Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Chinese 'arming Darfur conflict'
Excerpt Chinese sales of assault rifles and other weapons to Sudan have grown rapidly during the conflict in the western Darfur region despite a UN arms embargo, according to a US-based rights group.
Human Rights First said on Thursday that a study of Sudanese and UN trade data showed that China was virtually the only supplier of small arms to Sudan.
Khartoum pays for the weapons it buys from Beijing with its growing oil revenues, the rights group said.
"The people of Sudan's Darfur region will endure more death, disease and dislocation, and this will be due in no small part to China's callousness," the report said.
The group called on Beijing to stop all arms sales to Sudan and urged the world to link that campaign to the Beijing Olympics.
"We believe that China is particularly vulnerable in the lead up to the Olympics, Betsy Apple, a spokeswoman for Human Rights First, said.
"We want to see China's concrete action that matches its rhetoric."
Global protests against Iraq war
Excerpt Tens of thousands of protesters across the world have taken part in a day of protests demanding the withdrawal of US and British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The World Against War action was organised to mark the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 20.
In London, police said that 10,000 activists had rallied at Trafalgar Square before marching the short distance to parliament. Organisers said that between 30,000 and 40,000 people had gathered.
A spokesman for The Stop The War coalition said that five years after the invasion of Iraq, military action had only managed to make the world "a much more dangerous place".
"Estimates suggest as many as one million people have died violent deaths as a result of the occupation of Iraq," Paul Collins said.
He said that Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, was sending more troops to Afghanistan and claimed "this hidden war is fast becoming a disaster mirroring Iraq".
Demonstrators outside parliament waved placards which said "Troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan", "Don't attack Iran" and "Freedom for Palestine".
'War crimes'
Caroline Lucas, the Green Party's member of the European Parliament, called for Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, and Gordon Brown to be prosecuted for war crimes.
"They need to know you cannot bomb your way to peace," she said.
Tony Benn, a former Labour Party minister, said that Britain's involvement in Iraq, where the country has 4,100 troops, and Afghanistan, where it has 7,800, had caused "devastation".
But Britain's foreign office disputed Stop the War's conclusions.
"In Iraq, there is clear evidence we are making steady progress, particularly in terms of security," a spokesman said.
"In Afghanistan, Nato forces are winning the struggle against the Taliban."
Elsewhere in Europe, around 500 people opposed to the US presence in Iraq marched through Stockholm city centre in freezing rain carrying banners with messages including "Yankees Go Home" and "Five years of war, one million dead."
"I'm here because I think it is extremely important to demonstrate against American policy in Iraq, especially now that the media is focusing less on the tragedy there," Leif Staalhammer, a 67-year-old actor, said.
'Sorrow and anguish'
In Los Angeles, organisers said that up to 10,000 people took to the streets of Hollywood, many carrying banners denouncing George Bush, the US president, and calling for an end to the conflict.
Police said that around 2,000 protesters had turned out for the rally.
Ron Kovic, a Vietnam war veteran whose book Born on the Fourth of July was turned into a film with Tom Cruise, joined the march down Hollywood Boulevard in his wheelchair.
***
The march ended on Sunset Boulevard where organisers said that they hoped several California politicians and actors would join the demonstrators.
"We've been in the war for five years, right now we're about to be in a recession, and trillions of our dollars are going to a war we don't want to be in," one protestor told the crowd.
Demonstrations also took place Saturday across Canada, including in Toronto, where 1,000 people protested against parliament's decision last week to extend Canada's 2,500-strong deployment to Afghanistan.
Christine Jones, co-chairwoman of the Canadian Peace Alliance, said parliament's vote on Afghanistan was misguided.
"Afghanistan is worse off because of the military occupation and Canadians are more opposed to the war than ever before," she said.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Good Negro Down
A post from Raving Black Lunatic
Katt Williams is a popular comedian with a short stature and a big mouth.
