Coke Gatorade, Not Coke Pepsi

Jujutsu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jujutsu evolved among the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for dispatching an armed and armored opponent in situations where the use of weapons was impractical or forbidden. Due to the difficulty of dispatching an armored opponent with striking techniques, the most efficient methods for neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him, rather than directly opposing it, and came to be known as jujutsu.

1991, 2007

George H. W. Bush was considered invincible in 1991. Today Hillary Clinton is being considered invincible. Polls and public moods are notoriously volatile and fickle.

2003, 2007

At this point in 2003, I believe Joe Lieberman was leading the national polls. Or it might have been a little earlier in the season. You know why? Because the dude had run for Vice President only a few years earlier. The dude had name recognition.

2003, 2007

Howard Dean was leading the national polls and the polls in all the early states in December 2003. He felt so confident of victory in Iowa, he took an ill-timed trip to Georgia to go hang out with Jimmy Carter who he apparently had liked a whole lot when Carter ran for president. Guess what happened a few weeks later.

Like Dean, Hillary today leads in the national polls and the early state polls.

January 2004, January 2008

It is more important for Hillary to win Iowa than it is for Barack. Because of her lead in the national polls throughout 2007, a loss in Iowa could prove fatal to Hillary. And if it does not, she will have lost some serious momentum.

I Stand With Michelle: Iowa Must And Can Be Won

2000, 2008

Hillary is like George W in more ways than one. W also had a significant other who had been in the White House, his father. Most of W's name recognition came from his father. Most of Hillary's name recognition comes from her husband.

Hillary voted for the Iraq War. W wanted her to vote for the Iraq War.

W gave money to the oil companies in spades, and the American people were saddled with higher gas prices. Hillary wants to give truckloads of money to the insurance companies. If you think health care takes too big a chunk out of the nation's GDP, wait until Hillary has had her say.

Hillary 2008 is like W 2000. There is major emphasis on discipline and control, on staying on message. Major effort is put to make sure Hillary does not end up meeting random voters and journalists. She is, for the most part, stage managed and scripted.

2004, 2008: Different?

There are a few differences though. One, Hillary is no Howard Dean. I don't expect her to implode. If she does not win the nomination, she is going to be a close second, kind of like Lyndon Johnson to JFK in 1960.

Imagining Obama As Vice President
Hillary For Senate Majority Leader

And February 5 is what is a major difference this time around. I don't think the people in the February 5 states are going to say, oh, now that I know how the good white people in Iowa voted, I am also going to vote the same way. The whole idea of all those states shifting to the earlier date of February 5 has been so as to prove the historically early states are, at best, Djibouti.

Granted if you win Iowa, you are on the front page of every newspaper in America the following morning, but I am betting January is not when it will be decided. This time February 5 is more important.

173 Vs 1,433 Delegates: February 5 Is Key

Woman

Hillary is a viable candidate for president. She has a very good chance of winning. Barack will be tougher to beat than Rudy. If she is the nominee, I am confident she will win in the fall. If she wins in the fall, I think she will be a good president.

A lot of women have really bought into this viability thing, women who never expected to see a woman president in their lifetimes.

It has been my conjecture that gender has been the number one issue in this race, not Iraq, not health care, not global warming.

The Grassroots Power Woman
Michelle Obama Is Just Fabulous
Wife Won't Do, Got To Court Women With Policy And Outreach
Muscular Gender Agenda
Hillary's Beijing Speech

The Biggest Woman In America: Oprah

Hollywood Gets It
Oprah Needs To Hit The Campaign Trail

Oprah's total endorsement of Obama shows race is a bigger issue than gender in America, it is a bigger issue than gender for minority women.

Oprah is the only person in America who can neutralize Billie Clinton, and that guy needs to be neutralized. Oprah can not outdo Bill Clinton politically. But she is the only black billionaire on the planet. She can help in the money department. And she can neutralize Hillary's gender thing.

Oprah has to host about 20 fundraisers all over America this quarter. $2300 a plate. We are doing the $25 per person on our own just fine. Let her bring in upwards of $6 million this quarter. How about $10 million. That is 10 fundraisers in the 10 biggest cities bringing $1 million each. That is so very doable. Oprah can do it, she can rock the vote.

And put the guy on your show a few times. And like Michelle said at the Harlem event where I saw her for the first time, "Ladies, he was cute!" She is like, if you are not impressed by his policy or resume, shoot for the looks, damnit!

Michelle Obama Is Just Fabulous

Barack appearing on the Oprah show a few times will make all the difference.

Swift Boat, Strength And Experience

John Kerry was swift boated in 2004. Like Max Cleland was Vietnamed. The point is the facts did not matter. He refused to respond to a political attack, and he lost.

Barack Obama got "strength and experience"d in the third quarter. His not hitting back cost him. This is no different from swift boat. This is not about the facts of wether or not Barack has the "strength and the experience." Of course he does. He showed strength in 2002, Hillary showed the lack of it.

Hillary 2008 put out that phrase on a daily basis during the third quarter.

The counterattack should have also been a phrase. Judgment to lead? Judgment and leadership? And it should have been near daily. It has to feel like a counterattack. To the people.

Barack: Judgment And Leadership
Barack: Strength And Judgment

Instead Barack blinked.

