Friday, November 17, 2006

Eliot Spitzer For Running Mate


Eliot Spitzer would be a great running mate for Barack Obama.

Spitzer earned more votes than Hillary in New York. Those who speak well of Hillary say her victory is a good one because she got almost as many votes as Spitzer. Spitzer was expected to win big, real big, all along. Hillary's big win is a little bit of a surprise.

Spitzer signifies a generation shift just like Barack Obama.

For the longest time I did not know he was Jewish. He comes to you on merits just like Obama. He transcends faith based lines.

When I first dug into him and started studying his speeches, I was in total awe. This is a next generation politician, I remember thinking vividly. He is sheer substance. No bells and whistles. And he manages to communicate that sense of substance to the public. (Eliot Spitzer)

New York would be a good balance to Illinois.

Spitzer's running mate was a black dude from Harlem. If Spitzer jumps to the Obama bandwagon, would that black guy then become Governor of New York? That would be a nice swap. White guy leaves black guy for black guy, black guys benefit.

Spitzer is the only person in American politics today who could tackle corporate welfare reform. The guy is gutsy.

He is charming too. The first Spitzer event I went to, the guy was cracking jokes about going after Wall Street types. One after the other. (Eliot Spitzer, Aliza Fatima)

He is very down to earth. You feel it standing next to him. He intends to do the work.

I was watching his victory speech and the guy was going on and on. It felt less like celebration, and more like, I got work to do. (2006 Elections Victory Party)

Barack Obama makes white people feel good about themselves. That is why he is so popular among whites. Eliot Spitzer also makes a lot of ordinary white people feel good about themselves. He makes them feel like once again they actually matter in the political process.

The most important quality you look for in a running mate is if that person could be president. Spitzer sure is presidential material.

A Senator is better off with a Governor than would be with another Senator. That is a nicer balance.

And I do have a strong New York bias. I am a refugee into New York City, did I tell you? From Kentucky. I am going to colonize Kentucky some day.

I have given much thought to the whole gender thing. I guess I don't feel too sorry for the WASP women of the world who are more WASP than women.

If Hillary can announce within months of being elected Senator that she is running for president, Eliot Spitzer can jump onto a national ticket within a year and two thirds of getting elected Governor. New Yorkers will be better off with him in the White House than in the Governor's mansion. Sitting Governors run for higher office all the time.

A Woman For Running Mate, Perhaps A Governor
Barack Obama: Time For A Generation Shift
New Orleans: 2008 Democratic Convention
Next Stop: White House
On November 7: In Harlem: For Obama
Democratic Vision For The 21st Century
Obama 2006
The Matrix
The Audacity Of Gravitas: Restore Intelligence To The White House
Barack Obama: This Is A New Century
Barack Obama: New Approaches To Old Problems
Seaport Diwali
Google Video: Martin Luther King
Google Video: Malcolm X
Indians, Indians
Obama In Africa

Middle East: The Final Map
Nation Building, Israeli Style?
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
The Israeli Offensive
Mumbai Train Blasts

