This was a hatchet job. Make no mistake about it. A British Overseas Territory, full of British citizens, votes to remain under Britain’s umbrella of sovereignty. The result would have pleased even the most despotic of dictators; 1513 of the 1517 voters who bothered to show up decided Britain was a more attractive proposition than [...]
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Pres. Obama’s Deficit Debacle, National Security, and Warmaking
I’ve been reading a lot about the Pentagon’s possible budget hit, with analysis all over the map. What this proves conclusively is that no one knows what will happen. That’s the real rub in Obama’s debt ceiling debacle. No one can possibly know the specifics in outlying years. There are too many unknown unknowables, to [...]
Let’s Play ‘Who’s More Pro-Israel?’
Let’s see, Gaza or gossip, which shall it be? For almost every news outlet this week it was the latter, while the former is where the action is. From James Zogby writing over at Huffington Post: When it comes to issues involving Israel, politicians in Washington can become quite hysterical, making the dumbest remarks or [...]
Israel Drops Threats Against Journalists Covering Gaza Flotilla
If there was anything dumber for the Israeli government to do I don’t know what it could have been. Threatening journalists who are covering the Gaza flotilla backfired, as it should. Netanyahu said in a statement that the policy for journalists covering the flotilla should not be the same as against infiltrators and those who [...]
Hillary Clinton & McConnell Illustrate the Worst Side of Foreign Policy Politics
When Sec. Clinton was first chosen for her job at State some were skeptical she’d have Pres. Obama’s back when it was needed. There was never a doubt in my mind, however, that she would not only be a team player, but one of Pres. Obama’s strongest advocates. It’s who she is, because she knows [...]
New York Times: Pakistan Arrests CIA Bin Laden Informants
With friends like these… Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested some of the Pakistani informants who fed information to the Central Intelligence Agency in the months leading up to the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, according to American officials. Pakistan’s detention of five C.I.A. informants, including a Pakistani Army [...]
Testosterone, Weinergate, Women and Leadership
“We inject less libido… We don’t necessarily inject our own egos…” – Christiane Lagrande, French Foreign Minister (possible IMF replacement for Strauss-Kahn) Foreign policy studies find that when women are included in a nation’s national dialogue that country has not only a better chance of stability, but it’s the only way developing nations can thrive. [...]
Phillippe Reines, Clinton’s Champion
“Patti fired me,” Reines recalled, adding with a smirk, “I just sort of ignored it, like George Costanza. I was in the office the next day at 7 a.m.” He said that Clinton had known about the profile before it ran and that she decided to keep him on. “Ultimately, the organization was and is [...]
Daniel Levy on Assad Brutality, Israel and Preferred Devils
Daniel Levy wrote a very important post for Foreign Policy yesterday, After Golan clashes, is Israel rethinking the Assad (or Palestine) file? Here’s a snippet: [...] And Israel is none-too-enamored of the alternatives in Damascus. One alternative to the Assad regime — a democratic Syria with greater soft power diplomatic heft and perhaps with Islamists [...]
Ryan Lizza: Obama is a ‘Consequentialist’
One reaction among liberals to the Bush years and to Iraq was to retreat from “idealism” toward “realism,” in which the United States would act cautiously and, above all, according to national interests rather than moral imperatives. The debate is rooted in the country’s early history. America, John Quincy Adams argued, “does not go abroad [...]
Does Bradley Manning Deserve a Fair Trial?
It’s hard to know what possesses Pres. Obama at moments like this, but for a commander in chief to weigh in on a soldier being held indefinitely and before his hearing is the height of unconscionable if you ask me. To remind everyone, Mr. Manning has not yet been convicted of any crime. You can [...]
Since Arming Afghanistan Worked So Well, Why Not Libya?
UPDATED… REUTERS Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret support for Libya rebels. Also, Clinton said in a classified briefing to House members what I’ve already written, which is that Obama would have ignored any war resolution rebuffs and all attempts to inhibit executive power on Libya. President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. [...]
Steve Clemons on Jon Huntsman Presidential Run
Ben Smith has a piece up on Steve Clemons. I know Steve a bit, have been to his forums, parties and heard him speak innumerable times. He’s one of the few making sense on Libya. What people do not realize about Clemons is that not only is he a tough foreign policy realist, which I [...]
