On Innocent ‘Pranks’
by matttbastard
Brother Peacemaker: ‘Nooses Are More Than Just Pranks‘. Bookmark for Koufax season. (They are going to happen this year, right?)
h/t The Thin Black Duke (get well soon – and thanks for the skate down memory lane).
Related: Classic David Neiwert posts on lynching here and here; Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America.
Feeling the vibe.
by boomgate
Last weekend I trotted on on down to the High Vibes Festivals. High Vibes is a street festival that takes part in the main street of Northcote, High Street. Northcote was for a long time a working-class suburb with a large migrant population. However, as these things are want to do Northcote is becoming increasingly gentrified by the middle-class deadlocked organic tofu buying set.
Late Night Logic: Too Little, Too Late
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Gah.
4 quick, funky joints before bed. Apologies for the lateness of the hour; damn socializing got in the way of blogging this evening.
Krafty Kuts - Bass Phenomenon
Bassnectar – Bomb The Blocks
Robb G & The Phat Conductor – Chunkasaurus
Stanton Warriors feat. Sway – Get ‘Em High
Jena 6 Update: On Good Samaritans And What Happens Next
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Was wondering who actually posted the bond to get Mychal Bell out of jail; figured it would have been Al or Jesse finally taking heed of Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s words of wisdom (to summarize: show Mychal the money!)
Well, I figured wrong:
Dr. Stephen Ayers didn’t join a massive civil rights march to support the so-called “Jena 6,” but he played a unique role in freeing one of the six black teenagers charged with beating a white classmate.
Ayers, who lives about 135 miles from the small central Louisiana town where more than 20,000 protesters gathered last week, posted the bond that let 17-year-old Mychal Bell go home for the first time in 10 months.
Ayers, 42, of Lake Charles, said today that he isn’t politically active and isn’t one to “get into things like this,” but felt compelled to help Bell’s family.
“I was concerned about what was going on up there and thought the district attorney was a bit harsh in his treatment of Mr. Bell,” Ayers said. “I really thought it was overkill.”
[...]
[One of Bell's attorneys, Carol Powell] Lexing, who called Ayers a “good Samaritan,” said she thanked the doctor over the phone. Many people offered to donate money for Bell’s bail, but Lexing said they accepted Ayers’ help because he and a friend, Lawrence Morrow, were willing to handle all the logistics.
Morrow, a magazine publisher and host of local radio and television shows, met Lexing when he went to Jena for Thursday’s march. Morrow went home to Lake Charles with swollen feet, so he called his friend and family doctor for a prescription.
Ayers asked him about the march and offered to help Bell and his legal team. “He said, ’Whatever the cost is, go get him out,”’ Morrow recalled.
Ayers said he isn’t helping Bell because he thinks he’s innocent.
“What he did was in no way right, and he should be punished for this,” he said. “We’re not condoning his behavior. We’re just saying he needs to be punished appropriately.”
Elsewhere: Dr John Carlos laments the fact that there is a need for a modern civil rights movement in this day and age, cautioning that the significance of the 09.20 solidarity march shouldn’t be overestimated, nor should it be a singular undertaking:
“I can’t believe we still have to be marching,” he said. “I can’t believe how injustice has taken root and has become normal. It appears that there is a message being sent that we can’t go anywhere, aren’t worth anything. And that’s not just black people. It’s brown people. It’s poor white people. It’s the millions of our kids who go to school every day in the wealthiest country in the world and don’t even have books. We are raising a generation with no knowledge, no chance. If people are products of their environment, we are in a great deal of trouble. We see no money for books but they keep building these prisons.”
[...]
“Now [thousands] marched and that young man [Mychal Bell] is still in jail [at the time this interview was conducted - mb],” Dr. Carols said. “We need to have our eyes on the prize. We need our young people also hitting them where it hurts. Not just marching, but figuring out ways to do the unexpected. In 1968, that’s what we did. You have to do what’s contrary to the norm to give them something to think about. We have to give them something to think about because we had the audacity to act. I want to see people marching on the courthouse. I want them using their minds to do the unexpected, to make people in power think long and hard about the weight we are carrying.”
Erin Aubry Kaplan says that civil rights and social justice activists shouldn’t wait for ‘moments’ like Jena 6 to occur before confronting injustice, but acknowledges that ‘selective agitation’ is a universal phenomenon:
Of course the Jena Six campaign hooked neatly into broader complaints against the racial inequalities of the whole criminal justice system, which is a biggie — it imprisons young black males at an astronomically disproportionate rate — and Jena provided a good moment to express that. But agitation and organization shouldn’t wait for a moment. That would be like waiting for the entire Ross Ice Shelf to melt into the sea to sound the alarm about global warming. It’s a good photo op, but it probably comes too late.
This is not just a black thing. We’ve all been conditioned to agitate selectively, especially in matters of race. Americans of all colors have come to think of news as only moments — a plane crash, an election, a lofty acceptance speech. With race, the “moment” is almost always violent or criminal, like the beating of the white student in Jena. Yet here’s the irony: The worst things happening to black people are not only not moments but are things not happening at all — not getting a good enough education, not getting enough jobs, not getting equal treatment. It’s a public relations quandary that nobody’s been able to fix since the ’60s, when we had plenty of visuals — that is, moments — to illustrate complicated historical grievances that were finally making it to television. Demonstrations, riots, flag burnings, resistance to arrests, concerts, ceremonial signings of landmark legislation — these all fed a narrative that the public understood, whether they agreed with the particulars or not.
There is no such narrative now. In this age of deconstruction, what’s missing in the Jena case is a cumulative understanding and connecting of dots on racial issues, something that would prevent every American from asking stupid questions like, Are nooses hanging from trees really that bad? (Another version of the wearisome question: Is “nigger” really such a negative word?) We’ve detached racially charged incidents from a racial context, which sounds liberating but actually skews the racial balance of power even further: Without context, blacks always seem reactive and overreaching, while whites seem calm and fairly neutral. So in Jena, the black citizens say the Jena Six experience confirms pretty much every aspect of the racism they’ve experienced; whites admit to some lingering problems but insist that things have changed in Jena for the better. The facts are not in dispute as much as what the story of the Jena Six means — a manifestation of institutional racism that’s never gone away? An isolated case of prosecutorial excess in an otherwise idyllic town? The media tends to settle into a noncommittal, “fair and balanced” discussion that avoids conclusions and judgment of any kind, at least on the surface. And that’s where we leave things until the next moment hits. If we’re lucky.
Mission Accomplished
by matttbastard
Via Lenin, after working so goddamn hard at re-branding our international image, we’ve finally hit the big time:
Shouts of “Death to Canada!” were heard among the clamour yesterday on the main highway west of Kandahar city, as an estimated 300 to 400 protesters voiced their anger against the violent searches of local homes.
Our little wanna-be empire, she’s growing up so fast. Well done, Steve.
PSA: Solidarity With Novamed Workers
by matttbastard
Brussels, 27 September 2007: The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) condemned the violation of the rights of women workers in Antalya Free Trade Zone in Turkey. The Presidents of the Women’s Committees of the two organisations issued the following statement on the case.
