Technopolis

Song for our Great Depression: "Apple Days Are Here Again"

2012-01-22T16:52:00.001-05:00

Workers at Foxconn making Steve Jobs' wonderful iPhone

During one of those end of the year 2011 wrap-up programs on the BBC, several CEOs of major corporations were asked to give their predictions for the year ahead and years beyond. Would the U.S. and Europe emerge from what amounts to a persistent recession, or are there better days ahead? Their predictions, made in separate interviews, varied in many of the specifics, but they were basically upbeat and looked forward to economic “recovery” within the next year or so.

A recurring theme in the businessmen's statements caught my ear. Here’s my rough paraphrase and summary: “The future of a vibrant economy depends on new ideas and technological innovations, ones that will produce new levels of wealth and well-paying jobs in the decades just ahead. Look at Apple, the iPhone and iPad, for example, that’s the model for the new economy. That's where we should be looking.”

In interview after interview the good news was: Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple. Apparently, there are going to be dozens, maybe even hundreds of Apples, new corporations with jazzy new products to produce and sell, making us all rich once again. I was struck by the univocal conclusion with its one lonely exemplar. All of this came, by the way, at the same time that the news was full of hyperventilating praise for the recently deceased Steve Jobs and the economic wonders he'd generated during his career.

Today's New York Times runs a story, "How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work," by Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher that casts a shadow over these happy fantasies.

Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States and 20,000 overseas, a small fraction of the over 400,000 American workers at General Motors in the 1950s, or the hundreds of thousands at General Electric in the 1980s. Many more people work for Apple’s contractors: an additional 700,000 people engineer, build and assemble iPads, iPhones and Apple’s other products. But almost none of them work in the United States. Instead, they work for foreign companies in Asia, Europe and elsewhere, at factories that almost all electronics designers rely upon to build their wares.

“Apple’s an example of why it’s so hard to create middle-class jobs in the U.S. now,” said Jared Bernstein, who until last year was an economic adviser to the White House.

“If it’s the pinnacle of capitalism, we should be worried.”

* * * * * * * *

The Times story pulls away the curtain from one of the central, delusional happy talk American narratives of ourtime. We are asked to put our faith in "innovation" and in wonderful new corporations that will bring the return of prosperity by generating high tech product lines that, presumably, will be made by American workers and thereby restore prosperity to the land. But what about all the contractors and sub-contractors and sub-sub contractors hiring hundreds of thousands of low wage laborers at places like Foxconn in China? The delightful tales of a "new economy" just ahead never bother to mention such dreary details. As always, people in the fading U.S. middle class are urged to be more forward-looking and "optimistic."

In that bubbly spirit, we should rewrite the lyrics of the Depression era song, "Happy Days Are Here Again."

Apple days are here again

The skies above are clear agin

So let's sing a song of cheer again

Apple days are here again!

From Amsterdam: a musical play about Captain Beefheart

2012-01-12T15:52:00.002-05:00

Don Van Vliet, Captain Beefheart

The legacy of Don Van Vliet, his art and music, endures in a number of ways, including occasional tribute concerts, especially those of Gary Lucas, former Magic Band member and now noted jazz musician. For both new audiences and older fans, the internet is well stocked with Beefheart recordings (both legit and bootleg), videos, and memorabilia along with photos of Don's paintings and drawings, his sole artistic pursuit from the early 1980s til his death in December 2010.

Recently, I received news of a Dutch musical theater piece, "Low Yo Yo Stuff," based on the life of Captain Beefheart and staged a couple of weeks ago in Amsterdam. Ferry Rigault, an acquaintance of mine from the early 1970s with whom I attended a Beefheart concert and after concert drinks with Don, alerted me to the production. Here (slightly edited) are his comments on what he saw and heard.

It was in a theatre called Bellevue, not so far from the hotel we talked with the Captain.  It really was a very good play, with a great actor, Frank Lammers, and a fantastic band.  Frank plays a crazy fan who thinks he is born in the head of captain Beefheart after he visited a Beefheart concert in the small village of Roden in the east of Holland in 1980 (historical). He's looking for Beefheart's Lost Record, that never came out due to conflicts with studio bosses.

The decor is a sixties/seventies boysroom with a fourarmed pickup, a giant
taperecorder (Sony), old album covers and a table full of empty bottles. In
fact the play is about a search for regaining artistical and social freedom.
The text is very weird, associative, surrealistic and sometimes ununderstandable,
just like the Captain.

Of course there is a lot of great Beefheart music: "Electricity," "Zigzag Wanderer," "I'm gonna Booglarize You," "Low Yo Yo Stuff," "Abba Zaba," and many more. Even the dialogue "Fast 'n Bulbous" with the Mascara Snake from Trout Mask Replica was there. The play ended with a Beefhartesque song in Dutch.  Also his painting are in the play, and even some live painting. [?]
There were also quite a lot of young people in the audience (under 20) and, as far as I could see, they enjoyed the play.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Mr. Rigault was nice enough to send along a video promo clip for the play along with two songs tastefully and energetically recreated by by Frank Lammers and his version of the Magic Band -- "I'm Gonna Booglarize You, Baby," and "Electricity."

Another YouTube treasure Ferry enclosed was a television appearance Captain Beefheart and a rather tacky band made during his tour of Europe in 1973 (or was it 1974). This a period in which the fabulous Magic Band of "Trout Mask Replica" and subsequent albums had completely fallen apart, leaving Beefheart and his Las Vegas manager with a group composed of L.A. and Vegas studio players. Don seemed humiliated, but he slogged on if only to keep the money pouring in. (Take a look at the cover of "Unconditionally Guaranteed" from that period in his career.) At the Concertgebouw concert, Don asked his clarinet player (yes, clarinet player) to do a dixieland solo on "Sweet Georgia Brown" at one point and then, several songs later to play the damned thing again!

The treasure here is an appearance Don made on a Dutch comedy television show during the same tour. He walks on stage with two bumbling comedians as a young woman is singing a ballad. After some rather lame jokes by the Dutch buffoons, Beefheart lip syncs and mugs a song, "Upon the My Oh My," from "Unconditionally Guaranteed," drawing out the autobiographical pathos in the lyrics: "Tell me, good Captain, how does it feel, to be driven away from your own steering wheel? Upon the My Oh My ...."

What's wonderful about the video is that your can see very clearly Van Vliet's characteristic posture, body language, impish facial expressions, and, well, his attitude as he moved along the always awkward boundary between his private life and public persona. What was it like to be in his presence? The video will give you a pretty good taste. It ends with Don walking over to keyboard player on the set. "Can you play 'Yesterday'?" he asks. The pianist plays the song as Don starts whistling, which he always did by inhaling, his mouth half open. Check it out below.

That's my contribution to internet Beefheart for today. Keep listening!

Stalinist tactics in software anti-piracy campaign

2012-01-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

                   Joseph Stalin -- patron saint of software "anti-piracy" gulag

As a little boy growing up in 1950s California, I learned all about the evils of Communism, especially those perpetrated by the arch enemy of the "free world," the U.S.S.R.   Although there were many features of the Soviet system that my teachers and the media identified as horrifying, there was one that always stuck in my mind -- the "fact" that people in the Soviet Union were encouraged -- encouraged! -- to turn in any neighbors, colleagues at work or family members who were violating the principles of Communism in any way. Even little children, I was told, were expected to rat on their parents if they suspected them of any transgression from Soviet principles. "What a horrible system," I thought to myself, "asking family members to betray their relatives."

Memories of those lessons returned to me today as I heard a radio advertisement advising listeners to be vigilant against the dread menace of "software piracy." While I don't have the exact text of the ad, the gist of it was that employees should inform on any employer whom they believed to be using illegally copied software in the workplace. As reward for ratting on their boss, the ad promised a handsome cash reward.

Afterward I tracked down the sponsor of the campaign, the Business Software Alliance. Its web page describes the purposes and methods of this ambitious program.

"Software audit defense firm, Scott & Scott, LLP, reports that the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has been increasing the number of radio ads encouraging confidential reporting of software piracy for a potential cash reward. Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco areas in particular are hearing more anti-piracy ads.

"The Business Sofware Alliance (BSA) is a global software industry group owned and funded by big name companies, including Adobe, Microsoft, Autodesk and Symantec.

"The BSA has been aggressively marketing financial incentives to disgruntled employees to make anonymous software piracy tips against their employers with reward payments. Based on the number of radio ads in September, Los Angeles. #1, Chicago #2, New York #3, San Francisco #4, and Dallas #5 targeted markets, in their national “whistleblower” radio campaign according to statistics provided by AdScope."
* * * *

What an opportunity to earn some extra cash! Not only can I enjoy spying on my colleagues in various firms and on university campuses, but I can also refresh some cherished childhood memories. All that talk about the paranoia and cultural repression imposed by Joseph Stalin will no longer be just an abstraction, but a living part of everyday life.

Oh, thank you, Business Software Alliance, for reviving this crucial part of modern political culture -- terror, surveillance, betrayal of friends and family, and the renewed affirmation of what truly matters -- the rights of private property over everything else!

Fukushima radiation -- free at your doorstep from TEPCO

2011-12-28T17:32:00.001-05:00

                           Cartoon of "Our Friend the Atom" from the 1950s
                                     Disneyland television show

I don't know if anyone has ever done the math, but it's an interesting question whether or not nuclear power would ever have paid its way as a domestic energy source if one had counted all of the costs involved in its creation including research & development, construction, liability insurance, accident clean ups, radioactive waste disposal, decommissioning aged reactors, etc. And as Helen Caldicott has argued over the years, one also needs to count the enormous burden of human costs in illness, disability and death, along with the economic burdens of caring for people stricken with diseases caused by radioactivity emitted by the plants and their malfunctions.

Of course the genius of modern capitalism is to avoid all costs of this kind. Privatize the profits, pass the bills on to someone else, "externalities" as those amusing economists call these things. In the wake of the ongoing calamities of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) now argues that radioactive isotopes released from plant are no longer its property. Evidently, they're giving away the deadly particles, free of charge, to anyone (mis)fortunate enough to have them arrive on their property or in their bodies. In the spirit of the holidays, think of them as gifts that keep on giving.

One of the earliest victims of this insidious policy is a Japanese golf course. Here's a report from The Australian newspaper.

In defending a lawsuit from a Fukushima Prefecture golf club, lawyers said the radioactive cesium that had blighted the Sunfield Nihonmatsu golf course's fairways and greens was the club's problem. The utility has taken a similarly hard line defending claims from ryokan (inn) and onsen (spa) owners.

TEPCO's lawyers used the arcane legal principle of res nullius to argue the emissions that escaped after the tsunami and earthquake triggered a meltdown were no longer its responsibility. "Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant belong to individual landowners, not TEPCO," the utility told Tokyo District Court.

The chief operating officer of the prestigious golf course, Tsutomo Yamane, told The Australian that he and his staff were stunned: "I couldn't believe my ears. I told my employees, 'TEPCO is saying the radiation doesn't belong to them', and they said 'I beg your pardon'."

The court rejected TEPCO's argument, but ruled it was the responsibility of local, prefectural and national governments to clean it up.

The case - and the club's bid for $160 million in clean-up costs - has proceeded to the High Court amid fears the ruling could result in some local governments being bankrupted.

   * * * * * * *
By the way, I'm wondering who will pay for the damages to the world's seafood industry from the radioactive debris now floating away from the shores of Fukushima and into the Pacific Ocean. Certainly, it won't be TEPCO. Will shoppers and restaurants need to take geiger counters to seafood markets?   How much do those things cost?

Ready for everyday torture of Occupy protesters?

2011-12-20T12:54:00.001-05:00

From Gizmodo, sketch of a "riot shield" now in the laboratory

The use of tear gas, pepper spray, billy clubs, other weapons are now commonplace in efforts by America’s local police officers to dispatch those involved in Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. As protesters make use of constitutionally protected rights of free speech and assembly, they are confronted by increasingly potent varieties of “crowd control,” including forms of violence that cross the line between civilized law enforcement and practices of torture. Our newly militarized “riot” squads carry an impressive array of high tech instruments that city and campus cops now wield with little sense of restraint. The boys and their toys are ready for whatever expressions of freedom you have in mind.

Among the more insidious devices deployed or under development are ones that attack demonstrators with high intensity sound waves. These include the LRAD sound cannon used in police crackdowns against Occupy Oakland and in the political cleansing of Zuccotti park. According to a report in Gizmodo:

The LRAD corporation says that anyone within a 100 meters of the device's sound path will experience extreme pain. The version generally utilized by police department (the LRAD 500X) is designed to communicate at up to 2000 meters during ideal conditions. In a typical outdoor environment, the device can be heard for 650 meters. The 500x is also capable of short bursts of directed sound that casuse severe headaches in anyone within a 300-meter range. Anyone within 15 meters of the device's audio path can experience permanent hearing loss.

Evidently, the cannon is just the beginning of an ongoing process of "innovation" in this field of engineering and marketing. Google Patents contains a patent application for a dandy item, the "Man-Portable Non-Lethal Pressure Shield," submitted in December 2010 by James H. Bostick and now, according to Gizmodo, patented to Raytheon, Inc., The "non-lethal pressure shield creates a pulsed pressure wave that resonates the upper respiratory tract of a human, hindering breathing and eventually incapacitating the target."

