Paul Krugman: Tea Parties Forever

American Tea Party:




From the old country:




Also, taxing the rich is a very popular idea:



I'm all for reducing government spending, in particular, the defense budget. Unfortunately, Obama and congress don't agree with me: "With a defence budget request of $534 billion next year (a 4% increase on this year), plus $130 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Obama administration is hardly cutting defence." ("New budget priorities at the Pentagon", The Economist)

During the Presidential debates, there was a question about what sacrifices should be asked for from every American "to make to help restore the American dream and to get out of the economic morass that we're now in?"

I'd like to sacrifice most of the Department of Defense's budget ($500 billion annually)--it's half the U.S. federal discretionary budget and it's half of the world's entire spending on militaries. I'd sacrifice the war on Iraq ($560 billion). I'd sacrifice Federal subsidies to highways ($33 billion annually, a portion of the $100 billion that roads cost us annually), cruise ships ($8 billion annually) and air travel ($14 billion in 2002, plus the $15 billion bailout after 9/11). I'd sacrifice the War on Drugs ($49 billion annually); I'd also sacrifice the prison-industrial complex that has 25% of the world's prisoners (55% of federal prisoners and 22% of state prisoners are locked up because of drug-related convictions). I'd sacrifice the death penalty ($1.6 billion over 15 years; this cost is increasing. It'll cost California $4 billion to execute the prisoners currently on it's death row). I'd sacrifice the U.S.-Mexico border fence ($49 billion for 25 years). I'd sacrifice the profits of private health insurance and pharmaceutical companies by socializing healthcare. I'd sacrifice Federal agricultural subsidies to crops for feed lot production of meat ($2.8 billion in feed grains in 2004). I'd sacrifice abstinence-only sex education, and faith-based initiatives. I'd sacrifice artificial monopolies on radio given to the National Association of Broadcaster. I'd sacrifice the profits of ecologically destructive corporations. I'd sacrifice low density, suburban development. I'd also sacrifice the $4.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing going to Israel, Egypt , etc... and the $1.6 billion going to Columbia, Peru, etc... combat narcotics. Israel and Egypt receive one-third of the total $22 billion in U.S Foreign Aid, the majority of which pays for armaments.

I also think that the Federal stimulus money, particularly the bailout of major banks and insurance firms, is money mis-spent. Resources should go to tangible material benefits like infrastructure development, full bellies and healthy bodies. In short much of my spending priorities can be summarized in slogans: "Homes not Jails, Food Not Bombs, Healthcare not Warfare*". Anybody have an idea for a catchy slogan for a continental direct current power line; or upgrading the northeast corridor's overhead catenary for trains which was built during The Great Depression!

*I was once arrested protesting the closure of DC General Hospital with a "Healthcare not Warfare" banner.

4/5/2009 8:00 PM at Recessions (18+ SHOW!)
, Washington DC, Washington DC
Cost: TBA

SPELLBOUND presents THE AIN’T IT DEAD YET TOUR 2009 w/ Prometheus Burning, Caustic, and The Gothsicles with SPECIAL GUESTS THE DARK CLAN and XUBERX!!

Reason magazine needs to stop printing things I think are cool, like this Chart about Legal Immigration. I have the same mixed feelings about CATO's Botched Paramilitary Police Raids.

CITY FROM BELOW | Friday March 27th - Sunday March 29th
Baltimore, MD

For all urban and non-urban dwellers...well just about everyone, the end of this month will be bringing us the City from Below conference! Red Emma's , the 2640 space , the Indypendent reader , Baltimore Development Cooperative, Camp Baltimore, and the Campaign for a better Baltimore have teamed up to bring together a gathering of activists, artists and intellectuals from here and abroad to reexamine and redefine our cities from below.

The City from Below seeks to provide a space where theory and practice can be kneaded together, with an understanding that the urban terrain is now an indispensable part of all struggles for social justice and change. This conference is committed to a horizontal framework, ie. where participation is key and the dichotomy of presenter and audience is blurred.

Consisting of three days of panels, workshops, discussions and presentations by a very long and exciting list of groups and people, (viewable here: http://cityfrombelow.org ) , the City from Below hopes to set or fuel the motion of movement(s) for social justice.

Full schedule and locations right here: http://cityfrombelow.org/event/2009/03/27/list/all/all

To get the dialogue going before we all see each other face to face please check out the news and resources panel on the website, here you can see news articles, papers, and writings by or of some of the conference presenters as well as the themes of the conference.

For news and resources view here: http://cityfrombelow.org/cityfrombelow/blog

This conference is being organized by all volunteers, so we of course need your help and participation! If you would like to do anything from documentation to panel moderation or child care to general staffing, please sign up!

Speaking of childcare there will be special programming for the young and old to participate in, dubbed KID(z) CITY.

KID(z) CITY is a creative program intended to support children and parents' access to participation at the City from Below conference and to promote all ages interaction—with respect and equality.

