Sun, 04 May 2008 18:00:04 -0400
thank goodness this week is FINALS WEEK AT LAST!
I've been in a grading frenzy this past week, too. ;)
The Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard not only because of the wind and rain but because of the storm surge," said Chris Kaye, the U.N.'s acting humanitarian coordinator in Yangon.
"The villages there have reportedly been completely flattened." Shari Villarosa, the top American diplomat in Yangon, said the storm's whipping winds and torrential downpour had caused "major devastation throughout the city."
"The Burmese are saying they have never seen anything like this, ever," Villarosa told The Associated Press. "Trees are down. Electricity lines are down. Our Burmese staff have lost their roofs."
Upcoming in days: the May 11th election for referendum vote to install constitutional government 2010 - Myanmar has been under miltary junta for decades.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/02/international/i211912D50.DTL&tsp=1
Addiction in individuals occurs when a person stops seeing a reason to risk the vulnerability required for real fulfillment. A drug may be so powerful that it simply replaces the struggle to build a satisfying life - Media Literacy
On Electability and How the Presidential Race Has Changed
From Only in America, Newsweek's cover story today (page 4):
Eyeing those Reagan Democrats, the McCain camp believes that if Obama wins the nomination, the Republicans might have a shot at some states considered to be safe Clinton territory, like New York and New Jersey. Those big former industrial states—Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan—could all go Republican if the Democrats pick Obama. On the other hand, the Obama advisers argue that by appealing to independents and registering new young voters, Obama could take states in the West like Colorado and Nevada that seem unreachable to Clinton. By energizing his black base, Obama could even take away two or three Southern states—Virginia and the Carolinas, perhaps—from the GOP. The Obama-ites also predict that once the hard fighting of the primaries finally ends, the Democratic Party will come together, and Democrats alienated by all the feuding will come home.
.Obama's promise of success depends on more than soothing the Democratic base, however. He will not be able to re-create the magic of those huge, idolatrous rallies in January and February by drinking beer chasers and eating more waffles. What he had—and what he has lost, at least for the time being—is something more ineffable, a hope of changing politics as commonly understood, and disdained, by voters of all classes and races.
The article concludes:
To get the Democratic nomination, and to win the presidency, Obama has to show that he is not just a rock-star speechifier—or a worn-down pol trying to limp over the goal line without saying something that could possibly be used against him. He has to show voters who he really is. Most of them still don't know.My thought on the electability part: No matter how many new and black voters Obama brings to the polls, there are only so many electoral votes in the southern and western states conceivably at play: Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Virginia, the Carolinas.
The votes in those states don't compare to Ohio, PA, Florida and Michigan. And if Obama might also put New York and New Jersey at risk, how can superdelegates possibly view him as the better candidate? He seems to me to be the riskier candidate in November by miles.
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
"The Obama-ites also predict that once the hard fighting of the primaries finally ends, the Democratic Party will come together, and Democrats alienated by all the feuding will come home."
Yep....
"He seems to me to be the riskier candidate in November by miles."
He's a "roll of the dice". Gasp!
And even if he does get through the gauntlet and win in November.....I see nothing whatsoever that says he'll get one damn thing done. We'll still be driving along in the ditch with hopey changy speeches. He certainly does not have the fortude it's going to take to drag us out. Zero, zip, nada.
People had better plan ahead and hunker down. Dems are dangerously close to slitting their own throats. "Speaking for myself only."
However....I feel extremely positive about Tuesday.
like VA and NC. They, along with the Reagan Dems, will be streaming out of the woodwork to vote against him in the GE! I'm so sick of listening to him citing CO as an example of a state that can take the place of OH or FL. He's even bragged about getting Idaho, where someone once said the Democratic Party could fit into a phone booth! I think his political career is hanging in the balance, and, if he had any sense, he'd agree to the acceptance of FL and MI ballots and beg to be given the veep slot. I often wonder if this man has true delusions of grandeur or if he just doesn't know how to quit. As I said before--when some pundits starting blathering about Hillary becoming Senate majority leader--that the idea of HIM being the latter is ludicrous and laughable, yet some except him to make a good Prez!
will stay RED if he's the nominee. There is no way the people who almost put him over the top in our caucus will vote for him in November. It was all about stopping Hillary. I'm sure that many of the other "red" caucus states he won would be the same.
