Remembering James Weinstein

I never met James Weinstein, but I certainly felt his influence. Doug Ireland has a long and very worthwhile tribute on his blog which is sort of a capsule history of the American left over the last century. You should read it all. And, if it makes sense, check out Weinstein's The Long Detour and subscribe to In These Times, the news bi-weekly Weinstein founded.

Here are a few highlights from Ireland's tribute

James Weinstein -- author, historian, teacher, editor, publisher, founder of In These Times magazine, and an important figure in the life of the mind of American radicalism for four decades -- died Thursday morning at his home on the North Side of Chicago, after a long bout with brain cancer. On his death, Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont -- the Independent member of Congress who is a democratic sociast -- told the AP, ""Jim Weinstein was one of the intellectual leaders of the American progressive movement."

Jimmy Weinstein was the son of privilege, but he always put his inherited wealth at the service of his lifelong radical ideals. A New York City native, he was politically active in left-wing causes from the age of 14, and -- after leaving his undergraduate studies at Cornell in 1944 to serve 19 months in the Navy as World War II came to a close -- he returned to finish taking his degree, then went on to graduate school at Columbia University, where he joined the Communist Party. Jimmy broke with the CP in 1956 after the Soviet invasion of Hungary (left)-- and later, as a historian, Jimmy became one of the Communist Party's most intelligent and perceptive critics...

Jimmy wrote five books -- among the most significant, to me, is his The Decline of Socialism in America, 1912-1925, which belongs on the bookshelf of anyone truly interested in the history of the American left...

Jimmy helped keep alive a history that has almost disappeared from the American consciousness. In the years immediately preceding the First World War, the socialist movement laid down deep roots in the Images_13 United States, in spite of many obstacles. Jimmy Weinstein's brilliant study of the Socialist Party altered many of the prevailing assumptions about American radicalism, showing that at its numerical peak in 1912, the party had 118,000 members well distributed throughout the country. It claimed 323 English and foreign-language publications with a total circulation probably in excess of two million. The largest of the socialist newspapers, The Debs Appeal to Reason of Girard, Kansas, had a weekly circulation of 761,747. In 1912, the year the party's leader, Eugene V. Debs (left) polled 6 percent of the Presidential vote, Socialists held 1,200 offices in 340 cities, including 79 mayors in 24 states. As late as 1918, they elected 32 state legislators. In 1916, they elected Meyer London to Congress and made important gains in the municipal elections of several large cities.

Among many points made in his writings -- both in his books, and in scholarly articles -- Weinstein argued coherently that the Communist Party U.S.A. helped squander that rich legacy of native American radicalism by its slavish devotion and subservience to Soviet Russia -- which was utterly irrelevant to the needs and experience of working-class America.

The largest constituency in Israel's Labor Party...

Hint, it's not the kibbutz movement

From the National Committee for Labor Israel

For the first time in the history of the Labor Party, Arab members have become its largest constituency.

According to membership poll data the Arab constituency is approximately 22 percent of the Party’s members, while the rate of kibbutz members, traditionally a prominent Labor constituency, dropped from 16 to 10 percent. This shift is expected to have a crucial influence on the party's primaries.

The dramatic increase in the Arab constituency could benefit chairmanship candidate Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, who drew 14,000 Arab members to participate in the census. Matan Vilnai and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, also candidates for the Party’s top position, are likely to suffer from the diminishing constituency of kibbutz members, their major support group.

According to the new party census, some 21,500 Arabs signed up as members, compared with some 14,600 in 2002 who were then approximately 13 percent of the total. This reflects a sharp rise of 47 percent in Arab members.

This was probably the result of massive efforts by Ben-Eliezer and Histadrut chief Amir Peretz, also a chairmanship candidate, to sign up Arab members. At the same time the constituency of the kibbutz sector diminished significantly. So far, fewer than 10,000 members signed, compared with 17,629 in 2002, when they formed approximately 16 percent of the total number of party members.

A column (off-line) in the Sept-Oct issue of Jewish Currents discussed polling done by Professor Sammy Smooha provides some background for this surprising development.

there has actually been a considerable moderation of "militant stands" in the Arab population over time. In the current study, a total of only 3.1 percent of Arabs supported violence, as opposed to 17.9 percent in 1976 (8 percent in 1988, 5.4 percent in 2002). A total of 54.9 percent said they feel closer to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, while 45.1 percent /" said they feel closer to Jews in Israel; in 2002, these numbers were 70 and 30 percent, respectively. In 1985, 47.1 percent responded that they were anti-Zionist. Now this statistic stands at 20 percent, with 78.8 percent responding that they are non-Zionists.

According to the latest index, 90 percent of Arab citizens now recognize Israel's right to exist, and most want to be integrated into Israeli society; 67.5 percent would be willing to live in a Jewish neighborhood, and 80 percent would like to enjoy parks and share swimming pools with Jews. Only 13.4 percent would be willing to move to a Palestinian state. Almost 75 percent support the return of Palestinian refugees only to the territories, and 65.2 percent agree with the statement, "despite its disadvantages, the government of Israel is democratic also toward its Arab citizens."

