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Art Levine

BIO

New Study Destroys Union Intimidation Myth As Specter Considers "Compromise"

Art Levine | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Unions, Video, Big Business, Center For American Progress Action Fund, Employee Free Choice Act, Harkin, Specter

Even as Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has been wooing new Democratic Senator Arlen Specter over a "compromise" version of the Employee Free Choice Act, a new study shows that Big Business's fear-mongering over union intimidation is groundless.

A University of Illinois study (admittedly union-subsidized)...

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Josh Nelson

BIO

Rep. Pence Caught Lying About Green Jobs Bill

Josh Nelson | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: American Clean Energy And Security Act, Climate Change, Green News, Henry Waxman, Mike Pence, Cap And Trade, Energy, Energy Policy, Global Warming, Green, Political News, Politics

Original: Think Progress Catches Rep. Pence in Multiple Lies about Green Jobs Bill

First, the Wonk Room caught caught Rep. Mike Pence repeating his well-refuted energy policy lie on MSNBC's Morning Joe (@joenbc). Then, Brad Johnson greeted Rep. Pence with some pointed questions about the source...

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Robert J. Elisberg

BIO

Dom DeLuise 1933-2009

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Dom DeLuise Dies, Dom Deluise, Dom Deluise Dead, Dom Deluise Movies

Years back, I worked in movie publicity for about 15 years. Five of those were at Universal Studios, the other decade was freelance on individual movies. In all those years, only two people ever wrote me a thank you note when I did a favor for them. To be clear,...

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Erik Sean Nelson

BIO

What Would Jesus Spank To?

Erik Sean Nelson | Posted May 25, 2011 | Comedy

Read More: Miss California, Christianity, Evangelical Christians, Miss California Carrie Prejean, Miss California Gay Marriage, Miss California Perez Hilton

Jesus of course would never masturbate to naked pictures of Miss California winner Carrie Prejean. He has some dignity unlike this Bible-loving hypocrite. Today naked pictures of her were released and in response, I'd like to change her name to "Carrie Pre-cum in my Jeans."

Recently, Carrie Prejean said that...

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Jim Lichtman

BIO

A Closer Look Obama's 'First 100 Days'

Jim Lichtman | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Iraq War, Jim Lichtman, Mr. Obama, The Walter H. Capps Center, Congress, Democrats, Environment, First 100 Days, Health Care, Honesty, Independents, Integrity, Intelligence, John Zogby, Leadership, President Obama, Republicans, Taxes, The Economy, Transparency, Trust, Voters

Digging deeper into the results of the Walter H. Capps Center's "First 100 Days" poll some interesting figures stand out.

As I mentioned in Monday's post, our poll is different from other "100 Days" surveys in that the majority of the questions were based on those qualities and issues Americans...

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Will.i.am

BIO

The Real Homeland Security

Will.i.am | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Early Childhood Education, Children, Education, Learning, Public Schools, Scholarships

what is homeland security when the youth can not afford education to secure a future?

what is homeland security when there are no jobs at home when kids graduate from college...???

i want to change what homeland security means...

and... i don't want to write a song about it...

i...

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Mark Nickolas

BIO

Specter Backs Himself into the Corner Again -- This Time with Democrats

Mark Nickolas | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Ed Rendell, Joe Lieberman, Norm Coleman, Pat Toomey, Senate 2010, Tom Ridge, Jim Bunning, Joe Sestak

Like most Democrats, I was pretty tickled to watch Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) defect from the Republican Party and join our team last week. Aside from that sometimes important 60-seat thingee, it was again a brutal reminder of the spiral death trap that has consumed the GOP since the 2004...

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Fred Hahn

BIO

Mayo Misinformation

Fred Hahn | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Mayo Clinic

A new client of ours whose 12-year-old son has been battling obesity sent me a link to the Mayo Clinic position stand on low-carbohydrate diets. It is written by two nurses who clearly have not educated themselves on the facts surrounding low-carbohydrate diets. These are the sorts of position...

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Dan Solin

BIO

The Farce Called FINRA Has No Shame

Dan Solin | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Ars, Finra, Investing, Mary Schapiro

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is the "non governmental" regulator for U.S. securities firms. FINRA runs the mandatory arbitration system for the resolution of all disputes between brokers and their clients. Many believe (and I am one of them) this process is biased and rigged against investors.

FINRA's...

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Karen Dalton-Beninato

BIO

Loving the Wild Magnolias

Karen Dalton-Beninato | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Bo Dollis, Dr. John, New Orleans Musicians Relief FUnd, Susan Cowsill, Wild Magnolias, Continental Drifters, Jazzfest, Sugarland

2009-05-06-bo.jpg

The musical heartbeat of New Orleans families shone through in this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, deeply evident when Big Chief Bo Dollis sang "I Love You" and "Goodbye" for two stanzas next to his wife while his son shook his head...

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John Feffer

BIO

Capitalist Swine

John Feffer | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Mexico, Nafta, Pandemic, Swine Flu

Think about the term "money laundering" for a moment. It suggests that the more often dirty money changes hands, the cleaner it gets.


Globalization operates according to the same imagined principle. If we tear down the barriers to the free flow of capital, our economies will cleanse themselves...

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Howie Klein

BIO

Marco Rubio Jumps Into The Florida Senate Race

Howie Klein | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Charlie Crist, Dan Gelber, Marco Rubio, Senate 2010, Florida

I'll bet Ricky Rubio will make a bigger impact on the nation's consciousness over the next few years, but former Florida Republican House Speaker, Marco Rubio, declared his intention to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez.

Rubio, a Miami-area lawyer, left the...

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US: Cap and Trade (CNN-4/23-26)

Eric Dienstfrey | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Poll Update, Pollster

CNN / ORC
4/23-26/09; 2,019 adults, 2% margin of error
Mode: Live Telephone Interviews

National

25. A proposal called "cap and trade" would allow the federal government to limit the emissions from industrial facilities such as power plants and factories that some people believe cause global warming. Companies...

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Robert L. Borosage

BIO

Corruption Is Dangerous to Your Health

Robert L. Borosage | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Bank Lobby, Corrupt Congress, Lobbying, Lobbyists, Paid Sick Leave, Republicans, Workers, Workers Rights

"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place"

That was Sen Richard Durbin, the powerful Senate Democratic whip, irate...

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Jonathan Richards

BIO

Empathy

Jonathan Richards | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Cartoon, Empathy, Obama Supreme Court Nominee, Political Cartoons

Obama tries to slip a code word past the GOP, but they nail it.

2009-05-06-Empathy.jpg

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Matthew Filipowicz

BIO

How Joe The Plumber Will Keep The "Queers" Away

Matthew Filipowicz | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: 23/6, Christianity Today, Political Humor, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Homosexual Marriage, Homosexuality, Homosexuals, Humor, Humor And Satire, Joe The Plumber, Joe The Plumber Interview, Joe The Plumber Queer, Joe-The-Plumber-Christianity-Today, Joe-The-Plumber-Queers, Political Satire, Satire

As you may have heard, Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, was giving an interview to Christianity Today, where as usual, he displayed some of his now famous Wurzelbacher wit.

When asked about gay marriage, Mr. the Plumber said:

People don't understand the dictionary--it's called queer. Queer...

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Andy Borowitz

BIO

CNN Warns Swine Flu Could Continue Through Sweeps

Andy Borowitz | Posted May 25, 2011 | Comedy

Read More: Andy Borowitz, Borowitz Report, CNN News, Lou Dobbs, Cnn, Cnn Swine, Cnn Swine Flu, Msnbc, Msnbc Swine Flu, Swine Cnn, Swine Flu

CNN reported today that its reporting of the swine flu story could spread significantly in the days and weeks ahead and might continue throughout the all-important May sweeps rating period.

CNN said that its early reporting of the swine flu story had been contained to one or two hours a...

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Roger Warner

BIO

The Underperformers: How Key U.S. Officials Have Shaped a Tribal Crisis

Roger Warner | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Bill Lair, C.I.A., John Keker, Roger Warner, Vang Pao, Anti-Terrorism, Hmong, Keker, Lair, Laos, Terror Trial, Terrorism, Thailand

[Part 4 in a series: The Strange New Life of an Old Secret War]


A little over a year ago, I was walking down a hallway in the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, with a retired C.I.A. operative, Bill Lair. Back in the Vietnam war era, Lair started...

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Reverend Billy

BIO

The Case of the Compassionate City

Reverend Billy | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: First Amendment, Compassion, Consumerism, Public Space

2009-05-05-robesonphoto.gif

What does an illegal bull-horn in Union Square have to do with a chain store booting out an old diner in West Queens? We work for the Compassionate City and we need the answer.

This investigation starts with a hunch: If I stand in...

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Johann Hari

BIO

Thirty Years After Her Victory, Thatcherism Is Bankrupt

Johann Hari | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: United Kingdom, England, Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher Anniversary

The celebrations of the thirtieth anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's ascent to power have had a surreal quality. The moist panegyrics from David Cameron and Boris Johnson - followed by an army of cheering commentators, and a distant, shameful echo from Gordon Brown - have been filled with statements...

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Heather Robinson

BIO

Report from the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C.

Heather Robinson | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Barack Obama, Obama AIPAC, Saudi Arabia, Shimon Peres, Aipac, Aipac Policy Conference, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Palestinians

The mood at this year's American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference - the yearly gathering that draws thousands of Israel-supporters to be briefed on issues related to the U.S.-Israel relationship and to lobby their members of Congress - was cautiously optimistic. On the whole, most speakers seemed to...

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Elizabeth Gregory

BIO

Remember Mama?

Elizabeth Gregory | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: 1977 National Women's Conference, Barack Obama, Birth Control, Commission On Women, Jackie Speier, Jimmy Carter, Joe Biden, John Adams, Lani Guinier, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Abigail Adams, Birthrate, Business, Culture Of Care, Living, Motherhood, Politics, White-House-Council-On-Women-And-Girls, Work-Life Balance

2009-05-04-200pxAbigail_Adams.jpg
Motherhood changed utterly on the day after Mother's Day 1960. That's when the FDA approved the birth control pill for general use, and women at long last could become mothers by choice rather than by default. Immediately the birth rate fell, down...

