A América que eu detesto

Troy Davis

A ler aqui

 e a ler também 18 perguntas de Dave Zirin
em The Nation

After Troy Davis's Death,
Questions I Can't Unask

1. Can Troy Davis, who fought to his last breath, actually be dead this morning?
2. If we felt tortured with fear and hope for the four hours that the Supreme Court deliberated on Troy’s case, how did the Davis family feel?
3. Why does this hurt so much?
4. Does Judge Clarence Thomas, once an impoverished African-American son of Georgia, ever acknowledge in quiet moments that he could easily have been Troy Davis?
5. What do people who insist we have to vote for Obama and support the Democrats “because of the Supreme Court” say this morning?
7. Why does the right wing in this country distrust “big government” on everything except executing people of color and the poor?
8. Why were Democrats who spoke out for Troy the utter exception and not the rule?
9. Why didn’t the New York Times editorial page say anything until after Troy’s parole was denied, when their words wouldn’t mean a damn?
10. Why does this hurt so much?
11. How can Barack Obama say that commenting on Troy’s case is “not  appropriate” but it’s somehow appropriate to bomb Libya and kill nameless innocents without the pretense of congressional approval?
12. What would he say if Malia asked him that question?
13. How can we have a Black family in the White House and a legal lynching in Georgia?
14. Why does this hurt so much?
15. Can we acknowledge that in our name, this country has created hundreds of thousands of Troy Davises in the Middle East?
16. Can we continue to coexist peacefully in a country that executes its own?
17. What the hell do I tell my 7-year-old daughter, who has been marching to save Troy since she was in a stroller?
18. If some of Troy’s last words were, “This movement began before I was born, it must continue and grow stronger until we abolish the death penalty once and for all”, then do we not have nothing less than a moral obligation to continue the fight?

Desculpem lá, não faz o meu género, mas...

... isto é uma escabrosa filha da putice

Não é preciso ser especialista em direito de trabalho ou sequer ter, como eu, trabalhado de 70 a 74 no contencioso de um sindicato corporativo já conquistado pelos trabalhadores para perceber que a nova ideia governamental de contornar o impedimento constitucional de despedimentos sem justa causa criando a figura da legitimidade de despedimentos por «incumprimento de objectivos» é uma filha da putice de bradar aos céus e de alto calibre que representaria um intolerável retrocesso e um ainda maior desequilíbrio nas relações entre o capital e o trabalho dentro das empresas.

Começa desde logo que a definição de objectivos (e o seu correspondente realismo ou irrealismo) é obviamente monopólio e prerrogativa do patronato e para o qual os trabalhadores não riscam nada. Segue-se que o suposto «incumprimento de objectivos» é, no mundo do trabalho, das coisas mais subjectivas e sujeitas a juízos mais arbitrários que imaginar se pode. E a ir por diante tal monstruosidade, já se sabe qual seria o filme seguinte: primeiro os trabalhadores «incumpridores de objectivos» iriam para o olho da rua e depois passariam anos a  lutar nos tribunais.

E, entre tanta agressão, desumanidade e recuo para tempos tão remotos que até dá vergonha, ai está mais uma razão para engrosssar as manifestações de Lisboa e Porto no próximo dia 1 de Outubro.

Pois, pois, em 2016 ...

Previsões à Lagarde(re)

 

No Público de hoje, uma desenvolvida notícia arranca assim: «Em 2016, já não vamos ser o país da União Europeia  que vai crescer menos, nem teremos o pior défice orçamental dos 27 países da região. O Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI) mostra-se confiante nos resultados do programa de ajuda externa e, nas suas novas previsões, coloca Portugal a crescer mais que a Alemanha e várias outras economias europeias daqui por cinco anos. Mas nem assim o país conseguirá recuperar os postos de trabalho perdidos durante a crise financeira e económica de 2008-2009 e durante a crise da dívida actual.»

E depois de ter listo isto, só tenho vontade de desabafar assim:

1. Não seria melhor o FMI e outras instituições internacionais deixarem-se de tantas previsões que, pelo menos desde 2007, têm tido falhanços tão espectaculares, sempre explicados pelos surpreendentes humores dos «mercados» e pela sua extrema volatilidade ?

