Author Archives: RagBlog

Get real, Americans! You have been ripped off!By Mary Pitt 12/27/07 “ICH” — — At long last, the age-old problem of health care for the poor and near-poor is being discussed in open forum. The problem has existed since the … Continue reading →

The Great American Lock-Up: We Are All Prisoners NowBy PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS “They’re locking them up today They’re throwing away the key I wonder who it’ll be tomorrow, you or me?” The Red Telephone (LOVE, 1967)At Christmas time it has … Continue reading →

Middle East censors seek to limit Web accessBy Hannah Allam | McClatchy NewspapersPosted on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 CAIRO, Egypt — In Iran, a large red icon pops up on computer screens. In Syria, there’s a discreet note from the … Continue reading →

The Rule of the VulturesBy Siv O’Neall, Dec 26, 2007, 13:36 A net of lies has been spun over our heads and it’s been glued over the earth like a heavy fog. It makes it impossible to see through it … Continue reading →

The Surge: Illusion and Realityby Conn Hallinan, Foreign Policy in Focus “Where the dead are ghosts on the fragile abacus used to calculate loss, to estimate tragedy.” – from “Body Count,” by poet Persis Karim The narrative in the media … Continue reading →

Tortured Iraqi Woman’s Book Details Baghdad’s `City of Widows’Interview by Dale Crofts Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) — From a Baghdad woman’s despairing comment, Iraqi author Haifa Zangana found an epigraph for the insecurity and erosion of human rights in her country: … Continue reading →

The Secret Library of Hope: 12 Books to Stiffen Your ResolveBy Rebecca Solnit Hope is an orientation, a way of scanning the wall for cracks — or building ladders — rather than staring at its obdurate expanse. It’s a worldview, … Continue reading →

Billy Joel & Cass Dillon: “Christmas In Fallujah”

Sorry for posting another of these, but they’re really both quite good. ‘Twas the Fight After Christmasby Dennis Morrisseau / December 24th, 2007 The nation had been listless, while in the White HouseAll the shredders were shredding, fed by the … Continue reading →

From Last of the Iraqis. AlQaeda inside the American jails in IraqMonday, December 24, 2007 I was so relieved when the Eid passed without dramatic incidents, I was glad that the 50 explosive car attack was just a rumor, thank … Continue reading →

Anarchists in the Aisles? Stores Provide a StageBy IAN URBINA ,December 24, 2007 This is the season of frenetic shopping, but for a devious few people it’s also the season of spirited shopdropping. Otherwise known as reverse shoplifting, shopdropping involves … Continue reading →