There are some political themes that are repeated so much that even if they have some validity they become truly painful arguments to hear — and as welcome to hear as a dentist announcing you need three root canals. Diversity is a valid concern, when advocated in situations where there is a glaring deficiency or proveable need. But, no we don’t agree one iota with Anita Hill who suggests that just because Bush appointed Roberts (who is a white male, in case you haven’t noticed)...

“Them Flashy Liberals” is the latest in a series of posts I’ve written on liberal bias in American academia. Since my other posts date from my pre-TMV days, I’ll provide the links and a brief excerpt to the whole set here, starting from the earliest to the latest. “Purely Academic” [T]here are some important differences between under-represented ideologies vs. under-represented races or genders. The reason is that while there shouldn’t, in theory, be any...

Yes, it’s finally time to offer a formal statement to the readers each week who write that this CAN’T be a moderate site because we DARE to criticize a Republican or DARE to criticize a Democrat or DARE to link to a conservative site or DARE to link to a liberal site. Guess what? We USE our big blogroll to read for our OWN pleasure, to see what people with different perspectives are saying — and also use it as a working tool for this website to link to many sites of differing opinions...

Some people will do ANYTHING for a laugh: NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Police are on the lookout for the naked tickler. Investigators said they believe one man could be responsible for a series of bizarre break-ins in which a naked man enters victims’ rooms while they are sleeping and tries to tickle their feet. Sounds like a heel to me. MORE: The naked tickler struck again in New Smyrna Beach over the weekend. Investigators have been working on five similar, unsolved cases since 2001. Most...

Americablog’s John Aravosis has a fascsinating post about online etiquette that should be ready by everyone (and everyone will have their own ideas, of course). Here’s the intro: This is one in a series of posts about how to best use the Internet in a way that gets your message heard and doesn’t piss off the person you’re trying to influence. I usually tick some people off by writing this, but that’s okay, because they tick me off when they spam me. If people want to...

A suspected suicide bomber was shot dead in London today — underscoring the city’s threat, it’s heightened security and raising fears that the bombings that have happened so far may be the new modus operendi. Sky News: Police have killed a suspected suicide bomber at a Tube station in south London. Armed officers opened fire on the suspect after he hurdled a ticket barrier and raced along a platform at Stockwell station. Police screamed at passengers to evacuate and are thought...

While the country (and weblogs) stay glued to Rovegate and Robertspath (he looks like he will be confirmed) another intriguing story — and controversy — has been unfolding in New York. It’s about kids and AIDS drug trials. It pits the New York Times against an investigative reporter who does much of his reporting on the Internet. Read the Times story here. Then read the rebuttal story here (WARNING: This contains VERY graphic images). UPDATE: Dean Esmay has some info about another...

From the Canada desk: A few weeks ago, the House of Commons passed Bill C-38, the bill to sanction same-sex marriage, 158-133. Late Tuesday night, the more heavily Liberal Senate, our appointed upper house, passed it 47-21. And late Wednesday afternoon, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, standing in for Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, gave the bill royal assent. Canada thus becomes the fourth country — after Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain — to sanction same-sex marriage. For more...

Are we heading — for one brief, shining moment — towards a major political battle where the slash-and-burn, take-no-prisoners, the best defense is an good offense politics of the early 21st century may take backseat to a different style? The style: a political battle more akin to many battles in the 20th century where people could greatly — adamantly — differ because each side believes so much is at stake but the hate factor is minimal. In other words: back to a political...

Michael Reynolds of the great centrist blog The Mighty Middle notes that yesterday’s attack in London comes two weeks after the last one. So he has a plan. A way to show SOLIDARITY to Londoners and to send terrorists a message. He’s going to London. He’s going to fly to London in two weeks. He’s going to defiantly ride the Tube. And he wants you to go too.

We always encourage people to read the work of a blogger who goes that extra mile by putting aside the published stories and op-ed pieces and actually doing THEIR OWN interview. And now we have another solid example. The Talking Dog has interviewed Putitzer Prize winning Professor David Hackett Fischer by phone from his home in Massachusetts. Fischer, University Professor at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass, has written various books including Albion’s Seed, Paul Revere’s Ride —...

In fact, it can be a bitch — but a true lapdog can handle it. We thank K. Wohlfarth for the photo.

