Click on the headline to link to the Boston Occupier Archives.
Markin comment:
Defend the Occupy movement! Hands Off All Occupy Protestors! Victory To The Greek Workers!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
From Archives Of Boston Occupier” –Newspaper Of “Occupy Boston” (OB) Number Eight (June 2012)
Click on the headline to link to the Boston Occupier Archives.
Markin comment:
Defend the Occupy movement! Hands Off All Occupy Protestors!
Markin comment:
Defend the Occupy movement! Hands Off All Occupy Protestors!
From The Archives-The Struggle To Win The Youth To The Fight For Our Communist Future-The Port Huron Statement (SDS, 1962)
Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the Port Huron Statement, a foundational document of Students For Democratic Society (SDS, 1960s version)
Markin comment on this series:
One of the declared purposes of this space is to draw the lessons of our left-wing past here in America and internationally, especially from the pro-communist wing. To that end I have made commentaries and provided archival works in order to help draw those lessons for today’s left-wing activists to learn, or at least ponder over. More importantly, for the long haul, to help educate today’s youth in the struggle for our common communist future. That is no small task or easy task given the differences of generations; differences of political milieus worked in; differences of social structure to work around; and, increasingly more important, the differences in appreciation of technological advances, and their uses.
There is no question that back in my youth I could have used, desperately used, many of the archival materials available today. When I developed political consciousness very early on, albeit liberal political consciousness, I could have used this material as I knew, I knew deep inside my heart and mind, that a junior Cold War liberal of the American for Democratic Action (ADA) stripe was not the end of my leftward political trajectory. More importantly, I could have used a socialist or communist youth organization to help me articulate the doubts I had about the virtues of liberal capitalism and be recruited to a more left-wing world view.
As it was I spent far too long in the throes of the left-liberal/soft social-democratic milieu where I was dying politically. A group like the Young Communist League (W.E.B. Dubois Clubs in those days), the Young People’s Socialist League, or the Young Socialist Alliance representing the youth organizations of the American Communist Party, American Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S.) respectively would have saved much wasted time and energy. I knew they were around but just not in my area.
The archival material to be used in this series is weighted heavily toward the youth movements of the early American Communist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S). For more recent material I have relied on material from the Spartacus Youth Clubs, the youth group of the Spartacist League (U.S.), both because they are more readily available to me and because, and this should give cause for pause, there are not many other non-CP, non-SWP youth groups around. As I gather more material from other youth sources I will place them in this series.
Finally I would like to finish up with the preamble to the Spartacist Youth Club’s What We Fight For statement of purpose for educational purposes only:
"The Spartacus Youth Clubs intervene into social struggles armed with the revolutionary internationalist program of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. We work to mobilize youth in struggle as partisans of the working class, championing the liberation of black people, women and all the oppressed. The SYCs fight to win youth to the perspective of building the Leninist vanguard party that will lead the working class in socialist revolution, laying the basis for a world free of capitalist exploitation and imperialist slaughter."
This seems to me be somewhere in the right direction for what a Bolshevik youth group should be doing these days; a proving ground to become professional revolutionaries with enough wiggle room to learn from their mistakes, and successes. More later.
Markin comment on this series:
One of the declared purposes of this space is to draw the lessons of our left-wing past here in America and internationally, especially from the pro-communist wing. To that end I have made commentaries and provided archival works in order to help draw those lessons for today’s left-wing activists to learn, or at least ponder over. More importantly, for the long haul, to help educate today’s youth in the struggle for our common communist future. That is no small task or easy task given the differences of generations; differences of political milieus worked in; differences of social structure to work around; and, increasingly more important, the differences in appreciation of technological advances, and their uses.
There is no question that back in my youth I could have used, desperately used, many of the archival materials available today. When I developed political consciousness very early on, albeit liberal political consciousness, I could have used this material as I knew, I knew deep inside my heart and mind, that a junior Cold War liberal of the American for Democratic Action (ADA) stripe was not the end of my leftward political trajectory. More importantly, I could have used a socialist or communist youth organization to help me articulate the doubts I had about the virtues of liberal capitalism and be recruited to a more left-wing world view.
As it was I spent far too long in the throes of the left-liberal/soft social-democratic milieu where I was dying politically. A group like the Young Communist League (W.E.B. Dubois Clubs in those days), the Young People’s Socialist League, or the Young Socialist Alliance representing the youth organizations of the American Communist Party, American Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S.) respectively would have saved much wasted time and energy. I knew they were around but just not in my area.
The archival material to be used in this series is weighted heavily toward the youth movements of the early American Communist Party and the Socialist Workers Party (U.S). For more recent material I have relied on material from the Spartacus Youth Clubs, the youth group of the Spartacist League (U.S.), both because they are more readily available to me and because, and this should give cause for pause, there are not many other non-CP, non-SWP youth groups around. As I gather more material from other youth sources I will place them in this series.
Finally I would like to finish up with the preamble to the Spartacist Youth Club’s What We Fight For statement of purpose for educational purposes only:
"The Spartacus Youth Clubs intervene into social struggles armed with the revolutionary internationalist program of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. We work to mobilize youth in struggle as partisans of the working class, championing the liberation of black people, women and all the oppressed. The SYCs fight to win youth to the perspective of building the Leninist vanguard party that will lead the working class in socialist revolution, laying the basis for a world free of capitalist exploitation and imperialist slaughter."
This seems to me be somewhere in the right direction for what a Bolshevik youth group should be doing these days; a proving ground to become professional revolutionaries with enough wiggle room to learn from their mistakes, and successes. More later.
Songs to While Away The Time By- Big Joe Williams Has Got The Blues “Baby Please Don’t Go”
Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Big Joe Williams (out of the million guys who have covered the song, or pleaded) performing Baby Please Don’t Go.
Joshua Lawrence Breslin comment:
You know now that I am “officially” retired from the public prints I have plenty of time to write a little about things other than the latest war (or wars), the latest governmental abridgement of our civil rights, the latest poor boy kid framed up for something, or the latest environmental disaster brought to us courtesy of some anonymous thing “too big to fail.” Now I have time to write about things less pressing on the daily world calendar, things like old timey flames, coming to young manhood up in Olde Saco (that’s in Maine, folks), teenage boyhood worries about fitting in, not fitting or to use a generational term, my generation “be cool.” That’s what I have on my plate today-girls, long lost flame girls. And what they could do to a guy, could do to a guy six ways to Sunday, and still have him grinning, asking for more.
What got me jumped up on this subject was the other night I was talking, lazily half-joking, half-spinning wheels talking with my old friend, Peter Paul Markin (always known as Pee-Pee and not that odd-ball Peter Paul thing like some old time yankee Brahmin getting ready to crash on his damn Irish-driven head) and he brought up some story about how he had snagged a date with some high school chick (read: term of art, term of love art, in the be-bop 1960s teen night to use Pee-Pee’s term for a young woman, me I called them frails) based solely on his ability to intelligently talk about every known Bob Dylan song and lyric of the day. Jesus, who was that poor frail?
That story though later got me to thinking about Loretta, Loretta D’Amboise, from my old neighborhood up in Olde Saco back in that same 1960s day. Yes, Loretta was something else. Now while Pee-Pee and I were talking that night he mentioned, and I agreed, that lately we had been spending a hell of a lot of time talking about old time flames, our so-called conquests of said flames, and our, ah, ah, ultimate defeat at their hands. Call it old age with time of our hands, call it male vanity, once removed, call it evoking that one last chance for immortality, hell, call it acting like, ah, dirty old men, but there you have it. Pee-Pee’s Dylan date honey was wrapped up by some archaic Bob Dylan swish but Loretta, ancient mist Loretta, would never come within ten miles of that scene. She was strictly a jazzy blues breeze, just my type then.
Although Loretta had lived in the old neighborhood all through school (we had graduated together from Olde Saco High School in 1967) other than about sixteen million leers, unsuccessful leers, on my part she had not given me a tumble not even close. See she was full French-Canadian (F.A.) like most other people in Olde Saco who came down from Canada way back when to work the textile and paper mills. Unlike me, who was strictly half and half, and that difference I found out from later talk mattered in her family, and to her preference for be-bop F.A. guys (with fast cars, some dough, and a willingness to spent that dough on her).
So Loretta and I never met up until one night after I had gotten back home from summer of love San Francisco in late 1968 and I had run into her at Jimmy Jack’s Blues Club (don’t let the Jimmy Jack’s name fool you, the owner’s name was really Jean Jacques Dubois) over on Atlantic Avenue right across from Olde Saco Beach. Ran into her alone sitting all by herself at the bar putting coins into the jukebox and playing Big Joe Williams’ Baby Please Don’t Go about six times. Six times that I counted.
I’ll tell you the why in a minute but let me tell you first that she called me over, not a big hello, long time, no see, what have you been up to, come on over but a hey, I didn’t know you likes the blues, Josh, come on over. And well yes I did like the blues all the way back to the times in early high school when I would be up in my room around midnight and get The Big Bopper Blues Blast from some mega-station in Chicago on my transistor radio. So, of course, I used this arcane knowledge to make my big Loretta move. Naturally I tossed out Muddy’s, Howlin’ Wolf’s, Elmore James’, and about twelve other electric blues guys names to show I was for real. And just as naturally I knew that Big Joe Williams was performing this Baby Please Don’t Go number on his six, five, eleven or whatever number strings he used string guitar. That tidbit impressed her.
What I wanted to know, and if you have been paying attention you would too, was why she was sitting very alone in Jimmy Jack’s on that late summer Saturday night. Well, you know the old story, male or female, young or old. Her boyfriend, Jean-Paul LaCroix, a name I couldn’t place in the town’s scheme of things, but who worked in the MacAdams Textile Mills, made “good money,” had a “boss” 1964 Mustang, didn’t mind spending said “good money” on her and who also did not mind sitting a few nights a week in Jimmy Jack’s feeding the jukebox had dumped her. Dumped her for some red-headed low-down Irish girl from Kittery down the coast. Hence her solace in Big Joe’s song (and a sipped glass of white wine).
Needless to say I expressed my condolences but I also thought to myself that this Jean-Paul jerk had a screw loose. There are lots of reasons for a guy (or a gal for that matter) to dump a guy, who knows, the reasons are legion. But to dump Loretta D’Amboise, no way, no sane way. Like I said a screw loose. Now Loretta was not drop-dead beautiful, most F.A. girls aren’t. She was slender, long-brown hair and blue eyes, a decent shape, very nice legs and not afraid to show them, no real bosom like most F.A. girls. Nice, but not beautiful. But that isn’t what counted because she had this great smile and that look, that look that come hither fresh ocean breeze look, like a guy, a leering guy, young or old, would day dream, night dream, day-night dream, night-day dream about all day, every day.
And so, for a few weeks, that look held me in thrall, no, transfixed. But even from our first date (at Jimmy Jack’s the next week, me feeding the jukebox and her looking, well looking) I sensed she was elsewhere, probably Jean-Paul elsewhere, because those nickels, dimes and quarters I was feeding the machine kept coming up quite a bit on Baby Please Don’t Go and it was not me she was pleaded with to stay. So one night we decided, or maybe she decided and I agreed, that we would just be kiss-of-death friends.
A few weeks later I noticed, as I was sitting in Jimmy Jack’s Diner (ya, that Jimmy Jack, he owned the diner too), Loretta sitting very happy up on the front seat of a 1964 Mustang. So I put a nickel in the jukebox and played Baby Please Don’t Go for what might have been. And now almost fifty years later I am just now putting it on the old CD player. For what might have been.
Joshua Lawrence Breslin comment:
You know now that I am “officially” retired from the public prints I have plenty of time to write a little about things other than the latest war (or wars), the latest governmental abridgement of our civil rights, the latest poor boy kid framed up for something, or the latest environmental disaster brought to us courtesy of some anonymous thing “too big to fail.” Now I have time to write about things less pressing on the daily world calendar, things like old timey flames, coming to young manhood up in Olde Saco (that’s in Maine, folks), teenage boyhood worries about fitting in, not fitting or to use a generational term, my generation “be cool.” That’s what I have on my plate today-girls, long lost flame girls. And what they could do to a guy, could do to a guy six ways to Sunday, and still have him grinning, asking for more.
What got me jumped up on this subject was the other night I was talking, lazily half-joking, half-spinning wheels talking with my old friend, Peter Paul Markin (always known as Pee-Pee and not that odd-ball Peter Paul thing like some old time yankee Brahmin getting ready to crash on his damn Irish-driven head) and he brought up some story about how he had snagged a date with some high school chick (read: term of art, term of love art, in the be-bop 1960s teen night to use Pee-Pee’s term for a young woman, me I called them frails) based solely on his ability to intelligently talk about every known Bob Dylan song and lyric of the day. Jesus, who was that poor frail?
That story though later got me to thinking about Loretta, Loretta D’Amboise, from my old neighborhood up in Olde Saco back in that same 1960s day. Yes, Loretta was something else. Now while Pee-Pee and I were talking that night he mentioned, and I agreed, that lately we had been spending a hell of a lot of time talking about old time flames, our so-called conquests of said flames, and our, ah, ah, ultimate defeat at their hands. Call it old age with time of our hands, call it male vanity, once removed, call it evoking that one last chance for immortality, hell, call it acting like, ah, dirty old men, but there you have it. Pee-Pee’s Dylan date honey was wrapped up by some archaic Bob Dylan swish but Loretta, ancient mist Loretta, would never come within ten miles of that scene. She was strictly a jazzy blues breeze, just my type then.
Although Loretta had lived in the old neighborhood all through school (we had graduated together from Olde Saco High School in 1967) other than about sixteen million leers, unsuccessful leers, on my part she had not given me a tumble not even close. See she was full French-Canadian (F.A.) like most other people in Olde Saco who came down from Canada way back when to work the textile and paper mills. Unlike me, who was strictly half and half, and that difference I found out from later talk mattered in her family, and to her preference for be-bop F.A. guys (with fast cars, some dough, and a willingness to spent that dough on her).
So Loretta and I never met up until one night after I had gotten back home from summer of love San Francisco in late 1968 and I had run into her at Jimmy Jack’s Blues Club (don’t let the Jimmy Jack’s name fool you, the owner’s name was really Jean Jacques Dubois) over on Atlantic Avenue right across from Olde Saco Beach. Ran into her alone sitting all by herself at the bar putting coins into the jukebox and playing Big Joe Williams’ Baby Please Don’t Go about six times. Six times that I counted.
I’ll tell you the why in a minute but let me tell you first that she called me over, not a big hello, long time, no see, what have you been up to, come on over but a hey, I didn’t know you likes the blues, Josh, come on over. And well yes I did like the blues all the way back to the times in early high school when I would be up in my room around midnight and get The Big Bopper Blues Blast from some mega-station in Chicago on my transistor radio. So, of course, I used this arcane knowledge to make my big Loretta move. Naturally I tossed out Muddy’s, Howlin’ Wolf’s, Elmore James’, and about twelve other electric blues guys names to show I was for real. And just as naturally I knew that Big Joe Williams was performing this Baby Please Don’t Go number on his six, five, eleven or whatever number strings he used string guitar. That tidbit impressed her.
What I wanted to know, and if you have been paying attention you would too, was why she was sitting very alone in Jimmy Jack’s on that late summer Saturday night. Well, you know the old story, male or female, young or old. Her boyfriend, Jean-Paul LaCroix, a name I couldn’t place in the town’s scheme of things, but who worked in the MacAdams Textile Mills, made “good money,” had a “boss” 1964 Mustang, didn’t mind spending said “good money” on her and who also did not mind sitting a few nights a week in Jimmy Jack’s feeding the jukebox had dumped her. Dumped her for some red-headed low-down Irish girl from Kittery down the coast. Hence her solace in Big Joe’s song (and a sipped glass of white wine).
Needless to say I expressed my condolences but I also thought to myself that this Jean-Paul jerk had a screw loose. There are lots of reasons for a guy (or a gal for that matter) to dump a guy, who knows, the reasons are legion. But to dump Loretta D’Amboise, no way, no sane way. Like I said a screw loose. Now Loretta was not drop-dead beautiful, most F.A. girls aren’t. She was slender, long-brown hair and blue eyes, a decent shape, very nice legs and not afraid to show them, no real bosom like most F.A. girls. Nice, but not beautiful. But that isn’t what counted because she had this great smile and that look, that look that come hither fresh ocean breeze look, like a guy, a leering guy, young or old, would day dream, night dream, day-night dream, night-day dream about all day, every day.
And so, for a few weeks, that look held me in thrall, no, transfixed. But even from our first date (at Jimmy Jack’s the next week, me feeding the jukebox and her looking, well looking) I sensed she was elsewhere, probably Jean-Paul elsewhere, because those nickels, dimes and quarters I was feeding the machine kept coming up quite a bit on Baby Please Don’t Go and it was not me she was pleaded with to stay. So one night we decided, or maybe she decided and I agreed, that we would just be kiss-of-death friends.
A few weeks later I noticed, as I was sitting in Jimmy Jack’s Diner (ya, that Jimmy Jack, he owned the diner too), Loretta sitting very happy up on the front seat of a 1964 Mustang. So I put a nickel in the jukebox and played Baby Please Don’t Go for what might have been. And now almost fifty years later I am just now putting it on the old CD player. For what might have been.
Out In The Be-Bop 1960s Night- A Tale To Sit Around The Soda Fountain By-Frankie Goes Wild
Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of The Angels performing Cry Baby Cry.
Peter Paul Markin comment:
Recently I did, as part of a rock 'n' roll be-bop night record review, a little vignette about soda fountain life in the early 1960s, featuring my boyhood best friend, Frankie Riley, Frankie from our down at the heels and not going to get better as America deindustrialized no more shipyard busy working class neighborhood. Frankie of one thousand stories, Frankie of one thousand treacheries, about twenty-three of them directed toward me, and Frankie of a one thousand kindnesses, including about ninety-eight directed toward me and hence the longevity of our friendship. Somehow it did not seem right to leave Frankie hanging around that old review soda fountain and rather than leave him to that fate I have decided to rewrite the story with the commercial CD review tag removed, although lots of the old story will filter through here anyway:
See, it really is a truism by now, by 2010 teen-age now, that every “teenage nation” generation since they started to place teenage-hood as a distinct phase of life between childhood and young adulthood over a century, maybe two centuries, ago has developed its own tribal rituals and institutions. Today’s teens seem to have cornered food courts at the mall, video arcades and the ubiquitous Internet screen connections through various look-at techno-gadgets although, frankly, I am not fully current on all their mores, customs and tribal language. And moreover would trend very lightly, very lightly indeed, on that sacred ground.
What I am familiar with, very familiar with, is the teen institutions of my generation, the generation of ’68, that came of teen age in the early 1960s. Our places of rendezvous were the corners in front of mom and pop variety stores in the days before franchise 7/11 convenience stores came to dominate the quick stop one item shopping market, if we could squeeze room around the drifters, grifters and midnight sifters who frequented those holy sites and worried about "turf" and our being within ten miles of it; the ever present heaven-sent smell pizza parlor (hold the onions on that slice, please, always hold the onions, in case I get lucky with that certain she tonight) with its jump jukebox where coin was king and we deposited more than a few nickels, dimes and quarters to hear our favorites of the day or minute; for some of the dweebs, or if you wanted to get away with a “cheap” date, or thought you were doing somebody a favor to take his sister out, but only as a last resort, favor that is, the bowling alley; the open air drive-in restaurants complete with "hot" car hops who filled the night air with their cold sex, their faraway cold tip-driven sex, for more “expensive” dates (meaning take your eyes off the damn car hops, or else); and, for serious business, meaning serious girl and boy watching, the soda fountain, especially in car-less teen times. And not, in my case, just any soda fountain but the soda fountain at the local individually-owned and operated drug store (Doc’s Drug Store, for real, that was the name) that used the soda fountain to draw people (read, kids: what would we need prescription drugs for, those were for old people, we were invincible) into the store.
