Bob Feldman :
A People’s History of Egypt, Part 12, Section 2, 1947-1948

The movement to democratize Egypt:  Except for their religious beliefs, Jews shared lifestyles with those of Muslim background.

egyptian jewish home

Jewish home in Egypt. Image from BBC Watch.

By Bob Feldman / The Rag Blog / January 6, 2014

[With all the dramatic activity in Egypt, Bob Feldman’s Rag Blog “people’s history” series, “The Movement to Democratize Egypt,” could not be more timely. Also see Feldman’s “Hidden History of Texas” series on The Rag Blog.]

Prior to the Zionist movement’s establishment of the State of Israel on Palestinian land in 1948 and subsequent eviction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Palestine during the late 1940s, between 65,000 and 80,000 Egyptians of Jewish religious background lived in Egypt. Around 64 percent of Egyptians of Jewish background lived in Cairo and around 32 percent  lived in Alexandria, according to the Egyptian census of 1947.
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Kate Braun :
Waxing Crescent Moon is time to set new goals

Moon Musings: The Waxing Crescent Moon — which falls on January 4–5, 2014 — is a time to set goals for positive changes in your life.

waxing crescent moon purple

Waxing crescent moon. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

By Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | January 3, 2013

Waxing moons are times to set new goals, recognize new objectives, promote new growth, and set forces in motion to help you achieve these goals, objectives, and growth. The first weekend of 2014 is an auspicious time to start workings, both long- and short-term, with the goal of manifesting positive changes in your life. On Saturday, Lady Moon is in Aquarius, the sign that foreshadows coming trends and emphases; on Sunday, Lady Moon is in Pisces, the sign that incorporates energy from all the signs of the Zodiac; either of these days will generate nicely positive energy to facilitate your intentions.
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Alan Waldman :
‘A Bit of Fry & Laurie’ was brilliant British sketch series

 

Waldman’s film and TV
treasures you may have missed:

This was most people’s first exposure to the highly original comic genius of English national treasures Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who wrote and performed many classic sketches.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | December 27, 2013

[In his weekly 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, and Scotland. Most are available on DVD and/or Netflix, and some episodes are on YouTube.]

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Tom Hayden :
Progressive Dems see opening for new politics

Elizabeth Warren and the populists say ‘No way!’ to ‘Third Way.’

Conditions ripe for a new politics:
An opening for progressive Democrats

The Democratic progressive base is making clear that Hillary Clinton must make an adjustment from her hawkish centrism towards the new populism.

By Tom Hayden | The Rag Blog | December 23, 2013

The sight of progressive Democrats shaming and exposing the Wall Street-funded “Third Way” Democrats is a sign of a powerful new opening for progressives on the American political spectrum.
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Jack A. Smith :
Climate Change Confab Brings Too Little Too Late

Climate change activists in Warsaw, Friday, November 22, 2013, portray, from right, French President Francois Hollande, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Obama, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo by Czarek Sokolowski, / AP.

Climate Change meeting in
Warsaw brings too little too late


Given the number of drastic reports about climate change… the accomplishments at COP19 are useful but hugely disproportionate to what is needed.

By Jack A. Smith | The Rag Blog | December 23, 2013

The sharply increasing scientific indicators of impending disastrous global climate change have failed to motivate the principal developed countries, led by the U.S., to accelerate the lackluster pace of their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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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 from political accountability.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | December 23, 2013

SAN MARCOS, Texas — Three years ago, when Susan Narvaiz was near the end of her last term as Mayor of San Marcos, I asked her in a public meeting for some information about the number of jobs created through the use of publicly-funded development incentives provided by the City Council. She said she had that information at her office and would get it to me. Even after a later reminder, I’m still waiting for that information. That promise and her failure to fulfill it about sums up what I expect from her in any political office.
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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 the Houston Lateral’s completion.

By Steve Horn | DeSmogBlog | December 23, 2013

Only Barack Obama knows the fate of the northern half of TransCanada’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. But in the meantime, TransCanada is preparing the southern half of the line to open for commercial operations on January 22.
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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 D. Carle, and Slaid Cleaves

Our November guests were a Methodist minister and longtime social activist, a noted citizens’ advocate, two staffers from the original Rag, the author of a book about the ‘movement that started the civil rights movement,’ and an acclaimed singer-songwriter.

By Rag Radio | The Rag Blog | December 20, 2013

Thorne Dreyer’s guests on Rag Radio in November 2013 included Methodist minister and longtime social activist, Rev. Bob Briehan; citizens’ activist and author Sam Daley Harris; progressive Maryland legislator Doyle Neiman with poet-activist Mariann G. Wizard, both staffers of the original Rag in the ’60s; Susan D. Carle, author of a groundbreaking study of nineteenth century social and legal activism; and noted Austin-based singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves.
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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 Jesus, is Thorne Dreyer‘s guest on the 200th edition of Rag Radio, Friday, December 20, from 2-3 p.m. (CST). Rag Radio airs and streams live on cooperatively-run KOOP 91.7-FM in Austin, Texas, and is rebroadcast and streamed on WFTE-FM in Mt. Cobb and Scranton, PA, Sunday at 10 a.m. (EST) and on KPFT’s HD-3 Channel in Houston, Wednesday at 3 p.m. (CST). The podcast of this show can be found at the Internet Archive.

[Radical Jesus: A Graphic History of Faith. Paul Buhle, Editor; Sabrina Jones, Gary Dumm, Nick Thorkelson, Artists (2013: Herald Press); Paperback; 128 pp; $24.99.]

Paul Buhle is one of the most prolific and insightful critics from the American left. While his topics at first glance appear incredibly eclectic, closer reading uncovers a sharp focus that thoughtfully challenges class disparity, racism, and imperialism in the United States and throughout the world.
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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 Arthur Waskow | The Rag Blog | December 19, 2013

Recent controversies within Hillel International, the “home” for many Jewish college students of diverse backgrounds and beliefs, have made public in a sharper way a profound spiritual issue confronting American Jews and their “official” organizations.
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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 known in technical terminology as greed.

By Paul Krassner | The Rag Blog | December 19, 2013

Although Coachella Valley in Southern California has become synonymous with music festivals, Goldenvoice, the company that produces those events, also helped sponsor the first massive four-day health clinic this year. Free medical, dental, and vision care was provided to nearly 2,500 uninsured patients at the Riverside County Fairgrounds.
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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 Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | December 17, 2013

Saturday, December 21, 2013, marks Yule, the Winter Solstice, also the date observed as Saturnalia by the ancient Romans. Fittingly, this year’s Yule falls on a Saturday, Saturn’s Day.
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