Commie Curmudgeon

I’ve been debating with myself about whether to write this post. A couple of people out there seem to be under the impression that I complain too much, so I’ve been more conscious about whether anybody really wants to see me complain any more. Complaining about general social problems is one thing, but complaining about my own problems is something else, even if the two are connected (as these things are connected for just about anyone who isn't independently wealthy). However, I also feel that I should put an explanation up here about why blogging has dropped off so much. This is especially true now that I've gotten a bunch more readers (or at least a lot more hits), thanks to DJ /Rupture, who actually linked to a couple of my articles from his blog. (If you want to get to his blog, go to last week’s message. And, I might add it to an upcoming side list of blogs on "music and culture" – or just "music" or "culture" (to give yourself an ulcer? – nice Gang of Four Reference already used by Darren the Inveresk Street Ingrate)... Anyway, I might add, I’m flattered by the links from Rupture’s blog, especially since the blog itself is good, and maybe also because I’ve had a chance to enjoy yet another one of his CDs, Minesweeper Suite, which might be the best one that I’ve heard so far and apparently also has the biggest reputation – though Low Income Tomorrowland, for the title alone, might be the most...personally pertinent to me right now.) Anyway, readers, please take note: I would not be so negligent in my blogging responsibilities lately if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Most people who apologize for not keeping up with their blogs cite work. In my case, the problem that is consuming extra time is not work but the lack of work and the need to look for more or different work. Very unexpectedly (though that’s always how it happens, I guess), the work has dropped off significantly, and I’m back to a situation nearly as low as the one I was in two to three years ago – only with higher rent and much more debt. So, I’m finally getting the old resume out...though my first experiences with responses to that are not making me feel so optimistic.

I am also trying to get together materials to apply for some forms of public assistance. First in mind is a subsidized program that provides people with free legal assistance in bankruptcy filings. When I went to this place in August, they told me I wasn't in a dire enough situation, because there were so many worse-off people already on the waiting list. Now, maybe I can impress them more, considering how much the situation has worsened.

I'm also in the position of earning just a tiny bit too much (a couple of hundred dollars too much this month, maybe, and a bit more in prior months, I think) to get into borderline-welfare healthcare programs like Family Health Plus (never mind Medicaid). But I'm going to look into that. It would be nice if there were at least some silver lining within all these clouds that have reemerged - like actually being able to get some public assistance that I couldn't get before...

And that's my sad story right now. I'm hoping that my luck will improve soon. But even if it doesn't, I'll know that my misery will have plenty of company in this economy that the propagandist economists are telling us is still(?) doing well.
----------------------------------
P.S. Having said all of the above... I think I will be posting another thoughtful piece (at least I hope it's going to be thoughtful) pretty soon, like within a day or two. Not one hundred percent committing to that, but that’s what I'm planning on.

As I was thinking during the past couple of weeks about this two-way global exchange of culture that manifests itself best in emerging new forms of global music... I kept remembering a great old article that I read, some years ago, about why the whole idea of "Americanization" as homogenization of world cultures is just a politically "correct" myth. That same article, as I recall, had described how non-northern or non-western cultures, which are often thought of as the passive victims of some western cultural colonization, are actually, especially these days, vitally contributing to the music, art, and intellectual life of mainland America itself (or at least certain parts of mainland America), in a dialectical kind of exchange-into-evolution that makes it impossible these days to say that any culture is really taking over or dominating another. And a couple of weeks ago, when I was writing about poverty chic, I really had this article in mind, especially when I said (actually during discussion in the comments section):

Also, there is plenty of appropriation going the other way - music from our area being sampled and reprocessed somewhere else, then fed back to us in a different form, which people from our area will (re)appropriate, etc.

But the name and location of that article remained a complete blank in my mind...until a couple of days ago, when I stumbled upon it, thanks to a reference in an article about reggaeton (the favorite music of my neighborhood) from the blog Wayne & Wax, which I had stumbled upon via a page referred to in another page of DJ /Rupture's blog, Mudd Up!... And the article that I had been thinking about was (maybe we should have a drum roll...or a just a nice dancehall riddim here...)

Global Culture and the American Cosmos by Orlando Patterson (copyright 1994).

Quoting briefly from the article:

The argument that Americanization is resulting in the homogenization of the world ignores the increased vitality of local cultures and ethnicities in recent times and the complexity of global cultural diffusion, in particular the extent to which so-called peripheral regions are increasingly contributing to American popular culture and to the world music scene.

