Trampling?

It's tragic that a holiday worker (Jdimytai Damour, 34) was trampled in a Wal-Mart on Long Island. The United Food and Commercial Union (UFCW) is calling for an investigation into why store managers did not implement proper safety procedures to protect workers or be able to stop the torrent of people that prevented fellow workers and police from saving the "associate." Wal-Mart counsels its workers on the evils of union representation--most notably last summer when it warned a gathering of managers about a Democratic victory and increases in organizing drives. I wouldn't say that unions can protect workers from all accidents such as this, but they can go far in representing workers' interests. (Triangle Shirt Waist?) Wal-Mart preaches how unions are unnecessary because the company cares so much for its associates, but the company's track record is poor and this is further evidence.

Jaun Cole on the paths India should avoid.

I'm not going to copy the whole thing, but Juan Cole has a decent analysis of policies India and PM Manmohan Singh should avoid. In short, do everything the Bush administration didn't.

His points:
Remember asymmetry
Keep your eye on the ball
Avoid Easy Bigotry about National Character
Address Security Flaws, but Keep Civil Liberties Strong
Avoid War
Don't Swing to the Righ

Claude Levi-Strauss hits 100 and gets a party.

There are some people I often forget are alive, or I innocently assume that they're dead. Abe Vagoda is the first person who comes to mind, but Honest Abe is still kicking.

I must admit that I assumed Claude Levi-Strauss passed some time ago and I was wrong. Levi-Strauss hit 100 and the French museum Musée du Quai Branly celebrated his birthday with lectures and the usual trappings of a centenary soiree. Levi-Strauss is one of the most important anthropologists of the 20th century, and some might argue he is the thinker who revolutionized the field in such a way that he renewed and reinvigorated the study of anthropology. Along with Clifford Geertz, who is dead, Levi-Strauss incorporated elements of culture in a way that stressed the individual nature of cultures and pulled away from a Western-centric model of comprehending societies. Scholars in a variety of fields--including history--borrowed from concepts in each man's work. Of course he's not perfect and his writings are subject to the intellectual trends of his age, just like most people. But one shouldn't discount his role in improving the discipline.

Here's Friday's NYT story on this subject: CLS

High Water (for Charley Patton)

"Don't reach out for me, she said. Can't you see I'm drownin', too?
It's rough out there. High water everywhere."

Featured on Dylan's 2001 album Love and Theft, "High Water (for Charley Patton)" illustrates how Dylan's songwriting remains sharp. I purchased the track from Dylan's recent archive release, Tell Tale Signs, and it's a live version from 2003. The studio cut moves at a slower pace and Dylan's sneer is absent. But the live track crackles with life as Dylan winds his way down the Mississippi narrating the destruction wrought by torrential rain and flood waters. He assumes several personas as his tone meanders from carnival barker, to Huey Long-style populist, an oracle, or a corner preacher warning of portending doom. As he races through the lyrics--mumbling as he goes and propelled by the driving rhythm--his demeanor is reminiscent of his biting vitriol and mocking in Maggie's Farm. Brilliant.

I wrote Dylan off after 2004 and I assumed he had lapsed into insignificance. Before I left Chicago, I attended a performance at the Vic Theater of approximately 1,200 people in a packed, sold out house. In the previous year or so he had dropped the guitar for a keyboard, which I noticed was rather low in the mix. I loved the intimate setting (I saw him in '98 at the cavernous United Center) and I thought it best to leave on a positive note rather than risk wasting any more time and money. Of course, one song isn't a guarantee of any form resurgence that would justify fifty or so dollars in concert expenses, but it's refreshing to hear Dylan maintain the attitude and inspiration that drew me and others to his music.

Charley Patton, a contemporary of Robert Johnson, was one of the fathers of Delta Blues and Dylan's inspiration stems from Patton and Johnson. Dylan stands on the shoulders of giants in this case as in others--notably Woody Guthrie; further proof of an American folk tradition and Americana alive in his music.

The United States' war against Iraq, 1990-2008

Today, 11/29/08, marks the 18 year anniversary of the first step toward the United States' long war in and against Iraq. The first air assaults and ground operations (that is, likely special operations missions) began on January 16, 1991, but on November 29, 1990, the UN authorized the use of force to dislodge Iraq from Kuwait if it did not withdraw from the tiny oil-laden state. Prudence dictated that Bush I dispatch American troops and military presence throughout the Gulf and region as a whole, where they have remained for years since. One could even astutely point out that one of Bin Laden's lasting complaints centered on stationing American troops in Saudi Arabia, and, after the creeping war under Clinton and the 2003 invasion, Iraq has been a principle recruitment arm for Al Qaeda. So, in other words, the United States' actions in Iraq went far in producing and sustaining Al Qaeda.

