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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
December 15, 2011
from In These Times:
Matana Roberts’ Genealogy of Jazz
The saxophonist delves into African-American history—from slavery to the present—in her twelve-part series Coin Coin.
BY Frances Morgan
Music has a unique capacity to remind us of the past. Sounds and melodies jog our memories, evoke long-forgotten times, places and emotions. It’s not surprising, therefore, that some composers draw upon history for their source material. But how does an artist approach the past with the urgency of the present, or pay homage to forebears while retaining a voice that’s true to his or her own era?
These are some of the questions asked and answered in Coin Coin, an extraordinary musical project begun by young Chicago-born saxophonist and composer Matana Roberts around six years ago, and coming to fruition now. Coin Coin explores the genealogy of Roberts’ own family, and in the process addresses African-American history from slavery to the present day. Chapter One of the work, released on Constellation Records this year and subtitled “Gens de Couleur Libres” (“Free People of Color”), is a 2010 live recording taken from a concert in Montreal in which Roberts plays alto sax and directs a 15-piece band.
Roberts also provides spoken, sung and sometimes screamed vocals, in which she narrates the stories of, and sometimes becomes, characters including Coin Coin, the name of 18th-century freed slave Marie Thérèse Coincoin, to whom Roberts has a distant connection. A variety of American music styles, from swing to blues to big band jazz, as well as Roberts’ own free jazz sounds, come in and out of focus over the hour-long performance, creating a shifting, haunting tapestry of memory at once ghostly and invigorating.
It is an intense listen, and there are 11 more chapters to come, six of which have been now workshopped; a version of Chapter Two, entitled “Mississippi Moonchile,” was broadcast last year on NPR. But although Roberts says she is always preoccupied with Coin Coin, she’s also careful to take a break sometimes, as she explained from New York, where she is now based. The project has “grown in ways that I did not intend it to,” says Roberts, who left Chicago in 1999 to attend graduate school at a conservatory, “and it’s been interesting to see the many different directions it’s taken me.” .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12279/matana_roberts_genealogy_of_jazz
Matana Roberts’ Genealogy of Jazz
from In These Times:
Matana Roberts’ Genealogy of Jazz
The saxophonist delves into African-American history—from slavery to the present—in her twelve-part series Coin Coin.
BY Frances Morgan
Music has a unique capacity to remind us of the past. Sounds and melodies jog our memories, evoke long-forgotten times, places and emotions. It’s not surprising, therefore, that some composers draw upon history for their source material. But how does an artist approach the past with the urgency of the present, or pay homage to forebears while retaining a voice that’s true to his or her own era?
These are some of the questions asked and answered in Coin Coin, an extraordinary musical project begun by young Chicago-born saxophonist and composer Matana Roberts around six years ago, and coming to fruition now. Coin Coin explores the genealogy of Roberts’ own family, and in the process addresses African-American history from slavery to the present day. Chapter One of the work, released on Constellation Records this year and subtitled “Gens de Couleur Libres” (“Free People of Color”), is a 2010 live recording taken from a concert in Montreal in which Roberts plays alto sax and directs a 15-piece band.
Roberts also provides spoken, sung and sometimes screamed vocals, in which she narrates the stories of, and sometimes becomes, characters including Coin Coin, the name of 18th-century freed slave Marie Thérèse Coincoin, to whom Roberts has a distant connection. A variety of American music styles, from swing to blues to big band jazz, as well as Roberts’ own free jazz sounds, come in and out of focus over the hour-long performance, creating a shifting, haunting tapestry of memory at once ghostly and invigorating.
It is an intense listen, and there are 11 more chapters to come, six of which have been now workshopped; a version of Chapter Two, entitled “Mississippi Moonchile,” was broadcast last year on NPR. But although Roberts says she is always preoccupied with Coin Coin, she’s also careful to take a break sometimes, as she explained from New York, where she is now based. The project has “grown in ways that I did not intend it to,” says Roberts, who left Chicago in 1999 to attend graduate school at a conservatory, “and it’s been interesting to see the many different directions it’s taken me.” .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12279/matana_roberts_genealogy_of_jazz
December 15, 2011
from In These Times:
Class Consciousness Is Back
Once you notice inequality, you can’t escape the realities of class in America.
BY Susan J. Douglas
Multiple times and on multiple days, my local NPR station actually used the “c” word on the air. No, not that “c” word–it was “class.” Yes, that most unmentionable of topics: socio-economic class and how it determines the fate of millions of Americans.
Our vernacular obscures the country’s very real class divisions, with crippling–even lethal–consequences. The term “middle class” is used capaciously in the United States to include almost everyone, while the term “working class” is eschewed (it sounds way too Marxist). Even the “99%” signs and chants of Occupy protesters occlude the multiple and often stark divisions within that 99%.
