May 20, 2014
Australian Green Party: "We Need An Economy That Serves People and the Planet, not the Other Way Around"
Australian Grens Leader Senator Christine Milne's address to the National Press Club on September 26, 2012.
10 Things Only Year-Round Bikers Will Understand
10: Breathing out of the side of your mouth so that your glasses don't fog up in the winter
9: The constant internal debate about whether it would be more practical/impractical to get one of these:
One of these:
Or one of these:
8: Your partner gets jealous of the bikes you stop to check out.
7: The initial joy of blowing the grocery store cashier's mind at the fact that you're taking ALL THOSE GROCERIES on a bicycle.
6: How that initial excitement dulls over time into annoyed resentment.
Yup. I really am taking it on my bike. Just like every other time I buy food.
5: Your friends don't seem to understand why it's often *less practical* for them to give you a ride in their car, even though it's obvious to you.
4. Even though your car driving friends don't understand how it's possible, with a proper clothing, and elevated body heat from exercise, you rarely, if ever, get cold in the winter.
3. You find yourself staying in shape despite your crappy diet.
2. You're saving thousands of dollars a year by not having a car.
1. You'd never go back to driving a car if they paid you.
9: The constant internal debate about whether it would be more practical/impractical to get one of these:
One of these:
Or one of these:
8: Your partner gets jealous of the bikes you stop to check out.
7: The initial joy of blowing the grocery store cashier's mind at the fact that you're taking ALL THOSE GROCERIES on a bicycle.
6: How that initial excitement dulls over time into annoyed resentment.
Yup. I really am taking it on my bike. Just like every other time I buy food.
5: Your friends don't seem to understand why it's often *less practical* for them to give you a ride in their car, even though it's obvious to you.
4. Even though your car driving friends don't understand how it's possible, with a proper clothing, and elevated body heat from exercise, you rarely, if ever, get cold in the winter.
3. You find yourself staying in shape despite your crappy diet.
2. You're saving thousands of dollars a year by not having a car.
1. You'd never go back to driving a car if they paid you.
Man gets ticket for riding his bike; this is his response
Casey Neistat was issued a ticket by NYPD for not riding in the bike lane and tried to explain to the cop that sometimes the lanes are blocked. But the officer didn’t care much about Casey’s opposition. Casey Neistat responded to the asinine ticket with a brilliant video.
May 19, 2014
Coming Out of The Abortion Closet
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
Kelly Carlin, in this clip from the full Acronym TV episode (The Catholic War On Women, watch the full episode here) decides to come out of the abortion closet:
“I’m outing myself here, I’m outing myself in my (forthcoming) book. I had two abortions when I was a teenager. I was a reckless crazy girl… I was really privileged (and) I was lucky. I had parents who had money. I had access to access to a clinic, it was private and it was the way it has been done for rich people forever.”
Carlin describes the personal guilt and shame she has surrounding that period in her life. When asked if the guilt and shame is related to related to the abortions or the wild behavior that lead to them, Carlin was emphatic. “Absolutely the wild behavior that lead to it… it was general ‘out of control’ human being shame…. One thing I always think about that makes me feel better about this is that women, since the beginning of time, have been aiding other women and helping them deal with unwanted pregnancies.”
Katie Klabusich, a female reproductive rights advocate and clinic escort who also shares her abortion story in this segment said: “There are instructions in Deuteronomy * on how to induce an abortion.”
Episode breakdown |
In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basis, simple and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of Hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong.
It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe v. Wade, that women had a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that down, men, usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion
*For more on a Christian viewpoint that the Bible is pro-choice, I recommend reading Nynia Chance, Biblical Abortion: A Christian’s View, who after detailing numerous bible passages that deal with abortion, unwanted pregnancy, and crazy jealous men, concludes:
“My conclusion as a Christian is that the Bible is not anti-abortion. Rather, there is a non-Biblically-based movement that pretends to use the Bible as its justification for attacking women who do not carry a pregnancy to term (even if it was an unintended loss).”
About the Guests |
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast entitled Waking from the American Dream and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She holds a master’s degree in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups. Her website is KatieSpeak.com.
ABOUT ACRONYM TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr. Dennis Trainor, Jr. hosts Acronym TV, a weekly series of dialogue, conversation and debate with the goal of helping viewers sort through these transformative times through the insight of leading activists, artists, journalists, philosophers, scholars, and thinkers.
Acronym TV is available at AcronymTV.com and on Free Speech TV.
Dennis Trainor, Jr. is a writer, host and producer. His documentary on the Occupy movement, American Autumn: an Occudoc, garnered critical praise from The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more. He also wrote and directed Legalize Democracy, a documentary short about the Movement To Amend the Constitution.
Kelly Carlin, in this clip from the full Acronym TV episode (The Catholic War On Women, watch the full episode here) decides to come out of the abortion closet:
“I’m outing myself here, I’m outing myself in my (forthcoming) book. I had two abortions when I was a teenager. I was a reckless crazy girl… I was really privileged (and) I was lucky. I had parents who had money. I had access to access to a clinic, it was private and it was the way it has been done for rich people forever.”
Carlin describes the personal guilt and shame she has surrounding that period in her life. When asked if the guilt and shame is related to related to the abortions or the wild behavior that lead to them, Carlin was emphatic. “Absolutely the wild behavior that lead to it… it was general ‘out of control’ human being shame…. One thing I always think about that makes me feel better about this is that women, since the beginning of time, have been aiding other women and helping them deal with unwanted pregnancies.”
Katie Klabusich, a female reproductive rights advocate and clinic escort who also shares her abortion story in this segment said: “There are instructions in Deuteronomy * on how to induce an abortion.”
Episode breakdown |
In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basis, simple and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of Hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong.
It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe v. Wade, that women had a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that down, men, usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion
*For more on a Christian viewpoint that the Bible is pro-choice, I recommend reading Nynia Chance, Biblical Abortion: A Christian’s View, who after detailing numerous bible passages that deal with abortion, unwanted pregnancy, and crazy jealous men, concludes:
“My conclusion as a Christian is that the Bible is not anti-abortion. Rather, there is a non-Biblically-based movement that pretends to use the Bible as its justification for attacking women who do not carry a pregnancy to term (even if it was an unintended loss).”
About the Guests |
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast entitled Waking from the American Dream and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She holds a master’s degree in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups. Her website is KatieSpeak.com.
ABOUT ACRONYM TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr. Dennis Trainor, Jr. hosts Acronym TV, a weekly series of dialogue, conversation and debate with the goal of helping viewers sort through these transformative times through the insight of leading activists, artists, journalists, philosophers, scholars, and thinkers.
Acronym TV is available at AcronymTV.com and on Free Speech TV.