To learn more or to be involved view here: http://cityfrombelow.org/category/city-from-below-topic-tag/childcare

To be informed of any updates, news, and general information about the conference please go to the website: www.cityfrombelow.org

We look forward to seeing and engaging with you...and please help spread the word!

the City from Below Organizing Committee

---

Also coming up is the B'More Fair

Following up on their historic victory to secure a living wage for the day-laborers who clean the Camden Yards baseball stadium, the UW is taking on Baltimore's Inner Harbor next. In many ways the template for corporate-driven, tourist-focused, city-center urban renewal in North America, the Inner Harbor provides very little to the city itself besides low-paying, precarious service work. The United Workers are specifically addressing their organizing towards this problem, but with an eye towards facilitating larger processes and networks of community mobilization - the Inner Harbor, before it's current incarnation, used to host the "City Fair," bringing all the neighborhoods of Baltimore together for a weekend of celebration. With the B'MORE FAIR this April 18th, the United Workers, in conjunction with a very large group of allied organizations, is proposing to reappropriate this civic tradition in the name of community and social justice.

More details at http://b-morefair.blogspot.com/

titivillating: adjective. to be amused by rhetorical errors; particularly copyist's mistakes or typographical errors.  Also, a euphemism for amusement concerning a poor spelling, punctuation, or grammar, such as accidentally typing a homophone. Someone who enjoys being titivillated will also likely enjoy puns and double entendres.

Etymology: Latin titillatus, past participle of titillare; and Latin Titivillus, patron demon of scribes.
Year: 2009

Someone from the U.K. asked what sort of financial assistance there was for someone who was unemployed in the U.S. (beyond unemployment insurance compensation). Here is a summary of what remains of the U.S. welfare state. Let me know if I missed any significant program.

Food

Food Stamps
"The number of Americans receiving food stamps reached 31.5 million in September 2008 (10.3% of the total USA population), the highest absolute number since the program began in 1962; but the highest ratio was reached in 1994 with 10.5% of the American population. Recipients must have near-poverty incomes to qualify for benefits averaging $100 a month per family member."
Wikipedia: Food Stamps

"The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a type of United States Federal assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to States in order to provide a daily subsidized food service for an estimated 2.9 million children and 86,000 elderly or mentally or physically impaired adults in non-residential, day-care settings.

"The “type” of meal refers to the kind of meal service for which the institution seeks reimbursement, such as breakfasts, lunches, snacks, supplements, and dinners served. The “category” refers to the type of economic need of the child or adult to whom a meal is served, which can be categorized as “paid,” “reduced price,” or “free” meals.

"Child-care, adult day-care, and outside-school-hours centers may charge a single fee to cover tuition, meals, and all other day care services to recoup certain costs, however the vast majority of these centers operate non-pricing (free) programs. Nevertheless, all institutions must determine the eligibility of children and adults enrolled at these centers (e.g. low-income, mentally or physically disabled, etc.) for free or reduced price meals because such eligibility determinations affect the reimbursement rates for meals served to the participants."
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)

Healthcare

"Medicaid is a means-tested program that is not solely funded at the federal level. Medicaid is a needs-based social welfare or social protection program rather than a social insurance program. Eligibility is determined by income. States provide up to half of the funding for the Medicaid program. In some states, counties also contribute funds.

"It is estimated that 42.9 million Americans will be enrolled in 2004 (19.7 million of them children) at a total cost of $295 billion. Medicaid payments assist nearly 60 percent of all nursing home residents and about 37 percent of all childbirths in the United States.

"The main criterion for Medicaid eligibility is limited income and financial resources, a criterion which plays no role in determining Medicare coverage. Medicaid does not provide medical assistance for all poor persons. Even under the broadest provisions of the Federal statute (except for emergency services for certain persons), the Medicaid program does not provide health care services, even for very poor persons, unless they are in one of the designated eligibility groups.

"There are a number of different Medicaid eligibility categories; within each category there are requirements other than income that must be met. These other requirements include, but are not limited to, age, pregnancy, disability, blindness, income and resources, and one's status as a U.S. citizen or a lawfully admitted immigrant.

"Medicaid is also the program that provides the largest portion of federal money spent on health care for people living with HIV. Typically, poor people who are HIV positive must progress to AIDS (T-cell count of 200 or under) before they can qualify under the "disabled" category. More than half of people living with AIDS are estimated to receive Medicaid payments.

"On November 25, 2008, a new federal rule was passed that allows states to charge premiums and higher co-payments to Medicaid participants... The major concern is that this rule will create a disincentive for low-income people to seek healthcare. It is possible that this will force only the sickest participants to pay the increased premiums
Medicaid

Disability Income

"a monthly stipend provided to aged (legally deemed to be 65 or older), blind, or disabled persons based on need, paid by the United States Government.

"The minimum benefit is $1 (USD). Calculation of an SSI benefit begins with the Federal Benefit Rate (FBR). The FBR for 2008 is $637.00.

"If you are incarcerated for an entire calendar month, you are ineligible for benefits. If you are in a medical facility, paid for by Medicaid (at least 50%), your payment may be reduced to $30.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

"Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a payroll tax-funded, federal insurance program of the United States government. SSDI, managed by the Social Security Administration, is designed to provide income to people who are unable to work because of a disability. SSDI is intended to be provided until their condition improves, and is intended to guarantee income if the individual's condition does not improve. SSDI is a social insurance program, and benefits are only granted after a lengthy determination process, whereby the applicant must prove that they are disabled. SSDI is contrasted with Supplemental Security Income ("SSI"), a welfare, or needs-based program administered by the Social Security Administration for people who demonstrate financial and resource poverty, in addition to medical disability. Applicants for SSDI are often required to concurrently apply for SSI if they may qualify, and vice versa.

