Shazam!

Gaaaaa-uhhhhh-lllleeeeeee!!!!!

(But thanks for coming in out of the cold, finally!)

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The political consequences of academic paywalls

“The suicide of Aaron Swartz, the activist committed to making scholarly research accessible to everyone, has renewed debate about the ethics of academic publishing. Under the current system, academic research is housed in scholarly databases, which charge as much as $50 per article to those without a university affiliation. The only people who profit from this system are academic publishers. Scholars receive no money from the sale of their articles, and are marginalized by a public who cannot afford to read their work. Ordinary people are denied access to information and prohibited from engaging in scholarly debate.”

Excellent reporting from Dr. Sarah Kendzior on Aljazeera.com.

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Opt Out!

Opt out of high stakes testing and resist all “market-based reforms” that seek to privatize and destroy public education.

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Jayne Cortez: 10-May-34 — 28-Dec-12

“The poet Jayne Cortez, who has died aged 78, was unambiguous about her craft: “Words are musical – there’s nothing more to say about it. That’s it! … There is the sound of the voice … and your attitude you put on top of it.”

“And if we don’t fight

if we don’t resist

if we don’t organise and unify and

get the power to control our own lives

then we will wear

the exaggerated look of captivity

the stylised look of submission

the bizarre look of suicide

the dehumanised look of fear

and the decomposed look of repression

forever and ever and ever

And there it is.”

Lengthier obit at the New York Times.

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How Many Slaves Work For You?

My number was 43 … If anything, it shows that not much has changed in 150 years. Troubling that 150 years represents just … a slow beginning.

Background: The history/journalist geek in me notes that today is the Sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation – it’s Jubilee Day. Five days after the bloodiest single day in American history (Sept. 17, 1862) left 23,000 dead, injured or missing in the fields, lanes and bridges around Antietam, MD, Lincoln issued his preliminary proclamation, which went into effect 100 days later, Jan. 1, 1863. It helped keep Britain and France out of the war and led to the passage of the 13th Amendment in December of 1865. Lincoln referred to it again on the field of Gettysburg when he spoke of a “new birth of freedom.”

Slavery, even in the United States, still exists in various forms, however. AgainstOurWill.org reports that between 12 and 27 million people worldwide are estimated to be enslaved. The State Dept. estimates that 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year to feed the market. More than 70% of those are female, half are children.

Demand for goods and services produced by trafficking victims is what makes human trafficking a multi-billion dollar industry. So, on this sesquicentennial, get an estimate on how your lifestyle feeds the trafficking industry from http://slaveryfootprint.org/. Take the survey and find out … how many slaves work for you?

My number? 43. An estimated 43 human beings held against their will, around the world and here in the US, work to make things like our furniture, my iPad, the fruits and vegetables in our refrigerator.

In other words, celebrate today as the moment when slavery yielded to freedom, a moment purchased by the blood of a million Americans in the Civil War. And remember today that we still have much work to do to ensure that that blood expenditure was not made in vain.

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The Voyage of the HMS Clueless

Truly sailing in a world created of their own delusions. But I wish New York magazine would warn people before they post pics of Ralph Reed in a bathing suit.

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