With his slickly processed hair and glib tongue, he seems to fit the pimp persona he deploys in his comedic routines. One of the most popular phrases from his first nationally televised show was "Pimp down!," a phrase the diminutive jokester claimed to have used when knocked to the ground during a fight.
Collectively, I believe most of the Negro community is now yelling "Good Negro down!."
From all accounts, Barack Obama is a good Negro. He's educated, clean, articulate, friendly and ambivalent about race. Obama graduated from Harvard and Columbia, doesn't have a baby's momma and has stayed off welfare his entire adult life. Sure, he smoked a little weed and snorted some coke in college, but he doesn't have cornrows and none of his teeth shine.
Clear characteristics of a good Negro.
Obama doesn't remind people about racism. He's not one of those angry Negroes who sits by themselves in the cafeteria. He gets it. As one of his colleagues in the state legislator noted, Obama doesn't make white people feel more white. He actually transcends race.
For a long time, Obama had achieved the highest echelons of Negro life as many white voters proudly proclaimed they had actually forgotten that he was a Negro.
He understood the rules.
Rule 1. A Negro looking for success should never discuss the entrenched racism in America and must never insinuate that he worked harder than a white person to achieve his present position in life.
Rule 2. A Negro should never become angry at racist comments or attribute those comments to the racist beliefs of the speaker or those agreeing with the speaker. No Negro is mentally equipped to identify racism.
Rule 3. Racism is a myth perpetuated by angry Negroes who do not want to work. If immigrants can make it, everybody can be successful.
There are many more rules, but Obama has managed to keep them all. He hasn't fallen into the traps laid by corrupting forces who would force him to make reparations or discrimination a central part of his campaign. He's avoided the tempations of Evil Negroes like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan who love to talk about the "race problem." Obama understands the big picture. Hell, he's almost white.
But, sometimes almost just is not good enough if you truly want to be an unhyphenated American.
See, Hillary Clinton and her supporters have broken the spell that the Magical Negro named Obama initially cast over the electorate. By reminding angry white voters that "the blacks" regularly steal jobs they don't deserve, sell drugs to innocent white kids and love to play the victim, Clinton has placed Obama's Good Negro status on life support. After all, even if he has similar political qualifications to FDR, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, he's still a Negro. And, it's indisputable that Negroes are never qualified for a job that a white person wants.
Never.
Consequently, Obama is now scrambling to get his campaign back on track.
This development has perplexed the many Typical Negroes who support Obama in overwhelming numbers. They have watched him follow all the rules, they have watched him avoid all the pitfalls, and yet, he seems to be getting treated like a Bad Negro. It's as if no matter what a Negro does, he can never wipe away the stain of bad negritude. It waits around ever corner, ready to brand him as "one of them."
Many Typical Negroes are upset by this development. After all, most of them readily admit that they have not managed to follow the Good Negro script as well as Obama. They often slip up and discuss racism as a systemic problem, not a collection of personal anecdotes. They can't seem to avoid pointing out the enduring effects of past discrimination on the current plight of Negroes.
In fact, most Typical Negroes cannot go a single day without forcing white people to remember that they are Negroes. They just don't get it.
Typical Negroes are worried because if Obama's perfection is not protection enough from being branded a Bad Negro, what hope do they have? How can they every be considered solely on their merits? How can they ever be considered qualified if Obama failed? What do they tell their children?
A Good Negro is down, and Black People are confused.
Katt Williams is a popular comedian with a short stature and a big mouth.
With his slickly processed hair and glib tongue, he seems to fit the pimp persona he deploys in his comedic routines. One of the most popular phrases from his first nationally televised show was "Pimp down!," a phrase the diminutive jokester claimed to have used when knocked to the ground during a fight.
Collectively, I believe most of the Negro community is now yelling "Good Negro down!."
