neat-o gifts

A couple of years back I used to post a list of silly things I find for xmas gift ideas. While I still may do that, I'm going to post some really neat gifts too.

Delightfully Innovative Chop2Pot
I already have about a dozen cutting boards, but I am a little tempted to buy this one. I hate it when I'm scraping chopped veggies off the cutting board and they missing the pot entirely. Brilliant (and cute).

oops, i should probably post something

I think the excitement of Obama's win clouded my brain, and I forgot I should still keep posting even though the election is over. Maybe I'll go back to posting more non-political posts.. what a concept! :) hmm, non-political...

I have some photos that have been hanging in my picasa album for a while, i shall share some.



I'm currently in san francisco for a conference, and when I return home I will post photos from that too.

the winner by a LANDSLIDE!!!

Yes We Did!!!!

I'm on cloud-nine. As of right now, Obama has 349 electoral votes, compared to McCain's 163. Best of all - Obama got Indiana!!! I've complained before about how pointless it is to be a liberal-voter in Indiana b/c it always goes for the republican presidential candidate. I feel so inspired and proud to be a citizen of Indiana and of the US. 8 years ago, even 4 years ago, I really don't think I would've believed that we could elect a bi-racial, idealistic, outside-of-the-establishment candidate. I think the US has started to redeem itself in the eyes of the world. I'm so excited to see what the future holds for us.

hey... if you haven't already...

GO VOTE!!!

(for Obama :)

early voting

If you live in any of the following states, you can vote early with no excuse needed at specified voting locations: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

These states allow no-excuse mail-in absentee voting: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Record turn-out is predicted for election day, November 4th. To avoid waiting in (even longer) lines, go vote TODAY. Many early-voting locations already have lines to vote every day, why risk having to wait even longer to vote on November 4th. Don't risk being unable to vote b/c the polls closed before you were able. Don't risk being discouraged to vote by the long lines on election day. Vote TODAY. I voted last week, and even though I enjoy taking part in voting on the traditional election date, it's kind of a relief to know that I won't have to wait in line on Nov 4th.

For more information, see:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/absentearly.htm

'Sarah's Hard Rock Candy' by Peggy Seeger

Ellen Responds To Sarah Palin

What's your Obama Tax Cut?

as usual, his campaign's use of typography and color emphasis is brilliant. and the message is good too ;)

Make-Believe Maverick : Rolling Stone

A couple of good excerpts from the Rolling Stone article on John McCain:

This is the story of the real John McCain, the one who has been hiding in plain sight. It is the story of a man who has consistently put his own advancement above all else, a man willing to say and do anything to achieve his ultimate ambition: to become commander in chief, ascending to the one position that would finally enable him to outrank his four-star father and grandfather.

Intent on winning the presidency at all costs, he has reassembled the very team that so viciously smeared him and his family eight years ago, selecting as his running mate a born-again moose hunter whose only qualification for office is her ability to electrify Rove's base. And he has engaged in a "practice of politics" so deceptive that even Rove himself has denounced it, saying that the outright lies in McCain's campaign ads go "too far" and fail the "truth test."

In 1993, he was the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for a group that sponsored an anti-gay-rights ballot initiative in Oregon. His anti-government fervor was renewed in the Gingrich revolution of 1994, when he called for abolishing the departments of Education and Energy. The following year, he championed a sweeping measure that would have imposed a blanket moratorium on any increase of government oversight.

Indeed, if the current financial crisis has a villain, it is Phil Gramm, who remains close to McCain. As chair of the Senate Banking Committee in the late 1990s, Gramm ushered in — with McCain's fervent support — a massive wave of deregulation for insurance companies and brokerage houses and banks, the aftershocks of which are just now being felt in Wall Street's catastrophic collapse. McCain, who has admitted that "the issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should," relies on Gramm to guide him.

Its an excellent article. Definitely a scathing report of McCain, but it portrays a side of him that I was not familiar with, and certainly the general public is not familiar.

Please Don't Vote !

Fellow Hoosiers: If you are not yet registered to vote, you have until Monday October 6th to register. If you are already registered, but have moved since you last voted, you have until Oct 6 to update your voter information. If you are already registered to vote at your current address: you are golden. Now all you have to do is go vote on November 4th.

