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3/31/08
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Krugman on the housing crisis: “It’s like Katrina to say ‘let people suffer’”
(by SilentPatriot at Crooks and Liars)
I can’t think of a clip that more perfectly illustrates the difference between
conservative and liberal philosophy than this one from [Sunday’s] “This Week.”
After George Will pretty much gives the finger to the scores of American
homeowners now choking under the weight of their massive mortgages, Paul Krugman
and Robert Reich smack him down and set him straight. Krugman offers an
incredibly appropriate comparison to Herbert Hoover’s Treasury Secretary and a
spot-on analogy to Hurricane Katrina.
Click through to
watch the video.
The World
Iraq Green Zone comes under fresh attack
BAGHDAD - The
fortified Green Zone came under fresh attack Monday, less than 24 hours after
anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told his fighters to stand down
following a week of clashes with government forces.
Iranian general played key role in brokering Iraq cease-fire
BAGHDAD
— Iraqi lawmakers traveled to the Iranian holy city of
Qom over the weekend to win
the support of the commander of Iran's Qods brigades in persuading Shiite cleric
Muqtada al Sadr to order his followers to stop military operations, members of
the Iraqi parliament said.
Bedouin resist Israeli plan to build Jewish towns on ancestral lands
WADI SA'AWA,
Israel — There's no street sign on the dirt road leading to Hassan al Finesh's
corrugated tin shack in Israel's rolling southern desert, only a large concrete
block with a spray-painted warning: "Danger — Firing Area. Entrance Forbidden."
Turkey court considers ruling party ban
ANKARA, Turkey -
Turkey's top court unanimously voted Monday to hear a case for banning the
Islamic-rooted ruling party, a decision that could lead to months of political
uncertainty in a nation divided over the role of Islam in society.
Syria says ready in case of US military action
Syrian Foreign
Minister Walid Muallem said on Sunday that Damascus was prepared for all
scenarios in its worsening relationship with Washington, including the use of US
military force. "A prudent person must make all his calculations, especially
when we have to deal with an administration which knows how to strike but does
not know how to withdraw," Muallem told reporters at the end of an Arab summit
in Damascus.
Kadhafi warns US allies could suffer Saddam's fate
Libyan leader
Moamer Kadhafi warned Arab allies of the United States that they could meet the
same fate as former Iraq president Saddam Hussein, hanged in 2006 three years
after the US-led invasion. "A foreign force occupied an Arab country and hanged
its president and we stood by and watched," he told an Arab summit in the Syrian
capital… "How can they execute a prisoner of war and the president of a member
of the Arab League?" Kadhafi asked. He said Saddam had been a friend of the
United States during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s "before they turned against
him and executed him." "You could all suffer the same fate," he warned.
Activist: Dozens still jailed in China over 1989 protests
A human rights
activist says at least 60 people are still jailed in China for protests by
pro-democracy demonstrators in 1989 at
Beijing's
Tiananmen Square. John Kamm said in a speech in Hong Kong today that between 60
and 100 such protesters remain jailed and he urged China to release them before
the Beijing Olympics.
Venezuela diverts Exxon oil to China
Venezuela
is sending to China all the oil it previously shipped to a
US
refinery jointly owned with Exxon Mobil amid a legal battle between the OPEC
nation and the US oil giant, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Friday.
''With respect to the shipments, we put them at China's disposal,'' Ramirez told
reporters. ''All of it.''
Cuba allows citizens to stay in hotels
HAVANA - New
President Raul Castro's government has lifted a ban on Cubans staying at hotels
previously reserved for foreigners, ending another restriction that had been
especially irksome to citizens.
Watchdog's threat to 42-day terror law
The government's
own human rights watchdog threatened last night to launch a legal challenge to
Labour's plan to introduce a law that would let police detain terror suspects
without charge for 42 days. The Equality and Human Rights Commission says the
key part of the counter-terrorism bill goes against human rights law and may
breach the Race Relations Act.
Right-wing Christian group pays for Commons researchers
As the [British]
Prime Minister bows to church pressure on embryology legislation, Jane Merrick
and Brian Brady investigate the long parliamentary reach of a pro-life group
opposed to the Bill 30 Mar 2008 An evangelical Christian charity leading
opposition to new laws on embryo research is funding interns in MPs' offices, an
investigation by The Independent on Sunday has discovered. Christian Action,
Research and Education (Care) faces inquiries into its lobbying activities by
the Charity Commission and the House of Commons standards watchdog after
accessing Parliament at the highest levels.
Judge says no evidence royals plotted to kill Diana
LONDON (Reuters)
- The coroner at the inquest into the death of Britain's Princess Diana in a car
crash said on Monday there was no evidence that Queen Elizabeth's husband, the
Duke of Edinburgh, had "ordered Diana's execution."
So it’s not just
here in the U.S. that government resources are used in really stupid ways
sometimes.
Muslims more numerous than Catholics
VATICAN CITY
- Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the
Vatican newspaper said Sunday.
Zimbabwe opposition claims clear lead after polls
HARARE, March 31,
2008 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's opposition on Monday claimed an overwhelming lead in the
country's elections, saying its own count showed party leader Morgan Tsvangairai
had so far won twice as many votes as Robert Mugabe.
The Nation
Bush prods Congress before Europe trip
WASHINGTON
- On his way out of the country, President Bush stopped long enough Monday to
tell Congress what to do what while he was away: pass legislation he wants on
matters of trade, housing and terrorist surveillance.
