Author: nickdupree

Vigorously Insisting On A More Perfect Union: Fighting Cuts, Demanding Universal Health Care

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Vigorously Insisting On A More Perfect Union: Fighting Cuts, Demanding Universal Health Care I Take On Health Care Policy Once Again It has almost become a spring ritual for me. President Bush submits a new budget to Congress, unabashedly filled with loathsome cuts to the lifeline of the poor and disabled (Medicaid) to finance more … Continue reading “Vigorously Insisting On A More Perfect Union: Fighting Cuts, Demanding Universal Health Care”

In Response To Bush’s State of the Union, Remember MLK

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In Response To Bush’s State of the Union, Remember MLK I’m going to respond to President Bush’s State of the Union, but not in the way every blog is. As always, I want to be atypical and different. 🙂 In response to Bush’s weak, conservative agenda to address problems at home (tax deductions will enable … Continue reading “In Response To Bush’s State of the Union, Remember MLK”

Why You Should Boycott Microsoft Vista

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Why You Should Boycott Microsoft Vista Slate.com just put out a review of Microsoft’s new Operating System: Hey, Windows Vista Is Pretty Good. But from my good friend Y-Love, I bring you the reason everyone should boycott this newfangled software: Microsoft is doing evil $#!t to ppl. Especially IT ppl and tech employed ppl. So … Continue reading “Why You Should Boycott Microsoft Vista”

My Thoughts On Hillary

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My Thoughts On Hillary Last weekend Hillary Clinton announced she’s running for president. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson also announced. Senator Sam Brownback announced for the Republican side.Barack Obama jumped in last week. Senator Biden and Senator Dodd and Senator McCain got in weeks ago. But about Hillary: Although the hatred of Hillary in the … Continue reading “My Thoughts On Hillary”

U.S. Foreign Policy In Deep Shi’ite

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U.S. Foreign Policy In Deep Shi’ite An in-depth analysis In 2007, the dominant news story will be the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq. War is also the dominant spiritual and moral issue of my generation. It’s impossible for me not to blog about this. The president has ordered a “surge,” or increase of 21,500 troops, which … Continue reading “U.S. Foreign Policy In Deep Shi’ite”

Confronting The Absence of G-d

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Confronting The Absence of G-d Filling the Gap Called Life I was born with some weird, unknown muscular dystrophy (yeah, Jerry’s Kids Telethon *gag*) believed to be related to the metabolic cycle. On September, Friday the 13th, 1991, at age 9, I had back surgery to put rods in and supposedly straighten my spine (unnecessarily, … Continue reading “Confronting The Absence of G-d”

Amos Shoves G-d’s Social Justice Message In Your Face

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Amos Shoves G-d’s Social Justice Message In Your Face Nick’s Commentary on the Book of Amos All my life, I’ve had this yearning to repair the world and set right the injustices it is replete with. This drive has burned within me and spurred me to act and become an activist. As I study scripture, … Continue reading “Amos Shoves G-d’s Social Justice Message In Your Face”

It’s A New Year

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2007 Time is passing. One of the greatest illusions mankind clings to, is the notion that time is stalled and they can hang on to the status quo. You can’t. One of the only unalterable elements of nature is change. Nation-states rise and fall, politics shift like unavoidable rising tides. In Iran, anti-regime politics are … Continue reading “It’s A New Year”

How I’m Doing

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Another night. Another night. Sitting here alone, there is ample quiet to think That’s how I spend my time. As a thinker. I’m a thinker. I’m a poet without poetry to write. Right now. This isn’t poetry at all. It’s just some alone guy reaching out into the ether. There’s nothing really to say. Right … Continue reading “How I’m Doing”

U.S. Foreign Policy Lumbers, Hobbles and Bleeds Into New Year

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U.S. Foreign Policy Lumbers, Hobbles and Bleeds Into New Year Thoughts on a “regional conflagration” in Iraq. Also, Israel in the spotlight Your foreign policy forecast for 2007: Iraq will be partly cloudy with a high chance of scattered shrapnel, and heavy sectarian bloodshed expected to the north, south, east and west of Baghdad. Earlier … Continue reading “U.S. Foreign Policy Lumbers, Hobbles and Bleeds Into New Year”

Superstition, Sorcery and Torah

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Superstition, Sorcery and TorahThe commandments to stay away from the occult, necromancy, sorcery, demonic forces and the like are explicit in the Torah. See Lev. 19:26 and Deut. 18:10, from which these mitzvos are derived. There’s an interesting split among Jews regarding WHY we have these mitzvos. Rambam says the mitzvah to stay away from … Continue reading “Superstition, Sorcery and Torah”

My Ventilator Quit And The House Nearly Caught On Fire

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My Ventilator Quit And The House Nearly Caught On Fire Another Monday Today I was sleeping on my side when suddenly I heard the loud, continuous beep that means catastrophe: “BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—-” not the normal “beep beep beep,” of a tube disconnected, but the blaring, terrible din of total ventilator failure. I couldn’t breathe at all, … Continue reading “My Ventilator Quit And The House Nearly Caught On Fire”

