124 Search Results for ""white vote""

• TN Republican Staffer Caught F

  • From: pinkiehot52
  • Description:

    Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 02:35:58 PM PDT

    (From the diaries. SusanG)

    Here in Tennessee, our politicians (Republican and Democrat) still have not yet figured out that anything they do or say will be subject to scrutiny in the blogosphere, and that nothing they put online is private anymore.

    Further adding to the tragicomedy that is Tennessee politics, we are forced to deal with some of the most vicious racism you'll ever see without a white hood.  Whether it's implying that African-American Senate candidate is "going to steal all the white women," or implying that your African-American Presidential candidate is an anti-Semitic Muslim (whose middle name, by the way, is "Hussein"), Tennessee Republicans have truly mastered the art of the dogwhistle.

    But this new one takes the cake.

    Earlier today, a legislative staffer forwarded well-known West Tennessee blogger Newscoma a picture they had been sent from another staffer.  It's supposed to be an "historical keepsake photo" of the Presidents.  But no picture of President Obama--instead, just a "spook."

    Because, haha, in addition to being another word for a ghost, "spook" is also a racial slur against African-Americans!  Funny!  Not.

    The staffer who originally sent around the picture has now been revealed to be Sherri Goforth, an executive assistant for Republican State Senator Diane Black of Gallatin (a suburb of Nashville).  When contacted by Nashville Is Talking/WKRN Channel 2 (our ABC affiliate) blogger Christian Grantham, not only did Goforth refuse to apologize, all she could do was claim that she had simply sent it "from the wrong email address.  In other words, not sorry that she sent out a blatantly racist email, only sorry that she got caught.

    Well, yes, she did get caught.  And now it's all over the TN blogosphere, and will be on the news tonight.

    For those of you not familiar with her boss, Senator Diane Black, she's a Republican who was the main Senate sponsor of S.J.R. 127, a trigger amendment passed this year that, if passed in one more legislative vote and by a ballot initiative, will allow abortion to quickly be banned in Tennessee should Roe v. Wade ever be overturned.  She also rudely cancelled a meeting with GLBT activists from her own district (you know, people she was elected to represent) at the last second by saying that they "wouldn't change her mind" and therefore she didn't even need to hear from them.  So in other words, a really charming individual who's doing SO MUCH for the people of her district.

    Honestly, everytime I think my capacity to be shocked over the dogwhistle tactics the Tennessee GOP uses to appeal to the worst instincts of their based has been diminished, I quickly realize how wrong I am.  What truly pisses me off is not even the racism, it's that this sort of racism is being spread on my taxpayer dime.  I'm sure the conservatives are gearing up now to say, "Oh, come on you ultra-PC lib'ruls, it's just a JOKE, lighten up!"  But even if this were "just a joke" (which it's obviously not), we the taxpayers are paying you to do the state's business, not to send around racist "jokes."

    If you're in Tennessee and want Senator Black to know exactly what you think of what her office is doing on your dime, consider dropping her a line:

    5 Legislative Plaza.
    Nashville, TN 37243-0218
    Phone (615) 741-1999
    sen.diane.black@capitol.tn.gov

    UPDATE 1:  This story is starting to go national, with The Atlantic and Wonkette both on it.  Once again, the TNGOP has made us the laughingstock of the whole country.

    UPDATE 2:  Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Chip Forrester calls on Diane Black to fire Goforth.  Also, visit here to learn about the training sessions the TNDP is planning to conduct around Tennessee to Save Our State from the GOP.

     

    This was in the daily KOS.

  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
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• The Exorcism of Mr. Charlie, R

  • From: TheSarge1960
  • Description:

     

    The Exorcism of Mr. Charlie, Ripples in the Pond, and a Gifted Latina

     

    Ripples in the Pond

     

    Newsflash from the Hooterville Gazette

     

    The era has arrived, the moment has come, and the future has now become the present.  Never before in the history of America has it become more apparent to those who identify themselves as “guardians of Aryan purity and Aryan superiority have life in America been more upside down. Sacred members of the old guard (Pat Buchanan, Tom Tancredo and a few other good old boys) that have been entrusted to carry the torch that houses the “eternal flame” of racial intolerance and racial indignation have been insidiously attacked and subdued by race mixing liberals who have forsaken the angelic twang of country music for the synthesized rhythmic beat of rap.  Good Lordy Miss Claudey, the Colonel has turned over in his grave! What was once a small ripple in Norman Rockwell’s pond of tranquility has now manifested into a Tsunami of Black and Brown culture.  Putting it simply, Mayberry has integrated.  Ma, call the National Guard!

     

    The Reality of it all

     

    The first major ripple in the pond occurred on May 17, 1954 when the Supreme Court decided in the case of Brown versus the Board of Education Topeka, that public schools that purposely separated Colored students from White students, were guilty of denying Colored students the same educational opportunities that were afforded to White students.  Justices of the Supreme Court liberally articulated this “arrangement” as being an inequity and by a vote of 9-0, public school segregation in America officially ended.  Further, the Justices interpreted that racial segregation prevented young Colored minds from receiving the necessary academic and social tools that would enable them to fairly compete with their White contemporaries.  (Well ain’t that the point?) Although there were many lawyers who argued before the Court to rip down the “curtain” that provided cover and concealment for those of us who hide behind granddaddy’s window of racial fear, lets take a moment to recognize the emergence of Thurgood Marshall, a gifted young Colored NAACP lawyer, who subsequently, in 1967 would later be appointed as the first Colored Justice to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Thank you very much President Lyndon Baines Johnson for tossing a stone in Mayberry’s pond, now you know why you and Miss Lady Bird were never invited to our annual fish fry and cross burning gala.

     

    It can be argued that the second ripple in the pond occurred on December 1, 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama, when a Colored woman named Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat, as mandated by the South’s “Jim Crow Law”, to a White man who understood that because he was born White, it was his inherent right to claim the seat that Miss Park was sitting on.  This bold (OK, brave) and defiant 42 year old woman was the spark that manifested to liberals the meaning of their rebellion which they now consider to be a righteous cause.  

     

    This modern day civil rights campaign which was birthed by Miss Parks, compelled partisans and non partisans of civil rights to re-think and to re-read the words of The American Declaration of Independence which states, “That we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  The choice that Miss Rosa Parks made on December 1, 1955, to take a stand against what liberals say was an unjust and an immoral law, defined this stubborn (OK, dignified) woman, before the world, as being the catalyst of a movement that knocked Dixie to its knees.  Sacred carriers of the torch that housed the “eternal flame” took notice as the ripples in the pond began to spread. 

     

    The third and most heart stopping ripple that tipped over Andy’s and Opie’s fishing boat, occurred on November 4, 2008.  This was the infamous date that the Democratic Presidential nominee, Barack Obama, a Colored man of mixed heritage with a funny sounding name, defeated White Republican Presidential nominee, John McCain for the office of the Presidency of the United States of America.  We’ve received reports that on that day, White people across America ripped the hair out of their scalp, chain smoked Marlboro Red cigarettes, drank countless bottles of whiskey, beat their children for listening to Jay Z and consequently, bought thousands of rounds of rifle ammunition as they breathlessly awaited for a sign from their local Grand Dragon that the much anticipated race war was about to commence. 

     

     

    And now, adding final insult to our injury, a female Puerto Rican from the Bronx, New York, who also has a funny sounding name, has been nominated to replace albeit a liberal, a White Man, to sit as a judge on the highest court of the United States of America.  The ghost of Confederate President Jefferson Davis has just peed on himself. 

     

    A Gifted Latina

     

    Sotomayor who?

     

    Sonia Sotomayor’s bio illustrates that she was born June 25, 1954 in the Bronx, New York, from parents of Puerto Rican descent.  Judge Sotomayor’s trek through life as a young lady has been marked with both tragedy and triumph.  Raised in the tough housing projects of both East and South Bronx, New York (isn’t that the place where there’s a bunch of Yankees?) and forced as an 8 year old to contend with being a diabetic, young Sonia understood early in life the meaning of determination and survival. Her father, Juan Sotomayor, a tool- and- die worker with a third grade education, spoke a limited amount of English and died when Sonia was only nine years old.  Sonia’s mother, Celina, a Woman’s Army Corps veteran during World War II, worked as a nurse to support Sonia and Sonia’s brother Juan Junior after the death of her husband Juan.

     

    A condensed snapshot of Judge Sotomayor’s academic accomplishes include being honored as her Catholic High School’s Valedictorian, graduating in 1976 from Princeton University, Summa Cum Laude, and in 1979 graduating from Yale University with a law degree.  Acknowledged and admired by past New York Mayors and past U.S. Presidents for her talents as a skilled litigator and arbitrator, Judge Sotomayor has steadily climbed the ladder of professional success and as a tribute to her hard work and experience, was nominated on May 26, 2009, by President Barack Obama, to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.  If confirmed by Congress, Judge Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and only the third woman to be seated as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Exorcism of Mr. Charlie

     

    We love Mr. Charlie

     

    It’s been brought to the attention of our newspaper’s chief editor, Mr. Harlan P. Beauregard that liberals have secretly conspired to contact Father Patrick Mahoney, Hooterville’s only Catholic priest, in an attempt to drive away evil spirits from a local resident, who according to those ignorant liberals, goes by the name of Mr. Charlie. Mr. Beauregard has further discovered after reading Hooterville’s white pages, that currently, there is no “Mr. Charlie” that resides in Hooterville; however, because the names, Hannity, Buchanan, Chaney and Limbaugh are always mentioned in conjunction with the anonymous “Mr. Charlie”, we are compelled as God fearing “Real Americans” to contact the aforementioned brethren and warn them that liberals are trying to drive the devil out from them.  No sir, if there’s to be an exorcism conducted in Hooterville; it will be performed by the good Reverend Percy T. Williams who is a bonafide Christian and gun shop owner.  In our attempt to locate Mr. Charlie and show our support, local volunteers are placing “We love Mr. Charlie” fliers on the windshields of all vehicles parked in the parking lot of the “Galaxy Drive-In Theatre” located on county road 111.  If anyone locates Mr. Charlie before we do, please inform him that Reverend Williams will be performing exorcisms after the annual fish fry and cross burning gala.

     

    Quote of the month:          

     

    "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life"

     

     

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 86

• Requiem of a House Negro

  • From: TheSarge1960
  • Description:

    Requiem of a House Negro

     

     

    After hearing Republican National Chairman Michael Steele refer to President Obama as “The Magic Negro” and after reading an Associated Press article that was written in regard to another capitulation by the Chairman to an ever growing number of mutinous Republican National Committee members that have emasculated Mr. Steele by stripping away his control of how he spends money on behalf of promoting the Republican Party, to include forcing Mr. Steele to rehire former RNC Staffer Jay Banning, whom Chairman Steele had once fired, it has been difficult for me to think about anything other than how pitiful Michael Steele and fellow Black Republican Alan Keyes are as Black men.  Failed Republican Presidential Candidate Alan Keyes, in his contempt (and jealousy) for President Obama epitomizes the bitterness felt by ultra right wing crazies who hate President Obama for all the wrong reasons.  Besides the constant slandering and criticism of President Obama by Alan Keyes, Mr. Keyes is guilty of being “stuck” on promoting and promulgating the lie that President Obama is not a US citizen.

     

    Using pejorative terms to describe two Black men whose ancestors were kidnapped from their ancestral homeland and chained together in the dark and hot bowels of European slave ships while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, packed like little spoons in a kitchen drawer, forced to live in filth, being fed the equivalent of garbage, and then finally to be regurgitated onto a foreign and hostile land only to be desecrated as humans for almost four hundred years (I highly recommend reading Lerone Bennett’s “Before the Mayflower, A History of Black America, 1619-1962”) does not appeal to me as an African American male.  However, in the case of Steele and Keyes, I’ll make an exception to my self- imposed rule of not publicly demeaning African Americans by taking a stand against modern day Uncle Tomism and calling them out as the House Negroes that they truly are.  In making the allegation that Steele and Keyes are House Negroes and Uncle Toms, let me make this crystal clear, in my opinion, accepting and adopting Republican ideology does not make an African American a House Negro or an Uncle Tom.  

     

    In contrast to the Democratic Party, there are only a handful of Black Republicans and by far, the majority of these Americans are honorable people.  Former Secretary of State / General, Colin Luther Powell is a shining example.  Black Republicans honestly believe that they, like their White Party members, are indeed patriots, and that America is best governed by the ideology of conservatism. In fact, today’s Republicans are quick to point out in their attempt to deflect  their Party’s indifference and intolerance to Black, Brown, Red and Yellow issues, ( in reality we’re not minorities when you add our numbers) that the Republican Party is the Party of the much revered Abraham Lincoln. (Although it can be easily proven that Abraham Lincoln was no lover of Black Folk) In rebuttal to Republican claims of inclusiveness via a connecting of dots that lead to Abraham Lincoln, I must say that today’s Republican Party is not the Republican Party that their grandfathers once belonged to, especially, when demographically speaking, the Republican’s small base of power is concentrated in America’s deep south.  And I ain’t just whistling Dixie.

     

    In understanding how Uncle Tomism is defined by Black America, I think that it is best that we start with Harriet Beecher Stowe who in 1851 penned the classic novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.  In Miss Stowe’s novel, the character Uncle Tom is characterized as being a righteous martyr that died at the hand of his master, protecting two run away slaves by refusing to betray their whereabouts. Thus, the “Uncle Tom” that evolved from this classic novel, can be described as heroic.  In light of this revelation, I can never imagine Michael Steele or Alan Keyes accepting martyrdom by protecting Black Americans.

     

    The second and most modern definition of an Uncle Tom is a Black person who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to white authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation.  

     

    Given Mr. Steele’s and Mr. Keyes’ extreme negativity that is directed towards President Obama and in light of their willingness to promote hate and ridicule towards a President that received 95% of the Black vote during the last Presidential elections, it is clear to me that these two men are totally out of touch with Black America.  Additionally, to be continuously mocked and rejected by a Party that has little interest in racial diversity and tolerance, yet remain zealously loyal to that Party, only strengthens my belief that both men have adopted the “House Negro Doctrine” (Kudos to Brother Malcolm X) which ensures them a place in the “Big House”.  However, entrance into the “Big House” comes at the expense of each of them having to leave their culture and their people behind.  Which apparently, they have no problem sacrificing.  (Can anyone imagine Alan Keyes with a James Brown ringtone ?) What’s really sad is that no matter how hard they try to ingratiate themselves as loyal Party members by vehemently denouncing President Obama and the President’s policies, members of the Republican Party who actually wield power and authority will only give Mr. Keyes and Mr. Steele a key to the mansion’s back door.  Therefore, both Mr. Keyes and Mr. Steele in my opinion, only qualify to be defined in the most modern definition of the word, “Uncle Tom”.  

     

    In closing I see both men in years to come as being old, feeble and tormented.  As God finally calls them “home” and people gather to pay homage at the funeral, I envision some confusion as to what song should be sung at the closing of the ceremony, however, due to the fact that they probably won’t be allowed to be buried in the same cemetery of the church that they’ve faithfully attended as good Republicans, I recommend that the church choir perform a song that best describes their disposition in life as Black Folk.  And what song is that you ask?  Well no other than “The Requiem of a House Negro”.   

     

     

     

     

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 121

• Your request is being processe

  • From: pinkiehot52
  • Description:

    Pat Buchanan acknowledged to MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall on Tuesday that his party is facing a severe "demographic problem" in the years to come -- specifically, the GOP is on its way to becoming an all-white party.

    "There's a real demographic problem with the Republican Party," Buchanan said. "It is a heavily white party, quite frankly. And as a share of the electorate, that is diminishing and Hispanics are growing very rapidly, Asians are growing rapidly, and by two-thirds they tend to vote Democratic."

    Buchanan told Hall that the party is losing young people as well.

    "Young people increasingly are more liberal and more socially moderate, and they move away from the Republican Party," he said. "These things are undeniable, the Republican party ... is in tough shape."

    But Buchanan said the party shouldn't be written off just yet, and said Republicans have made impressive comebacks from deep deficits before.

    I went though the Goldwater disaster, when we were down to 140 House seats and we were dead forever, and I came with Nixon in '66 and we won 47 House seats and we won 5 out of the next 6 presidential elections. I don't think that's necessarily in the cards, but I think it'd be foolish at this point when Obama is at his peak, really, to write off the Republican party for 2010.

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    NO ACKNOWLDGEMENT OF BLACK RETHUGS. oH FORGOT THEY DON'T MATTER!
    

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 70

• The Art of War

  • From: TheSarge1960
  • Description:

    I think of myself in many dimensions. In one light I am a child of God, I’m also a servant of Jesus Christ, a husband, I am a brother, a family member and evidently, in political terms, I am a naïve American. I’m not so naïve in the meaning of being dumb enough to venture down a dark alley way (in the words of the late great comedian, Richard Pryor) upon hearing what I think is the voice of God in that alley, but naïve in understanding that there is a domestic war being waged by an insidious group of Americans whose sole mission and agenda is to obstruct and discredit President Barack Obama’s efforts to fix the mess left behind after eight years of Republican rule in America; all in the name of ideology.  I have (or had) a friend who has the persona of being the friendly copying machine repair guy that most office people affectionately know by first name. In truth, my friend is a political assassin.  He is just one of a large clan of Republicans that are currently attempting to sow in the minds of Americans, seeds of doubt, fear and apprehension about President Obama and the President’s administration.  In lieu of woeful economic times, these assassins know that most Americans (and rightfully so) are fearful of what “tomorrow brings”.  Massive deregulation of Wall Street practices, bad banking policies and tax cuts that mostly benefited the rich, have brought this country, as a whole, to the brink of economic disaster that has not been experienced since the “Great Depression”.  What my friend the “super conservative” Republican and all his cronies have forgotten (or ignored) is that this “witches brew” of fiscal disaster was largely created by the Republican Party.  Now that the leaderless Republicans have lost control of the White House, congress and the senate, a large number of ideological fanatics (I made up the word “ziot” to describe these people) are campaigning “by any means necessary” to obstruct our President’s proactive policies of fiscal and social change.  Dispersing hate through negative emails and blogs, to include fabricating outright lies about the President are the ziots main tactic of bringing about helter skelter in this country.  The sad fact is that President Obama has been the President of the United States for less than three months and these ziots are beside themselves as they see an articulate Black man leading this country during tumultuous times, times created by their own party’s greed and arrogance.  So, beware of smiling copying machine repairmen / repairwomen, who artfully disguise their hatred of President Obama and Democrats by weaving tales of negativity and doubt about “this bill or that bill” as they congenially sip coffee and eat doughnuts in the company lounge.  Let’s expose the hate of these naysayers by standing up and saying enough of this anti American rhetoric.  Let the ziots know that the American people through the power of the vote, have spoken and their message is loud and clear,  “Out” with the greedy and the arrogant, “In”, with leaders who are in tune with the needs of the average American who have been routinely ignored and disenfranchised.  Let’s remind them that Americans have elected a new “sheriff” for a town named America and the sheriff’s name is Barack Obama.  Besides, tell them that their breath smells like sour grapes.

  • Blog post
  • 8 months ago
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• "My Boy" by Helen T Edwards

  • From: htedwards
  • Description:

    Term of Endearment

     

    I heard a newscaster call you “Illinois Favorite son”, but my friends keep calling you “ My Boy”. So I looked into my seventy year old heart wondering where could the answer be, when it dawned on me that the thing had taken place that we thought we would never live to see.  Newscasters may claim you Illinois Favorite son, but in the hearts of the descendants of salves you are indeed “Our Boy”.

     

    You are the “Boy” of those who sons were lynched in slavery, those who died over worked from a lack of food and rest, with no medical care, or those who were shot down in Jim Crow law with no trial, lawyer, judge or jury, innocently jailed and imprisoned, or died needless many other ways.  When you announced your candidacy tears filled our eyes, our weary hearts leaped high in hope and our time weathered hands clapped in joy.  And when fear from past knowledge griped our hearts, we did what we do best; we bowed our heads, bent our knees, and lifted our voices in prayer to God to keep “Our Boy” safely in His care.

     

    For in you lay our hope of freedom from the inferior and less than connotation posed by hand painted “colored water” signs, back door entrances, insincere unearned honor and respect, forced by having to address every white man, woman, boy and girl as Mr. and Miss and yes sir and ma’ am, even to babies while you was changing their diapers, forced in the hopes that if done long enough it would be believed as true.  Then you won the nomination and you “Our Boy” became the evident of that truth spoken in the constitution that all men are created equal.

     

    So on November 4^th 2008, the right to vote that some fought and died for we came to polling places to exercise.  In wheelchairs and on crutches we came, on walkers and canes we came, blind and deaf we came, educated and illiterate we came, old and young we came.  We cancelled doctor’s and other long awaited, hard to acquire appointments for many other badly needed services and came.  Sick and well we came and we voted.  We voted to realize the hope and dream we dared to hold in our hearts so long, for even before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt his dream, you were “Our Boy”.

     

    So when the votes were counted and the returns were in and you “Our Boy” was declared “Mr. President”, our hearts swelled and burst with pride and joy. Joy in your victory expressed in tears, screams, laughter, hand clapping and dancing, and pride in you as you hushed the mighty excited crowd with the raising of your hands and your calm and confident expression, and your gracious and yes grateful acknowledgment of victory in a resounding and resolved !!YES WE CAN!! Just as we expected “Our Boy”

     

    Know that our prayers will never cease for you.  Though less glaring, but still planned by some, you have the long lonely and dark road we traveled to trod but the hills are lower, the rocks smaller and the clods soften by the many bloody foot steps and sweat and blood drenched backs that went before you.  And the lights of our prayers shine on the dark places.  Now we do not regret and sacrifice we made, or any hardship we bore we would do it all over for you, because you are “Our Boy”.

     

    Mr. President, please forgive how we express our claim to you.  We love you more than life itself and mean you no disrespect.  You are everyone’s president and we elected you so with joy, you are our president too, but you will always be “Our Boy”.

     

     

     

    By Helen Theresa Matthews-Edwards

     

     

  • Blog post
  • 10 months ago
  • Views: 92

• Biden Gives Obama Gaza Specifi

  • From: llazaro633
  • Description:

     

    Read on to learn how Rosanne Snaps over Oprah's Kitchen Cabinet Spot
    The Rise of Obama Part 8
    The_ Betty
    
    “Biden's visit to Afghanistan follows his trip to neighboring Pakistan,” writes  Associated Press reporter Fisnik Abrashi from Kabul. This follows Obama’s claim that only one “president can serve at a time.” For the past 7-days Obama has tried to appear as if he didn’t mind Condoleezza Rice's cold shoulder. In fact, he appeared solely focused on the economy, and confident in President Bush's handling of mid-east affairs. But behind the scenes vice president–elect Joe Biden and a U.S. military envoy took off to Pakistan.
    
    What better way to keep up with the pulse of a region than to have one’s first man quietly visiting next door?
    
    Most Americans didn’t learn of Biden’s trip until Saturday morning, January 10th. This was nearly a week after it was reported from a source in Islamabad that vice president-elect Joe Biden was on his way. After obviously chatting with Biden at length Saturday night Obama finally had enough information to stand up to the press and proclaimed:
    
    

    "What I am doing right now is putting together the team so that on January 20th, starting on day one, we have the best possible people who are going to be immediately engaged in the Middle East peace process as a whole."

    This quote was reported by CNN, Reuters, the Associated Press and the BBC on Sunday, January 11, 2009.
    
    Let’s review the predictions and results from last week's January 4 blog: Obama Acts on Divine Orders as Bush Aides Flee DC
    
    1) Predictions for Monday, January 5
    
    The president-elect may take a step toward addressing the invasion of Gaza. Look for a break-through sometime Sunday or early Monday.
    
    Result
    
    Tribune -Vice-President-elect Joseph R Biden Jr will travel to Pakistan this week in a high-profile diplomatic effort to defuse tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, according to press reports from Islamabad.
    
    2) Predictions for Tuesday, January 6
    
    President-elect Obama will be involved with a number of early morning meetings during one of them he will be posed with a unique one time opportunity.
    
    Result:
    
    DETROIT (AP) - President-elect Obama's new ride arrived. The Detroit News reported Tuesday that a new model of a presidential limousine made by General Motors Corporation has been delivered to the Secret Service. The armored 2009 Cadillac Presidential Limousine will make its debut at Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration in Washington.
    
    Reuters - WASHINGTON—President-elect Barack Obama gave a strong defense Tuesday to his unannounced choice to lead the CIA, Leon Panetta, in the face of criticism that Panetta lacks experience on intelligence matters.
    
    3) Predictions for Wednesday, January 7
    
    Good news streams in during the afternoon but is soon short circuited by other problems later in the day.
    
    Result:
    
    Seattle Times: “All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office,” Obama said following a 30-minute meeting with President Bush and a few of the ex-presidents. “For me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary.”
    
    Seattle Times - The federal budget deficit will nearly triple to an unprecedented $1.2 trillion for the 2009 budget year, according to grim new Congressional Budget Office figures.
    