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Kenneth C. Davis

BIO

GOP - DOA?

Kenneth C. Davis | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: American History, Arlen Specter, Grand Old Party, Kenneth C. Davis, Republican Party, Democrats, Gop

Are the reports of the death of the GOP, to paraphrase Mark Twain, "Greatly exaggerated?" Or are we seeing the inexorable demise of a doomed beast -- like seeing the last wooly mammoth go down in tar pits of La Brea?

The defeats suffered in the 2006...

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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

BIO

More Than Breakfast In Bed: A Legislative Agenda for Moms

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Economic Crisis, Mother's Day, Baby Products, Child Support, Economy, Legislative Agenda, Mothers, Taxes

I love celebrating Mother's Day. Since I was a kid, it was a special day to tell my Mother and Grandmother how much I love them. Now that I'm a Mom, it is a special day to spend with my children.

In our busy lives, these special days are so...

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Penny Herscher

BIO

How to Identify Leaders in Your Company

Penny Herscher | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Company Values, Ceos, Great Man Theory, Leadership

Challenge is the crucible of leadership and there is no time like the present to look for the leaders in your organization. So what should you look for - and how can you create the environment to bring out the leaders?

There are many books which have been written about...

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Tony Newman

BIO

Yankee Pitcher's Mom Arrested for Meth: Should She Get Treatment or Prison?

Tony Newman | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Drug Policy Alliance, Drug War, Addiction Treatment, Jacqueline-Standley-Selling-Meth, Joba Chamberlain's Mother Jailed, Joba-Chamberlain, Prison

Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain's mom, Jacqueline Standley, was arrested at her apartment this weekend for selling a small amount of methamphetamine to an undercover cop back in February. It breaks my heart to think of Joba Chamberlain's mom spending time behind bars for her drug problems. She is facing...

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Norman Horowitz

BIO

Barack Obama: 69,498,215; Rush Limbaugh: 0

Norman Horowitz | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, The Unelected

Barack Obama was indeed elected President of the United States in 2008 with almost seventy million votes.

I have recently looked all over and I could not find even one vote cast for that great American, Rush Limbaugh. In fact I could not find his name mentioned on the...

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Mike Alvear

BIO

Is Effeminacy a Choice?

Mike Alvear | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: I Want To Be More Masculine, I Want To Get More Masculine, Become More Masculine, Becoming More Masculine, Being More Masculine, Butch Definition, Butch Femme, Butch It Up, Butching It Up, Define Effeminate, Definition Of Effeminate, Effeminacy In Gay Men, Effeminate Asian, Effeminate Black, Effeminate Boys, Effeminate Definition, Effeminate Gay Men, Effeminate Gestures, Effeminate Guys, Effeminate Husband, Effeminate Male, Effeminate Man, Effeminate Men, Effeminate Southern, Effeminate Voice, Feel More Masculine, Flaming Gay Guy, Flaming Homosexual, Gay Men Effeminate, How Do I Become More Masculine, How Do I Look More Masculine, How To Act More Masculine, How To Be More Masculine, How To Become More Masculine, Masculine Men, Meaning Of Effeminate, More Effeminate, Nelly Gay Guys, Nelly Guys, Nelly Men, Sexy Masculine, Sissyphobia, Straight-Acting, Straight-Acting Gay Men, Straight-Acting Men, To Act More Masculine, To Be Effeminate, Too Effeminate, Wish i Was More Masculine

There's an undeniable pansy vortex in gay life. You fall into it with baggy jeans and climb out of it with spandex up the crack of your ass.

How else can you explain my ex-boyfriend "Larry"? Closeted when I met him, he was popular, gorgeous, smart and athletic. He was...

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Rabbi Irwin Kula

BIO

Digital Tombstone: Your Life on Twitter

Rabbi Irwin Kula | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Obituary, Social Media, Tombstone, Twitobit, Twitter

Like many people, I have been engaged by Twitter -- it's a good way to keep in touch with busy friends and to connect with new people. The mundane updates and boredom-inspired reports on what people are having for lunch -- tuna sandwich, pickle, diet coke and apple for me...

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Lanny Davis

BIO

The Specter Switch: The Incredible Shrinking Republican Party

Lanny Davis | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Conservative, Democratic, Democrats, Liberal, Republican, Republicans

"We are not losing blue states and shrinking as a party because we are not conservative enough. If we pursue a party that has no place for someone who agrees with me 70 percent of the time, that is based on an ideological purity test rather than a coalition test,...

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ZP Heller

BIO

The Perils of Predator Drones in Pakistan

ZP Heller | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Asif Ali Zardari, Barack Obama, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Predator Drones, Rethink Afghanistan

The situation in Pakistan is deteriorating by the hour. This nuclear-armed nation already plagued by political and economic turmoil now faces a massive humanitarian crisis, as 500,000 people flee the Swat valley in the face of armed conflict between Pakistani authorities and Taliban extremists who have taken control. As...

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Michealene Cristini Risley

BIO

Wanted Dead or Alive: Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe

Michealene Cristini Risley | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Catherine Chimanda, Central Intelligence Agency, Jestina Mukoko, Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe, Zambezi Beer, Huffington Post, Thugs, Wild Wild West

There are days when I wish we were back in the 'Wild Wild West". THEME MUSIC PLEASE

My boots scuff on the plank sidewalk as I move toward the "Last Chance Saloon." With one arm I push the swinging doors open and saunter into the saloon. There is a ruckus...

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David Ormsby

BIO

Giannoulias Public Relations, Blagojevich Déjà Vu

David Ormsby | Posted May 25, 2011 | Chicago

Read More: Alexi Giannoulias, Bright Start Illinois, Giannoulias Bright Start, Giannoulias College Fund, Giannoulias Suv

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias on Monday stood before the same phalanx of Chicago news media and at the same podium in the State of Illinois Building where Rod Blagojevich had recently stood.

Giannoulis stood there to defend the use of state money from a flailing college investment fund that his...

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Rob Morrison

BIO

Daddy Diaries: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Anchorman

Rob Morrison | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: News Anchors, TV News, Acting, Television, Unemployment

Jackson Pollock said it's necessary for an artist to come face-to-face with himself. The great painter found the experience uncomfortable, yet inspiring. I agree to a certain extent. When I recently encountered my own countenance, I too was quite uncomfortable, yet it made for a hilarious story.

I have a...

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Rabbi Abraham Cooper

BIO

But is it Anti-Semitic?

Rabbi Abraham Cooper | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Elie Wiesel, Middle East, Ahmadinejad, Auschwitz, Death Camp, Genocide, Iran, Israel, Natan Sharansky, Nazi, Warsaw

Give Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad credit. He makes no bones about his hatred of Israel. In his latest attack, reported in YNET, he warned: "Just as (Israel) was created, it can be dismantled."

Denying Israel's legitimacy, he charged that "for 60 years, they have told lies and tried to defraud...

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Richard Valeriani

BIO

News Update

Richard Valeriani | Posted May 25, 2011 | Comedy

Read More: Al Franken, Arlen Specter, Kentucky Derby, Obama

President Barack Obama completes 100 days in office. Never have so many pundidiots talked so much for so little a stretch of time. If all the 100-days so-called analysis were laid end-to-end, Obama's term would go back to 1776. Consensus: Bo has a very high approval rating.

But we...

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Brooklyn Decker

BIO

What to Wear to the Met Ball?

Brooklyn Decker | Posted May 25, 2011 | Style

Read More: Brooklyn Decker, Kanye West, Bono, Derek Lam, Fashion, Met Ball, Met Costume Institute Gala, Met Costume Institute Gala 2009, Rihanna, Vogue

When I found out I had been invited to the annual Met Ball, I was, well quite frankly, a little shocked. You have to understand, the annual Costume Institute Met Ball is the event of the year for all fashion insiders. Now don't get me wrong, I can hold my...

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Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen

BIO

Green News Report - May 5, 2009 (Audio)

Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Green News, Green News Report, Solar Cells, Solar Power, Wolves

Welcome aboard to our latest network affiliate - Roots Up Radio.com, where the Green News Report is heard on Action Point with Cynthia Black!

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Mmmmmm...mercury in tuna (Sorry, Charlie!); Idaho gunning for wolves, but Wyoming gets shut out; PLUS: Size matters -- the world's...

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David Roberts

BIO

Will Tackling Climate Change Involve "Lifestyle Change"?

David Roberts | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Climate Change, Green Living, Lifestyle, Quality Of Life, Wealth

grist.org

Brad Plumer has a nice little video over at TNR today, playing off Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski's comment that meeting our climate goals will mean cutting back on consumption and consumerism -- that is, it will require the dread "lifestyle changes."

Brad notes that efficiency and renewable power...

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Sen. Bernie Sanders

BIO

Voices from Vermont and America on Credit Card Rip-Offs

Sen. Bernie Sanders | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Bernie Sanders, Credit Card Industry, Credit Cards, Bailout, Credit Card Debt, Senate

On April 24, 2009, I sent an email to my Senate mailing list, the "Bernie Buzz". My request: Send me detailed information about how credit card companies are treating you and your family. Three days later, I had almost 1,000 responses.

Yesterday, I distributed a

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Bakari Kitwana

BIO

OPINION: The President's Racial Politics

Bakari Kitwana | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, United States, America, Black President, Change, Gop, National Security, Newsone, Newsone.Com, Newt Gingrich, Obama Administration, Patriotism, Post-Racial America, President Obama, Progress, Race, Racial Politics

With the national euphoria of inauguration, the multi-billion dollar corporate bailouts, and even the historic economic stimulus all recent memories, one untold story of the early days of Barack Obama's presidency remains-the advent of a concise, bold and fearless new racial politics.

"Subverting race," Jabari Asim, editor of the Crisis...

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Sandra Thompson

BIO

EPA & Regulation of Greenhouse Gases

Sandra Thompson | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: CAFE Standards, Clean Air Act, Greenhouse Gases, Obama Energy Policy, Biofuels, Epa, Ethanol

EPA is often torn between sound science, analytical techniques/limitations and politics. Many of the standards set by EPA are "moving targets", because although EPA's goal is to lower acceptable standards for toxins and pollutants, the analytical techniques are not available to provide accurate measurements on the low end of the...

