My life is very strange these days: I turn on the TV or listen to the radio, or cruise the internet, and people are citing my OWN reporting back to me, without attribution, and without a clue that I've been telling you for years. Yesterday, on the Rachel Maddow Show, Steve Kornacki read back a story of insider politics that I knew about more than seven years ago. And now this, … [Read more...] about Political Scammers: A Giant ‘I Told You So’
(Updated) U.S. General Killed in Suspected Green-on-Blue Attack in Afghanistan
[icopyright one button toolbar] The Pentagon has identified the general killed today in Afghanistan as Major General Harold J. Greene His biography can be read here. Our condolences to his family and friends. Update: Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby has confirmed that “An American general was killed today in Kabul, Afghanistan, when an … [Read more...] about (Updated) U.S. General Killed in Suspected Green-on-Blue Attack in Afghanistan
Time to tame the monster
WASHINGTON -- The CIA now admits that it spied on a Senate investigation into the agency's shameful program of secret detention and torture. Do we need any more proof that the spooks are out of control? An internal "accountability board" will look into the incident, an agency statement said, and might recommend "potential disciplinary measures" or even "steps to address … [Read more...] about Time to tame the monster
Ebola Drugs
I did a post the other day on a potential Ebola vaccine but perhaps a vaccine is not the route to go. What if a cure was a better thing? [icopyright one button toolbar] It appears the lives of the two Americans that contracted the disease may have been saved by a highly experimental drug produced by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. The drug had been tested on monkeys but … [Read more...] about Ebola Drugs
Cillizza on GOP Immigration Bill
Chris Cillizza comments on the immigration bill recently passed by the GOP House majority in The Washington Post. This is the latest in a string of incidents in which Republicans have been their own worst enemy -- often because they simply can't get out of their own way. Given their dismal approval ratings, the best way for Republicans to handle almost every issue -- including … [Read more...] about Cillizza on GOP Immigration Bill
Mitch Albom: Now we’re arresting parents for what might have happened
Safeguarding Syria’s Heritage Sites – How About Also Safeguarding Its Humanity
[icopyright one button toolbar] The U.S. Department of State and the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) have signed a $600,000 cooperative agreement to comprehensively document the current condition of cultural heritage sites in Syria and to assess the future restoration, preservation, and protection needs for those sites. It is hoped that this “will raise … [Read more...] about Safeguarding Syria’s Heritage Sites – How About Also Safeguarding Its Humanity
Can the voters change the GOP?
WASHINGTON -- The central issue in this fall's elections could turn out to be a sleeper: What kind of Republican Party does the country want? It is, to be sure, a strange question to put to an electorate in which independents and Democrats constitute a majority. Yet there is no getting around this: The single biggest change in Washington over the last five years has … [Read more...] about Can the voters change the GOP?
Chuck Todd: Republicans talking impeachment playing into White House hands (with VIDEO)
Who are becoming one of the greatest boosts to Democrat Party fundraising? [icopyright one button toolbar] Republicans talking about impeaching President Barack Obama. It has become clear from a slew of news stories documenting the infusion of money into happily-receiving Democratic Party coffers. And NBC's Chuck Todd, who was one of the country's best political analysts before … [Read more...] about Chuck Todd: Republicans talking impeachment playing into White House hands (with VIDEO)
India’s ‘business friendly’ prime minister rejects English
Obama on Russia and China
President Barack Obama made some interesting, even surprising, comments about Russia and China in an interview with The Economist, the respected British news magazine. They reveal some of his thinking in the aftermath of his mostly failed “reset” with Russia and his limping “Asian pivot” involving China. Moscow and Beijing may think Obama a little high-handed. A full text … [Read more...] about Obama on Russia and China
Report: Israel’s Spy Agency Eavesdropped on John Kerry’s Telephone Conversations
Israel's spy agency has been accused of wiretapping telephone conversations by US Secretary of State John Kerry. Spiegel reports the Israeli government used the information they gleaned from Mossad wire taps during negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.[icopyright one button toolbar] In addition to the Israelis, at least one other intelligence service also listened in … [Read more...] about Report: Israel’s Spy Agency Eavesdropped on John Kerry’s Telephone Conversations
SciFi Weekend: Arrow; Agent Carter; Under The Dome; True Blood (vs. Sarah Palin); Utopia; Sleepy Hollow; Doctor Who (and flirting); Big Bang Theory;Allison Williams as Peter Pan
This picture of the cast of Arrow might very well be the best selfie to come out of Comic-Con last weekend. The latest news on Arrow is that Charlotte Ross has been cast as Felicity's mother. Last week Collider asked Stephen Amel about topics including the Justice League and Oliver's true love at Comic-Con: [icopyright one button toolbar] Are you happy you don’t have to … [Read more...] about SciFi Weekend: Arrow; Agent Carter; Under The Dome; True Blood (vs. Sarah Palin); Utopia; Sleepy Hollow; Doctor Who (and flirting); Big Bang Theory;Allison Williams as Peter Pan
Cartoon: Congress Summer Recess
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Congress Summer Recess
A picture from frequent commentator Rudi
From Kodachrome, 1953, scanned 2010. A little out of focus, but I liked the soft look..Thanks Ron, appreciate it. … [Read more...] about A picture from frequent commentator Rudi
Orchid
Here is a picture for frequent TMV commentor Bob Munck, an orchid. I have many more and will be sharing them. … [Read more...] about Orchid
Ebola Vaccine?
This is disturbing and points out what is wrong with our current pharmaceutical industry. [icopyright one button toolbar] The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has developed what appears to be a vaccine for Ebola and taken it through phase one testing. At this point it would normally be turned over to a for profit pharmaceutical company to complete the testing and … [Read more...] about Ebola Vaccine?
Cartoon: Crazy Planet
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Cartoon: Crazy Planet
Sorry, but democracy is frustrating. If it’s not, it’s not democracy.
You want final, satisfactory resolution in which you are shown to have been right all along? Here? In a democracy? [icopyright one button toolbar] Isn't gonna happen. National Review columnist, Andrew McCarthy, makes his case for impeaching Obama because "Obama has continued to attempt to govern the country even though Republicans won a majority of House seats in 2010." … [Read more...] about Sorry, but democracy is frustrating. If it’s not, it’s not democracy.
Gaza: Roadmap to Peace Must Be ‘Imposed’ on Combatants (Le Figaro, France)
Is there any way to halt the cycle of blood and death that marks relations between Israelis and Palestinians? For Le Figaro, columnist Pierre Rousselin writes that the use of Israeli military power is incapable of resolving the deadlock, and civilian deaths are incurring an intolerable price on the Jewish state's public image. At this stage, a solution can only be achieved … [Read more...] about Gaza: Roadmap to Peace Must Be ‘Imposed’ on Combatants (Le Figaro, France)