The Real State of the Union

By John McDonald
01/31/2006

President Bush is set to share his vision of the state of the union tonight. My guess is that he hasn’t had a hallucination this wild since he ate that Peyote Jack Abramoff got for him from his Indian Tribe clients.


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Power, Process, and Pan-Opticon

By Alexander Rai
01/31/2006

Power, Process, and Panopticon: An Introduction


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Urbanism and Suburbanism as Ways of Life: A Re-evaluation of Definitions, Herbert J. Gans

By Alexander Rai
01/26/2006

Gans describes the diffusion and establishment of Urban and Suburban structures as based on life cycles of individuals and the choices they are susceptible to making. He bases the corollary fabric of this structure as a hiearchical construct with particularities in trans-interactions. He classifies interactions as being primary, quasi-primary, and secondary.


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The Constitution as Talking Points

By John McDonald
01/26/2006

When it comes to the Supreme Court, the Bush administration claims they want judges on the court who will “strictly interpret and apply the constitution.”


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The Lamentable Choice of 2006

By Stephen Macklin
01/24/2006

There are a lot of big things coming our way in 2006. Right out of the gate there was the Alito nomination fight. On top of this there's the whole Abramoff scandal. This year we will begin to draw down troop levels in Iraq.


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'How Sixth Avenue Became a Sustaining Habitat', from Mitchell Dunier, Sidewalk: A Synthesis

By Alexander Rai
01/23/2006

Mitchell Dunier's 'How Sixth Avenue Became a Sustaining Habitat' is a portrayal of a paradoxical side of urban city life: a reality inhabited by the bottom strata dwellers of the status index within a designated urban population. In the instance of Sixth Avenue this reality is constituted by "..the presence of poor black panhandlers, scavengers, and vendors" (116).


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Will Arctic tie up the lines and stall important legislation and energy initiatives again this year? Hopefully, Congress has learned its lesson…

By Laura Kiesel
01/23/2006

Last year was not a good year for the Republican party or the Bush administration. Waist deep in scandals and rumors, both bodies remained on the constant defensive throughout the latter half of 2005, as Republican members of Congress were indicted, resigned amid criminal prosecution and fought off nefarious allegations. The latest headliner is lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s confession to wooing members of Congress, mostly of the right wing persuasion, with money and lavish trips, at the expense of Native American funds.


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Bundt Cake II

By John McDonald
01/10/2006

For Jonathan Castro – killed in Iraq, December, 2004


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Putting your money where your mouth is

By Mike Thomas
01/05/2006

President Bush gets a lot of credit from his GOP apologists for spreading freedom and democracy across Iraq. But how much of that is really deserved?


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Abramoff Pleads Guilty

By John McDonald
01/05/2006

The Halls of Congress are tension filled as house members and their staff consider their fate as former lobbyist Jack Abramoff gets set to spill his guts.


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What's In a Name?

By Alexander Rai
01/03/2006

My name is Abhirup Roy. But this, day, on the January 1st. of the year 2006; 2006 AD, or “in the Year of our Lord”, I find myself speaking in the past tense. For my name is, on this day, becomes Alexander Kumar Rai.


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Russia's Interests

By
01/03/2006

Many are labeling Russia’s pressure on Ukraine to pay market prices for natural gas as “Cold War” tactics. Of course, the Ukrainian government is paying the full price for their anti-Russian rhetoric and pro-Western orientation. Russia is flexing the only muscles she has: natural resources. But, it’s not so much a message to the Ukraine as to the West. And it’s not so much “Cold War” as Realist geo-politics.


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