Chuck D, founder of the hip hop group Public Enemy, with Progressive U's own Hru (aka Harry Richard Hall) at the Commonwealth Club.

Here are a few excerpts from Chuck D's comments:  Read More »

If you have watched any of the right-wing media in the past four months, no doubt you've heard the controversy surrounding University of Colorado ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill. This began back in February when some conservatives took offense to his post-September 11th essay written in 2001 titled: "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" In this essay Churchill compares victims of September 11th to 'little Eichmanns' after Nazi Adolph Eichmann. Despite the rather insensitive means of how he posits his argument, Churchill does make a good point. He argues that Americans should not feign innocence after 9/11 when for centuries U.S. foreign policy has slaughtered innocent victims and substantiated violence. Churchill aptly states, 'what goes around comes around.' Whether you agree with him or not, he has illustrated why he is a successful professor and frankly, an asset to the university, as he has made us all think critically of our own actions.  Read More »

This story prompted several comments from angry libertarians when I posted it a couple days ago. I'll promote it to the front page in hopes that we'll get some more level-headed comments from the general public. I first heard the story on The Daily Show (May 12), but it's been reported in the general news media as well.  Read More »

I'm not recommending this book, but it's worth talking about it. One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance, is written by Christina Hoff Summers and Sally Satel, "scholars" at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

Hoff Summers was on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart earlier this week, and the interview was rather interesting. Hoff Summers made fun of schools and teachers, claiming that schools are "carried away with self-esteem curricula." She provided anecdotes about teachers who have switched from marking papers with red pens to lavender (lavender is less stressful), asserted that dodgeball is "under a cloud" (many teachers prefer less agressive games like "circle of friends"), and even went so far as to say that schools are "treating children like hot-house flowers." All this friendship and self-esteem stuff is turning kids into compassionate wimps, Hoff Summers says.  Read More »

Last night The Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee did a great interview with Frank Luntz. Frank Luntz is the conservative answer to George Lakoff. As Samantha Bee put it, Luntz has had "a brilliant career spraying perfume on dog turds." Bee asked Luntz to provide his version of several phrases:  Read More »

Activists across the country today are protesting the investment policies of JPMorgan Chase bank. While other leading banks such as Citigroup and Bank of America created more progressive investment standards in response to pressure from groups such as the Rainforest Action Network, JPMorgan Chase has been conspicuously slow to change.
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Found this in the bookstore last week. This is former NBA star Charles Barkley's second book. Barkley pulls content from interviews he did with Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Tiger Woods, Morgan Freeman, and many others. Here are some excerpts from the publisher's overview:

The thing about race, Charles Barkley says, is we talk about it only when something bad happens and tempers are high, and so all we do is shout at one another across a chasm that's wide and getting wider. The rest of the time we try to pretend that the chasm isn't there....  Read More »

I'm not sure if this connection I made today is apparent to you all, but I had an epiphany regarding a seemingly trivial issue. I had a conversation with a well-known conservative professor this morning (who's name will remain anonymous). He's a Westpoint grad and holds a Ph. D. in International Relations, and has proven to be a very outspoken realist. We were discussing views on global security issues from the realist perspective versus that of a liberal perspective. What he told me was this: that anytime a state has a weapon (either chemical, biological or nuclear) no matter the size, even if it is used for defensive purposes, in a realists eyes it is viewed as offensive.  Read More »