This was one chance to engage Hillary. Otherwise she acts like Barack is not even in the room, kind of like Tim Russert.

Tim Russert: Bill O'Reilly's Lower Case Cousin

When Barack engages Hillary, he goes up in the polls.

The Exchange

There is nothing new about the politics of taking it lying down. John Kerry already tried that in 2004.

Coke Gatorade, Coke Pepsi

Hillary's job is to make the case Barack and her are like Coke and Pepsi. If she succeeds, she wins.

Barack's job is to make the case Hillary is Coke and he is Gatorade. If he succeeds in projecting that, he wins.

You don't hit back in a personal way. You hit back so as to draw out the real distinctions that do exist.

In The News

Turkey prepares for operation in Iraq Houston Chronicle
US warns against Turkish action in Iraq Reuters India
British jurors trace Diana and Dodi's last steps Reuters the jurors traveled through the tunnel seven times on Monday, by coach and on foot, and once on Tuesday ...... Dodi's father Mohamed al-Fayed says the couple were killed by British security services acting on the orders of Queen Elizabeth's husband, Diana's former father-in-law. ....... Investigations by French and British police concluded the deaths were a tragic accident caused by a speeding driver, who was found to be drunk and who also died in the crash.
New political deal angers Pakistanis Christian Science Monitor the events of the past week here could push him to terrorism. .... an unexpected admission, not only because the young business student could be the face of Pakistani moderation: educated, beardless, and dressed in Western clothes. ........ Citizens see it not as a step toward democracy, but as a United States-brokered deal to prop up Pakistan's ruling elite, which is almost universally viewed as corrupt. As such, the deal exacerbates two of Pakistanis' most deeply ingrained frustrations: that America meddles too much in its affairs, and that justice is subverted by the rich and withheld from the poor. ......... the court legitimizes the election, Musharraf will take off the Army uniform, and Bhutto will be allowed to run for a third term as prime minister. ...... has increased the perception that power trumps justice in Pakistan. ...... Jehangir looks to Americans with envy. "Whatever their religion or beliefs, at least they have rule of law." ....... she has said she would allow US forces into Pakistan to look for Osama bin Laden. ...... a hugely unpopular idea here ..... "judging by her statements … it seems Bhutto doesn't have her hand on the pulse of the public anymore ...... Pakistan's lawyers, who began the current uprising against Musharraf six months ago ....... there has been talk of establishing a lawyer's party to contest the January parliamentary elections.
Obama Proposes Capping Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Making ... New York Times creating an auction system requiring power companies and other industries to pay for their pollution. By the year 2020, he said, emissions would be reduced to levels from 1990. ........ imposing a national cap on carbon emissions, investing $150 billion over 10 years to develop new energy sources and reducing dependence on foreign oil by 35 percent by 2030. ........ “Businesses don’t own the sky, the public does, and if we want them to stop polluting it, we have to put a price on all pollution.” ........ a mandatory “cap and trade” program across the economy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists ......... businesses would be required to buy allowances to pollute, which would create financial incentives to limit energy use or reduce emissions. ...... carbon emissions, which by 2050 would be reduced to 80 percent below the levels in 1990. ....... criticized those who opposed gradual increases in gasoline mileage standards for cars, which included Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton ...... was praised Monday by the League of Conservation Voters, an independent group.
Clinton talks trade and mortgages in Iowa Los Angeles Times rolling out proposals to toughen U.S. trade policy and help homeowners facing higher adjustable-rate mortgage payments. ..... "Middle-Class Express Bus Tour" ..... "Too many families are standing on that trapdoor, just one diagnosis, one pink slip, one missed mortgage payment away from falling through and losing everything they've worked for" ....... Much of what Clinton presented in her 50-minute speech was familiar ...... a blue bus with "Rebuilding the Road to the Middle Class" plastered across the sides
Au revoir, Obama. It's Hillary Clinton all the way Globe and Mail Every indicator now massively favours Ms. Clinton's campaign. In the latest national poll, released last week by The Washington Post and ABC News, she had the support of 53 per cent of Democratic voters. Challenger Barack Obama had slipped to 20 per cent ....... Ms. Clinton raised $27-million (U.S.) to Mr. Obama's $20-million. ....... Conventional wisdom holds that all of these advantages can turn to dust if one candidate or another does better or worse than expected in the crucial Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina caucuses and primaries in early 2008. That may not be the case this time, since half the states, including New York and California, will hold their primaries on Feb. 5, limiting the ability of dark horses to exploit early successes. ....... has the New York senator at 29 per cent in Iowa, comfortably ahead of John Edwards (23 per cent), and Mr. Obama (22 per cent). ..... Ms. Clinton doesn't have to win the early primaries, she just has to not lose them. Her powerful national organization will take care of the rest on Feb. 5. ...... the Michigan/Florida factor. ...... The results in Michigan and Florida will, however, have a powerful psychological effect. ...... Skeptics observe that Howard Dean was comfortably in the lead in the Democratic primaries four years ago, only to come a cropper in Iowa, and that none of the big names would run for the Democratic nomination in 1992 because everyone knew president George Bush was invincible. ......... a 30-point lead in the polls and an unmatched political organization ...... the organization. The Clintons built a formidable political machine to advance Bill Clinton's presidential prospects, and Ms. Clinton inherited that machine. ....... She would be one of the best qualified presidents ever to inherit the office, having spent eight years in the White House and eight in the Senate. She knows the system and can work it. ....... Fred Thompson's late arrival has thus far sparked neither light nor heat. ...... The Democrats have out-fundraised the Republicans $230-million to $149-million. .... it is impossible to imagine, right now, what it would take for Hillary to lose.

