Activist, Inc. (ws Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark)

[R. A. Hettinga]

> Faustine wrote:
>
>> Last year, Brookings had revenues of 29 million.
>> The RAND Corporation had revenues of 157 million.
>
>> One year, one hundred fifty seven million.

Cooincidentally, I bumped into *this*, today. Reminded me of the time, in
my teens, when I finally discovered exactly how much unions gross a year in
"dues", and what they paid for.

Put a big hurt on the whole crunchy-granola rosy-colored hippie-glasses
power-to-the-people-raht-on thang, that did...

Cheers,
RAH


> http://www.opinionjournal.com/forms/printThis.html?id=95001590
>
>
> SCENE & HEARD
> Activist Inc.
> Professional agitators can't claim to be a "grassroots" movement anymore.
> BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
> Thursday, December 13, 2001 12:01 a.m.
> It seems every time you read a story about a domestic conflict--whether
>it's drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, free trade clashes,
>or tobacco litigation--two adjectives always describe the opponents. On
>one side are the "grassroots" organizations--disorganized, under-funded,
>struggling folk willing to live hand-to-mouth in the name of their noble
>goal. On the other are "powerful" corporate and political
>interests--fat-cats with loads of money, contacts and discipline, willing
>to use any tactic to get their way.
> David-and-Goliath descriptions add the touch of drama, which is no doubt
>why journalists continue with the "grassroots-powerful" routine. Yet even
>as they do, the rest of America is cottoning on to the fact that such
>descriptions are not only outdated--they're completely backward. These
>days, most "grassroots" groups are far better moneyed, networked and
>operated than many corporations and political lobbies. And they've become
>far more ruthless in accomplishing their goals.



> ActivistCash.com, unveiled yesterday, is run by the Guest Choice Network,
>an organization of 30,000 restaurant and tavern operators. The Guest
>Choice Network has become a front line defense against today's nanny
>culture. Or, as its first Web site--nannyculture.com--puts it:
>"Unofficially we include anybody who stands up against the growing
>fraternity of food cops, health care enforcers, vegetarian activists and
>meddling bureaucrats who 'know what's best for you.' " The site offers,
>among other things, information on junk science and food scares.
>
> Now, however, the group has gone further. Over the past year it has used
>freedom of information laws to get the IRS documents of the country's
>leading activist groups--more than 100,000 pages of information the
>activist hope Americans won't see. "What we uncovered is an intricate,
>organized, well-funded web of what you might call the "'new left,' " says
>John Doyle, the group's communications director. "It allows a person to
>finally link the environmental activists with the animal rights activists
>with the anti-corporate activists, and see that they all operate together
>in the anti-choice arena."





-- 
-
R. A. Hettinga 
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation 
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Jim Choate]

On Thu, 13 Dec 2001, Eric Cordian wrote:

> I think we're kind of missing the point here.  ACTA is well-funded for
> being an annoying little pressure group that tries to increase the heat
> around people who say things it doesn't approve of.
> 
> It's silly to compare its budget to Rand or SRI or the NSA.

Not when they're playing in the same pool it isn't.


 --


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Re: CDR: Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Eric Cordian]

Faustine wrote:

> Last year, Brookings had revenues of 29 million.
> The RAND Corporation had revenues of 157 million.

> One year, one hundred fifty seven million.

> Their grants and contracts for last year alone totaled 142.7
> million. Sort of adds a new dimension to the idea of being "giant" and
> "well-funded", doesn't it.

I think we're kind of missing the point here.  ACTA is well-funded for
being an annoying little pressure group that tries to increase the heat
around people who say things it doesn't approve of.

It's silly to compare its budget to Rand or SRI or the NSA.  And having
spent a million to try and redirect $29 billion in alumni donations makes
it a much bigger operation than the usual "Christians for Niceness" or
"Mothers Against Baby Exploitation" groups most of us are sick and tired
of hearing spew on news programs.

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Faustine]

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On Tue, Dec 11, 2001 at 05:01:11PM -0800, Eric Cordian wrote:
> OK.  How about "well-funded?"  :)
> 
> I count $1,270,000 in grants to the organization since its creation as the
> > Compared to giants like Brookings? Not well-funded, well-known, big,
> > nor powerful. Few folks even in DC have heard of it. $1M in grants
> > over a period of years is not much by Washington policy group standards.

- -Declan

Last year, Brookings had revenues of 29 million.
The RAND Corporation had revenues of 157 million.

One year, one hundred fifty seven million.

Their grants and contracts for last year alone totaled 142.7 million. Sort of
adds a new dimension to the idea of being "giant" and "well-funded", doesn't it.

~F.


***

The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedoms.
- --William O. Douglas, Associate Justice, US Supreme Court

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Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[mattd]

 >>Compared to giants like Brookings? Not well-funded, well-known, big, nor 
powerful. Few folks even in DC have heard of it. $1M in grants over a 
period of years is not much by Washington policy group standards. -Declan

Compared to so called "libertarian" institute,Cato,that comps our resident 
bottom feeding scribbler this is low?high?middling?
Right wing conservative 'think tanks' serve a useful purpose for the 
fascist corporate state.Corporations need manufactured
consent as much as Govt.Especially when so many of them are so much bigger 
than many Govts.Ive made several posts
re.the notorious cato institute,the most damaging linking declan through it 
to the murder of george harrison.As I said to
agent faustine,declan,silence speaks volumes in this house.

Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Eric Cordian]

Peter Trei wrote:

> Well, http://www.goacta.org/Reports/defciv.pdf doesn't
> actually name names, but the quotes are given enough
> attribution that, at least on a given campus, the speaker
> is probably identifiable. For example...

Are you sure that's the report all the fuss is about?  All the newspaper
stories I've read on this were pretty specific that names were named.

