Category Archives: RagBlog

Texas Beach Study Finds Increase In Fecal Contamination

Galveston beach: everyone in!‘Texans should not be swimming in human and animal waste’By Jay Root / July 29, 2008 AUSTIN — A day after state officials declared water quality on the rise at Texas beaches, an environmental group reported today … Continue reading

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Amnesty International : China Using Olympics As ‘Pretext’ For Crackdown

A Chinese paramilitary policeman tries to block photos being taken outside the Olympic Stadium. Photo by AFP.Repression of ‘human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers has intensified’ July 29, 2008 HONG KONG – China is using the Beijing Olympics as a … Continue reading

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BOOKS : Justice, Texas Style

Read About It While You CanBy Craig Malisow / July 28, 2008 Authorities in Smith County (Tyler) might not be happy to learn that Smith County Justice, a book alleging systemic corruption and unusually harsh sentences in the county — … Continue reading

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Guantanamo : Two Trials in One

Boots of Military Police at Camp Delta, a Long-Term DetentionCenter at Guantanamo.Salim Hamdan trial also test of military tribunal systemBy Willian Glaberson / July 29, 2008 GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — On the surface, the proceedings unfolding inside a makeshift courthouse … Continue reading

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CITIES : Trading Places

The Angel of Gentrification.The demographic inversion of the American cityby Alan Ehrenhalt Thirty years ago, the mayor of Chicago was unseated by a snowstorm. A blizzard in January of 1979 dumped some 20 inches on the ground, causing, among other … Continue reading

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Response to Hard Times : The Suicide Solution

Two hours before her home was to be auctioned off, Carlene Balderrama killed herself with her husband’s rifleBy Barbara Ehrenreich / July 28, 2008 A few days before Congress passed its Housing Bill, Carlene Balderrama of Taunton MA found her … Continue reading

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EDUCATION : Texas Fiction Science

Image © Austin Cline, Licensed to About; Original Poster: Library of CongressThe State Board of Education does its part to fantasize biologyBy Andrea Grimes There’s nothing the evil overlords of the fictional future like more than a nice, healthy round … Continue reading

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Jennifer Viegas :
Sotten Treeshrew On Non-Stop Bender

Furry critters thrive on fermented nectar… By Jennifer Viegas / July 28, 2008 Even the most ardent beer fans would have trouble subsisting on their favorite brew day in and out, but scientists have just discovered that the pentailed treeshrew … Continue reading

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Existential Threats to the Larger National Body

Death as a Way of Lifeby Joseph Nevins / July 28th, 2008 Esequiel Hernández Jr. was only 18-years-old when Clemente Manuel Banuelos, a U.S. Marine corporal, shot and killed him in Redford, Texas in May 1998. Hernández, a high school … Continue reading

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Worth a Thousand Words Dept.

A young soldier displays a tattoo reading “Walk Peacefully on Heavens Streets, You’ve Done You’re Time in Hell.” Baghdad, Iraq – July, 2007. Source / Zoriah Photojournalist The Rag Blog

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Everything Is Always Hunky-Dory

Thar She Blows: The Last Hurrah for the Banking SystemBy Mike Whitney / July 28, 2008 The Bush administration will be mailing out another batch of “stimulus” checks in the very near future. There’s no way around it. The Fed … Continue reading

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Report : Gonzales Aides Broke Laws in Hiring

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July, 2004. Photo by Doug Mills / The New York Times.Politics guided decisions in systematic wayBy Eric Lichtblau / July 29, 2008 Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto … Continue reading

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