BethCurrent Events

Dad doesn't know best

We were helping Beth with her homework on the American Revolution this evening, and it was great fun. I fancy myself the household expert on history, so I was right in my element. However, helping with a big homework assignment until ten p.m. makes me yearn for my high school days (when I didn’t). It didn’t help that we were all pretty tired. Anyway, there was a point in all this when…
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Current Events

Return of the streetcar

Newsvine – N.O. Streetcars Welcomed Back With Party I think almost everyone in North America knows what “Katrina” was. A few of you know my sister and brother-in-law were living in New Orleans at the time (and that Mike rode out the storm at the somewhat infamous Charity Hospital in downtown – who can forget that? Certainly not Mike…). I don’t share the deep…
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Current Events

Being the good guy

How do you know if you’re the good guy? Why is it important to be the good guy? I cringe every time I hear the White House Press Secretary proclaim, “we don’t torture.” It gets said over and over again, and I wonder if it’s like the politician who starts sentences with “honestly…,” or “quite frankly….” I think it’s sad that we…
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Current Events

"I apologize, but I'm not sorry"

BBC NEWS – US lawmakers’ apology to Canadian: “On behalf of my fellow citizens I want to apologise to you, Mr Arar, for the reprehensible conduct of our government for kidnapping you, for turning you over to Syria – a nation that our own state department recognises as routinely practising torture. This conduct does not reflect the values of the American people,” he…
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Current Events

Cause to question our supposed superiority

TBO.com – News From AP: In the months since nooses dangling from a schoolyard tree raised racial tensions in Jena, La., the frightening symbol of segregation-era lynchings has been turning up around the country. Nooses were left in a black Coast Guard cadet’s bag, at a Long Island police station locker room, on a Maryland college campus, and, just this week, on the office door of a…
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Current Events

Newsvine - White House: No Cover-Up of Bush’s Flub

Newsvine – White House: No Cover-Up of Bush’s Flub: Anyone reading the official transcript of Bush’s statement on education Wednesday would see that he said “children do learn.” Except that’s not what he said. Bush flubbed the line and said “childrens do learn” — a particularly embarrassing gaffe given that he was surrounded by young students and…
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Current Events

Ranks of child soldiers swell again in Congo | csmonitor.com

A friend of my wife’s parents is a priest from Congo. He came here shortly before the civil war began to become a pilot and study airplane mechanics, in order to serve the needs of his people back home. Since the war began, his parents, his siblings, and his bishop have been killed. He’s been waiting for the day when it is safe to return. This story is sad enough all by itself; but I…
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Current Events

A day later, a little opinion

It’s widely assumed that the administration scheduled General Petraeus’ testimony before congress on 9/10 and 9/11 to emphasize “what’s at stake,” but to me, it only emphasizes why I can’t fully trust what I’m being told. If the administration dishonestly linked 9/11 and Iraq to start a war, if they cherry picked or invented evidence to justify the war, if…
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Current Events

BBC NEWS | US lawmakers’ plane evades shots

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US lawmakers’ plane evades shots Three U.S. Senators were taking off at Baghdad. The lawmakers said their plane, a C-130 Hercules, had to avoid three rocket-propelled grenades over the course of several minutes. After taking evasive action, they safely completed their journey to Amman in Jordan. “It was a scary moment,” said Republican Senator Mel…
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Current EventsThe Sunshine State

Property insurance reform in Florida

Alex Sink, our State Financial Officer, says the property insurance policies dropped by Nationwide this month is not a sign that insurance reform failing to live up to it’s promise. She says the State Farm move last month isn’t a sign either. “This is an opportunity for Floridians to shop around for a better policy.” So says Alex Sink. I voted for Alex Sink, and now…
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