Eliot Spitzer, Aliza Fatima
Eliot Spitzer

In The News

Spitzer Names Policy Advisers for Transition to Governor New York Times, United States
Spitzer names policy advisory teams for transition The Journal News.com
Local trio to assist Spitzer transition Buffalo Business First
Watchdog Groups Question Spitzer's Attendance At Event In Puerto ... NY1
Spitzer Gathers Diverse Group of Advisors WNYC, NY
New York Gov.-Elect’s Puerto Rico Trip Questioned Hardbeatnews.com
'THOUSANDS' SEND ELIOT THEIR RÉSUMÉS New York Post
Governor-Elect Tours Buffalo WBEN 930
Spitzer's Swansong? NYAG Hits Fund For Market-Timing
FINalternatives, New York
Spitzer turns sights to hedge funds in market-timing probe Financial News Online US
Spitzer sues hedge fund BusinessWeek
Spitzer sues hedge funds InvestmentNews
Spitzer likely to seek Hevesi's removal
Newsday, NY
Report says Spitzer considering push for Hevesi's removal Capital News 9
Spitzer expected to ask for Hevesi's removal from office WROC
Spitzer Leaning Towards Tossing Hevesi Gothamist
Spitzer Turns to Chenault, Rohatyn for Policy Advice (Update1)
Bloomberg
Spitzer names leaders of advisory committees WCAX
Spitzer Forms Transition Team 13WHAM-TV
Spitzer creating policy advisory committees Crain's New York Business
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer Advisor Joins Government ...
Lawfuel (press release), New Zealand
Spitzer, turn to Suozzi
New York Daily News, NY
SHERIFF SPITZER'S WARNING New York Post
What next? The election's aftermath City Newspaper
What's after Day One is what counts Auburn Citizen
Governor-Elect Eliot Spitzer visits Rochester
WHEC-TV, NY
Spitzer gets the Syracuse experience News 10 Now
Spitzer says he sees 'potential' in Syracuse Syracuse Post Standard
Governor-Elect Spitzer Tours Syracuse NewsChannel 9 WSYR
Spitzer won't enforce immediate Grasso payback -WSJ
Reuters
Spitzer willing to wait for Grasso's millions InvestmentNews
Spitzer Likes It Slow and Painful DealBreaker.Com
Appeals Precede Grasso Payment Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Spitzer promises growth
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
The mayor's list Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

