#John Midgley

[jinsei-pika-pika]

Kyle MacLachlan

[kiki-de-la-petite-flaque]

Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.

Orhan Pamuk

Ph John Midgley

[scottwellsmagic]

855: Magic Texas - Day Two Report

Saturday August 31st, 2024

Subject to change

8:30 AM – 6:30 PM Registration Open

9:00 AM -1:00 PM Youth Academy

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Dealers Room Open

9:00 - 11:00 AM Close-up Contest

10:00 - 11:00 AM SESSION #4: Choice between; Paul Draper – Marketing Jeff Copeland – Coins

11:15 AM - 12:30 PM Lecture - Artem Shchukin

12:45 – 1:45 PM Lecture – Shawn Farquhar

2:00 - 3:00 PM Stars of Tomorrow Stage Show

3:00 – 6:00 PM Youth Academy

3:30 - 4:30 PM Franz Harary Interviews Gay Blackstone

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Lecture – Adrian Vega

6:00 PM BUS OR SELF DRIVE TO UT ARLINGTON Texas Hall Theater

6:00 – 7:30 PM

RED & WHITE Party with Strolling Magic at UTA Texas Hall Theater

(Food for Purchase)

8:00 - 9:30 PM International GALA Stage Show – Texas Hall on the UTA Campus Starring Greg Frewin, Yu Komohara, Shimpei. Syouma, Wessy, Adrien Kill and Emcee, BJ Mallin

10:00 - 11:30 PM FILM: Lost In The Shuffle – Houdini Theater at the Loews Ballroom

10:00 – 10:30 PM Mind2Mind Mentalism Session #4 (30 Person Limit – Must be pre-registered)

10:45 – 11:15 PM Mind2Mind Mentalism Session #5 (30 Person Limit – Must be pre-registered)

11:30 PM - ??? Midnight Madness – Open Mic, hosted by Fabian Moreno

Time stamps for this episode: updates will be posted after I get some sleep

00:00:18 –

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[fionaapplerocks]

Fiona Apple // photo John Midgley, 2005

[mr-e-gallery]

John Midgley Portrait of Jan de Koning

[wankerwatch]

Commons Vote

On: Passenger Railway Services Bill (Public Ownership) Bill: Committee: Amendment 14

Ayes: 111 (95.5% Con, 4.5% DUP) Noes: 362 (97.0% Lab, 2.5% Ind, 0.6% SDLP) Absent: ~177

Day's business papers: 2024-9-3

Likely Referenced Bill: Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill

Description: A Bill to make provision for passenger railway services to be provided by public sector companies instead of by means of franchises.

Originating house: Commons Current house: Commons Bill Stage: 3rd reading

Individual Votes:

Ayes

Conservative (106 votes)

Alan Mak Alberto Costa Alex Burghart Alicia Kearns Alison Griffiths Andrew Bowie Andrew Murrison Andrew Rosindell Andrew Snowden Aphra Brandreth Ashley Fox Ben Obese-Jecty Ben Spencer Bernard Jenkin Blake Stephenson Bob Blackman Bradley Thomas Caroline Dinenage Caroline Johnson Charlie Dewhirst Chris Philp Claire Coutinho Damian Hinds Danny Kruger David Davis David Mundell David Reed David Simmonds Desmond Swayne Edward Argar Edward Leigh Gagan Mohindra Gareth Bacon Gareth Davies Gavin Williamson Geoffrey Cox George Freeman Greg Smith Gregory Stafford Harriet Cross Harriett Baldwin Helen Whately Iain Duncan Smith Jack Rankin James Cartlidge James Cleverly James Wild Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Wright Jerome Mayhew Jesse Norman Joe Robertson John Cooper John Glen John Hayes John Lamont John Whittingdale Joy Morrissey Julia Lopez Julian Lewis Karen Bradley Katie Lam Kemi Badenoch Kevin Hollinrake Kieran Mullan Kit Malthouse Laura Trott Lewis Cocking Lincoln Jopp Louie French Mark Francois Mark Garnier Mark Pritchard Martin Vickers Matt Vickers Mel Stride Mike Wood Mims Davies Neil Hudson Neil O'Brien Neil Shastri-Hurst Nick Timothy Nigel Huddleston Oliver Dowden Patrick Spencer Peter Bedford Peter Fortune Priti Patel Rebecca Harris Rebecca Paul Rebecca Smith Richard Fuller Richard Holden Robbie Moore Robert Jenrick Saqib Bhatti Sarah Bool Shivani Raja Simon Hoare Steve Barclay Stuart Anderson Stuart Andrew Suella Braverman Tom Tugendhat Victoria Atkins Wendy Morton

Democratic Unionist Party (5 votes)

Carla Lockhart Gavin Robinson Gregory Campbell Jim Shannon Sammy Wilson

Noes

Labour (351 votes)

