Congrats to BlogHer's persistance and class in pursuing the presidential candidates for in-person interviews. And thank you to Senator Obama for taking and making the time to grant the interview. You can read more here about the interview and reactions to it at BlogHer. … [Read more...] about Obama in exclusive video interview
Myanmar Lifeguard
Gary McCoy, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about Myanmar Lifeguard
Quotes Of The Day: On Edwards And Clinton
San Diego Union Tribune columnist Ruben Nvarrette Jr writing on race and the primaries: Well, at least Barack Obama got the support of one white Southerner last week. John Edwards' endorsement came one day after Obama got pounded in West Virginia. Maybe Edwards, a North Carolinian, saw something in this contest that made him queasy? Columnist George Will on Hillary … [Read more...] about Quotes Of The Day: On Edwards And Clinton
Bush’s Middle East Record: ‘Pure Calamity’
Continuing with WORLDMEETS.US' coverage of the global reaction to President Bush's Middle East trip, Gilles Delafon of France's Le Journal du Dimanche au Quotidien writes in part: "In this region, George Bush has failed as few American presidents before him. His diplomatic balance sheet is pure calamity - and his last tour of the Middle East this week was a reminder of it. … [Read more...] about Bush’s Middle East Record: ‘Pure Calamity’
President Bush’s Week-Long Middle-East Adventure (Guest Voice)
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. President Bush's Week-Long Middle-East Adventure by Walter Brasch President Bush is in … [Read more...] about President Bush’s Week-Long Middle-East Adventure (Guest Voice)
Gallup Daily: Obama Opens Highest Lead Yet Over Clinton
The latest Gallup Daily Tracking poll has some good news and bad news for Democratic nomination front-runner Senator Barack Obama: he has opened his widest lead yet over rival Senator Hillary Clinton but polls show him losing to presumptive GOP nominee Senator John McCain, and Clinton slightly beating McCain. The bottom line: it's a sign that Democratic voters are now … [Read more...] about Gallup Daily: Obama Opens Highest Lead Yet Over Clinton
Bush’s Speech at Knesset an ‘Act of Lunacy’
How damaging to U.S. interests in the Arab world was President Bush's speech to the Israeli Knesset? If Arab reaction is anything to go by, it will certainly guarantee the end of U.S. credibility as an honest broker for some time to come. Here's a sampling of reaction from the Egyptian press from the Egyptian Gazette: The weekly Akhbar Al-Yom featured a front-page article … [Read more...] about Bush’s Speech at Knesset an ‘Act of Lunacy’
Random Reads
A former pollster for Howard Dean crunches Obama's path to the 270 magic-number in the electoral college. His analysis demonstrates that no matter how popular a candidate might be -- and no matter how disillusioned voters are with the Republican brand -- the electoral college remains a daunting challenge, an eternal equalizer, a stubborn flatliner of lofty expectations. On … [Read more...] about Random Reads
Clinton, Obama Supporters Meet To Talk About Unity And Defeating McCain (UPDATED)
There are concrete signs that the seemingly irreconcilable camps of Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are moving to begin planning on how to merge their efforts to focus on beating presumptive GOP Presidential nominee Senator John Mccain in November's general election. Quite a few pundits (including me) have suggested it looked almost impossible for the … [Read more...] about Clinton, Obama Supporters Meet To Talk About Unity And Defeating McCain (UPDATED)
Bob Barr Leaps in as a Libertarian — Interview (GUEST VOICE)
In this Guest Voice post, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Bill Steigerwald interviews Republican Bob Barr, who is seeking the libertarian Presidential nomination.: Bob Barr Leaps in as a Libertarian -- Interview by Bill Steigerwald With the announcement that he'll seek the Libertarian Party’s 2008 presidential nomination, former Georgia Republican congressman Bob … [Read more...] about Bob Barr Leaps in as a Libertarian — Interview (GUEST VOICE)
Abandoning Bush
The rush to get off the S.S. Bush turned into a stampede this week as John McCain, Congressional Republicans and even the Saudis headed for the lifeboats. King Abdullah, who used to hold his hand, gave Bush the royal finger when asked to pump more oil to ease gas prices. John McCain backed away from the Imperial Presidency, not only by promising to emulate British prime … [Read more...] about Abandoning Bush