I find it appalling that there is not widespread public outcry about the development and use of these technologies against citizens who are simply exercising their basic constitutional and human rights. The purpose of sound cannons and the new riot shields is to cause injury, perhaps permanent injury, to the ears and internal organs to persons who receive their blasts. Thus, the summary judgments of police result in what amounts to immediate, extreme physical punishment without arrest, presentation of evidence or judgment in a court of law. Injure now, ask questions later!

How is lawless conduct of this kind justified? Or have we reached a point at which questions of justification are beside the point? Having grown accustomed to the "enhanced interrogation" of those suspected of “terrorism,” the American populace may be ready for swift, mundane torture of their neighbors who are simply marching in the streets, holding signs, chanting slogans, and camping in Occupy parks.

Confronting Tyranny and Stupidity -- recent updates

2011-12-12T16:13:00.001-05:00

It's been a little over four years since I delivered a brief talk -- "Confronting Tyranny and Stupidity: What Works?" -- for a teach-in on democracy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The occasion was the abolition of the Faculty Senate at the university. Much has happened since then, including this, this, and this from recent days. The natives are restless. My talk was basically about the varieties of oligarchy that have afflicted many world societies and, alas, some contemporary American institutions as well. (The YouTube video of the first part of the talk streams above. Part II and Part III can be found here.)

Dan Froomkin's essay in Nieman Watchdog describes the some of the broader patterns of oligarchy in the country right now, noting the forces now arrayed against the Occupy Wall Street movement. Quoting political scientist Stanley Winters, he comments:

What this means, Winters says, "is that although U.S. democracy is founded on one-person-one-vote, each oligarch can bring to the political table the dollar impact of 20,000 Americans. Decisions like Citizens United open the flood gate for oligarchs and their minions in the wealth defense industry to flex the maximum political muscle money can buy. And that's just in the context of electoral campaigns. No one is even talking about how the wealth defense industry silently and invisibly benefits American oligarchs every day, year-round."

By contrast, he says: "Anybody who wants to challenge the wealthy, they've got to get rained on, and eventually snowed on, and it means they have to stop whatever they're doing. Ordinary citizens actually have to join organizations and physically be there and participate, to the exclusion of anything else they might do. And that is at tremendous burden."

His conclusion: "This is one of the reasons a very small number of ultra-wealthy Americans can distort democracy in their favor against tens of millions of ordinary citizens."

My talk concludes with some reflections on Barbara Tuchman's wonderful book, The March of Folly, a work that grows in relevance each day. Here is her optimistic vision of how citizens, leaders and whole societies might begin to dissolve the follies in which they are enmeshed:

"If the mind is open enough to perceive that a given policy is harming rather than serving self-interest, and self-confident enough to acknowledge it, and wise enough to reverse it, that is the summit of the art of government."

Few for Change -- A small but active NGO

2011-12-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a good place to send some holiday dollars -- perhaps as a present in the name of a friend or family member -- Few for Change is a wonderful choice. The organization supports the educational needs of children of the indigenous Ngöbe-Buglé people in Panama. As indicated the the not-for-profit organization's web page:

Our Mission: Our mission is to provide financial assistance — covering tuition, uniforms, transportation and books — to high-achieving middle and high school students who would not otherwise be able to continue their studies.

Our Vision: We envision a world where each child has access to basic education, regardless of race, ethnicity, location or socioeconomic status.

Our Values: We believe that education is a basic human right which can facilitate and sustain transformation for students and their communities. Education:

expands horizons by inspiring and motivating individuals;
builds social capital and lays a framework for community action and autonomy;
empowers children to become leaders within their communities;
provides the tools necessary for students to reach their full potential;
enables people to break the cycle of poverty.

Our commitment is to keep 100% of the resources that we raise directed towards our scholars and their educations.

About $450 helps provide a child a middle school education and solid step out of the cycle of poverty. My son, Brooks Winner, is one of the group's organizers and is still active in making it happen. All of the money donated goes directly to the children. The web site contains photos and brief bios of the girls and boys chosen to receive scholarships.

From "disability" to "functional diversity" -- The wheels of life

2011-12-07T22:45:00.002-05:00

This cartoon, Las ruedas da la vida, "The wheels of life," nicely illustrates an interesting concept -- functional diversity -- that redefines the ideas, issues and theories often lumped together under the concept of "disability," "impairment" or of "people with disabilities." The picture shows a baby/boy/man moving through life with changing capacities of mobility and changing needs for wheeled devices to help him move. It's significant that it also shows the need for people who become helpers along this spectrum of mobility as well -- the woman pushing a baby carriage at the beginning and a nurse pushing an old man in a wheel chair at the end of the sequence.

The basic idea is that all human beings are situated a points along a spectrum of functionality (actually wide range of conceivable spectra of this kind) that reveals what they able to do. In this way of seeing, the human community is composed of a innumerable kinds of diversity in functionality, circumstances that change for all individuals during their lifetimes. Thus, the familiar notions of "diversity" that encompasses gender, race, ethnicity, social class, age, etc. can be broadened further to include "functional diversity," an alternative to understandings and labels that have often singled out particular kinds of physical traits and personal features as "defective," "abnormal," "undesirable," and the like.

To the best of my knowledge, the concept of "functional diversity" was first proposed in Argentina as an alternative to derogatory terms that describe the features of persons often discriminated against in societies around the world. It now has a strong presence in philosophical and policy debates in Spain and Latin America. Here is an explanation of the basic idea from the seminal article, "Functional diversity, a new term in the struggle for dignity in the diversity of the human being." by Javier Romañach and Manuel Lobato (2005).

We, women and men with functional diversity, are different from most of
the population, from the biophysical standpoint. Due to having different
characteristics, and given the conditions of the context generated by society, we
are forced to do the same tasks or functions in a different way, sometimes through
third parties.

Hence, a deaf person communicates through the eyes and by signs or signals, while
the rest of the population does so basically through words and hearing. However,
the function that these perform is the same: communication. To move around, a
person with a spinal injury customarily uses a wheelchair, while the rest of the
population do so using their legs: the same function, but in diverse forms.

For this reason the term “functional diversity” corresponds to a reality in which a
person functions in a different or diverse way from most of society. This term takes
into consideration the person’s difference and the lack of respect of majorities,
who fail to consider this functional diversity in their social and environmental
constructive processes.

I first ran across the concept of "functional diversity" during my stay at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) in Madrid in 2010. My colleagues in the Institute of Philosophy there -- Francisco Guzmán, Mario Taboso and Melania Moscoso -- are developing this idea in fascinating, systematic ways and have taught me a great deal. In fact, I am just beginning to grasp the significance and broader (highly useful) implications of their work for philosophy, social science, public policy, political activism, design, and engineering. I plan to write about these matters in future postings here.

[Alas, I don't yet know the name of the person who drew the cartoon.]

* * * * * * * *
[Correction:   Francisco (Paco) Guzmán has written me with the following point, "...as far as I know, the first official reference of functional diversity appeared in 2005 in the article by Romañach and Lobato, both Spanish. The first book where it was mentioned was "el modelo de la diversidad" released in 2006, written by Agustina Palacios, Argentina, in collaboration with Javier [Bustamante?]."
Thanks, Paco!]

Foreclose on banks: turning point for Occupy movement

2011-12-06T16:21:00.002-05:00

Alfredo, outside his home in East New York, addresses Occupy supporters

Perhaps the eviction from Zuccotti Square and other encampments around the country will be remembered as a positive turning point for the Occupy Wall Street movement. I've spent part of the afternoon watching streaming videos from East New York where crowds of demonstrators have marched to support families scheduled for eviction from their homes. There's much positive energy, good "mic check" speeches, and a coming together of people from diverse groups, which is as sign that, as one person there commented, "the color of the movement is changing."

I like the drums, small brass band, chanting, appearance of the OWS sanitation crew to clean the house, banners, house warming presents, little girl looking a the window saying, "They're waving to you, mommy!"

Meanwhile, the practical effects of the protests are more and more evident -- not just "change in the dialog," but substantial political changes that would not have happened otherwise. Here's one, via the New York Times, from Albany today.

Cuomo Strikes Deal to Raise Taxes on the Wealthiest

By THOMAS KAPLAN

Pubished: December 6, 2011

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders on Tuesday announced that they had reached an agreement to raise taxes on New York State’s wealthiest residents as part of a deal to overhaul the tax rates.

The leaders, seeking simultaneously to make the state’s income tax system more progressive and to increase tax collections during a down economy, announced their agreement as lawmakers began to arrive at the Capitol for an expected special session of the Legislature later this week.

The tentative agreement would not only raise taxes for the wealthy, but also cut taxes for the middle class, by creating four new tax brackets and tax rates. The officials said the tax rate changes would generate $1.9 billion in annual revenue for the state.

“This would be lowest tax rate for middle class families in 58 years,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “This job-creating economic plan defies the political gridlock that has paralyzed Washington and shows that we can make government work for the people of this state once again.”

* * * * * *

Some observers might say, "It would have happened with or without Occupy Wall Street." (Yeah, right...uh huh....sure it would....)

Update:
Evidently, another sign of this turn of events came in Obama's speech on inequality and fairness in Kansas today. I have only read excerpts so far, but the tone and content seem extraordinary, given the cautious approach the President has taken during the past three years. Here's a passage from Greg Sargent's story:

Obama’s speech went to great lengths to criticize inequality in this context, and his historical references were also designed to support that theme. He drew a direct line between today’s debate and the debate at the turn of the century between the forces of unregulated capitalism, which caused massive inequality and suffering, and Theodore Roosevelt's insistence on humane government intervention in service of the national good.

“Roosevelt was called a radical, a socialist, even a communist,” Obama said, in a tacit reference to similar attacks on himself. “But today, we are a richer nation and a stronger democracy because of what he fought for in his last campaign: an eight hour work day and a minimum wage for women; insurance for the unemployed, the elderly, and those with disabilities; political reform and a progressive income tax."

If it's all about "public health and safety," why arrest a sink?

2011-12-02T16:16:00.001-05:00

Under the guise of protecting "public health and safety," the arrest and removal of Occupy Wall Street protestors continues in several cities across the country. To test the lame excuse that the encampments are not sufficiently clean, some clever folks at Occupy Boston introduced a sink for washing hands, dishes and whatever else needed cleaning. The device was specially prepared by someone at MIT, using methods that transforms the runoff into "greywater" that can be harmlessly poured onto the lawn of a city park. This is a civil liberties protecting, Lemelson Prize caliber, technological innovation of the highest order, a political artifact supreme.

The Boston Police were not amused. During a crackdown of Occupy Boston last night they arrested demonstrators and confiscated the ingenious sink. A news report from a local web site gives the details.

A standoff between Boston Police and occupiers ended with an arrest late Thursday night after officers apprehended a makeshift sink being delivered to Dewey Square.

According to police, Atlantic Avenue was temporarily blocked off and one protester was arrested for disorderly conduct and assault and battery on a public employee as members of Occupy Boston allegedly tried to keep police from removing the sink from the property.

Officers eventually hauled away the sink in a police vehicle. . . .

The sink, which cost the group roughly $200, was made so occupiers could address complaints city officials made in a court hearing earlier in the day in regards to sanitation and dirty dishes. . . .

“It’s ironic that the city would complain in court about sanitation and in the same day remove a sink,” said B from Allston.

B, who wouldn’t give a full name, said campers are constantly working to improve the site at Dewey Square.

“When we try and get the sink, they then tell us we are being violent,” he said.

After the commotion settled, protesters began chanting “whose sink, our sink,” a play on words from one of their regular chants when marching through the streets of Boston.

* * * * * *
One of the signs of the imagination and resourcefulness of the Occupy movement is to test the absurd reasons offered by governments at all levels for the suppression of citizen rights. As incidents of this kind spread, the application of raw, arbitrary power is unmasked for what it is.

The underlying message turns out to be: "We're using police force to protect the interests of the oligarchy that has seized control of the U.S.A. Don't ask about our justifications Just bow your heads!"

"Health and Safety" trumps 1st Amendment rights in L.A.

2011-11-27T11:04:00.002-05:00

Guy Fawkes of Occupy Los Angeles stands in front of L.A. City Hall

Perhaps someone will explain to me why the so-called "liberal" majors of cities across the U.S. have suddenly decided that protecting "public health and safety" outweighs First Amendment protections of "the freedom of speech ...[and] the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Are there worrisome signs of illness at Occupy sites? Beyond the news of police beating, gassing and pepper spraying demonstrators, is there compelling evidence of danger to public safety? The sites I've visited have been clean, orderly and welcoming with no signs of disease beyond ordinary autumn sniffling from allergies and colds. Yet we are led to believe that the encampments are major hazards to our physical well-being.

Here's the crucial part of the statement of Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, justifying his order to evict Occupy Los Angeles on Monday.

The Occupy movement is now at a crossroads. The movement faces the question of how it can build on its initial success. It is a question of whether energy will be consumed to defend a particular patch of earth or whether that energy will be channeled to spreading the message of economic equality and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society.

The encampment in City Hall Park is not sustainable. This is especially true from the standpoint of public health and public safety. Accordingly, we must close, repair and re-open the park to public access. For this reason, we will close the park on Monday, November 28th at 12:01 am. The park closure will include a set of measures that will assist Occupy LA participants to move their personal belongings and property from the park. We will also offer social and health services for those in need.

