Ralph Nader announced his bid for president on Meet the Press today. Tim Russert gave a ridiculous interview, focusing on the 2000 election and Nader's potential effect on Democrats rather than real issues. Below is a particularly blatant and shameful example of Russert's disregard for Nader's platform and politics:

[The election coverage has avoided discussion of Palestine/Israel] even though it's central to our security and to, to the situation in the Middle East. [Barak Obama] was pro-Palestinian when he was in Illinois before he ran for the state Senate, during he ran--during the state Senate. Now he's, he's supporting the Israeli destruction of the tiny section called Gaza with a million and a half people. He doesn't have any sympathy for a civilian death ratio of about 300-to-1; 300 Palestinians to one Israeli. He's not taking a leadership position in supporting the Israeli peace movement, which represents former Cabinet ministers, people in the Knesset, former generals, former security officials, in addition to mayors and leading intellectuals. One would think he would at least say, "Let's have a hearing for the Israeli peace movement in the Congress," so we don't just have a monotone support of the Israeli government's attitude toward the Palestinians and their illegal occupation of Palestine.

MR. RUSSERT: But would you prefer, as an American citizen, to have Barack Obama or John McCain as president?  continue reading »

i'm taking two online classes this semester, and we're suppose to post in "journals," that our professors get to read, but are otherwise private. though we're expected to post to it twice a week. i didn't "get it" at first and was putting my posts on top of each other (deleting the old).
then i realized - ta da! - that i should stack my entries, dating each one, so i would still "have" them all. but then came a new question - how should i order them? newest at the bottom or at the top?
before blogs, i wouldn't have thought to ask this question. newest, obviously, would go at the bottom. in a paper journal, that's really the only option, since we can't predict how long each entry will be. online the custom has become putting the newest post at the top.  continue reading »

Imagine someone charged $1 million on a credit card with your name on it - when you were only 6 months old...and you are expected to pay it back?! Doesn't sound fair, does it? That's what has happened to countries all over the world whose leaders (often dictators, corrupt, illegitimate) have racked up millions or even billions of dollars worth of debt, and their citizens suffer the consequences. This debt inhibits countries from spending money on true necessities, such as medical care, education and food.  continue reading »