India cautiously welcome US nuclear vote Ninemsn
Readers Respond to Pelosi-Murtha article Beyond Chron
'Casino Royale' Breaks Bond Record Playfuls.com
Stars shine as Cruise and Holmes prepare to wed CTV.ca
Nepal in top priority of EU assistance list in 2007
People's Daily Online
Nepal 'excesses' probe complete
BBC News
Nepal King Gets Away with Murder Prensa Latina
Probe panel blames Nepal king for crackdown-reports Reuters AlertNet
fresh polio cases in Bihar; UN alarmed
Times of India
Dark horses threaten Clinton tilt for power
Sydney Morning Herald the ultimate prize of US politics .... for the first time in more than 50 years will not have the president or vice-president standing ...... A few days after the mid-term congressional elections ..... the junior senator from New York quietly contacted major donors to let them know they should stand by for word early next month about her run for the presidency. ....... it is doubtful that in the past four years Senator Clinton has done anything in the Senate without thinking about the impact it would have on her chances of becoming the first female president. ....... Bill Clinton, her chief strategist, her major political asset and, in a sense, her major complication ....... with the ability to raise the $US100 million ($130 million) needed for a presidential campaign ....... Without doubt she is the Democratic Party's front-runner for 2008. ...... Joe Tripp, who managed Howard Dean's unsuccessful campaign in 2004 ...... "I don't care what anyone says, her husband is one of the two rock stars in the Democratic Party and a huge asset," he wrote in The Washington Post. ...... The other "rock star"? That would be Barack Obama, elected to the Senate in 2004, the undisputed star of the mid-term campaigns, who attracted huge and adoring crowds wherever he went. ......... a black American who does not have a sense of grievance and does not remind white Americans of their shameful racial history. He has already been dubbed the black Bill Clinton. ........ Senator Obama, aged 45 and largely inexperienced, could seriously threaten Senator Clinton's chances ...... part of the Washington establishment, a divisive figure not just among Americans, but in her own party, too calculated and contrived in the stances she takes on issues. ........ John McCain, the Republican Party front-runner for 2008 .......Rudolph Giuliani, who has also set up an exploratory committee for a presidential run, is even less loved. ........ few observers believe Mr Giuliani has any real chance of winning primaries in conservative states where his pro-gay marriage, pro-choice and pro-gun control views would be anathema. ....... in this presidential race the dark horse could well be Senator Obama, who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning and who is the most exciting and consummate politician in America since Bill Clinton. ....... Hillary Clinton .... Born in 1947 in Chicago. ... John McCain .... Born in 1936 in Panama Canal Zone....... Barack Obama .... Born in 1961 in Hawaii.
Black, female, veteran — 2008 anyone's presidency The Age
Clinton says Mexico has 'great opportunity' for economic growth ...
International Herald Tribune
Milton Friedman: An Open Book
Forbes
Populist 'Sego' gets Royal assent from France's left
The Age
Darfur conflict spreads as Annan announces deal
Reuters
Bush Compares US Wars in Vietnam, Iraq
ABC News a country where America lost a two-decade-long fight against communism, said Friday the Vietnam War's lesson for today's confounding Iraq conflict is that freedom takes time to trump hatred. ..... the divisive Vietnam War the longest conflict in U.S. history ...... 1,300 U.S. military personnel still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. ...... he and his hosts sat under a large bronze bust of Ho Chi Minh, the victorious North's revolutionary communist leader ....... The president's welcome by the public was much less enthusiastic than the rock-star treatment afforded President Clinton when he came in 2000. ...... "Even though the Americans were more powerful with all their massive weapons, the main factor in war is the people," he said. "The Vietnamese people were very determined. We would not give up. That's why we won." ....... After remaining in Hanoi for a massive summit of 21 Pacific Rim leaders, Bush was traveling on Monday to Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon and the country's economic heart, where he was showcasing Vietnam's booming economy with a visit to its stock exchange and discussions with business leaders. ...... Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Hu Jintao, Japan's Shinzo Abe and South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun.
Bush Urges Patience on Winning Iraq War San Francisco Chronicle
Bush: Vietnam War Offered Lessons for Iraq Washington Post
Can Google win in Local?
ZDNet
Google Hires Spreadsheet Company Founders
PC World
Google trying to excel at spreadsheets Blogging Stocks
Google Buys Israel Start-up iRows SDA Asia Magazine
A Better Search: Google, Yahoo And Microsoft To Use The Same Index ...
Playfuls.com
Online Encyclopedia Offline in China
FOX News
China lifts Wikipedia banAljazeera.net
Wikipedia Unbanned in China DailyTech
Rice: China's military build-up 'outsized' Irish Examiner
India Sees Progress in Nuclear Deal With US
New York Times
Prachanda on first open visit to India in 25 years
Hindustan Times
Mysterious force's long presence
BBC News
Dark energy nearly as old as the universe, scientists say Houston Chronicle
New clue of antigravity, Einstein maybe right Xinhua antigravity, known as dark energy, overcame cosmic gravity and pushed the universe apart faster billions of years ago ..... Gravity would cause a universe that was initially at equilibrium to contract. To counteract this possibility, Einstein added the cosmological constant, a dark energy. ..... Einstein later abandoned the cosmological constant and called it the "biggest blunder" of his life. The discovery of dark energy in 1998 revived the theory. ..... Cosmologists understand almost nothing about dark energy even though it appears to comprise about 70 percent of the universe. They are desperately seeking to uncover its two most fundamental properties: its strength and its permanence.
Substance in red wine found to combat obesity, diabetes San Francisco Chronicle
Antibiotics Ineffective Against Bronchitis
Zaman Online
Cruise and Holmes could trick the world media Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
Italian Town Prepares for TomKat Wedding Forbes, NY
Stars shine as Cruise and Holmes prepare to wed CTV.ca, Canada
What is a Scientology wedding? MSNBC
Italian town awaits ‘wedding of the year’ MSNBC
Cruise-Holmes wedding recalls Rome's Dolce Vita Washington Post, United States a jetload of celebrity guests ...... reviving memories of the 1950s and '60s when the Eternal City teemed with film stars. ....... twice-divorced Cruise ...... cannot marry with a Catholic rite. Holmes was raised a Roman Catholic. ....... has not sought permission for a civil service either, meaning the wedding could be purely ceremonial and have no legal value. ....... The ceremony often includes a reminder to the groom to provide the bride with "clothes and food and tender happiness and frills, a pan, a comb, perhaps a cat." ........ price tag is estimated at 2 million euros ...... Cruise, 44, and Holmes, 27, have a baby daughter, Suri, who was born in April. ..... Kidman.. sent the pair a wedding present, wishing them "a lifetime of happiness together." ...... Paparazzi, named after the street photographer Paparazzo in Fellini's 1960 movie La Dolce Vita, swarmed in the streets.
Hollywood stars join Cruise and Holmes for wedding preparations Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Stars shine for Cruise wedding The Age, Australia
Victoria Beckham's Cruise wedding excitement Monsters and Critics.com, UK
Cruise, Holmes Make First Appearance In Italy NBC13.com, AL Cruise wore a dark gray, pinstriped suit with matching vest and a striped lavender tie as he escorted Holmes, who was clutching what appeared to be a very sleepy baby girl dressed in a fuzzy-soft white sweater, white tights and print dress. ....... Residents around the imposing 15th-century Odescalchi Castle, which is rumored to be the venue for the wedding, were rushing to rent out windows and terraces overlooking the mansion to the media who have been pouring into the location near Rome. ...... The Bracciano City Hall, which appears to be one of the better placed, is renting the windows of a nearby building with a view on the main entrance of the castle for $1,280. Prices for other homes conveniently placed near the castle include a bargain $255. ...... In one case, though, the prices were not so reasonable: A private terrace overlooking the likely route of the nuptial motorcade and the castle's internal parking lot was offered to a TV news agency for a $128,000.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

