Hi there, Dr. E here... I wrote Tyrone, our great IT guy, several days ago asking that edit function be added for our commenters since our recent site redesign. As of yesterday, our commenters have this function available to them to edit their own comments. Just so you know. There you go. Thanks Tyrone! As always, you're the best of the IT wizard tribe. … [Read more...] about Tiny Head’s Up from TMV
‘Successful’ Russia Sanctions Would be West’s Worst Nightmare (Gazeta, Russia)
This column by Gazeta columnist Georgy Bovt, while providing an unassailable argument for why Western sanctions on Russia are doomed to fail, also serves as a powerful indictment of the Putin years. Beyond his explanation of why there is no likelihood of sanctions working, or of an opposition emerging that is capable of challenging the Putin regime, Bovt lays out why, if … [Read more...] about ‘Successful’ Russia Sanctions Would be West’s Worst Nightmare (Gazeta, Russia)
Atlas did the dishes, then watched the news
Here's the biggest scare headline I can remember since 1983's TIME cover: Herpes the New Scarlet Letter*. Has the ‘Libertarian Moment’ Finally Arrived? Robert Draper / New York Times “Let’s say Ron Paul is Nirvana,” said Kennedy, the television personality and former MTV host, by way of explaining the sort of politician who excites libertarians like herself. “Like, the … [Read more...] about Atlas did the dishes, then watched the news
Sugar Coated History
I love history but straight history can often be a bit dry. [icopyright one button toolbar] James Michener was a perhaps the the first to sugar coat history with well researched fiction. His novels were turned into Broadway plays, movies and TV mini series. Another author of that genre is Edward Rutherford. His first novel, Sarum, covered 10,000 years of history of the … [Read more...] about Sugar Coated History
Decreased Highway Fatalities In Colorado After Legalization Of Marijuana
Conservatives have used scare stories of high drivers as reasons to oppose both legalization of marijuana and even use of medical marijuana. As with a recent study on prostitution reducing the risk of rape and sexually transmitted diseases, eliminating laws against victimless crimes may be beneficial, and at least typically does not do the harm claimed by conservatives. Since … [Read more...] about Decreased Highway Fatalities In Colorado After Legalization Of Marijuana
Plain vanilla bipartisanship
WASHINGTON -- When does Congress become so embarrassed by its laughably low approval ratings that its leaders decide to pass laws to make our country a modestly better place? Is there a plain vanilla agenda that might pass muster across party lines? If you thought attitudes about Congress couldn't get any worse, consider the Washington Post/ABC News poll's finding this … [Read more...] about Plain vanilla bipartisanship
And now the bad news about the tea party
And now the bad news about the tea party: [icopyright one button toolbar] They don't lose when they lose. They bounce back and make even more trouble. They've become the common cold of our politics, the relentless pain in once-healthy joints, the anomalies found in our blood tests. The Tea Party wins when it wins, and it wins when it loses. Five years after it began … [Read more...] about And now the bad news about the tea party
Hamas funded abduction and murder of three Israeli teens: terror suspect confession
Hamas funded abduction and murder of three Israeli teens: terror suspect confession … [Read more...] about Hamas funded abduction and murder of three Israeli teens: terror suspect confession
Ohio Experiment Shows Way To Save Money With Medicaid Expansion And Avoid Increase In ER Utilization
Opponents of the expanded Medicaid program have often cherry-picked data from Oregon to point out an increase in Emergency Room use and to question the benefits of the program. NPR’s Morning Edition looked at a program in Ohio to expand Medicaid coverage before the expansion in the Affordable Care Act and found positive results. The program was formed due to the problem of … [Read more...] about Ohio Experiment Shows Way To Save Money With Medicaid Expansion And Avoid Increase In ER Utilization
One Sad Journey; One Incredible Journey to a new Home
Lady, the black lab, was dropped off at shelter in Kansas by an owner that either did not want her, or could not care for her. But Lady didn't know that. She escaped from the shelter and made the thirty mile trip back to her owner's home. [icopyright one button toolbar] However, her prior family did not keep the amazing dog and she was set to go back to the shelter. That is … [Read more...] about One Sad Journey; One Incredible Journey to a new Home
Prolonging the Gaza ceasefire
