MARXISM UNDER THE MICROSCOPE:
While browsing through the links in an article on the AnarchaFairy Blog mentioned previously I happened to come upon an interesting "factoid" that I had never noticed before, or if I did it never clicked. Now Molly loves factoids almost as much as she loves catnip and mouse guts, and she can't resist pointing this one out. The source is David Graeber's 'Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology', and the quotes reads as follows,
"...Marxist schools have authors. Just as Marxism sprang from the mind of Marx, so we have Leninists, Maoists, Trotskyites, Gramscians, Althusserians...(Note how the list starts with heads of state and grades almost seemlessly into French professors)...Now consider the different schools of anarchism. There are Anarcho-Syndicalists, Anarcho-Communists, Insurrectionists, Cooperativists, Individualists, Platformists...None are named after some Great Thinker (sic ! -Molly); instead, they are invariably named either after some sort of practice, or most often, organizational principle.(Significantly, those Marxist tendencies which are not named after individuals, like autonomism or Council Communism, are also the ones closest to anarchism)."
Graeber's quote above is embedded in a discussion of why there are so few anarchists in academia. Perhaps this may be something to be quite proud of considering the cesspool that academic leftism has been in the past, let alone what it has become in recent decades. The quote is also embedded in an argument about how Marxism reproduces the worst aspects of academia (or maybe it is the other way around). Still... this is an observation that our little cat never really took to heart before, and it speaks well of anarchism. Give it some thought. To parody it in scientific language:
This reviewer feels that the recent microscopic demonstration of the egobootile organelles of the pathogenic bacterium Socialisma degenerata var. totalitinaria may open up fruitful lines of research into the pathogenesis of this disease that has killed close to 100 million victims in the past century. Understanding of the signalling mechanisms whereby this organism gains entry into susceptible victims may lead to innovative methods of prevention in the future and even give insights into other pathogens such as Francsisella fundamentala and its close relative F. fascisata, both of which pale in terms of total death tolls compared to S. degenerata but are much more likely to cause pandemics in the future. With a genuflection to the unspoken God of most science, further research is required.

NEW ON YOUTUBE:
Jonathan Culp, aka 'Satan Macnuggit', an Ontario video and performance artist and activist, has begun to place his short videos on Youtube, and all are invited over for a viewing. As Jonathan says, "from OCAP stuff to stuffed animals, and it's free". Pop on over and have a look at:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=satanmacnuggit

AN OUT OF PLACE ITEM AND TWO INTERESTING NEW LINKS:
Just a little Molly notice here. I took some time preparing a review of Bryan Sykes book 'The Seven Daughters of Eve' which I have recently read. I began the review of January 3rd, and have only published it today. Thus it appears back in time on the date of January 3rd on this blog thanks to the wonders of blogger.
I'll also eventually get around to recreating the archives links on the main page that got lost in my Christmas time ooops. I recreated the links first. Honest, honest, honest .
Finally, there are a couple of new links I's like to draw your attention to. Both are from a Kiwi. The first is the Anarchofairy blog, and the second is the New Zealand anarchist publishing project from the same person (I think) called Rebel Press under the anarchist Publishers and Distributors section. I've pulled a particularly good essay off the first item and hope to republish it later here under 'The Best of The Blogs' title.
Til Then,
Molly

