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

Robert Jensen :
The ideology problem: Thomas Patterson’s failed technocratic dream for journalism

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Paterson’s new book is an excellent account of contemporary journalism’s struggles — as long as one defines excellence within the narrow confines bounded by the ideology of the powerful.

Patterson’s book is excellent but limited account of contemporary journalism’s struggles.

By Robert Jensen | The Rag Blog | January 22, 2014

[Informing the News: The Need for Knowledge-Based Journalism by Thomas Patterson (2013: Vintage Books/Random House); Paperback; 256 pp; $15.]

Thomas Patterson’s new book on the current crises in journalism is organized around six specific problems, starting with “The Information Problem” and moving through Source, Knowledge, Education, Audience, and Democracy problems.

All problems, indeed. But, unfortunately, there is no chapter on the most crippling affliction of mainstream journalism in the United States: “The Ideology Problem.” That missing chapter would help explain the routine failure of mainstream journalism at what should be its central task in a democratic society — to analyze and critique systems of power to help ordinary people take greater control over our lives. The fact that this subject is missing helps explain the limited value of Patterson’s analysis.
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Lamar W. Hankins :
War on Drugs and ‘gateway’ madness

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

We should face up to the failure of the War on Drugs as public policy and seek a better way that is consistent with individual rights and personal responsibility.

Image from United Kingdom Cannabis Social Clubs.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | January 22, 2014

There are three good reasons, apart from getting high, to support the legalization of marijuana (cannabis) in the U.S.: it has medical uses; it will correct one of the most egregious injustices in the criminal justice system — the racial disparity in arrests, prosecutions, and sentencing; and it will allow again the cultivation of industrial hemp in the U.S.

Lately, since the popular votes in Colorado and Washington favoring the legalization of marijuana, many talking heads and pundits are weighing in on marijuana use and abuse. Back in the 60s, every pothead I knew thought that we were just months, or at most a couple of years, away from legalization (or at least decriminalization) of marijuana use. They were as wrong about that issue as many pundits today are wrong about marijuana legalization, although a few seem to understand, at least in part.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Cannabis, Criminal Justice, David Brooks, Dr. Carl Hart, Drug Law Reform, Drug Laws, Drug Legalization, Gateway Drugs, Industrial Hemp, Lamar W. Hankins, Law Enforcement, Marijuana, Medical Marijuana, Prohibition, Rag Bloggers, War on Drugs | 1 Comment

David P. Hamilton :
On living in France

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Within the narrow parameters of my own life, living in Paris was epic. I returned stunned, trying to determine what the experience had meant to us.

Entrance to the Marche d’Aligre. Photo by David P. Hamilton / The Rag Blog.

By David P. Hamilton | The Rag Blog | January 22, 2014

“’Americans should never come to Europe,’ she said, and tried to laugh and began to cry. ‘It means they never can be happy again. What’s the good of an American who isn’t happy? Happiness was all we had.’” — James Baldwin, from Giovanni’s Room

Last year my wife Sally and I spent six months living in Paris. This was our seventh stay of two weeks or longer in Paris during the past decade. But this visit was longer than all the others combined. It was an attempt to get beyond being tourists, to actually “live” outside the U.S. for an extended period, to assimilate another culture to a qualitatively greater degree. Where better than Paris? That ambition was at the top of my “bucket list.”
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged American Society, David P. Hamilton, France, French Culture, French Politics, French Society, Paris, Rag Bloggers, Travel | 3 Comments

Alan Waldman :
‘Murphy’s Law’ is gripping Irish TV series about a gutsy undercover cop

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

James Nesbitt stars as a Northern Irishman whose daughter has been murdered by the IRA and who goes undercover to fight myriad dangerous criminals.

James Nesbitt goes undercover on Murphy’s Law.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | January 21, 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.]

Murphy’s Law stars multiple-award-winning Irish actor James Nesbitt, who is excellent as a London police detective who goes undercover to infiltrate groups responsible for murder, car theft, drug trafficking, blackmail, identity theft, money laundering, counterfeiting, smuggling, and more.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Alan Waldman, Criticism, Irish Television, James Nesbitt, Murphy's Law, Rag Bloggers | 2 Comments

Marilyn Katz :
Women vs. the Catholic Church, Round 2

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Just whose rights was the Constitution written to protect? It is women, not institutions, who are at the center of this debate.

Graphic from Bilgrimage.

