This just goes to show you can never tell where the good guys are. Or if you area child abuser, who to fear more than anything else. … [Read more...] about The Story In Which Bikers Are Awesome
Rand Paul Blocks Surgeon General Nomination For Calling Guns A Health Threat
Rand Paul has placed a hold on Dr. Vivek Murthy, Obama’s nominee for Surgeon General, because of calling guns a significant public health threat. Paul stated, "As a physician, I am deeply concerned that he has advocated that doctors use their position of trust to ask patients, including minors, details about gun ownership in the home." As I have discussed before, this … [Read more...] about Rand Paul Blocks Surgeon General Nomination For Calling Guns A Health Threat
Where Journalists Dare To Tread, The Grim Reaper Soon Follows
Be Careful on your next Caribbean vacation: Drugs and Crime Make For A Nasty Hangover: The View From The Virgin Islands By John McCarthy TMV Columnist Did you ever notice how some of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists – are also the most dangerous for civilians? When it bleeds it leads, as the old newspaper adage goes, but that … [Read more...] about Where Journalists Dare To Tread, The Grim Reaper Soon Follows
GOP Flip-Flops on Judicial Activism
Dana Milbank nails the latest Republican reversal of previous policy in order to oppose President Obama in The Washington Post. There was a time not too long ago when Republicans decried “activist judges.” Now they’re lamenting that judges are not being activist enough. “Unfortunately, the courts have been reluctant to exercise their constitutionally conferred power,” House … [Read more...] about GOP Flip-Flops on Judicial Activism
Marriage Equality: Why The Right Is Wrong
As states continue to expand marriage equality I thought I'd revise and repost some of my thoughts on the issue The first point often made is that it is wrong for us to ‘approve of’ or ‘allow’ gays to have the same romantic activities that ‘normal people’ do (please note the quotes there). Now perhaps someone forgot to send me the memo, but as far as I know, two consenting … [Read more...] about Marriage Equality: Why The Right Is Wrong
Breaking: Arizona’s Jan Brewer Vetoes Bill Denying Service to Gays
On the same day when a Federal Judge overturned a gay marriage ban in Texas, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona -- as many had hoped and some had predicted -- decided this evening to veto a bill that would have given business owners the right to refuse service to gays, lesbians and other people on religious grounds. The New York Times: Brewer’s action came … [Read more...] about Breaking: Arizona’s Jan Brewer Vetoes Bill Denying Service to Gays
Supreme Court Rules On Warrantless Searches
I wrote about this case previously so you will see my original post below (including my inaccurate predictions.. we here at TMV don't hide our mistakes). The case involved a situation where one resident of an apartment objected to a police search but the other consented (or is alleged to have consented) to it. The court in this matter ruled 6-3 that the police were justified … [Read more...] about Supreme Court Rules On Warrantless Searches
Breaking: Federal Judge Overturns Gay Marriage Ban in Texas
San Antonio U.S. Judge Orlando Garcia declared that the Texas ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, but delayed its implementation while Texas officials appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution," Garcia wrote in his … [Read more...] about Breaking: Federal Judge Overturns Gay Marriage Ban in Texas
GOP Voting Suppression Advances in Ohio
Voting suppression has advanced in Ohio. And despite all the explanations everyone in both parties really knows what is going on. But America's rhetorical ballet requires that parties that benefit it insist what's going on is not going on and then go on the attack against those who note what's going on. My 19 year old cat would know what's going on here: Ohio voters will … [Read more...] about GOP Voting Suppression Advances in Ohio
Republican Health Care Proposal Would Remove Employer Coverage From One Million And Increase Deficit
The Affordable Care Act is a great idea in principal, increasing the number of people with coverage and eliminating the abuses from insurance companies which had destroyed the individual market. So far it has been working out well as policy beyond the initial IT glitches. Republicans have repeatedly brought up horror stories, but each time they have turned out to be false when … [Read more...] about Republican Health Care Proposal Would Remove Employer Coverage From One Million And Increase Deficit
CBS/NYTimes Poll: Jeb Bush, Rand Paul top GOP 2016 Presidential Candidates
Buh-bye front-runner New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as the non-Tea Party Republican favorite. Huh-lo former Florid Gov. Jeb Bush. Sorry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal: you don't even come close in contention for the Tea Party/Libertarian despite your recent efforts to show creds as a tough talking, hyper partisan figure (but he clearly impressed some). The fave is Kentucky … [Read more...] about CBS/NYTimes Poll: Jeb Bush, Rand Paul top GOP 2016 Presidential Candidates
Mitch McConnell finds himself up against Bill Clinton
Once Ashley Judd fell by the wayside, Mitch McConnell's main pain has come from his own party in the form of tea party candidate, Matt Bevin. Now the race for the Kentucky senator's seat finds some new strength coming from a Democrat: Bill Clinton. Matt Bevin has been in trouble. Very popular and a real threat to Senator McConnell, Bevin "has fizzled," Chris Cillizza … [Read more...] about Mitch McConnell finds himself up against Bill Clinton
Obama warns Afghan president of full troop withdrawal
Obama warns Afghan president of full troop withdrawal (via AFP) President Barack Obama told Hamid Karzai that he is now planning for a full US troop withdrawal because of the Afghan leader's repeated refusal to sign a security pact. But in a rare telephone call with President Karzai, Obama also held out the possibility… … [Read more...] about Obama warns Afghan president of full troop withdrawal
Could Leonardo DiCaprio finally win coveted Oscar?
