Category Archives: RagBlog

Robert Jensen :
BOOKS | Barking dogs and sinking ships: Journalism’s search for metaphor and meaning

Dean Starkman explains why journalists often aren’t alert watchdogs, but he can’t see why limiting the profession to the role of a barking dog is, quite literally, a dead end. By Robert Jensen | The Rag Blog | April 2, … Continue reading

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Sarah Berlin :
Radical justice and ‘Radical Jesus,’ coming to a bookstore near you

‘Radical Jesus’ rediscovers Jesus as a radical leftist thinker and traces changemakers inspired by his teachings. By Sarah Berlin | In These Times | April 2, 2014 A comic book might be the last place you’d expect to find Jesus. … Continue reading

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Harry Targ :
Raise the minimum wage now

Working people are on the move and grassroots groups are demanding a fair minimum wage. By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | April 1, 2014 The experience of increasing poverty, economic marginalization, and the rise of political reaction against … Continue reading

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Thorne Dreyer :
PODCASTS | Filmmaking, pupulism, the attack on public education, and Texas politics on Rag Radio

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Al Reinert with singer Sima Cunningham; pundit Jim Hightower; education activists Julian Vasquez Heilig and Mike Klonsky; and politics with Glenn Smith and Jeff Crosby. Interviews by Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | March 31, 2014 Listen … Continue reading

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Dave Zirin :
SPORT | The Northwestern University Football Union and the NCAA’s death spiral

The NCAA is now in a fight for its life. Its power emanates solely from its position as a cartel. By Dave Zirin | The Rag Blog | March 28, 2014 “Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered…” – Mark Cuban … Continue reading

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Lamar W. Hankins :
Aslan’s portrayal of Jesus as revolutionary zealot is fanciful history

Mistakes in ‘Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,’ show that Reza Aslan lacks the necessary background to write a historical work about the period and Jesus’s place in it. By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog … Continue reading

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Bob Feldman :
A People’s History of Egypt, Part 20, 1990-1992

The Mubarak regime, supported financially and militarily by the United States, was accused of serious human rights violations, including extensive use of torture. By Bob Feldman | The Rag Blog | March 26, 2014 [With all the dramatic activity in … Continue reading

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Alan Waldman :
‘Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’ is a fun, stylish mystery series set in 1928 Melbourne

Delightful flapper detective Miss Phryne Fisher, wonderfully played by Essie Davis, makes this Aussie gem well worth your time. By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | March 25, 2014 [In his weekly column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his … Continue reading

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Tom Hayden :
The Cold War that threatens democracy

The new Cold War doctrine is that democratically elected nationalist or socialist leaders are new dominos threatening the fall of a U.S.-controlled order. By Tom Hayden | The Rag Blog | March 20, 2014 While the first Cold War was … Continue reading

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Beverly Baker Moore :
Finding some happiness nearby South By

There may have been insanity downtown but my friendly neighborhood venues were rife with talent all day and all evening all week. By Beverly Baker Moore | The Rag Blog | March 20, 2014 AUSTIN, Texas — South By Southwest … Continue reading

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Robert Sharlet :
Jim Retherford, the ‘Man in a Red Devil Suit’

Jim has been a fearless New Left editor, a political performance artist, part of a guerrilla theater troupe, and has worked with some of the legendary figures of the ’60s. By Robert Sharlet | The Rag Blog | February 19, … Continue reading

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Lamar W. Hankins :
Both Democrats and Republicans have it wrong

Once the Republicans tried to wrest back welfare reform as a political issue from Clinton, it was a race to see who could pander most successfully to the electorate. By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | March 19, … Continue reading

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