Around The ‘Sphere

Our occasional linkfest that helps you get good reading of ALL viewpoints. Links are NOT selected because of or limited to one viewpoint — and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of The Moderate Voice or its independent-thinking co-bloggers.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO PROTECT INTERNET FREEDOM: Mike Krempasky is continuing his bipartisan, nonideology battle to make readers and bloggers aware of possible upcoming FEC rules changes that could drastically change Internet freedoms. The comment period closes June 3. He writes:

As a blogger, or blog reader – you have valuable input from your firsthand experience that the FEC desperately needs. You don’t have to be a lawyer, and you’ve got a duty to weigh in. Please take a moment and read over and endorse the 11 Principles for Online Freedom we’ve written up with the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Institute for Politics, Technology, and The Internet.

CLICK HERE for those.
He also notes you can leave your comment here on the GOP Red State site or here on the Democratic DailyKos blog. And he’s requesting if you do leave a comment, to send him and his associates a copy since it’ll help them fight this fight for readers and bloggers alike.

FOOTNOTE: TMV was on a panel with Krempasky at Stanford University. He’s highly thoughtful and sincere and is rightfully receiving praise from all sides for his efforts to protect the freedoms you now read on the Internet every day. To do it, he needs readers/bloggers’ help.

ABOUT THOSE 14 MODERATE SENATORS WHO PULLED THE FINGER AWAY FROM THE IMPENDING NUCLEAR OPTION: Todd Kennedy, aka The Pragmatic Progressive, has this excellent post on the possible motivations of the Senators. It’s concise and makes sense…



SEX OFFENDERS IN YOUR MIDST: We did a post earlier about the discovery of sex offenders getting state-paid Viagra in New York State. In addition, TMV’s foster son just discovered that his kids lived right NEXT to a sex offender. He discovered it by going online. Here’s a resource for you to do the same and see if you’re protected in your neighborhood.



TERRORISTS: Bring ‘Em On…In Court…Or so says Phil Carter in a piece posted at his always exceptionally thoughtful site Intel-Dump. “New Army War College journal piece says we should be worried about our enemies fighting us in our courts — I say “lawfare” is vastly preferable to “warfare”,” he writes. Read the whole post. Here’s a small taste:

So to those who say you should be worried about lawfare, I say “get real.” America’s legal institutions are fully capable of handling this threat. Moreover, if ever there were a capabilities mismatch that worked in our favor, this is it. America is the most litigious nation in the world. Our top law schools crank out more lawyers every year than the combined special operations schools of the U.S. military. Added up, we have many times more lawyers in this country than we have combat troops in the Army and Marines. American lawyers are a notoriously aggressive, bloodthirsty and ruthless lot, who take no quarter and give none either. If terrorists and enemy states really want to fight us in the courts, then I say “bring ‘em on.”

WOULD IKE EISENHOWER TODAY BE CALLED A RINO? Probably, since it turns out he said this. But, then he was OH SO 20th Century!



A CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER TAKES HIS PARTY TO TASK ON NUCLEAR OPTION: John Cole who, we have repeatedly said, adheres to a set of firm political principles that he doesn’t suspend for electoral expediency, has yet another tart post aimed at GOPers. His posts MUST be read IN FULL or you can lose his argument. For instance, he makes no bones of the fact that he feels the Democrats’ behavior on judicial nominations was intolerable. But then he goes after his party for changing the rules. A tiny taste here of a no-holds-barred message to members of his own party who are bascially telling him to shut up if he considers himself a loyal partisan:

So, wingnuts, you have set the stage. I understand I am either with you or against you, and you are unwilling to advance any legislation I think is sensible, and you are unwilling to to think twice about things I dislike. I get it- you want my vote and you want me to shut..up. I get it- with you or against you.



But let me warn you- the Democrats just don’t seem that damned scary anymore. You people have me to the point that if it were 2004 all over again, and I knew what I know now, I don’t know if I necessarily would have pulled the lever for that two-faced weasel Kerry, but I would have found it EXCEPTIONALLY difficult to vote for Bush.

HEY, PHIL…The hippie era ended years ago. I don’t think you know it.



WHAT DID FORBES MAGAZINE SAY IS THE SAFEST PLACE TO LIVE? Can’t guess? It’s here where you’ll find all (and more) than you wanted to know.