The Liberal Narrative is Dead

Amitai Etizioni's recent article in the Atlantic, "The Liberal Narrative is Broken, and Only Populism Can Fix It," highlights so much that is wrong with the so-called "liberal narrative" and really begs the question: Is it something we really want to fix?

Etizioni begins in liberal land where we are all either liberals or conservatives. There are, to be fair, people referred to as moderates, but they just haven't figured out whether they are liberals or conservatives yet and don't really count. More people self-identify as conservatives, according to Etizioni but they are "operational liberals":

...studies show that the majority only subscribe to conservative philosophies but they are 'operational' liberals. The majority support gun control, the social safety nets, climate protection, and many other liberal programs. As long as we remind the people of what the government really does, they will vote liberal.

Here's where it gets tricky for liberals. What exactly woudl qualify as "voting liberal" anyway? Our last liberal president was Richard Nixon, but that doesn't fit the liberal narrative where liberals are supposed to be Democrats. So Etizioni has to perform some mental gymnastics here:

This lovely thought does not have a leg to stand on, because people cannot vote for these programs. Instead, they must cast one vote that covers all the various programs and issues -- domestic and foreign -- before them.

In other words, it's complicated. No need for Etizioni to dwell on the fact that the Democratic Party has consistently betrayed it's working class base, gutting and destroying all of the liberal programs mentioned earlier. It was, after all, Bill Clinton who passed the union destroying North American Free Trade Agreement while destroying aid to dependent families. Now Obama has his site on the last vestiges of the New Deal: Social Security and Medicare. But nevermind that. It's just complicated.

Etizioni goes on to highlight the popularity of populist ideas found in movements like the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. He even claims that 1 in 10 Americans support both the Occupy and Tea Party movement. So if so many people support these movements, particularly the Occupy movement, why did it do so poorly? Etizioni is kind enough to provide us with the answers:

First, because it had no clear narrative and was mainly an expression of a very diffuse sentiment; second, because it mixed populist with liberal messages; third, because it was unclear who the bad guys are -- Wall Street? The bankers? The one percent? The System?

Apparently Etizioni is big on narratives. Strangely absent from his analysis is the nationally coordinated crackdown of the Occupy movement. The eviction of Occupy Wall Street here in New York City was carried out in the middle of the night by a para-military force that aggressively kept journalists from even covering what was going on. According to Etizioni, however, all we needed was a better narrative to avoid being beaten and arrested by the police for excercising our First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.

Like his first point the rest of it is complete nonsense. We didn't mix messages. Occupy Wall Street offered a place for people to bring their grievances and be heard. Rather than beg corporate politicians to fix things we took matters into our own hands, feeding each other, educating each other, and housing each other. In a few short weeks Occupy Wall Street was feeding more people than any soup kitchen in the City.

In response to Etizioni's last point the answer would be "all of the above." Yes it's the bankers and Wall Street and the 1%. But above all that--and this is the hardest thing for liberals to understand--it's the system. A system developed, in the words of James Madison, "to protect the minority of the opulent from the majority." In other words, to protect the 1% from the 99%. Our first Chief Justice, John Jay, was a little less eloquent when he said, "The people who own the country ought to run it."

That's what drives me crazy when liberals like Etizioni always talk about "returning the government to the people." When was that? From the very beginning only the propertied aristocrats (the 1%) could even vote. When was this mystical time in liberal land? Apparently it was far more recent that I'd realized:

The next step, a major first step to return the government to one for the people, by the people, is actually a relative easy one to outline: rolling back the negative impact of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

This is a popular meme with liberals. Somehow the relatively recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United is when we lost our so-called democratic government. Like most things liberals believe, it's simply not true. Perhaps the most well known scholar to tackle this problem is professor Thomas Ferguson out of the University of Boston, who developed the investment theory of party competition:

The theory states that, since money driven political systems are expensive and burdensome to ordinary voters, policy is created by competing coalitions of investors, not voters. According to the theory, political parties (and the issues they campaign on) are created entirely for business interests, separated by the interests of numerous factors such as labor-intensive and capital-intensive, and free market and protectionist businesses.

In other words, long before Citizens United, the 1% of been unduly influencing our government. As John Dewey famously quipped, "Politics is the shadow cast by big business." Citizens United didn't fundamentally change anything; it simply codified long-standing practices by the 1% to use their inordinate wealth to direct the state to attend to their interests.

The liberal narrative is not dead because it's too abstruse. It's dead because it's simply not true. It doesn't reflect reality. This system isn't corrupt. It's not broken. It's working just fine, in the interests of the 1%, the way our founding fathers intended. You could roll back Citizens United today and it would do nothing to mitigate the immense inequality in this country; and, as historian Howard Zinn often said, "political rights without economic rights is meaningless."

