Friday, May 30, 2003
No to Endless War! The South Speaks Out!
Fighting continues in Iraq and Afghanistan, civil liberties and social programs have been gutted at home, and immigrants are rounded up, detained indefinitely without charge, all while the war mongers speak casually of further targets. We say No to Endless War!
There will be a permitted rally, Saturday, June 7th, 2003 at 2pm in Grant Park (Boulevard & Delmar) - Atlanta, GA. (Marta: Shuttle from King Memorial Station).
Followed by a permitted parade to King Center (Rain or Shine).
More information visit June7.Org, call (404) 215-4548, or e-mail: j7@leveller.org
10:13
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
I'm sick - so I left work early, went home, and I am making chicken soup. Ingredients: chicken, carrots, garlic, cilantro, mushrooms, rice, bok choi, celery, jalapenos, ginger, pepper, salt. Reading that list, it occurs to me that I could have made stir fry as well.
Tom, by the way, has a really good weblog up now. There is also a permanent link in the links section of this page. Check it.
17:03
It's Microsoft's World, We Only Live In It.
Richie, my favourite Scot, was kind enough to send word about efforts to keep Scottish Gaelic alive by means of the Microsoft Office Spell-Checker. Yes, that's right: Will a Spell-Check Check Gàidhlig?
How will a spell-checker save a language? Allan Campbell, CEO of the Gaelic Board, is glad you asked:
" 'Over the years, Gaelic speakers were taught that it wasn't really a worthy language,' said Campbell. 'It was just something for consenting adults in private. The idea of having a spell-checker would be a huge boost for people who feel their Gaelic is not up to scratch.'
A spell-checker, he said, would give people more confidence to use the language in everything from school essays and e-mails to business and government correspondence. It would also standardize Scottish Gaelic spelling which, until recently, varied from region to region."
11:22
A Good Man is Hard to Find
And I suppose that this was only a question of time: "Act For Love", a Dating Service for Activists. Their motto? Take Action, Get Action. You can also sign up here to get the Rumsfeld Special: "Find a date, help the cause of peace, and... do it all in the name of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. We'll even send him a thank-you note." I haven't decided if this creepy or funny, but I knew it was coming like a car approaching down a long, straight road, at night, with it's brights on.
10:04
Apres Moi Le Deluge
They tell me that it's been raining in Atlanta since 3 weeks, and that it will continue. It's depressing. And speaking of weather, Kurt Vonnegut gave a speech entitled "Strange Weather Lately", back in April:
'Shock and Awe.
What are the conservatives doing with all the money and power that used to belong to all of us? They are telling us to be absolutely terrified, and to run around in circles like chickens with their heads cut off. But they will save us. They are making us take off our shoes at airports. Can anybody here think of a more hilarious practical joke than that one?
Smile, America. You're on Candid Camera.
And they have turned loose a myriad of our high-tech weapons, each one costing more than a hundred high schools, on a Third World country, in order to shock and awe human beings like us, like Adam and Eve, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
The other day I asked former Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton what he thought of our great victory over Iraq, and he said, "Mohammed Ali versus Mr. Rogers."'
09:45
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Ad Absurdum
The only thing less significant than bourgeois political debate has got to be bourgeois legal debate. The last thing these people are actually concerned with is justice.
21:35
Friday, May 16, 2003
Back from Spain
The Alhambra in Granada. Spain was very beautiful. We will post more pictures when we get a chance.
18:05
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
May 1st was not International Worker's Day at all, as it has been for over 100 years. It was Loyalty Day! Aahh!
13:41
Friday, May 02, 2003
A day late for International Worker's Day, but here is a Russian site with some great Internationalist songs. [via Memepool]
Versions of the Internationale in English, Russian, Chinese, Afghani, Spanish, and acoustic versions too. And the "Warschawjanka", and other great communist anthems (plus some revisionist ones).
Burn a CD and play it at a May Day gathering this weekend!
Workers of the World, Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.
17:08
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Today is May Day!.
Holiday of the Oppressed!
If you are celebrating in the Southeastern United States:
Saturday, May 3rd 2003:
Howell Park (in the West End) @ 1pm – 5pm
South East Regional May Day Festival to celebrate International Worker’s Day in style with music, spoken word, poetry, speakers and food. This will be a legal festival to strengthen and nurture the Southeast radical community.