Britain to cut its force in Iraq by half Los Angeles Times
China says damage from tropical storm Krosa tops US$1 billion Jerusalem Post
US eyes next step after Costa Rica backs trade pact Reuters
Myanmar Reaches Out to Dissident New York Times the government was not planning to release her any time soon ..... “The three demands of the protesters — lowering consumer prices, release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, and national reconciliation — cannot be satisfied through protest” ...... The drafting of a new constitution is one of the steps on a “road map” that the junta says will lead to a form of “disciplined democracy,” but the constitutional guidelines it adopted in August assured that the military would play the dominant role in any government. ........ Singapore does not permit gatherings of more than five people without a permit.
Albuquerque's Democratic mayor to seek Domenici's seat USA Today
Google's Stock Tops $600 for First Time Forbes
From Child On Street To Nobel Laureate Washington Post being a homeless street urchin, suffering from malnutrition in an Italian hospital, immigrating to the United States -- and yesterday, winning the Nobel Prize in medicine. ....... Capecchi moved from town to town, hungry most of the time and occasionally living in orphanages or traveling with gangs of other homeless children who stole food from carts while other members of the group distracted the vendors. "Just surviving from day to day pretty much occupies your mind" ....... His mother, who was liberated from Dachau by U.S. troops in 1945, found him at the hospital after searching for more than a year. ...... She took him to Rome, where he had his first bath in six years. ....... At Harvard, he worked in the lab of molecular biologist James D. Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA. ....... how mouse genes can be manipulated to better understand and model serious illnesses in humans such as cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. ....... The groundbreaking work is considered to have laid the scientific foundation for efforts to eradicate some diseases in humans by manipulating genes. ....... "Mario has a strong, independent mind and a willingness to pursue good ideas and important projects despite adversity" ........ "There was real opposition to his ideas and disbelief that his approach would be fruitful"
Google And IBM Partner To Push Cloud Computing InformationWeek large-scale distributed computing. ....... this emerging computing paradigm. ....... The fundamental architecture of computing is changing ...... now more performance gains come from processor density than transistor density. "You need to design your software to that it scales horizontally," he said, referring to the challenges of programming for many multicore processors working in parallel. ........... 'Internet-scale' computing ...... "It's no longer enough to program one machine well; to tackle tomorrow's challenges, students need to be able to program thousands of machines to manage massive amounts of data in the blink of an eye." ........ IBM and Microsoft were pushing Internet-scale distributed computing as a new model. ....... Sun Microsystems(SUNW) has also long been an advocate of what it calls grid computing. ...... "to train tomorrow's programmers to write software that can support a tidal wave of global Web growth and trillions of secure transactions every day."

LJP to go solo in Bihar elections Economic Times
Paswan Unhappy with Fast Track Courts in Bihar Patna Daily
Fix 5 year term for LS:Paswan Chennai Online UPA government facing threat from Left parties who insist on withdrawing support in the event of operationalisation of the nuclear deal..... "In order to avoid a mid-term poll which will cost the nation thousands of crores of public money, a consensus should be evolved among political parties for a fixed five-year term for the Lok Sabha in the event of a government getting reduced to minority," Paswan said. ..... The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president, however, felt that the chances of a mid-term election, as a result of the Left withdrawing its crucial outside support to the Manmohan Singh government, were remote.

Au revoir, Obama. It's Hillary Clinton all the way Globe and Mail
Obama Proposes Deep Greenhouse Gas Cuts The Associated Press
Clinton Turns to Economic Issues Wall Street Journal

A Senate Star Glimmers Less on the Stump New York Times a vicious circle: low poll numbers discourage news coverage, and a lack of coverage makes raising poll numbers difficult. ...... the wall-to-wall coverage his race for president drew two decades ago ..... “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” which offended many. ...... in breakfasts and lunches of a dozen here, a few dozen there. ..... his 1988 campaign. That year, after a promising start, he dropped out of the race after he was caught exaggerating his academic record at a town hall meeting and, in a major debate, using lines from a British politician without attribution. ......... his stories-within-stories about the Senate and his meetings with presidents and world leaders. ........ the death of his first wife and toddler daughter in a car accident just after he was first elected to the Senate, his decision to commute home to Delaware every night to be with his two sons .......... how he rebuilt his career and his life with his wife, Jill, and his family.