The Women’s Committees of the ITUC and ETUC are expressing their full support of and solidarity with the women workers of Novamed, now on strike for exactly one year in the Antalya Free Trade Zone of Turkey.
They condemn totally the inhuman treatment imposed on these women workers, which is infringing on human and fundamental rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Social Charter of the Council of Europe, and Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The Women’s Committees are particularly shocked by the clear and unambiguous assault on the dignity of these women workers, and the way these women are discriminated against on the basis of their gender.
We understand that the company owning Novamed is a German company, Fresenius Medical Care, which should be fully aware of European and ILO standards and values with regard to gender equality, trade union rights and collective bargaining rights, and should be held accountable for the refusal of Novamed to negotiate with the trade union freely chosen by the workers.
We demand first and foremost for the discrimination and harrassment of women workers to stop and for dignity of these workers to be respected and restored, for the workers to be reinstated with full rights, and secondly we demand from the employers to recognise the union and start negotiations with them about a proper settlement of the situation safeguarding employment for all the workers.
More information:
Patricia Grillo
Head of Press and Communications
Tel: + 32 (0)2 224 04 30 – GSM: + 32 (0)477 77 01 64
E-mail: Pgrillo@etuc.orgMathieu Debroux,
Press Officer International Trade Union Confederation
Tel:+32 (0)22240204 GSM +32 (0)476621018
E-mail: mathieu.debroux@ituc-csi.org
More from KESK (by way of MRZine) on the gender-based discrimination faced by Novamed workers:
All the workers who have gone on strike are female workers. Their working conditions are very bad and male-dominated (patriarchal). For example: female workers are required to apply for permission to marry. Married women should get pregnant and give birth in accordance with the schedule arranged by the management. They are humiliated by the managers on account of their sex.
Petrol-Is, the union representing striking Novamed workers, has prepared an information sheet with further background on worker demands and Fresenius Medical Care (also available @ MRZine).
Send messages of support to:
Mr Adil Alaybeyoglu
Petrol-Is Local President
mersin@petrol-is.org.tr
Send protest messages to the following Fresenius executives:
Dr. Emanuele Gatti
FMC Board Member
emanuele.gatti@fmc-ag.comDr. Massimo Fini
Executive Manager
massimo.fini@fmc-ag.comMr Antonio Raffa
Logistics and International
Production Manager
Fresenius Medical Care
Antonio.Raffa@fmc-ag.com
One Inconvenient Truth About Michael Medved: He’s An Imbecile
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
The title says it all: “Six inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery“. Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is, a revisionist ‘essay’ on slavery – and yes, it’s as bad as (if not worse than) you’d expect, considering the source. Apparently erstwhile movie critic and conservative pundit Michael Medved is living on some cozy, antebellum plantation far, far away from what the rest of us commonly refer to as ‘reality’.
Maha pointedly asks “What the hell was eating at Medved’s reptilian brain that inspired him to write this? Has criticism of American slavery been in the news lately?” Man, I gave up trying to understand Medved back when he was on Sneak Previews, railing against Hollywood’s secular humanist jihad against organized religion and good taste while poor Jeffrey Lyons struggled to keep a straight face (Medved on Pulp Fiction: “I hated it! I hated every frame of it! Well, I won’t say that I hated every frame of it. I mean, Bruce Willis and John Travolta have never been so mediocre, but I found it just rampagingly mediocre. But that’s enough about Pulp Fiction, let’s get to one of the films on my ten best list The Swan Princess. “)
Maybe CNN will give Medved a prime-time segment to defend his 6-point thesis (especially #3: THOUGH BRUTAL, SLAVERY WASN’T GENOCIDAL: LIVE SLAVES WERE VALUABLE BUT DEAD CAPTIVES BROUGHT NO PROFIT), much like they did back when he was offering notorious Hollywood anti-Semite alcoholic Mel Gibson some Judaic apologia.
Related: Ed Morrissey provides a sensibly conservative response to Medved’s sub-literate shit-stirring (as only a sensible conservative like Ed can):
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether we think that slavery was more brutal than it was, or whether it had some minutely positive affect on the arc of the lives of its descendants. Its long existence in the history of humanity should also count for little. After all, the entire American experiment exists as a means to keep a free citizenry from becoming the chattel of an aristocracy or monarchy and able to govern itself freely. At its heart, slavery denied every American ideal, and the Jim Crow regime that followed betrayed our political values. Those insults deserve no mitigation, only contempt and fierce condemnation.
Won’t bother linking to the reliably frothy Dan Riehl’s not-so-sensible response (“[g]et over it, already”), since, well, I refuse to give Dan Riehl a link – ever. Suffice to say, he’s clapping for Medved like a slack-jawed circus seal (arf arf). Incidentally, CNN also considers Riehl to be a mainstream representative of the Right.
“Liberal bias” my ass.
More from: Michael van der Galiën, Sadly, No!, Lean Left and Crooked Timber
Via Memeorandum.
Quote of the Day: ‘You Can’t Make This Sh*t Up’ Edition
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
elle, Kevin and Carmen D. (and countless others, I’m sure) all beat me to this:
[LaSalle Parish DA Reed] Walters credited the prayers of people in this small central Louisiana town with averting a “disaster” when the thousands of demonstrators descended on the town.
“The only way – let me stress that – the only way that I believe that me or this community has been able to endure the trauma that has been thrust upon us is through the prayers of the Christian people who have sent them up in this community,” Walters said.
“I firmly believe and am confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened. You can quote me on that.”
Let’s see: first Jena’s mayor whines about his town getting a bum rap re: racism to a white supremacist and now the local DA claims the only reason the raging Negro horde didn’t go all Detroit ’67 is because of divine intervention.
At this point, Jena should change its name to ‘WTF??!!!1ville.’
Journamalism At Its Finest
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Newsflash: nuclear PR shill Patrick Moore (Co-founder of Greenpeace™!) is a “popular environmentalist” the same way David Horowitz is a “staunch Marxist” or Joe Lieberman a “partisan Democrat.”
Which is to say, not in the fucking least.
I second Alison: please, for the love of God, enough with the slavering, credulous media greenwashing re: nuclear power. Because the prospect of this and this demands serious scrutiny, not lazy stenography.
Related: The Financial Post on how nuclear PR has helped transform a once-feared technology into an ‘environmentally friendly’ energy alternative, noting that market realities may ultimately render industry re-branding efforts irrelevant; David Fenton: fighting fire with fire.
(h/t Gristmill for some of the links re: greenwashing and nuclear shilling)
Jena Miscellania (Stay Up Forever Edition)
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Having trouble collecting my thoughts. The sleep deficit I’ve been racking up the past week has rendered me cognitively insolvent. So, just a few quick Jena links, followed by some vids (and then, hopefully, a respite from perpetual somnolence):
As expected, LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters will allow Mychal Bell to be retried as a juvenile. However:
It remained uncertain when or whether Bell — one of the group known as the Jena Six — might be released from jail.
