As I noted the other day, there is an epidemic of lazy thinking abroad in the land with too many politicians, pundits and bloggers pretty much giving the White House a free pass because of the dopey notion that everything will be better with a new president. This attitude is astonishingly short-sighted when one considers that if the 2008 election were held tomorrow, in all … [Read more...] about A Musing On The Next President: Be Very Careful What You Wish For
Aaron Copland: An Appreciation
Copland composes by candlelight (1946) The great American composer Aaron Copland probably did more than anyone to liberate classical music from its European roots. As a classically-trained composer, Copland’s embrace of popular music was not unprecedented, but the way that he integrated folk music and jazz into his compositions certainly was. No matter how often I hear … [Read more...] about Aaron Copland: An Appreciation
FBI: Blackwater Shootings Unjustified
Car damaged in Blackwater shooting incident In yet another black eye for Condoleezza Rice and her white-washers at the State Department, FBI agents investigating a September incident in which Blackwater USA security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that the personnel were not fired on, that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified, and they … [Read more...] about FBI: Blackwater Shootings Unjustified
And For This We Say, “Thank You”
We really do... … [Read more...] about And For This We Say, “Thank You”
New York Governor Spitzer Dropping Illegal Immigrants Drivers License Plan
You could call it an idea whose time has not quite come -- and, given opinion polls, is unlikely to come. But what you can now call the controversial plan by New York Governor Elliot Spitzer to grant drivers licenses to illegal aliens is this: Dead: Gov. Eliot Spitzer is abandoning his plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, saying that opposition is … [Read more...] about New York Governor Spitzer Dropping Illegal Immigrants Drivers License Plan
Hillary Plants More Questions
Eric Allie, Caglecartoons.com EDITOR'S NOTES: --And the satirists are having fun... --And some people whom you think are NOT serious turn out to be seemingly SERIOUS and that means they'll SERIOUSLY lose the votes of some who don't like this kind of thing in politics. And more on that HERE. … [Read more...] about Hillary Plants More Questions
Hugo Chavez: Students Forced Masked Soldiers to Shoot Them?
In Caracas, it may soon be time to cry, and not just for Argentina. Bad storm up on its hind legs already. When students take to the streets, whether in our country, or in Burma, in China, in Hungary, or elsewhere in the world, they have often been 'the yellow canaries in the mines,' the first ones to realize and to react to something being horribly wrong, unfair, deadening, … [Read more...] about Hugo Chavez: Students Forced Masked Soldiers to Shoot Them?
Temperament of a Moderate Independent
Jon Meacham Reviewed "Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic" in the NYT Book Review this weekend. He helped highlight some of the book's profound observations: "America was constructed to foster arguments, not to settle them." "Modern political campaigns talk of revolution when in fact the founding gave us a nation that prefers evolution." "...while … [Read more...] about Temperament of a Moderate Independent
GOP Launched Petition Drive Demands Details Of Hillary Clinton Library Card
No, dear readers, this is NOT an Andy Borowitz news satire... It is the real thing and it comes to you from the GOP website. What is the GOP doing to elevate the quality of debate in the campaign, to keep it on track and focused on looking at important issues? It is launching a petition drive to demand Hillary Clinton reveal the details of her library card. On the … [Read more...] about GOP Launched Petition Drive Demands Details Of Hillary Clinton Library Card
How to Respond to Global Warming Deniers
With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finalizing its 2007 report, the BBC helpfully examines "10 of the arguments most often made against the IPCC consensus, and some of the counter-arguments made by scientists who agree with the IPCC." For each argument, the so-called "sceptic" presents his/her case, which is then rebutted with a "counter." I would … [Read more...] about How to Respond to Global Warming Deniers
Student Says Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Planted More Questions (UPDATED)
When it rains bad p.r. and openings for opponents, it pours for the campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton: The college student who was told what question to ask at one of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign events says "voters have the right to know what happened" and she wasn't the only one who was planted. In an exclusive on-camera interview with CNN, Muriel … [Read more...] about Student Says Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Planted More Questions (UPDATED)
Killing Field Justice
Earlier this year I wrote about the tribunal set up in Cambodia to examine the genocidal crimes committed by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge three decades ago and to bring the perpetrators, those still alive, to justice -- see here and here. Even though the government was committed to it, or seemed to be, "procedural differences" threatened to sink the process. The issue had to … [Read more...] about Killing Field Justice
Children’s Severe Literacy Problem: ‘Revolutionary Scheme’ Offers Hope
Helping slow learners in a school is a worldwide challenge. Now an education charity, which has the enthusiastic backing of the British Dyslexia Association, has achieved a 90 per cent success rate in returning children with severe literacy problems to mainstream classrooms, reports The Independent. "The revolutionary scheme is being used in a dozen schools in Manchester … [Read more...] about Children’s Severe Literacy Problem: ‘Revolutionary Scheme’ Offers Hope
Six Years After 9/11: Still Not Prepared?
Oil Slick Spreads Out Along San Francisco Bay It wasn't a dirty bomb attack or hijacking, but the federal response to an oil spill in San Francisco Bay yet again begs the question: Six years after the 9/11 attacks, is the U.S. prepared for another big one? Judging from the lethargic reaction of the Coast Guard and other federal agencies to a 58,000-gallon spill of heavy … [Read more...] about Six Years After 9/11: Still Not Prepared?
‘Superman Comes to the Supermarket’
While the recently departed Norman Mailer is best known as a novelist, back in the day he was a preeminent political commentator. (And a career misogynist, which most obit writers failed to note, but that's another matter.) Anyhow, in a lengthy article for Esquire magazine titled "The Superman Comes to the Supermarket," Mailer riffs on celebrity marketing in postwar American … [Read more...] about ‘Superman Comes to the Supermarket’
TV Evangelists Are Investigated by the US Senate
Once upon a time, my father and his horribly and permanently hunched-over second tailor Bodish, and me, went to see Oral Roberts because Mr. Bodish wanted a faith healing and could not drive a car. My father tried to talk him out of it, the two men having a very animated conversation that looked like they were angry, but they were both just trying to convince the other. Mr. … [Read more...] about TV Evangelists Are Investigated by the US Senate
Cuban Pete: My Favorite Lip Sync
Back by reader demand. Yes, I did find it. My favorite lip sync. Watch this teenage comedian (who has a real future ahead of him if he does more with his physical comedy) lip sync to Jim Carrey's rendition of "Cuban Pete," using soundtrack from "The Mask." A brilliant, energy filled comedy lip sync: If you want to watch the original number as performed by Carrey in the … [Read more...] about Cuban Pete: My Favorite Lip Sync
Modern Day Bigotry
Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about Modern Day Bigotry
Tom Tancredo Ad, An X-ray of His Mind Will Soon Be on TV: A Political Campaign Ad Analysis
UPDATED 1:20 am MST: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3855133 ABC has uploaded the ad to its site. It's a bit washed out, but it is all there. Tom Tancredo's campaign ad is designed to be “shocking,”and it has legs, though the candidate might not.... We in his home state, Colorado, are not supposed to see Representative Tom Tancredo’s ad. Neither are you. … [Read more...] about Tom Tancredo Ad, An X-ray of His Mind Will Soon Be on TV: A Political Campaign Ad Analysis
A Clue
Many conservatives are adamantly declaring that water-boarding is not torture. The Attorney General can't decide one way or the other. You want to know who could figure it out? The Mississippi Supreme Court. In 1922. Overturning the conviction of a Black man charged with killing a White guy, whose confession was gotten through "the water cure" (as water-boarding was known at … [Read more...] about A Clue