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

Aaron Schnautz :
METRO | ‘The Challenger’ is a newspaper published by Austin’s homeless

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Since they have no office, staff meetings are held under a giant oak tree in front of City Hall.

Every Sunday Challenger staffers gather to discuss stories for next week’s issue. Photo by Aaron Schnautz / The Rag Blog.

By Aaron Schnautz | The Rag Blog | October 26, 2015

AUSTIN — At the corner of Guadalupe and Cesar Chavez streets in downtown Austin, there is a giant oak tree in front of City Hall that offers a shady resting place — and a place to watch the bustling city spring to life. Hundreds of cars, including a number of shiny Porsches and BMWs, pass by, many with the windows down and the music up. Joggers aim for the paths along Lady Bird Lake and impatiently wait for the traffic lights to change. Families pop in and out of the nearby boutiques.

But this oak tree isn’t just a great vantage point to watch Austin and its citizens, it also provides something else: Every Sunday afternoon it becomes a meeting place for people publishing a special newspaper — one produced by Austin’s homeless population.
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Posted in Metro, RagBlog | Tagged Aaron Schnautz, Alternative Media, Austin Homeless, Journalism, Metro, Rag Bloggers, The Austin Advocate, The Challenger Newspaper, Valerie Romness | 3 Comments

The Rag Blog :
METRO EVENT | Remi Kanazi, Palestinian-American poet and human rights activist

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Alice Embree

Event: A Night with Remi Kanazi
What: Poetry and conversation
Date: Friday, October 30, 2015
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Where: ART 1.102 in the School of Art, UT-Austin
Address: San Jacinto and 23rd Street, Austin 78712
Admission: Free and open to the public

Event: Houston Solidarity Action
What: Demonstration
Date: Sunday, November 1, 2015
Time: 2:30-5:30 p.m.
Where: General Consulate of Israel
Address: 24 Greenway Plaza, Houston 77046
Admission: Public welcome

AUSTIN — Remi Kanazi, Palestinian-American poet and human rights activist, will read poetry from his new book, Before the Next Bomb Drops: Rising Up From Brooklyn to Palestine, at 6:30 p.m., Friday, October 30, 2015, in the auditorium of the UT-Austin School of Art (ART 1.102), at the corner of San Jacinto and 23rd Street.
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Posted in Metro, RagBlog | Tagged Houston Demonstration, Metro, Palestinian Solidarity, Poetry Reading, Remi Kanazi, UT-Austin | Leave a comment

Mike Klonsky :
Obama’s choice for Education Secretary worse than Arne Duncan!

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

John King’s top-down imposition of corporate-style reform policies has led to a revolt among parents and teachers in New York.

Teacher and parent groups in New York have demanded State Education Commissioner John King Jr.’s resignation. Photo from Education News.

By Mike Klonsky | The Rag Blog | October 26, 2015

“Throughout his term in New York, John King was notorious for his complete disconnect from parents, teachers, and school officials. Our only hope is that this bizarre move by the White House will have the same effect across the country, spreading the Opt Out movement to every corner of the nation.” — NYSAPE

CHICAGO — President Barack Obama’s choice of John King to succeed Education Secretary Arne Duncan couldn’t have been worse. Why did he do it? It’s hard to find a more reactionary and divisive thinker or practitioner than King in all of Obama’s realm.

As New York’s Education Commissioner, King’s top-down imposition of corporate-style reform policies, including Common Core testing mania, has led to a revolt among parents and teachers. If anyone deserves major credit for sparking the growing parent opt-out movement which has now spread nationwide and represents the biggest single threat to Obama’s own ed policies, it is King.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Arne Duncan, Common Core, Educational Reform, John King, Mike Klonsky, Public Education, Rag Bloggers, Secretary of Education, Standardized Testing | Leave a comment

Lamar W. Hankins :
We must act on Islamic State genocide

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Alice Embree

There should be little doubt that the Islamic State has committed genocide; its leaders regularly admit to that continuing war crime.