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Avery Corman

BIO

Arlen Specter Weighs New York Senate Bid

Avery Corman | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Republican Party, Senate Races, Republicans, Senate

Having switched parties, Senator Arlen Specter is considering switching states. A Pennsylvania inside political operative revealed Specter's alternate plan should he run into early difficulty winning a Pennsylvania primary next year for the Senate seat on the Democratic side.

"The Senator loves New York," the...

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Steven Weber

BIO

Seen But Not Heard

Steven Weber | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Torture Hearings, Torture, Truth Commission

Why no hearings to divine the truth behind this country's practice of torture? Why, really?

Is it because Team Obama realizes that almost any high profile political event will, in the hands of an unrestrained media, become the next OJ super-trial-style reality show, full of daily misleading headlines and salacious...

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Phil Bronstein

BIO

Shouldn't That Be His Royal Highness, the "Addled Lord of Print?"

Phil Bronstein | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Phil Bronstein, Death Of Newspapers, Kindle, Media, Newspapers, The Onion

When great satire can't make it anymore in the printed newspaper world, that's not so funny here in the belly of The Chronicle and at other publications.

The Onion, which blew into San Francisco a...

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Michael Brune

BIO

Worst Job in the World: Defending Chevron

Michael Brune | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Climate Change, Amazon, Chevron, Ecuador, Oil, Oil Companies, Rainforests, Tar Sands

Watching Chevron get skewered on 60 Minutes last night had me thinking what an awful job it must be to fight against cleaning up oil spills in the Amazon that are making people sick. And that led me to think of my first encounter with Chevron CEO David O'Reilly....

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The Parking Ticket Geek

BIO

The Expired Meter Helps Protect Drivers Against Broken Meters

The Parking Ticket Geek | Posted May 25, 2011 | Chicago

Read More: Chicago Parking, Chicago Parking Meter Deal, Chicago Parking Meters, Chicago Parking Tickets, Broken Meters Chicago, Out Of Order Parking Meters

Despite the fact that, according to Chicago municipal code, you cannot be ticketed for parking at a broken meter, in many cases, motorists are still receiving tickets for this.

Now, most parking enforcement agents and police know this rule...

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Mark Levine

BIO

Business as Usual for Obama in the Middle East Will Doom the Chances for Peace or Stability

Mark Levine | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Occupied Territories, Egypt, Foreign Policy, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Obama, Pakistan, Palestine

One of the most glaring ironies of the Middle East conflict is the righteous indignation displayed by the region's leaders towards each other's policies. In a region where violent and oppressive rule is the norm, leaders have no trouble pointing out each other's flaws, often menacingly. And so Israeli Prime...

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Craig Newmark

BIO

Keeping Yourself Safe Online: A Really Good Video

Craig Newmark | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Online Safety

Hey, we have some pretty good tips about online safety, but check out this video:



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Avital Binshtock

BIO

How To Green Your Shopping Habits

Avital Binshtock | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Mother's Day, Sierra Club, Vintage Shopping, Antiques, Carbon Emissions, Clothes, Environment, Fashion, Food, Gifts, Green, Green Living, Home Decor, Meat, Organic Food, Pollution, Shopping, Style, Vegetarian, Wilderness

Shopping is an activity so ingrained into our society that we often do it thoughtlessly, automatically, or hurriedly. By paying more attention to how we shop and what we buy, however, we can make a difference for the planet. With that in mind, here are four tips about how to...

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Marissa Moss

BIO

Maybe You've Heard...the Inaugural Edition

Marissa Moss | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Billy Corgan, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Blind Pilot, Cbgb, Delta Spirit, Indie Rock, Kings Of Leon, Music, New Music, Pavement, Radiohead, River City Rebels, Rock, Saddle Creek, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Wild Light

I thought to myself, if I read another article on Kings of Leon, I might explode.

Sorry Kings, I do love you. Your sex IS on fire. But we all know you by now, don't we?

They were undiscovered once. They were that band that, well, maybe...

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Karen Dionne

BIO

Chaitén Volcano - One Year Later

Karen Dionne | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Chaiten Chile, Chaiten Volcano, Displaced People, Volcanic Eruption

May 2, 2009 marked the one-year anniversary of the eruption of Chaitén Volcano in Northern Patagonia, Chile. Like many people around the world, I first became aware of the eruption via this dramatic photo:

Recently, I spent four days in Chaitén doing research for my next novel. I...

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Jim Wallis

BIO

Jack Kemp: Bleeding-Heart Conservative

Jim Wallis | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: African Americans, Bill Bradley, Civil Rights, Black, Bleeding Heart, Children, Common Ground, Compassion, Congress, Conservatism, Conservative, Development, Economics, Football, Housing, Housing And Urban Development, Housing Projects, Leadership, Legacy, Partisan, Political Leader, Poverty, President, Racism, Republican, Republican Jack Kemp, Washington, White

In 1965, in a last minute move, the American Football League switched its All-Star game from New Orleans to Houston. In New Orleans, black football players had been denied entry to restaurants and taxi cabs because of the color of their skin and had begun a boycott in protest. A...

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Rick Nahmias

BIO

Food Forward Shares Low Hanging Fruit...and then Some

Rick Nahmias | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Community Organizer, Food Forward, Fruit, Fruit Trees

I've never thought of myself as a community organizer of any kind. But, a few months ago, having grown tired of seeing wasted fruit from my neighbors trees littering the yards and sidewalks of my neighborhood, and frustrated with the knowledge that in the last year alone food pantries across...

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Jane Shure

BIO

The Women Who Are There For Us When Our Mothers Are Gone

Jane Shure | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Mothers And Daughters, Mothers

How do we learn those things that mothers pass on to their daughters once our mothers are no longer alive to do their job? I was one of the lucky ones. How ironic a statement for someone who lost her mother just before her nineteenth birthday. But yes, I was...

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Carne Ross

BIO

Why Arlen Specter is an anarchist

Carne Ross | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Senator Arlen Specter, Anarchist, Arlen Specter Democrat, Politics

I have been pondering Arlen Specter's defection to the Democrats. The only plausible explanation of his behavior is that he is, in fact, an anarchist. Only someone dedicated to the destruction of democracy would act in such a manner. Consider the facts. He serves the Republican party for 40 years,...

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Katie Couric

BIO

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Katie Couric | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Katie Couric, Katie Couric Middle East, Katie Couric Robert Gates, Robert Gates, Saudi Arabia

CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Katie Couric is accompanying Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on a five-day overseas trip to several undisclosed countries. She is currently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Look for her reports next week on the Evening News and on 60 Minutes.

We had a pretty...

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Jesse Kornbluth

BIO

A Great Day for Classical Music: Richard Goode Records Beethoven's Piano Concertos

Jesse Kornbluth | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Richard Goode, Beethoven, Classical Music Reviews, Piano Concerto

If you're in the mood to hear five of the greater piano concertos ever written --- and if my experience is any guide, it's a very easy mood to slip into --- then Richard Goode's your man. Oh, there are other pianists who have climbed this mountain, but of the...

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Damian Murphy

BIO

Pakistan's Genuine Democrats in Peril

Damian Murphy | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: President Asif Ali Zardari, President Obama Pakistan, Pakistan, Pakistan Democracy

President Asif ali Zardari will meet with President Obama tomorrow for difficult talks on the growing threat the Taliban poses to his country. While he fashions himself the vanguard of Pakistan's resurgent democratic movement since the ouster of the latest military dictatorship, he has done little to protect those on...

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Shu Kim

BIO

What to Do When You Get Laid-Off

Shu Kim | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Economy, Laid Off, Layoffs, Recession, Unemployment

As former Lehman Brothers colleagues, we understand how debilitating being laid-off can feel. We worked in Lehman Brothers' Real Estate Group for over a decade and if it weren't for the financial crisis, we may have worked there for another decade. Lehman Brothers gave us the constant thrill of working...

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Karin Badt

BIO

Child Soldiers on Film: "Kassim the Dream" (I)

Karin Badt | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Joseph Kony, Kassim The Dream, Save The Children, Child Soldiers, Gulu, Kampala, Lords-Resistance-Army, Mamdani, Museveni, Trauma And Theater, Uganda

I had a personal investment in seeing Kief Davidson's new film, "Kassim the Dream", the story of a former Ugandan child soldier who makes it big in the United States as a world champion boxer, first screened at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. A few years ago, I led theater...

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Sarah Brown

BIO

Children Need Mothers, Mothers Want Midwives

Sarah Brown | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: G8 Summit, International Day Of The Midwife, Mothers Day Every Day Campaign, Care, Countdown-To-Mothers-Day, Maternal Mortality, Mothers Day, Mothers Day Every Day, White-Ribbon-Alliance

Progress is being made to save the lives of mothers and newborns around the world. Still, every minute, a woman dies of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, leaving her baby more likely to die within two years. Most of these deaths could be prevented. Join The Huffington Post and the...

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Catholic Relief Services

BIO

Staying Catholic, Volunteering in Baghdad's Chaos

Catholic Relief Services | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Catholic Church, Baghdad, Shiites, Sunnis, Syrian

I've been the last seven days in Baghdad, lodging in a Chaldean Catholic convent in a Shiite neighborhood across from the green zone. The two nuns here - protected round the clock by guards of their own choosing who are paid by the Iraqi government - leave their small compound...

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Mark Miller

BIO

After the Crash, a New Realism Emerges About Retirement

Mark Miller | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: 401k, Economic Crisis, Retirement Plans, Recession, Retirement, Saving For Retirement

Three months after President Obama's inauguration, one phrase from his speech on the steps of the Capitol comes back to me often: "The time has come to set aside childish things."

That line, which quotes loosely from 1 Corinthians:13 in the New Testament, refers to our collective need to...

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David Sirota

BIO

Who Is Lying -- Barack Obama or Sen. Michael Bennet?

