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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Friday, February 4, 2011

4 February - my Yahoo! RSS

A table mapping the World Health Organization ...Image via Wikipedia







  • Johan Galtung on ‘Breaking the Cycle of Violent Conflict’ - 4 days ago"Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series," University of California-San Diego, Jan 20 2011 -- A noted pioneer in the field of Peace Studies, Johan Galtung makes the cas...
  • World History Unfolding - 4 days agoAnd then it happens, right there, for our eyes. The pattern, above all a product of the US-Israel alliance (inspired by Jesaiah 2:1-5), is unraveling. The pattern was always the same, by force or br...
  • Misunderstanding Israeli Motives - 4 days agoWhy is there no Palestinian state? Because the Israeli government's objective is not a Jewish state, but a Zionist one.
  • Ingredients for a True Peace Process - 4 days agoNote from the TMS Editor: Haaretz first published this article on 11 Sep 2007. The piece is being reposted in view of its relevance to ongoing developments on the Middle East and the information and i...
  • (French) Capitalisme Transnational ou Impérialisme Collectif? - 4 days agoSamir Amin pense que le capitalisme est une réalité historique et sociale - et non seulement économique – qu’il importe d’étudier comme un ensemble de sociétés capitalistes à caractère nationale. Cela...






  • Mubarak's Last Gambit - Manufacturing Chaos - 0 minutes ago"Mubarak despises his people more than they despise him. All he wants now is for his regime to survive and to restore a measure of ‘legitimacy’ and ‘stability’ - just enough to give his American patro...
  • Israel, Thy name is Arrogance - 0 minutes ago"Why should Israel have any say in how Egypt is ruled or by whom, post-Mubarak? And how audacious is Netanyahu that he feels he can make demands on the international community concerning another sover...
  • Pakistan: A Deficit of Dignity - 0 minutes ago"Let a million voices tweet, let a million Pakistanis assemble in every major city, and produce the energy, the electricity, vibrations and waves that will coalesce into a thousand creative projects f...
  • Egypt: Will U.S. and NATO launch Second Suez Intervention? - 0 minutes ago"Egypt is too strategically important to the U.S. and its European and Israeli allies to permit its citizens to exercise control over the nation's military and energy policies, over what passes throug...
  • Will the Secular Revolution end the Arab-Zionist regime of Egypt? - 0 minutes ago

 

cent Stories

  • VERSE / Mike Davis : A R I Z O N A -- By Mike Davis / The Rag Blog. Mike's poem is a vivid tribute to the other Arizona, inhabited by Cochise and the Apaches -- and the "desert cries for justice." "Cochise, you craved peace, / But the invaders murdered your children / for gold, copper and real estate." Conclusion: "(We must scalp Sheriff Joe)"
  • David McReynolds : Egypt, Beyond the Pyramids -- By David McReynolds / The Rag Blog. An essay about Egypt -- and about revolution -- with a bit of historical and personal reflection, looking back at the revolutions in the United States, Vietnam, France, and Cuba -- and at the American anti-war movement. In Egypt, David tells us, "we are seeing one of the rarest of things -- a moment when the people lose their fear of the State..."
  • Richard Flacks : Beyond Barack Obama -- By Richard Flacks. Professor Flacks is dismayed by the "anguished hand-wringing" and the "growing progressive drumbeat" about Obama's failed presidency. To wish for "The Leader," and "to cry when he seems to abandon us is childish, and it bespeaks impotence." The reason there is no movement on the Left is tied to the faults of leadership and vision in the progressive movement.
  • Ted McLaughlin : CBO Says Republican Policies Will Increase Debt, Deficit -- By Ted McLaughlin / The Rag Blog. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is the nonpartisan organization that the political parties use to judge the effect of their policies on the American economy. Lately, the Republicans have considered it more convenient to ignore CBO projections, because those projections show that the Republican approach will lead to a greatly expanded national debt and increase in the deficit.
  • Harry Targ : Revisionist History and the 'Great Presidency' of Ronald Reagan -- By Harry Targ / The Rag Blog. The right wing media -- on the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth -- have resumed the historical revisionism that portrays Reagan as a great president. In fact, the Reagan administration initiated policies that resulted in reducing the rights and living conditions of workers, a shift of wealth to the top one percent, and an increase in the percentage of people living in poverty -- and his global economic policies ("neoliberalism") were the beginning a disastrous international trend.
