Contents 2007

2.0 Screen Time, 5.0 Face Time, Of Racialism, Progressive Group Dynamics
John Hot Air Edwards
I Don't Doubt Hillary's Compassion Overall, Just Her Judgment On Iraq
BarackObama.com: The Dashboard Is Too Slow
Benazir, One Whose Looks Have No Parallel
Barack's Politics Of Hope, Hillary's Politics Of Fear
Benazir, Last Month
Benazir, Benazir
Merry Christmas From The Obamas
December Baby?
I Want To Join The DL21C Steering Committee
Holiday Party 4: Is This Where The Bingo Game Is At?
Sunday 8 PM, Holiday Party 4
The Doors: Out Of The Box Thinking
"Is This An Obama Party?"
Africa And Colonialism 2.0
Hillary's Plans To Spin Her Loss In Iowa, Is It Hillary's?
Boston Globe Endorses Barack
Bill Clinton In Top 10, Barack Obama In Top 5
Warning Sign: BarackObama.com Is Melting Down
December 18: Crash The Party
Dumb Republicans And An Insecure America
Republican Debate In Des Moines
Des Moines Debate
The Des Moines Register Debate: Barack Looked Presidential
If Hillary Goes Negative, She Finishes Third In Iowa
Oh Oh Oprah
Women For Obama
Them Civil Rights Folks
O O O
O O Oprah, Sa Sa Santa
Charleston Law Review: Barack Article
Chuck Huckabee
Barack's Third Grade Essay
Hillary's Attacks: She Could Destroy Her VP Chances
Staff, Volunteers, Elected Officials
Define Mandate
The Meaning Of An Iowa Victory
Abraham Lincoln Had No Experience
Hillary's New Hampshire Firewall: She Plans On Losing Iowa
Living Abroad Counts
Iowa, South Carolina, And One Other
Engaging Hillary Will Bring Down Her National Lead
Soundbytes For December 10
Hillary's Health Care Plan: A Bonanza For The Insurance Companies
Maya Soetoro-Ng
Hillary's Middle Class
Las Vegas Debate
Gender: The Only Thing Hillary Has Going For Her
Hillary's Pro-War, Anti-Immigration Plank
Barack Exudes Power
Debate Watch Party: Venue Change
America Is A Senator Country
Tim Russert Measures Up
JJ
Bill Clinton's Swift Tongue
Barack Tackles Race Head On In A South Carolina Speech
New York City For Barack Obama 1-10
Charlie Rangel, Mr. 45%, Hillary Kitchen Rodham Clinton
Education, Health, Credit: Universal And Lifelong
Does Hillary Have A Gender Card?
Draw Distinctions, Work The Fundamentals
Rocky Barack Obama Won In Philly
I Am So Proud Of The Democratic Field
50 Days For Iowa
Barack In Boston
Hillary's Socialized Medicine
Don't Count John Edwards Out Yet
Bush Is Anarchy, Hillary Is Monarchy
Faith, Family, Work, Health
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Cuba, Bush, Clinton, Somalia, Bush, Obama, Iran
Matt Al American Goebbels Romney Al Zawahari
Why Hillary's Iran Vote Is Dangerous
Why Americans Are Fat
The 12 Year Itch
I Am Beginning To Like Bush Cheney
Barack, "He Walks Between Worlds"
Benazir Bhutto: No American Stooge
Benazir Should Address Many Mass Rallies, Hold No Street Events, Keep Tight Security Around Her House, Office
Benazir And Islamofascism
Out Of The Box Thinking On Burma: Total Engagement?
India Has To Get Into The Business Of Aggressively Spreading Democracy
Beware Dick Cheney
Taking Hillary To Task On Foreign Policy
Bush Meeting Dalai Lama: Is That All You Can Do For Burma?
A Ying Yang Scenario
Helicopter + Walmart + Iowa
Why Is There Secret Service Protection For White Male Presidents?
Hillary's Iran Vote, Not That Different From The Iraq Vote
Burma: 400, 000 Members, 400,000 Dollars
Burma: Time For Nonviolent Guerilla Warfare
Burma: Time For Hyper Action
The World Is Failing Burma
Coke Gatorade, Not Coke Pepsi
Hollywood Gets It
Imagining Obama As Vice President
Burma: Than Shwe Is Going To The Hague
How Many Of Hillary's Millions Are Lobbyist And Special Interest Money?
Britain Is Betraying Burma
Barack: Judgment And Leadership
Barack Has To Show Off His Policy Wonk Side
Hillary For Senate Majority Leader
Iraq Did Not Have The Bomb, Iran Does Not Either
Burma: Time For All Out Sanctions By All Powers
The Largest Rally In US Presidential Campaign History
Burma: Momentum Is Key To Victory
I Stand With Michelle: Iowa Must And Can Be Won
Give Me A Huge Rally In This City Before Summer Is Over
Tim Russert: Bill O'Reilly's Lower Case Cousin
Shame On The Top Politicians Of The World: Burma Asks For More
February To September: Little Change
In Solidarity With The Burmese People
The Experience B.S.
Obama's Masterstroke: Eliminating Income Tax For 22 Million Seniors
Barack's Mother Makes An Appearance
Not Allowing President Of Iran To Visit World Trade Center Is A Mistake
Barack Has To Talk Much About His Mother
Mandating Health Insurance: The Poor Have Too Much Money
The Economy, Stupid
Barack: Strength And Judgment
Why Barack Obama Makes Sense To Arthur Schwartz
Obama's Card: Iraq
What Would Jesus Do?
Hands Off Eliot Spitzer
Where Is Bin Laden?
Oprah Needs To Hit The Campaign Trail
Strength? What Strength? Experience? What Experience
Hillary's Racist Twang: Between Hope And Hard Work
Neither Hillary, Nor Rudy
The 11th Hour
David Paterson
Elephant In The Room: Gender
173 Vs 1,433 Delegates: February 5 Is Key
Two Articles By Barack, Barack
Take Camp Obama Online: Cash On The Enthusiasm
Gonzalez: The Ethnic Angle
Arson, Terrorism, Land Mafia Or Global Warming
The Grassroots Power Woman
Zip Code By Zip Code: Synergy Needed Between Local Groups And The National Email Treasury
Pakistan Is Getting Interesting And Obama Might Have Shaken Things
Bill Clinton Is Still Relevant
Barack Vs Hillary
W Writes A Book On Vietnam
Barack In Brooklyn
Hillary On Cuba And Bush On Tax Cuts
Iowa Debate
Iowa Debate: Obama Clear Winner
One Debate A Month Is Enough: More Town Hall Meetings, Fewer Debates
Got To Tackle The Debates
The Countdown Has Begun: Marathon Now Turns To Sprint
Barack: Black Enough For Me
Black On Barack Racism
There Is A Lot Of Room For Newt
Let Me Get This Straight
Hillary's November Surprise: She Will Sell Her House
Register 100,000 New Voters In NYC For Barack
Engaging Third World Dictators
What Obama Said On Pakistan
Explaining Early State And National Polls
Chelsea For Obama, Caroline For Obama
Flatten It Out
The McCain Doctrine: Keep The Swamp, Keep The Mosquitoes
DL21C Annual Summer Bash: Barack Won The Straw Poll
Obama, Pick Up The Phone, Talk To Hillary
The Exchange
Global Warming
Winner Of The Debate: YouTube
20 Million Single Moms: Will Obama Go For Them?
NYC, Obama, Structure, Me
John Edwards, Voucher Man, Is A Republican
Got To Take The Lead In The Fourth Quarter
Hillary Is Not In The White House, But She Is The Establishment
Ice Breakers, Team Building Exercises, Face Time Tools
Impeach Bush-Cheney, Nancy Pelosi Gets To Become First Female President
Hillary Messed Up On Iraq, And Al Qaeda Is Strong, America Insecure
Jeff Kurzon's Living Room, Union Sqaure, Times Square, King Arthur
I Agree With Neocons, The War On Terror Is Same Magnitude As Cold War
Iowa Humanizes The Candidate
Yes, There Is A Hierarchy: Homework Is Online, Action Is Offline
Formula For Greatness
PBS Debate: Hillary Was Strong, Barack Was Warm, Edwards Was Composed
Some Recent Videos
Old Media Is The Reason Obama Is Lagging In The Polls
Michelle Obama Is Just Fabulous
1 Debate, 1 Major Policy Speech, 1 Rally, 1 Big Fundraiser A Month
I Touched Obama: Babel, Barack
Blair For Palestine, Blair For Europe
Hillary-Obama Vs. Rudy-Romney Vs. Bloomberg-Arnold
There Is An Albert Einstein On The Obama Campaign Staff
John Kennedy
Domestic Violence, Equal Pay
Tell Your Story To Barack
Submit Your Questions For The Debates
Total Campaign Finance Reform In New York
Wife Won't Do, Got To Court Women With Policy And Outreach
War, Politics, Business
Obama-Clinton: Ali-Frazier
Knock, Knock, Knocking On Heaven's Door
Immigration Is Today's Civil Rights Movement
Trent Lott, That Is Latin For Racist Asshole
Iraq, Energy, Global Warming: All Interlinked
I Told You So
Barack's Primary Opponents
Not Leading In The Polls Is Good News At This Point
Barack, The Comeback Kid
Hillary Is Pulling Ahead
I Watch Politics, World Cup Soccer, And The Olympics
If There Is Another 9/11 Style Attack
Barack, You Can Do Debates
High Energy Generation Obama Event: I Am Hooked
Political Socializing In NYC
DNC Needs To Take Over The Monthly Debates
Fitting In Hillary, Obama, Spitzer
Bill Richardson
Al Qaeda Strikes India, Wants Hindu-Muslim Riots
Bush Nabbed Saddam, His Mandate Was To Nab Osama
Barack, The Fundamentals: Money, Message, Organization
Hillary's Beijing Speech
A Song For Hillary
Some Obama, Hillary Videos
One National Primary, Monthly National Debates, Videoblogged
Debates Matter: The Election Is On
Facebook And Drinking Liberally
Terry McAuliffe: E=mc^2
Long Walk To Freedom
Barack Lost The South Carolina Debate
Bad MySpace Move By Barack Obama
Terry Alligator McAuliffe, May 9
Countering The Neocons: Progressives Will Have To Get Proactive
South Carolina Debate
Long Walk To Freedom: Just A Third World Guy Dazzled By The City
Obama Economic Plan
Obama-Spitzer Vs. Giuliani-Romney
Health Care As A Spectrum
An Obama Spitzer Ticket
Muscular Gender Agenda
Obama, Hillary, Spitzer
Virginia Tech Shooting: Hunting Must Be Regulated
HillCast
Health Care Options
Mike Gravel, April 19, 7 PM
7 Point Agenda For New York City
Wash Mugabe Away With A Revolution
Darfur: A Clear Case For External Intervention
Obama Gameplan: Stable, Democratic Iraq
Two Terms As Governor
DL21C Events: High Class Acts
Obama Is Going To Have To Jump Into The Fray
Barack: The Magic Presidential Candidate
The Ad
Pig In The Barn, Ailes At Fox News
Bill Clinton: University Of Miami
McCain Is 1970s, Hillary Is 1990s, Edwards Is 2004, Obama Is Today
Simply Selma
Inspired By Barack Not Britney
Obama: More Than A Pretty Face
Will It Be Obama Versus Rudy?
Austin, Here I Come
Two Obama Events: Manhattan, Brooklyn
A Rare Email From Bill Clinton
BarackTV: Iowa To New Hampshire
Iraq On My Mind
Something Special Is Happening
Hillary Will Get The Black Vote, Obama Will Get The White Vote
Jupiter And Obama
Obama Is Running For President Of The United States
Race, Gender
Facebook: The Matrix Reloaded
State Of The Union Watch Parties
JFK, Obama Parallels: Catholic, Black
Fox, Barack, Islam
Hillary Is In
John Edwards: Antiwar
An Obama Administration
Rediscovering DFNYC
Burma: Shame On China, Russia
Rush Limbaugh: Idiot
Advice To Keith Olbermann
Barack Obama: My Plans For 2008
Obama: 2007 Gameplan: Money, Message, Organization
Keith Olbermann
Corporate Politics: Martial Arts
Media Smear On Obama's Name
Obama: The JFK For This Generation
Wolf Hitler, I mean Bitler, Blitler, Whatever
Obama Would Be A Lousy Vice President, He Is Too Much Of A Leader
Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Rama, Whatever The F___ His Name Is
Barack, Fox, MLK, Mandela
Obama Has To Announce In January
MYD, High Tech, High Touch
Eliot Spitzer, Governor
Saddam Execution
Bill O'Reilly: A Right Wing Gadfly
Looking For Barack Obama
MYD Month
Happy New Year 8
Happy New Year 7
Happy New Year 6
Happy New Year 5
Happy New Year 4
Happy New Year 3
Happy New Year 2
Happy New Year