And a little later:

In their comparative analysis of eight cultures, musicologists Deanna Robinson, Elizabeth Buck, and others have demonstrated, in my opinion conclusively, that "world musical homogenization is not occurring." As they put it, "even though information-age economic forces are building an international consumership for centrally produced and distributed popular music, other factors are pulling in the opposite direction. They are encouraging not only what we call ‘indigenization’ of popular music forms and production but also new, eclectic combinations of world musical elements, combinations that contradict the continuing constraints of national boundaries and global capitalism."

Although, one might add, this is just one of many ways that "centrally produced and distributed" culture is not being absorbed quite the way that our capitalist leaders intended it. Consciously and unconsciously, people find their own, unplanned uses for the products of corporations and the state, resulting in a kind of diversity and creativity from below that may make many leaders or bosses uncomfortable. (A good example of that is...the medium of communication that you're reading right now.) And if things like that did not happen constantly, the culture that we live under would be far more, unbearably oppressive than it already is.

But getting back to music and the article at hand... Patterson writes a wonderful history of the evoloution of reggae, which, he asserts, "more than any other musical form illustrates the comlpexity of global cultural interaction." In this history as Patterson relates it, Reggae began when "aspiring young Jamaican singers - including the teenage Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bob Andy, and numerous others - began singing imitations of American soul songs..." These imitations, Patterson asserts, were atrocious. However, "the imitations were so bad that they were unwittingly original." (Which is, of course, how a lot of great rock and pop music began...) And then these imitations got mixed up with an "infusion of the very African music of the Afro-Jamaican cults." And most people who know reggae probably can take it from there...

Strangely, some people in the present get offended when musicians who live in contemporary northern cultures do versions of reggae that seem (at least to these critics) to be inauthentic or unpure. For years, some people have complained about white electronic/techno groups who do that, as though these groups were violating some pure form that had always existed in one way from the beginning of time - obviously without the historic knowledge that imitation has been going two ways, back and forth, for many years. And recently, when I was reading some discussions about M.I.A.'s music, I saw accusations flying on two counts - that she was "ripping off" reggae-dancehall music (those people really need to read Patterson's article before going on anymore about that) and that she was ripping off baile funk - which is another music that started by ripping off and blatantly sampling American (Miami) sounds. (One song by M.I.A., "Bucky Done Gun," obviously samples from a very famous baile funk song which not only probably depends on those Miami beats (I would guess, though I'm no expert on that), but also blatantly samples from the theme to Rocky (which I can definitely recognize). So, who should be accused of ripping off whom?)

Anyway, anyone with an interest in global music, reggae, dancehall, dub, dubstep, rap, grime, baile funk, or reggaeton should read this article.

Patterson also goes on to discuss what all the cultural cross-fertilization/hybridization/general mixing up means in broader terms. He talks about three different kinds of cultural America, "traditional," "multicultural" and "ecoumenical" and argues that an "ecumenical" outlook is the appropriate one for dealing with the broader culture at the present time. (He says multiculturalism has its uses but they are limited, as its all-accepting cultural relativism can lead to ironic tolerance of extreme intolerance. Which is something that makes a lot of sense, I think.) This ecumenical culture would result from the interaction of different cultures in a constant exchange or dialectical relationship - like what happens in the development of the best new global music(s)...

Well, I’m going to this show, at the Knitting Factory, if I can at all manage it. I rarely go to live shows these days; in fact, I always find an excuse not to go – whether it’s having to work or not having money or health or whatever... Maybe it’s because I’m such a sociable person these days (and because I’m so middle aged) that if I do ever drag myself out to a club to see something, it’s probably going to be alone, and that’s a little more difficult to do. (Though if anybody out there – especially among you anarchists, who must surely love the Ex – wants to go with me, just give the word....)

Anyway, for those who don’t know or might have forgotten, here’s a fairly accurate description from their Web site:

Starting out as an anarcho-punk band from Amsterdam and Wormer, The Ex has developed over the years into a melting pot of divergent musical styles, interweaving noise, folk, jazz and ethnic music, under one unique umbrella: Ex-music. Other features are the discordant, highly rhythmic guitar work, the rolling almost African drumming style and the furious way in which Sok delivers his often sarcastic lyrics. In the first few years The Ex denounce political and social evils in their typical black and white manner, and its members, active in the squat movement, come across as genuinely driven and committed individuals. They set a significant example for the alternative music circuit by the manner in which their records, accompanied by posters, booklets and other relevant readings, are released and distributed by the group itself.

