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Also Essays and writings by:

Musician and activist DAVID ROVICS (NEW - Jan. 28, 2010)

Historian, teacher, radio producer MARC STERN

Activist, politician, teacher, GRACE ROSS

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"Howard Zinn, Historian and Optimist, 1922-2010"  January 28, 2010 || dg
(via blog dot Open Media Boston)

"No, it's not true!"

Those were my words of denial last night when I first heard Howard Zinn had died.

There's so much to say, I'm at a loss for words. He was a hero and a mentor and someone who helped bolster my belief that humanity is basically good.

"I have tried hard to match my friends in their pessimism about the world (is it just my friends?)," Howard wrote a few days after the 2004 presidential election, "but I keep encouraging people who, in spite of all the evidence of terrible things happening everywhere, give me hope. Especially young people, in whom the future rests."

He wore many hats and accomplished many things - historian, author, teacher, playwright, orator, television producer - but it was his unflappability that I hope people remember most.

In March 2008, colleague Chuck Rosina and I recorded Howard and Professor Irene Gendzier at a symposium on empire and war at Harvard Law School. During the question and answer period, a student criticized Irene and Howard as "naive and impractical" for proposing an immediate US troop withdrawal from Iraq and asking them why, after so many decades of activism, "have groups of your persuasion accomplished so very little?"

Howard seemed a little angry at this student's ignorance but kept his emotions in check. "So here's what you're saying, I think, 'we haven't changed policy, therefore we've failed, therefore there's something wrong with what we're saying.'"

"Well, you have to examine what you're saying," Howard continued, "and see if it's right or wrong. I examine what we're saying about withdrawal from Iraq and I conclude we're saying the right thing. And you say, 'but our policy hasn't changed.' And I point to the fact that any time you look at any movement that is going on, before it succeeds, it has failed.

And you can look at the Black people in the South after they've been doing this and that and the other thing, and nothing has changed and you say 'see, you must do something different; must be something wrong with your tactics, you failed.'

No, the tactics of protest and resistance and spreading knowledge and agitation and civil disobedience, those are the tactics that have been used historically, and are still being used. There are no glamorous new tactics, that are required in order to bring about change. What is required is persistence and patience. Not the patience of passivity but the patience of action, continued action."

Author, social critic, and comedian Barry Crimmins agreed to come on the radio show this Sunday to help Marc Stern and I remember and reminisce about Howard. Barry's taking this very hard, noting that Howard was a father figure to him. Barry also is writing about his friend and mentor, saying that one of Howard's most endearing features was his voice: he could scold governments and sooth his audience at the same time, his words always articulate and never shrill.

After a long hiatus away from the grind of the road, Barry told me he's considering touring again, to speak-out about the issues important to Howard and to fill some of the void that inevitably will be left by Howard's absence.

"I have never felt so despondent over the death of an 87 year old man," says Barry.

Sums it up for me too.

"Random Ruminations On Radio"   Sept. 25, 2009 || dg (via blog dot Open Media Boston)

Reporters writing about WGBH’s bid to buy classical music WCRB Radio, turning 89.7 FM primarily into a news/talk station, and thus competing with NPR powerhouse WBUR are missing the point.

It’s not about who wins the ratings battle; the folks at ‘GBH understand they lost that battle a long time ago.

Earlier this year, WGBH forged a deal with WBUR to collaborate on a new project funded for at least two years by the Corporation for Public Corporation establishing what is being called a “Local Journalism Center.”

According to the original call for funding proposals, station groups will be expected to investigate and report on a particular topic, such as the economy or immigration. CPB bigwigs consider these collegial efforts between regional public radio stations (and TV stations and possibly websites such as Open Media Boston) a part of a crucial effort “to expand local news gathering and digital platform reporting capabilities.”

To be sure, making WGBH nearly all news is an extension of this and other initiatives that recognize the potential audience magnet that news, talk, and public affairs formats can be.

In the Boston metropolitan area sports talk and right wing leaning talk shows originating at WEEI-AM, WRKO-AM, WTKK-FM, and most recently WBZ-FM, The Sports Hub, are proof positive that conventional over the air listeners as well as internet users will flock to these sort of broadcasts.

And while ‘BUR only reaches 4 percent of Boston area listeners according to the Arbitron and Nielson research firms, that figure (plus their fundraising successes) make them a flagship station within the NPR universe.

All of which is being counted upon by WGBH management to help make their radio station relevant again. 89.7 FM, the ratings companies tell us, is being listened to by less than 1 percent of Boston area ears.

Which is remarkable for a station that has a 100,000 watt transmitter and reaches New Hampshire and Connecticut on a bad day.

Further evidence that both stations will be acting like friends rather than fiends towards each other comes from a recent internal station memo from WBUR General Manager Paul LaCamera.

Apparently leaked to the Boston Globe, LaCamera criticizes WGBH for “overreaching” in that station’s attempt to buy WCRB.

But he could have said much worse, and in a remarkably conciliatory tone, points out that at one time WBUR itself was guilty of what some have called a smug and holier than thou approach to all aspects of their internal and external operations.

WBUR, based at Boston University, will lead the Local Journalism Center project, along with WGBH and WFCR in Amherst and possibly other stations. Sources tell me that WBUR has decided to pursue the immigration angle as its two year reporting arc.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Speaking of WGBH and WBUR, I bumped into former TV and radio public news and talk show host Christopher Lydon on the Boston Common on Thursday.

In a rush and walking past the site of the Alan Khazei Senate Campaign kick-off, Lydon asked when the event would start. Not soon enough to allow him to listen a while and make his train. He politely declined an offer to take some of my audio recordings from the event. (Always on the look-out to make a buck and expand the network, eh David?)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And speaking of radio, this report just in from the watchdogs at business publication Crains New York, ""RADIO: It Ain’t Dead Yet".

The gist, according to Nielson Research is that young people ARE listening to music, talk and other types of programming the old fashioned way, on traditional radio sets. If accurate, I have one thing to say to all you new-tech aficionados and media doomsayers: raspberries!

One caveat: Nielson is new to the world of radio ratings and this release may be their way of getting lots of attention from station owners and managers. According to the story in Crains, Arbitron “did not respond to a request for comment.”

"MA(ck) The Knife?"

All this talk of tagging sharks has me really creeped out.

As an Aquarius, I ought to love the water. But the image of Great Whites leaping out of the pounding surf; sharp teeth gleaming with blood and bits of seal entrails, has me tangled up in fear and loathing.