Contents 2006
Contents 2004, 2005

Define Mandate

Main Entry:

¹man·date

Pronunciation:

\ˈman-ˌdāt\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle French & Latin; Middle French mandat, from Latin mandatum, from neuter of mandatus, past participle of mandare to entrust, enjoin, probably irregular from manus hand + -dere to put — more at manual, do

Date:

1501

1: an authoritative command; especially : a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one2: an authorization to act given to a representative mandate of the people>3 a: an order or commission granted by the League of Nations to a member nation for the establishment of a responsible government over a former German colony or other conquered territory b: a mandated territory

Main Entry:

sug·ges·tion

Pronunciation:

\səg-ˈjes-chən, sə-ˈjes-, -ˈjesh-\

Function:

noun

Date:

14th century

1 a: the act or process of suggesting b: something suggested2 a: the process by which a physical or mental state is influenced by a thought or idea suggestion> b: the process by which one thought leads to another especially through association of ideas3: a slight indication : trace suggestion of a smile>

Hillary says she will mandate health insurance. As in, it will be illegal under Hillary's plan for an American to not have health insurance. She says she is especially targeting the 15 million people who can afford health insurance but refuse to get it because they think they are "immortal." Hillary's choice of words. Icey.

I am not opposed to the idea. If there are 15 million people who can afford it, and if you make them go for it, where is the sin? They got the money.

I guess Hillary's idea is that if you give more money to the insurance companies - which is what Hillary's plan is, more money, since if these 15 million healthy, rich people can afford it, if they were to fall sick, they would go ahead and get it anyway - then it becomes easier for us to ask them to deny ill people coverage as insurance companies routinely do.

Barack is saying, wait a minute. Why are we so scared? He is saying, it does not matter if those 15 million healthy, rich people pay in or not, I am going to make the insurance companies do the right thing. They don't get to deny coverage, period.

So it is not like Barack is against mandating. The difference in his plan his mandate is on the insurance companies. He makes them do things like not denying coverage to people who are already paying.

This is a serious difference.

Hillary's plan suggests that the insurance companies don't have enough money and that is why America is lagging behind in terms of health care. That is not a slick claim. That is just plain absurd.

Barack says wrong. The problem is not that the insurance companies don't have enough money to do right by everybody. The problem is they have too much money. And so he makes sure those insurance companies engage in major cost cutting efforts. That is mandate number two in Barack's book.

Hillary promises universal health care with $100 billion plus. Barack puts the tab at $50 billion plus. Because he puts a major onus on cost cutting. He is not only worried about the 45 million plus people who are not insured. He in some ways is even more worried about the hundreds of millions who are insured. He feels they have been paying too much. He thinks if you cut the costs down, the insurance companies still have plenty of money to cover all those currently covered as well those kept out right now.

So it is not like Barack's plan does not have mandates. It has two of them that Hillary's plan does not. His mandates he very much intends to enforce. If the insurance companies intend to stay in business, they will have no choice but to accept Barack's mandates.

Hillary's mandate on the other hand is on the 15 million rich, healthy, immortal people. But it can not be called a mandate because she has not outlined how exactly she will enforce it. What will you do? Garnish their wages? Say something.

