LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Monday, September 5, 2011

The 9/11 Winners and the Losers are the Workforce

So far today on WNYC programming I've heard exactly one story directed to Labor Day. Everything else is either repeats from the summer as the hosts are on vacation, or else, Ta-Dah! 9/11 and Terrorism.

That single Labor Day story on NPR, by the way?  It was focused on Sandy Pope, the first woman to run for Teamsters Union General President.  What is that phenomenon here in the U.S., that whenever women make way in some profession or institution or job, it no longer is a paying upward mobile opportunity?

Pulled from da List:

The other problem with nineteenth-century relic Labor Day is that it's not very merchandisable. But for that we have a new twenty-first century commemorative
day, September 11. I had to walk by the site yesterday on my way somewhere, which I do as little as possible because it gives me the willies. It's bustling with tourists snapping pictures, and the new, unnecessary, expensive (according to the article below, it will cost twice as much as a typical skyscraper), eyesore on the site of One WTC is presently being clad with glass. And there's a storefront 9/11 memorial preview site, at 20 Vesey Street, with a . . . brightly painted Harley-Davidson in the window: 9/11 victim James Cartier's Memorial Motorcycle. They also have something called the "Dear Hero" collection.
The cost overruns are being funded in part by an increase in PATH train fares. The pull quote:
>the already gold-plated construction plan for Ground Zero has blown its budget again and the people who are least responsible for the increase, the people who actually pay their taxes and suffer the daily commute into Manhattan, have to come up with the money to pay for it . . . The memorial is so expensive that the Port Authority, not known for its frugality, is demanding $150 million from it to cover its own outlays.
From the Village Voice:

"9/11: The Winners," by Geoff Rayman
"For some people the terrorist attacks have been a goldmine ...."

 Read the article to see the breakdown of the intersection of the 'most terrible day in our national history' and money for nothing for those who know how to get it away from the suckers rest of us. Who most likely don't even have jobs. And if you're over 50 it's unlikely you ever will again, at least in this country.

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