(I know they haven't done that off Chatham yet; I'm just can't resist Discovery Channel and "Shark Week.")

Also, I've never gotten over the sight of Robert Shaw being consumed toes to head by "Bruce."

But let me assure you there is deeper political meaning to all this carnivorous fish activity.

They say "when sharks circle, there must be blood in the water." So let's think about what's happening right now in Massachusetts.

We've lost a revered (by most people) elected official in Edward Kennedy. And his nephew Joe has declined to run for the office. That means it's open season on the Senate seat with representatives and lawyers galore coming out of the woodwork. First Coakley, then Lynch, and Brown, now possibly Capuano. (Maybe even Curt Schilling, and his bloody sock is sure to attract other meat eaters!)

The sharks - and I refer to them as such beasts with love in my heart - sense the blood of the Kennedys in the water and are preparing to engulf and devour.

Over at the State House, things look fishy as well. He has a fine new hip, but Governor Deval Patrick's approval ratings are approaching the Marianas Trench. (Folks, that's the deepest part of the ocean!)

Carcharodon Carcharias and their toothy brethren have their sights on Patrick's office. Tied to people's perception of President Obama as much as he is, the Governor better hope the outcome of the health care reform debate leaves the Democrats singing "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" and not "Big Eyed Fish" by the Dave Matthews Band.

And speaking of health care: all over this nation, lobbyists for the insurance industry are salivating over tasty morsels of "we told you the Commonwealth Connector and health insurance mandates would be too expensive to sustain and would never hold up as models for national reform."

Of course, the hungry fish are not all of the right flipper variety. "People before profits" lefties from organizations across the state are banding together like schools of piranha to take bites out of such titanic whales as Deutsche Bank and Bank of America.

Hmmm, all of these fish tales are making me hungry. Now I just need to find some mercury free, organically raised, Massachusetts bay harvested, CSF approved, cod.

Or some supermarket-purchased, scroddy fish sticks. Politics has lowered my expectations, you know.

"We Must Have Two Senators" August 28, 2009 || dg (via blog dot Open Media Boston)

Some pundits and politicians would spin Ted Kennedy's request to change the state law and allow Governor Deval Patrick to choose a replacement Senator rather than hold an election in 5 months as a left wing vs. right wing affair. Or Democrat vs. Republican.

I disagree. I think it's about "no taxation without representation."

We must have two Senators representing Massachusetts in Congress. The issues before that much maligned legislature are too important.

So here's my prescription: the Democrats who blocked former Governor Mitt Romney from appointing an interim Senator when John Kerry ran for President in 2004 must apologize profusely for changing the law. They need to hang their heads and beg forgiveness. Then they should change the law back to the way it was and give the Governor the power to pick someone to fill the vacant seat as long as that person agrees not to run in the eventual election next year.

The Republicans will get their chance. (Even if they nominate Kerry Healey). In the meantime, Massachusetts needs full representation.

Man, it's been a long time between postings...   June 06, 2009 || dg

My only explanation is to make note of a severe case of writer's block. Other than that, let's just put the past behind us (but please never forget the past) and start anew.

Stepping Up and Out... June 04, 2009 || originally posted to Open Media Boston

Yesterday, Jeanne and I attended a graduation-like ceremony for our son Benjamin - a junior at Fenway High School. The event, called "Stepping Up," took place in the Tower Auditorium at MASS College of Art. His class consists of about 70 kids so the size of the room seemed just right.

As is the tradition at this 25 year old Boston pilot school, graduating seniors line up opposite their junior colleagues, offer a bit of advice, and hand them a candle. It's a torch passing ritual that harkens back thousands of years. Because modern fire codes don't allow for lit torches in college auditoriums, the students used battery driven candles.

The senior's advice centered mostly on "working hard" and "being yourself." Juniors were warned to meet their senior project deadlines as early as possible. "Uh oh," I thought, my family has turned procrastination into an art form.

I was impressed by one student who quoted Leonard Peltier: "You don't have to be perfect to be holy..."

For a while now, I've been impressed also by Ben's ability to maintain his individuality and ideals in a culture that prizes - and often demands - conformity and obedience. It's not just the mohawk and earings; the kid has progressive values. I suppose his parents have something to do with that.

Roots and wings. That's what we give our children. The skills to fly the nest AND the keys to the condo, just in case.

We've also talked about not feeding him so he won't grow so big, but it's too late. He's reached six feet tall already and can look straight into my eyes. And when I look, I see me and my father and Ben's grandfather in there. Weird, huh?

(Ed. Uh, that's the same person twice. I think I meant my grandfather, not Ben's.)

Best of luck to the rest of the graduating classes and the soon to be seniors, all of whom are going to have to re-evaluate their ties to corporate America and its wasteful, destructive appetite.

And start behaving as though community and kinship means something more than who's on the MySpace/FaceBook friend's list.

Shaking out the brain while getting ready for a trip to the west coast tomorrow...   July 22, 2008 || dg

So I'm sitting at the computer, printing business cards, and otherwise getting my sh*t together for a trip to GRC 13 in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday. I've been told not call it "Ore-Uh-Gone" or else the natives will know I'm from back east.

Wait a minute; I'm not STAYING there; why should I give a flying &%#@! what they think?

I'm attending the Grassroots Radio Conference, hosted this year by KBOO-FM. It was held in Lowell, MA last summer. I'm a little concerned that I won't get much out of it this year. KBOO is staffed by a lot of "new-agey" types who think if you're male, middle aged, and white, you have a contract with the devil in your back pocket. My attitude always has been that if you want me to be your ally, I'll fight the good fight right alongside you, regardless of race, class, or whether you like ELO or Stevie Wonder. Unfortunately, there are a plethora of well meaning but misguided people in community radio who don't perceive the destructiveness of identity politics.

But I'm looking forward to being near the Pacific Ocean and seeing Dave Nash and his family. Dave was my roommate in college and he and his wife Aviva (also a Stony Brook alum) are super nice to host me in their home for the week.

Plus David Rovics is playing the Saturday night music showcase. I helped set things up between David and the conference organizers, but not a word of thanks did I hear from the K boo hoo hooers. Oh well...

I won't have access to the website this week, so I'll blog when I come back. In the meantime, don't forget to listen to Marc on "RADIO with a VIEW" this Sunday, 7/27 from 10am to noon. He's got a great interview with historian and author Susan Quinn lined up.

