"I recoil with horror at
the ferociousness of man. Will nations never devise a more rational umpire of
differences than force? Are there no means of coercing injustice more gratifying
to our nature than a waste of the blood of thousands and of the labor of
millions of our fellow creatures? ": Thomas Jefferson = =
"No man survives when freedom fails, The
best men rot in filthy jails, And those who cry 'appease, appease' Are hanged by
those they tried to please.": Hiram Mann
"The civility of no race can be perfect whilst another race is degraded. It is a
doctrine alike of the oldest and of the newest philosophy, that man is one, and
that you cannot injure any member, without a sympathetic injury to all the
members": Ralph Waldo Emerson. 1844
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have
no food, they call me a communist .- Dom Helder Camara
Johann Hari: The real reason Obama is not making much progress
Before you can appeal to America's voters you have to appeal to the corporations
Almost a year after Barack Obama ascended to the White House, many of
his supporters are bemused. His healthcare bill is a hefty improvement
but it still won't provide coverage for all Americans, and may not
provide a public alternative to the over-charging insurance companies -
if it passes at all. His environmental team is vandalising the vital
Copenhagen conference by saying the US – the single biggest emitter of
warming gases – will not sign up to any legally binding restrictions
there. He has placed the deregulation-fanatics who caused the New
Depression, like Lawrence Summers, in charge of the recovery. Despite
the real improvements on Bush – such as the end of torture, the
resumption of stem-cell research, and opposition to the coup in
Honduras – many people are asking: why he is delivering so little, so
slowly?
A pair of seemingly small stories about the forces warping American politics can help us to answer this question. At first glance, they will seem like preposterous caricatures, but the facts are plain. The institutions that are blocking progress on all these issues – Republicans in the Senate, and the mighty corporate lobbying machine that bankrolls both parties – have rallied over the past few months to defend two causes with very little popular support in the United States: rape and slavery. No, really. If we begin to explain how this came to pass, then we might see why the American political system is malfunctioning so badly, even after a landslide victory for change.
Let's start with rape. This story begins in Iraq in 2003. The private military contractors sent by the Bush administration to guard the oil pipelines didn't want to get bogged down in expensive legal cases if anything went wrong. When it came to Iraqis, the Bush team simply exempted them from all Iraqi law, in a move so sweeping one Senator called it "a license to kill". But what about if their employees attacked each other, or other Americans? The private companies insisted all their employees sign contracts saying that, whatever happens to them, they will settle it in in-house, through "arbitration". Why? While representing the company at a real legal trial costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, an arbitration panel costs a few thousand. It saves cash.
This policy came, however, with a different price tag. According to her later sworn testimony, Jamie Leigh Jones – a 20-year-old working for the contractor Halliburton/KBR – was hanging out with co-workers one night in Iraq when her drink was spiked. When she woke up, she was haemorraging blood from her vagina and her anus. Her breast implants were ripped. The damage was so severe she later needed reconstructive surgery on her genitalia. She surmised she had been gang-raped by the seven men she had been drinking with. When she approached Halliburton/KBR, she says they locked her in a metal container with no food or water for 24 hours. A doctor came to see her wounds and took DNA evidence, although it was later "lost." A guard took pity on her and loaned her his cell phone. She called her father, who called the American embassy – and only then was she released.
In an Iraq that was collapsing all around her, there was no chance of the Iraqi police investigating. Halliburton/KBR insisted that her contract required the alleged gang-rape to be addressed by the company's private arbitration process, forbidding any claim in the American courts. (If this was how they treated blonde English-speaking American girls, what did they do if Iraqis said they had been abused?) After Leigh Jones went public, many other American women came forward to say they had similar experiences working in Iraq. Her legal team argues the refusal to allow rape to be pursued through the courts created a climate where it was more likely to happen.
The Democratic Senator Al Franken, when he heard about this, was horrified, and tabled a simple amendment to the law. It demanded that no company that prevents rape victims from having their day in court should receive taxpayers' money any more. Rape is rape. A majority of Republicans in the Senate – including John McCain – voted against the amendment. Why? The private contractors are major donors to the Republican Party, but the Senators claim this didn't affect their judgement. No – they said that Franken's proposal was a "vendetta" against Halliburton/KBR with "political motives". Franken pointed out any company trying to stop rape victims getting justice would be treated exactly the same by this law. The Republicans ignored him. They voted to maintain a system where some rape is not pursuable in a court of law.
