Orwell's Shadow: Fighting talk: The new propaganda ~ Robert Fisk

Fighting Talk: The New Propaganda
Robert Fisk

The Independent
21 June 2010

Following the latest in semantics on the news? Journalism and the Israeli government are in love again. It's Islamic terror, Turkish terror, Hamas terror, Islamic Jihad terror, Hezbollah terror, activist terror, war on terror, Palestinian terror, Muslim terror, Iranian terror, Syrian terror, anti-Semitic terror...

But I am doing the Israelis an injustice. Their lexicon, and that of the White House – most of the time – and our reporters' lexicon, is the same. Yes, let's be fair to the Israelis. Their lexicon goes like this: Terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror, terror.

How many times did I just use the word "terror"? Twenty. But it might as well be 60, or 100, or 1,000, or a million. We are in love with the word, seduced by it, fixated by it, attacked by it, assaulted by it, raped by it, committed to it. It is love and sadism and death in one double syllable, the prime time-theme song, the opening of every television symphony, the headline of every page, a punctuation mark in our journalism, a semicolon, a comma, our most powerful full stop. "Terror, terror, terror, terror". Each repetition justifies its predecessor.

Most of all, it's about the terror of power and the power of terror. Power and terror have become interchangeable. We journalists have let this happen. Our language has become not just a debased ally, but a full verbal partner in the language of governments and armies and generals and weapons. ... more ...

A reader, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, emailed the other day, calling my attention to this essay - both acute and astute - by Robert Fisk in The Independent. I thought I'd pass along his recommendation. Fisk argues, I think persuasively, that the news media - journalists, editors, publishers and producers, networks - are hostage to language and concepts that are peddled for political purposes and that they, the media, are relatively oblivious to the history and purposes of that language and those concepts. If we need always ask 'who is using this photograph and for what purpose,' the same is true too of words. Thanks Stanley!

West Ham CLP nominate Ed Miliband as Labour Leader

 Tonight there was an “all members” meeting held before our Labour Party General Committee to decide who (if any) of the declared candidates we would endorse. All five candidates were nominated and seconded and there was a lively debate between their respective supporters.

Ed Miliband was nominated by Ellie Robertson who is a new Councillor and Chair of Newham Young Labour. I seconded Ed and was also able to speak in his favour.

My view was that Ed is the candidate best placed to beat Cameron and Clegg which is vitally important since without power - we can do nothing.

However, he also the candidate who has committed to tackling inequality and redistribute wealth, not only because it is fairer but because more equal societies are better societies in all measurable ways not only for the poor but also for the better off.

The previous Labour Government did many, many good things but instead of us having a balanced or truly mixed economy it let the pendulum swing too far to the right in certain areas and “the market” into public services and its provision - and it is now time to swing the pendulum back to the left in order to create balance and a centre left economy. An economy where the public sector does what it is good at and provides not for profit services direct to the public and the private sector does what is good at – creating wealth in the free enterprise business economy.

On a personal note I also mentioned that I supported Ed because I was very impressed with the way he conducted himself when he was the keynote guest speaker at the UNISON Labour Link forum in Manchester last year. Two things in particular struck me. One that he admitted to the forum that the Government did not get everything right. He would be listening to the Radio in the morning and hear about a government announcement and think “why on earth did we do that?” I thought at the time this was a brave thing for a Government minister to say. It was also something very much that I could relate to since I had also in the past choked on my branflakes at some of the things that I had heard the government get up to in the morning while listening to the radio!

The second things that struck me about Ed was that after his speech to Forum in the Q&A - the delegates got stuck in (as UNISON delegates do) with the questions and gave him a “bit of a hard time”. Yet Ed gave as good as he got and while passionate in his responses he was not rattled and in the end the forum organisers had to practically drag him off so they could move business on. Ed in the meanwhile told delegates that he wasn’t going to leave the conference venue and he wanted to continue the debate and invited questioners to carry on where they had left it outside the forum hall. Which he did!

It was a close race in West Ham but Ed was in the lead (just) on the 1st preferences but was confirmed as winner after the 2nd preference count.

On Sunday evening July 18 the West Ham (and East London) Labour movement will have a chance to judge the candidates at the Hustings (sponsored by UNISON who will invite affiliates to attend) that is due to take place in Stratford (home of the first ever Labour MP)

(Picture is of Ed Miliband at the East Ham meeting on June 11th - East Ham CLP have since also made a supportive nomination for Ed. I’ll post pictures of tonight’s event soon)

Shakeup Inside Vatican Cabinet

This article comes from the National Catholic Reporter.

-------------------------------------------------------

Triumph of theologians over diplomats in Vatican

By John R. Allen, Jr.

In what’s already a turbulent time, Pope Benedict XVI has triggered another Vatican earthquake, changing the guard in three senior leadership positions. Among those exiting the scene is the Catholic church’s most prominent ecumenical leader over the past decade, while the new arrivals complete the ascent of personal friends and theological protégés of the pontiff to the Vatican’s top positions.

The Vatican announced today two key personnel moves:

• Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec replaces Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, responsible for recommending new bishops to the pope all over the world;

• Archbishop Rino Fisichella becomes the first President of the new Pontifical Commission for Promotion of the New Evangelization, a new Vatican department devoted to reawakening the faith in the West, especially Europe.

Tomorrow, announcement of a third transition is expected: Bishop Kurt Koch of Basel, Switzerland, will replace Cardinal Walter Kasper as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission for Religious Relations with Jews.

Kasper has been the face of the Vatican’s ecumenical outreach since 2001. He recently held a farewell session with reporters in Rome, describing the effort to restore Christian unity as the “construction site of the church of the future.”

Ouellet, Koch and Fisichella all have longstanding ties to Benedict XVI. 

Fisichella, a veteran of the Roman scene, collaborated with Ratzinger in the preparation of John Paul II’s encyclical Fides et Ratio, while Ouellet and Koch both move in the theological circles associated with the journal Communio, which was co-founded by Joseph Ratzinger. 

