I Am Beginning To Like Bush Cheney

"Did you hear that Dick Cheney and Barack Obama are cousins? It's strange, isn't it? In a related story, 20 years ago, it turns out Rudy Giuliani was briefly married to himself."

Talk show host DAVID LETTERMAN

"Well, the president first and foremost is grateful he's not a candidate this year. He's glad he's not out there."

DANA PERINO, the White House press secretary, on the early primary calendar for the 2008 presidential election

Impeach Bush-Cheney, Nancy Pelosi Gets To Become First Female President
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Who could have thought?

The policy disagreements remain, but at a personal level, I am kind of not feeling as agitated about these guys no more. This might be a temporary hiccup and the animosity might come back tomorrow, or the day after, but right now I am kind of feeling okay about George W Bush and Dick Cheney, Wyoming man. By the way, did I tell you? I have been to Wyoming. It feels and looks like a different planet. I remember thinking, there is life on Mars, after all.

George and Laura Bush must be commended for their outspokenness on the Burma issue. I greatly admire that. It means a lot to me personally that they are doing what they are doing. Could they do more? Sure. So can India.

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Out Of The Box Thinking On Burma: Total Engagement?

India Has To Get Into The Business Of Aggressively Exporting Democracy
Bush Meeting Dalai Lama: Is That All You Can Do For Burma?
Burma: 400, 000 Members, 400,000 Dollars
Burma: Time For Nonviolent Guerilla Warfare
Burma: Time For Hyper Action
The World Is Failing Burma
Burma: Than Shwe Is Going To The Hague
Britain Is Betraying Burma
Burma: Time For All Out Sanctions By All Powers
Burma: Momentum Is Key To Victory
Shame On The Top Politicians Of The World: Burma Asks For More
In Solidarity With The Burmese People

And after I learned Dick Cheney is a distant cousin of Barack Obama, I think that changes things, don't you? The guy still looks wrong, but he does not feel all that evil.

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

In The News

Barack Obama and Dick Cheney Not Kissing Cousins? The BV Entertainment Newswire Blog, NY
Obama chats about cousin Cheney with Leno Chicago Tribune
Obama jokes about Cheney relation United Press International
Obama is vice-president's distant cousin, says Cheney's wife Guardian Unlimited
Barack Obama and Dick Cheney are cousins Telegraph.co.uk
Republican bogeyman Cheney is related to leading candidate for ... Independent
Obama and Cheney are 'cousins' Aljazeera.net, Qatar
Cheney, Obama are 'cousins'. Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Obama and Cheney discover hidden family ties AFP
Cheney & Obama are distant cousins RTE.ie, Ireland
Barack Obama and Dick Cheney 'are cousins' Times Online, UK
Barack Obama and Dick Cheney are cousins Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Cheney, Obama 'distant cousins' BBC News, UK

US announces more sanctions on Burma ABC Online, Australia
Burmese Authorities Lift Curfew in Rangoon Voice of America
Bush Sets New Sanctions Against Burmese Military Junta Washington Post
Bush expands sanctions on Myanmar Los Angeles Times
Bush to Announce New Sanctions Against Burmese Government Voice of America
Myanmar's state media call for Suu Kyi to compromise in talks with ... International Herald Tribune, France
Myanmar lifts curfew, ban on assembly imposed after anti ... International Herald Tribune
Bush pressures Burma to release political prisoners, negotiate ... USA Today
Burma junta in constitution move BBC News
Burma's military rulers draft new constitution Malaysia Sun
Burma lifts curfew, ban on assembly USA Today
No Longer the Generals' Burma Washington Post, United States 1988 ... I was working for Sen. Pat Moynihan then, about the only prominent American to notice what was happening in that isolated country. One day, after the Senate passed its first-ever resolution on Burma, a photo arrived in our office showing a column of Burmese marching with a banner reading: "Thank you Senator Moynihan." ........... The most recent peaceful uprising reflects fundamental changes within Burma and the wider world. ....... Soldiers are hunting down leaders of the protest movement and torturing them. Revered Buddhist monasteries are being occupied; the monks are being defrocked, beaten and sometimes killed. Government newspapers demand unity against "neo-colonialist stooges" and "killers in the airwaves" -- the Western radio stations that Burmese depend on for news. People are afraid. ....... By attacking monasteries, it has created a problem it cannot solve ...... Through the Internet, Burma's dissidents are more connected to each other and the world than ever before. The leadership is more disconnected from its people, and from reality, holed up in a bizarre new capital in the jungle. ....... the only solution that appears realistic -- a negotiated political transition in which the military saves some of its status and face. ....... the generals are vulnerable. Whether they get rich from gas, gems, timber or narcotics deals, the revenue is usually deposited in hard currency (since Burmese cash is worthless) in accounts in such places as Singapore and Dubai. That cash generally can't be used internationally without passing through the U.S. or European banking system, where it can be blocked, as President Bush announced Friday that the administration would do. America and Europe can persuade, or compel, the banks themselves to freeze the junta's accounts. ......... the arcane world of global finance. But targeted financial sanctions have become highly sophisticated. ........ decades of generalized trade restrictions against North Korea had little impact -- but when the United States, acting alone, caused one foreign bank to freeze one account belonging to North Korea's leaders, Kim Jong Ilcame to the nuclear negotiating table pretty fast. Even hermit kings can't afford to have their credit cards frozen, as Burma's rulers may soon learn. ......... No one can prosper without their permission. Outside aid might help some Burmese survive. But to think it can bring prosperity (much less spur political change) is naive. ......... Senior people in Washington would have to work seven days a week tracking Burmese money around the world, cracking down on those who shelter it, while simultaneously managing complex, multiparty diplomacy. ........ here is something else that is new: The American president cares about Burma and is energizing his administration to act. And he should: Burma is one place where America remains largely admired ....... The main obstacle to a successful Burma policy is the belief that we are as powerless today as we were 20 years ago. Let the generals hiding in their jungle fortress believe that nothing in the world has changed. And let us prove them wrong.
Laura Bush to tour Arab states next week Jerusalem Post, Israel
Pres. Bush Increases Pressure on Myanmar, Rep. Lantos Targets Gems Diamonds.net, NY
Reports Call for Ban on 'Blood' Rubies Jewelers Circular Keystone Online