The Occupy Movement didn't "sputter out." It was stomped out by the heal of our so-called liberal president in a nationally coordinated atttack. Yes, the paramilitary goons managed to destroy our camps, but they didn't stop the movement. People all across the planet haven't given up fighting for a better world and there are plenty of examples like Occupy Sandy, Debt Strike, Occupy the Pipeline, and the current fight here in New York City to keep Cooper Union free. Does that sound like a movement that sputtered? Or does it sound like a movement that has grown and evolved despite the immense repression it has faced?

Liberals like Amitai Etizioni will never get this because their professional careers depend on it. The liberal narrative, if anything, is about celebrating this unjust system and convincing people that we can somehow reform it. Convincing people that voting will somehow fix this keeps them from actually engaging in important political work in their work place, homes and communities. But liberals are also realizing it's getting harder and harder to profess those so-called liberal values while your party systimatically dismantles them. Let's hope the liberal narrative is dead.

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An Open Letter to Car Owners in New York City

Car owners in New York City are still in shock over the new bike share program being rolled out. They are still reeling from the steady encroachment of bike lanes into "car territory." Their wasteful, selfish, inefficient and polluting way of life is being encroached upon and they don't like it! Reason completely slips from their minds as they attempt to defend their indefensible lifestyle choice: bikes cause more pollution than cars, bikes are more dangerous than cars, more cyclists will make New York City streets more dangerous! And their favorite: What about parking!

Did I miss something? When did the City guarantee every New Yorker a free place to park their gas-guzzling pollution machine? I know change is hard, but it's time to accept the fact that the roads are for all of us. How about a little perspective?

Putting the loss of parking claim in perspective, the Department of Transportation’s policy director cited that only 35 out of 6800 potential car parking spaces were lost (representing half of one percent), while 600 potential bike parking spots were created.

Imagine that? The same space that had been monopolized by just 35 car owners can now be shared by 600 New Yorkers! Instead of using one of the most inefficient machines ever developed, we'll be using the most efficient human powered machine ever invented!

Change is always hard. The fossil fuel party has been a lot of fun, but it's time to move forward to a more sane use of our City streets.

 

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Citi Bike Scam

The new citi bike bike share program is being rolled out and it looks like a big scam. Of course anything that puts more bikes on the roads is welcomed by me, so there are things I like about the idea. But the overall pricing scheme seems set up to rip off the unsuspecting tourist more than anything. It's not all bad, though, so let's start off with some of the more positive aspects of the bike share program highlighted by the department of transportation:

“For less than the cost of a single monthly MetroCard, an annual

Citi Bikemembership gives you instant access to unlimited short rides 365 days a year,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “Citi Bike will redefine what it means to get around New York City, and now is the time to upgrade to this fun, fast and safe transportation option.”

Sounds great, right? It does and that's just the problem because what it sounds like and the way it actually works are quite different. First off for those more casual users getting a day or weekly pass are limited to 30 minute rides. I ride thousands of miles a year around New York City and I can say that 30 minutes isn't much time at all. Combine that with the fact that many of the people riding these will likely be tourists it's certain that people are going to get lost and incur overage charges that add up quickly.

For the 24-hour pass you'll pay $9.95 plus tax. That gives you all the 30 minute rides you can take but should you go over that the next 30 to 60 minutes will cost you an additional $4. If you have it over that hour you'll get dinged another $13 for the next half hour. Meaning a 90 minute ride on one of these bikes could well cost you over $30! Every additonal 30 minutes thereafter will cost you an additional $12. So if you were crazy enough to take the bike out for a whole 24-hour period you'd be looking at a whopping $566.95 plus tax.

Now to be fair, the program explicitly states it's meant for short trips. The website is very clear that if you want to tool around on a bike you should visit one of the local bike rental shops. But that's precisely the problem. The program seems purposefully designed to protect the existing bike rental shops rather than offer them real competition that might actually benefit the consumer.

Now if you're a local and opt for the yearly pass it's going to set you back nearly a $100 and with it you get the advantage of unlimited 45 minute trips. This is a step in the right direction but it's still going to be a tricky. I happen to live in a neighborhood in Brooklyn that is literally saturated with the bike docks. Every couple of blocks there are docks and I still can't figure out how I would use the program if I were so inclined.

Say you wanted to grab one of the bikes to go to the grocery. Unless there is a docking station outside the grocery it's all but impossible. If you wanted to use it for commuting to work or school it would be equally difficult given the time frame and the overage charges would easily mount.

That's what is so frustrating about this system. It's purposefully designed to hit you with overage charges. There's no good reason it couldn't be more like Zip Car where you borrow the bike for a specified amount of time with a per hour rate. Thirty and 45 minute trips are not very long in New York City. True you can get to a lot of places in that amount of time but with the bike share you have the added inconvinience of making sure your destination has a docking station nearby; otherwise you'll incur overage charges.

