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Noam Chomsky on the Modern Political Scene
THE NEW POLITICAL SPECTRUM OF AMERICAN EMPIRE Abbey Marten of teleSUR interviewed Noam Chomsky on the contemporary status of American politics and the current political spectrum as it relates to American Empire. The series is called The Empire Files and is a new favorite of MSB. Read more
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Facebook’s Stupid Orwellbots!
ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL CENSORSHIP This last week I had the dubious distinction of having a post blocked from Facebook. I was involved in a discussion with a conservative friend of mine about an appropriate response to ISIS. Here is what I wrote¹: They [ISIS] are not gaining power. They have lay lost more territory than… Read more
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Hate Begets Hate:
ON THE PARIS ATTACKS AND THE BIGOT RESPONSE I must admit that my first thought upon hearing news of the atrocities committed in Paris, after, of course my sorrow over any loss of life, was, ‘my God, the bigots have more ammunition.’ Of course, that’s the point. ISIS kills a bunch of people, the bigots… Read more
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Patrick Haggerty on Being Gay and not Sneaking
A FATHER’S ADVICE TO HIS GAY SON IN THE 1950’S Storycorps.org has some interesting and enlightening animated shorts covering the real issues of real people. When I saw this video I was blown away by the historical context. I had to post it as a featured voice. Read more
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Everything You Know About the Gun Control Debate is Wrong
THE BASIC PREMISE FOR OUR NEED TO BEAR ARMS OR REGULATE ARMS ISN’T TRUE Every time there’s a mass shooting, or a noteworthy event that makes it into the mainstream media involving gun violence the response is almost visceral, but certain. First, the “gun rights” advocates and their NRA pushers take to the editorial pages… Read more
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Dalton Trumbo on the Big Screen
ONE OF THE GREAT BIG SCREEN WRITERS IS NOW ON THE BIG SCREEN IN HIS OWN RIGHT Dalton Trumbo wrote, what I believe to be, the greatest anti-war novel of all time, Johnny Got His Gun. When I was teaching high school literature, this was on my required reading list for both stylistic and intellectual reasons.… Read more
The Mad Sociologist Blog 