As part of that record review mentioned earlier I noted that the cover of the CD had an almost Edward Hooper Nighthawks At The Diner-like illustration of just such a classic soda fountain, complete with three whimsical teen-age frills (read girls, if you are not from my old working class neighborhood, beaten down, or not) all sipping their straws out of one, can you believe it, one cone-shaped paper cup while a faux Fabian-type looks on. Ah, be still my heart.
Needless to say this scene could have been from any town USA then, complete with its own jukebox setup (although not every drug store had them, ours didn’t although the local rock radio station was blasting away as we tapped out the beat at all hours), the booths with the vinyl-covered summer sweat-inducing seats and Formica top tables (dolled up with paper place settings, condiments, etc., just like home right), the soda fountain granite (maybe faux granite) counter, complete with swivel around stools that gave the odd boy or two (read: me and my corner boys, or rather, Frankie and his corner boys, including me) a better vantage point to watch the traffic come into the store (read: girls), and a Drink Coca-Cola-inscribed full length mirror just in case you missed a beat.
Said counter also complete with glassed-encased pie (or donut) cases; the various utensils for making frappes (that's a New England thing, look it up), milkshakes, banana splits, ice cream floats, and cherry-flavored Cokes; a small grille for hamburgers, hot dogs and fries (or the odd boy grilled cheese sandwich with bacon); and, well, of course, a soda jerk (usually a guy) to whip up the orders. Oh, did I say anything about girl and boy watching? Ya, I did. What do you think we were all there for? The ice cream and soda? Come on. Does it really take an hour, an hour and a half, or even two hours to drink a Pepsi even in teen-land?
But enough said about the décor because the mere mention of the term “soda jerk” brings to mind a Frankie, Frankie from the old neighborhood story, Frankie of a thousand stories and Frankie who was the king hill skirt-chaser (read: girl), and my best friend in middle school (a.k.a. junior high) and high school. I already "hipped" you to the “his treacheries” and “kindnesses.” Ya, that Frankie, or rather this time Frankie’s sister, although now that I think of it she is really the "stooge" in this thing.
Now when we were juniors in high school in the early 1960s, Frankie (as king of the hill) and I (as his lord chamberlain) , mainly held court at the local pizza parlor, a pizza parlor which was in the pecking order of town teen social life way above the soda fountain rookie camp teen life scene. That soda foundation stuff was for kids and dweebs, unless, of course, things were tough at the pizza joint (meaning girl-free) and we meandered up the street to Doc’s Drug Store soda fountain to check out the action there.
Of course, before we graduated to the “bigs” pizza parlor, which I will tell you about some other time because it plays no part in this heart-rendering tale, the old soda fountain side of that drug store (the other side had aisles of over-the-counter drugs and sundries, a couple of permanently in use enclosed telephone booths for those (read: teens) who had not telephone at home(like me much of the time) or didn’t want their business exposed on the “two-party” home line, and your regulation pharmacy area for the good legal doctor's note drug stuff) was just fine. And it did no harm, no harm at all, in those days to strike up friendships , or at least stay on the good side of the soda jerks so you could get an extra scoop of ice cream or a free refill on your Coke. See, the soda jerk was usually the guy (and like I said before it was always guys, girls would probably be too distracted by every high energy teen guy, including dweeb-types, trying to be “cool”) who connected the dots about who was who and what was what in the local scene (I do not have to tell you at this late point the focal point of that scene, right?). Moreover, later, after we found out about life a bit more (read: sex) the soda jerk acted as a “shill” for Doc for those teens looking for their first liquor (for medical purposes, of course) or, keep this quiet, okay, condoms. But the thing was, younger or older, that the soda jerk also had some cache with the girls, I guess it must have been the uniform. Wow! Personally I wouldn’t have been caught dead with that silly flap cap they wore.
So one night we are dried up (read: no girls) at the pizza parlor and decided, as usual, to meander up the street to Doc’s. We had heard earlier in the day that Doc had a new jerk on and we wanted to check him out anyway. As we entered who do we see but Frankie’s sister, Lorrie, Frankie’s fourteen year old sister, Lorrie, talking up a storm, all dewy-eyed, over this new jerk, who must have been about eighteen. And more than that this “cradle-robber” had his arm around, or kind of around, Lorrie. Old Frankie saw red, no double red, if not more, hell and back red.
I can hear the yawns already, especially from every guy who had a goofy, off-hand younger sister just starting to feel her oats (or for that matter every gal who had such a younger brother, or any other such combinations). See, though, and maybe it’s hard to explain if you didn’t live in those misbegotten times, Frankie was a guy who had more girls lined up that he could ever meet and be able to keep himself in one piece, although he had only one serious frail (read: girl again, okay) that kept his interest over time (Joanne that I told you about before when I did a thing on Roy "The Boy" Orbison). So Frankie was no stranger to the old male boy (and adult too, as we found out later) double standard of the age about boys being able to do whatever they wanted to but girls had to be true-blue or whatever color it was, but no messing around, especially in regard to his sister. But there you have it, and he was seeing that old red that meant no good, for somebody.
Now this sister, Lorrie, when I first meant her back in the days when I first met Frankie in middle school was nothing but a...sister, a Frankie, king of the hill, sister but still just a sister. Meaning I really never paid much attention to her. But this night I could see, dewy-eyed or not, that she has turned into not a bad looker, especially with that form-filling cashmere sweater all the girls were wearing those days and that I swear they were wearing so that guys would notice that form-filling part. And I could see that, while she took away from her "cool" in my eyes by the ubiquitous chewing of gum that made her seem about ten years old, that guys could go for her, eighteen or not, soda jerks or not. As to the soda jerk, Steve was his name as I found out later, who was not a bad looking guy and old Lorrie didn't need glasses to see that. He seemed like a lot of guys, a lot of Frankie and me guys, ready to chat up any skirt that would listen to him for two minutes, maybe less.
And see, as well, it is not like Frankie really had some old-fashioned medieval sense of honor, or some Catholic, which we and half the freaking town were then, or were trying to get away from then, hang-up about sex, teen-age or otherwise. So it was not that he was really protective of her as much as he was insulted (so he told me later) by some new “jerk” trying to make moves to become "king of the hill" by “courting” Frankie’s, Francis X. Riley’s sister. See that's the way that he operated, and for all I know maybe had to operate, to stay king. Maybe he read about it someplace, like in Machiavelli’s The Prince (Frankie and I were crazy for that kind of book in those days, Christ we even read Marx’s Communist Manifesto just to be “cool”), and figured he had to do things that way.
And Frankie, old wiry, slender, quick-fisted, and not bad–looking but no Steve McQueen, wrapping the girls up with his pseudo-beat patter Frankie was tough. Tougher than he looked (with his black chinos, flannel shirt, work boot and midnight sunglass regulation faux beat look). So naturally new boy “jerk” takes umbrage (nice word, right?) when Frankie starts to move “sis” away from him. Well the long and short of it was that Frankie and “jerk” started to beef a little but it is all over quickly and here is why. Frankie took an ice cream cone, a triple scoop, triple-flavored ice cream cone no less, that was sitting on the counter in a cup in front of a girl customer (a cute girl who I wound up checking out seriously later) and bops, no be-bops, no be-bop bops one soda jerk, new or not, with it.
Now if you have ever seen an eighteen year old guy, in uniform, I don’t care if it is only a soda jerk’s uniform, wearing about three kinds of ice cream (no, not what you think, some harlequin strawberry, vanilla, chocolate combo but frozen pudding, cherry vanilla, and mocha almond, hey, I really will have to check that girl out) on that uniform you know, you have to know that this guy’s persona non grata with the girls and “cool” guys in town forevermore.
Or so you would think. Frankie went out of town for a few days to do something on family business (not related) after this incident and one night near the edge of town as I was walking with that young girl customer whose ice cream Frankie scooped (I bought her another one that incident night, that same triple combo mentioned above, thank god I had a little cash on me, and that is why I was walking with her right then, thank you) when I saw one Lorrie, one very foxy cashmere sweater-wearing Lorrie, sitting, sitting like the Queen of Sheba, in Mr. Soda Jerk’s boss cherry red with full-chrome accessories 1959 Chevy listening to Cry Baby Cry by The Angels as “mood” music on the background car radio that I could faintly hear. Just don’t tell Frankie, okay.
Peter Paul Markin comment:
Recently I did, as part of a rock 'n' roll be-bop night record review, a little vignette about soda fountain life in the early 1960s, featuring my boyhood best friend, Frankie Riley, Frankie from our down at the heels and not going to get better as America deindustrialized no more shipyard busy working class neighborhood. Frankie of one thousand stories, Frankie of one thousand treacheries, about twenty-three of them directed toward me, and Frankie of a one thousand kindnesses, including about ninety-eight directed toward me and hence the longevity of our friendship. Somehow it did not seem right to leave Frankie hanging around that old review soda fountain and rather than leave him to that fate I have decided to rewrite the story with the commercial CD review tag removed, although lots of the old story will filter through here anyway:
See, it really is a truism by now, by 2010 teen-age now, that every “teenage nation” generation since they started to place teenage-hood as a distinct phase of life between childhood and young adulthood over a century, maybe two centuries, ago has developed its own tribal rituals and institutions. Today’s teens seem to have cornered food courts at the mall, video arcades and the ubiquitous Internet screen connections through various look-at techno-gadgets although, frankly, I am not fully current on all their mores, customs and tribal language. And moreover would trend very lightly, very lightly indeed, on that sacred ground.
What I am familiar with, very familiar with, is the teen institutions of my generation, the generation of ’68, that came of teen age in the early 1960s. Our places of rendezvous were the corners in front of mom and pop variety stores in the days before franchise 7/11 convenience stores came to dominate the quick stop one item shopping market, if we could squeeze room around the drifters, grifters and midnight sifters who frequented those holy sites and worried about "turf" and our being within ten miles of it; the ever present heaven-sent smell pizza parlor (hold the onions on that slice, please, always hold the onions, in case I get lucky with that certain she tonight) with its jump jukebox where coin was king and we deposited more than a few nickels, dimes and quarters to hear our favorites of the day or minute; for some of the dweebs, or if you wanted to get away with a “cheap” date, or thought you were doing somebody a favor to take his sister out, but only as a last resort, favor that is, the bowling alley; the open air drive-in restaurants complete with "hot" car hops who filled the night air with their cold sex, their faraway cold tip-driven sex, for more “expensive” dates (meaning take your eyes off the damn car hops, or else); and, for serious business, meaning serious girl and boy watching, the soda fountain, especially in car-less teen times. And not, in my case, just any soda fountain but the soda fountain at the local individually-owned and operated drug store (Doc’s Drug Store, for real, that was the name) that used the soda fountain to draw people (read, kids: what would we need prescription drugs for, those were for old people, we were invincible) into the store.
As part of that record review mentioned earlier I noted that the cover of the CD had an almost Edward Hooper Nighthawks At The Diner-like illustration of just such a classic soda fountain, complete with three whimsical teen-age frills (read girls, if you are not from my old working class neighborhood, beaten down, or not) all sipping their straws out of one, can you believe it, one cone-shaped paper cup while a faux Fabian-type looks on. Ah, be still my heart.
Needless to say this scene could have been from any town USA then, complete with its own jukebox setup (although not every drug store had them, ours didn’t although the local rock radio station was blasting away as we tapped out the beat at all hours), the booths with the vinyl-covered summer sweat-inducing seats and Formica top tables (dolled up with paper place settings, condiments, etc., just like home right), the soda fountain granite (maybe faux granite) counter, complete with swivel around stools that gave the odd boy or two (read: me and my corner boys, or rather, Frankie and his corner boys, including me) a better vantage point to watch the traffic come into the store (read: girls), and a Drink Coca-Cola-inscribed full length mirror just in case you missed a beat.
Said counter also complete with glassed-encased pie (or donut) cases; the various utensils for making frappes (that's a New England thing, look it up), milkshakes, banana splits, ice cream floats, and cherry-flavored Cokes; a small grille for hamburgers, hot dogs and fries (or the odd boy grilled cheese sandwich with bacon); and, well, of course, a soda jerk (usually a guy) to whip up the orders. Oh, did I say anything about girl and boy watching? Ya, I did. What do you think we were all there for? The ice cream and soda? Come on. Does it really take an hour, an hour and a half, or even two hours to drink a Pepsi even in teen-land?
But enough said about the décor because the mere mention of the term “soda jerk” brings to mind a Frankie, Frankie from the old neighborhood story, Frankie of a thousand stories and Frankie who was the king hill skirt-chaser (read: girl), and my best friend in middle school (a.k.a. junior high) and high school. I already "hipped" you to the “his treacheries” and “kindnesses.” Ya, that Frankie, or rather this time Frankie’s sister, although now that I think of it she is really the "stooge" in this thing.
Now when we were juniors in high school in the early 1960s, Frankie (as king of the hill) and I (as his lord chamberlain) , mainly held court at the local pizza parlor, a pizza parlor which was in the pecking order of town teen social life way above the soda fountain rookie camp teen life scene. That soda foundation stuff was for kids and dweebs, unless, of course, things were tough at the pizza joint (meaning girl-free) and we meandered up the street to Doc’s Drug Store soda fountain to check out the action there.
Of course, before we graduated to the “bigs” pizza parlor, which I will tell you about some other time because it plays no part in this heart-rendering tale, the old soda fountain side of that drug store (the other side had aisles of over-the-counter drugs and sundries, a couple of permanently in use enclosed telephone booths for those (read: teens) who had not telephone at home(like me much of the time) or didn’t want their business exposed on the “two-party” home line, and your regulation pharmacy area for the good legal doctor's note drug stuff) was just fine. And it did no harm, no harm at all, in those days to strike up friendships , or at least stay on the good side of the soda jerks so you could get an extra scoop of ice cream or a free refill on your Coke. See, the soda jerk was usually the guy (and like I said before it was always guys, girls would probably be too distracted by every high energy teen guy, including dweeb-types, trying to be “cool”) who connected the dots about who was who and what was what in the local scene (I do not have to tell you at this late point the focal point of that scene, right?). Moreover, later, after we found out about life a bit more (read: sex) the soda jerk acted as a “shill” for Doc for those teens looking for their first liquor (for medical purposes, of course) or, keep this quiet, okay, condoms. But the thing was, younger or older, that the soda jerk also had some cache with the girls, I guess it must have been the uniform. Wow! Personally I wouldn’t have been caught dead with that silly flap cap they wore.
So one night we are dried up (read: no girls) at the pizza parlor and decided, as usual, to meander up the street to Doc’s. We had heard earlier in the day that Doc had a new jerk on and we wanted to check him out anyway. As we entered who do we see but Frankie’s sister, Lorrie, Frankie’s fourteen year old sister, Lorrie, talking up a storm, all dewy-eyed, over this new jerk, who must have been about eighteen. And more than that this “cradle-robber” had his arm around, or kind of around, Lorrie. Old Frankie saw red, no double red, if not more, hell and back red.
I can hear the yawns already, especially from every guy who had a goofy, off-hand younger sister just starting to feel her oats (or for that matter every gal who had such a younger brother, or any other such combinations). See, though, and maybe it’s hard to explain if you didn’t live in those misbegotten times, Frankie was a guy who had more girls lined up that he could ever meet and be able to keep himself in one piece, although he had only one serious frail (read: girl again, okay) that kept his interest over time (Joanne that I told you about before when I did a thing on Roy "The Boy" Orbison). So Frankie was no stranger to the old male boy (and adult too, as we found out later) double standard of the age about boys being able to do whatever they wanted to but girls had to be true-blue or whatever color it was, but no messing around, especially in regard to his sister. But there you have it, and he was seeing that old red that meant no good, for somebody.
Now this sister, Lorrie, when I first meant her back in the days when I first met Frankie in middle school was nothing but a...sister, a Frankie, king of the hill, sister but still just a sister. Meaning I really never paid much attention to her. But this night I could see, dewy-eyed or not, that she has turned into not a bad looker, especially with that form-filling cashmere sweater all the girls were wearing those days and that I swear they were wearing so that guys would notice that form-filling part. And I could see that, while she took away from her "cool" in my eyes by the ubiquitous chewing of gum that made her seem about ten years old, that guys could go for her, eighteen or not, soda jerks or not. As to the soda jerk, Steve was his name as I found out later, who was not a bad looking guy and old Lorrie didn't need glasses to see that. He seemed like a lot of guys, a lot of Frankie and me guys, ready to chat up any skirt that would listen to him for two minutes, maybe less.
And see, as well, it is not like Frankie really had some old-fashioned medieval sense of honor, or some Catholic, which we and half the freaking town were then, or were trying to get away from then, hang-up about sex, teen-age or otherwise. So it was not that he was really protective of her as much as he was insulted (so he told me later) by some new “jerk” trying to make moves to become "king of the hill" by “courting” Frankie’s, Francis X. Riley’s sister. See that's the way that he operated, and for all I know maybe had to operate, to stay king. Maybe he read about it someplace, like in Machiavelli’s The Prince (Frankie and I were crazy for that kind of book in those days, Christ we even read Marx’s Communist Manifesto just to be “cool”), and figured he had to do things that way.
And Frankie, old wiry, slender, quick-fisted, and not bad–looking but no Steve McQueen, wrapping the girls up with his pseudo-beat patter Frankie was tough. Tougher than he looked (with his black chinos, flannel shirt, work boot and midnight sunglass regulation faux beat look). So naturally new boy “jerk” takes umbrage (nice word, right?) when Frankie starts to move “sis” away from him. Well the long and short of it was that Frankie and “jerk” started to beef a little but it is all over quickly and here is why. Frankie took an ice cream cone, a triple scoop, triple-flavored ice cream cone no less, that was sitting on the counter in a cup in front of a girl customer (a cute girl who I wound up checking out seriously later) and bops, no be-bops, no be-bop bops one soda jerk, new or not, with it.
Now if you have ever seen an eighteen year old guy, in uniform, I don’t care if it is only a soda jerk’s uniform, wearing about three kinds of ice cream (no, not what you think, some harlequin strawberry, vanilla, chocolate combo but frozen pudding, cherry vanilla, and mocha almond, hey, I really will have to check that girl out) on that uniform you know, you have to know that this guy’s persona non grata with the girls and “cool” guys in town forevermore.
Or so you would think. Frankie went out of town for a few days to do something on family business (not related) after this incident and one night near the edge of town as I was walking with that young girl customer whose ice cream Frankie scooped (I bought her another one that incident night, that same triple combo mentioned above, thank god I had a little cash on me, and that is why I was walking with her right then, thank you) when I saw one Lorrie, one very foxy cashmere sweater-wearing Lorrie, sitting, sitting like the Queen of Sheba, in Mr. Soda Jerk’s boss cherry red with full-chrome accessories 1959 Chevy listening to Cry Baby Cry by The Angels as “mood” music on the background car radio that I could faintly hear. Just don’t tell Frankie, okay.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Out In The Be-Bop Night- In the Beginning Of Rock- Bop- Once Again, From the Vaults Of Sun Records
Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of Carl Perkins performing Boppin' The Blues.