At the same time, a group of Democratic senators have tried to amend the latest customs bill to ensure that nothing produced by slaves should be sold in the United States. It sounds uncontroversial – as uncontroversial as punishing rapists, in fact. Yet corporate lobbyists are militating behind the scenes to oppose it. As the private subscription-only newsletter "Inside US Trade" reported: "Business groups are worried by the potential effects", and a source tells them there will be, "a push from lobbyists closer to the Finance Committee mark-up of the bill... US industry groups and foreign governments [ie those that use slave labour] could form ad hoc coalitions to help send a united message." They will fight for their right to use slave labour.
These examples are extreme, but they reveal a powerful undertow that is at work on all political issues (and both main parties) in the United States. To see how, you have to understand two processes. The first is the nature of corporate power. Corporations are structured to do one thing, and one thing only: to maximise profit for their shareholders. No matter how personally nice or nasty their CEOs are, if they put anything ahead of profit, they will be sacked, and replaced by somebody who doesn't. As part of a tightly regulated market, this can be a useful engine for growth. But if it is not strictly reigned in by the law and by trade unions, this pressure for profit will extend anywhere – from trashing the environment to rape and slavery, as these cases remind us. The second factor is the nature of the American political process today. If you want to run for elected office in the US, you have to raise a fortune from corporations or the super-rich to pay for TV advertising. So before you can appeal to the voters, you have to appeal to the corporations. You do this by assuring them you will serve their interests. Once you are in office, you have to keep pleasing them at every step, or they won't pay for your re-election campaign. This two-step overwhelms the positive instincts the individual politicians may have to do good – and drags the US government further and further from the will of the people.
Obama had to climb through this system, and he is currently imprisoned by it. It explains his relative failure so far. Healthcare is proving so hard because the insurance companies are paying both Republicans and right-wing Democrats in Senate to thwart any attempt to provide universal healthcare coverage. Yes, it would save the 17,000 Americans who die every year because they lack insurance but it would depress their profits. Reducing carbon emissions is proving so hard because the oil, coal and gas companies are paying Senators across the spectrum to crush any moves to reduce oil, coal and gas use. And on, and on.
So far, Obama has tried to co-opt the corporations into his agenda by ensuring they will profit from any changes, but this inevitably waters down the proposals, often to the point of uselessness. The Cap and Trade legislation before Congress, for example, will barely limit carbon emissions at all because it has been gutted to please the polluters.
He will only achieve significant progressive change if he reforms the political system itself – to make it accountable to the American people, not the corporations. He needs to change the rules of the game. Ban big business from making political donations, and replace it with state funding. Shut down the lobbying industry. Make a big populist speech announcing you are driving the money-lenders out of the temple of democracy: it'd be surprisingly popular in a country where people can see they're being ripped off every day. The alternative is to become rapidly complicit in a system where defending rape and slavery is seen as just another day's work in Washington DC.
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official ♥ myspace
People have been asking if I've been hitting the Sauce, so I know this venue on the busy intersection of Lyndale & Lake is getting huge buzz love. I may have to postpone my attendance because I have two flat tires (those reading my twitters will already know this).
So tonight, The Mood Swings will be at the Sauce, at their CD-releasing party. As with previous Susstones showmania, they are cheap ($5, man!) and features a ton of bands (Two Harbors, First Communion Afterparty, and Blue Sky Blackout are also playing). Between bands, Marc the Guv is handling the DJ spins. Anyway, more bang for your buck seems to be Susstones' motto.
Before you go, some things you should know:
- Ashley Ackerson is the primary headperson is married to their now-new-bassist Ed Ackerson (see Polara)
- This is their third album, Recessionista, which came out last Tuesday on Susstones Records.
- The Current (a Minnesota Public Radio station) has sponsered this event
official ♥ myspace
Earlier this year, Those Darlins rolled through town. It was one of their favorite show, loads of people showed up. Heavy drinking were involved.
I will be covering their show next Sunday, post-Thanksgivings and post-Black Friday, it looks like it's going to be a great time. Very interested in checking out King Khan (I like their name).
The rest of their tour dates:
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FRI 11/20 PORTLAND, OR Dante's
SAT 11/21 SEATTLE, WA Chop Suey
MON 11/23 VANCOUVER, BC The Red Room
WED 11/25 CALGARY, AB Warehouse
THUR 11/26 EDMONTON, AB Pawn Shop
FRI 11/27 SASKATOON, SK Amigos
SAT 11/28 WINNIPEG, MB Royal Albert
SUN 11/29 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Triple Rock
TUE 12/1 MILWAUKE, WI Mad Planet
WED 12/2 CHICAGO, IL Logan Square
THUR 12/3 CINCINNATI, OH Northside Tavern
official ♥ myspace
Brazilian Bebel Gilberto is touring the US, starting in Washington on November 23rd. Her latest album is called All in One and I just read is mostly in Portuguese.
