44 Search Results for "ticket"

• Daily Inspiration

  • From: etsaman
  • Description:

    Today's Daily Word Sunday, September 6, 2009

     

    Inner Peace

     

    I am one with God. I am one with infinite peace.

     

    A sleeping infant is a picture of peace, a precious creation of God. We are all God's precious creations, designed with unlimited capacity to express peace.

     

    In a difficult or unsettling time, I may become distracted, forgetting who I really am. If I am focused on worries or anxious about tomorrow, I may feel restless and uneasy.

     

    Yet the indwelling peace of God has not left me. In a moment of prayer or meditation, I may return to my true nature. As I turn to the spirit of God within, I rediscover my inner strength and my innate center of peace.

     

    As an expression of God, I find that I can be calm, serene and secure in every circumstance. I am one with infinite peace.

     

    "Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you."--Philippians 4:9

     

     

    Renaissance Unity

     

    Sunday, September 6, 2009 – I Am Ready

     

    “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

    ~Hebrews 11:1

    KJV

     

    “People get ready, there's a train a comin'

    You don't need no baggage, you just get on board

    All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'

    Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.”

    ~People Get Ready

    Curtis Mayfield

     

    Today's Affirmation

     

    I am ready to be the change our world needs now.

     

    Today's Meditation

     

    Dear God,

     

    With a grateful heart I turn my awareness to Your presence at work in our world.

    I realize that the challenges we face are a result of our past choices

    And I have faith that with Your guidance, we can choose again.

    I choose the way of Love.

    May Your love guide our days and the ways we treat one another, the animals we share this planet with and the Earth itself.

    There is a new way of being that is ready to arise.

    I am on board the train and doing my part.

    Teach us the way of Love.

    Thank You, God.

    Amen

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
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• Free Trial Offers: A Cautiona

  • From: E_Joyce
  • Description:

    Hopefully this will serve as a cautionary tale about free offers.

    I learned a lesson recently.  When some one or some company offers you a free trial of ANYTHING, be very careful about the rules of engagement.  I was examining my bank statement, only to discover that I was being billed for a service I was not using and did not know I had.  I immediately called their customer service to get to the bottom of it all and found out I had been paying for a while and it was the result of a 60 day free trial I'd accepted some time ago.  I don't throw away my e-mails fortunately and was able to show them that the e-mail clearly stated that I would receive the option to continue the service.  I never did receive that and had stopped receiving the weekly newsletter from them.  Yet, they billed me.  While I have submitted a request for an immediate and full refund, I was feeling rather stupid about it all.  But apparently I am not the only one.  The Iowa attorney general has posted the following information online which each of us should take heed of.  I know I will from now on...

    Take Control of Your Personal Information
    

    Beware of "Free" Trial Offers
    

    Study your billing and Banking statements for unauthorized charges monthly.

    Some consumers are being charged for products or services and don't even know it. This happens especially when telemarketers or other sellers offer "free trial offers" -- and then charge consumers' credit cards automatically when the free trial period ends.

    Consumers often are surprised when - and if - they discover the unexpected bill. This exploding problem is now among Iowa's top-ten consumer protection complaints. The problem seems to have roots in two things: First, consumers may not realize someone already has the key information to bill their credit card or checking account. Second, sellers may use questionable tactics trying to shift the burden onto the consumer to cancel.

    When consumers question such bills, sellers often say, "We told them they'd be billed if they didn't cancel." But such disclosures often are not made at all, are not made clearly, or are not noticed by consumers who don't realize the seller already has access to charge their credit card. Sometimes a mail "notice" is sent but is tossed out as junk mail.

    Here's a typical example: A telemarketer calls and offers a free trial period for a "buyers club" touted to offer excellent bargains. Consumers accept the free trial, assuming they will have to provide a credit card later if they decide to sign up. But the solicitor already is able to bill the credit card (they probably bought the list from a credit-card-issuing bank), and the solicitor bills the annual fee when the free trial period ends. The bill could be $80 or $90. The charge might go unnoticed and even be renewed the next year.

    There are variations. Consumers might call to order a product or an event ticket, then be given a separate "free trial" pitch for a "credit card protection plan" or buying club for bargains in travel or auto service. Other "free trials" are offered in ads or by retailers.

     

    Be very wary of "free" trial offers. Get the details: Will you be billed automatically if you don't cancel? By when must you cancel? How do you cancel? Will you receive a mail notice? Remember, they already may have access to charge you. Examine your credit card bill every month, and also your checking account and phone bills. Watch for unauthorized charges -- and dispute them at once, in writing. Try to watch your mail carefully. Some cancellation notices look like junk mail. For more tips on protecting your privacy: www.PrivacyRights.org, www.FTC.gov,   And as long as we are talking about things that can cost us money and rip us off, please be aware that any business "opportunity" that requires you to buy a book, directory, grant kit, setup kit, etc.  ANYTHING that requires you to "buy the box" to become wealthy or get government grants or sell legal services or long distance is most likely a scam at worst, a non-opportunity scheme at best.  Never let desperation make you a victim.

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 112

• Michael Moore

  • From: etsaman
  • Description:

    I enjoyed reading this, so I’m sharing it.

    It’s a bit long but I think it’s worth the reading.  Namaste

     

    From: "Michael Moore" maillist@michaelmoo re.com>
    To:
    
    Friends,
    
    Nothing like it has ever happened. The President of the United States, the elected representative of the people, has just told the
    head of General Motors -- a company that's spent more years at #1 on the Fortune 500 list than anyone else -- "You're fired!"
    
    I simply can't believe it. This stunning, unprecedented action has left me speechless for the past two days. I keep saying, "Did Obama really fire the chairman of General Motors? The wealthiest and most powerful corporation of the 20th century? Can he do that? Really? Well, damn! What else can he do?!"
    
    This bold move has sent the heads of corporate America spinning and
    spewing pea soup. Obama has issued this edict: The government of, by, and for the people is in charge here, not big business. John McCain got it. On the floor of the Senate he asked, "What does this signal send to other corporations and financial institutions about whether the federal government will fire them as well?" Senator Bob Corker said it "should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise." The stock market plunged as the masters of the universe asked themselves, "Am I next?" And they whispered to
    each other, "What are we going to do about this Obama?"
    
    Not much, fellows. He has the massive will of the American people behind him -- and he has been granted permission by us to do what he sees fit. If you liked this week's all-net 3-pointer, stay tuned.
    
    I write this letter to you in memory of the hundreds of thousands of workers over the past 25+ years who have been tossed into the trash heap by General Motors. Many saw their lives ruined for good. They turned to alcohol or drugs, their marriages fell apart, some took their own lives. Most moved on, moved out, moved over, moved away. They ended up working two jobs for half the pay they were getting at GM. And they cursed the CEO of GM for bringing ruin to their lives.
    
    Not one of them ever thought that one day they would witness the CEO receive the same treatment. Of course Chairman Wagoner will not have to sign up for food stamps or be evicted from his home or tell his kids they'll be going to the community college, not the university. Instead, he will get a $23 million golden parachute. But the slip in his hands is still pink, just like the hundreds of thousands that others received -- except his was issued by us, via the Obama-man. Here's the door, buster. See ya. Don't wanna be ya.
    
    I began my day today in Washington, D.C. I went to the U.S. Senate and got into their Finance Committee's hearing on the Wall Street bailout. The overseers wanted to know how the banks spent the money.
    And many of these banks won't tell them. They've taken trillions and nobody knows where the money went. It certainly didn't go to create jobs, relieve mortgage holders, or free up loans that people need. It was so shocking to listen to this, I had to leave before it was over. But it gave me an idea for the movie I was shooting.
    
    Later, I stopped by the National Archives to stand in line to see the original copy of our Constitution. I thought about how twenty
    years ago this month I was just down the street finishing my first film, a personal plea to warn the nation about GM and the deadly
    >economy it ruled. On that March day in 1989 I was broke, having collected the last of my unemployment checks, relying on help from my friends (Bob and Siri would take me out to dinner and always pick
    up the check, the assistant manager at the movie theater would sneak me in so I could watch an occasional movie, Laurie and Jack bought an old Steenbeck (editing) machine for me, John Richard would slip
    me an unused plane ticket so I could go home for Christmas, Rod would do anything for me and drive to Flint whenever I needed
    something for the film). My late mother (she would've turned 88 tomorrow if she were still with us) and my GM autoworker dad told me in the kitchen they wanted to help and handed me a check for an astounding thousand dollars. I didn't know they even had a thousand dollars. I refused it, they insisted I take it -- "No!" -- and then, in that parental voice, told me I was to cash it so I could finish my movie. I did. And I did.
    
    So on that March day in 1989, as I was driving down Pennsylvania Avenue, my 9-year-old car just died. I coasted over to the curb, put my head down on the steering wheel and started to cry. I had no money to take it in to be repaired, and I certainly had nothing to pay the tow truck driver. So I got out, screwed the license plates off so I wouldn't be fined, turned my back and just left it there for good. I looked over at the building next to me. It said "National Archives." What better place to donate my dead car, I thought, as I walked the rest of the way home.
    
    Though it wasn't easy for me, I still never had to suffer what so many of my friends and neighbors went through, thanks to General Motors and an economic system rigged against them. I wonder what they must have all thought when they woke up this Monday morning to read in the Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press the headlines
    that Obama had fired the CEO of GM. Oh -- wait a minute. They couldn't read that. There was no Free Press or News. Monday was the day that both papers ended home delivery. It was cancelled (as it will be for four days every week) because the daily newspapers, like General Motors, like Detroit, are broke.
    
    I await the President's next superhero move.
    
    Yours,
    Michael Moore
    mailto:mmflint@aol. com>MMFlint@aol. comhttp://www.michaelm oore.com/ MichaelMoore. com
    (Go State!)

     

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
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• Chirs, Rihanna and Abuse: More

  • From: E_Joyce
  • Description:

    Today, Thursday March 12, 2009, there will be two shows on television -- on Oprah and on The Tyra Banks Show -- focused on abuse and teen dating.  I sincerely hope that the shows reaches teens, adults, every gender. I am really not clear what people want. If you want the justice system to handle it, well, his day in court is coming. You want to know what happened, wait until the facts come out before your judging is cast in stone. You want him to heal, change and grow up, then advocate that he is in extensive therapy for two years, with five years probation and has to stay away from Fenty during that two year period, unless for business purposes. AND that she is also required to go into therapy IF she was throwing punches as well. But if you just want to continue the Chris Brown beat down, because you are vicariously dealing with your own mess, this is actually not helping you.
    
    The thing is... IMHO, I am beginning to see more of an electronic lynching going on that seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the actual incident. There are others who have hurt women in the entertainment industry and I have never seen so much ongoing outrage and continued media coverage. Yes, we should continue the important dialog about abuse, but Brown and Fenty are the catalyst, not the poster child and whipping boy for this conversation,. We are now in approximately the seventh week and it continues. Has anyone questioned why?

     

    The issue of abuse is definitely on my mind and I suppose that its on the minds of many, not just because of Rihanna and Chris (see the post below) but because there seems to be an increase in reported domestic violence,  multiple victim murder/suicides  We need to discuss this subject again and again, until there is a change in the minds of those abused and those who abuse. Or maybe it's on my mind because just yesterday I was told that a young man, straight A student, a senior,17, was kicked out of his house by his own mother.  Why?  Because her boyfriend was moving in and did not want him there.  Or because just last night, a 14 month old is now in the hospital after being  severely beaten by a teenaged boyfriend of the mother, why: Because the chid wouldn't do what he thought he should.  The mother was beaten as well, but here is the thing: there were other people in the house at the time, who did nothing.  What about you?   Are you a part of the growing problem or part of the solution?  In the spirit of enlightenment, below is an excerpt from one of my writings  If it helps at least one person to take a hard look at his/her relationship...:.:

      

                                                     THE SOCIO-PREDATOR

     

    I was surprised to hear from Reese.  We had a casual business relationship over the last two years.  I had heard the tragic story about his estrangement from his wife because of her alleged sexual preferences, from other mutual contacts.  He sounded so depressed, so victimized -- his wife was looking to take his life's work away after all.  He was a musician -- not a lawyer or a businessman.  I made suggestions for solutions that would protect his work.  I also discussed how the business side of his music was at a standstill and sliding downhill.  I don't know exactly when the conversation became personal, I hadn't been paying much attention to the secondary comments.  "I've had a crush on you since I met you.  Didn't you know?"  I was stunned by this "revelation".  He is a married man, so I never paid any attention to him.  He told me months ago, that he was living with a married couple, friends of his.  Now they were moving into a new house and he was essentially becoming homeless.  We talked for a long time.  He surprised me by calling back with poetry…written by him…for me.  Wow.  I had a free open airline ticket and thought that this was a good time for a business trip to Miami.  If the personal didn't work, the business would.  Interesting what one discovers when you are face to face with the reality of another human.  Reese wasn't living with married friends, he was living with the woman with whom he had a relationship of over two years, and she wanted him out of her house.  She wanted him gone because he was consuming her financially and emotionally -- and she was trying to summon the strength to get rid of him.  Reese had actually left his wife for her -- another woman -- not because of alleged misbehavior.  Reese was not the person he portrayed to the public.  He was actually insecure, verbally abusive,  had a tendency toward physical abuse, and a chronic liar.  Reese was looking for a new place to land.  After all, women had always taken care of him, even though he seemed to have a lot of anger -- even hatred -- for them, especially if they exhibited any emotional or personal strength.  Reese was a predator.  I wasn't going to be his next meal.

