“People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing’s more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine.”
In fact, Palin loves Alaska and the …
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Barack Obama feels able to counsel others – most recently Armenians and Turks – to work through their pasts “in a way that is honest, open and constructive.” Otherwise, he cautions, unresolved history “can be a heavy weight.” And yet Obama decided to leave his own country’s past unresolved by boycotting this week’s international conference in Geneva, convened to review progress (or otherwise) since the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa in 2001.
This is a big step back from engagement with the international community, which the Obama administration had seemed to be promoting quite vigorously. And the U.S. move has encouraged other Western nations to boycott, further weakening what should have been an important forum.
All peoples of all colors have practiced slavery, race, oppression, or discrimination with varying ferocity. These are uncomfortable subjects at the best of times, but that’s no reason not to talk about them. Otherwise, they are indeed a heavy weight. Read the full story »
Call me a cynic, but I am deeply skeptical of the rhetoric I hear coming out of the Obama administration regarding healthcare reform. I am concerned at the pace with which a plan was adopted, the apparent lack of curiosity when it came to evaluating and embedding best practices of other countries, and the use of a propaganda ploy known to those in the trade as the Black–White Fallacy.
The Black–White Fallacy as defined by the New World Encyclopedia is the presentation of “only” two choices, with the product or idea being propagated as the better choice (for example, you can have an unhealthy, unreliable engine, or you can use brand X oil.) So after all the years of clamoring for reform we have now in front of us two choices when it comes to deciding the future of how healthcare will be paid for and delivered in this country. Read the full story »
“People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing’s more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine.”
In fact, Palin loves Alaska and the honor of serving its people so much that she told relieved Alaskan Republicans Friday afternoon that she is resigning, effective in a couple of weeks. Palin told a news conference at her Wasilla home that, having decided not to run for re-election, she wants to get out of the way.
“Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional ‘Lame Duck’ status in this particular climate would just be another dose of ‘politics as usual,’ something I campaigned against and will always oppose. It is my duty to always protect our great state,” Palin tells reporters. Read the full story »
Call me a cynic, but I am deeply skeptical of the rhetoric I hear coming out of the Obama administration regarding healthcare reform. I am concerned at the pace with which a plan …
Barack Obama feels able to counsel others – most recently Armenians and Turks – to work through their pasts “in a way that is honest, open and constructive.” Otherwise, he cautions, unresolved history “can be …
It is heartening to see the international community condemn the leaders of the coup against President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras. The United Nations welcomed him as an exiled hero and the Organization of American States …
Many are calling Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez “Castro’s Heir”—a man destined to be the perpetual thorn in the side of the United States just as Castro has been for the last 50 years.
Like Castro, Hugo …
Is a “cap and trade” system for managing U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide likely to be as successful as the sulfur dioxide “cap and trade” program established by the Clean Air Act of 1990? Most …
his week, by a majority vote, the California Legislature voted to raise some very modest revenues that no one but the most rabid hater of his fellow man could object to. A $1.50 on a …
One day after 15 international union leaders vowed to provide “material and moral” support to UNITE HERE’s defense against SEIU raids, the AFL-CIO sent a letter to the UNITE HERE convention condemning “all raiding of …
One of the lessons of identity politics is that success requires knowing not just what you’re for, but also what you’re against. Blacks are for racial justice and against racism. Women are for gender equity …
Yesterday, Minnesota’s senior Senator Amy Klobuchar won the over/under wager of before July 4th and the nearly 8-month-long nightmare for Minnesota’s voters came to an end. For 237 days, she served as Minnesota’s only Senator, …
Barack Obama’s reaction to the mass protests and violence in Iran shows he is following through on his pledge to be more like George H.W. Bush rather than his son, George W. Bush. Obama has …
The California State Senate adjourned at midnight, unable to pass three stopgap bills that would have saved the state $7 billion. To appease Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Democratic leaders of the state legislature hastily drew …
n a dramatic blow to SEIU’s efforts to raid UNITE HERE members and jurisdictions, 15 of the nation’s leading unions pledged Monday to provide UNITE HERE with “material and moral” support. Before a wildly cheering …
Earlier this week, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released a new housing report which provides a rather grim analysis of the current housing crisis. Real home prices continue to fall and …
One of the many frustrations for advocates of single-payer health care is the relentless drive to marginalize us, not only by conservatives but also by members of our own party.
Case in point: the accounting arm …
We’ve heard of John Yoo and Alberto Gonzales, and maybe even Jay Bybee. Some of us recall John Ashcroft, Michael Mukasey, and even David Addington. Michael Haynes, Stephen Bradbury, and Douglas Feith occasionally make the …
A few days ago, the anti-immigrant group, Numbers USA further relegated itself to the right-wing fringe by denouncing a potential “mainstream” ally, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and his “frightening pro-amnesty” stance. Shortly before President Obama’s …
The Central Intelligence Agency crucified a prisoner in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, according to a report published in The New Yorker magazine.
“A forensic examiner found that he (the prisoner) had essentially been crucified; he …
Evolutionary psychology teaches us that it may take as many as 1,000 generations for even an exceptionally beneficial genetic mutation to permeate an entire species. It is not surprising, then, that a mere ten generations …
UNITE HERE, best known for its Hotel Workers Rising campaign and successful organizing of the nation’s gaming industry, opens its national convention in Chicago today. When the event was scheduled, it seemed a perfect occasion …
It has become commonplace for Congress to ignore the public’s yearnings for peace and to support the Pentagon’s now habitual wars of aggression. Last November’s anti-war vote illustrates this disconnect between public opinion and public …
First off, get a jump on your neighbors. Don’t wait till Saturday, when “independence” will be so day-before-yesterday. Today, rush down to your neighborhood fireworks stand, grab a small family pack, and wait till dusk. ...
Welcome to my father’s homegoing!
He was a simple man with an extraordinary life,
A Georgia boy, born and raised in a wooden shack in Augusta,
In the heart of Jim Crow,
With segregation all around,
And with lynchings always ...
A while back I posted a commentary and review on Indie music as a soundtrack and metaphor for troubling financial times. In today’s atmosphere of music industry giants swallowing the little Indie guys and the ...
With the passing of Michael Jackson, I am 12 years old again and rediscovering the subversiveness of living authentically.
Now, Michael Jackson is not a “John Lennon.” He never used his celebrity status to aid ...
Yesterday’s solemn, over-the-top, wall-to-wall, commercial free coverage of Michael Jackson’s death left me wondering if Archduke Ferdinand had been shot a second time.
Yes, Jackson once was an entertainment and music genius but he hadn’t done ...
On June 29th, Dylan Ratigan, the former host of CNBC’s Fast Money, will premiere his new show, The Meeting With Dylan Ratigan, to air Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. on MSNBC. The show ...
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