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Breitbart May be Pulled into ACORN-Related San Diego Lawsuit Against O'Keefe, Giles
The civil trial against Republican propagandist and con-artist Andrew Breitbart's salaried employee James O'Keefe --- a convicted federal criminal as well as propagandist and con-artist in his own right --- continues in San Diego where a former ACORN employee has sued both O'Keefe and his partner Hannah Giles for violations of California's privacy act. The case arises from the secret video taping
We Report, They Provide...Analysis: Maddow on Secret Koch Tapes, Hartmann on New Diebold Hack
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow offered a nice hat-tip to us Tuesday night for our Secret Koch Tapes exclusive at Mother Jones on NJ Gov. Chris Christie (the complete segment, much longer than the clip below, is here)... And RT's Thom Hartmann did similar for our Tuesday Salon exclusive on Argonne National Lab's Remote Control Diebold Hack (he covered it several times, with nice hat-tips by name, on b
'Green News Report' - September 29, 2011
TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport VIA SMART PHONE: Stitcher Radio! IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Climate change denial industry desperately distorting EPA reports; 'Poo Power' lights London --- literally; Historic dam removal creating a bunch of new dam jobs; PLUS: Rand Paul wants the Koch Brothers to go to jail?!? (but he doesn't want you to have safer gas pipelines ... All that and more in today's Green New
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Suzie-Q ★ 13 
Identified: NYPD Officer Who Maced Peaceful Protesters
Common Dreams Tuesday, September 27, 2011 A photographer has identified the cruel and cowardly NYPD supervisor who point blank maced a penned in group of young women and then slinks away Saturday at the Occupy Wall Street protests: Deputy Inspector Anthony V. Bologna of the NYPD Patrol Borough Manhattan South. Source: Common Dreams
Occupy Wall Street will not be Televised on M$M
Olbermann calls out media hypocrisy on ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest RawStory posted 09.21.11 By Eric W. Dolan Keith Olbermann pointed out Wednesday night on Countdown that the major newspapers had been ignoring the five-day-long “Occupy Wall Street” protests, but would have scrambled to cover a similar-sized tea party protest. “Why isn’t any major news outlet covering this?” he asked. “If tha
Welcome to Boston, Mr. Rumsfeld. You Are Under Arrest
by Ralph Lopez Global Research, September 20, 2011 Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been stripped of legal immunity for acts of torture against US citizens authorized while he was in office. The 7th Circuit made the ruling in the case of two American contractors who were tortured by the US military in Iraq after uncovering a smuggling ring within an Iraqi security company. The compa
Thousands Cheer Bernie Sanders’s Appeal to Obama, Super-Committee: Make the Rich Pay for Deficits
Senator Bernie Sanders on the Senate Floor Feb. 16, 2011 The Nation September 18, 2011 John Nichols Declaring that “Social Security is the most successful government program in our nation’s history,” and decrying threats to Medicare and Medicaid that would punish Americans who did not cause the current economic crisis, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders brought thousands of progressives from acros
NewsPirates/From the Quarterdeck ★ 8
The Amount of Retirement Savings Do You Need?
Once you know just how much retirement income you actually need to support yourself in your retirement life, then we can let you know simply how much retirement savings you actually need. Say you determine you need $50,000 each year to sustain yourself in your retirement life. You obtain a benefits record from Social Security which shows that you will get $20,000 annually from Social Security, an
Video Games Kill…Okay…Cripple…Ummm…Maim…okay…leave a red mark on your neck
Ah the NOOB taunt! Who can resist, snuffing them and doing a verbal victory dance on their virtual corpse. It is as much of MMORPG as deciphering the rules and looking for that ultimate weapon/spell/rune that brings fulfillment to your life. Usually the tauntee seeks virtual vegenence on the tauntor, occasionally it bleeds over into the RW. 46-year-old Mark Bradford of Plymouth, England was doin
Auburn Game Day Dresses simply by Judith 03! 473D2, 473D3, 437D3, 492D2
If you are searching for an great Azure as well as Lemon game day time dress to be able to cheer on your favored staff Auburn, we have a lot of super cute appear which get an individual in the actual? group nature! With more than Twenty azure and fruit attire available, we’ve 4 of our faves below. Go through the images to shop the design you see, or even just click here to look all of our Judith 0
How To Find The Right Insurance Coverage Broker
Trying to find low-cost life insurance coverage? Find the correct insurance coverage adviser very first. It is a given undeniable fact that your agent should be an experienced. But in order to be an expert, does your life insurance professional must be a chartered existence underwriter? Definitely not, even though it certainly can help. The following is how to [...]