    Socio-predators show up in a variety of genders, sizes, and colors.  A socio-predator is one who attaches him or herself to another human being using a variety of tactics to blend themselves into the lives of the unsuspecting victims.  Socio-predators are more sinister extensions of the controlling personality.  We speak of the male form of a socio-predator in a joking, yet somewhat reverent manner.  "Oh, he's just a wolf in sheep's clothing."  Someone who is a little mysterious, a little naughty and, well, a little romantic.  Unfortunately, socio-predators, male or female, are voracious in consuming their victims emotionally and financially.  They know who to target.  They know how to make you their next victim unless you are paying attention and recognize the attributes of the socio-predator.

     

    PROFILE OF THE SOCIO-PREDATOR

    The term predator is normally used to identify someone who preys upon the unsuspecting child.  These predators usually look for the child that seems unsure.  The socio-predator preys upon adults -- male or female -- and has some generally distinctive attributes that you should be aware of: Charm is an important part of their facade.  They seem to be so nice, so disarming.  They are always in a little bit of a difficulty; there always seems to be a problem or crisis.  They always need help, preferably yours.  He or she is usually being victimized by someone else… at least according to him or her.  From their distorted point of view, there is always someone who is doing something to them, creating a problem for them, hurting them somehow.  They just don't understand why. 

    Their focus is always on you in public.  No one else gets your attention but him or her.  If you choose to talk to anyone else, jealousy appears, or they isolate themselves until you come to their rescue.  You are charmed by the attention, but the reality is that it is important to them that you become consumed with providing what they need.  There is always an anger lying beneath the surface of their personality.  They portray themselves as disliked, unloved, and misunderstood.  "I don't know why no one likes me," is one of their more common complaints.  Insecurity, jealousy, and a tendency to isolate themselves and you from other people are components that tend to surface at some point. 

    You find yourself emotionally exhausted after dealing with them.  Predators not only want what you offer materially, they want all of your emotional loyalty, all of what you are.  It's fun at first to feel so needed.  Then you begin to realize that what makes you you is being consumed by him or her.  Money usually becomes a part of the support they need.  Without realizing it, you have begun to spend money to help solve whatever the problem is.  As time goes on, you realize there is always some kind of a problem.  You've made an investment in the potential and now realize that there will be no return on that investment. 

    Truth is usually not a part of the package that you have purchased.  You begin to discover that there may be two or more sides to the sad stories they tell.  They never take any responsibility for the situations they are in or the problems they have.  It's always someone else's fault, your fault, never theirs.  As long as you are compliant, the facade is usually what you experience.  When you begin to question or not agree with him or her, a new personality appears.  The person becomes cold, distant, mean, verbally abusive, emotionally abusive and in extreme cases, physically abusive.  There is likely to be an attempt to make you feel guilty about upsetting them; the situation, in fact any situation, is your fault.  Threats to end the relationship begin to be made.  It is only when you give in or become compliant again that the new behavior stops and the facade reappears.  You find yourself apologizing for everything, becoming more compliant "just to keep peace."  This new personality is the real personality; as time goes on, the real personality becomes more prevalent in your relationship.  As you are being emotionally consumed, you begin to believe that it's your responsibility to keep the real personality in check. 

    If there are children involved, watch closely to see how the person relates to them.  If these are his or her children, are they ignored, neglected, or abused?  If they are yours, how are they treated when you aren't in the room?  What do your children say about him or her when they are alone with you?  Don't dismiss their reactions and responses; children have a good sense about whether an adult is worthy of their trust.  Note: women are especially good at using their children as a part of the emotional package they get you involved in.  As you become emotionally tied to the children, the children become the blackmail she uses to make sure that you are compliant.  " I think I'll just move to California," or "I should go back to their father."  These threats translate into "either you do what I want you to or you won't get to see the children again."  There is never a change in their circumstances; financial and emotional independence never comes about.  He or she always needs you.  In reality, he or she needs to feed upon your emotional security until it becomes insecure, your financial stability until you are financially depleted.

     

    ARE YOU A TARGET?

    While anyone can be a target for a socio-predator, there are some of the attributes that make you a more likely candidate While anyone can be a target for a socio-predator, here are some of the attributes that make you a more likely candidate:

    You have a reputation for being the nice guy (male or female).  Most people know that you'd do anything to help someone.

    You have a quality of naiveté.  You expect people to be who they claim to be.

    If you are male, you have the "Superman Syndrome."  You are always the knight in shining armor, the hero, the one who shows the way to the good life. 

    You are the caretaker; you look for the stray cat, the homeless dog with puppies; you usually end up scratched or bitten in your relationships.

    You are a publicly secure person with hidden insecurities.  You are good in the corporate world.  You may be a professional with a degree or two.  Education does not automatically make you smart when it comes to those you pick for relationships.  If you are insecure on a personal level, your vulnerability shows, no matter how much you believe you hide it. 

    You are meek, humble, and giving in nature.  Socio-predators usually mistake kindness and humility as weaknesses that they can use to their advantage.  When he or she discovers that a person with these characteristics is actually strong and unwilling to be submissive and consumed, he or she will usually run off.  They are, after all, actually cowards.  Unfortunately, before they slink away, the socio-predator may attempt to use physical force, spread lies to ruin your reputation, or  create some extreme crisis that would cause you to remain involved with them.

    You tend to be the one who takes care of everyone, especially the "underdog."  You have either the martyr mentality or the superman syndrome; you believe that it is your job to take on the often unhappy task of taking care of someone else whether he or she deserves it or not. 

    You have a propensity for being victimized.  You get used to being the victim -- not recognizing that it is a role you choose to play in your relationships. 

    WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

    A socio-predator does not become one unless he or she chooses to be one.  The character of a socio-predator is not going to go away or change because of or in spite of anything you do or don't do.  The ego of a socio-predator is huge; they view themselves as being psychologically superior.  They know just what to do and what buttons to push to get what they want.  He or she takes it as his or her responsibility to mold you into the person he or she needs you to be.  If they are successful, you will find yourself defending their behavior, supporting their lies and living a life that is not yours but theirs.  Predators consume, and when they are finished, they look for new prey.  You may choose to allow this type of person into your life; that is your decision.  However, you have a responsibility to yourself to recognize the risks that come with this decision, and at least draw a line in the sand as to how much of yourself you will allow another person to consume.  Ask yourself: is the reward worth the risk?

  • Blog post
  • 8 months ago
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• MY LETTER TO PRES ELECT OBAMA

  • From: piperburks
  • Description:

     

     

     

    November 20, 2008

     

     

    Mr.  & Mrs. Barack & Michelle Obama

    President-elect & First Lady

    United States of America

    5450 – East View Park

    Chicago, IL 60615

     

    Dear Mr. President & First Lady,

     

    I felt pressed to write to you at your current address hoping it would be easier to reach both of you there as opposed to the White House.  I do hope I made the best choice.  As you probably already know I have sent several of these letters on the off-chance one of them would reach you.

    First I would like to engage your attention humbly and respectfully.  My name is Piper Roslora Burks and I live in Atlanta, Georgia.  I am a Democrat, a voter, and a faithful and proud American citizen.  I know the days, the months and the years ahead are going to be a challenge but I do believe in my heart things are going to get better and that we will again be the abundant country we once were.

    As an American citizen I want to do my part in the recovery of our country.  I pray millions of others feel the same.  In light of this I would like to give you my ideals for the mortgage crisis we are experiencing.  Keeping in mind, my background is not financial but medical my suggestions may lack the rationale that comes with having the knowledge and expertise necessary to understand what financial ramifications this would have.  So I’ll just get to the point and give you my simple take on a complex matter.

    We are embarking upon several, as it seems, economic bail-outs.  But as of late the mortgage one has fallen by the wayside.  It seems like once the money was approved the people or persons responsible for the bail-out have changed their method; deceptive at best.  This money should not be diverted it needs to go to the mortgage crisis we are under to help the people first and the big companies afterward.  This is what I consider working from the bottom up.

    Is it, Mr. President, possible to put a moratorium on foreclosures, put mortgages that are in arrears on the back/extensions, reduce their current finance rates to fewer than eight percent, put those rates on a one to two-year freeze and suspend penalties and late fees for those accounts that are in arrears?  This does not mean homeowners do not have to pay it means their notes go down to manageable amounts for the one to two-year period and if they pay on time it enables them to refinance at the rate they would currently have or even a lower rate if they qualify.  This should also involve placing a freeze on the homeowner’s ability to refinance within that time period or purchase other property until the two years is up.  This gives the homeowners a chance to rebuild their FICO, stay in their home, refinance at the appropriate time and feel confidant the government has their best interests at heart.  I feel that this in itself is a subtle economic stimulus plan.   As the homeowners mortgages decrease, they put some of the money back into the economy in many ways; the auto industry for example.  Also, this plan would be good for those whose homes are not in foreclosure but could greatly benefit from lower interest rates as well.

    Mr. President, you have been emphatic about the amount of money we spend in Iraq every month; billions.  This is a country most of us will never visit but our money is going there in an attempt to restore some semblance of humanity in a society whose beliefs, ideals and values where life is concerned are so different from ours; you know, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Let’s spend some of it repairing a nation of people who do.

    Oh, and while I’m giving you my Christmas list, can we keep the gas prices down too?  This too, is an economic stimulus as those extra dollars pump money back into the economy no pun intendedJ

    Let me add, congratulations on “our” victory and God Bless You and Your Family.  We need to get to work as you know so please take this note to thought and make some considerations.

    Finally, Mr. President and First Lady, what can I do as an American citizen to help this country successfully rebuild?  What do you want from us, the American people, outside of patience, faith and trust?  I am ready to get busy.

    By the way, I will be in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration.  I don’t have a ticket but to just be there breathing the same air is enough for me!

    Ps. A Jack Russell Terrier, short hair, would be perfect.  They have a lot of energy, very smart and loyal.

     

    Respectfully yours,

     

    Ms. Piper R. Burks

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
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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

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    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

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    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
    

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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."

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

    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

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

    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-

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

    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.

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

    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.

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

    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

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

    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/

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

    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
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• Mom Teach Child 5 "F*ck 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)

    Terry Wise Ratland Ink Press Nov 14, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

    "West Side!!!"

    

    "East Side!!!"

    

    Life With The Secret Service

    

    The Obamas have a head start among First Families in learning to live with the Secret Service's constant presence.

    By Katie Paul | NEWSWEEK

    How would you feel if a frowning man in dark sunglasses and wires in his ears grabbed the back of your pants every time you walked into a crowd? That's just one of many less-than-enjoyable aspects of presidential life that the Obama family have been living with, ever since they were christened with their recently-released official Secret Service code names: Renegade (Barack), Renaissance (Michelle), Radiance (Malia), and Rosebud (Sasha).

    The Obamas have had some time to adjust; they have had a Secret Service detail since May 2007, the earliest one ever assigned to a presidential contender. The detail was assigned because of concerns that the African-American candidate might face greater dangers. Those concerns were not misplaced, as evidenced by the discovery of several plots to do the candidate harm this fall.

