Sweet! Two suggestions for shows I made on Open Source’s “Suggest a Show” thread are under consideration: one centered around “ [...]

For the past 33 years — since, as they see it, the wanton era of the 1960’s culminated in the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 — American social conservatives have been on an unyielding campaign against abortion. But recently, as the conservative tide has continued to swell, this campaign has taken on a broader scope. Its true beginning point may not be Roe but Griswold v. Connecticut, the 1965 case that had the effect of legalizing contraception. “We see a direct connection between the practice of contraception and the practice of abortion,” says Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, an organization that has battled abortion for 27 years but that, like others, now has a larger mission.

Dan Savage has argued that conservative assaults on gay rights were just the beginning:

The GOP’s message to straight Americans: If you have sex, we want it to f*** up your lives as much as possible. No birth control, no emergency contraception, no abortion services, no life-saving vaccines. If you get pregnant, tough s***. You’re going to have those babies, ladies, and you’re going to make those child-support payments, gentlemen. And if you get HPV and it leads to cervical cancer, well, that’s too bad. Have a nice funeral, slut.

Russel Shorto has written about the “war on contraception” in the NY Times magazine.

Is there a war on sex? Are sexual freedoms being threatened? Savage asks, “What’s it going to take to get a straight-rights movement off the ground?” A show dedicated to exploring that issue might be interesting. In addition to Savage and Shorto, Susie Bright or Tristan Taormino would be good people to talk to.

But in an era when heterosexual marriage is supposedly “under attack” because of possible gay marriages, and there’s much discussion of what makes a marriage in the first place, a discussion with people whose marriages work could be fascinating.

The book of multicultural essays by 24 women writers is called “Why I’m Still Married: Women Write Women Write Their Hearts Out on Love, Loss, Sex, and Who Does the Dishes”. It was on The Boston Globe’s local bestsellers list for 8 weeks after it came out in February. You can reach the co-editors Karen Propp and Jean Trounstine through their website: http://www.whyimstillmarried.com/. The men’s book is “Committed : Men Tell Stories of Love, Commitment, and Marriage”, and is edited by Chris Knutsen and David Kuhn.

http://futility.typepad.com/

In a related vein, I’ve been perplexed since becoming aware of Iraq’s existence by something no one ever discusses: what is it that drives Shiites and Sunnis to kill each other? Aren’t they all Muslims? If the Bush administration had ever considered this question, would they have even dreamed of trying to install democracy in Iraq?

Not just at home. Not just from vending machines. We patronize crappy restaurants and reward places that serve quantity, not quality.

Hillel at TastingMenu.com has considered the question: “But the part that upsets me the most is the vicious cycle at work between the American food service industry and the American public. We expect garbage and restaurants give it to us. In huge quantities. The restaurants have no incentive to try and do better because they won’t be rewarded.”

He links to Casing the Joint’s post Why 95% of US Restaurants Suck and How We Learn Not to Notice.

Other countries, apparently, care about their food. Not primarily because it’s good for them, or good for the environment, or good for anything else — but because good food tastes good! And we, as a country, don’t seem to care about that. Why not?

(And part of me wonders if it’s really better in other parts of the world…perhaps an angle worth investigating.)

The latest sign that Republicans have an election-year strategy to shut down voter registration drives comes from Ohio. As the state gears up for a very competitive election season this fall, its secretary of state, J. Kenneth Blackwell, has put in place “emergency” regulations that could hit voter registration workers with criminal penalties for perfectly legitimate registration practices. The rules are so draconian they could shut down registration drives in Ohio.

……Mr. Blackwell, who also happens to be the Republican candidate for governor this year, has a history of this sort of behavior……

…..Under Mr. Blackwell’s edict, everyone involved could be committing a crime. Mr. Blackwell’s rules also appear to prohibit people who register voters from sending the forms in by mail. That rule itself may violate federal elections law…..

….Another of the nation’s most famous swing states, Florida, has been the scene of similar consternation and confusion since it recently enacted a law that is so harsh that the Florida League of Women Voters announced that it was stopping all voter registration efforts for the first time in 67 years.