Dennis Trainor, Jr. is a writer, host and producer. His documentary on the Occupy movement, American Autumn: an Occudoc, garnered critical praise from The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more. He also wrote and directed Legalize Democracy, a documentary short about the Movement To Amend the Constitution.
Patriarchy and Religion: Built to Oppress Women
Originally posted at PopularResistance.org
In this clip from the full Acronym TV episode (The Catholic War On Women, watch the full episode here) Katie Klabusich and Kelly Carlin answer host Dennis Trainor, Jr.’s questions:
How much does religious dogma and/or men in long white dresses with funny hats hold women back from being an equal member of society?
If the Church is built inside of a Patriarchy, so to then, is the State. Can we reform this system from within through legislation while maintaining a patriarchal system?
Episode breakdown |
In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basis, simple and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of Hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong.
It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe V Wade, that women had a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that down, men, usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion
About the Guests |
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast entitled Waking from the American Dream and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She holds a master’s degree in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups. Her website is KatieSpeak.com.
ABOUT ACRONYM TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr. Dennis Trainor, Jr. hosts Acronym TV, a weekly series of dialogue, conversation and debate with the goal of helping viewers sort through these transformative times through the insight of leading activists, artists, journalists, philosophers, scholars, and thinkers.
Acronym TV is available at AcronymTV.com and on Free Speech TV.
Dennis Trainor, Jr. is a writer, host and producer. His documentary on the Occupy movement, American Autumn: an Occudoc, garnered critical praise from The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more. He also wrote and directed Legalize Democracy, a documentary short about the Movement To Amend the Constitution.
Tags,
In this clip from the full Acronym TV episode (The Catholic War On Women, watch the full episode here) Katie Klabusich and Kelly Carlin answer host Dennis Trainor, Jr.’s questions:
How much does religious dogma and/or men in long white dresses with funny hats hold women back from being an equal member of society?
If the Church is built inside of a Patriarchy, so to then, is the State. Can we reform this system from within through legislation while maintaining a patriarchal system?
Episode breakdown |
In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basis, simple and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of Hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong.
It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe V Wade, that women had a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that down, men, usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion
About the Guests |
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast entitled Waking from the American Dream and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She holds a master’s degree in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups. Her website is KatieSpeak.com.
ABOUT ACRONYM TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr. Dennis Trainor, Jr. hosts Acronym TV, a weekly series of dialogue, conversation and debate with the goal of helping viewers sort through these transformative times through the insight of leading activists, artists, journalists, philosophers, scholars, and thinkers.
Acronym TV is available at AcronymTV.com and on Free Speech TV.
Dennis Trainor, Jr. is a writer, host and producer. His documentary on the Occupy movement, American Autumn: an Occudoc, garnered critical praise from The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more. He also wrote and directed Legalize Democracy, a documentary short about the Movement To Amend the Constitution.
Tags,
May 16, 2014
The Catholic War on Women {aTV 005}
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
DISCUSSED: Abortion, Pope Francis, Patriarchy, Does the choice movement need an “it gets better” campaign to empower women to not hide/ apologize about their abortions?, Roe v. Wade, Clinic defenders, Abortion stories, How the Bible teaches women to abort unwanted pregnancy, Bad Choices, Being a target of a pro-life “wanted” poster, Abortion as a local issue, Single women who love sex and don’t want babies.
Kelly Carlin and Katie Klabusich join Dennis this week on Acronym TV.
Kelly Carlin frames her experience of being a woman in the current cultural and political climate in the following way: “The bottom line is, as a woman, I don’t feel safe in the world. I feel like an object. I feel like I could be raped or beaten at any moment. And I feel like I don’t have real control over my destiny and my future. And I have to feel ashamed of my body and who I am. If I could wake up and know that my culture no longer thought those things about me, the world would be such an incredible place because women could actually feel the power they have to help solve the problems that this planet is facing right now.”
Katie Klabusich relates her harrowing experience as a target of a “Wanted Poster” campaign from the Pro-Life Action League. “They decided for Lent this year to put together an Internet meme asking people to pray for (three people): me, (and also) an abortion doctor, and a pro-choice journalist. They put the three of us, with our names, cities, where we work, etc., (and published) it in the blog post and told people to ‘pray’ for us.” This was a major concern because, as Katie says,” the anti-choice movement has used wanted posters to kill people. It has lead to assassinations.”
About the Guests |
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast entitled Waking from the American Dream and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She holds a master’s degree in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups. Her website is KatieSpeak.com.
ABOUT ACRONYM TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr. Dennis Trainor, Jr. hosts Acronym TV, a weekly series of dialogue, conversation and debate with the goal of helping viewers sort through these transformative times through the insight of leading activists, artists, journalists, philosophers, scholars, and thinkers.
Acronym TV is available at AcronymTV.com and on Free Speech TV.
Dennis Trainor, Jr. is a writer, host and producer. His documentary on the Occupy movement, American Autumn: an Occudoc, garnered critical praise from The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more. He also wrote and directed Legalize Democracy, a documentary short about the Movement To Amend the Constitution.
Kelly Carlin and Katie Klabusich join Dennis this week on Acronym TV.
Kelly Carlin frames her experience of being a woman in the current cultural and political climate in the following way: “The bottom line is, as a woman, I don’t feel safe in the world. I feel like an object. I feel like I could be raped or beaten at any moment. And I feel like I don’t have real control over my destiny and my future. And I have to feel ashamed of my body and who I am. If I could wake up and know that my culture no longer thought those things about me, the world would be such an incredible place because women could actually feel the power they have to help solve the problems that this planet is facing right now.”
Katie Klabusich relates her harrowing experience as a target of a “Wanted Poster” campaign from the Pro-Life Action League. “They decided for Lent this year to put together an Internet meme asking people to pray for (three people): me, (and also) an abortion doctor, and a pro-choice journalist. They put the three of us, with our names, cities, where we work, etc., (and published) it in the blog post and told people to ‘pray’ for us.” This was a major concern because, as Katie says,” the anti-choice movement has used wanted posters to kill people. It has lead to assassinations.”
About the Guests |
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast entitled Waking from the American Dream and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She holds a master’s degree in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups. Her website is KatieSpeak.com.
ABOUT ACRONYM TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr. Dennis Trainor, Jr. hosts Acronym TV, a weekly series of dialogue, conversation and debate with the goal of helping viewers sort through these transformative times through the insight of leading activists, artists, journalists, philosophers, scholars, and thinkers.
Acronym TV is available at AcronymTV.com and on Free Speech TV.
Dennis Trainor, Jr. is a writer, host and producer. His documentary on the Occupy movement, American Autumn: an Occudoc, garnered critical praise from The New York Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and more. He also wrote and directed Legalize Democracy, a documentary short about the Movement To Amend the Constitution.