Abena Oppong-Asare Abtisam Mohamed Adam Jogee Adam Thompson Afzal Khan Al Carns Alan Campbell Alan Gemmell Alan Strickland Alex Baker Alex Ballinger Alex Barros-Curtis Alex Davies-Jones Alex Mayer Alex McIntyre Alex Norris Alex Sobel Alice Macdonald Alison Hume Alison McGovern Alistair Strathern Allison Gardner Amanda Hack Amanda Martin Andrew Cooper Andrew Gwynne Andrew Lewin Andrew Pakes Andrew Ranger Andrew Western Andy MacNae Andy McDonald Andy Slaughter Angela Eagle Anna Dixon Anna Gelderd Anna McMorrin Anna Turley Anneliese Dodds Anneliese Midgley Antonia Bance Ashley Dalton Baggy Shanker Bambos Charalambous Barry Gardiner Bayo Alaba Beccy Cooper Becky Gittins Ben Coleman Ben Goldsborough Bill Esterson Blair McDougall Brian Leishman Callum Anderson Calvin Bailey Carolyn Harris Cat Smith Catherine Atkinson Catherine Fookes Catherine McKinnell Catherine West Charlotte Nichols Chi Onwurah Chris Bloore Chris Curtis Chris Elmore Chris Evans Chris Hinchliff Chris Kane Chris McDonald Chris Murray Chris Vince Chris Ward Chris Webb Christian Wakeford Claire Hazelgrove Claire Hughes Clive Betts Clive Efford Clive Lewis Connor Naismith Connor Rand Damien Egan Dan Aldridge Dan Carden Dan Jarvis Dan Norris Dan Tomlinson Daniel Francis Danny Beales Darren Paffey Dave Robertson David Burton-Sampson David Pinto-Duschinsky David Smith David Taylor Dawn Butler Debbie Abrahams Deirdre Costigan Derek Twigg Diana Johnson Douglas Alexander Douglas McAllister Elaine Stewart Ellie Reeves Elsie Blundell Emily Darlington Emily Thornberry Emma Foody Emma Lewell-Buck Euan Stainbank Fabian Hamilton Fleur Anderson Florence Eshalomi Frank McNally Gareth Snell Gareth Thomas Gen Kitchen Gerald Jones Gill Furniss Gill German Gordon McKee Graeme Downie Graham Stringer Grahame Morris Gregor Poynton Gurinder Singh Josan Harpreet Uppal Heidi Alexander Helen Hayes Helena Dollimore Henry Tufnell Ian Lavery Ian Murray Imogen Walker Irene Campbell Jack Abbott Jacob Collier Jade Botterill Jake Richards James Asser James Frith James Naish Janet Daby Jayne Kirkham Jeevun Sandher Jeff Smith Jen Craft Jenny Riddell-Carpenter Jess Asato Jess Phillips Jessica Morden Jessica Toale Jim Dickson Jim McMahon Jo Platt Jo Stevens Jo White Joani Reid Jodie Gosling Joe Morris Joe Powell Johanna Baxter John Grady John Healey John Slinger John Whitby Jon Pearce Jon Trickett Jonathan Brash Jonathan Davies Jonathan Hinder Josh Dean Josh Fenton-Glynn Josh MacAlister Josh Newbury Julia Buckley Julie Minns Juliet Campbell Justin Madders Karin Smyth Karl Turner Kate Osamor Kate Osborne Katie White Katrina Murray Keir Mather Kerry McCarthy Kevin Bonavia Kim Johnson Kim Leadbeater Kirith Entwistle Kirsteen Sullivan Kirsty McNeill Laura Kyrke-Smith Lauren Edwards Lauren Sullivan Laurence Turner Lee Barron Lee Pitcher Leigh Ingham Lewis Atkinson Liam Byrne Liam Conlon Lilian Greenwood Lillian Jones Linsey Farnsworth Liz Kendall Liz Twist Lizzi Collinge Lloyd Hatton Lola McEvoy Louise Haigh Louise Jones Lucy Powell Lucy Rigby Luke Akehurst Luke Charters Luke Murphy Luke Myer Margaret Mullane Marie Tidball Mark Ferguson Mark Hendrick Mark Sewards Mark Tami Markus Campbell-Savours Marsha De Cordova Martin Rhodes Mary Glindon Mary Kelly Foy Matt Bishop Matt Rodda Matt Turmaine Matt Western Matthew Patrick Matthew Pennycook Maureen Burke Meg Hillier Melanie Onn Melanie Ward Miatta Fahnbulleh Michael Payne Michael Shanks Michael Wheeler Michelle Scrogham Michelle Welsh Mike Amesbury Mike Kane Mike Reader Mike Tapp Mohammad Yasin Nadia Whittome Natalie Fleet Natasha Irons Naushabah Khan Navendu Mishra Neil Coyle Neil Duncan-Jordan Nesil Caliskan Nia Griffith Nicholas Dakin Nick Smith Nick Thomas-Symonds Noah Law Oliver Ryan Olivia Bailey Olivia Blake Pam Cox Pamela Nash Pat McFadden Patricia Ferguson Patrick Hurley Paul Davies Paul Foster Paul Waugh Paula Barker Paulette Hamilton Perran Moon Peter Dowd Peter Kyle Peter Lamb Peter Swallow Phil Brickell Polly Billington Preet Kaur Gill Rachael Maskell Rachel Blake Rachel Hopkins Rachel Taylor Richard Baker Richard Quigley Rosie Duffield

Rupa Huq Ruth Cadbury Ruth Jones Sadik Al-Hassan Sally Jameson Sam Carling Sam Rushworth Samantha Dixon Samantha Niblett Sarah Champion Sarah Coombes Sarah Edwards Sarah Hall Sarah Jones Sarah Owen Sarah Sackman Satvir Kaur Scott Arthur Sean Woodcock Seema Malhotra Sharon Hodgson Shaun Davies Simon Lightwood Simon Opher Siobhain McDonagh Sojan Joseph Sonia Kumar Stella Creasy Stephanie Peacock Stephen Kinnock Stephen Timms Steve Race Steve Witherden Steve Yemm Sureena Brackenridge Tahir Ali Taiwo Owatemi Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Tim Roca Toby Perkins Tom Collins Tom Hayes Tom Rutland Tonia Antoniazzi Tony Vaughan Torcuil Crichton Torsten Bell Tracy Gilbert Tristan Osborne Uma Kumaran Valerie Vaz Vicky Foxcroft Warinder Juss Wes Streeting Will Stone Yasmin Qureshi Yuan Yang Zubir Ahmed

Independent (9 votes)

Apsana Begum Ayoub Khan Imran Hussain Jeremy Corbyn John McDonnell Rebecca Long Bailey Richard Burgon Shockat Adam Zarah Sultana

Social Democratic & Labour Party (2 votes)

Claire Hanna Colum Eastwood

[yildirimkemalsworld]

Thomas MIDGLEY

Thomas MIDGLEY

Dünya tarihinde pek çok büyük felaket görüldü. Binlerce insanı katleden diktatörler, hiç acıması olmayan komutanlar, işkenceciler ve seri katiller…

Ama hiçbiri Thomas Midgley kadar dünyaya zarar vermedi. 1889 yılında ABD’de dünyaya gelen Thomas Midgley çocukluğu boyunca kimya ve makine mühendisliğine ilgi duyuyor ve babası gibi bir bilim adamı olmak istiyordu. Ama bilimi sadece para kazanma aracı olarak görünce hâlâ etkisinden kurtulamadığımız, dünyayı değiştiren birçok büyük felakete yol açtı. 1920’de buzdolabı üreten soğutucu firmalar zarar ediyordu.

Thomas Midgley bu sektördeki para kazanma potansiyelini gördü ve bu alanda çalışmaya başlayınca, ısıyı emme özelliği olan kloroflorokarbon gazını keşfetti. Üretim mâliyetinindüşü olması ve kararlı yapısı nedeniyle bu gaz özellikle soğuma sektöründe bir numara haline geldi.

Deodorant, klima ve buzdolaplarında sıklıkla kullanılmaya başlayınca dünyada bu gazın girmediği ev kalmadı. Buluşu için kimyasal endüstri birliği Thomas Midgley’eonur madalyası verdi ama insanlık kısa bir süre içerisinde fark edecekti ki, hızla yayılan bütün bu kloroflorokarbon gazları sadece 10 yıl içerisinde dünya atmosferinin koruyucu ozon tabakasının %4’ünü yok etmiş ve yok etmeye devam etmekteydi.

Gazın kullanımı 50 yıl sonra yani 1970’lerde yasaklanmış olsa da etkileri sadece dünya atmosferini yok etmekle kalmadı.

Dünyadaki bütün insanların solunum yoluyla vücutlarına da nüfus etmişti. Ozon tabakasına ve tüm dünya nüfusunun vücudunda açılan bu hasarı düzeltmek, bugün bile ne yazık ki mümkün değildir.

Yine 1920’li yıllarında farklı bir keşifle gündeme gelen Thomas Midgley, bu sefer tetraetil kurşunu benzine eklemenin verimi artırdığını buldu. Amerikan Kimya Cemiyeti keşfi için ona 1923 NicholsMadalyası verdi. Büyük otomobil firmaları da daha güvenli yollar olmasına rağmen düşük maliyet ve yüksek verim nedeniyle Thomas Midgley’in patentini kullanmayı tercih ettiler.

