hegemony rules

...must have gone something like this:

FIRST BUSH OFFICIAL: "Hey, you know, we really need to do something to ensure that folks know we're handing over control of Iraq's government to the Iraqis on June 30th."

SECOND BUSH OFFICIAL: "Yeah, people seem to be getting pretty restless over here. Oh, and I guess people over there are concerned, too."

FBO: "I know! Let's announce what's going to happen after we're done occupying Iraq. You know, how we are ensuring the Iraqis have the proper tools for self-governance, how and when our forces will return home, that kind of stuff."

SBO: "Hmm... that sounds like a decent idea, but it would require us to actually forumulate a plan for getting out of Iraq. That's a lot of work."

FBO: "Shoot. Yeah, you're right. Hmm. Okay, how about this? Let's just announce who we're handing Iraq over to on June 30th. That way, whoever we place in power can figure out all of the messy stuff we don't want to deal with."

SBO: "Yeah! That's a great idea - except we have no idea who's actually going to govern once we leave."

FBO: "Oh, yeah. Bummer."

SBO: "Yeah.... Wait a minute!"

FBO: "What?"

SBO: "Let's try thinking outside of the box. I mean, that's what we Americans are known for - thinking out of the box, right?"

FBO: "Yeah, you're right. Hmm. Maybe we can do something totally superficial that signals our occupation is actually legitimate."

SBO: "Okay, but what would that be?"

FBO: "Let's do something really dramatic - something that no one, least of all the Iraqi people, would expect. I've got it! What if the Iraqis were to wake up this morning and find out that their flag looks totally different? I'm thinking blue. I'm thinking yellow. I'm thinking crescent."

SBO: "That is THE BEST IDEA! Just think how happy everyone in Iraq will be when we, once again, prove that we know nothing about their culture or heritage! We rock!"

...and so, the idiocy of this war continues ever onward.

Posted by Adrienne at 06:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I suppose there are numerous times in everyone's life when the answer to the question, "Who am I?" is frustratingly puzzling. For some of us, this question is merely a temporary stop between the here-and-now and the future (in whatever form it takes); for others of us it remains a persistent and noticeable theme throughout our lives. I fall into the latter category. While I find myself thinking about this stuff to a greater or lesser degree most of the time, it's been on the front (rather than back) burner recently. I think there are a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is my current predilection for classes that are really challenging me to think about my academic career (and my life) in big picture terms. It probably also has something to do with this nagging urge I have to "make a difference" and to "be of service." Just what these two phrases actually mean is not easy to explain, especially when many things in my life and in the world at-large seem so fragile, so impermanent, and so mortal.

In the spirit of self-reflection I offer these links:

One of my professors is working with public libraries across the country to create a day of panels, roundtables, art events, etc. that will promote civic engagement and deliberation around local community issues. These events are scheduled to happen on September 11, 2004, and David has asked for everyone's help in getting the word out. Here's his description of The September Project:

On December 18, 2001, by a vote of 407-0, Congress designated September 11th as Patriot Day. We believe the most patriotic gesture citizens can make on this day is to come together in public places like local libraries. Through talks, roundtables, deliberations, and performances, citizens will participate collectively and think creatively about our country, our government, our community, and encourage and support the well-informed voice of the American citizenry.

Public libraries provide all citizens open and free access to information. Almost all communities in the US have at least one library. There are over 16,000 public libraries in the US, and that's not including university libraries, K-12 libraries, and church libraries. In other words, libraries constitute an already existing national infrastructure. Moreover, 96% of all public libraries in the US are wired, partly due to the Gates Foundation's successful library initiative. Therefore, libraries also constitute a national and distributed media infrastructure.

The September Project has three goals:

1. to coordinate with all libraries -- public, university, research; local, national, global -- to foster multiple public spaces for citizens to come together and participate in events on September 11, 2004;

2. to work with all modes of media -- popular and alternative; streaming/digital media, radio, television, print -- in order to transform local conversations into national and international interactions;

3. to continue doing this annually and internationally on September 11th. The aim of The September Project is to create a day of engagement, a day of community, a day of democracy. Our goal is to foster a tradition for citizens around the world to recognize and give meaning to September 11th.

