Obama, John Rawls, and a Defense of the
Unreasonable

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 13 June 2009 12:24:34 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

Cross-posted from ProgressiveHistorians If you want to understand President Obama's soul, read his books. But if you want to understand his beliefs, read John Rawls. The Harvard academic, who died in 2002, was the most important[...]

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Open Thread and Diary Rescue

post from Daily Kos on 13 June 2009 12:20:07 AM. © Daily Kos

This evening's Rescue Rangers are Louisiana 1976, ItsJessMe, HansScholl, grog, ybruti and vcmvo2 with shayera editing.

Nulwee has good news: Pristine old-growth rainforest "discovered": NEW species!. (ybruti)

Turkana weaves his philosophy and experience into this powerful theme about loss in Conscious Suffering, Without Fear. (vcmvo2)

The Revenge of Shakshuka hopes that the recent killing at the Holocaust Museum offers a chance for the Jewish and African-American communities to get back together in the fight against bigotry and racism in My reflections on Stephen Tyrone Johns' Murder. (grog)

dcrowe suggests that a deeper understanding of Pashtun history and culture would be more effective than air drones that kill innocents in Contesting Jihad within Islam: The Servants of God. (HansScholl)

DrToast asks and then answers Who is John Bogle and why does the co-op health plan intrigue me? (ItsJessMe)

In Helper Guy leftyparent relates a story about his son's adolescence and how it affected his later development. (vcmvo2)

In an insightful piece bluenewsjunkie85 shares My Letter to a Conservative About Rush Limbaugh which takes apart the talk show host's view that "leftists" had been behind the Holocaust Museum murder. (Louisiana 1976)

BluePlatypus looks at our Founding Fathers' pragmatism in discussing George Washington: President, General, Surveyor... Socialist? (ItsJessMe)

Critical Dune says that first responders will be taught deescalation techniques in Autism Safety Project launched. (ybruti)

In his Road Trip Diary, john de herrera shares thoughts on bad haircuts, the Disneyification of people, how American towns are like flowers, and stunning photos (but not of the bad haircut). (ItsJessMe)

Crashing Vor continues his series on Robert Wagner, a progressive force for labor's rights during the twenties and thirties, in The Man Who Made the Deal, Pt. 4. (HansScholl)

In his own sly way henry porter announces that The Sotomayor confirmation battle is over. (vcmvo2)

Joshua Holland presents the views of journalist and author Dave Neiwert on the Roots of Right-Wing Terror. (ybruti)

jotter has High Impact Diaries: June 11, 2009.

nonnie9999 has Top Comments: For the Birds.

Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread.

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The Nightowl Newswrap

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 13 June 2009 12:15:00 AM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

Neocons quake in fear at prospect of Ahmadinejad being upset at the polls That would pretty much cockblock their wargasm for the foreseeable future. And yet another irony-meter burst into flames when the same people who have used the fact that Ahmadinejad is president to scream at the top of their lungs that he was extremely dangerous and therefore we had to Bomb. Them. Now!!! before he nuked Israel to glass or something...started downplaying the importance of the Iranian President, because the Mullahs actually run the show - You know, what those of us in the reality based community have been saying for years - before the results of the election are even known. I can tell you one thing tho...It's really, really creepy to have that asshat Marty frickin' Peretz agree with me on anything.

U.N. Security Council approves harsher sanctions against North Korea The UNSC voted unanimously to impose broad new military, financial and trade sanctions in response to recent belligerent behavior by the hermit state. For the first time it calls upon states to seize banned North Korean weapons and technology aboard ships on the high seas. The unanimous vote is a stinging diplomatic defeat for Kim Jong Il, who in the past has been able to count on China and Russia to stop further sanctions from being authorized. Following the vote, China's U.N. ambassador, Zhang Yesui, said that his government is "firmly opposed to the nuclear test" and that North Korean actions have "impaired" international efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons.

Excuse me? Mr. President? Promises were made, Sir. What happened? I join every gay rights group out there when I say that I am dismayed that this administration is not merely backing away from repealing DOMA, but is going to court to defend it. WTF?

In case you need more proof that insurance companies have us all by the short hairs you can read this article about state insurance commissioners and who, exactly, funds their campaigns. There ought to be a law against this sort of thing! (And if there is one, why aren't we enforcing it?)

Ever heard of 'Medical Identity Theft?' I had never heard of this crime, but the fellow profiled in the story found out he had over nineteen grand in debts for medical services he never received, rendered in places he had never even visited.

