{"id":22081,"date":"2018-10-07T00:40:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-07T08:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=22081"},"modified":"2018-10-07T01:46:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T09:46:48","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-lets-turn-to-the-purpose-of-law-in-a-capitalist-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-lets-turn-to-the-purpose-of-law-in-a-capitalist-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Let’s Turn to the Purpose of “law” in a Capitalist Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

The state is nothing but an instrument of oppression of one class by another–no less so in a democratic republic than in a monarchy.<\/strong><\/em>
\nFriedrich Engels, preface to Kark Marx, The Civil War in France, 1891<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Engels says: <\/strong><\/em>
\n“The state is, therefore, by no means a power forced on society from without; just as little is it<\/strong><\/em>‘the reality of the ethical idea’, ‘the image and reality of reason’, as Hegel maintains. Rather, it <\/strong><\/em>is a product of society at a certain stage of development; it is the admission that this society <\/strong><\/em>has become entangled in an insoluble contradiction with itself, that it has split into <\/strong><\/em>irreconcilable antagonisms which it is powerless to dispel. But in order that these antagonisms, <\/strong><\/em>these classes with conflicting economic interests, might not consume themselves and society in fruitless struggle, it became necessary to have a power, seemingly standing above society, that would<\/strong> <\/em>alleviate the conflict and keep it within the bounds of ‘order’; and this power, arisen out of society but placing itself above it, and alienating itself more and more from it, is the state.”<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

L.A. and Long Beach port truckers and warehouse workers begin strike<\/h1>\n

\"L.A.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Truck drivers and warehouse workers who serve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach began striking Monday morning in front of warehouses serving the ports, protesting the classification of drivers as independent contractors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

A primary picket line formed at 7 a.m. in front of XPO Logistics Inc. facilities in Commerce and San Diego and an NFI Industries Inc. location in Wilmington, said Barbara Maynard, spokeswoman for the Justice for Port Drivers campaign that is supported by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

By 7:40 a.m., workers were also starting to demonstrate at customer and distributor warehouses, including Toyota\u2019s facility in Long Beach, Puma in Torrance and Amazon in Moreno Valley, Maynard said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The strike has had no effect so far on cargo flow, said Rachel Campbell, spokeswoman for the Port of Los Angeles. XPO Logistics said it didn\u2019t expect any effect on customers or day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The strike, which is expected to last through Wednesday, is the 16th by the port truck drivers in the last five years. The union contends that the truck drivers have been wrongly classified as independent contractors, rather than employees, and are not paid the wages they are owed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Cherry Hill, N.J.-based NFI said in a statement that the Teamsters were \u201clooking to force representation\u201d on drivers who \u201cwant to continue to be their own bosses and run their own small businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cWe respect their desire to operate as independent business people and not as employees of our companies or the hundreds of other trucking companies that are currently looking to hire employee drivers,\u201d NFI said in the statement.\u00a0 www.latimes.com\/business\/la-fi-port-truckers-strike-20181001-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Detroit students strike for safe water on Count Day (capitalist schools count $s)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0Two dozen students gathered in a Midtown common room instead of attending classes Wednesday \u2014 Michigan’s fall Count Day\u00a0\u2014 to demand safe drinking water throughout the Detroit Public Schools Community District.<\/p>\n

The students gathered at Cass Corridor Commons for classes on\u00a0the impact\u00a0of lead and copper poisoning, how to test water at home, natural remedies and a history of student activism. The #DoWeCount strike demanded city-wide water testing, support for wraparound services for those with poisoning\u00a0and the attention of officials to act now. …<\/p>\n

In the meantime, schools are using water coolers, which will cost the district $200,000 for the next several months.<\/p>\n

The students said they were forced to act on Count Day after their voices weren’t heard at a series of meetings held by\u00a0Vitti.<\/p>\n

“We’re given the runaround, told to be quiet, to stay in our places\u00a0and to let them work,” said Imani Sharp, 17, a senior at Mumford High School. “We have no problem with the hydration systems if they can show statistics about how they work, and the water coolers aren’t a solution if they’re always empty.”<\/p>\n

According to the Michigan Department of Education<\/a>, students with excused absences on Count\u00a0Day can still be accounted for within 30 days. Students with unexcused absences who attend school within 10 days also will be counted. The count also applies to suspended students who attend within 45 calendar days of Count Day.<\/p>\n

DPSCD receives\u00a0$7,900 for each student counted<\/p>\n

www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/detroit-city\/2018\/10\/03\/detroit-students-demand-clean-water-count-day-strike\/1512727002\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Vets opposing Miramar Air show make bold statement<\/h1>\n

