Re: DU
DU is chemically toxic, like lead. You don't want to eat, breath or otherwise ingest the stuff. From what I understand, its chemical toxicity is far more hazardous than any kind of radioactive decay. - Original Message - From: Alejandro Valle Baeza [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 6:14 AM Subject: Re: DU Lead is not radioactive at all, on the contrary it is used to prevent radiation damage in x-ray cabinet by example. Alejandro Devine, James wrote: is DU more radioactive than the lead used in normal bullets, which also form little particles?
PLEASE ACT: Abolition of IMF/WB user fees on primary health and education blocked by U.S. Treasury
- Original Message - From: Robert Naiman To: Robert Naiman Sent: Saturday, October 07, 2000 7:40 PM Subject: [waggers] PLEASE ACT: Abolition of IMF/WB "user fees" on primary health and education blocked by U.S. Treasury Many of you are -- hopefully -- aware that one of the most controversial World Bank/International Monetary Fund "structural adjustment" policies imposed in poor countries is the policy of promoting "user fees" for primary health care and education. This form of education and health care privatization has been notoriously responsible for keeping kids in developing countries out of school and blocking poor people from accessing basic health care. The House passed language in the Foreign Operations bill to end this practice, but this legislation is now threated by the opposition of the U.S. Treasury Department. This is the likely the only progressive reform of IMF/WB structural adjustment policies which stands a chance of passage in the current Congressional session. We need to act IMMEDIATELY to save this provision. Rep. Kucinich is circulating a letter of Congressional Democrats to the two Democratic Appropriators with the most influence in the final negotiations, Rep. David Obey and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Rep. Pelosi has strongly supported the abolition of user fees, but she needs strong backing from House Democrats to win. How you can help: Unions: we need letters from your local and from your international if possible to House Democrats urging them to sign the Kucinich letter in support of abolishing user fees ASAP. NGOs: we need a letter from your organization to House Democrats asking them to sign the Kucinich letter. Individuals: we need you to call your Member of Congress TUESDAY and ask them to sign the Kucinich letter supporting the abolition of user fees. Congressional switchboard is 202-225-3121. If your Member of Congress is Republican, but you have a Democratic Senator, contact that office and ask them to signify their support for the abolition of user fees by contacting Senator Leahy's office. Everyone: if you have contacts among House Democratic Members or their staffs, we need you to contact them IMMEDIATELY and ask them to sign the Kucinich letter in support of the abolition of user fees. If we fail, it will mean one more year that World Bank user fee policies keep kids in Africa and the rest of the developing world from getting the education and health care which is their birthright. PLEASE ACT. Tell staffers you speak to that they may communicate their sign-ons to Jaron Bourke in Rep. Kucinich's office at 225-5871. Thank you for any help you can provide. -b - Original Message - From: Soren [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 06, 2000 6:18 PM Subject: (50 Years) U.S. ALERT: save user fee ban, avert SAP conditions on debt relief We have learned that the landmark amendment passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year to withhold U.S. funds from the IMF and World Bank unless they eliminate required "user fees" for primary health and education programs may be in danger. Negotiations are now underway to reconcile the House bill (with the amendment) with the Senate bill (which does not have it). We need to send a clear signal that Democrats in the House support the amendment, and that they oppose harmful new conditions on debt relief being suggested by Republicans. The letter below is being circulated by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. It is addressed to the two most influential House Democrats in determining the fate of the Foreign Operations appropriations bill. If you are in the U.S. or are a U.S. citizen and your Representative is a Democrat or Independent, PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ON TUESDAY (October 10) to urge her/him to sign on to this letter. It may mean the difference in providing health care and education for people in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America, and in preventing debt relief from becoming another tool for advancing the neoliberal "free trade" agenda. THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD (for all Representatives and Senators) IS 202/224-3121. Tell the staffer you speak to that they may communicate their sign-ons to Jaron Bourke in Rep. Kucinich's office at 225-5871. Thanks! 50 Years Is Enough Network === LETTER FROM HOUSE DEMOCRATS Honorable David Obey Honorable Nancy Pelosi Dear Rep. Obey and Rep. Pelosi: We write to you concerning a matter of urgent concern: attempts in conference negotiations to link debt relief to inappropriate and harmful structural adjustment conditions on the world's poorest countries. We believe that U.S. legislation on debt relief must be consistent with the program's aims: to relieve the burden of the world's most impoverished people. We ask that you, as the leading Democratic negotiators, strongly *oppose* efforts to require rapid trade liberalization as a prerequisite for bilateral or multilateral debt relief in the
