Carol Stachurski's Page

John Brown: A Terrorist who Deserved Hanging

This is the 150th anniversary of the hanging of John Brown. When he attacked Harper’s Ferry with a handful of followers, the butcher of Kansas helped sow the seeds of the Civil War. Few things would have made Brown happier than the thought of hundreds of thousands of people dying for [...]

What a Difference a Week Makes for Bill Kristol

One day out from Obama’s long-awaited announcement on troop deployments to Afghanistan the White House is getting plenty of criticism from both sides of the aisle. Democrats, including Rep. David Obey (D-WI), the influential chair of the House Appropriations Committee, have expressed concerns about both the cost of the war and the difficulty of achieving victory [...]

Ron Paul on Afghanistan and Perpetual War

Ron Paul cuts through the bull:

How Many Needles Can Obama Thread?

To answer Jim Bovard’s earlier question — will President Obama “out-BS” Bush? — I think no, after watching Obama tonight, it seems that Bush set a perverse standard that even an over-achiever like Obama can’t exceed. But that didn’t seem to be Obama’s goal tonight. He was all about threading the needle, rather than pouring rhetorical [...]

All You Can Cheat

From Big O’s speech: [W]e have made progress on some important objectives. …  In Afghanistan, we and our allies prevented the Taliban from stopping a presidential election and — although it was marred by fraud — that election produced a government that is consistent with Afghanistan’s laws and constitution. Hurrah! Stolen elections for everyone! Try and stop [...]

Andy Worthington | Four Men Leave Guantanamo; Two Face Ill-Defined Trials In Italy

On Monday, the Obama administration announced that it had transferred four prisoners from Guantanamo: Sabir Lahmar, an Algerian, was transferred to France; an unidentified Palestinian was transferred to Hungary; two Tunisians, Adel Ben Mabrouk bin Hamida Boughanmi and Mohammed Tahir Riyadh Nasseri, were transferred to the custody of the Italian government.

read more

At Least 30 Dead in Attack on Pakistani Mosque

Rawalpindi, Pakistan - At least 30 people were killed and scores wounded Friday in an attack on a mosque in a military area in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Initial reports said that explosions and gunfire were used in the assault, which took place during Friday prayers at around 1:15 p.m. local time. Suicide bombers also may have been part of the attack. Authorities feared that several gunmen remained on the loose, and may have taken hostages.

read more

VIDEO: Climate Scams Won’t Save the Planet

Whether you listen to NPR or Rush Limbaugh, you’ve probably heard about climate change. And if you’ve heard about climate change, chances are you’ve also heard about “cap and trade.” It’s a scheme that tries to sell business-as-usual as a solution to global warming.

read more

Non-Profit Group Helps Strained Homeowners

Nonprofit's program to extract better terms from lenders draws thousands from near and far.

read more

A Trigger We Can Believe In

Olympia Snowe wants a trigger. It sounds like the blue dogs want a trigger. Let's give them a trigger we can all believe in.

How about if the insurance companies cannot cover everyone by a date certain, we blow up the whole health care reform process and make everyone eligible for Medicare? We won't have to argue over opt-ins or opt-outs. We won't have to argue over who's eligible for a public option. Let's let everyone in.

It won't take very long, nobody will need to enroll; just take your Social Security card to the Doctor and the bill will be paid.

read more

Democracy Now! 2009-12-04 Friday

Headlines for December 04, 2009; Eliot Spitzer: Geithner, Bernanke "Complicit" in Financial Crisis and Should Go; "The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther"

Democracy Now! 2009-12-03 Thursday

Headlines for December 03, 2009; NY State Senate Defeats Bill to Legalize Gay Marriage; “One Voice for Choice" - FireDogLake Founder Launches Campaign to Target Dems Supporting Stupak Amendment; 25 Years After Bhopal Disaster, Survivors Still Seeking Justice; As Troop Escalation Begins, Relief Groups Decry Militarization of US Aid to Afghanistan

Democracy Now! 2009-12-02 Wednesday

Headlines for December 02, 2009; More War: Obama Unveils Plan to Send 30,000 More Troops to Afghanistan; Rep. Kucinich on Afghanistan War: "We're Acting Like a Latter Day Version of the Roman Empire"; Vietnam Vet, Scholar Andrew Bacevich on Obama War Plan: "The President Has Drawn the Wrong Lessons From His Understanding of the History of War"; Nir Rosen: "We Managed to Make the Taliban Look Good"

Democracy Now! 2009-12-01 Tuesday

Headlines for December 01, 2009; Hondurans Divided After Coup Backer Wins Presidential Election Boycotted by Zelaya Supporters; In Third Week of Hunger Strike, Ailing Western Saharan Human Rights Activist Aminatou Haidar Demands Moroccan Authorities Allow Her Return to Occupied Homeland; Study: In Afghan Debate, Few Antiwar Op-Eds in Nation's Two Leading Newspapers