Jan 8, 2005

Over the past two decades, the entire structure of retirement security, as well as other public and social programs, has come under increasing attack from corporations, White House administrations and the ultra-right. This assault has greatly increased under the administration of George W. Bush.

In Ohio and elsewhere – One person, one vote!’

OPINION

Are U.S. citizens prepared for a long war? It seems to be a logical question to ask in light of the current debate over the Iraq war and past experiences of other U.S. military invasions and/or wars. Certainly citizens’ antiwar sentiment and mobilization is much stronger and has been more rapidly organized than was the case in both the Korean and the Vietnam invasions.

OPINION

If a myth gets repeated enough, it often becomes conventional wisdom. Since the November election, the pundits have been telling us non-stop that we are a nation “bitterly divided,” and that the main contradiction in our society is a “cultural divide,” pitting against each other “two Americas,” the “red” states and the “blue” states. “Moral values,” they tell us, are the main issue on the voters’ minds, dividing us more than anything else.

OPINION

We should not minimize the imminent, destructive potential of a second George Bush term.

OPINION

Investigative journalist Gary Webb died Dec. 10, in Sacramento County, Calif., at age 49. The coroner maintains it was suicide, but acknowledged that two sets of gunshot wounds to the head is unusual in a suicide. The contents of a note were undisclosed.

BOOK REVIEW

Shakerism: Its Meaning and Message
By Anna White and Leila S. Taylor
Hardcover, 417 pp., $23.75
(includes shipping)
Obtainable from the United Society of Shakers, 707 Shaker Road, New Gloucester, ME 04260

Film Awards

‘Motorcycle Diaries’ wins N.Y. Film Critics award

Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles’ “Diarios de Motocicleta” (The Motorcycle Diaries), reflecting Cuban-Argentine guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara’s youthful road trip through South America, was awarded best foreign movie at the New York Film Critics Circle Award.

Music Review

“Just when you thought smart folk-pop was dead, here comes Mara Levi with her folkster sounds and powerful messages.”

— Discovering Artists, Sept. 17