NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

On days when I am so busy I barely have time to think or learn anything, I appreciate Rachel Maddow and the Maddow Blog on the MSNBC website. Some wonderful person, posts each of their articles to Facebook, and so at moments when I am breezing through peoples' pages, liking random things, I click on the Maddow Blog posts and it updates me on various things involving Democratic/Liberal/Progressive topics in the United States. Ti hu tungo' hayi si Steven Benen, lao milagro gui gi lina'la'-hu. Kada diha mamange' gui' put kosas pulitikat gi sanlagu ginen i inatan Inakague pat Progressive. Fihu an guaha finaisen-hu put este na gayu pat ayu na gayu, umannok chaddek unu na tinige'-na gi i Maddow Blog, kalang esta ha tungo' hafa malago'-hu.  *************** Christie: Americans have a president ‘who we don’t know’ 01/08/16 04:32 PM facebook twitter 3 save share group 29 By Steve Benen http://www.msnbc.c

One of the drawbacks to seeing your country as the most powerful in the world, or the greatest in the world, or even worse the greatest country in history, is that it makes changing yourself almost impossible. Your country will change, all countries are changing, often times whether the people want it to or not. But the larger your national ego is, the more difficult  it is to organize the chaotic coalition that is your national innards in order to solve basic problems. A smaller country, a less nationally narcissistic nation, which is less enamored with its own overblown and self-aggrandized image can have difficulties as well. But the "greatness" doesn't get in the way as much. Part of the problem if you think far too highly of yourself in this way is that your problems go from being unsolvable or impossible, to irrelevant, especially from those who may be standing in the way of any change, large or small, that could take place. The "greatness" of the countr

I have always found it interesting how George Takei went from simply a sci-fi actor to a cultural icon and progressive activist. I remember him from the Star Trek films and original TV show, and knew he had to be important in a general way because he was one of he few Asian American actors I would see regularly on the screen. I did not know at the time he was gay, but eventually he reentered my general view of the world as an activist for gay rights, progressive causes and seeing the funny side of life through his Facebook page. Part of the reason that I really like Star Trek as cultural universe and historical text is because it has some progressive roots. The characters of both Uhura and Sulu were minor, but significant in their day as being examples of regular non-menial role for Asian and African American ctors. Both Takei and Nichelle Nichols have worked beyond the limits of Hollywood and extended into civil rights struggles and movements, using their position and fame to help f

INTERVIEW FROM FILM SCHOOL REJECTS: At the start of Doug Liman’s  Edge of Tomorrow   our hero, Lt. Col. Bill Cage ( Tom Cruise ), is a coward. He’s more than ready to runaway from a fight he knows he’s not equipped for. That’s not the kind of hero we expect from a blockbuster, but it’s the type of subversive choice we should expect from screenwriter  Christopher McQuarrie , who had a hand in bring Hiroshi Sakurazak’s graphic novel,  All You Need Is Kill , to the big screen. A protagonist unwilling to help save the world isn’t the only fresh idea in  Edge of Tomorrow . Even when Cage becomes a fierce soldier, he’s still no match for the bad-ass helicopter-blade-wielding Rita Vrastaski   ( Emily Blunt ). She is the hero of this movie. Vrastaski drives the story. Cruise, once again playing a role a lot of movie stars would pass on, consistently pushed for his co-star to be this film’s true hero. Cruise and McQuarrie’s creative partnership is built on risky choices. Valkyr

The Santa Barbara Mass Shooting, Elliot Rodger, and Aggrieved White Male Entitlement Syndrome When an entire social structure has been erected to reinforce the lie that white folks are "normal" and "Others" are "deviant," it can be very difficult to break out of denial.    By Chauncey DeVega Alternet May 24, 2014 As I often ask, "what shall we do with the white people?"  When an "Arab" or "Muslim" American kills people in mass they are a "terrorist". When a black person shoots someone they are "thugs". When a white man commits a mass shooting he is "mentally ill" or "sick".  Whiteness and white privilege are the luxury to be an individual, one whose behavior reflects nothing about white people as a group.  There will not be a national discussion of a culture of "white pathology" or how white