Here’s another topic: what should be the role of ordinary citizens in the domestic war on terrorism? Recently there’s been a skirmish over government funding of anti-terrorism measures in various parts of the country. The funds usually go to such things as strengthening security at chemical plants and ports, upgrading law enforcement and fire fighters’ training and equipment, etc. In my opinion, these will help only marginally. Terrorists can figure out ways around these measures. A side-effect of them is increased complacency among ordinary citizens. The American people aren’t ignorant sheep herded and guarded by government shepherds. They are, or should be, soldiers in the war on terrorism. The only truly effective way to prevent terrorism is for all citizens to watch for signs of terrorist plotting and report them to law enforcement officials trained to deal with the information without destroying civil liberties.

The first lesson of Flight 93 – a lesson seldom mentioned despite the controversial movie released a few weeks ago – is that ordinary citizens, with absolutely no help from the government, after acquiring much less information than Bush administration officials who yawned at the revelations in the August 2001 briefing, can prevent catastrophes. The public should be advised, with the help but not domination of government, what particular things to watch for. For example, about a year ago an article appeared in the Times discussing how terrorists could contaminate milk supplies. After reading it, I, for one, will never look at a milk truck the way I did before. I think people who complained the terrorists were being educated underestimate the intelligence of both terrorists and our citizens. So, can we set up a terrorism clearinghouse to inform concerned citizens what to watch for? How else can people be involved directly in this war?

We’re all going to die. Someday. (Barring some incredible advances in medicine that confer virtual immortality on everyone.) How should that happen?

We frequently hear about how such-and-such — heart disease, cancer, obesity, accidents, AIDS — is the leading cause of death among a subgroup of the population, or the population as a whole. And that inspires us to donate money to searching for a cure for whatever that thing is, and it inspires us to change our behavior to reduce our risk for whatever that cause is.

And those are good things. Deaths from most of these things still come too early. And I doubt anyone really wants to die from painful cancers or AIDS or Alzheimer’s.

But if we’re all going to die, all things being equal, what should the leading cause of death be? Heart disease in old age? Cancer? Suicide, especially of the death-with-dignity variety? In short, what’s the ultimate goal of modern medicine, short of immortality?

I’d love to hear some medical professionals, medical ethicists, and just plain folks talk about this issue.

She has roots in the Boston area; I’ll bet she shows up around here occasionally. She’d be a great featured guest. She’s probably be great on China, but I’d rather hear her concentrate on how things are developing in Southeast Asia. (Of course, I lived in the Philippines for a while, so that may color my view on that)

From DKos:

The Most Important Thing About RFK Jr.’s Election Fraud Story

The Rolling Stone article:

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

I recently participated in the moveon top issue voting and discussion, and what struck me was how the issues are framed in what is wrong, not in proposals for positive change. If change is advocated, the solution proposed is meaningless.

for example, we have one of the following two types of campaign statements:

- death is bad
- I will end death

Everywhere I interact, I see this as the means of debate. It is “stop immigration” not “remove the extrordiary incentive to immigrate to the US by any possible and at any expense” – when US businesses advertise in Mexico for workers and US businesses hire immigrants without question, clearly the rewards are great for overcoming immigration hurdles.

If it were easy to not consume oil, then the past quarter century of “letting the market act” would have solved all the problems related to the unsustainable rate of consumption of oil and gas.

As I was thinking of this problem, I caught up on my timeshifted NBR. viewing the special holiday edition of work in progress (may 30), and found a perfect expression of the failing in our factory education system, in the third segment.

This provides a likely contributor to the discussion: Reported and Produced by Darren Gersh, NBR Washington DC Bureau Chief

“In the shadow of Silicon Valley, we will visit a High School that stresses projects and team work similar to that encountered in the workplace. We will hear from Stanford Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, the nation’s leading thinker on high school reform, on what needs to be done to help our children and our nation prepare for the future.” – http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/WIP_home/ ——— suggests Linda Darling-Hammond

“GERSH: Stanford education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond is one of the nation`s leading experts on high school reform. She says small learning communities are a big change from the high schools most of us remember.

“LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND, PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: The factory model high school as we now call it Wall Street designed in about 1910 or 1920. The idea of that comprehensive high school was to cream off (ph) about 5 percent of the kids for specialized knowledge work. The notion of these schools was they were to select and sort kids, decide who was going to go where in the economy. Most of the work was not going to be thinking work and we were going to crank them out on this assembly line process.

“GERSH: The curriculum is also different. Hillsdale focuses on project- based learning, helping students build up their expert thinking skills. Juniors like Monica Castaneda spend months researching the causes for a major problem confronting American society. Then they look for solutions.

“MONICA CASTANEDA, JUNIOR, HILLSDALE HIGH SCHOOL: The projects just teach you how to think in a deeper sense. They teach you how to think about not just what`s going on in your normal life, but bigger, like, what the government`s doing. When you start doing projects like this, you think, if this isn`t being solved, what can I do to solve it in the future?

“GERSH: Working in groups, researching problems, exploring solutions, presenting results, project-based learning is preparation for the knowledge economy. Unfortunately, it is relatively rare.

“HAMMOND: You can get all the way through high school in this country and never have written an intensive research paper, never have had to go out and find and access resources and materials and solve problems and learn how to do difficult work with other people in a way that mirrors what you would do in the workplace and what you would do in college.”
– http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/WIP_hammond1/index.html for longer version

I can’t find quote by the student who was features in the story segment, but she expressed the methodology perfectly, and in a way that would challenge most politicians of any stripe. I suggest her as a candidate to explain how one tackles complex societal problems for you on the segment. Her first name is Monica, last name Castenado??, and can be seen/heard in the video clip http://www.pbs.org/nbr/wip/video2.html

The NBR focus on “work” and “education” is interesting and perhaps worthy of a show, but the much more interesting aspect is the role of education in developing the skills needed to identify problems and then, most important, solutions that are both actual solutions and that are presented well to gain the support for implementation.

Al Gore has presented a problem. Gov. Brian Schweitzer is presenting a policy solution, a market driven policy that addresses the problems of pollution, dependence on foriegn oil, and looming oil depletion.

The molestation scandals in the Catholic Church have received an enormous amount of press in recent years, but few people have taken a microcosmic look at these issues. While news coverage associated with these cases often shows how arrests and accusations affect the politics within the church, coverage rarely reveals how they affect the victims, the young boys and their families. How does years of abuse affects one’s ability to remain spiritual? How does one reconcile his feelings of betrayal and his belief in God? Why are victims often unable to reveal the abuse to their friends and family? What happens when a victim stays silent for over thirty years?

Zingerplatz Pictures’ new feature-length documentary Hand of God seeks to answer these kinds of questions as it examines the life of Paul Cultrera, a Massachusetts native who was abused by Fr. Joseph Birmingham in 1964. The film follows Paul’s investigation to find others who suffered the same fate and to track down the clergymen who betrayed them. Heated encounters and interviews abound, the film is ultimately an engaging and vivid portrait of family, community, and the triumph of individual spirit.

If you are interested in this topic or the documentary, please visit http://www.handofgodfilm.com.

Upcoming Massachusetts Screenings:

Cinema Salem
Thursday June 8, 7pm
Cinema Salem, One East India Square, Salem, MA
http://www.cinemasalem.com/index.html
Tickets may be purchased at the theatre starting June 2nd or by calling 978 744 1400 to reserve seats

Boston International Film Festival
Saturday June 10, 6 pm
AMC/Lowe’s Theatre at Boston Commons, 175 Tremont Street, Boston, MA.
Website & tickets: http://www.bifilmfestival.com/biffschedule.html 617-482-3900

Paul and his brother Joe Cultrera will be present after both the Salem and Boston screenings to take part in discussion with the audience.

Now what is more indecent and renders us more powerless than the widespread, in-your-face election fraud and vote suppression of the Bush/Rove/Cheney machine in the so-called 2004 elections.