I am very proud of the fact that since the start of the occupation of City Hall Park, we have done things differently in Los Angeles. We have not stared each other down from opposite sides of barricades and barbed wire. We have communicated. We have listened. We have negotiated. It has allowed us to solve problems peacefully and to avoid the scenes of violence and brutality that have strained the civic fabric of other cities.

It is my hope that we can conclude this first chapter of Occupy LA in a similar spirit. I admire your courage and character. You have opened the eyes of your fellow citizens to the economic hardship in their midst. I am encouraged by your passionate commitment to social justice and look forward to the continued progress of your efforts.

The condescension that drips from this proclamation appears to be an attempt by Mayor Villaraigosa to salvage his reputation and (until now) promising political career at the very moment that he's calling in the riot troopers. His promise of "health and social services for those in need" will come in handy for those likely to be injured in the tomorrow's melee, since Occupy L.A. has promised to stand firm. His praise for the his efforts "to avoid the scenes of violence and brutality that have strained the civic fabric of other cities" leaves out an additional phrase -- "until now!"

The flagrant dishonesty of the rationale the Mayor offers has become standard boilerplate in justifications for brutal crackdowns on Occupy Wall Street protests nationwide. If public health and safety have somehow become America's most urgent problem right now, why are budgets for Medicaid, public health services and local law enforcement being slashed in our towns and cities?

Do us a favor. Just tell us the real reasons for the arrests, beatings and episodes of political cleansing taking place in America right now. We can handle it (and make plans accordingly).

Science fiction as prophecy: Robocops 2011

2011-11-20T23:52:00.002-05:00

Here's a photo of Portland's finest, the fabulous "first responders" now called out to quash dissent and suppress freedom. One thing that strikes me is how closely they resemble "Robcop" from the 1987 movie. These costly, disgusting cyborgs and now on parade in dozens of towns, cities and even college campuses across the U.S., paid for by lavish spending on "homeland security." Is this the image of America's future?

By the way, all of the excited chatter about "hybrids" and "cyborgs" in the humanities and social sciences in recent years helped venerate creatures of this sort. How does it look now, cyborg theorists?

UC Berkeley -- balloon tents and mini-tents defy cops -- Go Bears!

2011-11-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

I'm proud of my alma mater. Here's the story.

Quick-thinking #OccupyCal students “pitched” tents in the sky after police cleared their camp at the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday. The students claimed to have circumvented a police order banning them from pitching tents at Sproul Plaza by simply using balloons to float the tents over the plaza. Up to 5,000 students were reported to have been involved in the Occupy protest before 20 tents were dismantled.

Students also set up mini-tents which look a lot like paperback books folded open, stem side up. Given the fate of books in the hands of police at Liberty Square in New York City, this option will probably not survive. In America these days, books are for trashing.

Big Apple mayor sends warm greetings to Patio Maravillas

2011-11-16T12:33:00.004-05:00

General Assembly at occupation of Puerta del Sol, May 2011

Last night I spoke to an audience at Patio Maravillas, a community center in Madrid where people with interesting political ideas gather. Firmly established in a lovely old squatted building downtown, the Patio was one of the places where plans for the May 15 demonstrations in Puerta del Sol were hatched.

Veteran hacktivist “iokese” (trans: “what-do-I-know?”) invited me to give a talk comparing the movement of the Spanish “indignados” to similar events happening now at Occupy Wall Street sites. A buzz filled the room as people shared news of the brutal crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street in New York City the night before. In fact, much of my presentation featured questions and answers about Democracy Now videos of city police clearing the encampment.

Shortly before I began my remarks, a wonderful surprise message arrived from the honorable Michael Bloomindales, Mayor of New York. Here’s the full text.

My greetings to members of the flourishing the research center at Patio Maravillas!

I want to extend my most cordial invitation for you to attend the upcoming Grand Opening Ceremony of the newly cleansed and restored Zuccotti Park in the historic Wall Street district of New York. To help plan your journey, here are some key points to keep in mind.

I know you’re eager to obtain news and photos of the forced eviction of Occupy Wall Street. Regrettably, for the time being, direct news coverage is forbidden and all reporters have been banned from the site. We assure you, this is for your own protection.

We New Yorkers take great pride in the right of free speech widely practiced in our fair city. However, as you know, all freedoms have their limits and carry very heavy responsibilities. In view of your flagrant abuses of free speech in Spain last May, you will be subject to arrest if you venture anywhere near Wall Street. As an alternative, may I suggest an uplifting afternoon at our world famous Metropolitan Museum of Art or, perhaps, Zabar's?

Another freedom we cherish in our city is the right to be free from searches of one’s person and possessions unless a warrant has been issued by a court of law. To that end we have begun a policy of random police searches of those who visit “Liberty Square.” I assure you, there is nothing personal here – just random pat downs by our men in blue. For some in the Patio group, this could be the highlight of your tour!

I understand that books and other written materials have been spotted in Patio Maravillas recently. The city government of New York has now declared items of this kind a threat to public health and safety. If you insist upon bringing any books, manifestos, anarchist software, or similar materials to Zuccotti Park, they will be immediately confiscated and taken to the nearest landfill. We simply cannot risk another epidemic of unconventional ideas here.

As you may have heard, our nation’s Bill of Rights recognizes the “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The key term here is “peaceably.” For that reason we have recently instituted occasional beatings of citizens in their assemblies. This step removes any hint of peacefulness and facilitates the difficult work of securing the safety of our streets and sidewalks. Please keep this in mind if you intend trying anything peaceful during your stay.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that the evictions, kettlings, arrests, beatings, and gassings of both U.S. citizens and visitors will continue until democracy and public order are fully restored and Wall Street can return to business as usual.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your visit to New York City.

Yours truly,

Mike

(not be be confused with the ill-named "people's mike")

Bull fighting on Wall Street -- los máximos trofeos

2011-11-11T16:53:00.000-05:00

As I prepare to go to Madrid to give some talks on the relationships between the events of May 15 in Spain to Occupy Wall Street right now, I've run across a video of a matador and some lively banderilleros at work in a corrida de toros the center of the financial district. Perhaps because they misunderstand the traditional Spanish pageantry involved, the police come to arrest two of the participants. However, the brave matador arranges his own victorious salida en hombros, but not on the shoulders of an admiring crowd.

From you friends at Occupy Wall Street -- A good question

2011-11-09T16:50:00.000-05:00

I'm flying to Madrid in a couple of days to give talks at Universidad Complutense and participate in a round table discussion with philosophers, a lawyer and activists in the 15-May and subsequent movements. I've also been invited to Patio Marvillas, a squatted building that serves as a community center, to share my thoughts on Occupy Wall Street.

Another wonderful community center in the city, Tabacalera, an old tobacco factory dating back to the 18th century, is the subject of an interesting piece, "Fuera de Lugar," by publisher/public intellectual, Amador Fernández-Savater. The background here is that the future of Tabacalera, a place alive with social movements, is under a cloud because the conservative Partido Popular is likely to win the upcoming elections and withdraw any funding for the center.

As I've noted before in these pages, a very easy way to translate articles from Spanish (or any language) into English in rough but readable versions, is to use Google Chrome and its built-in translation program. When people complain that the translations are not perfect, I respond: "Give me a break!" (or something a little more obscene).

Vast majority of Americans bored with their jobs

2011-11-04T21:25:00.000-04:00

While the big concern these days is unemployment and lack of any significant job creation, a simmering problem in our society is the fact that most people who are lucky to have a job at all are simply bored out of their minds while at work. A recent Gallup poll found that 71% of employees are either "not engaged" or "actively disengaged" in their work.

Another astonishing result of the survey is that people who've had some college education, including those who've gone on for post graduate degrees, are among those least engaged in their jobs. So much for the idea that higher education leads to more interesting, stimulating, creative life pursuits. In fact, those most "engaged" with their jobs are people who've had only a high school education, 34%.

Given the jobs and income panic in the U.S. right now, I doubt that this problem will attract much attention or concern for the time being. But think of all the intelligence and concern that psychologists, organization theorists, managers, and business school gurus have lavished over the decades on such topics as "self actualization" and all those wonderful steps employees take as they ascend Maslow's pyramid. What happened to all of that?

Even if basic numerical trends in employment start to improve, it appears that our economy will remain rotten at much deeper levels.

Occupy Albany meets winter weather

2011-10-29T11:21:00.000-04:00

Well, here's citizen Langdon at an Occupy Albany demonstration on October 15, disguised in coat and tie to fool the cops and media. I told the crowd that they didn't need advice from anyone about their goals, messages and actions. But I did take note of an important fact, namely that winter is coming on that the temptation would be to say "It's too cold and wet to get out to marches and meetings."

So I offered a story about the year my family and I spent in Norway some years back.

We noticed that the Norwegians were always outside, regardless of weather conditions. They walk, they skii, they picnic, and do whatever comes to mind, all year round, including the dead of winter. Even small children frolic in outdoor neighborhood "barna" parks, the year round including the wet, freezing winter! After a time I asked some friends in Oslo how such flagrant disregard for rain, snow, sleet, and bitter cold was possible. They explained that there were historical reasons for this ways of life (too complicated to summarize here) and then shared a favorite Norwegian saying:

There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing!

Since that time I've made it a practice to get outdoors more often. Just wear a good warm coat and hat, buy boots that keep one's feet dry, and take sensible steps necessary to meet Mother Nature on friendly terms. This is good advice for political activists as well. Don't yield to stupid excuses about why you can't stay involved during the winter months.

Media meets Occupy Wall Street -- Chris Hedges makes CBC's Kevin O'Leary look stupid

2011-10-27T15:28:00.000-04:00

Having spent a little time around the corporate media, I can understand how someone like Kevin O'Leary has a job at all and why he's so puzzled about Occupy Wall Street. His encounter with Chris Hedges shows an unquestioned worldview under severe stress, totally unable to fathom or respond to the most basic criticisms about the U.S. economic system. In his confusion, O'Leary resorts to name calling, a bad mistake.

CBC memo to file: Don't mess with Chris.

Instant-runoff voting -- watch Portland, Maine

2011-10-26T11:02:00.001-04:00

The system known as Instant-runoff voting, preferential voting or ranked choice voting is a sensible elections reform and is steadily spreading throughout the country. Basically, the idea is that a voter selects her first choice among candidates and also indicates a second and third choice as well. An article in the Economist recently described the process of counting ballots:

"...voters select three candidates: first-choice, second and third. If any candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, he wins, as in any other election. But if nobody gets a majority, the candidate who won the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated, and his supporters’ second choices are added to the counts of the other candidates. If there is still no majority winner, another candidate is eliminated, and his ballots are recounted. And so on, until somebody passes 50%."

This system is used around the world in various places, including Ireland, Australia, London, and in the mayor's race in San Francisco. Sometimes the results are rather surprising. Candidates who were not among the leading contenders in pre-election speculation and polling have emerged victorious because they pleased a good number of voters as second or third choice. This is something that could be favorable to progressive candidates trying to challenge the death grip that our worn out, brain dead, and generally feckless Republican and Democratic parties have in the U.S.

An interesting case of this kind seems to be taking shape in the race for Mayor in Portland, Maine. An interesting alternative candidate, David Marshall, artist and civic activist, very green by reputation, has risen to prominence among a long list of candidates, including conventional mainstay Democratic Party standard bearers. Here's a slice of Marshall's web page:

For the past five years, I have served you as a City Councilor. My hard work has led to the growth of our creative economy, substantial energy savings, and zoning reforms to increase housing and support our businesses.

Now it is time to bring Portland to the next level. I'm running for Mayor because I love Portland. I possess the vision and experience to lead Portland further into the 21st Century. Please check out my accomplishments as a Portland City Councilor and my platform to strengthen our economy. ....

As your Mayor I will

Invest in our school buildings to make them state-of-the-art learning facilities to prepare our children for the future.

Grow our population to spread out the tax burden by creating housing near the downtown and in business corridors to attract new families and local businesses.

Convert our homes and businesses from oil to cleaner fuels to improve our air and save us money.

Stimulate economic development by investing in a modern streetcar line to grow our tax base.

Institute a 24-hour pothole guarantee through a professional management program that will make City Hall user-friendly and accountable.

While I'm not a resident of Portland, this is certainly a pitch that would win my vote, especially that pothole initiative! During one of Portland's evening "Art Walks" recently, I ran into David outside his studio and asked about his chances, especially in the Instant-runoff system.
"I think our chances are very good," he replied. "We have good volunteers going door-to-door and a lot of people are interested in voting for me as either first or second choice. I like to say: "We're Number 1 in the Number 2 business!"

Go David!

[Note: One of my sons works for the David Marshall campaign.]

Republican Tea Party science lab discovered

2011-10-19T06:59:00.001-04:00

While the Republican Tea Party people seem to have closed the door on science and reason -- rejecting evolution, global warming and the environmental sciences as "just theories that are out there" -- they seem have a special laboratory, stocked with very smart people, brewing up toxic mixtures to poison the American political debate.

[Alas, I could not find the name of the cartoonist who did this one.]

