the guy by the door …

Maura Hennigan speaking against the BioLab at Harriett Tubman House.

For my friends who live in Boston, please visit the guy who lives by the Strand and Un Hombre de Paz.
Aside from the BioLab, I also like Maura as a labor candidate. From the Office of Campaign Finance database:

May 23, 2005 was during the strike with a rally at the Pru.

For my friends who live in Cambridge, please visit, the folks across from the Y and !!!Holy Blog-O-Blunder!!! Tnx. -r

I managed to catch a portion of the rally held by SLAM in conjunction with SEIU local 615. I have a bunch of pictures, but there were lots of other folks taking pictures too. And there is some very good reportage from Andrew at Cambridge Common. In fact, it’s better than mine. Sadly, I missed Vice Mayor Marj Decker and Councillor Brian Murphy and I couldn’t stay for the greeting of Pr.Larry. But I had time to take one parting shot.

“>
Who is that man? Do you remember?

This post came to me through a fellow Harvard staffer  – David Dance. He works at
Phillips Brooks House
which has a lot of fond memories for me. It is Harvard’s institutional
outreach to the rest of the world. It even has its own entrance to the
Yard which is now chained shut for security reasons most of the time.
David picketed outside during the Mass Hall sit-in in ’72. He was a community activist in Dorchester. Harvard needs him.
—–
March with Congressman John Lewis
Place:   First Chursh in Roxbury, 10 Putnam St., Boston
Time:   Sunday, October 30, 2005 Rain or shine.     Program: 1:00
p.m.         March: 2:00 p.m.

Forty years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led marchers on an
historic march from Selma to Montgomery, show your commitment to the
fight for civil rights and the importance of political engagement by
walking with us from Roxbury to the Boston Common.

Congressman John Lewis of Georgia will lead a commemorative march along
a route similar to that of a march led by Dr. King in 1965 to protest
the segregation of Boston’s public schools. Read about Congressman
Lewis and his role as one of the “Big Six” leaders of the Civil Rights
Movement at www.house.gov/johnlewis/bio.html

More information at: www.mfh.org/retracingthestruggle

[I was too fast and loose with these links. 🙁  Fixed now.]

A message to y’all from Hugo Chavez. Perhaps I exagerate. The message comes from Jorge Marin who works at the embassy here and showed me The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. The message [not the movie] is about un hombre de paz, Felix Arroyo. I live in Dorchester. Felix is a Boston City Councilor at Large. Dorchester People for Peace endorsed him. I voted for him. He’s running again. DPP endorsed again.I’ll vote for him again. Fenstermacher is not quite Latino, but I know some [like Jarrett Barrios]. Latinos for Felix Arroyo invite you to the 3rd annual “Felix Fiesta” in support of Boston City Councilor Felix D. Arroyo.

The only face I recognized in the crowd at the Revolution was a young woman organizer from SEIU, none of her friends who call me[everything up to] counter-revolutionary were there [and yet they use him as an example when it is convenient.] She told me her union had told her not to get involved with other unions. I was not fooled. I knew she had.

I later learned that a Latino from the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice was there. We met at another Bolivarian meeting. We went to Au Bon Pain and talked things over. We agreed on a lot. “Idealogical groups,” he said, “often don’t really put priority on ideology. It’s really about ‘the group’.”Among the 2/3 of HUCTW members that do not vote, there are quite a few who agree with us two. I know them. I know one that belongs to a collective that puts out a left economics magazine. Their stuff is much more useful than the tabloids. The Solidarity Game is nasty, nasty, nasty. You think the Powers That Be don’t know? They know they are a small minority.That’s their goal! [Sadly, it seems to be the goal of some reform groups too. I polled better than most of them 🙂 ] They know they are still in power. I mean this on all levels, not just HUCTW. They ARE afraid, but seeing you play the game by the same rulesputs them at ease. Shame on you.

