President Obama recently announced he was in favor of “Gay Marriage” but added that it was up to the 50 states to decide. He simultaneously did not mention his position on the repeal of the 1996 Federal law called “The Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA – Codified in 1 USC Sec. 7 & 28 USC Sec. 1738C). DOMA permits each state to ignore the acts and laws of other states when it comes to recognizing “Gay Marriages” in other states. It also states with respect to all Federal laws and...

LET’S MAKE U.S. ELECTIONS INTO EBAY AUCTIONS It is a complete waste of time and brain power to propose, discuss, advocate or pursue any public policy changes that will not meet with the approval of the nation’s 1% oligarchy. History shows that the current powers-that-be prefer complete inaction in the public sphere so that the corrupt crony cartels can work their endless crimes against 99% of humanity in surreptitious closed-door agreements by and between big government and big business....

It has been very difficult to wade back into the many endlessly repetitive and totally dysfunctional national discourses that dominate the 24/7 info-entertainment news cycle in the U.S. I’ve been preoccupied with personal and family matters for the past month. My TMV postings have greatly diminished from my extensive 2009, 2010 and even early 2011 outputs. In 2012 it’s been no more than a trickle and it becomes more challenging to put even a few coherent paragraphs together. Considering the...

What can a blogger write about on “Super Tuesday” when the eventual results of the 10 States’ Republican Primaries are of little interest personally and of little long-term global impact? Wading in the morass of the ongoing Rush Limbaugh imbroglio is an interesting alternative. I view it as another humorous and depressing tour of the current American national insane asylum. From now on, I will refer to Mr. Limbaugh as “Rushbo” since it’s much shorter to say and write. He does not...

Why bother writing articles, posts and comments based upon any analysis of facts, reality or logic? Honestly seeking scientific, rational and legal causation for the many events occurring in a complex world has become a waste of time. When pervasive apathy, congenital stupidity, willful ignorance, massive denial, and irrational religious and ideological dogmas dominate the majority of the U.S. electorate and the discourse of its political, business, social and religious leaders, America is on a...

For nearly 2,000 years and starting again today, Christians spiritually begin their 40-day Lenten celebrations to prepare themselves for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during the Easter Triduum. Ashes placed on the foreheads of believers constitute an ancient symbol reminding the faithful of their human mortality (from dust to dust). It is also the visual cue to begin a serious period of prayer, reflection, fasting, confession and penance. This is a period dedicated to honestly assessing...

A reader/commentator on my previous TMV post stated a preference that I include footnotes, references, and citations to outside source materials to justify my various statements of fact. That’s just not going to happen very often because I’m not writing an article for a peer-review scientific, legal or academic forum. In most TMV articles/posts/submissions, these types of citations and annotations are rarely found – and this applies to most opinion pieces in Op/Ed forums across the blogosphere...

The fabricated contraceptive debate that has raged in certain quarters of Washington DC, in various places across the US, and within the blogosphere and our hyper-partisan political system, is another diversion from reality. I had hoped saner minds would have emerged by now, but unfortunately we are left with a narrow analysis of HHS guidelines and the various arguments by a plethora of viewpoints that completely miss the big picture. With over 7 billion humans competing for limited resources on...

I really cannot compete with the many recent and excellent TMV posts on this subject. I particularly enjoyed Walter Brasch’s post from yesterday confirming that anyone can guiltlessly embrace the many versions of this ancient holiday to which many cultures, religions, and people have contributed. I appreciate all the religious and secular aspects of Christmas. I feel sorry for those who wish to define it narrowly and exclude all its hopes, excitement, fun, kitsch, mirth and merriment that do...

For several years now, Greece has been presenting on a global stage, a never-ending “Waiting For Godot” comic-tragedy in which there is constant worldwide audience participation despite a complete lack of plot, or any ideas on how to end this story. A Greek default on its international debts may not bring down the global financial system, but it regularly paralyzes governments, bondholders, and stock markets around the world. There are just over 11 million people living in Greece. Their government...

Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain is currently fighting off three questionable claims of sexual harassment that allegedly occurred between 10 and 20 years ago. Two of the claims were reported as settled quietly and one was never disclosed until recently and after most applicable time limits on filing lawsuits have run out. From the viewpoint of this writer (TMV’s alleged misogynist as some past commentators have wrongly implied) all I can say is “so what?” Mr. Cain has never been...

That Huffington Post headline was the lead for one of its many celebrity stories that I noticed this morning. I admit to perusing HuffPo a few times a week to give balance to my daily readings of various Internet news blogs. One savvy woman creatively used the free content from many talented writers to make herself a multi-millionaire – beyond what she had achieved through her earlier divorce proceedings. I only wish TMV’s Joe Gandelman didn’t have to do other work to pay his family’s living...

WE DIDN’T LEARN ANYTHING FROM PRIOR REPUBLICAN POLICIES BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T GO FAR ENOUGH Perhaps Republicans have been correct in asserting that the eight years of President George W. Bush didn’t go far enough in enacting conservative policies. The current Republican presidential candidates argue that the nation must take all their proposals to their logical conclusions in order for them to properly work. No more half measures, we should go all the way to the policy extremes advocated...

A progressive Democrat and a conservative Republican were walking together one day on the sidewalk alongside a busy downtown street. They were arguing about various public policies, what to do about the growing number of unemployed Americans, and whether President Obama was partially or fully to blame for the current economy. Then they stopped and observed the following: An unemployed man was standing in the middle of the sidewalk asking for work. His months of endless Internet applications, job...

SCHEDULE AN OVAL OFFICE ADDRESS AND IGNORE CONGRESS President Obama should ignore Congress and make an Oval Office Speech directly to the nation at a time when there are no major television conflicts. What’s so important about a speech before a joint session of Congress when the majority of its members probably don’t want to listen to him anyway? The President and his advisors should look over the scheduled professional and college sports calendars, popular television programming, and pending...

As I promised TMV readers earlier today, I would feature other bloggers from around the Internet while I am suffering from “writer’s block.” Another reason for reprinting or quoting other writers is that they have written succinctly what I may have already thought and started to write into a TMV post that was abandoned. Alternatively, even if I do not fully agree with them, they have presented such good arguments that they deserve to be featured in a blog dedicated to the moderate, intelligent,...

There is an excellent business/economics blog that has a “big-picture” outlook. It’s called “Jesse’s Café Américain.” (JCA) The author has numerous interests and he is a professional trader in stocks, bonds, gold, and silver. However he is not beholden to the corrupt status quo of global capitalism. He posts at least daily and he writes in a very objective, knowledgeable, succinct and clear manner. I strongly recommend that TMV readers save JCA’s address: http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/ JCA...

As I promised TMV readers (to the possible chagrin of TMV editors) this is another authorized reprint of someone else’s excellent work who writes on the blog “Of Two Minds.” I have reprinted other opinions written by Mr. Smith in prior posts at TMV. Mr. Smith admitted recently that he’s taking a hiatus from writing – also due to burnout and other pressing business. Luckily for me, he has included some of the ideas I have been writing about for the past 2 years in TMV plus several new...

I haven’t posted on TMV for a while due to various personal and business factors. I’ve sort of burnt out my brain with the overall inanity of our public discourse. However I still read Internet blogs of many other writers. A friend from Cleveland, OH sent me an email recently and I thought it was rather humorous and sad at the same time. I have reprinted it below (including extra comments from others) since it’s probably now in the public domain having been emailed around the Internet...

The recently passed and signed legislation – increasing the debt limit and outlining various complex procedures for future spending reductions – severely limits the federal government’s ability to initiate new spending programs, raise taxes, or take any active role in the economy. The Federal Reserve is also constrained in its ability to address high unemployment because all of its prior monetary expansion programs have not worked as hoped. LIMITED OPTIONS Most progressives, liberals, Democrats...