One Day We Will All Strike for More Than One Day
By David Swanson
http://warisacrime.org/
An international one-day strike by fast-food workers is something new, and also something old. People without a union are organizing and acting in solidarity. Others are joining in support of their moral demand for a living wage. They're holding rallies. They're shutting down restaurants. They're using Occupy's people's microphone. They're targeting the one-percenter CEO of McDonald's who apparently is paid $9,002 per hour for the public service of ruining our health with horrible tasting processed imitation food.
Jeremy Brecher has released a revised, expanded, and updated edition of his 40-year-old book, Strike, that includes the origins of these fast-food worker strikes and puts them in the context of a history of the strike in the United States dating back to 1877. This opening passage of Chapter 1 sets the context beautifully:
"In the centers of many American cities are positioned huge armories, grim nineteenth-century edifices of brick or stone. They are fortresses complete with massive walls and loopholes for guns. You may have wondered why they are there, but it has probably never occurred to you that they were built to protect America not against invasion from abroad but against popular revolt at home."
And what revolts there have been! Brecher's book should be read for inspiration. The most marginalized of workers have repeatedly taken matters into their own hands and won radical changes for the better. Success has followed selfless acts of solidarity. Failure has followed strategic calculation and compromise. The potential for greater victories has been frustrated time and again by the decision not to press working people's advantage forward -- a decision generally made by labor unions.
The vision of replacing capitalism has driven the efforts that have reformed it. A century ago, World War I provided the excuse to beat back workers. But their demands exploded upon the war's conclusion. Workers took over Seattle and ran the city, effectively replacing the government. In the 1930s, coal miners opened their own coal mines. Unemployed workers during the great depression joined picket lines in support of striking workers rather than competing with them. Workers at a rubber factory in Akron developed the sit-down strike, which spread like wildfire and might work well in McDonald's restaurants all over the world today. Customers could join workers by sitting in at tables and not eating. We could bring our own food; McDonald's has internet.
Brecher's book brings the story of strikes, including general strikes, up to the present. The lessons it teaches open up possibilities not usually considered. Brecher sums up what we're up against:
"The ideology of the existing society exercises a powerful hold on workers' minds. The longing to escape from subordination to the boss is often expressed in the dream of going into business for yourself, even though the odds against success are overwhelming. The civics book cliché that the American government represents the will of the people and is therefore legitimate survives even in those who find the government directly opposing their own needs in the interests of their employers. The desire to own a house, a car, or perhaps an independent business supports a belief in private property that makes expropriation of the great corporations seem to many a personal threat. The idea that everybody is really out for themselves, that it can be no other way, and that therefore the solution to one's problems must come from beating other people rather than cooperating with them is inculcated over and over by the very structure of life in a competitive society."
One day we will all strike, and we will strike for more than a day. We will strike until we replace the "very structure of life" with different ones. We'll strike forever, occupy everything, and never give it back.
May 15, 2014
Should Women Apologize for Abortion?
Originally posted at PopularResistance.org
Kelly Carlin and Katie Klabusich on Acronym TV discuss the war on women.
It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe v Wade, that women have a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that sh*t down, men (usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions) are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion.
In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basic, simple, and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion, and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong.
Joining me on the program this week to discuss the War on Women, I’m proud to welcome Kelly Carlin and Katie Klabusich.
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast “Waking from the American Dream” and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She also holds masters in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups.
Kelly Carlin and Katie Klabusich on Acronym TV discuss the war on women.
It’s been over 40 years since the Supreme Court decided, in Roe v Wade, that women have a constitutional right to abortion. The legal argument was based around the concept that women had a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, and that right extended to their right to have an abortion. Perhaps no time in the 40 years since Roe v Wade have female reproductive rights been so under attack. From Texas to Alabama to Congressmen saying that women can’t get pregnant when raped because their bodies have a way of shutting that sh*t down, men (usually white conservative men with ties to patriarchal religious institutions) are working their balls off trying to control women; specifically a woman access to birth control and abortion.
In the United Sates, one out of every three women has had an abortion. If you are a women living in Texas, and a growing number of states, access to this basic, simple, and safe procedure has been severely restricted with the passage of hundreds of new laws in the last several years that strip a women's right to privacy, limit access to abortion, and shame women into thinking that their choice about what to do with their bodies is wrong.
Joining me on the program this week to discuss the War on Women, I’m proud to welcome Kelly Carlin and Katie Klabusich.
Kelly Carlin hosts a weekly podcast “Waking from the American Dream” and her recent one woman show, A Carlin Home Companion, sold out around the country while generating rave reviews. She also holds masters in Jungian Depth Psychology, but, according to her bio, her desire to be on a stage and yell the word “fuck” kept gnawing at her, and so she decided to follow the call of the stage once again. You can find out more at TheKellyCarlinSite.com
Katie Klabusich contributes regularly to a number of radio programs, podcasts and TV/internet video broadcasts. She is an award-winning social media director, fundraiser and community-builder as well as the Activism Director/Segment Writer at The Best of the Left Podcast. She is also a dedicated activist who helps establish clinic defense escort programs, providing logistical and moral support to reproductive access groups.
May 14, 2014
Something Is Happening Here: A Month of Resistance To Stop Mass Incarceration
Originally posted at PopularResistance.org
In this clip form Acronym TV’s full show on the call for a month of resistance To Mass Incarceration, Carl Dix and Juanita Young call on people to recognize the injustice of the system of Mass Incarceration and join the resistance to put an end to it.
Watch the full episode here.
Learn more about the Call For A Month Of Resistance To Mass Incarceration, Police Terror, Repression And The Criminalization Of A Generation here.
The Film "ALIEN" & Capitalism
via bgsu.edu
"Ridley Scott’s Alien stages a nightmare of a hostile 'profound reality.' Despite being a post-Star Wars science fiction film, Alien rejects the giddy operatics of the many films which strove to mimic George Lucas’s blockbuster. Like Scott’s next film, Blade Runner (1982), Alien’s visual and narrative styles place it firmly in the cinematic camp of 70s realism alongside films like The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972), Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), and Midnight Express (Alan Parker, 1978). In Alien, space is not an open terrain of freedom and adventure as it is in Star Wars, but a stark and lonely void of perpetual menace. This is not the kind of space that calls its inhabitants out into expansive gestures of self-transcendence, but rather the kind of endless night that turns its inhabitants in on themselves. The Nostromo crew huddling around the mess hall table for nourishment and companionship inhabits a meager and fragile bubble of light in a void that is both spatial (they are months away from earth’s solar system) and temporal (their hypersleep has been momentarily interrupted). Space is disenchanted in the Alien universe; rather than providing an escape from reality, space in Alien emphasizes the immediacy and inescapability of reality. Space is precisely what makes escape from the clanking, bloody reality of the Nostromo impossible.
