Went to the Amherst, NH (named after Lord Jeff, the guy who invented giving American Indians disease-infected blankets) 4th of July Parade. My intention was to shill for Jill Stein and that I wouldn't be caught dead marching in an Independence Day parade. But then I ran into the Granite State Organizing Project peeps, and they gave me a free "Fight for $15 New Hampshire" t-shirt and a "We Do This For Jeffrey" (Pendleton) placard and I felt a little bit like a freeloader and THEN I realized that their contingent was marching between the contingent of New Hampshire Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte and the supporters of Donald Trump and one of the septuagenarian ladies kept baiting the Trump supporters...so I compromised my principles and marched with them.
As part of revolutionary self-flagellation, or criticism/self-criticism, as the Maoists would say, I'm sharing this NYT op-ed piece:
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French government forces labor law through parliament, shrugs off protests
From a couple days ago, Richard Wolff on the Real News Network:
French Labor Law, Brexit, and Greek Austerity: Class War Against European Workers
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The Chilcot report into the Iraq War is out
"7 years' work and £10m in order to state the bleedin' obvious", as several people have pointed out.
Nonetheless, Tony was right about everything - EVERYTHING! - and the only problem with the whole affair is that people now doubt him and are saying rude things, and that makes him sad.
Some folks have speculated that the anti-Corbyn plot was an attempt to remove Jezza before he could start laying into Blair in public, post report. I don't buy it, personally - more likely to have been nothing more than trying to take advantage of a post Brexit crisitunity.
And for this one I had to dig deep. Couldn't find the article I remembered, but found it as text on some anti-fascist archives page. Alas, the accompanying picture of Comrade Omar, bloody but unbowed, has disappeared down the memory hole.
Was contacted by a woman from Australia who came to the states for a month-long (damn rest of the industrialized world and their outrageous vacation time) intercontinental booty call with Comrade Omar. They copulated in my bed in East Boston for a week back in, oh, 2007, 2008, don't remember exactly.
Anyway, before she met Comrade Omar she worked in the NGO world, but after she met Comrade Omar she got a job with the Health and Community Services Union down under and has been with them ever since, which gives an indication of the power of Comrade Omar.
Anyway, she sent me the photo.
Comrade Omar Bloodied But Unbowed at Anti-Fascist Demo, Wallingsford, CT, 2001
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Looks like an interesting read:
This idea, like most cultural ideas produced by Europe during the colonial era, is not very original. The argument of Moses Finley about ancient Greek history - "the advance, hand in hand, of freedom and slavery" - is justly famous, and similar observations have often been made about the Romans by those who study Roman slavery.
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This idea, like most cultural ideas produced by Europe during the colonial era, is not very original. The argument of Moses Finley about ancient Greek history - "the advance, hand in hand, of freedom and slavery" - is justly famous, and similar observations have often been made about the Romans by those who study Roman slavery.
Assuming I understand the nature of the connection, the good news (GREAT news, in fact) would be that this time around we've finally invented robots, so this dilemma may, for the first time ever, actually finally be solved.
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I did, indeed, end up finding the article interesting.
In other news,
AFL-CIO, Teamsters mourn shooting death of Philando Castile
In other other news, La Principessa was up for the last five days. The Nigerian Princess reported that the two of them had a conversation about property prices in the area.
[Ka-ching gesture]
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Today looks like it was going to be a long day in Boston:
Speak Out Against Police Terror--SayTheirNames: Alton Sterling, Philando Castile
Beyond Bernie: We Need a Party for the 99%
Which means I'll miss the two protests against police brutality in New Hampshire, alas.
Imho, little to none.
I mean, I don't have any particular insight into bourgeois politics, but the polls tell me that he is the most hated presidential candidate in history (apparently, Hillary is the second most hated); furthermore, his nationwide 30-person staff doesn't seem to point to any sweeping success.
Imho, what should be worried about is how big the far right is going to get after another four or eight years of Clintonian neoliberalism and austerity.