Thomas Midgley’da ilk iş olarak bir tetraetil fabrikası kurdu. Thomas Midgley zengin olurken fabrikadaki işçilerde kurşun zehirlenmesi ve ölümler görülmeye başlandı. Zehirlenen işçiler işten çıkarılarak olaylar örtbas edildi.

Ama 1923 yılında zehirlenen kişi Thomas Midgley’nin kendisi olunca: “Anladım ki ciğerlerim bir türlü etkilendi. Bütün işi bırakıp temiz hava almak zorundayım” diyerek Miami’ye gezintiye gitti. Ancak tüm dünyada otomotiv sektörü, Thomas Midgley’inzehrine milyon dolarlık yatırım yapmış, bütün araçlar tetraetilkurşunla üretilmişti. Pazarlama kampanyaları da tamamen bu yönde kurulmuştu.

Öyle ki, tetraetil kurşunun sağlık kaynağı olduğu reklamları her yerdeydi. Artık tüm dünyadaki neredeyse bütün motorlu araçlar on yıllarca çevreye tetraetil kurşun zehri yayıyordu. Uluslararasıı tepkiler de büyümeye başlamıştı.

Thomas Midgley ise fabrikasını kurtarabilmek için bir basın toplantısı düzenledi ve tetraetil kurşun kullanımının zararsız olduğunu gösterebilmek için eline bir miktar dökerek 1 dakika boyunca, bir kovanın içindeki çeşitli kimyasalları soludu. Fabrikaları geç de olsa kapatılmaya başladı.

Tetraetil kurşun bir kere Thomas Midgley yüzünden insanlığın kanına karışmış olduğu için bugün kalıtımsal olarak bize de bulaşmıştır ve vücudumuzdaki kurşun miktarı bir önceki yüzyılda yaşayan insanlara göre 625 kat daha fazladır. Bu sadece vücudumuza değil, psikolojimize de etki etti.

Kurşun, bir nörotoksindir. Kısa süreliğine maruz kalmak bile zeka seviyesinde düşüşe ve asosyal davranış yaygınlığında artışa sebep olur. Thomas Midgley’in, bütün insanların ortalama IQ puanını, havaya saldığı kurşun yüzünden 5 puan kadar düşürdüğü söylenmektedir.

Fordham Üniversitesi’nin yaptığı araştırmalarda tetraetil kurşunun, insan kanına karışmaya başladığı yıllarda birçok ülkede kurşun miktarına bağlı olarak insanlığın işlediği cinayet ve şiddet suçlarında inanılmaz bir artış olduğu görülmüştür.

Çevre tarihçisi John Mcneill: “dünya tarihinde hiçbir canlı, çevreye ve canlılara karşı Midgley kadar zarar vermedi.” demiştir.

Bir nedenden yatalak hale gelen Thomas Midgley’in son buluşu ise sadece kendisine zarar verdi. Kendisini yatak da hareket ettirmesi için tasarladığı makinenin makaraları kontrol dışına çıkarak, tek başına ozon tabakasını yok eden ve yine tek başına tüm dünya nüfusunun hepsini zehirleyen Thomas Midgley’inboğazına takılmış ve onu boğarak öldürmüştür.

[maaarine]

Bibliography: books posted on this blog in 2024

Sara AHMED (2010): The Promise of Happiness

Cat BOHANNON (2023): Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

Holly BRIDGES (2014): Reframe Your Thinking Around Autism: How the Polyvagal Theory and Brain Plasticity Help Us Make Sense of Autism

Johann CHAPOUTOT (2024): The Law of Blood: Thinking and Acting as a Nazi

Caroline CRIADO-PEREZ (2019): Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Gavin DE BECKER (2000): Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

Virginie DESPENTES (2006): King Kong Theory

Annie ERNAUX (2000): Happening

Lisa FELDMAN BARRETT (2017): How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain

Shaun GALLAGHER (2012): Phenomenology

David GRAEBER (2015): The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy

Henrik HASS and Torben HANSEN (2023): Unconscious Intelligence in Cybernetic Psychology

Yuval Noah HARARI (2024): Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Sarah HENDRICKX (2015): Women and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Understanding Life Experiences from Early Childhood to Old Age

Sarah HILL (2019): This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women, Hormones, and the Law of Unintended Consequences

Luke JENNINGS (2017): Killing Eve: Codename Villanelle

Bernardo KASTRUP (2021): Decoding Jung’s Metaphysics: The Archetypal Semantics of an Experiential Universe

Roman KOTOV, Thomas JOINER, Norman SCHMIDT (2004): Taxometrics: Toward a new diagnostic scheme for psychopathology

Benjamin LIPSCOMB (2021): The Women are Up to Something: How Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley, and Iris Murdoch Revolutionized Ethics

Dorian LYNSKEY (2024): Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About The End of the World

Kate MANNE (2024): Unshrinking: How to Fight Fatphobia

Mario MIKULINCER (1994): Human Learned Helplessness: A Coping Perspective

Jenara NERENBERG (2020): Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed for

Lucy NEVILLE (2018): Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: Women and Gay Male Pornography and Erotica

Peggy ORNSTEIN (2020): Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity

Lucile PEYTAVIN (2021): Le coût de la virilité

Lynn PHILLIPS (2000): Flirting with Danger: Young Women’s Reflections on Sexuality and Domination

Stephen PORGES (2017): The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe

Joëlle PROUST (2013): The Philosophy of Metacognition: Mental Agency and Self-Awareness

John SARLO: The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain

Jessica TAYLOR (2022): Sexy But Psycho: How the Patriarchy Uses Women’s Trauma Against Them

Manos TSAKIRIS and Helena DE PREESTER (2018): The Interoceptive Mind: From Homeostasis to Awareness

[driftwork]

names, mostly surnames (1)

let me apologise for this partial list of names in the library,  titles available on request...