Totally unrelated but important nonetheless: The folks at the Boston Globe - and by extension, the New York Times - must stop putting unnecessary and insanely bad content on their websites for the purpose of filling space. For example, this "ode to Manny" is AWFUL. These two 17 year old girls do NOT deserve to be featured anywhere on the site. And the papers should not be forcing us to look at additional advertising. Unlike traditional newspapers (there are only 2 dailies in Boston) there are thousands of news sites to which we can turn. We don't need this crap. Someone should launch a "Museum of Bad Websites..."

And as always, PLEASE AVOID the Longfellow bridge in Boston/Cambridge!!

Activists Gather in Roxbury to Block Eviction  July 16, 2008 || dg
[re-printed from Open Media Boston dot org]

A group of activists from the Jamaica Plain based advocacy organization City Life/Vida Urbana, and their supporters, showed up yesterday morning to protect a single woman facing eviction from her condominium in Roxbury.

Paula Taylor, of 76 Perrin Street, said the response to her situation was “awesome.”

Chanting “hey hey, ho ho, greedy banks have got to go,” about 75 activists stood in front of the three story blue house in this Roxbury neighborhood of triple-deckers and old brick factory buildings. Previously, the mortgage on the condo - originally held by The Bank of New York - had been foreclosed upon by Countrywide, Inc. That company, now owned by The Bank of America, is serving as the bank’s agent. Countrywide faces growing criticism for its practice of encouraging borrowers to take sub-prime loans; especially potential homeowners ill equipped to handle market prices.

To the surprise of blockade organizers and Ms. Taylor herself, a constable from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office arrived just after 10:30am and announced the eviction had been postponed. One activist, Pamela Bush of the Four Corners Action Coalition, said Ms. Taylor wasn’t notified of bank officials’ change of mind until yesterday morning.

Taylor, 43 years old and a fitness trainer, told a reporter later that morning that the constable said the bank had ordered the eviction called off for now and that “it was a relief to him.” Countrywide, she said, had been allowing Ms. Taylor to stay in the home until June 30^th, while a niece living there until recently, was finishing the school term.

Taylor has lived in the condo for two years. Before that, , she was homeless, she said.

According to Soledad Lawrence, an organizer with City Life/Vida Urbana, Ms. Taylor faces financial difficulties – in part, because a roommate who was helping to pay expenses moved from the house recently – and was having problems paying her mortgage and utilities. The housing advocate said the Bank has been refusing to negotiate with Ms. Taylor over the possibility of paying rent while she stays in her home.

The Boston Globe reported that Countrywide spokesperson, Rick Simon, said it was unlikely the company would allow Ms. Taylor to stay in the condo longer than another 30 days. He said “it makes it much more difficult to sell a property with a tenant in it.” But Simon also told the paper that “we have a commitment to making the whole process as smooth and compassionate as we can.”

In the past, City Life activists have pledged to use their bodies, risking arrest if necessary, in order to block eviction procedures. Ms. Taylor said people have offered her places to stay, if necessary.

In a press release issued this week, City Life said Ms. Taylor “will leave without a fight if someone buys her condo who wants to move in.” Fueling anger against banks and other financial institutions nationally, is the willingness of lenders to evict people and leave empty homes for months, possibly years, while the housing market remains depressed.

On Monday, the U.S. Federal Reserve agreed to new rules that would bar financial entities from making loans without proof of a borrower’s income and savings. But the rules, the Associated press reported, “cover only new loans, not existing ones, so they will have little effect on the rising tide of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures” Furthermore, AP reported, the rules don't go into effect until Oct. 1, 2009.

Joining the activists at the blockade in Roxbury yesterday were Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner and former gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross. Currently, Ross, a registered lobbyist, is working with the Massachusetts Coalition Against Predatory Lending to pass three related bills in the state legislature. One would place a six month moratorium on all foreclosures. Another would mandate that evictions be ordered only for “just cause.”

[AUDIO: Senator Dianne Wilkerson testifying May 13, 2008 at the State House on behalf of the three bills…]

Steve Meacham, a City Life/Vida Urbana Coordinator, said a home rule petition endorsing the “just cause” approach to evictions previously had been passed unanimously by the Boston City Council. This is a far cry he said, from last year’s 9 to 4 defeat of a measure ordering landlords to meet with their tenants and negotiate in good faith. Meacham pointed out that the nationwide economic crisis has worsened significantly over the past year.

The sub-prime lending crisis has become a classic tug of war between social justice advocates, corporations, and government regulators. Lawrence, of City Life/Vida Urbana said activists seek a reevaluation of the housing market based on current economic conditions. She said Bank of America Chair and CEO Kenneth Lewis has stated “‘if borrowers can afford to pay market rates and want to stay in their homes, we can and do work them,’ and we think that’s great. But the market rate is not what the mortgage was. The value of homes has dropped. And so we’ve gone to many banks and said ‘we don’t want to modify the loan where the tenant or former owner is still paying $400, 000 or $500,000 plus for a home. Let’s look at the true appraised value [not these exorbitant prices] and go from there.’”

With City Life’s help, Paula Taylor was able to discover her rights vis a vis her mortgage situation, including the right to a hearing in Boston Housing Court. But many people, she said, including at one time herself, “don’t know how to navigate the system, and are really scared.”

Repaso de Pelicula (Film Review)

Constantine's Sword             July 6, 2008 || dg

The film based on writer and journalist James Carroll's 2001 book is part autobiography, part indictment of organized religion...

This is not a subtle film.

In writer and journalist James Carroll's and filmmaker Oren Jacoby's documentary based on Carroll's 2001 book of the same name, people - who throughout history have professed to know the will of god - are malicious sons of bitches.

From depictions of the crucifixion straight through to modern warfare and attempts to convert cadets at the Air Force Academy, Carroll and Jacoby trace the influence of organized Christian religion on western civilization.

They do not like what they find: thousands of years of oppression of Jews; the crusades - with it's destruction of Jews, Muslims, and anyone considered impious from Spain all the way to Palestine; the Vatican's embrace of Hitler in the 1930's and virtual silence during the Holocaust, and of course George W. Bush and his religious justifications for the "war on terror."