I'm glad there will be more bikes in the City. This will no doubt accelrate the push for more and better bike lanes. But the pricing scheme seems all wrong. It exhibits all the problems of capitalism where the things we create and the services we build are created for profit rather than people. A truly equitable system of bike sharing shouldn't be that hard to build in a city like New York.

 

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Anarcho-Terrosism?

Steven Kurlander's "A Lesson of the Boston Bombings: Stop Classifying Criminal Anarchist Violence as Acts of War" is a real exercise in ignorance. According to Kurlander, "The Tsarnaev brothers were nothing more than immigrant anarchists carrying on a tradition of political violence, this time framed in religious fervor." To be fair, Kurlander believes "anarchist" is just another word for "terrorist":

Back in the early 20th century, "terrorists" were referred to as "anarchists" (basically the same thing) and carried out what would be termed these days as "acts of war."

Absent from Kurlander's spurious attempt to conflate anarchism with terrorism is the fact that anarchism gave rise to one of the nation's most peaceful social movements ever: Occupy Wall Street. Other anarchist groups like Food Not Bombs have been feeding people for decades. What is typically and falsely regarded as violence by anarchists is nearly always some form of destruction of property: smashing a window, sabotaging an animal trap, or destroying machines used to destroy our forests. Perhaps the most thoughtful reflection on the use of violence by anarchists can be found in Alexander Berkman's autobiographical "Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist" where Berkman highlights the folly of his attempted assasination of the manager of Carnegie Steel. The act was largely repudiated by anarchists at the time and was a major source of growth for both Berkman and the iconic Emma Goldman.

More recently we have "You Can't Blow Up a Social Relationship" which was written over 30 years ago and yet remains as relevant as ever: "A clear explanation of why anarchists oppose terrorism, and why terrorism or propaganda by deed can be of no benefit to the working class, as capitalism is a social relationship, not a group of bad individuals."

In short Kurlander's nonsense is easily refuted by the long history of anarchism and anarchists working to create a better world through direct action, mutual aid, and solidarity. Thankfully many of the commenters pointed this out. One commentator pointed out the salient fact that Kurlander never mentions any of the numerous examples of state sponsored terrorism:

...yet never offers up examples of terrorism committed by the State and reactionary forces against its own population, most notably, the raids on IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) halls by federal and local authorities, as well as reactionary groups often hired by mill or factory owners; the assassination of prominent members of the Black Panther Party in the late 60s by local police forces; the bombing of the MOVE compound, in 1984, by the Philidelphia Police Dept.; the assassination of Martin Luther King, by a member of the KKK; the attack by local, state and federal forces of the Branch Dividians in Waco, TX in 1993; the atempted murder of Judi Bari by planting a bomb in her car for doing both environment and labor work, and lets not for get the killings of young, mostly, black males by police that have been so prominent over the last year its equating to one person dying every 28 hours.

We can't blow up a social relationship. No bomb or act of violence is going to destroy capitalism and the state. The men who bombed the Boston Marathon were not anarchists. And Steven Kurlander should be ashamed of himself.

 

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Links & Stuff

Just enjoying a lazy Sunday morning and thought I would share some links that grabbed my eye.

I love my iPhone for photography. I use to make videos (see above), time lapse photography and it constantly amazes me what I can do with it. If you're a budding iphonographer check out this link for some great accessories for your phone.

Here's more fuel for the fire of the nutty conspiracy theorists who think the bombing of the Boston Marathon was the work of our government. According to the story the first suspect was taken alive. They even have video evidence!

At the other end of the crazy spectrum we have Steven Kurlander conflating terrorists with anarchists over at the Huffington Post. I'll be posting more about this tomorrow, but the comment section does a great job of refuting Kurlander's nonsense. You might also want to take a look at "You Can't Blow Up a Social Relationship," for a great read on why anarchists reject terrorism and violence as a means of social change. It's over 30 years old and just as relevant today.

Perhaps the day's saddest story was reading about how the San Francisco Pride festival rescinded its offer to name Bradley Manning the Grand Marshal. Common Dreams has a great article on this hypocrisy. Apparently corproate criminals are great while heroes like Bradley Manning are questionable.

Hope you're having a great Sunday wherever you are.

 

 

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Look for the Helpers

The bombings at the Boston Marathon revealed just how good most people are. Despite what we are constantly told about human nature, it's events like this that reveal our inherent goodness, our natural inclinations towards mutual aid. As the bombs went off many people ran towards the blast to help people. As Fred Rogers famously said, "Look for the helpers." And the helpers were everywhere to be found.

There was the story of the " young surgical intern who had just finished a 14-hour hospital shift pushed his way through the police lines to treat victims at the end of a marathon route." Or the story of peace activist Carlos Arredondo who kept a complete strangers arteries shut with his bare hand. And who coudl forget the amazing tales of marathon runners continuing on past the finish line another 2 plus miles to donate blood at the hospital! Story after story of everyday courage and compassion emerged through the fog of terror to reveal just how much good there is in the world. No doubt most of them will never get printed, but for anyone paying attention people doing good far outnumbered the two cowards who sought to kill and maim.

