Outside the DNC

Tuesday afternoon, my friend, Stefanie Valovic, contacted me suggesting that we check out the "free speech" pen outside the DNC. So I picked up some extra film and we started walking over to the Fleet Center.

Meanwhile Ann had made it into the Fleet Center as a DNC volunteer. I called her on her cellphone as she was staffing a handicapped entrance high up in the nosebleed section. As Stefanie and I circled the Fleet Center, Ann witnessed all the speakers and came home with a big Obama sign.

All the publicity-seeking crazies were out. Outside Faneuil Hall we found two hell-and-brimstone preachers. However, both were happy to mug for my camera.




Outside the Fleet Center itself security was tight. On the top of the surrounding buildings we caught glimpses of soldiers, probably sharp-shooters.




Just outside the "free speech zone," the authorities had posted comprehensive restrictions.




Inside the pen, disgusted demonstrators had left signs before boycotting the space altogether and taking their actions to the streets.




The only group that bothered to use the pen that evening was Fred Phelps and his homophobic followers. I just tuned him out but Stefanie quickly became bothered by his shrill and hateful rhetoric. I took a picture and we left.

Democratic National Convention: Day One 

Yesterday was uneventful for me.

Unlike the green and orange lines that pass by the Fleet Center, the red line is unaffected by the convention security.  Consequently, I was able to travel from Davis to Park Street without problem. If anything, fewer people took the red line yesterday so even the trains were less packed.

On the streets around Park Street, I could easily pick out convention-goers by the plastic ID's slung around their necks. A few protesters and hucksters are milling around Boston Common. As I type, several Falun Gong supporters in bright yellow t-shirts have set up billboards along the Common and Tremont Street. Yesterday, I found a hilarious and absurd Lyndon La Rouche booklet stuffed into the window of a Boston Phoenix box on West Street.

Overall, where I work and live in Boston and Somerville, the DNC is not adversely affecting me.  I'm enjoying the hoopla and media focus on Boston. I just wish a political convention came here every year.

Drinking From a Firehose

I missed my opportunity yesterday to confront Peter Camejo directly.

I spent the weekend at the Boston Social Forum. Ann and I were energized by this affiliate of the World Social Forum and inheritor of the progressive energy poured into the Arianna Huffington-inspired 2000 Shadow Conventions.

With dozens of workshops running concurrently throughout the weekend, deciding how to spend each minute was an exercise in acute triage. I skipped questioning Camejo over the Egan contribution so that I could attend a workshop on progressive movement in South Asia. Ann and I missed the Sunday morning events because we'd stayed late at the BSF benefit at the Middle East to watch Foundation, Reagan Babies, and Billy Bragg.

All the events surrounding the Democratic National Convention pose similar hard choices for us. While Ann is volunteering for the DNC this week, I'm trying to do a full week's work. I was invited to a lunchtime "Salute to America's Veterans" with James Carville, former Senator Max Cleland and Wesley Clark. However, I'm skipping it in favor of attending my fortnightly Oxfam America coffee campaign meeting.

And tonight, since I'm out of underwear, we're just doing our laundry.

The Bush-Cheney Sloganator

I lifted the text below, with only minor edits, from an email circulating in progressive circles. Please only click this if you're a Kerry supporter.  I don't want to hear any complaints about it from my conservative friends.

A couple of months ago, the official Bush-Cheney campaign website featured a "create your own banner" tool, where you could enter your own slogan and print out your own poster, with the Bush-Cheney logo, and a note at the bottom "paid for by Bush-Cheney '04, Inc."

Democrats, of course, couldn't get enough of this. The original sloganator accepted everything, then it started censoring profanity and words like "Hitler," "dictator," and "evil." Nevertheless, many clever folks exploited the sloganator to their own ends before its sad demise only a couple of weeks after its birth, and its mourners assembled some of the best for the slide show.

