Is there another high profile Cheney in America's elected political life's future? It sounds that way: Liz Cheney has been making the rounds at Wyoming political events this spring and her desire to move back to the state has Republicans from Cheyenne to Washington buzzing about a potential future campaign. With little fanfare, Cheney, a former State Department official … [Read more...] about Liz Cheney: Poised to Run For Political Office?
A Good Weekend Read
When I was young I used to read a series of books called “The People’s Alamanac” and “The Book Of Lists”. Each book offered hundreds, if not thousands of interesting factoids. These books came to mind when I grabbed another from my shelves this week. Have you ever had a moment where you wondered about the things that are part of our everyday lives ? Why do forks … [Read more...] about A Good Weekend Read
Reflecting on Ryan and Rand
I read Ayn Rand (We The Living, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged) in high school and was a devotee until my late 20s. I sometimes think of that period as being the early adult equivalent of the terrible twos: just say "no" to the values and political philosophy of your parents. For the past decade or so I've wondered aloud how America's "Christian" and "family values" … [Read more...] about Reflecting on Ryan and Rand
China Relents on Chinese Dissident
There has been a flurry of accusations that the Obama administration botched the case of blind Chinese dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng when he was, for all practical purposes, “handed over” to the Chinese earlier this week without concrete assurances that he would not be prosecuted, persecuted, or worse. Chen, who has protested China’s laws on forced abortions and … [Read more...] about China Relents on Chinese Dissident
Pakistan and America: Preparing for a Timely ‘Divorce’ (Le Monde, France)
What are the ramifications of what now appears to be the irreconcilable relationship between the United States and Pakistan? Le Monde columnist Frédéric Bobin, in this very European examination of all that has gone wrong between the two nations, writes that an unsettling future awaits the United States, Pakistan and all of of South Asia, thanks largely to 'annus horribilis … [Read more...] about Pakistan and America: Preparing for a Timely ‘Divorce’ (Le Monde, France)
Moody’s Analytics Predicts Unemployment ‘Definitively Below 8%’ by Year’s End
WASHINGTON - The unemployment rate is down to 8.1%. Only 115,000 jobs were added. Partisans start your engines, though no one can spin the teen unemployment numbers, which are disastrous. In April, teenagers had a 24.9 percent unemployment rate, compared with a 7.5 percent for adult men and 7.4 percent among adult women. - ABC News There's also reports revealing large … [Read more...] about Moody’s Analytics Predicts Unemployment ‘Definitively Below 8%’ by Year’s End
Warrior Games: A Competition for Our Disabled Military, an Inspiration for All of Us
(Photo by Sgt. Michael S. Cifuentes) A large color photo on the front page of the May 2 Stars and Stripes caught my attention and stirred my emotions. The photo was of members of the Marines and Air Force sitting volleyball teams in action during the 2012 Warrior Games at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Except for the fact that the players sit while they … [Read more...] about Warrior Games: A Competition for Our Disabled Military, an Inspiration for All of Us
Tea Party Gathering Steam: Lugar Poised for Big Defeat?
It sounds as if the Tea Party movement continues to gather steam within the Republican Party: a new poll suggests that Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar could be headed for a big defeat at the hands of a Tea Party challenger: Embattled Indiana Republican Sen. Dick Lugar has fallen behind his Tea Party challenger in a new poll that finds the veteran legislator in … [Read more...] about Tea Party Gathering Steam: Lugar Poised for Big Defeat?