Likewise, technology is similarly disenchanted. The translucent technology of conventional science fiction is replaced in Alien by whirring and clicking boxes of frequently malfunctioning moving parts. As in 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), the ship’s computer turns against the human crew of the Nostromo in an ultimate depiction of the unreliability of technology. Whereas in Kubrick’s film, however, the computer glitch was overcome and the transcendent future made possible, in Alien, the glitch is not in the computer, but in the materialistic values of corporate capitalism. The ship’s computer, Mother, and the android, Ash, are doing exactly what they were programmed to do by the military-industrial society which built them and which is willing to sacrifice the human crew in order to obtain a valuable new bioweapons product. This 'glitch' is not de-programmable, the only solution is to blow up the entire superstructure in toto, as Ripley finally does. In the same way that the characters in Alien dress, speak, and socially interact in 'realistic' 1970s blue collar fashion, the politics of the Alien universe reflect the real social pathology of contemporary late capitalist culture. Alien is not an escapist film, but a film about the impossibility of escaping the reality of our contemporary world.
This theme of the inescapability of reality is personified most vividly in the figure of the alien itself. The crew of the Nostromo exists within a world that is entirely technological, and in which even their natural rhythms of sleep and wakefulness are controlled by a computer. Everything aboard the spaceship is geometrical, sterilized, and inorganic. It is a world that strives toward a complete elimination of the 'profound realities' of sex and death. The alien infects this world with the violent challenge posed by the return of the repressed. If the first scene in which Kane wakes up from his cryotube against a hospital-white backdrop represents a bloodless, bodiless vision of birth, the violence with which the newborn alien bursts out of Kane’s chest in the middle of the film enacts a birth that is gruesomely biological. The Euclidian spaces of the Nostromo’s interior are eroded by the acidic blood of the alien, which etches chaotic shapes into flat sheets of metal and plastic. The alien itself, in its shadowy amorphousness, presents a visual contrast to the superficial visibility of the spaceship’s metal surfaces.
Moreover, when the crew members squabble at the beginning of the movie about their contractual obligations, they assume the integrity of a social contract that defines the relationship between themselves and their employers. The presence of the alien on board the Nostromo exposes the fictive nature of this contract, disclosing the 'profound reality' of capitalist amorality. The Company – the world-monopoly that owns the ship – is more responsible for the death of the crew than the alien itself, making the alien a kind of proxy for the capitalists. The violence inherent in capitalism that had been repressed during the workers’ conversation of who gets what shares of the profits bursts forth in the figure of the alien to make apparent the true nature of capitalist ethics."
"Ridley Scott’s Alien stages a nightmare of a hostile 'profound reality.' Despite being a post-Star Wars science fiction film, Alien rejects the giddy operatics of the many films which strove to mimic George Lucas’s blockbuster. Like Scott’s next film, Blade Runner (1982), Alien’s visual and narrative styles place it firmly in the cinematic camp of 70s realism alongside films like The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972), Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), and Midnight Express (Alan Parker, 1978). In Alien, space is not an open terrain of freedom and adventure as it is in Star Wars, but a stark and lonely void of perpetual menace. This is not the kind of space that calls its inhabitants out into expansive gestures of self-transcendence, but rather the kind of endless night that turns its inhabitants in on themselves. The Nostromo crew huddling around the mess hall table for nourishment and companionship inhabits a meager and fragile bubble of light in a void that is both spatial (they are months away from earth’s solar system) and temporal (their hypersleep has been momentarily interrupted). Space is disenchanted in the Alien universe; rather than providing an escape from reality, space in Alien emphasizes the immediacy and inescapability of reality. Space is precisely what makes escape from the clanking, bloody reality of the Nostromo impossible.
Likewise, technology is similarly disenchanted. The translucent technology of conventional science fiction is replaced in Alien by whirring and clicking boxes of frequently malfunctioning moving parts. As in 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), the ship’s computer turns against the human crew of the Nostromo in an ultimate depiction of the unreliability of technology. Whereas in Kubrick’s film, however, the computer glitch was overcome and the transcendent future made possible, in Alien, the glitch is not in the computer, but in the materialistic values of corporate capitalism. The ship’s computer, Mother, and the android, Ash, are doing exactly what they were programmed to do by the military-industrial society which built them and which is willing to sacrifice the human crew in order to obtain a valuable new bioweapons product. This 'glitch' is not de-programmable, the only solution is to blow up the entire superstructure in toto, as Ripley finally does. In the same way that the characters in Alien dress, speak, and socially interact in 'realistic' 1970s blue collar fashion, the politics of the Alien universe reflect the real social pathology of contemporary late capitalist culture. Alien is not an escapist film, but a film about the impossibility of escaping the reality of our contemporary world.
This theme of the inescapability of reality is personified most vividly in the figure of the alien itself. The crew of the Nostromo exists within a world that is entirely technological, and in which even their natural rhythms of sleep and wakefulness are controlled by a computer. Everything aboard the spaceship is geometrical, sterilized, and inorganic. It is a world that strives toward a complete elimination of the 'profound realities' of sex and death. The alien infects this world with the violent challenge posed by the return of the repressed. If the first scene in which Kane wakes up from his cryotube against a hospital-white backdrop represents a bloodless, bodiless vision of birth, the violence with which the newborn alien bursts out of Kane’s chest in the middle of the film enacts a birth that is gruesomely biological. The Euclidian spaces of the Nostromo’s interior are eroded by the acidic blood of the alien, which etches chaotic shapes into flat sheets of metal and plastic. The alien itself, in its shadowy amorphousness, presents a visual contrast to the superficial visibility of the spaceship’s metal surfaces.
Moreover, when the crew members squabble at the beginning of the movie about their contractual obligations, they assume the integrity of a social contract that defines the relationship between themselves and their employers. The presence of the alien on board the Nostromo exposes the fictive nature of this contract, disclosing the 'profound reality' of capitalist amorality. The Company – the world-monopoly that owns the ship – is more responsible for the death of the crew than the alien itself, making the alien a kind of proxy for the capitalists. The violence inherent in capitalism that had been repressed during the workers’ conversation of who gets what shares of the profits bursts forth in the figure of the alien to make apparent the true nature of capitalist ethics."
Orange is the New Black (Genocide)
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
In this clip form Acronym TV’s full show on the call for a month of resistance To Mass Incarceration, Carl Dix explains how Mass Incarceration equates to a slow motion genocide.
