I confess to be a North Korea watcher only to the extent of how far this paranoid bully can go before some adult in his neighborhood slaps him silly. The latest incident is a North Korean border guard killing three Chinese citizens and wounding a fourth on the two country's border in the industrial trading town of Dandong. The guard suspected the four were crossing the … [Read more...] about North Korea Border Guard Kills 3 Chinese
Time for Americans to Lead New Way of Life: Tages Anzeiger, Switzerland
With the oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, is it time for Americans to well and truly change their lifestyles? According to Martin Laubli of Switzerland's Tages Anzeiger, President Obama needs to lead the world by pointedly rejecting George H.W. Bush's 1992 statement that 'The American way of life is non-negotiable.' For Tages Anzeiger, Martin Laubli writes in part: Obama … [Read more...] about Time for Americans to Lead New Way of Life: Tages Anzeiger, Switzerland
Obama Tells BP Exec To Take His Job And Shove It — Oops Or Ouch?
The president of the United States says he would have fired the chief executive of the world's fourth most profitable corporation if he worked for him. Ouch. With that assertion on NBC's Today Show, President Obama has stepped into the metaphoric bloviating of infamous responses such as President Coolidge saying "The business of America is business," and the dollar-a-year … [Read more...] about Obama Tells BP Exec To Take His Job And Shove It — Oops Or Ouch?
Poll: Voters Increasingly Disapprove of House Inbumbents and Tea Party Movement
There's a double whammy in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll: voters approval of their incumbent House representative is at an all time low -- and the public is increasingly uncharmed by the Tea Party movement. The bottom line of this poll would suggest that Republicans hoping to capitalize on voter ire now face a more complicated situation: more than ever, they need Tea … [Read more...] about Poll: Voters Increasingly Disapprove of House Inbumbents and Tea Party Movement
California: The Insane Asylum of American Politics
The dramatic resurgence of Republican fortunes since 2008 may be developing into an electoral steamroller in time for midterm elections. Most observers expect Democrats to lose most of their margin in the House and Senate. President Obama will definitely have to deal with Senate filibusters and a much more fiscally conservative House. At the state level, things look … [Read more...] about California: The Insane Asylum of American Politics
Video and News Roundup: Van der Sloot Confesses To Murder of Peruvian Woman After She Discovered Halloway Case On His Laptop
There's a sense of deja vu for Americans in the news from Peru. Joran van der Sloot has reportedly confessed to the murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman. Yet, for years he was suspected in the disappearance of Natalee Halloway. Will this be like O.J. Simpson who many Americans felt got away with murder but wound up going to jail for another crime? Van der Sloot, the 22 … [Read more...] about Video and News Roundup: Van der Sloot Confesses To Murder of Peruvian Woman After She Discovered Halloway Case On His Laptop
Peruvian Reports on the van der Sloot Case
I have been browsing the Peruvian newspaper “El Comercio,” for news about Joran van der Sloot. Of course, the breaking news that van der Sloot has confessed to murdering the young university student Stephany Flores is all over the news here in the U.S. And so is the news that allegedly van der Sloot became enraged when he returned to his hotel room after getting a cup of … [Read more...] about Peruvian Reports on the van der Sloot Case
The Helen Thomas Treatment: Who Gets It, And Why?
Now that the good burghers of the free press have disinvited, disavowed, and disemployed Helen Thomas from the world of respectable reporting, I expect that she will quickly vanish from the front pages and home pages of the media, both print and interweb. By tomorrow evening, the media chatter will be all about the primary results, and Helen Thomas will be history. … [Read more...] about The Helen Thomas Treatment: Who Gets It, And Why?