"The amount of time it takes for an application to be approved or denied varies, depending on the level of the process at which the award is made. In 2006, there were 2,532,264 applications for SSDI. As of March 31, 2007, the number of pending applications (or "backlog") was 1,463,153.

"Nationwide statistics provided by the SSA in 2005 stated that 52 percent of all SSDI applications are ultimately approved.

"Social Security provides a regular monthly payment that supplements any current disability benefits already received.[citation needed] It also provides annual cost of living increases. A portion of these benefits may be tax free.

"Regardless of a person's age, after receiving SSDI benefits for 24 months, they are eligible for Medicare, including Part A (hospital benefits), Part B (medical benefits), and Part D (drug benefits).

SSDI

Social Housing/Public Housing/Section 8

"A family with a voucher is generally required to contribute 30 percent of its income for rent and utilities. The voucher then pays the rest of those costs, up to a limit (called a “payment standard”) set by the housing agency.

"The voucher program currently assists about 1.95 million households. It is the only federal housing program primarily serving poor families that has grown as needs have grown over the last 20 years. The emergence of vouchers as the centerpiece of federal low-income housing policy reflects a major shift during the last 30 years toward more market-based housing subsidies. Previously, the federal government had focused on supporting the construction of public housing or on subsidizing affordable private housing with project-based subsidies.

"The need for housing assistance is very great. HUD’s most recent analysis of Census data indicates that in 2005, 6.5 million low-income renter households that did not receive housing assistance had “severe housing problems,” which means they either paid more than half of their income for rent and utilities or lived in severely substandard rental housing. This number increased by 20 percent between 2001 and 2005. High housing-cost burdens contribute to housing instability and homelessness, which in turn have cascading effects on the well-being of children and other family members. Working families are among those who struggle the most to afford housing. A majority of the low-income families without housing assistance who face severe housing problems (excluding those who get Social Security) are working families

Housing Choice Voucher Program

"As discussed previously, you only get unemployment compensation when you have worked for an employer who paid into unemployment insurance, and provided that employer doesn't manage to block you on getting a claim.

There is public schooling from Kindergarten to Grade 12. There is a federal subsidy for college called a Pell Grant

"Because of the high levels of need required to obtain a Pell grant, receipt of them is often used by researchers as a proxy for low-income student attendance and to indicate the economic diversity of the student body.

"Federal budget legislation passed in early 2006 cut the federal financial aid budget by $12.5 billion.

"Grant moneys can be used for tuition, fees, and educational expenses (such as textbooks or required materials for a class).

"For the award year of 2007-2008 the maximum Pell Grant Award is $4,310. The maximum award for the 2008-09 award year (July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009) is $4,731. The maximum can change each award year and depends on program funding. The maximum grant is to increase to $5,400 by 2012.

"Due to high increases in the cost of post-secondary education and slow or no growth in the Pell grant program, the value of Pell grants has eroded significantly over time. In 2005-06, the maximum Pell grant covered one-third of the yearly cost of higher education at a public four-year institution; twenty years ago, it covered 60% of a student's cost of attendance.
Pell Grant

Unemployment Insurance is a topic for another time.

I tracked the direct connection between the Mohawks and the Irish Republic. It's a pretty interesting story.


(Lord Edward Fitzgerald, 1797)

Lord Edward Fitzgerald was an officer in the British Military. He'd been wounded in the American revolution, fighting for the crown.

He later came back to the Americas, and was involved in some diplomacy with the Mohawks.


(Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant), 1786)

He became friends with Joseph Brant, renowned Mohawk war leader--who had managed to carve a Six Nations homeland in Canada after the American Revolutionary War. So, while they were being buddies--they must have discussed politics. Fitzgerald also attended an "indian council", with some 200 "chiefs" present, plus clan mothers. If I can give you a modern analog... that would be like if you took a U.S. Army officer occupying Iraq and then dropped him into a Zapatista Encuentro. Or took the same soldier in Afghanistan and had him spend months with RAWA.

Fitzgerald travels with one of the other Mohawks, Captain David Hill (Hill and Brant were quite fluent in English). When the trip came to Detroit, Hill has Fitzgerald adopted into the Bear clan.


(Colonel Guy Johnson and Karonghyontye (Captain David Hill), 1776)

(Capt. David Hill was part of a group of Mohawks from the Ft. Hunter area. He was one of Brants' Captains and was active in the Valley throughout the war. The Ft. Hunter Mohawks had moved to Carlton Is. to escape the rebel abuse in the Valley.
84th RoF Royal Highland Emigrants: A Brief History)

If you've read my article, you know what a big deal that is to get adopted like that.