Cops meet Occupy Phoenix demonstrators

2011-10-18T17:53:00.000-04:00

Dressed as storm troopers, police in Phoenix confront a gathering of the Occupy Phoenix group. Perhaps they were asking if they could join the General Assembly, experience the joys of decision-making by democratic consensus and help amplify the people's mike.

Actually, there were 49 people arrested last Saturday's protests. In these times of budget cutting an deficit worries there is still money to fund overtime pay for cops along with a hovering helicopter to suppress "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" as specified in first amendment of The Bill of Rights.

Los indignados occupy buildings as "hotels" for evicted people

2011-10-17T07:06:00.000-04:00

Emmanuel Dare, 36, affected by eviction

It's a long story, but in Spain the occupations came long before the recent mass demonstrations. Today, following the protests last week, los indignados in Madrid and Barcelona have resumed occupying buildings as "hotels" for evicted people. In the words of Isaachacksimov: the hotels are "200 stars, free and include controversy."

Here's a rough translation of an excerpt from El Pais.

Two occupied buildings,one in Madrid and another in Barcelona, remain as a legacy of the great mobilization that took to the streets Saturday to tens of thousands of people brought together by the 15 of May movement. Near the Puerta del Sol, in a old hotel, the indignants yesterday debated how to use the building: assembly-space, shelter, hospice, home of Cuban dissidents camped outside the Foreign Ministry or simply as a social center. Or all at once. ....

For hours the issue was addressed in assembly. "It should be clear that the occupation is temporary," one speaker, a member of the 15-M, said with a megaphone. The veteran "indignado" explained that the first 48 hours of an occupation are the most important, because that's when the police can carry out an eviction without court approval.

* * * * * * * *

As I post this, the police have arrived at "Hotel Madrid" in an attempt to remove those who've occupyied the place. From the standpoint of "los indignados," confrontations of this kind are useful to the influence of the larger movement, revealing the injustices of the current social, economic and political system.

For those curious, here's a recent picture of Isaachacksimov.

Statement of the general assembly of Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park

2011-10-16T13:09:00.001-04:00

The puzzlement in the mainstream media about the objectives of Occupy Wall Street and other "Occupy" demonstrations reflects a lack of attention, a perhaps, an unwillingness to leave behind the hollow frames of reference that dominate contemporary politics. On October 7, the general assembly of Occupy Wall Street came to agreement on the proclamation below. Keith Olbermann read it on his "Countdown" program and Thom Hartmann transcribed it for his web page. In both style and content, it is reminiscent of another distinctly American document: The Declaration of Independence.

Statement of the general assembly of Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park:

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members. That our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors. That a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people, and the Earth, and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power.
We come to you at a time when corporations -- which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality -- run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here as is our right to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in workplaces based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is, itself, a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut worker's health care and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams, but look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products, endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people's lives, or provide relief in order to protect investments that have
already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully kept people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners, even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City general assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble, occupy public space, create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard.

My favorite story from Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-14T14:59:00.000-04:00

The mainstream press and the undercover cops know there just has to be "a leader" for the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy protests. The best story I've read about this comes from an essay by Chris Hedges, "Why Corporate Elites Should Be Petrified by Occupy Wall Street." The story is told by Ketchup, a twenty-two year old woman from Chicago who's active in the Zuccotti Park demonstrations.

“The undercover cops are the only ones who ask, ‘Who’s the leader?’ ” she said. “Presumably, if they know who our leaders are they can take them out. The fact is we have no leader. There’s no leader, so there’s nothing they can do.

“There was a woman [in the medics unit]. This guy was pretending to be a reporter. The first question he asks is, ‘Who’s the leader?’ She goes, ‘I’m the leader.’ And he says, ‘Oh yeah, what are you in charge of?’ She says, ‘I’m in a charge of everything.’ He says, ‘Oh yeah? What’s your title?’ She says ‘God.’ ”

More of my comments on Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-12T13:16:00.000-04:00

A newspaper interviewer from Brazil, Thiago Carrapatoso, sent me a list of questions about the Occupy Wall Street movement. The story with some quotes eventually appeared in Portuguese. For those curious about my observations, here is the interview in full.

1) The manifestation [demonstration] was organized firstly by two groups: AdBusters and

Anonymous. Several other ones entered the fight, but the importance of both

is evident. What this context can say about the manifestation as a whole? Is

it the same traditional way of organizing manifestations? The general

question is because Anonymous is a hacker group and is known for defending

questions about digital policies. But, now, they are handling with hundreds

of people sleeping in the streets. You can't go more physically (against

digital or virtual) than that.

LW: The interesting dynamics are those that connect activities in the digital realm with that out in the world of face-to-face social life and politics. In and of itself, cyberspace is a hollow, sterile realm, one often characterized by narcissistic forms of expression and non-stop, alienated complaining . The events of the Arab Spring, the demonstration in Spain recently and now Occupy Wall Street show the positive energies produced when online and geographically situated activities interact, combine and expand.

2) The social media had an enormous impact at the calling for people join

the manifestation. Again, what this can say about the whole manifestation?

Is it provoking a new type of protesters? I ask that because it would be

extremely hard to gather so many people for a manifestation with so many

causes using the traditional media. Social media made possible to hear this

kind of calling. How this context influences in the manifestation? (They are

even streaming the occupation!)

LW: The protests are increasingly widespread, spreading to numerous cities and towns. It appears that their social make up is strikingly diverse. What is now called “Occupy Together” is open to anyone who cares about the future and has something to contribute to the debate. While social media make it easier to attract and assemble large groups, there are far more important sources for the energies we see here.

The first decade of the 21st century has been a crash course in how institutions fail. The federal government, our political parties, our political leaders, the whole financial sector, and the Pentagon have shown home completely disconnected they are from the well-being of everyday people. A great many people have lost jobs, been evicted from their homes, watched their incomes decline, seen their pensions evaporate, and noticed the rapid accumulation of wealth at the very top 1% of society. The simple, attractive message of the occupation is that the other 99% are now demanding to be heard.

3) One of the differences of this manifestation and the others is the

hierarchy of the organizers. They created work groups and made an Assembly

to decide important issues. Each work group can decide alone and have some

independency from the assembly, ensuring that everything can work fine. How

this decentralized organization can say about the manifestation? Is it

something from contemporary culture to think in structures without a leader?

LW: Historically speaking, it is not unusual for decentralized political processes to spring up during times of economic crisis and social upheaval. Modern revolutions have often included a period in which workers councils, neighborhood assemblies and similar informal structures were organized to debate the issues at hand and to seek consensus about what to do. In Madrid last June I walked through several plazas at 10:00 at night and saw circles of twenty to fifty people engaged in intensive discussion about the next steps for “los indignados.” Something very similar is happening in the general assemblies of Occupy Wall Street at present. Eventually some particular “leaders” may emerge. But for the time being there is really no need for them. As long as the demonstrations and assemblies remain non-violent and open to the idea of “we the people,” I expect both process and organization to develop in agreeable semi-structured ways.

4) The lack of a definitive goal of the manifestation is something

interested to analyze and try to understand. At the same time they doesn't

have one specific, they have several. What do you think about that?

LW: It is perhaps the greatest strength of this movement that it did not begin with a fixed, rigid set of goals. For one thing, it drives the mass media crazy because it cannot pigeonhole the events or pin the story on a particular set of “celebrities.” While there is a strong consensus that Wall Street has totally wrecked the U.S. economy and that something must be done to repair the damage, the specific grievances, goals, and proposals are extremely numerous. How those demands are defined, weighted and communicated is something that will evolve over time.

To cite just one example, today’s young people face horrible conditions of unemployment. This situation is all the worse because it contradicts what they had always been promised – “The American Dream.” The amount of student debt from loans received to pay for higher education now exceeds the total debt on credit card accounts. It’s almost $1 trillion! Students leave their universities with tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and find that there are no jobs waiting for them. Are they a ticking time bomb? You betcha!

It is important to realize that the open protests we see today were postponed for several years because the tens of millions of people who voted for Barack Obama believed that his leadership could solve the terrible problems we face. Now it is perfectly clear that Obama is just another politician, someone regarded as unwilling or unable to address the painful economic and political crises that Americans experience every day. Obama and the other Washington, D.C. elites have missed their moment to act. They’ve proven their irrelevance. For very good reasons, people have decided to take democracy into their own hands.

It’s worth noting that social uprisings in America do not always announce particular goals, at least not at first. For example, in the 1950s there were films, “Rebel Without a Cause,” for example, that portrayed the restlessness of youth with no particular agenda. The best moment came in the middle of the “The Wild One.” During a wild party, a woman asks the young man (played by Marlon Brando), “Hey, Johnny, what are you rebelling against?” Brando answers, “What ‘d ya got?”

Later, of course, during the 1960s the rebels took up a number of causes -- Civil Rights, the movement against the Vietnam War, women's rights, gay rights, and others.

5) And sorry to ask a more technical question, but how it works the laws

here in NYC about manifestations like OccupyWallStreet? Is it legal to camp

in the middle of a public space?

LW: I don’t know much about this. Towns and cities have different ordinances and regulations about public gatherings. I’ve heard that tents are forbidden at Liberty Square, but it seems to be OK to bring a sleeping bag. The most important development at present is that some members of the NYPD have interpreted their authority in arbitrary ways, involve clubbing demonstrators, spraying them with mace and arresting them on a whim. Such misbehavior has had a boomerang effect, building support for the gatherings and marches. People are outraged watching YouTube clips of young women screaming as they’re sprayed with pepper gas.

6) The movement is now in several cities of the country. What do you think

is the importance of these occupations in a more wide context? It will

change the way people manifestate? -demonstrate] What changes we can expect after this?

LW: The typical mode for American demonstrations is to go to a place for a day, carry a sign, make a statement, have a good time, and then go home. What’s promising about the models of Occupy Wall Street, Tahrir Square in Cairo, the acamapadas in numerous plazas in Spain, is that they ask people to go to a park or plaza and stay there until genuine reforms begin. There are precedents for this in the U.S. – the Bonus Army of U.S. soldiers launched in 1932 and Martin Luther King’s Poor Peoples Campaign planned for 1968, just as Dr. King was assassinated. Both of these movements were meant to be long term encampments, rather than one day media spectacles. The Bonus army was eventually routed by the U.S. Army, but its presence contributed to the formation of The New Deal. The Poor Peoples Campaign could not survive the death of its leader.

Right now there are numerous occupations underway in hundred s of places around the county. The crucial question is whether or not Americans are willing to show up repeatedly for these encampments and to endure personal discomfort, social scorn and police harassment. My feeling is that a great many people are angry enough, desperate enough to take a stand. I’m hopeful about the prospects.

7) In your text, [earlier blog post] you say about the plazas in Spain, which have general

assemblies as well. It remembered me the concept of the greek "ágoras",

where the political decisions were made in the public space, with everyone

interested about that subjects. Do you think the model of direct democracy

adopted by the occupation is similar with that concept?

Yes, the model is entirely similar. A notorious problem in representative democracy is that it excludes direct participation of citizens. Today, a great many people hunger for forms of citizenship that go beyond obeying paying taxes and voting every four years. Since our elected leaders have been unmasked as brain-dead, subservient agents of corporatocracy, the populace is ready to “throw the rascals out!”

It is too early to tell if this ferment will move society toward greater justice, equality and public engagement. Alas, one possible outcome is a virulent fascist backlash, something that often happens when economies crash, as happened in Europe during the 1930s. In the U.S.A. at present it’s a toss- up whether Occupy Wall Street direct democracy or Tea Party fascism will prevail. These are extremely dangerous times.

We Are the 99 Percent

2011-10-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

An extraordinary site for direct, personal comments and photos about America's predicament is We Are the 99 Percent. The stories are diverse in content, enough to make you cry.

Best Occupy Wall Street photo so far

2011-10-05T21:01:00.001-04:00

I believe this will go down in history as a classic photo from the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. It reminds me of some of the pictures that galvanized public opinion during the Vietnam War period.

My source for the photo is here.

From Puerta del Sol to Occupy Wall Street -- a movement spreads

2011-10-04T12:32:00.003-04:00

One of the 99% at Liberty Square, NY City, October 1, 2011

The rapidly changing situations at the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy sites around the country have some interesting similarities not only to the widespread upheavals of the Arab Spring (and summer, fall...) but also to continuing mass protests in Spain which began at Puerta del Sol on May 15. I have no special grasp of the direction or significance of these unfolding events. But here are some scattered observations from my visit to Liberty Square in New York last Saturday and from recent readings and conversations.

1. The perception that 99% of the USA is victimized by the wealthy 1% is growing throughout the country, topic of widespread discussion in the press and on the Internet. Hence, the name the New York demonstrators have chosen -- “the 99%” – is appropriate and resonant.

2. The corporate news media is upset, reduced to babbling incoherence, when faced with the mystery of “Who are they?” and “What do they want”? Evidently, citizens gathering together to bear witness to an obviously dysfunctional economic and political system is not sufficient to merit coverage and comment.

3. As in Spain, there are “General Assemblies” in the plazas of the Occupy gatherings. Demands and proposals evolve from these ongoing discussions. Because the processes of debate, deliberation, and decision-making are “horizontal” rather than top/down “vertical”, mainstream journalists and pundits simply cannot understand how agreements arise. These seem similar to the circles of debate I saw in Madrid last June, ones still going strong well past 11:00 pm in some neighborhoods. This is the reinvention of public space.

