METRO PODCAST | Visionary artist and storyteller Luis Guerra joins Thorne Dreyer on riveting episode of Rag Radio.
Thorne Webb Dreyer, Editor
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Bowe Bergdahl, the ‘universal soldier,’ and the true cost of war
As long as there are people who will agree to fight to kill others for the whims of a nation state’s leaders, we will continue to have war.
Universal soldier: GI in Afghanistan. Photograph by Max Whittaker / Corbis. Image from The Guardian.
He’s five foot two and he’s six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of thirty-one and he’s only seventeen
Been a soldier for a thousand years
— “Universal Soldier” by Buffy Saint-Marie
Reading about Bowe Bergdahl in the papers since his release from captivity on May 31, made me think of another soldier, whose memorial service I attended on June 9. Jack had been in Special Forces for many years. He had learned Arabic and Farsi as part of his training, which included joint operations with the British, the Saudis, the Australians, and others in parts of Africa he didn’t talk much about.
He did not serve in Afghanistan, but he was in both of the Iraq wars. From the time of the first Iraq war, the one that George H. W. Bush had the good sense to end as soon as its measured purpose — driving Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait — had been accomplished, Jack had neurological symptoms associated with what came to be called Gulf War Syndrome.
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METRO | Beverly Baker Moore : Austin’s Hippie Church is all celebration, no dogma
As the energy builds, others in the audience join the regular dancers, moved by infectious enthusiasm, some cosmic spirit… and the margaritas.
Singer Leeann Atherton preaches to the choir during Austin’s Hippie Church, Sundays at Maria’s Taco Xpress, 2529 S. Lamar Blvd. Photo by Beverly Baker Moore / The Rag Blog.
AUSTIN — About noon on any given Sunday you can stop by Maria’s Taco Xpress on South Lamar and find a happy little celebration called “Hippie Church.” The “church” part derives from the Sunday timing and the gospel/spiritual themed live music; the “hippie” part comes from the dancing regulars. Officially it is billed as “gospel brunch.” There is no proselytizing, no tithing (although they do pass a tip jar for the musicians), and no dressing up. But there are margaritas.
The self-identified hippie dancers started doing their thing about 17 years ago and have been at it since. Back then some of the dancers, including current regular Bruce Patzke, had already been into ecstatic dancing in the neighborhood on Sunday mornings. Afterwards they would head over to Maria’s previous location (next door to the current spot) for food.
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Posted in Metro, RagBlog
Tagged Austin Musicians, Beverly Baker Moore, Celebration, Gospel Music, Hippie Church, Hippies, Leeann Atherton, Maria's Taco, Metro, Music Venues, Rag Bloggers, South Austin, Xpress
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SPORT | Was the Spurs win a symbolic victory for the left?
Besides the triumph of the Spurs’ collectivism over the Heat’s individualism, internationalism won over Americanism.
San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (from Argentina) practices his ballet during the NBA finals. Photo by Soobum Im / USA TODAY.
How is the victory of a major professional sports franchise, the San Antonio Spurs, a symbolic victory for the left?
First, however, for those of you who might have missed it, the reigning world champion Miami Heat were more than beaten. They were destroyed. The Spurs beat them mercilessly by almost 20 points a game over the last three games. Had it not been for some uncharacteristic missed free throws near the end of game 2, the Spurs would have swept Miami in four straight games, mostly routs.
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Tagged Basketball, David P. Hamilton, Miami Heat, NBA, Professional Sports, Rag Bloggers, San Antonio Spurs, Sports
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METRO | Beverly Baker Moore reports that Austin’s ‘Hippie Church’ is all celebration, no dogma.
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The madness in Iraq and the comeback of the neocons
The original blame for this disaster is on the Bush administration, but also on all those who succumbed to a Superpower Syndrome, which claimed we could redesign the Middle East.
Iraqi tribesmen gather to join Iraqi security forces in the fight against Jihadist militants. Photo from AFP / Getty Images.
American activist anti-war networks are perfectly right in standing against renewed U.S. intervention in Iraq. So far Obama has been forced by events to send some 275 U.S. troops for embassy protection, while a decision on bombing is being mulled. The confused Congress needs to be called upon to be a counterweight against the hawks who want nothing more than to blame Obama instead of themselves for “losing” Iraq.
But there is far more to do. We are deep into the battle over memory.