A Woman For Running Mate, Perhaps A Governor


Barack Obama should definitely pick a woman for running mate. Which woman? There are quite a few options. For a Senator, a Governor might look like a choice. But then Jack Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson and both were Senators.

Hillary Rodham Clinton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2004 was Hillary's year. She missed it.

AZ: Janet Napolitano
CT: Jodi Rell
DE: Ruth Ann Minner
HI: Linda Lingle
KS: Kathleen Sebelius
LA: Kathleen Blanco
MI: Jennifer Granholm
WA: Christine Gregoire

There are so many white women Governors. How many black men Governors do you see? There are so many white women Senators. How many black men Senators do you see? Obama has it tougher. And so he should get in with gusto.

Governor - Governor Jennifer Granholm
Granholm For Governor: Home
Jennifer Granholm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003 ..... Granholm was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1959, and her family moved to California when she was four. As a young adult, she attempted to launch a Hollywood acting career but was unsuccessful, and she abandoned her efforts at the age of 21. ...... earned a Juris Doctor degree at Harvard Law School, also with honors ....... In 1986 she married ...... was once a contestant on the daytime television game show The Dating Game ...... focusing on protecting citizens and consumers, and establishing Michigan's first HighTech Crime Unit. ...... In her inaugural speech, she said: "We've all heard that song, 'I Hope You Dance'. Well, I hope you dance with your government." ....... In 2003, Granholm ran five miles across the Mackinac Bridge, which connects the state's two peninsulas, in 47 minutes during the Mackinac Bridge Walk. Her run began a new tradition ........ Granholm remarked "I would love to run a marathon before I'm 50." ....... emphasizing Michigan as "the North American intersection of cutting-edge research, life sciences talent and high-tech innovation". ...... Shiga Prefecture is Michigan's "sister state" ....... She is trying to establish a $4000 scholarship for each Michigan college student ...... in the 2006 election. Her opponent was Republican businessman and politician Dick DeVos. ...... She had been attacked on her control of Michigan's economy. The state's unemployment rate hovered around 7% for much of her term, despite the fact that the national economy experienced job growth. In the fall of 2006, Michigan ranked among the worst economies in the country. Additionally, Michigan ranked #49 in retaining young adults between 2000 and 2005, again attributed to the sluggish economy. ....... "Often those who cloak themselves in a cape of religiosity happen to be some who are the biggest cutters. Now, some of that can balance out. But when you get to cutting the services for the least of these -- in the 25th chapter of Matthew in the 37th verse the Lord says, 'Whatsoever you do to the least of these, so also you do unto me' -- that's when I question whether somebody is really living out the faith that they profess."
Jennifer Granholm | Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist
Granholm pulls ahead of DeVos - 07/27/06 - The Detroit News Online
Granholm, Jennifer (Michigan Gov.) & Michigan Beer & Wine ...
Prepared Witness Testimony: Granholm, Jennifer M.
Gale - Free Resources - Women's History - Biographies - Jennifer ...



I like it that she gave Hollywood a try. But what is this thing about her being Canadian born? Does that work against her? Maybe muscleman Ah-nold should help change the constitution so she can run.

Michigan is a key state to understanding America's transformation from an industrial to an information age economy. A lot of the pain of the transformation is being felt in Michigan. That gives Granholm an advantage.

