Owing to a growing awareness in the West about the threat posed by tobacco smoking, the cigarette companies made a frontal assault on the vulnerable Third World markets during the past decade. The result: A recent study shows that the 'smoker's paradise' India is in the grip of a smoking epidemic that is likely to cause nearly a million deaths a year by 2010. Conducted by … [Read more...] about India: Deadly Epidemic Grips “Smokers’ Paradise”
A Great Fall: John McCain Caves on Waterboarding Ban
That's about it, then, isn't it----all the talk about McCain as the new type of Republican moderate destined to lead the party back to its roots? I'm guessing that this latest news will put an end to talk among disenchanted Democrats of voting for him in November. Today, McCain voted legislation that intended to do exactly what he himself has advocated: adopted the … [Read more...] about A Great Fall: John McCain Caves on Waterboarding Ban
Guest Voice: Confessions Of A Low Expectation Analyst
This Guest Voice post is by Michael Silverstein, a former senior editor with Bloomberg Financial News, who now writes financial poetry and prose in Philadelphia. Confessions Of A Low Expectation Analyst by Michael Silverstein Do stock market moves confuse you? Do the prognostications of economists and policy makers seem at odds with reality? If so, I'm probably … [Read more...] about Guest Voice: Confessions Of A Low Expectation Analyst
Guest Book Review: Paws & Effect by Sharon Sakson
This is another Guest Book Review by fiction writer Jessica Schneider who also writes for the highly-visited site Cosmoetica, is Book Editor for Monsters and Critics and is the only contributor to her own blog. Book Review: Paws & Effect by Sharon Sakson by Jessica Schneider I admit that I am a dog liker but a cat lover. Still, despite my like for dogs I was … [Read more...] about Guest Book Review: Paws & Effect by Sharon Sakson
NATO’s Afghan Mission: ‘France is Ready to Do More’
Some Americans still haven't gotten used to the fact that since the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as French President, France is just about our staunchest European ally. In contrast to the Germans the Dutch and even the British, according to this editorial by Pierre Rousselin of France's Le Figaro, it seems that Paris is the rare European capital, ready, willing and able to send … [Read more...] about NATO’s Afghan Mission: ‘France is Ready to Do More’
Hillary Courts The Youth Vote
RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch … [Read more...] about Hillary Courts The Youth Vote
‘Gondwana Link’: Saving Australia’s Threatened Biodiversity
'Gondwana Link' ---- It is an ambitious project that attempts to restore the ecology of a more than 25-million hectare swathe of land in Western Australia, running from the arid red interior of the continent to the wet forests of the southwest coast. It aims to convert the farmland, that fragments it (and is dedicated to the monotonous hectares of wheat and sheep progressively … [Read more...] about ‘Gondwana Link’: Saving Australia’s Threatened Biodiversity
History, maybe, over the horizon
Barack Obama did his speech thing after the Potomac Primary on Tuesday night, and it was riveting. Television talking heads back in the studio talked all over the speeches made by John McCain and Hillary Clinton. During Obama’s speech, nobody made a sound. The camera didn’t waver. Obama, young, lean, confident, and black, speaks in three-word declarations collected into … [Read more...] about History, maybe, over the horizon
Economic Masterminds Advise Candidates?
Do the names Sperling, Goolsbee, and Holtz-Eakin mean anything to you? If not, they should... one of these people will be instrumental in setting economic policy when Obama, Clinton or McCain get elected... and they are all determining a large part of what the candidates are saying now. This piece from Frankfurter Allgemeine, translated from German at Watching … [Read more...] about Economic Masterminds Advise Candidates?
Sad Uncle Sam
Patrick Corrigan, The Toronto Star … [Read more...] about Sad Uncle Sam
Fair Is as Fair Does
My esteemed co-blogger Paul Silver -- with whom I frequently agree -- wrote earlier about his disappointment with McCain's perceived "flip flop" on campaign finance. The DNC was also up in arms about McCain's decision, citing in a press release this line from today's related NYT story: Mr. McCain’s advisers said that the candidate, despite his signature legislative efforts to … [Read more...] about Fair Is as Fair Does
Burma: The Heartbeat Is Still Alive Underground
Lest we forget in the ruts many of us seem somewhat lost in these days, that of the dirt track race of tired horses we're following, a/k/a the Presidential nomination process... meanwhile there are others in many parts of the world, who are striving just to speak aloud without being 'disappeared' by government thugs. In late 2007 in Burma, (renamed Myanmar, by the current … [Read more...] about Burma: The Heartbeat Is Still Alive Underground
Obama, Clinton, Obama, Clinton
Petar Pismestrovic, Kleine Zeitung, Austria … [Read more...] about Obama, Clinton, Obama, Clinton
Pimping Out the News
Last week's Chelsea Clinton furor marks a low point in cable network competition for eyeballs and ears during the 24/7 news cycle and raises broader questions about their prime-time "journalism," which has degenerated into a babble of idiot ids vying for attention. David Shuster's "pimped out" remark exemplifies a trend reported almost a year ago by the Project for … [Read more...] about Pimping Out the News
Arabs Take Responsibility for Their Own Mess
An unusual, but oh-so-sensible, article from Yemen in the Arab Middle East. Apparently, the mess is not all America's fault. Who'd have thought it? H/T WATCHING AMERICA.com … [Read more...] about Arabs Take Responsibility for Their Own Mess
Hillary Clinton Sets Herself Up For Late Night Comedians’ Punchline
Uh, oh. You just KNOW late night comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman are having their writers working on punchlines for THIS one and some will try to spin it into a story about her actually hearing voices: ABC News' Eloise Harper and Kate Snow Report: In McAllen, Texas this morning Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said she wasn’t giving up on her race for the White … [Read more...] about Hillary Clinton Sets Herself Up For Late Night Comedians’ Punchline
Pondering the Dream Ticket
Conservative columnist Michael Medved gives a lot of thought about an Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama ticket in Dem's "Dream Ticket" : Why It Won't Happen In considering the value of Obama on the ticket, Mr. Medved seems to gloss over the importance of his strong attraction to Independents and others who crave a break with entrenched special interests. … [Read more...] about Pondering the Dream Ticket
I Miss The Good Ol’ Days of Rape
Tennessee State Senator Doug Henry's lamentation about the state of rape law wins him my "Creeper of the Day" award. … [Read more...] about I Miss The Good Ol’ Days of Rape
Getting Specific
Back in the day, I noted the absurdity of anyone railing on Obama's "lack of experience" while giving anything but scorn to Rudy Giuliani. Alas, Hizzoner's brilliant campaign strategy ("1.Lose state after state by resounding margins. 2. ? 3. Victory!") somehow foundered, so that rule is now moot. However, we have a replacement: neither John McCain nor his supporters get to … [Read more...] about Getting Specific
McCain Flip Flops on Campaign Finance Reform
The Blog at the American Prospect notices some flip flopping MCCAIN: NO MAVERICK ON CAMPAIGN REFORM, EITHER. The deed is done. John McCain, having been a participant in the presidential public financing system for eight months, has now declined the money for which he qualified, and declared himself free to spend an unlimited amount of private money between now and the … [Read more...] about McCain Flip Flops on Campaign Finance Reform