Right now we are not doing a good job of connecting the local groups, the neighborhood groups, and the local people who sign up with the campaign at http://www.barackobama.com and this is no good.
Both those efforts are doing great independent of each other, but if we could create a super synergy between the two, we would grow by leaps and bounds. This is especially true since Barack will now on have to focus on the early states. He no longer can afford to crisscross the country. But the organization has got to grow nationwide whether or not Barack can show in person. How do you do that? You do it the grassroots way.
More and more people are going to start paying attention nationally as the primaries get closer. And more and more people are going to visit http://www.barackobama.com and sign up. And more and more neighborhood groups are going to sprout up like mushrooms all across the country.
But the two can not run like two separate campaigns. We got to tap the power of the grassroots to the fullest.
How do you do that? You allow each neighborhood group to attach itself to a particular zip code, or a few zip codes in each case. Leaders of such groups should be given the option to share their contact information. Say I am the Grand Wizard of Alaska For Obama. (By the way I was very tempted to ask Barack this question last I saw him: "Senator, I have never been to Hawaii or Alaska. Have you ever been to Alaska?") If there are people in Alaska who are going to go to http://www.barackobama.com and sign up there, I want them to receive an email once a month saying the usual stuff, the national stuff, but there should be a part at the bottom that says there is a group called Alaska For Obama, and here is the website of the group, and I am the Grand Wizard, and if anyone wants to get in touch with me, here is my email address. Some wizards might feel comfortable giving out their phone numbers. I wouldn't. I am an email wizard. But each to his her own.
It is not okay, it is not enough to send just one national email to everyone who signed up once every few weeks. Each such email should have two parts, the national part, and the local part. The local part has to be zip code specific.
Because, let's face it, most people, the new people, are going to visithttp://www.barackobama.com and not the local group's website, although they exist, in this day and age of cheap creating and hosting of websites. You can do it for free if you really wanted, at Google Pages. Buy a domain name for $1 a month, create your site at Google Pages, and just forward the domain name to the site, and hola, you got a website.
In big cities, you will have neighborhood groups, and then you will have larger umbrellas, and finally you will have a city committee or something. In small towns you might only have one group for the entire town.
People are not expecting Obama to show up everywhere. They understand he can't make it all places, especially now on. But they do want to be able to reach out to the nearest volunteer leaders from where they live, and the campaign should make that possible.
Granted http://www.barackobama.com is designed for people to create their own profile and then find events locally and show up for them, for the average person that is a few steps too many. It starts feeling techie stuff.
But if they can find contact info for local volunteer leaders straight in their inbox once a month or so, I believe that will really change things. We got to get people talking to each other. We got to localize our volunteers and donors and supporters. Localize, localize, localize.
This will also see a major boost, major growth for the local groups nationwide. That will boost morale for the local leaders all over. That will also encourage creation of many more groups. And that is what we want, that is what we need. It is not enough for Barack to get elected president. That keeps happening once every four years. That is no big deal. What we need is a movement so he can keep his promise of enacting universal health insurance during his first term. A movement is a ton of local groups all over the country.
These are different times. We will not march. But we will have barbecues, and voter registration drives, and house parties. We are going to blanket this country with them.
And the thing is this synergy thing is almost free. It just needs a little bit of tweaking of the mailing list software the campaign has been using. So instead of sending out one mass mail to everyone who signed up, you now send out mail zip code by zip code. The top half is the national message that goes out to everybody, and the bottom half is local message. And if the recipient has no local groups in the zip code, the message urges them to launch one.
If we can do this much, we will be making best possible use of all those people who will visit and sign up at http://www.barackobama.com all over the country as the primary season heats up. After every major positive stride by Barack on the campaign trail, we should see a surge in sign ups, both for the national mailing list and for the local groups. Now this is what I call the good surge.
Selling Books And DVDs
The store at http://www.barackobama.com should also sell the two Obama books and a few DVDs. There is an urgent need for an one hour biographical DVD of Barack for the hard core volunteers to consume and pass around, to show at house parties.
2 blasts kill more than 30 in India Los Angeles Times The blasts struck an outdoor laser show and a popular eatery about 7:30 p.m., leaving bodies and pools of blood amid smoking rubble and shattered glass. ..... the second time in about three months that the bustling city, which has become internationally known for its software industry, has been hit by a deadly bombing. In May, about a dozen people were killed in an attack on a mosque where thousands of worshipers had gathered for Friday prayers. Several more people died in subsequent clashes between police and protesters. ..... About 40% of Hyderabad's population is Muslim, compared with 13% of India's population as a whole. The city has a history of religious violence. ...... explosions Saturday went off minutes apart. ..... seats blown to pieces ..... Lumbini Park, a popular leisure spot. ..... three other explosive devices were found across the city, two of them in cinemas, and all were defused...... India, which has seen 300 people killed in major bombings in the last 13 months. ...... In July 2006, a series of coordinated blasts along Mumbai's commuter rail network killed about 200 people ....... Two months later, at least 30 people died in a bombing near a mosque in the western city of Malegaon. ...... in February, more than 60 passengers were killed in a firebombing of a train linking India and Pakistan. Officials suspect that the attackers were trying to spoil slowly improving relations between the rival nations. 42 killed, 50 injured in Hyderabad blasts Times of India, India three months after the Mecca Masjid blasts. ..... The week-end outing at the popular Gokul Chat shop at Kothi locality ..... Five minutes earlier .... another blast in an open air auditorium in Lumbini Park near the state secretariat in the heart of the city when a laser show was underway ..... The bomb was planted underneath a foot-over-bridge with a timer set for 9.30 pm .... The near-simultaneous blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bhandar were triggered by cell-phone timers Terror Bombings Kill Dozens in South India New York Times, United States A pair of synchronized explosions ...... Hyderabad, with a population of about four million, is one of India’s prosperous and fast-growing cities, home to many software and biotechnology companies. .... In July 2006, serial bombings on commuter trains in the country’s commercial capital, Mumbai, killed more than 180 people, while in the fall of 2005, synchronized explosions in markets in the capital, New Delhi, killed nearly 60 people during one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. Dozens killed by bomb blasts in Indian city Guardian Unlimited, UK Two blasts in Indian southeastern city kill 34 China Daily, China Hyderabad Blasts Kill Dozens Arab News, Saudi Arabia Twin Bombings Kill at Least 34 in India Washington Post, United States Police: Blasts kill dozens in southern India CNN Two Explosions Kill 34 in Southern India