His case remains in juvenile court and the prosecutor, District Attorney Reed Walters, said he did not know whether a judge would set bail. Pending a decision on bail, Bell would be transferred to a juvenile facility, Walters said.
[update: elle, phd reports that Bell has FINALLY been released on bail. About GODDAMN time. - mb][...]
Walters had said he would appeal that decision. On Thursday, he said he still believes there was legal merit to that decision but he decided it was in the best interest of the victim and his family to let the juvenile court handle the case.
“They are on board with what I decided,” Walters said of the Barkers.
Well, that’s certainly mighty white of y’all.
Elsewhere: Carmen D. doesn’t think very much of the Gray Lady’s decision to give Walters prominent space in Wednesdays’s opinion section:
The New York Times and other news outlets of record refused to cover the story of nooses, unequal justice, unequal protection under the law and the beating of a high school student until these events sparked a protest so massive that they simply could not ignore it.
Now, the New York Times has given Jena district attorney Reed Walters a global platform to make his case without the slightest challenge.
Political Affairs (ZOMG Marxists!!!11) interviews People’s Weekly World correspondent Tim Wheeler, who was on the ground at the 09.20 Jena 6 solidarity march:
PA: A lot of Southern people are getting nervous about the focus on the South again, and they are pointing out, I think correctly, that this isn’t just a Southern problem. Do you have a comment on that?
TW: Oh definitely. First of all, the last cases in which the attention of the nation and the world was focused on racist injustice in this country in such a dramatic way were Amadou Diallo and Abner Louima in New York City. They were the victims of terrible, genocidal violence, one shot down in a hail of 41 bullets, and the other sodomized in a police station by police officers. So this is not just the South. This is a nationwide problem, and we have to take action to stop it. It is absolutely crucial to turning this country around and turning it in a progressive direction – to fight back and defeat this creeping racist offensive we are seeing against Black youth. Of course, there is also the anti-immigrant movement, all the immigrant bashing, which is another form of this attempt to split and divide us. There were many people I interviewed there in Jena who were calling for unity against racism, and they really need white people to join in this fightback. I think it is our duty to respond to that call.
Wheeler includes some interesting examples that illustrate the diversity of those who felt obligated to answer the call in an article published in this weeks issue of PWW:
Curtis Nelson and 149 other members of a motorcycle club in Moss Point, Miss., joined by 72 bikers from Baton Rouge, roared into Jena on their Harley-Davidsons. “Penitentiary for six teenagers for a fist fight? That’s cruel!” Nelson told the World. “When I was in high school you got suspended for getting in fights. And what about the white student who brought a loaded gun to school? They confiscated his gun and hushed it up. That’s not equal justice.”
Or, as the incomporable Liza Sabater put it last Friday, “justice is not served when we need to ask for permission to be black.” Once again, to quote Rachel:
[A] word of advice to people who are discussing the Jena 6 case, when people try to frame the discussion around only the fight or only Jena, Louisiana, don’t let them. The case itself is much broader, and the issues of our criminal (in)justice system are way bigger than Jena, Louisiana.
Rachel also offers an up close and painfully personal glimpse at her own all-to-familiar (and familial) relationship with bigotry, noting that:
[r]acism is so insidious that it anesthetizes people to suffering of others (even others who they care about). It destroys empathetic reactions to human suffering. The victims of racism are expected to be the “bigger people” while the perpetrators get the “Get Out of Racism Free” card. Even when they know racist behavior is wrong and harmful, many white observers of racism suffer from moral paralysis. Rather than doing what is morally right, they do nothing.
Finally, after the fold, some music (both new and not so new) that has kept me from declaring mental bankruptcy this week. Wish me luck tonight, brethren.
Like A Slow Motion Trainwreck…
by matttbastard
Steve V., one of my favourite capital-’L’ Liberal bloggers isn’t kidding when he says he’s “gone off the deep end.” Going from Dion to Iggy would be like trying to put out a forest fire with gasoline (or nitroglycerin). The recent Quebec by-elections have apparently given even the most sensible Grits PTSD (unless this dubious proposal is entirely modest in nature).
Entirely unrelated, I am absolutely in love with the new Battles video, Tonto:
PSA: Iraq Refugee Crisis – “Iraqi women and children have suffered terrible trauma and violence – we have a responsibility to care for their health. The international community must act now to alleviate this situation.”
by matttbastard
September 24, 2007—The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children today called on the United States and the international community to respond quickly and fully to the United Nations interagency appeal for $85 million dollars to provide desperately needed health care for Iraqi refugees in Jordan, Syria and Egypt.
On a recent trip to Jordan, the Women’s Commission saw firsthand the urgent need for this assistance. Iraqi refugees have limited or no access to even basic health services. The cost of accessing health care is beyond the means of most refugees. At the time of our visit in June, there were only two clinics providing free or subsidized medical care to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Jordan.
The barriers to affordable health care have dire implications for Iraqi refugees. They are not getting the treatment they need for chronic conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure or cancer and women and girls are not receiving critical reproductive health services. The longer this endures, the greater the number of lives at risk.
“The health situation for Iraqi refugees is unconscionable and women and children are in particular need given the vulnerability of their situation,” said Carolyn Makinson, Executive Director. “Iraqi women and children have suffered terrible trauma and violence – we have a responsibility to care for their health. The international community must act now to alleviate this situation.”
Iraqi women and girls’ health needs particular attention. In Iraq, women and girls have been targets of sexual violence, including rape. They are now suffering the double burden of the trauma they experienced and forced displacement from their homes. According to the refugees the Women’s Commission met with in Jordan, the stresses and pressures of refugee life are also causing a rise in domestic violence. And because refugees cannot legally work in Jordan, women and girls remain vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse. For all these reasons, women and girls must have easy and regular access to medical attention and psychological and social support services for survivors of rape and abuse.
In addition to fully supporting this new health appeal and an earlier education appeal, the U.S. government and international community must also develop a more comprehensive assistance strategy for Iraqi refugees that reflects the magnitude of the refugee crisis. This should include significantly increased humanitarian assistance for refugees, greater support for refugee receiving countries, and robust resettlement programs for highly vulnerable Iraqis.
“Iraqi refugees are becoming more vulnerable by the day,” Makinson said. “The time to act is now.”
For more information, to arrange an interview or to view B-roll footage, please contact Diana Quick, 212. 551. 3087, diana@womenscommission.org
Also see this report from Amnesty International, Millions in flight: the Iraqi refugee crisis (also via FPN); Refugees International on ‘the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis‘.
Related: Interview with Tobias Billström, Sweden’s Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy, on how the EU needs to share the responsibility for providing safe haven to Iraqi refugees – and how aid must be allocated to Syria and Jordan, the two Middle Eastern nations with the highest influx of refugees:
Sometimes I think it is an irony that Sweden – a country that did not take part in the Iraq War, was not part of the alliance, did everything it could in order to speak for peace, and is farthest away from the conflict in geographical terms – receives the most refugees. To my mind that is rather strange.
[...]