    4) Predictions for Thursday, January 8
    
    Before the morning is over he may learn of a death of a relative or colleague and/or may hear news of a birth or pregnancy. Good news about the Economic Stimulus Bill may arrive shortly before noon. This news will give Obama the feeling that he’s breaking down once very formidable barriers
    
    Results
    
    Washington Post Charles "Chuck" Morgan Jr., 78, a civil rights lawyer who challenged the racist society of his native South and won numerous landmark cases for equal rights before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Jan. 8 at his home in Destin, Fla. He had Alzheimer's disease.
    
    In a career full of significant cases, Mr. Morgan's most important might have been the "one-man, one-vote" ruling he won in 1964 from the Supreme Court. The case, Reynolds v. Sims, forced the Alabama legislature to create districts that were equal in population, giving black voters a better chance to elect candidates.
    
    Seattle Times-WASHINGTON — Barack Obama is officially the next president of the United States, Congress declared Thursday in fulfilling its centuries-old constitutional duty to certify and tally the electoral college vote from each state.
    
    WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said that reforming massive government entitlement programs - such as Social Security and Medicare - would be "a central part" of his effort to control federal spending. Obama made the pledge but provided few details as he named Nancy Killefer as his administration's chief performance officer, creating a new White House position aimed at eliminating government waste and improving efficiency. Noting that the Congressional Budget Office had just estimated he would inherit a $1.2 trillion federal deficit for fiscal 2009, Obama promised to cut unnecessary spending.
    
    Obama’s choice of Nancy Killefer as his administration's chief performance officer is yet another confirmation of Obama acting out his Orders via the Eclipse of August 1, 2008. Last December in my blog inaugurating The Rise of Obama series, I wrote:
    
    
    

    For example, our Commander in Chief appears to be acting more like an Administrator in Chief by recruiting educationally talented people, making changes to plans after examining data, calling out risks, and planning for practical, measurable results… (The Auditor)...
    As most Americans know, administrators can be quite rigid, so don’t expect an easy going Obama Administration (remember Leo). Those who align themselves with him will have to tow the line or hit the highway… (Everybody hates The Auditor)...
    Figure 2 ( below ) is actually comprised of two charts. It’s called a bi-wheel. The eclipse chart is on the outside and president elect Obama’s birthday chart is inside. Here you can see the energy centers from the eclipse and how they may be working through president-elect Obama. The economic energy centers are in the 2nd and 8th houses.

    Figure 2
    One aspect of note that Obama’s Solar Return Chart shares with the Eclipse of August 1, 2008 and Oprah’s birth chart, is the North Node conjunct Chiron. In Obama’s Solar Return and Eclipse of August 1st this aspect lands in the 8th House. The 8th House is the house of banking, taxes, law, death, sex and secrets. Celeste Teal in her new book on Lunar Nodes points out some of the traits of those with Nodal contacts to Chiron:
    
    
    

    They often work in a capacity strongly linked to healing fields…They rarely get sick, as they simply have no time for it. Besides teachers and healers there are many activists and politicians in this group, who have influence over the masses and often play a positive role in bringing attention to larger situations in need of remedy.
    

    
    

    
    Oprah Winfrey’s Natal North Node conjunct Natal Chiron is in Capricorn, 5th House (See Figure 3). This is the house of family, especially families with children. Over the years, Oprah has helped millions of people get in touch with their dysfunctional selves.

    
    
    

    Figure 3
    
    

    

    
    

    
    Speaking of Oprah, this week Roseanne was caught on camera getting in touch with her dysfunctional self by tearing poor Oprah to pieces and then issuing an apology. Check out the faux pas at:
    http://www.accesshollywood.com/rosanne-rips-oprah_video_204320
    
    For those of you with failing memory, Roseanne was a popular American sitcom broadcast on ABC from 1988 to 1997 starring stand-up comedian Roseanne Barr. The show portrayed a dysfunctional working-class family struggling to get by on a limited income in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. Her TV husband went on to star in the Flinstones alongside Halle Barry but alas poor Roseanne didn’t make the cut and hasn’t for a while. Roseanne’s now blogging!!! What a winner!
    
    Look for my Inagural Weekend Blogfest coming soon!!!
    
    ###
    
    
    
    
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• A Church for the Obama's - 11/

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Mike Keefe Denver Post Nov 22, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    Obama outlines job-creation plan

    

    Video Here

    

    (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday offered an outline of his economic recovery plan and jobs were the top priority.

    American workers will rebuild the nation's roads and bridges, modernize its schools and create more sources of alternative energy, creating 2.5 million jobs by 2011, Obama said in the weekly Democratic address, posted on his Web site.

    "These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis," he said. "These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long."

    Details of the plan are still being worked out by his economic team, Obama said, but he hopes to implement the plan shortly after taking office January 20.

    Watch Video and Read More Here

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

    Obama Has Lunch At Manny's Deli

    Causes Frenzy!

    

    President-elect Barack Obama picked up lunch at the iconic South Loop deli Manny's Friday.

    As he made his way through the throngs of well-wishers, Obama stopped to hug a woman he seemed to know. Asked how he was doing, Obama said, 'Well, you know,' to which the woman replied, 'Well you asked for it. I remember 12 years ago ...' then her voice trails off before she can offer any more than a hint of insight into Obama's early presidential ambitions. Obama also mentioned to the woman that his family is keeping its Chicago house:

    'We're staying in there for awhile. Now's not the time to sell.'

    Watch Video Here

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

    U.S. Muslim leaders denounce al Qaeda's slur toward Obama

    

    NEW YORK (CNN) -- Spiritual leaders of New York's African-American Muslim communities lashed out Friday at a purported al Qaeda message attacking President-elect Barack Obama and, using racist language, comparing him unfavorably to the late Malcolm X.

    The imams called the recorded comments from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, "an insult" from people who have "historically been disconnected from the African-American community generally and Muslim African-Americans in particular."

    "We find it insulting when anyone speaks for our community instead of giving us the dignity and the honor of speaking for ourselves," they said in a statement read during a news conference at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Educational and Cultural Center.

    The al Qaeda statement, an 11-minute, 23-second audio message in Arabic with subtitles in English, appeared on the Internet on Wednesday. Its authenticity has not been confirmed.

    Watch Video and Read More Here

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

    Deputy takes man's Xbox during traffic stop

    David Edwards and Muriel Kane

    The known hazards of "driving while black" may have to be amended to add those of driving while black, dreadlocked, and toting an Xbox.
    
    When Kenyatta Hillman and a friend were pulled over by a Orange County traffic cop for speeding outside Orlando, FL, the deputy claimed to smell marijuana and searched the car. No drugs were found, but the deputy did spot an Xbox and eight games and seized them from Hillman, alleging they might have been stolen.

    Read More and Watch Video Here

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

    Bob Jones University in SC apologizes for racist policies, including interracial dating ban

    By JEFFREY COLLINS

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Bob Jones University has apologized for racist policies including a one-time ban on interracial dating that wasn't lifted until nine years ago and its unwillingness to admit black students until 1971.

    The private fundamentalist Christian school that was founded in 1927 said its rules on race were shaped by culture instead of the Bible, according to a statement posted Thursday on the university's Web site.

    The university in northwestern South Carolina, with about 5,000 students, didn't begin admitting black students until nearly 20 years after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling found public segregated schools were unconstitutional.

    Read More Here

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

    NY School Changes Name to Honor Obama

    A school on Long Island has been renamed Barack Obama Elementary School in honor of his historic rise to the presidency.  The move is among the first in what will likely be a wave of name changes now that Obama has won the White House.

    Watch Video Here

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

    I Beg Your Pardon

    The top prospects for a last act of Bush clemency.

    We've rated potential pardonees' chances from zero to four "Get of Jail Free" cards.

    SPORTS

    	Marion Jones: unlikely. This disgraced Olympic gold medalist returned five awards after she was sentenced to six months in jail in January for lying to federal agents about using steroids. She was released on Sept. 5. Jones' offense is considered mild, and her sentence was brief, but the president may not want to reward someone who cost the United States Olympic gold.

    	Michael Vick: no chance. The Atlanta Falcons' suspended quarterback is serving a 23-month sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., for criminal conspiracy relating to dog fighting. Yuck. There just isn't much of a pro-dog fighting lobby to pull for Vick.

    Barry Bonds: unlikely. The former San Francisco Giants superstar who holds the MLB all-time record for home runs was indicted in November 2007 for lying about his involvement in a steroids scandal. Bonds became a free agent last year but has been unable to find a team willing to sign him while under indictment. As a former baseball team owner, Bush may be sympathetic to Bonds. But let's be honest—who in baseball likes Barry?

    Read More Here

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

    Being Black in South Carolina Is Not the Easiest Thing I've Ever Done

    Old attitudes persist about race, but new arrivals could change all that. Just look at North Carolina

    

    Until recently, my sister and I had two white cleaning ladies. And it seems so humorously ironic. My grandmother, the first in our family to move from the South to the North, made a living cleaning the homes of white people. I wished she had lived long enough to see my cleaning ladies.

    My grandmother moved North in the early 1950s seeking better opportunities as a black woman. I moved back South four years ago in search of cheaper property, warmer weather and less traffic. Having two white women clean my house was an added bonus: Welcome to the New South!!

    Now I believed South Carolina was the New South until I started seeing the results of post-election surveys: The South is not as new as I thought. In spite of knocking on doors, making calls and driving people to the polls, neither me nor the other Obama campaign volunteers here in South Carolina could turn the state blue. According to polls, the main reason is because of old-fashioned racist beliefs, the same kind that forced me and classmates to attend a sometimes unheated, crumbling and segregated elementary school when I lived in Beaufort, S.C. decades ago.

    Read More Here

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

    A Church for the Obamas

    By Sally Quinn

    Along with the speculation on what kind of puppy Sasha and Malia will choose, where the kids will go to school (it's Sidwell Friends), and, oh yes, who will be appointed to the White House staff and the Cabinet, the matter of where the Obamas will choose to worship is drawing a lot of interest in Washington and elsewhere.

    I would like to recommend Washington National Cathedral. The cathedral sits atop a hill overlooking all of Washington. It is an extraordinarily imposing structure whose beckoning towers can be seen from nearly every point in the city. It is also "The" National Cathedral. It's the place where, in recent years, presidents have gone for the inaugural prayer service the day after being sworn in, where ex-presidents are mourned at their death, where presidents and Americans as a people congregate during moments of crisis, as they did after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "The reality is that the cathedral serves as a sacred space for the nation," says Sam Lloyd, dean of the cathedral. "A place the nation looks to in critical times."

    Read More Here

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

    Churches Vie to Attract The Newest First Family

    By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Michelle Boorstein

    There have been letters, discreet inquiries and bold appeals. Some are using their connections; others are just seeking a foot in the door.

    It's part of the spirited competition among Washington churches to land the most sought-after Christians in town: the Obama family.

    Methodist, Baptist, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian, Episcopal -- all have been courting the Obamas to be regulars in their pews on Sunday mornings.

    When Amy Butler, pastor of Calvary Baptist in Northwest Washington decided to woo the Obamas, a friend in the local faith community had some advice: "He just laughed and told me that I should get in line."

    She made a pitch to the Obamas that includes the following: We're diverse and multigenerational, we're 10 blocks from the White House, the pastor (Butler) is from Hawaii and attended Obama's rival high school, and "the sermons rock!"

    Read More Here

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

    Roanoke Rapids charity rebuffs turban-wearing donor

    

    ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. — A Halifax County man was turned away from a local mission when he refused to remove his turban while trying to make a donation.

    When Gary Khera, went with his wife to the Union Mission on Roanoke Avenue to make a donation, a staffer asked him to remove his turban.

    "She said, 'Sir, you have to take your turban off. This is the United States,'" Khera recounted. "That made me a little upset. I am a United States citizen."

    Watch Video and Read More Here

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

    Foreign Policy and the New President

     

    

    President-elect Barack Obama will assume the presidency in a tumultuous world, and one of his first challenges will be managing two wars — and their consequences — in the Middle East. Foreign policy experts warn that Obama must not only be ready to deal with Iraq and Afghanistan, but also with the complicated interplay of powers and interests in the Middle East, both regional and international.

    Journalist Elizabeth Rubin of the NEW YORK TIMES and columnist Fred Kaplan of SLATE.COM join Deborah Amos on BILL MOYERS JOURNAL to explain the challenges facing President-elect Obama in the Middle East, how they think his approach will differ from that of President Bush, and what that could mean for the region.

    Watch Video and Read More Here

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

    Uproar in Maine over

    Obama assassination sign

    BOSTON (Reuters) - Passions flared in a Maine town on Thursday over a sign in a store asking customers to place bets on an assassination of President-elect Barack Obama.

    The Town Council in Standish condemned the sign on Thursday in a 6-0 vote and declared it reprehensible at a meeting where some residents defended the store owner, saying he had a right to free speech even if in bad taste, local authorities said.

    "The town of Standish condemns in the strongest terms any such alleged activity calling for violence against any individual no matter their position, race or ethnicity," said the resolution posted on the town's website.

    The sign in the Oak Hill General Store asked customers to place a $1 bet on the date of Obama's assassination, and said "Let's hope someone wins," the Portland Press Herald reported. It was called the "Osama Obama Shotgun Pool."

    Watch Video Here

    And Here
    

    Read More Here

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

    Saxby Chambliss gets into the thuggery business

    Apparently the Republican Senator from Georgia doesn't like it when asked normal questions by a reporter about refusing to honor a subpoena in the lawsuit against a sugar company that sought his help to insulate them from culpability in the wake of an explosion at one of its plants that killed 14 people.

    As he makes the cameraman say hello to Mr. Hand, he mutters:

    "You can take it away now."

    So evidently, not only is Chambliss above the law, he's above any kind of accountability to the public. Sounds like a classic Republican to me.

    Watch Video Here

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

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• Keyes Files Suit Against Obama

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Ted Rall Universal Press Syndicate Nov 15, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    Obama News Mosaic

    

    The Obama News Mosaic showing a collage of over 600 newspaper "page ones" from around the world dated November 5th, 2008. See detail here.

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

    The First Weekly YouTube Address from the President-Elect

    

    President-elect Obama used social media tools for awareness, fundraising and word of mouth marketing during his campaign. Now he has committed to doing weekly addresses on YouTube and Change.gov to the nation, here’s the first video.

    Watch it Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd8f9Zqap6U

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

    In Transition, Tangle of Ties to Lobbying

    By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

    WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has imposed stricter conflict-of-interest restrictions on his White House transition team than any president before him. But a list of transition team members that his office made public on Friday includes a complicated tangle of ties to private influence-seekers.

    Among the full roster of about 150 staff members being assigned to government agencies between now and Inauguration Day are dozens of former lobbyists and some who were registered as recently as this year. Many more are executives and partners at firms that pay lobbyists, and former government officials who work as consultants or advisers to those seeking influence.

    After campaigning on promises to end the influence of lobbyists in the White House, Mr. Obama has imposed rules that bar officials on his transition team from handling any issues in areas of policy where they have lobbied over the last 12 months or from seeking to influence the same agencies for the next 12 months.

    Read More Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/politics/15transition.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
    

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

    Laura Bush elaborates on Michelle Obama’s White House tour: 'I showed her the closets'.

    In an interview with CNN that aired today, First Lady Laura Bush described her Monday meeting with Michelle Obama at the White House. She said she told Michelle that “this house really can be a home” and showed her “all the things that women are interested in.” The First Lady didn’t elaborate on what those “things” were, beyond, “I showed her the closets.”

    Watch it Here: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/14/laura-bush-closets/

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

    Fashion Advice for Michelle ObamaHint: Don't dress like Jackie Kennedy.

    By Josh Patner

    Photograph by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

    

    Dear Mrs. Obama,

    Congratulations to you and your husband on a thrilling victory. It must be unnerving to find, a week after such a historic event, that all anyone wants to talk about is your wardrobe.

    Forgive us. We pro-fashion pundits can't help but chime in on the importance of clothes. Especially now that we've been treated to this absurdly style-happy election. We've spent the past 20 months talking about Clinton's décolletage, McCain's loafers, his wife's earrings, Obama's sunglasses, and, of course, Sarah Palin's pricey makeover. We just can't stop.

    But we also want to talk about your wardrobe because we think you have great style. We are attracted to it and inspired by it, and—with all respect due the future first lady—I thought I'd offer a few humble thoughts on what makes your style so great and what you might keep in mind as you get dressed for the next four to eight years.

    Watch Slideshow and Read More Here: http://www.slate.com/id/2204577/

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

     

    Obama 60 Minutes Interview: Describes Moment Of Victory

    

    CBS's 60 Minutes will air the first televised interview with President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle this Sunday.

    Here's a preview, where the two describe the moment they knew that the Democratic ticket had prevailed on Election Day:

    Asked when it sunk in that her husband had won, Michelle Obama told Kroft, "I remember, we were watching the returns and, on one of the stations, Barack's picture came up and it said, 'President-Elect Barack Obama.' And I looked at him and said, 'You are the 44th president of the United States of America. Wow. What a country we live in.'"

    
    "How about that?" President-elect Obama added. "Yeah. And then she said, 'Are you going take the girls to school in the morning?'"

    "I did not," Michelle Obama replied, laughing. "I didn't say that."

    Watch Video Clip Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/14/barack-and-michelle-obama_n_144004.html

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

    Secret Directed-Energy Tech Protecting the President?

    By David Hambling

    The Secret Service is tasked with protecting the President of the United States from assailants; and given that President-elect Obama has already been the target of assassination plots they may have their work cut out after January. But they have more than earpiece radios and armored limos to help them; the Secret Service can call on the very latest technology. Documents from a recent court case indicate that they have advanced directed-energy devices which are highly classified.

    You may remember Donald Friedman, who claims that government agencies are misusing non-lethal directed-energy weapons. It’s easy to dismiss him as a crank. But his obsessive digging has turned up valuable information. For instance, one of his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests unearthed a 1998 U.S. Army program looking at a microwave device to beam sound directly into the target's skull which the rest of us had missed. (The same technology underlies the Medusa non-lethal weapon.)

    Read More Here: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/11/presidents-secr.html

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

    "Brother -They Don't Want YOU!"

    African- American Republican Commentator Mike Paul was  told in so many words by Pat Buchanan that the Republican party will remain non-inclusive on MSNBC's Hardball.

    Republican strategist Mike Paul accused Pat Buchanan of a personal attack while appearing on MSNBC’s Hardball Thursday. Paul had been explaining that recently defeated Republicans needed to be more inclusive as a Party.

    Buchanan disagreed, “I would love to get all the young voters and African-American voters, if you tell me how to do it other than talk about a big tent.”

    “I’m saying we need to examine ourselves first,” Paul explained.

    “Why don’t you examine yourself?” snapped Buchanan.

    While Paul accused Buchanan of a “personal attack,” he seemed too upset to remember Buchanan’s exact words. “You’ll have to look back at the transcript,” said Paul.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27704797#27705045

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

    Vt. town grows divisible over Pledge of Allegiance

    WOODBURY, Vt.(AP)

    No one is sure when daily recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance fell by the wayside at Woodbury Elementary School.

    But efforts to restore them have erupted into a bitter dispute in this town of about 800 residents, with school officials blocking the exercise from classrooms over concerns that it holds children who don't participate up to scorn.

    U.S. schoolchildren have long been able to opt out of reciting the pledge for religious reasons. But unlike other pledge controversies, this one centers on how and where schoolchildren say it, not whether they should.

    "The whole thing is tearing our community apart," said Heather Lanphear, 39, the mother of a first-grader and an opponent of reciting the pledge in the classroom.

    The brouhaha in the Vermont school began in September, when parent Ted Tedesco began circulating petitions calling for the return of pledge recitation as a daily practice in the 19th-century schoolhouse, which has 55 children in kindergarten through sixth grade.

    School officials agreed to resume it as a daily exercise, but not in the classroom.

    "We don't want to isolate children every day in their own classroom or make them feel they're different," said Principal Michaela Martin.

    Read More Here: http://cfnews13.com/News/National/2008/11/14/vt._town_grows_divisible_over_pledge_of_allegiance.html

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

    Alan Keyes files suit over Obama citizenship question

    By Ben van der Meer, PolitickerCA.com Senior Reporter

    Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes and other members of his American Independent Party have filed suit in California Superior Court in Sacramento to stop the state from giving its electoral votes to President-elect Barack Obama.

    The suit contends that Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shouldn't be allowed to certify last week's election results for electors until Obama or his supporters provide proof of his natural-born citizenship in the United States.

    Conservative bloggers maintained during the presidential election that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and had citizenship in other countries, thus disqualifying him from the presidency.

    Groups such as FactCheck.org investigated the claims and determined that Obama had a valid birth certificate from Hawaii.

    It was not clear Friday evening how soon the suit would get a court hearing.

    Archive Video of Keyes Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMvHMEDJ_CY

    And Here on Obama's Faith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md2bf9DNVB4&feature=related

    On Race in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpI89_Hgvhw&feature=related

    On the Jena 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYY47a_yrKs

    At the Republican Presidential Debate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-vQCE8mnpE&feature=related
    

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

    Audit: Sharpton campaign owes US nearly $500,000

    WASHINGTON – Federal auditors have concluded the Rev. Al Sharpton's 2004 campaign owes the government nearly $500,000 for illegal donations and other financial improprieties. Sharpton has been feuding with the Federal Election Commission for years over his accounting in his failed run for president, for which he received $100,000 in so-called government matching funds that authorities later concluded he did not deserve because he hadn't followed campaign laws.

    The auditors have now determined that Sharpton owes $486,803 to the U.S. Treasury because of his campaign's taking improper donations, largely from the National Action Network, a not-for-profit corporation that Sharpton leads but is separate from his campaign committee.

    Sharpton will appeal the finding, aides said Friday, which would extend an already years-long fight with the government over how he raised and spent money to run for president.

    The audit report is "a gross violation of Reverend Al Sharpton's right to perform his paid duties as president of the National Action Network, a traveling minister, lecturer, and an author who was promoting a book during the time period being audited," said his spokeswoman, Rachel Noerdlinger.

    Sharpton's campaign finances came under scrutiny as he campaigned, speaking at churches where he collected "love offerings" that are common to traveling preachers.

    Read More Here: http://fe25.story.media.ac4.yahoo.com/news/us/story/ap/20081115/ap_on_el_ge/sharpton_finances

    Watch Video Here: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1407424/bill_o_reilly_factor_rev_al_sharpton_tax_problems/
    

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

    Senator McCain Back On The Campaign Trail For Saxby Chambliss

    By CSPANJunkie

    Senator Saxby Chambliss held a campaign rally at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta for his runoff election. He was joined by Senator John McCain.

    Watch Video Here: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/cspanjunkie/senator-mccain-back-campaign-trail-sax

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

    GEORGIA ELECTION

    Runoffs set for Dec. 2; some early voting starts Monday

    The run-off between Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin and other run-offs, including contests for the Georgia State Appeals Court and Public Service Commission-District 4, are set for Dec. 2.

    Read More Here: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/11/13/georgia_election_results.html

    Republican Saxby Chambliss: "We didn't get our folks to come out to vote"

    Watch Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH1prP_kdhE
    

    On civil liberties and civil rights issues, in 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) gave him a 17% rating,^[22] and the NAACP gave him a 27% rating.^[23]

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

    Barack Obama has already scored his first diplomatic victory!

    Barack Obama has already scored his first diplomatic victory with Iran and called their bluff.

    How agreeing to talks without preconditions destroys Iranian hardliner's propaganda.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iAkA47NZqc

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

    How low can oil go? A lot lower, but it'll recover

    By Christopher Johnson - Analysis

    LONDON (Reuters) - World oil prices could easily fall below $50 a barrel and might even slip toward $40 or perhaps $35, but they will recover and could do so fairly quickly, analysts and economists say.

    Benchmark U.S. crude futures dropped to a 22-month low under $55 on Thursday as evidence mounted that the deepening recession would have a severe impact on demand, reducing the use of oil by industries and individuals alike.

    Oil has now fallen more than 60 percent from July's record $147.27 a barrel and is moving close to what is widely considered to be the average operating cost, or "cash cost," for the world's oil major oil companies around $50 a barrel.

    Many analysts think the market is likely to fall further, breaching the psychological $50 barrier before recovering.

    Read More Here: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AC5OY20081113

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

    Lawsuits claim election night hate crimes by police

    By David Friday 

    

    Several lawsuits have alleged that Chicago police abused Chicago citizens as they celebrated the win of Barack Obama.

    CBS' Chicago affiliate reported:

    Two more women are suing Chicago Police for hate crimes and battery after officers allegedly sprayed pepper spray on the women and their children and barged into their West Side home as they celebrated Barack Obama's Election Night victory.

    Her family was standing outside their home in the 3400 block of West Chicago Avenue cheering and celebrating Obama's victory when police squad cars drove down the street and one or more officers hung out the window and discharged pepper spray at the crowd, the suit said.

    After some words were exchanged, officers exited their vehicles with guns drawn and kicked open the door to the Arnold family home, according to the suit.

    The officers allegedly knocked some of the family members to the ground and made racial comments, the suit said.

    Watch Video Here: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/lawsuits-claim-election-night-hate-crimes-po

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

    Jury awards $2.5 million to teen beaten by Klan members

      (CNN) -- A jury awarded $2.5 million in damages on Friday to a Kentucky teenager who was severely beaten by members of a Ku Klux Klan group because they mistakenly thought he was an illegal Latino immigrant, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.