Voice of America Terrorist bombs rip India Bangkok Post, Thailand Official: Blasts kill dozens in southern India CNN International Bombs rip through crowded areas News24, South Africa 'Several people' killed in blasts in southern India INQ7.net, Philippines Two blasts in Indian southeastern city kills 28 Xinhua, China Deadly explosions hit Indian city BBC News, UK Obama Names Republicans He'll Work With Guardian Unlimited ``The opportunities are there to create a more effective relationship between parties.'' ..... Among the Republicans he would seek help from are Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana, John Warner of Virginia and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma ...... To rousing applause at the same Little Havana auditorium where Republican Ronald Reagan once campaigned, Obama said: ``Just 90 miles from here there is a country where justice and freedom are out of reach. That's why my policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: Liberty.'' Obama's right on Cuba Los Angeles Times Clinton, who portrays herself as the experienced foreign policy realist next to Obama's cowboy diplomat, wasted no time in rejecting Obama's proposal ....... It is the height of irony that Americans can freely travel to countries such as Venezuela and Iran, which represent genuine threats to our security and economic interests, but not to Cuba, whose government is a threat only to its own people.The ban has done nothing to weaken Castro Review: Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama Guardian Unlimited At the moment of writing, Obama's chances are probably no worse than John F Kennedy's in 1959. ..... becoming reconciled to his troubled inheritance. Travelling to Kansas, Hawaii and finally Kenya, Obama undertook a journey of heart and mind into a family maelstrom of identity, class and race. ...... the exceptional grace of Obama's prose, its honesty and freshness. ..... political prose that goes back to another master of the American language: Abraham Lincoln Obamas get personal to upset Clinton bandwagon Scotland on Sunday NO MORE Mr Nice Guy. With less than five months to go before Democrats choose their candidate for next year's Presidential elections, Senator Barack Obama is learning that it's time for the gloves to come off if he is to have a realistic chance of toppling and defeating his party's frontrunner for the nomination, Hillary Clinton. ....... Accordingly, the Obama campaign is now sharpening its criticisms of Clinton, hoping that a more aggressive approach will work better ...... Last week, on prime-time TV, Obama took a swipe at his fellow senator's age and judgment, hinting that at 59 - he is 46 - she belonged to a different era with different values to younger Americans. ...... Obama is also starting to suggest that Clinton is a creature of the Washington establishment. Unlike himself, she offers continuity, not change. ...... Fully 48% of Democrats support her candidacy, compared with just 25% who favour Obama. Other polls show Clinton leading in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina ...... The Obama campaign believed that Clinton's lead would be reduced once the freshman Illinois senator became better known. But that has not happened. Even though Obama has raised more money than Clinton, he has not been able to eat into her support. ........ "Everybody knows a lot of 50, 60 and 70-year-olds that don't have good judgment, because they keep on making the same mistakes over and over again," Obama added. ...... Mrs Obama, who is slowly emerging as a campaign star in her own right, complained she had been taken out of context and that the full text of her speech showed she was talking about the Obamas' own family. As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes New York Times just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents ...... it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut ..... Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death ..... Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water. ...... Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe ..... industrial cities where people rarely see the sun; children killed or sickened by lead poisoning or other types of local pollution; a coastline so swamped by algal red tides that large sections of the ocean no longer sustain marine life. ...... Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo. Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China ...... China has entered the most robust stage of its industrial revolution ..... the country’s authoritarian system is addicted to fast growth ..... Officials blame fetid air and water for thousands of episodes of social unrest. Health care costs have climbed sharply. Severe water shortages could turn more farmland into desert. ....... Major initiatives are under way to develop clean energy sources like solar and wind power. ..... Land, water, electricity, oil and bank loans remain relatively inexpensive, even for heavy polluters. ...... Over all, enforcement is often tinged with corruption. This spring, officials in Yunnan Province in southern China beautified Laoshou Mountain, which had been used as a quarry, by spraying green paint over acres of rock. ...... Chinese manufacturers that dump waste into rivers or pump smoke into the sky make the cheap products that fill stores in the United States and Europe. Often, these manufacturers subcontract for foreign companies — or are owned by them. ....... Britain, the United States and Japan polluted their way to prosperity ...... Deng Xiaoping once forced China’s sluggish bureaucracy to fixate on growth. ...... A command-and-control political culture accustomed to issuing thundering directives is now under pressure, even from people in the ruling party, to submit to oversight from the public, for which pollution has become a daily — and increasingly deadly — reality. ........ the world’s largest producer of consumer goods ...... coal, on which China relies for about two-thirds of its energy needs. ...... has abundant supplies of coal and already burns more of it than the United States, Europe and Japan combined ...... Only Cairo, among world capitals, had worse air quality ...... the north, home to about half of China’s population, is an immense, parched region that now threatens to become the world’s biggest desert. ...... Industry and agriculture use nearly all of the flow of the Yellow River, before it reaches the Bohai Sea. ........ one-third of all river water, and vast sections of China’s great lakes, the Tai, Chao and Dianchi, have water rated Grade V, the most degraded level, rendering it unfit for industrial or agricultural use. ....... the environment has become one of the biggest causes of death. ..... how much energy China would need over the ensuing 20 years to achieve the leadership’s goal of quadrupling the size of the economy. ...... “No one really knew what was driving the economy ...... In 1996, China and the United States each accounted for 13 percent of global steel production. By 2005, the United States share had dropped to 8 percent, while China’s share had risen to 35 percent ...... China now makes half of the world’s cement and flat glass, and about a third of its aluminum ...... Each year for the past few years, China has built about 7.5 billion square feet of commercial and residential space, more than the combined floor space of all the malls and strip malls in the United States ...... In 2005 alone, China added 66 gigawatts of electricity to its power grid, about as much power as Britain generates in a year. Last year, it added an additional 102 gigawatts, as much as France. ...... the fast-growth political culture they preside over is too entrenched ...... China cannot go green, in other words, without political change. ...... “comprehensive environmental and economic accounting” — otherwise known as “Green G.D.P.” ...... the temperature in the Great Hall of the People was set at a balmy 79 degrees Fahrenheit to save energy
