Category: Current Affairs
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When it comes to family values, god, religion and anti-gay rhetoric, Republicans get away with some of the most outrageous utterances – see here. A few gems from a large collection. Bailey Smith"With all due respect to those dear people, my friend, God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew." Bob Dornan (Rep.…
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In a Saturday New York Times editorial, "former neoconservative" (I didn’t know he’d jumped off the wagon) Francis Fukuyama criticizes the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq. Fukuyama argues that: "There are clear benefits to the Iraqi people from the removal of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, and perhaps some positive spillover effects in Lebanon and Syria. But…
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I haven’t seen this reported by the mainstream media anywhere, which is troubling because (a) there’s supposed to be a "liberal media bias" (if you listen to the conservatives, that is), and (b) I think it’s a big deal. And yes, I glance over Google News and CNN (among other newspapers/sites) fairly frequently. I have…
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This is breaking news. Dick Cheney has accidentally shot a man during a quail hunt in Texas. I am posting this without extensive commentary except to remind readers that as we already know from the misguided war in Iraq, Bush-Cheney do tend to go after the wrong target. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and…
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I had assumed that Egyptologists, as a subsection of anthropologists, were a dying breed. There are no new hieroglyphics to translate; there are no new sites to raid; there are no new dead kings to defile. (I actually love knowledge, and think it’s good that we learn things from Egyptian tombs–but you have to admit…
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The canaries are beginning to sing – must sound like a discordant cacophany to Bush – Cheney. Some with their backs to the wall, reputation in tatters and possible jail term in sight and some just angry erstwhile friends and officials of the Bush Administration are spilling their guts. Will Bush’s legendary luck run out…
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Usually I like controversial subjects, which is why it is so odd for me not to have commented on the Danish cartoon controversy. What I couldn’t figure out was why I didn’t have an opinion on the subject. Why was I one of Saul Levmore’s agnostics? As a liberal concerned especially with social liberty, do…
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Evo Morales, the newly elected president of Bolivia is a colorful character and the first Bolivian president of indigenous Andean Indian origin. He is a socialist and a good friend of Hugo Chavez. If that was not enough to send alarm bells ringing through the corridors of the White House and US Congress, he has…
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Boston’s very own deadly disease factory: coming soon to a neighborhood near you. Boston University won final federal approval Thursday for a controversial plan to build a research laboratory in the city’s South End that would handle some of the world’s most dangerous and exotic germs. The decision by the National Institutes of Health secures…
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It’s not just the Danes in trouble over the Mohammed caricatures, now. No doubt the American Right, with no sense of self-irony, will take this as evidence to support their arguments for curtailing our First Amendment freedoms and fuel for the War on Terror. The AP photo accompanying the story in all the media outlets…
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It wasn’t idyllic enough for the Danes to have a fairy tale existence – Hans Christian Andersen, peace, prosperity, milk, butter, cheese and Lego. They had to get into the middle of this ! "From the burning of its flag to a boycott of its brands of butter and cookies, Denmark is feeling Islamic outrage…
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History like criminal justice, belongs to the victor. The further back you go in time, more the scope for manipulating historical data. India has long grappled with its history of invasions, occupation and colonization. However unpalatable those events may have been, they too are part of Indian history. While the urge to remove statues of…
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You can’t be a parent and not breathe a long sigh of relief, followed by an incredulous "What was he thinking?" and an urge to spank, after reading this story. Sixteen year old Farris Hassan, an A student at a prestigious private high school in Fort Lauderdale, FL, took his journalism assignment on the road…
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Washington Post has a pretty funny list of the memorable utterances by politicians and celebrities during 2005. Using the format of Letterman’s Top Ten list, the fve quotes are arranged in an ascending order of impact on public memory. Media experts analyze and explain the impact factor of each quote. I will include the details…
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I recently decided to try and increase the exposure of Accidental Blogger by submitting blog entries to a couple of blog carnivals. I am happy to say that the entries were accepted for publication at both sites. Regular readers here may have already seen the two posts – "Tower of Babel – Not in Kansas" …
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