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I have a law degree (Stanford, 66') but have never practiced. Instead, from 1967 through 1977, I tried to contribute to the revolution in America. As unsuccessful as everyone else over that decade, in 1978 I went to work for the U.S. Forest Service in San Francisco as a Clerk-Typist, GS-4. I was active in the USFS's union for several years, including a brief stint as editor of The Forest Service Monitor, the nationwide voice of the Forest Service in the National Federation of Federal Employees. Howsoever, I now believe my most important contribution while editor of the F.S.M. was bringing to the attention of F.S. employees the fact that the Black-Footed Ferret was not extinct; one had been found in 1980 on a national forest in the Colorado. In 2001 I retired from the USFS after attaining the age of 60 with 23 years of service. Stanford University was evidently unimpressed with my efforts to make USFS investigative reports of tort claim incidents available to tort claimants (ie, "the public"), alleging the negligence of a F.S. employee acting in the scope of his/her duties caused their damages, under the Freedom of Information Act. Oh well. What'cha gonna do?
Sunday, February 12, 2012 The Social Media Salary Guide, by Lauren Drell
Social Media Week is upon us, so we thought it would be appropriate to delve into the social media industry and see how its salaries stack up. Social media is an evolving and cutting-edge field, so it should come as no surprise that you can make a great living managing a brand's presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, Foursquare and other social platforms.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 U.S. Pursues War, Chaos in Middle East and North Africa, by the Editors, B.A.R.
"If there is a substantial military strike on Iran, it is going to create mayhem in the region," said Dr. Vijay Preshad, director of International Studies at Trinity College, in Hartford, Connecticut. "And that is precisely what the Gulf Arabs and the United States would like to see. The last thing they want is a proper Arab Spring (to) germinate into new, democratic regimes in North Africa and East Asia."
Monday, February 6, 2012 Four Parting Shots by Kehinde Wylie (1 comments)
All of the following pictures were courtesy of Artnet's Artist Works Catalogs, where it says: "...artnet offers these catalogues free to the public as an educational resource." See the heading "Artist Monographs" at the bottom of Artnet's homepage. We are the public, and hopefully viewing Wylie's works will be educational.
Saturday, February 4, 2012 Ahhhh, Those OEN Ads You Love to Hate. (15 comments)
When OEN began running a lot of advertisements two years ago, publishing members were disgusted by some of the ads and considered almost all of them disruptive of the textual contents they authored; and they said so. Nonetheless, OEN's ownership - Ie, Rob Kall - and OEN's management stood fast, and over time they have increased OEN's paid advertising.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 The Palestinian BDS National Committee Call Regarding November 2012 in Porte Alegre, Brazil
One of the main priorities for the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) and its member organizations for the coming year will be the World Social Forum Free Palestine, scheduled to take place in November 2012 in Porte Alegre, Brazil. This is a unique opportunity, challenge and responsibility for all of us. This potentially game changing forum will bring together the entirety of the international solidarity movement and allow us to show our strength, celebrate our successes and plan for more. We're very excited about the opportunities it presents for solidarity movement in general and for the BDS movement in particular. They'll be more information about the Forum and how it will be organized in the coming weeks, but we just wanted to distribute the call for now to make sure it's in everyone's plans for the year ahead.
Monday, January 23, 2012 What "The BDS Movement" Stands For (5 comments)
The Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions Movement is an international effort to pressure Israel into recognizing that Palestine and the Palestinians have as fundamental rights to exist as Israel has. The effort is non-militant, and rests on the belief that enough economic pressure on the state of Israel can force her to discontinue her murderous, inhumane and illegal treatment of the Palestinians. The Movement encourages international organizations to not conduct events in Israel; and it sanctions boycotts of private corporations doing business with Israel, particularly corporations whose products Israel purchases to make war on the Palestinians or deprive Palestinians of their natural resources in Palestine.
Friday, January 13, 2012 The Strait of Hormuz: What's at Stake, by Raymond E. Karam of F.P.J.
The Strait of Hormuz has become the latest focal point in a long list of disputes between the United States and Iran. On December 25, 2011, as Iran conducted its fourth day of naval drills near the strait, at the entrance to the oil-rich Persian Gulf, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that "if sanctions are adopted against Iranian oil, not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz." Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the commander of Iran's navy, boasted that closing the Strait of Hormuz would "be easier than drinking a glass of water."
