WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is planning to sell the United Arab Emirates an advanced U.S. missile defense system valued at up to $7 billion that could be used to defend against Iran, people who have attended briefings on the matter said on Monday.
The Pentagon is set to notify the U.S. Congress of the proposed sale, which would be the first of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, several people familiar with the matter said. THAAD is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. Raytheon Co supplies the system's radar.
Once notified of such a proposed arms sale by the administration, Congress has 30 days to review it but almost never blocks.
In any case, deployment of the THAAD system is "at least months away" and could take more than a year, said a congressional staff member familiar with the matter. Now why would the US offer this at a date later than when it might attack Iran? Why would the US offer this if Iran were to have no missiles, either conventional or nuclear? Why would the US offer this to SA if Iran were to posess missiles tipped only with conventional explosives? Inquiring mind wants to know.
A production contract for the first two THAAD "fire units" was awarded to Lockheed Martin in late 2006. Delivery of the first such unit to the U.S. military is scheduled during the fiscal year that starts October 1, the company said.
Kenneth Katzman, an expert on the Gulf at the Congressional Research Service, said the UAE has been eager for a "sophisticated antidote" to Iran's missile capabilities. "The UAE has been concerned for many years about possible retaliation against it for any U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities," he said.
For Iran, Katzman added, the UAE could be an attractive target because of its billions of dollars of infrastructure investments. The THAAD system is designed to defend population centers and critical infrastructure among other things.
Craig Vanbebber, a Lockheed Martin spokesman, said several countries had shown interest in buying the THAAD system, "with its significant coverage area and tremendous success in recent testing."
"Lockheed Martin anticipates a strong future for THAAD in the international marketplace," he said.
THAAD is the first system designed to defend against short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere. It complements the lower-aimed Patriot missile defense system, "resulting in a layered defense that ensure a very high probability that ballistic missile threats will be destroyed," according to Lockheed Martin.
Several such systems on land, at sea and potentially aloft are being woven into an expanding U.S. shield against missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.
The proposed $7 billion sale to UAE would include anti-missile interceptors, launchers, fire control and communications systems, the radar and training, among other things, a congressional staff member said. It was not immediately clear whether the UAE was also seeking the Patriot missile defense system.
The sale has been the subject of extensive discussions among U.S. decisionmakers, including over how it would fit into the U.S. Central Command's integrated air-defense plans for the Gulf and the security of the technology, the congressional staff member said. Damn. Can I at least dream of successful aggressive diplomacy efforts?
#1
Perhaps operational status of the missiles is not the point, a big public agreement is. Its a roll call on who thinks Iran is a big poopy-head. And nobody's voting "present".
#2
"It complements the lower-aimed Patriot missile defense system, "resulting in a layered defense that ensure a very high probability that ballistic missile threats will be destroyed,""
IIRC, the UAE bought about 500 Patriot missiles for that system. They're serious.
In a dangerous world, it is GOOD to be be America's friend.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/09/2008 9:26 Comments ||
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#3
UAE has a lot to lose - its all exposed. They have made a "national" commitment to wean themselves from a petroleum economy and focus on real estate, tourism, banking and transportation. They need to be attractive to other markets - Europe, Asia and America. They have the capital and are investing it faster than any other economy except China. They need protection more than even the Saudis and Kuwait.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/09/2008 11:24 Comments ||
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#4
Love it. And guess who gets to hold the master key?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2008 15:56 Comments ||
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#5
Between this and the McCain boost in the polls, I'd guess that Ahmanutjob is kicking off Ramadan with a stress headache.
After a four-hour negotiation with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia announced Monday that his country would withdraw its troops by Oct. 11 from all its positions outside the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
He also agreed to allow 200 observers from the European Union to monitor the conflict, and to take part in international talks on the future of the region starting Oct. 15.
But Mr. Medvedev said Russia would stand by its decision to recognize the two regions as independent nations. "We have made our choice," he said, at a joint news conference after the meeting with Mr. Sarkozy. "This is a final choice, an irreversible choice. This is an irrevocable decision."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2008 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - U.S. officials think North Korea's unpredictable dictator may be gravely ill.
A U.S. intelligence official says there is reason to believe Kim Jong Il is sick after he failed to show up at a North Korean national celebration on Tuesday. A U.S. intelligence official says it is possible that Kim has suffered a stroke. That official and another U.S. source spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence gathering.
Kim has not been seen in public for a month and U.S. officials were closely watching Tuesday's military parade for signs to the leader's health.
North Koreans call Kim the "Dear Leader" and he holds absolute power in the Stalinist regime.
Suggestions that the North Korean leader has been taken ill have been bolstered by reports that a team of elite Chinese doctors have been dispatched to North Korea to treat an unnamed official.
Kim has not been seen in public for several weeks and experts on the North Korean situation say it is hard to believe that he would willingly miss marking the 60th anniversary of the nation.
For the 50th and 55th anniversaries of his countryÂ’s founding, Mr. Kim attended elaborate parades in which columns of armored vehicles and rocket launchers rumbled through PyongyangÂ’s main plaza as legions of goose-stepping soldiers saluted him.
Although 60th anniversaries are important milestones in Korea, TuesdayÂ’s parade featured only civil defense militia groups and ordinary citizens, according to Yonhap, South KoreaÂ’s main news agency, which monitors North Korean news.
South Korean media were quick to note the unusually low-key ceremony. KBS, the national television network, called it “completely unexpected.”
“It’s unclear what, but something unusual seems to be transpiring,” said MBC, another broadcaster, adding that the confusion showed how difficult it was to find out what was going on in the secretive regime.
#4
If it's a stroke he could be debilitated but he could still hang in there for months or even years. It could be messy. Some of the generals might be wondering if they should wait that long before they make their moves.
#6
Presently, Kim Jong Il has three sons: Jong Nam (37), who was born to movie actress Sung Hye Rim (deceased in 2002), Jong Cheol (27) and Jong Woon (25), who were born to Ko Young Hee (deceased in May 2004), a former dancer in the Pyongyang Mansudae Art Troupe.
Regarding the hereditary succession of power from father to son, suggestion and rumors have been circulating internationally; for example that Kim Ok, who is acting as the de facto wife of Kim Jong Il, and Lee Jeh Gang, the First Vice Director of the Guidance Department, are moving to install Kim Jong Cheol as the successor, or that Kim Jong Nam, who is currently travelling overseas, is ultimately to return to the North with China's backing.
However, the public discourse in North Korea and in international society regarding the third generation succession issue has been extremely negative lately due to the fact that none of Kim Jong Il's sons has shown clear signs of being a competent leadership figure.
South Korean experts have differing opinions about the available candidates, but collectively choose the second eldest son Kim Jong Cheol as the most likely.
Jeon Hyun Joon, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, is of the opinion that the actual probability of a successful third-generation succession is low, "Because international discourse has been unfriendly regarding the succession system, North Korea cannot help but feel the pressure,” he suggests, “Kim’s sons do not have the ability to overcome the current threats to the country. Instead, a third party, from the military, for instance, will be elevated as leader.”