    Read More Here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/168899/page/1

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    O'Reilly devotes airtime to crazy 'f*ck Obama' video

    David Edwards and Muriel Kane

    Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly was in the uncharacteristic position on Wednesday of expressing dismay about an anti-Obama video which has appeared on YouTube and at a hip-hop website.
    
    In the portion of the video shown by O'Reilly, a young black woman is training a toddler to repeat, "Fuck Obama. He's not my president." She also states to the camera, "I don't consider him the first black president of the United States of America. ... He's the anti-Christ. ... He's not even black, he's a Muslim or Arab or whatever. His mother was white."
    
    The video appears at World Star Hip-Hop under the title "WTF: Psycho Mother Makes Her 5-Year-Old Daughter Say 'F*ck Obama'" and was apparently originally uploaded to YouTube.
    
    In her full rant, most of which was not shown by O'Reilly, the woman says, "He was put here as a plan. You think McCain didn't know that he was going to lose? Of course he did. Everyone that was in on the plan knew from day one that Barack was going to be president because it's a part of the bigger picture. ... You black people are being brainwashed. Everyone's being brainwashed. Even the white people are being brainwashed. ... He was just elected so that you stupid black people would think you're making a big change in the world, but you're not. ... He's the anti-Christ and world domination is upon us. Six, six, six, the Mark of the Beast."

    Read More Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/OReilly_gives_airtime_to_crazy_fck_1113.html

    Watch Uncensored Video Here:

    http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh2gbDPiuRR9GBHIwu

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

    Obama to deliver weekly address via YouTube

    The presidential radio address will be getting a well-deserved upgrade once Barack Obama is sworn into office next year. His weekly radio address will also be uploaded to YouTube for all of the Internet to see, according to the Washington Post.

    Read More Here: http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/obama-to-deliver-weekly-addres.html

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    Bush may be able to block subpoenas even after leaving office

    John Byrne

    President-Elect Obama seems tepid on investigating Bush

    

    President George W. Bush appears likely to claim executive privilege in blocking subpoenas after he leaves office, according to a report Wednesday.
    
    Three Congressional investigations into the President and his administration remain open. They include the role of Bush advisers Karl Rove and Harriet Miers in the firing of eight US attorneys, the prosecution of former Democratic Alabama Governor Don Siegelman and the torture of detainees held by US forces.
    
    But if Congress filed fresh subpoenas, Bush could file a court petition seeking exemption under executive privilege. President Harry Truman claimed privilege in 1953, a year after he left the Oval Office, and Congress eventually backed down.
    
    Moreover, President-Elect Barack Obama may actually stand in the way of Bush probes. All presidents generally try to preserve the powers of the presidency, and allowing release of information about his predecessor could subject Obama to unwelcome scrutiny after his own departure.

    Read More Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Bush_may_be_able_to_block_1113.html

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    President-Elect Obama On 60 Minutes Sunday

    Sits Down For His First Interview With Steve Kroft Since Election Day

    (CBS)   President-elect Barack Obama has agreed to give his first post-election interview to 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft. The interview includes future first lady Michelle Obama and is to take place on Friday, Nov. 14, in Chicago.
    
    The interview is scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
    
    60 Minutes has covered the campaign and the election closely. Most recently, Kroft and 60 Minutes cameras were with Obama's top aides on election night for a segment broadcast on last Sunday's 60 Minutes that drew 18.5 million viewers, ranking it America's number-one program for the week.
    
    Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain both appeared on 60 Minutes in separate exclusive interviews for a special one-hour broadcast of 60 Minutes on September 21. Kroft interviewed Obama and Scott Pelley spoke with McCain.

    Read More Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/13/60minutes/main4599840.shtml

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    In unprecedented move, Obama plans meeting with McCain

    Nick Juliano

    After a grueling campaign, former rivals Barack Obama and John McCain will sit down Monday to discuss how they can work together over the next four years in a meeting that virtually unprecedented.
    
    "It's well known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality," Obama-Biden transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter said in an e-mail.
    
    The meeting will be the first time the president-elect and Arizona senator have spoken since Election Night, a transition aide tells RAW STORY.
    
    The onetime rivals will be joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a close confidant of the former Republican presidential candidate, and Rahm Emanuel, Obama's new chief of staff. The two have a longstanding relationship and negotiated the terms of this year's presidential debates.

    Read More Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_McCain_to_meet_Monday_1114.html

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    Campaign Boogeyman William Ayers Talks to 'GMA'

    Chris Cuomo Grills '60s Radical Bill Ayers

     William Ayers, the 1960s radical whose violent history became a focal point in the 2008 presidential election, said today that the Republicans unfairly "demonized" him in an attempt to damage the campaign of President-elect Obama.

    Ayers defended his bomb-throwing past and repeated a statement that has infuriated his critics: "I don't think we did enough."

    The college professor also argued to "Good Morning America's" Chris Cuomo today that the bombing campaign by the Weather Underground, the group he helped found, was not terrorism.

    The Weather Underground bombed the Capitol, the Pentagon and the New York City Police Department in protest of the Vietnam War.

    "It's not terrorism because it doesn't target people, to kill or injure," Ayers said.

    Ayers became a boogeyman for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, who demanded to know more about Obama's relationship with his Chicago neighbor. Palin accused Obama of "palling around ... with a terrorist."

    Watch Video Here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6251086&page=1

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

    SC priest: No communion for Obama supporters

    By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press Writer

     COLUMBIA, S.C. – A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."

    The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

    "Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president," Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.

    Read More Here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_re_us/obama_catholics

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

    Israeli Blockade Creates Food Shortages in Gaza

    By Robert Berger

    A crippling Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip is creating food shortages. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

    A U.N. flour warehouse in Gaza is empty a week after Israel halted shipments in response to Palestinian rocket attacks. A warehouse containing canned meat is also about to run out of supplies, affecting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
    
    U.N. spokesman Chris Gunness condemned the rocket attacks.
    
    "They are an abomination and they have to stop," Gunness said.
    
    But he said cutting off food supplies is collective punishment.
    
    "We would love to see the borders open because you know, we have supplies going to blind children in Gaza; they are not firing rockets and they should not be punished," Gunness said.
    
    A wave of clashes during the past week is testing a five-month-old ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza.  

     
    Fighting erupted when Israel launched a cross-border raid to destroy a tunnel the army said was going to be used to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Seven Palestinian gunmen were killed in the raid. Hamas has retaliated with rocket and mortar fire.

    Read More Here: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-11-13-voa17.cfm

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

    Indictment Looms In Blackwater Shooting

    6 U.S. Security Guards Accused In Baghdad Shootings That Left 17 Iraqi Civilians Dead

    (AP)  Federal prosecutors have drafted an indictment against six Blackwater Worldwide security guards in last year's deadly Baghdad shootings of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.
    
    The draft is being reviewed by senior Justice Department officials but no charging decisions have been made. A decision is not expected until at least later this month, people close to the case said.
    
    Also still undecided is whether the Justice Department would charge the guards with manslaughter or assault, according to the people, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
    
    It's also possible that prosecutors ultimately will seek charges against as few as three of the guards, whose identities are still secret. Depending on the charges, an indictment would carry maximum sentences of five to 20 years.
    
    Read More Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/14/national/main4604344.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4604344

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

    Girl's lesson: Bias, like shirts, picked out at home

    Read yesterday's John Kass column on Catherine Vogt's t-shirt experiment

    John Kass

    Catherine Vogt—the brave 8th grader who used a T-shirt test to find out about political tolerance in Obamaland—is something of a celebrity now, thanks to you readers of this column.
    
    By the time you read this, she will have already finished a round of TV and radio interviews, including a PBS spot for a Philadelphia station. It's all somewhat unsettling for a 14-year-old girl who had important high school entrance exams Thursday and a tryout for "The Music Man" at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School in Oak Park.
    
    "Well, a lot of people came up to me and told me that they saw me in the paper, and my teacher told me that a lot of people were telling her 'Way to go, way to support your student' and everything," Catherine told me Thursday. "It's been very exciting and hectic too."
    
    The Catherine Vogt Experiment on Diversity of Thought took place before the presidential election. She shared her idea secretly with her history teacher, Norma Cassin-Pountney.

    Catherine wore a McCain shirt one day and secretly recorded the comments of teachers and students in her journal. The next day, she wore an Obama shirt and also recorded the comments.
    
    Her findings?
    
    Read More Here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-14-nov14,0,3405674.column

    And Here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-13-nov13,0,2881384.column

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

    U. of Texas Player Kicked Off Team For Racially Charged Threats On Obama

    By Logan Murphy 

     This story has little to do with sports, although you wouldn't know it from reading this article. Former center for the University of Texas Longhorns, Buck Burnette, made a racially charged threat against the president-elect of our nation and is lucky he only got kicked off his school's football team and didn't land himself in jail. The article brings up valid points about social networking sites and their potential pitfalls, but the real story here is about a racist pig who threatened our soon-to-be president.

    AUSTIN — A template on facebook.com asks, “What are you doing right now?” An ill-advised response led to Buck Burnette’s expulsion from the University of Texas football team.

    What began as a private text-message exchange on Election Night between Burnette and a friend soon became available for anybody with a computer to see.

    In the status update section of his Facebook page, Burnette posted, “All the hunters gather up, we have a (slur) in the White House,” in reference to Obama’s becoming the first African-American elected to the presidency. Burnette said the comment was a text message he received from a friend and that he exercised bad judgment posting it on his page. He later apologized in a written note that was read by Brown during a team meeting. Read on...

    Why is this bigot still a student at the University of Texas? My guess is that if he weren't a starting player for a nationally ranked football program he would already have been expelled and thrown out on his ass. People have been expelled for less, and I'm curious to know if the Secret Service has investigated the incident.

    Watch Video Here:  http://www.keyetv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=BAB78BA0-108A-423A-9802-AB706E2FD0CA&gsa=true

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

    Palin Trashes Media, Moments After Proclaiming Her ‘Respect’ For ‘The Profession’

    Katie Couric told Page Six recently that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) “should keep her head down, work really hard and learn about governing.” On Larry King Live last night, Palin responded to Couric’s remark by thanking her for the advice, claiming she wouldn’t offer Couric any advice in return because of her “respect” for the media. However, she then proceeded to trash the media as biased and unfair:

    PALIN: Well, thank you, Katie Couric, for your advice. And I won’t reciprocate in giving her any advice, that’s for sure, because I have respect for her and the profession that she is in. I would have greater respect though for the entire profession called mainstream media if we could have great assurance that there is fairness, that there is objectivity throughout the reporting world.

     Watch Video Here: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/13/palin-couric-king/

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

    The Daily Show: The Biggest Election '08 Losers

     Jon Stewart lampooned this election season's "Biggest Losers" during his program earlier this week. Stewart highlighted the many follow-up interviews given by John McCain and Sarah Palin, in which both candidates attempted to improve their somewhat tarnished images with mixed results.

    Watch Here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081201/losers_video

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

    Waiting

    

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Callie Shell, who took this photo, describes the scene:

    Waiting: Obama listens from a back stairwell as he is introduced in Muscatine, Iowa. It was his second or third speech of the day. Unlike many of the politicians I have photographed in the past, I find it is easy to get a photograph of Obama alone. He lets his staff do their jobs and not fuss over him. Nov. 7, 2007.

    There's many more photos by Shell at digitaljournalist.org.

     

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

    Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State?

     There are numerous reports tonight that Hillary Clinton may be under consideration for Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

    From the Washington Post:

    There's increasing chatter in political circles that the Obama camp is not overly happy with the usual suspects for secretary of state these days and that the field might be expanding somewhat beyond Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and maybe former Democratic senator Sam Nunn of Georgia.

    
    There's talk, indeed, that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) may now be under consideration for the post. Her office referred any questions to the Obama transition; Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to comment.

     

    And NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports:

    Two Obama advisers have told NBC News that Hillary Clinton is under consideration to be secretary of state. Would she be interested? Those who know Clinton say possibly. But her office says that any decisions about the transition are up to the president-elect and his team.

    
    Clinton was seen taking a flight to Chicago today, but an adviser says it was on personal business. It is unknown whether she had any meeting or conversation with Obama while there.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/13/hillary-clinton-secretary_n_143735.html

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

    Sarah Palin Baffles Reporters By Rehashing Stump Speech At RGA Conference

     Sarah Palin said today that she doesn't want to comment on the strategy behind the McCain/Palin campaign now that it's over, which is too bad, because that's basically the only thing (besides her aspirations for 2012, and snow machines) that anyone wants to talk to her about. BUT! That doesn't mean she's ready to give up on the stock stump speech she gave over and over again on the trail, though, apparently to the utter bafflement of reporters who are, by now, really bored to tears with the travails of Tito The Builder.