There is, of course, still much work that must be done to achieve political, economic and social equality for Israel's Arab citizens, but isn't it way past time that the libel of Israel being an apartheid state is rejected as wingnuttery if not an expression of outright bigotry.

Back to blogging

About time to get back to blogging. I had serious computer problems in early June, which were finally been resolved at the end of last week. I was able to improvise for some of my computer-based efforts for Kansas Workbeat and LabourStart. I still have some big work to do for Kansas Workbeat, but should be able to get that rolling in the next few days.

My blogging efforts suffered the most.

Rather than trying to do some sort of comprehensive or systematic catching up, I'm going to just jump in and do the best I can.

Unfortunately, the computer woes kept me from following through with my inclination to travel to Kansas City last weekend for the Ribs and Rhythm Festival. I sure would have liked to have heard Karrin Allyson, Bobby Watson, Keb' Mo, and Kenny Garrett, but I did make it out to the Wichita Zoo last night for the Frank and Joe show. A very fine show.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I attened a meeting of the Kansas Action Network in Topeka, meetings of the Wichita NAACP, ACLU, and the Wichita Hutchinson Labor Federation. I also attended and take photos at a forum on Kansas's important, but far from adequate, racial profiling bill. Also, I went to interesting Democratic luncheon with a speaker on farm and rural issues. Shortly, I'll be leaving to attend "Touched by Fire - Bleeding Kansas" a documentary with re-enactments at the Wichita Orpheum.

Garrison Keillor, George Orwell, and Memorial Day

I sometimes marvel how Garrison Keillor manages to combine homespun humor and sophistication. Some might object to calling the Prairie Home Companion host sophisticated, but in my book if you write for The New Yorker you're sophisticated. Heck, if you subscribe to The New Yorker you're pretty sophisticated.

On his May 28 Prairie Home Companion, Keillor talked about Memorial Day and made a suprising point, citing George Orwell, who he identifed as a socialist.

Here's my transcription

Memorial Day. You should find yourself a Memorial Day celebration wherever you are and go off to it. This is an important holiday. This is the time when all Americans are united . Republicans, Democrats Greens, monarchists and Socialists we are all united remembering what George Orwell said. He was a socialist. What he said was so true. “We sleep safely at night because we know that rough men are prepared in the night to visit acts of violence upon those who would harm us. “

If you’ve ever flown at night over this great county, you know enormous, how vulnerable it is, all those cities stretched out, all of those lights. We’re safe because people love this country and have chosen to defend this country over the years . We all know that. All of us know that.. And all of us can honor those people on Monday.

[Here's the segment starting at about 8:45. I got an error message using Real Player, but it worked anyway, so don't give up. Here the link for the entire May 28 show. It's segment five.]

Keillor want on to urge his listeners to be part of a Memorial Day celebration ("look for a cemetery") and celebrated American patriotic songs. ("My country 'Tis of Thee") is his daughter's favorite, Keillor said.

In contrast to Keillor's appreciation of our traditions and his linking to their progressive essence, I think some Wichita activists come off as "tone deaf."

Joe Rodriguez reported in Saturday's Wichita Eagle

Three groups will promote peace Monday not by demonstrating or hearing speeches but by picnicking and listening to music.

The Peace and Social Justice Center of South Central Kansas, People of Faith for Peace and Inter-Faith Ministries will host their first Peace Picnic from noon to 3 p.m. at the gazebo in Central Riverside Park.

"We're not trying to drive an issue home to anybody," said Horace Santry, director of the Peace and Social Justice Center.

"We want to celebrate the prospects for peace, and Memorial Day seemed to be an appropriate day to do that, given the focus on those who have died, and a lot of them in the pursuit of peace."

This seems to me to be well-intentioned, but off the mark.

A celebration of the prospects for peace sounds like a good idea, but Memorial Day is the wrong day.

First, poaching on established holidays never really works. There was, for instance, something artificial about the attempts by American right-wingers to counter May Day with "Americanization Day." "Loyalty Day," and "Law Day." To take another example, Holocaust Memerial Day should be about remembering the Nazi genocide of European Jewry. It should not be watered down in a generic or all encompassing memorial of every people who have suffered genocide or oppression. the Armenian, Rawandans, and others deserve their own remembrance.

Memorial Day is not really about those "who have died." It is about those who have sacrificed in battle for noble ends. The History Channel

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.

Now here's the real clinker. The "peace picnic" ended at 3:00 PM which is exactly the time set by law and tradition for a moment of remembrance for those who gave their lives in the country's war.

For many decades, many Southerners refused to paricipate in Decoration/Memorial Day. Today, sadly, some progressives are alienated from America's national holidays.

Darfur: Complexity as excuse for inaction

Our weekly post from the Coalition for Darfur:

A few weeks ago, PBS aired a made-for-HBO film about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda called "Sometimes in April." Following the presentation, journalist Jeff Greenfieldheld a panel discussion about world's last of response to Rwanda and the similarities to the current genocide in Darfur.