Meanwhile, Lee Gi Dong, the Institute for National Security Strategy Inter-Korea Research Office Chief, predicted, “If a sudden mishap involving Kim Jong Il were to occur, then a third-generation successor will assume power behind the scenes. However, if a third-party who is not Kim’s son tries to take the leadership, the elites know very well that a power struggle will result, causing internal confusion. They will therefore try to place one of Kim’s sons in the top leadership position and exercise their power through him.”
Cheong Seong Chang, a researcher of South-North relations at Sejong Institute, also pointed out, “North Korean citizens are also uncomfortable with the ongoing hereditary succession system, but as one knows, the North Korean regime is not one that moves according to the views of its people. If Kim Jong Il selects a third-generation successor, no one will oppose him.”
The reason for experts choosing the second eldest son Jong Cheol as the most likely successor is that “Compared to Kim Jong Nam, the eldest, he has less weaknesses, retains a degree of mystique (Jun Hyun Jun said), an international understanding and a temperate personality (Lee Gi Dong said), and is receiving actual lessons on succession while working at the Guidance Department (Cheong Seong Chang said).”
#13
It seems to me that this is a situation where almost any change is welcome. Things could change for the better in a wide variety of ways. Even if it gets worse, the potential for additional change remains large. North Korea has been like a constipated colon for a very long time. Movement is good.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/09/2008 16:27 Comments ||
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#14
Forgot to mention in my post that I love the selected photo. When he dies, can someone photoshop this image into a casket? It would be a wonderful way to remember him.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/09/2008 16:30 Comments ||
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#15
TED KENNEDY now KIMMIE.
Ted + Kennedy Clan have CAROLINE, plus of course MRS. "GOVERNATOR/DA ARNUUULD' Maria over in Californai.
Sweden's defence minister Sten Tolgfors confirmed on Tuesday that the government's report on the future of the Swedish Armed Forces will be delayed until spring 2009.
"The reason is that I want to carry out a renewed and updated security policy assessment taking into account what happened in Georgia. We need a serious analysis of what has happened," Tolgfors told the Svenska Dagnabbit Dagbladet newspaper.
Just days after a Georgian military offensive into the breakaway republic South Ossetia prompted Russia to send troops into Georgia, Tolgfors continued to assert that the new defence plan would be ready this autumn. But the prolonged presence of Russian troops on Georgian territory has caused Tolgfors and others involved in the defence planning process to reassess the future of Sweden's military.
The defence minister now says that past reports submitted last December and June by the government's commission on defence will be given a new supplement to be prepared by the government and the Armed Forces.
While Sweden has 30,000 active duty troops, a decision taken earlier in the decade to scrap many of the resources needed for mobilization means that it would currently take one year to mobilize 10,000 Swedish ground troops, according to SvD. ONE YEAR! Great Moltke's Ghost!
The speed at which Russia was able to mobilize its troops for the Georgia campaign gave Tolgfors and others in Sweden's defence establishment pause. "We saw in Georgia that it wasn't huge forces, a few tens of thousands of men at its peak on the Russian side. However, it happened very fast Kinda like the Golden Horde ...
-- and Sweden's military hasn't been under political control in that way previously," said Tolgfors to SvD. "What we see in Georgia is that speed is a deciding factor. It wasn't a large force, but rather that Russia has committed to rapidly mobilized and accessible units."
While the government has said previously that it wants to trim defence expenditures by nearly 2 billion kronor ($297 million) over the next three years, Tolgfors offered little information on how the new defence policy assessment would affect any eventual funding. "I won't comment on how the funding will look. On the other hand, it is important to take a look at resource utilization," he told the paper. Big deal - cut the defense budget by the $297 million and opt for the five-year mobilization plan. And buy plenty of white bedsheets.
Then there's the Swedish Navy, which announced in May that because of spending cutbacks, it would scale back its operations from around-the-clock to nine to five, Monday through Friday. Anyone wanting to invade will just have to wait.
I recall their navy having to break off a hot sonar pursuit because it was 'five o' clock'.
#7
I used to hear it this way:
Ten thousand Swedes ran through the weeds
Chased by a lone Norwegian;
The dust from the weeds made snuff for the Swedes
In the Battle of Copenhagen.
#8
Compare iwd TOPIX > INSIDE THE UK'S TERRITORIAL ARMY. Taken collectively, THE UK IS ONLY SLIGHTLY BETTER OFF THAN SWEDEN IN ITS POST-COLD WAR/9-11 ABILITY TO DEFEND ITSELF.
+ GUAM PDN > THE USA IS "DANGEROUSLY VULNERABLE".
* ION REDDIT [paraph]> FIGHTING LUCIFER WITH BEELZEBUB: NY POST WRITER RALPH PETERS CALLS FOR US TO FUND AND ARM MUSLIM SEPARATIST/MILITIA GROUPS AGZ RESURGENT RUSSIA. Argued USA should dust off its successful 1980's anti-Soviet Afghanistan Strategy for use AGZ RUSSIA, INSIDE RUSSIA???
* Also, INTERFAX > CAUCASUS SITUATION SHOULD NOT AFFECT CENTRAL ASIAN STABILITY.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday complained about the high number of English words that have been incorporated into the German language during a visit the Goethe Institute in Munich.
“The language of Goethe is an attractive language,” Merkel told the central office of Germany's culture and language outreach institute. But the German language must be protected in order to continue as a “self-confident language,” she said, otherwise it will become increasingly nonsensical and students of German in other countries could think their courses are “half-English.”
Merkel emphasized the importance of cultural outreach in a time of globalization, which makes the work of the Goethe Institute more important than ever, she said. It is an international “symbol of cultural exchange” for Germany, with an essential task of “breaking down barriers between countries,” she added.
#1
I believe that 'lost' thingy in 1945 set the stage for this. Explains why there's a lot of Latin base language lingering on around Western Europe and not Celtic. And may I point out that little romance language import brought to the Anglish by some Normans. Winning is good. Ask the Carthaginians.
#3
Hitler did the same thing. Changed "das Telefon" to "der Fernsprecher", etc, etc, etc. The French continue to do it, and other countries as well. The problem they have is that new things come from the US, and the US speaks English (for now).
#7
Ever notice when you buy something with directions for use or assembly in several different languages that the number of words used for directions in English is always less than any of the other languages? What's more, the English words have fewer syllables than corresponding words in other languages. German, with its compound words and insistence on putting the verb at the end of the sentence seems particularly cumbersome. Romance languages like French, Spanish and Italian seem to roll more easily off the tongues of their speakers. But when you study them and see them written you know why those people talk so fast. They have to talk fast to get it all said before the sun sets. Their words always include a bunch of extra syllables and they go to great pains to specify the gender of inanimate objects that don't even have gender. The English tendency is to shorten words as much as they can be shortened and still be unique. We incorporate words from other languages into English without even thinking about it. There's no shame in it. It's a big language. It gets bigger and more powerful every day. Does it mean that English is more efficient and more adaptable? If so, does that efficiency and adaptability result in more efficient thought? Hmmmm.
#8
To a native speaker, English seems efficient. For the outsider, however, it is a language that is chock-full of oddities and exceptions. A husband cleaving to his wife is very different than a husband taking a cleaver to his wife. And more than one house is houses, but more than one mouse is mice.
#9
Modern languages will always incorporate "foreign" words when it suits them. Even the French never touched the beloved "week end".
