With no malice intended, I feel a need to comment on a recent piece here by Kathy Kattenburg regarding George Will's recent comments on the situation in Iran and President Obama's response to them. You can take what you will from the discussion and form your own opinions on the Iran situation, but what caught my attention was Kathy's characterization of Mr. Will's remarks as … [Read more...] about Setting the Record Straight on George Will
Newsweek Reporter Maziar Bahari Arrested In Iran
How draconian is the Iran regime's crackdown and the pointed messages it's now sending out (demonstrators mowed down in the streets, family members of foes arrested, communications sliced off)? The latest sign that Iranians and the world are now seeing a government that has lost its shaky figleaf of democracy is the news that Newsweek's Maziar Bahari was arrested in the early … [Read more...] about Newsweek Reporter Maziar Bahari Arrested In Iran
Nothing To See
Olle Johansson, Sweden This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Nothing To See
Tweeting from “the Barricades” in Iran
I don't tweet, nor do I know much about Twitting. At my age, when I can’t even “Blackberry,” or “iPhone”, or “iPod,” or even “iPod-Touch,” (or whatever the name is of the latest gadget that my 9-year-old grandson so masterfully “operates”), why should I venture into even more iNcomprehensible technological territory. So, a couple of weeks ago, when Time Magazine’s cover … [Read more...] about Tweeting from “the Barricades” in Iran
Google Street View Shows a Crack
A few months back Siva Vaidhyanathan asked if anyone had ever used Google Street View for something important? He posted some of the interesting answers he got, but none was quite so newsworthy as this: A four story building collapsed in Brooklyn today, just before 2pm. The “Vesper Bar & Lounge” at 493 Myrtle Avenue is completely unrecognizable after the collapse, which … [Read more...] about Google Street View Shows a Crack
George Will on Conservatives’ Criticism of Obama’s Iran Response
From the Department of Credit Where Credit Is Due: … [Read more...] about George Will on Conservatives’ Criticism of Obama’s Iran Response
Around The Sphere
Our linkfest taking you to sites of varying viewpoints all over the Internet. No Matter What Happens In Iran, Will The Uprising Have An Impact Throughout The World? Simon Rosenberg believes so: Much has been written about the how events unfolding in Iran are crossing some kind of internal Iranian Rubicon. Fareed Zakaria has a new essay to this effect. But there is a … [Read more...] about Around The Sphere
The Wrong Health Care Emphasis
I was reading an article about health care reform when my train pulled into the station. The platform was crowded. I looked around. It took just one quick glance to see the major missing piece in today's great health care debate. The people on the platform, a mix of young and old, black and white, richly dressed and otherwise, a perfectly random sampling of urban Americans, … [Read more...] about The Wrong Health Care Emphasis
‘No Single LGBT Rights Leader’ a Feature, Not a Bug
The NYTimes today looks at Why the Gay Rights Movement Has No National Leader: Until 1973, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. Today, same-sex couples can marry in six states. How did a group that has been so successful over the last generation in countering cultural prejudice and winning civil rights make it so far without … [Read more...] about ‘No Single LGBT Rights Leader’ a Feature, Not a Bug
Father-in-Chief Obama Opts For Frozen Custard
I never miss an opportunity to treat others, and myself, to mouth-watering ice creams and frozen custards. I was delighted that dad Barack Obama gave a yummy frozen custard treat to daughters Sasha and Malia on The Father's Day. ABC News tells us that Sasha, his youngest daughter, went for the big chocolate brownie sundae with frozen yogurt, hot fudge, a cherry, sprinkles, … [Read more...] about Father-in-Chief Obama Opts For Frozen Custard
Muslim Cleric Charges Pepsi Is A “Zionist Plot”
A Muslim cleric has charged that Pepsi is actually a "Zionist plot." Seriously. Really. No joking. Here are the details proving that the light fizz isn't just atop Pepsi but is also in the craniums of people who love to hate: Extremist Moslems have not dropped their allegations that Pepsi Cola is essentially the code name for a Zionist plot. MEMRI has released an … [Read more...] about Muslim Cleric Charges Pepsi Is A “Zionist Plot”
The First Nerd President
It's almost 15 minutes long, but it's very funny. John Hodgman, the "PC" in the "Hi, I'm a Mac... And I'm a PC" commercials speaks at the Radio and Television Correspondent's Dinner: President Obama flashes the Vulcan salute twice, so he really is our first nerd President. Cool... --- Thanks to TrekMovie.com for the link to the video. --- Cross-posted between Random Fate and … [Read more...] about The First Nerd President
Relevant To Iran: Charlie Chaplin’s Great Dictator Speech
The great comedian Charlie Chaplin's stirring speech about liberty at the end of his 1940 film "The Great Dictator" is more relevant than ever given events in Iran. Watch it in full below: A PERSONAL NOTE: In this sound film, Chaplin, in a dual role, used his beloved "tramp" character to play the double of a dictator not so subtly patterned after Adolf Hitler. At the … [Read more...] about Relevant To Iran: Charlie Chaplin’s Great Dictator Speech
An End to Buffoonish Fathers (Guest Voice)
An End to Buffoonish Fathers by Tom Purcell Ah, Father’s Day is upon us. I can’t think of a better time for dads and men to remember how to be dads and men. Flip on the tube any time during the day and you’ll see fathers portrayed as hapless buffoons – saved from themselves by their wives and all-knowing children. The real life of the modern dad isn’t much … [Read more...] about An End to Buffoonish Fathers (Guest Voice)
Twelve Angry White People: Jury Nullification in a Pennsylvania Coal Town (Updated)
NOTE: This is an update of a column that ran earlier on TMV. Twelve Angry White People: Jury Nullification in a Pennsylvania Coal Town by Walter Brasch The Schuylkill County, Pa., justice system managed to do something that insurance actuaries do with mixed results--it determined not only the penalty for threats to a human life, but also the value of a human … [Read more...] about Twelve Angry White People: Jury Nullification in a Pennsylvania Coal Town (Updated)
Happy Father’s Day
Cam Cardow, The Ottawa Citizen This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Happy Father’s Day
Vanishing White-Collar Jobs: Alternatives?
White-collar job opportunities are just drying up. A former scholar Matthew Crawford, a PhD. in political philosophy from University of Chicago who after his studies became a motorcycle mechanic, says "The trades suffer from low prestige. Because the work is dirty, many people assume it is also stupid. This is not my experience." Crawford writes in his book Shop Class as … [Read more...] about Vanishing White-Collar Jobs: Alternatives?
‘Iran’s Ayatollahs are Doomed’: Les Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alscace of France
Are we watching the death throes of a decrepit and corrupt dictatorship - or the beginnings of a Persian-style Tienanmen? According to Jean-Claude Kiefer of France's Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace, the mullahs that run the Islamic Republic are 'doomed' because openness to the outside is a mortal threat to the regime there - and as anyone who tweets can see - openness of … [Read more...] about ‘Iran’s Ayatollahs are Doomed’: Les Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alscace of France
For The People Of Iran (and the rest of us)
A little history -- and hopefully a future for Iran. … [Read more...] about For The People Of Iran (and the rest of us)
Tehran 2009 is NOT Tiananmen Square
In the wake of the Iranian government crackdown today it's tempting to compare the fate of the protest movement to that held in the Spring of 1989 in Beijing. Of course, we don't know the ultimate fate of the current protests in Iran so even superficial comparisons are premature at this point. But there is another more profound difference between the two situations that we … [Read more...] about Tehran 2009 is NOT Tiananmen Square