Author Archives: Thorne Dreyer

A Litany for George Carlin in Seven Words

George Carlin, who died of heart failure Sunday at 71, leaves behind not only a series of memorable routines, but a legal legacy: His most celebrated monologue, a frantic, informed riff on those infamous seven words, led to a Supreme … Continue reading

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Amsterdam : To Have Such Problems!

Coffee shop for cannibis smokers in Amsterdam You can’t get busted for smoking weed, but tobacco is another matter. Roger Baker / The Rag Blog Marijuana Is In, Tobacco Is Out Under Netherlands’ Smoking Ban By Martijn van der Starre … Continue reading

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Blessed are the Peacemakers

Members of the Austin peace movement demonstrate outside the Texas state capitol Friday afternoon, June 20, 2008. The vigil, organized by CodePink and MDS/Austin, was part of the monthly Iraq Moratorium demonstrations held around the country. Photo by Heidi Turpin … Continue reading

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Inside the Solar-Hydrogen House : No More Power Bills–Ever

Power Plant: Computers, inverters and other controls help Strizki harvest as much as 90 kilowatt-hours of electricity on a sunny June day. Photo by David Biello / Scientific American.A New Jersey resident generates and stores allthe power he needs with … Continue reading

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The Return of the Neocons

Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, an architect of the neocon philosophy. Illustration by Paul Giambarba / Courtesy truthout. Bush Hawks Aggressively Working to Rewrite Accepted Iraq War History By James Risen / June 19, 2008 Ever since … Continue reading

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Peak Copper in New Mexico

Not Worth a Pretty PennyBy Gerry Storm / The Rag Blog / June 22, 2008 Prices of all metal are skyrocketing these days as investors realize that peak copper, peak nickel, peak silver, peak gold, have likely already occurred. China … Continue reading

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Doug Zachary in the 70s : Girls Say Yes to Men Who Say NO

Confessions of an ex-Marine on AcidBy Doug Zachary / The Rag Blog / June 22, 2008 It is 1970, I am 20 years old, and I have been out of the Marine Corps for about a year. Finally, women are … Continue reading

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More to This Spying Business Than Meets the Eye

NSA’s Domestic Spying GrowsAs Agency Sweeps Up DataBy Siobhan Gorman Mike Hanks called our attention to the following article from the March 10, 2008, Wall Street Journal. Read it! All our attention may be focused on the Congressional vote on … Continue reading

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Washington Beheading

Thanks to Harry Edwards / The Rag Blog

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Mesmo’s Reflections on the Sixties

Janis Joplin, folksinger. Austin, Texas, 1965, at The 11th Door on Red River Street. Photo by Bob Simmons / The Rag Blog. Gerry Storm wrote the following reminiscence on Austin music in the sixties for the Texas Ghetto website in … Continue reading

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Jazz : The Colossus

Sonny Rollins, Take OneBy Ishmael Reed Bebop was my generation’s hip-hop. It was more than a pastime; it was an obsession. I used to play trombone with bebop groups. When I turned sixty, I enrolled in Berkeley’s Jazz School, where … Continue reading

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Journalism : OUT OF PRINT!

Arianna Huffington questions newspapers’“veneer of unassailable trustworthiness.” Drawing courtesy of New Yorker.The death and life of the American newspaperBy Eric Alterman The following article on the state of the newspaper in America today first appeared in the March 31, 2008 … Continue reading

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