David McReynolds :
The Republican debate and the raw ego of
Donald Trump

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

The most glaring problem was how little this group understands the world in which we now live.

donald trump shrug

Donald Trump shown gesturing at the first Republican Debate.  AP photo.

By David McReynolds | The Rag Blog | August 10, 2015

NEW YORK — My assumption is that most of you watched the Fox-sponsored debate between  the 10 leading GOP hopefuls. This is not an effort to comment on each of them, but rather a look at what was missed, and, inevitably, an observation about the strange man, Donald Trump, who still holds more than 20% approval in public polls.

Some deal with Trump by noting he is an entertainer, not a politician, which is true, but the man is shrewd enough to deflect every attack by a counterattack. He has never, in all the interviews with him which I have watched, laid out a plan for how to achieve his goals.
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Carl Davidson :
What the big debate tells us about a
Republican presidency

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Here’s my instant two cents on the first GOP ‘debate’: put your money in the body bag business.

republican field

The Republican noise machine. Image from Keep On Keepin’ On.

By Carl Davidson | The Rag Blog | August 7, 2015

First, if any of the top people here win the White House, put your money in the body bag business. Nearly every one of them trashed Obama in favor of new wars in the Middle East, with massive invasions and bombings of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Mexico, and anywhere else.

They were almost delusional with superpower hegemonism, the idea that just by acting like John Wayne and strutting around the world, everyone would cringe and bow. I kept laughing out loud at the stupid arrogance on display, but really, it’s not funny.
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Lamar W. Hankins :
Propaganda and the atomic bomb 70 years later

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

The government, with the cooperation and collaboration of the media, used propaganda to justify the use of atomic bombs against Japan.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, August 6, 1945, and, at right, the bombing of Nagasaki three days later. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | August 6, 2015

I was only nine months old when two atomic bombs killed about 210,000 men, women, and children — the first at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the second at Nagasaki on August 9.

I have had discussions with soldiers and sailors who were fighting for the U.S. in the Pacific Theater during World War II. All of them held the view promoted by the government and most media in 1945 and thereafter that using atomic bombs was necessary to prevent the loss of 46,000 American lives (a worse case estimate made by military authorities) if the U.S. invaded Japan to end the war. This was and has been over the years the view of most Americans.
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Kate Braun :
Lammas is a fire festival of harvest and prosperity

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Be prepared to feel more energized than normal despite the summer’s heat.

lammas bread man

Lammas bread man and friend. Image from Drifting Through the Cosmos.

By Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | July 31, 2015

“Bonnie was the Lammas Moon…”

Lammas is a fire festival of harvest and prosperity celebrating the First Harvest, typically a grain. It may be celebrated on either Friday, July 31, Saturday, August 1, or Sunday, August 2, 2015. It is an excellent occasion for a pot-luck dinner, as one of the requirements is to share food, whether with your guests or with the homeless.

The full moon on July 31, the Thunder Moon, will be noticeable throughout the whole weekend. Be prepared to feel more energized than normal despite the summer’s heat.
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Alan Waldman :
TELEVISION | ‘Wentworth’ is a dark, dramatic Australian TV series set in a women’s prison

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

An excellent cast, clever, and gripping story lines, and an oppressive milieu make this a top-notch, thinking person’s entertainment.

wentworth 4

Wentworth is a compelling, edge-of-your-seat drama.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | July 27, 2015

[In his Rag Blog column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his favorite films and TV series that readers may have missed, including TV dramas, mysteries, and comedies from Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. Most are available on DVD, Netflix and/or Netflix Instant Streaming, and some episodes are on YouTube.]

At a time when Orange is the New Black is delighting U.S. audiences and media, while drawing attention to the shocking plight of women behind bars — much as Bad Girls did in Britain — Australia’s Wentworth (in some countries titled Wentworth Prison and in Poland called Wiezienie dla kobiet) is a compelling, edge-of-your-seat drama down under.

Currently, Netflix is streaming two seasons (22 episodes; 2013-2014) of this series. A third 12-episode season is airing in Australia now, and a fourth has been ordered.
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Bill Freeland :
Donald Trump: From here to obscurity

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

Trump may imagine himself as president, but what he can’t imagine is the perception of himself as a loser.

trump art freeland

Graphic by Bill Freeland / The Rag Blog.

By Bill Freeland | The Rag Blog | July 27, 2015

Here’s a first: the entire U.S. media, from the most marginal blogger to the giant TV titans, is united on a single proposition: Donald J. Trump is a man of his word.

Trump says he’s running for president. Which means, according to these clear-eyed commentators, that’s exactly what he’s doing.

“I’ll spend whatever it takes to win,” he has declared.
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The Rag Blog :
METRO EVENT | Dr. Rania Masri headlines ‘Gaza One Year Later’ fundraiser in Austin

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

gaza child peace symbol

Event: “Gaza One Year Later”
What: Fundraiser for Gaza featuring Rania Masri
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2015
Time: Reception at 6:30 p.m., Program at 7
Where: Asian-American Resource Center
Address: 8401 Cameron Road, Austin, Texas 78754
Tickets & Donations: $20 advance; $30 at door
Sponsor: Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights

AUSTIN — One year after the Israeli war on Gaza, where are we now? What has happened in Gaza since? What has happened throughout Palestine? And how can we, as individuals and as a movement committed to justice, organize and respond?

