In a rare treat for Columbia, Noam Chomsky was here tonight, giving a talk to a full house at the Missouri Theatre. Following on the heels of the ever-more-successful True/False Film Festival, it almost feels like just in the space of a few days, ol' Columbia has taken a kind of intangible step up toward a more intelligent, cultured identity. Well, it's a nice balance to all the bleak landscape of cheap, flimsy, rapacious commercial development that's currently scouring the city.

As anyone who's familiar with Chomsky knows, his thoughts are difficult to summarize briefly or neatly. But generally speaking, his focus tonight was on skewering the popular notion that the U.S. is engaged in promoting democracy around the world. Relating telling examples from around the world, from Lebanon and Turkey to Iraq and Palestine, Chomsky neatly debunked the rhetoric we've heard from our present administration and used their own words and actions to paint a picture of a pseudo-interest in spreading democracy that is really nothing more than the crass furthering of strategic military interests masquerading as something based on noble ideals.

Rather than attempt to break down the hour-plus talk (and additional 20 minutes of Q&A), I think the best excerpt I can relate is Chomsky's closing recommendations for how to steer our country and the world out of its present dangerous situation:

1. Accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and the World Court.
2. Sign the Kyoto protocols and carry them forward.
3. Let the United Nations take the lead in international crises.
4. Rely on diplomatic and economic measures rather than military ones in confronting the grave threats of terror.
5. Keep to the conventional, conservative interpretation of the United Nations charter: the use of force is legitimate only when ordered by the Security Council or when the country is under imminent threat of attack--until the Security Council can act (article 51 of the UN charter).
6. Give up the veto at the Security Council and have a decent respect for the opinions of mankind.
7. Cut back sharply on military spending and sharply increase social spending--health, education, renewable energy, and so on.

In Chomsky's words:

For people who believe in democracy, these are very conservative suggestions. And if there were any conservatives in the country, they'd all be in favor of them. There's a very simple reason for it: these are the opinions of the majority of the U.S. population. And they're in radical opposition to public policy--in most cases, a bipartisan consensus.

Labels: Life, Politics

The air is swollen, the trees ache for autumn. Night comes and the heavy fruit of summer falls at last, and all is wet. The heat is let out and it rises up into oblivionfinity. In the morning the weight is gone and we've broken through the heavy curtain into the cold lightness, now the air is open between here and the end of the year. We all steam, the heat that had been trapped by a suffocating season rising from us as from forged metal being thrust into water. We crawl from the cocoon, gasping, and the chill curls down our throats and starts stealing our warmth. It will be a splendid struggle, we willingly yield and delight in our coverings to stave off the cold as the year grows darker.

Labels: Poems

Keeping up with all the lies, deceit, cronyism, incompetence, and conflicts of interest in our present administration would be a full-time job. But this has been a good week or so to take snapshot of why I don't trust, and actively oppose, the president and our current Republican leadership.

It shouldn't even need saying, but I'll say it anyway: I'm not saying there's no such thing as a good Republican, or that I hate Bush. I respect Republican principles, which are being violated wholesale in a systematic way by the current Republican leadership. And Bush is simply incompetent and not fit to hold any government office. Admit it, just admit it already.

So on to the review of recent news:

Hastert, Frist rig bill for drug firms: Republican House & Senate leaders secretly slip drug-company protections into a defense appropriations bill at the last minute, without anyone's awareness or review. This is not democracy.

Bush administration moves to sell national forest land: Demonstrating Bush's ongoing disregard for public resources, this land grab would generate far less revenue than simply rolling back his tax breaks for the wealthy. For a guy who boasts about making "tough choices", he doesn't seem to make many.

U.S. Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies: The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, when energy companies are already reporting record-breaking profits.

Bush PR Costs Taxpayers $1.6 Billion: The Bush administration has spent at least $1.6 billion on PR and advertising efforts over the last 30 months. Do I have to speculate how much body armor that would buy, how many hungry people that could feed?

Billions wasted in Iraq through mismanagement, fraud, and profiteering: Further evidence that this administration cannot manage what they've started.

