New Appeal to Reason

• Climate Change--those hacked e-mails

  The right-wing nuts think they've discovered a vast conspiracy, but here's a video that puts things in perspective.
  
  
  
  Check out more videos here. ' [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 9:21pm EST
  

• My Live Double (Rorck) Albums

  Russell Fox has insomnia earlier this week and put it to good use by re-organzing his CD collection and gracing us with an interesting post of live rock double (rock) albums in his collection.
  
  He asked for suggestions, and since he gave me some great leads and rates [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:13am EST
  

• Farmers Unioni Makes Case for Public Option

  NY Times reports
  
  In a news conference on Tuesday aimed at pressuring swing-vote senators, leaders of the National Farmers Union, which represents about 250,000 farm and ranch families, stressed the importance of major health care

  
  

  John Hansen, the president of the Nebraska chapter of the Farmers [...]

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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 6:08am EST
  

• No Sharia Law Demo in UK

  Today, in Great Britain, there will be an important demonstration against Sharia law. The demo is largely organized by UK muslims and supported by the democratic left and secularists.
  
  Vetran human rights campaigner Peter Thatchell comments at Harry's Place
  
  Millions of people are suffering at the [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:10am EST
  

• George Miller on GOP Health Care Plan

  
  
  The CBO found that the GOP plan would save money because it doesn't actually extend insurance coverage to any of the 17 percent of legal, non-elderly Americans who the CBO thinks will be without health insurance in 2010. In fact, most of the Republican plan centers around reforms' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 10:09pm EST
  

• Community Concert with Joshua Nelson

  I have to admit that I have never heard of Joshua Nelson before Moti Rieber mentioned the Mid Kansas Jewish Federation plans to bring him to Wichita for a December 6 concert at the Orpheum.

  This is how Nelson is described

  Dubbed "The Prince of Kosher Gospel," Joshua Nelson is an African [...]

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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 10:57am EST
  

• Eagle's bad mash-up BB preview

  The Wichita Eagle had a terrible idea for their college basketball preview--a mash-up of sports and fashion. It didn't work for this basketball fan and I doubt it got more women to read the section or to follow college basketball.
  
  Moreover, if they were going to do a fashion' [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 10:42am EST
  

• WSU panel on religion and homosexuality

  
  Thursday, October 22, 2009
  6:30pm - 8:00pm
  Wichita State University, RSC 203
  
  Violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities are often exacerbated by fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible. The case becomes more nuanced for LGBT people of faith. The WSU Political [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 9:56pm EDT
  

• A tale of two on-line quizes

  If like me you avoid those annoying polls and quizzes on Face book but have never overcome that school-induced infatuation with polls, you might be interested in two on-line quizzes I took today.
  I scored great on one and lousy on the other.
  
  The Pew Research Center periodically does [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 9:43pm EDT
  

• Scare-mongering on KPERS refuted

  A Koch-funded think tank came out with an alarmist report about the state employees' pension fund. Republican legislators after years of underfunding pensions and under-paying employees are talking about switching to a 401-K program. Harold Schlechtweg of SEIU 513 addressed some of the issues at a recent USD 259 board' [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 9:30pm EDT
  

• New Blog Follows Roeder Case

  A new blog offers facts and information about Scott Roeder, who is accused of the murder of Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller.
  
  Roederwatch likes like a blog worth following. [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 11:38pm EDT
  

• Laura Kelly To Run for 2nd CD (Ks)

  State Senator Laura Kelly has confirmed that she will challenge rookie Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins for Kansas' Second Congressional District. Jenkins attracted national attention when she said Republicans were looking for a "Great white hope" to run against Obama and seemed blithly unaware of the racist history and connotations' [...]
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  Posted: October 10, 2009, 8:35am EDT
  

• Code Pink Rethinks Its Call for Afghan Pullout

  From the CSMonitor
  

  Kabul, Afghanistan - When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend to ask Masooda Jalal if she would prefer more international troops or more development funds, the cofounder of US antiwar group Code Pink was hoping her fellow activist would support her [...]

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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 8:58pm EDT
  

• Blogging Around

  Massimo Pigliucci,The Problems with Libertarianism
  
  nice round-up of the varieties of liberatarianism, from left to right, and some insightful critiques. Over one hundered comments, which I haven't slogged through.
  
  Ben Cohen on Marek Edelman, the last hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
  
  Marek Edelman' [...]
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  Posted: October 04, 2009, 7:41pm EDT
  

• Senator Bernie Sanders and Michael Moore on "cowboy capitalism"

  [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 9:58pm EDT
  

• SPEEA gets improvements from SPIRIT, recommends contract

  With membership rising and pressure increasing, management at Spirit AeroSystems today presented a new and improved contract offer to 783 engineers represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001.
  
  If ratified by a union member vote, the new 3 ½-year contract will provide [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2009, 10:03pm EDT
  

• Roberts: 72 hour delay to let insuance lobbyists look at bill

  From Think Progress.
  
  Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) offered a defense of Bunning’s amendment by arguing that the 72-hour provision was critical because it provides time for senators to consult with health insurance lobbyists:
  
  All the Senator from Kentucky is asking is for 72 hours to determine [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2009, 6:56pm EDT
  

• A little humor on health care

  Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 10:23pm EDT
  

• Wha's the matter with the Kansas unemployment fund

  Kansas Secretary of Labor Jim Garner at the Wichita/Hutchinson Labor picnic on September 5
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 07, 2009, 5:11pm EDT
  

• Raj Goyle at Wichita Labor Day Picnic

  Raj Goyle speaking at the 2009 Wichita Labor Day picnic at the IAM Hall.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: September 07, 2009, 2:24pm EDT
  

• Foreign poicy flunks left-wing history

  Foreign Policy magazine has a fascinating selection of photos from David King's Red Star Over Russia: A Visual History of the Soviet Union from the Revolution to the [...]
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  Posted: August 31, 2009, 9:02pm EDT
  

• Jenkins Voted for, but didn't read, resolution which cited "great white hope'

  Jan Biles of the Topeka Capital Journal reports
  
  Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins had not read a resolution that contained the phrase *"great white hope" and urged President Obama to posthumously pardon black boxing champion Jack Johnson when she supported the measure last month, her press secretary said.

  Jenkins, R-Kan., [...]

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  Posted: August 31, 2009, 1:28pm EDT
  

• Message from Canada on universal health care

  [...]
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  Posted: August 29, 2009, 9:44am EDT
  

• Jenkins: GOP looking for "great White hope"

  Kansas's Second District Representative Lynn Jenkins used racist code words at an August party event in Hiawatha.
  Jenkins told people at the Hiawatha forum the nation could benefit from inspired leadership of a group of "really sharp" young Republicans in the House, particularly Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. Cantor was [...]
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  Posted: August 27, 2009, 12:57pm EDT
  

• Alfie the movie theme song that wasn't

  I always thought that the Burt Bacharach song "Alfie," a big hit for Dionne Warwick was the theme song for the Michael Caine movie.
  
  Turns out, I was wrong. The 1966 movie actually features a great jazz score, arranged by Oliver Nelson, [...]
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  Posted: August 23, 2009, 6:29pm EDT
  

• AFL-CIO President John Sweeney welcomes LabourStart

  The 2009 LabourStart conference got off to an impressive start last Monday with welcoming remarks from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 23, 2009, 10:06am EDT
  

• Teamster President James Hoff at LabourStart 2009

  LabourStart, the international labor news and campaigning site. held its 2009 conference last week in Washington D.C. On Monday, the Teamsters held a reception for LabourStart. President James Hoffa talked about LabourStart, unions, and the media,the employee free choice act, and health care.
  
  President Hoffa stayed at the [...]
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  Posted: August 23, 2009, 9:57am EDT
  

• We remember Les

  Les Paul, guitarist extraordinaire, inventor of the solid body guitar and multitracking died today at the age of 94.
  
  There's going to a lot written about Paul in the coming days, but it is doubtful that any will surpass this from jazz critic David Adler
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 13, 2009, 8:45pm EDT
  

• Senator Sanders Unfiltered: America's Class Crisis

  [...]
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  Posted: August 11, 2009, 8:42pm EDT
  

• 50th Anniversay of Newport Folk Festival

  This weekend is the 50th anniversay of the Newport Folk Festival. It began as a spin-off of George Wein's Newport Jazz Festival, but took on a life of its own. Early on, Pete Seeger suggested a new format. Each artists would be paid the same modest [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 9:37pm EDT
  

• Schofdorf Looking at 4th District Race

  According to the Eagle
  

  WICHITA — State Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, announced today the formation of an exploratory committee to decide whether to seek the 4th District congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard.

  This is the first step toward running for the office but stops [...]

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  Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:19pm EDT
  

• NYT Times on Tiller

  The Sunday New York Times had a long profile on murdered abortion doctor George Tiller.
  
  Registration is required, but it is free.
  
  Here's an excerpt
  
  

  Long ago, he had accepted the possibility he might be assassinated. It was something he and his fellow abortion providers had [...]

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  Posted: July 27, 2009, 10:13pm EDT
  

• Two worker victoris in Missouri and Kansas

  Low-paid home care workers in Missouri vote decisively for a union and high-paid engineers at Spirit in Wichita resoundingly reject a take-away contract that included giving the right for the company to have workers work 4 hours of overtime a week without pay.
  
  Of course, these are [...]
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  Posted: July 24, 2009, 8:53pm EDT
  

• Washington Post Health Care Poll

  18. (Do you think it's possible to reform the health care system in a way that people who have coverage now can keep it without any changes if they want to), or (do you think health care reform will require everyone to make changes, whether they want to or not)?