Veterans protesting Miramar Air Show as \u2018Disneyland of War\u2019<\/a>\u201d<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\u00a0\"<\/p>\n

www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/opinion\/letters-to-the-editor\/sd-miramar-air-show-utak-letters-20170906-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stanford University to remove slaver Junipero Serra name from buildings, mall <\/span><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Stanford University announced plans Thursday to remove Fr. Junipero Serra\u2019s name from two buildings and a key mall on campus, but will retain the name of the founder of the California mission system on other campus features.<\/p>\n

In a release, the university noted that while Serra was the \u201cfounder and clearly identified leader of the California mission system, which played a role in the founding of modern California,\u201d the legacy of the Roman Catholic priest includes the \u201charmful and violent impacts of the mission system on Native Americans, including through forced labor, forced living arrangements and corporal punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanford plans to change the name of Serra Mall, the pedestrian and bicycle mall at the front of campus that serves as the university\u2019s official address, to \u201cJane Stanford Way\u201d in honor of the university\u2019s co-founder. The university will soon begin the process of seeking approval from Santa Clara County and the U.S. Postal Service to rename Serra Mall.\u00a0 www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/09\/14\/stanford-to-remove-junipero-serra-name-from-buildings-mall\/<\/a><\/p>\n

S<\/span>hut it Down!<\/h1>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Five percent of all U.S. workers in K-12 public education walked out on strike this spring. It\u2019s by far the biggest spike in teacher strikes in a quarter-century.<\/p>\n

The strikers included educators from North Carolina (123,000), Arizona (81,000), Colorado (63,000), Oklahoma (45,000), West Virginia (35,000), Kentucky (26,000), and Jersey City (3,600).<\/p>\n

These figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks \u201cwork stoppages\u201d (strikes and lockouts) involving 1,000 or more workers and lasting one or more shifts. The agency gathers its data from public news sources, such as newspapers and the Internet.<\/p>\n

The data for January to June of this year show that 376,800 K-12 public educators participated in big strikes. We didn\u2019t include a higher-education strike by 53,000 AFSCME members at the University of California.\u00a0 www.labornotes.org\/blogs\/2018\/10\/teacher-strike-wave-numbers<\/a><\/p>\n

Unionized Judges and Public Defenders Demand Due Process for Immigrants<\/h1>\n
\"Protesters<\/div>\n

Why have New York City public defenders been walking out of the courts in the middle of the day to hold spirited demonstrations in support of their clients?<\/p>\n

The outcry began last November when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reported to lurk in the vicinity of the courts, targeting people as they entered or exited court proceedings.<\/p>\n

Legal Aid client Genaro Rojas Hernandez was meeting with his lawyer in Brooklyn when ICE agents grabbed him.<\/p>\n

The arrest sparked an impromptu walkout by dozens of Legal Aid Society\u2019s public defenders, members of Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2325, to demand that the state agency that runs the courts must stop cooperating with ICE.<\/p>\n

Legal and immigrant rights advocates have continued the fight ever since. Two hundred lawyers and allies rallied in March, insisting that ICE presence in public courts can intimidate and prevent New Yorkers from showing up to proceedings and thus interfere with equal access to adequate representation.\u00a0 truthout.org\/articles\/unionized-judges-and-public-defenders-demand-due-process-for-immigrants\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Scramble The Seawolves- The Latest lies from Corporate Not-so Public Broadcasting about the imperialist wars on Vietnam<\/h1>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

www.pbs.org\/video\/scramble-the-seawolves-yacuzi\/<\/a><\/p>\n

China\u2019s Leaders Confront an Unlikely Foe: Ardent Young Communists<\/span><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They were exactly what China\u2019s best universities were supposed to produce: young men and women steeped in the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n

They read Marx, Lenin and Mao and formed student groups to discuss the progress of socialism. They investigated the treatment of the campus proletariat, including janitors, cooks and construction workers. They volunteered to help struggling rural families and dutifully recited the slogans of President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n

Then, after graduation, they attempted to put the party\u2019s stated ideals into action, converging from across China last month on Huizhou, a city in the south, to organize labor unions at nearby factories and stage protests demanding greater protections for workers.\u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2018\/09\/28\/world\/asia\/china-maoists-xi-protests.html?action=click&module=Top+Stories&pgtype=Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

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

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

Money battle now favors SoccerCity foes and in capitalist schools, it IS all about the money<\/h1>\n

Padres scamster John Moores and allies help SDSU option<\/em><\/h3>\n

Since late August, more than $1.7 million has poured into the coffers of forces battling the takeover of city-owned Qualcomm Stadium by SoccerCity, a group of wealthy La Jolla investors who have a friend in San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer<\/a> but not the city’s political fat cats, including ex-Padres owner John Moores.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, September 20 alone, a grand total of $871,000 was raised by two political committees seeking to block SoccerCity, with the bulk of the money, $780,000, provided in two equal payments by Mission Valley development giants Sudberry Properties and H.F. Fenton Company to a committee calling itself Public Land, Public Benefit. That fund is waging a take-no-prisoners campaign against Measure E, SoccerCity’s proposal on November’s ballot.<\/p>\n

