What Would Durkheim Do?

Last week, the BCAW, co-sponsored by the PSC, held our end-of-the-year event, Rock Against the War!. It was a great event, with lots of energy. The music was good and the speeches were righteous.

There was even a brief appearance by one of the nation's Most Dangerous Professors.

The students were really the stars of the show. I feel a great deal of pride every time I watch them in action. Their efforts will change this nation, and the world.

It isn't difficult to see why the capitalist class likes the status quo so much (and the BushCo that ensures that it does). They get to make private bets with public money. They profit; we suffer.

As usual, Paul Krugman explains it neatly:

But while our out-of-control financial system has been bad for the country, it has been very good for wheeler-dealers, who collect huge fees when things seem to be going well, then get to walk away unscathed — indeed, often with large severance packages — when things go wrong. They don’t want regulations that would stabilize the economy but cramp their style.

We don't people vote for their interests? *sigh*

We are doomed to live before the revolution, and so must ask these questions. What is wrong with us?

This isn't about simple incompetence, though there is plenty of that in the Iraq Debacle; it is a glimpse into the true purpose of the invasion and occupation: it is an opportunity for Republicans to transfer massive public wealth into their pals' pockets.

The war profiteers don't care how many people — Iraqi or American — die or are injured. The "war zone" is an excuse to take the money and run. Republicans are notorious for encouraging corruption in governance, so they had a ready-made plan. Privatize as much of the war as possible and make sure there aren't enough trained personnel to oversee the contractors.

What is killing our troops now? Shoddy electrical work.

Is there any doubt that the Republicans love "the troops" but not the actual men and women serving? Senator McSame's plan for a 100 year occupation is simply the most efficient way for the war profiteering to continue.

The BCAW and campus PSC chapter collaborated in a solidarity event at BC today. We handed out literature about the war and announced our upcoming events. We also gathered signatures for the ongoing union campaign against tuition increases.

We also joined with the campus LGBT coalition for their Day of Silence vigil.

I've posted some pictures in the gallery.

May Day Message

From: The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq

To: The International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the United States

Dear Brothers and Sisters of ILWU in California:

The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation to bring a better future for us and for the rest of the world as well.

We are certain that a better world will only be created by the workers and what you are doing is an example and proof of what we say. The labor movement is the only element in the society that is able to change the political equations for the benefit of mankind. We in Iraq are looking up to you and support you until the victory over the US administration's barbarism is achieved.

Over the past five years the sectarian gangs who are the product of the occupation, have been trying to transfer their conflicts into our ranks. Targeting workers, including their residential and shopping areas, indiscriminately using all sorts of explosive devices, mortar shells, and random shooting, were part of a bigger scheme that was aiming to tear up the society but they miserably failed to achieve their hellish goal. We are struggling today to defeat both the occupation and sectarian militias' agenda.

I'm inclined to think religion is little more than an elaborate excuse to abuse the powerless, but hey, that's just my opinion.

In the news today:

A total of 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 are in state custody after a raid 3 1/2 weeks ago at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado. Of those girls, 31 either have children or are pregnant, said Child Protective Services spokesman Darrell Azar. He didn't specify how many are pregnant.

"It shows you a pretty distinct pattern, that it was pretty pervasive," he said.

State officials took custody of all 463 children at the ranch controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying a pattern of teen girls forced into underage "spiritual" marriages and sex with much older men created an unsafe environment for the sect's children.

So, go ahead and try to convince me that fundamentalist men don't treat women as property.

This was a week to be reminded vividly of the extent to which the U.S. is a thoroughly racist nation. As much as we want to hide the problem, to deny it with "color-blind" rhetoric, there are moments like these that reveal just how little progress we've made on the issue of racial justice, and just how much farther we must go.

The Sean Bell verdict reminds us that the American criminal justice system gives police a license to kill black men. As long as there are no consequences for those involved in police brutality, racial justice will be beyond our reach. Whites take for granted the right to security in our persons, which is why it is so difficult for many whites to understand what it means to always be a potential target for a cop's bullet. If the state can kill you with impunity, how can you consider yourself to be an equal citizen? How can whites not understand this?

The case isn't over, and it may be that some justice will be found at the federal level. Given the extent to which BushCo has polluted the federal agencies, though, I am not holding my breath.

As if we needed another reminder of our racist society: an Indiana Congressional candidate appears at a neo-Nazi celebration of Hitler's birthday. Asked whether or not he supports neo-Nazism, he replied that he "doesn't know enough about the organization" to form an opinion. No, he isn't just too stupid for the job. He was speaking beneath a portrait of Hitler about how Jews use porn to harm white women. Let's be clear: he's a racist. And he has not been chased off the political stage as a result. That speaks volumes.

When you combine nerds and cats, hilarity ensues.

Hey YouTube czars! Feature this video!

(via.)

I was at Shea last night for the Mets-Nationals game. It was a bit cold for baseball, but a good game, good company, and lots of fun. Thanks to Ken for the ticket.

The Amazin's won 6-0. José Reyes had four hits — a single, double, and triple in his first three at bats — and David Wright* had a homer and five RBIs. The biggest surprise of the night was seven strong innings pitched by Mike Pelfrey. Perhaps he is beginning to live up to his potential.

It was Jackie Robinson Day at MLB parks. I wore my Brooklyn Dodgers cap to the game to honor him.

Following a directive of the CCOTEA*, I offer the following:

Expelled

The Occupation of Iraq is so utterly depressing in human terms that, I admit, I have to take days of from reading the news about the war every now and then.

