36 Articles

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Good news from the (upper) left coast
In Washington State, voters expanded gay rights, rejected an anti-tax initiative, and elected a progressive to be King County executive.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
"They're out to get us!" On trust, distrust, and organizing for change
(28 comments) People have lost trust in the institutions of society. Like libertarians, many progressives no longer trust government. What can we trust? How can we rebuild trust? (Plus, some cool fractal images that demonstrate self-similarity needed in politics.)

Sunday, October 4, 2009
White House spurns Mad As Hell Docs, invites "friendlier" docs
(3 comments) On September 30th, the Mad As Hell Docs arrived in Washington, D.C., and held a rally in Lafayette Park in front of the White House. Doctors from across the country attended. They told the crowd why they believed, based on their years of practicing medicine and the stories Their voices were not heard in the White House. Or were they?

Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Real Meaning of Accountability: Reflections on Obama's UN Speech
(4 comments) Accountability is not just a matter of throwing a few Bush Administration officials in jail. Not at all. The real meaning of accountability is this: will America face the past and repudiate the ideologies, policies, and individuals who brought the nation to the brink of disaster? Torture and lying about war are just the tip of the iceberg. Many of the people responsible for crimes and for mismanagement remain in office.

Sunday, September 20, 2009
Do protest marches and rallies do much good? What are the alternatives?
(4 comments) Stories and reflections about the role of protest marches and rallies in achieving progressive ends. A discussion of the slow, tedious, unfun alternatives.

Saturday, September 19, 2009
Arguing with conservatives about health care
(18 comments) My response to a conservative's call for more "market-based competition" in health care. Market-based competition is unlikely to work, and Singapore is a poor example. This article summarizes the case against Big Insurance and Big Pharma.

Monday, September 14, 2009
Book review: Mark Buchanan's The Social Atom
Mark Buchanan's The Social Atom has insightful things to say about politics, economics, and human cooperation.

Sunday, September 13, 2009
Market-based competition in medical care?
Some conservatives think that the way to control medical costs is to have market-based competition between health care providers. I don't think so, and this one-minute animation shows why.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Mad as Hell Doctors stop in Seattle
(1 comments) The Mad As Hell Doctors are touring the country. They stopped in Seattle this afternoon. Impressive people and energy. Will the American people learn the truth? Please check out a great video they produced: OurAilingHealthcare.com .

Saturday, September 5, 2009
Shouting conservative accused of assaulting elderly woman at health care rally
(4 comments) At a health care rally on Mercer Island, WA, a shouting conservative woman disrupted a speech and is alleged to have assaulted a 74 year old woman. I tell the story and make comments on nonprofessional journalism on a blog like OpEdNews. I also identify at least one valid point made by the angry conservative.

Friday, September 4, 2009
Close friendships: why so few?
(3 comments) Many Americans have trouble maintaining close non-romantic friendships. Why is that?

Saturday, August 29, 2009
Failure to prosecute: why Obama is having trouble passing health care reform
(38 comments) President Obama apparently believes that prosecuting Bush Administration officials for torture and other crimes would be a "distraction" from more important matters, such as health care reform. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thursday, August 27, 2009
Conservative bullies, progressive wimps? No more!
(1 comments) Some ways in which progressives can kick conservative butt. True bipartisanship means: opposition to conservatives whether they're Democrats or Republicans.

Thursday, August 20, 2009
Where are the religious protesters?
(10 comments) Abolitionism and the civil rights movement benefited from the support of religious folks. Where are the religious folks in the anti-war, accountability, and health care reform movements? Is their absence one reason why current progressive movements have failed?

Friday, August 14, 2009
Where's the music?
(22 comments) In the 1960s protest songs inspired the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. Where are the popular protest songs for the current progressive movements?

Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thoughts on the White House chain letter
(1 comments) I got the White House chain letter on health care reform. What it proposes is very unsatisfactory, but it is a step forward.

Monday, August 10, 2009
Song for Rahm Emanuel
(5 comments) Song for Rahm Emanuel (to the tune of the Christmas carol "O Come, O Come, Emannuel")

Friday, August 7, 2009
H.R. 676: a stronger public option than expected
(3 comments) H.R. 676 prohibits private insurance that competes with the government plan. H.R. 676 also prohibits private, for-profit institutional providers. Must progressives support such a single-play plan or can they gladly settle for a strong public option that competes successfully with private insurance companies and providers? Are progressives allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good?

