All families have secrets. Sometimes these secrets are known widely within the family but not shared with outsiders. In other cases, these secrets are kept from close members of the family even, or particularly, those directly affected by them. But eventually the truth usually emerges and the process can be painful for those involved.
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Capitalism has been incredibly successful in producing advances in technology and quality of life for many people, especially in the developed world. But the system is also inherently exploitative, and nowhere is this more in evidence than in the US where it has spawned an incredible level of economic inequality and greater insecurity for the vast majority of the population even as a tiny segment of the population get obscenely richer.
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In writing about cricket on this blog, I was aware that the game is mystifying to those readers who live in countries that do not play this game. Americans in general tend to be quite clueless about it. Hence it may come as a surprise that America was once one of the leading nations playing the game, with Philadelphia as its center, and had (arguably to the extent that one can rank these things) the best bowler in the history of the game. In fact, the first international cricket match took place in 1844 in the US between it and Canada.
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In America we are used to having religion-based educational institutions that teach an anti-science, anti-gay, anti-sex, and anti-women curriculum. It is appalling that these schools, because they shelter under the mantle of religion, benefit from tax-exempt status which means that all of us are essentially subsidizing the propagation of odious viewpoints. But apparently there are also schools in Great Britain that have tax-exempt status that promote the most appalling views.
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Andrew Cockburn is very good journalist who has covered a whole range of activities but his specialty is analyses of the military-political connection. He is now the Washington editor for Harper’s magazine and was interviewed on The Daily Show about his new book titled Kill Chain that discusses the illusion that warmongers in the US have that their technological superiority will enable them to overcome their enemies, a myth that has been retained despite its repeated failures going back at least as far as the Vietnam war.
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Seven children died in a fire that was caused by a hotplate that had been kept on all night and set their apartment on fire. The hotplate was not left on due to oversight but was done deliberately to avoid breaking Jewish law that prohibits working on a Sabbath, and turning a hotplate on is apparently considered ‘work’.
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Glenn Greenwald writes about a troubling legal case in which the US government intervened in a private civil suit and persuaded the judge that the case should be dismissed because having a trial would compromise national security. What made it unusual was that this was on the surface a run-of-the-mill case between two parties that ostensibly had no connection to the government
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I am back in Cleveland from Auckland, recovered from flying for almost 24 hours, including the eight-hour layover Los Angeles. The older I get the more I dread these long flights before they begin but, oddly enough, the less tired I am upon arrival and hardly troubled by jet lag. In both directions, I was comfortably on local time almost immediately upon arrival. The only thing I do is try and sleep as much as I can on the planes (allowing for the cramped flying conditions that are now the norm) but it seems to work.
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So we are down to the two host teams to battle it out for the trophy on the grounds of one of them. Despite the advantage that playing in Melbourne gives the Australians, I am sticking with my original pick of New Zealand to win the game. They just strike me as a well-balanced, complete team. Both teams have good batting depth, explosive hitters, and excellent fast bowlers. They both field well. NZ has the edge in a wily and experienced spinner in Daniel Vettori. If they can keep their cool the way the did in that exciting semi-final game against South Africa, they should be able to defeat Australia. It is clear from my time here in Auckland that there is nothing that New Zealanders would like better than defeating their arch rivals in the final.
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