“Genocide is a process. A process by which groups of people are identified, targeted, demonized, separated, and then as this process goes on, the question of mass killings comes up later. That has been going on in this country. Black people in particular have been historically targeted, demonized, segregated (…) the definition of genocide flowing from the United Nations is when a group of people are put (in whole or in part) in circumstances that make it impossible for them to thrive and survive as a people. That is the situation with Mass Incarceration and all of its consequences in this country.”
Carl, the co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, appeared on Acronym TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr alongside Juantia Young (the mother of Malcolm Ferguson, who was murdered by the NYPD) to discuss plans for a month of nationwide resistance to Mass Incarceration.
The organizers call to action for October of 2014 (which is endorsed by Acronym TV) reads:
A CALL FOR A MONTH OF RESISTANCE TO MASS INCARCERATION, POLICE TERROR, REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION!
For 2 generations, Black and Latina/Latino youth in the U.S. have been shipped off to prison in numbers never before seen anywhere in the world at any time. More than 2 million people, of all nationalities languish in prison -- ten times the number 50 years ago. The U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s prison population! More than 60% of those in U.S. prisons are Black or Latina/o. 32% of Black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are in prison or on parole or probation on any given day. More than 80,000 people in prison are held in solitary confinement under conditions that fit the international definition of torture.
The incarceration of women has increased by 800% over the last 30 years. They, along with those whose sexual orientation is not “mainstream” or who are gender non-conforming -- lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex prisoners -- face extremely harsh and abusive treatment in prison, including widespread rape. Alongside this has risen a massive program of criminally prosecuting undocumented immigrants, essentially hidden from public view. As a result of the devastation of their homelands, these immigrants have been driven to this country to work without papers, and today they are being criminalized. The US chastises other countries for human rights violations, yet it enmeshes the lives of tens of millions of people in its criminal “injustice” system. The courts, cops, prisons and La Migra all play a part in enforcing mass incarceration. There are genocidal aspects and a genocidal logic to this program, and it has been gathering momentum. All this is intolerable, and, if it isn’t stopped, it will get much worse!
Mass incarceration has grown beside the criminalization of whole peoples; a situation in which every African-American or Latina/o is a permanent suspect – treated as guilty until proven innocent by police and racist vigilantes, if they can survive to prove their innocence. This is especially concentrated among the youth, starting with cops in schools, arresting children for things that used to mean a visit to the principal’s office at worse, putting youth on a trajectory from school to prison. Black and Latina/o youth have a target on their backs in this society. Literally tens of millions of lives have been scarred and worse – both the direct victims and their families and communities. People who heroically resisted these and other injustices have been imprisoned, some of them for decades. These political prisoners must be freed.
The malignancy of mass incarceration did not arise from a sudden epidemic of crime. Nor did it result from people making poor personal choices. Instead it arose from cold political calculations made in response to the massive and heroic struggle for the rights of Black and other minority peoples that took place in the 1960’s and 70’s, and in response to the enormous economic and social changes brought about by globalized production. This cancer of mass incarceration has been, from the beginning, nothing but a new Jim Crow in place of the old one. Like the old Jim Crow, it drew on, fed off and reinforced the deep-seated roots of the racism that grew up with slavery. Like the old Jim Crow, it has been, from the beginning, unjustifiable, utterly immoral and thoroughly illegitimate.
This must stop – NOW! Not the next generation, not in ten years, not any time off in some promised future that never seems to come. NOW!
But it will not stop unless and until millions of people, of all nationalities, stand up and say NO MORE, in unmistakable terms. The history of this and every other country shows that without struggle, there can be no positive change; but with struggle this kind of change becomes possible.
It is not enough to oppose this in the privacy of your own conscience or the company of like -- minded people. It is not enough to curse this out, but then tell yourself nothing can be done. If you live your life under this threat, you MUST act. If you understand how wrong this is and how much it devastates the lives of so many millions, you MUST act.
NOW is the time to act. People are beginning to awaken and stir. Resistance has begun: Heroic hunger strikes by people in prisons and detention centers and outpourings in response to murders by police and racist vigilantes. Prisoners in solitary confinement in California declared a cessation of racial hostilities as Black, Latino and white prisoners came together to resist the torture of solitary confinement. All this must be taken to a much higher level. We call for a massive Month of Resistance to Mass Incarceration in October of this year; a Month that can impact all of society; one that can open the eyes of millions of people to the need to end this new Jim Crow.
In October, 2014, our resistance to mass incarceration must reverberate across the country and around the world. There must be powerful demonstrations nationwide on October 22, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. Throughout October there must be panels and symposiums on campuses and in neighborhoods; major concerts and other cultural expressions; ferment in the faith communities, and more -- all aimed at taking the movement to STOP mass incarceration to a much higher level. October, 2014, must be a month that makes clear that thousands and thousands are willing to stand up and speak out today and to awaken and rally forth millions. It must be the beginning of the end of the mass incarceration in the U.S. To that end:
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
In this clip form Acronym TV’s full show on the call for a month of resistance To Mass Incarceration, Carl Dix explains how Mass Incarceration equates to a slow motion genocide.
“Genocide is a process. A process by which groups of people are identified, targeted, demonized, separated, and then as this process goes on, the question of mass killings comes up later. That has been going on in this country. Black people in particular have been historically targeted, demonized, segregated (…) the definition of genocide flowing from the United Nations is when a group of people are put (in whole or in part) in circumstances that make it impossible for them to thrive and survive as a people. That is the situation with Mass Incarceration and all of its consequences in this country.”
Carl, the co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, appeared on Acronym TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr alongside Juantia Young (the mother of Malcolm Ferguson, who was murdered by the NYPD) to discuss plans for a month of nationwide resistance to Mass Incarceration.
The organizers call to action for October of 2014 (which is endorsed by Acronym TV) reads:
A CALL FOR A MONTH OF RESISTANCE TO MASS INCARCERATION, POLICE TERROR, REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION!
For 2 generations, Black and Latina/Latino youth in the U.S. have been shipped off to prison in numbers never before seen anywhere in the world at any time. More than 2 million people, of all nationalities languish in prison -- ten times the number 50 years ago. The U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s prison population! More than 60% of those in U.S. prisons are Black or Latina/o. 32% of Black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are in prison or on parole or probation on any given day. More than 80,000 people in prison are held in solitary confinement under conditions that fit the international definition of torture.
The incarceration of women has increased by 800% over the last 30 years. They, along with those whose sexual orientation is not “mainstream” or who are gender non-conforming -- lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex prisoners -- face extremely harsh and abusive treatment in prison, including widespread rape. Alongside this has risen a massive program of criminally prosecuting undocumented immigrants, essentially hidden from public view. As a result of the devastation of their homelands, these immigrants have been driven to this country to work without papers, and today they are being criminalized. The US chastises other countries for human rights violations, yet it enmeshes the lives of tens of millions of people in its criminal “injustice” system. The courts, cops, prisons and La Migra all play a part in enforcing mass incarceration. There are genocidal aspects and a genocidal logic to this program, and it has been gathering momentum. All this is intolerable, and, if it isn’t stopped, it will get much worse!