And you know where the difference comes from? It comes from the fact that Hillary takes money from insurance companies, Barack does not. Barack's money comes from the people. His is a people powered campaign. And that is why their mandates are pointing in opposite directions. Barack manadates the insurance companies to do the right thing.

The biggest, starkest difference though is not in the plans. It is in who can actually deliver. That person is clearly Obama.

Hillary's Health Care Plan: A Bonanza For The Insurance Companies
Education, Health, Credit: Universal And Lifelong
Faith, Family, Work, Health
Mandating Health Insurance: The Poor Have Too Much Money
Health Care As A Spectrum
Health Care Options

In The News

Reporters Struggle For Access To Clinton CBS News ABC correspondent Kate Snow was ready to push through the crowd and ask Hillary Clinton a question until an aide blocked the path of Snow's sound man as he aimed his boom mike in the senator's direction. "Sorry, we've gotta go," the woman said, though it was clear that Clinton would be shaking hands for some time. ..... Moments later, as the Democratic presidential candidate was mobbed by well-wishers, Boston television reporter Joe Battenfeld managed to shout a question -- a meaningless question, truth be told -- about whether she needed to win both Iowa and New Hampshire. Clinton was defiantly bland in response, as if determined that her comments not be used. ...... reporters can generally get close enough to watch but no further, as if separated from the candidate by an invisible sheet of glass. ...... National correspondents are increasingly frustrated by a lack of access to Clinton. They spend much of their time in rental cars chasing her from one event to the next, because the campaign usually provides no press bus or van. Life on the bus means journalists don't have to worry about luggage or directions or getting left behind, since they are part of the official motorcade. News organizations foot the bill for such transportation, but campaigns have to staff and coordinate the buses -- and deal with the constant presence of their chroniclers. ........ Clinton differs only in her degree of discipline, honed during eight years of often testy media relations in her husband's White House. ........ She, like her rivals, wants to deliver a daily message, usually framed around some policy prescription, while reporters want to ask her about the latest polls, tactics or blast from Barack Obama or John Edwards. And answering questions off the cuff always risks the possibility of a blunder, as when Clinton told NBC's Andrea Mitchell during the 1992 campaign that she had chosen to pursue a career rather than stay home and "bake cookies." ....... much of what Clinton wants to communicate -- the nuances of her health-care plan, for instance -- doesn't fit the media's cramped definition of news. ...... Obama, for his part, held a conference call with reporters Wednesday. ...... much of the chatter among the reporters is about MapQuest and GPS devices and Hertz's NeverLost technology as they trade tips on how to track their constantly moving quarry. ....... When a colleague asked the staff for a chance to question Clinton, "they just kind of laughed it off." ...... When Clinton stepped away from the microphones, Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" began blaring from the speakers, which effectively drowned out any attempted queries from the journalists sprinkled throughout the room. Battenfeld, the Boston reporter, launched his horse-race question during a brief lull between songs. "It's kind of an art form," he said afterward. "I would have asked her about Obama, but I figured she would have turned and run." ....... The CBS anchor asked how disappointed she would be if she isn't the nominee. "Well, it will be me," Clinton said. When Couric pressed, Clinton insisted -- not terribly convincingly -- that she hadn't even considered the possibility she could lose. ........ Her rhetoric against health insurance companies was harsher than might have been expected. They give patients the "runaround," deny care, "slow-walk" the payment of bills, she declared. "This is all part of their business model. This is how they make money. . . . The small-business health-care market is really rigged." ......... As Clinton made her way to the door, she observed: "All this good food -- can we feed the press?" But the press was feeling undernourished. ........ Campaigns often brush off national correspondents in favor of local journalists, who tend to be less critical. ....... only a handful of reporters attended and I arrived late, driving down unlighted streets in a heavy rain as confused Clinton aides kept giving me the wrong directions. ..... I persuaded her tired-looking staff to grant me a single question as she made her way out. The question: Wouldn't providing more media access help get her message out? ...... "We try to balance what we do every day," Clinton said. "I'm trying to reach as many voters as possible one-on-one" while also dealing with the local press, "which has a very big role to play," and making time for occasional interviews with national news outlets. "It seems I have mushrooming demands," she said. "The balancing is really intense." With that, she was off to a waiting plane to South Carolina, while reporters headed for commercial flights to follow her there.
Clinton campaign demands Obama ad be taken down Boston Globe new polls out this morning showing Barack Obama still leading Hillary Clinton in Iowa and gaining ground on her in New Hampshire ..... Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin said it was "curious" that the Clinton campaign has decided to attack the ad today instead of when it first ran in Iowa two months ago.
With Iowa tight, NH becoming Clinton's firewall Boston Globe With Hillary Clinton faltering in polls leading up to the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary is looming as a possible make-or-break moment for her - in a place where she has most of the party's key endorsements and a sizable lead in the polls, but where a defeat could be devastating. ...... New Hampshire's recent tradition of electing female politicians. ....... her enviable organization does not guarantee protection against the wave of momentum that could propel Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, if he were to win the Iowa caucuses ...... she could not lose both Iowa and New Hampshire and survive in the race. ...... New Hampshire is the firewall of last resort .... Clinton is expected to spend much of December traveling the state. ...... a growing sense of urgency among the New York senator's Granite State ranks ...... Obama's campaign said it has kept pace with Clinton's in paid staff and its volunteers are just as busy knocking on doors, making phone calls, and writing postcards. ..... the campaign knocks on 20,000 doors a week, questioned the Clinton figures, saying Obama canvassers rarely run into their Clinton counterparts. ....... In 2000, Vice President Al Gore had the backing of most of the party establishment, and eked out a four-point win against Senator Bill Bradley ......... Obama has been on the scene for 10 months running against the most powerful Democratic political force for two decades, the Clintons ....... people do not enter the voting booth pondering whom their state representative has endorsed ........ Women are unusually prominent in New Hampshire politics, perhaps because its part-time Legislature has attracted female candidates for decades. ...... A CNN/WMUR poll in September put her ahead of Obama by 43 percent to 20 percent. In a Suffolk University/WHDH poll this week, she led him 34 percent to 22 percent. ...... the results of the Iowa caucus could significantly influence the New Hampshire primary ..... if Obama won Iowa, there would be a flood of positive press about him and questions about whether Clinton is electable. "It's unfair and inaccurate, but it would be a lot of chaff to have to navigate through in five days" ........ If Obama wins Iowa, Scala said, Clinton's imperative will be to hold on to college-educated, professional women, among whom she has done surprisingly well, considering that Obama's idealistic campaign is attractive to their demographic. ...... it will be five sleepless nights for the Clinton campaign
Obama vs. Clinton, Edwards and Paul Krugman Yahoo! News under the Obama plan, as it now stands, healthy people could choose not to buy insurance -- then sign up for it if they developed health problems later. Insurance companies couldn't turn them away, because Mr. Obama's plan, like those of his rivals, requires that insurers offer the same policy to everyone. ........ Obama claims that his plan does much more to control costs than his rivals' plans. ....... mandates won't work, pointing out that many people don't have car insurance despite state requirements that all drivers be insured. ....... Obama remains, in many senses, the most appealing Democratic contender. And there is good reason to believe that he could emerge in coming weeks as the most serious challenger to Clinton. He could, yet, be the Democratic nominee and the president.
Two Tough Timely Questions for Obama ABC News Obama points out that Clinton refuses to say how she'll require individuals to purchase health insurance.
Clinton, Obama go into slam flunk mode Chicago Sun-Times Health care is the top domestic issue for Democrats running for the White House and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton unleashed Wednesday another, stronger, round of criticism aimed at Sen. Barack Obama over whether a law is needed to require people to buy health insurance. ....... Gov. Blagojevich did not embrace mandates in a state plan now stalled in the Illinois General Assembly. ...... The Obama campaign vigorously rebutted, preparing now to make an issue over Clinton's failure, while first lady, to convince Congress to pass health-care reform. ....... "Another day, another desperate attack. Demonizing anyone who doesn't share her exact plans on health care is exactly why Hillary Clinton flunked the opportunity she had to pass universal health care in 1993. The truth is, Barack Obama's universal health care plan makes coverage affordable for every single American, he just doesn't agree with Hillary's plan to start by forcing everyone to buy insurance they can't afford" ..... Obama gauges people will buy health insurance if the federal government helps keep down the price. The Democrats call for insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions.