Freed Iraqi Shias Joining Forces With Iranian Military and Hezbollah

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“Liberated” Iraqis Free To Join Forces With Hezbollah Hezbollah and Iran Training Shia Militias In Iraq Poster from the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shiite militia led by Moktada al-Sadr (upper left). Hezbollah, under Iranian auspices, are training the Shiite Mahdi Army (seen above). How sweet and helpful of them. According to the New York Times … Continue reading “Freed Iraqi Shias Joining Forces With Iranian Military and Hezbollah”

How To Win An Advocacy Campaign

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How To Win An Advocacy Campaign A Rant About Media Strategy For years I traveled, giving speeches at disability conferences about how I defeated Alabama Medicaid and how you can too, in Chicago, Minneapolis, DC, and even in Dr. Martin Luther King’s church in Montgomery. It was a great opportunity. I tried my best to … Continue reading “How To Win An Advocacy Campaign”

Global Warming Now Wiping Out Species

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Global Warming Now Wiping Out Species Someone forgot to tell the animals global warming is a hoax. Damn. WASHINGTON – Animal and plant species have begun dying off or changing sooner than predicted because of global warming, a review of hundreds of research studies contends. These fast-moving adaptations come as a surprise even to biologists … Continue reading “Global Warming Now Wiping Out Species”

Arab Monarchs To Bankroll Bush Library Institute For Democracy

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Arab Monarchs To Bankroll Bush Library Institute For Democracy OMG THE IRONY!!! In my last post, I showed the Administration snuggling up to evil Arab tyrants. Today, I see this from the New York Daily News: Bush sources with direct knowledge of library plans told the Daily News that SMU and Bush fund-raisers hope to … Continue reading “Arab Monarchs To Bankroll Bush Library Institute For Democracy”

Latest Mideast News: Dick Cheney Hugs Saudi Despot

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Latest Mideast News: Dick Cheney Hugs Saudi Despot So the Vice President of the United States went to Saudi Arabia yesterday for talks about stopping the Iraqi civil war and stabilizing the Mideast. It was all over the news. These images were all over the TV: Video here That’s right, Dick Cheney hugged Saudi Arabian … Continue reading “Latest Mideast News: Dick Cheney Hugs Saudi Despot”

How My Thanksgiving Went

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Thanksgiving!! All the family who live in the house. From me (right), mom, Jamie (left), Nana and Louie the dog in my bed, at bottom. I asked mom to get bread so I could HaMotzi-ize it (say the bread blessing in Hebrew), so it was the most Jewy Thanksgiving to date. May it only increase. … Continue reading “How My Thanksgiving Went”

Nicholas Midrashim: Ishmael

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Nicholas Midrashim: Ishmael Ishmael means “G-d hears,” because Hashem heard the pleas of Hagar, his mother. “And G-d was with the lad, and he grew, and he dwelt in the desert, and he became an archer.” (Gen 21:20) Notice I’ve shown (or tried to show) Ishmael drawing the bow with his thumb, the method of … Continue reading “Nicholas Midrashim: Ishmael”

Morality And Government

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Morality And Government Should Morality Stop At The State House Steps? To get elected, candidates are increasingly talking about their faith. A judge here in Alabama a few years ago ran campaign ads saying he would “go by the book,” and it showed his hand on the Bible. Recently, Harold Ford campaigned for the U.S. … Continue reading “Morality And Government”

Bush In Vietnam – The Irony Is Too Much

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Bush In Vietnam – The Irony Is Too Much The Irony Is Just Incredible In Vietnam, Bush cites lessons for Iraq, saying Vietnam war teaches us “we’ll succeed unless we quit.” WHAT?! You realize you’re sitting under a giant statue of Ho Chi Minh, right? You’re citing a non-example example? President Bush is in Vietnam … Continue reading “Bush In Vietnam – The Irony Is Too Much”

Growing Backlash Against Inequality

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Growing Backlash Against Inequality Jim Webb Tackles The Problem of Inequality In my last post, I talked about how Alabama shows that the lowest taxes don’t translate into the most wealth; we are one of the poorest states and at the bottom of nearly every category, nearly third-world. The huge, largely untaxed wealth at the … Continue reading “Growing Backlash Against Inequality”

Undo The Alabamization Of America!

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Undo The Alabamization Of America! Why I’m A Liberal The Democrats have now won both houses of Congress. Let me go back to the basics and explain. I’m far from a “proud Democrat,” but let’s be real here; it’s an unavoidable truth that what the GOP has done is incredibly damaging to our future. When … Continue reading “Undo The Alabamization Of America!”

Former Sandinista Wins Nicaragua Presidency

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Former Sandinista Wins Nicaragua Presidency An Addendum To U.S. Vows To Punish Nicaragua For Elections As I reported in detail in the aforementioned post, the U.S. administration has recently been meddling in Nicaraguan affairs by openly supporting the Contra-type opponents of former Sandinista Daniel Ortega’s leading presidential bid, sending Oliver North to Nicaragua to stump … Continue reading “Former Sandinista Wins Nicaragua Presidency”

President of the National Association of Evangelicals Admits Gay Allegations

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President of the National Association of Evangelicals Admits Gay Allegations Addendum to Hypocrisy It seems my recent post, Hypocrisy, which noted the unavoidable, persistent phenomenon of gay men leading the anti-gay crusade, was all too prescient, as Ted Haggard, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, revealed Sunday that “I am a deceiver and … Continue reading “President of the National Association of Evangelicals Admits Gay Allegations”