We've previously mentioned her with her "jazz" standard, covering Night and Day - but you may know her as the daughter of João Gilberto, who, along with then-wife Astrud Gilberto, made "The Girl From Ipanema" a world-wide hit (and ultimately made bossa nova music famous).
I am keeping my eye on December 3rd for her appearance at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis.
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BEBEL GILBERTO ON TOUR
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Nov 23 - Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club
Nov 25 - New York, NY - Hiro Ballrooom
Nov 27 - Boston - Paradise Rock Club
Nov 28 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
Nov 29 - Montreal - L'Astral
Nov 30 - Toronto - Sound Academy
Dec 2 - Chicago - Park West
Dec 3 - Minneapolis - Dakota Jazz Club
Dec 5 - Denver - Ogden Theatre
Dec 8 - Solana Beach - Belly Up Tavern
Dec 9 - Los Angeles - Henry Fonda Theatre
Dec 10 - San Francisco - Bimbo's
11/20/2009 09:31:54 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
Memories and floating and wishing and feeling all sorts of oceanic.
An idea that I'm toying with. It's toying with me, actually.
I've been reading a Peter Singer book about ethics. He is probably best known for being credited with the formation of animal rights movements around the world because of his ethical deliberations. He, in turn, credits Socrates with starting it all when he said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Singer has spent his life examining this life. And down through the ages we humans have been earnestly examining life so that we can live it worthily. And I have to say that I think we have done ourselves a disservice in doing so. As I look around me at our fellow creatures I see them living life quite happily, thank you. Our fellow meat eaters don't stop and think about the ethical implications of eating other creatures. They just do. Otherwise they would die of starvation. That's just the way it is. Why should we humans be any different to our fellow creatures?
Don't get me wrong. I don't have any illusions about the place of humans in this universe. We may be the biggest fish in this pale blue dot pond, but there is nothing to say that there aren't bigger metaphorical fish out there who will one day chew us up, belch, and spit us out with a casual observation that we were a bit overdone. If we are honest with ourselves, that is how we rate in the overall scheme of things in this universe. But honesty with ourselves is a rare trait, isn't it.
So it is that I confess to eating my fellow creatures with relish. As I said before, that's just the way it is. I don't say that I'm altogether happy with that disregard for them, but to go down the path of pondering over the ethics of doing so seems to me to be fraught with danger. I've mentioned Einstein's universe here before, but I'll do so again:
"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
It's that last bit that made me pause to think, "...widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty". How do I show compassion for all living creatures if I happily eat them? But then, as I look around me, all living things include the plants and the fish, as well as the domesticated animals that we eat. If I didn't eat them, I would die. I'll leave ethical martyrdom to others, thanks.
So, as we travel this wondrous journey we call "life", I think it is right and proper that we pause to analyse our actions, and to wrestle with the implications of those actions, as Socrates entreated us to do. But in the end we each must decide for ourselves what constitutes a meaningful and ethical life. I think the important thing is not what we decide, but that we take the trouble to ensure that decision is an informed one. Socrates must be smiling.
THE PRISONER
amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner
I love the original series. Although it got a bit LSD-y towards the end with #1 and there were way too many #2 to keep track of. Still, the #6, played by Patrick McGoohan, maintained his sanity and desire to escape from The Village.
AMC Television remade the show into a six-episode miniseries, which aired November 15th to 17th, tries to capture the weirdness of the original, yet updating it to a whole new audience.
I will start with what I dislike about the new series: the new village is massive (like at time it feels as if it's the size of Minneapolis), the iconic "Columbia" style bicycle is missing, and the Village's icon looks a bit like giving you the middle finger. Ian McKellen, who plays #2, is given too much screen time. To me, #6, played by James Caviezel, is your main focus.
What I like about the new series: people in the village does not remember the world outside and everything from cars and architecture has a weird style to them.
So far, I've only watched the first three episode, and the introduction of #6 to an old man #93, and the Village was handled very well. The "brother" of #6, not so much. Should be interesting to see how the mini-series ends. Until then, be seeing you.
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myspace.com/musicfromglee ♥ fox.com/glee
I did try to get into the Fox series Glee with the pilot, mostly because I thought the show would appeal to me. Think about it: outcasts, geeks, and nerds singing well-known cover songs.
My main complaint is the "reality" documentary style that's popular with modern comedies like The Office and Parks and Recreation. Despite losing me as a viewer, Glee certainly have their fans. Everyone I know that watches Glee tells me that I'm missing such a great show.
