WASHINGTON -- You wonder if President Obama sometimes finds himself singing a variant on Kermit the Frog's anthem about the burdens of being green: It's not easy being Barack Obama. This is not simply or even primarily a matter of color, although the president's racial background has been a source of both opportunity and trial. As the first African-American in the White … [Read more...] about The Obama riddle
Top 10 New Species Of 2012 — Lesula Monkey, Lilliputian Violet, Lyre Sponge, No to the Mine! Snake, Cave Painting Fungus, Glow-In-The-Dark Roach, Etc
Top 10 New Species Of 2012 — Lesula Monkey, Lilliputian Violet, Lyre Sponge, No to the Mine! Snake, Cave Painting Fungus, Glow-In-The-Dark Roach, Etc (via Planetsave) The annual Top 10 New Species list has just been released by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. The 2012 Top 10 New Species List this year includes: a false … [Read more...] about Top 10 New Species Of 2012 — Lesula Monkey, Lilliputian Violet, Lyre Sponge, No to the Mine! Snake, Cave Painting Fungus, Glow-In-The-Dark Roach, Etc
Memorial Day: Remember
It's Memorial Day. Remember. And: AND: AND: See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license these cartoons for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Memorial Day: Remember
BYOB: Bring Your Own Bag (Guest Voice)
BYOB: Bring Your Own Bag by Peter Funt MONTEREY, Calif.—They don't ask, "Paper or plastic?" around here anymore. Single-use plastic bags are banned, and stores offering paper are required to charge the stiff price of 25 cents per bag. The Monterey law, like many anti-bag ordinances popping up around the nation and the globe, seems to have been authored with good … [Read more...] about BYOB: Bring Your Own Bag (Guest Voice)
Memorial Day is about remembering those who served
Memorial Day is about remembering those who served (via NewsWorks) May 26, 2013 By NewsWorks Cartoon by Rob Tornoe Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.… … [Read more...] about Memorial Day is about remembering those who served
There are Many Benny’s: War Vets No One Ever Heard From
...for the elevendyth millionth time, I see ka-billion more about Memorial Day Sales of ride-'em lawnmowers, grills and lawn flamingos at retail outlets than I see actual remembering by most, TMV, being an exception in more ways than one with many fine articles here on the front page about what this day, this one day, is actually dedicated to and for whom. I dont know about … [Read more...] about There are Many Benny’s: War Vets No One Ever Heard From
Memorial Day In A Time Of War
First published May 26, 2008 Since 2002, we have celebrated Memorial Day with the sons and daughters of our country fighting abroad, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq. And every day that passes, it seems the media reports less and less about these wars. As a reminder, Memorial Day evolved from Decoration Day, started in 1868 as a day to decorate the graves of those … [Read more...] about Memorial Day In A Time Of War
The Skagit River Bridge Collapse: Looking At The Vehicles Involved
On Thursday May 23, a southbound oversize 18-wheeler struck overhead girders on an I-5 bridge north of Seattle, resulting in one span -- north and southbound -- collapsing into the Skagit River. Two vehicles fell into the shallow waters near Mt. Vernon, WA; the three people in those vehicles were rescued. The oversized trailer was tall -- 15'9" -- and 70'4" long (WSDOT … [Read more...] about The Skagit River Bridge Collapse: Looking At The Vehicles Involved
Memorial Day
It's Memorial day. I have reached the point in my life where I have far more people to remember than still live. It's been almost 11 years since my father died and a little over 4 months since my mother passed away. I will spend the day remembering the good times. My father lived to be 87 but last 10 years lacked quality because of assorted medical problems but 77 good … [Read more...] about Memorial Day
Bob Dole: He, Reagan and Nixon Wouldn’t Have Made It In Today’s Republican Party (UPDATED)
Former Republican Senate Majority Leader Sen. Bob Dole has now articulated what many moderate Republicans and traditional conservatives have long said: neither he, nor Richard Nixon nor Ronald Reagan would make it in today's Republican Party: Dole said in his Fox News interview that he isn’t sure there would be a place for him and other big-time Republicans of his … [Read more...] about Bob Dole: He, Reagan and Nixon Wouldn’t Have Made It In Today’s Republican Party (UPDATED)
11 Arrested Development Food Scenes (+ Bluth-Approved Recipes)
11 Arrested Development Food Scenes (+ Bluth-Approved Recipes) (via Food 52) Strip down to your jorts, paint yourself blue, and grab the nearest banana: the Arrested Development season premiere is almost here! Whether you’ve been a diehard fan from the beginning or you’ve made a huge mistake and missed the first three seasons, it’s hard not to be swept up in the hoopla… … [Read more...] about 11 Arrested Development Food Scenes (+ Bluth-Approved Recipes)
Putting an end to George W. Bush, finally.
