Thursday, January 15, 2009

Paterson Needs Caroline To Get To Barack


The New York Governor might like the idea of a New York Senator who is a family friend to the First Family, especially in these trying times when even the state of New York is angling for some major federal dollars.

I don't know much about Andrew Cuomo. When Bill Clinton started thinking about running for president, he saw a big gorrilla standing in his way, then New York Governor Cuomo. Good thing Gulf War I happened, and Bush I looked so popular Cuomo decided not to run. Otherwise Clinton was running scared. So I guess you could argue Andrew Cuomo is from a political family.

And the junior ended up in Clinton's cabinet. Then he famously shared a stage with Bill Clinton where the retired president said the only person on stage who did not have a political future was Bill Clinton. Cuomo ran then did not run for Governor. He became Attorney General. When he did, he had big shoes to fill. Spitzer had been a stellar Attorney General.

But like JFK said when people argued Lyndon Johnson had been great in the Senate. I agree, he said, and that is why I think he should continue in the Senate. New Yorkers elected him to be Attorney General, not Senator. I hear he has been doing a good job. So why not keep him in the job?

Caroline personifies access to the new president, sheer access. These are trying times. New York lost two of its four major banks. The finance sector is in a major league mess. The tax base stands depleted. Federal help is needed.

Cuomo looks a little more comfortable in front of the TV cameras. Is that good or bad? Neither. The dude has been in front of the press more often. That is all that means. But this is no popularity contest. I am not pushing Caroline for American Idol. I am pushing her for US Senator. That is some somber responsibility. Especially in these trying times.

Advice For Caroline
Caroline Kennedy Is No Sarah Palin, She Is No Airhead
I Like The Caroline Kennedy Name

I guess I have a soft spot for Caroline because she endorsed Barack at a time when I was running a little nervous on his behalf. But I am allowed that. But I would not be pushing her name if I did not think she was qualified. Bloomberg is Mayor, and he thinks her plenty qualified. (Independent For Bloomberg)

I am supporting Caroline. But then I am also supporting Blommberg for a third term. You can't be Governor and not want to get along with the Mayor of New York City. Bloomberg wants Caroline.

Barack is for Caroline, it is just that he can't say it. Harry Reid is for Caroline. Now that guy knows the US Senate. Obviously he thinks Caroline is plenty qualified. I think Charles Schumer also wants Caroline.





In The News

Paterson downplays Kennedy-Cuomo polls Newsday, NY
Andrew Cuomo favored over Caroline Kennedy for Senate Los Angeles Times
Stop the coronation: Polls show Caroline Kennedy trailing San Francisco Chronicle
Paterson Nears A Pick Washington Post Conventional wisdom still dictates that Caroline Kennedy is the frontrunner for the nod and although Paterson was initially resistant to the idea he seems to have warmed to the idea of late -- proclaiming himself "impressed" with her.
Sarah Palin, Caroline Kennedy and moving on Kansas City Star, MO
Mason: About Palin, Kennedy and 'class' Milford Daily News
In a League of Her Own, Palin Swings Away at Couric, Fey and Kennedy New York Times
Sarah Palin mon amour Examiner.com
Poll: Cuomo tops Kennedy for US Senate seat
Newsday, NY
Racism Wanes and Sexism Thrives, Roland Burris and Caroline ... U.S. News & World Report, DC
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING Chicago Tribune
Politico: Race Seems to Trump Gender in Senate Politics Women on the Web
Does race card trump gender card? Politico
Fact-checking Caroline Kennedy’s role at the Dept of Ed
GothamSchools, NY
Bloomberg Maneuvers to Crown a Kennedy Village Voice, NY Dickens not only voted against her own immediate interests, but she appeared to counter the public admonitions of her Harlem Democratic co-leader, Congressman Charlie Rangel, who assailed the extension at first, only to disappear when the opposition grew so loud that it appeared it might be defeated (the final vote was 29 to 22). ..... With Barack Obama in the White House and Malcolm Smith now the majority leader of the New York Senate, Paterson associates tell me they see Thompson as one black political star too many at the moment ....... Caroline would be an asset for the city in securing aid from Obama ...... declared with Laura Bush at his side at the dedication of a 9/11 downtown memorial that the Iraq War "started not very many blocks from here" ......... Rudy Giuliani became a Republican shortly before Ronald Reagan installed him in a top Justice Department post, and Bloomberg switched only because he didn't think he could win a 2001 Democratic mayoral primary. ........ he's been quietly reaching out to Republican county chairs, keeping all of his 2009 options open ....... With Sheekey, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, and Bloomberg's consultant, Isay, driving the Kennedy candidacy ........ Sheekey's New Year's Eve accusation that Paterson would be guilty of "political malpractice" if he picked anyone but Kennedy was based, astonishingly, on the assumption that she alone among the major Democrats under consideration backed Obama and that the president "has an obligation" to help Kennedy if she is senator. "We need help from our new president," Sheekey observed, citing the budget gaps ........... Paterson's Clinton-financed trip there was with a woman he subsequently acknowledged had been his lover ("I-had-sex-with-that-woman-but-not-on-that-trip" was his defense).
Caroline Kennedy Rolls Up on Bed-Stuy MSNBC
New Yorkers Prefer Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over Caroline ... WTEN, NY