Senator's call for pullout divides GOP Contra Costa Times German chancellor Merkel heads to China, Japan Times of India Rumor has it Castro is dead — once again Seattle Times 'Castro dead' rumours send Miami wildGuardian Unlimited Chavez denies rumors of Fidel Castro's deathTimes of India The Google Rumor Machine Hindustan Times Inside the Countrywide Lending Spree New York Times potential borrowers were often led to high-cost and sometimes unfavorable loans that resulted in richer commissions for Countrywide’s smooth-talking sales force, outsize fees to company affiliates providing services on the loans, and a roaring stock price that made Countrywide executives among the highest paid in America. ...... Many of these loans had interest rates that recently reset from low teaser levels to double digits ...... a housing crisis of historic proportions. ..... the company has become a $500 billion home loan machine with 62,000 employees, 900 offices and assets of $200 billion. ........ Mr. Mozilo ... reaped $406 million selling Countrywide stock. .... As the subprime mortgage debacle began to unfold this year, Mr. Mozilo’s selling accelerated. ..... In the last 12 months, Countrywide financed almost $500 billion in loans ..... Countrywide has a huge presence in California: 46 percent of the loans it holds on its books were made there ..... Countrywide packages most of its loans into securities pools that it sells to investors. ...... Countrywide serviced 8.2 million loans as of the end of the year; in June the portfolio totaled $1.4 trillion. ..... loans that were worth more than 95 percent of a home’s appraised value and required no documentation of a borrower’s income. ...... The company harvested a steady stream of fees or payments on such loans and busily repackaged them as securities to sell to investors. As long as housing prices kept rising, everyone — borrowers, lenders and investors — appeared to be winners. ....... on subprime loans that imposed heavy burdens on borrowers, like high prepayment penalties that persisted for three years, Countrywide’s margins could reach 15 percent of the loan ....... loans that reset after a short period with a low teaser rate ...... When borrowers tried to reduce their mortgage debt, Countrywide cashed in: prepayment penalties generated significant revenue for the company — $268 million last year, up from $212 million in 2005. When borrowers had difficulty making payments, Countrywide cashed in again: late charges produced even more in 2006 — some $285 million. ....... The monthly payment on the F.H.A. loan would have been $1,829, while Countrywide’s subprime loan generated a $2,387 monthly payment. ...... WORKDAYS at Countrywide’s mortgage lending units centered on an intense telemarketing effort ... chasing down sales leads and hewing to carefully prepared scripts ...... “The Oasis of Rapport is the time spent with the client building rapport and gathering information. At this point in the sales cycle, rates, points, and fees are not discussed. The immediate objective is for the Account Executive to get to know the client and look for points of common interest. Use first names with clients as it facilitates a friendly, helpful tone.” ....... Countrywide was willing to underwrite loans that left little disposable income for borrowers’ food, clothing and other living expenses. .... Countrywide boasts that it is the No. 1 lender to minorities, providing those borrowers with their piece of the American homeownership dream. But it has run into problems with state regulators in New York, who contended that the company overcharged such borrowers for loans. ...... When borrowers close on their loans, they pay fees for flood and tax certifications, appraisals, document preparation, even charges associated with e-mailing documents or using FedEx to send or receive paperwork ...... fees of $100 to e-mail documents Beckham won't travel with Galaxy to ColoradoLos Angeles Times Dell Gets Back to Basics Wall Street Journal The snafus resulted in a restatement of as much as $150 million for the past four fiscal years. ..... declining prices for the PC component called memory
Warner May Back Dems' Bill on Withdrawal Forbes India points to outside groups after deadly bombings Washington Post could have been the work of Islamist militants based in Pakistan or Bangladesh ...... both Islamabad and Dhaka rejected the idea, saying Reddy was jumping to conclusions without evidence. ..... bombs packed with metal pellets exploded within minutes of each other -- one at a food centre and one at an amusement park. ..... many more unexploded bombs had been discovered ... 19 bombs had been found across the city -- at or near cinemas, bus stops and near pedestrian bridges. ..... Two national television news channels said there were seven unexploded bombs but Reddy and some other officials mentioned just one such device, which police had defused. ....... those responsible for Saturday's blasts could have been behind the mosque bombing as well. ...... India has suffered several large-scale bomb attacks in its big cities over the past two years, including in Mumbai and New Delhi. Hundreds have been killed. ..... Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are involved in a cautious peace process, and Islamabad reacted coldly to Reddy's comments. .... "Only Indians have this kind of power that as soon as a blast takes place, they can determine who has done it ....... the toll at 43. Giuliani Aims Attacks at Democrats Washington Post Richardson calls for an end to Democratic primary one-upsmanship Boston Globe NASA Believes It Has Found Reason Foam Fell on Shuttle New York Times Bush pleads for more patience for Iraq war Reuters Obama develops plan for Gulf Coast restoration Boston Globe Obama promises more open policy towards Cuba Times of India As a community organizer, Obama was a pragmatic leader U.S. News & World Report Far from the centers of power and privilege that have spawned so many commanders in chief, it's an unlikely place to incubate a future president. But the seemingly endless clumps of drab brick apartment buildings and patchy lawns on Chicago's South Side are where Sen. Barack Obama learned some of his most enduring lessons about politics, leadership, and the paths to social change. His experiences here, in fact, amount to a Rosetta stone that reveals the essence of the man who has catapulted out of nowhere into contention for the Democratic presidential nomination for 2008. ........ As a community organizer in the Altgeld Gardens public housing project in the mid-1980s, Obama, then 23, quickly emerged as a tireless and pragmatic advocate for the community—traits that characterize the kind of president he says he wants to be. "His work as a community organizer was really a defining moment in his life, not just his career," his wife, Michelle, told U.S. News. It helped him decide "how he would impact the world"—assisting people in defining their mutual interests and working together to improve their lives. ...... "taught me a lot about listening to people as opposed to coming in with a predetermined agenda." ...... Obama's commitment to seeking common ground. ..... After graduating from Columbia University in 1983 with a major in political science, Obama worked as a financial consultant in New York City. But he was bored—and drawn to public service. ...... Altgeld Gardens, a public housing project where 5,300 African-Americans tried to survive amid shuttered steel mills, a nearby landfill, a putrid sewage treatment plant, and a pervasive feeling that the white establishment of Chicago would never give them a fair shake. ...... Jerry Kellman, a social activist who recruited Obama, recalls, "He was very bright, very articulate, very personable, and very idealistic," inspired by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.'s philosophy of nonviolence. Kellman offered Obama a job at the annual salary of $10,000, and he threw in $2,000 so Obama could buy a ramshackle car to get around. ....... Obama was a stranger to the area but caught on quickly by showing humility and a strong work ethic. .... Obama insisted on "staying in the background while he empowered us." .... the gentle admonition: "It's your community." ...... the lanky newcomer with the funny name understood that a community organizer is a combination of educator, confessor-priest, social activist, motivational expert, mediator, and campaign leader. To accomplish his mission, Obama spent hours with Altgeld residents one on one, learning their problems and their dreams, and he resisted taking credit for success, preferring to give it to individuals in the community. ....... Obama lived a few miles away in a modest Hyde Park apartment, but he quickly became part of "the Gardens" community. He played pickup basketball. He walked from house to house to discuss what needed fixing. Wearing his trademark outfit of neatly pressed slacks and button-down shirts with no tie, he spent many hours meeting in kitchens, parlors, and churches. ........ Many of the older women took a liking to him. They fed him cookies, invited him for dinner, and introduced him to their friends—and their marriage-minded daughters. "I called him my little skinny boy," says Lloyd. "He was so thin, we wanted to fatten him up, but we couldn't do it." ....... "Barack is not one of those people who fight for the sake of fighting," says Michelle Obama. He's "willing to do it when it's necessary," but he knows "you have to keep the door open" to deal with the other side. ....... Perhaps his most confrontational effort was to pressure city authorities to remove asbestos from the apartments in 1986. When the on-site manager didn't take action, Obama nudged the residents into confronting city housing officials in two angry public meetings downtown. ....... Faced with such frustrations, after three years in Chicago, Obama decided to apply his skills in the wider world. He entered Harvard Law School in 1988, became the first African-American president of Harvard Law Review in 1990, and earned his law degree in 1991. He returned to Chicago to work as a civil rights lawyer and teach at the University of Chicago Law School. He eventually won a seat in the Illinois State Senate and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. ....... "He has a great understanding of people," says Randle, "and he knows how to bring about change through compromise. That's what we need in Washington." Angry Iraqi Leader Lashes Out at Clinton Forbes Iraq's Maliki lashes out at Hillary ClintonReuters Canada Top Democratic Opponents Challenge Clinton Assertion on Terror FOX News Obama and Edwards Step Up Attacks on Front-Runner Clinton Washington Post Edwards declared, "The Lincoln Bedroom is not for rent." ..... the Democratic race has in many ways been static for several months. Obama has outraised Clinton, and the three leading candidates remain close in polls in Iowa, but as they prepare to gear up for an intense period of campaigning after Labor Day, Clinton is in the strongest position. ....... he and his advisers are also developing new language for speeches and policy proposals on health care and other issues he will unveil after Labor Day. ....... Obama and Edwards are portraying Clinton as yesterday's news .... "I believe I can bring the country together in a way she cannot do ...... Clinton and her campaign are remaining aggressive, criticizing Obama for a series of foreign policy statements he has made over the past month, in an effort to portray him as inexperienced. ..... Clinton argues that voters already know everything about her, and with another candidate any negatives "will be fresh information ..... "the people who have been criticizing me over the past two weeks are the people who engineered what is the biggest foreign policy fiasco in a generation." ........ 88 percent of Democrats have "favorable" views of her, and 38 percent "very favorable," both higher numbers than Obama and Edwards scored 19 bombs found after fatal blasts in India International Herald Tribune 'India, China, Japan must hold trilateral strategic dialogue' Economic Times "There is already bilateral strategic dialogue mechanism between China and India and China and Japan. We should try and promote a trilateral strategic dialogue between the three major powers for the benefit of Asia as a whole," Sun said here while commenting on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's just-concluded visit to India. Japan and India have intensified bilateral relations recently causing concerns among scholars who fear the alliance would 'contain' China, Sun said. .... On the emerging quadripartite relations between India, the United States, Japan and Australia, Sun described it as a bad move that would break unity among Asian countries. ..... "It would divide Asia. The so-called alliance is not good for the region," Sun said, adding it would also go against India's growing interests in the East Asia region as countries in the region would not want to take sides. Merkel to press China on human rights MSNBC Misinterpreting the Mideast Los Angeles Times before any lasting on-the-ground movement toward peace can be achieved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, foreign emissaries, as well as some Israelis, will have to shake off some long-disproved tenets of the conventional wisdom about the dispute. ........ There are four main misconceptions that diplomats bring with them to Israel. Primary among them is the idea that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a prerequisite for stability in the Mideast. The truth is that the region is riven by clashes that have nothing to do with Israel. For instance, the Jewish state plays no role in the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis, between Persians and Arabs or between Arab nationalists and Arab Islamists. ....... the Mideast's central conflict is not territorial but ideological. And ideology cannot be defeated by concessions. ...... many Palestinians -- Fatah and Hamas, in particular -- and even some Israeli Arabs use "Occupation" to refer to all Israel. ..... Arafat, established a thugocracy that never improved the basic living conditions of his people. Indeed, Palestinian unemployment and poverty are worse today than they were before Arafat and his cronies assumed power in 1994. ...... misconception is the belief that economic development can neutralize extreme nationalism and religious fanaticism, thus clearing the way toward peace and security ...... the Palestinians explain what they did with the $7 billion in international aid they received over the years. ..... they should try to persuade the Palestinian leaders to commit to a long-term strategy premised on educational, political and economic reforms that would lead to the establishment of a civil society that cherishes life, not death; values human rights and freedom; and develops a middle class, not a corrupt, rich elite. ....... To defeat jihadist Islam, the West must overcome the regimes, organizations and ideologies that support and feed it -- and Hamas is foremost among them. Intelligence calls Iraq's government precarious Boston Globe New intel analysis gives gloomy forecast for IraqHouston Chronicle A new assessment of Iraq by U.S. intelligence agencies provides little evidence that the American troop surge has accomplished its goals and predicts that the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will become "more precarious" in the months ahead. ..... violence remains high, warns U.S. alliances with former Sunni Muslim insurgents could undercut the central government and says political compromises are "unlikely to emerge" in the next 12 months. ...... factions and political players in and outside Iraq already are maneuvering in expectation of a drawdown of U.S. troops — moves that could later heighten sectarian bloodshed. ....... The U.S. has become deeply embroiled in Iraq's civil war ..... "the level of overall violence, including attacks on and casualties among civilians, remains high." ..... the "broadly accepted political compromises required for sustained security, long-term political progress and economic development are unlikely to emerge unless there is a fundamental shift in the factors driving Iraqi political and security developments." What the NIE Really SaysYahoo! News The consensus report of 16 intelligence agencies is full of on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand paragraphs that allow partisans of either side to make their points, if they are willing to quote selectively from the 4-page document. ....... broad and sweeping generalizations backed by little or nothing in the way of facts ....... how long do we have before failure to achieve national reconciliation begins to undermine local, grassroots movements? ....... The grassroots movement has developed rapidly and spontaneously, and it continues to spread rapidly and spontaneously. It has now grown into important movements in almost all of Central Iraq. ...... security will continue to improve in