Martin Luther King Jr., Inc. and the "Commoditization" of America

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Sunday January 16, 2011 · 11:08 AM PST

2011/01/16 · 11:08

One of the the things you won't read, see, or hear this MLK day - or any MLK day - is any detailed record of the thousands of speeches and articles he produced during his thirteen-odd year career as an activist.

Why? Powerful organizations and individuals - led by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - tried and failed to shut King up. Why is is the voice of King - a national demigod - silent now?

One reason is that nearly all of his words are copyrighted, and closely held for profit by the Board of Directors of "Martin Luther King Jr. Inc." - a foundation that produces millions of dollars per year for King's descendants, and has aggressively litigated against any who in its view threaten its control and ability to profit from King-related materials.

Another reason is that King was kind of - well - kind of a commie, at least by present-day American standards. He devoted the later, tougher years of his life struggling for what he liked to call "economic justice" - by which, I suspect, he probably didn't mean hiring top lawyers for copyright suits.

The forces that have silenced King threaten to silence and strangle many other critical aspirations in our society.

Poll

21 votes Show Results

The celebration of King Day in America, for me

21 votes Vote Now!

The celebration of King Day in America, for me

Represents an important and meaningful moment to celebrate the civil rights movement, and to incorporate its principles into action today

10 votes

Is kind of nice to have on the calender, and to get people thinking about King, but doesn't mean all that much

1 vote

Was created as a sop to a few political constituencies, but doesn't mean much.

2 votes

Actually cheapens Kings memory, since so little of the man's actual ideas and principles are ever discussed.

8 votes

Gold Tablets and Goldline - Why Is Christian America Going Mormon (and why don't they care?)

al75

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Monday July 12, 2010 · 11:34 AM PDT

2010/07/12 · 11:34

This ones for you, Glen Beck.

I respect other folks religous beliefs. I know alot of really dumb and selfish people who share my general creed; and I know plenty of righteous people who follow different creeds.

But I find it weird when there are more and more strident voices calling for a "Christian America" that many of these same folks are willing to pretend that Mormonism is the same thing as Christianity.

It may seem trivial to those of you who don't care about religion - but for those who do - like many who profess fanatical Christian faith - these ideas matter.

More important, the Mormon Church isn't just an idea - it's a disciplined, heirarchically organized, VERY wealthy organization that is moving into American politics in a big way. Agree or disagree with the Mormon church - butkeep in mind that it's the Mormon Church.

Poll

171 votes Show Results

Religious faith and belief

171 votes Vote Now!

Religious faith and belief

Is fine as long as you don't use it as a rationalization to commit genocide like David did

3 votes

Is fine as long as you respect other people's right to their own beliefs

66 votes

Is fine as long as you don't literally think all that crazy stuff in the book of Joshua is true

11 votes

is really important to you personally

8 votes

has no place in the life of a rational person

83 votes

France 5/10/40 - USA Today?

al75

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Monday May 10, 2010 · 6:04 AM PDT

2010/05/10 · 06:04

Today is the 70th anniversary of one of the great catastrophes of the 20th century - Hitler's stunningly successful invasion of France, and the near-total collapse of resistance to Nazi Germany.

Reading the papers today, I wonder how far we are from the same degree of corruption and paralysis, and suffering a fate that may not be the same as France of 1940, but one that may have disturbing similarities: a corrupt society controlled by an irrational, reactionary right, drifting towards a totalitarian increasingly unable to cope with the challenges of the present.

al75

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Friday May 07, 2010 · 7:13 AM PDT

2010/05/07 · 07:13

Many people more articulate than I am have denounced Sen Joe Lieberman's proposed law to preemptively strip Americans accused of terrorist affiliations of their citizenship.

There's an aspect of this that I haven't seen discussed, though, which I make the subject of this diary: the notion of revoking citizenship of people you don't like. The notion of a state in which holding a dissenting belief, or having a different ethnic or religious background, becomes a basis for expropriation and expulsion.

This is an idea that is gaining traction on the right in Israel. Holy Joe is bringing it home.

Poll

99 votes Show Results

Stripping citizens of citizenship

99 votes Vote Now!