• 
  A LITTLE ITEM FROM THE LOCAL PRESS:
  The Sunday Books supplement of the Winnipeg Free Press contained a review of 'Natural Causes' (author Dan Hurley) by local writer Don Marks. The book in question is an expose of the American vitamin and herbal supplement industry as its subtitle makes plain: 'Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry'. Essays in muckraking are long overdue in this field, and Hurley's attempt would make John Steinbeck proud, though it is a sad comment on the decline of "radicalism" (sic) in North America that books such as this inspire at least 100 times as may defenses of an $21 billion (one estimate) amongst "progressives" as it does agreements on the subject. The review of the book is pretty well fair, though Molly could spot some howlers. In general the reviewer agreed with the author that a simple common sense approach to diet and that sick managerial word "lifestyle" is a much more effective way to stay healthy than purchasing miracle cures. The reviewer, however, obviously lacks any general view of the "manipulation and commodification of belief" that would allow him to put the "natural hocus pocus" into some sort of context.
  This can be seen from small things such as the complaint that Hurley's book has an "almost total absence of any effective counter-arguments". Molly suggests that there may indeed be NO such things. But this obscures another and more significant matter of blindness on the reviewer's part. He undoubtedly visits bookstores, and as such the opportunity to count "shelf space" is always open to him. Should he visit even the "better book stores" he should notice that the amount of space devoted to only health quackery is at least 50 times greater than that devoted to all debunking books that deals not just with this matter but matters far afield such as psychic frauds, ufos, etc.,etc.,etc.. I challenge the reviewer to find the great and golden "balanced argument" in any ie just one of the titles that proliferate on the market. Debunking books, of course, are simply not stocked in the majority of bookstores.
  Perhaps the reviewer felt that he had to make some sort of "critical comment" about the book he reviewed, and, even if he agrees with the author's general thesis, he felt compelled to make an even greater howler in the following statement;
  "He acknowledges the powerful lobby that supports the massive pharmaceutical industry in the U.S.. But he also tries to convince the reader that manufacturers and marketers of alternative remedies wield almost as much power."
  Ack, cough, choke !!! There's a dirty little secret hidden here that a little probing can easily uncover, but those who buy into the ideological camouflage of the "new entrepreneurs" will consistently ignore it because of ideology. Nobody ever bothers to look up the market share of the vitamin and supplement market because they are under the magic influence of a mythology of evil corporate dragons versus pure and noble New Age Saints. Some ideology survives all bruising contact with reality ! The evil corporate dragons and the saintly purveyors of "natural cures" are very much exactly the same people. Look it up yourself, but here is a list of the major players in the "neutraceuticals market" in the USA circa 2005. It should be noted that almost all of the market for "functional foods" is monopolized by major international food and drink manufacturers, and that the market for vitamin, mineral and supplements is increasingly dominated by the "house brands" of major retailers. The list:
• Bayer Corporation
• GNC Corporation (formerly General Nutrition Companies Inc.)
• GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals
• Leiner Health Products Inc.
• NBTY Inc. (includes Rexall Sundown Inc.)
• Perrigo Company
• Pharmavite LLC (Otsuka Pharmaceuticals Group)
• Twinlab Corporation
• Weider Nutrition International Inc.
• Wyeth (formerly American Home Products Corporation)

Doesn't sound like a left wing conspiracy to me. Anyways, if you are curious about the effects of such fad diets you can look to such references as the Merck index or Current Medical Diagnosis where the sections of nutritionally based disease are pretty dependent on food fashion for a lot of their entries. There is an overwhelming amount of pro-food fad material on the market, a lot of it poorly disguised advertising. For the other side try the following references:

Quack Watch

Homeowatch (on homeopathy)

Naturowatch (on naturopathy)

National Council Against Health Fraud

Nutriwatch

The Skeptics Dictionary

Anti-Quackery Ring

HAPPY UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS EVE !!!!!
FROM MOLLYMEW

Well, maybe a little late, but happy Ukrainian Christmas anyways!

SOLIDARITY NEEDED FOR PAKISTANI WORKERS:
Workers at the Coca-Cola plant in Karachi, Pakistan are continuing to struggle for their rights against continued management efforts to deny them their rights. The management of 'Coke-Pakistan' has always attempted to impede the efforts of their workers to unionize. union activists have been targeted in dismissals and when this failed to achieve the desired effect massive "casualization" was tried. Regular employees were classified as temporary so as to expedite their firing if they should seem to be pro-union. Large numbers of employees who were not management in any sense of the term were reclassified as outside of union organization efforts. The management of the plant has also attempted to shift its hiring more and more to "employment agencies". On December 9th termination notices were sent to 150 workers at the plant, coincidentally including known union activists. The Karachi government was very compliant in sending extra police to the plant to add to security after this move.
To learn more about this assault on workers' rights and to add your voice to international solidarity against it visit the IUF site at http://www.iuf.org/den3999 or see our links section for the IUF under the 'Other Interesting Links' section.
Molly

FOUND TREASURES WE SHOULDN'T LOSE:
The Winnipeg Free Press has recently (Friday, Jan 5th) reported on the latest plans for the City of Winnipeg to divest itself of the railroad that it owns under the Water and Waste Department. The railroad was originally built to provide access to Shoal lake from which Winnipeg draws its water supply in 1914. In its early years the line named 'The Greater Winnipeg Water District railway' offered not just access to the construction site and the aqueduct but also access to Winnipeg for rural communities, a supply line for products of the Shield and an opportunity for Winnipeg residents to go on excursions to the Lake. When present Mayor Sam Katz came to power he was reportedly "shocked" to discover that Winnipeg actually owned its own railroad, and, like the bell ringing in front of Pavlov's dogs, the reflex action of "sell it" came to mind. to this date the city tries to concoct a different way of maintaining the aqueduct without a railroad. Sounds sort of hopeless to me. The line runs through country inaccessible by any other route, but the effort persists in trying to find a way to do the impossible- let alone do it cheaper than what exists. Seems that some "conservatives" have forgotten the meaning of the word "conserve", let alone common sense prescriptions such as "don't fix what isn't broke".
Now Molly was "surprised" herself to find that the City has its own private choo choo, but even as an anarchist it doesn't offend her moral sensibilities--so she is not "shocked". As a matter of fact she sees it as an opportunity rather than a liability for the people of this city. Something that should NOT be torn up in favour of some crackpot scheme devised by a porkbarrel consultant. Something that should NOT be sold off for the ideological illusion-contrary to simple economic principles- that a private profit making firm will ALWAYS provide a cheaper service.
But much more on this later. It's still new to our good cat, and there is much to be explored. Unlike the bureaucrats that Sam demands to produce some way to fulfill his dream I'll charge nothing for my services as the study goes on. I haven't formed a full opinion yet.
Molly on the cheap.

