Is the current crisis involving Iran just one more news cycle blip that will pass without triggering the worst case scenarios on each side? Or is this really "the Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion" as one expert believes? Two things are thing is certain. 1. From the comments coming from each side at the end of the week, it's clear that it's No More Mr. Nice Guy -- or at … [Read more...] about Iranian Crisis: “Cuban Missile Crisis In Slow Motion”?
Obama’s Delusionary March Toward Utopia: Rzeczpospolita, Poland
As we've all heard by now, Western Europe is relieved, and Eastern Europe is aggrieved, over President Barack Obama's decision to scrap Bush-era missile shield bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. This article by Marek Magierowski of Poland's Rceczpospolita offers a good sense of how Poles view the decision. So why did Obama do it? Magierowski gives three … [Read more...] about Obama’s Delusionary March Toward Utopia: Rzeczpospolita, Poland
Did The Great Depression End In 1933?
I thought I knew the history of the Great Depression in this country. I thought it lasted the entire decade of the 1930s. Maybe you thought so, too. And maybe we were both wrong. Such a mistake seems obvious when listening to present pronouncements from our economic masters about our own Great Recession that started at the end of 2007. I've been thinking we were still in this … [Read more...] about Did The Great Depression End In 1933?
The Ghouls Surrounding Bill Sparkman
The horrible death of Bill Sparkman in backwoods Kentucky has brought out the usual collection of vultures, ghouls and opportunists. Even though everyone admits that details remain sketchy and investigating officials are (rightly) keeping some pertinent facts close to the vest, the piling on started almost immediately. We've had some of it right here at TMV, but you don't have … [Read more...] about The Ghouls Surrounding Bill Sparkman
Maoist Rebellion: Why Is India Helpless?
Prof. John K. Galbraith, a former US ambassador, once described India as a “functioning anarchy”. Galbraith’s famous quote comes to mind on hearing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent helpless cry that the country’s fight against Maoists/Naxalites is failing. Such public display of vulnerability appears pathetic, although it is a fact that governing a large democratic … [Read more...] about Maoist Rebellion: Why Is India Helpless?
Not ‘Photoshopped’
Philip B. Corbett, the NYTimes deputy news editor, is also in charge of The Times’s style manual. Says he: The folks at Adobe Systems Inc. remind us that “Photoshop” is a registered trademark referring to Adobe’s “digital imaging software products and related services.” It is not, they note, a generic term, and should not be used as a verb to describe the general process of … [Read more...] about Not ‘Photoshopped’
New Details in Census Worker Hanging
There are new details in the case of the census worker found hanged in Kentucky. … [Read more...] about New Details in Census Worker Hanging
More Good News for the Public Option
A new Times/CBS News poll asks the question, "Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan -- something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get -- that would compete with private health insurance plans?" … [Read more...] about More Good News for the Public Option
Let’s End Flexible Spending Accounts
I have never been a believer in the value of flexible spending accounts. The Baucus Bill calls for setting a $2,500 annual limit on what people can set aside in an FSA, among other restrictions. Ron Leiber reports that "a not-quite grass-roots effort has sprung up, led by companies that administer flexible spending accounts," to advocate for them. I've fought with one … [Read more...] about Let’s End Flexible Spending Accounts
Jon Kyl Tells Debbie Stabenow He Doesn’t Need Maternity Care…
... and Sen. Stabenow replied, "I think your mom probably did." … [Read more...] about Jon Kyl Tells Debbie Stabenow He Doesn’t Need Maternity Care…
Missile Defense and Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions
Well, well, well. Look at what the New York Times has buried on page 3 of its article about the joint announcement by Pres. Obama and by French and British leaders Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown that Iran is building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel. … [Read more...] about Missile Defense and Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions
The Guantanamo Bay Fiasco
The building of a prisoner of war camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba was as big a screw-up by the Bush administration as is attempts by the Obama administration to close it. Neither administration understood the long-range problems inherent in the system that was created. That's the analysis we observe in stories today reported in three major newspapers. Retiring Marine Major … [Read more...] about The Guantanamo Bay Fiasco
Republican Rebound on Health Care
One salubrious side effect of the current debate has been the emergence of an energized GOP with a new generation of original thinkers: *South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who previously described health care as "Obama's Waterloo" that will "break him," now observes that the debate is putting American troops at risk in Afghanistan. He tells an interviewer that "the war in … [Read more...] about Republican Rebound on Health Care
Iran Admits Secret Uranium Enrichment and Ahmadinejad Warns Obama
Barack Obama is now getting his first major new foreign policy test with the big news that Iran has now upped the ante with its admission that is has a secret uranium enrichment facility. Obama had tough words for Iran: The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Friday that Iran admitted the existence of the "new pilot fuel enrichment plant," prompting Obama, … [Read more...] about Iran Admits Secret Uranium Enrichment and Ahmadinejad Warns Obama
Afghanistan: Make Up Your Mind Gen. McChrystal!
In the famous Peter O'Toole film "Night Of The Generals", the record-keeper in Paris tells Omar Sharif (acting as German officer investigating murders of prostitutes in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and Paris): "Major, why do you bother...All Generals are murderers!" That was a film dialogue. In real life Generals are not murderers. They are expected to carry out the commands of … [Read more...] about Afghanistan: Make Up Your Mind Gen. McChrystal!
Turkmenistan and How the UN Really Works
Casual observers might conclude this week that the United Nations is a body that has as its key funciton providing an audience for fiery dictators who make speeches -- some of them seemingly as long as the UN has been in existence. But is that what the UN is really about and how it really works -- and does all of its work take place in the UN building itself? Daniel … [Read more...] about Turkmenistan and How the UN Really Works
Saturday Night Live On Barack Obama, His Media Blitz and Glenn Beck
Saturday Night Live's Thursday update lampoons President Barack Obama, his media blitz, and Glenn Beck: h/t The Huffington Post … [Read more...] about Saturday Night Live On Barack Obama, His Media Blitz and Glenn Beck
A Political Love Letter Home (Guest Voice)
WASHINGTON -- Fall River, my hometown in Massachusetts, has been a bastion of devotion to the Kennedy family since John F. Kennedy's 1952 Senate race. We were so faithful that the turnout slogan in my dear city could well have been: "Vote for the Kennedy of your choice, but vote." It's like that in a lot of places around the state. A factory worker with no political … [Read more...] about A Political Love Letter Home (Guest Voice)
Now This Is Really Cool: Solar Roadways
One of the major hurdles in alternative energy is how much land is needed and the variable cost of installation. This solution would largely address both of those issues. The post is critical because they calculate that the cost of replacing all roads is $35 trillion. However, I did some back of the envelope calculations and determined that it wasn't all that much more than … [Read more...] about Now This Is Really Cool: Solar Roadways
America’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Coming Soon
In 2011 America will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. If the last two 50-year markers are any indication, this will be a very big deal. States across the country are starting their preparations. Here in Tennessee, which saw more military action than any state outside Virginia, a coalition of preservation, tourism and education groups is … [Read more...] about America’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Coming Soon