Thursday, January 12, 2012 Dateline Jan 12, 2012: Obama fundraising could fuel a small economy (1 comments)
President Obama says a campaign is just like an investment. If so, his is one of the most expensive start-ups of all time - having raked in $750 million in 2008 and potentially on track to surpass that amount in 2012. His campaign and the Democratic Party raised more than $224 million in 2011 alone, more than the Republican field combined.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 I Was Born With a Silver Spoon in My Mouth, (2 comments)
and I didn't spit it out until after my freshman year at Harvard College, in the summer of 1960. Sometimes I wonder if my dorky sister ever did spit hers out:
Thursday, January 5, 2012 Campaign launched against French purchase of Israeli drones
French boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigners have called on their government to abandon a 318 million Euros deal to buy Heron TP drones from Israel Aircraft Industries. Meanwhile, senior members of France's Senate have called publicly for the country to abandon the purchase on grounds that the Israeli drones are unsuited to the needs of the armed forces.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 So You Don't Know the Geography of a NATO Presence in the Persian Gulf? (1 comments)
Unless Israel and our Prez O-Bomb-Ah use NATO and overland nukes against Iran, the most likely scenario for war on Persia is from ships in the Persian Gulf. How familiar are you with the geography of the Persian Gulf?
Sunday, January 1, 2012 Dateline Yesterday: Slouching Towards 2012, by Linh Dinh (4 comments)
For the last two days, Yahoo! has featured an article, "N. Korea alters photo of Kim Jong Il funeral." Juxtaposing two images, it shows that half a dozen inconsequential figures have been photoshopped out. It is fitting that Yahoo!, a leader in frivolity, is burdening its attentive yahoos with a pointless, carping article masquerading as political expose. This b*tch slapping piece of pseudo-journalism is juxtaposed with "Baby Startled by Mom's Noise," "Model Pregnant on Runway," "NASCAR Star Sorry for Tweets" and "Disney's Women's 'Real' Looks."
Friday, December 30, 2011 Four Photographs (2 comments)
Doubtless like many of us, I've been taking photographs all my life. And I've noticed how much my favorite ones tend to look like each other. But what the hey, that doesn't make them bad people.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 M.J. Rosenberg Writes about "the real invented people" in Al Jazeera (1 comments)
It is hard to believe that anyone who defends Israel's legitimacy as a state would buy into former Speaker Newt Gingrich's argument that Palestine is an "invented nation". (Because T)he singular triumph of the Zionist movement is that it invented a state and a people - Israel and the Israelis - from scratch.
Sunday, December 25, 2011 Eight Unsettling Photographs by Cindy Sherman (6 comments)
The best of Ms. Sherman's art is very unsettling, because it dwells on Everywoman's most vulnerable passages through the violent world of men.
Thursday, December 22, 2011 Evidently the News Is Getting The World's Astronomers Nervous. (4 comments)
Have you noticed the spate of announced possible exo-planet discoveries? Does it make you a little nervous like it makes me? Or maybe it's just a fad, like the "passing of NASA"....
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Edward Steichen's Remarkable Photography at Artnet
I ran across Edward Steichen at Artnet while looking for someone else (whose name escaped me when I spaced out on Steichen's works). Click on the link below and find the first photo in the second row.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Our Gigantic Delusion, by Doug Page at Dissident Voice (2009) (2 comments)
We live in a culture wide, all embracing fantasy world. It has become our total "reality." It is our Conventional Wisdom. Paul Ehrlich called this intellectual fog "wonderland." In 1973 Jonah Raskin called it "mythology." In 1978, Columbia Professor Edward Said wrote his famous book Orientalism in which he surveyed Western academic literature and novels about our attitudes toward Asia, Arabs, Palestinians, East Indians, and Moslems. He found that even novelists assumed that Westerners were more moral, advanced, and enlightened than Asians and that it was our duty to bring our civilization to them. Orientalism boiled down to racism: Our Caucasian race, our Western way of life, our civilization, our economy is good and clean, and theirs is backward, antiquated, dirty, ignorant. and bad.
Sunday, December 18, 2011 Dateline Yesterday: Vaclav Havel (1936-2011), by David Remnick
The death of Vaclav Havel comes in a month in which we mark the twentieth anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Few voices did more to undermine the foundations of the Berlin Wall and the entire edifice of Soviet-imposed totalitarianism than this shy bourgeois, this sly, reticent, playwright and essayist. In a parallel universe, in a luckier realm, Havel would have lived out his life as a Czech epigone of Ionesco and Beckett, a carefree son of privilege, free to write, to pursue his pleasures, to listen to the rock "n roll he loved. Instead, like a living figure from Kafka, he was born to a system where absurdity, not law, ruled; calmly, resolutely, he pursued a life of dissidence, led a revolution, and then assumed a home in the Castle, the seat of power in liberated Prague.
Monday, December 12, 2011 Suddenly Last Summer: Savagery and Subterfuge in Philidelphia, by Linda Yablonsky (1 comments)
Dateline: September 28, 2011. Given the way context changes everything, it's always interesting to see what happens when artists from New York take their work to the provinces. At the moment, Philadelphia boasts two shows that New York won't see, and both are worth a trip to Pennsylvania. The Institute of Contemporary Art is presenting the abstract painter Charline Von Heyl's first retrospective, while Locks Gallery is exhibiting recent and past work by the conceptualist Rob Wynne.