  • Jim Turpin : Is the United States a 'Banana Republic'? -- By Jim Turpin / The Rag Blog. The late great writer O. Henry coined the term "banana republic" when he was hiding out in Honduras for allegedly embezzling funds from the First National Bank of Austin in 1894. Now, Austin's Turpin suggests that the United States has become a "banana republic," and he lays out the reasons why. Examples: torture and detention of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals; spying and seizure of property; control of economic recourses by wealthy elites...
  • Kate Braun : The Feast of Candlemas -- By Kate Braun / The Rag Blog. Candlemas, also called Imbolc and Briget's Day, is a fire festival that encourages Lord Sun's continuing strengthening. The celebration of Candlemas should generate energy that promotes clarity and growth.
  • Mike Giglio : Egypt's Facebook Rebel -- By Mike Giglio. In Egypt, a Facebook activist known by the handle El Shaheeed, was one of the driving forces behind the historic protests. Giglio anonymously interviewed El Shaheeed, who said that Tunisia had given people in Egypt a sense of hope, and that he decided to corral that hope using social-media tools. The Facebook response contributed to the decision of Egyptian officials to shut down the Internet.
  • Thomas McKelvey Cleaver : We Reap What We Sow in Middle East -- By Thomas McKelvey Cleaver / The Rag Blog. The whirlwind in Egypt was set in motion 60 years ago, with two Middle Eastern leaders who wanted to modernize their countries -- Mohammed Mossadegh and Gamal Abdel Nasser. Mossadegh was overthrown by the CIA and was replaced by the return of the Shah. In Egypt, after Nasser's death, the U.S. began buying off the Egyptian leadership, with most of the largesse going to the military.
  • The Bangles : Walk Like an Egyptian -- The Bangles talk the walk in this classic music video. Still very cool -- and inspirational! -- after all these years.
  • Tom Hayden : In Egypt and the Middle East, It All Falls Down -- By Tom Hayden / The Rag Blog. Sixty years of American foreign policy alliances in the Middle East are in collapse. Finished is the U.S. alliance with the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, one forged in the name of expediency, and resulting in torture, repression of human rights, and the abuse of a majority of the Egyptian people. The two organized forces that are vindicated by this uprising, for different reasons, are Al Qaeda and Al Jazeera. The Al Jazeera constituency is democratic and pluralistic, not an incubator for Islamic fundamentalism.
  • Margarita Alarcón : All Roads Lead to Posada -- By Margarita Alarcón / The Rag Blog. Maggie tells us about the unique life of a young girl growing up in New York City as the daughter of a Cuban diplomat, and the rigid security precautions she was subjected to. Many Cubans in America and abroad were murdered, and Cubana Airlines Flight 455 was blown up in flight. One common denominator in all this anti-Cuban terrorist activity was former CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles, who has long gone unpunished, though he is now under indictment in Texas for, of all things, immigration violations.
  • SPORT / Dave Zirin : Those Nonprofit Packers -- By Dave Zirin / The Rag Blog. The Super Bowl-bound Green Bay Packers are the only publicly owned, not-for-profit, major professional sports team in the country. This unique setup has created a relationship between the Packers and the community unlike any in the N.F.L. They are financially solvent, competitive, and deeply connected to the Green Bay fans. It's a beautiful story, but one that the N.F.L tries to hide and make sure no other locality replicates.
  • Felix Shafer : Mourning for Marilyn Buck, Part II -- By Felix Shafer / The Rag Blog. Austin native Marilyn Buck -- activist, poet, and political prisoner -- was released from prison last December after serving 25 years for crimes related to her actions in support of the black liberation movement in the late '70s and early '80s. Twenty days later she died of cancer. This is the second of a poetic three part tribute to Marilyn by Felix Shafer, her long-time friend and artistic collaborator.
  • Robert Sheer : Hogwash, Mr. President -- By Robert Sheer. Sheer, a highly-respected political writer and editor for three decades, calls President Obama's State of the Union address "platitudinous hogwash." He says the speech was a distraction from what seriously ails us: "an unabated mortgage crisis, stubbornly high unemployment, and a debt that spiraled out of control while the government wasted trillions making the bankers whole."