LABOUR SITE OF THE YEAR: VOTING NOW OPEN:
The labour solidarity site Labour Start has begun the voting for the Labour Site of the Year'. People interested in voting for what they feel is the best union website in the whole, whole world can register their vote by going to the site (or see our links list) or by going directly to http://www.labourstart.org/lwsoty/index2007.html .

HEAVEN
BY RUPERT BROOKE



FISH(fly-replete, in depth of June,
Dawdling away there wat'ry noon)
Ponder deep wisdom, dark or clear,
Each secret fishy hope or fear.


Fish say, they have their Stream and Pond;
But is there anything Beyond ?
This life cannot be All, they swear,
For how unpleasant, if it were.


One may not doubt that,somehow, Good
Shall come of Water and of Mud;
And, sure, the reverent eye must see
A Purpose in Liquidity.


We darkly know, by Faith we cry,
The future is not wholly dry.
Mud unto mud!--Death eddies near--
Not here the appointed End, not here !


But somewhere, beyond Space and Time,
Is wetter water, slimier slime !
And there (they trust) there swimmeth One,
Who swam ere rivers were begun.


Immense, of fishy form and mind,
Squamous, omnipotent, and kind;
And under that Almighty Fin,
The littlest fish may enter in.


Oh ! never fly conceals a hook,
Fish say, in the Eternal Brook,
But more than mundane weeds are there,
And mud, celestially fair;


Fat caterpillars drift around,
And Paradisal grubs are found;
Unfading moths, immortal flies
And the worm that never dies.


And in that Heaven of their wish,
There shall be no more land, say fish.


Molly Notes:
As yes. Heaven is not a place. It's a construction project with cranes of imagination, scaffolds of hope and front end loaders of resentment.
Truer words were never spoken that by this poet, a person who exemplifies the truism that you don't have to be swift in other ways to be a great poet (something like T.S. Elliot). Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) was born into the English middle class and eventually won a scholarship to Cambridge. As the son of a schoolmaster at Rugby he exerted himself to appear more upper class than his upper class peers. He became acquainted with the Bloomsbury group and was widely admired by them. If he couldn't impress people by his brilliance he could always impress them with what was called his "boyish charm" and good looks. He could play on anybody that way for Brooke was bisexual in a time when the word to describe such a thing was hardly current.
Brooke was the classic "overachiever". He struggled to charm and write his way to the admiration of an audience of upper class people that he never felt he could truly belong to just as he could not belong sexually to either the dominant Victorian/Edwardian form or the every present subculture of upper class English homosexuality. His early work was his greatest. While it may appear rather juvenile with its obsession with death it occasionally threw off great sparks such as the above poem.
Brooke's quest to appear more true blue British than the upper class he had graduated into led to his early death. His cuteness came to the attention of Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, and he was commissioned as a naval officer in 1914. He participated in the Navy's 1914 Antwerp expedition in 1914, and in 1915 he died from a disease transmitted by a mosquito bite on his way to the total disaster of the Gallipoli expedition. A rather sad and less than glorious end. Churchill wrote his obituary, saying "he advanced to the brink...with absolute conviction of the rightness of his country's cause".
Probably true. As Brooke attempted to out Blimp the Blimps his latter poetry became jingoism worthy of being the obverse side of the coin of "socialist realism". His volume of 'War Sonnets', written during WW1 became quite famous. The English government built a myth around him in an attempt to encourage recruiting- to such an extent that his first name "Rupert" became slang in the British army for the sort of gung-ho idiot officer produced by the upper class English public schools.
Today there are statues and monuments of and to Brooke in numerous places in England and out here in the "colonies" such as at the Canadian Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. Generations of suffering school children have been forced to memorize the opening lines from his poem 'The Soldier';
"If I should die think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England"
All of the teachers and, of course, all of the good patriots will always neglect to mention Brooke's sexuality when teaching him or eulogizing him. Doesn't make good copy I guess.
No matter how silly the tributes to the undying British Empire may appear in this century a casual reading seems to say that they were a cut above what is preferred by "intellectuals" celebrating our present world power- America. That's however, something for the next century to judge properly. Find me a poem, however, celebrating the American invasion of Iraq.
For the other side of what happened in WW1 poetry wise look up the poet Siegfried Sassoon and what he had to say about the war.
Molly

