Op-Ed
A Tragedy?
When people use the word “tragedy,” they ordinarily mean something completely bad and sad, like the mass killings in the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Almost as many human beings were killed during the eleven-day uprising in Lucasville (ten) as in the Aurora movie theater (twelve). But does the word “tragedy” adequately describe what happened at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility?
I think the correct answer is, Yes, but in two different ways. One of the meanings the dictionary gives for “tragedy” is “a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair,” a “calamity,” a “disaster.” The dictionary gives an example: “the tragedy of the President’s assassination.”
And certainly the Lucasville Uprising was such a tragedy. The ten persons murdered were unarmed and outnumbered. They never had a chance.
When people use the word “tragedy,” they ordinarily mean something completely bad and sad, like the mass killings in the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Almost as many human beings were killed during the eleven-day uprising in Lucasville (ten) as in the Aurora movie theater (twelve). But does the word “tragedy” adequately describe what happened at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility?
I think the correct answer is, Yes, but in two different ways. One of the meanings the dictionary gives for “tragedy” is “a lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair,” a “calamity,” a “disaster.” The dictionary gives an example: “the tragedy of the President’s assassination.”
And certainly the Lucasville Uprising was such a tragedy. The ten persons murdered were unarmed and outnumbered. They never had a chance.
In Tampa, heavy rain and intense sun and heat were the two main weather patterns. Sometimes we sought shelter in the shade and sometimes in tents and under tarps.
One night a dozen or more of the folk of Romneyville gave up on trying to sleep in a 6 hour car wash and shared a huge concrete bed with homeless folk under an overpass. We’re gone but most of them are probably still there.
The intense heat and sun was good for drying out our rain-soaked clothes as we wore them on our bodies, or after we’ve tied them to a rusting fence or scattered them on the ground.
The rain took away my body and hair odor as I got drenched yelling at cops during a march : “the police are not the problem, per se; the problem is big money which is buying our government; this is a movement based on love.” At least two cops responded, “we know.”
The intense heat and sun was good for drying out our rain-soaked clothes as we wore them on our bodies, or after we’ve tied them to a rusting fence or scattered them on the ground.
The rain took away my body and hair odor as I got drenched yelling at cops during a march : “the police are not the problem, per se; the problem is big money which is buying our government; this is a movement based on love.” At least two cops responded, “we know.”
More Washington insiders are coming to the conclusion that Israel’s leaders are planning to attack Iran before the U.S. election in November in the expectation that American forces will be drawn in. There is widespread recognition that, without U.S. military involvement, an Israeli attack would be highly risky and, at best, only marginally successful.
At this point, to dissuade Israeli leaders from mounting such an attack might require a public statement by President Barack Obama warning Israel not to count on U.S. forces — not even for the “clean-up.” Though Obama has done pretty much everything short of making such a public statement, he clearly wants to avoid a confrontation with Israel in the weeks before the election.
However, Obama’s silence regarding a public warning speaks volumes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The recent pilgrimages to Israel by very senior U.S. officials — including the Secretaries of State and Defense carrying identical “PLEASE DON’T BOMB IRAN JUST YET” banners — has met stony faces and stone walls.
At this point, to dissuade Israeli leaders from mounting such an attack might require a public statement by President Barack Obama warning Israel not to count on U.S. forces — not even for the “clean-up.” Though Obama has done pretty much everything short of making such a public statement, he clearly wants to avoid a confrontation with Israel in the weeks before the election.
However, Obama’s silence regarding a public warning speaks volumes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The recent pilgrimages to Israel by very senior U.S. officials — including the Secretaries of State and Defense carrying identical “PLEASE DON’T BOMB IRAN JUST YET” banners — has met stony faces and stone walls.
No joke. A little innovative thinking and economic calculation, and someone has come up with a model in Niagara Falls that could restore the U.S. economy and every economy influenced by it, not to mention the natural environment and what's left of our miserable souls.
The Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station has long been an economic drain (military spending produces fewer jobs than energy or education or infrastructure spending or even tax cuts), an environmental disaster (with the ground poisoned, what can replace this airport?), and a symbol of corruption (with the military trying to get rid of it, Congress members have insisted on keeping the base around as a make-work jobs program protected from charges of Socialism purely by its connection to war).
The Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station has long been an economic drain (military spending produces fewer jobs than energy or education or infrastructure spending or even tax cuts), an environmental disaster (with the ground poisoned, what can replace this airport?), and a symbol of corruption (with the military trying to get rid of it, Congress members have insisted on keeping the base around as a make-work jobs program protected from charges of Socialism purely by its connection to war).
“Everyone loved him.”
The hole was too deep; these words couldn’t fill it. But there they remain, floating on the regret, vibrant with the possibility of a different kind of world. We’ve always been in the process of building that world, but the process has lacked a central cohesion . . . a god, if you will, to bless it and keep it.
Antonis Perris, an unemployed musician from Athens, found himself at age 60 living in a world where the love of his community didn’t matter and probably wasn’t even noticeable: He had lost his means to earn a living. Until Europe’s economic crisis hit, he had sustained himself and his elderly mother performing at local taverns. He had done well. Then business dried up. Finally, he reached a point where he saw no way to keep on living. The brief story of his death last May — one more “economic suicide” — was reported recently in the Washington Post:
“The next morning, Perris took the hand of his ailing 90-year-old mother. They climbed to the roof of their apartment building and leapt to their death.”
Antonis Perris, an unemployed musician from Athens, found himself at age 60 living in a world where the love of his community didn’t matter and probably wasn’t even noticeable: He had lost his means to earn a living. Until Europe’s economic crisis hit, he had sustained himself and his elderly mother performing at local taverns. He had done well. Then business dried up. Finally, he reached a point where he saw no way to keep on living. The brief story of his death last May — one more “economic suicide” — was reported recently in the Washington Post:
“The next morning, Perris took the hand of his ailing 90-year-old mother. They climbed to the roof of their apartment building and leapt to their death.”
Some folk, such as Nathan Schneider, suggest there will be No Revolution Without Religion, but I humbly suggest success does not require religion, per se, whether organized or not. Instead it may be a matter of basing social movements on love. Who was it that said justice is the public face of love ?
But first some acknowledgement of how it's understandable folk think religion itself is required. Yes, religion can involve love and its manifestations: justice, fairness and compassion.
During Occupy DC, activist Bruce Wright reminded me the Bible says a lot more about social justice than it does about the roles of women or homosexuality or other issues that religious conservatives focus on. He is currently camping out in 'Romneyville' with the People's Economic Human Rights Campaign in Tampa as that city hosts the Republican National Convention.
And of course, social movements could no doubt use a type of Christianity more in tune with Liberation Theology and the type of faith found in the Abolition and Black Civil Rights movements.
But first some acknowledgement of how it's understandable folk think religion itself is required. Yes, religion can involve love and its manifestations: justice, fairness and compassion.
During Occupy DC, activist Bruce Wright reminded me the Bible says a lot more about social justice than it does about the roles of women or homosexuality or other issues that religious conservatives focus on. He is currently camping out in 'Romneyville' with the People's Economic Human Rights Campaign in Tampa as that city hosts the Republican National Convention.
And of course, social movements could no doubt use a type of Christianity more in tune with Liberation Theology and the type of faith found in the Abolition and Black Civil Rights movements.
It doesn’t take a high school graduate to realize there aren’t enough jobs in the United States. But it does take a high school graduate to do most of what jobs there are.
The stalemates that exist between the political right and center – vouchers vs. public education; teacher unions vs. you’re fired; evolution science vs. snakes and apples; etc – create a unique opening for progressives to offer some real ideas that might actually gain traction in a national dialogue currently mired in politicalculus.
To this end I offer three progressive proposals – seeking thoughtful response from both progressives and the political community at large. What do you think about…
TEACHER ASSISTANT CORPS
My first plan for reforming public education is a national teacher assistant corps. This would be federally-funded but supplemented with state, local, private and corporate contributions as well.