  • Judy Gumbo Albert : Gun Show After Tucson -- By Judy Gumbo Albert / The Rag Blog. Albert, who was a founder of the Sixties agit-prop radical group, the Yippies, admits to having had a bit of a romantic fling with guns back in the day -- though she "never used my gun against a living being." After the tragic shooting in Tucson, Judy decides to visit a gun show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and this is her colorful account.
  • Lamar W. Hankins : America's Gun Problem -- By Lamar W. Hankins / The Rag Blog. Lamar takes a comprehensive look at America's obsession with guns. He tells us that states with more household gun ownership in fact have higher rates of firearm homicide and suicide. "Gun regulation," Hankins tells us, "is an area where special interests control the Congress, preventing effective public policies that would benefit the welfare and safety of all Americans."
  • Peter Finn : Drone Used in Austin Raises Privacy Issues -- By Peter Finn. In 2009 Texas DPS agents launched a bird-size surveillance drone over a hilltop home just outside Austin. They believed that the man inside had a large stash of drugs and a cache of hi-caliber guns, and they wanted to check for unseen dangers. This established a precedent and since then such use of drone technology has been approved more than 270 times, with Texas' DPS leading the way. This use of drones is raising significant issues of privacy and civil liberties.
  • Ted McLaughlin : Americans Don't Want to Gamble With Social Security -- By Ted McLaughlin / The Rag Blog. According to recent polls, the idea of cutting Social Security is not popular with the American public, and these feelings cut across party lines. In fact, given a choice of areas in which to cut government spending, the military leads by a large margin. The popular sentiment about not messing with Social Security flies in the face of the Republicans' long-standing opposition to the program and their current approach to "privatizing" it.
  • Harry Tarq : JFK and Obama Inspired Something Bigger Than Themselves -- By Harry Targ / The Rag Blog. Professor Targ tells us that President Kennedy crafted policies to "expand capitalism on a worldwide stage," greatly expanded U.S. military activity and dramatically increased military spending. But, on the other hand, JFK did "turn on a generation to the possibilities of changing America at home and abroad." In much the same way, Barack Obama inspired millions with allusions to fundamental change, and we can only hope that those he inspired will ignite the kind of radicalism that followed in JFK's wake.
  • Gregg Barrios : The Risqué Business of Texas' Most Famous Stripper -- By Gregg Barrios. Candy Barr was Texas most famous burlesque dancer but her life was complicated and difficult. She was beaten and sexually abused as a child, she shot her estranged husband when he tried to rape her, she spent time in prison for marijuana possession, she lived with mobster Mickey Cohen, and worked for Jack Ruby at his Carousel Club in Dallas. Gregg, who visited with Barr in 1984, spins a fascinating tale. The post includes photos and a vintage video.
  • Patricia Vonne Headlines Rag Blog Benefit Sunday at Jovita's in Austin -- The Rag Blog and Rag Radio sponsor a benefit concert featuring Latina rocker Patricia Vonne and singer-songwriter Gina Chavez this Sunday, Jan. 23, at Austin's Jovita's in Austin. Those who can't attend can still help out. Go to the post for details.
  • Jim Simons : Sargent Shriver and the Forgotten War Against Poverty -- By Jim Simons / The Rag Blog. R. Sargent Shriver, the Kennedy in-law who headed the Peace Corps and the War on Poverty, died Tuesday at 95. Simons, who worked in the Office of Economic Opportunity under Shriver, remembers his important work with great admiration. But, in reflecting on a time when the issue of poverty was recognized and seriously addressed, Jim says that "what strikes me as saddest of all is that the poor in America have been totally forgotten."
  • Lamar W. Hankins : The Bowdlerizing of Huckleberry Finn -- By Lamar W. Hankins / The Rag Blog. A new edition of Huckleberry Finn attempts to sanitize Mark Twain's masterpiece by removing the words "nigger" and "Injun" and substituting less offensive words. Hankins believes this is wrong-headed and that it ignores the historical context of the work and Twain's subversive intentions. Huck, after all, overcomes the mores of the times while discovering his common humanity with Jim, the runaway slave. Lamar cites a parallel experience in his own life that helped him to understand racism in our culture.