2. Imaginarão a srª Lagarde e outros génios da economia mundial que os portugueses que deitam diariamente contas à sua amarga vida e nunca viram o mês sobrar tanto e os salários chegarem tão pouco esboçam ao menos um meio-sorriso de esperança ou consolação quando lhe vêm dizer que daqui por cinco anos (6o meses) Portugal vai crescer mais que a Alemanha ? (e mesmo que assim viesse a ser, qual seria o excepcional significado disso tendo em conta que Portugal partiria de um ponto muito baixo ?).
3. Se a gente como a srª Lagarde e o pessoal do FMI & Cia. restasse um pingo de humanismo deviam então era reconhecer a estupidez e a barbaridade destas receitas que trazem no seu bojo a radiosa promessa de que, nem daqui por 5 anos, recuperaremos os níveis de emprego anteriores à crise.
4. Por fim, porque raio é que havemos de levar a sério as previsões do FMI, do BCE, da UE e tutti quanti se estas instituições não quiseram propositadamente levar a sério as advertências e previsões de tantos respeitados economistas e institutos que, logo no Inverno de 2007, avisasram que, a seguir, viria aí uma coisa chamada «crise das dívidas soberanas» e caracterizaram como «sistémica» aquela crise nascente, coisa que Durão Barroso demorou quatro anos a descobrir ?


E pronto, agora vou ali ao Prof. Karamba e já volto.

A «Time» despede-se assim dos...

R.E.M.

They Stood in the Place Where They Lived (VIDEO)
By James Poniewozik

Word of warning: for the next day or two, those of us who attended college in the '80s and '90s are going to be insufferable. The news has come out that R.E.M., after a three-decade run, are breaking up. Get ready for the reminiscences: this is an unprovable thesis, but R.E.M.'s music was especially intimate and inward-looking for a supergroup's (compare U2, for a contemporary), so it feels to me like my generational peers will feel this one especially personally.

I will save for the unfortunate Tuned In Jrs. the reminiscences of Daddy learning the intro to "Driver 8" on his first guitar in high school, or seeing them (with the dBs opening!) on the Document tour. But for the purposes of this blog, it's worth noting that there was a period, around the band's peak of popularity, that it was not just an omnipresence in music but also a presence on TV.

The first thing that comes to mind is "Stand," which became perhaps the best repurposed pop-song-as-TV-theme when it was adopted by Chris Elliott's Get a Life. I know there's a lot of competition in that category: "Rock Around the Clock" for Happy Days, "Bad Reputation" for Freaks and Geeks, and I'm sure you have many other candidates. But this felt like a particularly fitting pairing of band and TV show. The series launched in 1990, when R.E.M. was a major success but was still at the cusp of indie and mainstream success (at a time, a year before Nirvana's Nevermind, when that boundary was more pronounced).

There isn't, and wasn't then, exactly a TV equivalent to indie music, but you could argue that the weird, brilliant Get a Life was the closest thing to it in audience and sensibility. It aired on Fox, which was just breaking out with The Simpsons and was making its reputation by putting things on the air that other networks wouldn't. It starred Elliott, who was known from Late Show with David Letterman, which established the genre of the late-night talk-show with an experimental, not-quite-broadcast sensibility. Getting R.E.M.'s "Stand" as its theme—a poppy tune as upbeat as any TV theme, yet that didn't quite sound like a TV theme—lent the show a kind of indie cred. (Getting  cancelled after 35 episodes cemented it.)

It also underscored something about R.E.M.: that for a band that wrote cryptic songs that referenced falling skies and Joseph McCarthy, they had a sense of humor. Another bit of TV trivia that underscores that is Michael Stipe's appearance on Nickelodeon's Adventures of Pete & Pete​ as salty ice-cream man Capt. Scrummy (a kind of spiritual predecessor to Yo Gabba Gabba's parade of indie musicians).

Stipe was evidently also a voice in the J. Otto Seibold holiday special Olive, the Other Reindeer, a special I remember, though I'd forgotten Stipe's role. Update: Here's the video, courtesy of Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic:

But I suspect the R.E.M./TV intersection that's embedded most deeply in my generation's subconscious is the central use of "Everybody Hurts" in the pilot of the other '90s pop-culture work that we all took deeply and personally, My So-Called Life​. It comes around 3:50 in the clip below, and it's so beautiful, it hurts to look at it:

Em complemento ao «post» anterior

Não, não é o «barco do amor»

Nova dose em curto

"The poverty crisis is
devastating young Americans"

Os que porventura tenham encolhido os ombros com este post anterior, podem ler aqui as ralações, tontas já se vê, do jornalista Eliot Spitzer na Slate.com.

Mérito hoje do «Público»

Quando o real irrompe
na primeira pessoa

O Público teve hoje a feliz ideia de associar a foto de Nuno Crato a testemunhos de professores sem colocação. Aqui fica um deles:

«Apenas concorri a horários anuais
porque todos os anos assim o faço,
visto já ter algum tempo de serviço
que o permite. Obtive sempre colocação,
umas vezes mais tarde, outras mais cedo,
enfim. Este ano vejo-me encurralada
por directrizes que surgem de um dia
para o outro sem dar espaço para respirar.
Não percebo como podem brincar com a
vida de milhares de seres humanos.
O mais grave é que estão a tirar da boca
dos meus filhos o pão que os alimenta.»

