The President of China met the Prime Minister of Japan for talks yesterday aimed at cooling down rivet-hot passions and seemingly-spiraling-out-of-control events that brought relations between the two countries to their lowest point since diplomatic ties were established 30 years ago. The bottom line: Japan extended an olive branch. China accepted it. And then twisted it. … [Read more...] about China-Japan Relations: China Twists Japan’s Olive Branch

A potentially big scandal is unfolding in New York City that — if proven true — has serious implications on two fronts. The two-pronged allegations entail powder-keg charges that the city tested AIDS drugs on foster children and that if a foster parent objected the children were then placed elsewhere. The New York papers have started breaking this story and if it … [Read more...] about Were HIV Positive Foster Kids Used As Guinea Pigs?

Given by his bodyguard. … [Read more...] about The Details About The Final Hours In Hitler’s Bunker

Message to John Kerry: Temper, temper, if this New York Post piece is to be believed: A fuming John Kerry had "daggers in his eyes" after a fellow Democrat promoted Hillary Rodham Clinton for president — suggesting the 2004 loser is green with envy at a potential rival. The flap was touched off two weeks ago when Clinton spoke at a Minneapolis Democratic dinner and Sen. … [Read more...] about If John Kerry’s Looks Could Kill

Yes, everyone knows that even though some folks denounce it the New York Times will be heavily linked by bloggers. But what if you did a survey and tried to find out which newspaper had the highest number of blog links, proportionate to its subscribed readership? We'll give you a hint: TMV used to write for it from Madrid (with the byline "Special Correspondent of The … [Read more...] about A Newspaper Increasingly Loved By Blogs

...everybody has to go sometime. … [Read more...] about From the lighter side (in a sense)…

Has anyone else seen the webcast interview show "Off the Record" by the Republican National Committee? I reviewed it a month ago, basically objecting to 1) the nonsensical title (which I think shows the GOP's low estimation of their base's intelligence) 2) the flat delivery of the hosts, "Mindy & Katie" 3) Mindy's presence at all; Katie is much better looking and has a … [Read more...] about GOP’s “Off the Record” needs some work

Oh, boy, did he.. … [Read more...] about The New Pope Meets The Press

I wrote earlier this week (and linked here) that Washington Post political reporter Dana Milbank was just a little too opinionated for his stated role at the paper, given his intelligent but somewhat nya-nya coverage of Karl Rove's speech on media trends. I also faulted the Post for giving Milbank leeway with the euphemistic "Washington Sketch" heading for the column. Now a … [Read more...] about New campaign for Dana Milbank

New research may help decrease the number of people — especially young people — struck down by the heartbreaking disease leukemia. And it may also spur an increase in the day care business. The reason: a new study says leukemia, the most common cancer among the young, could be warded off if a child interacts with a large number of other kids and picks up common … [Read more...] about Being With Other Children Can Help Prevent Leukemia

...at Booker Rising, a site that can easily become one of your regular stops. Booker Rising bills itself as a "News site for black moderates and black conservatives" but if you didn't read that and visited the site you'd just figure it was one of the best summary sites on the entire Internet. Booker Rising covers a wide variety of subjects. What's wonderful about it is that … [Read more...] about Take A Peek…..

Just look at the recent headlines and you can see that the nomination of John Bolton as UN Ambassador is in serious trouble. With each day, and each news cycle, Bolton seems to be losing more and more support. Why is this so? Is it due to his apparent reputation as an abusive boss? Is it due to former Secretary of State Colin Powell being in the background giving wavering … [Read more...] about Is Bolton Nomination Doomed By The ‘Weird Facial Hair Curse’?

So exactly how haywire has the movement to insert P.C. into every facet of American life gone? This far: Wheat Ridge, Colo. (AP) — A school counselor leading the Pledge of Allegiance over the public address system substituted "one nation under your belief system" for "one nation under God." The school apologized for the impromptu switch after students and parents … [Read more...] about Pledge Of Allegiance Change Furor In Colorado

One of the most popular weblogs is the conservative blog Powerline, written by some attorneys. Time named it the Blog of the Year (it is under Right Voices on our blogroll) partly for its leading role in the Rathergate scandal. Now there is a counter blog that analyzes Powerline — Powerwhine. … [Read more...] about I Suppose It Had To Happen

In a sign of just how much Japan wants to short-circuit an increasingly nasty crisis with China, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is repeating an apology for his country's World War II behavior that other Japanese Prime Ministers have given — only this time the timing is critical. At issue: bitter and increasingly violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in China … [Read more...] about Japan Tries To Defuse China Crisis With Apology

If you don't like the way a judge or an entire court rules, take their money away. Does that sound downright unamerican to not only law students, law professors but virtually anyone who has lived in this country over the past several hundred years? Yes — but that's precisely the idea of two of the nation's two Evangelical Christian leaders who have been working with … [Read more...] about Two Evangelical Leaders Advocate Defunding Courts They Don’t Like

All good and bad things must come to an end, and so it is in the saga of the lady who said she found a finger in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, CA. The lady has been arrested. That's GOOD for Wendy's, which had sales drop because some customers didn't want to take a mouthful of food and have it point towards their tonsils. And that's BAD for comedians and … [Read more...] about Chili-Finger-Finder Now Under Thumb Of Law

Some things are bound to catch up with you, like your past, and they did recently for actress Jane Fonda in the form of a big wad of tobacco juice spit by a Vietnam war veteran in her face. What caught up with her: her fervent opposition to the Vietnam War, culminating in a highly publicized trip to Hanoi that Vietnam vets even today consider treasonous. And her belief, even … [Read more...] about Hubris And Spit In Jane Fonda’s Face

President George Bush and the upper echelon of the GOP establishment have been putting a full court political press on trying to get John Bolton shoved through as the new UN Ambassador but they've run into a stumbling block: former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The irony is somewhat sublime. Powell entered the first Bush administration a mega-star and left a bit diminished … [Read more...] about Bolton/Bush’s Stumbling Block: Colin Powell

You've seen it in movies, read about it in comic books as a kid, heard about it since you were two when it comes to bears...and now scientists say humans can hibernate, too. But wait: I thought humans could already hibernate. There's even a term for it: "attending high school." But we digress. Via Times Online: SUSPENDED animation is poised to move from science fiction to … [Read more...] about Human Hibernation Now Is Possible