Mass incarceration has grown beside the criminalization of whole peoples; a situation in which every African-American or Latina/o is a permanent suspect – treated as guilty until proven innocent by police and racist vigilantes, if they can survive to prove their innocence. This is especially concentrated among the youth, starting with cops in schools, arresting children for things that used to mean a visit to the principal’s office at worse, putting youth on a trajectory from school to prison. Black and Latina/o youth have a target on their backs in this society. Literally tens of millions of lives have been scarred and worse – both the direct victims and their families and communities. People who heroically resisted these and other injustices have been imprisoned, some of them for decades. These political prisoners must be freed.
The malignancy of mass incarceration did not arise from a sudden epidemic of crime. Nor did it result from people making poor personal choices. Instead it arose from cold political calculations made in response to the massive and heroic struggle for the rights of Black and other minority peoples that took place in the 1960’s and 70’s, and in response to the enormous economic and social changes brought about by globalized production. This cancer of mass incarceration has been, from the beginning, nothing but a new Jim Crow in place of the old one. Like the old Jim Crow, it drew on, fed off and reinforced the deep-seated roots of the racism that grew up with slavery. Like the old Jim Crow, it has been, from the beginning, unjustifiable, utterly immoral and thoroughly illegitimate.
This must stop – NOW! Not the next generation, not in ten years, not any time off in some promised future that never seems to come. NOW!
But it will not stop unless and until millions of people, of all nationalities, stand up and say NO MORE, in unmistakable terms. The history of this and every other country shows that without struggle, there can be no positive change; but with struggle this kind of change becomes possible.
It is not enough to oppose this in the privacy of your own conscience or the company of like -- minded people. It is not enough to curse this out, but then tell yourself nothing can be done. If you live your life under this threat, you MUST act. If you understand how wrong this is and how much it devastates the lives of so many millions, you MUST act.
NOW is the time to act. People are beginning to awaken and stir. Resistance has begun: Heroic hunger strikes by people in prisons and detention centers and outpourings in response to murders by police and racist vigilantes. Prisoners in solitary confinement in California declared a cessation of racial hostilities as Black, Latino and white prisoners came together to resist the torture of solitary confinement. All this must be taken to a much higher level. We call for a massive Month of Resistance to Mass Incarceration in October of this year; a Month that can impact all of society; one that can open the eyes of millions of people to the need to end this new Jim Crow.
In October, 2014, our resistance to mass incarceration must reverberate across the country and around the world. There must be powerful demonstrations nationwide on October 22, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. Throughout October there must be panels and symposiums on campuses and in neighborhoods; major concerts and other cultural expressions; ferment in the faith communities, and more -- all aimed at taking the movement to STOP mass incarceration to a much higher level. October, 2014, must be a month that makes clear that thousands and thousands are willing to stand up and speak out today and to awaken and rally forth millions. It must be the beginning of the end of the mass incarceration in the U.S. To that end:
- We the undersigned pledge to make October, 2014, as powerful as possible;
- We pledge to support resistance to this monstrous system of mass incarceration between now and October; and
- We pledge to utilize October as a launching pad to go still further, mobilizing more people until mass incarceration and the criminalization of entire peoples really is NO MORE!
May 13, 2014
The Cops Killed Her Son. That Did Not Stop Her.
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
In this clip form Acronym TV’s full show on the call for a month of resistance To Mass Incarceration, Juanita Young talks about the death of her son, Malcolm Ferguson, a 23-year old man murdered by NYPD officer Louis Rivera. In June of 2007, a jury awarded Ms. Young $10.5 million. At the time of the verdict, Young told the New York Daily News: “the award was vindication that her son, Malcolm Ferguson, 23, was wrongfully shot during a struggle in March 2000 in an apartment building at 1045 Boynton Ave. - three blocks from where Amadou Diallo was gunned down a year earlier.”
According to reporting at Revcom.us:
“The Bronx jury of six issued a resounding “yes!” to the charges that plainclothes police officer Louis Rivera had used excessive force while stopping Malcolm, that his conduct had been a substantial factor in causing Malcolm’s death, that he had handled his weapon in a negligent manner, and that this mishandling was a substantial factor in causing Malcolm’s death. The six jurors also issued a resounding “no!” to the cop's claim that Malcolm had engaged in conduct that might have contributed to his death.
The award ($7 million for punitive damages; $3 million for the pain and suffering inflicted on Malcolm) is one of the highest dollar amounts ever awarded in NYC against the police. The verdict comes with people's memories still fresh of the death of Sean Bell – murdered by the police in a hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day last November, and the NYPD killing last month of Fermin Arzu. And it reflects the unremitting determination of Juanita Young over seven years to struggle to expose what happened to her son, as well as the support of people who are stepping forward to resist police brutality.”
Ms. Young appeared on Acronym TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr alongside Carl Dix, the co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, to discuss plans for a month of nationwide resistance to Mass Incarceration.
The organizers call to action for October of 2014 (which is endorsed by Acronym TV) reads, in part:
“Mass incarceration has grown beside the criminalization of whole peoples; a situation in which every African-American or Latina/o is a permanent suspect—treated as guilty until proven innocent by police and racist vigilantes, if they can survive to prove their innocence. This is especially concentrated among the youth, starting with cops in schools, arresting children for things that used to mean a visit to the principal’s office at worse, putting youth on a trajectory from school to prison. Black and Latina/o youth have a target on their backs in this society. Literally tens of millions of lives have been scarred and worse—both the direct victims and their families and communities. People who heroically resisted these and other injustices have been imprisoned, some of them for decades. These political prisoners must be freed.
The malignancy of mass incarceration did not arise from a sudden epidemic of crime. Nor did it result from people making poor personal choices. Instead it arose from cold political calculations made in response to the massive and heroic struggle for the rights of Black and other minority peoples that took place in the 1960’s and 70’s, and in response to the enormous economic and social changes brought about by globalized production. This cancer of mass incarceration has been, from the beginning, nothing but a new Jim Crow in place of the old one. Like the old Jim Crow, it drew on, fed off and reinforced the deep-seated roots of the racism that grew up with slavery. Like the old Jim Crow, it has been, from the beginning, unjustifiable, utterly immoral and thoroughly illegitimate.”
