I have been harshly critical of those elements in the Democratic party who are sleazy, beholden to corporate interests, and anti-progressive, and the current governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe is a prime example. But it is good to always remember that the two parties are not completely equivalent and that in some areas the differences can have significance.
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With the advent of the shorter forms of cricket such as the 50-over One Day Internationals and the even shorter 20 over Twenty20 format that almost certainly produce a definite outcome, there has been concern that the traditional five-day Test matches may not be able to match them for excitement. These fears were allayed by the two Test matches just completed between England and Sri Lanka. In both those matches, games that seemed to be drifting to foregone conclusions suddenly experienced dramatic reversals of fortune that led to nail-biting finishes where the outcomes were in doubt right up to the very end. These are the kinds of games that cricket aficionados remember for decades and to have them back-to-back was highly unusual.
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The recent Republican primary in Mississippi gained an inordinate amount of US media coverage because it embodies what they like best. Nothing major hinged on the outcome because both candidates pretty much have the same ideology and it fed a convenient storyline. It was an ideal candidate for consequence-free bloviating.
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The anti-vaccination movement has resulted in a serious health hazard being created for everyone. One simple way to make sure that people vaccinate their children is to require vaccinations for all children attending school. But it turns out that all you have to do is claim that you object to vaccinations for religious reasons and you are exempt from that requirement, another example of the ridiculous ‘respect for religion’ trope that plagues the US.
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Here we go again.
President Obama has asked Congress for half a billion dollars to support the rebels fighting the Syrian government. But, you are thinking, isn’t that group ISIS (sometimes referred to as ISIL), that consists of a ruthless group of Islamists that seeks to create a new state by combining Iraq and Syria, and whose ideology is so extreme that even al Qaeda washed its hands of them?
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The Daily Show has an item on a bizarre ‘sport’. I have to imagine that this is one of those things that only generate interest because of the bets being placed. Take away the gambling element and would anyone watch?
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(Thanks to Norm)
Readers may recall the interesting case involving a company called Aereo that was marketing a small antenna that can be connected to your mobile device. That antenna was linked to an transmitter at Aereo that picked up programming that is being broadcast over the air by the TV networks. In other words, you can watch broadcast TV anywhere without a TV and can even record and save the programs for later viewing. TV stations sued, saying that these retransmissions were violating their copyright.
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A babysitter reported to the police that the house had been invaded and robbed by two men, one of whom who looked like the family’s neighbor, who was black. What she did not take into account was a child’s power of observation.
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Those warmongers who advocated for the invasion of Iraq and are now feeling some heat for that disastrous decision have developed a set of excuses that are trotted out whenever they are confronted with their crimes. What they do is shift from one excuse to another when they get cornered. Here is a list.
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