Saturday, December 10, 2011 An Invitation to the Third National BDS Conference, in Hebron, on 12.17.011
This conference aims to expand Palestinian civil society's active implementation of BDS as an effective and popular strategy of civil resistance, {which} is deeply rooted in the Palestinian struggle.
Friday, December 9, 2011 An Advertisement for Myself (1 comments)
I watched the DVD Limitless for the first time last nite and found a goldmine of pictures by Dillon Rhodes at Flickr Commons this morning. The movie stars Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro and was blurbed by Rolling Stone as a "Full-Tilt Adrenaline Rush".
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 Seventy Years Ago Today (1 comments)
In a recent interview, Noam Chomsky pointed out that Japan had far more reason to attack the United States in 1941 than the United States had to attack Iraq or Afghanistan, and if Americans applied the same standards to America that we apply to foreign nations when it comes to foreign threats justifying wars, we could not consider the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor an Evil.
Sunday, December 4, 2011 Whatta Country: 84-year-old woman strip searched at JFK
An 84-year-old New York grandmother has said she was injured and humiliated when she was strip searched at an airport after she asked to be patted down instead of going through a body scanner.
Sunday, December 4, 2011 Scott Olsen Speaks With Rachel Maddow
IVAW is open to Active Duty, National Guard and Reservists who have served since 09/11/2001. You are not alone.
Friday, December 2, 2011 Occupy Oakland Calls For a West Coast Port Shutdown on 12/12 (15 comments)
We present this call to you because we believe it is time the occupation movement begins to work together to carry through coordinated, pinpointed actions. We want to disrupt the profits of the 1% and to show solidarity with those in the 99% who are under direct attack by corporate tyranny.
Thursday, December 1, 2011 What I'd Say to the Martians, by Jack Handy
People of Mars, you say we are brutes and savages. But let me tell you one thing: if I could get loose from this cage you have me in, I would tear you guys a new Martian a**hole.You say we are violent and barbaric, but has any one of you come up to my cage and extended his hand? Because, if he did, I would jerk it off and eat it right in front of him. "Mmm, that's good Martian," I would say.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 Family Values (4 comments)
In early 2011, I published an OEN article titled "Family Values in Concord, CA, in 1972" and it's still one of my all-time faves. So I've spruced it up a little with a relatively new picture from Flickr Commons, because, you know our Occupy Movement notwithstanding, SOME things never change.
Monday, November 28, 2011 Iraq Veterans Against the War -- We are the 99%
Most of our military is made up of the 99%. We join the military for many reasons. Some join because of family tradition or a sense of patriotism. Others join for citizenship, education or to escape poverty or violence in our homes and neighborhoods. Many service members realize the wars we fight contribute to poverty and violence in Iraq and Afghanistan communities. We are coming home to a broken economy where veterans have higher unemployment, incarceration, suicide and homelessness than the national average.
Sunday, November 27, 2011 A Nauseating, Detestable Culture that Deserves to Die, by Arthur Silber (1 comments)
Speaking of which (unfortunately), I watched the film Horrible Bosses over the weekend (unfortunately). It's drenched, marinated and stewed in nauseating, detestable male entitlement and privilege. Endless jokes about sexual harassment and rape, because sexual harassment and rape are just so goddamned funny. You have to love that the "horrible boss" who engages in endless, humiliating sexual harassment is Jennifer Aniston. Because a woman widely viewed as extremely attractive and sexually desirable wanting to have sex all the time with her nerdy, dopey, idiotic male assistant is, like, totally the most common form of sexual harassment, as scientifically documented in thousands of studies. Or, two men conversing at one point: "Oh, no, I'd be more rape-able in prison!" "Are you kidding?! I'd be much more rape-able!" Because rape is so goddamned much fun. Especially prison rape.
Saturday, November 26, 2011 The Troubling Case of Saif Gadhafi, by Franklin Lamb at F.P.J. (2 comments)
Dateline: November 26, 2001: Zintan, LIBYA -- Despite the claims of the National Transitional Council of Libya (NTC) that Saif al Islam Gadhafi, the apprehended subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant that ordered his transport to The Hague, is in a secure hidden location near Zintan, Libya, a town approximately 85 miles southwest of Tripoli, this is not the case.
Friday, November 25, 2011 Dateline 11.10.11: The Bertrand Russell Tribunal's Findings on Palestine, Summarized (1 comments)
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) is an international citizen-based Tribunal of conscience created in response to the demands of civil society (NGOs, charities, unions, faith-based organisations) to educate public opinion and put pressure on decision makers. In view of the failure to implement the Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2004 of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the construction by Israel of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the failure to implement resolution ES-10/15 confirming the ICJ Opinion, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 July 2004, and the Gaza events of December 2008 -- January 2009, committees were established in different countries to promote and sustain a citizen's initiative in support of the rights of the Palestinian people.
