Overseas voters--what are you doing/hearing?
Overseas voters will send 22 delegates to the Democratic convention this year. And I just did something I've never done before--voted on the Internet!
View ArticleBreaking: UK nationalises Northern Rock Bank
I blogged previously about the bad omen that was a run on a bank--Northern Rock Bank--here in the UK. A bad omen indicating that the subprime loan crisis and the credit crunch are worldwide phenomena....
View ArticleOversubscribed: Affordable healthcare
This one's personal for me. I have a grandchild in Oregon who has not had coverage since my daughter's employer dropped coverage for dependents. She's hoping to get a spot for her on the Oregon Health...
View Article"Ive been bad 4 years & years": a story of disability, abuse and silence
These ominous words were found scrawled on a wooden post in a secret basement room of the Haut de la Garenne, until recently a children's home on the island of Jersey off the coast of England....
View Article"Stability" x 23: The UK's new budget
The Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling graces the front page of every British paper this morning (Well, except for the Daily Sport, but that's OK, he would look scary in a short skirt). He's...
View ArticleCredit Crunch hits ClearChannel
OK, it's all about schadenfreude, I admit it. But my heart leapt when I learned that ClearChannel is in clear trouble as wary private equity companies pull out of a planned buyout deal for the...
View ArticleCancer and no insurance - can you help?
Some of you know that one of the reasons I left the US with my family is that we had become "uninsurable." I've just come face to face with what could have happened to one of us if we had stayed--and...
View ArticleUPDATED--Breaking: Labour Party trounced in UK elections
Yesterday was a major day for local elections in Britain: hundreds of seats at stake across the nation on local councils, as well as mayoral races--including the hugely important Mayor of London's...
View ArticleDifference between candidates on mental illness, ASD
I count many interesting people among my friends, and none more so than Jerod Poore, who runs CrazyMeds, a sort of consumer resource/social networking site for people who have mental ill health or...
View ArticleOregon Sen. Wyden is waiting to endorse...
I emailed Sen Ron Wyden a few weeks ago to encourage him to endorse Sen Obama. Today I received a thoughtful reply from his office. I'll share an excerpt below the fold.
View ArticleBritish unions ask Labour to pay the piper
Their strategy may not work, but it's fun to watch. The British Labour party is in massive trouble: it is on the verge of bankruptcy. Traditionally, it was, um, a "Labour" party--financed by and...
View ArticleUK PRWeek details McCain's blog-aganda efforts
It shouldn't surprise anyone that McCain's campaign team is trying to reach out to bloggers overseas, given the very poor coverage he's receiving in the MSM here. However, what trade paper PRWeek's UK...
View ArticleWhat happens when politicians tell the truth?
Well, we're finding out here in the UK--they get raked over the coals by the tabloid press for harming the economy.
View ArticleCrash bites deep in UK
As an expat, I trawl the US papers most evenings before I go to bed. The last few days haven't been a pretty sight. Most haven't mentioned much about the impact of the past three days in Europe, so...
View ArticleDirector John Waters SWEARS he didn't invent Sarah Palin...
...but adds that he could have, and wishes he did.So do I, because then she would be a fictional character instead of a potential vice-president.I went to see John Waters speak in London last night,...
View ArticleIt's official: Ireland slips into recession
A recession is what we're supposed to call it when for two consecutive quarters, the economy contracts instead of expanding or remaining stable. Ireland has now officially hit this point. Its economy...
View ArticleUPDATED x 2: Bradford & Bingley bank nationalised in UK
Bowler hats are not going to be this year's stylish accessory.The bowler was once the traditional headgear of the "City gent": the British banker who worked in London's financial district. Only a few...
View ArticleStephen King (R-Iowa) blames BLACKS for bailout failure
I posted this in a long thread a few minutes ago and then thought--hey, I really want to make sure people read this. Story below the fold.
View ArticleI'm voting in Oregon today (by long distance)
Getting my ballot this year has been a bit of a struggle. I was able to vote in the primary online, which was great and appeared to be quite secure. When we moved (again) last month, though, things got...
View ArticleMcCain's autism pander--and why this parent/professional is disgusted
This is the first presidential campaign in which both candidates have felt compelled to have a policy statement on autism, and in last night's debate McCain attempted to inject autism into the...
View ArticleLet's thank Chaylee Cole (who quit job over anti-Obama call script)
Last week Chaylee Cole, an 18-year-old student at Fairmount College from Weston, West Virginia, quit her call center job when her boss handed her a script to read out to potential voters that was full...
View ArticleA message from Chaylee Cole
Chaylee is the student from West Virginia who lost her call centre job for refusing to read a misleading anti-Obama script to potential voters. Several of us at DKos were so impressed that we wanted to...
View ArticleWar is over if you want it: NYT Special Edition
Can't help the title as I'm blogging today from Liverpool <grin>, where I'm speaking at a conference. But it looks like no one has posted anything about the "special edition" of the New York...
View ArticleGreek embassies blockaded/occupied, General Strikes this week in Greece, Italy
I don't know if the story is getting much play in the US, but it's big news here in Europe and is now spreading beyond Greece. Three days ago, police hassling some kids in the "alternative" district of...
View ArticleNew School occupied in NYC
Just thought I would post about this, as I couldn't find another diary on it. A group of students (with support from some faculty, from what I hear) have occupied a building at the New School, a...