Fitzgerald goes back to Ireland. Only three years later, Fitzgerald is visiting Paris and bunking with Thomas Paine. Keep in mind, in Fitzgerald first time in the Americas, before the Mohawks... he was fighting the likes of Paine. Fitzgerald marries a Frenchwoman, goes back Ireland.

Where, while in the Irish Parliament, promptly gets himself arrested for violently denouncing the government. He then abandons constitutional reform, joins the United Irishmen to agitate for an independent non-sectarian (read secular) Irish republic
He has the reputation of being a leveller.

He leads the Irish Rebellion of 1789. 15,000-30,000 united irishmen die in the Rebellion, including Fitzgerald. That is, Fitzgerald leads a rebellion against England, only 9 years after he was adopted as a Mohawk.

---

"In May, 1785, Miss Powell, probably a sister of of Captain Powell before mentioned, visited an Indian council on Buffalo creek, and has left an interesting description... She was accompanied by Mrs. Powell (Jane Moore), and several British officers. One of her companions, (who had also been an officer, though perhaps he was not then one,) was a young Irish nobleman whose name was soon to be raised to a mournful prominence, and whose fruitless valor and tragic fate are still the theme of ballad and story among the people of his native land. This was Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who manifested a great fondness for visiting among the Indians, and who found an especial charm in the society of Brant."

"She declares there were two hundred chiefs present as delegates of the Six Nations, which, as there were not over two thousand warriors in all, was a very liberal allowance of officers."

"The chiefs of each tribe formed a circle in the shade of a tree, while their appointed speaker stood with his back against it. Then the old women came, one by one, with great solemnity and seated themselves behind the men. Miss Powell noted, with evident approval, that "on the banks of Lake Erie a woman becomes respectable as she grows old;" and added that, though the ladies kept silent, nothing was decided without their approbation."

Conflicting Claims of Massachusetts and New York, page 58

...

"Now and then some fair English maiden has been so smitten with the appearance of a native American warrior as to become his bride, and make her residence within his wigwam. Miss Powell, however, was not quite so much charmed by Captain David as that, since she returned to Fort Erie that evening on her way to Detroit, leaving Edward Fitzgerald and others to be entertained that night by the dancing of their dusky friends."

Conflicting Claims of Massachusetts and New York, page 59

Excerpts from "The life and death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald"

"Frederick's Town, New Brunswick,
Sept. 2d, 1788.

" DEAREST, DEAREST MOTHER,


"There

1788. LOUD EDWAUD FITZGERALD. 91

is something in a wild country very enticing ; taking its inhabitants, too, and their man-
ners into the bargain.

"I know Ogilvie says I ought to have been a savage, and if it were not that the people I love and wish to live with are civilized people, and like houses, &c., &c., I really would join the savages ; and, leaving all our fictitious, ridiculous wants, be what nature intended we should be. Savages have all the real happiness of life, without any of those inconveniences, or ridiculous obstacles to it, which custom has introduced among us. They enjoy the love and company of their wives, relations, and friends, without any interference of interests or ambition to separate them. To bring things home to oneself, if we had been Indians, instead of its being my duty to be separated from all of you, it would, on the contrary, be my duty to be with you, to make you comfortable, and to hunt and fish for you: instead of Lord * *'s being violent against letting me marry G * *, he would be glad to give her to me, that I might maintain and feed her. There would be then no cases of looking forward to the fortune


92 MEMOIRS OF 1788.

for children, of thinking how you are to live : no separations in families, one in Ireland, one in England : no devilish politics, no fashions, customs, duties, or appearances to the world, to interfere with one's happiness. Instead of being served and supported by servants, every thing here is done by one's relations by the people one loves; and the mutual obligations you must be under increase your love for each other. To be sure, the poor ladies are obliged to cut a little wood and bring a little water. Now the dear Ciss and Mimi, instead of being with Mrs. Lynch, would be carrying wood and fetching water, while ladies Lucy and Sophia were cooking or drying fish. As for you, dear mother, you would be smoking your pipe. Ogilvie arid us boys, after having brought in our game, would be lying about the fire, while our squaws were helping the ladies to cook, or taking care of our papouses: all this in a fine wood, beside
some beautiful lake, which when you were tired of, you would in ten minutes, without any baggage, get into your canoes and off with you elsewhere.

...

"though it is a mistake to refer so far back the origin of his republican notions, yet that to America, on this, his second,

1788. LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. 97

visit to her shores, and through a very different channel both of reasoning and of feeling, he may have probably owed the first instilment of those principles into his mind, every reader, I think, of the foregoing letter will be inclined to allow. It is true, the natural simplicity and independence of his character, which led him habitually, and without effort, to forget the noble in the man, was in itself sufficient to incline him towards those equalizing doctrines which teach that

"Where there is no difference in men's worths, Titles are jests."

In the small sphere, too, of party politics to which his speculations had been hitherto bounded, the line taken by him had been, as we have seen, in conformity with the popular principles of his family, and on the few occasions that called for their assertion, had been honourably and consistently followed. But farther or deeper than this he had not taxed his boyish thoughts to go ; and what with his military pursuits, while abroad, and the course of gaiety and domestic enjoyments that awaited him at home, he could have but

VOL. i. H

98 MEMOIRS OF 1788.

little leisure to turn his mind to any other forms or relations of society than those in which he was always, so agreeably to himself and others, engaged.

