14 August, 2008
By Bryan Lower
On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked by agents of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization.
In The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright traces the history of fundamentalist Islam from its beginning to its culmination in America’s day of horror. The twentieth century spiritual godfather of radical Islam was Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian intellectual who lived in the United States for several years. Qutb’s view of American would probably shock and perplex many Americans, especially the political left. The values that we consider wholesome and universal—freedom, democracy, and reason—were the same attributes that Qutb saw as corrupt and hypocritical. He was uncomfortable with sexual freedom and openness. He detested the secular government.
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Utopias and Dystopias: Does Size Matter?
25 April, 2008
By Justin Kunsman
Dystopian literature often portrays larger societies, such as Oceania in 1984, or the Empire in Star Wars, but what of the works that portray smaller communities? Is there a reason that smaller communities are used to reveal certain aspects of humanity? Often writers portray small utopian or dystopian societies that censor knowledge in order to maintain social norms as well as insure isolation. These types of societies would be considered dystopian societies in that isolation and the limiting of knowledge eventually leads to one or more individuals challenging the norms of that society, usually out of curiosity or stimulated by passions that were brought about by the discovery of secret, forbidden knowledge and unhappiness and the inability to return to the previous blissful state the society promoted, though others show a more utopian theme, returning to nature and the innocence larger societies have abandoned. These themes go back to some of the earliest literary works.
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The Alternate End to the Iraq War
24 April, 2008
By Joshua B. Probst
In the fall of 2006 the American voters made their voices heard and gave the Democrats control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. President George W. Bush followed by allowing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign. In December the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group released their highly anticipated report. It concluded that phased withdrawal, Iraqi government intervention, and diplomacy throughout the entire Middle East Region would be the best option. Being “the decider,” after hearing from the committee headed by his father’s Secretary of State James Baker and former representative Lee Hamilton, President Bush talked with his advisors key cabinet members and Vice President Dick Cheney to discuss the way forward in Iraq. In January of 2007, President Bush, in a televised speech, explained that an additional 21,000 (although over 30,000 would actually be sent) troops would be needed in order to secure victory in Iraq. General David Petraeus commander of all American forces in Iraq has gone before Congress twice since then to answer questions and report on the status of the surge. In September of 2007 he said they were making progress. In April of 2008 he was more reserved, but said that troop levels should remain until the end of the summer. Over four thousand American troops have sacrificed their lives and over six hundred billion dollars have been spent for Bush and Cheney’s war. But what if things had gone a little differently?
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This Pain Should Be Yours
23 April, 2008
A poem by Kelie Myers
Lost inside my thoughts
My endless spinning consciousness
Liability of my own devotion
The truth of my heart is forgotten by you
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Back to Disaster: Channeling Hoover at Home, Tet Abroad
22 April, 2008
David Michael Green
One of the most astonishing facts about the Bush presidency is simply that it continues to exist.
Only a combination of certain critical conditions have kept the man and his government from suffering the same fate as Mussolini or Ceaucesceu. A politically naive public, a neutered opposition, a compliant press, a Constitutionally-fixed term of office, a truckload of fear, a moderately sufficient economy and a remotely plausible victory in an unpopular war have all conspired to encourage a surly public to simply wait out the clock for the demise of the Creature from Crawford.
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The Demise of a Great Institution
21 April, 2008
By Bryan Lower
On Monday, April 21st, 2008, the Rockridge Institute announced that it will cease all operations on April 30th. This is shocking news. In the progressive world, this should be an atom bomb. American progressives are losing a major asset. Sadly, most of them will not notice.
The Rockridge Institute was founded by George Lakoff, a cognitive linguist in Berkley, California. Although the organization included more than Lakoff, its mission was based on Lakoff’s ideas. As a scientist, Lakoff has studied how we use language in politics. He uncovered some myths and mistakes used by progressives in political discourse, and he exposed how conservatives use language to their advantage. For decades, conservatives have funded think tanks, scholarships, publications, and television networks for the sole purpose of promoting conservatism and framing the debate in their own terms. The Rockridge Institute tried to do the same for progressives.
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Pressure Drop
18 April, 2008
A poem by Geoffrey Krawczyk
I read the words
almost daily
and conjure up
scenarios
that never seem
to be.
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Free Trade: the Real Issue
17 April, 2008
By Bryan Lower
I have seen a lot of criticisms of anti-globalization efforts and attempts to block new free trade agreements. The most recent example is President Bush’s reaction to the Democrats’ opposition to the Colombian free trade pact. Bush said the “need for this agreement is too urgent; the stakes for our national security are too high to allow this year to end without a vote.”(1) The president places such a high priority on free trade that it would seem the future of the country depends on it. He is not alone. Many economists, perhaps the majority, believe in free trade as a means of opening up the world’s markets and bringing new products to consumers.
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