Didn't we know this already? … [Read more...] about Department of DUH

Photo courtesy of Democracy In Iraq -- which is changing its name today to  Democracy In Iraq (Is Here!) and writes:I have changed the header of my page to reflect the new, improved, democratic Iraq. The turnout has been higher than expected, even Yahoo had an article reflecting this. I link it below. The article states that turnout was about 75%, so I believe it was in … [Read more...] about IRAQ DEMOCRACY: A Day Of Hopeful Tears

Due to our brutal trip this week, we're a little behind on things but we will be doing a post and roundup on the Iraqi elections (we will be looking at posts and links). Check back later. … [Read more...] about Stay Tuned For Our Post On Iraqi Elections

The gray haired man looked a bit like how actor actor Spencer Tracy looked in Tracy's final years. He had been sitting at a dining room table in New Haven, Connecticut when he called his over his teenage grandson. "This was my family," he said, slowly opening the photo album. Then he started pointing to a host of aging photos showing large, smiling groups of people … [Read more...] about Remembering The Horrors And Significance Of Auschwitz

Joe has been kind enough to allow me one more day to post after his return from his grueling weekend journey (boy, I'm glad I don't have his job...).  I would like to thank Joe for the opportunity he gave me to guest-post here.  Unfortunately, this has been far from my best work, but I try to remember the words of Jean Giraudoux, "Only the mediocre are always at … [Read more...] about A final question… (Jack Grant)

The Watcher of Weasels council has selected its winning posts. The winning Council post is Wallo World's A Childlike Fantasy. The winning non-Council post is Cavalier's Zarqawi's War On Democracy. The full list of posts for this week can be found here. The Moderate Voice sits on the Council but a sofa is more comfortable. … [Read more...] about Weasel Watchers Pick Favorite Posts

Recently, the Christian Coalition supported  the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America in a court case. This tale of strange bedfellows has more to it than initially meets the eye. … [Read more...] about More than meets the eye (Jack Grant)

Jeff Jarvis has your one-stop shop for Iraqi election coverage: Iraqi bloggers, Iraqi youth, and non-Iraqis.  He gives brief descriptions of each and a snippet of a post for a few.  (Lest Eric Alterman get his panties in a bunch, several of the listed Iraqi bloggers are against the occupation.)  Technology entrepreneur (and Dallas Mavs courtside yeller) Mark … [Read more...] about As someone once said, “The revolution will be blogged” (Greg Piper)

A popular cable channel might be for sale, but it's not the one you think ... read this post to find out more. Well, that does it for me.  Thanks to Joe for giving me the privilege of contributing to this blog in his absence and having the chance to increase my own audience (hopefully not at his expense).  You can follow my writing - the serious, the fluff, and that … [Read more...] about Ha! It was never fair and balanced anyway (Greg Piper)

The Moderate Voice wants to give a heartfelt "Thank You" to our two highly talented Guest Bloggers Greg Piper and Jack Grant. TMV means it when he says that he visits their sites often because he enjoys the way they write and has the utmost respect for the fact that they're independent thinkers. In this case, they were gracious enough to take time from their … [Read more...] about A Big THANK YOU To Our Guest Bloggers

The Bull Moose (a weblog I know is on Joe's regular reading list, as it is mine) makes a plea to everyone regarding the Iraqi elections tomorrow. … [Read more...] about Some things are more important than political gain (Jack Grant)

...post-election Iraq will be an awful quagmire of Indochina proportions.  The New York Times, apparently not aware that it is a parody of itself by now, does a story about everyone's favorite failure and how "comparisons [of Iraq to Vietnam] are no longer dismissed in mainstream political discourse as facile and flawed, but are instead bubbling to the top" (my … [Read more...] about Just in case you forgot… (Greg Piper)

...but I must discuss this. I have seen little mention in blogworld of the capture (I won't call it "liberation") of Aushwitz by Soviet troops 60 years ago. I cannot let this pass without comment. Truly, we can never forget, for if we do, we will continue to allow it to happen, as we have for the last 60 years. … [Read more...] about Forgive me… (Jack Grant)

Best of the Web Today notes some interesting paragraphs from an AlterNet interview with Canadian writer and leftist Naomi Klein, best known for her anti-corporate book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.  Klein, an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, has some uncomfortable words for her fellow antiwar acolytes, although the interview introduction makes no mention … [Read more...] about Solidarity is always 20/20 (Greg Piper)

Internet streaming rose rapidly last year, with video streams slightly outpacing Internet radio.  It shouldn't be a surprise to fans of either, since more homes are connected to broadband (although the US is still a "broadband backwater" compared to many developed countries).  In addition to the streaming-only radio stations, some traditional stations have … [Read more...] about Subverting the “public” airwaves (Greg Piper)

Reason's Charles Paul Freund has a thoughtful consideration of why the CIA would ever set up pro-American Iraqi blogs, as Eric Alterman among others has speculated with regard to Iraq the Model (Jeff Jarvis has savaged Alterman for possibly threatening the Iraqi bloggers).  He argues, persuasively to me, that even the CIA can't be that dumb:The limitations of a pro-U.S., … [Read more...] about Cultivate your plants (Greg Piper)

A new website has been set up to carefully watch what is expected to be a battle royal over California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger's plans to reform government. It's appropriately called Bloginators and it bills itself as a group of bloggers who aren't connected to any party who want to follow and debate the controversial proposals that are sure to be making big news (one … [Read more...] about Special Website To Watch California Government Reform Battle

It appears that the immigration reform laws of the 1980s that required employers to obtain and verify Social Security numbers of newly hired employees has had the unintended consequence of creating an industry of Social Security number identity theft.  The linked article makes for disturbing and somewhat frightening reading. The patchwork system of taxation, credit … [Read more...] about Unintended consequences (Jack Grant)

From the pages of The Economist magazine (recommended reading, giving a point of view from outside the United States), an article on the outcomes of "public goods games", research that has the potential to provide a lot of insight on how politics in democracies works (or, on occasion, doesn't...).  The concluding paragraphs: ...  The researchers were able … [Read more...] about BREAKING NEWS: Nice guys don’t always finish last (Jack Grant)

Some controversies exceed the attention span of the media and the public long before they are resolved, regardless of the importance of the issues raised or the tragedy that originated all the sound and fury. … [Read more...] about Something that has fallen off the media radar (Jack Grant)