From all accounts, Barack Obama is a good Negro. He's educated, clean, articulate, friendly and ambivalent about race. Obama graduated from Harvard and Columbia, doesn't have a baby's momma and has stayed off welfare his entire adult life. Sure, he smoked a little weed and snorted some coke in college, but he doesn't have cornrows and none of his teeth shine.
Clear characteristics of a good Negro.
Obama doesn't remind people about racism. He's not one of those angry Negroes who sits by themselves in the cafeteria. He gets it. As one of his colleagues in the state legislator noted, Obama doesn't make white people feel more white. He actually transcends race.
For a long time, Obama had achieved the highest echelons of Negro life as many white voters proudly proclaimed they had actually forgotten that he was a Negro.
He understood the rules.
Rule 1. A Negro looking for success should never discuss the entrenched racism in America and must never insinuate that he worked harder than a white person to achieve his present position in life.
Rule 2. A Negro should never become angry at racist comments or attribute those comments to the racist beliefs of the speaker or those agreeing with the speaker. No Negro is mentally equipped to identify racism.
Rule 3. Racism is a myth perpetuated by angry Negroes who do not want to work. If immigrants can make it, everybody can be successful.
There are many more rules, but Obama has managed to keep them all. He hasn't fallen into the traps laid by corrupting forces who would force him to make reparations or discrimination a central part of his campaign. He's avoided the tempations of Evil Negroes like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan who love to talk about the "race problem." Obama understands the big picture. Hell, he's almost white.
But, sometimes almost just is not good enough if you truly want to be an unhyphenated American.
See, Hillary Clinton and her supporters have broken the spell that the Magical Negro named Obama initially cast over the electorate. By reminding angry white voters that "the blacks" regularly steal jobs they don't deserve, sell drugs to innocent white kids and love to play the victim, Clinton has placed Obama's Good Negro status on life support. After all, even if he has similar political qualifications to FDR, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, he's still a Negro. And, it's indisputable that Negroes are never qualified for a job that a white person wants.
Never.
Consequently, Obama is now scrambling to get his campaign back on track.
This development has perplexed the many Typical Negroes who support Obama in overwhelming numbers. They have watched him follow all the rules, they have watched him avoid all the pitfalls, and yet, he seems to be getting treated like a Bad Negro. It's as if no matter what a Negro does, he can never wipe away the stain of bad negritude. It waits around ever corner, ready to brand him as "one of them."
Many Typical Negroes are upset by this development. After all, most of them readily admit that they have not managed to follow the Good Negro script as well as Obama. They often slip up and discuss racism as a systemic problem, not a collection of personal anecdotes. They can't seem to avoid pointing out the enduring effects of past discrimination on the current plight of Negroes.
In fact, most Typical Negroes cannot go a single day without forcing white people to remember that they are Negroes. They just don't get it.
Typical Negroes are worried because if Obama's perfection is not protection enough from being branded a Bad Negro, what hope do they have? How can they every be considered solely on their merits? How can they ever be considered qualified if Obama failed? What do they tell their children?
A Good Negro is down, and Black People are confused.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
'Stop the Fox News Virus
"[Obama] is a 'Halfrican'."
"He sounds like Hitler."
"Will Prez Barack blame America first?"
"Patriotism makes [Obama] a little uncomfortable."
"He's so liberal, he's anti-American!"
These are just a few examples of the many biased attacks coming from the right-wing Fox News channel towards Democratic White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, argues a coalition of media watchdogs and progressive groups in a new video. Brave New Films highlights these and other audio and video clips to demonstrate what the filmmakers call the "Fox News Virus".
To illustrate the way these narrative attacks work, clips are shown of Fox News hosts or guests making a statement about Obama, along with the date of the statement, followed by a later statement from a pundit on a different channel. The idea, the filmmakers suggest, is that attacks are repeated by Fox News hosts and guests on the channel over the course of weeks and months until they eventually spill over into other news outlets. The Brave New Films video, the most recent in an ongoing series, offers multiple examples of this
This phenomenon, which David Brock, himself a former, self-described conservative attack-journalist, described in his book The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy, is nothing new. Brock later went on to leave right-wing media and founded Media Matters for America, an organization that aims to expose and counter bias in the media. In a similar fashion, Brave New Films, founded by filmmaker Robert Greenwald, also aims to counter bias and misinformation.
