tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146719982011-04-21T14:04:15.735-05:00james redpath famously documented "bleeding kansas" and radical abolitionist john brown's violent war to keep the midwestern state free from slavery.james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1124164722520990382005-08-15T22:20:00.000-05:002005-08-15T23:00:16.310-05:00

the subject of private security contractors in iraq received relatively little attention from the press for quite some time, either because it was too difficult a subject to take on, or the media simply hadn't realized how large of a role private entities had begun playing in the defense department's day-to-day activities.from months, it seemed, only one person was making the media rounds as an

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1124162258706511572005-08-15T21:40:00.000-05:002005-08-15T23:00:46.026-05:00

all right folks. sorry my posts have been hit-and-miss, but work has loomed heavy and i had a bit of the flu hit me for a couple of days. i have some belated updates on kathy and dawn's story, plus some excellent reading this week.first up:happily ever after made indefinite for kathy and dawnthe tulsa world reported a while back, again on the front page but this time below the fold, that kathy

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1123562088980031542005-08-08T21:38:00.000-05:002005-08-08T23:49:57.226-05:00

it's true. for a brief moment, sen. coburn soberly expressed a sentiment i believed was worthwhile of mention. the man has said and done things wildly contrary to what i personally believe, but why be so divisive that you can't grant credit where credit is due?there is a catch, however, which we'll get to.the tulsa world reported sunday that coburn had initially pressed his colleagues not to pass

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1123471829598500162005-08-07T20:52:00.000-05:002005-08-08T10:39:39.993-05:00

elation. complete elation.this is absolutely spectacular news. kathy and dawn have deserved this for much too long. this is an important moment in the history of allowing americans to love whoever the hell they damn well please.it led thursday's tulsa world: the law suit filed against dawn mckinley and kathy reynolds in attempt to void the marriage certificate they received under cherokee tribal

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1123370499697543392005-08-06T18:02:00.000-05:002005-08-07T22:39:32.083-05:00

mother jones magazine has quietly continued to be one of the nation’s most influential magazines. for instance, portions of eric schlosser’s best-selling “fast food nation” first appeared in the pages of mother jones.i’ve loved it for years, and i’m glad i finally bought a subscription to it after paying the cover price each month for so long.straight to it: this month, jennifer gonnerman and

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1123301708739720542005-08-05T22:23:00.000-05:002005-08-11T11:52:44.336-05:00

my friends are likely sick of hearing me explain how much i love the new yorker. but screw you all. here are some comments from last week's issue i'd meant to post a while ago. they're split into subsections.john cassidy on grover norquistkarl rove gets a lot of attention for the intimate relationship he maintains with bush.but there are others who have not only impacted bush's thinking, but have

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1122525677696590122005-07-27T23:24:00.000-05:002005-07-27T23:41:17.706-05:00

eliot spitzer embodies the convenient, yet unfair divide that allows mainstream pundits the chance to define america in black-and-white terms.either you deeply admire his crusade against anti-trust violators, or you consider him the liberal bane of lassie-faire economic theory.spitzer is the now famous, or infamous depending on your point-of-view, new york attorney general who has, since he

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1122440412249210882005-07-26T22:44:00.000-05:002005-08-08T23:55:09.270-05:00

i meet with a group of humorously sinister twenty-somethings every couple of weeks for a book gang we formed a few months ago. we call ourselves the twister city text mob and jokingly threaten to terrorize the sometimes-milquetoast literary establishment in america.our current selection is kembrew mcleod's "freedom of expression: overzealous copyright bozos and other enemies of creativity," an

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1122263696962771912005-07-24T21:44:00.000-05:002005-08-11T11:54:29.456-05:00

this week's new yorker features a new piece by respected investigative journalist sy hersh on attempts by the bush administration to influence the outcome of iraq's elections. hersh broke the my lai masacre story in 1969, and later the abu ghraib stories. he reports that u.s. administrators in iraq were under deadline to produce elections, but the country's post-war condition couldn't insure that

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14671998.post-1121896614771475752005-07-20T16:55:00.000-05:002005-07-24T23:10:02.750-05:00

all right, so i've officially entered the blogosphere. i'm not quite sure how comfortable i am with all of this. blogs have always seemed so self-indulgence. but over the last year or so, i've become hooked on a few good ones that have really proved to me their potential as an alternative media source. it will also give me the opportunity to avoid filling my friends' inboxes with what i think are

james redpathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01838843938258051920noreply@blogger.com1