Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Gary-- O'Collins (who's even older than you are) has spent too much time in an obsequious academic culture (and the academy - especially in Europe - is far worse in that regard than the church). He's offended by Pullman's literary attack (which in fact is curiously and obviously double-minded), so instead of taking the occasion to preach the gospel, as the much more literary Abp. Rowan Williams did (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/apr/03/good-jesus-christ-philip-pullman), he simply fulminates (which, BTW, is the very opposite of being Jesuitical). O'Collins misses the fundamental point Williams starts with: This is not a speculation about the beginnings of Christianity ... It is a fable through which Philip Pullman reflects on Jesus, on the tensions and contradictions of organised religion -- and indeed on the nature of storytelling... A very bold and deliberately outrageous fable, then, rehearsing Pullman's familiar and passionate fury at corrupt religious systems of control -- but also introducing something quite different, a voice of genuine spiritual authority. The whole review deserves to be read, because Williams is doing exactly what a bishop (episcopus) is supposed to do - announce the good news to the world at large (or in this case, that part that reads the Guardian); from words like his, some have seen through the surface froth of religion and heard the voice Pullman himself obviously finds so compelling. O'Collins OTOH is just an academic. A belated happy birthday, CGE On 8/12/10 5:46 PM, Gary MacLennan wrote: It's my birthday today -68- and I can believe it! so I thought I would indulge myself a little on the list, if comrades will excuse that. This piece from the Guardian caught my attention. It was a report on a book by a Jesuit, Gerald O'Collins, criticising the author Philip Pullman's book on Jesus and him having a bad twin etc. I haven't read the book and do not intend to. Though my admiration for it was increased by seeing that it irritated the Catholic Church, so it can't be all bad... Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Grim Voter Mood Turns Grimmer
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:59:57 +0100 Sebastian Clare sebthegoo...@gmail.com writes: == http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704901104575423674269169684 .html The sour national mood appears all-encompassing and is dragging down ratings for the GOP too, suggesting voters above all are disenchanted with the political establishment in Washington. Just 24% express positive feelings about the Republican Party, a new low in the 21-year history of the Journal's survey. Democrats are only slightly more popular, but also near an all-time low. Seems like any sort of third party would reap a prosperous harvest from these numbers, representing as they do a disdain amongst the electorate for both the main parties... But then, that's First Past The Post for you - almost always leads to a choice between a douche and a turd sandwich. Exactly! Friedrich Engels noted that in a letter that he wrote 120 years in which he explored some of the reasons why the US did not have a mass socialist party. And in that respect, little has changed since then. And we shouldn't forget that most states have laws that make it very difficult for third parties to get and retain ballot status. The US electoral system is very much rigged against challengers to the two-party duopoly. Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant Solidarity, Seb Penny Stock Jumping 2000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4c6535f9aca5810b973m03vuc Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Churchill's Empire
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Yes but his prime motivation was preserving the Empire He refused to give up India until Montgomery told him it could only be held down by a million troops Incidentally Indian liberation was triggered by the mutiny of the Indian navy George Anthony Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Churchill's Empire
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Unfortunately it's subscriber only, but if you can get it it's worth reading the review in LRB of the book below for differing class responses to BBC broadcasts trying to inspire Brits to fight harder in World War II. The punchline is that government agents assigned to listen to citizen reaction to such broadcasts found uniformly that workers resented patronizing upper-class appeals, and said we're ready to fight, get off your blooming arses and organize us, even discipline us, into a force to fight the fascists! July 8, 2010 issue, Bernard Porter, * Listening to Britain: Home Intelligence Reports on Britain’s Finest Hour May-September 1940 edited by Paul Addison and Jeremy Crang Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Churchill's Empire
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Superb stuff, the collective spirit reigned supreme and had to be rolled back by Fulton and McCarthyism George Anthony Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Kucinich won't challenge Obama in 2012 primaries
