http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/17/the-co-author-of-hubris-on-torture-secrets-and-what-we-still-dont-know/ — a documentary special hosted by Rachel Maddow tonight, 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC. The news media are as much to blame as the Bush administration — read the article we published on November 19, 2001 in which Enver Masud wrote: In an October 1999 interview, former United Nations Special Commission chief inspector Scott …
OK everyone can keep their guns as long as we don’t let Alex Jones have anything sharper than a steak knife. I am pro Second Amendment within reason. I’m pretty sure Alex Jones is going to accidentally shoot a puppy in the face in a pressure situation. How can he shoot straight freaking out like …
I just heard that Richard Ben Cramer passed away. I have his DiMaggio biography, and I had heard that he was working on one of Alex Rodriguez. I had looked forward to reading it. It is a sad day for sports literature. – Chuck Strom http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/us/politics/richard-ben-cramer-dies-at-62-chronicled-presidential-politics.html
I’m doing some research for a new Staxx Brothers song, “Slick Willie.” I like to get my facts straight, even when the narrator is lying. This is the first time I’ve actually seen Clinton’s legendary saxophone performance on Arsenio Hall. He stepped up and ripped “Heartbreak Hotel” with soul. Those are great chops for a …
In the months before the United States invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, leaders of the Bush (#43) regime, i.e., National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Vice President Dick Cheney, made statements to various organizations such as the United Nations, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the House+Senate Armed Forces Committees, and …
In this latest installment, you will learn that George W. Bush was the worst president in our lifetime. Earlier this month the European Court of Human Rights found the CIA guilty of torturing a German citizen, Khaled el Masri. Allegations included kidnapping him in Macedonia, covertly transferring him via extraordinary rendition to an Afghan detention …
Bam. Roll Tide. All the people that want their states to secede should just move to Alabama and then we’ll let Alabama secede. Bam. Roll Tide! Thanks to a disastrous 2011 anti-immigration law, Alabama successfully rid itself of its migrant workforce. Thus with this influx of secessionists, Alabama will have all the hands it needs …
The right and ability to vote is the most fundamental component of freedom. It took a handful of years for white people in the colonies to secure this and other liberties from oppression; for the rest of those living in America, tyranny took a bit longer to overcome. Today seems like the most appropriate of …
My church arranged speakers over the four Sundays preceding the national election to facilitate discussion concerning “Christian Faith and this Year’s Election Issues.” Last Sunday, retired North Park University Professor of New Testament, Dr. Cal Katter, focused on the dire economic issue of America’s widening gap between the rich and everyone else. Dr. Katter emphasized …
The Serious Scoop. Having flung my share of sarcastic links and comments onto this forum, I want to take time to say something really heartfelt and serious about this upcoming election. There has been a lack of thoughtful discussion so I’d like to change that, at least about myself. Here goes. I support President Obama …
“You Don’t Own Me” was a great pre-feminist pop nugget from 1964. But it’s ironic now, nearly 50 years later, that we need reminders from a song this old. Then again, Lesley Gore was ahead of her time. – Rich Horton
Liberals are super-worried about how an action affects future generations. Conservatives care about tomorrow, and eternity. – John Roderick [John Roderick will be performing with friends at the Showbox in Seattle on Oct. 29. Follow him as he tweets his wisdom from @johnroderick.]
Think Romney can’t win? In 1972, a highly decorated war hero, history professor, Heartland-bred campaigner on the war on poverty, future champion in the war on hunger and admired, anti-war U.S. Senator got beat in one of the country’s biggest landslides by Richard “tricky Dick” Nixon. At the tail end of the Vietnam war, when …
This is a job for… Binder Woman! Enforcer of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, defender of office moms who cook but don’t use assault weapons. – Peter Dysart Binder Woman will make sure that all women have the right to affordable contraceptives, even those who work for Catholic universities. Up, up and away! – …
This comes from here – http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/
In the Business section of yesterday’s conservative Chicago Tribune, writer Gail MarksJarvis has a column about the Standard & Poor 500 index’s performance over the last five years. I will use her analysis to further inform the masses of the depth of the damage caused to this country by President Obama’s immediate predecessor, #43. In …
It’s been said that there are two things in life that are certain: death and taxes. While this is certainly true today, you may wonder if it’s always been the case. Taxes have been a way of life in the United States since the colonial times, but where did they originate? Originally a gift from …
In 2008, for a public speaking class, I wrote and delivered a speech on the campus of Merritt College in Oakland on behalf of Hillary Clinton, for which I got an A. I voted for her then and I’d vote for her again. – Pat Thomas is the author of the recently released work, Listen, …
This CD will be out of print in 6 weeks, so get it now – October 16th 1970, in Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act, sending tanks rolling through the streets and curtailing civil liberties nationwide. That evening Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Phil Ochs play to a sell-out crowd in Vancouver, …
9.11.12. George W. Bush (43) was notably absent at the Republican National Convention, and his two-term administration was barely mentioned. However, brother Jeb quipped “during incredibly challenging times, [43] kept us safe.” What ?! 9/11 happened on the watch of 43! In fact, Condoleeza Rice testified during the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry that a Presidential Daily …
My neighbor, Bill Werner, MD, MPH, authored this article for my church’s monthly newsletter. I am copying it verbatim with his permission, as follows: Soon after the Supreme Court issued its decision that the majority of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 was constitutional, I attended a debate by two legal …
We seem to hear every so often about artists who object to their songs being used by a GOP candidate (Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Heart, Jackson Browne, Rage Against The Machine, etc.), but I’m not aware of an instance where an artist objected to their song being used by a Democratic candidate. The initial impluse …
A conversation between East Portland Blog and Lawrence Spaulding: EPB: Are you still running? LS: Yeah, I have a hamstring strain and I am not training for anything, but I still run ten miles or less. EPB: But you did run marathons at some point? LS: Yeah, but like I said I am not training …
First of all, I’d like to know what constitutes a “good” teacher. Do you think it’s test scores? Do you realize that Sweden is purported to have the best performing schools in the world. They do not use standardized tests,, they pay their teachers a livable wage, they have socialized health care, they put their …
Neither Paul Ryan nor almost any other spending ‘hawks’ — dem or repub — talk about cutting military spending. Which accounts for 20% of the budget and has increased 14 years in a row (a feat we didn’t even see during the Cold War). Mindboggling, when you look at this list of spending per country …
Paul Ryan liked Ayn Rand in high school and now he gives her books to all his staffers. Maybe I should give all my co-workers cassettes of Black Flag’s Damaged. – NPR’s John Moe is the host of Marketplace Tech Report and Wits.
Ok, first thing, I am not too embarrassed to admit I really did not think Mitt would choose Paul. Everything thing about Romney’s style and campaign has led me to view him as a cautious, careful politician. One who tries little new, but wants to perfect the doing of what has been done before. Thus …
Having spent the last 8 weeks reading hundreds of documents, personal letters, note books, journals of Jerry Rubin, including correspondence between Jerry and the Weathermen, the Panthers, other YIPPIES, other Chicago 8 defendants, and close personal friends of his, I’ve reached the conclusion that the 1960’s were not just a “Hippie Dream” – but a …
I’d ask you all to think of the women in Pussy Riot who stood up to Putin in a celebration of free speech in Russia. Three of them have been held incommunicado in prison for several months and are today in court. They’re a reminder that music can still have a strong political voice: – …
In a recent Wall Street Journal, an opinion piece written by Arthur Herman, who is identified only as the author* of a book titled, Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, focused on the (alleged) aging weaponry used by the military. Mr. Herman lauds the free market in contrast to “layers …