In this TMV blog I keep writing occasionally on subjects that have an important role to play in increasing positivity in discussion and debate on matters related to politics. After all what is politics?...Surely, not just the circus where politicians are the key players. Politics percolates down to, and influences, health, education, art and culture...In fact all spheres of … [Read more...] about India: Children’s Education Challenge & “Pratham”
Bitter: Perception vs. Reality
I have always had a scene from the 1992 movie Sneakers in my brain. In the scene, Robert Redford has been captured by his former friend and fellow computer hacker, played by Ben Kingsley. Kingsley has a plan that will wreak havoc on the financial system. At some point Ben Kingsley's character notes that while the reality might be different, the general public would see the … [Read more...] about Bitter: Perception vs. Reality
Barack Obama Responds To Hillary Clinton’s “Small-Town” Offensive
Amid wire service headlines reading "Obama Turns Tables on Clinton," Senator Barack Obama has responded to Senator Hillary Clinton's three-day-old offensive against his comments about small town voters being bitter -- in a response combining pointed language, humor and lots of energy: Democrat Barack Obama lashed out Sunday at rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, mocking her … [Read more...] about Barack Obama Responds To Hillary Clinton’s “Small-Town” Offensive
‘War-Mongering Leaders are Isolated from Iraqis’
Are Iraqis beginning to feel better about the the U.S.-led occupation and the state of their nation? In our continuing effort to help answer that question, WORLDMEETS.US has translated this article from Iraq's Azzaman newspaper. Fateh Abdusalam writes in part, "In the sixth year of the new dispensation and still looking for excuses to justify its policies, Iraq's war-mongering … [Read more...] about ‘War-Mongering Leaders are Isolated from Iraqis’
Polls: Obama’s Small-Town Bitter Comments Had Mixed Impact
New polls indicate the flap over Democratic Senator Barack Obama's comments about people in small towns being bitter has had a mixed impact so far: one key poll has not changed, but another indicates his comments have undercut some of his general election support. The first Gallup Daily tracking poll taken during the time when Obama has come under fire from rival Democratic … [Read more...] about Polls: Obama’s Small-Town Bitter Comments Had Mixed Impact
The Compassion Forum – A Few Brief Thoughts
The moderators seemed to come armed with an agenda, at least as I read it. Hillary Clinton, by comparison, received a series of softball questions centering on the most important moments of her life when God spoke to her, etc. The exceptions were questions each candidate shared in common, including whether life begins at conception, etc. The questions for Obama included a … [Read more...] about The Compassion Forum – A Few Brief Thoughts
Bill Clinton Made Remarks Similar To Obama’s Controversial Small-Town Bitter Remarks
On a day when -- for the third day in a row -- Senator Hillary Clinton was blasting Senator Barack Obama for suggesting that people in small towns were bitter (working the word into her comments) it now turns out that her husband former President Bill Clinton made remarks somewhat similar to the ones she's now using to argue that Obama is in-effect unelectable and a defeat … [Read more...] about Bill Clinton Made Remarks Similar To Obama’s Controversial Small-Town Bitter Remarks
The Malfeasant Farm Bill
Bill Moyer's had an infuriating show on PBS about the current debate on the Farm Bill Reauthorization A case of good intentions used to obscure greed, the farm bill ostensibly helps to protect the agriculture industry from damaging circumstances. But it also hides widespread corruption by creating a mechanism for politicians to trade unneeded and undeserved subsidies for … [Read more...] about The Malfeasant Farm Bill
The Dalai Lama, Tibet and China – a non-violent alternative
The Dalai Lama is a holy person first and a politician second. It is worth remembering this during his visits to Seattle and elsewhere in America, in the current emotionally charged atmosphere over China’s Olympic Games. When I met him in Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama said his mind was on “Shoonya”, a Sanskrit word for emptiness experienced as profound serenity. It was … [Read more...] about The Dalai Lama, Tibet and China – a non-violent alternative
Awarding the Olympics to Beijing: A Mistake that Keeps on Giving …
After the failure of the 1980 U.S.-sponsored Olympic boycott, hadn't the world learned its lesson about the ineffectiveness of such actions? According to this editorial from the Nederlands Dagblad, things have changed since then - not the least of which is the fact that unlike South Korea, which rapidly democratized in the run-up to the 1988 Games, Beijing has taken a different … [Read more...] about Awarding the Olympics to Beijing: A Mistake that Keeps on Giving …
