One Utah

December 13, 1981 signaled, in retrospect, the downfall of the Communist Polish government, rather than the feared failure of Solidarity and the struggle for freedom.
Janusz Reiter, Poland’s current ambassador to the United States, has this to say about that event:
The United States made the right decision. President Ronald Reagan accurately perceived that Poland offered the [...]

Our Rocky made the cover of Nation magazine.
Having spent several months as Rocky’s interim communications guy, I witnessed up close and personal the viceral, organized and popular sport of Rocky bashing. I can tell you it looks no different from the inside than the outside for the simple reason that both of our major [...]

The Diebold touchscreens are going to be really expensive over the term of the contract, so expensive that some cities will have to go back to paper ballots, according to this
Trib Article.
“I’m not sure any of us realized how much it is going to cost to own and operate this system,” said Michael Cragun, elections [...]

Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world.
The “Great Man” theory of history is usually attributed to the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who wrote that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” He believed that it is the few, the powerful and the famous who shape our [...]

I must respond to Frank Staheli’s post entitled “Spin Reduction” directly below.
Firstly, I applaud Frank for a genuine and rare effort to actually look at the anti-war arguments as well as his own biases in supporting the so-called ‘War on Terrorism’. This is a good start.
That said, I take exception his equivocal reasoning. Both [...]

We are sometimes so invested in our own points of view that we will do anything we can to see that the other point of view doesn’t get out or that it gets belittled. Such spin occurs on both sides of the issue of the war in Iraq. I know I’m guilty of [...]

The Iraq Study Group recently reported that “the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating.” They also discovered that the Bush administration has been systematically underreporting the level of conflict. Now, according to Talking Points Memo, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has updated the monthly statistics on enemy attacks against the U.S.-led Coalition, [...]

Greg Anrig’s article Excess Baggage at the American Prospect is another smart dissection of the last six year’s governmental malpractice by conservatives.  Read the whole thing here - but here’s some key quotes:
It is crucial to understand that it’s not merely Republicans’ incompetence or political pandering that has left the government in shambles. Rather, many [...]

Wednesday afternoon, I felt a familiar, deep, disconcerting pain behind my eyes. Acting quickly, I took a dose of Imitrex. Within a short time, the pain had lost its edge and become a dull, pressure-pain. After exercise and a hot shower, I went to bed - still with that pressure-pain but hopeful [...]

My first grandson entered the world on Sunday. I’m elated…..and worried at the same time. Elated over this new chapter in our lives, and worried because of the color of his skin. He is half peruvian (indigenous) and about 12% Portugese, with other stuff mixed in. He has a “brown” [...]

Barney hasn’t been much help (when last seen, he was busy pushing Christmas tree ornaments across the floor with his nose).
President Bush, according to Newsweek, is going to take longer than expected to get up to speed on the war in Iraq. Briefing the president has been limited to short 45-minute sessions that won’t [...]

From time to time from “pro-lifers”* use the phrase “contraceptive mentality.”  Talk2action and pandagon have both mentioned/quoted this phrase - which is what brought it to my attention.  When I did a web search, I found links to the American Life League so I’m guessing their the ones who came up with this little phrase.
“Contraceptive [...]