    The jury found that the Imperial Klans of America and its founder wrongfully targeted 16-year-old Jordan Gruver, an American citizen of Panamanian and Native-American descent.

    The verdict included $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages against "Imperial Wizard" Ron Edwards.

    The law center said before the verdict that a large damage award could break the Klan group, allowing the teen and the law center to seize the group's assets, including its headquarters, a 15-acre compound in Dawson Springs, Kentucky.

    "We look forward to collecting every dime that we can for our client and to putting the Imperial Klans of America out of business," said SPLC founder and chief trial attorney Morris Dees, who tried the case.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/14/klan.sued.verdict/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/14/klan.sued.verdict/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCText
    

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

    North Carolina cops investigated for possible racial slurs against Obama

    DURHAM - Derogatory remarks toward President-elect Barack Obama made on a social networking Web site are now the subject of an internal police investigation.

    A police department employee claims the statements were made on the MySpace pages of two Durham officers.

    "There's no exact words that were said," said Police Chief Jose L. Lopez Sr. in a telephone interview Wednesday from San Diego, where he is attending the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference. "It wasn't a racial slur, but we're still investigating it."

    Investigators, who are focusing on the context of what was written, have been looking into the allegations since Thursday.

    Lopez wouldn't disclose what was said or identify the officers involved.

    City Manager Tom Bonfield, who was notified of the investigation late Tuesday afternoon, said he advised Lopez to complete it as quickly as possible.

    Bonfield, whom Lopez reports to, said the department has the discretion to notify him of such inquiries.

    The police, as well as other city agencies, have a good sense of when an issue is big enough to notify him, said Bonfield, who added that he notified city council members within an hour of talking with Lopez.

    "It's important that the investigators have a chance to do their jobs and make sure they get all of the information," he said. "I think it's important that the police are given the opportunity to respond against any allegations against them."

    Bonfield added that if the allegations are found to be true and officers posted racially charged statements, then an appropriate response by the department would be warranted.

    The department's code of conduct, under the heading "private life," states that an officer's "character and conduct while off duty must always be exemplary, thus maintaining a position of respect in the community in which he or she lives and serves. The officer's personal behavior must be beyond reproach."

    Lopez said even though the remarks were made on a personal Web page, the comments could be a violation of the policy.

    "As a police officer, it doesn't matter where you do it, if you provide disservice to the organization, it violates the [department's] code of conduct," he said. "It is a high standard that officers are held accountable to."

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    The Latino Vote: Can Democrats lock it up for a generation?

    One aspect of the 2008 election outcome that will likely have real long-term consequences for the nation's political alignment is the emergence of the power of the Latino vote.

    It's looking increasingly as though Latinos have moved semi-permanently into the Democrats' column, in large part because the Republican brand has been semi-permanently tainted with the ugly nativist bigotry that has immersed movement conservatism. It certainly played a significant role in the voters' repudiation of all things conservative.

    Andres Ramirez at NDN Blog likewise pored over the numbers and found, among other things:

    Hispanics Improved The Margin of Victory in These Four States - In Colorado, Obama’s Hispanic support accounted for 7.9% of the electorate, while Obama won by 9%. In Florida, Obama’s Hispanic support accounted for 7.9% of the electorate, while Obama won by 3%. In Nevada, Obama’s Hispanic support accounted for 11.4% of the electorate, while Obama won by 12%. In New Mexico, Obama’s Hispanic support accounted for 28.3% of the electorate, while Obama won by 15%.

    Watch Video and Read More Here: http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/latino-vote-can-democrats-lock-it-ge

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    Sheppard Smith: No Media Bias against John McCain

    Sheppard Smith has been full of surprises lately. First he smacks down wingnut extraordinaire Joe the Plumber and then he smacks down Nick DiPaolo.

    DiPaolo:...the MSM being so in the tank for Obama...

    Smith: Oh, please. That's preposterous. (Why?)
    The MSM reflected what was happening in this nation. It did not drive it. The blogs didn't drive this movement, the media didn't drive this movement. Barack Obama did not lose this election. It was his to lose. It was not John McCain's to win. The Republicans had no shot unless the Democrats gave it to them and they didn't and to blame the media is a cop out and ridiculous....

    DiPaolo The MSM has been liberal since its inception. It's years and years of pounding...

    Smith: How did George Bush win twice?

    DiPaolo: I don't know. Karl Rove is a genius.

    We can debate some of the merits of Smith's argument, but his central point about media bias in this election is correct. And Karl Rove embodies everything that is wrong with American politics.

    Watch Video Here: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/draft-sheppard-smith-says-there-was-no-

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    Palin left out of RGA leadership

    In the wake of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) convention this week in Miami, many GOP governors were reluctant to embrace Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as the party’s leader or presidential candidate for 2012. Today, the RGA made that sentiment official, by not voting her in to any of the organization’s leadership positions:

    The Republican Governors Association announced its new leadership lineup today after their annual meeting concluded Thursday in Miami.

    South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was voted RGA chairman, taking over the top job from Texas Gov. Rick Perry who will now serve as finance chairman. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is vice-chairman, while Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will serve as chair for the annual RGA gala, and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue will head up the recruitment effort.

    Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will also sit on the RGA’s executive committee. […]
    
    Not on the list? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who also attended the Miami meeting.

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    Sarkozy to Putin: ‘Do you want to end up like Bush?’

    The London Times’ Charles Bremner has identified one positive aspect of President Bush’s foreign policy legacy:

    With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr. Sarkozy told Mr. Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia’s Government. According to [Sarkozy’s chief diplomatic adviser, Jean-David] Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr. Putin declared.

    Mr. Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked. “Why not?” Mr. Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

    Mr. Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?” Mr. Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

    Fear of “ending up like Bush” now functions as a deterrent.

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    Stewart to O'Reilly: Explain your Obama fear mongering

    David Edwards and Nick Juliano

    Jon Stewart hosted Bill O'Reilly as Thursday night's guest in a sometimes heated exchange during which the Daily Show host all-but openly mocked his guest.
    
    The interview began with Stewart displaying a montage of O'Reilly Factor clips from prior to the election that amped up fears of Barack Obama.
    
    "You've got a 'no spin zone,' I've got a safe zone," Stewart deadpanned. "Bill I want you to talk to me. Tonight is about getting over your fear."
    
    O'Reilly sputtered about Obama's relatively thin resume before declaring Stewart "a master of propaganda."
    
    After a break, the two discussed the relative ideological positioning of the American people, with Stewart undercutting the right-wings repeated assertion -- backed by virtually no evidence -- that America is a "center-right" country

    Watch Videos Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Stewart_to_OReilly_Explain_your_Obama_1114.html

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    Rahm Emanuel apologizes for father's disparaging remarks about Arabs

    U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel apologized to an Arab-American group on Thursday for comments disparaging Arabs made by his father.
    
    The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to Emanuel calling on him to distance himself from remarks made by the elder Emanuel in an interview with an Israeli newspaper following his son's appointment last week.
    
    In the interview, Benjamin Emanuel was reported as saying: "Obviously, he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House." While some political analysts have said Rahm Emanuel, a veteran Democratic congressman, should not be held responsible for the actions of his father, there was also a sense that an apology was unavoidable.

    Read More Here: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037256.html

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    Five Million Dead and Counting

    The disaster in Congo is all the more tragic because it was utterly avoidable.

    By Michael J. Kavanagh

    In the North Kivu province of eastern Congo, people are living in ditches along the sides of roads. They're filling up the floors of churches and schools. Displaced people are surrounding the compounds of bewildered U.N. peacekeepers. Young boys and men are hiding in the forest to avoid being killed or forced into armed groups.

    "There are only girls left in the schools in my village," one 13-year-old boy told me. The day before, he and three friends had run from rebel soldiers who'd come to kidnap them.

    There are now more than 1 million displaced people scattered throughout the province. In the last 10 years of fighting, more than 5 million people have died in the Congolese conflict—mostly civilians who haven't had access to enough food or health care because of the fighting. And let's be clear: That's 5 million and counting.

    Read More Here: http://www.slate.com/id/2204662/

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    Obama Names Valerie Jarrett Senior White House Advisor

    President-elect Barack Obama has formally named his friend Valerie Jarrett to be a senior adviser in the White House. Her official title will be "senior advisor and assistant to the President for Inter-government relations and Public Liaison in the Obama White House," according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet.

    Jarrett is a co-chair of Obama's transition team and was a top advisor to him during the presidential campaign.

    From Lynn Sweet's report:

    Jarrett, 51, a Hyde Park resident, is a veteran of Chicago's City Hall who went on to become the CEO of The Habitat Company, a major Chicago real estate firm as well as serving on a variety of civic and corporate boards. [...] Joining the campaign while still juggling her Habitat duties, Jarrett functioned as a friend--dining with Obama and other pals before a debate--as a top surrogate for the fund-raising drive--and as an advisor, often with Obama on the campaign plane.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/14/obama-names-valerie-jarre_n_143992.html

    Watch Video Here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAsxlsjwgRI&feature=related
    

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  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 317

• Backlash Feared in Church Fire

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Clay Bennett Chattanooga Times Free Press Nov 13, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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    The New First Family In People Magazine

    Politico puts the spread  online.

    You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to View the Report.

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    Sasha Obama's Sassiest Moments

    

    The 2008 presidential campaign is (finally) over, and we'd be remiss to not credit its two breakout stars: sassy 7-year-olds Sasha Obama and Piper Palin. Both got a lot of political practice in this past campaign, which is why we kind of want to nominate them to run for president in 2036.

    See Sasha working the campaign trail below.

    For More Pictures and Video Go Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/13/sasha-obamas-sassiest-mom_n_143505.html

    Or see more Obama slideshows.

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    Marrow Transplant May Have Cured AIDS

    American Living In Germany Apparently Cured After Receiving Bone Marrow Transplant To Fight Leukemia

    

    German hematologists Eckhard Thiel, left, and Gero Huetter of Berlin's Charite Medical University attend a news conference about a successful treatment of a HIV infected patient in Berlin, on Nov. 12, 2008.  (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

    (AP)An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said Wednesday.
    
    While researchers - and the doctors themselves - caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.
    
    Dr. Gero Huetter said his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.
    
    "We waited every day for a bad reading," Huetter said.
    
    It has not come. Researchers at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school say tests on his bone marrow, blood and other organ tissues have all been clean.

    Read More Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/12/health/main4597542.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4597542

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    Track the Flu Online

    Watch How - Go Here: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6235381

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    Rep. Jefferson Likely To Face Trial

    Three Judge Appeals Court Panel Rules Against Dismissal On 16 Count Indictment Against Democratic Congressman

    

    Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. faces trial during re-election campaign. (AP (file))

    (AP)A federal appeals court upheld bribery and other charges against Louisiana Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson on Wednesday, clearing the way for a trial.
    
    Jefferson, who cruised to victory in a primary last week and is expected to easily win re-election, had sought to dismiss a 16-count indictment charging him with taking bribes, laundering money and misusing his congressional office for business dealings in Africa.
    
    A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Jefferson's claims that a federal grand jury received evidence that violated his constitutional right to legislative immunity.
    
    Jefferson's attorneys argued that three staffers should not have been allowed to tell the grand jury about Jefferson's relationships with African leaders and his knowledge about West African nations because those activities were part of his legislative duties.
    
    Jefferson could further delay a trial by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. A telephone message was left Wednesday with his attorney, Robert P. Trout.

    Read More Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/12/politics/main4597067.shtml

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    Congo rebels make roadblock out of bodies

    KILIMANYOKA, Congo (AP) -- The road that leads into rebel-controlled Congo begins with a makeshift roadblock made from the corpses of two government soldiers strewn across the dark volcanic earth.

    The pair on Wednesday blocked the main two-lane track running north from the regional capital, Goma -- one with a bullet in his forehead and a frozen fist grasping the air above.

    The scene was meant as a warning to government troops just a few hundred yards down the road whom the rebels had battled the night before. And for the few fearful civilians trickling past the frontline, it was clear message that Congo's savage war is not easing amid fears it could draw in Angola and others in the region.

    "We don't want any more of it," said 18-year-old John Biamungu, who pushed a wooden bicycle past the corpse-strewn checkpoint as rebels stood in a clutch of trees on both sides staring silently.

    Years of sporadic violence in eastern Congo intensified in August, and fighting between the army and fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda has displaced at least 250,000 people since then -- despite the presence of the largest U.N. peacekeeping force in the world.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/13/congo.fighting.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

    Read More Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/13/congo.fighting.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCText

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    Controversial Sign

    

    CBS 21 News gets answers after a concerned viewer emails us about a controversial sign. The sign sits in a front yard in Littlestown, Adams County and is aimed at gun control and Muslims. Our CBS 21 News crew went to Littlestown and tracked down the homeowner, Kenneth Frock.
    "It's our right according to the constitution to have and bear arms and anybody who tries to take that away from me I will fight to the death," says Frock. Frock believes greater gun control will be enforced by the new Obama administration.  He also believes Muslims, out to do harm, need to be stopped. According to Shannon Powers with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, although we do have the right to free speech, a sign such as this one could spell out something more. "This kind of sign can create tension within a neighborhood particularly for someone of Muslim or Arab descent," says Powers. Powers calls this a bias incident and says if the HR Commission receives a formal complaint, it will be investigated.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=f4e90b8b-b10a-4f4e-b1c2-c1ccfdb810b8#BBECDEEMBEDEDPLAYER

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    Obama to Create White House Office of Urban Policy

    On National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" yesterday, longtime Obama family friend and Obama-Biden transition team co-chair Valerie Jarrett said that the president-elect would, as pledged during the campaign, create an Office of Urban Policy.

    
    "Yes, we need to fight poverty," he said. "Yes, we need to fight crime. Yes, we need to strengthen our cities. But we also need to stop seeing our cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution. Because strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America. That is the new metropolitan reality and we need a new strategy that reflects it -– a strategy that’s about South Florida as much as Miami; that’s about Mesa and Scottsdale as much as Phoenix; that’s about Stamford and Northern New Jersey as much as New York City. As president, I’ll work with you to develop this kind of strategy and I’ll appoint the first White House Director of Urban Policy to help make it a reality."

    Read More and Listen Here: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/11/obama-to-create.html

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    Obama health plan to cost $75 billion: analysis

    By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

      WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama's plans to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system would cost the federal government $75 billion the first year but would provide health insurance for 95 percent of Americans, consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers said on Wednesday.

     This works out to about $2,500 per newly insured person, the firm said in a report.

    "The plan would increase to $1 trillion cumulatively by 2018 or approximately $130 billion per year," the report said.

    While the plan would extend health insurance to two-thirds of the 47 million people who currently lack it, the overhaul may worsen some problems, such as a shortage of primary care doctors, the analysis found.

     "Unless costs are cut, growing health care costs will increase the costs of Obama's plan dramatically over time and reduce the effectiveness of mandates. This could make the federal costs unsustainably high," the report said.

     "Because of the deficit and financial crisis, there's unlikely to be any new federal money available, so health reform may require reallocation of dollars already in the health system."

    Read More Here: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4AB67T20081112?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

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    Facebook postings land N.C. teachers in hot water

    By ANN DOSS HELMS - The Charlotte Observer

    CHARLOTTE -- A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher faces firing for posting derogatory comments about students on Facebook, while four others have been disciplined for posts involving “poor judgment and bad taste,” school district spokeswoman Nora Carr said Tuesday.

    WCNC, The (Charlotte) Observer's news partner, turned up questionable pages on the social networking site by searching for people who identified themselves as Charlotte-Mecklenburg employees.

    Superintendent Peter Gorman has recommended firing a teacher who listed “teaching chitlins in the ghetto of Charlotte” as one of her activities and drinking as one of her hobbies.

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    In her “About Me” section she wrote: “I am teaching in the most ghetto school in Charlotte.”

    Thomasboro Elementary, where most students are minorities from low-income homes, lists that teacher as a faculty member on the school Web site. She has been suspended with pay, Carr said; the dismissal is not final because teachers have a right to appeal. The Observer is not publishing her name, pending the district's final decision in her case.

    Reporter Jeff Campbell of WCNC said he showed district officials pages involving seven CMS teachers. Carr said four faced unspecified discipline that is less than suspension or dismissal. She would not provide details about the offensive material, but the pages Campbell submitted included photos of female teachers in sexually suggestive poses and a black male teacher who listed “Chillin wit my n---as!!!” as an activity and had a suggestive exchange with a female “Facebook friend” accompanying a shirtless photo of himself.

    Read More Here: http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/587210.html

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    Another AIG Resort 'Junket': Top Execs Caught on Tape

    KNXV Discovers $343,000 Secret Gathering, AIG Signs and Logos Hidden

    By BRIAN ROSS and JOSEPH RHEE

    Even as the company was pleading the federal government for another $40 billion dollars in loans, AIG sent top executives to a secret gathering at a luxury resort in Phoenix last week.

    Reporters for abc15.com (KNXV) caught the AIG executives on hidden cameras poolside and leaving the spa at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, despite apparent efforts by the company to disguise its involvement.

     "AIG made significant efforts to disguise the conference, making sure there were no AIG logos or signs anywhere on the property," KNXV reported.

    Watch Video and Read More Here: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallStreet/story?id=6223972&page=1

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    Gun Industry Profits Off NRA’s Fearmongering About Obama Gun Policies

    Gun stores across the nation are reporting a surge in gun sales since the election of Barack Obama. Customers are convinced that Obama either seeks to limit or revoke entirely Americans’ rights to bear arms. As the Chicago Tribune reports today:

    Some say they are worried that the incoming Obama administration will attempt to reimpose the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. Others fear the loss of their right to own handguns. A few say they are preparing to protect themselves in the event of a race war.

    Some gun sellers like Wild West Guns in Anchorage, AK are holding “Obama Sale” events to take advantage of their customers’ misinformed fears and news outlets from NPR to Fox News have produced reports documenting the gun buying binge

    Read More Here: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/12/obama-gun-sales/

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    Chambliss Defends 2002 Attack Ad That John McCain Called ‘Disgraceful’ And ‘Reprehensible’

    Sen. Saxby Chambliss’s (R-GA) re-election camp has confirmed that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will campaign for Chambliss in Georgia this week. The incumbent Republican is “locked in a tight runoff with Democrat Jim Martin that will be decided on Dec. 2.”

    Chambliss won his Senate seat in 2002 by defeating incumbent Max Cleland (D), a veteran who lost both arms and one leg in Vietnam. Chambliss’s strategy at the time was to paint Cleland as soft on national security. As part of that strategy, he ran a television ad linking Cleland to Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. At the time, McCain condemned the ad in the strongest terms:

    McCAIN: I’d never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield — it’s worse than disgraceful. It’s reprehensible.

    Watch Video Here: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/12/mccain-chambliss/

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    Election backlash feared in church fire

    Black residents agonize after Springfield arson

    SPRINGFIELD - Donnie Hatten was ecstatic about last week's presidential election. But when she was invited to a large celebratory gathering at a banquet hall packed with other African-Americans that night, she balked.

    " 'Somebody might throw a bomb in there,' " she recalls replying.

    No bombs were thrown into the party, but just after 3 a.m. several miles away, someone crept into a clearing in the woods and set fire to the predominantly black Macedonia Church of God in Christ, reducing it to a skeleton of charred metal and wood.

    Investigators have yet to determine why the church was targeted, but they say the timing, just hours after Barack Obama broke the highest racial barrier in politics, raised suspicions that it was a hate crime. It touched off a raw fear that has lurked just below the surface in many black communities, that Obama's breakthrough success would trigger a backlash against blacks.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7801071&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

    Read More Here: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/11/12/election_backlash_feared_in_church_fire/

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    Sarah's Faked Alaska

     While Sarah Palin talks and talks and talks in media appearances this week, the press is still letting her get away with (at least) one big, easy-to-spot lie.

    For weeks, she has been asked, What went wrong with that Katie Couric interview? And Palin has repeatedly excused her disastrous performance by saying she was "annoyed" with Couric, because Katie had condescendingly asked, What do you read up there in Alaska? That's proof, Palin insists, that Couric and the liberal elite media look down on her--and, by extension, all people out there in the "real America"--and she, for one, is not going to take it anymore.

    Watch Videos Here: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/383171/sarah_s_faked_alaska

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    Alice Walker's Wise Counsel for Obama

     Pulitizer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, student of people's historian Howard Zinn and literary instructor to a generation or so with books such as The Color Purple, has some advice for Barack Obama as he transitions from candidate to president. Walker's advice takes the form of an open letter to Obama. But she speaks as well to a battered nation that seeks to come to grips with what many of its citizens dare to hope could be a transformational presidency.

    The comfortably controversial, intellectually challenging and spiritually bold author expresses that hope in the warmest of terms – as she does the relief that accompanied last Tuesday's election result. Walker is cautious with Obama, even gentle. Yet, she prods, as well, urging the president-elect "not to take on other people's enemies."

    Read More Here: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/382904

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    Katrina vanden Heuvel on Democracy Now: Obama's First 100 Days

     Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel joined Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez to discuss Obama's opportunity to aggressively pursue a progressive agenda in his first 100 days in office. He could start, Heuvel said, by reversing some the Bush administration's most egregious executive orders, such as repealing the global gag rule, closing Guantanamo, and lifting restrictions that prohibit California from limiting greenhouse emissions of cars and trucks.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081124/100days_video

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    The Daily Show: Jon Stewart vs. Chris Wallace

     Chris Wallace made an appearance on the Daily Show this week, and it was obvious to anyone watching that the Fox News host could not hide his rage over the election of Barack Obama. Stewart and Wallace sparred over the media coverage of the night, but it was Stewart who had the last laugh when he asked "How long do you sit shiva at Fox News?"

    Watch Video Here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081124/wallace_video

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     7-Year-Old Political Blogger Gets Obama Thank You Letter

     This is one of those cute stories you don't expect much from when you hear about them ("Oh no, another insufferable kid story with a presidential angle"), but this one is different.

    From the Chicago NBC affiliate WMAQ:

    Watch out Politico and First Read. Competition is on the horizon, albeit a distant one.

    Stanislaw "Stas" Gunkel may soon be a big name in the political blogosphere. He's already been recognized by President-elect Barack Obama, who told him in a letter to "make a difference everywhere you go."

    Never mind that Gunkel is 7 years old and won't even be able to vote until 2019. The Edison Park boy's blog, planetstas.blogspot.com, has covered such heady topics as alternative energy, the war in Iraq and yes, even Sarah Palin.

    Watch Video and Read More Here: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/7-year-old-political-blogger-gets-obama-th-0

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    Obama's Influence in the Sports World: Why the Right Has a Big Decision to Make on Race

    By John Amato

    After Watching Brandon Marshall almost pull out a white and black glove to celebrate the unity he feels in America with the election of Barack Obama as President at the end of the Cleveland-Denver game after he scored the winning touch down last Thursday, I realized something...

    "Barak Obama's election as the 44th president of the United States is a tremendous symbol of unity," Marshall said. "I want to create that symbol of unity because Obama inspires me... In my own way I wanted to pay respect to our nation that we've made so I got a white glove and painted it black, half and half. It's not about "It notabout black power, it's not about white or black, it's about U.S.A. red, white and blue. But Stokely came over and said it's too close a ball game, you might get flagged....

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/draft-right-has-big-decision-make-race

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    Bill-O Wants To Know Why There Were No Protests at Black Churches

     From the Nov. 10 airing of The O'Reilly Factor. Bill-O just can't understand why there are no protests at the black churches. Never mind who paid the money to roll out the ads supporting Prop 8 and who is preaching hatred of gays from the pulpit, Bill thinks it's out of pure political correctness that there aren't protests at black churches going on. I think Bill would just like to see protests at black churches.

    Watch Video Here: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/bill-o-wants-know-why-there-were-no-protes

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    Obama Plans Probe Of Bush Torture Whether Or Not Officials Are Pardoned

    WASHINGTON -- With growing talk in Washington that President Bush may be considering an unprecedented "blanket pardon" for people involved in his administration's brutal interrogation policies, advisors to Barack Obama are pressing ahead with plans for a nonpartisan commission to investigate alleged abuses under Bush.

    The Obama plan, first revealed by Salon in August, would emphasize fact-finding investigation over prosecution. It is gaining currency in Washington as Obama advisors begin to coordinate with Democrats in Congress on the proposal. The plan would not rule out future prosecutions, but would delay a decision on that matter until all essential facts can be unearthed. Between the time necessary for the investigative process and the daunting array of policy problems Obama will face upon taking office, any decision on prosecutions probably would not come until a second Obama presidential term, should there be one.

    Read More Here: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/11/13/torture_commission/index.html

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    Commentary: Obama, Cosby, King and the mountaintop

    (CNN) -- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told followers the night before he was killed that he had been "to the mountaintop" and seen the promised land of racial equality. Last week's election of Barack Obama was the equivalent of taking all African-Americans to that peak, says Dr. Alvin Poussaint.

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    In his view, Obama's victory last week wasn't just a political triumph. It was a seismic event in the history of black America.

    Poussaint has made it his life's work to study how African-Americans see themselves and how the larger society sees them.

