Update:read here too, a brief but arresting post by Dr. Omed's Tent Show Revival about George Carlin as Philosopher/ Shaman. George Carlin who many in the old counter-culture remember for his discourse on 'dirty words,' and other anti-parental and anti-establishment topics, passed away from heart failure today in Los Angeles. The contretemps about his "Seven Dirty Words" … [Read more...] about George Carlin, Comedian, Dead at 71
Stop threatening to put kids in jail for sex!
Geveryl Robinson tells us in the Savannah Morning News today that she saw the Today Show this week. She didn't like what she saw: I saw a story about 17 girls in a Gloucester, Mass., high school who made a pregnancy pact to get pregnant by any means necessary because they wanted to raise their children together. And that's exactly what they did. Now this upsets Ms.... er, … [Read more...] about Stop threatening to put kids in jail for sex!
On Corporate Complicity in the Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
Douglas A. Blackmon's "Slavery By Another Name" is reviewed today in The Boston Globe: Southern white opponents of Reconstruction and black citizenship launched a series of attacks on African-American economic and political rights. One such assault involved exploiting the portion of the 13th Amendment allowing use of unfree labor "as a punishment for crime whereof the party … [Read more...] about On Corporate Complicity in the Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II
What Happens Next in Zimbabwe?
With the probable continuation and escalation of violence and bloodshed in his country looming in the days ahead, it's impossible to fault opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai for withdrawing from the runoff election for president in Zimbabwe. The withdrawal is certainly not because, as a Mugabe henchman said, Tsvangarai is "chicken." He has soldiered on in spite of numerous … [Read more...] about What Happens Next in Zimbabwe?
Bill Clinton Balks At Publicly Endorsing Obama
A Reuters reporter notes that former President Bill Clinton has not only not yet endorsed Democratic presumptive nominee Sen. Barack Obama but, when given a chance to do so, pointedly balked -- an unspoken but clear stance contradicting his wife Senator Hillary Clinton's public calls for party unity: The former first lady endorsed Obama, urged her supporters to rally … [Read more...] about Bill Clinton Balks At Publicly Endorsing Obama
Vietnamese and Iraqi Refugees: The Same, Different, or Indifferent?
Author's wife (center) with a family of South Vietnamese refugees at the Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, refugee camp in 1975 The New York Times periodically publishes an “Op-Chart” that graphically depicts the progress, or lack thereof, that we are making in Iraq. The latest Op-Chart published today (Sunday, June 22), ("The State of Iraq: An Update") does indeed reflect … [Read more...] about Vietnamese and Iraqi Refugees: The Same, Different, or Indifferent?
CERN and LCH Black Holes: Part Three
(See Parts One and Two) For those following this story, the concerns expressed by a number of scientists over the Large Hadron Collider are more complex (make that far more complex) then earlier descriptions provided here. With thanks to JTankers in previous comment threads, I went and gave a listen to an interview with Nuclear Physicist Walter Wagner. (Parts one, two, three … [Read more...] about CERN and LCH Black Holes: Part Three
“Did I Mention He’s Black?”
Barack Obama started out running as a race-neutral candidate, but Jeremiah Wright and the "white working class demographic" made the issue inescapable, and the presidential campaign will benefit from having it out in the open. At a fund-raiser this weekend, he previewed the underbelly of the Republican attacks to come: “We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run,” … [Read more...] about “Did I Mention He’s Black?”
