Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Bill Ayers’ Speech to Students Cancelled Due to ‘Outrage’ (12:29 pm)

Bill Ayers, Vietnam-era lightning rod and bete noire of the failed McCain-Palin ticket, won’t be speaking to a group of Illinois high school students next week about his experiences as a Weather Underground member. The superintendent of the Naperville, IL school system (just outside of Chicago) sent out an email last night announcing the decision to cancel Ayers’ scheduled April 8 speech to a group of students who had received permission from their parents to hear the education professor speak.

Let me repeat this: Despite the fact that only students who had received the express permission of their parents would hear Ayers speak, the prospect was “just a huge community debate,” Supt. Dr. Alan Leis said. In his email to parents, he says that…

[e]ach day, the level of emotion and outrage has seemed to increase, along with the number of emails and phone calls received. What was most unfortunate was that a few directed their anger toward an outstanding high school and at a well-regarded, award-winning teacher who encourages students to think for themselves.

Leis seems on point; he told the Tribune that Ayers’ visit as a chance to help students think critically. And not just about Vietnam: Ayers would have talked about his experiences during last year’s presidential campaign, detailed in In These Times here.

But hotter, fearful heads prevailed, perhaps worried that Ayers would be passing out firebombs to impressionable young minds. Apparently America’s schools exist not to teach children to think for themselves, but to inherit the political and cultural battles of their parents.

Here’s the full text of last night’s email from Leis:

NAPERVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT 203
Message sent - 3/30/2009
Ayers visit to NNHS canceled

The appearance by Dr. Bill Ayers at Naperville North High School next week has been canceled.

On Friday, it was announced through a Talk203 email that we were reviewing the decision to invite him and that we were also exploring the possibility of moving the appearance to another venue. Initially, many people were upset about his appearance in a school building, even though it was to have been with a... read more

posted by Jeremy Gantz | 4 comments

Afghan Conference: The Unanswered Question (12:12 pm)

Well, I stayed until the end of the Afghanistan summit here in The Hague so that I could hear the response from the Afghani representative as to whether or not Karzai signed a new law that further represses the women of Afghanistan.

The representative was given the floor, and he thanked everyone for their support…and then said goodbye. I take that to mean it is true.

-From The Hague, at the international conference on Afghanistan

posted by Candace Gorman | start the discussion

Weekly Audit: Workers Will Build the Recovery, Not Wall Street (10:30 am)

With new bailout plans for Wall Street being unveiled almost every week, it’s easy to forget that nearly all of the work that fuels our economy takes place outside of Manhattan. While reviving the financial sector is an important part of recovery, any lasting economic solution must also empower American workers and protect them from corporate abuses.

Workers’ rights are a core issue for our democracy, as progressive icon Noam Chomsky argues in an interview with Paul Jay of The Real News. The discussion covers the current economic crisis and its implications for the democratization of the U.S. economy. It’s a fascinating exchange. In the video below, Chomsky advocates for a much broader palette of reform than a simple clean-up the financial sector.

Chomsky notes that while the recent bank bailouts have brought a great deal of attention to the disconnect between public investment and private profit, it has become routine for the taxpaying public to foot the bill for important research that eventually creates big corporate profits. To ensure that we all reap the benefits of our investments, it is essential to make institutions accountable to their communities, rather than exclusively dedicated to maximizing shareholder returns.

The first step in democratizing the U.S. economy, according to Chomsky, is promoting unionization by enacting the Employee Free Choice Act, which makes it easier for workers to organize.

“The Employee Free Choice Act is always misrepresented,” Chomsky says. “It’s described as an effort to avoid secret elections. It’s not that. It’s an effort to allow workers to decide whether there should be secret elections, instead of leaving the decisions entirely in the hands of employers.”

EFCA would give workers more control over their circumstances, leading to improved wages and living standards for laborers. In a column for The American Prospect, Terence Samuel points out that even if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s plan to bailout Wall Street succeeds in stabilizing the banking sector, banks can do little to bring about recovery if U.S. citizens are all broke. If we want to get out of the bubble-and-bust cycle, we must establish a middle class that... read more

posted by Zach Carter | start the discussion

About that Afghani Constitution (10:03 am)

One of the provisions that has been held out as a radical change in Afghanistan under the Karzai administration is the provision in the Afghani Constitution giving women the right to be treated equally.

Unfortunately, it appears to be another of those fungible constitutional provisions that I mentioned yesterday…. Finland has just asked the important question: Did Karzai just sign a law making life worse for the women in Afghanistan than during the Taliban?

The Afghani representative asked that his response be put off until the end of the conference… Maybe he will take Karzai’s lead and leave before they get back to him.

-From The Hague, at the international conference on Afghanistan

posted by Candace Gorman | start the discussion

Afghan Conference: The “Debate” Begins… (5:54 am)

Well, that’s what they’re calling it… But it is not really a debate, but rather a series of speeches.

Hillary was first and her speech can be summed up in four words: “It takes a village.”

Next up, Australia: The Aussies’ comments can be summed up as follows: “It takes a village” + “national reconciliation.”

Then came the Russians: “arrest the druggies” + “national reconciliation” + “arrest the druggies” + “it does not take a village, we can handle things…”

The French followed, refusing to be outdone: “it takes a village and we will lead the village” + a few swipes at Bush” + “enhance agriculture”

And with those fine words, Afghan President Karzai, who has apparently heard enough, has left the “debate” about how to save his country… and with Karzai’s exit, the room is again awash in shades of grey and black…

-Live from The Hague, at the international conference on Afghanistan

posted by Candace Gorman | start the discussion

Afghan Conference: Karzai Speaks… and We Finally Hear Him (5:34 am)

The sound came back, ironically just as Karzai was speaking of “lip service”…

But he apparently was not referring to the democratic strides in his own country, as he quickly followed with a glowing report on the progress in Afghanistan, detailing steady steps toward democracy: freedom of speech and other freedoms are alive and well (in accordance with law - see yesterday’s post). He finished with a little slap at the Bush regime by asking the Obama administration to once again show a commitment by the United States to the Afghanis.

-Live from The Hague, at the international conference on Afghanistan

posted by Candace Gorman | start the discussion

Afghan Conference: Karzai Arrives (5:10 am)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has now arrived, and once again he is the best-dressed man in the room with his Cape of Many Colors. Unfortunately, our friends of 400 years (the Dutch) have turned off the sound for those of us in the press room. We are left to reading lips.

-Live from The Hague, at the international conference on Afghanistan

posted by Candace Gorman | start the discussion

Afghan Conference: Hillary Arrives (5:02 am)

I guess you do what you can when you come to one of these conferences. Hillary just arrived and announced that the Dutch have been our friends for 400 years.

To prove the point Hillary pointed out the travels of Henry Hudson the Englishman who failed to find a northwest passage from Europe to Asia. Although Hudson was an Englishman, the English gave up on Hudson after his two failed attempts to find a passage. So the wealthy Dutch Indies Company hired Hudson for a third try. Hudson never did find a passage to Asia, but he did discover the Hudson River and what was to later become NYC…before his Dutch crew mutinied and sent him adrift in the icy waters of the Hudson Bay. Here’s a nice visual portrayal of that event.

Maybe it’s just me, but I do not think this vision bodes well for the Afghanis. Perhaps this is a coded message to Karzai?

-Live from The Hague, at the international conference on Afghanistan