Bush to Outsouce Airforce?

Apparently Airbus has won the contract to build the new generation of Air Force tankers.

While I believe in a gl0bal economy,lets be blunt. The US taxpayer will be subsdizing a competitor in one of the few industires not already off shored. AND a vital defence industry at that!

Does this make sense? Are we so integrated with the EU that Airbus can be thpought of as part of "our" economy?

Maybe it would help to take this picture and turn it upside down. Some years ago the EU decided to create ITS own tactical fighter rather than buy an American plane. Obvioulsy this is the right of Europe. BUT, as the world flattens, the difference in self interest between first world economies is supposedly leveling out. If it makes sense for Europe to keep its public dollars kin France why is it not eactly as reasonable for the US to do the same? Shouod a pre-requisit to this sort of thing be the willingness f the foreign entity to forego any self interest on the part of its own

One thing that would help a lot would be to tell us how much technology is being shared. If a European comoany is allowed to compete equally with an American conmpany, is their technology and their own investment equally available to Americans and Europeans?

How far can such outsourcing go? Would we allow China to build our next subs if they can do it cheaper than we can? Where does one draw the border between we and they when it comes to national self interest?

Finally, this may be a huge test for McCain. He (rightly) protested the granting of the tanker contract as a sweatheart deal. Now he will be forced to ask which ocmes first, national security or saving a buck!

Here is the article:

Bloomberg.com: U.S.: "Northrop Beats Boeing for $35 Billion Tanker Program (Update4)

By Tony Capaccio and Edmond Lococo
Feb. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Northrop Grumman Corp., the third- largest U.S. defense contractor, won a U.S. Air Force program valued at as much as $35 billion to build 179 aerial refueling tankers, breaking Boeing Co.'s half-century hold on the business.
Northrop and partner European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. won an initial contract of $1.5 billion for development and design of four test aircraft and five options valued at $10.6 billion to build 64 aircraft, the Air Force said in a statement today. Boeing was the unanimous pick to win in a Bloomberg News analyst survey this month.
The new aircraft will replace Boeing-built KC-135 tankers flown by the Air Force since 1956. If all contract options are fully funded, the tanker program would become the largest Pentagon project since 2001 when Lockheed Martin Corp. won the contract to build the Joint Strike Fighter. EADS promised to build an assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama, for the tankers and freighter aircraft if its team won the contract."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a mid-term election.

Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a mid-term election.: "The deeper reality of this campaign is that Obama has shown, by his incredible skill in the way he is waging it, an ability to handle himself and a talent for the demands of center stage that show, experienced or not, he is better able to be president than the inept Hillary.

We are watching a grim re-enactment of all of the character traits that led Hillary to decompose in the healthcare debate of her husband’s first term. The blind reliance on a guru-delivered strategy, the religious insistence on following the same rhetorical line even when it obviously isn’t working, the inflexibility in adapting to one’s opposition, and the inability to formulate new strategies or to improvise tactics when her pre-conceptions are found to be so obviously faulty — this is Hillary at her worst.

As citizens, we are entitled to watch Obama’s skill, leadership style, and savvy sophistication and contrast it with Hillary’s doctrinaire insistence on approaches that aren’t working and to conclude that Hillary would be a disaster as president and that Obama would be pretty good. We can, at least, conclude that the same tenacity that led Johnson into Vietnam and may be inducing Bush to risk hi"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Army Chief Of Staff General George Casey: "No Reason To Doubt" Obama On Troop Shortages - Politics on The Huffington Post

Army Chief Of Staff General George Casey: "No Reason To Doubt" Obama On Troop Shortages - Politics on The Huffington Post: "After the Pentagon denied Barack Obama's account of military shortages in Afghanistan, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey said, 'I have no reason to doubt' the Senator.

During last week's Texas Democratic debate Senator Obama said:

'You know, I've heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon -- supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq,' Obama told CNN moderator Campbell Brown.

'And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough Humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief,' he added.


General George Casey backed up Senator Obama while testifying Tuesday in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

'I have no reason to doubt what it is the captain said,' Casey said. 'This was 2003 and 2004, almost four and a half years ago. We acknowledge and all worked together to correct the deficiencies that we saw in that period, not only in Afghanistan but in Iraq. It was a period that we"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Robot Predators

View larger image Cool Raw: Army’s New ‘Crusher’ Robot Tests the Tough Terrain Related Stories Short of staff, Norway eyes robot care for elderly Montreal hospital puts $4 million surgeon-assisted robot into service Robot 'could simplify hip surgery' "Green" robot self-propels through sea		An article at Breitbart raises the issue of the danger to us all as the military acquires autonomous, gun-totting robots. Trials of these machines in Iraq have been successful, Why is that surprising ? Calling these things robots is a but of scare mongering. They are nto fully independent because they lack intellegence, if anything they are closer to guided missiles on tracks than to silicon Kama Kazi, The real danger here, as with other smart weapons is the logarithmic increase of the ability to treat war like a video game .. with minimal risk to our humans and maximal speration of reality from perception. This seems to to also lie at the core of the Iraq debate. Rummy et al seemed to believe we could do this thing at minila loss of American lives. In a sense he was correct, BUT invading Iraq turns out to be a lot easier and less denmanding of our treasure of peoplke and money that re-engineering a human society. So here is the nubbin. I am not scared of Terminators in the near future. I am scared of policiians awho are freed from the burden of human sacrifice by the ready avilablility of smart weapons. The article also addresses the issue of terorists getting control of this technology. Again, I do not see this as all that new except for one thing. Unlike nuclear bombs and large missiles, robotics is a chaep technology with costs likely not plummet. Ther eis every reason to believe thgat evena small terrorist group will have the ability to lauch smart drones very soon and .. while indefensible, the marginal cost to society is inevitably goinbg to grow. Maybe a terminator ain't so bad?

Warning Signs of Clay Feet

One of the scariest part of any Presidential campaign is the candidates' willingness to pander to her own side. To the credit of both Barack and Hillary they have been pretty good abut NOT adopting leftish POV that woould hurt theie ability to govern. For example, both have been careful as they wlaked out oin the thin ice of Iraq to spread some 2X4s thay can use to drag themselves back shouold a percioitous withdrawl porove as dangeorus as seems likely.

NAFTA may be the Devil's temptation that breaks the will of Jesus. Both have come close to out and out opposingit even though I would be flabbergasted in either one ctualy thinks NAFTA has not been good for the country and that it is not essential for our future well beinh.

