April 15: Malalai Joya and Eve Ensler

South Asia Solidarity Initiative and War Resisters League in association with Center for Place Culture & Politics at CUNY present

An evening with Malalai Joya featuring Eve Ensler:
Women Facing War in Afghanistan, and the Need for U.S. Solidarity

April 15, 7 - 9pm

CUNY Graduate Center, Recital Hall
(Ground floor, 365 Fifth Ave at 34th St)
[BDFV & NQRW trains to 34th St, 6 train to 33rd]

This event is free and open to the public.
There may be a FULL HOUSE so arrive early to guarantee admission!

Everyone is encouraged to make a donation to support the cost of Ms. Joya's tour, her health clinic in Farah Province, and her office in Kabul.
The donations should be made at the following link
(Please be sure to indicate "Malalai Joya" in the "order comments" section).

Copies of Ms. Joya's memoir will be available for sale at the event.
RSVP on Facebook:

For more information: prachi@southasiainitiative.org

As the U.S.-NATO occupation of Afghanistan approaches its 10th anniversary this year, the U.S. anti-war movement is in dire need of clarity and momentum. The Afghan people still face overwhelming oppressive obstacles to creating movements toward social justice and self-determination -- obstacles empowered by the context of foreign intervention and war. Please join us for a rare opportunity to hear from the one of the most courageous voices for justice and peace in Afghanistan, Malalai Joya. She will be joined by the acclaimed U.S. artist and activist Eve Ensler, to discuss the experiences and resilience of women (and all people) in Afghanistan -- and what people in the U.S. can do to raise their voices and support their struggles.

Speakers:

Malalai Joya is the youngest person to have been elected to Afghanistan's parliament, and an outspoken activist against military occupation and for women's rights in her country. She has been called the most famous and bravest woman in Afghanistan by BBC News. She was selected among the "heroes" for the Time 100 [TIME magazine, 2010] -- and she was just selected among the top activists of the world's Top 100 Women by the UK Guardian newspaper. Her memoir, "A Woman Among Warlords," was just published in paperback by Simon&Schuster, with a new chapter on Afghanistan in the Obama era. She just wrote a piece for the Guardian on the U.S. soldiers' "kill team" and atrocity photos, a story that has returned U.S. news attention to Afghanistan this March-April.*

Joya was supposed to arrive in the U.S. on March 18 to start a nationwide speaking tour, but at the last minute her visa was denied. A quick mobilization of media attention, activist petitioning and pressure on the State Department turned it around! [See articles in TIME magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle.] She arrived in the U.S. on March 25, joining Noam Chomsky to address a crowd of over a thousand people at Harvard. Having spoken all across the U.S, her tour concludes in New York City on April 15 at this event.

Eve Ensler is an acclaimed playwright, performer and activist. She is the award-winning author of The Vagina Monologues, which has been published in 48 languages and performed in over 140 countries. Eve's work, I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Life Of Girls Around The World (2010), made the New York Times' best-seller list. She is the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls, which has raised over 80 million dollars for the cause. Ensler has traveled to Afghanistan, and built relationships of solidarity with activists for justice and peace there.

*Afghans for Peace, a group of Afghan youth leaders against the occupation based in US and Canada, has started a Petition and a "Video Response" project to the "Kill Team" photos.

Please show your support for their organizing for justice by:

1. Signing the petition to Stop War Crimes Against Afghan Civilians

2. Sharing your feelings by posting a "Video Response" to this video created by Afghans for Peace:

Allen Ginsberg died April 5, 1997

One of the iconic photos of the 20th Century Allen Ginsberg with Jean Genet in Grant Park, Chicago, 1968. (no photo credit available)

Allen Ginsberg died on this day in 1997.

April 5: Protest American aid to Israel

Protest American aid to Israel
Tuesday, April 5 at Noon
The White House

Today President Obama is hosting Israeli President Shimon Peres for a working lunch. Join us in telling President Obama to *STOP AID TO ISRAEL!*

Contact (310) 920-8248 with any questions!

Don't forget about the upcoming discussion of Jen Marlow's "The Hour of
Sunlight: One Palestinian's Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker."

*Author Jen Marlowe discusses "The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian's
Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker."*
Wednesday, April 6, 6:30pm
Jerusalem Fund, 2425 Virgina Ave NW Washington, DC 20037

In peace,

Ali, Chris, Joan, Medea, Shaden, Tighe and CODEPINK DC
[image: empowered by Salsa] < http://www.salsalabs.com/?email>

Gael Murphy
202 412 6700
www.gazafreedommarch.org
www.unitedforpeace.org
www.codepink.org

Justice for Betty Dukes against Walmart?

The campaign of the corporate oligarchy to destroy all working peoples rights is in full swing in this crucial gender discrimination case against Walmart. Here's what Liza Featherstone writes in the current issue of The Nation:

Dukes v. Wal-Mart’s opponents are united in their desire to suppress the ability of workers and consumers to sue large companies.

Justice for Betty Dukes?

April 7th: Aurora Barnes @ The Bitter End

Please join us at the Bitter end on Bleeker St. to applaude our friend Aurora Barnes April 7, 7:30PM

Libya: War of Conquest, NOT Humanitarian Operation

Michel Chossudovsky appeared on one of my favorite radio programs WBAI's "Law and Disorder" this morning and argued that the military operation in Libya is for control of oil and not to save lives.

Libya: War of Conquest, NOT Humanitarian Operation

April 9, Noon - National March & Rally: Bring the Troops Home Now

April 9, Noon @ Union Square, NYC
National March & Rally: Bring the Troops Home Now

No to Racism
No to Attacks on Muslims
No to Attacks on Immigrants
No to Attacks on Unions

The United National AntiWar Committee
UNAC 518-227-6947/646-998-6103
UNACpeace.org
UNACpeace@gmail.com

Britons rally against budget cuts (from Al Jazeera English)

Wisconsin, Egypt, Libya, Britain: a new world is emerging. We need to be united and in solidarity.




Britons rally against budget cuts (from Al Jazeera English)

"The change we can believe in," but not here

"The change we can believe in" is happening, but not here. But as we can see throughout the Middle East and North Africa change comes from the bottom, it's not handed down from above. The State will always protect itself, only the people - sometimes at great cost - can change the world. If the people of Libya and Bahrain don't complete their mission today, it is only a setback not a defeat. It will happen.


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/03/14/audacity-change

AIPAC's newest strategy - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

It's a regular old double play: Marching orders from Netanyahu to AIPAC to Congress & the Obama administration and the Palestinians are out. In fact the U.S. policy in the broader Middle East & North Africa is made in Jerusalem.

AIPAC's newest strategy - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Anthony Weiner on Clarence Thomas (on The Colbert Report)

Rep. Anthony Weiner (Dem.-NY) explains to a "skeptical" Stephen Colbert why Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from any Supreme Court decisions regarding health Care.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bench Press - Anthony Weiner
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

April 28: FAIR's 25th Anniversary Benefit

FAIR's 25th Anniversary Benefit
April 28, 2011, 7:00pm
symphony space
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York City

Please join renowned activist and scholar Noam Chomsky, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and Salon.com columnist Glenn Greenwald for a special evening to support FAIR.

Tickets are $45
On sale NOW at
symphonyspace.org
or call 212-864-5400 (box office hours 1-6pm EST)

RESERVE THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE: Special LIMITED reserved seating available for $100 and up. Your name will appear in the event program as a Silver Anniversary supporter. For reserved seating, please contact Deborah Thomas at dthomas@fair.org, or call 212-633-6700 ext 18.

All proceeds to benefit FAIR, the national media watch group.