(Shades of CRASS? one might ask. Actually, from what I’ve heard, their sound has been much closer to Gang of Four. And some have said The Fall, which makes sense, now that I recall…)

If there is one Ex album that sticks out in my mind most clearly (btw, not to be confused with any X album that might have stuck out in anyone’s mind), it’s a release of theirs from 1986 called 1936 – The Spanish Revolution – not for the music so much as the visuals, as it contained an excellent booklet of Spanish Revolution photos, some of them reportedly quite rare. The price tag on this anti-capitalist CD was always a bit high for me, so I almost bought it many times, but never really settled on doing so. However, I do remember hearing someone’s tape of this and definitely liking it.

I admit, I haven’t even heard The Ex in a long time, though I am very much looking forward to seeing them (if I can). On the other hand, DJ /Rupture is presently on my own heavy rotation list.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of DJ /Rupture’s Special Gunpowder. But that eclectic, sort-of-dancehall (and a lot more) disc was mellow compared to this thing that I just picked up called Low Income Tomorrowland (which may be the last CD I buy in a while, by the way, as my temp work has just dried up and my income has reached a low point, where it might stay for many tomorrows). Now, this is much more the kind of disc I would expect from someone who calls himself "DJ /Rupture" and whose music has been described as "avant-breakcore." It is marvelously discordant and chaotic and he definitely uses those beats and those electronics to simply rip things up, in a very endearing way (in my opinion). (You wouldn’t believe what he did to Tracy Chapman’s "Behind the Wall" – which is also a major improvement, I think.)

While Special Gunpowder is the more professional release, the real album and so forth (and Low Income Tomorrowland is a bootleg-like thing, taken from the first of these monthly download mix series put out on the Net by Lemon Red), I find LITL to be even more, consistently, exciting.

And I also found a pretty good description of what he does here, from Angry Ape:

Low Income Tomorrow Land is a heady cocktail, hearing Dead Prez's 'Hip Hop', which is laced with eastern flavours, segue into a remix of Mia's 'Pull Up The People' is just one of the many unlikely juxtapositions that elevates this above the level of a bog standard mix. DJ /Rupture is obviously among those who believe that DJing is more than just a matter of playing other people's records; it's an art form in itself and also a legitimate form of expression.

Elsewhere, classic reggae and jungle are brutally cross bred, DJ Class' 'Tear The Club Up' and Sizzla's 'Got It Right Here' bring the party vibe, while Jahba's 'Bush Is A Pussycloth' and Tracy Chapman's 'Behind The Wall' provide the social conscience.

The whole thing clocks in at just over thirty minutes, leaving you with the feeling of being struck by a musical tornado, always maintaining a steely eyed focus despite packing more styles and originality into this one onslaught than most musicians manage in their whole career. For anyone who doubts the value of DJ's as justifiable artists, I'd suggest that this record provides an irresistible argument for their relevance. Definitely the sound of a master at work!

And definitely a show I would like to catch on December 13...though we’ll see if I manage to follow through on that plan…
-----
P.S. I found out about this show through DJ /Rupture’s blog, which is linked to at Robert’s loveecstacycrime.

P.P.S. Oh, yeah, I should add, they're going on tour together, with one or two other bands in different places (see Rupture's blog). I could catch them at Maxwell's in Hoboken if I felt like it; you people who live outside of New York (most of the people who read this blog) might be able to catch them in another town...

Why do ultra-left communists like David Bowie's album Diamond Dogs so much? Well, at least two obviously do...

That Good Times and Bad Times blog that I referred to two weeks ago has a post about how the author, Summerisle, keeps thinking about the title song. He writes:

For some reason that David Bowie song is going through my head. I think that the reason is that it portrays a blasted out yet decadent world, post-apocalyptic but with people still having a good time in the post-apocalypse, emerging from the rebel and partying.

And for people who don't know this... My blog address contains a line from the intro to that title song, a little poem called "Future Legend." That's where David Bowie actually said, "No More Big Wheels."

