Beyond Right and Left by David McKnight: The New Capitalism induces families and communities to mimic its values. Thus parents outsource their needs and commodify care; they emotionally downsize, telling themselves they can get by with less intimate personal contact; civic life becomes lean and mean and self-interest displaces a common good. Life resembles a work-spend treadmill which leaves little time for unhurried, non-market relations between people. Yet these kinds of activities create personal and community bonds which are quite different from market relations Ironies of the New Capitalism
Silly me. Here I am thinking that the lesson of Katrina is that - finally - people in politics and government are going to have a "Come to Jesus" moment about infrastructure spending and how putting off for tomorrow what you need to do today is a bad, short-sighted idea that's just beginning to affect this country's economic well-being Pork Barrel Politics
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Agencies are embracing podcasting as a low-cost way to deliver audio content to citizens
It started as a hobbyist technology and recently found a foothold at forward-thinking federal agencies.
The White House uses it to distribute the president’s weekly radio address. The State Department’s Voice of America exploits it for broadcasts. And hold onto your hats, because House Republicans and Democrats agree on something. In this case it’s that podcasting—a popular new method of publishing audio programs online—provides an efficient avenue for expressing their views via the Internet.
Last month, NASA delivered the first-ever podcast from space. On the day before the space shuttle Columbia returned to earth, crewmember Steve Robinson transmitted an audio file explaining how he’d repaired the craft’s damaged tiles and reflecting on his opportunity to “watch the sun come up over the bottom of the space shuttle.”
• Early adopters Not just an Apple thing [Marilou Johanek: New Orleans revealed an elitist-driven culture out of touch with a big slice of America that lives paycheck to paycheck Poor Off the Radar of Rich, Powerful ; David Sirota was the chief spokesman for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee Democrats The Deafening - and Dangerous - Silence on Taxes ; Ralph Nader If Corporations Could Laugh ]
• · Iraq Invasion Radicalized Saudi Fighters: Report ; One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq's defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history, The Independent can reveal, leaving the country's army to fight a savage insurgency with museum-piece weapons; As federal agencies fumble, ordinary people rise to the task and carry on
What has Happened to Iraq's Missing $1 Billion?; Falling waters, rising troubles
• · · The growing medicalisation of our lives has become so complete The inevitability of death and taxes ; Female judge appointed to High Court; Experiences of crime in two selected migrant communities
• · · · Do Australians have equal protection against hate speech?; Iemma refuses to sack MP over racial slur; Europeans are among the most sceptical about people in power Europeans 'are biggest sceptics'
• · · · · A Picture of Australia’s Children presents the latest available data on key national indicators of health, development and wellbeing of Australian children aged 0–14 years A Picture of Australia’s Children ; Recent developments in refugee and immigration law 2005
• · · · · · Govt scraps fuel tax plan ; Support the St. Patrick's Day Four ; I'm shocked...shocked to learn of obstruction of justice within this administration. I'm shocked to learn of shading dealings Former GSA Official Charged with Making False Statements, Obstructing Federal Investigation