Tag: Politics
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Organize 2020 and Durham’s Tipping Point
I’m posting today to ask folks to consider supporting an Indie Go Go campaign currently heading into its final week by Organize 2020, the social justice caucus of the North Carolina Association of Educators. As an active member of this group, I have been impressed by the commitment, vision and integrity of people involved in this…
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Dirty Harry Does Diversity.1: Magnum Tucked In Tweed
One of the weirder phenomena of early 21st century cinema has been the emergence of Clint Eastwood as would-be spokesman for various groups marginalized by the white male power structure his famed ’70’s character Dirty Harry once defended with a famously long phallic symbol. Million Dollar Baby (2004) concerned itself with issues of gender and…
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Top 40 Over 40.16: Holding It Down
One possible answer to the question I posed in my post on Reckoning with REM – How come their early portraits of Southern life never said anything about the history of racist violence and forced labor in their native Georgia, even on their album Fables of the Reconstruction / Reconstruction of the Fables? – is that…
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Corporate Welfare.6: Pulling a Fast One
UC Berkeley’s Labor Center has published a new study on the role public subsidies play in the business model of fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. Like the other corporations in this series of posts, it turns out that these firms surreptitiously pocket billions in public subsidies while preaching the doctrine of…
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Corporate Welfare.4: Avoid Amazon
Salon.com published a piece today with the provocative title, “Amazon is worse than Walmart.” Their argument centers on the notion that Amazon’s business strategy for years has been to accept near-perennial losses on a quarterly and yearly basis in exchange for achieving a near monopoly size “market share.” Walmart, by contrast, actually makes a profit.…
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Corporate Welfare.3: Welfare Wings
Today the Real News Network, who I encourage you to support during their current drive to win a matching gift, is reporting that “the Michigan strategic fund has decided to issue $450 million in bonds for a new stadium for the Detroit Red Wings, 44% of which will be financed publicly,” while the city is…