[one_third_last]Human rights violations are increasing around the world but the United Nations agency responsible for protecting helpless people is in crisis. “By comparison with the needs, our capacity to deliver is paper thin,” its chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein lamented today.[icopyright one button toolbar] His agency is “being asked to use a boat and a bucket to cope with … [Read more...] about UN Human Rights agency in crisis
Media Lets Republicans Get Away With Absurd Statements On Obamacare & Other Issues
Republicans have been successful at “playing the refs” with false claims of liberal bias, helping them get away with spreading their misinformation. Liberal blogs and magazines, have commented a lot on Mitch McConnell’s absurd statement in support of the popular and successful Kynect exchange site while attacking Obamacare, which makes Kynect possible. Fact checkers have … [Read more...] about Media Lets Republicans Get Away With Absurd Statements On Obamacare & Other Issues
When Government was Good
THORNDALE, Pa. -- Tom Wolf's mood is sunny but his words are serious. He's answering teachers' questions at an elementary school featured last year in a New York Times story about the costs of overcrowding and underinvestment. The Democratic nominee for governor, Wolf criticizes Pennsylvania incumbent Tom Corbett for education cuts, but he is not terribly partisan about … [Read more...] about When Government was Good
Mike Peters Guest Cartoon: Obama and Ebola
OF RELATED INTEREST: --Obama Sightings Will Be Rare This Election Season --Poll shows Obama approval low, GOP enthusiasm higher than Democrats’ --Ebola is the 2014 election’s October surprise --Democrats Say GOP Budget Cuts Hurt Ebola Response Mike Peters is recognized as one of our nation’s most prominent cartoon artists for his outstanding work as both a political and … [Read more...] about Mike Peters Guest Cartoon: Obama and Ebola
Fear is What We Need to Fear Most
The latest news suggests that the two health care workers who have been infected with ebola oughtn't be a great surprise: Presbyterian workers wore no hazmat suits for two days while treating Ebola patient Dianna Hunt / Dallas Morning News Health care workers treating Thomas Eric Duncan in a hospital isolation unit didn't wear protective hazardous-material suits for two … [Read more...] about Fear is What We Need to Fear Most
Ebola, Islamic State fears hurt Democrats’ chances of keeping Senate majority
As fear sweeps the nation about the prospect of Islamic State terrorists winning in Iraq and the Ebola virus spreading in the United States, President Obama's job approval rating is taking a beating and some Democrats' hopes for keeping the Senate majority are losing ground. Sen. Kay R. Hagan of North Carolina, who entered the race… … [Read more...] about Ebola, Islamic State fears hurt Democrats’ chances of keeping Senate majority
Cartoon: Distancing Dems
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Distancing Dems
Misnomer ‘Islamic State’ Highlights Dangerous Societal Deceit (Publico, Portugal)
What's wrong with calling the newest terrorist scourge 'the Islamic State'? Beyond handing the group an easy propaganda victory by conferring upon it attributes it lacks and doesn't deserve, it contributes to the destruction of language and discourse by assigning false names and descriptions to all kinds of things, concepts and people. Columnist Jose Vitor Malheiros of … [Read more...] about Misnomer ‘Islamic State’ Highlights Dangerous Societal Deceit (Publico, Portugal)
Falling for Gregory
I realise that I am an excitable lad who is prone to over exaggeration. So when I say that I have heard the new Don Hathaway mixed in with Teddy Pendergrass, you should probably take that with a pinch of salt. But I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about a musical artist... it was probably Janelle Monae – and I don’t care what her sales figures say, I wasn’t … [Read more...] about Falling for Gregory
GOP Crazy Now Normal
Paul Waldman says crazy statements by Republican candidates are now accepted by the press as normal in The Washington Post. For instance, when Iowa Senate candidate Joni Ernst flirted with the “Agenda 21? conspiracy theory — a favorite of Glenn Beck, in which the U.S. government and the United Nations are supposedly conspiring to force rural people in Iowa and elsewhere to … [Read more...] about GOP Crazy Now Normal
Second Texas health care worker tests positive for Ebola