Bush, lunch with Cheney, speaking up for the birds Baltimore Sun, United States
Nearly 75% view Bush, Cheney unfavorably North Denver News, CO
Bush, Cheney should be impeached Toledo Blade, OH
Bush Goes Fishing New York Times, United States
Poll: Bush Cheney get failing marks PRESS TV, Iran
Bush Angles For Conservation Stature Guardian Unlimited, UK
Bush Visits Wildlife Refuge to Promote Plan to Save Birds, Fish Bloomberg

At least 20 die of diarrhoea in west Nepal Times of India
Koirala ready to declare Nepal as republic Zee News
India's Role in Burma's Crisis BusinessWeek New Delhi has sympathy for the troubled nation, but energy needs and relations with China are complicating the equation ...... For the last two months, Burma has been in a crisis. ...... Global supporters of democracy have been vocal about the repression. ..... Officially, India hosts about 70,000 Burmese refugees; unofficially, the number is twice that. Nearly 60% of top Burmese dissidents are based in India, and they receive active and staunch support from several Indian politicians such as George Fernandes, a fiery labor leader who was Defense Minister from 1998 to 2004. Burmese students often gather at his Samata Party office in New Delhi, and he often takes up Burma's cause in Parliament. ........ "From 1988 to 1998, India burned its interests in Burma by isolating the junta and supporting democracy," says Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at New Delhi's Centre for Policy Research. "By then, China had already come in. India does not want to repeat that mistake." ....... In Rangoon and Mandalay, Chinese merchants, traders, and contractors live lavish lives, and some pursue drug dealing, human trafficking, and bribery of junta officials ....... Burma-China bilateral trade is $1.5 billion, making China the largest partner for Burma, and China is Burma's largest arms provider. "In 10 years, Burma will be China's just like Tibet is," predicts M.D. Nalapat, professor of geopolitics at Manipal University, Karnataka. ...... For the last four years, India has been engaged in fierce competition with China over securing its energy requirements from Africa, Russia, and Burma. ....... the Indians are building ports and roads, including a 165km "India-Myanmar friendship highway" linking Manipur in India's northeast to central Burma and continuing to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. ......... "pragmatic engagement." ....... the Burmese military has received $200 million in military aid from India. ....... Beijing's ability to use its Security Council veto to keep Burma's human rights record off of the U.N. agenda is more important to the junta than any economic incentives India could offer. ....... India's Communist Party, surprisingly, supports India's strategic shift on Burma in favor of the junta. ....... if India does not take the initiative with Burma now, it could lose its sheen as a champion of freedom and democracy in Asia ..... "This is the beginning of the end of the military junta. The people are willing to carry on." ........ the junta is running out of money despite the support from India and China: "They're running up against their own reserves and are virtually bankrupt." Tourism is down sharply, and ........ the regime cannot get access to Burmese Army-related bank accounts in the U.S..... Better for the Indian government to support a new Burmese regime and secure India's interest early on this time around.
Bush to call on China, India to do more on Myanmar Reuters
Mizoram urges India to pressure Burmese junta Mizzima.com The Mizoram Committee for Democracy in Burma (MCDB), formed with several civil societies, human rights activists, intellectuals, and concerned citizens of Mizoram at a press conference today reiterated the need for India's intervention in Burma's political crisis. ...... "We want democracy in Burma
India trying to make "a poor rich country" rich: FM Sify "India is rich because of its native entrepreneurial talent; it is poor because many policy and procedural hurdles stand in the way of the entrepreneurs. ... India is rich because its people are hardworking, resilient and pragmatic; it is poor because often commonsense is devoured by ideology ." ....... describing growth as "the best antidote to poverty". ...... India's GDP grew at an average rate of 3.5 per cent in those "lost decades", he said recalling that it required a balance of payments crisis in 1991 to jolt India out of its slumber. Then "brushing aside the predictions of doom, the people embraced the new paradigm of an open and competitive economy." ...... describing the first decade of the new millennium as "the best since independence." ...... In the seven years beginning 2000-01, India's GDP has grown at an average rate of 6.9 per cent. Since 2003-04, the growth rate has moved to a higher plane and the average has been 8.6 per cent. 2006-07 was a splendid year with the GDP recording a growth of 9.4 per cent. ......... One would have thought that the challenge of development - in a democracy - will become less formidable as the economy cruises on a high growth path, Chidambaram said. ....... "The reality is the opposite." Democracy - rather, the institutions of democracy - and the legacy of the socialist era have actually added to the challenge of development, he said. ........ several infrastructure projects like airports, seaports, dams and power stations and mineral-based industries such as steel and aluminium faced violent protests over land acquisition. ....... "the early development models that we inherited are simply incompatible with the demands of a globalising economy."
China Communists Narrow In On Leadership Guardian Unlimited
India, China face tough challenges: IMF NDTV.com There's a range of structural reforms that India needs to undertake to further deregulate and open its economy so that it can have more broad-based growth ....... the initial impetus to growth still comes very much from domestic demand in the rest of the world
China urged to let yuan gain value ABC Online
G7 presses China over renminbi Onet.pl
Google profit rises 46% Malaysia Star
We won't let Big B off in land case: UP govt Expressindia.com "There is no question of withdrawing the case against Amitabh Bachchan," Sailesh Krishna, principal secretary to Chief Minister Mayawati ...... The officer while dismissing the star's plea before the Allahabad High Court that he was willing to forego his claim on land in Barabanki district also questioned the authority of lawyer of gram sabha of Daulatpur to exonerate Bachchan if he donated the land. ....... returning the land doesn't exonerate the star.
Apple Market Value Soars Past Dell's on Mac, IPod (Update2) Bloomberg
Panel: Kids Shouldn't Use Cold Medicines ABC News
Dell to Ship Ubuntu 7.10 on Desktops and Laptops PC Magazine
Gates Fights To Eradicate Malaria Forbes Nowadays every cause has a celebrity attached to it. Madonna is adopting orphans in Malawi. Bono is rocking to relieve debt in Africa. Even Angelina Jolie is shining a light on refugees around the world. ....... “With all the HIV activists in the world, not one of the celebrities has come out for malaria.” ...... funding for malaria has grown 300% in the last three years and is currently $200 billion per year. ....... Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has committed $860 million to malaria programs and another $650 million to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. ......... malaria offers the chance for a great return on investment. Here's the math: ninety percent of the annual one million malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Plus, malaria costs Africa $12 billion in lost productivity. ....... one million malaria deaths a year is equivalent to “losing every student in the New York City public school system in one year.” ...... malaria eradication is a critical first step towards making the African economy productive. “Ten dollars buys a bed net, delivers it to Africa, installs it, educates people on how to use it and protects two people, often a mother and child, for up to five years” ....... a malaria vaccine, currently in Phase II trials. ....... so many people are attracted to the cause is because it’s an achievable goal. Unlike poverty, which is broad and multi-layered, malaria is easy. Medicines treat the disease and bed nets and insecticides prevent it. ........ even President Bush is putting his money where his mouth is. The President’s Malaria Initiative is a $1.2 billion effort, which started in 2005, and is gaining traction. “If you win this office, you will inherit a record commitment to fighting malaria,” Gates said. “The world needs you to sustain it and enhance it. Malaria will never be eradicated without the full support of the President of the United States.”
Comcast really does block BitTorrent traffic after all CNET News.com Comcast is actively interfering with peer-to-peer networks even if relatively small files are being transferred. ...... (If Comcast had merely slowed down BitTorrent transfers instead of cutting them off completely, users wouldn't be escalating this arms race as quickly.)
LAPD May Have Erred in Ellen Dog Case TMZ.com the LAPD may have made a mistake by letting Marina Batkis, owner of Mutts and Moms, take back the dog Ellen DeGeneres gave to her hairstylist.
Dog Lovers Feel Pain of DeGeneres Saga The Associated Press the talk-show host wept profusely on TV over her dog-adoption drama. ...... the essential passions at play ring true to many who have dogs and love them — just as they likely seem way over the top to those who don't. ......... "It's the unconditional love. It doesn't matter what you look like in the morning. It's hard to explain it to someone else. I have friends who don't quite get it." ........ metamorphosis from a "complete non-animal person" to the owner of six rescued dogs, and counting. "My love of animals has transformed me," says Leifer. "I'm a better person. It's cleared the brush from my heart."
JK Rowling outs Dumbledore! Entertainment Weekly
Writers Guild votes overwhelmingly to authorize a strike Los Angeles Times nearly 12,000 members. ..... 1988. That vote paved the way for a 22-week strike that cost the entertainment industry an estimated $500 million. ...... Seeking to defuse tensions, the major studios on Tuesday withdrew a proposed revamping of the decades-old residuals payment system, removing a major stumbling block to negotiations. ....... the union's other key demands, such as granting residuals for shows streamed over the Web free and giving writers a bigger cut of home video sales. ....... Writers maintain they were shortchanged years ago when they agreed to a discounted pay formula for home video sales, only to see that business take off. And they're determined not to make the same mistake again as the digital revolution upends the entertainment industry. ........ the studios maintain that DVD sales are needed to offset rising marketing and production costs, and they contend that it's too early to lock into pay formulas for shows distributed online because technologies are rapidly changing and they're still grappling with uncertain business models. ...... As is often said, writers can't shut down production, but actors can. For that reason, many studio executives have been more focused on preparing for a possible actors' strike next summer.