Zimbabwe Elections Collapse
More problems for the poor people of Zimbabwe as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has pulled out of the runoff with dictator Robert Mugabe. His decision was based on some very real fears that supporters would be murdered as they went to the polls. Over the last couple of weeks Mugabe supporters have been killing opposition leaders and supporters. While Tsvangirai's … [Read more...] about Zimbabwe Elections Collapse
Tom Brokaw Becomes “Meet The Press” Russert Replacement Through Elections
When CBS News forced the retirement of controversial Evening News anchor Dan Rather, they replaced him temporarily with Bob Schieffer, an old-school CBS journeyman newsman who had the aura of solidity and objectivity of CBS's best news years. NBC has now opted for the same path with news that Tom Brokaw will be the late Tim Russert's replacement host on "Meet the Press" through … [Read more...] about Tom Brokaw Becomes “Meet The Press” Russert Replacement Through Elections
Around The Campaign 2008 Sphere June 22, 2008
The race is heating up and this is still the political doldrum month of June. Here are some links to websites of varying viewpoints. Links do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice or its writers. Barack Obama Told Supporters At A Fundraiser To Get Ready For The GOP To Play The Race Card and to Ed Morrissey this smells of political McCarthyism. Plumb Bob … [Read more...] about Around The Campaign 2008 Sphere June 22, 2008
The Personal Tragedy And Challenge Of Alcoholism Progression
How insidious a disease is alcoholism? Everyone knows by now that it can destroy lives and is hard to cure, but some lose sight of the ways in which it snowballs and grows -- often when the person who has it doesn't realize the extent of what's going on. A MUST READ for everyone comes from Dean Esmay (even for those who have clashed with Dean on the Internet over the years). … [Read more...] about The Personal Tragedy And Challenge Of Alcoholism Progression
Obama and High Gas Prices
Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com … [Read more...] about Obama and High Gas Prices
More on the CERN Black Hole Issue: We Get Answers
Following my original post on Europe’s CERN particle-physics lab's safety review of the massive, Large Hadron Collider in France and Switzerland, we received quite a bit of feedback by comments and e-mail. Some of the more compelling information provided is to be found at the LHC Facts web site. Rather than copying a lot of information here, I'll leave it to you to click … [Read more...] about More on the CERN Black Hole Issue: We Get Answers
Afghanistan: Of Fatigue & Fresh Insights
It is a commentary on our times that any report from Afghanistan and Iraq in the news blogs/media now provokes at best a cynical remark, or worst a yawn. But there are a few indefatigable columnists/journalists whose assessments of the ongoing tragic drama continues to provide fresh insights. Simon Jenkins, a distinguished journalist, is one of them. In a recent column in … [Read more...] about Afghanistan: Of Fatigue & Fresh Insights
Barack Obama and the Muslim misinformation
As Barack Obama Fights the Smears, on this one he's learning he's got to do an even better job of how he fights it. Last night the News and Notes Reporters Round Table discussed the Monday incident where campaign workers barred two Muslim women from sitting behind the podium at a Detroit rally to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in media images. The campaign … [Read more...] about Barack Obama and the Muslim misinformation
Solitary not solitary any longer. Now it’s “single-occupancy”
If you missed my co-blogger The Talking Dog's interview with attorney Rebecca Dick of the Washington, D.C. office of Dechert, LLP, who is representing a number of Afghan nationals currently detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, I urge you to go back and read it. Among the passages that struck me... We now know well how the Bush administration sought to redefine torture. Well it … [Read more...] about Solitary not solitary any longer. Now it’s “single-occupancy”
On Google and our brains. Smart questions. And Carr’s disappointing answers.
It's taken me a while to get around to Nicholas Carr's Is Google Making Us Stupid? in the July/August Atlantic, and I have no excuse. For all its assertion that we need to be immersed in narrative and longer stretches of prose, at 4,000 words, it's not even that lengthy an article! In it Carr says: The human brain is almost infinitely malleable. People used to think that our … [Read more...] about On Google and our brains. Smart questions. And Carr’s disappointing answers.
Pennsylvania Politics: Resolved To Continue Bigotry (Guest Voice)
This is a Guest Voice post by journalism professor and author Walter Brasch who is also a syndicated newspaper columnist and radio commentator, and president of the Pennsylvania Press Club. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice or its writers. Pennsylvania Politics: Resolved to Continue Bigotry by Walter Brasch … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania Politics: Resolved To Continue Bigotry (Guest Voice)
The World Will Once Again Clamor for America’s Leadership
A superb opinion piece in last Sunday’s (June 15) LA Times belatedly caught my attention (I have been on travel, and my computer crashed). It is by Ted Widmer, a former speechwriter for President Clinton, and Director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. Although my comments are almost a week late, Widmer’s words could not be more current, or relevant. In … [Read more...] about The World Will Once Again Clamor for America’s Leadership