An editor of mine used to say that if someone comes up to you and says "I've got a story that'll bust this town wide open!" it's time to go out and get a huge chunk of salt. It's time to rev up the car and go to the grocery store. The reason: there are new revelations centering on what are said to be until-now-not-revealed transcripts involving tapes purportedly made by the … [Read more...] about Marilyn Monroe Transcripts Don’t Pass The Confirmation Test

Due to a tight morning schedule and an afternoon travel schedule TMV may be posting a bit less than usual today. He will try to do some in the afternoon before his trip from Big Piney, WY to Salt Lake City, Utah. But keep checking back since our co-blogger may have some things to say. NOTE: You may notice that we sometimes move up posts that have appeared on this site after … [Read more...] about Light(er) Blogging By TMV Today

According to Newsweek, Bush's approval rating on Iraq is down to 34 percent -- his disapproval rating is 61 percent. It's the lowest it's ever been. In addition: "50 percent of those polled say the United States is losing ground in its efforts to establish security and democracy in Iraq; just 40 percent say the U.S. is making progress there." I'm not one to place too much … [Read more...] about Ouch! Bush’s approval numbers continue to slide

Cross-posted at The Reaction. As oil and gas prices continue to soar (here in Toronto, regular unleaded is fast approaching $1.00/liter — which is a lot, trust me), as King Abdullah assumes the reins (and the reign) in Riyadh, as Iraq comes to look more and more like a quagmire from which there will be no easy withdrawal, and as terrorism continues to dominate the front … [Read more...] about A relationship of mutual dependence: The United States and Saudi Arabia

If having any history of violent extremism is our redline, then we all fail. … [Read more...] about What Does It Mean To Be a “Religion of Peace” Anyway?

Journalist prof/blogger Jay Rosen has this FASCINATING tidbit on his blog that suggests Bob Novak was poised to walk-off the CNN set as soon as the Plame/Rove case was mentioned — and that Novak had become quite thin-skinned about it. It came to Rosen (who has one a MUST READ site for those interested in media issues) in the form of an email from Scott Heiser, a … [Read more...] about Was This A FORESHADOW Of Bob Novak’s (In)Famous CNN Walk-Off?

dKos points us to this must-read post by Corrente. The subject is the sentencing of "Millenium Bomber" Ahmed Ressam by Reagan appointee John C. Coughenour. At the sentencing, the judge had the following comment to make: "Okay. Let me say a few things. First of all, it will come as no surprise to anybody that this sentencing is one that I have struggled with a great deal, more … [Read more...] about Why We Fight

Don't you get the sensation now that the coming months may not be happy ones for White House political bigwig and world-class hiker Robert Novak when they open the newspapers and see the fruits of journalistic enterprise reporting like in today's New York Times?WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 - These hot months here will be remembered as the summer of the leak, a time when the political … [Read more...] about Hot On The Trail Of The Novak-Rove Connection

My fellow Americans. There is a crisis. There children's books out there that will destroy your kids' minds. The problem could be titles with double meanings, inspid subject matters or overal banality (HEY: that describes this site!). Run to your library and make sure you remove these books that will corrupt them forever. (Click on each title. We don't agree that some belong … [Read more...] about Run To Your Library, Quick!

And I bet his kid looks just like him.... … [Read more...] about An Astronaut’s Self-Portrait In Space

Is it? I thought I practiced this art very well in my college classes.. … [Read more...] about A Lost Art?

Once upon a time he was considered a serious journalist but when he walked off the CNN set in a burst of ire Robert Novak actually jumped the shark — morphing into baggage so heavy that TSA wants to find him...and inspect him. I say this with a great degree of sadness. And not because of what Novak has written over the years, but because of an experience I had with him … [Read more...] about Bob Novak Is Now CNN’s Baggage

Do you have problems with elephants eating your crops? If so, you now have a solution: put down some hot chilis and they'll stay away:A little bit of spicy chili peppers is all African farmers need to keep hungry elephants from stealing crops. By planting a few rows of chili peppers around the perimeter of their crops, farmers have created a buffer zone that's spicy enough to … [Read more...] about Hot Chilis Deter Elephants

This time, the question is: who hates the Center the most? Note: In a prior post I claimed that outside of what I linked to in that round-up, "everything else blogged on today [was] worthless." That, of course, was written before my current post, which is a work of art and priceless. Just letting everyone know that :-) . … [Read more...] about Another Left/Right Debate

I'm nowhere near at Joe's level when it comes to linking, but here are a few good things I've stumbled across today. The New Republic has a great article on how Israel's efforts to preserve the safety of journalists let baseless rumors of a massacre in Jenin spread out of control--and the lessons they've learned in the aftermath. An excellent overview of the Jewish … [Read more...] about A Few Good Links

The Commissar of The Politburo Diktat illustrates how jumping on the latest hot news to score partisan points is not necessarily the best way to help "your side" in its credibility. … [Read more...] about Jumping on the latest news can lead to jumping the shark

Yesterday, I attempted to explain how using a too-simple model in a complex conflict could lead to disaster. In that post, I used some examples from history, and in doing so, I have been misinterpreted as making moral-equivalency arguments. I have written a clarification contending that in the current war, however you name it, a War on Terror or a Great Struggle Against … [Read more...] about Let’s try this again

Some more details are emerging on the Iraqi constitution, via the International Herald Tribune. The portion of the article that is getting the most attention is that language on Islam's role has been changed somewhat. Instead of Islam being the "major" source of legislation, it's now the "main" source of legislation. I don't see a huge difference there, even if the IHT article … [Read more...] about New Iraq Constitution Details

There's some not-too-bad news for and some not-so-hot news for President George Bush in the latest AP-Ipsos poll: his approval rating hasn't gone down any further but his honesty rating has taken a nosedive: Less than half of Americans now say they think President Bush is honest, according to an AP-Ipsos poll taken at a time of increasing concerns about Iraq, a potential … [Read more...] about Bush’s Honesty Poll Ratings Nosedives

You may see some posts by our co-bloggers today. (Scroll down to see see some great ones including the strange saga of Robert Novak's televised melt-down). TMV himself will be out of pocket much of the afternoon. This is being written from Big Piney, Wyoming and due to logistics most of TMV's own posts won't appear until later tonight (but he may be able to get one off in the … [Read more...] about TMV’s Posting Schedule