TonyPalmeri.Com Update For August 24, 2005
Welcome to another update. As the summer winds down, it's time for those of us in the education biz (and yeah, it's more of a "biz" now than ever before thanks to the corporate model that now governs most institutions of learning) to start getting those fall classes in order. Locally, Gannett's Oshkosh Northwestern this summer has been just awful for the university. I was glad to see them publish professor Al Lareau's letter today, in which he argues that executive editor Stew Rieckman's "repeated attacks on University of Wisconsin professors, culminating in his recent diatribe of Sunday, Aug. 14, 'Job security in University of Wisconsin System nothing short of crime,' amount to hate mongering."(scroll down) http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/news/opinion/stories/opinion_22296552.shtml Lake Winneblogo is keeping an excellent archive of university related stories: http://winneblogo.blogspot.com/
Critics of the Northwestern need to understand that the only language Gannett understands is bottom-line. We are not dealing with a small, family owned operation that hears and responds to the voices of a community. We're dealing with an impersonal leviathan that hears only the clanging of advertiser change. So unless the legions of people dissatisfied with Gannett decide to organize some kind of advertiser boycott, expect more of the same. I've got my hands full with too much other stuff right now, but if anyone is interested in organizing such a boycott I'm open to listening. (NOTE: None of the above is meant to suggest that there aren't some good reporters and writers at the Northwestern--there are. But the writers and reporters are not the problem as much as the corporate media value system in which they operate. The best editorialists and journalists recognize the debilitating power of that value system, just like the best college professors recognize how a similar set of big business values has gone a long way toward perverting the integrity of higher education, which my dear friend Mashoed Bailie in an essay once appropriately called "hire" education.).
1. Troop Withdrawal Referendum Kick-Off: There will be an official kick-off for the Iraqi Troop Withdrawal referendum movement on Wednesday, August 31st at 6 p.m. at the Oshkosh Sundial. Have you noticed that the "liberal" MoveOn.org has distanced itself from troop withdrawal efforts? Norman Solomon has written about this phenomenon: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0818-33.htm (Note: My September Media Rants column will be a review of Solomon's most recent book, War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning us to Death.)
Meanwhile, likely presidential candidates Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton are sounding more hawkish on Iraq than Bush and Rumsfeld, as demonstrated by Ari Berman in this excellent piece on "The Strategic Class."
The late, great Phil Ochs once wrote a song for the MoveOn/Biden/Hillary contingent: Love Me I'm A Liberal.
2. Interview With Mark Green: Cheryl Hentz and I sat down for an hour with Congressman Mark Green of Green Bay, Republican candidate for governor. The interview can be seen on Oshkosh Cable Access Channel 2 on Thursday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. I thought we asked Green some tough questions about his vote for CAFTA, his support for a taxpayer bill of rights, health care, and a variety of other issues. I wasn't thrilled with his answers, but I walked out thinking that they guy is fairly articulate and just smart enough to be dangerous. Doyle will have his hands full with this guy if he gets the nomination.
3. Mark Harris Watch: Our new Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris certainly moved me and many others during his campaign for the office, when he persistently chided the incumbent for "saying one thing, doing another." Of course he would never do anything like that, but to help him avoid the temptation tonypalmeri.com recently created a MarkHarrisWatch: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/markharriswatch.htm If I get a chance (or a full-time assistant, which would be better!), I'd like to start watches of all local leaders.
4. Barry "The Suburban Legend" Weber Returns: UW Oshkosh grad, folk singer, comedian, and overall one hell of a guy Barry Weber has released a new downloadable recording, "We'll all get to heaven if we get God drunk": http://www.barryweber.net/goddrunk2.html My favorite song is "Second Coming," a wonderful parable for the crazy times we are living in: http://www.barryweber.net/secondcoming.mp3 I saw Barry perform this tune last year at Studio Hall, a grand place which was by far the best affordable live music venue in Oshkosh. Typical for our fair city, the moment we get a great, affordable live music venue it closes down. It's now Oshkosh East charter school.
5. Electronic Music Pioneer Bob Moog Dies: Let's stay on music for a bit. Robert Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer, died this week: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBCO583PCE.html Moog arguably had more influence on modern music than any other person (sure, the synthesizer ended up producing lots of crap too, but so did the electric guitar yet we hardly think any less of Waukesha, Wisconsin's own Les Paul because of that). You can listen to a great interview with Moog here: http://www.pilot.co.uk/switchedon/moog1.mp3
Part II of the interview has lots of music samples, including a blistering jam (about 5 minutes into the interview) featuring Jan Hammer and Billy Cobham from the 1974 "Spectrum" album. If I can't get the Airborne Burn Victims to write a theme song for Radio Commentary, I may end up just using Hammer/Cobham--it's got the kind of highly controlled chaos characteristic of the show: http://www.pilot.co.uk/switchedon/moog2.mp3
Many of us who came of age in the 1970s probably remember the German group Kraftwerk, whose "Autobahn" helped bring moog music into popular consciousness: http://spectraphysics.net/Kraftwerk/06-Kraftwerk%20-%20Autobahn%20(short).MP3
6. A Short History of Meat: By Alexander Cockburn. Well worth a read:
7. Intelligent Falling Theory Refutes Gravity: http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4133&n=2
8. Dr. Colin Campbell on Peak Oil Crisis. The visuals and audio are not lined up properly, but Dr. Campbell provides the best explanation and analysis of the peak oil phenomenon that I have heard http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/portal/images/stories/presentations/campbellpeakoil.swf
More information about Colin Campbell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Campbell_%28geologist%29
9. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson Speaks: Who would have thought there would be a Bush critic in Utah? Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson led an anti-war protest during the prez's visit there earlier this week. He explained himself on a local radio show to a host who is "troubled" by his activism: http://real.ksl.com/video/slc/0/5/551.mp3
10. Sterling Hall Anniversary: August 24th is the 35th anniversary of the bombing of UW Madison's Sterling Hall. Former UW Oskhosh student Chris Lee made a film about the event and has written about it: http://www.leemark.com/featuredcontent/sterling/sterling.html There's also a good article in the UW's On Wisconsin publication this month about Leo Burt, one of the bombers who was never found http://www.uwalumni.com/onwisconsin/2005_summer/Fugitive.pdf#search=%27leo%20burt%27
Take care, -Tony