I mean, everyone... And he's very busy on cable TV. … [Read more...] about Everyone Is Blogging These Days (UPDATED)

There are both corrupt Democrats and corrupt Republicans. One GOP partisan, however, claims that corrupt GOPers are more likely to resign in disgrace, while Democrats try to hang onto power ala William Jefferson. Is that true? It appears the answer is: Marginally, but hard to tell because so many more Republicans are corrupt in the first place. … [Read more...] about Resignation

Shiite H/t to commenter "Interested" Unbelievable. Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, who incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped to head the Intelligence Committee when the Democrats take over in January, failed a quiz of basic questions about al Qaeda and Hezbollah, two of the key terrorist organizations the intelligence community has focused on since the September 11, … [Read more...] about What’s Knowledge Got To Do, Got To Do With It?

I set up the question(s) at Central Sanity this afternoon. I'll offer my own answers, here, tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d be interested to know what you think, or if you have links to others who have already tackled this "debate." … [Read more...] about Who throws a shoe?

The last few months and especially weeks, I'm learning more and more about Turkish culture. One of the aspects of Turkish culture that might surprise some people is the, political and legal, equality of women. Watch the video below. I likey. All kidding aside, the role and equality of women is different in remote villages (where the people are mostly uneducated and … [Read more...] about I’ll be Good… I Promise

This, in a nutshell, is America's War on Drugs. … [Read more...] about Picture This

Iranian reformist students hold portraits of the country's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, upside down in protest during his visit a Tehran university. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images H/t to commenter Kevin H. The Guardian reports that students of Tehran university protested against Ahmadinejad.Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, faced an unprecedented outburst of public … [Read more...] about Students Revolt

The "Once per 24 hour" voting rule makes for some weird patterns. My two main competitors both seem to get most of their votes in the morning and early afternoon. I get most of mine in the evening. So, each day I slowly fall behind, and then come racing madly back into contention. It's a crazy rollercoaster, and it's making me dizzy. My category, "best of the top 3,501 - … [Read more...] about Every Day It’s The Same…

I started a new routine yesterday: the literary quote of the day. Because yesterday was - obviously - Sunday, I will repeat my intro to that post. As all of you know, I read a lot. I thought that it would be nice to start a new, daily routine: the literary quote of the day. For those who already read a lot, perhaps you recognize the quote and want to leave a comment about it … [Read more...] about Literary Quote of the Day: Ralph Waldo Emerson

A leading Hamas official, Khaled Mashaal, has proposed a 10-year cease fire with Israel during which time a Palestinian state would be established based on the 1967 borders. You get the feeling he thinks this is a big concession. It isn't. Israel isn't interested in cease-fires. It's interested in peace. Permanent, lasting, peace, recognized as a full and equal member of the … [Read more...] about Big Deal

Is he America's next President? Ed Morrissey has quite an interesting post up: GOP Bloggers has their monthly Presidential Straw Poll running again, square in the middle of voting season here on the blogs. Once again, blog readers can cast their votes from their favorite blogs in order to allow analysis from each blog about their readers' choices. It looks like the latest … [Read more...] about The GOP and Giuliani

The violence in Darfur may be on the verge of crossing over into a full-fledged regional war. And if that's the case, our chance to stop this horrific genocide may have passed us by. … [Read more...] about The Tipping Point

Ahh, that Ahmadinejad... always concerned about freedom of speech, isn't he? Such a great supporter of healthy debates. In this case about the Holocaust: At the opening of the conference, Iran said the event would not be an attempt to deny the World War II genocide but merely to discuss it in an unrestricted atmosphere. However, the conference was initiated by Ahmadinejad, … [Read more...] about Nice Conference…

The story in a London newspaper that a forthcoming report states that the U.S. Secret Service was bugging Princess Diana's telephone conversations (without the approval of British security services) in the hours before she was killed in a car crash in Paris is shocking but not surprising. It was bad enough that driver Henri Paul was drunk on his arse while speeding through a … [Read more...] about Another Lady Di-Dodi Al Fayed Bombshell

Yee Haw! Another interesting episode in the history of the Middle-East. Where, in the past, different sects went at each other's throat by merely using conventional weapons, they upgrade their weapons in Episode 1 000 005 of this thought-provoking book. O, as Charles points out: "Oops, my mistake. Upon closer reading, I see this is all about peace".The oil-rich Arab states on … [Read more...] about Nuclear Arms Race Here We Go!

I bought into the conventional wisdom that the Iraq Study Group report would provide the necessary political cover for President Bush to make some badly needed course corrections. I was wrong. The new CW is that harrumphing over the report by conservative hawks will provide the necessary cover for The Decider to reject much of the report. More here. … [Read more...] about The Iraq Study Group & Conventional Wisdom

Allow me to start by acknowledging the obvious irony: My first post on The Moderate Voice is anything but moderate. But sometimes, to reach a moderate or centrist conclusion, we must all start with an extreme suggestion, so we can work our way back to the viable middle. And that is precisely my intent here. I know we'll never stop political lies … any more than we'll … [Read more...] about Goodbye Political Lies

I've never quite understood the fascination with all things Mafia, but two new reports just out – one on the state of organized crime in New England and the other on mobster economics – as well as a new book bound for the bestseller list show that this phenomenon, pickled in Hollywood brine, is alive and well in contrast to the mob's victims. I would be disingenuous if I … [Read more...] about Our Ongoing Fascination With All Things Mafia

The political reporters have a new narrative. The broadcast and print talking heads have a new unknown (who he is and how he will fare) that is morphing into a known (why, it looks like he'll make the leap!). The subject: Democrat Barack Obama, who is being pitchforked into the headlines — which could be causing a few worries for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, if she … [Read more...] about 2008 Presidential Race Speculation Becomes Obama Orama

Who says the younger generation doesn't discover very old music? Here's an instant classic lip sync of a now politically-incorrect song (somewhat underacted here): … [Read more...] about And Now A Lip Sync Break 4 U