    Jonathan Capehart told MSNBC's David Shuster, "I watched her entire speech, and I had to remind myself that the election was a week ago, and this was not a McCain/Palin rally." Is that crazy white-haired lady who thought Obama was "an Arab" a Republican Governor? Probably! "Everything you heard at a McCain/Palin rally since she was selected as the Vice Presidential nominee since September, and even down to the same rhetoric was in that speech," said Capehart.

    Jonathan Martin added that Palin's speech was "perplexing" and "jarring," which are the two nicest things ever said about a Palin speech. He added that he wasn't "sure if she wanted to, you know, re-litigate the past campaign or look forward and diagnose where the party should go from here. And it was sort of a little bit of both, but also neither."

    Capehart added, "She needs to stop." And, according to David Shuster, 52% of people polled agree that it's time for Sarah Palin to go home. By contrast, 45% say they can't get enough of her. Funny how those numbers seem to correspond with another large accounting of the American electorate that was recently taken!

    Watch Video Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/13/sarah-palin-baffles-repor_n_143620.html

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

    FBI joins investigation of Klan initiation death

     COVINGTON, Louisiana (CNN) -- A woman recruited over the Internet and shot to death during a Ku Klux Klan group's initiation rite felt a need to be wanted and was eager to be part of a group, authorities say family members told them.

    Her relatives told investigators that Cynthia Lynch, 43, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had never been outside her home state, said Capt. George Bonnett of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Department.

    But she recently traveled to Louisiana for the Klan initiation ceremony and was taken to a campsite in the woods near Sun, Louisiana, about 60 miles north of New Orleans. Bonnett and Sheriff Jack Strain gave CNN this account of what happened:

    During the rite, members of the Klan group, which calls itself the Sons of Dixie, shaved Lynch's head. When she asked to be taken to a nearby town, an argument began and the group's leader, Chuck Foster, allegedly shot her to death without warning.

    Lynch wanted to leave the campsite because she was homesick, investigators concluded after talking to Lynch's family in Tulsa.

    Read More Here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/13/klan.slaying/index.html

    Watch Video Here:

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/13/klan.slaying/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

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

    Crowd of 1 million could attend Obama Inauguration 

    WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration is expected to draw 1 million-plus to the capital, and already some lawmakers have stopped taking ticket requests and hotels have booked up.

    Some people are bartering on Craigslist for places to stay for the Jan. 20 ceremony when the Illinois senator takes the oath of office. They are offering cash or even help with dishes for residents willing to open up their homes.

    The National Park Service, which is planning for an inaugural crowd of at least 1 million, will clear more viewing space along the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route. Jumbo TV screens will line the National Mall so people can watch the inauguration and parade, park service spokesman David Barna said Thursday.

    The District of Columbia's delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, is urging planners to use arenas and stadiums to help with overflow crowds wanting to view the ceremonies on big-screen TVs. She is also urging churches to hold viewing parties.

    Read More Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/13/obamas-inauguration-may-d_n_143698.html

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

    The Color of Change

    Obama's Victory Is a Sign of Racial Progress on Multiple Levels

    By KI MAE HEUSSNER
    

     In the days leading up to the election, Tracy Rector, 37, wore a button emblazoned with the message: "I'm Indian and I vote."

    That simple statement belies a complex heritage that spans no fewer than four continents. But, for the sake of convenience, the Seattle mother of two was willing to let brevity trump accuracy.

    Her 13-year-old son, however, wasn't.

    "Where do I get a button that says, 'I'm Cuban, French, Sicilian, Native American, African-American, Irish, Mexican, Hungarian and Scottish ... and I vote?'" Rector's son Chai asked her.

    As Barack Obama's profile soared, she said, so too did her sons' eagerness to embrace and identify with every piece of the racial whole they inherited from both of their parents.

    "[Chai] feels as if his peers treat him differently because the most powerful person in the world is a person of color," Rector told ABCNews.com.

    But Obama's victory isn't only significant because it provides a new generation of mixed race Americans with a powerful role model and a relatable story of growing up with multiple loyalties.

    His example, as a man with both black and white parents, gives a country, too comfortable with a rigid approach to race, a new opportunity to examine the outdated color lines and social pressures that define, in many ways, all of its people.

    "I think it's time for the conversation to open in this country," Rector said. "Things aren't just black and white; there's gray in that middle ground and it's very fruitful. For us to have a president who is biracial and multicultural, it's going to bring to light for many people a deeper understanding of race."

    Read More Here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6249150&page=1

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

    Commentary: Letter to Obama on the Muslim world

    By Arsalan Iftikhar
    Special to CNN

     Editor's Note: Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of www.TheMuslimGuy.com and contributing editor for Islamica Magazine in Washington. This is one in a series of letters to the new president that will appear on CNN.com in the next several weeks.

    (CNN) -- First of all, as one of more than 66 million Americans of all races, religions and ethnicities who voted for you, your electoral victory was one of the proudest moments of our collective lives.

    As our American political history witnessed the magnitude of our nation's first African-American president, our society was also able to collectively (and finally) exhale, knowing that the mailbox at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. would now read "Obama" instead of "Bush."

    With hardly a moment's rest, as you transition toward Inauguration Day, our nation (and the rest of the world) will not wait for long before seeking your leadership on many pressing global issues.

    From an economic recessionary mess to a perpetually broken health care system with 46 million American neighbors as uninsured casualties, your soon-to-be administration will face some monumental domestic and foreign policy issues that will affect us for generations.

    From an ill-conceived war in Iraq to an oft-forgotten war in Afghanistan, from global flashpoints from Tel Aviv to Islamabad, your diplomatic and political interaction with the Muslim world may decide the success (or failure) of your foreign policy legacy.

    Your unenviable task will be to undo the catastrophic policies of George W. Bush and his fellow neoconservative ideologues, facing the specter of al Qaeda's sinister terrorism while undertaking public diplomacy efforts addressing anti-Americanism around the world.

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

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    From a War Zone to Stateside Nightmare

    Recruiters Describe Brutal Working Conditions They Say Led to Soldier Suicides

     Staff Sgt. Nils Aron Andersson was a newlywed of just a few hours and had completed his first counseling session when he shot himself atop a parking garage.

    Staff Sgt. Patrick Henderson had made plans with his wife and stepson to go fishing the night he hanged himself in his shed.

    Now their friends and family members are speaking out against the job they say led the men to kill themselves -- recruiting for the Army.

    The families have said high-pressure, sometimes abusive tactics used on recruiters combined with lingering combat-related mental health problems drove the soldiers to suicide. There have been four suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion alone, including three in the past 18 months.

    The allegations have led one senator to call for an investigation into whether the military is covering up a "toxic" work environment.

    The Army has launched an internal investigation into the Houston allegations, but spokesmen for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command and the Army itself did not respond to the specific charges raised by the friends and relatives of the recruiters who committed suicide, saying the investigation is a response in itself.

    Read More Here: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6239531&page=1

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

    Did 'American Idol' Play Part in Former Contestant's Death?

     When the body of a former “American Idol” contestant who was obsessed with Paula Abdul was found outside the "Idol" judge's home Tuesday, several reports suggested that the woman's harsh rejection during her audition on the show may have sparked the downward spiral that ended in her apparent suicide.

    But neither the “Idol” judges nor the show are to blame, a well-known psychiatrist told FOXNews.com.

    “Goodspeed’s apparent suicide was certainly not just because of her experience on ‘American Idol’” said Dr. Keith Ablow, a FOX News contributor, pointing to the likelihood that Paula Goodspeed, 30, suffered from several other serious mental health issues that led to her death.

    “It’s certainly possible that someone who is emotionally vulnerable could be deeply injured by a perceived failure in the public eye,” Ablow said. “But her apparent suicide was certainly not just because of her experience on the show.”

    Read More Here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451524,00.html

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

    Shaquille O'Neal's hero gives abuse victims a way out

     LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Volunteering with local law enforcement, Shaquille O'Neal has learned from his peers that domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous for police officers.

    "[It's] a very disturbing thing," said the NBA star, who has dealt mainly with children's cases. "I don't really think a lot of women know what to do."

    That's where Karen Earl comes in.

    As executive director of the Jenesse Center, the oldest domestic violence intervention program in south central Los Angeles, California, Earl is a "tireless and fearless" champion of women and children living in abusive situations, O'Neal said.

    The Phoenix Suns center called Earl "the pillow of women's society."

    For more than two decades, Earl has helped give victims a way out through the Jenesse Center, which provides shelter, education, outreach and legal services to more than 8,500 victims of domestic violence every year.

    "Thank God for Miss Earl," O'Neal said. "She takes women that have been involved in domestic abuse situations and gives them a place to come rest their head."

    According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year, and one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

    Earl has heard countless stories of domestic abuse and has seen a range of tipping points before victims seek help. She is working to lower these statistics.

    She recalled one woman whose husband beat her with an iron; for another, "the beatings were standard, but when he sold their refrigerator and she couldn't keep her baby's milk cold anymore, she knew it was time to go."

    Watch Video and Read More Here:

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/11/13/heroes.oneal.earl/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/11/13/heroes.oneal.earl/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCText

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

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

    Could You Pass Obama's Background Check?

    President-Elect Tries To Weed Out Controversial Candidates

    Applicants for President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet get ready to chronicle your life story.

     Those interested in joining Obama's administration have to pass an extensive background test.

     The Obama transition team is sending a seven-page, 63-item questionnaire to every candidate for Cabinet and other high-ranking positions in the incoming administration.

     It includes requests for personal and professional records, some covering applicants’ spouses and grown children as well.

     Obama wants applicants to “list all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet,” and asks people to include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their Facebook.com pages.

     Hoping to weed out anyone with ties to companies at the center of the $700 billion bailout, question 18 of the Obama application asks whether “you, your spouse or any member of your immediate family” have been affiliated with Fannie, Freddie, American International Group, Washington Mutual and any other institution getting a government bailout.

     “President-elect Obama made a commitment to change the way Washington does business, and the vetting process exemplifies that,” Stephanie Cutter, chief spokeswoman for the Obama transition office, told the New York Times.

     Traffic fines of $50 and less don't have to be reported.

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• Farrakhan Says Obama 'New Begi

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

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

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    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

     

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    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

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    Obama's Life In Photos

    

     

     

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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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/

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    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

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    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!

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    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
    

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    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

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  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
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• Slavery Was Better Than Welfar

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Scott Stantis Birmingham News Nov 8, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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    A Night To Remember:
    Video Highlights From Tuesday

    Sarah Palin: I can see a landslide from my house.

    

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qiRwCuQmZA

    
    OBAMA BACKSTAGE election night photos posted on Flickr.

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

    Obama Election Night Backstage Photos (SLIDESHOW)

    Huffington Post   |   November 7, 2008 02:02 PM
    
    

    The Obama campaign has posted photos on Flickr of the Obama campaign and family on election night, watching the results backstage and celebrating. Sasha, Malia, Michelle, Jill and Joe Biden, Plouffe, Gibbs and Axelrod all make an appearance. Not to be missed:

    Go Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/07/obama-election-night-back_n_142161.html
    

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    Calls for inauguration tickets through the roof

    By Lolly Bowean |Tribune reporter

    
    

    
    

    
    

    There have been calls from forgotten childhood classmates, from long-gone girlfriends and boyfriends, and even from the widows of deceased Chicago icons.
    
    In the three days since the election of Barack Obama, the demand for tickets to Inauguration Day events has been unprecedented, local congressional officials said.
    
    "It's crazy," said Sharon Jenkins, spokeswoman for Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). "We're in a unique moment in U.S. history. Every day under Obama's administration is a first, and people want to be a part of it."

    Read More Here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-obama-tickets-08-nov08,0,1861618.story

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    Before Obama, There Was Bill Cosby

    By TIM ARANGO
    Published: November 7, 2008

    NYT_INLINE_IMAGE_POSITION1

    

    
    

    Bill Cosby with Tempestt Bledsoe, left, and Keshia Knight Pulliam as his daughters in a 1986 episode of “The Cosby Show.”

