The New York Times reports:A bomb exploded in an armored car among those belonging to the speaker of Parliament, wounding the American security guard who was driving it out of a parking area in the government Green Zone and disrupting a meeting of lawmakers nearby, a parliamentary aide said. Though the speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, was not in the vehicle and was unscathed, … [Read more...] about Speaker Escapes Death

Richard Cohen explains why he supported the war in Iraq back in '03 (and the years after that) and why he does not do so any longer. Greg Mitchell responds to Cohen's column. From Mitchell:This from the man who, on Feb. 6, 2003, after Secretary of State Colin Powell's deeply-flawed testimony in New York, famously wrote: "The evidence he presented to the United Nations — … [Read more...] about Cohen Twists and Turns

I think... But sometimes I KNOW. … [Read more...] about It’s Always Nice To Be Noticed

Some think it is do-able. Other think it may be difficult. … [Read more...] about The Long Range Impact Of Michael Richards’ Comedy Club Rant

Here's one idea. … [Read more...] about The Problem Of Reducing Abortions

Will Regan Books and Fox look for a replacement project? Like this..? … [Read more...] about So O.J. Simpson’s “If I Did It” Project Is Out

With all the fuss over Michael Richards' racist remarks which occured within the hardball comedy club culture, let's return to a more innocent form of comedy of a different time. In his later years, the great Groucho Marx sings his vaudeville song "Show Me A Rose," an irony-laced piece he did often over the years: … [Read more...] about Comedy Greats: Groucho Marx

Some readers have emailed with more questions about how comedians handle hecklers in comedy clubs. The answer: they handle the problem in varying ways, often with extremely adult language. But they don't usually do it as Michael Richards did — by launching into a tirade aimed at a racial group. They handle it with varying degrees of humor, to try and "win back" the … [Read more...] about Michael Richards And Comedy Club Hecklers: Putting It In Perspective

NOTE: We occasionally run Guest Voice posts from thoughtful readers (and those who comment under our posts). This is the THIRD AND FINAL PART of three-part review of the DVD of Laurel and Hardy's classic film "March of the Wooden Soldiers" (aka "Babes in Toyland") written by Dan Schneider who sometimes leaves comments on this site. See link below for Part I. Schneider has this … [Read more...] about Guest DVD Review: Laurel & Hardy’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” (Part 3)

This year the Center for Politics brings the 9th Annual American Democracy Conference to the nation's capital. The conference, co-hosted with National Journal's The Hotline, will bring leading journalists, Beltway insiders, and academics together to examine: "The 2006 Midterm Elections and the 2008 Presidential Election." The event is free and open to the public with advance … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball: American Democracy Conference

Just on the off-chance that Ted Haggard will see it, here's my advice: 1) Get professional medical help as you may have a drug problem which needs to be addressed. 2) Contact Rev. Mel White of Soulforce for your spiritual rehabilitation including acceptance of your sexual orientation. These suggestions are likely to produce far better and healthier results than the … [Read more...] about Some Advice for Pastor Ted

Why liberals focus on one more than the other. … [Read more...] about Darfur versus North Korea

We recently noted that one of TMV's favorite blogs, Bull Moose, has gone on hiatus...or into "hibernation" as Bull Moose himself, one of the most popular (and at times controversial) centrist bloggers put it. Now its creator and writer, Marshall Wittmann, has a new job: as Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman's communications director:Two weeks after winning reelection as an … [Read more...] about Bull Moose Gets A New Job (UPDATED)

Mitt Romney is working hard to position himself as the "conservative GOP presidential hopeful", reports the Examiner. He is already attacking Rudi Giuliani and, especially, John McCain for not being - in his eyes - conservative enough. The issue - of course - gay marriage:Romney was less charitable to McCain, who on Sunday told ABC News: “I believe that the issue of gay … [Read more...] about A Conservative Candidate

Okay. First thing to note is that on the trip back home from Carleton my computer appears to have melted down. I have no idea what happened, but it was working when I left, and when I arrived it won't even boot up (it just flashes the message "PXE-E61: Media Test Failure." As far as I can tell, it means the computer thinks I don't have a hard-drive. :-( ). Maybe it got jostled … [Read more...] about Happenings

Bush 41 had an incredibly difficult time in Abu Dhabi.Former President George H.W. Bush took on Arab critics of his son Tuesday during a testy exchange at a leadership conference in the capital of this U.S. ally. "My son is an honest man," Bush told members of the audience harshly criticized the current U.S. leader's foreign policy.More: A college student told Bush his belief … [Read more...] about Bush 41 Defends 43 in Abu Dhabi… Kinda

My University: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RuG) CNN has an interesting article up - at least for me, being a student myself at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen - about the fear of the "Americanization of higher education" in Europe:German universities are trying to charge tuition. Paris schools are considering selection instead of open admission. Dutch colleges are pushing … [Read more...] about Improving Higher Education

Sen. James Inhofe — thankfully the outgoing chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — on FOX & Friends the other day: Now look, God’s still up there. We still have these natural changes, and this is what’s going on right now. New science comes out… If the northern hemisphere is warming up, it’s not due to manmade gases. And that’s what … [Read more...] about James Inhofe is an even more dangerous idiot than I thought

Today, Christian Maronite MP and Minister of Industry Pierre Gemayel, Jr. was assassinated in a Christian suburb of East Beirut. In light of last year's assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri, and the ongoing pressure by the so-called "March 14" coalition of Christians, Sunnis and Druze to create a tribunal to investigate the Hariri murder, this new assassination raises … [Read more...] about Lebanon at the Abyss

With McCain these days, it's all about sending more troops to Iraq. A terrible, terrible idea, as I've argued here and here, but at least he's been fairly consistent, and repetitive, in his promotion of the neocon position. So it was quite odd that he had to rely so heavily on his notes with Stephanopoulos yesterday. Did he forget his talking points? How "weird," as Atrios put … [Read more...] about Check those talking points, Senator McCain