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Calling All CounterPunchers!
Heading Into the Home StretchWe are now entering our third week of fundraising. As you can see from the donation gauge there on
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It’s as true as it was at the start of Week One. Either we meet our fundraising goal of $75,000 over the next week or we'll be forced to seriously cut back the operation of our website.
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Today's Stories November 14 / 16, 2008 Mike Whitney Sasan Fayazmanesh Jean Bricmont Sheldon Rampton Douglas Valentine Tom Barry Joseph Nevins / Sherry Wolf Peter Cervantes-Gautschi Jacob Hornberger Lance Selfa Benjamin Dangl Russell Mokhiber Richard Rhames
November 13, 2008 Pam Martens Vijay Prashad Patrick Cockburn Jonathan Cook Ralph Nader Bill Quigley Lee Sustar Omar Barghouti Steve Conn Howard Lisnoff Jeff Cohen Website of the Day November 12, 2008 Johanna Berrigan Steve Conn Patrick Bond Bokar Ture / Alan Farago Dave Lindorff Karl Grossman David Macaray George Wuerthner Susie Day Website of the Day November 11, 2008 James G. Abourezk Allan J. Lichtman Eric Toussaint Ron Jacobs Peter Montague Corporate Crime Reporter Laura Carlsen Col. Dan Smith Morton Skorodin David Michael Green Charles R. Larson Website of the Day November 10, 2008 David Roediger Paul Craig Roberts Peter Lee Corey D. B. Walker Jeff Halper Bill Hatch Andy Worthington Bill Quigley Peter Morici Anthony Olszewski Kim Nicolini Cpt. Paul Watson Website of the Day November 7 / 9, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Vijay Prashad Tariq Ali Jean Bricmont John V. Whitbeck Saul Landau Peter Morici Lawrence Velvel Karyn Strickler Nativo V. Lopez Christopher Fons Alan Farago David Yearsley Christopher Brauchli Samah Sabawi Dave Lindorff Deepak Tripathi Beth Sherouse Patrick Irelan Stephen Martin Richard Rhames J. Murray Lorenzo Wolff Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Day
November 6, 2008 Frank J. Menetrez John Chuckman P. Sainath Joshua Frank Edna Canetti John Ross Norman Solomon Fawzia Afzal-Khan Robert Weissman Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day
November 5, 2008 Cockburn / St. Clair Chuck Spinney Ishmael Reed Chris Floyd Binoy Kampmark Michael Donnelly David Macaray Peter Morici Manuel Garcia, Jr. William Willers Website of the Day November 4, 2008 Kathleen Christison James Ridgeway Winslow T. Wheeler Mike Whitney Conn Hallinan Holly M. Barker Ashley Smith Andy Worthington Martha Rosenberg Stephen Martin Doug Lummis Carlos Fierro Website of the Day November 3, 2008 Patrick Cockburn John Kennedy O'Hara Peter Montague Steve Conn Andrew Gebhardt Ron Jacobs Ralph Nader Niranjan Ramakrishnan Uri Avnery Dave Lindorff Fred Gardner DC Larson David Michael Green Val Strange Tuli Kupferberg / Website of the Day
October 31 , 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Douglas Valentine Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Dr. Ignacy Nowopolski Alan Maass William P. O’Connor Patrick Irelan Brian Cloughley Mats Svensson Binoy Kampmark Steve Conn Alan Farago Morton Skorodin Robert Bryce Wajahat Ali David Yearsley Dennis Loo Pam Martens Stephen Martin Richard Rhames Ramzy Baroud Missy Beattie Howard Lisnoff Richard Neville Saul Landau / Kim Nicolini Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 30, 2008 Cockburn / St. Clair Vijay Prashad Paul Craig Roberts Glen Ford Stanley Heller William Loren Katz Joshua Frank James McEnteer Felice Pace Jonathan Cook Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day
October 29, 2008 Arno J. Mayer Eric Toussaint Matt Gonzalez Steven Conn Jonathan Cook Patrick Bond Ramzi Kysia Douglas Valentine Stephen Martin Margaret Dooley-Sammuli Amee Chew Website of the Day