Noam Chomsky is a prolific writer, speaker and path-breaking media critic. Best known for books like Manufacturing Consent, Chomsky is among the most important public intellectuals in American life.

Amy Goodman is an award-winning investigative journalist and syndicated columnist, author and the host of Democracy Now! airing on more than 900 public television/radio stations worldwide. Goodman is the author of four New York Times bestsellers. Her latest book, Breaking the Sound Barrier, proves the power of independent journalism in the struggle for a better world.

Glenn Greenwald is one of the most astute and penetrating media critics of our time. He is a columnist at Salon.com and the author of the bestselling books A Tragic Legacy and Great American Hypocrites.

Foreign intervention in Libya?

As you can see from the photos below (from: Al Jazeera English) there are differences within the people's movement in Libya with regard to foreign intervention.
























(Image credit: AFP)

What's controversial about saying the Republicans & their Tea Party allies are racist?

I'm sure you have already heard that NPR CEO & President Vivian Schiller has resigned following the resignation of NPR Senior VP for Fundraising Ron Schiller (no relation) due to "controversial" comments he made:

Tea Party people aren't "just Islamaphobic, but really xenophobic, I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people."

What I don't understand is why telling the truth is controversial.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/09/134358398/in-video-npr-exec-slams-tea-party-questions-need-for-federal-funds

King hearings on Muslim Radicalization Decried as a New McCarthyism

Has anyone else been wondering when the demonic ghost of Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisc) took over the body of Rep. Peter King (R-NY3)? Clearly, the McCarthy & King witch hunts were/are designed to stir up fear across the land.

Hearings on Muslim Radicalization Decried as a New McCarthyism (from Democracy Now)

Libya rebellion = impact on oil industry

From Al Jazeera English here's the impact of events in Libya on the oil industry.

Is the Libyan rebellion coming to a head?

It looks to me like the Libyan rebellion is coming to a head. Usually when there is this much confusion, something is happening.


6:04am
Libyan state television has denied a report by Al Jazeera and two Arab newspapers that Colonel Gaddafi has sought a deal with the rebels that would see him step down with certain guarentees.

It was reported that a Gaddafi representative made the proposal to the opposition's so-called "National Council" based in Benghazi. The council apparently rejected the offer.

for more here

Libyan forces strike back at rebels (Al Jazeera English)

Here's the latest from Libya. The rebels are asking for a "no fly zone".

The rebel forces say they will be outgunned if the government continues to unleash its air attacks on them and are pleading for the international community to impose a no-fly zone to prevent this.

"We don't want a foreign military intervention, but we do want a no-fly zone," rebel fighter Ali Suleiman told AP. "We are all waiting for one,'' he said. The rebels can take on "the rockets and the tanks, but not Gaddafi's air force''.

Libyan forces strike back at rebels - Africa - Al Jazeera English.

Battle for Libya intensifies (from Al Jazeera English)

Here's the latest from Libya. Although we really don't know what's happening in Tripoli at this point, it seems obvious that the rebels are advancing in some areas and holding their own in others. The last thing anyone needs right now is for the U.S. to turn Libya into another Iraq. If the rebels ask for our help, we should be prepared to provide it. But at this point, they don't seem to be asking. At this moment the U.S. bull should stay out of the North African & Middle East china shop. It seems to me the Libyans know what they are up against and are choosing the course they're on. We need to give them all the support we can, w/o interfering.

Battle for Libya intensifies - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

The Middle East feminist revolution by Naomi Wolf - (Al Jazeera English)

"The Middle East feminist revolution" Opinion by Naomi Wolf from Al Jazeera English

A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE BUDGET CRISIS IN WISCONSIN

One of NYC's hidden treasures: Free concerts at Lincoln Center

Last night we discovered one of New York's hidden treasures: free concerts (and other events) @ Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium.

The star of the evening was a wonderful violinist, Shem Guibbory, who played two solo pieces, Grazyna Bacewicz' Solo Sonata #2 and Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonata in g minor, BWV 1001. Not surprisingly, the Bach was a thousand times better than the Bacewicz.

The other two pieces were duets. And the supporting players were every bit equal to Guibbory. The first for violin and percussion, Slowly She Turns by Douglas J. Cuomo, opened the evening. It included an absolutely brilliant percussionist, Rex V. Benincasa, and in some ways was the evening's highlight. All the performers were wonderful but I loved Benincasa. What he did with percussion was unbelievable.

The last piece was Brahms' Sonata in d minor, op. 108. Pianist Craig Ruteberg, who was originally scheduled to play got sick on Tuesday. Kathleen Tagg replaced him with essentially two days to prepare and she knocked it out of the park. (I couldn't help but wonder where pianists get their page turners. I guess with Julliard across the street, it's probably not hard.)

All in all it was a wonderful evening. And the best part was that it was FREE.

After the concert we went to O'Neal's, which has morphed into the Atlantic Grill. As I understand it O'Neal's, which started life as the Ginger Man 46 years ago and itself "closed during renovations on the building and reopened as O’Neals’," went out of business last May.

The Ginger Man, for NYC restaurant-history buffs, was named after a movie starring the owner Michael O'Neal's brother Patrick. But I heartily recommend the Atlantic Grill. The scallops were wonderful. And they have draft beer from my new-favorite brewery, Brooklyn's Six Point. And I got to try one of their brews I had not previously tasted, Bengali Tiger. Another winner for Six Point.

Prof. Horace Campbell: Peace & Justice Movement Should Oppose U.S.-Led Intervention in Libya

This morning on Democracy Now, Prof. Horace Campell said:

We have seen, from the testimony yesterday from, the Senate Armed Services Committee, that [U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen], the chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is very uncomfortable with military intervention. [ Defense Secretary Robert M.] Gates is uncomfortable with military intervention. And [Gen. James N. Mattis] the head of the U.S. Central Command said that a no-fly zone is a prelude to military activity. And then, on the other hand, we have John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Hillary Clinton and those forces calling for a no-fly zone and military intervention.

And as you know these three have never seen a military intervention they didn't like. Remember the three musketeers were key supporters of the invasion of Iraq.

It is up to the peace and justice movement in this country to stand with one voice to say that at this point any kind of humanitarian intervention must be through the United Nations

For more of Cambell's interview with Amy Goodman this morning, click here:

Prof. Horace Campbell: Peace & Justice Movement Should Oppose U.S.-Led Intervention in Libya

March 12 & 13: 4th Annual New York Peace Film Festival

4th Annual New York Peace Film Festival

Sat. March 12 & Sun. March 13, 1:00pm-9:00pm

All Souls Unitarian Church
1157 Lexington Avenue (at 80th Street)
(Subway: #6 Line 77th St Station)

2 World / 1 US / 3 New York Premiere Films!!

Starts with Kick Off Party!
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 7:00pm-9:00pm
Seating is Limited! Reserve your spot now!
RSVP info@nypeacefilmfest.com

2 day Peace Film Festival
Sat. March 12 & Sun. March 13, 2011 at 1:00pm-9:00pm

F I L M S
A Thousand Cranes / Flash of Hope: Hibakusha Traveling the World / Standing Army
Another Courage / Twice Bombed, Twice Survived: the Legacy of Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Beating the Bomb / Death & Taxes / Free World
Billboard from Bethlehem / The Children of Adam / Silent Screams
Un Pokito De Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth)

Images and Trailers are available at nypeacefilmfest

Special Free Event:
Japanese Storytelling "Kamishibai" on Sat. March 12 at 1:00pm-2:00pm
For Age 3 and up!

1 day all day ticket: advance $16, $18 at the door (cash only)
Advance Tickets are now on Sale!

