Oxblog's Patrick Porter:Its legitimate to hold someone to account for arguments they make in the public sphere. Though if everyone was accountable for views we had four years ago, who would 'scape whipping?'Read how a host of issues come together HERE. … [Read more...] about On The Iraq “Catastrophe” And The “Etiquette Of Blogging”

Poor Taco Bell. And we mean it. This isn't "snark." Millions of dollars and millions of hours of toil, good service to customers and overtime go into creating a top corporate image. And, sad but true, it can be quickly undone by news stories that raise fears or revulsion in consumers, particularly if coupled with slow or inadequate corporate crisis management. And that's what … [Read more...] about Taco Bell Says Test Shows Its Food Is Now Safe

Well, NOW we realize our error. TMV was cruising around You Tube when he came across an intriguing video from Bill O'Reilly's show where he showed a video of a young girl saying some politically blunt things, one of which was bleeped out. O'Reilly asked an expert if this qualified as child abuse. Then TMV went out (he does leave his computer). But now he realizes he was … [Read more...] about APOLOGY: We Presented Earlier O’Reilly Video In An INCOMPLETE CONTEXT

The Palestinian Authority may hold early elections. But will it do any good? … [Read more...] about Futile Gesture

But a different kind. Is this child abuse? (TMV's View: It wasn't right when a Republican candidate used his kids in a campaign ad in a highly political way during the 2004 campaign and it is NOT right in this instance. LET KIDS BE KIDS) … [Read more...] about Bill O’Reilly On Child Abuse

I make the case for an alternative reading of the most notoriously anti-gay verse in the Torah. Thou shalt not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination. … [Read more...] about Leviticus 18:22: The Most Pro-Gay Verse in the Bible?

The New York Times has an interesting article up about the Iraq Study Group's report and what it tells us about the state of the Republican Party. According to the NYT (and I do not quite see how one can possibly disagree with it), it is a sign of the division that exists within the Republican Party about how to deal with Iraq. A division that's deep. Very deep.Republican … [Read more...] about A Republican Divide

The Jawa Report reminds us of the incredible amount of bias at the Associated Press. The AP... Independently biased. … [Read more...] about AP Propaganda

Voting for the Weblog Awards continues. As Joe wrote yesterday, TMV is honored to be nominated for Best Centrist Blog. We seem to be second right now, behind Althouse. If you believe that The Moderate Voice is the best Centrist Blog on the Net, we would appreciate your support. As Joe also wrote yesterday:Our coblogger Michael van der Galien has pointed to Ed Morrissey's … [Read more...] about Vote or Die

Thomas Barnett grasps the importance of this breakthrough on sharing oil revenues in Iraq:Previous deal said central gov got all revenue to distribute from existing fields, but future ones left to individual groups (Kurds, Sunnis, Shiia). That had the Kurds pushing hard to attract their own Foreign Direct Investment into the industry. Yes, it would have come, but it will come … [Read more...] about Iraqi Oil Sharing Breakthrough

Image from Voltaire Network: Dominance of US Superpower? Jules has an interesting post up about an article from the Guardian, written by one Martin Jacques. After dealing with what Jules calls a tremendous case of revisionist history, he deals with what Martin wrote about Iraq: Which brings us to Iraq. Jacques correctly notes that in the wake of U.S. failure there, Iran will … [Read more...] about European Jealousy Exposed

Slate reports that New York City is banning Trans fats (Vegetable oils made solid by adding Hydrogen) because they lead to poor health. I imagine that most restaurants will go back to Saturated fats (from animals) that are still allowed. Some restaurants argue that their food will not taste the same. It seems to me that much of the same aim could be accomplished while also … [Read more...] about Fats and Freedom

The Straight Path is a blog about Islam by Ruth Nasrullah. Ruth made a comment on TMV and I wanted to raise the profile of this welcome voice to public discussions of Islam. Her latest post is Muslims who condemn terror...one of my readers suggested a response to the widely-held but inaccurate opinion that Muslims in this country do not condemn terror. He said that a petition … [Read more...] about Muslims who condemn terror

I've read a slew of good books this year. But if I could pick only one book and recommend it as a holiday gift it would be "Falling Through the Earth: A Memoir" by Danielle Trussoni. "Falling" is about the author's journey to try to understand her father, Daniel, by turns a nasty and loving man who was a "tunnel rat" in Vietnam, a nightmarishly dangerous job that involved … [Read more...] about A Coblogger’s Favorite Book of the Year

This just in from investigative reporter Scott Ott of Scrappleface. Here's his latest scoop that should soon make the newswires:Iran to Deploy N-Bomb at U.S. Comedy Clubs by Scott Ott (2006-12-07) — Iran already has the N-bomb, according to an unnamed European diplomat, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has approved a plan to begin deploying it at comedy clubs in the United … [Read more...] about This Just In!

I'll be attending services tomorrow morning. Since I go to a Conservative Synagogue, we are hosting a discussion on our recent gay rights Teshuvot. Watch this space for any news I might glean from my Rabbi and the community. Apparently, one of our congregants is on the law committee, so I might be able to get some juicy tidbits. … [Read more...] about View from the Trenches

We've often linked to Tom Watson and his always-stylish weblog. Guess what category his superb blog wound up in? THE ANSWER. … [Read more...] about An Interesting Twist In The Weblog Awards

And arguably the greatest (certainly the most maltreated) Sci-Fi series is reborn as an online RPG. … [Read more...] about Firefly Pulls a Phoenix

I'm curious how the right wing base will react to this.... … [Read more...] about Swing Voter

An Illinois politician with around seven years in the State Senate and another two in Congress contemplating a Presidential run? Why, it's like something out of the middle of the 19th century! That's a bit too coincidental, no? … [Read more...] about Too Eerie