More info about the Dirty South May Day here.
19:17
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
The Bush Dart Board. We found it yesterday at the "Universal Joint", my favorite Pub.
14:25
Patriot Raid by Jason Halperin.
"Two weeks ago I experienced a very small taste of what hundreds of South Asian immigrants and U.S. citizens of South Asian descent have gone through since 9/11, and what thousands of others have come to fear."
[via WarFilter]
13:06
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
The balance of power has dramatically shifted last month. The conflict between the Neo-Con Imperalists, and their domestic and international opposition intrigues me. Now that the flimsy Casi Belli can be discarded, the infighting is very exposing. The old alliances are badly split.
And the American Imperialists feel there's nothing to hide anymore. From a
PBS Frontline interview with Bill Kristol. Kristol is a co-author of the current Bush Doctrine for world domination. Yes, world domination. Just ask him:
Q: You guys -- how do we describe "you guys?"
A: There's so many different phrases, it's hard to know.
Q: What do you like?
A: I don't care. Kagan and I wrote an article in 1996, trying to lay out this worldview of foreign affairs. We called it "Toward a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy." So I would take "neo-Reaganite," "neo-conservative," "hawk," "American imperialist" . There are lots of different phrases.
10:21
Saturday, April 26, 2003
The secret, hidden park.
11:31
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Read "Empire vs. Republic" from Robert Parry, who helped break the Iran-Contra story, a very good breakdown of the imperial ambitions and divisions within the U.S. ruling class. Although he characterizes the contradiction as "Empire vs. Republic", I would argue that this is "Empire vs. Empire":
On the one side, those following the Bush Doctrine toward establishing a Pax Americana through absolute U.S. hegemony. This is the view of Bush, Wolfowitz, and company and is exactly summed up in Raymond Lotta's brilliant essay "Dissecting the Bush Doctrine".
On the other side, those cautious of overextending the United States economically and militarily, are seeking to build the empire through a "Balance of Power" - relying on strategic allies to overcome enemies. This view is to one-degree-or-another espoused by people like Howard Dean and Pat Buchanan.
To those of us in the Anti-war movement tempted to see the latter view as better, I would argue that it's no less oppressive. The debate is over how to run the empire - like ancient Rome or like Victorian Britain - not whether to oppress billions in the name of profit.
Rather insightfully, Parry, in his article, goes on to expose what we laughingly refer to as the "news" media:
"The Wall Street Journal took note of the dueling coverage presented by domestic CNN and its CNNI Networks, which broadcasts to international viewers. While domestic CNN focused on happy stories, such as the rescue of U.S. prisoner-of-war Jessica Lynch, CNNI carried more scenes of wounded civilians overflowing Iraqi hospitals.
“During the Gulf War in 1991, [CNN] presented a uniform global feed that showed the war largely through American eyes,” the Journal reported. “Since then, CNN has developed several overseas networks that increasingly cater their programming to regional audiences and advertisers.” [WSJ, April 11, 2003]
Left unsaid by the Journal’s formulation of how CNN’s overseas affiliates “cater” to foreign audiences was the flip side of that coin, that domestic CNN is freer to shape a version of the news that is more satisfying to Americans and to U.S. advertisers."
15:05
Saturday, April 19, 2003
A Chill Wind is Blowing in This Nation...
Tim Robbins, the man who directed "Cradle Will Rock", an excellent film, speaks:
"....a history teacher tells his 11-year-old son, my nephew, that Susan Sarandon is endangering the troops by her opposition to the war. Another teacher in a different school asks our niece if we are coming to the school play. They're not welcome here, said the molder of young minds. Another relative tells me of a school board decision to cancel a civics event that was proposing to have a moment of silence for those who have died in the war because the students were including dead Iraqi civilians in their silent prayer."