4. Celebrities are flocking to the sites of protest, Michael Moore and Cornell West, for example, but are by no means the “leaders” the media hopes to identify. As in Spain, there are people who take on specific commitments – the “legal team,” “media team,” etc. But this is deliberately not a step toward the selection or even self-selection of “leaders.”

5. The police ban on electronic amplification has actually played to the advantage of the protestors because they have invented the “The People’s Microphone” in which people loudly repeat the words of the speaker so they can be heard on the periphery.

6. Protests are spreading and their size seems to be growing. This coming Wednesday is Occupy Colleges day in the U.S. Students will walk out of classes and off campus. Here’s a report from my alma mater, U.C. Berkeley, in The Daily Californian:

“ Occupy Colleges — a movement that stemmed from Occupy Wall Street — is calling for a national campus walkout Wednesday at 12 p.m. to protest rising college debt and a lack of jobs for graduate

“Do not go to school. Go fight for yours and everybody else’s rights at Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Los Angeles or your nearest Occupation. The time is now to join our fellow %99!” stated Occupy College on its Facebook page.

7. As I noted in an earlier post, it seems as if the protests have begun use novel forms of software, e.g., Vibe instead of Twitter. Net video sites also present live streams and video archives of events. To some extent this makes up for the media blackout of Occupy events. If software, online communication and face-to-face gatherings achieve synergy -- watch out!

8. Gatherings and demonstrations in this genre are self-policing, effectively so far. . For example, people who gather in Liberty Square in New York to avoid possession or use of alcohol and drugs in the park.

9. The press and a scornful public decry the presence of “smelly hippies” and unsightly places where then sit, lie down and sleep. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy, however. The police have banned tents, camping equipment and other facilities that would otherwise keep protest sites clean and neat. And from what I saw, Liberty Square volunteer janitors are doing a good job.

10. As in Spain and the “No les votes” (Don’t vote for them) campaign, Elections and “one’s vote” now seem much less important than previously. The 99% recognized that the political parties, the ruling elites and political leaders (including Obama) no longer understand their needs and do not even begin to represent them. They express a common question: Are these the best leaders our nation can produce? Much like the “indignados,” the Occupy Wall Street and similar strands of the movement will probably continue voting, but will look for new ways of participating and applying pressure.

11. While no one is talking about the movement in exactly these terms yet, actions of this may carry some of the pungent force of Vietnam War protests. “What are we doing? We’re raising the costs of your goddam war.” In this case: “We are raising the costs of the economic devastation our ‘leaders’ have caused.”

12. As in Europe, creating an economy in which there are millions of young people unemployed with no jobs in sight is a formula for social unrest. My placard for Liberty Square might read:

America take notice – We’ve Got a LOT of Time on Our Hands!

Are OccupyWallStreet protests using their own software?

2011-10-03T14:57:00.000-04:00

One of the features of the May 15 movement in Spain that's attracted my attention is the use of software and communications that the demonstrators and hacktivists invent on their own. This is a continuing process that seeks to keep up with new developments and possibilities for action, for example a software program that helps neighborhoods rally to resist housing foreclosures. The hacktivistas have been busy at such project for months now (even longer, if you study their history).

Now it seems that ideas of this kind are making inroads with people involved in the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations and similar protests around the U.S.A. The first notable application is an alternative to Twitter. I haven't had time to study this carefully yet (got to run off to my classes today), but here is the link to a BetaBeat story on the matter. Excerpt:

For anyone who wasn’t aware, there are a few hundred protesters hanging out downtown in a park plaza two blocks from Wall Street. Despite allegations of Twitter censorship, tweets are collating around the hashtags #occupywallst, #occupywallstreet, #ows and #nycga. So when Betabeat walked past an iPad hooked up to a projector showing short hashtagged messages with the occasional photo, we assumed we were looking at a Twitter client. Turns out that’s not what it is. This app is called Vibe, the “new kid on the social media block,” and it’s something different: a Twitter-esque messaging system built by Hazem Sayed, a professional developer from California who built the app as an anonymous alternative to Twitter, reports the New York Daily News.

Mr. Sayed flew out to the protest after he saw people there were using his app; he’s now earned the nickname ”White Hat” as he wanders Liberty Park Plaza, passing out flyers for Vibe and explaining to people how to use it. Vibe is anonymous, temporal and location-specific–perfect for organizing flash mobs (or protests!) or any event you want restricted to the people in the vicinity.

Two approaches to economic collapse

2011-09-27T14:47:00.002-04:00

The nervousness about the world's ongoing, meandering economic collapse showed up in two quite different news stories today. One was a BBC interview with "trader"Alessio Rastani in which the fellow offered sober advice on the best ways to PANIC! His exaggerated rhetoric brought many to conclude that the TV segment was actually a Yes Men stunt. I doubted that conclusion right away because the Yes Men are never malicious in their well aimed barbs. While they poke fun at corporations, governments and the global economic system, they would never offer the jump-out-of-the-nearest-window perspective of the kind Mr. Rastani was peddling. Now the Yes Men have denied any connection to the interview, but use the occasion to urge people to join the ongoing people's occupation of Wall Street.

Rastani is not in Liberty Plaza

By Andy Bichlbaum on Sep 27 2011 - 9:56am

The Yes Men wish to commend Mr. "Alessio Rastani" for his masterful performance as "trader" on BBC World yesterday. Mr. Rastani's real name is Granwyth Hulatberi; he once appeared on CNBC MarketWrap as a "representative" of the WTO. Well done, Granwyth! You're getting better and better.

Just kidding. We've never heard of Rastani. Despite widespread speculation, he isn't a Yes Man. He's a real trader who is, for one reason or another, being more honest than usual. Who in big banking doesn't bet against the interests of the poor and find themselves massively recompensed—if not by the market, then by humongous taxpayer bailouts? Rastani's approach has been completely mainstream for several years now; we must thank him for putting a human face on it yesterday.

If you'd like to see the human face of the human perspective—the perspective of the 99% victimized by our demented and out-of-control financial system—come join the occupation of Wall Street. Michael Moore did so last night, and pointed out that in America, it's just 400 people who own as much as most of the rest of us put together—and that when we decide we really want to change the rules of the game, those 400 people won't be able to do squat about it.

On a much different plain of reference, philosopher Ben Brucato directed my attention to Paul Kingsnorth's article in the Guardian -- "This economic collapse is a 'crisis of bigness:Leopold Kohr warned 50 years ago that the gigantist global system would grow until it imploded. We should have listened."

Leopold Kohr was a self-described "philosophical anarchist" whose book,The Breakdown of Nations, analyzes the problem of sheer size as the cause of the dysfunctions and, he argued, eventual collapse of the modern economy. In Kingsnorth's able summary:

The crisis currently playing out on the world stage is a crisis of growth. Not, as we are regularly told, a crisis caused by too little growth, but by too much of it. Banks grew so big that their collapse would have brought down the entire global economy. To prevent this, they were bailed out with huge tranches of public money, which in turn is precipitating social crises on the streets of western nations. The European Union has grown so big, and so unaccountable, that it threatens to collapse in on itself. Corporations have grown so big that they are overwhelming democracies and building a global plutocracy to serve their own interests. The human economy as a whole has grown so big that it has been able to change the atmospheric composition of the planet and precipitate a mass extinction event.

One man who would not have been surprised by this crisis of bigness, had he lived to see it, was Leopold Kohr. Kohr has a good claim to be the most important political thinker that you have never heard of. Unlike Marx, he did not found a global movement or inspire revolutions. Unlike Hayek, he did not rewrite the economic rules of the modern world. Kohr was a modest, self-deprecating man, but this was not the reason his ideas have been ignored by movers and shakers in the half century since they were produced. They have been ignored because they do not flatter the egos of the power-hungry, be they revolutionaries or plutocrats. In fact, Kohr's message is a direct challenge to them. "Wherever something is wrong," he insisted, "something is too big."

Here we go again -- a new digital revolution in the schools

2011-09-21T09:57:00.001-04:00

Your new teacher has arrived

The first proclamations of a "computer revolution" or "digital revolution" in the schools arrived more than 30 years ago and have reappeared with renewed intensity every four or five years since then. The evidence of success for these recurring "revolutions" is at best very thin. As new generations of hardware and software have been pumped into the classroom, student achievement scores, SAT scores, and other measures of educational success have continued to slide while America's standing in international comparisons of K-12 educational quality has steadily declined as well. There's a widespread consensus that, for all the wonderful "innovations" targeted at them in recent decades, the schools remain in crisis.

The latest nationwide attempt to pump up this now old-fashioned idea is called the "Digital Promise," a program promoted by U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. In an article Duncan wrote with Reed Hastings in the Wall Street Journal the horizons of Computer Revolution 8.3 (or whatever it is now) are described with "World of Warcraft" enthusiasm (hey, the kids will love this stuff!).

"Imagine ... an online high-school physics course that uses videogame graphics power to teach atomic interactions, or a second-grade online math curriculum that automatically adapts to individual students' levels of knowledge. All of this will happen. The only question is: Will the U.S. lead the effort or will we follow other countries?
In the past two decades, technology has revolutionized the way Americans communicate, get news...."

While I'm not sure the "Digital Promise" people will like the idea, I have the perfect theme song for their cool campaign.

For those interested, below is the English translation of an interview on technology and education, I did last spring with Sintesis Educativa, an Argentine online journal. It's focus is another (now somewhat dated) computer revolution in the schools -- One Laptop Per Child.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A Form of Imperialism

Question: Professor Winner, what is your evaluation of the “one computer per student” model in pedagogical terms, and of Negroponte’s OLPC proposition as such?

Langdon: While the model of education in “One Laptop Per Child” and similar laptop programs may seem to be new and “innovative,” it is actually just the latest appearance of a very old obsession, a approach that has failed repeatedly. In his book, Teachers and Machines, Larry Cuban, professor of education at Stanford University, explains the pattern that this story has taken for many decades. First there are businesses with a new product to sell – motion pictures, tape strips, television, computers, etc. They take their products to educational bureaucrats convince them that there is a technological “revolution” coming and that they need to be a part to it. Then the administrators purchase the machines, often at great expense, and push them into the local schools. In most cases the teachers, students and people in the schools and communities learn about the changes that face them. OLPC faithfully reproduces this dreary pattern -- educational technology promoted not because there is any clear idea about its value in teaching and learning, but because it promises to be a lucrative market. Teachers are often sucked in because they want to appear fully up to date.

Question: What are the political implications of this strategy that OLPC officials call “digital saturation”, i.e. flooding schools with computers?

Langdon: Digital saturation is a strategy that disempowers people and prevents them from making choices about education in critical, thoughtful ways. A sane approach would ask: What do our children need? What tools and resources would best contribute to their ability to learn? From that point of view computers are merely one variety of tool that might be included within a mix of sensible methods and materials. One needs to ask: What are our basic purposes and priorities? How can we best respond to them? For example, teachers I know who’ve taught in African countries often report that the schools are ill equipped at the most basic level, that in some places the students do not even have desks and chairs.

Proclamations about a crash program of “digital saturation” should be a red flag for any school system. Wouldn’t it make better sense to do some trial runs on a small scale and see how they work out? The OLPC pushers, like voracious marketers everywhere, want to sell as much as they can, as quickly as they can before they hustle out of town with the cash. It’s worth noting that both Negroponte brothers, both John and Nicholas, seem to prefer solutions that involve saturation bombing in some medium or another.

Question: Assessment of the programs already in execution are scant, but preliminary reports

from Uruguay, after two full years of implementation, indicate that one

fourth of the computers are broken or stay unused, and that they are used

mainly for entertainment when children are on their own, and only for

surfing the Internet and writing when in the classroom. What are your

reflections on this?

Langdon: This is not surprising at all. In my own country, the closets of every school contain the costly, broken, useless junk of earlier “technological revolutions.” Yet the crisis in our schools remains and, in fact, has gotten steadily worse since the computer entered the scene. A number of studies indicate that they net effect of these technological experiments is just about zero – some good, some bad, and some neutral results. But the belief that somehow a new piece of electronic equipment will have powerful, magical results in education keeps reappearing in each decade, despite the overwhelming evidence of its absurdity.

Do you perceive any dangers for children and young students, or any damage

for education as a whole, deriving from these actions?

Langdon: One of the main problems here is simply that computers are a huge distraction. Your earlier question mentioned the ways that kids seek out entertainment and diversion on the Net. Activities of that kind can easily become a substitute for the work of learning and thinking. Laptops open up the alluring world of movies, sports, fashion, social chat, and consumerism. Such concerns can easily replace reading, math, science, history, and other challenges for young minds. In my own classes I’ve found that when the laptop screens are “up,” students are reading email, texting and looking at web sites that have nothing to do with the questions we are discussing. Because I want to see their eyes, listen to their words and engage their minds, I’ve adopted a “laptops shut” policy.

Another important issue concerns the role of teachers. One of the themes of OLPC promoters is that kids who have laptops can learn everything by themselves. So who needs teachers at all? One of the covert purposes of saturating schools with OLPC machines is to devalue the work and intelligence of teachers and to reduce the amount of money for their training and salaries. Politicians and bureaucrats can argue that “because we’ve bought millions of dollars on laptops, there’s no money left for more teachers.” Historically speaking, this is a familiar pattern. Computerization is a strategy that corporations and government agencies use to reduce their commitments to living human beings.