David Sirota | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Michael Bennet

In the aftermath of the U.S. Senate defeat of "cramdown" legislation (ie. the bill that would have allowed bankruptcy judges renegotiate the terms of mortages so as to prevent foreclosures), I'm still wondering why almost nobody has bothered to ask cramdown opponents in the Senate why they support cramdown...

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Mark Blumenthal

BIO

Re: Pollster Smackdown

Mark Blumenthal | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Resurgent Republic, Whit Ayres, Democracy Corps, Measurement, Party Identification, Pollster, Stan Greenberg

A quick follow-up on yesterday's back-and-forth between Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg on behalf of the organization known as Democracy Corps and Republican Whit Ayres on behalf of the new group, Resurgent Republic. Yesterday, Greenberg had some harsh criticism for the first survey from Resurgent Republic. Last night, Ayres...

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Daniel Altman

BIO

The Future of Journalism is... eBay

Daniel Altman | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: New York Times, Death Of Newspapers, Ebay, Future, Journalism, Media

What is the future of large-scale journalism? Meg Whitman might know more about it than Rupert Murdoch. As television networks, newspapers and websites rely increasingly on freelancers, the market for journalism is heading in only one direction: auctions.

For several years now, large news organizations have been closing bureaus, cutting...

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Nicole Williams

BIO

5 Steps to Take After a Layoff

Nicole Williams | Posted May 25, 2011 | Style

Read More: Layoffs, Severance, Unemployment, Work

Losing your job can be a major blow to your ego, not to mention your bank account. But once you recover from the initial shock of the news, you'll want to take these steps to help ensure a smooth transition into the next chapter of your life.

1. Make sure...

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Frances Beinecke

BIO

Breast Cancer Risk and the Dirty Air We Breathe

Frances Beinecke | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Breast Cancer, California Air Pollution, Air Pollution, Breast Cancer Gene, Diesel, Health, Pahs, Smog

Last week, the American Lung Association came out with its annual State of the Air report, and concluded that six out of every ten Americans live in communities with unhealthy air. I read these results not only as the head of environmental organization, but also as a breast cancer...

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Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld

BIO

California Acts to Stop Libel Tourism

Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Arlen Specter, California, Chuck Schumer, Free Speech, Hollywood, Libel, Libel-Tourism, Terrorism

Afflicted with one hazard of globalization -- the spread of the swine flu epidemic -- California's state Senate took measures to protect its citizens from another less deadly, yet terrorizing hazard -- the chilling effects on their freedom of expression by foreign libel judgments.

California...

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Cathy Brooks

BIO

Marriage Equality - Gathering Storm or Rising Tide?

Cathy Brooks | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Civil Rights, Gathering Storm, LGBT Rights, Rick Warren, Gay Marriage, Marriage Equality

I haven't thought of Kate Smith in years. That is, until a recent Sunday while I was reading The New York Times.

As a child growing up in a hockey-mad family along Philadelphia's Main Line, I had occasion to hear this rather Rubenesque chanteuse sing before...

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Thomas A. Bass

BIO

Derivatives: The Crystal Meth of Finance

Thomas A. Bass | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Berkshire Hathaway, FInancial Markets, Warren Buffett, Derivatives, Finance, Journalists

In May 2008, Warren Buffett, the great "value" investor from Omaha and America's second-richest man, announced on the eve of his annual shareholders' meeting that he had lost $1.6 billion in bad bets on derivatives. Most of this loss came from shorting put derivatives on Standard and Poor's Index of...

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Ian Welsh

BIO

America's Essential Political Insanity

Ian Welsh | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: United States, America, Americans, Domestic Policy, Taxes, War, Workers

Walk with me a while and imagine you are mad. Crazy. Insane. It's an interesting sort of insanity-you see the world as something other than it is. You are dead convinced that people are out to get you, but these people have almost no means to harm you and fear...

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Ryan Haydon and Stefani Piermattei

BIO

Real Housewives of New York City Liveblog - Charity Wives

Ryan Haydon and Stefani Piermattei | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Alex McCord, Bravo TV, COUNTESS Luann De Lesseps, New York-New York, Reality TV, TV Liveblogging, Bravo, Liveblogging, Real Housewives, Real Housewives Liveblog, Real Housewives Of New York City, Television

Grab a margarita, it's Cinco de Liveblog! Join us for the season finale tonight! 10 pm ET.


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Sahil Kapur

BIO

Dear GOP: Evolve or Perish

Sahil Kapur | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Democratic Party, John McCain, Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, Democrats, Gop, Republicans

Once upon a time, the Republican Party had ideas. Agree or disagree with them, they campaigned on convictions. Politics has always had its share of mudslinging, but elections once resembled contests between opposing beliefs -- small government versus active government; low taxes and deregulation versus a leadership invested in its...

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Kevin Roose

BIO

Surprises from Liberty University: What I Learned as an Undercover Evangelical

Kevin Roose | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Christian Right, Jerry Falwell, Evangelicals, Fundamentalism, Liberty University, Religious Tolerance

When I stepped on to the campus of Liberty University for my first day as a new transfer student, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into.

I knew that Liberty was a Christian college in Lynchburg, Virginia, founded in 1971 by the late Reverend Jerry Falwell...

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Scott Mendelson

BIO

HuffPost Weekend Box Office Rundown: Wolverine Proves Mighter Than Piracy, Swine Flu, and Mediocrity!

Scott Mendelson | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Battle For Terra, Box Office, Ghosts-Of-Girlfriends-Past, Movies, News, Piracy, Swine Flu, Wolverine, X-Men

Overpowering a month-early leak of the work print, theoretical fears of swine flu, and some of the worst buzz of any summer film not named...

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Phil Zuckerman

BIO

Who Would Jesus Torture?

Phil Zuckerman | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Atheists, Evangelical Christians, Torture

You might think that after all those tens of millions of Evangelical Christians watched The Last Temptation of Christ, they perhaps developed at least a mild disdain for governments that hire soldiers to inflict violent brutality upon their prisoners.

Guess not.

A new national survey just released by...

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Luca Sofri

BIO

Call Him "Papi" (Berlusconi's Pictures Have the Web Joking)

Luca Sofri | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Silvio Berlusconi, Veronica Lario, Berlusconi, Italy, Papi

The story of Silvio Berlusconi's divorce made the news a couple of days ago in Italy, and it is not going to end quickly. But a small and funny part of the story lies in a handful of pictures the Italian PM has exhibited to show that a...

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Tara Sonenshine

BIO

America's Next Move on Public Diplomacy

Tara Sonenshine | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Foreign Affairs, Judith McHale, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Undersecretary Of Public Diplomacy

Judith McHale, the former CEO of Discovery Communications, has been named, subject to Senate confirmation, America's next Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy. When she arrives at the State Department, Ms. McHale will find a stack of new (and expensive) proposals on her desk from various corners of government and the private...

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Chad Dobson

BIO

Civil Society to the World Bank: Adopt Transparency 2.0

Chad Dobson | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Bretton Woods System, World Bank, Accountability, Civil Society, Disclosure, Freedom Of Information, Ifi, Imf, Multilateral Development Banks, Structural Adjustment Loans

Co-authored by Rebecca Harris

The Bank Information Center, along with several other civil society representatives from across the globe, participated in the Washington, DC round of consultations on the World Bank's Policy on Disclosure of Information as part of the 2009 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF. The...

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Jeff Biggers

BIO

Green Commencement Speech: OSU President Gee Should Resign from Massey Board

Jeff Biggers | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Barack Obama, Climate Change, Dirty Coal, E. Gordon Gee, Green Jobs, Massey Energy, Mountaintop Removal, The Ohio State University, US Senator Sherrod Brown, Appalachia, Coal, Columbus, Higher Education, Universities

At the 2009 Annual Stockholders' Meeting of Massey Energy on May 19, 2009, board member and Ohio State University president E. Gordon Gee will have an extraordinary opportunity to turn a public relations nightmare into a national teaching moment: As one of our nation's esteemed university presidents, he could provide...

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Jeremy Scahill

BIO

Al Jazeera Strikes Back at Pentagon, Releases Unedited Footage of US Soldiers' 'Bible Study' in Afghanistan (Video)

Jeremy Scahill | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Breaking News, Afghanistan, Al Jazeera, Bible Study, Brian Hughes, Christianity, Jesus, Pentagon, War In Afghanistan

A day after the Pentagon accused Al Jazeera of being 'irresponsible and inappropriate' for broadcasting the 'hunt for Jesus' in Afghanistan footage, the network releases unedited tapes.

Hours after Al Jazeera first broadcast a video showing US soldiers in Afghanistan being instructed by the military's top chaplain in...

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Mike Bonifer

BIO

Sister Dottie vs. The Mormon Church

Mike Bonifer | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Boy Scouts, Dartsy Foxmoreland, Donnie P. Dixon, Pygmalion Theater Company, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Sister Dottie Dixon, Gamechanger, Gay Rights, Mormon, Passion, Salt Lake City, Women's Rights

From May 1-17, Dottie Dixon, a game-changer of the highest order, takes the stage nightly at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City in her one-woman show, The Passion of Sister Dottie S. Dixon, which chronicles her experiences as the activist Mormon mother of a gay son....

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Wes Isley

BIO

The Truth About Miss USA, American Idol -- and Our Embrace of Illusion

Wes Isley | Posted May 25, 2011 | Style

Read More: American Idol, Carrie Prejean, Matthew Shepard, Miss USA, Culture, Gay Marriage, Politics, Truth, Virginia Foxx

Are you surprised when a politician stretches the truth? Most of us have witnessed this so often that we've become numb to it. But what about a starry-eyed contestant on "American Idol?" You've just heard him or her sing about as good as a cat in heat, and yet when...

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Sanjeev Bery

BIO

Why Deepak Chopra Is Wrong

Sanjeev Bery | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: The Dilemma Of The Good Muslim, Deepak Chopra, Extremism, Islam, Jihadism, Muslim, Pakistan

It is always easy to tell someone else what they need to do. Just point your finger, clear your throat, and boldly offer your advice. Don't worry about the realities of history -- just speak your mind.

In his recent essay, "The Dilemma of the 'good' Muslim," Deepak Chopra is...