  [...]
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  Posted: July 22, 2009, 5:48pm EDT
  

• "Who do you trust on health care"

  

  WaPo poll asks

  Who do you trust to do a better job handling health care? - and finds:

  Obama (54)
  Republicans in Congress (34)

  [...]
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  Posted: July 21, 2009, 9:40pm EDT
  

• Lezek Kolakowski,: How to be a Conservaite Liberal Socialist

  Lezek Kolakowski, the exile Polish philosopher,died last Friday. I remember reading an essay of his on utopia when he was still a dissident in Communist Poland. This essay below was written many years later. I think you might enjoy it.
  
  How to be a Conservative-Liberal-Socialist"

  By" [...]

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  Posted: July 21, 2009, 11:07pm EDT
  

• The Invisible Library

  Books that only exist in other books and now the subject of an exhibition in London, fittingly concluded on July 12 before anyone read about it here.
  
  I understand that there are a number of books mentioned in the Bible which do not exist or have not [...]
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  Posted: July 19, 2009, 10:07pm EDT
  

• Kolbach--a birther?

  GOP Attorney General candidate Kris Kolbach told a not very funny joke the other day at a party event in Tonganoxie. According to the Lawrence World
  Kobach asked what Obama and God had in common. He said neither had a birth certificate.Kolbach tried to talk his way out [...]
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  Posted: July 15, 2009, 5:21pm EDT
  

• Raj Goyle will run for Kansas 4th Congressional District

  It's not quite official, but State Representative Raj Goyle will be a candidate for Kansas' 4th Congressional District, centered around Wichita. Goyle told a Saturday DFA campaign school at Wichita State University today that he has sent a press release to the Wichita Eagle and other' [...]
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  Posted: July 11, 2009, 7:02pm EDT
  

• David Brooks is an"exceptional" idiot

  

  Image by Getty Images via Daylife

  David Brooks is a conservative-leaning New York Times columnist and is supposedly one of the smartest political commentators around. How then to you explain his bizarre comment Friday on NPR. Brooks [...]
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  Posted: July 11, 2009, 8:19am EDT
  

• Origins of the Moonwalk

  (hattip to DI)
  
  Abeja Mariposa Jr created a fascinating video history on the origins of the Moonwalk, showing that it goes way back in the traditions of black popular dance. I think it would be interesting to see this with the original music.
  
  I wonder if [...]
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  Posted: July 08, 2009, 7:16pm EDT
  

• The demented mind of Dennis Miller

  I'm trying to remember if Dennis Miller was ever really funny. In his new right-wing radio incarnation, he certainly isn't. Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck strike me as being occasionally humorous. Miller more often comes off as just plain creepy.
  
  Bob Newhart started his [...]
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  Posted: July 08, 2009, 7:02pm EDT
  

• Taner Edis summarizes every book on Islam by a Muslim

  I like this post by Taner Edis. It made my laugh. Having read a fair number of those books, though far less than Taner, it rings true.
  
  
  Summary of every book on the state of Islam written by a Muslim Here, as a public [...]
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  Posted: June 29, 2009, 9:46pm EDT
  

• Two books on the American--old and new

  Two of my favorite books on the American far right were published 66 years apart. Leonard Zeskind's Blood and Politics was published just weeks ago, while John Roy Carlson's Undercover, was a best-seller in 1943.
  
  Blood and Politics will likely be viewed as [...]
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  Posted: June 27, 2009, 11:36am EDT
  

• Roomful of Blues at SCZ

  Roomful of Blues was at the Sedgwick County Zoo on Thursday night as part of the annual summer concert series. The band was excellent, the weather was hot, and two beers were welcome. Enjoy my sliceshow. Click the button and the pics will start.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: June 27, 2009, 11:29am EDT
  

• New Poltics website-redesign

  The website of the fine socialist political journal New Politics has an attractive new design. Take a look and if you like what you see, subscribe.
  
  Dissent also redesigned its website not too long ago and is also recommended. [...]
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  Posted: June 23, 2009, 6:54pm EDT
  

• New Economics Blog

  Economic Perspectives from Kansas City is a new economics blog featuring professors from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
  
  This is how they describe the blog
  This website offers policy advice and economic analysis from a group of professional economists at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. We [...]
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  Posted: June 23, 2009, 6:16pm EDT
  

• Deer at Zoo Blvd and I-235

  
  
  A deer was killed in traffic yesterday around noon at Zoo Boulevard near I-235. [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2009, 4:36pm EDT
  

• Counter-demo honors Dr. Tiller

  I took some pictures at Saturday's counter-demo to honor Dr. Tiller.
  
  
  
  Here's the quick background from KWCH
  About 30 people attended a prayer vigil outside of Operation Rescue Saturday. They laid hundreds of flowers along the sidewalk as a symbol [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2009, 10:35am EDT
  

• Crisis in Iran A Statement from the Campaign for Peace and Democracy

  [Here's a good statement from THE CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY (CPD) which advocates a new, progressive and non-militaristic U.S. foreign policy -- one that encourages democracy, justice and social change. Founded in 1982, the Campaign opposed the Cold War by promoting "detente from below." It engaged Western peace [...]
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  Posted: June 18, 2009, 11:07pm EDT