As a cover lover, I accepted to review Glee: The Music, Volume 1 simply based on their cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" (see also Covering Journey).
I thought all of the 80 power ballads songs works really well, but the more softer solo songs doesn't interest me. I also dug when the song is "reimagined". For instance, Queen's "Somebody To Love" is transformed into a cheery gospel song.
While I do not mind the random pop and R&B songs, they seem to be lumped together in blocks. The block of Kanye West ("Gold Digger), Rihanna ("Take A Bow"), Jazmine ("Bust Your Windows"), and Celine Dion ("Taking Chances") was almost unbearable.
Choice in cover songs goes back to The Supremes ("You Keep Me Hangin' On") to solid 80s hits. I do like the 80s songs, I will have to admit. The best covers are REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling", Heart's "Alone", and Young MC's "Bust A Move".
I feel, as much as some of these covers are pretty awesome, that they remain too faithful to the original songs in certain cases. I also feel that you may have an added value if you have seen the show and may enjoy the songs even more as a result.
Glee: The Music, Volume 1 is available now from Columbia Records. Fans, keep an eye out for Volume 2, out in early December. I was privy to "Lean On Me", which I did enjoy many vocals on it. It made the song sounds bigger than the original. Anyway, can't wait to hear Lily Allen's "Smile".
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abc.go.com/shows/v
I grew up watching the original V. I loved it when I was a child, but re-visiting the show with a recent purchase of $10 for the complete series, I'll have to say that the show does not age well. It's cheesy by today's standards.
When I heard that they were remaking V, I was, of course, interested. I saw the teaser on Hulu, and have steadily watched the first three episodes. I'm hooked.
I like the idea that the visitors were here before they arrived in the sky - so that anyone around you could be a visitor. I also like the idea that the main character is now a woman (she's from Lost), and I suspect their base of operation is now in a church. However, there are some things that I think they could've handled better... like pacing. The reveal of a green person on the very first episode or that one of the main character was a visitor - well that could've been saved until later for that shock moment midway into the series...
Post-9/11, the new series takes on a different meaning from the original series. So far, I'm enjoying it.
11/20/2009 00:04:12 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
Hat tip WannabeeTesla
My first job was working as a make-up artist in my mom's cosmetic shop, which was located in "the dead mall" across the street from the mega-mall, where everyone respectable went to shop. The only folks who ventured into the dead mall were those with bizarre fetishes they wanted to try out in "public" without actually being too far out into the public sphere. My four hour shift was often punctuated with high school principals and construction workers in drag, trying out the new high heels they just scored at Payless; a 60 yr. old woman dressed as a naughty school girl being led around on a leash by her husband; your occasional flasher; foot fetish guy who would creepily make me show him the colors of "toenail" polish we carried and on & on...
Anyway, it appears that Vox is now the dead mall. Of course, I'm sure there are still many "respectable" folks on here...but more so, there are a lot just letting their freak flag fly. And I love it. You are my people and I'm happy to be back. But don't send me pictures of your penis. Thanks.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26373428-5003402,00.html
Alcohol helps 'lower heart disease risk'
November 19, 2009 07:26pm
MEN who drink alcohol every day see a nearly one-third average reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease, according to a long-term study among Spanish men published today.
The research unfolded over a decade among more than 41,000 men and women aged between 29 and 69, who were assessed for their health and lifestyle as part of a European probe into cancer.During the course of the study, 609 cases of heart attacks and other "coronary events" happened, 481 among men and 128 among women.
Among men, those drinking moderate, high and very high levels of alcohol all had a lower risk of coronary heart disease compared with non-drinkers.
For those classified as former drinkers, the risk was 10 per cent lower; for those drinking little (0.5 grams of alcohol per day), the risk was 35 per cent; for moderate drinkers (5-30 grams per day), the risk was 54 per cent lower; and for high (30-90 grams per day) and very high drinkers (more than 90 grams per day) it was halved.
By way of comparison, a 285ml glass of heavy beer containing 4.9 per cent of alcohol amounts to 11 grams, while a 180ml glass of wine with 12 per cent alcohol has 17.06 grams.
Women also benefited from alcohol intake, but the effects were not statistically significant, possibly due to lower numbers of "coronary events" in that group.
The type of alcohol consumed did not affect the level of protection.
The paper sheds light on the situation in Spain, which is the world's third largest producer of beer and wine and has the sixth highest per capita consumption of alcohol. But it also has one of the lowest death rates from coronary heart disease in the world.