What do you see behind the regional character of these initiatives,

considering the fact that, although apparently uncoordinated, they seem to

be occurring simultaneously in Latin America?

Langdon: The book on this pattern was written decades ago by Eduardo Galeano, “Las venas abiertas de Latina America.” Educational computing that arrives from laboratories and corporations the U.S.A. is, in my view, a manifestation of the kinds of imperialism and subservience that Galeano describes. In this case it is techno-imperialism. At a time in which many people in Latin America have begun to rebel against neoliberalism and to regain control of their economic and political destinies, they should notice how the loss of autonomy can be packaged as a little, green, plastic laptop.

Is nuclear power in its death throes? Seems likely

2011-09-18T14:48:00.000-04:00

Fukushima nuclear power plant, March 2011

"Clean, safe, too cheap to meter"

Well, it couldn't happen to a nicer industry. After all the years of enormous government subsidies, of misrepresentation of its true costs, of blatant lying about safety and dangers to public health, of negligible progress in storage of its radioactive wastes, of small, medium and catastrophic accidents, of attempts to stiff others with its debts (e.g., poor Vermont), etc., it now seems that nuclear power may be be collapsing under its own ponderous weight and mendacity.

Siemens, one of the world's leading producers of nuclear power plants, has announced that it is quitting the business altogether. The primary reason given for its decision is the ongoing Fukushima nuclear meltdown/melt through and its consequences for the firm's business prospects. Here are excerpts from the BBC story:

Chief executive Peter Loescher "told Spiegel magazine it was the firm's answer to "the clear positioning of German society and politics for a pullout from nuclear energy".

"The chapter for us is closed," he said, announcing that the firm will no longer build nuclear power stations.

A long-planned joint venture with Russian nuclear firm Rosatom will also be cancelled, although Mr Loescher said he would still seek to work with their partner "in other fields".

Siemens was responsible for building all 17 of Germany's existing nuclear power plants.

But more recently, the firm has limited itself to providing the non-nuclear parts of plants being built by other firms, including current projects in China and Finland.

The latest decision appears to imply a step back from building "conventional islands" - the non-nuclear plant in nuclear power stations - an area in which Siemens has remained active.

* * * * * * * * * * *

For news on the State of Vermont's attempt to shut down the leaky Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant and the state government's battle with "Entergy Corp." -- a debt and responsibility avoiding dummy corporation -- see this and this. The issue is here not only the safety of the plant, but also whether or not the citizens of Vermont will get stuck with the costs of decommissioning this notorious techno-turkey.

It seems that both governments and the world's leading engineering firms are bailing out while they still can.

Appropriate technology: solar lights from 1 liter soda bottles

2011-09-17T11:50:00.003-04:00

Appropriate technology, a social movement from the 30 years ago, is more often called "technology for sustainability" these days. It endures within wide ranging research and development efforts aimed at providing effective, low cost solutions to some important problems. A good example came to my attention recently from The Philippines.

According to its web page, "Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light), is a sustainable lighting project which aims to bring the eco-friendly Solar Bottle Bulb to disprivileged communities nationwide" The idea originally came from a group of MIT students. In this simple design, used soda bottles are filled with water and caulked firmly into holes cut in roofs of small shacks and houses. Since water refracts light 360 degrees, the each bottle can produce the equivalent of a 55 watt bulb during daylight hours.

Further details and an interesting video can be found on the group's web site. Are similar concepts are under consideration for buildings of the developed countries? I don't know. Maybe I'll start drilling holes in my upstate New York house.

Rap and hip-hop in the Arab Spring

2011-09-15T11:42:00.000-04:00

This clip from MSNBC is one of the best videos on music and politics I've ever seen. It shows performers, audiences and political situations from several countries involved in the Arab Spring. It's even handed and, for the most part, let's the participants tell their own stories.

Ansar Mahmood, victim of post 9/11 racial profiling, harbors no ill will

2011-09-14T20:36:00.003-04:00

Ansar Mahmood with his three sisters at home
in Gujarat, around 2005

I love the place and the community in which I live in upstate New York. One thing I'm especially proud of is they way people here resisted the post-9/11 hysteria in racial and ethnic profiling that swept the country during the period after the terrorist attacks.

One of those mistakenly swept up in the frenzy was a legal Pakistani immigrant, Ansar Mahmood, who worked as a pizza delivery man in Greenport near the City of Hudson. In October 2001 he was detained for taking photos of a lake, but soon cleared of any wrongdoing. Eventually, however, overwrought government authorities found irregularities in his residential arrangements and launched deportation proceedings. Many people in Columbia County gathered together to resist this injustice.

Eventually, however, Mr. Mahmood was forced to leave the U.S.A. "permanently." Now, a decade later, a fine reporter for the local paper, John Mason, brings up to date on what's happened to Ansar, where he's living, what he's doing back in his home country.

Here are excerpts from the Register Star Online story:

COLUMBIA COUNTY/PAKISTAN — It was, ironically, love that led Ansar Mahmood to spend two-and-a-half years of his young life in a Batavia detention center: Love for the beauty of his new found home, Columbia County; love for his three younger sisters back in Pakistan, who teased him that no place could be so lovely, and to whom he wanted to send photos to prove it.

Mahmood was one of a number of people around this country who were the victims of racial profiling after 9/11. Born and raised in a small, rural village in Pakistan, he won the “green card lottery,” which allowed him to come to the United States and earn money to send home to his family for education, medical needs and other expenses. He landed a job as a Domino’s Pizza deliveryman in Greenport, a job he loved.

Now back in his home village in Gujarat province, Mahmood still lists the areas he found most beautiful, Mt. Merino, Gahbauer Road, Columbiaville.

On Rossman Avenue, where Hudson’s altitude reaches its highest point, Mahmood met customer Peter Jung, who pointed up the hill and said there were great views up there. And so Mahmood took his disposable camera there and started shooting views of the Catskills, and asked personnel at the Hudson Water Treatment plant, also located there, to take his picture against a wide panoramic background.

This took place Oct 10, 2001, one month after 9/11. The employees felt dutybound to call the police, suspecting a possible terrorist threat, and when Ansar Mahmood returned to Domino’s, various law enforcement agency representatives were there to greet him.

Although he was swiftly cleared of any suspicion of terrorism, the FBI dug into his personal life and learned that he was sharing an apartment with two young people from his village in Pakistan. Their visas had expired, so Mahmood was accused of “harboring illegal aliens.”

In the Kafkaesque chain of events that followed, he was jailed in Albany, released, and then imprisoned in the Buffalo Detention Center in Batavia, NY, near Rochester, where he stayed for 32 months, fighting the deportation he had been faced with after being convicted of harboring illegal aliens, a felony. . . . .
Mahmood’s story forms one chapter in the recent book, “Detained without Cause: Muslims’ stories of detention and deportation in America after 9/11,” by UCLA Fulbright scholar Irum Shiekh, who writes, “Helping a childhood friend – a moral responsibility in Pakistani culture – was manufactured into a crime after the U.S. Congress adopted the 1996 immigration act, and law enforcement officers decided to enforce it strictly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Ansar’s narrative shows that the United States’ current immigration laws can transform an honest young man with aspirations into a terrorist or a criminal.”

But his aspirations are still of the most generous kind.

“If I close my eyes,” Mahmood said, “I’m still in the USA. If someone asks me, What is the biggest aim in your life? I’d say to go back to America and thank all these people that were helping me from the outside. Old ladies [from Rochester] that held a vigil outside Batavia, even in the wintertime. They fight for the right, what belongs to their nation; sometimes, I don’t have the words.”

He said he wishes he could return to the United States to “really thank in my deep heart” the people of Hudson and Columbia County.

And meanwhile, he is engaged to be married to a young woman in the village. And he continues to be a strong and loving support to his family.

Software Freedom Day

2011-09-13T20:56:00.001-04:00

                                Worldwide, Saturday, September 17

In the words of its organizers, Software Freedom Day "is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Our goal in this celebration is to educate the worldwide public about the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business -- in short, everywhere! The non-profit organization Software Freedom International coordinates SFD at a global level, providing support, giveaways and a point of collaboration, but volunteer teams around the world organize the local SFD events to impact their own communities."

There are meeting sites in Boston, around the USA and rest of the world. Check the various schedules for events and times.

Here's Pia Waugh's statement on Free and Open Software's importance for human rights. The basic reference point is, of course, the United Nations accord, "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Great idea: little free libraries

2011-09-13T16:03:00.000-04:00

My own love of books was first nurtured at a free public library in San Luis Obispo, one of the ones built with money from the Andrew Carnegie fortune. Now a group of low budget philanthropists have initiated the "Little Free Library" project. Fabulous!

From the Utne Reader:

Andrew Carnegie built an impressive 2,509 libraries around the turn of the 20th century. Now Rick Brooks and Todd Bol are on a mission to top his total with their two-foot by two-foot Little Free Libraries, reports Michael Kelley in Library Journal.

The diminutive, birdhouse-like libraries which Brooks and Bol began installing in Hudson and Madison, Wisconsin, in 2009, are typically made of wood and Plexiglas and are designed to hold about 20 books for community members to borrow and enjoy. Offerings include anything from Russian novels and gardening guides to French cookbooks and Dr. Seuss.

Each Little Free Library runs on the honor system, displaying a sign that asks patrons to Take a Book, Leave a Book. “Everybody asks, ‘Aren’t they going to steal the books?’” Brooks told Kelley. “But you can’t steal a free book.”

Lewis Mumford's thoughts on the terror of our times and who's to blame

2011-09-10T10:06:00.000-04:00

Hiroshima, 1945

Preparing for a class recently, I happened upon an essay Lewis Mumford wrote in 1946 – “Gentlemen You Are Mad!" It's his response to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to the distinct likelihood that the people and institutions that produced these atrocities would continue as a normal, acceptable feature of American life.

The questions he raises are every bit as relevant to the past decade’s “War on Terror” and apparatus of “Homeland Security” as they are to the version of the death machine Mumford observed and condemned.

“Soberly, day after day, the madmen continue to go through the undeviating motions of madness: motions so stereotyped, so commonplace, that they seem the normal motions of normal men, not the mass compulsions of people bent on total death. Without a public mandate of any kind, the madmen have taken it upon themselves to lead us by gradual stages to that final act of madness which will corrupt the face of the earth and blot out the nations of men, possibly put an end to all life on the planet itself. ….

“Why do we let the madmen go on with their game without raising our voices? Why do we keep our glassy calm in the face of this danger? There is a reason: we are madmen too. We view the madness of our leaders as if it expressed a traditional wisdom and common sense: we view them placidly, as a doped policeman might view with a blank tolerant leer the robbery of a bank or the barehanded killing of a child or the setting of an infernal machine in a railroad station. Our failure to act is the measure of our madness. We look at the madmen and pass by.”

Ordos: China's empty city in the middle of nowhere

2011-09-09T14:10:00.000-04:00

Almost totally empty, the new city of Ordos in the desert of Inner Mongolia, is still under construction. Wealthy Chinese buyers are snapping up its luxury houses and condominiums, furniture and all, despite the fact that no one is likely to move there for the foreseeable future. Why? Investors see real estate as a long term, secure acquisition, much like gold. To maintain the image that genuine social life may eventually take root there, town authorities hold two concerts each year in the city's enormous auditorium.

Subsidies for solar energy? Why not?

2011-09-09T09:06:00.000-04:00

This infographic from the always provocative 1bog.org -- One Block Off the Grid -- illustrates the ways in which current energy policies stack the deck in favor of fossil fuel and imagines what the situation would be if solar received equivalent subsidies. It would be interesting (embarrassing) to include nuclear power in this comparison.

Economic recovery: Stimulus? or Austerity? How about neither?

2011-09-06T22:21:00.000-04:00

This is a video, "300 years of fossil fuels in 300 seconds," produced by the Post-Carbon Institute. It summarizes the views of Richard Heinberg whose books, including a new one Beyond Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality, argue the position in full.

Unfortunately, so far at least, the mass media outlets in America have pretty much ignored the book and its lessons. Not even a polite NPR feature has bothered to stir the pot. From the standpoint of conventional economics, mainstream journalists and our political elites, Heinberg's down-to-earth reasoning about a planet in crisis are simply beyond the pale, justifiably excluded from today's "serious" debates about "economic recovery."

Below is a segment from a recent interview, "How to Talk About the End Growth," in which Heinberg lays out the differences between his point of view and those of proponents of economic stimulus (mainly Democrats) and debt obsessed austerity (mainly Republicans). While I'm sympathetic to his arguments and conclusions, I do think he ignores a crucially important feature of our current predicament. I'll explain that briefly at the end.

He comments: "Either you’re a political liberal and you think that more stimulus spending will get us back to job creation and consumer spending. Or you’re a conservative and you think the problem is too much debt — government debt — and all we need to do is cut down on government spending and private enterprise will kick into gear and create more jobs and get the economy back in its traditional growth mode.

"I’m saying both of those arguments are wrong.

