Ostensibly, the political battle in Wisconsin that inspired Democratic lawmakers to dramatically flee the state like Texas Democrats did in 2003 is over a bill that would in effect end collective bargaining for public workers. But some analysts in print and in the new and old media increasingly contend it's part of a more evident political plan to try to short-circuit the clout … [Read more...] about Wisconsin: Collective Bargaining Issue or Attempt to Destroy Unions’ Remaining Clout?
Sing A Long With Monty Python
Come on folks... sing right along and always look on the bright side of life … [Read more...] about Sing A Long With Monty Python
Hello And Goodbye For The Last Time
(EDITOR's NOTE: This was posted last night. We are leaving it on top of TMV until 12 noon EST today.) This is the last column of my life. The ugly sapping of my physical and mental strengths have overwhelmed me in my ordeal of fighting 4th stage lung cancer and colon cancer. The ravages of 30 years of diabetes has not helped. And the colon surgery has not been scheduled … [Read more...] about Hello And Goodbye For The Last Time
Obama To Dine With CEOs of Apple, Twitter, Netflix, Oracle, Yahoo, Others Tonight
Well, actually, I don't know if it's a dinner. It's been called an event, a meeting and a visit, but Mashable says "Obama is slated to sit down with Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs at a private dinner during his overnight trip to the West Coast." The president is set to arrive in San Francisco at 5:45 (PST). The LATimes has the official list of attendees and these … [Read more...] about Obama To Dine With CEOs of Apple, Twitter, Netflix, Oracle, Yahoo, Others Tonight
John Boehner “So Be It”
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about John Boehner “So Be It”
Baghdad Wants U.S. Apologies and Restitution for Damage Done
Reuters reports that the Baghdad city government wants the United States to apologize and pay $1 billion for the damage done to the city by blast walls it erected and by our troops’ Humvees during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The city’s government said in a statement: The U.S. forces changed this beautiful city to a camp in an ugly and destructive way, which reflected … [Read more...] about Baghdad Wants U.S. Apologies and Restitution for Damage Done
Ken Jennings On Playing Jeopardy Against Watson
Writing in Slate, Ken Jennings describes what it was like: [A]t IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Lab, an Eero Saarinen-designed fortress in the snowy wilds of New York's Westchester County, where the shows taped last month, I wasn't the hero at all. I was the villain. This was to be an away game for humanity, I realized as I walked onto the slightly-smaller-than-regulation … [Read more...] about Ken Jennings On Playing Jeopardy Against Watson
Abuse of News People: Is This Closeup Worth It?
What used to be unspeakable is now not only news but fodder for tweets, blog posts and myriad forms of comment. Freedom of information has advanced, hasn't it? A 39-year-old woman, CBS correspondent Lara Logan, is "beaten and assaulted" by a crowd in Cairo. We know because her network issued a terse press release, which the Washington Post and New York Times respectfully … [Read more...] about Abuse of News People: Is This Closeup Worth It?
Bad News for Readers and Authors: Borders Files for Bankruptcy Protection
There's bad news for readers (particularly those who travel and love to find a big bookstore) and authors: Borders, the country's second largest bookstore, is filing for bankruptcy protection and is closing 200 stores -- 30 percent of its total. It's the victim of a changing market (in books and how people buy them) and technology (in how some readers now read them). And -- … [Read more...] about Bad News for Readers and Authors: Borders Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Obama and the Failure of the Deficit Hawks
WASHINGTON -- For 30 years, conservative ideologues have played moderate deficit hawks for suckers. You'd think this might endow those middle-of-the-road deficit-busters with a touch of humility. Fat chance. Instead, they stick with their self-righteous moralism, pretending to be bipartisan and beyond ideology. In fact, they make the problem they want to solve worse by … [Read more...] about Obama and the Failure of the Deficit Hawks
Do We Need Social Security Reform Now? Yes…Yes…Yes.
