Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel and the U.S. are making a ghetto out of Gaza, hoping that cutting the territory off from the rest of the world will weaken democratically elected Hamas. They are wrong, and the innocent people of the Gaza Strip are paying the price.
Stephen Colbert offered this riff on racial tribalism in America, after learning that whites tend to live amongst other whites. Heres a taste: ғIm colorblind. I donҒt see race, folks, and I always thought my gated community was incredibly diverse. But, uh, today I asked around and it turns out that everyone at last weeks ґsmooth jazz and mayonnaise block party was in fact white.Ҕ
A new study by the Brookings Institution found that the urban poor pay hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars a year in extra costs for necessities, such as car insurance, home appliances, banking fees and other basics. (NYT link)