The link below is best enjoyed with the sound on:

Yes, click this

How Nader Disillusioned Me

Over the weekend, I listened to a repeat of the Dean-Nader debate on NPR. I was already convinced that Nader's presidential candidacy risks throwing the election to Bush. But one of Nader's comments particularly irked me.

Nader was questioned about one of his contributors, noted Republican fundraiser and former EMC CEO Richard Egan. Asked why a Republican would support him, Nader snarled: "Perhaps he believes in civil liberties."

Richard Egan is, without doubt, a committed Republican. According to a July 1 story in the Boston Globe, Egan built his political reputation as a major donor and fundraiser for the Bush campaign. The Bush administration later appointed Egan as ambassador to Ireland.

Moreover, the company that Egan built, EMC, has demonstrated a pattern of contempt for shareholder rights and shareholder democracy. The paragraphs below in italics are quotes excerpted from an column I wrote for Investing For a Better World, the newsletter of Trillium Asset Management.

Ralph, I have to tell you that Richard Egan is no progressive. Moreover, his old firm, EMC, exemplifies the corporate arrogance and lack of accountability that you have always fought tooth and nail. That is until you needed money for your 2004 Presidential campaign.

============

Speaking Truth to Power
EMC Seeks to Cocoon CEO From Criticism
September 2001
By Simon Billenness
 
...Prior to [its 2001 AGM], EMC had received its first shareholder resolution but the company, whose business is data storage, lost it. "It fell through the cracks," the hand-wringing EMC spokesman Mark Frederick told Reuters. One hopes this is not indicative of how EMC’s database storage products actually keep data safe.

This was not the only way EMC slighted its own shareholders. In an extraordinary breach of AGM etiquette, EMC did not provide shareholders with open microphones. Tim Smith of Walden Asset Management was forced to approach the stage and shout questions to EMC’s top management.

Not long after this fiasco of an AGM, Boston Globe business columnist Steve Bailey tied EMC to legislation that would have allowed companies to replace their annual face-to-face shareholder meeting with just an on-line version. Conveniently, this would allow companies like EMC to completely cocoon their CEO from awkward direct questions by shareholders. Bailey reported that the chief sponsor of this bill, state senator David Magnani, was also the state law-maker most amply blessed in campaign contributions from former EMC chairman Richard Egan. Bailey quoted Magnani stating: "I am their senator."

EMC’s paid legislative friends nearly succeeded in slipping this appalling bill through the Massachusetts legislature. Fortunately, corporate watchdogs United for a Fair Economy and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America noticed the bill and staged a last-minute press conference at the State House to block it. Anne Parry and Cheryl Smith of Trillium Asset Management joined Stefanie Haug of Walden Asset Management and Amy Domini of Domini Social Investments in speaking out against the bill. Stung by the criticism, the legislature dropped from the bill the provision allowing companies to eliminate their face-to-face AGM’s.

EMC has mysteriously lost resolutions, blocked comments at its AGM, and funded politicians who propose legislation that would take away the traditional right of shareholders to directly question top management at shareholder meetings. Can this company be trusted to run a fair AGM in the absence of laws protecting shareholder rights?

Time to Buy Some New Music
 
I just ordered several CDs from Amazon.  Eight of the nine CDs, with the exception of the Wilco album, were cited in the July 9 Entertainment Weekly as "new-alternative albums you need to own."  I suspect that taking recommendations from EW destroys any residual street cred that I used to possess.

It was interesting how well Amazon's database profile of me predicted these purchases. I started by choosing the new Wilco album. Then Amazon recommended I also buy The Shins' CD. Soon I had chosen all the other albums, with the exception of the Killers' CD,  just by picking Amazon's subsequent recommendations. Amazon's software works all too well.
 
Here's my haul. Use the comments feature to tell me what you think.

