Happy Birthday, Paul Newman

by Nomad

 Had he lived. Paul Newman would be 90 years old today.
An American actor, film director, entrepreneur, professional racing driver, auto racing team owner, environmentalist, social activist, and philanthropist; All in all, it was a pretty incredible and worthwhile life. .

Disloyalty of a Republican Rising Star: Should Joni Ernst be Court-martialed?

by Nomad

Joni Ernst's comments during her Senate campaign were extreme by any measure but as an officer in the Iowa National Guard,  she should, some think, be prosecuted.

Back in October of last year, The Des Moines Register had an interesting op-ed piece about the Republican party's newest rising star, Joni Ernst. Ernst as you know, gave the rebuttal to the President's State of the Union speech last week,

The author, Vietnam veteran Steve Wikert, said that he, along with other vets, was troubled by candidate Ernst's behavior campaign rhetoric during her Iowa run for Senate.

Boehner, Netanyahu and George Washington's Farewell Warning

by Nomad

Without consulting the White House or the State Department, House Speaker Boehner has invited Israeli PM Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress in less than a month.
George Washington in his last official statement had a thing or two to say about allowing our allies from too much interference in US foreign policy.

Time of Challenge

As most of you have heard, House Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress next month. Presumably Netanyahu will attempt to scuttle extremely negotiations with Iran on its nuclear weapons/energy program. In a statement Boehner explained his reasoning.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is a great friend of our country, and this invitation carries with it our unwavering commitment to the security and well-being of his people. In this time of challenge, I am asking the prime minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life.”

The statement should be read very carefully. It seems to be speaking on behalf of the US government. The term "unwavering commitment" might sound great on paper but it can sound very different to the people to whom it applies.

In any case, the White House wasn't impressed. Press Secretary Josh Earnest described it as a breach of typical protocol since the White House wasn't consulted or involved in the decision. Said Earnest, it has been standard procedure for a nation's leader to contact the White House before planning a visit to the United States. 

In this case, however, the White House heard about the invitation  not from the Israelis but from Boehner's office,. Some would call that breach a sign of disrespect for the president and the executive office in general.

Earnest said the White House is reserving judgment about the invite until U.S. officials talk to their Israeli counterparts. Boehner's office confirmed that Netanyahu has accepted, and will give a speech to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 11. The date is significant: It's the 36th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution.

Boehner said in a statement that he had invited Netanyahu to speak on "the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life." Yet, critics would counter that there were plenty of other experts available, with much more unbiased sources, to speak on such matters.

Taboo You: How Islamic Pakistan is the Christian Right Wing's Dream for America

by Nomad

When it comes to the reproductive rights of women, the ultra-conservative Christian Far Right in the US and the Islamic theocratic republic of Pakistan have a lot more in common than they are willing to admit.

In an ideal world, every baby born should be a wanted child, not stigmatized for being born from a mother out of wedlock and not a burden to parents too poor to feed their family.

Yet, in this day and age, it is still not an unattainable goal for most of humanity. Although we already have all of the resources we need, such as cheap, easy to use contraceptives, and the means for their distribution , we as a species continue to over-populate the planet.
To understand the reasons, we need to take a closer look at Pakistan.

Pakistan: The Land of Taboos

Pakistan is one nation where the population growth rate is high; it is in fact higher than average growth rate of all other South Asian countries. With over 180 million people, Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, .  

But why should a country be so crowded and so poverty-stricken and yet unable to do anything about it? For that you need to look at the majority-Muslim Pakistan's ultra-conservative social policies. Especially when it comes to attitudes to sexuality and women's rights.   

Zombies of the New Millennium: Are Cell Phones Killing Genuine Social Contact?

by Nomad

We live in an incredible age of communication. Keeping in touch with family and friends has never been easier. And yet, how much contact do we need before we lose focus.
Should we be thinking more about prioritizing our social interactions?

Don't get me wrong. Cell phones are wonderful tools. Sometimes I can't imagine how we ever existed without them. Finding somebody in a crowd, for example, or reaching somebody in an emergency. 

What did I use to do when I got lost on the way to a club or on the way to a house party? I can't even remember. It seems so long ago. I suppose I threw myself on the ground and wept until some kind stranger took pity on me. 

With a cell phone, all those annoying dilemmas are in the past. Yet these days, a new problem has cropped up. 

Cell phone zombie-ism.

I suppose most of us at one time or another have experienced this. Not long ago, I watched in disgust when I found myself among my friends and suddenly realizing that I was the only one in the group that wasn't staring at a cell phone and silently finger-pushing their screens.