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Celebrate vitality, creativity, abundance at Summer Solstice
It starts a time of reflection, contemplation, and evaluation of where you are, what you have done, what has been left undone, and why.
Poulnabrone Dolmen at sunset, Burren, County Clare, Ireland. Image from Crossroads Dispatches.
“The sun appears to stop/And rest upon the blue”
Saturday, June 21, 2014, is the Summer Solstice, the longest day and shortest night of the year. The Goddess is now Matron, ripe with pregnancy. It is a time to celebrate vitality, creativity, health, and abundance.
Once again the Oak and Holly Kings engage in their ritual dance, reflecting the change of seasons. This is the beginning of the ascendency of the Holly King, the king of the waning year. It starts a time of reflection, contemplation, and evaluation of where you are, what you have done, what has been left undone, and why.
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Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Astrology, Ceremony, Kate Braun, Metaphysics, Rag Bloggers, Ritual, Spirituality, Summer Solstice
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METRO | Mariann G. Wizard : Fragmented planning in Southeast Austin? Or worse?
I can almost visualize oversized, faux luxurious, slapdash-built ‘mixed-use’ towers, perhaps rising already in blueprint form.
Four corners! Above is the southwest corner of E. Riverside and Grove Blvd. in Southeast Austin, courtesy of Google Maps. Photos inset in copy below are, from top, the southeast, northeast, and northwest corners. The lot on the northwest corner now sports a “For Sale” sign.
SOUTHEAST AUSTIN — More and more the City of Austin’s planning processes seem fragmented and uncoordinated. Maybe that’s because citizens aren’t seeing the big picture.
The intersection of E. Riverside Dr. and Grove Blvd. today quarters grassy hillocks, scattered mesquite trees, and wildflowers; that is, four vacant lots. Country Club Creek meanders nearby, on its way to the Colorado River. North lies an Austin Community College (ACC) campus; southward, Grove merges with southbound Montopolis St., crosses Hwy. 71/Ben White Blvd., and goes on beyond the Dove Springs neighborhood.
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Posted in Metro, RagBlog
Tagged Austin Energy, Austin Growth, Boardwalk Trail, City Planning, Gentrification, Light Rail, Mariann G. Wizard, Metro, Rag Bloggers, Southeast Austin, Transportation
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FRONT PAGE | David Hamilton says the San Antonio Spurs’ win over the Heat was a ‘symbolic victory for the left.’
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People’s History of Egypt, Epilogue/Update, Section 1, February-October 2013
Millions of Egyptians take to the streets and military deposes Morsi; El-Sisi initiates brutal counterrevolution.
Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi let their feelings be known, July 2013. Photo by AP.
[With all the dramatic activity in Egypt, Bob Feldman’s Rag Blog “people’s history” series, “The Movement to Democratize Egypt,” could not be more timely. Also see Feldman’s “Hidden History of Texas” series on The Rag Blog.]
By June 2013, large numbers of people in Egypt felt that — as the secular left anti-imperialist Revolutionary Socialists group in Egypt noted in its July, 6, 2013 statement, then Egyptian president “Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood had betrayed the principles of the January 25, 2011 revolution and overthrown its goals.”
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METRO | Mariann Wizard asks if planning in SE Austin is controlled by bickering special interests & if minority neighborhoods will be prey for the bulldozer?
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Gifts from the Great Spirit, tripping in NOLA, leaping forward & following a rainbow, 1975-’77
As the rain poured down and we cradled ourselves in the palm of a giant southern oak, Katy and I shook hands and committed to giving this restaurant thing a try.
Heartland Café patio, Chicago, September 1976. Photos by Michael James from his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.
[In this series, Michael James is sharing images from his rich past, accompanied by reflections about — and inspired by — those images. These photos will be included in his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.]
Our lives became intertwined when I met Katy Hogan in October 1975 on the mezzanine at the Midland Hotel and shared a joint during a Holly Near concert. This was a good thing, one of the best things in my life. The Vietnam War was over. So, too, the rigorous day-to-day organizing and politics of life in Rising Up Angry was slowly coming to a close. I was exploring my next moves.
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Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Chicago, Food, Heartland Cafe, Katy Hogan, Memoir, Michael James, New Left, Pictures from the Long Haul, Rag Bloggers, Rising Up Angry, Sixties, Travel
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