OK, the sixth computer has died. I can’t write anything or see anything. No browser except the phone. Weird interference.

Enough of this.

At the library, at least I can write this.

Yesterday was my first experience as a district delegate. I came by the responsibility accidentally, you might say. Spurred on by some activist WAMM ladies of my acquaintance to attend or perhaps occupy my local caucus a few weeks back, I proposed a citizen resolution to protest the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA. Frankly, I [...]

Following Salon’s passionate coverage of responses to the recent Scahill piece , and what it might portend… Has anyone else at FDL read Poisoning the Press , Mark Feldstein’s fascinating pop history comparing Richard Nixon and his nemesis, D.C. Capitol commentator Jack Anderson? I keep thinking about the current, claimed executive freedom to have people killed, off the books, [...]

Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their party. In the past week or two I’ve been doing my bit. Attending town hall meetings, making the probably futile attempt to affect the political process by showing up at caucus and volunteering for a committee: Resolutions. (I had proposed [...]

Lately I’ve been thinking about what today we call “the one percent.” I am reminded of what the great French novelist Honoré de Balzac concluded in one of his “philosophical tales” of the early 1830s, La Peau de Chagrin . Yes, it’s a funny title, even in its original language. It means, literally, the skin of grief , but [...]

Well, FDL, I find it irritating that once again the security certificate for this website is invalid. Seems to be a problem in Scottsdale, Arizona, once again, though I am miles and miles from there. I am going to ignore this certificate problem for the time being, in order to continue my rant. Today, my [...]

How I wish that it didn’t have to do with Republicans in South Carolina, but of course it does. In South Carolina, where the local rabble just showed off their boorishness during the latest Republican debate. In South Carolina, even though it’s 2012, seven score and more years from the events in question. To me, it [...]

“The ideological assertion that government can do nothing right is an insult to every American who has benefited from public education, interstate highways, clean tapwater, rural electrification, student loans, social security, small-business support, job training, community block grants – in short, everyone.” – Michael H. Shuman, Going Local, Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age. [...]

Happened to attend the “Move to Amend” speech at the local United Methodist Church on Tuesday. This was an extremely interesting gathering. The sponsoring organization, Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, is to be commended for bringing David Cobb to town, I think. “Challenging Corporate Personhood & Cheating Democracy” is going to be followed by a training Saturday. Not only [...]

Since I’ve been hearing about a push to bring back Glass-Steagall, I’ve been trying to remember what I learned in school about banking reform at the very bottom of the Great Depression. Here’s what I recall: It wasn’t a 20th century problem only. The titans of the Gilded Age in the 19th century shrugged off any public protest about [...]

I’ve been wanting to comment on Occupy in my town because it’s been such an educational thing. For my own part, I decided to do some cooking to help out. Reason being: I know how to take “ingredients” – some of which were being donated to the house of a volunteer – and make them [...]

When I heard that Rick Perry’s leased hunting property, a thousand acres near Paint Creek, Texas, had a secret, offensive name, I was not really surprised. Though the sign on a rock was painted over – white-washed, as it were – the land had long been known by a local nickname using a familiar racial slur, popularly referred to as the [...]

I spent some of the day today reading a local religious newspaper, the Christian Examiner. Formerly the Minnesota Christian Chronicle. Sheesh! Feeling sorry in advance for the people who follow these fanatics. I remember the Nixon years, and how precious few people later would admit to having voted for him. It’s going to be a sad spectacle [...]

With all the brouhaha about Republican candidates for president weighing in on mandatory HPV vaccination, I think a broader perspective on the political/pharmaceutical alliance is in order. I can understand candidate Rick Perry’s unconditional support for anything that might guarantee a big windfall to such a reliable big pharma donor. I can understand Bachmann’s calling him out on it in trying [...]

The first person I knew who called the Republican right “fascist” was a Southern gentleman of my acquaintance who should know what the term means. He’s a spry 80-something now, a veteran of the Second World War. I have to say I was shocked at the clarity with which this usually courtly older man spit [...]

Historian William Cronon’s Scholar as Citizen blog led to controversy last month when the Wisconsin Republican Party made an open records request for access to Professor Cronon’s emails from work. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, to its credit, said no. In fact, the brouhaha threatened to overshadow his interesting comments about the legislative group, American Legislative [...]