George Carlin, R.I.P.

Shit Piss Fuck Cunt Cocksucker Motherfucker Tits

Curt Schilling

Curt Schilling

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun

Curt Schilling is set to undergo shoulder surgery today, something troubling
for any major league baseball pitcher, but especially so for someone 42 years old.

Even Curt’s own blog , not to mention all the news and internet coverage, hints that this may be the end of his career.

I thought he was one of the most interesting people in sports,
someone willing to speak his mind, someone intelligent enough to put
thought behind the words and demonstrate his clearly thought-out
philosophy and world view. I wasn’t thrilled with the right-wing
politics, but it was refreshing to hear a player discuss something other
than pre-chewed cliches.

There were many historic moments in the greatest comeback in sports playoff
history: Big Papi’s two walk-off hits, Damon’s grand slam, Dave Robert’s
steal: but above them all is the bloody sock. Curt had his ankle
sheath sewn into his bone to allow him the strength to push off on
his right foot when he pitched: not once, but twice. He shut down
the Yankees to tie the playoff series at 3-3 (after the Sox had been
down 0-3) and cruised through the Cardinals to win Game 2 of the 2004
World Series.

Like everyone else, I hope this isn’t the end, just another in the
series of amazing comebacks by Curt Schilling. If it isn’t to be,
all I can offer is my profound thanks for 2004 and Curt’s
contributions to the victory that changed everything. It’s a Red Sox
Nation now, no little thanks to the courage and talent of Curt
Schilling.



“Yes, We Have No Bananas . . .”

Fascinating op-ed piece in the NYT on bananas. I had been aware of the sordid history of United Fruit (now Chiquita) and how they brutalized workers in Central and South America and leveraged their power to turn America’s foreign policy into United Fruit’s foreign policy. They even helped the CIA overthrow the elected government of Arbenz in Guatemala in the late 1950’s.

Author Dan Koeppel (”Banana: The Fate Of the Fruit That Changed The World) points out that the banana is the fast food of the fruit world. The fruit is grown only in tropical areas thousands of miles away and responsible for deforestation and other factory farming techniques. Its popularity and extremely low price has been created both by the heavy-handed labor and political activities of companies like United Fruit and by the benefits of low fuel prices (in order to both transport the bananas and to keep them refrigerated.)

Koeppel believes that prices will begin to soar as fuel costs also continue their inexorable climb. But perhaps more threatening is the fruit companies’ decision to invest in only one variety of fruit, the Cavendish, the commercial banana eaten all over the world–despite the existence of thousands of banana varieties, most unknown outside of Asia. A fungus epidemic could wipe out what is a banana monoculture, threatening the existence of the fruit. Far fetched? It’s already happened. In the early 1900’s everyone was eating a monoculture banana called the Gros Michel. A fungus called Panama disease washed over the region and by 1960 had made the Gros Michel variety extinct. The Cavenbdish variety was brought in from China and survived the fungus–even though the product was less tasty and more easily bruised than the Gros Michel.

Koeppel reports that a new, more virulent, strain of Panama disease has arisen and will threaten the Latin American growing fields. Banana companies have done little to invest in ways to counteract the fungus and next to nothing to preserve other varieties of bananas. Koeppel even foresees the end of bananas:

In recent years, American consumers have begun seeing the benefits — to health, to the economy and to the environment — of buying foods that are grown close to our homes. Getting used to life without bananas will take some adjustment. What other fruit can you slice onto your breakfast cereal? But bananas have always been an emblem of a long-distance food chain. Perhaps it’s time we recognize bananas for what they are: an exotic fruit that, some day soon, may slip beyond our reach.

New York State, A Creepy Big Brother

New York State, A Creepy Big Brother

Governor Patterson is hosting a
series of Town Hall meetings
around the state to gather information about the fragile economic security
of low income families in New York.

In order to register our folks to testify at the Syracuse hearing
I had to go to the website and send an e-RSVP.

This is what I got back in response:

“Thank you for making an RSVP request. The request has been sent and
will be looked at by the appropriate people. “

It’s Not About The Money. It’s Public Service.

Mayor Driscoll Skips Both SUN Meetings On Vacant Houses

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun

According to today’s Post-Standard, the Mayor’s pay raise is a sure thing. I was quoted in the article, but I managed to merely paraphrase our member’s opinions. I avoided pontificating on the issue as if I spoke for the organization. That is not my role as an organizer.

However, it is my job as a blogger! And I’ve got issues!

The rate increase is retroactive. If this were truly not about the current occupant why not make it apply only to the incoming Mayor?

No one becomes Mayor because of the nice pay packet and the health insurance. If people are discouraged from running for the office because they may have to take a pay cut–we don’t want them. This isn’t a company manufacturing widgets , this is public service.

Executive compensation is an upper middle-class racket. The talking points are always the same–we will not be able to attract the really talented and gifted people we want for these top spots unless the pay is astronomical. Well I’m calling bullshit on that. Plenty of well-qualified candidates spend a lot of their own money competing for this job at every election.

