Truly heart-warming ones. … [Read more...] about Some Special Songs For Christmas 2006

Is he a surge protector? … [Read more...] about Is Robert Gates Playing A Unique Role In The Bush Administration?

...others teach people how to make good martinis... … [Read more...] about Some Mayors Are Drunk With Power

Some Reminders: (1) TMV WILL BE MOVING starting a week from today. It'll start on the evening of 12/29 and should be completed by 12/31 so on January 1st we start TMV from a brand, new home. The design will be the same, but there still are a few changes. If you have this site hooked up to any kinds of news-readers or feeds you should get ready to change them as of the end of … [Read more...] about Reminders To Readers

It's hard to do a newscast when a story is given an entirely different meaning by a blooper...(Adult language) And, yes, Shepard Smith has "been there"...(Adult language) These bloopers are embarrassing, yes, but it shows that everything can't be packaged on TV. It's also interesting to see the anchors "break character" and become human beings as it dawns on them that … [Read more...] about And He’s Probably That, Too….

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andy Borowitz:Lou Dobbs Warns Santa Not to Cross U.S. Border Anchor Attacks Foreign-made Items in Claus’ Sack CNN anchor Lou Dobbs devoted his entire news broadcast last night to a searing expose of Santa Claus in which he warned the legendary fat man not to cross the United States’ border with Canada on Christmas Eve. Mr. Dobbs … [Read more...] about This Just In!!!

More on Jimmy Carter, or more precisely his book. Some links to readable articles: Leonard Fein at the Jewish Daily Forward, "There Is Virtue, President Carter, in Self-doubt Alan Dershowitz asks in the Boston Globe, Why won't Carter debate his book? Shmuel Rosner at Haaretz tries to answer the question: Is Carter an anti-Semite? And "a letter-to-the-editor by AJC … [Read more...] about Carter… and Carter

This comes from EU Referendum, a colleague to The Moderate Voice, as Weblog Award Winner for best UK Blog, who in turns gets it from a blogger in Canada. Hat tip Dr. Barnett. ">Worse than bread riots From Last weekend.Bread riots spell disaster for all. Revolutions start with bread riots and revolutions lead to civil wars and civil wars lead to oppression in both camps … [Read more...] about Iranian Bakers Strike

Eyeing ’08, Democrats Nurse Freshmen at Risk This is an interesting juxtaposition with my previous post about Republican Congressional Staff apparently being stiffed by their bosses. The Democratic leaders have a special program to help retain folks who won by slim margins. They are given important and high profile committee assignments, sponsorship of important bills, and … [Read more...] about The Retention Club – Protecting At-Risk Congressman

Reported in the Wall Street Journal Washington WireRepublican House staff members who are losing their jobs in the aftermath of November’s loss of control are hoping Democrats will re-extend the hand of largesse to them next month. As the old Congress wound down in a scramble of post-election activity, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered to pay two months’ … [Read more...] about With Friends Like These…

Should the US have a dedicated anti-genocide Army division? … [Read more...] about G-Unit

Today's literary quote of the day is from Robert Penn Warren. Instead of quoting a part of a poem, I have decided to publish the entire poem here.After the Dinner Party You two sit at the table late, each, now and then, Twirling a near-empty wine glass to watch the last red Liquid blimb up the crystalline spin to the last moment when Centrifugality fails: with nothing now … [Read more...] about Literary Quote of the Day: Robert Penn Warren

The latest numbers from Iowa are out. Edwards and Obama are celebrating, Hillary's in trouble, and Republicans of all stripes should be very, very nervous (or at least, as much celebration, trouble, and nervousness one can have 23 months before the election). … [Read more...] about Hawkeye

Has the game of defining your opponents begun notably early after the election? Virginia Senator Jim Webb says yes:NEW YORK In an interview with Deborah Solomon that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, the newly-elected U.S. senator from Virginia, Jim Webb, discusses his recent widely-publicized exchange with President Bush over an Iraq pullout. At a recent … [Read more...] about Webb Says Bush-Webb Friction Story’s Source Was White House

So I was talking to an American about the relationship between European countries and the U.S. He had a quite critical view of Europe and seemed to be of the opinion that the relationship isn't all that important, especially due to the attitude of certain European countries (such as Germany and France). My question to you all, therefore, is: what is the significance of the … [Read more...] about Europe and the U.S.

In an Israeli-Palestinian conflict where both sides are ever more entrenched, Bethlehem stands in the front line, just a few miles from the glitter and prosperity of Jerusalem but enclosed in a separate universe, writes The Economist. … [Read more...] about Christmas & Festive Season: Remembering Bethlehem

Not as much as expected, it seems. The Asian Affairs magazine highlights certain important points. Also, other articles in the current issue, and the archives, of the magazine should be of interest to those who wish to understand Asia. … [Read more...] about Tsunamis, Earthquakes in Asia: Any Lessons Learnt?

Listen to David Sedaris. … [Read more...] about What’s It Like Working As A Department Store Elf?

Had enough of the joy and happiness and good will of the holiday season? Full of atheistic angst and anger? Need a healthy dose of misanthropy? Want to be depressed? Then this post is for you. … [Read more...] about Miracles and meaninglessness

It's Flora, an eight-year old Komodo dragon (think The Freshman) at the Chester Zoo in England. She's reproducing:Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier this year at the London Zoo, are the first documentations in a Komodo dragon... Parthenogenesis is a process … [Read more...] about The immaculate conceiver