Co-Sponsor: The Peace & Justice Task Force of All Souls Unitarian Church
Partners: American Friends Service Committee, NY Metro Region; Granny Peace Brigade;
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW); New York War Resisters League;
Pax Christi, New York; Peace Action New York State (PANYS); and Resistance Cinema

Republican women: "Keep the government out of my doctor's office"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As always Rachel gets at the core of the debate. But one thing she doesn't mention is that all the Republican opponents of the government looking over the doctors shoulder are women standing up for their right to privacy in the doctor's office.

On the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Libya

Latest on the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Libya as of March 1, 5:41 PM (From Al-Jazeera English)

It seems to me that the only reason the U.S. is not taking military intervention off the table is its concern about the oil. If we were concerned about defending lives against genocide, we would have long ago protected Palestinian lives in Gaza.

Let same-sex marriages continue during the Prop 8 appeals process - latimes.com

The L.A. Times, one of California's major papers, called for equal rights for gay men & lesbians now. Here's the editorial.

Proposition 8: Let same-sex marriages continue during the appeals process - latimes.com

GOP Attacks Women : Weiner Responds | Video Cafe

GOP Attacks Women : Weiner Responds | Video Cafe

"Freewheelin" Suze Rotolo, 1943-2011

In the '60s in the Village in and around the Limelight (which was then a bar on 7th Ave. just below West 4th St.) I knew a young woman named Carla Rotolo. But you know her younger sister, Suze, better - especially if you are a Bob Dylan fan. Suze was the young woman in the iconoic photo taken in February 1963 by Don Hunstein on Jones Street. a one block side street connecting West 4th and Bleeker, which became the cover of Freewheein Bob Dylan. Suze Rotolo died last weekend at 67.

Suze and Carla - who were Red Diaper Babies - befriended Dylan when he first arrived in New York. Suze was Dylan's girlfriend from 1961 to 1964 and he wrote several of his early love songs to her, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright; Tomorrow is a Long Time; and Boots of Spanish Leather. While they were together Suze (and Carla) influenced his move to the Left. They had a bad breakup, caused partly by his burgeoning relationship with Joan Baez and Suzi's unhappiness with being as she put it "the sixth string on his guitar." It was their breakup which caused him to write, Ballad in Plain D, which he later said he was sorry he wrote. But then we all say things we wish we could take back. We usually can't.

According to Wikipedia,

Rotolo was associated with civil rights work and protests against the travel ban against Cuba. She worked for a time for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). She traveled to Cuba in June 1964, with a group, at a time when it was unlawful for Americans to do so. She was quoted as saying, in regards to opponents of Fidel Castro that, 'These gusanos [worms] are not suppressed. There can be open criticism of the regime. As long as they keep it to talk they are tolerated, as long as there is no sabotage.'

In 2008, she wrote an autobiogaphy - after refusing to discuss Dylan for many years - A Freewheelin'Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties.

Suzi was a painter, teacher and a book illustrator, according to Rolling Stone.

Suze Rotolo died in the arms of her husband Italian film editor Enzo Bartoccioli whom she met on a trip to Italy in 1962. They had a son named Luca.

In Don't think Twice, It's Alright, Dylan wrote:

I once loved a woman, a child I'm told/I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul.

A tea party for the ages

In a new book, Out of Our Heads: Rock 'n' Roll Before the Drugs Wore Off, George Case begins with the "infamous tea party" at the Hotel Delmonico in 1964 when Bob Dylan introduced The Beatles to "the wonders of weed."

Now that's my kind of tea party. And one that I would surmise some current Tea Partyers might do well to try.

Feb. 28th, 12:30pm protest Trader Joe's, 2075 Broadway (72nd St. & Broadway)

Monday, Feb. 28th -- 12:30-2:30pm
Trader Joe's -- 2075 Broadway (72nd St. & Broadway)

Join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) on the beginning of their "Do The Right Thing Tour" in demanding supermarket retailers get on board with the Campaign for Fair Food and sign an agreement with the CIW to pay farmworkers a fair wage and end modern day slavery in the fields of Florida!!

Monday, Feb. 28th -- 12:30-2:30pm
Trader Joe's -- 2075 Broadway (72nd St. & Broadway)


Stand with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to demand Trader Joe's join Whole Foods and the many others (Subway, Taco Bell, Sodexo, etc.) who've signed with the CIW. Tell Joe, slavery is not sustainable!

For those of you that want to know more about the campaign, read the letter below from Nely & Silvia, members of the CIW, and check out this 1 minute video http://www.youtube.com/user/CIWvideo


Message to the Fair Food Movement
February 1, 2011

Dear compañeras and compañeros, friends, allies, and Fair Food activists across the country —

When our struggle for dignity and respect began in the streets of Immokalee fifteen years ago, we knew it would take a long and arduous journey to realize our dreams. The mentality that reigned for so long in the agricultural industry — typified by one grower who dismissed six of our compañeros on a 30-day hunger strike by scoffing “the tractor doesn't tell the farmer how to run his farm” — seemed as solid and unmovable as a great stone wall.

But today, that wall is tumbling down.

Today, as a result of our Campaign for Fair Food, there are amazing changes underway in Immokalee. We say our because this movement belongs to all of us: farmworkers and students, consumers and organizers, fighters and dreamers.

But our journey is far from complete.

As farmworkers, as members of the CIW, and as mothers who want to leave a better world for our children, we make this appeal today on the verge of one of our most important mobilizations ever to all of our allies to do whatever it takes to join us for the upcoming “Do the Right Thing” actions in Boston and Tampa.

As we work tirelessly in Immokalee on the implementation of the Fair Food Code of Conduct for which we have fought all these years, we ask that you too organize in your community — talk to your friends, hand out flyers, organize fundraisers, coordinate caravans — join us in Boston and Tampa.

We invite you to walk with us as we demand Ahold and Publix join with the CIW and with the Florida tomato industry to ensure human rights and dignity for the men and women whose backbreaking labor makes it possible for these stores to line their shelves with fresh produce and to make record-breaking profits year after year.

The transformation underway in our community has brought us stories of a new climate of respect in the fields; of parents telling us what it's like to walk their own children to school for the first time ever. These and many other changes that were unimaginable just a few months ago are starting to take root today.

But Ahold and Publix continue to stand in the way of more humane conditions in the fields by refusing to participate – instead callously dismissing the abuses we have faced in the fields and refusing to join nine other corporations in paying their fair share and conditioning their tomato purchases on the Fair Food Code of Conduct. Ahold and Publix threaten to blunt and undermine the progress we're making toward the end, finally, of the Harvest of Shame.

If you support the Campaign for Fair Food, if you support our dreams of a better world, you must join us and tell Ahold and Publix it's time to "Do the Right Thing!"

-Nely and Silvia
Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Check out Community/Farmworker Alliance news and events!

Toy Story 3: a review

Well, just under the wire for tomorrow night's Oscars we saw "Toy Story 3." That's what movies should be. It's moving, funny & good triumphs over evil. We sure need more of that.

Rarely do sequels equal the original, but this one does. No one who has been a kid could not love this film about the tribulation of toys. I'll bet you never expected to see (& hear) a Spanish speaking Buzz Lightyear. I could go on, but here's the bottom line, if it weren't for "Winter's Bone" I'd pick it as the best movie of the year. Once upon a time Peter, Paul & Mary sang "Puff The Magic Dragon," with all due respect to Randy Newman, Puff is the essence of "Toy Story 3"

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, jackie paper came no more

Well, Andy came once more and the toys found a new home. It's about growing up. Growing up may be overrated but it does happen. Tell me which other movie this year has that reach. If you've ever been a kid & had toys you loved, this movie is about the toys not about us. Well, as Ann reminds me it's really about us. Watch it. I promise you'll love it.