CD Review
The Sun Gods, 3-CD set, Dressed To Kill Records, 1999
One of the purposes of this space is to review various cultural trends that drove American popular culture in the 20th century. More specifically drove those trends in the post-World War II, the lifetimes of many of today’s baby boomers. A seminal point, musically at least, was the breakout of the mid-1950s fueled by a strange and sometimes contradictory mix of black-based rhythm and blues, Arkie, Okie, Appalachian “hillbilly” rock-a-billy and plain old jazz and vanilla show tune Tin Pan Alley. The mix of course we now know as rock ‘n’ roll, sadly for this aging reviewer now called the age of classic rock 'n' roll. No sadly that it does not exist except in CDs such as the one under review, The Sun Gods, but that frenetic fury to change the musical direction of popular culture seems to have lost steam along the aging process. But take heart. While we have all probably slowed down a step or seven we will always have Sun Records CD memories to carry us.
And there is no question, no question at all that, pound for pound, the music that came out of Sam Phillips’ Memphis-based Sun Records for about a decade in the 1950s was central to the mix that created rock 'n' roll. Think Elvis, Jerry Lee and Chuck Berry to name just three of the more famous singers to come out of that label. And as this CD demonstrates beyond doubt, highlighted by the work of Sonny Burgess and Warren Smith here, also a whole tribe of lesser lights, one- hit Johnnies and Janies, and those who never made it that formed the background milieu that drove the others forward and created this musical chemistry that can boggle the mind. If you want to find, in one spot, a CD set that rediscovers the roots of rock ‘n’ roll, especially the contributions from the rock-a-billy side well here you are.
I have highlighted some of the tracks on each disc.
Disc One: Carl Perkins performing Roll Over Beethoven, a song made famous by Chuck Berry (and that I went crazy over when I first heard it as a kid) which I think that he may actually do better than Chuck, if you can believe that. There are several Elvis interviews recorded here as part of the promotion of his records and/or concerts in the early days. I would say, thank god, that he had that great musical talent, that look and those hips swaying in the sex-fantasy driven night because off these innocuous, bland interviews he would have starved otherwise. Still these are good to hear from a time before the king became “the King.”
Disc Two: Red Hot by Billy Lee Riley, a rock-a-billy hard-driving classic that expresses just what the break-out was all about; We Wanna Boogie by Sonny Burgess (a definitely underrated force), Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache by Warren Smith (Bob Dylan covered this one in a tribute album); and, Crazy Women by Gene Simmons. This is one of those CDs that you have to listen to all the way through to get a real feel for this music, and you should.
Disc Three: Rock Boppin’ Baby by Edwin Brice; Let’s Bop by Jack Earls; Thinkin’ Of Me by Mickey Gilley; Rockhouse by Harold Jenkins; and, You Don’t Care by, Narvel Felts. Yes, I know, you probably have never heard of any of them. But if you listen to this CD you will see where Elvis, Jerry Lee and Chuck got their stuff from. And you know, successful or as failures, as I have mentioned before in reviewing Sun Record material, all these guys (and a few gals) all sound like they are happy to be rocking and rolling rather than whatever else they were slated to do in life.
CD Review
The Sun Gods, 3-CD set, Dressed To Kill Records, 1999
One of the purposes of this space is to review various cultural trends that drove American popular culture in the 20th century. More specifically drove those trends in the post-World War II, the lifetimes of many of today’s baby boomers. A seminal point, musically at least, was the breakout of the mid-1950s fueled by a strange and sometimes contradictory mix of black-based rhythm and blues, Arkie, Okie, Appalachian “hillbilly” rock-a-billy and plain old jazz and vanilla show tune Tin Pan Alley. The mix of course we now know as rock ‘n’ roll, sadly for this aging reviewer now called the age of classic rock 'n' roll. No sadly that it does not exist except in CDs such as the one under review, The Sun Gods, but that frenetic fury to change the musical direction of popular culture seems to have lost steam along the aging process. But take heart. While we have all probably slowed down a step or seven we will always have Sun Records CD memories to carry us.
And there is no question, no question at all that, pound for pound, the music that came out of Sam Phillips’ Memphis-based Sun Records for about a decade in the 1950s was central to the mix that created rock 'n' roll. Think Elvis, Jerry Lee and Chuck Berry to name just three of the more famous singers to come out of that label. And as this CD demonstrates beyond doubt, highlighted by the work of Sonny Burgess and Warren Smith here, also a whole tribe of lesser lights, one- hit Johnnies and Janies, and those who never made it that formed the background milieu that drove the others forward and created this musical chemistry that can boggle the mind. If you want to find, in one spot, a CD set that rediscovers the roots of rock ‘n’ roll, especially the contributions from the rock-a-billy side well here you are.
I have highlighted some of the tracks on each disc.
Disc One: Carl Perkins performing Roll Over Beethoven, a song made famous by Chuck Berry (and that I went crazy over when I first heard it as a kid) which I think that he may actually do better than Chuck, if you can believe that. There are several Elvis interviews recorded here as part of the promotion of his records and/or concerts in the early days. I would say, thank god, that he had that great musical talent, that look and those hips swaying in the sex-fantasy driven night because off these innocuous, bland interviews he would have starved otherwise. Still these are good to hear from a time before the king became “the King.”
Disc Two: Red Hot by Billy Lee Riley, a rock-a-billy hard-driving classic that expresses just what the break-out was all about; We Wanna Boogie by Sonny Burgess (a definitely underrated force), Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache by Warren Smith (Bob Dylan covered this one in a tribute album); and, Crazy Women by Gene Simmons. This is one of those CDs that you have to listen to all the way through to get a real feel for this music, and you should.
Disc Three: Rock Boppin’ Baby by Edwin Brice; Let’s Bop by Jack Earls; Thinkin’ Of Me by Mickey Gilley; Rockhouse by Harold Jenkins; and, You Don’t Care by, Narvel Felts. Yes, I know, you probably have never heard of any of them. But if you listen to this CD you will see where Elvis, Jerry Lee and Chuck got their stuff from. And you know, successful or as failures, as I have mentioned before in reviewing Sun Record material, all these guys (and a few gals) all sound like they are happy to be rocking and rolling rather than whatever else they were slated to do in life.
From The Golden Age Of Boogie Woogie Be-Bop Night Piano- Jerry Lee Lewis At 70 Something -Last Man Standing
Click on the headline to link to a YouTUbe film clip of Jerry Lee Lewis performing in his golden age.
Elvis, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Bo Didderly. Yes those are the men who created rock and roll as we know it. However in that list do not forget one Jerry Lee Lewis. Fate dealt him an uneven hand due to the foibles of his personal life but his form of rockabilly/boogie woogie piano driven music and madman presentation must be placed in the mix of influences that drove the best of early rock. If for no other reason that that he is one of the few ‘still standing’ from that generation it is nice to see what the Killer can do in his 71st year in concert in New York City in 2006 with a host of guests some old, some young. Clearly off these performances he has lost a couple of steps. Hell that kind of energy that Jerry Lee produced in the 1950s definitely had a short shelf-life. There are some nice clips from that period intertwined with the concert by the way. Nevertheless here he can still give out on some tunes like in the old days. Take his set with Ivan Neville, for example, especially on Who Will the Next Fool Be. Tom Jones on Green, Green Grass of Home. Norah Jones on Your Cheating Heart. And on and on. In fact the covers of his old material and some Hank Williams material highlight this concert. If you have a couple of hours better take advantage of it. Then you will know what it was like when men (or women) played rock and roll for keeps.
Elvis, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Bo Didderly. Yes those are the men who created rock and roll as we know it. However in that list do not forget one Jerry Lee Lewis. Fate dealt him an uneven hand due to the foibles of his personal life but his form of rockabilly/boogie woogie piano driven music and madman presentation must be placed in the mix of influences that drove the best of early rock. If for no other reason that that he is one of the few ‘still standing’ from that generation it is nice to see what the Killer can do in his 71st year in concert in New York City in 2006 with a host of guests some old, some young. Clearly off these performances he has lost a couple of steps. Hell that kind of energy that Jerry Lee produced in the 1950s definitely had a short shelf-life. There are some nice clips from that period intertwined with the concert by the way. Nevertheless here he can still give out on some tunes like in the old days. Take his set with Ivan Neville, for example, especially on Who Will the Next Fool Be. Tom Jones on Green, Green Grass of Home. Norah Jones on Your Cheating Heart. And on and on. In fact the covers of his old material and some Hank Williams material highlight this concert. If you have a couple of hours better take advantage of it. Then you will know what it was like when men (or women) played rock and roll for keeps.
From The Pen Of The English Revolution Historian Professor Christopher Hill- A Short Note On -"Puritanism and Revolution: Studies in Interpretation of the English Revolution of the 17th Century" (1958)
Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for Professor Christopher Hill.
Book Review
Puritanism and Revolution: Studies in Interpretation of the English Revolution of the 17th Century (1958)
In this expansively footnoted book Professor Hill, as he has done in his other work, connects the dramatic break up of traditional agrarian English society; the resulting vast increase of 'master-less' men not bound to traditional authority and potentially receptive to new ideas; the widespread availability of the protestant Bible brought about by the revolution in printing and thus permitting widespread distribution to the masses; the effects of the Protestant Reformation on individual responsibility; the discrediting of the theology of the divine right of kings; the role of the priesthood of all believers that foreshadow a very modern concept of the validity of individual religious expression; radical interpretations of equality and primitive communism, particularly the work of Gerrard Winstanley ; the Puritan ethic and many more subjects of interests to bring to life what the common people who hitherto had barely entered the stage of history were reading, watching, thinking and doing.
His central premise here is that it is hard to understand the political, social and economic developments that led to revolution and later the creation of a major capitalist state in England without reference to the literature of the times. To buttress his argument Hill writes a series of interesting essays ranging from the critical important of the enforcement or non enforcement of state censorship for literary freedom; the symbolic importance of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe; the various literary battles between pro-parliamentary and pro-royalist writers especially his muse John Milton; an nice appreciative of Samuel Pepys’ Diary and a long overdue debunking of that of John Evelyn as sources for an appreciation of the fads and fashions of the times ; and a look at a couple of ultra-royalist restoration writers, Samuel Butler and the Earl of Rochester. In all a very good exposition of his ideas on the relationship between literature and political action. Of course, for the interpretation of the English Revolution, it never hurts to have John Milton as your muse. As I have pointed out before in other reviews one should read Hill’s The World Turned Upside Down first then you are really ready for the exoteric here. Fair enough?
Book Review
Puritanism and Revolution: Studies in Interpretation of the English Revolution of the 17th Century (1958)
In this expansively footnoted book Professor Hill, as he has done in his other work, connects the dramatic break up of traditional agrarian English society; the resulting vast increase of 'master-less' men not bound to traditional authority and potentially receptive to new ideas; the widespread availability of the protestant Bible brought about by the revolution in printing and thus permitting widespread distribution to the masses; the effects of the Protestant Reformation on individual responsibility; the discrediting of the theology of the divine right of kings; the role of the priesthood of all believers that foreshadow a very modern concept of the validity of individual religious expression; radical interpretations of equality and primitive communism, particularly the work of Gerrard Winstanley ; the Puritan ethic and many more subjects of interests to bring to life what the common people who hitherto had barely entered the stage of history were reading, watching, thinking and doing.
His central premise here is that it is hard to understand the political, social and economic developments that led to revolution and later the creation of a major capitalist state in England without reference to the literature of the times. To buttress his argument Hill writes a series of interesting essays ranging from the critical important of the enforcement or non enforcement of state censorship for literary freedom; the symbolic importance of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe; the various literary battles between pro-parliamentary and pro-royalist writers especially his muse John Milton; an nice appreciative of Samuel Pepys’ Diary and a long overdue debunking of that of John Evelyn as sources for an appreciation of the fads and fashions of the times ; and a look at a couple of ultra-royalist restoration writers, Samuel Butler and the Earl of Rochester. In all a very good exposition of his ideas on the relationship between literature and political action. Of course, for the interpretation of the English Revolution, it never hurts to have John Milton as your muse. As I have pointed out before in other reviews one should read Hill’s The World Turned Upside Down first then you are really ready for the exoteric here. Fair enough?
From The Pen Of The English Revolution Historian Professor Christopher Hill- A Short Note On “Liberty Against The Law”
Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for Professor Christopher Hill
BOOK REVIEW
LIBERTY AGAINST THE LAW, CHRISTOPHER HILL, PENQUIN, NEW YORK, 1998
The late pre-eminent historian of the underclasses (and of their more well-known “organizations,” the quakers, sheathed and un-sheathed, shakers, fakers, rakers, and partakers) of the English Revolution, Professor Christopher Hill, has taken the myriad literary and cultural ideas, serious and zany, in some case very zany although not without some parallels today, or rather perhaps better said, the 1960s New Left times, that surfaced during the period between 1620-1720, the heart of the conversion of England from an agricultural to an embryonic capitalist economy. Professor Hill have given us his take on some previously understudied and misunderstood notions, many that have not made the conventional history books. I note that he used as his endpoint John Gay’s “Beggar’s Opera,” a work later adapted for the stage by Bertolt Brecht, and that I have reviewed elsewhere in this space (see September 2007 archives). One of the points discussed in that review is whether the figure of one MacHealth, the central figure of the work, former imperial soldier and leader of a profitable criminal gang is an incipient capitalist or the relic of an earlier age. Professor Hill’s book would seem to provide ammunition for the proposition that Mac Health, like the legendary Robin Hood, was a representative figure of the ‘freedom’ from the imperatives of capitalist contract, routine and law and harked back to the values of the old pastoral society. Read the book and see what you conclude.
BOOK REVIEW
LIBERTY AGAINST THE LAW, CHRISTOPHER HILL, PENQUIN, NEW YORK, 1998
The late pre-eminent historian of the underclasses (and of their more well-known “organizations,” the quakers, sheathed and un-sheathed, shakers, fakers, rakers, and partakers) of the English Revolution, Professor Christopher Hill, has taken the myriad literary and cultural ideas, serious and zany, in some case very zany although not without some parallels today, or rather perhaps better said, the 1960s New Left times, that surfaced during the period between 1620-1720, the heart of the conversion of England from an agricultural to an embryonic capitalist economy. Professor Hill have given us his take on some previously understudied and misunderstood notions, many that have not made the conventional history books. I note that he used as his endpoint John Gay’s “Beggar’s Opera,” a work later adapted for the stage by Bertolt Brecht, and that I have reviewed elsewhere in this space (see September 2007 archives). One of the points discussed in that review is whether the figure of one MacHealth, the central figure of the work, former imperial soldier and leader of a profitable criminal gang is an incipient capitalist or the relic of an earlier age. Professor Hill’s book would seem to provide ammunition for the proposition that Mac Health, like the legendary Robin Hood, was a representative figure of the ‘freedom’ from the imperatives of capitalist contract, routine and law and harked back to the values of the old pastoral society. Read the book and see what you conclude.
Let’s Redouble Our Efforts To Save Private Bradley Manning-Make Every Town Square A Bradley Manning Square From Boston To Berkeley-Join Us In Davis Square, Somerville Every Friday-1:00-2:00 PM [Note: Beginning July 4th The Vigil Will Be Every Wednesday From 4:00-5:00 PM ]
Click on the headline to link to a the Private Bradley Manning Petition website page.
Markin comment:
The Private Bradley Manning case is headed toward a late fall/early winter trial. Those of us who support his cause should redouble our efforts to secure his freedom. For the past several months there has been a weekly vigil in Greater Boston across from the Davis Square Redline MBTA stop (renamed Bradley Manning Square for the vigil’s duration) in Somerville from 1:00-2:00 PM on Fridays. This vigil has, to say the least, been very sparsely attended. We need to build it up with more supporters present. Please join us when you can. Or better yet if you can’t join us start a Support Bradley Manning weekly vigil in some location in your town whether it is in the Boston area or Berkeley. And please sign the petition for his release. I have placed links to the Manning Network and Manning Square website below.
Bradley Manning Support Network
http://www.bradleymanning.org/
Manning Square website
http://freemanz.com/2012/01/20/somerville_paper_photo-bradmanningsquare/bradleymanningsquare-2011_01_13/
The following are remarks that I have been focusing on of late to build support for Bradley Manning’s cause.
Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning.
We of the anti-war movement were not able to do much to affect the Bush- Obama Iraq War timetable but we can save the one hero of that war, Bradley Manning.
I stand in solidarity with the alleged actions of Private Bradley Manning in bringing to light, just a little light, some of the nefarious war-related doings of this government, under Bush and Obama. If he did such acts they are no crime. No crime at all in my eyes or in the eyes of the vast majority of people who know of the case and of its importance as an individual act of resistance to the unjust and barbaric American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I sleep just a shade bit easier these days knowing that Private Manning may have exposed what we all knew, or should have known- the Iraq war and the Afghan war justifications rested on a house of cards. American imperialism’s gun-toting house of cards, but cards nevertheless.
I am standing in solidarity with Private Bradley Manning because I am outraged by the treatment meted out to Private Manning, presumably an innocent man, by a government who alleges itself to be some “beacon” of the civilized world. Bradley Manning had been held in solidarity at Quantico and other locales for over 500 days, and has been held without trial for much longer, as the government and its military try to glue a case together. The military, and its henchmen in the Justice Department, have gotten more devious although not smarter since I was a soldier in their crosshairs over forty years ago.
These are more than sufficient reasons to stand in solidarity with Private Manning and will be until the day he is freed by his jailers. And I will continue to stand in proud solidarity with Private Manning until that great day.
Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops And Mercenaries From Afghanistan! Hands Off Iran! Free Bradley Manning Now!
************
"God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms...
I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."
—online chat attributed to Army RFC Bradley Manning
Accused Wikileaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning,
a 23-year-old US Army intelligence analyst, is accused of sharing a video of the killing of civilians— including two Reuters journalists—by a US helicopter in Baghdad, Iraq with the Wikileaks website.
He is also charged with blowing the whistle on the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, and revealing US diplomatic cables. In short, he's been charged with telling us the truth.
The video and documents have illuminated the true number and cause of civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, human rights abuses by U.S.-funded contractors and foreign militaries, and the role that spying and brines play in international diplomacy.
Half of every edition of The New York Times has cited one or more of these documents during the past year. The leaks have caused Amnesty International to hail Wikileaks for catalyzing the democratic middle eastern revolutions and changing journalism forever.
What happens now is up to YOU!
Never before in U.S. history has someone been charged with "Aiding the enemy through indirect means" by making information public.
A massive; popular outpouring of support for Bradley Manning is needed to save his life.
We are at a turning point in our nation's history. Will we as a public demand greater transparency and accountability from pur elected leaders? Will we be governed by fear and secrecy? Will we accept endless war fought with our tax dollars? Or, will we demand the right to know the truth—the real foundation of democracy.
Here are some actions you should take now to support Bradley:
» Visitwww.standwithbrad.org to sign the petition. Then join our photo petition at iam.bradleymanning.org
» Join our facebook page, savebradley,
to receive campaign updates, and follow SaveBradley on twitter
» Visitwww.bradleymanning.org and
download our Organizer Toolkit to learn howyou can educate community members, gain media attention, and donate toward Bradley's defense.