He spoke at the National Press Club, it was broadcast on the Atlanta NPR affiliate on tuesday night. The NPC website hosts a Video Stream [RealMedia]
10:55
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Keily and I had our one year wedding anniversary this weekend! More details to follow when Keily gets back (we have pictures and everything). You are probably wondering what our secret is, but this is confidential....let's just say we had a good time, are in Love, and we were interviewed for a television commercial by Intel. In other news:
1. Keily is in Tybee Island for a few days with her work, and I'll try to join her in Savannah this weekend.
2. Christie is moving out tonight, off to happier grounds in Seattle and Hawaii.
3. We are attempting a trip to Spain next month.
4. I had lunch with Sue Ella today.
5. Tom, Sara, Keily, Chad and I had a blast playing pub-trivia, Simpsons clue, and Trivial Pursuit last night.
19:11
News Round Up:
1. Weapons of Mass Destruction Found: None.
2. Democracy Restored to Iraq: Now Iraqi Protesters will be treated almost the same as American protesters.
3. Terrorism defeated: One guy arrested. Who wasn't exactly hiding. [Via WarFilter]
4. Oil Supply Secured: 100%
5. US and UK troops getting the hell out: Anyone, anyone? Bueller? Anyone, anyone...
18:54
Thursday, April 10, 2003
"I NOW INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE TOO FAR FROM REALITY." Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Iraqi Minister of Information
Here's a link to the fansite of the man responsible for such gems of disinformation as "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" and "My feelings - as usual - we will slaughter them all". Ari Fleischer, eat your heart out.
"In an age of spin, al-Sahaf offers feeling and authenticity. His message is consistent -- unshakeable, in fact, no matter the evidence -- but he commands daily attention by his on-the-spot, invective-rich variations on the theme. His lunatic counterfactual art is more appealing than the banal awfulness of the Reliable Sources. He is a Method actor in a production that will close in a couple of days. He stands superior to truth."
[Link found at WarFilter]
11:25
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
It appears the Americans have just lost the war...
07:35
Monday, April 07, 2003
Q.: And Babies? A.: And Babies.
Anti-War Posters... now and then. Which ones say it best?
11:41
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Brrr..it's cold here. It's been snowing for four days straight.
I had an interesting conversation with a cab driver. He's from Iran originally, fled under the Shah regime installed by the U.S. government, then watched as they armed Saddam and started the war against Iran in the 1980's. I asked him if there'd be any protests in Stockholm this weekend. He said he was too pissed off to pay attention to anymore. He didn't think protests in Sweden could make a difference, rather he hoped that perhaps Russia or China or someone would challenge the U.S.
He said that the U.S. war against Iraq was like "you or me being forced to fight Mike Tyson".
When I told him about the protests in the U.S. that had been happening, he agreed that this could make a big difference, but why hadn't he heard about them? Also, he was pissed off at the Swedes for not taking a clear stand, for playing all sides. This sounds about right, based on my experience with the Swedish decision making process. As a German-Swedish colleague of mine summed up yesterday: When a Swede says 'Yes', it really just means 'Let's wait and see'.
22:09
Monday, March 31, 2003
I attended the Palestinian Land Day Rally at Piedmont Park, Atlanta yesterday. Followed by Al's surprise birthday party at our place. He's 28 - Love you, bro. We've also added Christie (sp?) as a room-mate on short notice. Welcome to the neighborhood, Christie.
19:33
WarFilter has kicked off. I signed up, so should you.
15:58
Saturday, March 29, 2003
Because the U.S. corporate media has been desperate to report that in fact there are people in the United States who support the war on Iraq, Clearchannel Media Conglomerate has resorted to organizing their own pro-war rallies across the U.S., in order to have something to cover. I went to check out the one in Centennial Park a couple of weeks ago, down by CNN center. The speakers consisted of a variety of right-wing radio jockeys, some far-right wing radio jockeys, some extreme far right-wing radio jockeys, and veteran soldiers from WWII and Korea.
The crowd was 100% white, middle-aged, small-town types. They held signs up that said things like "Give War a Chance", "W. is a Hottie", and "First Iraq...then France". They denounced the communist media-conspiracy spearheaded by CNN. They demanded that "sissy" protesters be treated as traitors and prosecuted. And they tended to dress their kids like the one whose picture I took below. I think he'll make excellent Canon Fodder for the Marines for the invasion of Iraq in 2019, or decide to screw the whole system altogether.
I think Larry Wax, one of the right-wing jockeys, summed it up best when he shouted out to the crowd: "They will make us seem like a dwindling mob of yokels from the hills making a last-ditch stand against global enlightenment." I couldn't agree more!
15:44
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