Former Deputy Secretary of State Paul Wolfowitz was among the panelists and during the discussion, made the following points

Wolfowitz: One of the things that bears thinking about from the Rwanda experience, and everyone of these cases is different, and I think one ought to recognize that. But it seems to me that the thing that stuck me as unique about the Rwanda experience, on the one hand the sheer horror of it, with the exception of the Holocaust and even then at a sort of per day rate, this was probably the worst genocide ever. But secondly, and we'll never know this for sure because you never know the course that wasn't taken, but it was seem as though a relatively modest military action aimed at eliminating that regime could have ended the genocide and ended it rather quickly.

What strikes me and seems to me is true in Rwanda, is true in Bosnia, is true in World War II, is true in Cambodia, this kind of systematic, one-sided elimination of a population is not done spontaneously by another ethnic group, it's organized by a criminal gang and if that criminal gang had been eliminated in Rwanda the genocide would have ended.

But that comes to my last point which is, then it depends on how do you conceive of the peacekeeping operation and nobody proposed, that I know of, going in and taking out the government.

Greenfield: Should they have?

Wolfowitz: I think so, yes.

[edit]

Wolfowitz: This is not a simple problem. The Rwanda case, I think, is striking because it at least it looks in hindsight to have been so simple to prevent something that was so horrible. But most of these cases are complicated ... In a way the Rwanda case is helpful for thinking about things but in some ways it's misleading because mostcases are a little more difficult.

Wolfowitz openly argued that the world should have intervened in Rwanda, but them makes
the strikingly disingenuous argument that Rwanda was somehow "simpler" than the current situation in Darfur.

Rwanda is only "simpler" because it is now over and hindsight allows us to see just how, where and why the world failed. But in 1994, with bodies filling the streets, Rwanda did not appear to be simple at all

U.S. Opposes Plan for U.N. Force in Rwanda
By PAUL LEWIS 12 May 1994 The New York Times

UNITED NATIONS, May 11 -- As rebel forces of the Rwanda Patriotic Front pressed their attack today against the capital, Kigali, the United States criticized a new United Nations plan to send some 5,500 soldiers into the heart of the Rwandan civil war to protect refugees and assist relief workers, saying it is more than the organization canhandle.

[edit]

While not excluding any course of action, Ms. Albright said it remains unclear whether African countries are ready or able to send forces for such a dangerous and complicated mission at the epicenter of a raging civil war.

Ten years later, it now appears as if a few relatively simple measures backed by the necessary political will could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. But in 1994, the genocide appeared massively complex and that complexity was routinely cited as a justification for not intervening.

And Wolfowitz is making exactly the same justification for not intervening in Darfur today.

Were there feasible solutions to Rwanda? In hindsight, the answer is obviously "yes." Are there feasible solutions to Darfur? It is hard to say because right now it seems so complex, but there certainly are if the world powers can muster the will to address them.

But unfortunately, it is far more likely that ten years from now, when perhaps another one million Africans have needlessly died, we'll wonder why we did not act when "it looks in hindsight to have been so simple to prevent something that was so horrible."

Machinists vote down contract offer from Onex

From the Wichita Eagle on-line

Members of the Machinists union at Boeing Wichita rejected Onex Corp.' s labor offer today.

Union officials said 57 percent of union members voting voted against the proposal.

The vote could jeopardize Onex's attempt to buy the Boeing facility. Onex officials have said they will not continue to pursue the deal if the contract offer was defeated.

The parking lot of the Kansas Coliseum, where the vote was held, filled early this morning with Boeing Wichita workers whose jobs hinged on the outcome of today's vote.

Some workers carried "No" signs urging people eligible to vote to turn down the five-year deal. Others walked quietly to the lines that extended into the parking lot.

Marc Cooper on an important conference in Cuba

Marc Cooper, columnist for The Nation and LA Weekly and translator for Salvador Allende at the time of the Chilean coup, has some valuable comments about a conference this past weekend in Cuba.

First, what happened and what didn't happen was, as Cooper puts it, remarkable.

For the first time in the 46 years since Fidel Castro has been in power, a coalition of opposition dissidents were allowed to assemble publicly for two days without disruption from the Cuban government.

More than a hundred delegates from small, illegal groups dispersed around the country met in a Havana backyard, denounced one party rule and elected a 36-member steering committee.

In the past any such attempt was smashed with nightsticks and handcuffs. Remember, in Cuba, as Fidel warned sometime ago, you are “either with the Revolution or against the Revolution” and only El Comandante-en-Jefe decides who’s in and who’s out (Hey, didn’t George W. Bush say more or less the same thing when he declared the Global War on Terrorism?).

This time around, the Cuban State Security limited itself to arresting and deporting some European politicians and reporters who came into Cuba to observe the meeting.

