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

Harry Targ :
Who makes U.S. foreign policy in the 21st century?

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

U.S. efforts in Venezuela and the Ukraine exemplify imperialism engineered through an embedded, extra-political ‘deep state.’

The ‘deep state’ at work? Digital illustration by ThranTantra / Deviant Art. Image from Online University of the Left.

By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | March 4, 2014

I have been teaching courses on United States foreign policy for about 40 years now and my sense of outrage at the enduring ruthlessness of that policy never abates.

We are just a few months away from what was a threatened U.S. attack on Syria which was beaten back by popular pressures. However, the hawks from scholarly, journalist, and political communities are ratcheting up pressure to return to the war option against that country; hoping that the American people’s capacity for resistance will have dissipated. In related demands, many foreign policy influentials are calling for the U.S. to withdraw from serious negotiation of differences with Iran.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Covert Operations, Deep State, Harry Targ, Hugo Chavez, Interventionism, Military Intervention, National Endowment for Democracy, Neoliberal Capitalism, Obama Foreign Policy, Peace Activists, Rag Bloggers, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Imperialism, Ukraine, Venezuela | Leave a comment

Lamar W. Hankins :
Legislative harassment: The plan to destroy women’s constitutional rights

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

For the last 40 years, a cabal of authoritarian, mostly religiously-inspired people has worked to diminish women’s constitutional right to control their bodies.

Political cartoon by Pat Bagley / Salt Lake Tribune.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | February 4, 2014

Human beings are constantly trying to change reality. I don’t object to this characteristic. In fact, I’ve spent a good deal of my life opposing some of the worst realities of the species: war, poverty, racism, sex discrimination, environmental destruction. What I have never tried to do is diminish anyone’s constitutional rights. But this is the chosen work of some in this country when it comes to women’s control of their reproductive processes.

By reproductive processes, I mean not only childbirth, but also contraception and termination of unwanted pregnancies, whether because of personal circumstances, the health of the fetus, or the physical or mental health of the woman.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Abortion Rights, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Rights, Family Planning, Health, Lamar W. Hankins, Personhood Movement, Rag Bloggers, Religious Right, Reproductive Rights, Roe v. Wade, War on Women | 4 Comments

Michael James :
Poor whites respond to Black rebellion, plus Buffalo Gap and the Klan, 1967-’68

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The summers of 1967 and ’68 were hot — real hot — and we were in the ‘guts of the ogre.’

james 2 - LADO_Training_1967._Posters_on_MJ's_Apt._Wall_(3)

Posters on the wall above my desk. Uptown Chicago, 1967. Photos by Michael James from his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.

By Michael James | The Rag Blog | March 3, 2014

[In this series, Michael James is sharing images from his rich past, accompanied by reflections about — and inspired by — those images. This photo will be included in his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.]

The summer of 1967 was hot — real hot. Temperatures soared and so did social unrest. Air conditioners were scarce and so was any semblance of authentic legislation to alleviate poverty and its co-conspirators, repression and neglect.

On the worst of the hot days I would go in DeMars restaurant in Uptown, order a strawberry ice cream sundae, black coffee, and ice water, and sit in an air-conditioned turquoise booth that gave me a view of the intersection of Wilson and Sheridan. Nights were the worst. I attempted sleep after a cold shower, lying naked on the bed with a fan blowing over me.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 1968 Democratic Convention, Black Power, Black Uprising, Civil Rights Movement, Community Organizing, Fannie Lou Hamer, JOIN Community Union, Memoir, Michael James, New Left, nostalgia, Peace Movement, Peggy Terry, Pictures from the Long Haul, Rag Bloggers, Rennie Davis, Rising Up Angry, SDS, Sixties, SNCC, Travel, Uptown Chicago, Vietnam War | 3 Comments

Thorne Dreyer :
PODCAST | Pliny Fisk and Gail Vittori talk sustainable design on Rag Radio

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Visionaries in the field for decades, Pliny and Gail have made significant contributions to the sustainability movement.

