Category Archives: Rag Bloggers

The ‘Nation-Building’ Mirage : A Trillion Dollars and Counting

U.S. Marine in Afghanistan. Photo by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters.From anti-terrorism to ‘nation building’:Paying dearly for Bush’s wars By Ted McLaughlin / The Rag Blog / May 28, 2010 In October of 2001, President Bush invaded Afghanistan. About a year … Continue reading

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Vietnam and Afghanistan : Still Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

American soldiers carry a wounded comrade through a Vietnam Swamp. Photo by Paul Halverson, 1969. Image from The Veterans Hour.Afghanistan, and the specter of Vietnam:Waist deep in the big muddy By Harry Targ / The Rag Blog / May 27, … Continue reading

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Ray Mungo : The Pope is Toast

Pope Benedict on Palm Sunday. Photo from AP / examiner.com.Pope is Toast, Boy Diddley, and Me By Ray Mungo / The Rag Blog / May 26, 2010 The ongoing circus of revelations pinning responsibility for covering up boy-diddling by priests … Continue reading

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David P. Hamilton : Our Corporate Rulers and their Bankrupt Drug War

Image from Democratic Underground.Why our leaders wage war on drugsAnd why this war is doomed By David P. Hamilton / The Rag Blog / May 26, 2010 Ted McLaughlin recently wrote an article for The Rag Blog (“Prohibition II: A … Continue reading

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Dick J. Reavis : Texas Monthly’s ‘Where I’m From’

Erykah Badu (right) at nine years, with her sister Nayrok, six, in Dallas in 1980. Badu contributed to Texas Monthly‘s special edition. Photo from Texas Monthly.Signs of a new inclusiveness?Texas Monthly‘s special edition By Dick J. Reavis / The Rag … Continue reading

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Charlie Loving : Ciudad Acuña on Life Support?

Ciudad Acuña in 2001. Image from michaelbluejay.Ma Crosby’s and Ciudad Acuña:A slow death on the border? Today we were the second customers all day at Crosby’s. A Freddy Fender song in the background trailed into Shawn Sahm doing his version … Continue reading

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Houston Alternative Media : Telling It Like It Was

Underground in H-Town. Art by Shelby Hohl / Museum of Printing History.Underground [history] in H-Town:Veteran journalists compare notesOn counterculture and alt media By Raj Mankad / May 24, 2010 [Raj Mankad is the editor of Cite magazine, the “architecture and … Continue reading

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Bob Feldman : A People’s History of Afghanistan / 7

Demonstration at Kabul University, late 1970. Photo by Louis Dupree / BBC.Part 7: 1968-1976A People’s History of Afghanistan By Bob Feldman / The Rag Blog / May 14, 2010 [If you’re a Rag Blog reader who wonders how the Pentagon … Continue reading

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Marc Estrin : Wagner — Oi!

The giants seize Freya. Illustration for Wagner’s Das Rheingold by Arthur Rackham (1910).WAGNER — OI! By Marc Estrin / The Rag Blog / May 24, 2010 I didn’t begin “getting into” Wagner till I was 30ish. Who had the time … Continue reading

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Follow the Poppies : Opium, Afghanistan, and U.S. Foreign Policy

Soldier among the poppies at opium field in Afghanistan. Image from Aftermath News.Working with the warlords:Afghanistan and the heroin trade The U.S. used the international heroin network to serve its geopolitical aims in Afghanistan and elsewhere. By Sherman DeBrosse / … Continue reading

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John Ross : The ‘Feminization’ of Mexican Agriculture

Purepecha woman in reboza, on plate from Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan. Image from Teyacapan / Flickr.Working the parcela:‘Feminization’ is hope for Mexican agriculture By John Ross / The Rag Blog / May 24, 2010 SANTA CRUZ TANACO, Mexico — When I first … Continue reading

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Capping Corporate Liability : Who Pays the Piper?

Just the beginning: Oil hitting land along the Louisiana coastline May 20, 2010. Photo by David Mattingly / CNN.Who pays the piper?BP’s nuclear-powered liability cap By Harvey Wasserman / The Rag Blog / May 23, 2010 As BP destroys our … Continue reading

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