Early voting, aka absentee, starts on Monday Oct 6th. You can vote early without a reason to do so, no questions asked. This is very important, presidential elections have historically drawn very large crowds. In the most recent presidential elections, some people have been turned away because the lines were too long and the polls were closing. Vote early and avoid the lines and possible disenfranchisement.
For fellow B-towners: Voters who’d like to vote early can do so from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through Nov. 3 at the downtown Curry Building. In addition, you can vote between 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6-8 at the Sherwood Oaks Christian Church, Oct. 9-11 at the fire station in Ellettsville and Oct. 14-16 on the Indiana University campus. Anyone from any precinct can vote early at the Curry Building or at any of the satellite sites. The Curry Building will also be open for early voting on Saturdays Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

good guys vs bad guys

I now understand why the McCain campaign was so focused on Barack Obama wanting to teach sex ed to kindergartners (which is totally false). His VP has experience teaching kindergartners. "Ok boys and girls, the people from Iran, they are the bad guys. We Americans, we are the good guys! We are the good guys, they are the bad guys! Understand?"

Seriously, she could one day be our President. Her. Former beauty queen/sports reporter. She could be the one who makes the decisions for all of us.

Palin's big day out

Sarah Palin met with various world leaders today in the most blatant, ridiculous photo-op performance yet this political season

From CNN.com

Palin is holding photo-ops with the leaders, but she is not taking questions from any reporters.
The Alaska governor initially said no reporters would be allowed to sit in on her meeting with Karzai. She planned to allow in only photographers and one television crew, but she changed her position after at least five U.S. news networks protested.

"Look see! I know foreign people! That guy has a scarf on his head! I have world experience!!!"
Next up: quick flying lessons for a S-3B Viking jet photo-op landing on an aircraft carrier with a giant "Drill Baby Drill" banner in the background.

still misleading the public

McCain's campaign has been full of lies and exaggerations about Obama. Is this really the kind of president we want, one who is willing to lie, and continue to lie after being caught doing so?

"He said he won't raise taxes for most people, but he's voted 94 times in his short Senate career for tax increases and against tax cuts."
-Sen. John McCain, at a campaign stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Friday Sept. 19, 2008

The facts, from CNN.com

Misleading. McCain's summary ignores the fact that some of the votes were for measures to lower taxes for many Americans, while increasing them for a much smaller number of taxpayers. A nonpartisan examination also finds that the 94 total includes multiple votes on the same measures and budget votes that would not directly lead to higher taxes.

-23 were against proposed tax cuts
-7 were "for measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals"
-11 were to increase taxes on people making more than $1 million a year, to help fund programs such as Head Start, school nutrition, or veterans' health care
-53 were votes on budget resolutions or amendments that "could not have resulted by themselves in raising taxes," though many "were clear statements of approval for increased taxes"
- The total includes multiple votes on the same measures

Palin and the facts

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

She just can't get them right...

obama on the economy

Hope and Change: Yes We Can!

Palin learned some tricks from Cheney

From CNN

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will not cooperate with a 'tainted' legislative investigation into the firing of her public safety commissioner.

Sounds like she's learned a thing or two from Dick Cheney and his aversion to cooperating with investigations.

From The Associated Press

"The whole White House strategy for protecting Cheney has been to refuse to answer any questions on Halliburton. For Bush to clear him from the podium blows that cover," she said. "And what kind of message does it send to the SEC when the president of the United States says, in effect, there is nothing to investigate?"

From Senate Democratic Policy Committee:

Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force is compromised by corporate special interests, White House refuses to release documents or records from the Task Force and refuses to cooperate with GAO investigation.

From Newsweek:

Among the documents that Waxman had subpoenaed—which the White House also refused to turn over Wednesday—were notes taken by then deputy national-security adviser Stephen Hadley about conversations he had with Cheney and other White House officials during the course of the probe.

Say it with me now, McCain and Palin: More of the Same!

Palin's people are whining that the Obama campaign is making the investigators probe her. Whaa whaa. Why, because she's a woman? This investigation was going on before she was picked to be McCain's running mate. Next they'll try to argue that the investigation compromises national security.

hardly a maverick

Only in Republican America....

"Only in Republican America would a black man with a law degree from Harvard, 12 years in politics, four [3 1/2] years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and manager of one of the most impressively flawless and forward thinking presidential campaigns ever not be ready for the presidency while a white female evangelical with 19 months in national politics and a bachelors in journalism is considered 'ready on day one'."

Lee C. Burns, Jr.

I've seen this quote passed around a lot in comments sections of CNN's articles, and other website forums, but I have yet to find the page where this quote was originally mentioned. Nor was I able to find out who Lee C. Burns, Jr. is. Either way, this mysterious 'Lee C. Burns, Jr.' makes a great point.