This is enough to make anyone flip their wig: DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) – Bald men in Germany have no entitlement to state support for toupees, a court ruled Wednesday. Throwing out a legal challenge by a bald 46-year-old man, the court said the state was not discriminating against men even though health insurance covers the cost of wigs for women. “In contrast to women, the involuntary loss of hair among men is common and accepted as nothing out of the ordinary,” the court ruled,...

The chances of a filibuster on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts now look as small as John Dean’s or John Kerry’s chance to win the Presidential nomination — and avoiding one almost as big as Ann Coulter’s Adams’ Apple. (How’s THAT for a sentence offending partisans on both sides?): The possibility of a filibuster against John G. Roberts, President Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, appeared to recede today, as several Democrats emerged from a meeting...

If you have any doubt that there will be a full-court press on finding out Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ position on abortion at Senate confirmation hearings consider these doubts erased by this: WASHINGTON (AP) – Just over half of all Americans – and a solid majority of women – want to know John Roberts’ position on abortion before the Senate votes on whether to elevate him to the Supreme Court. Most people don’t yet know enough about Roberts to form an...

Here’s a bit of news that keeps abreast of PC laws: CANADIAN Miss Universe Natalie Glebova was forced to take off her official sash at a local festival celebrating Thailand when Toronto authorities invoked a law against sexual stereotyping. The winner of the international beauty competition held in Bangkok in May, Glebova was to open the festival last weekend sporting her official beauty queen’s regalia. However, city employees invoked a regulation against activities which degrade men...

There were more explosions in London’s Tube Stations today — described by officials as “minor,” but leading to the evacuation of several tube lines in what officials called a “serious” incident. Now, as investigators look into this and an incident involving a bus, the question is going to be: were these done by the same, well organized group that’s believed to be linked with Al Qaeda — or is it the work of some sympathizers and/or copycats? The BBC...

Cross posted at The Smoking Room The opening of this story on a renewed federal push for a reporters’ shield law – protecting them under most circumstances from divulging anonymous sources – has one of the most inappropriate and sycophantic leads in a mainstream outlet I’ve ever seen: Watergate, the prisoner abuse scandal at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib jail, tobacco companies making cigarettes more addictive, and the Enron debacle – each of these instances of wrongdoing...

Everything seems to be going Hillary’s way lately. The Roberts nomination is perfect for her–he’s moderate enough that she doesn’t have to oppose him, but conservative enough that she’ll look bipartisan if she supports him.

Sam Smith has a fascinating column in Editor & Publisher on the Plame case — the case that won’t go away (and we predict it won’t even with the naming of a new Supreme Court nominee). Read the entire article, but here are some key points of this article titled Reporter Malpractice, Texas Hold-em & the Plame Game: Judith Miller is in the slammer, and the consensus among journalists and news agencies is that her jailing represents a dangerous assault on press freedoms. Most...

It’s been almost a day, and with that time comes perspective. So what do we know about Roberts today? Last night, at The Reaction, as well as here at TMV, I argued that Roberts is something of a “right-wing radical”. On issues like abortion, the separation of church and state, criminal law, and habeas corpus, he is certainly on the right, though of course how you label him is very much a matter of perception. (See Slate’s review of his background here.) In this sense, I must...

In a recent post at my weblog Random Fate, I stated that President George W. Bush has not been showing leadership but instead has been playing politics at the expense of doing what is right for the nation, but he has an opportunity to do so by turning away from short-term political gain at any cost towards doing what is right for the nation, even if there is a political price to be paid. The Democratic Party now has a similar opportunity to turn away from short-term political gain at any cost towards...

Some brief thoughts on 20 July 1969 versus 20 July 2005 can be found at my weblog Random Fate.

Whenever has the old phrase “like father, like son” been more apt than this? The father of one of the hijackers who commandeered the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, praised the recent terror attacks in London and said many more would follow. Speaking to CNN producer Ayman Mohyeldin Tuesday in his apartment in the upper-middle-class Cairo suburb of Giza, Mohamed el-Amir said he would like to see more attacks like the July 7 bombings of three...

One of the most beloved characters and — in real life, cast members — of the original Star Trek has died: Actor James Doohan, AKA Scotty, the feisty, Scottish-accented chief engineer on television’s original “Star Trek” series. Doohan was a favorite to fans of Star Trek, the most enduring science fiction television/movie franchise of the 20th century. And fellow actors and “Trekies” who met him offscreen loved him as well. He was 85. Doohan, who was diagnosed...