(Read more about Fisichella and the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization here: Pope launches council to fight secular 'Eclipse of God'.)

All three over the years have argued for what Benedict XVI describes as a “hermeneutic of continuity” regarding the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), stressing that Vatican II did not repeal earlier teachings and traditions.

In July 2009, Koch addressed that point in a letter to the priests of Basel: “Instead of accusing others, and even the pope, of wishing to go back to before the council, everyone would be well advised to look over their own books and reassess their own personal position on the council,” he wrote. “Not everything that was said and done after the council, was therefore done in accordance with the council.”

One striking twist to today’s news is that as of now, neither the Secretariat of State nor the Congregation for Bishops is led by a product of the Vatican’s diplomatic service. Traditionally, both posts have been held by men who come out of the diplomatic corps – preserving a balance, observers have usually argued, between the church’s spiritual and doctrinal priorities and its social, political and humanitarian interests.

In sound-bite fashion, one might say that today’s appointments complete the triumph of theologians over diplomats under Benedict XVI.

The pope did make one diplomatic move of note today, naming Archbishop Celestine Migliore, currently the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations, as his new nuncio, or ambassador, in Poland.

In terms of timing, it’s traditional for the Vatican to make a flurry of moves in late June ahead of the pope’s annual summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo. This year, Benedict XVI will leave for his summer residence next Wednesday after the conclusion of his General Audience. 

In brief comments to reporters this morning, the Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, said that the legal document formally creating the new Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization is not expected to appear soon because work on the document is ongoing.

Lombardi also confirmed that the pope met this morning with Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Brussels. While he did not offer any details, the meeting follows a series of June 24 police raids in Belgium on church properties as part of a sex abuse probe and comes amid an escalating diplomatic row between Rome and Belgium over the incident.

Elections in Exotic Places (2)

There were national elections this past week in both Burundi and Equatorial Guinea. Here are the requisite images of the current, slightly ominous, leaders of the respective countries, each accompanied by a retinue of security personnel, casting their ballots.

Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza (R) casts his
vote at a polling station in his hometown of Mumba,
in northern Burundi's Ngozi province (28 June 2010).
Photograph: AP.

General Konate, the transition president, votes on
Sunday in the capital, Conakry (27 June 2010).
Photograph: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images.

Caption Competition

Comments please! (Slightly dated photograph taken from here).

The Russian Spy Ring

While Presidents Obama and Medvedev ate hamburgers in Virginia, the net was closing in on a ring of 11 Russian spies who had operated in America for over 10 years. They have been accused of taking false identities and acting as "sleeper agents", pretending to be American citizens whilst passing back information to Russia. The revelations have led to huge media coverage, particularly over 28 year old Anna Chapman (see picture below), who had a lively Facebook account with photographs of herself in glamourous locations. Although they often used the internet to pass on information, the agents seem to have used remarkably traditional methods as well, such as secret drop off points and codewords, just like in Cold War espionage stories.


There are some interesting comments on the affair, such as this article from the creator of Spooks suggesting fact is often stranger than fiction, and this analysis that the spy ring, despite the huge effort the Russian security service must have put into it, has actually yielded very little of value. Perhaps the inadequacy of their efforts is the reason why both the US and Russia are optimistic that the affair will cause little damage to their relationship in the long-term, once the media have stopped showing pictures of Anna Chapman...

PS: Some more good stuff here from the BBC, including the history of deep-cover spies, like British agent Kim Philby, who spied for the KGB for 20 years, and a profile of the SVR, formally known as the KGB (Committee for State Security), which can trace its roots back to the Russian Civil War in 1920.

Supreme Court: Vatican Lawsuit Can Go to Trial

This article comes from the Associated Press.

Thanks to Rayner for the link.

-------------------------------------------------------

Court lets Vatican sex-abuse lawsuit move forward

A lawsuit against the Vatican that had been dismissed as a publicity stunt moved forward when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Holy See. Monday's development represents a significant advance for what many believed to be a long-shot claim that the Vatican bears legal responsibility for molester priests.

The high court's decision not to stop the lawsuit means the clergy sex abuse case will go to trial in an Oregon district court.

"I have known for 25 years that all roads lead to Rome," said Jeff Anderson, the Minnesota attorney who represents the plaintiff. "This is the beginning for us of a new journey, a uniquely difficult odyssey."

Anderson, who has represented hundreds of abuse victims and has tried for years to sue the Vatican, said he hoped to persuade a judge that he should be allowed to depose Vatican officials.

Jeffrey Lena, the American attorney for the Holy See, argued the Vatican is not responsible for individual priests in dioceses, saying the existence of the priest in the case "was unknown to the Holy See until after all the events in question."

The original lawsuit, John V. Doe v. Holy See, was filed in 2002 by a Seattle-area man who said the Rev. Andrew Ronan repeatedly molested him in the late 1960s.

Anderson argues in the case that priests are Vatican employees for the purpose of American law. If the trial judge agrees, that would constitute an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, under which the Vatican has been immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.

A lower court judge previously ruled there could be enough of a connection between the Holy See and Ronan for him to be considered a Vatican employee under Oregon law. That ruling was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Lena had asked the federal courts to throw out the lawsuit.

"The Holy See does not pay the salary of the priest, or benefits of the priest, or exercise day-to-day control over the priest, and any of the other factors indicating the presence of an employment relationship," Lena said.

According to the lawsuit, Ronan, who belonged to a religious order, began abusing boys in the mid-1950s as a priest in the Archdiocese of Armagh, Ireland. He was transferred to Chicago, where he allegedly admitted abusing three boys at St. Philip's High School.

Ronan was later moved to a parish in Portland, Ore., where he was accused of abusing the person who filed the lawsuit now under appeal. He was removed from the priesthood in 1966, according to the Archdiocese of Portland, and died in 1992.

The Obama administration had sided with the Vatican on the issue of sovereign immunity.

The acting U.S. solicitor general, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Justice Department filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the case does not meet the standard for an exception to immunity.

