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1561 [lbo-talk] Cornel West at the Left Forum -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 9:17 PM, Dennis Claxton wrote: > You don't think style is important? Why do people, including West, work so hard to cultivate a style if it's not important? He's about 90% style these days, isn't he?

Document Size:	4788
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 18:23:03 PDT 2011

1562 [lbo-talk] Cornel West at the Left Forum -- rank: 1000

On Mar 22, 2011, at 9:34 PM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote: > He is an academic rock star, kind of like Zizek, except that Zizek occasionally says something insightful or worth thinking about. Zizek is also not afraid to slaughter a sacred cow or two. West traffics in sacred cows. Doug

Document Size:	4970
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 16:56:58 PDT 2011

1563 [lbo-talk] Cornel West at the Left Forum -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 7:22 PM, Janice Cox wrote: > But, why on earth, did a discussion thread on a political discussion list > degenerate into a discussion of his hair, beard, style, and career? That seemed > totally irrelevant and disrespectful. What's wrong with being disrespectful? Are we supposed to revere celebrities? Doug

Document Size:	4929
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 16:55:38 PDT 2011

1564 [lbo-talk] The routinization of crappiness -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 2:30 PM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote: > You keep bringing up Nouriel's vulvas on the wall, but all this makes me think is that the guy might really be into women and oral sex, and why is that a bad thing? Not in the least. Those are very good things, in fact. But it's weird to tack plaster ones up in your living room, isn't it? > I mean, based on looks alone and voice, I wouldn't throw him out of bed. I can understand that. He does seem like an unbalanced egomaniac thou ...

Document Size:	5352
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 11:37:43 PDT 2011

1565 [lbo-talk] Maine suppresses labor history -- rank: 1000

http://gawker.com/#!5784946/maines-governor-removes-huge-labor-mural POLIDICKS Maine s Governor Removes Huge Labor Mural Jim Newell The War on Labor Unions in states with new Republican legislatures has opened a new front in Maine, where labor art is the target. The new Tea Party governor of Maine, Paul LePage, is apparently so offended by a "36-foot mural depicting the state's labor history" in the state's Department of Labor that he's ordered its removal, according to the local sta ...

Document Size:	5914
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 11:18:24 PDT 2011

1566 [lbo-talk] The routinization of crappiness -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 2:01 PM, // ravi wrote: > can we expect the publication of photographs of our good host draped in babes? Send 'em over! I'll provide the photog.

Document Size:	4742
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 11:16:11 PDT 2011

1567 [lbo-talk] The routinization of crappiness -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 2:01 PM, // ravi wrote: > Might be old news for some of you, but for the rest: guess who made it into the fashion pages? > > http://l.ravi.be/hk2SXp Ha, funny. It helps to have fans in high places. All I need are sculptures of vulvas to line the walls of the living room, and I could be just like Nouriel!

Document Size:	4974
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 11:09:01 PDT 2011

1568 [lbo-talk] the coming American rebellion -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 10:22 AM, Jaromil wrote: > FYI: http://bit.ly/gFByvA > > i'm quite curious about your comments? This: > When QE2 was announced, I warned: Food and Gas Prices Will Skyrocket, The Federal Reserve Just Dropped An Economic Nuclear Bomb On Us. I also wrote: The Federal Reserve is deliberately devaluing the dollar to enrich a small group of a global bankers, which will cause significant harm to the people of the United States and severe ramifications throughout the w ...

Document Size:	5475
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 07:52:13 PDT 2011

1569 [lbo-talk] Peter Fay on Bob Fitch -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 10:33 AM, Wojtek S wrote: > My reading is a bit different, the main thrust of his argument > is that US labor movement pursued particularistic goals of benefiting > certain segments of the working class instead of a universalistic goal > of benefiting the working class as a whole. Corruption was just a > corollary which overshadowed the main thrust. Corruption is an important part of the story, in Bob's reading. Unions' monopoly status, combined with their fra ...

Document Size:	5140
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 07:45:32 PDT 2011

1570 [lbo-talk] Cornel West at the Left Forum -- rank: 1000

On Mar 23, 2011, at 9:45 AM, Wojtek S wrote: > I think it is more pomo anything goes nihilism (i.e > intellectual commodity producers embracing left views for their shock > value) than the left. Well, to some degree, but ever since the anarchist strain got so influential - that, plus the identitarian/standpoint stuff of the 90s, and the New Left rebellion against Lenin - no one wants to speak for anyone else. Institutions, representation, organization - all verboten. I posted this last ...

Document Size:	7317
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Mar 23 07:41:23 PDT 2011

1571 [lbo-talk] Cornel West at the Left Forum -- rank: 1000

On Mar 22, 2011, at 6:34 PM, Jeffrey Fisher wrote: > Thank Jebus for Michael and Somebody. I've always felt like a bad person > because I didn't like the puppets. But, as Somebody already said, I'm not > going to go telling them to stop making puppets. Why not? One reason the left is so weak is that everybody takes this passive live & let live attitude. There's just too much anti-Leninism around. Doug

Document Size:	5008
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Mar 22 16:55:44 PDT 2011

1572 [lbo-talk] Style and Politics, was RE: Libya -- rank: 1000

On Mar 22, 2011, at 6:27 PM, Jeffrey Fisher wrote: > Me three. I can't bear the music, but I think he successfully connects, at > least in his writing and perhaps also in speaking, with a lot of people in > ways that are good (as Somebody essentially says above). And again, I'm > inclined to think that this is mainly with religious people... At LF? Who do you think pays him $25,000 to hold forth? Baptists? Doug

Document Size:	5076
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Mar 22 15:34:19 PDT 2011

1573 [lbo-talk] The Fed, doing their part to combat the deficit ... -- rank: 1000

On Mar 22, 2011, at 6:13 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Doug writes: > >> It's looking like a lot of those initial estimates of >> the cost of the bailout were overdone. > > It certainly could have gone the other way, but I think this kind of thing should shut Ron Paul up for a while. In fact, I'd like to see the Fed do more of this kind of work: how about a $50B "Maiden Lane Special" to cover the states until they can dig themselves out without resorting to the kin ...

Document Size:	5854
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Mar 22 15:33:07 PDT 2011

1574 [lbo-talk] Style and Politics, was RE: Libya -- rank: 1000

On Mar 22, 2011, at 5:35 PM, Michael Smith wrote: > But Left Forum -- or any other such gathering -- > only has so many up-front spots available. It doesn't > inspire confidence when they put somebody so silly > and useless into one. But the point is, as Alex Cockburn said of the bourgeois press, to fire dense volleys of cliche into the prejudices of the audience. Doug

Document Size:	5032
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Mar 22 15:00:55 PDT 2011

1575 [lbo-talk] The Fed, doing their part to combat the deficit ... -- rank: 1000

On Mar 22, 2011, at 5:45 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Fed says 2010 payment to government sets record > > Fed pays US Treasury record $79.3 billion, reflecting > gains from programs to aid economy Also, the FT sez the Treasury is likely to make $20 billion on its purchase of mortgage securities in the heat of the crisis. It's looking like a lot of those initial estimates of the cost of the bailout were overdone. Doug

Document Size:	5254
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Mar 22 14:59:43 PDT 2011