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Quote of the Day: Is This the Era of Leaderlessness?
Our political Quote of the Day comes from John Yemma, editor of The Christian Science Monitor, who looks at the Occupy movements in the United States and Europe and asks whether we are in a new era of leaderlessness. Here's part of his must-read-in-full post: The tea party and the “Occupy Wall Street” movements evolved on different planets, even if members of both groups … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Is This the Era of Leaderlessness?
R.I.P. American Corporations’ Effecient Versus Perfunctory Customer Service (UPDATED)
Over the past month I've had truly poor experiences with two big corporations that you would think are stellar when dealing with customers. And I contend the experiences are indicative of how the quality corporations deliver to customers is suffering on some fronts. THE ABSOLUTE WORST EXPERIENCE: Dealing with Time Warner. I will say it: I have lived all over the world and … [Read more...] about R.I.P. American Corporations’ Effecient Versus Perfunctory Customer Service (UPDATED)
Tea Party, OWS & Blue Republicans: Is This Phase Change?
Of all my articles to date, the one that has drawn the most attention made the simple claim that in the political and economic histories of nations, “phase changes” happen, and that one might be about to happen here in the USA. A phase change, which may happen once every few generations, causes a country to move down a dramatically different path that had been predicted by no … [Read more...] about Tea Party, OWS & Blue Republicans: Is This Phase Change?
Count The Wrong Beans, You Get The Wrong Policies
Accountants working for companies provide a valuable service. They compile numbers about various aspects of a company's operations that management can use as guides to improve performance. But there are caveats. If the counting doesn't include all important factors, if it seems to emphasis one factor above another in an incorrect way, or if management uncritically uses … [Read more...] about Count The Wrong Beans, You Get The Wrong Policies
(UPDATE II) Overreacting Police (Again) Sustain Occupy Wall Street Protests
Occupy Wall Street organizers, such as they are, can thank police overreaction as much as anything for keeping the nationwide protests going. There is a question as to how long the protests can be sustained with colder weather arriving in northern latitudes and snow predicted this weekend in some areas, but the movement got a timely boost this week when Scott Olsen, a … [Read more...] about (UPDATE II) Overreacting Police (Again) Sustain Occupy Wall Street Protests
The Bad News: Our National Debt Is Almost as Big as Our Economy
And now the bad news: our national debt is nearly as big as our economy. USA Today reports: The Obama administration won a reprieve this week from some particularly scary economic news that had been projected to occur around Halloween. The news: The ever-escalating national debt will hit and then surpass the size of the entire U.S. economy -- an ignominious distinction … [Read more...] about The Bad News: Our National Debt Is Almost as Big as Our Economy
Motormouth Limbaugh Meets the Machine Gun Preacher (Guest Voice)
Motormouth Limbaugh Meets the Machine Gun Preacher by Michael Winship If you blinked, you might have missed a recent movie called Machine Gun Preacher. The film hasn’t burned up the box office and the title may have kept you away from your local picture palace in the mistaken belief that it was some kind of exploitation flick or the latest Quentin Tarantino exercise in … [Read more...] about Motormouth Limbaugh Meets the Machine Gun Preacher (Guest Voice)
Americans See Themselves as Homesteaders… Not the Eventual Rich (Guest Voice)
Americans See Themselves as Homesteaders...Not the Eventual Rich by Tina Dupuy I spoke with a thirty-something mother of two residing in suburban New Jersey about the Occupy Wall Street movement. She was disgusted by their antics. "Our business failed, our house was foreclosed on, we lost everything and you don't see us blaming someone else for it!" she exclaimed. "It's … [Read more...] about Americans See Themselves as Homesteaders… Not the Eventual Rich (Guest Voice)
College Basketball: The New Plantation System? (Guest Voice)
College Basketball: The New Plantation System? by Mark Nuckols Acclaimed civil-rights historian Taylor Branch has an article "The Shame of College Sports" in the month's The Atlantic./ The article mostly addresses the big money stakes of modern college sports, involving huge revenue streams as well as the careers of both athletic and academic administrators, and the … [Read more...] about College Basketball: The New Plantation System? (Guest Voice)