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/08/obama-wont-face-dem-primary-challenge-from-kucinich/1 Aug 12, 2010 Obama won't face Dem primary challenge from Kucinich White House spokesman Robert Gibbs may have criticized attacks from what he called the professional left, but presumed member-in-good-standing Rep. Dennis Kucinich said today he won't challenge President Obama in the 2012 Democratic primaries. What we have to do is focus on coming together for the purposes of getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, Kucinich of Ohio told our old pal George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. Kucinich, who has run for president twice, joined many liberal colleagues in criticizing Gibbs' comments in an interview withThe Hill. The Obama spokesman said liberals who compare his boss to predecessor George W. Bush ought to be drug tested, and added that they wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president. I think that Mr. Gibbs and the White House need to realize that liberals support the president, but the criticism is really a measure of hopes that have not been realized, Kucinich said. He also said: To try to paint as out of the mainstream people who want a full employment economy, people who want peace, people who want to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, that is the mistake that Mr. Gibbs made. (Posted by David Jackson) Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Churchill's Empire
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Right, and he was the guy most responsible for the disaster at Gallipoli in 1916 and later sent troops to aid the White armies during the Russian Civil War, all while being in the ranks of the Liberals, hardly a departure from Reaction in that context as opposed to Cold War anti-communism, which Cold War Liberals enthusiastically promoted and covered for and for whom Fulton is part of their mythology. On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 7:38 AM, midhurs...@aol.com wrote: He was anti-working class from the off and organised against the General Strike in 1926 Only came onside against Hitler when he saw a threat to the empire, hence the war in the western desert as a threat to the Suez Canal He rejoined the ranks of reaction at Fulton at the behest of Truman George Anthony Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Don Draper is the central character in Mad Men (played by Jon Hamm) when I was of the age of the children depicted therein, having started first grade in 1959. On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 12:05 PM, midhurs...@aol.com wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The actor who played a Doctor Who -Tom ? had a similar experience to you and now hates Catholicism Any way religion is based on a lie-that there is a god George Anthony Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Times ran an interesting online essay along these lines Wednesday, which has caused me to partially rethink my own approach to Dawkins and his ilk: Religious believers often accuse argumentative atheists such as Dawkins of being excessively rationalistic, demanding standards of logical and evidential rigor that aren’t appropriate in matters of faith. My criticism is just the opposite. Dawkins does not meet the standards of rationality that a topic as important as religion requires. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/on-dawkinss-atheism-a-response On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 5:52 PM, C. G. Estabrook galli...@illinois.eduwrote: The trendy disproofs of God (e.g. from Ditchkins, as Terry Eagleton would have it) are in fact warnings - of which Thomas Aquinas would have approved - against idolatry in his technical sense, viz. treating God as a thing in the universe rather than creator. They so often hinge on fallacies arising from the inadequacy of language. (It's about things, and God is not a thing; God and the universe do not add up to two [two what?]). So, (as a correspondent recently put it) an argument God cannot exist becomes this kind of God-as-creature is not worthy, has no worth-ship, i.e., you shall not worship other Gods. -- Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Aug 13, 2010, at 7:37 PM, Joseph Catron wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Times ran an interesting online essay along these lines Wednesday, which has caused me to partially rethink my own approach to Dawkins and his ilk: Religious believers often accuse argumentative atheists such as Dawkins of being excessively rationalistic, demanding standards of logical and evidential rigor that aren’t appropriate in matters of faith. My criticism is just the opposite. Dawkins does not meet the standards of rationality that a topic as important as religion requires. You evidently didn't read far enough, because my comment posted in that thread completely refutes the author's criticism of Dawkins: You are wrong to dispute Dawkins argument about complexity. The creator of a complex system, to create it, must initially have that complexity in its consciousness (otherwise there would be something in that complex system which was not the work of that creator, and therefore the system *as a whole* was not the work of that creator). So the complexity of creation must also be complexity within the creator. Therefore either: the creator having something existent about it that is over and above the complexity of the creation is to that extent more complex than the creation; or: there is nothing about the creator that is not present in the creation (pantheism) and therefore a separate creator is otiose. Shane Mage L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce qu'on a apporté. Bardo Thodol Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] From Derek Seidman
