The Minnesota Supreme Court rules that Alan Stuart Franken is the winner of the 2008 senate race.
But will Norm Coleman concede? Update: Coleman concedes.
6/28/09
Pride
Just to add to Madison's post, here are some well written pieces about the significance of Stonewall:
Michael Hamill Remaley
Frank Rich
The Advocate
Lucian K. Truscott IV
40 Years Ago
In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall, a quote from an earlier post by Kiljan Zane Pyry about the current state of the struggle for LGBT rights:
While other factions of the GLBT community have fought tirelessly to empower themselves and join the larger movement, there continues to be a co-opting and morphing that happens to the narratives of divergent bodies. For example, the conflict at Stonewall has become a national story of resistance for gay and lesbians. The Pride celebrations that take place in June are scheduled loosely around the anniversary of the uprising. What very few resources on the subject will reveal is that the people who fought against the police at Stonewall were primarily homeless transgender youth of color who were completely fed up with the impossibility of survival.And an acknowledgment of that very history that we found in a surprising place:
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Jim Fouratt | ||||
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6/26/09
6/25/09
6/23/09
"The Great Backlash"
A well-argued if sometimes implausible argument for why 1979, not 1968 or 1989, was the epochal, sea-change year of the modern era (politically, culturally, economically), written by Christian Caryl for Foreign Policy.
6/19/09
For the Warriors, Whose Strength Is Not to Fight
Bob Dylan sings "Chimes of Freedom" at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964.
6/18/09
Breathing Out
...listen do you hear the darkness blowing?
something is passing in the night
the moon is restless and red
and over this rooftop
where crumbling is a constant fear
clouds, like a procession of mourners
seem to be waiting for the moment of rain.
a moment
and then nothing
night shudders beyond this window
and the earth winds to a halt
beyond this window
something unknown is watching you and me.
- Forugh Farrokhzad, The Wind Will Take Us
In the past six days, those who constantly refreshed their Twitter feeds and reloaded the #iranelection hash tags, turned the medium, Twitter and social networks in general, into the message. Thanks to, of all people, The Falun Gong, the Iranian state has been unable to disconnect its people from the world, even if, at times, Westerners projected a rosier version of the situation.
How to digest all of this? For one, Twitter and global digital interconnectedness aside, President Obama handled his first 3:00 A.M. phone call well. In a well written Op-Ed in today's New York Times, John Kerry wrote:
If we actually want to empower the Iranian people, we have to understand how our words can be manipulated and used against us to strengthen the clerical establishment, distract Iranians from a failing economy and rally a fiercely independent populace against outside interference. Iran’s hard-liners are already working hard to pin the election dispute, and the protests, as the result of American meddling. On Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry chastised American officials for “interventionist” statements. Government complaints of slanted coverage by the foreign press are rising in pitch.
We can’t escape the reality that for reformers in Tehran to have any hope for success, Iran’s election must be about Iran — not America. And if the street protests of the last days have taught us anything, it is that this is an Iranian moment, not an American one.
America, just this once, needs to back off. Surely suggestive tones can be inferred and tech-savvy millenials can imply who Americans side with. But bravado, backed-up by apocalyptic rhetoric and militaristic threats, are a thing of the past: a calm, measured quietude may be the best medicine.
If you, like me, have been scouring the internet for images and texts of this incredible moment, here are some very worthy ones:
- Well known to A Shout In The Street readers, Andrew Sullivan's blog for The Atlantic
- Nico Pitney at The Huffington Post
- An interview with filmmaker and Mousavi spokesman Mohsen Makhmalbaf
- Channel 4 news
- #iranelection on Twitter
- an excellent Bloggingheads talk with Reza Aslan and Eli Lake
- Revolutionary Road, an invaluable blog by Saeed Valadbaygi
- ahriman46's YouTube channel, in many ways a reblogging of previously posted videos.
- Tehran Live
Image at the top by Flicker user Hamed
6/9/09
6/8/09
6/2/09
Randall Terry and I
If the murder of Dr. George Tiller this past weekend has taught us anything, it's that the culture war fights of the 1990s are not over. Lake of Fire, a magnificent documentary about the climate of the abortion fight in the 1990s, chronicles the culture war arguments which include Tiller's. The abortion battle seems to flare up at the beginning of every incoming presidency, though especially at the beginning of the previous Democratic one and our current one. Also featured in Lake of Fire, and unfortunately in the news this past weekend, was Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue and pro-life activist. He popped up in the news in 2005, when Terry Schiavo's husband was allowed to remove her from a vegetative state and pass away. Randall Terry spoke on behalf of Schiavo's parents, who did not support her right to die.
In the 1990s, for those who lived in Upstate New York, the name Randall Terry was a familiar one. His residence was in Windsor, NY and his church was in Binghamton. He ran against Maurice Hinchey for the House and lost. His Operation Rescue protests were frequent and heated. For some reason, Binghamton was an epicenter for anti-abortion protests, though no violent incidents occurred here. His family were active members of the community, some of which were friends with my friends, whose parents were part of the church Terry was a part of.
My one encounter with Terry, however, is more anecdotal. I was a video store clerk in high school and in early college, where I developed my skepticism for corporate work and the establishment in general; I suppose that's why I accepted a managerial promotion. I would see Terry's family come in to the store, often renting children's movies or your typical PG-rated fare, though titles or specifics escape me. Around Easter of 2000, Terry came in alone. I recognized him and, admittedly, hoped he'd make some snide comment about how the content of the store, as mediocre as it was, was skewed against his values. Frequently, people would say such things. After a few minutes, Terry came to me and asked for one title:
"Where is your copy of Ben-Hur?"
Pointing to the Classics section, I replied "It should be here, sir." Walking over, I realized that the copy was not there and in fact the display box, which would indicate if the copy was rented or not, was missing. "I'll be right back, sir."
I walked to the computers, conveniently using Windows 95, and did a search. The copy, it turns out, was destroyed in a VCR and a replacement copy had not arrived. Explaining this to Mr. Terry, he looked at me, then wearing squarish glasses much like this picture, and scoffed. He placed his hands on his hips and promptly left.
Indeed, Terry would be censured from his church that year and would in 2001 divorce his wife and leave the Binghamton area. For residents of Binghamton, it's not often that our little city is thrust into the spotlight; it's even less likely that we see a familiar face on the news as often as we see Terry's. It's regrettable that Terry's language this week, while denouncing the brutal death of Dr. Tiller in his church, also called Tiller a "mass murderer." It's this tone-deaf radicalism that paralyzes both the far right and left and spins the wheels of 24 hour news and dead-tree op-eds. I almost feel a bit responsible for Terry's words, even if they are as far from mine as possible, just because he resided in the same city as me and walked the same streets. Back then, in my perpetual Ghost World stupor, I found Terry to be some kind of caricature from another world. I suppose I'm beginning to feel that way once more.
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