tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16365841294750055422011-11-27T16:56:26.300-08:00A Civil Disagreement Blog is a forum for users to discuss national & international politics and social issues. We encourage a lively discussion though we insist that any disagreements remain civilized.JJnoreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-24164842354739421042010-08-22T13:42:00.000-07:002010-08-22T14:11:14.072-07:00

The Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina is a really pleasant place. It’s quiet; the food’s great; it’s great for family. But what if the family gets restless? You’ve done the mini-golf and the movies. What might be new, different and fun, and take advantage of the fact that you are where you are?Try this one: kayak. I went kayaking with my college-age daughter in the Alligator River National

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-5426422435344843702010-01-09T18:25:00.000-08:002010-01-09T19:13:52.154-08:00

Today's world, like past times, is beset by crime, violence, poverty, and injustice. It is a complex task to establish the causes for violence in different parts of the world. Historians, sociologists, and geographers grapple with these issues. Politicians, world organizations, and non-governmental organizations try to do something about them. Although it is a tough sell to claim to identify a

JJnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-66898220806158693182010-01-05T09:47:00.000-08:002010-01-06T07:31:23.037-08:00

Reporter and author David Halberstam, who died in 2009, once said, "America is a generous and strong country. It is fashionable to make fun, but it’s true." You can see this generosity all over the world. In Africa, between our government's aid and private initiatives by people such as Bill and Melinda Gates, we spend more to combat AIDS than any African government does. Even the totally

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-59295416641659338152009-11-09T13:09:00.000-08:002009-11-11T15:30:25.353-08:00

From Iraq to Afghanistan, Will History See It Any Differently?Victorious English general Oliver Cromwell, Britain's Lord Protector, leader of the New Model Army and victor in England's Civil War once told a portrait painter, who assumed he would be covering over anything unsightly, to paint him "warts and all." And so Cromwell has come down through the years full of warts - physical imperfections

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-4746303990851822332009-09-13T19:04:00.000-07:002009-09-13T19:13:23.320-07:00

Firoozeh Dumas is a very funny Iranian. Check that! She is a very funny American who happens to be an Iranian immigrant. Her book, Funny is Farsi, is a story -- rather a series of stories -- about growing up as an immigrant. But it is about more than that. It is a book about growing up -- as an immigrant; as an Iranian; as the target of hate (following the hostage situation in Tehran in 1979);

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-23899713101503905032009-09-13T18:17:00.001-07:002009-09-13T18:27:03.373-07:00

We may not see how the choices we have in today’s world reflect how homogenous our society is becoming, noisy town hall meetings notwithstanding. But a recent moment in the White House found a country music star singing a song to the nation’s first black president -- a song inspired by and about him; a song with Civil Rights referenced; a song extolling the global world. It was more than a moment

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-28253343689331477072009-09-13T16:57:00.000-07:002009-09-13T17:40:54.896-07:00

Perhaps you’ve heard the old joke that goes: There are two types of people in the world, those who divide people into two types and those that don’t. One of the smartest people ever, Steven J. Gould, wrote about people’s disturbing characteristic of dividing things into two’s. That makes it easier to say that someone is for us or against us. This dualism adds to our dueling.It also prevents us

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-71562080093773342972009-09-13T16:12:00.000-07:002009-09-13T16:27:43.531-07:00

I can understand why Lions for Lambs, Robert Redford’s recent movie, received mixed reviews; in fact, I can completely understand why many people would hate it. It is preachy, very preachy. About a third of the movie shows Tom Cruise’s character (a Republican senator) preaching at Meryl Streep’s character (a veteran reporter) in support of the administration’s war on terror, while the reporter in

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-20683787793005620142009-09-13T14:22:00.000-07:002009-09-13T14:41:10.650-07:00

Could 2009 be the beginning of the post-democracy era, complements of the current financial crisis?Francis Fukayama once declared the "end of history," to wit, that the Great Questions of History have been answered, and that the consensus was that the best course for mankind was economic capitalism combined with a democratic government. There would be no more need for conflict; the case was

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-81265700293972991312009-09-13T12:17:00.000-07:002009-09-14T08:06:12.750-07:00

The government has no business censoring books, music, or art. But that does not mean we must allow ourselves to be subjected to depravity. Freedom is not a one-way street, as in anyone is free to perpetually offend everyone else. I am a civil libertarian; I am against censorship. But I am not against knocking obscene and insulting music off the airwaves. Rappers and Hip-Hop "artists" are free to

JJnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-42699369135288164582009-09-10T20:36:00.000-07:002009-09-10T20:43:29.760-07:00

A Civil Disagreement Blog is sponsored by A Civil Disagreement. Its purpose is to provide a civilized forum for users to discuss national & international politics and social issues. The information can be anything related to politics or society and it is meant for everyone. We encourage a lively discussion though we insist that any disagreements remain civilized. Please keep it clean. The

JJnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1636584129475005542.post-76568295262935478452008-10-14T07:21:00.000-07:002008-10-14T07:42:34.650-07:00

Please vote on Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

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