The United States has largely been at war with Iraq since late winter 1990-91, be it through harsh sanctions that may have killed up to half of a million civilians, covert attacks with the single goal of toppling Saddam, air assaults, patrolling air space, or full invasion and occupation. It wouldn't be wise for a politician or even a Democrat to acknowledge the long war chronology, but it's difficult for me to substract the Clinton presidency from Bush I's and Bush II's wars against Iraq. Of course, they are disparate facets of war, but war nonetheless. Indeed, it was Clinton who signed the Liberate Iraq Act in 1998, funneled money to dissident groups in and outside Iraq, relied on the CIA to operate against Saddam in Iraq, rained bombs in Iraq in 1998 and after, and used the UN to punish Saddam in hopes that it could trigger a coup. Although the Clinton folks claimed to rely on a policy of containment, their "containment" was, in fact, direct action and war.

I'm not a Bush apologist, but it seems silly to employ labels such as "Gulf War I" or "Gulf War II" when they aren't accurate and thus disguise the Clinton administration's policies against Saddam, his purported WMDs, and Iraqis who've suffered the most since 1990. Much of the justification for the 2003 invasion echoes the Clinton administration's own words and deeds, which is why in 2002 Bush referred to Saddam's weapons programs as "a decade of deception." Clinton shouldn't get a free pass.

Bacon

The Foo Fighters were on this week's episode of Top Chef. Grohl was hamming it up in style, and I enjoyed his comments on bacon: "I'm a big fan of bacon" (his emphasis).

Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger

I finished reading Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger, the recent winner of the Man Booker, this morning. A quick read, it tells the tale of Balram Halawi's rise from "the Darkness" of India as a driver/servant, then catapulting into an entrepreneur in Bangalore. Adiga paints a dark--but quite entertaining--portrayal of Balram (originally known as "Munna," meaning boy). Balram's life is recounted through a neat device: a letter to a foreigner (Wen Jiabao, premier of China) who Balram feels compelled to explain his ascendancy and the nature of Indian politics and society. The book is coarse and unsettling, a feeling Adiga most likely sought to impress upon the reader.

Balram is propelled by a sense of cunning and, truth be told, an entrepreneurial spirit that he uses to leverage advances up and out of his village of Laxmangarh, but ultimately results in violence as he escapes from the stifling conditions in Delhi. He justifies crime by explaining his transgression as little worse than crimes perpetrated by the rich and noble on the nation at large and those serving them. He finds insight in Muslim poetry and considers himself distant from and above his fellow drivers and servants; he constantly separates himself and desired silence rather than a chorus of voices from those in a similar class/caste. Adiga describes Balram as forward thinking. His focus is "tomorrow" and his story is a linear progression up and away from a life trapped in India's imposed but yet self-policing "Rooster Coop" that preserves social order and obeisance.

Overall, the book wasn't too taxing and Adiga's prose is lively and crisp as he explains Balram's escape from the Rooster Coop. Topics of Marxism or communism are absent from the letter to the Chinese premier, but, clearly, Balram chafes under near-feudalism and he uses capitalism to rise. In other words, Balram is a social climber thanks to capitalism and the Western economy, and he expresses little concern about family he left behind until the very end. But he is not corrupted by money, he rather sees it plainly for what it is. As the book closes, he mentions starting a school for poor children of Bangalore so he can replicate and unleash copies of himself on to the world. Although Adiga doesn't make an explicit comparison to a virus, one finishes the book questioning the moral implications of Balram's acts and measuring them against the social conditions weighing on Balram's India. All in all, a fascinating read.

James Dobson is wacky

James Dobson, the visionary behind Focus on the Family, composed a 16 page letter from his predictions of the state of the nation in 2012.

Some of the pearls: the federal government will force everyone to allow gay people in every walk of life and the gays will infiltrate the Boy Scouts; abortions for all!; the Sunni Al Qaeda terrorists will work with Iran (highly unlikely based on past experience with the Taliban) to destroy Iraq and defeat the US, thus emboldening the terrorists to bomb our cities; the wimpy Obama won't arrest anyone; he won't permit "Drill here, Drill now!!!" and we'll all pay for gas in kidneys and other commodifiable organs; and his far left, ACLU agenda wrecked America. In short, we're screwed, people. My read of the document wasn't thorough, but strangely absent is any discussion of immigration.

One of his concluding sentences: "Christians didn’t take time to find out who Barack Obama was when they voted for him. Why did they risk our nation’s future on him? It was a mistake that changed the course of history.? The hysterics.

Feast your eyes

HRC as SoS

I'm still somewhat baffled by Obama's choice of Clinton to head State. That being said, I think she'll excel as long as two qualifications are met. As the press has widely reported, the working relationship between a president and his principal diplomat must be effective and efficient should diplomacy work and the president's foreign relations agenda born out. But there's another element that people often overlook: running the Department of State. It's a behemoth and requires a fluid administrator that can manage and coordinate disparate facets of diplomacy. That's certainly one of the tests a new secretary faces, in addition to fulfilling the president's vision.

One thing I've loved in recent stories is the description of Kissinger and Nixon. Both distrusted the other and criticized the other behind their back, but they worked as a pair. As Robert Dallek has aptly dubbed them, Partners in Power. But it was made possible by Kissinger's willingness to be the subordinate and fawn and agree when Nixon's paranoia and disgust of others reared its head. Of course, most of the press has ignored the fact that Kissinger operated, in many ways, as de facto SoS from 69-73, and he regularly undermined and attacked SoS Rogers. Neither Kissinger nor Nixon trusted State, and Kissinger was Nixon's formal SoS for a year before he resigned. So if you read about how well Nixon and Kissinger worked, it's an odd relationship and is uncharacteristic of most administrations. That's the very reason you don't hear much about Ford's and Kissinger's successes on par with Nixon's and Kissinger's.

