Not Anonymous

I'm watching CNN at the moment and there's the whole "Socialist" spiel going on.

I do not understand United States political discourse.
Really I don't.

I get that Socialism is a very, you know, feared method of economics, what with the redistribution of wealth, taxing the wealthy and regulating the markets.
And the pundits are really harping about the "redistribution of wealth" thing, because the whole American Thing isn't about the quality of life for each individual citizen, but the quality of the over all monetary state of Uncle Sam.

But only for those people who actually have the money.

This is especially poignant with the Bail Out plan, which probably the most Socialist move the US Government has done... perhaps more so than The New Deal.

There was also a mention that in Western Europe, Socialism as a creed isn't really on the table anymore.
It's all about The Third Way.

Sometimes I feel as though I was born in the wrong time.
I mean, what I posted the other day, the sinfest, it's exactly that.
We're living in a world in which profit and not human beings are considered important. Yes it sounds very sugary and humanitarian and such.
But really, is it so fucking hard to give a damn.
And to want people to have a quality of life that is worth while.

Socialism is not a four letter word.
"Rich" is, though.

Shanah Tovah and Eid Mubarak to those who celebrate Rosh Ha'Shana and Eid al-Fitr on my f-list and the lurkers around.
A good Tuesday to the rest of you, make it a good one, it is a New Moon after all.

For some reason I'm not feeling terribly celebratory.
I could blame it on my period (kind of apt that I began to bleed on a new moon, on one of the most important Holidays of the year), but that always seems like a cop out to me.
I don't know.
Even coffee doesn't taste as nice this morning (*gasp* *horror* I know).

Maybe it's the knowledge that this New Year isn't actually starting all that auspiciously, both at home and Internationally, which in this day and age are the same thing.
Glocalisation anyone?
I mean when you read News about an economic crisis which I know happened, but don't understand why or how, only that the debt that was rising in order to make a profit was too much and now people like my parents need to pay it because private banks are there to act not as a service, but as a for profit company.
Speculative capitalism rose, if you'll pardon the crassness, like erection and pretty much fell the same way.
I'm kind of hoping it stays impotent do that something can be done to recreate the economy, but Blue Pills are in fashion, and it's only a matter of time (which correlates to money and lives) for people to forget this crisis, because once the owners of the mainstream News outlets are no longer quaking... they'll be talking about something new.

It's not just the economy, which as you can see by the abundance of smilies and metaphors I don't actually know much about.
I only feel about it.

I haven't lost hope, my cynical optimism doesn't allow me wallow is apathy about my country as much as it used to. Also since my cynicism is about the current system of governance and social structure and my optimism is about the change that can and needs to be brought about.
The olive harvest is starting this month and unlike last year, this year I'm much more apprehensive.
The tension between the Israeli factions is very, very high.
And you never know if Settlers and their sympathizers will come and disrupt a picking just for the hell of it... which has happened. Not to mention the IDF forces that may or may not be away, or stand around and glare at us like happened last year.
But I'm not really worried about it.
I'm still trying to get other people to come with me, because last year I pretty much went alone and didn't know many people. I probably know more people this year and will make new friends but still, it's nice to be with people you know.
I'm still stoked about the fact that I managed to get my Parental Units to come with me last year!

Another thing that's causing me to be a wee bit down is the fact that I've finally noticed that nothing has really changed. I mean, I feel I've changed, because I consciously refuse to become static. Stasis is much more the mind killer than fear. Fear makes you react, without fear you can't be courageous... you're just stupid.
I'm very wary of this non-change that I see.
That on this side of the fence (wall) life goes on as usual, whole Over There things are also unchanging but are in rapid deterioration.
And under the surface eruption is immanent.

Sorry about the downer.
But what's misery without company right?

Tomorrow is my Nephew's fourth birthday.
There will be a party
Expect a more optimistic and happy entry at some point.

Once again Have a Good New Year, a Happy Eid and a Successful Tuesday.

Eight hours and I'm out.

Yes, that job I got last week, the Boss fired me.

