Lots of documentaries aspire to be authentic fly-on-the-wall enterprises, offering viewers a chance to see what they didn't see on the news, didn't learn from official statements, and get a feel of what "really" went on behind-the-scenes and what the key political players are "really like." HBO's By The People: The Election of Barack Obama which airs at 9 p.m. tonight offers … [Read more...] about T.V. Review: HBO’s By The People: The Election of Barack Obama
Honor Killings On The Rise, Media Response Seems Limited
Imagine for a moment that a segment of the Southern Baptist Church was supporting the idea of parents killing their teenage daughters for going out on dates. The public reaction would be swift and severe (and properly so). Media figures like Bill Maher would go ballistic, labeling the entire Christian Church with such behavior. And yet when this exact thing is happening … [Read more...] about Honor Killings On The Rise, Media Response Seems Limited
Ideological Purity and the GOP
The always worth-reading Rick Moran -- even when I couldn't disagree with him more (and this is not one of those times) -- has a piece on how to make the GOP a majority party again -- and it isn't by reading the ideologically impure out of the party: … [Read more...] about Ideological Purity and the GOP
For Russia, the China Model Fits the Best: Izvestia, Russia
Can Russia break the strongman habit? Is Russia ready for Western-Style democracy - which includes true pluralism and checks on the executive? It's a debate that's been going on since the fall of the Berlin Wall. This article from Izvestia - once the official mouthpiece of the Soviet government - openly, unapologetically and arrestingly admits that the answer is no. Nor does … [Read more...] about For Russia, the China Model Fits the Best: Izvestia, Russia
Bad Driving Gene ?
A new study out this week says that there is a genetic variation in people which could be one of the causes of bad driving. The study was limited, involving 29 people of which 22 had the genetic quirk. The participants in the study drove 15 laps on a driving simulator then came back later and did the same test again. Those with the genetic quirk performed 20% worse on all of … [Read more...] about Bad Driving Gene ?
Rush Limbaugh Is Really “Very Sweet and Vulnerable”
According to Fox News' fair and balanced journalist, Chris Wallace. Oh. … [Read more...] about Rush Limbaugh Is Really “Very Sweet and Vulnerable”
World in Pieces
Yaakov Kirschen, The Jerusalem Post, Dry Bones This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about World in Pieces
New York Magazine on Nancy Pelosi: “A Castrating San Francisco Shrew”
Actually, most of this 7-screen profile is not this openly vicious. Vanessa Grigoriadis generally prefers to kill with a thousand paper cuts rather than take a butcher knife to her target of choice. If you're looking to learn something substantive about Pelosi's political thinking and/or the professional and personal factors that formed her values and who she is as a person, … [Read more...] about New York Magazine on Nancy Pelosi: “A Castrating San Francisco Shrew”
The Close NJ Race
Josh Marshall at TPM (emphasis mine): … [Read more...] about The Close NJ Race
Deja Vu: The Spanish Inquisition
Karzai Win By Default Ensures Long Term Multi-Fronted Afghanistan Controversy
The news that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been declare the winner of Afghanistan's hotly contested and controversial Presidential election now ensures that the Afghanistan issue be an ongoing controversial one on several fronts in several countries. Clearly, the fact that his prime foe former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah has pulled out rather than participate … [Read more...] about Karzai Win By Default Ensures Long Term Multi-Fronted Afghanistan Controversy
Health Care: Bookmark this One
Via Ezra Klein. At the end of his post, note the link to the full package of charts. The last chart in that package, in particular -- see below -- caught my eye, begging many questions. Bruce McQuain chimes in. H/t casualobserver. … [Read more...] about Health Care: Bookmark this One
What Ousted GOP Candidate Endorsing Dem in Messy NY Race Means (Guest Voice)
What Ousted GOP Candidate Endorsing Dem in Messy NY Race Means by Jon Wells The drama over the special election in NY-23 has taken a variety of surprising turns over the past few weeks. The Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, was selected by a county board of GOP supervisors and got a load of initial cash and support from the national Republican establishment. But a … [Read more...] about What Ousted GOP Candidate Endorsing Dem in Messy NY Race Means (Guest Voice)
Goldman Sachs’ Stolen Umbrellas
As CIT goes bankrupt and Treasury Secretary Geithner warns that the "damage caused by this crisis" will "take some time" to repair, a key Wall Street player has managed to weather the storm at the expense of an unwary, drenched public. "All men are equal," E.M. Forster wrote a century ago, "all men, that is to say, who possess umbrellas." An old saying puts it more tartly: … [Read more...] about Goldman Sachs’ Stolen Umbrellas
Hearts, Minds and Health Care (Guest Voice)
WASHINGTON -- The next health care fight has already started. It's the battle to define the bill that President Obama will eventually sign as a victory for consumers, taxpayers and the common good. You might say this view is premature. Legislation has yet to pass the House or the Senate, there are differences between the two bodies, and some moderates still have … [Read more...] about Hearts, Minds and Health Care (Guest Voice)
An Alternative Measurement To GDP That May Be More Realistic For Main Street
GDP gets all the attention as a measure of how well our economy is doing but it has problems, big problems. There are philosophical problems such as the fact that GDP doesn't adjust for resource usage or debt, so a sustainable economy will look the same as a bubble economy, but there are also a myriad of technical problems with the measurement. The formula is GDP = private … [Read more...] about An Alternative Measurement To GDP That May Be More Realistic For Main Street
Scozzafava Endorses Owens, Rejects Republican Extremism
As most of you who follow this sort of thing have surely heard by now, Dierdre "Dede" Scozzafava, the Republican who dropped out of the House race in NY-23 on Saturday, has endorsed not the Conservative (and new Republican) candidate, Doug Hoffman, but the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens. Given that Scozzafava is a moderate who supports abortion rights and gay rights, and … [Read more...] about Scozzafava Endorses Owens, Rejects Republican Extremism
The Ballad Of Hamid Karzai
Raised as a Pashtun, he's that people's star A local tribal hero hailed near and far He spent some years a'crusin' down in Kandahar At three was selling carpets in its bustling bazaar Hamid, Hamid Karzai, king of the slick veneer. In the final Cold War's chapter, the Russkie soldiers came Adding a new chapter to the old Afghan Great Game Hamid joined the CIA, the failing bear … [Read more...] about The Ballad Of Hamid Karzai
Dr. Doom Predicts “Biggest Coordinated Asset Bust Ever”
One of the largest components of the worldwide asset bubble that hit its top in 2007 was the carry trade. A carry trade is when money is borrowed in a low yielding currency in order to buy assets in another currency that will be high yielding. Preferably the borrowed currency should be from a strong industrial country and the target assets should be in a high growth (hence … [Read more...] about Dr. Doom Predicts “Biggest Coordinated Asset Bust Ever”
Silver Parses NY-23
A fascinating post from a consistently solid writer and thinker. His third point is key. (Apologies if one of my colleagues has already pointed to this post. There has been so much written on this subject that I have not been able to read it all, including what has been written here.) … [Read more...] about Silver Parses NY-23