Will banksters get away with it? - Opinion by Danny Schechter

Will banksters get away with it? - Opinion by Danny Schechter from Al Jazeera English

It seems to me that, although calling for the prosecution of Wall Street criminals is a very good organizing tactic, believing that the corporate oligarchy is going to allow itself to be punished for stealing billions (maybe trillions) from the people is to assume that capitalism is a sane & principled system (LOL). Its only raison d' etre after all is to make this theft possible.

Quote of the week

In a column in the NYT Business Section today (Saturday) in which Joe Nocera ("Talking Business") explains why none of the Wall Street bigwigs will likely be prosecuted for any of their misdeeds causing the latest capitalist crisis. Focussing mostly on Angelo Mozilo, co-founder & for nearly 40 years head of Countrywide Financial until its "astonishing fall," Nocera quotes from a "lengthy interview with Mr. Mozillo conducted by investigators working for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission"

[Mozilo's] voice rising passionately, he said finally, 'Countrywide was one of the greatest companies in the history of this country.'

Which is a final reason Mr. Mozilo would have been difficult to prosecute. Delusion is an ironclad defense

Movie Award Weekend: Oscars, Independent Spirit Awards, Razzies

Well, this is Oscar weekend (tonight, 8 PM) but there are two other movie awards being handed out this weekend: The Independent Spirit Awards (Sat. 10PM IFC) & The Razzies.

I think the most important piece of information about the past year is that (according to Box Office Mojo)

2010 closed as the second highest-grossing year of all time, but it still couldn't shake an air of disappointment. Not only did 2010 end with a whimper, estimated attendance was the lowest in 15 years.

I know that sounds like a contradiction but higher prices = higher grosses, not greater attendance. Higher grosses are a result primarily of the 3D rip-off, which it seems has had its 15 minutes and a general increase in prices.

We'll come back to 3D films. Well, how about now: There's a special Razzie Award this year. "The Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3D." The nominees are Cats & Dogs #2: Revenge of Kitty Galore; Clash of the Titans, The Last Airbinder, Nutcracker 3D, Saw 3D (AKA Saw VII). In other words, slap 3D on a film (especially for kids) and make more money. I think that scam has run its coarse.
The winner of the Razzie: "The Last Airbinder"

Since we are talking about the Razzies (which were given out yesterday (Saturday), let's stick with them. They're the most fun anyway:
Worst Picture of the Year: "The Last Airbinder"
Worst Performance by an Actress: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrell, Kristen Davis & Cynthia Nixon in "Sex & the City 2"
Worst Performance by an Actor: Ashton Kutcher in "Killers" & "Valentine's Day"
Worst Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Jessice Alba in "The Killer Inside Me,'" "Little Fockers," "Machete," & "Valentine's Day"
Worst Performance by an Actor in a supporting Role: Jackson Rathbone in "The Last Airbinder" & "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble: The Entire Cast of "Sex & the City 2"
Worst Prequal, Remake, Rip-off or Sequal: I'll bet you can guess: "Sex & the City 2"

Yesterday Afternoon, on the beach in Malibu, the Independent Spirit Awards were handed out. found these awards very disappointing. First of all "Inside Job," which most people I know & respect have lauded, wasn't even nominated. From there on out who cares who wins, if the best isn't nominated. "Inside Job" is nominated for an Oscar tonight.

My other bitch about the spirit awards is about The Best Actress & Best film. Natalie Portman & " Black Swan." Whatever you may think about Portman's performance or "The Black Swan" as a film, they should not have been nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards. "Black Swan" was produced & released by 20th Century Fox. That is the opposite of an independent film. The very definition of independent film is one that is not produced & released by a major studio. So I'm still rooting for "Winter's Bone."

The Oscars are on now & I'll say what I think about them later. Go "Winter's Bone" & Jennifer Lawrence.

How about "Mubarak" Walker

Guest Monica Crowley told Fox "America Alive" host Megyn Kelly that Obama's decision not to defend the Constitutionality of the "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) as akin to a “dictatorship” calling the president “Mubarak Obama.” ( “To me, it’ s a form of dictatorship, That’s Mubarak Obama. You cannot just pick and choose which law you will enforce when you are president of the United States or the Attorney General.”)

Crowley took great exception to the Justice Department’s decision, calling it “beyond belief” before passionately stating that its the president’s responsibility to enforce the law that is on the books, not, in her words “to decide ‘well I don’t like that law so I’m not going to enforce it.’” Crowley then claimed that this was a “form of dictatorship” before referencing the president as “Mubarak Obama.”

There are a number of things one might say about this typical Crowley nonsense. First of all, the President took an oath to defend the Constitution, not acts of Congress. I would challenge Ms. Crowley to point to one complaint she made against George W. Bush's challenges to 232 statutes through signing statements. I'll bet she never questioned one of them.

I also wonder what she thinks about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's comments. For example, "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has laid down an ultimatum to the 14 state Senate Democrats who've gone AWOL to stop Walker's union-busting budget from going forward: come home, vote on a budget or I'll start laying off state workers. Like, next week," according to TPMDC He also has said he believes the Wisconsin protesters are from out-of-state. And now we know from the prank phone call that Walker was talking about bringing thugs into attack the potesters.

Perhaps we should be talking about "Mubarak" Walker.

A political bait & switch or I have a bridge to sell you

What's happening in the U.S. today is beyond belief. It's the greatest political bait & switch operation I've ever seen.

As we all know, the latest capitalist crisis was brought about by the banksters on Wall Street. It was brought about by their greed & incompetence. So when the roof fell in, what did they do? They sent one of their key hitmen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs. Henry Paulson. who Time Magazine described as the "face [of] this financial debacle," to Washington. And what did he do? This paragon of the free market said to Bush & Chaney, "we screwed up, save us we're too big too fail." At that moment, if they had any integrity, W & Cheney would have said, "sorry Henry, you screwed up, it's time to pay." But, of course, as we know they didn't. They went along with this absurd violation of anything a free market could possibly mean. They gave trillions of our dollars to these thieves. Why did they do this? Well, they looked at each other - W & Dick - and said "If we give this money to the bankers on Wall Street, what will they do with it?" They knew that a substantial portion of the money would be funneled through the Wall Street banks to the Republican Party. So, in fact, the trillions given to Wall Street in the aftermath of the latest capitalist debacle was actually a laundering operation of our money, through the treasury department, to Wall Street, (with a substantial payoff to them) and into the Republican Party coffers. Just in case this might cause any judicial questions, the puppet Supreme Court made the infamous "Citizens United" decision, which made corporations the equivalent of individuals & therefore entitled to free speech protection. What's quite amazing is that when Obama (a Democrat) became president he didn't say, "enough is enough, no more funds for the Republican Party." But in what may be the biggest political gaffe of all time he went along with the Republican give away to Wall Street. If Obama loses in 2012, it will be to a large extent his own fault. He gave the banksters the money to defeat him.