    Some theorists argue that political and social change is preceded by shifts in popular culture. So it’s not surprising that the debate has heated up over who, or what, in arts and entertainment presaged Barack Obama’s election as president.

    Many ideas have ricocheted around academia and the blogosphere — from Oprah Winfrey to Tiger Woods to Will Smith to “The West Wing,” to the many actors who have played black presidents, among them Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock (although not that many people actually saw Mr. Rock’s film “Head of State”).

    But one idea seems to be gaining traction, and improbably it has Bill Cosby and Karl Rove in agreement: “The Cosby Show,” which began on NBC in 1984 and depicted the Huxtables, an upwardly mobile black family — a departure from the dysfunction and bickering that had characterized some previous shows about black families — had succeeded in changing racial attitudes enough to make an Obama candidacy possible.

    Read More Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/arts/television/08cosb.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

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    Oprah to Palin: Stop by any time

     A couple of months ago, there was a media kerfuffle when Oprah Winfrey said she would not have Gov. Sarah Palin on the show during the election.

    Now that the election is over, the door is open to the former vice presidential candidate. A representative for Oprah's talk show said that "we have extended an invitation" to the Alaska governor.
    
    There's no word yet on whether Oprah, a prominent Obama supporter, has received a yea or nay from the camp of Palin, who is still much in the news as a candidate for 2012 and as a controversial figure even within the McCain campaign.

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

    Wingnut revisionism: Oh, that ole time slavery was so much better than welfare

    By David Neiwert Friday Nov 07, 2008 7:14pm
    
    
    Summary: On The War Room with Quinn & Rose (http://www.warroom.com/), Jim Quinn said: "You know, if you were a slave in the old South, what did you get as a slave? You got free room and board, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children because that was just, you know, tomorrow's slave. ... Can I ask a question? How's that different from welfare? You get a free house, you get free food, and you get rewarded for having children. Oh, wait a minute, hold on a second. There is a difference: The slave had to work for it."
    

    Listen Here: http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/wingnut-revisionism-oh-ole-time-slav

    Jim Quinn yesterday on The War Room with Quinn & Rose:

    You know, I was thinking about this. You know, if you were a slave in the old South, what did you get as a slave? You got free room and board, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children because that was just, you know, tomorrow's slave. So, you got a free house, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children. Can I ask a question? How's that different from welfare? You get a free house, you get free food, and you get rewarded for having children. Oh, wait a minute, hold on a second. There is a difference: The slave had to work for it.

    Yeah, that was the difference. Right.

    This raises the question: Are the wingnuts coming so unhinged they are losing any contact with reality?

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

    More Bodies Found In Haitian School Rubble

    Toll Of Children, Teachers Killed In Building Collapse Raised To 75; More May Be Trapped

    (CBS/AP)  sphereit start The mayor of Petionville said the death toll now stands at 75 from the collapse of a school in Haiti after crews uncovered a classroom filled with students and a teacher.
    
    Claire Lydie Parent told The Associated Press that at least 17 students were found crushed on Saturday as crews continue to search for victims.
    
    Authorities said there may have been hundreds of students in La Promesse school when the concrete building collapsed Friday. Rescuers used bare hands to pull bleeding students from the wreckage.
    
    Underneath the massive pile of concrete are children, possibly 300 or more, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.
    
    The school came down late in the morning while students from kindergarten to high school age were going to class, reports Cobiella.
    
    At least 39 bodies were brought to the morgue at Port-au-Prince's General Hospital, Haitian police spokesman Garry Desrosier said.
    
    Another eight people died in a trauma center run by the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, spokesman Francois Servranckx said. More than 80 others were being treated for injuries by the aid group.
    
    Rescuers worked furiously through the night under floodlights to pull children from the wreckage and give water to those still stuck in the rubble. Thousands looked on from beside the school and across the valley, cheering each time a live student emerged.
    
    But the rescue effort was chaotic and disorganized from the start. The throngs of grieving and screaming onlookers made it impossible for U.N. peacekeepers, Red Cross workers and Haitian authorities to bring trucks and heavy equipment for much of the afternoon.

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/08/world/main4585742.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4585742

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    Ashville N.C. School teacher browbeats student over being a McCain supporter

    Teacher Diantha Harris browbeats McCain supporting student, Kathy,in Ashville N.Carolina grade school. The poor girl is obviously distressed over the teacher's line of questiong and belittling her choice of candidate in front of her school mates.

    Watch it Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDEAYgm0Dv8

    Superintendent William C. Harrison responds to YouTube video of political discussion between teacher and students.

    Watch it Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9ta9XKQXgE&watch_response
    

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

    Fears of Democrat crackdown lead to gun sales boom 

    By DENA POTTER

    Associated Press Writer

    MIDLOTHIAN, Va. (AP) -- When 10-year-old Austin Smith heard Barack Obama had been elected president, he had one question: Does this mean I won't get a new gun for Christmas?

    That brought his mother, the camouflage-clad Rachel Smith, to Bob Moates Sports Shop on Thursday, where she was picking out that special 20-gauge shotgun - one of at least five weapons she plans to buy before Obama takes office in January.

    Like Smith, gun enthusiasts nationwide are stocking up on firearms out of fears that the combination of an Obama administration and a Democrat-dominated Congress will result in tough new gun laws.

    "I think they're going to really try to crack down on guns and make it harder for people to try to purchase them," said Smith, 32, who taught all five of her children - ages 4 to 10 - to shoot because the family relies on game for food.

    Last month, as an Obama win looked increasingly inevitable, there were more than 108,000 more background checks for gun purchases than in October 2007, a 15 percent increase. And they were up about 8 percent for the year as of Oct. 26, according to the FBI.

    No data was available for gun purchases this week, but gun shops from suburban Virginia to the Rockies report record sales since Tuesday's election.

    Read More Here: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_GUN_SALES?SITE=AP

    Watch Video Here: http://video.ap.org/v/Default.aspx?partner=en-ap&g=347db720-1bf8-4118-89c3-575047cff41d&t=m318&p=ENAPus_ENAPus&f=AP&

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

    Mississippi students told not to say Obama's name

    David Edwards and Muriel Kane
    Published: Friday November 7, 2008

    A controversy has erupted at a Mississippi junior high school over allegations that a bus driver and a coach threatened students with punishment for saying Barack Obama's name.
    
    The incidents became public when outraged parents called the studios of WAPT news in Pearl, Miss. Some said their children were threatened by a bus driver with being written up and taken to the principal's office, others that their children were told by a girls' basketball coach they would be suspended.
    
    Reginald Simpson, a student at Pearl Junior High, explained that when students on the bus started saying, "Obama is our president," the bus driver told them she didn't want to hear his name. One kid said, "This is history woman," and according to Simpson, "She pulled over and kicked me and the kid off the bus." They were left waiting at the high school and later taken to their own school.
    
    "They feel like they afraid to say who our president is, cause they afraid they going to be in trouble," Reginald's mother Canishia told WAPT. "We teach our kids not to be racist, and here it is going on. I just feel hurt by it."
    
    The Simpson family is black. However, another mother whose son was on the bus and who also plans to confront school officials about the incident is white. "This is what the whole election was about," Venus Neagu told WAPT. "It was supporting someone. And now that they've done it and they're on the school bus, now they're getting consequences for it."
    
    School officials reviewed video from the bus and promised that no students would be punished. The superintendent released a statement saying, "It appears that some persons, out of disappointment and disillusionment with the election may have been so frustrated that they said something inappropriate to students. We have taken appropriate steps with the bus driver and the coach."

    Watch Video Here: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Students_asked_not_to_say_Obamas_1107.html

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

    Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal

    New Obama Chief of Staff, Others on Board, Missed "Red Flags" of Alleged Fraud Scheme

    By BRIAN ROSS and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
    November 7, 2008
    
    

    President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency and the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports reviewed by ABCNews.com.

    

    President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of...

    President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency and the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports reviewed by ABCNews.com.

    According to a complaint later filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Freddie Mac, known formally as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, misreported profits by billions of dollars in order to deceive investors between the years 2000 and 2002.

    Emanuel was not named in the SEC complaint (click here to read) but the entire board was later accused by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) (click here to read) of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention."

    Read More Here: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6201900&page=1

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    Obama apologizes to Nancy Reagan for seance remark

    CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama called Nancy Reagan on Friday to apologize for a remark about seances he made during his first news conference earlier in the day.

    startclickprintexclude PURGE: /2008/POLITICS/11/07/obama.seance/art.obama.afp.gi.jpg KEEP

    

     

    When a reporter asked Obama if he had spoken with any ex-presidents since his election on Tuesday, he responded that he had spoken to all former presidents "that are living."

    "I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances," he said.

    Nancy Reagan, wife of 40th President Ronald Reagan, was derided in 1988 when his former chief of staff Donald Regan revealed in a book that the first lady had consulted an astrologer to determine the president's schedule.

    Obama apologized to Reagan "for the careless and offhanded remark," Obama transition team spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said. Watch Obama make the seance remark »

    "The president-elect expressed his admiration and affection for Mrs. Reagan that so many Americans share and they had a warm conversation," Cutter said.

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

    'Mutts like me' shows Obama's racial comfort

    Analysis: Offhanded remark indicates his different approach to race

    

    Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
    President-elect Barack Obama took questions on a range of subjects at his first post-election press conference on Friday.
    By Alan Fram

    

    updated less than 1 minute ago function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('633617706796970000');

    WASHINGTON - It popped out casually, a throwaway line as he talked to reporters about finding the right puppy for his young daughters.

    But with just three offhanded words in his first news conference as president-elect, Barack Obama reminded everyone how thoroughly different his administration — and inevitably, this country — will be.

    "Mutts like me."

    Read More and Watch Video Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27606637/

     

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

    US judge denies Simpson's request for new trial

    Agence France-Presse
    Published: Friday November 7, 2008

    LAS VEGAS (AFP) — A Las Vegas judge has rejected former US football star OJ Simpson's request for a new trial after he was convicted in October for robbing two sports memorabilia collectors.
    
    Nevada judge Jackie Glass said Simpson and co-defendant Clarence Stewart had not made strong enough arguments to merit a new hearing.
    
    Simpson, 61, whose trial for the brutal 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman ended up in his acquittal, was found guilty on October 4 of 12 charges in the armed robbery and kidnapping of the two collectors in the Las Vegas Palace Station casino on September 13, 2007.
    
    Simpson and Stewart both face life in prison, and their sentences in the case are scheduled to be handed down on December 5.
    
    Simpson's acquittal in the racially charged 1995 Los Angeles murder trial was greeted with widespread outrage across the United States.
    
    The 1970s professional football hero has always vehemently denied murdering his former wife and her friend.
    
    But he was found liable for the deaths in a 1997 civil suit and was ordered to pay damages to the victims' families totaling 33.5 million dollars. He has repeatedly said he will not pay the settlement.

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

    New Army Recruiting Tactic: Obama will "Get Us Out of Iraq"

    by: Brandon Friedman

    Well that didn't take long.  Polls across America had been closed for less than 24 hours and Army Career Counselors were already exploiting Barack Obama's victory in an effort to recruit former soldiers back into units.  This email was forwarded to me by an Iraq veteran and former Army captain who received it on Wednesday Read it Here:

    http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2148

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

    Obama not to attend G20 summit

    Agence France-Presse
    Published: Friday November 7, 2008

    WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President-elect Barack Obama will not be attending a summit of world leaders for economic crisis talks in Washington next week, his spokeswoman said Friday.
    
    Obama's transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter confirmed the president-elect would not be attending the upcoming summit.
    
    "As he said himself, there is only one president at a time," she told reporters after Obama's first post-election news conference in Chicago.
    
    Earlier the White House confirmed it did not expect Obama to take a seat at the talks on November 15.
    
    "We are in communication and coordination with them. I don't know whether someone will actually be in the building. I don't expect in the room," spokesman Tony Fratto said of Obama's economic team.

    But Fratto pledged close cooperation with the president-elect's economic advisers on the best way to respond to the global financial meltdown in order to avoid sending "confusing signals" to international markets.
    
    "We look forward to hearing their views on how to deal with these issues which are going to go on for some time," the spokesman said one week before outgoing US President George W. Bush hosts the summit.
    