Obama Speaks to Nation on Libya Tonight
**UPDATED** Pres. Obama was forced political to speak tonight. It’s the last thing he wanted to do. His Saturday address gives you the foundation on where he’s likely to begin tonight. What he won’t say is that without sustained military efforts the Libyan “rebels,” the make up of which we haven’t a clue, won’t last. [...]
Women War Hawks Win on Libya
The Pentagon says 114 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been launched from U.S. and British ships in the Mediterranean, hitting more than 20 Libyan targets along the Mediterranean coastline. Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, told reporters the Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from one British submarine and a number [...]
TM Must Reads
THE 21st century world offers ways to tweak your appearance, or alter it altogether, with women finally able to combat directly the comparison that’s always been around. Men look distinguished as they age, while women look old, unattractive, or to use Rush Limbaugh’s favorite comment, who wants to look at a woman with wrinkles? The 2012 plastic surgery statistics are out and the American Society of Plastic Surgery tells the story.
The real question about Hillary is this: When people take a new look at her in the coming years, will they see the past or the future — Mrs. Clinton or Madam President? – Maureen Dowd IT’S A classic front page from Huffington Post, coupled with a post by Jason Linkins, which details what’s been going on.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy “Here’s what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate. Yes, I went there.
“Norma Rae is a survivor and for the first time in her life she’s got a chance to become something more… a winner.” – Promo for “Norma Rae” CRITICS like Anne-Marie Slaughter, but especially Maureen I-Love-My-Pearls Dowd, and others [most of whom didn't read the book or do their homework] who are blaming Sheryl Sandberg for being a billionaire Ivy League graduate, while accusing her of letting corporations and government off the hook, are missing a major point.
Great sex doesn’t always just happen. Sometimes, it takes a little planning, especially if — like many Americans — you’ve been in a bit of a sex rut. Do some prep work by turning your bedroom into a love nest: Make the bed (with new, or at least clean, sheets), tidy up, light a candle or two, and queue up a sexy playlist on your iPod.
“You Don’t Own Me” PSA -Official from You Don't Own Me on Vimeo. WHO DOESN’T know the song “You Don’t Own Me,” sung by Leslie Gore? The movie First Wives Club helped to reignite the relevancy of the song.
“Last night I interviewed Jill Stein the presidential candidate for the Green Party on this show. And I confess right now, I should have asked her to just get out of the race.” – Jennifer Granholm, “The War Room” [Current TV] THE ARGUMENT Jennifer Granholm makes above is a tactic that no longer fits the times.
“With that drum magazine, he could have gotten off 50, 60 rounds, even if it was semiautomatic, within one minute,” Chief Oates said. [New York Times] IN THE GAPING MAW of our leadership vacuum stands Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates, whose resolve, vulnerability and humility inside the vortex of a man made hell revealed what nobody in Congress or either political party has shown in decades. Leadership without regard to anything but his own duty to the people, which included the cops in the eye of volcanic carnage.
“Rick Doblin has done a lot for the field, but he is more of a populist,” Grob says. “We need careful and controlled scientific studies showing the efficacy of these drugs so funding can continue.” Broader awareness of these sorts of end-of-life psychedelic studies could be good for everyone, the researchers say.
*updated below* So much for keep calm and carry on, what Joe Scarborough proclaims to be his motto. It was the weirdest one-on-one back and forth with a high profile talking head imaginable. It makes high school look mature.
**UPDATED** Would we be any worse off with Stephen Colbert as president? I doubt it. Politifact has watched the video “(repeatedly!
Despite rising public concern about the federal budget deficit, Americans favor keeping Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are rather than taking steps to reduce the budget deficit (by 60% vs. 32%). – Public Wants Changes in Entitlements, Not Changes in Benefits This is starting early, so it’s time to revisit the facts.
“If we can prove that a biological attack originated in a country that attacked us, then all bets are off.” – Sect. Hillary Clinton Women can do it, too.
The interview with Obama by George Stephanopoulos wasn’t nearly as contentious as the interview with the Edwardses. No Republican talking points from Stephanopoulos yesterday, like when he accused Edwards of abandoning the troops with this beauty: “Do you think the Democrats should be saddled with the idea of completely cutting off funding for the troops?” Or this one: “You know, a lot of Democrats still in the Senate think that your position here is cynical political theater.
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