, Adorno, horkheimer, anderson, aristotle, greta adorno, marcuse, agamben, acampora and acampora, althussar, lajac kovacic, eric alliez, marc auge,  attali, francis bacon (16th c), aries, aries and bejin, alain badiou, beckett, hallward, barnes, bachelard, bahktin, volshinov, baudrillard, barthes, john beattie, medvedev, henri bergson, Jacques Bidet, berkman, zybmunt bauman, burgin, baugh, sam  butler, ulrich beck, andrew benjamin and peter osbourne, walter benjamin, ernest bloch, blanchot,  bruzins,  bonnet,  karin bojs,  bourdieu,  j.d. bernal, goldsmith,  benveniste, braidotti,  brecht,  burch, victor serge, andre breton, judith butler, malcolm bull, stanley cohen, john berger, etienne balibar, david bohm, gans blumenberg, martin buber, christopher caudwell, micel callon, albert camus, agnes callard,  castoridis, claudio celis bueno, carchedi and roberts, Marisol de la cadena,  mario blaser, nancy cartwright, manual castells, mark  currie, collingwood, canguilhem, mario corti, stuart hall, andrew lowe, paul willis, coyne, stefan collini, varbara cassin, helene cixous, coward and ellis, clastres, carr, cioren,  irving copi, cassirer, carter and willians, margeret cohen,  Francoise dastur, guy debord, agnes martin,  michele bernstein, alice, lorraine dastun, debaise, Gilles Deleuze, deleuze and gattari, guattari, parnet, iain mackenzie, bignall, stivale, holland, smith, james williams, zourabichvili, paul patton, kerslake,  schuster, bogue, bryant,  anne sauvagnargues, hanjo berresen, frida beckman, johnson, gulliarme and hughes, valentine moulard-leonard, desai,  dosse, duttman, d’amico,  benoit peters, derrida, hinca zarifopol-johnston, sean gaston,  discourse, mark poster, foucault,  steve fuller, markus gabrial, rosenbergm  milchamn, colin jones,  van fraasen,  fekete,  vilem flusser, flahault, heri focillon, rudi visker, ernst fischer,  fink, faye, fuller, fiho, marco bollo, hans magnus enxensberger, leen de bolle, canetti, ilya enrenberg,  thuan, sebastion peake, mervyn peake, robert henderson, reimann, roth,  bae suah,  yabouza, marco bellatin, cartarescu, nick harkaway, chris norris, deLanda, regis debray, pattern and doniger,  soame jynens, bernard williams, descartes, anne dufourmanteille, michelle le doeuff, de certaeu , deligny, Georges Dumezil, dumenil and levy,  bernard edelman, victorverlich, berio, arendt, amy allen, de beauvior,hiroka azumi,  bedau and humphreys,  beuad,  georges bataille, caspar  henderson,  chris innes,  yevgeny zamyatin,  louis aragon, italo calvino, pierre guirard,  trustan garcia, rene girard, paul gilroy, michal gardner,  andre gorz, jurgan gabermas, martin gagglund, beatrice hannssen, jean hyppolyte, axel honneth, zizek and crickett, stephen heath,  calentin groebner, j.b.s. haldane,  ian hacking,  david hakken,  hallward and oekken,  haug, harman, latour, arnold hauser, hegel, pippin, pinksrd, michel henry, louis hjelmslev,  gilbert hardin, alice jardine, karl jaspers, suzzane kirkbright, david hume,  thomas hobbes, barry hindus, paul hirst, hindess and hirst, wrrner hamacher,  bertrand gille,  julien huxley, halavais, irigaray, ted honderich, julia kristeva, leibnitz, d lecourt,  lazzaroto, kluge and negt, alexander kluge, sarah kofman, alexandre kojeve,  kolozoya, keynes,  richard kangston, ben lehman, kant,  francous jullien, fred hameson, sntonio rabucchi, jaeggi, steve lanierjones, tim jackson,  jakobson,   joeseph needham, arne de boever,  marx and engels, karl marx, frederick engels, heinrich,  McLellen , maturana and varuna,  lem, lordon, jean jacques-lecercle,  malabou,  marazzi,  heiner muller,  mary midgley, armand matterlart, ariel dorfman, matakovsky, nacneice, lucid,  victor margolis, narco lippi,  glen mazis, nair,  william morris,  nabis,  jean luc nancy,  geoffrey nash,  antonio negri,  negri and hardt, hardt, keith ansell pearson, pettman, william ruddiman, rheinberger, andre orlean, v.i. vernadsky,  rodchenko,  john willet, tarkovsky, william empson,  michel serres,  virillio, semiotexte, helmut heiseenbuttel,  plessner, pechaux, raunig, retort,  saito,  serres, dolphin, maria assad, spinoza,  bernard sharratt, isabelle stengers,  viktor shklovsky,  t. todorov,  enzo traverso, mario tronti,  todes, ivan pavlov,  whitehead, frank trentmann, trubetzkoy, rodowink, widderman, karl wittfogel, peter handke, olivier rolin, pavese,  robert walser, petr kral, von arnim,  sir john mennis,  ladies cabinet,  samuel johnson, edmund spenser,  efy poppy, yoko ogawa, machado,  kaurence durrell,  brigid brophy,  a. betram chandler, maria gabriella llansol, fowler,  ransmayr,  novick, llewellyn,  brennan, sean carroll,  julien rios, pintor, wraxall,  jaccottet, tabucchi,  iain banks, glasstone,  clarice lispector,  murakami, ludmilla petrushevskaya,  motoya, bachmann, lindqvist,  uwe johnson, einear macbride,  szentkuthy,  vladislavic, nanguel,  mathias enard,  chris tomas, jonathan meades,  armo schmidt, charles yu, micheal sorkin, vilas- matas, varesi, peter weiss,  stephenson, paul legrande,  virginie despentes, pessoa,  brin,  furst, gunter trass, umberto eco, reid, paul,klee, mario levero, hearn, judith schalansky, moorhead,  margert walters, rodchenko and popova, david king, alisdair gray, burroughs, ben fine, paul hirst, hindess,  kapuscinski, tchaikovsky,  brooke-rose, david hoon kim, helms,  mahfouz, ardret,  felipe fernandez-armesto,  young and tagomon,  aronson,  bonneuil and  fressoz, h.s. bennett, amy allen, bruckner brown, honegger, bernhard,  warren miller, albert thelen,  margoy bennett, rose macauley,  nenjamin peret, sax rohmer, angeliki, bostrom, phillip ball, the invisible commitee, bataille and leiris,  gregory bateson, michelle barrett and mary mcintosh, bardini, bugin, mcdonald, kaplan, buck-moores,  chesterman and lipman,  berman,  cicero, chanan,  chatelet,  helene cixous, iain cha,bers,  smirgel, norman clark, caird, camus,  clayre, chomsky, critchley,  curry,  swingewood,  luigi luca cavelli-sforza,  clark, esposito, doerner,  de duve, alexander dovzhenko, donzelot,  dennet, doyle, burkheim, de camp,  darwin,  dawkins,  didi-huberman, dundar, george dyson, berard deleuze, evo, barbara ehrenrich,  edwards,  e isenstein, ebeking, economy and society, esposito,  