Re: [PEN-L] Query

At various times I've seen the word picard used in contexts which seemed to make it a rough synonym for scab and similar terms. But even the OED doesn't list it. Does anyone here know its history, origins, and meaning? Carrol The Picards were a group of heretics to the Catholic faith, so

[PEN-L] slime mold socialism

[Was: RE: [PEN-L] in which the professoriate is linked to a slime mold] I wrote: Shouldn't socialism be organized somewhat like a slime mold? David Shemano writes: Impossible. No central authority? Looks like the invisible hand in action and socialists know that could never work. I was

[PEN-L] Churchill on Teevee

Anybody see WC on Bill Maher's show? It was pretty amazing. Maher brought him out to defend him, evidently finding something in common given his own tar-and-feather experience with his ABC show. He tried to help WC make his point, and WC seemed to need help badly. He looked scared to death. I

[PEN-L] The Good Empire

In my old age I can't remember if this was posted here or not, in case not: http://www.bostonreview.net/BR30.1/chibber.html It's a review of Niall Ferguson's celebration of imperialism. Pretty good (the review, not the NF book).

[PEN-L] means testing

Now that it's almost inevitable that the U.S. bankruptcy law will be revised to involve means testing of who can and who cannot avoid debt by going bankrupt, another issue comes to the fore. The country already has means testing for such programs as so-called welfare (TANF) and will eventually

Re: [PEN-L] Query

Oh, *pie* card. That's a whole different thing. As Max suggests, it doesn't refer to scabs but to certain union officials. The negative twist on it is that, in old labor union slang, it means in particular a *corrupt* union officer. And here I thought Carrol was talking about some European

Re: [PEN-L] means testing

Rather than a Green Card, why not have the government rent them out to corporations. Tom Walker can design sandwichboards or else have them tatooed with the appropriate commercial messages. The proceeds could be used to fund a massive tax cut. Much more colorful than a single scarlet letter.

Re: [PEN-L] The Good Empire

From: Max B. Sawicky [EMAIL PROTECTED] In my old age I can't remember if this was posted here or not, in case not: http://www.bostonreview.net/BR30.1/chibber.html It's a review of Niall Ferguson's celebration of imperialism. Pretty good (the review, not the NF book). Yes. Great review. Bad

Re: [PEN-L] The Good Empire

I emailed Prof. Vivek Chibber to say what a great counterblast he offers to the neocons in this review. I'd like to share his reply to me with the list: These are terrible times. We're watching an imperial intellectual culture form right before our eyes. We'll just have to keep fighting to the

[PEN-L] Jim Craven on Taiwan

(This is a response to a debate taking place on Marxmail about Taiwanese nationalism. Perry Anderson has a useful article on the question at: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n11/ande01_.html) When I was recently in northern B.C. in Canada on some Indigenous Reserves I was told by local activists that

Re: [PEN-L] Jim Craven on Taiwan

All those KMT people are dead. What is in place now in Taiwan is a bourgeois democracy. It is less clear what is in place in China proper, but whatever it is, it isn't pretty. In that light, non-support for PRC sabre-rattling in re: Taiwan, and Taiwanese self-determination seems the right

[PEN-L] Taiwan

Yeah, shouldn't it be the Taiwanese that decide the status of Taiwan? There are lots of arguments against the national right to self-determination, but I don't see any as relevant here. Further, the PRC seems a clear case of authoritarian capitalism. Why would anyone think of it as socialist?

Re: [PEN-L] Jim Craven on Taiwan

Max B. Sawicky wrote: All those KMT people are dead. What is in place now in Taiwan is a bourgeois democracy. It is less clear what is in place in China proper, but whatever it is, it isn't pretty. From everything I know, this is fairly accurate. In that light, non-support O.K. But what

Re: [PEN-L] Jim Craven on Taiwan

Carrol Cox wrote: I don't see why anyone needs any opinion whatsoever about Taiwan China. Yeah, they're so far away, and the people speak funny languages!

Re: [PEN-L] The Dollar and the American Language

Greetings Economists, Yoshie's thread here is quite interesting to me. A very important thread in my view. Yoshie writes, Visual culture certainly complicates the history of empire. Doyle, Yes, American culture is spread by movies. Why? I agree with the basic premise of this thread by Yoshie,