After eight hours experience and I've been made redundant.

I'm not really too concerned, this wasn't my bread and butter after all, but seriously, this a wee bit strange.
I'm obviously not up to the standard of a minimum wage, shop-grrl material (which I totally am, by the way).

Maybe my happy-go-lucky disposition offended him...

I really can't say.

I still love that shop and will continue patronizing it, but Dude... I can only imagine that's a permanent "Wanted" sign in the door.

As far as I'm concerned he's missing out on a worker who truly loves the sort of thing that go on in that store; schlepping, dust and everything.

Good luck to him finding someone else who suits that store as well as I did.

But still... *scratches head*

I come from a family of such weirdos.

A paranoid argument about Chinses economic domination, as though it would have any effect on our culture other than consumption.

The words "Occidental" and "Domination" came up a few times.

Double standard much.

To me it's just proof at the invidiousness of Capitalism and White-Supremacy.

And to think that just a few decades ago this same Occidental culture tried to exterminate us.

How fickle we are.

There is something to be said about the "mainstream".
It is easily accessible, doesn't take a lot of thought into understanding what's going on within it and everybody known exaclty where they stand in it.
Hence the bunch of outsiders that actually create it.

The "mainstream" as I see it, is culture at large. It the images that surround us; News, ads, television, magazines (lad, fashion, finance, etc.), movies and best-seller books.
This can easily be reduced into pop-culture, but since the 80's and the true Material revolution, post-modern thought and resistance to the alienation that we all feel with ourselves and with each other.

Beyond being this invidious entity that creates the outsiders, which I've always felt a part of because I could never really feel comfortable in within the parameters the mainstream allows us to exist. The "mainstream" with great ease takes the existence of the culture that lives on its margins, on its fringe and slowly swallows it up and digests it until it is reduced to it's very basic ingredients.
The first thing that comes to mind as an example are the sponsored Pride events that I no longer enjoy as I once did, since the movement has become much more about assimilation than about liberation.
Which is the crux of the "mainstream" - assimilation.

To me the "mainstream" can be easily be replaced with hegemony.

This was a long exposition to the effect of the assimilation process has on one of my favourite sub-genre of literature.
Comic books.

Statistics show that the amount of comic book readers have been slowly reducing over the years - where once you could buy a 25 page issue at any kiosk, you now have to go to comic book stores, meaning that the genre has become even more marginalised than ever before. In the 50's they were considered a public menace, now they're barely even considered.

Not so the heroes of the genre.

The popularity of the comic book characters, specifically Superman (DC), Batman (DC), Spiderman (Marvel) and Captain America (Marvel) has never wavered - Superman and Captain America for their sheer symbolism as the protectors of The Way of Life from the enemies without. Batman and Spiderman for their symbolism as the protectors of our own lives from the enemies within (and within ourselves).

No one can ignore the fact that in the past decade Superhero movies have been on the rise.
This is a double edged sword in my mind - the "mainstream" is a money chaser and it creates the criterion which will enable them to make the most money, that is appealing to the population that has money.
And so the circle turns.
I'm very much a member of this population, by the way, in case that wasn't apparent.

Now there's nothing inherently wrong with the rising of the superhero movie genre from b-movie to blockbuster, what concerns me is the message and the changes the characters have to undergo in order the be in the acceptable criterion that makes them so popular(1).

Warner Brothers has announced a new movie making strategy which will enable them to make a ton of more money - Warner Bets on Fewer, Bigger Movies.
Within this little announcement are these interesting sentences:

"Superheroes are more global than ever in today's commercial world, existing in 30 languages and in more than 60 countries," says Paul Levitz, president and publisher of DC Comics. The characters are "a world-wide export," he says.

And

Warner Bros. also put on hold plans for another movie starring multiple superheroes -- known as "Batman vs. Superman" -- after the $215 million "Superman Returns," which had disappointing box-office returns, didn't please executives. "'Superman' didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to," says [Jeff] Robinov [Warner Bros. Pictures Group President]. "It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned." "Had 'Superman' worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009," he adds. "But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all."