Obama's posiiton is especially relevant as it looks as oif he will win on the baiss of the promises of leadership and morality. His actual words on NAFTA have bee wise. he talks about the need to revisit the treaty to ensure fairness in labor anbd environmental standards. No one should argue with that! Unofrtunatlety, hehas convinced the voters that he is opposed to NAFTA. The danger is that he and McCain could play chicken with this issue ad=nd relaly hurt our economy.

One of the most astonishing achievements of Obama 08 has been his skill at reflecting rovist attacks back on Ms. Clinton. The resuklt has been, on hi side, a wonderful ability to campaign on largley positive issues. Moreover, as shown by the recent debacle of an attck of the NUT on McCain, we may finally be emerging from the Rove era to an era where patenly evil swift boating can be turned against the source. Kudoes for Barack, however, there is still the danger of the Panderbear.

from Rasmussen

The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Clinton earning 48% of the Ohio Democratic Presidential Primary vote. That’s unchanged from a week ago. Barack Obama’s support has grown to 43%. That’s up from 40% last week and 38% the week before.

Overall, Clinton’s lead is now just five percentage points in Ohio, down from an eight-point advantage last week and fourteen points two weeks ago.

Just 16% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters believe the North American Free Trade Agreement—NAFTA—is good for America. Fifty-five percent (55%) say the trade agreement negotiated by the Clinton Administration is bad for the nation.

By a 53% to 14% margin, voters believe that Obama opposes NAFTA while there are mixed perceptions on where Clinton stands. Thirty-five percent (35%) believe she favors NAFTA, 31% believe she opposes it and 34% are not sure. This issue is critical in a state that has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs. Politically, these lower-income voters have generally supportive of Clinton throughout the primary season.

Hillary dims

View larger image Hillary: Obama ‘Continues to Spend Millions of Dollars Perpetuating Falsehoods’ ‘I’ll Exit Out With Class’: Mike Huckabee Overstays His Welcome on SNL ‘We’re Only Human’: First Post-Strike SNL Skit Mocks Media’s Crush on Obama

White House hopeful Hillary Clinton launched a scathing attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama Saturday in a bid to restore her front-runner status ahead of key nominating contests next month. After a day of denying that a series of 11 straight losses to Obama left her campaign teetering on the edge of defeat, Clinton changed to a sharper tone and went on the offensive. "Shame on you, Barack Obama," Clinton said during a campaign rally in Ohio, which along with the southern state of Texas holds key Democratic nominating contests on March 4. "It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign." The 60-year-old New York senator -- who accused the Obama campaign of sending out misleading policy mailings about health care and free trade -- and the 46-year-old Illinois senator are to meet for a final televised debate on Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio. Clinton's campaign also dismissed as "nonsense" a Washington Post report that quoted an unnamed campaign aide as saying Clinton saw Obama's win in Wisconsin's state primary earlier this week as a "decisive blow." "She knows where things are going. It's pretty clear she has a big decision. But it's daunting. It's still hard to accept," said the adviser. "The mathematical reality at that point became impossible to ignore," the adviser said. "There's not a lot of denial left at this point." Clinton has so far won 1,275 delegates, compared to 1,374 for Obama according to RealClearPolitics.com. A total of 2,025 are needed to secure the party's nod. "This story line is nonsense," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said. "The mood is upbeat. Senator Clinton is working hard every day to do well in Texas and Ohio and secure this nomination." Her campaign also sought to put a positive spin on her melancholy debate closer on Thursday, when she reached out to shake Obama's hand, saying: "You know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored. ... We're going to be fine." Wolfson explained that the exchange showed "why Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States. ... Her strength, her life experience, her compassion. She's tested and ready." Clinton: "Saturday Night Live" Shows Media Bias Towards Me

IS BHO Safe?

Star-Telegram.com: | 02/21/2008 | Police concerned about order to stop weapons screening at Obama rally: "Police concerned about order to stop weapons screening at Obama rally
By JACK DOUGLAS Jr.
Star-Telegram Staff Writer"

DALLAS -- Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on.

"Sure," said Lawrence, when asked if he was concerned by the great number of people who had gotten into the building without being checked. But, he added, the turnout of more than 17,000 people seemed to be a "friendly crowd."

The Secret Service did not return a call from the Star-Telegram seeking comment.

DRESS HER UP IN A GENERAL'S SUIT

Marc Penn strikes me as an idiot. His firm has collected millions of dollars from the Hillary campagn and this is the stratgy he comes to:

DRESS HER UP IN A GENERAL'S SUIT

Penn's strategy for the next two weeks is to portray HRC as the Commander in Chief. I suspect this means a tour of ground zero AND HAVE HER LAND ON A CARRIER?

Click on Penn's image for a message from the Message Man

Features > September 14, 2007

Trending Toward Inanity

Mark Penn’s new book, Microtrends, is so epically awful that it could take the entire polling industry down with it

By Ezra Klein

If you wanted to ruin the political career of Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton’s chief pollster and strategist, here would be one way to do it: First, create some sort of artifact bearing his name that you could use to tank his reputation. A book would do perfectly. Title it something buzz-wordy and superficial, like Microtrends, though perhaps that’s too heavy-handed. Fill it with vapid koans, like “small is the new big” and “the biggest movements in America today are small.” To make it seem authentic, you’d want to ape Penn’s long-standing affection for combining demographic salami-slicing with cutesy-naming (this is the man who foisted “Soccer Moms” upon our weary lexicon), making each short chapter an exposition of ever-more absurd groups—think “Archery Moms,” “Old New Dads,” and “Ardent Amazons.” Finally, assert their importance through wild and empirically unsupported speculations. That last would be the key: You’d want the methodology so wild and slipshod, so transparently flawed, that no one would trust the analyst ever again.

From the National Review:

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

On a conference call, top strategist Mark Penn just told reporters that in the next two weeks Hillary Clinton will go after Barack Obama on the issue of who is better qualified to be commander-in-chief — and Penn suggested that Clinton would be a better commander of the nation's armed forces than both Obama and John McCain. "She is the only person in this race who is both ready to be commander-in-chief and would end the Iraq war and start to bring troops home within 60 days, compared to both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain," Penn told reporters.

Later, Penn made it clear that Clinton will push the commander-in-chief issue in coming days. "The Republican nominee has extensive credibility in this area, and the Democrat is going to need to be commander-in-chief," Penn said. Obama has "relatively no experience in national security," Penn continued, an issue that "is going to be reflected in the debates that we have over the next couple of weeks."