We invite you to visit our web site http://www.theseptemberproject.org and to get involved. Although our initial organizational strategies have been focused primarily on the US, our aim is international. Thank you for your time,

david silver
http://www.theseptemberproject.org

Posted by Adrienne at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

For your amusement - Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness (via xBlog).

Here's another great find, a film about the 1962 World's Fair that features some amazing footage of rude teenagers and a bunch of rotary phones.

Posted by Adrienne at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ashcroft suggested during his testimony before the 9-11 Commission that the Clinton administration should be held accountable for the September 11th attacks. From a rhetorical standpoint, Ashcroft's complete statement is fascinating. He notes,

But the simple fact of Sept. 11 is this: we did not know an attack was coming because for nearly a decade our government had blinded itself to its enemies. Our agents were isolated by government-imposed walls, handcuffed by government-imposed restrictions and starved for basic information technology. The old national intelligence system in place on Sept. 11 was destined to fail.

After I became attorney general in February 2001, it soon became clear that the FBI's computer technology and information management was in terrible shape. The bureau essentially had 42 separate information systems, none of which were connected. Agents lacked even the most basic Internet technology.

These problems did not just hamper interagency communication; they hindered information sharing with the Justice Department, the intelligence community and state and local law enforcement. It is no wonder, given the state of its technology, that the Phoenix memo warning that terrorists may be training in commercial aviation was lost in the antique computers at Washington headquarters.

Yet for year after year, the FBI was denied the funds requested for its information technology. Over eight years, the bureau was denied nearly $800 million of its information technology funding requests. To put this $800 million shortfall in perspective, the trilogy program, which is now revolutionizing computer, data and information sharing at the bureau, has cost $580 million.

More information (along with PDFs of witness testimony) can be found on the Commission's Web site.

Posted by Adrienne at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a thought-provoking article in today's New York Times Magazine emphasizing the importance of class-based diversity on college campuses.

We are often reminded of how white our classrooms would look if we did away with affirmative action. But imagine what Harvard would look like if instead we replaced race-based affirmative action with a strong dose of class-based affirmative action. Ninety percent of the undergraduates come from families earning more than $42,000 a year (the median household income in the U.S.) -- and some 77 percent come from families with incomes of more than $80,000, although only about 20 percent of American households have incomes that high. If the income distribution at Harvard were made to look like the income distribution of the United States, some 57 percent of the displaced students would be rich, and most of them would be white. It's no wonder that many rich white kids and their parents seem to like diversity. Race-based affirmative action, from this standpoint, is a kind of collective bribe rich people pay themselves for ignoring economic inequality. The fact (and it is a fact) that it doesn't help to be white to get into Harvard replaces the much more fundamental fact that it does help to be rich and that it's virtually essential not to be poor.

Posted by Adrienne at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Unbeknownst to me, there seemed to have to be some minor issues with the commenting features going on with my weblog for awhile - i.e., no one could actually submit comments. While I've enjoyed several weeks of spam-free blogging, I've been missing the excitement of receiving an email whenever someone posts a comment. I figured out the problem, though, so comments are now back in full force.

Oh, and thanks to L's friend D for emailing me and letting me know he couldn't post. If he hadn't contacted me, I probably would have spent a few more weeks just sitting around thinking that no one was interested in what I was writing - not that it would be the first time.

Posted by Adrienne at 07:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They're pithy, brilliant, and speak to my organizational tendencies. Why did no one inform me of their existence? I particularly like this one.

More silly lists from McSweeney's.

Posted by Adrienne at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo and Chuck D are among the new hosts on a liberal talk radio network, Air America. Apparently, during the first day of broadcast, Ralph Nader hung up on host Randi Rhodes after she suggested that the Left cannot afford to have Nader running in the next election. Right on, Randi!

Posted by Adrienne at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)