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Newest Blog Entries:
NYT Editorial & Op-Eds (6)
"Attacking lawyers who take on controversial causes makes it harder for unpopular people to get representation — and weakens all Americans’ constitutional rights" (Editorial); "The financial crisis in Ireland offers clues about our own, and about how to prevent another one" (Krugman); "As the varieties of religious experience in America multiply, will true faith suffer?" (Douthat); "There’s no case for giving a cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security recipients on either equity or stimulus grounds" (Guest Op-Ed); "Congress should scrap a plan to grant biologic drugs 12 years of protection from generic competitors" (Guest Op-Ed); "President Obama should focus high-speed rail investment on Acela" (Guest Op-Ed)Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, March 8, 2010
NYT (3): National News
WHITHER "THE LEFT?"; A year after coal ash spill, problem may actually be getting worse; and Scientology under fire from its own adherents.Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, March 7, 2010
Gary Greenberg: “Manufacturing Depression – The Secret History of a Modern Disease”
Democracy NowPosted by Mike Blaxill, Tuesday, March 2, 2010
NYT Editorials & Op-Eds (9)
The Times on "carry" laws ("The actions by supporters of Open Carry, a group that flaunts the right under a California law to pack weapons in public, has pushed many businesses to ban patrons with guns. Starbucks should follow"); The Times on the amazing growth of cellphone use ("Mobile communication and access to digital information are essential and powerful development tools and aids to self-sufficiency"); Evan Bayh on why he is resigning ("Action on the deficit, economy, energy, health care and much more is imperative, yet our legislative institutions fail to act. Congress must be reformed"); Lincoln Chafee seconds Bayh's emotion ("Leaving office doesn’t always mean giving up Washington. A third party may evolve out of the G.O.P. and Democratic dysfunction"); Bob Herbert on broken schools et al ("Ignoring the sad state of our nation’s schools and infrastructure will hurt us"); Gail Collins on anger as a political tool ("Politicians often get into trouble when they’re trying to sound more furious than they feel"); Nick Kristof's MUST-READ humorous piece on "news reform" ("What if the news industry were like our unreformed health care system?"); Tom Friedman on paying for 911 calls ("President Obama’s calling is to lead nation-building. He clearly understands this but he has yet to give full voice to it"); Charles Blow on the "spirit quest" ("Young adults are looking for spirituality but not necessarily through organized religion")Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, February 21, 2010
NYT (4): International Affairs
Obama meets with Dalai Lama, and China expectedly protests; U.N. climate chief quits; Czech court bans far-right party; and what happened to Russian dominance of the Winter Olympics?Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, February 19, 2010
The Winter of America’s Discontent
Posted by Michael Butler, Monday, February 8, 2010NYT Op-Eds (4)
"The way the Senate works is no longer consistent with a functioning government, and senators should change the rules to end obstructionism" (Krugman); "Linking the antiproliferation agenda to the dream of universal nuclear abolition, as President Obama seems intent on doing, is a naïve approach to a very difficult problem" (Douthat); "The 'Twilight' series’ makers owe it to the Quileute people to let them have a say in, and benefit financially from, outsiders’ use of their cultural property" (Guest Op-Ed); "Every bit of Christian teaching can be summed up in three words: God is love. That is the simple truth that teaches tolerance of same-sex unions" (Guest Op-Ed)Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, February 8, 2010
NYT (5): International Affairs
Iraqi court overturns barring of candidates; Moussavi gets "harsh" in Iran; Blair called "liar" by former British official; Despite China's warning of "consequences," Obama will meet with Dalai Lama; And Lancet retracts controversial 1998 article linking autism to vaccines.Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, February 3, 2010
JD Salinger’s Neighbors Protected Him
A fascinating article in the Rutland Herald about JD Salinger's neighbors in Cornish NH, how they fended off "the annual parade of English majors". One time during Halloween he and his wife forgot candy and gave out pencils instead - expect eBay to be flooded w claims of JD Salinger pencils in the next few weeks - mab .. read morePosted by Mike Blaxill, Saturday, January 30, 2010
Is Pot a Cancer Cure?