UPDATE: Later in the call, the Clinton team was asked whether the not-qualified-to-be-commander-in-chief criticism of Obama was going too far, given that it would be used by Republicans against Obama if Obama is the Democratic nominee against John McCain. "We don't believe that he is the one who will face John McCain," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said. "This is a legitimate question that Sen. Obama would face if he were the nominee, and it is a question that he is facing as a result of criticism from Sen. McCain now, so I think it's perfectly appropriate."

REUTERS Black Guy with ears, by 14 over Older Woman with Experience

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Heading into crucial March 4 nominating contests in Ohio and Texas, Obama has gained the upper hand in a close and fierce Democratic duel with Clinton. McCain broke open the Republican race and has driven out most of his leading rivals.

The poll showed Obama with a 14-point edge over Clinton, 52 percent to 38 percent, after being in a statistical tie with the New York senator last month.

Obama's new lead follows a string of 10 wins in February for the Illinois senator, who has moved ahead in the battle for pledged delegates who vote on the party's nominee at the August convention.

"Obama has the hot hand and you can clearly see his momentum in the national numbers," pollster John Zogby said. "This is what happens when you win a bunch of primaries in a row -- or maybe this is why you win a bunch of primaries in a row."

A Pot in Every Cookie

The marijuana issue is one of the most irritating stupidities in this nation. Let me help confuse matters:

1. Periodically i review the literature almost in the hope that someone will fu8nd something as "bad" about pot as ... well say, coffee. No way Jose. The worst I can find is this:

a. some possible loss of reflexes after years and tears of use with no evidence that this loss has any functional significance. Certainly less than the effects of getting older.

b. a reasonabkle suspicion that joints geenrates oem cola tars, like any other smoled vegetable matter, and therefore might contribute to cancer (no evidence just might).

c. when raised over one's head, a heavy bail of MJ, can .. whehn suddenly released, be lethal. (true story).

So, my best guess, as a scientist whose expertise makes it possible to read this literature, is that MJ is great in brownies. BTW fine chocolate also has THC so next time valentines day, ..

2. Given our many other arbitrary laws ... against prostitution, polyandry and polygamy, use of FUCKPISSSHIT but not HATEGUNSKILL on TV, public nudity, spanking kids, breast feeding, display of lingerie, trespassing on waterfront properties, consumption of horse meat, suicide, tits on the tube, foot tapping in public restrooms, hate speech,

and given our laws that PERMIT

Tobacco, Nyquil, Nodoze, motorcycles, guns, religious obsession, symbolic eating of divine flesh (funny this is OK but "devil worship" is not), mountian climbing, professional boxing and football, FAUX TV, sitcoms, Reilly, pro wrestling, Limbaugh, loud music, excess perfume .....

I guess a law against marijuana is pretty consistent with the rest of it.
.

PSSSSST ...please keep the THC content of chocolate a SECRET. My wife wold kill me if anything I did led to her vitamin C becoming illegal!

"Christian Felder at the National Institute of Mental Health estimates that a 130-pound person would have to eat 25 pounds of chocolate at one time to get any marijuana-like effect. "

Seattle as LA grown UP.

From HA and SJ

This panel discussion of Seatlle new high density housing epidemic, plague development is all too typical of how Novo Seattle is being planned.

"We" are building a new city, with well over a 100,000 people, but the planning
is being left largely to the developers. If there is a vision, no one I can find
can describe it. What scares me is that the planning for Seattle seems a lot like
the "planning" that gave us Los Angeles Bellevue. That sort
of thing is bad enough when you are bulding endless suburbs, it is horrible when done
in the compact space of a city.

For bad examples, I suggest you look at the "developments" .. the dense housing built in
the fifties for poor folks. Now we are tearing it all down. Similar bad planning can
be seen in the former Soviet space. Again it is now being torn down.

OK, this was all social planning .. is capitalism better? I do not think so. Many
org the suburbs of that era are now pretty dismal and some of the expensive housing I have seen
on Manhattan and even Vancouver looks an awful lor like tenements to be.

This contrasts with wonderful older developments like Boston's Back Bay or council housing
in Sweden and Germany. In all of these high density is carefuly combined with appropriate retail.
recreation areas, transportation, and .. often some sort of local magnets.

For example, the South End of Boston was once a slum but is now ell in its way back. The
buildings are of high quality but even better are the boulevards that go through the area, miniparks,
churches, retail areas, and the adjacent medical center with its jobs.

A former student of mine lived in council housing in Sweden. Though intended for moderate income,
the area was carefully fitted out with parks, schools, bike trails, shared recreation facilities, etc.

Is this gonna happen her? I am skeptical.

Lets take SLU as an example. This area has been touted as being anchored by biotech. I know, however,
that the UW is not represented on any planning council for SLU.
The only park planned for the area is the tiny triangle of Denny Park and the expanded shore wall called a park
along Lake Union.

I have met with one of the VULCAN planners(and with Healey). AFIK, the plans for street side development are amazingly anemic.
There is an idea that Westlake will become a shopping street BUT, no plans to force a widening of the street or an increase set back
despite the effective decrease in street width by the SLUT. Despite the claim to want biotech, there is no plan for an information'backbone.
bookstores, affordable housing for felllows, or other amentities that fascilitate biotech.

Same thing applies up here on Cap Hill. Zoning has been changed for Broadway to allow an increase in six story housing along
Broadway. There are, however, no provisions for increased parking (other than one space per housing unit) despite the planned opening
of light rail. A city planner told me that folks will walk to the LR station. That does make sense if you think this is a high rise area, but the
bulk of cap hill is still single family and there does not appear to be any plan to increase metro so that folks can get to these stations on their way
to Seatac, the UW or downtown.

Along with all this intent to build UP, there seems to be no talk of street level amenities like miniparks, destination buildings, etc. Frankly (and You and I often
disagree on this sort of issue) the result

The result, it seems to me, is likely to be a great increase in demand for parking on Bway that will choke the development of this area as
a retail magnet for Cap. Hill.

My impression is that the intent is to support the developers, with little interest in the surrounding neighborhood..

A Letter about Obama the Bodhi

Bob,

I am excited too.

I have a two theories about certain people.

Many folks are like apples. They look like apples and taste like apples all the way through.
Fewer folks are like onions. As you peal off one layer there is another and then another. With
each layer, you learn more.

Obama is an onion. As I have delved into him,..the more I look the more i learn. He is a "good onion" too. That is
the layers underneath add to his complexity and interest. I wold love to be his student.

My second theory is harder.