To anyone tempted to defend heavy boozing as an act of healthiness, the paper also points to the many risks of alcohol abuse, in terms of premature death and disability.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that of the approximately two billion people out of Earth's 6.7 billion who drink alcohol regularly, over 76 million have ill health as a result, the paper says.
The study appears in Heart, a journal of the British Medical Association (BMA).
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26371980-952,00.html
Doctors tell of joy at successful surgery on twins
November 19, 2009 02:19pm
UPDATE 2.19pm: THE surgical team behind the miracle separation of conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna have recounted their joy at being able to separate the girls.
A team of 16 surgeons, doctors and nurses worked for almost 32 hours to separate the sisters, who were joined at the head.
At a media conference today, the surgeons said they were incredibly proud to be part of the groundbreaking operation and thanked the hundreds of people involved.
Director of Neurosurgery Virginia Maixner, who led the team with neurosurgeon Alison Wray, said she was overwhelmed when the twins were finally separated.
"Sometime in the early hours of Tuesday, I looked at Alison and Alison looked at me and I said 'I think we've done it','' she said.
"And that was an amazing moment. To have struggled for so long, to have worked so hard for what was not just that day but for a whole two years of work. To be able to say 'I think we've done it'.''
Trishna awoke from a coma this morning, while her sister Krishna faces a more difficult recovery owing to the pressures from the surgery.
"Of the two twins Krishna is the one that has to adjust more,'' she said.
"We will plan to wake her up this afternoon. It's looking very positive at this stage.
"(Trishna) looks brilliant. She's talking, she's being Trishna, she's behaving the way she normally did,'' she said.
Ms Maixner said brain scans showed no early signs of brain damage to either of the girls.
"The brains look really, really good on the scans, we're really, really happy.
Ms Maxiner said Trishna was being comforted by the twins guardian Moira Kelly and that she was aware she was no longer joined to her sister.
"I do think they do notice it and it's something we need to start addressing," she said.
"We need to make sure that passage is as smooth as possible for them."
News that Trishna had woken come as the two young Australian women who brought the girls' plight to the world shared their joy at the successful separation
Danielle Noble, 27, and Natalie Silcock, 33, are a big part of the story of the brave girls, and Ms Noble admitted shedding tears as she watched coverage of the marathon surgery to separate them at the Royal Children's Hospital.
"I feel connected to the girls so it's been an emotional couple of days," she said.Ms Noble first laid eyes on the twins while she was working as a volunteer at a Bangladeshi orphanage nearly three years ago.
The girls were barely a month old and their situation seemed hopeless.
But Ms Noble, who now works for the United Nations in Bangkok, could not walk away.
"Anyone who sees newborn children in distress is going to feel like they have to do something about it," she said.
Holidaying in Queensland, Ms Noble said she felt a mixture of joy, relief and nervousness over the critical next few days for the twins.
"It's been a long journey, and in a way it feels a little bit surreal," she said. "I feel some disbelief that we've come this far, and excitement."
The outcome so far had been exactly what she hoped for when she first started calling Australian doctors and hospitals and raising money for the twins.
"It's just so great, I think, to see that the impossible has become possible," she said.
"Maybe it wasn't a realistic thing to hope for, but I think for everyone involved this whole process has shown that miracles happen."
Melbourne-based disability worker Ms Silcock helped organise Trishna and Krishna's journey to Australia.
She met the twins in June 2007 after visiting the orphanage when working for Australia Volunteers International in Dhaka, and said they had come such a long a way.
"There's been such a big change, particularly in Krishna, the little one," she said.
They had two very different personalities right from the start, but both were fighters.
The twins were already sick when Ms Noble first saw them.
"It was all a bit overwhelming really," she said.
"Their situation seemed a little bit desperate.
"They needed world-class medical attention, and it really hit home seeing them there, that they deserved an opportunity greater than what they had."
The Sydney woman soon realised it was too much for her to take on alone, so the Children's First Foundation became involved.
Ms Noble visits the twins whenever she returns to Australia, and hopes to see them this weekend.
The 15 nuns at the Missionaries of Charity in Dhaka, who each helped in raising the twins, prayed for them as they went into surgery on Monday.
"We prayed from 8am to 8pm," Sister Grace said.
The following day their prayers were answered.
Global interest in the twins has been intense, with the Royal Children's swamped by media attention from countries including Japan, Britain and the US.
Hospital spokeswoman Julie Webber said never before had there been so much attention.
"It's to be expected, it wasn't at all surprising ... we just knew that there would be this amount of interest," Ms Webber said.
