File this in your ever thickening Political Hypocrisy File: Republicans are criticizing President Barack Obama for taking so much vacation time, but there's one teenie-weenie problem: George W. Bush took more vacation time (and they didn't complain then). And Democrats, who criticized Bush, aren't complaining about Obama. The Washington Post reports: VINEYARD HAVEN, … [Read more...] about More Political Hypocrisy: Republicans Criticize Obama’s Vacation Time
Willie Brown: A Gifted Politician From The Good Old Days
Willie Brown is the shrewdest, most accomplished, most polished and by far the best dressed politician I have known in my long lifetime. He is now advancing in years but the wealth of political knowledge still flows as fluently as the water spills from the Oroville Dam in northern California down the California Aqueduct to the last farming and tiny town on the border with … [Read more...] about Willie Brown: A Gifted Politician From The Good Old Days
The Real Story About the Mosque Two Blocks Away From Ground Zero
Here's the REAL story about the proposed mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero: it's really a zionist conspiracy...or so some say... How did they find this secret out? I'm already busy enough dominating the news media, running Hollywood and keeping Chinese restaurants open and now it comes out that I'm behind buildling that mosque close to ground zero, too. (Well, at … [Read more...] about The Real Story About the Mosque Two Blocks Away From Ground Zero
Report: Fox News Co-owner Funded ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Imam (UPDATED)
Could it be that Fox News' Saudi Arabian co-owner helped fund the Imam who's at the center of the distortion-crammed controversy over the proposed mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero? According to a report, the answer is yes: The second largest shareholder in News Corp. -- the parent company of Fox News -- has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to causes linked … [Read more...] about Report: Fox News Co-owner Funded ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Imam (UPDATED)
The Price of Empire
Chalmers Johnson has led an interesting life. Trained as an political scientist with a special interest in Asia, he was a strong Anti-Communist, who worked as a consultant for the C.I.A. and supported the War in Vietnam. During those years, he wrote, he was irritated by campus antiwar protesters, who seemed to me self indulgent as well as sanctimonious and who had so clearly … [Read more...] about The Price of Empire
Obama Not a Muslim and Fox News
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Obama Not a Muslim and Fox News
Steve McQueen’s Grandson Steven McQueen Continues Family’s Acting Legacy
Sometimes the kids or grandkids of famous stars get into the business and you think "If their name wasn't so and so he/she would never have gotten their break." But Steven McQueen, grandson of the late screen icon Steve McQueen, already looks like he has the words "future star" written all over him in his own right: … [Read more...] about Steve McQueen’s Grandson Steven McQueen Continues Family’s Acting Legacy
Australia’s ‘Hung’ Parliament: Wooing Of The “Gang Of Five” Begins
Australia’s ruling Labor party, led by Julia Gillard, and the opposition Liberal party, led by Tony Abbott, have failed to get a clear majority in the Parliament, for which elections were held Saturday. Both parties would now be wooing four Independents and one Green party member for support to gather the required majority to form a government. However, the final election … [Read more...] about Australia’s ‘Hung’ Parliament: Wooing Of The “Gang Of Five” Begins
Lots of Uncertainty About Demand
Wait! You mean it's not true that corporate CEOs are waiting to get that gold-plated affidavit from Pres. Obama that he will stop making them feel so uncertain with all that scary talk about climate change legislation? … [Read more...] about Lots of Uncertainty About Demand
The Pain Threshold
I heard a warning deep within - we usually do, when something worse than we can imagine is stalking us, and set to pounce. Fate's way of beating us in a fair fight is to give us warnings that we hear, but never heed. ~Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram The last few days I have been talking about the economic fate of the American worker and how that relates to our current … [Read more...] about The Pain Threshold
Jack Horkheimer: Beloved Stargazer Passes from This World
Jack Horkheimer, the little guy with the bad toupeé, Chaplinesque voice and strange name... who stood against a green screen while making it look to TV viewers at home that he was standing and broadcasting from outer space.... well Mr Horkheimer, the earthling beloved by many, has died at age 72 from a respiratory illness. He was the creator and host of the PBS show "Star … [Read more...] about Jack Horkheimer: Beloved Stargazer Passes from This World
Chelsea Clinton’s Wedding a Lesson for China’s Anti-Corruption Officials: Yangtze Daily News, China
What can the multi-million dollar wedding of Chelsea Clinton teach Chinese officials about corruption? According to columnist Zhang Dong Yang of the state-controlled Yangtze Daily News, the fact that former President Clinton could pay for such extravagance without having to hide it shows that he made his money honorably and with public knowledge - as opposed to public officials … [Read more...] about Chelsea Clinton’s Wedding a Lesson for China’s Anti-Corruption Officials: Yangtze Daily News, China
Slouching Out of Iraq
Generations of Americans have to take it on faith that wars can be won. Not since V-J Day in 1945 has there been dancing in our streets and strangers kissing in joy and relief. With the mission in Baghdad far from accomplished, the last U.S. combat troops leave behind 4415 dead, billions of dollars spent (or stolen) and come home to a nation that is much less safe or united … [Read more...] about Slouching Out of Iraq
Only $5 Million Left for Republican National Committee At End of July
Advice to the Republican National Committee: Quick...get on the phone and call News Corp for some money: it turns out you only had $5 milliion left by July's end for the final sprint of the 2010 mid-term elections: The Republican National Committee spent twice as much as it raised in July, leaving the committee with just over $5 million on hand with less than three months … [Read more...] about Only $5 Million Left for Republican National Committee At End of July
China Must Draw a Red Line Against American ‘Encirclement’: Global Times, People’s Republic of China
Does the United States have a cold war strategy to create an 'Asian NATO' to contain China's military? According to Dai Xu, author of the book C-shaped Encirclement, writing in China's new flagship state-controlled newspaper, the Global Times, current U.S.-South Korea exercises in the South China and Yellow Seas makes it imperative for Chinese 'dignity' to show the Americans … [Read more...] about China Must Draw a Red Line Against American ‘Encirclement’: Global Times, People’s Republic of China
Real Life Imitating Swedish Fiction?
Yesterday the founder of the whistle blowing website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, was charged by Swedish authorities with rape. It made front page news in this country because WikiLeaks has made public documents that suggest the American military, intelligence community, and key members of two administrations have been consistently misrepresenting their horrendously bungled … [Read more...] about Real Life Imitating Swedish Fiction?
Obama Polls
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Obama Polls
Don’t Publish the L.A. Teachers Names: The Case Against Naked Transparency
To those who mindlessly quote the great Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis line that "sunlight is ... the best of disinfectants" I reply, if you go outside without sunscreen on you'll get sunburned. Stay out and you'll die. Information without context is not knowledge. Sadly, context doesn't sell newspapers, or drive web traffic or build television and radio audiences. … [Read more...] about Don’t Publish the L.A. Teachers Names: The Case Against Naked Transparency
Remember the Iraq War ‘Deck of Cards’?
Remember when, during the early days of the invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon developed and handed out to our troops sets of playing cards to help identify and capture (or kill) the 55 most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein’s regime---including Saddam himself? Each card of this set of “personality identification playing cards” was printed with the name of the wanted person, a … [Read more...] about Remember the Iraq War ‘Deck of Cards’?
Canada’s Stephen Harper and the Census: The Tipping Point?
Editor's Note: If you think that the census has only been an issue in the United States, think again. As he notes in his post here, Owen Gray, publisher of the Canadian weblog Northern Reflections, it is a big issue in Canada as well -- perhaps one with more serious political repercussions for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "A democracy which refuses to heed the will of … [Read more...] about Canada’s Stephen Harper and the Census: The Tipping Point?