iPhone Love Story
Gadget lovers are a passionate bunch. But are they faithful? Watch what happens after the Apple iPhone 4 arrives. … [Read more...] about iPhone Love Story
Lap Dogs Can Never Be Watch Dogs, No Matter How Hard They Try
So now Helen Thomas has been forced to retire, in good part as a result of the courageous efforts of our guardians of journalistic integrity and unbiased, objective reporting. … [Read more...] about Lap Dogs Can Never Be Watch Dogs, No Matter How Hard They Try
So Who IS the White House Commission on Remembrance? (Guest Voice)
So Who IS the White House Commission on Remembrance? by Hart Williams Good question. In the June 1 post ["WH Commission on Remembrance Forgets Civil War on Memorial Day"], you will recall, the 'White House Commission on Remembrance' carried out its mission of the national "Moment of Remembrance" by putting a link to its Facebook page, which managed to forget the Civil War … [Read more...] about So Who IS the White House Commission on Remembrance? (Guest Voice)
Yet Another View on Helen Thomas’ Resignation
There have been many takes on the resignation today of Helen Thomas (some of them here on TMV). And here's yet another take: was a double standard applied to her or not? (Your views are welcome in District TMV) … [Read more...] about Yet Another View on Helen Thomas’ Resignation
iPhone 4 Packs Few Surprises
Farhad Manjoo describes today's Steve Jobs' keynote speech as underwhelming: Gizmodo did Jobs' presentation for him. In April, the gadget site purchased and dissected an iPhone prototype that an Apple employee had left behind in a Bay Area bar, and in May, another prototype somehow surfaced on a tech blog in Vietnam. As punishment, Apple banished Gizmodo from Jobs' speech at … [Read more...] about iPhone 4 Packs Few Surprises
California Proposition 14 and Baneful Effects of Party
I recently received a note in the mail from Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access News and the nation’s premier third party ballot access expert, asking if I advocate making all elections non-partisan. Richard is a long-standing member of the Libertarian Party, and someone I consider a friend and colleague. We have been in the trenches together for many years combating … [Read more...] about California Proposition 14 and Baneful Effects of Party
Bhopal Convictions — 2 Years, $2,175 Fines 26 Years After World’s Worst Industrial Accident
If residents in the Gulf Coast think BP and the federal government is slow to respond to your claims and grievances ... If victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez in Alaska thought the U.S. justice system moved at a glacier pace to address your damages ... Then, you got nothing over the 15,000 killed and hundreds of thousands born with birth defects from the 1984 gas leak of a … [Read more...] about Bhopal Convictions — 2 Years, $2,175 Fines 26 Years After World’s Worst Industrial Accident
Say Good Night, Helen
In her day, Helen Thomas was a pit bull with skin as tough as an armadillo who survived the cut-throat, stab-in-the-back culture of United Press International and asked questions that dropped U.S. presidents to their knees. Despite all the milestones she accumulated in her lifetime for women as well as a beacon for freedom of information, Helen Thomas is leaving the public … [Read more...] about Say Good Night, Helen
Helen Thomas to Retire (REPOSTED)
The controversy has reached its ultimate end, with Thomas announcing today she will retire. I have to feel a little sad at this news. While I have not been a fan of Thomas for some time, she has been an institution at the White House for half a century and that is a pretty big deal. My bigger regret is that in recent years she allowed her partisanship to mar a long period … [Read more...] about Helen Thomas to Retire (REPOSTED)
Reports Indicate Historic Number of GOP Women Candidates in 2010
I've written before about what appeared to be a lack of conservative women running for office. So it's with great satisfaction that I read and listened to not one but two stories from NPR on the statistically significant increase in the number of conservative female candidates in this year's election cycle. First, from For Republican women, 2010 is already a huge … [Read more...] about Reports Indicate Historic Number of GOP Women Candidates in 2010
Apollo 13 Approach ‘Sputnik Moment’
Forget my Apollo 13 analogy. Donny Deutsch's use of the phrase, "Sputnik moment," better conveys what I've been trying to express in my prior posts on this topic: The need for transcendental leadership from the White House, for the President to rally the nation with a bold plan for engaging our best and brightest, focusing their energies (and ours) on a common cause. … [Read more...] about Apollo 13 Approach ‘Sputnik Moment’
The Radicals Are Coming
Once super-popular Florida Governor Charlie Crist has been forced from the Republican primary by Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio. Moderate Crist will run as an Independent for the U. S. Senate. Moderate Arlen Specter has been ousted by Pennsylvania Democrats. In the fall, PA voters will choose between a left wing Democrat and a right wing Republican. Senator Bob Bennett is … [Read more...] about The Radicals Are Coming