Shelby Knowles :
METRO | Pulling the rug on the
Rundberg promise

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Funding has dried up for an ambitious community policing program that has been a huge success.

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Mohammed, cashier at a gas station on Rundberg Lane in Austin, welcomes Officer Taber White. Photo by Shelby Knowles / The Rag Blog

By Shelby Knowles | The Rag Blog | November 4, 2016

AUSTIN — Austin cop Taber White enters a gas station on the corner of Interstate 35 and Rundberg Lane and is welcomed with a joyful “Good Morning!” by the cashier, a man named Mohammed (who didn’t want his last name used).

White has been visiting this gas station, and walking the streets in this neighborhood, for more than three years as as part of an ambitious community policing program called Restore Rundberg. The project started three years ago as a way to have officers like White walk the beat, talk to residents, and be the “human face” of the police department.

It was meant to be, hopefully, a way for Austin to avoid the kinds of fiery, violent, eruptions that have plagued Ferguson, Missouri, and other places where relations between the cops and the community reached a breaking point.
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Harry Targ :
SPORT | The Cubs, struggle, and social change

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

The Cub’s victory teaches us that if people try hard enough and long enough, they can win.

chicago-cubs-1908-world-champions-geo-r-lawrence-pub-domain

The last time it happened: 1908 World Champion Cubs. Photo by
George R. Lawrence / Public Domain.

By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | November 3, 2016

Chicago’s iconic journalist, columnist, pundit, and Cubs fan, Mike Royko, once ruminated on what he learned from his years as a Chicago Cubs baseball fan: “It taught a person that if you try hard enough and long enough, you’ll still lose and that’s the story of life.”

He lived through a lot of history of Cubs defeat. Sometimes the Cubs got close to World Series play only to let errors or faulty complaints about how a fan interfering with an outfielder’s catch of a foul ball led to a playoff game loss. Or going back further to Royko’s youth, the Cubs acquired a colossally slow home run hitter to play one outfield position along with another great home run hitter who was even slower; or the trade of a future Hall of Fame outfielder/base stealer for a washed up pitcher.
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Dave Zirin :
SPORT | The sweetest escape: The Chicago Cubs win the World Series

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

After more than a century, the Cubs gave so many of us cathartic joy, just when we needed it the most.

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Cubs win! This image from 2012 was a photoshopped fantasy. Last night’s victory was not photoshopped! Image by Ron Cogswell / Flickr.

By Dave Zirin | The Rag Blog | November 3, 2016

There are no words. If the greatest predictor of the future is the past, why would anyone think that the Chicago Cubs would win the World Series in our lifetime? They hadn’t won a title since 1908. They hadn’t even appeared in the Series since 1945, before Jackie Robinson broke the damn color line.

This is a team with every possible resource, rooted in a major market, managed by future Hall of Famer Joe Maddon, and stocked with players chosen by the man who brought a World Series title to Boston, “The Curse-Breaker,” Theo Epstein. And yet even with all of these rational indicators, baseball fans know that this is an irrational sport.
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Ray Reece :
Remembering Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Tom was not only a world-class leader in the movement but also a beloved brother in struggle.

tom-hayden-jane-fonda-1973

Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda speak at news conference about 
the Paris Peace Accords, New York, 1973.

By Ray Reece | The Rag Blog | November 2, 2016

REMEMBERING TOM HAYDEN

rag-radio-logo-smallPeace activist and spiritual leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow and activist and SDS vet Carl Davidson, joined Thorne Dreyer on Rag Radio, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, 2-3 p.m. (CT), to discuss the life and legacy of Tom Hayden. Listen to the podcast here:

Peace and justice activist Tom Hayden, founding spirit of SDS, principal author of the Port Huron Statement, and arguably the most influential figure in the Sixties New Left, died Sunday, October 23, 2016, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 76.

Tom was a dear friend and colleague: a frequent contributor to The Rag Blog, a regular guest on Rag Radio, and a strong supporter of all our efforts.

This is one of several tributes to Tom Hayden we are publishing on The Rag Blog.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? That’s the title of a Coen Brothers film I haven’t seen. The phrase comes to mind as I reflect on the death of Tom Hayden recently in Santa Monica at age 76. Like most veterans of the anti-war, civil rights and other progressive movements of the last 50 years, I remember Hayden not only as a world-class leader in those movements but as a beloved brother in struggle. It’s hard to believe he is gone.
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Jim Simons :
METRO | Citizen James, Austin’s loss

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

James Gardner was pure Old Austin, and a quintessential beatnik.

james-gardner

James Gardner, quintessential beatnik.