Ana Álvaro

E nada mais preciso de acrescentar.

Porque no outro dia falei da «composição a chumbo»

Revisiting Linotype

Today is a very special day – not only in the history of the Linotype, but also in the history of communication and technology.

On this date in 1886, the German clockmaker, Ottmar Mergenthaler demonstrated the first Linotype Type Casting Machine at the New York Tribune in New York City, USA. In front of a gathering of printers, newspaper men and reporters, the machine was first put in to production, casting lines of printable type for the Tribune.

At this demonstration, Mergenthaler sat at the machine and cast the first line of type. It is alleged that Whitelaw Reid, the owner of the Tribune, exclaimed “Ottmar! You’ve done it! A line of type!” A reporter asked what the new machine was called and Reid replied, “Why yes, we do have a name. We are going to call it the Linotype.”

This simple demonstration was the culmination of 10 years of extremely hard work by Mergenthaler. His genius and skills were put to the task of inventing a machine that would revolutionize the world. His Linotype sped up the production of printable type and singlehandedly caused the biggest revolution in printing and communication since Gutenberg.

It can be said that the Linotype was the “Twitter of 1886″ for it sped up the spread of information at a dramatic rate. Without the Linotype, news and information moved slowly, but now, people could read the news within hours of the event. Due to the speed and low cost of printing, literacy dramatically increased as more and more books and newspapers were published.

So let us always remember July 3rd, the genius inventor, Ottmar Mergenthaler and his fascinating machine that revolutionized the world.

Linotype: The Film is a feature-length documentary centred around the Linotype typecasting machine. We are excited to announce a second Kickstarter project to help us cover post-production expenses. We need your help with the expenses of editing, colour-correction, sound mixing, motion graphics, music acquisition and archival footage.

With your help, we can deliver the highest quality production possible. Please read on to learn more about becoming involved with our project, and then visit the Kickstarter page to learn about the rewards. Your involvement is vital for bringing this project to fruition.

About the Film

Called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” by Thomas Edison, the Linotype revolutionized printing and society. Very few people know about the inventor, his fascinating machine, or the revolution it sparked. The Linotype brought about a change in communication as dramatic as Twitter today.

The film tells the surprisingly emotional story of the people connected to the Linotype and how it impacted the world. We have discovered that the Linotype was more than just a machine – it was a career, a skill, and a passion. Even in the face of modern technology, many still believe it to be the best way to create beautiful typography.

Although the film is about a machine from the past, we have found that the Linotype is still a relevant piece of printing technology that has something to say about the future of communication and news.

"Linotype: The Film" Interview Excerpts from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

A história registará (com espanto!)

Portugal,
20 de Setembro de 2011

Daqui por três ou quatro décadas, investigadores ou historiadores em viagem pelas páginas amarelecidas em hemerotecas ou  por reluzentes  arquivos digitais, descobrirão de boca aberta que no dia 20 de Setembro de 2011 um jornal português fazia chamada de 1ª página para o aumento trinta cêntimos e dois euros  no auxílio à compra de manuais escolares. Mas esses futuros investigadores, a tal distância, não terão condições de saber se a chamada de 1ª página era uma sacanice feita ao governo de então ou um preito de homenagem à coragem e sensibilidade social dos governantes em época de tão grave crise.Talvez um outro mais desconfiado procure em edições dos meses seguintes se porventura minitros passaram a ser recebidos com chuvas de moedas de cêntimos lançadas pela populaça.

Por causa da crise, recordando...

The Kinks

The 'Class War' Debate—in Music, Courtesy of the Kinks

Greg Mitchell  in The Nation on Monday, September 19, 2011 - 15:31

Back when I was a young whippersnapper—shortly after Noah and the Flood, in Rick Perry’s account—I was a huge fan of Ray Davies and The Kinks [1964-1996], going back to the early days of the British Invasion. The group became more of a cult favorite after a few years, but I hung with them, and even got to meet and interview Ray a couple of times for my old magazine Crawdaddy. 

Now it strikes me that in the 1960s and early 1970s they recorded at least three classic songs, only one of them well-known (“Sunny Afternoon”), that portray today's economic situation and alleged “class war” in the USA.  So here they are.

First, representing the plight of the poor and working class:

Then,, the rich, worried about losing
their yacht and all they got


And finally, “Money and Corruption,”  where “crooked politicians betray the working man.”   Promises, promises,“all we get are promises.”