In The News

Nancy Pelosi gets her own "thumping." New Republic
Hoyer trumps Murtha for No. 2 post MarketWatch
Nobel Laureate Friedman Dies at 94
Voice of America
Clinton seeks political reconciliation in Lanka Times of India
US condemns Nepal's Maoist rebels
BBC News
Negotiators move to end Nepal uprising
Scotsman
Sen. Obama: "You Gotta Pay Your Workers Enough"
WLTX.com
Obama: Will not "dilly dally" on White House decision. Obama ... Chicago Sun-Times
Bill Clinton on Republicans' rout: 'American people thinking again ...
New York Daily News
Bill Clinton: 'Whatever She Says, I'm For'
NewsMax.com
Peacekeepers, cops patrol Congo capital
Houston Chronicle
Bush to make first visit to Vietnam
Reuters
Angered by rockets, Israelis weigh response
Christian Science Monitor
Webmasters get one sitemap for Google, Yahoo, Microsoft search
iTWire
Google sees professionals outdone by Web amateurs
Reuters
WiMAX poised for rapid growth despite major challenges, says In ...
DigiTimes
Towerstream Brings WiMAX to Chicago
Wireless Week
Where’s WiMAX?
Malaysia Star
Zune, you, and the future of music
Macworld
OJ or Society – How Low Can It Go
E Canada Now

What to call female French president?
Seattle Post Intelligencer The Socialist front-runner is shaking up language and the male-dominated political scene in a nation hungry for a fresh face. ..... "This is our new French revolution. We already had one in 1789 that swept across the entire world. So maybe to have a female president in a country like ours - in a country that is old, ancient, a bit old-fashioned - a woman for president could possibly spread to the rest of the world," Royal supporter Jean-Marie Henin said. ....... Sineau said male candidates find it harder to campaign against women. ...... "They are disconcerted," she said. "When a woman emerges, the men are a bit destabilized. A different language is needed." ...... French prime-time TV already has a Madame la Presidente, in a three-part drama aired this fall on France-2 called "State of Grace." When the character needs advice on managing her pregnancy and her job, she calls up the American president - Hillary Clinton. .... much to her style. She's always well-dressed, in light or bright colors, and usually wearing one thing many French politicians shun: a smile. ..... Polls show that people like her because she would "listen to the French" - but don't have much confidence in her ability to defend the nation against terrorists or to revitalize the economy. .... the leading candidate on the right, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Pakistan's Lower House Passes Landmark Women's Rights Bill
Voice of America would overturn Pakistani laws that require women to produce four male witnesses to prove a rape case. .... The legislation effectively shifts future rape cases out of Pakistan's religious courts and into the country's more moderate civil court system. ..... Hudood Ordinances, which were originally passed in 1979. ..... Under those laws, women are liable to prosecution for adultery if they fail to produce four male Muslim witnesses to corroborate claims of rape. ..... An MMA official said the new law would violate Islamic principles and promote "free sex" in Pakistan.
US marine given 18 months for murder of Iraqi civilian Canoe.ca
Analysis: Clinton Undecided on '08 Run Forbes Not to be trumped by other potential candidates/authors, the former first lady plans to rerelease her best-selling book, "It Takes a Village." ...... "I will look at the possibilities, but I ... haven't really had the time to talk to people about it" ........ An Associated Press-AOL News poll in late October found that, among registered Democrats, she essentially was tied with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as the person they would most like to see elected president in 2008. The other White House hopefuls were in single digits. ....... Among registered black Democrats, she led Obama 29 percent to 10 percent on the same question in an AP-AOL Black Voices poll. ..... Advisers also insist it's Clinton's nature to deliberate, reaching out to activists, donors and operatives ....... 2000 ..... she spent months seeking counsel from numerous friends and advisers and went on a "listening tour" of the state. ...... Bill Clinton .... said publicly - as recently as last weekend - that he doesn't know what her final decision will be ....... She has penned a new introduction describing how the "village" has changed in the 10 years since the book was first published. An audio version, with Clinton reading the book, also will be released. ....... In 1996, the book sold 700,000 copies ....... Obama's "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," which recently vaulted to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list. ..... John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has embarked on a book tour ...... she likely will chair the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Water ...... people have underestimated her desire to be a senator and the impact of the newfound majority status
NEPAL: Preparations begin for demobilisation and disarmament Reuters AlertNet
World Bank announces USD 25 million grant to Nepal
Zee News
New Congress vows to clean up act
Christian Science Monitor
Fed Minutes Indicate Fear Of Inflation Forbes
Annan attacks big polluters on emissions
Guardian Unlimited
Google to hire 500 as it makes Dublin its Europe hub
International Herald Tribune
Microsoft, Google `Overlap' on Products, Gates Says (Update2)
Bloomberg ``Video really is becoming this mainstream thing on the Internet,'' he said.
The two sides of Bill Gates ZDNet "Most people in the world are living in developing countries...and of the last 1,500 (modern inventions), only 20 have anything to do with the majority of mankind," Gates said. ..... Given the chance to do it all over again, Gates said he might have pursued medicine with the potential to help improve billions of people's lives ..... "That would have been a close second. Even if I had known (about medicine), I don't think it would have drawn me away...from the personal computer. I don't think it would have topped it," Gates said.
ANALYSIS - History, mistrust haunt India-China trade ties Reuters India
Minister criticizes China's human rights record
Globe and Mail
Clearwire unwires Seattle as WiMAX gains steam
RCRNews.com
General Says US Troop Levels Right in Iraq, Iraqis Need to Disband ...
Voice of America
In Senate Shift, Big Comeback for Trent Lott New York Times
Is Murtha An Ethics Blight For Democrats? CBS News
Kevin Federline eyeing acting career?! China Daily
The Zune is no iPod killer
The Sunday Times
Murtha defends his ethics
MSNBC
Marine Pleads Not Guilty in Iraqi Death
ABC News
Google testing mobile ads in eight more countries
MarketWatch
Satyam opens third centre in China
Moneycontrol.com
Moment of truth for Royal as her comrades compare the CVs
Times Online
Is France headed for a Royal leader? CNN International
The Zune is no iPod killer The Sunday Times
If This Doesn't Make Your Blood Boil...
Huffington Post
UPDATE 1-Fox TV plans to air OJ Simpson special Reuters
My High Speed Chase with OJ TMZ.com