frederick gross,  david edgeerton,  douglas,  paul,feyerband,  jerry fodor,  gorrdiener,  tom forester, korsgaard,  fink,  floridi, elizabeth groscz, pierre francastel,  jane jacobs,  francois laplantinee,  gould,  galloway, goux,  godel, grouys, genette,  gil, kahloo, giddens,  martin gardner,  gilbert and dubar, hobbes,  herve, golinski, grotowski, glieck,  hayles, heidegger, huxley, eric hobsbawn, jean-louis hippolyte,  phillip hoare, tim jordan,  david harvey, hawking, hoggart,  rosemary jackson,  myerson,  mary jacobus, fox keller, illich,  sarah fofman, sylvia harvey, john holloway, han,  jaspers, yuk hui,  pierre hadot, carl gardner,  william james, bell hooks,  edmond jabes,  kierkegaard, alexander keen, kropotkin, tracy kidder,  mithen, kothari and mehta, lind,  c. joad,  bart kosko, kathy myers,  kaplan,  luce irigaraay, patrick ke iller, kittler,  catherine belsey,  kmar,  klossowski, holmes, kant, stanton,  ernesto laclau, jenkins, la mouffe,  walter john williams, adam greenfield, susan greenfield, paul auster, viet nguyen, jeremy nicholson,  andy weir, fred jameson,  lacoue-labarthe,  bede,  jane gallop, lacan,  wilden,  willy ley,  henri lefebvre, rob sheilds,  sandra laugier, micheal lowy, barry levinson, sylvain lazurus, lousardo, leopardo, jean-francois lyotard, jones,  lewontin,  steve levy,  alice in genderland,  laing, lanier, lakatos, laurelle, luxemburg,  lukacs, jarsh,  james lovelock, ideologu and consciousness, economy and society, screen, deleuze studies, deleuze and guattari studies,  bruno latour, david lapoujade,  stephen law, primo levi,  levi-strauss,  emmanuel levinas,  viktor schonberger, pierre levy, gustav landaur,  robin le poidevin,  les levidow, lautman, david cooper,  serge leclaire, catherine malabou, karl kautsky, alice meynall,  j.s. mill, montainge,  elaine miller, rosa levine-meyer, jean luc marion, henri lefebrve,  lipovetsky, terry lovell,  niklas luhmann,  richard may, machiavelli, richard mabey, john mullzrkey,  meyerhold, edward braun,  magri,  murray, nathanial lichfield, noelle mcafee,  hans meyer,  ouspensky, lucretius, asa briggs, william morris, christian metz, laura mulvey, len masterman,  karl mannheim, louis marin, alaister reynolds,  antonio  munoz molina,  FRAZER,  arno schmidt,  dinae waldman,  mark rothko, cornwall, micheal snow, sophie henaff, scarlett thomas,  matuszewski, lillya brik,  rosamond lehman , morris and o’conner,  nina bawden, cora sandel, delafield, storm jameson,  lovi , rachel ferguson,  stevie smith, pat barker, miles franklin, fay weldon,  crista wolff, grace paley, v. woolf, naomi mitchinson, sheila rowbotham,  e, somerville and v ross, sander marai,  jose  saramago,  strugatsky, jean echenoz, mark robso,  vladimir Vernadsky,  chris marker, Kim Stanley Robinson,  mario leverdo,  r.a. lafferty, martin bax, mcaulay, tatyana tolstaya,  colinn kapp,  jonathan meades,  franco fortini,  sam delany, philip e high, h.g. adler, feng menglong,  adam thorpe,  peeter nadas,  sam butler, narnold silver,  deren,  joanna moorhead, leonara carrington,  de waal,  hartt, botticelli,  charbonneau, casco pratolini,  murakami, aldiss,  guidomorselli, ludmilla petrushevskaya, ,schulz,  de andrade, yasushi. inoue, renoir,  amelie  nothomb,  ken liu,  prynne,  ANTIONE VOLODINE, luc brasso,  angela greene,  dorothea tanning,  eric chevillard,  margot bennett w.e. johns, conan doyle,  samuel johnson,  herge,  coutine-denamy, sterling, roubaud,  sloan, meiville,  delarivier manley, andre norton, perec, edward upward, tom mcCarthy,  magrinya,  stross,  eco, godden,  malcolm lowry,  derekmiller,  ismail kadare,  scott lynch, chris fowler, perter newman,  suzzana clarke,  paretky, juliscz balicki,  stanislaw maykowski, rajaniemi, william morris, c.k. crow,  ueys,  oldenburg,  mssrc chwmot,  will pryce,  munroe,  brnabas and kindersley, tromans,   lem, zelazny,  mitchinson, harry Harrison,  konstantin tsiolkovsky,  flammerion,  harrison, arthur c clarke, carpenter, john brunner,  anhony powell,  ted white, sheckley,  kristof, kempowski, shingo,  angelica groodischer,  rolin,  galeanom  dobin,  richard holloway,  pohl and kornbulth,  e.r. eddison,  ken macleodm  aldiss,  dave hutchinson,  alfred bester, budrys,  pynchon,  kurkov,  wisniewski_snerg, , kenji miyazawa,  dante,  laidlaw,  paek nam_nyong, maspero, colohouquon, hernandez,      christina hesselholdt, claude simon, bulgaakov,  simak,  verissimo,  sorokin,  sarraute,  prevert,  celan, bachmann,  mervin peake,  olaf stapledon,  sa rohmer,  robert musil,  le clezio,  jeremy cooper,  zambra,  giorgio de chirico,  mjax frisch,  gawron,  daumal,  tomzza,  canetti,  framcois maspero,  de quincy, defoe, green,, greene, marani,  bellatin,  khury, tapinar,, richmal crompton,  durrenmat,  fritz,  quintane,  volponi,  nanni balestrini,  herrera,  robert walser,  duras,  peter stamm,  m foster,  lan wright,  their theotokism  agustn de rojas, paul eluard,  sturgeon,  hiromi kawakomi,  sayaka murata,  wolfgang hilbig,  hmilton,  z  zivkovic,  gersson,  mallo,  bird,  chaudrey, Toussaint, Can Xue, Lewis Mumford, neitzsche, popper, zizek, scott westerfield, rousseau, lewis munford, tod may,  penelope maddy, elaine marks,  isabelle courtivron, leroi, massumi,  david sterritt, godard, millican and clark, macabe, negri,  mauss, maiimon, patrica maccormack, moretti, courtney humphries,  monad, moyn, malina, picasso, goldman, dambisa moyo,  merleau-ponty, Nicholson, knobe and nichols, poinciore, morris, ovid, ming, nail, thomas more, richard mabey,  macfarlane,  piscator,  louis-stempal,  negrastini, moore,  jacquline rose,  rose and rose, ryle, roszick, rosenburg, ravisson, paul ricoer,  rossler,  chantl mouffe,  david reiff, plato, slater, rowlands, rosa, john roberts,  rhan, dubios and rousseau, ronell,  jacques ranciere, mallarme,  quinodoz, peterpelbert, mary poovey, mackenzie, andrew price, opopper,  roger penrose, lu cino parisi,  gavin rae, parker and pollack,  mirowoski, perniola, postman, panofsky, propp, paschke and rodel, andre pickering, massabuau, lars svenddsen,  rosenberg and whyte, t.l.s. sprigger,  nancy armstrong,  sallis,  dale spender,  stanislavski,  vanessa schwartz,  shapin and shaeffer, sally sedgewick,  signs,  