The People Have the Right to Know...
Visit wvwv.braclleymaiiniiig.org to learn howyou can take action!
************
What did WikiLeaks reveal?
.
"In no case shall information be classified... in order to: conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency... or prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security."
—Executive Order 13526, Sec. 7.7. Classification Prohibitions and Limitations
"Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is this awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest."
—Robert Gates, Unites States Secretary of Defense
PFC Bradley Manning is a US Army intelligence specialist who is accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, an organization that he allegedly understood would release portions of the information to news organizations and ultimately to the public.
Was the information that PFC Manning is accused of leaking classified for our protection and national security, as government officials contend? Or do the revelations provide the American public with information that we should have had access to in the first place? Just
what are these revelations? Below are some key facts that PFC Manning is accused of making public.
There is an official policy to ignore torture in Iraq.
The "Iraq War Logs" published by WikiLeaks revealed that thousands of reports of prisoner abuse and torture had been filed against the Iraqi Security Forces. Medical evidence detailed how prisoners had been whipped with heavy cables across the feet, hung from ceiling hooks, suffered holes being bored into their legs with electric drills, urinated upon, and sexually assaulted. These logs also revealed the existence of "Frago 242,"an order implemented in 2004 not to investigate allegations of abuse against the. Iraqi government This order is a direct violation of the UN Convention Against Torture, which was ratified by the United States in 1994. The Convention prohibits the Armed Forces from transferring a detainee to other countries "where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture." According to the State Department's own reports, the U.S. government was already aware that the Iraqi Security Forces engaged in torture (1).
U.S. officials were told to cover up evidence of child abuse by contractors in Afghanistan.
U.S. defense contractors were brought under much tighter supervision after leaked diplomatic cables revealed that they had been complicit in child trafficking activities. DynCorp — a powerful defense contracting firm that claims almost $2 billion per year in revenue from U.S. tax dollars — threw a party for Afghan security recruits featuring boys purchased from child traffickers for entertainment. DynCorp had already faced human trafficking charges before this incident took place. According to the cables, Afghan Interior minister HanifAtmar urged the assistant US ambassadorto"quash"the story.These revelations have been a driving factor behind recent calls for the removal of all U.S. defense contractors from Afghanistan (2).
Guantanamo prison has held mostly innocent people and low-level operatives.
The Guantanamo Files describe how detainees were arrested based on what the New York Times referred to as highly subjective evidence. For example, some poor farmers were captured after they were found wearing a common watch or a jacket that was the same as those also worn by Al Queda operatives. How quickly innocent prisoners were released was heavily dependent on their country of origin. Because the evidence collected against Guantanamo prisoners is not permissible in U.S. courts, the U.S. State Department has offered millions of dollars to other countries to take and try our prisoners. According to a U.S. diplomatic cable written on April 17, 2009, the Association for the Dignity of Spanish Prisoners requested that the National Court indict six former U.S. officials for creating a legal framework that allegedly permitted torture against five Spanish prisoners. However,"Senator Mel Martinez... met Acting FM [Foreign Minister] AngelLossada... on April 15. Martinez... -underscored that the prosecutions would not be understood or accepted in the U.S. and would have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship"(3).
There is an official tally of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Even though the Bush and Obama Administrations maintained publicly that there was no official count of civilian casualties, the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs showed that this claim was false. Between 2004 and 2009, the U.S. government counted a total of 109,000 deaths in Iraq, with 66,081 classified as non-combatants. This means that for every Iraqi death that is classified as a combatant, two innocent men, women or children are also killed (4),
FOOTNOTES:
(1)Alex Spillius, "Wikileaks: Iraq War Logs show US ignored torture allega-
tions,"Telegraph, October 22,2010. http://www.telegrapti.co.uk/news/
woridnews/middleeast/iraq/8082223/WiMleab-lraq-War-Logs-show-US-
ignored-torture-allegations.html.
(2)foreign contractors hired Afghan 'dancing boys; WikiLeaks cable
reveals'guanJian.co.uk, December 2,2010, http://www.guardian.co.tik/
world/2010/dec/02/foreign-contractors-hired-dancing-boys
(3) Scott Shane and Benjamin Weiser.The Guatanamo Files: Judging Detainees'Risk, Often With Rawed Evidence'New York Times, April 24,2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/2S/world/guantanamo-files-flawed-evidence-for-assessing-risk.html;'US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantanamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general'guardian.co.uk, December 1,2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776.
(4) Iraq War Logs Reveal 15,000 Previously Unlisted Civilian Deaths,' guard-ian.co.uk, October 22,2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/won'd/2010/ oct/22/true-civilian-body-count-iraq
Markin comment:
The Private Bradley Manning case is headed toward a late fall/early winter trial. Those of us who support his cause should redouble our efforts to secure his freedom. For the past several months there has been a weekly vigil in Greater Boston across from the Davis Square Redline MBTA stop (renamed Bradley Manning Square for the vigil’s duration) in Somerville from 1:00-2:00 PM on Fridays. This vigil has, to say the least, been very sparsely attended. We need to build it up with more supporters present. Please join us when you can. Or better yet if you can’t join us start a Support Bradley Manning weekly vigil in some location in your town whether it is in the Boston area or Berkeley. And please sign the petition for his release. I have placed links to the Manning Network and Manning Square website below.
Bradley Manning Support Network
http://www.bradleymanning.org/
Manning Square website
http://freemanz.com/2012/01/20/somerville_paper_photo-bradmanningsquare/bradleymanningsquare-2011_01_13/
The following are remarks that I have been focusing on of late to build support for Bradley Manning’s cause.
Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning.
We of the anti-war movement were not able to do much to affect the Bush- Obama Iraq War timetable but we can save the one hero of that war, Bradley Manning.
I stand in solidarity with the alleged actions of Private Bradley Manning in bringing to light, just a little light, some of the nefarious war-related doings of this government, under Bush and Obama. If he did such acts they are no crime. No crime at all in my eyes or in the eyes of the vast majority of people who know of the case and of its importance as an individual act of resistance to the unjust and barbaric American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I sleep just a shade bit easier these days knowing that Private Manning may have exposed what we all knew, or should have known- the Iraq war and the Afghan war justifications rested on a house of cards. American imperialism’s gun-toting house of cards, but cards nevertheless.
I am standing in solidarity with Private Bradley Manning because I am outraged by the treatment meted out to Private Manning, presumably an innocent man, by a government who alleges itself to be some “beacon” of the civilized world. Bradley Manning had been held in solidarity at Quantico and other locales for over 500 days, and has been held without trial for much longer, as the government and its military try to glue a case together. The military, and its henchmen in the Justice Department, have gotten more devious although not smarter since I was a soldier in their crosshairs over forty years ago.
These are more than sufficient reasons to stand in solidarity with Private Manning and will be until the day he is freed by his jailers. And I will continue to stand in proud solidarity with Private Manning until that great day.
Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops And Mercenaries From Afghanistan! Hands Off Iran! Free Bradley Manning Now!
************
"God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms...
I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."
—online chat attributed to Army RFC Bradley Manning
Accused Wikileaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning,
a 23-year-old US Army intelligence analyst, is accused of sharing a video of the killing of civilians— including two Reuters journalists—by a US helicopter in Baghdad, Iraq with the Wikileaks website.
He is also charged with blowing the whistle on the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, and revealing US diplomatic cables. In short, he's been charged with telling us the truth.
The video and documents have illuminated the true number and cause of civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, human rights abuses by U.S.-funded contractors and foreign militaries, and the role that spying and brines play in international diplomacy.
Half of every edition of The New York Times has cited one or more of these documents during the past year. The leaks have caused Amnesty International to hail Wikileaks for catalyzing the democratic middle eastern revolutions and changing journalism forever.
What happens now is up to YOU!
Never before in U.S. history has someone been charged with "Aiding the enemy through indirect means" by making information public.
A massive; popular outpouring of support for Bradley Manning is needed to save his life.
We are at a turning point in our nation's history. Will we as a public demand greater transparency and accountability from pur elected leaders? Will we be governed by fear and secrecy? Will we accept endless war fought with our tax dollars? Or, will we demand the right to know the truth—the real foundation of democracy.
Here are some actions you should take now to support Bradley:
» Visitwww.standwithbrad.org to sign the petition. Then join our photo petition at iam.bradleymanning.org
» Join our facebook page, savebradley,
to receive campaign updates, and follow SaveBradley on twitter
» Visitwww.bradleymanning.org and
download our Organizer Toolkit to learn howyou can educate community members, gain media attention, and donate toward Bradley's defense.
The People Have the Right to Know...
Visit wvwv.braclleymaiiniiig.org to learn howyou can take action!
************
What did WikiLeaks reveal?
.
"In no case shall information be classified... in order to: conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency... or prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security."
—Executive Order 13526, Sec. 7.7. Classification Prohibitions and Limitations
"Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is this awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest."
—Robert Gates, Unites States Secretary of Defense
PFC Bradley Manning is a US Army intelligence specialist who is accused of releasing classified information to WikiLeaks, an organization that he allegedly understood would release portions of the information to news organizations and ultimately to the public.
Was the information that PFC Manning is accused of leaking classified for our protection and national security, as government officials contend? Or do the revelations provide the American public with information that we should have had access to in the first place? Just
what are these revelations? Below are some key facts that PFC Manning is accused of making public.
There is an official policy to ignore torture in Iraq.
The "Iraq War Logs" published by WikiLeaks revealed that thousands of reports of prisoner abuse and torture had been filed against the Iraqi Security Forces. Medical evidence detailed how prisoners had been whipped with heavy cables across the feet, hung from ceiling hooks, suffered holes being bored into their legs with electric drills, urinated upon, and sexually assaulted. These logs also revealed the existence of "Frago 242,"an order implemented in 2004 not to investigate allegations of abuse against the. Iraqi government This order is a direct violation of the UN Convention Against Torture, which was ratified by the United States in 1994. The Convention prohibits the Armed Forces from transferring a detainee to other countries "where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture." According to the State Department's own reports, the U.S. government was already aware that the Iraqi Security Forces engaged in torture (1).
U.S. officials were told to cover up evidence of child abuse by contractors in Afghanistan.
U.S. defense contractors were brought under much tighter supervision after leaked diplomatic cables revealed that they had been complicit in child trafficking activities. DynCorp — a powerful defense contracting firm that claims almost $2 billion per year in revenue from U.S. tax dollars — threw a party for Afghan security recruits featuring boys purchased from child traffickers for entertainment. DynCorp had already faced human trafficking charges before this incident took place. According to the cables, Afghan Interior minister HanifAtmar urged the assistant US ambassadorto"quash"the story.These revelations have been a driving factor behind recent calls for the removal of all U.S. defense contractors from Afghanistan (2).
Guantanamo prison has held mostly innocent people and low-level operatives.
The Guantanamo Files describe how detainees were arrested based on what the New York Times referred to as highly subjective evidence. For example, some poor farmers were captured after they were found wearing a common watch or a jacket that was the same as those also worn by Al Queda operatives. How quickly innocent prisoners were released was heavily dependent on their country of origin. Because the evidence collected against Guantanamo prisoners is not permissible in U.S. courts, the U.S. State Department has offered millions of dollars to other countries to take and try our prisoners. According to a U.S. diplomatic cable written on April 17, 2009, the Association for the Dignity of Spanish Prisoners requested that the National Court indict six former U.S. officials for creating a legal framework that allegedly permitted torture against five Spanish prisoners. However,"Senator Mel Martinez... met Acting FM [Foreign Minister] AngelLossada... on April 15. Martinez... -underscored that the prosecutions would not be understood or accepted in the U.S. and would have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship"(3).
There is an official tally of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Even though the Bush and Obama Administrations maintained publicly that there was no official count of civilian casualties, the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs showed that this claim was false. Between 2004 and 2009, the U.S. government counted a total of 109,000 deaths in Iraq, with 66,081 classified as non-combatants. This means that for every Iraqi death that is classified as a combatant, two innocent men, women or children are also killed (4),
FOOTNOTES:
(1)Alex Spillius, "Wikileaks: Iraq War Logs show US ignored torture allega-
tions,"Telegraph, October 22,2010. http://www.telegrapti.co.uk/news/
woridnews/middleeast/iraq/8082223/WiMleab-lraq-War-Logs-show-US-
ignored-torture-allegations.html.
(2)foreign contractors hired Afghan 'dancing boys; WikiLeaks cable
reveals'guanJian.co.uk, December 2,2010, http://www.guardian.co.tik/
world/2010/dec/02/foreign-contractors-hired-dancing-boys
(3) Scott Shane and Benjamin Weiser.The Guatanamo Files: Judging Detainees'Risk, Often With Rawed Evidence'New York Times, April 24,2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/2S/world/guantanamo-files-flawed-evidence-for-assessing-risk.html;'US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantanamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general'guardian.co.uk, December 1,2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776.
(4) Iraq War Logs Reveal 15,000 Previously Unlisted Civilian Deaths,' guard-ian.co.uk, October 22,2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/won'd/2010/ oct/22/true-civilian-body-count-iraq
From The "Guardian"-Hands Off Wikileak's Julian Assange- Free Bradley Manning
Click on the headline to link to a Guardianon-line article about Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange and his latest struggles.
Markin comment:
For the services that Julian Assange and Bradley Manning are alleged to have done for humankind in order to get at one simple truth- the emperor (or empress) has no clothes-they should be placed very high on the pantheon.
Hands off Julian Assange! Free Private Manning!
Markin comment:
For the services that Julian Assange and Bradley Manning are alleged to have done for humankind in order to get at one simple truth- the emperor (or empress) has no clothes-they should be placed very high on the pantheon.
Hands off Julian Assange! Free Private Manning!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
From The Archives Of The “American Left History” Blog-Morning in America, Morning Line, That Is
Markin comment:
One of the beautiful things about commentary on American bourgeois presidential electoral politics is that with a change of name here, maybe these days an added gender or two, maybe a longer list of contenders in one contest year than another, you can “cut and paste” from 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 ( I’m ready) and be right on point. The following piece from the archives is a case in point. But the real beauty, as stated in the entry, is that I don’t have to actually vote for any of them. That, as the commercial says, is priceless.
EXTRA, EXTRA-GET THE MORNING LINE ON THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Well, I have my sporting blood up this morning. Now that the ‘real’ political circus, blood on the floor and all, has heated up I have time to engage in a little speculation on the odds for the 2008 presidential election. Thus I can do a little ‘think’ piece here to while away the hours until January. One of the virtues of this exercise is that while I can win or lose money on various electoral propositions I do not have to actually vote for any of these people. There are, indeed, some very big benefits to being a workers party propagandist theses days.
There are now at least eight candidates on the Democratic side, only three of whom are taken seriously, and at least nine on the Republican side, again only three of whom are taken seriously, so that this early trying to handicap those races would be madness. What today’s morning line is about is which party- the Democratic or Republican- will win the presidency in 2008. Now even those like me who only hold their noses at bourgeois politics would be hard pressed to deny that the Democrats -after what will be eight years of George Bush- should be in the cat bird seat. As one Republican candidate is quoted as saying the Democrats have started to take measurements for new drapes in the White House. Let me make a few points, however, that should sober up even my liberal friends about the political realities today.
We all like to use the phrase about the unacknowledged elephant in the room to highlight some obvious problem that is better left unstated. In this case the Democrats have three-the continuing disproportionality caused by the anti-democratic Electoral College; the women and/or black question; and, the way the likely major issue of the 2008 campaign Iraq and national security may cut for the Democrats.
The rank inequity of the Electoral College system for deciding presidential elections may rank as about number 106 on a list of reasons that socialists would put together for why this bourgeois democratic system has to be replaced- but it is on the list. The aristocratically-derived Electoral College is probably the most blatantly anti-democratic aspect of the original frame of government. However, despite all the moaning and groaning in 2000 over the Bush thievery, no one to my knowledge has seriously put forth the idea of replacing it with a more democratic formula and a truer sense of proportionality in regard to the make-up of the Congress. In any case if one looks at the numbers that Republicans start with in the South and the interior West then, as has been the case in presidential politics for a while, this is already an uphill fight for the Democrats. Sure there may be some more blue in red states, etc. but the political reality is no matter how popular you are these are the real numbers. Just ask Al Gore.
Let us face it unless Al Gore makes some kind of last minute decision to entry the Democratic race this one is really about Hillary and Obama. That means the most likely Democratic candidate will either be a white woman or a black man. This is new at the presidential level. But let us face some very hard realities. In a time of perceived national security needs will a woman do? And while it is possible that hard core Democrats will find no problem with a woman as their lead candidate does that hold true for the electorate as a whole? Throw in the Hillary-haters and Clinton fatigue factors and there is a very big question about whether a woman can be elected in 2008. And whether that particular woman can get elected.
On the Obama factor let us not kid ourselves- this is a deeply racist country that is probably more segregated today that 40 or 50 years ago in the things that matter like schools and housing. Even having a white mother does not good here. Moreover, as far as politics go the questions of special black oppression like education, housing, jobs etc. that desperately need to be addressed have fallen off the political map. Watch for some very ugly general election campaigning by the Republicans if either Hillary or Obama is nominated.
You and I, dear reader, have had our fill of Iraq. We want the troops out now. However, the opinion polls that show this same desire to get out do not reflect a favored direction on the various strategies put forth for getting out. The Republicans will be hurt by the Iraq fiasco but unless Dick Cheney or Jeb Bush jumps in none of the contenders is personally responsible for the damn war. They can distance themselves adequately if they have a plan for withdrawal or some such thing. Richard Nixon was able to do so in 1968 and again in 1972 without actually having any plan at all for withdrawal from Vietnam-and won. So anything is possible. Moreover, the Democrats have been so wishy- washy of late in their responses to Bush’s strategy that people in general may not give them a break. So Iraq may not cut so favorably for the Democrats as they might think, especially in the heartland where many of the troops come from. Add the ringer of the economy upstaging the war as the central issue and all hell could break loose.
There you have it, dear reader. Today, despite what looked like a sure thing six months ago I would place the odds on a Democratic presidency at 7/5 in their favor. Any takers?
P.S. Same odd in 2012 –Markin –Get the dough up.
One of the beautiful things about commentary on American bourgeois presidential electoral politics is that with a change of name here, maybe these days an added gender or two, maybe a longer list of contenders in one contest year than another, you can “cut and paste” from 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 ( I’m ready) and be right on point. The following piece from the archives is a case in point. But the real beauty, as stated in the entry, is that I don’t have to actually vote for any of them. That, as the commercial says, is priceless.
EXTRA, EXTRA-GET THE MORNING LINE ON THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Well, I have my sporting blood up this morning. Now that the ‘real’ political circus, blood on the floor and all, has heated up I have time to engage in a little speculation on the odds for the 2008 presidential election. Thus I can do a little ‘think’ piece here to while away the hours until January. One of the virtues of this exercise is that while I can win or lose money on various electoral propositions I do not have to actually vote for any of these people. There are, indeed, some very big benefits to being a workers party propagandist theses days.
