The Largest Minority

May 16th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

American hero Ralph Nader speaks at Google’s Mountain View, CA headquarters on May 12th as part of the Policy Talks@Google series.

May 16th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

“It is far better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

After Adolph Hitler dissolved Austria into the Third Reich, he then began to demand that the German minority in Czechoslovakia also be reunited with the fatherland. In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler out of fear by signing the Munich Agreement, which annexed Czechoslovakia’s heavily fortified Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia the following year.

Anyone who honestly tries to compare Nazi Germany to modern day Iran either has no clue about World War II, no clue about Iran, or both. Kevin James operates under the notion that the loudest debater wins the argument, but Matthews has a rare moment of journalistic integrity by not letting him pull the Nazi card. James references a moment in history he is clearly ignorant of, and Matthews does not let him get away with it. At least temporarily, Chris deserves the title of “bus driver” for taking James to school.

May 15th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Following lawsuits from several gay and lesbian couples as well as the city of San Francisco and gay rights groups, the California Supreme Court has struck down a ban on same-sex marriage today as unconstitutional. The 120-page ruling stated, “There can be no doubt that extending the designation of marriage to same-sex couples, rather than denying it to all couples, is the equal protection remedy that is most consistent with our state’s general legislative policy and preference.”

After Massachusetts, California has now become the second state to allow same-sex marriage. The following 7 international jurisdictions have also legalized same-sex marriage: Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

In 2004, the same year Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage, San Francisco officials also allowed same-sex couples to wed. However, the state had banned same-sex marriages in 2000 with the “Defense of Marriage Act”. Justices had to decide whether San Francisco’s laws carried legal weight on the grounds that the 2000 ban was unconstitutional. Now that the ban has been struck down, an appeal is expected to be made by anti-gay-rights groups to the US Supreme Court, which has never addressed same-sex marriage.

source

May 15th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

This completely unreported bit of information on the recent polar bear classification is provided to us by Greenpeace Global Warming Campaigner Melanie Duchin. For more, read Polar Bear Listing Falls Short of Protection.

It’s taken several years, lawsuits, and thousands of letters from you, but the Bush Administration finally listed the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act today. I’d love to tell you that that’s great news, but there’s a BIG catch. The Administration listed the polar bear as threatened instead of endangered, and invoked a clause (known as a “4(d) exemption”) that excludes global warming from the list of threats the federal government has to consider when trying to protect polar bear habitat.

Global warming is the biggest threat facing polar bears today, and this little clause eliminates any protection the listing should have given to the polar bear. In fact, global warming is the very reason we sued the Administration for protection of the polar bear in the first place.

So who’s really being protected here? Polar bears or the oil industry?

The listing specifically says that federal agencies don’t need to consider the impact of global warming pollution on the polar bear. But there’s more: the listing also proposes a separate regulation that reduces the protections the polar bear would otherwise receive under the Endangered Species Act.

Meanwhile, in the months leading up to this weak decision, the Administration conveniently sold oil leases in prime polar bear habitat off Alaska’s northwest coast.

Are you starting to get the picture here? Well, if your temperature is rising like mine is, there are a couple of things I’d like you to do about it:

• First, join our new Rapid Response Network. Here’s how it works: we will send you a pop up notice about breaking news stories like this, as well as an easy way to click to promote the article to the Most Popular list of sites like CNN, Reuters, Yahoo News and a dozen other online media outlets. If you have just 5 minutes to spare each week, you have time to be a Rapid Responder!
• Next, please consider a donation today to help us fight for polar bears and ramp up our campaigns to stop global warming. We’re not going to stand by and let the Administration get away with this, and I hope you won’t either.

Despite the loopholes the Bush Administration has inserted, it is crystal clear that without your tremendous support, they would have continued to ignore the polar bear until it disappeared altogether. I thank you for your determination and continued support.

For the future of polar bear,
Melanie Duchin

May 14th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Pepe Escobar fully explains the Hezbollah victory over the US-planned coup in Lebanon. It’s been a long time since the American Empire has won any battle on occupied soil.

May 13th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Question: What’s less than 4 minutes long and can make you lose all hope in humanity?

Answer:

May 13th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

“My position on Hamas is indistinguishable from the position of Hillary Clinton or John McCain. I said they are a terrorist organization and I’ve repeatedly condemned them.”

- Barack Obama, interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic

Obama also recently promised to stand with poor defenseless Israel against the threat of Gazan children, heavily armed with rocks, and the unmatched might of the Persian army. Oddly, the rest of the so-called liberal blogosphere is choosing not to criticize his warmongering, but is instead focusing on the funny feeling he gives them in their special area.

May 13th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe makes a tiny mistake based on false intelligence. However, it’s not a mistake he needs to apologize for. I’m sure that if he knew then what he knows now, he would have spoke differently.