Clinton/Obama has turned into a boring, slowed-down basketball game in the last 2 minutes
From BuzzFlash.com
I'm not a basketball fan. Oh, I used to follow basketball. And living in Chicago in the 1990s, you couldn't help but follow Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
One element of basketball that I hated even when I did follow the sport was the last two minutes of the game. Teams always seem to have tons of timeouts that come out of nowhere. And the team that is behind fouls the other team to force them to the free throw line, which slows down the game even more.
I feel like the Democratic presidential race is a basketball game in the last 2 minutes. Barack Obama is winning, but not by a huge margin. Hillary Clinton is behind and committing fouls to try and get her back in the game.
And it's boring and really not entertaining.
Basketball is a rather popular sport, more so than hockey right now. And in hockey, the last two minutes of a close game are exciting. Often, the losing team will pull its goalie to give them an extra skater. Rare is a penalty in the last two minutes. And the best part, each team gets ONE timeout for the whole game. And yet, basketball is more popular than hockey.
In basketball, the losing team does what it can to try and come back. As distasteful as the strategy is, in basketball, without it, you can't win. But it involves not so much winning, but forcing the winning team to make mistakes. In the basketball analogy, you slow things down to take away momentum and force (ideally) a poor free-throw shooter hoping that person misses shots.
But as basketball fans can tell you, the strategy almost never works. And when it does, the result is usually a lot of luck from the comeback team and horrible mistakes from the team that had been winning.
Obama has done rather well under the circumstances -- he has made some free throws, but has missed a few as well. Clinton has shown expertise in fouling Obama without it being flagrant (in basketball, flagrant fouls allow for more ways to score points for the team in front). Her people say horrible things while the candidate doesn't say them.
And Clinton has also done well in "working the refs." Her masterful "why do I get the first question in the debate" move during the Cleveland debate was a prime example. While Clinton can legitimately complain about her press coverage for most of the campaign, she is getting much more consideration from the press. They won't even touch the credibility of her "35 years of experience" claim, and what that actually means.
So do we blame Clinton for trying this strategy? Yes and no. If winning is the only thing, it's the only thing she can do, even if it is almost certain that it won't work. But in the process, it makes the winning person weaker, regardless of who that is. And there is a rested opponent ready to face the winner of this game. This isn't the important game -- the next one is.
I'm not a basketball fan. Oh, I used to follow basketball. And living in Chicago in the 1990s, you couldn't help but follow Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
One element of basketball that I hated even when I did follow the sport was the last two minutes of the game. Teams always seem to have tons of timeouts that come out of nowhere. And the team that is behind fouls the other team to force them to the free throw line, which slows down the game even more.
I feel like the Democratic presidential race is a basketball game in the last 2 minutes. Barack Obama is winning, but not by a huge margin. Hillary Clinton is behind and committing fouls to try and get her back in the game.
And it's boring and really not entertaining.
Basketball is a rather popular sport, more so than hockey right now. And in hockey, the last two minutes of a close game are exciting. Often, the losing team will pull its goalie to give them an extra skater. Rare is a penalty in the last two minutes. And the best part, each team gets ONE timeout for the whole game. And yet, basketball is more popular than hockey.
In basketball, the losing team does what it can to try and come back. As distasteful as the strategy is, in basketball, without it, you can't win. But it involves not so much winning, but forcing the winning team to make mistakes. In the basketball analogy, you slow things down to take away momentum and force (ideally) a poor free-throw shooter hoping that person misses shots.
But as basketball fans can tell you, the strategy almost never works. And when it does, the result is usually a lot of luck from the comeback team and horrible mistakes from the team that had been winning.