George Zimmerman’s Story Apparently Gets More Weird
George Zimmerman's account of the night when he wound up shooting Skittles-armed teenager Trayvon Martin has now gotten more weird. He apparently has now said Martin was circling his SUV and he was in fear of his life. The account (or what is seeping out since the original reports) keeps seemingly changing. It almost sounds like when this is over Zimmerman could have a … [Read more...] about George Zimmerman’s Story Apparently Gets More Weird
Mitt Romney — An Ecologically Unsound Choice For President
Before I became a senior editor with Bloomberg Financial News where my work revolved around business and economic issues, I spent years writing about the environment. This background has given me a rather interesting focus — an ability to see some important similarities in the ways the natural world and the world of economics operate. From this perspective, it's clear to me why … [Read more...] about Mitt Romney — An Ecologically Unsound Choice For President
A Hungrier Summer In Philadelphia
An article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer states: "Fewer students will be eating free breakfast and lunch in summer school this year because [of] budget troubles...That means parents will have to scramble to feed children - many of them low-income - who are accustomed to free school meals but will not receive them." Isn't that just wonderful. Not only are Governor … [Read more...] about A Hungrier Summer In Philadelphia
Hitler: A Coke Head Who Distributed Another Kind of Gas (Flatulence)
If you say the name "Adolf Hitler" among other things that comes to mind is a political madman who gassed millions of Jews in his infamous "Final Solution." But the release of his medical records now up for bid online suggest his life was marked by another kind of gas: major flatulence. And he was also a coke head, to boot: It’s a whole other side to the Nazi dictator, … [Read more...] about Hitler: A Coke Head Who Distributed Another Kind of Gas (Flatulence)
Ted Nugent: Romney Campaign Has Told Him Not to Tone It Down
If independent voters hope for a more thoughtful tone in our political campaigns and for signs that American political campaigns are not becoming one long polarizingm, demonizing, rage filled talk show style rant, they will have to keep looking. Rocker Ted Nugent says that the Romney campaign has told him not to tone down the kinds of comments that led to the Secret Service … [Read more...] about Ted Nugent: Romney Campaign Has Told Him Not to Tone It Down
Quote of the Day: Resignation of Robert Grenell is Romney’s First Big Mistake
Our political Quote of the Day comes from Bloomberg's Michael Kinsley, who in a column titled "Mitt Romney’s Bigotry Needs No Spokesman," argues that the resignation of Romney's foreign policy spokesman Robert Grennell amid attacks on Grennell from social conservatives who had an issue with him being is a big mistake that will hurt Romney with moderate voters. Kinsley begins … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Resignation of Robert Grenell is Romney’s First Big Mistake
Budget Savannah
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Budget Savannah
Newt and LBJ: Speakers on Different Frequencies (Bill Clinton is Attuned to Only One)
>Newton Leroy Gingrich goes into history now to join Lyndon Baines Johnson, two men of outsized appetite for power who served as Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives decades apart and in different worlds of heart, mind and spirit. Johnson later passed a civil rights law to free a race from psychological chains after physical captivity and started an ambitious … [Read more...] about Newt and LBJ: Speakers on Different Frequencies (Bill Clinton is Attuned to Only One)
Did You Hear About The Al Qaeda Massacre In Arizona? No?
It is worth noting yet again as the first anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden passes that while Islamic-driven terrorism remains a serious problem, right-ring domestic terrorism is a more substantial one. And that the inability of the media and many other folks to connect the dots between one mass shooting and another -- and then another and then another -- renders us … [Read more...] about Did You Hear About The Al Qaeda Massacre In Arizona? No?
Stop The Dumb Campaign Ads
It's not surprising that we are all burned out on political ads and as a prior post notes, the rhetoric in the 1800's was even worse. But still I can't believe some of the commercials out there "Democrat Elmer Fudd wants to give Viagra to child molesters and then put them in charge of day care centers" "Republican Bugs Bunny wants to take your grandma's social security … [Read more...] about Stop The Dumb Campaign Ads
David Maraniss Obama Book Provides Rip van Winkle Moment for Media
WASHINGTON - Back in 2007 into very early 2008, when the national press was agog about Barack Obama, I wrote about him in a manner that was honest and highly doubting that the myth matched what I'd been told by Chicagoans, as well as what I'd dug up and read about the man who was just another ruthless politician. But politics is a dirty game and there isn't one person who … [Read more...] about David Maraniss Obama Book Provides Rip van Winkle Moment for Media
Just saying… about loss of the young
Homicides Los Angeles: Jan. 1, 2007 to April 30, 2012 about 25% our very young... age 17-23 are part of this stat of nearly 4000 murders over 5.5 years' time. By cause Blunt force 234 Gunshot 3,013 Other 180 Stabbing 412 Strangled 42 Unspecified 93 By race or ethnicity Latino 2,027 Black 1,273 White 475 Asian 128 Other 40 … [Read more...] about Just saying… about loss of the young