I'm a native of New York City who's called the Green Mountain state of Vermont home since the summer of 1994. A former freelance journalist, I'm a fiercely independent freethinker who's highly skeptical of authority figures -- especially when they're on the wrong side of the issues I care about. But I'm not afraid to also call into question those with whom I would usually be "on the same page" if and when they, too, are on the wrong side of the issues I care about.
What I'm Reading
The "Conversations With God" series By Neale Donald Walsch
If the GOP's Right Wing Goes After the Party's Lone Asian-American Congressman -- a Vietnamese Immigrant Who Represents a Predominantly African-American (and Democratic) District -- Over His Vote in Favor of Democrats' Health-Care Reform Bill, It Will Risk Further Solidifying the GOP's Image as a Lily-White, Xenophobic Party That Is Hostile Toward Blacks, Latinos, Asians and Native AmericansStanding up for his constituents: Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao (R-Louisian... Read Full Story
'Teabaggers' Aggressively Pushing Hoffman's Candidacy Prompt Poll Workers in Two Towns in 23rd Congressional District to Call the Cops to Stop Them From Violating State Law Against Campaigning Within 100 Feet of Voting Stations; Backlash Against $2 Million Ad Blitz By Outsiders May Have Cost Hoffman the RaceA blizzard of campaign TV ads by out-of-state political groups, such as this one by the right-wing Club for Growth that attacked both Republican Dede Scozzafava and Democrat Bi... Read Full Story
Republican Candidate Pulls Out a Day After Right-Wing Group Pulls Dirty Trick With TV Ad Disguised as Liberal Group Praising Her Support for Abortion Rights and Same-Gender Marriage; With Less Than 24 Hours to Go Before Voters in Upstate New York's 23rd Congressional District Go to the Polls, Can Democrat Bill Owens Prevent the Right's Takeover Of a District That Obama Carried a Year Ago?Conceding defeat to the Far Right: Republican Dede Scozzafava announced Saturday that she had halt... Read Full Story
With Lieberman Vowing to Join GOP Filibuster to Block the Public Option in Open Defiance of Public Opinion -- and House Democrats Vowing They Won't Pass Health-Care Reform Bill Without It -- Senate Democrats Have No Choice But to Invoke the So-Called 'Nuclear Option' and Force a Vote on the Bill by a Simple MajoritySenate Democrats should have known that Democrat-turned-independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut -- photographed above with Republican presidential nominee John... Read Full Story
With Lieberman Vowing to Join GOP Filibuster to Block the Public Option in Open Defiance of Public Opinion -- and House Democrats Vowing They Won't Pass Health-Care Reform Bill Without It -- Senate Democrats Have No Choice But to Invoke the So-Called 'Nuclear Option' and Force a Vote on the Bill by a Simple MajoritySenate Democrats should have known that Democrat-turned-independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut -- photographed above with Republican presidential nominee John McCain (lef... Read Full Story
Like Cheney Before Him, Biden Is Using His Long Expertise in Washington to Influence Obama on Both Foreign and Domestic Policy and Is Keeping Much of the Power Cheney Amassed, But Unlike His Predecessor -- Who Raised Questions About Who Was Really in Charge of the Bush White House -- Biden Isn't Throwing His Weight AroundWhen Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his vice-presidential running mate last year, many commentators at the time believed that on many issues -- particularly foreign poli... Read Full Story
Washington Post/ABC News Poll Finds 57 Percent Favor Government-Run Health-Care Plan to Compete With Private Insurers; Separate Poll Finds Even Stronger Support, at 77 Percent; Republicans in Deep Trouble as Identification With Party Falls to 20 Percent -- and Americans Are More Likely to Blame GOP if Health-Care Reform Fails to PassWhat's a Republican elephant to do? The GOP's efforts to scuttle the Democrats' plans for health-care reform in Congress -- particularly a government-... Read Full Story
Production Delays and Public-Relations Problems Plagued the Ford Administration's 1976 Swine Flu Vaccination Program -- and a Media Frenzy Over the Deaths of Three Elderly People Just Hours After They Took the Vaccine Only Made Matters Worse, Triggering a Widespread Fear That the Vaccine Was UnsafeIn this archival photo, a woman receives a swine flu vaccination with the use of a jet injector by a doctor as part of a nationwide, government-sponsored campaign in 1976 to vaccinate all Americans ... Read Full Story
Production Delays and Public-Relations Problems Plagued the Ford Administration's 1976 Swine Flu Vaccination Program -- and a Media Frenzy Over the Deaths of Three Elderly People Just Hours After They Took the Vaccine Only Made Matters Worse, Triggering a Widespread Fear That the Vaccine Was UnsafeIn this archival photo, a woman receives a swine flu vaccination with the use of a jet injector by a doctor as part of a nationwide, government-sponsored campaign in 1976 to vaccinate all Americ... Read Full Story
Production Delays and Public-Relations Problems Plagued the Ford Administration's 1976 Swine Flu Vaccination Program -- and a Media Frenzy Over the Deaths of Three Elderly People Just Hours After They Took the Vaccine Only Made Matters Worse, Triggering a Widespread Fear That the Vaccine Was UnsafeIn this archival photo, a woman receives a swine flu vaccination with the use of a jet injector by a doctor as part of a nationwide, government-sponsored campaign in 1976 to vaccinate all Americ... Read Full Story