By Jim Simons | The Rag Blog | November 1, 2016

AUSTIN — One of Austin’s most distinctive, identifiable, and interesting citizens died a few weeks ago.

James Gardner had lived in Austin at least since 1958, the year I first met him. He was seated at a long table at Scholz’ Bier Garten wearing his lederhosen and all-German garb, drinking beer from a fancy ceramic beer stein he brought back from Germany. He had been in the Army and stationed in Germany where he became enlightened by German intellectuals he met in beer halls — his lifelong political identity was radical with no apologies.
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James Retherford :
IMAGE | ‘Make America White Again’

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer
make-america-white-again

Digital image by James Retherford / The Rag Blog.

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Alan Waldman :
TELEVISION | Kiwi series ‘The Brokenwood Mysteries’ offers twisty small-town tales

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

Lush New Zealand scenery, good acting, and sharp plotting keeps us involved in these rural 2-hour murder mysteries.

brokenwood

Neill Rea and Fern Sutherland are featured in The Brokenwood Mysteries.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | October 31, 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.]

So far eight episodes of The Brokenwood Mysteries (including this one) have appeared on YouTube, and a third four-episode skein is now shooting. The 2014-2016 TV detective drama is set in and around the fictional town of Brokenwood (pop. 5000). Tim Balme conceived the series and is lead writer. As an actor he won Kiwi awards for Mercy Peak, Braindead and Jack Brown Genius. He was a writer on lively Outrageous Fortune, The Blue Rose, and The Almighty Johnsons.
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Thorne Dreyer :
We interviewed Tom Hayden on Rag Radio as Port Huron turned 50

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

‘If we appear to seek the unattainable, as it has been said, then let it be known that we do so to avoid the unimaginable.’ — Port Huron Statement

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Tom Hayden speaks about SDS and Port Huron at Rag Blog event at 5604 Manor in Austin, August 25, 2012. Photo by Carlos Lowry / The Rag Blog.

By Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | October 27, 2016

REMEMBERING TOM HAYDEN

rag-radio-logo-smallPeace activist and spiritual leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow and activist and SDS vet Carl Davidson joined Thorne Dreyer on Rag Radio, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, 2-3 p.m. (CT), to discuss the life and legacy of Tom Hayden. Listen to the podcast here:

Peace and justice activist Tom Hayden, founding spirit of SDS, principal author of the Port Huron Statement, and arguably the most influential figure in the Sixties New Left, died Sunday, October 23, 2016, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 76.

Tom was a dear friend and colleague dating back to early SDS; he was a frequent contributor to The Rag Blog, a regular guest on Rag Radio, and always a strong supporter of all our efforts.

Tom headlined three public events in Austin, most recently in April 2016, benefiting the New Journalism Project, the Texas nonprofit that publishes The Rag Blog and sponsors Rag Radio.

The following article appeared in a different form on The Rag Blog, January 26, 2012, and was republished by Tom at his Democracy Journal and by Truthout. Some of the issues discussed were about the Port Huron Statement and the legacy of the ’60s New Left and Tom also talked about events current at the time. We are posting this revised version as part of our Rag Blog tribute to Tom. Also find remembrances of Tom Hayden by Carl Davidson, Rabbi Arthur Waskow, and Judy Gumbo Albert.

Peace and justice activist Tom Hayden, a driving force in SDS and the Sixties New Left, was our guest on Rag Radio on January 6 and January 20, 2012. On the two hour-long programs we discussed the legacy of SDS and Sixties activism, as well as contemporary American society, foreign policy, and progressive politics.
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Carl Davidson :
My friend and comrade, Tom Hayden

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

He inspired me and many others to go to the battlegrounds and ‘put our bodies on the line.’

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Tom Hayden speaks on the “War at Home” panel at Vietnam War Summit, LBJ Library in Austin, April 27, 2016. Photo by Jay Godwin / Wikimedia Commons.

By Carl Davidson | The Rag Blog | October 26, 2016

REMEMBERING TOM HAYDEN

rag-radio-logo-smallPeace activist and spiritual leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow and activist and SDS vet Carl Davidson, joined Thorne Dreyer on Rag Radio, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, 2-3 p.m. (CT), to discuss the life and legacy of Tom Hayden. Listen to the podcast here:

Peace and justice activist Tom Hayden, founding spirit of SDS, principal author of the Port Huron Statement, and arguably the most influential figure in the Sixties New Left, died Sunday, October 23, 2016, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 76.