The Buddha taught that he was an ordinary man who had, through his gifts and efforts come to understand
things that were valuable for others to learn. I believe that there are many such people,"bhoddisatva",people that I can learn from.
In my life so far this has included my grandmother, MLK, Cesar Cahvez, hal Weintruab and some friends you would not know.

Is BHO a bhoddisatva? I do not know but my rules are that once I think someone may be "that way" I try to listen and understand.
The more convinced I become, the more willing I am to listen in the hope of learning. When I become very convinced, as with my Grandmother, my wife, Gandhi, John XXIII, Jimmy Carter I decide to no longer judge these people ... to just do my best to learn form them.

For now, until something better shows up, I am finding that when BHO says soething, even something I think is wrong I listen. I find myself often rewarded for this by better understanding so maybe he is a Bhodi???

I realize this is awfully romantic, but in my personal life, entrely aside form famous people, I have met a large numbe rof folks who are .. at least relative to me, bodhis. So if, out of the say 200 people I know, there a dozen or so Bi=odhis, why shouldn't some such perosn ccasionaly run for President?

I a, in this regard, amazed at the high ethical standard he has beena ble to keep in the campaign. His wifr, friendhip with the Rabbi across the street, etc. etc. all provide new laters of an onion that look good.

Of course, I am all to aware that being a bodhi does not mean one will succeed at being President. Jimmy Carter and John XXII were, perhaps, both too good to be true. So, the cynic inside remains alive and well.

On a different topic, I apoloigize for not gettiong back to you. I have been truly overhelmed.

Are you around this weekend?

On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 4:21 PM, R----------- wrote:

Steve,

I've been listening to Barack's speeches a lot lately and think of you each time, telling me at dinner how it was like taking a drug. Its really exciting to see him win, but I don't know others around me (yet) who share the pleasure I get in hearing him speak, so I felt like dropping you a line. It's just so odd to have a politician like this. I never expected to see anyone like this in my lifetime. I can't sleep on primary nights. I feel like I'm starting to live from speech to speech.

Hope you are well. Best regards,

Bob

--
Stephen M. Schwartz
Pathology

Clinton Campaign Shows a Lack of Class

Sam Stein at Huffington roerts truly sad behavior on the part of the Clinton campaign, :

Stein quotes Clinton's campaign strategist Mark Penn as saying,

"It would be hard to imagine a nominee from this party who didn't win New York, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania," said Penn.

This is utter dog shit. No democrat in O8 can lose New York, Californai, Mass, or Michigan. These are not swing states. In the other, Obama polls ahead of HRC, This sort of dissembling makes one worry what HRC is being told by Penn?

"During the call, both Penn and Howard Wolfson, Clinton's press secretary, repeatedly hit Obama for lifting words from a speech of his friend and surrogate Massachusetts's Gov. Deval Patrick. The two Clinton surrogates also went after their campaign rival for not revealing the full extent of his relationship with indicted supporter Tony Rezko. The most direct political attacks, however, came when Penn took Obama to task for being unqualified to serve as commander-in-chief."

This is close to Rovian behavior. For his part, BHO has avoided the potential use of HRC's gender, her complex relationship with Bill, the mystery of her tax return, the continued employment of Ira Magaziner, her embrace of Mrs. Arafat, her total of 12 months employment outside of government or coproprate law, Bill's bizarre ties to Kazhakastan, yadda yadda. If she he wins, this sort of un ethical campaign will go some distance to reinforce the incredulity created by Bush and Chaney's lies.

"[Sen. Clinton] is the only person in this race who is both ready to be commander-in-chief and would end the Iraq war and start to bring troops home within 60 days, compared to both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain," he told reporters."

Frankly this is utter bull. Neither candiudate has military expertise.

Obama takes 10 in a row .. hula skirts too.Obama takes 10 in a row .. hula skirts too.

In Hawaii, clues from Barack Obama's origins

In Hawaii, a young Obama walked in many worlds

By Jennifer Steinhauer

Published: March 17, 2007

HONOLULU: To his high school classmates, Barack Obama was a pleasant if undistinguished student, the guy who seemed happiest on the basketball court, the first to dive into the pumpkin carving at Halloween, the one whose oratorical prowess was largely limited to out-debating classmates over the relative qualities of point guards.

But Obama's family here in Hawaii saw a more complex young man, a person whose racial confusion and feelings of alienation were matched with equal parts ambition, disquietude and lofty notions about where his internal struggles might lead.

"There was always a joke between my mom and Barack that he would be the first black president," his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, said in an interview over tea. "So there were intimations of all this early on. He has always been restless. There was always somewhere else he needed to go."

It was his early search for a cultural identity on the island of Oahu, populated with people of diverse origins but relatively few blacks, that presaged his current political persona, Soetoro-Ng suggested.

"He couldn't sit back and wait for the answers to come to him," said Soetoro-Ng, who is the daughter of Obama's mother from another marriage and who remains close to him. "He had to pursue those answers actively. People from very far-away places collide here, and cultures collide, and there is a blending and negotiation that is constant."

She continued, "I think Hawaii gave him a sense that a lot of different voices and textures can sort of live together, however imperfectly, and he would walk in many worlds and feel a level of comfort."

Obama's political narrative was written about 4,500 miles and a cultural universe away from here, largely in Illinois. But the seeds of his racial consciousness, its attendant alienation and his political curiosity appear to have been planted in Hawaii.

There was, by the description of his classmates, coaches and teachers, their Barry, the one who still looks remarkably like the picture in his yearbook, smiling under his Afro, or posing somewhat stiffly with other children under a sign reading "Mixed Races of America."

That Barry had a confident gait, a cheerful smile and a B average.

"He had the same exact mannerisms then as he does now," said Eric Kusunoki, Obama's homeroom teacher at the Punahou School. "When he walked up to give that speech at the Democratic convention, we recognized him right away by the way he walked. He was well liked by everybody, a very charismatic guy."

And there was the other Barry, the child of a white American mother, Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, and a Kenyan father, also named Barack, who left when Obama was young and who is also dead. That Barry, described in Obama's book "Dreams From My Father," was the one whose young classmate once asked him if his "father ate people," who endured whispered racial epithets, whose sense of being a misfit haunted him into high school, where at times, he says, he hid behind a haze of marijuana smoke and unhappiness.

"He struggled here with the idea that people were pushing an identity on him, what it meant to be a black man," said Soetoro-Ng, whose own father was Indonesian.