gabriel tarde,  charles singer, adam smith,  simondon,  pascal chablt,  combes, jon roffee, edward said,  sen,  nik farrell fox, sartre,  fred emery,  scholes, herbert spencer, ruth saw, spinoza,  raphael sassower, henry sidgewick, peter singer,  katarznya de lazari-radek,  piaget,  podach,  van der post, on fire, one press,  melossi and  pavarini,  pearl and mackenzie,  theirry paquot, tanizaki, RHS,  stone,  richard sennett,  graham priest,  osborn and pagnell, substance, pedrag cicovacki, schilthuizen,  susan sontag, gillian rose,  nikolas rose,  g rattery taylor, rose,  rajan,  stuart sim,  max raphael,  media culture and society,  heller- roazen,  rid, root, rossi, gramsci, showstack sasson, david roden,  adrew ross, rosenvallion, pauliina remes, pkato, peter sloterdijk, tamsin shaw, george simmel, bullock and trombley, mark francis,  alain supiot, suvin, mullen and suvin, stroma,  maimonides,  van vogt,  the clouds on unknowing, enclotic, thesis 11,  spivack,  kate raworth,  h.w. richardson,  hillial schwartz, stern, rebecca solnit, rowland parker,  pickering,  lukacs,  epicriud, epicetus, lucrtious,  aurelies,  w.j.oates,  thor Hanson,  thompson, mabey,  sheldrake,  eatherley,  plato, jeffries,  dorothy richardson,  arno schmidt,   earl derr biggersm  mary borden, birrel, arno schmidt,  o.a. henty,  berhard steigler,  victor serge,  smith,  joyce salisbury, pauer-studer,  timpanaro,  s helling, schlor, norman and welchman,  searle, emanuele severarimo,  tomasello, sklar, judith singer, walmisley,  thomas malthus,  quentin meilassoux,  alberto meelucchi,  mingione, rurnbull,  said, spufford and  uglow,  zone,  j.j.c. smartt, sandel, skater, songe-moller,  strawson,  strawson, strawson, raymond tallis,  toscano,  turkle,  tiqquin, diggins,  j.s. ogilivy, w.w. hutchings,  rackgam,  deiter roth,  dowell,  red notes,  campbell and pryce,osip brik, lilya brik, mayakovsky, zone, alvin toffker, st exupery, freya stark, warson, walsh, wooley, tiles and oberdick, timofeeva, richardson, marcuse,  marder,  wright,  ushenko, tolson, albebers and moholy- nagy, alyce mahon, gablik, burnett, barry, hill, fontaine, sanuel johnson,justin, block, taylor, peter handke, jacques rivette,  william sansom, bunuel and dali, tom bullough, aldius huxley, philip robinson, spendor, tzara,  wajcman, peter wohlleben,  prigogini,  paolo virno,  jeremy tunstall, theweliet,  taussig,  tricker,  vince,  thomss, williams,  vogl, new german critique,  e.p. thompson,  jean wahl, paul virilio, lotringer, christy wampole, verhaeghe, janet wolff, anna kavan, vergara,  uexkull,  couze venn, barry smart, vico,  vatimo, vernant, raoul vaneigem,  ibn warraq, vertov,  williams,  meiksins wood, norbert weiner, peter wollen,  h.g. wells,  michelle walker, , jeanne waelit  walters,  shaw and darlen, whorf,  ward and dubois,  john wright,  weinart, wolff, willis, wark, cosima wagner, j. weeks,  judith williamson,  welzbacher, erik olin wright, wittgenstein, kenny,  zeldin, wenders,  henry miller, wenkler, arrighi,  banks, innes, ushereood, kristeva, john cage, quignard,  t.f. powys, siri hustveldt, lem,  zelazny, mitchonson,  tsilolkovsky, toussaint, heppenstall, garrigasait, de kerangal, haine fenn, jean bloch,  geoff ryman, reve, corey, asemkulov, ernaux,  gareth powell, cory,  deleuze and guattari studies, cse, allain and souvestre, apolinaire, jane austen, john arden, aitmatov,  elizabth von arnim, paul auster, abish,  ackroyd, tom gunn, lorca, akhmatov, artuad,  simon armatige, albahari, felipe alfau, audem auden and soendor, varicco, barrico, bainbridge, asturias, ronan bennett, beckett, paul bowles, jane bowles, celine, bukowski,  wu ming, blissert,  kay boyle,  andrei  bely,  hugo barnacle,  BOLL,  isak dineson, karen blikson,  brodsky,  richmel crompton,  berry, barthleme,  mary butts, leonora carrington, cage,  chevhillard,  canetti,  cendres,  butor,  cortazar, danielewski,  bertha damon,  dyer, havier cercas, micheal dibden, marguerite duras, john donne, duras, durrell,  dorrie,  Fredric durrenmatt,  heppenstahl, eco, enzensberger, evanovich, fruentes,  farrell,  alison fell,  alisdair gray,  hollinhurst,  andre gide,  jean giono, gadda, henry green,  grass,  andre gorz,  william gibson,  joyce,  gombrowitz,  alex laishley, murakami,  herve guibert,  franz kafka,  juenger, junker, kapuscinski, laurie king,  kundera,  mcewan, ken macleod,  ian macdonald,  moers,  meades,  vonda macintyre,  nalmstom, maillert,  havier marias,  jeff noon,  anaus nin,  david nobbs,  peter nadas,  nabokov,  iakley, oates,  raymond queneau,  cesare pavese, paterson, ponge,  perte, perec, chinery, ovid,  genette,  kandinsky, robert pinget, richard piwers,  rouvaud, sloan, surrralist poetry, ilya troyanov, paul,raabe,  julien rios, arne dahl, pierre sollers, rodrigruez,  chris ross, renate rasp, ruiz, rulfo, tove jannsson, cabre,  vladislavic, tokarczuk, pessoa, jane bowles, calvino, lispector, lydia davis, can xue,  sebald, peter tripp,  hertzberg,  virginia woolf,  zozola, sorrentino, higgins,  v.w. straka, cogman, freud, jung, klein, winnecot, lacan,  fordham, samuels,  jung, freud, appignesai,  bjp, pullman, magnam, sybil marshall, mccarten,  galbraith, jewell,  lehmann,  levy,  levin, jung,  spinoza,  fairburn,  jung, sandler,  lacan,  laplanche,  pontalis, can, xue,  klein, cavelli, hawkins, stevens,  hanna segal, bollas,  welldon,  williams,  sutherland, buon,  symington,  morrison,  brittain,  sidoli, sidoli,  holmes, bowlby, winnecott,   bollas,  kalschiid,  malan, patrick casement,  anna frued, wittenburg,  liz wright,  fordham, fairburn, symington, sandler,  jung, balint,  coltart,  west, steiner,  van der post,  stern,  green,  roustang,  adrew samuels,  d.l. sayers,  salom, krassner,  swain,  rame and fo,  storr,  cogman,  hessen,  penelope fitzgerald,  cummings, richard holloway,  juhea kim,  glenville, heyer, cartland,  kim, cho,  atkinson,  james,  king, audten,  hartley,  du maurier,  bronte,  thomas, plath, leon,  camillairi, kaussar, fred fargas, boyd,  sjowall and wahloo,  pheby,  morenno-garcia, perrsson,  herron, nicola barker, arronovitch,  karen lord, stephen frosh, ernest jones, flamm o’brien, shin, mishra, chin jin-young and so on to the warm horizon