2 things that brightened my day

1. Waxman replaced Dingell. Now I hope that we can get a full stop on the idiotic mountaintop removal of coal, which ramped up during the Bush administration. If one thing signifies the Bush administration's wanton disregard for the environment and overall poor energy plans, it's mountaintop removal for coal seams.

2. Joe the Plumber got a book deal. Good for him, just what America needs. A misinformed idiot speaking on issues of socialism, foreign policy, and the future of our country, none of which he seems to grasp but he will be championed by Fox News and most likely Republicans in 2012.

3. What the hay, just for kicks. If the Republicans continue to stonewall automakers and the worst happens, they will lose Ohio in 2012. The automotive industry is still strong in northern Ohio and the Republicans can't win the state without northern and parts of eastern Ohio. Not only for auto plants, but also associated and contributing industries.

Edward Ruscha, Twenty Six Gasoline Stations

Ah, to cherish the good days when ethyl cost a paltry thirty cents. CU's special collections has a copy of Ed Ruscha's Twenty Six Gasoline Stations. Originally published in 1962 with later editions, it's a slim photo book with his intriguing photos of twenty-six gas stations in the West. He captures each station at various states of disrepair, modernity, emptyness, and life.
A mint copy of the book currently sells for a thousand or two. I expected a glossy version with a strong binding. Neither of those two expectations were met, and I wasn't able to open the book fully without fear of splitting the spine's glue.

Which I thinks speaks to the simplicity of the book and the photos. Most of the filling stations are empty save for a car or two and a person milling about. The photos do not fill the pages and the white negative space forces the reader to examine the structure and appearance of the gas station and the striking diversity and similarities in each station. Kate and I viewed his retrospective exhibit at the Art Institute while we were seeing the Winslow Homer watercolors and the fascinating, inspiring Edward Hopper exhibit. Ruscha's work covers several themes/views (parking lots, gas stations, apartments, buildings), but the gas stations were easily the most transfixing. Special collections has several of his books and my goal is to review what we've got while I can.

How Obama Got Elected Wingnut

Nate Silver, the poll wizard at five thirty-eight, interviewed John Ziegler who is the creative genius behind http://www.howobamagotelected.com/ It's an entertaining read as Ziegler insults Silver.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/interview-with-john-ziegler-on-zogby.html

InBev completes buy of Anheuser-Busch

InBev's buy of Anheuser-Busch is complete with DoJ approval (they sold Labatt's USA), making Anheuser-Busch InBev the largest brewer in the world. AB's headquarters will remain in St. Louis.

Protecting health care workers?

(From today's NYT) The Bush administration is pushing new regulations to protect the rights of health care workers and their religious obligations to reject certain work. Currently, "Under the Civil Rights Act, an employer must make reasonable accommodations for an employee's religious practices, unless the employer can show that doing so would cause 'undue hardship on the conduct of its business.'" If that wasn't enough, here's what the story continued to say, and I find deplorable:

"As an example of the policies to which they object, Bush adminsitration officials cited a Connecticut law that generally requires hospitals to provide rape victims with timely access to and information about emergency contraception."

Whaaaat? So a woman's health--at a traumatic point--is to take back seat to someone's religious objection? That's going to be enshrined in law? Sickening.

Condi Rice's Exit Interview

In yesterday's NYT Magazine, the cover story was a several page exit interview with Condi Rice and several other Bush folks. One of my advisers advised Rice when she was at Denver, and has always said nice things about her. Generally speaking, she has always seemed like a sharp National Security Advisor and Sec of State, but that's not to say I think she's been the best or could have been more forceful. Her advocacy for the Israel-Lebanon war in '06 and the necessity of chaos to revise the status quo ante (which she repeated numerous times during and after the war), was wrong and Lebanese children must still be mindful of potential left-over cluster bombs.

I should say that her closing comments on immigration were appealing. But her remarks on democracy and the Middle East as well as Bush's prescience seem inflated and wrong. When Hamas won a significant democratic victory in 2006, the Bush admin revealed its hypocritical nature by working to undermine that progress and overturning a democratic election. Similarly, the Bush admin pushed for greater reforms in Egyptian electoral politics, only to backtrack and push Egypt to rollback greater freedoms when the Muslim Brotherhood (al ikhwan al islamiyya) triumphed at the polls. Ultimately, the Bush administration wanted democracy but only for those they deemed worthy and who weren't Islamists. The Bush admin pushed a American normative vision of what democracy means and who should be elected. In other words, it's democracy as we want and say.

Under the header "The Past and Future of the Bush Agenda," she addressed Bush's legacy in an odd and almost fawning manner:

"Bush deserves credit for recognizing that the terms were now going to be set for the next big historical evolution. The president recognized that freedom was something that was not just desirable but essential for the US; that it means not just freedom from tyranny but also freedom from disease, and poverty. And that if you were going to have democratic leaders, they had to be able to deliver for their people....And linking up the great compassion of the US with our security interests. Making it about democracy, defense, and development."

