tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post4706861721139984881..comments2024-01-02T22:01:12.976+00:00Comments on Avedon's Sideshow: And we speak of things that matter, in words that must be saidAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-88047895532365223322013-06-22T16:21:50.923+01:002013-06-22T16:21:50.923+01:00Yes indeed, CMike. I followed the quote to its so...Yes indeed, CMike. I followed the quote to its source and found enough interesting and salacious history that I linked to John Hess's piece.ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-31907908668454136362013-06-21T23:30:45.815+01:002013-06-21T23:30:45.815+01:00BTW KSIX, how'd you happen upon that 2000 arti...BTW KSIX, how'd you happen upon that 2000 article, from the same article about the Hastings' obit?CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-42233114203771718692013-06-21T22:55:43.383+01:002013-06-21T22:55:43.383+01:00More along the same lines but in a 100 words or le...More along the same lines but in a <i>100 words or less</i> version which appears as the last quote in the post <i>NYT Pays Tribute to Hastings by Attacking Him After Death.</i> <a href="http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/06/20/nyt-pays-tribute-to-hastings-by-attacking-him-after-death/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nyt-pays-tribute-to-hastings-by-attacking-him-after-death" rel="nofollow">[LINK]</a><br /><br />Gives one pause to consider what were the impetuses required to bring the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the Great Society to Washington, each for their own season. In none of those instances was it the cool, inexorable reason coming from the <i>New York Times.</i> CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-9265544665252361742013-06-21T08:10:58.254+01:002013-06-21T08:10:58.254+01:00I missed this in 2000:
All of which raises the qu...I missed <a href="http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/the-family-behind-the-times" rel="nofollow">this</a> in 2000:<br /><br /><i>All of which raises the question: How did such a family build the most influential newspaper in the world?<br /><br />The answer, I firmly believe, lies in the oath published by Adolph Ochs in 1896 in his first issue of the New York Times: “to give the news impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect or interests involved.”<br /><br />Not that he meant a word of it—-as Tifft and Jones show when they tackle another mystery: How did Ochs, a virtual bankrupt from Chattanooga, persuade Wall Street to set him up with the moribund New York Times? Answer: The financiers were anxious to keep the paper alive as a Democratic voice against the populist Democratic candidate for president, William Jennings Bryan, who was stirring the masses with that speech about the Cross of Gold.</i>ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-6658592571259317952013-06-21T07:26:08.411+01:002013-06-21T07:26:08.411+01:00CMike,
And you can bet edX won't be packaging ...CMike,<br />And you can bet edX won't be packaging any anti-capitalist lectures. That might be a bit too life-changing.<br /><br />The awful thing about that Nixon-Kissinger conversation is knowing that callous, small-minded narcissism is a feature, not a bug, of the Executive.ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-49701763501678357562013-06-20T13:03:44.852+01:002013-06-20T13:03:44.852+01:00On that other topic, in that passage you cite Bran...On that other topic, in that passage you cite Branfman links to his own <a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/america-keeps-honoring-one-its-worst-mass-murderers-henry-kissinger?page=0%2C1" rel="nofollow">earlier article</a> <b>America Keeps Honoring One of Its Worst Mass Murderers: Henry Kissinger</b> <i>Including ten quotes that illustrate his megalomania and indifference to the deaths of untold numbers of civilians.</i><br /><br />Branfman leaves out of his list of ten what, for me, is Kissinger's all time classic quote, one that was caught on tape. It's at the end of what, if you didn't know better, would think was some back in the day anti-war propaganda written up as fantasy screenplay dialog to mock Nixon and Kissinger as a couple of ghouls. You can listen to the whole thing yourself or read the transcript <a href="http://allthewaywithlbj.com/nixon-tapes/" rel="nofollow">[LINK],</a> here's my lightly edited version:<br /><br />[INDENT]>>>>>President Nixon and Henry Kissinger, 3 Aug. 1972<br /><br />Nixon: Let’s be perfectly cold-blooded about it. If you look at it from the standpoint of our game with the Soviets and the Chinese, from the standpoint of running this country, I think we could take almost anything, frankly, in my view, that we can force on [South Vietnamese president Nguyen van] Thieu. Almost anything; I just come down to that. You know what I mean?<br /><br />...I look at the tide of history out there, South Vietnam is probably never gonna survive anyway. I’m just being perfectly candid. I—<br /><br />[snip]<br /><br />Nixon: There’s got to be—if we can get certain guarantees so that they aren’t . . . as you know, looking at the foreign policy process, though, I mean, you’ve got to be—we also have to realize, Henry, that winning [my re-]election is terribly important. It’s terribly important this year.<br /><br />But can we have a viable foreign policy if a year from now or two years from now, North Vietnam gobbles up South Vietnam? That’s the real question.<br /><br />[snip]<br /><br />Kissinger: So we’ve got to find some formula that holds the thing together a year or two, after which—after a year, Mr. President, Vietnam will be a backwater. If we settle it, say, this October, by January ’74 no one will give a damn.<<<<<[END INDENT] <br />CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-11412270346846935762013-06-20T11:23:34.706+01:002013-06-20T11:23:34.706+01:00Bob Somerby:
>>>>>[INDENT] This ti...<a href="http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2013/04/joel-kleins-latest-pitch-featuring.html" rel="nofollow">Bob Somerby:</a><br /><br />>>>>>[INDENT] <b>This time, he’s peddling MOOCs:</b> We always let the analysts shower after they watch Joel Klein. <br /><br />The former head of New York City’s schools now works for Rupert Murdoch. Last week, he appeared with Charlie Rose, selling on-line education....<br /><br />>>>[Double Indent] <b>KLEIN (4/25/13):</b> I mean, you can get the greatest, take the ten best professors in the world— You know, take what Michael Sandel does on justice. If you have sat in on his class, it is a life-changing experience. Every kid in the world can now have access to Michael Sandel teaching justice. It is so powerful.<<<[End Double Indent]<br /><br />We always let the analysts check their pockets after Klein stops his pitch. <br /><br />Is Michael Sandel’s course on justice really a life-changing experience? Is it really “so powerful?” <br /><br />We will guess that Sandel’s course is <i>not</i> a life-changing experience.<br /><br />...[L]et us ask a serious question about on-line college courses. Let’s say you let people around the world watch Sandel deliver his lectures on justice. Let’s say there were ten lectures in the MOOC—in the on-line course.<br /><br />How is that different from letting those people read the ten chapters in his book? Why would watching his lectures be more life-changing than simply reading his book, which people can already do?<br /><br />Presumably, some people are dynamic lecturers. Presumably, there are forms of feedback in on-line courses which don’t exist if you just read a book. But seriously: People have always been able to read the books of famous scholars. Why are we suddenly in a new realm if we can watch lectures instead?<br /><br />(We used to ask ourselves such questions during our first year in college. We would sit in a room with 500 freshmen, all of whom were scribbling notes as Name Withheld lectured on a distant stage. Why don’t they just type up the lecture and hand it out, we would incomparably wonder. Why are we all sitting here?)[END INDENT]<<<<<CMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481861530761114492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-49493291941760645462013-06-20T04:43:47.946+01:002013-06-20T04:43:47.946+01:00Gee, first Michael Hastings dies when his car expl...Gee, first Michael Hastings dies when his car explodes then Tony Soprano dies the next day. <a href="http://www.welcomebacktopottersville.blogspot.com/2013/06/what-was-michael-hastings-working-on.html" rel="nofollow">Coincidence</a>?jurassicporkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01673461210301442978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-51140866334545106152013-06-20T04:23:17.535+01:002013-06-20T04:23:17.535+01:00That photo is raw. I can't speak to growing up...That photo is raw. I can't speak to growing up east, but it still looked like that around here into the seventies. Ten Bearshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594307610015584119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-82383051500020935392013-06-20T04:19:19.226+01:002013-06-20T04:19:19.226+01:00It would appear that all these sub-humans think of...It would appear that all these sub-humans think of is jerking off.<br /><br />Yes, less than human.<br /><br />No fear.Ten Bearshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06594307610015584119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-62965015270906567672013-06-19T17:14:49.114+01:002013-06-19T17:14:49.114+01:00Avedon, I am deeply impressed with this. It reall...Avedon, I am deeply impressed with this. It really brings into relief how frustrated I've been with Friedman comes out with 2 columns pushing his daughter's college roommate's new "start-up" which is really nothing more than an employment agency that uses the Internets, to tell us that American workers are somehow not up to snuff with the current economy. Not up to snuff? If wages are stagnant or falling and GDP continues to grow at faster than the rate of inflation then that means that Americas workers are, if anything, driving the economic growth by working harder and faster. Where are our 3-4 day weekends? Would the NYT op-ed page ever entertain the notion that Americans work too hard for too little reward? Why is that not even part of the discussion?Mike M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14716539792698477275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-77563081570950473242013-06-19T13:12:13.767+01:002013-06-19T13:12:13.767+01:00I read the first sentence and hit the word "m...I read the first sentence and hit the word "mole" and thought, "Oh, gods, that's so <i>Time Magazine</i>!"Avedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-30609756144124372832013-06-19T06:22:43.266+01:002013-06-19T06:22:43.266+01:00I couldn't get past the first page of that Tim...I couldn't get past the first page of that Time article. The cover itself is idiotic - how are Swartz, Manning and Snowden hacktivists?ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-57092303319941369342013-06-18T18:55:23.523+01:002013-06-18T18:55:23.523+01:00The MOOC moment is definitely not an arcane discus...The MOOC moment is definitely not an arcane discussion. There are rich people all over the world who are enthralled with the MOOC-related Khan Academy (backers include Bill & Melinda Gates, Google, and Carlos Slim, but enthusiasts include relatively anonymous wealthy people who want to feel good about themselves while staying rich because, let's face it, the food's better.) The problem is that they want to tap into public money through public-private partnerships so online education has to be presented as a public good (and not just presented - they believe their own hype!). But, as Aaron Bady makes wonderfully clear, the MOOC moment is just a sales pitch.<br /><br />But <a href="http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2013/06/forget_moocslets_use_mooa.html" rel="nofollow">this guy</a> says forget MOOCs - let's use MOOAs.<br /><br /><i>As colleges begin using massive open online courses (MOOC) to reduce faculty costs, a Johns Hopkins University professor has announced plans for MOOA (massive open online administrations). Dr. Benjamin Ginsberg, author of The Fall of the Faculty, says that many colleges and universities face the same administrative issues every day. By having one experienced group of administrators make decisions for hundreds of campuses simultaneously, MOOA would help address these problems expeditiously and economically. Since MOOA would allow colleges to dispense with most of their own administrators, it would generate substantial cost savings in higher education.</i><br /><br />On another topic, Fred Branfman <a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/executive-branch-threatens-us-national-security" rel="nofollow">explains</a> the evils of the modern executive.<br /><br /><i>But in the postwar Executive world one need not be classically evil to do evil. It is institutional evil, e.g., mass murder, conducted by normal individuals which poses the greatest threat to human life, decency, democracy and the rule of law in our time. Top Executive Branch leaders are not motivated by grand theories of “purifying the race” or “thousand year Reichs”, but rather simply succeeding in their jobs, advancing in their careers, making more money, being promoted, and gaining more power. Henry Kissinger obviously did not devastate Indochina because he cared about the wellbeing of the 6 million people he helped kill, wound or make homeless; nor did he wish to promote democracy when supporting a savage police-state in South Vietnam which held more political prisoners than the rest of the world combined. Those who know him best say he was motivated by simple careerism – a desire not to be blamed for the fall of Indochina while in office, and to be admired - and rewarded for - being seen as a “statesman” after leaving it.</i><br /><br />ksixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15406854618914127269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-77032282112996075382013-06-18T04:25:36.021+01:002013-06-18T04:25:36.021+01:00Texas Congressman: Masturbating Fetuses Prove Need...<a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/06/17/texas-congressman-masturbating-fetuses-prove-need-for-abortion-ban/" rel="nofollow">Texas Congressman</a>: Masturbating Fetuses Prove Need for Abortion Ban<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5598883894140893389.post-39663551293540512772013-06-18T03:12:01.785+01:002013-06-18T03:12:01.785+01:00Speaking of The Wire, did they touch on David Simo...Speaking of The Wire, did they touch on David Simon’s recent, enlightening comments about the NSA?<br /><br />Regarding Zech’s comment/your response, it reminds me of an essay former PM Hatoyama wrote just before taking office:<br /><br />“In the post-Cold War period, Japan has been continually buffeted by the winds of market fundamentalism in a U.S.-led movement that is more usually called globalization. In the fundamentalist pursuit of capitalism people are treated not as an end but as a means. Consequently, human dignity is lost. <br /><br />How can we put an end to unrestrained market fundamentalism and financial capitalism, that are void of morals or moderation, in order to protect the finances and livelihoods of our citizens? That is the issue we are now facing....<br /><br />The recent economic crisis resulted from a way of thinking based on the idea that American-style free-market economics represents a universal and ideal economic order, and that all countries should modify the traditions and regulations governing their economies in line with global (or rather American) standards.<br /><br />In Japan, opinion was divided on how far the trend toward globalization should go. Some advocated the active embrace of globalism and leaving everything up to the dictates of the market. Others favored a more reticent approach, believing that efforts should be made to expand the social safety net and protect our traditional economic activities.”<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27iht-edhatoyama.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0<br /><br />Sadly, he/his party failed from day one to do anything to avoid that embrace and the party that has retaken power here is determined to submit outright. <br /><br />And that Homeless Adjunct piece is a comprehensive, devastating and absolutely spot-on. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com