The Rag Blog | The Latest in News and Views from the Progressive Front

Margaret Randall :
Fidel Castro, ¡presente!

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

For half a century Cuba stood as a beacon for
other countries suffering from poverty and neocolonial domination.

Fidel Castro speaks at the International Book Fair in Havana, February 10, 2012. Image from Cubadebate.

By Margaret Randall | The Rag Blog | November 29, 2016

Fidel Castro, longtime leader of the Cuban Revolution, died on November 25th at the age of 90. He withdrew from public office in 2008, when his younger brother Raul took over. Raul has said he will step down in 2018. An era will end, and younger men and women will take the reins of a political process that remains unique in modern times. At the Cuban Communist Party congress in April of this year, Fidel voiced an awareness of his impending death: “Our turn comes to us all,” he told the assembled delegates, “but the ideas of Cuban communism will endure.”
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Cuban Revolution, Deaths, Fidel Castro, Margaret Randall, Neocolonialism, Obituary, Rag Bloggers | Leave a comment

Alice Embree :
Remembering Richard Jehn

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Alice Embree

Richard Jehn, 1950-2016, was the founding editor of ‘The Rag Blog’ in May 2006.

Photo from Richard Jehn Memorial page on Facebook.

By Alice Embree | The Rag Blog | November 28, 2016

Richard Jehn, founding editor of The Rag Blog, passed away on November 2, 2016, at the age of 65.

Richard was born in Austin, Texas, on November 14, 1950. His father taught meteorology at the University of Texas. In October 1967, Richard was kicked out of McCallum High School for failing to cut his hair short enough to please the school administrators. He made his way down to the UT Student Union where he met staffers from The Rag, Austin’s underground newspaper.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alice Embree, Deaths, Environmental Activists, Obituaries, Rag Bloggers, Rag Reunion, Richard Jehn, The Rag Blog, Whatcom Watch | 9 Comments

James McEnteer :
Vultures over Havana

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Fidel Castro and the Castration of U.S. Latin American policy.

Fidel Castro. Public domain image.

By James McEnteer | The Rag Blog | November 28, 2016

When Fidel Castro died in his sleep at 90 on November 25 in Havana, American news consumers might have been forgiven for thinking he was slain in battle.

“Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades,” said Donald Trump, according to CNN.

“Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights. While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long…” Trump promised to join with the Miami Cubans toward a future in which “the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.”
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Cuban Revolution, Deaths, Fidel Castro, Fulgencio Batista, James McEnteer, Latin American Politics, Rag Bloggers, U.S. Foreign Policy | 2 Comments

Elaine J. Cohen :
METRO | It’s time for a ‘migra’ watch

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Alice Embree

ICE out of Austin meeting. Photo by Elaine J. Cohen / The Rag Blog.

By Elaine J. Cohen | The Rag Blog | November 27, 2016

AUSTIN — ICE out of Austin, an immigrant-led activist group, and the Austin Sanctuary Network met together for the first time at Wildflower Unitarian Church on November 22, 2016. More than 50 people met in the building on Oltorf, just west of IH-35, which Faith Presbyterian shares with Wildflower.

The meeting was called to address the immediate concerns of Austin’s immigrant community in the wake of the recent election results. Various people from a range of community groups addressed the meeting on a variety of issues. One of the first myths exposed is the misconception that Austin is a sanctuary city. It is not.

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Posted in Metro, RagBlog | Tagged Austin Activists, Austin Sanctuary Network, Elaine J. Cohen, Immigration, Metro, Notes from the Resistance, Rag Bloggers | Leave a comment

Chellis Glendinning :
Los indígenas del Oceti Sakowin

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Cecilia Colome

La oposición de los indígenas Oceti Sakowin a un oleoducto en su comunidad

Por Chellis Glendinning | The Rag Blog | 23 de noviembre, 2016

La oposición a un oleoducto

La oposición a un oleoducto ha reunido a los pueblos y comunidades indígenas de todas partes de Estados Unidos. Havasupai, del Gran Cañón; Arapaho, de Wyoming; Shoshone, de Nevada; Cheyenne, de Oklahoma; Navajo, Laguna Pueblo y Hopi Tewa, de Nuevo México, tienen representantes en el campamento Oceti Sakowin/Campamento de las Piedras Sagradas en Dakota del Norte.

