“Harriet Tubman Speaks”: A Poem for Black History Month

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

Here is a poem that I wrote in the voice of Harriet Tubman for Black History Month back in 2008. In my poem, I used only the titles of children’s books written by African-American authors or books about the African-American experience…with one exception—Come with Me, a book of poems that was written by Naomi Shihab Nye. (NOTE: I’ve printed the book titles in italics in my poem.)

Harriet_Tubman1

Harriet Tubman Speaks
by Elaine Magliaro

Hush,
My Brown Angels,
Listen to The Distant Talking Drum.
Hear it Spin a Soft Black Song
Under the Quilt of Night.

I’m Only Passing Through,
Goin’ Someplace Special…
To The Other Side
Where there’s A Sweet Smell of Roses
And Freedom Like Sunlight.

I’ve Seen the Promised Land—
A place for All the Colors of the Race.
Now Is Your Time
To be Freedom Walkers.
Follow me on The Road North
To Liberty Street.

Come with Me
To The Other Side
Where we will Make a Joyful Sound.
We will Lift Every Voice and Sing…
Sing to the Sun.
Sing Free at Last!

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Posted in American History, Countries, Democracy, Education, Equal Rights, Government, Heroism, History, Racism, Society, United States | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Smearing of Dead ISIS Hostage Kayla Mueller by a Right-Wing Hatemonger

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro
Debbie Schlussel

Debbie Schlussel

By Elaine Magliaro

Evan McMurry (Mediaite) said yesterday that there seems to be a new trend among right-wing bloggers–“smearing dead people in the news.”

McMurry:

A new craze is sweeping the nation: attacking the character of murdered people for their perceived ideological crimes.

Hours after news that the death of ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller had been confirmed, a report emanated from the conservative blogosphere alleging Mueller had served as a “human shield” for a pro-Hamas group. Mueller worked for a pro-Palestinian organization in 2010-11, and also for a variety of refugee organizations in Israel and Turkey.

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Posted in Conservatives, Countries, Free Speech, Islam, Media, Political Science, Politics, Propaganda, Religion, United States | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Regarding Andrew Wakefield, a Retracted Medical Study, the MMR Vaccine and Autism, and the Measles Outbreak

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro
Andrew Wakefield

Andrew Wakefield

By Elaine Magliaro

It all began in the year 1998 when a British doctor named Andrew Wakefield and eleven other co-authors published a study titled Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children in The Lancet. The study “sparked widespread hysteria” about there being a possible link between the mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Stav Ziv (Newsweek) wrote the following about the study that set the “MMR-autism dominoes tumbling…”: It provided case histories for 12 children, exploring incidences of chronic enterocolitis, inflammatory bowel disease and regressive developmental disorder—as well as immunization with the MMR vaccine. “In eight children, the onset of behavioral problems had been linked, either by the parents or by the child’s physician, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination,” the authors wrote.

In February 2010, Steve Novella (Science-Based Medicine) wrote that the study had not stood the test of time. Novella said that the results couldn’t be replicated by other labs. He said that a decade of subsequent research had “sufficiently cleared the MMR vaccine of any connection to ASD.” Novella added that the lab that had been used “to search for measles virus in the guts of the study subjects” had “been shown to have used flawed techniques, resulting in false positives.” There reportedly did not “appear to be any association between autism and a GI disorder.” The Lancet has retracted Wakefield’s paper. Continue reading →

Posted in Fraud, Health Care, Medical Technology, Pharmaceuticals, Propaganda, Science, Society, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

“Reverse: A Lynching”–A Poem by Ansel Elkins

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro

LinchingPic3

By Elaine Magliaro

After reading the summary of the Equal Justice Initiative’s report LYNCHING IN AMERICA: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror, I went looking for a poem on the subject of lynchings in this country. I came upon Reverse: A Lynching, a poem written by Ansel Elkins. It was one of the winners of the 2011 “Discovery” Poetry Contest. (NOTE: Elkins’s debut collection of poetry, Blue Yodel, was the winner of the 2014 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition.)

Reverse: A Lynching
By Ansel Elkins

Return the tree, the moon, the naked man
Hanging from the indifferent branch
Return blood to his brain, breath to his heart
Reunite the neck with the bridge of his body
Untie the knot, undo the noose
Return the kicking feet to ground
Unwhisper the word jesus
Rejoin his penis with his loins
Resheathe the knife
Regird the calfskin belt through trouser loops
Refasten the brass buckle
Untangle the spitting men from the mob
Unsay the word nigger

Click here to read the full text of the poem.

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Posted in American History, Crime, Equal Rights, Justice, Literature, Poetry, Racism, Society, United States | Tagged | 4 Comments

Vaccines: How to Avoid Killing and Maiming Children–A Mark Fiore Cartoon Video

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

Award-winning political cartoonist Mark Fiore said that he had wanted to do a cartoon on vaccinations and the anti-vaxxers for a while. Once politicians like Rand Paul and Chris Christie began “stumbling over themselves following the measles outbreak,” Fiore knew the time was right.

Fiore:

It’s incredible that the anti-vaccination crew has gotten so much traction, given the completely fraudulent and truly shady origins of the vaccine-autism “connection.” Autism and developmental disabilities are not something to be taken lightly and we’ll all do everything we can to make sure our kids have the best possible life, but if you just barely scratch the surface of the anti-vaccine claims, they fall apart quickly.

Let’s hope vaccination doesn’t become a partisan, political issue like sadly global warming has become. This is science, folks, let’s listen to the scientists, researchers and founding fathers for that matter. Jenny McCarthy may have a very moving personal story, but let’s let science be our guide. 