Hot Fuss [Audio CD] By: Killers  

Fever To Tell [EXPLICIT LYRICS] [Audio CD] By: Yeah Yeah Yeahs 

Give Up [Audio CD] By: Postal Service 

A Ghost Is Born [ENHANCED] [Audio CD] By: Wilco  

Transatlanticism [Audio CD] By: Death Cab for Cutie   

Chutes Too Narrow [Audio CD] By: The Shins 

Turn On the Bright Lights [Audio CD] By: Interpol 

Good News For People Who Love Bad News [Audio CD] By: Modest Mouse

Franz Ferdinand [Audio CD] By: Franz Ferdinand

That's Dutch, Not Deutsch

When you're in the Netherlands, it is wise not to compare the Dutch with the Germans.

At a party in Holland on Saturday, while overly impressed with my own analysis, I told my hosts that the Dutch neatly combined the efficiency of the Germans, with a tolerance for nonconformity, and the self-deprecating humor of the British. As evidence, I cited that the Dutch trains ran on time past sidings sprayed with colorful graffitti, while conductors joked with the passengers.

I then remarked that I could understand a lot of Dutch based on my six years of studying German. With that last comment, I may have hit a nerve with my Dutch hosts.

"But we're nothing like the Germans," the Dutch responded, somewhat offended. A few countered that the Dutch language was more like a dialect of English. It is indeed true that if you count to thirty in Dutch, it almost sounds as if you're speaking old English.

So why do the Dutch resist comparison to the Germans? The reason may stem from the Second World War. Visiting the Dutch Resistance Museum last month, I learned that the German occupation army originally expected a warmer welcome from their Dutch cousins. However, while many Dutch collaborated, most did not. The Queen escaped the Netherlands and became a focal point of resistance. As the Dutch increasingly defied the occupation, the Germans became more and more brutal in suppressing the resistance. At the end of the war, the Allied liberation of the Netherlands was as festive and popular as that of France.

My friend, Gijs, had a grandfather who sheltered shot-down Allied airmen during the German occupation. Many Dutch proudly tell stories of their family's active resistance.

It's another reason why I like the Dutch and I love the Netherlands.

We're So Happy To Be, Back in the ... Netherlands

I'm back in the Hague for Oxfam meeting that was postponed last month.

This is the time of year when the Powers-That-Be of The Hague feel the need to erect surreal sculptures all over town.

Last month, in a park near the Parliament building, I found my favorite. It is a gaggle of what appears to be rotund middle-aged men made of cold white plastic. The fat white guys now have little flashing lights deep inside them that wink on and off.

Remember that Star Trek episode, in which Kirk's tiny soul is put into a globe, where it glows faintly? It's a bit like that.

There are also transparent plastic dresses hanging from the trees. It's very surreal. It's like a Dali picture brought to life.

I visited the Peace Palace, home to the International Court of Justice. I was hoping to join a sight-seeing trip. However, the entrance guard told me that the tours don't start until next week. It's a shame. For some time, I have wanted to view the site of the future trials of Henry Kissinger and George Bush.

I called my friends Dorothy and Gijs. Dorothy is throwing a Canada Day party on Saturday afternoon. Celebrating Canada Day in Amsterdam seems to fit well with the surreality of the sculptures in The Hague.

I love the Netherlands.

Update on Political Predictions

With Kerry picking Edwards as his running mate today, my predictions of Edwards' bright political future seem to be bearing fruit.

Admittedly, back on April 9th of last year, I predicted that Dean would fade and Edwards would go on to win the nomination and beat Bush. Dean faded later than I thought and Edwards didn't catch fire sufficiently to overcome Kerry for the nomination.

I will go back on the record with the prediction that Edwards will shine on the campaign trail. If Kerry loses this year - or for re-election in 2008 - I predict that Edwards will win the subsequent race for the Democratic nomination, even over Hillary Clinton.

This is not a good choice for supporters of a Clinton restoration. I wonder if Kerry is signaling a rebuke and establishing a political block to Bill and Hillary with his pick of Edwards.

But I'll leave that speculation to the professional pundits.