CIA chief says Iran has nuclear weapons drive
CIA chief Michael
Hayden expressed his personal belief Sunday that Iran is pursuing a nuclear
weapons program, but also stood by the agency's assessment that the program was
suspended in 2003. "Personal belief, yes. It's hard for me to explain. This is
not court of law stuff," the Central Intelligence Agency director said on NBC
television.
The
administration had to say something, considering the role Iran played in the
Iraq cease fire. See The World, above.
US demands to see Swiss-Iran gas contract
The U.S. has
demanded to see a Swiss contract for natural gas supplies from Iran to see
whether it violates an American sanctions law against Tehran, the U.S. Embassy
in Switzerland said Sunday.
Attorney General Gets Emotional In Calling for Surveillance Power
SAN FRANCISCO —
Attorney General Mukasey, in an emotional plea for broad surveillance authority
in the war on terror, is warning that the price for failing to empower the
government would be paid in American lives. Officials "shouldn't need a warrant
when somebody with a phone in Iraq picks up a phone and calls somebody in the
United States
because that's the call that we may really want to know about. And before 9/11,
that's the call that we didn't know about," Mr. Mukasey said yesterday as he
took questions from the audience following a speech to a public affairs forum,
the Commonwealth Club.
Why doesn’t he
get emotional about our loss of civil liberties? Didn’t he swear to uphold the
Constitution?
Ex-Afghanistan Detainee Alleges Torture by U.S.
A resident of
Germany who was imprisoned for two months at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan
has told an interviewer that his interrogators hung him from a ceiling for five
days and that several doctors periodically checked him before authorizing the
torture to continue.
Bush administration changing who gets Cuba aid money
WASHINGTON
— The Bush administration is undertaking a major do-over of the controversial
Cuba
democracy grants, restricting the funds available for anti-Castro groups in
Miami and sending more resources to non-U.S. international advocacy
organizations…
A November 2006
report by the Government Accountability Office criticized USAID for providing
$74 million in grants since 1996 without competitive bids. The GAO also found
some instances of abuse, including using grant money to purchase game consoles
and cashmere sweaters.
Staff Alleges Abuses by Top Iraq Auditor
The FBI and U.S.
attorneys have been investigating whether Special Inspector General for Iraq
Reconstruction chief Stuart W. Bowen Jr., and his top deputy, Ginger Cruz,
improperly accessed staff e-mails in violation of federal law. Current and
former SIGIR employees interviewed by the FBI and questioned before the grand
jury have complained of mismanagement and abuse of authority, including
retaliatory firing of staff members. On the basis of the grand jury questioning
and testimony, several witnesses said they believe that the government has
strong evidence against Bowen, a former White House associate counsel who heads
the lead U.S. agency in charge of tracking fraud, waste and abuse of more than
$21 billion in funds for Iraq reconstruction.
Report Says HUD Secretary Will Resign
Housing Secretary
Alphonso R. Jackson is expected to resign Monday, The Wall Street Journal
reported Sunday night. Mr. Jackson has been under investigation by the Justice
Department and the housing department’s inspector general in inquiries focusing
on whether he gave lucrative housing contracts to friends.
US must fulfil obligations to nuclear test victims: congressman
MAJURO (AFP) -
The United States must fulfil its obligations to victims of its nuclear weapons
testing programme in the Marshall Islands, a US congressman said.
Clinton, Obama offer big plans on global warming
WASHINGTON
— Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama agree on the basics of global warming. Both
believe scientists' warnings that it poses a catastrophic threat. Both demand
urgent action, and both think there's still hope of escaping the worst
consequences through technological advances, developing new energy sources and
sharply reducing pollution.
Bill Clinton urges superdelegates to be patient
SAN JOSE --
Former President Clinton urged Democratic Party superdelegates and activists
Sunday to be patient in selecting a presidential nominee and let the primary
election process play out over the coming months.
Senior Democrats mull Al Gore's nomination
Plans for Al Gore
to take the Democratic presidential nomination as the saviour of a bitterly
divided party are being actively discussed by senior figures and aides to the
former vice-president. Former Gore aides now believe he could emerge as a
compromise candidate acceptable to both camps at the party's convention in
Denver during the last week of August.
It would be
great, but I’m not holding my breath.
Obama gets most of the Texas caucus delegates
30 Mar 2008
Apportionment of presidential caucus delegates to the
Texas
Democratic state convention based on reports from Saturday’s county and senate
district conventions: A total of about 7,300 delegates were expected to be
selected in this stage of the caucus process, according to the Texas Democratic
Party. Results are from 145 of about 280 conventions:
Clinton:
1,509 delegates, or 40 percent; Obama: 2,234 delegates, or 60 percent.
Winning Hispanic vote could be tough for McCain
Republican
candidate Sen. John McCain will launch his effort to win the crucial Hispanic
vote with his first Spanish-language ads this week. But given his party's rabid
anti-immigration stand, it will be an uphill battle.
2 States in Jeopardy With Federal ID Law
Starting in May,
driver’s licenses issued in Maine and South Carolina may not be accepted as
identification at airports and federal buildings unless the states work out a
last-minute agreement with the federal Department of Homeland Security. The
states are refusing to ask the agency to extend the deadline for applying new
layers of security in their identification systems as required under the federal
Real ID Act.
Vt. Supreme Court overturns felony marijuana conviction after invasion of
airspace
Vermont residents
have a broad right to privacy "that ascends into the airspace above their homes
and property," the Supreme Court ruled Friday in overturning a felony marijuana
conviction based on an unconstitutional flyover by a military helicopter.
