Obama's speech goes for prose instead of poetry.

On the west steps of the Capitol, Barack Obama turned his inaugural address into a national locker-room speech. Describing our current crisis and "a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable," he called on Americans to "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America." He called for "a new era of responsibility" founded on America's oldest virtues. "Those values upon which our success dependshard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotismthese things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded, then, is a return to these truths."

[more ...]

Read More...

[Source: Slate Magazine - Politics

Washington’s criminal role in the Sri Lankan state’s anti-Tamil war

Last Wednesday, the US embassy in Colombo issued a statement that welcomed the Sri Lankan state's recent victories in the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and urged Sri Lanka's government and military to press forward with the annihilation of the LTTE. The key passage in the statement read: "The United States does not advocate that the Government of Sri Lanka negotiate with the LTTE, a group designated by America as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997."

Within hours of Washington formally renouncing its support for a negotiated settlement to the 25 year-old civil war, the Sri Lankan government banned the LTTE.

The Sri Lankan state has now arrogated to itself the power to jail for up to 20 years those it accuses of "supporting" the LTTE. Since resuming offensive operations against the organization in 2006, the government and military have leveled this charge against virtually anyone opposed to the war or even the government's right-wing socio-economic policies, from socialists and striking workers to the Tamil National Alliance, a 20-strong parliamentary grouping that considers the LTTE the only legitimate representative of the Tamils in negotiations with the government.

Colombo had previously outlawed the organization, but lifted the ban in 2002 when a truce was declared and the Sri Lankan state and LTTE agreed to enter into peace talks.
anti-tamil-war

Trans-Texas Corridor is dead

In response to public outcry, the ambitious proposal to create the Trans-Texas Corridor network has been dropped and will be replaced with a plan to carry out road projects at an incremental, modest pace, a state transportation official announced today.“The Trans-Texas Corridor, as it is known, no longer exists,” said Amadeo Saenz Jr., executive director [...]

Read More...

[Source: vote tags: Tracking the Vote

Read it and weep

The economic news couldn’t be worse for the book industry. Now insiders are asking how literature will survive. By Jason BoogDec. 23, 2008 |The end of days is here for the publishing industry — or it sure seems like it. On Dec. 3, now known as “Black Wednesday,” several major American publishers were dramatically downsized, [...]

Read More...

[Source: Mint Dollar