Putting the lie to my recent theory that Congress can't manage to accomplish anything, the House of Representatives voted yesterday to further expand so called "hate crime" legislation to include "those committed because of a victim’s sexual orientation" which will include attacks on lesbian, gay and transgender people. Of course, in typical fashion, Democratic sponsors of the … [Read more...] about More “Hate Crime” Follies in D.C.
Videos About Obama’s 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Win
News videos are now popping up online about the surprise announcement that President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Here are a few of them: The AP's asks if the prize will be a boost or bust: ITTN News: Reuters video with Q&A of committee addressing why he won -- getting some tough questions about what Obama has actually accomplished to … [Read more...] about Videos About Obama’s 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Win
Obama Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
Christo Komarnitski, Bulgaria This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. UPDATE: Here's a VIDEO of Obama's actual statement about winning the prize. … [Read more...] about Obama Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
Obama Wins Surprise 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
Reporters gasped when it was announced. Coverage: New York Times Washington Post Wall Street Journal Bloomberg Reuters BBC Matt Lauer, "So in some ways he wins this for not being George W. Bush..." Twitter's going crazy. The Nobel website is dying under the sudden traffic surge. UPDATE: My favorite #ReasonsBHOwonNPP: "Because the Nobel … [Read more...] about Obama Wins Surprise 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
Stunning Act Out Of Australia
Let me make it clear that I do not think this skit represents even a tiny bit of the Australian people. But I am stunned by the blatant racist nature of the skit, and even more shocked at some of the comments which either defend the act or use it to attack the US. WARNING: The skit is quite offensive. … [Read more...] about Stunning Act Out Of Australia
Southland Canceled: Is Leno Hurting NBC ?
It was announced today that NBC has canceled the police drama Southland two weeks before its scheduled Season Two premiere. The show was well received by critics and did reasonably well in the ratings for a mid season replacement during its shortened first season earlier this year. The program was seen by many as offering a very realistic view of police work as seen through … [Read more...] about Southland Canceled: Is Leno Hurting NBC ?
International Olympic Committee Goes Copyright (& Trademark) Crazy
Cory Doctorow's headline, Olympic Committee claims that photographing exterior of venues violates copyrights: I hope that the IOC is aware that it's about to show up in one of the most media-savvy towns in the world, and that trying to stop private citizens from posting "unauthorized" photos will be nothing short of a fool's errand. This sort of hostility towards Olympic fans … [Read more...] about International Olympic Committee Goes Copyright (& Trademark) Crazy
A Compromise That Could Actually Work
Yesterday, Sam Stein told us about a new compromise plan that is attracting attention because it's designed to please both progressive Democrats who want a robust public option, and conservative Democrats who want to please the insurance industry. Under this proposed plan, there would be a strong federal-level public option -- the compromise would be that individual states … [Read more...] about A Compromise That Could Actually Work
Rare Video: Two Comedy Greats Reunite For Last Time
In 1965 comedy great Groucho Marx hosted "The Hollywood Palace" variety show on ABC and reunited with his comedy foil of his great films of the 30s, Margaret Dumont. It was a performance as good as in the films -- and Dumont died two days after the taping: … [Read more...] about Rare Video: Two Comedy Greats Reunite For Last Time
Dancing With The Stars Will No Longer Feature The Dancing Feet of Tom DeLay
Alas, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his dancing feet and shaking you-know-what will no longer be featured on "Dancing with the Stars." And now the Washington Post frames the question: did he bail or was he shoved? Did the producers of "Dancing With the Stars" drop a brick on Tom DeLay's feet when he became the show's main story line and they saw where the … [Read more...] about Dancing With The Stars Will No Longer Feature The Dancing Feet of Tom DeLay
What does it mean to be non-partisan?
I just sent off a post to a listserv discussion about J Street and AIPAC. After one AIPAC member described the organization as non-partisan, a critic shot back that AIPAC is no more non-partisan than Queer Nation or the KKK, because all the members basically have the same opinion about their #1 issue. Here's my response to that: Non-partisanship and diversity of opinion are … [Read more...] about What does it mean to be non-partisan?