Class position, of course, affects everything: access to healthcare, education, where you live, what restaurants you eat in, nutrition, careers, income, tax breaks, how much credit costs you, who you marry (and when), who fights and dies for our country, and on and on. But with our media’s national obsessions about gender, race and ethnicity, class may be the most under-covered feature of structural inequality in the country. In November, NPR-affiliate Michigan Radio aired an 11-part series called “Culture of Class,” which rolled back the stone, showing what lurks in America’s cave of inequities.
Let’s start with the legal system. “There, perhaps, is no moment in life when the difference in class is more apparent than when you are accused of a crime,” reporter Lester Graham notes in his piece on class and the courts. If you’re upper-middle class, or even truly middle class, you hire a lawyer, and the richer you are, the more choices you have. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12413/class_consciousness_is_back
Once you notice inequality, you can’t escape the realities of class in America
from In These Times:
Class Consciousness Is Back
Once you notice inequality, you can’t escape the realities of class in America.
BY Susan J. Douglas
Multiple times and on multiple days, my local NPR station actually used the “c” word on the air. No, not that “c” word–it was “class.” Yes, that most unmentionable of topics: socio-economic class and how it determines the fate of millions of Americans.
Our vernacular obscures the country’s very real class divisions, with crippling–even lethal–consequences. The term “middle class” is used capaciously in the United States to include almost everyone, while the term “working class” is eschewed (it sounds way too Marxist). Even the “99%” signs and chants of Occupy protesters occlude the multiple and often stark divisions within that 99%.
Class position, of course, affects everything: access to healthcare, education, where you live, what restaurants you eat in, nutrition, careers, income, tax breaks, how much credit costs you, who you marry (and when), who fights and dies for our country, and on and on. But with our media’s national obsessions about gender, race and ethnicity, class may be the most under-covered feature of structural inequality in the country. In November, NPR-affiliate Michigan Radio aired an 11-part series called “Culture of Class,” which rolled back the stone, showing what lurks in America’s cave of inequities.
Let’s start with the legal system. “There, perhaps, is no moment in life when the difference in class is more apparent than when you are accused of a crime,” reporter Lester Graham notes in his piece on class and the courts. If you’re upper-middle class, or even truly middle class, you hire a lawyer, and the richer you are, the more choices you have. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12413/class_consciousness_is_back
December 15, 2011
from In These Times:
Private Prisons Gone Wild
Legal challenges are no match for Arizona politicians determined to privatize the state’s correctional services.
BY Beau Hodai
The recent dismissal of a lawsuit filed against both Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is the latest step in the state’s hell-bent plan to roughly double its number of privately managed prison “beds.”
The suit, filed in an Arizona Superior Court by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on September 12, sought an injunction against ADC and the governor’s pending award of 5,000 new prison beds to be operated by a for-profit vendor. The state currently contracts out more than 6,500 minimum- and medium-security beds at seven facilities with Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison operator, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
AFSC argued that ADC is negligent in its statutorily required duty to conduct biennial cost and quality assessments of the state’s private prisons. The purpose of these assessments is to determine whether the state is receiving the same quality of service from private prison operators as provided by public facilities.
Nevertheless, ADC has not completed a single survey. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12423/private_prisons_gone_wild
Private Prisons Gone Wild
from In These Times:
Private Prisons Gone Wild
Legal challenges are no match for Arizona politicians determined to privatize the state’s correctional services.
BY Beau Hodai
The recent dismissal of a lawsuit filed against both Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is the latest step in the state’s hell-bent plan to roughly double its number of privately managed prison “beds.”
The suit, filed in an Arizona Superior Court by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on September 12, sought an injunction against ADC and the governor’s pending award of 5,000 new prison beds to be operated by a for-profit vendor. The state currently contracts out more than 6,500 minimum- and medium-security beds at seven facilities with Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison operator, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
AFSC argued that ADC is negligent in its statutorily required duty to conduct biennial cost and quality assessments of the state’s private prisons. The purpose of these assessments is to determine whether the state is receiving the same quality of service from private prison operators as provided by public facilities.
Nevertheless, ADC has not completed a single survey. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12423/private_prisons_gone_wild
December 14, 2011
from Consortium News:
The Danger from Politicizing ‘Terror’
December 13, 2011
By politicizing who is and who is not a “terrorist” – pinning the label on American adversaries and sparing purported American friends – the U.S. government created confusion at FBI headquarters that contributed to the failure to stop the 9/11 attacks, reports ex-FBI agent Coleen Rowley.
By Coleen Rowley
Glenn Greenwald’s critique – regarding the recent U.S. indictment of 38-year-old Iraqi Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa (currently in Canada) – is spot on about “terrorism” coming to simply mean opposing United States’ interests or resisting U.S. military invasions.