buyng spring loaded hinges
When property owners are receiving pantry shelves built, they often overlook the options designed for depends. Why must these concealed items of computer hardware advantage our attention much less our hard-earned us dollars? 1. Hinges decide the ease where a cupboard front door is [...]
Amygdala ★ 6
Off With Their Heads!
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!I say we just kill all accused murderers from now on.Think of the money saved, the deficit, and, of course, the children.Now that we've established that the courts and Constitution don't matter, let's just jail all the accused criminals, too. Why lose sleep? They're murderers and criminals!The state says so.All Presidents need the power to assassinate people simply because the
Papers, Please
PAPERS, PLEASEChildren.Who we hates, we do, because their parents are illegal immigrants.And in Alabama, this is now happening: FOLEY, Alabama -- Many of the 223 Hispanic students at Foley Elementary came to school Thursday crying and afraid, said Principal Bill Lawrence. Nineteen of them withdrew, and another 39 were absent, Lawrence said, the day after a federal judge upheld much of Alabama’s s
You'Re Only As Small As Your Dreams
YOU'RE ONLY AS SMALL AS YOUR DREAMS. Dream large. Read more posts at Amygdala!
Orbit With Me
ORBIT WITH ME. Ever dream of doing this? Dream a little dream.Dream a big dream.Read more posts at Amygdala!
altmuslim ★ 9
Response to recession: Less mosques, more charity
It was announced recently that 40,000 Bank of America employees are being laid off. My heart feels broken over the news. It seems like every time there is a chance that we as a country can pull together and work through this, something else knocks us back down a couple of notches. The economic news is compounded by the fact that before these layoffs, 15 percent of our country was already in povert
Social change in Saudi: Using the media to amplify women’s voices
Social media was abuzz with excitement at Saudi King Abdullah’s recent decision to appoint women to the Shura (consultative) Council and to allow them to vote and run in the 2015 municipal elections. The right to vote and hold public office has been at the top of Saudi women’s demands for the past decade and has been widely discussed in social and traditional media. If you enter the world of socia
Perceptions of Muslims: What’s pork got to do with it?
In 2004, I was working in Washington, D.C. with the largest Muslim civil rights organization in America when I received a telephone call from a distressed American Muslim woman. She reported standing outside her home in Maryland when a car filled with teenage boys sped by but not before throwing a ham sandwich at her. She was calling to report this as a bias incident. Like Jews, Muslims are religi
US-Pakistan relations: Tragedy of two countries
An unassuming Iraqi peasant sitting down to a meal, some Afghan shopkeeper pulling down his shutters and some Pakhtun elder leading a jirga are caught in a circle of death along with New York firefighters and Pentagon janitors. On the shores of the United States there has been much commemoration, the date having become an iconised day of mourning to invest meaning in two confusing wars. On Pakista
Movie "Fordson": New English-speaking patriots
On a personal level, the most surprising aspect of Rashid Ghazi's new documentary, "Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football," is that he managed to keep it a secret and even managed the time to make it. An old friend, he personally funded and directed this portrait of a week in the life of a tightly-knit Detroit community at the beginning of their 2009 school year. A husband, a father, and tireless exec
Remembering 9/11: A familiar yet unique story
I was walking west through Midtown Manhattan’s urban canyons and admiring the cloudless September day when I met a small, disparate group of distressed pedestrians looking skyward. They told me a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. It was such a clear day, but could it have been an accident? Minutes later when I came to Madison Avenue, I found people lining both the sidewalks. They were
(title unknown) ★ 9
“Quantum Beauty” by Lesley Ann Brown
Sister Ana recommended this post from the blog, blackgirls on mars. It’s brilliant and very insightful… the best thing I’ve read in quite a while. Click on image of Alex Wek.