Really, that was Bush's breakthrough? First off, I'm glad he realizes people like freedom, but he directed a foreign policy on delivering democracy at the point of a gun or through strangling sanctions. She goes on to say that Bush deserves credit for the Millenium Challenge initiative and pouring money into Africa (which he does), but her comments make it seem like that was a break through. Maybe time will show that it is, but I struggle to see how it's much more than him pushing an agenda rather than a sweeping realignment of foreign policy. And for what it's worth, Bush's money drive for Africa should be tempered with the fact that condoms weren't considered the first priority (abstinence and monogamy were) and defense money bolstered the rather large sums given to African nations. As I said in a previous post about Ethiopia, defense tools and money doesn't always make the region better.

D Bar

Kate raved about D Bar when she visited a few weeks ago. On a lark, we decided to go after dinner. We sat at the bar and watched the chef form the desserts. I ordered a chocolate shake and cake, and the wedge of chocolate cake was larger than some of the whole desserts others ordered. The shake wasn't a standard fluffy milk chocolate shake. Instead, it was thick, creamy, and a darker than normal. Kate's plantain and ice cream served in a martini glass. The plantains were caramelized and lustrous.

D Bar Dessert Menu

Please rise for the secretary of state

I have no inside beltway track, so much of what I read comes from political blogs. But I was surprised to read that John Kerry was being considered for Secretary of State. Of the names bandied about, he was the worst choice. Bill Richardson is an upstanding and qualified candidate, as is Hillary. But Hank Kissinger's support for Hillary threw me off more than I expected.

Oh, I also started a facebook account.

Take it away, Bill Withers.

I finished reading Sarah Vowell's 2000 Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World. Yes, yes, yes, I have a prospectus to revise, but my air of certainty tricks the equally powerful and crippling side of self-doubt that I can find the initiative to complete that insipid task. Vowell's new book The Wordy Shipmates was published recently and recommended to a critical, snarky, and frequently caustic snot like myself. (Crap, there I go with passive voice like I was instructed to avoid.) As an avid fan of Coppola's 1972 The Godfather, for the very same reasons she lays out in the book, I thought I would read it first. A collection of short stories, I guess I enjoyed the book. I have a problem with Sedaris, Vowell, and, at points, Ira Glass. They get on my nerves and I feel like they're the wordy nerds who are settling high school scores from when they were the downtrodden and less glamorous folk whose intelligence and wit was ignored for those who seemed dashing and displayed those lovely traits of the most superior high school students: "leadership qualities."

Reading through the book, I found myself entertained, a bit bored at points, and at other moments ticked off. But in a blinding epiphany, I realized why I cringe: I identify with them and find that they are closer to me than maybe I'd like, or I'd like to be closer to them. In other words, I'm uncomfortable because it hits close to home and I never displayed "leadership qualities" in high school, nor did many of my friends. Between my self-loathing and status anxiety, I don't know if I'll ever be able to appreciate their work to the fullest.

But I get the feeling that Ms. Vowell wouldn't make a mistake that I find grating: confusing Bill Withers for Al Green or any other African-American singer of the 70s. Who cares? Nobody, and I guess that's the point.

anti-union efforts

This is from a 2005 report conducted by U of I Chicago, which confirmed a previous report, Uneasy Terrain, in 2000 that became the accepted survey of anti-union activities in the US. The research was conducted in Chicago, and--as the text indicates--Chicago is a heavily unionized area and its findings are likely multiplied in regions where there is not a historic union presence. Below are quotes of the juicy bits. PDF of the Report

"The findings of Undermining the Right to Organize confirm that union membership in the United States is not declining because workers no longer want or need unions. Instead, falling union density is directly related to employers’ near universal and systematic use of legal and illegal tactics to stymie workers’ union organizing."

"Among employers faced with organizing campaigns:

• 30% of employers fire pro-union workers.
• 49% of employers threaten to close a worksite when workers try to form a union, but only 2% actually do.
• 51% of employers coerce workers into opposing unions with bribery or favoritism.
• 82% of employers hire high-priced unionbusting consultants to fight union organizing drives.
• 91% of employers force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors"

The anti-recommendation

After deliberating on where to eat on Thursday, D Snyder, Kate, and I settled on Fat Cat Noodle House on the Hill, near campus. What a mistake. There was little besides the ambiance and the company that made it remotely pleasant. Not only did the waiter forget to take our order, he screwed it up (Kate and I ordered a dish with Pork, we got chicken; Doug didn't even get what he ordered), he spaced Doug's edamame but made up for that by bringing an extra bowl and giving Doug a free PBR.

On top of that, the food was mediocre at best and my dish was crap. Kate and I ordered a sesame noodle dish that was listed as spicy. Not only was it devoid of any spice, my noodles were saturated with peanut sauce. The peanut soup overpowered any other flavors. It's not like I said, "hey, buffalo jim, why don't you zap some peanut butter until it's runny and pour it in a bowl with some noodles on top." Kate's dish proved to be better than my own. The combination of poor service and worse food reveals why I should trying new places on the Hill unless it comes with nothing short of sterling references.

