When East Met West by David Goodloe “This was the week that changed the world.” –Richard Nixon In hindsight, I don’t think I really understood the significance of what was happening when, 40 years ago Tuesday, Richard Nixon began his historic trip to the People’s Republic of China. I wasn’t old enough. I had a general understanding of the fact that the United States had been...

Three strikes and you’re out? First there was Minnesota with former wrestler Jesse Ventura whose celebrity and charisma propelled him into the governor’s chair. But he fizzled in office and no one seriously talks about him running for President on a third party ticket anymore. The came actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose biceps proved to be a lot bigger than his political smart and skills: he utterly...

Update: City officials may suspend bond payments and try to cut a deal with creditors to avoid filing bankruptcy Word out this week that Stockton, California may be on the road to filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history. Before they can file they must comply with a California law that requires them to declare a fiscal emergency. This requires them to spend 60 days in negotiations with their creditors,...

This is just a really cool link During World War 2 they wanted to hide an aircraft factory in Burbank because they were afraid of Japanese air raids. So they disguised it as a housing development. The pictures are amazing.

Is there an inverse relationship between improved employment numbers from the government, and declining freelance and part-time work opportunities? And is the overall economic effect of this inversion necessarily a good thing? The U.S. economy is an incredibly complex organism. You pull on what you think is just one thread and a dozen others get unwound. Thus, while economists, policy-makers, and most of the...

The Virginia bill pushed by Republicans, including Governor Bob McDonnell, that would force women going for an abortion to have an ultrasound first, appears as if it will be modified. To be certain the features of the fetus were well-defined, the original bill mandated that an ultrasound was to be done vaginally. In other words, women would have a large wand inserted into their vaginas to depict the fetus, even...

TMV will offer live blogging of tonight’s GOP Presidential debate that’ll be aired on CNN. [GO HERE to read our extensive live blogging plus a long roundup of varying opinions on the debate. ] The posts will start shortly after 7. As usual, reactions will be my reactions as an independent voter but also on how I think the candidates are advancing or not advancing their cause. And, as usual, I’ll...

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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,...

**updated below** WASHINGTON – Religious conservatives, their right-wing supporters and Republican allies have finally overstepped and what played out last week was proof. The Susan G. Komen catastrophe, starring right-wing ideologue Karen Handel, now seems like foreshadowing. Gov. Chris Christie represents what’s left of the small, sane segment of Republican Party leaders and why he likely couldn’t...

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

We’ve heard talk over the last few campaigns about how the US electorate seems to be a bit bipolar, swinging from one extreme to the other. But a chart I came across on wikipedia really seems to demonstrate just how wild the swings have been. In the 2006 election we saw the Democrats go from controlling 47% of the lower houses to 61% (a 14 point swing) and from 49% to 57% of the upper houses (an 8 point...

(Republished on the occasion of the great man’s 280th birthday) There has been a tsunami of books about George Washington in recent years, but none has captured a man whose birthday we once celebrated today with such wit and charm than Johnny One-Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution. No matter that Jerome Charyn’s account of Manhattan Island during the Revolutionary War, save for the...

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum made some comments some years about Satin’s threat to America. The comments were run today on The Drudge Report, so GOPers can’t dismiss it as a hit job by the “liberal media” (which is actually a media that does not exist as you know if you worked in the media). Santorum later refused to disavow his past comments. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh said...

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Why isn’t poetry of all kinds the premier medium of entertainment and criticism in this country? The answer is simple. It isn’t being properly promoted. It doesn’t have its own “American Idol,” “Voice,” “So You Think You Can Dance” kind of exposure. It should. The format here has already been well mapped. You start with a panel of judges sitting in some over-the-top...

An article in Forbes, highlighted today by Politico http://onforb.es/zjYrNj, reveals the lengths that some affluent donors are willing to go to support candidates aligned with their interests. It reported that Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire gambling and hotel magnate, was considering donating $100 million to Newt Gingrich or another Republican to defeat Obama and four more years of a “socialist-style economy.” Of...

WASHINGTON — Republicans haven’t quite thrown away what they see as a winnable presidential election, at least not yet. But they’re trying their best. In GOP circles, there is more than a whiff of panic in the air. Unemployment is still painfully high, Americans remain dissatisfied with the country’s direction, even the most favorable polls show President Obama’s approval at...

The surging candidacy of Rick Santorum has done wonders in reshaping American politics. We are now able to look away from peripheral issues such recession, the disintegrating situation in Middle East, the unwinding of the European Union and its euro-based economics, and finally focus on the really important stuff — theology, and a president’s adherence to biblical imperatives. Some folks might find this...

I like the idea of expressing the nation’s gratitude for the sacrifices of the brave troops who served in Iraq by inviting 64 of them to a formal state dinner at the White House — “an unprecedented event by the White House, normally reserved for foreign dignitaries.” Of course there are many who disapprove or who have reservations: “A politically motivated gesture by the President;” “What...