As people who've been reading this blog for a while know (and maybe a few people who've actually dug into the archives know it too), this blog was originally entitled, "No More Big Wheels." The "Commie Curmudgeon" title was also in the back of my mind, but I used "No More Big Wheels" for a while, hence the blog's address (as well as the name that some bloggers out there still use to link to this one).

There were four reasons for that:

1. I was inspired by that David Bowie album, especially the intro and the title song, maybe for the same reasons.

2. One of my intentions for this blog was that it would be anti-authoritarian. I guess a couple of years ago, I placed more of an emphaisis on the "libertarian" part of being libertarian communist (while now I'm obviously a bit more focused on the communist part). Hence, I was aiming for a world where there were No More Big Wheels.

3. I also thought it would be appropriate to name this blog after a rock song, because I had intended for it to focus on rock/music criticism too. (I have some history in that area, having been a rock/techno/industrial/world music reviewer for several decently distributed magazines during the 1980s, on and off, through the mid-late '90s.) But I later dropped the idea of spending much time on music, deciding to make this a much more political blog. Though people may have noticed that pendulum swinging back lately...

4. The blog where I had previously done my blogging was originally "officially" a product of the Common Wheel Collective. But I had decided to leave that blog (i.e., leave it entirely in the hands of its true creator, asfo_del), and I felt that the Common Wheel Collective had kind of expired. So it felt right to call this new blog "No More BIG WHEELS."

If anyone is still reading this self-indulgent little reflection... I don't recall exactly when I changed the title (maybe a little over a year ago?), but it seemed to me that the title "No More Big Wheels" was sort of irrelevant to the blog, and I was getting far too many hits from people who were looking for some information on a children's toy/vehicle(?), "Big Wheels," which I knew nothing about. And other people were looking to read about trucks... I still get those hits once in a while, but since I changed the title, I get far fewer than I did before.

And what does David Bowie have to do with left communism? I don't recall him ever being called a communist... Some people have called him a fascist; I think that was mainly because of something stupid he once said about how Hitler could have been a great rock star. Maybe people also failed to see the irony in songs from Diamond Dogs that were really a tribute to George Orwell's 1984... But when Bowie sang "We Want You, Big Brother," I don't think he meant that literally. If anything, Bowie was also warning the world against authoritarianism - and maybe even state capitalism - in his own way. Though I don't think he ever meant to be a libertarian communist, even if the author he was paying tribute to on that album sort of was. (And besides, Bowie is a stinking rich multi-millionaire, isn't he? I wouldn't expect someone like that to help make the revolution. And don't give me that old nonsense about Prince Kropotkin...)

But obviously, anti-statist communists do get some inspiration from his music, for some reason...

So, now I feel a little better about keeping the blog address (which I'd been contemplating changing), even if it doesn't seem to have any connection to my being a Commie Curmudgeon. At least I'll keep it for now...
-------------------
P.S. Summerisle, the guy in the other blog, later posts some quotes from "Sweet Thing" (same album) and talks about this being a gay song by a bisexual and how he (Summerisle) relates it to sexual freedom, and how he had a "political orgasm" over the recent election results... OK, I admit, I don't exactly share his perspective here... First of all there's a bit of a difference in terms of sexual orientation, I think. And secondly, no, I can't say that the election results gave me any kind of orgasm. Or even turned me on. It would have been nice if they had, but it just didn't work that way for me.

I have a confession to make... On a purely emotional level, I do hope that the Democrats tie or win the Senate and am glad they took the House. Not because I expect any significant changes (though wouldn't it be nice if someone proved me wrong), nor because I've suddenly gotten any fondness for the Democrats. But on a purely emotional level, it's so nice to see those other guys lose. As a strictly symbolic rebuke, because, as Alexander Cockburn said in the most accurately titled summary of the electoral situation this year, The GOP Should Lose, the Democrats Don't Deserve to Win:

As things stand in organized politics today a purely formal protest is the most we can hope for, and the significance of this fall's campaign is that no one has pretended otherwise.

Sidestepper - 3 am (in beats we trust) - Damn, this is cool... The coolest beats from Colombia and the Caribbean put through an eccentric sort of techno filter... By all reports, Sidestepper's earlier recordings had a harder drum 'n' bass quality and this is the chill-out disc by comparison. And, judging by the song on the compilation that I mentioned earlier, I don't doubt it, and I'd like to hear the earlier CDs. (I'd also like to hear the one from this year - this album is from 2003.) But 3 am is still a fine work, very danceable in its own way and also full of heart and humor. And I might even prefer the mellower sound, at least sometimes; I find this disc very soothing. Definitely up there on my list.