Second, Cooper asks why the American left is silent about Castro

the longer Fidel clings to power, and the longer the democratic dissidents are snubbed, the farther and harder to the right Cuba will fall after Castro. The best way to guarantee that the next Cuban regime will be a mafia-dominated dictatorship is to continue the current paradigm—the absolutely stupid polarization of Cuba’s future as either pro or anti-Castro.

That the Neanderthal Right should promote this thinking is perfectly logical. It’s in their favor. But why the continuing silence of most of the American Left on Castro? Why is it left only to Nat Hentoff to speak out? What does it tell us that a great civil liberties lion like Nat is left to publish his op-ed piece in the Washington Times? Why isn’t it on the front page of some other magazines that I could think of?

Third, what's at stake

much of the middle-class, guilt-ridden American Left continues to blindly focus the Cuba issue as solely an American foreign policy question (effectively cutting 10 million Cubans out of their considerations). Standing up to the Yankees is always amusing and often quite the right thing to do—but it shouldn’t win dictators like Castro a moral or political pass.

For those on the Left who say they desire some sort of just society in Cuba in a post-Castro future, it’s time to put up or shut up. Simply apologizing for Castro, usually by repeating ad nauseum the old saw that we as Americans have "no right to criticize" him, will no longer cut it. The choice will only be Castro (who will eventually die) and the dead end Cuba finds itself in, or the worst of the Miami wingnuts, unless that is, you help support and bolster a third, democratic alternative.

Socialist International meets to boost Middle East peace

From the website of the Socialist International

"For a Middle East in peace"

Meeting of SI Council, Tel Aviv and Ramallah, 23-24 May 2005

On 23-24 May in Tel Aviv and Ramallah, the Socialist International, the worldwide organisation of social democratic, socialist and labour parties, will be holding a meeting of its Council, which includes leaders and representatives from its member parties and organisations from around the world. Currently over 160 parties and organisations from some 140 countries are members of the International.

The Council, which convenes every six months, is meeting on this occasion in the Middle East to underline its commitment to the search for peace in the region and to encourage Israelis and Palestinians to move forward along the path of dialogue and negotiation, to overcome conflict and to work together for a better future for both peoples.

Under the main theme "For a Middle East in peace, with political and economic democracy: the social democratic vision", the Council, to be hosted by the SI members, the Israel Labour Party, the Israeli Yachad Party and the Palestinian Fatah, will hold two main sessions. The first one in Tel Aviv on Monday 23, opening at 10.00 hrs at the Dan Panorama Convention Center, and the second in Ramallah on Tuesday 24, also opening at 10.00 hrs at the Ramallah Cultural Palace.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders and decision makers, including President of Israel, Moshe Katsav; President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas; Leader of the Labour Party and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Shimon Peres; Leader of the Yachad Party from Israel, Yossi Beilin; Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister, Nabil Shaath; and other members of the leadership of SI member parties Fatah, the Israeli Labour Party and Yachad, will be participating in the discussions programmed in both cities.

Who Wants to Lose to Sebelius

If Kansas Republicans don't come up with a candidate soon, they may want to try a "reality" show. According to an article by Steven Painter in Sunday's Wichita Eagle.

In the political scramble to figure out who will face Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in next year's gubernatorial election, one thing has become clear.

The field of potential Republican challengers is more notable for the names it doesn't include than the names it does.

"The strong candidates that would be formidable against Sebelius have basically removed themselves from the race," said Joe Aistrup, head of the political science department at Kansas State University.

The absence of Sam Brownback, Pat Roberts, Todd Tiahrt, Jim Ryun, Jerry Moran and Phill Kline opens up the field for less-well-knowns within the GOP, which holds a nearly 2-1 edge among registered voters.

Thomas Frank Returns to Kansas

Thomas Frank at Watermark Books, Wichita Kansas May 20, 2005

Matt Yglesias of The American Prospect and a popular progressive blogger recently wrote about What's the Matter with Kansas "at times it seems this is the only thing anyone talks about in Washington..."

Frank gave a great talk, which I'll write up later if time allows. Perhaps the most interesting thing he said was that he was writing a sequel, setting forth a plan to overcome the great backlash and promote an assertive economic populism/liberalism.

Knocking on doors "with" Chip Berlet Or Organizing Not Labeling

Chip Berlet, one of the best progressive analysts of the right from his position with Political Research Associates, started his blog with very provocative idea that progressives are wrong to use or overuse terms like "radical religious right" or "religious political extremists." He says that most conservative evangelical Christians do not want a theocracy, in fact, are opposed to the legislative agenda of the Christian right.

Let's role-play. So here I am knocking on a door in Emporia, Kansas, and when the door opens I lead with "We have to stop the religious political extremists!" What’s my next line? (That’s assuming my nose wasn't broken when the door was slammed in my face). Unless the person already agrees with me, there is no constructive next line.

It's easy for me to get into Berlet's thought experiment. Back in the Reagan years I worked in SANE/FREEZE's door-to-door canvass. And, not only do I know people in Emporia. I grew up in Winfield and have lived in Wichita for about the last ten years or so.