What Merkel refers to is not that normal process but the excesses. Watch German TV ads and sometimes the only German words are "und" and "oder"
Some people also like to "bend" English verbs into German grammar and this sounds stupid.
If you hear a marketing guy say: "Wir müssen die Usability brainstormen und Interchangeprozesse implementieren" (you get it, don't you?) he's just producing verbal diarrhea.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/09/2008 15:46 Comments ||
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#10
If you hear a marketing guy say: "Wir müssen die Usability brainstormen und Interchangeprozesse implementieren" (you get it, don't you?) he's just producing verbal diarrhea.
The English version of this sentence is *also* verbal diarrhea.
Fact is that English has some great features which other languages lack. How many times have you heard a clever turn of phrase for the first time and immediately understood the meaning? Well, lots of languages have trouble with that, German in particular. I'll never forget the first year German student I met in Zürich who tried a direct translation of "Don't have a cow". Priceless.
Disclaimer: I do love the way Nietzsche turns a phrase in German.
Easy to understand and almost impossible to translate.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/09/2008 17:21 Comments ||
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#12
Fact is the English language is adaptable (as is the culture) which is why the Anglosphere is dominant.
Actually English is dominant because ABCA (America, Britain & Ireland, Canada, Australia & New Zealand) are about 1/3 of the world economy. That's all there is to it.
#21
"The language of Goethe is an attractive language."
Hmm.
James was working at a computer terminal at CERN, with a rapid-fire conversation in German going on behind him for background noise. He says it sounded like a watermelon-seed spitting contest.
What is true though that German words are often far more precise than English ones. One thing that drives translators into German crazy is the English tendency to combine 2 or 3 words. Suddenly they mean something very specific but only the best dictionaries will carry all the meanings.
In kaw and economy it becomes maddening. I have one heavy law/economy dictionary that alone has more than half a million entries.
To find out which exact German translation applies can take a long time and you really need to know your trade.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/09/2008 22:35 Comments ||
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#23
law of course.
And I mean 2 or 3 very generic words, that in combination suddenly take on a very specific meaning.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/09/2008 22:36 Comments ||
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#25
EC - I know a tank is called a Panzer in German, but I'm pretty sure (as I was told when I lived in Germany many years ago) that the longer version was the original name. (Which makes sense when you think about how the German language often makes a new word by describing the object, i.e., Fernsehen for television. Though the last I heard the regular people in Germany call it a TV now, and I think I remember hearing some Germans use that word even 40 years ago.)
German has some very interesting words. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/09/2008 22:53 Comments ||
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#26
To clarify the difference:
The combination of two or three generic English words lead to a very precise and specific meaning, but you cannot "guess" it. You need to know it, having seen the combo before and the context in which it was applied.
German words can become real monsters (bureaucrats love then), because the German language allows for unlimited combinations which make a new word. But while it may be long it follows a certain logic and you can usually decipher what it means.
Barbara's word does not exist but she can make it up and everyone will grab what it means.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/09/2008 22:55 Comments ||
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#27
Barbara, it can exist if some made it up. Use it for a longer time and the Duden will decide to carry it.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/09/2008 22:57 Comments ||
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#28
Thanks for the confidence in my (right now, almost non-existent) German, but I never knew the language well enough to make that up. Maybe the German who told me did. Supposedly it meant shooting-crawling-(???)-armored-war-wagon.
I bought it. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/09/2008 23:00 Comments ||
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#29
That's what I meant.
Hey who knows the word might exist
Re: Merkel
Politicians sometimes need to make these utterly useless complaints. Good for a speech.
Language is a never ending creative process and the stupidities usually have a short shelf life.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/09/2008 23:08 Comments ||
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#30
Zheng, I would add that the those Anglosphere nations are 1/3 of the world economy because the culture of adapting things.
European Conservative, the German tv I saw looked an awful lot like Married with Children and Hogans Heroes when I was there. They should worry about creating more of their own content and less about English words. I'd be pissed at the biggest German directors leaving to work in English because that is where the money is.
(AKI) - Police have arrested five suspected people smugglers in Sicily after being identified by several illegal immigrants among a group of 176 who landed on the eastern coast of the island at the weekend. The five suspects are accused of criminal association aimed at concealing illegal immigration.
Also on Monday, paramilitary Carabinieri police in the town of Mottola in Italy's southeastern Puglia region arrested 25 illegal immigrants, believed to be Afghans. The illegal immigrants were subsequently taken to local police headquarters to be deported. None of them had any identity documents.
Police in the coastal city of Bari, the regional capital of Puglia, reported on Monday they had deported 230 illegal immigrants during the European summer season. The illegal immigrants were of various nationalities. Most had entered Italy as stowaways inside heavy goods vehicles aboard ferries.
During the summer months, the number of illegal immigrants heading for Europe's Mediterranean countries including Italy, Spain and Malta surges. Hundreds arrive each week aboard rickety people smugglers' boats which mostly set sail from North Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
09/09/2008 18:02 ||
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#1
"I was downright mad about this bull- - - -," said Fred, who said he is "in the oil and gas business," belongs to a hunting club and makes his own bullets in his garage.
She was too old for you Fred. Get over it and get hunting!
#2
"I assume she thinks and agrees with the same policies that George Bush and John McCain think," Biden added. "And that's obviously a backward step for women."
Assume - Something about an a*s out of 'U' & 'Me'?
Keep 'em coming, Joe.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/09/2008 14:40 Comments ||
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#5
This mantra is very common on the Intertubes, believe it or not.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/09/2008 15:13 Comments ||
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#6
It is also very common in the liberal women's community that believe only the government can lift women out of "repression". A self made, strong woman doesn't fit their mold. So, NOW has attacked her as "thinks too much like a man and doesn't represent women".
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/09/2008 16:19 Comments ||
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#9
Biden is the unelectable brains behind the empty suited Obama. The puppet master. He's been so shaken by Palin that he's tangling up the strings and going off message. Bad Biden, bad boy.
#14
"I assume she thinks and agrees with the same policies that George Bush and John McCain think," Biden added. "And that's obviously a backward step for women."
-this guy's a f*cking moron...and just what exactly are those policies that W & McCain have that are so backward for women?
#16
The Palin-Biden debate is going to be like watching Joe DiMaggio club a seal pup.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/09/2008 20:32 Comments ||
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#17
Matt, I was thinking more along the lines of Biden DiMaggio trying to club Palin a seal pup, and the seal taking the club away from him and beating the crap out of him within an inch of his life.
And using a ruler to measure, just to be accurate.
And smiling while she's doing it. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/09/2008 20:39 Comments ||
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#18
LOL - much better
Posted by: Matt ||
09/09/2008 21:27 Comments ||
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#19
Barb, smiling while repeating: "What did you think a mama SEAL was?"
Summary
We've been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain's running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading.
Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn't cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.
She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.
She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She's been registered as a Republican since May 1982.
Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesy" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.
Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."
We'll be looking into other charges in an e-mail by a woman named Anne Kilkenny for a future story. For more explanation of the bullet points above, please read the Analysis.
US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may be struggling to nudge ahead of his Republican rival in polls at home, but people across the world want him in the White House, a BBC poll said.
"People of the world!"
All 22 countries covered in the poll would prefer to see Senator Obama elected US president ahead of Republican John McCain.