Prof Jayati Ghosh [I must use full honorifics because she is a visitor]
gave the first of three Massey Lectures on 2005: American Empire. A
year or so from now, Harvard University Press will publish the full
text of the lecture. It cannot possibly be as good as hearing her in
person. Working in the Littauer Building [North Yard] one gets the
impression that some folks think the American Empire is doing just
fine. Prof. Jayati did not describe a unique end state, but she did
point that the Empire is in a whole bunch of trouble.

 I especially
appreciated [in a gawking at an auto wreck sort of way] her description
of how the Military Industrial Complex has been used to stabilize an
economy which has otherwise questionable fundamentals. [Professor N.
Gregory refuses to think about such things.] In response to her remarks
about the relative benefits of being an Empire vs. developing country,
an audiant asked if in fact India had not benefitted handsomely from
the outsourcing of American jobs. She replied that some people had
benefitted handsomely, but that they are quite few in number. It might
be good for us to pursue her views on outsourcing and more generally
unionization.

She made these remarks
in the Barker Center just outside the south east corner of the Yard.
Maybe that explains how she could get away with it. Anyway, y’all will
have another chance to hear her today at 4:00 PM  in the
northeast corner of the Yard – Robinson Hall, Lower Library.

You simply must go by Ghosh!

Professor, I know this little play on your name is not new to you,
but
it’s new to me and I thought probably some others. I hope it doesn’t
offend. I sort of lied to you. I will not, in fact, have to infiltrate
Harvard University Press. My MP3 recorder worked reasonably well. But I
cannot come today, so it will be a new challenge. I will see if I can
come to the reception. I wish I could bring an iris, but that is
another challenge.

“>

Guest Post By SLAM [Really! -r]

Sever Hall 113 -The Teach-in of the year [so far :)] was last night. We heard:

*Harvard janitors demanding better wages and benefits
*Harvard security officers fighting for respect on the job
*Workers standing up for their rights in Cambridge & Boston

AND hear from an International Human Rights Delegation including…

*Hon. David Bonior: Former Michigan Representative and House Whip
*Rev. Calvin Morris: Director, Community Renewal Society, Chicago
*Marieclaire Acosta: Human rights activist and former Deputy
Secretary for Human Rights and Democracy, Mexico
*Veronique Marleau: Human rights activist and consultant to the
United Nations International Labor Organization, Quebec
*Maria Adela Mejia Perez: Activist and union organizer, Guatemala

Moderated By Cambridge Vice Mayor Marjorie Decker

With an introduction By Professor John Womack, History Department

Students were reminded that they have the power to support
workers at Harvard and workers all over the Boston area.

Brought to you by: Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM), American
Rights at Work, Boston Student Labor Action Project, SEIU Local 615

————————————-
student * labor * action * movement
————————————-

This is how you can make an impact RIGHT NOW.

1. SIGN THE PETITION. http://hcs.harvard.edu/~slam/petition.htm

2. ASK YOUR STUDENT GROUP To sign on to the campaign for justice.

3. PUT UP A WINDOW SIGN. Come and get one at Phillips Brooks House.

4. SAVE THE DATE. March on Harvard. Friday. October 28. 4:15.

5. TALK TO WORKERS. And get to know what we’re fighting for.

Please see our official website at:
——————————————————————-
 www.harvardslam.com //  harvardslam at yahoo.com
——————————————————————-

“>

Vice Mayor Marj Decker[speaking] ;Lance Corporal Alex Arredondo USMC[standing guard]

I committed the ultimage sin of the blogoshere! I was as inert to a big, big story as the mainstream media. I was at Cambridge City Council when Vice Mayor Marj Decker called for the impeachment of President Geroge W. Bush. Of course, it was by no means the first time I had heard the idea. The blogosphere is alive with it. So, I said to myself, “Sure!”. But, it wasn’t until Saturday September 17, 2005 when Cindy Sheehan came to the Cambridge Common that it hit me [with a little reminding from Marj]. Here an elected official, a mainstream politician is calling for the impeachment of POTUS! I am sorry Madam Vice Mayor.

Next week, the Harvard’s History of American Civilization program will sponsor a
series of three guest lectures. I’m guessing this will offer a
different perspective than oh … say … Thomas Friedman’s flat earth
theory*  or Larry Summer’s contribution
to Social Analysis 78.