Bruce Mirken in TruthOut ...In his 1971 State of the Union speech, President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer ... four years later, scientists from the National Cancer Institute published a study demonstrating that a group of compounds taken from a common, widely cultivated plant shrank lung tumors that had been implanted in mice, extending their survival. In a world that made sense, this plant and the anticancer drugs it produced would have been rushed into further testing .. Instead, research proceeded at a glacial pace ... What got in the way was Nixon's other war, the "war on drugs." The plant in question was cannabis sativa -- marijuana -- public enemy number one in that other war.. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Tuesday, January 26, 2010
NYT Editorial & Op-Eds (5)
"President Obama must keep his promise to get rid of the thousands of freelance gunmen still deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere" (Editorial); "Despite what conservatives claim, Europe has a successful economy and a social democracy that works" (Krugman); "The supermajority’s use of the procedural filibuster is, at worst, unconstitutional and, at best, at odds with the founders’ intent" (Guest Op-Ed); "Pretrial rulings may put the opponents of same-sex marriage at a disadvantage in court" (Meese); "Did the call by a cable news analyst for Tiger Woods to convert to Christianity go too far?" (Douthat)Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, January 11, 2010
NYT (6): National News
Obama revives C.I.A.-environmental data-sharing; Oil hits 15-month high of $81/bbl; In MA, its the environment v. freedom of religion; NJ unlikely to pass gay marriage; Chafee to run for governor of RI; and Paterson seeks "sweeping overhaul" to combat political corruption.Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Sarah van Gelder: 12 Innovations From the ‘00s That Could Save Us
Van Gelder in YES! magazine with the glass is half full side of the picture...People around the world turned away from ways of life and practices that are endangering our world and worked to make communities, work places, and technologies green and egalitarian. And peoples movements challenged the power of corporations, the military, and finance interests, insisting on putting people and the planet first. It's this combination of smart, local innovation and people power that offers hopeful possibilities for the '10s, '20s, and beyond.. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Sunday, January 3, 2010
NYT (3): National News
The ultimate environmental holiday gift - carbon dioxide; A "cash for clunkers" program...for fireplaces; and the reversal of a silly holiday ruling in CA.Posted by Ian Alterman, Friday, December 25, 2009
NYT Op-Eds (2)
"The difficulty of trying to pass health care reform shows how dysfunctional the Senate, and the United States government as a whole, has become" (Krugman); "The film “Avatar” is the director’s long apologia for pantheism, Hollywood’s religion of choice for a generation now" (Douthat)Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, December 21, 2009
NYT Op-Eds (2)
"When did we decide that letting private contractors stand in for our military in sensitive and dangerous situations was a good plan?" (Collins); "Americans continue to cobble together spiritual identities from a hodgepodge of beliefs — bending dogmas to suit them instead of bending themselves to fit a dogma" (Blow)Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, December 12, 2009
Imagine Peace: John Lennon Peace Crater on The Moon
John Lennon Peace Crater ...The International Lunar Geographic Society has announced that a crater on Luna, Earth’s Moon, has been renamed to honor musician and peace activist John Lennon. The crater, which is located in the Moon’s Lacus Somniorum (“Lake of Dreams”) district, has been given the honorary designation as the John Lennon Peace Crater on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of Mr. Lennon’s birth. Forty years ago, in March 1969, Mr. Lennon and his wife, the artist Yoko Ono, staged their first “Bed-In For Peace” in Amsterdam. The event was followed in June of the same year by a second “Bed-In” in Montréal, during which Mr. Lennon composed and recorded the anthem “Give Peace A Chance.”.. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Saturday, December 5, 2009
Portland’s Cannabis Cafe is the First Marijuana Coffee Shop of Its Kind in the Country
From Democracy NowPosted by Mike Blaxill, Tuesday, November 24, 2009
NYT (5): National News
U.S. debt service will be HUGE; Precedent-setting ruling by NYS judge offers added hope for wrongfully convicted; NYC sewers may be poisoning its water; Florida paper harsh on Scientology will sell sister mag to...scientologists; and new tapes of day of JFK killing will be shown on NGO tonite.Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, November 23, 2009
Rowan Williams prepares to meet the Pope
Posted by Alexander Harper, Friday, November 20, 2009The Heckler: Missive from the Great Reverend Billy
Three weeks to go to the election. Last night I interrupted Mike Bloomberg’s opening statement in the debate. We’re trying to poke through the $65 million TV screen that weighs down on us in Gotham City. My prayer for bravery was posted with you earlier yesterday, “…there is something powerful in a quiet voice when the words are whole.”Posted by Mike Blaxill, Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Adbusters: Synthetic Existence
Gwynn Wahlmann in Adbusters...For all the talk about the environment these days, I don’t think human beings have ever been more distanced from nature. And much as I hate to say it, I don’t think this trend is going to reverse itself. It just seems inevitable that people are going to continue to live more and more through technology ... Already you can see signs of an advent of avatarism. Humans are happy to go through synthetic self-transformations … breast augmentation, Botox, plastic surgery, tummy tucks, etc. At the same time many others neglect their physical selves, adopting (sometimes false) computer identities.. read more
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Readers weigh in: How do I help my son become a free thinker?
Posted by Bill Swiggard, Saturday, September 26, 2009NYT (9): National News
Despite promises, Obama continues Bush practice of using signing statements; If climate change is a threat to national security, what might this lead to?; Sotomayor is sworn in - first Monday in October will be historic; Ethics concerns still alive re Paulson-Goldman connection; Small plane and tourist copter collide in NYC, leaving nine dead; Will Philly be the first big city without a major print news source?; Does technology necessarily have to adversely effect old businesses?; At what point did Madison Avenue see Woodstock attendees as consumers?; and is Obama's sense of humor an asset or a liability?Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, August 9, 2009