"It is I!"
In 17 of the 22 nations, people expect relations between the US and the rest of the world to improve if Senator Obama wins.
"I come to lead you!"
More than 22,000 people were questioned by pollster GlobeScan in countries ranging from Australia to India and across Africa, Europe and South America.
"I come to care for you!"
The margin in favour of Senator Obama ranged from 9 per cent in India to 82 per cent in Kenya, while an average of 49 per cent across the 22 countries preferred Senator Obama compared with 12 per cent preferring Senator McCain. Some four in 10 did not take a view.
"Follow me to the new horizon!"
"Large numbers of people around the world clearly like what Barack Obama represents," GlobeScan chairman Doug Miller said.
"Follow me to the new world!"
"Given how negative America's international image is at present, it is quite striking that only one in five think a McCain presidency would improve on the Bush administration's relations with the world."
"One world!"
In the United States, three polls taken since the Republican party convention ended on Thursday (local time) show Senator McCain with a lead of 1 to 4 percentage points - within the margin of error - and two others show the two neck-and-neck.
"One humanity!"
The countries most optimistic that an Obama presidency would improve relations were America's NATO allies, including Australia (62 per cent).
"One Leader!"
A similar BBC/Globescan poll conducted ahead of the 2004 U.S presidential election found that, of 35 countries polled, 30 would have preferred to see Democratic nominee John Kerry, rather than the incumbent George Bush, who was elected.
"Tomorrow belongs to me!"
A total of 23,531 people in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the UAE, Britain and the United States were interviewed face-to-face or by telephone in July and August 2008 for the poll.
#3
So that's roughly 1,000 person samples in each country. Did we decide yesterday that was a good sample?
More to the point: Who cares what the rest of the world wants, or thinks they want? Let them vote in their own country.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/09/2008 12:38 Comments ||
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#4
I don't doubt relations would improve initially as Obama keeps hands off do what you want approach but I suspect they'll take a turn for the worse when those same nations dial 911 and Obama doesn't arrive with the US military to help.
#5
That's nice. While you're at it, tell the Guardian to ressurect it's Vote Democrat letter writing campaign to us rubes in America. That worked out really well for yas.
#6
I'm sure the world would like to see a feeble and powerless U.S. on the world stage. Until they needed our help, then we'd be the evil isolationists.
#9
Of course they want. A prominent editoralist in a French news paper put it cynically: "We must wish an Obama victory, because it would weaken the United States"
#11
Ok, you want to decide who our president is? It's easy:
1. Get a visa and move here.
2. Wait 5 years.
3. Apply for citizenship.
4. Get sworn in.
5. Register to vote.
It's too late for '08, but you will get a say on whether Sarahcuda and Bobby Jindal get a second term in '16.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2008 14:01 Comments ||
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#12
Eight weeks and a day from now, Obama can fly to Kenya, take up citizenship there, be appointed to the U.N. ambassadorship, and start his campaign for U.N. Secretary General. Kofi handled it, so I'm sure Barack can too. The world can have him.
#13
I'm curious....what fat headed moron spent money doing a poll of countries outside the US about who should be the US president?
Talk about flushing money down the toilet....if they wanna help pick our president, why don't they apply for statehood? Then we can laugh and point at them while telling them to sod off.
#14
"Given how negative America's international image is at present, it is quite striking that only one in five think a McCain presidency would improve on the Bush administration's relations with the world."
Well, with that unbiased opinion, it looks like this one turned out just the way they planned it to.
#26
It is nice to be liked, but it is far, far better to be feared, especially for a sovereign nation.
Those people probably think that Obamessiah will force Congress to ratify Kyoto, pull out of every nation we have troops in everywhere, spend trillions in foreign aid, and give their countries everything they want everywhere they want anytime they want, and that world peace will be declared as soon as the Obamessiah desecrates the temple in Jerusalem.
From the same River North address, Axelrod operates a second business, ASK Public Strategies, that discreetly plots strategy and advertising campaigns for corporate clients to tilt public opinion their way. He and his partners consider virtually everything about ASK to be top secret, from its client roster and revenue to even the number of its employees. But customers and public records confirm that it has quarterbacked campaigns for the Chicago Children's Museum, ComEd, Cablevision, and AT&T.
ASK's predilection for operating in the shadows shows up in its work. On behalf of ComEd and Comcast, the firm helped set up front organizations that were listed as sponsors of public-issue ads. Industry insiders call such practices "Astroturfing," a reference to manufacturing grassroots support. Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward, who has been battling the Children's Museum's relocation plans, describes ASK as "the gold standard in Astroturf organizing. This is an emerging industry, and ASK has made a name for itself in shaping public opinion and manufacturing public support."
Despite what appears to be a shrinking lead, Obama aides argued that they maintain a strong position in the race.
The Obama camp is counting on holding all the states won by Kerry in 2004. The campaign also expressed confidence in its ability to flip Iowa and New Mexico, two states that went for Bush in the last election.
If Obama won all those states, they'd have 264 electoral votes. The remaining six needed for a win, said Plouffe, could come from a victory in Colorado, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, Nevada, or Nebraska.
Strickland, who is an absolutely vilepartisan masquerading as a Methodist minister, supported Hillary, and was widely credited with getting her the win in the primary. He's got a good approval rating, mostly because he's managed not to do anything obviously stupid or corrupt so far.
At the beginning of the year, the Donks could probably quite reasonably have looked to play off the taft scandals and carry Ohio. After Marc Dann, their own brand equity is looking a little wobbly, so maybe not so much.
Obama's state campaign chair, Eric Kearney, is an old classmate of mine. (His wife is a classmate of the Obamas.) We got along very well in school and I consider him a good friend, albiet one I haven't kept in regular contact with. He was getting a lot of statewide press not too long ago, but that seems to have faded a bit. Wonder if that's a leading indicator that the Obama camp is throttling back, or just the ebb and flow of news cycles.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2008 09:19 ||
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#1
Obama will be lucky to get the second district in the very blue state of Maine. Maine allocates electors district by district, and the 2nd is rural, white, and overwhelmingly independent. It's only 1 elector, but still.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/09/2008 11:12 Comments ||
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#2
. . and it's an article of faith in the moonbat fever swamps that the Bush team "stole" the Ohio election.
A bit OT but interesting -
It was my unhappy duty to fly out of Columbus to Dulles after the 2004 election with a planeload of 'news' correspondents and hired-gun election law lawyers at the end of the review of the election results and tabulation.
I honestly think I was the only civilian on the aircraft and these guys/gals were speaking candidly amongst themselves.
The lawyers - to a person - were convinced there were no irregularities in the voting tabulation. The results were well within the 'normal' and expected amount of fraud, double counting, lost ballots, and ghost voters.
The news staffers, expecially the CNN folks, were livid that they were unsuccessful in their attempts to gin up a fraud story. After they settled down, they did what they do best - making plans to get l**d and hitting on anything in a skirt. Even the lawyers were disgusted.
#4
Gort - very understandable - I've got a bit of history in Ohio, and most of the reports struck me as outsider ignorance, if not outright fantasy.
For perspective, I'm now in Chicagoland, and it's noteworthy that the city regularly "loses" between 100,000 and 300,000 ballots in the biennial elections. You don't hear much about that at all.