Obama has done rather well under the circumstances -- he has made some free throws, but has missed a few as well. Clinton has shown expertise in fouling Obama without it being flagrant (in basketball, flagrant fouls allow for more ways to score points for the team in front). Her people say horrible things while the candidate doesn't say them.
And Clinton has also done well in "working the refs." Her masterful "why do I get the first question in the debate" move during the Cleveland debate was a prime example. While Clinton can legitimately complain about her press coverage for most of the campaign, she is getting much more consideration from the press. They won't even touch the credibility of her "35 years of experience" claim, and what that actually means.
So do we blame Clinton for trying this strategy? Yes and no. If winning is the only thing, it's the only thing she can do, even if it is almost certain that it won't work. But in the process, it makes the winning person weaker, regardless of who that is. And there is a rested opponent ready to face the winner of this game. This isn't the important game -- the next one is.
Bush says Afghanistan challenge romantic
US President George W Bush says he would fight in Afghanistan if he was younger.
President Bush spoke of his dream to work on the frontline in Afghanistan during a video conference with US military and civilian personnel in the war-torn country.
"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said.
"If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," President Bush said.
***
Read More
President Bush spoke of his dream to work on the frontline in Afghanistan during a video conference with US military and civilian personnel in the war-torn country.
"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said.
"If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," President Bush said.
***
Read More
Sunday, March 9, 2008
ISRAEL CAN GET AWAY WITH MURDER ~~ THAT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS
Of course, Israel has the right to launch hundreds of missile strikes on the crowded Gaza Strip for days, for weeks, for months. It did not mean for its air strikes to massacre a Palestinian family of seven enjoying a picnic on a beach, or wipe out three Palestinian children playing in the street, or slam into a pregnant Palestinian woman and her brother having lunch together. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to blockade the Palestinian territories and impose curfews for days, for weeks, for months, denying people the basic necessities of life—food, water, medicine, electricity, freedom of movement, their very livelihoods. It does not mean to visit oppressive collective punishment upon the Palestinian population. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to hold over 10,000 Palestinians in its jails, to arrest or kidnap anyone suspected of knowing a terrorist, to assassinate anyone it wishes to target for assassination. It does not mean to imprison civilians—men, women, children—whose only crime is to say “No!” to a brutal Occupation. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to lay waste to anything in its path, to bulldoze houses, to uproot ancient olive groves, to confiscate land, to obliterate basic infrastructure. It does not mean to vandalize radio and TV stations, destroy NGO offices and cultural centers, shell hospitals, mosques, and schools. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to manipulate the narrative of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, hiding the full truth, playing the anti-Semitism card whenever anyone dares to question its perverse interpretation of events. It does not mean to cast itself as the most justified victim of all time. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to behave any way it wants to, as if it really were not accountable to anyone. President Bush and the U.S. Congress aren’t going to tell Israel otherwise, or to stop funding Israeli military aggression with US taxpayer dollars to the tune of 3 to 4 billion a year. That’s just the way it is.
***
Source
Of course, Israel has the right to blockade the Palestinian territories and impose curfews for days, for weeks, for months, denying people the basic necessities of life—food, water, medicine, electricity, freedom of movement, their very livelihoods. It does not mean to visit oppressive collective punishment upon the Palestinian population. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to hold over 10,000 Palestinians in its jails, to arrest or kidnap anyone suspected of knowing a terrorist, to assassinate anyone it wishes to target for assassination. It does not mean to imprison civilians—men, women, children—whose only crime is to say “No!” to a brutal Occupation. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to lay waste to anything in its path, to bulldoze houses, to uproot ancient olive groves, to confiscate land, to obliterate basic infrastructure. It does not mean to vandalize radio and TV stations, destroy NGO offices and cultural centers, shell hospitals, mosques, and schools. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to manipulate the narrative of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, hiding the full truth, playing the anti-Semitism card whenever anyone dares to question its perverse interpretation of events. It does not mean to cast itself as the most justified victim of all time. That’s just the way it is.