Could Leonardo DiCaprio finally win coveted Oscar? (via AFP) Could this finally be Leonardo DiCaprio's year? Twenty years after his first Oscar nomination, the 39-year-old actor is hoping that he may at last win one of Hollywood's most prized statuettes come Sunday night. Matthew McConaughey has long been the… … [Read more...] about Could Leonardo DiCaprio finally win coveted Oscar?
Rankism Can Be Harmful to Your Health
This is the eleventh part of the serialization of All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (Berrett-Koehler, 2006). The ideas in this book are further developed in my recent novel The Rowan Tree. CHAPTER 6: RANKISM CAN BE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH Doctors are seen as somebodies. What separates them from healers is that healers bridge the gap between … [Read more...] about Rankism Can Be Harmful to Your Health
Fake Right Wing Claims Of Losers Under The Affordable Care Act, Revisited
Last week I looked at the right wing's inability to present losers under Obamacare. There certainly are some losers in a major overhaul of the healthcare system, however they just don't help the Republicans with their line of attack. The losers, i.e. people paying more in premiums, are affluent Americans who don't qualify for subsidies but, as I pointed out in the previous … [Read more...] about Fake Right Wing Claims Of Losers Under The Affordable Care Act, Revisited
The Scared, White GOP
Wray Herbert digs into the reasons for the Republican Party's right turn in The Huffington Post. The 2012 election, according to sociologist Michael Kimmel, merely crystallized a much larger cultural and economic shift already taking place in the country. In his top-selling new book, Angry White Men, Kimmel describes the gradual but profound changes that have marginalized -- … [Read more...] about The Scared, White GOP
(Updates) After Sochi: Business as Usual?
Update II: The State Department has released a statement expressing "deep disappointment" by the sentences handed down Monday in Moscow in the cases of eight individuals arrested after the Bolotnaya Square protests in Moscow in May 2012. It points out that the individuals -- which include students, an artist, a physicist, a former soldier and an athlete -- endured more than … [Read more...] about (Updates) After Sochi: Business as Usual?
The Muppets: Ode to Miss B
My soon to be wife and I were speaking about my secondary school (that’s high-school to American readers) drama teacher, Miss B, and it was telling that she described her as “nuts”. Although I totally agree that Miss B was bat-shit crazy, those like my fiancé who were not part of her class can not appreciate the genius of the woman. For me, I credit her for changing my life for … [Read more...] about The Muppets: Ode to Miss B
El Chapo’s Capture: Mexicans Debate If It Makes Any Difference (Milenio, La Jornada)
Now that one of the world's most wanted and influential men, Archivaldo Joaquin Guzman, aka/El Chapo, is, with U.S. help, in the custody of Mexican authorities for the third time, the question arises: how much of a difference will it make? Will the mass slaughter of the last decade during which upwards of 50,000 civilians have been killed, now draw to a close? Here we have two … [Read more...] about El Chapo’s Capture: Mexicans Debate If It Makes Any Difference (Milenio, La Jornada)