W.’s library highlights his role in launching the Global War on Terror, an Orwellian phrase designed to conflate the sins of Osama, who was responsible for 9/11, and the sins of Saddam, who was not. That was the fatal mistake and hallmark of the Bush era. W., Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld declared war on a tactic, stoked fear as a smokescreen and treated pre-emptive attacks … [Read more...] about Putting an end to George W. Bush, finally.
What’s Next for the U.S. Drone Campaign as Obama Tries to End a Decade of War? (Guest Voice)
What's Next for the U.S. Drone Campaign as Obama Tries to End a Decade of War? (via PBS News Hour) JEFFREY BROWN: For more than 1,000 Midshipmen at the Naval Academy, this was commencement day. For the president, it was also a chance to address key military and national security issues in his graduation speech at Annapolis. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The superintendent told … [Read more...] about What’s Next for the U.S. Drone Campaign as Obama Tries to End a Decade of War? (Guest Voice)
One Giant Leap toward Science Fiction: Neurological Breakthrough in Linking Two Rats’ Brains
One Giant Leap toward Science Fiction: Neurological Breakthrough in Linking Two Rats’ Brains (via Nvate) Alison K. Lanier Forget the Vulcan Mind Meld. In what many headlines are comparing to a Spock-like telepathy, scientists at Duke University have taken neurological research to a new level by essentially transmitting data from one rat brain to another. Using electrodes … [Read more...] about One Giant Leap toward Science Fiction: Neurological Breakthrough in Linking Two Rats’ Brains
The Tangled Tango (Guest Voice)
The Tangled Tango Raging Moderate, by Will Durst As part of the brash rash of wire-brush scouring on the Teflon coating that routinely seals the Obama presidency, a large heavy-duty cast-iron deal has been made of the IRS conducting audits on Tea Party-affiliated organizations. But scratch the surface and it makes a sort of perverse sense. Tea Party and Associates are … [Read more...] about The Tangled Tango (Guest Voice)
British soldier murder suspect was held in Kenya
British soldier murder suspect was held in Kenya (via AFP) One of the main suspects in the brutal murder of a soldier in Britain was arrested in Kenya three years ago and questioned over alleged links to a group of Islamist insurgents, it emerged on Sunday. The Kenyan government confirmed that Michael Adebolajo was detained in 2010 under a false name and handed… … [Read more...] about British soldier murder suspect was held in Kenya
‘Hypnotized’ Western Public Wakes Up to Obama Abuses (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany)
Has President Obama lost Europe? And has power corrupted him to the point that he has betrayed not only his professed ideals, but his Nobel Peace Prize? Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung columnist Matthias Rub finds the events leading up to his administration's confluence of scandal too suspicious to be written off as mere coincidence. In just one of a series of articles … [Read more...] about ‘Hypnotized’ Western Public Wakes Up to Obama Abuses (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany)
‘The Path of the Warrior’
The following video, “The Path of the Warrior” produced by the Humanity Healing Network in 2009 is timeless and needs no introduction, except for perhaps advising viewers to keep a handkerchief or tissue close at hand Humanity Healing International is a humanitarian, nonpolitical, nondenominational spiritual organization promoting Spiritual Activism as a … [Read more...] about ‘The Path of the Warrior’
Russell Senate Building Should Be Renamed For Clair Engle
In a recent piece, I made my case that the Russell Senate Office Building on Capital Hill should be stripped of it’s name. It is borne for Richard Russell, a legendary Georgia Senator but one who was avowed segregationist. Russell more than anyone else held up passage of a Civil Rights law. I won’t reiterate my reasoning but I will make my case for who I think it should be … [Read more...] about Russell Senate Building Should Be Renamed For Clair Engle
Court Finds Sheriff Joe Arpaio Uses Racial Profiling
Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona [metro-Phoenix and environs] likes to puff up and promote himself as “America’s Toughest Sheriff”. To support the self-promotion he points to housing short term County inmates in Tent City, making inmates wear pink underwear and feeding them day old bread and bologna. He’s also notorious for launching unfounded investigations … [Read more...] about Court Finds Sheriff Joe Arpaio Uses Racial Profiling