M.I.A. - Piracy Funds Terrorism - Thanks to some M.I.A. forum for pointing me to the links where I could get this (and the next two things I'm listing), and thanks to asfo_del for downloading it all for me... This is definitely worth having in addition to Arular, though it contains different mixes of many of the same songs. Of course, Diplo mixed/produced this, and did a fine job. I particularly like the Diplo mix of "Bingo," more so than I like that song on Arular. Though in my mind nothing beats the version of "Sunshowers" on Arular...

M.I.A. - Talk about Moi and XR2 - Two new songs, from the upcoming album (if I'm not mistaken), posted in different places by M.I.A. and Diplo. These songs veer more toward cutting-edge techno/electronica, a little further away from the dancehall and hip-hop sounds of so much of her other music. But the change is fine with me, and these tunes are great. Very much looking forward to other new stuff from Maya.

Diplo - Favela on Blast - I like this CD better than the other Baile Funk CD that I have, More Favela Booty Beats, which I picked up a couple of weeks ago. Probably, that's because of Diplo's mixing... I do like this music, though it is a different sort of sound for me (and most people around here, I imagine) from most of what I'm used to, and might take a few more listens before it really grows on me... Pretty minimal, of course, and big on the bass, as expected. The vocals are fun to hear, though most are in Portuguese, so I don't understand them. I have heard that this contains a lot of the most blatant sex lyrics you're likely to hear anywhere, and if the one English-language song that I noticed is any indication, that is likely true. And no doubt much of it is quite hilarious - like that English-language thing...

DJ /Rupture - Special Gunpowder - Still listening to this one, and still enjoying it just as much (see my review from a couple of weeks ago).

Just "for the record"... I'm probably not voting this year. If I do vote, I do not plan to cast a single vote for any major party candidate. If I manage to get to the polls, I'll cast my little protest votes for minor parties. I'll have to do some last-minute research first to find out which very minor parties I'd like to vote for, for what offices, etc. (though I have some vague ideas). But I'm not sure, exactly, which polling place I'm registered at anyway. I've had to move a few times during the past year, and I know a lot of people lost track of my place of residence. I could try to find out where I'm registered. But I wonder if it's worth it. I'm not sure if I have the energy this year to do whatever I need to to play this game.

I don't really have to worry about whether it would make a difference in my district to vote for a Democrat versus a Republican for any office, because I live in the South Bronx now, and I'm pretty sure that this will be a one-party district for the most part, the party being the Democrats. (And even in all the other neighborhoods where I've lived lately - assuming I'm still registered in any of those neighborhoods - there will probably be plenty of people to ensure that the Democrats get the vote.) So, I don't even have to let a thought about "lesser evils" cross my mind.

I can hardly think of a time, really, when I've been so uninterested in casting a ballot. The last big election that I skipped was 2000, but as I've said, I skipped it mainly because I wanted to go to a radical protest organizing meeting and didn't have time after the job that I had then to do both in the same evening. (If I had a moment, maybe I would have cast a vote that year for Ralph, mostly to please some friends of mine. Four years later, I felt much more inspired to vote for Ralph, mainly because of the Democrats.) And back in 2000, I was participating a lot in "anti-globalization" protests and generally spreading propaganda to help build the then-resurgent anarchist/anti-authoritarian movement. These days, I'm not doing any such thing (unless you count writing on this blog). These days, there are no active movements or protests around that I can find the least bit inspiring - at least not in New York City or the U.S. - and I wouldn't know how to start one.

But now, even doing absolutely nothing seems like a better political action than going to the polls and pulling a lever for any major party candidate running for anything.

And that's probably my "endorsement" this year: Don't vote, or vote for the minor parties. But please don't give the spineless, soulless Democrats your support, assuming you feel that you can at all avoid doing so. (And if anybody for some bizarre reason pulls a lever for Hillary Clinton, I don't even want to hear about it.)

Meanwhile, I'm assuming that I don't even have to advise any regular readers of this blog not to vote Republican...unless you have some strange strategic ideas about how this might help us to put an end to the system faster, which I probably wouldn't agree with strategically, but which I could probably sympathize with in terms of motivation, at least.

