Centrist writer and former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani aide John Avlon got a lot of people mad in recent months. One was conservative talk show host and GOP political Godfather Rush Limbaugh, who increasingly seems to be the Republican Party's chief tactician, strategist and decider of who is or is not a "real" Republican. The other was MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, a hero to many … [Read more...] about Book Review: Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America
ICRC Report Says Gaza Blockade Has “Devastating Impact” on Palestinians’ Lives
Despite the humanitarian aid that Israel allows into Gaza, the blockade is causing a crisis that is "only going to get even worse," according to a new report by the International Committee of the Red Cross: … [Read more...] about ICRC Report Says Gaza Blockade Has “Devastating Impact” on Palestinians’ Lives
In Defense of Two-Handed Economists
WASHINGTON -- Will politics slow our economic recovery? Will world leaders who pulled us back from the brink of a new Great Depression throw in the towel before the global economy gets the unemployed back to work? These are the moment's central questions, and I posed them last week to Larry Summers, President Obama's top economic adviser. Summers is often cast as an … [Read more...] about In Defense of Two-Handed Economists
The Price Of Carbon
The coverage of the BP disaster is pretty much non stop but what we have not heard is that it may not be possible to stop it. But there is another potential toxic invasion. This month has not been a quiet one for the booming Marcellus Shale natural gas well drilling industry, and the commotion has the attention of Debbie Borowiec of Upper Burrell, where two gas … [Read more...] about The Price Of Carbon
Naked Protest
My friend Sam sent pictures of the second annual New York City Naked Bike Ride. Protesters chanted, "Less gas, more a...!" The ride went The Gothamist has a "pretty SFW" gallery. So what's the big idea? A World Naked Bike Ride: It's time to put a stop to the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create. According to the United Nations, … [Read more...] about Naked Protest
Gary Nerry, Unintended Victim Of Government Red Tape
As many of us who believe in strict enforcement of governmental regulations designed for safety and protection of consumers and the environment, the concept is idyllic in theory but detrimental far too often in practice. As far back as the Franklin Roosevelt administration, Americans have fought the battle of what's too much and what's too little in our regulation of … [Read more...] about Gary Nerry, Unintended Victim Of Government Red Tape
The Big Lie About the Israel “Delegitimization” Threat
The Big Lie About the Israel "Delegitimization" Threat by Barry Rubin Golda Meir, Israel's prime minister, once memorably said, "Better a bad press than a good epitaph." In the Western world, where a cushioned elite increasingly mistakes headlines or academic studies for the real world, the difference between the material world and words is often lost. At the same … [Read more...] about The Big Lie About the Israel “Delegitimization” Threat
Is It Time for Israel to Completely End the Gaza Strip Embargo?
It is time for Israel to completely end the Gaza strip embargo? In a post on RealClearWorld Meir Javedanfar, Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst and co-author of The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran, argues that it is. Here's how he begins his piece: Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst and co-author of The Nuclear … [Read more...] about Is It Time for Israel to Completely End the Gaza Strip Embargo?
Which Palestinians Do You Support?
Critics of Israel's blockade on direct shipments to Gaza insist that they aren't anti-Semites, aren't opposed to Israel, and aren't supporters of Hamas. Rather, they insist, they only support the Palestinian people against a completely unjustified Israeli campaign of oppression. Alas, it seems that the leader of the Palestinian Authority doesn't agree with that reading any … [Read more...] about Which Palestinians Do You Support?
New Home for Helen Thomas
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about New Home for Helen Thomas
Is Afghanistan Lost? Is Pakistan?
Recent days have seen new rumblings from anti-war activists against the war -- not Iraq, where U.S. disengagement is well underway, but Afghanistan. One progressive commentator contends that the left has muzzled itself on Afghanistan for fear of undermining President Obama's signature foreign policy initiative. Another says that Americans have just "zoned out". The real … [Read more...] about Is Afghanistan Lost? Is Pakistan?
Belgium on the Brink
We're used to the issue of separatism here in Canada, with Quebec nationalists agitating for separation from the rest of Canada for decades now (despite two referendums with "No" outcomes), but the country dealing with it today is Belgium, which heads to the polls to elect all 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 40 of 71 seats in the Senate. The country faces a … [Read more...] about Belgium on the Brink
Anti-Oil Elitism
There are many different types of elitism and, contrary to populist memes or egalitarianism, not all of them are bad. Elitism in the workplace is a force to motivate higher achievement and to punish laziness. And elitism in education is the sole remaining bulwark against the anti-intellectualism of post-modernism and the "diversity movement". But elitism in government … [Read more...] about Anti-Oil Elitism
Obama to Address Nation Tuesday Night On Gulf Oil Spill and Spill Escrow Account: Too Late?
The news has finally arrived about something many observers of Presidents had mistakenly assumed would come weeks ago: President Barack Obama will (finally) address the nation Tuesday night on the catastrophic Gulf Oil spill -- American history's worst oil spill that will, perhaps will emerge as the worst in history p-e-r-i-o-d, seriously impacting the lives and livelihoods of … [Read more...] about Obama to Address Nation Tuesday Night On Gulf Oil Spill and Spill Escrow Account: Too Late?
Selig Cartwright And Global Warming (a new Goldman Sachs washroom attendant adventure)
Mr. B. You're late this morning. Forget to take your bran flakes with breakfast? Just too busy to get away sooner, Selig. Following the energy bill before Congress. It's back on the front burner because of what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico. But its global warming provisions are being dropped. That could cost us money. I don't understand, sir. I don't understand why … [Read more...] about Selig Cartwright And Global Warming (a new Goldman Sachs washroom attendant adventure)
The Singularity, How Near?
In Merely Human? That’s So Yesterday, the NYTimes takes a feature look at the Singularity, "a time, possibly just a couple decades from now, when a superior intelligence will dominate and life will take on an altered form that we can’t predict or comprehend in our current, limited state." An obvious focus of the piece is the Singularity's primary proponent and advocate, … [Read more...] about The Singularity, How Near?
An Administration Adrift (Guest Voice)
An Administration Adrift by Michael Reagan As we pass the 50-day mark of the terrible oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it seems like the more things change the more they stay the same. As I have previously discussed, sometimes terrible tragedies occur for which even the most diligent administrations cannot prepare. While it can and should be properly debated … [Read more...] about An Administration Adrift (Guest Voice)
Whatever Happened to “We”?
In retrospect, George W. Bush was right when he described himself as a Uniter, not a Divider. He left office after bringing together Democrats and Independents under the banner of "Yes We Can" while Republicans campaigned as if he had never existed. A year and a half later, the dams of Bush government-in-denial have burst open to flood the political scene with economic and … [Read more...] about Whatever Happened to “We”?
BP: Hire Robert Green!
We can't seem to get any luck in the Gulf of Mexico. Every attempt to plug the leak has gone almost comically wrong or has made the very notion of a solution seem like a mockery. Meanwhile, BP CEO Tony Heyward has placed an English face on a company spiraling down the corporate drain, even as Tories in Britain complain about 1776-era anti-British rhetoric. As if the Tea Parties … [Read more...] about BP: Hire Robert Green!
Ken O’Keefe, Activist on the Mavi Marmara, Speaks
I have no doubt that many readers will reject the substance of this statement out of hand. Before you do that, however, I urge you to read Ken O'Keefe's entire statement. I did. I certainly don't take everything he says as Mt. Sinai truth. (One example: he makes an oblique reference to the Armenian genocide as a "past injustice" and of course without using that terminology, and … [Read more...] about Ken O’Keefe, Activist on the Mavi Marmara, Speaks