"And I think it’s really important that that point of view be out there. Because if all we have are these two failed options — and they have failed; you know, we tried the stimulus and it produced anemic and transitory results.

"And countries around the world are trying austerity packages and that’s not producing economic growth. It’s doing just the opposite. It’s causing economic activity to shrink for pretty obvious reasons. It’s causing people to lose their jobs and it’s just contracting economic activity altogether because the government’s basically the main game in town in most countries right now. ....

"So both of those prescriptions have failed. And they’ve failed for a reason. I explain why in the book. It’s not because these aren’t good people or smart people. It’s because we have been relying on a fundamentally flawed paradigm: the paradigm of continuous economic growth on a finite planet with limited resources. The limits to those resources are catching up with us, very rapidly actually. And that means that there’s no more growth available in consumption of energy and goods.

"So if we’re going to have economies that still support people, economies that don’t crash and collapse, then we’re going to have to start thinking very differently about how we organize our economies, and how we support people in what are inevitably going to be some pretty hard times."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In both his book and the interview, Heinberg argues forcefully for a vision of economic possibilities beyond the orthodoxies growth, drawing upon conceptions of a steady-state economy adapted from Herman Daly and other thinkers. He notes that recently there has support for these notions from a number writers. " Paul Gilding, former head of Greenpeace has just written a book called The Great Disruption. He’s coming to exactly the same conclusion from the standpoint of somebody who’s really, really at the core of the environmental movements .....Then you have Jeremy Grantham who founded one of the world’s largest investment funds. And he’s come to basically the same conclusion from his point of view."

I applaud Heinberg for the brilliance of his writing and for the solid evidence he marshals to buttress his case. What's missing here, however, is any hint of awareness of another dimension of the the economic, political, energy, and environmental mess in which we find ourselves -- growing INEQUALTY and widening gaps of wealth and power within the world's population. As Heinberg talks about the transition to a new economy -- local, far less resource demanding, more satisfying in it human relationships, etc. -- he leaves out the part of the story that includes what has actually happened to the dream of prosperity for all, namely, that beginning in the late 1970s (following the energy crises of that decade) those with a privileged overview (e.g., MBA globalist hot shots) settled on a particular proposition: "Get yours while the getting's good, because the getting ain't going to be good much longer."

Hence, during the past three decades we've seen the rapid, massive transfer of wealth, nationally and globally, from the lower and middle layers of the economy to the very top. I don't know why Heinberg takes little if any notice of the increasing inequality, plutocracy and landscape of "gated communities" that characterizes the early 21st century. For readers looking for a more balanced understanding, a good complement is the poignant essay by late Tony Judt's Ill Fare the Land that faces the situation head on. For all their clarity and courage, Heinberg's reflections on the drastic transitions ahead seem to overlook the ugly ones carefully planned during the past several decades.

One of Jerry's kids speaks out!

2011-09-05T14:20:00.002-04:00

                                                    Smart Ass Cripple
                                                                                                (Mike Ervin)

One of my favorite blogs these days is Smart Ass Cripple. It's full of irreverent, often shocking hilarity by a fellow, Mike Ervin, who is every bit as funny and insightful as, say, Jesus General. At first I was a little nervous about laughing his observations and quips. But when I sent a link to my friend Paco in Madrid (himself a young man in a wheel chair), he wrote back, "I like the blog, it's fun and I do not think it is in bad taste."

A recent post by Smart Ass Cripple talks openly about the demise of the Jerry Lewis Telethon, an event that captured the attention of many Americans for several decades for reasons I've never fully understood.

"Who wants to adopt Smart Ass Cripple? I don’t know who I am anymore. I’ve totally lost my identity. Ever since way back when I was a cherubic lad with just a hint of a smart ass glimmer in my eyes, they’ve been calling me Jerry’s Kid. But now that Jerry’s gone, whose kid am I?

I always knew that as one of Jerry’s Kids, I was different from regular kids. Jerry’s Kids never grow up. We’re not allowed to. It’s like they baptized us in the Fountain of Youth, except the age-retarding potency of the water in this fountain is magnified by ten thousand. It’s the Fountain of Infantilization. Even after I developed decidedly unchildlike traits, like pubic hair and a sex drive, they still called me Jerry’s Kid.

But whose kid am I now? American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe will be taking over as one of the telethon hosts. So I suppose some big shot in the hierarchies will attempt to deem that henceforth I’m am to be known as American Idol Producer Nygel Lythgoe’s Kid.

But that’s fucked up. You can’t just extinguish a cult of personality as entrenched as Jerry’s with the mere flick of a press release. It’s going to take a Soviet style purge, maybe even another Cultural Revolution, to do that. You may have to send everybody who ever watched the telethon to re-education camps to get them to stop looking at cripples as Jerry’s Kids.

So screw it. As far as I concerned, I’m now a free agent. And I’m selling my naming rights to the highest bidder. Whoever kicks in the most cash, I will be your kid. You don’t have to be famous. Adopt me and I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to make both of us famous."

   * * * * * * * * *

There's more. Go read it and other gems such as "Omnipotent Ruler of the Universe."

God speaks to Rick Perry

2011-09-05T09:58:00.000-04:00

This amusing billboard via the Undernews blog.

The sad fact is that America has long been influenced by those who say they receive messages directly "from God" and who claim absolute authority for all kinds of misguided, often evil crusades. Is our benighted country about to launch forth on that path again?

The US Economy -- already one lost decade, a second one looming?

2011-09-01T08:54:00.001-04:00

Job growth

In its typically austere manner (from a country well attuned to austerity after all), the BBC offers a video survey of some basic facts about America's economy: spiraling debt, sinking household incomes, etc. The punch line: "From 2001 to 2011 job growth in the U.S. was ZERO." [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Of course, both political parties promise a return to prosperity, if only the nation would adopt their special, patented formulas. Alas, these recipes have already failed and continue to do so. Have we embarked upon a second lost decade?

Haunting, tragic, forgotten song: "Ballad of Gale," by Savage Rose

2011-08-31T17:14:00.001-04:00

Savage Rose was a Danish rock band of the late 1960s and 1970s. In my opinion, they were far superior to most American rockers of that period.

On "Ballad of Gale," their phenomenal lead singer, Annisette, carries us into into a realm of cruelty and despair. I found it deeply unsettling when I first heard it and still do today.

"The only one she needed was YOU!"

More innovation: one step away from Soylent Green

2011-08-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

From the BBC (with video demonstration):

"A Glasgow-based company has installed its first commercial "alkaline hydrolysis" unit at a Florida funeral home.

The unit by Resomation Ltd is billed as a green alternative to cremation and works by dissolving the body in heated alkaline water."

Prominent speech defects undermine political debate

2011-08-29T12:24:00.005-04:00

Obama’s supporters are restless. A good number of them feel he’s bending over backwards to placate his right wing Republican and extreme Tea Party opponents. Many are certainly among the 89% of the populace the Gallup Poll finds dissatisfied with the direction the country is headed.

Some of the problem has to do with the language Obama and his White House crew employ as they try to describe America’s predicaments. For example, as he talks about the recession, unemployment and jobs, Obama is inclined to say, the “some Folks on Capitol Hill” are not coming together to address the nation’s real problems. Or “some folks in Washington” are unwilling to work toward a reasonable compromise. While his points certainly true to some extent , the identity of the troublemakers as “some folks” misses the point in ways seem weak and evasive. Why not just give his listeners and the names and addresses of the individuals and groups who have, quite openly (!), stood in the way of initiatives the President thinks necessary.

As it stands, Obama’s rhetoric and, maybe, even his vision seem clouded by an unwillingness to call out those who cause the obstructions. Perhaps this speech defect will vanish as the election nears, although I think this would only happen if the polls and focus groups suggest that a tactical shift toward clearer language is in order.

This recurring malady in Obama’s way of speaking has some serious consequences. First, it lends credence to the false impression that “both sides do it” as regards gumming up the activities of government and dumbing down crucial activities of debate and and decision-making. Since it’s just “folks” in Washington that are causing the problem, it might appear that you, your advisers and the Democrats in Congress are among the miscreants that need to be eliminated in the next election. Right?

A closely related tick in Obama’s way of talking is one that the afflicts the speech of a great many people in politics, academics, and American professions. This is the use of the foggy pronoun “we.” Barack often says that “we need to…,” “we must…,” “we have the opportunity to…,” and phrases of a similar kind. I confess that I sometimes use this lame phraseology myself . When it’s called to my attention by puzzled friends, e.g., Michael Bennett (“Who’s the WE in the sentences you’ve been using, Langdon?”), I have two choices: (1) identify precisely who it is I’m talking about or (2) admit that I don’t what the hell I’m talking about!

Listening to Obama blather on about “we” this and “we” that is driving much of his devoted following in the 2008 election campaign (note that I didn’t say “us”) to utter distraction. So please, Mr. President, explain who the “we” you keep mentioning actually are. While it’s true that in a population of 311,800,000 or so it would be difficult to produce a full list of names and addresses of the relevant people and groups on short notice, a little more precision beyond the foggy, stupid “we” would strengthen your town hall comments.

While I’m at it, another compulsive tick that has entered the political lexicon recent years is the obsessive use of the term “middle class.” No longer is it possible to speak of the nation’s “working class,” “working people” or what used to be called “the working poor.” Evidently, that large and (sadly) growing spectrum of the populace must either be counted as “the middle class” or simply erased from the social landscape. Even Senator Bernie Sanders, proud American socialist of a certain kind, no longer mentions poor people or the working class in his public pronouncements. My guess is that politicians are warned by their pollsters and handlers that voters, especially those wonderful “independents,” just don’t want to be reminded about the existence of nation’s lower socio-economic layers. It’s yet another way in which public figures are inoculated against a deadly virus that’s being going around recently, one that might be called “reality.”

The "Homeland Security" Boondoggle: $75 billion per year welfare for the rich

2011-08-28T11:50:00.001-04:00

The boys and their high tech toys at a Homeland Security trade fair

While the poor, disabled, elderly, students, and ordinary working people are being clobbered by budget cuts at the federal, state and local levels, America's two exorbitantly costly gravy trains -- The Pentagon and its twin brother, Homeland Security -- just roll on and on.

Details about the internal features of these Big Government juggernauts remain largely unreported, sheltered from public debate. Year after year they float above scrutiny, cherished as the nation's citadels of fear. It seems that our politicians and much of the citizenry would rather drive the country into bankruptcy than confront the irrational policies and staggering levels of waste these institutions involve.

On rare occasion some in the press corps bother to ask: "How much are we paying for this stuff and what are we getting for it?" Thus, an article in the LA Times recently surveyed the $75 billion per year spent on the projects (many of then patently absurd) called "Homeland Security."

"Large sums of Homeland Security money, critics complain, have been propelled by pork barrel politics into the backyards of the congressionally connected. Yet the spending has also acted as a cash-rich economic stimulus program for many states at a time when other industries are foundering.

"Utah is getting a $1.5-billion National Security Agency cyber-security center that will generate up to 10,000 jobs in the state. The Pentagon in July launched bidding for a $500-million U.S. Strategic Command headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, which likes to point out that former President George W. Bush flew here for shelter after the Sept. 11 attacks."

* * * * * * * *
Few people in public life want to talk about it -- much of the colossal budget for the Pentagon and Homeland Security amounts to welfare for the rich, e.g., lots of six figure salaries and lots of "research and development" on high tech toys. When it comes to "addressing America's spiraling debt," welfare programs in this category are never "on the table."

Think of them as "entitlements."

Return to "Recession"? Compared to What?

2011-08-26T12:08:00.000-04:00

The news today quotes several leading economists predicting a "return to recession." When I hear pronouncements of that sort I'm reminded of one of the greatest soul/jazz tunes, "Compared to What" by Les McCann and Eddie Harris. And it turns out that the original video of the 1969 Montreux concert is now available on YouTube! I'd not seen it before.

The lyrics, piano, sax, rhythm section, total groove, and message from preacher McCann are still fresh after all this time.

The President, he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one nut. God damn it!
Tryin' to make it real compared to what?

Will Facebook go the way of the Beanie Babies?

2011-08-24T09:28:00.002-04:00

                                                        Will you still be my friend?

A web research outfit, Globalwebindex, has published its "Wave 5 Trends" study. It suggests that Facebook my be going out of style. Oh my.

"Despite massive global user growth, active participation on Facebook is falling and we are increasingly seeing a slow down in existing Facebook users. This is particularly true in the U.S. and in other English speaking countries where Facebook has been prevalent for longer and has shifted growth to emerging countries."

Speaking of popularity, much of the report uses the increasingly popular language of "brands" and people's relationship to "brands" as a way to gauge the pulse of the planet.

"Online consumers want brands to provide services that fit with their lifestyle. Most importantly they want brands to listen and their comments wherever they are posted ....More and more consumers are expecting brands to improve their knowledge in specific areas and connect them with other similar-minded brand users."

This rapidly spreading blight upon the language now infects descriptions of our economy, social life and politics. In the White House, for example, there are now grave concerns that the once robust brand "Obama" is withering as voters/consumers look for more exciting and satisfying "brands." The worry is not not that his leadership is flagging, but that his "brand" is sagging.

Evidently, among the world's most urgent problems right now is this:

                                                     Are my brands listening to me?