Chip maker wants to diversify into green technology Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the worlds largest 'for-hire' manufacturer of computer chips, wants to start manufacturing LED lights and solar cells. If TSMC gets into the market, they will do for green tech what they did for computer chips: Drive down prices while stimulating demand.

Nuevo Laredo gets a breather Once considered Ground Zero in the literal drug war that has been raging on our southern border for years, the town in recent months has seen the violence abate. That's the good news. The bad news is the crime is still there, still thriving and still feared. It has just gone back underground and no longer runs the show. At least not openly. In the shadows is another story...

Proof that our instinct to protect our children never goes away, even when they are old enough to have adult kids of their own. A 39-year-old man and his 77-year-old father (he'll be 78 next week) were walking in the back country in a remote area of Alberta, Canada when an angry grizzly sow attacked the son. He was sure that he was going to die, when his father charged at the bear, swearing in Cree and then, at the last minute, rammed his walking stick down the bears throat. The bear ran off and the two men made it back to their truck about a half a kilometer away and lived to tell the tale.

If the GOP cared about being respected, this poll might matter, but they don't care whether or not they are respected. That ship sailed long ago and now they just want to be feared. A new McClatchy-Ipsos poll shows 54% saying the Senate should confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court and a majority say a petulant snit on the part of Republicans risks costing them standing among voters.

Three more Guantanamo detainees were repatriated to Saudi Arabia on Friday, capping a busy week that saw ten of the just over 200 detainees removed from the prison camp that Obama has vowed to close by the end of the year, including one who was transferred to the United States to stand trial.

Taking steps so birds and windmills can coexist Two companies that operate wind farms in Texas that are along the flight path for migratory birds have voluntarily installed radar developed for NASA to keep the shuttle from colliding with birds to put safety measures in place so turbines can be shut down when large flocks of birds are in the vicinity.

It's June 12th and you know what that means. It's time to remember the Richard and Mildred Loving who were married in 1958, at a time when their home state of Virginia considered their marriage a crime because Richard was white and Mildred was black, and police burst into their home and arrested them in the middle of the night for the crime of sanctifying their union. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, and on June 12, 1967 the highest court in the land overturned their criminal convictions and struck down all laws against interracial marriage. This June 12 the day means a little something extra when I think about who is in the White House - This Loving Day, the product of one such union is our President.

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Flag DayColonial Creep Leers At Betsy Ross

post from Texas Liberal on 13 June 2009 12:03:25 AM. © Texas Liberal

June 14 is Flag Day in the United States.(Above–Betsy Ross knits a flag while a colonial creep leers at her.)Here is information on Flag Day from USFlag.org.From that link—The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America’s birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. [...]

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Random Japan

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 13 June 2009 12:00:00 AM. © Docudharma - Front Page

TOUGH TIMES The average annual income in Japan slid ?106,000 in 2007 from a year earlier, to ?5.562 million, according to a survey by the labor ministry. An increasing number of workers taking retirement was supposedly the main culprit.A poll[...]

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Politics and Media Frenzy Feed Voter ID Battles;
Efforts to Make Voting More Accessible Go Under Ra

Cross posted at Project Vote's Voting Matters BlogBy Erin FernsAlthough there are other election[...]

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2012 on Deck

I’m sitting here surfing the news when I should be doing dishes and the phone rings. It’s a robocall.

I know it’s prejudice of me, but the recorded voice sounds like a Young Republican. Would I give a moment of my time to a survey? Would I, a blogger, have an opinion? Is the Pope Catholic?

Do you have a positive or negative opinion of Newt Gingrich? If yes, press 1, if no press 2.

The same with Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney.

If the 2012 election was Barack Obama running against Newt Gingrich would you vote for Newt Gingrich? If yes, press 1, if no press 2.

I think robovoice pulled a kind of ‘Simon Sez’ around Mitt Romney, so maybe that’s the sponsor of the survey.

Then there’s a bunch of questions about demographics, which I answer as I please. Just so you know, I’m a Republican. A male Republican. There’s a bunch of questions about how satisfied I am as a worker.

Workers of the world–Mitt Romney’s buds are worried about how satisfied you are. What’s up with that? Actually, I’m quite satisfied. If I wasn’t I’d quit. But if Mitt is looking for a huge majority of satisfied workers, he’d better realize that many Americans are worried that their jobs have been outsourced or eliminated. Those Americans just might decide to vote in 2012.

I had no access to a human, which might have been enlightening. But what I took away from this is– the 2012 lineup is Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney. I’m way more afraid of the Democrats talent for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But more than that, the state of the world. We have to elect good leaders, but that is only step 1. We have to be active citizens. If the people lead, the leaders will eventually follow.