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Barack Obama: Time For A Generation Shift


On November 7: In Harlem: For Obama

John McCain should have run against John Kennedy. Leave Obama alone. Kennedy was a generation shift, as was Clinton. 16 years of baby boomers is enough. It is time for Obama.

Next Stop: White House

It will be easy for Obama to neutralize Hillary on money and organization. He just has to turn Obama 2008 into the first internet campaign. The internet is going to have to take centerstage. And so you go on for a thrilling competition of ideas.

The Matrix
Democratic Vision For The 21st Century

Bill Clinton is Hillary Clinton's greatest strength, but also her number one weakness. The guy can't keep his mouth shut. He lacks discipline. He is going to suck up the oxygen, hog the space. He is going to think this is 1992, part two. Enter James Carville. That is going to be a putoff.

"I can't think in front of a computer."
- Hillary Clinton

Bill Clinton has sent a total of two emails in his life. Obama blogs.

The Audacity Of Gravitas: Restore Intelligence To The White House

Barack Obama can announce in January that he is running. Hillary can't. She will have to wait longer.

A Different Kind Of Campaign: A Scientific Campaign

Whities on Capitol Hill are trying to saddle Obama with Senate assignments. That is okay. When he announces he is running, he resigns from those ties and pins, but keeps his Senate seat.