Of course, Israel has the right to behave any way it wants to, as if it really were not accountable to anyone. President Bush and the U.S. Congress aren’t going to tell Israel otherwise, or to stop funding Israeli military aggression with US taxpayer dollars to the tune of 3 to 4 billion a year. That’s just the way it is.
***
Source
Zimbabwe to restrict white-owned firms
President Robert Mugabe, campaigning for upcoming elections, has signed a new law requiring foreign- and white-owned businesses to hand over 51% control of their operations to blacks, state media reported Sunday.
Cranking up his campaign theme of "economic empowerment" in the impoverished African nation, Mugabe also unveiled plans to distribute tractors, generators, gasoline and cattle to black farmers who have resettled on white-owned land seized by the government since 2000.
"This equipment and implements now form a critical mass that should be deployed effectively so as to meaningfully uplift productivity levels," the state-owned Sunday Mail reported Mugabe as saying at a Harare ceremony Saturday.
The new program comes three weeks before Zimbabweans vote in crucial presidential, parliamentary and local council elections in which Mugabe, 84, is running against former finance minister and ruling party loyalist Simba Makoni, 57, and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, 55.
***
Read More
Cranking up his campaign theme of "economic empowerment" in the impoverished African nation, Mugabe also unveiled plans to distribute tractors, generators, gasoline and cattle to black farmers who have resettled on white-owned land seized by the government since 2000.
"This equipment and implements now form a critical mass that should be deployed effectively so as to meaningfully uplift productivity levels," the state-owned Sunday Mail reported Mugabe as saying at a Harare ceremony Saturday.
The new program comes three weeks before Zimbabweans vote in crucial presidential, parliamentary and local council elections in which Mugabe, 84, is running against former finance minister and ruling party loyalist Simba Makoni, 57, and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, 55.
***
Read More
Another Lie Debunked: Obama actually outperforms Clinton in the Big States
The last myth standing is that Hillary has outperformed Sen. Obama in the "big states that really count"
The only problem, is that with all most all the other Clintonian spin it is not true.
1)In the top Nine contested primaries to date Sen.Obama has outperformed Sen Clinton by 156,000 votes
Here they are:
State . . . . . Obama . . . . . . Clinton
California. . . .2,126,000 . . . . . . .2,553,000
Texas . . . . . .1,358,000 . . . . . . .1,459,000
New York. . . . .698,000 . . . . . . . 1,003,000
Illinois. . . . . 1,302,000 . . . . . . . .662,000
Ohio . . . . . . 982,000. . . . . . . 1,212,000
Gerogia. . . . . . 704,000 . . . . . . . 330,000
New Jersey. . . .492,000 . . . . . . . 603,000
Virginia . . . . . 627,000 . . . . . . . 350,000
Washington . . . 354,000 . . . . . . . 316,000
Total . . . . .8,643,000 . . . . . . . .8,487,000
Source
10 Questions for Hillary Supporters
From the Huffington Post
1. When did Sen. Clinton cross the Commander-in-Chief threshold?
2. Was it before or after October 11, 2002 when she flunked the biggest foreign policy test of her career and voted to authorize the war in Iraq?
3. How can a candidate claim to be ready on Day One when on Day 646 of her senate career she voted for a war without reading the 90-page National Intelligence Estimate that so convinced senate colleague Bob Graham the war was a mistake?
4. Are you okay with the Clinton campaign darkening Sen. Obama's complexion in its ads and would you be okay with it if that's what it took to win the nomination?
5. Do you think Sen. Clinton's failure to plan for a primary campaign beyond Feb. 5 -- best exemplified by the Iowa insult of Mississippi that she figured would never come back to haunt her -- demonstrates the foresight you want in a president?
