Some blogs take an ABC satire alleging to be a memo from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow seriously. (Hey, that happens to best of us. We once took seriously all the memos from readers suggesting a special, dark place where we should stick our computer but we know all of our readers love us...) … [Read more...] about A Big Fat “OOPS”

This is not a lot of baloney. From the AP:Some might call a partially-eaten sandwich ordered by then-Vice President Richard Nixon 46 years ago just a piece of trash. But Steve Jenne thought he saw a piece of history and has held onto it ever since. Jenne retrieved the left-behind buffalo barbecue sandwich after Nixon dined at a political rally in Sullivan, Illinois, during … [Read more...] about Is This The Sandwich Eaten By Richard Nixon?

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has been ranked among the top ten 'failed states' in the world, ahead of Afghanistan and a host of crisis-ridden African countries, in a new world survey released on Tuesday, says the Times of India. While a similar report in the BBC says "Pakistan 'is a top failed state'." Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has confessed to transferring nuclear technology to Iran … [Read more...] about Pakistan: A “Failed State”?

Sorry, I just had to put the title of this post in all caps. The reality of global warming is obvious to many of us, but its deniers occupy the highest reaches of political life and continue to block efforts to deal with it appropriately. Despite all the evidence, these deniers have long claimed that there's just too much uncertainty to reach any definitive conclusion. And so … [Read more...] about THIS JUST IN — GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL!

Someone needs to cut up the Senate's credit cards. Yesterday, that body added several additional spending projects to the "emergency" appropriations bill, sending the overall cost soaring to near $109 billion, making it now $17 billion over the $92.2-billion threshold (plus another $2 billion for avian-flu preparedness) Bush says he'll veto at. Bush reiterated his veto threat … [Read more...] about “Stop Us Before We Spend Again!”

Mexico's President Vincente Fox is doing a quick about-face on signing a controversial new Mexican drug law that would decriminalize small amounts of some drugs — and that could have led to a boost in tourism for Mexico for all the wrong reasons:After intense pressure from the United States, President Vicente Fox has asked Congress to reconsider a law it passed last week … [Read more...] about Mexico’s President Backs Down On Controversial Drug Law

911 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui's defense team saved the day despite the best efforts of their client: a jury has decided he should be spared the death penalty and given a life sentence for the bloodiest terrorist attack on the American homeland. And, according to the Washington Post, he was gloatingly jubilant:"America, you lost. I won!" Moussaoui yelled as he was escorted … [Read more...] about Moussaoui Escapes Death Penalty And Gets Life (UPDATED)

The DOJ is alleging that a Black Democratic leader in rural Mississippi is engaging in voter suppression and intimidation against Whites in his county. … [Read more...] about I’m Sure This Is The Single Largest Voting Rights Violation In Mississippi

TMV is already on the list, and I just signed my blog up for this petition in favor of online integrity. … [Read more...] about Online Integrity

It certainly isn't the food. Perhaps it's the easily accessible health care? Alan Stewart Carl has more. … [Read more...] about Why Are The Brits Healthier Than Us?

CNN reports:Tsunami warnings were issued for Fiji and New Zealand early Thursday (local time) after a massive earthquake measuring about 8.0 in magnitude shook the southern Pacific Ocean. The quake's epicenter was about 90 miles off the coast of Tonga, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake struck Wednesday 3:26 p.m. UTC, or 4:26 a.m. Thursday in Tonga. The … [Read more...] about Tsunami Warning For Fiji And New Zealand

Needless to say, I and almost every other sensible person in the world have been rather critical of Iranian President Mahmoud "Madman of Tehran" Ahmadinejad's incendiary rhetoric, both with respect to Iran's budding nuclear program and to Israel and the Holocaust. (For background, should you be so inclined, see my previous posts here, here, here, here, and here.) Now, I … [Read more...] about Iranian women can now attend sporting events

I noted last December that Bolivia had moved to the left with the election of Evo Morales, a Castro admirer and would-be Chavez, as president. Well, rightly or wrongly, Morales has seized control of his country's gas industry, according to The Washington Post: Bolivian President Evo Morales seized control of the country's natural gas industry Monday, sending soldiers to occupy … [Read more...] about Bolivia’s gas industry and economic self-determination

It has been several days now since his high-profile comedy gig at the White House Correspondent dinner but the hills are alive with the sound of talk about Stephen Colbert's performance. Did he step out of line and by implication is that a no-no in today's Washington D.C? Must satire to a certain degree now be deferential? Did his satirical target President George Bush just … [Read more...] about Praise And Criticism Of Colbert’s Satire Continue To Pour In

An update from The New York Times: The United States, Britain and France have drafted a binding Security Council resolution requiring Iran to stop key nuclear activities, but Russia and China are already resisting, officials involved in the negotiations said today. The draft resolution, which has not been made public, expresses "serious concern" that Iran has not complied with … [Read more...] about U.N. Security Council divided over Iran resolution

Ed Morrissey thinks so. He quotes a news article about backlash then writes:The real irony of this situation is that prior to the series of protests, with their demands and rejection of American sovereignty, the immigration hardliners did not have the momentum to get their program passed. President Bush had enough juice left to get a moderate reform program passed, one which … [Read more...] about Have The Immigrants’ Rallies Already Sparked A Backlash?

You can see it's part of a pattern: again a new low... … [Read more...] about Yet Another Poll Continues The Bad News For Bush/GOP Trend

We plan to use videos VERY SPARINGLY on TMV...but this is one we must share with readers. Since TMV himself is in entertainment and comedy he has his favorite "classic comedians" and at the top of the list is the great Lou Costello, part of the famous Abbott & Costello comedy team. Costello died at the age 52 in 1959 (he had the same heart disease that later took the young … [Read more...] about TMV SPECIAL: Lou Costello Outtakes

...but is it proving to be a bad influence on some of its actors? … [Read more...] about The Sopranos Is An Influential Show

The debate: is a wall needed at the U.S. Mexico border? The debaters: Josh Trevino (on the right) and Armando (on the left). The venue: the great new blog that offers issue-oriented debate, Swords Crossed. Trevino makes the case for a wall here. Armando makes the case against the wall here. Note that they also answer each other in comments -- and they're not into name … [Read more...] about Is A Wall Needed At The U.S.-Mexico Border?