The House Republicans did an about face and rejected political self immolation by nixing the idea of revising ethics rules so House Majority Tom DeLay wouldn't have to step down if he's indicted. And  -- was it a face-saving  ploy because there were fears this would be a ticking political time bomb? -- Delay himself reportedly played a role in it:WASHINGTON - House … [Read more...] about House GOPers Refuse To Drink Political Kool Aid

There's speculation on who'll replace Pope John II but I can't understand one thing: why do they always pick a Catholic to be Pope? Don't they believe in diversity? Just wondering...and if you've been wondering about who may be the next Pope, Time offers this:Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the chief architect of Pope John Paul II's traditionalist moral policy, has long been a … [Read more...] about And The Next Pope Will Be…

How long will it take to get South Asia back to what it was before last week's tsunami? Most likely: a generation. Note this AFP report:The drive to help nearly two million desperate survivors of Asia's tsunami catastrophe made inroads on Monday but aid groups warned the worst-hit communities would take "a generation" to rebuild. The sheer scale of the disaster … [Read more...] about Tsunami: It’ll Take A GENERATION TO REBUILD

and did you ever wonder WHY? Jim Calhoun has some ideas. … [Read more...] about Allergies Seem To Be Getting More Severe…..

The next time you hear about someone flippantly pooh-poohing how elephants may be endangered (they are) tell them to shut up:KHAO LAK, Thailand (Reuters) - Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves. "I was surprised because the elephants had never cried … [Read more...] about Heroic Elephants Saved Tourists In Deadly Tsunami

The tally of tragedy keeps rising in South Asia's tsunami:BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Some 150,000 people are now known to have been killed by Asia's tsunami, U.N. officials say, as helicopters and elephants are used to find and feed survivors and shift the rubble of razed towns. Aid workers on Monday struggled to help thousands huddled in makeshift camps on Indonesia's … [Read more...] about The Death Toll Rises to 150,000

When the brutal tsunami crashed into South Asia last week it marked a milestone in human tragedy -- and for the Internet as well since it hammered home how weblogs can instantaneously communicate images. Images from other media, to be sure but, as the Wall Street Journal Online notes (story linked above) -- a menu  of compelling (and depressing and tragic) images were … [Read more...] about ON BLOGGING: The Tsunami Marks Another Milestone Via Videos Of The Tragedy

Links to various topics and posts. Links are NOT selected on the basis of any political ideolgy and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice. IS THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE WAY OUT THERE, LIKE ON MARS? Scott Shields thinks they are (and so by the way does The Moderate Voice) due to their stance on aid to tsunami victims. (We read the same piece and at first … [Read more...] about Around The ‘Sphere

Serious predictions for 2005 from Oxblog's Josh Chafetz:Only a fool would make definite, falsifiable predictions on a short time scale, but I'll play the quasi-fool and make a few very general ones. I think we'll see remarkable progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front, resulting from a combination of the Gaza withdrawal, the January Palestinian elections, and a general … [Read more...] about GUEST VOICE: Oxblog Predicting 2005

The Bangladesh-based The Third World View reminds us here that Bangladesh faced several catastrophes over the years: The 1970 cyclone that killed from 300,000-500,000 people but they still don't know how many. It was the greatest tropical storm of the 20th Century. As Rezwan notes, the then-central government in what was then West Pakistan was bitterly criticized for doing … [Read more...] about Don’t Forget The Bangladesh Tragedies

...at two websites that effectively use the Drudge Report format. First, Take A Peek at The Drudge Retort, a liberal weblog. It has been around for a while and has gotten quite a nice following. Next, look at conservative blogger Wes Roth's new site. He converted his traditional blog into a Drudge-like site less than a month ago and has been getting lots of readers. In a … [Read more...] about Take A Peek….

The Moderate Voice has been honored with being inducted into the council of The Watcher Of Weasels. Here is the WofW website. When The Moderate Voice was The Moderate Child his camp bus driver Dave "B.O." Katz once screeched at him: "Sit down, you little weasel!!"  Well, nyah nyah nyah B.O.; you said I was one, and now I WATCH THEM. Each week we'll … [Read more...] about The Watcher Of Weasels Council

U.S. Presidents are uniting to show solidarity on the tsunami relief issue -- and to urge Americans to kick in:President Bush is asking the nation's two most recent chief executives to help raise money for the tsunami victims. The president was joined by his father, the 41st President and former President Clinton at the White House Monday morning to announce the formation of a … [Read more...] about Presidents Unite To Urge Americans To Action

Plans are underway by Indonesia to try to avoid the kinds of mass deaths that occured during last week's South Asia tsunami by setting up an early warning system. It won't be easy -- or cheap. But according to the Globe and Mail:Indonesia said Monday that it plans to establish an early warning system for disasters with its neighbours, as its death toll from last week's … [Read more...] about Plans For Asian Tsunami Warning System