6. Do you think Sen. Clinton's top-down, consultant-heavy campaign spending -- that necessitated her $5 million loan to the campaign -- is an indication that she'd be a good steward of the economy?
7. Are you okay with a Democratic candidate suggesting that the Republican nominee would make a better Commander in Chief than her Democratic rival?
8. Do you agree with Howard Wolfson's charge that asking a presidential candidate to release her tax returns is tantamount to Ken Starr's $40M fishing expedition?
9. Do you agree with Mark Penn's suggestion that some states are significant and some states are insignificant?
10. Are you looking forward to another I-was-for-the-war-before-I-was-against-it general election campaign?
1. When did Sen. Clinton cross the Commander-in-Chief threshold?
2. Was it before or after October 11, 2002 when she flunked the biggest foreign policy test of her career and voted to authorize the war in Iraq?
3. How can a candidate claim to be ready on Day One when on Day 646 of her senate career she voted for a war without reading the 90-page National Intelligence Estimate that so convinced senate colleague Bob Graham the war was a mistake?
4. Are you okay with the Clinton campaign darkening Sen. Obama's complexion in its ads and would you be okay with it if that's what it took to win the nomination?
5. Do you think Sen. Clinton's failure to plan for a primary campaign beyond Feb. 5 -- best exemplified by the Iowa insult of Mississippi that she figured would never come back to haunt her -- demonstrates the foresight you want in a president?
6. Do you think Sen. Clinton's top-down, consultant-heavy campaign spending -- that necessitated her $5 million loan to the campaign -- is an indication that she'd be a good steward of the economy?
7. Are you okay with a Democratic candidate suggesting that the Republican nominee would make a better Commander in Chief than her Democratic rival?
8. Do you agree with Howard Wolfson's charge that asking a presidential candidate to release her tax returns is tantamount to Ken Starr's $40M fishing expedition?
9. Do you agree with Mark Penn's suggestion that some states are significant and some states are insignificant?
10. Are you looking forward to another I-was-for-the-war-before-I-was-against-it general election campaign?
International experts foresee collapse of U.S. economy
Excerpt
And you thought that I had a gloomy outlook on the economy. Now the bad news pops up everywhere.
Harry Koza in the Globe and Mail quotes Bernard Connelly, the global strategist at Banque AIG in London, who claims that the likelihood of a Great Depression is growing by the day.
Martin Wolf, celebrated columnist of the U.K.-based Financial Times, cites Dr. Nouriel Roubini of the New York University's Stern School of Business, who, in 12 steps, outlines how the losses of the American financial system will grow to more than $1 trillion - that's one million times $1 million. That amount is equal to all the assets of all American banks.
Every day now, thousands of people all over the U.S. and Great Britain are walking away from their homes - simply mailing their house keys to the banks - as housing bailout plans fail.
With unemployment growing, the next phase will hit commercial real estate making the financial institutions the unwilling owners not only of quickly depreciating houses, but also of empty strip malls and even larger shopping centres.
The next domino to fall will be credit card defaults, and after that... who knows? There are so many exotic funds out there, with trillions of dollars in paper - or rather computer-screen money - all carrying assorted acronyms, and all about to disintegrate into nothingness. Over the next couple of years, scores of banks that have thrived on these devices, based on quickly disappearing equities, will fail.
The most frightening forecast so far comes from the Global Europe Anticipation Bulletin (GEAB), available for 200 euros - about $300 - for 16 issues annually. Its prediction is quite specific.
Where my warnings never spelled out an exact date, this think tank has it pegged precisely. Here are its very words:
"The end of the third quarter of 2008 (thus late September, a mere seven months from now) will be marked by a new tipping point in the unfolding of the global systemic crisis.
"At that time indeed, the cumulated impact of the various sequences of the crisis will reach its maximum strength and affect decisively the very heart of the systems concerned, on the front line of which (is) the United States, epicentre of the current crisis.