> "What the U.S. calls counter-terrorism is terrorism by another name.
> Operation Infinite Justice-the Bush administration's code name for
> proposed military action against terrorists - is 'cowboy law.'"

>  Professor of linguistics, MIT.

> ...isn't too hard to identify.

Yes.  Kind of like...

"Fuck America.  Fuck it to death and start over."
 
   Crusty Retired Engineer, Intel.

Har.

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Eric Cordian]

Declan opines:

>> Imagine the joy of being a university professor, and waking up one morning
>> to find that a big powerful organization run by the Vice President's wife
>> has issued a report practically calling you a traitor.

> I'm hardly defending the group's "blacklist," but "big and powerful?"
> Come, now.

OK.  How about "well-funded?"  :)

I count $1,270,000 in grants to the organization since its creation as the
National Alumni Forum.  The NAF sold the idea that alumni should
contribute to the NAF's "Fund for Academic Renewal" instead of directly to
their institutions.  The NAF then gave the money to the institutions as
targeted donations, removing the institution's discretion over how alumni
donations were spent.

They went after the $2.9 billion alumni gift market with big ads in Ivy
League magazines.  Later they changed their name to the more impressive
sounding American Council of Trustees and Alumni, and broadened the
spectrum of pressure tactics employed to shove patriotism down the throats
of universities behind the smokescreen of "promoting intellectual freedom
and raising academic standards."

In what sense is such an undertaking neither "big" nor "powerful?"

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Declan McCullagh]

On Tue, Dec 11, 2001 at 12:58:49PM -0800, Eric Cordian wrote:
> Imagine the joy of being a university professor, and waking up one morning
> to find that a big powerful organization run by the Vice President's wife
> has issued a report practically calling you a traitor.

I'm hardly defending the group's "blacklist," but "big and powerful?"
Come, now.

-Declan

RE: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Trei, Peter]

> --
> From: Eric Cordian[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> 
> 
> Peter Trei writes:
> 
> >> There's also a blacklist on the Web of people in academia who have
> >> publicly stated less than glowing support for Bush's war against
> >> "evil."
> 
> > Where is it?
[...]
> It was released by ACTA, formerly the NAF, run by Lynne Cheney, formerly
> arch-conservative Bill Bennett's heir at the National Endowment for the
> Humanities, and the wife of the federal government's favorite cardiac
> patient, Vice President Dick Cheney.
[...]
> You might want to wade through http://www.goacta.org/ and see if you can
> find the report.  I took a quick look, but my javascript and .pdf
> patience levels were quickly exceeded.
[...]

Well, http://www.goacta.org/Reports/defciv.pdf doesn't
actually name names, but the quotes are given enough
attribution that, at least on a given campus, the speaker
is probably identifiable. For example...

2 2 . "What the U.S. calls counter-terrorism is terrorism 
by another name. Operation Infinite Justice-the Bush 
administration's code name for proposed military action 
against terrorists - is 'cowboy law.'" 
Professor of linguistics, MIT.

...isn't too hard to identify.

On the other hand, ACTA has specifically condemned the
U of NM for their punishment of Berthold (which started 
this thread).

http://www.goacta.org/Press%20Releases/11-14-01PR.htm

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES AND ALUMNI
DEFENDS UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PROF

 Controversial Comment on Terrorist Attack Is Not Grounds
for Punishment


WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 14, 2001) -- The American
Council of Trustees and Alumni today came to the defense of
University of New Mexico professor Richard Berthold who is
under investigation by the University for remarking: "Anyone
who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote."

"Professor Berthold's comment is certainly crude and
debatable, but it is not punishable," said Anne D. Neal,
ACTA's Vice President and General Counsel. "While we clearly
disagree, academic freedom requires a free exchange of
ideas-no matter how controversial."

[...]

"There is a big difference between criticizing someone's
comments, and punishing those comments," said Neal. "It is
the responsibility of a university to teach that the right way to
counter ideas with which one disagrees is with more speech,
not less," said Neal. 

-- end of quote - 

Peter Trei

Re: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Eric Cordian]

Peter Trei writes:

>> There's also a blacklist on the Web of people in academia who have
>> publicly stated less than glowing support for Bush's war against
>> "evil."

> Where is it?

It was released by ACTA, formerly the NAF, run by Lynne Cheney, formerly
arch-conservative Bill Bennett's heir at the National Endowment for the
Humanities, and the wife of the federal government's favorite cardiac
patient, Vice President Dick Cheney.

Imagine the joy of being a university professor, and waking up one morning
to find that a big powerful organization run by the Vice President's wife
has issued a report practically calling you a traitor.

from http://arizona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=2175&group=webcast
 
<>
 
and from APSCUF's Higher Education News Blits

<<* THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF TRUSTEES AND ALUMNI, an organization that says
  American higher education plays down Western intellectual teachings, on
  Sunday issued a stinging report that condemns colleges and faculty
  members for what it calls a "blame America first" response to the
  terrorist attacks of September 11.>>

and from WebNetInfo.com

<>

You might want to wade through http://www.goacta.org/ and see if you can
find the report.  I took a quick look, but my javascript and .pdf
patience levels were quickly exceeded.

I saw one of the frightened professors bleating "but I'm not a traitor" on
CNN the other day, and a smiling ACTA droid saying that their list was
merely "academic criticism."  High drama.

-- 
Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"

RE: Professor Punished for Witty Remark

[Trei, Peter]

> Eric Cordian[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] wrote:
> 
> There's also a blacklist on the Web of people in academia who have
> publicly stated less than glowing support for Bush's war against "evil."
> 
Where is it?

[...]

> Eric Michael Cordian 0+
> 
Peter Trei