    From the days of the civil rights movement through the 1980s, when he was a script consultant on "The Cosby Show," to today, he has been a leader in assessing how images of black people in the media shape perceptions. Poussaint, who is 74, is professor of psychiatry at Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston and at Harvard Medical School.

    At a key point in the civil rights movement, Poussaint moved to Mississippi and worked for the Medical Committee for Human Rights, in Jackson, from 1965 to 1967, helping care for civil rights workers and aiding the desegregation of hospitals and other health care institutions.

    Poussaint met Bill Cosby in the 1970s and has worked with him on a variety of books and shows, most recently co-authoring a book with Cosby. He was interviewed by CNN on Wednesday.

    Read More Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/12/poussaint.obama/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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    Obama Plot Skinhead Wants Dismissal

    

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A white supremacist charged with plotting to kill President-elect Barack Obama and other black people wants his indictment dismissed, arguing that the federal grand jury that charged him had too many black members.

    Twenty-year-old Daniel Cowart of rural West Tennessee and 18-year-old Paul Schlesselman of Helena-West Helena, Ark., face charges including threatening a presidential candidate and taking firearms across state lines to commit crimes.

    Authorities say the pair plotted a robbery and killing spree in which they would murder dozens of black people, including Obama.

    Cowart's lawyer filed a petition Thursday seeking to have his client's indictment dismissed.

    It argues that the 23-member grand jury that returned the indictment had just two white members and could not have been fair and impartial.

    Read More Here: http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7856901&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

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    85,000 homes lost to foreclosure in October

    As government and industry scramble to reverse the tide of foreclosures, filings jumped 25% in October.

    NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As government and industry scrambled to stem the housing crisis, another 84,868 homes were lost to foreclosure in October, according to a report released Thursday.

    Last month 279,561 struggling borrowers received foreclosure filings, including default notices, notices of auction sales and bank repossessions, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosures. That's a 5% increase from September, and up 25% from October 2007.

    "October marks the 34th consecutive month where U.S. foreclosure activity has increased compared to the prior year," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement.

    A total of 936,439 homes have been lost to foreclosure since the housing crisis hit in August, 2007.

    Foreclosures hit a record high in August when 304,000 homes were in default and 91,000 families lost their houses. Since then, a number of states have adopted legislation to freeze foreclosures and give homeowners a chance to modify their mortgages. These laws have helped slowed the rate of foreclosures.

    Watch Videos and Read More Here: http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/13/real_estate/foreclosures_october/index.htm?postversion=2008111303

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  • Blog post
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• Momification of Michelle Obama

  • From: starchild50
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    Daily Cartoon

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    Bruce Plante Tulsa World Nov 12, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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    The momification of Michelle Obama

    The next first lady is an accomplished lawyer. But with the media focused on her clothes and family, Bamalot is starting to look a lot like Camelot.

    By Rebecca Traister

    Nov. 12, 2008

    Oh, what a week, what happiness, what kvelling joy: In January, Barack Obama will become president of the United States, and along with our first black president, we will also get our first black first family. A troop -- perhaps three generations! -- of powerful broads. Plus a puppy of as-yet-indeterminate provenance! A family so young and beautiful that they took our breath away when they strode onstage in Grant Park on Nov. 4, looking at once completely different from any presidential pack this country has ever known, and like the single most sparkling, shiny embodiment of the American dream ever to park a U-Haul outside the executive residence.

    Read More Here: http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/11/12/michelle_obama/

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    In poll, African-Americans say election a 'dream come true'

    By Paul Steinhauser
    CNN Deputy Political Director

    

    A woman is overcome on November 4 after hearing that Barack Obama had been elected president.

    WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For most African-Americans, the election of Barack Obama as president was a dream come true that they didn't think they would see in their lifetime, a national poll released Tuesday suggests.

    Eighty percent of African-Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey said that Obama's election was a dream come true, and 71 percent said they never thought a black candidate for president would get elected in their lifetime.

    The poll reflects anecdotal evidence that surfaced across the country last week as soon as Obama's projected win was announced.

    "It's history," said iReporter Tave Johnson, who spent Election Night at the Grant Park Obama rally in Chicago, Illinois. "I'm half-black and half-white. I talked to my grandparents today, and they told me this is historic. To be honest ... I never would have guessed it would happen."

    Among white Americans, only 28 percent said Obama's victory in the race for the White House was a dream come true, with the vast majority, 70 percent, saying it was not.

    Read More Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/11/obama.poll/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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    Clinton Honors Rev. Butts at Waldorf Gala

    By Scott Levi

     Marking the end of an 18-month bicentennial celebration, the Abyssinian Development Corporation—the economic offshoot of the Harlem Baptist church—flaunted the church’s national network and influence Monday night at a white tie gala at the Waldorf-Astoria.

    Monday evening’s gathering drew a guest list reflective of the longtime marriage Abyssinian has overseen between faith and other fields. Guests at the Waldorf’s grand ballroom ranged from grassroots organizers and pastors to celebrities such as actress Cicely Tyson, who emceed, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY, and former president Bill Clinton.

    A presence in New York’s black religious community since 1808—and in Harlem since 1938—the Abyssinian Baptist Church has grown from modest beginnings to a city- and nationwide agent of social justice and development. Despite tensions with its surrounding neighborhood, the church has seen its programs expanded to a corporate and political level under Rev. Calvin Butts III, the pastor for the last 19 years.

    Read More Here: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/56745

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    Gun sales surge after Obama's election

    WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bernie Conatser has never seen business this good.

    The owner of a gun shop in the Washington suburb of Manassas, Virginia, Conatser said sales have doubled or tripled since this time last year.

    On Saturday, he said, he did as much business as he would normally do in a week.

    "I have been in business for 12 years, and I was here for Y2K, September 11, Katrina," Conatser said, as a steady stream of customers browsed what remained of his stock. "And all of those were big events, and we did notice a spike in business, but nothing on the order of what we are seeing right now."

    Weapons dealers in much of the United States are reporting sharply higher sales since Barack Obama won the presidency a week ago.

    Buyers and sellers attribute the surge to worries that Obama and a Democratic-controlled Congress will move to restrict firearm ownership, despite the insistence of campaign aides that the president-elect supports gun rights and considers the issue a low priority. 

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/11/obama.gun.sales/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

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    U.N.: Congo troops raping, pillaging in villages

    Secretary-general calls for immediate cease-fire to end refugee suffering

     UNITED NATIONS - Hundreds of Congolese soldiers have rampaged through several villages in eastern Congo, the U.N. said Tuesday, alleging that the soldiers were raping women and pillaging homes as they pulled back ahead of a feared rebel advance.

    U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Col. Jean-Paul Dietrich said the army troops had reportedly raped civilians near the town of Kanyabayonga in overnight violence that lasted into Tuesday morning. Kanyabayonga is 60 miles north of the provincial capital, Goma.

    Dietrich said 700 to 800 Congolese soldiers fled Kanyabayonga and went on a rampage through several villages to the north.

    Read More Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27665245/

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    Police: Woman slain as she tried to leave KKK rite

    COVINGTON, La. – After a Ku Klux Klan initiation at a Louisiana campsite went awry, authorities said, a recruit who tried to back out was shot dead. The body of the woman, who traveled from Oklahoma, was dumped on a rural roadside and covered with brush. Her belongings were set aflame.

    But the cover-up was stillborn: The body was found Monday, a day after the shooting. By Tuesday, a local Klan leader sat in jail on a second-degree murder charge, and seven others were charged with trying to help conceal the crime.

    "The IQ level of this group is not impressive, to be kind," St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said Tuesday.

    The woman, whose identity was not released, was recruited over the Internet to participate in the ritual and then return to her home state to find other members for the white supremacist group, Strain said.

    It wasn't clear what rites awaited her at the campsite, but authorities believe the initiation had begun by the time the shooting happened. Strain said the group's leader, Raymond "Chuck" Foster, 44, shot and killed her Sunday night after a fight broke out when she asked to be taken back to town.

    Read More Here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081112/ap_on_re_us/klan_slaying

    Watch Video Here: http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=9331679

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    No. 2 Klan group on trial in Ky. teen's beating

    By BRETT BARROUQUERE
    Associated Press Writer

     DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (AP) -- The 28-acre compound that the nation's second-largest Ku Klux Klan outfit calls home features a high gate with armed guards, a stage for the group's annual gatherings and an open field for burning crosses.

    The Southern Poverty Law Center wants to take it all away.

    On these tranquil grounds amid western Kentucky's low, rolling hills, the Imperial Klans of America incited members to severely beat a Latino teen at a county fair, the civil rights group contends in a lawsuit. The center hopes its case will bankrupt this Klan group, a tactic the center has used to decimate other racist organizations.

    Jury selection begins Wednesday in Meade County, about 40 miles south of Louisville and 120 miles from the compound.

    "We want to put a stop to this kind of violence," said Richard Cohen, president of the center, which is suing on behalf of the victim. "They issue thinly veiled calls to violence."

    The Meade County Sheriff's Office has added patrols and some security at the courthouse but is not expecting trouble, said Deputy Sheriff Dan McCubbin.

    The case stems from a 2006 attack on Jordan Gruver that left the teen with two cracked ribs, a broken left forearm, cuts and bruises. The center claims Jarred Hensley of Cincinnati and Andrew Watkins of Louisville were recruiting on behalf of the Klan at the Meade County fair, about two hours east of their headquarters, and attacked Gruver because he is Latino.

    Watch Video and Read More Here: http://www.fox41.com/

    And Here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KLAN_SUED?SITE=AZPHG&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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    O the Plumber

    Obama was once a member of "The Lawn Rangers" who performed highly sophisticated semi-synchronized maneuvers with lawnmowers, brooms, and toilet plungers  

    

    
    In his blog today, Dave Barry writes that Barack Obama was once a member of the "Lawn Rangers," a group of guys who wowed the Midwest corn-festival circuit with their synchronized mowing maneuvers, broom tossing and plunger wagging (see above).

    Writes Barry:

    As you may know, I am a veteran member of the world-famous Lawn Rangers precision lawnmower drill team, whose members march every year at the Broom Corn festival in Arcola, Ill., as well as various other events, depending on how drunk they are scheduling... The Lawn Rangers perform highly sophisticated semi-synchronized maneuvers with lawnmowers, brooms, and toilet plungers. Membership in this crack unit is a great honor, bestowed only on whoever shows up very few people.

    Today I received an email from Lawn Rangers co-founder Pat Monahan, with a photograph taken in 2003 when the Rangers marched in the Chicago St. Patrick's Day parade. Joining them on this occasion was an up-and-coming Illinois state senator, seen here participating in the rigorous rookie-training program..

    Obama seems into it, but not that into it.

    Note the belt-clipped cell phone, the Obama campaign sign, the sweater vest-and-slacks combo, and his refusal to don one of those sheeny seafoam graduation gowns.

    Plus he's bogarting the other guy's plunger.

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

    McCain says Palin didn't hurt presidential bid

    By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
    Associated Press Writer

     LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In his first interview since conceding the presidential election, John McCain said Tuesday that Sarah Palin did not damage his presidential bid and he dismissed anonymous criticism aimed at her following their crushing defeat.

    "I'm so proud of her and I'm very grateful she agreed to run with me. She inspired people, she still does," McCain told Jay Leno during a "Tonight Show" interview taped for broadcast Tuesday night. "I couldn't be happier with Sarah Palin."

    In an interview that mingled flashes of humor with political analysis, McCain did little to deflect responsibility from himself. He alluded to the difficult political environment for Republicans nationwide and conceded, "I could tell you a lot of things that we may have made mistakes on." He never listed them.

    "So, that's the way it is," he added.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/video/clips/john-mccain/826021/

    Read More Here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MCCAIN_LENO?SITE=HIHAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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    Return of the Snake wearing Lipstick

    

    In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Sarah Palin says she's ready to work with President Barack Obama -- but she just can't let Bill Ayers go.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/12/tsr.sot.palin.help.obama.cnn

    Read More Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/12/palin/index.html

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    Obama ethics code limits lobbyists

    By NEDRA PICKLER

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Obama, who campaigned against lobbyists' influence, on Tuesday opened the door for them to work for him if they sign an ethics code that restricts their role in and out of government.

    Lobbyists can work for Obama's transition if they stop their advocacy efforts and avoid working in any field that they lobbied on in the last year. They also must pledge not to lobby the Obama administration on the same matters they focused on during the transition for a year after leaving Obama's service.

    The ethics policy allows Obama to hire any of the some 22,000 federally registered lobbyists who could be valuable assets because of their government experience, even though Obama railed against their influence on the campaign trail.

    Obama transition co-chair John Podesta announced the lobbyist policy at the first news conference in the transition headquarters briefing room, set up with a backdrop of a White House-like blue curtain and U.S. flags. Interest in the Obama plans are high — the briefing room is much larger than at the White House, and media from around the world packed it to standing-room only even though no cameras were allowed.

    Podesta said the transition will have a budget of $12 million. Taxpayers pick up $5.2 million, and Podesta said the rest would be raised from individuals with a $5,000 per-person contribution limit. He said lobbyists, corporations and political action committees will be banned from donating.

    Read More Here: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iGTYocUxXc5448mOvsqLKQgBV9iQD94D1CI00

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    $40,000 Inauguration Hotel Packages

    Reported by: Kelly Groft Last Update: 7:06 am

    We've been telling you how finding a room for the Inauguration is nearly impossible.  Hotels in Washington, D.C. are booked and hotels in Baltimore are starting to book up.
    
    But there are some hotel rooms, if you have money to spend.
    
    Here is what people are paying to get a room in D.C.
    
    At the sold out Hay Adams Hotel on Lafayette Square, right across from the White House, people are paying a minimum of $949 a night with a four night stay required.
    The hotel is booked.
    
    Also booked the Four Seasons in Georgetown, which has a Royal Suite for $15,000 a night.
    
    If you have a lot of extra money $25,000 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill can get you four nights in the grand Presidential Suite, with limo service, a day at the spa and a private butler.  There are also 2 tickets to the Inaugural parade and designer gloves and scarves.
    
    Then there is the $40,000 "Eco-Inaugural" package
    at the Fairmont Hotel in Foggy Bottom. The four-night extravaganza includes the exclusive use of a Lexus hybrid vehicle, with a driver, his and her organic spa treatments with a massage and manicures.
    
    Business is even booming at RV Parks and campgrounds in the area.  One campground in College Park says 100 of its 300 sites have been reserved for $55 a night.

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    Aides: Obama suggested more help for auto industry
    By JENNIFER LOVEN

    WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Obama suggested to President Bush that the administration immediately help struggling U.S. automakers, aides to the Democrat say, in the first face-to-face meeting the pair had since Obama's election victory.

    Obama's aides said the president-elect on Monday brought up the issue with Bush and discussed with him the need for urgent action. The Illinois senator's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said only that the talks during Obama's first post-election victory to the White House were mostly "about the broad health of the industry" and were not just limited to any one of the three largest car makers.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked the administration over the weekend to consider expanding the $700 billion bailout for financial firms to include car companies. At a news conference last Friday, Obama said he hoped the Bush administration would "do everything it can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted." He also said that helping the auto industry was a high priority for his transition team.

    Read More Here: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081111/D94CODTO1.html

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    Drug costs for seniors growing

    

    By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY

    Elderly and disabled people in Medicare prescription drug plans with the largest enrollments will pay 43% more on average in monthly premiums next year than when the drug program began in 2006, and some enrollees will see increases of as much as 329%, two analyses show.

    The rising costs "are wreaking havoc on seniors' wallets and are simply not sustainable in the long run," says Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

    Overall, the Medicare drug program is costing taxpayers less than originally estimated. The government's drug spending on the program fell by 12% to $44 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, largely from the widespread use of low-cost generic drugs. The government pays part of the drugs' costs for seniors and helps subsidize premiums for low-income people.

    Still, seniors have seen their actual expenses for premiums and drug co-payments go up each year. Insurers have raised prices for many reasons, including increases to cover higher drug costs and more prescriptions filled.

    Read More Here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-11-11-drugcosts_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

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    NY Students Prohibited From Wearing Scarves

    Orange Co. HS Principal Bans Neckwear After Interpreting Teen's Scarf As 'Gang Paraphernalia'

    MONTGOMERY, N.Y. (CBS) ― Some Orange County high school students are sticking their necks out to defy authority after the school board set a ban on scarves when a boy wore a scarf that was interpreted as a form of "gang paraphernalia."
    
    It seems like a ridiculous ruling with winter weather around the corner, but Valley Central High School aren't kidding around. No neckwear, period.
    
    Senior Brittney Michelle Smith told CBS 2 she's one of several students who was disciplined for refusing to remove her scarf at the Montgomery school.
    
    "I'm going to college to be a state trooper, so I don't want anything to do with gangs! It's fashion and to keep warm," she said.
    
    It all began last Thursday when a student wore a scarf to school. An administrator looked at the scarf and decided it was some kind of show of support for gangs.
    
    Students say the boy denied supporting gangs.

    Watch Video and Read More Here: http://wcbstv.com/local/valley.central.scarves.2.861854.html

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    Fat Kids Found to Have Arteries of 45-Year-Olds

     

    NEW ORLEANS —  Obese children as young as 10 had the arteries of 45-year-olds and other heart abnormalities that greatly raise their risk of heart disease, say doctors who used ultrasound tests to take a peek inside.

    "As the old saying goes, you're as old as your arteries are," said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of Children's Hospital in Kansas City, who led one of the studies. "This is a wake-up call."

    The studies were reported Tuesday at an American Heart Association conference.

    About a third of American children are overweight and one-fifth are obese. Many parents think that "baby fat" will melt away as kids get older. But research increasingly shows that fat kids become fat adults, with higher risks for many health problems.

    "Obesity is not benign in children and adolescents," said Dr. Robert Eckel, a former heart association president and cardiologist at the University of Colorado-Denver. It is why the American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended cholesterol-lowering drugs for some kids, he noted.

    Raghuveer wanted to see if early signs of damage could be documented. She and colleagues used painless ultrasound tests to measure the thickness of the wall of a major neck artery in 70 children, ages 10 to 16. Almost all had abnormal cholesterol and many were obese.

    No one knows how thick a 10-year-old's artery should be, since they're not regularly checked for signs of heart disease, so researchers used tables for 45-year-olds, who often do get such exams.

    Read More Here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450547,00.html

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    Why Do Kids Kill?

    8-Year-Old's Killing Spree Raises Questions About Why Children Murder

    By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
    Nov. 12, 2008

    

    

    Nicholas Browning, top center, was accused of killing his parents and his two brothers. Other children who have been accused of killing include Lionel Tate, top left; Washington, D.C., sniper Lee Malvo, 17, top right; 12-year-old Nathaniel Abraham, accused of shooting a stranger in Michigan; and Florida brothers Derek and Alex King, ages 13 and 14 at the time of their trial, who were tried as adults and convicted of beating their father to death.

    (ABC News Photo Illustration)

    Investigators are still piecing together exactly what took place in an eastern Arizona home, where an 8-year-old boy allegedly shot and killed his father and another man, systematically reloading a rifle and firing at close range.

    Details from the St. Johns crime scene are scant, and with a court-imposed gag order, little new information is likely to come out unless the boy is tried for the two counts of murder on which he has been charged.

    Police initially suspected the boy had been physically or sexually abused, but before the gag order was imposed Monday, investigators said they had found no evidence of trauma.

    "That's what makes this so troubling," Roy Melnick, chief of police in St. Johns, told the New York Times Tuesday.

    Experts familiar with parental murders by young children, but not involved in this case, said abuse is almost always a factor in such crimes.

     Read More Here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6233064&page=1

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    Council ranks term 'British' with 'negroes' and bans it in case it upsets Scots, Welsh and minorities
    

    By Neil Sears

    The word ‘British’ can be as offensive as ‘negro’ and ‘half-caste’, according to a race relations body.

    The publicly-funded organisation’s views have been adopted by Caerphilly council in South Wales for a leaflet advising staff on how to deal with the public.

    In a section on what words or phrases not to use to avoid causing offence, the leaflet solemnly informs the council’s 9,000 workers: ‘The idea of “British” implies a false sense of unity – many Scots, Welsh and Irish resist being called British and the land denoted by the term contains a wide variety of cultures, languages and religions.’

    

    Caerphilly, where council workers have been warned not to use the term 'British' for fear of offending ethnic minorities

    Read More Here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1084738/Council-ranks-term-British-negroes-bans-case-upsets-Scots-Welsh-minorities.html

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    S.C. Most Violent State, FBI Says

    GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Despite the fact that the murder rate in Greenville County has held steady in recent years, the violent crime outlook for much of the state is not nearly that good.

    The FBI reported Monday that the state of South Carolina has the highest per capita rate of violent crime in the country.

     Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis said, "I don't want people in Greenville County to be afraid when they hear stats like that."

    Begin Ad tag: square End Ad tag: square

     Loftis did say, "We have seen some spikes in violent crime. Last quarter, armed robbery went up to 115. But we've cleared 58 percent of those."

    He said many criminals are blaming the current economic situation for their choices.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.wyff4.com/news/17949907/detail.html?rss=gs&psp=news

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    Pennsylvania teacher's aide said Obama would be shot

    David Edwards and Muriel Kane

    The mother of a sixteen-year-old student in the Allison Park suburb of Pittsburgh was shocked when her daughter repeated disparaging remarks made about Barack Obama by a teacher's aide at her vocational high school.
    
    "One of the teacher's aides ... said that Obama was going to be shot and killed," Mara Gilligan told KDKA News. "And that our flag is going to be the KFC [Kentucky Fried Chicken] flag and that the new national anthem will be 'Moving On Up' -- and that all my daughter's beliefs were wrong and her children's lives were going to be ruined because Obama was elected."
    
    Gilligan, who is white, said that her biracial daughter took the comments personally. "Being biracial, she was overjoyed that someone of color was elected, and she was so happy and excited to come to school. And for this teacher to yell these things at her and her fellow classmates was just unbelievable."
    
    A teacher at the A.W. Beattie Career Center who overheard the comments filed a complaint with the principal, and Gilligan has since received an email from the administrative director saying the aide would be suspended and disciplined. However, the school would not comment to KDKA on the story.
    
    "You don't have to yell at other people, especially our youth that are excited about the election," Gilligan concluded. "I mean, anybody should want that to happen, especially a teacher, and for you to destroy that joy that they have because of an election is terrible."
    
    Southwestern Pennsylvania was repeatedly cited during the presidential campaign as a stronghold of racist attitudes, and even Rep. John Murtha, who represents a district east of Pittsburgh, aroused controversy when he referred to many of his own constituents as racists.
    
    Two organizations which have been described as explicitly racist appear to be located in Allison Park, where the incident occurred -- the American National Union, which has its mailing address there, and a chapter of the Citizens Councils of America.
    
    The KDKA News story is available here.

     

    Watch Video Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Pennsylvania_teachers_aide_said_Obama_would_1111.html

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    Senate to introduce measure to require health insurance for all Americans

    By ROBERT PEAR

    WASHINGTON — Without waiting for President-elect Barack Obama, Senator Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, will unveil a detailed blueprint on Wednesday to guarantee health insurance for all Americans by facilitating sales of private insurance, expanding Medicaid and Medicare, and requiring most employers to provide or pay for health benefits.

    Aides to Mr. Obama said they welcomed the Congressional efforts, had encouraged Congress to take the lead and still considered health care a top priority, despite the urgent need to address huge problems afflicting the economy.

    The plan proposed by Mr. Baucus, Democrat of Montana, would eventually require everyone to have health insurance coverage, with federal subsidies for those who could not otherwise afford it.

    Read More Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/washington/12health.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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    Schumer and Durbin Want Lieberman Stripped of Homeland Security

    Newsweek's Howard Fineman on Keith Olbermann:

    [Obama's] going to leave it up to a vote I think. What my sources tell me is that there's likely to be a vote next Tuesday. The Senate Democrats will caucus when they come back for the lame duck session. They'll all go into a room, Joe Lieberman will make his case for maintaining his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, then there will be a secret ballot vote.

    Obama's opinion is sort of on record via Harry Reid, and we'll see how it goes.

    Interestingly, people like Dick Durbin who is the first Democrat in the Senate -- the first Senator, and from Illinois, to support Barack Obama -- is really loaded for bear about Lieberman, he wants to kick Lieberman off that Chairmanship. Chuck Schumer, the head of the Campaign Committee likewise.

    So it could be a very close vote, and it'll be left to the secret ballot of the Senators. You've got Evan Bayh and you've got Chris Dodd who are supporting Lieberman, but there are a lot of other people who are still angry at him for the very comments you were talking about just a little while ago.

    One point I think needs to be made. This isn't about Joe Lieberman maintaining membership in a country club as a matter of feel-good "bipartisanship." There's actually a job that needs doing here, and when Chris Dodd and Evan Bayh say that they want Lieberman to retain his chairmanship, they are saying that the extraordinary waste, graft, greed and cronyism that have built the Department of Homeland Security to a bloated, ineffectual taxpayer-funded behemoth under Joe Lieberman is just fine.