As usual, Americans had to turn to comedians like Stephen Colbert to here the real news. As Colbert put it, "These people tried to make life bad for the people of Boston, but all they can ever do is show just how good those people are." As my friend Nick pointed out in his wonderful Boston Recap:

This was the sort of reporting we should have seen more of on Monday and Tuesday. Reporting that honored the strength and power of the people of Boston, that made people in Boston, and around the country, feel strong and uplifted; rather than giving in to the fear and mourning that any terrorist would have wanted us to embrace. It seems trite to say it, but the point of terrorism is to inspire fear. Every moment we stand up straight and saying, "No, fuck you, we're going to keep living our lives and helping each other," is a moment where we prevail and keep our dignity against the monsters of the world that try to steal it from us.

So don't fret. Don't let the fear mongers win. We're just as likely to be killed by our own furniture as by terrorism. Remember the helpers. Share their stories. And the next time chaos descends upon us, look for the helpers; be a helper! Spread the love. Stop the hate.

 

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The Technology of Surveillance.

David Henneberry

One of the most popular memes coming out of the bombing of the Boston Marathon has been the way technology has helped. Story after story has been posted and published detailing the ways in which technology has made it easier to nab the bombers. A lot of this goes toward justifying the spiraling costs of our Big Brother government post 9/11 Security State that wants to keep tabs on us at all times--for our own good, of course. Perhaps the most ridiculous story to surface, however, has been the notion that Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) was instrumental in finding the second suspect, Dzokhar Tsarnaev.

Gizmodo's recent story is a great example of this. But perhaps the best one is their most recent story titled: The Crazy Accurate Thermal Images that Saw Dzokhar Tsarnaev Through a Boat Tarp. We're all supposed to be amazed and delighted that security forces have such amazing technology. More importantly, however, we're supposed to believe that this technology is somehow responsible for nabbing the latest incarnation of evil.

The fact of the matter is this technology had nothing to do with finding the suspect. The man who owned the boat, David Henneberry, was out having a smoke when he noticed something amiss with his tarp. When he went over to inspect it he saw the bloody body of Dzokhar Tsarnaev. You can read the full story here. But there was no major technolgy deployed or used to find this kid.

 

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Reflections on the Boston Bombing

We're not a very reflective society. Immediately after the bombings in Boston people were calling for the heads of the perpetrators. Our instinctive response to violence is always more violence. In response to the attacks on 9/11 we've launched wars across the globe killing at least a million people, creating millions of refugees, and destroying entire nations in the process. Our leaders have codified torture and systemically rolled back our civil liberties. No doubt this attack will be used to roll back even more liberties. Here in New York City we have to show ID to purchase a utility knife. I imagine we will see similar efforts when one purchases a pressure cooker.

What's happening to us a society? It's not just Muslims from far off lands intent on killing us. Our own citizens have again and again went on killing sprees, intent on killing as many of us as possible. While we wage wars in dozens of countries across the globe the number one killer of our soldiers is suicide. And suicides are up across the board. Basically when someones not trying to kill us, we're killing ourselvesat unprecedented rates. Violence begets violence; and our systemic attack on the inherent value of life seems to come home to roost. We don't value life "over there" and we don't value it over here.

Much of the current focus is on regulating gun sales. Gun advocates point to the Boston Bombing as proof that curbing gun sales won't stop the crazies. All of this misses the much larger point that our collective actions at home and abroad are driving people to want to kill as many of us as possible. Calling it terrorism doesn't change this fact.

This isn't to justify any of this violence. But in a nation that routinely uses violence to settle disputes, is it any wonder that citizens and non-citizens choose that same route? When our President doesn't like what's going on in North Korea he doesn't reach out to discuss the issue, he flies nuclear capable bombers over the peninsula.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said so eloquently in 1967, "My government is the largest purvayor of violence in the world." We were then in the process of murdering millions in Indochina. Dr. King's sentiments are still true today in a world where the US nearly outspends the rest of the world on death and destruction. Over the last 30 years our police forces have become highly militirized, routinely murdering citizens with impunity, and acting more like an occupying army than a civilized police force.

Our problem is not Islam. It's not East vs West. It's not a problem of regulating gun sales or enhancing the security state. We can't regulate this problem. We cannot legislate it away. There are no easy fixes, but as Noam Chomsky has said again and again there's an easy way to stop terrorism: stop participating in it. Stop looking for violent means to address our problems.

 

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On Killing

Where I think the 1% have really won the war of ideas, it's not Capitalism Vs Whatever. It's the Hobbesian view of human nature as brutal, savage creatures. It's why the nightly News is rape, murder, rape, murder, murder, war and more war. People will confidently point to some event as proof that human nature is inherently bad/evil. We'd all be running around raping, pillaging and murdering to our hearts content if it weren't for the police! Today, in fact, there was a bombing of the Boston Marathon, further proof of the depravity of the human spirit.

