It’s not nice to defame the dead.
The admonition not to speak ill of the deceased goes back centuries, but today anyone with Internet access and attitude can take to the Web to even scores or attack total strangers.
Karla O’Malley of Overland Park, Kan., saw that firsthand. She happened upon a Christmas Eve car accident and tried to comfort a boy injured in the crash. When he died, she visited a memorial website for the young man and was horrified to see that someone posted a comment wishing the boy had suffered more. In an interview with the Kansas City Star, O’Malley said, “There is a time and place for mourners to be left alone.”
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Ian MacIsaac: Libyan insurrection gains U.S. support
Saturday Feb. 26
8:15 P.M. Central time (4:15 A.M. Libyan time)
The Libyan insurrection against dictator and self proclaimed “Leader and Guide of the Revolution” Muommar al-Qaddafi has grown from a series of riots on February 16th in the eastern city of Benghazi into a full-bore militarized rebellion around the middle of last week, a movement which today controls more the majority of the country’s territory. The revolutionaries have closed in on the nation’s capital, Tripoli, located in the northwest of the country. Qaddafi, the country’s dictator of almost 42 years has holed himself up in his compound there, and is fighting—as he and his son Saif proclaimed they would—“to the last bullet” against the pro-democracy insurrection taking over his country: the third wave of major protests that have turned the eyes of the world toward North Africa since December 2010.
8:15 P.M. Central time (4:15 A.M. Libyan time)
The Libyan insurrection against dictator and self proclaimed “Leader and Guide of the Revolution” Muommar al-Qaddafi has grown from a series of riots on February 16th in the eastern city of Benghazi into a full-bore militarized rebellion around the middle of last week, a movement which today controls more the majority of the country’s territory. The revolutionaries have closed in on the nation’s capital, Tripoli, located in the northwest of the country. Qaddafi, the country’s dictator of almost 42 years has holed himself up in his compound there, and is fighting—as he and his son Saif proclaimed they would—“to the last bullet” against the pro-democracy insurrection taking over his country: the third wave of major protests that have turned the eyes of the world toward North Africa since December 2010.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Gary Palmer: Four hundred years later, KJV is still influential
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible that William Lyon Phelps said is "... is the foundation of Anglo-Saxon civilization."
In 1604, King James I commissioned 54 scholars from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to produce one uniform translation of the Bible that all denominations could accept. It's unlikely that there has ever been another group of translators whose collective expertise in biblical languages was equal to this group.
In 1604, King James I commissioned 54 scholars from Oxford and Cambridge Universities to produce one uniform translation of the Bible that all denominations could accept. It's unlikely that there has ever been another group of translators whose collective expertise in biblical languages was equal to this group.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Senator Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches # 1237
Jubilee time is a coming. Voting Rights Celebrations are a coming. People get ready. Joyful but meaningful times are a coming.
The National Voting Rights Celebration starts the third Sunday in February, 2011 which will have passed by the time you read this. Everybody knows about the Bridge Crossing Jubilee but few acknowledge the Celebration. I want you to know and understand that the Celebration is much broader than the Jubilee.
The Jimmy Lee Jackson Memorial Program held in Perry County on the third Sunday in February kicks off the National voting Rights Celebration. It continues until the Second Friday in March, covering several weeks and lots of events.
The National Voting Rights Celebration starts the third Sunday in February, 2011 which will have passed by the time you read this. Everybody knows about the Bridge Crossing Jubilee but few acknowledge the Celebration. I want you to know and understand that the Celebration is much broader than the Jubilee.
The Jimmy Lee Jackson Memorial Program held in Perry County on the third Sunday in February kicks off the National voting Rights Celebration. It continues until the Second Friday in March, covering several weeks and lots of events.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Danielle Moodie-Mills, Aisha C. Moodie-Mills: Justice for All: President reverses DOMA Policy
Remember that piece of paper called the Constitution with that little section called the Bill of Rights that’s supposed to ensure that all Americans are treated equally under the law? Well, the Obama administration signaled this week that same-sex married couples are entitled to the same protections guaranteed in the Constitution such as Social Security benefits, joint taxes, and health insurance coverage as their heterosexual counterparts.
In an extraordinary shift in policy this week, the president announced the Department of Justice will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. Under DOMA, which was passed in 1996, the federal government has the right not to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples.
