I'm Just A Bill...

i think i might respect the case he is making if i could hear more of it.  he should come back to the US and stand trial.  after all, he released documents to local media and seems very thoughtful - something makes me really think he's coming at this from a patriotic perspective.  maybe i'm wrong... is the jury still out on this guy?

monsanto (and companies like monsanto) suck.  big time.  definitely believe it is best to be organic as much as you possibly can.

this is a beautiful take on a particular aspect of inner city violence/suicide and the importance of cultural perspectives on loving one another.  worth a read...

Something to consider, indeed.

Some may say I've had too much of his Kool Aid - that may be - but I tend to think that many of his critics, in their criticism, sound like they're grasping at straws or making contradictory arguments to simply disagree with Obama.  For the most part, I feel like Obama stakes out positions that are moderate/middle-of-the-road and, as a result, makes policy that, though not always as ambitious as some liberals would like, is logical, reasonable, and, in the long run, a winning strategy.  We shall see, though...

this is super cool - we've come a long way in a few years, as far as researching congress is concerned.  i remember, a little over 5 years ago, writing my undergrad thesis paper and having to go in and look through reels and reels of microfiche to read the congressional record.  awesome!

The answer to why there is "no looting," seems to me, is hinted to in the brief article itself:  "... with supermarkets cutting prices and vending machine owners giving out free drinks." Looks as though this large scale societal reaction to the crisis on the part of businesses and those with access to resources, no doubt, plays an important part in answering your question. Furthermore, my bet is that some Japanese, in seriously dire circumstances, without water or food, have probably taken things from abandoned supermarkets or vehicles in order to survive.  This would be defined as 'looting' by some.  The fact that the title says "no looting" is beyond misleading... to be sure, there is no way for anyone to know if this is true at the current stage of the crisis.  After all, there are thousands of people missing and whole parts of the country that rescue teams can't even get to. With all this said, the racist and thoughtless reasons for 'looting' that many have suggested in this comment area are nothing more than that: racist and thoughtless.  So, to all you racists, try empathy and ponder this: Your community has just been destroyed (from, say, a hurricane, flood, tsunami, or earthquake).  You have no food or water.  You are outside, shivering, wearing tattered and wet clothes.  In the distance you see a supermarket and you hurriedly limp up to it.  Inside there are bottles of water and food, but no checkers to purchase said food and water from.  Even if you had money, which is probably a bit unlikely given the disaster, you couldn't buy anything.  What do you do?  Do you 'loot' what you need to survive?

I really like this article, the song "I Am Like A Bird," and the question they ask at the end... about oil companies.

Really great, thorough article with a whole bunch of insightful quotes from the Palestine Papers... READ.

It amuses me that, for two years, Republicans criticized Obama for 'not getting it' by focusing initially on health care instead of job creation and, then, their first move, once in charge of the House, is to spend all their time focusing on health care (or, repealing it, that is).

Either way, really fun tool.  Thanks, NY Times!

This is something I read on The Maddow Blog.  Smart, thoughtful observations and reflections by "Matt The Southern Liberal."

Watch.  And, for more White House White Board shorts, go HERE.

haha.  so awesome... READ!

there are lots of arguments against lowering the social security retirement age (a few mentioned in the attached article), but i think the idea, though counter to conventional deficit hawk wisdom, makes sense in certain ways, and is definitely worth serious discussion...