The indispensible website Watching America has this great translation from Portuguese from Brazil's newspaper O Globo that gives some perspective on a new pocket of disenchantment: feelings in Saudi Arabia that President George W. Bush is interfering with their plans. Here's a small part of it:Saudi Arabia is trying to bring Syria back to the negotiation table (along with … [Read more...] about Saudi King’s Biggest Frustration: Is It George Bush?
Fred Thompson: A Mixed Bag In Polls
Some new polls have bring good news and bad news for Fred Thompson, the former Senator turned TV actor who could well give the Republicans their first REAL "Law and Order" Presidential candidate. The GOOD NEWS is that his stock is quickly rising among Republican voters. The person who should be most concerned should be former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose support is … [Read more...] about Fred Thompson: A Mixed Bag In Polls
Classic Comedy: Ernie Kovac’s Classic Comedy Commercials
Once again, in response to emails we're offering you a bit more of television comedy pioneer Ernie Kovacs, who died in a car accident in 1962. Click on the You Tube below and you'll see two of the superb cigar commercials that the cigar-smoking, moustachioed Kovacs wrote, produced and starred in. He helped turn commercials into high quallity comedy blackouts: You can learn … [Read more...] about Classic Comedy: Ernie Kovac’s Classic Comedy Commercials
EPA Ruling
Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about EPA Ruling
‘Largest Show of Support for Pak Judge’
In my last post the news story did not give the exact magnitude of the protest in Pakistan. Here is the latest The Guardian story... "Thousands of boisterous opposition supporters massed outside Pakistan's supreme court yesterday in the largest show of support yet for the beleaguered Chief Justice, Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry. "Activists from across the political spectrum … [Read more...] about ‘Largest Show of Support for Pak Judge’
Why the Dutch Make Fun of Belgians
Just like Americans like to make jokes about Canadians, about them being stupid, etc., the Dutch enjoy making fun of Belgians. We have a wide variety of Belgium jokes, ridiculing the intelligence of our southern neighbors. Why is that, one might ask? Why do we laugh at Belgians? Well, I hope that the following explains it: The government of Belgium's French-speaking … [Read more...] about Why the Dutch Make Fun of Belgians
“Celebrating” Passover
There are ten plagues read on Passover, foisted upon the Egyptian people as Moses asks Pharaoh to "let my people go." The plagues run a gamut of nasty things, from turning the Nile River to blood, to locusts, to boils. The tenth and final plague is the slaying of the Egyptian first born. When Jews recite the ten plagues, they spill a drop of wine for each one, to symbolize … [Read more...] about “Celebrating” Passover
A Little Bit More Grace in Politics
Dennis Sanders published a great post today, calling for more grace in politics. Excerpt (but read the whole thing): Grace is something that is missing in American politics. It’s grace that allows us to see each other as fallible humans instead of arbiters of truth. Mr. Dowd thought he was doing the right thing and now he thinks he was wrong. In a political culture when we … [Read more...] about A Little Bit More Grace in Politics
Hebrew: Language of the Ghetto
Newt Gingrich clarifies. … [Read more...] about Hebrew: Language of the Ghetto
Bush Takes On Defunders
Gary McCoy, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about Bush Takes On Defunders
Military Victory No Longer Possible in Iraq
I don't really care what Henry Kissinger has to say these days, but perhaps his recent comments in Tokyo deserve some consideration. Although he remains "basically sympathetic to President Bush" with respect to Iraq -- which is already enough to question his sanity and credibility -- he does not think that "military victory" (defined as "total control over the whole … [Read more...] about Military Victory No Longer Possible in Iraq
What Will it be Sir, a Buffalo or something Cheap, like a Child?
Reuters reports that, umh, creative entrepreneurs are selling children in India... and they're not expensive! "Children are purchased like buffaloes," said Bhuvan Ribhu of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement), quoting a study that is due to be released later this year. He went on to say that "while buffaloes may cost up to 15,000 rupees ($350), children are … [Read more...] about What Will it be Sir, a Buffalo or something Cheap, like a Child?
Politics & Entertainment: The Fact & Fiction of Fred Thompson
According to Bob Novak, GOP celebrity Fred Thompson is -- wait for it, wait for it -- "for real"! Yes: "In just three weeks, Fred Thompson has transformed the contest for the Republican presidential nomination. It is not merely that he has come from nowhere to double digits in polls. He is the talk of GOP political circles because he is filling the conservative void in the … [Read more...] about Politics & Entertainment: The Fact & Fiction of Fred Thompson
Asia’s Biggest ‘Talk-Fest’ Begins
New Delhi is the venue of the 14th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) annual summit. India is chairing the two-day summit where leaders from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives are participating. Officials from the European Union, the United States, China, Japan and South Korea are attending the summit as observers. … [Read more...] about Asia’s Biggest ‘Talk-Fest’ Begins
Suspended Pak Chief Judge: Protests Continue
Pakistan's suspended chief judge has appeared before a judicial panel in the capital, as a political street battle over his fate enters its fourth week. From Islamabad, VOA Correspondent Benjamin Sand reports that lawyers and political activists continue taking to the streets in the thousands, protesting the suspension and calling for the Pakistani president to resign. Read … [Read more...] about Suspended Pak Chief Judge: Protests Continue
John McCain is Toast & For Good Reason
Mark April 2007 on your calendar as the month that John McCain’s bid for the White House crashed and burned. McCain worked hard through the winter to betray his purposely vague "values," which included a whistlestop tour in which he kissed every right-wing Republican butt of consequence below the Mason Dixon Line while hewing to a hard-line view of the Iraq war that vast … [Read more...] about John McCain is Toast & For Good Reason
Inside a Pakistani Madarsa…
An interesting CNN video...ITN's Kylie Morris takes a look inside a madarsa for Pakistani girls. … [Read more...] about Inside a Pakistani Madarsa…
Gonzales & The Incredible Lightness of Being
As Prosecutorgate drags on and on, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finds himself a deeply unpopular figure among the American public, a pariah to congressional Republicans and a doofus to many people on his own staff, but continues to hang on by his fingertips because the president won't open the trap door to political purgatory that he so richly deserves to fall … [Read more...] about Gonzales & The Incredible Lightness of Being
The Event: Chapter 13
Mick LaSalle published the 13th chapter of The Event. As we are used to from Mick by now, another great chapter with some fascinating developments. This is how it starts... Americans reacted to the murder of Sadie East with a collective shock and horror that extended across party lines and reached every stratum of society. As they prepared to leave for work, even as the … [Read more...] about The Event: Chapter 13
(Updated) Gitmo: Justice Delayed or Denied?
In what may be only a temporary victory for President Bush, the Supreme Court has rejected by a 6-3 margin an appeal by suspected terrorists challenging their imprisonment at Guantánamo Bay. The prisoners are contesting their imprisonment and the rules set up to try them as war criminals outside of the federal court system. Washington lawyer Tom Wilner, who has … [Read more...] about (Updated) Gitmo: Justice Delayed or Denied?