Search LBO-Talk Archives

6391 [lbo-talk] Xians down to 77%! -- rank: 1000

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/117409/Easter-Smaller-Percentage-Americans-Christian.aspx > This Easter, Smaller Percentage of Americans Are Christian Americans more likely now than in previous decades to say they have no religious identity by Frank Newport PRINCETON, NJ -- The percentage of Americans who identify with some form of a Christian religion has been dropping in recent decades, and now stands at 77%, according to an aggregate of Gallup Polls conducted in 2008. In 1948, when Gall ...

Document Size:	5170
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 12:07:35 PDT 2009

6392 [lbo-talk] Heartfield on Derrida -- rank: 1000

On Apr 10, 2009, at 2:52 PM, Alan Rudy wrote: > Jim tossed off this one liner > thats stuck with me ever since: "If your first reaction's not an > over-reaction its likely not genuine or very deep." > > Going to grad school in Santa Cruz - one of the three of four main > hotbeds > of post-modern deconstruction in the US during the 80s and early 90s > - I > despised post-modernism and deconstruction (but loved a good > materialist and > historical ideolo ...

Document Size:	6597
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 12:06:11 PDT 2009

6393 [lbo-talk] Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism -- rank: 1000

On Apr 10, 2009, at 1:49 PM, Carrol Cox wrote: > Not quite right but in the ball park. The only socialist opinion that > counts is that which shows _some_ tendency to joing some sort of > organization supporting socialism. Maybe so, but just don't volunteer to be a recruiting officer, OK?

Document Size:	5037
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 10:56:45 PDT 2009

6394 [lbo-talk] decline of civilization (cont.) -- rank: 1000

Trinity Church in NYC, the one at the head of Wall Street, is reporting the Passion via Twitter. E.g.: <http://twitter.com/twspassionplay> @_JesusChrist: Father forgive them, they know not what they do.

Document Size:	4802
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 10:46:19 PDT 2009

6395 [lbo-talk] Heartfield on Derrida -- rank: 1000

By the way, James, there are a lot of traditional leftists who hate Derrida for promoting self-doubt among intellectuals. You rightly point to the decline of the radical labor movement as key to the crisis of Marxism, but do you think the intellectuals were/are wrong to become so self-questioning, and skeptical of, yadda yadda, master narratives? Doug

Document Size:	4793
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 08:50:52 PDT 2009

6396 [lbo-talk] note of thanks -- rank: 1000

On Apr 10, 2009, at 10:48 AM, Chris Doss wrote: > the inescapable system lying behind everything Is it The System, or just a system? There's going to be system in any human society, presumably some preferable to others. But you can't escape it because it's so much bigger than you. Doug

Document Size:	4715
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 08:02:34 PDT 2009

6397 [lbo-talk] note of thanks -- rank: 1000

On Apr 10, 2009, at 8:38 AM, James Heartfield wrote: > Chris writes > > "In Derrida it's even more obvious (and explicit). Anyway I was > never much interested in that period of French thought, which the > exception of the very early and very late Derrida." > > I wrote a review of Derrida's engagement with Marxism here: http://www.culturewars.org.uk/index.php/site/article/ghostly_demarcations2/ Sorry to be picky, but you say: "Derrida blossomed in Yale Univer ...

Document Size:	5334
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 06:58:44 PDT 2009

6398 [lbo-talk] that Rasmussen poll -- rank: 1000

Oops! <http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/econ_survey_toplines/april_2009/toplines_capitalism_vs_socialism_april_6_7_2009 > * Which is a better system - capitalism or socialism? 53% Capitalism 20% Capitalism 27% Not sure <http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/just_53_say_capitalism_better_than_socialism > Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism Thursday, April 09, 2009 Email to a Friend Only 53% of American adults believe ...

Document Size:	7728
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 10 06:47:04 PDT 2009

6399 [lbo-talk] Just 53% Say Capitalism Better Than Socialism -- rank: 1000

Rasmussen isn't the most reliable pollster - they often skew stuff in a right-wing direction. So this is very interesting. Must renew my AAPOR membership...

Document Size:	4852
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Apr 9 19:49:16 PDT 2009

6400 [lbo-talk] Raimondo tees off -- rank: 1000

On Apr 9, 2009, at 3:31 PM, Michael Smith wrote: > I thought that bit was hilarious. Whoever's > occupying Afghanistan, they're for it. "If ever a country deserved to be raped, it's Afghanistan." - A. Cockburn

Document Size:	4686
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Apr 9 18:39:26 PDT 2009

6401 [lbo-talk] fresh punditry -- rank: 1000

On Apr 9, 2009, at 9:08 AM, Andy wrote: > Do they actually knock on doors, or do they phone? I'm thinking of > the cell phone problem. <http://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch1_b.htm> The CPS is collected each month from a probability sample of approximately 60,000 households. Respondents are assured that all information obtained is completely confidential and is used only for the purpose of statistical analysis. Although the survey is conducted on a strictly voluntary basis, refusals ...

Document Size:	5161
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Apr 9 06:42:19 PDT 2009

6402 [lbo-talk] fresh punditry -- rank: 1000

On Apr 9, 2009, at 8:17 AM, Marv Gandall wrote: > Why did they settle on the household rather than the payroll survey > as the official rate? Does the household survey tend more to > understate joblessness? The payroll survey counts jobs and wages - it can't reach people who want a job and don't have one. To do that, you've got to knock on doors. Doug

Document Size:	4808
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Apr 9 05:53:38 PDT 2009

6403 [lbo-talk] Joseph Massad gets tenure -- rank: 1000

On Apr 8, 2009, at 10:02 PM, Michael Smith wrote: > On Wed, 8 Apr 2009 21:51:40 -0400 > Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote: > >> Joseph Massad, whom the Zionists have vilified mercilessly, got >> tenure >> at Columbia. > > Amazing. Maybe the wind really is shifting? Yup, maybe so. Ha'aretz has a piece saying that Obama's about to give Netanyahu a talking-to. We'll see what that means, if anything. Doug

Document Size:	5126
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Apr 8 20:34:47 PDT 2009

6404 [lbo-talk] fresh punditry -- rank: 1000

On Apr 8, 2009, at 10:19 PM, Marv Gandall wrote: > The government's broader "U-6" number, which includes discouraged > workers > and part-timers who can't find full-time jobs, was closer to a > (staggering) > 16% last month. > > How did they measure unemployment in the early 30's, before the New > Deal > introduced UI, whose claims are the basis for determining the > official rate > most commonly used today? The numbers I quoted come from an approximati ...

Document Size:	5407
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Apr 8 20:33:51 PDT 2009

6405 [lbo-talk] Encouraging signs -- rank: 1000

On Apr 8, 2009, at 10:47 PM, Joanna wrote: > Looked at your latest blog Doug, and I do hope you're right about a > possible turn for the better. > > But I find it very hard to convince myself that there's any hope in > the absence of a massive jobs program, which I have not yet seen. Hey, I couldn't have been much more qualified, and I think that any recovery is likely to be weak and stinky. My guess is that the freefall phase has passed, but what comes after that is...dunno.

Document Size:	5058
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Apr 8 20:32:27 PDT 2009