Thursday, November 24, 2011 arcanesoldierx (1 comments)
I entered the U.S. Army in 2006 with a goal to see serious combat . I was an Artilleryman stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany . I deployed to the Wasit province ,Eastern Iraq in Dec 2008 . Almost immediately I noticed that something was odd about Nation's involvement in Iraq. The size of the giant fobs , the numbers of civilian contractors, and The waste of Materials all around.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 Clyfford Still vrs. Gerhardt Richter, by Artnet's Charlie Finch (2 comments)
Are there two more mediocre apostles of abstract painting than Clyfford Still and Gerhardt Richter? Let's test this hypothesis with but four paintings, those that tickled the hammer for a combined 110 million samoleans at Sotheby's New York two weeks ago.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 That Was the Month That Was: The Occupy Movement in October, 2011.
It was mostly white and spread from America around the world. It declared that we are the 99% of Americans, in America, and by October was more and more joined by African-Americans, Native-Americans, and other minorities. At least, that description is accurate with regard to the pictures at Flickr Commons as of today, November 22, 2011.
Monday, November 21, 2011 UNESCO distances itself from Israeli government youth conference (1 comments)
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition in Palestinian civil society struggling to uphold Palestinian rights, recently discovered that the Israeli Ministry of Education was claiming to be organizing a youth conference in Jerusalem "in cooperation with UNESCO (United Nations)," as the Ministry's website claims. Specifically, the conference is to be held in an Israeli venue in occupied East Jerusalem, in clear violation of international law.
Saturday, November 19, 2011 Haitian President Martelly Arrives in Cuba, Declares "This is a Sister People"
Received at José Martí International Airport by Deputy Cuban Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra, Haitian leader Martelly said that it was an honor to visit Cuba for the first time and expressed his thanks to the government and people for their solidarity. He also confirmed his support for the lifting of the U.S. blockade of the island, which he described as unjust.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 Palestine and the United Nations, by Angie Todd at Granma International
Palestine is advancing in its aspirations for international recognition as a nation state, with its borders prior to the Israeli war of expansion in 1967 and East Jerusalem as its capital. In the wake of the overwhelming vote of 65.8% in favor of Palestinian statehood in the UN General Assembly in September, UNESCO voted to accept it as a full member on October 31, and applications are underway for the nation's acceptance within the UN's 16 institutions.
Monday, November 14, 2011 Join a European Day of Action Against Israeli Agricultural Produce Exporters -- November 26, 2011 (1 comments)
Export of Israeli agricultural produce is at the heart of Israel's apartheid regime over the Palestinian people. It is an integral component of the ongoing process of colonisation and environmental destruction of Palestinian land, the theft of water, and the abuse of Palestinian workers' rights.[1] For decades, Israeli agricultural enterprises and farms have exploited land that was illegally expropriated from Palestinians and water that rightly belongs to Palestinians.[2] This is most pronounced in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied Palestinian territory. Europe is the biggest market for Israeli agricultural produce.[3]
Monday, November 14, 2011 Occupy Wall Street Is Not a Spectator Sport, by Les Leopold of AlterNet
Let's take a look at where we are right now. There is battle royale underway between inhabitants of two entirely different universes over what's wrong with our nation and what should be fixed.
Saturday, November 12, 2011 I was browsing around Arthur Silber's homepage's links, (8 comments)
and I clicked on "Reclusive Leftist" only to find it consists of feminism, politics, and space alpacas in the Spirit Smoking Lounge with "your host, Violet Socks." Man! Was I ripe for Ms. Socks ! !
Thursday, November 10, 2011 Dateline Nov 7, 2011: Cuba Takes Lead Role in Haiti's Cholera Fight
...cholera has killed 6,600 people and sickened more than 476,000 -- nearly 5 percent of the nation's 10 million people -- in what United Nations officials call the world's highest rate of cholera. As the epidemic continues, the Cuban medical mission that played an important role in detecting it presses on in Haiti, winning accolades from donors and diplomats for staying on the front lines and undertaking a broader effort to remake this country's shattered health care system.
Thursday, November 10, 2011 Dateline Last Nite: Riot Police Break Up Occupy U.C. Berkeley Protest on the Campus (1 comments)
Police in riot gear moved Wednesday night to break up a demonstration at the University of California at Berkeley that started when anti-Wall Street protesters tried to establish an encampment on campus in Sproul Plaza. Television news footage from outside the university's main administration building at 10 p.m. showed officers pulling people off the steps and nudging others with batons as the crowd chanted, "We are the 99 percent!" and "Stop Beating Students!"