    Read More Here: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/passingthrough/382698

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    Hey Republicans, Don't Double Down

     Michael Fauntroy

     

     I'm not a Republican (or a conservative), so I won't be surprised if the Grand Old Party ignores my advice. However, a well-functioning democracy requires at least two counterbalancing political parties able to compete with each other for the hearts and minds of the masses. Tuesday's election results show that one party -- the Republicans -- may be lurching toward irrelevancy and national oblivion. The Republicans have been brutalized in the last two national election cycles and, if the reporting on party machinations is correct, seems determined to repeat the mistakes that have led it to significant electoral defeats. If the Republicans double down on the kinds of conservative-led simple-minded, narrow-issue, intellectual hatred that has led the party to great success during the last generation or so, then it will become a largely impotent regional party teetering on oblivion. The party must take three steps to avoid going the way of the Whigs.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-fauntroy-phd/hey-republicans-dont-doub_b_143095.html

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

    Cosby Talks "Huxtable Effect," Shares Voting Experience

    LYNN ELBER | November 12, 2008 07:19 AM EST | 

     

      LOS ANGELES — When Bill Cosby entered the polling booth in his neighborhood last week, he carried with him photographs of his late parents and Jimmy, the kid brother who died in childhood.

    "I pulled out the pictures, pulled the curtain shut. And I said, `You guys are gonna vote.' And they did, on one piece of paper," Cosby said.

    He couldn't resist delivering a punch line for fellow voters in Shelburne Falls, Mass. _ "I yelled out, `How do you spell plumber?'" _ even as he exulted in casting his ballot for the first African-American president.

    There's an argument circulating that "The Cosby Show" laid the groundwork for President-elect Barack Obama by presenting an appealing black family, the Huxtables, to young TV viewers who grew up equipped to thwart stereotypes and barriers.

    Writer Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez called her theory "the Huxtable effect," a counter to the so-called Bradley effect (named for failed black California gubernatorial hopeful Tom Bradley) of possible hidden racism among white voters.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/12/cosby-talks-huxtable-effe_n_143192.html

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

    Idaho students chant 'assassinate Obama' on school bus

    David Edwards and Muriel Kane
    Published: Wednesday November 12, 2008

      Madison County, Idaho was once dubbed "the reddest place in America" by Salon, but that didn't make it any less shocking when elementary school children started chanting "assassinate Obama on the school bus.
    
    Matthew Whoolery told KIKD News he found out about the chanting from his second and third graders, who had no idea what the word "assassinate" meant.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Idaho_students_chant_assassinate_Obama_on_1112.html

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

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 256

• Sarah Palin Will Never Be Pres

  • From: pinkiehot52
  • Description:

    The small smear of red on the otherwise blue electoral map looks more like a minor bloodstain on a dirty Band-Aid than anything resembling a national political party. Who voted for McCain/Palin in bigger numbers than they even voted for Bush/Cheney? Only one shrinking group: uneducated white folks in the deep south and a few folks in Appalachia. Take away the white no-college-backwoods-and/or-southern McCain/Palin vote and the Republicans would have been approaching single digit electoral college oblivion.

    Sarah Palin will never hold national office nor will any Republican at the presidential level for a long time to come. Why? Because America has uneducated jerks in it but is not a nation of uneducated jerks. The Republicans are done, hoisted on the petard of their own "southern strategy."

    The Republican Party is only a step away from becoming the fringe of the fringe, identified more with cross-burning weirdoes wearing hoods, folks like the Alaska secessionist party, all those gun owners stocking up on assault weapons before the "Socialist/United Nations/Obama/Muslim" conspiracy comes to fruition, than with anything remotely like a serious national political force.

    The Republican Party--and I speak as a former lifelong Republican who, up through the 2000 primary campaign supported John McCain and even worked for him by arguing his case on various conservative and religious radio stations--is now the toy of the Rush Limbaugh windbags. These folks include outright crazies (such as Sarah Palin's Assemblies of God pals who are waiting for Spaceship Jesus to rescue them and/or rooting out "witches" from their midst), white racists and a few not-very-bright attention seekers, including Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity etc.

    Read their blogs! Listen to their talk radio! You'll be in the twilight zone of front page tabloid fantasy on a par with Bat Boy Attacks! headlines. Bill Buckley roll over.

    The Religious Right, the racists, the anti-gay hate-mongers are now not only marginalized but thoroughly out of step with even members of their own former constituency. For instance the Gordon College student newspaper (Gordon is an influential Evangelical College north of Boston) endorsed Obama this year. Many young evangelicals voted for the Democrats. James Dobson, Fox News, Limbaugh et al. were utterly powerless to do more than stir up hate. They are losing the next generation of their "base."

    Meanwhile many former Republicans--like me--ran to Obama as fast as our legs could carry us and away from our willfully "we're not an elite" moronic former party. Republican commentators such as David Brooks and George Will mourned the loss of the Republican center. Others noted the Republicans have become anti-intellectual. "Anti-intellectual?" They wish! How about simply anti-literate?

    Meanwhile the fringe of the fringe is holding meetings where they'll talk to themselves and look at the "facts" of their alternative universe in order to figure out "what went wrong." These are the same "leaders" (like William Kristal) who think Sarah Palin has a big political future!

    Sarah Palin will never be president because the right wing of the Republican Party has perfected the art of believing their own bullshit, starting with the idea that is-Africa-a-country-or-a-continent?-Palin has a future. Palin and her fans don't know it yet, but having reduced itself to a grim angry joke, the Republican Party has also divorced itself from American politics and, along with that dirty used Band-Aid, is destined for the garbage can.

    What's the best defense against the rube/Palin voters derailing the Republican Party forever? If the statistics of who voted for whom are correct, the education of white people in the deep South and their economic empowerment is the best answer. Maybe it will take a black Democratic president to figure out some affirmative action program that can get our southern born-again white underclass into colleges and thereby save the Republican party.

    Frank Schaeffer is the author of CRAZY FOR GOD-How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back. Now in paperback

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 122

• Over 200,000 Dead - 11/11/08 6

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Jeff Darcy The Plain Dealer Nov 11, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    

    (November 4, 2008)

    The Grey New York advertising agency released this poster Monday depicting Barack Obama and John McCain with their skin color and hair switched. The agency said it created the image to remind voters to "let the issues be the issue."

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

    Citing ‘High Percentage Of Minority Vote’ In GA, Chambliss Laments Not Getting ‘Our Folks’ Out To Vote

    In last week’s election, Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) received more votes than his Democratic challenger Jim Martin but fell 0.2 percent short of the 50-percent-plus needed under Georgia law to win the election. Both candidates are expected to be headed for a runoff election next month.

    Last night on Fox News, when asked why he wasn’t able to “close the deal” with Georgia voters on election day, Chambliss said that because of Barack Obama, there was a “high percentage of minority vote” and that his campaign wasn’t “able to get enough of our folks out” to vote:

    COLMES: Why do you think you’ve been unable…[to] close the deal with the people of Georgia in terms of what happened on Election Day?

    CHAMBLISS: Well, listen, we have, for the first time in the history the our state, a 30-day advanced vote period, and let’s give the Obama people credit. They did a good job of getting out their vote early.

    There was a high percentage of minority vote, and I am tickled to death that as many Georgians as did examined their right to vote. That’s what make our election process the envy of the whole free world, but we weren’t able to get enough of our folks out on Election Day.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH1prP_kdhE
    

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

    Over 200,000 Dead - Satellite Image Evidence

    Dafur Atrocities. Explore the satellite evidence and read detailed accounts of each destroyed village to see with your own eyes what is happening in Dafur.

    See For Yourself Here: http://www.eyesondarfur.org/index.html

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

    At Arlington, soldiers’ mothers are united in grief

    As they visit their sons’ graves, a bond forms: ‘You feel each other’s pain’

    By Bob Dotson

    Xiamara Mena stands amid an army of tombstones. She has come here to begin the long, slow business of learning how to live alone. Her son, Army Cpl. Andy Anderson, is buried here among our heroes in Arlington National Cemetery. He was killed in Iraq two years ago. 

    "The second year is pretty hard," Xiamara sighs, wiping away a tear. Now the Army Reserve is sending Andy's twin brothers — Rafael and Randall — to Afghanistan.

    Killed on Mother’s Day
    Other mothers have also come to visit their sons' graves this day. Beth Belle kisses a nearby headstone, then offers a hug. The embrace says silently what no one can put into words.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27578185/

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

    President-Elect Obama Vows To Help Veterans

    By CSPANJunkie

    Be sure to also check out Bob Geiger's "A Vet's Message To The GOP on Veterans Day -- Shove It":

    ... Veterans benefits are earned -- and they matter.

    Which is why I get so disgusted whenever I see all the faux military-loving Republicans turning up on Veterans Day with their flowery pronouncements of how much we Vets mean to them when they prove at every turn that they really don’t give a damn about the troops, Veterans or military families.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/cspanjunkie/president-elect-obama-vows-help-vetera

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

    Obama On the Issues from A to Z

    Barack Obama on Abortion

    Click here for 28 full quotes on Abortion OR other candidates on Abortion OR background on Abortion.

    • No litmus test; nominate to Court based on their fairness. (Oct 2008)
    • 1990: Wrote law article that that fetus cannot sue mother. (Aug 2008)
    • FactCheck: Abortions HAVE gone down under Pres. Bush. (Aug 2008)
    • Ok for state to restrict late-term partial birth abortion. (Apr 2008)
    • We can find common ground between pro-choice and pro-life. (Apr 2008)
    • Undecided on whether life begins at conception. (Apr 2008)
    • Teach teens about abstinence and also about contraception. (Apr 2008)
    • GovWatch: Obama's "present" votes were a requested strategy. (Feb 2008)
    • Expand access to contraception; reduce unintended pregnancy. (Feb 2008)
    • Rated 100% by NARAL on pro-choice votes in 2005, 2006 & 2007. (Jan 2008)
    • Voted against banning partial birth abortion. (Oct 2007)
    • Stem cells hold promise to cure 70 major diseases. (Aug 2007)
    • Trust women to make own decisions on partial-birth abortion. (Apr 2007)
    • Extend presumption of good faith to abortion protesters. (Oct 2006)
    • Constitution is a living document; no strict constructionism. (Oct 2006)
    • Moral accusations from pro-lifers are counterproductive. (Oct 2004)
    • Pass the Stem Cell Research Bill. (Jun 2004)
    • Protect a woman's right to choose. (May 2004)

    Read About the Other Issues Here: http://www.ontheissues.org/barack_obama.htm

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

    Five Silver Linings In spite of the obvious challenges, Obama will enter the White House with some paths to success staked out.

    By Fred KaplanPosted Monday, Nov. 10, 2008, at 5:48 PM ET

    It's a truism that Barack Obama faces the most intractable set of challenges that any president has faced in at least 50 years. But on a few issues in foreign and military policy, he's caught a break. Whether by luck, the effect of his election, or President George W. Bush's stepped-up drive to win last-minute kudos, Obama will enter the White House with some paths to success already marked, if not quite paved.

    Iraq. Just a few days after Obama's victory, the Iraqi political factions seemed much more disposed to sign a new Status of Forces Agreement with the United States. The SOFA, which is set to expire at the end of the year, outlines the conditions under which U.S. troops are permitted to remain in the country. One condition that Iraq has been demanding is the complete withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by 2011. Several Iraqi parties have been reluctant to ratify the accord even then, doubting that George W. Bush—or, had he won, John McCain—would really withdraw. But they believe that Obama will. So they're suddenly more eager to finalize an accord. Some factions are also more keen to settle their internal differences to avoid a political collapse or a renewed civil war once the Americans leave. Obama knows that early in his presidency he'll have to figure out a way to mount a major withdrawal from Iraq while minimizing the chance that the Baghdad government falls apart. This new tenor in Iraqi politics somewhat eases the task.

    Read More Here: http://www.slate.com/id/2204044/

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

    New Program Could Help Half a Million Homeowners

    CitiMortgage's Plan Is the Latest Bank Effort to Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure

    By CHARLES HERMAN
    ABC NEWS Business Unit
    Nov. 11, 2008

    
    
    CitiMortgage, the nation's fourth-largest mortgage lender, will announce Tuesday a new assistance program aimed at homeowners potentially at risk of falling behind on their payments or losing their homes to foreclosure.

    Citi's homeowner assistance program will reach out to 500,000 customers still current with their monthly payments but who live in areas where home prices are falling or unemployment rates are rising. This represents nearly a third of the mortgages that Citi owns.

    "Borrowers need to know what options are available to them before they are in a situation of financial distress," said Sanjiv Das, CEO of CitiMortgage. "They should know Citi will modify their loan even before they miss their payments."

    Citi expects the program will almost immediately impact nearly 130,000 customers, totaling $20 billion in loans, by assisting borrowers regardless of the type of loan they currently own.

    Watch Video Here: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=6225660&page=1

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

    Sarah Palin Defends Herself Against Criticism in FOX News Interview

    FOX News' Greta Van Susteren went to Alaska to get Gov. Sarah Palin's reflections on the presidential election.

    After a whirlwind campaign alongside Sen. John McCain, Sarah Palin is defending herself against criticism stemming from the tens of thousands of dollars spent on her wardrobe as well as several reported foreign affairs missteps.

    "When I arrived at the convention, there were clothes waiting for me, and clothes being ordered for me and the family, for eight of us," the Alaska governor told FOX News' Greta Van Susteren, in an interview that aired Monday night. "And ever since then, those clothes, knowing that they didn't belong to me ... we boxed them all up, sent them back to the rightful owners, the Republican National Committee, and that's the story on the clothes." 

    Attorneys for the Republican National Committee are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was bought for Palin and exactly what has been returned, The Associated Press reports.

    Read More Here: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/10/sarah-palin-defends-criticism-post-election-interview/#
    

    Video Part1: http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3183296&referralPlaylistId=playlist
    

    Video Part2:http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3183284&referralPlaylistId=df5603c3d11ca9a023b0070cfc5f297e279fd3a7

    Video Part3: http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3183287&referralPlaylistId=df5603c3d11ca9a023b0070cfc5f297e279fd3a7
    

    Video Part4: http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3183289&referralPlaylistId=df5603c3d11ca9a023b0070cfc5f297e279fd3a7

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

    Palin calls bloggers "kids in pajamas"

    Linda Bergthold

    Posted November 10, 2008

    In Sarah Palin's interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren this evening, she referred to bloggers as "kids in pajamas sitting in the basement of their parents' homes" spewing out mean and inaccurate things about her. Well, I am no kid, I am definitely not wearing pajames and I am living in my own house, thank you! And I am seriously depressed about the prospect of this person having a political future.

    In the course of the interview with Greta Van Susteren, a softball thrown with great affection by Fox, Palin manages to rebut all the attacks on her without ever providing much, if any, facts to support her position. She never asked for the clothes or the stylists. They just appeared. Nor the clothes for her "eight" member family (eight? I thought she had 5 kids...). She never thought Africa was a country. She was just concerned about Darfur and they discussed "Africa there...the country and the continent". She always knew what countries were in NAFTA. She never thought the crowds were there because of her, it was just because of what she stood or -- just a mom trying to change things.

    Pardon me, but I am nearly nauseous by now. There is no acknowledgement by Ms. Palin that she might not have been ready for this job. That there were things she did not know and should have known. That the media intensity revealed her weaknesses -- only that it was mean and unfair.

    Read More Here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-bergthold/palin-calls-bloggers-kids_b_142872.html

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

    Bush Spy Revelations Anticipated When Obama Is Sworn In

    Privacy Advocates Expect Whistleblowers to Share Warrantless Wiretap Info After Inauguration Day

    

    When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on January 20, Americans won't just get a new president; they might finally learn the full extent of George W. Bush's warrantless domestic wiretapping.

    Since The New York Times first revealed in 2005 that the NSA was eavesdropping on citizens' overseas phone calls and e-mail, few additional details about the massive "Terrorist Surveillance Program" have emerged. That's because the Bush administration has stonewalled, misled and denied documents to Congress, and subpoenaed the phone records of the investigative reporters.

    Read More Here: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6225991&page=1

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

    Olbermann: Gay marriage is a question of love

    Everyone deserves the same chance at permanence and happiness

    

    Keith Olbermann

    Anchor, 'Countdown'

    
    

    Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.

    Some parameters, as preface. This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8.  And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27650743/

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

    Peru offers Obama a hairless dog

    Reuters | Tuesday, 11 November 2008

    Peruvians crazy about their national dog, a bald and often toothless breed popular among Incan kings, offered to send a hypoallergenic puppy to the Obama family.

    US President-elect Barack Obama has promised daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, a new pet for the White House. But Malia is allergic to most breeds, he said on Friday as speculation swirled about the dog the family would choose.

    Owners of the Peruvian Hairless Dog, a breed dating back 3,000 years and depicted in pre-Hispanic ceramics, say it is perfect for kids who are sensitive to dogs.

    "They do not cause any type of allergy and are very friendly and sweet," said Claudia Galvez, 38, director of the Friends of the Peruvian Hairless Dog Association.

    "We want to give a male puppy to Obama's daughters, so they get to experience all the joys of having a dog but without any allergies."

    According to Peruvian folklore, the dogs have above-average body temperature, which compensates for their lack of hair and helps alleviate symptoms of asthma or arthritis suffered by their owners.

    Galvez delivered a letter detailing her offer to the US embassy in Lima on Monday and hopes Obama will accept it.

    Galvez has a 4-month-old pedigree puppy to send to the Obama family. For now, she is calling it Ears because it has two large, perky ones.

    "But if we send it to the United States, its official name will be Machu Picchu," she said, referring to the ancient Incan citadel, Peru's top tourist attraction.

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

    Obama-Google connection scares competitors

    By EAMON JAVERS | 11/10/08 4:06 PM EST

    Google CEO Eric Schmidt didn’t say anything as he flanked President-elect Barack Obama during his first post-election press conference. He didn’t have to.
    
    The image alone of Schmidt standing elbow-to-elbow with Obama’s top economic thinkers was enough to send shivers up the spine of Google’s competitors.
    
    “This terrifies Microsoft,” said a Democratic lobbyist familiar with the industry. “There’s a reason why people are scared to death of Google.”
    
    Friday's press conference Friday came just two days after Google threw in the towel on an attempted Internet advertising partnership with Yahoo, the older, but struggling Web company. Google said that the prospect of an antitrust lawsuit from the Justice Department was the key deal breaker. Yahoo, which needed the deal more than Google, had said it was willing to fight the government, but Google didn’t have the stomach for a protracted legal battle.
    
    So an open question for Google is whether the search-engine giant’s newfound closeness with the Democratic president-elect will give the company the muscle it needs to win disputes with the government over deals such as the Yahoo partnership.

    Read More Here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15487.html

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

    Bush friend says the President ‘has a way of coming to grips with things and moving on.’

    In the New York Times this morning, a Bush friend states the President has come to terms with Barack Obama’s victory because he’s “a realist”:

    “President Bush is a realist,” said this friend, who spoke anonymously to disclose his private conversation with the president. “He has a way of coming to grips with things and moving on. The people have spoken.”

    That assessment doesn’t quite square with reality. Bush’s disregard for the American people was evident in 2006, when he stubbornly argued, “We’re not leaving [Iraq] so long as I’m the president.” He has said he would veto bills just to “ensure that I am relevant.” And he has not been shy about boasting of his power, calling himself “commander guy” and “the decider.”

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

    Newspaper protested for not reporting Obama win

    

    RAW STORY
    Published: Monday November 10, 2008

    The Sapulpa Daily Herald is being protested for not reporting that Barack Obama won the presidency. The paper did report that John McCain had won the most votes in the county. Upset residents say that the paper's selective reporting of news is racism.
    
    KJRH has more details here.

    Watch Video Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Newspaper_protested_for_not_reporting_Obama_1110.html

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

    Volvo, GM Announce More Rounds Of Layoffs

    GM Also Casts Doubt On GMAC Mortgage Viability

    DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. and Volvo AB both say they plan to lay off more workers among as they cut expenses to deal with a worsening cash crisis.General Motors Corp. announced it plans to lay off another 1,900 factory workers at parts stamping, engine and transmission factories in North America. The nation's largest automaker said in a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the layoffs are a result of declining sales.

    Spokesman Tony Sapienza said the cuts are in addition to 3,600 factory layoffs announced by the company on Friday.

     

    GM announced a $2.5 billion third-quarter loss on Friday and said it may run out of cash before the end of 2008.Swedish truck and bus maker Volvo AB will also lay off 1,000 staff at its powertrain unit in Sweden and North America. Volvo spokesman Morten Wikfors says the layoffs will affect 900 permanent workers in Sweden and 100 in North America. He said Tuesday a large number of consultants and others on temporary contracts will also receive notices. Among other things, Volvo Powertrain makes engines and gear boxes for trucks. The Volvo group has previously announced layoffs of 1,400 workers at truck plants in Belgium and Sweden and 1,350 workers at its construction unit.

    Read More Here: http://www.clickondetroit.com/automotive/17953695/detail.html

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

    British TV attempts to summarize case for 9/11 truth

    David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
    Published: Monday November 10, 2008

    The UK's Independent Television News dedicated a short segment of a Monday broadcast to briefly explaining several core tent poles of the 9/11 truth movement.
    
    "With new figures showing almost 150 million Web pages devoted to 9/11 conspiracies, here are the big three so-called plot holes in the official version," announced a narrator.
    
    "One theory is that the collapse of both the twin towers was caused not by the impact of the planes and subsequent fires, but by controlled demolitions. Theorists point to the uniform crumbling of individual floors in each tower."
    
    The narrator also mentioned a more obscure 9/11 theory: that the planes which hit the WTC towers had 'shaped charge warheads' in their nosecones.
    
    Perhaps the most widely discussed theory, that there was no plane crash at the Pentagon, is also mentioned, with evidence cited as the lack of debris and the small impact hole. The program also mentions that the FBI has refused to release video footage of the object impacting the Pentagon, but failed to disclose how many cameras captured it.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/UK_TV_News_explains_911_conspiracy_1110.html

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

    What We Didn't Overcome

    Obama won a majority of votes. He didn't win a majority of white votes.

    By Timothy Noah

    Electing Barack Obama president was a glorious Jackie Robinson moment for the United States of America. Obama didn't just win; he became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter to win an electoral majority. He won a larger proportion of white votes than any previous nonincumbent Democratic presidential candidate since Carter. Ta-Nehisi Coates, writing in the Washington Post's Outlook section, was moved to conclude that Obama's victory vindicated Martin Luther King's "belief in white people," a belief Coates once scoffed at as a sign of "weakness and cowardice, a lack of faith in his own."

    As a white person, I accept with gratitude Coates' warm feelings. But I fear they may be a tad premature. While it's certainly true that enough white people voted for Obama to put him in the Oval Office, the blunt fact remains that a majority of white people did not. Although Obama beat John McCain in the popular vote by an impressive seven-point margin, McCain beat Obama among white voters by an even more impressive 12-point margin. Obama got 53 percent of the broad electorate to vote for him but only 43 percent of the white electorate. When I say "white electorate," I don't mean the white working class, or white Southerners, or any other subgroup whose capacity for racial tolerance has long been held suspect. I mean all white voters.

    Read More Here: http://www.slate.com/id/2204251/

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    In Case You Missed It -The View

    11/05/08

    Hot Topics - Post Election Day

    Terrific interview with Vernon Jordan advised Obama not to run for President.
    

    Part 1 Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbS_wHg-wvQ&feature=related
    

    Part 2 Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOVFiP4Pg5o&feature=related
    

    Part 3 Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGAcoVgXfJY&feature=related
    

    Part 4 Click Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs5kM7mkyYw&feature=related
    

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

    RNC creates website begging for new ideas, with predictable results

    The best ones as voted by the community may be incorporated in the plan we deliver to candidates for RNC Chairman.

    Read the ideas submitted here:(notice "be inclusive" is not submitted!)

    http://ideas.rebuildtheparty.com/

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

    60 Minutes" Catches American Tech Trash Firm Red-Handed

    American firm found to be illegally transporting tech trash to China, transforming a town in southern China into a toxic wasteland
    
    

    There's little doubt that China is heavily polluted.  This was showcased at the Beijing Olympics, which were held under constant fear of smog.  The country is also the world's largest CO₂ emitter. 
    
    China and the U.S. have long played the blame game over who is to blame for the other's pollution.  NASA studies have shown that as much as 15 percent of the U.S. air pollution is simply smog blown over from China.  The Chinese, however, say that it’s Western demand that is fueling the production and pollution.
    
    However, the worst pollution problems for China may not be high up in the sky, but much closer to Earth, with the soaring problem of e-waste.  DailyTech was among the first in the tech community to chronicle the growing problem of tech trash. 

    The U.S. and other industrialized nations are fueling this problem by shipping countless tons of electronics trash overseas to the lowest bidder.  This trade occurs despite laws trying to stop it and the efforts of many large American electronics firms to stop the practice.
    
    CBS News' "60 Minutes" is the latest to take an in-depth look into the epidemic.  Its report focuses on China, perhaps the nation with the worst tech-trash importing problem.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n

    Read More Here: http://www.dailytech.com/60+Minutes+Catches+American+Tech+Trash+Firm+RedHanded/article13393.htm

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

    China Unveils Sweeping Plan for Economy

     

    By DAVID BARBOZA

     

    Published: November 9, 2008

    
    

    SHANGHAI — China announced a huge economic stimulus plan on Sunday aimed at bolstering its weakening economy, a sweeping move that could also help fight the effects of the global slowdown.