MORE ON THE WINNIPEG GREYHOUND BUS DEPOT:
There has been more reported on the plans to relocate the Greyhound bus depot here in Winnipeg. Company spokesman Mel Levandoski recently presented more on the company's reasons for planning to relocate to the local media. Any move, however, would be delayed until 2009 when the company's lease on its present facilities expires. With a proper genuflection towards the idea that Greyhound has "to make sure this is the right thing to do for the community, for our customers, for the company" Levandoski went on to present reasons why the move is being contemplated. He mentions that the facility isn't large enough as over 300,000 people used it in 2006. Here Molly asks you to take out a calculator. The "big number" divided by 365 equals 822 in any given day. Molly further asks you to consider the "hours of the day". Let's be generous and say the bus depot is only open 12 hours a day. Divide again. The result is 68 people. It's amazing how fast large numbers become less impressive when looked at in a different perspective. All of these 68 people could bring their whole families to the present depot and there would still be lots of room. The place is not wall to wall people even at its busiest time.
A more serious problem is that the facility was built in 1964 for buses with a length of 13 meters. Present day buses are about three meters long, and according to Levandoski, "often tow five-metre-long cargo trailers". This might present a better case even if the present depot seems to handle this traffic adequately at this time. The "trailers" mentioned should perhaps have a different adverb in the sentence as opposed to "often". Everybody certainly has seen such trailers. Are they "often", "sometimes", "occasionally" or "rarely". Molly's observations would seem to indicate a choice of the latter two rather than the first. It should be noted also that the present day depot does handle buses of the present length. Are there plans to purchase buses that are even longer ? How would these handle on the highways ? Finally, if the length of present day buses is presenting a problem would it perhaps be a call for another facility close to downtown rather than out on the edge of the city ? Once more, a large proportion of the Dog's customers are from rural areas or have limited means and pretty well all of what they want to access in Winnipeg is located downtown.
Levandoski stated that "the company is not looking anywhere but to the airport at the moment". Is this wise management ? Shouldn't other options at least be considered ?
The company spokesman reiterated the Dog's promise to provide a free shuttle service between the city centre and the airport. Try to remember that word free is years to come. It's not quite a promise, but it is being made to try and soften a public relations blow. Other questions come to mind. Is it "free" both ways or just on incoming buses ? What will the hours be for the remaining downtown office ? How frequently will it run- will you have to sit 5 hours at the airport to catch a bus because the shuttle doesn't run often enough ? Does the word "free" mean "included in the (increased) price of a ticket" or really and truly "free". If the latter is meant how can the company save costs so as to keep ticket prices steady ? Can they really do this by incurring a capital debt by new construction and acquiring a new fleet of shuttles ? Seems hard to me to see how you can save money by spending more. A much more likely outcome is an increase in the price of bus tickets.
Finally, for those passengers mentioned who travel to Winnipeg by bus to take a plane, wouldn't it make more sense to have a shuttle for this minority going to the airport ? Without inconveniencing the majority.
More later as this story goes on
Molly