Re: Re: Re: now you know
From: "Brad De Long" [EMAIL PROTECTED] We remember that there were *reasons* it was called the National *Socialist* German *Workers* Party. How do you explain *Democratic* Kampuchea? mark
Re: contentville
From: "Ken Hanly" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Want to download Justin's thesis? Henwood's latest article in the Monthly Review etc.? For a fee of course. Just go here: http://search.contentville.com/content/archives.asp How do these people manage to do this without infringing copyright? Canadian Dimension is one of the magazines in their database but Dimension did not give permission to sell articles. From today's Feed: http://www.feedmag.com/lofi.html A U G U S T 1, 2 0 0 0 IN A TWIST of ethical irony, media custodian Steven Brill's Web venture Contentville has repelled many writers, editors and academics since it debuted July 5. Writers are claiming that Brill is selling their copyrighted articles by licensing them through little-known library archiving companies that now want a piece of the e-commerce booty. The e-commerce site -- also funded by Microsoft, NBC, CBS and Primedia -- promises that readers will rejoice at its menu of books, articles, TV transcripts and old speeches, for sale starting at $2.95 each. But creators and publishers are accusing Brill of turning a blind eye as partners EBSCO (magazine articles) and Bell Howell (dissertations) seemingly stretched the terms of licensing clauses in contracts with publications including The Village Voice, Discover, and Harper's. Many publishers contracted with these musty archivers to redistribute articles for research purposes, not realizing that they could be siphoned back to other media companies to sell -- and end up helping a major network's bottom line. But the archivers say it's legit. "We license content to the library market. We have the right to go ahead and re-purpose that [content] in different ways," EBSCO district manager Tim Collins explained. Even the savviest freelance writers, while only selling one-time rights, tend to be complacent about their work resurfacing in academic searches. And what graduate student would deny the library the legacy of her toil? (Bell Howell claims it has rights to every Ph.D. dissertation since 1861.) But now that Brill is hawking words for bargain-basement rates, creators and publishers are digging out old contracts to determine how they got sucked into Contentville. The scam is apparently based on a patchwork of third-party licensing contracts that have quietly passed off rights through a chain of licensers. Doug Isenberg, an intellectual-property attorney and founder of Gigalaw.com, says such contracts need not mention the Internet to be legal. "It's possible for an author to give away that right without having used those words. A smart publisher would have secured those rights. A smart author would not have given away those rights," Isenberg said. He added, though, that every content partner along the way could be liable for copyright violations. [ . . . ]
Fw: Ohio State University Settles
- Original Message - From: "seth wigderson" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 19, 2000 3:04 PM Subject: Ohio State University Settles Dear Friends, Here is the CWA story and the OSU Press Release SW - - - - - - OSU Strikers Win Tentative PactMay 19, 2000 Negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to end the three-week strik= e at Ohio State University, where CWA's fight for living wages has won broad support from students, politicians, religious leaders and the larger Columbus community. The proposed contract will increase wages by $2 over three years for campus workers and by $1.90 for employees at the Ohio State Medical Center. Bringing the wages of the two units closer together was a top priority for striking workers. Nearly 2,000 workers, members of CWA Local 4501, walked off the job May 1. Under the agreement, reached May 18, they will return to work beginning at = 5 a.m. May 22. Ratification votes are scheduled for May 23-25. "We made real progress," said District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach. "W= e had a very effective strike, and we addressed the primary goals that we had= . We got some additional money and we brought the hospital much closer in lin= e with campus than it had been." Five days into the strike, workers rejected a contract offer that had significantly different pay scales for the two bargaining units. The new proposal gives hospital workers a shift differential of 15 cents in the first year, 20 cents in the second and 25 cents in the third, in addition t= o bettering their base wages. The workers include groundskeepers, bus drivers, custodians, food service workers and maintenance employees on the 50,000-student Columbus campus, th= e nearby medical center and satellite campuses in Wooster, Lima and Newark. Many of the workers earn less than $10 an hour, in spite of years of service. Support for the strikers started strong and continued to grow, with rallies= , vigils and friendly honks as drivers passed picket lines. As the strike entered its third week, several members of the Columbus City Council spoke out on the workers' behalf. Councilwoman Charleta Tavares told the Columbus Dispatch that she recently saw a fast food restaurant offering workers $8 a= n hour with stock options, a pension plan and other