    Obama is keen not to trample on the sitting president's authority. But his aides are also leery of becoming too closely associated with the outgoing administration's 700-billion-dollar banking bailout, which remains unpopular among many voters, sources said.
    
    The November 15 talks will bring together leaders of the Group of 20 rich countries and major developing economies to discuss cooperative measures for responding to the global economic meltdown and ways to prevent future crises.
    
    The G20 includes the seven major industrialized nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and the United States -- plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.
    
    It also takes in the 27-nation European Union, represented by France, which holds the rotating EU presidency. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank also participate in its meetings.

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

    Palin on the media: ‘There have been some stinkers.’

    By Faiz Shakir

    Sarah Palin stopped tonight to answer a few questions from the Alaskan press in an attempt to dispel some of the recent damaging media reports about her involvement in the McCain campaign. “I know that I know that I know that there was nothing done wrong in the campaign,” she said. Palin complained that the other 49 states “aren’t quite there” like Alaska because they don’t allow the same “equal opportunities and equal treatment.” She then argued that, while has been some “fairness and objectivity” by some in the media, “there have been some stinkers.”

    Defending the purchase of her fancy, expensive clothes during the campaign, she claimed, “I never asked for anything more than maybe a Diet Dr. Pepper once in a while.”

    Watch Keith Olbermann’s report Here:http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/07/palin-stinkers/

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

    Truth!: Palin 'One Step' From Stealing

    NEWSWEEK's Katie Connolly and Evan Thomas on the real story behind Sarah Palin's shopping spree (Reporter: Suzanne Smalley; Producer/Camera: Ira Spitzer, Lee Wang; Editor: Lee Wang).

    Watch It Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OavoTPttLK0

                             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvVhKghAX0
    

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

    Focus On The Family Compares Obama To Nazis

    By Cernig Friday Nov 07, 2008 9:00am

    Two days after Obama and the Democratic Party won a ringing 7 million refusal of rightwing fearmongering and hate, the extreme right are unrepentant and none the wiser. Smintheus at Unbossed writes:

    This evening James Dobson's Focus on the Family Action sent out a fundraising email to members that likened the victories of Barack Obama and congressional Democrats in Tuesday's election to the Nazi bombing of England during World War II. The author of this vile letter is Tom Minnery, Senior Vice President of Focus on the Family Action. It was nearly inevitable that anger over losing the 2008 election would soon provoke right-wing extremists to violate Godwin's Law. Obama's victory in Colorado may have been particularly galling for the Colorado Springs based Focus on the Family, which has been heavily involved in the political campaign this year advocating for conservative issues. James Dobson personally endorsed the McCain-Palin ticket this fall.

    Focus on the Family has not so far posted this hateful fundraising letter on the web. Here is the opening section of the letter:

    Dear Friend,

    The spirit of Winston Churchill was alive and well on Tuesday night at Focus on the Family Action headquarters.

    You may recall that in the most desperate days of World War II – when Great Britain was being pounded daily by Hitler’s Luftwaffe – that Winston Churchill called on his countrymen not to despair from danger but to rise to the challenge.

    It goes on in exactly the same vein, saying that:

    Our nation has never faced the kind of anti-family, pro-abortion assault that we’re likely to see in the coming weeks and months. We don’t have to guess what the Left will do now that they control Congress and the White House; they’ve told us.

    What are FoF so upset about? Freedom of choice, freedom of marriage and legislation to combat discrimination against gays in the workplace. The last, according to FoF, will be an assault on FoF members' religious freedom. Nice of them to state so clearly that theirs is a path of bigotry.

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

    Carroll named first black speaker of Colo. House

    
    

    By STEVEN K. PAULSON
    Associated Press Writer

    Published: Thursday, November 6, 2008 2:35 PM MST
    DENVER | Democratic Rep. Terrance Carroll was chosen Thursday to be the new speaker of the Colorado House, the first black named to the position.
    

    
    The Denver lawmaker was nominated by majority Democrats on Thursday and will be formally elected by the full House in January, when the next session convenes.
    
    Ratification is usually unanimous. It would be the first time the state has black leaders in both houses after Senate President Peter Groff re-nominated to that position on Thursday.
    
    "It just shows how, with the selection of Sen. Groff and president-elect Barack Obama, that there are no limits to what we can do. It really shows we made significant progress, but there is still much work to be done," Carroll said.
    
    It was a bittersweet day for House Democrats, who also said goodbye to Rep. Bernie Buescher, a Western Slope Democrat who was expected to be the next speaker before he suffered a surprising defeat in Tuesday's election.
    Read More Here:http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2008/11/06/news/state_and_region/doc49136317501a3340850067.txt
    

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

    2 baggage handlers arrested at LAX

    8:16 p.m. November 7, 2008

     

    LOS ANGELES – Two baggage handlers are accused of stealing $10,000 and hundreds of items from luggage at the Los Angeles International Airport.

    KCBS-TV reported Friday that Roman Jaime and Carlos Garcia were arrested Oct. 30 on the tarmac. Police recovered 272 items at their homes, including purses, cameras, computers and cash.

    Police say undercover officers became suspicious of the pair because many of the flights they worked had reports of thefts from baggage.

    LAX police would not elaborate on the case Friday night and it was not immediately clear if either suspect had an attorney.

    Lara Uselding, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, says more than 460 transportation security officers nationwide have been fired for theft since May 2003. She says that represents 0.4 percent of the agency's workers.

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

    "Irrelevant"

    By John Amato Friday Nov 07, 2008 2:00pm

    Thanks for the memories, but you were all completely "Irrelevant" during the historic victory that Barack Obama achieved during 2008 Presidential election. All your smears failed to change the course of history.

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    (The list keeps growing. More below the fold.)

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    "Irrelevant"

    

    Kudos to all. Thanks to you, conservatism itself is now ... Irrelevant.

    P.S. (Starchild) But still ones to keep one eye on- remember their faces!!!

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

    No Thanks for the Memories

    With his days in office coming to an end, we look back at some of Georgie Boy’s finest moments.

    

     

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 358

• Obama Inauguration Tickets

  • From: Dollbaby60
  • Description:

    Hi Tom,

    Please post information on how to obtain tickets to the Obama Inauguration. I was told that tickets would be on Ticketmaster but they don't have any information posted. I also read on celebrity news that you have to ask your congressional representative to obtain a ticket for you. I was a phone bank volunteer and I have also asked our field coordinator to provide information. Please let your viewers know the truth so scam artists don't take advantage of people.

     

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 159
  • Not yet rated

• 1 November - 9:30 PM

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    Daily Cartoon

    (click here to view)

    Scott Stantis Birmingham News Nov 1, 2008 EditorialCartoonists.com

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

    Saying Goodbye To The Winkers

    The Jed Report

    
    

    
    

     

     

     

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

    McCain supporter turns away children of Obama supporters during trick-or-treat

    Diane Sweet - Raw Story.com
    Published: Saturday November 1, 2008

    A Metro-Detroit Michigan woman refused to give candy on Halloween to children of Barack Obama supporters.
    
    Shirley Nagel of Grosse Pointe Farms gave out treats Friday evening, but only to those who share her support of John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin.
    
    Fox 2 News reports a sign posted outside Nagel's house, about 12 miles west of Detroit, served notice to all trick-or-treaters. It read: "No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters."
    
    Nagel told a Fox 2 reporter that "Obama's scary." When asked about children who'd been turned away empty-handed and crying, she said: "Oh well. Everybody has a choice."
    
    The following video is the Halloween night report live from the home of the McCain supporter who turned away sad, crying children and toddlers.

    SEE VIDEO HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NGAYR7RHfQ

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

    Obama Congratulates McCain On Dick The VP's Support

    In his prepared remarks for Pueblo, Colorado, Barack Obama saluted John McCain for earning the support of Dick Cheney:

    President Bush is sitting out the last few days before the election. But earlier today, Dick Cheney came out of his undisclosed location and hit the campaign trail. He said that he is, and I quote, "delighted to support John McCain."
    
    I'd like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn't come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 percent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it. He served as Washington's biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq, and supports economic policies that are no different from the last eight years. So Senator McCain worked hard to get Dick Cheney's support.
    
    But here's my question for you, Colorado: do you think Dick Cheney is delighted to support John McCain because he thinks John McCain's going to bring change? Do you think John McCain and Dick Cheney have been talking about how to shake things up, and get rid of the lobbyists and the old boys club in Washington?

    Watch the Endorsement HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Y8n9FWz4E

     

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

    Anti Muslim Prostester at Obama Rally (Video)

    Watch it Here: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1417423198/bctid1890029878
    

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

    Palin suggests U.S. is at war with Iran.

    Think Progress By Satyam Khanna at 3:59 pm

    In her interview with Fox News’ Greta van Susteren last night, Gov. Sarah Palin appeared to claim that the U.S. needs to “win” the non-existent war with Iran:

    We realize that more and more Americans are starting to see the light there and understand the contrast. And we talk a lot about, OK, we’re confident that we’re going to win on Tuesday, so from there, the first 100 days, how are we going to kick in the plan that will get this economy back on the right track and really shore up the strategies that we need over in Iraq and Iran to win these wars?

    Watch it Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9LofMCa8A

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

    Obama says he didn't know aunt's illegal status

    NEDRA PICKLER | November 1, 2008 01:43 PM EST |

    CHICAGO — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Saturday he didn't know his aunt was living in the United States illegally and believes that laws covering the situation should be followed.

    The Associated Press found that Obama's aunt had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. The woman, Zeituni Onyango (zay-TUHN on-YANG-oh), is living in public housing in Boston and is the half-sister of Obama's late father.

    A statement given to the AP by Obama's campaign said, "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed." Traveling with Obama in Nevada, campaign strategist David Axelrod declined to elaborate on the statement, but said: "I think people are suspicious about stories that surface in the last 72 hours of a national campaign."

    The campaign said it was returning $260 that Onyango had contributed in small increments to Obama's presidential bid over several months. Federal election law prohibits foreigners from making political donations. Onyango listed her employer as the Boston Housing Authority and last gave $5 on Sept. 19.

    Onyango, 56, is part of Obama's large paternal family, with many related to him by blood whom he never knew growing up.

    Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., left the future presidential nominee when the boy was 2, and they reunited only once _ for a monthlong visit when Obama was 10. The elder Obama lived most of his life in Kenya, where he fathered seven other children with three other wives. He died in a car crash in 1982.

    Obama was raised for the most part by his mother and her parents in Hawaii. He first met his father's side of the family when he traveled to Africa 20 years ago. He referred to Onyango as "Auntie Zeituni" when describing the trip in his memoir, saying she was "a proud woman."

    Obama's campaign said he had seen her a few times since that meeting, beginning with a return trip to Kenya with his future wife, Michelle, in 1992. Onyango visited the family in Chicago on a tourist visa at Obama's invitation about nine years ago, the campaign said, stopping to visit friends on the East Coast before returning to Kenya.

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

    After millions of votes, Democrats outnumber GOP

    (CNN) -- Early voting is changing campaign strategy and voter behavior like no other presidential race in history, experts say, as Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama make final cross-country pushes this weekend.

    Both candidates are hoping to reap the lion's share of more than 23 million votes that have been cast nationwide. They're targeting states where polls remain open through the weekend -- and, in some cases, into Monday.

    Calculations by CNN and other news organizations indicate that many, if not most, of the early votes in more than 30 states are being cast by registered Democrats, although it's unknown who voted for which candidate.

    "It would surprise me, but Republican voters in early voting states may simply be holding their ballots," Paul Gronke of the Early Voting Information Center said Friday. "But I wouldn't be surprised to see the Republican race start to catch up a little bit." See where people are voting early »

    Of 23,298,564 total in-person and mail-in ballots in 25 states, at least 6,057,527 -- or 26 percent -- were cast by Democrats or Republicans, according to election officials. Of that 6 million, 57.8 percent were Democrats, and 42.2 percent were Republicans. iReport.com: Did you vote early?

    READ MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/31/early.voting/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

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

    Chambliss: The rush of African-Americans to the polls has ‘got our side energized.’

