{"id":15693,"date":"2015-02-01T00:52:28","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T08:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=15693"},"modified":"2015-02-01T00:52:28","modified_gmt":"2015-02-01T08:52:28","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-didnt-win-the-lottery-how-about-a-class-conscious-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-didnt-win-the-lottery-how-about-a-class-conscious-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Didn’t win the lottery? How about a class conscious movement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations on the Publication of <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Meszaros<\/a><\/p>\n

Snow? It’s A good day to listen to the Songs of Joe Hill www.folkarchive.de\/hill.html<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"joe-hill\"<\/a>Killed in Utah 1915<\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aZJHQqvs6mU<\/a><\/p>\n

US 46th on Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom index (beneath Romania) rsf.org\/index2014\/en-index2014.php<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

American Sniper: What can be learned and taught?\u00a0 <\/strong>The Kyle played by Bradley Cooper is similar to the one that comes through in his memoir. Cooper refers to Iraqis as \u201csavages\u201d throughout; Kyle sees the entire population of Iraq as the enemy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a worldview that\u2019s ingrained in Kyle from a young age. In the early scenes of the film, Kyle\u2019s father is lecturing Chris and his younger brother \u2014 who has just been beaten up on the playground \u2014 at the dinner table. The father\u2019s comments, which could just as easily have been uttered by any of Kyle\u2019s drill sergeants, are worth quoting at length. They are a window not just into Kyle, but the pathological mentality, that is partially responsible for keeping the US at war for a decade and a half\u00a0with an all-volunteer military:<\/p>\n

There are three types of people in this world: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. Some people prefer to think that evil doesn\u2019t exist in the world. If there were ever dark on their doorsteps, they wouldn\u2019t know how to protect themselves. Those are the sheep.<\/p>\n

Then you have predators who use violence to prey on the weak. They\u2019re wolves. Then there are those who are blessed with the gift of aggression with an overpowering need to protect the flock. These men are the rare breed who live to confront the wolf. They are the sheep dog.<\/p>\n

We are not raising any sheep in this family. [The father takes off his belt, throws it on the table, and moves toward Chris and his brother]. I will whoop your ass if you turn into a wolf.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For Kyle, the choice is hardly a choice at all: he must become an aggressive, wooly-eyed sheepdog if he wants to retain his father\u2019s love.\u00a0 www.jacobinmag.com\/2015\/01\/american-sniper-review\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fascism<\/a><\/p>\n

AIFRTE Condemns Police Attack on Students of SOL, Delhi University<\/strong><\/p>\n

All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) strongly condemns the vicious attack by the police on students of School of Open Learning (SOL), Delhi University peacefully demonstrating outside Shastri Bhawan for their legitimate demands. The demonstration was occasioned by stubborn attitude of Union Minister of Human Resource Development who has not responded to an earlier memorandum by the students. The matter was urgent as classes had not been held, courses had either not started or been left mid-way. With exams round the corner the students were left with no option but to demonstrate peacefully to get a speedy response.<\/p>\n

Prof. Madhu Prasad, Member Presidium and Spokesperson of AIFRTE, gave the following account of the situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was personally present right throughout the demonstration (which started at 12 noon on 30th January 2015) and was witness to the fact that it was completely peaceful. The students were gathered at the gate and were not disturbing traffic in the area either. Suddenly a police bus turned into the entrance and trapped the students between the closed gate and the bus. Then the police attacked the students and I saw several male police dragging the girls. I immediately intervened verbally and physically to prevent them from touching the girls until policewomen finally turned up. Even then I tried to prevent them from pulling the girls into the bus as they had not done any wrong and were merely demanding their rights as students to meet and submit their memorandum to the HRD Minister. But there was no attempt on the part of the police to be at all reasonable. They abused and roughed up the students and further confiscated the speaker being used by the students. When Alok (a student activist) and I objected to this, they spoke extremely rudely to us too, saying that if we were teachers then why we were instigating the students. Then they dragged Alok into the bus also.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Wisconsin\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Japan’s Leaders Still denying Fascist History as nation re-militarizes<\/strong>Prime Minister Shinzo Abe<\/a> of Japan<\/a> on Thursday criticized an American textbook that he said inaccurately depicted Japan<\/a>\u2019s actions during World War II, opening a new front in a battle to sway American views of the country\u2019s wartime history.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Parliament, Mr. Abe pledged to increase efforts to fight what he called mistaken views abroad concerning Japan\u2019s wartime actions, when the Japanese military conquered much of Asia. He singled out a high school history textbook published by McGraw-Hill Education that he said contained the sort of negative portrayals that Japan must do more to combat.<\/p>\n

In particular, he objected to a description of women forced to work in Japanese military brothels during the war, a highly fraught issue in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. The textbook is used in some public schools in California.\u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2015\/01\/30\/world\/asia\/japans-premier-disputes-us-textbooks-portrayal-of-comfort-women.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Fake Colleges (which ones aren’t?)\u00a0 <\/strong>From her hometown in India in 2010, Bhanu Challa said she had no reason to doubt that Tri-Valley University was a legitimate American school where she could pursue a master’s degree. Its website featured smiling students in caps and gowns and promised a leafy campus in a San Francisco Bay Area suburb.<\/p>\n

Months later, her hands were in cuffs as federal investigators questioned her motives for being in the U.S. Authorities told her that Tri-Valley was a sham school. It was selling documents that allowed foreigners to obtain U.S. student visas, and in some cases work in the country, while providing almost no instruction, according to federal investigators.<\/p>\n