View ArticleWatching the British high street implode
Things are not jolly on the British high street this holiday season (the "high street" is the shopping street in any town, or any large neighbourhood if you're in a big city). In the past 24 hours,...
View ArticleWoolworths UK: How to kill a business
I've been learning more about just how one of the largest and best-known retail companies in the UK was killed off. I'd like to share some of what I've found out--I suspect that many of these...
View ArticleChina 2009: Interesting times
I'm writing this diary to draw your attention to an excellent article in the Guardian, which sums up very well what I have been hearing for awhile from other sources. You can find the article here. To...
View ArticleGeneral Strike in France gets 70 percent support
If ever proof was needed that Sarkozy is a tool and his minions are idiots, his education minister provided it today. Interviewed on French TV about Thursday's general strike--a reaction to to...
View ArticleFrench Caribbean erupts over recession: General strike, riots
This was an entirely new story to me when I saw an article in the Times yesterday, and a quick search tells me it hasn't been the subject of a DKos post yet. It's closer to your back yard than mine...
View ArticleUK 'Speaker of the House' resigns, Parliament rocking
MP Michael Martin, Speaker of the Commons (a position analogous to the US Speaker of the House) has announced that he will resign on 21 June--IF he is allowed to stay in office that long it will be a...
View ArticleAutism, health insurance, and unintended consequences
As noted in a rescued diary today, many states have passed or are considering mandating coverage for autism by private insurers. In this diary I point out some possible unintended consequences of these...
View ArticleUK government crisis deepens
Just thought I would post an update on what's been going on here in the UK, where it is looking increasingly likely--though not yet certain--that Prime Minister Gordon Brown may be forced to step down...
View ArticleUpdated: European Parliament elections today--the news so far
Today citizens of the nations that make up the EU get to vote on the parties we want to send to the European Parliament. That's about 275 million possible voters in 27 countries--though word is that...
View ArticleBrown going down? THREE more top Ministers resign from UK Cabinet
As predicted, it's not looking good for Gordon Brown's ambitions to remain as British Prime Minister. After yesterday's appalling results for Labour in both the local elections and the European...
View ArticleEuropean election results--they aren't pretty...
Centre-right and far-right parties appear to have done very well indeed as the European Union parliamentary results are slowly released tonight. The UK results are a further embarrassment to Labour,...
View ArticleGordon Brown survives "plot" to depose him as PM
This won't really be much of a diary, but I know it's not getting a lot of coverage in the US and some people are interested so, here goes.
View ArticlePlease tell the UK about long term care insurance
The UK government has published a "green paper" (that's a proposed policy) for England suggesting that long-term care be funded from the near future by an insurance system. Not a public system, like...
View ArticleGet ready for a Conservative government in the UK
It's the political season in the UK right now, when the political parties meet at various seaside towns to attend corporate-sponsored talks on issues like climate change, and tell the country what...
View ArticleOne of UK's largest grocery chains dumps Fox News
British customers have been complaining about seeing adverts from Waitrose, one of our largest grocery chains, on the Glenn Beck show following his 'Obama is a racist' remarks. Now Waitrose has...
View ArticleBritish blogger busts racists selling fake terror tales
Did you hear the one about how jihadists were supposedly out to kill Madonna, based on "Internet chatter"? The story was picked up and run by low-rent UK tabloid The People. Now British blogger...
View ArticleGuardian injunction lifted: Brit bloggers and Twitterers prevail
Yesterday the reviled British libel firm Carter-Ruck managed to place an injuction on the Guardian (UK newspaper) to prevent it from reporting details of questions an MP had asked in Parliament. This...
View ArticleCraft sale to get wheelchair-adapted van: What Americans have to do when...
One of my oldest friends back in the US is a single mom with a young son who has had multiple disabilities from birth. He has health care, thank goodness (well, actually, thank Medicaid) but it's all...
View ArticleCameron meets with NHS privatisation campaigners
It's likely that in a few short months, David Cameron will be the Prime Minister of Britain, heading a majority-Conservative government. Labour have only themselves and their corporate backers to...
View ArticleAll eyes on Greece...
Today public sector workers in Greece have started what will be the first of many strikes, in response to a government austerity plan that includes a wage freeze, hiring freeze and layoffs.Inside and...
View ArticleGreek General Strike tomorrow: Police label it a "revolt"
I keep a close eye on Greece for a couple of reasons. First, I have a lot of students and friends from there. Second, I live in the UK and you know all those bad things they are saying about the Greek...
View ArticleKosAbility: The autism spectrum
Fifteen years ago, I started work on my first book about autism. My son was three and we were in the process of obtaining a diagnosis--which ultimately took over three years (a length of time that was,...
View ArticleIMF plan for Greece: An end to collective bargaining
Dropped into the middle of a story on the IMF's plan for Greece (I won't call it a bailout, it's basically a wholesale takeover of a sovereign democratic state) is this charming little nugget: part of...
View ArticleOnline "higher education", HRC, and the right wing
I'm in the middle of a training programme to teach on courses run by a well-known online education provider, one that has a close association with the Clintons. I'm not allowed to name the company--I...
View ArticleWhat the Dutch AIVD (secret service) told the US about Russian hackers
I don't post often these days, but as "the memo" appears to have landed, I thought now might be a good time to summarise what's known about one of the other, non Christopher Steel dossier, major...
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