THE USUAL TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE DEPT:
The latest news on the late afternoon radio this day (Jan 4th) is that University of Manitoba student Evelynn Ye will be released from custody as a judge has agreed to the applications of her lawyer, John Corona, to have the court agree to her release on the surety that her father CAN provide. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
The Ye family are Chinese refugees from Vietnam. Her father speaks VERY little English. Her mother, who is separated from her ex-husband, has little to no money. Other family members are presently overseas on a return trip to Vietnam(conditions are much better there now for ethnic Chinese).
The Crown initially demanded a $10,000 surety. Two days ago Queen's Bench Justice Karen Simonson set bail at $2,000. The initial judgement was that Mr. Ye could not meet the conditions for his daughter's release. This has been overturned according to the news.
Ms Ye is presently studying for a Bachelor of Science degree at the U. of M. Has she committed any crime that would justify imprisonment ? She was arrested five days ago and held since then in that "wonderful" tourist hotel known as the Winnipeg Remand Centre, an interesting "trip" for a 20 year old with no previous criminal involvement.
Her crime ???? NONE WHATSOEVER, as EVEN the Crown who applied for her arrest FULLY admitted. She was being held as a "material witness" in the case of one of "beautiful" downtown Winnipeg's recent murders. In June, 2005 one 'Tam Le'(30) (NO relation to Evelyn Ye) allegedly killed 20 year old Miguel Munoz (of a family of refugees from Guatemala) outside the Montcalm Gordon Motor Hotel. Molly has NO OPINION of the facts of the case. That is for a jury to decide. All that our good cat can say is it is a shame how many immigrants are murdered in this city because they are under the illusion that this is a "safe place". Mr. Munoz is hardly the first refugee from a war zone to come to Winnipeg and be murdered. Think about THAT all you "Winnipeg Boosters". Rah, rah on !
What this little cat DOES know is that Evelyn Le claims to NOT have witnessed the fatal shooting, NOT an uncommon occurrence in a brawl outside a bar in this town. There are a lot of unanswered questions that come from the Crown's actions in this case.
A. What is so BLOODY IMPORTANT about a VERY circumstantial witness to an event who has already !!! expressed the fact that she is NOT a "direct witness" ? Does her testimony deserve jail ?
B. If the family cannot afford $2,000 bail can they REALLY afford the money to fly her out of the country to Vietnam ? I regularly pass by an Oriental travel agency on my little drives through downtown, and I idly read the ads on their signs. Someday I'D like to visit China. China is less expensive to get to than Vietnam, and China is more than a FEW bucks. Check out airline tickets to Ho Chi Minh City if you like.
Is there more than a "little hole" in the Crown's case ? Or as the old anarchist in the movie Seven Beauties said to the idiot young mafioso, "bullsheeet amigo".
C. Is this POSSIBLY an attempt to intimidate a witness into giving testimony that agrees with the Crown's case ? Perish the thought that educated Crown prosecutors could EVER stoop so low as to "imagine" that throwing an innocent 20 year old in a cell with 'Big Bertha' could EVER be a form of pressure. Of course not. As Mark Anthony said, "they are honourable men". Perish the thought that they could imagine in their wildest dreams that throwing a member of a refugee family from a Communist dictatorship into a jail could "ever" be a way of exerting pressure to testify in a "certain way". Of course not, for as Mark Anthony said, "they are honourable men". Of course not. They REALLY believe their own case, and such thoughts could NEVER cross their educated minds.
Ah well, we'll see what the morrow brings.

