A commentary on why Bastille Day should be remembered in the United States can be found at my weblog, Random Fate.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm came into office as a rising star in the Democratic Party that, it was said, could sway independents and even Republicans with her tough-on-crime approach and gun enthusiasm. But she had an embarrassing reaction to an op-ed from a Michigan legislator and professor criticizing her new tax plan: Ms. Granholm was not pleased, going so far as to denounce the op-ed as “treasonous for the state of Michigan.” The authors’ high crime? Exposing Michigan...

Cross posted at The Smoking Room Yet another reason why cable news is the sewer of media, as the editor of a gamers website gets lured into a supposed fluff interview on bottom-rated CNBC’s “Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” and then gets skewered: It kicked off with Donny holding up a copy of Computer Games magazine declaring that there wasn’t a single game in there that wasn’t violent, and they then immediately cut to scenes of CJ stamping on a girl until she bled over...

Cross-posted to Random Fate. Technical presentations tend to all follow a similar format, with a brief overview of the object of study, a description of the experiments performed, a presentation of the data, a discussion of the implications of the data, and conclusions along with directions for future work. One oddity I encounter in dealing with the different cultures and languages that are part and parcel of my job is how this format is subtly altered by word choices made under the influence of...

It’s chill time in Great Britain….and that doesn’t mean chill out. The chill is the feeling going up and down many spines as details begin to emerge about the young suicide bombers that have walked among them. Some call them suicide bombers. Some call them “sleeper cells.” But most of all you can call them deception — and sudden death: He was the tallest boy in his class. Hasib Hussain, aged 10, in his final year at Ingram Road Primary School in Holbeck, Leeds,...

TMV heads to Nebraska today…which means he will do light(er) blogging. Today, in fact, he probably can’t do any posts until the evening — but keep checking back since our co-bloggers will likely be offering their views on some things. FYI, TMV will post Friday and Saturday but most likely early morning and evenings. He’ll post Sunday, mostly after 2 pm San Diego time. But during this time period, you will likely see some posts by our guest bloggers. So check back!

In a season where virtually every news story seems to have something to do with heightened polarization, it was a refreshing change to read about this seeming olive branch extended by the White House: In their first meeting with President Bush over the Supreme Court vacancy, Democrats went so far Tuesday as to offer names for consideration while senators of both parties encouraged the president to look beyond the federal judiciary for candidates. “It would be good to have some diversity,”...

Cross-posted to The Debate Link In a prior post, Joe notes the revival of slave reparations by American companies. Though these aren’t your stereotypical reparations–they’re offering scholarships and education funds, not blanket checks–TMV still believes that any effort by groups like the NAACP to boycott companies who refuse to pay will be met by “a boycott by a counter group (or two) to get businesses not to participate.” I don’t think that will happen,...

Democrats don’t seem to like Democratic governors. But Republicans sure do.

I’m not sure many people outside the Beltway and polarized activists gives a damn about this entire scandal that somehow involves Karl Rove, Joe Wilson (a very lazy former ambassador) and his wife. But since it’s drawing so much attention, and I’ve been sick of what seems to be a poorly executed but thoroughly “non” scandal for the past 2 years, I’d like to hightlight Joe Wilson’s admission from his little-read book last year: It was Saddam Hussein’s...

Each day, it seems, we are closer and closer to getting an annoucement about a second Supreme Court vacancy — as this latest news about Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist further attests: WASHINGTON – Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, ailing with cancer, has been hospitalized with a fever, spurring more retirement speculation about the 33-year veteran of the Supreme Court. The 80-year-old Rehnquist was taken by ambulance to Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday night...

There’s little sign that the controversy swirling over President George Bush’s political right-hand-man Karl Rove and his alleged role in helping out a CIA operative’s identity is abating. If anything, the controversy is growing as Bush is silent on his past statements about firing leakers and many in the GOP party, political and media elite get on the same wavelenth: an increasingly cohesive and legalistic defense of Rove coupled with a counterattack on the husband and wife at...