There are now at least eight candidates on the Democratic side, only three of whom are taken seriously, and at least nine on the Republican side, again only three of whom are taken seriously, so that this early trying to handicap those races would be madness. What today’s morning line is about is which party- the Democratic or Republican- will win the presidency in 2008. Now even those like me who only hold their noses at bourgeois politics would be hard pressed to deny that the Democrats -after what will be eight years of George Bush- should be in the cat bird seat. As one Republican candidate is quoted as saying the Democrats have started to take measurements for new drapes in the White House. Let me make a few points, however, that should sober up even my liberal friends about the political realities today.
We all like to use the phrase about the unacknowledged elephant in the room to highlight some obvious problem that is better left unstated. In this case the Democrats have three-the continuing disproportionality caused by the anti-democratic Electoral College; the women and/or black question; and, the way the likely major issue of the 2008 campaign Iraq and national security may cut for the Democrats.
The rank inequity of the Electoral College system for deciding presidential elections may rank as about number 106 on a list of reasons that socialists would put together for why this bourgeois democratic system has to be replaced- but it is on the list. The aristocratically-derived Electoral College is probably the most blatantly anti-democratic aspect of the original frame of government. However, despite all the moaning and groaning in 2000 over the Bush thievery, no one to my knowledge has seriously put forth the idea of replacing it with a more democratic formula and a truer sense of proportionality in regard to the make-up of the Congress. In any case if one looks at the numbers that Republicans start with in the South and the interior West then, as has been the case in presidential politics for a while, this is already an uphill fight for the Democrats. Sure there may be some more blue in red states, etc. but the political reality is no matter how popular you are these are the real numbers. Just ask Al Gore.
Let us face it unless Al Gore makes some kind of last minute decision to entry the Democratic race this one is really about Hillary and Obama. That means the most likely Democratic candidate will either be a white woman or a black man. This is new at the presidential level. But let us face some very hard realities. In a time of perceived national security needs will a woman do? And while it is possible that hard core Democrats will find no problem with a woman as their lead candidate does that hold true for the electorate as a whole? Throw in the Hillary-haters and Clinton fatigue factors and there is a very big question about whether a woman can be elected in 2008. And whether that particular woman can get elected.
On the Obama factor let us not kid ourselves- this is a deeply racist country that is probably more segregated today that 40 or 50 years ago in the things that matter like schools and housing. Even having a white mother does not good here. Moreover, as far as politics go the questions of special black oppression like education, housing, jobs etc. that desperately need to be addressed have fallen off the political map. Watch for some very ugly general election campaigning by the Republicans if either Hillary or Obama is nominated.
You and I, dear reader, have had our fill of Iraq. We want the troops out now. However, the opinion polls that show this same desire to get out do not reflect a favored direction on the various strategies put forth for getting out. The Republicans will be hurt by the Iraq fiasco but unless Dick Cheney or Jeb Bush jumps in none of the contenders is personally responsible for the damn war. They can distance themselves adequately if they have a plan for withdrawal or some such thing. Richard Nixon was able to do so in 1968 and again in 1972 without actually having any plan at all for withdrawal from Vietnam-and won. So anything is possible. Moreover, the Democrats have been so wishy- washy of late in their responses to Bush’s strategy that people in general may not give them a break. So Iraq may not cut so favorably for the Democrats as they might think, especially in the heartland where many of the troops come from. Add the ringer of the economy upstaging the war as the central issue and all hell could break loose.
There you have it, dear reader. Today, despite what looked like a sure thing six months ago I would place the odds on a Democratic presidency at 7/5 in their favor. Any takers?
P.S. Same odd in 2012 –Markin –Get the dough up.
Out In The Be-Bop 1960s Night- Songs To Sit At The Soda Fountain By- A CD Review
Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of The Angels performing Cry Baby Cry.
Every “teenage nation” generation since they started to place teenage-hood as a distinct phase of life between childhood and young adulthood over a century ago has developed its own tribal rituals and institutions. Today’s teens seem to have cornered food courts at the mall, video arcades, and the ubiquitous Internet screen text mad connections through various look-at techno-gadgets although, frankly, I am not fully current on all their mores, customs and tribal language. No way. Old geezers form a line to the rear, way in the rear.
What I am familiar with, very familiar with, is the teen institutions of my generation, the generation of ’68, that came of teen age in the early 1960s. Our places of rendezvous were the corners in front of mom and pop variety stores in the days before franchise 7/11 came to dominate the quick stop one item shopping market; the ever present pizza parlor with its jump jukebox where we deposited more than a few nickels, dimes and quarters; for some of the dweebs (or if you wanted to get away with a “cheap” date, but only as a last resort ) the bowling alley; the open air drive-in restaurants complete with car hops for more “expensive” dates; and, for serious business, meaning serious girl and boy watching, the soda fountain. And not, in my case, just any soda fountain but the soda fountain at the local individually- owned drug store , Doc’s (no CVS, Osco madness with quick pitch in and out), that used the fountain to draw people (read, kids: what would we need prescription drugs for, those are for old people, we were invincible) into the store.
That last scene is what will drive this sketch, and for a simple reason. My mind just now has an illustration before it of just such a classic soda fountain, complete with whimsical teen-age frills (read girls, if you are not from my old working class neighborhood) all sipping their straws out of one, can you believe it, one paper cup while a faux beat -type looks on. Ah, be still my heart.
Needless to say this scene, complete with its own jukebox setup (although not every drug store had them, ours didn’t), the booths with the red vinyl-covered seats and Formica top tables (with paper place settings, condiments, etc., right), the soda fountain granite (maybe faux granite) counter, complete with swivel around stools that gave the odd boy or two (read: me and my boys) a better vantage point to watch the traffic come in the store (read: girls). Said counter also complete with glassed-encased pie (or donut) cases; the various utensils for making frappes (that a New England thing, look it up on “Wikipedia”), milkshakes, and cherry-flavored Cokes; a small grille for hamburgers, hot dogs and fries (or the odd boy grilled cheese sandwich with bacon); and, well a soda jerk (usually a guy) to whip up the orders. Oh, did I say girl and boy watching? Ya, I did. Still, what do you think we were all there for? The ice cream and soda? Come on. Does it really take an hour or an hour and a half to drink a Pepsi even in slo-mo 1960s (or now) teen-land?
Enough said about the décor because the mere mention of the term “soda jerk” brings to mind a Frankie, Frankie from the old neighborhood story, Frankie of a thousand stories and Frankie who was the king hill skirt-chaser (read: girl), and my best friend in middle school (a.k.a. junior high) and high school. Ya, that Frankie, or rather this time Frankie’s sister. Now when we were juniors in high school we mainly held court at the local pizza parlor which in the pecking order was way above the soda fountain. That was for kids, unless, of course, things were tough at the pizza joint (meaning girl-free) and we meandered up the street to Doc’s drug store soda fountain to check out the action there.
Of course, before we graduated to the “bigs” the old soda fountain was just fine. And it did no harm, no harm at all, to strike up friendships , or at least stay on the good side of the soda jerks so you could get an extra scoop of ice cream or a free refill on your Coke. Whatever. See, the soda jerk was usually the guy (and like I said before it was always guys, girls would probably be too distracted by every high energy teen guy, including dweeb-types, trying to be “cool”). But the thing is that the soda jerk also had some cache with the girls, I guess it must have been the uniform. Wow! Personally I wouldn’t have been caught dead wit that flap- cap they wore.
So one night we were dried up (read: no girls) at the pizza parlor and decided, as usual, to meander up the street to Doc’s. We had heard earlier in the day that Doc had a new jerk on and we wanted to check him out anyway. As we entered who do we see but Frankie’s sister, Lorrie, Frankie’s fourteen year old sister, talking up a storm all dewy-eyed over this new jerk, who must have been about eighteen. And this “cradle-robber” had his arm around, or kind of around, Lorrie. Old Frankie saw red, no double red, if not more.
See, Frankie was a guy who had more girls lined up that he could ever meet and be able to keep himself in one piece, although he has only one serious frail (read: girl again okay) that kept his interest over time (Joanne that I told you about before). So Frankie was no stranger to the old male double standard of the age, especially in regard to his sister. Not that he was really protective of her as much as he was insulted (so he told me later) by some new “jerk” trying to make moves to become king of the hill by “courting” Frankie’s sister.
And Frankie, old wiry, slender, quick-fisted Frankie was tough. Tougher than he looked. So naturally new boy “jerk” takes umbrage (nice word, right?) when Frankie starts to move “sis” away with him. Well the long and short of it was that Frankie and “jerk” started to beef a little but it is all over quickly and here is why. Frankie took an ice cream cone, a triple scoop, triple-flavored ice cream cone no less, that was sitting in a cup in front of a young girl customer ( a cute girl who I wound up checking out seriously later) and bopped, no be-bopped, no be-bop bopped one soda jerk, new or not, with it. Now if you have ever seen an eighteen year old guy, in uniform, with hat on, I don’t care if it is only a soda jerk’s uniform wearing about three kinds of ice cream on that uniform you know, you have to know that this guy’s persona non grata with the girls and “cool” guys in town forevermore.
Or so you would think. Frankie went out of town for a few days to do something on family business after this incident and one night near the edge of town as I was walking with that young girl customer whose ice cream Frankie scooped (I bought her another one, thank god I had a little cash on me, and that is why I was walking with her just then, thank you) when I saw one Lorrie sitting, sitting like the Queen of Sheba, in Mr. Soda Jerk’s 1959 boss cherry red Chevy listening to Cry Baby Cry by The Angels as “mood” music on the background car radio that I could faintly hear. Just don’t tell Frankie, okay.
Every “teenage nation” generation since they started to place teenage-hood as a distinct phase of life between childhood and young adulthood over a century ago has developed its own tribal rituals and institutions. Today’s teens seem to have cornered food courts at the mall, video arcades, and the ubiquitous Internet screen text mad connections through various look-at techno-gadgets although, frankly, I am not fully current on all their mores, customs and tribal language. No way. Old geezers form a line to the rear, way in the rear.
What I am familiar with, very familiar with, is the teen institutions of my generation, the generation of ’68, that came of teen age in the early 1960s. Our places of rendezvous were the corners in front of mom and pop variety stores in the days before franchise 7/11 came to dominate the quick stop one item shopping market; the ever present pizza parlor with its jump jukebox where we deposited more than a few nickels, dimes and quarters; for some of the dweebs (or if you wanted to get away with a “cheap” date, but only as a last resort ) the bowling alley; the open air drive-in restaurants complete with car hops for more “expensive” dates; and, for serious business, meaning serious girl and boy watching, the soda fountain. And not, in my case, just any soda fountain but the soda fountain at the local individually- owned drug store , Doc’s (no CVS, Osco madness with quick pitch in and out), that used the fountain to draw people (read, kids: what would we need prescription drugs for, those are for old people, we were invincible) into the store.
That last scene is what will drive this sketch, and for a simple reason. My mind just now has an illustration before it of just such a classic soda fountain, complete with whimsical teen-age frills (read girls, if you are not from my old working class neighborhood) all sipping their straws out of one, can you believe it, one paper cup while a faux beat -type looks on. Ah, be still my heart.
Needless to say this scene, complete with its own jukebox setup (although not every drug store had them, ours didn’t), the booths with the red vinyl-covered seats and Formica top tables (with paper place settings, condiments, etc., right), the soda fountain granite (maybe faux granite) counter, complete with swivel around stools that gave the odd boy or two (read: me and my boys) a better vantage point to watch the traffic come in the store (read: girls). Said counter also complete with glassed-encased pie (or donut) cases; the various utensils for making frappes (that a New England thing, look it up on “Wikipedia”), milkshakes, and cherry-flavored Cokes; a small grille for hamburgers, hot dogs and fries (or the odd boy grilled cheese sandwich with bacon); and, well a soda jerk (usually a guy) to whip up the orders. Oh, did I say girl and boy watching? Ya, I did. Still, what do you think we were all there for? The ice cream and soda? Come on. Does it really take an hour or an hour and a half to drink a Pepsi even in slo-mo 1960s (or now) teen-land?
Enough said about the décor because the mere mention of the term “soda jerk” brings to mind a Frankie, Frankie from the old neighborhood story, Frankie of a thousand stories and Frankie who was the king hill skirt-chaser (read: girl), and my best friend in middle school (a.k.a. junior high) and high school. Ya, that Frankie, or rather this time Frankie’s sister. Now when we were juniors in high school we mainly held court at the local pizza parlor which in the pecking order was way above the soda fountain. That was for kids, unless, of course, things were tough at the pizza joint (meaning girl-free) and we meandered up the street to Doc’s drug store soda fountain to check out the action there.
Of course, before we graduated to the “bigs” the old soda fountain was just fine. And it did no harm, no harm at all, to strike up friendships , or at least stay on the good side of the soda jerks so you could get an extra scoop of ice cream or a free refill on your Coke. Whatever. See, the soda jerk was usually the guy (and like I said before it was always guys, girls would probably be too distracted by every high energy teen guy, including dweeb-types, trying to be “cool”). But the thing is that the soda jerk also had some cache with the girls, I guess it must have been the uniform. Wow! Personally I wouldn’t have been caught dead wit that flap- cap they wore.
So one night we were dried up (read: no girls) at the pizza parlor and decided, as usual, to meander up the street to Doc’s. We had heard earlier in the day that Doc had a new jerk on and we wanted to check him out anyway. As we entered who do we see but Frankie’s sister, Lorrie, Frankie’s fourteen year old sister, talking up a storm all dewy-eyed over this new jerk, who must have been about eighteen. And this “cradle-robber” had his arm around, or kind of around, Lorrie. Old Frankie saw red, no double red, if not more.
See, Frankie was a guy who had more girls lined up that he could ever meet and be able to keep himself in one piece, although he has only one serious frail (read: girl again okay) that kept his interest over time (Joanne that I told you about before). So Frankie was no stranger to the old male double standard of the age, especially in regard to his sister. Not that he was really protective of her as much as he was insulted (so he told me later) by some new “jerk” trying to make moves to become king of the hill by “courting” Frankie’s sister.
And Frankie, old wiry, slender, quick-fisted Frankie was tough. Tougher than he looked. So naturally new boy “jerk” takes umbrage (nice word, right?) when Frankie starts to move “sis” away with him. Well the long and short of it was that Frankie and “jerk” started to beef a little but it is all over quickly and here is why. Frankie took an ice cream cone, a triple scoop, triple-flavored ice cream cone no less, that was sitting in a cup in front of a young girl customer ( a cute girl who I wound up checking out seriously later) and bopped, no be-bopped, no be-bop bopped one soda jerk, new or not, with it. Now if you have ever seen an eighteen year old guy, in uniform, with hat on, I don’t care if it is only a soda jerk’s uniform wearing about three kinds of ice cream on that uniform you know, you have to know that this guy’s persona non grata with the girls and “cool” guys in town forevermore.
Or so you would think. Frankie went out of town for a few days to do something on family business after this incident and one night near the edge of town as I was walking with that young girl customer whose ice cream Frankie scooped (I bought her another one, thank god I had a little cash on me, and that is why I was walking with her just then, thank you) when I saw one Lorrie sitting, sitting like the Queen of Sheba, in Mr. Soda Jerk’s 1959 boss cherry red Chevy listening to Cry Baby Cry by The Angels as “mood” music on the background car radio that I could faintly hear. Just don’t tell Frankie, okay.
From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- Singing The Cole Porter Blues-“The Very Thought Of You”
Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of the late legendary singer Etta James performing this Cole Porter classic, The Very Thought Of You.
Torch Songs, various artists, 2 CD set, Capitol Records, 2004
Some days are just Cole Porter days. No not a “Love for Sale” day kind of saucy and salacious, portending of adventures or dreams of adventures, like he could do with a two-termed turn of phrase, No today, well actually since today’s brood has turned in night, tonight is a low-down blues day. So, like I have done on more occasions than I care to confess to, I headed off to Jack’s Jazz Joint over in the Camelot House across the street from Hoby’s in Harvard Square. (Harvard Square for the three people in the world who are geographically-disadvantaged is in blues-etched Cambridge which is in Massachusetts. None of that information enters into the story, not at all, but with the blues you could be in Timbuktu for all the locale mattered). Jack’s, my favorite shucking the blues watering spot. Ya, good old Jack’s.
Okay, you have probably figured it out by now anyway. All day (and night) blues, a tumble down smoky jazz- joint filled with more torch singer blues memories than one could shake a stick at, and some booze can only mean one thing- a dame (oops, Cambridge, woman). It also takes no rocket science either to figure out it was my very own Joyell, companion of a thousand love battles, big and small, and of nine hundred and ninety-nine armed truces that has me blue, blue all over… And that is the problem- the watering hole to be solved problem. This latest battle is without a current truce and it has been a week now.
Naturally, for the first day or so, it was all good-bye and good riddance but the past six days well, they have been hard. And that is also where the problem lies. Neither of us has had a good track record on giving in, letting bygones be by gone, and move on. In short everything takes on the character of a civil war and just now I am like the Confederates in early 1865- on my last legs.
And the dispute, the substance of the dispute? Who knows? Do you love me more than the whole wide world? Why don’t you get a better job? Why were you practically drooling over Lorraine at that party last night? Why didn’t you put the laundry away? Jesus, who knows at this point, although a week probably has eliminated the laundry battle as the reason for the fight.
Ah, there’s Jack’s. I wonder who is on the floor tonight. The sign said Rita Radley, a torch singer. Don’t know the name but Jacks’ is a showcase for lots of up and coming talent. Hope she can sing these blues away. As I took my seat (my usual seat when these love battles run their course) at the bar in front of Tommy’s station and ordered my first whiskey neat (I stopped throwing in a beer chaser when I started making enough dough to drink good whiskey, good enough not to be need a chaser and get a better buzz too.) I notice that Rita (recognized from the photo out front) was getting ready to hold forth.
Now this Rita was nothing but a frail (oops, again Cambridge, gal), a thin gal but with a shape, wearing an evening gown that had guys, including me, thinking about this and that and that line to work on her, and with that tussle of Irish red hair that I knew from primordial times meant Irish (and eight million tussles, novena beads and catechism tussles, for some slight lip kiss and slapped cop feel, jesus never again). I’ve had enough Irish redheads to last a lifetime (Joyell is brunette, my hair color of choice the past few times out, except that slight pass at blonde Lorraine of some battle past). But I also know, eight hundred years of English tyranny know, Easter 1916 know, struggle in the north now know, that some of these , ah, gals can sing the blues with the best of the black singers of the past like blessed Billie (Holiday), like blessed Dinah (Washington), like blessed Nina (Simone).
And as Rita gives her intro and starts up on her first song I know that eight hundred years, that 1916, that struggle in the north now sorrow drives her voice, drives her voice to that place where those aforementioned black singers live. That life’s sorrow place. For that one moment I am at peace, at peace with myself. And the next minute, after she is done, I call out to the bar-tender, “Tommy, one more here and one for the torch.” She gives me a smile, a professional kudos smile, and moves on to her next song. That next song, “The Very Thought Of You," really brings down the house, shades of Billie, shades of Etta James. But also shades of Joyell when she tears into “the mere idea of you” line of the song. And so, respectfully waiting until she finished her number, I head to the telephone out in the lobby. Thanks, Rita.