October 28, 2008 James G. Abourezk Andy Worthington Gary Leupp Paul Craig Roberts Mike Whitney Gregory V. Button Ralph Nader P. Sainath Martha Rosenberg Charles R. Larson Website of the Day October 27, 2008 Michael Hudson Barbara Rose Johnston John Dinges Mike Whitney Mary Lynn Cramer Greenspan's Higher Power Alan Farago David Michael Green Andy Worthington George Wuerthner Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day October 24 / 26, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Ishmael Reed Mike Whitney Don Santina Scott Boehm Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Binoy Kampmark Linn Washington Jr. Nicole Colson Bernard Chazelle Brian Jones Christopher Brauchli Benjamin Dangl Val Strange Steve Early David Macaray Allison Kilkenny Richard Rhames Jim Bell Kris De Welde Barry Clemson Adam Engel Mark Scaramella Tuli Kupferberg Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 23, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Todd Chretien John Ross Peter Morici Mats Svensson Marlene Martin Robert Jensen / Margaret Kimberley Deepak Tripathi David Morris Website of the Day October 22, 2008 Brian Cloughley Heather Gray Jeff Birkenstein Ralph Nader DC Larson David Swanson Keeanga-Yamatta Taylor Race and the Election: When the "Real" America Enters the Voting Booth Larry Everest Robert Fantina Martha Rosenberg Stephen Martin Website of the Day October 21, 2008 Vijay Prashad Paul Craig Roberts Corey D. B. Walker Steve Breyman Eric Toussaint Wajahat Ali Robert Weitzel Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Marqueece Harris-Dawson / Bob Wing Patrick B. Barr Omar Barghouti Website of the Day October 20, 2008 Michael Hudson Anthony DiMaggio Tariq Ali Uri Avnery Bill Quigley Ben Rosenfeld David Michael Green William S. Lind Chris Genovali Stephen Martin Howard Lisnoff David Yearsley Website of the Day October 17 / 19, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Pam Martens Paul Craig Roberts Mike Whtney Michael D. Yates Suzanne Smith Carl Boggs Ralph Nader Fidel Castro Dave Marsh Saul Landau Jo Guldi Kevin Zeese Larry Everest Steve Early David Macaray Ben Terrall Missy Beattie Don Monkerud Helen Redmond Dan Bacher Wajahat Ali Farzana Versey Vladimir Frolov Kim Nicolini Poets Basement Website of the Day
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Weekend Edition The Musical PatriotHow I Played Hooky from "High School Musical 3"By DAVID YEARSLEY I have never refused an offer to go to the movies. My daughters wanted to see “High School Musical 3” last weekend, so I took them without protest. Anyway, I thought it would be a good reward, not to say antidote, to their morning labors at their Suzuki violin and cello classes. The mythic Dr. Suzuki, who died in 1998 at nearly one hundred years old and whose method of string playing has been followed by millions, believed that all children could learn to play the violin, that instrument of unmatched prestige and frustration. The Suzuki folks like to quote their founder. “Man is the son of his environment,” said Suzuki. These would be depressing words to ponder when heading into a multiplex, so I didn’t ponder them. The whole point of the movies is to transport you out of your environment. In the perpetual contest between nature versus nurture, I opt for pure escapism. “High School Musical 3” is purported to be the series’ final installment, though with these kind of box office numbers one suspects otherwise. Though we have come to senior year, the movie’s final song, “It Will Never End,” strikes an ominous note. As my daughters and I staggered towards Cinema 6 with our five-gallon bucket of popcorn alarmingly categorized as a “medium,” I plotted some multiplex channel-surfing. High School Musical begins to joyous gasps and giggles from the audience. What we have learned in the previous films from basketball star and karaoke savant Troy and the assiduous, intelligent and melodically gifted Gabrielle, an only child living with a hard-working single mother in a 4,000 square-foot arts-and-crafts super-bungalow on a leafy Albuquerque street, is this: that the high school rivalries between “Brainiacs” “Nerds” and “Jocks” can be overcome when we accept others and ourselves for who they and we really are. In this world Chad can lead his team to basketball glory and also star in the high school “musicale”; and after graduation he can and does get a basketball and theater scholarship to UC Berkeley to be near his high school sweetheart Gabrielle, who has a scholarship to Stanford. The endless stores of popcorn and a campy homage to Busby seem to have the attention