Secret Vote and Card Check

Nathan Newman at Talking Points Memo summarizes the phony business objection to card check and the EFCA:

Card Check is More Democratic than NLRB Elections

"So some folks will say, hey labor law sounds good, but don't the business lobbies have a point that the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) proposed by labor and its supporters will undermine democracy by eliminating the secret ballot. I'll have a post soon about how the secret ballot will be fine and more used in workplaces if EFCA passes, but let's take the basic corporate argument headon. Under EFCA, instead of holding an election with a secret ballot, workers can also choose a union alternatively by a majority of workers signing cards asking to have their union recognized.Horrors, the business lobby cries, weeping for the lost democratic voice of their workers (as they threaten to fire anyone who supports the union during the election), but here's the thing-- an NLRB election recognizes the union if a majority of THOSE VOTING support the union, while the card check option requires support from a majority of ALL WORKERS IN THAT COMPANY OR VOTING UNIT. So the latter option is harder and actually is more guaranteed to reflect the will of the workers. Follow below the fold to imagine how this would play out in a federal Presidential election."

Duality of Humanity

The next print available for purchase in the Duality of Humanity series by Shepard Fairey combining his screen printing with Al Rockoff's Vietnam photographs. You can read about it here: DOH 4

Labor Coalescing

A quick comment on the below labor article.

1. No, I'm not turning this into a labor blog nor am I trying to make any points about me and labor but it's something I find intriguing.

2. Major labor organizations must come together at this time. That means more than solidifying a message and pounding on legislators and the executive to pass the EFCA. In 2005, SEIU and other major unions split from the AFL-CIO and formed the Change to Win coalition. (Change to Win) Since, there have been attempts to mend the labor fences, but none succeeded. Infighting and vying for power must be marginalized if there's any hope of forming a unified front.

Labor Leaders Convene to Press Obama Admin

From Talking Points Memo: Labor Leaders Plan Huge Campaign

At Private Meeting, Top Union Leaders To Plan Huge Campaign To Press For Labor's Demands

By Greg Sargent - November 12, 2008, 3:51PM

At a private meeting tomorrow in Washington, D.C., the most powerful and prominent leaders of the labor movement are planning to finalize the details of a major public campaign to push for what labor is hoping to get from the incoming Obama administration and the new Congress.

The meeting tomorrow morning at AFL-CIO headquarters will provide a glimpse into labor's hopes for the new order in D.C., at a time when a labor resurgence is looking like a real possibility. The big unions played a major role in delivering white union and non-union workers to Barack Obama in the battleground states, and will be expecting a seat at the table next year.

According to a senior AFL-CIO official, the labor leaders -- who could include AFL-CIO head John Sweeney, AFSCME chief Gerald McEntee, and others -- will be putting the finishing touches on plans for a national campaign, including possible TV ads, to press members of Congress for quick passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, one of labor's major agenda items.

The measure, which would give workers the right to join a union as soon as a majority of employees at a workplace say they want to, went down to defeat in 2007 and is likely to provoke huge opposition from business groups again this time around.

The labor heads will also discuss the Obama team's ongoing transition efforts and evaluate whether they think labor has had an adequate role in behind-the-scenes discussions, the AFL official said.

One key topic: How labor can push harder right now for quick passage of an economic stimulus package, which labor leaders want done even before Obama takes office.

It's unclear whether the labor chiefs will try to coalesce around a choice for labor secretary at tomorrow's meeting. Among the names that have been floated for the gig: Rep. George Miller of California, SEIU president Andy Stern, former Rep. Dick Gephardt, former AFL official Linda Chavez-Thompson and former Rep. David Bonior, though Bonior has said he's not interested.

One sensitive topic likely to be discussed at the meeting: How the big unions can press their agenda aggressively right now, without being seen as publicly pushing the administration too hard at a point when it's just trying to find its footing. Labor's agenda dovetails in many ways with Obama's, but labor, just like every other series of powerful interest groups, is trying to strike the right balance in pressing the administration to prioritize their agenda.

We'll bring you more on the meeting after it happens.

Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewery and a pricey six pack (approx 17 dollars American - thanks, Doug), it's certainly worth the cost, especially when you're not paying (thanks, Doug). With the title "You're Not Worthy" below the label and the name Arrogant Bastard, you might, correctly, believe that you're about to rip into an in your face beer with plenty to think about. You'd be right. Beer Advocate's overall is an A-, and the Alstrom Brothers awarded it an A. I should mention that I haven't had regular Arrogant Bastard in almost a year, so I can't speak to the difference between the two.

A strong, sharp piney body with oak notes and hops in the aftertaste. Of note, the ingredient list claims that the brewers use "the most aggressive hops...abundant Arrogance...all with oak chips." For what it's worth, you aren't walloped with oak. At times it seemed as though the oak wasn't as prevalent as I had wanted. As far as seasonal, for a fall or winter beer this is ideal. It's a stronger ale that sits heavier on your pallet with light carbonation, and I can't foresee a time when I'd want to rip through a six pack in one sitting. That's not to say that it is overwhelming or too much for a casual drinker, but with the cost and complexity I can't imagine a point where it would be a good idea to consume more than one or two in a single evening/session.

