As the capitol shows signs of awakening from the debt-ceiling fever dream with face-saving aspirin for both sides, onlookers try to understand the pathology of it all. Like the final scene of “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” after crazed loyalties and pride have created carnage, a dazed survivor is left to wander through the wreckage, mumbling, “Madness, madness.” As the Chairman of the Fed describes...

Is the United States doing enough to put an end to the drug violence south of the border? According to this editorial from Mexico’s El Universal, while the Obama government has taken tiny steps in the right direction, opposition from the U.S. gun lobby and the legalization of marijuana in 15 U.S. states has hindered progress. The editorial from El Universal says in part: The weapons that kill thousands...

INTRODUCTION Charles Hugh Smith put up another two-part analysis on his website “Of Two Minds” (http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html) concerning why U.S. Small businesses are not hiring and will likely not be hiring in the future. The phrase “structural unemployment” is sometimes used in misleading ways in many opinion pieces around the Media. Some writers use “structural” as in there are too many...

Bachmann Flunks Canadian History, Too by Michael Winship Travel, they say, improves the mind, a notion once rightly castigated in song by the late, great Noel Coward. It’s “an irritating platitude,” he wrote, “which frankly, entre nous, is far from ever true.” And yet there is some truth to it, although sailing on a celebratory birthday cruise up the Canadian Maritimes and along...

by WALTER BRASCH A controversial Supreme Court decision less than two years ago could have the unintended consequence of significantly reducing the government’s 46-year campaign against cigarettes. In a 5–4 decision, largely along political lines, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission (October 2009) that not only were parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of...

In 2-1 vote the US 6th District Court Of Appeals has ruled that the mandate provision of Health Care Reform is valid. As a bit of background, the Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to ‘regulate commerce among the several states’. It has been determined that this allows them to regulate any activities with a significant impact on interstate commerce. One of the key cases that set down this...

It may have been largely forgotten by the global media, but the nuclear catastrophe in Japan has not been concluded. This editorial from Japan’s Niigata-Nippo Shimbun, packaged with video on the latest assessments on the disaster from both in and out of Japan, offers a glimpse of the ongoing nuclear turmoil confronted by the Japanese people. The Niigata-Nippo Shimbun editorial says in part: ‘If...

(This week alone Kiko’s House, my home blog, received two more emails from people whose Golden Retrievers had died much too young. Portions of this post were first published in 2006.) It’s not hard to see why Golden Retrievers are among the most popular breeds in the U.S. year in and year out. They’re cuddly cute as puppies and beautiful as adults. They’re great around kids, energetic,...

If Republicans understood what was going on behind the scenes with the U.S. military they’d probably blow a gasket. As Nicholas Kristof notes, the armed forces are downright liberal and socialist, which is to say that in many respects they represent the antithesis of contemporary Republicanism. First of all, they are a huge melting pot that draws soldiers, sailors and airmen from diverse backgrounds,...

In 1994, someone who looked and sounded like Mitt Romney declared, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate.” Today, apparently the same person writes: “I am pro-life and believe that abortion should be limited to only instances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. “I...

It’s hard to know where to start, as a mother of three kids under 18, one of whom has a recurring respiratory problem whenever he gets a cold, and living in a state that gets an overall F in clean air, when it comes to how universally savage the Republican presidential hopefuls are toward the Environmental Protection Agency. If you missed the news, here’s a breakdown of how each of seven candidates...

Fighting Against Those Who Rape by Michael Winship Devoted fans of the popular cop show can probably recite it in their sleep: “In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.” Those...

Despite the fact that Japan was the first and only nation to suffer a nuclear attack, this editorial from Japan’s Chibanippo Shimbun explains that with time, much of the insecurity felt by Japanese over nuclear fission had diminished. That is until that fateful day three months ago, when an earthquake and tsunami triggered one of the most devastating nuclear accidents in history. The Chibanippo Shimbun...

Unbeknownst to much of the U.S. public, the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted last week to 95 cases of corruption within his agency related to drug trafficking, undocumented immigrants and money laundering by organized crime groups in Mexico. In other words, U.S. customs officials are being bribed. According to this editorial from Mexico’s La Jornada, this is more proof of the dangerous...

The best part of Tina Fey’s Bossypants is the cover. Which says more about the strength of the cover than the weakness of the book. Bossypants was a good airplane read, but unlike my flight to Columbus, Ohio, when finished I was left wanting more. This is the part of the review where I talk about how I’ve always been a big fan of Tina Fey, even before she became popular. It’s where I mention...

E. J. Montini in The Arizona Republic on Giffords’ return to Congress: Is she ready to do that? No. Is she close? No. [...] “The only firm timetable is the legal timetable, and that is May of 2012, when petitions are due for re-election,” [Pia Carusone, Giffords' chief of staff] said. “That’s a firm timetable. Short of that, we’d love to know today what her life will be, what...

After months of scrambling to contain an astonishing series of natural and manmade catastrophes, this editorial from Japan’s Nishinippon Shimbun warns Japanese officials that while they’ve been overwhelemed with domestic issues, the global situation has been evolving rapidly and mostly without any influence being applied by Tokyo. The Nishinippon Shimbun editorial says in part: Even as the Japanese...

I continue my new series of quoting from and linking to various Internet sites that I consider thoughtful and worth reading. As with TMV, these sites honestly attempt to be informative, moderate, and overall non-ideological. Dave Cohen of Pittsburgh, PA posted today on his blog “The Decline of the Empire” (www.declineoftheempire.com) the following analysis: Politics Is Irrelevant To America’s Fate Like...

I have so far refrained from commenting on the sex and political scandals involving current U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner of New York and former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. Some TMV readers might complain that this is an obvious oversight by an allegedly left-leaning blogger overlooking two Democrats. This partisan charge is far from the truth as I have enjoyed many a good sex scandal...

Is Mexican President Calderon too cozy with the United States and its involvement in his country? La Jornada columnist Javier Jimenez Espriu writes that Calderon’s apparent self-comparison to staunch U.S. ally Winston Churchill and rumors of U.S. military activities in Mexico are causes of great concern. For Mexico’s La Jornada, columnist Javier Jimenez Espriu writes in part: I’m worried by...

Some of the most idyllic and memorable times of my early youth are the days and weeks I spent in the late 1940s with my parents and sister in the Oriente of my native Ecuador. The Oriente is Ecuador’s magnificent jungle region on the East side of the majestic Andes Mountains. It is the beginning of the Amazon rain forest basin — some parts still pristine — and one of the most biologically...

Why are there so many poor, unemployed, uneducated and socially dysfunctional people in the U.S. – once the undisputed wealthiest and most advanced nation on earth? The U.S. has a huge number of demoralized, disengaged, and disheartened people. The recent economic news is nothing to celebrate when it may indicate a deeper economic and political crisis to come. On an average or median per capita basis, the...

Cover of a comic put out by those pressing for the anti-circumcision measure Talk about anti-semitism? It’s now official: the anti- circumcision measure on the ballot in San Francisco is no longer an even remotely funny subject. We’ve done a bit of a joking post here and a more serious one here about the measure that will be on the ballot in November in San Francisco seeking to ban circumcisions...

Over at The Atlantic, I profiled Todd Park, the chief technology officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, detailing how he is opening up the health care data floodgates for the tech community: Park first got a taste for the massive blockades hindering payment reform when he and his partner launched Athenahealth. Before it became a software company, Athenahealth was focused on maternity care. The...

Randall Enos, Cagle Cartoons This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.