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Has the Revolution Started Yet?

[ 127 ] November 9, 2013 | Erik Loomis

Since this brilliant plot was hatched in 2010, surely the revolution must have started by now, no?

There is much to embrace about Burning Man. Since its beginning it has been a radical, counter-cultural gathering, where space is carved out for people to be free to think, and experiment, outside of prescribed politics, religion, sexuality and ideology, and where people openly discuss how to create new morality and co-operation in the “default” world.

There is a great need for people who are yearning for a different, better world to be introduced to Bob Avakian and his revolutionary vision of the most radical rupture with traditional property relations and traditional ideas, and a vibrant, exciting communist world in which people would really thrive—the unleashing of art and science, awe and wonder, ferment and imagination in mind-boggling dimensions.

Two of us went to Burning Man art to popularize Bob Avakian among 50,000 people. We intended to have a one-two punch; to raise broad curiosity about the identity of the person in the image, and then to answer with the Message and Call. Logistically, this proved far too ambitious, especially in a week’s time in the harsh conditions in the desert.

Before the event, I got permission to install a number of 3′ by 4′ enlargements of the image of the Chairman along a 90-mile stretch of highway (between Wadsworth, Nevada and the Black Rock Desert or “the Playa,” as it is known to “Burners”). Virtually everyone attending the event must travel this route.

Silk screens of Bob Avakian’s face and Burning Man. I don’t think the American proletariat has been this moved since that college socialist group talked about Che after doing some bong hits while listening to Bob Marley’s Legend compilation.

Today in the Post-Racial Society

[ 12 ] November 9, 2013 | Erik Loomis

Clearly not racism:

Home improvement maker Home Depot Inc. on Thursday apologized for a tweet that showed a picture of two African-American drummers with a person in a gorilla mask in between them and asked: “Which drummer is not like the others?”

The tweet, from Home Depot’s official Twitter account, @HomeDepot, was part of a “College Gameday” college football promotion on ESPN. It was quickly pulled, but not before people took screen shots of it and it was widely circulated on social media. NBC and CNBC, among others, reported on the Tweet.

Home Depot said Friday that it has fired the person and outside agency that was responsible for the tweet, but did not disclose their names.

“We have zero tolerance for anything so stupid and offensive,” said Stephen Holmes, spokesman for the Atlanta-based company.

The fact that Home Depot fired the agency responsible for the tweet is outrageous. It clearly has nothing to do with real racism. You know, like claiming that Trayvon Martin shouldn’t have been shot dead by George Zimmerman for being black, thinking the Washington Racist Insignias have an offensive mascot, or supporting the rights of African-Americans to vote. The real racists here are Home Depot executives for firing those truth tellers.

The Meaning of Freedom

[ 278 ] November 9, 2013 | Erik Loomis

The true meaning of freedom is killing your children because you believe God will come down and heal them instead of getting them the medical help they need.

“The Patrician Elite to Which Vidal Himself Belongs”

[ 288 ] November 9, 2013 | Robert Farley

I guess Harvard needed the money.

Mr. Steers said Mr. Vidal, in his original will, left everything to Howard Austen, his partner of 53 years who died in 2003, then amended it in 2011, awarding it to Harvard. A few paintings were bequeathed to the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif. At about that time Mr. Vidal also bought a house in the south of France.

“Part of the idea was to relocate there and live in exile,” said the film director Matt Tyrnauer, a close friend and former literary executor. Ultimately Mr. Vidal gave the house to his onetime assistant, Muzius Gordon Dietzmann, who lives there with his family. Mr. Vidal told Mr. Tyrnauer, “I have made him a rich boy.”

Mr. Vidal’s fortune, according to Ms. Straight, is estimated at $37 million; representatives for the estate would not confirm this or any other details about the will. Mr. Auchincloss declined to comment. His lawyer, Adam Streisand, a partner at the Los Angeles firm Loeb & Loeb, declined to answer questions, though in a statement said: “The claims asserted by Ms. Straight have no merit and we will have no further comment while this matter is in litigation. We will answer these claims in court, not in the press.”

 

 

Gotta say that Niall Ferguson called this one.

Yet criticism of American empire was never the exclusive preserve of the political Left. In the eyes of Gore Vidal, the tragedy of the Roman Republic is repeating itself as farce, with the ‘national-security state’ relentlessly encroaching on the prerogatives of the patrician elite to which Vidal himself belongs.

I’ll provide the lasers, but you’re going to have to analyze it your own damn selves

[ 17 ] November 9, 2013 | SEK

There’s a story to tell about the odd configuration of my Facebook page, I just don’t have the time to write it. But I’ve trained you well, Dear Readers, so surely, you can come up with something awesome if I prompt you thus:

It’s Funny Because It’s–Oh, Nevermind, It’s Not Funny Because Wingnuts Are Never Intentionally Funny

[ 228 ] November 9, 2013 | bspencer

Marvel comics is unveiling a new super heroine. She’s going to be a teenage Pakistani girl from Jersey. Wingnuts responded with measured skepticism, fearing it’s simply tokenism. HA HA HA!!! I’m just kidding! They didn’t really react that way. Instead they reacted like THIS:

  • And she will be fighting republicans and their war on women.

    • While not driving or leaving the house alone, and while wearing a burka?

HA HA HA!! Whooo, that’s a good one. ‘Scuse me while I wipe away these tears of despair laughter! Do you get that joke? Do you get it? It’s funny because every single Muslim woman in the world is oppressed and wears a burka. Yeah! Even the ones who live in Jersey! The more you know, moonbats.