“Making the Case For Digital Activism” by Jessica Ann Mitchell
Post submission by Jessica Ann Mitchell The recent Troy Davis case sparked a firestorm of digital outcries. Online protests were launched along with online petitions. Amnesty International collected over 630,000 signatures in support of Davis. Twitter and Facebook were both taken over by hashtags and updates. Millions of people were discussing the case and educating others about it. The Davis case
“African rulers, hypocrisy, greed and myopia” by Nkwazi Mhango
Before being booted out of power, Libyan tyrant, Muammar Gadaffi, lived a deceptive life by sleeping in the tent as symbol of simplicity and likeness with common Libyans. Before falling from grace, no common citizen had ever peeped in the mansions of his children despite being built and kept by the taxes of the common man and woman. Common people were not allowed to get close to these highly guard
Byts and Bytes
Canadian Senator Talks Race Relations The Economist: How To Build A Religion Black Yoda: Straw (Colored) Man Arguments Truthdig: The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Recalls Obama’s Fall From Grace Breaking Brown: barack obama doesn’t like black people (and that includes troy davis) “To All” – A message from Troy Anthony Davis
Green & White ★ 9
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Pickled Politics ★ 6
EDL exposed in damning academic report
As recently highlighted by The Guardian, the ugly reality of the English Defence League has been exposed in a newly-published report by Dr Matthew Feldman and Dr Paul Jackson at Northampton University’s Radicalism and New Media Research Group. The report was formally released during a major international conference recently hosted by the RNM; it is based on extensive independent research and is a
I’m working on a new project
It wouldn’t have escaped your notice that I’ve been blogging a lot less here lately. This isn’t just because running Liberal Conspiracy is a full time job – it is because I’ve been working on another big project. Eons ago, long before I got into blogging, writing or anything to do with the media, I worked at a technology start-up. I joined straight after university and the ‘dotcom boom’ was in ful
Police pays out £20k for wrongful arrest of ‘terrorist’
The Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police has paid £20,000 in compensation to Rizwaan Sabir for his wrongful arrest and seven days’ detention under the Terrorism Act 2000 in May 2008. Mr Sabir – currently a PhD student at the University of Strathclyde researching domestic UK counter-terrorism policy – was arrested after downloading an edited version of the ‘The Al-Qaeda Training Manual’ from
James Delingpole’s blogging
Yesterday evening I may have given the impression to some people on Twitter that James Delingpole’s blogging for the Telegraph was shit and repeatedly wrong. Now, the first part of that is obviously true. More intelligent ppl than me have pointed out to me that the second accusation may get me into trouble. So, before my ass gets sued, a clarification. Delingpole writes comment and doesn’t know m
Town Called Dobson ★ 2
Will the GOP come out against math?
The current crop of Republican candidates have come out against basic science recently following the trend of dumbing down America. Breaking it down, they have stated they believe the Earth is only 6000 years old, hence they do not believe in Geology. GOP candidates stated they don’t believe burning fossil fuels leads to climate change, hence they do not believe in Chemistry. GOP candidates have
The Angry Black Woman ★ 6
RIP Troy Davis Time of death 11:08pm
I have a lot of black men in my life that I love. My husband, my sons, my nephews, my friends…I’m crying right now so this may be scattered. Any of the men I love could be Troy Davis. My husband’s first brush with the law was at 13 when a cop beat him up. Didn’t arrest him. Didn’t even tell him why he hit him. He was playing with friends one minute & being beaten the next. Think about that fo
Foodstamps 101
So I’ve seen more than a few posts lately from people who are in positions where food is scarce and so is money. And I’ve been in more than a few financially insecure situations myself, so I’m going to talk to you about poverty in America & making it work when you’re broke as hell in the United States. First off, apply for food stamps. Yes, even if you don’t have any children. If anyone tells
Check your BC, peeps!