Vaccines: How to Avoid Killing and Maiming Children

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Posted in Health Care, Humor, Science | 14 Comments

Brian Williams suspended without pay

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Chuck Stanley

by Chuck Stanley

BS detectorHere is an update to Mike’s earlier post, “Brian Williams Should Be Fired…”

A few minutes ago, NBC News President Deborah Turness gave a press release.  It begins by saying,

“We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately.  We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News.

[snip]

“As Managing Editor and Anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times.”

The full statement can be found at Politico.

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Posted in Celebrity, Hypocrisy, Media, United States | Tagged | 38 Comments

LYNCHING IN AMERICA: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror—A Report from the Equal Justice Initiative

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

Omaha Courthouse Lynching 1919

Omaha Courthouse Lynching 1919

Earlier today, the Equal justice Initiative (EJI) released a report of a multi-year investigation titled Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror. EJI discovered that lynchings in this country were more extensive than had been previously reported. The new report documents the terror lynchings of 3,959 African Americans in twelve Southern states during the period between 1877 and 1950.

From EJI:

Lynching in America makes the case that lynching of African Americans was terrorism, a widely supported phenomenon used to enforce racial subordination and segregation. Lynchings were violent and public events that traumatized black people throughout the country and were largely tolerated by state and federal officials. This was not “frontier justice” carried out by a few marginalized vigilantes or extremists. Instead, many African Americans who were never accused of any crime were tortured and murdered in front of picnicking spectators (including elected officials and prominent citizens) for bumping into a white person, or wearing their military uniforms after World War I, or not using the appropriate title when addressing a white person. People who participated in lynchings were celebrated and acted with impunity. Not a single white person was convicted of murder for lynching a black person in America during this period.

The report explores the ways in which lynching profoundly impacted race relations in this country and shaped the contemporary geographic, political, social, and economic conditions of African Americans. Most importantly, lynching reinforced a narrative of racial difference and a legacy of racial inequality that is readily apparent in our criminal justice system today. Mass incarceration, racially biased capital punishment, excessive sentencing, disproportionate sentencing of racial minorities, and police abuse of people of color reveal problems in American society that were shaped by the terror era.

Southern Lynching 1937

Southern Lynching 1937

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Posted in Alabama, American History, Crime, Equal Rights, Government, Government Propaganda, History, Local Government, Louisiana, Media, Mississippi, Propaganda, Racism, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Ferguson Prosecutor to Speak at St. Louis University

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Gene Howington

scales_of_justice1by Gene Howington

Bob McCulloch is in the news again. The now infamous prosecutor from the Michael Brown case has been scheduled for an upcoming speech at St. Louis University, raising the ire of some students. The focus of the Feb. 20 law school event is on police practices after Ferguson. The student law review symposium will also feature County Police Chief Jon Belmar and social scientists from five other universities. He is expected to answer audience questions for 25 minutes after a 35-minute talk.

The Black Law Students Association and others have asked the school’s dean to rescind the invitation, pointing to legal and ethics challenges to McCulloch’s tactics before a grand jury that declined to indict former Ferguson officer Darren Wilson. McCulloch has acknowledged these problems while doing nothing to address them.  He admits to calling witnesses whom he said “clearly lied” to the grand jury. One such witness has been identified as Sandra McElroy, a “bipolar Missouri woman with a criminal past who has a history of making racist remarks and once insinuated herself into another high-profile St. Louis criminal case with claims that police eventually dismissed as a ‘complete fabrication.’” She claimed to have seen Brown charge at Wilson, a claim that could neither be confirmed nor denied by the forensic evidence.

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Posted in Courts, Crime, Education, Equal Rights, Free Speech, Justice, Missouri, Racism, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , | 63 Comments

John Oliver on Big Pharma and the Marketing of Drugs to Doctors

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro

By Elaine Magliaro

John Oliver’s HBO program Last Week Tonight is back from a three-month hiatus. Oliver did a killer segment last night on Big Phrama and the huge amount of money that drug companies spend on marketing their drugs to doctors

During the program, Oliver said, “Drug companies are like high school boyfriends. They’re more interested in getting inside you than in being effective once they are there.”

Inae Oh (Mother Jones):

According to one report referenced on Sunday’s show, nine out of ten drug companies allocate significantly more on marketing than actual scientific research–a practice Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently announced she is working to reverse. Much of the money is spent on attractive representatives, many of whom are clueless to the products they’re selling, to push the drugs. Some reps even dangle complimentary meals to persuade doctors into cashing in.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Marketing to Doctors (HBO)

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Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Health Care, Humor, Media, Pharmaceuticals, Science, Society, United States | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Buried in Snow! Two Winter Poems for Children

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Elaine Magliaro

10521059_10152591442270950_7928652658799961336_nBy Elaine Magliaro

We’ve been snowed under here in my area of Massachusetts. In the past couple of weeks, we have gotten around five feet of snow. Meteorologists are predicting another storm on Thursday. I’m sure this will be one of our snowiest winters on record. The winter of 2010-2011 was pretty bad too. I was housebound for a time during  that snow-filled season. One thing that kept me occupied was writing children’s poems about snow, winter weather, and icicles. This morning, I thought I’d post a couple of those poems–as well as a few photos that I took from inside my house.

 

It’s Snowing Again!
By Elaine Magliaro

It’s snowing again.
It’s blowing again.
It’s snowing and blowing.
The traffic is slowing.
The drifts keep on growing and growing and GROWING.
It just keeps on snowing
and snowing and snowing.
I don’t think it’s
EVER
going
to end.

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Posted in Art, Literature, Poetry, United States | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments