Silsbee Texas: Apologists for Rapists

A girl was raped in the Texas town of Silsbee by a student athlete.  Since the rape, she has been ordered to “lay low”, kicked off the cheerleading squad for refusing to cheer (when ordered by superintendent Richard Bain Jr) for her rapist.  The community turned against her, supporting the rapist (and his accomplice), calling [...]

NYPD Police Brutalize Musician, Threaten Crowd

NYPD, as part of a recent crackdown against musicians, arrested a man playing music illegally in a park in Chinatown.  The man, forced face down on the pavement with officers holding him down, displayed a bloodied face.  As of this time it appears he did not resist.  The crowd did voice their opposition quite loudly.  [...]

The Fake SEAL Pastor and His Enabler

Can we fit three of the most poisonous things wrong with our society into a single incident?  YES: A Pastor fabricated his past as a Navy SEAL (emphasis mine): Several former SEALs wrote into The Patriot-News casting doubt on the reverend’s account of his service. “We deal with these guys all the time, especially the [...]

The Liars That Get Away

Professional liars like James O’Keefe are able to successfully manipulate the media into damaging their targets.  Amanda Marcotte writes: At this point, he releases a video, everyone knows up front that he’s a liar, and everyone will just pretend that he’s not for the 12-24 hours it takes for the video to ruin someone’s life.  [...]

Good Reads July 13 2009

Haven’t been blogging of late, but here’s some good reads to tide over folks who still travel here: WriteChic: Man Murdered by Health Insurance Companies (Obama should read this EVERY DAY until Health Care Reform passes). DailyKos: Health Care – If you think you’ll always be insurable, Think Again. Crooks and Liars: Hard Hitting Advertising [...]

Brief Update and Two Recommended Posts

Shortly (I hope) I’ll be announcing a new education blog related to my nonprofit.  In the meantime I’d like to recommend two exceptionally insightful posts…

Israel vs Palestine: Trust

A huge problem I have negotiating the very rough waters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is trust. Both sides have such a problem seeing and understanding the other that the views pouring out of that miasma are convoluted and stained with assumption.  The pro-Palestine side seems to think a rain of rockets is a mild annoyance, [...]

Inauguration 2009: We Have a New President!

The inauguration was incredible.  I left with a feeling of real optimism, not the kind you fake to yourself to keep your spirits up in the face of false promises.  There is a lot of work to be done, and Obama is far from perfect, but we made a great choice.  This country feels united. [...]

Inauguration Photos and Videos

I’ll have  a writeup later tonight (and more videos!). In the meantime, please enjoy my new flickr account and youtube channel!

Choosing A Content Management System

I’ve shied away from tech blogging.  Even though its how I make ends meet, it isn’t really my passion in life.  Nor is it something I’ve considered terribly relevant to the purpose of this blog.  This post by Pam Spaulding finally convinced me to post this. I think that an understanding of how corporations work [...]

Thousands of Israelis Protest War in Gaza

Via my friend Helene (Israel Social TV): A contrast to the misconception in the media that all Israeli leftists support the war on Gaza.

Will I Am: CNN Episode 1

What the hell CNN? At the victory party in Arlington, a bunch of us where wondering why there was a hologram talking to Anderson Cooper.  Glad to see we weren’t the only ones: “Will I Am, I want to thank you for being with us via hologram tonight.” How do these decisions get made? Was [...]

The New Taliban

What’s keeping me up at night?  Via Majikthise, an article in Rolling Stone by the incredibly brave Nir Rosen.  I couldn’t stop reading it. At one point, I got the distinct impression our leaders are acting like irresponsible doctors prescribing anti-biotics, sending more and more troops.  Amid the same signs of hope for negotiation Rosen [...]

What is it about Political Thugs and Animals?

Is the press required to report on everything a political leader does?  Is there something of extra special news worthiness about a political thug like Putin playing with a lil’ tiger cub?  (Associated Press, emphasis mine): As president and now prime minister, Putin is known for his tough talk and macho image. But children and [...]

Palin Abused Power: This Should Sink McCain

Sarah Palin abused power, and the way the McCain campaign has handled this fits a pattern: Time and again both McCain and Palin have showed a deep rift with reality and a zealous lack of hesistation in driving arrogantly ahead regardless.  America now has a clear picture of how team McCain will govern if they [...]