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7711 [lbo-talk] the money primary -- rank: 1000

<http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5257386> The National Republican Congressional Committee had $6.7 million in its bank account at the end of May, while the Democrats reported $47.2 million.

Document Size:	4689
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Jun 27 11:07:53 PDT 2008

7712 [lbo-talk] sprinting rightwards -- rank: 1000

[from The Note] Name your issue -- on trade, taxes, guns, the death penalty, campaign finance reform, FISA -- Obama may well be taking the politically smart position for a Democrat in these early days of the general election. But the point is that he's taking positions that are at least shaded differently than those he's taken in the past, if not outright flip- flops. These are political calculations that make a dangerous assumption for Obama: that he's willing to risk being called a " ...

Document Size:	7675
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Jun 27 09:43:49 PDT 2008

7713 [lbo-talk] the Costco model -- rank: 1000

<http://www.slate.com/id/2194332/> Wage Against the Machine IF COSTCO'S WORKER GENEROSITY IS SO GREAT, WHY DOESN'T WAL-MART IMITATE IT? By Liza Featherstone Posted Friday, June 27, 2008, at 7:29 AM ET Nearly everyone who's looked at Wal-Mart's practices as an employer its union busting, sex discrimination, low wages, and minimal benefits has concluded that it's America's retail bad guy. By contrast, many who've examined the practices of Wal-Mart's competitor Costco including New York ...

Document Size:	5639
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Jun 27 06:22:27 PDT 2008

7714 [lbo-talk] Superclass! -- rank: 1000

<http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/ 20080627_doug_henwood_on_the_global_power_elite/> Book Review Doug Henwood on the Global Power Elite Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making By David Rothkopf Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 400 pages Are we now ruled by an international elite that has left national borders far behind? It s a fashionable view across the political spectrum that enjoys special prominence every January, when the alleged members of that alleged ...

Document Size:	8097
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Jun 27 05:21:49 PDT 2008

7715 [lbo-talk] Obama defends capital punishment for child rape; Nation apologizes for him -- rank: 1000

On Jun 26, 2008, at 6:57 PM, WD wrote: > Fuck Obama, and fuck John > Nichols for defending him on this. John wrote a very gracious response to my complaint - "point taken," he will clarify. Doug

Document Size:	5235
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 16:10:05 PDT 2008

7716 [lbo-talk] religion in the US -- rank: 1000

On Jun 26, 2008, at 2:42 PM, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: > I wish I could share your optimism, Doug. As I see it, a > conservative is a liberal who got a corporate job and moved to > suburbia. And from that alienated wasteland it is only a small > step to fundamentalism and reactionism. You're a sociologist. Do you have any sociological evidence to support your pessimism? Have you read the Pew report? Doug

Document Size:	4931
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 11:51:20 PDT 2008

7717 [lbo-talk] religion in the US -- rank: 1000

On Jun 26, 2008, at 1:03 PM, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: > Second, religion is a system of thought that provides certitude in > everyday life. But to fulfill this function, it must rests on > certain unquestionable assumptions and axioms that are accepted as > given and cannot be subject to any doubt or even discussion (you > should have gotten that from your Catholic education.) In European > religiosity, such foundations were provided by the institution of > church and its ...

Document Size:	6504
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 10:14:15 PDT 2008

7718 [lbo-talk] Obama defends capital punishment for child rape; Nation apologizes for him -- rank: 1000

On Jun 26, 2008, at 11:22 AM, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote: > Why does it suprise you? I'm not at all surprised by his support of the death penalty in general. But to advocate death for child rape is an extreme position, to the right of the SC majority. It aligns him with Scalia and Thomas, fer chrissakes. He went out of his way to take the position. Doug

Document Size:	5373
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 09:41:03 PDT 2008

7719 [lbo-talk] SEIU & single-payer -- rank: 1000

A list lurker and SEIU dissident, who must remain anonymous for obvious reasons, wrote me offlist to say this: > The convention resolution is meaningless. > > Watch what SEIU actually does. Stern has been > backing every half-assed reform like Arnoldcare > for the last few years. They just recently red-baited > CNA in a mailer to CNA members for supporting > "government health care". > > In [state name redacted - ed.], they wrote > their own proposal for ...

Document Size:	5696
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 07:39:19 PDT 2008

7720 [lbo-talk] Obama defends capital punishment for child rape; Nation apologizes for him -- rank: 1000

[I gotta say I'm surprised by the awfulness of this. Obama's moving further to the right more quickly than even I would have guessed. The states rights position is a nice touch.] <http://wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/obam-j26.shtml> Obama attacks US Supreme Court decision barring death penalty for child rape By Patrick Martin 26 June 2008 In an action that combines cynical political opportunism and outright reaction, Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential candi ...

Document Size:	14420
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 06:19:36 PDT 2008

7721 [lbo-talk] The Obama Effect follow-up call for papers -- rank: 1000

[via Cultstud-L] Follow-up Call for Papers: The Obama Effect University of Minnesota, Twin Cities October 23-25, 2008 Now that he has become the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party ticket, Barack Obama has challenged conventional wisdom about race, politics, media, and generation. In this historic election year, it is imperative for scholars and professionals in a wide variety of disciplines to reflect upon the potential effects of Obama on: American and global public opini ...

Document Size:	7238
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 05:23:44 PDT 2008

7722 [lbo-talk] SEIU endorses single payer -- rank: 1000

On Jun 25, 2008, at 10:31 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > SEIU ENDORSES CONYER'S SINGLE PAYER PLAN This is great news, especially if they actually do something about it. What happened? Doug

Document Size:	4742
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Jun 26 04:53:57 PDT 2008

7723 [lbo-talk] FOMC statement -- rank: 1000

[Leaning slightly to the hawkish side, I'd say, but not profoundly so; we'll see what the bond market thinks. Phrase about stressed financial markets dropped, and housing contraction now ongoing rather than deepening. The language about inflation is stronger.] <http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary/20080625a.htm> June 25, 2008 For immediate release The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 2 percent. Recent inform ...

Document Size:	8674
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 25 11:19:35 PDT 2008

7724 [lbo-talk] independent candidates helping BHO -- rank: 1000

[also via Mike Allen] CONVERSATION-DRIVING POLL L.A. Times A1 'Obama holds 12-point lead over McCain, poll finds: In a two-man contest, 49 percent of respondents favor Barack Obama, 37 percent John McCain. With Ralph Nader and Bob Barr added to the mix, Obama holds a 15-point edge.' BLOOMBERG NEWS, on the same poll: 'The poll shows that the third- party candidacies of Barr and Nader, who political experts say likely will be on the ballot in most states, are hurting Arizona Senator McCai ...

Document Size:	5454
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 25 10:38:54 PDT 2008

7725 [lbo-talk] on the Obama iPod -- rank: 1000

[via Mike Allen] Senator Obama is on the cover of ROLLING STONE, interviewed by Jann Wenner. On his iPod, per an AP preview: Bob Dylan, Yo-Yo Ma, Sheryl Crow and Jay-Z. 'Asked what he thought of rap, Obama said the genre has broken down barriers within the music world, though he's concerned about his daughters - Malia, 9, and Sasha, 7 - listening to it. 'I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics,' he said, 'but I think the genius of the art form has shi ...

Document Size:	5805
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Jun 25 10:37:45 PDT 2008