Anyway, Pix from Boston Speak-Out and March Against Police Terror
EDIT: Hmm, link doesn't seem to work, so I erased it.
Later there were 80 or so peeps at the Beyond Bernie public meeting, but, alas, it wasn't as impressive as it sounds; half the non-members, I'd wager, were septuagenarian to octogenarian Bernie voters.
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Speaking of Trump...
A Thousand Workers At The Trump Taj Mahal Are Still On Strike
No photo albums from former Khmer Rouge enthusiasts, alas, but article from Boston Herald:
Boston hosts peaceful protests against police-involved shootings
What do you think, Comrade? How much should we worry about Trump actually winning the Presidency?
It's helpful to remember that the entire history of the primary process was full of experts claiming that Trump was at an imminent stage of crash and burn.
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What do you think, Comrade? How much should we worry about Trump actually winning the Presidency?It's helpful to remember that the entire history of the primary process was full of experts claiming that Trump was at an imminent stage of crash and burn.
Yes, that is the other thing that frightens me.
Yes, that is the other thing that frightens me.What do you think, Comrade? How much should we worry about Trump actually winning the Presidency?It's helpful to remember that the entire history of the primary process was full of experts claiming that Trump was at an imminent stage of crash and burn.
It's frightening to me as well, but I can't maintain that level of panic all the way to November.
Yes, that is the other thing that frightens me.What do you think, Comrade? How much should we worry about Trump actually winning the Presidency?It's helpful to remember that the entire history of the primary process was full of experts claiming that Trump was at an imminent stage of crash and burn.That's true, but it's somewhat misleading. The primary was full of experts claiming that in spite of the data and the polling and everything else, Trump would crash and burn because, well basically because they just couldn't believe he'd win. They thought the others would drop out and support would consolidate behind one surviving candidate or that Republican primary voters would come to their senses and realize what they were doing or that something, anything would change.
Now though, in the general election it's different. All the polling shows Clinton with a solid lead, nationally and in enough battleground states to easily win the electoral college. This time, the experts are actually using the data, not just their instincts.
The polling winds have been chaning back and forth. It wasn't that long that they were showing Trump ahead by a few points. The conventions haven't convened yet. A lot can happen.... at both of them.
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A lot can happen.... at both of them.
I like your choice of wording.
I was going to edit in, he's been helped along by the Dumbf~*! Media(TM) every step of the way, and enabled by the GOP almost as much, so it's possible he can still crash if at least some of them get a grip and start resisting. That will still be a horrible mess, regardless, though.
The whole system has a Macbeth Complex by this point: "I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er."
A lot can happen.... at both of them.I like your choice of wording.
I was going to edit in, he's been helped along by the Dumbf#*# Media(TM) every step of the way, and enabled by the GOP almost as much, so it's possible he can still crash if at least some of them get a grip and start resisting. That will still be a horrible mess, regardless, though.
The whole system has a Macbeth Complex by this point: "I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er.".
The Democrats might well face a melt down of their own. The Sanders crowd are a wild card. Idealogically they share much with the Trump crowd in their rage against the status quo. And many of them won't even listen to Sanders if he tells them to embrace Clinton. If the Republicans get their ranks together, and the Democrats have another 1968, we may well be looking at a gold "T" being affixed to the Trump House.
(I feel like somebody already asked me that. Was it Conservative Anklebiter?)
J.K. Rowling is a racist pinkskin.
Goblins of Gringotts, unite!
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this time around we've finally invented robots, so this dilemma may, for the first time ever, actually finally be solved.
...until the andys start sneaking back to Earth and I have to give up my day job to go around "retiring" them.
Posting a link to a gofundme for our office. No pressure, but if you you want to throw some money in, tell 'em Comrade Anklebiter sent you!
What else? Lessee...
Another #BLM march in Boston tonight that I won't be able to attend because I'll be at the branch meeting with our three new contacts, huzzah!