Hasta allí, además, han llegado participantes de un número impresionante de grupos de otros países como los Sami, de la Escandinavia; los Sarayaku, de Ecuador y los Cree, de Canadá, entre otros. Sin contar a los defensores no-indígenas de ONG como Greenpeace, Amnistía Internacional y la American Civil Liberties Union, y por supuesto a la prensa internacional.
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Posted in Español | Tagged American Civil Liberties Union, Amnistía Internacional, Bakken, campos de petróleo, Chellis Glendinning, comunidades indígenas, Dakota del Norte, Dakota del Sur, Español, Greenpeace, Oceti Sakowin, pueblos indígenas, Standing Rock Sioux | Leave a comment

Mike Davis :
Reflections on the election

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Even the Cato Institute believes that the election was Clinton’s loss, not Trump’s win.

Trumpus Electus. Art by DonkeyHotey / Flickr.

By Mike Davis | The Rag Blog | November 17, 2016

We should resist the temptation to over-interpret Trump’s election as an American Eighteenth Brumaire or 1933. Progressives who think they’ve woken up in another country should calm down, take a stiff draught, and reflect on the actual election results from the swing states.

National returns, of course are not yet complete, with millions of California votes remaining to be counted, the pre-election polls were flawed if not worthless, and authoritative statistics on the composition of the turnout must await the Current Population Survey’s reports over the next year or two. Nonetheless the Pew and Edison exit polls (the latter is the supplier of data to the AP and The New York Times) combine a more trustworthy array of survey techniques than the earlier polls and usually yield productive insights.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2016 Elections, Donald Trump, DonkeyHotey, Election Analysis, Mike Davis, Presidential Elections, Rag Bloggers | 1 Comment

Omar Rodriguez Ortiz :
METRO | Fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline reaches Austin

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Allies of the ‘water protectors’ collect provisions for the harsh winter.

Volunteers coordinate supplies to be delivered to Standing Rock Sioux and their allies. Photo by Omar Rodriguez Ortiz / The Rag Blog.

By Omar Rodriguez Ortiz | The Rag Blog | November 16, 2016

AUSTIN — People started arriving in the morning with non-perishable food, heavy winter clothing, boots, sleeping bags, tents, and medical supplies, as if preparing for war. An army of volunteers coordinated the arrival of cars, the delivery and sorting of provisions. As it started raining harder and harder, even more people turned up.

With only three days of planning, they met Saturday, November 5, at the Resistencia Bookstore in Austin to aid the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,172-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline that will enable the daily transportation of hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil from North Dakota to refineries in Illinois.
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Posted in Metro, RagBlog | Tagged Dakota Access Pipeline, Direct Action, Environment, Metro, Native Americans, Omar Rodriguez Ortiz, Rag Bloggers, Standing Rock Sioux, Water Protectors | 12 Comments

Alan Waldman :
TELEVISION | ‘Endeavor’ is compelling Oxford-based prequel to ‘Inspector Morse’

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Ancient university town is the site of many murders and other shady goings-on for a bright, young policeman to solve.

Shuan Evans stars in Endeavor.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | November 16, 2016

[In his Rag Blog column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his favorite films and TV series that readers may have missed, including TV dramas, mysteries, and comedies from Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. Most are available on DVD, Netflix and/or Netflix Instant Streaming, and some episodes are on YouTube.]

For 49 years lovers of well-written and -performed mystery have adored Britain’s superb Inspector Morse TV series and its outstanding sequel Inspector Lewis. Since 2012, thanks to PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery, American viewers have also been able to enjoy the prequel series, Endeavor, featuring Shaun Evans as young police detective constable Morse.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alan Waldman, British Television, Criticism, Endeavor, Murder Mysteries, Rag Bloggers | Leave a comment

Mike Davis :
The undead

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Is Trump an improvised, rough-at-the-edges avatar of the Nixon coalition? Ask Pat Buchanan.

Trump the undead? Nixon avatar? Photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr.

By Mike Davis | The Rag Blog | November 10, 2016

I finally think I’ve understood why we’re so obsessed with zombies.

The discarded shroud, the rustling in the weeds, the vaporous apparitions seen from Pocatello to Lake Wobegone, the ghost army of admirers… we were forewarned that he was back but failed to pay attention.