Lucky for us, he's not going to win the nomination.
I get the feeling watching him lately, he's getting tired of this. I bet there's a part of him that is sorry he ever got in to it. I never got the feeling he was going to fight for the job. He really just thought his buddies were going to push him through as they have done for every political advancement he's made so far.
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
(Providing if you believe polls this far out). Have shown Hillary within striking distance of McCain in various Red States. Including Oklahoma. I've heard that this is the Reagan Democrats that are coming back into the fold. (Andrew Rice noticed this during his run for the US Senate seat here). Reagan Democrats seem to be attracted to Hillary. But not so much to Obama. I think any state that is Red now will stay that way if Obama is the nominee. I also saw a poll that had a few in danger of turning Blue states to Red if O is the nominee. One we're in a big threat of losing is Mass. And that state is pretty solidly blue. Not so with Hillary. I think this pundits know this. And that is why they are shoving O down our collective throats.
And what will never ever ever make sense to me is how so many in our own party who used to not trust the media, now do. :-/
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Indiana J-J Dinner with Howie, Hillary, and BO showing tonight on cspan at 9:30pm ET, 8:30 CT.
They are showing the JJ dinner in IN, waiting for Hillary to come on ...Just caught it...they talk inbetween...but giving coverage!!!
He made the remark that the Dems are flocking to their coverage. I think its true, many on other blogs are commenting they are more fair.
Must be their ratings are really escallating...LOL..
but I've haven't watched FOX in years and years as often as I do now...arrrggghhhh...that's what the other O! networks have driven me to do! :/
kind of made it an easier transition for Clarkies.
;~) We've been down this Fox-watching path before.
I still remember the calls I would make to my sister, a non-blogging Clarkie----they would begin, "I hate to tell you this", or "Brace yourself"---then I would continue...."Wes is going to be on_____ (insert the name: O'Reilly, Hannity, Cavuto, John Gibson).
My sister would say, "Nooooo!!!!! Then I'd say, "well you can always pour yourself a drink or something.
We always felt that Hannity was the worst of the lot.
Didn't we Clarkies say that if the General had the fortitude to go on Fox, the least we could do was watch. LOL.
blazed the way for others to appear on Fox. Always
several steps ahead of the pack!
Too bad he's not still on there. (omg, what am I saying?)
sounded great, and Joe Scarborough still loves her!
How in the world is she already back in North Carolina? I believe they said Greenville. That is in Eastern NC, a place where there is a huge University (EAST CAROLINA) which is known for turning out teachers and doctors. Big medical complex there. Also, lots of surrounding farmland. I spent many a summer, as a child, visiting with my aunt and uncle on their dairy farm in Greenville.
Haha! I heard an NPR story last week about how reporters assigned to Hillary's campaign have to work harder than those with the Obama camp because she just never stops. Cute story but she must have some kind of stamina. I think she's wearing the younger ones out. :)
"The mark of leadership is not to standup when everybody is standing, but rather to actually stand up when no one else is standing" - Pulitzer Prize winning author Samantha Power, introducing Gen Clark
Did anyone watch Hillary on ABC this morning? I haven't heard anything about it. I wasn't at home; I would have watched it just because she was on there. Hopefully it was better than ABC's last effort at the debate. Did anyone ask any sensible, interesting questions????
pre-empted by basketball here, newantique. So I missed it. But there was quite a bit of live blogging and discussion here:
for the video. It will pop up somewhere, I'm sure.
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
I held my breath, crossed my fingers, and went on the MyDD site for news about the ABC show with Clinton. Surprisingly, there was a nice thread on there with plenty of complimentary responses about Hillary; just a few O snarkies. Also, our CCN O's haven't showed up lately; are they backing down, or finally realizing they are on the wrong site to be heard?
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS
The JJ Dinner in IN. Not sure how far along it is. O comes up after her, so tune in now! Crowd loves her!
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
I don't think this has been posted here....
From the RFK Jr For President blog:
Ever since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Hillary Clinton in the presidential race late last year, many of our readers have wondered if he made the right choice. Some have even questioned his motives. But most people just really want to know “why Hillary?”