Tom was a dear friend and colleague: a frequent contributor to The Rag Blog, a regular guest on Rag Radio, and a strong supporter of all our efforts.

This is one of several tributes to Tom Hayden we are publishing on The Rag Blog.

I got the news as soon as I awoke Monday. Even though I knew he was seriously ill, it still came as a shock. It seemed too soon, still too much to do, and too many things I would still like to hear him speak and write about, but now would be unspoken and unwritten. Tom was a comrade in our same organization, Students for a Democratic Society, and in the same battles for peace and justice before I got to know him well enough to be among those he called his friends.
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Rabbi Arthur Waskow :
Tom Hayden, ¡Presente!

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

The Port Huron Statement that Hayden drafted, a deeply intelligent critical analysis of American society, became the manifesto of a generation.

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Tom Hayden speaks at the Vietnam Moratorium in Ann Arbor in 1969. Photo by Jay Cassidy, courtesy of Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan.

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow | The Rag Blog | October 26, 2016

REMEMBERING TOM HAYDEN

rag-radio-logo-smallPeace activist and spiritual leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow and activist and SDS vet Carl Davidson, joined Thorne Dreyer on Rag Radio, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, 2-3 p.m. (CT), to discuss the life and legacy of Tom Hayden. Listen to the podcast here:

Peace and justice activist Tom Hayden, founding spirit of SDS, principal author of the Port Huron Statement, and arguably the most influential figure in the Sixties New Left, died Sunday, October 23, 2016, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 76.

Tom was a dear friend and colleague: a frequent contributor to The Rag Blog, a regular guest on Rag Radio, and a strong supporter of all our efforts.

This is one of several tributes to Tom Hayden we are publishing on The Rag Blog.

Tom Hayden, who died on Sunday, October 23, was one of the best of the change-makers who made The Sixties a transformative time, and who have kept going with verve and persistence through the half-century since.

What made him so much a leader? And what can we learn from him?
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Judy Gumbo Albert :
Tom Hayden: Raising a cup to my fallen pal

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer
tom-hayden-and-judy-gumbo

Judy Gumbo Albert and Tom Hayden, 1969.

By Judy Gumbo Albert | The Rag Blog | October 25, 2016

REMEMBERING TOM HAYDEN

rag-radio-logo-smallPeace activist and spiritual leader Rabbi Arthur Waskow and activist and SDS vet Carl Davidson, joined Thorne Dreyer on Rag Radio, Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, 2-3 p.m. (CT), to discuss the life and legacy of Tom Hayden. Listen to the podcast here:

Peace and justice activist Tom Hayden, founding spirit of SDS, principal author of the Port Huron Statement, and arguably the most influential figure in the Sixties New Left, died Sunday, October 23, 2016, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 76.

Tom was a dear friend and colleague: a frequent contributor to The Rag Blog, a regular guest on Rag Radio, and a strong supporter of all our efforts.

This is one of several tributes to Tom Hayden we are publishing on The Rag Blog.

Tom Hayden has died.

Tom was brilliant, irascible, loyal and strong-minded; he was also ecumenical, occasionally grumpy, but very generous, with a powerful intellect that covered up a heart of gold.
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Mike Davis :
A week in the death of Alfred Olongo: This
is a journal

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Thorne Dreyer

In El Cajon, long histories of racial and anti-immigrant violence have fused together in a matrix of fanatical Christian conservatism.

alfred-olongo

Alfred Olongo. Public domain image.

By Mike Davis | The Rag Blog | October 25, 2015

(Wednesday, September 28)

Alfred Olongo, a 38-year-old Ugandan refugee and the latest unarmed victim of a U.S. police execution, died yesterday only a few streets away from where I grew up in El Cajon, California, a city of 100,000 20 minutes inland from San Diego.

To be precise, Olongo was shot in the 800 block of Broadway, where an apartment complex adjoins one of the score of mini-malls that line a road that once divided raisin vineyards from lemon groves. The site is down the street from the Extreme Gospel Worship Center and a creepy gun store, catering mostly to burly militia types, where you can buy a handbook on how to discreetly dispose of dead bodies.
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