The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect. – Esther Dyson, Interview in Time Magazine, October 2005 That quote above outlines why I laugh at the viewpoint that the Internet is evil. Like any medium, it is affected by the subjects, not itself. If you are morally bankrupt and filled with spite, the Internet has a place for you. If you are a bubbly,...

Those using IE6 will now see the site the way it is supposed to be. Not with a left sidebar pushed all the way down to the bottom of the blog. We have a couple more “backend” changes to do. After that, things will be more stable hopefully (got to add that since these are machines after all). Thanks for your continued patience.

As you can see, The Moderate Voice’s design has changed. This is part one to optimize TMV’s speed when loading into your browsers. A substantial amount of graphical style elements were removed in order to do this. Part two is optimizing our server which will occur late evening EST on Monday (01/21/08). Post categories and archives will be added back Monday afternoon. We are still ironing out font sizes also. Thank you for your continued patience. UPDATE #1 I’ve already have...

My best friend used to be a gang member. He was an enforcer type. The type that intimidates, maims, and dare I say kills for the cause. He served 8 years in prison, got out, got married to a wonderful woman, had children, and now runs a martial arts (Hapkido) dojang. I have no doubts that my best friend killed rival gang members. Why? Because he said as much and there is no reason not to believe him. Many a late night conversation with him has turned into a confession with me playing the role...

NOTE: This post has been moved to the top as we work through the new Disqus comment system on The Moderate Voice. Feel free to test (within reason) and leave any questions, comments, and/or concerns. TMV Readers, In an effort increase the site’s overall speed and to add more commenting features, TMV’s comments will be moving to the Disqus commenting system. This will allow threaded comments, avatars, while integrating all comments into a separate forum. Because of this move, you will...

I’m a disgusted with the Big 2 parties type. Been that way since I cast my first vote in a local election when I was 18 years old. But I’m not politically stupid and I love history. And I realize political history when I see it. Barack Obama wins the Democratic Iowa Caucus and the Black Democratic Establishment (BDE) loses. And this black man (with a healthy dose of France poured in) is so happy. Usually in Black America, black politicians have to have the blessing of Jesse Jackson,...

Why in the face of a tragedy does silliness still rear its warty head? Benazir Bhutto is assassinated and some yahoos at MSNBC and Fox News start talking how Rudy Giuliani can benefit from this politically… Sickening. According to some punditry, “America’s Mayor” will show Americans how dangerous the world is because of this assassination which will translate into solid political capital aka votes for Rudy. As Charlie Brown says: I can’t stand it. I just can’t...

Between George Carlin’s State Prison Farms (video below) and my Americanaland we can fix the criminal and illegal immigration issues in a jiffy. And be entertained and make truckloads of good ol’ American dollars in the process. C’mon presidential candidates! Let’s get crackin’ on two REAL solutions! WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE.

the morning paper harbinger of good and ill - – I step over it - Dave McCroskey That little gem of haiku has pretty much summed up my feeling of general news overload. When I’m sitting at the local coffeehouse/bakery and the average Joe or Jane talks to me about the news or some news they have heard, I’m all attentiveness personified. But when I see it on the television or read it in newspapers, I go into a fugue state. I feel like I’ve lost myself and my individuality....

Let me be clear on a few points: 1. I opposed the Iraq War from the beginning. But we are there now so we have to deal with it. 2. I only have a few members in my family that have served in the military. 3. I haven’t nor will I enlist in military service. My reason: I’m not a soldier but I’m a fighter. Big difference. With all that being said, I submit that our government, from political sea to shining political sea is unpatriotic since veterans (soldiers) are treated flat...

Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. - Lao-tzu, Father of Taoism, 6th century B.C.E. Why would I post a writing by a great Chinese philosopher? Because in the 2400+ years after Lao-tzu’s death, those words ring dead solid perfect (golf reference for effect). In today’s connected world, from pundits to punks, from leaders to losers, from the rich to the poor, you hear people saying they “know how someone thinks” or they “know how they think”....

I don’t get it. I don’t understand why Ezra Klein would challenge Michelle Malkin to a reasoned debate about SCHIP knowing what he was going to get. And I don’t understand why Michelle Malkin would even reply to Ezra’s challenge knowing that she wouldn’t debate him in, well, I’ll just let her words speak for themself: But I’d just as soon share a stage, physical or virtual, with Respectable Liberal Blogger Ezra Klein as I would with Chris Matthews,...

“There is practically no chance communications space satellites will be used to provide better telephone, telegraph, television, or radio service inside the United States.” - T. A. M. Craven, FCC Commissioner, 1961 It’s quite amazing how wrong Commissioner Craven was. His statement confidently rejects the subject. Yet look at how far we come in those 46 years with the communication satellites. His utter wrongness continues to prove to me that saying “no chance” and...