Beginning with the most at-risk districts and eventually fanning out to every public school in America, I propose placing a teacher’s assistant in every class, every classroom, every day.
Why?
The stalemates that exist between the political right and center – vouchers vs. public education; teacher unions vs. you’re fired; evolution science vs. snakes and apples; etc – create a unique opening for progressives to offer some real ideas that might actually gain traction in a national dialogue currently mired in politicalculus.
To this end I offer three progressive proposals – seeking thoughtful response from both progressives and the political community at large. What do you think about…
TEACHER ASSISTANT CORPS
My first plan for reforming public education is a national teacher assistant corps. This would be federally-funded but supplemented with state, local, private and corporate contributions as well.
Beginning with the most at-risk districts and eventually fanning out to every public school in America, I propose placing a teacher’s assistant in every class, every classroom, every day.
Why?
The Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism (CICJ) which publishes the freepress.org made a comprehensive public records request on July 3, 2012 to virtually every county and municipal election official in Wisconsin. The Free Press wanted to look at the ballots from the June 5, 2012 recall election of Governor Scott Walker. As outlined in a previous Free Press article, our staff was concerned with the election results deviating so far from the exit polls that predicted an evenly divided vote – or too close to call. Walker won with a 7% discrepancy from the polls.
With Wisconsin’s history as a progressive and honest state, the CICJ did not anticipate any problems with our public record request. Imagine our shock when Kathy Nickolaus, the Waukesha County Clerk, sent us an 8-page letter containing directives that made it practically impossible for us to look at the Wisconsin ballots, which are public records under that state’s laws.
With Wisconsin’s history as a progressive and honest state, the CICJ did not anticipate any problems with our public record request. Imagine our shock when Kathy Nickolaus, the Waukesha County Clerk, sent us an 8-page letter containing directives that made it practically impossible for us to look at the Wisconsin ballots, which are public records under that state’s laws.
According to the Huffington Post, "President Barack Obama's reelection campaign and Democratic political groups have been eager for Romney to pick Ryan, the architect of plans to slash government spending and overhaul entitlement programs that Democrats believe are political losers." ABC agrees: "The selection of Ryan as running mate makes it far more likely that Medicare, Social Security, and dramatic spending cuts will be as central to the campaign conversation this fall as jobs and the economy. Adding some of those famed political third rails into the mix is not just a potential risk Romney is willing to take, it is also clearly a potential risk he felt he had to take."
So, cutting Medicare and Social Security are unpopular, and Obama benefits from Romney's risky move in picking a runningmate willing to cut them. That's the story.
So, cutting Medicare and Social Security are unpopular, and Obama benefits from Romney's risky move in picking a runningmate willing to cut them. That's the story.
Israel’s ‘Bomb Iran’ Timetable
More Washington insiders are coming to the conclusion that Israel’s leaders are planning to attack Iran before the U.S. election in November in the expectation that American forces will be drawn in. There is widespread recognition that, without U.S. military involvement, an Israeli attack would be highly risky and, at best, only marginally successful.
At this point, to dissuade Israeli leaders from mounting such an attack might require a public statement by President Barack Obama warning Israel not to count on U.S. forces — not even for the “clean-up.” Though Obama has done pretty much everything short of making such a public statement, he clearly wants to avoid a confrontation with Israel in the weeks before the election.
However, Obama’s silence regarding a public warning speaks volumes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
More Washington insiders are coming to the conclusion that Israel’s leaders are planning to attack Iran before the U.S. election in November in the expectation that American forces will be drawn in. There is widespread recognition that, without U.S. military involvement, an Israeli attack would be highly risky and, at best, only marginally successful.
At this point, to dissuade Israeli leaders from mounting such an attack might require a public statement by President Barack Obama warning Israel not to count on U.S. forces — not even for the “clean-up.” Though Obama has done pretty much everything short of making such a public statement, he clearly wants to avoid a confrontation with Israel in the weeks before the election.
However, Obama’s silence regarding a public warning speaks volumes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.