tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post7664476839840109189..comments2024-03-22T20:34:13.792-05:00Comments on Indomitable | The online home of Chauncey DeVega: Time Keeps on Slipping: A Semi-Open Weekend Thread. Renisha McBride's Murderer is Found Guilty. Barack Obama Decides to Bomb ISIS. Lady Zora, Chauncey DeVega, and Gordon Gartrellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138154899923808806noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-27614192756627189182014-08-10T16:59:08.447-05:002014-08-10T16:59:08.447-05:00Excellent article! Thanks for the link.Excellent article! Thanks for the link.KissedByTheSunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-66175029928065814912014-08-10T14:19:06.999-05:002014-08-10T14:19:06.999-05:00thanks Courtney. Over two years without working du...thanks Courtney. Over two years without working due to back injury, this part time job is just what I need.<br /><br />Aren't you in the EL/Civics instruction field as well? that's my new position.Myshkin the Idiothttps://www.facebook.com/myshkintheidiotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-58430337930616349962014-08-10T12:37:08.697-05:002014-08-10T12:37:08.697-05:00Congratulations!Congratulations!Courtney H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-41778309253887291102014-08-10T06:03:25.267-05:002014-08-10T06:03:25.267-05:00thanks man. :)thanks man. :)Myshkin the Idiothttps://www.facebook.com/myshkintheidiotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-52315407939674483202014-08-10T02:34:22.539-05:002014-08-10T02:34:22.539-05:00Congrats. Doing Groot GOTG dance for you!Congrats. Doing Groot GOTG dance for you!chauncey devegahttp://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-438563695973080532014-08-09T19:56:38.499-05:002014-08-09T19:56:38.499-05:00I got the job by the way. Good interviews this wee...I got the job by the way. Good interviews this week. We couldn't be happier. Very fortunate.<br /><br /><br />With Syria, what can you do? The government was killing and imprisoning protesters and I don't think they had ever been on the good side of the United States. Maybe we weren't anticipating a rise in religious extremism there, but we probably should have been...<br /><br /><br />There's a whole bunch of conspiranoid thinking about this conflict that I am not ready to jump into. All I know is the Syrian government is allied with Iran and the US hates Iran.Myshkin the Idiothttps://www.facebook.com/myshkintheidiotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-54152360064604819232014-08-09T19:31:22.430-05:002014-08-09T19:31:22.430-05:00Damn! I am so sorry you had to go through all cra...Damn! I am so sorry you had to go through all crap! I am glad that you are now getting some respite.Courtney H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-63785547113902572322014-08-09T19:28:13.353-05:002014-08-09T19:28:13.353-05:00Thank you!Thank you!Courtney H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-44976883968711262182014-08-09T16:31:38.564-05:002014-08-09T16:31:38.564-05:00I love seeing these classic films on the big scree...I love seeing these classic films on the big screen. So far we've seen:<br />Hitchcock's "Vertigo"<br />"All About Eve"<br />"What Ever Happened To Baby Jane"<br />"Rebecca"<br />"Rear Window"<br /><br /><br />Chauncey, don't ever fall into the trap of moving to an "exurb" ... we did because we were told the school system was first rate. We were terrified of our sons being in a bad school district. But our children weren't always treated with respect by teachers in this so-called "good" district (I finally understood that when we were told it was "good" it meant "white"), there were no sidewalks, no walkable community, just right-wing racist neighbors on their riding mowers who were overtly hostile or transparently "nice" with evil comments seeping through their smiles, no bookstore in town, no "town" really, just some strip malls and winding country roads. Every election cycle republican candidates' signs on every obsessively-manicured lawn.<br /><br /><br />I knew some people living there hated us, from the stares as well as comments reported to us by other neighbors ("they said they don't like living next to black people!") but the last five years my tires always had nails in them, literally once a month. Garbage thrown on our front yard. Dogs sent into our yard to shit. Just intense vandalism and passive-agressive harassment. My wife didn't want to "surrender"; she wanted to stubbornly stick it out, but it just became too much.<br /><br /><br />I can't tell you how good it is to be living in a small walkable city with bookstores, our beautiful movie theater, shakespeare in the park, black, white & brown neighbors... the nightmare is over.Buddy Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-45678149755253971722014-08-09T14:33:03.561-05:002014-08-09T14:33:03.561-05:00That's a keen observation. I think the importa...That's a keen observation. I think the importance of framing the analogy is that we then ask the right questions. For example, what national conversation should the British have had in 1958 if their troops were machine-gunning an insurgent group threatening a hospital in a remote Kenyan village during the Mau-Mau uprising? One frame leads to the answer "Oh, those damned colonials - we have to send more British soldiers and kill more of them. How come the Belgians and Portugese aren't helping?" Another frame leads to the question "what are British soldiers doing in Kenya in the first place - and are there better ways to help that hospital?"balitwilightnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-30496725423405775912014-08-09T13:52:18.508-05:002014-08-09T13:52:18.508-05:00That is a good analogy. I am sure IR types have wr...That is a good analogy. I am sure IR types have written volumes on this, but when if ever are "humanitarian" military interventions not self-interested? The British intervention against the Transatlantic slave trade was "humanitarian" but it also helped to deny their rivals a source of free labor, thus giving the Brits a competitive advantage.chauncey devegahttp://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-69843671344132504892014-08-09T13:10:07.767-05:002014-08-09T13:10:07.767-05:00As always I'm impressed by your open way of re...As always I'm impressed by your open way of reasoning and soliciting response. I'd like to respond to something you said about Iraq: "The reluctance of the American backed militaries in the region to deal with ISIS is a classic free rider problem.