    At a time when major infrastructure projects are being put off around the world, China said it would spend an estimated $586 billion over the next two years — roughly 7 percent of its gross domestic product each year — to construct new railways, subways and airports and to rebuild communities devastated by an earthquake in the southwest in May.

    The package, announced Sunday evening by the State Council, or cabinet, is the largest economic stimulus effort ever undertaken by the Chinese government.

    “Over the past two months, the global financial crisis has been intensifying daily,” the State Council said in a statement. “In expanding investment, we must be fast and heavy-handed.”

    The plan was unveiled as finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations met in São Paulo, Brazil, over the weekend.

    It came less than a week before President Hu Jintao was scheduled to travel to Washington for a global economic summit meeting hosted by President Bush.

    Read More Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/world/asia/10china.html?hp

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

    Star Trek Footage Revealed

    by James Dyer

     

    

    Empire was privileged to be at a world first screening of footage from Star Trek this morning and any reservations we may have harboured over JJ Abrams’ reimagining of the franchise have been well and truly beamed away. What we saw was a medley of action, excitement, humour and a true reverence for the franchise that should both appease fans and suck in newcomers.

    Abrams himself appeared to introduce four separate clips from the film, clearly a little apprehensive about airing his footage for the first time and so many months away from its May 2009 release.
    
    “The thing about Star Trek is that I was never really a huge fan. When I was asked to do Star Trek, though, I found myself saying ‘yes’. I just thought it was the right thing. There have been 10 movies and about a million series but when the first series came out I always felt it was someone else’s show. I appreciated there was a promise of adventure but quite frankly that’s always what I felt it was: a promise of adventure. It might have been the resources they had doing a TV show – you know, a big adventure going to a cardboard planet, you know? So, the idea of doing this movie where it could feel legitimate and real despite all the stuff that non-fans might thing was silly, was really the challenge.

     

    Read More Here: http://www.empireonline.com/empireblog/Post.asp?id=313
    

     

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    Jaden Smith To Star In "Karate Kid" Remake

    Will Smith's kids have been following in his footsteps, appearing in films and working red carpets, and now younger son Jaden is starring in a movie being made just for him: a remake of "Karate Kid."
    Variety reports:

    Columbia Pictures is back in the dojo with a new version of the 1984 hit "The Karate Kid," which has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith.

    
    The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and Overbrook Entertainment's James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz. Will Smith, who is the 10-year-old actor's father, co-starred alongside Jaden in his feature debut, "The Pursuit of Happyness," which Overbrook and Escape Artists produced for Columbia.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/11/jaden-smith-to-star-in-ka_n_142907.html

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    Beyonce wants to lasso the role of Wonder Woman

    Beyoncé is ready for an Amazon-sized challenge -- the pop superstar wants to be the first actress to wear Wonder Woman's famed red, white and blue bathing suit on the silver screen.

    "I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better than Wonder Woman? It would be great. And it would be a very bold choice. A black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It's time for that, right?"

    Beyoncé says that she has met with representatives of DC Comics and Warner Bros. to express her interest in a major role in one of the many comic-book adaptations now in the pipeline following the massive success of "The Dark Knight," "Iron Man" and the "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" franchises. Beyoncé's acting to career to date has included a comedic role in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and two notable music world roles, the first as a quasi-Diana Ross character in "Dreamgirls" and as the defiant and heroin-addicted Etta James in the upcoming "Cadillac Records."

    Read More Here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/11/beyonc-wants-to.html

     

     

    
    

     

     

    
    

     

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 363

• Farrakhan Says Obama 'New Begi

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    David Cohen Asheville Citizen-Times Nov 10, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    Obama planning U.S. trials for Gitmo detainees

    President-elect has described camp as ‘sad chapter in American history’

    

    The sun sets in June over Camp Justice and its adjacent tent city, the legal complex of the U.S. Military Commissions, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, in Cuba.

    WASHINGTON - President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

    During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the U.S. legal system is equipped to handle the detainees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

    Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27640617/

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

    High Court to examine Marri terror case

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court could take up a terrorism-related case challenging the President's broad powers of detention, observers say.

     The High Court will decide Monday whether to accept the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah Marri, a legal U.S. resident who was whisked into military detention in 2003 when Bush administration officials charged he was an al-Qaida operative plotting a wave of post-Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported.

    Marri was on trial in federal court in 2003 charged with using a false name and a stolen Social Security number to apply for bank accounts in Macomb, Ill., when Bush ordered he be turned over to the military. Marri was taken to a U.S. Navy brig in South Carolina where he's been held ever since, the newspaper said.

    Read More Here: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/09/High_Court_to_examine_Marri_terror_case/UPI-36011226246841/

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

    Obamas Visit Bushes At White House

    President-Elect And President Bush Discuss Transition Of Power In Private Meeting Monday

    CBS/ AP)  President-elect Obama and President Bush gathered Monday for their first face-to-face meeting, an Oval Office session that comes during a historic shifting of power to a new administration.
    
    Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived at the South Portico 11 minutes early with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush waiting for them. Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Obama enjoyed a warm greeting, while the president and his successor exchanged smiles and a handshake.
    
    Taking a bit of prerogative, the president-elect put his left hand on Mr. Bush's back as the two couples entered the Diplomatic Reception Room.
    
    "These things can be pretty frosty, but I think this time it won't be that way," said CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer, predicting "a nice and pleasant exchange" despite Mr. Obama's stated intention to undo many of Mr. Bush's initiatives.
    Watch Videos Here:

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/10/politics/main4587490.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4587490

    And Here:

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/obama.bush/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo

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

    The Bushes, The Obamas & The White House

    CBS' Mark Knoller On The Tradition Of Presidents-Elect And White House Tours

    There’s a lot of play-acting involved when a President-elect of the opposition party is received at the White House by the outgoing President.
    
    It’s not quite as awkward as when the incoming Chief Executive actually defeated the incumbent, as was the case in 1980 when Jimmy Carter welcomed Ronald Reagan to the Oval Office; or in 1992, when the first President Bush had to offer smiles and a handshake to Bill Clinton.
    
    Imagine how you’d feel if you’d been fired and were then required to show your replacement around your office and house?
    
    Barack Obama didn’t beat George W. Bush, but he did beat him up rhetorically. Mr. Obama spent most of the last two years repeatedly making the case that Mr. Bush needlessly took the nation to war in Iraq and ran the economy into a ditch. Not the kind of verbiage that makes for instant cordiality.
    
    And the worst thing Mr. Obama felt he could say about John McCain was that his election would amount to a third term for the Bush Administration.
    
    But Messrs. Bush and Obama are both top-flight politicians. They know how to put politics aside - especially when the whole world is watching. And President Bush wants to be seen rolling out the red carpet for his successor.

    Watch Video Here: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/President44/story?id=6217188&page=1

    And Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/obama.bush/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

    Read More Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/10/notebook/main4587823.shtml

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

    Bush leaving office more unpopular than Nixon

    

    President Bush has the lowest presidential approval rating in the history of such polling.On the day that President-elect Barack Obama is visiting the White House, a new national poll suggests that the current occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most unpopular president since approval ratings were first sought more than six decades ago.

    Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how President Bush is handling his job.

    That's an all-time high in CNN polling and in Gallup polling dating back to World War II.

    "No other president's disapproval rating has gone higher than 70 percent. Bush has managed to do that three times so far this year," says CNN polling director Keating Holland. "That means that Bush is now more unpopular than Richard Nixon was when he resigned from office during Watergate with a 66 percent disapproval rating."

    Before Bush, the record holder for presidential disapproval was Harry Truman, with a 67 percent disapproval rating in January of 1952, his last full

    Read More Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/bush.transition.poll/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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

     

    5 Signs President-Elect Obama Is a Geek

     

    By Matt Blum

    Barack Obama, soon to become the 44th President of the U.S.A., is many things: a statesman, a lawyer, an author, and an orator. It is also our opinion at GeekDad that, even without knowing him personally, we have enough evidence to demonstrate that he is a big geek. Even if you didn't want him to win the election, you have to admit that it would be awesome for him to be not only the first African-American President, but also the first geek President. Here, then, is our evidence:

    1. Obama has pledged to create a cabinet-level Chief Technology Officer for the country. The U.S. CTO would be responsible for making broadband technology readily available to every U.S. citizen, and for fighting the telcos for net neutrality. While this is admirable for many reasons, it seems to us that nobody would make this a central point of his presidential campaign unless he were, on some level, a geek.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/10/politics/washingtonpost/main4587983.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4587983

    Read More Here: http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/11/5-signs-preside.html

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

     

    Farrakhan Says Obama 'New Beginning'

    CHICAGO (AP) ―

    After months of silence about his support for Barack Obama, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said in an address Sunday the new president-elect has a God-given capacity to handle any burdens he'll face as the nation's leader.

    Farrakhan added that Obama will only be able to make positive changes with help from "God and people of good will," and he urged the Chicago-based movement's followers to do their part.

    "President-elect Obama has energized all segments of the depressed, downtrodden, rejected and despised," he said in a 90-minute speech at Mosque Maryam on the city's South Side. "Now it is up to us to take the new energy that he has given us ... and channel that energy into making ourselves better."

    Dressed in intricately decorated red and gold robes and matching fez, the once-ailing 75-year-old leader spoke to more than 1,000 followers in an address called "America's New Beginning: President-elect Barack Obama."

    Farrakhan, who said Obama draws a "oneness of spirit" from all people, admitted he stayed quiet about his support for Obama during the past few months out of fear his words would harm the Illinois senator's bid for the White House.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77539

    Read More Here: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/farrakhan.obama.new.2.860013.html

     

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

    David Duke's EURO Conference Meets in Memphis

     

    

    Reported by: Lacey Crisp

    MEMPHIS, TN - Despite being kicked out out of an Olive Branch hotel, and several others, David Duke and his International EURO Conference have found a meeting place.  Duke announced Thursday the meeting would be held at a secret location.  Members gathered Saturday at the Memphis Plaza Hotel & Suites on Shelby Oaks Dr. near Sycamore View Rd.
    
    The group of about 100 participants, met at the East Memphis hotel to discuss issues that Duke says are "vital to European Americans." According to Duke's official website, "The European American Unity and Rights Conference is dedicated to defending the heritage and rights of European Americans."  
    
    Memphis police were on hand in case of any problems, but the event went smoothly.
    
    This is the third International EURO Conference held by the white civil rights activist.  The first EURO Conference was held in New Orleans in 2004. Duke says now is an important time for the group because of President Elect Obama.  Duke says Obama has a record of anti-white racism and is close with an anti-white church leader, Rev. Wright.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=f0784783-a8df-48b9-8285-19f2268595cd#BBECDEEMBEDEDPLAYER

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

    Obama's Life In Photos

    

     

     

    To View Photos Go Here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-081028-obama-all-pg,0,6564040.photogallery

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

     

    Police: No Video of Inmate's Death

     

    UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) -- Internal reports at the Prince George's County jail reveal that a video camera failed to record the first five minutes when guards arrived in a cell to find a dead inmate.

    The Washington Post reports it reviewed 13 statements that guards, supervisors and jail nurses provided to internal investigators on the day 19-year-old Ronnie White was found dead.

     

    Watch Video Here: http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0908/555544.html

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

     

     

    Working Poor and Young Hit Hard in Downturn

     

    By ERIK ECKHOLM

     Published: November 8, 2008

    NYT_INLINE_IMAGE_POSITION1

    PHILADELPHIA — Harvey Shaw’s plans to move out of his parents’ house, finally, have been derailed. With a high school degree obtained belatedly at 21, he had held a full-time job for 26 months as a detailer at a car dealership here, sprucing up new and used cars.

    But in early October, Mr. Shaw, now 24, recalled, “I came back from vacation, and they said they were cutting back and replacing me with part-time workers.”

    Labor experts say the hardships of the gathering recession are sweeping down to hurt the working poor and younger job seekers most of all.

    From the fall of 2007 to this October, the share of 16- to 19-year-olds working fell by 8 percent, the largest decline of any age group, and the outlook for youths and low-skilled workers in coming months is bleak, economists say, with the industries most apt to employ them, like home-building and retail sales, taking steep dives.

    Read More and Watch Multimedia Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09young.html?ex=1383973200&en=28499c89baac0e4d&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg

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

    Most 'undervotes' cast in counties won by Obama

    An analysis of ballots that had a vote for president but no vote for U.S. senator could have recount implications.

    By BRIAN BAKST, Associated Press

    An Associated Press analysis of the nearly 25,000-vote difference in Minnesota presidential and U.S. Senate race tallies shows that most ballots lacking a recorded Senate vote were cast in counties won by Democrat Barack Obama.

    The finding could have implications for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and DFLer Al Franken, who are headed for a recount separated by the thinnest of margins -- 221 votes as of Friday, or about 0.01 percent.

    Though some voters may have intentionally bypassed the race, others may have mismarked their ballot or optical scanning machines may have misread them. A recount to begin Nov. 19 will use manual inspection to detect such ballots.

    Read More Here: http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/34116044.html

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

    How to End the Recession

    By Robert Pollin

    November 6, 2008

    

    The collapse on Wall Street is now decimating Main Street, Ocean Parkway, Mountain View Drive and I-80. Since January the economy has shed 760,000 jobs. In September alone, monthly mass layoff 

    claims for unemployment insurance jumped by 34 percent. General Electric, General Motors, Chrysler, Yahoo! and Xerox have all announced major layoffs, along with the humbled financial titans Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. Fully one-quarter of all businesses in the United States are planning to cut payroll over the next year. State governments are facing a tax revenue shortfall of roughly $100 billion in the next fiscal year, 15 percent of their overall budgets. Because states have rules requiring balanced budgets, they are staring at major budget cuts and layoffs. The fact that the economy's overall gross domestic product (GDP) shrank between July and September--the first such decline since the September 2001 terrorist attacks--only confirms the realities on the ground facing workers, households, businesses and the public sector.

    Read More Here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081124/pollin

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

    60 Minutes, CBS: Obama's Inner Circle (Video/Transcript)

    by icebergslim

    Nov 09, 2008

    I watched this interview with David Axelrod, David Plouffe, Robert Gibbs and Anita Dunn.  Their poise, effectiveness, showed throughout this interview.  The most important thing, no in-fighting, leaks, drama.  And they talk about how the McCain Campaign did not take them seriously, especially about winning Indiana and North Carolina.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/9/214644/606/727/658291

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

     

    Cable News' Future After The Election  

    NEW YORK — Chris Matthews refused to be drawn in to a debate last week when fellow MSNBC host Joe Scarborough talked on "Morning Joe" about whether President-elect Obama had fumbled the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as his White House chief of staff.

     

    Matthews said he wanted to "do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work."

    Wait a minute. A declaration of political peace? On one of the three cable news networks that has thrived on political combat during the presidential election campaign?

    CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC all knew the end would come. Now the networks must retool, and will learn how many of the new viewers who sought them out over the past year will stick around.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/10/cable-news-future-emafter_n_142612.html

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

    Palin's own words: 'Amazing we did as well as we did'

     

    Blames Bush -Snake wearing lipstick!!

     

    Gov. Sarah Palin blames the Bush administration for the failure of the McCain-Palin ticket, thinks people need to move on from the so-called "Troopergate" controversy and has no regrets about state per diem for time spent at her home in Wasilla or state-funded travel for her children.

    Palin also said she loved her time in the national spotlight and won't rule out a run for president or vice president in 2012.

    Those were some of Palin's responses to questions posed Sunday afternoon in a wide-ranging interview with the Anchorage Daily News and KTUU Channel 2 at the governor's Wasilla home.

    Despite the defeat of the Republican ticket at the polls Nov. 4, Palin remains a national media obsession: Greta Van Susteren of Fox News had just finished an interview with her Sunday and was chatting with the governor and her husband in the kitchen. Moose chili cooked in the crock pot and moose hot dogs lay on the table. Palin insisted they weren't a prop for the national media but just how the family likes to dine.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/55562.html

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

    Man questioned in Hudson case to stay jailed

    Balfour

    JOLIET, Illinois - The convicted felon questioned in the killings of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew is staying in prison after authorities say a witness reported seeing him with a gun.

    During a 35-minute hearing in Joliet on Monday, authorities decided there's probable cause to hold William Balfour until a Dec. 3 hearing before the full Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

    Board Chairman Jorge Montes says the witness reported seeing Balfour with a gun that matches the description of the .45 caliber weapon used to kill Hudson's family members.

    Read More Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27645234/

    Watch Video Here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6486018

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

    In tough times, layaway makes a comeback

    Ahead of Christmas, plummeting sales spur revival of a ’50s standby

    Hot Shoppes. Green Stamps. Rexall. Layaway.
    Ask your grandparents.
    Wait a minute ... did we say layaway?

    Scratch that — of all the relics of 1950s retailing genius, it’s the one that’s still around. And with Christmas approaching in a time of widespread economic distress, it’s coming back strong.

    “For a lot of people, they’re not going to have credit and they don’t have a lot of money right now, but they want to have a good Christmas,” said Mary Bullock, manager of a Kmart store in Orlando, Fla. “It is a lot different than in years past.”

    Until recently, Kmart Corp. was pretty much the only major retailer that bothered to keep layaway plans prominent among their customer services. The service — in which a customer pays off the purchase price of a product in installments plus a small fee before taking it home — appeared headed for obsolescence two years ago when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shut down its program.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27582079/

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

    US 'in secret overseas strikes'

    The US has carried out nearly a dozen anti-terror attacks in Pakistan, Syria and elsewhere in the past four years, the New York Times has reported.

    

    The US has carried out attacks in Pakistan in recent months

    The previously unreported attacks were authorised in 2004 by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Times quoted senior officials as saying.

    The order gave US forces permission to attack terror targets anywhere in the world without prior specific approval.

    The Times said the defence department declined to comment on its claims. E SF

    The White House also made no comment.

    Read More Here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7719050.stm

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

    MGM first to post full-length features to YouTube

    - Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Studios, better known as MGM, will be the first major movie studio to post full-length feature films on YouTube, the company announced Sunday.

    CNET News reported on Thursday that YouTube was preparing to launch a feature-film service after spending months smoothing over fractured relationships in Hollywood.

    MGM will likely not be the last studio to post full-length feature films on YouTube, according to an industry source. Last summer, Lionsgate announced a partnership with YouTube, but that deal calls for the studio to offer only short clips from films and TV shows. MGM will also post TV shows on YouTube, according to multiple reports published on Sunday.

    For Google, YouTube's parent company, the deal is a turning point in its relationship with Hollywood. There was lots of distrust and bitter feelings in entertainment circles after the way Google dealt with copyright infringement on its site. But that was when Google was in the driver's seat. Back then, thousands of YouTube's users would post clips from TV shows and films on the site and YouTube executives told the studios they were powerless to prevent it--all the while YouTube amassed an enormous following.

    Read More Here: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/cnet/20081110/tc_cnet/8301102331009228393

    Starchild: I suggest all future HD television purchases = LCD with PC connectors -  VGA at the very least!

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

    Terminator Salvation Footage! Possibly Leaked!

    

    The fact that this new Terminator Salvation footage has popped up randomly leads me to believe that it hasn’t been officially released, so catch it while you still can. The video is called Terminator 4: The Art of Martin Laing and features a male (I assume it’s Martin Laing) talking about designing the new Terminators and then seeing them come to life. The footage shows a huge Transformer like Terminator called the Harvester, and we also get a glimpse at some motor cycle-type Terminators.

    Watch it below!

    http://filmonic.com/terminator-salvation-footage

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

    Miriam Makeba dies after collapsing on stage

    The story

    Miriam Makeba, the South African singer who wooed the world with her sultry voice but was banned from her own country for more than 30 years under apartheid, died after collapsing on stage in Italy. She was 76.

    In her dazzling career, Makeba performed with musical legends from around the world -- jazz maestros Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Belafonte, Paul Simon -- and sang for world leaders such as John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela.

    "Her haunting melodies gave voice to the pain of exile and dislocation which she felt for 31 long years. At the same time, her music inspired a powerful sense of hope in all of us," Mandela said in a statement. Read full article »

    Watch Video Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/10/obit.makeba.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo
    

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

    Jheryl Busby Former Motown President  has died.

    

     

    b. 5th May 1949, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

    d. 4th November 2008, Malibu, California, U.S.A.

    Former Motown President and Chief Executive, Jheryl Busby has died. He was 59.

    He was found dead in the hot tub at his home in Malibu.

    The cause was accidental, probably natural, although this had not been initially determined, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner's office stated.

    During his career, Jheryl worked for Stax Records, MCA Records, DreamWorks Records and Def Soul Classics.

    He, also, developed the careers of Boyz II Men, Queen Latifah and Johnny Gill.

    Jheryl Busby commenced his business career at Mattel Toys, starting as an inventory clerk and ultimately promoted to new-toy coordinator.

    In 2004, he founded Def Soul Classics Records, signing LaBelle and the Isley Brothers, and two years later continued his partnership with LaBelle by starting Umbrella Recordings.

    In 1998, Jheryl Busby also became a majority stakeholder in Founders National Bank, the first African-American-owned and operated commercial bank in California.

    Read More Here: http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Respect.html

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

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 277

• Another Disappointed Obama Hat

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Rob Rogers Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Nov 9, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    Another disappointed Obama hater

    By David Neiwert Sunday Nov 09, 2008 6:30am

    

    [Photo by Ryan Wood, Midland Daily News]

    Hard to believe, I know, but not all were joyous on Election Night. In Texas, Baylor students were bringing out the nooses. And in Midland, Michigan,: there was this guy:

    A Midland man told police that his walking on the sidewalk in full Knights of Ku Klux Klan regalia while toting a handgun had nothing to do with Barack Obama winning the presidency.

    Later, however, he admitted that Obama's victory was the catalyst for his display.

    Midland police questioned Randy G. Gray II, 30, who was walking on the sidewalk along Eastman near North Saginaw Wednesday afternoon while waving an American flag, but released him because he wasn't breaking any laws.

    Gray was walking up and down the sidewalk in front of a vehicle dealership while several motorists shouted obscenities at him and others shouted ''accolades,'' police said.

    Randy Gray's name may ring some bells ...

    

    Yep, that Randy Gray. He was tossed from the Ron Paul campaign when they discovered he was a Klansman. My guess is he didn't vote for McCain either.

    Here he is in action at a Ron Paul rally "white power" event.

    Watch Video Here: http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/another-disappointed-obama-hater

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

    Bush and Obama to meet tomorrow.

    President-elect Barack Obama and President George W. Bush will meet face-to-face tomorrow at 2 pm in the White House to discuss the upcoming transition. Atrios highlights a previous encounter between the two men:

    “Obama!” Bush exclaimed, according to Obama’s account of the meeting in his second memoir, “The Audacity of Hope.” “Come here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours — that’s one impressive lady.”

    The two men shook hands and then, according to Obama, Bush turned to an aide, “who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president’s hand.”

    Bush then offered some to Obama, who recalled: “Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt.”

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

    Hackers and Spending Sprees

    Secrets of the 2008 Presidential Campaign

    

    The disclosures are among many revealed in "How He Did It, 2008," the latest installment in NEWSWEEK's Special Election Project, which was first published in 1984. As in the previous editions, "How He Did It, 2008" is an inside, behind-the-scenes account of the presidential election produced by a special team of reporters working for more than a year on an embargoed basis and detached from the weekly magazine and Newsweek.com. Everything the project team learns is kept confidential until the day after the polls close.

     Among the other revelations from the special project:

    • The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. "Why would they try to make people hate us?" Michelle asked a top campaign aide.  Read More Here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581/page/2

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    Priest: Slain dad had taught boy, 8, to use guns

    FELICIA FONSECA | November 8, 2008 11:03 PM EST |

    ST. JOHNS, Ariz. — A man who police believe was shot and killed by his 8-year-old son had consulted a Roman Catholic priest about whether the boy should handle guns and had taught him how to use a rifle, the clergyman said Saturday.

    The father, Vincent Romero, 29, was from a family of avid hunters and wanted to make sure the boy wasn't afraid of guns, said the Very Rev. John Paul Sauter of St. Johns Catholic Church. The boy's stepmother had suggested he have a BB gun, the priest said.

    Romero taught his son how to use a rifle to kill prairie dogs, Sauter said. Police say the boy used a .22-caliber rifle Wednesday to kill his father and another man, Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos.

    The priest did not say how he advised the couple but said Saturday that the boy "was just too young."

    "That child, I don't think he knows what he did, and it was brutal," Sauter said.

    The boy, who faces two counts of premeditated murder, did not act on the spur of the moment, St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said. Police are looking into whether he might have been abused.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.azfamily.com/news/homepagetopstory/stories/phoenix-local-news-110708-double-murder.18c702709.html

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20081108/child-charged/

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    Obama Positioned to Reverse Bush Actions

    Washington Post: Stem Cell Research, Auto Emission Rules, Reproductive Rights Among Targets of President-Elect's Team

     

    

    Making a U-turn: Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama are reviewing which Bush administration actions and executive orders could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues. (AP)

    (Washington Post) Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

    Read More Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/09/politics/washingtonpost/main4586410.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4586410

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    Fox News Cut Out From Questions At Obama's First Press Conference

    Huffington Post   |  Nicholas Graham 

    

    President-Elect Barack Obama held his first press conference yesterday, one that focused mainly on the current economic crisis. One detail that flew under the radar, however, was which networks and newpapers got to ask questions, or, rather, which one didn't get to ask a question. As Media Bistro notes, one network who was not called upon sticks out: Fox News.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/08/fox-news-cut-out-of-quest_n_142404.html

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    Obama's Heightened Security Turns Neighborhood Into Virtual Fortress

    Secret Service has taken over once easy-going Chicago area where president-elect resides.