[grandhotelabyss]

The reasons for the outsized influence on the academic humanities of the French poststructuralists (as opposed to the more moderate critics of scientism such as Midgley) is no doubt overdetermined, but which explanations do you find most convincing?

I can only speak for the English department, but the most convincing answer is the most benign one, the one that least involves "Cultural Marxist" subversion of the west or CIA anti-communist skullduggery, the one immanent to the institution of academic criticism itself: the humanists had no theory of their practice, no global meta-discourse to guide individual instances of their discourse. This left them at a disadvantage in explaining themselves to their students and to the public in the face of scientific hegemony. They needed a system.

Academic criticism felt too amateurish, too gentlemanly, even after certain modernist assumptions had been assimilated by the middle of the century. New Criticism had rigor but you ran against its limitations very quickly, not even so much because of its ahistorical and Christian presuppositions, but because it only really works at all on certain types of texts, i.e., lyric poems of a riddling disposition, as well as the few larger forms that can look like such poems if you squint (early modern drama, for example, or modernist fiction). Psychoanalysis and Marxism in their pre-theory forms were too reductive, not even textual hermeneutics really, and therefore left the critic too little to say (Hamlet wants to sleep with his mother, Dickens is petit bourgeois: so what?); this goes, too, for the pre-theoretical attempts at identity politics, like early feminist criticism of the "images of women in literature" type. Myth criticism had a certain visionary appeal, but too often decayed into a predictable game of spot-the-archetype (another Christ figure in a modern novel? tell me a new one).[*]

On the other hand, the structuralist and poststructuralist ideas coming out of France promised a theory of language that was also a theory of society—even a theory that language was society and vice versa—and a therefore promised a systematic science of the literary text qua text as well as an Archimedean lever with which to shift the political (and indeed the scientific) in language. "Il n’y a pas de hors-texte." It opened up the whole world of European philosophy to Anglophone literary criticism and glamorously updated everything they were already doing with a self-conscious methodological sophistication. Close reading for balanced ambiguities became textual analysis aimed at subversive aporias.

This turn to englobalizing method would in the long run dissolve any plausible mission for literary studies per se as opposed to an "everything studies" that doubles as a "nothing studies," even as it ironically became the new cultural lingua franca of the whole educated class, supplanting the literary itself. I went to see the horror film It Lives Inside the other day. In the genre-obligatory high-school classroom scene, our heroine, her loyalties painfully divided between white American assimilation and her immigrant family's Hindu culture, tells her teacher that John Winthrop's city-on-a-hill sermon is, and I quote, "a normative fantasy." (The film then labors, with mixed success, to supply a rival normative fantasy.) 40 years ago, in A Nightmare on Elm Street, the teens in their English class just recited a scary speech from Shakespeare.

_______________________

[*] When I used to teach this class, I would look at various handbooks for undergraduates, and it was always interesting to see how they'd characterize the pre-theory era. Terry Eagleton in Literary Theory and Peter Barry in Beginning Theory tendentiously called it "liberal humanist," with their skeptical eye on the Arnoldian idea that literature could unify and redeem an otherwise class-ridden society; but Nicholas Birns in Theory After Theory more persuasively said it was the era of the "resolved symbolic," when critics had faith they could provide a final interpretive answer to the riddle of the isolated text, as opposed to theory's later claims that everything is a text and that texts by their nature are permanently open-ended.

[byneddiedingo]

Gloria Swanson and Lionel Barrymore in Sadie Thompson (Raoul Walsh, 1928)

Cast: Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Friderici, Charles Lane, Florence Midgley, James A. Marcus, Sofia Ortega, Will Stanton, Raoul Walsh. Screenplay: Raoul Walsh; titles: C. Gardner Sullivan; based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham and a play by John Colton and Clemence Randolph. Cinematography: George Barnes, Robert Kurrie, Oliver T. Marsh. Art direction: William Cameron Menzies. Film editing: C. Gardner Sullivan.

It's sad that most people know Gloria Swanson only as the gorgon Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1957). Or that Swanson's deft parody of silent movie acting in that film constitutes many people's impression of what it was like. The survival of Sadie Thompson, even though it's missing its last reel, which the restorers piece out with old stills and title cards, shows what a formidable force Swanson could be on screen, generating enough heat that it's surprising she didn't ignite the nitrate film stock. The story is the familiar one of the San Francisco prostitute who comes to Pago Pago, where she clashes with a bluenose reformer who threatens to return her to San Francisco and the hands of the police. The reformer is Alfred Davidson (Lionel Barrymore in full ham), who was a clergyman in Somerset Maugham's short story, "Miss Thompson," and the play, Rain, that was based on it, but becomes a layman here to please the Hays Office. Fortunately, Sadie has the support of a sturdy young Marine sergeant, Timothy O'Hara, played by director Raoul Walsh, who before turning director full-time had been an actor in the early days of silents; he played John Wilkes Booth in The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915). This brief return to acting was a one-shot: Walsh was planning to direct himself again in In Old Arizona (Irving Cummings, 1928), but lost his right eye in a freak auto accident while on location preparing to shoot the film; Warner Baxter took over the role and won an Oscar for it. Swanson was nominated for an Oscar for Sadie Thompson, as was cinematographer George Barnes, whose nomination included his work on two other films: The Devil Dancer (Fred Niblo, 1927) and The Magic Flame (Henry King, 1927). In fact, Barnes did only a week's worth of filming on Sadie Thompson before Samuel Goldwyn insisted he fulfill a contractual obligation to him; he was replaced by Robert Kurrle and Oliver T. Marsh.

[rachandruin]

The book OP is reading is A Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, a book I re-read yearly and which I adore so much that I can recognise quotes on sight. I cannot recommend it enough. It taught me about heroes like Clair Patterson, the man who more-or-less single-handedly discovered that we had pumped the atmosphere full of elemental lead and devoted the rest of his life to combatting it, and villains like Thomas Midgley, the man who put it there (and CFCs too). It taught me about John Michell, the Black Yorkshire clergyman who presaged the next 150 years' worth of scientific discoveries and never thought to tell anyone about it. It taught me about the Michelson-Morley experiment, which turned scientific understanding on its head by proving conclusively that the "luminiferous ether", the supposed medium that filled space, did not exist.

It made me appreciate people who spend their lives on seemingly inane things like studying a single species of moss, or shaving nanoseconds off the start of the Big Bang.

A life dedicated to expanding knowledge is never wasted.

reading a textbook for class and i’m going insane. why is this just poetry. what. this is a STEM class what’s going on.

