The Hollywood Liberal

Sarah Palin 2009 Calendar Tops On Amazon
Want to spend the next 12 months with Sarah Palin? Apparently many people do, as the 2009 Sarah Palin calendar is currently the number one…

Shuja Nawaz: Brinksmanship in South Asia: A Dangerous Scenario
If India and Pakistan go to war, the world will lose. Big time. By putting conventional military pressure on Pakistan, is India calling what it perceives to be Pakistan’s bluff under the belief that the U.S. will force nuclear restraint on Pakistan?

Harry Reid Faces Uphill Re-Election Bid
Sen. Harry Reid will command the biggest party majority of any Senate leader in a quarter century when the new Congress convenes in January. But…

Diane Dimond: The Crime and Justice Wish List For 2009
I hope those in charge of our court system focus more on the intent of the law and less on the loopholes that let criminals walk free.

Obamas Catch Dolphin Show, Eat Shave Ice
WAIMANALO, Hawaii — A day after spending a quiet Christmas evening at their vacation retreat, President-elect Barack Obama and his children watched a dolphin show…

Living Their Faith in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — Each era depicts Jesus in its own characteristic way, and the late historian Jaroslav Pelikan wove a brilliant book around this theme. He traced images of Jesus from the earliest days of Christianity as “the rabbi” and “the king of kings” to more modern portrayals as “the teacher of common sense,” “the poet of the spirit” and “the liberator.” The Jesus of Christmas, Pelikan tells us in “Jesus Through the Centuries,” owes a particular debt to St. Francis of Assisi, who preached “a new and deeper awareness of the humanity of Christ, as disclosed in his nativity and in his sufferings.”

George Bush, Protectionist
“I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system,” President Bush told CNN, defending his offer of $17 billion in loans to the Big Three “to make sure the economy doesn’t collapse.” Thus did Bush concede that protectionism, if a critical U.S. industry is in peril, must trump free-trade ideology. For in offering the bailout to GM, Ford and Chrysler, Bush, by omission, excluded BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai — though all operate auto plants here in the United States and all are feeling the same sales slump.

SECer: Under Cox, Subpoena Power For Probes Harder To Obtain
In his statement released last week in response to the SEC’s failure to catch Bernard Madoff’s alleged “$50 billion ponzi scheme”, commission chair Chris Cox lamented his staff’s failure, during previous investigations, to seek subpoenas to compel Madoff to provide…

‘Whistle-Blower’ Complaint Latest Twist In Ted Stevens Case
It’s now been about two months since Ted Stevens’ conviction on seven counts of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms, and there’s yet another twist in the case, this time in the form of new allegations of…

The Daily Muck
A witness in Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) trial says he wouldn’t have testified if he had known he had no immunity. Despite previously stating he had no deal with the Justice Department, welder David Anderson now says otherwise in a…

Sex and Money: Are Women Regulators Different?
It is hard not to notice that two of the regulators who stand out for doing the right thing in this incredible financial mess are women.

Don’t Blame Pop Culture For Teen Misbehavior
Poverty and family abuse — not TV or the Internet — are the causes of teen violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and unplanned pregnancy.

Sex and Money: Are Women Regulators Different?
It is hard not to notice that two of the regulators who stand out for doing the right thing in this incredible financial mess are women.

Leaving Las Vegas: Are Americans Ready to Put Cataclysmic Consumption and Hedonism Behind Them?
Will we finally accept the public policy and lifestyle changes that the real world now requires? Or will "Viva Las Vegas" always be America’s motto?

Dope Menace: The Sensational World of Drug Paperbacks
Famed for their campy kitsch, gloriously bad writing and outlandish misinformation, drug paperback books embodied seductive cultural taboos.