"He was trying to balance that with a desire he already had then to name himself," she said. "There were not a lot of people here who were engaged in that process. Their identities were more solidly assumed. Having a community that embraced you without question was something that most people had. But he had lived in Indonesia, had a father who was absent but whose presence loomed large and a mother who had lived in 13 places."

As a result, she said, Obama, while "not a brooding young man - he played sports and formed close friendships and wasn't overly serious" - often "wrapped himself in his own solitude."

While Obama has several half-siblings from his father's other marriages, Soetoro-Ng, 39, his half-sister by his mother, is the only one he spent significant time with as a child. He spoke at her wedding, and he sees her each Christmas when he comes to Hawaii.

As a child, living at times with his mother and at other times with his maternal grandparents, Obama straddled the worlds of a cloistered private school and a comforting if knotty existence among family members, accompanied by a cast of marginalized older men and poets attached to his grandfather and largely unknown to his largely privileged classmates.

The Five Commandments

In the spirit of Tom Jefferson's effort to revise the Bible and in tribute to Darryl's new found affinity for fundamentalism, as SJ I have vetted the Ten Commandments and come up with Five Commanments that are acceptable in American Classrooms. Rejoice!


Original 10:

1. Belief in G-d

This category is derived from the declaration in Ex. 20:2 beginning, "I am the L-rd, your G-d..."

This is awfully complex for this society. It is very clear that this DOES not say anything at all to the goyem (y'all). There is no implication here that anyone except the Jews should follow the LAW. WADR to the Jesus crew, the Torah is revelation ..said to be a direct citation by the Deity and therefore no one can override it.

So in classes across the New Christian US, we COULD have a tablet that said"

"The Jews are supposed to ONLY worship the Deity with no name. Others can do whatever they want." Since this would not be acceptable to the Jews, the first commandment must go.

2. Prohibition of Improper Worship

This category is derived from Ex. 20:3-6, beginning, "You shall not have other gods..." It encompasses within it the prohibition against the worship of other gods as well as the prohibition of improper forms of worship of the one true G-d, such as worshiping G-d through an idol.

With no DOUBT this prohibits the Trinity, icons and statues. MUST GO

3. Prohibition of Oaths

This category is derived from Ex. 20:7, beginning, "You shall not take the name of the L-rd your G-d in vain..." This includes prohibitions against perjury, breaking or delaying the performance of vows or promises, and speaking G-d's name or swearing unnecessarily.

Note the prohibitions of SPEAKING the name of the Deity. Thus, 5th day adventists, those who claim to worship in the name of Jesus, etc are BREAKING the LAW. This discriminates, MUST GO."

BTW, If Yashka had really called on the Diety by his name the punishment of that time was stoning to death for blasphemy! A pile of stones does not make as neat a symbol as a cross!"

4. Observance of Sacred Times

This category is derived from Ex. 20:8-11, beginning, "Remember the Sabbath day..." It encompasses all mitzvot related to Shabbat, holidays, or other sacred time.

Last time I looked there is no mention in the C. Bible of Jesus saying .. lets move shabbat to Sunday! Given the strict codes of his time, with no doubt any record of Yashka bending nails on Saturday would have come down to us!? STORES DO NOT WANT SATURDAY BLUE LAWS, MUST GO

5. Respect for Parents and Teachers

This category is derived from Ex. 20:12, beginning, "Honor your father and mother..."

this one passes the test .. a keeper!

6. Prohibition of Physically Harming a Person

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not murder."

this one passes the test .. a keeper!

7. Prohibition of Sexual Immorality

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not commit adultery."

this one passes the test .. a keeper!

8. Prohibition of Theft

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not steal." It includes within it both outright robbery as well as various forms of theft by deception and unethical business practices. It also includes kidnapping, which is essentially "stealing" a person.

this one passes the test .. a keeper!

9. Prohibition of Harming a Person through Speech

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It includes all forms of lashon ha-ra (sins relating to speech).

this one passes the test .. a keeper!

10. Prohibition of Coveting

This category is derived from Ex. 20:14, beginning, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house..."

Sorry, this one rules out capitalism. MUST GO!

Revised Quintet of Eternal Laws:

Once there were ten commandments, these were such a great influence on our society that five survive till today.

5. Respect for Parents and Teachers

This category is derived from Ex. 20:12, beginning, "Honor your father and mother..."

6. Prohibition of Physically Harming a Person

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not murder."

7. Prohibition of Sexual Immorality

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not commit adultery."

8. Prohibition of Theft

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not steal." It includes within it both outright robbery as well as various forms of theft by deception and unethical business practices. It also includes kidnapping, which is essentially "stealing" a person.

9. Prohibition of Harming a Person through Speech

This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It includes all forms of lashon ha-ra (sins relating to speech).

Posting the Five Fine Commandments

Huckabee is correct about the ten commandments. Since the ancoent times of Cecil B. deMill, these have formjed the basis for American society. Such central documents ought to be made av available to all students, especially those new to out shared culture.

1. Isn't it clear that these are historic writings that have deeply influenced our Judeo-Islmamo-Christtian culture?

It is unimaginable that any of our forebears (reintroduction of non sexist term!) would not have learned of the ten commandments and consider them central to our rule of law ..unless we include Massasoit, Ch. Seattle and Sitting bull as a forbears.

2. The format of the ten commndments should, however, be authentic. They MUST be put up in a historically n authentic Hebrew.
As a compromise, we can use modern Hebrew typography since there is no existing copy in the Canaanite script.
No vowels will be alloed. If the Deity had wanted to reveal the ten commandments in English, our Lord would have appeared 2000 or so years later when folks understood that language.

3. BOTH versions of the commandments should be listed .. there are two different versions in the Torah y' know!

4. If translations are offered they must be offered into all languages of instruction used at the school and must be accurate to the original Ivrit.

5. Translations must make it clear that the first commandment is written only to the Jews .. "I am Thy (the Jews's) God ".... The adaptation to all citizens (of Rome) by Constantine in the 300s should be explained in class.

6. Since the Deity also issues an additional 593 commandments for Jews only, and since the early Americans on New England took those commandments very seriously, these should be made available as well.

OK?

So Where is Science in 08?

Sheril R. Kirshenbaum of the Intersection reported on the sad state of the science positions of the two dems:

She relates a "debate" set up in Boston between the candidates by the Association of American Universities and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges as part of the annual AAAS meeting.

"From Clinton's camp came Thomas Kalil, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Science and Technology at UC California Berkeley. He's also former Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Technology and Economic Policy and former Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council. Obama sent Alec Ross, a social entrepreneur for One Economy Corporation which is a non-profit working to bring new technology to poor communities. I immediately noticed although Ross is the younger, more charismatic speaker, it's obvious he lacks experience and familiarization with science policy."