benefits. "When we say we pay our fast-food workers this kind of rate, what does it say for people who have worked for years making $9 or $10?" she said. Noted supporters include poet Maya Angelou and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume= , who both cancelled scheduled appearances on campus the second week of the strike. In a letter of thanks to Mfume, CWA President Morton Bahr said, "Our struggle is as much for respect and dignity for this overwhelmingly African-American workforce as it is for wages and working conditions. Your support, hopefully, will assist in our efforts to reach an early and satisfactory agreement." Meanwhile, students held a sit-in at the administration building, planned rallies, passed out flyers and wore CWA buttons and T-shirts. The Council o= f Graduate Students passed a resolution urging students, staff and faculty to boycott businesses that pay rent to Ohio State, including vending machine companies, restaurants, copy shops and the campus bookstore. Professors also showed support, moving some classes outdoors to avoid crossing picket lines and allow students to see and hear the strikers. - - - - - - May 19, 2000 For Immediate Release: UNIVERSITY AND UNION NEGOTIATORS REACH TENTATIVE "LANDMARK AGREEMENT" Negotiators for The Ohio State University and the Communications Workers of America Local 4501 early this morning reached a tentative agreement which they hope will bring an end to the three-week-old strike by 1,900 union members. The CWA leadership is asking members to return to their jobs starting Monday followed by a ratification vote which will take place next week. "We are enormously pleased that we have been able to reach this tentative agreement," said Dr. William E. Kirwan, university president. "This is a landmark agreement that is fair and equitable and which addresses concerns raised by both sides. The wage package included in the accord was put on the table by the union's bargaining team and it is a package we are able to support. I am very hopeful that the university can begin to return to normal and that we will once again be able to call upon the valued skills and full services of the CWA." Gary Josephson, president of the CWA local, said that the tentative agreement represents a significant step forward for his members and urged his members to ratify the accord. "We pressed our issues and the university listened," Josephson said, "and we listened to the university's issues. In the end, we wound up with what I believe is a win/win agreement - one that has my full support and the
Re: Re: Re: NYU Conference Schedule (April 7-8) (fwd)
From: "Jim Devine" [EMAIL PROTECTED] (and it would be truly groovy if the CATHOLIC WORKER leader Dorothy Day became a saint, almost making up for the on-going move to make Fr. Junipero Serra one) Vatican to Weigh Sainthood For Reformer Dorothy Day By Hanna Rosin Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, March 17, 2000; Page A03 Catholic Worker newspaper, but famously said, "Don't trivialize me by trying to make me a saint." The Vatican yesterday agreed to consider whether to grant sainthood to Dorothy Day, heroine of the Catholic left, journalist, anarchist and pacifist, ignoring objections from church traditionalists and possibly Day's own wishes. snip Many traditionalists think Day's radical past makes her an unsuitable role model. But many of her activist friends resist it for the opposite reason. To them, canonization will whitewash her life and turn it into a tidy inspirational story. "I want to let you know how sick your canonization moves are," her granddaughter Maggie Hennessy wrote to the Catholic magazine that first proposed it in 1987. "You have completely missed her beliefs and what she lived for if you are trying to stick her on a pedestal." Yesterday, a fellow activist, Daniel Berrigan, seemed resigned. "I guess it's a fait accompli," he said. "The dead don't ever own the dead." Day herself resisted the honor. Nervous about having her life examined, she burned all copies of her novel "Eleventh Hour," a fictionalized account of her early life, including her abortion and sexual adventures. When asked about sainthood directly, she famously quipped: "Don't trivialize me by trying to make me a saint." snip http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/17/098l-031700-idx.html
[PEN-L:12571] Re: Re: Wilson
On Monday, October 11, 1999 at 13:15:10 (-0400) Louis Proyect writes: Did Cockburn write about that? I don't remember. In any case, it sounds like this draws on research by Arline Geronimus, who should get the credit for it, since she's gotten mostly grief from moralists left and right. She also argues that it makes sense for poor black women who want kids to do so by multiple fathers, since the risk of a father being killed or jailed is so high, and since multiple fathers expand the network of "fictive kin," who are an essential support network to such a despised and embattled population. I wrote up her work in LBO a few years ago, and it drew more hostile responses than anything I've done except my critique of Seymour Melman. It's amazing how many progressive-seeming people are scandalized by Geronimus' work. Doug It probably was in LBO, now that I think about it. I did a Nexis search on Cockburn plus related words like pregnancy and welfare, but could find nothing that made this point. I could swear that Cockburn did write about this. He drew on the work of some woman, whose name I forget (some sort of anthropologist??), and he did give her credit. I can't remember if this was in Counterpunch, The Nation (I think so), or in his book *The Golden Age Is In Us*. Or, maybe it was indeed LBO... Didn't Cockburn once do a piece a while ago on the work of Mike Males, who argued that it was rational for black women to bear children at a young age because (I think) family networks were stronger, shorter life expectancies, toxicity of the environment many African Americans live in, etc. mark __ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