Barack, "He Walks Between Worlds"

Barack, "He Walks Between Worlds."

I have been looking for those four words forever. And now help comes in the form of Maya Soetoro-Ng, his half-sister. I have long thought, I like this guy at a very fundamental level. What is it, what is it?

In my very own person, two countries live, Nepal and India. To a lot of folks in America accustomed to color coded thinking, both might look brown, but I will have to offer that the ethnic politics in a country like Nepal are way more complicated than the racial politics in America.

I lost something in 1989. I feel like I might regain it through Barack's elevation to the White House. I have faced challenges of dealing with many different worlds. Now you can be serene about it, and can almost feel like you are in fashion, like this century belongs to you and people like you, but when you are dealing with it at periods in your life when you don't even have the vocabulary to describe what you are going through, you can't think of anyone who does, it is not fun. There are leftover emotional scars. You try to move beyond them by revisiting the past in your mind. You revisit in hopes of liberation. So you can become capable again of easy conversation with the multitude, easy laughs, small gestures of bonding.

My support for Barack is personal, it is selfish, it is about me. The proof is in the pudding. I am not a voter. I can't vote for the dude. You could say there is some of the political animal in me. The process fascinates me. I am no Dick Morris. I could not bring myself to advise non progressives. Even among progressives I am picky. I am no Karl Rove. That dude could not run for public office himself in a thousand years. If I were citizen, and I set my mind to it, I think I could have become the guy to succeed Bloomberg. (DL21C Annual Summer Bash: Barack Won The Straw Poll, 7 Point Agenda For New York City) But I am not a citizen. And when I think of masses of people, I don't think New Yorkers, I don't think Americans, I think Third World people. My people are those. My fascination is with group dynamics. I don't enjoy beer, I don't enjoy shaking hands. I have determined my startup is the best, most efficient way to do the most good by my people. So my expression of my fascination with group dynamics will be corporate, curiously. But at least it will be a progressive company.

My selfish interest in a Barack presidency also is that I want to contribute to the goal of a total spread of democracy by 2020. I am a Buddhist. One concrete thing I want to do for my faith is to see Tibet as a state in a federal China that is a multi-party democracy. I have to stay in the private sector, and I have to do my activism the digital democrat way, I don't have the patience for the slow, non digital versions, but a friendship with a POTUS can go a long way in enhancing your impact when you are trying to spread democracy.

When I first started experiencing prejudice and racism, my initial feelings were always of disbelief. People at primitive levels of group dynamics and political consciousness were engaging in acts that were not in the best interests of all concerned. It was as if they were not even driven by self-interest. A little while later you realize they are moved by self-interest the way they understand that to be, or like Newt said once, "Because I can." That was logic enough.