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == My dear friend Jake Hess has been arrested by the Turkish police. He is being detained without charges and not being allowed to see his lawyer. jake has being doing human rights work in Southeastern Turkey for about 1.5 years. He is a journalist for Interpress Service and a former Brown MA student in History. He is a wonderful, decent person who does important work. This is very serious. Thank you. --Derek Please re-post, send out, put on facebook, etc., spread the word. http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=articleid_article=38149 Reporters without Borders release: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/us-journalist-jake-hess-detained-in-turkey/19592727 Below are some suggestions for State Dept numbers. Here's the Turkish Embassy in DC: ... +1 202 612 67 00 +1 202 612 67 01 And the US Embassy in Ankara: (90-312) 455- Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:08:51 -0400 Shane Mage shm...@pipeline.com writes: On Aug 13, 2010, at 7:37 PM, Joseph Catron wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Times ran an interesting online essay along these lines Wednesday, which has caused me to partially rethink my own approach to Dawkins and his ilk: Religious believers often accuse argumentative atheists such as Dawkins of being excessively rationalistic, demanding standards of logical and evidential rigor that arent appropriate in matters of faith. My criticism is just the opposite. Dawkins does not meet the standards of rationality that a topic as important as religion requires. You evidently didn't read far enough, because my comment posted in that thread completely refutes the author's criticism of Dawkins: You are wrong to dispute Dawkins argument about complexity. The creator of a complex system, to create it, must initially have that complexity in its consciousness (otherwise there would be something in that complex system which was not the work of that creator, and therefore the system *as a whole* was not the work of that creator). So the complexity of creation must also be complexity within the creator. Therefore either: the creator having something existent about it that is over and above the complexity of the creation is to that extent more complex than the creation; or: there is nothing about the creator that is not present in the creation (pantheism) and therefore a separate creator is otiose. Also note that the traditional theistic God is ususally conceived of as a being who interacts with His creation. He passes judgments on the actions of his creatures, hears their prayers, and is said to even respond to these pleas. He is also posited as a being who intervenes in the workings of nature and history. Such a being would have to be enormously complex, capable of processing vast amounts of information. The existence of such a being seems to be highly improbable. Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant Shane Mage L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce qu'on a apporté. Bardo Thodol Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/farmelantj%40juno.com Penny Stock Jumping 2000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4c65fa187357810f76em03vuc Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == That sort of god - a Zeus, or demiurge - is rather far from the Judeo-Christian notion (as elaborated in the West by Augustine and Aquinas). Christians were prosecuted (correctly) during the Roman principate for atheism - for not believing in any such god. On 8/13/10 9:05 PM, Jim Farmelant wrote: Also note that the traditional theistic God is ususally conceived of as a being who interacts with His creation. He passes judgments on the actions of his creatures, hears their prayers, and is said to even respond to these pleas. He is also posited as a being who intervenes in the workings of nature and history. Such a being would have to be enormously complex, capable of processing vast amounts of information. The existence of such a being seems to be highly improbable. