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

Anne Lewis :
Bridging the chasm between environmental and economic justice

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

A conversation with activists Bill Fletcher, Jr., and Bill Gallegos.

“Clean Air, Good Jobs, and Justice for All.” March on the Detroit Incenerator, U.S. Social Forum, 2010.

By Anne Lewis | The Rag Blog | February 11, 2014

Steelworkers President Leo Gerard said about the choice between a clean environment and good jobs, “You can have both, or you have neither.” A rift exists between those good trade unionists who fight for decent jobs and a just economy, and those good environmentalists who fight for a planet where all human beings can be healthy.

In the Appalachian coalfields, the same corporations who deliberately keep non-coal jobs out of the region and blast the mountains apart for greater profits lie to mining communities that the reason for layoffs is the Environmental Protection Agency’s so-called “War on Coal.” An eastern Kentucky retired miner writes, “I prefer dirty coal over ‘Christmas in Appalachia’ pity,” not recognizing greater options.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Anne Lewis, Bill Fletcher Jr., Bill Gallegos, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Environment, Environmental Justice, Environmental Movement, Green Economy, Green Movement, L.A. Alliance for a New Economy, Labor Movement, Labor Unions, National Nurses Union, Navajo Nation, Rag Bloggers, Social Justice | 1 Comment

Thorne Dreyer :
Workers Defense Project’s Cristina Tzintzún joins us on Rag Radio

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Tzintzún, who has been heralded as a ‘Hero of the New South,’ is featured on the Rag Radio podcast.

Cristina Tzintzún on Rag Radio, Friday, January 31. Photos by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

By Rag Radio | The Rag Blog | February 10, 2014

Cristina Tzintzún, executive director of the Workers Defense Project, was our guest on Rag Radio, Friday, January 31, 2014.

Rag Radio is a weekly syndicated radio program produced and hosted by long-time alternative journalist and Rag Blog editor Thorne Dreyer and recorded at the studios of KOOP 91.7-FM, a cooperatively-run all-volunteer community radio station in Austin, Texas.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Austin Activists, Construction Industry, Cristina Tzintzun, Immigrants' Rights, Interview, Labor Activists, Podcast, Rag Radio, Thorne Dreyer, Worker Centers, Workers Defense Project | Leave a comment

Alan Waldman :
‘Manchild’ is clever British series about four 50-year-old men who struggle with the challenges of aging

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The cast is outstanding, and the quartet’s vain attempts to recapture their youth are amusingly presented.

The Manchild quartet.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | February 10, 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.]

Manchild is a light-hearted, politically incorrect comedy-drama about four 50-year-old men who spend their days and nights attempting to prove that they are not yet past their prime. Stockbroker Terry, orthodontist James, art dealer Patrick, and married decking king Gary are friends from schooldays.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alan Waldman, British Television, Criticism, Manchild, Rag Bloggers, Vintage Television | Leave a comment

Bob Feldman :
A People’s History of Egypt, Part 16, 1953-1954

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Nasser forces resignation of General Naguib; no mass Jewish emigration during this period.

Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser with Egypt’s first president, Gen. Mohammed Naguib, 1954. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

By Bob Feldman | The Rag Blog | February 10, 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 response to the new Egyptian military regime’s political repression, the Democratic Movement for National Liberation [DMNL] and other left groups of Egyptian civilians formed in Alexandria the United Revolutionary Front in February 1953; and in April 1953, a branch of the United Revolutionary Front was formed in Cairo, prior to the United Revolutionary Front renaming itself as Egypt’s National Democratic Front [NDF].
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Bob Feldman, Egyptian History, Egyptian Jews, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Gen. Mohammed Naguib, Israel, Middle East, People's History of Egypt, Rag Bloggers, Revolutionary Command Council, World History | Leave a comment

Roger Baker :
Can Austin survive the current Texas drought? / 1

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

There is sound science that says there is likely to be big trouble, even in supplying Austin’s current population with enough water.

Federal officials have designated portions of 11 drought-ridden Western and Central states as primary natural disaster areas. Map from UDSA.gov. Image from NBCDFW.com.