The Meaning Of An Iowa Victory

Abraham Lincoln Had No Experience
Hillary's New Hampshire Firewall: She Plans On Losing Iowa
Iowa, South Carolina, And One Other
50 Days For Iowa
Helicopter + Walmart + Iowa
I Stand With Michelle: Iowa Must And Can Be Won
Iowa Debate
Iowa Debate: Obama Clear Winner
Iowa Humanizes The Candidate
BarackTV: Iowa To New Hampshire

An Iowa victory means Barack shows up on the front page of every newspaper in America. And the world. You know what that means? Barack did not have a bigger introduction to America and the world in 2004, for all its glamor.

To win Iowa is to introduce Barack. This is about introducing Barack.

The average voter is a different organism from the political junkie. It is hard for the political junkie to imagine there are people out there who don't know. Well, I got news. That's most people out there. For all his good looks, Barack remains largely unknown.

That changes with an Iowa victory. Barack hits the front page.

I am all for winning Iowa. And the wind is blowing in our direction.

Let's go change the world, like Barack likes to say. Let's go introduce Barack to the world.

Apollo

I went to the after party at Lenox Lounge last night.

I was so glad to hear of the event when I first heard of it, which was early. But I stayed away. I wanted this to be a Harlem thing. In some ways Harlem is the heart of the city. I want Barack to score 70% or more in Harlem on February 5.

Then closer to the date I went online, and the event was predictably sold out. So I had a good excuse. Don't blame me for not showing up, the event was sold out.

A few hours before the event I had an email from Leah. Come to the after party even if you don't come to the event. So I went and I am so glad I did.

I have not felt this comfortable in a bar in a long time. This was an old bar with a lot of history to it. And I like Harlem. This is not your American Gangster Harlem. This is a healthy, happy, bustling Harlem. Harlem has character. There is a ton of history.

On November 7: In Harlem: For Obama




The party started later than advertized. People started streaming in. We had the entire back room to us. Met a lot of the Obama crowd. The early believers. The core people.

I learned Tamara had been on stage. That was so good to hear. And of course Bill Perkins.

Tamara told me Carlos was in Iowa. That guy. (Barack In Brooklyn)

Then Ben told me Jeff Kurzon is making the rounds of the city in Barack Obama's motorcade after the event. That guy. I am jealous.

After meeting Barack's sister Maya recently I emailed Kurzo up in New Hampshire. (Maya Soetoro-Ng) He checked out Maya's profile on MyBO. She has seven friends. I am one of them. "I am jealous," he emailed me.

Ben and I have talked several times now. He introduced me to Deanna as "Raj." I am not Raj, although Raj is pretty cool. That guy functions like a mafia boss. You never see him, but you feel his presence. He happens to be a very busy doctor.

"The complications of race relations," I said to Ben teasingly. I have always felt very comfortable around Ben. Ben looked away. Then he proceeded to buy beer. Then he said he needed to go talk to someone else.

It is okay, dude. Mistaking me for Raj is no offense. It is a compliment actually. (Give Me A Huge Rally In This City Before Summer Is Over)

I sat at a table, with Aisha and Erika and Carlos and Oscar. Then I stood up. Then I walked over to the front room. Then I walked out and went home. It was a few hours to take those four steps.

I learned Rudy is the New York state director. So far I had been calling him the guy who runs the downtown office.

January 4 to February 5

It will be a sprint. Right now I am charging my batteries.

We intend to carry this city for Barack on February 5. So help me god.

Four January Victories

I smell something. Barack just might give a slam dunk. He just might score four victories in January. I smell something. It is in the air.

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton is no Trent Lott on race, but he never made any serious attempt to tackle chronic poverty in the inner cities. Enough of liking a white guy just because he is not racist. A white guy not being racist is not doing you a favor. That was your right all along.

These older guys Charlie Rangel and David Dinkins. Forget segregation, they are so old, they probably remember slavery. They are the ones with "experience" as measured in the number of years lived. They are oh so grateful Bill Clinton is a powerful white guy from the South who is not a racist. They can't believe their good fortune.

Lo and behold, Bill Clinton is not a racist.

In The News

Obama brings his message to Harlem The Chicago Tribune Obama invoked Rev. Martin Luther King's "fierce urgency of now" as he made his first visit as a presidential candidate to America's most famous black neighborhood, Harlem, venturing within sight of Bill Clinton's office ..... Most of the local African-American political leadership, led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Charles Rangel, have lined up behind New York's favorite daughter, Sen. Hillary Clinton. ..... long lines of overwhelmingly black supporters waited outside for a $50-a-seat fundraiser at the Apollo Theater, a cultural institution. ..... "How does it feel to be part of history?" asked scholar Cornel West, bringing the crowd to its feet. ...... "You'd be real embarrassed if he won and we wasn't down," said comedian Chris Rock, introducing Obama. "I had that white lady. What was I thinking? What was I thinking?" ....... I'm tired of hearing about a Justice Department that doesn't understand justice ...... Obama used the visit to pay homage to Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the few prominent local leaders who has not yet chosen whom to back, though he said he will "very shortly." ..... The two dined on corn bread, coconut shrimp and fried chicken wings at Sylvia's, a famous soul food restaurant. ..... Sharpton said, 'Tonight he came to Harlem, and he came with a message that Harlem likes [and] wants someone to discuss at a presidential level, that is hate crimes."
Obama turns up heat in Harlem with fundraiser Newsday, NY an urgent and sometimes confrontational speech .... the crowd of 1,500 .... introduced by comedian Chris Rock and historian Cornel West. ..... entertainers like Brown and Holiday "represent a way of life that goes all the way back from the old spirituals on up to Barack Obama running for president. ..... the capital of black America ..... he was a candidate who wouldn't have to explain why he voted to authorize the war in Iraq. ...... The trip to the Apollo sends a signal to Clinton that Obama intends to compete with her on her home turf -- and not just in New York, but in Harlem .... Thursday, Obama seemed to be courting a Harlem endorsement of his own -- that of the Rev. Al Sharpton, who shared chicken and corn bread with Obama at Sylvia's Restaurant before his speech. .... During the meal, Sharpton said he had not yet endorsed anyone, "but a man that likes chicken and corn bread can't be that bad."
Obama, Bloomberg Hold Mystery Meeting cbs4denver.com, CO New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will have coffee Friday morning with Clinton's main opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination: Barack Obama ...... Bloomberg has vowed to keep out of the presidential race, but he can't seem to stay away from it. Obama and Bloomberg will meet on a coffee date, scheduled because of their mutual interest. ..... the Apollo Theater was a packed with a sold-out crowd paying $50 each to see him. ..... the meeting sent a warning to Hillary Clinton that Harlem could be up for grabs...... "I trust him," said Harlem resident Angela Dews. "Hilary is slick. Democrats are taking us for granted." ...... I'm not running because I think this is something owed to me
Obama: There's no room in America for 'Jena Six' cases, nooses WAND, IL He said that if he's elected president he could be counted on to enforce civil rights laws. Obama's reference to the Jena Six incident came at a fundraiser at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem. In the incident, six black teenagers were arrested for beating a white teen after white students allegedly hung nooses at their Jena, Louisiana high school. .... He told the largely black audience that he dreaded the thought of living through another administration that appeared to care little for the concerns of minority citizens.
Baby Killer Hillary Fools Black Clergy and Evangelicals Hillary Project, CA particularly South Carolina black pastors are thoroughly convinced that Hillary is their woman for the White House. ...... More than 60 ministers gathered with Clinton on a stage at a hotel and her campaign said 80 were in the room where the endorsements were announced
Poll Finds Black Voters Favor Clinton Kansas City infoZine, MO
Obama Takes His Campaign to Harlem New York Times the historic seat of black cultural and political power ....... a gospel choir, a jazz combo ..... “I love you, Obama!” a woman shouted from the audience. “I love you back,” he said without missing a beat. ...... “All across America, people are struggling like they haven’t struggled in a long time,” he said. “It’s harder to save; it’s harder to retire.” ...... what is perhaps Harlem’s most famous landmark ..... the Apollo Theater’s board of directors. While Nadja Fidelia, who is also a managing director at Lehman Brothers, has raised at least $50,000 for Mr. Obama ...... Michelle Obama, Mr. Obama’s wife, played host to a women’s event in Harlem in June, and Mr. Obama has traveled to New York City frequently since declaring his candidacy in February, including holding a large rally at Washington Square Park in September. ....... she did not believe Mrs. Clinton would maintain her lead among African-Americans and that eventually “Black America will wake up and get it.” ...... “But what we’re dealing with in the black community is just the natural fear of possibility.” ....... an older generation of African-American politicians, including in New York. Representative Charles B. Rangel and former Mayor David N. Dinkins have endorsed Mrs. Clinton
Obama Deplores 'Jena Six,' Nooses Seattle Post Intelligencer He said he was tired of seeing young black men "languishing" on city streets ..... "I don't want to wake up in four years and find out we still have more black men in prison than in college," he said to cheers. ...... Chris Rock, who cracked up the audience with the evening's only direct reference to Hillary Rodham Clinton ...... Cornel West, a longtime black history professor at universities including Harvard and Princeton, also appeared onstage to welcome Obama. He called Obama "an eloquent brother, a good brother, a decent brother," and appeared to address concerns voiced by some black leaders that Obama was a relative newcomer to the civil rights movement. ....... "Barack Obama comes at an incredibly powerful moment in the year 2007, and we don't expect him to be Marcus Garvey ... or Martin Luther King," West said of the two famed civil rights icons. ..... But Sharpton said the visit shouldn't be construed as an endorsement of Obama's candidacy.

