Obama slams corporate agriculture Baltimore Sun, United States the Washington insiders who matter to me live in Washington County, Iowa, not Washington, D.C. ....... $1.3 billion in federal farm subsidies is going to people "who aren't even farmers." ...... "You've got farm money going to Fortune 500 companies. Meanwhile, for an expensive steak, a small farmer gets less than a dollar. For a loaf of bread, it's a dime. That's what's happens when rural policy gets made in the backrooms by lobbyists in Washington," Obama said. Barack Obama apologizes for attack on ClintonLos Angeles Times Obama says he won't take 'potshots' at Clinton Sioux City Journal, IA "I'm not interested in taking potshots just for the sake of taking potshots," Obama said. "If I had a serious difference with Sen. Clinton, I've made that difference absolutely clear, and I will continue to do so." ...... During his tenure in the state senate, Obama said he had one staff member ..... "I don't have the Barack Obama State Senate Library available to me. So we had a bunch of file cabinets. I do not have a whole bunch of records from those years." Will Obama Survive the Fox News Attack Machine? Blogcritics.org, OH So what do you do if the negative attacks happen even before the race begins? Worse yet, what if the attacker is a multi-billion dollar media conglomerate who can coordinate their message through television, radio and Internet outlets? ..... She said, "I don't think America is ready for a Muslim President." This marketing bomb had hit its target. ....... Since the beginning of 2007, Fox has taken it upon themselves to make weekly personal attacks on Barack's character, religion, family, personal history and legislative record. At the last count they produced over 37 negative stories, almost one per week, since before he announced his candidacy. As a United States Senator, Obama might seem like fair game until you actually read the articles. He's accused of being a cocaine addict, a muslim, a socialist, a terrorist sympathizer, a black radical and of being related to Osama Bin Laden himself. ....... some television viewers and radio listeners can't tell fact from fiction Bhutto’s Persona Raises Distrust, as Well as Hope New York Times Gov't commits to make Nepal Sambat as national calendar Xinhua So's Your MotherMcCain v. Giuliani gets personal Slate The era of good feeling was bound to disappear, since McCain's aides will tell you that much of his support drifted over to Rudy once the mayor got into the race. And now it's getting very personal very fast. ..... Giuliani's support for Kerik, his one-time driver whom he later made the city's police commissioner and then backed for Ridge's former job, meant he lacked judgment. At Iowa dinner, candidates peck at Clinton Chicago TribuneBarack Obama of Illinois received the loudest ovation from about 9,000 people who filled the downtown Veterans Memorial Auditorium to watch the candidates launch their sprint to the Iowa finish. Obama, who gave the evening's final speech nearly 4ƒ1/2ƒ hours after the event began, challenged the front-runner, though not directly by name. "The same old Washington textbook campaigns just won't do it in this election," Obama said. "That's why not answering questions because we are afraid our answers won't be popular just won't do it." Candidate of contrast Obama said that he would present a clear contrast in the general election. "When I'm your nominee, my opponent won't be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq, or that I gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran, or that I support Bush-Cheney policies of not talking to leaders we don't like," Obama said. "And he will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental as whether it's OK for America to torture, because it's never OK." Can't get enough of Barack Obama? Los Angeles Times Tim Russert devoting the whole hour to Barack Obama .... The only one to get a dedicated show, though, is Obama Obama: Clinton has too much baggage Chicago Sun-Times “If you start off with half the country not wanting to vote for you, you don’t have a lot of margin for error” ...... he has no history of “generating anger among Republicans.” ...... only 2 percent of the Iowa population is African American. ..... New polls to be released soon will show front-runner Clinton dropping some in New Hampshire. And Democrats meet for another debate in Las Vegas on Thursday. Fear of a dynasty denies Hillary Clinton votes Times Online concerns that two dynasties – the Bush and Clinton families – could dominate American politics for 28 years. ...... “I feel like an old racehorse who is semi-retired,” he said with self-deprecating charm. “Every now and then they drag me out of the barn and see if I can make it round the track one last time.” ........ Barack-Stars, 17-year-old school pupils who are entitled to vote in the Iowa caucus if they turn 18 by November 4, 2008, election day. ........ Obama’s innovative organisation has paid more attention to mobilising the teenage vote than any other campaign. ....... there’s something about Hillary’s nature . . . As a kid, I don’t feel she gets me. She seems too uptight.” ...... Dynasticism brings with it a sense of deterioration. It is dispiriting Clinton looks to widen her leadNational Post Mr. Obama, meanwhile, has spent the past week on a tour of Iowa, sharpening his attacks on the front-runner while also taking on her husband and campaigner-in-chief, Bill Clinton. Clinton campaign just missing spontaneityToronto Star Hillary Clinton defends Bill for defending herReuters Hillary Clinton's planted question gaffeTelegraph.co.uk Hillary Clinton has been caught answering a planted question on global warming from a member of the audience during a supposedly spontaneous session with voters in the key first caucus state of Iowa. ...... Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff asked how she planned to combat climate change. ..... The former First Lady replied: "You know, I find as I travel around Iowa that it's usually young people that ask me about global warming." ...... The student later said that one of Sen Clinton's staff asked her to put the question to Sen Clinton and then signalled to the candidate to choose her. Not the first time Clinton camp prompted question Baltimore Sun Clinton Campaign Acused for the Second Time of Planting a Question ...FOX News Pakistan a "pressure cooker", journalists expelled Reuters transmissions of BBC and CNN have been blocked ...... "He is the chief justice, he is the real chief justice," Bhutto blared over a megaphone, after police trucks blocked her way to Chaudhry's residence. ...... Bhutto plans to lead a "long march", actually a mass motor procession, from Lahore on Tuesday to put more pressure on Musharraf to revoke emergency rule, restore the constitution and the sacked judges, quit as army chief, hold elections in January, and release thousands of detainees. ...... She will go to Lahore, the city where the pulse of Pakistani politics beats strongest ........ Musharraf briefed army commanders telling them the emergency had been a very difficult decision but necessary to ensure effective governance, maintain efforts against terrorism and provide for a stable political transition .... "dictatorship causes fanaticism"...... "The choice must not be between the military or the militants. The choice must be for the will of the people for democracy" ...... The uncertainties have unnerved foreign investors and domestic markets. Benazir Bhutto Is Permitted to Leave HomeNew York Times Ms. Bhutto, a former prime minister, visited a group of journalists protesting a government shutdown of independent television stations and attended a reception for foreign diplomats given by her party at the Parliament building. ....... Bhutto’s party, the Pakistan People’s Party, would carry out a protest march planned for Tuesday from the eastern city of Lahore to Islamabad ..... Over the past year, suicide attacks by militants based in remote tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan have soared. The government has lost control of growing amounts of territory as bands of insurgents seize control and declare Islamic law. In some cases, police officers and soldiers have surrendered to militants instead of fighting them. ........ a close adviser to Ms. Bhutto confirmed that the back-channel talks continued. ..... She called for the reinstatement of the Supreme Court and then quickly drove away. Pakistan: The Making of a CrisisTIME a mercurial mix of history, religion and politics — with explosive results ..... 165 million people ..... Pakistan's government backed the puritanical Taliban government in Kabul until Sept. 11, 2001. ....... General Musharraf is a former commando and fought in Pakistan's wars with its bigger South Asian neighbor — and constant rival — India in 1965 and 1971. He was Chief of Army Staff during a smaller conflict between the two countries in 1999 ....... Oxford-educated and the first woman to lead a post-colonial Muslim state, Bhutto is the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was Pakistan's Prime Minister between 1973 and 1977. ........ Pakistan, which has gladly accepted $10 billion in aid from Washington since the 2001 attacks ....... The area, often described as lawless, has long been controlled by fiercely conservative tribes that run their own semi-autonomous administration. ...... U.S. intelligence agencies believe al-Qaeda has now rebuilt to the point where it could launch fresh attacks against America. ....... a military-and-security apparatus that many fear harbors extremist elements ....... those same military and intelligence bodies still include officials sympathetic to the militants Islamabad is supposed to be fighting When the Patient Is a Googler Susan had chosen me because she had researched my education, read a paper I had written, determined my university affiliation and knew where I lived. ...... They talk a lot. I often wonder, while waiting for them to pause, if there are patients like this in poor, war-torn countries where the need for doctors is more dire. ....... engineers, as a class, are possibly the best patients. They're logical ........ There's so much information (as well as misinformation) in medicine — and, yes, a lot of it can be Googled — that one major responsibility of an expert is to know what to ignore. ....... A seasoned doc gets good at sizing up what kind of patient he's got and how to adjust his communicative style accordingly. What Hillary Stands For her roughest night as a candidate — the Oct. 30 ..... Walter Mondale, a ghost of Democratic disasters past .... he ran the worst sort of cautious front-runner campaign for the nomination in 1984, was nearly upended by the younger, more dynamic Gary Hart in the primaries and was utterly trounced by Ronald Reagan in the general ..... Clinton has been accused of running a cautious front-runner campaign. ...... Americans are problem solvers. We are not ideologues. Most people are just looking for sensible, commonsense solutions ......... "Getting stuff done," as Bill Clinton used to say. That means being flagrantly political, working the system, making the compromises necessary to get the best deal possible to enact their priorities. ....... drives partisans crazy on both sides of the political divide ....... Clinton inspired an even greater frenzy because she was a gender revolutionary, transforming the cotton-candy role of First Lady into a power position. She wasn't nearly as charming as her husband either. And she seemed ... tougher. ........... Iowa, where the traditionally undependable polls ....... The debate seemed a signpost: the beginning of the real campaign after more than a year of fund-raising and inside baseball. And her performance seemed a crystallization of the problems that have always plagued Clinton, the notion that she is perpetually calculating, triangulating and cold, without core convictions. ......... her lawyerly answers ...... "authenticity" — that foolish journalistic cliché meant to denote the appearance of informality and spontaneity ........ her plans on the big domestic-policy issues — health care and energy — have been courageous and detailed, more sophisticated than her opponents' — and very, very smart politically ........ She is rhapsodic about the possibilities of diplomacy, and she has earned the trust of the military because of her hard work on the Senate Armed Services Committee. ........ the Clinton machine: a campaign awash in the dark arts of polling, market-testing and fund-raising (although Obama's groundbreakingly cool campaign is just as stage-managed) ......... his history as a hedge-fund rainmaker and his closeness to the trial lawyers' lobby. ....... the sheer effort she's made — to know the issues, to become a more effective speaker on the stump, to be more personable, to loosen up a little ........ a personal confidence that Bill — who always seemed desperate for approval — never had ........ Do they want the Clinton circus back in town? Do they want to keep trading the presidency between these two weird families? ...... 40% were undecided going into the last week of the caucus. It'll be the same this time. LAPD Criticized Over Muslim 'Map' The LAPD's counterterrorism bureau plans to identify Muslim enclaves in order to determine which might be likely to become isolated and susceptible to "violent, ideologically based extremism," said Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing on Thursday. "We want to know where the Pakistanis, Iranians and Chechens are so we can reach out to those communities," said Downing, who heads the counterterrorism bureau. ...... There are an estimated 500,000 Muslims in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. New York State Democrats Celebrate Strategic Victories in Republican State Senate Districts Across New York Democrats maintained their majority in Nassau, expanded it in Suffolk, picked up seats in Monroe and Onondaga and won a new majority in Dutchess County ...... Democrats won major victories in the backyards of vulnerable Republican State Senators including Kemp Hannon, Joe Robach, Tom Morahan, John DeFrancisco and Caesar Trunzo .
US Strategy for Pakistan Looks Increasingly Fragile New York Times they still believe that a power-sharing agreement between Ms. Bhutto and the general can survive. “We hope we’re seeing a little bit of political theater here,” a senior State Department official said. ........ the subsequent speech by Ms. Bhutto to the nation that was broadcast on official Pakistani television. .... administration officials said they were worried that if Ms. Bhutto had gone ahead with her planned rally, she might have been killed. ....... staging political campaign rallies in stadiums and arenas, and not out in the streets, in order to address safety concerns. ....... The United States is underestimating popular discontent with military rule, they say, and the ability of open elections to stabilize the country. Violence In Nepal Voice of AmericaMr. Sah had written stories about alleged smuggling by Maoists and about Maoist violence against political opponents. ........ Maoist insurgents committed numerous human rights abuses throughout 2006 including murder, kidnapping, and extortion. Abuses by Nepali security forces decreased substantially while Maoist abuses continued relatively unabated. San Francisco Bay oil spill spreads Los Angeles Timesthe checkered history of the vessel's pilot. ..... The ship leaked 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel, a thick and oily substance that is difficult to clean up, after it rammed the base of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in dense fog about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. ........ skimmer boat that vacuums oil residue off the water ....... 11 skimmer boats had been dispatched by a private contractor hired for the cleanup. ....... Although the oil slick remains largely inside the bay, tidal action and winds have spread the spill outside the Golden Gate and up the Marin County coastline, as far as Muir Beach. ..... Capt. John Cota, 59, has been a master mariner for more than a quarter century. But since the early 1990s he has been investigated for four separate incidents, and last year was reprimanded for running a ship aground A Planetary System That Looks Familiar New York Times 41 light-years from here ..... detecting rocky planets like Earth is probably beyond the current technology It's On: Obama, Edwards And Clinton (No, The Other One) Invade Iowa MTV.com Obama's GOP anger managementChicago Sun-Times Obama: Race won't hurt me in IowaChicago Tribune How women view Clinton in Iowa. Slate Women overwhelmingly favor Clinton in polls in the state. They're also the ones who give her the edge over her rivals when polls measure voters who say they've picked their candidate and won't change their mind. ........ The first thing I noticed talking to women who both support Hillary and those who are undecided is that a general conversation about the presidential race pretty quickly gets to gender. ....... "It was the woman in her that won. Men have some abilities. Women have others, and she could just rise above them all." ........ a win for her would bring America in line "with other progressive nations that have had women leaders." ....... They would think about their own experiences of being a woman in a man's world. ...... she found herself yelling at the television when she saw a recap of the Philadelphia debate. "They were so mean and nasty to Hillary," she said outside of the Oelwein middle school. "It made me like her even more." ......... Of the more than a dozen women I talked to, only one had actually seen the debate—a Clinton campaign county chairwoman who declared it obvious that the men found it easier to attack a woman than a man. The other women, whether they were supporting Clinton or not, seemed to take it as an article of faith that the men had ganged up on her, as Seltzer suggested. Of the men and women who dislike Clinton, no one mentioned that she'd inappropriately used her gender. The nearly universal complaint was that she was too calculating and dishonest, which was actually the argument put forward by those men at the Philadelphia debate. ......... She is quick to say at every event that she's not running merely as a woman, which of course serves to put the issue front and center.