In some ways we have made progress. But the next thing – and that is important – is to try and bring aid to Syria and to Jordan, the two countries in the region that have received a combined total of more than two million Iraqi refugees.
If we don’t do that, sooner or later there will be a political destabilisation of Syria and Jordan, which will lead to even more problems. We must ensure that the refugees receive aid and that they can sustain themselves.
Jena 6 Update: Memo To Alanis – THIS Is Ironic (I Really Do Think)
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Jena, LA Mayor Murphy McMillin: not the sharpest fishhook in the tacklebox:
McMillin has insisted that his town is being unfairly portrayed as racist—an assertion the mayor repeated in an interview with Richard Barrett, the leader of the Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group based in Learned, Miss., who asked McMillin to “set aside some place for those opposing the colored folks.”
“I am not endorsing any demonstrations, but I do appreciate what you are trying to do,” Barrett quoted McMillin as saying. “Your moral support means a lot.“
(H/T Peek)
(FYI, This is the same Richard Barrett who also interviewed Justin Barker, after allegedly fudging his racist pedigree when questioned by Barker’s family).
Oh, and remember when I predicted that the noose is going to experience a resurgence in iconic significance among the white power set? I can sure call ‘em, sometimes. More details on the ongoing pushback are provided by David Neiwert (who also offers incontrovertible evidence that my old buddy John Gibson is indeed an odious sack of sea lion shit – if there was ever any doubt).
Elsewhere: via The Thin Black Duke, M (aka The Blogger Formerly Known As Sylvia) guesting @ Kai Chang’s place:
Very simply, the Jena Six is not a matter of guilt or innocence. If you think this case is about dancing and singing with Al Sharpton in Jena while wearing black, go home or bury some soap or something. If you view this case as a stepping stone for your own self-aggrandizement here there and everywhere, sit at home and think a few seconds before stepping back out again. If you think this case is only about freeing these young men, you’re half-steppin’. If you view the Jena Six incident as uppity newcomer Negroes wanting to start some ruckus, then please go back to your guard post under your bridge. Denial about a person’s criminal actions in a case is unwanted. This fight is not about what we can do to stop people from being criminals (though there’s no denying that goal is important); it is about what happens when those people are already within the criminal justice system and cannot afford an OJ-style legal Dream Team.
Kevin also points to this post by elle, phd, who notices history repeating in the predictably (and pathetically) defensive reaction of the (white) blogosphere after it was justifiably called out for collective indifference towards Jena (remember: Race is tough!).
Related: David Margolick looks back at Elizabeth Eckford, Hazel Bryan and the photo that captured what became an iconic moment in the civil rights movement.
Jena Update: NLG Statement
Via The Thin Black Duke:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 24, 2007
Contact: Kerry McLean, 917-334-9331
Marjorie Cohn, NLG President, 858-204-3565NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD CALLS FOR RELEASE OF MYCHAL BELL, FOR ALL CHARGES AGAINST THE JENA 6 TO BE DROPPED, AND FOR FEDERAL INVESTIGATION INTO JENA 6 ARRESTS AND PROSECUTIONS
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls for the immediate release of Mychal Bell, one of the six high school students who have come to be known as the “Jena 6.” The Guild also calls for all charges against the Jena 6 to be dropped, and for the investigation and disbarment of Judge J.P. Mauffray and District Attorney Reed Walters.
Judge J.P. Mauffray and DA Reed Walters have engaged in a string of egregious actions, the most recent of which was the denial of bail for Bell on Friday. The NLG urges that: 1) The United States Department of Justice convene an immediate inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the arrests and prosecutions of the Jena 6; 2) Judge Mauffray be recused from presiding over Bell’s juvenile court hearings or other proceedings; 3) The Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel investigate Reed Walters for unethical and possibly illegal conduct; 4) The Louisiana Judiciary Commission investigate Judge Mauffray for unethical conduct; and 5) The Jena school district superintendent be removed from office.
“Contrary to what Reed Walters and J.P. Mauffray may think, Jena is subject to the same Constitution that the rest of the United States is,” remarked Kerry McLean, member of the executive board of the NLG.
“There have been numerous, brazen violations of the constitutional rights of the Jena 6.” McLean continued, “In addition to the constitutional violations, Walters and Mauffray have breached the ethical requirements of their offices. They should be made to answer for all of this.”
“The double standard of justice in Jena, one for black students and another for whites, is emblematic of the racism that still permeates many towns throughout the South and the country as a whole. There must be an immediate and full investigation of judicial and prosecutorial malfeasance in Jena, Louisiana,” said Marjorie Cohn, President of the NLG.
There is an unequal justice system in Jena, where blacks are routinely the victims of discriminatory and oppressive treatment by officials.
Founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association which did not admit people of color, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
PSA: Solidarity With Alison Bodine! (UPDATE 09.25 – Welcome Newshoggers!)
by matttbastard
Via Feminist Peace Network – so much for the apparently antiquated notion that Canada is a ‘free society’ (which is, like, so September 10th):
Subject: URGENT Appeal for Support: US Anti-war Activist Arrested at Canadian Border!
Sent: 24 Sep ‘07 13:53
The Alison Bodine Defense Committee is appealing to all progressive groups and organizations who fight for a better world to support the campaign to defend Alison Bodine, a US citizen who is being targeted by Canadian Border Services Agency for being an anti-war and social justice activist.
Originally from Broomfield, Colorado, Alison is a central organizer with Vancouver, Canada antiwar coalition Mobilization Against War & Occupation
(MAWO), for three years was the president of the University of British Columbia’s Coalition Against War on the People of Iraq and Internationally (CAWOPI), a long-time executive committee member of the UBC Social Justice Center, is a prominent activist in solidarity with Cuba and the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba, and a supporter of immigrant and refugee rights in Canada and the US.Near midnight on Thursday September 13, 2007, Alison was arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) when she attempted to legally cross the border at Peace Arch border crossing, travelling from Canada into the United States. Three days prior, Alison was harassed by CBSA officials while traveling from the US into Canada. The ordeal began after border officials searched her vehicle and identified her as a political organizer after they found various political materials and progressive newspapers in her car.
As an international student at the University of British Columbia who recently graduated with a Bachelor of Physics in June 2007, Alison has traveled between the US and Canada on dozens of occasions, and had never been denied entrance to Canada or asked to return to the US. As she was returning to the US on Thursday September 13th, Alison returned to claim items confiscated earlier by the CBSA. Upon presenting her receipt to claim her materials, she was handcuffed and told she was under arrest, and that a warrant for her arrest had been issued across Canada. She was then taken into detention. This unjust and illegal imprisonment was met with a huge protest and organizing drive by the newly-formed Committee to Free Alison Bodine. Friday afternoon, on only 5 hours notice, 80 people came together at the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Offices in Vancouver, demanding the immediate release of Alison Bodine. Media was also quick to pick up this important case, which was covered locally and nationally by newspapers, TV and radio.