Economy & Finance
Stocks wobble as Street digests plan
NEW YORK
- Stocks fluctuated within a narrow range Monday after a reading on regional
manufacturing came in better than expected and as investors examined details of
a government plan to overhaul the way Wall Street is regulated.
Overhaul of financial regulations sought
WASHINGTON
- The Bush administration is proposing the biggest overhaul of financial
regulation since the Great Depression. The sweeping plan is already drawing
intense criticism — a debate unlikely to be settled until a new president takes
office.
Paulson's financial markets reform will do little for current crisis
WASHINGTON
- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson makes public on Monday a new blueprint for
regulation of the turbulent financial markets, one that has plenty to do with
the future and little to fix what ails the economy right now.
Struggling homeowners find little hope in federal program
WASHINGTON —
In the nearly four months since Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson challenged
mortgage lenders to modify distressed home loans voluntarily to ease record
numbers of foreclosures, it remains difficult to gauge the program's success.
Chase mortgage memo pushes 'Cheats & Tricks
A newly
surfaced memo from banking giant JPMorgan Chase provides a rare glimpse into the
mentality that fueled the mortgage crisis. The memo's title says it all: "Zippy
Cheats & Tricks." It is a primer on how to get risky mortgage loans approved by
Zippy, Chase's in-house automated loan underwriting system.
Tough times make for few takers at property auction
"This was a
disaster," said Fort
Lauderdale broker
Paul Merlesena as he stood near the door following the auction. "They're
basically going to have to give them away now."
Food Stamp Use at Record Pace as Jobs Vanish
Driven by a
painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans
receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the
highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.
Uncertain economy awaits next president
WASHINGTON -
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain have diagnosed the swooning
U.S.
economy and have come up with rival plans to revive it. If the downturn lasts as
long as some economists predict, one of the three will get a chance to try to
sell his or her proposal to Congress as president.
LONG-TERM SOCIAL SECURITY SHORTFALL SMALLER THAN COST OF EXTENDING TAX CUTS FOR
TOP 1 PERCENT
(Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Social Security's shortfall over the next 75 years is slightly less than the
estimated cost over that period of extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts just for
the top 1 percent of households. This striking fact should serve as a
much-needed “reality check” in discussions over entitlement programs and the
nation’s long-term fiscal future.
Exxon Mobil takes over from PetroChina as largest company in the world
The title of the
world's largest is now held by a U.S. firm, rather than a Chinese one. Exxon
Mobil Corp. has taken over from PetroChina Co. as the leader of that select
club.
Media
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
I seldom recommend “must reads”, but the two excerpts below, if not the entire posts they come from, are absolutely essential reading for every progressive and/or liberal and/or Democratic-leaning commentator:
Media Bias
(by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Some very smart people on the media bias panel I moderated yesterday…
The most interesting part to
me was [Media Matters’]
Eric Boehlert’s take
on how the blogosphere is handling the primary… What’s happening online now
is potentially dangerous: HRC has gotten dreadful press, not fair, “gotcha,”
and so on — there’s a portion of the blogosphere that has ignored that and
there’s a portion that has encouraged that. It’s dangerous because the
media criticism has to be consistent and relentless, and we can’t very well
say, “You can’t go after our candidates … except this one.” I get nervous about
pushback regarding disingenuous coverage - our response needs to be, “You can’t
treat Democrats this way.” When people in the left blogosphere are quoting an
anonymous Matt Drudge source, it makes me nervous. I noticed that after he said
this, only half of the audience clapped…
I’d been chatting with Eric the night before, and he told me he’d been interviewing Clinton bloggers for a book about how bloggers are affecting the 2008 presidential campaign, and was “shocked” to hear again and again that people felt they could no longer speak freely in the blogosphere. “I’m not,” I said. I told him most of the bloggers I know are appalled at the present state of affairs, and that they’d basically been bullied into silence. (Which I find ironic - white working class Clinton voters are called “Archie Bunker types” by Obama supporters, and yet the Clinton supporters are the ones being told to “Stifle yourself!”) He said he was astounded at the venom those bloggers described, and had already collected so much material, he was thinking of making it a separate book.
Why calling out misogyny matters
(by zuzu at Feministe)
[A]llow me to explain why calling out the misogynist shit thrown at Hillary
Clinton, even if you think that Clinton is a party-destroying, warmongering
succubus feeding at the corporate teat, is important… It’s not so much that I’m
defending Clinton
(though I think she’s getting an unfair shake in the media and in the
blogosphere, and that annoys me), but that I’m calling this shit out because
this shit hurts women. Women like me. Women like many of you. Women like your
daughters, your sisters, your mothers, your friends, your spouses, your SOs. If
it’s okay to dehumanize a US Senator and presidential candidate as “that thing”
or dismiss her as “that bitch,” or set up a 527 called “Citizens United Not
Timid” (aka C.U.N.T.) to “educate the American public about what Hillary Clinton
really is,” then we now have an environment in which it’s okay to dehumanize,
demean and diminish ordinary women because they’re women.
And what has been
the result of all this denigration? See below.
Gallup: Obama has 10-point lead over Clinton -- largest this year
(On Politics, USA Today)
Today's Gallup tracking poll puts the Democratic nomination race at Barack Obama
52%, Hillary Rodham Clinton 42%. That's his largest lead of the year, Gallup
says. "The latest results are based on Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted
March 27-29.
Hillary, reassessed
(by Richard M. Scaife, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, thanks to Deb at
Buck Naked Politics)
More than most modern political figures, Sen. Clinton has been criticized
regularly, often harshly, by the Trib. We disagreed with many of her policies
and her actions in the past. We still disagree with some of her proposals. Sen.