With all this in the background. prepare for the greatest feat of political prestidigitation ever attempted. Josef Goebels would be impressed, no Mexican drug cartel could pull it off, it would be beyond even the imagination of any real gangster organization. The same Republican Party which engineered the hold up of the U.S. Treasury, has made the public employees and their unions the villains of the piece. So the Republicans in power gave our money to the too big to fail banksters, they, in turn, gave a substantial portion of it back to the Republican Party (laundered through the Chamber of Commerce). Now when it's time to pay the piper, the Republicans (Scott Walker liar-in-chief) are trying to stigmatize public employees and, in the process, destroy the unions (a key source of funds for the Democrats). In other words, it's the public employee unions who caused the latest capitalist crisis. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

The war against unions in Wisconsin

Nothing is inevitable. Only very rarely do we not have choices. When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker claims he has no choice in his efforts to overcome the state budget shortfall other than to eliminate state workers rights to collective bargaining he is lying. As Rick Ungar writes in Forbes:

The bill introduced in the Wisconsin state legislature that would strip state employee unions of their collective bargaining rights, require members to vote to organize every year, allow members to avoid paying dues and put pay raises to a public vote, represents the opening salvo of the final battle in the war against unions in America (continued below)

If you still have any doubts about what's happening in Wisconsin, in another piece Ungar writes (2/18/11):

This afternoon, Marty Beil, executive director of the Wisconsin Public Workers Union, sent a message to the Governor’s office agreeing to the cuts to pension & welfare benefits sought by Walker in his bill. The governor’s response was “nothing doing.” He wants the whole kit and kaboodle – the end of the collective bargaining rights of the public unions.

Of course, this is nothing new. The corporate oligarchy in the U.S. has used its bought & paid for politicians to try to smash unions virtually from their inception as guilds. This came to fruition for the oligarchy with the passage in 1947 of the Taft-Hartley Act. Ungar shows clearly how the nefarious Koch brothers are directly behind the anti-union developments in Wisconsin. And as we well know, where there's Koch there's fire.

Republican responses to Obama budget

Well I guess the GOP memo went out this morning. Here are some prominent Republicans responding to Obama's budget. I always admire right-wing original thinking

House Budget chair Paul Ryan: "In this critical test of leadership, the President has failed to tackle the urgent fiscal and economic threats before us."

Republican Study Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): "The President failed a crucial test of leadership by ignoring the need for reforms that will preserve Medicare and Social Security for future generations."

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn): "The president has missed an opportunity to show real leadership on the number one issue threatening our country's future. Getting spending under control and reducing our deficit will be difficult without presidential leadership."

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX): "President Obama's timid budget proposal represents a missed opportunity to lead."

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Pitchers & catchers

Whateever is going on in the world, there are some things that are important. The news tonight reported: 13 days until pitcher & catchers. There's something pure about the beginning of a new baseball season.

"The Social Network:" A review

"The Social Network," which I have referred to as the Facebook movie, is the ultimate capitalist movie. It seems to be primarily about a bunch of white men fighting over who's going to profit from the creation of Facebook, a means of connecting people with each other, first at Harvard and then the world. This story seems to mirror the tale of Bill Gates and the founding of Microsoft. Although Facebook may have originally been intended by its creators as a way of getting laid, ultimately as everything in capitalism it becomes a fight over who's going to profit. From the film, it's quite hard to tell the difference between these guys, who seem to spend most of their time in court. And it's also hard to tell why we should care.

Aaron Sorkin, who created one of my all-time favorite TV series, West Wing, adapted the screenplay from Ben Mizrach's The Accidental Billionaires. It's a perfectly serviceable if unexciting script. The acting is pleasant, but I don't think anyone from The Social Network will take home one of the upcoming Oscars. Speaking of Oscar, it's interesting that The Social Network won many of the critics awards but seems to be fading fast in the Oscar race to its main competitor The King's Speech.

It might have been interesting to learn more about these characters outside of their connection to Facebook, but then from what we do see, it might not.

Pasta & mustard greens

Whole-Wheat Rotini with Wilted Mustard Greens
January/February 2011

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“More mustard greens!” That’s what the VT staff asked for when they tasted the first version of this recipe. Now it’s an even better source of vitamins C and E. Shaved Parmesan provides tryptophan, and canola oil offers omega-3s.
DIRECTIONS

1. Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add mustard greens, and blanch 3 minutes. Remove greens to colander with slotted spoon. Add rotini to 
water, and cook according to package directions.
2. Heat oil in large skillet or wok over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add greens, increase heat to medium, and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Drain pasta, and reserve 1/4 cup cooking water. Stir pasta and reserved cooking water into mustard green mixture, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, or until sauce is hot and bubbly. Serve 1 cup pasta sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Member Rating: -

ingredient list
Serves 4
1 1/2 lb. mustard greens, trimmed and coarsely chopped (9 cups)
1/2 lb. whole-wheat rotini pasta
1/4 cup canola oil
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (4 tsp.)
1 oz. shaved Parmesan cheese, optional

"Black Swan:" A review

Continuing on our pre-Oscar film tour, a few evenings ago we saw Black Swan.To paraphrase someone who wrote a lot better than I ever will: it's a lot of sound & fury signifying very little. In other words, if you want to see a great ballet film, rent The Red Shoes. However before I say anything else it's really important to point out that Natalie Portman gives a magnificent performance as Nina the newly anointed prima ballerina of a New York ballet company, which is about to perform Swan Lake. (Portman's performance should compete neck-and-neck with Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone)

The plot of the film lies in ballet master Thomas Leroy's (Vincent Cassel) struggle to get the virginal introverted Nina (perfect for the White Swan) to come out of her shell and express the sexuality and dominance of the Black Swan. It seems to me that this confuses an actor or dancer's life experience with what they can perform. But the core of the film is the disintegration of Nina's personality. Unfortunately because you never meet her before her crisis ensues, it's very hard to relate to her and care about what happens to her. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's real and what's nightmare in Nina's life. I think most of them begin with a real moment which Nina then turns into a horror focused on herself. I would like to think that real people are far more complex than the stereotypical characters in this film. Perhaps the best way to conclude this review is to say: If you want to see All About Eve, rent it. It's about real people.

Image Credit: Niko Tavernise

"Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune": a review

I certainly wanted "Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune" to be allot better than it was. As my friend Judith Pasternack said "The material was better than the movie they made from it." But you have to say the music was wonderful and it was great to be immersed once again in the optimism of the 60s, even if only for 1 hr & 36 min. There's also no question that Phil could write a political song that energized people. "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" is truly one of the great anti-war songs. I think only someone without a soul could hear it and not want to march against the war, any war.

But I couldn't help but compare it with "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song." Whereas "The Power of Song" was such an up, "There But for Fortune" is the exact opposite. No matter how much the U.S. tried to destroy Pete, he survived, actually he prevailed. Not so for Phil who was ultimately another casualty of this society. But we don't really learn very much about the person behind Ochs the movement star. For example, Alice Skinner, his wife and Meegan, his daughter are in the film at the beginning and at the end, but their missing for all the rest. We never really learn what happened to his relationship with Alice (they stayed married but didn't live together) and toward the end of his life he did spend some time with Meegan, but they didn't have much of a relationship either. But we don't learn much of this from the movie. Again the comparison with Pete Seeger is striking. Some of the weakness of the movie in telling the story of Phil Ochs life, may have resulted from the fact that his brother, Michael, was an executive producer and may have tried to shape the view of his brother it showed.

In August 1971, he became close to Chilean folksinger Victor Jara. And Jara's public torture and murder after the anti-Allende coup seemed to have begun the slide which ended in his suicide in 1976 at age 36. His tragic end may have been over-determined. He, like his father, was manic-depressive and an incident in Tanzania, when he was "mugged and strangled resulting in the loss of the higher end of his vocal range" heightened his depression. And as the movie says, he organized the "end of war" rally in Central Park, but it depressed him rather than energizing him. After all, what was an anti-war singer/songwriter going to do when the war was over. Obviously, there could be many answers to that question, but for someone deep in depression perhaps there was only one.