India struggles to get to grips with a bewildering corporate fraud Economist Mr Raju, his brother, and Satyam’s chief financial officer are in custody, charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery. Satyam is in the hands of three directors appointed by the government. If they do not act swiftly, Satyam’s rivals may pick up its most lucrative customers and its best employees. But right now all that its Indian competitors want from Satyam is distance.
Chandni Chowk to China Times of India
East meets East in 'Chandni Chowk to China' San Francisco Chronicle just maybe, the future of global pop cinema. ...... the first "Bollywood kung fu action comedy" and opens Friday in the Bay Area ..... "Bollywood became what it is because people in India have so much trouble in their lives," Advani says. "When the common man in India goes to the theater, he doesn't want to be reminded of his problems; he wants to fly away, to be taken into an exotic, fantastical place. ..... while martial arts cinema has successfully transcended its Chinese roots to become a truly pancultural phenomenon, Bollywood's popularity is still largely limited to Indian (and Indian diasporic) audiences ...... "Bollywood is still struggling to find its ambassadors, guys and girls who people will recognize in the streets of Manhattan as well as Mumbai." ...... it is releasing the film in 50 global markets while getting the biggest U.S. opening in history for a Bollywood film (not to mention a staggering 1,400-screen premiere in its native India). ....... director Shekhar Kapur ("Elizabeth"), who announced last month on his blog that it was time for the "Dragon and the Elephant" to join forces. ..... Who wouldn't pay to see Jackie Chan, Kumar and Padukone team up in "From Panjiayuan Market to the Punjab"?
China's answer to economic meltdown? Lend more: Leo Lewis on Asia Times Online
As Bank Lending in China Picks Up, Some Investors Applaud Wall Street Journal
China shares rebound on rise in lending The Associated Press
Google announces end of Google Video, Jaiku and other projects in ...
Telegraph.co.uk
Merrill Lynch Turns Into a Black Hole for Bank of America BusinessWeek
JPMorgan Profit Drops 76 Percent on Asset Writedowns Bloomberg
Acer Closes In on Dell's No. 2 PC Ranking BusinessWeek While Dell shipments fell 6.3% in the fourth quarter, Acer's jumped 25.3%. ..... puts the Taiwanese company solidly in the No. 3 position worldwide, it puts Acer less than two percentage points away from Dell, with 11.8% share to Dell's 13.7%. ...... its longtime role as a lower-cost alternative to the likes of Dell and HP ..... "Acer has real tight management on its costs," she says, and it has just 6,000 workers. "The smaller size of Acer puts it in a better position." ..... "Everybody's netbook looks very similar now," says Chang, so companies selling them "can compete only on price."
Google Cuts Recruiters, Video, Notebook, Catalog Search and More eWeek
Facebook Sacrifices Burger King “Whopper” App
eWeek
Swayze’s secret weapon in cancer battle is wife MSNBC
Geithner’s Skill May Trump Tax Issue New York Times, United States
For Obama, campaigning is not over Boston Globe, United States
Obama and Biden Visit Supreme Court Washington Post, United States
Obama visits Supreme Court that he could reshape Reuters
Burris set to replace Obama in Senate today
The Associated Press
Democrats in House Unveil $825 Billion Stimulus Bill New York Times, United States$54 billion to encourage the production of energy from renewable sources and to upgrade the transmission grid, as well as to weatherize public buildings and homes and raise energy efficiency. And it would provide $10 billion for science facilities and research, and $6 billion for broadband service in rural areas. ..... $79 billion to prevent education cuts at the state and local levels, it also includes $41 billion in additional aid, including $13 billion for schools serving mostly impoverished students, $13 billion for disabled students, $14 billion for school construction and modernization and $1 billion for technology. Another $15.6 billion would be used to increase the size of Pell grants by $500. ...... $43 billion for extended jobless benefits and retraining; $39 billion to help the unemployed keep their health coverage ...... $20 billion for a temporary increase in food stamps.
Obama Dines With Conservative Columnists FOXNews
Ex-Fighter Pilot Could Be Next NASA Chief Washington Post Jonathan Scott Gration traveled through Africa with Obama in 2006 ....... "In the shadow of Nelson Mandela's prison cell, I saw a leader with the understanding to build new bridges over old divides." ....... would probably be the first NASA administrator who speaks Swahili