Now in some ways, canvassing is more like fund-raising for a cause organization, rather than being part of electoral or union organizing drive. That is you can raise your quota or meet your organizational fund raising goal by finding a few people who agree with you and extracting the maximum from them.

Nonetheless, I discovered that how you approach people can make all the difference in how they react. I'd like to share that because I think it has some relevance to Berlet's case.

In the Washington, D.C. area, where I spent most of my canvassing time, there were lots of military and DOD employees. Frequently, my qualifying question ("I'm on the annual fundraising and membership drive for SANE/FREEZE. We're working to end the nuclear arms race on both sides through a comprehensive, verifiable test ban treaty.") was met with the response "I'm in the military..."

At first, I took that to be a no. But when you are talking to 40 households a night, five nights a week, it can get boring, always reacting in the same way. So I experimented and tried something different.

I discovered that if I responded to "I'm in the military," with "Great, then you know better than anyone that building more and more nuclear weapons doesn't really increase our national security..." I found a fair level of support from those folks.

I came to understand that often the comment "I'm in the military" wasn't a slamming of the door in my face, rather it was a question. Sort of "are you one of those crazy unilateral disarmers who thinks I'm a war criminal?"

Daniel Yankelovich did a major study of public attitudes towards the nuclear arms race and found four major clusters. I simplified and popularized these as not only the familiar hawks and doves, but the less familiar ostriches and owls for training our canvassers nationwide. We even used the four types for role-playing to improve our canvassing raps.

The groups, and this is reconstructing from memory, could be understood as falling along two dimensions. Fear of nuclear war and and fear of the Soviet Union. Hawks (-,+); doves (+,-); owls (-.-); and ostriches (+,+). The importance of two dimensions is that on issues around the nuclear arms race it was important to respond to the concerns of two very different "middle" groups. "Owls," who tended to be well-educated and fairly affluent, were moderates who need to know that arms control proposals were reasonable and bi-lateral and backed by responsible experts. They weren't as concerned about the dangers of the nuclear arms as doves and were far less likely to support unilateral American initiatives to end the arms race. On the other hand, the owls didn't have the extreme anti-Soviet paranoia of the hawks.

The "ostriches," to use an old shorthand that is a considerable oversimplification, were Reagan Democrats. They were the group most likely to believe that nuclear war was a real, imminent threat and on some questions were more anti-Communist than even the hawks. They were simultaneously the most frightened of nuclear war and the most apathetic or pessimistic about the possibility of putting the nuclear genie in the bottle. With these folks, the best approach was to stress the size of the nuclear arsenals, the likelihood of nuclear war unless changes were made. And it didn't hurt to bash the Soviets as well as the United States.

The relevance of this long recounting this long personal history is not merely to agree with Berlet's point about finding common ground. It is also to point to what I think is a parallel for progressives today: the importance of using a multi-dimensional mental map in building alliances and framing issues.

Back in the aftermath of the November election, I pointed to some interesting comments by political scientist Russel Arben Fox, which are still relevant.

One of the paths...[is] a "soft libertarianism" which will be able to pull in the "South Park Republicans" and other small government-types that sympathize with what might be called social liberalism.... The other path is mine: a "communalist-socialist" left that accepts--even embraces--the religiousity of the rural South and Midwest so as to bring the working class back around to (or at least, remove moral barriers from them giving a good listen to) egalitarian politics.

(You can find Fox's comments here.)

So if I was knocking on doors with Chip Berlet in Emporia, I think I might say something along these lines" "Hi, we're with XYZ which is a bunch of people from churches, unions and community groups who have come together to make this a better town, state, and country for everyone. Right now we're asking people to help us protect social security...."

"We think it's a moral issue when people work 40 hours a week and can't support a family...."

Six Kansas farrms get $400,000 in subsidies

AP reports

Six Kansas farms received more than $400,000 each in federal farm subsidies last year, according U.S. Department of Agriculture documents.

Cox Farms of Sublette in western Kansas received $508,000 in payments, most of any farm in the state, records show. The documents were obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.

Other top subsidy recipients were Morning Star Farms of Greensburg, with $489,000; Spring Creek Family Farms of Manhattan, with $458,000; Clawson Farm Partnership of Satanta, with $457,000; Whit-Crop of Leoti, with $449,000; and Winger Farms of Johnson, with $414,000.

Current law limits farmers to $360,000 in subsidies a year, but that cap is filled with loopholes that allow many farms to exceed it.

EWG spokeswoman Erin Seidler calls the current farm subsidy program "a welfare system" for giant agriculture producers at the expense of small farmers. The group reports that 10% of all farmers receive three quarters of all farm subsidies, while two-thirds of farmers get no support at all.

Seidler's group doesn't advocate ending all subsidies, but it favors an overall cap on federal payments, with the money saved being redirected to land conservation subsidies.

"Agribusiness and large farms and landowners often are the ones receiving subsidies, while the small farmers are really only eligible for subsidies under the land conservation program," Seidler said. "That's what we're looking to change."