The balance of the super Thursday cash, $91,000, was anted up for Friends of SDSU, promoting Measure G, a competing ballot proposition that if it beats SoccerCity at the ballot box would turn the former stadium land over to San Diego State University. $25,000 donors to the cause included ex-city manager Jack McGrory, a California State University trustee leading the drive, and Stephen Doyle, ex-president of the San Diego division of Brookfield Homes.<\/p>\n

ServiceNow’s Frederic Luddy kicked in $25,000. He and his onetime associate Moores,<\/a> whose JMI Realty came up with $22,000 for the SDSU backers on September 19, featured prominently in one of the city’s biggest-ever financial meltdowns, the stock scandal at Peregrine Systems.<\/a> As recounted by Don Bauder in January 2015, JMI Equity owned 49 percent of ServiceNow after it was taken public in mid-2012.<\/p>\n

…another Moores venture, college athletics business consulting company JMI Sports, has longtime connections to SDSU. The firm hired the university’s former athletic director Jeff Schemmel after he left the school under a shadow in November 2009 regarding the use of state funds to visit a mistress in Alabama.<\/a> In April of this year, JMI was retained to draw up SDSU’s plans<\/a> for the school’s Mission Valley stadium project that is now at the center of November’s ballot battle.\u00a0 www.sandiegoreader.com\/news\/2018\/sep\/24\/ticker-money-battle-now-favors-soccercity-foes\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hoaxers Slip Breastaurants and Dog-Park Sex Into Journals<\/span><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

One paper, published in a journal called Sex Roles, said that the author had conducted a two-year study involving \u201cthematic analysis of table dialogue\u201d to uncover the mystery of why heterosexual men like to eat at Hooters.<\/p>\n

Another, from a journal of feminist geography, parsed \u201chuman reactions to rape culture and queer performativity\u201d at dog parks in Portland, Ore., while a third paper, published in a journal of feminist social work and titled \u201cOur Struggle Is My Struggle,\u201d simply scattered some up-to-date jargon into passages lifted from Hitler\u2019s \u201cMein Kampf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such offerings may or may not have raised eyebrows among the journals\u2019 limited readerships. But this week, they unleashed a cascade of mockery \u2014 along with a torrent of debate about ethics of hoaxes, the state of peer review and the excesses of academia \u2014 when they were revealed to be part of an elaborate prank aimed squarely at what the authors labeled \u201cgrievance studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething has gone wrong in the university \u2014 especially in certain fields within the humanities,\u201d the three authors of the fake papers wrote in an article<\/a> in the online journal Areo explaining what they had done. \u201cScholarship based less upon finding truth and more upon attending to social grievances has become firmly established, if not fully dominant, within these fields.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Their project quickly drew comparisons to a famous 1996 hoax<\/a> in which the physicist Alan Sokal got a paper mixing postmodern philosophy with the theory of quantum gravity into a prestigious cultural studies journal.<\/p>\n

But while that hoax involved a single article, the new one involved 20 papers, produced every two weeks or so, submitted to various journals over nearly a year.<\/p>\n

The authors \u2014 Helen Pluckrose, James A. Lindsay and Peter Boghossian \u2014 said that four papers had been published; three had been accepted but not yet published; seven were under review and six had been rejected.\u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2018\/10\/04\/arts\/academic-journals-hoax.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

Yo Soy SDSU<\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA<\/p><\/div>\n

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

\"Image<\/p>\n

Chinese and American warships nearly collide<\/span><\/h1>\n

Tempers are flaring as the South China Sea grows crowded<\/em><\/p>\n

IT IS getting hard to sail across the South China Sea without bumping into a warship. On September 30th an American destroyer (the\u00a0USS Decatur<\/em>, pictured) passed within 50 metres of a Chinese naval vessel which was conducting \u201cunsafe and unprofessional\u201d manoeuvres, according to the Americans. Earlier in the month Japan sent a submarine to conduct drills in the sea for the first time. In August a British warship was confronted there by Chinese ships and jets. And this month ships from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and Britain will take part in more than two weeks of joint naval drills in the same crowded waters.<\/p>\n