‘Reassuring News’ from the 2008 Beijing Games …
Not all the global commentary about the Olympic torch relay is serious. Le Monde's Robert Sole writes in this tongue-in-cheek op-ed, "Yes, clouds are threatening the Olympics in Beijing. But Chinese authorities have just given us some reassuring news: an arsenal is being prepared to make sure that it doesn't rain during the opening ceremonies on August 8. Twenty-one teams are … [Read more...] about ‘Reassuring News’ from the 2008 Beijing Games …
Hillary Clinton’s Booze Adviser
While I have enjoyed writing columns here at The Moderate Voice in the short time since Joe Gandelman invited me, I feel it only fair to give warning to both the Editor and our readers that I may be moving on to a new position which could stop me from doing this. You see, I am going to be announcing my availability to accept a position with the Hillary Clinton campaign as her … [Read more...] about Hillary Clinton’s Booze Adviser
Girl Jailed For YouTube Teen Beating Bailed Out By Dr. Phil Show Staff
How far will the staff of some shows go to get big ratings? This far: The TV talk show Dr. Phil McGraw confirmed on Saturday the fact that its staff bailed out of Florida jail one of the girls involved in the violent video posted on YouTube. The video depicted several teen girls beating one of their classmates while filming her. Mercades Nichols is one of the eight teen … [Read more...] about Girl Jailed For YouTube Teen Beating Bailed Out By Dr. Phil Show Staff
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Can’t Find A Job
Once he was the nation's Attorney General, appointed -- and constantly protected and defended by -- President George Bush. But he is considered by some to have been one of the worst Attorney Generals in recent history -- and now Alberto Gonzales is having a hard time finding a job at a law firm. Will he soon be applying for work at the temp agency Manpower? Maybe not yet … [Read more...] about Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Can’t Find A Job
The Long Walk
I was on a radio show earlier this year with Ed Morrissey of Hot Air during the period when it had begun to look obvious that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee. We were pondering the question of who in the Democratic party had the "guns" to go hang the bell on the cat of the Hillary Clinton Campaign. "But who," Ed asked, "is going to make that long walk down the hall … [Read more...] about The Long Walk
Quote Of The Day: Will Hillary Clinton Overreach On The Obama Small-Town Flap?
Andrew Sullivan on the quick and pointed response of Senator Hillary Clinton to the controversy over her rival for the Democratic nomination Senator Barack Obama's comments that people in small towns are bitter: The "bitter" spat is gold for Morris-Rove politics, which is why Clinton is exploiting it so baldly. It is exactly the kind of debate that has constructed American … [Read more...] about Quote Of The Day: Will Hillary Clinton Overreach On The Obama Small-Town Flap?
Olympic Torch
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune … [Read more...] about Olympic Torch
Quote Of The Day: On The Media And The Obama Bitter Small-Town Controversy
The quote of the day is by Ezra Klein, noting how campaigns are covered and the current furor over Democratic Senator Barack Obama's comment that people from small-towns are bitter: And this is why I don't like writing about the campaign. It's full of hollow scandals and ignored travesties. But you have to cover the hollow scandals, because they're are blown up until … [Read more...] about Quote Of The Day: On The Media And The Obama Bitter Small-Town Controversy
Angry Clinton-Obama Democratic Presidential Nomination Race Is Field Day For Cartoonists
The tooth-and-nail race for the Democratic party 2008 Presidential nomination is a good thing -- for cartoonists. And the latest controversy promises to provide them with even more material. This weekend the new political angerfest is raging between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over whether Obama's comments about small town people being bitter means the … [Read more...] about Angry Clinton-Obama Democratic Presidential Nomination Race Is Field Day For Cartoonists
Stranger in A Strange Land
There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth among so-called conservatives because the selection of John McCain as the GOP nominee. Many have said that he isn't a true conservative (never mind that his American Conservative Union score says otherwise). Jonathan Rauch writes in the Atlantic that the problem isn't that the Arizona Senator isn't conservative enough, … [Read more...] about Stranger in A Strange Land