[Can’t find the link? Mouse the title.]

*which amongst other misdeeds, offers a totally revisionist
history of Micro$oft DOS and later Windows [which Steve Jobs basically stole from Xerox PARC] – the greatest trail of asymmetric
information in the history of markets.

The
Institute for Defense & Disarmament Studies is celebrating the 25th
Aniversary of the Nuclear Freeze with a 2.5 day conference. IDDS is [in
their own words]
an independent, non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
center dedicated to research, alternative policy studies,
and public education on ways to reduce the risk of war, minimize
military spending, and foster democratic institutions.

The
founding director, Dr. Randall Forsberg, came out early against John
Kerry’s position on the Iraq War. When he refused to change his vote,
she challenged him [unsuccessfully] for his Senate seat. You might ask,
“Is nonproliferation by pre-emptive war a good policy” and get some
answers that might not turn your stomach. I would think that if you
want to argue [as a woman from the ILGWU did at another conference]
that North Korea is entitled to nuclear weapons, you will find it a
tough sell.

You can register online. The food events cost money, but you can register [as I did] for $ 0.00.

The continuing genocide in Iraq. I’ve lost track of Darfur. Jillian
asked us how we could not know about the devastion in New Orleans
before Katrina. I did know. Long ago. The news did nothing to remind
me. It worked hard to keep me from remembering. And then one night a
voice. Oddly, a woman’s voice – Laura Flanders . Some people condemn me
as reactionary for listening to her, but they were not the ones to tell
me what was to come. Nor were they the ones to tell me that the Gretna police had turned back a hundred people trying to escape NOLA on foot.

This administration has boldly said, “We’re an empire now.” That is, I
believe, a first. [Not being an empire, saying it out loud. We’re
supposed to be a democracy or at least a republic remember? Curiously,
even George F. Kennan, author of the famous ‘containment’ policy
argued that there are intrinsic limits to what it is appropriate for our form of government to do in foreign affairs.]

But it’s not enough that You know how bad things are. It matters who else knows. It matters how you tell them.

*** PROTEST MILITARY RECRUITMENT 9/30/05***

* 12 PM: Walk [peacefully, with signs and flyers, for peace and justice] over to the Career Fair at Gordon Track and Field Center *

*or phone Prez Summers and tell him what you think of having military recruitment reinstated on campus: 617 495 1502 or email  lawrence_summers at harvard.edu

Sponsors: Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice, Harvard Social Forum,
Harvard Law School Students for Peace, Harvard Socialist Alternative.

…. keep the bad people out. [Well the one’s that don’t have Harvard ID’s, anyway.]

“gil”

They deserve a living wage too. The only known tool to do that, is the right to unionize.
SEIU which represents the custodial workers is also organizing security guards – Nationwide and at Harvard.

“>

“>

——————————————————————-
Another one from SLAM. Spread the word!

“>
[cleanliness with the best regards of S.E.I.U]
and keep you fed.

“>

[nourishment with the best regards of Unite-HERE!]

I had hoped that Geraldo’s baby would shape up the mainstream media a bit. The 300,000 of you were well documented in the blogosphere, but mainstream media, barely a peep. I’ll compile an anthology.

I have worked a weekend schedule for many years. It was convenient for both me and Harvard. The Pinkertons hired to outsource us, have become increasingly inflexible about scheduling us. When they first came in, they argued that using contract workers would allow scheduling flexibility. But as time has gone on, accomodating “the vendor” has increased in priority. More and more decisions are made without talking to the workers. There was some awkwardness about my vacation. I could not go to Crawford. I apologized to Cindy. They didn’t even ask about this Saturday, but I didn’t really expect that they would.

I’ll be here when you get back …

…waiting by the door.

From HIPJ mailing list:

Our group, the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice, brings together people of many political viewpoints who are opposed to the war in Iraq and to the future wars already being prepared by the Bush administration. We hold political discussions among group members, organize guest speakers, teach-ins, and rallies, and work with other local and national groups to bring the anti-war movement together. Please join us for a discussion over pizza and drinks about how we can tell Americans the truth about the war and work with other students to oppose it.