In this clip form Acronym TV’s full show on the call for a month of resistance To Mass Incarceration, Juanita Young talks about the death of her son, Malcolm Ferguson, a 23-year old man murdered by NYPD officer Louis Rivera. In June of 2007, a jury awarded Ms. Young $10.5 million. At the time of the verdict, Young told the New York Daily News: “the award was vindication that her son, Malcolm Ferguson, 23, was wrongfully shot during a struggle in March 2000 in an apartment building at 1045 Boynton Ave. - three blocks from where Amadou Diallo was gunned down a year earlier.”
According to reporting at Revcom.us:
“The Bronx jury of six issued a resounding “yes!” to the charges that plainclothes police officer Louis Rivera had used excessive force while stopping Malcolm, that his conduct had been a substantial factor in causing Malcolm’s death, that he had handled his weapon in a negligent manner, and that this mishandling was a substantial factor in causing Malcolm’s death. The six jurors also issued a resounding “no!” to the cop's claim that Malcolm had engaged in conduct that might have contributed to his death.
The award ($7 million for punitive damages; $3 million for the pain and suffering inflicted on Malcolm) is one of the highest dollar amounts ever awarded in NYC against the police. The verdict comes with people's memories still fresh of the death of Sean Bell – murdered by the police in a hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day last November, and the NYPD killing last month of Fermin Arzu. And it reflects the unremitting determination of Juanita Young over seven years to struggle to expose what happened to her son, as well as the support of people who are stepping forward to resist police brutality.”
Ms. Young appeared on Acronym TV with Dennis Trainor, Jr alongside Carl Dix, the co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, to discuss plans for a month of nationwide resistance to Mass Incarceration.
The organizers call to action for October of 2014 (which is endorsed by Acronym TV) reads, in part:
“Mass incarceration has grown beside the criminalization of whole peoples; a situation in which every African-American or Latina/o is a permanent suspect—treated as guilty until proven innocent by police and racist vigilantes, if they can survive to prove their innocence. This is especially concentrated among the youth, starting with cops in schools, arresting children for things that used to mean a visit to the principal’s office at worse, putting youth on a trajectory from school to prison. Black and Latina/o youth have a target on their backs in this society. Literally tens of millions of lives have been scarred and worse—both the direct victims and their families and communities. People who heroically resisted these and other injustices have been imprisoned, some of them for decades. These political prisoners must be freed.
The malignancy of mass incarceration did not arise from a sudden epidemic of crime. Nor did it result from people making poor personal choices. Instead it arose from cold political calculations made in response to the massive and heroic struggle for the rights of Black and other minority peoples that took place in the 1960’s and 70’s, and in response to the enormous economic and social changes brought about by globalized production. This cancer of mass incarceration has been, from the beginning, nothing but a new Jim Crow in place of the old one. Like the old Jim Crow, it drew on, fed off and reinforced the deep-seated roots of the racism that grew up with slavery. Like the old Jim Crow, it has been, from the beginning, unjustifiable, utterly immoral and thoroughly illegitimate.”
May 9, 2014
Why the Capitalist Elite Love Mass Incarceration
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
http://youtu.be/iaZCwkmkLNw
In this clip from Acronym TV’s full program, to discuss a planned month of Resistance To Mass Incarceration, Carl Dix breaks the war on drugs and the war on crime as proxy wars for the war on black, Latino, and oppressed people.
This war, according to Dix, has been going on for decades amongst a backdrop of are the globalization of industry. With production moved from the United States to many other parts of the world where they can find workers that they can exploit much more viciously in much worse conditions and pay them much less than they could here generating more profit for the people who run this country, that leave generations of young people with no legitimate ways to survive and raise families, and Incarceration becomes the program for dealing with that.
Tags,
With Mass Incarceration, U.S. is Guilty of a Slow Motion Genocide
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
If this were happening anywhere else in the world, Americans would be justifiably horrified:
1 out of every 100 adults are living behind bars in the United States, with 1 in 31 in some sort of correctional control, including prison, jail, parole, and probation.
The United States, with 5% of the world’s population, has 25% of the worlds prison population.
Private prisons are operating around the country at the local and state level, and a majority of them include “occupancy requirements mandating that local or state government keep those facilities between 80 and 100 percent full. In other words, whether crime is rising or falling, the state must keep those beds full.”
Thousands are serving life sentences for non-violent crimes.
The School to Prison Pipeline is still funneling mostly black and brown children into the juvenile and adult criminal legal systems.
Solitary confinement, defined as torture by the UN, is commonly practiced in both Guantanamo Bay prison and in mainland US prisons.
Police can murder suspects, and then claim they shot themselves in the head and get away with it, even if the suspect is handcuffed behind their back.
You get the picture.
According to Carl Dix, the co-founder (along with Cornel West) of The Stop Mass Incarceration Network, all of this and more are tantamount to genocide. As he tells Dennis Trainor, Jr. in the embedded episode of Acronym TV:
“Genocide is not a final act of putting people in gas chambers (…) Genocide is a process. A process by which groups of people are identified, targeted, demonized, separated, and then as this process goes on, the question of mass killings comes up later. That has been going on in this country. Black people in particular have been historically targeted, demonized, segregated (…) the definition of genocide flowing from the United Nations is when a group of people are put (in whole or in part) in circumstances that make it impossible for them to thrive and survive as a people. That is the situation with Mass Incarceration and all of its consequences in this country.”
Joining Carl on the program is Juanita Young. Ms. Young relates her story as the mother of an unarmed young man who was murdered by the NYPD, and how that fuels her life as an anti-police brutality activist.
The two discuss plans for a month of nationwide resistance to Mass incarceration, police terror, repression, and the criminalization of a generation.
The call for an October month of resistance put forth by Dix and Cornel West (and is supported by a growing list of endorsing groups and individuals) states:
“The malignancy of mass incarceration did not arise from a sudden epidemic of crime. Nor did it result from people making poor personal choices. Instead it arose from cold political calculations made in response to the massive and heroic struggle for the rights of Black and other minority peoples that took place in the 1960’s and 70’s, and in response to the enormous economic and social changes brought about by globalized production. This cancer of mass incarceration has been, from the beginning, nothing but a new Jim Crow in place of the old one. Like the old Jim Crow, it drew on, fed off and reinforced the deep-seated roots of the racism that grew up with slavery. Like the old Jim Crow, it has been, from the beginning, unjustifiable, utterly immoral and thoroughly illegitimate…
It is not enough to oppose this in the privacy of your own conscience or the company of like-minded people. It is not enough to curse this out, but then tell yourself nothing can be done. If you live your life under this threat, you MUST act. If you understand how wrong this is and how much it devastates the lives of so many millions, you MUST act.”
If this were happening anywhere else in the world, Americans would be justifiably horrified:
1 out of every 100 adults are living behind bars in the United States, with 1 in 31 in some sort of correctional control, including prison, jail, parole, and probation.