And then there's Ted Haggard, the disgraced former leader of the Colorado Springs-based megachurch New Life Church. Carroll and Jacoby give him plenty of film time to explain why it's anti-American to stop Christian evangelicals from proselytizing on the campus of the Air Force Academy, also based in Colorado. Personally, I became ill staring up at Haggard's unctuous expression (and those gleaming white teeth) and his disingenuous explanation about evangelicals carrying on a "discussion" with the people they are trying to convert.

As Carroll (a former Catholic priest and frequent contributor to the Op-Ed pages of the Boston Globe) points out in his role as host and narrator, the process is hardly a discussion. Ministers from New Life - who seem to have total access to the academy, despite denials from a military spokesman - tell cadets they will burn in hell if they don't join the evangelical church. They repeatedly offer the very old myth that Jews killed Christ.

Michael Weinstein, who is Jewish and a former lawyer in the Reagan White House, himself a graduate of the Air Force academy, and more recently the founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, had two sons and a daughter-in-law study and graduate from the academy. They were constantly badgered and threatened by other cadets and local evangelical Christians. It got so bad, that Weinstein - a "devout" Republican - brings a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense.

But it's not as though anything about the historical evolution of religion in Europe and the United States has been about having a cordial discussion. Using as his framework, a trip that takes him from Colorado to Italy and Germany, Carroll shows us places where people (mostly Jews) are persecuted and killed in the name of the Church.

In fact, it was the Roman General Constantine who discovered he could mobilize followers by equating the power of his sword with the symbol of the cross. Ever since marching on Rome around 324 A.D., the Catholic, and later Protestant hierarchies (and their political minions) have consolidated power by finding scapegoats to first demonize, then prosecute, and eventually destroy. From the Inquisition to the Holocaust to the current crusade against Islamic extremism, it's an eerily consistent timeline.

A crucial bit of information - explained to us by Carroll and Jacoby and conveniently left out of Christian dogma - is the fact that the cross wasn't used as a symbol of Christianity until more than 300 years after the death of Christ. Before that, natural symbols such as fish and the lamb, represented the faith.

Not until Constantine establishes the "holy roman empire" does the cross become a tool for marketing and advertising and of course proselytizing.

As Carroll draws his historical and thematic circles, one question remains unanswered. Why is the Pentagon holding hands with the evangelical church and allowing such behavior at one of it's primary institutions? Is it simply because Bush and his sycophants wish to get into heaven with as many converts on their resume as possible? That's one explanation.

But I wonder, as warfare increasingly is conducted from the skies, whether or not Bush and Cheney and Gates worry they will lose the enthusiasm of the pilots who are responsible for the bombing. Is religious fervor for them, just another way of establishing an unbreakable bond to the hearts and minds of our young soldiers? These politicians have a long memory and they haven't forgotten that the Vietnam War turned, in part, when soldiers stopped buying the lies about how well that conflict was going.

I hope when he publicly speaks about the film, Carroll addresses this question.

Overall, I found "Constantine's Sword" a deep and comprehensive documentary; expansive in its research and insight. Carroll makes a point of telling the audience that he remains a believer; he is not anti-Catholic. But when religious leaders become entangled in politics, almost nothing good can come of it. As the film's logo points out, "there's nothing holy about war!"

Constantine's Sword is playing at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline and the West Newton Cinema in Newton, MA.

Film website

OK, seriously... I am NOT going to take the Red Line train across the Charles River anymore!! Jun 28, 2008 || dg

I think I know how to learn a lesson... See you on the Green Line.

Boston Globe: "Two lanes closed on Longfellow Bridge: Large trucks banned from span completely"

June 23, 2008

REST IN PEACE: George Carlin (1937-2008)

http://www.georgecarlin.com/

The first LP record anyone ever gave me was a gift from my Grandmother of Carlin's 1973 "Occupation Foole." I was 14. My grandmother hadn't listened to the record; she just knew Carlin from his appearances on The Tonight Show. Man, was she shocked.... And I was hooked.

George, please let us know how farts smell in heaven...

Seriously though, George was incredibly good at sniffing out and exposing the hypocrisy in all things social and political.

Here's an essay you may appreciate: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/carl-j24.shtml

"Carlin’s passing deserves to be noticed"

[Not all the historical facts are accurate in the article. ("Seven Dirty Words..." for example, appeared on "Class Clown" not "FM & AM." But the writer's focus is on Carlin's criticism of the power structure in America, something not being openly talked about as much by the Carlin eulogists.]

(Randy Childs Tribute)

"GEORGE CARLIN died June 22 of a heart attack. He did not, mind you, "pass away." Carlin's hatred for such euphemisms was a regular feature of his comedy."

Boston Globe: "Longfellow Bridge Not Safe To Walk Or Stand On!" Jun 7, 2008 || dg

I don't own a crystal ball.

When I reminded people recently that the the Longfellow Bridge spanning Cambridge and Boston bears dangerous similarities to a collapsed bridge in Minnesota, I had past articles from the Globe Newspaper to fall back on.

But the timing is kind of eerie... Yesterday, while covering MIT Commencement, I must have crossed that bridge a half dozen times. And each train operator slowed to a crawl to get across. Every time, I thought, "this is it."

Is there another convenient way across the Charles River? I guess it will be Green Line from Lechmere to Park Street from now on.

l l l l l l l l l l l

Driving home from Cambridge today, the person ahead of me on Longwood Avenue became impatient and honked his horn at a bicyclist he thought was in his way. She was "preventing" him from making a right on red. It was rude and pushy behavior on the part of this driver. Topping everything off, his car had a "Hilary for President" bumper sticker.

'Nuff said...

Son of Random Ruminations   May 29, 2008 || dg

The crash of two trolleys on the MBTA's "D" line in Newton, MA was tragic (an operator was killed) but I think the system as a whole is fairly safe.

What should shake riders complacency is the idea that something like this could happen at all.

I mean, do you ever think about the human coordination and technology it takes to keep trains from ramming into each other and buses from backing up along city streets, on a day to day, week to week basis?

I know I take transit safety for granted.

In spite of the fact that the Longfellow Bridge (the one that looks like salt and pepper shakers and spans the Charles River between Cambridge and Boston) is nearly identical to the I-35W Bridge that fell apart in Minneapolis last year and led to the deaths of 13 people, not once since then have I hesitated to take the red line from MIT to Park Street.

When the Department of Homeland Security and MBTA officials insisted on removing trash barrels from stations and started searching T-riders randomly during the week of the Democratic National Nominating Convention in the summer of 2004, I scoffed at their puny efforts to safeguard passengers.

