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| Moonless autumn night on Whidbey Island in Washington. Photo from rprtphoto. |
Moon Musings:
Dark Moon
(October 4, 5, or 6, 2013)
By Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | October 2, 2013
“North, South, East, West,
help me to do my best”
A Dark Moon may be honored on each day on either side of the New Moon as well as on the day of the New Moon.
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| Gathering during Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley, December 1964. At left, with mustache, is Jack Weinberg; center, in tie, is Michael Lerner; second from right, in glasses, is Marvin Garson. Photos by Michael James from his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul. |
Pictures from the Long Haul:
Free speech, Sproul Plaza with Jesus,
and the Roseville Auction, Fall of ’64
I am one of 773 arrested at Sproul Hall and hauled off to Santa Rita County Jail. One of many who goes limp, I am arrested with the added charge of
resisting arrest, and dragged down the stairs. It will not be the only time I’ll get that charge.
By Michael James | The Rag Blog | October 1, 2013
[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.]
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| Kyle Maysel’s arrested is reported on San Marcos television. Image from kens5.com. |
A case study:
DWI and the citizen accused
A San Marcos attorney was arrested on a DWI charge during a ‘no refusal’ weekend and questions have been raised about the conduct of the police and the judge involved in the case.
By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | September 30, 2013
SAN MARCOS, Texas — This past August 30, San Marcos attorney Kyle Maysel was arrested on a DWI charge after a minor traffic accident in which he backed into a stopped car. That day was the start of the first “no refusal” weekend to be conducted by the San Marcos Police Department (SMPD), a weekend when anyone arrested for DWI would not be allowed to refuse to take a breath test or a blood test to measure the alcohol content of their breath or blood.
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| Texas populist gadfly Jim Hightower at the studios of KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas, September 13, 2013. Photos by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog. |
Texas populist writer, commentator, and political gadfly Jim Hightower was our guest on Rag Radio, Friday, September 13, 2013.
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| Signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty in 1936. Image from Islam Project 2010. |
A people’s history:
The movement to democratize Egypt
Part 10: 1930-1945 period — Anglo-Egyptian Treaty reaffirms Egypt’s ‘independence’ though British domination continues.
By Bob Feldman | The Rag Blog | September 25, 2013
[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.]
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Waldman’s film and TV
treasures you may have missed:
So far, 100 episodes of this dramatic and humorous ‘whodunnit’ set in fictional Midsomer County have aired.
By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | September 24, 2013
[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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Child at funeral in Chicago. Image from The Old Black Church.
And for Chicago?
A different path for Syria
Will U.S. diplomacy in Syria carve a new path towards peace at home and abroad?
By Marilyn Katz / The Rag Blog / September 19, 2013
CHICAGO — The example of our leaders cannot help but guide the thinking of our youth: Might makes right and those who are “wrong” — who disagree with our worldview — are The Other, ever-more-easily transformed into an enemy to be dealt with by whatever means necessary.
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| Striking teachers at Zócalo plaza in Mexico City, Friday, September 13, 2013. Photo by Eduardo Verdugo / AP. |
Tanks vs. teachers:
Federal police drive striking teachers
from Mexico’s Zócalo plaza
By Johnny Hazard | The Rag Blog | September 19, 2013
“In addition to promoting just causes and altering business as usual for awhile (and hoping that such alterations will be permanent), marches, rallies, highway blockages, and the collective taking of public spaces, but especially encampments and occupations, re-establish community and the liberating collective creativity that has been lost amid urban chaos.”
— Armando Bartra, Mexican left intellectual
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| Nathan Schneider, June 17, 2012. Photo from Occupy. |
Interview with Occupy’s Nathan Schneider:
Anarchy, activism, and radical Catholicism
By Jonah Raskin | The Rag Blog | September 19, 2013
“It’s hard to pick a revolution about which one doesn’t have major misgivings. But they also have peak moments: the nuns kneeling before Marcos’ tanks in the Philippines; the queer crusaders emerging out of the Sixties; the cacophonous assemblies at the Paris Commune; the pockets of anarchist rule in Catalonia; the Christians and Muslims in Tahrir guarding one another’s prayers.” — Nathan Schneider
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| Demonstration in New York against school privatization. |
‘Part of a corrupt system’:
Forbes piece pounds charters
About the only thing charters do well is limit the influence of teachers’ unions. And fatten their investors’ portfolios.
By Mike Klonsky | The Rag Blog | September 18, 2013
An article appearing in the September 10 issue of Forbes gives a swift kick in the rear end to charter schools. According to Forbes contributor Addison Wiggin, charter schools have selective enrollments, don’t perform any better than regular public schools, and are part of a corrupt system that funnels public funds into the pockets of privatizers and corporate cronies through real estate deals and tax credits.
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Another Self Portrait:
Dylan’s take revisited
Dylan’s voice here is the voice of an earnest troubadour. There is little of the smoky raspiness present in his mid-sixties material or the world-weary gruffness of Dylan’s current persona.
By Ron Jacobs | The Rag Blog | September 18, 2013
When I lived there in the early 1970s, the main shopping area in Frankfurt am Main revolved around the Hauptwache U-Bahn stop.
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Waldman’s film and TV
treasures you may have missed:
It — and sequel ‘Grace and Favour’ — aired 81 classic episodes, which repeated and repeated on many PBS stations.
By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | September 18, 2013
[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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Thorne Webb Dreyer, Editor