But, wait, there’s more!

A guy who I’m 100% certain resembles Comic Book Guy in real life says

Stupidest. Superhero. Premise. EVER! [facepalm]

But I’ve saved the best nutpicking for last, people…

What’s her super power?

She can blow herself up many times and drive away in a burka and not crash….

HA HA HA! Get it?! Every last Muslim woman on earth, aside from being burka-wearing oppression-mongers, is also a terrorist!

What is it, a Pig with a Burka? There are no Islamic Heros, only Murdering Pigs! Islam is Satan’s Church and Muslims are Satan’s Children! Allah is Satan! The sickness of Islam should not be allowed out of it’s Pig Pen Countries!

That comment got 8 upvotes. You can facepalm now, Real Life Comic Book Guy.

A Motivated Electorate

[ 65 ] November 8, 2013 | Erik Loomis

A possible lesson of Terry McAuliffe’s win in Virginia is that if the Republicans continue a party of open racism that wants to restrict people of color’s voting privileges, it may just anger African-Americans a tiny little bit.

Friday Evening Anti-Communist Propaganda

[ 137 ] November 8, 2013 | Erik Loomis



Good set of anti-communist posters from around the western world to amuse you on Friday night.

Wait, isn’t that just called “America” now?

[ 62 ] November 8, 2013 | SEK

The producers of The Hunger Games want to turn their franchise into a theme park.

Did Occupy Change the Conversation About Economic Inequality?

[ 120 ] November 8, 2013 | Erik Loomis

For the past 2 years, there’s been a common theme on the left that regardless of Occupy’s staying power, the one thing it did was change the conversation about economic inequality.

That might have been true at one time. It probably was true. Occupy focused important attention on personal debt, corporate domination over American society, the unfairness of the New Gilded Age. But if it did change the conversation, the conversation has changed back. The almost complete lack of outrage or even really serious political conversations over slashed food stamps benefits, the continued willingness of many in the Democratic Party, not to mention the Evil Capitalist Party Republican Party to make the life of the poor miserable in exchange for short-term political benefits/stories in Beltway media about how serious they are/donations from rich people. There are a couple of news reports, such as this one today about how food stamp cuts are forcing the poor to make hard choices they can’t really make. But that’s it. Where is the general anger? Why aren’t people on the street? There are many reasons for this. But in the end, even a brief but vigorous opposition to economic inequality can only have a limited staying power.

To be clear, I’m not blaming Occupy for this. I have my critique of that movement, but its trajectory and its members have no responsibility for the backsliding of America into a plutocratic-friendly political class and indifferent or hopeless working class. Occupy, however short-lasting, was purely beneficial. However, whatever Occupy may have done to focus attention on unemployment, income inequality, the welfare state, debt, and other issues of great economic unfairness in this nation has passed and the plutocrats reign as powerful as ever. It is going to take a much more sustained effort to draw attention to these problems. Because we have short attention spans and a political class and media not responsive to the poor, truly changing the conversation to get to a place where food stamps don’t get cut to make political points on the backs of the poor is a multi-year if not multi-decade effort of very hard work.

This is really just a reasonably half-baked thought after an evening of conversation with another historian concerned about these issues. But if the conversation changed somewhat, it’s basically back to 2009.

The War on (Some Classes of People Who Use Some) Drugs v. the 4th Amendment

[ 96 ] November 8, 2013 | Scott Lemieux

Ken White has the warrant in the case of the New Mexico man who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by police officers and medical personnel in New Mexico.  In addition to the criminal behavior by said police and medical personnel, the magistrate also completely failed to do his or her job:

It really comes down to three things:  (1) subjective officer impressions that Eckert looked nervous, (2) a dog alerting on his seat, and (3) an unnamed cop making an unspecific claim that he had previously hidden drugs in his anus.

Particularly since the drug-sniffing dog apparently wasn’t certified — and even if they were certified, the reliability of the dog’s alleged finding of drugs would be highly dubious — this basis for a warrant is a joke, even before we get to the increased burden that should have been required given the extremely intrusive nature of the search. It’s not close to the “probable cause” the 4th Amendment requires to issue a warrant. But as we’ve seen again and again, the logic of the War on (Some Classes of People Who Use Some) Drugs is that the 4th Amendment is a luxury we can no longer afford. We don’t know if the police and the medical personnel would have refrained from sexually assaulting Eckert had the warrant properly not been issued. But they might have, and that’s enough to make the magistrate fully morally complicit in these horrors.

Oh Fashion Industry, You So Crazy

[ 181 ] November 8, 2013 | bspencer

Some Friday bait-click ridikilisness…

I got snookered into clicking this link and found what I would refer to as an “articlette” about a how cool and awesome it is that someone took a photo of a very attractive woman who may be larger than a size two. I think it’s the congratulatory tone of the thing that gets to me.

“I love women in all shapes—it’s more interesting.”

Sure ya do, champ. Sure ya do.

If you look at that photo and think “Geez, I’m glad they’re finally giving fatties their due,” then I weep for this nation. Sadly, many in the fashion industry do that very thing. It’s sooooooo sick.

BTW, quick note about the overcorrection many of us do when we discuss topics like this: I don’t like “yeah, fuck those skinny bitches” comments. That is NOT an appropriate response to the to pressure women feel to be ridiculously thin. Some people are naturally quite thin…and more power to them.

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