Noam Chomsky on America’s Declining Empire, Occupy and the Arab Spring. [AlterNet] – Last year, the Occupy Movement rose up spontaneously in cities and towns across the country, radically shifted the discourse and rattled the economic elite with its defiant populism. It was, according to Noam Chomsky, “the first major public response to thirty years of class war.”
We Love America
“Our patriotism is that of the man who loves a woman with open eyes. He is enchanted by her beauty, yet he sees her faults. So we, too, who know America, love her beauty, her richness, her great possibilities; we love her mountains, her canyons, her forests, her Niagara, and her deserts–above all do we love the people that have produced her wealth, her artists who have created beauty, her great apostles who dream and work for liberty.”
— Emma Goldman, from her Address to the Jury, 9 July 1917
Obama and Civil Liberties
How Obama Became a Civil Libertarian’s Nightmare. | [AlterNet] – When Barack Obama took office, he was the civil liberties communities’ great hope. Obama, a former constitutional law professor, pledged to shutter the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and run a transparent and open government. But he has become a civil libertarian’s nightmare: a supposedly liberal president who instead has expanded and fortified many of the Bush administration’s worst policies, lending bipartisan support for a more intrusive and authoritarian federal government.
10 Great Container Tomatoes
There’s nothing like stepping out back and picking a beautiful, ripe homegrown tomato for a BLT, a salad or simply for slicing and serving with a little seasoned salt. I started planting tomatoes in huge terra cotta pots more than a decade ago when I didn’t have diggable space in a decent, sunny location for a garden, and the habit stuck. I’ve always loved the first tomato of the season. No matter how fresh they are from the farmers’ market, they’re never quite as tasty as the ones you grow yourself.
Colleen Vanderlinden over on Treehugger has a wonderful post about ten tomato varieties that do well in containers. The Black Krims sound particularly tasty.
I first ran across Colleen’s article on the Occupy Monsanto blog. The more I learn, the more I realize that some of the most simple and pleasant everyday things we do – like choosing to grow heirloom tomatoes in pots – can be powerful political acts as well. For me, that makes such things all the more satisfying.
I’m hoping it won’t be too late to plant a few pots after our move next month.
A word of caution to those who want to grow container tomatoes on an upstairs balcony. Be careful where you set them. Remember that Tommy Ewell nearly got killed by Marilyn Monroe’s falling tomato plant in The Seven Year Itch. 🙂
P.S. Here’s another interesting article on best practices for pruning tomatoes.
From Adbusters, With Love
Battle for the Soul of Occupy. [Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters] – It’s up to you to decide if our movement goes the way of Paris ’68, the dust bin of could-have-been-insurrections, or something more daring, more inspiring, something not yet dreamed.
Sleepin’ on Wall Street
Wall Street: #Occupied. [OccupyWallSt.org] – In Metropolitan v. Safir, the U.S. District Court covering New York City ruled that “the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not allow the City to prevent an orderly political protest from using public sleeping as a means of symbolic expression.”
From OccupyWallSt.org:
For the first time since our movement against economic inequality and political corruption began, Occupy Wall Street is literally occupying Wall Street. As of 3am eastern time, over 40 Occupiers are sleeping on Wall Street near the corner of Broad across from the New York Stock Exchange. Everyone angry at the greed of the financial system is encouraged to bring a sleeping bag!
Follow this occupation on Twitter: #SleepOnWallSt #SleepfulProtest
Occupy Transit!
Occupy Transit! Transit Workers & the Occupy Movement Team Up. [Bob Simpson | Daily Kos] – Calling mass transit “a genuine civil rights issue,” the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which represents transit workers across the nation, joined with the Occupy Movement, community organizations and transit riders to demand a revitalization of our transit systems.
”Public transit is a central municipal service, and we don’t put money into a fare box to make some guy rich.”
– Charles Paddock, Secretary of Citizens Taking Action, a CTA riders organization.
Read the full article on Daily Kos.
Hedges on “The Real Health Care Debate”
Chris Hedges: The Real Health Care Debate. [Chris Hedges’ Columns | Truthdig] – There is no substantial difference between Obamacare and Romneycare. There is no substantial difference between Obama and Romney. They are abject servants of the corporate state. And if you vote for one you vote for the other.
Noam Chomsky: Behind the Attack on Public Education
Chomsky: How the Young Are Indoctrinated to Obey. [AlterNet] – Forty years ago there was deep concern that the population was breaking free of apathy and obedience. Since then, many measures have been taken to restore discipline. Read more.
Opening Day 2012
How wonderful it was to find this essay from my nephew, Brady Cremeens, in my mailbox first thing this morning.
It’s marveling at a once head-bound slider snapping down for a strike as the batter bails out of the way.
It’s the whip-like crack of a wooden Louisville connecting with a 98 mph fastball.
It’s listening to your favorite broadcasters on a radio station that barely comes in.
Read the full article on Life, Death, and Feeny: The Optimism of Opening Day.
Play ball!