Maybe Phil Ochs life can be summarized in his less than comradely relationship with Bob Dylan, who he idolized. He wanted to be the best songwriter of his generation until he met Dylan and then he wanted to be the second best. I think, perhaps, second best just wasn't good enough for Phil Ochs.

An era in NYC journalism comes to an end

With the firing of investigative reporter and editor Wayne Barrett and the resignation of Tom Robbins in solidarity, the the story of the Village Voice as the conscience of New York City journalism has come to an end. The death of the Voice began in 2006 when it merged with New Times Media. That merger was immediately followed by the firing of Washington correspondent James Ridgway (at which point two others resigned). Two years later Nat Hentoff was also fired, despite the 50-year tenure of his column. These are just the investigative reporters; many others in the arts coverage and behind the scenes were also dismissed.

I don't mean to downplay the Voice's faults even in those years, especially its homophobia in the aftermath of the Stonewall Rebellion. Nor do I mean to put it in a class with the Guardian Newsweekly (where I worked) or the Pacifica radio network both of which were/are clearly more to the Left politically. But The Voice played a unique role in New York City politics and those days are over. And that is worth our bitter regret.

Legendary Muckraking Reporter Wayne Barrett Laid Off from Village Voice

Profits trump safety and accountability in Gulf oil rig explosion

Here are two stories from Democracy Now! headlines this morning (Mon. 12/27) regading the failure of the system intended to protect the oil rig in the Gulf because profits took precedence over safety & the interference of the same companies with the investigation of the disaster.



Investigators: Involvement of Companies Undermining Oil Spill Probe


Report: All of Rig's Defense Systems Failed During Explosion

Hatred on the right: homophobia

Those on the right of the political spectrum today must find it very difficult keeping track of all the people they hate. Here are several comments made by right-wing Republicans in the immediate aftermath of the historic U.S. Senate vote last Saturday to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) and take a baby step toward making LGBT human beings American citizens. (These comments are from a correspondence I recently received from Michael Keegan of People for the American Way.)

Bryan Fischer of The American Family Association: "The new Marine motto: 'The Few, the Proud, the Sexually Twisted.' Good luck selling that to strong young males who would otherwise love to defend their country. What virile young man wants to serve in a military like that?"

Tony Perkins of The Family Research Council: "It is clear why this was done: not to enhance the military's ability to accomplish its mission or to enhance national security. Rather, it is a political payoff to a tiny, but loud and wealthy, part of the Democratic base."

Peter LaBarbara of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality: "If the lame-duck Congress succeeds in ‘gaying down' our military this weekend, it will take a disastrous leap toward “mainstreaming” deviant, sinful homosexual conduct."

I don't know what these people are smoking, but it seems to me that no one with a brain that hasn't turned to mush could possibly make such bigoted and utterly ignorant statements. These people and others like them are willing to undermine our security by making young men & women in the front lines mistrust the person next to them because of his or her homosexuality.As Rodgers & Hammerstein told us: "You have to be taught to hate and to fear."

The Inmates have Taken Over the Asylum: Airport Security

Here's what security technologist and author Bruce Schneier has to say in the NYT about airport security:i

A short history of airport security: We screen for guns and bombs, so the terrorists use box cutters. We confiscate box cutters and corkscrews, so they put explosives in their sneakers. We screen footwear, so they try to use liquids. We confiscate liquids, so they put PETN bombs in their underwear. We roll out full-body scanners, even though they wouldn’t have caught the Underwear Bomber, so they put a bomb in a printer cartridge. We ban printer cartridges over 16 ounces — the level of magical thinking here is amazing — and they’re going to do something else.

This is a stupid game, and we should stop playing it. (For more)

One thing that Schneier doesn't mention is that one of the most pervasive voices on the tube promoting the full-body scanners is former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. One thing Chertoff never mentions when he appears - as an expert - on these TV news shows is that one of the customers of his firm, The Chertoff Group, is the manufacturer of the full body scanners - Rapiscan. Conflict of interest you say. Ah well, that's capitalism. Here's a CNN video on Chertoff, Rapiscan & airport security. It's definitely worth a look

New York Film Critics choices for 2010

Best Film: The Social Network
Best Foreign Language Film: I Am Love
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Actor: James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Ensemble Cast: The Kids Are All Right
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Breakthrough Performer: Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Debut Director: John Wells, The Company Men
Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Best Score: Clint Mansell, Black Swan

"Let them eat cake!" said the Republicans

"Let them eat cake"

Although there's considerable disagreement as to which princess uttered these infamous words when told the peasants had no bread,

there is no question as to the callous imperiousness of this sentiment. It has now been surpassed in the words and deeds of today's Congressional Republicans. Here's what Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said several days ago (on The Rachel Maddow show) about their actions,

The Republicans want to give billionaires in this country, people like Rupert Murdoch, a million dollars a year in tax breaks and yet they are balking , resisting providing unemployment compensation for people who have no jobs. I think that is just horrendous.

Well today they took the first step toward fulfilling their obligations to their millionaire masters. Their designated hit-man on this issue, Massachusetts Senator Scotty Brown said that he could only vote for the extension of unemployment insurance if it did not add to the deficit. Despite the fact that there is no question that extending unemployment insurance would help to stimulate the economy to a much larger extent than tax breaks for millionaires, no such concern about the deficit has impinged on the GOP's demands for tax breaks for the very rich.

So when the Republican Scrooges were told that the unemployed would have no bread for Christmas, they followed in the imperious footsteps of the unknown princess.

Dec. 1, 11:45 AM: Granny Peace Brigade - Kick off 2010 Peace Toy Campaign

Wed. Dec 1, 11:45AM

Meet north of the recruiting center near 44th and Broadway
to kick off the 2010 Peace Toy Campaign.

The Raging Grannies will also be there with songs.

Subsequent actions will be on Friday, Dec 10th and
Thursday, Dec 16th at the same place.

Did GOP's Cantor Commit treason?

The following is a story by Lawrence Davidson from consortiumnews.com detailing Congressmember Eric Cantor's devious attempt "to tell the Israeli Prime Minister that he and the Republican Party will use the power of the House of Representatives to protect Israel from U.S. government policy." Davidson believes this was a violation of the Logan Act. It seems to me that Cantor's attempt to undermine the power of the secretary of state and the president may very well be an act of treason. After all, whatever Mr. Cantor may think (if he thinks at all) Barack Obama is charged with carrying out U.S. foreign policy not either Cantor or the Republican/Tea Party. As we know from Shakespeare, hubris has never been the path to success. And Cantor seems imbued with overbearing arrogance.

Did GOP's Cantor Cross Line on Israel?

Chronicles of capitalism

From today's (11/18) Democracy Now:

(1) Insurers Gave Chamber Over $86M to Defeat Healthcare Reform

Newly disclosed figures show the nation’s largest health insurance corporations funneled some $86.2 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to oppose healthcare reform last year. Companies including UnitedHealth and CIGNA provided the money through their main lobbying group, America’s Health Insurance Plans. The spending exceeded the group’s entire budget from the year before and accounted for 40 percent of the Chamber’s 2009 budget. The money was used to fund ads, polling and public events to stir opposition to the healthcare overhaul. An anonymous source confirmed to Bloomberg News that the money came from insurers because federal tax laws don’t require identification of donors. In a statement, the Center for Responsive Politics said, "Perhaps this key debate would have progressed differently if the true source of the chamber’s spending had been known at the time."

(2) Study: Lawmakers’ Personal Wealth Increased 16% in 2008

A new study shows members of Congress saw a boost in personal wealth as the U.S. economy suffered the worst of the economic recession. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, lawmakers’ personal wealth increased an average 16 percent between 2008 and 2009. The number of millionaires rose to 261, nearly half the total members of Congress. The median wealth of a House member topped $765,000, while the average for a senator was more than $2.3 million.