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 The Beach Boys' Faded Smile, by Charlie Finch of Artnet Magazine
In December of 1966, I opened my copy of the Brit music newspaper Melody Maker, and espied a whimsical picture of a corner store selling pop images of smiles. The ad copy read, "coming in January the new Beach Boys' album Smile." Last week, 45 years later, I walked over to Norman Isaacs' music store near Cooper Union and finally bought the album, now a two CD set, dubbed The Smile Sessions, from Capitol Records.
Monday, November 7, 2011 Occupy Antarctica Protester Carries On Despite -50 Degree Temperatures
AMUNDSEN-SCOTT, ANTARCTICA -- In the tradition of some of the most ardent revolutionaries throughout history, 32 year-old Steinar Skramstad isn't allowing inconvenient circumstances to hinder his steadfast determination to lead the charge for change in Antarctica. Protesting by himself in mind numbing -50 degree temperatures outside his parents' home, Steinar Skramstad's lonely revolt against corporate predators is a stoic demonstration of a modern day David standing tall and defiant in the face of a Goliath called Wall Street. A lionhearted rebel's valiant crusade to make his world a better and brighter place. With wind gusts up to seventy miles per hour, Steinar is routinely knocked off his feet and sent sliding across the icy tundra until he is able to stand again. Forced to venture indoors every three to four minutes to avoid hypothermia, Mr. Skramstad returns to the brutal and merciless outdoors after his hallucinations dissipate to resume his demonstration against greed.
Sunday, November 6, 2011 Walton Ford, Monkey Man, By Rachel Corbett Of Artnet Magazine (2 comments)
Ford is often called a modern-da y Audubon, but his works aren't exactly sober representations of ducks and pelicans either. For the artist's current show at Paul Kasmin Gallery, titled "I Don't Like to Look at Him, Jack. It Makes Me Think of that Awful Day on the Island," Nov. 3-Dec. 23, 2011, Ford painted three giant, 9x12 ft. paintings of King Kong and six smaller works of monkeys in various states of sexual arousal -- all in his signature 19th-century wildlife realist style.
Thursday, November 3, 2011 Western Mercenaries And Corporations Pouring Into Libya, By Glen Ford (1 comments)
Western mercenaries are flocking to Libya, to protect the hordes of western businessmen that have descended on the country. An historic crime becomes a "gold rush" for those that destroyed the society's infrastructure and covet her resources.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Dateline: Oct 27, 2011 - International Community Considers Blockade Inadmissible
UNITED NATIONS, October 25.--Nations participating in the 66th UN General Assembly overwhelmingly rejected, for the 20th time, the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba. Jorge Valero, Venezuela's ambassador to the UN, reiterated his condemnation of the criminal blockade of the island and stated that the siege of Cuba "is not an abstract measure implemented against a government but, on the contrary, has a dramatic impact on daily life" and represents a massive violation of the human rights of a dignified and sovereign people"....
Saturday, October 29, 2011 Reflections Of Fidel: Nato's Genocidal Role -- Part 3 (2 comments)
(Fidel writes): On February 23, 2011, I stated: (NATO) is going to try and take maximum advantage of the lamentable events in Libya. No one is capable of knowing at this time what is happening there. All of the figures and versions, even the most improbable, have been disseminated by the empire {hereafter, the United States} through the mass media, sowing chaos and misinformation.
Friday, October 28, 2011 Beyond The Art World, By Ben Davis Of Artnet Magazine (2 comments)
This piece was suggested by OpEdNew's own Bia Winter, who has been so busy demonstrating in Maine she hasn't had time to post it herself.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Reflections Of Fidel: Nato's Genocidal Role -- Part 2
(Fidel writes): A little more than eight months ago, on February 21 of this year, I affirmed with full conviction, "NATO's plan is to occupy Libya." Under this title I addressed the issue for the first time in a Reflection the content of which appeared to (many others to) be..."fantasy." I include (below) the facts which led me to that conclusion.
Sunday, October 23, 2011 I Used To Spout Off A Lot
about "Tiger Wood's kids" being a miniscule fraction of American children with disabilities, and how the implicit message in every advertisement featuring them with him was that private generosity could accomplish what government funding cannot. Of course, I was quick to add that everyone should give as much as they can afford to give to charity, and I am not against charity.
Thursday, October 20, 2011 Senate Rejects Bill To Keep Teachers, First Responders On The Job
Republican-led opposition in the Senate blocked a key element of President Obama's jobs plan Thursday night -- a proposal to send $35 billion to cash-strapped states to keep public school teachers, police and firefighters on the job.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Black Libyans Make Their Stand in Sirte and Bani Walid, by Glen Ford (1 comments)
"Black soldiers are fighting for survival against the world's biggest lynch mob, armed to the teeth by the United States and Europe." When it comes to Blacks -- whether Libyans or immigrant workers - NATO-backed rebels have shown no respect for the rules of war, or for women and children. If surrender means torture and debasement or summary execution at the hands of racist killers, the only option is a battle to the bitter end.