Small robot drone for monitoring political demonstrations

2011-08-23T09:15:00.001-04:00

At a robotics industry trade show in Washington, D.C. recently one of the corporate vendors, AEE Technology based in Shenzhen, China, unveiled its small drone aircraft, the F50, advertised to be especially good "as a tool for monitoring protests."

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the device is "about the size of a pizza pan" and shows "the burgeoning international competition in the market for unmanned aerial vehicles and military robots."

Although a drone for watching people who gather in public to express their views may seem ominous defenders of free speech, the drift of opinion at the show had a more upbeat, market oriented slant. Thus, P.W. Singer, author of the book Wired for War, observed, "The market for military robotics has gone global, and China is looking to be a major producer and exporter in that market, just like the U.S."

To my way of thinking, Singer's statement is a good example of how an academic can become a flack for the arms industry. Indeed, at a conference I attended this summer, Singer enthusiastically regaled an audience of philosophers with news of the burgeoning field of "killer apps" in the robotic arms race, and then asked the crowd to ponder "the ethical implications" of these things. How uplifting.

The road to slaughter and, now, police surveillance is paved by very clever, well paid intellectuals with seemingly noble intentions. From the WSJ story: "Michael O'Hanlon, a defense expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said China's interest in developing unmanned aircraft as a tool for policing crowds or responding to emergencies was 'totally understandable, and legitimate.'"

* * * * * * * *

From now on a new dimension -- one might even call it an "innovation" -- will be added to attempts to exercise the right of free speech and assembly worldwide -- fear of drone aircraft hovering overhead.

As Tablets Wane, Companies Look to Brain Implants

2011-08-20T11:56:00.002-04:00

Report: As PCs Wane, Companies Look to Tablets

"Computer makers are expected to ship only about 4 percent more PCs this year than last year, according to IDC, a research firm. Tablets, in contrast, are flying off store shelves. Global sales are expected to more than double this year to 24.1 million, according to Forrester Research. More than two-thirds of those tablets, however, are sold by Apple."

Save your money. In the world of "innovation" and global commerce, this will soon be old news.

Please stop us before we destroy the planet!

2011-08-19T12:45:00.000-04:00

So here I am doing the finishing touches on my fall course, "Science Fiction Cinema and Social Criticism," when along come this story from The Guardian: "Aliens may destroy humanity to protect other civilizations, scientists say."

"Rising greenhouse emissions could tip off aliens that we are a rapidly expanding threat, warns a report."

This is the basic story line from a whole host of 1950s science fiction movies, including "The Day the Earth Stood Still," the one I'll be showing in class. Back then, of course, the threat that bothered the alien visitors was annihilation through nuclear holocaust. Today's scenario, revised and updated by a group of scientists from Penn State University, focuses upon possible extraterrestrial concerns about what green house gases are doing to the planet.

"Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain."

Reading the Guardian story made me laugh out loud, both for its way of presenting global climate crash and for its echoes of the sci-fi stories and movies of my youth. It's hard to tell from the actual report, “Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis,” whether the writers are fully serious or just having a good time speculating about some ghastly possibilities.

Klaatu barada nikto

...and a Happy New Year!

College "student aid" package = crushing burden of debt

2011-08-18T10:26:00.001-04:00

As students receive the letter saying "Congratulations, you've been admitted to" the college, university or graduate school of their choice, there's usually another package of materials labeled "Financial Aid." In times long passed this may have meant a scholarship or fellowship offering all most of the cost of tuition and, perhaps, even a stipend for living expenses. In sane, well-managed, egalitarian nations of the world, often this is still true. Societies of that kind understand that supporting talented young people in their quest for knowledge and preparation for meaningful work is a public good of great importance. But in the U.S.A. ....?

During the past 30 years, what is fraudulently labeled "your student aid package" has actually become "your crushing burden of long term debt." Under the neoliberal (free market conservative) policy approach, students are defined as "customers" and "consumers" whose ability to purchase goods and services is a matter of ability to pay, or more likely, to borrow and borrow and borrow.

Now the results are in. A story in the Wall Street Journal reports that the crushing burden of student debt in America now exceeds money owed on credit cards. "Student loans outstanding today — both federal and private — total some $829.785 billion, according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com." Credit card debt amounts to a mere $826.5 billion.

Young people and their anxious families used to assume that the debt load was well worth it because there would always be challenging high paid jobs issued with one's cap and gown. Alas, that is no longer true. When university brochures talk about their "outstanding graduates," they may be referring to the amount of money the poor souls owe.

Is student debt America's next financial "bubble"? If so, when will it pop?

Hippy village of Christiania in Denmark -- now a semi-autonomous region

2011-08-17T12:05:00.004-04:00

About 40 years ago an unused military base in the middle of Copenhagen was occupied (squatted) by a group of Danish free spirits who began living and working in the existing barracks, building free form architectural structures along the canal that runs through the place. Renamed "Christiania" by the inhabitants, it has been focus of continuing controversy, especially about its notorious, sometimes crime infested, drug culture. Fortunately, the little village also evolved as a home for the arts, music, and some good restaurants. It's also the original site of a factory that produces ingeniously designed human-powered vehicles used around the world.

Several years ago local authorities threatened to shut the place down and evict its several hundred residents. But an outcry from Copenhagen citizens stopped the move. "Why destroy a place that's become the second most popular tourist destination in the city?" supporters argued. Recently, Christiania has been officially designated a "semi-autonomous" region where the inhabitants have considerable powers of self-rule.

Smart move, Denmark!

Flash mobs turn ugly

2011-08-16T20:20:00.004-04:00

Several years ago a writer sent me a pre-publication copy of a book on what was then a little known phenomenon: the flash mob. Many aspects of the events described in the manuscript struck me as fairly appealing -- spontaneous organization, communication with like-minded souls via the Net, possibilities for launching brief artistic and cultural happenings, instantaneous partying, and even prospects for political demonstrations. However, one aspect of this new form of social organization gave me pause -- the name "mob" itself. Having read Gustav LeBon's The Crowd, Georges Sorel's Reflections on Violence and writings on the "mass society" and totalitarian movements of the twentieth century, including the works of Hannah Arendt, I was struck by the political naivete that utopian imaginings about "flash mobs" seemed to encourage. What if the "mobs" turned out to be as angry, thoughtless and brutal as the name implied. Are we being asked to forget the hideous, decades long, politically pungent record of lynch mobs in America? I also remembered the "mobbing" against children problem -- we'd call it "bullying" in the US -- that was a major problem in schools during my my family's stay in Scandinavia twenty years ago.

With those lingering impression in mind I quietly decline to write a "blurb" for a book that contained some interesting, even admirable observations and arguments.

Now it appears that the days of the joyous song and dance flash mobs in Grand Central Station and of birthday and wedding celebrations in odd locations have to be weighed against the nasty flash mobs in the UK and U.S. spontaneously assembled for theft, looting and occasional violence. Those surprised by this turn of events have been suffering from a kind of forgetfulness about what can happen when you play with fire.

Science fair idea: Can a great nation survive while brain dead?

2011-08-15T10:10:00.003-04:00

How a volcano works

The time has been

That, when the brains were out, the man would die,

And there an end. But now they rise again

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 4

Put away those baking soda and vinegar volcano demonstrations, kids. There's a much better middle school science fair project to tackle this year. It's basically a political science experiment, not physics, biology or chemistry, but prospective entrants should be able to convince their advisers that it is genuine research. While the set up is bound to be very costly, students won't bear the expenses (at least not until much later in their lives) because wealthy campaign donors are putting up hundreds of millions in cash to put democracy to the test. All you need to do is watch TV to see what the candidates, reporters and pundits are saying about the crucial issues facing America and notice what consequences flow from the torrent of stupidity.

Of course, any good science fair topic begins with a rigorous question. In this instance the question might be: Can a great nation survive while brain dead?

Evidence is already mounting to support a rigorously supported answer for the inquiry. In months to come the data should be even more plentiful: -- factory closings, stock market crashes, rising unemployment, social safety nets torched, urgent problems left unaddressed, unrest in the streets, loss of national prestige, etc. Tracking the collapse of the nation's sentience and decline in its nervous system functioning should be easily done. Fox News is especially good in reporting and amplifying the data, but the other networks are quickly gaining ground.

For young researchers looking for a quick start, here's a piece on "American Idiocracy" from the Economist.

Remember, kids, your project will also need a working hypothesis. Which would you choose?

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi: BBC Reith Lectures

2011-08-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

One of the most admirable political figures of our time, Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy leader of Burma, has given two wonderful Reith Lectures on the BBC, one on "Liberty," another on "Dissent." Both are available as podcasts for download. Held under house arrest off-and-on for more than twenty years by the military junta that rules Burma, Suu Kyi was able to record the lectures and smuggle them to the UK for broadcast early this summer. A telephone hook up also enabled her to field questions from an audience assembled in England.

She speaks directly and eloquently about the meaning of freedom and the troubles that confront her quest to bring democracy to a land ruled by ruthless dictators. Along the way she describes the circumstances of her imprisonment, sources of inspiration for resistance, what the term "activist" really means, the events of "Arab Spring," the barriers faced by members of her political party, and the promise of new communications media in worldwide struggles for liberation. In one clear, no-nonsense passage, she puts her finger on the lure of "power" that entices people to abandon liberty and betray those who seek it.

During the autumn of 1991 during a sabbatical in Norway, I went to the Oslo City city hall for the open-to-all ceremony awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Aung San Suu Kyi. She was under house arrest at the time. Her husband, Michael Aris, accepted the award and her son, Alexander Aris, delivered a moving speech on her behalf.

If you have a chance, by all means listen to her gentle but insistent message in the Reith Lectures.

Job creation plans of both political parties: a detailed comparison

2011-08-12T09:15:00.000-04:00

I've been reading in newspapers and on the Net to identify the key points in the job creation plans of the Democrats and Republicans. In several days of searching, here's a point-by-point comparison of the ideas I've found.

Democratic Plan                                                 Republican Plan

1. Extend unemployment insurance                          1. Tax cuts for the wealthy
2. Handshake and nice pat on the back                    2. Handshake & hearty "Get a Job, Jerk!"
3.                                                                                         3.
4.                                                                                         4.
5.                                                                                         5.
6.                                                                                         6.
7.                                                                                         7.
8.                                                                                         8.
9.                                                                                         9.
10. Obama's lecture fees when he leaves office       10. Lecture fees for George W. Bush now
                                                                                                   that he's left office

Election 2012 choices -- Blue dog or just plain crazy?

2011-08-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

Moderate oligarchy


Extreme theocratic oligarchy

Don’t tell the mass media, but the presidential race for 2012 is turning out to be a terrible bore. While we don’t yet know exactly who the Republicans will run, the basic outlines of our “choices” are already perfectly clear. Hold your nose.

On the Democratic ballot we’ll have Barack Obama, once beguiling orator, who has again and again revealed himself to be the faithful representative of moneyed interests and spokesman for neoliberal (aka, moderate conservative) views of economics and policy. Recently, a series of thoughtful, hard-hitting, revealing essays in the press and online have unmasked the smiling, hollow suit who convinced 2008 voters that he would be a progressive, “a transitional figure,” but who has shown very little of that. At every opportunity he’s sided with Wall Street, the military-industrial complex, the medical insurance “industry,” and large, global corporations to continue what amounts to the looting and dismantling of the U.S. economy. And there he is on TV again smiling and waving, praising the latest despicable “compromise.” Sorry -- I’m not buying it.

On the Republican ballot we will have one or another candidate from a group that Thomas Frank calls “the wrecking crew.” These are folks, radical free market “reformers,” who want to repeal the fundamental social contract – concern for one’s fellow citizens -- that has held America together for several generations and to dismantle all forms of public support in education, health care, social security, job creation, environmental protection, and other crucial services. Even more extreme than the Democrats, they believe that “business,” e.g., corporate power, is the only legitimate source for policy making. What the Republicans add to the presidential campaign will be some nasty, nativist (covertly racist) cultural themes along with a strongly militaristic, rightward tilting, evangelical theocracy, mistakenly called “Christian.” (The gentle, loving soul from Nazareth weeps from on high.)

Some choice, eh? That's why I’ve decided not to offer the course, American Politics and Elections, I usually teach during election years. The 2012 options presented the voters, especially young people, contain very little on the upside. While our national politics now produces “change” of a purely negative kind, for the time being it’s run dry on any “hope” of improvement. When the alternatives ranging from lame, to stupid, to horrifying, what’s to get excited about? Why dignify this empty charade? Other varieties of education and political action are urgently needed to resist rapidly spreading economic destruction and to explore the possibility of “rebuilding the American Dream.” Let's get busy with that work!

Yes, alas, I will vote (but not campaign) for Obama for three reasons: (1) the need to recognize the “Sophie’s choice” of the lesser of evils when that’s all we’ve got, while fighting for genuine alternatives in years to come; (2) the possibility that a blue dog’s choices for the Supreme Court might be better than Republican legal plutocrats who dominate that flagrantly corrupt body; (3) the recognition that our system negates third parties at the presidential level.

Email and search top the list -- Pew report on online activity

2011-08-11T09:17:00.000-04:00

The Pew Research Center's work is always thorough and reliable. Its new study shows email and search tied as the most common internet activities in the U.S. One might have expected social networking to score higher.