(3) GOP Blocks Paycheck Fairness Act in Senate

Republican senators have blocked a measure to fight wage discrimination against female workers. The Paycheck Fairness Act would increase enforcement of laws requiring equal pay for men and women. But on Wednesday, all Republican senators voted to prevent the bill from coming to a vote.

[Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson was the only Democrat who voted with the Republicans.]

(4) FBI Meets with Google, Facebook in Wiretap Push

The Obama administration is intensifying a push to expand government wiretapping of online communications, including emails, Facebook postings and internet phone calls. The administration wants Congress to require immediate compliance with wiretap orders seeking government monitoring of encrypted messages sent over the internet. The New York Times reports FBI Director Robert Mueller met with top executives at several major Silicon Valley firms, including Google and Facebook, earlier this week. The White House proposals include a requirement that any services based overseas be routed communications through a U.S. server where they could be wiretapped.

Did someone say something about democracy?

FDR to A. Philip Randolph: "Make me"

I know we all want Obama to stand up against the onslaught of Republican Tea Party madness. It's clear from this afternoon's press conference that this isn't going to easily happen. He seems to be repeating the same mistakes he made at the beginning of his administration. No matter how obviously obstructionist they are, he is going to talk about compromise and agreement. That's what he did two years ago. Remember what they say about someone who keeps doing the same thing and expects different results.

But there is another side to this story: presidents (and other politicians) don't act in the interests of the people without enormous pressure from outside. The probably apocryphal story that FDR's response when Sleeping Car-porters union organizer A. Philip Randolph came to him to ask him to integrate the war industries: "make me" led to the first March on Washington.

In other words what happens the next two years depends on us, not Obama.

Watch the election results tonight (8PM) on MNN1 or FStv

Tuesday, November 2, on MNN1 starting at 8PM Manhattan Neighborhood Network will join Free Speech TV to cover the mid-term elections the only way MNN knows how to do it... ALTERNATIVE NEWS STYLE!

The coverage will be hosted progressive media veterans, including Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Laura Flanders, Thom Hartmann, Gloria Neal and Marc Steiner. It will feature analysis and commentary from social activists, community organizers and political analysts, including David Sirota, Herb Boyd, Rosa Clemente, Jim Hightower and John Nichols.

There will also be correspondents' reports from The Nation, Mother Jones and Yes Magazine and special guest appearances by NAACP’s Ben Jealous, AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka, former Denver mayor Wellington Webb and many more.

Faithful to their mission of providing fearless, innovative and fully-independent programming, Free Speech TV (FSTV) will offer this special elections coverage, entirely commercial-free and void of the mainstream media corporate spin.

"We at FSTV are delighted to be partnering with several other independent media entities and personalities to bring this unique election night broadcast to millions of homes around the country," said Don Rojas, Executive Director of Free Speech TV.

"This unprecedented media collaboration will make it possible for the nation to view a diverse collection of hosts and guests reporting and analyzing the results and the political implications of this crucial mid-term election through a progressive lens."

Some Thoughts on Tomorrow's Election

First of all, I'm voting a straight Working Family's Party line except for Governor I'm voting for Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins (because I won't vote for union-buster Andrew Cuomo) and for Senator Colia Clark also a Green candidate (because I swore I would never again vote for Charles Schumer when he supported the nomination of Bush's 3rd Attorney General Michael Mukasey).

I know that no one I vote for tomorrow is going to change anything, but I think fighting the right is an important thing to do. I also know that whatever disaster the Democrats experience tomorrow is to a large extent of their own making. But it is, if it's not already too late, the first pitch of the 2012 presidential election. Having ceded the narrative of this election to the Republican Tea Party the question is can they reclaim it for 2012. Although the media - not surprisingly - has fallen hook-line-&-sinker for the line that this election is a referendum on the Obama presidency, that could hardly be the case. It's not entirely clear when the Tea Party was born but it was some time between February 27 and April 15, 2009. If you remember it was only January 20, 2009 when Obama was inaugurated. So it would have been very difficult for him to have done enough to lead to the creation of a genuine grass-roots opposition. Here's a little of the early history of the Tea Party by Judson Berger on April 6, 2009 from Fox News online.

The Sons of Liberty of today is led by people like Rick Santelli, the CNBC reporter widely credited with helping spark the tea-party fever nationwide (though tea parties were being held before Santelli plugged them).

During an infamous on-air rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in February, Santelli called for modern-day tea parties to protest the economic trends in government.

He stirred up traders by shouting that the government was promoting "bad behavior" with its mortgage rescue plan. "This is America," he said. "How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills?"

Though he was mocked by the White House, Santelli might as well have yelled, "Give me liberty or give me death!"

Jenny Beth Martin, a Republican activist who's helping organize one of the higher-profile tea parties in Atlanta, said Santelli's rant led shortly afterward to a conference call of 22 activists, including herself.

From there, she said, organizers put together 48 tea parties -- from St. Louis to San Antonio to Chicago -- on Feb. 27.

The conception of the Tea Party "movement" long preceded its birth. But it also clearly long preceded the Obama presidency. It clearly takes more than a month to create a real movement. But puppeteers like long-time Republican operative Dick Armey were able to snow the media into believing the Tea Party phenomenon was spontaneous. And, suddenly, the Democrats were fighting back from behind from the first inning. It will be interesting to see if the Democrats can set the narrative for 2012. People like Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have given them lots of ammunition:

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president

There are Americans (and Iraqis and Afghanis) with their lives on the line but for the Republicans "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for Obama to be a one-term president;" we are in the middle of the greatest capitalist crisis sin ce the Great Depression, but for the Republicans "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." If the Democrats can't make something out of that they need to hang up their spikes.

Jane Mayer on The Koch brothers (in The New Yorker)

You've surly heard about it, but possibly haven't read it. Jane Mayer's New Yorker article: Covert Operation: The Billionaire [Koch] Brothers who are Waging a War Against Obama." Here it is. It's well worth reading. Let me know what you think.

Substitute your "favorite" Republican face for Nixon's in this cartoon

Once upon a time Herblock, the great cartoonist, drew this picture of Nixon crawling out of a sewer. It seems to me it would be a perfect image for Newt Gingrich or for that matter any Tea Party or Republican spokesperson. Just substitute your "favorite" Republican face for NIxon.

Sept.23: El Grito De Lares! Rally and march

Commemorate

El Grito De Lares!

Rally and march

Gather on

Thursday, September 23, 4:00 PM

Assemble at Marcus Garvey Park
(124th Street and Madison Avenue)

El Grito de Lares is today the most celebrated and respected holiday in Puerto Rico. It was an event that affirmed the existence of the Puerto Rican people as a nation and defined its historical quest for liberation from foreign tyranny. This rebellion demanded the independence of Puerto Rico from Spanish colonialism and the abolition of African chattel slavery.

Since September 23, 2005, the anniversary of El Grito De Lares has added meaning. An F.B.I. assault team launched a vicious attack on the home of Machetero leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios. The revered leader of the struggle for Puerto Rico’s independence was assassinated by the agents of colonialism.