Several brands of birth control pills are being recalled because they, uh, don’t work right. The brands included are: Cyclafem 7/7/7 Cyclafem 1/35 Emoquette Gildess FE 1.5/30 Gildess FE 1/20 Orsythia Previfem Tri-Previfem Basically, they’re labelled wrong, so you can still get pregnant even if you are taking them correctly. Jesus. I’m a little WTF over some of the media on this, like: The error
My Thoughts On The Latest #YesGayYA Developments
I meant to post this yesterday, but work things got in the way. Then the ever-wonderful Cleolinda posted the long, long post I was going to write and said everything I was going to say. So I’ll keep mine short. I suggest you click over to Cleolinda’s blog for the full story. Seriously. A few days ago Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith wrote a guest post for the Genreville blog over at Publish
bastard.logic ★ 4
Johann Hari Vs. Johann Hari On The Ethics Of Making Sh!t Up
by matttbastard Johann Hari, September 2011: “If I had asked the many experienced colleagues I have here at The Independent… they would have explained just how wrong I was. It was arrogant and stupid of me not to ask.” Indeed it was — or was it…? Johann Hari, June 2011: “I called round…other interviewers for British newspapers and they said what I did was normal practice and they had done it t
Looking Backward in the Year 2011
by matttbastard Der Spiegel runs down W’s “tragic legacy” in the long, long, looooong decade of U.S. decline that followed 9/11: America was trapped in Iraq for years, where a victory was a long time coming and was never a real one. It is currently trapped in Afghanistan, where victory no longer even seems possible. And it is trapped in an embrace with his its ally Pakistan, which it does not tru
Gary Don’t. Please, Just Don’t.
by matttbastard I have no clue who I’m going to endorse for the NDP leadership — but I sure as shit know which potential candidate will never, ever receive a vote from yours truly: sellout 3rd way posterchild Gary Doer, who has apparently sold his soul to rock & roll Ethical Oil™, that filthiest of filthy lucre. The G&M: Since becoming Canada’s ambassador to the United States in late 2009
Full Disclosure: Biased. Socialist. Bastard.
by matttbastard Yeah, so, once again I’m officially a member of the New Democratic Party of Canada. (If you’re not part of the solution, etc etc.) In my defence, this blog does not in any way represent or align with our dread State Broadcaster (eek!!1) — so don’t fret about your PRECIOUS TAX DOLLARS!!11 subsidizing this 7-Up* Socialist endeavour, Sun Meida [sic] sycophants. Also, my undies have a
Obsolete ★ 27
Boogaloo and hiatus.
So yeah, I'm not here next week. Will be back the Monday after. Hopefully will get the blogging juices back after a break.Keep it foolish.
In the Garden of Eden...
Ah, the BBFC. Not only deciding what we can and can't watch, but also commenting on the shape of the bodies on display in the early naturist films:"I think Garden of Eden would provoke very noisy reactions at tough cinemas like The Elephant. There are some unconsciously funny nudes. Especially one young lady with peculiar glutial muscles." Arses commenting on arses is though rather appropriate.
Glenn Greenwald on the extrajudicial execution of Anwar al-Awlaki.
What's most striking about this is not that the U.S. Government has seized and exercised exactly the power the Fifth Amendment was designed to bar ("No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law"), and did so in a way that almost certainly violates core First Amendment protections (questions that will now never be decided in a court of law). What's most amazing is that its citizen
The wonderful world of Melanie Phillips, pt. 769.
