Watching America has a remarkable piece from China bluntly contrasting the Chinese and American educational systems. Here's their intro:Are China's educational methods inferior to those practiced in the United States? According to this amazingly critical op-ed article that appeared in China's State-controlled Oriental Morning Post, China's educational system, which relies on … [Read more...] about A View From China: “

Longtime conservative icon William F. Buckley has declared the Iraq war a "failure" and said the blame should be placed on President George Bush:William F. Buckley Jr., the longtime conservative writer and leader, said George W. Bush's presidency will be judged entirely by the outcome of a war in Iraq that is now a failure. ``Mr. Bush is in the hands of a fortune that will be … [Read more...] about Buckley Calls Iraq War A “Failure”

...and there are times when it's clearly not (but some will stand by you no matter what if you use all the right phrases...). … [Read more...] about There Are Times When It’s Legitimate To Play The “Race Card”

Another poetic gem from TMV's favorite poet, Michael Silverstein, aka Wall Street Poet: A Tax-Free Nation Ollie Wendell Holmes once said About taxes in this nation, They are the price we gotta pay To have civilization. But recently I'm thinking That this rule we should relax, 'Cause I'd rather not be civilized Than pay my income tax. The money sinks of public ed, The vet … [Read more...] about Guest Poet: A Tax Free Nation

Americans are adamant about wanting stricter enforcement about the border — and also adamant about favoring a guest worker program, a Time magazine poll has found:=Americans polled by TIME magazine show strong support for a guest-worker program and a process for undocumented workers to become citizens, but they take a tough stance on securing the borders. And most do not … [Read more...] about Time Poll: Americans Overwhemingly Favor Guest Worker Program

Black people "go wild", individual White persons commit isolated crimes. Black people obstruct law enforcement with the call to "stop snitchin'", White people assert their fundamental rights to "not talk on the advice of my attorney." Does this trouble you? It should--and with one of the most shocking cases of racial violence in years currently on the media pages, it's time … [Read more...] about Racial Portrayal in the Duke Lacrosse Case

Progressive talker Ed Schultz, who has one of the fastest growing radio talk shows in the country, will be on Larry King Live on CNN tonight at 9 p.m. (the other guest will be former President Bill Clinton). TMV listens to a lot of talk radio when he travels and Schultz is among his favorites due to his shows variety, ability to seize on breaking news, and Schultz's own … [Read more...] about One Of TMV’s Favorite Talk Show Hosts On Larry King Tonight

(Note: This post first appeared earlier this week and prompted an excellent, informative discussion among readers in the comments section. It has been updated in light of recent developments. I am particularly interested to know what your own proposed solution(s) to the Iranian nuclear crisis might be. — MS) ********** Wednesday marked the appearance of Real Security: … [Read more...] about Iran close to uranium enrichment — so what do we do now?

And to that point...what is a centrist? More here. … [Read more...] about What Is A Moderate?

First came the storm that wiped out the city. Then came lagging restoration efforts, despite determined-sounding promises from government officials. Now comes the news from the Bush administration that due to rising costs New Orleans may not be able to be totally protected again, despite earlier statements:The Bush administration said yesterday that the cost of rebuilding New … [Read more...] about Bad News For New Orleans’ Short And Long Term Future

Surprise. And a pleasant one. For once. Joy. Widespread. Worldwide. But especially at the homes of relatives of Jill Carroll and at One Norway Street, The Christian Science Monitor's offices. The release of the Monitor's correspondent Jill Carroll is a rarity these days: a hostage story that truly has a happy ending that everyone can enjoy. The details of precisely how and … [Read more...] about Lessons Drawn From Jill Carroll’s Release

From Ramussen Reports:Forty percent (40%) of American adults approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. That matches the lowest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports. The slight increase in Approval seen last weekend was clearly nothing more than statistical noise. While people are not happy with the President, 55% say they are better off today … [Read more...] about Bush Polling Sets Another Record

That's right, but as you can see from the picture above, there aren't enough spaces to display an additional number. In about 2 years, the clock will become obsolete. Currently the debt is approximately $8,370,000,000,000. And you don't want to know what your share of that is... Who wants to bet me the debt will be an issue in 2008? More here. (h/t: Maverick Views) … [Read more...] about Soon, The US Will Be 10,000,000,000,000 In Debt

The National Journal's Murray Waas has an eye-opening piece that is one more story suggesting that President George Bush was specifically told that some of what he said to justify the war in Iraq might not be true — and that Karl Rove & Co. have worked mightily to protect that from coming out:Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, cautioned other White … [Read more...] about The Longstanding Operation To Protect George Bush On Iraq

If you are knowledgable about what law and graduate schools are strong in race theory, whiteness theory, or Jewish theory, please drop me a line at The Debate Link. … [Read more...] about Academic Future Bleg

The Heterosexual Hemispheres Act of 2006. … [Read more...] about A Parody For How Long

I don't have the time to comment properly on these stories right now, but they're all worth following. All links are to The Washington Post: -- Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party (founded by Ariel Sharon) won the most Knesset seats in Tuesday's Israeli elections (28 of 120). Israel uses a List-PR (proportional representation) electoral system, with seats apportioned according to the … [Read more...] about Olmert, Taylor, and Livingstone

Sign of the Apocalypse #29 at The Reaction. This is Britney. Britney Spears. On a bearskin rug. Giving birth to Baby Federline. As sculpted by Daniel Edwards. According to the Post, this piece of "art" will soon be on display at Brooklyn's Capla Kesting Fine Art gallery. Next to "anti-abortion materials" as part of an exhibit called "Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean … [Read more...] about Britney’s pro-life birth sculpture

How to deal with the intractable problem of HIV/AIDS in the developing world? Vivek Krishnamurthy offers a "modest proposal" here. … [Read more...] about AIDS and foreign aid

Even in a cruel world where terrorism automatically breeds grief stricken fatalism, there can be a happy ending: The Christian Science Monitor's Iraq correspondent Jill Carroll has been released:American journalist Jill Carroll, abducted in early January by gunmen in Baghdad, was released to a Sunni Arab political party in the capital Thursday morning after 82 days in … [Read more...] about Happy Ending: American Hostage Journalist Jill Carroll Released