And for what it's worth, I paired it with grilled chicken thighs with an acidic marinade and it seemed as though the contrast in flavors brought out some flavors.

Next up, I'm hoping to purchase a bottle of Saison Dupont or La Folie.

EFCA and Getting the Country Back on Track

(The inspiration for this post was a story in Sunday, 11 November's NYT: "After Push for Obama, Unions Seek New Rules: Priority is to Make it Easier to Unionize" by Steven Greenhouse.)

In the 111th Congress, one of the likely bills facing the Senate (it passed in the House) is the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which allows workers to organize when a majority of workers sign a card stating their preference for a union--known as card check. And the bill provides for binding arbitration if a contract is not agreed on after 120 days. Reps from the Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)--two of the most ardent pro-business and anti-union organizations--oppose the EFCA or any card check legislation, and they now claim that it will increase unionization and stifle business at a time when the country needs economic growth. To give you some perspective, NAM has been fighting an anti-union campaign since the end of the nineteenth century.

Here's the fundamental question, if unions don't get support now when will they? The fact remains: there have been no major gains for labor in times of prosperity. Since 1947, and really the end of WWII, labor has suffered legislative, judicial, and executive set-backs. Conservative opposition has carried the day in targeting unions. That's not to say that unions have been pure as the driven snow, but there has been nothing short of a campaign to reverse labor's gains made during the Great Depression's explosive CIO drives and the New Deal. (Specifically, Norris LaGuardia's anti-injunction provisions and the sweeping Wagner Act and its support by SCOTUS in '37 were monumental points of labor successes. But for the 20th century, those are the sole biggies.)

Make no mistake, NAM, the Chamber of Commerce, and their Republican allies have one goal in mind: destroy unions and curtail any organizing efforts. They've been successful for quite a while, and they will fight what they see as an obstacle to our unfettered free market capitalism. At the core, there is an essential matter that divides pro- and anti-union camps. Do you want economic growth that depends on cheap labor with little protection for workers? Or do you want social and economic justice in the workplace that guarantees workers' protection and their ability to prosper as a class? There doesn't seem to be any middle ground for anti-union proponents. Sure, they say they support unions, but the truth is they stand against any new pushes for organizing drives or any legislative efforts that could curtail their ability to fire pro-union workers or advocate against unions in the workplace prior to an NLRB vote.

Conservatives like David Brooks say it's a matter that should be ignored until later while the country gets back on track. The problem remains that if labor doesn't make gains now, there is little chance they will in the future. The argument is static and recycled regardless of the state of the economy or country: why impede economic growth by permitting union gains? That is their line for all seasons and conditions. The time is now; history's precedent is not favorable to unions if Obama doesn't push this through. I accept that he will be limited in what he can achieve, but this could have a lasting impact on the health of the working-class and its ability to survive and thrive.

Rahm

Obama's pick of Rahm Emanuel is telling. Some are questioning why he chose a man whose family were ardent Zionists and has a legacy of fighting for Israel. Be it his father's role in the Irgun or Rahm's volunteering with the IDF, there is no doubt that his family is tied with Israel. Those could be troubling issues, but I think that Obama's choice of Emanuel was nothing but cold hard politics. According to the Washington Post, Obama captured approximately 77% of the Jewish vote, so would he kowtow to Jewish voters by selecting a Rahm as chief of staff?

Rahm is a bad ass, he has significant authority in the House, and he helped numerous candidates raise money and achieve reelection. I think the most likely explanation is Obama knows Rahm well from Chicago politics, and he could believe that his presidency has the possibility to transform the United States and he needs enforcers on his side to limit the number of legislative impasses with the House. Rahm wouldn't be a legislative aide, but he could easily work in that capacity if the House goes wildcard. I expect he hopes Biden will perform a similar function.

Obama's leadership style seems to value discipline and uniformity when selling a message. I doubt he will have many problems with either side of our wonderful bicameral legislative bodies, but I think the concern about Rahm's link to Israel might be a bit overstated. I see where some would heartily disagree, but, if anything, he very well could plan on using Rahm to whip the Israelis into accepting American positions.

Winning in 2012

I know what you're thinking: eeeeeasyyyyyyyyyy, Tex. We just won the election and we're going to have a sitting Democratic president; the second in the past 28 years. But this government needs to take the reins quickly. The large issues must be resolved first: housing; health care; Iraq & Afghanistan; consumer confidence; energy. I can't offer ideas on housing and somewhat on health care because, I must admit, I am lacking in knowledge in those areas. With that being said, I do have some thoughts on areas the new administration could advance.

Ultimately, I think there are systemic problems with our economy and giving money to AIG, et al isn't the unique solution. This isn't a dilemma one can repair by pouring money into the fiscal system, even though I think it needed that infusion to stave off the worse. (Don't worry, I won't bore you with any Main Street-Wall Street comments.) Any greater answer to what has been heralded as a once in a century crisis will require multi-polar approaches and solutions.

