Holy $#!+. This clip makes me want to vomit, but in a good way… And seriously, did any of you actually dress like this during the 70s? Fess up Gandelman… (h/t: Screenhead)

Reuters: Official says Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabor`s sister kidnapped in Baghdad.

Op-Ed by Phyllis Snyder: Alito would erode minority protection Judge Samuel Alito, nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, would overturn crucial protections for minority religions, and would roll back the right to an abortion, writes the president of the National Council of Jewish Women…. Op-Ed by Jeffrey Wasserstein: Alito protects minority rights Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court has proven controversial, has been a staunch defender of the rights...

It’s a “gut” issue that sparks all kinds of emotions among Republicans and could be even more troubling for the Democrats.

Some readers say they’ve enjoyed the links to the psychic predictions on The Moderate Voice, where our powers of prognostication (or procrastination) are legendary. So here are some more. We do NOT vouch for their accuracy (obviously) or endorse their political perspective. We know some readers find it fascinating so we’re offering you these links. Here. Some more here. This is a long one with many people contributing predictions so scroll down. And then THIS. (She was off on who would...

Oh, please, God, don’t let it be true…Don’t make me go through it again (I don’t have the disposable income for the amount of Red Bull required to sit through his speeches)…Oh, please, Lord, I’ll be a good boy, but as a former Political Science major don’t force me to watch a campaign as poorly run like that ever again. DO YOU HEAR ME??!!! It’s almost as if Sen. John Kerry never stopped running for president. He still jets across the country, raising...

It seems like these days everyone’s a music critic: Obie Trice, a protege of Eminem, was shot over the weekend while driving on a city highway, police said. Someone in another car shot through the back window of 28-year-old Trice’s vehicle as he drove along the Lodge Freeway around 1:10 a.m. Saturday, said Michigan State Police Sgt. Mario Gonzales. The Detroit native managed to continue driving and got off the freeway in the suburb of Southfield, where his girlfriend, also in the vehicle,...

This time from Citizen Smash. And what ARE your predictions (serious or otherwise)?

And, if so, will their secrets be exposed?

An eye-opening and at times jaw-dropping interview with Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.

Bull Moose warns that America’s political elites have put their mind-set back to pre-911 and are ignoring the perils to the United States homeland and ominous rumblings from Iran. However, there is increasing sentiment that we are no longer at war. Well, not exactly – clearly we are at war in Iraq. And according to some, the Bush Administration is conducting a relenting attack on our liberties. One Senate Democratic leader even crowed that the party had “killed” the Patriot...

There has been another kidnapping in Yemen. But kidnappings in Yemen are not always merely crimes. They often have political roots.

….at Atomic Insights Blog. You’d be surprised how many new sites TMV discovers (and later adds to his blogroll) by being linked by a new site. Today we were fascinated to find this link from Atomic Insights Blog which discusses “energy supplies, energy technology and energy politics from an atomic point of view.” Independent researcher Rod Adams’ blog is serious and issue-oriented. The word “content” was invented for a website like this and it’s a...

Tutakai is one of TMV’s favorite sites since in its always-articulate posts it makes no bones that moderates can indeed (and DO) take strong positions…and can play a role (as they have throughout American history). Here’s a key quote from its latest post (but read the whole thing): The truth is that both parties are increasingly the puppets of their most extreme elements. While a Republican Party dominated by demogogues like Rick Santorum and corrupt hacks like Tom Delay plays...

Asia Pundit reports two highly critical blogs have apparently been shut down.

Due to the extended holiday season, we’ve re-dated and reposted even more posts than usual for the following day’s blog. We do this routinely so posts put on this site at night are on the following day’s site, to get maximum readership (permalinks are not impacted, just the “history” of the post). Today we’ve reposted our comment on Dick Clark — which was actually done yesterday morning — and put it out of order because TMV himself was touched by it...

You could say Russia is “Putin on the pressure” by cutting gas to the Ukraine in a move that could have a slew of big implications — political and economic. For instance, the New York Times reports: Russia cut off the natural gas intended for Ukraine on Sunday as talks over pricing and transit terms unraveled into a bald political conflict that carried consequences for Ukraine’s recovering economy and possibly for gas supplies to Western Europe. The dispute comes a year after...

NOTE: This was posted early yesterday but due to some of the issues raised we’re posting it again today, higher up in the actual order in which it was posted. Newer posts are below this so please keep scrolling down. He was called “America’s oldest teenager” until way after that phrase even remotely made sense. He produced a classic rock T.V. show, branched out into topnotch concerts, TV production, business commications and even restaurants. Then, suddenly, he was felled...

Happy New Year to everyone! Though I won’t be back at full-blogging strength until I’m settled back at Carleton (I fly back tomorrow, will be up and running by Tuesday), I do have a rather lengthy post regarding Iowa Law Professor (and Palestine/International Law Expert) Adrien Wing’s trip to Israel, and her observations there. I do issue fair warning on the length (and it starts off rather angry at first as well), but I think it’s worth the read. I should be receiving several...

Newsweek adds a new troubling twist to the controversy over the Bush administration’s warrantless spying. It reports that even then-Attorney General John Ashcroft would not authorize the spying sought by the administration: On one day in the spring of 2004, White House chief of staff Andy Card and the then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales made a bedside visit to John Ashcroft, attorney general at the time, who was stricken with a rare and painful pancreatic disease, to try—without...