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Dear Diary : Help me throw 5 million tomatoes at AIG!
Posted by horatio on Friday, March 20, 2009 (20:01:19) (82 reads)
Yeah, I'm not normally a big fan of forwards and whatnot, but this one actually was worth the time. MoveOn, that pseudo-leftist group we all hate to love or love to hate--take your pick--has a campaign about the AIG bullshit that has been happening with our--yes our--tax money thanks to Congress (who elected these idiots?) and President Obama (see, I told you so!). Anyway, the details are irrelevant at this point as so much money has been thrown into this balck hole that the best option sounds like a public takeover of the entire building and, while we're at it, why not the homes of these CEOs too?
So if you feel like throwing some virtual tomatoes at AIG, here's your chance.
The people at AIG who are most responsible for the severity of the financial crisis should be in jail. But instead, they're slated to get $450 million in bonuses. Infuriating, right?
So a MoveOn member created a game to show just how mad Americans are at AIG. It's called The Great AIG Tomato Toss and it's based on the idea that we should stop throwing money at the people who ruined our economy—and start throwing tomatoes.
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Help, I'm Lost! : Rice balls and slpit peas
Posted by horatio on Wednesday, March 11, 2009 (21:36:45) (71 reads)
I've been eating a lot of rice lately. For that matter, I've been eating a lot of beans lately too. Why? Sadly, I can't say it's due to some all-encompassing love for beans and rice (although I do love both), but rather the economic realities of having little financial reserves on the incoming side of the scale with large financial expenses on the outgoing side of the scale. A scale which, truth be told, feels like it is hanging quite askew at the moment.
I tried to think of some grand image of the lady of justice falling over from the burden of corruption and the evils of $, but all I could ever really come up with was an image of Garfield chasing his tail around an empty room complaining about the lasagne--obviously not much help for my situation. But in trying to find an appropriate image to match that I did run across a completely random French video clip from some series entitled La Fonte des neiges which I am including because I think there should be more films about nudist communities to remind people we exist as part of the norm... 
So instead I have resorted to writing more again, which always seems to be the most productive activity when I am feeling trapped and worked into a corner, which I think aptly describes my mental state right now. And I have begun the usual tasks of remedy and resuscitation:
-clean the laundry /check
-clean the room /still need to do!
-clean out my head /working on it
-look for jobs /doing it as we speak (ha, once again multitasking wins!)
[On a different note, what does it say about me that I had to double check the spelling of resuscitation in an entry about trying to jumpstart my life again...?]
School is seemingly going well, even if this week has proved unusually challenging for entirely different and unrealted reasons--another blog on that to come. I have some pretty interesting topics I am working on, and am slowly learning to navigate me way through the ethnographic minefield, or at least I hope I am.
Well, more to come, but more to do now, so until later, ciao.
cc
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New School Students Renew Call for Pres. and VP To Resign
Posted by horatio on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 (15:44:08) (86 reads)
Students gathered Tuesday morning outside of the Tishman Auditorium on 12th Ave of the New School to renew their call for the resignation of the President and Vice President of the University. Students rose up last December and occupied the Graduate Faculty building slated for closure by the university. The students released a statement this afternoon coinciding with the Emergency Faculty Senate Meeting being held in the auditorium. The statement renewed the call for the resignation of key leadership and listed a series of concerns and grievances which they were organizing around. More on the morning events will be posted as things develop.
Visit www.newschoolinexile.com for the statement and more details.
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Our Official Blog : Reflections from 1st ~ Inspirations from sycamore
Posted by horatio on Thursday, January 29, 2009 (17:19:24) (74 reads)
I find that it is not often that I have the time to do many of the things which, at least in my idealized world, I would be able to do. Writing is always high among those things which I "ought" to do more of, but which I usually "tend" to do less of, at least in the last year or so. It seems to me that when I do make the time, I find it highly productive and always cathartic. So, having a little time this morning, here are a few reflections, or musings as my aunt would call them, on the state of things here.
Part I: The Life of Squirrels
You know, it's really funny. I have spent pretty much all of my life in and around the woods and the furry woodland creatures which inhabit them. Yet it took me going to New York City or all places to really get to see some of the more interesting sides of animal domestic life.
In the past few weeks I have been paying special attention to the squirrels in the complex where I live, as almost every large tree has a nest somewhere in it, or if not, then in an adjacent tree. One morning about two weeks ago I was walking out and happened to look up and see a mother squirrel sitting in a hollow of the tree with what looked to be about 3 little babies nursing on her belly. What was particularaly interesting was watching here navigate moving around the tree, up and down around the hole, while also trying to make sure the babies did not fall off.
This required quite a lot of skill, or at least it seemed to me, as she would sometimes hang with one hand while she reached around with the other to get a different grip. While doing this she would strategically wrap her tail around her side as a sort of baby sling as she moved around. The whole scene lasted for less than a minute, but it was the first time I had seen a squirrel nursing in a tree while going about its daily routine. (As an interesting note, this would seem to be the wrong time of year to be nursing babies, as usually grey squirrels breed in Feb/Mar and June/July...?).