Barbra Streisand will be among the headliners at a fund-raiser for Barack Obama on Sept. 16, where she will perform for the presidential candidate at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The plans for the event were outlined this morning and Streisand confirmed that she would take the stage. The hotel ballroom holds an estimated 700 people.
Obama's fund-raiser is expected to be his final visit to raise money here before the general election.
Obama will start the evening with a 5 p.m. dinner event for about 250 people at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, the historic estate once owned by the legendary Doheny family. Tickets for the event are $28,500. In other words, a dinner for two costs about as much as the median family income. But don't call us elitists!
In case you're curious, 28,500 x 250 = $7,125,000.
Later, he will attend a reception at the Beverly Wilshire, followed by Streisand's special performance. Tickets for the event are $2,500 per person. 2,500 x 700 = $1,750,000.
Co-hosts for event include the DreamWorks team of Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen . . . . Proceeds will be used to run ads that answer the unfair allegation that Obama spends too much time with celebrities.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2008 08:58 ||
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#2
Go Babs!
From Reuters Rarely performing in public, Streisand sang at fund-raisers for the last two Democratic presidential nominees — Sen. John Kerry in 2004 and then-Vice President Al Gore in 2000. They both lost to Republican George W. Bush
#3
Sorry but I thought there was a law about campaign contributions. 28,500 dollars is well above what an, indiviadual is allowed to donate if my memories don't fail me.
#8
From the very intro of Hussein in the Dummo party, the Hollywood crowd, including many Jews, some practicing, some not too much, have been ardent supporters and contributors. Why ? It turns out that they are bought and paid for. By whom ? In the recent past, say the last 15 years, as the money behind each production has risen exponentially, money from old conventional sources has dried up. The H'weird crowd then went more unconventional...pension funds, hedgefunds, etc. Some success, but not a reliable, steady supply. So....after the Japanese took a H'weird bath, they turned to A-raaabs. Money from Dubai, UAE, etc. They are bought off to support the Islamic candidate. Same reason you don't see any films supporting US like in WWII. Only anti-American propaganda films. Sickening, truly rotted scum and very sickening.
#10
Sorry but I thought there was a law about campaign contributions. 28,500 dollars is well above what an, indiviadual is allowed to donate if my memories don't fail me.
That's the problem with 'reforms'. Yes, individuals are limited on direct campaign contributions. However, various paper fronts and Hollyweird accounting* mechanisms are employed to launder the money around the limits.
*Hollyweird accounting is where you can have a blockbuster film bring in a record take at the box offices but on the accounting books after everyone gets their 'piece of the action', the movie somehow 'lost' money.
#14
Sorry but I thought there was a law about campaign contributions. 28,500 dollars is well above what an, indiviadual is allowed to donate if my memories don't fail me
JFM, info here.
#15
The "Party of Change" is beginning to look a little recycled, out of touch, threadbare, trite, worn, elitist, and er, er, socialistic except for the elite. Their message is that "it is OK to redistribute everyone else's wealth except for ours".
University of Minnesota staff were key coordinators of the recent violent protests at the Republican National Convention (RNC). The university employees are also members of the local clerical union of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. The AFSCME is part of the AFL-CIO union.
Protests turned violent at the 2008 RNC located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Police have arrested hundreds of demonstrators for violent attacks on police officers and bystanders and other more nuisance crimes. The Saint Paul Police have identified an anarchist group called the RNC Welcoming Committee as being at the center of the violence. It's goal was to stop the convention.
The website ProtestRNC2008.org carries a press release which sheds light on the activities of the RNC Welcoming Committee. The online notification posted June 8th, 2007 by a woman named Jessica Sundin calls for a meeting at the University of Minnesota Student Union Center co-hosted by the RNC Welcoming Committee. Sundin is a clerk at the University of Minnesota. Another press release was posted by Sundin in the name of the RNC Welcoming Committee after the convention began.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So AFL-CIO and the university of Minesotta didn't know. Noiw they do. If they don't act people will know about them.
#2
That was kind of a long reach to tag it to the AFL-CIO. They'd like to see Obama win, democrat is their default mode, but I'm not sure I buy the terrorism link. It's curious to me how they justify backing Obama this time, he isn't saying much that would further their cause, in fact he'll probably get a good deal of them laid off with his economic policy.
#5
The whole idea is to give teh impression that everybody hates Republicans. Just look at the diversity (sic) of groups that protested against teh evil McCain/Palin ticket. Funny part is the more coveraget eh loons get the crazier they get. I would like to see a class-action by property owners who werehit during the peacful demonstrations and have the Twin Cities sue all the groups for the cost of policing them.
#10
They organized the anarchists? I thought the whole point of anarchy was to reject organization.
Hey, someone's gotta be the vanguard of the proletariat, if they were smart enough to do it for themselves, they wouldn't be proletariat, would they? Nor would they accept us as the vanguard. Ergo...
Not long after the Obama campaign signaled it wouldn't go directly after Sarah Palin, the candidate goes right at her.
Well, how about Gov. Palin? She's you know, an up and comer from Alaska. She - they're starting to run an ad now saying she opposed the bridge to nowhere. Well now, let's get the facts clear here. When she was mayor, she hired a Washington lobbyist to get earmarks - pork barrel spending - all the things that John McCain says is bad, she lobbied to get! And got a whole lot of it. When it came to the bridge to nowhere, she was for it until everybody started raising a fuss about it and she started running for governor and then suddenly she was against it!
You remember that? For it before you were against it? I mean you can't just make stuff up. You can't just recreate yourself. You can't just reinvent yourself. The American people aren't stupid.
It's unusual to see the presidential nominee so focused on his rival's running mate, and a sign that her wattage is changing the race a bit.
On the other hand, Obama may have felt compelled to go at her directly in part because Palin is now starring in a McCain ad that touts, and overstates, her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere." After supporting the project, and seeing it founder, she decided to spend the money elsewhere.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Obama on Palin: 'You can't just reinvent yourself'
Why not? Do you hold the copyright on that or something?
#4
Hello all, just a small question that intrigues me, is Obama Christian or Muslim? Some news sources in Europe say Obama said he was Muslim, no problem with that but why is he hiding it if true?
Let's not go there, OK? He was until recently a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ, which follows a radical black liberation variant of Christianity. (One that happens to be Biblically indefensible, but that's another topic for another time.)
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2008 8:54 Comments ||
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#6
He was until recently a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ, which follows a radical black liberation variant of Christianity.
Actually, if you look at the "**** Liberation variant of Christianity", whatever it is, it is a variant of Christianity tht embraces and justifies what Muslims would call Jihad and Taquiya.
#7
Yes, having attended the Trinity Church for some twenty years, that would have made him apostate to any Muslim tenet. However, the real question, given the liberation theology of that particular form of 'Christianity', is how deep are the tenets of Marxism/collectivism in his beliefs.
#8
how deep are the tenets of Marxism/collectivism in his beliefs.
How deep? As you have said, they go back over 20 years and have been reiforced each Sunday via political indoctrination. He's definately a post-graduate level Marxist.
#9
said he was Muslim, no problem with that but why is he hiding it if true?