The United States, with 5% of the world’s population, has 25% of the worlds prison population.
Private prisons are operating around the country at the local and state level, and a majority of them include “occupancy requirements mandating that local or state government keep those facilities between 80 and 100 percent full. In other words, whether crime is rising or falling, the state must keep those beds full.”
Thousands are serving life sentences for non-violent crimes.
The School to Prison Pipeline is still funneling mostly black and brown children into the juvenile and adult criminal legal systems.
Solitary confinement, defined as torture by the UN, is commonly practiced in both Guantanamo Bay prison and in mainland US prisons.
Police can murder suspects, and then claim they shot themselves in the head and get away with it, even if the suspect is handcuffed behind their back.
You get the picture.
According to Carl Dix, the co-founder (along with Cornel West) of The Stop Mass Incarceration Network, all of this and more are tantamount to genocide. As he tells Dennis Trainor, Jr. in the embedded episode of Acronym TV:
“Genocide is not a final act of putting people in gas chambers (…) Genocide is a process. A process by which groups of people are identified, targeted, demonized, separated, and then as this process goes on, the question of mass killings comes up later. That has been going on in this country. Black people in particular have been historically targeted, demonized, segregated (…) the definition of genocide flowing from the United Nations is when a group of people are put (in whole or in part) in circumstances that make it impossible for them to thrive and survive as a people. That is the situation with Mass Incarceration and all of its consequences in this country.”
Joining Carl on the program is Juanita Young. Ms. Young relates her story as the mother of an unarmed young man who was murdered by the NYPD, and how that fuels her life as an anti-police brutality activist.
The two discuss plans for a month of nationwide resistance to Mass incarceration, police terror, repression, and the criminalization of a generation.
The call for an October month of resistance put forth by Dix and Cornel West (and is supported by a growing list of endorsing groups and individuals) states:
“The malignancy of mass incarceration did not arise from a sudden epidemic of crime. Nor did it result from people making poor personal choices. Instead it arose from cold political calculations made in response to the massive and heroic struggle for the rights of Black and other minority peoples that took place in the 1960’s and 70’s, and in response to the enormous economic and social changes brought about by globalized production. This cancer of mass incarceration has been, from the beginning, nothing but a new Jim Crow in place of the old one. Like the old Jim Crow, it drew on, fed off and reinforced the deep-seated roots of the racism that grew up with slavery. Like the old Jim Crow, it has been, from the beginning, unjustifiable, utterly immoral and thoroughly illegitimate…
It is not enough to oppose this in the privacy of your own conscience or the company of like-minded people. It is not enough to curse this out, but then tell yourself nothing can be done. If you live your life under this threat, you MUST act. If you understand how wrong this is and how much it devastates the lives of so many millions, you MUST act.”
May 6, 2014
Gar Alperovitz: Workplace Democracy
Gar Alperovitz on workplace democracy, workers' self-management and co-ops.
Websites for more information:
http://evergreencooperatives.com/
http://www.mondragon-corporation.com/...
http://www.democracyatwork.info/learn...
http://www.thenews.coop/
http://www.democracyatwork.info/
http://shiftchange.org/
http://www.iopsociety.org/
http://www.iww.org/
http://www.afed.org.uk/
http://www.solfed.org.uk/
http://libcom.org/
http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/
http://occupywallst.org/
http://www.occupytogether.org/
http://www.garalperovitz.com/
Videos/documentaries:
"The Cleveland Model"
"The Mondragon Experiment"
"The Take"
"Together" &
"Shift Change" (trailer):
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=...
"What Then Must We Do?" [full]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX-Moc...
Noam Chomsky on Workplace Democracy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ugGqJ...
Richard Wolff on Workplace Democracy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls7QZm...
Anarchism and Libertarian Socialism explained:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=...
May 5, 2014
Democracy in the Workplace: All About Collectives
Three worker-owned businesses show what it's like to work collectively, manage a business and deal with problems in a truly democratic way. The Cheeseboard Bakery and Cheese Shop with 18 workers, Rainbow Grocery with 150 workers, and Inkworks Press with18 members, all located in the San Francisco Bay Area, are successful worker-owned businesses, and members of NoBAWC.
Margot Smith, Videomaker
www.offcentervideo.com. OffCenterVideo@aol.com
May 3, 2014
Dr Richard Wolff and Gar Alperovitz
Richard Wolff and Gar Alperovitz are both members of the Green Party and of Jill Stein's Green Shadow Cabinet. Here they share insights into Democracy in the Workplace, and worker control of the means of production.
May 2, 2014
Ben Fine: Intro to Marxist Economics (Part 2)
Ben Fine from SOAS University explains the fundamental ideas of Marxist Economics as a part of lecture series "What you won't learn in an economics degree: an introduction to heterodox economics".
The lecture was hosted by Post-Crash Economics Society Manchester and Manchester's Political Economy Institute.
May 1, 2014
Occupy Founders Launch The After Party in Detroit
Originally Posted at PopularResistance.org
Some of the founding members of the occupy movement are launching a new political party – THE AFTER Party.
Carl Gibson is among them.
He says, “What sets The After Party apart is that 365 days out of the year it is a humanitarian organization. The way we organize politically, what sets us apart is that we are finding needs within the community, and then working to meet them using the community's assets.”
And, so is Radio Rahim, another After Party founding member and, yes the real life persona behind the character in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing says the following:
“There is a little bit of Radio Rahim in everybody (…) we all love our music and we have outrage about different things.”
How will After Party be different than other 3rd party alternatives?
Why start a political party at all?
And should Mookie have thrown that garbage can through the window of Sal’s Pizzeria?
All of those questions asked and answered this week on Acronym TV. What do you stand for?
Some of the founding members of the occupy movement are launching a new political party – THE AFTER Party.
Carl Gibson is among them.
He says, “What sets The After Party apart is that 365 days out of the year it is a humanitarian organization. The way we organize politically, what sets us apart is that we are finding needs within the community, and then working to meet them using the community's assets.”
And, so is Radio Rahim, another After Party founding member and, yes the real life persona behind the character in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing says the following:
“There is a little bit of Radio Rahim in everybody (…) we all love our music and we have outrage about different things.”
How will After Party be different than other 3rd party alternatives?
Why start a political party at all?
And should Mookie have thrown that garbage can through the window of Sal’s Pizzeria?
All of those questions asked and answered this week on Acronym TV. What do you stand for?
Ben Fine: Intro to Marxist Economics (Part 1)
Ben Fine from SOAS University explains the fundamental ideas of Marxist Economics as a part of lecture series "What you won't learn in an economics degree: an introduction to heterodox economics".
The lecture was hosted by Post-Crash Economics Society Manchester and Manchester's Political Economy Institute.
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