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Category Archives: RagBlog
ALICE EMBREE / REMEMBRANCE / Glenn Scott inducted into Texas Labor Hall of Fame
By Alice Embree / The Rag Blog / January 27, 2026 [Cross posted from Alice Embree’s Substack] On January 24, 2026, Glenn Scott from Austin was inducted into the Texas AFL-CIO Labor Hall of Fame. It was icy cold outside, but … Continue reading
MARIANN GARNER-WIZARD / REMEMBRANCE / Robert “Bob” Pardun, beloved prairie radical
By Mariann Garner-Wizard / The Rag Blog / January 27, 2026 Robert Pardun was born June 30, 1941 and passed away January 16, 2026 after a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. The following is an excerpt from the cover of Robert … Continue reading
CARL DAVIDSON / POLITICS / SUMMING UP THE YEAR 2025
A turning point for Trump and the Left By Carl Davidson / The Rag Blog / January 16, 2026 Carl Davidson is the editor of Carl’s Left Links Newsletter, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers. Carl is a former … Continue reading
Posted in Rag Bloggers, RagBlog
Tagged Carl Davidson, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Fascism, MAGA, Mamdani, No Kings Day, Political Analysis, Politics
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MICHAEL MEEROPOL / ECONOMICS / Inflation, unemployment, and President Trump’s speech
By Michael Meeropol / The Rag Blog / January 1, 2026 The following is an expanded version of a commentary delivered over WAMC-FM on , by Michael Meeropol, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Western New England University. It has been … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Donald Trump, Economics, Economy, Michael Meeropol, Rag Blog, Rag Bloggers
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BRUCE MELTON / CLIMATE CHANGE / Climate Change Review 2025
Occidental Chemicals CO2 air capture unit in the Permian Basin about to begin operations. The Science of the Effects of Warming By Bruce Melton / The Rag Blog / December 31, 2025 The good news is real, but a bit … Continue reading
Posted in Rag Bloggers, RagBlog
Tagged Artificial Intelligence, Bruce Melton, Climate Change, Climate Change Review, Environment, Global Warming
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JONAH RASKIN / BOOK REVIEW / Levitating the Pentagon
Levitating the Pentagon, and Other Uplifting Stories: A Life of Activism By Nancy Kurshan; Three Rooms Press; 2025 By Jonah Raskin / The Rag Blog / December 29, 2025 Nancy Kurshan might have carved out and published a big chunk of … Continue reading
DANIEL ACOSTA, JR. / HIGHER EDUCATION / Ideological Warfare at the University of Texas
Daniel Acosta, Jr. Make UT Great Again (MUGA) By Daniel Acosta, Jr. / The Rag Blog / December 10, 2025 The University of Texas is facing an existential crisis because of its decision to appease the Texas governor and legislature … Continue reading
LARRY PILTZ / VERSE / Save The Futures
Save The Futures By Larry Piltz / The Rag Blog / December 11, 2025 To save our futures we’ll need supplies of sutures to stitch tightly up with courage the scourges violent urges to bind the wounds and spare the … Continue reading
MARTIN J. MURRAY / REMEMBRANCE / Larry Caroline disarmed critics without demeaning them
By Martin J. Murray / The Rag Blog / December 4, 2025 I knew Larry Caroline for only a few short years in Austin. It was a memorable experience. My first recollection of Larry was at the Capitol Building around … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged 1967, Frank Erwin, Free Speech, John Silber, Larry Caroline, Martin J. Murray, Sixties, Trudy Stern, University of Texas at Austin
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ALLEN YOUNG / BOOK REVIEW / The Trees are Speaking
By Allen Young / The Rag Blog / December 3, 2025 “The Trees Are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forest,” by Lynda Mapes, University of Washington Press, 2024. Well, we all know that trees cannot talk. But we also know … Continue reading
Posted in Rag Bloggers, RagBlog
Tagged Allen Young, Author, Book Review, Ecology, Environment, Lynda Mapes, Trees are Speaking
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THORNE DREYER / JOURNALISM / Central to the new Rag’s voice is to retain the levity of the original
By Thorne Dreyer / The Rag Blog / December 1, 2025 Since editors Ava Hosseini and Kira Small — with the help of managing editor Grant Lindberg — started their seemingly modest endeavor to resurrect the underground newspaper, The Rag, that … Continue reading
MICHAEL MEEROPOL / ECONOMICS / Are there signs of serious problems in the economy?
By Michael Meeropol / The Rag Blog / January 17, 2026 The following is a version of a commentary delivered over WAMC-FM by Michael Meeropol, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Western New England University on January 9, 2026. This version … Continue reading →