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

Lamar W. Hankins :
Aslan’s portrayal of Jesus as revolutionary zealot is fanciful history

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Mistakes in ‘Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,’ show that Reza Aslan lacks the necessary background to write a historical work about the period and Jesus’s place in it.

Jesus drives money changers from the temple. Image from SF Gate.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | March 27, 2014

Part one of two.

Just over 78% of adults in the U.S. report that they are Christian, according to the latest Pew Research findings. The thesis of a relatively new book by Reza Aslan should interest them. In Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Aslan portrays Jesus as a revolutionary zealot intent on the overthrow of the Romans in order to drive them from the land of Israel — land promised to the Jews by God.

It is not a new thesis. I remember Christians and others in the 1960s who viewed Jesus as a revolutionary for other reasons — mainly as a figure who wanted to create a society of equality that was closer to communism than to corporate capitalism.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Bart Ehrman, Biblical Scholarship, Books, Christian History, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Jewish History, Lamar W. Hankins, Rag Bloggers, Religious History, Reza Aslan, Zealot, Zealot Series | 1 Comment

Bob Feldman :
A People’s History of Egypt, Part 20, 1990-1992

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The Mubarak regime, supported financially and militarily by the United States, was accused of serious human rights violations, including extensive use of torture.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak walks with President H.W. Bush on White House grounds, April 4, 1989. Photo by Doug Mills / AP.

By Bob Feldman | The Rag Blog | March 26, 2014

[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.]

The only legal leftist opposition party which the Mubarak regime still allowed in 1990, al-Tagammu, “absorbed many radical Egyptians” who still believed “that significant change” in Egypt “can be accomplished only by assembling democrats, Marxists, Nasserists, and independents into a united force against the present regime,” as the 1990s began, according to Selma Botman’s The Rise of Egyptian Communism, 1939-1970.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Bob Feldman, Egyptian History, Hosni Mubarak, Human Rights, People's History of Egypt, Rag Bloggers, Torture, World History | Leave a comment

Alan Waldman :
‘Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’ is a fun, stylish mystery series set in 1928 Melbourne

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Delightful flapper detective Miss Phryne Fisher, wonderfully played by Essie Davis, makes this Aussie gem well worth your time.

Essie Davis stars as flapper detective Miss Phryne Fisher.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | March 25, 2014

[In his weekly 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, and Scotland. Most are available on DVD and/or Netflix, and some episodes are on YouTube.]

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is a terrific recent discovery of mine — a fresh and well-produced detective series featuring a 28-year old female sleuth in 1928 Melbourne, Australia. The first series of 13 episodes began airing Down Under in 2012, has been sold to 120 territories around the world, and has already aired on some PBS stations. A second series of 13 episodes began filming in February 2013.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alan Waldman, Australian Television, Criticism, Detective Series, Essie Davis, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Rag Bloggers | 1 Comment

Tom Hayden :
The Cold War that threatens democracy

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The new Cold War doctrine is that democratically elected nationalist or socialist leaders are new dominos threatening the fall of a U.S.-controlled order.

Tom Hayden, left, interviews Mikhail Gorbachev in 2002. Photo courtesy Tom Hayden.

By Tom Hayden | The Rag Blog | March 20, 2014

While the first Cold War was fought against communism, a successor Cold War is steadily unfolding against democratic electoral outcomes unfavorable to America’s perceived interests.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal occupation of Crimea has for now revived raging Western memories of Joseph Stalin’s top-down incorporation of the former Eastern Europe. Lost in the new anti-Russian narrative, however, is the growing U.S. pattern of ignoring democratic electoral outcomes where they are inconvenient, in the name of “promoting democracy.”
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Cold War, Crimean Conflict, Domino Theory, Egypt, interve, Latin America, Muslim Brotherhood, Neoliberalism, New Cold War, Rag Bloggers, Russia, Socialism, Tom Hayden, U.S. Foreign Policy, Ukraine, Venezuela, Viktor Yanukovych, Vladimir Putin | Leave a comment

Beverly Baker Moore :
Finding some happiness nearby South By

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

There may have been insanity downtown but my friendly neighborhood venues were rife with talent all day and all evening all week.

Swedish band Baskery performs at Leeann Atherton’s Full Moon Barn Dance in South Austin, Sunday, March 16, during SXSW. Photo © Per Ole Hagen. See more of Per Ole’s photos at Artists Pictures Blog.