That pretty much sums up the superficiality of the presentations from her POV.

Kalil had a preprepared slide show that emphasized bureaucratic issues such as restoring the the role of the president's science adviser and bringing back the Office of Technology Assessment. This is seemingly ignorant of the need for scientific input into the high levels of government. The idea that one science adviser can vet quantum physics, genetics, viral epidemics, pollution .. is absurd. To make this w0rse, she said Hillary would double research spending over the next decade to benefit NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy, and the Pentagon. This looks like Bush!! Spending $$ on defence research, industrial research??? Notably missing form this pre-packaged presentation: NIH, center for disease control, environmental science,

The Obama presentation was less psecific, endorsing the !50 billion increase over five yearinstead of ten but NOT showing any sense of strategy. Apparently he also emphasized engineering over science .. issues like biofuels, hybrid cars, and the national power grid. This is NT science, it is engineering. Engineering IS important but the engine that drives productivity over the long term (e.g. recombinant DNA, supercooling, transistors, quantum computing, etc.) and that creates solutions ot the unsolveable problems.

" Claudia asked each representative whether their candidate will be at ScienceDebate2008 on April 18th in Philidelphia. 'Time will tell,' replied Kalil... to which Obama's rep reported it's being very seriously considered, followed with an enthusiastic, 'I endorse it!'

So contact the campaigns and tell them you want the presidential candidates to attend ScienceDebate2008! After all, this is our planet. Our home. Our health. Our families. Our economy. And it's imperative we make our voices heard--now more than ever--for the sake of our future."

We came to work but there weren't any place to do the work

Washington State For Barack Obama 2008 | Obama08-WA | Barack Obama Driving Change

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

I was sorry to see the WA state office close.

My wife and I went down to volunteer only to find it vacant. Dispiriting. Not even a phone number or web address. This suggests a serious weakness in the campaign. for the long run.

This fits an image I have seen in the campaign of serious ignorance of the local turf and a lack of long term commitment. A lot of the strength of the Radical Republicans came (I like THAT tense!) the huge strength of their grass roots. Even now, the grass roots survive and are likely to make a play to take over the GOP if McCain loses.

Obama 08, if it works, will only be the first step in a long process of creating a new movement united behind Obama's idealism. Is there any interest in our State of turning this into a longer term process?

www.seattlejew.blogspot.com

Susan Estrich on the other Hillary

Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a mid-term election.: "The rub on Hillary Clinton is that she'd do anything to be president. I don't think that's true. She is a mother first. But instead of getting any credit for that, she gets another heap of criticism. Life isn't fair, as Jimmy Carter used to say, and for Hillary Clinton and the press, that's an understatement."

So, here is the nexus of the issues. Estrich knows Clinton, is not a Clintonite, but describes a side of HRC's personality that does not come through the media.

Where does one find reality?

For sayings of Gautama, with comments as needed.

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

Is this a contradiction?

No .. but it is circular, today we would call this a vicious circle. Though the term seems pejorative, the effect is an endless circle anchored only by a need to always re-examine one's own sense. of right ad wrong against the advice from others.

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."
Or as Skinner says, the physiology of all extreme emotions overcomes learning. Yet, there is danger here too .. the Buddha seems to teach avoidance of all great transcendental emotions. If it is desirable to never be burned by anger is it also a desirable NOT to experience beauty?

"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world."
100,000 years ago, evolution led to the miracle of words. And they were as real as physical objects.

"Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."
This does not eem to me to have been written by Gautama. How, if one is to pursue the curcle of self awareness can one have work? The word work here is wrong. Siddartha must have meant something like nature. Or perhaps the aphorism means that man and the word are one thing. Having words drive a need to understand, to model. Rather like the Delphic call to know theyself? But, in Siddartha's terms doesn't such an admonition imply an external force that determines work?

blatherWatch: The scheisse man cometh... can obama stand up to him?

There is an early Halloween speculation going on about worries that BHO is a wimp and will be esily slurred by the Swiftboat tactics of the Radical Residual Right.

Obama is the Radical Republican Right's worst dream, a second coming of Ronald Reagan, A natural leader at the time of a perfect storm that makes the Carter-Reagan transition look like an overture. Obama is a Reaganlike figure coming to rescue America from Jimmy Carter's calls for sacrifice without tying that sacrifice to the ultimate victory of America.
Reagan sold an impossible dream .

look at the parallels:

Our enemies are making fools of us ....

Obama/Reagan .. The goodness of America is our ultimate sword.

Obama/Reagan .. this embarrassment is not because THEY are better than we, but because we have been poorly led.

Obama/Reagan ... God is on our side.

The decline in energy is inevitable ...

Obama/Reagan ... The ingenuity ofr America will overcome.


"We" are threatened by folks who do not look like us ...

Obama/Reagan ... look at me and repeat, "I am an American, ..."

The econmy is a bust, the system does not work ..


Reagan succeeded in selling voodoo economics NOT because the average Jo has a warm spot for Warren Buffett and Halliburton, but because he give middle Americans an alternative to Jimmy Carter's pessimism.

*************************

Can the Reps work by swiftboating ...

I doubt it for five reasons:

1. As a Politician Kerry has the lessons of Kerry, Ford, and Dukakis to learn from.

2. McCain is a lot more ethical a guy than the BushCosa Nostra.

3. McCain has a rather full closet of his own. Fielding, melanoma, age, friendship with the Vietnamese, second (rich) wife, messy divorce.

4. Clinton Inc has not found anything disabling that does not require entering the racism trap. Clinton & co. could not find .. some evidence comparable to the discovery of Eagleton's record of treatment of a mental illness. For example, if BHO had once sold coke or if he has AIDS.

5. Obama has built a wall against racism, invoking ... the gimmick used against Harold Ford will not work. Imagine a variation on the Obama Girl where the singer is an innocent white house wife swooning for the bootiful blackie! This will happen because HBO, Inc has an antidote: Michelle. Not only are they obviously in love, white women identify with her. Swiftboaters beware, Barack ain't no John Kerry.

FINALLY, the Republican effort to load BHO wi "Where's the beef" seems like their best weapon. The problme is that McC is MORE vuberabke to this than BHO is. In most instances the BHO plans are more attractive and specific to voters than anything McC can offer unless McC violates parts of the treasured dream of the dormant Reqgan.

