I'm sick of the reality addicts. What about you?
How far will our memoir fascination go? | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Q&A: "Karzai Assigned a Rabbit to Take Care of the Carrot"
Chris Arsenault interviews MALALAI JOYA, author and Afghan parliamentarian
VANCOUVER, Canada, 20 Nov (IPS) - In the aftermath of national elections widely condemned as fraudulent, the United States and its allies are wondering what to do about Afghanistan.
Malalai Joya, an Afghan parliamentarian deemed "the bravest women in Afghanistan" by the BBC, has some unsolicited advice for Gen. Stanley McChrystal and other U.S. commanders. "They must leave my country today, it is much better than tomorrow," she said.
McChrystal is reportedly advising the Barack Obama administration to send 40,000 more troops into Afghanistan, on top of some 68,000 already in the country.
"They say a civil war will happen [if the foreigners leave]," said Joya between sips of green tea, "but nobody talks about today's civil war."
The Afghan conflict claimed 1,000 civilian lives in the first half of 2009, a 24-percent increase from the previous year, according to the Human Rights Unit of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). October 2009 was the bloodiest month for U.S. troops during eight years of war.
Joya is the youngest woman ever elected to Afghanistan's parliament. An unflinching critic of both foreign occupation and Taliban-style fundamentalism, she has escaped five separate assassination attempts.
"I'm a little tired," she confessed as we sat down in a hotel restaurant, "but we must be tireless."
Joya spoke with IPS Canada correspondent Chris Arsenault prior to the Vancouver launch of her memoir, "A Woman Among Warlords: the Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice".
IPS: In the West, the standard debate on Afghanistan goes something like this: If foreign troops leave, the Taliban will return to power, girls won't go to school and the country will become a launching pad for extremist attacks around the world. How do you respond to this? MALALAI JOYA: Democracy never comes from war, from the barrel of the gun, from cluster bombs. Liberation never comes from occupation. After the 9/11 tragedy, the U.S. and its allies pushed us from the frying pan into the fire. They replaced the Taliban with Northern Alliance fundamentalists who are a photocopy of the Taliban.
They occupied our country in the name of women's rights, but today the situation for women is as catastrophic as under the Taliban. The only difference is that all these crimes are happening under the name of democracy, freedom, human rights, and women rights. Women's rights can't be donated from abroad or forced at gunpoint. ..............
Access the full article at:
Q&A: "Karzai Assigned a Rabbit to Take Care of the Carrot"
VANCOUVER, Canada, 20 Nov (IPS) - In the aftermath of national elections widely condemned as fraudulent, the United States and its allies are wondering what to do about Afghanistan.
Malalai Joya, an Afghan parliamentarian deemed "the bravest women in Afghanistan" by the BBC, has some unsolicited advice for Gen. Stanley McChrystal and other U.S. commanders. "They must leave my country today, it is much better than tomorrow," she said.
McChrystal is reportedly advising the Barack Obama administration to send 40,000 more troops into Afghanistan, on top of some 68,000 already in the country.
"They say a civil war will happen [if the foreigners leave]," said Joya between sips of green tea, "but nobody talks about today's civil war."
The Afghan conflict claimed 1,000 civilian lives in the first half of 2009, a 24-percent increase from the previous year, according to the Human Rights Unit of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA). October 2009 was the bloodiest month for U.S. troops during eight years of war.
Joya is the youngest woman ever elected to Afghanistan's parliament. An unflinching critic of both foreign occupation and Taliban-style fundamentalism, she has escaped five separate assassination attempts.
"I'm a little tired," she confessed as we sat down in a hotel restaurant, "but we must be tireless."
Joya spoke with IPS Canada correspondent Chris Arsenault prior to the Vancouver launch of her memoir, "A Woman Among Warlords: the Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice".
IPS: In the West, the standard debate on Afghanistan goes something like this: If foreign troops leave, the Taliban will return to power, girls won't go to school and the country will become a launching pad for extremist attacks around the world. How do you respond to this? MALALAI JOYA: Democracy never comes from war, from the barrel of the gun, from cluster bombs. Liberation never comes from occupation. After the 9/11 tragedy, the U.S. and its allies pushed us from the frying pan into the fire. They replaced the Taliban with Northern Alliance fundamentalists who are a photocopy of the Taliban.
They occupied our country in the name of women's rights, but today the situation for women is as catastrophic as under the Taliban. The only difference is that all these crimes are happening under the name of democracy, freedom, human rights, and women rights. Women's rights can't be donated from abroad or forced at gunpoint. ..............