Dr. Rania Masri, an Associate Director at the American University of Beirut, will address these questions and more at “Gaza One Year Later,” a fundraiser for Gaza being held at the Asian-American Resource Center, on July 3, 2015, beginning with a reception at 6:30 p.m.
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The Rag Blog :
METRO EVENT | Tribes gather in Houston for Thorne Dreyer’s 70th Birthday Bash and
Rag Blog Benefit!

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

dreyer tribes poster for constant contact

Event: Gathering of the Tribes in Houston
What: Rag Blog Editor Thorne Dreyer’s 70th Birthday Bash & Rag Blog Benefit
When: Sunday, August 2, 2015, 5-8 p.m.
Where: Jasmine Room, Baba Yega Cafe
Address: 2607 Grant St., Houston, Texas 77006
Food & Drink: Buffet and Cash Bar
Cost: Free; Donations benefit New Journalism Project

HOUSTON — Road trip! The tribes are gathering in Houston!

The occasion is Thorne Dreyer’s 70th Birthday Bash and Rag Blog Benefit. It’s all happening Sunday, August 2, 2015, from 5-8 p.m., at Baba Yega Cafe, located at 2607 Grant St. in Houston’s legendary Montrose neighborhood.

And everybody’s welcome!
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Michael James :
Loving the bums, another march on Washington, bonding with my kids, and the White Sox lose to the Orioles, 1983

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

The season was done and I was a sad boy, one ‘mizzable bastard,’ to use my dad’s expression. But I jumped into the cooling waves and was rejuvenated.

james 27 - 1

Crowd gathers at Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, 1983. Photos by Michael James from his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.

By Michael James | The Rag Blog | July 22, 2015

[In this series, Michael James is sharing images from his rich past, accompanied by reflections about — and inspired by — those images. These photos will be included in his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures
from the Long Haul.]

Horses were my first love, followed by cowboys and Indians. Then came the Brooklyn Dodgers aka “the Bums,” and that was deep love. I loved all the Dodgers. Jackie Robinson was my hero. I attended my first Dodgers game in the late 1940’s, along with my dad and his advertising client, Barney Karlin of Castro Convertible Sofas. We sat close to third base; at the seventh inning stretch a woman in a babushka held up a Schaefer Beer sign and rang a bell. I ate many hot dogs and loved my first sauerkraut.
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Elaine J. Cohen :
METRO EVENT | Jewish peace group holds remembrance for Gaza War victims

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer
gaza war

Gaza War, summer of 2014. Photo from Austin Jewish Voice for Peace.

Event: Memorial for Victims of Last Summer’s Gaza War
When: Thursday, July 23, 2015, 7-9 p.m.
Where: Friends Meeting of Austin
Address: 3701 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Austin, Texas 78721
Sponsors: Austin Jewish Voice for Peace and Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights

AUSTIN — Austin Jewish Voice for Peace is holding a memorial service for the victims of the Israeli assault on the people of Gaza one year ago. Co-sponsored by the Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights, the service will be held at the Friends Meeting House, 3701 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 7-9 p.m., Thursday, July 23, 2015.
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Dick J. Reavis :
We are the New Union Army!

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer

It’s time to wear our colors as we work to
help finish the Civil War.

union cap

Drawing of kepi cap by Miriam Lizcano / The Rag Blog.

By Dick J. Reavis | The Rag Blog | July 12, 2015

In a recent book about the Southern Civil Rights Movement, professor, SNCC veteran, and author Charles E. Cobb tells a story that is useful to us today.

Among the people who turned out for the fourth day of the 1960 sit-ins in Greensboro, N.C., were the members of the football team at the historically-black North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. When the team got to the downtown Woolworth’s store, the site of the sit-ins, it found that a mob of whites had formed a cordon around the place. So the team formed a flying wedge and as its members broke through, one of the jostled whites hollered “Who do you think you are?” “We’re the Union Army!” a footballer hollered back.
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The Rag Blog :
METRO EVENT | Bill Fletcher Jr. speaks in Austin on the struggle for justice

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Thorne Dreyer
bill fletcher jr lg

Bill Fletcher Jr. will speak in Austin on July 14, 2015.

Event: Talk by Bill Fletcher Jr.
Topic: From Ferguson to Jerusalem: The Struggle for Justice
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2015, 7 p.m.
Where: St. James Episcopal Church
Address: 1941 Webberville Rd., Austin, TX 78721
Sponsors: Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights and the People’s Task Force
Cost: Free to the public

AUSTIN — Noted progressive activist, author, columnist, and commentator Bill Fletcher Jr. will speak in Austin on Tuesday, July 14, at 7 p.m., at the St. James Episcopal Church. The topic is “From Ferguson to Jerusalem: The Struggle for Justice: Why the Lives of the Oppressed Mean Little to the Oppressor.”

Bill Fletcher Jr. is a racial justice, labor, and international activist. He was president of TransAfrica Forum, a nonprofit advocacy, research, and education center focused on justice for the African world; a Senior Scholar with the Institute of Policy Studies; an editorial board member of BlackCommentator.com; and a steering committee member of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
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