Dec. 1, 2007

“Black Friday” has become a peculiar American institution. Retailers have promoted the day after Thanksgiving as the opening of the holiday shopping season, counting on this day to roll in a good percentage of their yearly sales — to get them out of the “red” of loss and put them in the “black” of profit.

Peace Talk Radio
Hiroshima motives
New Jersey Shangri-la
Need machine guns?
Electoral College

It is relatively easy to see why far-right presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas is driving some of the other Republicans crazy. He clearly won the straw poll after their first debate.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has backed down from a plan to make regular driver’s licenses available to undocumented immigrants, after being targeted by a national hate campaign in the right-wing media.

Organized labor is flexing its muscles, showing that it is tired of taking it on the chin. If the unions have their way, between now and Election Day 2008, even the ultra-right lock on the White House and Congress could be broken.

The increasing use of gambling as a source of revenue to close budget shortfalls is spreading like the plague across our nation.

If you want fast-paced, episodic plotting and the latest Hollywood version of “Super Fly,” go see “American Gangster.” But whether you’ve seen it or not, here is my opinion. And I’m 65 years old and come from these same streets by way of St. Louis, Chicago and New York, so not only do I have an opinion, but I have a qualified one at that!

For the first time in its 32-year history, the Toronto International Film Festival screened a film that was simultaneously available for free streaming on the Internet. The seven-minute short film, “Shock Doctrine,” based on Naomi Klein’s bestselling book, is co-directed by Mexico’s acclaimed director Alfonso Cuarón.

A hullabaloo has arisen over a secretly negotiated anti-drug proposal that would include new U.S. funds for Mexican and Central American security forces.