Community services conference and book shopping in Lawrence

I attended the annual Kansas AFL-CIO Community Services conference in Topeka on Thursday and Friday. There was lots of good information to bring back to our locals and central labor councils. For those not familiar, labor's community services programs are in large part done in cooperation with the United Way and date back to the WWII years. Traditionally, community services has had two dimensions. First, to connect union members with needs to appropriate community services. Second, to be a vehicle for union members to be of service to the community. In recent years, there is a new strategic dimension, to build the power and influence of the labor movement. The fifty-year old unin counselor program has evolved to the the Union Community Action Network with the goal of training a new generation of labor advocates both on the shop floor and in our communities.

A real highlight of the conference was a presentation on social security and the dangers of the Bush plan to privatize/phase out social security. A great job was done by two UMKC professors: Max Skidmore of the Political Science department and Stephanie Kelton of the economics department.

The conference wrapped up around noon on Friday so I made a side trip to Lawrence to have a visit with my friend David Smith of KU's sociology department.

It happened that Lawrence was in the middle of a downtown bicycle racewith lots streets blocked off and not much parking. I managed to find a place in Lawrence's downtown parking garage and make my way to the Dusty Bookshelf, a second-hand bookstore at 708 Mass. There is also a DB is Manhattan, which is the original, I think. The owners tried to open a store in Wichita's Oldtown, but it didn't work out.

I came away with some real finds: Rebel Voices: An IWW Anthology; Out of the Sweatshops (a 1977 paperback history of American garment workers told by collecting contemporary reports); the two volumes of Julius Braunthal's history of the Socialist International; Theodore Draper's classic The Roots of American Communism; William O'Neill's A Better World: The Great Schism: Stalinsim and the American Intellectuals; 1960's labor history books by Thomas Brooks and Leon Litwack; Michael Wreszin's biography of Dwight Macdonald, A Rebel in Defense of Tradition.

UK university cancels talk by lesbian feminist Muslim

From the website of the left-wing British-based Alliance for Workers Liberty

Leicester University has cancelled a talk by Muslim lesbian feminist Irshad Manji because of fears of hostile reaction from right-wing local Muslims.

Compare Haifa. Ilan Pappe, a lecturer at Haifa University, is a vehement anti-Zionist, as unpopular with right-wing and conservative opinion in Israel as Irshad Manji is with right-wing and conservative Muslims.

Pappe has had trouble at the university, and some professors there are very hostile to him, but he is still in his job, still lecturing.

The pro-boycotters in the Association of University Teachers persuaded the AUT conference on 22 April to declare an academic boycott of Haifa because of Pappe's hard times.

If so, why not a boycott of Leicester University? The Manji incident shows up the pro-boycotters' double standards.

Irshad Manji spoke in London today, 12 May. She is, as far as I can judge, no sort of socialist or social radical, but she is an advocate of universal human rights, an opponent of cultural relativism, an advocate of what she calls a "reformation" in Islam.

According to Irshad Manji, Leicester University gave two reasons for cancelling.

First, that they feared hostile reactions from some local Muslims so severe that they could not guarantee the security of a lecture by Irshad Manji.

Secondly, the scheduled date of the lecture being soon after the General Election, they feared pressure during the election campaign on local politicians to come out against Manji speaking.

Manji is in the midst of a speaking tour of Britain. According to the Outrage news service

Ms Manji describes the main purpose of her visit as being to speak on various dimensions of Islam and human rights - from the perspective of a faithful yet struggling Muslim. "My core message is that no community, no ethnicity, no culture and no religion ought to be immune from respecting the universality of human rights. This, of course, is a controversial message in an age of cultural relativism. Mine is a positive message of pluralism. I truly believe that we can be pluralists without becoming relativists. That's especially important for the lesbian and gay movement to understand, given the bigotry we so often face from ethnic and religious groups."

Muslim groups boycott Muslim March Against Terror

From the Counter-terrorism blog

"Free Muslims Against Terrorism" are sponsoring a March Against Terror this Saturday in Washington, with the endorsement of numerous Muslim and non-Muslim groups. Ironically, according to "Free Muslims" President Kamal Nawash, four of the leading Muslim organizations won't join in the march in any way. Mr. Nawash won't name them, but it won't be difficult to identify them. These groups shouldn't be taken seriously when they claim to stand against Islamic extremism.

From Robert Spencer

Thomas Haidon, that is what the present March is. At least that's how he represented it to CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper in this phone conversation, of which he kindly sent me a transcript:

TH: Greetings, Mr. Hooper. It's Thomas Haidon from FMAT calling. Asalamu aleykum.

IH: Wa leykum salam.

TH: I am calling with respect to our rally on 14 May 2005. I spoke with your colleague Rabiah Ahmed.

IH: Yes. Thank you. I though FMAT received our official response quite some time ago.

TH: Actually we have not. But we would like CAIR to participate in a stand of unity.

IH: Let's be honest. Our organisations are diametrically opposed. The leadership of this organisation does not believe that FMAT represents the interests of the American Muslim community. We believe that CAIR does, and our organisation has spoken loudly and clearly against terrorism. We are not sure what this rally would accomplish.