THE SEVEN DAUGHTERS OF EVE:
BY BRYAN SYKES
Since beginning his research career on mitochondrial DNA in the late 1980s Bryan Sykes has found himself propelled to the forefront of a virtual revolution in the way that genetics perceives the origin and spread of modern humans. This book(1), published in 2001, is a two part story. The first part covers how Sykes travelled from his early career as a medical researcher studying "brittle bone disease", also known as "osteogenesis imperfecta", an inherited disease of collagen formation found in cats, cattle, dogs and humans. As part of this the author gives a brief reconstruction of the history and science behind human genotyping in such chapters as 'From Blood Groups to Genes' and 'The Special Messenger'. Interspersed with this is a layman's explanation of DNA and, especially, mitochondrial DNA(2). Mitochondrial DNA is what Sykes research has been focused on. This is DNA that is inherited only (or at least 99.99%) through the maternal line. Sperm only contain mitochondria in their tails which are shed at the time of egg fertilization. As such they contribute only nuclear DNA to the new embryo.
What this means is that sequencing of mitochondrial DNA and its mutations can provide an estimate of the relatedness of individuals via their mothers, and their mothers, and their mothers,etc.. Research separate from that of Sykes and his group in this field has contributed to the idea of "Mitochondrial Eve", the mother of us all who lived in Africa(3) about 150,000 years ago.
After his excursion into the history and basic science of human genotyping Sykes describes the development of his field through an autobiographical account of his research. Not all of this is in chronological order, but the cast of characters that passes by is impressive. His early work was on extracting and amplifying mitochondrial DNA from bones only a few hundred years old at a time when the whole matter of the PCR technique was a matter of "shake and bake" chemistry in flasks rather than automated machines. From this it is on to proving the technique by research on golden hamsters. All of these pet animals are descended from one female first captured in Syria in 1930. Yup, it worked. The mitochondrial DNA of all pet and lab hamsters in the world was exactly identical. The story was true. They were indeed all descended from one mother.
From that humble beginning it's upward and onward. Tracing the presumed bones of the last Tsar and his family discovered in Ekateringburg in 1991 by comparison with living relatives of the Romanovs (at least a partial confirmation of the fate of Russia's last Royals and a disconfirmation of several claims to "Anasthasiahood"); genotyping of the "Iceman" found in the Italian Alps in 1991(and finding his living relatives in many present day Europeans); definitive proof of the South East Asian origins of the Polynesians (as opposed to the theory of their American origin); disproof (though often disputed) of the theory that Neanderthals interbred with early modern humans. All of this and more, all the time interspersed with clear explanations of the technical details involved and the disputes to which mitochondrial DNA testified.
All of this is perhaps a lead-in to what Sykes obviously considers his greatest triumph, his dispute with Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, the acknowledged world expert on human genetics. The matter was the origin of modern European populations and whether they date deep into the paleolithic or whether they are the result of fairly recent "replacement" by agriculturalists "invading" from the Middle East. After a great amount of dispute and sound and fury Cavalli-Sforza came to accept Sykes' theories as derived from a study of mitochondrial DNA. In Sforza's case the clincher came from his own research on the DNA of the Y Chromosome, the "paternal line" as contrasted with Sykes' maternal line. Agriculture came to Europe by diffusion rather than invasion, and the present population of Europe traces back to women who lived in the paleolithic- despite a small contribution from the Middle East.
As a matter of fact Sykes traces the vast majority of present day Europeans back to just seven "founding mothers", the "daughters of Eve" of the book's title. Other researchers in the field have claimed that there are actually 10 to 12 "matrilines" present in Europe, and ongoing research is tracing more than 29 other "matrilines" across the world that descend from the original Mitochondrial Eve. The relationships between these clades(4) is a matter of present day dispute, but the general idea that individuals can trace their genetic ancestry to a small number of "founding mothers" is pretty well an established fact.
The new science of human origins founded on facts such as these is light years removed from the sort of "population origins" theorized about in faculties of anthropology even 25 years ago. Every population is a mosaic of origins in which different individuals trace their origins back to different "founding mothers", and in which the descendants of these mothers can easily live at opposite ends of the Earth. Combine this with the fact, as demonstrated by writers such as Richard Dawkins that various genes in a human individual may have totally different ancestors, and the concept of "race" becomes even more like a relic from a bygone age that only politicians can argue about.
The latter half of Sykes' book is devoted to an imaginative reconstruction of the everyday lives of each of the presumed daughters of Eve. They lived in different times and places, but their lives held more than a few commonalities. Despite the different climes and technologies available the lives of these women had much more in common than they had in difference. Sykes basically follows the consensus view of most modern archaeologists in that the lives or these women were indeed short and hard (in contrast to the Arcadian dream world of some ideologists), but they had more than their share of joys. The worlds that Sykes describes have a much greater feel of reality about them than the projected wishes of said ideologists who seem to envision "primitive people" as bodiless distillations of the ideologue's hopes and dreams, wistful ghosts who drift around busying themselves with "being one with nature" and playing whatever "joyful games" the modern ideologue may approve of (but never those he might disapprove of). On the other hand this paleolithic world may have always had the potential for intergroup conflict, but the consensus is that this was a rare event compared to the fantasies of the ideologues of "man the warrior". This also holds the aura of truth rather than ideological begging the question.
The second half of Sykes' book is admittedly not a work of science, but it is at least a journeyman's work of historical fiction.
MOLLY NOTES:
1)'The Seven Daughters of Eve' by Bryan Sykes, W. W. Norton and company Ltd., New York, London (2001). ISBN 0-393-02018-5
2)See the following references on mitochondria and their DNA
i)Mitochondria
ii)Mitochondrial DNA
iii)The Mitochondrial Genome
3) The actual homeland of Mitochondrial Eve is in dispute. The majority opt for the area of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. A minority feel that an Asian origin is more likely. What is hardly in dispute, however, is that this woman lived at a time of a "population bottleneck" when the number of proto-moderns was extremely low. Hence the fact that all of us today descend from her in a line traced through our mothers. It should also be noted that this woman was not the "single ancestor" that the term Eve suggests. It is pretty well certain that other women living at that time left descendants, but she is the only one whom we can trace back in an unbroken line of mothers. Many others left their genes to their sons to pass on. their nuclear DNA lived on, but their mitochondrial line was broken.
4)Clades are groups of organisms that are traced through common descent and not just through anatomical similarities.