Sunday, October 16, 2011 Cuba and Brazil strengthen health cooperation links, by L.F. Acosta
The health ministers of Cuba and Brazil, Roberto Morales Ojeda and Alexandre Rocha Santos Padilha, have signed a memorandum of understanding as part of exchanges between the two countries to increase collaboration in the field of health.
Saturday, October 8, 2011 Wall Street as Public Enemy Number One, by B.A.R. executive editor Glen Ford
They are very young, very white, and largely inexperienced in organizing. But the Occupy Wall Street crew has picked the right target: finance capitalists, the class that is the common enemy of the human race. In that sense, "the Zuccotti Park campers are eons ahead of the faux radicals and "progressives' who, in terror of the Tea Party and Republican presidential clown candidates, will soon return to the Obamite fold in their eternal search for lesser evils." Obama was, and will remain, the candidate of Wall Street.
Friday, October 7, 2011 Occupy Wall Street Protesters Sue New York City, by Rady Ananda at Dissident Voice (5 comments)
Dateline October 7, 2011: After the New York Police Dept. arrested over 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge last Saturday, six of those arrested filed a class action lawsuit on Oct. 4, alleging constitutional violations for intentional entrapment and false arrest.
Thursday, October 6, 2011 Dateline Sept 26, 2011: Cuba insists that the UN must recognize Palestinian statehood (1 comments)
UNITED NATIONS, September 26.-- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez today insisted before the General Assembly that this organization must recognize Palestine as a free and independent state and oppose the Security Council or the United States government's attempt to use its veto of the resolution, Telesur reported.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 Impossible crystals snag chemistry Nobel, by Richard Van Noorden of NatureNews (2 comments)
A materials scientist who discovered crystals with structures that many believed to be impossible -- and who stubbornly held his ground against fierce opposition -- has claimed this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Daniel Shechtman of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa was awarded the prize for his 1982 discovery of quasicrystals: materials with a mosaic-like, never-quite-repeating atomic structure that defied the textbooks of the time, existing only as mathematical curios. "It took an enormous amount of courage for Danny to stick to his claim," says Veit Elser, a physicist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 Greece paralyzed by 24-hour strike by civil servants, by Douglas Stanglin of USA Today Online (1 comments)
A nationwide strike by Greek civil servants to protest ever steeper austerity measures paralyzed the country today, bringing transport to a halt and grounding all flights. The New York Times reports that the country's two main unions and the Communist Party held separate rallies in Athens. The newspaper says men and women shouted "traitors" at riot police in central Athens while a crowd of younger protesters chanted "cops, pigs, murderers." Dozens of masked youths, some wearing gas masks, threw chunks of stone at police guarding Parliament, at Athens University and outside luxury hotels on the fringes of the capital's central Constitution Square, the Times reports.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 An Appreciation of the book The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James. (2 comments)
The following appreciation was written for Amazon.com, but it's mainly a quotation from C.L.R. James, the great British socialist who published "The Black Jacobins: Toussant L'Overture and the San Domingo Revolution" in 1938. The book is available in paperback at Amazon.com.
Monday, October 3, 2011 The October Perspective, by Leigh Oswald of Artnet Magazine (2 comments)
A sense of global economic impotence grows, and we feel increasingly unable to find solutions from politicians and are collectively increasingly disillusioned with them....The stranglehold of outdated and dysfunctional political and economic philosophies, which ruthlessly persist...will...probably (and optimistically) be replaced by a more people-driven and people-centered system, with more self- and local community regulation as a key and where more collective big picture interests are prioritized, not to mention the huge explosion in technological progress that will happen and be necessitated to help save the planet.
Sunday, October 2, 2011 Paris Magistrate's Court Holds: BDS's Boycott of Israel is legal (Sept 11, 2011)
The tribunal of the 17th magistrate's court of the Paris law courts, which specialises in matters regarding press rights, the defamation of public figures and freedom of expression, has given a most important and clear ruling on the right of citizens and consumers to call for a boycott of Israel and its products. It concerns all of us. See below for the grounds for the decision.
Saturday, October 1, 2011 The Resistance in my neighborhood (1 comments)
The Resistance was slamming cardoors in the early morning darkness today. But I didn't think to count until it must have been the eighth or ninth slam. And I recalled seeing them wearing their black sock caps and getting into their four-door, knocked out 30-year-old black vehicle
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 Surveys: Health insurance costs shifted to workers, even as premiums surge. (1 comments)
In 2011, for the first time, half of workers at small firms with individual policies faced annual deductibles of $1,000 or more. In 2006, that figure was 16 percent. At large firms, the share has grown from 6 percent to 22 percent over the same five years.