The maritime hubbub is an attempt to push back against China\u2019s claim to the entire South China Sea, which other littoral states dispute and which a UN tribunal has rubbished. China wants military vessels and aircraft to\u00a0notify it before passing through the sea, something America and others would view as an infringement of international norms even if China\u2019s claims had been upheld. To make matters even more fraught, China has reclaimed land around a series of reefs and rocks in the sea to build bases teeming with guns, missiles and radar. Should these constructions be deemed rocks or islands under international law, and rightful Chinese territory, then certain restrictions would apply to military vessels passing within 12 nautical miles. But America and the UN tribunal, among others, consider several of them \u201clow-tide elevations\u201d\u2014shoals, in effect\u2014that do not enjoy the same rights. America and its allies keep sending warships to sail around the sea in ways that demonstrate that they do not accept China\u2019s position.\u00a0 www.economist.com\/asia\/2018\/10\/02\/chinese-and-american-warships-nearly-collide?cid1=cust\/ddnew\/email\/n\/n\/2018102n\/owned\/n\/n\/ddnew\/n\/n\/n\/nNA\/Daily_Dispatch\/email&etear=dailydispatch&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily_Dispatch&utm_term=2018102<\/a><\/p>\n

Pence\u2019s China Speech Seen as Portent of \u2018New Cold War\u2019<\/span><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vice President Mike Pence\u2019s accusations in a stinging speech<\/a> Thursday warning of a tougher approach toward Beijing may have been familiar to China\u2019s leaders. But until now, such remarks were delivered in private, in fairly decorous terms, and rarely threatened direct action.<\/p>\n

The surprise this time for Beijing was the magnitude of alleged offenses piled up in one public indictment<\/a>, ranging from suspected interference in American politics<\/a> to China\u2019s stomping on the freedoms of its own people. Nor had the United States ever before told China: \u201cWe will not stand down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Publicly, China responded with a certain weariness, calling the speech \u201cvery ridiculous,\u201d creating \u201csomething out of thin air,\u201d but also warning that \u201cno one can stop\u201d the Chinese people from advancing.<\/p>\n

Behind closed doors, however, Mr. Pence\u2019s remarks probably left few doubts among China\u2019s leaders that Washington was embarking on a Cold War<\/a> that would force the country to dig in for a prolonged multifront battle with the United States, analysts said.<\/p>\n

The leaders were no doubt angry and embarrassed that the Trump administration went all-out publicly with confrontational language that is considered unacceptable in Chinese culture, which prefers sweet phrases to disguise stern measures.<\/p>\n

Some of Mr. Pence\u2019s declarations, like saying Washington\u2019s trade policy most likely caused a 25 percent fall in China\u2019s largest stock exchange in the first nine months of this year, could be dismissed as inaccurate, since trade tensions were one of several factors. Similarly, the claim that the United States \u201crebuilt China\u201d over the last 25 years could be shrugged off as dubious and unfair.<\/p>\n

But it was unmistakably clear that the era of Washington holding out a hand to Beijing to become a \u201cresponsible stakeholder\u201d in world affairs alongside the United States \u2014 a phrase used in 2005 by Robert B. Zoellick, then the deputy secretary of state \u2014 was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will look like the declaration of a new Cold War, and what China may do is more important than what it will say about Pence\u2019s speech,\u201d said Zhang Baohui, professor of international relations at Lingnan University in Hong Kong.\u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2018\/10\/05\/world\/asia\/pence-china-speech-cold-war.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Chinese armed drones now flying over Mideast battlefields. Here\u2019s why they\u2019re gaining on US drones<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n
\n

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates \u2014 High above Yemen\u2019s rebel-held city of Hodeida, a drone controlled by Emirati forces<\/a> hovered as an SUV carrying a top Shiite Houthi <\/a>rebel official turned onto a small street and stopped, waiting for another vehicle in its convoy to catch up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Seconds later, the SUV exploded in flames, killing Saleh al-Samad, a top political figure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The drone that fired that missile in April was not one of the many American aircraft that have been buzzing across the skies of Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001. It was Chinese<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Across the Middle East, countries locked out of purchasing U.S.-made drones due to rules over excessive civilian casualties are being wooed by Chinese arms dealers, who are world’s main distributor of armed drones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“The Chinese product now doesn’t lack technology, it only lacks market share,” said Song Zhongping, a Chinese military analyst and former lecturer at the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force University of Engineering. “And the United States restricting its arms exports is precisely what gives China a great opportunity.”<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The sales are helping expand Chinese influence across a region vital to American security interests<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“It’s a hedging strategy and the Chinese will look to benefit from that,” said Douglas Barrie, an airpower specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “I think the Chinese are far less liable to be swayed by concerns over civilian casualties,” he said.\u00a0\u00a0 www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/03\/chinese-armed-drones-now-flying-over-mideast-battlefields-heres-why-theyre-gaining-on-us-drones\/<\/a><\/p>\n