OPINION

Oh Brother, There You Art

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – Wanna know what puts the fear of God in me? Just how many goddamn self righteous all knowing mouth breathers in this country that still cling to the archaic notion that the earth is only two or six thousand years old. The people who maintain with a straight…

The World’s Most Ambitious Disaster

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Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – I’ve long known how wasteful, destructive, and dangerous the process of extracting oil from tar sands is. To get one barrel of oil, you have to dig up four tons of dirt and rock. Beautiful old-growth boreal forest becomes a wasteland. And that single barrel of oil? It…

A Web Published Talk on Electronic Publishing in 2000

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Speech predicts the death of print newspapers, delivered at the turn of the century Writing Today conference at Birmingham Southern College, Saturday April 30, 2000. I am planning to say something more on this subject soon. This is a link for background in advance. You can read the talk, since it was published then on…

Adding Up the Billions Wasted by House Republicans

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By Nicholas Sheppard – How much have the Republicans cost the taxpayer, directly and in terms of hindered economic potential, since they took over the House in 2010? A few days ago, the price tag was announced for the Republican lawsuit against the president. House Administration Chairwoman Candice S. Miller, R-Mich., said the firm BakerHostetler…

Clearing Up the Hysteria Over Proposed Fees on Public Lands

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By Bob Wells – There is an uproar going around the blog-o-sphere right now about proposed new rules that govern use of Public lands. I’ve had several people write me very concerned that our right to use Public Lands was at risk and we would either be kicked off the land or be charged for…

Damn Nation: We Know What Happened in Ferguson, Missouri

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – You are here. No closer. I keep paying attention to this. I keep pointing it out. There is just enough to keep the women and kids all fired up. Just enough to make us all afraid of things we don’t understand. Things they aren’t about to explain. We…

The Disease of American Democracy

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By Robert Reich – Americans are sick of politics. Only 13 percent approve of the job Congress is doing, a near record low. The President’s approval ratings are also in the basement. A large portion of the public doesn’t even bother voting. Only 57.5 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential…

Why Would Robin Williams Take His Own Life?

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – I get it she says. I understand she tells me. All those hoses and belts, all the tubes and valves, all those wires and lines that are leaking and spraying so much sorrow and doom and that man thought four or five times more and four or five…

The Rebirth of Stakeholder Capitalism?

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By Robert Reich – In recent weeks, the managers, employees, and customers of a New England chain of supermarkets called “Market Basket” have joined together to oppose the board of director’s decision earlier in the year to oust the chain’s popular chief executive, Arthur T. Demoulas. Their demonstrations and boycotts have emptied most of the…

Amazon and Hachette Face Off in E-Book Price War

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Guest Editorial Amazon Books Just before World War II, there was a radical invention that shook the foundations of book publishing. It was the paperback book. This was a time when movie tickets cost 10 or 20 cents, and books cost $2.50. The new paperback cost 25 cents – it was 10 times cheaper. Readers…

Who Needs Clean Water?

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Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – With a couple of decisions in 2001 and 2006, the Supreme Court managed to break the Clean Water Act by calling into question what Congress meant by “the waters of the United States.” The existing law had been working just fine for almost 30 years. When the Clean…

Is A Two-State Solution In the Mid-East All But Dead?

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By Nick Sheppard – From The Sheppard Post – There is an increasingly openly-stated view amongst the Israeli leadership that the conflict with the Palestinians can only be managed, not resolved by the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. In a recent press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I think the Israeli…

A Heartbreaking Lack of Understanding

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – I guess I’m naive. It was obviously a mistake to open my head and heart and share my thoughts on something as profoundly controversial as the Israeli Palestinian conflict. A mistake to speak out against war in general and this one in particular. In hindsight it occurs to…

There’s No Correlation Between Work and Worth

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By Robert Reich – What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society. Does anyone seriously believe hedge-fund mogul Steven A. Cohen is worth the $2.3 billion he raked in last year, despite being slapped with a $1.8 billion fine after his firm pleaded guilty to insider…

To Thine Own Self Be True: Who are You?

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By Bob Wells – I said no more Alaska Posts and while this post has Alaska as a backdrop, it isn’t about Alaska, it’s about “Finding Yourself” and being true to yourself. This trip to Alaska clarified a lot of things about myself and I want to share it with you. The great majority of…