Douglas Laycock, a religious liberty specialist at University of Michigan Law School, said the brief will be influential as the case proceeds.

"The courts give substantial weight to the State Department's views on foreign sovereign immunity issues," Laycock said.

In 2005, the administration of President George W. Bush argued the pope should have immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiracy to hide abuse because the pontiff is an acting head of a foreign state. Soon after, a federal judge dismissed the case.

However, Steve Rubino, a New Jersey attorney who has represented abuse victims since the 1980s, argued that the court could react differently now that the scope of clergy sex abuse is better known. The case against the Vatican is proceeding as European churches, Vatican officials and Pope Benedict XVI are engulfed by the latest crises over clergy sex abuse.

Rubino said that when he first took up abuse cases, diocesan attorneys often won by arguing that First Amendment religious freedom protections meant that civil courts could not interfere in church business. That approach rarely works any more.

"The world has been affected by a slow realization of the depth of the scandal," Rubino said. "Judges react the same way. People are tired of this."

A separate lawsuit filed in Louisville, Ky., and still in the courts, contends the Vatican is responsible for U.S. bishops who failed to stop priests from molesting children.

The case is Holy See v. John Doe, 09-1.

Self-Defeating Economic Orthodoxy and Its Media Moutpieces

At the end of last week I posted on a guy called Neil Cavuto at FOX "News" who (as frequently seems to happen there) managed to first simultaneously hector a guest rudely and demonstrate a dim understanding of economics and then whine about the guest's reply. In that instance the guest was Ron Blackwell, chief economist at the AFL-CIO. Cavuto insulted Blackwell, questioning his qualifications in totally adolescent ways. Blackwell rightly got pissed and called Cavuto an "asshole." And, unsurprisingly enough, Cavuto still has Blackwell's 'outburst' posted prominently on his FOX page, complaining that Blackwell had been of so terribly rude. FOX also still has this clip of Blackwell running under the headline: AFL-CIO Wants to Drown Out 'Deficit Hysterics.'

So much for the background. Over the weekend, of course, the G20 leaders got together and managed to embrace the conservative point of view, namely that deficits are out of control and, at the risk of suppressing economic recovery, they are going to cut government spending. See the story here. Cavuto no doubt feels vindicated. But he might want to check the gloating. On Sunday Paul Krugman offered this assessment of the G20 decision:

We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense. And this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending. [. . .] you might have expected policy makers to realize that they haven’t yet done enough to promote recovery. But no: over the last few months there has been a stunning resurgence of hard-money and balanced-budget orthodoxy.

As far as rhetoric is concerned, the revival of the old-time religion is most evident in Europe, where officials seem to be getting their talking points from the collected speeches of Herbert Hoover, up to and including the claim that raising taxes and cutting spending will actually expand the economy, by improving business confidence. As a practical matter, however, America isn’t doing much better. The Fed seems aware of the deflationary risks — but what it proposes to do about these risks is, well, nothing. The Obama administration understands the dangers of premature fiscal austerity — but because Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress won’t authorize additional aid to state governments, that austerity is coming anyway, in the form of budget cuts at the state and local levels.

[. . .] Why the wrong turn in policy? [. . .] I don't think this is really about . . . any realistic appreciation of the tradeoffs between deficits and jobs. It is, instead, the victory of an orthodoxy that has little to do with rational analysis, whose main tenet is that imposing suffering on other people is how you show leadership in tough times.

And who will pay the price for this triumph of orthodoxy? The answer is, tens of millions of unemployed workers, many of whom will go jobless for years, and some of whom will never work again.

Given his lack of economic acuity, it seems to me that Neil Cavuto ought to be the one looking for a job. Yet, his fight with Ron Blackwell isn't about economic analysis, its about politics. That is what FOX "News" is mostly about - rationalizing policies that screw the poor, the working class and the otherwise vulnerable. So Cavuto will continue to shill for the sort of right wing policies that the FOX folks peddle. Listen, I think I just heard him shout "Hey Paul, where did you get that Nobel Prize?" I know what Krugman's reply should be.
_________
P.S.: (Added 30 June 2010) This morning The New York Times is running this story on the resurgence of conservative orthodoxy. The author seems to find the move to cut deficits pretty dubious. He writes:

"The reasons for the new American austerity are subtler, but not shocking. Our economy remains in rough shape, by any measure. So it’s easy to confuse its condition (bad) with its direction (better) and to lose sight of how much worse it could be. The unyielding criticism from those who opposed stimulus from the get-go — laissez-faire economists, Congressional Republicans, German leaders — plays a role, too. They’re able to shout louder than the data.

Finally, the idea that the world’s rich countries need to cut spending and raise taxes has a lot of truth to it. The United States, Europe and Japan have all made promises they cannot afford. Eventually, something needs to change.

In an ideal world, countries would pair more short-term spending and tax cuts with long-term spending cuts and tax increases. But not a single big country has figured out, politically, how to do that."

Some remarks. First, the ability to shout effectively is pretty much reserved for the right these days. It perfectly describes the spectrum from FOX to "Tea Party" types. Second, no one thinks massive deficits are sustainable indefinitely: not Ron Blackwell, not Paul Krugman, not me. Everything rides on the word "eventually." And the right is simply willing to dump risk and hardship on the vulnerable. Finally, here is something the Times piece gets right. This is about politics. If you asked me how to best cut the U.S. deficit (or at least most, yes most, of the growth therein) I'd say (1) get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan and (2) start repealing the idiotic right wing tax policies that favor the rich. Tomorrow. No one on the right is willing to look at the real sources of our deficit woes. They are too busy shouting to drown out the data.

Elections in Exotic Places (1)

A while ago I promised a set of posts on the conventions that govern images in the Western press of elections in 'faraway places.' Here is the first installment. This week there have been elections in Burundi.

