"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" — MLK
Blogging History: China’s Islamic Christopher Columbus Decades before Christopher Columbus was even born, 18 years before Europeans began their “Age of Discovery,” an Admiral from the Chinese Empire sailed west, explored unknown lands, visited with strange “barbarian” peoples, and projected Imperial might as far away as Africa, covering more than 50,000 kilometers in his 7 … Continue reading “China’s Age of Discovery: The Voyages of Zheng He”
In a new Newsweek Poll first posted Saturday, 41% of Americans say Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks . Thanks Dick Cheney! Thanks Rush Limbaugh! You are successfully duping a huge swath of the population. However this is down from 49%, a plurality, that believed this lie in … Continue reading “New Newsweek Poll: Misinformed Population ALARMS Me!”
I’ve been increasingly angry lately (nothing new) about how the Republicans want to slash aid to poor and disabled Americans because “we can’t afford it” but have no qualms whatsoever about funneling BILLIONS of our money to the worst evil dictators imaginable. Did you know we prop up the evil dictator in Ethiopia to the … Continue reading “Giving Your Money to Evil, Saddam-style Dictators”
Here’s a fun history tidbit I gleaned from the latest Hardcore History podcast: The Black Plague and the drastic changes it wrought on society, on supply and demand, on everything, had an incalculably deep impact on history. One thing it spurred was the English Peasants’ Revolt, aka the Great Rising of 1381, the 626th anniversary … Continue reading “The Serfs Are Getting Restive”
There is a very disturbing worldwide trend going on. In 1957 our president was Eisenhower and Israel’s PM was David Ben-Gurion. Say what you will about them, but they were competent. They weren’t bumblers or fools. In 2007 Israel is headed by the failed mayor of Jerusalem and the U.S. is run by the Clown … Continue reading “Why The Global Shortage of Good Leaders?”
I’m back. I haven’t blogged in awhile because I didn’t know what to say. I don’t know what the narrative is anymore. People define themselves and grasp their goals and aspirations by relating to others. We explain our past story and bounce ideas and plans off each other, and in this way we cobble together … Continue reading “I don’t know what the narrative is anymore”
In my last post, I talked about the Spanish-American War.I think the best parallel to the current Bush wars is not Vietnam, but the Spanish-American War, which was also fought with an all-volunteer military, and justified by an incident (Remember the Maine!) that the target of the war (Spain) may not have actually been responsible … Continue reading “Spanish-American War Coming Up on History Channel”
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” — Ecclesiastes 1:9-14I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Are the events shaping the U.S. just a part of an inexorable repeating cycle of history? In the 1920s the wealth inequality grew to … Continue reading “Inexorable Cycle of History?”
This is an update to the Medicaid Trying To Cut Us Off post. Last Friday our case worker for the Medicaid waiver, who works for Alabama Medicaid, called up to relay the message that the administrators are crunching the numbers on the program and it is too expensive. In order to continue the program, they … Continue reading “Horde of Medicaid Zombies Banging On Your Door”
Public Citizen ranks state Medicaid programs Get the full run-down hereUnsettling Scores: A Ranking of State Medicaid Programs (2007) Lots of excellent info here. ALL states in the U.S. have serious problems in their health care systems; the “best 10” would be more-aptly labeled “the least terrible 10.” We cannot let the status quo continue … Continue reading “How bad is your state’s Medicaid program?”
