Editorial

COMMENTARY: The 10 Most Excellent Reasons to Attack Iran

1. Iran has threatened to fight back if attacked, and that's a war crime. War crimes must be punished. Read more

A Dad’s Point-of-View: Revisiting Gratitude

Nearly seven years ago, I fell asleep at the wheel of my truck. The resulting accident – with the cruise control set at 72 mph – should have killed me, or worse. I walked away with nary a meaningful scratch as did my dog, who was thrown from the vehicle when we veered off the highway. As I drive that same route regularly, a recent visit to the crash site made me reflect on how lucky I was then and how lucky I am now. Read more

MANN TALK: Fourscore Is Enough

Every birth is no less than twins: life and death. As soon as there is birth, death stalks the new life. Nature designed it that way. What nature had in mind is biological balance. It is obvious that if life had not included death as a twin and that if everything that had received life were still around, life would be piled upon life, every species of which would be gasping and grasping for earth and air and whatever else needed for it to continue. Life would be a living death rather than a life and a death. Read more

OP-ED: Why Students Are Hunger Striking in Virginia

Twelve students at the University of Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 18 began a hunger strike for a living wage policy for university employees. They've taken this step after having exhausted just about every other possible approach over a period of 14 years. I was part of the campaign way back when it started. I can support the assertion made by hunger-striking student A.J. Chandra on Saturday, who said, Read more

OP-ED: Living Wage Campaign at the University of Virginia Declares Hunger Strike Starting Feb. 18th

Charlottesville, VA (Special to HNN) —  After years of dialogue with administration, marches, rallies, petitions, and public resolutions, the Living Wage Campaign of U.Va. began a Hunger Strike on Feb. 18th to urge U.Va to enact a living wage policy.  For 14 years, the Living Wage Campaign and its allies have urged U.Va. to pay their employees enough to meet the basic cost of living in Charlottesville.  Despite years of pressure, dialogue, and other efforts, no progress has been made.

  Read more

OP-ED: Not Another Rabbit Hole!

When Alice went down the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll’s novel, Alice in Wonderland, she experienced all kinds of unpleasant surprises. What kind of surprises will we Americans face if our government bombs Iran? Read more

OP-ED: How Violence Protects the State

On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, he spoke passionately in a sermon at Riverside Church in New York about the war in Vietnam. In this gripping speech about the hypocrisy of bringing democracy through napalm and the audacity of fostering a brotherhood through war and killing, he made a daring confession: “I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today —my own government.” Read more

CIVIL WAR OP-ED: Celebrating Black History Month in the South

February is Black History Month and 2011 through 2015 marks the 150th Anniversary of the War Between the States. Read more

OP-ED: Talk Nation Radio

: Talk Nation Radio (found at talknationradio.com) has long been hosted wonderfully by Dori Smith. I've enjoyed being a guest on her program and am now honored to be hosting the show.  I'll have a new show available every week.  Guests lined up include Robert Naiman, Pat Elder, Michelle Brown, Karen Malpede, John Horgan, Cindy Sheehan, Jeff Cohen, Coleen Rowley, Marcy Winograd, Jeff Clements, Dahr Jamail, and Bruce Gagnon.  But the first guest is Paul Chappell. Enjoy! Read more

OP-ED: Oil’s Well That Ends Well

Oil wells off the coast of South America’s only English-speaking country, Guyana, are now being drilled in earnest. Already Guyana’s economy is benefitting from millions of dollars being pumped by two companies into their operations. Should the drilling release the expected millions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, the country’s economy will boom. Read more

EDITORIAL: Manchin Earns a Zero on Life

This may be a first.  West Virginians for Life split their endorsement in the 2010 U.S. Senate race between Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican John Raese.  How well we remember the picture of Joe Manchin just smiling away with his friends from the West Virginians for Life main office. Read more

EDITORIAL: John Raese Receives Standing Ovation at WVU Children's Hospital Benefit

Let's face it: in a political campaign, getting to know the real person behind the candidacy can be difficult, especially in a statewide contest.  Unless you go to a gathering where you can actually speak with a candidate directly, all you can really glean about a politico is their position on the issues, maybe a little about their professional background.  On such scant information, we are asked to elect our leaders. Read more

EDITORIAL: Joe Manchin: Proudly Pro-Choice

Out of the three U.S. Senate candidates on the ballot this year--two Democrats and one Republican--just two of them can be said to be pro-life. 