  • Ted McLaughlin : Haley Barbour's 'Eye for a Kidney' Deal -- By Ted McLaughlin / The Rag Blog. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has created controversy by commuting the life sentences of two sisters who were convicted in 1994 in an armed robbery that netted $11. His condition for the pardon was that one of the women must donate a kidney to her ailing sister. While not questioning the governor's decision to commute the sentences, Ted points to the serious ethical and legal precedents established by the governor's actions.
  • Thorne Dreyer : Journalist, Author, and 'Investigative Poet' John Ross (1938-2011) -- By Thorne Dreyer / The Rag Blog. John Ross, a long-time contributor to and friend of The Rag Blog, passed away this week after a two-year bout with liver cancer. Ross, whose roots were in old left politics and the beat poetry scene of San Francisco, styled himself an "investigative poet." A resident of Mexico City for the last 25 years, John's dispatches provided a unique perspective on life and politics south of the border. He was one of a kind, and we will miss him greatly. We include a poem of John's called "Los Muertos."
  • Frank Bardacke : John Ross Had All the Right Enemies -- By Frank Bardacke. A lovely textured tribute to Ross' life and work, his politics and his poetry. "He was among the last of the beats," Bardacke tells us, "master of the poetic rant, committed to the exemplary public act, always on the side of the poor and defeated."
  • Joshua Brown : Life During Wartime: Data Overload -- By Joshua Brown / The Rag Blog. Political cartoon and verse about robot drones and a war "carried out with a twitch of the wrist..."
  • Ed Felien : Words Have Consequences -- By Ed Felien / The Rag Blog. Gabrielle Giffords' opponent, Tea Party candidate Jesse Kelly, campaigned against the stimulus and the government, but in fact his family collects millions in federal contracts. Kelly, who used graphic violent rhetoric in his campaign, pretends to be a revolutionary at the barricades. Kelly told the New York Times, "if you dare to stand up the government they call us a mob. We're about to show them what a mob looks like."
  • Danny Schechter : Fascism, and the Past as Prologue -- By Danny Schechter / The Rag Blog. Noting that the term fascism conjures up "marching jack boots in the streets," Schechter ponders whether it could really happen to us, and what home-grown fascism might look like. Outgoing Democratic Congressman John Hall of New York warns that the potential for fascism here has less to do with repressive laws and militarism than with the influx of corporate money, with special interests buying influence for right wing policies.
  • Marc Estrin : The Ethics of Infiltration -- By Marc Estrin / The Rag Blog. Estrin continues with his discussion of "theatrical infiltrations." He tells us how the right-wing libertarian American Majority has training sessions on "How to Manipulate the Medium," in efforts to control "online dialogue." And how the Israeli government supports special undercover teams who load the internet with pre-prepared pro-Israel messages. And then there's the ominous "cognitive infiltration" suggested by the Obama administration's Cass Sunstein.
  • Jordan Flaherty : Corporate Profiteering One Year After Haiti Earthquake -- By Jordan Flaherty / The Rag Blog. A year after an earthquake devastated Haiti, much of the promised relief and reconstruction aid has not reached those most in need. In fact, the tragedy has served as an opportunity to further enrich corporate interests. Corporate profiteers, some of whom also got rich off Hurricane Katrina, have continued to use their political connections to receive contracts worth tens of millions of dollars while the Haitian people receive pennies at best.
  • Felix Shafer : Mourning for Marilyn Buck -- By Felix Shafer / The Rag Blog. Austin native Marilyn Buck -- activist, poet, and long-time political prisoner -- was released from prison last December after serving 25 years for crimes related to her actions in support of the black liberation movement in the late '70s and early '80s. Twenty days later she died of cancer. Felix Shafer, a long-time friend and artistic collaborator, has written a poetic tribute to Marilyn that puts her life and legacy into the context of her times, and that shows why she gained a very special place in the hearts of her many friends and supporters. This is the first of three parts.
  • Bruce Melton : It Is Colder Because It Is Warming -- By Bruce Melton / The Rag Blog. Melton, who writes regularly for The Rag Blog on issues of climate change, explains why recent occurrences of especially cold winter weather in no way contradict scientific theories about global warming. "On a warmer planet," he tells us, "winter weather becomes more volatile. The extremes get more extreme." In fact, some scientists now say that the chance of having extreme winter weather has increased by a factor of three, due to "feedbacks" from Arctic warming and icemelt.
  • Alyce Guynn : On the Passing of Poet Susan Bright -- By Alyce Guynn / The Rag Blog. The well-known poet, publisher, and environmental activist Susan Bright passed away on December 29, 2010 in Austin. Her friend and fellow poet Alyce Guynn writes of her life, her poetry, and her work in preserving Austin's landmark natural treasure, Barton Springs. The post includes poems that Alyce and Susan dedicated to each other -- and also has details of a memorial service that will include swimming and poetry reading, scheduled for Sunday, January 16, at Barton Springs.
  • Tom Hayden : The Right and the Shooting in Tucson -- By Tom Hayden / The Rag Blog. Hayden tells us that Arizona has become "ground zero in a right-wing war against the democratic process." Shooting victim Gabrielle Giffords was targeted with much violent rhetoric during her campaign, and her opponent, Tea Party-supported Jesse Kelly, was named the Number 1 "most terrifying candidate" in the 2010 Congressional elections by Salon.com. Kelly called on his followers to "get on target for Victory" against Giffords, and invited them to "shoot a fully automatic M16" with him at a campaign function.
  • Ralph Solonitz : Killer Brew! -- By Ralph Solonitz / The Rag Blog. Political cartoon suggests the recent shootings in Arizona were much more than a tempest in a teapot.
  • Jonah Raskin : Chickens Come Home to Roost in Arizona -- By Jonah Raskin / The Rag Blog. Shortly after JFK was assassinated, Black Muslim leader Malcolm X observed, "The chickens have come home to roost." And H. Rap Brown once said, "Violence is as American as cherry pie." Jonah reminds us that America remains a very violent place. And it is no accident that the recent shootings took place in Arizona, where politicians, in stirring up hatred of Mexicans, liberals, and Democrats, created such a volatile atmosphere that it should come as no surprise that "an armed and dangerous man would take action."
  • Robert Jensen : Machines Change, Our Work Remains the Same -- By Robert Jensen / The Rag Blog. Professor Jensen discusses the effects of technology on political organizing, from "mimeograph activism" and "phone activism" to the "computer-mediated communication" in today's left/progressive organizing work. His cautionary tale looks at the possibilities and limitations of these technologies -- while pointing out that the crisis in the ecosphere, fueled by our oil-based culture, cannot for long sustain life as we are now living it, much less the world of high technology with its equally high energy consumption.
  • Patricia Vonne Headlines Jan. 23 Rag Blog Benefit Bash. Acclaimed Latina rocker Vonne and singer-songwriter Gina Chavez headline a Rag Blog/Rag Radio benefit bash at Jovita's in Austin. Proceeds go to the New Journalism Project, the Texas nonprofit corporation that publishes The Rag Blog.
  • Marc Estrin : Infiltrations -- By Marc Estrin / The Rag Blog. Novelist Estrin, who has also been involved in cutting edge theater projects through the years, discusses a kind of theater he calls "infiltrations" -- subversive little theater pieces that, well, don't appear to be theater to their audiences. He describes two such provocative infiltrations -- at a Cost Plus import store in San Francisco, and at that city's legendary City Lights Bookstore.
  • Glenn W. Smith : Gabrielle Giffords and The Blood of Eden -- By Glenn W. Smith / The Rag Blog. In his poetic reflection on the shooting of Representative Giffords, Glenn puts our escalating political violence into historical context ("we are a nation tattooed in crimson"), while interspersing verses of Peter Gabriel's "Blood of Eden." But Glenn does not believe this violence to be inevitable. "Our greatness lies less in violent victories than in moments of democratic transcendence." He adds that "we must acknowledge and extinguish the fear that can twist the hearts of those who very briefly share this place with us."
  • James Noland : Sarah Palin and JFK's Houston Speech -- By James Noland / The Rag Blog. Noland was the clergyman most responsible for inviting presidential candidate Jack Kennedy to speak in Houston before a group of Protestant ministers in 1960. It was at that event that JFK -- who would become our first Catholic president -- gave his famous speech on the relationship between church and state. Now, in her recent book, Sarah Palin has attacked Kennedy for his position that religion should be "a private matter" and that, in America,"the separation of church and state are absolute." Noland here calls Palin to task. The post includes a rare video of Kennedy's speech.
  • Glenn W. Smith : Aristotle and the Cyberpoke -- By Glenn W. Smith / The Rag Blog. Smith -- who will be Thorne Dreyer's guest on Rag Radio this Friday -- reports from a visit to West Texas where he tells us he's "always surprised -- and touched -- by the strong spirit of friendship and community that marks the place." At a time when American political culture has deteriorated and "the various perils of modernity [have] weakened the role of friendship in our political life," Glenn wants to kick off the new year on a positive note. He cites Aristotle, "who said true friendship transcends simple utilitarian relations, making justice possible and the political community stronger."
  • Alan Waldman : My 10 Favorite Films of 2010 -- By Alan Waldman / The Rag Blog. Alan tells us his list of best films is shorter than usual this year because there were fewer good films, and because "I went to theaters less and spent more time watching excellent older films on Netflix." But he provides us with an intriguing -- and somewhat surprising -- Top 10, headed by City Island, an "offbeat, warm-hearted and thoroughly enjoyable" comedy that only played briefly in theaters.
  • Lamar W. Hankins : 'Death Panel' Hysteria Gets New Life -- By Lamar W. Hankins / The Rag Blog. Right-wing political columnist Charles Krauthammer "ended 2010 with an old, noxious story-line dressed up in new clothing," reviving the scare stories about death panels connected to health care reform and calling end-of-life counseling "a possible first slippery step on the road to state-mandated late-life rationing." Hankins uses his family experience to discuss the great benefits that can come from such counseling and says the ravings from the right on such matters have the "potential for causing great harm."
  • Dr. Stephen R. Keister : Rheumatoid Arthritis and Medical Arrogance -- By Dr. Stephen R. Keister / The Rag Blog. The good doc's most recent dispatch is in part a response to an earlier Rag Blog article by David Hamilton about his experience with the medical establishment in treatment of his rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Keister, who is himself a retired rheumatologist, discusses his experience in treating RA, and the larger questions involving the state of health care in our society and of medical ethics (and "medical arrogance") in the profession today.
  • Jeff Biggers : Thousands Honor Environmental Visionary Judy Bonds -- By Jeff Biggers. "She has been to the mountaintop, and now we must fight harder to save it." Julia "Judy" bonds -- the "godmother of the anti-mountaintop removal movement" -- was one of the great visionaries of environmental activism -- fearless, funny, and inspiring. In her continuing struggle against Big Coal, this daughter of central Appalachia inspired a new generation of clean energy and human rights activists across the nation. Bob Kincaid called her "our Hillbilly Moses," and she is being mourned by thousands. With two videos.
  • Robert Jensen : 'Greatest Nation' Rhetoric Comes Roaring Back -- By Robert Jensen / The Rag Blog. American exceptionalism tells us that the U.S. has brought prosperity to the world, protecting all that is decent against evil. Rich Lowry wrote in the National Review: "Our greatness is simply a fact. Only the churlish or malevolent can deny it..." The sloganism of the Tea Parry -- and the United States' decline as an economic power -- have brought this talk roaring back into mainstream dialogue, and Professor Jensen challenges the assumptions about American superiority as well as the concept of patriotism.
  • Ray Reece : The Hard Landing of a Radical in Austin, 1967 -- By Ray Reece / The Rag Blog. We have asked some of our old school colleagues to share with us their unique experiences and adventures in the political and cultural movements of the radical Sixties, and Ray Reece obliges in spades! He tells of two men who greatly influenced his life as he combines the story of his baptism by fire into the anti-war movement with his introduction to a "passionate reverence for living things." How he was changed by both experiences and how they have informed the rest of his life.
  • Harry Targ : Words Still Matter -- By Harry Targ / The Rag Blog. Analyzing seminal speeches by President Eisenhower, Dr. King, and Jimmy Carter, Professor Targ shows how words really matter. "We have become so drugged by politicians that we often fail to reflect on the power of their words," he says. He discusses the rhetoric and power of these speeches and how we can learn from them and use that knowledge in progressive organizing. But we must also "cut through the propaganda which often leads political figures to be lionized and transformed into everyday.
  • Ralph Solonitz : Year of the Rabbit! -- Cartoon by Ralph Solonitz / The Rag Blog. Introducing the "wascally wabbit" of 2011: A year with teeth!