Can Tim Geithner Lead the Economy Out of Its Mess? Time
Osama Speaks Out on Gaza. Is Anyone Listening?
Steve Jobs is Off the Job at Apple
The Auto Bailout Keeps Growing, and Growing
Google Earth Takes on the Prado's Masterworks
Can Israel Survive Its Assault on Gaza?
Love Your Partner? Send Him Away!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Chinese Success Story



While the credit flow in economies like that of the US and the major European countries got mugged up, looks like the same in China went the other way and heated up, and will drive up domestic demand just when China needs it.

News is China is now officially the third largest economy, set to take the number two spot from Japan in a few years.

The Chinese success story is remarkable. China as a nation has a long collective memory. 800 years ago China was the number one nation on earth, it was not America. To the Chinese it is not about claiming the prize, it is about reclaiming the prize, reclaiming what was once theirs.

But America has democracy, America has diversity. Take the Bush Brain out of the equation, and this economy will sizzle again.

But if there is competition, it is not a race to the bottom. It is to be a win win situation. I just wish China did lend more of its money to the poor countries, and less to a country wanting to wage war.

But then China has put a major focus on Africa recently.

Even on democracy I don't see China copying America. There is a middle ground somewhere where the two need to meet. The democracy in America is not one person one vote. Loot at all the White Males in the Senate. These are Greek Gods. These are not democrats.

But the Chinese did beat the Americans at the Olympics. They got the most gold for the first time. It is as if they were saying, we know how to get organized.

And as to democracy, it is near impossible to meet Chinese in America who think China needs a different political arrangement to what it has now. These are not people in fear of the Chinese Communist Party. They are in America. The CCP is their own NAACP, making them proud.







In The News

China overtakes Germany in terms of GDP China Daily The revised growth estimate for 2007 - from 11.9 percent to 13 percent, the fastest rate since 1994 - raised the country's GDP to 25.7 trillion yuan, ($3.5 trillion) at 2007 exchange rates ..... "I think it will take only three to four years for China to overtake Japan as the second-largest economy. The US is by far still the largest economy.
China overtakes Germany as third-largest economy Deutsche Welle
China revises 2007 GDP growth rate to 13% Xinhua the industrial sector achieved the fastest growth followed by the service and trade sector and then agriculture.
China's 2008 customs revenue up 21% to record high China Daily
China’s trade Economist in 2007 China overtook Germany to become the world’s third-biggest economy .... China’s trade surplus rose to a record $457 billion ..... The best way for China to support its economy—and to help unwind global trade imbalances—is instead to bolster domestic demand. .... Thanks to the healthier state of its banking system, China is perhaps the only big economy where credit has heated up rather than frozen in recent months. If sustained, this could help to support domestic spending—and hence imports. China’s economy certainly can not depend on exports over the next year.
China's exports, imports drop CNN International falling demand in the United States and the European Union.
Can Google Challenge Microsoft In The Channel? CRN
Google conquers 2008 search market in US CNET News
Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan rubbishes Slumdog Millionaire guardian.co.uk the film was a big winner at Sunday's Golden Globes and is seen as a frontrunner for the Oscars .... The film is based on a novel, Q&A, by the Indian writer and diplomat Vikas Swarup ..... an Indian director making a western-style film might not meet with the attention lavished on Slumdog Millionaire: "It's just that the SM idea, authored by an Indian and conceived and cinematically put together by a westerner, gets creative globe recognition. The other would perhaps not." .... he was the original host of the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a show that resurrected his career.
Film review: Slumdog Millionaire the 2005 novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup
Amitabh blasts 'Slumdog Millionaire' on blog Economic Times
Report: Dell Readying Smartphone
InformationWeek