A Tiny Town, Suddenly Smaller by Seven, Mourns and Wonders, Why? New York Times “There is nothing that happened before or after yesterday’s events that has given us any insight into why.” ........ were watching movies, dozing and eating pizza. ...... Mr. Peterson, who many people said had a tumultuous relationship with Ms. Murray and had not been invited to the gathering ...... ranging in age from 14 to 20, including two young men whom schoolmates said Mr. Peterson considered close friends ....... Peterson’s next hours as a fugitive, the authorities said, were spent driving and talking on a telephone. At one point, he spoke to John Denne, the police chief and his boss. ........ He had undergone a background investigation and training, and met all needed requirements, they said. No psychological evaluation was required ....... Former schoolmates, too, described him as someone who had, in high school, hoped to be in the popular crowd, but never quite made it. ........ “He didn’t have a lot of friends because he was arrogant,” Michael Zold, 20, recalled. “He was always very stuck up, like he always had an attitude, ‘I have money, I’m better than everybody else.’” ....... “After he became an officer, it was a power trip to him.” ...... Peterson had gotten his police job so young, in part, because he was known in Crandon. ...... “They have a bunch of young people there who shouldn’t be there. It’s mostly family members.” ..... “Everybody’s related to someone.”
Details emerge in Wisconsin shootings Kansas City Star A young sheriff’s deputy who opened fire at a pizza party, killing six people, had gone there with the hope of patching up a relationship with his old girlfriend. Instead he got into a fight with her, and others at the gathering called him a “worthless pig.” .......... 20-year-old Tyler Peterson stormed out, retrieved an AR-15 rifle from his car and burst back into the house firing 30 shots that killed all but one of the people at the party. ....... Peterson later turned up at the Argonne, Wis., home of longtime family friend Mike Kegley and calmly explained what he had done. ..... The family quietly called 911. ..... remote northern Wisconsin community of 2,000 ..... how Peterson could have met requirements to become a law enforcement officer, especially after police acknowledged Monday that Peterson received no psychological screening before he was hired.

Clinton rides 'The Middle-Class Express' in Iowa Baltimore Sun
Clinton Says Take New Look at Trade Deal The Associated Press
Clinton on ‘Rebuilding the Middle Class’ New York Times the first of four speeches this week on “rebuilding the middle class,” and this baby weighed in at 50 minutes. ....... pass the Employee Free Choice Act to help unions organize, and she drew applause for saying she would double the size of the enforcement unit of the United States Trade Representative. ....... Mrs. Clinton keeps gliding over all of them and training her fire on President Bush. ........ he helps her avoid going negative on any of her opponents, or elevating them with attention, and his record gives her an easy opportunity to paint contrasts with the economic record of another American named Clinton (and thereby remind many Democratic voters of the happier times they felt during the 1990s). .......... she loves set-piece speeches like this one (her energy never seemed to flag over the 50 minutes). ....... She has been giving more and more policy speeches this fall, and there have been fewer unscripted or free-for-all events as a result. ....... Yesterday, during a question and answer session, she got into a sparring match with an Iowa voter over Iran, and at one point accused the man of being a plant for a rival campaign
UK plans Iraq troop cut to 2500 CNN International
UK on ‘glide path’ out of Iraq Financial Times
Iowa caucus or bust for Barack Obama New York Daily News Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus is looking more and more like a last chance for the Democrats seeking to halt Sen. Hillary Clinton's march to the party's nomination. ........ With Clinton (D-N.Y.) dominating national polls, widening her big lead in New Hampshire and now outpacing all her rivals, including even Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), in fund-raising, she could be unstoppable if she takes Iowa. ........ Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, made eight stops last Wednesday drumming up support for Clinton, and warned supporters in Cedar Rapids, "We're not in first place here." ........ Obama completed a four-day, 10-city campaign swing on Friday, the same day Edwards began his own four-day, 17-city tour. Not to be outdone, Clinton came in Saturday for her own four-day marathon ....... Of the three leading Democrats, Obama has spent the most money on TV ads and the most time in the state this year. ....... As of Saturday night, he's visited 79 of the state's 99 counties, compared with 56 for Obama and 31 for Clinton. ...... "Rural areas and the smaller towns have a disproportionate impact on the result of the caucus" ..... For Edwards and Obama, a loss in Iowa is most likely fatal - and their campaigns have admitted as much. ...... a win in Iowa is necessary for every candidate - even Clinton. ..... "I'm challenging them - change my mind," he said.
Idaho Watches Latest Twist in Craig Drama NPR
Iowa, Iowa, Iowa MSNBC
In Iowa, no stop too small Chicago Tribune
In Obama's world, polluters must pay Los Angeles Times
Obama vows to lead global warming fight AFP
Obama's new energy plan: pay to pollute Baltimore Sun
What Would GOP Do Without Hillary? CBS News
Why Rudy Needs Hillary Washington Post
A Clinton-Obama Ticket? Washington Post John Kerry and John Edwards clearly had no love lost for each other and yet formed a ticket together. Having said that, maybe their ticket would have been more successful if they did like each other a little more. ....... An odd side effect from the rumblings of Dobson and the religious right threatening they might back a third party candidate if Giuliani were the nominee: Is it possible this provides an opening for billionaire mayor Mike Bloomberg? Not to run as a third party- but as a fourth party