[PEN-L:12572] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wilson
Right now, on the real side, there is no going back to the old system, much less a GAI. The more you demand it, the more irrelevant you get. The game is different now. If you don't want to take my word for it, ask the advocates who work in the trenches. I agree that organizing around a GAI is probably not the best thing the for the left at this time. As you and others have pointed out, the LP's right to a job and transfers in the name of "child support" are potentially much more fruitful avenues. But then again, it was no accident that Nixon's GAI was called the Family Assistance Plan. As for those who toil in the political trenches, my fear is that 1) their understanding of the politically possible is not as capacious as it should be, and 2) many seem to be operating from St. Paul's dictum that if one does not work, neither should she or he eat. mark __ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
[PEN-L:12505] Re: Re: Wilson
From: Rod Hay [EMAIL PROTECTED] Stephen Steinberg's argument is essentially an idealist one. The point of Wilson's work is to attack the material (economic) base of racism. Barbara Field has argued for a similar analysis And Fields has been criticized for trying to downplay the importance of race as something that is merely epiphenomenal or ideological, an argument that leads to erroneous assumption that once we fix the class problem racism will have been solved too. This was one of the major points of Steinberg's essay on Wilson -- you can't fully combat racism without attacking it head-on. The revivalist, purification of the soul of racist America attitude presented in this article will accomplish nothing, and finds a response only in the heart of guilty middle class moralists. This makes me think you didn't read the article. Or did you just miss the final paragraphs that dealt with the material impact of affirmative action policies??? mark __ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
[PEN-L:12504] Re: Re: Re: Wilson
From: Max B. Sawicky [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1) It IS bad to be on welfare. Welfare stinks. Anyone who prefers welfare to employment that provides an adequate income (possibly including public benefits) needs to rethink; On the other side, as Nathan noted, they raise the issue of compensated housework, which is well outside the conventional discourse (and probably futile). I'm positive you don't need to be reminded of the radical demand during the Marxist Nixon administration to delink a person's livelihood from their employment status with a guaranteed annual income in the Family Assistance Plan. But those halcyon days are far behind us and there's no looking back. Hard to starboard boys! There is no alternative I'd also humbly and respectfully suggest what needs to be rethought is the work ethic. A great starting point would be Daniel Rodgers' excellent history _The Work Ethic in Industrial America_. Rodgers, who if I remember correctly got his start before he became a historian helping the poor gain the "work skills" needed to hold down a job, argues that the work ethic is no friend of working Americans. mark __ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
[PEN-L:12472] Re: Re: RE: Wilson
From: Mathew Forstater [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yes, it would be a mistake to equate Wilson's position with that of Thomas Sowell, Dinesh D'Souza, Walter Williams. New Politics ran a good article on Wilson by Stephen Steinberg not too long ago. I forgot what the rule is on posting complete articles to PEN-L (or even if there is one), so I've included the url and the first few paragraphs. mark http://www.wilpaterson.edu/~newpol/issue22/steinb22.htm Science and Politics in the Work of William Julius Wilson Stephen Steinberg [from New Politics, vol. 6, no. 2 (new series), whole no. 22, Winter 1997] Stephen Steinberg's most recent book, Turning Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy, received the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship by the Race and Ethnicity Section of the American Sociological Association. THE AUTUMN 1995 ISSUE OF THE Journal of Blacks in Higher Education included an article on "The High Priests of the Black Academic Right." Along with such conservative acolytes as Glenn Lowry, Thomas Sowell, and Shelby Steele appeared the name of William Julius Wilson. I assume that the author of this article, Mark Megalli, a student at Yale Law School, had his tongue bulging in his cheek when he included Wilson in this conservative pantheon. Wilson promptly whisked off a letter to the editor declaring that he was "shocked and dismayed," adding: "I can say without equivocation that nearly all the positions he [Megalli] associates with black conservatives . . . are anathema to me." I know Bill Wilson (his work, that is), and although he is no friend of mine, I can vouch for the fact that Bill Wilson is no conservative. On occasion Wilson has come out of the academic