Obama ‘Stunned’ by Clinton ‘Swift Boat’ ClaimNewsMax.com Bill Clinton’s assertion that his wife Hillary faced a Republican-style “swift boat” attack during and after the recent Democratic debate has drawn fire from Democratic rival Barack Obama. ...... discussed attempts by the debate moderators and Hillary’s rivals to get her to explain her stance on giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. ..... He likened attacks on Hillary to a “scandalous” 2004 ad by John Kerry’s fellow swift boat Vietnam veterans, which questioned Kerry’s military valor. ...... “Why am I saying this? Because I had the feeling that at the end of that last debate we were about to get into cutesy land again.” ........ “I was pretty stunned by that statement.” .. “How you would then draw an analogy to distorting somebody’s military record is a reach.” .. Even the Hillary Clinton campaign sought to distance Hillary from her husband’s comments. A senior adviser to the campaign said the remarks were considered counterproductive ....... by taking on Bill Clinton, Obama was going after one of Hillary’s key campaign assets
The swift boat ads can be compared to when Max Cleland got labeled a traitor. That is a valid comparison. John Kerry served honorably in Vietnam. You don't put out an ad questioning his patriotism. Max Cleland lost limbs in Vietnam. The guy probably is very patriotic. But the Republicans managed to turn the tables on both of them. Draft dodging duo Bush and Cheney were patriotic, but Kerry, well, he was another story.
But how do you go from there to Hillary Clinton being asked as to where she stands on the issuance of drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants. How is that swift? How is that boat? How is that veteran? How is that an ad?
Bill Clinton is a great guy. He was a great president. He remains a progressive idol. He has a sharp mind. He loves his wife. But this is stretching it even by Bill Clinton's standards.
"Sometimes I hear some of these candidates talking, it's like they make me feel like a mummy. I'm only 61. I don't think I've got a leg in the grave yet." - Bill Clinton
This is classic Bill Clinton. The only thing any Dem running for president makes Bill Clinton feel is like wanting to hit the campaign trail. Noone makes him fee like a mummy. But he is like, what the heck, so what do I have to say to get these seniors in Iowa to vote for my wife?
In The News
Bill Clinton and Obama Agree: GOP Will Make Immigration an Issue Washington Post, United States "My estimation is that the Republicans will run on two issues, and two issues only," he said. "Terrorism and immigration. That is going to be their campaign." ..... in a way that shows the United States can be a "nation of laws and a nation of immigrants at the same time." ...... The former president is known to believe that of all the issues likely to be at the forefront of the 2008 campaign, immigration holds the greatest potential peril for the Democrats. ...... "It is a difficult, complicated and important issue," he said. "What I thought was not good was waiting until the very end [of the debate], when we were in the part where everybody was supposed to answer the question in 30 seconds, and then asking all the candidates to hold their hands up. Because I thought it made all the Democrats vulnerable to a Swift Boat kind of ad in the general election." ........ Clinton said he has a hard and fast rule. "I don't criticize the other Democrats. I can disagree with them on the issues, but I want to keep our party together. I want us to win in November. And the thing I didn't like about the way that Mr. Russert [NBC's Tim Russert] asked the question was it was like setting them all up to be cartoonized. That's what I mean." ...... The Democratic position takes time to explain and includes plenty of qualifiers to soften the message that they favor providing a path to legal status for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now in the country. Bill Clinton Says His Wife Took the Rap on Health CareNew York Times Bill Clinton Casts Glow Over Wife's Presidential CampaignFOX News No town is too small or off the beaten track for the former president in a state with a tightening race. ...... locals appear happy to have him. Curiosity-seekers ..... Clinton kept them applauding as he pinch-hit for his absent wife ...... "She's tough, she's smart, and she's disciplined, and she definitely can win." ..... only 27 percent of respondents thought a Hillary Clinton presidency would be an extension of her husband's two terms. Sixty-seven percent said it would be different. ....... only 34 percent of respondents believe Hillary Clinton is honest ...... Nov. 4 and 7 shows Hillary Clinton maintaining a strong lead nationally, even though she's slipping. It showed her with 41 percent support over Obama's 22 percent. A similar Rasmussen poll taken in mid-October showed her with 49 percent, and Obama with 22 percent. ....... "Part of it's generational," Obama told FOX News Wednesday. "Senator Clinton and others have been fighting some of the same fights since the '60s." ....... "Hillary and I, maybe we're just artifacts," he said. "Sometimes I hear some of these candidates talking, it's like they make me feel like a mummy. I'm only 61. I don't think I've got a leg in the grave yet." ........... "You know, I was over at the paper and my husband called. I told him I'd lost my voice, and he said, 'I lost my voice in New Hampshire. It's a good omen!' That is my husband, he always sees the bright side of everything," she said. Ohio Governor Endorses Clinton New York Times, United States I am doing this out of a deeply felt conviction that Senator Clinton has the skills, the experience, the strength, and the courage to be a great president ...... a week-long news cycle that has been largely tough for Mrs. Clinton ...... warning her rivals not to engage in “Swift Boat” style attacks ..... He obviously counsels and advises me every single day ..... she could be heard coughing hard at one point on the phone