Obama warns of long recession without quick action International Herald Tribune
Saviour of the Republicans
New Statesman the best prospect for revitalising a Republican Party .... His rush of words is likely linked to the rush of his ambition, and his ambition - at 37, just two years above the minimum to be president - appears beyond restraint. ..... To understand why Republicans are so excited about Jindal (the conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh calls him "the next Ronald Reagan") .... white people are expected to become a minority by 2042. .... When John LaBruzzo, a Republican legislator in Louisiana, once asked a Jindal aide what the governor's hobby was, he says he was told it was "to read information". ...... Jindal's wonkishness could be as much a novelty as his ethnicity. ...... he has that technocratic edge to him that makes him palatable to moderates and independents ....... Jindal has sought more to find common cause with white Americans ....... some relatives in the Punjab complain that he downplays his ties to his ancestral homeland. ...... at 5ft 8in and 135lb, offers little in the way of physical presence. ....... earnest air and obvious intelligence
Louisiana, Joseph Cao, Bobby Jindal and David Duke Bayou Buzz having a Indian American as our Governor and a Congressman formerly from Viet Nam as our Congressman does not mean that Louisiana would automatically vote for a black person as Governor.
Clinton Is Moving to Fill Senior Posts at State Dept. New York Times
Clinton Confirmation Tuesday: Caroline D-Day Next
MSNBC
Paterson: Kennedy lacks some experience for Senate The Associated Press Kennedy has many positives despite never holding elective office. .... New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi of Long Island, and Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel, Jerrold Nadler, Kirsten Gillibrand and Brian Higgins.
Billions pulled out of China Financial Post
Daschle vows aggressive reform as US health leader Reuters
Motorola Combines WiMax, WiFi, Ethernet, VoIP In One Device InformationWeek
Maybe it was love at first sight with Amitabh: Jaya Bachchan Hindustan Times“I first saw Amitji in an institute. I saw him, I liked him and I told my friends that you know he has got a personality. And they said what...he looks like a stick!" “He was very thin and his face was full of his eyes. I remember I fought with my friends and said he is different.”
Obama asks Congress to delay digital TV switch Los Angeles Times
Bride Wars (2009) New York Times

New Voices in Congress Will Change the Tone of the Democratic Majority New York Times “You’re not going to see any wild, left-wing policymaking,” he added. “You’re not going to get the Berkeley wish-list out of this crowd.” ..... taxpayers have grown increasingly impatient with bailout after bailout. “There’s a level of frustration from people saying enough taking care of fat cats, the executives, the stockholders” ....... Steve Austria, a Republican from Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, is the first Filipino-American...... Anh (Joseph) Cao, the Republican who defeated William Jefferson in Louisiana, is the first Vietnamese-American ...... Jared Polis of Colorado is the first openly gay male candidate ...... Jews make up 13 percent of the Senate and 7 percent in the House, while Mormons are 5 percent in the Senate and 2 percent in the House. ........ The House now includes two Muslims

Obama says trillion-dollar deficits may last years
CNN: Gupta approached about surgeon general post
Panetta choice as CIA chief draws Democrats’ concerns

Friday, January 02, 2009

Deficits As Far As The Eyes Can See

Barack has come out saying he sees trillion dollar deficits for at least a few years. That worries me.

Possible Pitfalls In Barack's Way

I can see the rationale behind the trillion dollar stimulus package. If you don't do it, you risk a deep recession, a global recession. Better a trillion now than two trillion tomorrow.

