Now that I have the first of many inflammatory, useless headlines out of the way... My name is Greg Piper, and I run The Smoking Room at GregPiper.com.  Joe asked me to give you a little description, and since guest-blogging is a twisted form of altruism, I'll do my best to seduce a few of you to hook up with my site occasionally.  (For a quick description by Joe, … [Read more...] about BREAKING NEWS: Gandelman overthrown in pixeled coup by hot young blogger

If you're interested in look at Iraq under the microscope as it gets read to go to the polls, goes to the polls and what happens immediately after it votes there is a new website that is a must visit. The website is Friends of Democracy (which we are blogrolling under Other Voices). Michael Totten will be editing it for the next two weeks and he explains in an email:We have … [Read more...] about A New Blog Covers Iraqi Elections In Great Detail

President George Bush's press conference yesterday contained some wisecracks to a reporter, using some laugh lines about seniors -- and there has been a mini-stink about it raised by some critics. The transcript of the press conference is here. Soxblog has an account of the moment that has raised a fuss in some quarters. Basically, Bush was using a joke many people use about … [Read more...] about Bush’s Press Conference

This is beginning to look like a bad Saturday Night Live parody that you've seen over and over and over again:WASHINGTON - The nation’s new education secretary denounced PBS on Tuesday for spending public money on a cartoon with lesbian characters, saying many parents would not want children exposed to such lifestyles.It's the here-we-go-again department...a sinking … [Read more...] about Pinch Me And Tell Me It’s All A Bad Dream

President George Bush issued an order today that probably will NOT end a controversy that has all the earmarks of a story with "legs": he formally ordered his cabinet not to pay big bucks to columnists to tout administration policies. The reason the story has what Hollywood calls "legs" (staying power, a gift that keeps giving and giving) is that GWB's … [Read more...] about Bush To Cabinet: Stop Hiring Columnists To Pitch Our Line

Our occasional selection of tidbits and masterpieces (that's what their authors say) from the Internet. We do NOT select links based on ideology and aren't promoting any political view (we just liked these posts). Opinions expressed do not reflect the view of The Moderate Voice. DEMOCRATS ARE PRAISING CALIFORNIA BARBRA BOXER for her questioning of Condi Rice, which was so … [Read more...] about Around The ‘Sphere

The "tip" about a terrorist plot to set off some kind of nuclear device in Boston has now been officially labelled a "false alarm" -- yet another indication that these reports of threats need to reach a level of confirmation before the populace should be bent out of shape. In this case, Bostonians didn't panic...and they were right not to:BOSTON -- The FBI … [Read more...] about Boston Terror Tip Was Bogus

Now it turns out that ANOTHER commentator got mooh-lah from the Bush adminstration - which will inevitably raise the question of how many other commentators quietly got this new version of journalistic welfare. Here's the latest via The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz:In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million … [Read more...] about Another Commentator Got Big Bucks From The Adminstration

Iraqi's "insurgents" are accelerating their intimidation campaign designed to destabilize or delegitimize the elections by  increasing threats to those who are running and who may vote that ther participation could cost them their lives. A piece in the New York Times focuses on this issue, noting that one tribal leader is defiant and will run, while the other … [Read more...] about Iraq’s Pre-Election Intimidation Continues

An American hostage...on video tape...pleading for his life with a gun visibly at his head...shortly before Iraqi elections: Do we need a psychic to guess the intent of this event?BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An American hostage pleaded for his life with a rifle pointed at his head in a video released Tuesday while 11 Iraqi police died in fierce clashes and gunmen assassinated a senior … [Read more...] about American Hostage Statement: Here We Go Again Dept.

We usually don't mention or link to The Drudge Report but we were taken a bit aback by this headline: RUSSIAN LAWMAKERS CALL FOR BAN ON JEW GROUPS... No comment. Well, we will make one: "Jew groups" sounds like Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. Or something worse. PS: We did a post on that issue here. … [Read more...] about He Does Have A Certain Way With A Headline

The religious right has begun to send a firm message to the White House that it wants to cash in its political chips -- and wants its payment NOW:A coalition of major conservative Christian groups is threatening to withhold support for President Bush's plans to remake Social Security unless Mr. Bush vigorously champions a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. So … [Read more...] about Bush Is Told: Now It’s OUR TURN (Or Else)

Your Iraq tax dollars at work: if the report from this Saudi suicide bomber (who obviously was a flop in his work) is correct, Iraqi officials had the most wanted terrorist in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in custody -- and let him go:A suicide bomber from Saudi Arabia, who survived a failed attempt to blow up the Jordanian mission Baghdad in December, alleges that Iraqi police … [Read more...] about Maybe It Was Because Of The Groucho Marx Glasses He Wore

Our Take A Peek (below) urged you to look at the new blog The New Democrat, a well-done site written by Max Burns, a young moderate Democrat. But now there is a controversy over another blog set up shortly after his that is using the same name -- and whether it is even a Democrat's blog. Read the full details at Centerfield. PS: We will not be blogrolling, quoting or linking … [Read more...] about Controversy Over A Blog Name

Hillary Clinton is continuing to take stances that carve out a key spot for her in the center of polarized 21st Century America -- the latest being an almost startling middle-leaning stance on the powder-keg issue of abortion:Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Monday that the opposing sides in the divisive debate over abortion should find "common ground" to … [Read more...] about Hillary Continues Her Move Towards The Center

NOTE: I have a personal interest the story cited below, since my grandfathers Nathan Gandelman and Abraham Ravinsky fled Russia to escape anti-semitism in the early part of the 20th Century. Anti-semitism is bubbling up from the bowels of Russia once again. There are a couple of disturbing trends: The infamous "blood ritual" which accuses Jews of murdering … [Read more...] about Anti-Semitism Rears Its Ugly Head In Russia

...at The New Democrat, an exciting new site. We're always very happy when we see a moderate or centrist site pop up. We also love the many sites we visit on the left and right  (our blogroll on this site is NOT for show) -- but like to see new ones in the middle, too. And this one looks like it's going to be GREAT. Even the concept: It was started by "Max Burns, a … [Read more...] about

https://themoderatevoice.com/1908/

You would not WANT to be in the shoes today of Abu Omar al-Kurdi, a senior aide to of leading militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- captured today by Iraqi forces and undergoing intense and perhaps even creative interrogation. The reasons: The elections are coming up and Zarqawi has basically declared war on the elections and on democracy. Now Iraqi forces have his right hand … [Read more...] about Major Breakthrough In Battle Against Iraq “Insurgents”?

Sometimes journalists -- and scientists -- need to take a deep breath because  a logical thesis presented via  Doomsday Journalism can undermine an intriguing finding's credibily -- which is what happens with a new report warning that the point of no return could hit earth within 10 years on global warming. If you read this report in England's Independent, we all … [Read more...] about More Doomsday Journalism

Sorry for the way the type is cut of on the post below. I have no idea why. I have a had several frustrating design problems here at Typepad and this is only the latest. Hopefully we can get it fixed. … [Read more...] about More Design Problems Here