call today. Clinton: Bill advises me whenever he canDesMoinesRegister.com “I’m thrilled to have his support and look forward to being able to call on him in every capacity I can imagine.” .... “9,000 active Democrats being whipped up to get ready for the caucuses on Jan. 3.” .... Strickland said “these are very serious times for our nation,” and Clinton has the best understanding of the problems and is the best prepared to lead. Poll Suggests Clinton Is VulnerableWall Street Journal reservations about Sen. Clinton's truthfulness and ideology, even as Americans applaud her experience and leadership qualities. .... She is in a virtual dead heat with leading Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani when the two are matched up. ..... "This is an exceptionally close election" less than a year before Election Day. ...... the former New York City mayor slammed Mrs. Clinton for displaying "the worst of the Clinton years" by equivocating in the debate on driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. "If you think a question about driver's licenses is a tough question, a gotcha question, you're not ready for [Iranian leader Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad," Mr. Giuliani told a New Hampshire town hall meeting a few days ago. ........... noting that in the case of Social Security her demurrals are designed to avoid "a Republican trap." The Clinton Conundrum: Bill's Defense Undermines Hillary's Candidacy FOX News His stout defense of his wife saps her credibility and raises doubts about her potential strength as a president. With his every speech and utterance, the question grows: Can she stand up for herself or does she need to hide behind her husband? ..... The stereotype of the strong man standing up for his besieged wife is deeply ingrained in our psyche. But even as it feeds admiration for his chivalry, it also undermines her reputation for strength and independence. ....... a global matrix of terrorists ..... Bill Clinton is way too far out there for Hillary’s good. He needs to take the same kind of slow boat to China that he sent her on during his White House years ........ she is ducking issues and dancing around making commitments. ....... a sense that she may be too weak to be president. After all, the men who run Al Qaeda, Iran, Russia and China have a tendency to pile on also. ....... A strong wife implies a weak husband and vice versa. ..... The fact that Bill has been president just makes his intervention the more obvious and politically costly. .... Bill needs to go home and get a life. If it is the economy, GOP may be in troubleLos Angeles Times Suzanne Goldenberg asks whether women will vote for Hillary Clinton Guardian Unlimited, UK The most talked-about news story that day was a fashion item in the Washington Post deconstructing Clinton's neckline. Did the sliver of flesh above her V-neck top really constitute cleavage ...... I feel that a woman can represent my interests better - no matter how liberal or progressive a man is ...... Among Latina women in Los Angeles, she ranked ahead of Mother Teresa. African-American women in Philadelphia put her just behind Oprah Winfrey .... her Georgetown mansion ...... the contacts book of that natural-born schmoozer, Bill Clinton ....... a vote for Clinton was a vote for the status quo. ...... It is just 29 years since the first woman was elected to the Senate in her own right, rather than appointed to replace an inconveniently deceased husband or father. ........ the United States ranks 67th - between Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan - in terms of the representation of women. That translates into 16% of the seats in Congress: 71 women members in the 435-seat House of Representatives, and 16 in the 100-seat Senate. ......... "What if she is supposed to push the button to fire the missiles and she can't because she has just done her nails?" ...... "My campaign was almost entirely inspired by my then 10-year-old niece, who was looking at her social studies books and saying: 'But Auntie Carol, all the presidents are boys.'" ....... The words that came to mind when people thought of Hillary Clinton were: Bill, husband, intelligence and strength, but also phoney, sneaky, way too feminist, backstabber and she-devil. ......... The harshest critics are often other women. ...... Ferraro had encountered outrage among some women that she had dared to play in a male arena. ....... When Clinton was endorsed by the National Organisation for Women, a Christian women's group known as the Concerned Women of America put out a sour statement asserting: "Hillary needs a reality check if she thinks that a majority of women voters embrace radical feminism." ....... we talk about Hillary Clinton. Because she is the first, she has tested many of the issues that are really not about her, but about the deeply cultural issues that have kept women out of leadership ............ Only 55% of those polled say the country is ready, and among women the figure is just 51%. ....... Women, Schroeder says, don't have a "uniform" for politics, unlike men with their "red tie, white shirt, blue jacket". ....... Perching on a stool during a debate might allow male candidates to look casual and relaxed, she says; for women, it is a nightmare of worrying whether their slip is showing. ....... Clinton's favourite outdoor pursuit is walking, and when she wants to de-stress she cleans out her closets - neither of which are particularly photogenic. ........ In the 1964 film Kisses for My President, the improbably elected female leader of the free world resigns when she gets pregnant. Her husband rejoices that while it took the votes of millions of women to put the president in office, it took only one man to get her out. Gender Card: Hillary Shuffles the Deck The Nation., NY a chorus line of media pundits denounced her for having hurt the cause of feminism by acting like the injured girl and dealing the "gender card." ........ I mean, this is the NFL. This is not Wellesley versus Smith in field hockey ...... a morality play in which men are the rescuers and women the victims in need of rescuing ....... "Every suburban mother's greatest fear" was now not a black man's mug shot but a Muslim terrorist's, and every suburban mother was recast as a Security Mom (a mythical creature, as it happened, but that's another story). ...... Both George W. Bush and John Kerry worked hard to position themselves as the King of the Wild Frontier. (Both granted long interviews to hunting and fishing magazines; both bragged about their gun collections; Bush whacked at sagebrush and tree stumps; Kerry stalked wild animals and waved their bloody pelts at journalists.) ........ "Ashley's Story" was critical to the election results. Political analysts scored it "the most effective ad" of the political season ....... when the Kerry's strategists raced to air the ads, they discovered they'd been trumped: The Bush campaign had bought up the commercial time in the big swing states. ......... as much to do with gender as security ...... So far, the only person who has a lock on rescuing women is the one female candidate. ...... By hugging girls while trying to gut equal-opportunity programs, the White House was working hard to institute its own cult of victimhood. ....... at the core of all American political rescue fantasies is a young woman in need. Buffeted by critics, Clinton hits rough patch Reuters Buffeted by attacks from her rivals and accused of political double-talk, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has hit a rough patch on the road to her party's nomination. ........ A big lead in New Hampshire has weakened a bit. ...... A win in Iowa can generate momentum for the next state contest in New Hampshire, and beyond. ....... On the stump, Clinton tries to remain above the fray. Credit crunch has only just begun: James Saft Obama Notes 'Reversal' for Clinton on EnergyWashington Post her sketchy record on ethanol would catch up with her in Iowa. ........ her previous opposition to ethanol incentives ...... The state produces and consumes it in enormous quantities. Obama's home state of Illinois is another industry leader, and the senator has been a consistent booster. ...... 13 votes cast by Clinton from 2002 to 2006 that could be construed as anti-ethanol ....... Clinton's energy plan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, and to cut foreign oil imports by two-thirds from 2030 projected levels, more than 10 million barrels per day. ..... Clinton proposed increasing the national goal for biofuel use to 60 billion gallons by 2030, with almost half of that coming from advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol, which is more effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and can be produced from products other than corn, including straw and woodchips. One state investing heavily in commercial cellulosic ethanol development: New York. Clinton the target for Democrats in Iowa AFP the rockiest week of her 2008 campaign. ..... In 2003, the dinner was seen as the moment when Senator John Kerry breathed new life into his campaign Why you should care about Google Android ZDNet UK will be location-based and identity-based ...... Android devices with touchscreens. Since the iPhone, everything has to have a touchscreen ..... There are projections of billions of dollars of advertising revenue from the mobile internet. ........ In exchange for giving up their walled gardens, the operators get the promise of a cheaper handset platform, and one which will develop faster and have more applications — if the Android ecosystem works as planned. ...... Android is already doing far better than any previous Linux phone effort. ...... Android is already doing far better than any previous Linux phone effort. ....... the Open Handset Alliance, a group of 34 hardware and software companies plus wireless carriers committed to creating open standards for mobile devices. ....... Google says that three billion people have mobile phones, compared with the billion on the internet — but the majority of those phones are low-end feature phones that won't be able to benefit from Android. Most of the users are on pre-pay rather than a contract, so they won't be able to benefit from the high-value, identity-related services that might be offered on top of Android. Ballmer: Google Only Ahead Of Microsoft In Search eWeek
Obama tries to convert promise to support in Iowa Reuters draws big crowds and raises big money ....... a race he entered earlier this year in a blaze of excitement, publicity and record-setting fund raising. ...... "Senator Obama is the only candidate who can bring the sort of change we need. He seems very genuine to me" ...... With less than two months left until the Iowa contest, Obama is spending more time in the state and building a vast grass-roots organization featuring more than 30 field offices that has impressed local Democrats. ....... "We recognize the importance of Iowa -- we're going to be spending the bulk of our time here and in New Hampshire in the last two months," said campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs. New Hampshire is expected to hold the second state contest. ....... one Obama backer said he had the ability to talk directly about issues. ..... "When you ask a question he actually answers it" Obama takes on Clinton x2Baltimore Sun ALBIA, Iowa -- At times Thursday, it was as if Sen. Barack Obama was running against two Clintons. ....... "If part of your basis for experience is the work you did on health care, then presumably, when it didn't work that's part of experience as well," he said. .... "My understanding is that President Clinton is not on the ballot." With Obama In Iowa: "How Are You Going To Beat Hillary?"CBS News A new Zogby Poll out today shows the race in Iowa is tightening. Three percentage points now separate Hillary the Leader from Barack the Challenger. Some suspect that's why Bill Clinton is campaigning in western Iowa today. ........ "Every family has a black sheep," he says to gales of laughter. ...... "Longevity," he shouts, "says nothing about your judgment or your character." He says he will end the war in Iraq during his presidency. "It will be the first thing that I do," he said. ....... A woman asks him, "How are you going to beat Hillary?" ..... He tells another voter he's against Michael Mukasey as attorney general. Torture is torture, says Obama. He can't support someone who is ambivalent or ambiguous about it. ..... he says it is not practical to send 12 million people back home. ...... He handles each topic with relative ease, conveying confidence. His audience listens closely, and unlike many political rallies I've attended, in this one nobody leaves early. Rumble Is On For Obama CBS News a tougher, more competitive tone in the debates and on the stump ...... “I think there was a period of time when things were static and people liked what they were hearing from me, but they didn't have a sense that there were significant differences between me and Sen. Clinton.” ........ At stop after stop, Obama tries to draw even sharper distinctions with Clinton on Iraq, on Iran, on immigration and on who could better unite the country. Voters are taking notice. “He's sharpening himself and honing himself and I think that's more effective than being Mr. Nice Guy,” said Iowa caucus voter Nancy Nieland. ...... Obama says playing it safe is for others - Clinton for example. “I don’t fault her for that. That is how people have been taught politics in Washington. That’s conventional wisdom, right?” Obama said. “You make yourself a small target by avoiding being definitive about anything.” Democrats have tried that before, he says - and lost. Firing It Up On the StumpWashington Post the "wine and cheese as opposed to the beer and pretzels crowd" ....... He's a late bloomer. "What I do believe, and this was true of my U.S. Senate race, as we get along in the campaign, my stump speeches get more effective and I become a sharper campaigner," Obama said. ...... he is more jazz than pop. "I tend not to write out my stump speeches," Obama said. "Often times I'm sort of developing them on the stump, figuring out what feels right, what suits my voice. Listening to people's stories - that then informs how I'm talking." ........ his speeches could veer into wonkish territory. ...... He polished up the closing portion, a riff on a early morning visit to Greenwood, S.C. ...... "But here's the thing, Ottumwa," Obama told a crowd in eastern Iowa yesterday. "After about a minute or two, I'm feeling kind of fired up. I'm feeling like I'm ready to go." The audience laughed. "It goes to show you how one voice can change the mood of the room," Obama continues. "And if a voice can change a room it can change a city. And if it can change a city it can change a state. If it can change a state it can change a country, and if it can change a country it can change the world. Your voice can change the world. So I want to know - are you fired up? Ready to go?" The chant filled the school gymnasium as Obama walked off stage. Now Obama & Clinton are talkin' about her generationUSA Today Obama Focuses on Pensions, Retirement The Associated Press Obama Ad Targets Blue Collar WorkersThe Associated Press Obama vows to ensure 'secure and dignified' retirementBoston Globe Bill Clinton Says His Wife Took the Rap on Health Care New York Times Bill Clinton Casts Glow Over Wife's Presidential CampaignFOX News Clinton: Blame Me for Health FailureThe Associated Press In Surveys, Clinton, Giuliani Gain Edge on Primary Rivals Wall Street Journal Giuliani, Clinton Lead Presidential RaceThe Associated Press Clinton vs. Giuliani: Two Sinister Pols Could Face OffBay Area Indymedia Clinton Gets an Instant Chance to Wield a New Weapon New York Times Tips from the Clinton campaignSan Diego Union Tribune Hillary Clinton's detractors accuse her of being a lot of things: too liberal, too divisive and, now, a lousy tipper. ..... National Public Radio aired an interview with Anita Esterday, an Iowa waitress who served Clinton a sandwich during a drop-by at the Maid-Rite restaurant in Toledo, Iowa, last month. ...... Esterday posed for photos with Clinton and told her how difficult it is being a single mother working two jobs to make ends meet. Clinton may have been a sympathetic listener, but not sympathetic enough to leave a gratuity, the waitress told NPR. "I mean, nobody got left a tip that day," Esterday said. "I don't think she understood what I was saying." Kerik’s Corruption Case Dogs Giuliani New York Times McCain offers Ridge in contrast to KerikBoston Globe US Senate Confirms Michael Mukasey as Attorney General Voice of America Body of journalist recovered in Nepal Hindu Pakistan's Bhutto Under House Arrest, 5000 Supporters Rounded Up ABC News Two Gangster Films Shed Light on 70s Drug World in New York Voice of America Congress Turns Back Bush’s Veto in a Test of Power New York Times Georgia's president moves up elections Los Angeles Times Musharraf Says He’ll Give Up Army Post and Hold Elections New York Times He made clear that he was counting on a newly formed Supreme Court, filled with appointees loyal to him, to confirm his re-election as president. ....... “There were a lot of arrests all over Punjab, including of women,” said Qasim Zia, a party leader in Lahore. “Police broke down doors to get into the houses.” ....... an unknown number of lawyers -- 1,000 or more, according to some estimates -- have been arrested. ....... a judge in Lahore, Irfan Qadir, who granted bail to 54 human rights advocates arrested Sunday, was removed from the bench and relegated to a desk job as a way of punishment ........ The leader of the lawyers’ movement, Aitzaz Ahsan, a Cambridge University attorney, was allowed his first visitor Wednesday ...... Under the measure, journalists whose reports bring “ridicule or disrepute” on General Musharraf and other officials could face up to three years in prison. ....... The president appeared to have a plan in mind for the future that would preserve his position as president without any interference from an independent judiciary Nepal's peace process Economisttwo local Maoist officials had shot Mr Sah dead, on the orders of their local superior but outside party policy ....... The Terai, the southern plain, is now the most violent part of Nepal. Perpetrators include the Maoists, a string of new militant and criminal groups, and the army and police. There are now more than 20 Terai factions, mostly claiming to espouse the rights of the marginalised southern peoples known as Madhesis. The daily litany of violence recalls the war years. In recent days a youth was burnt to death, a local politician had his throat slit and a bomb in the town of Birgunj killed one person. ......... the minorities' sense of continued discrimination; the politicians' obsession with short-term political gain ...... As the Maoists struggle to overcome internal divisions between hardliners and pragmatists, their Young Communist League has revived their old system of parallel government and rough justice. ....... The army's hardliners, however, resent any hint of UN involvement. In First Bush Veto Override, Senate Enacts Water Bill New York Times Pro-Kurdish party calls for autonomy in SE Turkey ReutersNearly 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas took up arms to fight for a Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey. ........ "A democratic and federal system is the most suitable solution (to Turkey's Kurdish problem)," Aysel Tugluk, an influential Democratic Society Party (DTP) lawmaker, told a party convention in Ankara. ....... "Everyone knows very well that the solution to the Kurdish problem lies in democratic moves rather than (military) operations," Tugluk said. Britney Spears must provide drug lab with 1 good phone number KESQ Obama Ad Targets Blue Collar Workers FOX News Obama Focuses on Pensions, RetirementThe Associated Press Obama vows to ensure 'secure and dignified' retirementBoston Globe Obama plane lands in wrong Iowa city Reuters From the air, one Iowa city can look a lot like another. Or so it seems. .... Bill Clinton was legendary for running on his own clock ...... The pilot landed Obama’s campaign plane in Des Moines instead of Cedar Rapids, forcing a quick take-off again to fly the 127 miles to Cedar Rapids and making his rally more than an hour late. ...... “What can I tell you?” Obama asked Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa on Wednesday. “Apparently our pilot’s been logging in a lot of miles.” Obama campaign plane off-course by 150 milesBaltimore Sun Right State, Wrong Town for ObamaNew York Times Obama: Here's $1000 Chicago Sun-Times Obama targets economic fearsBoston Globe Obama proposes tax-and-benefit program aimed at women, working ...Kansas City Star Giuliani, Clinton Lead Presidential Race The Associated Press Poll: Clinton lagging in quest for male votersUSA Today OPINION: Look For Organized Effort to Gang Up on Clinton ABC News Clinton 'victim' defense apparently backfires Newsday Clinton Says Debate Made Dems VulnerableThe Associated Press Former President Clinton said Wednesday that all the Democratic presidential candidates could be open to a "swift boat kind of ad" if they try to give quick responses to complicated issues like driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. ...... "I thought it made all the Democrats vulnerable to a swift-boat-kind of ad in the general election," Clinton told reporters after a rally at a South Side ballroom with several hundred of his wife's supporters. The event was closed to the media. "When you have complicated issues, you don't want to turn them into two-dimensional cartoons," he said. Oh-eight (D): It's a bird, it's a plane...MSNBC China to Olympic athletes: Bring Bibles if you want USA Today Bush-Sarkozy: A Love Supreme? TIME In a Surprise, Pat Robertson Backs Giuliani New York Times Google Android Just a Press Release, Says Ballmer PC World Petrol pump Google maps to help lost US driversABC Online more reliable than asking a stranger. ..... The new pumps will start coming into service next month. WiMAX to Hold a $36.4 Billion Market Ad-Hoc-News Despite $380 million loss, Ford is optimistic International Herald Tribune Beckham star attraction for 48172 soccer fans in Vancouver Canada.com SOCCER: BECKHAM OVERSOLD, PELE CONTENDS Globe and Mail Beckham says he respects Pele but MLS knew what they were gettingThe Canadian Press Bill Gates voted most influential IT personality of past 25 yearsTG Daily Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell Top List of IT Influencers InformationWeek Yellowstone Is Rising on Swollen "Supervolcano" National Geographic Its central region, called the Yellowstone caldera, has been moving upward since mid-2004 at a rate of up to three inches (seven centimeters) a year—more than three times faster than has ever been measured. ..... an infusion of magma about 6 miles (10 kilometers) underground ...... Yellowstone is situated on a giant, geologically active feature known as a supervolcano. ...... "It's hundreds of times bigger than Mount St. Helens" ...... Much of the park sits in a caldera, or crater, some 40 miles (70 kilometers) across, which formed when the cone of the massive volcano collapsed in a titanic eruption 640,000 years ago. ....... three similarly large blasts in the past two million years, with 30 smaller eruptions since the caldera formed. ....... "Since … about 14,000 years ago, the Yellowstone caldera has inflated and deflated about six to eight times without a volcanic eruption" ...... the volcano is produced by a "hot spot" in the Earth's mantle, a plume of hot rock rising from hundreds of miles below. Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez confirms pregnancy Reuters Rosie's Loose Lips Sink MSNBC Ship E! Online MSNBC and O’Donnell Can’t Make a DealNew York Times Under the heading “the show that never was,” she wrote, “we were close to a deal/almost done.” She added: “well what can u do/2day there is no deal/poof/my career as a pundit is over/ b4 it began.”