Following all of this, Alison’s status took a major turn. Officials constantly reminded her all day that there was no way she would be released from detention before Monday. However, at 8:00pm on Friday, Alison was given notice by immigration officials that she would be released from custody immediately until her Admissibility Hearing on Monday Sept 17th – a major victory in the campaign for her freedom. However Alison’s ordeal is not yet over. In the early afternoon of September 17th, Alison learned from a CBC reporter that the CBSA had cancelled her Admissibility Hearing scheduled for 2pm that day. Alison herself was never officially notified by CBSA.At 1:30pm Monday September 17th, more than 50 supporters rallied outside the downtown Citizenship & Immigration Canada offices, especially because of the cancelled hearing, to demand that all charges against Alison be dropped immediately. The CBSA postponement of Alison’s hearing is a maneuver to delay because they know they won’t be able to prove the charges they have made up so far. It also shows they have decided to escalate this case to a more political level by finding some different charges to bring because they know right now their case cannot win in a hearing. Being without status in Canada, Alison’s situation is always uncertain, and she can still be arrested at anytime. All progressive, humanity loving people must unite around this case. We must understand that this is not just an attack on Alison, this is an attack on
all of us. This is an attack on the basic democratic and human rights of all people, especially social justice activists, immigrants, refugees and all non-status people and non-residents in Canada. The illegal and unjust arrest and detention of Alison Bodine means the Government of Canada and its agencies want to continue and escalate the silencing of free speech and political expression and continue their terrorizing of people who oppose their policies at home and abroad and the new era of war and occupation. They are also testing and evaluating our response to defend ourselves against their attacks against us. The degree, seriousness, effectiveness and consistency of our defence impact their decision on how to further their repressive measures.For this reason, we are appealing to you to join us in this struggle by endorsing this emergency campaign and by writing a letter of support demanding that the CBSA drop all charges against Alison. Please send this appeal to your email lists and friends. We must show the Government of Canada and their agency, the CBSA, that they cannot get away with trying to intimidate activists. We have attached a template support letter, as an example. Letters of support should be sent to:
defendalisonbodine@hotmail.com
The CBSA might think that by delaying the Admissibility hearing this campaign will lose steam and the pressure against them will lessen. On the contrary, this campaign is only just beginning. People all across Canada and the world know about this case of political harassment and this will only gain momentum from here. This is a political case; Alison has done nothing wrong or illegal. Alison, along with supporters in Vancouver and across the country will keep up the demand that the CBSA must drop all charges against her and restore her full rights to travel between the US and Canada. For now, they have re-scheduled her Admissibility hearing for Friday, September 28th at 9am. In the time between now and then we will not back down, we will not slow down and we will continue fighting!
Our fight is not over. Your support is essential to get all charges against Alison dropped!
WE WILL WIN!
Alison Bodine Defense Committee (ABDC)
Sample support letter:
To: Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
Alison Bodine is a US citizen, is a central organizer with Vancouver antiwar coalition Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO), for three years was the president of the University of British Columbia’s Coalition Against War on the People of Iraq and Internationally (CAWOPI) and is a long-time executive committee member of the UBC Social Justice Center. She is also a prominent activist in solidarity with Cuba, and is a supporter of immigrant and refugee rights in Canada in the US.
Near midnight, Thursday September 13, 2007 Alison Bodine was unjustly arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency and detained by the RCMP when she went voluntarily to the US-Canada border to pick up her belongings. Alison has not done anything illegal, and has crossed the border many times with no incident. It was not until her belonging were searched and antiwar literature found that the charges were laid.
Alison’s arrest and all charges against her are an attack on the democratic rights of individuals to organize and express their political views. This is an attack on the right to free speech, and an attack on immigrants, refugees, people without status and non-residents of Canada. This is clearly a politically motivated case against Alison Bodine.
I am demanding that the Canada Border Services Agency drop any and all charges against Alison Bodine, return to her any and all items seized by the CBSA, and reinstate her right to freely travel between the US and Canada.
Sincerely,
(signature)
(name)
(Affiliations, for identification purposes)
Again, send your letters of support to: defendalisonbodine@hotmail.com. Selected support letters can be read/downloaded here. Also, download and print out this petition (PDF) calling for all charges against Alison Bodine to be dropped. Signed petitions can be faxed to: 604-322-1763
Related: Round-up of mainstream media coverage courtesy MAWO; Verbena-19 links to a Co-Op Radio interview with Ms Bodin.
Update 09.25: thanks to 5th Estate @ The Newshoggers (shout outs to Cernig as well, an early supporter of bastard.logic) for featuring this post in an InstaHoglets round-up. Welcome once again, Newshoggers – your letters of support and participation are greatly appreciated.
Welcome Back (To Reality)
by matttbastard
Via Fern Hill @ Birth Pangs: we here at bastard.logic also love New York:
The Bush administration’s Abstinence Only Program is an example of a failed national health-care policy directive, based on ideology rather than on sound scientific-based evidence that must be the cornerstone of good public health-care policy.
I believe this is what is commonly known as a “moment of clarity”. Of course, the usual suspects are demonstratively calling for a waahmbulance. Hey, I’ve got the first 25 pennies covered if someone else wants to pony up the other half.
Side note: am I the only one who regularly mistakes Leslee Unrah for Leslie Uggams?
Jena 6 Update: Exploitation Escalates; More Blog Reactions
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
No surprises here: Hatewatch reports that a well-known white supremacist has attempted to exploit Justin Barker, the white teenager who was beaten allegedly by the so-called Jena 6. According to Hatewatch, Richard Barrett of the Nationalist Movement “met with 17-year-old Barker, along with his father David Barker, the night before the rally.” Barrett also says that he obtained a statement from Justin stating “the ones who attacked me are getting money for beating me up” and “express[ing] gratitude” to Justin’s supporters.
However, as Hatewatch points out:
There is no evidence to suggest that Justin or David Barker had any inkling who Barrett was when he apparently showed up at their door. According to Barrett’s own account, he approached the Barkers to offer support for the family and to try to get more media attention for Justin’s injuries and his version of events.
The Clarion-Ledger confirms that Barker’s statement was apparently obtained by Barrett under false pretenses:
”He led us to believe he was just down here to find out Justin’s part of the story,“ David Barker said of Barrett. ”He said he was going to the rally just to see what was going on.“
David Barker said Barrett never gave them the impression that he was involved in a white-supremacist organization. Barker said he specifically asked about affiliations with organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.
”He said, ’No, I’m a lawyer that goes around trying to help families that can’t help themselves,’“ Kelli Barker said.
Elsewhere: – Lambert of Corrente give a broad runs down of some blog coverage, including the belated A-lister response, noting the latter “all seem to link to each other…not to the [smaller/POC] blogs I listed first”. To his credit, Lambert also acknowledges Corrente’s participation in the circular coverage.
- Blackamazon reminds us that, contra what will likely soon become conventional wisdom, this past Thursday’s mobilization was not an exclusively ‘black’ event, nor the culmination of efforts by the mainstream civil rights establishment. Rather, the march on Jena was “a multi pronged multi racial multi front cooperative even if uncoordinated concern. By the time Jesse and Al are involved it’s been in papers and radio stations around the world.” (Case in point: BBC News broadcast a documentary on Jena back in May, long before Al and Jesse started sheddin’ tears for the cameras.)