By Beverly Baker Moore | The Rag Blog | March 20, 2014

AUSTIN, Texas — South By Southwest (or South By, as we’re supposed to be affectionately calling it now), has come and gone again. It’s one of the noisier demonstrations of the over-the-top success of the Austin growth machine.

During the festival itself the hype would have one believe it’s everywhere, but it’s not. A friend called to check on us the day after the car careened through the crowd downtown to make sure we hadn’t been run over. We appreciated the concern but of course we didn’t get run over… we know better than to go anywhere near downtown during a hipster invasion.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Austin Growth, Austin Music, Baskery, Beverly Baker Moore, Leeann Atherton, Music Business, Rag Bloggers, South Austin, SXSW | Leave a comment

Robert Sharlet :
Jim Retherford, the ‘Man in a Red Devil Suit’

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Jim has been a fearless New Left editor, a political performance artist, part of a guerrilla theater troupe, and has worked with some of the legendary figures of the ’60s.

Jim Retherford, the Man in a Red Devil Suit, Bloomington, Indiana, 1969.

By Robert Sharlet | The Rag Blog | February 19, 2014

Last summer political scientist Bob Sharlet attended a reunion in Bloomington, Indiana, of New Left activists who had gone to school at Indiana University in the 1960s and early ‘70s. They came to the event from all over the country. “Quite a number had not broken bread or lifted a glass together in at least a quarter of a century,” Bob noted, “while many had neither met nor even spoken for over 50 years.”

Sharlet interviewed several of those in attendance for his blog, Searching for Jeff, which is dedicated to his late brother, Jeff Sharlet, who was a leader of the GI resistance movement during the Vietnam War and also was active in SDS at Indiana in the mid-‘60s. (And who shouldn’t be confused with the award-winning journalist and author of the same name. That Jeff Sharlet is Bob Sharlett’s son.)
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Abbie Hoffman, Austin Activists, Bloomington, Direct Action, Guerrilla Theater, Indiana University, James Retherford, Jeff Sharlet, Jerry Rubin, New Left Reunion, Political Performance Art, Progressive Journalists, Radical Activists, Rag Bloggers, Robert Sharlet, SDS, Sixties, The Rag, The Rag Blog, The Spectator, Thorne Dreyer, Underground Press, Yippies | 5 Comments

Lamar W. Hankins :
Both Democrats and Republicans have it wrong

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Once the Republicans tried to wrest back welfare reform as a political issue from Clinton, it was a race to see who could pander most successfully to the electorate.

Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton yuk it up in November 1992. Both presidents moved their respective parties to the right. Photo by AP.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | March 19, 2014

In the age of Obama and right-wing politics, people who share many of my political interests often ask me why I’m so hard on the Democratic Party. I am also criticized frequently for my views toward the Republican Party, but most people seem to understand why I hold these views. The reasons for both sets of opinions are more similar than many might expect.

What I see as important about government is in no small measure a result of my parents living through the Great Depression and World War II. I grew up with an indelible impression that it was possible for government policies to make this society better than it was, both economically and in international relations, just as government policies had led to many of the problems government later corrected.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged American Society, Bill Clinton, Bipartisanship, Conservative Politics, Democratic Party, Lamar W. Hankins, LBJ, Neoliberalism, Obama Administration, Paul Ryan, Rag Bloggers, Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, War on Poverty, Welfare Reform | 1 Comment

Robert Jensen and Pat Youngblood :
Working for a realistic left politics in Texas

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

To our friends outside Texas, we ask: Is it really so much better where you live? Where in mainstream politics in the United States is there much sanity?

Image from Warming Glow.

By Robert Jensen and Pat Youngblood | The Rag Blog | February 18, 2014

AUSTIN, Texas — As left/progressive political organizers in Texas, we have for years listened to friends around the country ask, “How do you survive in such a crazy state?”