Monday, August 3, 2009
Conservatives' selective concern about deficit spending
Single page summary of conservatives' selective concern about deficit spending

Monday, July 27, 2009
Conservative moles, lesser of two evils
(3 comments) Some progressives are more interested in criticizing Democrats than in criticizing Republicans. Are some of these progressives really conservative moles trying to incite division on the Left? Given a choice between two evils, isn't it sometimes wise to choose the lesser of the two?

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Stopping the Circular Firing Squad: Can the Left Succeed without a Charismatic Leader?
(4 comments) Can the progressive movement succeed without a charismatic leader? Can the Left organize from the bottom-up and stop fighting among themselves? Health care reform is used as a motivating example.

Monday, July 20, 2009
Reclaim the Media: Take action to support Local Community Radio
The Local Community Radio Act (HR 1147) will expand the ability of local, low-power community radio stations to compete with huge corporate radio stations. Big Media has been able to convince Congress that low-power radio stations pose a threat of "interference." The real reason is they don't want the competition. Please phone your congressperson.

Friday, July 17, 2009
FAIR: Censored By ABC, Obama's Longtime Doctor Speaks Out (on single-payer)
FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) is accusing of ABC of suppressing participation by a single-payer supporter. This article has some powerful facts about the high support for single-payer and the low coverage by media of single-payer supporters. The article also has a petition to sign.

Monday, July 13, 2009
Look Back, Barack! -- a YouTube video to President Obama
A video plea to President Obama to "look back" and hold members of the Bush Administration accountable for torture and numerous other crimes.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Single-payer versus a strong public option: division within the progressive movement
(5 comments) Over the last couple of months, I've observed increasing disagreement, bordering on acrimony, within the progressive movement between those, like PDA (Progressive Democratics of America), who are pushing exclusively for single-payer health care and those, like MoveOn.org, DFA (Democracy for America), and Organizing for America (OFA) who are settling for some sort of "public option."

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Bipartisanship 101: look forward, not backwards
(3 comments) Leaked internal Obama Administration training document reveals rationale behind President's slow, bipartisan approach to progressive reform.

Sunday, July 5, 2009
Holding Dems like Baucus and Cantwell Accountable on Health Care
(18 comments) Senator Maria Cantwell and other "moderate" Democrats are coming under increasing criticism within the Democratic Party for their wishy-washy stance on health care reform and other issues.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Conservatives are scared that government-run health care will work
(3 comments) Conservatives are scared of real health care reform because they fear that a government-run health care system will work! And conservatives don't want government to succeed or else people will vote for progressives.

Thursday, June 25, 2009
Dick Cheney for President in 2012
(14 comments) A conservative group is distributing a petition to nominate Dick Cheney for the GOP presidential candidate in 2012.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Funding and coordinating progressive news
(4 comments) How can progressives fund and coordinate a viable progressive new media?

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Musical Flash animation: My Favorite Things (conservative version)
(1 comments) A musical Flash animation to the tune of "My Favorite Things".

Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Political Love Story (a musical animation about Bush and Pelosi)
A light-hearted musical Flash animation that explains why Nancy Pelosi took impeachment off the table.

Monday, June 15, 2009
Your money or your life! Health care or thievery?
(12 comments) Thieves and pirates say "Your money or your life!" The for-profit health care industry is not much better. This image expresses the analogy between thievery and America's heatlh care industry. Support single-payer health care!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Government: Unproductive? Wasteful? Corrupt?
This essay defends government against the relentless attacks by conservatives about government waste and alleged unproductiveness. The article enumerates many of the ways we depend on government for essential services. It address the question of corruption and waste by pointing out that corruption and waste are present in the private sector too, and we need government also to play a watchdog role on the private sector.

Thursday, May 21, 2009
Why Abortion Isn't Murder
(6 comments) Abortion isn't murder because until there's a mature nervous system, there's no conscious person, just a potential consciousness (a clump of cells). Nor is there a pre-existing (dormant) consciousness, as there'd be in the case of a sleeping or comatose person. Consciousness and preciousness emerge gradually, along with the gradual development of a mature nervous. The essay elaborates on these ideas in defense of choice.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tea Party Protests: the Real Meaning
Tea Party Protests: the Real Meaning