Stripping citizens of citizenship

Is never okay - citizens convicted of crimes should be punished as citizens

53 votes

Is okay for citizens convicted of certain crimes, but not others

5 votes

Is necessary in Isreal because Israeli security is threatened by disloyal arabs

11 votes

Is worse than not okay - it's Hitlerian

30 votes

At the Movies: A Single Man

al75

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Saturday January 09, 2010 · 4:35 AM PST

2010/01/09 · 04:35

I found Tom Ford's film "A Single Man" disappointing.

It's a beautifully-shot, interesting film based upon a semi-autobiographical story by Christopher Isherwood. Isherwood was a intimate companion of WH Auden, Stephen Spender, and wrote the short stories which later became the basis for the show and movie "Cabaret".

Isherwood’s writing about his early adulthood is notable for his commitment to camera-like honesty, and his relatively open discussion of his own homosexuality -- something almost unheard of at the time. He moved to Germany to the Berlin of the Weimar Republic in search of sexual freedom, which included patronizing numerous young male prostitutes.

Poll

24 votes Show Results

The film "A single man"

24 votes Vote Now!

The film "A single man"

Is a really great and moving movie

5 votes

Is not all that deep but still a great movie

1 vote

So so, but worth the 10 bucks

0 votes

Disappointing

0 votes

I hated it

0 votes

Didn't see it

13 votes

Fell asleep during film

1 vote

Don't care

4 votes

The Simon Weisenthal Center Hits Back Against "Luridly Hyped Details" Emerging on Gaza

al75

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Saturday January 24, 2009 · 4:02 AM PST

2009/01/24 · 04:02

A mass e-mail from the Simon Weisenthal Center is warning of a wave of anti-Semitic incidents in France. But that's not all. The comment from Bruce Rattner (producer of the 'Rush Hour' movies) adds a bitter complaint

With all of the hyped details of every luridly tragic event in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict why have the American media from top to bottom not been all over this –" why have they not devoted much more coverage to these disgraceful, anti-Semitic events in France?

Aside from the tracking cookie the e-mail put on my computer, Mr. Rattner's comment got me thinking about the level of rage/selective information/paranoia that agitators on both sides of the i/p issue engage in when stoking up the daily quota of outrage.

Why are the events in Gaza "luridly tragic" to Mr. Rattner, instead of just "tragic"?

Poll

284 votes Show Results

Anti-Semitism around the world

284 votes Vote Now!

Anti-Semitism around the world

is being exaggerated by right-wing Israelis as a smokescreen for Israeli crimes

135 votes

is a serious problem that Israeli policies exacerbate

60 votes

is a serious problem no matter what Israel does

44 votes

is a problem, to which tough Israeli action is the only appropriate response.

4 votes

anti-semitism isn't the problem. Jews are the problem.

41 votes

Why Did Israel Use Phosphorus-Based Weapons in Gaza

al75

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Thursday January 22, 2009 · 6:31 AM PST

2009/01/22 · 06:31

As the mantle of Israeli military censorship in place around the Gaza strip eases, abundant data is emerging that the IDF extensively used phosphorus weapons in the densely populated regions of the region, imposing horrific casualties on a civilian population that was unable to flee.

Why?

Poll

128 votes Show Results

IDF use of phosphorus weapons against civilians, in my opinion

128 votes Vote Now!

IDF use of phosphorus weapons against civilians, in my opinion

didn't happen, and I don't care if it did happen - Israel has a right to use any measure of force against arabs, because arabs have no respect for human life.

7 votes

was probably militarily justified

11 votes

represents a serious mistake, and should be investigated and prosecuted by the IDF

6 votes

represents a brutal human rights violation which Israel cannot address; the US should exert "quiet diplomacy" to see that this doesn't happen again

15 votes

is a crime against humanity; Israel should be subject to international sanction.

89 votes

In Praise of Joe The Plumber

al75

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Tuesday January 13, 2009 · 7:15 AM PST

2009/01/13 · 07:15

Many progressives view Joe Wurzlebacher (JTP henceforth) as a phoney, a stooge, or a wannabe right-wing hack. I agree that he is all of these things, but I feel that he represents an important window into American political discourse.

I salute him, and hope that he continues in his work.

al75

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Sunday January 04, 2009 · 2:53 AM PST

2009/01/04 · 02:53

SPOILER ALERT: IN CASE YOU MISSED THE TRAILER, AND ALL THE REVIEWS, THIS DIARY REVEALS WHAT PLOT TWIST THE READER POSSESSES.