High hopes rest on the two-day old Gaza ceasefire that might hold for its third and final day tomorrow as negotiators work in Cairo to find a pathway to prolonging it. But Hamas and other resistance fighters have not been sufficiently bloodied to make them sue for a longer ceasefire while more lasting peace is far out of sight. [icopyright one button toolbar] The blood of … [Read more...] about Prolonging the Gaza ceasefire
Fed Up Nation: Poll shows Americans disgusted with Obama and Congress
America's heading down the wrong path, and America's political class stinks. That's the gist of the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll which finds that political leaders and government are now creating a unqiue moment in our political history: a consensus over how bad the government, the course of our nation and America's leaders are. Six in 10 Americans are … [Read more...] about Fed Up Nation: Poll shows Americans disgusted with Obama and Congress
An Open Letter to Katrina vanden Heuvel, et al
“Auto-renew” is not a convenience. It is a license to steal, and makes keeping your checkbook balanced an impossible task... I've been meaning to write this again for some time, and today's utter paucity of news affords just such an opportunity. [icopyright one button toolbar] The digital transition ripoff caused me to cancel my decade-plus subscription ... … [Read more...] about An Open Letter to Katrina vanden Heuvel, et al
Hiroshima
Today we mark the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the beginning of the end of World War 2. [icopyright one button toolbar] As is usually the case every year, we have the stories of those who attack the incident as a ‘war crime’. These historical revisionists miss (or ignore) the fact that they are looking back with hindsight and applying … [Read more...] about Hiroshima
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
[icopyright one button toolbar] When I reported on the tragic killing of Major General Harold J. Greene in Afghanistan, I wrote, "Every death our troops suffer in Afghanistan — or in any combat zone — is a tragedy, regardless of branch of service, gender, rank, etc." And added: Yes, this does make news because of the high rank of the casualty, but also because of … [Read more...] about DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Tea Party Losing Battles But Winning GOP War
Democratic strategist Ed Kilgore says Tea Party candidates are losing races but succeeding in pushing the party ever further right on Talking Points Memo. [icopyright one button toolbar] Still, toting it all up, we’ll see abundant assessments in the MSM today that Republicans avoided the sort of Senate primary upsets that spoiled the party’s prospects in 2010 and 2012...But … [Read more...] about Tea Party Losing Battles But Winning GOP War
Fighting the Western Wildfires – Images
TMV contributor Ron Beasley posted a beautiful photo of Rowena in the Columbia River Gorge taken long before the present wildfires that are scorching so much precious country in the West. While I would not call the following photos “beautiful,” they do provide a vivid image of those fires and of the men and women fighting those western wildfires. In this case, personnel … [Read more...] about Fighting the Western Wildfires – Images
Obama Coddles Assad to Please Iran, Endangering Millions (L’Orient Le Jour, Lebanon)
From quietly colluding with Iran to tamper with the Iraqi elections and keep Nouri Maliki in office - even though he lost, to looking on passively as Bashar al-Assad goes about bombing, torturing, and otherwise killing his Syrian opponents, the Obama Administration has convinced L'Orient Le Jour columnist Michel Touma that it is either disconnected from reality, or up to no … [Read more...] about Obama Coddles Assad to Please Iran, Endangering Millions (L’Orient Le Jour, Lebanon)
Weather and Wild Fires
It's been very warm to hot this summer in the Pacific Northwest. It's been cooler the last couple of days but we had a two week string of temperatures in the mid to upper 90s. That combined with a number of high base thunderstorms (lots of lightening and no rain) has resulted in a lot of wild fires. Below is a picture I took several years ago in one of the areas now burning. … [Read more...] about Weather and Wild Fires
Are Religion and Democracy Compatible?
Does religion interfere with democracy? It depends on the religion. The more modern and open religions, that do not demand strict conformity to the positions of their leaders, can coexist with democracy, causing no problems for the religion or interference with the democratic process. Conservative or orthodox religions and religious fundamentalists, that do not countenance free … [Read more...] about Are Religion and Democracy Compatible?