Amber, also known as Rebellyious of Chainsaw Shimmy Productions, adds a unique twist to traditional belly and gypsy dancing or what she calls tribal fusion. Tonight she is introducing the world, to what she believes to be the first belly-punk fusion performance in a small establishment called The Break Room, in Topeka's downtown. It will serve to exclamate the militaries dirty...
What are we to make of the failed Underwear Bomber plot, the Toothpaste, Shampoo, and Bottled Water Bomber plot, and the Shoe Bomber plot? These blundering and implausible plots to bring down an airliner seem far removed from al-Qaida's expertise in pulling off 9/11. If we are to believe the U.S. government, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged al-Qaida "mastermind" behind 9/11, outwitted the...
The first anniversary of Barack Obama's historic election finds many of his supporters already grousing. Fair enough: Obama has been more vigorous in some areas than others. But one essential question goes unasked: How much can any president accomplish against the wishes of recalcitrant power centers within his own government?We Americans harbor a quaint belief that a new president takes charge...
Liberty Hall. 644 Mass St. Lawrence, KS - Only $3. 7PM.We must rethink our policy toward Afghanistan. Congressional oversight hearings on Afghanistan would facilitate a substantial public debate on this war. What's more, these hearings would coincide with President Obama's effort to craft policy that represents the diversity in public opinion and the wide array of tools at his disposal. Help...
The most memorable reporting I've encountered on the conflict in Iraq was delivered in the form of confetti exploding out of a cardboard tube. I had just begun working at the MIT Media Lab in March 2006 when Alyssa Wright, a lab student, got me to participate in a project called "Cherry Blossoms." I strapped on a backpack with a pair of vertical tubes sticking out of the top; they were...
Fourteen minute video featuring straight talk from veterans and their family members telling what is missing from the sales pitches presented by recruiters and the military's marketing efforts.
CIA director Leon Panetta told the New Yorker: "When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point." News commentator Ed Schultz said today that Cheney is wishing for a terrorist attack on the U.S.What should we make of all this? Well, everyone knows that Cheney is ruthless: Cheney is the guy who pushed for torture...
Did they play Barack Obama’s speech to the Muslim world in the prison corridors of Abu Ghraib, Bagram air base, Guantanamo or the dozens of secret sites where we hold thousands of Muslims around the world? Did it echo off the walls of the crowded morgues filled with the mutilated bodies of the Muslim dead in Baghdad or Kabul? Was it broadcast from the tops of minarets in the villages and towns...
On Monday, we said just 40 House Progressives could end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan (Af/Pak) by opposing the Pentagon's demand for another $95 billion. That's because all 178 Republicans will vote no over $5 billion for the IMF.Nearly 10,000 of you emailed your Representatives, and 15 House Progressives responded to you by opposing the $95 billion. So now we need just 25 more. So...
"We Americans claim to be a peace-loving people. We hate bloodshed; we are opposed to violence. Yet we go into spasms of joy over the possibility of projecting dynamite bombs from flying machines upon helpless citizens. We are ready to hang, electrocute, or lynch anyone, who, from economic necessity, will risk his own life in the attempt upon that of some industrial magnate. Yet our hearts swell...
It's not a new trend: A wave of upheaval is spreading from the poorer countries on the periphery of the global economy to the prosperous core. Over the past few years, a series of riots spread across what is patronizingly known as the Third World. Furious mobs have raged against skyrocketing food and energy prices, stagnating wages and unemployment in India, Senegal, Yemen, Indonesia...
According to US government propaganda, terrorist cells are spread throughout America, making it necessary for the government to spy on all Americans and violate most other constitutional protections. Among President Bush’s last words as he left office was the warning that America would soon be struck again by Muslim terrorists.
Amnesty International USA just launched its Protect the Human campaign to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They've got a fantastic site up where you can view Amnesty's films and photos, learn about human rights issues, read up on the UDHR, tell your story using an interactive Google map, and take action on these issues.Check out the Protect...
Today former Secretary of State and Republican Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States. It was a stunning blow to the McCain campaign, and a repudiation of the failed politics and ideology of a Republican Party that has fundamentally lost its way. But, ultimately, Powell's endorsement of Obama was not the big news story of the day.
The United States is directly responsible for over one million Iraqi deaths since the invasion five and half years ago. In a January 2008 report, a British polling group Opinion Research Business (ORB) reports that, “survey work confirms our earlier estimate that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which started in 2003…. We now estimate that the...
Klein speaks about Obama and the intellectual and political integrity of the progressive movement.
The American-armed and trained Georgian army swarmed into South Ossetia last Thursday, killing an estimated 2,000 civilians, sending 40,000 South Ossetians fleeing over the Russian border, and destroying much of the capital, Tskhinvali. The attack was unprovoked and took place a full 24 hours before even ONE Russian soldier set foot in South Ossetia. Nevertheless, the vast majority of Americans...
A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.
No End in Sight Trailer. To watch the full movie:
Back in 1989, in his smash hit “Say Anything,” John Cusack famously stood with a boom box above his head outside the home of the woman he loved blasting Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” With his latest films on the Iraq war, Cusack is standing outside Hollywood with a TV above his head broadcasting his political movies calling on the public to wake up and “Do Something.”