But to rely totally on the stimulus package would be to miss the mark. White collar crime style irresponsible behavior brought this about. The number one would be the Iraq War. The Iraq War has been the biggest white collar crime in history. Hitler killed six million Jews, Bush killed a million and a half Iraqis. After a half century of further civilization, a million and a half today probably is equivalent to six million back then. The white collar crime of the Iraq War - a trillion or so dollars - got mirrored in bad Wall Street behavior.

But the number one lesson to be learnt is that global finance is just like global warming, just like global terrorism, there is no national solution, not even by the mighty power of America. So the number one solution can not be the trillion dollar stimulus package, necessary as it is. The real challenge is, so how do you create a new global financial architecture? Minor tinkering with the IMF and the World Bank will not do.

When the dust on this financial mess settles, more of the global power is expected to have shifted to China. There is no free lunch.






In The News

Dossier From India Gives New Details of Mumbai Attacks New York Times In the beginning, they were 32. A squad of suicide bombers raised in Pakistan, they were taught how to make bombs, withstand interrogation, and fight to their death. ....... they set sail from Karachi with coordinates plotted on a global positioning set ...... all the while receiving detailed instructions and pep talks from their handlers across the border ...... training the commando-style fighters ..... a steady exchange between the attackers in Mumbai and their counselors. ....... they are told how to damage India’s standing with a key ally, Israel. ..... “If the hostages are killed, it will spoil relations between India and Israel,” Wassi continues. ....... The leader of the crew, identified by Indian investigators as Ismail Khan, 25, from a town called Dera Ismail Khan in the Northwest Frontier Province, contacted their handlers and received instructions. ....... five teams of two ...... targets: the city’s busiest railway station known as Victoria Terminus, a tourist haunt called Café Leopold, the Jewish center in Nariman House, and two luxury hotels, the Taj and Oberoi. ........ they kept a safe distance of at least 60 kilometers from Indian shore until they got closer to Mumbai. ........ “Brother you have to fight,” says the caller. “This is a matter of the prestige of Islam.” ......... Ten were kept in isolation for more than three months, in a house near Karachi, until they were instructed to go to Mumbai.
Former eBay CEO preps for California power post? Register
Ex-EBay chief Meg Whitman quits board seats Los Angeles Times
Facing Losses, German Billionaire Commits Suicide
New York Times
Strike costing India Rs 10000 cr daily: Truckers Indian Express
Expo: Apple introduces iLife '09 Macworld
Expo: Apple adds productivity features to iWork
Clearwire Launches WiMAX in Portland GigaOm
Google Expands Lead in Search Race
Adweek
Pending home sales plunge to record low in Nov. BusinessWeek
Dell Hits the Sweet Spot of Form, Function and Affordability with ... WELT ONLINE
Anne Hathaway Just Wants a Good Husband People Magazine

The Irish Economy’s Rise Was Steep, and the Fall Was Fast New York Times
Automakers Fear a New Normal of Low Sales
Investors Strain to Sell Start-Up Companies
For the Blind, Technology Does What a Guide Dog Can’t
Credit Card Companies Willing to Deal Over Debt
Bid to Revoke Madoff’s Bail Cites His Gifts

In Sri Lanka, Victory Brings Reprisal Time
Sri Lanka's Civil War: Not Over Yet
Sri Lanka Kills Rebel Leader
The Tamil Tigers
Obama Gets Ready for His Washington Close-Up
Endless War

Is the Euro the New Dollar? Time
Nuclear's Comeback: Still No Energy Panacea
Israel Enters Gaza: Negotiating With Extreme Prejudice
Can the Jewish People Survive Without an Enemy?
Facebook's War on Nipples

Concerns of civilian deaths rise in Sri Lanka The Associated Press
Young pro-India leader sworn in as Kashmir chief
AFP
The Evil of Google is Steeped in Perception, Potential
eWeek