And when grown-ups and teens take dangerous risks such as crossing the tracks in between stations or ducking under gates (Stephen Garbarino, this past Sunday, May 25th; Robert Castro, Jan. 2007; just to name a few) or engage in the ultimate Darwinian behavior: sunbathing on a train trestle in Maine; I scratch my head and say, "what the hell are these people thinking?"

But the truth remains that people do stupid things in some cases, and in others, simply lose control. And while the managers of our local mass transportation system certainly are not above criticism - the cost of a ride is way too high and I'm always tempted to smash the intercom when I hear that "...if you see something, say something" message - now might be a reasonable time to reflect on and recognize the effort it takes to protect hundreds of thousands of riders every day.

Next time you have the opportunity, thank the conductor on the train you've been riding. Have a kind word or two for the agent in the booth in your local station. (They don't have much to do in the era of the "Charlie Card," so a few words might help them pass the time). And give props to the guy from the cleaning service clearing trash from the station platform.

And by all means, don't just ride the "T." Take an active role in improving the system. Attend monthly MBTA Board of Director's Meetings. Join the Roxbury based T-Riders Union (TRU) or the Association of Public Transportation, publishers of "Car Free in Boston." Stay informed on state transportation budget issues, and infrastructure repairs, and radio on the "T."

With gas prices up over $4.00 per gallon in some areas, even a $2.00 train ride will start to look pretty good.

Apple Corps...   May 16, 2008 || dg

It was around 10:00pm last night, and Jason Pramas, Suren Moodliar and I had just come from dinner in Chinatown.

Jason wanted to visit the grand opening of the new Apple Computer store on Boylston Street (and grab  some free t-shirts) so off we went to participate in the extravaganza.

Following the light emanating from a huge Apple Inc. logo on the third floor of the building like some disembodied spirits looking for heavenly salvation, we stopped in front of the store's main entrance. Just inside, a phalanx of very young, fresh-faced associates wearing brightly colored t-shirts were hooting and hollering and high five-ing customers and curiosity seekers alike.

Once through that silly ordeal, we faced a large spiral staircase constructed from a translucent material that reminded me of the type of glass brick used in basement windows. Thankfully, the structure was not entirely see-through, as the experience of walking up the stairs and looking down might have included re-visiting my Chinese dinner.

According to a review in the Boston Business Journal, the store is 21,350 square feet big. Some call this spacious; I think it's a lot of wasted space. "Green" building systems may mitigate the need for carbon hungry heating and air conditioning but it still felt like being inside a toy box with way too much plastic and cardboard packaging.

Apple's products such as I-pods and slim laptop computers take up very little space. Miniaturization is the point, no? So why does their store need to be stadium sized?

Perhaps, it's to accommodate all the new employees. According to BBJ, the store added 165 new jobs to the city's economy. But I'm not sure if that takes into account the staff from Whelan's International, a Ronkonkoma, NY (Long Island) based company contracted by Apple to provide security and cleaning services.

For me, there was this weird and awkward vibe in the store. On the one hand, there were busy shoppers (an ethnically diverse but mostly upper middle class social group) considering all sorts of electronic gadgetry and software for their computers surrounded by the just barely-out-of-their-teens sales staff servicing them. On the other hand, a workforce of Black and Latino workers with dust cloths in hand constantly wiping every inch of the abundant glass, metal and shiny plastic surfaces. With all staff wearing t-shirts - only the color discriminating between specialists, clerks, and cleaners - it felt like we were inside a beehive during a conference of queen bees.

Maybe I don't attend enough openings in the Back Bay, where I'm told, upscale retailers routinely have workers buzzing around during fancy galas.

Apple has a reputation for being a relatively fair place for employees. But ever vigilant for stories of workplace tyranny, I contacted the Boston chapter of Jobs with Justice. Jennifer Doe, an organizer there, said that she knew of no actions against Whelan's at the moment. As far as she knew, she added, unions such as SEIU were not targeting the company.

But in this humble opinion, it's worth keeping an eye on the company. Whelan's is owned by an Australian infrastructure and facilities maintenance corporation, Transfield Services. They specialize in outsourced jobs. An Australian newspaper, the Herald Sun of Melbourne reported today that Transfield stock "nose-dived almost 25 per cent yesterday..." What does the price of stock "down under" have to do with maintenance workers in Boston? To answer a question with a question: where do most corporations look to trim costs when shareholders become unhappy? (Clue: in the workforce).

Note to Apple Inc.: Cost is everything for me. I'd love to buy a laptop, but I can't afford one right now. All the high fives and friendly faces won't change that. But I'm sure your customers WILL appreciate courteous and knowledgeable customer service, recycling and other sustainable activities, and the understanding that your company is paying living wages to all employees regardless of whether their checks are signed by Steve Jobs or the CEO of your contracted vendors.

More Random Ruminations   May 12, 2008 || dg

Isn't it time to get rid of the concept of "political correctness"? You know, that remarkably stupid theory that allows critics of various social and political ideas, such as justice and fairness, to claim they are being oppressed for holding dissident views...

Today, the ultimate example of political correctness propaganda is being fomented by G-D and her Earthly minion Ben Stein.

Here's another example of what I'm talking about: a week ago Monday, the Boston Globe "Sidekick" section featured an interview with Fox News Channel, WTKK FM, and internet personality Joe Ligotti.

He's got it all going on. Boston accent: check. Smokes cigars: check. Contrived blue collar working class ethic and no ability to put brain in gear before speaking: check! His shtick includes selling himself to the world as some kind of authentic "guy from Boston." The type of guy who in his words "has the guts to say what everyone else is thinking."

In other words: Archie Bunker.

Hey, "All In The Family" ranks as one of my five favorite TV shows of all time. But I don't go around sticking my chest out, bellowing loudly, and displaying my racism, sexism, and American triumphalism around for the world to see. Because those things are bad.

According to media decision makers, however, the public only wants stereotypes and shallow, easily digestible forms of human behavior spewing from our and TV and radio sets and computer monitors. Characters with thoughtful, sometimes conflicted opinions about life and politics are rarely if ever seen or heard.

Ligotti's success depends on the extent to which media consumers can be convinced he is some kind of ombudsmen for the little guy. You know, the guy whose job is being stolen by immigrants; whose war is not as much fun with all those freaky, pro-peace demonstrators running around; whose wife is somehow not as desirable since Massachusetts starting allowing gays to marry.

