Category Archives: RagBlog

Lamar W. Hankins :
Opportunist Narvaiz Takes On Doggett Again in Gerrymandered 35th

Congressional candidate Susan Narvaiz and friend. Image from Facebook. Unsolicited advice, Dept.: A Narvaiz strategy to defeat Doggett Narvaiz is a political chameleon who says what she needs to say and does what she needs to do to protect herself … Continue reading

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Steve Horn :
Keystone XL’s Houston ‘Fork in the Road’

Houston’s refinery row. Image from Gulf Restoration Network / DaSmogBlog. Keystone XL fork in the road: TransCanada’s Houston Lateral Pipeline Houston’s LyondellBasell refinery is retooling itself for the looming feast of tar sands crude and fracked oil bounty that awaits … Continue reading

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Thorne Dreyer :
November Rag Radio Guests Include Spiritual Counselor, Citizens’ Advocate, Singer-Songwriter

Rev. Bob Breihan, Methodist minister and longtime social activist, on Rag Radio, November 29, 2013. Photo by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog. Rag Radio podcasts: Thorne Dreyer interviews Rev. Bob Breihan, Sam Daley-Harris, Doyle Niemann & Mariann Wizard, Susan … Continue reading

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BOOKS / Alan Wieder : Paul Buhle’s ‘Radical Jesus: A Graphic History of Faith’

  Paul Buhle’s ‘Radical Jesus’: Comic artists explore the history and social message of Jesus Christ By Alan Wieder | The Rag Blog | December 19, 2013 Paul Buhle, the noted historian, author, graphic novel publisher, and editor of Radical … Continue reading

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Rabbi Arthur Waskow : Israel, Hillel, and Idolatry

Harvard Hillel banned a speech by former Israeli Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg. The spiritual issue: Israel, Hillel, and idolatry The Hillel International prohibitions make the State of Israel, and indeed only one version of it, into an idol. By Rabbi … Continue reading

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Paul Krassner : Is There a Doctor in the House?

Doctors provide free medical care at the Riverside County Fair Grounds in California’s Coachella Valley earlier this year. Image from KESQ.com. California tops in most uninsured: Is there a doctor in the house? The insurance industry has a preexisting condition … Continue reading

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Kate Braun : Winter Solstice Falls on Saturn’s Day

Saturnalia by Ernesto Biondi, 1909. Io Saturnalia! Winter Solstice 2013 This seasonal celebration takes from many traditions, including the Roman Saturnalia, Druid customs, the German ‘Yule,’ and the birth of Jesus; and Queen Victoria popularized the lighted Christmas tree. By … Continue reading

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Allen Young : Ralph Dungan, the ‘Good Liberal’

Ralph Dungan in Chile, 1966. Photo from The Washington Post. Discretion, valor, and the ‘good liberal’ In the most patronizing tone, Mr. Dungan said if we opposed U.S. policy, we should ‘return to the U.S. and run for Congress.’ By … Continue reading

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Ed Felien : A Good [Angry White] Man With a Gun

Image from The L Magazine. Pissed-off patriot: ‘A good man with a gun’ These angry white men are doing their best to bring back an idealized past that never really existed By Ed Felien | The Rag Blog | December … Continue reading

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BOOKS / Ron Jacobs : Matt Hern Writes With Bravado That Sports Do Matter

  Wait a minute people: Sports do have meaning Engagingly written, One Game at a Time is motivated by the belief that sports do matter as much as sports fans think they do. By Ron Jacobs | The Rag Blog … Continue reading

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Lamar W. Hankins : Right-Wing Rants and the Abominable Straw Man

The abominable Straw Man argument. Image from Linda’s Bees. Frosty the Straw Man: How right-wing rants poison political discussion If we could have civil discourse about our disagreements and try to understand why we have differences of opinion, perhaps we … Continue reading

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HISTORY / Bob Feldman : A People’s History of Egypt, Part 12, Section 1, 1947-1948

Police crack down on strikers in Mahalla, 1947, killing three workers. Image from Hossam el-Hamalawy / Flickr. A people’s history: The movement to democratize Egypt Part 12: 1947-1948 period/Section 1 — Anti-imperialist left grows; Muslim Brotherhood collaborates with Egyptian regime. … Continue reading

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