• A nearly equal percentage agreed that co-ops and publicly traded corporations engage in charitable giving: 57% for co-ops and 58% for publicly traded corporations.
• Publicly traded corporations outscored co-ops only on marketplace choice. While more than a majority (53%) agreed co-ops offer consumers more choices in the marketplace, 62% agreed that publicly traded corporations did.

The Hag vs. Walmart

Merle Haggard's newest CD, Bluegress Sessions, includes another new social commentary from Merle. I first heard this while driving between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Conway, Arkansas ten days ago. This is the sort of anti-Wal-Mart song you might expect from a Si Kahn or Utah Phillips, but may be more artistically profound. And it will surely reach more people than a slew of cause singers.

In the chorus, Merle laments the lose of America and asks where did America go, the next line says "Everything Wal-mart all the time." In short, Wal-mart is un-American.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Merle R. Haggard (Merle Haggard Music, Inc., 8MI)

It used to be Andy and Barney Fife
Now it's Howard Stern and a brothel life
Too much crap can drive the world insane
Everybody's singing the Jailhouse Blues
Don't believe a word of the evening news
Truth that stood for years is down the drain
Trailer parks with a building code
Cul-de-sacs on a country road

High-Tech bars with bad karaoke sounds
Uncle Sam keeps your money spent
Pay your tithes, you can't pay the rent
Foreign cars selling big in American towns

CHORUS

What happened, does anybody know?
What happened, where did America go?
Everything Wal-Mart all the time.
No more mom and pop five and dimes
What happened,where did America go?
Where did America go?

How did we ever go so wrong?
Did we get too high, Did we sleep too long?
Why did we raise the price of gasoline
I remember the morning the towers fell
I fell back asleep and I dreamed of hell
I guess I thought it all was part of my dream

CHORUS

Where did it go boys? Tell me. I miss America.

The Bluegrass Sessions is to my knowledge, the first time Merle has recorded with a bluegrass sound. Surprisingly, it works.

There's a lot of musical, historical, and sociological stuff to unpack in this landmark recording. Merle has show a high regard for the history of country music. He's done tributes to Bob Wills, Jimmy Rodgers, and Lefty Frizzell. So, at first appearance, it's odd that he's never done a bluegrass album.

Actually, it may not be so strange. Merle was born in 1937 to parents who had moved to California from Oklahoma during the depression. Bluegrass wasn't invented, or didn't evolve, until the 1940s. It's my guess that bluegrass didn't have much of a following in California.

Report on House Immigration Reform Caucus

The Building Democracy Initiative of the Center for New Community has just released a new report on the House Immigration Reform Caucus which was founded by Tom Tancedro.

It's called Nativism in the House. Read it on-line or down-load the PDF.

• The overwhelming majority of Caucus members are from the furthest, hardest edge of the Republican Party’s rightwing; only eight are Democrats. Although they often invoke the supposed interests of native-born wage earners, these representatives generally have stiff anti-labor voting records. Many also oppose a woman’s right to choose, and vote regularly against civil rights and civil liberties concerns.
• The report finds that the Caucus is ideologically-driven, and might more accurately fit an “ultra-nationalist” model typically associated with far-right European parties such as Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front in France, the Vlaams Belang in Belgium, or the Swiss Peoples Party.
• Although it is often assumed that nativist politics are the result of economic resentment, these congressmen and women are not elected from districts with a common economic or demographic character. They come from suburban, middle class California districts with a significant minority of Hispanic residents. In the South, Mid-South, and West they are elected from districts with a measurable percentage of rural, blue collar white voters, and very small numbers of Hispanics.
• Notwithstanding the Caucus’ political character, its members have received campaign contributions from a surprisingly wide range of sources, including AT&T, the American Medical Association, and Home Depot. All told, 2600 PACs, most of whom are not considered anti-immigrant, have contributed to the HIRC’s campaign coffers. In addition, Caucus members receive funding from nativist sources such as the Minuteman PAC as well as from ultra-conservative sources such as the Eagle Forum and the Club for Growth.
• • The election of Rep. Brian Bilbray as the Caucus’ chairman is likely to cement the already symbiotic relationship between fringe anti-immigrant advocacy groups and Caucus members. Rep. Bilbray is himself a former lobbyist for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a controversial anti-immigrant organization that holds questionable ties to white nationalist and nativist groups. At the same time, the former HIRC director has gone to work at FAIR as a Government Relations Associate.
• Most recently, Caucus members have begun to actively promote legislation aimed at gutting the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. As of the time of this report’s printing, 90 members of the House of Representatives signed on as co-sponsors to legislation aimed at nullifying the Fourteenth Amendment’s “birthright” provision. If passed, this type of legislation would certainly provoke a constitutional crisis.