Muslim is an idelogy remember? I know of at least one German American who was rewarded with the Medal of Honor while fighting Germsns in WWI. But a German-American was one thing, a member or a "Deutscland uber alle" society would have been another thing. Just as American communists, whatever their origins, were a definite threat to security: their loyalties weren't with America.
#10
It is somewhat amusing that Obama-llama-ding-dong finds it necessary to attack Sarah Palin. I don't recall McCain making any attacks on Biden. He may have, but since the convention, media-wise Sarahcuda has sucked all the air of of the room. Does anyone remember from past election cycles a presidential candidate obsessing so much over the oppositiond Veep candidate?
Posted by: Scott R ||
09/09/2008 9:48 Comments ||
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#11
Does anyone remember from past election cycles a presidential candidate obsessing so much over the oppositiond Veep candidate?
No. I think what we are witnessing is unique in the annals of American politics. If anyone has evidence to the contrary please share.
#12
He and the dhimocrats are going after Palin because they know she is the real threat. They had a slight chance against a McCain/boring white guy ticket. Now, they know they are being sunk. Their support, except for the black vote, is dropping across the board. Bambi knows that if this continues, they won't have a viable campaign when the first debates come up.
Basically, full panic mode and typical liberal attacks is what is happening. Fortunately, this will turn even more people off and really piss off the female votes which typically are the biggest dhimocrat voter block and are already backing Palin more and more.
The only real way for Bambi to win is to get McCain off his game. Right now McCain is so far in Bambi's OODA loop that the sidewinder is about to lock onto Bambi's six. McCain needs to be shown as unstable and lose his cool in a very public way. That is really the only viable strategy that I can see working at this point.
Otherwise, Bambi's campaign is gonna end up splattered all over the ground.
No, we WILL go there. It is part of the whole charade of painting the man's past as untouchable.
From the LA Times
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/15/nation/na-obama15
" Neighborhood Muslims worshiped in a nearby house, which has since been replaced by a larger mosque. Sometimes, when the muezzin sounded the call to prayer, Lolo and Barry would walk to the makeshift mosque together, Adi said.
“His mother often went to the church, but Barry was Muslim. He went to the mosque,” Adi said. “I remember him wearing a sarong.”
...said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among ObamaÂ’s closest childhood friends. "
The fact is that if it really was 'nothing', why do they always make a big deal of it? Personally, I didn't make a big deal of the Muslim rumors until the campaign started getting all worked up about it. Just like the COLB issue, the truth simply isn't good enough for us plain old folks, only the 'truth' they want us to swallow. THAT is the huge problem I have with this FAKE of a man.
The media is party to this. It is up to US to expose the truth.
#17
Donks are running scared. Palin is a strong woman leader. She has more executive experience than both BO and Biden. She has been in charge of the Alaska National Guard and the State Police. She has ideas about what to do about energy. She has 80 percent approval ratings in Alaska. She is a fiscal conservative. I hear them getting desperate.
#20
The one thing that the loons (and I include the Donk leadership) have done is believed their own propaganda.
The Right has been so thoroughly tarred as misogynist and racist that the idea of the Repubs. being enthusiastic about a woman was inconceivable. Now that their world view has exploded on them they don't know what to do or say.
If a black male with Sarah Palin's resume had been selected, he would have been greeted with just as much excitement, too. That would have been even more interesting because of the reaction of the Black establishment and regular folk. They can ignore Palin, could they ignore a Steele? My guess is that they would go even more unhinged.
#21
And while SP first supported, then opposed the bridge to nowhere, both The One and The Plug supported it during both voes. the second vote included moving money from Katrina relief to the B/T/N.
Where is that buzz in the MSM????
#22
Since Palin came on the scene, Barrack has been doing so much whining that I think he needs a bigger vineyard or it that vhineyard?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/09/2008 14:45 Comments ||
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Here's my half-a'ed psychological analysis:
McCain's ad comparing him to Britney and Paris was closer to the mark than Obama will ever admit. He has been the superstar in this race until August. He's the hip, cool guy that looks great and has coasted on his charisma for a good long run. Never mind that he flips, flops, and flips again....his supporters don't notice and don't care. Voting for him means they are hip, cool and stylish too. (He's more of a brand than a candidate when you stop to think about it. He's light on substance, big on image.)
Now....here comes Palin, and she steals all his thunder, right after his Grecian coronation in the Rockies (his shining moment till now). He didn't even get 24 hours of reflected glory from it before all the press stopped focusing on him and went 24-7 on Palin.
How could this....girl, from some burg out in the freakin' Alaskan wilderness, be more fascinating than he is? There had to be something to bring up to show that she's not all that, right?
But like any brand, well, you can't start right off with direct attacks. Get other people to do it for you, have them show this other's flaws while you float above it all. Make a meek little statement saying that family members are off-limits and let your minions do their work while you go into seclusion.
However....his PR/marketing flacks, well....they suck. They don't respect or understand the target audience (small-town to suburban independent swing voters) and condescend to it. Surely these gun-clingin' yokels are gonna have a fit about Bristol, or none of these hicks are gonna tolerate some woman with five kids who doesn't stay home instead of working in a man' job, right?
This whole Palin thing messed with the plan to whip them PUMA's into shape, also. McCain presented them with another opportunity to strike back at a guy they didn't like in the first place, who took their heroine's rightful place somewhere on the Dem ticket.
His subordinates' and other useful idiots' "messages", presented to both groups with barely concealed contempt and sarcasm, backfired badly. They are now coming up on panic mode and this left no choice but for Obama to participate. He has to think on the fly and he's not doing so well at it. It's possible he's out of practice, but more likely he never had to do it before. (Why else would he have had that diva moment about how he didn't fly around for 19 months and put up with the tedium of it all to come in second, or make the flub about his Muslim faith?)
Palin upset his whole plan from now on. Biden wasn't going to deflect any glory from him, and he was going to coast to victory over that old guy with the Trunks. Obama, Pelosi, Brazile and Dean (sounds like a law firm, don't it?) didn't think McCain had it in him to do something like this, and they never came up with a Plan B.
They will come up with another plan, sometime, but the magic's gone and it ain't coming back. And you damn well know he knows it even if the rest of the bunch at the DNC haven't figured it out. This is his one shot....and he's pretty much blown it.
Worst of all....he knows that up in Noo Yawk....the Clintons are laughing their asses off about it and plotting for 2012. Oprah's not going to take his calls after November, and he'll have to settle for being the junior senator from Illinois.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/09/2008 18:11 Comments ||
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#24
I think he needs a Waaambulance.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
09/09/2008 18:18 Comments ||
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#25
Gee, that sounds just like what happened to the junior senator from Massachusetts, Swamp Blondie.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/09/2008 18:55 Comments ||
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#28
tw, sort of....but no one was calling J F'n K the Messiah, and he didn't publish two autobiographies before he turned 50. They're both narcissists, but Obama's got him beat by miles in that department.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie in the Cornfields ||
09/09/2008 19:17 Comments ||
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#29
is Obama Christian or Muslim?
Momar Khadafi in Libya says he's a Moslem.
Obama's attendance at a church for 20 years wouldn't matter to other Moslems, if he is doing it as part of jihad. They are allowed to LIE to get to a further goal.
His liberation theology brainwashing also would teach him that to be personally saved, he has to "save" his fellow man (has to be the big daddy of everyone), and if he doesn't he won't find his salvation.