Kennedy tackled that question in an exclusive interview with the Terre Haute Tribute-Star last week, going more in-depth with his reasons that in previously published accounts.
So for those of you who are still asking, “why, Bobby, why?” - here’s your answer.
TERRE HAUTE — America needs someone as its next president who’s going to go toe-to-toe with the oil and coal industries, and for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sen. Hillary Clinton is that person.
“ … it’s dependence on carbon that’s really destroying America’s economy, destroying our security,” Kennedy, 54, said Thursday in a phone interview with the Tribune-Star. “It’s destroying all of the things, it’s hurting all of the things that we value in our country.”
He is the son of the late 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy. He is an environmental lawyer and co-host of “Ring of Fire” on the Air America radio network.
Billions of dollars a day are spent to import oil to our country while trillions of dollars a year are given to oil and coal industries in subsidies, Kennedy said, which is keeping more efficient and economic alternatives from being used.
One nation that has decarbonized is Iceland, he said, which went from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to the fourth richest nation in the world.
“They are a net energy exporter,” Kennedy said about Iceland today, “and corporations are lined up to get into Iceland to take advantage of it’s clean, cheap energy.”
Decarbonizing would create millions of jobs, reduce the country’s trade deficit and drop the budget deficit by $100 billion a year among other things, he said.
“Hillary has challenged, she’s been one of the most vocal to challenge the oil companies for control of our democracy, control of our jobs and control of our economy,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy noted that most of his family members have been to Terre Haute at one time or another. His father campaigned in Terre Haute in 1968.
Though he acknowledged the Democratic Party has two candidates that would make wonderful presidents, he believes Clinton can win against the Republicans in November as many polls have shown, he said.
“I think Hillary is more seasoned of the two …,” he said.
Like the Democratic Party, the Kennedy family has been split in whom they support for the nomination. Still, family gatherings have not been a problem, Kennedy said.
“I think the family is together in heart, the same way the Democrats are,” he said. “Division is really a function of the fact that we have two really great candidates.”
Should Sen. Barack Obama win the nomination, Kennedy said he would support him and encourage other Clinton supporters to do the same.
Some national polls have indicated Clinton supporters would choose Republican John McCain if Obama wins the nomination and vice versa.
Kennedy said he hoped that wasn’t the case, but had a way to convince them to join.
“I say ‘George Bush and John McCain’,” he said. “Those are four words, that’s all they need to hear.”
Story from The Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
I love RFK Jr, as I loved his father before him. :)
"The mark of leadership is not to standup when everybody is standing, but rather to actually stand up when no one else is standing" - Pulitzer Prize winning author Samantha Power, introducing Gen Clark
Oregon Statesman Journal endorses Hillary:
Complicating voters' decision is that Sen. Clinton of New York-via-Arkansas-and-the-White-House and Sen. Obama of Illinois have nearly as many liabilities as assets.
Obama has inspired a sense of hope across this beleaguered nation. He represents a new generation of leaders who can cross racial, social and economic lines.
He doesn't have much political experience, but neither did a 19th-century candidate named Abraham Lincoln, who ranks as one of America's great presidents.
But the Editorial Board keeps stumbling on two key questions: What has Obama done, either as an Illinois legislator or a U.S. senator? And will his missteps in speaking lead to destructive missteps in action?
Clinton seems willing to say anything to get elected. She also has the baggage of husband Bill Clinton, whose weak character dragged down a promising administration and caused this newspaper's Editorial Board to call for his resignation (not that he listened).
But Hillary Clinton does get things done.
After leaving the White House, she handily won election in New York, where she proved that she's not simply an urban lawmaker. Rural New Yorkers speak highly of Clinton, praising her for paying attention to their parts of the state.
In the Senate, she has achieved influence much greater than one would expect for her seven years on Capitol Hill.
Clinton "gets" the concerns of the middle class that dominates the Mid-Willamette Valley.
She was the first candidate to offer Oregon a "compact" of campaign promises on state-specific issues such as restoring county timber payments and giving the state say about siting of liquefied-natural-gas terminals.