Access the full article at:
Q&A: "Karzai Assigned a Rabbit to Take Care of the Carrot"
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Robert Reich: The Ersatz Public Option
More about the hideousness of America's electorate, the old, sad, off-key song:
"First there was Medicare for all 300 million of us. But that was a non-starter because private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it was too much like what they have up in Canada -- which, by the way, cost Canadians only 10 percent of their GDP and covers every Canadian. (Our current system of private for-profit insurers costs 16 percent of GDP and leaves out 45 million people.)
So the compromise was to give all Americans the option of buying into a "Medicare-like plan" that competed with private insurers. Who could be against freedom of choice? Fully 70 percent of Americans polled supported the idea. Open to all Americans, such a plan would have the scale and authority to negotiate low prices with drug companies and other providers, and force private insurers to provide better service at lower costs. But private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it would end up too much like what they have up in Canada.
So the compromise was to give the public option only to Americans who wouldn't be covered either by their employers or by Medicaid. And give them coverage pegged to Medicare rates. But private insurers and ... you know the rest.
So the compromise that ended up in the House bill is to have a mere public option, open only to the 6 million Americans not otherwise covered. The Congressional Budget Office warns this shrunken public option will have no real bargaining leverage and would attract mainly people who need lots of medical care to begin with. So it will actually cost more than it saves.
But even the House's shrunken and costly little public option is too much private insurers, Big Pharma, Republicans, and "centrists" in the Senate. So Harry Reid has proposed an even tinier public option, which states can decide not to offer their citizens. According to the CBO, it would attract no more than 4 million Americans.
It's a token public option, an ersatz public option, a fleeting gesture toward the idea of a public option, so small and desiccated as to be barely worth mentioning except for the fact that it still (gasp) contains the word "public."
And yet Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson mumble darkly that they may not even vote to allow debate on the floor of the Senate about the bill if it contains this paltry public option. And Republicans predict a "holy war."
But what more can possibly be compromised? Take away the word "public?" Make it available to only twelve people?" ...............
******
Factor in this news update from Politico: Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said she’d vote yes to push forward with a sweeping health reform plan in the Senate Saturday, a move that appears to give Democrats the 60 votes needed for the cloture vote to move the bill to the floor. Comforting? "Sweeping healthcare reform?" Sigh and relocate to Sweden.
Robert Reich: The Ersatz Public Option
"First there was Medicare for all 300 million of us. But that was a non-starter because private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it was too much like what they have up in Canada -- which, by the way, cost Canadians only 10 percent of their GDP and covers every Canadian. (Our current system of private for-profit insurers costs 16 percent of GDP and leaves out 45 million people.)
So the compromise was to give all Americans the option of buying into a "Medicare-like plan" that competed with private insurers. Who could be against freedom of choice? Fully 70 percent of Americans polled supported the idea. Open to all Americans, such a plan would have the scale and authority to negotiate low prices with drug companies and other providers, and force private insurers to provide better service at lower costs. But private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it would end up too much like what they have up in Canada.
So the compromise was to give the public option only to Americans who wouldn't be covered either by their employers or by Medicaid. And give them coverage pegged to Medicare rates. But private insurers and ... you know the rest.
So the compromise that ended up in the House bill is to have a mere public option, open only to the 6 million Americans not otherwise covered. The Congressional Budget Office warns this shrunken public option will have no real bargaining leverage and would attract mainly people who need lots of medical care to begin with. So it will actually cost more than it saves.
But even the House's shrunken and costly little public option is too much private insurers, Big Pharma, Republicans, and "centrists" in the Senate. So Harry Reid has proposed an even tinier public option, which states can decide not to offer their citizens. According to the CBO, it would attract no more than 4 million Americans.
It's a token public option, an ersatz public option, a fleeting gesture toward the idea of a public option, so small and desiccated as to be barely worth mentioning except for the fact that it still (gasp) contains the word "public."
And yet Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson mumble darkly that they may not even vote to allow debate on the floor of the Senate about the bill if it contains this paltry public option. And Republicans predict a "holy war."
But what more can possibly be compromised? Take away the word "public?" Make it available to only twelve people?" ...............
******
Factor in this news update from Politico: Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) said she’d vote yes to push forward with a sweeping health reform plan in the Senate Saturday, a move that appears to give Democrats the 60 votes needed for the cloture vote to move the bill to the floor. Comforting? "Sweeping healthcare reform?" Sigh and relocate to Sweden.
