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The Moderate Voice

An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right


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Godzillas in the Mist

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'We expect that behavior from three-year-olds and senile delinquents doddering into dementia. We do not expect it of United States Congresscritters or Senators.' Just got back from Alaska. This was the first time we've cruised since 9-11-2001, which found us pulling into Juneau as the first news of the Twin Towers reached us and before the towers collapsed in endless loop … [Read more...] about Godzillas in the Mist

Secret Emmy Planning Email Exposed!

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This morning someone forwarded me an anonymous email from the Emmy planning committee. I assume it came from the NSA or a 14 year-old hacker who was upset that Glee was once again shut out of the winner’s circle. Anyway, this email might shed light on why this year’s broadcast seemed to have some consistently awkward moments. The following is an email that was sent out a week … [Read more...] about Secret Emmy Planning Email Exposed!

Two Year Census Figures Give House Dems Reason To Crow

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Last week, the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau released figures of growth patterns in the U.S. for the two years since the initial 2010 census was made public. The Daily Kos subsequently composed a spread sheet by Congressional district, which reflected the population patterns, including growth and decline, by each demographic. Predictably, it reflected … [Read more...] about Two Year Census Figures Give House Dems Reason To Crow

Government Shutdown and GOP: on Cruz control?

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At a time when America's political center has seemingly vanished, all eyes this week will be on Texas Sen. Ted Cruz who many see as a key instigator in House Republicans' effort to defund Obamacare by shutting down the government. His test will soon come when it goes to the Senate and, in true Cruz style, he's politically repelling Democrats, and angering members of his own … [Read more...] about Government Shutdown and GOP: on Cruz control?

Obamacare’s strange bedfellows

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It was the last thing the Rev. Tim Ahrens expected to do during a chat in his book-lined office at the historic First Congregational Church here: He expressed admiration for Gov. John Kasich. Ahrens is a progressive social activist whose house of worship has deep roots in the old Social Gospel movement. He has demonstrated and organized against Ohio's … [Read more...] about Obamacare’s strange bedfellows

Poll: 53% to 25% Americans’ desire for leaders compromise INCREASES

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Despite the feeling of some politicians and groups of partisans, Americans more than ever -- by a whopping margin -- want their leaders to compromise. A new Gallup Poll finds voters thirst for compromise has increased and they favor reaching across the aisle to come to consensus building solutions by a more than two to one margin: At a time when disagreements and inability … [Read more...] about Poll: 53% to 25% Americans’ desire for leaders compromise INCREASES

Obama ‘Leads from Behind’, Putin from Up Front (Rzeczpospolita, Poland)

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How badly outplayed has Barack Obama been by Valdimir Putin? For Poland's Rzeczpospolita, columnist Marek Magierowski writes that anyone with an elementary grasp of the Cold War - which the Poles have in spades - would have handled the Syria crisis and a long string of other issues far better than the Obama White House, which he considers to be an absolute foreign policy … [Read more...] about Obama ‘Leads from Behind’, Putin from Up Front (Rzeczpospolita, Poland)

Is the GOP Actually Driving Us Crazy?

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If McCain, Graham, Boehner, Cruz, Rand Paul et al shut up, would our mental health be better? Without such nasty sounds in our heads 24/7, would there be less violence in America? A proposed GOP filibuster on defunding Obamacare raises such questions in the light of a provocative essay about the angrier voices schizophrenics hear in America as opposed to India and elsewhere … [Read more...] about Is the GOP Actually Driving Us Crazy?

New NASA Map Shows Where You Are Most Likely To Die From Air Pollution

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New NASA Map Shows Where You Are Most Likely To Die From Air Pollution (via Planetsave) Each year millions of premature deaths world-wide result from various forms of air pollution. According to a new atmospheric pollution model designed by earth scientist Jason West of the University of North Carolina (data from which informs the NASA… … [Read more...] about New NASA Map Shows Where You Are Most Likely To Die From Air Pollution

(UPDATED) Washington Navy Yard Killings – The Aftermath

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UPDATE: The New York Times this morning echoed the helpless, sickening Groundhog Day feeling many Americans have after yet another mass gun tragedy. Reporting on the president’s remarks at yesterday’s memorial service for the Navy Yard shooting victims, the Times says: But the president appeared exasperated with the political system that he leads, admitting that … [Read more...] about (UPDATED) Washington Navy Yard Killings – The Aftermath

Book Review: ‘Lawrence In Arabia.’ How The British Double-Crossed The Arabs & Guaranteed Endless Regional Turmoil

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History, one might presume, is an assemblage of facts, and the longer and more complex a particular history is the more facts there are. But facts are malleable, and it took me many years of history reading to come to understand that they too often are merely reflections of historians' perspectives -- the political axes they happen to grind. This may be no truer than in the … [Read more...] about Book Review: ‘Lawrence In Arabia.’ How The British Double-Crossed The Arabs & Guaranteed Endless Regional Turmoil

Immigration Reform – Plane Wreck at Los Gatos

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For those who missed it, PBS ran a tribute to Woody Guthrie to celebrate his 100th birthday. Among the highlights was Ani DiFranco singing Deportee. The alternate title to the song is Plane Wreck at Los Gatos. It was written by Guthrie following the crash of a plane carrying 4 Americans and 28 Mexican deportees in Los Gatos Canyon, California. News media of the day, 1948, … [Read more...] about Immigration Reform – Plane Wreck at Los Gatos

Syria: Russian Embassy in Damascus Shelled

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CBS News reports that a mortar round landed inside the Russian Embassy compound in Damascus today. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s response -- while accusing the rebels of the attack -- was surprisingly restrained saying that three workers were injured in the attack, but that the injuries were not life-threatening and providing no additional details, according to … [Read more...] about Syria: Russian Embassy in Damascus Shelled

(UPDATE)Terrorist Attack at Upscale Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya

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UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that most of the hostages in the Nairobi mall standoff have been released, according to a Kenyan military spokesman: Kenyan security forces have swept into an upscale Nairobi mall in an effort to end a two-day standoff with heavily armed assailants that left 68 dead, and most of the hostages were rescued, according to … [Read more...] about (UPDATE)Terrorist Attack at Upscale Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya

Video: Priest shocks wedding by berating videographer during vows

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Once in a while you see a video that makes you wonder, "What planet is this guy FROM" -- and so we have one here. The scene: wedding. The event: right in the middle of the wedding vows a priest decides to chew out the videographer for -- shooting his video. Watch the bride and groom's faces. It's truly dismaying. Videographers are present at most wedding, bar mitzvahs, … [Read more...] about Video: Priest shocks wedding by berating videographer during vows