At the time, however, which we are now employed in considering, a great change had taken place in the complexion of his life.

Disappointment in what, to youth, is every thing the first strong affection of the heart, had given a check to that flow of spirits which had before borne him so buoyantly along ; while his abstraction from society left him more leisure to look inquiringly into his own mind, and there gather those thoughts that are ever the fruit of long solitude and sadness. The repulse which his suit had met with from the father of his fair relative had, for its chief grounds, he knew, he inadequacy of his own means and prospects to the support of a wife and family in that style of elegant competence to which the station of the young lady herself had hitherto accustomed her; and the view, therefore, he had been disposed naturally to take of the pomps and luxuries of high life, as standing in the way of all simple and real happiness, was thus but too pain-

1788. LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. 99

fully borne out by his own bitter experience of their influence.

In this temper of mind it was that he now came to the contemplation of a state of society (as far as it can deserve to be so called) entirely new to him ; where nature had retained in her own hands not only the soil, but the inhabitants, and civilization had not yet exacted those sacrifices of natural equality and freedom by which her blessings are, in not a few respects, perhaps, dearly, purchased. Instead of those gradations of rank, those artificial privileges,
which, as one of the means of subduing the strong to the weak, have been established, in some shape or other, in all civilized communities, he observed here no other distinction between man and man than such as nature herself, by the different apportionment of her own gifts, had marked out, by a disparity either in mental capacity, or in those powers of agility and strength, which, where every man must depend mainly on himself, and so little is left conventional or uncontested, are the endowments most necessary. To these physical requisites, too,
Lord Edward, as well from his own peril
2

100 MEMOIRS OF 1788.

sonal activity, as from the military notions he in general mixed up with his views of human affairs, was inclined to attach high value.

In like manner, from the total absence, in this state of existence, of those factitious and
imaginary wants which the progress of a people to refinement, at every step, engenders, he saw that not only was content more easy of attainment, but that even happiness itself, from the fewness of the ingredients necessary to it, was a far less rare compound. The natural affections, under the guidance less of reason than of instinct, were, from that very cause, perhaps, the more strong and steady in their impulses : mutual dependence kept the members of a family united ; nor were there any of those calls and attractions out of the circle of home,
which in civilized life so early strip it of its young props and ornaments, leaving the paternal hearth desolate.

With a yet deeper interest was it, as bearing upon his own peculiar fate, that he had observed among those simple, and, as he thought, happy people, that by no false ambition or conventional wants were the

1788. LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. 101

warm, natural dictates of affection frustrated, nor the hopes and happiness of the young made a sacrifice to the calculations of the old.

The conclusion drawn by Lord Edward, in favour of savage life, from the premises thus, half truly, half fancifully, assumed by him, much of the colouring which he gave to the picture being itself borrowed from civilization, had been already, it is well known, arrived at, through all the mazes of ingenious reasoning, by Rousseau ; and it is riot a little curious to observe how to the very same paradox which the philosopher adopted in the mere spirit of defiance and vanity, a heart overflowing with affection and disappointment conducted the young lover.

Nor is Rousseau the only authority by which Lord Edward is kept in countenance in this opinion*. From a far graver and more authentic source we find the same startling notion promulgated. The

* See also Voltaire's comparison between the boors (whom he accounts the real savages) of civilized Europe and the miscalled savages of the woods of America. Essai sur les Mceurs.

102 MEMOIRS OF 1788.

philosopher and statesman, Jefferson, who, from being brought up in the neighbourhood of Indian communities, had the best means of forming an acquaintance with the interior of savage life, declares himself convinced "that such societies (as the Indians) which live without government, enjoy, in their general mass, an infinitely greater degree of happiness than those who live under the European governments ;" and, in another place, after discussing the merits of various
forms of polity, he does not hesitate to pronounce that it is a problem not clear in his mind that the condition of the Indians, without any government, is not yet the best of all.

Thus, where the American President ended his course of political speculation, Lord Edward began, adopting his opinions, not, like Jefferson, after long and fastidious inquiry, but through the medium of a susceptible and wounded heart, nor having a thought of applying the principle of equality implied in them to any other relations or institutions of society than those in which his feelings were, at the moment, interested. This romance, indeed, of savage happiness was, in

1788. LORD P:DWARD FITZGERALD. 103

him, but one of the various forms which the passion now predominant over all his thoughts assumed. But the principle, thus admitted, retained its footing in his mind after the reveries through which it had first found its way thither had vanished ; and though it was some time before politics, beyond the range, at least, of mere party tactics, began to claim his attention, all he had meditated and felt among the solitudes of Nova Scotia could not fail to render his mind a more ready recipient for such doctrines as he found prevalent on his return to Europe; doctrines which, in their pure and genuine form, contained all the spirit, without the extravagance, of his own solitary dreams, and, while they would leave Man in full possession of those blessings of civilization he had acquired, but sought to restore to him some of those natural rights of equality and freedom which he had lost...

" Fort Erie, June 1, 1789.

" DEAREST MOTHER,

"I am just come from the Falls of Niagara...