Tempers still raw after fractious Republican debate Reuters
Nepal's major parties meet to break political deadlock Hindu "The parties haven't reached any consensus as of Wednesday evening," senior CPN-UML leader Jhalanath Khanal said, adding the Nepali Congress and the CPN-Maoist haven't yet changed their stances.
Rodney King's Been Shot! TMZ.com
British Teacher Found Guilty in Sudan New York Times
Why Science Can't Save the GOP. TIME the small but intense minority who believe that a clump of a few dozen cells floating in a petri dish has the same human rights as you or I. .... In vitro has become too popular for politicians to take on. But their failure to do so makes a mockery of their alleged agony over embryonic stem cells.
Is Facebook Overrated? reaching out to people you know to share ideas, experiences and information ...... Nearly half the people who went online in the U.S. in October--83 million, according to the research firm comScore Media Metrix--visited MySpace or Facebook, making social networking one of the most popular activities on the Web. ........ Like Google, they want to change the way you live and work online. ...... Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg, now 23 ..... "It's like a high school dance .. "Everyone shows up and nobody does anything, because there's nothing to do." ..... Facebook has some 7,000 free add-on applications ...... "I see Facebook as becoming more essential than search." ....... the bare-it-all generation growing up on social networks ....... News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005, and Google hosts MySpace's ads, guaranteeing at least $900 million in revenue through 2009. ...... Google faced these same worries in 2004 when it launched context-sensitive ads inside its e-mail program Gmail. When the company went public later that year, skeptics voiced similar concerns about the viability of an ad-supported model for its search engine. ..... Facebook has been anointed by its boosters as the next Google
Success Depends on Others Failing people care very much about keeping up with the Joneses ..... even as much of the world gets ever richer, people today don't report being happier than people did 50 years ago ...... "The pain of having less is much stronger than the joy of having more."
The Death of French Culture 727 new novels ..... Once admired for the dominating excellence of its writers, artists and musicians, France today is a wilting power in the global cultural marketplace. ...... about 30% of all fiction sold in France is translated from English. ..... France's movie industry, the world's largest a century ago, has yet to recapture its New Wave eminence of the 1960s ..... France still churns out about 200 films a year, more than any other country in Europe. But most French films are amiable, low-budget trifles for the domestic market. American films account for nearly half the tickets sold in French cinemas. ..... the U.S. and Germany each have four of the world's 10 most widely exposed artists; France has none. ...... The top French artist on the list, Robert Combas, commanded $7,500 per work. ..... Though the French music industry sold $1.7 billion worth of recordings and downloads last year, few performers are famous outside the country. ....... once condemned Steven Spielberg's 1993 Jurassic Park as a "threat to French identity." ..... As Sarkozy recently observed: "In the United States and France, we think our ideas are destined to illuminate the world." ...... By law, 40% of shows on TV and music on radio must be French. ..... French, now merely the world's 12th most widely spoken language (Chinese is first, English second). ...... "Now you have to go to New York." ...... "If the Culture Ministry is nowhere to be found, cultural life is everywhere." ...... "In America, a writer wants to work hard and be successful" "French writers think they have to be intellectuals." ....... Sarkozy sent a chill through the French intelligentsia last summer by calling for the "democratization" of culture. ..... a strain in the national mind-set that distrusts commercial success ........ more young French aspire to government jobs than to careers in business ..... The country's angry, ambitious minorities are committing culture all over the place. France has become a multiethnic bazaar of art, music and writing from the banlieues and disparate corners of the nonwhite world. African, Asian and Latin American music get more retail space in France than perhaps any other country. Movies from Afghanistan, Argentina, Hungary and other distant lands fill the cinemas. ......... what keeps a nation great if not the infusion of new energy from the margins? ...... France is arguably the world leader in fashion ....... stop fretting about decline and start applauding the ferment on the fringes, France will reclaim its reputation as a cultural power, a land where every new season brings a harvest of genius.
Iran's Secret Weapon: The Pope Iran, which has had diplomatic relations with the Holy See for 53 years, may be trying to line up Benedict as an ace in the hole for staving off a potential attack ....... they know an intervention of the Vatican is the most open and amenable route to Western public opinion. ..... Last April's release of 15 British sailors held by Iran — a decision that Ahmadinejad called "an Easter gift" — came just a day after the Pope had sent a private letter asking for their liberation. ....... the current Pope was firmly behind John Paul II's opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq ..... many in Rome cite parallels between the current push from American hardliners to confront Iran and the walkup to the war in Iraq ..... Catholicism and Shi'a Islam have a surprisingly similar structure and approach to their different faiths. "What you have in Iran is a strong academic tradition, with both philosophical and mystical aspects — in many ways like Catholicism" ..... Iranians have long studied other cultures and religions. "They know their Western stuff," he said. "Right now, they're isolated because of sanctions, but they really do want to interact with the world." And Rome is one place the interaction has already begun.
Can Iran and Hamas Sink Annapolis? "The Annapolis conference was already a failure," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told journalists after a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday. The U.S. could sponsor a hundred such meetings, he added, and the result would be the same. In Gaza, which is effectively ruled by the fundamentalist Hamas group, anti-Annapolis protesters filled the streets. ....... two groups to which it supplies political, diplomatic, financial and military support. In 1996, Hamas launched its first major wave of suicide bombings in Israel. At the same time, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hizballah escalated attacks on Israel. ........... Iran, Hamas and Hizballah have grown even stronger. Iran's strategic position became stronger with the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the toppling of Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq, and its pursuit of a nuclear program that has the potential of being diverted into building an atomic weapon. .......... One way to defeat the spoilers this time is to ignore any violence they sponsor and persevere toward the goal of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli settlement. ........ neither Hamas nor hard-line Israeli parties need be given a veto over progress ...... as the White House launches a major Israeli-Palestinian peace effort that will span Bush's final year in office, it has to ask whether achieving a peace agreement is wishful thinking doomed to further failure in the absence of a broader accord with Iran.
China Explains Decision to Block US Ships New York Times
Parents Want Jail Time for MySpace Hoax Mom ABC News Megan Meier, the 13-year-old girl who took her own life after being bullied on MySpace ...... Lori Drew, the Meiers' 48-year-old neighbor in suburban St. Louis, admitted in a police report that she created a fictitious MySpace account and pretended to be a boy with a romantic interest in Megan. According to the police report, Drew created the profile to find out what Megan was saying online about her teenage daughter. ...... she knew the last message that left her house that Monday when Megan attempted her life was that, 'The world would be a better place without you ....... compliments turned to insults. ...... "Megan gets an e-mail, or a message from Josh on her MySpace on Oct. 15, 2006, saying, 'I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends'" ........ The cyberexchange devastated Megan, who was unable to understand how and why her friendship had unraveled.
George W. Bush: Diplomat TIME Laura Bush had gone ahead to the lunch. "I guess you could say she's the taster," Bush said. ..... Being able to look fellow leaders in the eye and call them by their first name, Bush thinks, makes it easier to put tough demands on the table. But foreign diplomats say he lacks subtlety in both approaches, forcing black-and-white decisions on adversaries and focusing on individual leaders instead of their countries' interests.
Why Musharraf is Ending the Emergency TIME lifting of emergency rule on December 16 ..... Sharif's party, along with a consortium of some 31 other parties (though not Bhutto's) has decided "in principle" to boycott the elections unless Musharraf reinstates the Supreme Court.
Obama Finds His Moment TIME Barack Obama's Iowa headquarters near the State Capitol in downtown Des Moines has the unmistakable décor of an insurgent operation ...... the largely twentysomething crew at Obama Central ..... it appears that Obama is turning this into a race ...... a long line of Democratic insurgents — Gary Hart, Paul Tsongas, Bill Bradley and Howard Dean among them — whose promises of a new kind of politics had briefly enjoyed a vogue, only to be crushed into dust by a front-runner who was using the standard playbook. ..... We've raised more money from small donors than all the other Democratic candidates combined, and from a standing start, we are competing with the dominant political organization in American politics that was built over the course of two decades by a two-term ex-President. That's pretty good. ......... his almost cantankerous disdain for sound bites ...... begging Obama to come down off his mountaintop and take her on ...... "the taste is in my mouth." ..... "Triangulating and poll-driven positions ... just won't do." ....... "I am not convinced this campaign has any sense of how hard the Clintons fight when they feel their birthright is being challenged. I am not sure they are ready for this." ....... Obama has tried jujitsu, challenging Clinton on what she considers to be her greatest strength ..... that experience is not the same thing as judgment — for which Clinton has not yet found a rejoinder. ...... Clinton's formidable lead in New Hampshire has dropped by nearly half, to 14 points ...... she has visited only 39 counties to his 68 ..... The Clinton campaign "clearly thought [it was] on a glide path to the nomination, and that has been disrupted" ....... I don't think there's a candidate who can do poorly in Iowa and end up winning the nomination ....... A candidate who is engaged in the ritualized back-and-forth that characterizes close campaigns ......... Obama has always understood that the old rulebook cannot be completely thrown out in a nomination fight ....... organization trumps almost everything else. ..... 4 in 10 made their decisions in the last week before the caucuses. ....... the process reveals aspects of an individual's character and judgment.
Obama's moment Economist He can be languid and long-winded. During debates he often starts with a bang only to end with a whimper. He is too fond of vaporous abstractions. He sometimes looks more like the junior professor he once was than a political heavyweight, and his policies are sometimes half-baked ........ Two months ago it looked impossible. Today, with just a month to go until the Iowa caucuses, he is on a roll. ..... a Zogby poll this week showed her losing to all leading Republicans, but him winning. ...... the Clintons ... One campaign spokesman says that “our definition of success doesn't necessarily mean coming in first.” ....... Obama is recapturing the excitement that made his campaign such a spectacle of cheering crowds and kerchinging coffers. He is also reminding people why they have reservations about Mrs Clinton—not least her habit of wrapping a sense of entitlement in a feminist garment. ....... Obama is beginning to offer something that has eluded him so far—the sense that he just might win ...... Obama, who is by far the most popular Democrat among Republicans, is probably the best placed candidate to turn a good Democratic year into a landslide ..... He may have bested Mrs Clinton with his Treasury one-liner.
Clinton, Obama go into slam flunk mode Chicago Sun-Times
Vote Winfrey, not Streisand Times Online