By Marilyn Katz | The Rag Blog | January 20, 2014

Exactly whom — or what — do the constitution’s guarantees of freedom protect? That’s the question that the Supreme Court has indicated it will take up when Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor surprised many, including me, by putting a temporary injunction against implementation of the aspects of the Affordable Care Act that require institutions to provide birth control coverage in its insurance offerings.

For those who might somehow have missed it, Judge Sotomayor’s actions came in response to a lawsuit filed by two organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church — both of which claim that the requirement violates the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of religion.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Affordable Care Act, Catholic Church, Contraception, Marilyn Katz, Rag Bloggers, Religious Freedom, Separation of Church and State, Supreme Court, Women's Health | Leave a comment

Thorne Dreyer :
Austin Music Award-winning singer-songwriter Gina Chavez joins us on Rag Radio

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Gina Chavez sings for us and talks Pope Francis, her mission work with young women in El Salvador, and the Internet-era music scene.

Gina Chavez in the studios of KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas, Friday, January 10, 2014. Photo by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

By Rag Radio | The Rag Blog | January 20, 2014

Austin Music Award-winning singer-songwriter Gina Chavez was our guest on Rag Radio Friday, January 10, 2014. She joined us in discussion and performed live on the show.

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, Austin Music Awards, Austin Musicians, Gina Chavez, Interview, Latina Musicians, Podcast, Rag Bloggers, Rag Radio, Singer-Songwriters, Thorne Dreyer | Leave a comment

Bob Feldman :
A People’s History of Egypt, Part 13, 1948-1949

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The movement to democratize Egypt: King Farouk confronts Zionist forces, imposes martial law.

Egyptian King Farouk at Battle of Nitzanim, 1948. Image from Yad Vashem Photo Archive.

By Bob Feldman / The Rag Blog / January 20, 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.]

Despite its earlier business links with some pro-Zionist Egyptian businesspeople, in 1948 the Egyptian monarchical regime joined other Arab governments in attempting to block the eviction of Palestinian Arabs from Palestine and the establishment of a Zionist state in Palestine by militarily opposing the Zionist movement’s military forces.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Arab-Israeli War, Bob Feldman, Egyptian History, Egyptian Jews, King Farouk, Palestine, People's History of Egypt, Rag Bloggers, World History, Zionism | 5 Comments

Paul Krassner :
Predictions for 2014

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The all-seeing and all-knowing one lifts the veil. Just a little. Enough for a peek.

Uh oh.

By Paul Krassner | The Rag Blog | January 15, 2014

Steve Jobs, the late founder and chief designer of the Apple Empire, will be honored posthumously by the Wall Street Journal for morphing the concept of planned obsolescence from a negative aspect of capitalism into a shrewd marketing virtue.
Toddlers who can turn the pages of an electronic magazine on iPad with the swipe of a finger will get frustrated and have tantrums trying to turn the pages of a physical print magazine.

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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged 2014, Humor, Paul Krassner, Predictions, Rag Bloggers, Satire | 2 Comments

Alice Embree and Phil Prim :
Remembering Judy Smith

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Judith Hart Smith, 1944-2013

Judy Smith answers the women’s reproductive rights hotline at the University YMCA, next door to the Rag office, in Austin, Texas, 1970. Photo by Alan Pogue /The Rag.

Judy Smith was the face of feminism
at The Rag for many years.

Judy Smith, who had a great and lasting impact on all who knew and worked with her, died November 6, 2013, in Missoula, Montana, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Alice Embree knew Judy from the Austin women’s movement and, along with Phil Prim and photographer Alan Pogue, worked with her at Austin’s underground newspaper, The Rag.

By Alice Embree | The Rag Blog | January 14, 2014

Judy Smith was the face of feminism at The Rag for many years. She was tall, athletic, smart, and comfortable with leadership. She was a driving force for women’s liberation and a mentor to many women. Sarah Weddington in her book, A Question of Choice, credits Judy Smith as being instrumental in the decision to take Roe v. Wade to court. The case resulted in the 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting choice.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Abortion Rights, Alice Embree, Austin Activists, Austin History, Austin Women's Center, Deaths, Feminists, Judy Smith, Obituary, Phil Prim, Rag Bloggers, Reproductive Rights, Sixties, The Rag, Underground Press, Women's Movement | 5 Comments

Bill Meacham :
Learning from Zarathustra

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Zarathustra is appropriately called the First Prophet. He spoke of themes later to be found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: a single universal God, the battle between good and evil, the devil, heaven and hell, and an eventual end to the world.

Image from Philosophy for Real Life.

By Bill Meacham | The Rag Blog | January 15, 2014

The universe, as they say, gave me an opportunity recently to read a couple of books on Zarathustra and Zoroastrianism. (Why we seem to want to personalize such events and attribute agency to them is a topic for another time.)

