Barack lost his grandmother today, on my grandmother’s birthday—the first that our family celebrated without her.

Maw-maw passed away in March, with Edgar Sr., Edgar Jr., me, and a host of other family members by her side.

She succumbed to cancer, like Barack’s grandmother Mad… Read full post »

A couple of days ago, one of the nation’s finest newspapers, The Christian Science Monitor, announced that it will transition to an almost exclusively online format by April of next year.

According to the release linked above, the publication plans to, “continue to operate a… Read full post »

Twenty-five years ago today, two suicide bombers drove a pair of explosives-laden trucks into the two separate buildings housing American and French peacekeeping forces in Beirut.  The blasts killed 241 American servicemen, 58 French troops, six civilians and the two suicide bombers.&nb… Read full post »

With recent poignant pieces concerning the alarmingly mainstream anti-Muslim bias prevalent in our country, Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman have re-affirmed themselves as the moral heavyweights in American media.

In his Sunday column, Greenwald highlighted the most/… Read full post »

I will never forget the 26 hour bus ride I took from the Georgia-Turkey border to Istanbul a year ago this month. In Trabzon and in the smaller cities along the Black Sea coast, the bus stopped to pick up passengers until all the seats were filled. At each… Read full post »

Last week, self-described sex hotline operator Ellie Lumpesse published an Open Salon (“Editor’s Pick”) commentary about the conflicting, but not mutually exclusive views that she feels feminists cling to concerning the sex industry.

If you have not read her piece, do check it out.… Read full post »

For those who missed it, CBS’s Evening News with Katie Couric featured another almost completely meaningless segment with Barack Obama and John McCain last night.  

Couric, the heir-apparent to Tim Russert’s brand of easy, power cooperative mainstream television “journalism,&rdq… Read full post »

While trudging through the comments section of Sandra Miller’s “Good without God” post, I offered some criticism of so-called “Hard Athiests” and tacitly defended the vast majority of Americans who (according to a U of M study) would never vote for such a person if he/sh… Read full post »

I attended a high school football game Friday night. Tri-Cities High School from East Point, Ga traveled to play Starr’s Mill High School in Peachtree City, Ga.

African Americans make up more than 85% of Tri-Cities’ student body. Whites account for 3%. Starr’s Mill is… Read full post »

A few weeks ago I navigated to that website that those dudes from “This Old House” kept telling me about in that PBS commercial. The site allows for individuals to fill out a form to request two free $40 coupons that go toward purchasing a device that converts… Read full post »

As reported in various mainstream news sources, the European Union brokered a "solution" to the Russian-Georgian Conflict yesterday. According to the Christian Science Monitor's Fred Weir, the peace deal was hammered out between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Dmitry Medvedev… Read full post »

Every Republican who stood behind the podium Wednesday evening dedicated at least a portion of his or her speech to John McCain’s heroic military career. Giuliani said that McCain was called to the service as a young man. He declined to mention that McCain was called by his father… Read full post »

While most prominent Republicans are smiling and waving flags in St. Paul, the nation's least favorite vice president and hunting partner is traveling through the Caucuses.

At a stop in Baku, Azerbaijan, the AP reported today that Cheney met with several energy company executives. No surprise there,… Read full post »

On this site, of all places, we should be talking about the Obama speech.

But, John and Sarah successfully ambushed even our 30 minute blogger attention span. 

Good for them. 

Unlike most of the rest of y’all, I am a red/purple-state resident.  An… Read full post »

The mainstream media obviously picked up the Cindy McCain jet set to Tbilisi this week, but as Glenn Greenwald points out on his blog, a genuine thoughtful discussion of John McCain's foreign policy stances has yet to materialize in the press.

Cindy's compassionate visit, along with her husband's "We… Read full post »

Prior to the Rose Revolution, the Georgian economy was almost non-existent. Since Saakashvili wrestled power from Shevardnadze in 2004, investment has flowed into the country. The $3.9 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceylon oil pipeline began operating in May 2006. (To be fair to Shevardnadze, his government… Read full post »

Phelps may have won 8 gold medals, but he is not the star athlete of these Olympic games. Watch the video of this man walking away with the 100-meter gold and the accompanying title of world’s fastest man, ever.

Usain "Lightning" Bolt is a phenomenon; a once in two lifetimes… Read full post »

On May 12, agents from the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the Agriprocessors Inc. kosher meatpacking plant in tiny Postville, Iowa, detaining nearly 400 workers in what U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth called the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history.

Mos… Read full post »

As Washington spews anti-Russian rhetoric and the mainstream media dutifully rubber-stamps the pro-west, pro-Bush administration spin, Russian soldiers continue to ruthlessly occupy Gori and other areas within once universally recognized Georgian territory.

Decent media outlets like the George Soro… Read full post »

In his editorial in the Christian Science Monitor from earlier in the week, Caucuses expert Charles King makes some good points. The central theme of his piece is that Georgia, particularly its closer-to-authoritarian-than-our-media-is-making-him-out-to-be president "Misha" Saakashvili deserves at l… Read full post »

Less than a year ago I stayed in Gori with my ex--a Peace Corps volunteer who was stationed in the western Georgian region of Adjara.
I had just recaptured my freedom from the U.S. Navy, and rather than return home, I spent… Read full post »