Bin Laden: Europeans should end US help Al-Qaida has dramatically stepped up its messages — a pace seen as a sign of its increasing technical sophistication and the relative security felt by its leadership. ..... Bin Laden's message was the 89th this year by Al-Qaida's media wing, Al-Sahab, an average of one every three days, double the rate in 2006

Public questions inspire combative Republican debate Los Angeles Times
Huckabee's Surge Stirs the Pot in Iowa Wall Street Journal
Musharraf Is Sworn in as a Civilian President New York Times
Bihar to get IIT, IIM soon Times of India Bihar is set to get an Indian Institute of Technology and an Indian Institute of Management following the persistent efforts of railway minister Lalu Prasad. ..... The engineering institute is likely to be set up in Chapra, Prasad's parliamentary constituency. This is the minister's second gift to Chapra after a rail factory was earlier sanctioned. The management institute is likely to be established at Gaya. ..... At the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he demanded an IIT and IIM in the state, at least one polytechnic institute in each district and awarding central university status to Patna University.
Sanjay Dutt likely to be freed today
Briton Charged With Insulting Islam in Sudan New York Times
Pall of Rioting Greets Sarkozy Washington Post
Clinton: Obama 'betrays' Democratic values Baltimore Sun he questioned whether she was more interested in scoring political points than in explaining her plans. ..... a deepening contentiousness ..... Obama has maintained that Clinton has failed to show how she would force Americans to get insurance. ...... Obama's campaign labeled Clinton's comments "another desperate attack" ....... it was "fantasy" to believe the U.S. troop surge in Iraq is working since its goal was to lead to a fully functioning unity government in the war-torn country. Biden said there is " no political progress among the major factions" in trying to govern Iraq. ...... the campaign slogan—turn up the heat—that her campaign unveiled earlier this month.
Oprah's a Winner. Can She Make Obama One Too? Washington Post
Black voters focus on Clinton, Obama Chicago Tribune
Race, gender come to forefront of presidential race Atlanta Journal Constitution "Should you vote for Barack Obama because of your race, or should you vote for Hillary Clinton because you are a woman?" ...... an ongoing discussion that, for many black women, stirs visceral emotions as they weigh their racial and gender identity. ....... For some black women, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) embodies a strong leader who, if elected, could open doors for all women, black and white. They admire her intellect and political acumen. In some ways, they identify with Clinton because they see gender as more of a hindrance than race. ....... For others, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) represents the ideal candidate. They like his intelligence and willingness to work across racial and party lines. They also identify with his wife, Michelle, an African-American woman from Chicago's South Side. They believe the presence of the Obamas in the White House would help shatter racial and gender stereotypes. ...... the majority of black women in Atlanta will vote for Obama because of their strong identification with race. ..... on an emotional level, Pedescleaux argues, race will trump gender. ...... African-Americans make up 27 percent, or 1.2 million, of Georgia's registered voters. And of black registered voters, 60 percent, or 720,567, are women. ......... Obama is leading his Democratic rivals in Georgia fund-raising. .... Much of Obama's support has come from Atlanta's black middle class. ..... Clinton is too divisive and too much of a Washington insider. ....... "The reason we've never been close to running that truly feasible black candidate is because we've never had one who was interested in governing the entire nation," she wrote, "and not just championing the cause of blacks." ...... She said she believes a woman in the White House will break the proverbial glass ceiling for women in business.
Edwards's Site Chides Clinton Wall Street Journal
Clinton says she has her own mega-celebrities Chicago Sun-Times
Bill Clinton's Claim of Opposing Iraq War From Outset Disputed Washington Post
Bill Clinton embarrasses wife over Iraq war Times Online
Bill Clinton on hotseat after Iraq war remarks AFP