So, here is my WORST case scenarios .... >

McCain Whitmans vs. Obama Richardson

1. Reps surface evidence that BHO once sold crack.

2. On 9/11/08 a gang of NOI take white hostages at a shopping mall in Kansas and refuse to leave until the US elects BHO.

3. A Hausa led revolution occurs in Nigeria with backing from Chavez and Ahmadinejad.

4. Iran goes nuclear. Bush call McC to consult and they jointly declare a blockade.

5. sex scandal, Obama has white mistress and an illegitimate child.

6. Obama guilty of plagiarism at Harvard Law

The problem for the reps with most of these scenarioes is that the Clinton machine apparently oculd not find any of this and a real el Qaeda event owuld seem unlikl3ey unless EQ wanted to push the elction toward McC,

Obama's neighborhood

Kenwood District

Address: Bounded by E. 47th, East 51st, S. Blackstone and S. Drexel Year Built: 1860-1920 Architect: Various Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: June 29, 1979

Once referred to as the "Lake Forest of the South Side," Kenwood developed as a pleasant residential suburb between the late 1850s and the 1880s. The area retained its suburban character even after annexation to Chicago in 1889. By the turn of the century, Kenwood's residents included lumber merchant Martin Ryerson, meatpacker Gustavus Swift, and Sears Roebuck executive Julius Rosenwald. Kenwood's large single-family residences, set on spacious lots, made the neighborhood unique in Chicago; among the influential architects who designed houses in the district are: George Maher, Benjamin Marshall, Howard Van Doren Shaw, and Frank Lloyd Wright. The district represents one of the city's best collections of architectural styles, ranging from Italinate and Colonial Revival to Queen Anne and Prairie School.

From USA Today: High achievement and diversity are hallmarks of his Hyde Park-Kenwood community, technically two adjoining neighborhoods but usually referred to collectively. The community has been home to a long list of well-known residents, from the nation's first black woman senator and Chicago's first black mayor to legendary Scopes Trial defense attorney Clarence Darrow and an assortment of Nobel Prize winners and business magnates.

With a university at its core, it's not surprising the community far outpaces surrounding neighborhoods when it comes to the number of residents holding advanced college degrees.

The neighborhood is also much more prosperous than some of the city's South Side communities that border it. Homes sell for a median price of almost $300,000, more than three times that of the nearby Woodlawn neighborhood.

The median family income of $57,460 in Hyde Park and $43,554 in Kenwood also are three times greater than the median incomes in some neighboring communities, according to the latest census data.

The face of the neighborhood is mixed. Hyde Park is close to evenly split between blacks and whites with a small Hispanic population and Kenwood, which is smaller, has almost four times as many blacks as whites. Surrounding communities are predominantly black.

Hyde Park-Kenwood is a community that prides itself on an independent-minded brand of politician -- something Illinois' junior senator is selling in his bid to become the country's first black president.

Rabbi Emeritus Arnold Jacob Wolf, whose landmark Jewish temple is across the street from Obama's home, said he sensed the political promise in the as-yet-unknown Obama when he met him a decade ago during Obama's successful run for the Illinois Senate.

"I said to him, 'Mr. Obama, someday you will be vice president of the United States,' and he said to me, 'Why vice president?'" said Wolf of KAM Isaiah Israel, a Chicago landmark that boasts the city's oldest Jewish congregation.

Obama came to the area when he moved to Chicago in the mid 1980s to work as a community organizer before he left for Harvard Law School. Later, the neighborhood was a natural fit for him and his wife Michelle, who grew up on the South Side, because they both had history there.

"Family and community are extremely important to us. We have a strong community of friends and of course my Mom lives in the area," Michelle Obama said in a written statement provided by the campaign. Michelle Obama's father died before she married Obama in 1992.

Today, the Obamas are raising their two young daughters in a million-dollar-plus home in a ritzy part of the neighborhood's Kenwood section, a landmark district.

With grand homes set back on deep lots, a street sign designating the historic district touts how it once was home to leading industrialists who had their residences designed by such famous architects as Frank Lloyd Wright.

Just down the block from where he lives is an honorary street designation for the pioneering black woman who in 1946 was the first to get her law degree from the University of Chicago. That woman, Jewel Lafontant-Mankarious, is also the late mother of close Obama adviser John Rogers Jr.

To Rogers, the neighborhood is an "oasis" of diversity and intellectualism. "What better way to define what you're all about than where you choose to live and bring up your family."

Ingenuity

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Plouffe: She can't catch us - Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com

Plouffe: She can't catch us - Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com: "Along the same lines, they are informative stats from MSNBC's FirstRead. QUOTE: *** The statistical front-runner: No matter how one slices the election results from last night, there's no denying that Obama is the statistical front-runner. He's got a 100-plus pledged delegate lead and even has the lead if you factor in superdelegates. Here's our math: The NBC News election unit hard count stands at 1078 to 969. If you factor in the unallocated pledged delegates, our estimate rises to approximately 1128 to 1009 in Obama's favor (margin of error +/- 5 delegates). Toss in the superdelegates and Obama's lead is 1306 to 1270 (again +/- 5 delegates). What does this mean? For Clinton to overtake Obama for the pledged delegate lead -- which we think is the single most important statistic for the superdelegates to decide their vote -- she'll have to win 55% of the remaining delegates. Assuming next week goes Obama's way in Wisconsin and Hawaii, that percentage rises to 57%. Toss in likely Obama victories in Vermont, Wyoming, Mississippi, Oregon, Montana, and South Dakota, then Clinton's percentage need tops 60% of the remaining delegates available. And this is simply for her to regain the pledged delegate lead? *** Staying on the statistical front: Check out these cumulative vote totals for primaries and caucuses"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Michelle Obama Takes to the Trail - New York Times

Michelle Obama Takes to the Trail - New York Times: "Interviews with people who know Mrs. Obama say she chose, even as a young adult, to strive for the opportunities that were closed to previous generations.

Mrs. Obama grew up knowing, for instance, that her maternal grandfather, a carpenter, was squeezed out of the best jobs in Chicago because as a black man he was not allowed to join a union. But she said she had also been taught not to see race as a barrier, to look at the world in terms of what is possible, not the other way around.

“My parents told us time and time again, ‘Don’t tell us what you can’t do,’ ” she said. “ ‘And don’t worry about what can go wrong.’ ”

She talks on the campaign trail about high school advisers who tried to dissuade her from applying to Princeton because they thought her scores were not good enough. (She graduated with honors in sociology in 1985.)

She talks about college counselors who said similar things about her desire to go to Harvard Law, from which she graduated and went on to one of the top corporate firms in Chicago.

