Editorial Staff:

Editor-in-Chief: Michael van der Galien

Managing Editor: Jason

Assistant Editor: Claudia

Biographies:

Amba: Contributing Author
Amba, the pseudonym of Annie Gottlieb, is a city animal who grew up in Chicago with 5 younger siblings, went to school in Boston (as we used to say to avoid dropping the H-bomb), and has lived in New York City for almost four decades. For the time being she resides in Chapel Hill, NC, taking care of her ailing husband, Jacques Sandulescu, an actor and author of books about his escape from a Soviet prison camp and subsequent adventures.

A freelance critic and journalist, she has contributed pieces on books, culture, psychology, spirituality, politics, and women’s issues to The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Nation, and about 40 national and alternative magazines, ranging from O: the Oprah Magazine to Psychology Today to The Utne Reader.

She holds a black belt in Kyokushin Karate, which, along with her husband’s origins, has occasioned extensive travels to Japan, Russia, Ukraine, and the full breadth of Europe. amba is the author or coauthor of several books. She currently telecommutes as chief copy editor and fact checker for Natural History Magazine, where she is about to start a new blog, Stars & Stripes.

Amba has blogged on centrist politics, moral moderation, the Oscars, and everything else at AmbivaBlog since August 2004.

Alan Stewart Carl: Contributing Author
Alan Stewart Carl is a freelance writer living and working in San Antonio, Texas. Most days he makes a living knocking out copy for advertising agencies. On good days he has time to write fiction between the client calls, screaming children and unremitting desire to blog. An admitted political junkie, Alan has blogged at various sites since early 2005 and has had his comments appear on CNN, MSNBC, Salon.com. The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere. For a time, Alan headed up a national attempt to organize centrists but has found far more satisfaction in being a stone-cold independent. His thoughts on politics and culture appear regularly at Maverick Views. In addition to PoliGazette, he also contributes at Donklephant.

Baltimoron: Contributing Author
Baltimoron is an American expatriate living in Busan, ROK with his South Korean wife Kim Jung-hee (married since 2002), since 1999. He was born in South Baltimore, Maryland. Incidentally, “Bal(t)imoron” is a humorously self-deprecating moniker highlighting the distinctive features of the Baltimore/Maryland spoken dialect. “Baltimoron” refers (unofficially) to this dialect or to a resident of Baltimore, Maryland.

Balt. served as a United States Army Military Intelligence Signals Intelligence Analyst/Korean linguist in the 751st MI Battalion stationed at Camp Humphreys near Pyongtaek, ROK from April, 1997-9. Ironically, he loved soldiering, just not in an MI unit, and still despises the National Security Agency and commissioned officers. After flirting with the masochistic urge to transfer to the infantry, or armor, he volunteered for the unit’s NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) team and tried not to do his job. He still has an interest in WMD issues. He now teaches ESL at Dong-A University. Baltimoron is torn between becoming Michael Crichton, or working for a non-profit organization dealing with conflict resolution. He is also currently on hiatus from studying for a Master’s of Science in International Relations with Troy University.

Meltem Birkegren: Contributing Author
Meltem is a Turkish woman living in America. She is a modern woman, brought up with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s principles and, therefore, a strong defender of secularism and advocate of women’s rights. Her view on the press and, thus, bloggers can be summarized (in the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk) thusly:
“The press is the nation’s shared voice. It is an innovator, a school and a power in itself.”

Although she lives in America, she remains devoted to the wellbeing of Turkey. To inform Turks but especially foreigners about what is happening in Turkey, she runs the website Turkish Digest: an absolute must read for all those interested in this part of the world.

Bert de Bruin (Yonathan Dror Bar-On): Resident Expert
Bert is a historian who specialized in modern Jewish history and in history of the Middle East. In 1995 he emigrated from the Netherlands to Israel. His doctoral thesis deals with “Jews in Post-Liberation France, 1944-49″. His opinion articles have been published in Dutch and Israeli newspapers and magazines. He keeps a weblog, Dutchblog Israel which is definitely worth a daily visit. For The Gazette he will occasionally write articles and analyses, mostly about Israel/Holland related subjects.

He’s currently working on his Ph.D.

