Uncategorized
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The Unending Tragedy of Jonestown
I am the person I am because of something that happened 30 years ago today in Guyana, a tiny equatorial country thousands of miles away from my home.In the years since, every time Nov. 18 arrives, I am visited by an existential unease that falls across my shoulders. It isn’t helped by all the “anniversary”…
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Save The Obama Drama
Nov. 19, 2008—Having already gone through my—now regretted—Obama tantrums in July (and on this Web site), I do not want to hear about anyone else’s. Please try to get over yours as soon as possible. Let’s clear up a few things. The right is all in a tizzy because it is trying to project itself…
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A New Approach for Anti-Abortion Activists
With the election of a pro-choice president and little chance of Roe v. Wade being overturned in the near future, some members of the anti-abortion front have turned their attention to reducing the number of abortions rather than eliminating them altogether. The Washington Post reports that this new strategy advocates creating programs to aid pregnant…
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Google Me, Baby
Nov. 19, 2008—In the last 10 years, no product has infiltrated our daily lives more than the cellular phone. One of the most widespread images of the recent election was the sight of thousands of people using their cell-phone cameras to share the joy of Obama’s win. People have been texting, e-mailing and tweeting on…
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The End of Feminism As We Know It?
There were several unforgettable moments in the Obama campaign—Barack’s impassioned speech about race, the DNC finale at Invesco, Madelyn Dunham’s death just before her grandson became president-elect—but none meant more to me than a two-minute bit of tape, a simple but monumental exchange between Michelle Obama and Soledad O’Brien. In her interview with Michelle, Soledad…
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Four Takes on the Mom in Chief
For generations, The Mommy Wars have largely skipped black women. For most of us, staying at home to raise our children full-time was never a choice. Our families’ survival depended on our wages—often earned from nurturing and caring for white families. With the rise of a post-civil rights generation, a critical mass of high-powered black…
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The Big Money Sells Michelle
Michelle Obama has loudly signaled that she intends to be entirely her own kind of first lady; her evident independence will bring her lots of attention, but Mrs. O may be a huge branding opportunity and not just for the Obama administration. In “Selling Michelle” on TheBigMoney, Lauren Sandler looks at the marketing possibilities that…
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How Michelle Obama Passed for White
American historian Catherine Allgor recently explained on National Public Radio that candidate wives’ fashions symbolize the kind of president their husbands aim to be. As convoluted as that sounds, after seeing Michelle Obama’s outfits over the past 18 months, I believe Professor Allgor is dead right. Michelle—or rather, her clothes—worked overtime to reassure white voters,…
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A Stronger Approach by the Dalai Lama
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7727791.stm
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New-Age Piracy
In the 21st century, piracy has most commonly been used to refer to music and movies. Global economic woes, though, are giving the word back its prior meaning—indicative of black beards and eye-patches. Recently, off the coast of Kenya and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean, oil tankers have fallen victim to pirates looking for ransom.…