Category: Politics & World Affairs
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The distasteful, disgraced and now mercifully resigned, Tom DeLay, the former US Congressman from my voting district has a new gimmick up his sleeve to get back into the public eye. The Hammer will be dancing with the stars. Update: From the Houston Chronicle : WASHINGTON —Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, better known for his hard sell than his soft sole, is…
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The first casualty in war is truth, closely followed by the rule of law. In the run up to and during the Iraq war the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld administration bombarded us with lies and their war efforts were riddled with unlawful actions that skirted or directly violated US as well as international laws. Among the extra-legal methods…
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"If you wish to win public support for your healthcare plan, please stop calling it Healthcare Reform and instead try selling it as Health Insurance Reform. Americans like the health care they are getting for the most part but are tired of being jerked around by insurance companies. Best of luck!"
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It's the month of August and once again, as the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is about to convene for its general assembly meeting in Rio de Janeiro to discuss matters astronomical, my thoughts turn to Pluto, the planet / unplanet. Apparently, since its high handed and mostly unpopular ouster from the line up of planets three years ago, Pluto has lost its lobbying…
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For thousands of years men have built security barriers to keep out menace, real and imaginary. History tells us that while the track record of walls and fences to keep out a wily enemy is mixed, political barricades almost always generate paranoia and a misguided sense of power among those who guard them. A week ago I wrote about the wall that Israel has erected to keep out Palestinians and the ridiculous commercial…
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So is the Hockey Mama for Obama … this time as Sarah Palin. Thanks to Sandy and Richard Riccardi, makers of the videos, for sending me the link. Yes, I too think she will run in 2012. Like a moth attracted to the bright flame, I doubt she can resist the lure of the national limelight.
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I happened to catch parts of Tuesday's Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The most fascinating exchange of the day took place when Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) questioned the judge. Sessions, a southern right winger, whose own nomination to federal judgeship was blocked in 1986 partially because of his attitude towards racial issues,interrogated Sotomayor about her opinions on race…
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An article in the Wall Street Journal sheds light on the other side of the Iranian Green Revolution - the mindset of the enforcers of the status quo. The Basij paramilitary force has been deployed widely by the ruling regime to disrupt demonstrators protesting the results of the recent Iranian election. Created by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, the members of…
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We've all seen it. We've probably all seen the video, which clearly shows that there is — or should be — no controversy. More entertainingly, to my mind, is how it created yet one more great opportunity to mock Ann Althouse for being a moron. Or, you know, an intellectually dishonest right-wing hack.
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A photo I took of some Uighur men, at their request, on the Southern Silk Road in Summer 2006. More photos here. Some ruminations after the break.
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Every now and then, I see something going on in American politics, and then pause to think "Haven't I seen a similar scenario, before , only a continent away and 10 years ago?" Then,regional politics in India: Jayalalitha: brought in to 'sex up' campaign of an elderly MGRRegional politician (was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu…
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I don't doubt that some of the "Judge Sotomayor just isn't smart enough to be a justice" criticism is racially tinged. It's probably sexist, too. But I'm not writing to defend Sonia Sotomayor — I'm writing to defend Clarence Thomas (who I am distinctly not a fan of). Because, of course, on the left —…
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No, this is not a trip down the memory lane to West Side Story but an instance of another irate Republican putting his foot in the mouth regarding Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's pick for the US Supreme Court. Mike Huckabee, one of the GOP presidential contenders of 2008, railed that Maria Sotomayor, coming from the "far left" would turn the Supreme…
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