I owe credit for most of the title to an American refugee in h(er|is) blog called My Katrina.
And now s/he has to leave Houston due to Rita – deja vu all over again.
But s/he is relatively lucky. The 1500 evacuees who were left at the
Reliant Stadium [the new bigger and better stadium next to the
Astrodome] were supposed to be evacuated again. That’s a second stage
of the diaspora.

The Bataan had enough water for the people at Charity, the Superdome and
the Convention Center. None of them had to die of thirst. It was
genocide by inaction. And it was foretold.
I see Captain Nora was relieved of  command. Did they blame her
for waiting for orders? A real man would have waited for orders? What
would the men say about her if she had disobeyed orders? Bleeding
heart? Unmilitary?

My brother lives in Houston. He is evacuating. He planned on leaving at
3:00 AM CDT. He didn’t get on the road  until 3:45 AM. I’m looking
at the Transtar traffic map
and passing the info on via cell phone. The major evacuation routes to
the North and West are jammed. Only  I-10 east going to Louisiana is
clear and even now at 4:33 AM, it is starting to get traffic. Refugee will
have clear sailing to Baton Rouge. But Louisiana is also a disaster zone.
Rita may turn to the east. Cyclone storms often do in the Northern
Temperate Zone.  The authorities may not let him in. Good luck refugee.

Bill decided to stay off the major routes. He confirmed that Westheimer is clear. Transtar said it was.

Bill just called again. He encountered heavy traffic on Westhiemer and
made a turn. He is lost. I have Yahoo maps in another tab. He’s on
Westheimer Parkway in George Bush Park. He is now off the edge of the
Transtar map.  Westheimer Parkway continues west to 99 he will
have to go north or south. North to 1-10 which is probably jammed.
Bill’s friend in Dallas is watching the news on TV I-10 is a
nightmare.  He’s going south to 1093.

Call. 1093 is jammed. I have no traffic information for him anymore
– only geographic data. “If I turn around, how far is it to I-10?
Except I’ll have trouble turning around. Never mind. I guess it’s time
to grin and bear it. I  guess I’m going to San Antonio. Have a
long breakfast, I’m not going anywhere for a while.” The goal is a
friends place in Dallas to the North. Bill’s forced into a detour.
Refugee is going to Baton Rouge because s/he could find no other place
to go.

It took four phone calls to navigate through Eagle Lake and get on 102
to Columbus. Bill says most of the other drivers are on cell phones
there are at least 5 million people on the move. There must be 2
million calls per hour coming from that part of the cellnet.

I remember Amy Sweeney.  She was so afraid. And so brave. The
usual channels were in control of the terrorists. She called
reservations on her cell phone. Amazing common sense in the face of
terrible fear.. She could only believe she was risking her life.
She could not know she was already doomed. Amazingly
uncommon sense. [Betty Ong in another post.]

It was a long night for Bill. I was able to catch naps between
phone
calls. Bill is in Austin to the west of Houston. 9 hours on the road to
go 162 miles.- an average of 18 mph. Normal time is 3.5 hours. Bill’s
friend is in Dallas. Rita has turned
east. Will Dallas be in danger? It looks like a close call. NWS thinks.
they will experience high winds, but only gusts will reach hurricane
speeds. Should Bill stay in Austin and invite his friend to join him?
NWS thinks there is a 5% probability of steady winds reaching hurricane
speeds. Sounds to me like Austin is a little worse than Dallas. Bill
doesn’t understand this based on the the projected track. But the
models undoubtedly include the weakening of the storm as it moves over
land. Dallas is to the north.

But the eastward shift of the track is bad for refugee. Good luck refugee.

I cannot find the NOLA’s from the Reliant/Astrodome. Can you blogbuds help me?

Pete Dolack reports in Indy Media.