As they say, read the whole damn thing.
- Donna Darko takes Chicago Tribune reporter Howard Witt to task for giving credit to “hip-hop music blogs” and “popular black entertainers such as Mos Def” for bringing attention to Jena, rather than the female bloggers and activists–especially women of colour–who, from the beginning, did most of the heavy lifting. (h/t SassyWho)
- Via Slant Truth, Rachel has some sage advice for those wishing engage the broader white public in Jena-related discussions:
…[W]hen people try to frame the discussion around only the fight or only Jena, Louisiana, don’t let them. The case itself is much broader, and the issues of our criminal (in)justice system are way bigger than Jena, Louisiana.
- And as always, keep checkin’ the Thin Black Duke and his regularly updated Bloggers For Jena post.
Memorial Cobblestones
by matttbastard
Inspired by Macswain’s Saturday evening post at the other mothership:
Heavens To Betsy – The Ones
Excuse 17 – Carson
Quasi feat. Elliott Smith – Paint It Black
File Under: ‘Parody Is Superfluous’
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Looks like Buddy Christ has walked off the big screen and onto the shelves of North America’s largest retailer. In These Times reports that Wal-Mart is selling a 12-inch talking Jesus doll – a 12-inch talking Jesus doll that “looks remarkably like the Brawny Paper Towel Man, has kung-fu grip and utters soothing but authoritarian Bible quotes, like, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3)”".
Again, this is why I stopped reading The Onion years ago: the absurdity of contemporary existence is already quite apparent without requiring any exaggeration.
Flashback – Related: Max Blumenthal on the insidious military outreach efforts of Stephen Baldwin (yes, that Stephen Baldwin — apparently the lamest youngest Baldwin brother has been ensnared by Christ’s brawny kung fu grip) and Operation Straight Up (OSU):
As an official arm of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, OSU plans to mail copies of the controversial apocalyptic video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces to soldiers serving in Iraq. OSU is also scheduled to embark on a “Military Crusade in Iraq” in the near future.
“We feel the forces of heaven have encouraged us to perform multiple crusades that will sweep through this war torn region,” OSU declares on its website about its planned trip to Iraq. “We’ll hold the only religious crusade of its size in the dangerous land of Iraq.”
Jesus wept.
Update: For Christ’s sake – you really can’t make this shit up.
Also, please do take the time to read in its entirety the Radar/Stephen Baldwin interview linked above – even the mighty Jon Swift couldn’t pen something this (unintentionally) hilarious, nor quotable.
Random snippet:
What’s your take on Tom Cruise, who’s also gotten some flak for his faith.
Let me just start a little trouble here. On the Hollywood list of people I pray for often, Tom Cruise is probably No. 1. All I have to say to Tom is, God bless ya, I hope you’re having fun. But I’d love through Radar magazine to throw a gauntlet down to Mr. Cruise. I’d love to break bread with him and pray with him, and I’d love for the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the truth to him. That would be an awesome thing. I remember Tom back in the day. I did Born on the Fourth of July with him. And he’s a very different guy now.In what way?
That regular Joe quality seems to have been lost. When you buy enough of your own hype, then it’s not who you are anymore. It becomes about how you’re perceived. I’d rather be young little sweet little Jesus Freak Stevie B any day of the week. Seriously though, can you put us together? Can we get a little sushi together? I’d like to give him a spicy Jesus roll.
Spicy…Jesus…roll? Buh?! You know, I never thought that anyone could make a bat-shit crazy Hubbard-humper like Jumpy McCoucherson seem positively rational by comparison.
Update 2: “Why Should God Bless America?” Definitive proof that ‘IOKIYAR’ isn’t just a clever acronym.
Goddammit, after drowning in an unholy deluge of poisonous, all-American Christianism, I need an antidote (if not a towel). And, all apologies to Howie Klein, the late, great Woody Guthrie just don’t cut it. A pair of selections from the gloriously Godless Greg Graffin and Co. seem more appropriate atm:
“He’s the farmer barren fields, (In God)
The force the army wields, (We trust)
The expression in the faces of the starving millions, (Because he’s one of us)
The power of the man. (Break down)
He’s the fuel that drives the Klan, (Cave in)
He’s the motive and the conscience of the murderer (He can redeem your sins)
He’s the preacher on TV, (Strong heart)
The false sincerity, (Clear mind)
The form letter that’s written by the big computer, (And indefinitely kind)
He’s the nuclear bombs, (You lose)
And the kids with no moms (We win)
And I’m fearful that he’s inside me (He is our champion)”
“There’s no justice
Just a cause and a cure
And a bounty of suffering
It seems we all endure
And what I’m frightened of
Is that they call it “God’s love”“
Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers
Late Night Logic: Jeg Elsker Scandinavia
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Some musical selections originating from my third-favourite geographic region of this here godforsaken planet (JFTR: #1: Canada. #2: Australia [heh] #4: Latvia):
The Bear Quartet – Mom and Dad
(more after the cut)
“Canada has to move forward and Neanderthal is yesterday’s man and this man has got to go!” UPDATE 09.24: CLC-CTC Statement
by matttbastard
Not gonna mince words here: if it wasn’t clear before, it should now be plain as day: the Conservative gov’t has, in essence, declared war on the public sector–especially programs that benefit Canadian women–full fucking stop.
Godammitkitty (who has a PLETHORA of pertinent links and info – go!go!go!) and Alison @ Creekside have lots more on the latest surgical strike against ‘advocacy’; via F-email Fightback, Ginette Pettipas-Taylor asseses the collateral damage.
Update: also via F-email Fightback:
Amnesty International Canada expresses concern about the closure of the National Association of Women and the Law in the face of government funding restrictions
September 20, 2007
Canada has been a leader in creating critical international standards and institutions for the protection of women’s human rights. However, Canada has failed fully to implement those standards at home. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has cited Canada for not implementing its obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The sad consequence is that Canada is failing adequately to protect the human rights of women in this country. Government programs and policies for the protection of women’s human rights have been fragmented and shortsighted. Last year’s significant decrease in the budget of Status of Women Canada and the imposition of restrictions on the activities of organizations that receive funding from Status of Women combined to drastically curtail the work of a range of local and national organizations dedicated to defending the human rights of women and challenging existing barriers to the full realization of those rights. When it becomes more difficult to defend rights and challenge barriers, the risk of violence and discrimination inevitably increases.
The fact that the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) has been made to close in the face of funding cuts is a stark illustration of what is at stake. NAWL has played a critical role in demanding domestic compliance with the international human rights standards that Canada helped to create. NAWL has provided important support to women and women human rights groups, to address and change the systemic causes of violence and discrimination.
NAWL and other women’s human rights advocacy groups play an essential role in challenging the gaps and failings of government policies, both federally and provincially, and proposing recommendations for reform. NAWL will be missed. Without that expertise and attention, Canada fails women in this country.
