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Gallup: Obama Gains Support Among Women Voters After Clinton Exit

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Gallup has good news for Democratic presumptive Presidential nominee Barack Obama: a new poll shows that since Senator Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed him he has started picking up support among woman voters and broadened his general election lead over Republican John McCain: Since Hillary Clinton decided to concede the Democratic nomination to Barack … [Read more...] about Gallup: Obama Gains Support Among Women Voters After Clinton Exit

An argument against the perceived benefits of locavore behavior

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Stephen J. Dubner wonders, do we really need a few billion locavores? And with that wonder he skewers the notion that the local food movement can really enhance the economic, environmental and social health of our planet as much as some Michael Pollan adherents might hope. His piece starts out with this anecdote: We made some ice cream at home last weekend. Someone had given … [Read more...] about An argument against the perceived benefits of locavore behavior

Be Prepared To Be Driven To Distraction

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You know that it's going to be a very special kind of election year when one of the pre-eminent right-of-center bloggers expends over 600 words on something that he twice acknowledges is "a distraction" -- the "issue" of a certain presidential candidate's birth certificate. Come on, Ed. There's more serious stuff to blog about like the secret meaning of fist bumps. Or … [Read more...] about Be Prepared To Be Driven To Distraction

Justice Department Official Gives $500,000 Anti-Crime Grant To Well-Connected Group For Golf Lessons

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What's a great way to combat juvenile crime? Why, give the kids golf lessons. Instead of having kids get t-ed off and break the law on the street or in gangs, teach them how to be really t-ed off so they can play the sport at their own country clubs. (Don't ALL kids belong to country clubs?). No, this is NOT an Andy Borowitz news satire. ABC investigative reporters … [Read more...] about Justice Department Official Gives $500,000 Anti-Crime Grant To Well-Connected Group For Golf Lessons

Iraq Status-Of-Forces Agreement: Why It’s A Really Bad Deal No Matter How You Look At It

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In the end, how we leave and what we leave behind will be more important than how we came. -- AMBASSADOR RYAN CROCKER Having royally screwed up just about everything else over the past seven-plus years, George Bush's last best hope of tying the hands of the next administration before heading back to Texas to search for his legacy among the scrub brush is a status-of-forces … [Read more...] about Iraq Status-Of-Forces Agreement: Why It’s A Really Bad Deal No Matter How You Look At It

Oil Prices Leading to More than Gas Cost (Guest Voice)

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This Guest Voice post is 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. Oil Prices Leading to More than Gas Cost By Walter Brasch ELYSBURG, … [Read more...] about Oil Prices Leading to More than Gas Cost (Guest Voice)

If It Were I In Obama’s Place! …

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While the advent of Barack Obama onto the American political scene has done wonders for America's global image, in Kuwait, which is regarded as a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, Obama's appearance has done little to allay suspicion in many quarters about 'Zionist control' of the United States. This fascinating and disturbing op-ed article from Kuwait's Arabic-language Al … [Read more...] about If It Were I In Obama’s Place! …

Economics: Which Way for Obama?

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Yesterday Matt Stoller posted an analysis of Obama's Raleigh speech on the economy. Stoller says Obama's economic philosophy is a "split between a neoliberal Rubin-type policy tone and an embrace of behavioral economics, a new school of thought popularized by books like The Tipping Point, Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational." The move towards behavioral economics was … [Read more...] about Economics: Which Way for Obama?

Just For A Moment… In Remembrance of Fathers and Sons

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The River Time Machine Split bamboo was enough once, no fancy graphite anything. 'Whipping the water' beautifully... was not yet ‘a casting-arm arc’ plotted with computer precision Away from clattering cities, it was just one soul standing in the water... Where did the ability to swing the line so gently left to right, come from? How did pulling the rod tip … [Read more...] about Just For A Moment… In Remembrance of Fathers and Sons

Gay relationships offer insights for healthier heterosexual marriages

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The NY Times today: The stereotype for same-sex relationships is that they do not last. But that may be due, in large part, to the lack of legal and social recognition given to same-sex couples. Studies of dissolution rates vary widely. After Vermont legalized same-sex civil unions in 2000, researchers surveyed nearly 1,000 couples, including same-sex couples and their … [Read more...] about Gay relationships offer insights for healthier heterosexual marriages

Clinton Asks Donors And Pledged Delegates To Back Obama

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Two news reports suggest that Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton is indeed working behind the scenes to foster party unity by trying to get her donors and pledged delegates to back presumptive Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama. Skeptics will say it's pro forma. But, no matter what, given these reports Clinton can't be accused of sitting on her hands. For instance, … [Read more...] about Clinton Asks Donors And Pledged Delegates To Back Obama

GOP To The Rescue: Republicans Block Extra Tax On Oil Companies

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At a time when Americans are finding they're having to give up a host of things just to fill their gas tanks while they read news stories about record oil company profits, Republicans in Congress have moved swiftly -- to protect the oil companies from extra taxes: Senate Republicans blocked a proposal Tuesday to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, … [Read more...] about GOP To The Rescue: Republicans Block Extra Tax On Oil Companies

An Obama-Clinton ticket: a surgical incision with one plus and many pitfalls

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An Obama-Clinton ticket has numerous pitfalls. On the plus side, it would be a like a surgical incision that in a single stroke removes the early-stage cancer caused to America’s high standing in the world by the Bush regime’s short-sighted hubris. This piece looks at the plus. Subsequent contributions will attempt to describe pitfalls. The damage done to America’s place in … [Read more...] about An Obama-Clinton ticket: a surgical incision with one plus and many pitfalls

Obama’s Victory a ‘Watershed’ in American History

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What does the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad think of Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee who has suggested a willingness to sit down at the table with the widely reviled Iranian leader? This editorial from the Islamic Republic's state-run Iran News Daily is as notable for what it doesn't say as for what it does. According to the daily, which seems to … [Read more...] about Obama’s Victory a ‘Watershed’ in American History

Laura Bush, Poppy Fields, and U.S. Marines

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Photo by AP This past weekend, First Lady Laura Bush made a courageous and well-intended visit to war-torn Afghanistan. She ventured deep into central Afghanistan to see for herself what progress has been made particularly in women’s development and educational and training projects. Emphasizing such interests, the First Lady flew to Bamiyan, one of the country’s … [Read more...] about Laura Bush, Poppy Fields, and U.S. Marines