The controversial move to press for reparations appears poised to acclerate amid reports that the NAACP plans to press businesses for reparations and launch some boycotts. One reason for this, the Washington Times story notes, is a recognition that the government will probably never get involved in the controversial campaign. Another fact: reparations so far seem to have come in the form of scholarships and education funds versus the common perception that it would involved mass payoffs to individuals....

…and not a moment too soon. But I’d say they’re utterly wrong about the so-called Wall of Shame, whose construction they refuse to acknowledge coincided with the end (for the most part) of the intifada against Israel. In a great irony, a wall often condemned as a blatant violation of human rights and territorial integrity might have helped usher in a nonviolence movement in Palestine that seeks its removal. I’d hate to see regular bombings in Jerusalem return as a result...

It sounds like John Bolton is indeed destined to be a recess appointment after all: John R. Bolton’s nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations was the hottest issue in Congress a few months ago. But it has virtually evaporated this summer, eclipsed by speculation over a Supreme Court nominee and the fate of the president’s top political adviser. With neither the White House nor Senate Democrats showing any sign of yielding in their long-running dispute over documents related...

It’s interesting how in the London bombing case the words “suicide bombers” are slowly trickling out — but the words are being used: Four friends from northern England have changed the face of terrorism by carrying out the suicide bombings that brought carnage to London last week. It emerged last night that, for the first time in Western Europe, suicide bombers have been recruited for attacks. Security forces are coming to terms with the realisation that young Britons are...

Judicial candidates would be wise to dodge the questions they’re aske during their hearings. But our political system is decidedly unwise to create that disincentive.

Hillel Levin has it. The Debate Link has more (heehee, that’s clever…”they have it, I have more.” Sometimes, I amaze myself).

Most of today’s posts will start today after 6 a.m. San Diego time. We will be posting today, but perhaps at more erratic times than usual. TMV will be on the road for the latter part of this week, but our co-bloggers will also be posting a bit more this week (and he will post on the road as usual).

Here’s your chance to demand that White House bigwig Karl Rove be fired, or Not fired. USA TODAY has a poll RIGHT HERE so you can vote now. We honestly don’t think this poll will influence any “personnel matters” at the White House but it is a chance for each reader to register his/her/its opinion. We thank our reader Marty for the tip!

Events are moving swiftly in the case of last week’s terrorist attacks in London where one man has been arrested and authorities believe at least one suspect died in the attacks: They said there was forensic evidence that the bomber responsible for the train explosion at Aldgate died there. Personal documents of three suspects were also found close to the explosions suggesting all four died in the blasts. One man has been arrested in Yorkshire and taken to London for questioning after police...

…and instead trying to take a wider view, I have returned from a two week hiatus/vacation with some ruminations upon “The shackles of cognitive thought” at my weblog, Random Fate. While the devil may lie in the details, you cannot see where you are going if you stare at your feet.

Is Karl Rove in trouble? Is he about to issue an explanation that defuses the controversy about him allegedly being involved in revealing a CIA operative’s identity in a political skirmish? The answers to that are yet to come — but there are signs he is overstaying his welcome…because he is being perceived as a distraction. Here are some excerpts from The Jawa Report’s Rusty Shackleford (read the whole post since we’re only offering you some parts): Is Rove guilty?...

Here’s yet another sign that these days BBC stands for Bad British Copy editors: The BBC has re-edited some of its coverage of the London Underground and bus bombings to avoid labelling the perpetrators as “terrorists”, it was disclosed yesterday. Early reporting of the attacks on the BBC’s website spoke of terrorists but the same coverage was changed to describe the attackers simply as “bombers”. The BBC’s guidelines state that its credibility is undermined...

An incredibly telling slide show On Al Qaeda’s butchery can be viewed at that great site for foreign issues, The Winds Of Change. Bill Roggio and Marvin Hutchens put together a flash presentation that shows you (complete with suitable music) a quick history of Al Qaeda attacks on the innocent. Roggio writes: The facts presented speak for themselves. There have been 30 major mass casualty attacks directed against the United States, Britain, France, Spain, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, India,...