The Davebrand Monthly Visitor

Looking somewhat more Jewish than Harrison Ford, Josh Bernstein was the host (and explorer, adventurer (or Dave-venturer, as I like to say (wait, I know have three levels of parentheses))) and handsome Hebrew of “Digging for the Truth” and a number of History channel specials. He has since defected to the Discovery Channel (say it ain’t so, Josh!) The show has kept going somehow, but Josh’s shadow is large.

So, in his History Channel memory, I present…

The Josh Bernstein/Digging for the Truth Drinking Game!

While watching “Digging for the Truth” or “The Real Tomb Raiders” or “Josh Bernstein: Now Available to Open Your Schul”…

• take a sip if Josh is dressed like Indiana Jones
• take a sip if Josh mentions Indiana Jones
• take a sip if Josh mentions Harrison Ford
• take TWO sips if Josh mentions Harrison Ford and dismisses Brendan Fraser
• take a sip if Josh mentions Nazis
• take a sip if Josh attempts some physical activity and gets hurt
• take TWO sips if Josh attempts some physical activity and doesn’t get hurt
• take a sip if Josh says exactly what someone else just said with “But…” at the beginning.
• take a sip if Josh talks to an archaeologist
• take a sip if Josh talks to a random person in another country who knows nothing about archaeology
• drink half a cup if Josh changes clothes
• drink a whole cup if Josh has a special where he tries to find something new
• drink the whole bottle if Josh Bernstein actually finds something new!!

David Harvey (books), visited the law school at UT today to discuss his paper on ‘accumulation by dispossession’.

‘Accumulation by dispossession’ is the process where the state removes dispossessed persons from public spaces by intense individual possessive rights. Neoliberalism is the process (used by conservatives and liberals alike) to solidify individual rights (which includes those of the corporations) and remove the social world from the political process. It’s a reaction to socialist and potentially communist governments in Europe in the 1970s and the social movements of the 1960s. It’s figurehead is Margaret Thatcher (”There is no such thing as society”) and is represented by a weaker state, stronger individual rights, international global money control (think: IMF), deregulation and privatization of public spaces and goods.

The end result of Neoliberalism can be thought of as the 2005 Kelo vs. New London US Supreme Court case, where the court ruled that most public goods overweight private property rights for eminent domain. What does that mean? That the state can remove public and private spaces for commercial purposes.

Harvey then brings up the key argument, which is, The Right to the City. What is the the Right to the City? Who is the city for? What is a city? How do you define it’s citizens and members? The city is a completely man-made space. In it, we find the expression in physical form of how we, as a people, decide how to live our lives. It is our dreams and values made whole.

So if a city is a representation of human will, what is the Right to the City? Harvey argues, and I agree, that the privatization and removal of public spaces is a way of removing important social interaction. I believe that people should have right to public spaces, and the vitality and longevity of a city depends on its streets, markets, and public spaces. People also deserve health care and a livable wage - these are the rights of that must be demanded to fuel a vital space that contains all people, not just white, rich Americans.

In a classically Marxist viewpoint, Harvey argues that if two rights are equal - that is, the right of the bourgeois to not pay health care and the right of the workers to it - then law does not work, and force must be applied. The relation of force is the set of social processes that contribute to change. This includes violent uprising, but practically, it begins with discussions, demonstrations, boycotts, protests, and strikes. That is, the social rights that are largely forgotten in the New World Neoliberal environment.

Now, my thoughts…

… a social movement is exactly that - the ability to move in the city. It’s another example of the physical world expressed in thought. Limiting movement is the same as limiting expression.

… Brian made a good comment. In New York, they didn’t allow protests against the Iraq War because it might hurt the grass. Just another example of grass vs. the grassroots.

… what is ‘crisis theory’? I need to look that up

The Banana Over Texas project

This has to be one of the most worthwhile projects I’ve seen in years.

In early 1996, my friend Maruthi and I traveled through New Mexico. On the next to last day, we stopped in Roswell to visit not one but both of the alien museums.

White Sands, not too far from Roswell

When we showed up at one of the museums, it was a quiet Thursday afternoon in early January. No one was there. Remember, this is 1996 - before X-Files, before the Roswell show or movies. When we got there, the curator took us aside. He said, ‘you fellas look like engineering types. How’d you like to watch a movie?’ So we did, and it spoke of a guy named Bob Lazar who worked at Area 51. He revealed the secret projects that the Air Force were working on there involving reverse engineering three sets of alien technology - their mirror-powered discs that could see things at great distance; their main energy source, a highly stable atom with a high atomic number; and their time control device. When he left the project and went public, the government destroyed all records of him.

Well, now it turns out that this guy was actually right. There is a very stable (well, for thirty seconds) element at 108. Who knew? I guess Bob did. Amazing.

Interestingly, the proprietor of the museum though that my sister would like the glow-in-the-dark alien keychain at $3.99 — and he was right! I guess he had access to the alien technology as well. Something is up in Roswell, no doubt.

As I’m sure you’re aware, two Romans thought they would play a prank on us, the 21st century, by inserting their names, Julius and Augustus, respectively, into our calendar. Now, the months that were previously numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10 correspond to our months 9, 10, 11, and 12. September should be the 7th month, not the 9th.

Well, the time has come to fix this. There are, of course, several solutions:

1) rename the months Latin-wise:

September ==> November
October ==> December
November ==> Undecimber
December ==> Duodecimber

2) rename the months in honor of Dave:

September ==> Prepredavemonth
October ==> Predavemonth
November ==> Davemonth
December ==> Postdavemonth or Jesusmonth* (might piss off some people)

3) Start the year on March 1.

Personally, I like this idea. It puts a holiday in a rather holiday-less time. It removes some of the shine off of Christmas.

And every four years, Feb 29 becomes a holiday!!

So I propose that March 1 2020 be the first year of 2020. 2019 will have two extra months (Undecimber and duodecimber). Doing in 2020 gives us enough time to prepare.

Thus spake Dave.