Update 09.24: via rabble – CLC/CTC statement on the closure of NAWL:
Women’s Equality moves to the back of the shop – Closure of NAWL leads to renewed call from labour for government to restore Status of Women mandate and funding
September 20, 2007OTTAWA – The Canadian Labour Congress renewed its call today for the federal government to reverse budget cuts that have devastated progressive women’s groups across the country and immediately reinstate the equality mandate for Status of Women Canada.
The call followed the announcement that the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) was shutting down its offices and laying off its staff in the wake of government funding cuts.
“The National Association of Women and the Law has a proven track record of getting results for women through careful research and principled calls for change when that research pointed toward a better deal for women in Canadian society,” said Barbara Byers, executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Byers says the closure of NAWL’s offices and its relegation to a back room with volunteer resources is a sad development that diminishes an important voice in Canadian society.
Women’s organizations, like NAWL, have played an important role in demonstrating why federal and provincial government should consider changing laws, policies and practices that discriminate against women. Through their dedicated work, reforms such as the inclusion of maternity benefits under Employment Insurance, amendments to human rights laws to prohibit sexual harassment and discrimination based on pregnancy and sexual orientation, the criminalization of wife assault and many others became a reality.
“Governments who placed a high priority on women’s equality and the elimination of discrimination recognized the value of what organizations like NAWL had to offer. Constructive criticism is a fundamental part of parliamentary democracy, which is why groups like NAWL found financial support through Status of Women Canada. The removal of that support, abruptly and without consultation by the new government has sent a chill through civil society, and silenced another voice for equality,” said Byers.
The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 136 district labour councils. Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca
Contact: Jeff Atkinson, 613-526-7425 and 613-863-1413
Also, Godammitkitty points to this bitterly bang on post by April Reign:
The highjacking of our government by special interest groups intent on forcing their narrow minded, narrow viewed, religious and idealogical doctrines upon the country as whole is a travesty that must be opposed.
We have only to look south of the border to see the havoc wrecked upon a society catering to the lowest common denominator.
This lengthy 2006 Walus article provides some examples of the feast currently being gluttonously enjoyed by our homegrown lowest common denominator, supping at the Tory policy table while the rest of us are left to scramble for the meager crumbs that drop on the floor.
They Call Him MISTER…
by matttbastard
I haven’t given him much link love lately, but Sinister Greg (one of the first Canadian bloggers I began to read on a regular basis) has really been on fire recently. Today the Sinister One points to this eloquent, pragmatic post from conservative pundit and MMP supporter Andrew Coyne (also published in today’s National Post), who ably explains why the long-term benefits of electoral reform should quell anxious partisan concerns of wary conservatives (small and capital ‘C’):
Living on a knife-edge does strange things to people. On the one hand, it leaves the parties in a perpetual fever of anticipation, convinced they have only to gain a few points in the polls to destroy their opponents. That is one reason the two federal conservative parties, Progressive Conservative and Reform, were so reluctant to merge. It is also the reason why minority governments tend, under our system, to be so unstable.
On the other hand, the consequences of losing a few points makes them excessively, almost neurotically cautious, unwilling to take the slightest risk or advocate the mildest change, but each hugging as close as it can to the median voter, the status quo and each other. Hence the dominance of the two brokerage parties, indistinguishable in philosophy — alike, that is, in the lack of it.
Put the two together, and you have much of Canadian politics — viciously partisan, yet unspeakably trivial; much ado about nothing much. McGuintoryism, in short.
So the case for electoral reform, it seems to me, is one that conservatives, if not Conservatives, should find appealing. It is a cause that has tended, historically, to be identified with the left, not least in the current referendum debate; many conservatives have accordingly rejected it. Yet it is not the left that has suffered most under the current system. It’s the right.By whatever combination of historical circumstances, the left has a party that will advance its ideas, free of the brokerage parties’ grip: the NDP. Though not often in government, outside of the West, it has succeeded in dragging the entire political spectrum to the left, its policies adopted by Liberal and Conservative governments alikes. Nothing like it exists on the right, federally or provincially, nor has since Reform’s demise. Nor is one likely to emerge, so long as “first past the post” remains the rule.
The same is true of parties less easily categorized, like the Green party. Though it is the party of choice for hundreds of thousands of Canadians, it has yet to win a seat, unable to concentrate its support geographically in the way that FPTP requires. How many more votes might it win if potential supporters were not disheartened at the prospect of “wasting” their votes, or worse, “splitting” the vote, as they are forever warned against doing?
But what if there were a system in which no votes were wasted, where vote-splitting ceased to be an issue? There is such a system, and it’s called proportional representation, of which the proposal before Ontarians is a variant. Not only the Greens, but other parties — libertarian, social-conservative, or other — might then have a fighting chance. The spectrum of acceptable ideas for debate would noticeably broaden.
Related: “Rock-ribbed conservative” Greg Staples (another early Canuckosphere fav of mine) dittos Coyne, and supplements with more pragmatism (the theme of the week, methinks):
I’ve already stated that I think the right-wing would split under proportional representation. In Ontario you would see a Tory party, a libertarian/conservative party and possibly a social conservative party. Nationally you could add a Bleu party. The (red) Tory party could become a natural home for the dissaffected centre-right Liberal and we would not be locked into the perpetual NDP wagging the Liberal dog.
All this and we would have actual policy debate. That why I’m signed up.
Mychal Bell To Remain Imprisoned; Pushback Gets Ridiculous
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
So tell me again why Mychal Bell is still in jail (other than his complexion)? As Carmen D. points out, “He has been in jail since DECEMBER 2006“. Kevin’s right: “The Jena Courts seem intent on giving the middle finger to any notion of decency. “
Speaking of a distinct (and disturbing) bird-flip to decency, CNN also reports that “the FBI said it was looking into an online posting by a neo-Nazi white supremacist group that published the home addresses of all six of the African-American teenagers, as well as the phone numbers of some. The group said on its Web site it is calling on followers to “let them know justice is coming.”"
This sort of response, (and more asinine varients, such as this) are hardly unexpected, alas. I have a feeling the noose is going become a rejuvenated icon of hatred for the racist far-right.
Related: via Hatewatch, skinhead style goes haute couture; David Neiwert offers a mea culpa for going AWOL on Jena:
None of the top-tier liberal bloggers paid the Jena situation much attention in the weeks leading up to the march, and those of us on the left dedicated to civil-rights and race issues — like myself — tended to let it slide. The bloggers who made this happen were all “bloggers of color” whose own burgeoning network turned out to be truly potent.
Fortunately, their energies made the difference in Jena, and now the whole world is watching and paying attention. That includes those of us who should have been doing so in the first place.
Update: Earl Ofari Hutchinson: enough with the tears; show Mychal the money.
Slacker Friday: Jena Aftermath Edition
by matttbastard
x-posted @ Comments From Left Field
Thus begins the conservative pushback. And yes, as predicted, they did jump on Whitlock’s article like white on…well, you get the idea. Oh, and you can also add The Artist Formerly Known As Jane Galt to the Confused Conservative Crew (ok, so technically McArdle identifies as ‘libertarian’; more often than not I’d simply call her ‘obtuse’), who all seem to think that any Jena information that doesn’t originate from someone white and/or reflexively skeptical of racism an ‘objective’ source is, by default, a desultory mess. To paraphrase Teen Talk Barbie, “Race is tough!”