Islamic State fighter.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | October 25, 2015

“This is genocide.” Every time I read those words, I hear them in the solemn and sonorous voice of Edward R. Murrow, who began his World War II broadcasts from England with “This is London.” But what I am referring to here are the massive killings by the Islamic State of Kurds, Shias, Sufis, Christians, Yazidis, children, journalists, those deemed guilty of apostasy, women who do not submit to being raped, and many others whom the Islamic State considers infidels or pagans.

Because the nature of most of these groups was discussed thoroughly by Steve Russell in a Rag Blog article last year, I recommend looking at what he wrote then if you have questions about who they are.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Genocide, ISIS, Islamic State, Lamar W. Hankins, Radical Islamists, Rag Bloggers, United Nations, War Crimes | 3 Comments

Roger Baker :
What’s up with the global economy, and where do we go from here?

Posted on October 24, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

A deflationary spiral, such as is now becoming evident globally, acts as a natural poison.

Political cartoon from Secrets of the Fed.

By Roger Baker | The Rag Blog | October 25, 2015

It now appears that the grand yearly addition to total human wealth, the global GNP, is no longer growing. If so, this means the world is headed toward a global deflationary spiral, a contraction in the global economy similar in nature to the trade slump that spread globally during the era of the Great Depression.

There really is no other explanation but a global trade slump that can account for the steep decline in the prices of basic essential commodities like oil and copper, and also the decreased demand for shipping capacity reflected in the Baltic Dry Index.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Deflationary Spiral, Global Economy, Marxist Analysis, Rag Bloggers, Roger Baker, U.S. Economy | 8 Comments

Kate Braun :
Samhain, or Halloween, begins ‘the time of
no time’

Posted on October 24, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Also called Third Harvest and All Hallows Eve, this is a fire festival and should be celebrated outdoors.

The wise old Crone is depicted here as one the three stages of the Goddess. Image from RosesCrystal.

By Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | October 24, 2015

Saturday, October 31, 2015, is Samhain, which you may also call Halloween, Third Harvest, and All Hallows Eve. This is a fire festival and should be celebrated outdoors if at all possible. Be sure to have a visible flame, whether a bonfire or some candles or a smaller fire in a cauldron or barbecue grill. It will be important to save the ashes from your fire, too. When they are cool, spread them over the garden as this blesses the land.

After your guests have arrived and before the festivities begin, be sure to ceremonially sweep the area in which you will be celebrating. Include your guests in this activity by passing the broom or besom from one to another until all have had a chance to sweep a bit. This symbolizes sweeping away the old and opening the door to the new.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Astrology, Ceremony, Halloween, Kate Braun, Metaphysics, Rag Bloggers, Ritual, Samhain | Leave a comment

Mariann G. Wizard :
Why ‘Black Lives Matter,’ a lot!

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Those interested in the reasons for black oppression by the state may conclude that it adds to the corporate bottom line.

Woman at August memorial service for 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr., in Ferguson, Missouri. Photo by Michael B. Thomas / AFP / Getty Images.

By Mariann G. Wizard | The Rag Blog | October 20, 2015

As a jack-of-all-trades writer and 50-year political activist, I’ve spent a lot of time on, and put a lot of thought into, propaganda; all of which, as Bob Dylan sang, “is phony.”

Propaganda includes slogans, songs, graphic images, educational and/or advertising materials, and/or deeds that compel those who see, hear, study, or witness them to consider certain aspects of “reality” in a fresh light. Successful propaganda opens closed minds. Its “phoniness” often derives, in my experience, from its perishability. A meaningful and compelling slogan in one context or season often loses its punch as circumstances change (e.g., “I Like Ike“). You have to have something to put into those opened minds, or they eventually wander.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights, Institutional Racism, Mariann G. Wizard, Racial Justice, Rag Bloggers | Leave a comment

Murray Polner :
The Iran deal and the new, U.S.-inspired Middle Eastern arms race

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Hey, world, step right up: American weapons are available for (nearly) everyone.

Political cartoon by Jim Morin / Miami Herald.

By Murray Polner | The Rag Blog | October 8, 2015

So who won the “war” about the Iran Agreement?