Barack's appeal to me is not that some black man will be in the White House. When I think of cultural diversity, I think of coral reefs. Barack reminds me of that richness. It feels like good background music.



Cultural diversity is a kaleidoscope experience.





In The News

Photo of Karachi bomber released Reuters Newspapers carried photographs of the head of the suicide bomber propped on a white sheet. The dead eyes stared blankly out of a chubby, unshaven face. ....... "The age of the suspect is between 20 to 25 and he looks to be a Karachiite," said a security official ....... On Saturday, a car bomb killed four people in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. ...... Suicide bombings have multiplied since the army stormed the Red Mosque in the capital Islamabad to crush an armed student movement in July. ...... Angry Bhutto supporters burnt tires, threw rocks at cars and forced shops to shut in some Karachi neighborhoods on Saturday ...... she retained more mass appeal than any other Pakistani politician. ...... Government officials have said the culprits were Islamist militants but they are uncertain which group. ...... said she had more to fear from unidentified members of the power structure who she described as allies of the "forces of militancy".
Chain of errors blamed for nuclear arms going undetected Los Angeles Times That August flight, the first known incident in which the military lost track of its nuclear weapons since the dawn of the atomic age, lasted nearly three hours, until the bomber landed at Barksdale Air Force Base in northern Louisiana. ....... allowing the plane to take off Aug. 30 with crew members unaware that they were carrying enough destructive power to wipe out several cities. ......... The Air Force has fired four colonels who oversaw aircraft and weapons operations at Minot and Barksdale, and some junior personnel have also been disciplined ...... human error, rather than inadequate procedures, were at fault.
Turkey expects US actions against Kurd rebels-PM Reuters
Putin goes live on TV phone-in to escalate nuclear war of words Guardian Unlimited Putin said Russia would defend itself if the US goes ahead with its plan to install elements of its missile shield in central Europe. ...... unsuccessful talks last week with the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates ..... Putin began their meeting in Moscow by signalling that Russia might dump the intermediate-range nuclear missiles treaty. ........ Putin fielded 68 questions yesterday from ordinary Russians living in nine time zones across the world's biggest country. .... Beginning in Vladivostok, where it was dark, he discussed the price of milk, IVF treatment, and the fate of Russia's provincial towns. One caller was so stunned to speak directly to the president she forgot her question. "Is it you?" she said. "Yes," Mr Putin said. "Is it really you?" she asked. "Yes," he repeated. "Thank you very much for everything, Vladimir Vladimirovich," she gasped. She then hung up. ....... a message to Washington: that its new and costly missile shield was effectively useless against the latest Russian technology. ..... manoeuvrable warheads, which detach from the main missile during the final stage of descent. ....... The US-led invasion of Iraq had been a failure, he said, as was its strategy of confrontation with Iran over its alleged nuclear programme. ..... "Direct dialogue with the leaders of states ... is the shortest path to success, rather than a policy of threats, sanctions, and a resolution to use force." ...... More than a million people sent questions by email, text or phone
Sarkozy Faces Labor and Marital Crises New York Times Portraying herself as a woman scorned, Ms. Royal was quoted in a book leaked to the news media that night as saying, “I asked François Hollande to leave our home, to pursue his love interest, which is now laid bare in books and newspapers, on his own.” ...... “She no longer wanted to participate in the life of the president, in public life” ...... Sarkozy was “very serene” and “had turned the page.” ...... “She left; she came back. When she came back, they perhaps thought that it could go back like before. It did not.” ..... The current strikes, which started Wednesday evening, were not as dramatic as had been anticipated, perhaps reflecting a shifting public mood that economic changes are necessary. ........ plans to change France’s special pension privileges enjoyed by 500,000 workers and 1.1 million retirees, mostly in the state-run transportation and utilities sector but also by parliamentary deputies, fishermen and miners. The privileges, which, for example, allow workers in the electric and railroad industries to retire at 50 with a full pension, have created an annual shortfall of $7 billion that taxpayers have to shoulder. ...... Sarkozy is determined to level the playing field by bringing these so-called special public sector pensions in line with the private sector. ....... Known for his quick temper, and suffering episodically from migraines ....... “Even today, I have difficulty talking about it,” he wrote in his 2006 campaign book, “Testimony,” of their months apart when she left him, apparently for another man, in 2005. “I had never known such an ordeal. Never would I have imagined that I would be so profoundly distressed.”
A Hubbub Over a Visit by the Dalai Lama? Not in New York New York Times has come to this city so often in recent years that his visits now fly under the radar of most New Yorkers. ....... They went into rhetorical overdrive. The Communist Party boss of Tibet denounced the Dalai Lama as a “splittist.” There’s a word you don’t hear every day. Sounds like someone who likes his Champagne in small bottles. In this context, it is an accusation that the Dalai Lama wants to break Tibet away from China. ........ Tibet House, a cultural center in Manhattan. ...... The Congressional medal got Beijing’s knickers in such a twist that the Chinese warned of “an extremely serious impact” on their relations with the United States. ....... Maybe they’ll stop sending us any more lead-painted toys, defective tires, toxic toothpaste and tainted pet food. Wouldn’t that be awful? ........ At the Javits Center, he spoke without notes for two hours ....... The Dalai Lama has become such a regular here that he no longer automatically draws much press attention. .... Bloomberg invited him to a Gracie Mansion breakfast last Friday with 20 or so New York Buddhists. ....... the mayor wanted the Dalai Lama’s appearance to be a surprise to the other guests. ...... The Dalai Lama spoke of “how his main concern was that people studied Buddhism, not just sort of adhere to it” ..... “Faith was nice. But from his point of view, understanding Buddhism would really be the most useful for people.” ...... TO the surprise of no one, the Dalai Lama did not stop by one of the city’s main attractions. That would be the United Nations. It is too much in China’s thrall to ever invite him, even just to look around the building.