Clinton lays out her 'economic blueprint USA Today Saying that "we have to change our economic course just as we have to change course in Iraq, and change course when it comes to health care" ....... "Globalization, rising income inequality, growing housing crisis. All at a time of unprecedented fiscal irresponsibility in Washington. ..... "Under the Bush administration, America now has "a trap door economy. Too many families are standing on that trap door. ... They're bearing all the risks of the global economy but reaping few of the rewards." ....... a "Save Our Homes" program that would free up Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the state housing finance agencies to give assistance to families strugging with "unworkable mortgages. ........ a "Realizing The Dream" program that would lift the loan size limit on mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase -- making such loans more available. ...... a "Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Act" that would crack down on shady "foreclosure consultants" who take advantage of distressed homeowners. ..... Create a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund to finance an energy research agency that gathers the best minds from academia, the private sector, and government to devise ways to make the United States energy independent and reduce the threat of global warming. ....... Return to the income tax rates for upper-income Americans that we had in the 1990s – rates that were consistent with a balanced budget and economic growth. She will level the playing field when it comes to taxing the income earned in investment partnerships. ....... Move back toward a balanced budget and surpluses. ...... address the problems in subprime mortgages; crack down on unscrupulous brokers; curb mortgage lending abuses; assist families facing foreclosure; and expand affordable housing options.
For 1st time, Iowa poll shows Clinton in lead Boston Globe She was supported by 29 percent ... Edwards's support fell from 29 percent - good enough for first place in May - to 23 percent. That is a statistical tie with Obama's 22 percent. ..... "It's what keeps me grounded. It's what keeps my eyes set on the greatest of heights" ...... faith is "what propels me to do what I do and when I am down it's what lifts me up." ...... the United Church of Christ, a church of about 1.2 million members that is considered one of the most liberal of the mainline Protestant groups. ....... "Sometimes this is a tough role, being in politics. . . . Sometimes you can become fearful. Sometimes you become vain and sometimes you will seek power just for power's sake"

Giuliani predicts 'formidable' Clinton-Obama Democratic ticket AFP Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will team up to form the Democrats' White House ticket ....... "I believe she will be the nominee, and Senator Obama will be the vice presidential nominee" ..... The ex-mayor's prediction of an eventual Obama vice-presidential nod goes against conventional wisdom, however. ..... "He's kind of earned it," Giuliani said. "He brings a kind of enthusiasm to the ticket that everyone desires and likes to have." ........ the party would have to abandon its "old playbook" ..... That old strategy -- which Giuliani said would lead his party to "sure defeat" -- would "rule out" 15 to 20 states, "concentrate on the base" and hope to win the key swing states of Ohio and Florida. ....... "We have to have a candidate that can run in all 50 states," said Giuliani

Off-duty deputy shoots 6 dead in Wisconsin Los Angeles Times victims included Peterson's ex-girlfriend Jordann Murray, 18 ...... he may have been a "jealous boyfriend."
Political Pessimism Grows in Nepal The Associated Press one of the world's poorest countries, where most rural people struggle by in a semi-feudal existence, pessimism has become the rule. ....... "I was naive enough to believe that things would change," said former Finance Minister Devendra Raj Pandey. "I thought the parties would change ........ inbred, corrupt and paralyzed by bickering. ...... power outages, gasoline lines and corrupt officials.
How Clinton has built her lead Los Angeles Times apparent brainpower. ..... thrilled with the prospect of electing a woman president. ....... One of the most demonized politicians in America has begun to win a second look from skeptics. And among women and seniors, such as Levesque, she has built big leads over her rivals. ......... voters who dominate the Democratic nominating process: seniors, women and blue-collar voters. ....... a Clinton nomination is far from a foregone conclusion. ....... Many presidential front-runners have been thrown off course by an early upset or by failing to meet the expectations that attach to the leader in national polls. .......... national surveys reflect little more than Clinton's high name recognition ....... For more than a decade, she has been attacked in a shelfload of books, on countless websites and in repeated direct-mail drives. Her detractors see her as a calculating opportunist with a crisis- ridden past. ......... "If she showed up and doesn't have a horn and tail and speaks clearly and engagingly, people say, 'You know, she's all right' " ........ weekly "HillGram" ...... breast cancer, equal pay for equal work and other topics of interest to female voters ..... venues tailored to women, including a national hairdressers' convention in Boston and children's play centers around the country. ........ Iowa, a state where older people have dominated the caucuses. ....... there is one big rock looming in her path to the nomination: Iowa. ....... Money goes only so far in a state where voters put a premium on personal contact.