By Roger Baker | The Rag Blog | February 6, 2014

First of three.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away”.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias

The threat of drought haunts Austin

AUSTIN, Texas — I have lived in Austin almost 60 years. Ten years ago if someone had asked me whether Austin could survive a drought like that which it is now experiencing, I would have answered “yes” without much reflection.

If somebody asks me the same question today, I will say that Austin MIGHT be able to pull through the next five or 10 years, but only with luck, and with the help of a much different lifestyle that will necessarily require strict water rationing and conservation. The rest of this essay is intended to explain the reasons behind my change of opinion.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Austin Water Supply, Central Texas, Climate Change, Climate Denial, Climate Science, Environment, Global Warming, Land Development, Rag Bloggers, Roger Baker, Texas Drought, Texas Drought Series, Texas Politics, Water Crisis, Water Politics | 7 Comments

Margarita Alarcón :
Cuba hosts the CELAC Summit, and ‘parallel’ dissident gathering

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The CELAC Summit was unprecedented, with all the leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean gathering together with a common goal: unity.

The CELAC summit. Photo by Roberto Leon / The Rag Blog.

By Margarita Alarcón | The Rag Blog | February 6, 2014

HAVANA — All of Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Havana January 28-29 for the second summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). CELAC is the new version of the OAS for the current leaders of the region.

The summit was to be a grandstand event and especially important for Cuba as the pro tempore president of the organization. Never before had Cuba been host to an affair of this magnitude.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged CELAC, Cuba, Cuban Dissidents, Fidel Castro, Havana, Latin America, Margarita Alarcón, Rag Bloggers | 4 Comments

Paul Buhle :
Reza Aslan’s ‘Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth’

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Whose Radical Jesus? ‘Zealot’ is the story of a literary success.

Reza Aslan’s Zealot could have been called “Jesus Against Empire.”

By Paul Buhle | Truthout | February 6, 2014

[Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan (2013: Random House); Hardcover; 336 pp; $27.]

A better title for this best seller would be: Jesus Against Empire. If the devil can quote scripture, according to tradition, and if the recovery and analysis of assorted versions of what became Bible text (or did not) have become a scholarly big business, then we can hardly expect any version to be accepted by all.

Still, Reza Aslan himself is by now the kind of major media personality who appears on “The Colbert Report” (and what could be more major?) with views on subjects ranging from Iran (where he was born) to the silliness of Fox News on Christmas.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Biblical History, Books, C. Osborne Ward, Christianity, Jesus, Paul Buhle, Radical Jesus, Religion, Reza Aslan, World History, Zealot | 2 Comments

David Rovics :
Coca Cola’s ‘America the Beautiful’

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Here’s my contribution to the discussion resulting from Coca-Cola’s multilingual ‘America the Beautiful’ Super Bowl commercial.

A still frame from the Coca-Cola commercial, “America the Beautiful.” Photo from Coca-Cola. Image from USA Today.

‘America the Beautiful’

By David Rovics | The Rag Blog | February 5, 2014

America is beautiful but it’s got a lot of ugly people
I heard one of them this morning on the radio
He interrupted the pop music programming
To tell us what he thought we needed to know
He said America is an English-speaking country
And that Coke commercial was just all wrong
You can’t interrupt an all-American football game
To have little brown girls sing an all-American song
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Advertising, Coca Cola, David Rovics, Diversity, Marketing, Poetry, Rag Bloggers, Right Wing Media, Super Bowl, Verse, Xenophobia | 1 Comment

Robert Jensen :
‘Declaring victory wherever we can’

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

An interview with Cynthia Kaufman on her book, ‘Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope’

Cynthia Kaufman.

By Robert Jensen | The Rag Blog | February 4, 2014

[Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope by Cynthia Kaufman (2013: Lexington Books); Paperback; 200 pp; $32.99.]

I’m fond of books that don’t claim to have The Answer but instead are useful guides in our search for answers.

Such a volume is Cynthia Kaufman’s Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope, which expresses in clear, concise language thoughts that likely have been bumping around in the minds of many of us who reject capitalism. The book is particularly powerful because of its modesty; Kaufman promises no new grand theory and instead offers insights that we all can use in our daily lives.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Anarchism, Authors, Books, Cynthia Kaufman, Getting Past Capitalism, Interview, Leftists, Radical Thought, Rag Bloggers, Robert Jensen, Social Change, Socialism | 1 Comment

Lamar W. Hankins :
Pete Seeger: A life that enriched ‘you and me’

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The world has been diminished by his passing, just as it was enriched by his life.

Pete Seeger with Bruce Springsteen at Obama inaugration concert, Lincoln Memorial, 2009. Photo by H. Darr Beiser / USA Today.

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

Several weeks ago, I began writing a column I intended to publish on the first Wednesday in May to mark the 95th birthday of Pete Seeger. But Pete died this past week before reaching that milestone. Among the handful of public figures in America during my lifetime that I consider heroes, Pete is prominent.

I must have been about16 years old when I discovered Pete Seeger. For a boy from Port Arthur, Texas, by way of Vidor, Pete was a revelation. He has always delighted me, challenged me, entertained me, encouraged me, educated me, and perked me up when I was feeling down.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged American Musicians, Deaths, Folk Music, Folksingers, Lamar W. Hankins, Obituary, Peace Activists, Pete Seeger, Rag Bloggers, Woody Guthrie | 1 Comment

Thorne Dreyer :
Award-Winning Rock Journalist Margaret Moser on Rag Radio

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The irrepressible Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle music writer and director of the Austin Music Awards, visits with us on Rag Radio.

Margaret Moser at the 2013 AMP Awards at the Moody Theater, Austin, April 21, 2013. Image from The Austinnot.

By Rag Radio | The Rag Blog | February 4, 2014

Rock journalist Margaret Moser, a prime mover behind the Austin music scene, was our guest on Rag Radio, Friday, January 24, 2014.

Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Austin Authors, Austin Chronicle, Austin Music, Austin Music Awards, Austin Sun, Interview, Margaret Moser, Music Writers, Podcast, Rag Bloggers, Rag Radio, Rock Journalists, Thorne Dreyer | Leave a comment

Carl Davidson and Harry Targ :
In State of the Union, Obama pulled his best punches

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The speech reflected the fact that Obama is ‘back in the game,’ but things still aren’t looking good for most of us.

President Obama delivers State of Union address, January 28, 2014. Photo by Chip Somodevilla / AFP / Getty Images.

By Carl Davidson and Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | February 3, 2014

In the lead-up to President Obama’s speech Chris Hayes, MSNBC host, presented a segment on the national mobilization of low wage workers in 2013. He described courageous work stoppages by fast food workers, campaigns by public employees, particularly health care and home care workers, and how seemingly isolated pockets of protest spread like wildfire across the nation.

This, Hayes suggested, stimulated progressive groups, selected Congresspersons, and visible pundits such as Robert Reich and Paul Krugman to reemphasize the economic crisis the American working class is facing, particularly youth, people of color, women, and older workers. Hayes suggested that we are on the verge of a new mass movement and that Obama would capture the spirit of this movement in his State of the Union address.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2014 State of Union, Barack Obama, Carl Davidson, Harry Targ, Obama Administration, Progressive Politics, Rag Bloggers | Leave a comment

A conversation with activists Bill Fletcher, Jr., and Bill Gallegos.

Tzintzún, who has been heralded as a ‘Hero of the New South,’ is featured on the Rag Radio podcast.

The cast is outstanding, and the quartet’s vain attempts to recapture their youth are amusingly presented.

Nasser forces resignation of General Naguib; no mass Jewish emigration during this period.

There is sound science that says there is likely to be big trouble, even in supplying Austin’s current population with enough water.

The CELAC Summit was unprecedented, with all the leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean gathering together with a common goal: unity.

Whose Radical Jesus? ‘Zealot’ is the story of a literary success.

Here’s my contribution to the discussion resulting from Coca-Cola’s multilingual ‘America the Beautiful’ Super Bowl commercial.

‘America the Beautiful’

An interview with Cynthia Kaufman on her book, ‘Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope’

The world has been diminished by his passing, just as it was enriched by his life.

The irrepressible Margaret Moser, Austin Chronicle music writer and director of the Austin Music Awards, visits with us on Rag Radio.

The speech reflected the fact that Obama is ‘back in the game,’ but things still aren’t looking good for most of us.

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