Claudia: Contributing Author
Claudia, 27 years old, is a Spanish and American bi-national. She has lived in the US (San Francisco 11 years) and in Spain (Ibiza as a young child, then Madrid for the past 11 years). She’s a biochemist and is currently getting her doctorate in protein studies. Religion-wise she’s an Atheist (but a fine person nonetheless) but has an avid interest in world religions. She’s also interested in politics and pretty much everything having to do with Japan. Computers have been in her life since she was 7, and Claudia first got on the net when she was 11. She started out in very lefty blogs, and gradually moved into moderate sites where discussion consisted in something further than “They suck!” “Yeah, they really suck, and they’re EVIL too”.

Dyre42: Contributing AuthorDyre’s a self professed Teddy Roosevelt style progressive . Originally born in Roanoake Va he grew up around Nashville Tn where he attended Middle Tennessee State University. He is a published poet and occasional inventor with two patents pending. Dyre42 still writes at his personal blog Dyre Portents and is also an occasional contributor at the blogs Donklephant, Central Sanity, and Political Grind. He works as a freelance computer technician and currently resides in San Antonio Tx with his new bride, five fish, four dogs, two point five kids, two cats, and a fire bellied toad named Bitey.

Benjamin P. Gage: Contributing Author
Benjamin Gage is an American currently living in Istanbul. He grew up in New England and graduated from the University of Chicago in 2006 with an undergraduate degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Having studied the Turkish language and traveled by bus through much of Anatolia, he is now working for a publisher of political-economy reports in Istanbul. His favorite Turkish football team is Trabzonspor.

Benjamin hosts his own blog, The Bosphorus Watch, which analyzes geopolitical issues related to Turkey and the region.

Michael van der Galiën: Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Michael van der Galiën is the founder and Editor-in-Chief. He is a 23-year-old former law, now American Studies student at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands, where he was a member of the board of the Criminal Justice Student Organization called Simon van der Aa and he wrote for a studentmagazine about religion, politics and culture called Intensief Magazine. In January 2006, Michael founded the blog Liberty and Justice. Because of his love for the U.S, it was quite logical for him to write about international politics with a special focus on the U.S. In June 2006 he became a co-blogger and later (after quitting his own blog due to lack of time) assistant editor at The Moderate Voice. He resigned from that post in September 07.

In June 2007 Michael became Chief Political Reviewer at Monsters and Critics (section books) where his reviews are published approximately one week before they are published at this blog.

In September 2007, Michael became Correspondent in the Netherlands for Pajamas Media. He reports for them about Dutch politics, European politics and the transatlantic relationship.

Michael’s columns have been published in Turkish Daily News. For instance:

- “The Secular Elite vs. The Popular Islamists”

- “Time for a Change at the CHP”

Michael is a conservative liberal. As with every other political group, they don’t agree with each other on everything. His trademarks are: fiscally conservative, socially more liberal and hawkish on foreign policy.

Brian Mathey: Resident Expert (Economy and Financial Markets)
After graduating magna cum laude from law school, Brian sat on the board of directors of a bank in Kansas City and currently works for a (well known) multi-national financial services company. His choice to work in the financial sector was an easy one: he has been a student of the market for as long as he can remember.

He monitors the market daily and is particularly troubled by the current fluxuations in the international currency market.

Michael Merritt: Contributing Author
Michael Merritt is a recent graduate of a public liberal arts university in the US state of Connecticut. A communications major, Michael has worked in the television production field for 7 years, mostly as a video journalist and editor for his school’s newscast. He has also shot, edited, directed, and produced documentaries, commercials, and an award-winning game show. Though by no means claiming to be a news media expert, Michael often writes about the connection of news and politics.

His interest in politics started at the tender age of 14, when he closely followed the 2000 U.S. Presidential race. This interest increased during the 2004 race, and he cemented his future as a politics geek when he chose Political Science as his minor upon entering college. After several start-and-drop failed attempts at a website, he opened up a blog, Dymersion, in December 2005, which focuses primarily on U.S. politics. Michael is a Independent.

Marc Moore: Contributing Author
Marc Moore is a systems analyst who has worked in the software field for nearly 20 years, working in both the public and private sectors and as a consultant. In his spare time Marc is a devoted husband and father of 3 amazing children. He enjoys attending a small community church, alternative Christian music, playing Canasta, the all-too-rare good movie, hard science fiction, and the novels of Ayn Rand. Marc is a runner of no renown whatever and, on the web, is the founder of and primary contributor to Black Shards.

Rick Moran: Contributing Author and Grand Pooha
Rick Moran was born in Libertyville, IL Moran grew up in Mount Prospect, IL and attended Drake University where he graduated in 1976 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. He has 9 brothers and sisters, all of whom are much more liberal than he is which makes for interesting family reunions. His brother Terry hosts the ABC news show Nightline while his brother Greg is a reporter for the San Diego Union.