Hollywood Gets It

The Kingdom | Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner | Official Site | Now ...
The Kingdom (2007)
The Kingdom - Movie - New York Times the film’s notion that conventional movie values — buddy bonding, boisterous action and a relentless determination to get the bad guys — could bridge the deepest cultural chasm. ....... to figure out “what would a murder investigation look like on Mars?” ....... as they break political barriers and cultural taboos to investigate a bombing in Saudi Arabia not unlike the real-life attacks on Western residential compounds in Riyadh. Those occurred in May 2003, just as Mr. Berg began working on “The Kingdom.” ........ “Two of those guys from the most oppositional backgrounds you can imagine, a Saudi cop and an African-American from Washington, would have more things in common, wanting to make bad things not happen, than all the cultural differences between them.” ......... The film was shot in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, as well as in Washington and Arizona. ...... several Saudis were retained to provide cultural advice, though one, Mr. Berg said, was distanced from the project after he developed a crush on Ms. Garner ........... one of the traditionally dressed Muslim women at his London screening said she had read the movie as being “about the absurdity of military solutions” to Middle Eastern problems.
The Kingdom (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Apple - Trailers - Universal Pictures - The Kingdom - Large ...
Movie Review: The Kingdom
The Kingdom - Movie - Review - New York Times taking aim at the ethical nuances and ideological contradictions of the war on terror and blasting away. ....... “The Kingdom” takes the breathless visual precision of the Jason Bourne movies — what the film scholar David Bordwell calls “intensive continuity” — out of the abstract hall-of-mirrors universe of intra-C.I.A. skulduggery and into a semiplausible world of international tension. Rather than explore that tension, as some other, more ostentatiously serious movies coming out shortly seem poised to do, Mr. Berg and Matthew Michael Carnahan, the screenwriter, do what they can to relieve it with fireballs and frantic chases. The result is a slick, brutishly effective genre movie: “Syriana” for dummies. ....... unpretentious professionalism ..... a horrific double terrorist attack on American oil company workers and their families. ........ Their presence is barely tolerated by the Saudi authorities, many of whom are either incompetent or in cahoots with the jihadis. ......... Fleury recognizes a fellow good cop in the person of Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), a Saudi colonel who helps the Americans both before and after the bullets and rocket-propelled grenades start flying. Once they do, the good guys are in the familiar, physically perilous but morally gratifying position of being outmanned and outgunned with the cavalry nowhere in sight. ....... “I’m not saying America is perfect,” Fleury says a while before the climactic barrage, “but we’re pretty good at this.” ....... depiction of American competence and righteousness. ...... Just as “Rambo” offered the fantasy of do-over on Vietnam, “The Kingdom” can be seen as a wishful revisionist scenario for the American response to Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. .......... After a murderous terrorist attack a few of our best people — four, rather than a few hundred thousand — go over to the country that spawned the terrorists, kill the bad guys and come home.


The terrorists are like organized criminals, only they also dabble in religion and politics. In their mind, they are entirely political. You don't invade a country to tackle its organized crime. You send in a few, specialized people who will work with the good people already working towards the same goals locally. You team up.

That is one aspect of it. There are many aspects.

Number one keeps being spreading democracy the progressive way, country after country after country.

You help build a democracy where democracy does not exist. You help build a state where a state does not exist. Too bad Americans only get it when those goals are explained in terms of anti-terrorism.

The world is failing Burma right now. The support extended to the democracy activists in that struggle is mind boggling in its lack of sophistication and magnitude.

Anti-Mormon Prejudice Is Holding Romney Down

Romney otherwise looks good. He looks the part. He looks qualified.