“I was blank, totally blank …,” she said, recalling her shock. “I didn’t know what to do, who I could approach.”<\/p>\n

Tri-Valley is among at least half a dozen schools shut down or raided by federal authorities in recent years over allegations of immigration fraud. Like Tri-Valley, they had obtained permission from U.S. immigration officials to admit foreign students.\u00a0 www.mercurynews.com\/crime-courts\/ci_27385999\/fake-schools-california-draw-scrutiny-federal-investigators<\/a><\/p>\n

But most offered little or no instruction or didn’t require all students to attend classes, instead exploiting the student visa system for profit, investigators said.\u00a0 www.montereyherald.com\/general-news\/20150129\/fake-schools-in-california-draw-scrutiny-of-federal-investigators<\/a><\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZszE6ffA7uA<\/a><\/p>\n

Tx Mom Complains. Commie Book Under Review <\/strong>A Texas mother recently voiced opposition to a book about poverty she described as “Marxist,” prompting a committee in Highland Park to review whether the book is appropriate for students.<\/p>\n

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Meg Bakich originally challenged “The Working Poor: Invisible in America”<\/a> in December, the Dallas Morning News<\/a> reported last week. In a recent interview, Bakich told online talk show “Women on the Wall”<\/a> that she felt it was inappropriate for students to read about social issues in English class.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The book, written by journalist David Shipler about Americans living near the poverty line, is taught in Highland Park Advanced Placement English classes.<\/p>\n

“I realized there is a real agenda here because [the school] explained to me English III is teaching social issues,” she said, according to Raw Story<\/a>. “How is that going to help my child read better and write better?”http:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/livewire\/texas-school-poverty-book-marxist<\/p>\n

Letter to the Teacher Who Changed My Life\u00a0 <\/strong>Neal Tonken taught me English in 10th<\/sup> grade. He changed my life. He died last week. I don\u2019t remember what he taught me about how to start an essay, but that\u2019s the way he would have started it.<\/p>\n

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He was clear and direct in his writing. Our first day of class in 1984 was his first day too. He\u2019d been a lawyer and chucked it all to teach. He brought a bag of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jelly. He asked us to describe how to make a sandwich. Then he read our instructions out loud, following along literally, placing the jar on top of the bag of bread. We\u2019d forgotten basic elements like removing the bread from the bag or taking the lids off the jars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cDear John, How nice to hear from you,\u201d starts a letter he wrote me in 1991. \u201cDon\u2019t choose law.\u201d Direct. Clear. My letter that prompted his response was the opposite.\u00a0 www.slate.com\/articles\/life\/education\/2015\/01\/my_10th_grade_english_teacher_changed_my_life_i_got_to_say_thank_you_before.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Those CSU Student “Success” Fees (tax) <\/strong>Student graduation rates, state budget issues and other topics will be discussed Tuesday in Cal State University Chancellor Timothy P. White\u2019s State of the CSU speech.<\/p>\n

White<\/a> will deliver the address ahead of the 23-campus system\u2019s Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, during which weighty topics such as guidelines for the controversial student success fees will be discussed and voted on.<\/p>\n

The fees, which are in place on 12 CSU campuses, range as high as $780 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to $35 at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson. While CSU administrators say the fees are needed to fund the hiring of professors and advisers, as well as to increase services, students have said<\/a> they have been used to skirt a CSU tuition freeze at $5,472 set in 2012.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers last summer placed a moratorium on any new fees until 2016, after new guidelines are established.<\/p>\n

A CSU working group established last June<\/a> found that the fees average $300 and make up 21 percent of all mandatory fees on the 12 campuses. The working group is recommending to trustees that all future success fees be put to a student vote with a simple majority needed to pass. It also wants a sunset of six years for newly implemented fees, at which time they can be cut by another student vote.\u00a0 www.presstelegram.com\/social-affairs\/20150125\/chancellor-timothy-p-white-to-deliver-state-of-csu-address-students-fees-on-trustees-agenda<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Butler<\/a>US Military to Afghan War Stats: Shut up!\u00a0 <\/strong>In late December, as they do every few months, American military officials in Kabul sent a trove of data to the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction<\/a> for its quarterly report. Over the years, such figures have told an often dispiriting story about Washington\u2019s enormous investment in the country\u2019s security forces, laying out their size, readiness, attrition level and the state of their infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Five days later, military officials followed up with an unusual request. Commanders in Afghanistan informed the inspector general\u2019s office that they had decided to classify the bulk of that data. The decision came after the military, late last year, classified a periodic report that the inspector general has used over the years as the primary source to assess the state of Afghan forces. The stated reason? It could give the enemy the upper hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith lives literally on the line, I am sure that you can join me in recognizing that we must be careful to avoid providing sensitive information to those that threaten our forces and Afghan forces, particularly information that can be used by such opposing forces to sharpen their attacks,\u201d Gen. John Campbell, the American commander in Afghanistan, wrote to the inspector general, John Sopko, on Jan. 18.<\/p>\n

The threats that Afghan and American troops face in Afghanistan remain all too real. But it strains credulity to believe that insurgents would become more proficient fighters by poring over lengthy inspector general reports about an increasingly forgotten war. Classifying that information unreasonably prevents American taxpayers from drawing informed conclusions about the returns on a $107.5 billion reconstruction investment that, adjusted for inflation, has surpassed the price tag of the Marshall Plan.\u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2015\/01\/29\/opinion\/inconvenient-truths-in-afghanistan.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n