No Preconditions, Redux
First time tragedy, second time farce, fifth (sixth, etc.,) time, repetition compulsion. This morning on the radio, Israel’s wake-up: Benny Begin, the son of Menachem, now high on the Likud list, is warning about Olmert’s negotiations with Syria: “There must…

What Every Child Knows
Over 8o Qassam missiles landed in areas bordering Gaza over the past 24 hours. Nobody should doubt how insufferable this is. But what should Israel do? Every child knows that you are attacked because the other person doesn’t realize you…

The Problem is Not Executive Compensation or Greed
During the auto bailout thread, JohnW1141 made the point that my discussion was focusing on “Wall Street” and “corporations” instead of the executives.? As he argues, “Wall Street, Corporations, Banks, etc. are abstract words that I think most of the…

Laws to Track Sex Offenders Encouraging Homelessness
LOS ANGELES — Upon release from state custody, Ross Wollschlager began an intensive search for a home, one that abided by the restrictions imposed on convicted sex offenders in California — and, in various versions, by about 30 other states. Obliged by law to return to Ventura County, the…

Obama and Family Venture Out in Hawaii
WAIMANALO, Hawaii, Dec. 26 — President-elect Barack Obama interrupted what has been a reclusive Hawaiian vacation Friday by taking his daughters and a caravan of family friends to a marine amusement park and to a mobbed shopping center.

Like Many States, Ohio Reaches for A Lifeline
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the economy sputters and tax revenue plummets, governors and mayors across the United States are lining up to ask President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars to plug holes in their budgets, arguing that services will suffer and…

Economic Death and Millionaire Taxes

For most of us, Benjamin Franklin’s words in 1789 still apply: “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” However, millionaires, by definition, are not most of us.

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Ahmadinejad’s Christmas Speech Raises Ruckus

Britain’s Channel 4 has a tradition of featuring an alternative Christmas message as a kind of counterpoint to Queen Elizabeth’s customary speech, and this year’s speaker—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—is sparking outrage.

BBC:

In it, Mr Ahmadinejad congratulated the people of Britain on the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ.

He said that problems in society were rooted in the rejection of the message of the prophets of God, including Jesus.

And he criticised the “indifference of some governments and powers” towards the teachings of “the divine prophets”.

However, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: “President Ahmadinejad has during his time in office made a series of appalling anti-Semitic statements.

“The British media are rightly free to make their own editorial choices, but this invitation will cause offence and bemusement not just at home but amongst friendly countries abroad.”

Labour MP Louise Ellman, chairwoman of the Labour Jewish Movement, said: “I condemn Channel 4’s decision to give an unchallenged platform to a dangerous fanatic who denies the Holocaust, while preparing for another, and claims homosexuality does not exist while his regime hangs gay young men from cranes in the street.

“Who will deliver next year’s alternative Christmas message? Will it be David Irving or Robert Mugabe?”

Read more

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Andy Worthington: The Ten Lies of Dick Cheney (Part Two)
In Part One of this article, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison, examined Dick…

Jim Schumacher and Debbie Bookchin: Our Oil Reserves Are Depleted; It’s Time for Utopia
Last week at a Christmas party in the hills of Umbria, we were part of a captive audience listening to an American businessman holding forth…

Blagojevich Scandal: Governor’s Lawyer Wants Obama Staff Subpoenaed
CHICAGO — In a move intended to force public testimony from President-elect Barack Obama’s inner circle, a lawyer for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has asked the…

The Daily Muck
The defense for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has called for his conviction to be thrown out after receiving new evidence of an FBI complaint. The complaint regards the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over evidence during the trial and a…

Former White House Aide Pleads Guilty To Bilking Government-Funded Group
Felipe Sixto — the former aide to President Bush charged with stealing from a government-funded agency that works for democracy and human rights in Cuba — pleaded guilty today to theft from a federally aided program, reports the Associated Press…

Sodomy Laws Are Rooted in British Colonialism
In many countries, conservatives claim homosexuality came from the colonizing West. In fact, it’s homophobia that’s a legacy of Western colonialism.

Arizona: Ground Zero in Immigration’s New Race Wars
Recently released statistics show violence against Latinos to be the fastest growing of all hate crimes.

Mercenaries Playing Increasingly Prominent Role in Latin America
Mercenaries hired by private military and security companies are playing an increasingly broad range of roles in Latin America.

The Right-Wing Economics That Got Us into This Mess Should Go the Way of Soviet Communism
It’s high time we cast "free market" economic theory into the dustbin of history.

Will the U.S. Stay in Iraq for Longer Than Agreed?
Critics say the U.S.-Iraqi withdrawal agreement simply reflects U.S. strategic interests.