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Myriam Miedzian

BIO

Killing People vs Aborting Fetuses: An Open Letter to Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon

Myriam Miedzian | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Iraq Casualties, Abortion, Bush, Harvard, Harvard Law, Notre Dame, Obama, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Prostitution

Dear Professor Glendon,

You were recently awarded Notre Dame University's Laetere Medal, to be given to you at the university's upcoming commencement at which you were to speak. You decided not to accept the award because President Obama who supports women's right to abortion would be giving...

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Leslie Goldman

BIO

How Bea Arthur Helped my Body Image

Leslie Goldman | Posted May 25, 2011 | Style

Read More: Bea Arthur, Body Image, Height, Models, Tall

Golden Girls star Bea Arthur recently passed away, and the news, delivered over a champagne-and-sticky bun Sunday brunch, saddened me. Not because I was a card-carrying member of the Golden Girls Fan Club (though I do have a discreet "Blanche Devereaux Rocks" tattoo on my lower back), but because I've...

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Rochelle Lefkowitz

BIO

Code Orange, Meet Green Card

Rochelle Lefkowitz | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Immigration, Immigration Reform, Old Media Vs. New Media

True confessions: my ghostly second life began in 1980, when CNN, as the spanking new cable news network, frantically tried to fill 24 hours with news. Prior to that, millions of Americans watched the same three networks' evening broadcasts or PBS, then dispersed. No news updates came until 11PM, no...

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Jason Rosenbaum

BIO

Senator Schumer's Health Care "Compromise" -- Don't Freak Out

Jason Rosenbaum | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Health Care For America Now, Senator Schumer, Health Care, Public Health Insurance Plan

Senator Chuck Schumer floated what he's calling a compromise on the public health insurance option, encompassing four points:


  • The public plan must be self-sustaining. It should pay claims with money raised from premiums and co-payments. It should not receive tax revenue or appropriations from the government.

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Leslie Goldman

BIO

Relying on the Kindness of Strangers

Leslie Goldman | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Good Samaritan, Carpal Tunnel, Strangers, Surgery

Last week, I spent about five days walking around with bandaged, slinged-up left arm, courtesy of carpal tunnel surgery. I'm a righty, so I thought I'd be in the clear, but it's amazing how quickly you realize you truly do rely on your non-dominant hand. Like when you go to...

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Peter Scheer

BIO

Secrecy in the Courts: How to Get Judges, Lawyers and Sharon Stone to Follow the Rules?

Peter Scheer | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Sharon Stone, Supreme Court, US Supreme Court, Celebrity Gossip, Courts, Government Secrecy, Lawsuit, Secrecy

With one unforgettable gesture--the uncrossing and crossing of her legs--actress Sharon Stone famously demonstrated that, physically speaking, she has nothing to hide. Her legal affairs, however, are another matter.

Despite court rules mandating openness in judicial proceedings, Stone was recently allowed to file a suit in Los Angeles Superior Court...

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Robert Rosenthal

BIO

Don't Turn Drinking Into a Responsibility

Robert Rosenthal | Posted May 25, 2011 | Style

Read More: Alcohol, Booze, Drinking, Funny, Liquor, Margaritas, Martinis, Responsibility, Responsible, War-On-Terror-Oxymoron

"Drink responsibly." Talk about an oxymoron.

Don't we already have enough responsibility in our lives?

Kids. Job. Clients. Decisions. Paying bills. Making deadlines. Watching your weight. Mowing the lawn. Filling the tank. Initiating foreplay. Then there's moral responsibility, civic responsibility, fiduciary responsibility. Don't you just want to say "screw responsibility"...

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Matt Stewart

BIO

If Texas Seceded, It'd Be Saudi Arabia Lite

Matt Stewart | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: 9/11, Dallas Cowboys, Saudi Arabia, September 11th, Al Qaeda, Dallas, Governor, Rick Perry, Secession, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Taxation, Taxes, Teabagging, Texas

2009-05-05-there_will_be_blood.jpg

You may have heard that a few glorified cowboys down in Texas have been intimating thoughts of secession.

Go for it guys, so long as you don't mind being Saudi Arabia's far-flung American cousin.

OK, strong statement--but the think about it for...

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Liane Weintraub

BIO

Mother's Day, Every Day

Liane Weintraub | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Mother's Day, The Balanced Life, Family, Mom, Parenting

Sometimes it's hard to believe that I've only been a mom for a few years -- my oldest child is 4 1/2. Yet, when I think of how to describe myself, "mother of 2" is what pops into my mind, long before "entrepreneur." And it feels like more than just...

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Carl Pope

BIO

Mom, What's a Teamster

Carl Pope | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Compost, Ports Project, Teamsters

LAS VEGAS -- We rarely stop to think that the Teamster's union was originally all about teams of mules (and horses). In fact, I learned today, the union was once against trucks because they were a threat to their livelihoods! (I wonder at what age the average child of a...

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Diane Francis

BIO

Woody Allen and Berlusconi: Stupid, Dirty Old Men Brigade

Diane Francis | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Silvio Berlusconi, Woody Allen, Adultery, Berlusconi, Sexual Dysfunction

One of my favorite quotes, from a forgotten source, says that when a man leaves his wife for a mistress, he leaves a job opening. In other words, a philanderer and cheat never changes and will cheat with his adulteress, or temptress, even once she becomes his wife.

The current...

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Eyck Freymann

BIO

John Murtha and the Culture of Corruption

Eyck Freymann | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Bureaucracy, Corruption, Eyck Freymann, John Murtha, Lobbyists, Murtha

"If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district."

-Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
Quoted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 29, 2009

Corruption: I'm sick of it, and I think the nation is too. Ever since we threw out the Republicans in 2006 for Abramoff and the...

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Thomas de Zengotita

BIO

Best Argument For A Formal Investigation Of The Bush Torture Policy

Thomas de Zengotita | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, Fox News, New York Review Of Books, Mark Danner, Torture

Mark Danner continues to serve us as the best source out there on the issue of "enhanced interrogation techniques." But his latest piece for the NYRB goes beyond informing us. It offers the most compelling argument I know of against Obama's "let's look forward not backwards" position. I have...

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Flavia Colgan

BIO

The Ups and Downs of Going Higher

Flavia Colgan | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Global Financial Crisis, Education, Financial Crisis, Higher Education, University

As the unemployment numbers grow grimmer by the day, everyone is hoping for an end in sight, but no one knows for sure when that will happen. The March unemployment rate has reached a 25 year high at 8.5 percent. Upon further inspection of the unemployment numbers, I discovered an...

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Margee Ensign

BIO

It's All About U.S.

Margee Ensign | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Central America, U.S. Isolationism, World Bank, Global Depression, Global Economic Crisis, Imf

The financial crisis is all about the U.S. Day after day, hour by hour, we hear reports detailing whether the stock market is up or down, how many more people are unemployed, uninsured and dispossessed. We are living through a very serious crisis and many Americans are suffering. But what...

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Roy Ulrich

BIO

A Critique of the Senate Filibuster

Roy Ulrich | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Cloture, Filibuster

If you like the Electoral College, then You're Probably a fan of the Filibuster Too

The Electoral College is provided for in the United States Constitution. The filibuster is not. In fact, the word doesn't appear in any of our founding documents. Its derivation is from the Spanish filibustero, meaning...

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The Progress Report

BIO

The Erosion of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance

The Progress Report | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Health Care Obama Republicans Universal Health Care

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, Ryan Powers, and Igor Volsky

To receive The Progress Report in your email inbox everyday, click here.

When Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 30, the company granted the United Auto Workers union...

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Michael Wolff

BIO

Will the World End Without Newspapers?

Michael Wolff | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Boston Globe, Citizen Journalism, David Carr, Michael Wolff, New York Times, Journalism, Media

David Carr, who writes about the media for the New York Times, and who I've never personally liked very much (we were colleagues at New York magazine, where he would stand too close and bray rhetorical statements and open-ended questions), wrote another in a series of columns yesterday about...

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Gary S. Chafetz

BIO

Selective Prosecution

Gary S. Chafetz | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Bureau Of Prisons, Congressional Record, Department Of Justice, Dolph Lundgren, George Hickenlooper, Honest-Services Fraud, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Kevin Spacey, Making False Statements, Red Scorpion, Sen. John McCain, Wire Fraud, Earmarks, Lobbying, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Riders, Suncruz, The Washington Post

Two-time Oscar winning actor Kevin Spacey and director George Hickenlooper may have committed a felony last week by visiting convicted felon Jack Abramoff in prison. They are involved in a feature film--tentatively titled Casino Jack or Bagman--about the Abramoff lobbying scandal.

Although their felonious infraction may seem minor, the consequences...

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Eric Boehlert

BIO

Limbaugh's Living Large While Radio Boss Clear Channel Implodes

Eric Boehlert | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Clear Channel, Inside Radio, Radio And Records, Rush Limbaugh, Talk Radio

Clear Channel's fall from business grace remains epic in its proportions. Yet Clear Channel's most famous employee, Rush Limbaugh, remains oblivious to it all.

Because last July, just months before the radio economy went into free-fall, Limbaugh's bosses at Clear Channel, who enjoy deep ties to Texas Republicans and who...

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Gillian Caldwell

BIO

Coming Out of the Closet: My Climate Trauma (and Yours?)

Gillian Caldwell | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: 1sky, Climate Change, TED Conference, Al Gore, Global Warming, Mental Health, Psychiatry, Psychology, Witness

I have spent my lifetime face to face with some of the most brutal and inhumane acts ever committed, but nothing has been as traumatizing for me as trying to get action to tackle the climate crisis.

As a long time human rights defender and prior Executive Director at...

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Nadim Hasbani

BIO

Why Are You Paying for TV No One is Watching?

Nadim Hasbani | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Al Arabiya, Al Hurra, Al Jazeera, Dubai, Mbc, Tv

In his first televised interview as President, Barack Obama chose to speak to the Arab world on Al Arabiya, a Dubai-based news channel. He was watched by 13 million Arab viewers. This decision is significant for two reasons. First, it emphasizes the high priority the new Administration places on improving...