Like all right-thinking people, Melanie Phillips is up in arms over the BBC religion website's decision (and it is only their decision) to use CE and BCE instead of AD and BC. As usual, we must bear in mind that dear old Mel is quite happy to appear on the Moral Maze and Question Time at the licence-fee payer's expense, despite the corporation being dedicated to the destruction of the very culture
The wonderful world of Melanie Phillips, pt. 964.
You might recall that a while back Paul Dacre's lawyers contacted Kevin Arscott of the Angry Mob blog as he'd had the temerity to say some unkind and hurtful things about the greatest newspaper editor the world has ever seen. Admittedly, hoping that someone dies a slow and painful death and that people then queue up to shit on their grave is not very pleasant; it is however certainly not defamato
A step in the right direction.
One of the benefits of waiting to pass judgement in this new age of instant comment and analysis is that it leaves time for the overall message of a speech to sink in. Somewhat hidden in what was, as all conference addresses by party leaders now must be, a fairly disjointed speech was a fundamental and absolute break with the era of New Labour.Not of course that this is the first time such a brea
NolanChart.com ★ 46
Nothing good grows at the Department of Agriculture
by Brian Irving: USDA is one monumental giveaway scheme, a labyrinth of policies and plans designed to take money from productive people and give it to individuals who either cannot or will not produce.
Fed failure at border forces states to act!
by Mark Vogl: 20 million illegal immigrants are too much of burden for the states, and the gates still have not been shut by the Federal government!
American Racism Quiz, Part IV
by Richard in Japan: Republican Racism, in Four Words or Less
Another Hysterical Argument Against Ron Paul Getting Shriller
by Walt Thiessen: The hysteria of the pro-big government members of the blogging media against Ron Paul is starting to reach new highs. One of the most hysterical voices belongs to Brent Budowsky
Insist On Having A Level, Steady Money Supply
by Walt Thiessen: This is the very mundane piece of information that is missing from the spiritualist movement in the world today.
Social Values are Extremely Important
by KLH: I am arguing that voting based on social values is as important as voting based on economic policy.
Obsidian Wings ★ 16
Raytheon's cold equations
by Doctor Science As I write, there is a medical crisis at Antarctica's South Pole Station. Raytheon (the contractor that runs the Station) and the National Science Foundation (which is responsible for it) are refusing to authorize a medevac. Desperate relatives of the patient have created a website to publicize the situation, and are petitioning the White House to over-ride the contractor a
Papers, Please
by Gary Farber Children. Who we hates, we do, because their parents are illegal immigrants. And in Alabama, this is now happening: FOLEY, Alabama -- Many of the 223 Hispanic students at Foley Elementary came to school Thursday crying and afraid, said Principal Bill Lawrence. Nineteen of them withdrew, and another 39 were absent, Lawrence said, the day after a federal judge upheld much of Alaba
Off With Their Heads!