A voter goes to a voting booth to make her mark at a polling station in
Bujumbura, Burundi, as people prepare to vote in the presidential election
Monday, June 28, 2010. After all the opposition parties pulled out of the
race, the voters have only the choice between the ruling CNDD-FDD party
or declaring their votes invalid. Photograph © Marc Hofer/AP.

A voter at the Burundian presidential elections shows his inked finger to prove
he has cast his ballot, after voting at a polling station in the Burundian
capital of Bujumbura, Monday, June 28, 2010. After all the opposition
parties pulled out of the race, the voters have only the choice between the
ruling CNDD-FDD party or declaring their votes invalid. Despite many fears
that the voting will be disturbed by violence, the polling stations remain calm,
and attendance is not brisk. Photograph © Marc Hofer/AP.

The folks at the Lens blog over at The New York Times included the top image among the "Pictures of the Day" (28 June 2010).

My plan is to simply start posting sets of images; once I get a 'critical mass' up, I will write something. For the moment, the images are food for thought.

Ambassador & Archbishop on US-Vatican Ties

This article comes from the Catholic News Service, by way of American Catholic.

-------------------------------------------------------

Ambassador, Archbishop Speak of Importance of US-Vatican Ties

By John Thavis

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—They came as pilgrims, but the 250 Miami Catholics must have felt a little like VIPs the day after landing in Rome.

Miguel H. Diaz, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, hosted the group, led by Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, at a garden party at his residence June 27. Diaz warmed them up with a pep talk about the importance of U.S.-Vatican relations.

The ambassador planned to greet similar groups from Cincinnati and Milwaukee June 28, but as Archbishop Wenski said, "he wanted to show a little favoritism to us from Florida." In fact, Cuban-born Diaz spent many years in southern Florida, as a student and later as a professor at a Catholic seminary and a Catholic university. He still has family in the Miami area.

Archbishop Wenski's line about favoritism drew laughter and applause from the Florida pilgrims, who came to Rome for Pope Benedict XVI's June 29 Mass to bestow palliums, a woolen band symbolizing pastoral ministry, upon 38 archbishops.

At the reception, the ambassador and the archbishop both spoke about the significance of strong U.S.-Vatican ties, but with somewhat different points of emphasis.

Recalling President Barack Obama's meeting last year with Pope Benedict, Diaz said that "while such a brief formal occasion doesn't allow for a deep relationship to develop, it is clear that the pope and the president share key values and philosophies as well as their Christian faith."

"Together they seek to make this a better world—to foster peace, to promote justice and freedom, to feed the hungry, to heal the sick and to bring a message of life and hope to those desperate to hear it, as well as those who refuse to hear it," the ambassador said.

Diaz said the United States appreciates the immense value of faith-based organizations and their ability to "translate compassionate intent into practice," both domestically and in the international arena.

Archbishop Wenski said the Miami Archdiocese has a special vocation to welcome immigrants, especially from the Caribbean and Latin America. In that sense, he said, Miami has become "America's modern Ellis Island."

"The church in Miami and South Florida was always there for the newcomers. It was there for the Cubans right after the revolution in 1959 in Cuba. And it has been there now for the Haitians who have fled the earthquake and have come to South Florida for medical treatment. So Miami represents hope for so many people," he said.

The archbishop recalled Pope Benedict's praise of the healthy church-state relationship during his visit to the United States in 2008. But the pope also challenged the United States, he said, warning about a modern secularist trend toward "living as if God did not matter."

"As Catholics and Christians, our witness is to show to the world by the way we live how joyful life can be when we live convinced that God indeed does matter," he said.

Ed Balls in Newham - Save Free School Meals

Labour leadership Candidate Ed Balls, visited a Newham School yesterday and he talks above about the threat to free school meals. Hat-tip thingy Labourlist.

David Miliband speaks to meeting at Stratford Town Hall

This college is from last night's meeting with David Miliband held at the Old Town Hall in Stratford, E15.  This was chaired by Ahmed Noor who I believe is the son of the first Asian shopkeeper in Green Street and my old mucker Terry Paul, who is a local ward member for Stratford and fellow "newbie" Newham Councillor.  Labour MP Keith Vaz introduced everyone to the audience.

David was the guest of the Pakistani Association of Newham.

He gave his usual impressive and polished speech and dealt with pretty well with a wide ranging Q&A.

I managed to ask him a question about what he thought the role of modern trade unions should be if became Prime minister and he was let us say pretty positive without being particularly prescriptive. 

I think he is a very good candidate, but his brother Ed - has the edge - and I think has the better chance of appearing different from the evil twins, Cameron and Clegg, and defeating them at the next election (sorry Steve and Terry)

Museums as Money Laundering Institutions

"Art patronage has always been a kind of money-laundering,

a pretty public face for fortunes made in uglier ways."

~ Rebecca Solnit

There seems to be a dust up in London over the fact that the Tate Museum receives - and has for decades - large sums of money from British Petroleum. A longish list of art world denizens published this letter in The Guardian yesterday protesting the arrangement. The missive, and accompanying stories about protests at BP funding at Tate Britain and National Portrait Gallery, has promoted this robust retort supporting BP.

I am not sure how such things work in the UK, but here in the US companies get tax write-offs for charitable contributions. There my be PR benefits as well. (My view is that you ought to be able to either take the tax credit or have your name publicized, but not both.) And I have little doubt that 'not offending the sponsors' works its way, insidiously and unself-consciously into the minds of curators and artists.

The questions I have for the letter writers (whose complaints about corporate funding I largely endorse) is this: How do you differentiate clean from dirty when it comes to vast sums of wealth? Sure oil companies are an easy target. But where do you think all those wealthy patrons who buy your product (whether that be art, writing, labor, expertise, creativity, vision, or whatever) for galleries, magazines, catalogs, museums, concert halls, and so forth got their money? Do you think the funding that pays your rent is sanitized in some way?

