Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, Burma's popular leader under detention for years, once said that "it is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it..." Now, the Myanmar or Burmese military junta has further extended her house arrest by 18 months. Ms Suu Kyi’s 18-month sentence will prevent her from taking any direct part in the next year’s … [Read more...] about Burmese Junta Still Fears Brave Suu Kyi
Health Care Reform: Political Quagmire For Presidents
Advisory for President Barack Obama: history has not been kind to Presidents who tried to reform health care. … [Read more...] about Health Care Reform: Political Quagmire For Presidents
Site Maintenance Later Tonight
Hello TMV readers. There will be some downtime on the site starting at 11pm EST/8pm PST today. The site needs some general housekeeping and behind-the-scenes updating. You may see a maintenance screen or an error message for about 90 minutes max (hopefully less than that). This work should improve overall site response time and eliminate some non-functioning, … [Read more...] about Site Maintenance Later Tonight
The F-22 Program Cancellation—Follow-Up
A week ago, in "The F-22 Program Cancellation: The Aftermath," we discussed the recent cancellation of the F-22 Raptor program, and the potential impact on national security and on the aerospace defense part of the economy. Potential, because it is still too early to evaluate any concrete impact in either area. That doesn’t mean that aerospace defense and economic experts … [Read more...] about The F-22 Program Cancellation—Follow-Up
Change We Can Believe In? (Guest Voice)
Change We Can Believe In? by Ruth Marcus Washington Post Columnist WASHINGTON -- Candidate Barack Obama offered a lofty vision of how his White House would operate. When the details of health reform were being hammered out, he vowed, "We'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, … [Read more...] about Change We Can Believe In? (Guest Voice)
The Great Debate
Keep screaming over each other, citizens! We can save America -- one insult at a time. … [Read more...] about The Great Debate
Interview with Karen Greenberg
As Congress and the President continue to make preparations for the possible end of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, our subject, Karen Greenberg wrote the book on its earliest stages, The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days. The interview is cross-posted at the talking dog, and may be found, in its entirety, after the jump. As always, thanks to Team TMV for … [Read more...] about Interview with Karen Greenberg
A small island off the coast of Europe
I just got back from a very short trip to the UK to attend the wedding of an old classmate. One thing that struck me while I was there was the complete unpopularity of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The polls show Labour trailing the opposition Conservatives by as much as 15 points, with less than ten months to go until the next election. In the old British colony now known … [Read more...] about A small island off the coast of Europe
“Taliban Now Winning”
It was certainly quite a jolt to pick up my Wall Street Journal and see this big headline smack in the middle of Page One: Taliban Now Winning. The article is based on an interview with US commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The very first words in the story are, The Taliban have gained the upper hand in Afghanistan, the top American commander there said,But no matter how … [Read more...] about “Taliban Now Winning”
Flying rabbis battle swine flu
A cost effective approach to health care:Dozens of rabbis and Kabbalah mystics armed with ceremonial trumpets took to the skies over Israel on Monday to battle the swine flu virus, according to local media reports. About 50 Jewish holy men chanted prayers and blew shofars (ritual rams' horns) in an aircraft circling over the country in the hope of stopping the spread of the … [Read more...] about Flying rabbis battle swine flu
Are Rush Limbaugh and Republican Senator Johnny Isakson Advocating Death Panels?
Did you know that August is "National make-a-will month"? I didn't, until I happened to hear Rush Limbaugh mention it today in an advertisement counseling his listeners on the importance of having a will and a living will, and providing the name of a company that would assist them in getting those important documents prepared. The company mentioned by Rush Limbaugh … [Read more...] about Are Rush Limbaugh and Republican Senator Johnny Isakson Advocating Death Panels?
Porn Industry Blues & The Truth About Funny People
The LATimes finds the porn industry in a tech-induced slump: Industry insiders estimate that since 2007, revenue for most adult production and distribution companies has declined 30% to 50% and the number of new films made has fallen sharply... At least five of the 100 top websites in the U.S. are portals for free pornography, referred to in the industry as "tube sites," … [Read more...] about Porn Industry Blues & The Truth About Funny People
Could Republican Town Hall Protests Backfire?
The emerging narrative in a lot of the major press coverage of heatlh care reform is that President Barack Obama has lost control of his message, which is why he was out on the hustings today at a town hall meeting. But now The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder writes that he now senses a slight relief at the White House. Why? Because, according to Ambinder, there's a growing feeling … [Read more...] about Could Republican Town Hall Protests Backfire?
ALTERNATE HEALTHCARE BILLS NEEDED
A public plan or option does not necessarily require a governmental entity as an administrator, nor the creation of a subsidized non-profit foundation, a healthcare co-operative, or anything resembling a government-run program as part of the proposed local Health Care Exchanges. We could merely require that minimum healthcare coverage be offered to every American in a “public” … [Read more...] about ALTERNATE HEALTHCARE BILLS NEEDED
The Conflagration over [email protected]
Up front, let me remind readers that, in the current health care debate, I have multiple, strong reservations about the so-called "public option." I'd much rather see Congressional energy focused on enacting these fundamental consumer protections sans a "public option." Some will argue you don't get the latter without the former, but I'm just not convinced that's true. … [Read more...] about The Conflagration over [email protected]
This is the USA: We Don’t “Take Care” of “People Who Need Help”
Here is an amusing exchange between Sen. Arlen Specter and a woman at a townhall meeting on health care reform: … [Read more...] about This is the USA: We Don’t “Take Care” of “People Who Need Help”
The Myth of “Discretionary”Spending
Here is a good piece by Ezra Klein from last month on the attitude disconnect between defense spending and everything else. The "fighter jet" reference is to the F-22: … [Read more...] about The Myth of “Discretionary”Spending
Did Some Geeked-Up Texas Lawmen Roust A Bunch of Gays?
If so, it's not clear yet how they'll be called to account for it. Forty years after Stonewall: Fort Worth cops raid a gay bar and put one customer in intensive care. Seven men were arrested. The police chief says that the violence of the cops was because - wait for it - the cops were hit on [link]: "You're touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar, … [Read more...] about Did Some Geeked-Up Texas Lawmen Roust A Bunch of Gays?
The Lost Kennedy Sister
The eulogies for Eunice Shriver as a tireless humanitarian bring to light again the story of a forgotten Kennedy, Rosemary, who was diagnosed as mentally retarded and, at the age of 23, underwent a lobotomy and spent the rest of her life in an institution. When JFK was on his way to the presidency, no one talked publicly about a sibling who did not fit into the picture of a … [Read more...] about The Lost Kennedy Sister
It’s Not Just Bonus Abuse, It’s The Whole Economy
There comes a time when the Obama Administration has to show it's really serious about changing the way Wall Street operates. That time has arrived. And the key decision in this regard involves a new wave of bonuses that banks are planning to give their best "producers" — on top of the $1 million-plus bonuses that more than 5,000 of these Wall Streeters got last year during the … [Read more...] about It’s Not Just Bonus Abuse, It’s The Whole Economy