"In the United States, this new tipping point will translate into - get this - a collapse of the real economy, (the) final socio-economic stage of the serial bursting of the housing and financial bubbles and of the pursuance of the U.S. dollar fall. The collapse of U.S. real economy means the virtual freeze of the American economic machinery: private and public bankruptcies in large numbers, companies and public services closing down."
The report goes on to say that we are entering a period for which there is no historic precedent. Any comparisons with previous situations in our modern economy are invalid.
And you thought that I had a gloomy outlook on the economy. Now the bad news pops up everywhere.
Harry Koza in the Globe and Mail quotes Bernard Connelly, the global strategist at Banque AIG in London, who claims that the likelihood of a Great Depression is growing by the day.
Martin Wolf, celebrated columnist of the U.K.-based Financial Times, cites Dr. Nouriel Roubini of the New York University's Stern School of Business, who, in 12 steps, outlines how the losses of the American financial system will grow to more than $1 trillion - that's one million times $1 million. That amount is equal to all the assets of all American banks.
Every day now, thousands of people all over the U.S. and Great Britain are walking away from their homes - simply mailing their house keys to the banks - as housing bailout plans fail.
With unemployment growing, the next phase will hit commercial real estate making the financial institutions the unwilling owners not only of quickly depreciating houses, but also of empty strip malls and even larger shopping centres.
The next domino to fall will be credit card defaults, and after that... who knows? There are so many exotic funds out there, with trillions of dollars in paper - or rather computer-screen money - all carrying assorted acronyms, and all about to disintegrate into nothingness. Over the next couple of years, scores of banks that have thrived on these devices, based on quickly disappearing equities, will fail.
The most frightening forecast so far comes from the Global Europe Anticipation Bulletin (GEAB), available for 200 euros - about $300 - for 16 issues annually. Its prediction is quite specific.
Where my warnings never spelled out an exact date, this think tank has it pegged precisely. Here are its very words:
"The end of the third quarter of 2008 (thus late September, a mere seven months from now) will be marked by a new tipping point in the unfolding of the global systemic crisis.
"At that time indeed, the cumulated impact of the various sequences of the crisis will reach its maximum strength and affect decisively the very heart of the systems concerned, on the front line of which (is) the United States, epicentre of the current crisis.
"In the United States, this new tipping point will translate into - get this - a collapse of the real economy, (the) final socio-economic stage of the serial bursting of the housing and financial bubbles and of the pursuance of the U.S. dollar fall. The collapse of U.S. real economy means the virtual freeze of the American economic machinery: private and public bankruptcies in large numbers, companies and public services closing down."
The report goes on to say that we are entering a period for which there is no historic precedent. Any comparisons with previous situations in our modern economy are invalid.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Rapper Juvenile's daughter killed in Ga.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the fatal shootings of his mother and her two little girls, one of whom was rap star Juvenile's 4-year-old daughter.
Anthony Tyrone Terrell Jr. was charged Friday in the deaths at the family home near Lawrenceville, where the bodies were found the night before, said police spokeswoman Illana Spellman.
She identified the victims as Gwinnett County Sheriff's Deputy Joy Deleston, 39, and her two daughters, Micaiah, 11, and Jelani, 4. The motive was still unclear.
Deleston brought a paternity lawsuit in 2004, claiming that the 32-year-old rap star Juvenile, whose real name is Terius Gray, was Jelani's father, Gwinnett County court records show.
Attorney Randy Kessler, who represented Juvenile in the proceedings, said the case was resolved peacefully by consent order in 2006. Both parties agreed Juvenile was the father.
Kessler said Saturday he had not talked with the rapper about the killings. "Anytime you have a situation like that, it's shocking," Kessler said.
Terrell was taken to jail in neighboring DeKalb County to avoid any potential conflict because Deleston worked for Gwinnett County, Spellman said. He is being held without bail.
Because of his age, prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Terrell. A preliminary hearing will be set next week in Gwinnett County Superior Court, said prosecutor Danny Porter.
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