On this matter I live in a glass house. I work at a University that gets funding and does business with all sorts of disreputable entities. All the Colleges and Universities where I studied keep similarly sketchy company. So, I am in the same boat. I think we need to dispense with the moralism. What precisely is the alternative you propose? Government funding for the arts? Some sort of list of 'socially responsible' patrons? (How, in constructing such a list, do we decide which sins are the most egregious?) The art world (and the intellectual world more generally) is, let's face it thoroughly infused with commercial and political pressures. What is the alternative you are proposing?
__________
P.S.: I know that Solnit is among the signatories to the letter.

Inspiring pictures

You may have noticed that until recently we had a St George's flag on the side of the blog, but this of course has now gone after events at the weekend (helpfully summarised in lego here). We wondered if there were any other suitable inspiring images that should go there - preferably on an HP theme! If you have any suggestions please send them in - if there are any interesting websites to link to that can be arranged to. The best suggestions will be posted and in the meantime, as an incentive to get you contributing, a picture of Glenn Beck (and links to his book reviews) will stand as a temporary replacement...

Are Student Evaluations of College Faculty the Beginning of the End for Higher Education?

I teach at a smallish liberal arts College embedded in a largely vocational University. I say 'vocational' in the sense that a good many of the students are in undergrad and graduate programs leading to some professional degree (Business, Medicine, Music (performance), Education, Engineering, and so on). There is nothing wrong with any of those enterprises. Indeed, the various professional schools serve as a model in which there are some things one simply has to know in order to be deemed well trained or educated. Faculty know those things, students are on campus to learn them. By contrast, the entire curriculum in the College, by design, is driven by student choice. There are really very few substantive requirements. Worse, in my own department, it seems that most students can get a degree without ever really writing a paper more than ten pages long or so. By that I mean they face few demands either. All I have to do is mention a longer writing assignment - or one that requires independent research and thinking - and students drop the course in droves.

In that sense I have been impressed by this series of essays that Stanley Fish has written for The New York Times. In general, I think he is on the right track. Two things, at least*, are important to note, however.

First, it mostly is the conservative types, those who insist on a 'classical' curriculum, who also think there are right answers to every question, or who think that education consists in providing answers instead of priming students to ask and explore smart questions. There are, of course, right and wrong answers even in my field. I expect my students to know what John Stuart Mill or Hannah Arendt said about, say, freedom and why they said it. Beyond that, there is no reason to think that there is a single, unambiguous answer to the question as to whether either Mill or Arendt gets 'freedom' right or that their reasons for being preoccupied with freedom are cogent. The conservatives are simply out to lunch on that score. The whole point is that freedom (and other political concepts) are deeply contestable. The same is true in other domains and disciplines too. That hardly is a conclusion likely to attract support among conservatives.

Please note that I am not saying 'anything goes' - one surely can advance better and worse arguments (reasons) or more or less sound evidence for a given position. That said, at the end of the day, neither your reasons nor your evidence is likely to be decisive. Others will still disagree with you and, despite what you think, be reasonable in doing so.

Second, a good part of the problem is due to the fact that faculty often simply are not willing to defend some body of knowledge or some modes of inquiry as crucial to proper training or education. There is what we might call 'canon' aversion. This is driven in part by fear that students will find the resulting requirements too taxing or irrelevant or whatever. But it also is driven by unwillingness to take a stand, to make a judgment. Those most willing to take a stand often those who have least grasp of substantive material - we get consensus on 'methods' but not on the point of learning those techniques in the first place. And that is easier than having serious, contentious conversations about what students need to know and what faculty, therefore, need to teach.

I am not painting a particularly pretty picture. But it doesn't make sense to say that the dire trends in post-secondary education are all due to taking student evaluations seriously.** After all, if you don't want to rely on the judgment of students whose judgment do you plan to rely on?
__________
* Another thing to wonder about is whether the education that Fish received in high school is an appropriate model for a college curriculum. I suspect that the answer to that question is complicated. Moreover, there is the problem that Fish neglects, namely that Colleges operate on a market. So even if something 'classical' and hence suitably demanding, is what Colleges ought to be selling, it might nonetheless fail on the market.
** As Fish seems to do: "And it all began with student evaluations, or, rather, with the mistake of taking them seriously. Since then, it’s been all downhill."

“What will the Harvest be?” Abbey Gardens Fair & the “Plaistow Landgrabbers”

Pictures are from a really enjoyable afternoon I spent a few weeks ago at the summer fair of the “Friends of Abbey Garden”. This is on the actual site of what was once the medieval Langthorn Abbey. For many years this 2000 sq feet plot of land was a waste ground but it is now a community led park and very attractive communal garden in my ward.

The original Abbey was actually “sacked” during the Peasant’s revolt but became one of the richest Abbeys in England before it was closed during the dissolution of monasteries in 1538.

The garden also celebrates the “Plaistow Landgrabbers” (see black and white picture). In 1906 unemployed workers squattered on land nearby to prove that the unemployed did want to work. The Council eventually reprocessed the land and local Councillor Ben Cunningham (see on left wearing white hat) spent 5 weeks in prison for contempt of court for supporting the protest. If you look again to the left of the original back and white picture you see the “What will the Harvest be?” slogan which has been adopted by the Abbey garden.  Double click collage to bring up detail.

As well as a tour - I was able to enjoy some freshly baked homemade cakes and take back some garden grown organic veg via the “honesty stall" (bottom left).

Cameron to send his Deputy PM Clegg to UN Aid Summit

The Liberal Democrat leader and deputy PM Nick Clegg will be the United Kingdom’s representative at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in September as details begin to emerge over the actual role of Mr Clegg within the new Conservative-Liberal coalition.

Mr Cameron, while in Toronto, Canada this weekend as the leaders of the world’s biggest economist powers met, stressed to journalists in attendance that his Mr Clegg would not be running the country at any point this summer and said because of modern communications he could remain in charge, even while on the beach.

“We don’t have to have this formal handover when we go on holiday,” he said. “I will have a decent break, but in this day and age of technology I don’t think it is necessary to have the carry on that the last government did.”

Under the previous Labour government, the deputy PM or another senior cabinet minister would be put in charge of running the country when the Prime Minister was on holiday – an arrangement that on the surface seemed to work well.

