Category Archives: Finale to “24” Countdown

“24” The Saga Continues, Unfortunately

May 25, 2010 Chuck Fager Leave a comment

Jack Bauer torture show Yesterday the question was: Is this, at long last, the end of the long-running torture infomercial “24″??

Today we know the answer: It is not just NO, but Hell NO!

Continue reading “24” The Saga Continues, Unfortunately →

Finale to "24" Countdown

“24” Finale: One Week & Counting to Torture Show’s Exit

May 17, 2010 Chuck Fager Leave a comment

Finale to "24" Countdown

“24” Finale Countdown Continues . . . .

May 14, 2010 Chuck Fager Leave a comment

Finale to "24" Countdown

“24” Finale Countdown: 16 Days to Go

May 8, 2010 Chuck Fager Leave a comment

Bauer vs Mayer

Two weeks plus two days til the ignoble end of the torture show “24.” As it prepares to depart, let’s take a moment to recognize New Yorker writer Jane Mayer. No journalist has done more than she to expose both the criminal reality of US torture, and the impact of “24” on both the reality of those crimes and the selling of that criminality to the American public.

Continue reading “24” Finale Countdown: 16 Days to Go →

Finale to "24" Countdown

Good News: “24”- FINALE COUNTDOWN– 20 DAYS TO GO.

May 4, 2010 Chuck Fager Leave a comment

Best news I learned today: The TV Torture Training show “24” will end on May 24. This is not really “news,” as the cancellation was announced in late March.

Continue reading Good News: “24”- FINALE COUNTDOWN– 20 DAYS TO GO. →

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Cultural Appropriation: the Sad Case of AFSC

June 29, 2018

In this issue, forty years of observation, research and writing on AFSC is compiled and summarized. The thesis drawn from this compilation is that it is theology – or whatever is behind that term -- which makes Quakerism real, and this difficult-to-pin-down “quotidian” (aka, real Quakerism’s everyday community and spiritual life) is what animates Quaker witness and service; and that without it, the service is fatally compromised.. Further, that AFSC, in cutting loose from the RSOF, in all its messy “quotidian” (yet through which somehow the Spirit seems to work; after all, it birthed AFSC) has undermined the most precious aspect of its brand: its authenticity. Marketing experts agree that without that, a brand is like a cut flower, the roots severed. You can put the stems in a vase, change the water & add Floralife, but the blossoms are still mortally wounded, and will eventually wither or stiffen, fade and crumble. […]

The Deaths Of Racism, And Racism In Deaths

February 12, 2018

Helena then beckoned us through an opening in the low wall, into what seemed an empty field. This plot was meant to be added to the cemetery (since UVA professors keep stubbornly falling short of immortality). But when archaeologists tested the ground, they discovered that it too was full of unmarked, and previously unknown graves. […]

From "Quakers & Resistance" -- Tom Fox Paid the Price

January 12, 2018

Who killed the unarmed Quaker peaceworker Tom Fox in Iraq? And why? Few other than the ones who pulled the trigger know the truth, and one wonders how much even they understand. Speculation abounds, of course, with many of my more left-leaning friends imagining a CIA-sponsored conspiracy to silence these noisy pacifist dissenters. Yet from the reading and interviews I have done, the most likely guess seems much more mundanely sordid: it was probably all about money. The videos showing Tom and the others were issued by a previously unknown group, “The Swords of Righteousness Brigades.” This name is very likely a fake, a cover for a criminal gang, which simply kidnaped them for ransom. There was, as John and I learned while keeping our vigil, a sizable kidnaping industry in Iraq. Many Iraqis have been thus abducted for profit, as well as citizens of numerous other countries. James Loney felt the ransom was wanted to help finance the guerrilla insurgency. Many other observers feel that while the kidnapers are Muslims, and many have likely suffered from the invasion and occupation, these crimes appear to be only loosely connected to religious or political grievances. Rather, they are more a specimen of organized crime gangs mushrooming in a devastated and lawless society. From this “profit-seeking” perspective, taking CPT team members was not a particularly good “investment”: the group has pledged not to pay, and not to ask anyone else to. Moreover, none of the four had a personal fortune to plunder. But the gang likely figured that regardless of such brave declarations, given enough pressure, someone would eventually cave in and pay. (Harmeet Sooden, a fellow hostage with Tom, later told a New Zealand press conference that he suspected a ransom had been paid for him and the other survivors, despite vehement government denials.) But if the kidnapers were after money, why kill Tom? There are a number of hypotheses: […]

Can Dr. King's 1968 Poor Peoples Campaign Rise Again?

December 5, 2017

"Uncertain Resurrection" is an indispensable case study of how badly the best intentions of even highly-talented and dedicated people can go wrong. Its concise, suspenseful narrative shows how an ill-starred crusade that was aimed at advancing peace and justice, took shape in the wake of murder and riot, and marched into a maelstrom of confusion and chaos. Yet its example has helped keep hope alive. […]

New Resistance Reading: "Our Society. Our Future: Resist!"

March 11, 2017

This new collection (now available in paperback and on Kindle) is for those who have been through "a time to lose" -- losses that, as I write, are far from over. Some of these losses will have to be endured for a time, perhaps a long time. Yet if so, they are not to be endured in passive, compliant silence. These losses will afflict some more, with the weight of an enslaved history on one side, and official bullets on the other. Yet even among those most advantaged, none will escape: the very air that all breathe, the water necessary for all life, are at risk, as well as justice, and what we have known of freedom. Likewise the ways of resistance are manifold, and guides and programs and checklists for the new waves of resistance strategy are proliferating. This collection is not meant to add to that burgeoning strategy shelf. After all, no program can fully encompass the resistance. Its scale can include monumental gatherings of hundreds of thousands -- even millions. It is also carried on in quiet, solitary acts of defiance. Often these are no more than calm, insistent truth-telling, now an increasingly radical act as lies are embedded in the heart not only of government, but enshrined in the high seats of what is called religion, especially American white Christianity. Amid this great variety, there are two resources which the resistance handbooks mention, but cannot turn into a formula, namely creativity and imagination. These are weapons more of the weak than the strong, and buckets of money are not enough to quell or substitute for them. […]

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. . .widely recognized as the most vivid and accurate account of the Selma movement . . .

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. . . vivid, revealing first-person counterpart to the author's highly-praised historical account, Selma 1965 . . .

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Examines the strategy & tactics, successes & failures, history & future of faith-based work to end war, and to dismantle militarism and the repression it has spawned.

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Examines the neglected role of Progressive Quakers in 19th and 20th century activism -- abolition, women's rights & more.

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How Progressive Quaker activism helped change America.

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A new collection of jokes, humorous anecdotes, cartoons and graphics about Quakers.

A Friendly Letter

Chuck Fager — Writer, Editor

Category Archives: Finale to “24” Countdown

“24” The Saga Continues, Unfortunately

“24” Finale: One Week & Counting to Torture Show’s Exit

“24” Finale Countdown Continues . . . .

“24” Finale Countdown: 16 Days to Go

Good News: “24”- FINALE COUNTDOWN– 20 DAYS TO GO.