He is a freelance writer with more than 15 years experience in grass roots political action, Moran has worked for a number of business trade associations running programs that teach local businessmen how to become active in the political process. Among the trade associations he has worked for at both the national and local level are The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) , the American Subcontractors Association (ASA), and the Painting and Decorating Foundation (PDF). He has been involved in more than 20 political campaigns as both a volunteer and paid staffer, having sat on a dozen or more steering committees as well as acted as speechwriter for a number of local candidates.

Daniel Pawson: Contributing Author and Resident Expert
Dan is the legislative director for a state senator in a northeastern state. (We’d point out it’s a blue state, but that’s really not necessary, is it?) He is a lawyer by education but a politics junkie at heart, and is taking wagers on whether he’ll ever end up arguing in front of a judge. (As a defendant doesn’t count.) Dan runs his own blog, Last Moderate Republican, whenever he is not distracted for months by shiny coins, and has been featured on National Journal’s Hotline.

Dan is the product of a conservative Republican and a somewhat apathetic Democrat, which probably explains why he was one of three Republicans in his high school graduating class of 190. He is a socially liberal, fiscally conservative GOP’er with an unhealthy hatred of the national debt and a slight crush on Barry Goldwater. He had fantasies about John McCain being another Goldwater — McH20? — but has been sorely disabused. Ah, well. Maybe next cycle.

Deafening Silence: Columnist
DF (which isn’t her real name as you may have guessed) is a middle-aged file clerk with no claim to any expertise whatsoever, albeit a wonderful blogger who always does lots of research for her posts. Her background is actually in the performing arts- acting and dancing.

She landed in a clerk’s job when it became clear that her career was a non-starter. However, she has always loved to read and to write and has an inquisitive nature. After 9/11 shocked the nation she set out to better understand what had happened, and that search eventually led to The Moderate Voice, then to the creation of Deafening Silence, then to PoliGazette.

Andrew Quinn: Contributing Author

Andrew Quinn has been writing about politics since he was a sixth-grader. Now a high school junior, the writer, jazz musician, and student still spends a plurality of his free time trying to crack the issues of the day, and share his solutions with others. He remains unaffiliated with any party or set ideology, preferring a practical combination of pragmatic and idealistic positions.

Preferring vastly his high school courses in history, English, and music to those in math and science, Andrew expects to study in International Relations, Public Policy, or Law after high school though such decisions are always subject to change. Over the years, Quinn has contributed to The Moderate Voice, Blogcritics, Dean’s World, Redstate, served as the youth affairs columnist at the now-defunct Blue-and-Red, and maintained several of his own blogs in addition to remaining active in local politics. Andrew lives in suburbian Chicago, Illinois, USA with his family.

Michael Reynolds: Contributing Author
Michael Reynolds is a bestselling children’s book author (under various pseudonyms,) won a Pollie award during his brief time as a political media consultant, and has produced or provided story for, several feature-length documentary films. He’s married, has two kids, way too many animals, and just the right number of vices. He lives in Chapel Hill, NC where he is the only resident who doesn’t care about basketball. Michael blogs at Sideways Mencken.
Marc Schulman: Contributing Author
Marc Schulman received a BS in Political Science from MIT in 1967 and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management in 1972. He is a retired Wall Street securities analyst and corporate consultant. A liberal on social issues, Marc is best-described as a Truman Democrat on matters pertaining to national security. In 2004, Marc founded the American Future blog, which focuses on American foreign and defense policy, terrorism, and international relations.

Jason: Assistant Editor:
Jason is a professor in International Relations at a medium private college. In his research and writing, he focuses on civil-military relations as well as the coexistence of conflict and cooperation in international security relations. Prior to his graduate education, he served for 15 years in the United States Air Force, including 5 years at the United States Strategic Command. As a self-proclaimed “militant moderate”, Jason specializes in discussions on the nature and core principles of moderate politics and the role that centrism can play in redressing an increasingly polarized political culture.

Kevin Sullivan: Contributing Author
Kevin Sullivan is the Assistant Editor of Real Clear Blogs, and the founder of his own blog, Mulling It Over From The Middle. Kevin is a frequent contributor at Donklephant, and in addition to that, has been featured on Political Derby and the RCP Blog at TIME Magazine.

Kevin’s lives and works in Washington, DC.