The second squirrel adventure was even more interesting to watch, and was also a first. Our kitchen window looks out from the 3rd floor into a courtyard area with several large sycamore and oak trees, two of which have squirrel nests in them at about the 2nd floor level. One day last week I was looking out as I had my morning coffee and happened to catch a young grey squirrel with a long, thin twig in his mouth. He was fairly far out on one of the branches and was working his way back towards the trunk and the nest below. And this is where I thought it was really interesting.
I've always been amazed at the squirrel's agility and grace in a tree, but this was a performance par excellence. You see, the problem was that the stick was just long enough, and had just enough of a Y and a few side shoots, to make it fairly awkward. So here is this little squirrel--who judging by the size was a juvenile from last spring--carrying this twig that is at least twice his size down this skinny little branch and getting stuck every 6-8" on another branch or twig in its way. Every so often it would would switch and grab the branch in its hands, move it around an obstacle, and then grab it back in its mouth again. It did this for about five minutes until it had finally gotten past the branches and into the drey (nest); which in this case was both a tree hollow and a nest in one (talk about fancy living).
Having accomplished that, the squirrel then tried to pull the stick into the hole of the tree hollow, but as the stick was too long, it was having quite a problem. After about a minute of pushing and pulling it appeared to give up and left the stick in the nest and went over to the adjoining tree to join a few others juvenile squirrels playing there. A minute or two later one of those squirrels came over and began to try and work the stick into the nest, but also had the same problems. But then it took the stick in its mouth, began to climb down and around the tree, and in the process fumbled with it, almost dropped it twice, and then finally on the third try dropped it altogether. It looked down, seemed as if it was going to go after it, and then scampered off into the previous tree it had been in.
All that work for nothing, I thought to myself. But perhaps that's how it is?
Incidentally, it also appears that squirrels have played quite a role in the history of my old state of Ohio, as well as my new home of NYC. Here's two snippets to highlight this from the Scholarly Squirrel:
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In the late 18th century, the squirrel population in Ohio ballooned to uncontrollable numbers. In 1791, squirrels invaded the territory around the town of Belpre after that year's acorn crop failed to sustain their appetites. After eating the Belpre settlers' entire corn crop, the squirrels (which are not especially known for their aquatic prowess) swam across the Ohio River en masse and began devouring West Virginia!
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| Squirrels have been blamed for causing at least one confirmed stock market crash and a Miss America Pageant disaster in the United States, as well as precipitating countless fires and power outages which have left entire cities without electricity for days. For example, New York City officials claim that squirrels cause at least one power outage every day. |
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Our Official Blog : Adding fuel to the fire
Posted by horatio on Monday, December 15, 2008 (23:12:45) (93 reads)
Well it looks like things are heating up on the New School student front. Too bad it just started at the end of the semester. Well, the faculty is pretty much in agreement they don't like Kerrey, and there is a growing body of students that seem to feel the same way. There will be a whole bunch happening this week on campus, student and faculty-wise, so it should be really interesting to see what happens.
Keep you ears and eyes peeled...
And you can sign the no-confidence in Bob Kerrey petition here...
Here's one or two recent articles on this whole mess:
Chronicle of Higher Ed.
NY Times on Kerrey no confidence vote
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Our Official Blog : New School Faculty Resolution - Vote of No Confidence
Posted by horatio on Friday, December 12, 2008 (03:49:57) (101 reads)
Summary of the results of the emergency meeting of New School senior faculty, held on December 10, 2008, from 2:00 – 4:00.
In order to discuss, and respond to, the current crisis at the University, the co-chairs of the Faculty Senate called an emergency meeting of the University’s senior faculty. Due to concerns of some faculty about employment security, the chairs invited only tenured and extended-employment faculty from all divisions. A few additional senior faculty chose to attend as well.
Seventy-seven faculty members were in attendance at the start of the meeting. As the meeting went on, some faculty had to leave to teach, so that by the end of the meeting there were fifty-nine senior faculty.
Thirty-five senior faculty members came from Parsons; twenty-four came from the New School for Social Research; six from Milano; five from Lang; and five from the New School for General Studies.
The senior faculty discussed and voted on a total of five motions, the first two by secret ballot, the last three by a show of hands.
Submitted by Jim Miller and David Howell, senior co-chairs of the Faculty Senate.
First motion
The senior faculty lacks confidence in the leadership of Bob Kerrey.
Vote: 74 in favor, 2 against, 1 abstention
Second motion
The senior faculty lacks confidence in the leadership of James Murtha.
Vote: 67 in favor, 0 against, 1 abstention
Third motion
Statement of concerns
The Senior Faculty lacks confidence in President Bob Kerrey and Executive Vice President James Murtha.
We can no longer tolerate the constant turnover of provosts – five provosts since the appointment of President Kerrey in 2001.
This turnover has made it virtually impossible for the faculty to be properly involved in thoughtful and effective academic planning; for our staffs to provide proper and consistent academic services; and for the Deans and faculty to help the Provost develop University-wide employment systems that appoint, review and promote faculty in a timely and fair manner.
