Over the past 48 hours key GOP Senators' rhetoric has sunk to new lows — bordering on an extremism that conservatives in the past (rightly) condemned when coming from Democrats. To say it's loaded verbiage is an understatement. The question is whether it's simply the unthinking new political style to use verbal atomic bombs as you march towards triggering "the nuclear … [Read more...] about GOP Rhetoric Veers Dangerously Towards Extremism

As usual, we LOVE the posts by our Guest Bloggers...which we should call Family Bloggers because they are part of our family. A reminder that TMV is a fan of all of them...and if you read the posts below you can see why. TMV himself has been unable to post since late yesterday afternoon (but as you can see from the posts below this site has been in excellen hands). He left … [Read more...] about In Case You Wondered Where TMV Was Today

Coldplay frontman and Gwyneth boytoy Chris Martin has mixed feelings about his wealth, but not because of how he earned it. His label, megalith EMI, said its profits would fall below expectations because Coldplay took three years to finish its latest album, leading Martin to respond, "I don't really care about EMI. I'm not really concerned about that." Well, good for him! If … [Read more...] about EMI Charmed Kind of Life

Cross-posted to Random Fate. At The Kudzu Files, hboswell has written about a situation that could have been presented as a hypothetical case in arguments over life and death. A woman in need of a liver transplant has a close relative on death row in Indiana who has offered to donate, but the procedure that will be used to execute the inmate will essentially poison the liver, … [Read more...] about A collision between the death penalty and a chance at life

One would think the Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi government would primarily be concerned with stabilizing the country's abhorrent security situation, or, perhaps, writing a new constitution. Alas, this is not the case, at least according to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani: he claims that Iraq's number one priority is strengthening the country's ties to Iran. … [Read more...] about What’s the Iraqi Government’s First Priority?

Over at Basie!, I take a look at how the votes are lining up for the so-called "nuclear" option. Despite the fact that Majority Leader Frist appears confident in Mitch McConnell's whip count, the numbers are much more in the air today than one might expect. Among wavering Republicans are: Open opposition: Sens. John McCain (AZ), Lincoln Chafee (RI) and Olympia Snowe (ME) No … [Read more...] about Where Are the Votes for the “Nuclear” Option?

Today is the beginning of NO Day (Nuclear Option Day) and efforts are still underway to head off a showdown over the right of the minority to use the filibuster against judicial nominees. Some see a political train wreck and some (on both sides) seek just that, for different reasons. But the L.A. Times, in an editorial, is seemingly shouting "Enough already!" and literally … [Read more...] about LA Times Reminds Us: The Filibuster Is Sleazy

A troubling account: the Prison Diary of An English Teacher. The story of a visa-less American's two months awaiting deportation from a Korean prison. … [Read more...] about Story From A Korean Prison

The skeptics and targets of Gawker Media - notably Radar, whose launch has been mockingly hyped by Nick Denton's flagship blog - are circling over this news:Last month Sploid, the “anarcho-capitalistâ€? news site that Nick Denton vowed would take on the Drudge Report, debuted with a resounding thud. Now Denton’s longtime lieutenant, Choire Sicha, who oversaw the site, is … [Read more...] about Rome didn’t fall in a day

The story is far from over (we still have not seen what, if any corporate fallout there will be) in the case of Newsweek's Koran story that wasn't — and Glenn Reynolds, aka InstaPundit, asks if this latest journalism scandal might be the media's "tipping point." Read his whole Tech Central Station column but here are some key excerpts: The blogs have certainly been all … [Read more...] about Was Newsweek Koran Story Scandal The Media’s “Tipping Point?”

With the recent string of exposures of outright inaccurate reporting due to insufficient sourcing, checking, and re-checking, not limited to the recent Newsweek Periscope retraction or the Dan Rather/forged memo imbroglio, is it reasonable to say that journalism "ain't what it used to be"? Joe Gandelman, the proprietor of this weblog, writes in his recent commentary on … [Read more...] about Has the overall quality of journalism declined?

Here's another example of government trying to straighten its citizens out: The federal government will spend nearly $2 billion in the next decade on male impotence drugs under its Medicare program, according to a new cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office that is fueling some lawmakers' efforts to end that spending. Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, is … [Read more...] about When ‘Government’ REALLY Means ‘Enlargement’

The Daily Kos has an interesting item: the latest Pew poll results. It shows GWB's and the GOP's approval ratings are going down. But the most significant number is on the "nuclear option" to ban filibusters on judicial nominees. It's clear that there is a large number of undecideds out there. They're still tuned out, or deciding. You could say this is the "silent center" and … [Read more...] about Is the GOP Sinking?

...at this meaty blog — A Hamburger Today. Yes: it's a blog about Hamburgers and the dead meat isn't Democrats or Republicans. You can read about Tommy's Original Hamburgers and see some appetizing art of Paris Hilton and a Carl's Jr Hamburger. It's a sizzling site whose time has come. Maybe someone will next do a website about ham — oh, wait, William Shatner … [Read more...] about Take A Peek….

The Moderate Voice is on the road again today...this time to Gold Beach, Oregon where he will do five school programs on Thursday and a family night on Friday night. During the next few days you will likely see various posts here by our talented and always-independent guest bloggers. TMV will attempt to post but due to time constraints (traveling to the airport, driving, etc.) … [Read more...] about Light(er) Blogging By TMV Today

British politician George Galloway was in Washington yesterday to clear his name in the oil-for-food scandal — and came out with both verbal barrels blazing as he ripped into what he suggested was the hypocrisy of American politicians and the Bush administration. The BBC reports: British MP George Galloway has told US senators who accused him of profiting from Iraq oil … [Read more...] about England’s Galloway Rips Into U.S. Iraq Policy

A couple of additional thoughts on the Newsweek Koran story fiasco. You clearly see two kinds of criticism of the news magazine and reporter Michael Isikoff. One school of thought focuses more on the journalistic failures and what it says about the quality of reporting and corporate fail-safe systems supposedly in place. Yet another is emerging on talk radio and on many … [Read more...] about Shifting Perceptions On Newsweek

America's love-affair with Today anchors Katie Couric and Matt Laurer may be coming to an end if the latest ratings are any indication. NBC's Today show, the venerable cash-cow, prestige morning show that has dominated the network ratings for most of its half-century existance is now beating ABC's Good Morning America by a hair as thick as the hair underneath William Shatner's … [Read more...] about NBC’s Today’s Rating Lead May Vanish Tomorrow As ABC’s Good Morning America Gains Fast

Starting in September it's likely you'll find the New York Times playing a much smaller role on Internet weblogs and the overall conversation for a reason: it now wants money for it to participate. Starting in September, Salon reports, the Times is going to offer — or should we say "require" — TimesSelect to get its columnists online. These columnists have played a … [Read more...] about New York Times Opts Out Of The (Free) Conversation

Blogger and journalism professor Jay Rosen has the ultimate analysis of the Newsweek Koran story fiasco. His conclusion: Newsweek was doing Take-Our-Word-For-It journalism. And, increasingly, it seems like Jay Rosen is right. Trust Me Journalism is a kind of journalism that boils down to this: trust us because we're reporters. Trust us because we work for a prominent news … [Read more...] about Was Newsweek Doing “Trust Me” Journalism?