Former Democratic Delegate Sheirl Fletcher and Republican John Raese have long supported the pro-life movement in West Virginia, supporting groups like West Virginians for Life with their time and financial contributions.  Fletcher served in the House of Delegates as a pro-life member from Mon County, and John Raese has been firmly pro-life throughout his 28 year span in state politics. Read more

COMMENTARY: A Nation at War: Where's the Music?

Editor's Note: This column originally ran on Nov. 10, 2009 and is even more relevant today

"Over There" ... "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition" ... "Say A Prayer For The Boys Over There" ... these and scads of other songs permeated the airwaves, juke boxes, radios and anywhere that sound could be received during dark days of wartime for generations. But not now! Read more

OP-ED: A One Percenter Puts Over $200 Million into the Peace Movement

I'll tell you who did this below.  First read part his rather unusual letter: Read more

EDITORIAL: Too Many Manchins Spoil the Broth

Dynasties are essentially un-American.  The soldiers who fought for America's independence with George Washington were fighting against the idea of one family, in their case King George III's, ruling over them in the New World.  But what would those some revolutionary soldiers make of the Manchin family up in Marion County this year? Read more

DEVOTION: My Whole Heart

Yesterday, we waited in faith and trepidation to hear what

the cardiologist found during my friend's heart cauterization. Read more

OP-ED: How to Strengthen the UN’s Ability to Maintain International Peace and Security

Conservative politicians often portray the United Nations as a powerful monster, poised to gobble up the United States and other countries and put them under alien rule.

Read more

MANN TALK: Nature's Stamp and Its Clues to Happiness

We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities,…still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.” Charles Darwin, 1809-1882.   

          “All happy families resemble each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910. Read more

EDITORIAL: Like his Uncle A. James, Joe Manchin Plays us for Fools

Once again, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is everywhere, all the time when you turn on the TV.  One wonders when the man has time to tend to West Virginia legislation in Washington, as he assumes the position of Guardian of the Catholic Church and self-appointed Defender of the WVU Faith.  But the truth is, Joe Manchin was needed on neither the recent Obama contraception issue, nor WVU's move to the Big XII. Read more

PARALLEL UNIVERSE: Where Are the Aid Flotillas to Syria?

Less than two years ago, the headlines screamed about the so-called aid flotillas to Gaza, initiated by Code Pink and other so-called "Progressive" groups -- including the notoriously anti-Israel American Friends Service Committee. The boats sailed from Cyprus and Turkey and were intercepted by the Israeli Navy, which had reason to believe that smuggled weapons aboard the boats would reach the Hamas-controlled enclave -- which is continuing to shoot rockets into Israel. Read more

OP-ED: 'I’d Climb the Highest Mountain': When Movies Were Family Friendly

When did you first see the movie "I’d Climb the Highest Mountain?’" Cleveland, Georgia is home to the Old Stovall Covered Bridge that spans Chickamauga Creek. This 1890s structure appeared in the movie "I’d Climb the Highest Mountain".\

 This wonderful movie was made during the 1950s, when families spent quality time at the movies where Coca Cola was a nickel, hot buttered popcorn a quarter and for a mere quarter you might see a double-feature film, cartoon and newsreel. Parents did not worry about the sexual, bad language or graphic scenes of the early films because most were family friendly. Read more

OP-ED: Chat I Just Had With Homeland Security

After publishing this report I was contacted by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).  The individual involved never returned my call.  Instead I heard from Brian Hale who said he had been with Director Morton at the event recently held at the University of Virginia and discussed in my report. Read more