I just got finished watching one of my favorite musicals entitled Stormy Weather (circa 1943). I’m a big fan of the “back in the day” big band. Cab Calloway has always been one of my favorite performers. So vibrant and alive. Those performers “back in the day” flat out entertained regularly. Sadly that is a lost art among a sizable number of performers these days. Notice I didn’t say all performers today. But among the popular sect of music today, there...

That’s the amount a Jammie Thomas, a 30-year old single mother has to pay total to various music companies for sharing music and more music: Record companies win music sharing trial By JOSHUA FREED Associated Press Writer Fri Oct 5, 6:15 AM ET DULUTH, Minn. – The recording industry hopes $222,000 will be enough to dissuade music lovers from downloading songs from the Internet without paying for them. That’s the amount a federal jury ordered a Minnesota woman to pay for sharing...

Ed Morrissey rips the words right out of my brain concerning Michigan’s new budget/what in the…/disaster: The economic woes of Michigan appear ready to worsen, thanks to a budget agreement reached this morning as the state government began shutting down. Michigan residents will see their taxes increase by over a billion dollars, further burdening the decreasing purchasing power of its residents, as the legislature only sliced less than a third of that from their spending plans… I’ve...

From Wikipedia: Transhumanism (sometimes symbolized by >H or H+) is an international intellectual and cultural movement supporting the use of new sciences and technologies to enhance human mental and physical abilities and aptitudes, and ameliorate what it regards as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition, such as stupidity, suffering, disease, aging and involuntary death. Transhumanist thinkers study the possibilities and consequences of developing and using human enhancement...

Silly, Silly Man! Those who sharply criticized Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs President Lee C. Bollinger for inviting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak owe him a galaxy sized apology. You know who you are so I’m not naming names/blogs/media outlets. Lee Bollinger’s opening statement and questions, along with many of the students’ questions reduced President Ahmadinejad to a melted ice cream cone on a hot sunny day. Watching President...

This is the victim of the the so-called Jena 6, Justin Barker. It is plainly obvious that he was beat up. No dispute. He is the primary victim. I use the word primary because the so-called Jena 6 are the secondary victims. I have a problem with various individuals, including the La Salle parish district attorney Reed Walters, saying “remember who is the victim” without considering all the victims. I say to Mr. Walters: Don’t you see how you have hurt all the victims? The...

Dr. Patrick Dixon, Europe’s Leading Futurist, Global Change Guru, and one of my personal heroes talks about 1 billion new consumers and the challenges that come with that in the following video. Of particular note is how he shows how Al-Qaeda will be the least of our problems if the urbanization of these 1 billion new consumers continues to point towards “slum living”.

I would like to pose this question/statement to those more educated than I am in “how the government works”: My state (Michigan), as you may already know, is in a huge crisis. The Big 3 automakers are now the Imploding 3. We’ve lost countless jobs and underemployment is rampant. Top that with a state government in the red, along with its largest city (Detroit) in the red and bleeding. Foreclosures so common it’s downright scary. And our governor, Jennifer Granholm, begging...

Republican presidential candidates need to make a “clean break” from President George W. Bush and the U.S. government or they will lose in November 2008… Interesting quote. Will the Republican presidential candidates listen? Newt Gingrich says they better and soon: Gingrich: Republicans need “clean break” from Bush By Steve Holland Fri Sep 14, 1:03 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidates need to make a “clean break” from President...

Some people think all technology is bad. Especially those Blackberries: English-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson once said: If we had a reliable way to label our toys good and bad, it would be easy to regulate technology wisely. But we can rarely see far enough ahead to know which road leads to damnation. Whoever concerns himself with big technology, either to push it forward or to stop it, is gambling in human lives. Cell phones and mobile devices are now big...

I’ve been a subscriber to Time Magazine since 1993. And this cover, from February 1994, is one that I will always remember. Ministry of Rage! The raging and racist leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) Louis Farrakhan with his stylish eye wear on. There was a time when Minister Louis Farrakhan and/or prominent members of the NOI were on television fairly regularly. Black people were asked and sometimes told to ignore his words and messages (even the non-inflammatory ones) by punditry and...

I support building border fences and/or walls to secure our southern border with one big yet beautiful change: We build restaurants, malls, and entertainment venues into the fence and/or wall at strategic points! Just think about it. We can get paid, secure the borders, and share our wonderful American-ness with would-be illegals. Once our lovely neighbors down south get a dose of cheap goods and entertainment (no red light districts) at the border, they won’t have any reason to come here....