Healthcare, Prisons, Racism, Ageism, Politics, LGBTQ
Like it or not, knuckle-draggers: Science is back IN. As a life-long Catholic, I couldn’t be more delighted. I’m sure the airwaves and the cable channels will soon be wall-to-wall with conservatives and Republicans and other assorted 13th-century thinkers whining and moaning and ringing their hands – probably gnashing their teeth and rending their garments, [...]
You can’t write that about the president of the NAACP. “Write what?” I said. “That,” Melissa told me, pointing at my notebook’s screen. “You’re calling him a ‘mulatto’?” “Well, that’s the definition, right? His father was white, his mother was black. I think.” I scratched my head. “Maybe he’s a quadroon .” Melissa rolled her [...]
After presiding over the Democratic Party’s most successful national grassroots mobilizing campaign since the New Deal, Howard Dean is returning to Democracy for America, the organization he founded nearly five years ago. Dean’s return to DFA got scant attention in the traditional media, which has underestimated the former Vermont Governor from his 2004 presidential campaign [...]
I’m a medical marijuana patient in Los Angeles who suffers from chronic pain due to a work-related repetitive strain injury. This summer I sat through the trial of Charles C. Lynch. Charles Lynch was the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary in California. I learned about Charles Lynch after seeing Drew Carey’s “Raiding California” video [...]
How worried should Americans be about the drug wars being fought just across the border? Under the Merida Initiative, the Bush administration committed $1.4 billion in military assistance to Mexico and the Senate is now considering a House move to increase this year’s figure by $410 million. This seems as foolhardy to me as the [...]
Believe it or not. You don’t believe it? You’re probably right. More likely it’s 28 million e-mails that are lost or missing. How could this happen? All White House communications not regarded as top secret or considered intelligence sensitive, are supposed to be put in the archives. Instead, the RNC computer delete keys must be [...]
Is he the U.S. military’s worst nightmare? Imagine, a radical homosexual with his hands on the military’s purse strings. It’s hard to believe that after 15 years of repressive, misguided military policy (“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”), which stigmatized and prevented gay men and lesbians from serving honestly and openly in our country’s Armed Forces, the [...]
Bree Walker Sent This Note: Date: Mar 6, 2009 6:36 PM Subject: I NEED YOUR HELP! To all of my friends, I am writing to all of you because I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP! I rarely ever send out any mass emailings in fact this is the first one I can remember ever writing:) In [...]
The American people’s faith in their government—even with the election of Barack Obama—remains compromised. One reason is obvious. Americans see low-level military operatives being imprisoned for mistreatment, even murder, of prisoners. At the same time, high-level officials go uninvestigated and unpunished. In their case, we’re told to look forward rather than backward, an empty phrase [...]
About this time last year, Sharon and I were so taken with a media summit we attended at Caltech called “Local Media for Social Change” that we joined its organizing committee to help prepare for the next one, which is going to be held in two weeks, this time at Occidental College. We found that [...]
Budget Obama Rescuing Capitalism: That’s a Lot of Weight for One Brother. Obama is present at the re-creation of the global economic system. “It is a challenge he has to take up,” Like I said, that’s a lot of weight. –Carl Bloice Is Obama Responsible for Wall Street’s Meltdown? Where Populist Rage Is Heading. The [...]
As President Barack Obama today puts out a strong call for reform in government contracting, it’s worth taking a look back at last week’s congressional hearing, artfully titled “How Convicts and Con Artists Receive New Federal Contracts.” Last week’s hearing was based on the findings of a report issued last week by the Government Accountability [...]
Recently, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) was accused of playing the race card when he characterized Southern governors’ opposition to the $787 billion federal stimulus package as “a slap in the face of African-Americans.” He was referring to the four Republican governors who have opposed accepting some or all of the money, including Gov. Rick Perry [...]
Every Friday the LA Progressive features a comment that was particularly noteworthy. This week we are featuring a comment submitted by Linda Doran, writing in response to “Ending the Annual Budget Impasse Ritual” by Richard M. Mathews. Linda writes: The intent behind this suggestion is laudable, but in my opinion, the threat of taking the [...]
Back in December, when it was obvious that the economy was in bad shape and before we knew how precarious it could get, Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International and columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post, wrote, “For Obama to be remembered as a great president, he has to do nothing less than rescue [...]
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