Tomorrow, cool-looking Socialist Alternative event in Boston that I won't be able to go to because I'm doing overtime: Public Forum on LGBTQ Youth Liberation
La Principessa was discussing the Orlando Massacre with her 7th-grade class and the responses of Trump, Clinton and Sanders. At one point she wrote "LGBTQ" on the blackboard and her students replied "Ms., you forgot 'P' and 'A'." La Principessa, who's about as sexually experienced as a seventh grader, actually maybe less so given all her stories about her female students going out with each other, had to be schooled on Pansexuality and Asexuality.
Btw, I was confused and asked the Nigerian Princess, intersectional and now queer feminist extraordinaire, what the difference between pan- and bisexuality and she, too, said it was confusing.
Friday, I should go hang out with the Granite State Organizing Project peeps in front of the Wendy's for their monthly "Standout for $15" on the 15th; later in the evening we'll see what's popped up in Lowell, #BLM-wise while CAJE has been dead: Solidarity Vigil.
La Principessa should arrive sometime on Friday and then we're off to Philadelphia for Comrade Omar's memorial services which means that I will miss the biggest event of the week:
Jill Stein coming to Manchester, NH to speak at the Unitarian Universalist church and then walking over to the second #BLM-esque event in Manchester (which has received threats from racists that they will show up and run the protesters over), and then off to one of the ex-Berners houses for a Jill Stein dance party.
Jill Stein Speaks in Manchester, NH!
Black Lives Matter Manchester March #2
Finally, someone remember to remind me to explain the significance of the phrase "Weimar Republic of Lowell" someday. It's hawt.
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Just saw a headline as I was getting ready to go work.
Apparently, the CIA caught Edward Snowden.
:(
EDIT: Nevermind, apparently it was a Pokemon Go joke.
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In Boston, yesterday evening:
More than 1,000 rally against police brutality
I couldn't make it, alas, but we did recruit a gay couple at our branch meeting tonight.
Huzzah!
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Some rather distressing news.
Bloody f***ing hell.
Also, there's a new crowd-funded left wing paper out in the UK, called 'The Word'. Unfortunately, it looks like one of those free papers that you get that are full of double-glazing adverts and used cars (only slightly cheaper) and doesn't seem to have any news in. No website, either. I bought it today, but probably won't again.
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There was, apparently, a story in the Madly Wail today titled 'Posh Past of Jeremy Corbyn, the Sexpot Trot'.
Mrs Snorter was laughing yesterday, at a gif featuring Corbyn turning slowly to camera, and in her words, 'smouldering'.
She's already confessed that in his anti-apartheid days, she'd have 'given him one'.
Seems the ladies do love a bearded man of principle, and hasn't diminished, since becoming a silver fox.
There was, apparently, a story in the Madly Wail today titled 'Posh Past of Jeremy Corbyn, the Sexpot Trot'.Mrs Snorter was laughing yesterday, at a gif featuring Corbyn turning slowly to camera, and in her words, 'smouldering'.
She's already confessed that in his anti-apartheid days, she'd have 'given him one'.
Seems the ladies do love a bearded man of principle, and hasn't diminished, since becoming a silver fox.
Too right. Ex-Lady Longears also got (and still seems to get) tingly at the sight of him. Why the Labour Party isn't taking full advantage of the Sexy Corbyn phenomenon is beyond me. Hopeless!
The Nigerian Princess's London-Residing Mum is smitten with Sexy Corbyn as well.
La Principessa should be up around six, head over to the Solidarity Vigil, give my speech about labor and black freedom, head down to Comrade Omar's memorial service, head up to Brooklyn and, since, I already have Sunday off, maybe I'll get to head over to Staten Island for the second anniversary of the killing of Eric Garner march.
Two years since the murder of Eric Garner!
But first I should write that speech...
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Outline for a Speech
--Philando Castile, Teamsters 320, any union members in the crowd?
