Gold Corporate America seems to – finally – understand what just about every observer understood for a long time already: it’s quite possible that the Democrats will win the elections. As a result, Democratic candidates are suddenly receiving last minute donations by corporations. Though Democratic control of either chamber of Congress is far from certain, the prospect of a power shift is leading interest groups to begin rethinking well-established relationships, with business...

Michael Grunwald notices at the Washington Post that most political ads are extremely negative. Even for American standards that is. Please read the entire article. What I noticed was that it started off with 1 1/3 page about Republican ads, then just 2 short paragraphs about Democratic ads, accompanied by the words “Some Democrats are playing rough, too.” It’s almost like… ‘ah well.. boys will be boys’ when talking about the Democrats but condemning the Republican...

Perhaps it’s time for American conservatives to start listening (again) to William F. Buckley? A great article at CNN.com: Where the right went wrong. Fifty years ago, when a 29-year-old Yale graduate named William F. Buckley Jr. funded National Review magazine, conservatism was a small insurgency, fighting the dominant tide of liberalism that had governed the United States for a quarter century. Today, the right is politically dominant. The president is an avowed conservative; so are the...

The Cardinals took a 3-1 lead in this year’s World Series yesterday. I can’t believe it. It is, of course, too early to celebrate (it ain’t over til the fat lady sings) but we’re extremely close.

When everything else fails, re-focus on gay marriage: The divisive debate over gay marriage, which played a prominent role in 2004 campaigns but this year largely faded from view, erupted anew on Thursday as President Bush and Republicans across the country tried to use a court ruling in New Jersey to rally dispirited conservatives to the polls. Wednesday’s ruling, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court decided that gay couples are entitled to the same legal rights and financial benefits as...

State of Denial is Bob Woodward’s third book on the Bush administration. In it, Woodward tells the story of an administration in which no internal accountability exists and in which intellectual laziness rules the day. It is a history of weak military leadership, an incredibly dominant and undefined US Secretary of Defense and political leaders who conveniently ignore all bad news. In short, it’s the history of an utterly incompetent administration or at least when talking about the...

Women: you’d better dress like this… Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali has a wonderful message for fellow believers: if a woman gets raped, it really is her fault. In essence, so he reasoned, who can blame a man for raping a woman if she dresses like a prostitute? “But when it comes to adultery, it’s 90 per cent the women’s responsibility. Why? Because a woman possesses the weapon of seduction. It is she who takes off her clothes, shortens them, flirts, puts on make-up and powder...

An important moment for the freedom of speech in Europe, more specifically Denmark: Danish Court Rejects Cartoons Lawsuit. The City Court in Aarhus rejected claims by seven Danish Muslim groups who said the 12 drawings printed in Jyllands-Posten were meant to insult the Prophet and make a mockery of Islam. Islamic law forbids any depiction of the Prophet, even positive ones, to prevent idolatry. “It cannot be ruled out that the drawings have offended some Muslims’ honor,” the court...

Lesson 1. Know how to present yourself. Sound knowledgable, likable and humorous while you’re, in fact, working very hard at destroying all existing opposition.

Michael Barone had the privilige – together with seven other conservative columnists – to interview U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday afternoon. Michael reports about it for USNews here. It – logically – provides for an interesting read and more: he also posted an MP3 audio recording of the entire, one hour long, interview. Bush, in essence, repeated his general message: First of all, Bush started off with a lengthy monologue, trying to put a historical perspective...

Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, is interviewed by radio talk show host Sean Hannity, right. Hannity and 39 other mostly conservative radio hosts were invited to join top officials and broadcast from a large tent on the White House grounds. Story, A7. (By Susan Biddle — The Washington Post) Peter Baker reports for the Washington Post that the GOP has decided to use the same strategy it used in the last “two campain cycles”. The strategy, quite simply, is...

The Washington Post published a column written by Richard Holbrooke. It’s a great read. As all of you have witnessed, my opinion about Iraq has evolved. It seems to me that Holbrooke’s view on Iraq makes a lot of sense and I agree with it full-heartedly. Your real choice comes down to escalation or disengagement. If victory — however defined — is truly your goal, you should have sent more troops long ago. You and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld say that the commanders in...

As always a great post by Shaun D. Mullen over at Kiko’s House: It’s still the economy, stupid. Why such a dramatic disconnect? * While the gross domestic product has been going up, employment has stayed flatter than a flounder. The upshot is that the rich get richer, feeding those spectacular Wall Street numbers, and almost everyone else gets poorer. The boom that Kudlow and his fellow travelers babble on about is passing the Sixpack family by. Jane and Joe have no money to invest,...

©2006 Galerie Beckel-Odille-Boicos A self-portrait of William Utermohlen in 1967, top, and 2000, above The New York Times reports about a wonderful – albeit heart-breaking – exibition: When he learned in 1995 that he had Alzheimer’s disease, William Utermohlen, an American artist in London, responded in characteristic fashion. “From that moment on, he began to try to understand it by painting himself,â€? said his wife, Patricia Utermohlen, a professor of art history. Mr....

No mobile phonecalls for me anymore: Men who use mobile phones could be risking their fertility, warn researchers. A new study shows a worrying link between poor sperm and the number of hours a day that a man uses his mobile phone. Those who made calls on a mobile phone for more than four hours a day had the worst sperm counts and the poorest quality sperm, according to results released yest at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans. Doctors believe the damage...

Commenter ‘Interested’ informed me that he just casted an ‘early vote’. To be honest, I am not familiar with this concept. Anyone else voting early as well? What were your experiences? And, if you like to share, how did you vote? P.S. ‘Interested’ also informed me that they made it quite difficult for him to cast his vote. In his opinion, purposefully. What did they do? They did not open the door for him and did not offer him a cup of coffee. Unacceptable! Just...

Outside A vase No, a bowl On a wooden table two feet high and three feet wide Rain and wind Blistering thunder! The bowl… falls

Not too long ago, I read a book (Erfstukken: pieces of inheritance) by one of the Netherlands’s most respected journalists: Paul Witteman. He is not just a great political journalist, but also an expert regarding classical music. Anyway, an important part of the book or more of an essay actually, was dedicated to the belief that ‘talent’ decides who will be a successful musician and who will not. Well, he wrote that most of that belief is nonsense. After doing research, so he wrote,...

I am one of those annoying people who greatly enjoy making ‘personality tests’. I just found this one at CCN.money (via an article I plan to write about later today). If you enjoy tests too, take it and drop a comment with your result in the comment section of this post. My result: Your final score: 24 out of 30 ANALYSIS: You have a balanced view of what is within your control and what is not. Your responses to circumstances are fluid and complex, leaning toward internalism in some situations...

From The Guardian: Tony Blair will put pressure on the Iraqi government today to demonstrate that its security forces will be ready to take over from the British army in southern provinces within roughly a year. Amid mounting international concern over escalating violence, Mr Blair is expected to use today’s Downing Street talks with Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, to discuss plans for an exit strategy for British troops, with some ministers openly contemplating withdrawal...