Political sex scandals have expiration dates now. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned as New York Governor in 2008 for consorting with a call girl, is now a CNN anchor while Louisiana last week easily reelected Sen. David Vitter, who was the DC Madam's best customer a year earlier. Sexual commerce aside, my favorite adulterer is South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, now resurfacing … [Read more...] about My Favorite Adulterer
Do Only Conservative Victories Count?
WASHINGTON -- In 2008, the largest number of voters in American history gave the Democrats their largest share of the presidential vote in 44 years and big majorities in the House and Senate. How did Republicans react? They held their ideological ground, refused to give an inch to the new president, and insisted that persistent opposition would eventually yield them … [Read more...] about Do Only Conservative Victories Count?
Long-Term Economy And National Debt Solution Not A Part of Modern American DNA (Guest Voice)
Long-Term Economy And National Debt Solution Not A Part of Modern American DNA by Johnny Byrd On Election Day last week I attended a tax seminar, one of many held this time of year, purposed to get me up to speed on the latest federal and state tax law changes and hot topics. One presenter devoted some time to the potential impacts of the election results on current and … [Read more...] about Long-Term Economy And National Debt Solution Not A Part of Modern American DNA (Guest Voice)
Sarah Palin Tutors Ben Bernanke
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Sarah Palin Tutors Ben Bernanke
Saving the Golden State (Guest Voice)
Saving the Golden State Saving the Golden State by Michael Reagan The late psychic Edgar Cayce was famed for predicting that in the not-too-distant future the entire state of California would collapse into the Pacific Ocean and disappear beneath the sea. That may be a questionable forecast, but the collapse of the Golden State into a sea of debt is already upon us, … [Read more...] about Saving the Golden State (Guest Voice)
‘A Child-lover’s Code of Conduct.’ Shame on you Amazon.
Amazon is selling on-line a self-published book on pedophilia, "The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-lover’s Code of Conduct.” According to the “author,” Philip R. Greaves II: I wrote the book to establish guidelines so that people would behave in a manner that is non-injurious to each other, for one, and, for two, to communicate the fact that these … [Read more...] about ‘A Child-lover’s Code of Conduct.’ Shame on you Amazon.
The Lawyers Said It Was Okay
Mustang Bobby, blogging at The Reaction, passes on former President Bush's response when Matt Lauer asked him to explain, in an interview that was part of Bush's promotion tour for his book, Decision Points, why he believed waterboarding was legal. Bush replied, "Because the lawyer said it was. He said it did not fall within the Anti-Torture Act. I'm not a lawyer, but you … [Read more...] about The Lawyers Said It Was Okay
Veterans Day
A time that always calls up love of country and pride in a member of the so-called "The Greatest Generation" is overlaid today with sadness for what has been lost. We celebrate community, connection and self-sacrifice only a week after an election marked by selfish and bitter complaints about how the United States is damaging me, me, me with barely a word about the multitude … [Read more...] about Veterans Day
Samsung’s New Galaxy Tab
The first real iPad competitor runs Android, has a 7" screen, a white plastic back, front and rear cameras with a flash, video, exposure controls and special effects and it plays [cough] Flash videos. And it weighs 13 ounces compared with 1.5 pounds for the iPad. David Pogue: the dawn of the would-be iPad is upon us. But the Android tablet concept represents more than just … [Read more...] about Samsung’s New Galaxy Tab
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me
One of Elton John's finest songs, and this live version with George Michael and Elton John is spine-tingling: … [Read more...] about Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me
“We Cannot Say We Live Under the Rule of Law”
That's Marcy Wheeler, at Firedoglake, commenting on Tuesday's announcement by the Justice Department that the federal prosecutor assigned to investigate the destruction of C.I.A. videotapes showing two high-level detainees being tortured during hours of interrogation in a secret C.I.A. facility in Thailand will not file criminal charges against C.I.A. officials responsible for … [Read more...] about “We Cannot Say We Live Under the Rule of Law”
U.S. Air Strikes — and Civilian Casualties — Increase Sharply in Afghanistan
From Noah Shachtman, at Wired's Danger Room blog: … [Read more...] about U.S. Air Strikes — and Civilian Casualties — Increase Sharply in Afghanistan
Kristallnacht, and the Lessons of History
Author's Note: I wrote and posted this piece yesterday, but the Community Boulevard forum software had the title as a generic topic number, and placed it on the second screen of posts even right after it was published. I don't claim to understand why the software does so many weird things so much of the time (like posting blog posts in duplicate, which has happened to mine … [Read more...] about Kristallnacht, and the Lessons of History
To Our Veterans, One More Time
On the occasion of Veterans Day, I usually post or link to one or two articles honoring our veterans in general, or honoring veterans who have gone that extra mile for our country. I have done so again this year, here and here, and was going to leave it at that. However, I just read the article by our colleague, Ron Beasley, recalling and honoring the World War II … [Read more...] about To Our Veterans, One More Time
Veterans Day
My father passed away about eight years ago. He was a veteran who served in India during WWII. He was 26 when he was drafted. He was an aircraft mechanic and received the Bronze Star for going behind the enemy lines Burma to repair a downed plane. My father is the second from the left in the above picture. I too am a veteran but I have no medals. I was drafted after … [Read more...] about Veterans Day
Obama admin slaps down OH, WI govs on high-speed rail
Two recently-elected governors, John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, both ran on scrapping plans for high-speed rail lines in their respective states that would have been paid for with stimulus funds. Both felt, correctly in my view, that construction of these lines is a wasteful boondoggle destined to lose money in the long run and isn't driven by any real-world … [Read more...] about Obama admin slaps down OH, WI govs on high-speed rail
Sarah Palin’s Alaska Has The Ingredients To Be A Big Hit
The Hollywood Reporter: TLC is set to make one of the biggest bets of the year by taking arguably the most polarizing figure in politics and giving her a reality show... “Look at what happened in the election: A lot of people will tune in for Sarah Palin,” says Gary Carr, senior vp at media buyer TargetCast. TLC president and GM Eileen O’Neill is likewise confident Palin … [Read more...] about Sarah Palin’s Alaska Has The Ingredients To Be A Big Hit
Dave Niehaus dies at 75
It was just reported that longtime voice of the Mariners Dave Niehaus died today. An official statement of the cause of death has not yet been released. I'm including an article I wrote when Niehaus entered the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is a Seattle sports legend. God may love you and me, but his love for the Seattle Mariners is less certain. If he does love the … [Read more...] about Dave Niehaus dies at 75
PC Trivia
A little break from politics. Who manufactured one of the first personnel computers? Hint - it wasn't IBM or Apple. In the 70s and early 80s I worked at Tektronix as a manufacturing engineer in the CRT division. At the time Hiro Moriyasu developed the digital oscilloscope and the 4051 computer the best microprocessors were 8 bit which meant only 64K of memory could be … [Read more...] about PC Trivia
Dangerous Dollars: America’s ‘QEII’: Estadao, Brazil
Can the Federal Reserve revive the U.S. economy with a second round of 'quantitative easing', also known as QEII? In essence, this means injecting $600 billion that never existed before into the U.S. and global economy in $75 billion monthly increments. Reflecting the growing interconnectedness of the global economy, two of the articles we've posted on QEII demonstrate … [Read more...] about Dangerous Dollars: America’s ‘QEII’: Estadao, Brazil