Some days turn out brutal in the news business and yesterday, April 9, 2010, was one of them. My lazy mind chalks it up as Black Friday. Having spent half of my adult life in the newspaper business, I was never absolutely certain why negative news attracted the most readership. A conflict between two opposing ideas is one thing. That’s drama. As a police reporter, I was constantly chronicling good vs....

The President’s choice to succeed John Paul Stevens on the Court may be less significant for the country than the ugly confirmation process that is sure to follow. A legal saint, if there were one, would only be the excuse for a Senate auto de fe to embarrass the Obama Administration and curry favor for Tea Party votes in November. “Justice Stevens,” the New York Times editorializes, “has...

So who was the genius who thought it would be great to make a Nike ad for Tiger Woods (as if he needs the money) at this point where his image has not yet been restored? And who thought of the idea of using his dead father’s voice while Tiger sits there and contemplates? In one sense, if Nike wants to get its name out — and is THAT what it’s all about for a big company like Nike? —...

Sarah Palin gives a visual representation of her foreign policy experience ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————– Sarah...

God, I love the Pope! No, not in THAT way, I’m not even Catholic by Taylor Jones However tragic the story of what Pope Benedict XVI might have known, and when he might have known it, the fact is that the current pope has a GREAT face for caricature! Also, his personality and, thus far, his papacy, are a blessing for editorial cartoonists the world over. Regardless of religious persuasion, or lack thereof....

In West Virginia, Coal Miners’ Slaughter by Michael Winship The high cost of energy in America was paid in human lives this week, with the deaths of more than two dozen miners in a massive explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia. It’s the worst mine disaster in a quarter of a century. Upper Big Branch is owned by Massey Energy Company, which operates 47 mines in...

I went to college, studying modern foreign governments among other things, in the era of Lech Walesa (so much did it affect my college years and learning that I thought the song, Safety Dance, was actually, Save Gdansk) and the Solidarity Movement. Additionally, I’m a quarter-Polish – my paternal grandfather came over as a stowaway in a pickle barrel during the later part of World War I.  My first...

This, of course, is not news to anyone who has been paying attention all these years. What is newsworthy is that a senior staff member in the former administration has asserted this in a sworn affidavit:

This is obviously not the kind of issue I usually blog about, but I am doing so now because (a) it’s absolutely horrifying; and (b) it has international implications:

My wife tells me I need to get rid of my beloved rotary engine Mazda RX-8. She makes a good case. Our three person, two driver family doesn’t need four cars. Sure, our 16 year old will get a license in a couple of weeks, but she can’t drive a stick shift, and we just got her a new car for her birthday. And, my wife points out, I almost never drive the RX-8. Then she raises the “age” issue, telling...

And now for some mildly diverting weekend trivia…. As Orlando braces for the arrival of 200 middle school Scrabble experts to compete for the $10,000 National School SCRABBLE® Championship today, long-time Scrabble fans are saying it’s time for a revolution. Why? A new version (called Scrabble Trickster) being introduced only in the United Kingdom allows players to use proper nouns, spell words...

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

Earlier today, by a somewhat circuitous route, I stumbled across a conversation at Reddit about the WikiLeaks video I’ve written about here. The thread is extraordinary.  It’s an article about the July, 2007, helicopter incident posted by someone who is in the military — and 200 comments responding to the article. Many of the comments are also from people who either currently serve or...

Domestic violence calls are second only to burglary for law enforcement. Police regard them as among the most dangerous in terms of officer safety because of the violent emotions often in play when they arrive at the scene. Arrests and prosecution are part of the picture, but only a part. Victims need options, shelter, counseling, financial assistance, and education. Victims who want desperately to leave...

I wish that headline were a bad joke. But it isn’t. And almost no one is writing about it. Glenn Greenwald is one of the few:

First came the news that no frills airline Spirit Airlines was going to charge travelers for bringing on their own carry on luggage. That stirred a lot of outrage on talk shows: a lot of people are pissed off. And now even THAT will cost you (so to speak) if an Airline in Ireland has its way: it wants to charge for lavatory use. The phrase “if you’ve got go, you’ve got to go” may soon...

WASHINGTON — There is a dispiriting and, yes, heartbreaking sameness about how we respond to mining disasters. The catastrophe at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, W.Va., has taken at least 25 lives. An entire community stands in solidarity with the families of the victims, and hopes that some miners still trapped may yet be rescued. We celebrate the stoic sturdiness of mine workers who...

Trust in the GOPs Dearth of Experience by Tina Dupuy When Republicans warn that a policy is a job-killer – Americans should listen. If any group of lawmakers and thinkers know about killing jobs it’s the Grand Old Party. In 2008, the final year of the Bush Administration, after two terms of careless deregulation implemented with bastardized pseudo-free market battle cries, the economy lost 2.6 million...

Looks like someone has seen Gone With the Wind maybe a few too many times:

If we’re all Americans, then why are some of us “Confederate Southern Americans“? If  we need a box on the Census form where we can check off “American” as our race — not white or black or Latino, etc. — then why was (before he issued a politically necessary apology) Bob McDonnell’s “Confederate History Month” intended only for Virginians who are white...

Buying gold is a rich man’s hedge against inflation. I am not a rich man. But, I see the television ads blanketing Fox News from Goldline and Rosland Capital trumpeting the merits of precious metal investments. For the life of me, again, speaking as a pauper, I don’t understand the concept of shipping gold commodities to my home where I can finger the metals and feel a sense of financial security....

In what may be a sign of the times, the Politico and other sources are reporting that “Stormy” Daniels, the former porn star, is switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party and will possibly run for Louisiana’s Republican Senator David Vitter’s seat. She will decide on this no later than April 15. Politico: We can thank Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele for...

They were typical Americans of their time; proud, independent, industrious – and obscenely racist in their view toward the black race. They embarked on, what in hindsight, was a suicidal rebellion against the United States government and fought with uncommon courage and a determination that eventually precipitated the extermination of their way of life, and the economy upon which they all depended. But...

Among the many ways California is trying to resolve the budget crisis is to release certain prisoners who are either minor offenders or no longer a threat. The latter category includes some violent prisoners who have suffered illness or injury that reduce or eliminate their potential as a threat. One example is a rapist (clearly a prisoner you would not want to release) who was stabbed in the neck during a prison...

The longest serving current justice on the United States Supreme Court, John Paul Stevens turns 90 on April 20. Widely regarded as a high intellect, Stevens graduated in 1947 with the highest GPA in the history of Northwestern University Law School . In recent years he has been unfairly nicknamed “The Chief Justice of the Liberal Supreme Court” in spite of a history that is often far from liberal. Born...