“I realized that gnawing sense of self doubt that lies within all of us is within our own heads,” she said in Atlanta."“They said my achievement must have been the result of racial preferences. And I am certainly not supposed to be standing here, maybe to become the next first lady of the United States.”

Asked about the role of first lady, Mrs. Obama said she saw it as a full-time job. But, she hastened to add, she reserved the right to change her mind if she gets there."

Carville at his best!

Orlando Sentinel - The Buzz: International Builders Show archives by: "Carville, on supporters of President George W. Bush and the military:

'Those Bush people are fascinated with all their generals and we Clinton people are fascinated with all our privates.'

Carville, on the presidential election:

'What we are seeing is way beyond historical or transformational. The human mind cannot get around what is happening in politics.'

Carville on the three kinds of Republicans:

There are basically 3 republican parties: the GGG party -- which is God, gays and guns. More god, more guns, less gays.

There there is the homebuilders people, who say don’t raise my taxes or regulate me, let me earn my living.

(the crowd cheers)

Carville: How’s that going?

(ouch!)

Then you got the kind of McCain national defense Republican.'

Carville, on who could have been the Republican frontrunner.

'If Jeb Bush’s name was Jeb Smith you wouldn’t have any of of this. It would be over.'

On the chances of Hillary Clinton, the candidate he is advising:

'She’s behind. Make no mistake. If she lose either Texas or Ohio, this thing is done.'

Carville, offering good news for both Republicans and Democrats:

'For both you Democrats out there, I got good ne"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Jeehhhzuss!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing moment the world's biggest Christ was struck by lightning

Last updated at 12:05pm on 12th February 2008

NEWS EUROPE

'Plot' to kill Denmark cartoonist

The cartoons provoked outrage around the world among devout Muslims [GALLO/GETTY] A Danish citizen of Moroccan descent and two Tunisians have been arrested in connection with a plot to murder a cartoonist whose drawings of the Prophet Muhammad caused an uproar in 2006. The Danish security service said on Tuesday the arrests were made after lengthy surveillance to prevent a "terror-related killing" that was being planned. The arrests were made near Aarhus in western Denmark. The Security and Intelligence Service (PET) said it expected the 40-year-old Danish citizen to be released pending further investigation. The Tunisians will remain detained while deportation proceedings are brought against them. Worldwide outrage According to Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that originally published the cartoons in September 2005, the suspects are accused of planning to kill Kurt Westergaard. Westergaard, 73, a staff cartoonist at Jyllands-Posten who has been accused of being both anti-Semitic and anti-Christian in the past, drew the cartoon that caused the most controversy. The paper reproduced that drawing on its website on Tuesday. At the time, the cartoons drew little initial attention but were later reprinted outside Denmark, provoking outrage among Muslims, most of whom deem any depiction of the prophet as offensive. Three Danish embassies were attacked and at least 50 people were killed in rioting in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

from Al Jazeera

Clinton not a Hit at Stephens' School

Obama routs Clinton in WA caucus by Goldy (horsesass.org), 02/09/2008, 6:00 PM

The official results are pouring in and they back up the anecdotal reports from the caucus floor. Barack Obama now leads Hillary Clinton by a 2 to 1 margin, 67% to 32%, with 57% of precincts reporting. Obama’s support isn’t just deep, it is broad, with the Illinois senator leading the delegate count in every county reporting thus far, most by better than 60%.

Meanwhile, similar results are coming out of the Nebraska Democratic caucus, where Obama now leads 67-32 with 74% of precincts reporting. The Clinton camp talked down expectations heading into this weekend’s contests. Good thing too.

We spent saturday at the local caucus. Hillary lost big time.

Maine Puts Topper On Obama Sweep

Obama Takes Delegate Lead With Wins In 4 States;

Illinois senator Barack Obama finished a series of weekend primary and caucus contests undefeated as he bested Hillary Clinton in Maine today, according to CBS News estimates.

Obama’s victory in the Maine caucuses follow on the heels of his Saturday sweep in which he won Louisiana’s primary contest as well as caucuses in the states of Washington and Nebraska.

His winning margins ranged from substantial to crushing. In Maine, he led 59 percent to 40 percent with 99 percent of the precints reporting. In Louisiana, Obama defeated Clinton, 57 percent to 36 percent. He won in Nebraska by a 68 percent to 32 percent margin and in Washington 68 percent to 31 percent.

Obama's victory in Maine -- and the ease with which it came -- actually exceeded expectations, even though he swept the caucuses held on Super Tuesday. Clinton had the backing of the state's governor, John Baldacci, and its proximity to New Hamsphire and Massachusetts, both of which Clinton has already won this year, led some analysts to expect a close race.

Even Obama's own campaign said they didn't expect to win Maine, according to a document the campaign said was accidentally leaked earlier in the week.

In the delegate chase, Obama has pulled ahead of Clinton, even when the support of uncommitted super delegates is figured in. According to CBS News estimates, Obama holds a razor-thin lead with 1,134 delegates overall to 1,131 for Clinton. Click here for the state-by-state delegate count.

My Brother the Superdelegate and Why I Don't Trust Him to Pick the Next President

My brother Rahm Emanuel is a superdelegate. I love my brother, and I trust my brother. But I gave up letting my brother dictate my life since he determined whether he got the top or bottom bunk in our bedroom back in Chicago.

So, as much as I love and respect him, I don't trust him and his fellow superdelegates to decide for me and the American people who should be the Democratic nominee -- and, therefore, most likely the next president of the United States.

I want voters to make that decision. The superdelegates, my brother included, have not been elected by anybody to name the nominee. They've either been appointed by the Party or, as in my brother's case, have automatically inherited the role simply because they are elected officials. This isn't the place to debate the entire history of superdelegates. Suffice it to say, however, they were created by the Party machine decades ago for the express purpose of giving Party insiders the ability to thwart the popular will.

An inconvenient feud: Al Gore to convey Papal blessings?

Democratic insiders agree that Al Gore is the ultimate prize among uncommitted superdelegates, and Clintonistas well understand a Barack Obama endorsement by Bill Clinton's veep would be a huge blow to Hillary.

They're hoping Gore will stay on the sidelines, but shudder over reports Obama has been courting Prince Albert for months.

They also believe that Gore must be sorely tempted to stick it to the Clintons, whom he blames in large part for his defeat in 2000.

"The level of animus between them is unbelievable," a well-placed Hillary partisan confided.

A prominent Democratic strategist with close ties to both camps echoes: "The Clintons and the Gores can't stand each other."