Pliny Fisk and Gail Vittori in the studios of KOOP-FM, Austin, Texas, on Friday, February 14, 2014. Photo by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

Interview by Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | March 2, 2014

Pliny Fisk and Gail Vittori, co-directors of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, were our guests on Rag Radio, Friday, February 7, 2014.

Rag Radio is a weekly hour-long syndicated radio program produced and hosted by long-time alternative journalist and Rag Blog editor Thorne Dreyer. The show is recorded at the studios of KOOP 91.7-FM, a cooperatively-run all-volunteer community radio station in Austin, Texas. It is broadcast live on KOOP every Friday from 2-3 p.m. (CST) and streamed live on the web.

Listen to or download the podcast of our February 14, 2014, Rag Radio show with Pliny Fisk and Gail Vittori, here:
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, Gail Vittori, Green Buidling, Health Care, Interview, Life Cycle Planning, Pliny Fisk, Podcast, Rag Bloggers, Rag Radio, Sustainability, Sustainable Design, Thorne Dreyer | Leave a comment

Ron Jacobs :
Moorcock’s ‘Pyat Quartet’ is story of a twentieth century knave

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

This epic work unfolds in a litany of prejudice, arrogance, and wrongheadedness, all told in a manner that is delightful to read.

John Moorcock’s epic Pyat Quartet.

By Ron Jacobs | The Rag Blog | March 1, 2014

[Pyat Quartet by Michael Moorcock (2012-13: PM Press); Byzantium Endures: Paperback, 400 pp, $22; The Laughter of Carthage: Paperback, 552 pp, $23; Jerusalem Commands, Paperback, 496 pp, $23; The Vengeance of Rome, Paperback, 608 pp, $24. Quartet combo pack from PM Press: $50.]

Some books epitomize the historical moment they are written about. These books, through the power of their narrative, provide a contextual ambience so real the reader becomes a part of the tale being told.

Some such texts that come to mind are Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The engrossed readers of these two novels cannot separate themselves from the surf or the ship of Ishmael, Queegeeq and Captain Ahab. Nor can they view Kurtz’s jungle nightmare from a distance that might allow a dispassionate response. We are with Marlow in his discovery of the horror or we are one of Kurtz’s tortured victims.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Books, Historical Fiction, John Moorcock, Literature, Novelists, Pyat Quartet, Rag Bloggers, Ron Jacobs | Leave a comment

Bob Feldman :
A People’s History of Egypt, Part 18, 1962-1976

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Nasser establishes a national party then moves to isolate Communists; his successor, Anwar Sadat, aligns Egypt with the West.

Egyptian leaders in Alexandria, 1968. From left: Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat, Ali Sabri, and Hussein el-Shafei. Photo from Bibliotheca Alexandrina and Gamal Abdel Nasser Foundation / Wikimedia Commons.

By Bob Feldman | The Rag Blog | March 1, 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.]

In 1962, in an effort “to absorb all progressive political forces” in the country “into the state system” of Egypt, Nasser’s military regime established the “Arab Socialist Union” as the one official political party, according to Tareq Y. Ismael and Rifa‘at El-Sa’id’s The Communist Movement in Egypt: 1920-1988.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Anwar Sadat, Arab Socialist Union, Bob Feldman, Egyptian Communists, Egyptian History, Egyptian Jews, Egyptian Left, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Islamic Fundamentalism, Muslim Brotherhood, People's History of Egypt, Rag Bloggers, World History | Leave a comment

Alan Waldman :
‘Lovejoy’ is clever, witty, British mystery series about antiques, frauds, and crimes

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Ian McShane is simply splendiferous as roguish, slightly shady antiques dealer Lovejoy in this fun series that teaches viewers a lot about old stuff.

The cast of Lovejoy. Ian McShane is on right.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | February 24, 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.]

