"University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small." --Henry Kissenger. Small stakes or not, if you peek inside the department office, you'll see knives on the table and blood on the floor. … [Read more...] about Shark Tank

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, writer for the Weekly Standard, emails TMV and seems to think that Scalia's recent speeches are perfectly within reason. And after reading his article, I think Daveed has a valid point:BY ALL ACCOUNTS, Scalia's Freiburg speech did not go beyond the views he already expressed in his Rasul and Hamdi dissents. The applicable legal standard for recusal is … [Read more...] about Do Previous Opinions Recuse Scalia From Recusal?

...he is out of pocket today. His posts will likely resume towards the end of the day. There are some key issues that'll be dealt with today or for tomorrow's blog. Plus, we're anxious to resume our Around The Sphere linkfest. Due to logistics involving extensive travels, posting time has been quite limited. But, as you can see, our co-bloggers have a lot to say..so keep … [Read more...] about TMV Is Like The Pickpocket With Frostbite

Would Republicans lose if Democrats shifted the debate to "what matters most to working people" -- to education, health care, jobs, etc.? See here. … [Read more...] about Shift the debate and Republicans lose

Formely of The Yellow Line, Alan Stewart Carl is one of the more thoughtful centrist writers around. He recently started up Maverick Views, which I consider a must read. Give Alan a visit and show him some love. … [Read more...] about Alan Stewart Carl Celebrates His First Blogiversary

I am generally quite proud of my country, and I will usually defend it against its critics, but our seal hunt leaves me disgusted and ashamed. Whatever the excuses for it -- its supposed economic benefits, the alleged need to control the seal population -- there is simply no good reason for it. We're talking about the killing, the brutal killing, of 325,000 seals, most of them … [Read more...] about Shame on Canada

Vivek Krishnamurthy examines the potential downside to the recent upsurge of the Fairtrade movement. In the end, it could all be quite self-defeating, whatever it's noble intentions. For more, see here. … [Read more...] about What are the internal contradictions of the Fairtrade movement?

This isn't the first time this has been reported in the world media — but a New York Times piece is now giving wider circulation to a British memo that paints a picture of President George Bush as being intent to invade Iraq, no matter what — even to the point of suggesting that an incident was needed to provoke a U.S. invasion:In the weeks before the United … [Read more...] about British Memo Says Bush Was Intent On Invading Iraq

According to the L.A. Times, "Iran is moving faster than expected and is just days from making the first steps toward enriching uranium". What does this mean? -- "If engineers encounter no major technical problems, Iran could manufacture enough highly enriched uranium to build a bomb within three years, much more quickly than the common estimate of five to 10 years." Iran … [Read more...] about Iran close to uranium enrichment — so what do we do now?

It wasn't so long ago that pro-West reformer Viktor Yushchenko was the toast of Kiev, at least among the democratic masses. Well, how far the mighty have fallen! Last September, Yushchenko was brought low by internal divisions and allegations of corruption. And in this weekend's parliamentary elections, according to the BBC, "he has been beaten into third place by the … [Read more...] about Ukraine’s post-revolutionary about-face

We're having some severe posting problems right now. We see that our co-bloggers have gotten some posts up and some are in the timer. But TMV himself was unable to write last night due to being unable to connect to the server. These problems should be resolved but please keep checking back. If you see posts its due to in inability to get them on the site right now. … [Read more...] about Note To Readers

It's gone from balloting to protesting in Belarus, as opposition parties and supporters took to the streets this past weekend -- the anniversary of the establishment of the Belarussian republic in 1918 -- to protest the results of the recent presidential election. The BBC has the story here, the Post here. My two posts on "Balloting in Belarus" are here and here. … [Read more...] about Protesting in Belarus

With race in the media, it's damned if you do and damned if you don't. … [Read more...] about Double Dead-End

At first glance, this seems like fantastic news. After all, the guy is being let off. But the opening on this story certainly gave me pause:KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said.Well, what does that mean for the next … [Read more...] about Abdul Rahman Goes Free

See why. … [Read more...] about Scalia Should Recuse Himself From Upcoming Case

Michael Reynolds just celebrated a year in the blogosphere. But he forgot the date. Trust me, I sympathize...I have never been any good at keeping track of dates. Every single year for 26 years I've missed the day my wife and I celebrate as our anniversary. July 1st, by the way, I know that. She forgets it, too. It's not the day we got married (neither of us has a clue about … [Read more...] about The Mighty Middle Celebrates One Year

Cicero questions our strategy.In spite of the view that the globalized world will deliver long-term freedom and prosperity, I have begun to wonder if openness will be an option as we cross history’s harsh thresholds, hidden in the tall grass. History always reaps the unexpected; its scythe is strident. [...] I believe we are already at a historical threshold. The first … [Read more...] about The New World Order

This just in from investigative reporter Scott Ott:U.S. Needs ‘Guest Worker’ to Answer Helen Thomas by Scott Ott (2006-03-24) — President George Bush today defended his controversial guest worker immigration proposal contending that without the policy, the United States will soon have no way of accomplishing many unpleasant tasks such as harvesting vegetables, cleaning … [Read more...] about This Just In!

Time reports that there's a sinking feeling now on the part of Republicans. Its sub-headline says it all:If the midterm elections were held today, top strategists of both parties say privately, the Republicans would probably lose the 15 seats they need to keep control of the House of Representatives.How bad is it? According to Time, there's even a slim chance — versus the … [Read more...] about Time: Scrambling Republicans On Verge Of Losing House Of Representatives And Close To Losing Senate

Where are all the Ninjas? h/t Asia Pundit. … [Read more...] about Where Have They Gone In American Culture?