So he's a Moslem Communist who BELIEVES he MUST save the world.
I will say this. The big guy upstairs does work in strange ways. When it was clear that it was going to be Obama vs McCain, my little prayer was, "Oh, no, we need a miracle." Then out of nowhere comes Palin.
Wonder what would have happened if she was running in the primaries? Would it have been Obama vs Palin? I think not. But with here as the VP choice, the McCain/Palin ticket it the right combo.
Miracles DO happen.
Posted by: Grins Oppressor of the Pixies4430 ||
09/09/2008 20:52 Comments ||
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#31
Alan C is correct. These people have been breathing their own exhaust for so long that Palin wasn't even remotely a possibility in their minds.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/09/2008 20:55 Comments ||
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#32
DRUDGEREPORT [paraph]> OBAMA GAFFE: "LIPSTICK ON A PIG, IS STILL A PIG".
Ouch - First HILLARY, now SARAH = BLUE-COLLAR HOCKEY MOMS....You just know MICHELLE's getting ready to unsheath and crush some Male Gonads wid this one.
#34
OTOH, MSM POLITICAL TOON > shows BARACK running away to the right away from HILLARY's FEMME SUPER-DELEGATES armed wid Mops and Baking Pins. NEXT SKIT > Barack running the other way to the left from angry femmes [Sarah = bikini?] armed wid KOCKEY STICKS + PLAYSTATION CONTROLLERS + AK47's???
Less than two weeks ago, MSNBC president Phil Griffin was still defending the network's anchor team to Politico, despite reports of turmoil behind-the-scenes and on-air squabbles. At the time, a high-ranking MSNBC journalist told me the network was "about to blow up."
Well, here's the blow up! The NY Times reports tonight that Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann will no longer anchor during upcoming political news events, as network insiders reveal more about what's been happening.
After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.
The change -- which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle -- is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel's perceived shift to the political left.
And there's more.
In interviews, 10 current and former staff members said that long-simmering tensions between MSNBC and NBC reached a boiling point during the conventions. "MSNBC is behaving like a heroin addict," one senior staff member observed. "They're living from fix to fix and swearing they'll go into rehab the next week."
The Times also reports that "Jeff Zucker, chief executive of NBC Universal, and Steve Capus, president of NBC News, considered flying to the Republican convention in Minnesota last week to address the lingering tensions."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Matthews and Olbermann ANALYSTS? Now that is rich!
#2
It's all about the money and these guys aren't making it for them. Lots more changes needed to get MSNBC out of the forgotten waste bin, but this is a start.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/09/2008 14:42 Comments ||
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Oh-oh. Youze guys is in trouble now...
CAIRO (Reuters) - The head of the Arab League said on Tuesday that he was angry with fractious Palestinian political groups and that sanctions against them were being discussed by Arab governments. NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Egypt, the main mediator between often rival Palestinian groups, has been holding bilateral talks with minor groups in preparation for similar talks with the two main groups -- Fatah and Hamas. "I am extremely angry with the Palestinian organizations," Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the league, told a news conference in an unusually harsh criticism of the Palestinians. Not seeing their sweetness and light are ya, Amr?
"We are studying the measures to be taken in the face of the current Palestinian chaos," he said, after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo. But first...dinner.
But he added: "The sanctions would not be against anyone in particular. They would be against the party which obstructs reconciliation and maybe against everyone or against the organization which obstructs Egyptian efforts." Boy, that's crystal clear...
If talks with the main groups succeed, Egypt might bring all the factions together in October after the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the holiday which follows. ...or the one after that.
Moussa gave no details of the sanctions the Arab states envisaged against the Palestinian groups. "They (the sanctions) are now all in the framework of closed consultations within the Arab system," he added, referring to the Arab League. So they'll be Double Secret sanctions?
He said: "Do they (the Palestinians) have a state for them to be fighting over ministerial positions? We kidded ourselves and called it the state of Palestine. It's not a state until it obtains its full rights." Hey, can he say that out loud?
From Jihad Watch...
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Muslim cabbies whose religious beliefs go against driving passengers who carry alcohol have lost another round in Minnesota courts.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday against the cabbies' latest attempt to block penalties from being imposed when they refuse to transport passengers because they're carrying alcoholic beverages.
An ordinance adopted by the Metropolitan Airports Commission last year revokes a cabbie's license for 30 days for refusing to pick up a passenger for any reason at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. A second refusal brings a two-year revocation.
A large share of the cabbies who serve the airport are Somali Muslims, and many of them believe that Islamic law prohibits them from giving rides to people carrying alcohol. Since the commission began keeping track in 2002, there have been over 5,200 recorded instances of cabbies refusing service to passengers at the airport, including a "significant percentage" of passengers carrying alcohol, the appeals court noted.
The issue had simmered for several years before the commission decided the penalties were needed to ensure that customers would get reliable taxi service at the airport, and that compromises proposed by the drivers were impractical.
The drivers, who say the airport rules infringe on their religious freedom, appealed a lower court's refusal to grant a temporary injunction blocking those penalties from taking effect.
The appeals court affirmed the lower court's decision. The legal standard for granting a temporary injunction requires that the parties seeking it must show they would suffer irreparable harm if it's not granted. The appeals court agreed with the lower court that cab drivers who face suspension don't suffer irreparable harm because they can appeal their suspensions to the airports commission and keep working while their administrative appeals are pending
#1
Eat shit and die, you hyper-religious fucks. I would expect the same ruling against any religious group that tried to force their views on others. You don't like our culture and can't bring yourself to live next to it, please go back to that third-world shit-hole you came from.
#3
In a sane world, these guys have no case. I'm glad to see a sane judge in Minn. I expected less from Minn.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/09/2008 16:36 Comments ||
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#4
Hate to say it but if I was told I couldn't ride in a cab because of my booze I might be inclined to spill a bit into the cab. Let him deal with stale beer or vodka smells. Taliban trash.
#5
Sure makes me want to get drunk, buy a few bottles of exceptional red wine, and ride in one of those cabs WITH MY DOG. This is America. If you don't like it, we really won't mind if you leave.
BERLIN (AFP) -- One of Europe's biggest power companies inaugurates on Tuesday a pilot project...potential breakthrough in the fight against climate change. But green campaigners have denounced the project as a cosmetic operation that does not really address the problem of global warming. [claim by the Greens is that the same company is building regular coal plants elsewhere but maybe they are ticked that people are allowed to have electricity in the first place]
At the site of the massive "Schwarze Pumpe" ("Black Pump") power station in the old East Germany... captures the greenhouse gases produced when fossil fuels are combusted....
The captured gases are then sharply compressed until they become liquid and are injected deep underground... in a gas field in northern Germany [cost per KWH isn't given possibly because its really, really high].
#6
And again the brain damaged "greens" miss the point. CO2 is a nutrient, not a pollutant! Dump it into the middle of the ocean (kelp/plankton) or the Amazon rainforest so it can be recycled.
The sound of freedom, for 100 years.