Clinton came to the Trib anyway and, for 90 minutes, answered questions. Her
meeting and her remarks during it changed my mind about her. Walking into our
conference room, not knowing what to expect (or even, perhaps, expecting the
worst), took courage and confidence. Not many politicians have political or
personal courage today, so it was refreshing to see her exhibit both. Sen.
Clinton also exhibited an impressive command of many of today's most pressing
domestic and international issues. Her answers were thoughtful, well-stated, and
often dead-on.
BuzzFlash went nuts over this example of how Hillary Clinton can impress her
former enemies, claiming that she had joined the right wing. But BuzzFlash and
others are ecstatic when Barack Obama TALKS about working with the other side.
Of course, the examples of Obama’s actually doing so are few and far between.
Nor does BuzzFlash seem to be upset when Obama invokes Ronald Reagan and George
H.W. Bush as
models for his foreign policy. At least Scaife admits here that he
disagrees with many of Clinton’s policies.
Knife Job (by
Lynne in Lakeland at
Liberal Rapture)
Frank Rich does a knife job on Senator Clinton today. It's horrible that she
"lied" about being under sniper fire in Bosnia. Why would he mention that the
pilot took evasive action to avoid sniper fire? Why would he mention that
everyone on the plane was instructed to sit on their flak jackets to avoid
sniper fire? There's really no point in Mr. Rich doing anything whatsoever to
aid Senator Clinton.
Seven local mayors endorse Clinton
Seven Indiana
mayors are throwing their support behind U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's
presidential campaign, her staff announced Friday afternoon.
You saw this all
over the media, didn’t you? No? I wonder why.
Play of the Day: Clinton's a Stone fan
Call her a Honky
Tonk Woman: Hillary Rodham Clinton is a big fan of the Rolling Stones… Clinton
said she attended her first Stones show as a high school senior in 1965, and has
been a few times since. She praised Mick Jagger, the band's 64-year-old lead
singer, and said she admired his work ethic. "If you go to a Stones concert
today and I have been, it's just amazing,"
Clinton
said. "He has this incredible presence. He is very disciplined, he works out,
and he's incredibly devoted to what he does."
Former Sec. of State Tells Jon Stewart Why Hillary's Experience Matters
(by D. Cupples at Buck Naked Politics)
After watching Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright speak last week, I
Googled her and came across a Daily Show interview from February, in which Jon
Stewart asks Albright about Hillary Clinton's experience. Albright is not on
Hillary's campaign but does support her. Most crucial to Albright is Hillary's
experience on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hillary's numerous trips to
other nations, and her knowledge of the Iraq war and U.S. veterans.
Click through to
watch the video.
Kneecappers
(video)
It’s HILLARY-OUS.
Projection: Clinton Wins Popular Vote, Obama Wins Delegate Count
(by Michael Barone, U.S.News & World Report )
The Clinton campaign has taken to boasting that its candidate has won states
with more electoral votes than has Barack Obama. True. By my count,
Clinton
has won 14 states with 219 electoral votes (16 states with 263 electoral votes
if you include Florida and Michigan) while Obama has won 27 states (I'm counting
the District of
Columbia as a state,
but not the territories) with 202 electoral votes… By my count, based on the
2007 Census estimates,
Clinton's
states have 132,214,460 people (160,537,525 if you include Florida and
Michigan), and Obama's states have 101,689,480 people. States with 39,394,152
people have yet to vote. In percentage terms this means
Clinton's
states have 44 percent of the nation's population (53 percent if you include
Florida and Michigan) and Obama's states have 34 percent of the nation's
population.
Can Someone Please Explain....
(by And Ostroy at the Ostroy Report)
How is it that Sen. Hillary Clinton has the reputation of a highly shrill,
polarizing, divisive, unliked, self-serving narcissist who's single-handedly
destroying the party while Sen. Barack Obama is calm, cool, collected and lauded
for his incredible ability to inspire, unite and bring together the masses...yet
they are separated by a mere 2.5% in popular vote and by just 8.5% in delegates.
Seems to me that, judging by the facts and not partisan spin, they appeal to
voters virtually equally. I guess love is blind. As is the mainstream media.
Kudos to the Obama camp for creating the most overblown myth since "War hero
John Kerry can't protect us from terrorists but the draft-dodging Alabama-AWOL
George Bush can...."
Don't Stop Campaigning
(Washington Post editorial)
THE GROWING chorus among some Democrats and other interested observers for Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) to get out of the race for the Democratic Party's
nomination for president is troubling. We're not promoting Ms. Clinton over Sen.
Barack Obama (Ill.),
or either of them over Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.),
for that matter. A time may come when someone should gracefully bow out. But
their extended contest informs the electorate and serves to battle-test them
both. We don't see why the process should be short-circuited when millions of
votes are yet to be cast and two qualified candidates believe themselves to be
the best potential Democratic nominee.
Women push back in support of Clinton
Amid mounting
calls from top Democrats for Clinton to step aside and clear the path for rival
Barack Obama, strategists are warning of damage to the party's chances in
November if women - who make up the majority of Democratic voters nationwide,
but especially the older, white working-class women who've long formed the
former first lady's base - sense a mostly male party establishment is unfairly
muscling Clinton out of the race.
MI/FL And The Popular Vote
(by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
On George Stepanopoulos' show, Ed Rendell represented the Clinton campaign and
John Kerry represented the Obama campaign… It seems clear that the Obama camp
has completely backed down from the "Hillary should quit" campaign. That's good.
