It sure didn't take long for Italian policy to change after domestic furor surrounding the shooting of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and her now-dead Secret Service rescuer Nicola Calipari. Talk about a quick turnaround: Italy is to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September 2005, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said. He told Rai state television the … [Read more...] about Italy Announces It’ll Withdraw Troops From Iraq

The Shield on FX will take it to another level tonight when the incredible Glenn Close joins the cast. Make sure you watch it. It's not easy to find a television show that breaks out of the traditional broadcast mold and avoids cliches -- but The Shield is it. Writes TV critic Tom Jicha:"The nastiest cop show on TV has gotten even better." Read his whole review about this … [Read more...] about Make Sure You Watch “The Shield” Tonight

He was once considered unquestionably above the fray, but these are hard times for Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan who has irked Democrats by first backing GWB's tax cuts and now endorsing the President's Social Security overhaul plans. Remember that Greenspan — he of the insufferably boring reports to Congress (if you have insomnia, record it and play it and … [Read more...] about Greenspan Greenspin?

This certainly sounds as if there is some movement on the part of Syria to get out of Lebanon: Syrian intelligence agents completely vacated their last Beirut base early on Wednesday, witnesses said, a step that brings Damascus closer to meeting U.S. and Lebanese opposition demands. The base was the Syrian intelligence headquarters in the Lebanese capital. The witnesses … [Read more...] about Syrian Intelligences Leaves Beirut Digs

Well, if you do, here's a way to combat it: yogurt. New study findings suggest that yogurt may be another weapon in the battle against bad breath. "Yogurt intake may improve oral hygiene, namely tongue-coating bacteria and halitosis," study author Dr. Kenichi Hojo of Tsurumi University in Yokohama, Japan told Reuters Health. He and his colleagues found that study … [Read more...] about Do You Have Bad Breath?

I mean, really he does... (Should we rename this site The McModerate Voice to see what happens?) … [Read more...] about Ronald McDonald Needs To Get A Life

Now it's come to this. … [Read more...] about The English Language In The 21st Century

First it was Bush political guru Karl Rove joining the White House staff — and now the quintessential Bush spokesperson and strategist Karen Hughes is joining the government to help promote the U.S. image in the Islamic world. Hughes, considered supremely close to Bush for most of his successful political career, is joining Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the … [Read more...] about Key Bush Political Advisor Joins Second Term Government

What happens when you think you have an exclusive interview with Ashley Smith, the hostage in the Atlanta shooting case who is the hottest news commodity of the day....and you lose it to a competitor? Well, if you're unluckly your competitor's camera catches you exploding in the background of the interview your rival show is doing and police have to almost drag you off. Read … [Read more...] about The Agony Of TV News Defeat

University of Virginia Political Scientist Larry Sabato has gazed into his uncannily precise crystal ball once again — this time to survey the GOP situation for 2008 and here's what he sees: The GOP will have to fulfill certain conditions to win a third consequetive White House term (indeed, history is against it). It's highly unlikely GOP centrist is going to get … [Read more...] about The GOP And The 2008 Race For The White House

...at Memeorandum. In, fact, I think we already urged you to take a peek....well, take one AGAIN. This news aggregator uses automated software to present readers with a fascinating concept. It groups stories that are getting heavy traffic with a cross section of bloggers from all over the political spectrum. So you can see what the popular stories are (many are analyses and … [Read more...] about Take A Peek….

The handwriting is not only on the wall on Social Security reform but it appears as if the wall is beginning to crumble: the latest poll seems to suggest that the more President George Bush pushes his plan that includes privatizing Social Security, the more his support nosedives. The latest Washington Post poll underscores the administration's failure — so far at least … [Read more...] about SOS On Social Security Reform

Just when you thought the highly divisive and emotional (on both sides) issue of gay marriage may have receeded a California judge has tossed it back into the boiling political cauldron. A California judge ruled today that the state's ban on gay marriage violated the state constitution, despite social traditions and historical definitions that "marriage" is a union between man … [Read more...] about Gay Marriage Thrown Back Into The Political Cauldron

Why didn't 40 percent of Iraqis vote? Friends of Democracy, which is still going strong a month-and-a-half later, polls the non-voters on why they abstained. Fortunately, only a small number didn't vote out of indifference or lack of information. … [Read more...] about Voter apathy in Iraq

A San Francisco superior court judge said today that prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying - under the state's constitution, not the federal - "has no rational justification" and violates "the basic human right to marry the person of one's choice." Call me bigoted, but since when is marriage a "basic human right"? In the modern Western tradition, marriage is a community … [Read more...] about Children are irrational…for another reason

If you want to know what happened on the ground in Lebanon today, start with Jeff Jarvis's excellent roundup of firsthand reporting. And check The Corner's posted photos (via Instapundit). … [Read more...] about A sea of red, white and green

The Project for Excellence in Journalism just released its State of the News Media report and has some interesting tidbits: 1) people watch local news less than 3 times a week 2) they get news from four different types of media a week 3) a slight majority of reporting on Iraq was neutral 4) and the stat most likely to get attention, Bush got three times as much bad press as … [Read more...] about Slipping on the salivating morons

The Christian Science Monitor has an article that upon reading the title and tag line appears extremely intriguing: Calling Evil by name A word once reserved for atrocities is now used liberally. But does the rude guy at the airport deserve the label? The article itself indeed follows up on the title and is well worth reading. A taste to prompt further reading: "You need to … [Read more...] about Evil is not just a word for evangelicals anymore…

Is that really the question? … [Read more...] about The question: Do we fight terrorism or protect liberties?

Ashley Smith, who was held hostage in her apartment by courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols, has an incredible story to tell — a dramatic story almost out of a Hollywood drama. By excerpting it we almost will ruin it — so we'll give you the link here. Suffice to say it wasn't happenstance that she was released. She talked to him, read to him from the Bible, … [Read more...] about How The Atlanta Hostage Got Away