When pols in Washington lie, it's business as usual. When they actually seem to believe the nonsense they're spouting, however, it gets scary. President Obama's recent comments about Social Security suggest that with respect to this issue, the man is so deeply immersed in kinky Beltway thinking he's lost touch with reality. The president has been criticized for not taking … [Read more...] about Do We Need Social Security Reform Now? Yes…Yes…Yes.
Liars Leap
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Liars Leap
Can Independents Reform America and Unrig the System?
New York, NY – During his pre-Tonight Show days of comedy, Jay Leno often used the line: “Do you know what sticks in my craw?” Then there was the late Rodney Dangerfield who’d say: “I don’t get no respect.” Many independent voters, independent voter activists (yes they most assuredly DO exist), and small independent voter parties these days sound bit like Leno and … [Read more...] about Can Independents Reform America and Unrig the System?
The Recovery of Gabrielle Giffords
On that dreadful Saturday afternoon of January 8, I along with so many others started blogging on the tragedy in Tucson. My first “report” quoting the Washington Post was, in part: According to a local news report, Giffords was shot in the head at point-blank range. She was taken to University Medical Center in Tucson; her condition was not immediately … [Read more...] about The Recovery of Gabrielle Giffords
First CBS’s Lara Logan Gets Sexually Assaulted in Cairo
Most thinking Americans and those that have a human organ in their body called a heart were utterly shocked and saddened by the news that CBS's Lara Logan was brutally attacked and sexually assaulted on the streets of Cairon. Now she has been cyberspace assaulted by so-called "pundits" of the left and right. DETAILS HERE. Two words: nauseating and despicable. It's really … [Read more...] about First CBS’s Lara Logan Gets Sexually Assaulted in Cairo
Democratic Islam: ‘Opposed by Every Bush and bin Laden’ (Le Quotidien d’Oran, Algeria)
Can Islam and democracy exists side by side? Columnist K. Selim of Algeria's Le Quotidien d’Oran contests the notion that a free election can happen 'only once' in Arab countries, and warns those who have led uprisings in Egypt and Algeria that the eyes of the world are upon them - and most are against them. For Le Quotidien d’Oran, K. Selim writes in part: "Bush or bin … [Read more...] about Democratic Islam: ‘Opposed by Every Bush and bin Laden’ (Le Quotidien d’Oran, Algeria)
Jemima Khan: US Government Protecting Liars
Yes, that's exactly what the British celebrity woman Jemima Khan, former wife of the world's legendary cricketer Imran Khan, has to say. All governments lie at some time or the other. But when the web of lies becomes untenable and threaten world peace and financial security, then the alarm bells are set off. Jemima Khan in this video (http://bit.ly/dTDFaV) states: "Corruption, … [Read more...] about Jemima Khan: US Government Protecting Liars
Quote Of The Day – Deficit Edition
The quote of the day come's from John Cole: I’ve said this before, and I will say it again. Unless your proposal includes a substantial increase in taxes and a substantial amount of cuts to the military budget as well as ending the farm subsidies and giveaways to big oil and big energy and big business, you can kindly just shut up about the deficit and the debt. … [Read more...] about Quote Of The Day – Deficit Edition
Watson Won!!!
NYTimes: In the end, the humans on “Jeopardy!” surrendered meekly. Facing certain defeat at the hands of a room-size I.B.M. computer on Wednesday evening, Ken Jennings, famous for winning 74 games in a row on the TV quiz show, acknowledged the obvious. “I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords,” he wrote on his video screen, borrowing a line from a “Simpsons” … [Read more...] about Watson Won!!!
More Energy Fairy Dust
Fossil energy dies hard. The energy companies have made billions and have had lots of power for decades and they don't want to give up even though the easy resources are exhausted. One of the most recent purported saviors is oil and gas in the Arctic. We are promised billions of barrels of oil but will the world economy be able to pay the price for that oil? Probably not. … [Read more...] about More Energy Fairy Dust