"I set out to-morrow for Detroit : I go with one of the Indian chiefs, Joseph Brant, he that was in England. We have taken very much to one another. I shall entertain you very much with his remarks on England, and the English, while he was there. Instead of crossing Lake Erie in a ship, I go in canoes up and down rivers. In crossing Lake Ontario, I was as sick as at sea, so you may guess, I prefer canoeing ; besides, my friend Joseph always travels with company ; and we shall go through a number of Indian villages. If you only stop an hour, they have a dance for you. They are delightful people ; the ladies charming, and with manners that I like very much, they are so natural. Not-withstanding the life they lead, which would make most women rough and masculine, they are as soft, meek, and modest as the best brought up girls in England. At the same time, they are coquettes as possible. Conceive the manners of Mimi in a poor squaw, that has been carrying packs in the woods all her life.

"I must make haste and finish my letter, for I am just going to set off. I shall be at Michilimackinack in nineteen days. My journey then will be soon over, for from that I shall soon reach the Missisippi, and down it to New Orleans, and then to my dearest mother to Frescati, to relate all my journey in the little book-room. I shall then be happy. Give my love to all. I think often of you all in these wild woods : they are better than rooms. Ireland and England will be too little for me when I go home. If I could carry my dearest mother about with me, I should be completely happy here."

VOL. I. L
146 MEMOIRS OF 1789.

"Detroit, June 20.

"MY DEAREST MOTHER,

"It is so hot I can hardly hold the pen. My hand trembles so, you will be hardly

1789. LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. 147

able to read my letter. My journey quite answered my expectations. I set out tomorrow for Michilimackinack, and then down the Missisippi. I am in rude health. As soon as I get to the Missisippi I reckon my journey half over. I can say no more, for really it is too hot for any thing but lying on a mat. Kntre nous, I am in a little sorrow, as I am to part tomorrow with a fellow-traveller who has been very pleasant and taken great care of me : les plus courtes folies sont les meilleures. I have been adopted by one of the Nations, and am now a thorough Indian."

His adoption by the native Indians, which he here mentions, took place at Detroit, through the medium of the Chief of the Six Nations, David Hill, by whom he was formally inducted into the Bear Tribe, and made one of their Chiefs. The document by which this wild honour was conferred upon him has been preserved among his papers, and is, in Indian and English, as follows :

L 2

148 MEMOIRS OF 1789.

"David Hill's letter to Lord Edward Fitz-
gerald, Chief of the Bear Tribe.

"Waghgongh Sen non Pryer
Ne nen Seghyrage ni i
Ye Sayats Eghnidal

Ethonayyere David Hill

Karonghyontye

lyogh Saghnontyon

21 June, 1789.

" /, David Hill t Chief of the Six Nations,
give the name of Eghnidal to my friend
Lord Edward Fitzgerald, for which I hope
he will remember me as long as he lives.

" The name belongs to the Bear Tribe' 9


The life and death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald


"Captain David Hill's letter purports to be in the Mohawk, but the orthography as given by Moore is very erroneous. According to O. H. Marshall, who commented on this letter, "Karong hyontye" is the Indian name of Captain David. "Tyogh Saghnontyon" is the name of Detroit, where the letter was written.

...

"Lord Edward Fitzgerald has been some months at Niagara before us, and was making excursions among the Indians, of whose society he seemed particularly fond. Joseph Brant, a celebrated Indian chief, lives in that neighborhood. Lord Edward has spent some days at his house, and seemed charmed with his visit. Brant returned to Niagara with his Lordship. He was the first, and indeed the only savage I ever dined at table with."

"As the party was large, he was at too great a distance from me to hear him converse, and I was by no means pleased with his looks. These people pay great deference to rank; with them it is only obtained by merit. They attended Lord Edward from the house of one Chief to another, and entertained him with dancing, which is the greatest compliment they can pay."...

"On seeing this respectable band of matrons I was struck with the different opinions of making. In England when a man grows infirm and his talents are obscured by age, the wits decide upon his character by calling him an old woman. On the banks of Lake Erie a woman becomes respectable as she grows old, and I suppose the greatest compliment you can pay a young hero, is that he is as wise as an old woman, a good trait of savage understanding. These ladies preserve a modest silence in the debates (I fear they are not like women of other countries) but nothing is determined without their advice and approbation."

...


"We only staid to hear two speeches; they spoke with great gravity and no action, frequently making long pauses for a hum of applause. Lord Edward and Mr. Brisbane remained with them all night, and were entertained with dancing.

...

"Lord Edward and his friend arrived just time enough to join us; they went round the Lake by land, to see some Indian settlements, and were highly pleased with their jaunt. Lord Edward speaks in raptures of the Indian hospitality; he told me one instance of it, which would reflect honor on the most polished society. By some means or other, the gentlemen lost their provisions, and were entirely without bread in a place where they could get none; some Indians traveling with them, had one loaf, which they offered to his Lordship, but he would not accept it; the Indians gave him to understand they were used to do without and therefore it was less inconvenient to them; they still refused, and the Indians then disappeared, and left the loaf of bread in the road the travelers must pass, and the Indians were seen no more."