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Aug 13, 2010, at 10:24 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote: That sort of god - a Zeus, or demiurge - is rather far from the Judeo-Christian notion (as elaborated in the West by Augustine and Aquinas). A Zeus and a Demiurge are two essentially different concepts. A Demiurge is an artisan, the shaper of an ordered world out of chaos, the lawgiver to a lawfully unfolding cosmos. That is the God of Genesis. Zeus, (especially as Jupiter) is impersonal energy, symbolized as the thunderbolt (the planetary connection is here particularly à propos) and participating in the life process in the do ut des fashion--invoked through ritual sacrifices. That is the God of popular religion--Allah, Jesus, Adonai. For the philosophers, though, the impersonality of the cosmic energy flow is what counts: It consents and does not consent to be called Zeus(Herakleitos). Christians were prosecuted (correctly) during the Roman principate for atheism - for not believing in any such god. Not so. Their *belief* was never at issue, and every sort of *belief* was current and tolerated in the Republic, Principate, and Dominate until the Christians, progressively from Constantine to Theodosius, outlawed and persecuted every form of belief (including dissident Christian) that deviated from their orthodoxy. What was prosecuted in Roman law was seditious conduct--that of a secret society systematically subverting the *do ut des* cosmic relationship of the Republic with the gods it invoked through public sacrificial ceremonies. (Pliny the Younger's letters express that distinction very well). Shane Mage Thunderbolt steers all things. Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64 Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == How about this one from Bakunin's God and the State: If God actually existed, it would be necessary to abolish him which amplifies God as an idol: of class society, an idea as I recall that Marx touched on. http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bakunin/works/godstate/index.htm My copy of this work has as its epigram, Herzen's evaluation of Bakunin: this man was not born under any ordinary star, but a comet and then Aquinas obviously was an apologist for feudalist society run by land Lords; I mean when was it ever said Jesus is Serf? On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 4:37 PM, Joseph Catron jncat...@gmail.com wrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The Times ran an interesting online essay along these lines Wednesday, which has caused me to partially rethink my own approach to Dawkins and his ilk: Religious believers often accuse argumentative atheists such as Dawkins of being excessively rationalistic, demanding standards of logical and evidential rigor that aren’t appropriate in matters of faith. My criticism is just the opposite. Dawkins does not meet the standards of rationality that a topic as important as religion requires. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/on-dawkinss-atheism-a-response On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 5:52 PM, C. G. Estabrook galli...@illinois.edu wrote: The trendy disproofs of God (e.g. from Ditchkins, as Terry Eagleton would have it) are in fact warnings - of which Thomas Aquinas would have approved - against idolatry in his technical sense, viz. treating God as a thing in the universe rather than creator. They so often hinge on fallacies arising from the inadequacy of language. (It's about things, and God is not a thing; God and the universe do not add up to two [two what?]). So, (as a correspondent recently put it) an argument God cannot exist becomes this kind of God-as-creature is not worthy, has no worth-ship, i.e., you shall not worship other Gods. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == just curious, you claim to be a marxist? On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 2:52 PM, C. G. Estabrook galli...@illinois.eduwrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The trendy disproofs of God (e.g. from Ditchkins, as Terry Eagleton would have it) are in fact warnings - of which Thomas Aquinas would have approved - against idolatry in his technical sense, viz. treating God as a thing in the universe rather than creator. They so often hinge on fallacies arising from the inadequacy of language. (It's about things, and God is not a thing; God and the universe do not add up to two [two what?]). So, (as a correspondent recently put it) an argument God cannot exist becomes this kind of God-as-creature is not worthy, has no worth-ship, i.e., you shall not worship other Gods. On 8/13/10 2:05 PM, midhurs...@aol.com wrote: The actor who played a Doctor Who -Tom ? had a similar experience to you and now hates Catholicism Any way religion is based on a lie-that there is a god George Anthony Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/tomcod3%40gmail.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == evidence that God exists or existed as creator or otherwise? On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 2:52 PM, C. G. Estabrook galli...@illinois.eduwrote: == Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The trendy disproofs of God (e.g. from Ditchkins, as Terry Eagleton would have it) are in fact warnings - of which Thomas Aquinas would have approved - against idolatry in his technical sense, viz. treating God as a thing in the universe rather than creator. They so often hinge on fallacies arising from the inadequacy of language. (It's about things, and God is not a thing; God and the universe do not add up to two [two what?]). So, (as a correspondent recently put it) an argument God cannot exist becomes this kind of God-as-creature is not worthy, has no worth-ship, i.e., you shall not worship other Gods. On 8/13/10 2:05 PM, midhurs...@aol.com wrote: The actor who played a Doctor Who -Tom ? had a similar experience to you and now hates Catholicism Any way religion is based on a lie-that there is a god George Anthony Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/tomcod3%40gmail.com Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] petition for the immediate release of Jake Hess