As art-house smut goes, The Reader churns along adequately enough – but 45 minutes into it, we discover that this is a film with Higher Purpose. Kate Winslet’s character isn’t just a seductress of a 15 year old boy in Germany of the late 1950’s: she’s a woman with a Hidden Past as an SS concentration camp guard.

This poor movie’s problem is that it can’t quite get straight whether it’s a holocaust pic, or a steamy bedroom tale set against standard-fare ambiguities of modern history.

al75

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Thursday December 18, 2008 · 7:58 AM PST

2008/12/18 · 07:58

"Bernie" Maddoff's family-run brokerage appears to have engaged in the largest financial fraud in history, apparently with plenty of help from family-connected contacts in the Security & Exchange Commission and from politicians of both parties whom "Bernie" shoveled cash to.

"Bernie" has another set of friends too, it seems, in the paper of record. Yesterday they ran a breaking story: the rest of "Bernie's" family "according to a person briefed on the case" is in the clear, and Federal investigators have found no evidence so far that members of Bernard L. Madoff’s family helped him "

There's just one problem: the Time's story, given pride of place on page 1 of the business section, is crap. It's nothing but a collection of assertions that appear to have come straight from Maddoff family lawyers, breathlessly packaged as the words of a condfidential source 'who was not at liberty to comment publicly "

al75

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Tuesday December 02, 2008 · 5:23 PM PST

2008/12/02 · 17:23

A broad review of previously published research has documented something most of us suspect: our mass-market culture is hurting our children. The study (not yet published as far as I know - and I haven't read it) reviews 173 previous original studies, and finds a positive correlation between "media exposure" among children to television, movies and other media and such problems as obesity, tobacco use, sexual behavior, substance use, and academic underachievement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

This shouldn’t be surprising. Most of us would guess that kids who spend their free time playing soccer, rehearsing school plays, or laughing hysterically with their friends, are less likely to be in some other kind of trouble; whereas kids who spend hours per day in a semi-hypnotic trance in front of some kind of screen are more at risk.

Another thing we all should know is that too much mass-market culture is bad for our kids, our values, and our families.

Poll

65 votes Show Results

I / my kid:

65 votes Vote Now!

I / my kid:

watch no television or video games

3 votes

watch/play a little, never gets in the way of other things

26 votes

watch/play more than would be best

10 votes

f$%^&'ing addicted dude...

13 votes

I'm building hit points while I'm taking this stupid poll!

13 votes

Does Universal Health Care Require a "Time to Die" Rule?

al75

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday November 22, 2008 · 7:48 AM PST

2008/11/22 · 07:48

As a medical resident in a busy hospital, I learned the terrible nature of a drug called dobutamine. Injected during a cardiac "code" into someone who was dying, the drug would restore a pulse and blood pressure to all but the most lethally compromised. We'd intubate, do CPR, and send the poor wretch we were working on to the ICU - often with several broken ribs from chest compressions -- where the poor bastard would usually die a week or two later.

What I'd like to put out there for consideration -- as our present medical insurance system wobbles toward collapse, along with the rest of the economy -- is how much this stunt costs.

Poll

116 votes Show Results

Universal Health Care

116 votes Vote Now!

Universal Health Care

should be made available to everyone, regardless of cost.

14 votes

should be made available to everyone with cost containment that won't seriously restrict access to any form of care

47 votes

will only be possible with real restrictions of care, that include some kind of "time to die" rule

41 votes

will never happen, precisely because we are socially and politically incapable of answering these tough questions

14 votes

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Martin Luther King Jr., Inc. and the "Commoditization" of America

Gold Tablets and Goldline - Why Is Christian America Going Mormon (and why don't they care?)

France 5/10/40 - USA Today?

Lieberman's Israeli Import

At the Movies: A Single Man

The Simon Weisenthal Center Hits Back Against "Luridly Hyped Details" Emerging on Gaza

Why Did Israel Use Phosphorus-Based Weapons in Gaza

In Praise of Joe The Plumber

Watching “The Reader” as Gaza Burns

Breaking: NYT Clears Maddoff Family in Scandal

Video Games, Adam Smith, & fat addicted kids

Does Universal Health Care Require a "Time to Die" Rule?