Nobel Winner Issues Apology for Comments About Blacks New York Times
Patrick to endorse Obama at Boston Common rally on Tuesday Boston Herald
Can Hillary Clinton win? Chicago Tribune Ever since Clinton stepped onto the presidential stage with her husband, she has been a lightning rod on the right and sometimes the left. She offended some women when she defended her decision to work, saying, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas." She raised eyebrows when the public learned she had turned $1,000 into $100,000 from cattle futures trading. And she became a political target when she tried to overhaul the health-care system with closed-door meetings. .......... Already, the Republican National Committee is taking aim at Clinton multiple times a day while virtually ignoring her rivals. ........ David Bonior, Edwards' campaign manager, said Republicans will "unload on her" in a general election ...... A CNN poll finds 45 percent of voters believe she is most likely to win the general election—far more than any other candidate. And the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute shows Clinton beating each of the Republican candidates in the key battlegrounds of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. ....... "I think you're seeing a higher level of frustration and desperation," said Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, of Obama and Edwards. ...... "What I hear from [Republicans] is their disenchantment with the war in Iraq, the budget deficit and the feeling that their party has been taken away from them by extremists" ....... "I think the country is ready for a woman president," she said, "but Colorado is not." ...... Two friends sitting outside in the sunshine drinking coffee questioned the wisdom and the likelihood of another Clinton presidency. ......... leery of revisiting the "negative" elements of Bill Clinton's presidency ...... she didn't think Clinton could do worse in office than President Bush ....... "It certainly is brought up more by Democratic senators from red and purple states," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is backing Obama. "They feel that she would have to work hard to carry their states." ....... When Clinton first ran for the Senate from New York in 2000, few thought she could overcome voters' animus, but she won in a virtual landslide. ....... "I'm still looking," he said. "I won't make a decision until the very last minute, until I'm sure."
Gov. Granholm endorses Sen. Clinton for president Detroit Free Press
Granholm endorses Clinton with little fanfare DetNews.com Granholm's endorsement was of little surprise; political observers have widely seen her as a Clinton supporter ...... "While no state's economy has been hit harder by globalization and the Bush administration's unfair trade policies, no state stands to benefit more from the growth of new industries like alternative energy and from critical investments in training workers and improving health care," their statement said.
Michigan Governor Endorses Clinton The Associated Press
Hillary Clinton is battle-ready Seattle Post Intelligencer she has slightly more than 50 percent approval of Democratic voters, an achievement that no other candidate in history has reached without going on to win the nomination. The general election next fall could be another matter ....... This is an exciting political time to be a woman, which I happen to be. When Clinton initially ran for the New York Senate seat, the common wisdom was that she was too pushy and lacking in feminine charm to win. ....... Such "wisdom," of course, came mostly from men. She was up against a nothingburger Republican male and ended up beating him by 12 percent. She won by being the harder-working, better-informed candidate. So much for that sexist myth. ........ Conservative commentators suggested the country was not ready for a female president, particularly one seen as "polarizing," by which they mean she's as partisan as they are. ........ she has the support of 57 percent of Democratic women ..... In a general election match-up with leading GOP contender Rudy Giuliani, she has a lead credited almost entirely to women. ........ a potential downside to this. Will male voters become resentful? The concept of a political backlash is ever-present. Will men be fearful their wives may want to upstage them? I know some men like that, and I bet you do, too. ......... Iowa .... Traditional ideas still linger about burly male farmers used to hard labor in the fields, and docile female housewives who raise the children and bake cookies. But this image is fading ......... When she began, she treated the gender issue gingerly ....... She is not so touchy about that now. In interviews, she insists she is trying to appeal to men, too. But she is specifically framing some of her ideas toward women .......... She proposed expanding the family and medical leave act, which protects the jobs of workers who take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies such as pregnancy or illness. The law only covers employers with more than 50 workers. She would lower that to 25 workers, bringing protection to 13 million additional workers but angering the small-business lobby, which claims it cannot afford to keep these jobs open. She would also go further, giving grants to states to reimburse companies for paying their workers for seven days annual sick leave -- a concept that drives businesses nuts. This idea, however, is bound to please workers and unions. And a large number of retail employees paid a minimum wage are women who are the family primary caregiver and would appreciate the paid time off. ......... When Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro to be the first female running mate on a major national ticket, the 1984 Democratic convention hall became a sea of joyful female boo-hoos. I joined in but have never cried for a politician since. ....... She has, however, survived her own "pushy wife" lumps -- the kind that Jeri Thompson and Judi Giuliani are just now painfully experiencing. She has emerged as her own woman, her own political leader, and she is battle-ready. Mount the barricades! Iowa, here she comes!