Asfo_del recently wrote an interesting comment at Living on Less:

If the feminist movement can make it acceptable to be hairy, why doesn't the anti-capitalist movement take a page from their book and work to make it acceptable to be poor? We're poor already -- the median income in the US is $23,000 a year -- we just aren't allowed to walk around looking like we're poor without being made to feel ashamed.

And I was thinking, that is true in a genuine sense, and things would be better for many of us if we weren’t pressured to feel ashamed for obviously lacking certain things or for not meeting certain standards. But in a perverse sense, there’s long been a tendency in our culture that’s made it more than acceptable – in fact, made it hip and chic – to walk around looking like people who are poor. As long as the people walking around with that look aren't really poor, and as long as there’s been some kind of process through which the look of poverty has gotten resold at top dollar, thanks to the sanctioning of the right designers, artists and magazine editors .

The first phenomenon that came to my mind in this area was the hip fashion trends that came out of DIY movements in music. Punk is a perfect example... I recall Johnny Rotten’s amusing comments about how when he first started with the Sex Pistols, he walked around with clothes that had holes in them and clothes that had patches because he had no other choice, because he was poor. But we all know that once this look became fashionable, there were some very expensive lines of clothing sporting the same features. And, of course, there were many kids of affluent suburban parents who did everything they could to emulate these fashion role models, probably for quite a few bucks. (Then, of course, there is the matter of hip-hop fashion and how expensive it might be to look correctly "ghetto." But that’s almost too complicated for this downwardly mobile middle-aged white guy to think about.)

And then, recently, I read a very interesting passage from the current issue of Mute Magazine:

Another mode of expropriation is also occurring at a cultural level - the spectre of what at Mute we've been calling the 'shanty chic' aesthetic. As the bubble of convenience culture and technologised hyper-mediation numbs the cultural class, a vicarious worship of all things bricolaged, improvised and threadbare - read pauperised - has taken hold. The acid bath of poverty is the urbane consumer's psychic chemical peel of choice. This admiration has strayed from the art world into the culture industry in general - a new chain of restaurants in Paris and London shamelessly, almost unconsciously, named Favela Chic now serves up top-dollar cuisine at soup-kitchen style collective tables, overlooked by an artlessly bricolaged DJ booth. Meanwhile the spectacle of the South's slum dwellers is served up to the cinema goers of the North, mixing equal measures of desperation and glamorous dreams of life beyond the law.

But, really, I don’t know what to make of all this. Is it entirely a bad thing, or is it just something that is? Certainly, we can react with moral revulsion to the idea of really bored, affluent people making escapist fashion fantasies out of other people’s poverty. (Once again, I can’t help thinking of the Sex Pistols’ line, “A holiday in other people’s misery.”) But on the practical level, we might hope that some poor cultures will benefit, at least materially, from some more widespread public admiration of their music, their art, their architecture, etc. (Incidentally, when I think of music and Brazil's favelas, I am aware that I, myself, may be one of many people in a northern culture far outside of those favelas who are starting to develop an interest in their special brand of funk, thanks much, of course, to certain stars in the world of rock and hip-hop. And as revealed by one fascinating article that I stumbled upon from a year-old issue of The Oberserver, there are a few people anyway who will be able to get beyond an awful life in an awful ghetto, thanks to this growing international interest in their music.)

Additionally, while corny movies might romanticize the "outlaw" life of Third World slum dwellers without daring to approach any real political or class-conscious analysis, we can always hope that some of these fictions will inspire a few people to delve into the subject and actually pursue some real analysis or even pertinent action further down that road.

Or would it be positively naïve to assume that any real benefits can come out of this perverse "cultural expropriation" from the poor?

Honestly, I can’t decide on an answer to that one; it just leaves me kind of stumped.

What is the best way to organize updates in a certain topic in a blog, especially one that is as pre-formatted as a Blogger blog? I've been debating with myself back and forth on how to do this... And I've decided to keep posting updates at the original post. In this case, specifically, I have decided that I will continue to post blog links and updates as I find them regarding the situation in Oaxaca and follow-up reporting on Brad's murder, the search for those responsible, etc. So, keep referring to that post of October 28. And by the way, lots of credit to a bunch of these IMC people, for their persistence and their solidarity.