Thorne Webb Dreyer, Editor
RECENT POSTS
Category Archives: RagBlog
‘TV Everywhere’ : Pulling the Plug on Web-Based Video?
Say goodbye to free online television:Comcast launches ‘TV Everywhere’By Josh Silver / January 6, 2010 On Monday, public interest groups called on federal authorities to investigate a plan by the largest cable, satellite and phone companies that threatens the future … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Cable Television, Comcast, Digital Media, Internet, Monopolies, Television
Leave a comment
Life During Wartime : Courts Release Terrorists!
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE Political cartoon by Joshua Brown / Historians Against the War / The Rag BlogThanks to Dr. S.R. Keister /The Rag Blog
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Blackwater, Iraq, Joshua Brown, Mercenaries, Political Cartoon, Political Satire, Terrorism
1 Comment
MUSIC / Dynamic Compression : Yes, It Really is Too Loud!
Christopher Clark graphed the peak levels of and RMS levels of three hit songs a year over the past three decades. Here is a link to a PDF of his full poster, “A Visual History Of Loudness.”The loudness wars:Why music … Continue reading
UT-Austin’s Kuperman : Bomb Iran’s Nukes
Image from Crusader Rabbit.UT non-proliferation ‘expert’ calls forMilitary strikes against Iran nuclear facilities [Alan J. Kuperman is] ‘director of the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Program at the University of Texas at Austin,’ but his Christmas eve call to war relies on … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Iran, Israel, Middle East, New York Times, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Aggression, UT-Austin, Zionism
2 Comments
Dark Ages Redux : Trickle Down Feudalism
Doge Enrico Dandolo preaching the Crusade. Gustave Doré (1832-1883) / Wikimedia Commons.The reincarnation of the Dark Ages:White evangelicals are the new Crusaders In place of mote-defended castles surrounded by thatched-roof shanties will be ‘gated communities’ (sporting high-tech surveillance to keep … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged American Society, Capitalism, Class Warfare, Dark Ages, Economics, Feudalism, Religious Fanaticism, Right Wing Extremists, World History
9 Comments
Lester ‘Red’ Rodney : The Sportswriter Who Helped Break Baseball’s Color Line
Sportswriter Lester “Red” Rodney, September 2007. Photograph by Byron LaGoy / Wikipedia Commons.More than a sportswriter: Lester ‘Red’ Rodney: 1911-2009By Dave Zirin / December 24, 2009 It didn’t make SportsCenter, but one of history’s most influential sportswriters died this week … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged African-American, Baseball, Civil Rights, Communist Party, Deaths, Jackie Robinson, Journalists, People, Sports
Leave a comment
FILM / Cheap Thrills? ‘Avatar’ Kicks Butt
Avatar is shallow, predictableAnd totally awesome! By Pollyanna O’Possum / The Rag Blog / December 24, 2009 Avatar, the new, multi-million dollar James Cameron’s 3-D sci-fi flick, opened to mixed reviews on Dec. 18, with some criticizing the film’s length … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Criticism, Film, Pollyanna O'Possum, Popular Culture, Science Fiction
Leave a comment
Some ‘Renaissance’ : Big Win for ‘No Nukes’
Nine Mile Point nuclear facilities in Oswago, New York, near the shore of Lake Ontario, at sunset . A new facility, to be built by UniStar, has been delayed. Photo by Mike Greenlar / The Post-Standard.Success for grassroots movement:Nuclear power … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Alternative Energy, Energy, Environment, Harvey Wasserman, Nuclear Power, Social Protest
Leave a comment
James Howard Kunstler : A Blue Christmas with Avatar and Tiger
Blue Christmas What is most amazing about Mr. Cameron’s holiday blockbuster is the explicit message that America is a society that deserves to be punished (and humiliated!) by others who manage their own relations with reality better than we do. … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged American Society, Christmas, Film, Imperialism, Sport, Technology
1 Comment
Supremes : ‘Suspected Enemy Combatant’ no Longer a ‘Person’
Portrait of a non-person. Image from girloftomorrow.Dred Scott redux:Enemy combatants denied legal standing …once again, 144 years after the Civil War, we have established as the law of the land and the policy of the United States government that whole … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Guantanamo, Human Rights, Justice Department, Obama Administration, Slavery, Supreme Court, Torture, War on Terror
19 Comments
Honduras : Anti-Coup Gay Activist Assassinated
LGBT activist Walter Tróchez was murdered this week.He documented homophobic violence:Honduran gay activist Walter Tróchez murdered By Doug Ireland / December 18, 2009 Walter Tróchez, 25 years old, a well-known LGBT activist in Honduras who was an active member of … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Coups d'etat, Gay Movement, Homophobia, Honduras, Latin America, LGBT, Resistance Movements
2 Comments