The New York City Police Department forcibly broke up this afternoon’s rally for Cindy Sheehan, moving in as Cindy was speaking at about 3 p.m. in Union Square. The rally had been underway for about an hour, and was about to conclude as Cindy spoke following several other speakers, including a few who are traveling with her on her caravan. … Full article.

Thanks to the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice for pointing this out.

HIPJ also forwards this report from the Village Voice.

“>
Harvard University Graduation Day Spring 2005 – A grand occasion for many. Yet some not so grand activities must also take place. I speak only a few words of Spanish, ” Si! Se puede!”*. That’s about it. My conversation with this gentleman was a bit strained. He is Mr. Aguilar. I remember because I know an Aguilera. His first name is Jaime like in “Stand and Deliver”. I believe her first name is Christina … I’m kidding.

Jaime and Harvard’s other custodial workers are represented by the Service Employees International Union through it’s Local 615 which has had a Justice for Janitors campaign for 20 years. S.E.I.U has also begun organizing security guards and has made some recent progress. Harvard’s security guards are currently not represented by any Union. [HUSMPGU still represents museum and parking guards. The security guards were outsourced two years ago.]

The Harvard’s contract with S.E.I.U. expires on Noverber 15, 2005 – at least according to the copy on the Harvard University website. [The locals have reorganized since the contract started.] This contract was renogtiated to good effect as a result of the Mass Hall sit-in coming out of the Living Wage Campaign
of the Progressive Student Labor Movement. In any case, this word from a soon to be named student worker group on behalf of S.E.I.U.

It begins with hello. And you can continue with hello between structured activities. You don’t need a grand strategy to do that, and it will certainly help with whatever else you decide to do. It is, afterall, at least in part, about the workers.

*Yes! We can!

Yesterday in the Science Center there was advising en masse for the
incoming students. Tables were lined up around the atrium personed by
faculty, students, and staff. Mechanistic perhaps. Bureaucratic perhaps.
I certainly believe in ideas, models, and systems as useful tools. But
I am an empiricist, experimentalist – somewhat of a nominalist. I
believe that ideas, models, and systems must always be questioned. Are
they serving us well?

I had to find the physics table. I found what Harvard is really about.
Not physics, or scholarship – scholarly relationships. An old scholar
was talking to a young one. The old man was brimming over with
excitement. The old man would have won the Nobel if protons were not so
stubborn. But the truly remarkable is the Nobel class attention he gave
to this most newly arrived young scholar.

That’s why I’ve kept the books on the shelves for lo these many years.

 I did my best to get Matt to talk to his advisor, Professor
Andy.  Matt went in another direction. It’s not mine to judge. But
am I allowed to have hopes?

In case you missed it, the U.S. Army occupied the Cambridge Common on June14, 2005. Seven people were arrested – among them:

“>	“>
Matt photo jonny rebellous Boston Indy Media	Joe Gerson photo: gbd

Matt is active in – among other things – Boston Mobilization. Joe is executive director of the Peace and Economic Security Program for the New England Region of the American Friends Service Committee.

At the June 20 City Council meeting, Vice Mayor Marj Decker introduced an order asking the City Manager to investigate the circumstances leading to the arrests. At the Sept. 12 meeting Mr. Healy was noticably reticent about when this report would appear. Marj expressed considerable dismay observing that ‘the packets have already gone out’.

“>

“>

She was referring to execution of a section of the No Child Left Behind Law which requires the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School to turn student records over to military recruiters. The good news is parents have the right to opt out of having their kids’ records turned over.They must be sent a packet informing them of that right. CRLS did send the packets. The bad news is that the time period for opting out has expired.

The gentleman to Bob Healy’s right is Don Drisdale, the City’s #2 in house lawyer i.e. the ranking one who shows up for work. He is offering an interim progress report on his ressearch into what constitutes a “free speach zone”. Curiously, “The United States of America” is not City Administration’s answer.

The question behind the questions, “Was there a quid pro quo.”

The trial of the Cambridge 7 continues Thursday September 15, 2005 at Middlesex County Courthouse. More details when available. Marj is going and urged the other Councillors to go. If you go, please tell her I have to guard the liberry.