A couple of days ago, I wrote about the need for us, Americans, on this 10th anniversary of 9/11, to recommit ourselves to strengthening and bonding our nation from within… An Army chaplain, Major James Key, conducted his final funeral at Arlington National Cemetery a few weeks ago for an active duty soldier who died in combat while serving in Afghanistan. As his eyes “scanned the hallowed stones and...

Israel and Turkey – Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word by John Daly September promises to be an epochal month, as the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday night told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a telephone call that he is determined to go to the United Nations to bid for a full membership at the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly beginning...

Has the 2008 economic crisis in some ways corrected for the mistakes America made after September 11? Former Brazil foreign minister and ambassador to the United States Roberto Abdenur writes that the global financial crisis has served to open the United States to greater cooperation with the world – if only the Tea Party would get out of the way. For Brazil’s Folha, former Brazil Foreign Minister...

Of the many lies told by Bush administration officials in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, few were larger than the assertion of Vice President Cheney — who history will show is probably the biggest and boldest liar to hold high office in the U.S. — that Air Force fighter jet pilots in hot pursuit of the hijacked airliners were poised to carry out an order from President Bush to shoot them down. ...

As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, as with every previous anniversary, we find ourselves once again trying to make sense of that unprecedented event; once more trying to find a fitting and worthy way to commemorate the tragic anniversary. Most importantly, we are still poignantly reminded of the unfathomable grief and pain that thousands experienced on that day, and probably forever after, but also...

Ten years after the 9/11 catastrophe, the Bush administration cover-up of why the terrorist attacks were carried out despite the White House, CIA and FBI being repeatedly warned of them still holds. Not only has the final word not come out about this malfeasance of enormous and arguably criminal proportions, hardly any word about it has. The mainstream media has been complicitous in ignoring this cover-up...

This is a combination of two posts I put up at The Debate Link. * * * The United Nation’s long-awaited Palmer Report on the Gaza flotilla incident has now been released, and, from Israel’s perspective it has to be seen as a major win. The committee firmly decides that the blockade is legal and notes that an essential element of a legal element is that it has to be enforced consistently (which means...

The New York Times reports that Qaddafi’s wife and three of his children have fled to Algeria. This according to the Algerian Foreign Ministry. It was the first official news on the whereabouts of any members of the Qaddafi family since he was routed from his Tripoli fortress by rebel forces a week ago, a decisive turn in the Libyan conflict. In a brief announcement carried by Algeria’s official news...

Could it be that the United States, Iran and Israel have been conniving to keep Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad in office? Columnist Iraq Al-Mutari of Iraq’s Al-Iraq News Agency asserts that Iran is not only working with Washington to thwart Syrian protesters, it is running rings around America in Iraq. For the Al-Iraq News Agency, Iraq Al-Mutari writes in part: It’s no secret that the occupied...

What lessons should Arabs draw from the fall of Muammar Qaddafi? According to columnist K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran, Arab leaders had better absorb the fact that times and the world are changing fast, and that they must embrace reform before reform is imposed on them from the outside – namely by the West. For the Le Quotidien d’Oran, K. Selim writes in part: It must be noted that...

You have to ask yourself: Don’t corporations ever learn? Or are they as dense as politicians who keep making the same mistake? In 1985 Coca Cola made the corporate belly flop heard round the world when it introduced “New Coke,” assuming that its customers would buy it like the classic Coke because it had the name “Coke” on it. Now legendary tea maker Twinings is making the same...

UPDATE: While only touched upon in the article below, Dick Cheney is not very charitable when it comes to some of his former colleagues in the Bush administration, such as George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice and Gen. Colin Powell. When asked about that, and about Cheney’s statement that heads would be exploding in Washington, DC, in CBS’ Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer this weekend, Gen. Colin Powell first...

This is a continuation of and update to “Where is Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi?” It now looks like it may be more than just “a few days” before the deposed dictator is caught or killed as the fighting moves to Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte. [Note the spelling change for Gaddafi] The BBC reports: British Tornado jets fired precision-guided missiles at a large bunker in Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi’s...