    President-elect Barack Obama's Chicago neighborhood has become a very different place to live now that Secret Service agents have turned the once easy-going area into a virtual fortress to protect the next president, The Times of London reported.

    

    Nov. 6: A U.S. Secret Service Counter Assault Team member has his assault weapon at the ready while sitting in the rear of a motorcade SUV as they escort President-elect Barack Obama to a private meeting in Chicago. (AP Photo.)

    Assassination fears surrounding Obama, codenamed "Renegade" by his security on the campaign trail, mean that he may become the most heavily guarded president in history. After months of shaking hands with strangers, the President-elect delivered his victory speech from behind bulletproof glass in Chicago's Grant Park.

    Streets around his mock-Georgian mansion in enclave by the University of Chicago have been closed. The main thoroughfare has been shut down because it passes his yard.

    Read More Here: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/08/obamas-heightened-security-turns-neighborhood-virtual-fortress/

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    Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know

    Fifty things you might not know about Barack Obama

    By Jon Swaine
    Last Updated: 9:43AM GMT 08 Nov 2008

    

    Barack Obama was called the O-bomber by his fellow high school basketball players in Honolulu

    • He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

    • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball

    • His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili

    • His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini

    • He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

    • He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed

    • He has read every Harry Potter book

    • He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

    • He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream

    • His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars

    • He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia

    • He can speak Spanish

    • While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead

    • His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea

    • He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't

    • He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

    Read More Here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3401168/Barack-Obama-The-50-facts-you-might-not-know.html

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    Real Time: The Hard Core Republican Base Is Like A Stalker-Rejection Just Makes Them Crazier

    By Heather Saturday Nov 08, 2008 3:02pm

    
    

    New Rule, now that you've lost Republicans have to agree not to waste everyone's time spending the next four years screaming for investigations of Barack Obama over made up bulls#*t. Let's not kid ourselves. The hard core Republican base is like a stalker. Rejection just makes them crazier. You think Matt Drudge was a vindictive p#%ck before. His headline Wednesday morning was Senior Citizen and Woman Beaten By Black Man. [...] And wait till you see Ann Coulter's new book How to Field Dress a Liberal.

    You know there's loyal opposition and then there's just opposition. Let's not do the 90's again except for the part where we have peace and prosperity. You know there was an entire industry back then dedicated to making Bill Clinton's life miserable over expensive hair cuts and old land deals and the Lincoln Bedroom and getting blown. But this ain't the 90's.

    We've got two wars, a melting planet and the only thing keeping the economy from total collapse is Sarah Palin's shopping sprees. But you know what phrase I don't want to hear used frivolously for the next four years whenever Barack Obama forgets to put the kids in the car seat? Disrespect for the rule of law. Dick Cheney ordered prisoners tortured by name. That ship has sailed.

    Watch Video Here: http://crooksandliars.com/media/play/wmv/6755/23944

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    How to Remove Embarrassing GOP Bumper Stickers

    This is a how to video showing the easy removal of those embarrassing McCain bumper stickers off your car. This method also works for other embarrassing GOP bumper stickers to spare yourself from further neighborhood ridicule.
    

    Watch Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3z4l1ylMcs

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

    Palin Calls McCain Aides Jerks

    Sarah Palin called her critics inside the McCain campaign cowards and jerks for deriding her anonymously and insisted she never asked for the expensive wardrobe purchased for her use on the presidential campaign.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLU0reIFdcc

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

    Obama will stick to middle-class tax cut

    By MIKE ALLEN | 11/9/08 9:51 AM

    A middle-class tax cut will be one of President-elect Obama’s first proposals after he takes the oath of office, incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Sunday.
    
    In the first interview of the first appointee to the new administration, Emanuel told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” that Obama’s economic plan “at this juncture is based on giving 95 percent of working Americans a tax cut.”
    
    “Over the years, the middle class has been squeezed consistently by rising costs on education, health care and energy, as well as a diminishing income,” Emanuel said. “You must have an economic program that focuses on them. … It was built on the fact that the middle had been hurt. And to have a strong recovery, and a sustained recovery over a period of time means that the middle class must the focus of the economic strategy.”
    
    Emanuel’s chief message for the day: “We have a huge economic crisis here at home that is looming large. That is going to be the focus of his policies. … The business of what we have to do when we get sworn in is focusing on what the American people care about. Priority one is the economy.”

    During the campaign, Obama promised a $1,000 “Making Work Pay” tax credit.
    
    “Middle class families will see their taxes cut – and no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase,” the campaign said. “For 95 percent of workers and their families—150 million workers overall—the ‘Making Work Pay’ credit will provide a refundable tax cut of $500 for workers or $1,000 for working couple.”
    
    Since then, the deficit has ballooned. It was $455 billion for the budget year ending Sept. 30, and could double this year because of the costs of financial bailouts and slower revenues because of the lousy economy.
    
    Emanuel did not directly answer a question about whether Obama would postpone plans to let Bush tax breaks expire, which would mean a tax increase for the highest earners.
    
    In a story sure to get heavy plan on conservative talk radio, the cover of the New York Daily News says, “YES, I WILL TAX RICH: Obama tells doubters he’ll let W’s tax break for wealthy run out.”
    
    The story by Kenneth R. Bazinet reports: “For the rich, the party is over - as promised. Despite speculation to the contrary, President-elect Barack Obama will act on his campaign promise and roll back the Bush administration's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, an Obama senior adviser told The Daily News. The Obama camp rejected the overnight analysis by some pundits who speculated the language at his first news conference Friday suggested the President-elect was backing away from his tax plans. ‘No change to the tax plan - at all,’ the aide said.”
    
    CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo had said that during his well-reviewed debut news conference in Chicago on Friday, Obama “gave himself some wiggle room on those tax increases he's been talking about.”

    Obama told reporters: “I think that the plan that we've put forward is the right one, but, obviously, over the next several weeks and months, we're going to be continuing to take a look at the data and see what's taking place in the economy as a whole. But, understand, the goal of my plan is to provide tax relief to families that are struggling, but also to boost the capacity of the economy to grow from the bottom up.”

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    US combat troops in Iraq battle to defend savings

    US Lieutenant Colonel Mark Grabski has been busy on the computer over the past few weeks -- not to follow the history-making presidential election but to check on his dwindling savings.

    "I had a list of icons, my favourites, the funds that are working with Thrift savings programme. Every single day, their rates were just collapsing," said the officer posted at Camp Speicher, north of the Iraqi capital.

    "Virtually, I've lost right now tens of thousand of dollars," said the 31-year-old who is in charge of criminal inspections of the base.

    Grabski said a third of his salary goes into Thrift, an additional pension scheme for US civil servants and soldiers. "I've lost 30 percent of my savings in this programme due to the financial crisis."

    Army pensions are meant to pay out 50 percent of the salary of soldiers with 20 years of service and 75 percent for 30 years, but many rely on the Thrift programme to further secure their retirement.

    Read More Here: http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_combat_troops_in_Iraq_battle_to__11082008.html

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    Right-wing media feeds its post-election anger

    

    Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity dive shamelessly in, talking about the 'Obama recession' and other partisan lines.

    By JAMES RAINEY, On The Media

    November 9, 2008 You have to give Rush Limbaugh a perverse kind of credit. At least when he is demonizing Barack Obama, fabricating Obama policies, blaming Obama for single-handedly causing the recession and the stock market crash, he doesn't pretend to be fair.
    
    Opening his first post-election rant against the president-elect, Limbaugh launched in with a certain relish. "The game," he told his radio listeners, "has begun."

    Read More Here: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-onthemedia9-2008nov09,0,4216330.story

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    Presidential Perks for Sasha & Malia Obama

    Originally posted Saturday November 08, 2008 10:40 AM EST

    Sasha (left) and Malia Obama Photo by: Jim Young / Reuters / Landov

    The perks of being the President's daughters? For Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, life at the White House is sure to be a wonderland!
    
    Besides the all-weather tennis court on the South Lawn and the grand piano on the second floor, they will have their own pastry shop, swimming pool, bowling alley and movie theater – complete with a popcorn cart.
    
    The White House also comes with a staff of ushers and pastry chefs to ensure birthday parties will never be the same. They plan slumber parties and scavenger hunts that no Supermom can hope to rival.
    
    What's not to like?

    Read More Here: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20238591,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines
    

    
    

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• Brit Hume Quits FoxNews - 11/7

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    David Horsey Seattle Post-Intelligencer Nov 7, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    

    REUTERS

    In India, a sand sculpture of US President-elect Barack Obama has become quite an attraction. India hailed Obama's "extraordinary journey" to the White House.

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    Obama's New Website is now Active

    http://www.change.gov/

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    Headlines from Around the World

    This is impressive !

    

     

     

     

     

    Click Here to View: http://obama2008.s3.amazonaws.com/headlines.html

     

     

     

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    Obama and the dawn of the Fourth Republic

    His victory really may mark the beginning of a new era in American history.

    By Michael Lind

    
    

    Nov. 7, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- The election of Barack Obama to the presidency may signal more than the end of an era of Republican presidential dominance and conservative ideology. It may mark the beginning of a Fourth Republic of the United States.

    In the past generation Bruce Ackerman, Theodore Lowi and I, in different ways, have used the idea of "republics" to understand American history. Since the French Revolution, France has been governed by five republics (plus two empires, a directory and a fascist dictatorship). Since the American Revolution, we Americans have been governed by several republics as well. But because we, like the British, pay lip service to formal continuity more than do the French, we pretend that we have been living under the same government since the federal Constitution was drafted and ratified in 1787-88. Our successive American republics from the 18th century to the 21st have been informal and unofficial.

    

    As I see it, to date there have been three American republics, each lasting 72 years (give or take a few years). The First Republic of the United States, assembled following the American Revolution, lasted from 1788 to 1860. The Second Republic, assembled following the Civil War and Reconstruction (that is, the Second American Revolution) lasted from 1860 to 1932. And the Third American Republic, assembled during the New Deal and the civil rights eras (the Third American Revolution), lasted from 1932 until 2004.

    Read More Here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/11/07/fourth_republic/

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    Jeremiah Wright: Media Used Me As "WMD" Against Obama

     

    MILFORD, Conn. — Barack Obama's former pastor complained Thursday that the media used him as a "weapon of mass destruction" in an attempt to derail Obama's campaign for the presidency.

    Speaking at a forum about race and religion, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright accused the media of taking out of context videos that showed him cursing the government and accusing it of conspiring against blacks from the pulpit of the Chicago church where Obama had worshipped for 20 years.

    The videos, which included Wright thundering "God damn America!", dominated cable television for weeks. The public outrage that followed caused the president-elect to sever ties with his longtime spiritual leader.

    Wright told an audience of about 200 people at the forum that he was trying to convey the anger and desire for vengeance that people felt after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He said the media failed to mention that he was a proud Christian who was raised in a Christian home.

    "Their intention was to use me as a weapon of mass destruction, to tear down that man's integrity," said Wright, former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

    In a question-and-answer session with the audience, Wright said he didn't believe Obama shared his opinions publicized on the videos.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/07/jeremiah-wright-media-use_n_142094.html

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    4 Marines Charged in Murder of Sergeant, Wife

    Interracial Couple Tortured

    Click Here to Read Story : http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/4_Marines_Charged_in_Murder_of_Marine_Wife.html

    Updated 4:56 PM PST, Thu, Nov 6, 2008

    Court records indicate four Marines acknowledged they had roles in the robbery, sexual assault and murder of a Camp Pendleton-based Iraq veteran and his wife last month in Riverside County.
     
    Pvt. Kevin Darnell Cox, 20, of Tennessee; Pvt. Emrys John, 18, of Maryland; Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 20, of North Carolina; and Pvt. Kesuan Sykes, 21, of California face murder charges in connection with the case.

    The four were charged Tuesday with the execution-style slayings of Marine Sgt. Jan Pawek Pietrzak and Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak. The couple, who were originally from New York, were found gagged, tied and shot in the head on Oct. 15 in the living room of their home in Winchester. Sheriff's deputies were called after the sergeant failed to show up for work.
     
    The couple's home was ransacked and jewelry and other items were taken. A fire was set, apparently in an effort to destroy evidence. The Camp Pendleton-based Marine sergeant and his wife were tortured before they were shot execution-style, according to a published report.

    Investigators said they believe the motive was financial in nature.
     
    Pietrzak's mother, Henryka Pietrzak-Varga, prepared herself the possibility that her son could die in Iraq, but, in her words, "to die like this, in their own home? They were good kids. They didn't deserve to die like this."

    The couple married in August and had been living off-base in Winchester in a five-bedroom home they recently purchased that had been foreclosed, according to the paper.

    Read the New York Daily News story "Brooklyn Marine Sergeant & Wife Tortured" story for more details. 

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    Police: Prayer scared off attempted robber

    

    GREENSBORO, N.C., Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Police in Greensboro, N.C., said a woman scared off an attempted robber by praying too loudly for the suspect's comfort.

     

    Investigators said Kathy Headen, 39, was approached by a man with a handgun at about 8 p.m. Wednesday while she was taking books out of the rear seat of her car at the Vance Chavis Library, the Greensboro News & Record reported Thursday.

    The suspect, described as a 5-foot-4 man in his mid-30s, demanded the woman's cell phone and purse, police said.

    However, Headen instead began praying and police said the man fled empty handed after she refused to lower her voice.

    Police said they are searching for a suspect.

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    Palin backlash continues as Republican lawyers head to Alaska to take back her $150,000 campaign clothes
    

    By Mail Foreign Service

    The bitter McCain backlash against Sarah Palin continued today as it emerged that Republican Party lawyers were heading to Alaska to retrieve her $150,000 (£95,000) campaign clothes.

    
    

    The vice-presidential candidate's hopes of challenging Barack Obama in 2012 took a big dent as simmering tensions with the McCain camp finally boiled over into wide-ranging criticism of her conduct.

    In a string of damaging briefings, it was claimed that Mrs Palin had spent 'tens of thousands' more on her clothes than budgeted for, that she once met McCain aides dressed in nothing but a towel and that she did not know Africa was a continent.

    She  was also unable to name the nations in the vitally important North American Free Trade Agreement. 

    There are only three. Her own, its northern neighbour Canada and its southern neighbour Mexico.

    The 44-year- old former Republican running mate's lack of general knowledge  -  and a storm over her designer wardrobe  -  emerged as she returned to her home state of Alaska. 

    Extraordinary details of bitterness and jealousy between the Alaska governor and John McCain were laid bare following their White House defeat.

    Read More Here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1083563/Republican-lawyers-head-Alaska-Palins-150-000-campaign-clothes.html

    
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    Italian leader: Obama 'handsome and even tanned'

    By MIKE ECKEL
    Associated Press Writer

    MOSCOW (AP) -- Italy's famously impolitic Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi described U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday as "young, handsome and even tanned."

    Berlusconi appeared to be joking about America's first black president at a news conference following talks with Russia's president.

    The Italian leader, who has a history of controversial remarks, was asked by a reporter about the prospect for U.S.-Russian relations, which have plummeted to Cold War-levels in recent months.

    Berlusconi responded by saying that the relative youth of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 43, and Obama, 47, should make it easier for Moscow and Washington to work together.

    Then, smiling and speaking in Italian, he said through a translator: "I told the president that (Obama) has everything needed in order to reach deals with him: he's young, handsome and even tanned."

     Read More and Watch Video: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_BERLUSCONI_OBAMA?SITE=AP

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

    Brit Hume To Step Down As Fox News Anchor 

     by David Folkenflik

    All Things Considered, November 6, 2008 · Tuesday marked the final Election Day for Brit Hume — in the Fox News anchor's chair. Hume has been a central figure at Fox since its early days. He brought the news channel credibility he had earned investigating corrupt public officials as a young reporter, and later covering the White House for ABC News. But the veteran journalist says he no longer has the hunger for the job.

    While he looked as if he was having fun anchoring the network's election coverage, it was an exclamation mark for Hume's decades-long career covering politics. The 65-year-old, who anchors the evening newscast Special Report, will soon become a part-time pundit. He's expected to make the switch by year's end.

    Read More and Listen Here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96701501

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    The Daily Show: Obama Victory Coverage

    By Nicole Belle Thursday Nov 06, 2008 5:00pm

     Jon Stewart looks at the Obama Victory coverage, including the new and very, very strange toys the networks employed to jazz up the electoral results.

    Click Here to Watch: http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/daily-show-obama-victory-coverage

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    Lieberman begs Reid not to oust him from Chairmanship

    By John Amato Thursday Nov 06, 2008 3:01pm

     Is Harry Reid going to do the right thing and boot this guy out? He said some of the most vile things against Obama that were spoken. Especially after Obama saved his bacon in CT.

    Watch Video Here: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/lieberman-begs-reid-not-oust-him-chairm

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    Joe the Plumber is a welfare queen too...

    By John Amato Thursday Nov 06, 2008 1:04pm

     Is there anything this guy hasn't been involved in? What's next for Joe, "Dancing with the Stars?" I was watching H&C last night and made this clip after I almost couldn't stop laughing at this guy. Joe "the Plumber" Wurtzelbacher is the perfect definition of what a wingnut is if you never understood the term before. You see, he survived in our country using welfare, a program designed to help the needy, but now says Obama is not loyal to our country because he wants to take our money and give it to other people. Does he drive a Cadillac too? I guess if it wasn't for welfare he wouldn't be littering our air waves. His 15 minutes are almost up.

    Watch Video Here: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/joe-plumber-welfare-queen-too

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    Fox contributor mocks black reporter's tears during Obama win

    David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster

    Late night Fox News host Greg Gutfeld makes a living off controversy. But this is low, even for him.
    
    On Tuesday night, Gutfeld talked with correspondent Bill Schulz as the two mocked a video clip of a black ABC reporter breaking into tears as Obama's election to the presidency was announced.
    
    "I grew up in a neighborhood that was mostly black," said ABC's Steve Osunsami. "And my father used to tell us that there's no way this country would elect a black president. Well, this evening, the country has proved my old man wrong, and we're the better for it."
    
    Several times, the reporter's voice wavered, as he was obviously emotionally moved by the news.
    
    "I so wanna comfort him, right now," sneered Gutfeld. "... Bill, you were convinced he was faking it."

    Watch Video Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Fox_contributor_mocks_reporters_tears_during_1106.html

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    BREAKING: Michelle Obama to be Named First Lady

    and they don't like it!!!

    Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 04:55:29 AM PST

    Just in from the Obama Transition Team: It has been confirmed that Michelle Obama will be named the First Lady in Barack Obama's Administration.  

    Conservatives asked to comment on the pick were almost all angry arguing that after Obama's choice of Rahm Emmanuel, long time friend and close advisor, as Chief of Staff this decision to keep Michelle Obama on as First Lady is proof positive that Obama is going back on his promise of a unity government.

    Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezinzski on Morning Joe were in complete distress.

    Joe said sourly, "You know, she will be the most liberal First Lady in the White House in eight years."

    Mika responded by lamenting, "I think he should have picked Sarah Palin for this position.  She's a mother, she is a stylish dresser, and she is a conservative.  If Obama was really committed to bringing this country together he would have picked Palin to be the First Lady."

    Read More Here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/7/7746/59436/450/656526

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    Myths and Tall Tales Of the 2008 Election

    by DemFromCT

    Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 07:00:05 PM PST

    One of the more interesting things about 2008 was receiving emails, listening to cable, reading the pundits... and if you paid attention you would have heard a remarkable amount of nonsense about who Obama could not win over. Big states, rural states, whites, Latinos... well, the astute Chuck Todd, in reviewing exit polls, has pointed out that Obama's win was across the board, and not just because women went with him 56-43, or 18-29 year olds went with him by an astounding 66-32.

    Exit polls are to help us sort through this stuff. Here is 2004, and here is 2008, if you want to do your own spelunking.

    Selected Results vs 2004

    Everyone knows Obama won with women, but did you know Obama won men 49-48? Bush won men 55-44 in 2004 (a 2 point improvement for Bush over 2000.)

    One of McCain's big pushes was with older voters in PA. In PA, McCain won 50-49 while losing all other age groups. Kerry won that demo 52-48 in 2004, along with the 18-29 year olds, but lost everyone else (the comparison age brackets do not exactly align.) Obama also did better with white voters of all ages in PA (losing 51-48) than Kerry did (he lost 54-45.) Obama also did better with PA Democrats (90-10) than Kerry did (85-15.)

    How about Jews? Obama won that national demo 78-21 (compare to Kerry's 74-25.) Florida, alas, is reporting the Jewish vote as N/A, but we do know Obama did better than Kerry among FL Democrats 87-12 (compare Kerry in FL with Democrats 85-14.) Speaking of Jewish voters, Lieberman only got 65% of Jews in his native CT in 2006, so in that sense Obama did better than Lieberman. It hasn't been a good week for Lieberman.

    White Catholics? They always vote for the winner. Well, not this year. McCain won nationally 52-47.

    Bush did marginally better in 2004 with White Evangelical/Born-Again (78-21) than McCain (74-24.) By the way, they increased their vote share from 23 to 26, so they did not stay home.

    Who won Latinos in Florida? It wasn't McCain.

    

    In fact, not only did Obama win every Latino age demo in Florida, he won the 18-29 year olds 76-21. That can't be good for the GOP.

    Democrats increased their share of the vote by 2 and Republicans decreased theirs by 5. The Party ID split in the exit polls was D 39 - R 32 - I 29, whereas in 2004 it was 37 - 37 - 26. Yes, that D +9 in the R2K poll was not far off. The actual number was D +7. Obama did the same with Democrats (89) and much better with independents (52-44) than Kerry (49-48.) The indies likely came from the ranks of disaffected Republicans, since McCain did marginally worse than Bush (90 vs 93) with Republicans.

    Another target for Bush McCain nationally was the high income voter, with stories and scares about "redistributing the wealth" and socialism". How'd that work out? Well, nationally Obama won 52-46 among those who made $200,000 or more (Bush won that group 63-35.)

    Bradley effect, anyone? How about race? Obama lost the white vote 55-43, but Kerry did worse (58-41.) In fact Obama did better with white men (losing 57-41) vs Kerry (62-37) and white women (losing 53-46 for Obama, 55-44 for Kerry), suggesting something we repeatedly came back to. People may be racist, but they didn't lie about it to pollsters.

    How badly did McCain do with Latinos? Pretty bad. McCain lost Latinos 67-31 whereas Bush managed a respectable 53-44.

    2008 Only

    Hey, did you know the late deciders were supposed to go mostly for McCain? Well, they didn't. Whether it was last week deciders or last three day deciders, they split 50-50.

    Did you know that for those who thought SCOTUS appointments were "the most important factor" (7% of voters), Obama won 57-41. He also won every other voter ("important" was 47% of voters, "minor" 21%, "not at all" 21%).

    90% of voters were confident the vote would be counted accurately.

    How about that "far left" crap the McCain camp, Republicans and conservatives were peddling? Massive fail. Of those who thought Obama was too liberal, 9% voted for him anyway. ;-P

    

    Okay... Hillary voters. If Hillary were the nominee, she would have beaten McCain in a theoretical match-up 52-41. Maybe. (She likely would have won, but you can never tell because there were no negative ads run.) The Hillary voters preferred Obama 85-14, and that's one of the main reasons McCain lost. Interestingly, of the McCain voters in a McCain vs Clinton match-up, 7% of them preferred Obama. Not all voters are rational.

    

    Well, 38% aren't.

    Does this look familiar?

    

    You'll hear a lot about non-college whites... it's one of the few demos the GOP did well with.

    

    And one last thing... remember the war?

    

    63% disapprove, Surge™ or no Surge™. Ouch.

    Odds And Ends

    Brian Schaffner has more exit poll goodness, including this graphic from the NY Times highlighting the historic nature of the youth vote:

    

    Behold the future.

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

    Obama Inauguration Theme: "A New Birth Of Freedom"

    Barack Obama will be sworn in as president just days before the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, and his inauguration theme will reflect the timing: "A New Birth Of Freedom," a phrase from the Gettysburg Address.

    From Lincoln's speech:

    The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

    Read More Here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/06/obama-inauguration-theme_n_141695.html

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

    Bachmann praises Obama's win, now

    By DANIEL LIBIT | 11/6/08 4:16 PM EST    After suggesting that Barack Obama had anti-American views in an exchange three weeks ago with MSNBC host Chris Matthews, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told Politico Thursday that she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.” She called his victory “a tremendous signal we sent.” “I have not seen the United States as a racist nation,” said Bachmann, who represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, in the east-central part of the state. “In my district, I don’t sense racism, and that’s why I’m thankful that hopefully this will send a national signal across our country that America is not a nation made up of racists. ... On the same hand, I hope that the national media will not confuse disagreement with Obama’s policy positions with being consumed [by] racism.” Read More Here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15378.html

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

    Olbermann to right-wing pundits: 'You don't matter anymore!'

