MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry is the latest person who was respected in a profession, then got a cable political show, let her guard down and during a segment to morphed into yet one more ideological talker. Left, right? It makes no difference. Ideological talk show hosts now almost have the same tone. Whether it's a former newsman named Bill O'Reilly, or a former newspaper … [Read more...] about Melissa Harris-Perry’s tearful apology for mocking Romney grandchild (Video)
Iraq’s Fallujah falls to ‘Qaeda-linked’ militants
Iraq's Fallujah falls to 'Qaeda-linked' militants (via AFP) Iraq has lost Fallujah to Al-Qaeda-linked fighters, a senior security official said Saturday, putting militants back in control of a city where American forces repeatedly battled insurgents. Parts of Fallujah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad, have been held… … [Read more...] about Iraq’s Fallujah falls to ‘Qaeda-linked’ militants
OK, GOP, Defend Speech You Don’t Agree With (Guest Voice)
OK, GOP, Defend Speech You Don't Agree With By Tina Dupuy As the dust settles over A&E's "Duck Dynasty" patriarch Phil Robertson's interview in GQ, I'd like to offer a challenge to all who defended his right to wax nostalgic about how happy black people were before the civil rights era (also stating that Shintoism is basically Nazism and homosexuality is basically … [Read more...] about OK, GOP, Defend Speech You Don’t Agree With (Guest Voice)
Snow (Cartoon)
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 Snow (Cartoon)
Focus on winning (Guest Voice)
Focus on Winning by Michael Reagan Will Republicans ever learn? Will they get their own house in order in time to take control of the Senate in 2014 and the White House in 2016? Will they stop fighting with one another in public over internal family matters and focus the GOP's collective eye on those crucial political prizes before it's too late to save the … [Read more...] about Focus on winning (Guest Voice)
Book Review: Getting Away with Murder
Getting Away with Murder (via The Christian Science Monitor) Getting Away with Murder: Benazir Bhutto's Assassination and the Politics of Pakistan, by Heraldo Muñoz, W.W. Norton & Co., 272 pages Reviewed by Brooke Allen for The Barnes & Noble Review The 2007 murder of Benazir Bhutto is one of the great unsolved… … [Read more...] about Book Review: Getting Away with Murder
Predictions of the future from the past
Predictions of the future from the past (via Pando Daily) By Adam L. Penenberg On January 3, 2014 What will the world be like in a 100 years? Will fully electric driverless cars populate our nation’s roadways while Elon Musk toils away on Mars? Will swarms of delivery drones drop off everything to our doors… … [Read more...] about Predictions of the future from the past
Gallup Poll: Obama’s Dismal 2013
I've often noted that one poll does not a trend make. You need to see a progression. And Gallup's last poll, actually a graph showing the progress of his approval rating, shows a President steadily, inexorably, almost without cessation losing support. It's not just the numbers; the graph says it all: President Barack Obama wrapped up 2013 with an average 41% approval … [Read more...] about Gallup Poll: Obama’s Dismal 2013
Is Snowden Really a Whistleblower?
Fred Kaplan presents a cogent argument at Slate that he went far beyond blowing the whistle on NSA domestic intelligence with all of the data he's revealed. I agree with him. Snowden's actions seem more like he doubts the legitimacy of any intelligence gathering or at least in the United States engaging in it. But Snowden did much more than that. The documents that he … [Read more...] about Is Snowden Really a Whistleblower?
(Updated) National Security and Liberties in a Changing World (Continued)
Update: President Obama has expressed “an openness” to the recommendation made by the President’s Review Group that private companies, not the government collect and store telephone meta-data and would provide a “pretty definitive statement” once he returns from his Hawaiian holiday break, according to The Hill. Also according to The Hill, on Friday, the Office of the … [Read more...] about (Updated) National Security and Liberties in a Changing World (Continued)
Sort of in defence of David Brooks on marijuana *(Guest Voice)
Sort of in defence of David Brooks (via The Economist) I FIND today's collective meltdown over David Brooks's bland column on marijuana slightly baffling. My colleague (along with most of the rest of the internet today) is absolutely right to note that Mr Brooks fails to account for the great harms of… … [Read more...] about Sort of in defence of David Brooks on marijuana *(Guest Voice)
The Most Creepy Ronald McDonald Commercial Ever!