Ian McShane won scads of awards for and was mesmerizing as a kinky saloon/brothel owner in David Milch’s brilliant American TV series Deadwood, but he was sweeter, more charming and way less dark in 73 episodes of the great 1986-1994 British antiques crime-mystery series Lovejoy. Six seasons and 68 episodes are on Netflix, and many appear for free on You Tube. Here’s one.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alan Waldman, British Television, Criticism, Ian McShane, Lovejoy, Rag Bloggers, Vintage Television | 1 Comment

Roger Baker :
Can Austin survive the current Texas drought? / 3

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

We look at the climate science that warns that Austin faces serious water supply problems, and at the roles played by transportation planning and suburban sprawl in that crisis.

Travis Lakeway City Park, April 2013. Photo by Bruce Melton / The Rag Blog. Click for larger image.

By Roger Baker | The Rag Blog | February 19, 2014

Third of three.

In Part 1 of this series, we observed that Texas is in the grip of the same Southwestern U.S. mega-drought that is hitting California hard. We saw that Texas has an archaic system of water law that allows land development interests to legally secure rural water. In Part 2, we took a close look at how the federally-sanctioned group CAMPO has taken the lead from Austin in Central Texas growth policy, using population projections that ignore water limits and climate change.

In Part 3, below, we look at the recent Austin water data and the climate science that warns that Austin faces serious water supply problems stemming from climate change. We see that recent federal policy calls for transportation planning that considers these factors, but that the planning is not changing.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Austin Water Supply, Bruce Melton, CAMPO, Central Texas Growth, Climate Change, Climate Denial, Climate Science, Colorado River Watershed, Environment, Global Warming, Highland Lakes Water Reservoirs, james Hensen, Land Development, Rag Bloggers, Roger Baker, Texas Drought, Texas Drought Series, Texas Politics, Urban Sprawl, Water Conservation, Water Politics, Western Drought | 13 Comments

Dave Zirin :
Sochi 2014: Where Pussy Riot gets whipped by Cossacks

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Members of the punk rock collective Pussy Riot were attacked by Cossacks and horsewhipped in the streets of Sochi.

Masked members of the Pussy Riot collective leave a police station in Sochi. Photo by Reuters. Image from the International Business Times.

By Dave Zirin | The Rag Blog | February 19, 2014

In Cairo’s Tahrir Square, way back in 2011, there was a moment that starkly showcased the aspiration for a better future alongside the past puking up its own barbarism. That was when the masses of people who had fearlessly gathered to raise demands for a democratic Egypt, were set upon by men on horses and camels, brandishing swords.

This was more than an attempt at intimidation. Egypt, as the second highest recipient of U.S. military aid, had better weapons at its disposal than horses and swords. It was meant to summon the most atavistic fears among protestors and conjure images of age-old horror stories only whispered by elders.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2014 Winter Olympics, Agit Prop, Dave Zirin, Direct Action, Gay Rights, LGBT, Musicians, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Police Brutality, Punk Rockers, Pussy Riot, Rag Bloggers, Russia, Russian Cossacks, Sochi Olympics, Sports, Tahir Square, Transgenders, Vladamir Luxuria, Vladimir Putin | 2 Comments

Chellis Glendinning :
A radical imagination: Dilemmas and desire while reading Pedro Susz

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Pedro Susz is like a diamond; he has many facets… ‘Para una filosofía de la insubordinación’ reveals the rare mind that integrates erudition with vision.

Pedro Susz with Para una filosofía de la insubordinación. Photo from laRazón.

