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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 Clinton Los 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 Tribune Barack 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 lead National 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 spontaneity Toronto Star
Hillary Clinton defends Bill for defending her Reuters
Hillary Clinton's planted question gaffe Telegraph.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 Home New 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 Crisis TIME 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 America Mr. 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 Times the 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 management Chicago Sun-Times
Obama: Race won't hurt me in Iowa Chicago 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.