December 16, 2007 archive

Bush League Justice — Dan Abrams, 11 Dec 2007

Hat-tip to RawStory via Dupa T. Parrot of DelphiForums.

December 11, 2007, Dan Abram’s MSNBC broadcast of Bush League Justice.

The video is on YouTube, but I’m not certain if it is there with or without permission. Submitted for your perusal in the meantime:



There is no extended text below the fold.

Crossposted at ePluribus Media as well.

Iglesia ………………………………………Episode17

(Iglesia is a serialized novel, published on Tuesdays and Saturdays at midnight ET, you can read all of the episodes by clicking on the tab.)



Previous Episode

.

Okay, something was definitely funny about that sky and those clouds.

Her eyes had snapped open this time. She was alert enough now at least, to know she wasn’t alert. There was an immense war waging within her. Half of her was doing everything it could to stay awake and alert. The other half was using everything but the kitchen sink to drag her back down into the darkness of …sleep?

But really the sky shouldn’t be that color, and those clouds definitely had square edges. She realized the clouds were mad out of tiles. She was confused, but she didn’t notice. She tried to turn her head and that is when she realized she wasn’t really in her body. Wasn’t really filling it up anyway…so she did. She turned her head and looked out the window…..sort of thingee over there.

Sweeney Todd and cannibalistic Capitalism

There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit

And it’s filled with people who are filled with shit

And the vermin of the world inhabit it.

But not for long.

This past week I had the great luck to attend an advance screening of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, now the third (and a half) major incarnation of Sondheim’s 1979 musical, based on a 19th century pulp slasher.  Sweeney is the greatest of all musicals, combining sophisticated music and well-written characters in an almost impenetrably dark moral fog.  

What’s most interesting from our perspective is the way Sweeney Todd grapples with the problem of capitalism, an issue foregrounded in the classic Broadway staging and to some extent in the new film version.  Let’s take a closer look at a few moments that emphasize this critique.

Note: This essay contains spoilers, and plenty of them.  If you don’t want to know what happens in the musical/film, stop reading now.  

Sweeney Todd and cannibalistic Capitalism

There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit

And it’s filled with people who are filled with shit

And the vermin of the world inhabit it.

But not for long.

This past week I had the great luck to attend an advance screening of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, now the third (and a half) major incarnation of Sondheim’s 1979 musical, based on a 19th century pulp slasher.

What’s most interesting from our perspective is the way Sweeney Todd grapples with the problem of capitalism, an issue foregrounded in the classic Broadway staging and to some extent in the new film version.

The American Dream: Time to Wake Up

An interesting article over at Alternet asks what happened to the American dream, and provides some evidence that it is exactly that: a dream. Essentially Americans are not increasing their social and economic mobility even as they believe they still can. I would argue that the persistent and pervasive belief in the American dream is what undercuts both serious talk about class and it acts as a safety valve to protect our current system against peaceful but radical change. Indeed any social/political movements that have been moderately successful ( and certainly I think we all have opinions about whether the goals have been achieved and not for lack of trying) in the post WWII era in the phase of American capitalism have been largely about gaining some acceptance, respect, and equality within the dominant culture not an attempt to dismantle it. Capitalism in the United States has survived to some degree by allowing moderate critique and limited rights for those who were previously denied them. Inevitably, once moderate gains were made those very groups have been forced to defend themselves against cultural reactionaries which might explain why some of the more radical notions that emerged from the activism of black, gay, the transgendered community and feminists that did challenge the structures of consumer capitalism were silenced. People are still fighting on the inclusionary front. It is ironic that issues like gay marriage, partnership, and parenting rights are very much about joining the American dream, the myth of harmony, not trying to disrupt or replace. Many on the cultural reactionary right are pushing back not against radicals who want to attack capitalism and American myths but those who to varying degrees might actually  embrace some of them. At least the myths that say we are a family oriented society.