Iraq, and the current trend of the grassroots movement toward reconciliation is both positive and important Google Patches Blogger, Adds Video Support PC World German soccer clubs bitter despite Germany's record sportswear deal International Herald Tribune Germany rejects Nike's €500 million offer to outfit national ...International Herald Tribune Bird flu strikes German poultry farm Food Consumer Total lunar eclipse tomorrow Bangkok Post First Lady Cancels Trip to Australia New York Times India Blames Islamic Militants for Blasts New York Times Cut and run or stay the course? The debate among American generals Independent Vineyard welcomes another Clinton Boston Globe more than 2,100 paid $50 for an event .... "If you ask my grandkids, 'Who's Nana's boyfriend?' " Shaheen said, "they say, 'Bill.' " ..... "I don't think people are as electrified as when Bill was here," said Ken Gilbert, 56, who was wearing a red "Bill Clinton for President" T-shirt, vintage 1992. ..... Everybody wants a bit of the new, and Hillary is not necessarily new." ...... Bookstores sandwiched her autobiography, "Living History," between volumes on local history and Buddhism. Four hours before she was to take the stage, the only bumper sticker on the cars lining the perimeter of the Tabernacle was for Barack Obama. ....... in years past, while Bill Clinton played a prominent role on their vacations, Hillary Clinton largely stayed out of the public eye ..... "Hillary doesn't energize," said Ernest Hardaway II, a retired surgeon from Chicago who is supporting Obama. "She just doesn't do it well. Now Bubba, he does it naturally." ..... you always knew when [Bill Clinton] was jogging and where he was eating. The whole place just shut down. It was a lot more exciting." Obama to set New Orleans recovery plan Chicago Tribune, United States improving the way the U.S. government deals with future natural disasters by cutting the red tape he believes has slowed the rebuilding of Louisiana ....... Obama will propose appointment of a chief coordinating officer to cut through red tape and a chief financial officer charged with cutting waste. Pinning Hopes On Rural Voters Washington Post, United States The Obama Doctrine, Take 2 [hilzoy] Atlantic Online he believes that the risks of "increased bloodshed" would be higher, not lower, if our forces stay in Iraq. .... "He's a sponge," Power says. "He pushes so hard on policy ideas that fifteen minutes after you've started talking, he's sent you back to the drawing board. He doesn't get weighted down by the limits of American power, but he sees you have to grasp those limits in order to transcend them." ........ the most important issues America will confront in the future (terrorism, avian flu, global warming, bioweapons, the disease and nihilism that grow from concentrated poverty) will emanate from neglected and failed states (Afghanistan, the Congo, Sierra Leone) ........ "profound conviction that we are interconnected, that poverty and conflict and health problems and autocracy and environmental degradation in faraway places have the potential to come back and bite us in the behind, and that we ignore such places and such people at our peril." ....... He has secured money to fight avian flu, improve security in the Congo and safeguard Russian nuclear weapons. ....... Al Qaeda's new recruits come from Africa and Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Many come from disaffected communities and disconnected corners of our interconnected world. And it makes you stop and wonder: when those faces look up at an American helicopter, do they feel hope, or do they feel hate? ......... From Africa to central Asia to the Pacific Rim -- nearly 60 countries stand on the brink of conflict or collapse. ....... 1.3 billion Muslims .... too often since 9/11, the extremists have defined us, not the other way around. ..... I will focus our support on helping nations build independent judicial systems, honest police forces, and financial systems that are transparent and accountable. ..... I will make poverty reduction a key part of helping other nations reduce anarchy. ...... I will double our annual investments to meet these challenges to $50 billion by 2012. And I will support a $2 billion Global Education Fund to counter the radical madrasas -- often funded by money from within Saudi Arabia -- that have filled young minds with messages of hate. ....... help rebuild the country, develop lasting political structures, hold accountable destabilizing foreign governments, crack down on corrupt politicians, and professionalize the military. ........ It's hard to describe what it's like to sit and talk to a woman who has witnessed her children being slaughtered, and has been raped, and has seen her husband killed and her village burned. Those stories are all throughout the region as people have fled from these militias that were financed and supported and instigated by the Sudanese government. .......... We are way late in the toughest economic sanctions that we could apply. We have not applied the kind of pressure on China, which is one of Sudan's main patrons, that we should have applied. And there are some unilateral steps that we could take just on the economic front that need to be pursued more vigorously. ..... what we need is a no-fly zone which basically says that if you've got helicopter gunships that are supporting militias in their slaughter, then we are going to shoot those gunships down. And maybe we just shoot one down, or two down, we take out their airfields ....... when we say 'Never Again', we should mean it. And we haven't meant it. ..... farmers in Venezuela and Indonesia welcomed American doctors to their villages and hung pictures of JFK on their living room walls ..... an America that battles immediate evils, promotes an ultimate good, and leads the world once more." Obama struggles to be a new page in the old politics Los Angeles Times, CA Countdown begins for real in America's first billion-dollar ... Times Online, UK Poll: Are Clinton and Giuliani Leading Because of High Name ...Associated Content By this past February, 98% of the Democrats had a definite opinion, pro or con about her ...... she gets the votes of 43% of the voters who say they are familiar with all of the top three. Obama gets 30% of their votes. ...... Giuliani appears to be at a greater risk than Clinton is of losing support as the voters become more and more knowledgeable about the rest of the field.
Pakistan Prepares for Former Prime Ministers’ Return New York Times a Supreme Court ruling that threw open the coming parliamentary campaign to all political players. ...... Mr. Sharif’s pending return led another opposition leader and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, to reschedule her own return ahead of his ..... the overwhelming desire in Pakistan was for democracy and a free choice in elections this fall. ..... the president should sit down with the leaders of the main political parties — which could be as few as five people — and agree on a caretaker government to prepare for parliamentary elections. ..... free and fair elections are the best option for calming the public mood and stemming a drift toward extremism ..... eight years on, the biggest political players challenging General Musharraf are the same as a decade ago: Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Sharif. ....... Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Sharif remain the most popular political leaders by far, and whether or not they are personally tainted, their parties are pragmatic, centrist groupings that are the West’s most natural allies ........ the participation of Mr. Sharif and Ms. Bhutto would draw voters away from the religious parties ....... Mr. Sharif could be expected to campaign on an anti-American, anti-Musharraf platform, and would draw those who would otherwise be attracted to the religious parties, but as one of the country’s richest industrialists, he would lead a government that was pro-business and open to the United States, India and the global economy ...... Mr. Iqbal, the associate of Mr. Sharif, said that the war on terror demands a political solution, and that only a return to democratic rule can make that possible. “There has to be a competing alternate political platform,” he said. “You can only get that through the democratic process.”