So it was returning from one of my mini-vacations from the news that I read this by Juan Cole:

Bush happened to Iraq just as he happened to New Orleans. He cannot do the hard work of patiently addressing disasters and ameliorating them. He just wants to set people to fighting. Crush the Sadr Movement, perhaps the most popular political movement in Iraq? He's all for it. Risk provoking a wider conflagration in the Middle East by worsening relations with Iran? Sounds like a great idea to him. Bush campaigned on being a 'uniter not a divider' in 2000. In fact, he is the ultimate Divider, and leaves burning buildings, millions of refugees, and hundreds of thousands of cadavers in his wake. He is not Iraq's Brownie. He is Iraq's Katrina itself.

Professor Cole captures both sources of the moral depravity of the current U.S. regime. It is completely callous of the human costs of its ideology and utterly incompetent.

Bush is Iraq's Katrina. And his administration is filled with Brownies. That is a historically ugly combination, to say the least.

It is hard to believe that I have let the start of baseball season pass without a post. But, in my defense, I've been swamped at work. I'm grading exams now (or, rather, should be). I've got to finish a couple of book reviews too.

The Mets had a nice opening day. Hooray for Johan! Pedro's first start was not such a happy occasion, but it is difficult not to be optimistic. It may just be the intoxicating promise of spring talking, but I think the team with the best pitcher (Santana) and the best position player (Wright) in the NL is the team to beat.

Over on the other coast, the Mariners started with a win and then a loss too. Their future doesn't look as bright to me. I have my doubts about their ability to score. The M's have had a chronic inability to hit with runners in scoring position. Lots of wasted base runners makes for agonizing losses. They overachieved last year; let's hope it continues this year also.

It occurs to me that what we really need to surmount the current impasse on the left — you know the one I mean, between the supporters of Hillary and Obama — is to mount a massive write-in campaign for a progressive black woman for president.

There are lots of good choices available: Eleanor Holmes Norton, Pam Spaulding, Angela Davis, Kathleen Neal Cleaver, to name just a few.

I've decided to cast my vote for Velmanette Montgomery, State Senator from New York. She'd be a better president than either Clinton or Obama.

We've been in a kind of techno-statis around here for a few weeks. I had upgraded to Drupal 6, and everything seemed to go swimmingly. But then I discovered that no new content was showing up. It appeared to be a problem with permissions, as far as I could tell, but I was unable to fix it. Some of the modules I use had not been upgraded yet, as well, so I decided to pull the plug on the "upgrade." I downgraded back to 5.7 and then back to 6.1.

I think we lost a tiny amount of the new content, anything that was added since I last backed up the database. Still checking for errors, so don't be surprised to see the maintenance sign hanging up again.

Where, oh where, is Gordo? It appears that the Feds have nabbed him for too much truth-telling in his Iraq blogging. I wonder which telecom ratted you out.

G-man, if you can read this down there in Gitmo, stay strong! As a leftist academic I have a direct line to Fidel, of course, so I think I can arrange for a prison break.

Oh, on your way back to the States, pick me up some Cuban cigars. I'll pay you back, I promise.

For the curious, I'm linking to the paper I presented at the ESS annual meeting on Friday.

Shortell, Timothy. 2008. The Conflict Over Origins: A Discourse Analysis of the Creationism/Evolution Dispute. Paper presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, New York. [PDF]

Or, How I am Going to Get Gordo Back, Someday

I've been tagged by the G-man, so I have to do this, like it or not:

The book meme task is to "grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long). Open to p. 123. Go down to the 5th sentence. Type in the following 3 sentences."

The results

'Some old Jew offered us a packet of money for it and we were damned hard up at the time, so my governor sold it.'

I noticed that Elliott, bristling, threw a venomous glance at the jovial marquess, and guessed that it was he who had bought the picture. He was furious at hearing himself, Virginian born and the descendant of a signatory of the Declaration, thus described.

Guess the title of the book in the comments and win a WWDD? tee-shirt.

(I'm skipping the final step, to tag five others. Partly on principle — these memes are like chain letters in the analog world — and partly because I know full well that there aren't five regular readers of WWDD? If there were a way to tag the referrers spammers, I'd be in business.)

Don't believe me? Let Keith Olbermann explain it to you.

The damages that the Bush clan have done to our world will take more than a lifetime to repair. Such is the toxic nature of fascism.

I don't generally support politicians in federal elections. (I do, however, support local democratic processes.) I always hope that the most progressive candidate wins, but I am almost always disappointed. I have followed the Democratic primary closely, but until quite recently, had not expressed my support for any candidate. That changed when John Edwards elaborated on his proposal for a national health care plan. That he had the courage to declare that the final form of the system, whether single-payer or not, would be decided democratically, convinced me that he was worth supporting in the primary even though he was polling behind Obama and Clinton.

So it was with sadness that I received the news that Edwards is bowing out of the race. As he points out, the Democrats will make history in 2008. The symbolic is significant, but I would still rather have the most progressive candidate win. I am sorry to see him go.

I'm posting the full text of his speech because I think it is important for people to read.

John Edwards' speech in New Orleans, 1/30/08

Thank you all very much. We're very proud to be back here.

During the spring of 2006, I had the extraordinary experience of bringing 700 college kids here to New Orleans to work. These are kids who gave up their spring break to come to New Orleans to work, to rehabilitate houses, because of their commitment as Americans, because they believed in what was possible, and because they cared about their country.

I began my presidential campaign here to remind the country that we, as citizens and as a government, have a moral responsibility to each other, and what we do together matters. We must do better, if we want to live up to the great promise of this country that we all love so much.