Torch Songs, various artists, 2 CD set, Capitol Records, 2004
Some days are just Cole Porter days. No not a “Love for Sale” day kind of saucy and salacious, portending of adventures or dreams of adventures, like he could do with a two-termed turn of phrase, No today, well actually since today’s brood has turned in night, tonight is a low-down blues day. So, like I have done on more occasions than I care to confess to, I headed off to Jack’s Jazz Joint over in the Camelot House across the street from Hoby’s in Harvard Square. (Harvard Square for the three people in the world who are geographically-disadvantaged is in blues-etched Cambridge which is in Massachusetts. None of that information enters into the story, not at all, but with the blues you could be in Timbuktu for all the locale mattered). Jack’s, my favorite shucking the blues watering spot. Ya, good old Jack’s.
Okay, you have probably figured it out by now anyway. All day (and night) blues, a tumble down smoky jazz- joint filled with more torch singer blues memories than one could shake a stick at, and some booze can only mean one thing- a dame (oops, Cambridge, woman). It also takes no rocket science either to figure out it was my very own Joyell, companion of a thousand love battles, big and small, and of nine hundred and ninety-nine armed truces that has me blue, blue all over… And that is the problem- the watering hole to be solved problem. This latest battle is without a current truce and it has been a week now.
Naturally, for the first day or so, it was all good-bye and good riddance but the past six days well, they have been hard. And that is also where the problem lies. Neither of us has had a good track record on giving in, letting bygones be by gone, and move on. In short everything takes on the character of a civil war and just now I am like the Confederates in early 1865- on my last legs.
And the dispute, the substance of the dispute? Who knows? Do you love me more than the whole wide world? Why don’t you get a better job? Why were you practically drooling over Lorraine at that party last night? Why didn’t you put the laundry away? Jesus, who knows at this point, although a week probably has eliminated the laundry battle as the reason for the fight.
Ah, there’s Jack’s. I wonder who is on the floor tonight. The sign said Rita Radley, a torch singer. Don’t know the name but Jacks’ is a showcase for lots of up and coming talent. Hope she can sing these blues away. As I took my seat (my usual seat when these love battles run their course) at the bar in front of Tommy’s station and ordered my first whiskey neat (I stopped throwing in a beer chaser when I started making enough dough to drink good whiskey, good enough not to be need a chaser and get a better buzz too.) I notice that Rita (recognized from the photo out front) was getting ready to hold forth.
Now this Rita was nothing but a frail (oops, again Cambridge, gal), a thin gal but with a shape, wearing an evening gown that had guys, including me, thinking about this and that and that line to work on her, and with that tussle of Irish red hair that I knew from primordial times meant Irish (and eight million tussles, novena beads and catechism tussles, for some slight lip kiss and slapped cop feel, jesus never again). I’ve had enough Irish redheads to last a lifetime (Joyell is brunette, my hair color of choice the past few times out, except that slight pass at blonde Lorraine of some battle past). But I also know, eight hundred years of English tyranny know, Easter 1916 know, struggle in the north now know, that some of these , ah, gals can sing the blues with the best of the black singers of the past like blessed Billie (Holiday), like blessed Dinah (Washington), like blessed Nina (Simone).
And as Rita gives her intro and starts up on her first song I know that eight hundred years, that 1916, that struggle in the north now sorrow drives her voice, drives her voice to that place where those aforementioned black singers live. That life’s sorrow place. For that one moment I am at peace, at peace with myself. And the next minute, after she is done, I call out to the bar-tender, “Tommy, one more here and one for the torch.” She gives me a smile, a professional kudos smile, and moves on to her next song. That next song, “The Very Thought Of You," really brings down the house, shades of Billie, shades of Etta James. But also shades of Joyell when she tears into “the mere idea of you” line of the song. And so, respectfully waiting until she finished her number, I head to the telephone out in the lobby. Thanks, Rita.
Stop The Boston MBTA Fare Hikes-They Say "Fare Hike" We Say FARE STRIKE! -JULY 1ST, 2012
FARE STRIKE!
The object of a fare strike is to convince the MBTA that they are going to lose more money because of the fare strike than they are going to gain by raising the fare or cutting service. This is entirely possible if enough people participate.
The only way the MBTA will respond to our needs is if we can put real pressure on them—if we can disrupt business as usual. We have the power to do this. One third of MBTA's budget comes from fares. They depend on us as riders to pay fares, and as workers to collect fares. When riders refuse to pay, and workers refuse to; collect, that will really hit them where it hurts.
We can get where we need to go, have a free ride, and 'put pressure on them at the same time. If this happened on a large scale, they would move quickly to reverse the fare hikes.
Get on the bus anyway you can. Go in the front door or the back door, whatever feels right to you. Don't cause a scene. Just don't pay. Or, start a conversation with the driver and your fellow riders, and together decide to participate in the strike.
Whatever you do, be polite to the driver. They are not the enemy. They have a very difficult and stressful job. Fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs make their job more difficult. Many, if not most, of the drivers are sympathetic to our efforts.
TOGETHER, RIDERS AND DRIVERS UNITED, WE CAN WIN!
How do we build a fare strike? Get in touch!
BOSTON FARE STRIKE
What is Boston Fare Strike? We're a coalition of Boston-area organizations and individuals that came together this Spring to meet the July 1st fare hikes with a fare strike. We see this action as a first step in a long-term struggle to not only defend our public transit, but to improve and expand it to better serve the people of Boston and the surrounding environment.
Join the struggle!
Email: BostonFareStrike@rilhip.net
Website: bostonfarestrike.tumblr.com
Find us on Facebook
Read more about the MBTA hikes here: http://
mbta.com/about the mbta/?id=23567
No Fare Hikes!
No Service
No Layoffs!
They Say "Fare Hike" We Say FARE STRIKE! -JULY 1ST, 2012-
*****************
FARE HIKE?
On July 1st, the MBTA will raise fares 23%. That means your bus trip will go from $1.25 to $1.50, your subway fare from $1.70 to $2.00, and Bus-Subway combo monthly passes from $59 to $70. This increase is not to fund better service, cleaner facilities, more seating, or even more jobs. It's to knock $33 million off of the MBTA's $185 million debt.
MBTA's debt is from years of mismanagement, bad decisions by the politicians, and a recession caused by big banks. But the MBTA is asking us who have the least to spare-working people, students, immigrants, unemployed, and other members of the working class—to reach deeper into our pockets.
This is just the beginning. While "The T's yearly operating budget is millions of dollars in the red," according to NECN's Eileen Curran, "the long-term debt is in the billions." That means that
July's hikes are only a glimpse of what we can expect down the road. MBTA employees, who escaped this round of cuts mostly unscathed, will likely face major layoffs and benefits cuts next year in addition to future fare hikes. Public transportation should be defended and *expanded* to create jobs, help working people, and benefit the environment. How can the people of Boston stop these cuts and defend our transit system and our jobs in the long term? We must build power and strength together. Riders and workers must band together to launch a fare strike on July 1st!
Dublin in 2003 the bus drivers union called a fare tree as part of an ongoing fight against privatization on the city's bus system.
In 1998, a fare strike in LA organized by the LA Bus Riders Unions not only stopped a fare strike, but pressured LA into buying more buses to reduce crowding.
In some French cities, organized rare evasion became so common, it was more expensive to pay the police to watch all the metros and buses than to just make transport free which is what then happened in a number of cities*
In Italy, fare strike widespread and sucessfully stopped fare increases all over the country.
1993: in San Francisco a fare evasion campaign pressured the city to bring
back transfers which they did.
This Spring, Occupy Wall Street and TWU in New York chained exit doors open during rush hour, giving thousands of commuters a free ride.
In Greece, transportation hikes were stopped through a massive non-payment of fares while uniting with demands of transit workers.
There are successful, ongoing fare evasion campaigns in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Helsinki
The object of a fare strike is to convince the MBTA that they are going to lose more money because of the fare strike than they are going to gain by raising the fare or cutting service. This is entirely possible if enough people participate.
The only way the MBTA will respond to our needs is if we can put real pressure on them—if we can disrupt business as usual. We have the power to do this. One third of MBTA's budget comes from fares. They depend on us as riders to pay fares, and as workers to collect fares. When riders refuse to pay, and workers refuse to; collect, that will really hit them where it hurts.
We can get where we need to go, have a free ride, and 'put pressure on them at the same time. If this happened on a large scale, they would move quickly to reverse the fare hikes.
Get on the bus anyway you can. Go in the front door or the back door, whatever feels right to you. Don't cause a scene. Just don't pay. Or, start a conversation with the driver and your fellow riders, and together decide to participate in the strike.
Whatever you do, be polite to the driver. They are not the enemy. They have a very difficult and stressful job. Fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs make their job more difficult. Many, if not most, of the drivers are sympathetic to our efforts.
TOGETHER, RIDERS AND DRIVERS UNITED, WE CAN WIN!
How do we build a fare strike? Get in touch!
BOSTON FARE STRIKE
What is Boston Fare Strike? We're a coalition of Boston-area organizations and individuals that came together this Spring to meet the July 1st fare hikes with a fare strike. We see this action as a first step in a long-term struggle to not only defend our public transit, but to improve and expand it to better serve the people of Boston and the surrounding environment.
Join the struggle!
Email: BostonFareStrike@rilhip.net
Website: bostonfarestrike.tumblr.com
Find us on Facebook
Read more about the MBTA hikes here: http://
mbta.com/about the mbta/?id=23567
No Fare Hikes!
No Service
No Layoffs!
They Say "Fare Hike" We Say FARE STRIKE! -JULY 1ST, 2012-
*****************
FARE HIKE?
On July 1st, the MBTA will raise fares 23%. That means your bus trip will go from $1.25 to $1.50, your subway fare from $1.70 to $2.00, and Bus-Subway combo monthly passes from $59 to $70. This increase is not to fund better service, cleaner facilities, more seating, or even more jobs. It's to knock $33 million off of the MBTA's $185 million debt.
MBTA's debt is from years of mismanagement, bad decisions by the politicians, and a recession caused by big banks. But the MBTA is asking us who have the least to spare-working people, students, immigrants, unemployed, and other members of the working class—to reach deeper into our pockets.
This is just the beginning. While "The T's yearly operating budget is millions of dollars in the red," according to NECN's Eileen Curran, "the long-term debt is in the billions." That means that
July's hikes are only a glimpse of what we can expect down the road. MBTA employees, who escaped this round of cuts mostly unscathed, will likely face major layoffs and benefits cuts next year in addition to future fare hikes. Public transportation should be defended and *expanded* to create jobs, help working people, and benefit the environment. How can the people of Boston stop these cuts and defend our transit system and our jobs in the long term? We must build power and strength together. Riders and workers must band together to launch a fare strike on July 1st!
Dublin in 2003 the bus drivers union called a fare tree as part of an ongoing fight against privatization on the city's bus system.
In 1998, a fare strike in LA organized by the LA Bus Riders Unions not only stopped a fare strike, but pressured LA into buying more buses to reduce crowding.
In some French cities, organized rare evasion became so common, it was more expensive to pay the police to watch all the metros and buses than to just make transport free which is what then happened in a number of cities*
In Italy, fare strike widespread and sucessfully stopped fare increases all over the country.
1993: in San Francisco a fare evasion campaign pressured the city to bring
back transfers which they did.
This Spring, Occupy Wall Street and TWU in New York chained exit doors open during rush hour, giving thousands of commuters a free ride.
In Greece, transportation hikes were stopped through a massive non-payment of fares while uniting with demands of transit workers.
There are successful, ongoing fare evasion campaigns in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Helsinki
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By-From The Janitors For Justice Struggle
In this series, presented under the headline “Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By”, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.
**********
Gritos/Chant Sheet
Grito/Chant #1
Capitol escucha Estamos en la lucha
Grito/Chant #2
De norte a sur De este a oeste Ganaremos esta lucha Cueste lo que cueste
Grito/Chant #3
El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido
Grito/Chant #4
Esta lucha no se para
Ni con nieve! Ni con agua!
Grito/Chant #5
No pare Sigue Sigue
Grito/Chant #6
Que queremos? Justicia!!! Cuando? Ahora!!!
Grito/Chant #7
Estamos aquf en la calle porque
se puede
Si Se Puede
Marchando por la justicia porque
se puede
Si Se Puede
Exigiendo nuestros derechos
porque se puede
Si Se Puede
Grito/Chant #8
Arriba la Uni6n Aba jo la explotacion
Grito/Chant #9
Miren Escuchen Venga lo que venga Si aqui no hay justicia Aqui va haber candela
Grito/Chant #10
Se Puede? Si Se Puede!!!
Grito/Chaht #11
mira oye qve se mueve soinos el 9(>!!!
EngHsh/lngles
Grito/Chant #12
Hey people i
What
I got a story
What
I'll tell the whole wide world this is union territory
Grito/Chant #13
What disgusting Union Bustin Whats outrageous Poverty Wages
Grito/Chant #14
The people united
will never be defeated!!!
Grito/Chant #15
What do we want?
Justice!!!
When do we want it now?
NOW!!!
Grito/Chant #16
Move Capitol get out the way get out the way move get out the way
Grito/Chant #17
who's street our street!!
Grito/Chant #18
Were fired up
We cant take it no more
Grito/Chant #19
We are the 99% We are the 99%
**********
Gritos/Chant Sheet
Grito/Chant #1
Capitol escucha Estamos en la lucha
Grito/Chant #2
De norte a sur De este a oeste Ganaremos esta lucha Cueste lo que cueste
Grito/Chant #3
El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido
Grito/Chant #4
Esta lucha no se para
Ni con nieve! Ni con agua!
Grito/Chant #5
No pare Sigue Sigue
Grito/Chant #6
Que queremos? Justicia!!! Cuando? Ahora!!!
Grito/Chant #7
Estamos aquf en la calle porque
se puede
Si Se Puede
Marchando por la justicia porque
se puede
Si Se Puede
Exigiendo nuestros derechos
porque se puede
Si Se Puede
Grito/Chant #8
Arriba la Uni6n Aba jo la explotacion
Grito/Chant #9
Miren Escuchen Venga lo que venga Si aqui no hay justicia Aqui va haber candela
Grito/Chant #10
Se Puede? Si Se Puede!!!
Grito/Chaht #11
mira oye qve se mueve soinos el 9(>!!!
EngHsh/lngles
Grito/Chant #12
Hey people i
What
I got a story
What
I'll tell the whole wide world this is union territory
Grito/Chant #13
What disgusting Union Bustin Whats outrageous Poverty Wages
Grito/Chant #14
The people united
will never be defeated!!!
Grito/Chant #15
What do we want?
Justice!!!
When do we want it now?
NOW!!!
Grito/Chant #16
Move Capitol get out the way get out the way move get out the way
Grito/Chant #17
who's street our street!!
Grito/Chant #18
Were fired up
We cant take it no more
Grito/Chant #19
We are the 99% We are the 99%
Our Call To Action:UniteWomen.org
Markin comment:
I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Off hand, as I have mentioned before, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in these entries. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts.
*************
Our Future, Your Future
UniteWomen.org
Our Call To Action:
Voter Education: We will continue to highlight legislative proposals for or against women's rights in all states and nationally. We will track individual lawmaker's voting record on women's rights issues.
Voter Registration Efforts: We will work with communities to register and mobilize the 46 million women who are not currently registered to vote.
Voter ID Laws: We will assist voters to fight efforts that limit voter participation by womenand low-income voters.
Elections: We will support and work for candidates that believe in full equality for women in all areas of our lives.
In an election year that could mean the difference between progress on many fronts or taking a giant step backward.
www.unitewomen.org
"All of this has been accomplished in less than two months, without money, without "connections", without really knowing what the end result might look like, and, yet, without hesitation." ~ Karen Teegarden
UniteWomen.org
Thank you for standing up and standing proud, to defend our constitutional right to make our own decisions and participate as equals within our society. The fight doesn't stop here: we must remain vigilant to legislation being proposed at state and national levels and the activities of extremist groups.
UniteWomen.org has far-ranging plans that include voter education and mobilization in every state, organizing college students, legislative and political action in states, and more.
We look forward to your continued support of UniteWomen.org. Together, we will tell the world: Enough is Enough!
About Us: UniteWomen.org is a national grassroots organization founded in February 2012 to protect and advance women's rights in all areas of our lives across our lifespan. Working with members in all 50 states, we identify our common concerns and develop action programs to address them. We work in partnership with other groups that share our mission of a better life for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.
I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Off hand, as I have mentioned before, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in these entries. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts.
*************
Our Future, Your Future
UniteWomen.org
Our Call To Action:
Voter Education: We will continue to highlight legislative proposals for or against women's rights in all states and nationally. We will track individual lawmaker's voting record on women's rights issues.
Voter Registration Efforts: We will work with communities to register and mobilize the 46 million women who are not currently registered to vote.
Voter ID Laws: We will assist voters to fight efforts that limit voter participation by womenand low-income voters.
Elections: We will support and work for candidates that believe in full equality for women in all areas of our lives.
In an election year that could mean the difference between progress on many fronts or taking a giant step backward.
www.unitewomen.org
"All of this has been accomplished in less than two months, without money, without "connections", without really knowing what the end result might look like, and, yet, without hesitation." ~ Karen Teegarden
UniteWomen.org
Thank you for standing up and standing proud, to defend our constitutional right to make our own decisions and participate as equals within our society. The fight doesn't stop here: we must remain vigilant to legislation being proposed at state and national levels and the activities of extremist groups.
UniteWomen.org has far-ranging plans that include voter education and mobilization in every state, organizing college students, legislative and political action in states, and more.
We look forward to your continued support of UniteWomen.org. Together, we will tell the world: Enough is Enough!
About Us: UniteWomen.org is a national grassroots organization founded in February 2012 to protect and advance women's rights in all areas of our lives across our lifespan. Working with members in all 50 states, we identify our common concerns and develop action programs to address them. We work in partnership with other groups that share our mission of a better life for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.
#YO SOY 132
#YO SOY 132
Un movimiento importante en Mexico actualmente es la lucha contra el fraude electoral, la represion policial y la corrupcion endemica. Este movimiento comenzo cuando 131 estudiantes de la Universidad Iberoamericana rechaza la presencia de Pena Nieto. Ahora han comenzado a tofnar medidas para impedir la eleccion el 1 de julio del presente ano y de ser robados por un regimen criminal. Su movimiento ha llegado a ser conocido como "Yo Soy 132." Yo Soy 132 ha emitido una solicitud para estudiantes internacionales y otros activistas en el mundo a manifestarse en solidaridad con ellos. Es su esperanza que el llamar la atencion internacional sobre la corrupcion electoral de Mexico, puede ayudar a asegurar una eleccion justa.
Su peticion fue publicada en YouTube y puede servista en: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSiuTmYihWQ&feature=
Occupy Boston invita a todas las organizaciones e individuos que apoyan esta causa a unirse a nuestra manifestacion de solidaridad con "#Yo Soy 132" frente al consulado mexicano en Boston el 29 de junio, 4-6 PM.
For information or to get involved contact the following: YoSoy132BostonSolidarity page on Facebook or histheman(o)qma il.com.
Un movimiento importante en Mexico actualmente es la lucha contra el fraude electoral, la represion policial y la corrupcion endemica. Este movimiento comenzo cuando 131 estudiantes de la Universidad Iberoamericana rechaza la presencia de Pena Nieto. Ahora han comenzado a tofnar medidas para impedir la eleccion el 1 de julio del presente ano y de ser robados por un regimen criminal. Su movimiento ha llegado a ser conocido como "Yo Soy 132." Yo Soy 132 ha emitido una solicitud para estudiantes internacionales y otros activistas en el mundo a manifestarse en solidaridad con ellos. Es su esperanza que el llamar la atencion internacional sobre la corrupcion electoral de Mexico, puede ayudar a asegurar una eleccion justa.