J Street critic to keynote J Street conference
I was pleasanly surprised to see that Rabbi Eric Yoffie will be one of the keynote speakers at the J Street convention later this month. Rabbi Yoffie, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, describes himself as a dove who welcomed the founding of J Street as an alternative to AIPAC. Yet when J Street equated the actions of Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Yoffie lashed … [Read more...] about J Street critic to keynote J Street conference
Georgia Congressman Says Liberal Media Took ‘Ghetto Grandmothers’ Comment ‘Out-of-Context’
At Saturday morning breakfast for the Cherokee County GOP, Georgia Congressman and republican gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal was explaining his insistence in a legislative provision demanding proof of citizenship for federal or state health care benefits. opposition campaign video cameras rolling when he said: We got all the complaints of the ghetto grandmothers who … [Read more...] about Georgia Congressman Says Liberal Media Took ‘Ghetto Grandmothers’ Comment ‘Out-of-Context’
The Big Con
Excuse me, but I have some reservations and a bunch of questions about the various healthcare reform bills both houses of Congress could vote on as early as this month. The biggest concern I have is why we taxpayers are subsidizing the private carriers to insure us. The bills are aimed at guaranteeing growing private insurance profits without regard to improving our health. … [Read more...] about The Big Con
Intellectual Conservatism Isn’t Dead: It’s On the Margin
Intellectual Conservatism Isn't Dead: It's On the Margin by Rick Moran This is the 4th in a series of 5 articles on the state of intellectual conservatism. Here's Part I. Part II. And Part III. There is a terrific exchange of views on the health of conservatism over at Slate between conservative writer Reihan Salam and Sam Tannenhaus (author of Death of … [Read more...] about Intellectual Conservatism Isn’t Dead: It’s On the Margin
Climate Change — A National Security Challenge
Guest post by Rafael Noboa Rivera Rafael Noboa Rivera is a writer and combat veteran. He served in Iraq from April 2003 to March 2004. This post originally appeared at The Hill's Congress Blog. "You never have 100% certainty. If you wait till you have that, you'll fail." The evidence is unmistakable. We have hard choices before us. As the impact of irreversible climate … [Read more...] about Climate Change — A National Security Challenge
Sending Zebras to Gaza
Gaza City's zoo lost its only two zebras to hunger during the Gaza war. The animals were extremely popular with area children, but were too expensive to replace. So the zookeepers got novel: they hired a painter to paint black and white stripes on two donkeys, making them approximate the real thing. The article reports that many Gaza children, having never seen a real zebra, … [Read more...] about Sending Zebras to Gaza
Tide Turning On Health Care Reform, Democrats and Republicans?
After months of a new and old media narrative about President Barack Obama's proposed health care reform being on the ropes -- a political hot potato Obama tossed Congress to resolve -- is the tide finally turning? Within the past 24 hours a new report came out suggesting one of the proposed plans would help reduce the deficit -- removing a key political talk radio culture … [Read more...] about Tide Turning On Health Care Reform, Democrats and Republicans?
Beautiful microscopic photos become art
From one of the weblogs at The New York Times: Showcase: In Microscopic Realm, Science Reveals Art One of the photos is from my area of work, a pattern formed by shrinkage of photoresist, used in making integrated circuits. There were many beautiful patterns I saw in microscopes during my time doing research and development. There are times I miss those hours of looking through … [Read more...] about Beautiful microscopic photos become art
GOP Ghosts Rise Up for Health Care
In time for Halloween, Republican specters are rising up to scare some sense into their Congressional heirs as they move zombielike toward a possible pyrrhic victory in the hope that poll numbers "may get worse for Democrats if they pass a health-care bill." That prediction is the wisdom according to Karl Rove, who engineered the party's 2006 loss, but older and wiser … [Read more...] about GOP Ghosts Rise Up for Health Care