Barack Obama: This Is A New Century
Barack Obama: New Approaches To Old Problems

Google Video: Martin Luther King
Google Video: Malcolm X

In The News

Top general to face Iraq questions CNN
Dems to press military on leaving Iraq San Jose Mercury News
Top US general warns against US troops pullout Raw Story
Lott bids for return to Senate leadership Seattle Post Intelligencer
Republicans choose McConnell, Lott as leaders WEAR
Trent Lott Regains A Key Senate Republican Leadership Post The Moderate Voice
US Airways makes an $8 billion hostile bid for Delta Boston Globe
US, EU officials in Nepal ahead of signing of peace accord between ...
International Herald Tribune
Obama will visit evangelical megachurch on World AIDS Day
San Jose Mercury News
The Race Purpose-Driven Candidate? New York Times a date next month with Rick Warren, the megachurch pastor and best-selling author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” a move that could give Mr. Obama, who is black, exposure to millions of white churchgoers
Obama gets new assignments WQAD
Barack "blank" Obama and disingenuous politics of "understanding" Town Hall has been anointed by the mainstream media as a frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. ....... the Obama media fawning has had a dramatic impact ....... He has virtually no voting record; he has virtually no articulated positions ..... Clinton ran as "The Man from Hope." Obama runs as "The Man Who Understands ." ......... he is an African-American man who doesn't threaten white folks -- he understands them ...... Only one question remains: Where's the meat? It's all well and good to campaign on the basis of "common sense" and "smart government" ...... blaming terrorism on "the underlying struggle" between "worlds of plenty and worlds of want" -- a neo-Marxist interpretation of the rise of Islamofascism. ...... how narrow the path is for them between humiliation and untrammeled fury, how easily they slip into despair and violence ...... "I know that the response of the powerful to this disorder -- alternating as it does between a dull complacency and, when the disorder spills out of its proscribed confines, a steady, unthinking application of force, of longer prison sentences and more sophisticated military hardware -- is inadequate to the task." ..... His positions, when he takes them, invariably lean toward radical liberalism. A true politics of understanding would recognize that some things are not worth understanding, or tolerating.
Barack 'Blank' Obama WorldNetDaily
ABC's Sawyer to Obama: Is the US 'More Racist or Sexist?' NewsBusters The most eyebrow-raising moment of the interview, however, occurred when Sawyer asked Obama about Sunday’s Washington Post article which questioned whether racism and sexism plays a role in the decision-making of American voters ...... 90 percent of Americans say that race does not matter when they go to the polls. However, a lot of pollsters think that not everybody is telling the truth ........ Obama: "You know, my sense is, whether it's a African-American candidate running, a woman candidate running, if it's non--a non-traditional candidate, there's an additional threshold that you have to meet. I think you have to show people competence in a way that, if you're a white male, you may not have to show initially. But once you do, I think people are willing to judge you on the merits, they're willing to judge you as an individual. The key is getting known and getting people comfortable. And at that point, then I think they're willing to, to, to look at the individual, as opposed to their, their sex or their, or their race."
Obama Needs 'a Little Bit More Time' to Decide on '08 ABC News
Clinton, Lieberman top recipients of $24.8 million from securities ...
MarketWatch
Clinton top choice of NY Democrats for 2008 White House run Capital News 9
Amitabh Bachchan will be Bhishma Pitamah in Mahabharat remake
South Asian Women's Forum
Soldier Pleads Guilty to Iraq Rape and Killings
New York Times
Lobbyist Abramoff to Report to Prison
Forbes
Arunachal asks Centre to counter China`s claim on state
Zee News
Making the US-India nuclear deal acceptable
Rediff
Bay Area might see soccer games in 2016
San Jose Mercury News
Clearwire Launches Wimax in Seattle
BroadbandReports.com The service offers 1.5Mbps downstream and 256kbps up for $38 a month, plus $5 a month modem rental.
WiMAX Poised For Rapid Growth Mobile Tech News (press release)
Al-Jazeera’s English channel readies to hit airwaves
Boston Herald
Middle Aged Men Can Live Long If They Want
Medical News Today
Want to Live to a Healthy 85? Stay Trim Washington Post
SUPERMODEL Naomi Campbell has appeared in court today, with ...
The Sun

Al Qaeda seeking nuclear kit for attacks: UK official Reuters
The Terror Suspect Who May Go Free at TIME Magazine
Orange County Man Rises in Al Qaeda Ranks at The Los Angeles Times
The root of terror is clear at The Guardian
Osama's Party at The Nation
American Strike in January Missed Al Qaeda's No. 2 by a Few Hours at The New York Times
Lebanon crisis deepens, cabinet backs Hariri court Reuters
Christian, Muslim Britons say leave Christmas alone Reuters