Millions were spent for a stream of ads on TV and radio and in major newspapers in the “war” over Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. But one day while clicking through TV’s vacuous channels I picked up a local reporter visiting a Midwest diner asking diners what they thought of the Iran deal and was told they had never heard of it.

Back in the world, though, a bruising battle was on. Opponents were indifferent to the possibility of more war, which Obama said would result if the deal was rejected, meaning, I thought, so long as their kids didn’t have to fight. Supporters were branded Israel-haters and worse and several pro-deal Jewish Democrats were told they belonged in the ovens, the familiar consignment of adversaries to Auschwitz.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged American Jews, Arms Race, Iran Nuclear Treaty, Israel Lobby, Middle East, Murray Polner, Rag Bloggers | 1 Comment

Margaret Randall :
VERSE | Tango

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Thumbs dance a graceful tango
as right moves left
and left right across keys
in deliberate journey.

I look at the pianist’s feet
upon the pedals,
automatic underpinning,
cellular memory.

I observe the energy rising
from his center
through perpendicular torso,
hands exploding impossible hope.

I search his eyes
Oblivious to mine
because they already inhabit
a timeless destination.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Margaret Randall, Poetry, Rag Bloggers, Tango, Verse | Leave a comment

Elaine J. Cohen :
METRO | The new American ‘internment camps’: A bad idea that doesn’t go away

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

‘Family detention’ is just a euphemism for ‘prisons incarcerating immigrant women and children.’

This sign marked the small office of BI Incorporated.

By Elaine J. Cohen | The Rag Blog | October 7, 2015

AUSTIN — According to my well-worn Webster’s, a euphemism is “the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant” and comes from the Greek. For those of us who have been working to change current USian immigration policies, it is a constant struggle to strip away the euphemisms employed throughout the system and lay bare the ugly realities that they obscure.

Who better to recognize and illuminate these euphemisms than the Japanese-Americans who were rounded up and placed in “internment camps” from 1941 until the first days of 1945? It was with this in mind that in early September, RAICES of San Antonio held the conference, “The New American ‘Internment Camps’ — A Closer Look at ‘Family Detention.’” The event was held at Our Lady of the Lake University.
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Posted in Metro, RagBlog | Tagged Elaine J. Cohen, Electronic Surveillance, Euphemisms, Family Detention, Immigration Policy, Japanese-Americans, Language, Metro, Private Prisons, Rag Bloggers, WWII Internment Camps | Leave a comment

Alice Embree :
Democracy and the frog in the well

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

If our democracy makes your eyes glaze over,
Chile offers a refresher course on the possibility
of change.

Vote Frog! Drawing from Character Design Class.

By Alice Embree | The Rag Blog | October 1, 2015

A frog in the well knows nothing of the great ocean. That Chinese parable is about a frog living within the walls of a well that is told by a turtle of a great ocean. In junior high, I was that frog.

I was taught that democracy had a brand — U.S.A. My government classes explained that democracy had been perfected within our borders. The model was representative government with three branches providing balance — a Senate and a House in Congress, an Executive branch, and a Supreme Court. It was such a brilliant brand that it only made sense that we should export it to the world. And, if the rest of the world resisted, well we also had the most powerful military in the world.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alice Embree, Chilean Politics, Democracy, Electoral politics, Participatory Democracy, Port Huron Statement, Rag Bloggers | 3 Comments

Alan Waldman :
TELEVISION | ‘Last Tango in Halifax’ is Brit series about romance between two 70-year-olds

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

British national treasure Sir Derek Jacobi and veteran actress Anne Reid shine in this wonderfully written six-episode comedy-drama.

Last Tango in Halifax is television of rare quality.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | September 30, 2015

[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.]

Last Tango in Halifax is television of rare quality — funny, moving, engaging and utterly charming — so naturally it is British. In it, childhood sweethearts Alan and Celia, both widowed and in their 70s, fall for each other all over again when they are reunited over the Internet after nearly 60 years. As their lives collide for a second time, the couple laments what might have been.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alan Waldman, British Television, Criticism, Darek Jacobi, Last Tango in Halifax, Rag Bloggers | 1 Comment