    David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster Published: Thursday November 6, 2008 In his first show since the election of President Obama, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann gleefully mocked right wing pundits. As be began to recite what landed them on his 'worst person in the world' list, Olbermann tossed his notes on each and jeered, "You don't matter anymore!" First up, neoconservative writer Bill Kristol. "Of Obama's election, Kristol today writes, quote, 'Sarah Palin ...'" began Olbermann, but then paused. "Wait a minute. What's the difference what he wrote? Bill Kristol, you don't matter anymore!" Next up, "comedian" radio show host Rush Limbaugh. "Ok, our runner up, comedian Rush Limbaugh, who told his disbelieving sheep today that after Obama's election, the conservative movement needs ... Needs to ..." Olbermann paused, then threw his hands up in the air. "Wait a minute! What's the difference what he said? Comedian Rush Limbaugh, you don't matter anymore!" jeered the Countdown host. And finally, Keith's "Worst Person in the World," Fox News television host Bill O'Reilly. "And our winner, Bill-O the clown, who insisted that John McCain failed because, quote, 'He's not a...'" Olbermann paused for a final time, grinning slyly. "Wait a minute! What's the difference what he said? Bill-O the clown, you don't matter anymore! Bill Orely [intentional mispronunciation], today's worst person ... Who doesn't matter anymore ... In the world!" Watch Video Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Olbermann_to_rightwing_pundits_You_dont_1106.html

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

    Ahmadinejad Congratulates Obama, Urges 'Real' Change

     

    By Thomas Erdbrink

    Washington Post Foreign Service

    TEHRAN, Nov. 6 -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has congratulated President-elect Barack Obama on his victory, the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution that an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to an American counterpart.

    Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to Obama saying Iran would welcome "major, fair and real changes, in policies and actions, especially in this region," according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. Analysts here say the letter indicates that Iran is ready to improve relations with the United States.

    In his campaign for the presidency, Obama said he would be ready to talk to Iranian leaders without preconditions. The Bush administration has long insisted that Iran stop enriching uranium before any negotiations can begin; Iran has resisted those demands, maintaining that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

    Ahmadinejad wrote to Obama that the expectation in the Middle East "is that the unjust actions of the past 60 years will give way to a policy encouraging full rights for all nations, especially the oppressed nations of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan." Israel celebrated its 60th anniversary as a state this year.

    Read More Here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/06/AR2008110601486.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

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

    Protesters 'willing to risk jail' to urge Bush, Cheney indictment

    RAW STORY Published: Thursday November 6, 2008 Anti-war protesters plan to gather outside the Department of Justice next week to urge Attorney General Michael Mukasey to indict President Bush and Vice President Cheney on war crimes charges. The protesters, being organized by The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance say they are willing to risk going to jail to urge Bush and Cheney's indictment. The campaign is gathering signatures for a petition to urge Mukasey to meet with them. The group has worked closely with Code Pink, Iraq Veterans Against the War and others to protest US involvement in Iraq and urge President Bush's impeachment at myriad demonstrations over the last several years. The protest at the Justice Department is scheduled for Monday at noon at the department's headquarters in downtown Washington.

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

    Unemployed Nation: America's Shrinking Payroll

    More Than 1 Million People Have Lost Their Jobs in the United States in 2008

    By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
    

    Carol Steinbrecher is a 55-year-old mother of three who, like many Americans, has spent most of her life working hard to provide the best for her family.

    But today she is part of another group of Americans, one that is growing larger every day: the unemployed.

    In the first ten months of this year, the nation's employers have cut nearly 1.2 million jobs and the unemployment rate is now at 6.5 percent, the highest it has been since March 1994. The Department of Labor released new data this morning showing that October was the tenth straight month of job losses, with another 240,000 lost just last month.

    Fidelity and Mattel were some of the latest to announce layoffs, coming out yesterday with 1,300 and 1,000 job cuts, respectively. And this morning Ford said it would cut its North American salaried workforce by an additional 10 percent.

    Read More Here: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=6199501&page=1

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• Palin Gets Filleted - 11/06/08

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Robert Ariail The State Nov 6, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

     ******************************

    

    What Happened Tuesday in Four Pictures.

    Click Here   http://www.aprilwinchell.com/2008/11/05/tuesday/    to View Something Wonderful!

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

    Photos of Grant Park Obama rally

    Great photos of the historic event

    Click Here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-081104-obama-rally-grant-park-photogallery,0,647742.photogallery

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

    Picking the Obamas' White House Pooch

    White House Dogs Have Served as Companions, Playmates, Publicity Props

    By SARAH NETTER
    Nov. 6, 2008

    Barack Obama was just minutes into his speech Tuesday to accept the presidency of the United States when he vowed to make good on a very important campaign promise -- to get his daughters a White House puppy.

    

    What kind of dog will the Obamas bring into the White House?

    (Getty Images)
    More Photos

    Now it seems everyone has an opinion on what kind of pooch the Obamas should get and where they should get it from.

    It's a big decision. Many White House dogs -- most presidents have had at least one -- become celebrities in their own rights.

    With the help of former first lady Barbara Bush, President George H.W. Bush's springer spaniel, Millie, wrote her own best-selling book on the daily goings on at the White House.

    And the public fawned over pictures of the Clintons' lively chocolate Labrador retriever, Buddy, later grieving over his death in 2002 after he was hit by a car near the couple's New York home.

    Some White House dogs are much more than just pets. In many cases, the presidential pet helps shape the president's image with the public.

    Read More Here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6192603&page=1

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

    Newspapers fly off racks after Obama victory

    NEW YORK (AP) -- Newsstands from Seattle to New York quickly sold out of Wednesday's papers declaring Barack Obama the nation's first black president as some jubilant customers picked up two, three or even 30 copies as keepsakes.

    

    The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune in Obama's hometown were among papers that restarted their printing presses to produce hundreds of thousands of additional copies across the country.

    Entrepreneurs were seeking as much as $600 for the Times on eBay Wednesday.

    "Own a piece of history," Walter Elliott said as he hawked 90 copies of The Sun from a Baltimore street corner.

    Some papers devoted their entire front pages to a single photo of Obama -- in the San Francisco Chronicle's case, overlaid with "OBAMA" in enormous type and a snippet from his acceptance speech: "Change has come to America." USA Today declared, "America makes history."

    The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, offered high-quality reprints of the front page for $54.95. Below the headline "Change Has Come," a close-up of Obama covers three-fourths of the page.

    John Penley, a white man who recalled drinking out of the "wrong" water fountain as a kid in North Carolina, searched New York's Lower East Side on Wednesday for papers to mark an event he never dreamed possible in his lifetime.

    Read More Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/06/obama.newspapers.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

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

    Black Power Brokers Ready to Rise In Tandem With New President

    By JONATHAN KAUFMAN

    Jeh Johnson, a black partner at a prominent Manhattan law firm, strolled down the hall from his corner office to chat with a fellow partner: Theodore Sorensen, President Kennedy's former speechwriter. It was late 2006, and another of Mr. Johnson's allies, Barack Obama, was pondering a bid for the White House. He suggested to Mr. Sorensen that he meet the politician.

    Mr. Sorensen drafted notes about the pros and cons of running, including issues of personal safety. He and Mr. Obama talked by phone and later met face-to-face. Impressed, Mr. Sorensen vowed to support the young senator.

    

    Today, Mr. Johnson, a Democratic fund-raiser who advised Sen. John Kerry during his 2004 race, is among a tightknit group of black Obama backers preparing for their own victory laps. Seated in his office recently, Mr. Johnson casually pulled out a list that's been circulating over the Internet of rumored Obama cabinet picks. Next to his name was the title secretary of labor. "I was flattered," said Mr. Johnson, before dismissing the speculative document with a laugh. "I am part of the Obama team and I'd want that to continue -- if asked."

    For more than a decade, Mr. Obama has cultivated ties with a growing circle of black power brokers who are poised -- and eager -- to wield greater national influence. Some of these insiders stand to gain new status in an Obama administration, and many more in law firms, big corporations and on Wall Street. They believe that their proximity to the president-elect will burnish their reputations, much in the way that white elites always have leveraged connections in business and politics.

    Read More Here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122593315880903557.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us

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

    Palin Didn't Know Africa Is A Continent, Says Fox News Reporter

    Now that the 2008 election is over, reporters are spilling all the juciest, and previously off the record, gossip from the campaign trail. Much of it is about the infighting between Palin and McCain's staff, as Newsweek's treasure trove of post-election gossip reveals.

    However, perhaps one of the most astounding and previously unknown tidbits about Sarah Palin has to do with her already dubious grasp of geography. According to Fox News Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron, there was great concern within the McCain campaign that Palin lacked "a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, a heartbeat away from the presidency," in part because she didn't know which countries were in NAFTA, and she "didn't understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series, a country just in itself."

    Palin was apparently a nightmare for her campaign staff to deal with. She refused preparation help for her interview with Katie Couric and then blamed her staff, specifically Nicole Wallace, when the interview was panned as a disaster. After the Couric interview, Fox News reported, Palin turned nasty with her staff and began to accuse them of mishandling her. Palin would view press clippings of herself in the morning and throw "tantrums" over the negative coverage. There were times when she would be so nasty and angry that her staff was reduced to tears.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-didnt-know-africa-i_n_141653.html

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

    Radio host Mark Larsen wears blackface after Obama win

    Radio host Mark Larsen wears blackface after Obama win

    It didn’t take long for the first racially controversial routine to emerge in local media following the landmark success of Barack Obama’s election Tuesday as the nation’s first black president.

    The moment came at 6 a.m. this morning, when WWBA-AM 820 morning man Mark Larsen, who is white, dressed in blackface makeup at the start of his show. Joined by the station’s news director Roger Schulman, Larsen joked about caking on the cosmetics, using a number of racially influenced comments in the process. Fans could watch the whole process go down via an in-studio Webcam.

    Watch Video Here: http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/2008/11/local-radio-hos.html

     

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

    "Like We Overthrew a Dictator": Pennsylvania Avenue Last Night

    by DemocraticLuntz

    Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 02:20:49 PM PST

    That's what fellow Kossack Pragmaticus said to me as we headed back down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to his apartment to check the updated results.

    Things had started to die down a bit at that point, but people were honking, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!ing, running around like crazy.

    After Senator McCain's gracious concession speech and Senator Obama's superb victory speech, many of the College Dems headed down to TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE!!!! YEAAAAAHHHHHHHH!, joining the crowds of college students and others that had poured in to be part of history.

    The scene on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was probably the biggest spontaneous patriotic celebration Washington DC has ever seen.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/5/16272/5270/89/654869

     ****************************

    Black church in Springfield burns

    Fire began hours after vote, prompting fears it was arson

    A predominantly black church under construction in Springfield was destroyed by fire early yesterday, just hours after Barack Obama's landmark victory, triggering concerns that the building was purposely set ablaze in a possible hate crime.

    The blaze started at Macedonia Church of God in Christ at 3:10 and caused an estimated $2 million in damage.

    Church officials pledged to rebuild, but the concerns that their building was targeted dampened a mood that had been so uplifted in the night of Obama's historic win to become the nation's first black president-elect.

    "This was a special time in our nation's history, but I also know not everybody was happy and celebrating," said Bishop Bryant J. Robinson Jr., head of the church. "After 71 years of being an African-American, you know these things happen."

    Located on King Street, the church was moving to the site at 215 Tinkham Road, where the fire occurred.

    Read More Here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/06/black_church_in_springfield_burns/?s_campaign=8315

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

    Strains Between McCain and Palin Aides Go Public

    Report: Palin's Wardrobe Is to Be Audited by GOP

    By KATE SNOW
    Nov. 6, 2008

     
    

    Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.

    Revelations from anonymous critics from within the McCain-Palin campaign suggest a number of complaints about the Alaskan governor:

    Fox News reports that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she was picked for vice president.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6196407&page=1

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

    Scarborough: Choosing Rahm Emanuel like choosing Tom Delay

    By David Wednesday Nov 05, 2008 3:01pm
    

    MSNBC's Joe Scarborough is outraged because Barack Obama offered the chief of staff position to Rahm Emanuel.

    Watch Video Here: http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/scarborough-choosing-rahm-emanuel-choosing-t

     

    
    
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• It IS A Big Deal!!!!

  • From: Tootoo23
  • Description:

    Lots of the white voters appear to be upset or bothered by the black community making an issue of Obama being a black man and the first black president. I have read and heard comments such as "whats the big deal" and "his color doesn't matter." Like it or not people, color is an issue. Our race has struggled, been persecuted, and gone through many a trial and tribulation throughout history for us to get this far. We were the slaves. We were the tortured. We were the ones fighting for OUR rights: OUR rights to be free, OUR right to vote, OUR right to walk down the street and look upon a white man or woman without being hanged or beaten or thrown in jail unjustly simply because our skin pigment is darker than yours. Yes we are VERY proud to have BLACK commander in chief. A change that says that everything our ancestors fought to give us phsically stands within our reach today. A moment that signifies that ALL men and women ARE truly created equal, not just some of the time, in some of the places, for some of the things, and some of the reasons. But at every moment for all of the time everyday. 

     I am 24 years old. I live in Tuscaloosa, AL, and I still see elderly white men and women day to day whom refer to us as "boy" and "gal" and look down on us as if we were inferior to them. My 71 year old father grew up in a time when he could be arrested for talking to a white women on the street and wasn't viewed as "equal" because he was dark skinned with kinky hair. My mother and grandmother in a time where not only were they black, but black women, so said to be lazy, ignorant, and worthless. They were not able to have the good jobs, the fine homes, the nicer cars, kids in  private school. And for the few who managed to get that far despite the color of their skin, they suffered daily injustice, torment, and so on simply because they were deemed "not good enough."

    So, although I know whole-heartedly that black or white or asian or jamaican or whatever the race, the main thing that makes a president a president is his ability to lead the people and provide a better economic state for his people, I am prouder still to have a BLACK MAN do that job. Cause what he has achieved means my daughter, nephews, cousins, and such all have the chance to do it one day, too. To not just be told they can be anything they want to be but ACTUALLY become anything they want to be without the barriers of color or social status. And to all those whom say they don't see the big deal, I hope now you do

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• A word, if I may

  • From: poppadoc357
  • Description:

    Brothers and Sisters, PHAmily, Family and Friends,

     

    Nov 4^th 2008 10pm CST will be a moment in history for the USA that will ring throughout the ages.  The first African American individual elected to the Office of President of the United States of America.  A proud moment for people all over the US, especially African American people.  You did it!!! You went out and cast your vote and aided in the election of Barack Obama.

     

    Now people, black, white, latino, young, old, gay, straight, disabled and everyone else, the real work begins.  Your work is not finished; we now have to make this election of Barack Obama a success.  You have to get out and work, for yourself, your family, your neighbor, everyone.  But most importantly you must work for your country, yes I said it. 

     

    This is not the time to look for handouts, that time is over.  We do not need nor should we want our country to care for us when we are able to care for ourselves.  Stand up and be the person this country needs you to be.  Get out and work!!! No you may not find that $25 an hour job, you may only get minimum wage.  But if you are sitting on your behind at home, making minimum wage is more than you are making now.  Yes I understand that it may not be all you need to survive, but better things will come.  Our country can and will assist those who need it.  But you must strive to live on your own.  The sacrifice that what spoken about last night starts with us. 

     

    The time has come for us to begin taking care of ourselves and our neighbors, it is time for the village to stand up and take back our country, raise our children, feed those in need, help those who need our aid .  When we stand up together, when we stand up as one, we are undefeatable. 

     

    Hold your head up high, stand erect, prepare yourself to make this country better than it has been for a long time.  It will take a lot of work, long hours, but in the end we will leave this country for our children better than ever before.  We may not see the fruits of our efforts, but we will garner the glory for making it better.

     

    The time is now, not tomorrow, not next week, RIGHT NOW!!!!  This time in our history will be ours to write, what do you want it to say?

     

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• Return of the Jedi - 11/5/08 1

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Clay Bennett Chattanooga Times Free Press Nov 5, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    

    Amb. Marc Ginsberg

    Return of the Jedi

    The hour of national redemption we've been waiting for is at hand, and President-Elect Barack Obama is about to lead our nation to a new city on that hill. Inspiration, gratification, and a desire to guaranty his success runs deep through my veins as I watch the hundreds of thousands in Chicago's Grant Park waiting for the man from Illinois to complete the national challenge of emancipation that his predecessor president from Illinois began nearly two centuries ago.

    We all deserve to believe again in the greatness that is America and to look forward to the day tomorrow when Americans stand a little taller, believe a little deeper, and enjoy the great moment that has been bequeathed to us by a man who convinced us change is at hand. I rejoice in the celebration of those who marched in Selma who now have the wonderous satisfaction to relish and cherish the moment that arrived at 11pm EST when the networks finally called the election. I imagine how my ex-boss, an ailing Ted Kennedy must feel tonight, knowing that many, many months ago he exclaimed to the nation that he could feel change in the air. He understood before so many of us did that change was indeed in the air.

    Let the cynics sleep. Let them discount the magnitude of the moment. Let them deny the righteousness of the cause. It does not matter. They are small in mind, and do not deserve to share in it if they do not succumb to it.

    David Axelrod and David Plouffe have steered the ship of state to a new, more secure safe harbor. They and the wonderfully gifted campaign team they assembled are indeed a true liberation army. They deserve to march down the Champs Elysee to an adoring national crowd.

    In the wee hours of our morning, as dawn rises across the world, millions will look at the news and exclaim that America is back...the America they yearned for, and the America they deserve to believe in again.

    To the cynical Republican cabal that only wrought so much wickedness and pain on a vast swath of the American electorate, yes you Karl Rove, Tom DeLay, Dick Cheney and ultimately George Bush and the divide and disdain bunch around them, the nation finally found its voice and seized its ballot to repudiate all you inflicted on us. The electoral sweep is as much the people's voices reflected in a referendum of rejection and indictment of the Bush presidency as it is a vote of trust and confidence in Barack Obama.

    I am proud to be alive at this moment. I am proud my kids could join me in this hour of deliverance. Change has finally arrived in wave after cleansing wave. Yes, America, tomorrow, there will be two wars, a terrible financial crisis, threats from abroad, and challenges at home, but there will be a President Elect Obama, and that alone will make those challenges seem just a bit less daunting, a bit less formidable, and a bit more manageable.

    The death star has indeed been destroyed!

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

    

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

    I Didn't Vote For Obama Today

    November 4, 2008, 9:37AM

    I have a confession to make.

    I did not vote for Barack Obama today.

    I've openly supported Obama since March.  But I didn't vote for him today.

    I wanted to vote for Ronald Woods.  He was my algebra teacher at Clark Junior High in East St. Louis, IL.  He died 15 years ago when his truck skidded head-first into a utility pole.  He spent many a day teaching us many things besides the Pythagorean Theorem.  He taught us about Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis and many other civil rights figures who get lost in the shadow cast by Martin Luther King, Jr.

    But I didn't vote for Mr. Woods.

    I wanted to vote for Willie Mae Cross.  She owned and operated Crossroads Preparatory Academy for almost 30 years, educating and empowering thousands of kids before her death in 2003.  I was her first student.  She gave me my first job, teaching chess and math concepts to kids in grades K-4 in her summer program.  She was always there for advice, cheer and consolation.  Ms. Cross, in her own way, taught me more about walking in faith than anyone else I ever knew.

    But I didn't vote for Ms. Cross.

    I wanted to vote for Arthur Mells Jackson, Sr. and Jr.  Jackson Senior was a Latin professor.  He has a gifted school named for him in my hometown.  Jackson Junior was the pre-eminent physician in my hometown for over 30 years.  He has a heliport named for him at a hospital in my hometown.  They were my great-grandfather and great-uncle, respectively.

    But I didn't vote for Prof. Jackson or Dr. Jackson.

    I wanted to vote for A.B. Palmer.  She was a leading civil rights figure in Shreveport, Louisiana, where my mother grew up and where I still have dozens of family members.  She was a strong-willed woman who earned the grudging respect of the town's leaders because she never, ever backed down from anyone and always gave better than she got.  She lived to the ripe old age of 99, and has a community center named for her in Shreveport.

    But I didn't vote for Mrs. Palmer.

    I wanted to vote for these people, who did not live to see a day where a Black man would appear on their ballots on a crisp November morning.

    In the end, though, I realized that I could not vote for them any more than I could vote for Obama himself. 

    So who did I vote for?

    No one.

    I didn't vote.  Not for President, anyway. 

    Oh, I went to the voting booth.  I signed, was given my stub, and was walked over to a voting machine.  I cast votes for statewide races and a state referendum on water and sewer improvements.

    I stood there, and I thought about all of these people, who influenced my life so greatly.  But I didn't vote for who would be the 44th President of the United States.

    When my ballot was complete, except for the top line, I finally decided who I was going to vote for - and then decided to let him vote for me.  I reached down, picked him up, and told him to find Obama's name on the screen and touch it.

    And so it came to pass that Alexander Reed, age 5, read the voting screen, found the right candidate, touched his name, and actually cast a vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

    Oh, the vote will be recorded as mine.  But I didn't cast it. 

    Then again, the person who actually pressed the Obama box and the red "vote" button was the person I was really voting for all along. 

    It made the months of donating, phonebanking, canvassing, door hanger distributing, sign posting, blogging, arguing and persuading so much sweeter. 

    So, no, I didn't vote for Barack Obama.  I voted for a boy who now has every reason to believe he, too, can grow up to be anything he wants...even President.

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

    Reactions From Around The World (PHOTOS)

    People around the world were celebrating the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.

    See election reactions around the U.S.

    Kenya, where Obama's relatives were singing in the streets "We are going to the White House!", has declared Wednesday a national holiday after Barack Obama.

    See More Photos Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/04/reactions-around-the-worl_n_141187.html

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

    UN: Hope that the U.S. Rejoins the World

    The World Reacts

    By Barbara Crossette

     November 5, 2008

    Jubilation should be the order of the day at the United Nations when an American who is also a son of Kenya and a child of Indonesia is elected president of the most powerful country in a world in need of healing. But while there is quiet joy and relief at the victory of Barack Obama, there is also a strong undercurrent of caution. Is the end of an unfriendly Republican era enough in itself to bring the United States back? Or have the Democrats, the heirs of the UN's founders, drifted too far from internationalism?

    Much has been written in recent years about America "rejoining the world." Nowhere more than at the UN have Washington's bullying tactics and stunted, provincial vision of global challenges cast such a pall over international cooperation. Here, the United States is close-up and personal. After the naming in Washington of a new secretary of state, the appointment most eagerly awaited at the UN is that of the next American ambassador.

    Read More Here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081117/crossette3

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

    Obama Victory Speech - VIDEO, TEXT

    The election is over.

    Tonight President-Elect Obama celebrated in Grant Park and delivered remarks to the hundreds of thousands who turned out. He spoke just before midnight, joined by his family onstage before he began.
    
    

    Go Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/04/obama-victory-speech_n_141194.html

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

    Michelle Bachmann declares victory in Sixth District

    By PAT DOYLE , Star Tribune

    Last update: November 5, 2008 - 3:39 AM

    In one of the House's most closely-watched races, Michele Bachman, infamous for her comments that Barack Obama has "anti-American views," managed to squeak out a victory over challenger Elwyn Tinklenberg, 47-43, with 81% of precincts reporting.

    Rep. Michele Bachmann won reelection early Wednesday, fending off a challenge from Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg in a Sixth Congressional District race that came to symbolize the perilous position of Republican incumbents across the nation.

    Bachmann held on to a narrow but significant lead over Tinklenberg with 8 of 10 precincts reporting and a dwindling number of areas where he could find enough votes to make up the difference. Bachmann said Tinklenberg called her and conceded shortly after midnight.

    Watch Video Here: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/33871694.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUbP:P:Q_V_MPQLa7PYDUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

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    Boos mar John McCain's gracious concession as he hints it's just the beginning for Sarah Palin

    By David Gardner
    Last updated at 12:58 PM on 05th November 2008

    John McCain conceded defeat today in a gracious speech urging his supporters to throw their weight behind the new president.

    With a teary-eyed Sarah Palin at his side, the 72-year-old Republican leader said Barack Obama had prevailed in what had been a 'long and difficult' contest.

    But his supporters were not so generous in defeat. Mr McCain had to stop them from booing Mr Obama's name.

    Today's defeat spells the end of Mr McCain's presidential dreams - but is likely to be just the start of his running mate's political ascendancy.

    Mrs Palin turned out to be an even bigger draw on the campaign trail than John McCain, the name above hers on the Republican presidential ticket.

    

    Enlarge  

    Winner and loser: John McCain's presidential dream may be in tatters but Sarah Palin is expected to stage a comeback in 2012

    

    Her inner circle say the mother-of-five is likely to serve out her final two years as Alaska governor and then focus full time on a bid to become America’s first woman president.

    Addressing a subdued crowd in his home state of Arizona, Mr McCain said it was natural to feel disappointed, but called on all Americans to come together to bridge their differences.

     

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