By ShannonLee I’m from the US but living in Germany currently, and it’s nice to listen to the radio without having to suffer the 1980's all over again ... or David Hasselhoff for that matter. I listen to a lot of AFNetwork (American Forces Network). It broadcasts, Bloomberg, ABC Perspective, and Air Force News, et. al., aimed at US government civilians, service men and … [Read more...] about German Casualties in Afghanistan Might Change US Strategy
Debt Explosion Demands Fundamental Reform
By Jason Arvak The chief of the Congressional Budget Office, Doug Elmendorf, has added to the growing chorus of protest about out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C. With trillion-dollar deficits projected for the indefinite future and under the pressure of large and growing expenditures in health care and Social Security, the numbers add up to a looming financial … [Read more...] about Debt Explosion Demands Fundamental Reform
Scrabble For The Rest Of Us?
And now for some mildly diverting weekend trivia.... As Orlando braces for the arrival of 200 middle school Scrabble experts to compete for the $10,000 National School SCRABBLE® Championship today, long-time Scrabble fans are saying it's time for a revolution. Why? A new version (called Scrabble Trickster) being introduced only in the United Kingdom allows players to … [Read more...] about Scrabble For The Rest Of Us?
Gingrich on Obama: “We need a President not an athlete”
Hey, inquiring independent voters minds need to know: can't the Republicans make up their minds already? First, former Alaska Gov. and Fox News star Sarah Palin made it part of her stock speech sneering references to Barack Obama as a "law professor" -- saying America needs a President not a law professor. (That was before Rudy Giuliani said America needs a President not a … [Read more...] about Gingrich on Obama: “We need a President not an athlete”
Confederate History Month
Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Confederate History Month
Open Primaries and Nonpartisan Elections Gain National Momentum
A national movement for open primaries and nonpartisan elections is taking shape, highlights this week from New York, California and Louisiana, plus voter input from Indiana and Michigan: OPEN PRIMARIES An Indiana voter in a LETTER to the Editor at The Paper of Mongomery County IN wants open primaries In Lousiana, the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs … [Read more...] about Open Primaries and Nonpartisan Elections Gain National Momentum
Gallup Poll: Democratic Party’s Image Now At Bottom
A new Gallup Poll finds that the Democratic party's image is at an all time low -- a spectacular drop in image for a party that had been 11 points ahead of the Republican party last September. This and other polls seeminglly foreshadow a long - and depressing - night at the polls for Democrats come Nov. 2010: Americans' favorable rating of the Democratic Party dropped … [Read more...] about Gallup Poll: Democratic Party’s Image Now At Bottom
America’s Withdrawal Seals Iraq’s ‘Certificate of Death’: Kitabat, Iraq
Has Iran won the Iraq War - because the Iraqi people failed to help the Americans? According to columnist Khadir Taahar of Iraq's Kitabat newspaper, the U.S. has thrown up its hands in frustration, and in its own interests, has handed Iraq's keys to Tehran. For Kitabat, Khadir Taahar writes in part: Iran has finally triumphed in the battle. It has plundered Iraq and its … [Read more...] about America’s Withdrawal Seals Iraq’s ‘Certificate of Death’: Kitabat, Iraq
An Extraordinary Conversation
Earlier today, by a somewhat circuitous route, I stumbled across a conversation at Reddit about the WikiLeaks video I've written about here. The thread is extraordinary. It's an article about the July, 2007, helicopter incident posted by someone who is in the military -- and 200 comments responding to the article. Many of the comments are also from people who either … [Read more...] about An Extraordinary Conversation
Domestic Violence Victims Endangered By Budget Cuts
Domestic violence calls are second only to burglary for law enforcement. Police regard them as among the most dangerous in terms of officer safety because of the violent emotions often in play when they arrive at the scene. Arrests and prosecution are part of the picture, but only a part. Victims need options, shelter, counseling, financial assistance, and education. … [Read more...] about Domestic Violence Victims Endangered By Budget Cuts
Apple iAds: “Mobile Ads with Emotion”
Mashable: Apple has officially unveiled its new mobile advertising platform, iAds, the “seventh pillar” of the new iPhone OS 4.0. The new iAd platform, which we learned about just two weeks ago, will be built directly into the iPhone OS interface. During today’s iPhone OS 4.0 unveiling event at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, CA, Steve Jobs stated that the company is … [Read more...] about Apple iAds: “Mobile Ads with Emotion”
Another Adventure Of Selig Cartwright, Goldman Sachs Washroom Attendant
Morning Mr. B. Your personal stall is ready as always. Uh, don't mean to be intrusive, sir. But why are you wearing ripped jeans and a filthy tee shirt? Our new office wear, Selig. Dress down Thursday? Dress down every day, Selig. And our wives are doing the dress down, too. New shop on Park Avenue sells street person look-a-like wear for $2,500 a pop. Bargain stuff. … [Read more...] about Another Adventure Of Selig Cartwright, Goldman Sachs Washroom Attendant
The Myth of Nuclear Arms
By Jason Arvak The U.S. and Russia have signed the first major arms control treaty in over a decade. Coming on the heels of President Obama's moderate reconceptualization of the U.S.' nuclear weapons posture, the net effect is to produce the first truly post-Cold War nuclear defense posture. But it is worth asking whether any of it really matters. Nuclear weapons … [Read more...] about The Myth of Nuclear Arms
47% Of Americans Will Pay No Income Taxes
A new study shows that 47% of US households will pay no federal income taxes this year. This is the result of both lower income and rising tax credits and exemptions. A family of 4 making around $ 50,000 could avoid any federal tax liability provided there are two children under the age of 17. For comparison in 1969 roughly 16% of households paid no taxes and in 1989 roughly … [Read more...] about 47% Of Americans Will Pay No Income Taxes
Happy Birthday, Betty Ford
She turns 92 today, a reminder of days in Washington when an honest, caring human being could command universal respect without the malice and spite that now infect everything. Isolated in infirmity since the death in 2006 of her husband, Gerald Ford, who was president for only two and a half years, Elizabeth Anne Bloomer is a woman for all time who made her mark in American … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday, Betty Ford
Not on my talk show!
This past Sunday, David Gregory cut off Christina Romer, head of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, when she strayed too far from reality: MR. GREGORY: You mentioned the stimulus as a huge effort by this administration to deal with people who are out of work and to deal with a recession. And yet, again, I go back to members of the president's own party raising concerns … [Read more...] about Not on my talk show!
Republican Bondage
Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Republican Bondage
Obama’s Assassination Program
I wish that headline were a bad joke. But it isn't. And almost no one is writing about it. Glenn Greenwald is one of the few: … [Read more...] about Obama’s Assassination Program
Will Elliot Spitzer in the Eye of the Public?
Who says there are no glitzy second acts in politics after a popular big political show closes when it suddenly becomes a major flop? Former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer, who had been a rising star if the Democratic party had ever seen one, is seriously contemplating a return to elected life despite having gone out in a scandal that humiliated him, his wife, his family and let … [Read more...] about Will Elliot Spitzer in the Eye of the Public?
Nicholas Carr On The iPad Luddites
Nicholas Carr pushes back at smart geek objections to the locked down iPad: If Ned Ludd had been a blogger, he would have written a post similar to Doctorow's about those newfangled locked-down mechanical looms that distance the weaver from the machine's workings, requiring the weaver to follow the programs devised by the looms' manufacturer. The design of the mechanical loom, … [Read more...] about Nicholas Carr On The iPad Luddites