closet and declared himself a social democrat. He has consistently argued for governmental programs, including an expansion of the welfare state, to assist the "truly disadvantaged." In his new book, When Work Disappears, Wilson advocates a WPA-style jobs program to combat the chronic unemployment that he sees as the root of the tangle of problems that beset black America. This alone would prompt Wilson's excommunication from Megalli's priesthood of the black academic right. Nevertheless, there are strains of conservatism in his writing that Wilson has been unwilling to confront. His 1979 book, The Declining Significance of Race, gave credence to the idea that this nation solved its "race problem" with the passage of landmark civil rights legislation in the 1960s, and that today blacks with the requisite education and skills confront few obstacles on the road to success. Then in The Truly Disadvantaged, published in 1987, Wilson explicitly rejected race-based public policies, including affirmative action, opting instead for class-based approaches that attack structural unemployment and provide improved welfare and social services, including job training, for those who need it. Although many leftists were mesmerized by his emphasis on "class," Wilson's class analysis never amounted to more than a contention that blacks lacked the education and skills to survive in a postindustrial economy. His position is indistinguishable from that of human capital economists who insist that black underrepresentation in the higher occupations is due to deficiencies in their "productive capacities." It is true that Wilson ends up in the liberal camp, arguing for an expansion of the welfare state and the creation of job programs, but as his critics on the right point out, his praxis is logically at odds with some of his core assumptions. No doubt Megalli's high priests would like to welcome Wilson into their sacred order. After all, he has embraced two key tenets of their conservative faith: 1) that blacks need to stop blaming "racism" for their problems, and 2) that blacks need to acquire the education and job training that will permit them to climb the ladder of success. It is principally Wilson's insistence on governmental interventions that defines him as a liberal. Of course, it does not really matter what political label we pin on Wilson. What matters is whether his writing advances the cause of racial justice, or whether, as I argued in Turning Back, it provides intellectual fodder and legitimation for those who have taken race off the national agenda . . . __ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
[PEN-L:6442] Re: Re: Death of 'Progress' (was Re: modernism)
Tom Walker wrote: Reconciling the contradictory beliefs is _not_ easy, as attested by the totality of journalism, education, criminal justice, medicine, religion, marketing and non-auratic art dedicated to promoting this internalization. A rough estimate would be that _most_ of the U.S. economy is a symbolic economy of illusion. snip It is not easy to reconcile the contradictions, but it is so much harder to stop doing it that it makes it look easy by comparison. I agree entirely; I should have written "too easily reconciled." mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html
[PEN-L:6058] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Brad De Long on workinghours
Brad De Long wrote: Also, industrial capitalism has led to a qualitative change in the nature and pace of work, often for the worse. In addition to Thompson, see the work of Herbert Gutman. No more drinking on the job, for instance. I don't know about this. It seems to me that in historical perspective--relative, say, to being a field slave at Monticello--conditions of work here and now under modern industrial capitalism are pretty good... Were I perverse I'd cite Fogel and Engerman's data concerning slaves vis-a-vis contemporary industrial workers in Europe. It is true that Gutman's work has been criticized for not dealing with race in a satisfactory manner. I don't know if that is your point or not. In "Work, Culture, and Society in Industrializing America" Gutman argues that the human components of the Age of Industrialization were ill suited to the demands of factory life. Foreign and internal immigrants were familiar with the regimen of agrarian rhythms and the relatively self-directed work of the artisan. Thus, their protests against factory life took predictable forms. Industrial workers, used to what Thompson termed the "alternate bouts of intense labour and of idleness wherever men were in control of their working lives," constantly challenged factory rules, which demanded a more consistent effort. See also Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times for a visual presentation of these ideas. But don't let me shake your faith in the march of Progress. I have no doubt that you're able to cite whatever horrendous antecedent necessary to make everything today look like peaches and cream. mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
[PEN-L:6059] Re: Re: Re: Brad De Long on working hours