In an extraordinary shift in policy this week, the president announced the Department of Justice will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. Under DOMA, which was passed in 1996, the federal government has the right not to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Steve Flowers: Inside The Statehouse: Remembering the incomparable Howell Heflin
One of the most humorous and entertaining political orators we have witnessed in Alabama political lore was our former U.S. Senator Howell Heflin. Judge Heflin, as he was affectionately known throughout the state, was a pure political wit. He had the ability to spin a story or tell a joke with the aplomb of Jay Leno. His candid off the cuff wit has actually been captured in statements he made in the congressional record. He had a repertoire of jokes that was priceless and boundless.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Gene Policinski: Egypt’s first steps toward liberty remind us of our own
A small group, using the latest technology, excites fellow citizens with the concepts and possibilities of freedom after years of battling a repressive regime.
As the protests grow more visible and vocal, armed representatives of the current regime try to interrupt, intimidate or imprison those calling for freedom, for an end to domination by a despot.
Against all odds, this populist revolt succeeds. The seeds of democracy have been sown.
Sound familiar? In 2011, it’s a story involving bloggers, Tweets and demonstrations in Egypt and elsewhere in the Mideast that we’ve watched unfold with amazing rapidity. But for Americans, that same path to freedom harkens back to pamphleteers, village greens, Liberty Trees, 1776 and our own Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War.
As the protests grow more visible and vocal, armed representatives of the current regime try to interrupt, intimidate or imprison those calling for freedom, for an end to domination by a despot.
Against all odds, this populist revolt succeeds. The seeds of democracy have been sown.
Sound familiar? In 2011, it’s a story involving bloggers, Tweets and demonstrations in Egypt and elsewhere in the Mideast that we’ve watched unfold with amazing rapidity. But for Americans, that same path to freedom harkens back to pamphleteers, village greens, Liberty Trees, 1776 and our own Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Eric Alterman: A Real Tea (pity) Party
In its apparently endless quest to assuage the sensitive feelings of all the victimized right-wingers in America one day at a time, The Washington Post published Steve Hendrix’s sob story of the pain and suffering experienced by Washington’s “tea party residents” who live in a city where “home can at times feel like enemy territory.”
How bad is it? Well, a man at another table in a coffee shop said “sorry” and walked away from one guy. And another one had to experience the pain of being asked whether “your boyfriend listens to Glenn Beck.” Apparently, the notion that self-proclaimed “tea party patriots” listen to Glenn Beck is the kind of thing one hears “in the left-wing news media ... they don't know any real tea party people.” No wonder Tea Party member Brian says, “I fear for my country." He is, after all, “just more tolerant than they are."
How bad is it? Well, a man at another table in a coffee shop said “sorry” and walked away from one guy. And another one had to experience the pain of being asked whether “your boyfriend listens to Glenn Beck.” Apparently, the notion that self-proclaimed “tea party patriots” listen to Glenn Beck is the kind of thing one hears “in the left-wing news media ... they don't know any real tea party people.” No wonder Tea Party member Brian says, “I fear for my country." He is, after all, “just more tolerant than they are."
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Laurence M. Vance: The Ultimate in nanny-state paternalism
Aside from the air we breathe, nothing is more important than the food and drink we consume. Not healthcare, not employment, not housing — nothing. Obviously, the best healthcare, the highest-paying job, and the biggest mansion in the world can’t do anything for you if you don’t eat. For someone to dictate to someone else the food and drink he should and shouldn’t consume is the ultimate in paternalism; for the state to tell someone the food and drink he should and shouldn’t consume is the ultimate in nanny-state paternalism.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Cameron Smith: President’s budget tests resolve of American people
On February 14, 2011, President Obama delivered to Congress a $3.7 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 (FY2012). Rather than respond to the American people and demonstrate lessons learned from the stinging rebuke of the last election cycle, the President asked for more deficit spending and continued to avoid politically difficult choices.
The Washington debt culture depends on many Americans misunderstanding the relationship between a deficit and the national debt. A deficit or surplus is the difference between what the government takes in and what the government spends IN ONE YEAR. If the government takes in more than it spends, the government has a surplus. When the opposite is true, the government has a deficit. When the amounts are the same, the government has a balanced budget. The national debt is basically the accumulation of repeated deficits.
The Washington debt culture depends on many Americans misunderstanding the relationship between a deficit and the national debt. A deficit or surplus is the difference between what the government takes in and what the government spends IN ONE YEAR. If the government takes in more than it spends, the government has a surplus. When the opposite is true, the government has a deficit. When the amounts are the same, the government has a balanced budget. The national debt is basically the accumulation of repeated deficits.
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