But if his "political correctness" crutch could be yanked out from underneath him, Ligotti would become just another run of the mill, garden variety, brash, angry loudmouth. And then he might have to take his act back to the smoke-filled living room where he plays poker with his likeminded buddies.

[Stereotype warning: I'm not 100% sure all loudmouthed, cigar smoking, Bush supporting Bostonians play poker.]

But then Fox TV would have to step in and produce a reality TV series. And then we'd have to start all over again.

Random Ruminations   May 10, 2008 || dg

Driving west along Alewife Brook Parkway recently, through an area called The Alewife - a swath of road and shopping centers where Cambridge, Arlington, and Watertown, MA seem to overlap - I was struck by a crazy thought. There's this bridge, just before the Alewife Train station on the "red line." And on one side of this bridge there are three very large, block rectangular apartment buildings. Many people who depend upon some form of government subsidy live in these buildings.

On the other side, built much more recently, are a set of buildings housing luxury condominiums. I guess you can assume many of the residents who live here earn more than the median income for the Boston area.

The two developments literally face each other across the bridge.

And I was just thinking that these folk may share something important that they themselves are not self consciously aware of.

On one side the residents live in constant fear of losing their Section 8 Housing vouchers. On the other side, the people live in constant fear of their businesses going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Both have the economy and government social policies to blame, in part, for their troubles; what economist Paul Krugman, in his columns for the NY Times and a 2003 book, refers to as "The Great Unraveling."

Wouldn't it be remarkable if some enterprising activists brought these two sets of residents together to discuss their similarities? And to start breaking down those artificial barriers such as race and class that divide people?

There's precedent in the work of the Boston-based "Dialogues On Ethnic and Racial Diversity" project. And other groups I'm sure. With the Federal (and to some degree the State) government running amok, the economy much more an enemy than a friend these days, and the environment at a crucial tipping point, isn't it time to set aside petty social constructs and start seeing other citizens as colleagues and collaborators rather than some distant people living on the other side of the bridge?

Nobody pays us to do this...   May 06, 2008 || dg

When people ask what I "do," I tell them that I'm an independent radio producer. When their eyes glaze over, I add "freelance journalist." When they ask "what paper do you write for," I give up.

Proving my value to society, if you will, is not made any easier by the fact that I walk, talk, and work just like a real journalist but only get paid for a tiny fraction of the audio and written stories I generate. Most of my imagination and creativity is poured into the weekly public affairs program "RADIO with a VIEW," which I co-produce at non-commercial college/community radio station WMBR, Cambridge.

Because WMBR is all-volunteer and no one gets paid... well you see where I'm going with this. Adding up all my expenses - gasoline, AA batteries, phones, insurance, rent on my tiny studio office, etc. - I've been paying quite a bit out of pocket over the years, to do, or be, a radio producer.

[Mother's Day approaches, so at this point, neglecting to mention the debt I owe to my wife Jeanne Goodman and forgetting to recognize her enormous patience with me and my career, would be tantamount to declaring my intent to commit suicide.]

A major challenge and one I've been grappling with for more than 20 years, is the expectation in community radio that people should simply "be happy to be on the radio." The idea that they actually might be considered "workers" deserving of salary and benefits has been anathema amongst both station managers and financial benefactors.

Most producers, disc jockeys, technicians, writers, copy readers, and others, are expected to willingly join the "volunteer culture" that persists throughout community media.

Despite many, many individual testimonials to the stress and crushing pressure of trying to hold down a day job (several in some cases), and change the world through radio, this culture of "everyone else first, you last" maintains its grip on the "industry."

There are some obvious and compelling reasons for this. Community media would be hard-pressed to survive if everyone was paid a living wage. In recent years for example, the Women's Technical and Industrial Union has issued reports that estimate it takes $54,000 to support a family of four living in Boston. That's with no luxuries at all, such as restaurant dining and going out to movies. It's hard to imagine (W--- or K---, insert your favorite community station here) paying even a small staff that amount.

Funders, seeing and hearing the passion of community and student members of these stations, have learned over the decades that volunteerism is "the way" and the only way. I'm not suggesting that volunteerism is a bad thing inherently; just that there are other ways of assessing what constitutes work and fairness. And that an evaluation of the impact on people who love what they're doing but can't live financially in a primarily capitalistic economy, MUST become part of the culture of non-commercial and independent media.

When asked who our heroes are, many community radio people start by listing Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! Over and over, I hear producers as well as listeners cite Amy's work ethic as the pinnacle of journalistic enterprise. Believe me, I have no doubt she works hard - she and her staff are paid salaries, as they should! - and that she has many remarkable accomplishments to boast about. (Disclosure: about 12 or 13 years ago, I applied for a job as producer with Democracy Now!)

But based on interviews I've read, her life is so completely devoted to the radio and TV versions of her program and her book tours, it's easy to imagine Amy living within a caged existence, devoid of pleasures found in family, recreation, and travel outside of work.

And yet, Democracy Now! is the standard by which me and all my colleagues in community radio are judged and expected to meet. It is demanded of us in countless ways. I have no problem staying up all night on the Saturday before my Sunday morning show. But for the volunteer "wages" I get paid, I just can't suppress the idea that I'm being exploited.

This summer, my hope is that the FCC will rule in favor of a non-profit organization I am helping to start a new non-commercial, educational radio station. We're competing with five other applicants so our prospects are somewhat mixed. But my vision includes paying workers - content makers, technicians, support staff - a living wage. I also want to erect a wind turbine and solar panels as a way of supporting the environment and our business in a sustainable way.

I figure, if you can't dream big, why dream at all.

For an inspiring and lovely spin on how to approach supporting independent radio and media producers, please read AIR Executive Director Sue Schardt's essay on the website of the "Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media."

Other related articles:

Broadcaster Magazine  || May 15, 2008
"Community Radio Fund Launched to Support Local Grassroots Media"

My response to the "Greenwash Guerillas" Pie in the Face of Thomas Friedman Episode

April 28, 2008 || dg

Today, I received an email from a group calling themselves The Greenwash Guerillas. On Earth Day, last week (April 22) they ran onstage where NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman was about to give a speech and threw pies in his general direction... Their leader refers to himself as Colonel Custard...

Dear Colonel Custard:

I have to say, that in theory, I appreciate what you are doing in terms of uncovering hypocrisy and disingenuousness. But that was the worst example of guerilla pie throwing I have ever seen. It embarrassed the two of you much more than Friedman in my opinion. In 1977, a student and acquaintance of mine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook threw a shaving cream pie at the university's President with much greater effect AND got away with it.

On the other hand, I think there needs to be a hybrid set of tactics used by environmental and anti-war groups that lie somewhere between the boardroom boutique politics of the major environmental organizations and the vandalism perpetrated in the name of the ELF.

On April first, I covered a protest in Copley Square, Boston, where four women locked themselves to the front door of a Bank of America branch as a way of stopping business as usual. (In this case, the bank’s investment in companies that build and maintain coal-fired plants.) I wrote about the protest on Open Media Boston, the news and culture web portal currently in development in Boston.

Passersby mostly walked away from the scene, some turning their heads at the commotion of more than a dozen police officers using a power saw to cut through a bicycle lock around a woman’s neck. Others yelled at the demonstrators for disrupting their ability to withdraw money from the ATM.

To the extent this type of civil disobedience was repeated throughout the country and covered by blogs, community radio, cable access TV, as well as the commercial press, the message will gradually seep through the collective consciousness that many Earthlings are “mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!”

Let’s establish at least one thing however: merely videotaping a pie in the face incident and posting same to YouTube will not be enough to change the world. The video becomes a curiosity; an artifact for sideshow observation like the bearded lady and the man with no arms. The carnival atmosphere will be interrupted slightly by charges that the gatekeepers at Google/YouTube censored the video by removing it from their site. But its appearance on CNN.com and the Greenwash Guerilla’s own site will keep the merry-go-'round spinning, so to speak.

Friedman will survive this episode. He may even find the time to write about it in his next book. ("The Yugo and the Kumquat Tree" anyone?)

It's still unclear whether or not the human race will survive such atrocities as war, greed, rapaciousness of the world's resources, and global climate change.

Civil liberties lawyer, and rights activist Harvey Silverglate weighs in: Boston Phoenix "The Free For All"

20 year old man shot and killed in busy, bright Jamaica Plain Park

April 22, 2008 || dg

A lot was going on in Boston yesterday. The weather was spectacular, the Red Sox finished a four game sweep of the Texas Rangers and once again Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot won the Marathon.

And again, gunfire erupted and a young person was mortally wounded.

On Monday, scores of neighbors, commuters, and school age kids on vacation, were walking and playing along the Southwest Corridor Park in Jamaica Plain, near the Stony Brook Orange Line station.

About 75 yards from the front entrance of the train station, bordered by Amory and Lamartine Streets, a basketball court was filled with young people hanging out. Just after 4:00pm, a 20 year old man was shot – in the head according to a report on boston dot com - and the tranquility of this diverse and lively Boston neighborhood was shattered.

On WBZ TV last night, reporter Beth Germano identified the 20 year old man as Luis Troncoso.

Following the shooting, Troncoso was taken to Brigham and Women’s hospital where he died. No other details about the victim or his assailant were available immediately. State and Boston police continued searching the park for evidence late into the evening.

This was the second shooting in the neighborhood in the past few days. Friday evening, two people were wounded in an apparent drive-by shooting on Centre Street near the Jackson Square T station.

In the interest of full disclosure, I live in this neighborhood (about three blocks from the basketball court) and have participated in citizen watch events with the Brookside Neighborhood Association. My kids, 15 and 11, and their friends, play nearby.

I feel safe comparatively, always trying to keep in mind that families in other parts of the city have had to keep their kids virtually locked up in their homes in order to protect them.

We get a lot of car break-ins; a recent spate of tire slashings along with other property damage had people worried, but homicides are rare enough to seem part of some distant place. But it’s worth mentioning several recent murders of local youngsters which remain unsolved. In January, Carlos Sierra, an eighth grader at my daughter’s middle school on Centre Street, was killed near his home in Dorchester. In January 2007, a 13 year old sixth grader, Luis Gerena, was shot and killed near the Jackson Square T. I’m sure there have been other, less well publicized violent crimes in the area.

Yesterday, while waiting for State Police officials to issue a statement to reporters, (they never did and referred all questions to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office) I approached a young man who had walked close by the crime scene out of curiosity. He declined to give his name but agreed to answer a few questions. He predicted “a not so fun summer” as long as shootings continued in neighborhood parks.

Asked what he thought the city should be doing, the 15 year old said, “gun control needs to be more targeted” in order to stop guns originating outside of Massachusetts from getting into Boston. He said he plans on finding ways to travel outside the city this summer in order to play basketball without the fear of violence.

According to the website of the national organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (Boston Mayor Tom Menino serves as Co-Chair), there are 30,000 gun deaths every year; 12,000 of which are homicides. According to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms statistics noted on the site, 60 percent of guns used in crimes can be traced to just one percent of gun dealers. If this is the case, it seems state and local authorities ought to be able to turn off the tap and do exactly the type of targeted gun control mentioned by the young teenager.

John Rosenthal, co-founder of the Newton, MA based organization Stop Handgun Violence, says federal gun laws must be made significantly more strict as a crucial step in stemming the more than 80 deaths by gun Americans suffer every day.

Speaking before the Boston City Council in July 2007, Rosenthal said “there is no common sense when it comes to gun laws in this nation.”

“Today, the equivalent of a Columbine and Virginia Tech massacre will take place. Eighty to ninety Americans will die from firearms today … there are only two products not regulated by the national Consumer Product Safety Commission: tobacco and firearms. Firearms lead to thirty to forty thousand gun deaths a year. If you multiply that by thirty years,  that is more Americans killed by firearms in the United States than all American servicemen and servicewomen killed in all foreign wars combined.”

It’s not recognized officially by any elected group of politicians, local or national, but every time someone is shot to death on our streets, or in our parks, the domestic war becomes a little more horrific.

On the web:

Mayors Against Illegal Guns http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/home/home.shtml

Stop Handgun Violence

http://www.stophandgunviolence.com/

Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley

http://www.mass.gov/dasuffolk/

Opportunity But No Motive March 14-15, and April 19, 2008 || dg

Thank goodness for Pacifica Radio.

I needed the audio from the Winter Soldier hearings last month so I browsed over to the streaming mp3 feed from Pacifica's website, connected my Marantz solid state recorder to the computer, and left it on all day, both days. For those of us who wanted to listen (and see) and capture the hearings, it's not as though we had many choices.