What is Apple Inc.'s plan if CEO Steve Jobs dies? Los Angeles Times No American CEO is more intimately identified with his company's success. Jobs is deeply involved in every facet of Apple development and design, and he's justly admired for his instinct for the human-factor engineering of Apple products. He is Apple's visionary and carnival barker. ..... The Jobs role that Apple may find hardest to fill is that of one-man Supreme Court, settling disputes between warring engineering camps by decree. There have been countless battles at Apple over such things as how many buttons a mouse should have and what keys should be on its keyboards. The ultimate authority belongs to Jobs. ..... Google and its Android mobile phone operating system. ......... a CEO whose talents and personality are so inextricably entwined with a signature American brand.
Writing the Web’s Future in Numerous Languages The next chapter of the World Wide Web will not be written in English alone. Asia already has twice as many Internet users as North America, and by 2012 it will have three times as many. Already, more than half of the search queries on Google come from outside the United States. ....... Quillpad, an online service for typing in 10 South Asian languages. Users spell out words of local languages phonetically in Roman letters, and Quillpad’s predictive engine converts them into local-language script. ...... India, whose online population Jupiter says is poised to become the third-largest in the world after China and the United States by 2012 ....... Wikipedia now has more entries in Indian local languages than in Korean. ...... Even among the largely English-speaking base of around 50 million Web users in India today, nearly three-quarters prefer to read in a local language ..... “Localization is the key to success in countries like India" ....... Google engineers are also plugging away on voice recognition, translation, transliteration and digital text reading that it plans to apply to other developing countries.

Obama says got "choked up" leaving Chicago
Reuters
Sprint WiMAX misses Chicago launch, now aiming for 2H 2009
Boy Genius Report
Think your WiFi is fast? WiMax is coming to Chicago
The Windy Citizen
Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books
New York Times Revenue will be generated through advertising sales on pages where previews of scanned books appear, through subscriptions by libraries and others to a database of all the scanned books in Google’s collection, and through sales to consumers of digital access to copyrighted books. Google will take 37 percent of this revenue, leaving 63 percent for publishers and authors. ........ The settlement may give new life to copyrighted out-of-print books in a digital form and allow writers to make money from titles that had been out of commercial circulation for years. Of the seven million books Google has scanned so far, about five million are in this category. ........ Even if Google had gone to trial and won the suits, said Alexander Macgillivray, associate general counsel for products and intellectual property at the company, it would have won the right to show only previews of these books’ contents. “What people want to do is read the book” ......... When the agreement was announced in October, all sides hailed it as a landmark settlement .......... In May, Microsoft ended its book scanning project, effectively leaving Google as a monopoly corporate player....... Students and faculty at universities who subscribe to the database will be able to get the full contents of all the books free. ......... a lot of reading is going to happen on screens
Google Unlocks G1 Android Mobile Phone NewsOXY
Bachchan's aura built on sheer talent, performances: Amir
Press Trust of India
Russians Raise Ukraine Gas Bill
New York Times
How the SEC Can Prevent More Madoffs
Wall Street Journal
Dell Elevates Insiders in Strategy Change Wall Street Journal
'Marley & Me' stays No. 1 at box office
Los Angeles Times