Obama, Citing 'Offensive Remarks,' Calls for Justice Dept. Voting ... FOX News remarks made about elderly minorities not aging like white Americans, because they die first. ..... called the language "erroneous, offensive, and dangerous." ...... Obama on Friday pointed to one portion of Tanner's comments as evidence that voter ID restrictions "do not disenfranchise minorities, and in fact they actually benefit minorities." ....... "There are inequities in health care," Tanner continued. "There are a variety of inequities in this country. And so anything that disproportionately impacts the elderly has the opposite impact on minorities; just the math is such as that." ....... "For Mr. Tanner to now suggest, in an effort to defend his erroneous decision, that photo identification are not necessary for minority voters because 'they die first' shows just how far the Justice Department has fallen," Obama wrote.

Barack Obama Straddles Different Worlds The Associated Press also was a way for this son of an African goat herder, this Harvard-educated lawyer, author and professor to show he could be just one of the guys. ......... He had already navigated the exotic corners of Hawaii and Indonesia, the halls of privilege of Cambridge, Mass., and the poverty-wracked streets of Chicago ........ bridging gaps, making connections, forging alliances. ....... "He walks between worlds," says Maya Soetoro-Ng, his half-sister. "That's what he's done his entire life." ...... From their mother, she says, "he gets his ability to build bridges, to keep an open mind." ...... From their grandmother, Madelyn: "his pragmatism." ...... From their grandfather, Stanley: "his love of the game. My grandfather ... pursued life with great zest." ..... In Hawaii, Obama was a scholarship student at Punahou School, a private academy in Honolulu, where he was an outgoing kid with an easy laugh. Obama — then known as Barry — grew into a teen who listened to Earth, Wind & Fire, tooled around in his grandfather's old Ford Granada, sang in the choir and joined the literary journal. ........ Friends says Obama never spoke of the turmoil he revealed in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," in which he wrote about wrestling with his racial identity and using drugs — including marijuana and cocaine — to "push questions of who I was out of my mind." .......... as one of the few blacks in the school, "I probably questioned my identity a bit harder than most. As a kid from a broken home and family of relatively modest means, I nursed more resentments than my circumstances justified, and I didn't always channel those resentments in particularly constructive ways." ........ "He had no trouble challenging power and challenging people on issues," says Gerald Kellman, the man who hired him to work for the Developing Communities Project. "When it came to face-to-face situations, he valued civility a great deal. When it came to negotiating conflict, he was very good." .......... "This man was so bright, but he didn't hit you over the head with it," recalls Loretta Augustine-Herron. "He explained things so nobody would be offended." ........ The women doted on him, chiding him for not eating enough, laughing when he showed off his dance moves, joking about his punctuality — warning each other that "baby-faced Obama" would be angry if they didn't get to a meeting on time. ........ In Chicago, Obama also honed his writing skills, crafting short stories inspired by real-life experiences. ...... Former classmates and professors remember him as a conciliator with sound judgment. ...... "He wasn't someone that you simply wanted to read his class notes or hear his voice," says Charles Ogletree, a Harvard law professor who served as a mentor to Obama and other black students. "You wanted to hear him thinking." ......... "He did not take that pound-on-my-chest attitude, 'Look at me, I'm the first one,'" says Earl Martin Phalen, a black classmate. "He was conscious of the historical significance but understood ... there was a responsibility." ......... As a newcomer in the clubby atmosphere of Springfield, Obama also encountered cold shoulders. Some lawmakers initially thought he was arrogant. ........ "It took him a while to prove that he was a real guy" ....... "If he was going to play the hand, he knew it was a hand he could win," says state Sen. Terry Link. "That's his politics, too. He's not going to do it just to do it." ....... It took just 17 minutes for Barack Obama to create a national buzz.

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

Benazir Bhutto has taken the clearest and strongest stand against extremism and terrorism inside Pakistan. Benazir as the Prime Minister of Pakistan is the world's best chance of nabbing Osama Bin Laden if he is anywhere inside Pakistan as is widely believed.

Noone in world history has become Prime Minister at a younger age. Benazir, I believe, was 35 when she first got elected Prime Minister. She proved at an early age that she mas mastered electoral politics. You put Britain and France together and Pakistan is still bigger. But she got outmanoeuvred by Pakistan's army, its intelligence agency, and also other elements of the state apparatus. A more seasoned Benazir is now better positioned to bring the entire state apparatus of Pakistan under the firm gambit of a parliament duly elected by the people. I expect her to bring the army and the intelligence agency in Pakistan under her thumb for the first time in that country's history after she becomes Prime Minister.

People with the most extreme views, either politically or religiously, have the option to organize political parties and go compete with Benazir at the ballot box. If they can get enough Pakistanis to vote for them, they may have the state power. And, yes, that includes the bomb. The ballot box is the only legitimate way.

But for thugs who hide in caves or, in some cases, the opaque intelligence agency, who only speak the language of violence, and who don't think twice before killing innocent people have no room, will be allowed no room, in Pakistan's politics or society. That is Benazir's pledge. If that pledge makes Americans happy, so be it. But her pledge is being made for the Pakistani people first and foremost. Anything else is a fallout.

Extremism and terrorism have to be rooted out of Pakistan. No organization is to be allowed to prepare for or engage in violence except the state sanctioned agencies. The Northwest Frontier Province is to be brought under the firm control of the federal government of Pakistan. All foreign fighters in the region are to be deported, thrown out one way or the other. And I don't expect that to be primarily a military challenge. Many people from that province drove all the way to Karachi to welcome Benazir. The answer is democracy, and they understand that. Locals voting is a beautiful thing, and they do get it. Enough of them get it. The Kalashnikov brandishing Al Qaeda and the Taliban are a few thousand in the sea of over 100 million that is Pakistan. And the heck with suicide bombers. Every suicide bomber that pops up has to be traced to whichever organization employed them, and those organizations have to be destroyed. Their leaders have to be hunted down.

Democracy is a powerful thing. People voting their own leaders at the local, state and federal levels is a wonderful thing. I can't wait to see Benazir's second inning.

Pakistan's enemy is not America. Pakistan's enemies are illiteracy, and disease and poverty. That is how Benazir understands it to be. And she is right. And she is Pakistan's best hope to fight those enemies.

There are pan Arab grievances. Yes, sure, a state called Palestine has to be created. But turning all Arab countries into democracies is just as fundamental a goal. A state that is not a democracy is not a legitimate state and so is not even a state. Why only Palestine, I also would like to see a state called Saudi Arabia, and one called Kuwait, and one Egypt, and a state called Iran.

Benazir's pledge to fight extremism and terrorism is a pledge made to the Pakistani people for the Pakistani people, not a pledge made to America. And if America is also committed to fighting extremism and terrorism, that is great. Two can do it better than any one.

