‘Voices & Thoughts’ Archives
Freedom of expression & Heartland I
My post on Heartland Institute has generated a great deal of comment both on the comment section and around the blogosphere. See Heartland Panics Over Leak: 71 Year Old Vet, Young Mom Fire Back at Threats. Most of the comments are positive, several are attacking, but I approve all that do not have offensive language. So far everyone has been relatively civil compared to what I read at other sites. I want to thank you all for that. Two comments ... Full Story
Conservatism and Obama is no Socialist
Conservatives weren't always pro-capitalist by Ted Frier One tradition that's been almost entirely forgotten now that Republicans have remade themselves into the wholly-owned subsidiary of Wall Street and other corporate interests is that older species of conservatism which was always hostile to capitalism because it celebrated greed and destroyed the stability of the community. It is impossible to overstate how much of their own legacy and how many of their own scruples modern ... Full Story
Separation of Church and State
From the mounting discussion on the airways and the internet, it is obvious that most people, including many self avowed columnists for prestigious daily newspapers, have no idea what separation of church and state means nor how it should be applied. For a detailed discussion, see Religion on the Campaign Trail. The first article below outline five religious leaders who understood what separation meant and who fought to achieve it. The second article points out the hypocrisy of those who ... Full Story
GOP: Ladies Keep Your Legs Shut
In four articles today and three yesterday, Care2 takes aim at what it considers an attack by the GOP and clergy on women's rights. Jessica Pieklo's anger is palpable in her articles in todays issue. Ladies keep your legs shut is of course precipitated by Rick Santorum's funder Foster Friess's comments about using Bayer Aspirin as a birth control pill. In typical "good-ole-boy" fashion he seems clueless that anyone, expecially women, should be offended by his insensitive remarks. ... Full Story
How Violence Protects the State
By Stephanie Van Hook On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, he spoke passionately in a sermon at Riverside Church in New York about the war in Vietnam. In this gripping speech about the hypocrisy of bringing democracy through napalm and the audacity of fostering a brotherhood through war and killing, he made a daring confession: “I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first ... Full Story
Lobbyists are picking our pockets!
Dear Editor, As the deadline nears for health insurance companies to return nearly $1.4 billion to consumers for wasting our money, the lobbyists have moved in to stop it. Two bills have surfaced in Congress to undermine our rebates, putting most of the money we deserve right back into insurance company pockets! We’re not going to let the lobbyists have their way. We need you, and anyone you ... Full Story
The anti-Obama cult
Never has a sitting president been so demonized by the other party. The Republican candidates need no platform except to defeat President Obama in the next election. None of them have stated a plan to bring the nation out of the great recession, nor do they need to in order to win their party's nomination. All sorts of absurd and demonstrable false accusation have been thrown at him. This election will be the biggest smear campaign that the world has ever seen. One fueled by millions of dollars ... Full Story
Religion On The Campaign Trail
The Third Party Interest: Religion On The Campaign Trail BY: JONATHAN TURLEY With the rhetoric and rancor rising in the campaign for the White House, the election has increasingly become a call to the faithful, with candidates attempting to outdo one another in appealing to religious voters. Indeed, listening to these candidates, one could easily think this is a campaign for ecclesiastical rather than presidential office. One leading candidate recently invoked "supernatural" ... Full Story
Winter Storm Fire Safety
Safety tips from the Berthoud Fire Protection District A wide range of natural disasters occurs within the United States every year. Natural disasters can have a devastating effect on you and your home. The U.S. Fire Administration encourages you to use the following safety tips to help protect yourself, your family and your home from the potential threat of fire during or after a winter storm. You can greatly reduce your chances of becoming a fire casualty by being able to identify ... Full Story
Pakman on the “State of the Union”
President Obama’s State of the Union address was one of the best in recent history, not judging by the number of applauses and ovations, but by the content. Sometimes it’s the lack of applause from parts of the audience that are most telling. The President mentioned the lack of troops in Iraq for the first time in years, and referred to a system where “everyone plays by the same rules,” a clear reference to corporate misbehavior, income inequality, and other issues in the spotlight ... Full Story