--Labor movement has slogan, an injury to one is an injury to all
--List of victims (Alton Sterling, Delrawn Small, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, Freddie Grey, Michael Brown, Pedro Villaneuva, Alva Braziel, Fermin Valenzuela, Vinson Ramos, in Boston, Usaamah Rahim, Burrell Ramsey, in Lowell, Jose Perez)
--An injury to one is an injury to all And what that means is that there are two classes in society: those that work and those that exploit
--Workers have a common interest regardless of race, sex, immigrant, gender identity--attack on black workers live is an attack on all workers lives
--That's what it is an attack, a war. A war on black people, on poor people, on women, on workers.
--Sunday is second anniversary of Eric Garner's death and the only person going to jail is Ramsey Orta,
In 2015, over 1,200, mostly black and brown, killed by police
In first half of 2016, 532
--Wednesday was one year anniversary of death of Sandra Bland; in past year over 800+ have died in jail, including Jeffrey Pendleton
--Jeffrey Pendleton and Fight for $15
--We know that this country was founded on racism and class oppression. Through slavery and Jim Crow and the war on drugs and the New Jim Crow, we know the cops are the racist enforcers of class society and police brutality has always been at the core of racist American capitalism
--Malcolm X, you can't have capitalism without racism
--We need to get organized, we need to get woke and stay woke, we need a new party, a workers party, a party of the 99%, party that champions, fights for socialism
--Vive le Galt!!!
(I feel like somebody already asked me that. Was it Conservative Anklebiter?)
J.K. Rowling is a racist pinkskin.
Goblins of Gringotts, unite!
I actually have no idea what you to are talking on with that.
Food for thought, Comrade Anklebiter: automation is becoming the war on the worker. Buff up your sabos...
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Food for thought, Comrade Anklebiter: automation is becoming the war on the worker. Buff up your sabos...
At least if they automated most of management, the company would run better (less office politics, less backstabbing, less Peter Principaling, less discrimination in scheduling/evaluations/promotions, less contradictory instructions and tasks, etc.). However, I'm not sure what you'd do with all the displaced managers, as on the whole, they seem poorly skilled, prone to irrationality, and unsuitable for most any other trade or career.
Food for thought, Comrade Anklebiter: automation is becoming the war on the worker. Buff up your sabos...
Ultimately automation may eliminate as much as 40 percent of jobs that exist now.
Food for thought, Comrade Anklebiter: automation is becoming the war on the worker. Buff up your sabos...Ultimately automation may eliminate as much as 40 percent of jobs that exist now.
Which presently seems likely to spread across the full spectrum of jobs - unskilled, 'blue collar' and 'white collar'.
Food for thought, Comrade Anklebiter: automation is becoming the war on the worker. Buff up your sabos...At least if they automated most of management, the company would run better (less office politics, less backstabbing, less Peter Principaling, less discrimination in scheduling/evaluations/promotions, less contradictory instructions and tasks, etc.). However, I'm not sure what you'd do with all the displaced managers, as on the whole, they seem poorly skilled, prone to irrationality, and unsuitable for most any other trade or career.
So they're either grist for the Soylent Green mill or ... I dunno, carnival attractions maybe? ;)
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Yeah, I shudder to think what would happen if they automated my hub. Luckily, it was built with state-of-the-art 1988 technology (carousels of cages that go round and round) and I've heard management talking about how many tens, if not hundreds, of millions it would take to retrofit the building. But if they did, yeah, they could probably get rid of half of us.
Vive le General Ludd!
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What else?
Speech at #BLM Solidarity Vigil in Lowell went down alright. I thought it was a C+, Mr. Comrade rated it much higher and we compromised and decided that it was a "B+, for Lowell." Best parts, for me, were: when Mr. Comrade, another comrade and I first arrived and I overheard the organizers (two young black women students who were home for the summer) comment "That's CAJE; they've been doing this way longer than us"; when one of the fiery black speakers clasped my shoulder on my way down the city hall steps and said "Great speech!"; when the Nigerian Princess was trying to tease me in front of her sister and the latter defended my right, despite my skin color and age, to use the phrase "stay woke"; when La Principessa showed me how proud she was by [redacted redacted redacted].