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Russ Wellen

BIO

Do Sanctions Just Add Insult to Injury for the Burmese People?

Russ Wellen | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: JADE Act, Jim Webb, Burma, Myanma, Ruling Junta, Sanctions, Smart Sanctions

If you look up the word sanction, the definition that occupies pride of place in most dictionaries is: permission or approval for a specific course of action. But, one of those words that gives English a bad rap, sanction has two other meanings that are the exact opposite. To wit:...

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Kathleen McGowan

BIO

Angels and Demons and Death Threats - Oh My!

Kathleen McGowan | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Angels And Demons, Catholic Church, Dan Brown, Anthi-Catholic, Author, Catholic, Catholicism, Death Threat, Kathleen Mcgowan

I was late submitting this blog, in defense of Ron Howard and Angels and Demons, because of a death threat.

A friend of mine is fond of asking, every time this happens, "What the hell? Why do people want to kill you? It's not like you're Salman Rushdie or...

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Kim Stolz

BIO

What Arlen Specter Cares About... Is Arlen Specter. And, How He May Have Just Helped Save the GOP

Kim Stolz | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Pat Toomey, Gop, Heatlh Care, Senate Democrats

It's been about a week since formerly Republican Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party, and already we've forgotten about it. Swine flu has infected the media once again, and the news about the veteran Senator's team change is a distant memory, lining our wastebaskets. The pundits are still...

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Stefan Aschan

BIO

Your Bathtub Relaxation Therapy

Stefan Aschan | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Aging, Anti-Aging, Green Living, Green Tea, Herbs-In-White-House-Garden, Margaret-Cho-Interview-Bathtub, Relaxation, Relaxation Techniques, Water

A hot bath after a long day or a strenuous workout at night can be very rejuvenating. But what kind of bubble bath should you use? Should I use one? What if you take baths every day to unwind? Isn't every day too much?

Every day might very well be...

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Amitai Etzioni

BIO

"Regional peace" -- A New Idea for the Middle East!

Amitai Etzioni | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Iran Nuclear Weapons, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Iran, Iran Nuclear Program, Israel, Palestine

If you thought that after all these years there could not possibly be a new idea for making peace between Israel and the Palestinians, well, as the cliché goes, think again. Better yet, it is a damn good idea. It holds that Israel would implement the long talked about two...

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Isabel Cowles

BIO

Growing Life on the Family Farm

Isabel Cowles | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Gardening, Growing Organic Food, Organic Farming, Organic Food, Starting a Garden

Logan Scott, age 7, owes his life to a goat and a backyard garden. In 2006 Logan's parents, Aaron and Stephanie Scott, began a small experiment to save their son from a severe nutritional deficiency. A mere three years later, the Scotts have created their own small enterprise, "Southern...

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Kevin Smokler

BIO

The Shelf Talker: Naming, Discounting and Hot Chicking

Kevin Smokler | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Alain De Botton, American Eve, Authors, Bookfestival, Books, Bookstores, Booktour, Meg White Clayton, Michelle Richmond, Names, Paula Uruburu, Reading

Welcome to the Shelf Talker, a regular rundown of news, gossip and recommendations from and about authors on tour. Send notices, throat clearings and letter bombs to TST@booktour.com. Or ingest at 140 characters on Twitter (@book_tour).

On the road:

TST is happily spoken for but also not...

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Daniel Cubias

BIO

Does Anybody Know What Cinco de Mayo Is All About?

Daniel Cubias | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Battle Of New Orleans, Cinco De Mayo, Cinco De Mayo History, Dreidel Song, War Of 1812, Chicano, Cultural Appropriation, Hispanics, Latinos, Margaritas, Mexico, St. Patrick's Day

I have one simple question for all the white Americans out there: What is the significance of Cinco de Mayo? I mean, what historical event does this day commemorate besides the advent of the two-for-one margarita special?

I do not mean this to be bitchy or accusatory. I may be...

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Josette Sheeran

BIO

One Year On from the Food Crisis

Josette Sheeran | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Food Crisis, Food, Food Security, Food Supply, Hunger, World Food Crisis
Josette Sheeran delivered the following speech as the Keynote Address at the DFID Annual Conference on March 10, 2009 in London.

I want to thank you Douglas for organizing this timely and strategic conference. I also want to commend you for what must be one of the best background...

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Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi

BIO

Iran: The Day the Revolution Lost Its Way

Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: 30th Iranian Revolution Celebration, Islamic Republic Of Iran, United Arab Emirates, United States, Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran, Khatami, Mosaddeq, Terrorism, Uae

The CIA under US President Dwight Eisenhower orchestrated a coup d'etat in 1953 against the Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mosaddeq, one of the first democratically elected leaders in the region. It took the US government half a century to admit any wrongdoing and offer a tepid apology to the Iranian...

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Terrance Heath

BIO

390 Years Minus 100 Days ... And Counting

Terrance Heath | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama, James Clyburn, Southern Governors Reject Stimulus Money, Black Unemployment, Black-Poverty, Census, Economy, Poverty, Race, Racial Disparities, Racial Politics

In many ways, the discussion of race in America — particularly as it relates to today's issues (the economy, health care, education) — brings to mind the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Different people have a firm grasp on part of the truth in the...

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Larry Gellman

BIO

What Is So Outrageous About Paying Our Bills?

Larry Gellman | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Arlen Specter, Barack Obama, Bob Herbert, Glenn Beck, New York Times, Religious Right, Republican Party, Right Wing, Right Wing Media, Rush Limbaugh, Rush Limbaugh Obama, Sean Hannity, Arlen Specter Democrat, Bailout Outrage, Bonus Outrage, Conservatives, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Tax Day Tea Party, Taxes, Tea Party

I can't help it. I am just furious about all the rage that is out there.

All my Republican friends are pissing me off with their anger over how Obama's a socialist and how he wants to take away their freedoms. But what really gets me worked up is...

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Baron Davis

BIO

Breaking the Cycle of Inner-City Gang Violence

Baron Davis | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Basketball, Gang Violence, Gangs, Inner City Poverty Campaigns, Nba, Violence

I grew up in South Central LA. It's where my family is, it's where many of my friends are and it's where I learned to play basketball. Having grown up in this area, I know what it's like to be surrounded by gang violence, so when Stacy Peralta approached me...

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Gerald Sindell

BIO

Why Little Louie Can Never Be A Genius

Gerald Sindell | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Bill Gates, David Brooks, Larry Page, Genius, Malcolm Gladwell, Malcolm-Gladwell-Outliers

Delighted as I was to be greeted Friday morning by David Brooks's book review-ish column headlined Genius: The Modern View, and as much as I admire Mr. Brooks, I was surprised to discover that he wasn't writing satirically when he described the path to genius. According to the two new...

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Eric Margolis

BIO

Return of the "Mad Mullah"

Eric Margolis | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Foreign Policy, Mad Mullah, Pakistan, Pakistan Taliban, Taliban

Ten days ago, a bunch of lightly-armed Pashtun tribesmen rode down from the Malakand region on motorbikes and pickup trucks and briefly swaggered around Buner, only 100 km from Pakistan's capitol, Islamabad.

Hysteria erupted in Washington. "The Taliban are coming. The Taliban are coming!" One half expected to see...

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VA: 2009 Gov (PPP-5/1-3)

Eric Dienstfrey | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Poll Update, Pollster

Public Policy Polling (D)
5/1-3/09; 583 likely Democratic primary voters, 4.1% margin of error
Mode: IVR

Virginia

2009 Governor - Democratic Primary
McAuliffe 30, Moran 20, Deeds 14 (chart)

(source)

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Bill Matthews

BIO

GOP Disarray All Part of Michael Steele's Master Plan

Bill Matthews | Posted May 25, 2011 | Comedy

Read More: Michael Steele

(WASHINGTON D.C.) Arlen Specter defects to the Democrats. Americans thumb their noses at the Republican party. Barack Obama is more popular than ever.

And all the while GOP head Michael Steele strums his fingers together like a comic book villain. That's because the Republican disarray is the fruit of a...

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Mike Lux

BIO

Plan B On The Big Banks

Mike Lux | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Larry Summers, Obama Economy, Tim Geithner, Wall Street Crisis, Bank Crisis, Banks, Obama Economic Advisers

Most of us who have been working on the banking issue from the restructuring side of things (meaning put the big banks into receivership and break them up into smaller components that are no longer too big to fail), including people I know far closer to the administration's economic team...

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Therese Borchard

BIO

A Letter To New Moms

Therese Borchard | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Mother's Day, Mother’s Day Rally For Moms’ Mental Health, Postpartum Depression, Women's Health, Mental Health, Motherhood, Parenting, Postpartum-Depression

Blogger Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress, will host the first annual Mother's Day Rally for Moms' Mental Health this Mother's Day. This online event will feature 24 open letters to new mothers on the importance of maternal mental health. Each hour, on the hour, for 24 hours straight,

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Robert J. Elisberg

BIO

Joe the Plumber is Very Queer

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Christianity Today, Joe The Plumber, Joe The Plumber Christianity Today, Joe The Plumber Queer

In an interview with Christianity Today magazine, popular Republican spokesman Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (better known by his beloved cartoon name, 'Joe the Plumber') was discussing homosexuals, or as he deftly put it, "queers," and explained that "I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children."

Finally, I can empathize with him...

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Sheri and Allan Rivlin

BIO

Torturing the Straw Man

Sheri and Allan Rivlin | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Tim Geithner, Bailout, Cows, Fat People, Global Warming, Government Bailout, Newt Gingrich, Starbucks, Torture, Trees

It's ridiculous, incredible! What the Democrats want to do now (in the narrative of conservatives) is absurd, laughable! Reading Miranda Rights to terrorists? Giving government bailouts to Starbucks? Regulating bovine flatulence? It's a national farce!

Actually Democrats are not for any of these things, and that is really the point....

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Chris Kyle

BIO

The Decline and Fall of Selena Roberts

Chris Kyle | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Alex Rodriguez, Selena Roberts, Sports Illustrated, A-Rod, Deadspin, Jason Whitlock, Steroids, Steroids In Baseball

On Feb. 7, Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts reported that A-Rod tested positive for steroids in 2003. By any account, it was one of the biggest sports scoops in recent history.