TH: This rally is more than a rally against terrorism. It is a rally against jihad and the tradition of violence that aspects of Islam has fomented. We must speak openly and frankly about these issues. Are you ready to stand with us?

IH: Thank you very much, Thomas. FMAT has received our response. Asalamu aleykum and goodbye.

TH: Wa leykum salam.

12.3 million forced laborers

Press Release from the International Labor Organization

GENEVA (ILO News) - At least 12.3 million people are trapped in forced labour around the world, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a new study released today. ILO Director-General Juan Somavia called forced labour "a social evil which has no place in the modern world".

The new report, entitled "A global alliance against forced labour" (Note 1), says that nearly 10 million people are exploited through forced labour in the private economy, rather than imposed directly by states. Of these, the study estimates a minimum of 2.4 million to be victims of human trafficking.

The report also provides the first global estimate of the profits generated by the exploitation of trafficked women, children and men - US$ 32 billion each year, or an average of US$ 13,000 from every single trafficked forced labourer.

"Forced labour represents the underside of globalization and denies people their basic rights and dignity", Mr. Somavia said. "To achieve a fair globalization and decent work for all, it is imperative to eradicate forced labour."

Please read the full release

Fact sheet

Executive Summary

Tiahrt failed to report Delay-linked contribtuion

RAW STORY reported

A stalwart congressional supporter of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) has confirmed to RAW STORY that in-kind donations for several fundraisers held at skyboxes believed maintained by fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff were not reported until this year.

The congressman, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), amended his campaign finance filings in February and April, listing three in-kind donations from the Greenberg Traurig political action committee, a fund managed by Abramoff’s former firm. The events dated from 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Tiahrt press secretary Chuck Knapp called the amendments “a campaign staff oversight.”

The Kansas congressman was among 20 Republican members who voted recently not to reverse ethics rules some saw as protecting DeLay, and has publicly declared that DeLay did nothing wrong. The House voted to rescind them late last month, 406-20.


Melanie Sloan, executive director for the progressive ethics group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, chided Tiahrt and said his conduct merits an ethics investigation.
“Those kind of errors are inexcusable,” Sloan said. “They’re breaking a law.”

Sloan took particular issue with Tiahrt’s office saying they probably would not have caught the missed payment had scrutiny not come to the lobbyist’s activities.

“We should be expecting better of this out of our members of Congress, and I hope that Tiahrt’s constituents demand a better answer and more accountability,” she continued. “The combination of those comments along with the failure to file properly and in a timely fashion suggest that Mr. Tiahrt’s conduct merits an ethics investigation.”
“I’d like to know what other laws he doesn’t feel like following?” she added. “Exactly who does he think these laws are intended for?”

According to the DeLay Rankings, Tiahrt is the 42nd closest congressman to DeLay. Jim Ryun ranks number 3.

Sebelius Approval Ratings

Survey USA has released a poll of the approval/disapproval ratings for all 50 governors.

Kansas' Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius shows up pretty well


Approval 54%
Disapproval 34%

IDers bring in Islamist journalist

Josh Funk of Knight-Ridder had this intriguing tidbit towards the end of his article on the third day of the evolution hearings.

One of the other witnesses was a Turkish newspaper columnist with no science background but a nearly 10-year-old interest in intelligent design. Mustafa Akyol testified that the naturalistic bias in Kansas' science standards contributes to the ill will between the Muslim world and the United States.

He urged the board to adopt the critical approach to help alleviate that ill will.

"This is not the only reason for anti-Westernism, but it is an important one," he said.

Tony Ortega's story on the Kansas hearings, in KC alternative weekly The Pitch “Your OFFICIAL program to the Scopes II Kansas Monkey Trial" discusses Akyol in detail.

[Akyol] also has identified himself as a spokesman for the murky Bilim Arastirma Vakfi, a group with an innocuous-sounding name — it means “Science Research Foundation” — but a nasty reputation.

Said to have started as a religious cult that preyed on wealthy members of Turkish society, the Bilim Arastirma Vakfi has appeared in lurid media tales about sex rings, a blackmail prosecution and speculation about its charismatic leader, a man named Adnan Oktar. But if BAV’s notoriety has been burnished by a sensationalist Turkish media, the secretive group has earned its reputation as a prodigious publisher of inexpensive ideological paperbacks. BAV has put out hundreds of titles written by “Harun Yahya” (a pseudonym) on various topics, but most of them are Islamic-based attacks on the theory of evolution.

Turkey is a secular country that aspires to join the European Union and boasts several institutions of higher learning on a par with good Western universities. But beginning in 1998, BAV spearheaded an effort to attack Turkish academics who taught Darwinian theory. Professors there say they were harassed and threatened, and some of them were slandered in fliers that labeled them “Maoists” for teaching evolution. In 1999, six of the professors won a civil court case against BAV for defamation and were awarded $4,000 each.