[scottwellsmagic]

785: TAOM 2023 Convention - Day One Report

September 1, 2023

10:00 AM until 7:00 PM Registration Open

12:00 PM until 6:30 PM Dealers Room Open

11:30 AM until 1:00 PM Lunch

1:00 PM until 2:30 PM Lecture David and Jake Rangel

2:30 PM until 4:00 PM Lecture Jamie Salinas

4:00 PM until 5:00 PM TAOM Board Meeting

4:00 PM until 6:00 PM Strolling Magic

5:00 PM until 7:00 PM Dinner

7:00 PM until 9:00 PM  Stage Show #1

* Bill Palmer

* David and Jake Rangel

* Harry Maurer

9:30 PM until 11:00 PM Lecture Chad Long

9:15 PM until 10:00 PM Strolling Magic

11:00 PM until midnight Chip Romero

Download this podcast in an MP3 file by Clicking Here and then right click to save the file. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed by Clicking Here. You can download or listen to the podcast through Stitcher by Clicking Here or through FeedPress by Clicking Here or through Tunein.com by Clicking Here or through iHeart Radio by Clicking Here..If you have a Spotify account, then you can also hear us through that app, too. You can also listen through your Amazon Alexa and Google Home devices. Remember, you can download it through the iTunes store, too. See the preview page by Clicking Here

[fionaapplerocks]

Fiona Apple // photo: John Midgley, 2005

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Midway through the strike, the Winnipeg Citizen newspaper published an analysis that neatly summed up the conspiracy theory that conditioned thinking not just about the General Strike but about the Red Scare in its entirety. Taking as its source a series of articles in the New York World, the Citizen announced that, according to “information secured in the inner councils of the Bolsheviki of this continent,” the “Red Five,” the masterminds of the revolutionary movement in Canada, were Winnipeg machinist Dick Johns, William Pritchard and Victor Midgley from Vancouver, Joe Knight from Edmonton, and Joe Naylor from the Vancouver Island mining community of Cumberland. These five men belonged to the inner circle of activists behind the One Big Union, and since the OBU was the Bolshevik conspiracy incarnate, said the Citizen, they comprised the sinister cabal that intended to take advantage of labour struggles such as the Winnipeg strike to overturn the government and replace it with a Red regime. These men had at their disposal “2,500 trained and paid agitators” who knew how “to impress and convert the wage earners,” warned the Citizen, which went on to declare that, “the Bolshevist idea […] has appealed to a greater number of people in the United States and Canada than is generally believed, and the number of supporters is constantly increasing.”

...

Early in the strike the federal government made it clear that it would not remain a neutral observer. Four days after the walkout began, Arthur Meighen, the acting minister of justice, and Minister of Labour Gideon Robertson left Ottawa on a train for Winnipeg to see for themselves what was going on. The government’s attitude was summed up by Meighen, who characterized strike leaders as “revolutionists of various degrees and types, from crazy idealists down to ordinary thieves.” When the two federal cabinet ministers reached Fort William, A.J. Andrews of the Citizens’ Committee of 1,000 was there to greet them. The fifty-four-year-old Andrews would emerge as a key figure in the strike. A lawyer and a former two-term Winnipeg mayor (he was known as “the boy mayor” because of his youthful appearance), he was a well-connected Conservative with a membership in the city’s exclusive social elite.

(Coincidentally, he had run for a seat in the legislature in the 1914 Manitoba election and lost to the labour candidate Fred Dixon, who would be arrested for his role in the strike.)

The Toronto Daily Star called Andrews “the principal human factor opposing the strike movement.” He had been “here there and everywhere” during the strike, the paper said. It was Andrews who would draft Mayor Gray’s ban on street parades; Andrews who met with visiting federal politicians when they came to town; Andrews who corresponded regularly with Arthur Meighen and consulted with him on legislation aimed at the strike leaders; Andrews who decided whether to keep the arrested strike leaders in jail or not. In short, Andrews was Winnipeg’s Wizard of Oz, lurking behind the curtain, manipulating the levers of power.

At the Fort William meeting, Andrews impressed upon Meighen and Robertson that the government had to take a tough stand against the strikers. Both cabinet ministers accepted the view that they were dealing with a sinister plot aimed at overthrowing the government. As the Star reported, the two men “are not preserving neutrality, they are openly opposed” to the strike. A few days later in Winnipeg, Meighen warned that “it is up to the citizens of Winnipeg to stand firm and resist the efforts made here to overturn proper authority.” He had already appointed Andrews the justice department’s special representative on the ground with the assignment of gathering evidence against the strike leadership that would prove they were engaged in a seditious conspiracy. On his return to Ottawa, Meighen—who had refused to meet with any of the strike leaders while he was in Winnipeg —rose to speak in the House of Commons on June 2 and made it clear that his government saw recent events as what he termed “the perfection of Bolshevism.” Meighen argued that by definition a general strike was an insurrection.

A general strike to succeed or, indeed, to continue, must result in the usurpation of governmental authority on the part of those controlling the strike. It did so result in Winnipeg; it must ever so result.

This was the crucial issue, said Meighen, not collective bargaining or some other labour issue, and the government must hold firm. “It was essential that the greater issue raised by the assumption of Soviet authority […] should be once and for all decided and be decisively beaten down …” From the beginning, then, the federal government made it clear that it was committed to the suppression of the strike, not its resolution.

There was an alternative view of the strike articulated in Parliament that day. It was proposed by Ernest LaPointe, the Liberal member for Kamouraska district in Quebec. A lawyer and future justice minister, LaPointe was one of the Laurier loyalists who had remained true to the old leader during the vote over conscription. He was considered to be one of the bright lights of the party in Quebec. He spoke ahead of Meighen, but in response to the comments of the Conservative member for North Winnipeg, Dr M.R. Blake, who had just told the House that “sedition must be stamped out” and that “radical socialist leaders must be interned or deported.” LaPointe argued that the origins of the Winnipeg strike could be found in the high cost of living and the workers’ natural resentment against a system

which allows meat trusts, flour trusts, and other dealers in the necessaries of life to pile up their dividends and multiply their millions while the prices of bread, bacon, meat and other commodities are soaring into altitudes heretofore unknown.

But what was to be done in the short term to establish peace between labour and capital, LaPointe asked? For one thing, “it is useless to mystify the public by acting a Bolshevist melodrama,” he said. These were “wild and stupid accusations.” The labour movement was simply acting on its determination to achieve equal power with the employer; the charges of Bolshevism were “slanderous attacks” on reputable labour leaders. In his view, the government was mishandling the situation and Senator Robertson had ended his usefulness as a mediator by siding so recklessly with one side in the dispute. As for Meighen, he was not temperamentally suited to settling disputes. “He stands in Canada as the Apostle of arbitrary enactments and despotic legislation,” thundered LaPointe, a reference to Meighen’s earlier role in forcing through conscription.

In the end, LaPointe did not have any suggestions to offer as to how the government might settle the Winnipeg dispute, though he did recommend a national conference of employers and employees to discuss the larger issues. Meanwhile, the most he had to offer was the usual vague advice from an Opposition MP: “Do something and do it now.” In precisely two weeks, the government would take this advice, though not in the way that LaPointe would have imagined."

- Daniel Francis, Seeing Reds: the Red Scare of 1918-1919, Canada’s First War on Terror. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2011. p. 136, 140-142.