By Chellis Glendinning | The Rag Blog | February 19, 2014

Pedro Susz is like a diamond; he has many facets. It´s not just that Para una filosofía de la insubordinación (La Paz, Bolivia: Plural Editores, 2012) reveals the rare mind that integrates erudition with vision, the intellectual with the passionate; he gives philosophical reflection on today´s pressing question: how can we traverse to the other side of the confusion and cynicism overwhelming us after all these centuries of too-often futile dissent against Power — particularly when the impulse to resist has disappeared not in Falcon sedans and military airplanes, but behind the electronic screen?
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Anarchism, Books, Buddhism, Chellis Glendinning, Communications, Cornelius Castoriadis, Digital Technology, Elmwood Institute, Internet, Para una filosofía de la insubordinación, Pedro Susz, Phenomenology, Philosophy, Philosophy of Rebellion, Postmodernism, Rag Bloggers, Spirituality, Technology, Television | 2 Comments

Shepherd Bliss :
Dancing with death at Death Cafés

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Death can be a teacher, if one moves beyond denial into acceptance… A death awareness movement seems to be growing and taking various forms.

Kiss of Death Statue in the old graveyard of Poblenou, in Barcelona, Spain.

By Shepherd Bliss | The Rag Blog | February 19, 2014

“I have an appointment with death this evening,” I explained, smiling to friends upon leaving them. Their startled faces revealed feelings such as fear and a lack of understanding.

While living in Mexico, their Day of the Dead became my favorite holiday. I especially liked celebrating it in traditional villages, like Tepotzlan. The whole town seemed to go to the cemetery that night. Morbid? Not really, more like fun — feeding and dancing with one’s ancestors, remembering them in gratitude, teaching children to accept death and not be so afraid of it. But I was not on my way to a Day of the Dead celebration this time; I was going to a Death Café.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Day of the Dead, Death and Dying, Death Awareness, Death Cafes, Grief, Philosophy, Rag Bloggers, Shepherd Bliss, Spirituality | 1 Comment

Alan Waldman :
All hail (Sid) Caesar!

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Remembering the late, great Sid Caesar, who didn’t laugh at my jokes…

Sid Caesar, 1922-2014. Photo by Wally Fong / AP. Image from The Hollywood Reporter.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | February 19, 2014

The wonderful Sid Caesar just died at age 92. What a tremendous talent!

From 1951 through 1958 he starred in the 90-minute classic sketch comedy Your Show of Shows and then Caesar’s Hour, where he and highly gifted sidekicks Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris delighted 60 million viewers a week. It was written by a Who’s Who of comic scribes, including Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart and young Woody Allen.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Actors, Alan Waldman, Caesar's Hour, Comedians, Deaths, Obituary, Rag Bloggers, Sid Caesar, Television Stars, Your Show of Shows | 1 Comment

U.S. efforts in Venezuela and the Ukraine exemplify imperialism engineered through an embedded, extra-political ‘deep state.’

For the last 40 years, a cabal of authoritarian, mostly religiously-inspired people has worked to diminish women’s constitutional right to control their bodies.

The summers of 1967 and ’68 were hot — real hot — and we were in the ‘guts of the ogre.’

Visionaries in the field for decades, Pliny and Gail have made significant contributions to the sustainability movement.

This epic work unfolds in a litany of prejudice, arrogance, and wrongheadedness, all told in a manner that is delightful to read.

Nasser establishes a national party then moves to isolate Communists; his successor, Anwar Sadat, aligns Egypt with the West.

Ian McShane is simply splendiferous as roguish, slightly shady antiques dealer Lovejoy in this fun series that teaches viewers a lot about old stuff.

We look at the climate science that warns that Austin faces serious water supply problems, and at the roles played by transportation planning and suburban sprawl in that crisis.

Members of the punk rock collective Pussy Riot were attacked by Cossacks and horsewhipped in the streets of Sochi.

Pedro Susz is like a diamond; he has many facets… ‘Para una filosofía de la insubordinación’ reveals the rare mind that integrates erudition with vision.

Death can be a teacher, if one moves beyond denial into acceptance… A death awareness movement seems to be growing and taking various forms.

Remembering the late, great Sid Caesar, who didn’t laugh at my jokes…

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