If so you should consider helping Delara Darabi (and other women): a twenty year old young woman, and artist, currently on death row in Iran. You can get involved by contacting Ali Eteraz. I have sent Ali an e-mail already, please consider doing the same. … [Read more...] about Got Time to Spare?
Hispanics Lose Religion in U.S.
Quite an interesting article in the New York Times: A wave of research shows that increasing percentages of Hispanics are abandoning church, suggesting to researchers that along with assimilation comes a measure of secularization. Several studies show that Hispanics are just as likely as other Americans to identify themselves as having “no religion,â€? and to not … [Read more...] about Hispanics Lose Religion in U.S.
Richard Gere: Caught Between Kiss & Indian Truckers
Gere (Left) kisses Shetty during an AIDS awareness programme in New Delhi April 15, 2007. (REUTERS/Tanushree Punwani) Thousands of truckers cheered wildly as American actor Richard Gere kissed (Indian) actress Shilpa Shetty on her cheeks during an event to promote safe sex and raise AIDS awareness among a high-risk group, writes Prithwish Ganguly of the … [Read more...] about Richard Gere: Caught Between Kiss & Indian Truckers
VA Tech Shooting WAS Mass Murder
Planet Blacksburg WaPo has a Blog Roundup here Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said there would be another press briefing at 7:30 p.m. Live-blogging from The Lede of the New York Times. VA Tech News Conference has been going on for about 1/2 hour now. VAT President Steger and Police Chief Flinchum are taking questions. It is not yet clear if the two shooting attacks … [Read more...] about VA Tech Shooting WAS Mass Murder
No Meat or Fish: Thank you!
Almost three decades ago there was sufficient wildlife in the forests for those interested in hunting. And there was enough fish too in the clear gurgling waters of the rivers. I am quite fed up buying the tasteless meat/fish products from the market, and soon going to opt for a life without meat. In fact I now rarely have meat dishes at home, and I am very fussy about what … [Read more...] about No Meat or Fish: Thank you!
On the Road to Reform: An Interview with Kate Whitman
In 2005, former EPA Administrator and New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman published a book, It's My Party Too. The front jacket flap of the hard-cover edition summarizes her premise. Relentlessly pushing their rigid demands on abortion rights, stem cell research, the environment, and go-it-alone foreign policy, the far-right groups, whom [Whitman] calls social … [Read more...] about On the Road to Reform: An Interview with Kate Whitman
War or Occupation?
Eclectics Anonymous has quite an interesting post up about the war in Iraq. Well, war? If you want to extract America from the failed neo-con experiment in the Middle East, there is something very simple. You can do it today, tomorrow, until the boys and girls come home: stop calling it a war! The ‘war’ in Iraq simply wasn’t. What started as an invasion quickly … [Read more...] about War or Occupation?
Citizen Sonia Gandhi: Case in India’s Supreme Court
(Photo courtesy the Outlook magazine) The detractors of Sonia Gandhi, said to be 'the real power behind India's political throne', have reasons to smile. The country's Supreme Court has reopened the old debate by asking the government for its opinion on whether a 'registered' citizen of foreign origin could hold constitutional posts like those of the President and the … [Read more...] about Citizen Sonia Gandhi: Case in India’s Supreme Court
Donors Linked to the Clintons Shift to Obama
It seems more and more that Barack Obama will truly be able to put up a fight: not just regarding support of voters, but also regarding the big bucks. As Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks to reassemble the Democratic money machine her husband built, some of its major fund-raisers have already signed on with Senator Barack Obama. Among the biggest fund-raisers for Mr. … [Read more...] about Donors Linked to the Clintons Shift to Obama
“Oops”
That is what U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales must be thinking: "The former Justice Department official who carried out the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year told Congress that several of the prosecutors had no performance problems and that a memo on the firings was distributed at a Nov. 27 meeting attended by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, a Democratic … [Read more...] about “Oops”
The Big War Story the Media Is Ignoring
In the end, it was the MSM that was shocked, awed -- and duped The mainstream media is full of stories these days about the decline and fall of the Bush administration and its catastrophic Iraq war policy, but you’re not likely to read the other big story: How the mainstream media abrogated its responsibilities in the wake of 9/11 and is deeply complicitous in the mess … [Read more...] about The Big War Story the Media Is Ignoring
Independents and the 08 Elections
Dan Balz writes at the Washington Post: Five months after midterm elections that demonstrated the rising power of independent voters, conservative and liberal activists continue to drive the presidential campaign dialogue, deepening the red-blue divisions that have defined national politics for more than a decade. The huge gulf between the two parties' candidates is most … [Read more...] about Independents and the 08 Elections
A Simple Musical Instrument Can Become A Piece Of Art
See -- and listen -- to what Mark Occhionero does in updating an old song at 2006's Ukulele Noir. Quite impressive: … [Read more...] about A Simple Musical Instrument Can Become A Piece Of Art
GOP Send Help
Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about GOP Send Help
‘More Sex Please: We Are Americans!’
Research shows the US chastity programme, for which teenagers receive silver rings, has no influence on any future decision to have sex. Photograph: Jonathan Dyer/AP Recent findings have undermined President George W. Bush's 'keep zipped up' stance. The Guardian reports: "It's been a central plank of George Bush's social policy: To stop teenagers having sex...The trouble … [Read more...] about ‘More Sex Please: We Are Americans!’
Commemorating Six Million Jews
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem April 15, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) "What happened to Jewish people may also happen to other people in the world," a Holocaust survivor named Schonberger said in Yad Vashem or Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on Sunday shortly before the official opening ceremony marking the Holocaust Martyrs' and … [Read more...] about Commemorating Six Million Jews
A Wrinkle in Time
Interesting new perspective on unwed Black mothers in the inner-city--why they got they way, why they stay that way. Hint: It isn't because they're lazy, it isn't because they're irresponsible. … [Read more...] about A Wrinkle in Time
To the Righteous Gentiles
Thanks so much! Jerusalem Post: Hidden Heroes … [Read more...] about To the Righteous Gentiles
Has the BBC’s Alan Johnston Been ‘Executed?’
Has the BBC's Alan Johnston been murdered by Palestinian terrorists? YnetNews: BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been killed by an al-Qaeda affilated Palestinian organization, according to an internet statement obtained by Ynetnews. The statement was signed by the Palestinian Jihad and Tawheed Brigades, an organization named after an Iraqi al-Qaeda group. Responding to … [Read more...] about Has the BBC’s Alan Johnston Been ‘Executed?’
The Week Ahead
The Economist summarizes what to expect in the coming week. In short: - presidential elections in Nigeria: "an oil-rich but troubled west African nation with some 140m people." - the trial against... José Padilla is expected to begin... after five years. - presidential elections dans la France. - and Bhutan will hold a "mock election" to "familiarise both voters and … [Read more...] about The Week Ahead