U.S. authorities have now dropped any requirement that the “terrorists” target or kill civilians as part of a political objective, the classic definition of terrorism. Isa stands accused of “providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy” because he allegedly backed a 2008 attack in Mosul, Iraq, killing five U.S. soldiers.
As Greenwald wrote, “In other words, if the U.S. invades and occupies your country, and you respond by fighting back against the invading army — the ultimate definition of a ‘military, not civilian target’ — then you are a . . . Terrorist.”
But the reverse of Greenwald’s example is also true, that those “terrorist” groups throughout the world who commit violent acts or kill civilians at U.S. instigation, encouragement or in line with U.S. interests are NOT considered “terrorists.” ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/13/the-danger-from-politicizing-terror/
Coleen Rowley: The Danger from Politicizing ‘Terror’
from Consortium News:
The Danger from Politicizing ‘Terror’
December 13, 2011
By politicizing who is and who is not a “terrorist” – pinning the label on American adversaries and sparing purported American friends – the U.S. government created confusion at FBI headquarters that contributed to the failure to stop the 9/11 attacks, reports ex-FBI agent Coleen Rowley.
By Coleen Rowley
Glenn Greenwald’s critique – regarding the recent U.S. indictment of 38-year-old Iraqi Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa (currently in Canada) – is spot on about “terrorism” coming to simply mean opposing United States’ interests or resisting U.S. military invasions.
U.S. authorities have now dropped any requirement that the “terrorists” target or kill civilians as part of a political objective, the classic definition of terrorism. Isa stands accused of “providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy” because he allegedly backed a 2008 attack in Mosul, Iraq, killing five U.S. soldiers.
As Greenwald wrote, “In other words, if the U.S. invades and occupies your country, and you respond by fighting back against the invading army — the ultimate definition of a ‘military, not civilian target’ — then you are a . . . Terrorist.”
But the reverse of Greenwald’s example is also true, that those “terrorist” groups throughout the world who commit violent acts or kill civilians at U.S. instigation, encouragement or in line with U.S. interests are NOT considered “terrorists.” ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/13/the-danger-from-politicizing-terror/
December 14, 2011
"Black Friday" Hocus Pocus?
(Bloomberg) Retail sales rose in November at the slowest pace in five months, indicating American consumers were trying to live within their means heading into the holiday shopping season as wages dropped.
The 0.2 percent gain in purchases fell short of the 0.6 percent median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed increases in the prior two months that were larger than previously estimated, according to data from the Commerce Department today in Washington. Other reports showed inventories climbed in October and job openings fell.
Demand for autos, the latest fashions and electronics propelled the increase in spending last month, while households cut back on groceries and restaurant meals, showing how limited job and income gains are holding consumers back. Retailers like J.C. Penney Co. are pushing discounts to drum up business, a sign of a lack of inflation that allowed the Federal Reserve today to hold interest rates near zero.
“Sales are growing, but they just aren’t accelerating,” said Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities USA Inc. in New York. “There have been some real slight hints of improvement in the labor market, but until we get sustained growth in income, spending is going to be moderate.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/u-s-retail-sales-climb-less-than-forecast-at-slowest-pace-in-five-months.html
..............................
Lousy November Retail Sales Numbers Prove Black Friday Headlines Were a Joke
By Michael Comeau Dec 13, 2011 12:30 pm
(Minyanville) Best Buy's (BBY) spectacular flame-out wasn't the only retail disappointment this morning -- the Commerce Department said that November retail sales rose just by 0.2% versus a consensus estimate calling for a 0.6% gain.
That painted an ugly picture for retail overall, but it made an even more important point about the sensationalist headlines around the great margin-sucking 'holiday' that is Black Friday: They can now be disregarded. (See: What Does Black Friday's Creep on Thanksgiving Say About American Retail?)
If you rewind the clock a few weeks, you may remember hearing the National Retail Federation boasting of a 16% year-over-year sales gain for the four-day weekend following Thanksgiving, and ShopperTrak saying that retail sales rose 6.6% on Black Friday itself. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/november-retail-sales-november-retail-sales/12/13/2011/id/38371#ixzz1gT56jG8J
December 13, 2011
(Bloomberg) Regulators are investigating whether MF Global Holdings Ltd. intentionally used customer funds to cover the bankrupt firm’s margin payments on European government bond trades, bolstering their ability to retrieve the missing money, people with knowledge of the probe said.
Investigators including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the bankruptcy (LEHMQ) trustee are reviewing the brokerage’s accounts seeking proof of fraud, which would allow them to recover some of the lost $1.2 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because the probe is ongoing. Unless regulators find illegal activity, margin payments on repurchase trades can’t be returned under bankruptcy law, said Lauren Teigland-Hunt, a lawyer who has represented money managers in the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy.