Guest post by Ali Ezzatyar The colonel’s departure has come to pass. His defiant radio broadcasts are relics of a foregone dictator in denial. As the National Transitional Council marches on Tripoli this week, the Arab Spring turned Arab Summer will establish its third concrete instance of regime change. But after a hard fought and messy victory, what comes next? Whatever the next chapter in this story,...

Another GREAT video animation by Taiwan’s Next Media Animation: this time on Libyan (former) strongman Gaddafi’s Condoleeza Rice obession. Due to a scene that is slightly R rated we will send you to THIS LINK rather than post it on TMV itself. (NMA does great work and pumps out videos in a timely fashion so they’re ripped from the headlines).

One of the disgraces that, in my opinion, will continue to stain the image and reputation of our nation for years to come, and which belies—betrays—the true character of our people, is the authorization and execution of torture during the Bush-Cheney administration. What is even more troubling and pathetic is the continuing defense of, even praise for, those techniques by the head cheerleader of...

A few words about Cheney’s latest, upcoming, true or not-so-true confessions, “In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir.” No, I haven’t had access to the book, and, no I am not going to pay the already discounted price of $19.25 (or the $15.75 “pre-order price”) so that I can read it, just as I didn’t read Cheney’s earlier blockbuster and still commented...

Were the 2001 Bush tax cuts more damaging to the United States that the September 11 attacks? Columnist Cesar Avo of Portugal’s Sol newspaper praises billionaire investor Warren Buffet for his assertion that America’s wealthy should give up the Bush tax cuts and pay more – for the good of the nation. For Portugal’s Sol newspaper, Cesar Avo starts out this way: In the year that the Twin...

Did Libyan dicator in hiding Moaamar Gaddafi have a thing for former Secretary of State Condoleeze Rice? A photo album found in his compound suggests he did: The ransacking of Moammar Gadhafi’s compound is turning up some bizarre loot. Following on from the Libyan leader’s eccentric fashion accessories and his daughter’s golden mermaid couch, the latest discovery is a photo album filled with...

Should China use its massive holdings of American debt to interfere in U.S. domestic politics? According to this column by Senior Editor Ding Gang of the state-controlled People’s Daily, American arms sales to democratic Taiwan undermine China’s sovereignty, and must be countered regardless of the financial losses to both the U.S. and China. For the China Daily, People’s Daily Senior Editor...

WASHINGTON — You have to ask: If unemployment were now at 6 percent, would President Obama be getting pummeled for not having us back to full employment already? The question comes to mind in the wake of the Libyan rebels’ successes against Moammar Gaddafi. It’s remarkable how reluctant Obama’s opponents are to acknowledge that despite all the predictions that his policy of limited...

TMV columnist Shaun Mullen just posted an interesting article with a little bit of history on and memories of past hurricanes and an excellent list of precautions people in the (possible) path of Hurricane Irene should take. You notice I capitalized “Hurricane.” That is because I have great respect and awe for Hurricanes. This may be because of a an extremely close encounter I (and my family) had with a...

CNN has just reported that all 35 journalists and other foreign nationals who had been held hostage by Qaddafi troops at the Rixos hotel have now been released. All “in good condition.” Pro-Qaddafi forces guarding them did not put any resistance. Journalists “negotiated” with them. Guards said “we are not going to stop you from leaving” From the Washington Post: CNN’s Matthew...

Does it take a collapsed superpower to recognize a declining one? In this analysis of the importance of the United States and the consequences of its diminishing influence, Gazeta columnist Semen Novoprudski examines why Russians have been demonizing America since the fall of the Soviet Union, and what earth’s leading nations must do now that the end of the ‘superpower era’ has arrived. For...

UPDATE, 09:00 CST, Aug. 25 In order for the hunt for Qaddafi not to “turn into a protracted affair,” NATO officials confirm that many assets are being used to try to find the elusive despot as soon as possible. According to the BBC: These range from agents on the ground trying to pick up the latest reports and rumours, through to satellites watching for any convoys or unusual movement in the desert,...