Tidbits - January 18, 2011

* Unemployment Comp and State Budget Problems(Martin Morand)
* Re: Tunisia's Revolution Was Twitterized (from China)
* Re: The Weight of Dead Generations (nadir)
* Dare to Pursue King's Dream (Rodney D. Coates)
* Using Social Media to Teach Social Justice
* Re: Readers Respond on Mark Twain Controversy (Malaika
  Horne)
* Re: Obits for "Fabled Hero" of Vietnam War, Vang Pao, Omit
  CIA Drug Connection (de Bivort Lawrence)
* Halle Berry Wants to Play Angela Davis (Marissa Charles in
  Jet Magazine and Monsters and Critics)

==========

* Unemployment Comp and State Budget Problems

Re: States Will Soon Have To Start Paying Interest on  Their
Massive Unemployment Borrowing

The Unemployment Compensation" problem", akin to the
education "problem": needs to be considered in light of our
history and the kind of government we established.

The states, it is said, have a problem.  Of course they do.
Because they are complicit in the de-nationalizing of the
unemployment insurance SYSTEM.  Canada has provinces,
Germany has states but they have a NATIONAL UI system
Because they have (at minimum) a national labor market.
Unemployment Insurance comes to the USA as part and parcel
of the Social Security Act. Then the states, under pressure
from employers who pay the UI tax, ask to and win permission
to, opt out. (Why?  It is a helluva lot cheaper to buy a
state legislature than a Congress!)   THEN, each state
competes in a race to the bottom by making Its taxes more
employer friendly!  So, they Cut UI taxes when times are
good and,  SURPRISE! , later their trust funds are found to
be inadequate.

Education, of course, is funded by states and localities.
The notion that we could "reform" our education system
nationally --  when we have 15,000 separate school district
which fund and run the schools -- is ludicrous.

Martin Morand

==========

* Re: Whither One Nation?

    "There is a consensus among progressives that a
    national social movement is needed; that the
    movement must be independent of the two parties;
    that its posture towards the present Administration
    must be to galvanize grass roots pressure upon
    it...."

I could try and spin this statement into one I would agree
with, but I do not think it would stand up to any
inspection.

A consensus is needed, and such a consensus is possible, but
is not yet  in place. In addition, the movement must be
political as much as, in fact more than, social. Further,
while it must have some independence, it must have the
objective of taking over the democratic party, at first at
local and regional levels, but eventually altogether. Now it
may well be that such a project is so at odds with the
corporate forces currently dominant in the DNC, that a split
may be inevitable. That's been the pattern in US history
when new parties are formed. But the two-party system in the
US demands that all thoughts of working primarily outside
that system must be abandoned by any coalition seriously
vying for power. The revival of the One Nation movement,
which I agree with Mark is vital effort, must be primarily
an electoral effort at least through 2012. Not that strikes,
sit-ins, demonstrations, civil disobedience are not called
for -- they are, more than ever -- but they must serve the
purpose of vastly increasing the empowerment of progressive
coalitions in the electoral contests of 2012.

cheers

John Case

Secondly, our main goal must not be to pressure Obama, but
to defeat, in fact crush, the right.

==========

* Re: Tunisia's Revolution Was Twitterized

Unfortunately these revelations only give a relatively
viscous right wing dictatorship more fuel to justify the
suppression of their citizens

A resident of china

==========

* Re: The Weight of Dead Generations

may i suggest :

marx was not wrong. this is why most historians of the usa
start from the civil war or slightly earlier.

the 'nightmare' of the history of the usa starts from
'thanksgiving', from the systematic physical and cultural
erasure of the native americans (which still continues).
this is the nightmare, the blind spot that historians wish
away (though angelina jolie tried to bring this to the fore
recently).