    By Ryan Powers on Oct 31st, 2008 at 8:01 pm

    On Wednesday, the chairman of the Hillsborough County, Florida Republican party forwarded an e-mail to several hundred party members that warned of “‘the threat’ of ‘carloads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes.’” While the McCain campaign condemned the email, the sentiment does not appear to be isolated. As Tapped notes, earlier this week, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) proclaimed that the the “rush” of African-Americans to the polls has “got our side energized“:

    “There has always been a rush to the polls by African-Americans early,” he said at the square in Covington, a quick stop on a bus tour as the campaign entered its final week. He predicted the crowds of early voters would motivate Republicans to turn out. “It has also got our side energized, they see what is happening,” he said.

    Similarly, Chambliss has been warning his “predominantly white base” in North Georgia, “The other folks are voting.”

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

    Ron Reagan:

    Making It Official: I Endorse Barack Obama

    Hear and Read Here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-reagan/making-it-official-i-endo_b_139932.html

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

    Sarah Palin speaks on the First Amendment

    Glen Greenwald Salon.com

    Friday Oct. 31, 2008 13:38 EDT

    Somehow, in Sarah Palin's brain, it's a threat to the First Amendment when newspapers criticize her negative attacks on Barack Obama.  This is actually so dumb that it hurts:

    In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

    Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

    "If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

    Read More Here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/10/31/palin/index.html

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

    U.S. Attacks Syria & Pakistan & "Refuses to Comment..."

    Watch Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz_0mMvqcVw

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

    Police: "DC Madam" Not Murdered

    Police in Florida closed the book Friday on the suicide of the alleged ''D.C. Madam,'' confirming that she hanged herself with a nylon rope instead of facing prison time for running an elite prostitution ring.
    
    The report is meant to silence speculation that someone connected to prominent Republicans killed Deborah Jeane Palfrey to keep her from identifying more high profile clients of the Washington-based escort service.
    
    During the investigation of the agency, U.S. Senator David Vitter was exposed as a client of Palfrey's escort service spreading panic through the DC cocktail set. Vitter today officially closed his legal defense fund that was created following his involvement in the prostitution case last year.
    
    
    Vitter officially closes 'Madam' legal fund; see complete list of donors

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

    Poll: Early Voters Strongly Prefer Obama

    CBS News Survey Shows Democratic Ticket With 19 Point Edge Among Early Voters, 13 Point Lead Among Likely Voters Overall

    (CBS)  sphereit start With just three days left until Election Day, a new CBS News poll finds that the Democratic presidential ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden leads its Republican counterpart by 13 points among likely voters, 54 percent to 41 percent. That margin reflects an increase of two points in the Obama-Biden ticket's lead from a CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday.
    
    About one in five voters say they have already cast their vote, either in person or through the mail, and these early voters prefer the Democratic ticket by an even greater margin. Obama leads among early voters 57 percent to 38 percent, a nineteen point advantage.
    
    The economy is by far the issue of top concern to voters, and they continue to view Obama more favorably on the issue than they do his Republican rival, John McCain. Fifty-one percent of registered voters say Obama would make the economy better, while just 29 percent say McCain would.
    
    On the question of who will raise taxes, the candidates are roughly even: Forty-seven percent say Obama would raise their taxes and 48 percent say McCain would do so.

    Read Complete Story Here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/01/opinion/polls/main4563051.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4563051

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

    Obama takes largest lead yet in Gallup poll of likely voters

    John Byrne
    Published: Saturday November 1, 2008

    Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has taken the largest lead yet among likely voters against Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the national Gallup poll released Saturday. Obama expanded his lead to ten percent from nine percent on Friday.
    
    Obama's lead is a dramatic rise from the 49-47 percent margin that Gallup registered just four days ago.
    
    Gallup added, "This is the first time since Gallup began estimating likely voters in early October that there is no difference between Gallup's two likely voter models. Obama's lead of 52% to 42% using Gallup's traditional estimate of likely voting criteria takes into account past voting as well as current intentions. Obama's identical lead using the expanded model takes into account only current voting intentions."
    
    "Both of these likely voter estimates in turn are almost identical to Gallup's 52% to 41% registered voter estimate.
    
    
    
    Read more from Gallup here.

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 102

• Clarence Thomas for president

  • From: etsaman
  • Description:

    Clarence Thomas for president – Does he have your vote?   No, why not, he’s Black.

     

    I have had it up to here, (I’m a tall person believe me up to here is way up), with these arrogantly, ignorant, insulting individuals, who are determined to try to demean our intellect, by assuming, and having the nerve to voice the opinion, that the only reason we have for voting for Barak Obama is, he’s Black. Intimating that we don’t have enough sense to look at the issues, vet the capabilities of the candidates, and come to a coherent decision based on careful thought and insight. 

     

    I’m also tired, of those who feel the need to give credence to these assumptions, by defending themselves against these inane accusations.  

     

    First, SO WHAT if there are those who are voting for him just because he’s BLACK!!!  We’ve voted, in the past, for a lot lesser beings just because, (fill in the blank). Heck, how many will vote for McCain just because he’s Not Black?

     

    There are many who are voting for Barack Obama because, he’s a Democrat,  because he’s NOT a Republican, because he’s NOT John McCain, because he’s NOT an ill educated being who graduated at the bottom tenth of his class, because his campaign has NOT  been based on hatred and divisiveness. because he really seems to care more about the American people than he does about Corporations THAT ARE STILL POSTING RECORD BREAKING PROFITS FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, because, fill in the blank.  I don’t have enough time to note the entire plethora of well thought out positive reasons for voting for him.

     

    Stop going on the defensive every time some ill informed, insecure, person tries to use that idea as a weapon to suppress your Spirit.

     

    Remember this, if it were Clarence Thomas running on any party’s ticket, Democratic, Republican, Independent, Green, MOST PEOPLE OF COLOR WOULD NOT VOTE FOR HIM.

     

    Tell this to those who would attempt to insult your intelligence, and SHUT THEM UP

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 72

• Alaska Party's Founder: "I've

  • From: pinkiehot52
  • Description:

    <embed />
    Sarah Palin addressing Alaska Independence Party convention

    The words of founder Joe Vogler are proudly displayed on the Alaska Independence Party's website (at least as of this writing): "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America and her damned institutions."

    Given that one of America's "damned institutions" is the Department of Defense, this raises a few questions about Gov. Palin's strength on national security issues.

    In covering Sarah Palin's reported membership in this extremist party (see update), Jake Tapper quotes its current leader as saying that Sarah Palin is "a fine individual. She's forthright and she puts Alaska first."
    
    She puts Alaska first. There's an endorsement to remember. And in case we think her past association in this party was just some youthful indiscretion, she addressed them by video hookup earlier this year. In the video shown above Palin says she is "delighted" to be addressing the group, that the party "plays an important role," and wishes them "good luck on a successful and inspiring convention."

    The Alaska Independence Party wants to open all Federal lands (like state parks) to private ownership - presumably by the people who live nearby. It also wants to abolish all property taxes. It has a few other pretty extreme views, too.

    "Her damned institutions." Imagine if those out-of-context remarks of Obama's preacher had been codified into a political organization - and that he had joined it. Then imagine he had come back and given a speech there a few months ago.

    Joe Vogler asked that he not be buried underneath the American flag. He did, however, deny that he ever said he wanted to "nuke the glaciers."

    Vogler's unsourced Wikipedia entry says cryptically that he "had an antipathy towards aspens." Yes, the trees. If true, this would be the second time a Republican VP was linked to someone with strange feelings toward that fir. (Remember Scooter Libby's note to Judy Miller, with its mysterious reference to "aspens turning in clusters"?)

    I find myself struggling, Hamlet-like, with an aversion to writing pieces about the Vice Presidential candidate's wacky past. Instead of an inner child, I have an inner civics teacher that keeps saying "Why can't we talk about the issues?"

    Well, this is the issue: Not just the viability of Sarah Palin as a possible President of the United States, but the judgment of John McCain. In his first and only Presidential decision so far, McCain has shown himself to be reckless, careless, and unconcerned about the effective functioning of government. Whether Palin stays or not (which has become a legitimate question) is only half the issue.

    The problem with the GOP ticket is the candidate at the top.

    __________

    UPDATE: The McCain campaign is denying that Palin was a member of the AIP and denying she attended the 1994 convention. Another AIP leader has come forward, however, to say that Palin was there. And the authenticity of the video above is not in question.

    
     
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    Joe Vogler asked that he not be buried underneath the American flag. He did, however, deny that he ever said he wanted to "nuke the glaciers."

    Vogler's unsourced Wikipedia entry says cryptically that he "had an antipathy towards aspens." Yes, the trees. If true, this would be the second time a Republican VP was linked to someone with strange feelings toward that fir. (Remember Scooter Libby's note to Judy Miller, with its mysterious reference to "aspens turning in clusters"?)

    I find myself struggling, Hamlet-like, with an aversion to writing pieces about the Vice Presidential candidate's wacky past. Instead of an inner child, I have an inner civics teacher that keeps saying "Why can't we talk about the issues?"

    Well, this is the issue: Not just the viability of Sarah Palin as a possible President of the United States, but the judgment of John McCain. In his first and only Presidential decision so far, McCain has shown himself to be reckless, careless, and unconcerned about the effective functioning of government. Whether Palin stays or not (which has become a legitimate question) is only half the issue.

    The problem with the GOP ticket is the candidate at the top.

    __________

    UPDATE: The McCain campaign is denying that Palin was a member of the AIP and denying she attended the 1994 convention. Another AIP leader has come forward, however, to say that Palin was there. And the authenticity of the video above is not in question.

    
    RJ Eskow blogs at:

  • Blog post
  • 1 year ago
  • Views: 107
  • Not yet rated

• Palin is a JINX!!!

  • From: urbanradionation
  • Description:

    http://urbanradionation.blogspot.com/2008/10/hockey-mom-is-jinx-dont-invite-her-to.html

    October 25, 2008

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Hockey Mom is a JINX! Don't invite her to a NHL Hockey Game

    

    Many say Sarah Palin is the reason the Republican presidential ticket is not doing well in the polls, she also seems to be bad for National Hockey League teams who invite her to drop the first puck.
    

    

    Almost two weeks ago, Palin was booed prior to the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers hockey game. The Flyers went on to lose the game. In fact, the Flyers had been winless until last night, when they won their first game of the year over the New Jersey Devils, 6-3.
    
    
    While the Flyers were winning, Palin made her second appearance at a NHL hockey game between the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings. Blues goalie Manny Legace left after one period Friday night with a hip injury that occurred when he slipped on the carpet placed on the ice for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
    
    
    
    Legace described the injury as a strained left hip flexor. He doesn’t believe it is serious but said it is painful. He said he won’t play Saturday when the Blues host Florida, but wasn’t sure if he’d miss any additional games. “I felt a pull right away,” Legace said. “I was hoping it would just go away.”

    Posted by Urban Radio Nation at 10/25/2008
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• Don't Let John and Sarah Fool

  • From: ronica
  • Description:

    I'll be so happy when the election is finally over! Sarah Palin can retreat back to Alaska from whence she came and McCain can go back to being the "great" Senator he has been for the last 26 years. Maybe he can tell President Obama how to get the country back the way it used to be. You know, during the pre-Bush days. He seems to hold all of the answers. 

    In my opinion, the only thing the McCain/Palin ticket has done in the past few weeks is try to scare people into voting for them. They have tried to dig up so much stuff on Obama, that they have  taken him on a trip called "This is your life" . If the only thing they (Republicans) can find on Obama is that he lives down the street from a reformed terrorist who now happens to be a college professor, then they really have a sad case. How well do you know your neighbors? Do you really know their past? Let's be real people and not be misled. We are a lot smarter than they give us credit. Let's elect our First Black President and let God's will be done. 
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• voting tricks

  • From: hype
  • Description:

    Does anyone know anything about the rumor that if you vote the straight democratic ticket, you will not  be voting for Senator Obama?  You must check his name on the ballot first and then vote straight democratic ticket.

     

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• Idiot or Racist?

  • From: starchild50
  • Description:

    It is very important to understand why someone would be motivated to do the illogical by voting for Palin. Either you are an idiot or a racist. If McCain picked Romney or Huckabee, then it would understandable that these people are devoted to the Republican/Conservative agenda. However, since this is not the case and Palin is obviously not qualified, their actions must be stupidity or "I just do not want one of them in the Whitehouse!" For proof, observe when asked by a television interviewer why they are voting for the McCain/Palin ticket and the initial answer they give. Watch for the stutter and the deep concentration before finally replying to the question. The answer they give is not the answer that they give when they are sitting around with their friends or family. "I just do not want one of them in the Whitehouse!"

