It doesn’t matter how much you study American politics, it still manages to spring a surprise on you when you least expect it. Anyway you try and analyze Sarah Palin’s decision to stand down as Governor of Alaska during her FIRST TERM, it still boggles the mind. I have been reserving judgment about Sarah Palin ever since her debut onto the national American stage in 2008, but I … [Read more...] about PALIN AND CONSERVATISM
Book Review, “Tears in the Darkness.” Update
About three weeks ago, I had the pleasure of reading a book that was just hitting the bookstores. As a matter of fact, I had to wait a couple of days before my bookstore got its order in. I was so impressed by the book that I did a "book review" for The Moderate Voice and a couple of other web sites and publications---I am not a professional "book reviewer," this was only … [Read more...] about Book Review, “Tears in the Darkness.” Update
Obama’s Message For Putin: Cold War Politics Are Outdated
President Barack Obama is sending Russia's Vladimir Putin a not-so-subtle message: cold war politics are outdated and belong to the past: Barack Obama has chided Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, for "cold war approaches" to relations with the US, saying Putin had "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new", just days before the two men … [Read more...] about Obama’s Message For Putin: Cold War Politics Are Outdated
Fred Wilson on Free & the Freeconomics of Freemium
I did not say yesterday that I believed there would be paid content on the web. I do. As does Fred Wilson, a VC who puts his money where his mouth is. Says Fred: [L]et's talk about freeconomics. I don't believe everything will be free on the Internet. There will be plenty of paid business models. For example, if you want to watch Major League Baseball games live over the … [Read more...] about Fred Wilson on Free & the Freeconomics of Freemium
DVD Review: Law & Order Criminal Intent – The First Year
If you buy a DVD set of a TV series, here is a hint: start with the first year. It's the first year of a television series where it had to be good enough to survive or to develop as the season went on. Law & Order: Criminal Intent is perhaps the most intriguing of Dick Wolfe's L&O mega-franchise. His inspiration for it was reportedly Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and … [Read more...] about DVD Review: Law & Order Criminal Intent – The First Year
Quote Of The Day: Maureen Dowd’s Idea for a 2012 GOP Ticket
Our political Quote of the Day comes from this acid column on soon-to-be-former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd: Why not? Palin/Sanford in 2012, with the slogan: “Save time — we’re already in Crazy Town.” On Palin's surprise resignation announcement Dowd writes: What looked like a secret wedding turned out to be a public unraveling … [Read more...] about Quote Of The Day: Maureen Dowd’s Idea for a 2012 GOP Ticket
FBI Denies Investigating Palin As Palin’s Lawyer Warns Media About Defamatory Material
Did anyone really think soon-to-be resigned and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin intended to go quietly into the political night? She never said that -- and now some new legal news related event attests to that. First, the FBI quickly shot down reports suggesting that Palin is being investigated on corruption charges. Meanwhile, Palin's lawyer issued a stern warning to … [Read more...] about FBI Denies Investigating Palin As Palin’s Lawyer Warns Media About Defamatory Material
Stimulus
Eric Allie, Caglecartoons.com This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Stimulus
Ghosts On The Water
Poor weather can, on occasion, make for fine photography. Today's specimen is a picture from yesterday evening, approaching one bay where bass are often found in years other than this one. It was a brief window between rain showers and fog was settling down over the forest and the lake. When that happens, all sounds become muted, as if cotton candy had been stuffed into your … [Read more...] about Ghosts On The Water
I’ve got nothing to add about Sarah Palin
But I'll recommend one thing - before digging in to the avalanche of commentary, read all of Palin's own explanation of why she's stepping down. Cross-posted at Conventional Folly … [Read more...] about I’ve got nothing to add about Sarah Palin
Gays In The Military, Part Two
(Part one is here.) Michael Goldfarb has an interesting suggestion: Why not allow gay servicemembers to serve openly in roles that wouldn't threaten unit cohesion? After all, women are allowed to serve in some roles but not in others. Why not extend that logic to gays and lesbians? Michael writes:It's madness for the service to discharge gay translators and the like. But … [Read more...] about Gays In The Military, Part Two
And Now A “Classic Song” As America Starts Another Year
So yesterday was America's birthday -- and what better way to celebrate it by showing you two versions of that classic American song...Cuban Pete? Jim Carrey popularized it with new generations in the 1994 movie "The Mask." But first, here's the originator of the song -- Desi Arnaz doing the song his way in the 1950s -- in the number Jim Carrey emulated: Five years later, on … [Read more...] about And Now A “Classic Song” As America Starts Another Year
Lots Of Double Standards
Courtesy of The Weekly Standard: The MSM has one standard for covering captured American journalists and another for captured American soliders. The New York Times has one standard for covering the current president's town-hall meetings and another standard for his predecessor's "town hall" meetings. But what you really wanted to know is that Gwyneth Paltrow has one … [Read more...] about Lots Of Double Standards
‘When Michael Jackson Visited Mainland China’: CS News, People’s Republic of China
A montage of Chinese newspaper front pages on June 27, the day after Michael Jackson's death. As has already been well-established, huge portions of the world are in mourning over the death of Michael Jackson. This news item from the state-controlled SC News, a Web site of the Chung Shan Daily News Newspaper Group, recounts Michael Jackson's first and only visit to Mainland … [Read more...] about ‘When Michael Jackson Visited Mainland China’: CS News, People’s Republic of China
UPDATE: Politico Posts Palin’s Unusual July Fourth Facebook Message
In my "Gail Collins Interprets Palin’s Resignation Speech," we discussed how "disjointed and garbled" Palin's prepared text remarks are, and, referring to her resignation speech, how incoherent even her prepared remarks are. Well, Politico.com has just published the text of a message Palin posted on Facebook just a few hours ago that is just as incoherent. According … [Read more...] about UPDATE: Politico Posts Palin’s Unusual July Fourth Facebook Message
A Little Disney Celebrations
With thanks to Stitchkingdom.com here are some fireworks from WDW last night. Like em or not, Disney sure can put on an amazing show. … [Read more...] about A Little Disney Celebrations
Happy Birthday To Me (Oh Yes, And To the USA Too!)
Born on the Fourth of July: … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday To Me (Oh Yes, And To the USA Too!)
The U.S. Media’s Moral Relativity on Torture
I'm beyond expecting any kind of self-awareness from major news organizations like the New York Times, but that does not mean I cannot still marvel that reporters can write, and newpaper editors can publish, descriptions like this, in an article about confessions obtained by the Iranian government in connection with the recent post-election street demonstrations (emphasis is … [Read more...] about The U.S. Media’s Moral Relativity on Torture
Gail Collins Interprets Palin’s Resignation Speech
There have been hundreds, probably thousands, of instant analyses---including some great psychoanalyses---of Sarah Palin's Independence-Day-Weekend Drama. As I don't understand half the time what Palin is talking about (I know, it's my fault), I won't even attempt to analyze her introductory remarks of : "Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly TO you, the people I … [Read more...] about Gail Collins Interprets Palin’s Resignation Speech
The Sarah Show, Now in its Final Season
Yes, you knew it was inevitable. Even though I'm on vacation, I had to be tempted out of hiding after Governor Palin's bombshell announcement. With that in mind, I will direct your attention to my column this weekend at Pajamas Media. The actual title is, "Sarah Palin Commits Political Suicide," but I really preferred, "So Long and Thanks for all the Fisheries." … [Read more...] about The Sarah Show, Now in its Final Season