I strongly disagree with Senator John McCain’s politics and policies—especially his almost fanatic opposition to ending “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” and his stubborn support of the Iraq war. I have also been disappointed with the Senator’s seriously flawed judgment on several issues and decisions, such as his deplorable posturing on the new GI Bill of Rights during the Bush administration...

by WALTER BRASCH A former managing editor for the online newspaper, OpEdNews, has sued the city of Philadelphia and eight of its police officers for violating her Constitutional rights. Cheryl Biren-Wright, Pennsauken, N.J., charges the defendants with violating her 1st, 4th, and 14th amendment rights. The civil action, filed in the U.S. District Court, Philadelphia, is based upon her arrest during a peaceful...

All The World’s a Stage by Peter Funt With modern media, know this: you can run off at the mouth, but you can’t hide. It’s surprising how many media-savvy folks fail to grasp that. Some politicians still think they can say things in the hinterlands and not have the remarks rebound on the Internet. Some pundits believe they can let loose in relatively small corners of the blogosphere, or on...

The State of Georgia has delayed the execution of convicted killer Troy Davis, who was to be executed at 7 p.m. ET, awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on a request by Davis’ lawyers for a stay of execution. Jow Windish will update this story later tonight.

FORWARD: The recent 10th anniversary of 9/11 once again gave rise to questions about NORAD’s role and performance during the attacks and to the now-familiar conspiracy theories. Hence this writing. === The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was officially established on Sept. 12, 1957, during the Cold War—during the “innocent years.” A couple of weeks before, the Soviet Union...

Unless Mitt Romney (or Jeb Bush) stops the Rick Perry steamroller, we are heading toward a referendum on the value of human life next year. When Sarah Palin invented death panels to bash health care reform two years ago, with perfect pitch for political devastation, she planted a seed that has now flowered in the Tea Party frontrunner, who is being cheered for multiple executions in Texas by crowds who are also...

I started to read a real funny piece in today’s New York Times—at least funny to Democrats and perhaps even to some Republicans with a sense of humor. Others need not read any farther… It is written by the columnist Republicans love to hate: Maureen Dowd. It is about “Eggheads and Blockheads.” It is about the “egghead Eastern lawyer who lacks the skills or stomach for a gunfight,” and about...

I’m a big Flipboard fan. Yesterday Robert Scoble posted on his Google+ feed that Google is working on a competitor. “My source says that the versions he’s seen so far are mind-blowing good.” Kara Swisher follows up: Google is indeed working on rolling out the new product, which is currently called Propeller. Sources said Propeller is apparently one of a number of new socially focused announcements...

by WALTER BRASCH SpongeBob SquarePants may be hazardous to your mental development—if you’re a four-year-old. At least that’s what two psychologists at the University of Virginia claim, based upon a study they conducted that may have as many holes as the average sponge who lives under the sea. In the first paragraph of an article published this week in the academic journal Pediatrics, Angeline...

Has the United States been in the midst of a national neurotic episode since the 9-11 attacks? According to this editorial from Japan’s Ibaraki Shimbun, going around the world and “brandishing an ideal” is just as foolish for the United States as it is for al-Qaeda. The Ibaraki Shimbun editorial says in part: Ten years have passed since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States...

Eight years after the invasion of Iraq, which was prompted at least in part by Bush Administration claims that Saddam Hussein was somehow involved in the 9-11 terrorist attacks, how do Iraqis feel about al-Qaeda – and about America? For the Iraqi newspaper Sotal Iraq, columnist Rageb Al-Rakabi writes that Iraqis firmly reject the terror group and its plots to attack the United States. For Sotal Iraq,...

For decades, Joe McGinniss has been to journalism what Sarah Palin has become to politics–a relentless self-promoter who rarely lets facts get in the way of a good story-—and now they come together with the former’s book about the latter as she is on the brink of possibly becoming a presidential candidate. The next media scandals du jour will emanate from that 320-page tome, the flavor of which is...

“A swirl of fame swept down a dirt road to find Bobby Kirk and his country wisdom,” says the NYTimes in a Most Emailed article from late July. Stephen Colbert parses the piece in a deliciously sarcastic joke that appears at first to be a skewering of small town journalism. The action (or lack thereof) takes place a few miles up the road from me, in Athens, GA, so it got local tongues a-waggin’. Be...

A prime-time TV special introduces new generations to “the most mysterious, fascinating–and feline–woman in American political history” through 47-year-old audiotapes made soon after JFK’s assassination. For those possibly confused by abject adoration of her husband and bitchiness toward most other political figures of their time, some first-hand footnotes on the apparent contradictions. In...

Did you notice that ABC called its coverage of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, which includes those candid audio recordings from early 1964, an ABC News exclusive? But NBC aired portions of the tapes starting on Friday: A spokesperson for Hyperion said the company reached out to NBC News: “We made NBC aware of the copyright and ABC News’ exclusive rights...

After Michele Bachmann pounced on Rick Perry last night for his executive order mandating young girls to receive the HPV vaccine, former Alaska governor and now conservative darling-celebrity Sarah Palin has also piled on the Texas governor over the same issue, calling it a possible product of “crony capitalism.” Palin has used this term before. According to the New York Times, Palin used it before at...

Is it just a myth that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks badly damaged the American economy? According to columnist Thomas Fricke of the Financial Times Deutschland, the wars of vengeance launched by George W. Bush and the nearly catastrophic economic crash at the end of his term caused far more damage than Osama bin Laden ever dreamed of.` For the Financial Times Deutschland, Thomas Fricke writes in...

Since I learned what a blog WAS in 2003 and started TMV in December 2003 (the original site was on Blogger) Ezra Klein has been one of my favorite must-read bloggers. I first started reading him when he was doing a blog from college. He was always one of the more solid Internet analysts who didn’t sound like a tiresome, wannabe polarizing radio talk show host or someone puking up the most negative talking...

What have we sacrificed in the process of pursuing the ‘War on Terror’? Continuing with our global coverage of the 9-11 anniversary, in this moving article from Sweden’s Sydsvenskan, columnist Heidi Avellan writes that no matter how hard it may be, hatred must be met with love, and our principles mustn’t be sacrificed in the pursuit of vengeance. For Sweden’s Sydsvenskan, Heidi...

Today we continue our coverage of the global outpouring in regard to the September 11 anniversary. This article is one of the dozens of stories posted on Worldmeets.US since yesterday. The funk the United States is currently in is of great concern to U.S. allies like Japan, who depend on American influence for their own security and prosperity. This editorial from Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun illustrates the...

On this anniversary weekend, an old question I used to ask editors and writers who were pitching a story during my working lifetime arises, “Why are you telling me all this?” Starting right after the President’s jobs speech Thursday night, TV and cable news have been saturated with running accounts of two or three possible terrorists planning a U.S. attack on 9/11, with most of the information coming from...

At a time when America appears lost, and its leadership continues its reckless bid for global supremacy, it is interesting to recall the story of the only American who participated in India’s freedom struggle and was imprisoned by the British-Indian government. He gave up Western clothes and donned home-spun Khadi dress. A highly impressed Mahatma Gandhi wrote in his Young India: “No Indian is giving...

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...

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...

Late last night, after watching some spin room action about the Republican primary debate in California, I started thinking about this question in a way that harkens back to just after Hillary Clinton was no longer in the 2008 race. It’s not going to be Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin.  Yup, I’m predicting that right now.  Neither will be the general election presidential candidate for the GOP...