In The News

Kidnappers beaten to death in Bihar Hindu
Wheels of justice turn in Bihar The Statesman
Musharraf gets uneasy victory Los Angeles Times
Mynamar junta takes soldiers off Yangon streets Reuters The Myanmar junta reduced security in Yangon sharply on Sunday, apparently confident it would face no further mass protests ...... the streets remained unusually quiet and arrests continued. ....... few people on the streets said they were still fearful and the Internet .. remained cut off. ..... mass protests which filled five Yangon city blocks ...... referred to her respectfully as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a departure from past practice when her father's name, Aung San, was dropped to deny her link to the nation's independence hero.
Junta eases up on security in Myanmar International Herald Tribune
Myanmar Junta Puts Pressure on Monks The Associated Press saying Sunday that weapons had been seized from Buddhist monasteries ...... recent raids on monasteries had turned up guns, knives and ammunition
A small flame of hope burns in Burma San Francisco Chronicle Even China, perhaps Burma's closest ally, called on Burma's leaders to "achieve democracy" - a curious remark from a country that crushed its own peaceful uprising, at Tiananmen Square, 18 years ago. But the weight of public opinion from around the world left China little choice. ........ Once again the advocates had hope; some were giddy as the world focused on their country, so often ignored. ...... So now the uprising appears to be dead, just like previous failed efforts in 1988 ......... Burma seems to be one of those problems that the world is powerless to correct - like President Robert Mugabe's destruction of Zimbabwe, or the government-sanctioned cultivation of coca in Bolivia. ......... after a moment of reflection, she insisted, "I don't think it is finished. Burma is much more connected with the world now. The military relies on the same technology. They can't cut it off. I don't think this is over." ...... an uprising from within the military could bring the junta down. ........ the next day a Burmese army major fled to Thailand and told a Thai TV reporter: "As a Buddhist myself, when I heard that monks had been shot dead on the streets and that other people had been shot dead, I felt very upset." All the experts insisted that one change may yet bring the regime's downfall - its attack on the monks. Buddhism is to Burma as Islam is to Saudi Arabia. ........ We have been conditioned to expect results overnight, brought to us on television - as happened in the Soviet Union, Poland, Georgia, Ukraine. ...... The demonstrations may be over. But their repercussions may very well bring change - in time.
Secret cremations hide Burma killings Times Online THE Burmese army has burnt an undetermined number of bodies at a crematorium sealed off by armed guards northeast of Rangoon over the past seven days, ensuring that the exact death toll in the recent pro-democracy protests will never be known. ........... The secret cremations have been reported by local people who have seen olive green trucks covered with tarpaulins rumbling through the area at night and watched smoke rising continuously from the furnace chimneys. ........ watched soldiers in steel helmets blocking off roads to the municipal crematorium and threatening people who poke their heads out of windows overlooking the roads after the 10pm curfew. ........... “There has been no attempt to identify the dead, to return the bodies to their families or to give them even the minimum Buddhist religious rites” ............. Horrifying rumours are sweeping the city that some of those cremated were severely injured people thrust into the ovens alive ........ the army moved bodies after the shoot-on-sight curfew. ....... between 100 and 200 people lost their lives in the Rangoon disturbances. The number of Buddhist monks arrested is put at about 1,000, while about 3,000 civilians have also been detained. The regime’s own statement is that 2,093 people are in custody. ........ The Chinese army carried out a similar practice of anonymous cremations in Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when many unidentified bodies were disposed of at the city’s Babaoshan crematorium. The true number of dead has never been established. ........ the apparently continuous stream of deaths days after the guns fell silent. ...... hospitals and clinics were ordered not to give any treatment to the wounded ...... beaten, injured or wounded people taken into custody have got no treatment and may have died ....... grave concern for the wellbeing of elderly monks and very young novices rounded up, by all accounts, with brutality. ......... Blood-stained robes, shattered statues and defaced holy pictures have been caught on digital images smuggled out of the country. ........ soldiers lined the monks up against a wall and smashed each of their shaven heads against the wall in succession. The monks were roughed up and thrown into trucks, but the abbot was so severely beaten that he died on the spot ........ two boy monks asking for alms on a street in a nearby area appealed for help in their limited English. ..... “We are very frightened,” said the elder, who was about 14, while the younger, about 10, said: “I want to go home to see my mother and father again.” ....... beatings, abuse and starvation in custody ...... The regime has refused to grant access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect the conditions of those in detention. ......... “mass relocations” of monks and protesters ..... systematic arrests have continued at night ...... world’s first globalised on-line revolt, instantly dubbed the Saffron revolution. ....... the regime was techno-savvy, patient and thorough. It kept the internet open long enough to allow its own cyber-operatives to down-load the images and recordings of street protests to identify the protesters. The internet is now shut down. ........ Every Burmese street has a block registration with photographs of each resident on the wall of the local administration office ...... arriving to make arrests with computer-generated photographs of their targets pulled off the internet.
With Assists From Google and Apple, Tech Sector Rebounds Washington Post Google and Apple are in the top 10 of almost every portfolio I see. That's what concerns me a little bit about it ......."Be careful what you buy," Dolan said. "A lot of the managers who are managing these tech funds today weren't even around during the boom and bust."
SOCCER: Blurring the lines between politics, money and sports International Herald Tribune
Soccer Seeks Limits on Foreign Players in Challenge to EU Law Bloomberg
Europeans Oppose FIFA's Planned Cap on Foreign Players Deutsche Welle
New Microsoft Service Stores Health Records Online PC World
Spears' New Song Rises on Music Charts Washington Post
Microsoft Wants Your Health Records MSNBC For the umpteenth time you fill in your name, age, allergies, medical history, and the like. ....... Patient health records are about as resistant to information technology as the common cold is to a cure. Doctors with small practices haven't always been keen to make the investment in computer systems when the payoff seems so unclear. Few hospitals have bothered to set up systems to retrieve data from patients' electronic files. ........ there isn't any real economic incentive to digitize data. ...... figures he can build a business that generates "a billion-plus" in revenue from HealthVault as well as another business that sells software to hospitals. ........ Medstory queries generate health-specific information, grouped together under topics such as clinical studies, nutrition, and medication. .......... 76% of adults over 55 use the Web to help diagnose their medical conditions. Those queries generate $500 million to $1 billion in advertising a year ......... most medical information is already in digital form, ready to be gathered up in one place. ....... Terabytes of electronic health-care data already exist, scattered on the servers of pharmacies, insurers, hospitals, and many doctors' offices. ....... With the data in one place, any doctor should have access to it. ....... Microsoft's servers are about as secure as they get. That's because "if they spill the data, it would completely ruin" Microsoft's reputation, says Peel. "It would be like the Exxon Valdez."