Israel and Palestinians commit to 2008 peace treaty ABC News leaders of the United States, Israel and the Palestinians agreed on Tuesday to launch immediate talks to try to secure a peace deal by the end of 2008 that would create a Palestinian state. ...... 44-nation Middle East peace conference ..... 14 Arab states -- among them Syria and Saudi Arabia -- as well as major powers Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. ....... Bush hopes to achieve in his final 14 months in office what has eluded U.S. leaders for decades .... Olmert's public standing is low, partly due to last year's Lebanon war, and Abbas lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas Islamists in June. ...... the toughest "final status" issues of the conflict -- Jerusalem, borders, security and the fate of Palestinian refugees. ........ neither Olmert nor Abbas gave any sign of giving ground on their main differences when they addressed the conference. ..... a senior official of Hamas declared Annapolis a "waste of time." ....... 270,000 Jews who live in settlements scattered among the 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank .... wants to hold on to major settlement blocs. .... Bush has faced criticism for not doing more sooner, and it was unclear how hard he would push the parties to compromise.
Annapolis Conference Launches Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks Voice of America Bush read a joint statement by the principals pledging "vigorous, ongoing and continuing" negotiations for a two-state settlement of the conflict by the end of 2008. ....... gathering of nearly 50 countries and international organizations ...... on equal terms will all other peoples of the world. ..... our holocaust that has been running for too long ...... "The negotiations will address all the issues which we have thus far avoided dealing with," said Prime Minister Olmert. "We do this directly, openly and courageously. We will not avoid any subject. We will deal with all the core issues. I am convinced that the reality that emerged in our region in 1967 will change significantly. This will be an extremely difficult process for many of us, but it is nevertheless inevitable."
Obama seeks to bolster foreign policy image Reuters surrounding himself with former top officials and proclaiming a new agenda to restore U.S. moral authority in the world. ...... working closer with developing nations ...... "Iraq is a classic example; Iran now being another example of where we are entirely isolated from these countries, have no idea what is going on, we don't have good intelligence on the ground, and then making a series of decisions, basically in the blind," Obama, who is rising in polls, told the forum. ....... former national security adviser Tony Lake, navy secretary Richard Danzig and assistant secretary of state for African affairs Susan Rice. ..... Obama said the United States must restore its moral authority by ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay's military prison and doing more for developing nations. ........ In New Hampshire, Obama has narrowed Clinton's lead over the past two months.
3rd Straight Night of Youth Riots In France Voice of America
French Riots in Paris Suburbs Spread; Cars, Library Torched Bloomberg
Elysée to get tough on rioting youths MSNBC
Obama 'The Man for the Moment' Washington Post the Obama camp turned loose a half dozen of the foreign policy experts in his fold to show the world the kind of high-caliber minds that are advising the first-term senator, who joined the panel of experts after nearly two hours of their deep ruminations. ........ the threat of anti-American extremism to nuclear proliferation to global warming -- and concluded that only Obama could save the day. ........ historians are going to look back at the early days of the 21st century and say that's where the U.S. got derailed, that's where we made a wrong turn, that's where the U.S. began to become the next former great power .......... Obama's fresh perspective, candor and ability to bridge gaps both within the country and around the world ........ "It would be transformative overnight," Lake said of the worldwide effect of an Obama election as president. ....... a wonderful blend of confidence and humility ....... "fresh, pragmatic and unbeholden approach." ........ "character, courage and unconventional wisdom ....... offered long discursive answers ..... (Obama: "My mother was an anthropologist, so the Margaret Mead reference, I'm always hip to.") ....... "Those who say this (the Indonesia years) is his only claim to foreign policy leadership are deliberately distorting what he said as well as his background," Rice said. "What you get by osmosis living and working in the White House, I don't discount that, but it's not the same thing as being the face of the country's foreign policy or being the person who had to make the tough decisions and deal with crises and work around an inflexible bureaucracy to get things done. That's a lot of silliness." ........ "She's had exposure through Bill, sure," said Moody. "But she's had no more direct experience in making decisions than Obama has."
Bill Clinton Says He Opposed Iraq War From the Outset Washington Post apparently glossing over the more nuanced views of the war he has expressed over time ...... Iowa - a largely anti-war state ...... the Democratic nominating process has reached fever pitch ...... "I supported the president when he asked for authority to stand up against weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," Clinton said on May 18, 2003, during a commencement speech at Tougaloo College in Mississippi.
Clinton Promotes Wife's Bid, His Legacy The Associated Press Showing inconsistency on an issue that has dogged his wife, the former president also told Iowa Democrats that he "opposed (war in) Iraq from the beginning." ..... a battle of campaign surrogates — Clinton vs. Winfrey ..... Clinton himself said Winfrey ought to be for Obama because both hail from Chicago. He didn't mention that his wife is also from suburban Chicago. "I like Oprah Winfrey," he said. "We're friends." .......... Speaking for more than an hour, Clinton discussed his wife's agenda and experience in exhaustive terms, sprinkling the remarks with asides about his presidency and his activities on the world stage since he left office in January 2001. ........ He has not clearly opposed the war from the start. ..... "I supported the president when he asked for authority to stand up against weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," he said in May 2003, the same year he was quoted praising Bush's handling of the war. ......... He said his opinion should matter because "I know what it takes to be president" and "because of the life I've lived since I left office." ..... He seemed to suggest that the nation needs a return to 1990s sensibilities. ........ "The reason I want you to sign one of these cards is because I know her," he said. "I hope you make her the next president because she would be a great president and you would never, ever regret it."
Can Oprah's Blessing Boost Obama? The Associated Press
Obama got Winfrey, Clinton got Streisand Baltimore Sun