Now they are engaging the the winning metrics. Especially the Michigan and
Florida issues. Frankly, I think Kerry did as well as he could with a tough
hand. Rendell has become quite adept at this though and he talked "popular
vote," the will of the people and MI/FL. For me the
Clinton
argument is better than the Obama argument. But I have been for revotes forever.
An aside, Rendell does a great job asking for a positive campaign when asked
about Bosnia. Well done Rendell.
Click through for
a link to the video.
Donna Brazile's Breach Of Neutrality
(by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
The concept of appearance of impartiality seems to be a difficult one for some
in the DNC to grasp. Not surprisingly, Josh Marshall is oblivious to how bad
this looks: “An ostensibly ‘neutral’ member of the DNC has just taken a side in
a fight that could be before the Convention. I can only hope no one plans to
appoint her to any committee that has to make a decision at the Convention.
The Credentials Committee Contest
(by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft )
As of right now (based on already resolved state primaries),… Clinton will have
61.44 votes on the Credentials Committee… Obama will have 70.22 votes on the
credentials committee. States I haven't counted … make up 26.33 votes remaining.
Thus, there is a razor thin margin here, where indeed Clinton has more of a
chance in a credentials fight than Donna Brazille's (incorrect) division of
votes. With the 25 DNC members, and 26.33 members still to be elected in future
primaries, a majority on the credentials committee can be had by either
candidate. This is funny as hell. The rules are the rules you know. Now, will
everyone please NOW get behind revotes for
Florida
and Michigan? Pretty please?
Karl Rove’s Rule #1 is to control the rules committee.
The Super Delegate Count
(by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
While it is true that Super Delegates can change their mind at any time up to
the Convention, I have always supported counting the announced super delegates
based on their stated public preference. Thus I think Chris Bowers' post on that
is helpful. But I would be remiss if I did not note that Chris flip flopped on
the issue of counting superdelegates… What is different now? Why counting super
delegates is now beneficial to Obama. Sorry Chris, but it is pretty transparent
what changed your mind. You were wrong in February (when your view on this was
based on what was best for Obama) and the reason you are right now is because
you see counting the SDs as favorable to Obama. This is what the blogs largely
are now - the place to find out what benefits the candidate favored by those
blogs. It is a shame.
According to Newsweek, "it's only fair to conclude" that the Obama campaign is
not trying to flip Texas county convention delegates. (by
Ann Althouse)
Newsweek blogger Andrew Romano looks into the evidence I brought up in this post
yesterday — that my son (who is a Clinton delegate) and the 2 Clinton delegates
he happens to know about, were sent a mailing by the Obama campaign urging them
to vote for Obama at the county convention. Romano writes: “So I did some
digging. This morning, I finally got to the bottom of the brouhaha--or as close
to bottom, it seems, as anyone can get.” This better be good! MSM does "some
digging" and gets kinda close to "the bottom" of it. I was just blogging the
facts that I knew, by the way. It was Romano who wrote: "Apparently, Obama has
mailed these postcards to all Texas county delegates, not just his own."
(Boldface added here and below.) Now, Romano has this: “Turns out that the Obama
campaign was correct to claim that the Clinton delegate in question, Christopher
Cohen, was misidentified on their working list as an Obama supporter…” [He] got
a copy of a spreadsheet from the Obama campaign, and according to that, my son
and those 2 other persons — just those 3! — are incorrectly coded. What are the
odds?!
Obama people calling Hillary Delegates in Texas (video)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Booed by Pro-Obama Constituents
(by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
Here’s the description provided by the YouTube video-maker: “U.S. Congresswoman
Sheila Jackson Lee from
Texas
(D-Houston) gets booed at Texas Senate District 13 Democratic Convention on
March 29, 2008. Though her congressional district is overwhelmingly in support
of Senator Barack Obama for President, Congresswoman Jackson Lee is a
superdelegate and supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton in the 2008 U.S.
Presidential Race. When she took the stage, she had to wait a couple of minutes
for the booing and Obama cheering to subside and kept remarking, ‘I’ll wait for
you to stop.’”
Must be all that
unity and transcendence at work. Click through to watch the video.
The next John F. Kennedy? (video)
Obama Overstates Kennedys' Role in Helping His Father
(Washington Post)
Contrary to Obama's claims in speeches in January at American University and in
Selma last year, the Kennedy family did not provide the funding for a September
1959 airlift of 81 Kenyan students to the
United States
that included Obama's father… Obama spokesman Bill Burton acknowledged [Friday]
that the senator from Illinois had erred in crediting the Kennedy family with a
role in his father's arrival in the United States. He said the Kennedy
involvement in the
Kenya student program
apparently "started 48 years ago, not 49 years ago as Obama has mistakenly
suggested in the past."
Okay, media,
let’s see you play this up. Oh, and don’t forget that Obama has told at least
one other lie about his father—and his mother. See below.
Barack Obama and The Audacity of Deception: The Manufacture of Progressive
Illusion (by
Paul Street at the Black Agenda Report)
Trying to sound authentically African-American during a speech memorializing the
forty-second anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights March at the Pettis Bridge in
Selma, Obama claimed that his black (Kenyan) father and white (Kansan) mother
married and conceived the future Barockstar because of the great Civil Rights
struggles fought in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama… (Obama 2007). Wow. Too bad
Barack Obama Jr. was born in 1961, two years before the famous campaign to
desegregate Birmingham, three years before the Civil Rights Act, and four years
before the famous Selma march!