Don't quote me on this yet, but I think Barack Obama's recent remarks against Musharraf might have played a small role in this tremendously positive development in Pakistan. Benazir will be back. A strong, smart woman with a clear sense for social justice, a clear commitment to the poor and their upliftment might soon be Prime Minister of Pakistan. In a matter of months.
And Barack is not even president yet. He did not even send in the military to spread democracy in Pakistan. He did not send any money. All he did was as a would be president, he took a clear stand against a Third World dictator. And that dictator is about to be pushed out the door. That is what I am talking about.
The difference between Barack and Bush is with Barack you get Benazir.
A dictator - any dictator - can not be a US ally on the war on terrorism. That applies to Musharraf, that applies to the Saudi king, to Mubarak, that applies to all unelected Arab leaders. If noone elected you, count your days. Count your years. You will be shown the door.
Barack's public berating of Musharraf emboldened the Supreme Court of Pakistan. And the Supreme Court is now making it possible for Pakistan's last two democratically elected Prime Ministers to come back home from exile.
This is what a would be American president with brains can do. This is not the power of the US military. This is not the power of the US dollar. This is the power of the American presidency, the American democracy. Someone elected by the American people can bring about a positive change like this one just by making the right noise. Imagine how much more Barack can do as a president breathing down the necks of small game Third World dictators on world TV. Face to face. Pushing his finger into their chests. Staring them down. Publicly berating them for their lousy human rights records. Publicly saying hello to their dissident opponents who might be working to launch democracy movements.
I have long maintained the only true way to win the War On Terrorism is by ensuring a total spread of democracy in all Arab countries. And Pakistan is well positioned to help with that. Pakistan is huge. It is not as big as India, but it is huge. It is bigger than Britain and France put together. Pakistani democracy is Muslims voting. You want Pakistan to infect all Arab countries.
One Billion Muslims, 10,000 Al Qaeda
There are more than a billion Muslims on the planet. Only 10,000 of them are Al Qaeda. Bush has killed more than 150,000 innocent people in Iraq. If it is wrong for the Al Qaeda to kill 3,000 innocent Americans, it is wrong for America to kill 150,000 innocent Iraqis. The Iraqi people or their leadership had nothing to do with 9/11. The war on Iraq has been a criminal act.
Don't Insult The Intelligence Of The Arab Street
It is not possible for you to be best friends with Musharraf, and the Saudi king, and Mubarak and still have the Arab street believe you are out for democracy.
Presidential Primary Reform MyDD :: Primary Reform and the California Plan ..... This system features a schedule consisting of ten two-week intervals, during which randomly selected states may hold their primaries. This 20-week schedule is the approximate length of the traditional primary season....... In the first interval, a randomly determined combination of states with a combined total of eight congressional districts would hold their primaries, caucuses or convention. This is approximately equal to the total number of congressional district in Iowa (5) and New Hampshire (2), thus preserving door-to-door "retail politicking." ...... Any state or combination of states amounting to a total of eight congressional districts could be in the first round of primaries and caucuses. This could include such ethnically diverse jurisdictions as American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Arizona, and Maryland....... The widest possible political debate would be fostered by this system
In The News
Dem Rivals Rap Clinton on Terror Comment Washington Post her comment that a terror attack before the election would help the Republicans. .... I think I am better able to handle things I have no control over .... Bill Richardson said in a statement, "We shouldn't be thinking about terrorism in terms of its domestic political consequences, we should be protecting the country from terrorists." ...... Clinton campaign spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said Friday night, "Senator Clinton was making clear that she has the strength and experience to keep the country safe." Clinton: Best to Deal With Terror AttacksNew York Times Clinton: Terrorist attack would help GOPCNN Controversy Continues Over US Troop Levels in Iraq Voice of America Democrats set to crack down on Florida bid for early primary Chicago Tribuneonly a few select states are allowed to hold their events before early February ... States that don't follow the rules could lose some or all of their delegates ..... Florida Democrats ... Jan. 29 .... Leading Democrats in that state on Thursday suggested that the sanctions might violate state or federal law, making it plain that they don't plan to accept a knuckle-rapping without a fight. ..... All over the country, states are eyeing the primary calendar and wondering why their voters shouldn't also have a stronger voice in deciding who the Democratic and Republican candidates are. .... Just this week, state lawmakers in Michigan began the process of moving their primary date to the middle of January. ..... "It's like we're operating in a banana republic," said David Plouffe .... we don't know which states, which dates, what rules." ..... Unsure of which order the primaries and caucuses will take place, the presidential campaigns aren't sure how to allocate their resources—or even where to send their candidate on a given day. Brzezinski Grants Obama the "Upper Hand" Washington Post Zbigniew Brzezinski. The 79-year-old former national security adviser announced today on Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital with Al Hunt" that he was supporting the junior senator from Illinois for president. .... Obama "recognizes that the challenge is a new face, a new sense of direction, a new definition of America's role in the world" ..... rejected the notion that Hillary Clinton is more experienced in foreign affairs than Obama. "Being a former first lady doesn't prepare you to be president .... "What's the hang-up about negotiating with the Syrians or with the Iranians?" Brzezinski said. "What it in effect means" is "that you only talk to people who agree with you." .... "There is a need for a fundamental rethinking of how we conduct world affairs. And Obama seems to me to have both the guts and the intelligence to address that issue and to change the nature of America's relationship with the world." ...... Obama already had the support of former Clinton national security adviser Anthony Lake. Brzezinski Offers Support for ObamaNew York Times Brzezinksi Tells Bloomberg TV: Obama Would Be a Better PresidentEarthtimes.org Edwards denies slam on 'insiders' is directed at Clinton CNN Nepal Rules Out Maoist-UML Unification Prospects Himalayan Times Hanoi fires salvo at Bush's comments MSNBC an assertion many Vietnamese see as a gross oversimplification of the region's complex and tragic history ...... Vietnam was "an unjustified and a wrong war in the first place so to start analysing things only from the withdrawal of US troops is really puzzling", she said. "The root of the problem is not the withdrawal, it's the very fact of starting up the war in the first place." ...... As Asia's second-fastest growing economy, Vietnam is today a powerful magnet for foreign investment, with the US its largest single trading partner and a focus for growing bilateral co-operation. ...... Ms Ninh believes the US has failed to learn the lessons of Vietnam. .... "I think the US has no choice [in Iraq] but to withdraw – what good can itdo by staying longer?" she said. US Bomb Kills 3 British Soldiers in Afghanistan New York Times Pushing for a New Leader in Iraq ABC News President Bush's former envoy to Iraq, Ambassador Robert Blackwill, is running a major behind-the-scenes lobbying push for former Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi — who seeks to remove and replace current Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. ...... Allawi, who lived in exile for decades in London, was essentially appointed interim prime minister by the Bush administration, though he was defeated in the 2005 Iraqi elections. ...... Allawi was, until recently, funded by the CIA .... an open question in this tale of Beltway intrigue what Allawi is getting for that money Bank of China Reports Heavy Exposure to Subprime CrisisNew York Times holds almost $9.7 billion of securities backed by U.S. subprime loans, the most of any Asian company. ....... The collapse in securities backed by subprime mortgages has caused losses at lenders around the world ..... Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (OOTC:IDCBF) , the world's largest bank by market value ..... Defaults on home loans to people with poor credit soared this year, prompting a sell-off of debt-backed securities that spread to wider credit markets and wiped more than $5.5 trillion off the value of equities worldwide. ...... collateralized debt obligations backed by loans to borrowers with poor credit histories. ..... Banks from Germany to Japan have been touched by the subprime meltdown. Germany's government had to bail out Dusseldorf-based IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG because of potential subprime-linked losses of as much as 3.5 billion euros ($4.7 billion). China Gets Internet Companies to Sign 'Self-Discipline' AgreementVoice of America At least 20 leading blog service providers in China, including U.S.-based Internet giants Yahoo and MSN, have signed an agreement that will help the government censor and identify bloggers. ...... "encourages" blog service providers to list contact information and register users under their real names before letting them post blogs. ..... The companies are also asked to delete "illegal and bad information in a timely manner," and to "protect the interests of the State and Party." .... The companies argue that they must comply with Chinese laws to continue operating there. Press Watchdog Blasts China's Blogging Policy PC World Microsoft Agrees to Strict Blogging Rules in ChinaIT Business Edge Ruling expected today on Noriega's futureCNN International Is The Google Phone Ready To Launch In India In Two Weeks? InformationWeek Talks are believed to be taking place with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, respectively India's first and third largest mobile telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam. ...... Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony foray. ..... The prospect of Google owning spectrum and offering cell phones is too tempting to pass up. ...... assuming the device is sold for a relatively low-cost, it could give Google a means to spreading smartphone-like functionality in developing markets -- all powered by Google's software and services ...... Think of the Google Phone as the cell phone equivalent of the Trojan Horse (the ancient Greek myth, not the virus). Google Phone: Revolutionary Or Evolutionary?InformationWeek In 2005, Google acquired both Android, a mobile technology startup, and Dodgeball, a mobile social networking service. ..... Reqwireless, a mobile e-mail and browser developer, and Skia, a developer of mobile-friendly graphics software ..... possible that Google could help handset makers deliver mobile phones that surpass the iPhone in terms of design aesthetics, user interface, and ease of use, it seems more likely that the Gphone will be noteworthy not as spiffy hardware but as a utilitarian device designed to lower or eliminate mobile phone bills by subsidizing network operators' costs with revenue sharing from Google's online services. ....... If Google emerges with spectrum rights, that's when the fun begins. Will mobile WiMax transform wireless working? ZDNet UK mobile WiMax has variously been pitched as a potential usurper of 4G — the successor to curren-day 3G cellular networks — and as a rival to Wi-Fi wireless technology, into which operators have sunk a lot of money already. ...... Where mobile WiMax is expected to garner particular interest, however, is in developing countries that currently have only a limited wired infrastructure in place. This is because the costs involved in installing WiMax stations to complement existing cellular towers are likely to be lower than introducing fixed pipes from scratch, particularly in areas of low population density where the terrain is flat. ........ touting mobile WiMax as a means of increasing bandwidth for data-intensive applications such as multimedia ..... Sprint Nextel announced in 2006 that it would spend $3bn (£1.5bn) on building a US-based WiMax network operating at 2.5GHz, which would start roll out by the end of this year and provide services to at least 100 million people by the end of 2008. ..... telcos such as BT or Colt will look at mobile WiMax as a means of providing customers with mobile access "under their own steam without having to do deals with mobile operators" ...... Google may also try and get a slice of the action to obtain a fresh channel for providing content ...... as we move to a more converged fixed and mobile world ..... WiMax tends not to work indoors as well as rival technologies such as Wi-Fi, because its radio waves are at higher frequency and so tend to be absorbed by walls, people and the like more easily. ...... there is no uniform globally licensed spectrum for WiMax, whereas there is one for 3G networks. This means that roaming either now or in the future will be impossible ....... although UK operators may go for the 2.6GHz frequency band next year, the US has already opted for 2.5GHz today, and some countries in Asia such as Indian and Vietnam are expected to plump for 3.3GHz in the future. ...... a technology looking for a market" ..... WiMax .. has been pitched variously by vendors over the past few years as a rival to fixed broadband technologies such as cable and DSL, an alternative to Wi-Fi public hotspots, and a high-bandwidth backhaul for internet or cellular phone traffic from remote areas to an internet or T1/E1 data network backbone...... really it's just an alternative pipe .... "There may be a way of using pico and femtocells to reduce this ..... "I can see it emerging as a mechanism for connecting wireless laptops and other data devices at speeds that are higher than current Wi-Fi networks and over ranges that are more comparable with cellular ....... not so much hotspots, as hot zones .... deliver wireless campuses is somewhat more unclear, but in the end this all boils down, not so much to the technology, but to commercial models, and it's still just too early to say how it will pan out The Road To WiMAXBusinessWeek a telephone company executive told him it would cost $1,100 per home just to replace landscaping and sidewalks if the industry installed fiber-optic cabling and brought superfast broadband Internet access to every single-family home in America. .... create a nationwide hot spot with superfast phone and Web-surfing capability ..... what was in 2002 an obscure wireless broadband technology only a few hundred engineers had heard of ..... he has rounded up a remarkable coalition of chip, PC, consumer electronics, networking, and software companies in an effort to radically reshape the future of broadband with what's now called WiMAX. ....... Intel faced withering criticism from tech analysts when it first cast its lot with WiMAX .... dozens of wireless telecom operators around the globe have also placed bets on WiMAX and plan to spend $13 billion over the next few years to build 300 such networks ....... Already the first transmitters are appearing on light poles and towers in Chicago and Washington, test markets expected to begin service early next year. Major rollouts are planned everywhere from Pakistan to Australia to China by 2009. ...... WiMAX will be poised to deliver video entertainment and voice telephone services that will compete with traditional telecom and cable-television services. It also will extend the range of wireless e-mail and Web-surfing services in mobile computers. Beginning next year, stores will stock new laptop computers equipped with Intel's WiMAX-capable chips, code-named Echo Peak. ....... Intel's role as head WiMAX cheerleader ..... high-profile schemes for blanketing whole cities with cheap or free Wi-Fi networks aren't working out. ..... WiMAX provides superfast connections for up to 30 miles. You could stroll from your house conducting a conference call, pause to exchange hefty data files, and later dial in to your TiVo to download an episode of CSI. WiMAX avoids digital traffic jams by using licensed radio waves that guarantee each customer a certain level of service. ..... grew out of work in the 1990s by engineers at dozens of companies. ..... Intel .. Sprint .. Nokia ... Samsung .. The interests of these four companies resulted in a pooling of patents and money to create the WiMAX phenomenon. ..... Maloney had his revelation about the potential of wireless broadband in 2002 ..... Martin Cooper, considered the father of the cell phone .... Intel and allies could create a standard technology for long-range wireless transmissions, much as Intel and Microsoft (MSFT ) had created the so-called Wintel standard for the personal computer. ...... Intel would build tiny radios into laptops that could connect easily to a worldwide WiMAX network. ..... a mammoth WiMAX ecosystem by investing more than $1 billion in carriers and other companies. .....In developing countries, WiMAX seemed like a sure winner... a cheap, powerful wireless infrastructure was just what they needed ..... Maloney later obtained key technology by purchasing a company called Iospan Wireless from Stanford University engineering professor Arogyaswami Paulraj. ..... the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE). ...... "a classically disruptive technology." ..... On Aug. 9, Vodafone Group PLC (VOD ), the world's largest wireless company, signed up. Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin had warned in a speech in February that WiMAX and other new technologies threatened "to eat our lunch." ..... the IEEE .... its chairman, Jerry Upton, who was a paid Qualcomm consultant. ..... Clearwire, the biggest holder worldwide of spectrum that could be used for WiMAX. ..... Qualcomm Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Jha ...... an industry that sees big ideas come and go with dizzying speed Should CIOs Take Google Seriously? InformationWeek young people are enamored of the potential of online services, like those from Amazon.com, Salesforce.com, or Google, which recently introduced its Google Apps Premier Edition, a set of software-as-a-service offerings that includes e-mail, calendar, word processing, and spreadsheet capabilities, among others. ..... the next-generation communication and collaboration tools they need to manage electronic communications, share and publish information, and stay connected while on the go ..... the potential efficiencies and cost savings implicit in the software-as-a-service model. 'Hi, I am Amitabh' Times of India Amitabh has an unmistakable charisma ... the impact hits you when you see others around you reacting ..... At the recently concluded Filmfare awards (south), even though he entered with Abhishek and Aishwarya, the Big B was the cynosure of all eyes. Amitabh comes across as a witty, articulate, courteous , protocol-conscious , charming man, but he can also be edgy and excessively protective of his private space. .... a very hungry Amitabh. He ate as we spoke. ..... I am at an age when roles don't come by easily. I don't get lead roles, only character roles. It's nice when some people want to experiment, with movies like Nishabd. It gives me the opportunity to test myself. Gabbar's impression is insurmountable ; but I am not pressured. ....... Perhaps, it's not the dialogue, but the visual, the moment, the music that's become more important. ..... And if I may say a little immodestly, I pioneered some of these concerts that have taken a huge form from the time I went out in 1981-82 . I've been on stage and performed live, which no one does now. It's all pre-recorded with lovely costumes but I used to sing live, enact scenes from my films. ...... I think far too much emphasis is being laid on age - why are you working so much, how are you working?- If my body is responding to what is being asked of it, then what's the problem? ...... Is that a problem? .... One is my screen image and the other is me. I come from a middle-class home and success does not change values. ... I am fortunate that my children have imbibed those values well. David Beckham urged to slow down by Galaxy Telegraph.co.uk LA Galaxy chief executive Alexei Lalas is pondering the wisdom of the 32-year-old continuing to make himself available for England's friendly fixtures. ..... Beckham is expected to rack up a nearly staggering 78,000 air miles over the next three months to honour his club and country commitments .... Despite flying back to Los Angeles in time to play a full 90 minutes against Chivas, Beckham could not prevent Galaxy from falling to a 3-0 defeat against their local rivals. He was also involved in an ugly spat with Jesse Marsch following a late challenge by the Chivas midfielder. ..... With Beckham clearly struggling to overcome the ankle injury that has dogged him since his move to California, Galaxy coach Frank Yallop was forced to admit that the former Manchester United midfielder should not have been selected. .... "At the end, he looked a bit hobbled and he should have been rested." Bollywood Bachchan says wife Aishwarya comes first Washington Post Rai, 33, and Bachchan, 31, have worked together in at least five films. Rai was crowned Miss World in 1994. Amitabh Bachchan is going bald for his Hollywood movie… India Target Amitabh Bachchan will be seen in a bald look in Hollywood movie Shantaram . .... The film's shooting is likely to begin before this yearend. It will be shot in Australia , India and China .... Johnny Depp is playing a lead role in the movie, and Amitabh Bachchan plays underworld don Kadar bhai . Meera Nair wanted Kadar bhai to look nasty, that's why he wanted him in a bald look ..... The movie is based on the book written by an Aussie with the same title 'Shantaram' which is an autobiographical account of an escaped Australian convict who travels through continents and ends up in Mumbai's underworld. BofA throws Countrywide $2-billion lifelineLos Angeles Times expected the housing downturn to lead the U.S. economy into recession. ..... cash-starved sub-prime mortgage lenders across Southern California announced more than 4,000 layoffs nationwide. ..... BofA, the sixth-largest U.S. home lender in 2006, recognizes that "once the dust settles the survivors [in the mortgage industry] will have much less competition and will thrive" ...... the credit crunch ravaging the mortgage industry ..... a wave of defaults on sub-prime mortgages -- loans made to people with poor credit ..... Since the start of the year, more than 40,000 workers have lost their jobs at mortgage lending institutions Dell laptops not in the pink after all Register Dell makes headway in server market Register Nicole Richie jailed - for all of 82 minutes Guardian Unlimited