Or is it? The truth is we are in our infancy of understanding human nature; anybody who speaks authoritatively and conclusively probably doesn't have a clue. But that's not to say we don't know anything. One of the most interesting books I've read in some time is "On Killing" by David Grossman. It deals with the psychological toll of killing on soldiers. But, perhaps, the most interesting aspect of Grossman's work is the inherent resistance humans have to killing one another:

During World War II U.S. Army Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall asked these average soldiers what it was that they did in battle. His singularly unexpected discovery was that, of every hundred men along the line of fire during the period of an encoun-ter, an average of only 15 to 20 "would take any part with their weapons." This was consistently true "whether the action was spread over a day, or two days or three."

Marshall was one of the pioneers in this field. What's even more surprising is that of that 15 or 20 who actually shot the majority of them were purposefully trying to miss! The firing rate continues to increase with modern training and by the Vietnam War soldiers are firing at a 90% rate and yet it still took an average of 50,000 bullets for every killed enemy soldier! Despite the higher firing rates, soldiers were still purposefully missing.

This phenomena appears to be universal. Take our nation's Civil War, one of the bloodiest wars in our nations history:

Author of the Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia F. A. Lord tells us that after the Bade of Gettysburg, 27,574 muskets were recovered from the battlefield. Of these, nearly 90 percent (twenty-four thousand) were loaded. Twelve thousand of these loaded muskets were found to be loaded more than once, and six thousand of the multiply loaded weapons had from three to ten rounds loaded in the barrel. One weapon had been loaded twenty-three times. Why, then, were there so many loaded weapons available on the battlefield, and why did at least twelve thousand soldiers misload their weapons in combat?

That's a lot of loaded muskets, and it says something wonderful about the human spirit. Remember this is a war where lines of soldiers may have only been 30 yards from each other. Given the weapons they used we should have seen kill rates of hundreds of dead per minute; instead these battles saw one or two dead per minute. Most of these men were simply pantomiming the movements of fire, load, fire. They were loading and loading and loading but never firing!

This is both sides! They have no idea that the soldiers across from them are doing the same thing. Bullets are being fired. People are dying. People are getting hurt. And yet the great majority of men did anything and everything they could to avoid killing anyone! Grossman sums it up well when he says:

Secretly, quietly, at the moment of decision, just like the 80 to 85 percent of World War II soldiers observed by Marshall, these soldiers found themselves to be conscientious objectors who were unable to kill their fellow man.

How amazing is that? How wonderful it is to think that even with their lives on the line, even in the heat of battle, most men find themselves to be conscientious objectors when it matters most!

 

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Bullet Catch

So much of what passes for modern entertainment is mean spirited; pitting people against each other in horrible competitions or trying to make fools of volunteers in some way. So it was a real breath of fresh air when Rob Drummond stood with his volunteer from the audience of Bullet Catch and said, "I will not be making fun of you or trying to embarrass you. We're here together to enjoy this journey." The audience loudly and positively affirmed this noble and good-hearted gesture and with that the stage was set for a very magical journey that blurred the lines between magic show and story telling.

Bullet Catch is now playing at 59E59 Theatres. It revolves, as the title suggests, around the infamous bullet catch; a feat so dangerous that even the amazing Harry Houdini refused to attempt the trick. Rob Drummond skillfully builds the necessary tension during the hour long show as he deftly pulls off magic tricks and tells the story of an unsuccesfful attempt at the bullet catch with the help of an audience member.

It's part story telling, part magic show, but what really carries the show is the sincerity and showmanship of Rob Drummond. Unlike so many so-called entertainers, Drummond isn't out to get a cheap laugh at the expense of someone else. You get the feeling that he's getting as much out of the show as we are and I really think that's what makes it such a special show.

Bullet Catch is playing now through April 21st. I highly recommend this show. The 59E59 Theatres rarely disappoint and this show is no exception. Great story. Impressive magic. And a sincere performance that reminds us of the good in each other.

 

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Moves

Wearable fitness devices like the Nike Fuel Band and the Jawbone Up have become increasingly popular over the past year. Earlier this year I purchased the Jawbone Up but found it lacking in a lot of ways. Partly what I disliked about it was that now I had yet another device to worry about: charge, sync, etc. It was one more device I had to think about. The other problem with the Jawbone Up was it really wasn't suited to my particular excercise habits. I bike, run, walk and swim. I also ride public transportation a lot and the Jawbone would inevitably translate all that bouncing and jostling as some manner of walking; inaccurately increasing the amount of walking I did in a given day. For $130 the Jawbone Up was really not doing what I needed. Turns out there really is an app for that!