When I first
posted this information, someone pointed out the Hillary Clinton claimed that
she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, in honor of his climb of Mount Everest,
which happened several years after her birth. I replied that Clinton has said
that was what she thought for years, until her mother corrected her. But in
making that claim, I doubt Clinton was pandering to the mountain climber vote
the way Obama was pandering to the black vote in making HIS “mistake”.
Bob Casey: Liberal for a Day
(by Jeralyn at TalkLeft)
Much is being made of PA Senator Robert Casey's endorsement of Barack Obama.
Some got so carried away they suggested Casey be Obama's VP nominee. Others saw
through that pretty quick. Where does Casey stand on issues? Here's some of his
positions:
He believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned and opposes embryonic stem cell research.
He supports Bush's warrantless NSA spying program and thinks the Patriot Act is a vital tool and a necessary one.
He supports the death penalty and opposes legalization of all drugs.
On the war in Iraq, he's been against a deadline for withdrawal.
He supported the Defense of Marriage Amendment and opposes gay marriage.
He supports teaching "abstinence plus" in schools and the posting of the Ten Commandments in government buildings:
Obama pastor praised for 'unwrapping flag from cross'
(McClatchy)
The controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., the former pastor of presidential
candidate Barack Obama, was praised Saturday at a the State of the Black Church
Summit in Dallas for provocative statements that some have labeled racist and
others anti-American.
McCain's 'Maverick' Myth Is the Media's Creation
(an excerpt from "Free Ride: The Media and John McCain" by David Brock and Paul
Waldman, posted at AlterNet)
The bizarre tale of how the media turned a crooked Republican into the mirage of
a principled politician.
PBS's Frontline: Too Timid, Too Little, Too Late On Iraq
(by Ray McGovern, Consortium News)
Frontline's "Bush's War" series verged on infotainment, bereft of substantive
discussion of one of the most disastrous policy blunders in US history.
Middle Class on What Planet?
(by Dean Baker)
The Washington Post reports on a new trend for middle class white families with
children to live in cities. The fourth sentence tells us that: "In the national
imagination, it [Manhattan]
was a place of artists, musicians, socialites, Wall Street bankers -- or of
hustlers, runaways, addicts, murderers. But it was not on the radar of the
typical white, middle-class couple as a place to raise children. Those who read
a bit further will find that the median income for a white family with children
living in Manhattan was $280,000 in 2005, roughly $300,000 in today's dollars.
That's enough to place this family well up into the top 2 percent of the
country's income distribution. That's not middle class by the usual meaning of
the term. There may be more rich white people with children living in
Manhattan
today than a decade ago, but this article, which includes discussions of private
school admissions advisers ($15,000 fee), 3000 square foot luxury condos, and
nannies who specialize in twins, is not talking about middle class people.
Bush gets loudly booed at Nationals home opener
(by SilentPatriot at Crooks and Liars)
Or maybe they were yelling “Boooooosh!”?? We report, you decide.
Media Matters for America headlines
Dith Pran, 'Killing Fields' Hero and 'NYT' Photog, Dies at 65
Dith Pran, the
Cambodian-born journalist whose harrowing tale of enslavement and eventual
escape from that country's murderous Khmer Rouge revolutionaries in 1979 became
the subject of the award-winning film "The Killing Fields,'' died Sunday, his
former colleague said.
UN Rights Council Deplores Media Portrayal Of Islam
(AFP)
The UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution deploring the use of the media
to "incite acts of violence, xenophobia or related intolerance and
discrimination towards Islam".
The Hat of Moral Turpitude
(by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
It was the hat all along! I posted about Sebastian Horsley, a British author who
was detained at Newark airport and then not allowed into America all because—he
wrote a book that Lucille Cirillo, a spokeswoman for the New York office of
United States Customs and Border Protection said didn’t meet the moral standards
of the USA and he was therefore not admissible to our country. Now we find out a
little more of the story: “To Mr. Horsley, who has in the past entered the
country without incident, the recent fracas arose less from his past indulgences
than a current one. In short, his very tall top hat. ‘It’s a stovepipe,’ he
said, referring to the subspecies made famous seven score and seven years ago by
Abraham Lincoln.”
Plagiarism-Detector Passes the Test: Judge Says Students' Rights Not Violated
(American Constitution Society)
A federal judge in
Alexandria ruled this
month that a commercial plagiarism-detection tool called Turnitin does not
violate the copyright of students who are required to submit their papers
through the service. Four high school students had sued iParadigms, which
operates Turnitin, arguing that the company included their papers in the system
without their permission.
Man! College
students will have to write their own papers! Now THAT’s a hardship. I’m
wondering why this tool isn’t used more to catch so-called journalists
plagiarizing the work of others.
City Subpoenas Creator of Text Messaging Code
The creator of a
mass text-messaging system used to aid protesters during the 2004 Republican
National Convention is resisting releasing information on its users.
NAA Reveals Biggest Ad Revenue Plunge in More Than 50 Years
Total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunged 9.4% to $42 billion compared to
2006 -- the most severe percent decline since the association started measuring
advertising expenditures in 1950. Even Internet income is slowing.
Raising The Ante Again
(by Philip Meyer, Nieman Watchdog)
The hunter-gatherer model of journalism is no longer sufficient. Citizens can do
their own hunting and gathering on the Internet. What they need is somebody to
add value to that information by processing it, digesting it, organizing it,
making it usable.
Creating A 'Primary Place' For Citizens Online
(by Jonathan Dube, Poynter Online)
New Hampshire Public Radio has spearheaded one of the more ambitious and
innovative uses of the Web during the election so far.
