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Category Archives: RagBlog
Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom : Economics and the Environment
Elinor Ostrom celebrates winning the Nobel prize in economics. Photo by John Sommers II / Reuters.Elinor Ostrom breaks the Nobel mold:A new look at economics, the environment and the commons The economics profession needs to be shaken up. Ostrom’s Nobel … Continue reading
Death Penalty Probe : Perry Pressured Panel Chair
Fired commission chief Sam Bassett:Pressure from Perry on Willingham probe By Zachary Roth / October 13, 2009 It’s starting to look more and more like Texas governor Rick Perry orchestrated an effort to thwart a state probe into an arson … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Political Corruption, Rick Perry, Texas
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Rag Radio! : Healthcare NOT Warfare
TUESDAY ON KOOP RADIO IN AUSTIN:RAG RADIOHOSTED BY THORNE DREYER KOOP, 91.7 FM — Every Tuesday afternoon — 2-3 PM The latest addition to the Rag media family, Rag Radio presents issue-oriented discussion and cutting edge cultural programming in the … Continue reading
McChrystal Clear : More Boots on the Ground
Gen. Stanley McChrystal: Repeating the cliches.Do the numbers:500,000 troops for Pashtunistan? McChrystal repeats the clichés of classic counterinsurgency… American generals used the same vintage phrases in Vietnam, where efforts to ‘protect the population’ led to forcing rural peasants into fortified … Continue reading
Iran and the Geneva Talks
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili expressed Tehran’s readiness to cooperate with the international community in all areas, saying he entered the talks with six powers in Geneva with “good will.” Photo: Al Alam.Real Progress With IranBy … Continue reading
Losing Our Humor Over Guantanamo
On Guantánamo, Lawmakers Reveal They Are Still Dick Cheney’s PawnsBy Andy Worthington / October 6, 2009 I like to believe that, despite studying Guantánamo for four years, I still have a sense of humor, but last Thursday I lost it, … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Criminal Justice, Guantanamo, Indefinite Detention, Torture
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Sen. Al Franken : The Internet is the Town Square
This may be the clearest, most useful exposition on Net Neutrality that I have yet seen. — Thorne Dreyer / The Rag Blog The Internet:It’s not a truck, It’s a town square The Internet is a platform for speech, debate, … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Al Franken, Censorship, FCC, Freedom of Speech, Internet, Net Neutrality, Telecoms
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Understanding the Politics of the Vocal Discontents
Remember Scout and Jem Finch? They who burn books …. will also, in the end, burn people.” — Heinrich Heine Fear, Ignorance and the Summer of Our DiscontentBy John Atcheson / October 4, 2009 Fear To those of us in … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Corporate Power, Electoral politics, Political Action, Tea Baggers
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Cause of Death : Forensic Science Gone Bad
“The Judgment of Cambyses” (right panel) by Gerard David, 1498.A post mortem:The justice system and the medical examiner There has been a spate of occurrences that is beginning to cast some doubt on the judgment of at least some medical … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged Criminal Justice, Forensic Medicine, Rick Perry, Texas, Texas Legislature
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Capitalist Health Care : We Live the Result
This is some considerable evidence that the common folk really don’t have much to say about the kind of health care we are going to get. Until we get this kind of activity and big money out of Congress, there … Continue reading
Surprising Facts About Who’s Watching What
Fighting Delusion: Attention to Political NewsBy Joel Hirschhorn / October 2, 2009 You may be surprised, as I was, that a recent poll found that more Americans than ever are paying attention to national political news. But this does not … Continue reading
Glenn W. Smith : Has Rick Perry Committed a Federal Crime?
Rick Perry fires investigators in Willingham case;Is he guilty of obstruction of justice? Gov. Rick Perry, like Pilate before him, washed his hands of any responsibility for the execution of a man experts say was innocent. And now Perry has … Continue reading