"David Hill, one of the chiefs of the Six Nations, is referred to in Stone's "Life of Red Jacket," 1st ed., p. 95. Miss Powell is in error in writing that Lord Edward "had been some months at Niagara" before she arrived. His letters show that he was there in May; "some weeks" was perhaps meant.

"Lord Edward finished his journey, returning to Ireland by way of New Orleans, much as planned."


BUFFALO

Historical Society Publications

VOLUME FIFTEEN

Edited By Fbank H. Severance

t «nb

STUDIES OF
THE NIAGARA FRONTIER

By FRANK H. SEVERANCE

BUFFALO. NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY THE

BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1911

"Two Early Vistors"

Studies of the Niagara Frontier: Two Early Visitors

Baltimore City Council Resolution in Support of Boycot of Baltimore City Center Sheraton

The boycott has been going very well. Anecdotally, I hear that
occupancy is slow low that the company has turned off the lights in one
of the towers.

The Baltimore City Council just voted to support the boycott.

CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL 08-0083R
(Resolution)

Introduced
by: Councilmembers Clarke, D’Adamo, Kraft, Henry, Cole, Young, Holton,
President Rawlings-Blake, Councilmembers Branch, Welch, Conaway,
Curran, Spector, Middleton, Reisinger

At the request of: NAACP Baltimore City Branch of the and the Philadelphia Joint Board of UNITEHERE!

Address:
c/o Marvin L. “Doc” Cheatham, President, NAACP Baltimore City Branch, 8
W. 26th Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 Telephone: 410-366-3300

Introduced and read first time: October 27, 2008
Assigned to: Labor Subcommittee

REFERRED TO THE FOLLOWING AGENCIES: Baltimore Area Convention and
Visitors Association, Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts
A RESOLUTION ENTITLEDA COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning In Support of B-More United

FOR
the purpose of expressing support for the B-More United Campaign of the
cooks, housekeepers, servers, and banquet staff at the Sheraton
Baltimore City Center Hotel and their boycott of the hotel in demand of
adequate rights, job security, decent wages, affordable health care,
and a pension plan.

Recitals

The unionized employees at
the Sheraton Baltimore City Center hotel are employed by the Columbia
Sussex Corporation. Since March 2006, the cooks, housekeepers, servers,
and banquet staff have been trying to negotiate affordable healthcare
benefits, safer workloads, job security, and retirement benefits. They
have been working without a union contract since April 2006.

The
Columbia Sussex Corporation, the ownership company of the Sheraton
Baltimore City Center Hotel, has unilaterally implemented their final
offer to the employees. As a result, there has been a reduction in
benefits, a reduction in compensation for banquet employees, an
increase in workload for housekeepers, non-recognition of seniority
rights for scheduling, and significant reductions in workers’ rights on
the jobs.

An overwhelming majority of workers at the Sheraton
Baltimore City Center Hotel called for a boycott of their own hotel in
November 2007 – “By standing together, we are sending a message to
Columbia Sussex and the rest of the hotel industry: We are determined
to make our jobs decent jobs. We are determined to support our families
here in Baltimore”. The boycott is endorsed by the Baltimore AFL-CIO,
the Maryland and DC AFL-CIO, the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP,
and many other organizations that advocate for working families in
Maryland.

The City Council supports the
employees of the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel and encourages
individuals and businesses to support the boycott until such time as
the contract is settled to the workers’ satisfaction.

NOW ,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this
Body supports the B-More United Campaign of the cooks, housekeepers,
servers, and banquet staff at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center Hotel
and their boycott of the hotel in demand of adequate rights, job
security, decent wages, affordable health care, and a pension plan.

AND
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED , That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the
Mayor, the President, NAACP Baltimore City Branch, the Coordinator,
Hotel Development, Strategic Affairs Department, UNITEHERE!, the
Executive Director of the Convention Center, the CEO and President of
the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, the Director of
the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, and the Mayor’s
Legislative Liaison to the City Council.

Washington, DC 10/05/98



BLAST FROM YOUR PAST: Oct 5 1998: Radio Pirates Lay Siege To FCC, NAB

Wow, I still had a hillfolk accent.

P.S. I actually wasn't with Free Radio Memphis; though the folks behind me were.

I've already ordered the tickets for Festival Kinetik, but I also just learned that just like last year, the best industrial/noise festival in North America is also the same weekend in the same city as the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 16-17, 2009).

I was a bit disappointed in the bookfair last year. The talks I went to were fine, but there weren't a lot of panels in which I was interested. However, it is always good to visit with the comrades from Quebec.

Next thing to figure out is where I'm staying. Since Mylksnake is also coming, we're are probably going to choose a hotel. Last year, we stayed at the Chinatown Holiday Inn, but we got a smoking room (which neither of us do) and didn't really like the place--though it was the only hotel downtown that UNITE HERE has organized.

UNITE HERE is a small player in Montreal--the real labor force in that sector is 70-year old Federation du Commerce Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (FC-CSN). My long time comrade Nicholas Phebus wrote a good summary of their organization and mobilization during strikes in 2005: "Unity Makes Strength: Quebec Hotel Workers Mobilize and Win!" (in English). He also tells me that another good history of the CSN struggles in the Quebecois hotels which could be read is a text by Jean-Marc Piotte that was just published in the À Babord magasine: Les victoires des employéEs de l’hôtellerie québécoise" (in French).