Emphasis mine.

"Superman Returns" didn't work as a movie, mainly because of the reason I really liked it - Superman/Clark was too alien and one was unable to relate to him as a person, which is kind of what makes him so lovable (though personally, I do not like him as a hero).

"Batman Begins" was a great movie (despite the stupid ninja thing) because in it Bruce Wayne goes through the process of becoming Batman - who he really is - and he confronted his fear, ha ha, symbolism.
In "The Dark Knight", Bruce still in the process of evolution into Batman and has to confront what he has the potential to become - a monster.

I've heard two people say that Batman in "The Dark Knight" represents the American Way.
To me, this is anathema to what Batman is, for him to represent anything other than what the American Way seeks to hide, seems wrong.

But that's what the "mainstream" is about, isn't it. To feed us something that the lowest common denominator can swallow without chewing.
Had the Joker won (though in a way he did. Haha), the unease that the movie would have caused would have created such a backlash that it wouldn't have been able it to become the blockbuster effect it is.
It's why the Joker feels like a much bigger presence in the movie (at least to me) than Batman. Christian Bale, fantastic actor that he is, was a bit short changed when it came to this role, there was no development on his part - though we see the extent he is willing to go in order to win without killing (yeah that sonar thing, no way it's the only one and no way it's really destroyed, Bruce would rather gnaw off his leg that get rid of a gadget that useful).
Batman is the Way of Life (something better represented by Harvey Dent and Gordon, in my opinion) rather than the Way We Are.
The Joker is an enemy to Society at large instead of being the abyss we look into and laughs at us in return.

The "mainstream" made Batman into an Urban Superman.
I can't say I approve.

Notes:
(1) I could really go into the representation of women, people of colour, queers etc. But due to the shortness of space (and to keep y'all from getting bored) I'm focusing on the subject at hand.

I've been boycotting Coffee Bean for a little over a year now, because the chain managers fired workers when they tried to unionize, stole tips and basically were very, very bad managers.
I always liked the Coffee Bean's coffee and ice-coffees, though I can't really say I've missed it as such, but I've certainly been aware of what I've stopped consuming.

So finally success!

Histadrut, "Coffee Bean" sign breakthrough labor agreement
By Haim Bior

The Histadrut labor federation and the coffee shop chain "The Coffee Bean" signed a labor agreement on Tuesday, ending a long dispute between the company's employees in the 14 branches nationwide and the management.

This marks the first collective agreement between the Histadrut and a restaurant.( Read more... )

I don't know if I'll actually go back to drinking their coffee on a semi-regular basis (like I did before the labour dispute between the workers and the chain, but it's nice knowing that the Unions are gaining control again and perhaps will overthrow this neo-liberal money wasting machine we call an economy... or not and they'll just keep their workers rights in tact - no small feat these days!

It's during times like these that I feel like I should be a pot smoker.
Because then I'd have stuff to fill the day with and remain entertained by watching my hand move.

Day 80 of the Uni Senior Lecturer Strike.

80 days of no higher learning for Mel.

I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating this is.
And it's not like I blame the lecturers for their legal and worthy cause, so they have really bad PR, big deal!
The effing Ministry of Finance is so near-sighted it makes me want to go to the Knesset Guy Fawkes style!
I won't claim to be the greatest mind of my generation, but I know a few people who are and their futures and careers are being locked by the idea that Privitisation and a near-sighted Neo-Liberal financial system for the Public Educational institution will make better consumers of us all.

Fuck that shit!

I mean when the International Airport Workers threatened to strike, it took the Effing Gov less than 24 hours to figure out a solution, temporary though it may, for the workers, because Fuck Forbid that the Duty Free close down and lower the market's revenue!

Damn it!
I'm really, really mad about this whole thing!

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And I had a really fun day with morin who drove with me to Rehovot, so that I could have company while I delivered a package for Daddy to the Weissman Institute.
That was fun.
And I got a hair cut.
I look like Mia Farrow ;D