    So, as you commute to work each day, when you see a McCain/Palin bumper sticker, look at the driver of the vehicle. Is he or she an Idiot or a Racist? Have the hoods come off? What in the world is a Joe Six-Pack? A middle aged man with a beer gut, wears a Catapiller hat, drinks a lot of beer each night, watches NASCAR and "I just do not want one of them in the Whitehouse!"

    And what about the African-American devotee's to this ticket? What are they? That unfortunately, I do not have an answer for....

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• Embarracuda

  • From: pinkiehot52
  • Description:

    October 6, 2008 10:07

    Embarracuda

    Posted by Joe Klein | Comments (208) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This
    .entryFooter Article Body Start

    I'm of two minds about how to deal with the McCain campaign's further descent into ugliness. Their strategy is simple: you throw crap against a wall and then giggle as the media try to analyze the putresence in a way that conveys a sense of balance: "Well, it is bull-pucky, but the splatter pattern is interesting..." which, of course, only serves to get your perverse message out. I really don't want to be a part of that. But...every so often, we journalists have a duty to remind readers just how dingy the McCain campaign, and its right-wing acolytes in the media (I'm looking at you, Sean Hannity) have become--especially in their efforts to divert public attention from the economic crisis we're facing. And so inept at it: other campaigns have decided that their only shot is going negative, but usually they don't announce it, as several McCain aides have in recent days--there's no way we can win on the economy, so we're going to go sludge-diving.

    But since we are dealing with manure here, I'll put the rest of this post below the fold.

    Article Body End

    It is appropriate that the prime vessel for this assault is Sarah Palin, whose very presence on a national ticket is an insult to your intelligence. She now has "credibility," we are told, because she managed to read talking points off notecards in the debate last week with unwitting enthusiasm.

    Over the weekend, she picked up on an article in The New York Times, which essentially says that Barack Obama and the former terrorist Bill Ayers have crossed paths in Chicago, served on a couple of charitable boards together, but aren't particularly close. To Palin--or her scriptwriters--this means that Obama has been "palling around" with terrorists. Now, I wish Ayers had done some serious jail time; he certainly needed to pay some penance for his youthful criminality--even if most people in Chicago, including the mayor, have decided that he has something of value to say about education. But I can also understand how Obama, who was a child when Ayers was cutting his idiot swath, would not quite understand the enormity of the professor's background. (I got to know Alger Hiss twenty years after the fact--he was a printing salesman then, a friend of my father's--and thought of him as a sweet old man, if a good deal more liberal than dad's other friends.)
    
    In any case, this is rather rich coming from Palin, who is married to a man who belonged to a political party--the Alaskan Independence Party--that wanted to secede from the union. (I should add here that the Times may have been overreacting to the McCain campaign's attack on its fairness here: the Ayers story was a nothingburger, but it was placed prominently in the top left hand corner of page one--a position that would seem to indicate that it contained important news, which it didn't.)

    Then we have the ever-reliable Bill Kristol, in today's New York Times, advising Palin to bring up the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Palin, of course, believes that's a darn good idea:

    “To tell you the truth, Bill, I don’t know why that association isn’t discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country, and to have sat in the pews for 20 years and listened to that — with, I don’t know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn’t get up and leave — to me, that does say something about character. But, you know, I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up.”

     

    So then, I'd guess, it would be appropriate to bring up some of the nuttiness that passes for godliness in Palin's religious life. Leave aside the fact that The Embarracuda allowed herself to participate in a cermony that protected her from witchcraft, how about her presence--she didn't "get up and leave"-- at a sermon by the founder of Jews for Jesus, who argued that the Palestinian terrorist acts against Israel were God's "judgment" on the Jews because they hadn't accepted Jesus.

    Speaking of Jews, the ever-execrable Sean Hannity has been having intercourse with a known Jew-hater named Andy Martin, who now wants to expose Barack Obama as a Muslim. According to the Washington Times:

    In 1986, when Mr. Martin ran as a Democrat for Connecticut's 3rd Congressional District seat under the name "Anthony R. Martin-Trigona," his campaign committee filed papers saying its purpose was to "exterminate Jew power in America and impeach U.S. District Court of Appeals judges in New York City."

     

    Calling all Podhoretzs! Where's the outrage? I mean, don't the hateful doings at Palin's church and Hannity's perfidy deserve a lengthy exegesis from Pete Wehner or Jennifer Rubin or one of the other empretzled ideologues over at Commentary?

    As I said, I'm of two minds about this. I don't want to give currency to this sewage, so it will remain below the fold. And I'll try to devote the lion's share of my time to the issues--the war, the economic crisis, the fraying health insurance system, the environment--that should define this campaign. But what a desperate empty embarrassment the McCain campaign has become.

    Update: Spencer Ackerman on the latest McCain ad.

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• Republican Trickery

  • From: pinkiehot52
  • Description:

    FBI warns of potential terror attacks on public buildings

    Posted on Monday, October 06, 2008 5:54 PM ET

    Filed Under: Terrorism

    By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative Producer

    

    The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives.

     

    Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and operators to be aware of potential attack tactics."

    According to the note obtained by NBC News, a "recently discovered audio recording of al-Qa‘ida training sessions conducted several years ago provides instruction to potential suicide terrorists on seizing a publicly accessible building and damaging or destroying it with explosive charges."

    Among the materials on a CD–ROM seized earlier this year by Belgian authorities and provided to Interpol, the note said, "is a detailed audio explanation by now-deceased senior al-Qa‘ida operative Yousef al-Ayeeri of a method taught in an al-Qa‘ida training camp for attacking a publicly accessible building. Interpol believes the Arabic-language recording was made shortly before al-Ayeeri’s death in 2003."

    Saudi security forces killed al-Ayeeri in 2003.

    The Audiotape:
    The FBI and DHS said al-Ayeeri's audiotape walks potential suicide bombers through the following scenario:

    "Once a target is selected, al-Ayeeri recommends assembling a team of 12 individuals, each armed with an assault rife and grenade and carrying approximately 20 kilograms of explosives. The attackers are to storm the building, seal off escape and access points, and occupy it long enough to set and detonate their explosive packages. Al-Ayeeri stressed the importance of carrying out these steps before law enforcement can respond, even if notified early in the attack. He assumes the attackers will be killed during the operation," the FBI note said.

    The instructional audiotape continued:

    "Al-Ayeeri believed attackers would be able to enter many publicly accessible buildings easily with little or no resistance from often poorly trained and lightly armed or unarmed security guards, and that an explosion from inside the building would be particularly effective."

    In the unclassified report, the analysts added that, "if each of the 12 attackers’ 20 kg charge is combined into a single large bomb, it would have more explosive power than the truck bomb used in the 1983 Beirut Embassy attack. Terrorists to date have not conducted attacks on public buildings using the full range of tactics covered in al-Ayeeri’s training."

    Since 9-11, the FBI and DHS have issued hundreds of similar warnings and bulletins to law-enforcement officials, cautioning them about potential terrorist attacks. Critics have said that some of the scenarios seem implausible, including warnings about teams of scuba-diving bombers and terrorists' use of prosthetic devices that would allow women to hide explosives in devices “that mimic the look of a pregnant woman.” Law enforcement officials have responded that there's a need for aggressive intellience sharing--one of the lessons learned the hard way after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. 

    Comments

    I really hate to see that the instructions are posted for the world to read. Now everybody knows!! The warning was enough!!!

    Chris Parks, Buffalo NY (Monday, October 06, 2008 6:41 PM)

    religion kills, catholics did it with the crusades, Mulims did it in the 1700's and now these guys

    mcain (Monday, October 06, 2008 6:48 PM)

    This is clearly an attempt to influence the current election since there is no new information here, very similar to the terror alerts preceding the 2004 election.

    Bill DeStefano, Syracuse, NY. (Monday, October 06, 2008 6:53 PM)

    Interesting that after "hundreds" of alerts have been buried in the pile of news, this one becomes public right when the Republican Presidential ticket is in its most serious trouble.  
    
    Forgive my cynicism but it's a consequence of being lied to so many times by the current incumbent party machinery.
    
    What's next: "McCain finds and kills Bin Laden?" on November 3rd?

    David, Seattle, WA (Monday, October 06, 2008 6:57 PM)

    I was waiting for this... John McCain down in the polls, terror potential up.  It worked for Dubyuh in '04.  Don't fall for it, folks!

    BJ, North Carolina (Monday, October 06, 2008 6:58 PM)

    How recent was this tape discovered?  Sounds like another Republican "terror" "fear of God" ploy.

    Allison, West Virginia (Monday, October 06, 2008 6:58 PM)

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• Obama, the juggernaut abroad

  • From: thomastaylor
  • Description:

    Once again, another perspective is in order. This time from a British Newspaper.

    Enjoy

    TNT

     

    The British newspaper "The Guardian" on the upcoming US election.

    A succinct editorial from Jonathan Freedland of the British newspaper "The Guardian" on the upcoming US election.

    "If Sarah Palin defies the conventional wisdom that says elections are determined by the top of the ticket, and somehow wins this for McCain, what will be the reaction? Yes, blue - state America will go into mourning once again, feeling estranged in its own country. A generation of young Americans - who back Obama in big numbers - will turn cynical, concluding that politics doesn't work after all. And, most depressing, many African - Americans will decide that if even Barack Obama - with all his conspicuous gifts - could not win, then no black man can ever be elected president.
    
    

    "But what of the rest of the world? This is the reaction I fear most. For Obama has stirred an excitement around the globe unmatched by any American politician in living memory.
    
    Polling in Germany , France , Britain and Russia shows that Obama would win by whopping majorities, with the pattern repeated in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America . If November 4 were a global ballot, Obama would win it handsomely. If the free world could choose its leader, it would be Barack Obama.
    
    

    "The crowd of 200,000 that rallied to hear him in Berlin in July did so not only because of his charisma, but also because they know he, like the majority of the world's population, opposed the Iraq war.. McCain supported it, peddling the lie that Saddam was linked to 9/11. Non - Americans sense that Obama will not ride roughshod over the international system but will treat alliances and global institutions seriously: McCain wants to bypass the United Nations in favour of a US - friendly League of Democracies. McCain might talk a good game on climate change, but a repeated floor chant at the Republican convention was "Drill, baby, drill!", as if the solution to global warming were not a radical rethink of the US's entire energy system but more offshore oil rigs.
    
    

    "If Americans choose McCain, they will be turning their back on the rest of the world, choosing to show us four more years of the Bush - Cheney finger. And I predict a deeply unpleasant shift.
    
    

    "Until now, anti - Americanism has been exaggerated and much misunderstood: outside a leftist hardcore, it has mostly been anti - Bushism, opposition to this specific administration. But if McCain wins in November, that might well change. Suddenly Europeans and others will conclude that their dispute is with not only one ruling clique, but Americans themselves. For it will have been the American people, not the politicians, who will have passed up a once - in - a - generation chance for a fresh start - a fresh start the world is yearning for.
    
    

    "And the manner of that decision will matter, too. If it is deemed to have been about race - that Obama was rejected because of his colour - the world's verdict will be harsh. In that circumstance, Slate's Jacob Weisberg wrote recently, international opinion would conclude that "the United States had its day, but in the end couldn't put its own self - interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race".
    
    

    "Even if it's not ethnic prejudice, but some other aspect of the culture wars, that proves decisive, the point still holds. For America to make a decision as grave as this one - while the planet boils and with the US fighting two wars - on the trivial basis that a hockey mom is likable and seems down to earth, would be to convey a lack of seriousness, a fleeing from reality, that does indeed suggest a nation in, to quote Weisberg, "historical decline". Let's not forget, McCain's campaign manager boasts that this election is "not about the issues."
    
    

    "Of course I know that even to mention Obama's support around the world is to hurt him. Incredibly, that large Berlin crowd damaged Obama at home, branding him the "candidate of Europe " and making him seem less of a patriotic American.
    
    But what does that say about today's America , that the world's esteem is now unwanted? If Americans reject Obama, they will be sending the clearest possible message to the rest of us - and, make no mistake, we shall hear it." (end of article)

    So much for foreign policy credentials...

    It's said that "a prophet is never appreciated in his own land" and there is no better evidence of this than what's going on today in America. Let us watch and wait. Yes and pray.

    TNT

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