A confession from A-Rod followed, along with a book deal for Roberts.

Next...

THEY BUILD HER UP

Selena...

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Jeff Norman

BIO

Another Silly Hate Crimes Bill

Jeff Norman | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act Of 2009, Hate, Hate Crimes, Hate-Motivated Violence, Murder, Violence

On Wednesday the House of Representatives passed the laughably named Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. The purported prevention is what amuses me. Who are the bigots who refrain from killing only because they face harsher punishment than murderers who don't care what their victim's race...

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Srinivasan Pillay

BIO

Gray Matter Volume and The New York City Flyover: Are We Protecting a Major Cultural Icon Enough?

Srinivasan Pillay | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: 9/11, New York, Wall Street. UN, Amygdala, Brain, Genes, Hippocampus, Long, New York Flyover Plane, Ptsd, Resilience, Srini Pillay, Trauma

New York is an icon among American cities. It houses the most people of any city in America, and is internationally recognized for its impact on fashion, entertainment, finance and culture. It is a hub of activity that many people have come to identify with America and its potential impact...

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Joseph A. Palermo

BIO

The GOP Deserves Its Current State of Isolation

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Adlai Stevenson, Eric Cantor, George W. Bush, Grand Old Party, Ike Eisenhower, Jack Abramoff, John Boehner, K-Street Project, Mitch McConnell, President Barack Obama, Republican Party, Steven Griles, Clinton, Clinton Administration, Gop, Joe Mccarthy, Newt Gingrich, President Bill Clinton, Republican Leadership, Republicans, Tom Delay

Every Sunday I look forward to reading Frank Rich's column in the New York Times. He's one of the few commentators the Times has who can both write and think. Last Sunday he offered a lament of sorts about the current state of the Republican Party. "We need more than...

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Norb Vonnegut

BIO

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' Allowance

Norb Vonnegut | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Acrimoney, Clawbacks, Financial Scandal, Madoff, Ponzi, Private Wealth Management

Irving Picard means business. He's the trustee in the Madoff affair. On May 1, 2009 he sued the entire Chais family for return of funds invested with Bernie Madoff: spouse, children, and grandchildren.

No relation to the chaise longue.

Picard, no doubt, is under performance pressure. He announced the...

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Lisa Earle McLeod

BIO

Teen Trends: Is Fiscal Prudence the New Cool?

Lisa Earle McLeod | Posted May 25, 2011 | Style

Read More: Lisa Earle McLeod, Forget Perfect, Recession, Teenagers, Trends

The recession is now official -- my teenager no longer shops at Abercrombie & Fitch.

Yes, it's true, teens who were once ashamed to be seen in anything but top-label, strategically distressed clothing are now ponying up to the register for $2 flip-flops and two-for-one tees at Target and...

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Doon Baqi

BIO

If Torture is Not Punished, Charles Manson Should be Freed

Doon Baqi | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama, Bush Administration Torture, Charles Manson, Dick Cheney, Nazis, Salem, Torture

I'm a bit confused about this whole torture ordeal we're currently going through.

It seems as if the people who were actually doing the torturing, the foot soldiers, so to speak, will not be prosecuted at all. They get set free. Basically, they are not expected to have ever...

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Greg Boose

BIO

If Twitter Was Invented in 1989

Greg Boose | Posted May 25, 2011 | Comedy

Read More: 50 Cent, Arlen Specter, CBS News, Chris Cornell, Corey Feldman, Demi Moore, Diablo Cody, John Mayer, John McCain, Oprah Winfrey, Wil Wheaton, Al Gore, Batman, Espn, Mtv, Twitter

mrswillis / Demi Moore Me and Bruce are thinking movie tonight. Maybe Look Who's Talking. Again lol.

algore / Al Gore I received another one of those Koosh Balls in the mail... Probably from Dukakis.

espn / ESPN Sports News SuperBowl Update: 49ers down 16-13 w 3:10...

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Jeffrey Buchanan

BIO

Celebrities Hit Auction Block for Human Rights

Jeffrey Buchanan | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Anderson Cooper, Anderson Cooper 360, Andre Leon Talley, Andrea Bocelli, Aretha Franklin, Ben Stiller, Bill O'Reilly, Bobby Flay, Cate Blanchett, Dalia Lama, Dancing With The Stars, Dancing With The Stars Contestants, David Blaine, David Foster, David Gregory, Diane Von Furstenberg, George Stephanopoulos, Hugh Laurie, Hurricane Katrina, Indy 500, Jason Taylor, Jennifer Hudson, Jim Cramer, Joe Scarborough, John McCain, John McCain 2008, Larry King, Larry King LIve, Little Fockers, MSNBC Joe Scarborough, Mad Money, Matt Lauer, Michael Phelps, Morning Joe, Nancy Pelosi, New England Patriots, New Orleans, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Winfrey Show, Rachel Maddow, Rachel Maddow MSNBC, Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel Ray, Regis Philbin, Richard Gere, Ridley Scott, Robert DeNiro, Robert F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Steve Carell, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Today Show, This Week, This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Tim Gunn, Today Show, U.S. Open, Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Warren Beatty, Washington DC, World Series, Alan Alda, Andre-Agassi, Bill Cosby, Bill Maher, Boston, Boston-Bruins, Charity-Auction, Chuck Grodin, Crisis In Darfur, Darfur, Farmworkers, Final Four, House, Huffington Post, Human Rights, Indycar, Investigative Journalism, Journalism, Kennedy, Meet The Press, Michael Buble, Obama Inauguration Aretha Franklin, Oprah, Philanthropy, Real Time With Bill Maher, Rfk Center, Robert-Deniro, Russell Crowe, Washington Capitols

Ever want to meet Oprah Winfrey? Hop in the pool for a swimming lesson from Michael Phelps? Get fashion advice from Project Runway's Tim Gunn over lunch at Bryant Park? Learn the arts of comedy and paper sales from Steve Carell on the set of The Office? Hone your blogging...

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F. Kaid Benfield

BIO

Village Green: Putting the "UD" Back in HUD, Sustainably

F. Kaid Benfield | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Shaun Donovan, Community, Housing, Neighborhoods, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Urban Planning, Urban Policy

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan just gave a great speech to the Urban Land Institute in Atlanta.  Here are some excerpts:

"I would like to share my vision for the role HUD can play in creating the most sustainable communities and quality places across the country.  HUD...

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Wendy Diamond

BIO

Catch Lucky's Canine Cameo On The Celebrity Apprentice

Wendy Diamond | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Animal Fair Magazine, Brian Williams, Campbell Brown, Celebrity Apprentice, Cesar Millan, Dog Whisperer, Donny Deutsch, Jessica Lane, Jessica Lange, Matrix Awards, Meredith Vieira, National Geographic Channel, Sigourney Weaver, The Today Show, Tom Hanks, Julianne Moore, Lucky Diamond, North Shore Animal League, Petsmart, Valentino, Wendy Diamond


Lucky and I attended the special screening of our Pug loving friend Lori Zelenko's new film, Valentino: The Last Emperor at the Film Forum, Lucky was the last and only dog present at the movie, as we heard iconic designer Valentino and his posh Pugs were soaking...

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Mike Stark

BIO

Terry McAuliffe and His Complicated Relationship with the Truth

Mike Stark | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Terry McAuliffe, Va-Gov

So the Washington Post has finally taken a closer look at Terry McAuliffe... kinda-sorta, anyway. Such as it is. To the extent it is possible to take a closer look at Terry McAuliffe.

Because, you see, there are a lot of questions McAuliffe simply will not address. Worse, there...

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Christine Hassler

BIO

Phasing Out A Friendship

Christine Hassler | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Gen Y, The Balanced Life, Advice, Communication, Friendship, Relationships, Twenty-Something Advice

Dear Christine,
I read your posts about spring cleaning relationships and your advice hit a nerve with me. I have a friendship I want to end - I have known her since high school, but I don't feel that close to her. We used to have fun together,...

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Charles Best

BIO

Stephen Colbert Loves Birthdays and Classrooms

Charles Best | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Donorschoose, Donorschoose.Org, Giving, Philanthropy, Stephen Colbert, Stephen Colbert Birthday, Stephen Colbert Donors Choose

For my 9th birthday, my only wish was to eat like a farmer boy. I had devoured The Little House on the Prairie book series, and wanted to be like Almanzo Wilder, the protagonist of Farmer Boy, one of the later installments in the Little House series.

A week...

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Max Stier

BIO

Celebrating Public Service

Max Stier | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Federal Government, Federal Employees, Federal Workforce, Good Government, Public Service, Public Service Recognition Week

Our economy is in turmoil. A deadly flu must be contained. We are fighting two wars. Our planet is warming. Health care costs and the number of uninsured continue to rise. China and India are emerging as economic rivals. Now, more than ever, the American people need effective government.

We...

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Peter Gerstenzang

BIO

TV Is Scaring Me To Death

Peter Gerstenzang | Posted May 25, 2011 | Comedy

Read More: Commercials

As a writer, you can probably guess what I spend my time doing most mornings; That's right, I watch several hours of TV. Lately, though, it's starting to freak me out. Not because I'm wasting time. Hell, I'm better at it than in writing a simple, declarative sentence. It's because...

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Eric Hippeau

BIO

"Too Big To Fail" Is Un-American

Eric Hippeau | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Auto Industry, Economic Crisis, Too Big To Fail, Automaker Bailout, Automakers, Bailout, Economy, Financial Crisis, Industrial Policy, Wall Street Bailout

The Too Big To Fail Doctrine is cited today as the reason for bailing out our financial system and our auto industry. Hundreds of billions of public dollars have been sunk in this endeavor so far, with little sign that it has done more than just postpone the inevitable. In...