Joshua Holland argues that free wheeling mobility does not exist noting that the greatest predictor of how much an American will make is what their parents make. Add to that one other factor Holland does not mention but is worth considering: fixed pensions are disappearing. Both of my parents have fixed pensions ( retired teacher and retired nursing college instructor), so while my income approximately matches theirs at comparable times in life even with adequate savings for retirement I might be lucky to equal them. I am not crying the blues, many Americans in my age group cannot set aside money in a 403B or something similar, nor will they have fixed company pensions.

Saturday Night Bike Blogging: The Joy of Winter Biking

OK, so I just back from a trip to the store.

Well, let me set the scene, courtesy of the online weather report for this part of NorthEast Ohio …

NOW … AREAS OF HEAVY SNOW … AND A MIX OF SNOW … SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 8PM. THE MIX PRECIPITATION WILL BE ALONG AND SOUTH OF A MARION TO CANTON LINE. A INCH AN HOUR SNOWFALL WILL BE FROM AROUND MANSFIELD TO CANTON. UNTREATED SURFACES AND ROADWAYS CAN BE ICY AND SNOW COVERED AND SLIPPERY.

… indeed, my mum was trying to talk me out of my little trip, first downtown to the bank (like, eight blocks) and then down main street to the bargain supermarket, then back. Not far at all, and in the fall simply a pleasant little excursion.

But … oh my, oh no, there was sleety snow falling down! Oh my!

Oh … did I say joy? The joy, after the fold.



NB. Picture gleaned from the Intertubes … not taken by your humble scribe. Indeed, since it comes from Peninsular Far West Asia … Amsterdam, to be precise … and I’ve only been on the southeastern edge of that massive continent, it could not possibly be taken by your humble scribe.

the end of the world as we know it?

yes, that is a deliberately provocative title.  And I am afraid I have little of subgstance with which to support that question.  But in this, only my second post on this site, let me offer just a little bit of my current thinking.

I am not presuming the imminence anything catastrophic, like the immediate annihilation of the human race.  Nor do I presume that there will be seismic changes politically,even though one might well argue that such is what is required if democracy as we have known it is going to survive.

Instead let me posit something a wee bit different, and perhaps even arrogant.

The two-party system, mediated by the ‘gatekeepers’ of the main stream media, is now obsolete, dying off.    

The Bali Agreement: Media Headlines vs. Reality

A lot of excited headlines are reporting an historic climate agreement, in Bali. Don’t believe the hype. This is what they want you to believe:

Agence France-Presse

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

BBC

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

CNN

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Pony Party: Sear/ Roast

Although I would never describe myself as a gourmet cook, if you gave me a choice between spending all day in the kitchen and spending all day doing housework, the kitchen wins. I am picky about my pots,pans,knives and other cooking type attire.

One of my favorite ways to cook meat/poultry/pork and some kinds of fish, is the sear/roast method. I don’t know how well it translates to the vegans among us. Here is a good overview.

I use a cast iron or one of my French style steel fry pans. I heat until it sizzles enough to bounce water just a touch then take an evenly shaped cut of beef/pork/poultry/fish and cook it a few minutes each side. The kind of pan is critical because you won’t get a good browning with any kind of non stick pan. The it goes in the oven on a high temp between 400-500 depending on your oven. I generally make some kind of sauce and incorporate the brown bits from the searing. I like a wine/mushroom sauce for beef, a tomato olive concoction for chicken, a booze/fruit combo for pork ( don’t mix sweet fruit with sweet booze too overpowering) and so on… My rule with a sauce is use what you like. It is done quickly. I usually so a quick boil on green beans, give them a cold water shock, and then sauté them. People tend to think that cooking is too time consuming and all it takes is having some stock items that you use all the time.

A few other hints…

Experiment on hungry people, they are more appreciative…

Always have a few bottles of wine on hand in case things don’t go according to plan…

No kitchen is complete without a cast iron pan….

Gentlemen: Women LOVE a man who cooks for them… you are instantly transformed into Brad Pitt even if you don’t really resemble him.

Well, thanks for looking. Hang out and chit chat but don’t rec pony party. Please have a look at the great offerings on our recent and rec’d list. Participation equals democracy.

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