ARLINGTON, Va. (Army News Service, Sep. 8, 2008) -- The Army kicked off a celebration recognizing 100 years of military aviation during a Sept. 6 ceremony at Fort Myer, Va. Despite heavy rains and flooded streets due to Tropical Storm Hanna, hundreds turned out to Conmy Hall to see the first public starting of the engine on a replica of the 1908 Wright Model A. The original of that aircraft flew Sept. 3, 1908 at Fort Myer. That flight was the first in a series that led to a $30,000 Army contract awarded to the Wright brothers in July 1909 for the first military airplane.
In attendance at the ceremony Saturday were the families of Orville and Wilbur Wright; Lt. Benjamin Foulois, who established the Army's first flight detachment; and 1st Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, the first military aviation fatality. Ceremony hosts included Rep. James Moran of Virginia's 8th district, retired Maj. Gen. Carl H. McNair, and Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2008 8:58 Comments ||
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#2
Which eventually lead to usually unknown results -
"Attempts to start airmail service had begun as early as 1912, when it seemed that the airplane might develop into a practicable means of transportation. Recommendations were made to Congress that year to appropriate $50,000 to start an experimental service. Many government permits were issued to make short exhibition flights with mail, but it was not until 1916 that sufficient funds were made available to begin scheduled operations. Advertisements for bids were issued but not one was received. However, the war in Europe caused improvements in aircraft to be made rapidly, and in the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1918, Congress appropriated $100,000 for development of an experimental route between Washington and New York. Bids were to be delivered within 10 days.Much to the surprise of the Post Office Department, Colonel E.A. Deeds, head of the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps (later the Army Air Service), offered to operate the postal route with military planes and pilots. The offer had developed because of a request from Europe that pilots be given more cross-country experience before being sent overseas. Flying the mail over a fixed route system would give pilots valuable experience."
Thus beginning the long journey to the standard distribution of non-bulk mail. Young'ens don't recall a time when you paid a premium price for 'airmail' as most mail was moved by rail.
#3
A read of the entire airmail experiment is enlightening; development of navigational aids ( first ones were bonfires at night, roads during the day; good instrumentation ( flying in a cloudbank only to encounter a cumulo-granite formation would ruin your day) and the letting of contracts to companies for flying the mail after the army pilots experienced horrific fatalities. this eventually led to breaking up many early avaition companies that considered building and flying their own equipment as natural.
LONDON (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices fell below $100 a barrel for the first time in five months on Tuesday on expectations that OPEC would leave formal output targets unchanged and as Hurricane Ike's threat to U.S. Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure receded.
London Brent fell $3.88 to $99.56 a barrel -- the first time world oil prices have traded in the double digits since April 2 -- while the U.S. benchmark fell $3.55 to $102.79 a barrel.
OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna were leaning toward leaving formal output targets unchanged despite some members' suggestions that a cut is needed to stem a steep decline in oil prices since mid-July.
But the group could still move quietly to trim excess output. As a whole, OPEC is estimated to be producing about 790,000 barrels per day above a collective ceiling of 29.67 million bpd for its 12 members with output limits.
Oil has fallen by nearly 30 percent from record highs of more than $147 a barrel in July, pressured partly by a rebound in the U.S. dollar and a drop in demand from top energy consumer the United States.
#3
Oil has fallen by nearly 30 percent from record highs of more than $147 a barrel in July, pressured partly by a rebound in the U.S. dollar and a drop in demand from top energy consumer the United States.
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then there was that little matter of W revoking an executive order or something like that...
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Michelle Rhee says she runs at 100 miles per hour. As the chancellor of one of the nation's lowest performing schools, she says she has no choice -- too much bureaucracy to cut through, too many problems to fix after decades of neglect. Michelle Rhee says a lack of urgency has been missing for years in the District of Columbia's schools.
Rhee closed 23 schools in her first year as the head of the District of Columbia's public schools, fired 36 principals and cut 15 percent -- about 121 jobs -- from the central office staff. And she's making no apologies.
"I think it's that sense of urgency that has been lacking for far too long in our public schools," Rhee told CNN as she began her second year on the job in late August. "We are always going to put the best interests of kids above the rights, privileges and priorities of adults."
Continued on Page 49
Korean mothers are as demanding as Japanese mothers of their children's performance in school. I suspect there's been a significant behavioral transfer of focus from the other generation. In the 'old country' just like Japan, there is a significant level of teenage suicide because of the performance expectations.
Hopefully, she can impart that performance consequence upon any obstructionist unionists.
"the achievement gap between wealthy white kids and poor minority kids."
How about poor asians? I can think of no correlation when dealing with Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese or for that matter Indians and systemic poor academic performance. When the kids comes here in the Vietnamese boat lift with nothing, their family of 8 living in a three room apartment, generating income with both mom and pop working their butts off, and they graduate at the head of their high school classes [amazing given the environment they grew up in back in SEA], I don't see the excuses. Bush was correct when he talked about the 'Bigotry of Low Expectations'.
#4
Well you see... the poor asians (Japanese / Korean / Vietmanese / etc...) don't have 'Community Organizers' to tell them how bad they have it, how ignorant they are (without the organizers) and how much they need Government handouts.
#5
Cultural differences make a big difference in education, as Asians tend to have large extended families for support, besides expectations. Hispanic and black students often say they have no need of college, making more running drugs or producing fake ID's and SS#s, and 13 &14 yo pregnant teens can't progress. Paying them is a novel idea that may work for some of these kids. Another factor in inner city schools is that is where most poor immigrants live. Even the preschools and daycares are having problems, as the kids may speak Hungarian, Russian, Urdu, Spanish, or an African dialect, with no one at home to help with Language Arts assignments in English. They can't read or write in their native tongue, let alone in English, so they don't have the basic skills to continue. Computers and good software helps hold their attention, but those are lacking in these poor districts. Education funds are largely from property taxes in many parts of the country, so they are really hard-pressed budgetwise. Disciplining hard-core gang members is a whole 'nother story suburban teachers don't have to deal with. Sounds like Rhee has a little spunk, like Palin.
#6
Somehow, Danielle, my wife's Polish grandparents managed to arrive here circa 1910 and thrive despite lack of a large extended family here, poverty, no pay to attend school, language barriers, and a lack of computers and good software. The six kids in my wife's generation ALL graduated from college, two with advanced degrees. Cut me a break.
Like my wife's Polish grandparents, Asians tend to excel because their expectations cause them to DO THE WORK.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
After a four-hour negotiation with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia announced Monday that his country would withdraw its troops by Oct. 11 from all its positions outside the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. 
US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may be struggling to nudge ahead of his Republican rival in polls at home, but people across the world want him in the White House, a BBC poll said.
Barbra Streisand will be among the headliners at a fund-raiser for Barack Obama on Sept. 16, where she will perform for the presidential candidate at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The plans for the event were outlined this morning and Streisand confirmed that she would take the stage. The hotel ballroom holds an estimated 700 people.
University of Minnesota staff were key coordinators of the recent violent protests at the Republican National Convention (RNC). The university employees are also members of the local clerical union of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees. The AFSCME is part of the AFL-CIO union.
Not long after the Obama campaign signaled it wouldn't go directly after Sarah Palin, the candidate goes right at her.
Less than two weeks ago, MSNBC president Phil Griffin was still defending the network's anchor team to Politico, despite reports of turmoil behind-the-scenes and on-air squabbles. At the time, a high-ranking MSNBC journalist told me the network was "about to blow up."