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Email margaree.lit...@gmail.com to add your name to a petition calling for the immediate release of Jake Hess. Info: http://cpj.org/2010/08/cpj-calls-on-turkey-to-release-american-journalist.php Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == True, I didn't make it though all 583 comments, but I certainly wouldn't buy yours. For one thing, it entails the kind of dualistic logic (complex/simple) Christianity discarded in about 208. Arguments that if God is one thing, he necessarily cannot be another, generally miss the point of what God is, hypothetically or not, by definition. And it seems to me to attack science as much as theology; certainly there could be few things less complex than the contents of the universe immediately prior to the Big Bang. On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 9:08 PM, Shane Mage shm...@pipeline.com wrote: You evidently didn't read far enough, because my comment posted in that thread completely refutes the author's criticism of Dawkins: You are wrong to dispute Dawkins argument about complexity. The creator of a complex system, to create it, must initially have that complexity in its consciousness (otherwise there would be something in that complex system which was not the work of that creator, and therefore the system *as a whole* was not the work of that creator). So the complexity of creation must also be complexity within the creator. Therefore either: the creator having something existent about it that is over and above the complexity of the creation is to that extent more complex than the creation; or: there is nothing about the creator that is not present in the creation (pantheism) and therefore a separate creator is otiose. -- Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] self-indulgence
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Gary MacLennan gary.maclenn...@gmail.com writes: It's my birthday today -68- and I can believe it! so I thought I would indulge myself a little on the list, if comrades will excuse that. This piece from the Guardian caught my attention. It was a report on a book by a Jesuit, Gerald O'Collins, criticising the author Philip Pullman's book on Jesus and him having a bad twin etc. I haven't read the book and do not intend to. Though my admiration for it was increased by seeing that it irritated the Catholic Church, so it can't be all bad. Bad twin, hell, have you seen his *friends*?! Many happy returns. :) -- In Solidarity, Billy O'Connor Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism-Thaxis] The Racists Return - Did They Ever Go Away? (2 articles)
The Racists Return - Did They Ever Go Away? (2 articles) * The Racists Return (Joe Conason in TruthDig) * The Unbearable Whiteness of Being (Mark Naison in History News Network) == The Racists Return By Joe Conason TruthDig (drilling beneath the headlines) August 11, 2010 http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_racists_return_20100811/ Among the most revealing aspects of life during the Obama presidency is the panoply of responses to a black family in the White House. What made so many of us proud of our country on Jan. 20, 2009, has increasingly provoked expressions of hatred from the far right. That is troubling, but not nearly as troubling as the behavior of conservatives who excuse, embolden or simply pretend to ignore the bigots surrounding them. Last spring, after unruly tea party protesters on Capitol Hill were accused of spewing racial epithets at civil rights hero John Lewis, an African-American congressman from Georgia, conservatives rose up in furious denial. Where was the proof? How could anyone suggest that racial prejudice lurks behind the festering right-wing hatred of President Obama (and his family)? Anger over that episode still lingers in certain quarters, motivating the deceptively edited video attack on Shirley Sherrod and the NAACP by a website called Big Government, Inc. Even if the alleged assault on Lewis and other black congressmen did occur, argued prominent commentators on the right, it somehow only proved that there is no racism in America worthy of concern. A writer for National Review (the conservative magazine that historically opposed civil rights legislation) confided that the whole subject made him yawn: That these things are even remotely newsworthy leads me to one conclusion: Racism in America is dead. We had slavery, then we had Jim Crow-and now we have the occasional public utterance of a bad word. Real racism has been reduced to de minimis levels, while charges of racism seem to increase. But this summer has seen several loud and ugly outbursts of very real racism-including threats of violence against the president of the United States-that go well beyond the utterance of any single word. As if suffering from a facial tic, leading figures on the right