Yesterday was a bummer. Turned out it wasn't a memorial service--that will be in a few months around Boston in a UE hall--just friends, family and comrades. Got quite a few Leftist Bingo points, actually, and I had to confess to one of his Philly Solidarity comrades that he only ever joined my group because "Socialist Alternative has the hottest chicks on the left."
Saw some folks I hadn't seen in a decade or more. Turned out Omar and I had the same size feet and his brother Tarek made me take two sets of boots and a pair of shoes. If the reader may recall from an above post, Omar was a bit of a clotheshorse so I now have more expensive footwear than I have ever had. His family also graciously allowed me to claim his red keffiyeh. Cheesesteaks, Goo Goo clusters and Omar's last bottle of Jim Bean. Lot of crying (mostly me) and pulling out of smartphones to share Comrade Omar the Internet Troll's greatest hits. For example, one of his old HERE staffer buddies from the attempt to organize Foxwoods campaign read a "report" that Omar had written after going to the former's home for Pesach entitled "First Born Egyptian Survives Passover Seder."
Haven't checked in with the NH comrades yet, but if Facebook is any indication, the Jill Stein/Black Lives Matter rally in Manchester went well, despite the presence of armed Oathkeeper counterprotesters. Haven't heard yet if Mr. Comrade got to dance with Jill Stein or not.
Right now, I'm in Brooklyn and still want to go to the Eric Garner march, but La Principessa and I haven't gotten much sleep in the last 48 hours and I don't know if I'll be able to wake her up in time. She sleeps a lot during the summer.
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Hundreds march in Black Lives Matter protest
Scenes from a Black Lives Matter protest
Mr. Comrade's Facebook report back:
The BLM organizer teenagers seemed to hate us.
When we firt joined they sent over someone to tell us not to fly the SA flad cuz it was too militant. Then they asked why we were not holding more BLM signs. I showed them all the ones we brought. Our black and yellow ones.
Then we notice the biker gangs, armed Oath Keepers, and random white supremists, all lining up on the other side of the street. Some oath keepers were creeping near the rally, [Occupy NH Alum] and [Comrade Who Was Published n Jacobin] kept them back. They said they werre there to "protect the police and the rally" but kept saying all lives matter.
So we march. Keeping the racists from the rally. And they were walking into the march trying to say s###. Walking behind us intimidating people yelling all lives matter. There were a lot of kids there.
So we get back and the ones across the street start creeping up to the park. We set up a line to keep them from the rest of the rally and s@~+ got intense. They were trying to provoke an incident. The police refused to get inbetween so we had to.
eventually we got them to back down and leave. But it was f%%!ing scary man! After most people were thanking us for keeping them safe. I mean we had to keep going from spot to spot putting out fires. And we were way out numbered and gunned to fight them. The pigs wanted something to happen so bad.
ooooo super hot ACLU lawyers were thanking me and telling me i did a good job. lol.
so after that, the BLM teens send an organizer over and instead of saying thatnk you, they start complaining about [Young, New Gay Comrade]'s jacket, it scared them cuz it was too militant. At first I thought they just scared, but after the 2nd interaction it sounded like they read an article on how to do identity politics BLM work, and be an ally, and any deviation needed to be scolded. lol whatever. We f$~@n killed it. Made another 12 bucks or so, and at least 1 serious contacts who wants to join.
Long article that looks interesting that I will read when I get back to New England:
Comrades of Mine in the News, Well, Jacobin
The proposed CUNY contract is no victory — a just settlement will come only through struggle.
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Well, I'm off on a bike trip from Omaha to Galesburg, IL, with RAGBRAI in the middle. Wish me luck!
Don't get arrested, and if you do, get it on film.
I'll see everyone in a fortnight.
Fergie
Which presently seems likely to spread across the full spectrum of jobs - unskilled, 'blue collar' and 'white collar'.Food for thought, Comrade Anklebiter: automation is becoming the war on the worker. Buff up your sabos...Ultimately automation may eliminate as much as 40 percent of jobs that exist now.
Absolutely. Millennials for instance, are turning more to financial knowledge engine software than seeking out actual human finance advisors.