While people in this country and much of the world remain riveted by the U.S. election race, new trouble has been brewing between U.S.-backed Colombia and Venezuela. This comes as Condoleezza Rice leads a diplomatic mission to Colombia to push for a new free trade deal.According to this account from Argentine newspaper La Capital, President Chavez raised the stakes with his … [Read more...] about Chavez Warns ‘U.S. Pawn’ Uribe of Impending War
Media BS: Misrepresenting the Democratic Race for the White House
Just how nasty (or not) is the Democratic race? Well, you've seen it on Jon Stewart, who tells it like it is night after night, and the good people at Hullabaloo have made the same point: By historical standards, this has been an unfailingly nice primary, and only recently have tempers flared. There have been some whispers from surrogates, some opposition research dropped … [Read more...] about Media BS: Misrepresenting the Democratic Race for the White House
Anti-Obama Ad Briefly On TMV Beyond Our Control (UPDATED)
NOTE TO READERS: It has come to our attention that an anti-Obama ad was briefly on TMV under the Google Ads section. It was one of those small line ads. It was the Muslim charge that has been made against him (see previous post since it's related). If you look, you'll see THAT AD is gone now. These ads rotate. We don't inspect each ad and neither this site or any weblog by … [Read more...] about Anti-Obama Ad Briefly On TMV Beyond Our Control (UPDATED)
Obama conference calls with Jewish leaders
From a JTA News Alert today: Obama listed falsehoods that appeared in an e-mail campaign aimed at Jewish voters. "I never practiced Islam. I was raised by my secular mother. I have been a member of the Christian religion and an active member of a church," he said. "I was sworn in with my hand on my family Bible and have said the Pledge of Allegiance since I was 3 years … [Read more...] about Obama conference calls with Jewish leaders
The Genius of Edouard Manet
Last week marked the 176th anniversary of the birth of the great Edouard Manet. A realist in his early years, and later a close friend of (and inspiration to) the Impressionists, and something of an impressionist in his own right, however much he may have eschewed such artificial categories, Manet was one of the most brilliant and accomplished painters of the 19th century, and … [Read more...] about The Genius of Edouard Manet
Kennedy Obama Endorsement Swipes Anti-Obama Clinton Talking Points
It was truly an extraordinary moment in American politics: there, on television, you could see three key Kennedy members passing the torch of the Kennedy family legacy to Democratic Senator Barack Obama -- with John F. Kennedy's brother, declaring Obama inspired him, endorsing Obama while specifically countering key talking points of Obama's prime husband-wife … [Read more...] about Kennedy Obama Endorsement Swipes Anti-Obama Clinton Talking Points
Pakistan Draws a Line with the U.S.A.
Musharraf recently responded in London to the American suggestion of military cooperation on Pakistani soil. According to this article from Pakistan's Urdu-language newspaper, Daily Jang, his response was furious: President Musharraf presented his stance clearly. His furious reply to the suggestion of the conditional dispatch of the U.S. forces in tribal areas [of … [Read more...] about Pakistan Draws a Line with the U.S.A.
If (free) music be the food of love, play on…
From today, feel free to download another 25 million songs - legally... More here... … [Read more...] about If (free) music be the food of love, play on…
Giuliani Reportedly Sinking As Florida Republican Primary Approaches
If various reports and polls from Florida are to be believed, all former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani needs to do is to climb up on a palm tree and shout: "I'm King of the world!!!" By most accounts, Giuliani's big gambit to make a huge political impression in Florida has succeeded: unless there is an upset, he's likely to flop at the polls tomorrow and his early, and … [Read more...] about Giuliani Reportedly Sinking As Florida Republican Primary Approaches
Rebecca Channels Ma Barker: But It Depends On What You Think the Meaning of ‘Dirty’ Is
Back in the early days of the presidential campaign when Hillary Clinton was doing her Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm shtick, her supporters mewled that she was being treated unfairly by the media and the other usual suspects because she was a woman who also was being tarred with her husband's transgressions. That turned out to be a load of hooey. As the primary season hurtles … [Read more...] about Rebecca Channels Ma Barker: But It Depends On What You Think the Meaning of ‘Dirty’ Is
From Here to Uncertainty
It is at once painful and exhausting to live with the conflicts inside my brain. One year, I'm a Republican, then an Independent, then an almost-Democrat, and back again to Republican. One minute, I embrace hard-line conservative platitudes about shrinking the size of government; the next, I'm ready to embrace universal healthcare, regardless of the cost. Thus my political … [Read more...] about From Here to Uncertainty
A Lukewarm Endorsement For the Mittster
It seems appropriate that I got "trapped" in the comments section at Captain’s Quarters and couldn't get out after reading the 200-plus responses to Ed Morrissey's decision to caucus for Mitt “Earpiece” Romney in the forthcoming Minnesota caucuses. Ed had said previously that he would make no call at all, but in the end explained it had come down to Romney and Rudy … [Read more...] about A Lukewarm Endorsement For the Mittster
Cutting Out the Dirty Parts
The Federal Communications Commission wants to fine ABC $1.4 million for airing an episode of "NYPD Blue" in 2003 showing a woman's nude buttocks. The network owner, Walt Disney Company, will appeal. In the sexual Dark Ages of my adolescence, teenagers would mark the hot passages of novels for the delectation of their peers. Now the enterprise has come full circle--with … [Read more...] about Cutting Out the Dirty Parts
Guest Poet: The Tax-Free Nation Poem
Another poetic gem from TMV's favorite poet, Michael Silverstein, aka Wall Street Poet: Republicans have always pushed for lower taxes but shied away from the obvious corollary, abolishing taxes altogether, from fear of being labeled crackpots. At a time when the Fed is handing out billions to banks via auctions and reducing interest rates virtually on a weekly basis, … [Read more...] about Guest Poet: The Tax-Free Nation Poem
Guest Book Review: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
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: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut by Jessica Scheider It is hard not to enjoy Vonnegut. Although Slaughterhouse Five still remains … [Read more...] about Guest Book Review: God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
Take A Peek At Chilefire.Com
Dems In Discord
Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about Dems In Discord
Recession Announced
According to this piece from Argentina's Argen Press on the U.S. recession (translated by Watching America.com), The Treasury's fiscal deficit is the highest in the world, of its own making, and has grown the fastest - not only because of his taxation policies, but also for other reasons such as the imperialist policies in Iraq and Afghanistan and their 737 military bases … [Read more...] about Recession Announced
Sooner the Fly to God, Part II
Apropos Suharto's death, I wish to point again to the post I wrote on the occasion of Augusto Pinochet's very timely demise. Suharto was a practitioner of genocide. A genocide, it is worth noting, that occurred with the tacit sanction and support of the United States. He was a thug, a dictator, and a criminal, and deserves to be remembered as nothing more. … [Read more...] about Sooner the Fly to God, Part II
Hondurans ‘Shamed’ By U.S. Visa Denial to Corrupt Ex-Official
For those who doubt America's capacity to influence events in other countries, this piece about Washington's denial of a visa to a corrupt former official should set the record straight. A debate has now erupted in that Central American nation about why the U.S. has done this - and a furor has begun over the country's culture of corruption and lost standing in the world. … [Read more...] about Hondurans ‘Shamed’ By U.S. Visa Denial to Corrupt Ex-Official