Horse Slaughter Continues in US, Despite Recent Law: Bush's USDA circumvents U.S law to allow three foreign-owned horse meat plants to remain open. Dodging our own laws and public sentiment to help foreign corporations. If that doesn't reveal priorities, I don't know what does.

"No Child Left Behind" leaves behind poor minorities: Study indicates that flaws in this signature Bush plan have resulted in preferential treatment for white, middle-class schools.

EPA Cuts Deal with Factory Farms: The EPA, one of the most corrupted agencies in government since Bush took office, is selling out its own mission by letting large factory farms off the hook for polluting air and water. In exchange for what? The privilege of studying how they pollute, and a promise that they'll stop polluting after the study. That makes no sense.

Bush’s Budget Proposal: Is This Who We Really Are? The president's latest budget demonstrates his ongoing contempt for the greater good in favor of feeding more wealth to the wealthy and pouring more money into Iraq. Why is welfare okay to Republicans when it goes to the rich?

And this is just what I've heard about recently. This has been going on for five years, folks--it's time for everyone to start waking the hell up. And acting--if these things bother you, please contact your senators and representatives and let your voice be heard.

Labels: Politics

By now we've all seen coverage of the insane, violent reactions by some Muslims to cartoons caricaturing their prophet, Muhammad. While some see this as proof of the exceptional extremism of Islam, I simply see it as a natural extension of organized religion. It's one more example of why I reject all religions and consider myself spiritual but not religious.

Spiritualism is inherently individual. It can be described but never truly shared, and that fact can be both exhilarating and terrifying. It connects one to the mysteries of the universe, but does nothing for that pesky, low human fear of isolation and need to belong. Religion, on the other hand, is all trappings--it organizes all of our fears and desires into a tidy, black and white rulebook which attempts to create one standard common denominator for all human spiritual experience, in the process turning the vast, incomprehensible infinitude of reality into a simple little historical narrative which typically takes place in a very small geographical area.

Which, of course, is all rubbish. I don't disparage individuals' religious beliefs, but the recent violent protests around the Middle East show once again, as we've seen before on countless occasions including the Crusades and Inquisitions, that all religion has a dangerous capacity for terror and destruction. It's another reminder that the distinction between faith and dogma is crucial.

On a side note, far more worrisome to me than the actual protests is a line of commentary from the Vatican about the issue:

The right to freedom of thought and expression cannot entail the right to offend the religious sentiment of believers.

On the contrary--it can, and it does.

Labels: Culture

An unlikely tear through the rest of the NFL's elite ended in an unusually messy victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who overcame their own mistakes to grind out a 21-10 win over the equally inconsistent Seattle Seahawks. The difference, as I had a feeling it might be, was the strength of Pittsburgh's key play-makers.

What I didn't expect was the amount of mistakes made by both teams. Dominant, poised, and consistent throughout the playoffs, the two teams showed their Super Bowl-rookie status tonight, as neither team ever seemed comfortable in the glaring light of this big game. Of the two, it was Pittsburgh who managed the most big plays--notably a record-setting 75-yard run by Willie Parker and a trick-play TD throw from receiver Antwaan Randle El to fellow receiver Hines Ward. But much of the game was dominated by stumbling offense, 3-and-out ball which seemed as much a product of simple mistakes as good defense.

Despite the lopsided score, Seattle played well in many situations, and was a credible threat throughout most of the game. After the dust settles, that might be one of the most interesting takeaways from this game--that despite the AFC's superior overall quality, the best of the NFC is capable of going toe-to-toe with them. Seattle made a truly perplexing number of mistakes tonight, especially considering that the Pittsburgh defensive secondary didn't seem to be doing anything exceptional. They leave this game in perhaps the most frustrating state--knowing that they were good enough to win, but repeatedly sputtered and stalled at the key moments.

Kudos to the Steelers--I was happy to see them win, and in this post-season having fought their way past Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver, and now Seattle, they've truly earned the distinction of being the best team in all of football this year. It's a satisfying end to many storylines for them, and with any luck they'll be back to make things interesting next year.

Oh, and the commercials all sucked. The only exceptions being the one with the little Clydesdale and the Benny Hill-themed cell phone ad. The former was cloying but sweet, and the latter must have been completely nonsensical for anyone, well, younger than me.

Labels: Sport