Obama 43, Congress 9
On Halloween weekend, Americans apparently are tired of all-tricks, no-treats on Capitol Hill, sending approval ratings down to the GOP’s favorite single digit while the President sees a slight gain in public favor. Gallup attributes the Obama bump to Iraq troop withdrawal, a rising stock market and that golden oldie, the death of a Mideast tyrant, reflecting Gadhafi’s … [Read more...] about Obama 43, Congress 9
Walking Dead
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Jon Huntsman’s Daughters Spoof Viral-hit Cain Ad
Jon Huntsman's daughters have spoofed the now famous -- or infamous depending on how agitated you were about the ad (I personally can't see what all the fuss and pundit time spent on it was all about) -- Herman Cain "smoking man" ad featuring. His daughters wear fake mustaches for part of the take off on Cain campaign manager Mark Block's talking head ad and instead of blowing … [Read more...] about Jon Huntsman’s Daughters Spoof Viral-hit Cain Ad
Happy 125th Birthday Statue Of Liberty
Today marks the 125th 'birthday' of the Statue of Liberty. For all our disagreements and debates here on TMV I think we can all agree liberty and freedom is worth celebrating. Here is an amazing video (it is 10 min long) of the finale of the 1986 celebrations. Hopefully we can keep the political debates in other threads and use this one to celebrate our common love of … [Read more...] about Happy 125th Birthday Statue Of Liberty
This Halloween the World Welcomes its 7 Billionth Person
If Halloween by itself wasn’t frightening enough, this Oct. 31 has been set by U.N. demographers as the official day when the 7 billionth person will be born, as TIME says, “on a planet already strapped for resources.” No one knows where this 7 billionth person will “officially” be born, albeit TIME says he or she may be born in India, “which will be the world’s most … [Read more...] about This Halloween the World Welcomes its 7 Billionth Person
OWS: The Connections are Wide and Deep
WASHINGTON - The video above is of Sgt. Shamar Thomas. It went viral and now has over 2 million hits. After Scott Olsen's assault, it seems even more relevant. Interestingly, Olsen is reportedly from Wisconsin, the state that Gov. Scott Walker ignited with his anti-democratic view of economic equality. As a reminder, Pres. Obama and the Democrats did not mount any … [Read more...] about OWS: The Connections are Wide and Deep
The National Rifle Association Shoots The Moon — And Literally Would If It Could
America is a gun-sick country, a place where people can legally possess and in some cases carry weapons specifically designed to kill large numbers of people. Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between, as James Carville famously remarked, and the Dixie-like legislature is so in love with guns that they are easier to obtain in the Keystone State than a … [Read more...] about The National Rifle Association Shoots The Moon — And Literally Would If It Could
Royal Shazam: The Biggest Shakeup In The Rules Of Succession For British Royalty
Monarchy and equality have always been incompatible in Great Britain, as well as in most of the world's remaining monarchies, but that is about to change in a radical way as Commonwealth leaders today pledged to amend legislation dating back to the 17th century to allow daughters of the monarch to take precedence over younger sons in the line of succession. Prime Minister … [Read more...] about Royal Shazam: The Biggest Shakeup In The Rules Of Succession For British Royalty
Tea Party Group Tells Bachmann Bluntly to Drop Out of GOP Presidential Nomination Race (UPDTATE)
The move to find a strong Anti-Romney -- let alone a strong anti-Obama -- has moved into full gear in the Republican Party: a Tea Party group has strongly suggested Rep. Michele Bachmann to drop out of the Presidential race: A tea party group has a surprising and harsh urging for long-time tea party favorite Michele Bachmann: Quit the presidential race. "It's time for … [Read more...] about Tea Party Group Tells Bachmann Bluntly to Drop Out of GOP Presidential Nomination Race (UPDTATE)
Unemployment Rising in Spain
Amid good (guarded) news from Europe and good (guarded) news from the United States on the economic front, there's bad news coming from Spain: unemployment is continuing to rise. One of the protest movements (The Indignants movement) there is believed to have partially inspired Occupy Wall Street: Note that in Spain as in the United States they are now talking about a … [Read more...] about Unemployment Rising in Spain