Book Review: Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Mason & Dixon,’ An 18th Century Musing On All Things
So, one day, into Delaware's great Basin/With strange Machinery sail Mr. Mason/And Mr. Dixon, by the Falmouth Packet/Connect, as with some invis'ble Bracket/Sharing a Fate, directed by the Stars/To mark the Earth with geometrick Scars. -- TIMOTHY TOX Mason & Dixon is the penultimate book in my long slog to read the complete works of Thomas Pynchon (only his Vineland awaits) … [Read more...] about Book Review: Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Mason & Dixon,’ An 18th Century Musing On All Things
What Can Be Remembered When The Noise is Turned Down
"Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives So you can take them by the hand and lead them home when they get lost?" ___________ CODA From the poetry in Job 38-42... Yahweh demanding that Job stop muddying the issues, and instead, get back down to the basics of life, to what has majesty and magnitude... instead of 'living by rumors.' … [Read more...] about What Can Be Remembered When The Noise is Turned Down
John McCain and ‘The Vision Thing’
A politician lacking "vision" can be vulnerable. When Senator Ted Kennedy could give no succinct description of where he intended to lead the country if he were elected president, his 1980 bid to wrest the Democratic nomination from incumbent President Jimmy Carter was doomed. And George H.W. Bush, widely acknowledged as better prepared to be president than most … [Read more...] about John McCain and ‘The Vision Thing’
The Weld in Soldiers is Strong, It’s Our Government That’s Weak-minded: The PTSD Scandal
Today is Armed Forces Day, though surely it's ‘Unarmed Forces' Day... soldiers back from war, who ought be celebrated also... treated with decency to mend up psychic wounds they carry... ones who display injuries just as much in need of healing as a shattered arm, loss of hearing, a leg no longer all there. Same symptomatology in many Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder … [Read more...] about The Weld in Soldiers is Strong, It’s Our Government That’s Weak-minded: The PTSD Scandal
Classic Comedy: “Niagara Falls! Slowwly I Turn”
A classic vaudeville/burlesque routine featuring the tragic and ill-fated Lou Costello (who died of heart disease at age 52): … [Read more...] about Classic Comedy: “Niagara Falls! Slowwly I Turn”
Bush At the Knesset: Pure ‘Hate and Fabrication’
If President Bush's goal on his last trip to the Middle East was to enrage the entire Arab world - not to mention U.S. Democrats - he could not have done better than the speech he delivered to the Israeli Knesset on Thursday. One of the many examples of Arab discontent posted on WORLDMEETS.US is this from K. Selim, who writes for Algeria's Le Quotidian d'Oran: "In front … [Read more...] about Bush At the Knesset: Pure ‘Hate and Fabrication’
On racial stereotypes & spending
Bill Cosby has famously accused blacks of spend money unwisely, buying expensive sneakers rather than investing in their kids’ education and thereby reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Research by Wharton's Nikolai Roussanov, and Erik Hurst and Kerwin Charles of the University of Chicago has shown that what they're doing is we all do -- black, white, and hispanic -- it's called … [Read more...] about On racial stereotypes & spending
A helping hand for parolees in Kansas
Have I mentioned that in my rural Georgia town we have six state prisons? We call it economic development. I'm on the advisory board of one of them. NYTimes: Today, Kansas is a leader in a spreading national effort to make parole more effective and useful — to reduce violations and reincarcerations as it protects the public and seeks to help more offenders go straight. … [Read more...] about A helping hand for parolees in Kansas
Ted Kennedy In Hospital With Stroke Like Symptoms
Democratic party warhorse Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy has been rushed to the hospital with stoke-like symptoms, CNN reports: Sen. Edward Kennedy was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts Saturday morning, a well-informed, prominent Democratic source in that state told CNN. The source said the 76-year-old senator had "symptoms of a stroke." Kennedy was … [Read more...] about Ted Kennedy In Hospital With Stroke Like Symptoms