of my charges. I excuse myself. The only way out is right in front of the screen, but the Met beckons. I grit my teeth and make my exit, a silhouetted figure intent on escape. I scuttle from Cinema 6 and Albuquerque to Cinema 12 and Los Alamos, where the overwrought Oppenheimer wracks his conscience to Adam’s nervous music, uttering his lines — much of the text is taken from declassified documents — in fretful bursts of dialog set to jagged shards of melody. Edward Teller and General Leslie Groves hector away, as the members of the chorus loom above the stage, each member in his or her own office-block cubicles, isolated by impotence and fear. Never has a New Mexico June been so dark, nor music simultaneously so busy and foreboding. Sufficiently irradiated by a ten-minute dose of dangerous energy, I hurry back to East High, caught again in the projector’s light as Chad and Gabrielle contemplate their love, their life, their future …
Director/choreographer Kenny Ortega is no Busby Berkeley, but he puts together a good show, with ingenious dance combinations and a spoofy sense of fun. Already in possession of DVDs of the first two movies, my daughters like dancing around as they watch, mimicking the choreography and hamming up the songs. They like the movie and the characters and the tunes and the dances. They like getting embarrassed by the puppy love scenes, and the slights and romances of oncoming adolescence. The movie bastes the primal confrontation with sex, even the gyrating hips in the dance routines, with an anodyne glaze. After ten more minutes of harmless musical antics, that man leaves the theater again. Back in Los Alamos they’ve come to the end of Act I. Oppenheimer, pulled apart by moral qualms, is left alone on stage and sings an extended aria to Donne’s sonnet
It is searing music, direct and profound, and the performance of Gerald Finley, who created the role in the San Francisco production of 2005, is so honest and filled with a raw beauty that I am devastated. I never thought I’d discover something that would change my life in the middle of High School Musical Three. The act ends to a smattering of applause from the theatre. I head back to Albuquerque. David Yearsley teaches at Cornell University. A long-time contributor to the Anderson Valley Advertiser, he is author of Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint His latest CD, “All Your Cares Beguile: Songs and Sonatas from Baroque London”, has just been released by Musica Omnia. He can be reached at dgy2@cornell.edu
New in the Print Edition of CounterPunch For his 20-year stretch as Fed chairman, they all fawned on him – presidents, Congress, the press. Only a handful of left economists said he was pushing the economy over the cliff. Now Greenspan admits it in a humiliating confession. As the world’s financial structure tumbles in ruins, guess what? “I found a flaw in the model… To the extent that I figure out where it happened and why, I will change my views.” Read Frederic Claremont’s savage assessment of the fool who has plunged millions into misery. Also in our new issue: Bill Hatch on the story of one foreclosure; Kristian Williams on police torture in Chicago. Only in CounterPunch newsletter! Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents. Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
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New in the CP Print Edition! For his 20-year stretch as Fed chairman, they all fawned on him – presidents, Congress, the press. Only a handful of left economists said he was pushing the economy over the cliff. Now Greenspan admits it in a humiliating confession. As the world’s financial structure tumbles in ruins, guess what? “I found a flaw in the model… To the extent that I figure out where it happened and why, I will change my views.” Read Frederic Claremont’s savage assessment of the fool who has plunged millions into misery. Also in our new issue: Bill Hatch on the story of one foreclosure; and Kristian Williams on police torture in Chicago. Only in CounterPunch newsletter! Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Waiting for Lightning
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