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FROM AP: 10 Things to Know for Monday
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Now that a Guatemalan court has convicted General Erfrain Rios Montt of "genocide" maybe we can better come to terms with the history of the early 1980s when the Reagan Administration was determined to vanquish communism in Central America.
The "Faces of Courage" campaign is focused on honoring gun violence victims and their families -- and taking action so fewer mothers who are celebrating Mother's Day this weekend will be mourning their own children next year and in years to come.
The debate over fiscal responsibility has been muddled by the Great Recession; inevitably, perhaps, arguments over long-term fiscal problems have been conflated with debates over short-term recovery programs. Both debates have suffered terribly as a consequence.
Even a minimal "vision" of an America that can still accomplish something would appear to be far more uplifting than the austerity snake oil the current crop of Republican politicians keep pushing.
I no longer work toward goals, I realized. Lately, I work for Lucy: Caring for her, organizing her care, working to pay for her care, making appointments, fundraising, advocating for her rights in her school district, changing diapers, keeping her safe.
"Reform" is a word we have lost and conservatives have taken over. Reform has become a code word for decreasing Social Security and Medicare benefits, for commodifying, marketizing, and privatizing public education, de-funding public higher education and insuring that no rich child is left behind.
The aircraft carrier stunt was a Karl Rove P.R. production designed to provide images for Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
The Flood is a good episode of Mad Men, especially in a Season 6 off to an uneven start. It came at a good time, too, reassuring that our characters are not all irretrievably stuck in tedious personal melodramas. That, actually, they can be very appealing people.
I spoke at a writing conference in Michigan where she was the keynoter, and I can unequivocally say she gave the worst keynote I'd ever heard anywhere, despite her being Ronald Reagan's speech writer. I am not exaggerating about how awful she was.
Reagan and Clarke share their reactions in personally terrorizing situations -- Ron after his father was shot, Torie at the Pentagon on 9/11 -- and how public officials should respond to violence. Good: "stay calm and carry on" like Deval. Bad: overreact w/ Iraq & torture. Ugly: vote for gun deaths.
Unlike Chancellor Merkel of Germany, who has a reputation for only sticking her neck out when confident of victory, Margaret Thatcher sometimes had little choice in the timing of the battles she had to fight.
Margaret Thatcher was a big part of my formative landscape. She fueled much of my political consciousness, my sense of justice and injustice, my outrage at lies and oppression, my sense of right and wrong.
While the nutrition programs have all sorts of flaws, they do accomplish a legitimate and longstanding public purpose. The subsidies provided to farmers are a lot different.
At a time when there is so much bickering and self-doubt on this side of the Atlantic, it's good to remember how much difference a leader can make.
Before the applause for Senator Portman grows too enthusiastic, let's also note that his embrace of marriage equality reveals a fundamental failure of empathy in the first place. After all, we ought to assume that if not for his gay son, Portman would still oppose gay marriage.
Free Angela, a feature length documentary directed by Shola Lynch, does a fine job in helping to explain how Ms. Davis came to represent so much to so many.