Dow Climbs Above 9000 for Best Close in Two Months Washington Post
On the First Trading Day of the New Year, Markets Surge New York Times
Chicago to take over at the White House guardian.co.uk Obama brings with him the baggage of Chicago's political culture - the roughest in the US. ......... the sharp suits, naked ambition and political trading ..... 50 elected officials from Illinois jailed over the past 30 years. ...... It has been a long time since we have had an urban president. Kennedy would be the last. ...... It would have been hard for Obama to have risen without engaging in the city's rough-house politics. ....... Obama has managed to be above the fray on the local political scene. ...... Emanuel, in a tactic that Al Capone might have applauded, once sent a political opponent a rotting fish. ....... "DC has its own culture and absorbs other cultures. When people try to behave differently, it bounces off, like Teflon. The Clintons were outcasts for trying to bring their culture to DC."
With eye on polls, Nitish to pitch camp in Bihar villages The Statesman
What Microsoft Should Do in 2009 eWeek
Obama's Internet Allies Plan Continued Engagement eWeek
Getting Mrs. Clinton Wall Street Journal
The time has come: Can Barack Obama really make a difference? Independent Never, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, have so many invested so much hope in a single individual. ..... He has run nothing of note, except an admittedly brilliantly conducted campaign for the White House. ...... a federal budget of three trillion dollars ..... a moment when Americans look more intensely to government for solutions than at any time since the Great Depression. ...... the US remains the world's supplier of last resort of hope, the belief against the odds that the human condition can be improved. America's struggles, excesses, failures and triumphs are those of all of us. ......... the 95 per cent of human beings who are not American. ....... The US car industry remains on the brink of collapse. The interlocking crises of the Middle East, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan look, if anything, more intractable than they did 12 months ago. ...... he embodies the magic of America, its endless ability to reinvent itself ..... Barack Obama is but the latest proof that in America, everything is possible.
Bill Clinton For NY Senate? CBS News
Report: Paterson To Pick Kennedy For Senate New York State's most powerful legislative leader tells the New york post he'll support Kennedy. State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver
Bill Clinton rumored to be offered Hillary's Senate seat MSNBC
NY-Senate: Much Ado About Nothing (Yet) Washington Post Paterson is casting a very wide net in terms of potential appointees -- a move designed to show that he will not simply accede to the will of the party establishment and pick Kennedy.
Clinton, Familiar With Pitfalls of Mideast Politics, May Face ... New York Times
Barack Obama’s Election Voted Top News Story of 2008 Voice of America
Democrats say McCain almost left the GOP in 2001 You Decide
Rankings: Top 25 For GOP 2012 The Phoenix
Sri Lankan army captures Tamil Tigers' capital, Kilinochchi Times Online Civil rights activists believe that the Government’s military successes have come at an unacceptable human cost. An estimated 250,000 civilians were forced to flee their homes as the Army advanced. in the past the Tigers, who pioneered the use of suicide bombers, have been at their most dangerous after enduring some of the worst defeats. .... Velupillai Prabhakaran, who remains free, suggested that the rebels would revert to terrorism. “No sane voice is being raised to abandon war or to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict”
Cuba celebrates 50 years of revolution Christian Science Monitor
Fire dies under China’s once booming manufacturing industry Times Online China’s unexpectedly high vulnerability to the global financial crisis.
Google's Microsoft-esque landgrab for IE's market share CNET News
Google: A little more like Microsoft every day
Firefox, Chrome virtually tied for JavaScript speed
Google Chrome Web Browser Shines
You've got mail wars: Google making an inbox push Los Angeles Times
Google Spreads Cheer in The New Year With Bling, Android Market eWeek
Airspan Selected for WiMAX Network in Okinawa, Japan Your Communication News (press release)
Bollywood gears up for romance of the elderlies Indian Express
Chrysler Gets $4 Billion Infusion From US Treasury Bloomberg
Russia accuses Ukraine of siphoning gas to Balkans International Herald Tribune
Dell Elevates Insiders in Strategy Change Wall Street Journal
Will This Bold Shakeup Save Dell? BusinessWeek
HP Can Thank Dell for Its Good Fortunes TheStreet.com
Study: Religious Teens More Likely to Abstain from Sex FOXNews
Wikipedia meets $6 million fundraising goal The Associated Press
Diamonds suggest comets caused killer cold spell Reuters
IE falls below 69% market share, Firefox climbs above 21% TG Daily

As a Candidate, Kennedy Is Eloquent but Elusive New York Times After weeks of criticism that she had not opened up to the public or the press, Ms. Kennedy has embarked on a series of print and television interviews.
Kennedy Notes Being 'Unconventional Choice' Washington Post
Video: AP Exclusive: Kennedy Talks Senate
How normal will life be for Obama's famous tweens?
The Associated Press
Bihar sacks 15000 teachers for faking degrees
Sify
The Return of the Military Coup
AllAfrica.com
Pakistan: 'Does Not Want War' with India
Voice of America
WiMax to take country by storm
Taiwan Journal
Alvarion snags WiMAX contract in Italy
SmartBrief
Are Android, Chrome-flavored Netbooks On Tap For Google in 2009?
eWeek
Hollywood Stars, High-Tech Titans Pitch in for Obama Inauguration FOXNews
Amitabh Bachchan goes for total transformation
Real Bollywood
Amazon Claims ‘Best Ever’ Christmas (Whatever That Means) New York Times
California Surgeon Used Human Fat to Power Car
FOXNews
Why Wal-Mart is the key to the iPhone's domination CNET News
Aniston Tops the Box Office! Extra TV
Jennifer Aniston Defeats Brad Pitt At The Box Office Celebuzz