Yahoo Launching Site for Women 25-54
NEW YORK (AP) -
Yahoo Inc. is launching a new site for women between ages 25 and 54, calling it
a key demographic underserved by current Yahoo properties. Monday's launch of
Shine is aimed largely at giving the struggling Internet company additional
opportunities to sell advertising targeted to the key decision-maker in many
households.
How to Walk the Talk of Tailoring Ads to Content
Anti-Smoking
Group to Create Unique Execution for Each ABC Channel
Is the Ad a Success? The Brain Waves Tell All
Agencies and
advertisers are growing more interested in neuroscience in their never-ending
efforts to improve effectiveness.
Hollywood Dealmaker Safran To Bring Scripted Shows To Microsoft Xbox This Fall
(Paid Content)
Hollywood producer and talent agent Peter Safran's deal with Microsoft to bring
digital entertainment to the Xbox Live system represents a major expansion for
both… The Safran Company's first programs should be available by the fall. The
shows will be aimed at Xbox's core audience of males aged 14 to 34, with an
emphasis on comedy and horror, and average roughly 10 minutes in length. And
because Safran is mostly interested in featuring his clients, who have included
Sean Combs, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, and Brooke Shields, among others,
scripted fare will take precedence over reality shows.
Are you ready for Blu-ray 2.0?
When you're
shopping for a Blu-ray high-def DVD player, not all come with the same
features. A new standard, Blu-ray 2.0, due out later this year, is equipped to
access online content.
Sony films headed to mobile phones
LAS VEGAS
(Hollywood Reporter) - Sony Pictures Television is looking to launch the first
movie network on mobile phones in the
United States.
3G iPhone launch seen in 2nd quarter
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Apple Inc is expected to launch a high-speed wireless version of
iPhone in the second quarter and produce as many as 8 million of the devices in
the third quarter, according to Bank of America.
Technology & Science
Making Appointments for Doctor or Dinner
A set of Internet
start-up companies has emerged to help service providing small businesses use
the Web as more than just an online brochure.
Portable Hydrogen-generating Power System Could Lighten Soldiers Load
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 31, 2008) — Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology
are developing a portable, hydrogen-generating power system to power everything
from laptops to communications gear for soldiers in the battlefield.
Particle smasher 'not a threat to the Earth'
Campaigners in
the US are attempting to delay the start-up of the world's most powerful
particle smasher with a lawsuit claiming it could spawn dangerous particles or
mini black holes that will destroy the entire Earth. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
is nearing completion at CERN, the European centre for particle physics near
Geneva, Switzerland. Scientists hope it will begin operations in mid-July.
Visual Technology Enables Brain To Learn In New Ways
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 31, 2008) — New technology at Tufts University's Center for Scientific
Visualization is enabling researchers to translate the most abstract, complex
scientific concepts into clearer, more precise 3-dimensional images than
conventional visualization systems can create.
Smart Clothes: Textiles That Track Your Health
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 31, 2008) — Garments that can measure a wearer's body temperature or trace
their heart activity are just entering the market, but the European project
BIOTEX weaves new functions into smart textiles. Miniaturised biosensors in a
textile patch can now analyse body fluids, even a tiny drop of sweat, and
provide a much better assessment of someone's health.
Sweeps of Human DNA Yield Discoveries
NEW YORK (AP) -
Scientists are scanning human DNA with a precision and scope once unthinkable
and rapidly finding genes linked to cancer, arthritis, diabetes and other
diseases. It's a payoff from a landmark achievement completed five years ago -
the identification of all the building blocks in the human DNA. Follow-up
research and leaps in DNA-scanning technology have opened the door to a flood of
new reports about genetic links to disease.
Researchers find six more diabetes genes: study
LONDON (Reuters)
- U.S. and European scientists have found six more genes that make people more
susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes, in a study they say may help prevent
and treat the chronic condition.
Uterine Stem Cells Create New Neurons That Can Curb Parkinson's Disease
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 31, 2008) — The injection of uterine stem cells trigger growth of new
brain cells in mice with Parkinson's disease, Yale School of Medicine
researchers report.
Man-made molecules reverse liver cirrhosis in rats
HONG KONG
(Reuters) - Scientists in
Japan
have designed artificial molecules that when used with rats successfully
reversed liver cirrhosis, a serious chronic disease in humans that until now can
only be cured by transplants.
Managing Stress Can Lower Heart Death Risk
Treatment of
anxiety can reduce threat from disease, study says
Combining Internet With Office Visits Cut Heart Attack Risks
Enhanced
doctor-patient communication showed big drops in blood pressure, disease scores
Anniversary of Parent's Passing Can Trigger Death
Sudden death
occurred in 13 percent of fatal coronaries in study
Many Women Unclear About Breast Cancer Treatments
Study finds
uncertainty about risks and benefits of mastectomies or lumpectomies.
How the Council of Nicea Changed the World
When Constantine
became the first Christian leader of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, his
vast territory was populated by a hodgepodge of beliefs and religions. Within
his own young religion, there was also dissent, with one major question
threatening to cleave the popular cult — as it was at the time — into warring
factions: Was Jesus divine, and how? It's hard to imagine riots in the streets,
pamphlet wars and vicious rhetoric spawned by such a question, but that was the
nature of things in A.D. 325, when
Constantine
was forced to take action to quell the controversy. That summer, 318 bishops
from across the empire were invited to the Turkish town of
Nicea...
The Christianity we know today is a result of what those men agreed upon over
that sticky month, including the timing of the religion's most important
holiday, Easter, which celebrates Jesus rising from the dead.