Moves is an amazing little app that runs in the background of your iphone and tracks your activity throughout the day! It's one of the most impressive apps I've ever had. Throughout my day it seemlessly differentiates between my activities, magically knowing when I've hopped on my bike or started to run; it even knows when I'm riding the subway or bus and lables that as "transportation."

The interface is very minimalist and gives you a few different ways to view your data. To the right here you can see my activity summary for Sunday, March 24th. You can also toggle this data to show you the amount of time you spent doing each activity or the amount of steps in the case of walking and running.

Another view provides you with a great timeline of your day. The app, with your permission, pulls location data from Four Square and can give you a great snapshot of your days activities: where you were and how you got there.

Not only is this fun but it provides you a great way to look at your days and see how you might be able to be more active. Instead of taking the train I ride my bike or walk.

The best thing is I'm not carrying an additional device. I'm not having to charge and sync a separate device. And I don't need to start and stop the app. It just runs along in the background keeping track of what I'm doing.

Did I mention that it's free? Compared to the hundred dollar wearable devices like the Fuelband, Jawbone Up and Fitbit, Moves blows them away.

The only two things it doesn't do that these fitness devices do is track sleep and diet. I've added My Fitness Pal and Sleep Time to my phone and that covers all the bases.

If you're looking into the wearable fitness devices out there I'd highly encourage you to check out Moves. It's an amazing app with a price--FREE--that can't be beat.

 

 

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BYOB Painting Lounge

Our Masterpieces

If you're looking for something fun to do in New York City, I suggest checking out the Painting Lounge. From their FAQ:

Painting Lounge is a teaching art studio featuring daily group BYOB painting classes in a relaxed, social setting. Our experienced instructors make painting a masterpiece easy, fun and totally stress free. All supplies are included, and don't forget we are BYOB (bring your own beverage), so bring a little liquid courage to help get those creative juices flowing!

This was a wonderful birthday present I got this year. You can see the two pieces we did in the photo.

I have never painted in my life and I must say it was a lot of fun. I was sure my painting would turn out terrible, so I was really surprised by how much I actually liked it!

This was probably one of the easiest classes they have but all of the classes are designed for beginners. All the materials are provided, and the instruction made it all really easy to pursue your artistic vision.

Whether you're visiting or live here, the Painting Lounge makes for a great evening of fun. Plus you get to go home with your very own masterpiece! I imagine someone visiting the City starting out at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and actually seeing some of Andy Warhol's famous paintings and then heading over to the Painting Lounge to actually create one! (Other artists are also possible, of course).

 

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The Effectiveness of Stop & Frisk

The mainstream media does a very good job of framing issues. The recent criticism of the NYPD's Stop and Frisk policy is a great example of this. We are told again and again by liberal pundits that Stop and Frisk isn't effective (basically the same criticism these pundits will use to criticize war and other atrocities like torture). In a recent article for the Guardian, John Liu frames Stop and Frisk as being ineffective:

The numbers don't lie: New York City police have conducted 5m "stop-and-frisk" searches since 2002. More than 86% of individuals targeted were black or Hispanic, and 88% were innocent of any crime. The stop-and-frisk tactic is clearly discriminatory, often humiliating, and totally ineffective. It must be abolished.

The numbers don't lie, but they certainly don't tell the whole story. To believe, as Liu clearly does, that Stop-and-Frisk is ineffective we'd have to believe that it's intent is to stop crime. We would have to believe that the NYPD are complete bufoons who don't know the basic facts that Liu sums up for us. We would have to assume, as liberals often do, that this is a wrong-headed policy carried out by an otherwise benevolent and good institution: the NYPD.

The real intent behind Stop and Frisk isn't hard to comprehend if you're a youth of color in New York City, but thankfully NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly actually spelled it out in a meeting with New York State Senator Eric Adams:

Kelly “stated that he targeted and focused on that group because he wanted to instill fear in them that every time they left their homes they could be targeted by police,” Adams said.

In other words the intent has never had anything to do with crime. Ray Kelly and the NYPD wanted to instill fear in communities of color and they've done that. Couple Stop and Frisk with the indiscriminate murders of kids like Kimani Gray and Ramarley Grahm and many more people of color and the NYPD has been very effective at terrorising the people of New York City.

Stop and Frisk needs to be abolished; not because it's ineffective, but precisely because it is effective. Bloomberg's Army has terrorized the people of New York City long enough.

 

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NYPD Terrorists

 

Every once in a while we get a gem from our rulers; sometimes they actually have the audacity to state their motivations. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly did just that when he informed New York State Senator Eric Adams that the Stop and Frisk program was aimed at instilling fear in young black and latino men. Senator Adams testified:

Kelly “stated that he targeted and focused on that group because he wanted to instill fear in them that every time they left their homes they could be targeted by police,” Adams said.

Of course, Ray Kelly is denying he ever said such a thing. In fact, city attorney Heidi Grossman claims that was Ray Kelly actually said was that officers should "instill belief" in young men of minority backgrounds. Surprisingly Grossman didn't elaborate on what that belief might be; perhaps the belief that if you are a person of color in New York City you can expect to be terrorized by the NYPD.