It’s true that the recent primary election results are cause for concern. Our likely next lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, advocates that creationism not only be taught but “heralded” in schools and has warned that undocumented immigrants bring leprosy. And crazy campaign rhetoric turns into regressive policies, such as the Legislature’s assault on women’s health now being felt as clinics close.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged American Left, American Politics, Climate Change, Income Inequality, Mainstream Politics, Patrick Youngblood, Progressive Movement, Radical Activists, Rag Bloggers, Reactionary Politcs, Robert Jensen, Texas Politics, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Imperialism | 4 Comments

Ron Jacobs :
The multi-pronged provocation of Crimea

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

After years of watching Washington and its NATO alliance entice and cajole traditionally Russian allies to join the western capitalist sphere, Moscow has recently begun fighting back.

Solider in unmarked uniform guards the airport in Crimea. Image from SundayWorld.com.

By Ron Jacobs | The Rag Blog | March 18, 2014

Recent events in the Ukraine are even more center stage since the voters there elected to become independent.

Although there are some questions about the complete veracity of the recent referendum, the common understanding seems to be that enough residents of Crimea no longer wish to be part of Ukraine. Whether or not they want to be independent or part of Russia (and whether or not they have much choice in the matter) remains the unanswered part of the equation.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Crimean Conflict, Crimean Referendum, Crimean War, Eastern European, NATO, Rag Bloggers, Ron Jacobs, Russia, Ukrain, Viktor Yanukovych, Vladimir Putin, World History | Leave a comment

Ed Felien :
Straight talk about Crimea

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Was the referendum on Crimea’s independence legitimate? Does Catalonia have a right to secede from Spain? Scotland from Britain? Texas from Mexico?

A man walks past a billboard in Crimea that reads, “Stop Fascism.” Photo by Baz Ratner / Reuters.

By Ed Felien | The Rag Blog | March 17, 2014

Crimea is a dangling appendix to the Ukraine. It is connected by a narrow patch of land barely 10 miles across. The total area of the Ukraine is about 233,000 square miles. The total area of Crimea is about 10,000 square miles, so Crimea represents only 4.3% of the total area of the Ukraine.

Russia has based its naval fleet at Sevastopol in Crimea since 1783. After Ukraine got its independence in 1991 it signed a partition treaty with Russia in 1997 that allowed Russia to maintain its naval base and two air bases and station as many as 25,000 troops in Crimea.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Crimea, Crimean Conflict, Crimean Referendum, Eastern Europe, Ed Felien, Rag Bloggers, Right Sector, Russia, Ukraine, Ukranian Fascism, Vladimir Putin, World History | Leave a comment

Kate Braun :
Lady Moon brings intense water energy on the Vernal Equinox

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Balance is an important consideration for this celebration: hours of daylight and darkness are equal, hence the term ‘equinox.’

Balance egg; turn off computer. Image from Friday Fun Facts.

By Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | March 17, 2014

“Pretty colors…everywhere / Mother Nature, she still cares…”

Thursday, March 20, 2014, is the Vernal Equinox. Lady Moon is in her third quarter in Scorpio, bringing intense water energy that balances Lord Sun’s position in fiery Aries as he continues his cycle of growth and prominence.

Balance is an important consideration for this celebration: hours of daylight and darkness are equal, hence the term “equinox.” The Wheel of Life has turned one-quarter of its total rotation and is now half-way toward the Summer Solstice; it is a good time for you and your guests to consider how you balance work, play, and spirit in your lives.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Astrology, Celebration, Kate Braun, Metaphysics, Rag Bloggers, Ritual, Spirituality, Vernal Equinox | Leave a comment

Tom Hayden :
The Taliban are winning

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

This war never should have happened because it was always unwinnable, unaffordable, and therefore unpopular.

Karzai meets with representatives of the Taliban. Image from Jihad Watch.

By Tom Hayden | The Rag Blog | March 12, 2014

The U.S. national security elite, mainstream media, and therefore most of the American people, are in strategic denial of the fact that the Taliban are winning the war in Afghanistan.

Why is the denial “strategic”? Because our government and military establishment cannot easily admit failure without damaging our superpower status and their multiple careers. However, such a denial also risks never learning the lessons.

Defeat has multiple possible meanings. It doesn’t mean the insurgents will overrun Kabul any time soon. It is possible, however, that the Afghan security forces will implode along with the Humpty-Dumpty regime of President Hamid Karzai.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Afghanistan War, Al Qaeda, Anti-War Sentiment, Hamid Karzai, Imperialism, Military Intervention, Public Opinion, Rag Bloggers, Taliban, Tom Hayden, U.S. Foreign Policy | Leave a comment