» Soapbox

Why ‘Black’?

January 13, 2009

BY RON DU BOIS
Barack Obama’s skin color is similar to that of many Latinos yet we don’t call Latinos “black.”
The skin tone of Native Americans can be pretty dark yet we don’t call Native Americans
“black.”
Koreans have a tan skin color, yet we don’t call them “black.”
Strangely, the term “black” is reserved for anyone whose racial [...]

Wal-Mart’s Agenda

January 2, 2009

FRANK P. BELCASTRO Dubuque, IA
The Walton family and Wal-Mart spend millions of dollars every year to fund an extreme right-wing corporate agenda – one that is often in direct conflict with the interests of Wal-Mart’s most needy workers and shoppers.
Wal-Mart has lobbied against increasing port security, providing Country of Origin Labeling on food products, raising [...]

Only Option: Impeach

December 23, 2008

FRANK P. BELCASTRO Dubuque, IA
A bipartisan Senate report named former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top officials directly responsible for sanctioning torture. Rumors in D.C. are that President Bush
will pardon Rumsfeld and others for these abuses. International law prohibits the issuing of pardons, amnesties and similar measures designed to prevent accountability for abuses such as torture, [...]

Bush’s “Sole”

December 15, 2008

KAREN WEBB Moore, OK

I just heard that when President George W. Bush got back on the plane, he told reporters that he didn’t hear what the [Iraqi journalist] said, but he could “see his soul.”

The only soul he saw was the sole kind on the shoe.

The reason the guy threw it could have been that [...]

A Bush Legacy

December 10, 2008

FRANK P. BELCASTRO Dubuque, IA

Once private companies take on military and war-making tasks in Iraq, where does the buck stop? It is not uncommon, for example, for a company hired to perform a service for the Pentagon to subcontract part of the job to another company, which may then subcontract part of its [...]