SPEAKING TOO SOON:
The latest edition of the Industrial Worker, the published organ of the IWW, has a rather self congratulatory article entitled 'NY foodstuffs workers win contract at EZ supply'. It reports how the IWW had won a contract with the NYC based EZ Supply company that supplied food to various restaurants in that city (see http://www.iww.org/en/node/3052 for details of the contract negotiated by the IWW, a contract that included wage raises of $1.70 to $2.45 an hour over the next two years, a grievance procedure, paid vacation and sick time and extra pay for certain types of work. The management and union had also agreed that all company files would be purged of mention of union organizing and that back wages for unpaid work (ie theft of time- Molly) would be paid). Looked pretty good at the time of the agreement on November 27th, but over the Christmas time a little idea dawned on the bosses of EZ Supply, just as it dawned on bosses at five other warehouses in New York City where the IWW has organized in the last year and a half. If you can't beat the union in a normal way, then try and threaten the workers with threats regarding their "immigration status". On December 26th, Boxing day, the boss at EZ Supply reneged on his agreement and issued threats to his workers about their "status". On the evening of December 28th EZ Supply fired all its union workers.
The IWW Food Industry and Allied Workers' Union is calling on EZ Supply and other warehouse owners in the NYC area such as Amersino, Handyfat and Top City produce to cease their anti-union activities, reinstate fired workers and to negotiate in good faith with the union. It should be noted that any penalties that may be applied to the bosses for KNOWINGLY hiring undocumented workers will be VERY minor compared to the penalties applied to the workers. What famous French writer once opined that "the law in all its majesty equally forbids both a rich man and a poor man from sleeping under a bridge" ? A Molly prize for the answer.
In any case, if you want to see how you can help these workers follow the cases on the IWW website , phone "Tomer" at 646-753-1167 or phone the bosses at EZ Supply directly at 718-386-3600.
One more example of counting your chickens before they are hatched, but in this case the IWW can be forgiven for missing the idea that an egg-sucking dog can steal the eggs even as the chicks are pecking out of the shell.
Molly

A FEW NEW LINKS:
I've added a few new links to this blog besides those mentioned earlier. Under the Blogs section I've added the Little Red Blogger and Yaya Canada . Under the 'Other Interesting Links' section I've added two online news feeds from BC, B.C.Politics and The Republic of East Vancouver. I've also added the Encyclopedia Mythica under the same heading. This is one of Peter Marshall's favourite links, and it gives information on a wide variety of world mythologies.

THE WAR PRAYER
BY MARK TWAIN:
It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands played, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheered them with voices chocked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meeting listened, panting to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest depths of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and a half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrunk out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams-visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabres, the flight of the foe, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender ! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory ! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbours and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honour, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation:
God the all-terrible!
Thou who ordainest !
Thunder thy clarion and lightening thy sword !
Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever merciful and benign Father of us all would watch over our young soldiers and aid, comfort and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory...
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body cloaked in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preachers side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer and at least finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, father and Protector of our land and flag".
The stranger touched his arm, motioning him to step aside- which the startled minister did- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said,
"I come from the Throne-bearing a message from Almighty God !"
The words smote the house with a shock, if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention.
"He has heard the prayers of His servant, your shepherd, and will grant it if such be your desire after I, his messenger, shall have explained to you its import-that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of-except he pause and think.
God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought ? Is it one prayer ? No, it is two-one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this-keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware ! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbour at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbour's crop which may not need rain and may be injured by it.
You have heard your servant's prayer- the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it- that part which the pastor-and also you in your hearts-fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly ? God grant that it was so ! You heard the words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God' ! That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory- must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen !
O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle- be Thou near them ! With them- in spirit- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet ! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him who is the Source of Love, and who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen !
(After a pause) Ye have prayed for it; if ye still desire it, speak ! The messenger of the most high waits !"
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

JAN 11: INTERNATIONAL DAY TO SHUT DOWN GUANTANAMO:
January 11th, 2007, will be the fifth anniversary of the first prisoner arriving at the US Guantanamo Bay detention centre. The "war against terror" has since that time seemed to become even more endless, and the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo has become a source of international and domestic controversy. A number of mostly faith based groups have called for an international day of action to shut down the torture/detention centre at the US base on January 11th. After 5 years not a single detainee has been charged and convicted of any crime. The torture centre has been condemned by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch amongst others. Court cases in the USA have brought the constitutionality of the methods used at Guantanamo into question.
The coalition that includes the Center for Constitutional Rights, CodePink, the Network of Spiritual progressives, Pax Christi, the School of the Americas Watch and United for Peace and Justice have called for an international day of action with its focus on Washington DC on Jan. 11th. To learn more about this action, to add organizational endorsement or to see how you can organize support actions in your own community go to the Witness Against Torture site.