"The mark of leadership is not to standup when everybody is standing, but rather to actually stand up when no one else is standing" - Pulitzer Prize winning author Samantha Power, introducing Gen Clark
That's a hot-button issue, and I have mixed feelings about it. I spend a lot of time in Oregon and was disgusted when all the county libraries as well as the sheriff's department in "my" area closed because those funds had run out.
Apparently the local governments had become so dependent on these federal funds that they were using them for basic services. The voters turned down suggested remedies as they are very resistant to any kind of taxing. I wonder where they think federal money comes from? The "let-somebody-else-pay-for services-that-make-a-place-livable" mentality boggles my mind. The schools are showing the strains too.
I'm not sure the best remedy for this stupidity is more federal money. The timber funds were meant for retraining the timber industry workers and other mitigation programs (my son-in-law who had been a mill worker got help for college under the program). To the best of my understanding they were not meant originally for day-to-day government expenses, but that's what they became.
Temporary funds were found somewhere to reopen the sheriff's office, but the libraries have been closed for months.
Why Abu Ghraib? "As a means of extracting information during interrogations, torture is notoriously unreliable, but as a means of terrorizing and controlling populations, nothing is quite as effective." Naomi Klein
Thus the kicking down of doors in the middle of the night; the flash bombs, the noise, the arrests, the hoods... The Bushites have learned the lessons of the Shock Doctrine quite well. Why aren't these people in jail?
We're electing the President of the United States, not some g.d. prom king.
Nancy Pelosi.
The HUGE piles of evidence of law-breaking is STUNNING, yet Dear Nancy and Give-em-milque-toast Reid continue to sit on their collective hands, while King George does what he damn well pleases and Darth Cheney makes grimacing glares at most everyone, especially anyone from IAEA or Iran or the greater Middle East who don't see his fantasy world of US global dominance via military might.
On everything from torture to illegal renditions to illegal domestic wiretapping the BCF has pretty much run out the clock on all of them. Pelosi even took impeachment "off the table" BEFORE the 2006 elections. One can only hope for a slew of litigation in the private sector and a Dem prez appointing a SCOTUS or two to restore some semblance of law and order to this land. To unilaterally disarm like Pelosi and Reid have done in the face of the lowest prez approval ratings in HISTORY (Darth Cheney's are worse) is absolutely insane. To this observer, it's CYA time for the imperialist/corporotist/elitist that have taken over the Dem party.
Cindy Sheehan is challenging Pelosi in the GE, fyi.
www.mccainsfreeride.com
and do very very well in NC. Here's why.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/opinion/05cook.html
She needs to win the popular vote.
If Hillary is proposing an .18 Cent per gallon gas tax holiday (and Obama and his friends are making fun of it and diminishing it's potential impact)... has anyone checked the math outside of our own little consumer drive to work and the store and the bank world?
It's estimated the cabbies in New York City alone use around 100,000 gallons of gas per DAY!!!
That would translate to an $18,000 savings... per DAY for NY Cabbies who've seen their incomes decrease rapidly with rising fuel costs.
A farm combine costs about $400/DAY to fill up from what I've read -
18 Wheeler truckers spend about $1000 to $1200 just to 'fillerup' now.
Seems like some people would really welcome a holiday! :)
them keep the gas tax, but put some immediate price controls on oil and huge excess profits taxes on big oil.
It would also be nice to see some honesty in the marketplace - like the lie that being in the Middle East keeps our oil flowing - when we import most of our crude from Canada and Mexico.
The biggest reason for the price increase is the futures market and, of course, the greed of Big Oil. Fat chance of that changing while Chimpy is around. Hillary's crash course in renewable energy sources would help put a big dent in oil $$. Probably just one of the reasons oil guys don't want her in the president's seat. BTW, didn't O vote to support Cheney's energy bill?
We're electing the President of the United States, not some g.d. prom king.
But he gave a really really good speech in 2002!
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
from Pollster
http://www.pollster.com/08-IN-Dem-Pres-Primary.php
Pay no attention to Zogby... he's smoking something.
For other states-- see the right side of the page and click away!
all over the place. I think SUSA comes out tomorrow.
My predictions:
Hillary wins by 12 points in IN and 5 in NC. Recount in Guam puts her up by 80 votes.
