Consider the humble medium of radio for revolutionary purposes.

I was thinking about this paper I did on the state of radio. I covered the history of the medium and the history of its regulation. I wrote the paper quite a while ago. But even then, things looked grim, and Rush Limbaugh was towering over the medium, or at least what was left of it. Capitalism looted local radio, trashed it, shat upon it, and left it for dead when the internet came along. I documented this.

TheCanaryDied

And now we are up against these forces of fascism, the consolidation has gotten worse, and the worst people are given the most airtime. We may need to think about recapturing local broadcast radio in case these internet channels we are relying on are captured.

My paper also documents the creation of Rush Limbaugh as a mouthpiece for propaganda from the right, a way to make “conservatism” cool and edgy. Barbara Walters did her part to help.

Podcasters, audio engineers, all y’all should be ready. It may be time to recapture the airwaves.

 

 

 

Fiction: Full Moon

A short story from a collection I wrote about my experiences as a nurses’ aide at a rural nursing home. Published in Spectrum, 1995

Full Moon

“1968” A Short Story about an election

Click the link! 1968

1968

President Obama at Sandy Hook

via Joshua Dubois: What the President secretly did at Sandy Hook Elementary School

“Fuck you, I like guns.”

via “Fuck you, I like guns.”

Dear Alabama Voter, I’m an OB/GYN and Roy Moore is wrong about “ninth month” abortions.

Dr. Jen Gunter

Dear Alabama Voter,

I am an OB/GYN who trained to do abortions almost as late as they can go. For several years I practiced in a state with no gestational age limit, meaning I could technically have done “due date” abortions. While I don’t do abortions anymore I think it is fair to say that I know more about this subject than Roy Moore and Doug Jones and pretty much everyone else except perhaps three or four other people in the United States.

You may be surprised to know that I would like fewer abortions. Not because I think abortion is morally wrong, but because prevention is the best medical care. I suppose you and I are like two people who want pie, just for different reasons. I have too many apples and so instead of throwing them away I decide to make an apple pie because I like making…

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Cornel West and Richard Wolff: Marxism, Capitalism and Wage Slavery

Source: Cornel West and Richard Wolff: Marxism, Capitalism and Wage Slavery

How Black folks lose White “friends” over social media bigotry

Hobbservation Point

The following essay does not apply to my real life white friends because if I call you a “friend,” I have vetted you over time by observing how you act towards me, specifically, and humanity in general. Meaning, I could never call a racist, sexist or religious bigot a “friend” because my common sense would not allow it.

Now, I do “know” quite a few folks that I am convinced through observation are latent or overt racists, sexists and religious bigots.  I even have worked as co-counsel, opposing counsel or appeared before judges who think that they are my friends, but they never could be my true friend because I know that deep down inside, they have overt contempt for my race and despite laughing it up with me in the halls of “justice” or pounding a few brews after a case at a bar, they have latent contempt…

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On Fearless Girl, women & public art; or, no, seriously, the guy does not have a point.

Caroline Criado-Perez

You have probably seen this blog on Fearless Girl vs Charging Bull which has been floating around social media the past couple of days. Yesterday I had a minor tweet rant in response, and apparently I am not done. So here is a blog of My Thoughts™ on the matter.

First, the fact that Greg Fallis’s blog lays out extra context, for example the SHE inscription, is good (notwithstanding his grating Reasonable Objective Man explaining to you silly people who don’t like history tone). Context and facts are always to be welcomed.

That aside, his take is garbage. Here’s why.

I spent a weekend last year counting all the statues in the UK’s Public Monuments and Statue’s database (ikr). I wrote about it in full here, but here’s a brief summary:

• Out of 925 statues, only 158 were of women standing alone (the figure for men was 508). If you count group shots, the number of female…

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On Being Poor

Athletic Monkey

I’m eight years old and they pass out a flyer at school for a local soccer team. I’ve always wanted to be on a team and soccer seems fun. On my way out of the classroom, I throw the flyer away. I know there’s no point in asking to join. We can’t afford it.

I’m nine years old. A boy in my class throws a rock and it hits me in the face, breaking my glasses. I cry, both because it hurts and because I know my parents will be angry. Glasses are expensive and I dread having to tell my mom that I need a new pair.

I’m 10 years old and all I want in the world is to have a friend and to not feel like the social outcast that I am. The cool girls have Guess jeans, Esprit bags, and wear Keds. I have a homemade…

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