Category Archives: Global Concern

The tweeting of BPGlobalPR

By Frank Paynter | Published: May 29, 2010

We regretfully admit that something has happened off of the Gulf Coast. More to come. With that laconic tweet, on May 19th BPGlobalPR emerged on twitter. Today, ten days later, the account has 83,000 followers and has posted about 130 tweets. The humor in these tweets ranges from bitterly ironic to sophomoric, but the picture [...]

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A big chill

By Frank Paynter | Published: May 27, 2010

It’s hard to put a dollar value on a dead sea turtle. Impossible, actually. Estimates of royalties owed to the US taxpayer for the lost oil amount to around $35 million. Chump change. Lurking somewhere offstage is the specter of a liability cap. Seventy-five million dollars per oil spill? Still chump change. The Deepwater Horizon [...]

Also posted in Bidness, Environment | Tagged , | Comments closed

Obama, Bush, Clinton, Aristide, Haiti

By Frank Paynter | Published: January 17, 2010

Chantal Laurent, The Haitian Blogger, published an informed article yesterday on her blog and in Salon, an article that underscores the irony of Obama’s appointment of Clinton and Bush to lead “an international campaign to help Haiti recover from the earthquake there.” America’s interventionism in Haiti’s affairs, deserves a closer look. The noble “international community” [...]

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Down on the farm, administrivia department

By Frank Paynter | Published: January 16, 2010

I’ve been following the unfolding story of the Trautman farm and their struggle with Wisconsin’s Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Affairs. A recent post inspired an email from Betty, one of my favorite readers. She gave me permission to edit it a little and post it here. Any errors or misstatements in what follows [...]

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CIA agents killed in the line of duty

By Frank Paynter | Published: January 1, 2010

So ‘ere’s to you fuzzy-wuzzy, at your ‘ome in the Soudan; You’re a pore benighted ‘eathen, but a first class fightin’ man. – Rudyard Kipling Since a time before the centuries of failure of the British imperialists to subdue “the wily Pathan”, since the time of Hasan bin Sabah and before, a time stretching back [...]

Also posted in Patriotism, Peace and Politics, Truth and Falsehood | Comments closed

New Year Revolution

By Frank Paynter | Published: December 17, 2009

President Obama has had a year to set things right, and outside my window there are not yet fields of wild flowers in dappled sunlight beneath rainbows with unicorns frolicking. In fact, not much has changed. I could say I told you so, but of course I didn’t tell anybody so. In 2008, the prospect [...]

Also posted in Blue Left, Government, Patriotism, Peace and Politics, Politics | Comments closed

We ARE Number Thirty-seven

By Frank Paynter | Published: September 18, 2009

Yes we are! We are number thirty-seven in the World Health Organization’s last published ranking of quality of health care by country. And we are proud of it! We did, after all, beat out Cuba (39), Mexico (61), and Bangladesh (88). Rwanda, Chad, and, Somalia? We are way better than them. It does kinda irk [...]

Also posted in Medical Advice, Public Services | Comments closed

Eat Beef!

By Frank Paynter | Published: August 9, 2009

In the interest of equal time for carnivores and in response to the recent “Eat Less Meat” graphic in the sidebar, I share with you a marketing message I received today from an organic grass fed beef operation up near Douglas City in Trinity County… As for me, I’m doing my part for the locavore [...]

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