The Serious Scoop. Having flung my share of sarcastic links and comments onto this forum, I want to take time to say something really heartfelt and serious about this upcoming election. There has been a lack of thoughtful discussion so I’d like to change that, at least about myself. Here goes. I support President Obama …
“You Don’t Own Me” was a great pre-feminist pop nugget from 1964. But it’s ironic now, nearly 50 years later, that we need reminders from a song this old. Then again, Lesley Gore was ahead of her time. – Rich Horton
Liberals are super-worried about how an action affects future generations. Conservatives care about tomorrow, and eternity. – John Roderick [John Roderick will be performing with friends at the Showbox in Seattle on Oct. 29. Follow him as he tweets his wisdom from @johnroderick.]
Think Romney can’t win? In 1972, a highly decorated war hero, history professor, Heartland-bred campaigner on the war on poverty, future champion in the war on hunger and admired, anti-war U.S. Senator got beat in one of the country’s biggest landslides by Richard “tricky Dick” Nixon. At the tail end of the Vietnam war, when …
This is a job for… Binder Woman! Enforcer of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, defender of office moms who cook but don’t use assault weapons. – Peter Dysart Binder Woman will make sure that all women have the right to affordable contraceptives, even those who work for Catholic universities. Up, up and away! – …
This comes from here – http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/
In the Business section of yesterday’s conservative Chicago Tribune, writer Gail MarksJarvis has a column about the Standard & Poor 500 index’s performance over the last five years. I will use her analysis to further inform the masses of the depth of the damage caused to this country by President Obama’s immediate predecessor, #43. In …
It’s been said that there are two things in life that are certain: death and taxes. While this is certainly true today, you may wonder if it’s always been the case. Taxes have been a way of life in the United States since the colonial times, but where did they originate? Originally a gift from …
In 2008, for a public speaking class, I wrote and delivered a speech on the campus of Merritt College in Oakland on behalf of Hillary Clinton, for which I got an A. I voted for her then and I’d vote for her again. – Pat Thomas is the author of the recently released work, Listen, …
This CD will be out of print in 6 weeks, so get it now – October 16th 1970, in Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act, sending tanks rolling through the streets and curtailing civil liberties nationwide. That evening Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Phil Ochs play to a sell-out crowd in Vancouver, …
9.11.12. George W. Bush (43) was notably absent at the Republican National Convention, and his two-term administration was barely mentioned. However, brother Jeb quipped “during incredibly challenging times, [43] kept us safe.” What ?! 9/11 happened on the watch of 43! In fact, Condoleeza Rice testified during the 9/11 Congressional Inquiry that a Presidential Daily …
My neighbor, Bill Werner, MD, MPH, authored this article for my church’s monthly newsletter. I am copying it verbatim with his permission, as follows: Soon after the Supreme Court issued its decision that the majority of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 was constitutional, I attended a debate by two legal …
We seem to hear every so often about artists who object to their songs being used by a GOP candidate (Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Heart, Jackson Browne, Rage Against The Machine, etc.), but I’m not aware of an instance where an artist objected to their song being used by a Democratic candidate. The initial impluse …
A conversation between East Portland Blog and Lawrence Spaulding: EPB: Are you still running? LS: Yeah, I have a hamstring strain and I am not training for anything, but I still run ten miles or less. EPB: But you did run marathons at some point? LS: Yeah, but like I said I am not training …
First of all, I’d like to know what constitutes a “good” teacher. Do you think it’s test scores? Do you realize that Sweden is purported to have the best performing schools in the world. They do not use standardized tests,, they pay their teachers a livable wage, they have socialized health care, they put their …
Neither Paul Ryan nor almost any other spending ‘hawks’ — dem or repub — talk about cutting military spending. Which accounts for 20% of the budget and has increased 14 years in a row (a feat we didn’t even see during the Cold War). Mindboggling, when you look at this list of spending per country …
Paul Ryan liked Ayn Rand in high school and now he gives her books to all his staffers. Maybe I should give all my co-workers cassettes of Black Flag’s Damaged. – NPR’s John Moe is the host of Marketplace Tech Report and Wits.
Ok, first thing, I am not too embarrassed to admit I really did not think Mitt would choose Paul. Everything thing about Romney’s style and campaign has led me to view him as a cautious, careful politician. One who tries little new, but wants to perfect the doing of what has been done before. Thus …
Having spent the last 8 weeks reading hundreds of documents, personal letters, note books, journals of Jerry Rubin, including correspondence between Jerry and the Weathermen, the Panthers, other YIPPIES, other Chicago 8 defendants, and close personal friends of his, I’ve reached the conclusion that the 1960’s were not just a “Hippie Dream” – but a …
I’d ask you all to think of the women in Pussy Riot who stood up to Putin in a celebration of free speech in Russia. Three of them have been held incommunicado in prison for several months and are today in court. They’re a reminder that music can still have a strong political voice: – …
In a recent Wall Street Journal, an opinion piece written by Arthur Herman, who is identified only as the author* of a book titled, Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, focused on the (alleged) aging weaponry used by the military. Mr. Herman lauds the free market in contrast to “layers …
I had no idea that “The Wave Speech” from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas had been given a name and taken on a life of it’s own amongst Thompson mavens and literary academics. I had wrongly assumed that I was the only one to find beauty in these six paragraphs and to excerpt them …
Did you ever have a friend who gave up some habit that had gone bad, and then began preaching to everyone else they should do the same? Maybe she gave up eating meat or drinking coffee, or maybe he stopped going to church—or started. Now that they have changed their practice they have become evangelical: …
57 million Americans live in “Common Interest Developments” governed by Homeowners’ Associations. HOAs enjoy all the powers and prerogatives of local governments, but they operate with absolutely no checks and balances. Federal, state, and local governments have no authority over HOAs except when they violate federal fair housing laws. In the last two years, approximately …
This week NATION editor Katrina vanden Heuvel brings attention to an unlikely political cause celebre involving a Russian punk rock collective called Pussy Riot. Some remarkable YouTube video footage accompanies her piece: http://www.thenation.com/blog/167647/free-pussy-riot?rel=emailNation And their Wikipedia entry makes clear that PR is a remarkable project all the way around: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pussy_Riot This …
When you lose the ability to make distinctions in a world of greys, you enable those who see things as black and white to win. When it has to be all or nothing, you end up with nothing. These are self-fulfilling prophecies and only lead to more cynicism. We must make choices in the real …
On Saturday, April 28, 2012, rallies put on by UniteWomen.org took place all over the country. I attended the Seattle event. My estimate is that probably between three and four hundred people of all ages, genders and backgrounds were in attendance. I even spotted a group of teenaged boys! There were a multitude of homemade …
[What follows is a work of fiction. None of this ever happened or will happen. No one wants any harm to come to President Obama. The author is using stories which exist only in his imagination to tell a political parable and thereby challenge readers to think in a new way about politics. Once again, …
Today is April 17th, which means it’s tax day in the good ol’ USA . Last year on tax day I stood outside at a Bank of America branch chanting, “Pay Your Taxes.” This year the Occupy Movement held a huge event starting in downtown Seattle’s Westlake Center Square and marching to the downtown Wells …
These were all so good… I can still sing along to most of them. 🙂 Does any network continue to show them on Saturday mornings? Or anything similiar, I wonder? – Lisa Sundell Olsen http://youtu.be/VaBCwwgrgoA