CORRECTED: Romney swipes at Republican front-runner Giuliani Reuters
Analysis: Giuliani Lead No Guarantee The Associated Press He has been married three times and supports abortion rights and gay rights ........ his oddities — answering his mobile phone during speeches — and his frequent odes to his beloved New York — cheering the Yankees everywhere he goes — as well as his whiff of arrogance — "I'm probably one of the four or five best known Americans in the world" — ........... The former Massachusetts governor looks and acts the part of a president. He is physically fit, impeccably dressed, handsome and intelligent with deft management skills and a grasp of the issues.
Giuliani's echoing cellphone Los Angeles Times Rudy Giuliani's cellphone chat with his wife during the middle of a recent speech to the National Rifle Assn. is duly added to our roster of candidate-gaffes-that-linger. It joins John Edwards' infamous $400 haircut, Mitt Romney's ill-considered comment about his five sons not serving in the military, and virtually any of Bill Richardson's early debate performances. ........ As with almost every answer Giuliani gives as a presidential candidate, he worked 9/11 into his response. ......... John McCain just ran his first television ad (in New Hampshire). Mitt Romney just ran his 10,000th TV ad ...... livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us .... Until 1952, political advertising on TV was in long blocks of time that allowed a besuited candidate to deliver a speech to the camera. Like radio with a picture. Yawn. ........ www.latimes.com/topoftheticket. ...... Isn't it just a wee bit early for President Hillary Clinton to be making such specific plans for how to use her once infamous now famous husband Bill in her almost-certain administration? ....... He's spinning his wheels at the moment trying to figure out how to rip into her ("How does experience as a first lady traveling to Kenya to visit a school and ride an elephant possibly qualify you to become commander-in-chief?") without tarnishing his nice, polite candidate of hope image. And fewer people are paying attention to that Carolina trial lawyer who's challenging everyone to do what he has to do, take public financing, when they don't have to. ............. Eighteen months before her presumed inauguration, President Clinton II was describing to campaign crowds how she'd use her husband as a roving ambassador sending him all over the world to rebuild the U.S. image. He's got Secret Service protection for life anyway. Why not put them to good use? ............ 'Contrary to the image that has been cultivated about my wife, she's always been a rather reluctant electoral person ........ The Obamans have been working hard to try to build a social movement to elevate their campaign and to avoid the Dean path (and sound effects), but there are a lot of parallels to the Dean campaign. Both drew supporters, many new to politics, who embraced their candidates with an almost messianic zeal, and who used the Internet to try to build fresh networks. ......... One thing Obama has going for him: Dean stumbled as the front-runner. Obama is still trying to catch up to Clinton, and underdogs tend to attract sympathy while front-runners attract brickbats. ........ the Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 14, followed by the Michigan primary on Jan. 15, Nevada's caucuses and the South Carolina Republican primary on Jan. 19, and the Florida primary and South Carolina Democratic primary on Jan. 29 ........ New Hampshire has yet to set its date, though the DNC has pegged it at Jan. 22 -- after Michigan's new date. The DNC has threatened to not seat delegates from Michigan and Florida if they maintain their unsanctioned dates, but so far the thumbs are on the noses. ........ the Wyoming Republicans are set to hold a primary Jan. 5 ...... Iowa is looking at Jan. 3 or Jan. 5, with New Hampshire likely to go Jan. 8. That will apparently draw Nevada to Jan. 12

Costa Rica Votes on Trade Deal With US The Associated Press
Iraq says Blackwater killed 17, shooting "deliberate" Reuters India
Nepal's coalition partner seek Koirala's resignation Hindu have demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Koirala after the key election was postponed for the second time in six month due to his inability to end the deadlock ....... the Prime Minister's indecisiveness. ..... "We are not to blame for not holding the election," Gurung said, adding it was the joint responsibility of the seven parties to hold election on time.
Sharpton Seeks an Apology Over Thomas’s Language New York Times
The Winners and Losers in Britney’s Drama AFTER years of being fodder for the celebrity press, Britney Spears’s train wreck of a story hit a news high this past Monday ....... the attention paid to this long-running public drama has become a force of its own — one that sells magazines and music, increases Web traffic and gives obscure characters their minutes of fame. ...... one of the top gossip Web sites, adding that both page views and unique visitors spike when an item on her appears ........ the site has run numerous updates, some as brief as a video of Ms. Spears making a left turn onto the Pacific Coast Highway. ........ interest in Ms. Spears outweighed that of any other celebrity ...... “There are people who love her and there are people who think she’s a train wreck,” he said, “and everybody wonders how it’s going to end.” ....... a summer cover, “Britney’s Meltdown,” which was OK!’s best-selling issue ever, at 1.2 million copies ......... her single “Gimme More” is selling strongly ...... the song pole-vaulted from No. 68 to No. 3 ......... Ms. Spears, who has hired and fired numerous publicists, managers and lawyers .......... risks irreversible damage to her career. “There’s a tipping point and she’s close to it,” he said. “Michael Jackson found this out.” ....... Ms. Spears a habitual user of drugs and alcohol ........ a two-minute video for YouTube in which he rails against Ms. Spears’s detractors while sobbing. The “Leave Britney Alone!” video has become one of the site’s most viewed entries of all time, with more than 10.8 million viewers, and Mr. Crocker is making appearances on national talk shows. ......... “This is a woman who loves her kids who doesn’t have her kids. It’s now taken tragic elements.”
Clinton Takes lead for Democrats, Iowa Poll Shows ABC News 29 percent of likely caucusgoers preferring Clinton ..... Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, was the choice of 23 percent ... Obama, an Illinois senator, was at 22 percent , virtually unchanged from May. ...... Clinton picking up support while Edwards and Obama have sharpened their criticism of her. ....... a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. ..... with 53 percent of respondents saying they could be convinced to support someone else, down from 69 percent in May. ...... his paying hundreds of dollars apiece for haircuts and building a $5 million home in North Carolina. ........ Obama, who was campaigning in the state while the poll was conducted, had the highest rating on the traits of integrity, vision and charisma. ...... Among those surveyed who were backing someone other than Obama, 77 percent said his relative lack of experience in national and foreign affairs was a factor.
Faith `plays Every Role' in Obama's Life The Associated Press
Iowa Poll Puts Clinton Ahead The Associated Press