Su peticion fue publicada en YouTube y puede servista en: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSiuTmYihWQ&feature=
Occupy Boston invita a todas las organizaciones e individuos que apoyan esta causa a unirse a nuestra manifestacion de solidaridad con "#Yo Soy 132" frente al consulado mexicano en Boston el 29 de junio, 4-6 PM.
For information or to get involved contact the following: YoSoy132BostonSolidarity page on Facebook or histheman(o)qma il.com.
SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WITH MEXICAN STUDENTS PROTESTING ELECTION FRAUD AND STATE VIOLENCE, JUNE 29™, 4-6 PM AT THE MEXICAN CONSULATE, 20 PARK PLAZA, BOSTON
SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WITH MEXICAN STUDENTS PROTESTING ELECTION FRAUD AND STATE VIOLENCE, JUNE 29™, 4-6 PM AT THE MEXICAN CONSULATE, 20 PARK
PLAZA, BOSTON
#YO SOY 132
A major movement in Mexico is presently fighting against election fraud, police repression, and endemic corruption. This movement began when 131 students began to take action to prevent the July 1st election from being stolen by a criminal regime; their movement has come to be known as "Yo Soy 132." Yo Soy 132 has issued a request for international students and other activists globally to demonstrate in solidarity with them in the run up to the Mexican election on July 1st. It is their hope that calling international attention to Mexico's electoral corruption they may help to ensure a fair election. Their appeal was issued on youtube and may be seen at: http://www.voutube.com/watch?v=kSjuTmYihWQ&feature=share
Occupy Boston invites all organizations and individuals who support this cause to join our demonstration of solidarity with Yo Soy 132 outside the Mexican consulate in Boston on June 29th, 4-6 PM.
For information or to get involved contact the following:
YoSoy132BostonSolidarity page on Facebook or histheman@qmail.com.
PLAZA, BOSTON
#YO SOY 132
A major movement in Mexico is presently fighting against election fraud, police repression, and endemic corruption. This movement began when 131 students began to take action to prevent the July 1st election from being stolen by a criminal regime; their movement has come to be known as "Yo Soy 132." Yo Soy 132 has issued a request for international students and other activists globally to demonstrate in solidarity with them in the run up to the Mexican election on July 1st. It is their hope that calling international attention to Mexico's electoral corruption they may help to ensure a fair election. Their appeal was issued on youtube and may be seen at: http://www.voutube.com/watch?v=kSjuTmYihWQ&feature=share
Occupy Boston invites all organizations and individuals who support this cause to join our demonstration of solidarity with Yo Soy 132 outside the Mexican consulate in Boston on June 29th, 4-6 PM.
For information or to get involved contact the following:
YoSoy132BostonSolidarity page on Facebook or histheman@qmail.com.
What the Occupy movement demands... of each of us
Markin comment:
I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Off hand, as I have mentioned before, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in these entries. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts.
Markin comment:
Jesus- This laundry list below is a tall order for a movement that can barely take notes of its meetings and is barely able to decide on what color shades to put in the living room without a six-session expanded GA (and then leave it up to each autonomous individual to decide on his or her color). I think keeping the old-time ten commandments would be easier, much easier to do.
***********
What the Occupy movement demands... of each of us
By J. Ramsey contact: jgramsey(£ gmail.com Read more at www.kasamaproject.org
That we work to defeat and to overthrow the rule of the 1% (and the 0.1%) over our lives, our society, and our world;
That we devote our lives to ending the oppression and exploitation of people both near and far; That we defend what remains of public space and the public sector against attempts to destroy it;
That we stand up for freedom of speech and assembly, of dissent and public protest as rights which no law-maker can revoke;
That we work for social equality: the radical redistribution of wealth, the transformation and/or abolition of oppressive institutions, the dismantling of unaccountable hierarchies, and the thorough democratization of society;
That we live out the practice of egalitarianism in our own movement and in our own lives, seeking to build others up as our equals, not to subordinate them as tools or inferiors;
That we seek to unite the many against the few, behind an inspiring vision of emancipation;
That we work to expose, to challenge, and to shut down wars abroad and militarism at home, and the imperial and fascistic apparatus that sustains them;
That we devote ourselves to exposing and to resisting the ravages of a toxic capitalism before it poisons the climate to the point that wide swaths of our planet become unlivable;
That we work to expose, oppose, and defeat racism, homophobia, sexism and other backward ideologies and practices wherever they rear their ugly heads;
That we seek to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless across our world;
That we work to defeat and to overthrow the rule of the 1% (and the 0.1%) over our lives, our society, and our world;
That we devote our lives to ending the oppression and exploitation of people both near and far; That we defend what remains of public space and the public sector against attempts to destroy it;
That we stand up for freedom of speech and assembly, of dissent and public protest as rights which no law-maker can revoke;
That we work for social equality: the radical redistribution of wealth, the transformation and/or abolition of oppressive institutions, the dismantling of unaccountable hierarchies, and the thorough democratization of society;
That we live out the practice of egalitarianism in our own movement and in our own lives, seeking to build others up as our equals, not to subordinate them as tools or inferiors;
That we seek to unite the many against the few, behind an inspiring vision of emancipation;
That we work to expose, to challenge, and to shut down wars abroad and militarism at home, and the imperial and fascistic apparatus that sustains them;
That we devote ourselves to exposing and to resisting the ravages of a toxic capitalism before it poisons the climate to the point that wide swaths of our planet become unlivable;
That we work to expose, oppose, and defeat racism, homophobia, sexism and other backward ideologies and practices wherever they rear their ugly heads;
That we seek to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless across our world;
That we help to inspire courage, trust, and solidarity amongst those who have been beaten down by the current system, to turn our collective weakness into strength;
That we work to expose the farcical nature of our 1%-dominated, so-called "democracy," even as we may use what is left of this state apparatus to tactically leverage the needs of our movement;
That we keep our commitments and promises to one another;
That we are honest and accountable in our interactions whenever we are representing the movement;
That we approach with suspicion and skepticism those representatives of existing 1% power structures who seek to co-opt our movement, even as we are constantly on the lookout for friends and allies in unexpected places;
That we put the greater good of the people and the movement ahead of our personal interests, even as we recognize that only through such a movement can our individual talents be fully realized, and vice versa;
That we work each day to help raise our own awareness as well as the consciousness of those around us concerning the world situation—this is a global struggle;
That we inform ourselves about the current dangers and crises facing our society and our planet, and that we seek to understand not only the news and the facts, but the underlying forces driving the situation forward, and the future trajectories these forces imply;
That we seek to cultivate a tactical flexibility and creativity that can adapt to the shifting situation;
That we develop a long-term strategic plan for actually building the movement that we want to create, for actually achieving the changes we want to see;
That we cultivate an honest and humble self-critical attitude in evaluating the successes and failures, the strengths and weaknesses of our movement, its theories and its practices; that we are willing to alter our theories and practices in light of evidence and reflections we gather from the world;
That we seek to become citizens of the world, not just of any single city or nation;
That we sink roots in our local communities, in our workplaces, neighborhoods, schools, families, and other institutions, becoming attentive students of others' lives, as well as supportive allies, and where appropriate, leaders of just struggles that emerge;
That we are kind and patient with one another in the movement, working to understand deeply even those with whom we disagree, knowing that those who may be wrong on nine issues may teach us something valuable on the tenth;
That we demonstrate courage as well as wisdom in the face of threats we face;
That we seek to cultivate the fullest, deepest humanity in ourselves and in others alike;
That we work creatively and tirelessly to bring into being a society that is worthy of human beings;
That we commit to the long haul, as the fight ahead is sure to be as extended as its outcome is uncertain.
That we sustain one another in this great collective endeavor, cherishing each thinking, fighting spirit in
these dark tunes. ****
J. Ramsey jgramsey(g),gmail.com
I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Off hand, as I have mentioned before, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in these entries. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts.
Markin comment:
Jesus- This laundry list below is a tall order for a movement that can barely take notes of its meetings and is barely able to decide on what color shades to put in the living room without a six-session expanded GA (and then leave it up to each autonomous individual to decide on his or her color). I think keeping the old-time ten commandments would be easier, much easier to do.
***********
What the Occupy movement demands... of each of us
By J. Ramsey contact: jgramsey(£ gmail.com Read more at www.kasamaproject.org
That we work to defeat and to overthrow the rule of the 1% (and the 0.1%) over our lives, our society, and our world;
That we devote our lives to ending the oppression and exploitation of people both near and far; That we defend what remains of public space and the public sector against attempts to destroy it;
That we stand up for freedom of speech and assembly, of dissent and public protest as rights which no law-maker can revoke;
That we work for social equality: the radical redistribution of wealth, the transformation and/or abolition of oppressive institutions, the dismantling of unaccountable hierarchies, and the thorough democratization of society;
That we live out the practice of egalitarianism in our own movement and in our own lives, seeking to build others up as our equals, not to subordinate them as tools or inferiors;
That we seek to unite the many against the few, behind an inspiring vision of emancipation;
That we work to expose, to challenge, and to shut down wars abroad and militarism at home, and the imperial and fascistic apparatus that sustains them;
That we devote ourselves to exposing and to resisting the ravages of a toxic capitalism before it poisons the climate to the point that wide swaths of our planet become unlivable;
That we work to expose, oppose, and defeat racism, homophobia, sexism and other backward ideologies and practices wherever they rear their ugly heads;
That we seek to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless across our world;
That we work to defeat and to overthrow the rule of the 1% (and the 0.1%) over our lives, our society, and our world;
That we devote our lives to ending the oppression and exploitation of people both near and far; That we defend what remains of public space and the public sector against attempts to destroy it;
That we stand up for freedom of speech and assembly, of dissent and public protest as rights which no law-maker can revoke;
That we work for social equality: the radical redistribution of wealth, the transformation and/or abolition of oppressive institutions, the dismantling of unaccountable hierarchies, and the thorough democratization of society;
That we live out the practice of egalitarianism in our own movement and in our own lives, seeking to build others up as our equals, not to subordinate them as tools or inferiors;
That we seek to unite the many against the few, behind an inspiring vision of emancipation;
That we work to expose, to challenge, and to shut down wars abroad and militarism at home, and the imperial and fascistic apparatus that sustains them;
That we devote ourselves to exposing and to resisting the ravages of a toxic capitalism before it poisons the climate to the point that wide swaths of our planet become unlivable;
That we work to expose, oppose, and defeat racism, homophobia, sexism and other backward ideologies and practices wherever they rear their ugly heads;
That we seek to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless across our world;
That we help to inspire courage, trust, and solidarity amongst those who have been beaten down by the current system, to turn our collective weakness into strength;
That we work to expose the farcical nature of our 1%-dominated, so-called "democracy," even as we may use what is left of this state apparatus to tactically leverage the needs of our movement;
That we keep our commitments and promises to one another;
That we are honest and accountable in our interactions whenever we are representing the movement;
That we approach with suspicion and skepticism those representatives of existing 1% power structures who seek to co-opt our movement, even as we are constantly on the lookout for friends and allies in unexpected places;
That we put the greater good of the people and the movement ahead of our personal interests, even as we recognize that only through such a movement can our individual talents be fully realized, and vice versa;
That we work each day to help raise our own awareness as well as the consciousness of those around us concerning the world situation—this is a global struggle;
That we inform ourselves about the current dangers and crises facing our society and our planet, and that we seek to understand not only the news and the facts, but the underlying forces driving the situation forward, and the future trajectories these forces imply;
That we seek to cultivate a tactical flexibility and creativity that can adapt to the shifting situation;
That we develop a long-term strategic plan for actually building the movement that we want to create, for actually achieving the changes we want to see;
That we cultivate an honest and humble self-critical attitude in evaluating the successes and failures, the strengths and weaknesses of our movement, its theories and its practices; that we are willing to alter our theories and practices in light of evidence and reflections we gather from the world;
That we seek to become citizens of the world, not just of any single city or nation;
That we sink roots in our local communities, in our workplaces, neighborhoods, schools, families, and other institutions, becoming attentive students of others' lives, as well as supportive allies, and where appropriate, leaders of just struggles that emerge;
That we are kind and patient with one another in the movement, working to understand deeply even those with whom we disagree, knowing that those who may be wrong on nine issues may teach us something valuable on the tenth;
That we demonstrate courage as well as wisdom in the face of threats we face;
That we seek to cultivate the fullest, deepest humanity in ourselves and in others alike;
That we work creatively and tirelessly to bring into being a society that is worthy of human beings;
That we commit to the long haul, as the fight ahead is sure to be as extended as its outcome is uncertain.
That we sustain one another in this great collective endeavor, cherishing each thinking, fighting spirit in
these dark tunes. ****
J. Ramsey jgramsey(g),gmail.com
This Justice for Janitors Day,Support Good Jobs for Our Communities!
This Justice for Janitors Day,Support Good Jobs for Our Communities!
Today is International Justice for Janitors Day, when we celebrate and recognize the hard work and sacrifice that property service workers across the world make. Today also marks the 10 year anniversary when thousands of janitors in the Boston region went on strike, to lift standards in the janitorial industry. That fight continues: in Houston, Texas hundreds of janitors have already gone on strike in the hopes that they can improve their working conditions and win a better way of life.
Here in Massachusetts, a better way of life is on the horizon. Our economy is looking brighter, and has been outperform-
ji ing most of the rest of country during the recovery. Boston is among the fastest-recovering metropolitan areas in the country. One of the pillars of industry driving the Massachusetts economy is commercial real estate. Vacancy rates are going down and rents are going up, with the Back Bay neighborhood being one of the strongest markets in the nation.
This summer the 14,000 contracted janitors that work in the key industries that drive our state's economy will be negotiating a new contract to continue improving standards that they have fought so hard to achieve. Like so many, their hope is to share in the continued growth and prosperity that those at the very top have enjoyed.
Unfortunately, here in Back Bay those at the top are not working to achieve this vision. Capital Properties, the owner of 31 St. James Avenue, recently made the decision to hire an irresponsible contractor, Crystal Bright, to provide cleaning services there. The dedicated janitors who cleaned this building for years were not offered employment and have been displaced. The decision to hire this irresponsible contractor, who pays poverty wages, threatens the standards for janitors across the region.
Join us to demand a shared prosperity, and a New England that works
for everyone!
Visit our website at www.seiu615.org to learn
more about Justice for Janitors and a
New England that works for everyone
SEIU Local 615 * 26 West St. Boston, MA 02111 * 617-523-6150-*seiu615.org* facebook.com/seiu615 * @seiu615
Today is International Justice for Janitors Day, when we celebrate and recognize the hard work and sacrifice that property service workers across the world make. Today also marks the 10 year anniversary when thousands of janitors in the Boston region went on strike, to lift standards in the janitorial industry. That fight continues: in Houston, Texas hundreds of janitors have already gone on strike in the hopes that they can improve their working conditions and win a better way of life.
Here in Massachusetts, a better way of life is on the horizon. Our economy is looking brighter, and has been outperform-
ji ing most of the rest of country during the recovery. Boston is among the fastest-recovering metropolitan areas in the country. One of the pillars of industry driving the Massachusetts economy is commercial real estate. Vacancy rates are going down and rents are going up, with the Back Bay neighborhood being one of the strongest markets in the nation.
This summer the 14,000 contracted janitors that work in the key industries that drive our state's economy will be negotiating a new contract to continue improving standards that they have fought so hard to achieve. Like so many, their hope is to share in the continued growth and prosperity that those at the very top have enjoyed.
Unfortunately, here in Back Bay those at the top are not working to achieve this vision. Capital Properties, the owner of 31 St. James Avenue, recently made the decision to hire an irresponsible contractor, Crystal Bright, to provide cleaning services there. The dedicated janitors who cleaned this building for years were not offered employment and have been displaced. The decision to hire this irresponsible contractor, who pays poverty wages, threatens the standards for janitors across the region.
Join us to demand a shared prosperity, and a New England that works
for everyone!
Visit our website at www.seiu615.org to learn
more about Justice for Janitors and a
New England that works for everyone
SEIU Local 615 * 26 West St. Boston, MA 02111 * 617-523-6150-*seiu615.org* facebook.com/seiu615 * @seiu615
Finally, A Refreshing Change From The Republicrats-Socialist Alternative’s Danny Keating Throws His Hat in the Ring in New Hampshire's Second Congressional District
Click on the headline to link to the Committee To Elect Danny Keating Facebook page.
Press Release
Independent Candidate Danny Keating For U.S. Congress In New Hampshire's Second Congressional District
Mr. Daniel “Danny” Keating, a construction worker and Iraq War Army Veteran raised in Nashua, has filed papers with and has been officially notified of his status as a candidate, pending getting the requisite number of petition signatures, by the New Hampshire Secretary Of State’s Office to run as an independent candidate against incumbent Republican Congressman Charles Bass his 2012 Democratic Party opponent, Ann Kuster. If elected to Congress Mr. Keating will accept the wages of an average worker in New Hampshire and donate the rest of his salary back to social justice causes. Danny is a member of Socialist Alternative and has worked tirelessly on campaigns for workers' rights and against budget cuts. Danny will bring the voice of the 99%, into a Congress that is dominated by corporations and big money.
Here are Danny's remarks made at the opening event of his campaign:
I am running for Congress as an Independent and a member of Socialist Alternative because the two parties of big business, Democrats and Republicans, have carried out deep and unfair budget cuts, stepped up attacks on civil liberties and immigrant rights, assaulted women's core rights to control their bodies and their lives, and have let further corporate control in this country go on unfettered. These are all symptoms of a sick and unresponsive system.
Trillions, yes trillions, of dollars have been handed over by the federal government to the big banks that have thoughtlessly and viciously kicked people out of their homes, scandalously dodged their taxes and helped to wreck the American and global economy. Both parties, controlled by big business, are complicit in the corporate domination of politics and our lives.
I propose some alternatives to the chaos churned out by Wall Street and Washington. We need a massive job creation program to hire workers at union wages with full benefits and rights in order to rebuild infrastructure, stop environmental destruction, and provide necessary social services. We could pay for this by closing corporate tax loopholes and increasing taxes on corporations and the top 1% as well as slashing spending on the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If corporations threaten to take their operations off-shore (like many have already done) in response to paying their fair share then we should take those companies' resources into public ownership with democratic workers' and community control and management using the resources for the benefit of all.
We can only win a jobs program through mobilizing a massive movement of community groups, political organizations, and unions that protest, educate and build democratically-run organizations. A mass movement for jobs and services and against racial injustice, sexual inequality, seemingly never-ending layoffs, unconscionable home foreclosures and drastic budget cuts should be connected to a political struggle against the two parties and the corporate domination they represent. We need a party of working people, run democratically, with elected representatives who are accountable to working people and are pledged to accept only the wage of the average worker.
Elected representatives of the two major parties, having long been left to their own devices, have not created progressive social and economic change. We saw this after the elections of Barack Obama in 2008 and the Tea Party-dominated Congressional agenda in 2010. To get real change we need a big protest movement. This type movement has created change in the past: from the labor movement for unionization and a 40-hour work week to the civil rights movement against racial injustice to the women's movement for equal rights mass demonstrations have shown that direct action can win real victories. If I am elected to Congress I will be a voice for these struggles against the capitalist system and for a better future democratic socialist society.
