Black people “go wild”, individual White persons commit isolated crimes. Black people obstruct law enforcement with the call to “stop snitchin’”, White people assert their fundamental rights to “not talk on the advice of my attorney.” Does this trouble you? It should–and with one of the most shocking cases of racial violence in years currently on the media pages, it’s time stop the double-standard.

Progressive talker Ed Schultz, who has one of the fastest growing radio talk shows in the country, will be on Larry King Live on CNN tonight at 9 p.m. (the other guest will be former President Bill Clinton). TMV listens to a lot of talk radio when he travels and Schultz is among his favorites due to his shows variety, ability to seize on breaking news, and Schultz’s own approach which is to take callers from many viewpoints (plus his endearing detours into his big love, sports reporting..)

(Note: This post first appeared earlier this week and prompted an excellent, informative discussion among readers in the comments section. It has been updated in light of recent developments. I am particularly interested to know what your own proposed solution(s) to the Iranian nuclear crisis might be. — MS) ********** Wednesday marked the appearance of Real Security: The Democratic Plan to Protect America and Restore Our Leadership in the World. It is an admirable effort by Congressional Democrats...

And to that point…what is a centrist? More here.

First came the storm that wiped out the city. Then came lagging restoration efforts, despite determined-sounding promises from government officials. Now comes the news from the Bush administration that due to rising costs New Orleans may not be able to be totally protected again, despite earlier statements: The Bush administration said yesterday that the cost of rebuilding New Orleans’s levees to federal standards has nearly tripled to $10 billion and that there may not be enough money to fully...

Surprise. And a pleasant one. For once. Joy. Widespread. Worldwide. But especially at the homes of relatives of Jill Carroll and at One Norway Street, The Christian Science Monitor’s offices. The release of the Monitor’s correspondent Jill Carroll is a rarity these days: a hostage story that truly has a happy ending that everyone can enjoy. The details of precisely how and why she was released will likely be fleshed out later: the press will want to know more. The story has has been...

From Ramussen Reports: Forty percent (40%) of American adults approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. That matches the lowest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports. The slight increase in Approval seen last weekend was clearly nothing more than statistical noise. While people are not happy with the President, 55% say they are better off today than they were four years ago. On the immigration issue, Americans are divided over whether something should be done so that...

That’s right, but as you can see from the picture above, there aren’t enough spaces to display an additional number. In about 2 years, the clock will become obsolete. Currently the debt is approximately $8,370,000,000,000. And you don’t want to know what your share of that is… Who wants to bet me the debt will be an issue in 2008? More here. (h/t: Maverick Views)

The National Journal’s Murray Waas has an eye-opening piece that is one more story suggesting that President George Bush was specifically told that some of what he said to justify the war in Iraq might not be true — and that Karl Rove & Co. have worked mightily to protect that from coming out: Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush’s 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it...

If you are knowledgable about what law and graduate schools are strong in race theory, whiteness theory, or Jewish theory, please drop me a line at The Debate Link.

The Heterosexual Hemispheres Act of 2006.

I don’t have the time to comment properly on these stories right now, but they’re all worth following. All links are to The Washington Post: – Ehud Olmert’s Kadima Party (founded by Ariel Sharon) won the most Knesset seats in Tuesday’s Israeli elections (28 of 120). Israel uses a List-PR (proportional representation) electoral system, with seats apportioned according to the popular vote. Olmert will now look to build a governing coalition, likely with Amir Peretz’s...

Sign of the Apocalypse #29 at The Reaction. This is Britney. Britney Spears. On a bearskin rug. Giving birth to Baby Federline. As sculpted by Daniel Edwards. According to the Post, this piece of “art” will soon be on display at Brooklyn’s Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery. Next to “anti-abortion materials” as part of an exhibit called “Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston”. Yes, that’s right. This piece of “art” comes with a pro-life...

How to deal with the intractable problem of HIV/AIDS in the developing world? Vivek Krishnamurthy offers a “modest proposal” here.

Even in a cruel world where terrorism automatically breeds grief stricken fatalism, there can be a happy ending: The Christian Science Monitor’s Iraq correspondent Jill Carroll has been released: American journalist Jill Carroll, abducted in early January by gunmen in Baghdad, was released to a Sunni Arab political party in the capital Thursday morning after 82 days in captivity. “I was treated very well. That’s important for people to know,” she said in an interview with...

Invade Mexico…heh… Mexico has all the natural resources any country could need. And God knows they have the hardest-working population on planet Earth. What they lack is competent government, Protestantism and self-confidence. And here we are with a surplus of the last two. More here.

Yesterday the Senate passed – by an unsurprisingly huge margin – a bill called the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006. The vote was 90-8, which the opposition coming for the most part from senators who felt the legislation did not go far enough (McCain, Obama, Kerry, Feingold, Graham, Coburn). Senators DeMint and Inhofe also voted against final passage. What’s in this bill? The following are drawn from coverage today in the NYT, WaPo, LATimes, and The Hill,...

Could it be this guy?

…in Iran.

Another pleased Viagra user.

Watch what happens when CNN newscasters learn they have a fire in their studio.

“…all you’d have to do is say ‘truck.’” The Texas ethics commission (motto: We’d Be Really Busy If It Wasn’t Hopeless) has decided that the new state law demanding disclosure of gifts over $250 doesn’t require that the candidate state the value of the gift. So a gift of $300 or $300,000 could both be just labeled “cash.” H/T: Lindsay “bling bling” “da cheddah” and “swag” Beyerstein

…but not usually to individual voters…

Actually, it is proof that democratizing Iraq was a feasible goal–one that we’ve utterly bombed of course (no pun intended).

No, it isn’t B.O.