I submit, Chris, that it is time for you to step up to the plate, to go bravely where no reporter has gone before, and take straight on the election fraud issue. Primaries are happening now, mid-term elections are only a few months away… Here in California there is a race on to oust the secretary of state McPherson who certfied the notorious Diebold corporation to tabulate our elections despite failing his own test twice and not even deigning to show up the certification hearing.

I would start with professor Mark Crispin Miller and his well researched and documented , Fooled Again, How the Right stole the 2004 Election & Why They’ll Steal the Next One too (Unless We Stop Them). Besdies the copious facts, he nails the sociology that made such an outrage possible, ties it to the extreme Christian Right, a shocking lack of ‘civic virtue’ among good men and women, and a bullied and supine press.

Well there you have it. I will thank you, Mr. Roth will thank you, and if there is a God in heaven, She will thank you for bringing light to this darkness at the eahrt of of democratic system and society.

Pete’s been soaring ahead with a revival of new concepts, material, and amazing new blog/internet communications between himself and participants. Please check out his blog (The Boy Who Heard Music) and his girlfriend’s (Rachel Fuller) online show called “In the Attic�…much fun and in line with what I think Chris L. is interested in.

http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/
http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/diary/display.cfm?id=289&zone=diary

John

Here in Bellingham, population is increasing and many folks are alarmed. With construction everywhere and house prices shooting up some 23% in 2005 alone there is also a proliferation of “anti growth” activism. Organizations such as “Pro Whatcom” come to mind.

Then there is the creativity of city planning which clashes with the fears about growth. Building up instead of sprawling out. Reducing automobile dependency, increasing neighborhood densities and walkability. Growth can be seen as an improvement.

The US constitution will not allow Whatcom County (where Bellingham is) to build a fence on the county line.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-major-r-owens/where-bush-leads-in-the-p_b_21569.html

I find this the first inspiring leadership communication I have encountered in many a year. I think his notion of “Donocracy” and to move towards ending it is well worth many hours. But, of course, I can only hope for 1 on ROS. ;-D

http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm

This is a scary idea combined with the presidents no child left behind testing, right?

*www.Qigonginstitute.org*
http://www.nqa.org
http://www.qi.org
http://www.waydragon.com
the list goes on. search TCM or Qigong to find more!
(qi=chi)

And I would like some really, really hard questions posed to politicians who say they are Christians. The Bush Administration seems to really try and spin its way out of the morality of torture (they keep trying to say that what they are doing is ‘legal’, but really, that is not the question); I can’t really see Jesus being in favor of sticking someone’s head in a toilet until they think they are going to drown.

What would the Middle East be like today if we hadn’t been selling arms to the Taliban when they were fighting the Soviet Union? What if instead, we had been putting money into education and health care in Afganistan and Iraq? What if we had a Secretary of Peace instead of (or at least in addition to) a Secretary of War? If we are a ‘Christian’ nation, wouldn’t we be looking for ways to spread peace, equal opportunity and the means for education and health care to all peoples of the world? Wouldn’t these things be more reflective of Jesus’ example of love to even those who hate you?

People conversant with these matters include Katherine Yurica, Pat Robertson, Joan Bokaer, Tim LaHaye, Francis Schaeffer, Michael Ledeen, Herb Titus, Charles Colson, and various members of the Bush administration.

Second, the topic of same-sex marriage is again coming to the fore. This subject begins with scripture: Leviticus 18:22, for example. What many people don’t realize is that it also ends there. I’ve never heard a cogent, persuasive argument that apart from religious belief, there are reasons same-sex marriage should be banned. In fact, the secular reasons in favor of same-sex marriage are so readily apparent upon reflection that one wonders how so many seemingly intelligent people could be so overwhelmed by religious doctrine. But they are, at least in this country. I’d like to know more about why. It would be especially interesting to see if Rev. Dobson could rationalize his views. The man has some very good insight into family life, but what I hear him saying in the media about same-sex marriage seems grossly incompatible with his ideas about child rearing.