Leading blogger thrives on "obsessive" focus
FBI probes YouTube video of LA cop hitting suspect
"BlackBerry Thumb" sparks new form of hand massage
Democrats say will push for Iraq withdrawal
Olmert heads to U.S. to gauge post-election policy
Lawmakers gear up to fight some old battles
Wounded Bush meets rising China at APEC summit
Black candidates head for middle at polls
Baghdad morgue took in 1,600 bodies in October: source
2 ex-presidents tour with well-honed act
Texas town considers anti-illegals bill
McCain edges toward '08 presidential run
Bush's advisers adopt new tone on Iraq
After US election, partisan collision looms
US Republicans lick their wounds

Sunday, November 12, 2006

No To Neocons, No To Islamists



The neocons and the Islamists do have similarities. One makes dogmatic use of the Bible, another makes dogmatic use of the Koran. Both believe it is through use of force that you make your statement.

The Democratic disagreement with Bush in Iraq is not to say let's pull out now and handover the country to the Al Qaeda. The Al Qaeda people misunderstand.

We have to get aggressive with the progressive way of spreading democracy.

White trash lefties who look down upon the Third World people try my patience. You go toe to toe against the neocons. They have spent $500 billion in Afghanistan and Iraq and counting. The progressives have to come out saying we will wage a $50 billion war of communications technology to ensure a total spread of democracy. We will save $450 billion. Instead some lefties are too busy talking isolationist talk. Let's get the hell out of Iraq, they say. The US troops do have to leave Iraq, sure. But you don't counter wrong foreign policy with no foreign policy. There has to be a Plan B. It has to be aggressive.

JFK said we are going to the moon before the decade is over. Spreading democracy should prove easier. We already have all the technology we need, we already have all the political jargon we need. We just now have to have the will to go out there and do it.

Iraq is not going to be an Islamist dictatorship. The world will pay any price to make sure that does not happen. We did not get rid of one dictatorship to bring on another. But sometimes you can get dumb and blunt and end up paying a huge, unnecessary price in terms of lives and money.

Monarchies are dictatorships no matter which way you look at them. You can not say you are for spreading democracy, and cosy up with the House of Saud at the same time. All monarchies in the Arab countries have to go.

The US as a state has its limitations. And so a private sector effort has to be stoked. If Nepal is any example, give me a million strong matrix in New York City, and I will give you the burning core of a mechanism that will spread democracy across the Arab world and beyond.

The Matrix

Since 9/11 the American state has been hostile to the Arab Americans, more so than it already was before. The American state has been hostile to those who trace their roots to the Global South. That is the exact opposite of what needs to be happening.

Those who leave their countries to come to America are often cream of the crop. They stay tight with each other. They admire America. That is why they are here. They can be foot soldiers for democracy in ways the American military can not imagine, can not fathom.

The Matrix is surprisingly a zero cost mechanism. The Matrix feeds itself. But funding can speed things up.

The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal
Democracy Spreading Mechanism
The Demosphere Manifesto

The Democracy Spreading Mechanism will play out slightly differently for each country. And it can be perfected and made better each time. If all democracy movements were to coordinate with each other - and that coordination is not even active, it is made possible by the sheer fact that The Matrix is a transparent mechanism constantly feeding the search engines - every succeeding movement will go through less pain.

We have to build the kind of momentum that was felt when the Soviet Union collapsed. The wind of freedom has to engulf the globe.

If I had $100,000 at my disposal while I was doing full time work for the Nepal movement, that would have made a huge difference to speed things up. Make it one million. Or even 10. That still comes out much much cheaper than the $500 billion.

The same apply to Iraq and Afghanistan. We have to strengthen the political parties and the nonviolent political workers in both countries.

The Republican Party in America and the BJP in India - the second largest party there - both have religious fundamentalists at their cores. In democratic Arab countries parties that are similarly Islamic - as opposed to Islamist - will sprout. In a free speech environment, the Arabs in the streets will still vent strong anti-US, anti-Israel venom. And that is okay. That is democracy.

But freedom truly rings in every human heart. It needs help getting expressed. Let's help.

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