Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and prominent leader of the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement against Israel, is an apologist for anti-Semitism at the UN. Indeed, she goes out and directly blames the victims, accusing them of "sabotage" for having the temerity to call out bigotry at the Durban II conference this past year. … [Read more...] about Here’s A Shock For You
Regional Democracy At Work
The member nations of the Organization of American States came together in a closed-door all-night emergency session today in Washington, D.C. that resulted in the Honduran government being given three days to restore Pres. Manuel Zelaya to his rightful position as Honduras's democratically elected leader, or face the possibility of having the country's membership in the OAS … [Read more...] about Regional Democracy At Work
Learned And Eventually Forgotten
Many amazing things were accomplished in the days before computers became ubiquitous and the world wide web became a distraction as well as a tool. Nazi Germany built the first jet fighter in the world, and was in the process of building a plane that bears a remarkable resemblance to the modern B2 bomber (although I think the stealth aspects of the "Hilter's Stealth-Fighter" … [Read more...] about Learned And Eventually Forgotten
Torture and Accountability
Today is the day that the Obama administration is supposed to finally release that much-anticipated 2004 Inspector-General's report on the Bush administration's use of torture. The CIA has already twice pushed the release date back; the most recent delay being the one Greg Sargent reported last week: … [Read more...] about Torture and Accountability
Sarah’s A Runner
Andrew Sullivan takes a break from the Vanity Fair fuss to point to Sarah "I'm a runner" Palin in Runner's World. The photo above is from photographer Brian Adams' slide show. Sullivan quotes a Dish reader: It's not proper to display the flag to have it draped over a chair. Just imagine the outrage on Fox News if there was a photo of Obama and an improper display of … [Read more...] about Sarah’s A Runner
12 Changes to Expect From The Newly Legit Pirate Bay
From Woot: New mascot: a wide-eyed lemur voiced by Justin Timberlake DRM limitations require biometrically encoded MP3s audible only to the purchaser Each torrent will include a 4GB "bonus pack" with different versions of Solitaire and a playable demo of "Dinosaur Alphabet Learning" Seeders get points that can be redeemed for novelty pencil erasers or plastic … [Read more...] about 12 Changes to Expect From The Newly Legit Pirate Bay
Dichotomy Of A “Worst Person” Story
Have you even wondered as I have about the people who make Keith Olbermann's "Worst Persons" list who are not politicians or household names? I confess it is oftentimes my favorite segment on his nightly show on MSNBC. Tuesday night Olbermann singled out a San Diego County sheriff's deputy who he said maced and roughly threw to the ground and then handcuffed the hostess of … [Read more...] about Dichotomy Of A “Worst Person” Story
The Last Soldiers To Die
In 1971, while Americans were still debating how and when to leave Vietnam, a young officer in battle fatigues named John Kerry testified before Congress. I don't remember his exact words during that appearance. But it came down to something like this: What do we tell the family of the last soldier who dies in Vietnam that it was all a mistake? Yesterday, on the same day that … [Read more...] about The Last Soldiers To Die
Lieberman, Reality
He probably doesn't have many remaining friends on the left, as it is, and I'm guessing he'll not win them back (or win over new, leftish friends) with gut-check statements like these. Regardless -- for what it's worth, Senator -- at least one independent voter continues to appreciate and applaud your call-'em-like-you-see-'em approach. And I say that having voted for the … [Read more...] about Lieberman, Reality
Quote of the Day: Al Franken, Democratic and Republican Party Discipline
Our political Quote of the Day comes from a must-read-in-full piece by Dick Polman, as he notes that Al Franken finally being declared the winner in the hotly contested Minnesota race will most assuredly not mean easy sailing for Democrats -- and could foreshadow problems for President Barack Obama: Unless Obama can somehow twist arms in the tradition of Lyndon Johnson, it's … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Al Franken, Democratic and Republican Party Discipline
It’s Republican “Family Feud” (Or Civil War?) Over Sarah Palin
A Vanity Fair piece in which former staffers of Arizona Sen. John McCain's failed 2008 Presidential campaign rip into former GOP Vice Presidential running mate Gov. Sarah Palin has accentuated often bitter Republican party divisions -- exposing personal resentments and some of the ideological dividing lines within today's convalescing GOP. According to The Politico, it is … [Read more...] about It’s Republican “Family Feud” (Or Civil War?) Over Sarah Palin
Exhibit “A” Why Bank Bailouts Perceived Unfair
United States taxpayers are not happy campers when the subject of bank bailouts are discussed and I'm certain that perception will be bolstered by a story in today's Washington Post that indicates Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) played a role in a bailout for a bank in which most of his life's savings are invested. The upshot of the story indicates Inouye and his staff did … [Read more...] about Exhibit “A” Why Bank Bailouts Perceived Unfair
Is Mousavi Eventually Destined for Jail?
Is Iran's defeated but still feisty opposition Presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi eventually headed for jail? If you had to read tea leaves, the leaves seem to be lining up to suggest it could well happen. Two big leaves can now be seen. Mousavi is continuing to speak out and lambaste what he calls the illegitimacy of an election that is widely seen by many Iranians, … [Read more...] about Is Mousavi Eventually Destined for Jail?
All Jacko All The Time
John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about All Jacko All The Time
About That Referendum in Honduras
What's interesting is that Fausta (linked via Memeorandum) and Dr. Steven Taylor (of Poliblog) give us the exact wording of the ballot initiative, in Spanish -- which in turn is exactly the wording that Hilzoy quoted in her post at Obsidian Wings -- and all three provide an English translation that is almost exactly the same (Hilzoy translates "ballot box" as "urn" but says she … [Read more...] about About That Referendum in Honduras
The Demonization Continues
Isn't it time to start a 12 step program for partisan demonization and fear mongering? … [Read more...] about The Demonization Continues
Breaking Down the Franken Loss-to-Win Scenario
For political junkies, Chris Cillizza offers an excellent (and brief, making it all the more excellent) assessment of how Franken went from loser to winner in eight (short?) months. The fourth factor on Cillizza's list strikes me as the most interesting because it is perhaps the most counterintuitive for a political campaign to orchestrate and a candidate (especially one … [Read more...] about Breaking Down the Franken Loss-to-Win Scenario
Only in America
California is not the only state with a daunting budget crisis. There's also our neighbor, Illinois. From a St. Louis P-D blog report on yesterday's deadline-imminent negotiations, Kevin McDermott offered this slice of life: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will address a hastily assembled joint session of the Legislature at 3:30 p.m. today, Illinois House officials just announced … [Read more...] about Only in America
California Officially Broke
It's about an hour till midnight and July 1st but California is now pretty much officially broke. The legislature passed a pseudo budget but it didn't really fix any of the problems so the Governor vetoed it (something he'd said for some time that he would do) so we now have no budget and thus no money. Most state vendors could start getting IOU's as the budget crisis … [Read more...] about California Officially Broke
Michael Jackson: A Man Who Lived His Life in Reverse – Le Figaro, France
The remarkable global outpouring of emotion and opinion about Michael Jackson's death shows no sign of abating. Questions about his relationships with children, his decades-long attempt to whiten his skin, and his tendency to do everything most people do in reverse, are all touched upon by Le Figaro's Yann Moix, in this thought-provoking defense of Michael Jackson and the … [Read more...] about Michael Jackson: A Man Who Lived His Life in Reverse – Le Figaro, France