by Gary Farber I say we just kill all accused murderers from now on. Think of the money saved, the deficit, and, of course, the children. Now that we've established that the courts and Constitution don't matter, let's just jail all the accused criminals, too. Why lose sleep? They're murderers and criminals! The state says so. All Presidents need the power to assassinate people s
Universe returning to its tracks friday open thread
by liberal japonicus I'm neither a fan nor an anti-fan of the Boston Red Sox, but their collapse reminded me of something Hilzoy wrote in 2004. She starts off with an excerpt from Poor Man. I'll just clip the whole thing here "... 6-0 in the top of the third. Wow. They really must want me to get my hopes up. Lots of luck, fellas. Prediction: Yankees win 24-23 in the bottom of the 40t
Reading list
by Doctor Science What I'm reading now and hope to post about soon: Hamlet's Father by Orson Scott Card. Available as a standalone or as first published, in a collection your library might have. The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution By Francis Fukuyama. I may have to do a Read and Rant Along With Me! post (or series), because it's (a) an
Education Friday open thread
Two related articles from the NYTimes. This tells the story of two charter schools, one for underprivileged students, the other one of those high powered ones, and their attempt to teach students 'character' with the title "What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?", while this tells the adventures of Clifford Levy (or more importantly, his children) when he took up the post of N
Texas Liberal ★ 45
Occupy Wall Street—We’ll See What Happens
The Occupy Wall Street protests are entering a third week. I don’t know if the protests will lead to anything of consequence or not. The Los Angeles Times has written that the effort lacks a clear focus at the moment but that it may have some potential. Liberal columnist Charles Blow of the New York Times is not so far hopeful that a movement will take off from these protests. Here are some facts
City Of Houston Campaign Sign Crackdown—My Two Favorite Signs
Houston Mayor Annise Parker says the city will be cracking down on campaign signs that are placed improperly. Having a campaign war chest of more than $2 million helps you take the high road when dealing with candidates who have far less money. That’s a measure of sarcasm on my part. In fact—I’ve been on the patrol for improperly placed campaign signs myself. I’ve contributed a number of pictures
Senator John Cornyn Cares A Great Deal About Texas Wildfires And About Photo Ops
Texas U.S. Senator got a briefing yesterday from the Texas Forest Service about the wildfires in Texas. Above you see a picture from this briefing. The Senator is the gentleman with white hair. Do you think the folks from the Texas Forest Service briefed Senator Cornyn on the sharp cuts to the Forest Service approved by Governor Rick Perry and the Republican-controlled Texas legislature? From the
Some Things In Life Are Clear Enough
The three pictures above are from places I’ve been in the past year. The top picture is from Newport, Rhode Island. The middle picture is from right here at home in Houston. The bottom picture is from Cincinnati. (All pictures copyright Neil Aquino.) While the signs in the picture may well have helped somebody, they all pointed to issues that were clear enough. Not everything in life is in pla
Welding—-Melting, Pressing, Hammering
Above is a picture I took of people welding a ship or a barge of some kind at the Houston Ship Channel. (Photo copyright 2011 Neil Aquino.) Here is a history of welding. At the bottom of that history are other welding related links. Here is a definition of welding from Merriam-Webster– Join together (metal pieces or parts) by heating the surfaces to the point of melting with a blowpipe, electric
Amy Price For Houston City Council At-Large #4—Ms. Price Listens To People
Amy Price is a running as a Green Party candidate for Houston City Council at-large position 4. (Above–Ms. Price.) The incumbent in this race is C.O. Bradford. Mr. Bradford—a Democrat—has offered Democrats an austerity based fiscal message and a council tenure where he has worked with Republicans to undermine Mayor Annise Parker. Mr. Bradford’s record of service to the people of Houston includes
IPS Inter Press Service Earth Alert: Confronting Climate Change ★ 34
Q&A: Environmental Awareness Through Imagery
Through photo and film, French photojournalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand aims to demonstrate the environmental impacts of human activity and to raise public awareness about environmental issues.
MEXICO: Women Left Out of U.N. Forest Plan
Despite the growing participation of women in forestry projects in Mexico, the national strategy for the United Nations-led REDD+ forest plan in this country lacks a gender focus.
Rising Seas Gnawing at West Africa's Coastline
Sea levels on the coasts of Côte d'Ivoire and other West African countries have risen again this year, devastating houses and other infrastructure. The search for effective solutions is lagging behind accelerating coastal erosion.
Salvadoran Campesinas Go Organic
The guavas grown by Mariana Rosales are big and bright green, and the best thing about them, she says proudly, is that she does not spend a single cent on fertilisers to produce them – something extremely rare in a country like El Salvador.
LATIN AMERICA: Murky Waters
More than 20 percent of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean lacks basic sanitation and 15 percent has no access to drinking water because of poor management, said experts at a meeting that ended Thursday in Brazil.
TRADE: Climate Change Will Impede North-South Trade
Climate change is increasingly playing a role in North-South trade, as carbon emissions are being used as an excuse to protect markets, with poorer countries likely to lose out.
Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center ★ 41
In Book, Pat Buchanan Thanks Karate-Chopping Racist for Research
In a few weeks, MSNBC commentator Pat Buchanan will unleash his latest book, Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? According to its Amazon.com product description, the lyrically titled screed “traces the disintegration [of America] to three historic changes: America’s loss of her cradle faith, Christianity; the moral, social, and cultural collapse that [...]
Homegrown Jihadists Reported Killed in U.S. Drone Strike
Two U.S. citizens who became Islamist jihadists were killed in an American drone attack in Yemen early this morning, officials in America and Yemen report. The deaths of Anwar al-Awlaki, an Amercan-born radical cleric linked to at least 15 terrorist plots, and Samir Khan, editor of Inspire, a sophisticated English-language online magazine devoted to inspiring [...]
Montana White Supremacist Threatens Human Rights Organization
A former “staff leader” of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations is threatening to indict members of the Montana Human Rights Network by convening a “citizen grand jury.” The e-mail threat came from Karl Gharst, a white supremacist who was convicted and sent to prison in 2004 for threatening to kill a child protective services worker in Montana. [...]
Again With the Birth Certificate – WorldNetDaily Conjures ‘Inquiry’
Nearly eight months after President Obama released his long-form birth certificate, the carnival barkers he hoped to quiet are again clamoring to get back into the center ring. WorldNetDaily (WND), the right-wing conspiracy website that has led the charge to question the legitimacy of Obama’s citizenship, has reported that the nation’s first law enforcement investigation into [...]
Leader in Southern Baptist Convention Ramps Up Anti-Gay Rhetoric
Anti-gay myths die hard. Or maybe they never die at all. Over the weekend, a leading figure in the Southern Baptist Convention recycled a number of the most egregious lies about LGBT people to reach the conclusion that they’re working to bring about the “outright sexual paganization of society.” Whatever that is. Yesterday, Right Wing [...]
News Roundup for September 26, 2011
Police in Brooklyn, N.Y., say a 24-year-old man was approached by a man who pretended to have a gun and was robbed of his cell phone. The victim was then asked about his sexual orientation, berated with anti-gay slurs and sexually assaulted. Prosecutors say the alleged victim of a hate crime in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, ignored [...]
American Leftist ★ 15
The Assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki
UPDATE: Was there a deal that enabled Saleh to return to Yemen in return for assistance in killing al-Awlaki? Here was some of the reaction in Yemen: Fayza Sulieman, a protest leader, said: We always question the timing of these announcements from our government, Saleh is on the backfoot and on the verge of stepping down and suddenly Anwar Awlaki is killed. We all know that Saleh's fight against
A Sunday Afternoon at the Library
A couple of weekends ago, I took my young son to an event at the downtown library here in Sacramento. It was an event for children with activities, music and a little drama to celebrate Mark Twain, who, because of his brief time in the Central Valley during the Gold Rush, has been adopted as the city's honorary intellectual and author. Certainly, you could do a lot worse, even if the emphasis is
New York's Finest
An NYPD supervisor maces penned protesters involved in the Occupy Wall Street effort. Just as the so-called war on terror is based upon a policy of preemption, the response to domestic protest is apparently based upon the same principle. Now it is being reported that Anonymous has identified the officer responsible, Anthony Bologna.
Celebrate Perpetual War on 9/11: Conclusion
Back in August, I ran into someone who told me that they were planning to go to New York City for the 9/11 memorial. A relative of someone they knew had been killed in the attacks. A few days ago, I ran into him again, and he told me about his vacation. I was surprised when he said that he had travelled around the East Coast and Ohio Valley, but hadn't gone to New York City. He proceeded to ex
Eurocentrism
UPDATE: Upon looking into the issue further, I discovered that Feministing provided an excellent explanation of the evils of the ban when it first took effect in April: I am so tired of having to read the qualifier from mostly white Western feminists before any discussion of the veil ban that the veil is sexist but . . . In the context of global patriarchy doesn’t this qualifier belong in front o
In These Times ★ 16
Tom Morello
"There is a ferocious class war going on, but for the most part it’s being fought by one side," says Tom Morello, the former Rage Against the Machine guitarist who now plays solo as The Nightwatchman. "In Madison, people fought back on a scale that I haven’t seen in my lifetime."