More:
- University of Maryland law professor Sherrilyn Ifill on lynching and the symbolism of the noose (via Footnoted).
- WSWS coverage of the Jena rally; round ups from Racialicious and Slant Truth (thanks for the link love, Kevin!) .
- Bobby Brown exercises his comeback prerogative: AOL Black Voices reports that the former Mr Whitney Houston is attempting to rehabilitate his image slated to perform at the “Jena 6 Empowerment Concert,” to be held in Birmingham, Alabama on Sept 29. This is of course all contingent on whether he has to be in court that day.
- Media Matters For America: Chris Matthews’ Jena reporting leaves much to be desired (hey, look over there – OJ!!11)
Non-Jena linkage:
- Jon Rynn:
Is global warming — or more generally, the assault on the biosphere, including the wholesale destruction of ecosystems and species — an emergency, as was World War II? In other words, do we have to do something quickly? Second, what was done in World War II to meet the emergency, and what lessons can we learn from that response?
- Fern Hill on foot clinics, unlawfully lawful activities, and the perplexing parsimoniousness of Planned Parenthood (fetch forth teh fainting couch!)
- Via Liberals For MMP, David Docherty and Rick Salutin both understand why electoral reform in Ontario is, in Salutin’s words, ‘a no-brainer’. Related: Idealistic Pragmatist on what is and isn’t politically ‘pragmatic’:
Pragmatism is NOT political expediency. Doing whatever it takes to get elected is about a lust for power, not about finding practical solutions to society’s ills.
Pragmatism is NOT a lack of ideology. If you don’t know what you stand for, where does your search for solutions even begin?
Pragmatism is NOT cynicism. The scornful negativity of cynicism may be currently in vogue, but it’s hardly a tried and true way of successfully solving problems.
Pragmatism is NOT centrism. This one is going to be especially hard for Canadians, I suspect, but it’s true–not all centrists are pragmatists, and not all pragmatists are centrists. And there are many pragmatic solutions to problems that don’t fall at the midpoint on a left-right continuum.
What pragmatism actually is, then, is choosing solutions to policy problems based on what has been shown to work in your own jurisdiction, or in another province or country with similar circumstances.
- Samantha Bee asks La Shawn Barber “Is A Woman President Ready For America,” and in response America asks “Who the hell did LaShawn Barber bribe to become a media pundit?” Personally, I wouldn’t give her five seconds @ Speakers Corner, let alone significant MSM screen time/print space (h/t Michael Tedesco).
- Defence Minister Peter McKay continues a longstanding Canadian tradition. And no, it doesn’t involve maple syrup or kissing cod – although I would contend that McKay’s puckered lips are firmly planted someplace cold and clammy.
- In case any of you were still wondering, no, Senator Clinton is not a lesbian. According to Sean Kennedy of The Advocate, who interviewed Clinton for an upcoming feature, “I 100% believe she’s a straight, heterosexual woman”. A bemused Pam Spaulding throws out a modest challenge to the MSM: “[A]nyone in the press up for asking Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham that question at a press conference, given all the rumors swirling out there about them? Now that’s entertainment.”
Happy Friday, brethren.
Jena 6 Day of Action 09.20 (BUMPED & UPDATED)
by matttbastard
(Update 09.20:
add your pic here)
More from Carmen D. @ All About Race
I will be wearing black tomorrow am wearing black today. I hope you all will be are, too.
(thanks to Carmen D. for the Jena Six image, originally created by Gilbert Vallian; video via Scout Prime)
(updates below the fold)
MSM ‘AWOL’ on MMP
by matttbastard
Andrew Mindszenthy, co-ordinator of the CDM/MDI “Missing Referendum” campaign looks at how major media outlets in Canada have given short shrift to the upcoming 10/10 referendum.
I Am Unexpectedly Fond of Barry Manilow.
by Isabel
From Barry Manilow’s website, re: his choice not to be interviewed by anti-choice Elizabeth Hasselback on The View:
Hey guys,
I wanted to let you know that I will no longer be on The View tomorrow as scheduled. I had made a request that I be interviewed by Joy, Barbara or Whoopi, but not Elisabeth Hasselback. Unfortunately, the show was not willing to accommodate this simple request so I bowed out.
It’s really too bad because I’ve always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs. The good news is that I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album so I hope you can catch me on those.
Love,
Barry
Awww, I never knew that he was pro-choice!
Hat tip, Ann, Feministing.
Food with a face
by boomgate
What boomgate has been up to lately
Free patterns for making amusing deliciousness available at http://www.cherrymix.com/
Naomi Klein Interview on The Hour
by matttbastard
The reluctantly iconic author of The Shock Doctrine discusses disaster capitalism, the rise of “right wing corporate class war”, and how she feels about No Logo, 8 years later.
Update – Related: VideoNation interview with Klein, who discusses how the Bush admin perfected disaster capitalism post-9/11.
Good Cause Alert.
by Isabel
A woman named Gina Elise is channeling 1940′s pinup sirens and selling calendars in an effort to raise money for underfunded veteran’s healthcare programs.
The more I heard about the uphill battles of our Wounded Warriors, the more convinced I was of the need to produce a project that would bring in funds to support all of our hospitalized Veterans.
My late Grandpa Lou served in the army for 4 years during World War II. I wanted to do something to honor his name. I always loved the romance of those bygone eras – especially the 1940’s – and I drew inspiration from the World War II pin-up girls, whose photos and paintings boosted morale for our soldiers fighting overseas.
If you’re interested, order here.
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- What’s behind the rise of Golden Dawn in Greece? Feature Writer
- Reflections on an Arab Spring in Peril Nasser Ali Khasawneh
Alterdestiny
- All The Power To The Top noreply@blogger.com (Redbeard)
- Now The Serpent Was More Subtil... noreply@blogger.com (Redbeard)
- Who Made That Butterball For You? noreply@blogger.com (Redbeard)
- Historical Image of the Day noreply@blogger.com (Erik Loomis)
- Reagan by Eugene Jarecki noreply@blogger.com (Redbeard)
WorldBridge: Refugees International’s Blog
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LabourStart
- Chile: Outsourced Chilean Copper Workers '21st Century Slave Labour'
- Egypt: Union movement finds its own strength; workers are now crafting a new network to secure workplace rights
- Australia: World's richest woman makes more profits by off-shoring Australian jobs
- Korea (North): Amnesty report: 200,000 prisoners in Kim's Gulag
- Cambodia: Security guards clash with workers at factories that supply Levi’s, Gap and H&M
PSA: In Honor of Sgt. Omar Mora & Sgt. Yance T. Gray
by matttbastard
Please see this post by Kyle E. Moore @ the other mothership. As they say, read the whole damn thing. To summarize (for those who, for whatever reason, are allergic to clicking links):
Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers