The Long-Awaited “Dead Tree” Edition “Mark LaFlaur’s genuine love and concern for the future of Louisiana shines throughout this collection of blog posts and interviews.” —Ivor van Heerden, former deputy director, LSU Hurricane Center, and author of The Storm Dear...
Politics/Economy
At the Intersection of Jon Stewart and Brian Williams
* Jersey Boys. Brian Douglas Williams and Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz both went to high school in New Jersey and held common, low-level jobs before working their way to the top of their respective, and interrelated, professions. * “Finally someone is being held to...
Honoring Rev. King, Recommending “Selma”
* “Our whole campaign in Alabama has been centered around the right to vote. In focusing the attention of the nation and the world today on the flagrant denial of the right to vote, we are exposing the very origin, the root cause, of racial segregation in the...
Après Charlie Hebdo, Thoughts on Free Expression and Islamic Violence
Will we give the enemy the satisfaction of changing ourselves into something like their hate-filled, illiberal mirror image, or will we, as the guardians of the modern world, as the custodians of freedom and the occupants of the privileged lands of plenty, go on...
Annus Horribilis : 2014 in Review
* Good Riddance to a Bad Year In a speech in late 1992, Queen Elizabeth II used the phrase “annus horribilis” to describe Great Britain’s no-good, very bad year (tabloid-quality marital troubles of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, a fire at Windsor Castle, etc.)....
Highlights from “The Most Ambitious Environmental Lawsuit Ever” in The New York Times Magazine
“The idea of making the industry live up to its legal responsibility is not going to die.” —John M. Barry Yesterday, Sunday, Oct. 6, The New York Times Magazine published a cover story titled “Waterworld: The Most Ambitious Environmental Lawsuit Ever.” Aside from the...
The People’s Climate March Is This Sunday, Sept. 21
* If Greenland melts, seas will rise 23 feet. Greenland + Antarctica = 38 feet. Or more. “We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last generation that can do something about it.” —Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington “The door is...
Join the People’s Climate March in NYC Sunday, Sept. 21
You’re Invited—Step On Out “There's a world to march for—and a future, too. The only real question is why anyone wouldn't march.” —“Why We March: Stepping Forth for a Planet in Peril ” * Spread the word and make plans to join the People’s Climate March in New York...
Labor Day Is for the Workers (the 99%)
“Labor Creates All Wealth” “Our labor movement has no system to crush. It has nothing to overturn. It purposes to build up, to develop, to rejuvenate humanity. “It stands for the right. It is the greatest protestant against wrong. It is the defender of the weak. “Its...
House Democrats Demand to Know Why GOP Govs Rejected Medicaid Expansion
Show Us Why You’re Keeping Your People Poor and Sick “In order to better understand the basis for your opposition, I request that you provide . . . copies of any state-specific analyses, studies, or reports that you ordered, requested or relied on to inform your...
Wishing America a Happier Birthday
. . . And Many Happy Returns We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure these rights,...
Mississippi’s Runoff and Memories of Freedom Summer
“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” —William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun (1950) * On the night of the Mississippi GOP primary runoff between U.S. senator Thad Cochran and state senator Chris McDaniel, PBS aired Freedom Summer, a powerful American Experience...
7 Million Cheers for ‘Obamacare’
Public Health, Too, Is ‘National Security’ Congratulation to President Obama, the White House, and the courageous Democrats in Congress who voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the most ambitious expansion of health care for Americans since the passage of...
Dianne Feinstein Calls Out CIA for Spying on Congress
California Senator, Long a CIA Defender, Charges Obstruction of Congressional Oversight Please join us in calling Senator Dianne Feinstein (202-224-3841 or 415-393-0707) to say thanks and, as we said to her staffer, “keep up the courage” for having spoken out...
An ‘Obamacare’ Success Story
Insurers, Too, Must Be Held Accountable Our friend Stephen in NYC, who has contributed good ideas to this blog before, shares his experience in enrolling with an insurer. Stephen makes the very important point that the news media (including us bloggers) would serve...
Honoring Mandela
* “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and...
“And Death Shall Have No Dominion”:
A Tribute to President John F. Kennedy
“So Let Us Persevere . . .” “If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our...
GOP Is Not to Be Trusted with Adult Responsibilities
Two-Week Tantrum Epitomizes GOP’s Recovery-Strangling Refusal to Share in Work of Governing And so, after 16 days, after a $24 billion loss to the economy, and just hours before the United States was about to pass through its federal debt limit, with potentially...
Positively Giddy
The Only Thing They Have to Fear Is . . . Government Itself “We’re very excited. It’s exactly what we wanted, and we got it.” —Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) * “The mood in the Capitol on Saturday, at least among Republicans, was downright giddy. When Republican leaders...
Deliberate Fiscal Crisis 2013
“Governing by Near-Death Experience” and Other Observations * “This is all about stopping a law that increases taxes on rich people and reduces subsidies to private insurers in Medicare in order to help low-income Americans buy health insurance. That’s it. That’s why the Republican Party might shut down the government and default on the debt. […]