How Baseball Explains Modern Racism
Despite recent odes to "post-racial" sensibilities, persistent racial wage and unemployment gaps show that prejudice is alive and well in America. Nonetheless, that truism is often angrily denied or willfully ignored in our society, in part, because prejudice is so much more difficult to recognize on a day-to-day basis. As opposed to the Jim Crow era of white hoods and lynch mobs, 21st century Ame
When a Paradigm Falls and Nobody Hears It
Future historians will be hard-pressed to know what to make of the giddy reveries of the 1990s. It was not merely the age when sage interpreters of the world system declared the end of history, ideology and other assorted curdled leavings of the modern age; it was also the moment when the global economic order was supposed to be reaching its own great moment of singularity under the placid technoc
Occupy Wall Street: Creating Political Change?
You wouldn’t know it from the news headlines in the United States, but for the past ten days hundreds of activists have been protesting 300 metres from the heart of Wall Street. On September 17th, activists converged in the heart of New York’s financial district, intent on occupying Wall Street. They were rebuffed by the police from that goal, and have instead began occupying the nearby Zuccotti P
The English Language Ain’t That Bad
The quarterly journal I edit recently published a pair of scholarly articles on how English has changed over the centuries and how teachers might make use of these changes. My editorial for that issue of Changing English declared that "the English language has a long history" and "has thrived on change and has resisted the fixed, the conventional and the anodyne with a wonderfully sturdy capacity
Montana’s Not-So-Super Senator
On June 7, 2001, as the Marine Corps band played "Hail to the Chief," President George W. Bush strutted into the White House East Room to sign the "Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001" into law. That first round of Bush's infamous tax cuts--which President Obama in December agreed to extend--effectively transferred hundreds of billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury to mul
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red • 9 days ago
red • 9 days ago
INFRASTRUCTURIST ★ 47
Clinton Global Initiative: To Bounce Back From Disaster, We Need Resilient Infrastructure
This is a guest post by Benjamin Preston. The next big terrorist will be Mother Nature — or so said former Al Jazeera English news talk show host Riz Khan at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual conference last week. From Read more ›
The Daily Dig: Could Model Airplanes Be Terrorist Weapons?
• If you outlaw model airplanes, only outlaws will have model airplanes: The recent arrest of the man who plotted attacks on the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol using remote-controlled model planes has many wondering if model airplanes can be Read more ›
Rush-Hour Read: Should the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Be Approved?
What’s the right balance to strike between growing the economy and protecting the environment? That’s at the heart of a fierce debate about whether the U.S. government should approve a controversial $7 billion oil pipeline between Canada and the U.S. Read more ›
What Does the Sherman Minton Bridge Say About U.S. Infrastructure?
Remember the Sherman Minton Bridge, the pathway over the Ohio River connecting Louisville, KY, and New Albany, IN that was “indefinitely” closed due to dangerous cracks? It’s hard not to draw immediate parallels to the tragic collapse of the I-35W Read more ›
The Daily Dig: What’s It Like to Live on a Landfill?
• These stunning pictures reveal the life 2,000 families have working and residing on Jakarta’s largest landfill. (Guardian) • A proposed pipeline from Russia to South Korea might soon be underway in a surprising agreement between North and South Korea. Read more ›
Shovel-Ready Series: The Five Non-Highway Projects We Should Build Now
The need for job-creation has become critical, and the President has said he wants to use infrastructure to accomplish it — specifically, by offering federal funding to projects in order to get them underway. But which projects? And where? Last Read more ›
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