RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : Bruce Melton on Global Warming and Climate Change Denial

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Environmental activist Bruce Melton at the studios of KOOP radio in Austin, Texas, September 20, 2013. Photo by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

Rag Radio podcast:
Environmental researcher and
climate change activist Bruce Melton

Austin environmentalist and Rag Blog contributor talks about global warming, climate change denial, and Austin’s ‘Dry Lake Blues.’

By Rag Radio | The Rag Blog | October 2, 2013

Environmental researcher and climate change activist Bruce Melton was our guest on Rag Radio, Friday, September 20, 2013.
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Harvey Wasserman : The Demand for a Global Takeover at Fukushima

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s reactor building number 4 seen in aerial view on July 5, 2012. Photo by Kyodo / Reuters.

The demand for a global takeover
at Fukushima has hit critical mass

Since the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, the six-reactor Daichi site has plunged into lethal chaos.

By Harvey Wasserman | The Rag Blog | October 2, 2013

More than 48,000 global citizens have now signed a petition at NukeFree.org asking the United Nations and the world community to take charge of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. Another 35,000 have signed at RootsAction. An independent advisory group of scientists and engineers is also in formation.
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Kate Braun : The First Dark Moon of Autumn

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Moonless autumn night on Whidbey Island in Washington. Photo from rprtphoto.

Moon Musings:
Dark Moon
(October 4, 5, or 6, 2013)

By Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | October 2, 2013

“North, South, East, West,
help me to do my best”

A Dark Moon may be honored on each day on either side of the New Moon as well as on the day of the New Moon.
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Michael James : Free Speech at Sproul Plaza, Berkeley, Fall of 1964

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Gathering during Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley, December 1964. At left, with mustache, is Jack Weinberg; center, in tie, is Michael Lerner; second from right, in glasses, is Marvin Garson. Photos by Michael James from his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.

Pictures from the Long Haul:
Free speech, Sproul Plaza with Jesus,
and the Roseville Auction, Fall of ’64

I am one of 773 arrested at Sproul Hall and hauled off to Santa Rita County Jail. One of many who goes limp, I am arrested with the added charge of
resisting arrest, and dragged down the stairs. It will not be the only time I’ll get that charge.

By Michael James | The Rag Blog | October 1, 2013

[In this series, Michael James is sharing images from his rich past, accompanied by reflections about — and inspired by — those images. This photo will be included in his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James’ Pictures from the Long Haul.]
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Lamar W. Hankins : A Case Study in DWI in San Marcos, Texas

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Kyle Maysel’s arrested is reported on San Marcos television. Image from kens5.com.

A case study:
DWI and the citizen accused

A San Marcos attorney was arrested on a DWI charge during a ‘no refusal’ weekend and questions have been raised about the conduct of the police and the judge involved in the case.

By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | September 30, 2013

SAN MARCOS, Texas — This past August 30, San Marcos attorney Kyle Maysel was arrested on a DWI charge after a minor traffic accident in which he backed into a stopped car. That day was the start of the first “no refusal” weekend to be conducted by the San Marcos Police Department (SMPD), a weekend when anyone arrested for DWI would not be allowed to refuse to take a breath test or a blood test to measure the alcohol content of their breath or blood.
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RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : Jim Hightower Brings the Lowdown on ‘Poopgate’ and ‘Tinkle-Down’ Economics

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Texas populist gadfly Jim Hightower at the studios of KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas, September 13, 2013. Photos by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

Rag Radio podcast:
Famed Texas populist commentator
and political gadfly, Jim Hightower

In 30 years, we’ve gone from Ronald Reagan’s ‘trickle-down’ to the Koch Brothers’ ‘tinkle down’ economics. We are resurrecting the robber barons and imposing a plutocracy over our democracy.

By Thorne Dreyer | The Rag Blog | September 26, 2013

Texas populist writer, commentator, and political gadfly Jim Hightower was our guest on Rag Radio, Friday, September 13, 2013.
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HISTORY / Bob Feldman : A People’s History of Egypt, Part 10, 1930-1945

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Signing of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty in 1936. Image from Islam Project 2010.

A people’s history:
The movement to democratize Egypt

Part 10: 1930-1945 period — Anglo-Egyptian Treaty reaffirms Egypt’s ‘independence’ though British domination continues.

By Bob Feldman | The Rag Blog | September 25, 2013

[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.]
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Alan Waldman: ‘Midsomer Murders’ is a Popular Long-Running British Rural Crime Series

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer

 

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

So far, 100 episodes of this dramatic and humorous ‘whodunnit’ set in fictional Midsomer County have aired.

By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | September 24, 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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Marilyn Katz : A Different Path for Syria, and Hopefully for Chicago

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
child at funeral crop

Child at funeral in Chicago. Image from The Old Black Church.

And for Chicago?
A different path for Syria

Will U.S. diplomacy in Syria carve a new path towards peace at home and abroad?

By Marilyn Katz / The Rag Blog / September 19, 2013

CHICAGO — The example of our leaders cannot help but guide the thinking of our youth: Might makes right and those who are “wrong” — who disagree with our worldview — are The Other, ever-more-easily transformed into an enemy to be dealt with by whatever means necessary.
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Johnny Hazard : Tanks Versus Teachers in Mexico City

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Striking teachers at Zócalo plaza in Mexico City, Friday, September 13, 2013. Photo by Eduardo Verdugo / AP.

Tanks vs. teachers:
Federal police drive striking teachers
from Mexico’s Zócalo plaza

By Johnny Hazard | The Rag Blog | September 19, 2013

“In addition to promoting just causes and altering business as usual for awhile (and hoping that such alterations will be permanent), marches, rallies, highway blockages, and the collective taking of public spaces, but especially encampments and occupations, re-establish community and the liberating collective creativity that has been lost amid urban chaos.”
— Armando Bartra, Mexican left intellectual

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INTERVIEW / Jonah Raskin : Occupy’s Nathan Schneider on Anarchy and Radical Catholicism

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Nathan Schneider, June 17, 2012. Photo from Occupy.

Interview with Occupy’s Nathan Schneider:
Anarchy, activism, and radical Catholicism

By Jonah Raskin | The Rag Blog | September 19, 2013

“It’s hard to pick a revolution about which one doesn’t have major misgivings. But they also have peak moments: the nuns kneeling before Marcos’ tanks in the Philippines; the queer crusaders emerging out of the Sixties; the cacophonous assemblies at the Paris Commune; the pockets of anarchist rule in Catalonia; the Christians and Muslims in Tahrir guarding one another’s prayers.” — Nathan Schneider

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Mike Klonsky : Forbes Calls Charter Schools ‘Part of a Corrupt System’

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Thorne Dreyer
Demonstration in New York against school privatization.

‘Part of a corrupt system’:
Forbes piece pounds charters

About the only thing charters do well is limit the influence of teachers’ unions. And fatten their investors’ portfolios.

By Mike Klonsky | The Rag Blog | September 18, 2013

An article appearing in the September 10 issue of Forbes gives a swift kick in the rear end to charter schools. According to Forbes contributor Addison Wiggin, charter schools have selective enrollments, don’t perform any better than regular public schools, and are part of a corrupt system that funnels public funds into the pockets of privatizers and corporate cronies through real estate deals and tax credits.
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