A stargazer's guide to the spring sky
We're now more
than a week into the spring season (even if, meteorologically, in some parts of
the country it's still very much wintry), and high in our current evening sky
the most famous stars of spring are to be found making up the constellation of
Leo, the Lion.
Fly Me to the Moon ... Forever
The general
public may soon have the chance to rest in peace on the moon.
Not a Mercury or Saturn, but It Goes Way Off Road
There’s a lot to
like about the concept vehicle taking shape at the Johnson Space Center. The new
moon buggy conceived by space center engineers is anything but a car or a buggy.
Its official name is Chariot, and this, my friends, is a truck. A heavy duty
workhorse of a truck.
European Spaceship Passes Rendezvous, Escape Tests
Europe's first
automated "Jules Verne" cargo ship passed several crucial tests today above the
Earth in preparation for docking at the International Space Station (ISS) in
less than a week.
Japan, China To Extend Successful Lunar Missions
Japanese and
Chinese lunar orbiter missions are likely to be extended.
Microscopic Fuzz May Be Best Evidence of Martians
Oldest intact
plant fibers discovered on Earth could guide searches for life in the solar
system.
Environment
Washington DC home to first "green" stadium in U.S.
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The Washington Nationals' gleaming new baseball park that opens
Sunday night will be the first green professional stadium in the United States,
the U.S. Green Building Council said Friday. The Nats' stadium received a LEED,
or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification from the council
on Friday for its energy-conserving and environmental design.
Complex climate change talks convene in Bangkok - Summary
Bangkok -
UN-sponsored climate change talks opened Monday in
Bangkok
with pressure on the participants to ink an agreement on cutting carbon
emissions by next year.
Deforestation-Carbon Markets Research
Finding ways to
include deforestation abatement projects into the UN’s Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) and private sector emissions trading schemes such as the EU's
ETS— thereby providing a market-based mechanism that offers an incentive and
financing to jumpstart forest conservation initiatives — is one of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s priorities.
Carbon exchange could be precursor of national system
WASHINGTON
— For nearly 50 years, Rocky Reach Dam on the
Columbia River has been
quietly producing enough low-cost electricity to power two cities the size of
Seattle. Now the Washington state dam is on the front lines of the nation's
effort to control greenhouse-gas emissions and curb global warming.
Britain extends support for micro-power generation
LONDON (Reuters)
- Britain on Monday said it had extended the timeline for support, but added no
new extra money, for small-scale electricity installation using renewable energy
sources, called microgeneration. Local production of electricity from the wind
and sun, for example using roof-top solar panels and micro wind turbines, is
attracting increasing subsidy support worldwide as governments try to curb
greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.
65 Million Square Feet of Solar Rooftops: Powering 162,000 Homes
In an ambitious move, a Californian utility plans to create a massive,
distributed “powerplant” by installing a total of 2 square miles of solar cells
on the roofs of businesses.
Southern California
Edison plans to install 250 megawatts’ worth of solar power, generating enough
electricity to power 162,000 homes.
At the Zenith of Solar Energy
Israeli energy
startup Zenith Solar is pioneering a "concentrated solar power" method that is
up to five times more efficient than standard technology
Wind energy group Repower expects big boost to business
Frankfurt -
Indian-controlled wind turbine maker Repower said Monday it expected a sharp
rise in business in the coming years as its production capacity more than
doubles.
BMW Hydrogen 7 Emissions Well-below Super-ultra Low-emission Vehicle Standards
Independent tests
conducted by engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National
Laboratory on a BMW Hydrogen 7 Mono-Fuel demonstration vehicle have found that
the car's hydrogen-powered engine surpasses the super-ultra low-emission vehicle
(SULEV) level, the most stringent emissions performance standard to date.
New System Aims To Efficiently Convert Biomass To Ethanol
ScienceDaily
(Mar. 31, 2008) —
Iowa
State University researchers
are developing an integrated system of thermochemical and catalytic technologies
to efficiently produce ethanol from plant biomass.
Air Force seeks jets powered by liquefied coal
WASHINGTON —
Squeezed by the soaring cost of oil-based jet fuel, the Air Force is converting
its gas-guzzling fleet of aircraft to synthetic fuels and encouraging the
creation of a liquefied coal industry that could tap the nation's vast coal
reserves.
Is Lake Mead Disappearing
The water supply
crisis is not just a third world issue. Nevada’s Lake Mead, the largest man-made
lake and reservoir in the
U.S.,
could go dry by 2021, according to a pair of scientists at the Scripp’s
Institute of Oceanography in San Diego, California. If human-induced climate
change and water usage continues at the present rate, or even slower, there is a
50% chance the lake will go dry in coming years — and sooner, rather than later.
The Colorado River’s water is being consumed far beyond a sustainable level.
Australia puts kangaroo slaugter on hold
CANBERRA, Australia - Plans to slaughter 400 kangaroos living on an abandoned
military site near the capital of
Australia have been put on
hold due to public opposition, the Defense Department said Monday.
Three U.S. Indian whale hunters plead guilty
TACOMA,
Washington (Reuters) - Three Washington state American Indian men pleaded guilty
on Thursday to participating in an illegal hunt of a gray whale, while the
hunting group's two leaders refused the plea agreement to protest a whaling ban
imposed on their tribe.
Humane Society seeks sea lion injunction
PORTLAND, Ore. -
The Humane Society of the United States wants a federal judge to prevent the
capturing or killing of sea lions feasting on salmon a Columbia River dam.
Gray Wolf Hunts Planned After De-Listing
BOISE, Idaho (AP)
- Good news for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains: They no longer need
federal protection. The bad news for the animals? Plans are already in the works
to hunt them.
