Just Above Sunset

Links

Sources for Political Commentary and News Before It Hits The Major Media (the Political Blog list at the weekly, no longer updated)

Also -

Sister Sites

NEW - The daily political topics being tossed about are best found at these sites…

 

A new and unique aggregator -

  • poliNEWS - poliNEWS.org is a web application that allows you to submit an article that will be reviewed by all and will be promoted, based on popularity, to the main page. When a user submits a news article it will be placed in the “queued” area until it gains sufficient votes to be promoted to the main page.

Aggregators:  

 

  • Memeorandum - continually updates, links original news stories with links to all major commentary on the item, all by topic

  • The Daou Report - major commentary from the left in the left column, from the right in the right column - free if you click through a sponsored web ad

  • PBD - Progressive Blog Digest  - as it says

  • Real Clear Politics - links to the major editorials of the day, about two-thirds on the right side of things, with some commentary

  • Cursor – weekdays, by noon Eastern Time, links to the major news stories, a left-leaning selection

  • The Huffington Post - Arianna Huffington’s stable of big-gun celebrity commentators, and more

  • Working for Change - posts the latest “progressive” opinion, and a daily cartoon

  • Crooks and Liars - the source for media clips

  • Townhall - daily collection of major conservative opinion pieces

  • The Smirking Chimp - daily collection of anti-Bush items, sometimes carries former columnist here, Bob Patterson

  • Added Friday, December 14, 2007 – The Mersman Political Blog, a useful source with many links

General:

  • Slate – formerly a joint venture of Microsoft and MSNBC, now owned by the Washington Post group - co-produces some material the NPR radio show “Day to Day” weekdays at noon from the new NPR studios out here in Culver City. Mainstream - carries good summaries of movies, and book reviews too

  • For the daily wire stories and everyone’s schedule, ABC’s “The Note” is useful, even if it leans right – go here and click on “The Note.”  If you want to know just when Bush will arrive in Peoria tomorrow, they have it.

  • Today’s Front Pages - images (.pdf) of 488 front pages from 42 counties, with links to the papers – test your language skills

  • News Voyager - links to all major dailies, weeklies, and college new publications, and media organizations – includes Canada and other international papers

The Blogs

Here is a selection of the majors, and minors, often referenced here -  

Added Monday, May 7, 2007 -

 

Michael Johns: On Freedom and Prosperity

Public policy and industry leader Michael Johns, a former White House Speechwriter, Heritage Foundation policy analyst and award-winning writer, provides periodic analysis on global affairs, the economy and other topics.

Check it out.

  • The Daily Kos – the most visited blog on the left

  • Eschaton – Duncan Black, every lefty’s basic issues

  • Hullabaloo – Digby is blunt and essential - one of the best

  • Political Animal - Kevin Drum’s daily blog for the Washington Monthly is a must.

  • Andrew Sullivan - issues as seen by a conservative gay right-wing Republican, born and raised in the UK but now living at the tip of Cape Cod. Yep, he’s conflicted.

  • Talk Left - multi-award winning blog on criminal and constitutional law - creator and principal author, defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt

  • The Volokh Conspiracy - a big-gun UCLA law professor, his students and friends hold forth on the issues of the day, from the prospective of constitutional, criminal and copyright law

  • The Reality-Based Community - UCLA public policy professor Mark Kleiman and friends

  • Talking Points Memo - Joshua Micah Marshall, the ultimate Washington insider (see also TPM Cafe, the group blog)

  • Informed Comment - Juan Cole, University of Michigan professor and Middle East expert, on matters there

  • Semi-Daily Journal - Professor Brad Delong of UC Berkeley - used to work in the White House as an economist for the Clinton Administration - mostly about economic issues

  • The Left End of the Dial - James Benjamin is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Behavioral and Social Science at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Politics as seen by a psychologist – and some jazz items too, as he’s a fan

  • Altercation - Eric Alterman, NYU professor and author, Monday through Friday

  • Tapped - the blog of The America Prospect

  • This Modern World - the political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow and his friends hold forth on the day’s issues

  • James Wolcott - the man from Vanity Fair, extraordinary prose

  • Oliver Willis - short, pointed, and spotty

  • The Best of the Blogs - not really, but pretty good

  • World O’Crap - “A daily diatribe about current events, bad movies, pop culture, Ann Coulter, etc.” - and so it is

  • UggaBugga - often has good diagrams but posts at odd intervals…

  • Sisyphus Shrugged - wise woman blogger

  • Martini Republic - a good daily read

  • Roger Ailes - no, not THAT one, the other one…

  • Sadly, No! – as it says

  • The Corner - short posts at the conservative Nation Review Online

  • Steve Barnes’ Empires Fall - photos and video clips

Now offline -

  • Body and Soul - again, mostly long form, but the best of real humanism

  • Whiskey Bar - one of the most thoughtful, with long-form essays, not little nuggets, updates infrequent (postings have been spotty)

New March 6, 2005 - Velvel on National Affairs - ‘’sets forth the personal views of the Dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, Lawrence R. Velvel, on national events. Occasionally, the responses to his views or other interesting articles are also posted.” This is for those of a legal turn of mind on current events.

 

Local:

Attitude:

  • Wonkette - political gossip at its best

  • Patriot Boy - General JC Christian who signs each item “Heterosexually Yours” – the manly man – tries to rid himself of his “inner Frenchman” and wonders why his little general (and two grenades) won’t stand up at attention when called upon - political satire at its snarkiest

  • FafBlog - way off the wall political humor from the Medium Lobster (no longer updated)

  • Bartcop - very angry left and not terribly coherent

  • Betty Bowers  - America’s Best Christian (satire)

The Press - media industry news, commentary, and memos -

For what’s up in France try these:

  • The Tocqueville Connection - for AFP wire items in English updated several times a day

  • Yahoo - France - links to the current AP and Reuters (and other wire services) stories regarding France

  • Vidéos - Voir le 13h et le 20h - free streaming video feeds from TF1 television in Paris, including the full afternoon and evening news shows (in French)

  • Also of interest, the blog of a French journalist, living out here and covering Los Angeles and Hollywood for the French press, Emmanuelle Richard (in French and English)

  • For amusement, French Word-A-Day

The Arts:

  • Arts and Letters Daily - a service of The Chronicle of Higher Education providing links to stories on music and all the arts, book reviews of note, and some politics

  • About Last Night - Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal on music, dance and theater, with neat quotes now and then, and no politics at

The Pathways to Philosophy web site was launched in 1997, the leading provider of distance learning courses in philosophy with students in over 60 countries.  In this item there is a link to Philosophy Now magazine, and readers might find the following of interest – the Pathways school of philosophy (online courses run by the International Society for Philosophers), Philosophy Pathways (free monthly e-journal for general philosophy launched in 2001) and Ask a Philosopher (submit a question and receive an answer from a philosopher).  Thanks to Dr Geoffrey Klempner, Director of Studies.