For more information about the campaign, Socialist Alternative, or requests for interviews call: 603-233-2999 or email:danny.keating.for.congress@gmail.com
Press Release
Independent Candidate Danny Keating For U.S. Congress In New Hampshire's Second Congressional District
Mr. Daniel “Danny” Keating, a construction worker and Iraq War Army Veteran raised in Nashua, has filed papers with and has been officially notified of his status as a candidate, pending getting the requisite number of petition signatures, by the New Hampshire Secretary Of State’s Office to run as an independent candidate against incumbent Republican Congressman Charles Bass his 2012 Democratic Party opponent, Ann Kuster. If elected to Congress Mr. Keating will accept the wages of an average worker in New Hampshire and donate the rest of his salary back to social justice causes. Danny is a member of Socialist Alternative and has worked tirelessly on campaigns for workers' rights and against budget cuts. Danny will bring the voice of the 99%, into a Congress that is dominated by corporations and big money.
Here are Danny's remarks made at the opening event of his campaign:
I am running for Congress as an Independent and a member of Socialist Alternative because the two parties of big business, Democrats and Republicans, have carried out deep and unfair budget cuts, stepped up attacks on civil liberties and immigrant rights, assaulted women's core rights to control their bodies and their lives, and have let further corporate control in this country go on unfettered. These are all symptoms of a sick and unresponsive system.
Trillions, yes trillions, of dollars have been handed over by the federal government to the big banks that have thoughtlessly and viciously kicked people out of their homes, scandalously dodged their taxes and helped to wreck the American and global economy. Both parties, controlled by big business, are complicit in the corporate domination of politics and our lives.
I propose some alternatives to the chaos churned out by Wall Street and Washington. We need a massive job creation program to hire workers at union wages with full benefits and rights in order to rebuild infrastructure, stop environmental destruction, and provide necessary social services. We could pay for this by closing corporate tax loopholes and increasing taxes on corporations and the top 1% as well as slashing spending on the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If corporations threaten to take their operations off-shore (like many have already done) in response to paying their fair share then we should take those companies' resources into public ownership with democratic workers' and community control and management using the resources for the benefit of all.
We can only win a jobs program through mobilizing a massive movement of community groups, political organizations, and unions that protest, educate and build democratically-run organizations. A mass movement for jobs and services and against racial injustice, sexual inequality, seemingly never-ending layoffs, unconscionable home foreclosures and drastic budget cuts should be connected to a political struggle against the two parties and the corporate domination they represent. We need a party of working people, run democratically, with elected representatives who are accountable to working people and are pledged to accept only the wage of the average worker.
Elected representatives of the two major parties, having long been left to their own devices, have not created progressive social and economic change. We saw this after the elections of Barack Obama in 2008 and the Tea Party-dominated Congressional agenda in 2010. To get real change we need a big protest movement. This type movement has created change in the past: from the labor movement for unionization and a 40-hour work week to the civil rights movement against racial injustice to the women's movement for equal rights mass demonstrations have shown that direct action can win real victories. If I am elected to Congress I will be a voice for these struggles against the capitalist system and for a better future democratic socialist society.
For more information about the campaign, Socialist Alternative, or requests for interviews call: 603-233-2999 or email:danny.keating.for.congress@gmail.com
Out In Red Scare Cold War Night- Edward R. Murrow’s “ Good Night, And Good Luck”
Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the Edward R. Murrow –featured “Good Night, And Good Luck.”
DVD Review
Good Night, And Good Luck, starring David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey, Jr. and Senator Joseph McCarthy, the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Warner, 2005
For those who lived in that death red scare cold war 1950s night, or who came of television age then the events depicted in this very well-done black and white documentary-like film, “Good Night, And Good Luck” (the signature sign-off line of Edward R. Murrow on his radio and television shows), should be very familiar. And a cause for reflection for those who howled with the wolves (the McCarthy, Nixon, Robert Welch wolves) calling for the blood of every, well, every speaker against that death night. For those who came after this should be a cautionary tale very appropriate for addressing the madnesses of the political and media howling wolves today.
The story line here is pretty straight-forward, the 1953-54 struggle of Edward R. Murrow, a well-respected and honest radio and television journalist, and the rabid anti-communist monger, the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, including actual footage of his speeches and remarks. In that red scare cold war night few reporters, fewer liberals, and even fewer average American citizens were ready to take on the howling beasts who, mainly for their own political purposes, were ready to destroy infinite numbers of lives in order to “stop the red menace” from creeping through the door. As it turned out there were a handful of actual reds (or past reds, mainly) who may have been in the government. For that few these wolves were ready to bring the whole frail democratic experience on the American continent (what Lincoln called “the last, best hope”) toppling down.
Some guys, too few guys (or gals), like Murrow (and Fred Friendly played by George Clooney) stood up in their funny way (their cloud puff dreams of an informed, educated citizenry plugged into the world via technological promise of the global village of television seem rather ironic now) to their day’s monsters. And while we, Brother Murrow and I, may have been a million miles away from each other in age, in political and cultural sensibilities, and lifestyle I am always happy to salute a kindred spirit, an honest man seeking the truth. And I encourage all to see this film.
DVD Review
Good Night, And Good Luck, starring David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey, Jr. and Senator Joseph McCarthy, the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Warner, 2005
For those who lived in that death red scare cold war 1950s night, or who came of television age then the events depicted in this very well-done black and white documentary-like film, “Good Night, And Good Luck” (the signature sign-off line of Edward R. Murrow on his radio and television shows), should be very familiar. And a cause for reflection for those who howled with the wolves (the McCarthy, Nixon, Robert Welch wolves) calling for the blood of every, well, every speaker against that death night. For those who came after this should be a cautionary tale very appropriate for addressing the madnesses of the political and media howling wolves today.
The story line here is pretty straight-forward, the 1953-54 struggle of Edward R. Murrow, a well-respected and honest radio and television journalist, and the rabid anti-communist monger, the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, including actual footage of his speeches and remarks. In that red scare cold war night few reporters, fewer liberals, and even fewer average American citizens were ready to take on the howling beasts who, mainly for their own political purposes, were ready to destroy infinite numbers of lives in order to “stop the red menace” from creeping through the door. As it turned out there were a handful of actual reds (or past reds, mainly) who may have been in the government. For that few these wolves were ready to bring the whole frail democratic experience on the American continent (what Lincoln called “the last, best hope”) toppling down.
Some guys, too few guys (or gals), like Murrow (and Fred Friendly played by George Clooney) stood up in their funny way (their cloud puff dreams of an informed, educated citizenry plugged into the world via technological promise of the global village of television seem rather ironic now) to their day’s monsters. And while we, Brother Murrow and I, may have been a million miles away from each other in age, in political and cultural sensibilities, and lifestyle I am always happy to salute a kindred spirit, an honest man seeking the truth. And I encourage all to see this film.
Hold ‘Em Or Fold ‘Em –Steve McQueen’s “The Cincinnati Kid – A Film Review
Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the film “The Cincinnati Kid.”
DVD Review
The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, M-G-M, 1965
Okay, okay five card stud a game that reality television has gone ga-ga over(not Lady Ga-Ga I don’t think) is not my game, not even close, but the film under review, The Cincinnati Kid, made me realize that at least in a dramatic presentation it has possibilities. Especially when everybody’s 1960s cool hand, cool man Steve McQueen decides to take the table stakes. And one cannot discount, if there is any truth to the story line here, that the very appealing (1960s appealing anyway) eye-candy that drifts around where there is easy money to be found like Melba (played by Ann-Margaret) and Christian (played by Tuesday Weld) makes me think that maybe I should take up the game.
Oops, that is mistake number one brother. See what a man (or woman) needs to play poker, or any game of chance, is undivided concentration, some dough, some serious dough, and some more serious dough for the rough spots, and nerves of steel. Some fluff with come hither looks (Melba) and talk of white picket fences (Christian) is strictly off the books. Well, kind of, remember even “The Kid” has to have something to shoot for beside the dough. Someone to help him spend it, although the dough ain’t nothing, nothing except acknowledgement that he is king of the five card stud hill.
And that grail, that holy, holy grail is what drives The Kid. That and the Great Depression gnawing hunger that drove many kids, and oldsters too, to grab for the brass ring anyway they could. See old Lance (played by Edward G. Robinson last seen in this space slapping dames and old geezers around, although not for long, as old- time “Chi” town mobster on the lam Johnny Rico in Humphrey Bogart’s Key Largo) has been king of the hill since Hector was a pup, if not before. The Kid has been working his way up the ladder, cooling his heels, waiting for just the right time with just the right amount of dough to stake his claim. Of course left by itself one great pie-in the-sky winner take all poker game could not sustain a full-length film. So some sidebar stuff with those come hither and white picket fence dames, some lesser games as warm-up, and some attempts by Shooter (played by Karl Malden), his mentor, to “fix” things his way and some this and that keep the thing moving until the big finale-winner take all game (and maybe an extra prize with the dames). So is The Kid strictly from hunger or is he getting ready to be fitted for a new walking cane? Well, see the movie.
DVD Review
The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, M-G-M, 1965
Okay, okay five card stud a game that reality television has gone ga-ga over(not Lady Ga-Ga I don’t think) is not my game, not even close, but the film under review, The Cincinnati Kid, made me realize that at least in a dramatic presentation it has possibilities. Especially when everybody’s 1960s cool hand, cool man Steve McQueen decides to take the table stakes. And one cannot discount, if there is any truth to the story line here, that the very appealing (1960s appealing anyway) eye-candy that drifts around where there is easy money to be found like Melba (played by Ann-Margaret) and Christian (played by Tuesday Weld) makes me think that maybe I should take up the game.
Oops, that is mistake number one brother. See what a man (or woman) needs to play poker, or any game of chance, is undivided concentration, some dough, some serious dough, and some more serious dough for the rough spots, and nerves of steel. Some fluff with come hither looks (Melba) and talk of white picket fences (Christian) is strictly off the books. Well, kind of, remember even “The Kid” has to have something to shoot for beside the dough. Someone to help him spend it, although the dough ain’t nothing, nothing except acknowledgement that he is king of the five card stud hill.
And that grail, that holy, holy grail is what drives The Kid. That and the Great Depression gnawing hunger that drove many kids, and oldsters too, to grab for the brass ring anyway they could. See old Lance (played by Edward G. Robinson last seen in this space slapping dames and old geezers around, although not for long, as old- time “Chi” town mobster on the lam Johnny Rico in Humphrey Bogart’s Key Largo) has been king of the hill since Hector was a pup, if not before. The Kid has been working his way up the ladder, cooling his heels, waiting for just the right time with just the right amount of dough to stake his claim. Of course left by itself one great pie-in the-sky winner take all poker game could not sustain a full-length film. So some sidebar stuff with those come hither and white picket fence dames, some lesser games as warm-up, and some attempts by Shooter (played by Karl Malden), his mentor, to “fix” things his way and some this and that keep the thing moving until the big finale-winner take all game (and maybe an extra prize with the dames). So is The Kid strictly from hunger or is he getting ready to be fitted for a new walking cane? Well, see the movie.
Imagining the Post-Occupy Social Movement
Imagining the Post-Occupy Social Movement
by Shamus Cooke
31 May 2012
If one were to honestly assess Occupy's current strengths and weaknesses as a movement, confusion must be the inevitable result. This is because Occupy is not one movement, but an umbrella term that encompasses several different groups that have varied aims, organizational structures, and gaping theoretical differences.
Occupy may not be dead, but its power as a powerful social movement has surely been splintered into a dozen or so mini-movements. For example, a good, broad definition of a social movement is a large group of people who collectively try to achieve certain agreed on goals.
A social movement without common goals does not move in one direction, but many; an organization without a common set of principles or agreed upon demands is not a “group,” but "groups.”
Consequently, Occupy's various mini-movements move in different directions, towards different ends, using different means, while rarely coordinating with the other groups that are focused on their respective organization, growth, habits, and campaigns.
The result is that collective mass action large enough to change social policy - another key definition of a social movement - is rendered impossible.
Sadly, this was the state of the left prior to Occupy: different groups organized on an "issue based activism" basis, focusing on their own projects, disconnected from any common vision or collective action. Occupy was different precisely because it was massive, and that these various groups found connection under a single banner. But the banner has since been pulled in hundreds of directions until it tore.
Occupy came close to becoming a real social movement but didn't cross the threshold. Although Occupy failed to evolve into a social movement, it has laid a foundation for one, through its successful mass education around highlighting the 1% vs. the 99% and experiments with organizing and its creation of a new layer of revolutionary activists. Occupy's inability to grow into a mass social movement may have been inevitable, since the left's disunity runs especially deep in the United States.
Occupy did, however, create additional barriers for itself to become a social power. Occupy was organizationally wedded to a lack of organization, preventing the enormous energy from being funneled into a social force, and thus spilling in every possible direction.
Enough Occupiers were against goal setting that no goals could be collectively pursued. The well meaning attempts to create direct democracy and inclusion - through general assemblies, consensus, spokescouncil structures, etc. - resulted in gridlock, inefficiency, and exclusion instead, since most working people found it impossible to attend the initial lengthy, daily meetings that seemed unable to push the movement forward.
Some will argue that Occupy is doing fine, and that working towards a multitude of goals will inevitably bring victory, since all paths lead toward the same end, though few Occupiers agree on what this end should be. Working class people, however, are only powerful when they are united in mass numbers and acting collectively on an ongoing basis - no social movement has achieved social change without this preliminary factor. Whereas Egypt and Tunisia steadily gained momentum, Occupy eventually lost it.
It is still possible that a faction within Occupy - and there are several - could regenerate Occupy as a whole by working towards goals with a mass appeal that unite Occupy in a campaign capable of re-inspiring and mobilizing the broader population. But lessons must be learned from Occupy's experience. The key lesson - in this writer's opinion - is that social movements are created when they base themselves on concrete issues/goals that the majority of the population is concerned with.
For example, in the Arab Spring the movement's goal was specifically anti-dictator/pro-democracy; in Europe it is anti-austerity/pro social services; South America's ongoing social movements were born fighting foreign economic domination, in the form of the austerity policies implemented by the IMF and World Bank.
In all these cases the majority of working people in these countries could relate or sympathize with the goals of the movement, which helped multiply the initial protests into what later became powerful social movements.
In the United States, the number one concern of most people today - says numerous polls - is jobs.
Occupy could demand that the federal government create millions of jobs, as was done in the 1930s, and pay for the program by taxing Wall Street as many in the Labor Movement have advocated."
Accessible, affordable quality public education and government social services are other major concerns. Occupy could focus its energies on demanding that the rich and corporations are taxed so that teachers could be rehired and tuition at colleges and universities could be reduced.
In other words, Occupy could aim at increasing taxes on the 1 percent in order to meet the needs of the 99 percent. This would also reduce the growing inequality in wealth. But these issues were lost in a whole laundry list of other goals that, although important, only concerned a periphery of the population.
The movement that Occupy gives birth to will be born at a higher level, with unity of purpose and collective action. It will not simply protest corporate power but directly challenge this power and the political system tied to it by the combined power of working people.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org)
See also:
http://workerscompass.org/?p=5155
by Shamus Cooke
31 May 2012
If one were to honestly assess Occupy's current strengths and weaknesses as a movement, confusion must be the inevitable result. This is because Occupy is not one movement, but an umbrella term that encompasses several different groups that have varied aims, organizational structures, and gaping theoretical differences.
Occupy may not be dead, but its power as a powerful social movement has surely been splintered into a dozen or so mini-movements. For example, a good, broad definition of a social movement is a large group of people who collectively try to achieve certain agreed on goals.
A social movement without common goals does not move in one direction, but many; an organization without a common set of principles or agreed upon demands is not a “group,” but "groups.”
Consequently, Occupy's various mini-movements move in different directions, towards different ends, using different means, while rarely coordinating with the other groups that are focused on their respective organization, growth, habits, and campaigns.
The result is that collective mass action large enough to change social policy - another key definition of a social movement - is rendered impossible.
Sadly, this was the state of the left prior to Occupy: different groups organized on an "issue based activism" basis, focusing on their own projects, disconnected from any common vision or collective action. Occupy was different precisely because it was massive, and that these various groups found connection under a single banner. But the banner has since been pulled in hundreds of directions until it tore.
Occupy came close to becoming a real social movement but didn't cross the threshold. Although Occupy failed to evolve into a social movement, it has laid a foundation for one, through its successful mass education around highlighting the 1% vs. the 99% and experiments with organizing and its creation of a new layer of revolutionary activists. Occupy's inability to grow into a mass social movement may have been inevitable, since the left's disunity runs especially deep in the United States.
Occupy did, however, create additional barriers for itself to become a social power. Occupy was organizationally wedded to a lack of organization, preventing the enormous energy from being funneled into a social force, and thus spilling in every possible direction.
Enough Occupiers were against goal setting that no goals could be collectively pursued. The well meaning attempts to create direct democracy and inclusion - through general assemblies, consensus, spokescouncil structures, etc. - resulted in gridlock, inefficiency, and exclusion instead, since most working people found it impossible to attend the initial lengthy, daily meetings that seemed unable to push the movement forward.
Some will argue that Occupy is doing fine, and that working towards a multitude of goals will inevitably bring victory, since all paths lead toward the same end, though few Occupiers agree on what this end should be. Working class people, however, are only powerful when they are united in mass numbers and acting collectively on an ongoing basis - no social movement has achieved social change without this preliminary factor. Whereas Egypt and Tunisia steadily gained momentum, Occupy eventually lost it.
It is still possible that a faction within Occupy - and there are several - could regenerate Occupy as a whole by working towards goals with a mass appeal that unite Occupy in a campaign capable of re-inspiring and mobilizing the broader population. But lessons must be learned from Occupy's experience. The key lesson - in this writer's opinion - is that social movements are created when they base themselves on concrete issues/goals that the majority of the population is concerned with.
For example, in the Arab Spring the movement's goal was specifically anti-dictator/pro-democracy; in Europe it is anti-austerity/pro social services; South America's ongoing social movements were born fighting foreign economic domination, in the form of the austerity policies implemented by the IMF and World Bank.
In all these cases the majority of working people in these countries could relate or sympathize with the goals of the movement, which helped multiply the initial protests into what later became powerful social movements.
In the United States, the number one concern of most people today - says numerous polls - is jobs.
Occupy could demand that the federal government create millions of jobs, as was done in the 1930s, and pay for the program by taxing Wall Street as many in the Labor Movement have advocated."
Accessible, affordable quality public education and government social services are other major concerns. Occupy could focus its energies on demanding that the rich and corporations are taxed so that teachers could be rehired and tuition at colleges and universities could be reduced.
In other words, Occupy could aim at increasing taxes on the 1 percent in order to meet the needs of the 99 percent. This would also reduce the growing inequality in wealth. But these issues were lost in a whole laundry list of other goals that, although important, only concerned a periphery of the population.
The movement that Occupy gives birth to will be born at a higher level, with unity of purpose and collective action. It will not simply protest corporate power but directly challenge this power and the political system tied to it by the combined power of working people.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org)
See also:
http://workerscompass.org/?p=5155
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