Jim Devine wrote: I didn't say that the slaves got worse off due to freedom. In the US, the case which I'm most familiar with, they definitely better off (at least in the short run), as their work hours per year fell significantly (according to Ransom Sutch). My point was that the shift from slavery to freedom is a mixed blessing. Some things -- like security -- are often lost. This is a good point. It is often assumed that a move towards a more formally or legally equal relationship from a relationship with asymmetrical power dynamics is a good thing. This is not always the case. I got the following in the mailbox from the AFL-CIO which gave me pause. My roommate, a temp worker, takes pride in the fact that he "works for himself." Never mind the fact that his employers don't provide health insurance or a pension plan. Also, when I used to deliver food, many of my coworkers had the same feelings about being "independent contractors." All of which goes to show that "formal" equality often obscures class, race and gender exploitation. fontfamilyparamTahoma/parambiggerFrom: "Atwork Account" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Undisclosed-recipients Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 17:33:40 -0400 Subject: Work in Progress, April 26, 1999 Work in Progress, April 26, 1999 BILL SEEKS END TO CONTRACTOR SCAM--Bipartisan legislation to end the practice of misclassifying workers as independent contractors was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Many employers misclassify workers to avoid paying billions of dollars in local, state and federal income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes and unemployment insurance. The workers are forced to pay both their share and the employers share of Social Security and Medicare; they seldom enjoy health or pension benefits or the protection of most labor laws, including those covering employment discrimination, safety and health and the right to organize unions. The Independent Contractors Classification Act is the first of several AFL- CIO-backed bills to be introduced to address so-called alternative work arrangements, such as hiring temporary, "perma-temps" and part-time workers. /bigger/fontfamily NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
[PEN-L:6012] Re: Re: Re: Re: Brad De Long on working hours
Jim Devine wrote: Others have replied to Brad on this so I'll try not to repeat their points. EP Thompson reminds us that the onset of capitalism led to the _rise_ in hours worked per year. So how good capitalism looks depends on your standard of comparison. Also, the reduction of working hours per year (in the advanced capitalist countries) has also been a _victory_ of labor unions, social-democratic parties, and the like. It wasn't handed to us on a platter. Also, industrial capitalism has led to a qualitative change in the nature and pace of work, often for the worse. In addition to Thompson, see the work of Herbert Gutman. No more drinking on the job, for instance. mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
[PEN-L:5772] Re: High school
Louis Proyect wrote: One of the most interesting points made in a NY Times article today about the Littleton massacre is that the school was divided by class distinctions. The "preps" and the "jocks" were on top, and "nerds" and "geeks" were at the bottom. The people at the top wore Gap and Abercrombie Fitch clothing exclusively. I heard on the radio this morning that one of the shooters lived in a million dollar home and drove a BMW to school. mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
[PEN-L:5420] Re: Serbian resistance capability.
Louis Proyect wrote: This is a decadent, fat and lazy imperialist nation. Unlike the Nazis who were pumped up with racialist ideology, the US priviliged workers and petty bourgeoisie would prefer to sit on the sofa watching war scenes on television while stuffing their faces with beer, ice cream, fried chicken and donuts. Obesity is a national epidemic in the US. If we were less fucking greedy, we'd save our own lives as well as the people we're exploiting. I watched Antiques Road Show the other night, which symbolizes the insanity of this country better than nearly anything else. "What do we have here?" "It's a civil war sword that my uncle Ebenezer gave me just before he died." "How much do you think its worth?" "I have no idea." "Between 10 and 12 thousand dollars on the open market." 'My word!!" You look at all the people wandering about the hall while the cameras roll and you've never seen such a bunch of fat asses in all your life. Zippy Rules! To wit: http://www.kingfeatures.com/comics/zippy/zit90218.gif [The somewhat illegible dialogue coming out of the tv in the last panel is the "money shot" question, "And do you have any idea what it's worth?"] mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
[PEN-L:4841] Re: Re: Austin's correct academic affiliation
Speaking of East Tennessee state, they had a really smart steel analyst who was a an expert on Taylorism. No kidding. Also, someone from down thar wrote a real interesting book on the economic causes of the Appalachian feuds. Turns out a lot of feuds, if not most of them were in response to corporate economic and corporate political take-overs of local economies. A well documented little book. Are you thinking of Altina Waller's italicHatfields, McCoys, and Social Change in Appalachia, 1860-1900/italic (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1988)? At the time of publication, she was at SUNY Plattsburgh though. mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
[PEN-L:4261] Re: More on Latin America
There isn't much in English on Colombia but I would recommend Our Guerrillas, Our Sidewalks by Harvey Kaye I too would recommend this book; it was written by Herbert Braun though. mark NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet. Shouldn't you? Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download.html