A few years ago I had traveled to Uzbekistan and seen for myself the land in which Zoroastrianism first arose, so I jumped at the opportunity to learn more. This essay is a summary and interpretation of what I found out. Don’t take it as an authoritative account of Zarathustra’s teachings; it’s just an account of some things that seemed noteworthy to me.
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Bill Meacham, Cosmology, Ethics, Goodness Paradigm, Mysticism, Philosophy, Rag Bloggers, Religion, World History, Zarathustra, Zoroastrianism | Leave a comment

Jack A. Smith :
Why the U.S. wants to stay in Afghanistan

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

The U.S. is supposed to withdraw troops by the end of the year, and the American people overwhelmingly want us to leave, but President Obama intends to retain a military presence.

U.S. marine in Afghanistan. Photo by Finbarr O’Reilly / Reuters.

By Jack A. Smith | The Rag Blog | January 13, 2014

The U.S. is supposed to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this new year. But despite public opinion polls to the contrary, President Obama is seeking to leave several thousand Special Forces troops, military trainers, CIA personnel, “contractors” and surveillance listening posts for 10 more years in Afghanistan until the end of 2024.

The CNN/ORC International survey released Dec. 30 shows that 75% of the American people oppose keeping any U.S. military troops in Afghanistan after the scheduled pullout Dec. 31. Indeed, “a majority of Americans would like to see U.S. troops pull out of Afghanistan before the December 2014 deadline.”
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Posted in RagBlog | Tagged Afghanistan War, Afghanistan Withdrawal, Central Asia, Hamid Karzai, Jack A. Smith, Obama Foreign Policy, Public Opinion, Rag Bloggers, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Military | Leave a comment

Thorne Dreyer :
December guests on Rag Radio include ‘Radical Jesus’ editor, criminal justice blogger, Chicano novelist

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Thorne Dreyer

Our Rag Radio podcasts feature interviews with historian and graphic nonfiction publisher Paul Buhle, Texas blogger and prison reform advocate Scott Henson, and fiction writer Daniel Chacón, author of ‘Hotel Juárez.’

Novelist Daniel Chacón in the KOOP studios, Austin, Texas, Friday, December 6, 2013. Photo by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

By Rag Radio | The Rag Blog | January 13, 2014

Thorne Dreyer’s guests on Rag Radio in December 2013 were Paul Buhle, Scott Henson, and Daniel Chacón. You can read descriptions and listen to podcasts of all three shows below.

Rag Radio is a weekly syndicated radio program produced and hosted by long-time alternative journalist and Rag Blog editor 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 Chicano Authors, Criminal Justice, Daniel Chacon, Hotel Juarez, Interview, Literature, Paul Buhle, Podcast, Radical Historians, Radical Justice, Rag Radio, Scott Henson, Texas Bloggers, Thorne Dreyer | Leave a comment

Paterson’s new book is an excellent account of contemporary journalism’s struggles — as long as one defines excellence within the narrow confines bounded by the ideology of the powerful.

We should face up to the failure of the War on Drugs as public policy and seek a better way that is consistent with individual rights and personal responsibility.

Within the narrow parameters of my own life, living in Paris was epic. I returned stunned, trying to determine what the experience had meant to us.

James Nesbitt stars as a Northern Irishman whose daughter has been murdered by the IRA and who goes undercover to fight myriad dangerous criminals.

Just whose rights was the Constitution written to protect? It is women, not institutions, who are at the center of this debate.

Gina Chavez sings for us and talks Pope Francis, her mission work with young women in El Salvador, and the Internet-era music scene.

The movement to democratize Egypt: King Farouk confronts Zionist forces, imposes martial law.

The all-seeing and all-knowing one lifts the veil. Just a little. Enough for a peek.

Judith Hart Smith, 1944-2013

Judy Smith was the face of feminism at The Rag for many years.

Zarathustra is appropriately called the First Prophet. He spoke of themes later to be found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: a single universal God, the battle between good and evil, the devil, heaven and hell, and an eventual end to the world.

The U.S. is supposed to withdraw troops by the end of the year, and the American people overwhelmingly want us to leave, but President Obama intends to retain a military presence.

Our Rag Radio podcasts feature interviews with historian and graphic nonfiction publisher Paul Buhle, Texas blogger and prison reform advocate Scott Henson, and fiction writer Daniel Chacón, author of ‘Hotel Juárez.’

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Judy Smith was the face of feminism
at The Rag for many years.