nadir
Tanzania

==========

* Dare to Pursue King's Dream

Rodney D. Coates*

Americas' response to the senseless violence that claimed
the lives of 6 and injured another 14 in Arizona once again
demonstrates the power of hope over despair, peace over
violence, and love over hate. These tragedies coming on the
heels of our celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. also reminds us of his dream for a better America.
Martin Luther King's August 28, 1963 speech "I have a Dream"
galvanized the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans
regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age,
class or handicap. In this dream the essence of the American
creed was reaffirmed by requiring that we judge a person "by
the content of their character and not the color of their
skin". In this dream, we were challenged to let "justice
would roll down like a mighty river". In this dream we all
hoped for a time when we would "hue out of the mountain of
despair a stone of hope". These words have become the
bedrock of human rights throughout the world. These words
have become the true measure of how far we have come and how
far we must go if America is to live out its creed of "life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness". But as the guns
wielded by those who hate continue to kill, as unrest
continues to produce chaos in the Middle East, as children
slaves are being sold in Darfur, as the poor continue to be
over-represented in prisons and under-represented in our
college class rooms, as women continue to be denied equal
pay and rights, and as those who look different from
ourselves are dismissed, ridiculed, and denied basic
freedoms then we must question just how far we have come
toward the realization of the dream.

Perhaps the real testament to the power of King's dream is
that we still celebrate it 43 years after a bullet took his
life. Perhaps the real measure of the dream is not
determined by how many ways we can reiterate the dream in
speeches, marches, programs, and proclamations but in
tangible, identifiable, and meaningful ways. As millions of
our fellow citizens do more then take a day off from work,
but render service to the downtrodden, encourage the
hopeless, and feed the hungry, just perhaps the dream yet
lives. As we witness the expansion of rights, the
enhancement of privileges, and the realization of hope we
see the vitality of the dream. As we look through our
communities we might notice that they are a bit more
diverse, our churches a little less homogeneous, our schools
a little more inclusive, and our political arenas a little
more open to difference - just maybe the dream is alive. No,
we have not achieved King's dream! We have many miles yet to
walk. The important thing is that we are willing to make the
journey. Therefore, while senseless acts of violence may
momentarily cause us grief, America stands strong and
resilient as long as we dare to pursue King's dream.

* Note: Rodney D. Coates is a professor of sociology and
gerontology at Miami University. He can be reached at
[log in to unmask]

==========

* Using Social Media to Teach Social Justice

Teaching Tolerance A Porject of the Southern Poverty Law
Center Number 39 - Spring 2011

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-39-spring-2011

This issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine takes an in-depth
look at how educators can use social media to teach social
justice. It also explores the human side of the complex
immigration debate and suggests ways for educators to defuse
the issue in class discussions. Other topics include
combating anti-Muslim bias, improving diversity in STEM
classes, teaching about human trafficking and changing
attitudes about bullies. Download the PDF version here.

http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/Teaching_tolerance_39.pdf

==========

* Re: Readers Respond on Mark Twain Controversy

I'm not sure if we in such a racist society can probably
teach what Twain was apparently trying to do.

Malaika Horne

==========

* Re: Obits for "Fabled Hero" of Vietnam War, Vang Pao, Omit
CIA Drug Connection

Interesting article, but I hope it is more accurate than the
following would suggest:

"USAID" stands for United States Agency for International
Development, and not, as the author states,  "US Aid and
Development Program."

de Bivort Lawrence

==========

* Halle Berry Wants to Play Angela Davis

Halle Berry wants to play former FBI Most Wanted
Angela Davis

By Marissa Charles

Monsters and Critics

January 6, 2011

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1609918.php/Halle-Berry-wants-to-play-former-FBI-Most-Wanted-Angela-Davis

Halle Berry wants to play Angela Davis in a movie of the
former FBI fugitive's life, it has been revealed.

The Oscar-winner says that she is dying to play the woman
whose arrest and subsequent imprisonment was a cause célèbre
in the 1970s.

The 44-year-old told JET, 'I'll probably never get to play
it in my life and I'm going to be sad until the day I die,
but I really want to play Angela Davis - badly. So badly.

'I just think she's fascinating and I think I would love to
tell a story from her perspective about that time in our
history and what it was all about with the Black Panthers.'

In 1970 Davis became the third woman to be put on the FBI's
Ten Most Wanted List after being charged as an accomplice in
a bloody, failed attempt to free California prisoner and
Black Panther, George Jackson.

Although she wasn't present when a judge and several other
hostages were abducted and shot, she was charged with
conspiracy, kidnapping, and homicide.

Now 66, the retired college professor was later found
innocent but not before becoming a cultural icon.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote the song Angela in honour of
the former Communist Party member.

The Rolling Stones wrote the song Sweet Black Angel in
support of Davis, which was released on their 1972 album,
Exile on Main Street.

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