Here is an early commercial of Ronald McDonald, played by Willard Scott. There is not one single thing about this commercial that isn't creepy. … [Read more...] about The Most Creepy Ronald McDonald Commercial Ever!
Blizzard brings chaos to northern US
Blizzard brings chaos to northern US (via AFP) A fierce winter storm dragged temperatures down to glacial levels and caused chaos across the northern United States on Friday, forcing the cancelation of thousands of flights. With more than 24 inches (61 centimeters) of snow falling in one Massachusetts… … [Read more...] about Blizzard brings chaos to northern US
Why ObamaCare will make us rethink ERs
So what about Obamacare and emergency rooms? Will the uninsured stop using them if they're signed up under the Affordable Care Act? The answer as The Week's Peter Weber notes is more complex than you might think: One of the cost-saving theories behind the Affordable Care Act (or ObamaCare) is that when uninsured people get health insurance, they will stop using the … [Read more...] about Why ObamaCare will make us rethink ERs
Afghanistan: Just One More Image from 2013
A U.S. Air Force maintenance team works on an F-16 aircraft during a snow storm on Bagram Airfield in Parwan province, Afghanistan, Dec. 29, 2013. (Photo USAF) One of my New Year’s resolutions is not to bore our readers with too many articles exalting the men and women serving our country in the military, especially those slugging it out in combat zones. I don’t think … [Read more...] about Afghanistan: Just One More Image from 2013
Five Much-Needed Reforms That Could Make Our Politics Matter Again (Guest Voice)
Five Much-Needed Reforms That Could Make Our Politics Matter Again (via Moyers & Company) This post originally appeared at The Nation. “We have frequently printed the word Democracy. Yet I cannot too often repeat, that it is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened,” wrote Walt Whitman in Democratic Vistas. “It… … [Read more...] about Five Much-Needed Reforms That Could Make Our Politics Matter Again (Guest Voice)
Kim Jong Un’s powerful executed uncle was eaten alive by hungry dogs
As the world community continues to scratch its collective head over what kind of regime North Korea has, a Hong Kong newspaper with strong ties to China reports that North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle was meted out a brutal form of execution: he was stripped naked and thrown into a pack of 120 dogs that had been starved for days. Kim's second-in-command uncle … [Read more...] about Kim Jong Un’s powerful executed uncle was eaten alive by hungry dogs
The Pope’s Un-Christian Rejection of the Wealthy (Die Welt, Germany)
Has Pope Francis gone too far criticizing capitalism and hence alienating the world's wealthiest people? For Germany's Die Welt, columnist Torsten Kraue has come to the defense of the "bedeviled" affluent, arguing that they, too, are capable of redemption, and should be equal to the poor in the eyes of the church. For Die Welt, Torsten Kraue starts off this way: The … [Read more...] about The Pope’s Un-Christian Rejection of the Wealthy (Die Welt, Germany)
St. Snowden? NY Times Defines Deviancy Down
"When someone reveals that government officials have routinely and deliberately broken the law,” says a New York Times editorial, recommending amnesty for Edward Snowden, “that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government.” The Times’ Public Editor agrees, that Snowden “has done the United States, and in fact, the world, a great service.” With … [Read more...] about St. Snowden? NY Times Defines Deviancy Down
Bill del Blasio Inauguration Highlights | Bil de Blasio Video
Bill del Blasio Inauguration Highlights | Bil de Blasio Video (via Wall Street Journal Digital Network) New York City welcomed its new mayor, Bill de Blasio, in a star-studded public inauguration ceremony outside City Hall on New Year's Day. Scott Stringer was also sworn in as city comptroller and Letitia James as the new public advocate. Photo by Craig… … [Read more...] about Bill del Blasio Inauguration Highlights | Bil de Blasio Video