Our famous linkfest offering you links to sites with MANY different viewpoints. Links do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TMV or its cobloggers.
A Libertarian Republican In Congress Breaks With The White House Over The Expected Policy To “Surge” (Escalate) U.S. Troops In Iraq. And he has a long history of being independent.
Let’s Not Forget That There Are Four New American Civilians Taken Hostage by kidnappers in Iraq. Here’s the video.
Home Depot Has Its Problems And Booted Out Its Chief Executive but SoCalPundit argues the problem actually begins in their parking lots — and offers an interesting link related to that…(I go to Home Depot but everytime I do, I’m board.)
A Popular Blogger Announces He’s Done And His Blog Can Be Taken Over By Someone Else. From The American Street’s Kevin Hayden:
I hate surrendering to the inevitable, but the time has come to do so. From within our team or without, I’m looking for someone to take over the running (and ownership) of this blog. There’ll be some time to permit a smooth transition. I should be able to afford to stay online till the end of February. Sometime in March, renewal of the host server will be required, or a new contract with another host. It’ll be up to the new owner to pay for that. They should also plan on moving the blog to a new domain (besides reachm.com) sometime in May.
Read the rest. He says he doesn’t want to reconsider, but hopefully he will. Kevin: I’ll let you in on a little secret. About three (or more) times a year over the past three years yours truly has considered totally walking away from blogging. But I was fortunate enough to be put back on track by a highly thoughtful blogger who will remain nameless. He was one of the first people I “met” in blogging both online and in person. It turned out he didn’t live too far from my place.
He would argue “If you walk away from it, how will you express yourself?” And he noted that he, just like me, sleeps better after doing posts. (I know our readers sleep better READING my posts but that’s another story). So, Kevin, you might reconsider. To be sure, you’ve mentioned some very real, serious financial issues and concerns — plus the inevitable issue of whether writing a weblog really means anything in the end. My readers have suggested to me in many emails how it could mean something in the end, although I haven’t tried shoving my computer up there yet.
We have to see people with ideas from the left, right and center go. So hopefully you’ll reconsider at the last minute and hang in there a little longer. Then a bit longer. Then a bit longer. The Internet Street would be tragically emptier without The American Street.
It’s No Big Secret That Democrat John Edwards Is Rich But Does That Make Him A Hypocrite When He Champions The Poor? Mark Daniels thinks Edwards is getting a bum rap in a post that needs to be read in full. A tiny bit 4 U:
…I think it’s true that while it’s difficult for the wealthy–even the newly wealthy–to identify with the poor, it’s not impossible. There will be plenty of substantive reasons to question John Edwards on a whole host of issues. I’m not defending him and frankly, I don’t see him as a viable or compelling candidate for President. But The Post’s leap is not only unfair, it’s intellectually lazy and borders on the demagogic.
Read it all.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Attention-Getting Speech Embracing Centrism And Bipartisanship Has Received Praise from the moderate Ripon Society.
Mixed Messages Department: If you’re standing on the rooftops proclaiming you’re for ethics reform, it might not be a good idea to give a standing ovation to Rep. William Jefferson…
A Primer On Blogging For College Students From Someone Who Is Good At It begins like this:
Blogs. You can’t escape them. The name sounds like something a five-year-old extracts from his nose, but the medium has unearthed scandals, raised millions of dollars, disgraced legendary newsmen, helped elect senators, birthed books, made movies, and commanded endless media attention. Moreover, a vast swath of the political class now uses them daily: Campaigns and magazines and interest groups and lobbies and unions and newspapers and radio shows and anyone else with an idea to peddle or brand to promote has entered the blogosphere, and if you want a job with these folks, you’d be well-served to seek some familiarity. So here’s a quick primer to what you should already know about blogging.
The author: Ezra Klein writing on Campus Progress. MUST READING for ALL bloggers and aspiring bloggers (and those who have a life and don’t aspire to do it).
And Speaking Of Education: Did You Know That Thomas Paine Is Very Relevant To Today’s Events? Read THIS and see.
A New Phrase: “You’ve been Plutoed…” (We’re not stuck on stupid so we don’t use catch phrases at the end of the day…)
Yet Another Review Of “Superman Returns” and it’s clear Bogus Gold hopes he won’t.
Big News From Florida where they’re lowering IQ requirements in the state’s gifted programs. (Didn’t Florida’s voters do about the same thing when they elected Katherine Harris to the House of Representatives?)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.