Saturday, September 24, 2011 Biologists Celebrate Comeback of Endangered Ferret (2 comments)
If you read my OEN profile, please note that when I worked for the U.S. Forest Service, from 1978 to 2001, one of the accomplishments of which I was most proud was notifying many of the Agency's workers, in our union newspaper, The Forest Service Monitor, about the re-discovery of a species then thought to be extinct, the Black-Footed Ferrets. And until I saw this article today, I didn't recall that this re-discovery occurred in 1981; moreover, I was blissfully unaware that the little fellows are still endangered.
Friday, September 23, 2011 High Tide and Green Grass? (1 comments)
In 1963 The Rolling Stones released their first record album in the United States: High Tide and Green Grass. Will the week ending Friday, September, 2011, be remembered as OpEdNews' High Tide and Green Grass?
Thursday, September 22, 2011 Artists for Haiti, by Emily Nathan of Artnet Magazine (1 comments)
"A little can go a long way in Haiti," David Zwirner said to a flock of press gathered at his gallery on Tuesday for a walkthrough of "Artists for Haiti," the special sale of artworks that he organized for a benefit auction at Christie's in New York on the evening of Sept. 22, 2011.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 Say Hey, It's Talking Turkey !
I haven't been consulting Wikipedia about the country of Turkey, much, lately; but to prepare this Diary I went there. And guess what: Wiki images of Turkey are no longer downloadable in an easily edited format.
Sunday, September 18, 2011 Conjoined Twins Separated by Ormond Street Doctors
Twins who were joined at the head have been successfully separated by a team of British doctors. Baby girls Rital and Ritag Gaboura, who are 11 months old, were separated on 15 August after four operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
Saturday, September 17, 2011 Cold Hearted, by Walter Robinson of Artnet Magazine (1 comments)
Hot air spread through Manhattan like a cloud of dust as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approached, with maudlin sincerity crowding out any mention of 9/11 politics, economics or its negligible effect on U.S. trash culture. Our Artnet Worldwide offices in Lower Manhattan are but steps away from the awful Freedom Tower, architect David Childs' armored and truncated obelisk that promises to be a massively overpowering icon of the Ugly American.
Thursday, September 15, 2011 The Beginning of Apartheid's End: The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, by Bruce Dixon of B.A.R.
Apartheid South Africa responded to Angola's 1974 independence from the Portuguese with a US-backed military invasion. Declaring that "the blood of Africa" flowed through Cuban veins, Fidel Castro dispatched the Cuban armed forces to confront the armies of racist South Africa in Angola. Between 1974 and 1988 more than 1100 Cubans laid down their lives in Africa to hasten the end of apartheid. The anniversary of the historic battle of Cuito Cuanavale (is March 23); (on that day). . . Cuban, Angolan and Namibian forces routed the supposedly invincible land and air forces of white-ruled South Africa, eventually making possible the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, and the end of apartheid in South Africa itself, and earning for Cuba the lasting enmity of the United States.
Friday, September 9, 2011 Dateline September 6, 2011: Divesting From Israel's Occupation, by Ida Audeh
Next week, student and local community activists will present a petition to the University of Colorado Board of Regents, urging it to remove from the university's stock portfolio all companies that profit from Israel's occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. Launched by CU-Divest and signed by more than 2,000 students and human rights activists, the petition states that the university's $1.7 billion investments "may violate the University's commitment to human rights and social justice."
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 This is Dennis Kucinich. (1 comments)
And if you don't know who he is, find out; if you do know who he is, do something to promote his chances of being the Democratic Party's condidate for President next year; if you don't care, obviously you don't understand the situation, so we aren't interested in having your stupid support.
Sunday, September 4, 2011 College students living in the lap of luxury, by the L.A. Times (1 comments)
Housing is moving away from the dorms and cracker-box apartments of old as part of a national trend. At USC, tanning beds, hot tubs, HD television and a club room are all on the amenities list. But it doesn't come cheaply.
Friday, September 2, 2011 The Art of Anger, by R. Corbett at Artnet Magazine (1 comments)
It's called "mad genius" for a reason. A new study from the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology argues that anger makes us more creative. Researchers provoked anger in participants in a series of experiments and found that those who were agitated tended to think in "less systematic and structured" ways. They also tended to generate more original ideas when asked to complete a problem-solving task (the criterion being that less than one percent of other participants came up with the same idea).
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Freedom Rider: How to Remember 9/11, By Margaret Kimberley of B.A.R.
In a few weeks, it all begins again: the howling scream-whine of a narcissistic nation oscillating wildly between fits of megalomania and depressive woe-is-me-ism. "Will there be calls for a true investigation into what the government knew and how that knowledge might have prevented the tragedy?" Not a chance -- that would spoil the pity-party. But you can be sure that "anyone who dares suggest that our country also inflicts terror will not be given serious consideration." Is the United States capable of serious -- and civilized -- collective thought? Certainly not in the last ten years.