To the guys who want to slash Medicaid funding even more, take this story and eat it. Alabama Medicaid called Friday, they want to terminate our waiver…. Basically, we’re too expensive to keep alive. They will discuss this more in May. They say the program is just too expensive. Scary. But then again they claimed … Continue reading “Update: Medicaid Trying To Cut Us Off…Again”
I wanted to post a quick note of my thoughts on the developing (and rapidly changing) situation on the Iraqi front. Check out this story from the AP wire, Iraqi Insurgents Now Fighting Each Other. It describes how some of the Sunni insurgents are turning against al-Qaida: MUQDADIYAH, Iraq — At least two major insurgent … Continue reading “Latest From The Iraqi Front, April 2007”
In my last post, I covered the death of Professor Liviu Librescu in the VT Massacre. Librescu, who survived a Nazi slavery camp during the Holocaust, was given a Jewish funeral today in Brooklyn. Full story He’ll be buried in Israel. I was moved by these photos. The casket of Liviu Librescu is carried through … Continue reading “Jewish Funeral For Liviu Librescu”
This life is full of sick ironies. Nick Israeli professor killed in US shooting As Jews worldwide honored on Monday the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, a 75-year-old survivor sacrificed his life to save his students in Monday’s shooting at Virginia Tech college that left 32 dead and over two dozen … Continue reading “75-year-old Holocaust Survivor Killed In VT Massacre”
I thought this was a great photo. A camel crossing in Dubai. In the Mideast, the new world is colliding with the ancient. Nick
In my post, Why did they create the new nation of Iraq? I discussed T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) and his vision of the Middle East’s borders after WWI, which would’ve amounted to the Shias getting their own state in the Mesopotamian Basin, a single state for most of the Sunnis of what are now … Continue reading “What The U.S. Can Learn From “Lawrence of Arabia””
Guess who showed up in my city today ? Rudy Giuliani. I live in Mobile, AL, Alabama’s second largest city. The Port City. Today Candidate Giuliani showed up here. As far as I know he didn’t meet with any real people, any disability or elderly groups, nor did he visit the parts of the county … Continue reading “Candidate Giuliani Visits My City”
After World War I destroyed the Ottoman Empire, why did the British decide to create the new nation of Iraq out of the 3 different Ottoman provinces? The British divvied up the Ottoman Empire’s holdings and created Iraq out of the three Ottoman “vilayets” (regions) of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. Why would they do this? … Continue reading “Why did they create the new nation of Iraq? UPDATED”
Beware the Ides of March We recently passed the third anniversary of the death of my friend Chris. It’s so awful, I don’t write or speak about this much (too painful) but I thought you should all know about it. My family had known Chris since we moved to Mobile, Alabama in 1983, I was … Continue reading “I Feel Messed Up”
Me and my brother Jamie (on left). Me
Should the state be allowed to pull the plug on your family without your consent? This is a scary question that’s getting more and more attention lately, as states and hospital corporations are increasingly looking to cut costs and unplug people they deem “futile.” It’s downright Nazi-istic, and we are called to fight this every … Continue reading “Saving Emilio”
The media, the pundits, the blogosphere is abuzz about the firings of the eight U.S. attorneys. As usual, most everyone is missing the point. The Senate Democrats are saying “were the firings politically motivated?” Of course they were, the documents even admit this. Move on to the crucial questions, you fools. The Republicans are saying … Continue reading “U.S. Attorneys Scandal: The Media Is Missing The Point”
As I wrote in my last post, hospitals are dangerous. Doctors often don’t believe the patient, don’t listen and screw up. There are nearly unlimited ways hospitals can make mistakes; I even can’t count how many times I’ve been harmed. You can’t just sit back, relax and say “oh, I’m sure they know what they’re … Continue reading “Hospitals Are Very Dangerous Places”
Fear, Esophagastroduodenoscopy and The Ultimate Quarterlife Crisis What’s my world like lately? I hesitate to even go there, because it inevitably veers into the dark side, where I (and most people) don’t want to go. But I think occasionally I should throw back the curtain and disinfect the area with some sunlight, let people know … Continue reading “This Is The Digital Soul of Nick Dupree”
I can’t help but blog about this. It’s just so history-making. The vice president’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby was convicted of four felonies Tuesday, becoming the first White House employee convicted of a felony since Spiro Agnew, who was the highest official working in the White House ever convicted of a felony. Thus, it … Continue reading “Libby: The First White House Felon Since Agnew”
Is the war on terra the only issue that matters in politics now? That’s the argument Ron Silver famously made at the ’04 Republican National Convention (old video). It’s the argument I hear over and over from Bush apologists. Prediction: it’s the argument that rightist politicians will be pitching throughout the ’08 election cycle, which … Continue reading “Is the "war on terra" the only issue that matters?”
A few weeks back I produced an episode of the Best of the Left podcast tackling (well, shredding) Bush’s health care plan. The Best of the Left podcast is a podcast I found on iTunes, produced by a user named Jay. It’s a (usually weekly) compilation of left-wing radio. Like a highlight reel. Sometimes another … Continue reading “Nick Produces Podcast Tackling Bush’s Health Care Plan”
Two weeks ago I detailed the government’s offensive, destructive policy of slashing Medicaid in my post, Vigorously Insisting On A More Perfect Union: Fighting Cuts, Demanding Universal Health Care. But last year and the year before that, I was blogging in posts like this, about the cuts to Tennessee Medicaid, the largest cuts in … Continue reading “More About Culling of the Sick in TN. Also, Bush Weighs In”
I whipped up this simple, amateur animation to make a point. India and Europe are roughly the same land area, but India is considered a subcontinent. Why is Arabia dubbed a “peninsula” and not a subcontinent? These are all pretty arbitrary designations based on little but cultural history. We forget that about 40% of humanity … Continue reading “Of Continents and Subcontinents (animation by Nick)”
Serving the good, not false idols, is incredibly important Idolatry. In Hebrew, avodah zora (strange service). The concept of idolatry is central in the Torah (Five books of Moses). Throughout the narrative, the Israelites often revert to idolatrous practices, the most famous of which is the sin of the Golden Calf. In that episode, Moses … Continue reading “American Idol(atry)”