Where Is Bin Laden?
Pakistan Is Getting Interesting And Obama Might Have Shaken Things
Engaging Third World Dictators
Flatten It Out
The McCain Doctrine: Keep The Swamp, Keep The Mosquitoes
Hillary Messed Up On Iraq, And Al Qaeda Is Strong, America Insecure
I Agree With Neocons, The War On Terror Is Same Magnitude As Cold War
Immigration Is Today's Civil Rights Movement
Iraq, Energy, Global Warming: All Interlinked
If There Is Another 9/11 Style Attack
Al Qaeda Strikes India, Wants Hindu-Muslim Riots
Bush Nabbed Saddam, His Mandate Was To Nab Osama

In The News

After Bombing, Bhutto Assails Officials’ Ties New York Times Looking pale and shaken the day after she survived a suicide bomb attack ...... said extremist Islamic groups who wanted to take over the country were behind the attacks ........ she pointed the finger at government officials who she said were sympathetic to the militants ........ she said at a news conference of hundreds of journalists in the garden of her home in Clifton, an upscale neighborhood of the southern port city of Karachi. ....... “I know in my heart who my enemies are,” she added. “There is a poem that says that even if you hide yourself behind seven veils, I can still see your hand.” .......... she has long accused parts of the government, namely Pakistan’s premier military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, of working against her and her party because they oppose her liberal, secular agenda. ........ Ijaz Shah, the director general of the Intelligence Bureau, another of the country’s intelligence agencies and a close associate of General Musharraf. ........ Mr. Shah hung up when asked by telephone for a reaction to the allegations. .......... The ISI has for decades backed militant Islamic groups in Kashmir and in Afghanistan in pursuit of a military strategy established by the former military dictator, Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, in the 1970s. “I know exactly who wants to kill me,” Ms. Bhutto said. “It is dignitaries of the former regime of General Zia who are today behind the extremism and the fanaticism.” ......... Before her return, she said a “brotherly country,” which she did not identify, warned her that several suicide squads were plotting attacks against her ........ That friendly government, she said, had also supplied Pakistan’s government with telephone numbers the plotters were using. ...... she said she sent General Musharraf the letter two days before her return, naming “three individuals and more” who should be investigated for their sympathies with the militants in case she was assassinated. ......... She added that there were more plots against her, including one to infiltrate police guarding her homes in Karachi and the rural district of Larkana in order to mount attacks “in the garb of a rival political party.” ........ Bhutto said the street lamps had been turned off Thursday night ....... The darkness made it difficult, she said, for her security officials to scan the crowd for possible bombers. She did not accuse the government of turning off the lights, but demanded an investigation. ....... five groups of militants from Pakistan’s tribal areas, on the Afghan border, had trained and dispatched suicide bombers for her arrival. ...... The blasts killed 50 of the security guards from her Pakistan People’s Party who had formed a human chain around her truck to keep potential bombers away ......... Bhutto said she had been sitting down at the back of the truck to relieve her swollen feet, and to go over a speech with her political assistant, and so had avoided the force of the blast. ........ “They are saying peace-loving people are not safe to gather,” she said of the militants. “A minority wants to hijack the destiny of this great nation. And we will not be intimidated by this minority.” ......... they are cowards,” she added. “They cannot face the people of Pakistan in the political field.” ........ the president had ordered law enforcement authorities to track down the mastermind of the bombings within 48 hours, and had offered a force of special services commandos trained by the United States to Ms. Bhutto for her protection. ......... Karachi was almost deserted Friday in the aftermath of the attack. Almost all shopping malls and business centers closed for fear of more violence. A crowd gathered at the scene of the blasts to offer prayers on the blood-stained median dividing the road. The heavy smell of dead bodies hung in the air. ......... Ali Muhammad, 45, a driver, was standing with reddened eyes near the information room on Friday at noon. He said his 18-year-old nephew Zohaib had been missing since last night. “We searched in every hospital,” he said, close to tears. “We inquired from every police station. It’s only just now that we have located him here. The body is all blood.”
The Clinton Surprise She beats Barack Obama by 24 percentage points among black Democrats. ....... Hillary was supposed to be divisive, unelectable, “radioactive.” ....... The “we” world of Tucker Carlson ....... they spend an awful lot of time talking to, socializing with and interviewing one another. ........ They don’t sign up for adjustable rate mortgages, visit emergency rooms to get their primary health care, leave their children in unlicensed day care or lose their jobs because they have to drive their mothers home from the hospital after hip replacement surgery. ........... Clinton’s surprising levels of popularity among lower- and middle-class women, white moderate women, even black voters .......... wealthiest 1 percent of Americans ... earned 21.2 percent of all income in 2005 ........ The bottom 50 percent of people earned 12.8 percent of all income .......... the median tax filer’s income ...... $31,000 ....... The Good Life – a life of relative comfort and financial security – is now, in many parts of the country, an upper-middle-class luxury. ........ Clinton’s big policy announcement this week on improving life for working families ........ paid family leave and sick leave ...... government standards and quality controls for child care. ......... Clinton supports legislation to protect parents and pregnant women from job discrimination ....... She supports subsidies for low-income parents who wish to stay home to raise their children ....... $1.75 billion per year ...... cracking down on the “abusive” use of tax shelters
Paul Krugman: Death of the Machine “There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is.” So declared Mark Hanna, the great Gilded Age political boss. ......... Karl Rove has often described Hanna as his role model. .......... in the current election cycle every one of the top 10 industries making political donations is giving more money to Democrats. Even industries that have in the past been overwhelmingly Republican, like insurance and pharmaceuticals, are now splitting their donations more or less evenly. Oil and gas is the only major industry that the G.O.P. can still call its own. .......... good news for the party’s campaign committees, but not necessarily good news for progressives. ........ disgust, even in the corporate world, with the corruption and incompetence of the Bush years ........... the biggest scandals have involved companies that were small or didn’t exist at all until they started getting huge contracts thanks to their political connections. ....... horrifies the corporate elite almost as much as it horrifies ordinary Americans. ........ corporations weren’t happy ........ “many C.E.O.’s” used the term “extortion” to describe “the annual shakedowns by committee chairmen with jurisdiction over their industries.” ....... the Republicans, far from establishing a permanent majority, will be out of power for quite a while. ....... the Clinton campaign is holding a “Rural Americans for Hillary” lunch and campaign briefing — at the offices of the Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group, which lobbies for the agribusiness and biotech giant Monsanto. ................ many progressives, myself included, hope that the next president will be another F.D.R. But we worry that he or she will turn out to be another Grover Cleveland instead — better-intentioned and much more competent than the current occupant of the White House, but too dependent on lobbyists’ money to seriously confront the excesses of our new Gilded Age.
Bhutto says she warned of plotting days before attack International Herald Tribune
Examining Bhutto's Significance in Pakistan NPR She has been pictured in a People list of the "World's 50 Most Beautiful People" and in an arrest notice from Interpol, the international police agency. ........ Still beautiful and still accused ...... Bhutto's tumultuous life in politics follows a family tradition that began with her grandfather. The wealthy feudal lord helped clear the way for the creation of Pakistan as an autonomous state for south Asian Muslims in 1947. .......... Bhutto was 26 and under house arrest with her mother in her home city of Karachi when her father was hanged. She was a graduate of Harvard University and had studied international law and diplomacy at Oxford. For the next six years, she worked on a book (Pakistan: The Gathering Storm, 1983) and served as an aide to her mother, Begum Nasrat Bhutto, who had assumed the leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party. ........ In late 1987, she married Asif Ali Zardari, the hereditary leader of an important Pakistani tribal group. ....... her government was unable to overcome conservative opposition in parliament. ........ Zardari was held in prison for another eight years without trial before his release by the Musharraf government in 2004.
Bhutto defiant after bombing Chicago Tribune, United States
Musharraf, Benazir vow to fight terrorism Pakistan Dawn, Pakistan
Bhutto alleges military link to suicide bombing Guardian Unlimited, UK
Bhutto confronts her enemies: 'We will not stop our struggle' Independent, UK
Bhutto determined to contest poll BBC News, UK
Benazir Bhutto the Target of a Suicide Attack that Killed 140 Buzzle, CA
Who Is Behind the Attack on Bhutto? TIME
Bhutto Says Militants Won't Drive Her Out NPR
‘Zia remnants’ blamed for Karachi carnage: Benazir vows to ... Pakistan Dawn, Pakistan
Long list of suspects in Benazir Bhutto bombs Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Bhutto blasts reveal divided nation Aljazeera.net, Qatar the attack did not bear the hallmarks of al-Qaeda, nor did they claim responsibility.
Al-Qaeda 'behind Bhutto attack' NEWS.com.au, Australia A HUGE security cordon was thrown around Benazir Bhutto's Karachi home last night ........ Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers surrounded Bilawal House, where a badly shaken Ms Bhutto was taken in an armoured vehicle after the bombers came close to killing her as she led a cavalcade of hundreds of thousands of supporters from the airport shortly after midnight .......... Ms Bhutto escaped injury only because she had answered a call of nature and momentarily left the upper deck of the fortified truck on which she was travelling to go to a toilet downstairs. ......... "I was talking to her about it ... she was worried that the lights were going off, the street lights, and that snipers could be on the tops of buildings and bridges" ........ al-Qa'ida had warned it was out to kill her because of her promise to allow Washington the right to hunt for Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan. ....... Government officials rejected the conspiracy claims, pointing out that scores of policemen lining Ms Bhutto's route were among the dead and wounded. ........ The city of 16 million people is a hotbed of internecine strife, and last night Ms Bhutto was criticised for insisting on leading a slow cavalcade through crowded streets that made her "a sitting duck". .......... "She doesn't seem to understand that things in Pakistan have changed and that to travel in the way she did was to make herself a sitting duck for suicide bombers wanting to kill her. Maybe she's been in exile too long," one official said. ........ "We'd spoken about the possibility of an attack, but never really thought it would happen. There was such a carnival atmosphere. The arrival had been fantastic and everyone was so happy."
Shaken Bhutto says Islamists were behind Karachi blasts International Herald Tribune, France
Normal life paralysed in Karachi Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