Is this really surprising? What other motivation could there be? Roughly 94% of the stops result in no charges. While the super majority of stops target youth of color, whites are twice as likely to be carrying a weapon. Nine out of ten stopped in 2011 were neither arrested nor given summonses. Statistic after statistic proves that this has nothing to do with crime or gun control and everything to do with terrorizing people of color.

 

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Tipping

I do tip, but I also have a moral objection to the gratuity system. I can't walk into a restaurant and just take food for free. So why is it I can legally steal the labor of waitstaff?

The image to the right and other similarly worded images have made their rounds through social media networks. Invariably the anger is aimed at those who don't tip: the "cheap piece of shit."

Missing is the righteous anger at restauranteurs who refuse to pay a living wage to their help. The restaurant owner would never dream of letting the patron decide what to leave for a meal, but somehow it's perfectly reasonable to make that decision when it comes to the hard work of those who serve us?

In fact the restaurant lobby has successfully kept wages stagnant for the past 20 years:

Since 1966, a sub-section of the minimum wage has existed for people who work for gratuities, known as the "tipped minimum wage," which Congress last bumped to $2.13 per hour in 1991. Some states have increased the tipped minimum wage on their own as well -- and Washington, like six other states, has no tipped minimum wage at all, so servers earn a full $9.04 before gratuities. About half of all states, however, continue to allow restaurants to pay servers $2.13, provided they make up the difference if the server doesn't reach the standard minimum wage after tips.

As Oscar Wilde said, "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." We know the price of a burger. We know how much a pint of beer costs. But we have no idea how to value the labor of the hard working people that make it all possible. We need to push past the gratuity system towards a living wage that values peoples hard work.

 

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Taiko & Dance 2013

Tamagawa University's Taiko and Dance is a lot of fun to watch. With a cast of over 30 drummers and dancers, it's really amazing to watch how precise they are. The drumming is extordinary. There's a timeless quality to the pieces being performed. The raw energy of the performers mixed with their obvious love for their craft creates a wonderful atmosphere.

This is a real cultural exchange between Japan and the United States and it really does feel special. It's evident that the performers love what they are doing and it makes the performance all the more enjoyable.

For the most part the boys drum and the girls dance. The women, however, do have a drum piece in this years performance. It was a great piece and it made me want to see more of them drumming. I think, in particular, I was hoping to see the men and women drum together at some point.

Overall it's a wonderful show with a great cast. They still have nine more shows on their US tour. If you have a chance I'd definitely recommend catching them. It's the type of highly energetic showt that even kids will enjoy. Here's a list of their upcoming shows:

• April 1, 7pm at Colgate University, Memorial Chapel
• April 3, 7pm at Hamilton College, Wellin Hall
• April 5, 7:30pm at West Chester University, Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall
• April 6, 4pm & 8pm at Painted Bride Art Center
• April 7, 7pm Swarthmore College, Lang Concert Hall
• April 9, 7:30pm at Westtown School, Berton Test Theatre
• April 12, 12pm at Free Gallery of Art
• April 12, 5pm at Japan Bowl
• April 13, 10AM National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington D.C.
• April 13, 2pm at National Cherry Blossom, Washington D.C.
• April 14, 11AM & 1PM at Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philideophia

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Obama Vs Bush

There's no shortage of great articles out there showing how Obama is worse than Bush on just about every major issue, from war to protecting the criminal bankers. There's certainly truth to this, but I think it misses a larger point. Instead of focusing on the particular character that's occupying that office we should be paying attention to the steady trends that have been systemically carried out through that office for decades, regardless of who occupies it.

Instead of citing the differences of President Bush and Obama, we might note that the office of president continues to eviscerate civil liberties at home while expanding the permanent war economy to more and more countries abroad.

So, yes, the 1% under Obama have captured 121% of the income gains. But that's not something Obama can magically make happen. It's the result of decades of bipartisan work to undermine wages, destroy unions, and shift wealth from those who work to the parasitic class that lives off of our work.

It's the natural result of a system that was designed, in the words of James Madison, "to protect the minority of the opulent from the majority." In other words, Obama isn't worse than Bush; he's better than Bush: he's better at "protecting the minority of the opulent from the majority."

 

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Korea and the Media

The mainstream media continues its bias against North Korea. For some irrational reason North Koreans get their panties in a bunch every time we fly nuclear equipped stealth bombers near their tiny island nation. the New York Times dutifully reports:

After suffering from the American carpet-bombing during the 1950-53 Korean War, North Korea remains particularly sensitive about American bombers.

Those Koreans can really hold a grudge, huh? We haven't carpet-bombed North Korea in ages and yet they still get all jittery every time we fly a nuclear equipped stealth bomber over the peninsula. It's clearly only a training mission so that when we do decide to carpet-bomb North Korea in the future we'll get it right.