A second health care worker who cared for Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan in Texas has tested positive for the virus, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The preliminary Ebola test was run late Tuesday at the state public health laboratory in Austin, and results were received at about midnight. From MSNBC: The CDC described the latest … [Read more...] about Second Texas health care worker tests positive for Ebola
U.S. mum on aging Iraq chemical weapons, making our soldiers victims
The U.S. military systematically withheld information about caches of chemical weapons in Iraq from 2003-2011. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police were harmed as a result. Moreover, military doctors dismissed claims of exposure and mistreated those exposed to mustard gas. [icopyright one button toolbar] From the New York Times: In five of six incidents in which troops were … [Read more...] about U.S. mum on aging Iraq chemical weapons, making our soldiers victims
Energy Drinks Are Dangerous, WHO Confirms
Energy drinks have long been maligned for the perception that such massive amounts of caffeine can't be good for anybody, much less children. Now the World Health Organization has validated their fears, on Tuesday proclaiming that rising rates of energy drink consumption is "poised to become a significant public health problem." Here's the problem: Hot coffee… … [Read more...] about Energy Drinks Are Dangerous, WHO Confirms
ISIL’s Dehumanization of Women and Girls
[icopyright one button toolbar] If the brutal beheadings, the mass murders of innocent men, women and children and the numerous other atrocities committed by ISIL terrorists are not sufficient reason for the civilized world to “degrade and defeat” ISIL, here is just one more reason. Press Statement by Secretary of State John Kerry, October 14, 2014 Just days after … [Read more...] about ISIL’s Dehumanization of Women and Girls
No shock and no awe
WASHINGTON -- It's not too soon to state the obvious: At this point, the war against the Islamic State can only be seen as failing. U.S.-led air power has barely been able to keep the jihadist militants from capturing the Syrian town of Kobane, near the Turkish border -- and the besieged city may yet fall. Far to the southeast, Islamic State fighters have come within a … [Read more...] about No shock and no awe
She Asked “Do I Look Like Man”
The short answer is no. [icopyright one button toolbar] I just returned from a trip where I coached and mentored elite female athletes competing in or preparing for the triathlon World Championships; Ironman Hawaii. Ironman is a combined 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run. For the elite athletes it’s a race, not a bucket list event. For some it may be hard … [Read more...] about She Asked “Do I Look Like Man”
Plunging Oil Prices
To get the WTI oil price, please enable Javascript. Oil prices have been plunging. This is bad news for many oil exporting nations. The biggest energy story in the world right now is the collapse of global oil prices. And for major producers like Russia or Iran or even Saudi Arabia, that's unsettling news. How bad is it? One good place to start is with this excellent … [Read more...] about Plunging Oil Prices
(Updates) Federal Judge Blocks Texas Voter ID Law
Update II: And here we go again in the courts-one-upmanship saga. The Austin American-Statesman reports: A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated Texas' tough voter ID law for the November election, which the U.S. Justice Department had condemned as the state's latest means of suppressing minority voter turnout. . The ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th … [Read more...] about (Updates) Federal Judge Blocks Texas Voter ID Law
Is The Culture War Really Over?
Bill Scher has an article at Politico on How Republicans Lost The Culture War. While it might be premature to say they lost and the war is over, a subject I’ll get into later, he does have some good points as to what went wrong for the Republicans. Scher makes three main points. First, Republicans stopped being savvy on abortion. Rather than taking the purist position which … [Read more...] about Is The Culture War Really Over?
Democrats’ chances are changing
Democrats' chances are changing. This just posted at the Times: ... The chances of the Republicans taking control of the Senate have inched up to 68 percent. Democrats struggling to hang on to the Senate, who have been drowning in dreary news, have spotted a hopeful sign: Democratic voters who sat out the 2010 elections are becoming more interested in voting this … [Read more...] about Democrats’ chances are changing