Recent Blog Posts
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“Why I can’t celebrate”
Valarie Kaur, a third generation Sikh American film maker, writes about why she isn’t celebrating Osama bin Laden’s death: The last time a sudden burst of nationalism rallied us against America’s turbaned and bearded enemy, an epidemic of hate crimes swept the country. In the yearlong aftermath of 9/11, the FBI reported a 1700 percent…
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bin angry– a rant
If there’s something that could inspire me to the kind of nationalistic joy that prompts a person to dance in the street waving a flag and chanting “USA! USA!,” I don’t know what it is. But Osama bin Laden’s death it isn’t. As eloquent as Obama’s address last night was, the phrase “justice has been…
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The “E” word applied to food. No, it doesn’t stand for “educated.” Or “empathetic.”
Eric Schlosser lays down the law in the Washington Post: At the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting this year, Bob Stallman, the group’s president, lashed out at “self-appointed food elitists” who are “hell-bent on misleading consumers.” His target was the growing movement that calls for sustainable farming practices and questions the basic tenets of…
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Woo in the courtroom
A Michigan couple were accused of sexually abusing their severely autistic daughter. Julian and Thal Wendrow were jailed and their children taken from them and placed in foster care for months before prosecutors dropped the charges. Their daughter Aislinn had supposedly made these accusations– not verbally, as she is mute, but through Facilitated Communication, a method of…
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Hmm….profound
Also: If there is no bulb, do not turn on the light.If you have no car, do not drive.If there are no clothes, do not get dressed.If there is no food, do not eat.If you have no voice, do not speak.
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How not to counter-protest
Gawker reports that the Westboro Baptist Church were met in Mississippi by some people who decided to try and out-douchebag them. And succeeded: The feel-good blog item of the day is the story of when the small town of Brandon, Mississippi successfully foiled Westboro Baptist Church’s plan to protest a Marine’s funeral. (Here is a…