Finally, a MAJOR advancement in pet culture: New York City entrepreneur Rebecca Rescate launches CitiKitty(TM), an easy-to-use toilet training kit that will relieve millions of cat owners from the mess and smell left behind by their beloved feline. "When I moved from a large home in Pennsylvania to a small apartment in New York City there was no place to hide my cat's litter … [Read more...] about World’s First Cat Toilet Training Kit Is Ready To Go

Via Laura Rozen, the Badr Brigades have taken over Baghdad's mayor's office according to the NYtimes. The Brigades are the SCIRI's armed militia and are directly backed by Iran (trained and funded), so to say this is a major development is more than an understatement: The deposed mayor, Alaa al-Tamimi, who was not in his offices at the time, recounted the events in a telephone … [Read more...] about Shi’ite Militia Takes Over Baghdad

Cross posted at The Smoking Room It had all the makings of a great movie - a young graduate travels to Namibia on a journalism internship, hoping to reconnect with her father in his native land. She anchors the evening news several times and retraces the exile of the country's first president through the countryside - where, unlike the city, malaria-infected mosquitos are … [Read more...] about Young American journalist dies of malaria

In times of disaster, Americans are known for their generosity, even to nations hostile to us, such as Iran. Are we allowing politics to change that admirable trait? At Slate, Christopher Hitchens asked: Question: Why have several large American cities not already announced that they are going to become sister cities with Baghdad and help raise money and awareness to aid Dr. … [Read more...] about Politics and generosity

TMV's own posts will be a bit late today. He got stuck in a MONSTER traffic jam due to accidents on I-5 so a trip to Orange County that normally takes a little over an hour took nearly three hours. But Thank God for our co-bloggers...who have left some thought-provoking posts (as usual). Also: you'll note that if you checked this site last night a few of the posts listed for … [Read more...] about TMV’s Posts Will Be A Bit Late Today

SUBJECT2DISCUSSION the webcast and podcast program with bloggers takes a detour on Wednesday's program when KATEE SACKHOFF aka Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica will be on to talk about the second season of the series and more. SUBJECT2DISCUSSION is heard LIVE at 6pm PST on LVROCKS.COM … [Read more...] about Listen To A Battlestar Galactica Star LIVE!

Maybe. Advocacy groups are emerging to take stands on the Roberts nomination. Predictably, the right is for and the left is against. But there is now at least one exception to that rule of polarized partisan politics: A group called Public Advocate of the United States (a "pro-family" organization) has declared its opposition to Roberts. Why, you ask? What could have driven … [Read more...] about Rough waters ahead for John Roberts

Maureen Dowd is back at the Times after a long summer leave, and, as I was reading her latest column -- predictably, an attack on "W." -- this question came to mind: Does anyone care about the op-ed page of the Times anymore? … [Read more...] about Is Maureen Dowd worth $1.15?

Yeah, it's confusing. But if you've been finding my stuff on Malkin and the application of Critical Race Theory to conservative minorities, you may find this post interesting too (though it, itself, has nothing to do with the Malkin controversy). … [Read more...] about Outsiders Critiquing Insiders Trying to Make Insiders Outsiders

Cicero said that. When it comes to genocide, mass murder, and other atrocities, America has been silent for too long. And it's lack of resolve doesn't just affect us, in fact, it affects us very little. What it does do is silence the millions of victims of government sponsored torture, murder, rape, and terror that continue on to this day and whose only hope for salvation … [Read more...] about In Their Silence They Cry Out

Saturday marked the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Today marks the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. The following is cross-posted at The Reaction. Please check there for some interesting follow-up comments from a few of my readers, and I encourage you to add your own in response. Given that I write about the two bombings in terms of our historical … [Read more...] about Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The power of memory and forgetting

We've been hit by some medical tragedy stories involving the rich and famous in recent years: such as the ongoing saga of the late Christopher Reeves and the brutally-fast illness/death of ABC anchorman Peter Jennings. Now we get this: NEW YORK - Dana Reeve, who spent nine years caring for her paralyzed husband, Christopher Reeve, until his death last year, announced Tuesday … [Read more...] about Christopher Reeve’s Widow Has Lung Cancer

When people lower the bar on our culture they don't announce: "Hey! I'm lowering the bar! I'm going to do something that brings our standards of taste and refinement down a few notches. People will accept it, and it'll become the new norm — even though it was not acceptable earlier. Get ready: here I go!" Warning that this is adult oriented. And, in our view, THIS IS … [Read more...] about How Do You Feel About THIS?

If you like reading websites and blogs in particular, there is a MUST READING link today. It's THIS LINK which takes you to the Carnival of the Liberated, a linkfest taking you to some of the most compelling bloggers in Iraq and Afghanistan. This gives you a chance to read entries by people not only living in those countries but who were in most cases born in those countries. … [Read more...] about Posts From Some Of The Best Iraqi And Afghani Bloggers

During the 2004 election season, I supported Republican Senator Arlen Specter over Democratic challenger Joe Hoeffel for a number of reasons, the most important of which was the fact that if Specter -- who is pro-choice -- lost while the GOP maintained its majority, ultra-conservative Senator Jon Kyl would have become chairman of the Judiciary Committee (as I opined in … [Read more...] about Why I Supported Republican Specter in 2004

Iran has announced the resumption of its uranium enrichment program, so, of course, discourse now turns toward the possibility for UN-imposed economic sanctions. Most debate over this centers on possible problems stemming from China and Russia, but there's another group of countries to take into account: the developing countries on the IAEA Board of Governors. … [Read more...] about Sanctioning Iran

Here's yet another case of a celebrity not only using verbal atomic bombs to blast those with whom he disagrees but falling into the late 20th century/21st century trap of hauling out the (tired) Nazi comparisons. The Nazi comparison is a trap because except for extreme partisans who cheer, it immediately makes others (on the right, left, center) wish that the person using it … [Read more...] about He Made More Sense When He Sang About Banana Boats

Cross-posted to The Debate Link. Though I'm not Kos, I thought it would be fun to play him for a post. So as they say over there: Elevated from the comments of this post by David (yeah, yeah, I know. They elevate "diaries." Sue me). I just did an informal survey, among some friends of mine (all attorneys ranging from moderate progressive to slightly conservative to … [Read more...] about From the Comments

What's the difference between the extreme right and the sensible right? The reaction to John Roberts working pro bono in the Romer case provides a clue. … [Read more...] about Two Rights–But Only One Is Right

My reflections and observations of how I was treated by fellow liberals during my stint defending Michelle Malkin from a sexist attack is available here. … [Read more...] about One Night On The Other Side