Check over at Talk Left. They post frequently about polls.
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
We've had a couple of weeks of early voting, before Reverend Wright emerged to do a number on O. I live in the land of "latte liberals"--- higher education, higher income, three major universities and many small colleges. There are three black colleges in my county, alone. One of these black colleges is a designated area for early one stop voting--just walk down the hallway and vote!
My dear African American friend informed me yesterday that not only did she and her two daughters vote for Hillary, but so did her son, who is a truck driver. Yet, I do think they are the exception.
On the other hand, one of my "latte sipping" brothers who was planning on voting for Obama, simply on pragmatic grounds of electability, is now re-considering.
I talked to an elderly friend of mine who should be part of Hillary's base, and was told that she voted for Obama because she is mad at Bill Clinton "for playing the race card". She watches a lot of CNN and MSNBC.
:(
Then there is the friend of mine who just yesterday saw two "Bubbus" in a restaurant pointing to a picture of Hillary in the paper. They were talking about how tough Hillary is. They were saying, "She can beat em". My friend didn't know if they were talking about Hillary beating Obama, McCain, or the terrorists. Just two burly guys, admiring Hillary for being a fighter.
I did go hear Hillary speak yesterday. It was outside, along a beautiful steet lined with huge oak trees in historical Wake Forest. The Governor and his wife gave a great introduction. The audience was mostly white middle class . I'd say about 800 people, possibly more. Enthusiastic.
But I can't get a feel for what is going to happen. My guess is that O will win it, but the regions through-out the state are all so different........
and then there are all the military bases.....
If he wins, most people will simply think, "Yeah, he got another black state." And, if he loses, "He couldn't even get that black state!"
And Hillary IS looking good among people who would have never considered her in the past. I have a middle-aged co-worker who's a born-and-bred Repub--as is his wife. He told me he can't get over how impressed she was after seeing Hillary on Billo's show. I don't know how she'll vote--but maybe neither will her husband! Ha!
of the hoaksters who created and posted the YouTube video of the bogus The War Room controversy.
The Internet was ablaze with You Tube videos early Friday (5/1/08) showing footage from The War Room, Part 9, a documentary about Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, that supposedly depicted Clinton aide Mickey Kantor referring to folks in Indiana as “shit.” More outrageous versions were spawned later that also claimed that Kantor called people “white nig**rs.”
None of it was true. By late Friday, it had been completely debunked, and Mickey Kantor vowed to take legal action against the culprits. (For background, check out D. Cupples’ earlier story here.)
Based on my research, I recommend that Kantor’s legal team immediately contact Jamal Brown of Venice, CA (Brown owns a small business that specializes in videos); Dietrich Cusseaux of Spring, TX; JedReport.com out of Las Vegas; Markos Moulitsas, owner of Daily Kos; and the Barack Obama campaign.
CRITICAL SIDE NOTE: Six hours ago, Jamal Brown posted another YouTube video: “Hillary Clinton is trying to get Barack Obama killed!.” (WE PLAN to address this abhorrent video in a separate story.)...
Much more at No Quarter...
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
What are the top three reasons someone might doubt Senator Obama's judgment? I know what mine are. What are yours?
Please post them as comments to my diary:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15430
Nick Kelly
Wes Clark could still secure America as a national security candidate.
Myanmar cyclone toll soars to 4000
Aljazeera.net - 35 minutes ago
At least 4000 people are now believed to have been killed and about 3000 more are missing after cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, the country's state media has reported.
Cyclone death toll nears 4000 in Myanmar, state radio says The Associated Press
Addiction in individuals occurs when a person stops seeing a reason to risk the vulnerability required for real fulfillment. A drug may be so powerful that it simply replaces the struggle to build a satisfying life - Media Literacy
Here's Wes's view of the purposes of education:
"Education is the key to a healthy democracy -
to the creation of citizens who are informed
and engaged, who will hold their leaders
and one another accountable. So the classroom
should not simply be a place where students
cram in knowledge to pass a test. It should
be a place where they truly learn how to
learn - and truly come to love learning
for its own sake. A place where they develop
judgment and a sense of responsibility toward
their community and their country. A place
where they come to understand our past and
prepare to embrace our future." Jan. 10, 2004