* We see the efforts needed to reduce the slaughter of innocents (of all ages) as comprising three elements: gun control; expanded psychological services; and pressure on Hollywood and video game makers to dial down the ultraviolence. Not only do the citizens of the...
Year: 2012
Happy Thanksgiving to You: Much to Be Grateful For
Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you and your friends and family have much to be thankful for this year, and that you’re able to spend the day with people you love. We wish you a festive gathering over a Thanksgiving dinner with good food and drink, and happy memories of...
Obama Wins More Time to Repair, Lead America Forward
Solid Victories for Progressive, Liberal Candidates, Reforms [ cross-posted at Daily Kos ] “The task of perfecting our union moves forward” “I have never been more hopeful about America. . . . I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that...
Election Hotline: In New York, Dialing Ohio
[ cross-posted at Daily Kos ] In our last installment of Fun with Volunteering, we told about taking a bus ride to Philadelphia. Last night and this morning, on the eve and the early hours of Election Day, we went to Obama for America–New York headquarters on Eighth...
The Strategy Behind “Voter Fraud”
Conservative “founding father” Paul Weyrich explains long lines in Ohio, Florida, etc. “Now many of our Christians have what I call the ‘goo-goo syndrome.’ Good government. They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a...
Ask Not “Why Live There?”—Ask “How Can I Help?”
[ cross-posted at Daily Kos ] Please Give to Red Cross We just made a donation to the American Red Cross. We’re asking all our readers to please make a donation if you can. Click here or phone 1-800-HELPNOW or text “RedCross” to 90999. Even $5 or $10 can help buy...
When Seawater Occupies Wall Street
* A security guard walks through a flooded street in the financial district of Manhattan early on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Photo by Adrees Latif/Reuters. * Knee-deep thought of the day: When seawater occupies Wall Street, perhaps Nature itself is telling Big Business and...
Gov. Cuomo cites “dramatic change in weather patterns”
Sees Evidence of Climate Change, Need for Upgraded Infrastructure In his 11:30 a.m. briefing the day after Hurricane Sandy, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo made a clear reference to climate change, or global warming, about 30 minutes into his remarks: “Anyone who thinks...
Hurricane Watch in New York City
Extreme Weather Coming Soon to an Eastern Seaboard Near You * “We have a tropical hurricane merging, or folding in, with a mid-latitude weather system, one of those low pressure systems that track across the country. The two systems’ dynamics are very different and...
Fun in Philly: Getting Out the Vote, Door to Door
Volunteering Relieves Election Anxiety [cross-posted at Daily Kos] * Everyone knows the best cure for blues or worries is work. In the same way, the best antidote for election anxiety is volunteering and going door to door, making phone calls from a roomful of other...
Our Barack Is Back—and We’ve Got His Back
Clearly Obama President Obama listens as the human Etch A Sketch changes positions yet again during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, Oct. 16, 2012. * . . . when [Romney] said behind closed doors that 47 percent of the country considers themselves...
Republicans Against Medicare: A Long, Mean History
“. . . let’s be brutally honest here. The Romney-Ryan position on health care is that many millions of Americans must be denied health insurance, and millions more deprived of the security Medicare now provides, in order to save money. At the same time, of course, Mr....
No Core Beliefs: “The Most Dangerous Opponent”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPgfzknYd20 * “His legendary flip-flops aren’t the lies of a bumbling opportunist—they’re the confident prevarications of a man untroubled by misleading the nonbeliever in pursuit of a single, all-consuming goal. Romney has a vision,...
Reserved Professor Obama Misses Opportunities, and Slippery Romney Takes ’Em
Is President Overconfident? (He Shouldn’t Be.) We want to put down a few first impressions about last night’s first presidential debate before we look at what anyone else has said. Mitt Romney performed with more energy and desire to win than did President Obama....
Jobs, Jobs . . . Senate Republicans Keep Vets Unemployed
“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” “Where is our honor? Where is our valor? Where is our sacrifice?” —Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), leading opposition to Veterans Jobs Corps Act “I care deeply about the...
Rising Tide 7 Is Sat. Sept. 22 at Xavier > Register Now!
Everyone within walking, flying, or hiking distance of the Croissant City is urged to sign up now for the seventh annual Rising Tide conference on the future of New Orleans. This year’s keynote speakers—why have...
Bush White House Ignored 9/11 Warnings
The Deafness Before the Storm * Briefly noted, highly recommended: Kurt Eichenwald, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a former reporter for the New York Times, wrote a strong but restrained op-ed piece for the Times yesterday describing in more detail than is...
Democrats Grow a Backbone
John Kerry, Deval Patrick, and Other DNC Highlights httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVxRmNO6Qs0 * My message is this—it is time for Democrats to grow a backbone and stand up for what we believe. Quit waiting—quit waiting, quit waiting for pundits or polls or super...
Forward: Four More Years for Mr. President
“When you pick up that ballot to vote, you will face the clearest choice of any time in a generation.” * “. . . the election four years ago wasn’t about me. It was about you. My fellow citizens, you were the change. You’re the reason there’s a little girl with a heart...
The Big Hug
Clinton Wows Dems, Urges 2nd Term for Obama * In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president’s reelection . . . went something like this: “We left him a total mess. He hasn’t cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.” Listen to me now. No...