  • Danny Schechter : The Media Hit Job on Helen Thomas -- By Danny Schechter / The Rag Blog. Correspondent Helen Thomas -- the dean of the White House Press Corps -- experienced a steep fall from grace in 2010 due to some regrettable comments she made about Israel during what amounted to a journalistic ambush -- marking an abrupt end to her long and storied career. Schechter, who has known and admired Thomas throughout his years as a journalist, and who talked with her for this article, believes she got a raw deal from the media. "She may be a critic of Israel but never a hater of Jews," observes Schechter, himself Jewish.
  • Marc Estrin : Mob 'n Maul -- By Marc Estrin / The Rag Blog. Classical musician Estrin says we keep being bombarded by "random acts of culture," and gives as an example how Handel's Hallelujah Chorus is performed at shopping malls and food courts. He's been asked to participate in such "Hallelujah flash mobs," but has declined, questioning if it is appropriate to be singing "for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth," in the midst of "ongoing orgies of consumerism."
  • Keith Joseph : Surplus Labor and the Mystery of Capitalism -- By Keith Joseph / The Rag Blog. In his essay on Marxism, Joseph says the most important concept for us to understand is the difference between necessary labor and surplus labor. Exploitation occurs "when the people who do the work and produce the surplus are different from the people who get the product of that work and surplus." In an egalitarian society, the decisions about how to use the surplus assets -- to take care of the sick, for example -- are made by the people who do the work.
  • Nina Lakhani : Cuban Medics in Haiti Put World to Shame -- By Nina Lakhani. Lakhani describes the remarkable role being played by Cuban medics in Haiti, where Castro's doctors and nurses have been the backbone of the fight against cholera and are the "real heroes of the Haitian earthquake disaster." While most countries lending assistance were gone within months, Cuban medical personnel, working in 40 centers across the island nation, have treated more than 30,000 cholera patients since October. A third of Cuba's 75,000 doctors are currently working in 77 poor countries around the world.
  • Don Swift : Narcissism and the 'Weeper of the House' -- By Don Swift / The Rag Blog. House Speaker-designate John Boehner's inclination to cry has been the object of considerable comment. Swift discusses the "Weeper of the House" in the context of narcissism and of "Country Club Republican" Boehner's belief system, which is based on bumper sticker-style bromides. His crying jags seem tied to his deep belief that the essence of the American Dream involves becoming a millionaire like him.



  • Daily Roundup: February 3, 2011 - 14 hours agoTough Love: A smoking ban in New York has extended to include municipal parks, beaches, and Times Square. BBC News Public Has Spoken: Two-thirds of Americans want the EPA to do more, and all parties...
  • Bring on the Rain, Stanford Students Say - 17 hours agoIn the U.S., the average person can use up to 100 gallons of water each day. In California, 20% of all electricity  is used for the heating, transportation, and treatment of water. As water...
  • A Kindergarten Eco-Contest Gets Ugly - 21 hours agoWhen a Quebec kindergarten teacher announced a classroom contest to eliminate plastic Ziploc baggies from lunchboxes, her goal was to teach students that plastic isn't good for the planet. However, w...
  • Green Your Super Bowl Party: Be the Host - 1 day agoSunday's the Super Bowl , an American institution during which living-room celebrations can reach the same fever pitch as the stadium itself. Are you hosting a party? This week's tips are abo...
  • Daily Roundup: February 2, 2011 - 1 day ago


  • Questions About Obama and The Muslim Brotherhood Lead To More Questions - 16 hours agoIndeed, the more answers I get about this organization, the more questions I have. For instance, why did Obama invite the PM of the Muslim Brotherhood to his speech in Cairo on June, 9, 2009? Especi...
  • New Feature Up at NoQuarter * Open Thread [Egypt Update] - 22 hours ago[ UPDATE ON EGYPT: Astonishingly (and disturbingly), the Amnesty International delegate has been "detained" in Egypt, along with other key human rights delegates. Their whereabouts are "unknown." B...
  • Exit - 22 hours agoEditor’s Note: John has plenty to say about Obama and his administration.   Am told of genuine frustration and doubt at White House with regard the decision by Hosni Mubarak to make a...
  • Before the Splat - 1 day agoQuestion. How does Egypt select new leadership? Dissect the probable answers by asking the possible questions. Dissection is the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its int...
  • Bad Weather Day for Punxsutawney Phil (Open Thread) - 1 day ago




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Day of Departure' electrifies Egypt

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