“It has to be actual intent to defraud, and that’s a high bar,” said Teigland-Hunt, managing partner at Teigland-Hunt LLP in New York. “The whole goal is to try to ensure that if you’re a participant in the market and receive payment of margin, that won’t be reversed on you if a customer goes down.”
MF Global’s failure and the customer-funds deficit, which scuttled a last-minute acquisition that would have averted the eighth-largest bankruptcy, are the focus of congressional hearings in which Jon Corzine has made his first public comments since quitting as chief executive officer on Nov. 4. Corzine, 64, who engineered the $6.3 billion in European bets, told the House Agriculture Committee on Dec. 8 that he didn’t know what happened to the missing money. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/mf-global-probe-said-to-weigh-illegal-use-of-funds.html
MF Global Probe May Weigh Illegal Use of Funds
(Bloomberg) Regulators are investigating whether MF Global Holdings Ltd. intentionally used customer funds to cover the bankrupt firm’s margin payments on European government bond trades, bolstering their ability to retrieve the missing money, people with knowledge of the probe said.
Investigators including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the bankruptcy (LEHMQ) trustee are reviewing the brokerage’s accounts seeking proof of fraud, which would allow them to recover some of the lost $1.2 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because the probe is ongoing. Unless regulators find illegal activity, margin payments on repurchase trades can’t be returned under bankruptcy law, said Lauren Teigland-Hunt, a lawyer who has represented money managers in the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy.
“It has to be actual intent to defraud, and that’s a high bar,” said Teigland-Hunt, managing partner at Teigland-Hunt LLP in New York. “The whole goal is to try to ensure that if you’re a participant in the market and receive payment of margin, that won’t be reversed on you if a customer goes down.”
MF Global’s failure and the customer-funds deficit, which scuttled a last-minute acquisition that would have averted the eighth-largest bankruptcy, are the focus of congressional hearings in which Jon Corzine has made his first public comments since quitting as chief executive officer on Nov. 4. Corzine, 64, who engineered the $6.3 billion in European bets, told the House Agriculture Committee on Dec. 8 that he didn’t know what happened to the missing money. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/mf-global-probe-said-to-weigh-illegal-use-of-funds.html
December 13, 2011
from Grist:
The bugs that ate Monsanto
by Tom Laskawy
13 Dec 2011 1:28 PM
Now that 94 percent of the soy and 70 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. are genetically modified, Monsanto -- one of the companies that dominates the GMO seed market -- might look to some like it's winning. But if we look a little closer, I'd say they're holding on by a thread.
Their current success is due in large part to brilliant marketing. The company's approach was both compelling -- their products were sold as the key to making large-scale farming far simpler and more predictable -- and aggressive: Monsanto made it virtually impossible for most farmers to find conventional seeds for sale in most parts of the country.
Despite promises of improved productivity, enhanced nutritional content, or extreme weather tolerance -- none of which has ever come to market -- Monsanto has only ever produced seeds with two genetically modified traits, either herbicide tolerance or pesticide production. And even those traits never lived up to the marketing hype.
But it now appears that the core traits themselves are failing. Over the last several years, so-called "superweeds" have grown resistant to the herbicide RoundUp, the companion product that's made Monsanto's herbicide-tolerant (aka RoundUp-Ready) corn, soy, and alfalfa so popular. Those crops were supposed to be the only plants that could withstand being sprayed by the chemical. Oops. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/industrial-agriculture/2011-12-13-the-bugs-that-ate-monsanto
The bugs that ate Monsanto
from Grist:
The bugs that ate Monsanto
by Tom Laskawy
13 Dec 2011 1:28 PM
Now that 94 percent of the soy and 70 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. are genetically modified, Monsanto -- one of the companies that dominates the GMO seed market -- might look to some like it's winning. But if we look a little closer, I'd say they're holding on by a thread.
Their current success is due in large part to brilliant marketing. The company's approach was both compelling -- their products were sold as the key to making large-scale farming far simpler and more predictable -- and aggressive: Monsanto made it virtually impossible for most farmers to find conventional seeds for sale in most parts of the country.
Despite promises of improved productivity, enhanced nutritional content, or extreme weather tolerance -- none of which has ever come to market -- Monsanto has only ever produced seeds with two genetically modified traits, either herbicide tolerance or pesticide production. And even those traits never lived up to the marketing hype.
But it now appears that the core traits themselves are failing. Over the last several years, so-called "superweeds" have grown resistant to the herbicide RoundUp, the companion product that's made Monsanto's herbicide-tolerant (aka RoundUp-Ready) corn, soy, and alfalfa so popular. Those crops were supposed to be the only plants that could withstand being sprayed by the chemical. Oops. .............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/industrial-agriculture/2011-12-13-the-bugs-that-ate-monsanto
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