Other than Pacifica, and The Washington Post newspaper, and of course the website of sponsoring organization Iraq Veterans Against the War, the hearings virtually were ignored by all other national (and most locally based as far as I can tell), media outlets: TV, radio, and print. Politically oriented websites from both the left and right perspectives weighed in but most of the conventional press chose not to report on the 2008 version of war veterans speaking out about their experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan, and back home in the U.S.

Most glaring, perhaps, is the New York Times: a search of their website and archive turned up a few articles about John Kerry and the 1971 Winter Soldier hearings, but not a word on the events at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, MD.

This particular Saturday night, while preparing for Sunday's "RADIO with a VIEW," I did a simple internet search using Google News and my own local "paper of record" The Boston Globe's web portal, Boston dot com. Typing in "winter soldier" resulted in the following top entries:

Google News: (in descending order)

Mlive.com ("Everything Michigan") - "Reprise of Winter Soldier anti-war conference held near D.C." (AP)
Alternet.org ("The Mix is the Message") - "Winter Soldier: America Must hear These Iraq Vet's Stories" (by Penny Coleman)
Joplinindependent.com - "Winter Soldier 2008: Speaking Out Against War" (by mariwinn)
MSNBC.com posting of Washington Post article "War Stories Echo an Earlier Winter (by Steve Vogel)
AFP.com - "US Veterans Urge Soldiers to Speak Out Against Iraq War" (Agence France-Presse)

Boston dot com:

Boston Herald Newspaper - "Testimony From Vets in DC Fires Up Local Protesters" (by Renee Nadeau)
New England Republican (www.nerepublican.com) website from July, 2004
Boston Phoenix Newspaper (Portland, ME edition) - "About Town" Event Listings - "Maine Veterans Head to DC for Winter Soldier Event"
Redmassgroup.com - "Senator John Kerry Confronted About his Anti-Troops Past"

(NOTE: 3.16.08 2:00am - there was not a single word in the Boston Globe Newspaper on the veteran's testimony heard this week - david)

(NOTE update: 3.17.08 3:00pm - The Sunday Boston Globe did cover the local showing of the hearings which took place in Cambridge, MA. The article was located below the fold on the front page of the Metro/Region section. I didn't have a chance to look at the paper before running out to WMBR - david)

Greg Guma, former Editor of the Vermont-based news magazine, Toward Freedom, as well as a former Executive Director of Pacifica Radio, points out on his blog that "for the most part, the mainstream media ignored the groundbreaking event. As of March 17, CNN, FOX News, ABC News, CBS, and MSNBC had provided no coverage."

So calls for a more attentive fourth estate following the near lock-step approach the media took in support of the Bush administration in the months and days before the invasion of Iraq seem to have fallen on deaf ears (and minds).

Or maybe the idea of veterans telling gritty stories about America's failings just isn't sexy enough. Any of them sleep with a prostitute (or an intern) perhaps? Bare their privates getting out of a Humvee?

It's a frightening thought to imagine what happens to our democracy when nobody trusts journalists any longer. [The internet? Please. I believe a few major sites do proper fact checking (including this one!) but a great deal of the information found on the web is unreliable at best.]
 

For an amazing take on progressive media and the people who would sow distrust in same, please read the essay by David Rovics posted here...

But that is exactly what's happening because people can't make heads or tails of the media. Every day we receive messages that trumpet the fact that the consuming public can't get enough so-called reality TV and revealing celebrity news. And viewer ship - at least compared to serious journalistic endeavors - bears this out.

But the vast majority of the world's citizens never will lay eyes upon Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, or Brad Pitt. Yet, as Senator Barack Obama somewhat awkwardly tried to point out recently, they know that the economy and the state of the world generally, suck. So detached from the true meaning of their day to day lives are the news and entertainment programs watched by most Americans, people have come to see TV, radio, the internet, and to some degree newspapers as a world of fantasy.

Democracy requires informed citizens. Anything else results in what Frances Moore Lappe calls "soft democracy." It's hard enough for people - not trained from an early age in the art and science of critical thinking, and the crucial need to consume many sources of information - to devise informed opinions on their own. But when the media environment is filled constantly with distracting, manipulative, and fabricated sounds and images, the playing field tilts enormously in favor of those who would suppress challenges to the status quo.

Such as the government and military leaders who should have been listening to the soldiers and veterans testifying at Winter Soldier 2. The testimonies that very, very few people of any political or social standing heard.

Repaso de Pelicula (Film Review)

The Counterfeiters:
A nuanced and powerful portrayal of human volition || March 17, 2008 || dg

Discussing, debating, and yes, arguing political points with my friends is one of my favorite pastimes. I've been known even to change my opinion once in a while.

But I will never change my mind on the death penalty... No one, not an individual nor a state, should have the power of life and death over another human being.

(We can certainly debate the abortion issue. I believe life - as a legal concept - begins somewhere in the middle of the second trimester. And if my wife puts me on a respirator I'll kill her.)

The Nazi's, of course, felt altogether differently about the Jews, gays, and war prisoners they had locked up in their concentration camps.

In Die Falscher (The Counterfeiter), the 2007 Oscar winning film by Austrian Director Stefan Ruzowitsky, the main character, Salomon (Sally) Sarowitsch, a Russian Jew living in Berlin, is arrested for counterfeiting and sent to a prison camp.

After suffering the tortures of a concentration camp and constant fear of a beating or bullet from one of the German overseers, he is taken by cattle car train to another camp; where he is introduced to a massive counterfeiting operation run by the same Nazi who arrested him years earlier.

(For an historical view on this real event from the perspective of Adolf Burger, the man who wrote the memoir the film is based upon, you can start here).

The men in this camp; featuring soft mattresses, better food, and fewer beatings, are forced to use their printing and engraving expertise to create millions of English pounds and American dollars. The money, they are told eventually, will be used to buy supplies for the German war effort and to destroy the allies' economies with bad currency.

And therein lies the theme that calls me to write about this film: an exploration of free will, choice, and the power over life and death manifest in those choices.

Sally and his fellow prisoners must meet deadlines or die. Many of these men have family members who already have perished in the gas chambers. They want to live but they don't wish to help the Nazi's. Burger sabotages the printing of the dollar and as the deadline nears to show progress or be shot, Sally must decide whether or not to save his men by revealing Burger's actions to the Germans or break his oath to never "squeal on a mate."