Robert Reich: The Ersatz Public Option
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Little Room -- recitation and recording by the author DONIA CAREY -- from Mad Hatters' Review
I love love love this prosepoem so magnificently recited and recorded by my past tense friend Donia. Thanks to Marcel DeClercq for creating the video. We'll be airing more of Donia's works soon. She was a very fine, musical writer with a droll sense of humor.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Traveler: Preview Mash: Zachery Bush, Carol Novack, Austin Publicover, S. Beckett, Y. Tarnawsky et al: COMING SOON TO MADHATTERSREVIEW.COM: THE MAD BUNKERS' REVIEW
Friday, November 06, 2009
S/MASHING SOIREE AT THE KGB BAR, NYC --- TONIGHT ONLY, 7 - 9PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0thH3qnHTbI
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Caketrain [a journal and press]
Caketrain [a journal and press]
Issue 7, to be released in December, is available for pre-order.
Contributors
Nora Almeida, Arlene Ang, Jonathan Ashworth, Andrew Borgstrom, Travis Brown, Michael Burkard, Tetman Callis, Emily Carr, Roxanne M. Carter, Julie Choffel, Rob Cook, Matthew Curry, Matthew Derby, Nicolle Elizabeth, Margaret Frozena, Noah Gershman, Alina Gregorian, Ariana Hamidi, Colleen Hollister, Chanice Hughes-Greenberg, Lauren Ireland, AD Jameson, Jeff T. Johnson, Michael Jay Katz, Michael Keenan, Marc Kipniss, Darby Larson, Norman Lock, Lisa Maria Martin, Jessica Newman, Alec Niedenthal, Sarah Norek, Carol Novack, R.D. Parker, Emma Ramey, Joanna Ruocco, Zachary Schomburg, Jeanne Stauffer-Merle, Eugenia Tsutsumi, J.A. Tyler, Lesley C. Weston, John Dermot Woods, Joseph Young.
Issue 7, to be released in December, is available for pre-order.
J.A. Tyler’s teeth still unmarked white, Carol Novack’s pretty pink mouth and porky pink tongue, Sarah Norek’s hair slipping from her skull, a welt carved into Roxanne Carter’s thigh, Alec Niedenthal’s ghostly neck and chin, Matthew Curry’s inside-out torso: the seventh presents a bony, bodily form, a disembodied head above its siblings, and we are powerless to thwart its fleshly will. There are other things, survivors: Darby Larson brings ducks and story-doings, Margaret Frozena and St. Teresa of Ávila begin a duel that gives way to a duet, Matthew Derby wields this rake-like thing—but these bodies, strewn all over the issue, often dismembered, dislocated but ever-ambulant—hover still, cloud a land denuded, peopled.
Contributors
Nora Almeida, Arlene Ang, Jonathan Ashworth, Andrew Borgstrom, Travis Brown, Michael Burkard, Tetman Callis, Emily Carr, Roxanne M. Carter, Julie Choffel, Rob Cook, Matthew Curry, Matthew Derby, Nicolle Elizabeth, Margaret Frozena, Noah Gershman, Alina Gregorian, Ariana Hamidi, Colleen Hollister, Chanice Hughes-Greenberg, Lauren Ireland, AD Jameson, Jeff T. Johnson, Michael Jay Katz, Michael Keenan, Marc Kipniss, Darby Larson, Norman Lock, Lisa Maria Martin, Jessica Newman, Alec Niedenthal, Sarah Norek, Carol Novack, R.D. Parker, Emma Ramey, Joanna Ruocco, Zachary Schomburg, Jeanne Stauffer-Merle, Eugenia Tsutsumi, J.A. Tyler, Lesley C. Weston, John Dermot Woods, Joseph Young.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Excerpt from a long story published in Journal of Experimental Fiction
CLUCK CLUCK
Being my mini-memoir for readings at which everyone
but my two friends is younger than 32.
[for Raymond Federman]
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Wig: Journal of Experimental Scholarship
"She dances with robots"
by my friend & collaborator Jean Detheux"
The Wig: Journal of Experimental Scholarship
by my friend & collaborator Jean Detheux"
The Wig: Journal of Experimental Scholarship
Public option likely to be managed by private insurance company | Raw Story
Health Care REFORM? Baaaaa.
Public option likely to be managed by private insurance company | Raw Story
Public option likely to be managed by private insurance company | Raw Story
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
British High Court rejects U.S./British cover-up of torture evidence - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
British High Court rejects U.S./British cover-up of torture evidence - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
Good to know that the UK High Court doesn't bow to political pressure, as ours does.
Good to know that the UK High Court doesn't bow to political pressure, as ours does.
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