Ortega asked William Harris, the University of Missouri-Kansas City professor of medicine and point-man for the Kansas ID push, about the harrassment of Turkish scientists.

Told of the group’s harassment of biologists in Turkey and evolution’s defeat there, he replies, “Great! Congratulations! I mean, that is the point, once people start to see science more objectively.”

According to an article by Taner Edis, a Turkish-born physicist teaching at Truman State University, Askhol's movement is involved with anti-Semitism and holoccaust denial.

Another interesting difference from ICR emerges when BAV explains how a godless conspiracy established evolution. Much of what appears under the pseudonym Harun Yahya comes straight from Henry Morris, but it identifies the main forces behind evolution as Masons and Jews. This fits in with the all-too-common antisemitism among Islamists; indeed, Harun Yahya is also listed as the author of a book entitled The Holocaust Hoax, which borrows much from well-known American holocaust-deniers (Yahya nd). Bashing Masons may seem peculiar, but this is actually a common motif in Islamist tirades, where Freemasonry, as for many Christian conspiratologists in the past, serves as a symbol personifying the Enlightenment culture that helped to erode traditional religiosity. Usually the ancient enemies — the Jews, who refused to accept Muhammad as the final prophet — turn out to be behind Masonry, secularism, communism, and just about every godless evil.

The revisonist Institute for Historical Review gave a favorable review to the book.

A new revisionist book in Turkey has been receiving both warm praise and sharp criticism. Published in Istanbul, Soykirim Yalani ("Holocaust Deception") is the first book-length dissident study of the Holocaust issue to appear in the nation of some 64 million people...

Holocaust deception and fraud is the focus of the book's second section, which relies to a considerable extent on books and other material put out by the Institute for Historical Review, including the IHR Journal. This section traces the development and impact of Holocaust revisionism, showing how revisionist scholars have succeeded in debunking numerous Holocaust claims.

20 de Mayo: democratic assembly in Cuba

from Babalu Blog

recently released Cuban dissidents Rene Gomez Manzano and Martha Beatriz Roque-Cabello issued a press release stating plans to have independent groups and organizations gather peacefully in Havana on May 20 to debate ways to democratize Cuba.

These dissidents and other Cubans living in exile have formed the Assembly for the Advancement of Civil Society in Cuba and are working tirelessly to make the May 20th gathering an unprecedented showing of solidarity for the cause of human and civil freedoms in Cuba.

What is the Assembly to Promote Civil Society?

The Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba is a coalition of 365 independent civil society groups within Cuba, which can be truthfully called non-governmental organizations.

All these groups – although having solicited official recognition, have been unable to obtain it, because, as it is well known, dissent is not permitted in Cuba -- not even within the Constitution of the Republic.

The Assembly is a learning means, to help educate the social self towards the re-establishment of civil society, aimed at establishing a democratic system in our country.

The Assembly’s course of action is based upon:

-The formation of a democratic culture
-The development of a social movement
-The strengthening of the Assembly’s organization
-The communications among groups to promote the civil society
-The use of all available means to combat poverty and seek the betterment of the community’s life conditions
-The development of a true knowledge of Cuba’s history, in all its dimensions: economic, social and political.
-The undertaking of activities and projects aimed at the protection and conservation of natural resources and the ecosystem.
-The promotion of a true culture on labor rights

We are calling upon all members of the Assembly to participate in a General Meeting scheduled for this year’s first semester, in order to discuss the joint work we need to undertake towards this end in the future. The tyranny that rules our country has always been opposed to all types of activities of independent groups, and more so, to those activities which represent the unity within Cuba and with the exile community.

Notwithstanding the risks we face under this repressive system, we believe it is necessary to carry out this massive event that constitutes a vital sign in the history of this bloody dictatorship.

This is why we are soliciting international support to carry out this important expression of self-determination that represents the dignity and the will of the Cuban people.

I believe it is imperative for the cause of freedom in Cuba to have the support of the outside world. I urge each and every one of you that reads this blog to click the following link and sign your name to this petition of solidarity with this cause. For over 4 decades the present regime in Cuba has maintained itself in power by usurping the will of its people through oppression while the rest of the world has turned a blind eye. Let fidel castro and his regime know that the world is watching.

Petition for Solidarity with the Assembly for the Advancement of Civil Society in Cuba

While all of the messages from those that have signed on are in Spanish, it's important that those working for freedom on the island know that they have many English speaking friends- as well as others - who support their cause. Please take a few minutes to not only sign the petition but to send them a message of support, of solidarity and of hope. Let them know that freedom knows no linguistic barriers.

Here are the fields translated into English for those of you who do not speak Spanish. You do not have to enter information in all the fields, only those that you feel comfortable with.

-Full Name
-Address
-City
-State
-Postal Code
-Country
-Email
-Telephone
-Organization
-Message
Enviar=Send

Again, please take a few moments and show your support. Let the oppressors know that there are those on the outside that are willing to take a stand against their brutality and violation of basic human and civil rights. We all know the importance of having friends at our side during the most trying of times.