Due to a truly brutal travel schedule, TMV himself will post little if at all today. But keep checking back since our cobloggers will likely have some things to say. … [Read more...] about TMV Himself Will Post Little If At All Today

AMERICAblog: Statement by Kirk FordhamI've learned within the last few hours that unnamed sources have purported that I intervened on behalf of Congressman Foley to prevent a page board investigation. This is categorically false. At no point—ever--did I ask anyone to block any inquiries into Foley's actions or behavior. These sources know this allegation is false. Having … [Read more...] about Fordham’s Talking

How long can Dennis Hastert last before the GOP feels it must cut-and-run from the political damage the GOP House leadership has brought on the party...especially with this new breaking story:A senior congressional aide said Wednesday that he alerted House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office two years ago about worrisome conduct by former Rep. Mark Foley with teenage pages. Kirk … [Read more...] about CNN: House Speaker Hastert’s Office Was Alerted About Foley Two Years Ago

TMV NOTE: I used to work as a staff reporter for the San Diego Union, which later merged with the Tribune. Its editorial page is considered to be Republican. Today it ran a stinging editorial about the Foley scandal. Here's the last part of it:Now come even more disturbing revelations that it was common knowledge among the ranks of pages that Foley was someone to steer clear … [Read more...] about Quote Of The Day: “Credibility Gap”

The AP reports: City of London financiers have found a perfect way to splurge their annual bonuses — cosmetic surgery to keep them looking youthful in a fiercely competitive job market. Business is booming in nose jobs, wrinkle fillers, liposuction and botox relaxants to repair the ravages of time. Operations carried out by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic … [Read more...] about British Men And Botox

The heads are beginning to roll...and the contradictions are beginning to be underscored. ABC's The Blotter: The chief of staff for Republican Congressman Tom Reynolds, Kirk Fordham, resigned after questions were raised about his role in the handling of the congressional page scandal, according to Republican sources on Capitol Hill. Those sources said Fordham, a former chief … [Read more...] about Top GOP Staffer Loses Job In Foley Teen Page Email Scandal

It seems that Javier Solana's patience with Iran is - finally - wearing thin. According to Solana just about no progress has been made recently due to Iran's unwillingness to suspend its uranium enrichment program. Solana said that it was time for Iran to take responsibility -> a 'dialogue' can only last so long: "Today, Iran has made no commitment to suspend," Solana said. … [Read more...] about Solana’s Patience With Iran Wearing Thin

The New York Times reports that Roger D. Kornberg (from the Stanford University School of Medicine) 'won' the Nobel Prize for chemistry earlier today. Kornberg is the fifth American who receives a Nobel Prize this year. That's five out of five. Curiously enough, his father won the Nobel Prize as well half a century ago. He received the Nobel Prize for his studies of how cells … [Read more...] about America: 5. Rest of World: 0.

That seems to be how Republicans are trying to spin this. It's either a purely personal matter that is above politics and has nothing to do with the Republican Party, or it's somehow all the Democrats' fault for making too much of it and turning it into a political issue, or liberals' fault for being so politically-correct that Republicans were just too scared to come out and … [Read more...] about Foley’s Sexual Predation? Blame Liberals! Blame the Democrats!

Yet another potential bombshell, as noted by the New York Post: In another stunning development, Robert Novak today reveals in his column - published in PostOpinion on Page 31 - that even after House GOP leaders knew that Foley had written an inappropriate e-mail to a 16-year-old former male page, they were still urging him to seek re-election. Novak writes, "A member of the … [Read more...] about NOVAK: House GOPers Urged Foley To Run For Re-Election After Learning Of Emails

I just noticed this post over at The Brad Blog. It seems that Fox News - suddenly - got a little confused about what party Foley belongs to: Hot Air believes it's an honest mistake / typo. Ezra Klein: Fox is not conservative, its Partisan channel without any intellectual honesty "which is how you get the hackish distortion of reality pictured above." The All Spin Zone: "Three … [Read more...] about Fox: Foley the Democrat

This has not been a good few weeks due to the furor over the intelligence report, the Bob Woodward book and the Foley underage teenage sex scandal — and now it's showing up in the polls:After what they have seen and heard over the past few weeks — events including the news of a Republican congressman's improper correspondence with a teenage page and the recent … [Read more...] about Poll Shows Bush And GOP Congress’ Numbers Slipping

The Christian Science Monitor reports about the relatively successful grass roots movement in America calling on the US government and the UN to do something against the genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan. Students are organizing themselves and are trying to make the UN do something against the violence in before mentioned region which has already cost 200 000 people … [Read more...] about Movements For Darfur Having (Relative) Success

Mark Daniels was was supervisor of pages for the Ohio House of Representatives in Columbus. And during that time there were rumors of a female page having an affair with a married male House member. What did he do? And as someone who has a masters degree in Divinity, and a blog titled "Better Living," what does he think of the Foley scandal? Go to this MUST READ on his … [Read more...] about Exfoleyating the House

I found the following article to be so strange that I thought others might be greatly surprised by it as well: Lions are at the top of the animal food chain, but they have never hunted elephants - until now. Our correspondent watches a BBC crew record the most shocking nautre film you will ever see... “It’s just unbelievable,â€? mutters Jonny Keeling, a BBC wildlife … [Read more...] about Lions Dó See The Elephant In The Room

I have repeatedly stated that the US administration's several woes in international affairs stem from its insistence to ride solo, and roughshod, over public opinion (within and outside the country). Its hostile attitude towards the United Nations has further alienated the United States from the comity of nations. Hopefully, this entire scenario may undergo a change with … [Read more...] about America & Israel Seem Happy With Ban Ki-Moon

Why it's bad, why it's illegal. A primer for the slower folks in the normative ethics class. … [Read more...] about Authority to Randomly Detain People With No Cause

The New York Yankees are on their way to the World Series. Sadly I could not watch, for you guys, yesterday's game: it started at 2AM Dutch time this morning which is a little bit too late (or too early) for my taste. Anyway, the Yankees... won. The Detroit Tigers have a great team, but the Yankees have Jeter: The skies over Yankee Stadium were still rumbling with the roar of … [Read more...] about Yankees: Path to the World Series

In Michael's post on Guns, the comments that follow are on a predictable line. 'Americans love guns', 'it is a question of freedom and inalienable right', 'an average American does not depend on the State alone for his, and his family's, security', 'the simple ego boost from firing guns suits the American's over inflated sense of self', etc. Maybe one should look at the cold … [Read more...] about Americans’ Love Affair With The Gun

Pieter Dorsman published a very interesting post about the Dutch elections over at Politics Central (Pajamas Media). Pieter carefully describes the tense situation in the Netherlands regarding immigration and integration. Let alone assimilation: which is virtually non-existent. In the Netherlands, there seems to be this strange misconception that those calling for assimilation … [Read more...] about The Integration Debate in the Netherlands