Abbas Addresses the Annapolis Conference Washington Post
Israel, Palestinians commit to peace timetable Los Angeles Times
Barbra Streisand Throws Support to Hillary Clinton FOX News
Obama got Winfrey, Clinton got Streisand Baltimore Sun
Maoists give May ultimatum to Nepal government Hindustan Times April 29, 2007 they would call an indefinite closure if the country was not declared a republic by May. ...... if the interim parliament failed to abolish monarchy by the first week of the Nepali month of Jeth - May 21 - his party would start a new, unarmed movement on the streets, including continuous strikes. .......... Maoists will also step up efforts to forge unity with other pro-republic and communist parties to wrest a victory in parliament. ...... Besides the infighting in the ruling alliance, the Terai plains in southern Nepal have been rocked by continued violence since January, resulting in the death of over 70 people so far. ..... Various ethnic groups, some of whom are armed, are carrying out different protest programmes in the plains, demanding autonomous states for different communities.
Clinton, Obama exchanges get nasty CNN Clinton's lead has dropped in recent polls from New Hampshire and Iowa ........ with her lead slipping, things have changed, and the New York senator has found herself in a full out verbal war with Sen. Barack Obama. ....... "In politics, you can afford to ignore your opponents until you start to feel them breathing down your neck" ....... Clinton last week saw a 23-point lead over Obama in September fall to 14 points ........ New Hampshire presidential primary poll. ..... as the race gets tighter, it's also getting nastier. ....... exchanging jabs over health care, fundraising and foreign relations experience -- and the punches are getting personal. ....... I don't think that [former Secretary of State] Madeleine Albright would think that Hillary Clinton was the face of foreign policy during the Clinton administration ........ Clinton's reluctance to release financial, fundraising and White House records in full. ....... "The latest personal attack from Hillary Clinton is a completely false attempt to misrepresent Barack Obama's full disclosure of his campaign finances" ........ Clinton also pointed fingers at Obama's health care plan, calling it "confusing," a day after the Illinois senator said his proposal would keep costs down more than any of his rivals' plans. ..... "She's not being straight with the American people because she refuses to tell us how much she would fine people if they couldn't afford insurance."
Obama challenges Clinton on health care Baltimore Sun her promises of universal coverage depend on key details on which she has been unwilling to take a clear position. ...... his plan offers guaranteed access to health insurance and lower costs. ....... unless she can come up with a way of enforcing the requirement to buy health insurance that she proposes. ...... "Sen. Clinton still hasn't explained what this mandate is: What's she going to do if somebody doesn't purchase health care? Is she going to fine them? Is she going to garnish their wages?" ....... And without an enforcement mechanism, there is no mandate. It's just a political talking point ....... the former first lady "has said she is going to work with Congress on those details." ........ 15 million Americans ... the number of people who would not purchase health insurance without a requirement. ........ in Massachusetts, the only state so far to require residents to buy health insurance, hundreds of thousands of people have not purchased insurance despite a fine levied on those who fail to do so through their tax returns. ...... Obama's own health care plan does include a requirement that families purchase insurance for their children. ...... the senator plans to enforce that mandate through schools in a way similar to current rules that require children to show proof of immunization in order to enroll.
A Mudslinging Reality Check for Clinton Washington Post For all the moaning by Democratic candidates about how mean their rivals are, it takes only a quick look at what's happening in Russia or Pakistan these days to see genuinely hardball politics. ....... Clinton who was making "personal attacks" against him. ...... Obama's criticism of her vote on an Iran resolution may be overblown or distorted, but is it mud to debate an important foreign policy question? ....... she is too tied into a calcified, corrupted Washington establishment ..... attacks on Thomas Jefferson for fathering children with a slave to the allegations that Andrew Jackson was a bigamist. Martin Van Buren was accused by a congressman of secretly wearing women's clothes. Rutherford B. Hayes was accused of getting drunk and shooting his mother. Grover Cleveland, accused of fathering a child out of wedlock, endured chants of "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" at opposition rallies -- to which supporters after his victory appended the rejoinder, "Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha." ......... What little dirty campaigning has taken place -- the anonymous emails asserting that Obama is a secret Muslim or the push polls telling voters that Republican Mitt Romney is a Mormon -- has not been taking place on the public stage but below the radar screen and has yet to be tied to any campaign. ........ if anybody, including Senator Clinton, thinks this is mudslinging -- this is milquetoast compared to what we're going to see next fall. We need to have a candidate who's actually ready for that battle." ........ Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich's bankruptcy of the city of Cleveland while mayor ....... Rudy Giuliani's three marriages and the children who don't like him very much ....... her husband's tabloid presidency ....... her own grand jury testimony that led prosecutors to draft, but never file, an indictment against her in the Whitewater case ...... And be glad they're not in Russia.
GOP Comeback Climb Is Increasingly Steep making an already difficult 2008 electoral landscape even more complicated for the minority party. ...... Party officials insist that the retirements -- 17 members of the House and six senators -- are simply the result of individual decisions and not indicative of a broader negative sentiment within the party. ....... a large number from competitive states and districts -- heading for the exits ...... Hastert revealed that he is leaving Capitol Hill immediately ........ Republicans find themselves in serious danger of falling deeper into the minority in both the House and Senate in 2008. ....... Republicans also face a daunting financial gap at the congressional level, the likes of which they have not seen in decades. .......... one senior Republican strategist was blunt. "Open seats are bought, not won" ....... "Everyone is focusing on patterns that have little meaning," said Gingrich, insisting that House Democrats are legislating themselves into dangerous territory. "There begins to be the potential for a very interesting and very different 2008 campaign. In that new campaign, the Republican potential to regain a majority would be very substantial."
Clinton addresses many topics in Tribune interview Baltimore Sun if you want universal health care you have to have a mandate. ...... Clinton said she is not writing off the Feb. 5 primary state of Illinois to Obama. ...... Her campaign is also planning two major fundraisers in Chicago on Dec. 18. .... Combined, the events are expected to bring in as much as $1 million.
Oprah to hit trail for Obama, Clinton relies on husband Bill Reuters
Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton Bring Star Power to Iowa Washington Post Both are legendary communicators, perhaps the two greatest in their generation. Both helped build an ethic of empathy, turning the public confession into a rite of passage. Both are world-renowned -- one for being a former president, the other for a TV show usually identified just by her first name. ........ a rare collision of talent and fame on the campaign trail, is a sign of just how competitive the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses have become, especially when it comes to attracting female voters. .......... one of the most powerful voices in public life, the host of the top-ranked television talk show for more than two decades .... arguably the only person capable of countering Hillary Clinton's most empathetic surrogate. ...... Edwards's 80-page 'Plan to Build One America' ....... Clinton has put gender at the center of her candidacy and almost always surrounds herself with women, both prominent and not, on the campaign trail ....... She also has the support of the advocacy group Emily's List, which announced a statewide drive to turn out female voters for Clinton. The announcement asserted that, in 2004, "more than 80 percent of active Democratic women did not attend" the caucuses, and that so far this year, that same pocket of women -- the ones less likely to attend on caucus night -- "give the greatest margin of support" to Clinton. ...... Obama is running about even in Iowa with Clinton among women
Paris suburb riots called 'a lot worse' than in 2005 International Herald Tribune roving gangs of angry youths clashing with the riot police in France's edgy suburbs, the government appealing for calm, local officials and residents complaining that their problems are ignored. ....... Two years after an orgy of violence in which rioters in more than 300 suburbs ..... similarly have erupted in violence and destruction. ....... three weeks of rioting in 2005 ..... This time, hunting shotguns, as well as gasoline bombs and rocks, have been turned on the police. ........ a real guerrilla war ....... More than 80 police officers already have been wounded .... bands of youth were procuring more shotguns. ........ the underlying causes of frustration and anger - particularly among unemployed, undereducated youth, mostly the offspring of Arab and African immigrants - remain the same. .......... "The suburbs are like tinderboxes. You have people in terrible social circumstances, plus all the rage, plus all the hate, plus all the rumors and all you need is one spark to set them on fire." ........ During his presidential campaign, he stayed away from France's suburbs ...... what is to be a "Marshall Plan" for the suburbs. ....... "We've been talking about a Marshall Plan for the suburbs since the early 1990s," said Adil Jazouli, a sociologist who focuses on the suburbs. "We don't need poetry. We don't need reflection. We need money." ........ the deaths of two teenagers identified as Moushin, 15, and Larimi, 16, occurred, the event that sparked the latest unrest. The teenagers were riding without helmets in a mini-motorbike that crashed into a police car on Sunday.
77 Police Officers Hurt in Paris Riots New York Times
Sarkozy to China: Grow in a clean way BusinessWeek
China Quickly Condemns Dalai Lama's Call for Referendum on Succession Voice of America
Google Reportedly Plans To Offer Online Storage Service InformationWeek a Web-based hard drive for accessing and sharing information that resides in their home computers. ....... Google, however, believes it can differentiate itself by developing a user interface that's easier to use than other services. ...... Picasa offers 1 Gbyte of free storage, and Gmail gives users 2.8 Gbytes at no charge. .... Google unveiled its storage options shortly after Microsoft launched its free online storage service SkyDrive, which offers 500 Mbytes. ...... In the case of Google, knowing more of what's in a person's hard drive could broaden the possibilities for targeted advertising.
Google announces renewable-energy plan BusinessWeek will be less expensive than electricity generated from coal. ....... expects to invest "hundreds of millions of dollars" in renewable-energy projects. ........ "Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades," Google co-founder Larry Page ......... advanced solar thermal power, wind power and enhanced geothermal systems. ..... Google.org
Home Prices Down 4.5% in a Year New York Times
Brazilian police investigating deadly soccer accident Xinhua
David Beckham's deal put US soccer on world map Melbourne Herald Sun
Dell to sell Google search appliances Bizjournals.com
After Stem-Cell Breakthrough, the Real Work Begins New York Times
Africa: Daily HIV/Aids Report AllAfrica.com
HIV/AIDS Is Washington's 'Modern Epidemic' NPR
Washington DC Topped the Statistics in Case of AIDS eFluxMedia
Verizon Takes Down Its Walls TheStreet.com
Verizon set to open network to all devices MSNBC
Verizon Announces Plans to Unlock Network ABC News Early next year, the number two wireless carrier in the country "will publish the technical standards the development community will need to design products to interface with the Verizon Wireless network ...... "Let the network be free."