But Mr Cameron has seemingly decided to reassure the right-wingers in his own party who were (and still are) not favourable of the liberals in positions of power by promising it won’t happen. But, the refusal to hand over to the Lib Dem leader could risk upsetting the delicate balance of power between the two ruling parties – as if there wasn’t enough contentious issues (EU, VAT rise, Budget etc…).

In what looks an incredible move, it seems Mr Cameron and Clegg are drawing up plans for themselves and figures from the two parties to address each other’s party conferences this autumn.

Still unconfirmed and to be discussed further amongst the Cabinet soon, one option is for Mr Cameron to address the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool and Mr Clegg the Tories in Birmingham. But a more likely, at present, scenario is for the other Cabinet ministers to “change places” and speak at their coalition partner’s event.

In the meantime Mr Cameron wants Mr Clegg to play a key role on the international stage and has said his deputy will handle Britain’s relations with China while Mr Cameron builds closer links with India.

And so it will be Mr Clegg who will fly the British flag at important UN summit on aid to poor countries in New York in September, and although Mr Cameron insists this is not a ‘snub’ I cannot help thinking if such importance is placed on this summit, why is the country’s leader not attending.

Mind you, the summit is set to take place around the time that Mr Cameron’s wife, Samantha, is due to give birth to the couple’s fourth child - something that Mr Cameron alluded to when he answered a question today in the House by stand-in Labour Party leader Harriet Harman:

"I was intending to do so, but for reasons of paternal health-we have been talking about maternal health-I hope that I will be otherwise engaged in the UK, as we are having a baby. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will be at the summit and doing a very good job."

Union Jack back over Downing Street as England head home in disgrace

As England's football team is set to head home in disgrace after being knocked out of the World Cup at the hands of Germany, it would appear the PM (currently in Canada where he attended the G8 and G20 meetings) has wasted no time in instructing the Flag of St George be lowered.

The Prime Minister's official spokesperson admitted that the Union Jack flag resumed its place above Downing Street "early this morning".

Disappointed too Mr Cameron?

SEE ALSO: Flag of St George to fly over Number 10 throughout World Cup, PM reveals

The Charlatan

OK, here is the key passage from this essay/interview in The Guardian yesterday about/with Slavoj Žižek:

"He opens a copy of Living in the End Times, and finds the contents page. 'I will tell you the truth now,' he says, pointing to the first chapter, then the second. 'Bullshit. Some more bullshit. Blah, blah, blah.'"

He, of course, is the master himself. I could not have said it better myself. Although, no doubt, I simply am failing to grasp his deep irony and intelligence. Maybe so.

I like to flatter myself that I am reasonably bright. And, over the years, I have worked through a lot of difficult philosophy and social science. I even understood quite a bit of it. In all honesty, though, having tried unsuccessfully on several occasions to read Žižek, I never understood a word the man said. It simply was not worth the effort. On his own say so I guess there is no reason to even waste time worrying about this latest missive.
__________
P.S.: For those inclined to succumb and enlist in the Žižek fan club I recommend A review essay by Alan Johnson (no relation) in Dissent (Fall 2009) entitled "The Reckless Mind of Slavoj Žižek." It seems that, setting all the irony and self-parody aside, performance art can have dangerous - meaning authoritarian - political implications.

Labour Party Leadership Elections 2010

UNISON Labour Link hasn’t decided yet which (if any) of the Labour Party Leadership candidates they should support and recommend to members.

There will be a hustings at the National Labour Link forum in Leeds next weekend. There will also be at least 50 other hustings taking place up and down the country. West Ham CLP (sponsored by London UNISON Labour Link) will be organising an event for members and affiliates – hopefully on Sunday evening July 18- tbc)

The affiliated unions will have a 1/3 of the total votes cast via a secret postal ballot of all levy payers. Apparently UNISON has about 885,000 levy payers out of a total 3.4 million. There are around 157,000 individual party members.

During the next week or so as the branch Labour link officer I will be trying to consult the 1,000 labour levy players in my branch on who they prefer should be supported (and also who should be the Labour Mayor for London candidate – that’s another story).

I might as well put my oar in now and say that I hope that UNISON Labour Link does make a decision to support and I also that it will be for Ed Miliband. I’ll post on why sometime soon.

In the meantime:-

End of supporting nominations is 26th July 2010 (West Ham CLP meets on Wednesday to decide on a nomination)

Ballot papers being to drop 1st September 2010

Freeze date for new members to join 8th September 2010 (which I assume means that new members will still get ballot papers?).

UNISON NDC 2010: The Final Standing Orders committee report.

If you have never been to a UNISON conference on its last day then this is not quite what you would expect. The report is given by the Chair of the NDC standing committee who is advised to keep his day job:)

The Cure.

Just like a fever breaks, last night I felt a deep and rejuvenating release from the rising waters that had crested yesterday with my, "discouraged" post. It isn't the "cure" of liberation from the cycle of suffering and rebirth but rather a break in the fever that is discouragement. Writing out my emotions has long helped me process the disorienting thoughts that ensnares all of our minds. It is a form of honesty, which is a trait that I've been blessed and cursed with. Blessed in the sense that it helps me dissect confusing emotions with direct and exacting examination but cursed only in the sense that such honesty means facing sometimes painful and uncomfortable realities. Yet, despite the discomfort it seems to be one of the most direct and effective ways of dealing with obstacles and discouragement.

This release was initiated with my honest writings yesterday, and the sympathetic comments helped me let go of my guilt that somehow I was "failing" as a Buddhist. Intuitively I knew this deep within the recesses of my mind but hearing it from outside yourself always seems to help convince you that what you suspected is in fact reality, and not just your mind tricking you yet again with another delusion.