cannot seem to suppress their inner Klansman these days. Advertisement Is there any other way to explain Glenn Beck's crazed rant comparing the Obama administration to an old movie about a society where apes and chimpanzees dominate humans? What did the Fox News host mean, exactly, when he shrieked: It's like the damned Planet of the Apes. Nothing makes sense! Is there any other way to explain the grotesque new best-seller by radio host Laura Ingraham, The Obama Diaries, where, among other things, she depicts first lady Michelle Obama eating ribs at every meal? Why would she feel the need to describe the president as uppity by putting the word in the mouth of his mother-in-law? No wonder Stephen Colbert taunted Ms. Ingraham to her face for hideous and hackneyed racial stereotyping. Of course, these are only two of the more egregious instances in recent weeks of social poisoning that dates back well over a year. Symptoms can be seen across the country now, even in amusement parks and church carnivals, where small children are exposed to this spiritual sickness. At the Big Time fair held by Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Roseto, Pa., last week, a game called Alien Attack featured an image of a suited black man holding a health care bill and wearing a belt buckle with a presidential seal, at which players were encouraged to aim their popguns. Anybody who hit the cardboard figure in the head or the heart could win a prize. Irvin L. Good Jr., owner of Goodtime Amusements, who is responsible for this disgusting garbage, denied that the figure represents Mr. Obama. We're not interpreting it as Obama, the inaptly named huckster told a local newspaper. The name of the game is Alien Leader. If you're offended, that's fine, we duly note that. Meanwhile on the New Jersey shore, patrons of the Seaside Heights boardwalk could hurl baseballs at a black, jug-eared Obama figurine, winning a prize if they managed to smash it. As seen in a video posted on the Gawker website, this object closely resembles the grinning lawn jockey statuettes that used to festoon suburban lawns in a less decent era. Most conservatives were late in taking responsibility for their movement's immoral opposition to civil rights. It is time for them to step up and denounce the racism that is again disfiguring our country in their name. [Joe Conason writes for the New York Observer.] == The Unbearable Whiteness of Being By Mark Naison History News Network August 2, 2010 http://www.hnn.us/articles/129497.html Reading Ross Douthat's column in the New York Times blaming Ivy League admissions for the disaffection of working-class and middle-class whites made me laugh. As someone who grew up in a working class neighborhood and
[Marxism-Thaxis] Truthout's Union From the
Shannon Duffy: An Update on Truthout's Union From the National Newspaper Guild [Shannon Duffy is a union organizer. He has been the business manager of TNG-CWA 36047, the St. Louis Newspaper Guild, since September, 2005 and is currently Truthout's union representative.] http://www.truth-out.org/truthouts-union-new-media-and-labor-movement62273 An Update on Truthout's Union From the National Newspaper Guild Thursday 12 August 2010 by: Shannon Duffy, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed [Editor's Note: From the beginning of our original organizing effort, Truthout's union representative, Shannon Duffy, has supported Truthout staff throughout the unionizing process. He continues to guide our members towards solidifying our groundbreaking contract as the first online-only media organization to be unionized. - Sari Gelzer (Unit Chair)] The recently completed contract talks with Truthout mark the end of a rather eventful year at one of our Guild's newest bargaining units. And Truthout's staff - union and nonunion alike - are to be congratulated for hanging in there and reaching a tentative agreement. All that remains now is for the tentative agreement to be distributed to the membership and a ratification vote to be held (and a special shout out to Guild Rep. Jay Schmitz for the vital role he played in shepherding the process along). When workers at Truthout voted (almost unanimously) to join our union, the online publication was in dire straights. Their former director had departed, leaving a broken budget and a trail of debt that demanded immediate attention. Painful belt tightening then ensued. Truthout's new director makes less than one quarter of the previous director's salary, and she has ended the practice of having mostly independent contractors perform full-time work for the web site. All employees of Truthout are actually employees - meaning they are entitled to negotiated benefits including health care and retirement. Along with employee status comes the fact that everyone also now earns a living wage. Truthout has changed in other ways, too. No longer does the site mostly repost articles from other sources; instead, the publication now generates most of its own content. As a result, relationships with other media - print and digital - have been repaired and strengthened. And it is here, I believe, where Truthout's association with the Guild - and its Principles of Professionalism and Honesty in the News