Am I proposing some big-spending liberal agenda to restructure our economy and social order that hasn't been seen since the New Deal? Yes, in short, I think that's what the Obama presidency should seek to accomplish to float all the proverbial boats and erase the steep and shocking income inequality and shrinking real wages for most of us. I don't know if I believe a new political alignment can be built along the lines of the New Deal coalition, but I think the opportunity is presenting itself in this crisis. Rove's and others' belief in building a permanent Republican party are now seen to be hollow. I doubt the Democrats could do the same with some of the ideas I wrote above, but it would be a step in the right direction after being walloped and pressured into centrist/right leaning politics over nearly 30 years.

Foreign Policy
1. Close Guantanamo's detention center. Sure, it holds some very real enemies of the United States that were targeting the US and American troops in Afghanistan, but Guantanamo is a losing proposition for the US. It appears that, like Abu Ghraib, it's become synonymous the world over for the corruption of the US' standards for civility and human rights. At a moment when hope, change, and opportunity have been the dominant themes of the election, it's time to shutter Bush's gulag.

2. Implement micro-financing in Iraq in the style of Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. I wouldn't be surprised if this began, but I haven't heard much about the soft side of the US' occupation. This may or may not work, but my larger point is that the soft aspects of nation-building must be implemented sooner rather than later. With the surge's success, thanks to the Iraqis and the US, it's time for the US to consider pulling out and doing what it can to stabilize the social order. As everyone knows, throwing money at a problem isn't a solution but the non-lethal approaches to repairing Iraq must begin in earnest.

3. Improve the Afghanistan-Pakistan issue. With the potential of enemies encircling Pakistan, the Pakistanis (rightly) will not tolerate that possibility. The US doesn't have nearly enough political capital to resolve Afghanistan by itself, but the US can't get stuck in Afghanistan. There's a bad historical precedent.

4. Figure out Israel and Palestine. Okay, good luck on that one. But see if Abu Mazen can marshal the necessary steps to work with Israel, and see if Tzipi Livni is serious. On that same note, push Syria and Israel to resolve their long-standing disputes.

5. Open dialogue with the Iranians. If I were Iran I would be nervous about the US, too. We have them surrounded and the executive branch issues not so-veiled threats about military action. Provide the US interests section in Iran with meaning. Iran's economy is threatened by the dipping price of oil, and we're at a point where we have some leverage.

6. Accept that the Russians don't like being encircled by the US and we were partly to blame for the attack on Georgia. In some ways, physical containment hasn't ended and the Russians have begrudged the US' meddling in the Stans, Ukraine, Georgia, Serbia, Montenegro, etc. The Russians view that as their sphere of interest or buffer zone, and we need to step gingerly rather than tromping around and dumping millions of dollars into tiny states such as Georgia. Put differently, if the situation was reversed the US would be hard pressed to tolerate Russian involvement in Latin America.

7. Read Andrew Bacevich's Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism.

Labor, Capitol, & Jobs
1. Create programs to spur green jobs in the rust belt in manufacturing solar cells, hybrid and clean diesel vehicles, wind farms, machinery for geo thermal housing. This could allow the Democrats to rebuild a vibrant democratic party base in the Middle West and lock OH and IN into democratic voting states.

2. Adopt the Pickens Plan, but keep Boone out. Some of his past is shady and reprehensible--Swift Boating, comes to mind--but he has some solid ideas on how to turn the source of the country's energy consumption around. Installing wind farms in the center of the country and relying on local labor could go a far way toward building political capital for the Democrats in the center of the country. In other words, take the 50 state strategy to the next level and hammer the growth of jobs, jobs, jobs under Obama. People care about the environment, they really do, but economic self-interest comes first. I'm not wild about CNG cars, but it sure beats the alternative.

3. Subsidies for companies creating jobs in green industries.

4. Revamp America's infrastructure: electric and transportation. In Matthew Wald's August 2008 story on wind energy, Wald quoted Bill Richardson's comment that we still have a Third World power grid. The fact is that electricity is coursing through a dated and outmoded grid that struggles to accept the recovery of new energy rather than simply emitting energy. Roads, bridges, and mass transit needs funding and, in many cases, local initiative that can be assisted with government pushing. Here again, jobs, jobs, jobs.

5. Hire Andy Stern as the Secretary of Labor. Okay, that's just a guilty pleasure to have the head of the largest and growing union in the states (SEIU) lead the DoL.

6. Pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

7. Pass the Webb GI Bill. Historians, correctly, criticize the post-war GI Bill as a tool that was capitalized upon by upper-Middle Class men, and thus it neglected working-class, poor, women, African-Americans, and most minorities. We're at a time when we can not only update an option for those who served, but also ensure that it helps all of those who apply.

8. If money is given to bail out the automotive industry, the big three (or two depending on possible mergers) should be obligated to improve production of hybrid autos, cleaner diesels, and, generally, improve fuel milage. The automotive industry can help guide American consumers as much as it can reflect the consumers' choices. Fleets of gas-guzzling pick ups, hummers, SUVs, etc. should go the way of the dodo.

9. Follow through on the promise to make student loan interest rates easier. It's awfully difficult for doctors to chose primary care if they are shackled with decades of loan debt. Of course, I think it applies to other fields (like getting a nearly useless MA in history), but that case is most instructive.

