[The Human Rights Manifesto by Julie Wark (2013: Zero Books); Paperback; 193 pp; $19.95.]
Julie Wark has written a manifesto for justice. Simply titled The Human Rights Manifesto, her book examines the UN Declaration of Human Rights and compares it to the current situation. In doing so, it is clear that we as a species have failed.
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Chart by OpenSecrets.com. Image from jobsanger.
The figures above are for Congress in 2012, and represent the median net wealth of the members of Congress (meaning half of the members of Congress are worth more than the figure shown and half are worth less).
These are the most recent figures available because the members must submit a financial statement in May of each year, and it takes a substantial amount of time for the good folks at OpenSecrets.org to comb through those reports and decipher them. These figures are from the reports submitted in May of 2013 (and reflect their finances for the previous year).
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If you have been an adult any time in the last 60 years, you should be aware that religion is perhaps the most ubiquitous institution, after government, among Americans.
Beginning with the push against the Communist menace in the 1950s, which led to the increased use of “In God We Trust” on our coinage in spite of the irony of having such graven images associated with God, religion has increasingly pushed its way into public policy.
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Image from Uprising Radio.
Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn will speak at “Underground Goes Overboard,” a launch party for TheRagBlog.com, at 7 p.m., Friday, January 17, at the 5604 Manor Community Center in Austin. They will also be Thorne Dreyer’s guests on Rag Radio earlier that same day, from 2-3 p.m. on KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin and streamed live. Go here for other stations and times, and for podcast information.
[Public Enemy: Confessions of an American Dissident by Bill Ayers (2013: Beacon Press); Hardcover; 240 pp; $24.95.]
“They just don’t get it.” Yes, the phrase is overused, yet, all too appropriate when addressing the continuing critiques, from both the left and the right, of Bill Ayers.
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SNCC’s Curtis Hayes (Muhammad) and SDS’s Susan Lum in Uptown, Chicago, 1966. 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. This photo will be included in his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.]
UPTOWN, Chicago in 1966. I called it “Hillbilly Harlem.” Uptown was the regional capital of poor Southern white migrants moving to the North. The migration of Southern whites began when they came north in the 1940’s for war industry work, and accelerated after WWII when factories flourished in and around Chicago.People arrived from rural and urban areas throughout the South, with the majority coming from Appalachia.
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Jewish home in Egypt. Image from BBC Watch.
[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.]
Prior to the Zionist movement’s establishment of the State of Israel on Palestinian land in 1948 and subsequent eviction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Palestine during the late 1940s, between 65,000 and 80,000 Egyptians of Jewish religious background lived in Egypt. Around 64 percent of Egyptians of Jewish background lived in Cairo and around 32 percent lived in Alexandria, according to the Egyptian census of 1947.
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Waxing crescent moon. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Waxing moons are times to set new goals, recognize new objectives, promote new growth, and set forces in motion to help you achieve these goals, objectives, and growth. The first weekend of 2014 is an auspicious time to start workings, both long- and short-term, with the goal of manifesting positive changes in your life. On Saturday, Lady Moon is in Aquarius, the sign that foreshadows coming trends and emphases; on Sunday, Lady Moon is in Pisces, the sign that incorporates energy from all the signs of the Zodiac; either of these days will generate nicely positive energy to facilitate your intentions.
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[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.]
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| Elizabeth Warren and the populists say ‘No way!’ to ‘Third Way.’ |
The sight of progressive Democrats shaming and exposing the Wall Street-funded “Third Way” Democrats is a sign of a powerful new opening for progressives on the American political spectrum.
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| Climate change activists in Warsaw, Friday, November 22, 2013, portray, from right, French President Francois Hollande, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Obama, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo by Czarek Sokolowski, / AP. |
The sharply increasing scientific indicators of impending disastrous global climate change have failed to motivate the principal developed countries, led by the U.S., to accelerate the lackluster pace of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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| Congressional candidate Susan Narvaiz and friend. Image from Facebook. |
SAN MARCOS, Texas — Three years ago, when Susan Narvaiz was near the end of her last term as Mayor of San Marcos, I asked her in a public meeting for some information about the number of jobs created through the use of publicly-funded development incentives provided by the City Council. She said she had that information at her office and would get it to me. Even after a later reminder, I’m still waiting for that information. That promise and her failure to fulfill it about sums up what I expect from her in any political office.
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| Houston’s refinery row. Image from Gulf Restoration Network / DaSmogBlog. |
Only Barack Obama knows the fate of the northern half of TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. But in the meantime, TransCanada is preparing the southern half of the line to open for commercial operations on January 22.
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Thorne Webb Dreyer, Editor