Seriously, though, it's simply infuriating how the media dutifully reports that everything the US does is a defensive move, while everything North Korea does is clearly aggressive. The Obama administration is clearly doing everything he can to provoke North Korea, but it's ok because he's not George W. Bush.

 

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Operation Iraqi Liberation Ten Years Later

After reading enough nauseating pseudo-apologies from liberal hawks like Ezra Klein, I thought I'd offer my own reflections as one of the many millions who got it right. Despite what the hawks may say, there wasn't any difficulty seeing through the lies and manipulation of an operation deemed Operation Iraqi Liberation or OIL by an administration filled with people from the energy industry. And while many millions of us were not fooled, our voices were silenced and marginilized as defense contractors and ex generals made the rounds on the various talk shows to explain why we just had to invade Iraq.

In the days leading up to the invasion it was a euphoric time. By some estimates up to 30,000,000 people in over 60 countries protested the war prior to the invasion. Nothing like it had ever happened in history. The great anti-war protests of Vietnam didn't come until the war had been going on for ten years or more. Here we had millions of people from across the planet holding hands and saying no to a war that hadn't even started yet.

Seeing how the anti-war movement petered out as Barrack Obama put a friendlier, perhaps more eloquent face on our imperialist ambitions, it became clear that many people were more anti-Bush than they were anti-war. It's been a bitter pill to swallow to watch as many of those who opposed the invasion of Iraq stand by quietly as the new president continues and expands our wars of aggression around the globe.

I'm sorry we didn't do more. I'm sorry just doesn't seem to cut it, though, when we're talking about the murder of over a million Iraqis, the destruction of their infrastructure, the looting of their cultural treasures, and the displacement of millions more. Birth defects and cancers are at all-time highs in the country devestated by American weapons of mass destruction like white phospherous and depleted uranium. Somehow sorry doesn't seem quite adequate.

But the fight isn't over. And movements like Occupy Wall Street and others have shown that we've learned a lot over the past ten years. The anti-war movement was mostly symbolic protest, people gathering on the weekends, marching for a few hours and then going back to their daily lives. But we've seen that change tremendously in the past few years with more and more direct action aimed at banks, agribusiness and the big oil and gas giants. Instead of a stagnated anti-war movement we have a multi-faceted group of autonomous movements seeking justice at every turn.

Another world is possible.

 

 

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Ecstatic Music Festical

The Ecstatic Music Festival with Simone Dinnerstein, piano, and Tift Merritt, vocals and guitar, was quite the musical journey between the worlds of classical and folk music. On their own, they are both well accomplished artists, but together we are able to see how these supposedly very disparate musical worlds have much more in common than most of us realize.

It was a lot of fun to listen to the two genres blend together and even create new soundscapes all-together. It was great to see Simone Dinnerstein, a Juliard classical pianists from Brooklyn, step out of her comfort zone and open up the piano to play from inside it. As an audience member it was a lot of fun to see just how much Dinnerstein and Merritt pushed each other to grow as artists.

The Merkin Concert Hall was the perfect venue for such an eclectic night of music. The sound was amazing. The space was intimate, and I loved the way they set up the stage as more of a living room than a simple concert.

Overall a great night of music and I hope we see more collaborations like this. You can listen to their new album Night by clicking here.

 

 

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Bears

Bears is a delightful little piece of theatre. Jonathan Dickson (Growl Bear) and Nick Abeel (Timmy Bear) set the stage perfectly as two zoo bears living in a post apocalyptic America. The dialogue is quick witted and fun with lots of laughs. But there are also some really poignant and serious scenes with Growl Bear (Jonathan Dickson) reminiscing about times past. Jenna Panther does a wonderful job playing Susie Wild Bear, scoffing at the "civilized" nonsense of her zoo bear companions.

The tensions between wild and civilized are thoughtfully and creatively played out between the three bears. Civilization has broken down and yet there's still an effort to hold on to the past, to maintain and hopefully pass it on. But the stark reality of a life where food is no longer easy to come by and the pangs of hunger are all to real makes the wild life of a bear greatly appealing.

Throughout it all there's lots of great dialogue between the bears who use English but don't necessarily understand it. Growl Bear figures out how to use a radio but he doesn't quite get why the radio gets quieter over time (dead batteries).

The only minor criticism I have is that Nick Abeel (Timmy Bear) seemed to forget or stumble over his lines a number of times. This was only a minor distraction and I have to say he was great at never missing a beat. Despite the stumbles he repeatedly made it work, and I have no doubt he'll get past that in future shows.

Overall this is a wonderfully crafted, well written show with a talented cast. It was a joy to watch with plenty of laughs throughout. You'll definitely want to catch this gem of a play at 59 East 59th Street Theatres. It runs from now to March 31st. You can find ticket information by clicking here.

 

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