On Halloween eve the “New” Nixon Library launched an expensive newspaper advertising campaign, inviting us to “discover how Richard Nixon’s legacy continues to shape our world.” He was the hero, the ads claim, who “protected the environment… desegregated schools, ended the Vietnam War.” “Buy tickets now,” the Library urges.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2016 Elections, Donald Trump, Mike Davis, Pat Buchanan, Presidential Election, Rag Bloggers, Richard Nixon | 7 Comments

Jack A. Smith :
The election is over and life goes on

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

The clouds may be gray, but today we begin the struggle to fight against regression into the past.

Post-election grey clouds. Public domain image.

By Jack A. Smith | The Rag Blog | November 10, 2016

It is a gray overcast day in upstate New York. No sunshine. But the clouds continue to drift, the birds are flying, cars and a school bus pass on our road, the subdued remains of our fall garden are soothing.

Life does go on for all of us even in the midst of profound political/social disaster. The racists and haters of women, and those who are intolerant of immigrants and refugees and Muslims and Mexicans, the KKK and the neofascists and the nativists, the supporters of the ruling class and neoliberal capitalism — all have won the election.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2016 Elections, Donald Trump, Jack A. Smith, Neofascism, Presidential Elections, Rag Bloggers, Trump Resistance | 5 Comments

Marilyn Katz :
Trump won because Democrats have lost touch with the working class

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

We must go beyond the borders of our cities and beyond the easy coalitions we’ve relied on.

Donald Trump in Reno, January 2016. Photo by Darron Birgenheier / Flickr.

By Marilyn Katz | The Rag Blog | November 10, 2016

Like all progressives, I take no joy in the rise to power of a man who traded on xenophobia, racism, misogyny, and fear to pave a path to the White House. But I was not surprised by his victory. Attacked by my friends for being a “nabob of negativity,” I have long believed that Donald Trump could win.

More than a year ago, I wrote about how Oreo cookie maker Mondolez International planned to ship jobs from Chicago to Mexico, ostensibly, to save money. I called for a boycott. I appealed to elected officials, friends, other Democrats, unions, and others. None responded.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2016 Elections, Democratic Party, Donald Trump, Globalization, Identity Politics, Marilyn Katz, Presidential Election, Rag Bloggers, Working Class | 5 Comments

Rabbi Arthur Waskow :
The election: Heartbreak and beyond

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Here’s what we need to do: First, mourn.
Then organize.

“Grief” by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington D.C., a memorial commissioned by Henry Adams to his wife Marian.

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow | The Rag Blog | November 9, 2016

First, heartbreak and mourning.

For the America where we thought at least a majority was too menshlich, too compassionate, to turn its own real pain and fear into imposing nightmare on “the other”;

For Mother Earth, who now without a vigorous defense from the USA is more likely to fall irredeemably into climate disaster;

For the poor, for immigrants, for Muslims, for Blacks and Latinos and the Native Nations, for many women, for many of the sick who will lose their health insurance, for GLBTQ folks, and even for the white blue-collar workers who voted for Trump but will not in fact be redeemed by huge tax cuts for the hyper-wealthy and canceling broader health insurance;
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2016 Elections, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Presidential Election, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Rag Bloggers | 3 Comments

For half a century Cuba stood as a beacon for other countries suffering from poverty and neocolonial domination.

Richard Jehn, 1950-2016, was the founding editor of ‘The Rag Blog’ in May 2006.

Fidel Castro and the Castration of U.S. Latin American policy.

Even the Cato Institute believes that the election was Clinton’s loss, not Trump’s win.

Allies of the ‘water protectors’ collect provisions for the harsh winter.

Ancient university town is the site of many murders and other shady goings-on for a bright, young policeman to solve.

Is Trump an improvised, rough-at-the-edges avatar of the Nixon coalition? Ask Pat Buchanan.

The clouds may be gray, but today we begin the struggle to fight against regression into the past.

We must go beyond the borders of our cities and beyond the easy coalitions we’ve relied on.

Here’s what we need to do: First, mourn. Then organize.

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For half a century Cuba stood as a beacon for
other countries suffering from poverty and neocolonial domination.

Here’s what we need to do: First, mourn.
Then organize.