<br /><br />Example. You bought a friend a new Mercedes, put gas in it every week, and put out money for a long-term service plan. But, when you need to get a ride to the corner store to get some milk and candy they say "no". Yet, you continue to pay their car note and for gas. What lesson are you teaching them?"<br /><br />My opinion is that there is a flaw in that analogy. It is rooted in a propagandised imperial self-regard that Americans have for their government's actions in the world. If you want an analogy of America's actions in the Middle East (and the rest of the world), it isn't a Mitt Romney-esque deploring of Freeloaders on America's Generosity. It closer to this:<br /><br />You are a big-city crime lord. Your wealth and power come from extortion, breaking legs, and dealing drugs. You have destroyed a certain neighbourhood by creating addicts to your drug supply and propping up a vicious local gangster there as your lieutenant. In this chaos you fomented, other vicious gangs begin to form in that neighbourhood and fight against your local gangster. You watch this pattern repeat in many neighbourhoods and don't care as long as you get your money and retain your power. But in one particular neighbourhood, the local gangs are powerful enough to maybe threaten your local gangster. Lucky for you, you suddenly notice an orphanage in that one neighbourhood that needs your humanitarian aid. You move in with force and crack skulls. If - as you "defend the orphanage" - you happen to exterminate the rival gangs and re-establish your money supply and power, then it's what we call a win-win in Washington.<br /><br />That is the closer analogy for the US government's actions in Iraq and the world. You will notice that benevolence has nothing to do with it. As long as Military-Industrial contractors and oil companies make money, and the US retains hegemonic power - that is always the goal. Ask the Palestinians in Gaza where the US was when they needed some humanitarian aid this month. (The answer is selling more bombs to Israel).balitwilightnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-85830352698918800272014-08-09T12:57:05.226-05:002014-08-09T12:57:05.226-05:00You too. Relax. I am going to enjoy the weather an...You too. Relax. I am going to enjoy the weather and see Gotg again.chauncey devegahttp://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-6552174557175822872014-08-09T12:56:45.647-05:002014-08-09T12:56:45.647-05:00Glad you found a place where you feel comfortable....Glad you found a place where you feel comfortable. Peace of mind, safe, security, etc. are essential. Mental health is key. What a cool movie theater. The old movies houses are all but gone, it would have been nice to have been able to participate in that culture. Black Jesus? I need to see some more episodes. I am not sure if it is genius or horrible...yet.chauncey devegahttp://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-53610324826195660352014-08-09T12:55:36.831-05:002014-08-09T12:55:36.831-05:00Great analysis. We have a conflict that has spille...Great analysis. We have a conflict that has spilled over from another region and now there is a mess. In hindsight, do you think instigating some of the forces unleashed by the Arab Spring was a poor idea? Sometimes you need a mean junkyard dog to keep the yard safe.chauncey devegahttp://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-90830791706896983112014-08-09T11:16:55.895-05:002014-08-09T11:16:55.895-05:00I am glad you and your wife found a place of refug...I am glad you and your wife found a place of refuge, if you will. Here is more about the Black Jesus controversy:<br /><br />http://ncronline.org/news/art-media/black-jesus-targeted-blasphemous-conservative-groups<br /><br />May you all have a nice weekend!Courtney H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-70838099776164302322014-08-09T07:29:25.252-05:002014-08-09T07:29:25.252-05:00I think there is assistance in Iraq coming from Ir...I think there is assistance in Iraq coming from Iran and Russia as well as the United States and North Yemen. I think the Iraqi government has to approve of foreign intervention in their conflict, so it would have to be coming from people their government is comfortable working with.<br /><br /><br />The ISIS conflict is very much related to the Syrian Civil War, so I think it is best to look at the allies of Syria and the supporters of the rebellion to see how they would side in the Iraqi front of the conflict. The Syrian government gets a lot of support from Iran and Russia, two of the biggest countries the United States takes hostile and semi-hostile stances. Hezbollah is also an ally to the Assad government.<br /><br /><br />Supporters of the rebels have been the US France and Great Britain as well as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Arab League. The US position has been to identify secular rebels to assist with non-lethal aid up until sarin gas was used on civilians when we began giving lethal aid to the rebellion. <br /><br /><br />As for the rebels themselves, as far as I know initially there were two basic sides to the fighting. One side was a secular revolution for more democracy in Syrian politics, the other side was and remains the Islamic terrorists. I believe many of the once secular rebels have either joined the Syrian government forces or joined the terrorists, very unsure on this point.<br /><br /><br />So, as for ISIS in Iraq; we are perhaps not seeing a lot of support in the region due to the many conflicting ties between our allies (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel) and their position on the legitimacy/necessity of Syria. Turkey wants Assad gone, Israel has never liked any of its Arab neighbors and vice versa, I think any conflict the Saudis can try to manage from afar they would prefer (they really seem like a manipulative lot and the US gov loves them), Qatar similar...<br /><br /><br />I think your analogy holds. You bought your friend a car, but their driving out of town while you're trying to get downtown. You have different needs.Myshkin the Idiothttps://www.facebook.com/myshkintheidiotnoreply@blogger.com