So, last night lying in bed I had the most unconventional yet therapuetic meditation. Lying in bed I embraced the exhaustion of the day and just enjoyed the feeling of my tired body being cradled by our cloud-like bed. The soft, soothing, rhythmic breathing of my wife cuddled against me brought me a deep sense of calm. Being fully present in the moment I was aware of my own chest rising and falling with deep, natural breaths. Absorbing the feeling as the boundaries and limits between my body and my immediate surroundings blended into the music of the band, "The Cure." Thus, the title of the post.

Feeling limitless yet grounded at the same time--like the sky stretching from horizon to horizon, free to flow yet held from disappearing into outer space by the grounding power of gravity. As I floated about in this state of pure awareness I soon drifted off in a deep restful sleep. Today I awoke feeling like a huge weight was lifted from my mind. A new day has dawned and yet I am thankful for the reminder lesson I was given in my months of struggle. As they say, "It's always darkness before the dawn" and yesterday was that darkest water mark before it crested and ebbed to make way for pure, stabilizing balance that comes from a deep grounding of oneness.

~Peace to all beings~

Spanish Bishops: Crucifx Must Stay in Schools

This article comes from the Catholic News Agency.

-------------------------------------------------------

Spanish bishops insist crucifixes remain in schools

Madrid, Spain, Jun 25, 2010 / 02:01 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- The executive committee of the Bishops’ Conference of Spain has approved a statement on the public displaying of religious symbols in Europe, saying crucifixes should remain in schools in order to strengthen the identity and values of students. 

The statement comes as the EU Court in Strasbourg is expected to issue a ruling on June 30 on the displaying of religious symbols in public schools.

“Societies of Christian tradition must not oppose the public displaying of their religious symbols, in particular, those which educate children,” the bishops stated, warning that otherwise “these societies will find it difficult to convey their own identity and values to future generations.”  

“They would become contradictory societies that reject the spiritual and cultural heritage” and “cut off their path to the future,” the bishops added. 

“To pit oneself against the symbols of the values that shape the history and culture of a nation is to leave it defenseless against other cultural sources that are not always beneficial,” the bishops said.  This also “caps the basic sources of ethics and law which have led to the recognition, promotion and protection of the dignity of the person.” 

The presence of Christian symbols in public life, and specifically the crucifix, “reflects the sentiment of Christians of all confessions and is not intended to exclude anyone.” 

“On the contrary, it is the expression of a tradition which everyone recognizes for its great value and enormous role as a catalyst in the dialogue between people of good will and as a support for those who suffer,” the bishops said. 

They also underscored that religious freedom enjoys increasing recognition in Europe, and that some countries explicitly permit the displaying of other religious symbols.  “Only in a Europe in which both the religious freedom of each person and the traditions of each people and nation are respected will appropriate relations between religions and peoples develop in justice and in freedom,” they stressed.

The Longest Strike in History: Burston School Rally 5 Sept 2010

This incredible strike in a rural Norfolk school went on for 25 years - from 1914 to 1939!  There is now a museum in the village and an annual Labour movement rally to commemorate it, which I hope to visit this year.  Check out more on the history here.

Notting Hill Housing Dispute: Acas talks

This update was published in Inside Housing yesterday.  Double click on caption to bring up details.

Since talks are ongoing I won't say anymore at the moment except of course to hope that the talks are successful.

You can find out more about the history of the dispute here, here and here.

Passings ~ Fred Anderson (1929-2010)

Fred Anderson sits on the edge of the stage at the Velvet Lounge
before opening for the evening (February 2006)
~ Photograph © Jeff Robertson/AP.

Fred Anderson has died. You can read obituaries here and here and here and here. Anderson was a musician, entrepreneur, mentor and, by all accounts, a genuinely decent man. His passing is an immense loss to the jazz scene in Chicago especially, but very far beyond as well. I commented on a recent Anderson recording here just about this time last year.
__________
Thanks for the heads up!

Pope to Mideast Christians: "Stay Where You Are"

This article comes from Zenit.

Apparently, the pope would rather maintain a demographic bridgehead in the Middle East rather than see persecuted Christians find a safe place to live.

-------------------------------------------------------

Pope to Mideast Christians: Stay in Homeland

Pays Homage to Those Who Suffer for Gospel

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is expressing his hopes for Christians of the Middle East: to persevere in their faith, and to stay in their homelands, despite the many sacrifices involved.

The Pope made this appeal when he addressed participants of the Assembly of Societies for Aid to Eastern Churches (ROACO).

"We all desire for the Holy Land, Iraq and the Middle East the gift of a stable peace and solid coexistence," the Holy Father said. "These are born from respect of human rights, of families, communities and peoples, and by the overcoming of religious, cultural or social discrimination."

ROACO is an organization that exists to support these rights. Founded in 1968 by the Congregation for Eastern Churches, twice a year it brings together agencies committed to supporting the Churches of the East in various dimensions.

In the Pontiff's multilingual address, he offered a message to Christians of the East.
 
"I encourage the brothers and sisters who, in the East, share the inestimable gift of baptism, to persevere in the faith and, despite the many sacrifices, to stay where they were born," he said.

Benedict XVI also encouraged those who have migrated to remember their origins, particularly their religious heritage.

"I wish to pay special homage to Christians who suffer violence because of the Gospel, and I commend them to God," he said.

Synod

The Bishop of Rome mentioned the common task of preparing for the special synod on the Middle East, which will be held in Rome in October.

Alluding to the theme of the synod, he said, "I thank God for this initiative, which is already producing the beneficial fruits of 'communion and witness' for which the synod was initially convoked."

"Dear friends, I ask you to contribute with your works to maintain alive the 'hope that does not disappoint' among the Christians of the East," the Pope concluded. "In the 'little flock' that they make up, already operating is the future of God, and the 'narrow way' that they are following is described by the Gospel as 'way of life.'"

Yet Another Propagandist at FOX "News"

Since I don't often watch the American version of Pravda, I had no idea who Neil Cavuto is. So I went to the propagandist's own web page and lifted this (slightly modified) copy: it turns out that, over at FOX "News," Neil Cavuto "is Senior Vice President of Business News, while continuing to serve as anchor and managing editor" and where, additionally, "he is responsible for anchoring the daily, one-hour daytime financial program, Your World With Neil Cavuto, (4-5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday)." Cavuto, I also learned, has been named "the best interviewer in broadcast business news" by The Journalist and Financial Reporter."