There is a widespread perception that the President has allowed the Executive Vice President to frustrate and sometimes sabotage many of the academic initiatives of the Provost, Deans and faculty, as a result of which there has been a substantial reduction in the effectiveness and efficiency of all those directly involved with academic affairs.
Besides such costs, we also fear that the reputation of The New School is at risk, as is our continuing ability to recruit and retain the best candidates for top academic positions, and our future ability to recruit and retain students.
We are appalled by the abrupt and unexplained dismissal of Provost Joe Westphal, who represented a welcome transition towards better academic leadership and a greater openness in shared governance with the Deans and faculty. We reject the appropriateness of President Kerrey unilaterally appointing himself the acting Chief Academic Officer of the University for an interim period that is likely to last months if not years. In both cases, there has been no reason given why there was no prior consultation with Deans, the Faculty Senate, or senior faculty.
These events appear to be part of a larger pattern, characterized by unilateral, impulsive, and sometimes secret decision-making, concentrating power in the hands of the President and Executive Vice President, without due deliberation or proper consultation with Deans and Faculty.
The founders of the New School hoped to foster democratic ideals of governance and open inquiry. It is ironic, and deeply troubling, that Bob Kerrey and James Murtha have governed the University in a way that subverts one of its constitutive ideals.
Vote: 65 in favor, 1 abstention.
Fourth motion
The senior faculty has full confidence in all the Deans.
Vote: 65 in favor, 0 against
Fifth resolution
Given the exceptional nature of the votes we have taken today, the senior faculty strongly recommend that the divisional Deans be allowed to meet with a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees and select faculty, in order to help develop a plan for the University as it moves forward.
Vote: 59 in favor, 0 against.
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Our Official Blog : November Novel - days i/ii
Posted by horatio on Sunday, November 02, 2008 (03:39:33) (126 reads)
As some of you may know, November is National Novel Writing Month. Here's the basic idea from Nano:
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National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down. |
So here's my lame starting attempt to play along this year...
i.
The thronging masses squirmed along 6th avenue like a centipede at a dance competition, bodies pulsing and gyrating to the rhythm of the street. Everywhere one looked there were people dressed in the most outrageous costumes imaginable. But then again, they weren't perhaps all that outrageous, considering the state of thing. But no matter your perspective, one was likely to find something visually interesting amidst the assembled horde.
It was fall in New York, halloween to be precise, and the evening was cool yet pleasant out. Everywhere one could hear the sound of people in full revelrie, wandering the streets in search of some as of yet unknown adventure which was, nonetheless, pulling them forward towards their destiny.
The several preceding days were cool, not really unusual for the end of October in this part of the country, but today had been warmer than expected. With such nice weather, and not a hint of rain in the air, it seemed like the entire city had come out to play.
The group of young people I was wandering the streets with were looking for trouble of some kind or another, nothing necessarily illegal or life threatening, but nonetheless adventurous. The parade of costumes seemed like as good a place as any to start, and it was to this destination that we were irresistibly drawn.
Our meter was measured yet dispersed, as is any group of fifteen or so odd people trying to navigate their way through New York this time of year...
ii.
to be continued...
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Our Official Blog : around the town
Posted by horatio on Thursday, October 23, 2008 (03:16:50) (84 reads)
Thought I would pass along a few interesting things in my mailbox today...
Crackdown on Women's NGOs in Nicaragua
WLP colleagues from the Autonomous Women's Movement (MAM) in Nicaragua have called our attention to the government's raid and seizure of documents and computers from their offices on October 10th. The raid of MAM's offices as well as the Centre for Investigation and Communication (CINCO) offices are another step of President Daniel Ortega's government's campaign against civil society organizations, particularly feminists, who have been outspoken critics of his government.
The wider government crackdown includes harassment of several civil society organizations, journalists, and the international organization Oxfam GB, which supports the work of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The government has accused such groups of money laundering, misuse of funds, and subversion. The government has specifically targeted feminists who have been vocal in condemning Ortega's sexual misconduct as well as the 2007 comprehensive ban on abortion. Activists have been threatened and persecuted for defending women's rights, as have journalists who have been targeted for reporting on corruption within the government.
Read more at the Women's Learning Partnership.
From Wikipedia:
The Panic of 1907 was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when its stock market fell close to 50 percent from its peak the previous year. Primary causes of the run included a retraction of market liquidity by a number of New York City banks, a loss of confidence among depositors, and the absence of a statutory lender of last resort. The crisis occurred after the failure of an attempt in October 1907 to corner the market on stock of the United Copper Company. When this bid failed, banks that had lent money to the cornering scheme suffered runs which later spread to affiliated banks and trusts, leading a week later to the downfall of the Knickerbocker Trust Company—New York City's third-largest trust. The collapse of the Knickerbocker spread fear throughout the city's trusts as regional banks withdrew reserves from New York City banks. The panic would have deepened if not for the intervention of financier J.P. Morgan, who pledged large sums of his own money, and convinced other New York bankers to do the same, to shore up the banking system. By November the contagion had largely ended. The following year, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich established and chaired a commission to investigate the crisis and propose future solutions, leading to the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
Read the rest of this article on Wikipedia.
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