Web 2.0 Summit: Microsoft, MySpace, Facebook, Cisco, Twitter ... Computerworld built with Microsoft's Silverlight rich media software and is aimed at allowing nonprogrammers to build applications without having to code. ......... MySpace was acquired by News Corp for $580M two years ago. Today it could be worth more than 10 times that. ....... Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of social-networking phenom Facebook ... notes that with so much available on the Web and via social-network connections, many people learn what they know from ... what he calls the “social graph” ... which “decentralizes information” ... as people become more familiar with the Web, they share more, especially when they learn how to control what information about themselves they release. ......... Flickr, arguably Yahoo's best property, continues to improve ........ over 100,000 sites have already embedded Google Gadgets, with 63 of them attracting more than one million active users a week.
Ballmer: Microsoft will dunk on Google…eventually ZDNet “Microsoft [search] is just 3 years old and playing basketball with 12 year olds. It may take until he is 8, 9 or 10 and you are going to dunk, and we will dunk on them. “In other words, the relentless Microsoft will dunk on Google search and ads over time, according to Ballmer speak. ......... “We’ll buy 20 companies a year consistently for the next five years for anywhere between $50 million and $1 billion bucks,” Ballmer said. ....... both Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Ballmer are dodging the question. ....... Facebook’s 100,000 developers ...... Microsoft’s Silverlight, a competitor to Adobe’s Flash and AIR, Ballmer said, “Web applications will continue to get richer and richer in the kinds of media and logic associated with them. Windows and Mac don’t go away. Adobe has done good job on rich media stuff, but it’s a long way to go.” ......... Ballmer addressed the question of how Microsoft would get to a point where 25 percent of its revenue would come from advertising. “We have to do four things very well. You have to do search well. The most valuable ad real estate comes out of search. You will never attract critical mass of advertisers without search,” he said. In addition, Microsoft has to be good at community and communications, such as IM and the relationship with Facebook; build a strong advertising platform that addresses all media and devices; and sell ads on behalf of other people, moving into the syndication business as it has with Facebook and Digg.
Britney loses visitation Boston Globe
Oops! Britney drives over paparazzo's foot Reuters Canada A day after she lost visitation rights to her two young sons, the pop star drove over the foot of a paparazzo on Thursday night while trying to navigate past the hordes of photographers who document her every move. ...... Video footage showed an unidentified photographer in a flak jacket falling to the ground as the car apparently rolled over his foot but he quickly got up. ....... Spears appeared to start crying, according to photographers on the scene, but drove off as they ran after her. ....... Spears might want to consider hiring a chauffeur. She is already facing two misdemeanor charges after her car scuffed another car in a parking lot two months ago, again under the gaze of the paparazzi. ...... Spears endured another setback on Thursday. Her new single "Gimme More" fell three places to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.