Sunday 9/12 events

SUN SEPT 12
Noon and 5pm • Free
SPEAKER: AMY GOODMAN
Listen to Amy Goodman speak at the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday. At noon she will discuss the intellectual and popular influence of Howard Zinn. At 5pm she will be speaking about the depiction of conflict in both fiction and non-fiction, and the way these events can shape both our identity and engagement with our everyday lives.
Francis College McArdle Hall, 180 Remsen Street in Brooklyn
718-802-3852 • brooklynbookfestival.org

7pm • Sliding scale: $6/$10/$15
BOOK PARTY: MICHAEL PARENTI GOD’S DEMON WARRIORS
In his latest book, God and His Demons, Michael Parenti brings his critical acumen and gifted writing skills to bear on the many evils committed in the name of godly virtue throughout history. Not a blanket condemnation of believers, the focus is on the threat posed by fundamentalists and theocratic reactionaries.
Brecht Forum, 451 West St
212-242-4201 • brechtforum.org

Irwin Silber, October 17, 1925 - September 8, 2010

Although I came to the Guardian Newsweekly after Irwin Silber left, having worked at the paper for a number of years I mourn his passing. He was its executive editor from 1972-1979.

He was also one of the founders and long-time editor of Sing Out! Magazine. After his tenure at the Guardian he and his long-time companion Barbara Dane founded Paredon Records whose mission was to use music as a tool to promote social and political change.

Although I'm sure Irwin and I would not have agreed very much abut the politics of The Guardian (when he was its editor I was working with The Mass Party organizing Committee), his contribution to our movement must be recognized. We are losing too many comrades, yesterday Lou Walker, today Irwin Silber.

Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr. 3 August 1930 - 7 September 2010

Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr. was a founder and the executive director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) since 1979. From 1973-1978 he was Associate General Secretary of the National Council of Churches. Through IFCO he helped to initiate the National Anti-Klan Network, now known as the Center for Democratic Renewal. He was pastor of the Salvation Baptist Church in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, N.Y. The Rev. Walker died yesterday of a massive heart attack.

Over the years I ran into Rev. Lou Walker in many political venues. Most recently I met with him and other Beacon HS parents in 1999, when he was organizing a Beacon trip to Cuba with Andrew's Spanish class. The N.Y. Post later put the Beacon trips to Cuba on its front page ("The Red High School"). Being attacked by the Post is an honor somewhat akin to having been on Nixon's enemies list.

In response to being wounded in a Nicaraguan "contra" terrorist attack in 1988, he conceived and helped to organize Pastors for Peace Material Aid Caravans to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Cuba and Chiapas, Mexico. The Cuba caravans, or Friendshipments, have served as a challenge to the insanity, immorality and illegality of the U.S. government's blockade of Cuba. In 1996 he and four others engaged in a 94-day "Fast for Life" which successfully forced the U.S. government to release computers they had seized that were destined for hospitals in Cuba.



But these are merely some of the things that he did. As with Dennis Brutus and Marilyn Clement what they did only scratches the surface of the loss their deaths mean to our movement.

Lou Walker, Presente!
and Rest in Peace

Today's Jeopardy question

Yesterday's Answer: Hershey, PA

Here's today's:

Official State Songs: In 1953 it became the only state whose official song was written for a Broadway musical

(from the New York Times)

Jeopardy question for today

We are in the true sense of the term "fans" (= "fanatics") about Jeopardy. I have recently discovered that many people don't know that every weekday a Jeopardy question appears in the New York Times (Arts section). So I thought I would post it here to see how much you know. I will tell you if we knew the answer or had to look it up. Here's an easy one to start with:

U.S.A.: Chocolate Avenue & Cocoa Avenue are 2 of the main thoroughfares in this town that was established in 1903.

Answer tomorrow. Have a great Labor Day.

Tonight: "The United States and Yemen: Destroying Lives in the Name of National Security," a public discussion

"The United States and Yemen: Destroying Lives in the Name of National Security,"

Sept. 2, 2010, 7:30 pm,

the Brecht Forum
451 West St bt Bank and Bethune Sts.

a public discussion featuring renowned Yemeni activists and a CCR human rights attorney addressing state violence, targeted killings, and human rights abuses enabled by the so-called "War on Terror."
(The Brecht Forum

PLEASE NOTE the TIME CHANGE from 7pm to 7:30pm. (A prayer room and appetizers will be available as it is Ramadan.)

The U.S. government describes Yemen as 'an important partner in the global war on terrorism' while at the same time characterizing it as an Al-Qaida stronghold. The Yemeni government has taken advantage of the U.S. partnership and increasing military aid to justify its domestic "anti-terror campaigns" which have resulted in egregious human rights violations, including mass arrests, illegal abductions, enforced disappearances, torture, and killings. The victims of this violence are not only alleged militants and their families, but Yemeni dissidents and journalists critical of their government. The "war on terror" has served as a cover for the Yemeni state to increase repression and militarization in response to its own internal political crises -- all with the tacit approval of the international community.

Don't miss out on this exceptional opportunity to hear visiting Yemeni human rights activists at the forefront of human rights struggles in their country discuss what they are doing to resist this mounting repression and to create a meaningfully democratic and peaceful future. Learn about the political climate in Yemen, and together think through what ethical solidarity with Yemeni people might look like. Also hear from a CCR lawyer who is trying to stop a "targeted killing" by the United States in Yemen and who represents men detained at Guantánamo -- where Yemeni men constitute the largest group of remaining prisoners, all declared by the Obama administration to be indefinitely detainable without charge based solely on their nationality.

Developing an understanding of this political reality is crucial to ending the U.S. government's complicity in more human rights abuses, and to stopping the creation of a war without boundaries or end that threatens our collective safety.

Sincerely,

Annette Warren Dickerson
Director of the Education and Outreach Department

Panelists:

Tawakkol Karman, chairwoman of the Yemeni non-government organization Women Journalists Without Chains, which campaigns for freedom of the press in Yemen and against human rights violations.

Ezz-Adeen Saeed Ahmed Al-Asbahi, the president of Human Rights Information & Training Center (HRITC), a non-governmental organization which seeks to enhance human rights in Yemen and the Arab World, focusing on the Gulf States in particular.

Pardiss Kebriaei is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York City.

Leili Kashani (moderator and discussant): is the Education and Outreach Associate for the Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). i

*This event is co-sponsored by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Brecht Forum.

Baseball's 25 Greatest Players

Former NBC sports reporter Len Berman has a book coming out this Fall, Baseball's 25 Greatest Players. The book is meant to teach baseball history to kids, but it provoked me to create my own list. Tell me wat you think. Here's my list:

Henry Aaron, OF
Roberto Clemente, OF
Ty Cobb, OF
Joe DiMaggio, OF
Bob Feller, P
Lou Gehrig, 1B
Bob Gibson, P
Josh Gibson, C
Ricky Henderson, OF
Rogers Hornsby, 2B
Walter Johnson, P
Mickey Mantle, OF
Christy Matthewson, P
Willie Mays, OF
Stan Musial, OF
Mariano Rivera, P
Jackie Robinson, 2B
Pete Rose, 3B
Babe Ruth, OF
Nolan Ryan, P
Tom Seaver, P
Warren Spahn, P
Honus Wagner, SS
Ted Williams, OF
Cy Young, P

Len Berman and I differ on six players. He includes Johnny Bench, Jimmie Foxx, Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez and Mike Schmidt instead of Rivera, Henderson, Clemente, Seaver and Ryan. I should say that Berman relied on a panel of "experts" to make up his list: Ralph Branca, Bernie Williams, Frank Deford, Chris Russo, Jeffrey Lyons (?), Steve Fortunato & Roland Hemond.

Other people commenting on this have mentioned several other players who should make the list: Satchel Paige, Tris Speaker, Eddie Collins, Sandy Koufax, Joe Jackson & Greg Maddox.

There are a number of people on both lists I would like to include, but 25 is 25. What do you think?