U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was shocked by what he saw in the tsunami battered areas -- calling it among the worst damage he has ever seen"I have never seen such utter destruction mile after mile," a shaken Annan told reporters. "You wonder where are the people? What has happened to them?"Indeed, by all accounts the 160,000-plus death toll is expected … [Read more...] about Tsunami: UN Chief Shocked By Tidal Wave Damage

Oliver Stone has revealed the REAL reason why his movie Alexander bombed:LONDON - Often-controversial director Oliver Stone has blamed the failure of his epic film Alexander on the "raging fundamentalism" in the U.S. South. But that doesn't explain why the film was also repudiated in the North, East and West.The film, which stars Irish actor Colin Farrell in the … [Read more...] about On The Other Hand, Maybe Your Movie Just Sucked…

There are consquences to every event and former Army officer Ralph Peters sees a strategical roadmap drawn by a cruel Mother Nature via the tragedy of South Asia's killer tsunami. Yes, the tsunami -- the one that butchered 160,000 people (and counting). In a piece in the New York Post Peters writes of a stragegical map...literally drawn  by monster waves, and tears:THE … [Read more...] about Strategy Out Of Tsunami?

There has been a milestone for China -- a big one:BEIJING (Reuters) - China named the first baby born at a Beijing hospital Thursday as the 1.3 billionth person of the world's most populous nation, more than two decades after a one-child policy was introduced to keep its numbers in check. China's population exploded after the late Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong exhorted … [Read more...] about I Wish I Owned A Diaper Factory There

Clearly, Social Security "reform" is going to be a monster topic. We say "reform" because some say it is true reform; others contend the real goal of the GOP plan is an  ideological plan to basically gut it. All this comes amid a Washington Post report that Congressional Republicans are divided on the issue and have warned the White House talk about … [Read more...] about The Gathering Storm Over Social Security

Someone...namely TiVo, Inc...has finally come up with an idea for tidying up the arrange of video gadgets you use at home to keep up with the latest TV shows -- and it will be coming to a living room near you soon:SAN JOSE, Calif. Jan 6, 2005 — TiVo Inc. wants to declutter living rooms and simplify changing channels with its television recorders as it announced plans … [Read more...] about Big Changes In Store For Your Home Video Recording

An interesting photo essay by Stephen Green, aka Vodka Pundit, about a Christmas vacation where he displayed model behavior as he tried to piece some things together. (I shouldn't do puns but I can't Lego of it.) … [Read more...] about How He Spent His Christmas Vacation

Justice may take decades...but many times it's inescapable. And today it seemed like one of those days in Philadelphia, Mississippi -- a Mississippi not the same as  it was 41 years ago:PHILADELPHIA, Miss. - A reputed Ku Klux Klansman was arrested Thursday night on murder charges in the 1964 slaying of three voter-registration volunteers, one of the last unsolved mysteries … [Read more...] about Inexorable Justice: Reputed Klansman Arrested in 1964 Civil Rights Worker Slaying

Actor Richard Gere is working hard to get-out-the-vote -- among Palestinians in their upcoming Presidential elections, and they're dismayed. Don't the Palestinians hate the U.S. enough already? Is there a danger Osama bin Laden will consider Gere's TV spots an unspeakable outrage against the Arabs? You know what they say about the road to hell being paved with (fill in the … [Read more...] about Gag Them With A Gere

The Watcher of Weasels Council has announced its weekly winners (The Moderate Voice was invited to sit on the Council; he is and they are squished...) COUNCIL MEMBER WINNING POST: Alpha Patriot's Spinning The Numbers NON-COUNCIL MEMBERS WINNING POST: La Shawn Barber's Academic Freedom, Hate Mail and David Horowitz. … [Read more...] about Watcher Of Weasles Council Winners

  If you thought the Starr Report was lurid, wait until you read this exhaustive account by The Smoking Gun that suggests The King Of Perps Pop could well be going bye-bye for awhile. It's simply too explicit for us to run on this site but if you're interested in childrens' abuse issues you should read it in full. Obviously Jackson's defense lawyer will have a LOT to say … [Read more...] about The Smoking Gun: The Case Against Michael Jackson

Earlier today we ran a post reporting that Staples reportedly had pulled its advertising from Sinclair Broadcasting. There's also this link to Sinclair Action on Media Matters which is apparently what the wires used for their story. But a just-received email from the National Center for Public Policy Research insists  that isn't so. Here's their full release:Office … [Read more...] about Staples Reportedly Denies It Is Boycotting Sinclair Broadcasting

CNN's Stan Grant offers a gripping  account of what he saw on the tsunami scene. It's one more thing that will haunt us, so we offer this large excerpt:We were traveling with a group of Tamil Tigers, who were collecting the bodies of the dead from one area that had been devastated. And we came across a group of bodies in the distance. From where I stood, I could see that … [Read more...] about CNN REPORTER: The Tsunami Killed More Than Statistics

NOTE: We have been putting many update links at the bottom of our original post on the tsunami (this was the one about the Asian bloggers). Since that post is running very long, we're starting a new update here. Save this permalink since all updates from Jan 6, 2005 on will go here. (For a complete chronology, go back to our first post). This update roundup will also include … [Read more...] about Tsunami News Update

Unlike in politics, no one has yet successfully sold their soul on eBay but almost everything else has been up for sale -- so why not a school? Well, why not? And one is..AZ Perspective and Junk tipped us to this tale of an Arizona school that is on the bidding block. According to the Winslow Mail:Just about anything in the world can be found on the eBay Web site including … [Read more...] about Students Problably Wanted The Teachers For Sale On EBAY, Too…

You should. The reason we ask is that we've gotten a few emails from people who knew we were revising it but didn't see the change (if you look we've also done some revisions on the blogroll as well). Typepad has checked around the country and says people should see the changes. We got three emails this morning from people around the country (Kansas, Colorado and Michigan) … [Read more...] about Do You See Our Revised Banner?

If you're a political junkie, this one is stunning news: there is  reportedly a move afoot among "senior Democrats" to keep Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe...as Democratic National Committee Chairman. Yes, that's right. After all of the hoop-la, all of the candidates coming out and stating their vision for the party, the passionate … [Read more...] about Senior Democrats: Seeking A Fast Ticket To Nowhere?

In yet another sign of strain on the military, the Army Reserve's head has sent a call to arms to the Pentagon warning them that his 20,000 soldiers are becoming "a broken force." In addition to outlining mobilization and management problems, three star-general Lt. Gen. James R. "Ron" Helmly warns that the Army Reserve is  "in grave danger of … [Read more...] about General: The Reserve Is Becoming “A Broken Force”

Links from varying political perspectives. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Moderate Voice. THE DEAD POOL: The Smart Cop gives you images of the ones he feels won't be here a year from now. WHAT REALLY CAN GO ON IN A CLASSROOM: A student's beating by a bully is caught on video tape and The Education Wonks (who know something about this) have something to … [Read more...] about Around The ‘Sphere

The political war via corporations rages in full throttle with the news that Staples, responding to angry customers, is pulling its advertising from news shows on stations owned by the controverial Sinclair Broadcasting company. And -- given the style in 21st Century America - expect to see retaliation from the other side...a kind of right/left war waged through advertising. … [Read more...] about Staples Clips Sinclair