Monday, August 29, 2011 The New Jim Crow: A Book Review, by Steve Sherman of Left Eye on Books
Anyone in the U.S. paying attention during the last fifteen years should be familiar with an anti-corporate, populist critique, courtesy of Michael Moore, Naomi Klein, and many others. And Tom Engelhardt, Andrew Bacevich and others have dissected the ever-expanding American empire (now fighting the war on terror in 75 countries, according to the Obama administration).
Thursday, August 25, 2011 Breaking: German imperialism seeks a share in Libyan war spoils, by Dietmar Henning (2 comments)
As fighting rages in Tripoli, German imperialism is seeking to position itself for a share in the spoils anticipated after the fall of the Gaddafi regime. In addition to Libya's rich energy reserves, German companies are particularly interested in the billions of euros of government assets that have been frozen in foreign accounts. They sense the possibility of big returns. Business federations have emphasized that Germany should not be left out when it comes to the reconstruction of Libya.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 G-L-O-R-I-A, by Charlie Finch of Artnet Magazine (7 comments)
In 1972, when I was 19, I was the New York State Student Coordinator, for the general election, for George McGovern for President (against Nixon). It was a cool job, because I got to organize speaking tours by Daniel Ellsberg and Daniel Berrigan, who were still technically "underground," as well as being the co-organizer of McGovern's final election rally at Trump Village in Brighton Beach (that would be Fred Trump, liberal father of Donald), while maintaining a full class schedule at Yale.
Saturday, August 20, 2011 Dateline August 20,2011: Egypt to withdraw Israel envoy over Sinai shootings
Egypt says it will withdraw its ambassador to Israel in protest at the deaths of five policemen, reportedly shot by Israeli forces on Thursday. Cairo said it held Israel politically and legally responsible, and demanded an investigation and an apology.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 Why Boycott Israel? (1 comments)
Author and history professor Mark LeVine speaks with sociologist Lisa Taraki, a co-founder of the Palestinian campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Dateline Aug 15, 2011: As Economy Tanks, "New Normal" Police State Takes Shape, by Tom Burghardt (1 comments)
Forget your rights. As corporate overlords position themselves to seize what little remains of a tattered social net (adieu Medicare and Medicaid! Social Security? Au revoir!), the Obama administration is moving at break-neck speed to expand police state programs first stood-up by the Bush government. After all, with world share prices gyrating wildly, employment and wages in a death spiral, and retirement funds and publicly-owned assets swallowed whole by speculators and rentier scum, the state better dust-off contingency plans lest the Greek, Spanish or British "contagion" spread beyond the fabled shores of "old Europe" and infect God-fearin' folk here in the heimat.
Sunday, August 14, 2011 Obama Slipping, and Black America is Waking Up to the Nightmare, by B.A.R. Executive Editor Glen Ford
The final unraveling of Obamaism -- at root, a kind of delirium centered on a corporate-crafted Great Black Hope -- will be nowhere near complete until the hallucinogen is substantially purged from the psyche of its core constituency, Black America. Tentative moves by outfits like the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party to explore the possibility of a primary challenge to Obama are encouraging, to be sure. But Obama's awesome power to neutralize and disfigure progressive politics in the United States owes its potency to the First Black President's psychological hold on African Americans, historically the nation's most Left constituency. As long as Obama's very presence in the White House continues to mangle African American political perceptions, effectively neutering Blacks as a social force, the chances of a progressive revival are nil.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 Who Said Mathematicians Don't Believe in Eternity?
Eternity is a puzzle devised by Christopher Monckton and consisting of 209 pieces, each of which is a 12-polydrafter (i.e., a compound of 30-60-90 triangles). The puzzle was introduced in Britain in June 1999. The goal of the puzzle is to arrange the pieces in the shape of a slightly nonregular dodecagon. A one-million-pound award was offered for the first solution to the puzzle, which was found by Alex Selby and Oliver Riordan on May 15, 2000. Their solution is illustrated (below, courtesy of MathWorld and Christopher Monckton). A second solution was subsequently found by Guenter Stertenbrink. Interestingly, neither of these solutions matches the six clues given by the puzzle's creator Christopher Monckton for his solution, which remains unknown.
Thursday, May 13, 2010 The NYT: PB Says Leak May Be Closer to a Solution
After days of deepening gloom, BP and two Obama administration officials suggested on Wednesday that the company was closer to a solution that might halt the seemingly uncontrollable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Monday, October 19, 2009 An Appreciation of the Movie "Master and Commander"
The is the best movie for 13 year-olds I've ever seen. It stars Russell Crowe, James D.Arcy, and Paul Bettany, and it's set in 1804 on the high seas, with Britishhhh Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey pursuing a French Privateer from the Atlantic into the Pacific.
