A new complicating factor has been thrown into TMV's posts beween now and the second week in December. This is written as he gets ready to go to the airport. It turns out that someone has stolen TMV's laptop. He'll still be doing his posts but he will be limited on certain days and for a three day stretch at the end of next week. This is NOT a good financial time for this to … [Read more...] about Note To Readers:

On November 9 and 17 of this year, I addressed the use of white phosphorus, an incendiary weapon, by U.S. forces in Iraq. Reaction from readers was, well, intense. You can find those posts here and here. No one thinks that WP is a humane weapon, and no one denies that it was used in Iraq, specifically in Fallujah, but one of the central questions of the discussion, both here … [Read more...] about Pentagon admits white phosphorus is a chemical weapon

Here's an overlooked but rather serious story from recent days: A French diplomat has admitted to accepting "oil allocations" from Saddam -- that is, for participating in the oil-for-food scandal -- that is, for feeding Saddam's tyranny. Wonderful, eh? … [Read more...] about Feeding Saddam: French corruption and the oil-for-food scandal

I wrote mostly about U.S. politics and culture, as many of you know, but here are a couple of stories from The Canada Desk: 1) Shania Twain has been awarded the Order of Canada, this country's highest civilian honour -- see here. In all, 43 Canadians received the honour... Governor General Michaelle Jean, Queen Elizabeth's representative and our de facto head of state, … [Read more...] about Shania Twain and softwood lumber

Two articles leave me significantly less inclined to support either of these two Democratic frontrunners in 2008. Sure it's early to be Presi-blogging. But it sure is fun. … [Read more...] about Strikes Against Warner, Feingold

Since the White House went on its big offensive, suggesting those who oppose the war in Iraq or have serious questions about how the administration has handled it are undercutting the troops and fellow travelers of terrorists, the operative questions have been: What will HILLARY say? Will she come out for immediate withdrawal? Will she insist that will have bad consequences? … [Read more...] about Hillary Clinton Cautions Against Immediate Iraq Pullout

Watch it yourself HERE and decide if it was insidious or not. What's the big deal? During his presidency, a TRIPLE X appeared over Bill Clinton's face... … [Read more...] about Dick Cheney And The Mysterious “X”

The Moderate Voice is heading to the East Coast today to visit his parents, The Moderate Parents. His posts will continue...but today is a 100 percent travel day. However, our always independent co-bloggers will have some things to say, so stay tuned. TMV will be posting himself over the next few days. But the only posts you'll see by him today appear by way of the magical … [Read more...] about TMV On The Road

As nearly everyone knows, blogging is basically voluntary. People put in a LOT of spare time doing it and it doesn't pay the bills (except in a few cases). And there may be family crises, critical education requirements, new jobs that can interfere with doing it on a regular basis. Some of our always independent guest bloggers now have some of other things going on that … [Read more...] about Welcome Our Newest Co-Bloggers

Hi all, I'm Justin Gardner, editor of the centrist blog Donklephant. Joe has been kind enough to invite me to post on TMV and I'm more than happy to oblige. A little background on me...I'm a marketing guy by day and am currently working at a new internet search technology startup. I used to write a left-wing screed/e-newsletter called StayInformed, but I realized that, instead … [Read more...] about To Begin…

CNN: Bush tries mare's milk but avoids camels' spit Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (AP) — The scene was straight out of a Genghis Khan movie. There were Mongol warriors clad in armor and helmets, armed with swords and mounted on the short, stout horses unique to Mongolia. The warriors hoisted colorful battle flags on spears. Dancers in colorful costumes and elaborate masks that … [Read more...] about CNN: GWB Drinks Fermented Mare’s Milk

Sharon's new party is bound to have big impacts in Israel. As a supporter of Shinui (Israel's current centrist party), I would be thrilled if a moderate coalition came to power in Jerusalem. I don't consider myself to be a big linker, but I went all-out on this reaction post. It's got links from all across the blogosphere, plus thoughts of my own interspersed between the sea … [Read more...] about Sharon’s Shocker Fallout

...If the Mongol Hordes Got Bored? 10 Points if you can identify the source. Anyway, Jason Zenegrle mocks President Bush for trumpeting Mongolia's 120 troop deployment to Iraq. Personally, I think we should be more aggressive in making Mongolia's presence known in Iraq. If the insurgents have any sense of history, they'll get the message. (And to folks whose irony-meter is … [Read more...] about How Many Boards, Would the Mongols Hoard…

Andrew Sullivan responds to this excellent piece by John Burns in The New York Times. To quote Andrew: "One thing I wish were more insisted upon. It's not just that we have no interest in seeing Iraq degenerate into a brutal civil and possibly regional war. By removing Saddam, we created this vacuum. We own it. We have a moral responsibility to see this through." (OxBlog … [Read more...] about America’s moral responsibility in Iraq

At Newsweek, Howard Fineman reports on the past week's drama in the House, with passions on both sides raising the political temperature to dangerously high levels. But here's what really happened, what it was all about: The drama on the floor was a shabby — at times, farcical — finale to a season that nevertheless had produced something serious: a transformation of the … [Read more...] about A House Divided: Iraq, Murtha, and the passions of war

Does he want to "cut and run?" Does he sound like a "coward?" Watch the Meet The Press VIDEO HERE and make up your own mind. … [Read more...] about Judging John Murtha

Breaking News - General Motors to cut 30,000 jobs, shut five plants. … [Read more...] about MSNBC: Major Cuts at GM

From the BBC: "The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [a leading research firm] ranked 20 countries on 15 indicators of political and civil liberty." The results are interesting, if predictable: Israel's at the top, Libya's at the bottom. And Bush's Saudi pals are third last. I've also got the list here. … [Read more...] about Political freedom in the Middle East

It's like no one's even paying attention to him anymore. And — with North Korea and China to deal with, two very different but two very serious problems, an emerging nuclear state and an emerging superpower with enormous military and economic might — he's stuck in his own Iraqi quagmire, unable to provide the statesmanship necessary to lead the international … [Read more...] about The castrated president: Bush in Asia

The BBC has the funny (and rather pathetic) story here: "President George W. Bush tried to make a quick exit from a news conference in Beijing on Sunday — only to find himself thwarted by locked doors." The Post (via Reuters) has it here. Steve Soto calls it a "moment of total buffoonery". Andrew Sullivan is more sympathetic and notes that Bush looked "shattered" on … [Read more...] about Locked door thwarts Bush — a metaphor