10. Encourage Americans to save.

11. Give more financing to Teach for America and state and local programs--like Illinois' Golden Apple Foundation--if you seriously want to improve the quality and number of teachers.

Politics

1. Let the Republicans be the party of Ronald Reagan. Emphasize that Reagan's coalition is broken and life has moved on since 1988. The Republicans can be the party of the past while the Democrats are the party of the now and future. And if they trot out the spector of big government and Dutch's well-worn line about the ten worst words ("Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."), mention that there were people in New Orleans and around the country losing their homes and jobs who wanted desperately to hear those words under Republican rule.

2. Control the language better than in the past. Whose recession was that? Oh, yes, the Bush Recession.

3. Steep the Republicans as the party of the past whose policies led us into this mess.

4. Bush recently boasted to a Federalist society gathering that he altered the identity of the nation's appointed judges. Reverse that at all costs and prepare for the SCOTUS vacancies ahead of time. (I admit that I'm sure that's been done.)

Richard Avedon - Portraits of Power @ the Corcoran Gallery

As bourgeois as it sounds, one of my goals when I take a trip is to visit an art gallery or museum. I strolled through the National Gallery during my May '07 trip and didn't remember anything notable in the permanent collection, but the Jasper Johns exhibition offered a fascinating glimpse into studies for more famous works (eg, Flag and Target).

Sometimes the approach works (when in DC, NYC, etc.) but others it doesn't. Such as in Austin where I was underwhelmed but enjoyed the Theodore Suess Geisel drawings and sculpture.

I stopped at the Corcoran Art Gallery near the White House to see the Richard Avedon photo exhibit. I think I went in backwards because I started at the 2004 Democratic Convention photos, but it was at the same room with the Camelot retrospective. Overall, the majority of the photos were, as expected, portraits of people (politicians, actors & actresses, writers, editors, etc.) against simple white backgrounds. His "Family" collection (originally commissioned by Rolling Stone) examined the Ford administration's policy makers, many of which were Nixon holdovers, was a fascinating wall of photos. It doesn't seem as though Ford died two years ago--rather, much more recent--but the faces and legacies of the Nixon and Ford administrations, many of which are and were still quite active. Some of which I think the country could have done better without allowing a return to positions of significant authority.

One of the highlights was two contrasting photos: the Chicago Seven (below) and Defense Department and military officials in Saigon (such as Creighton Abrams). In a narrow room, one was forced to view the bearded, hirsute, and overall shaggy men with the others, neatly coiffed, in suits and ties; looking uptight facing the almost nothing to lose group of seven men who sought to do little more than upset the establishment apple cart. Fascinating arrangement and one of the highlights of the entire exhibition.

More Avedon

Chicago 7

Polar Columns

There couldn't be more disparate columns in today's NYT Op-Eds. Bob Herbert's column--while acknowledging the mess we're facing as a nation--noted that we are at a pivotal moment, and that we can pull out of this nosedive if we cut through the nonsensical cat-calls and attacks heard during this election. One finishes his column with the notion that our bird isn't cook.

On the opposite edge of the page, David Brooks is ready to tell us that not only is the bird over cooked, but it's been picked clean and the post-baby boom generation will be fighting for connective tissue. One of the dominant themes is the scarcity we'll face in the future, and it's hard to leave his column with a hopeful feeling. It's downright gloomy. Maybe if McSame III was heavily favored, it would be a different column.

I wonder what David Byrne sounds like when he's angry?

In Byrne's most recent blog post, he recounts the story of a Cleveland cab driver trying to stiff him for a hundred. Here's what he has to say:

"I say calmly to the driver, “Don’t do this, don’t go there,” but he keeps at it. A couple more calm exchanges, and then I snap. I start screaming at the top of my lungs at this guy, and remind him that “I’ve got your number in my back pocket and if you don’t fucking give me the money, I’ll call the cops, right now.” I have my hand on the door handle. He still hesitates and I continue to scream at him, “Alright, I’m calling the cops, you fucker.”

Bryne is a New Yorker so I doubt he has any reticence when it comes to screaming someone down, but I can't figure out what he must sound like? High-pitched, operatic yelling? Or clenched jaw, "I will end you" intensity?

Ker-splat goes the skateboarder

I nailed a skateboarder with my bike this morning on campus. Around 9:20 or so, the sidewalks aren't packed and I can ride my bike to my office in Hellems Hall. It was a situation where neither of us could tell which way the other was turning and I braked hard to stop. I wasn't going fast, he was going downhill, and it resulted with him crashing into me. Maybe I shouldn't have buried my helmet and shoulder into him. (I swear, it was an instinctual reaction to deflect the impact.) He took a nasty fall on the concrete but he didn't appear to bleed or chip a tooth, and he realized it was as much his fault as mine. (Except I had brakes.) His board punctured my bike tube and I had to waste time getting a patch for the snakebite.

Ingrid's blog

I know I'm supposed to be locked on my prospectus, but Ingrid updated her blog with video of her company's video for a client. If you want to see Ingrid dancing to thriller momentarily, it's a hit.

igetzit