According to the Federation du Commerce website, here's the list of Montreal Area Hotel that are taking part in the CSN coordinated negotiation (there might be another half a dozen locals that are not part of the negotiation), so if you care about patronizing union hotels... these are the places to go:

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel Méridien
de Montréal (Hyatt Regency) (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleurs (euses) de l'hôtel Reine Elizabeth
(Entente - Retour au travail le 13 novembre 2008)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Delta Centre-ville (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleurs (euses) du Bonaventure (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel Omni
Mont-Royal (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Crowne Plaza
Métro-centre (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel des
Gouverneurs Place Dupuis (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel Holiday
Inn Centre-ville

• Syndicat des travailleurs (euses) du Hilton Dorval

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel Maritime (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Ramada Inn (Centre-ville)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Ritz-Carlton
(hôtel fermé pour rénovation jusqu'en janvier 2010)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Nouvel Hôtel (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Hilton Laval (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel Quality
Suites de Pointe-Claire (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel Ruby Foo's (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Quality Hotel (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Comfort Inn Pointe-Claire

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Holiday Inn Select
Sinomonde (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Comfort Inn Dorval

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel du Fort (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Marriott
Château-Champlain (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs de l'hôtel Radisson (Entente)

• Syndicat des travailleuses et des travailleurs du Four Points
Sheraton Centre-ville (grève générale illimitée)

Also, I'm looking for someone to help me exchange a few letters with some folks in the FC-CSN, so if you you can translate written English to French--I could use a hand. Farther down the road, I'm looking for someone who would be up for doing oral translation of French to English in Baltimore and DC, as well as perhaps oral translation of French to Spanish in DC for a couple of hours sometime in the indefinite future.

I should update my google map of Montreal.

I need to remember to take pictures this year, like I did in 2007. I'm regretting not having a camera when I went to Kahnawake.

It's been more than a year since the workers of the Sheraton Baltimore City Center decided to BOYCOTT our Hotel and Columbia Sussex Bosses are still trying to force us to accept their contract. The Union has made it clear that the workers want to negotiate and reach a fair contract.

We will fight for as long as it takes, and we want our city government to back us up. The City Council of Baltimore will hold a televised hearing regarding supporting the Boycott of the Sheraton City Center. The hearing will be Wednesday, Feb. 4th starting at 5 PM at City Hall. Come out and let’s show these strong workers our support.




Clarence "Du" Burns Council Chamber, City Hall - 4th Floor
100 N. Holiday Street

City Council meetings are televised on cable channel 25.
Wednesday night committee hearings are telecast live at 5:00 pm and replayed at 12:00 noon on the following Thursday.

I'm just trying to wrap my head around some numbers...

I wanted to include annual Afghani civilian deaths from the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, but we don't have good figures there. We do know that it has been increasing. Wikipedia: Civilian Casualties of the War in Afghanistan (2001-present). Estimate is at least at least 6,069 - 7,607 direct deaths

.Afghan Civil War (1978-present)
Afghani civilians dead: 1,500,000–2,000,000
Including the Soviet war in Afghanistan:
USSR/Afghani: 14,453
Mujhadeen: ~70,000
Afghani civilians: ~1,000,000+

Total Iraq War Civilian Direct Deaths: 90,318-98,594
U.S./Coalition Military Deaths in Iraq war: 4,543

The Gulf War death statistics are all over the place.

The Iraq-Iran war is also estimated in terms of casualties (dead or wounded):
Iraq: 250,000-500,000
Iran: 1,000,000

Vietnam War
South Vietnam Military dead Total dead: 285,831 (including 58,159 U.S.)
North Vietnam Military dead Total: 1,177,446
South Vietnamese civilian dead: 1,581,000
Cambodian civilian dead: ~700,000
North Vietnamese civilian dead: ~3,000,000
Laotian civilian dead: ~50,000

Korean War
South Korea combatants(including U.S.): 474,000
North Korea combatants (including China): 1,190,000-1,577,000+
Korean Civilians: 2,000,000

World War II: over 72,000,000

World War I: 40,000,000

See also: Democide 20th century (note, this is calculating both direct and indirect deaths; many of the war death statistics above only count direct deaths).

Just some images from some events I've been at lately.Rebecca and I listening to the Musicians Local 173 String Quartet at Red Emma's Red & Black Ball at 2640. Swiped form lois.lifeI, armed with cake and derby, on my way to seduce Rebecca at Red Emma's Red & Black Ball at 2640. Swiped from Vees.The clown and his dance partner are from the Cork Gallery. Rebecca smiling, while I play with my phone at Red Emma's Red & Black Ball at 2640. Swiped form lois.lifeWaiting for Winterkälte/Hopeful Machines with Kylla and Michael at Exposure at Bohemian Caverns. Swiped from djmissguided.Rebecca and I at Exposure at Club Liv. Swiped from djmissguided. Zoom in and pan to the right for the cuteness!