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The Media Consortium

BIO

Weekly Audit: Congress Caves to Bank Lobby on Foreclosures Economy NewsLadder

The Media Consortium | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: 401 k Industry, Department Of Labor, Economic Crisis, Economy NewsLadder, Mortgage Bankers Association, Stimulus Plan NewsLadder, Wall Street, Anti-Foreclosure Legislation, Bank Lobby, Congress, Cram-Down, Foreclosures, Newsladder, Retirement Industry, Senate, Unemployment Rate

by Zach Carter, TMC MediaWire Blogger

On Thursday, lawmakers bowed to pressure from the bank lobby and killed a crucial piece of anti-foreclosure legislation, poisoning the economy in an effort to keep money flowing to Wall Street. Meanwhile, jobs continue to disappear, retirement accounts are evaporating and families are...

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Greg Mitchell

BIO

How Media Will Pay for Poor Warning on Financial Collapse

Greg Mitchell | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Financial Media, Death Of Newspapers, Death Of Print, Financial Crisis, Media, Newspapers

Sometimes, pieces that may not really fit come together in revealing ways, especially nowadays, thanks to immediate distribution and then saturation via the Web. It happened again recently. Several leading newspapers announced new layoffs, furloughs and/or pay cuts. A few hours later, a new Rasmussen poll revealed that one in...

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Jacob Dickerman

BIO

Swines and Birds and Homeopaths, Oh My!

Jacob Dickerman | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Alternative Medicine, Homeopathic Remedies, Jacque Benveniste, James Randi, James Randi's Million Dollar Challange, Samuel Hahnemann, History, Homeopathy, Skepticism, Swine Flu

With all that's been going on with Swine Flu and the scare around it, people are looking around for medicines to help protect themselves and their families. Unfortunately, they're being preyed upon by a group whose theory of medicine goes counter to everything that is known about physiology, physics, chemistry,...

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Jonathan A. Schein

BIO

Sustainable Social Networking -- Economically and Environmentally

Jonathan A. Schein | Posted May 25, 2011 | Green

Read More: Green Business, Business, Carbon Footprint, Facebook, Social Networking, Twitter

In considering our need for green energy, consider the energy it now takes just to have an online social life.

Social networking is far beyond a fad and definitely more than a cultural phenomenon. Hundreds of millions of people have joined Facebook and Twitter, among others, and users have never...

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Drew Barrymore

BIO

The Power of Youth and the Winnable Battle Against Global Hunger

Drew Barrymore | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Celebrities Talk Politics, Drew Barrymore, World Food Programme, All For Good, Hunger, The Giving Life, World Hunger

On Monday night I had the opportunity to share a stage with the great Arianna Huffington and the always inspirational, Josette Sheeran. I was so grateful to spend time with such amazing women and to discuss a topic I love, the World Food Programme's "Fill the Cup" campaign and school...

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Nan Aron

BIO

Should Torture Memo Author Be Accountable?

Nan Aron | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Alberto Gonzales, Judge Jay Bybee, Justice Department, Office Of Legal Counsel, Bush Administration, Impeachment, Jay Bybee, Memos, Prosecutor, Torture, Torture Memos

One clear message from voters in the 2008 elections was that Americans want accountability from those at the top, whether it's the President of the United States, members of Congress, or corporate CEOs.

That's one reason it's so important to have an open debate about how to hold Jay Bybee...

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Shelly Palmer

BIO

Amazon to Unveil New, Big Screen Kindle: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer May 5, 2009

Shelly Palmer | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: Janet Jackson, New York Times, Super Bowl, Supreme Court, Amazon, Brand Affinity Technologies, Cbs, Dvr, Kindle, Media News, Mediabytes, Microsoft, Nielsen, Shelly Palmer, Wardrobe Malfunction

Amazon is set to launch a larger screened Kindle. Reports from those briefed on the matter note that the device may be unveiled during an Amazon press conference at Pace University in NYC on May 6th. The new version of...

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Lane Hudson

BIO

DC, Congress, and the 'M' Word; Part Deux

Lane Hudson | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: DC Gay Marriage, Democratic Congress, District Of Columbia, Full Faith And Credit Clause, Gay Marriage, Marriage Equality

Today, DC Council is expected to give final reading and pass legislation containing a provision that will allow the District to recognize valid marriages from other jurisdictions between couples of the same gender. Given the unique relationship between DC and Congress, I thought it would be helpful to share some...

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Janice Taylor

BIO

Your Life: 10 Ways to Fill Up on Happiness

Janice Taylor | Posted November 17, 2011 | Healthy Living

Read More: Bold And Beautiful, Janice Taylor, Life & Wellness Coach, Brave, Faith, Happiness, Health, Healthy Living, Love, Luck, Lucky, Mental Health, Weight Loss Motivation

As a Life & Wellness Coach and author, I have worked with thousands of people who are searching for their "life happiness." My work is to move them toward their authentic selves, helping them to generate enough happiness to light up all of Las Vegas and Times Square combined!

What...

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Jack Myers

BIO

President Obama's First 100 Days as Experienced from Norway

Jack Myers | Posted May 25, 2011 | Business

Read More: Barack Obama, Chris Anderson, Dr. Kjell A. Nordstrom, FREE: The Past And Future Of a Radical Price, Futuretainment -- The New Media Revolution, Gulltaggen, McCann Erickson Israel; Mike Walsh, Seth Godin; Jonathan Kish, Advertising, Dvr, Norway, President Obama, Wired

On the 100th day anniversary of Barack Obama's presidency last week, I was speaking to 1,000 media, agency and marketing executives at "Gulltaggen," the Nordic Countries Interactive Advertising Bureau annual conference in Oslo, Norway. Unlike here in the U.S., where rabid Republican partisanship borders on anti-Americanism (and often seems to...

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Jamie Court

BIO

Taking the Debate out of Healthcare Reform

Jamie Court | Posted May 25, 2011 | Politics

Read More: Max Baucus, Health Care Reform, Hmos, Kennedy, Obama

Years ago, at a summit of nonprofit health care advocates convened by charitable foundations in Monterey California, I remember a fierce debate over how best to get healthcare reform. The question: If we aren't powerful enough to beat health insurers and HMOs by regulating them, why not just join up...

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Steve Clemons

BIO

Surge in Pakistan Violence: U.S. Central Command Warns Patrick Cronin to Stay Home

Steve Clemons | Posted May 25, 2011 | World

Read More: Asif Ali Zardari, David Petraeus, Dennis Blair, Hamid Karzai, James Jones, Nuclear Controls, Patrick Cronin, Robert Gates, US Central Command, Afghanistan, Drone Attacks, India, Michael Mullen, Obama, Pakistan
zardari karzai.jpg

Quite a number of serious and informed observers predict a spike in mass casualty violence hitting this week in Pakistan. President Obama is about to have both collective and separate meetings with Afghanistan President Hamid...

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James Denselow

BIO

The uneasy retreat from Iraq

James Denselow | Posted May 25, 2011 |

Read More: Barak Obama, Gordon Brown, Iraq

Gordon Brown's description of Iraq as a success story is evidence of the huge gap between rhetoric and reality

Gordon Brown bookended his predecessor's war of choice, by explaining that Britain and Iraq were now entering a "long-term partnership of equals". However it was a US flag that replaced the...

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Daniel Sweren-Becker

BIO

Gossip Girl: Low Finance

Daniel Sweren-Becker | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass, Dan Humphrey, Gossip Girl, Gossip Girl Season 2, Jenny Humphrey, Serena Van Der Woodsen, Entertainment, Television

There comes a time in every Gossip Girl season when the episode coincides with a graduate school thesis, a Yankees/Red Sox game, and the distracting ramblings of a tipsy roommate. Will this week's episode rise above this adversity or flounder in the white noise?

8:01 Um, when you're carrying around...

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Mark Blankenship

BIO

Heineken Is Just Our Friend (VIDEO)

Mark Blankenship | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Hip Hop, TV Advertising, Advertising, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Beer, Biz Markie, Biz-Markie-Politics, Commercials, Heineken, Hip-Hop, Rap, Rap Music, Songs, Television

Have you seen this new Heineken commercial, "Let a Stranger Drive You Home?" Last week, it shot Biz Markie's 1990 hit "Just a Friend" onto the iTunes bestsellers list, where it outsold current singles by Lily Allen, Kings of Leon, and Kanye West.

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Ari Melber

BIO

Condi Rice's Tortured Macaca Moment

Ari Melber | Posted May 25, 2011 | Media

Read More: 9/11 Commission, Bush Administration Torture, CIA Torture, Condi Rice, Condoleezza Rice, John Conyers, Keith Olbermann, Pat Leahy, Philip Zelikow, Russ Feingold, Scott Horton, Sheldon Whitehouse, Special Prosecutor, Cable News, Cenk Uyger, Harpers, Jack Balkin, Jay Bybee, John Yoo, Moveon Special Prosecutor, Msnbc, Television Torture, Torture, Truth Commission, Waterboarding, Youtube Media, Youtube Politics

Political blog readers know that Condi Rice recently lost it.

Asked about her role advancing torture during the Bush administration in a meeting with college students, Rice claimed that no torture occurred in Guantanamo (false); Al Qaeda poses a greater threat than the axis in World War...

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David Wild

BIO

Honk If You Wrote Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" Too!

David Wild | Posted May 25, 2011 | Entertainment

Read More: Cat Stevens, Coldplay Plagiarism, Creaky Boards, Joe Satriani, Coldplay, Plagiarism, Viva La Vida Plagiarism, Yusuf

I would like to take the opportunity to claim that I wrote Coldplay's "Viva La Vida." In fact, I wrote "Viva La Vida" just about an hour ago after hearing the news that my pal Yusuf -- the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens -- feels that the undeniable Coldplay...

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Lee Stranahan

BIO

Limbaugh, Beck, The Plumber Announce "Yapping Tour"

Lee Stranahan | Posted May 25, 2011 | Comedy

Read More: Blues Brothers Convention, Dan Aykroyd, Glenn Beck, John Belushi, Rush Limbaugh, Big Tent, Joe The Plumber, Michael Steele

Leading conservative thinkers Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Joe The Plumber today announced a 700 city "Yapping Tour" to counter efforts by the Republican party to launch a 'Listening Tour.' Joe The Plumber was blunt in his assessment of the GOP's idea of bringing in new voters by trying to...

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05.06.2009 > < 05.04.2009