Media - can be highly beneficial (are you listening, other online publications?). No matter how the delivery system morphs or evolves, the ability to tell a truthful, compelling story is something that will always be in demand. Our union has decades of experience with issues that challenge that ability - whether it be setting a standard for quality journalism or defending free speech in newsrooms, in courtrooms and in the hearing rooms of Washington, DC. Such experience and first amendment expertise are key assets for any media entity, and for those with whom we have a relationship, are theirs for the asking. Since its unionization and reorganization, Truthout has worked hard to uphold and even strengthen its integrity. It has launched an internship program to help support new reporters and editors, and its recent investigative reports - related to oil drilling, for example - have been garnering high marks by mainstream media. For that - and more - this plucky publication deserves to survive and prosper. It's been an eventful year, and I commend Truthout for living its values of accountability and transparency. Truthout's Union Members belonging to The Newspaper Guild - Communication Workers of America Local 36047 include: Jason Leopold, William Rivers Pitt, Mark Karlin, Leslie Thatcher, Sari Gelzer, Matt Renner, Annie Stoddard, Joshua Jacobo, Kendel Gordon, Alexa deMonterice, Lance Page, Jared Rodriguez. ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] 100-year-old Scotch pulled from frozen crate
Last Updated: August 13. 2010 3:52PM 100-year-old Scotch pulled from frozen crate Associated Press Wellington, New Zealand -- A crate of Scotch whisky that was trapped in Antarctic ice for a century was finally opened Friday -- but the heritage dram won't be tasted by whisky lovers because it's being preserved for its historical significance. The crate, recovered from the Antarctic hut of renowned explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton after it was found there in 2006, has been thawed very slowly in recent weeks at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island. The crate was painstakingly opened to reveal 11 bottles of Mackinlay's Scotch whisky, wrapped in paper and straw to protect them from the rigors of a rough trip to Antarctica for Shackleton's 1907 Nimrod expedition. Advertisement Though the crate was frozen solid when it was retrieved earlier this year, the whisky inside could be heard sloshing around in the bottles. Antarctica's minus 22 Fahrenheit temperature was not enough to freeze the liquor, dating from 1896 or 1897 and described as being in remarkably good condition. This Scotch is unlikely ever to be tasted, but master blenders will examine samples of it to see if they can replicate the brew. The original recipe for the Scotch no longer exists. Once samples have been extracted and sent to Scottish distiller Whyte and Mackay, which took over Mackinlay's distillery many years ago, the 11 bottles will be returned to their home -- under the floorboards of Shackleton's hut at Cape Royds on Ross Island, near Antarctica's McMurdo Sound. Whisky lover Michael Milne, a Scot who runs the Whisky Galore liquor outlet in Christchurch, described the rare event as a great experience. I just looked at this (crate) and honestly, my heartbeat went up about three paces. It was amazing, he said. The box was like a pioneer's box with the wood and nails coming out, he said. Although Milne said he'd give anything to have a taste of the whisky. It is not going to happen and I am not going to get excited about it, he said. But if there was ever an opportunity, it could be a wonderful one to have. Nigel Watson, executive director of the Antarctic Heritage Trust, which is restoring the explorer's hut, said opening the crate was a delicate process. The crate will remain in cold storage and each of the 11 bottles will be carefully assessed and conserved over the next few weeks. Some samples will be extracted, possibly using a syringe through the bottles' cork stoppers. From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100813/NATION/8130417/1020/100-year-old-Scotch-pulled-from-frozen-crate#ixzz0wWLQ9ty5 ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
[Marxism-Thaxis] White House opposes ending birthright citizenship
White House opposes ending birthright citizenship ASSOCIATED PRESS Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said today she’s surprised that Republican congressional leaders are joining a push to reconsider the 14th Amendment instead of working with Democrats on comprehensive immigration reform. Napolitano says that’s “just wrong.” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama agrees with Napolitano. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said he supports holding hearings to reconsider the citizenship rights of illegal immigrants’ babies born in the U.S. But he emphasized that Washington should remain focused on border security. Read more: White House opposes ending birthright citizenship | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20100813/NEWS15/100813035/1322/White-House-opposes-ending-birthright-citizenship#ixzz0wWNGY7Ty ___ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