If this guy is an award-winning business journalist I really chose the wrong line of work. I watched this interview he did today with Ron Blackwell who is chief economist at the AFL-CIO. The topic was whether government programs had done anything to offset job losses in our current economic disaster. Blackwell was trying to explain that he thought the answer to that question is 'yes.' After blustering, interrupting, and (in the process) demonstrating that he is incapable of grasping basic economic concepts or mathematics, Cavuto asks Blackwell the following question: "Where did you get your degree? A baking school? Where are you cooking up these numbers?" Blackwell replied - while still on the air - in exactly the way one should in the face of an ignorant blow-hard, telling Cavuto: "You're a joker. You're an asshole." Just so.

Discouraged.

***WARNING: LONG Rant ahead that's not your typical "Kittens and flowers" Buddhist post***

I'm struggling lately in my Dharma practice. I haven't meditated in months--not because I don't want to because I do, but I just can't get myself to do it. A large part of it is my mental illness that makes finding motivation extra challenging. Especially when the heavy medicating drugs I have to take to prevent mania and psychotic episodes zap me further of the will to do much of anything. It's difficult to fully convey how difficult it is to over-come.

Furthermore, I deal with a constant level of depression just beneath the surface of even my best days where I feel fairly decent. And please don't say, "Everyone gets depressed" because deep, clinical depression isn't like just having a bad day. Irregardless of that it's just an insensitive thing to say to someone who is living with clinical depression. It's chronic and biologically based on chemical imbalances in the brain.

And it's not as easy as just taking a pill because I already do, and still there is this underlying level of feeling like life isn't worth it. People think just because there are medications that they are cures--they help take the corners off the sharpest symptoms but they don't "cure" you in the sense that they don't bring you to the level of those who don't live with a severe mental illness.

Ironically, I was attracted in part to Buddhism because of it's psychological benefits, and I still believe it has immense help for those dealing with mental illness. However, Buddhism is difficult for anyone let alone for people with mental health challenges (unless you're enlightened, and how many can honestly claim that?). And it seems that the more I think I know about Buddhism the less I actually do. Everyone loves that "honeymoon phase" when you first taste the Dharma and it literally changes the way you see the world for the better but then the nitty-gritty, hard work begins and at times you stop and ask yourself, "Is this really worth it?"

It is. Buddhism can be a real bitch, and sometimes I wish I could just adhere to a religion where blind faith was about all I needed to do. However, I have felt those fleeting moments of enlightenment too profoundly to abandon the Dharma. I'm just discouraged about how poor my practice is right now, and has been for some time. An aspect of this discouragement stems from a lot of anger that I struggle with on a daily basis, which is, in part, again, rooted in the schizoaffective disorder.

I have Attention Deficit Disorder (or, A.D.D.) in conjunction with the affective side of things (affective simply means mood disorder, or bipolar. So, schizoaffective disorder is a combination of some schizophrenic symptoms and some bipolar symptoms). A.D.D. is a condition, which (in part) prevents the brain from being able to screen out stimuli that most people can relegate to the background.

So, while I am also hearing and listening to you talking to me, I can also hear at the same time: birds chirping outside, the kids screaming in their yard as they play, the traffic noise, the humming of the refrigerator and other appliances, the lawn mower going in the distance, etc. and I can't screen it out to focus simply on the conversation. All of this noise at once raises the stress in my mind and makes me impatient with the inability to focus on just one sound, which often makes me angry. In addition, I am hyper-aware of what is going on in the world and I get so angry because I just see humanity (and especially here in America) doing everything it can to destroy itself, its environment, its economy, its political system of democracy, its compassion for those who need assistance, its decency toward others in public places, its health care system, its acceptance of minorities and those of different sexual orientation, and on and on.

It makes me wonder what's the point of doing anything?!! Why participate in society and voting when it doesn't seem to make a difference or matter. What is the difference between letting karma do it's thing and predestination because some Buddhists seem to just shrug their shoulders in the face of struggles as if to say, "Eh, it's just karma doing its thing--what's the point?" And, yes, I know that suffering is inevitable and everywhere. I know that the world is not the place to look for stability. However, it seems that in response, many Buddhists take the default position to disconnect from society and disregard politics.

Yet, I struggle with this solution because it seems rather fatalistic, nihilistic and a form of avoidance. It seems to me that we owe it to ourselves to try and do our best to make it a better world--even if it can never be perfect. Aren't we making things worse if we just disconnect from society? Don't we have a duty to try our best to help build a better society? What if everyone just disregarded politics and civic responsibilities? Isn't it a bit selfish in a way? If no one tried to maintain some sort level of a stable world then it seems to me that some dictator would just take advantage of that and wipe out whole sections of the globe. Isn't that basically just letting suffering multiply? It's one thing to realize that suffering on some level is inevitable. However, to just disconnect seems to ironically cause more suffering from less and less good-hearted people participating to crafting how a country's general society behaves.

I'm certainly not giving up on Buddhism by any stretch but I'm discouraged today and it has been building. I guess my discouragement is with a lot of things but my Buddhist practice has me a bit frustrated, dispirited and depressed. I know it's not Buddhism that is the problem, and I know that I have a lot of work to do but please don't just post simplistic comments saying things like, "All you have to do is 'A' or 'B.'" Or, "You're problem is 'X.'"Everyone is full of advise but it's all easier said than done.

I'm not necessarily looking for answers, or advice--just some sympathy and assurance that I'm not the only one with these discouragements. I mean, intuitively I know that I'm not the only one but the things I hear sometimes from my fellow Buddhists makes me feel like I missed out on some meeting where everyone gained enlightenment. I'm not any kind of expert and I've got plenty of rust around the edges but I am always skeptical of people who seem to think they have it all figured out and that they're going to set everyone straight on how to be like them.