The Rag Blog: History According to Crassnerd

29 December 2006

History According to Crassnerd

"And Hell, if it doesn't work now, we'll just try it again in 30 years, Rummy -- I'll be CEO of Brown & Root by then, or maybe even bigger," said Cheney, far right, to Rumsfeld, left, in 1974 as Ford, center, wondered what they meant, according to newly-released CIA recordings. It was Rumsfeld, in his earlier Ford Administration job as Pentagon honcho, who drafted the regulations permitting no-bid contracts now used in Iraq.

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Recent Stories

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Lamar W. Hankins : Opportunist Narvaiz Takes On Doggett Again in Gerrymandered 35th by Lamar W. Hankins / The Rag Blog. Former San Marcos mayor Susan Narvaiz, who is again challenging U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett in Texas' gerrymandered 35th district, is a political chameleon who says what she needs to say to protect herself from political accountability.
Steve Horn : Keystone XL's Houston 'Fork in the Road' by Steve Horn / DeSmogBlog. The southern half of TransCanada's Keystone XL tar sands pipeline includes a "Houston Lateral Pipeline" that is leading the LyondellBasell refinery to retool itself for the looming feast of tar sands crude and fracked oil bounty.
RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : November Guests Include Spiritual Counselor, Citizens' Advocate, Singer-Songwriter by Rag Radio / The Rag Blog. Thorne Dreyer's guests in November included a Methodist minister and longtime social activist, a noted citizens' advocate, two staffers from the original Rag, the author of a book about the 'movement that started the civil rights movement,' and an acclaimed singer-songwriter. Listen to the podcasts here.
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Paul Krassner : Is There a Doctor in the House? by Paul Krassner / The Rag Blog. The Coachella Valley in Southern California hosted a massive four-day health clinic that helped more than 2,500 uninsured patients. Krassner points out that California leads the nation in people without health insurance and says that "the insurance industry has a preexisting condition known in technical terminology as greed."
Kate Braun : Winter Solstice Falls on Saturn's Day by Kate Braun / The Rag Blog. Our celebrations during the Winter Solstice take from many traditions, including the Roman Saturnalia, Druid customs, the German "Yule," and the birth of Jesus; and it was Queen Victoria who popularized the lighted Christmas tree.
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Harry Targ : My Nelson Mandela by Harry Targ / The Rag Blog. An irony of 21st century historical discourse is how real historic figures -- like the late Nelson Mandela -- get lionized, sanitized, and redefined as defenders of the ongoing order rather than activists who committed their lives to revolutionary change.
Michael James : Back to Uptown, 1965-1966 by Michael James / The Rag Blog. Mike continues his remarkable memoir, accompanied -- and inspired by -- photos from his upcoming book. His adventures -- and the making of an activist -- continue as he heads back to Uptown Chicago, "progressing along my path with another left turn and a big step into America."
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