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Category Archives: RagBlog
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
Top Ten Lies About Iran and Its ‘Nuclear Program’
Looks like Vancouver or maybe the Seattle area, but this is actually Tehran. Looks the same as your home town, doesn’t it?Top Things You Think You Know About Iran That Are Not TrueBy Juan Cole / October 1, 2009 Thursday … Continue reading
U.S. Schools : Segregation Worse Today Than in the 1950’s
“The Problem We All Live With” by Norman Rockwell. Photo courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Arts.U.S. schools are more segregated today than in the 1950s In California and Texas segregation is spreading into large sections of suburbia as well. … Continue reading
Posted in RagBlog
Tagged American Society, Civil Rights Movement, Education, Public Schools, Segregation
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American Jazz Musicians Struggle in Retirement
More than 100 musicians and supporters of “Jazz for Justice Artists!” turned out for a rally that began at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. Photo: Kirsten Luce/New York TimesAfter years filled with jazz, struggling in retirementBy Emily S. … Continue reading