Some people are concerned that the name at the top of the organizational chart doesn’t have the highest salary. I’m not overly concerned with that situation. The Mayor has a lot of institutional power that ensures his authority will be respected down through the ranks. Besides, people doing jobs like cops, firefighters and DPW workers SHOULD make more money than the Mayor. They do hard, dangerous and unpleasant jobs that merit top compensation.

Syracuse is a city that is perpetually cutting services while simultaneously raising people’s taxes and fees. In this kind of climate, it is wrong to raise elected officials’ pay.

Amateur Blogger Broke Both “Bittergate” and Bill’s “Scumbag” Meltdown

Mayhill Fowler broke two big stories during the Democratic political campaign: Obama’s description of marginalized working-class voters as “bitter” and Bill Clinton’s wild tirade against a Vanity Fair journalist in which he described the reporter as a “scumbag” among other derogatory terms.

What’s interesting about Ms. Fowler is her employer. She’s an unpaid volunteer in the Huffington Post blog experiment called “Off The Bus”, where volunteer bloggers follow the campaign and write stories that the mainstream media presumably might miss.

Ms. Fowler got herself into the closed Obama event for donors where he made his impolitic remarks because she is a Obama supporter, donating the maximum $2,300. This is certainly something that mainstream journalists wouldn’t be allowed to do, even those supposedly “in the tank” for Obama. Ms. Fowler muses that she hestitated in releasing the “bitter” comments because she knew the effect it would have on the Obama campaign. She also tried to minimize the effect of the “scumbag” remarks by dumping them onto the internet on Friday afternoon, but to no avail.

The question in my mind is what value does Ms. Fowler add to the campaign? As an Obama fan myself, I was upset at the attention paid to “bittergate” by the media. But its value is the focus that the Obama campaign needed to make on people not naturally inclined to support Barack. Of course, the mainstream media, the Clinton oppo reseach team and the Republican hate machine all tried to spin the story into the mainstream mold: elitist latte-drinking limousine liberal just doesn’t understand real folks. That Obama was able to refocus the campaign on what his Presidency would do to help all Americans was beneficial, despite the short-term blowback.

The Bill Clinton “scumbag” flap was more like the tripe the mainstream media throws out and calls news these days. Yep, Bill was increasingly losing his shit out on the hustings. Bill blames everyone for his wife’s slowly eroding campaign EXCEPT his wife, her handlers and himself. Big deal. The Vanity Fair article was also of questionable merit. Find upset staffers to squeal about the shortcomings inside the campaign and to throw innuendo on the fire about Bill’s personal life. Ms. Fowler’s piece had some staying power because a lot of people have fond memories of our former President and are not used to seeing ex-Presidents being that earthy.

I haven’t read much of the “Off The Bus” stuff, but what I have seen is relatively good–instead of just soaking up the stale campaign circus and reporting on the horserace, some of the bloggers actually seek out real voters and interview them. Now that’s some innovative reporting that I’d like to see spread out of blogging and into the mainstream media. Ms. Fowler’s batting .500: and that’s good in any league.

Finally, Change Even I Can Believe In

I don’t have to hold my nose when I pull that Democratic lever, I don’t have to choose between the lesser of two evils, I don’t have to protest vote Green. The election I’ve always wanted. We defeated the evil Queen, bring on the old dude.

Incredible!

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun

The Primary Process

New York Times columnists Gail Collins and David Brooks go back and forth in a nicely humorous way, comparing and contrasting the Democrat and Republican primary systems.

However much I appreciated the snark, the serious pull quote from this article was from David Brooks:

“I hope at least the Dems can get rid of the superdelegates. A party in a democracy should not so completely distrust their own voters.”

Now I understand why the Times felt compelled to hire Bill Kristol to anchor the right-wing lunatic position amongst their columnists. While Brooks was thought to be able to hold down the fort for the righties when Bill Safire retired, he is entirely too reasonable and thoughtful. Yes, he is conservative, but he ain’t a hater.

Barack Obama, Organizer-In-Chief

As I’ve noted before, Barack Obama spent time in the late 1980’s working as a community organizer in Chicago, working with tenant groups in public housing to fight for repairs.

The current Syracuse New Times article has a great column by Ed Griffin-Nolan comparing and contrasting the skills of politicians and organizers. He notes that “the community organizer and the political operative each played complementary roles in the process of social change.”

The article gives a great overview of the role of an organizer, developing leaders to challenge entrenched power. Organizers stay out of the limelight and help everyday people to gain the skills, knowledge and strategic vision to best fight for their own neighborhoods.

The only jarring note in the article? Mr. Griffin-Nolan states that organizers, unlike image conscious politicians, “can reach for that second doughnut without a second thought.” I’ve been an organizer for nearly 15 years and I’ve reached for many a second doughnut in my day. I’ll try to cut back on the grease, I promise!

More Photos Of Shitstorm At 170 W. Brighton

More Photos Of Shitstorm At 170 W. Brighton

Hose coming out of basement. Woman in window has apartment
immediately above shit pool.