NEW ISSUE OF ZABALAZA: A JOURNAL OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN REVOLUTIONARY ANARCHISM #7 OUT NOW:

• The latest issue of Zabalaza, the journal of the platformist Zabalaza Federation is now out and available as both an online text at http://www.zabalaza.net/zab_paper/zab07.htm and as a downloadable pdf at http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/sapams/zab7.pdf . This issue features articles such as:
• After 10 years of GEAR:COSATU, the ZUMA Trial and the Dead End of Alliance Politics.
• Collective Bargaining by Riot:Election Day in South Africa
• The Anti-Liberation Movements
• Swaziland After the Bombings
• A Free Working Class Needs Free Minds:May-BEE Another Day
• The New American Imperialism in Africa
• Is China Africa's New Imperialist Power ?
• Defend Libertarian Centre for Studies and Investigation in Morocco: Solidarity with the CLER of Boumaalne-Dades
• Especifismo: The Anarchist Praxis of Building Popular Movements and Revolutionary Organization in South America
• Remembering and Learning From the Past:The 1976 Uprising and the African Working Class
• A New World in Our Hearts: Remembering the Spanish Revolution of 1936
• Remembering Our Fallen Comrades ! Another Anarchist Dies in Prison: Abel Ramarope, Political prisoner Turned Anarchist, died September 2005

THE MOONS OF 2007:
There are a number of traditional names for the full moons of each year. Most of these are taken from those given them by the Algonquin language group tribes of the northeastern part of North America, but some labels were given by the early European settlers. What follows is a list of the traditional "Moons" for 2007. All times refer to the maximum fullness of the moon and are given in either EST(Eastern Standard Time) or EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). The time of these events would be 1 hour earlier here in Winnipeg in the Central Time Zone. The full moons mentioned would be quite visible at other times on the dates mentioned.
A. Jan. 3rd 8:57 am EST: The Full Wolf Moon. Also known as the 'Old Moon' and the 'Moon After Yule'. Some tribes referred to this as the 'Full Snow Moon' though most applied this to the next moon. Named obviously for the howling hungry wolves outside the villages.
B.Feb 2nd 12:45 am EST: The Full Snow Moon. This is usually the month of the heaviest snows in NE North America. This made hunting quite difficult, and some tribes referred to this moon as the 'Full Hunger Moon'.
C. March 3rd 6:17pm EST: The Full Worm Moon. This is the month when the ground softens and earthworm casts first appear in the North East (though not here in Winnipeg). Further north the tribes knew this as the 'Full Crow Moon' when increasing cawing signals the coming end of winter. It was also known as the 'Full Crust Moon' for the fact that freeze/thaw cycles cause the snow to become more crusted at this time of year. Another name for it is the 'Full Sap Moon' when the same freeze/thaw cycle makes it possible to begin tapping maple trees.
On this night there will be a total lunar eclipse visible from the eastern USA.
D.April 2nd 1:15 pm EDT. The Full Pink Moon, named for the colour of ground phlox, one of the earliest flowers of spring in the East. There are a number of other native names for this Moon, including the 'Full Sprouting Grass Moon', the'Egg Moon' and, amongst coastal tribes the 'Full Fish Moon' when shad came upstream to spawn. The settlers referred to this as the 'Paschal Moon', and the first Sunday after this Moon is the traditional date of Easter in the Gregorian calender. This will be Sunday, April 8th, this year.
E.May 2nd 6:09 am EDT. The Full Flower Moon. Also known as the 'Full Corn Planting Moon' or the 'Milk Moon'.
F. May 31st 9:04 pm EDT. The Blue Moon. This is the title of the second full moon that occurs within a given calender month. Despite the implication of rarity this actually occurs on the average about every 3rd year.
G. June 30th 9:49 am EDT. The Full Strawberry Moon. Europeans called it the 'Rose Moon'.
H. July 29th 8:48 pm EDT. The Full Buck Moon. The usual time when the new antlers of bucks appear on their foreheads. It was also known as the 'Full Thunder Moon' because of the frequency of thunderstorms this time of year, and the 'Full Hay Moon'.
I. Aug 28th 6:35 am EDT. The Full Sturgeon Moon when the fish of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain are most easily caught. Other names include the 'Full Red Moon', 'The Green Corn Moon' and the 'Grain Moon'.
Another total lunar eclipse will occur with this Moon, best visible in the west of the continent as the moon will be setting in the East.
J. Sept 26th 3:45 pm. The Full Harvest Moon. Always named for the full moon occurring closest to the fall equinox
K. Oct.26th 12:52 am EDT. The Full Hunters' Moon. The moon will be at perigee (its closest approach to Earth in a year) this day at 7:00 am EDT, and very high tides can be expected (not a concern out here on the prairies).
L. Nov 24th 9:30 am EST. The Full Beaver Moon. Good time to catch beaver. Also known as the 'Frosty Moon'.
M. Dec 23rd 2:51 am EST. The Full Cold Moon. Also known as the 'Full Long Nights Moon'. The Europeans often referred to it as 'The Moon Before Yule'.

For those interested in observation of the moon Space.Com has a Skywatcher's Guide to the Moon that gives the timing of the various moon phases, a downloadable map of the Moon, and much more items to look for through binoculars or a telescope.

HAPPY NEW YEAR:
FROM:
MOLLYMEW