Who would you hire?

By Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News:

Obama:
Occidental College (Los Angeles) - 2 years studying Politics and Public Policy.
Columbia University (New York) - B.A. Political Science with a specialization in International Relations.
Harvard Law School - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude, and also where he became the first African-American editor, of the Harvard Law Review.

Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and a B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899.

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester.
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - General Studies.
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - Journalism.
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester.
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism.

"honor" ad

Experience in question

To see more videos, visit: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/

Jackie Kennedy courting Hispanic voters

Kennedy and Family Concerns

Some things will always be political issues.

Women for Ike

Obama Responds to "Lipstick on a Pig"

Mrs. Palin goes to Warshington

Say it with me John McCain: Wash WASH WASH. WASHington. Not WARSHington. That drove me nuts last night listening to his speech.

The RNC came to an end last night, and the termites are starting to appear from the woodwork. From CNN.com:

Aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin improperly obtained her former brother-in-law's state police personnel files and cited information from those records to raise complaints about the officer, the head of Alaska's state police union said Thursday.

"It's apparent to us that the governor or someone on her staff had direct access to his personnel file, as well as his workers' comp file, and those are protected," said John Cyr, executive director of the Alaska Public Safety Employees Association.

"In the center of all of the controversy is Trooper Wooten's continued employment," the former police commissioner said. "My job was to provide passion and support to 900 people -- almost 900 people -- in the Department of Public Safety, and one of them -- which included Trooper Wooten -- was an irritant to her."

Palin tried to have her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers, and when the person who would do the firing, her public safety commissioner, refused, she fired him instead. Her lawyers claim that Wooten signed a waiver releasing his personnel files to the public domain during his divorce from Palin's sister. But that doesnt explain why Gov Palin needed access to them. Just a bit of a conflict of interest. Nice vetting there McCain.

republicans divided

From Daily Kos:

By the way, in that clip, Rove calls Wasilla Alaska's 2nd largest city. Based on current estimated population, that would actually be Fairbanks ... at 31,142. Juneau comes third at 30,737. Wasilla is fourth, believe it or not, at 9,236 today. When she was mayor, it had a population of 5,469.
Richmond, VA, which Rove mocked earlier when he was taking aim at Tim Kaine, has a population of 200,123.

tell me lies tell me sweet little lies

I watched a bit of Sarah Palin's speech last night, until I started becoming queasy and turned off the TV. She blatantly lied in her speech and the republicans ate it up. The Associated Press did some fact checking and found some flubs, as well as some by other republicans:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

Keep it classy, RNC

oh the hypocrisy

Frankly, I'm not that concerned or shocked that Sarah Palin's daughter is 17 and pregnant. But the shear hypocrisy of the evangelical right is so amazing. If this were Joe Biden's knocked-up teenage daughter, the right-wingers would be all over it.
"What does this say about his family's morals and his character?"
"How could he have let this happen, he obviously doesn't have enough control over his own family, how could he run a country?"
"Liberals lack morality, he should have taught his daughter to wait until marriage, like a good christian."

But since this is one of their own, they are all too eager to justify this snafu. Apparently it only reinforces family values b/c they didn't have the baby aborted. Does that mean Britney Spears' mom should be VP b/c she didnt make her teenage daughter, Jamie Lynn, abort her lovechild? Parents were ready to boycott Nickelodeon b/c Jamie Lynn was going to ruin childrens morality.. but b/c its Sarah Palin's daughter, they're all too happy to support her.

Palin's daughter is 5 months pregnant. Why did Palin choose to put her daughter through this media scrutiny, knowing she was pregnant? I really have a hard time believing that a calculated Republican campaign such as John McCain's would have picked her to be VP knowing she had an unwed, pregnant, teenage daughter. Its apparent to me that picking Palin for VP was a rushed job. She's pretty, female and young. That's all McCain needed to know.

how frustrating

"radical leftists" have yet again taken "civil" out of "civil discourse". Why do protesters think they have to destroy property to get their messages across? In the end they just look bad, and they make the rest of us liberals look bad because conservatives immediately associate them with anyone else who isn't a conservative. I'm sure conservative talk-radio is having a field day with this story. Hey radical idiots, you're only doing a disservice to yourself, no one will ever take you seriously.

mayor -> 1 year governor -> VP -> President?

McCain picked the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running-mate. So much for his argument that Obama is too inexperienced to be President. McCain picked a VP who spent a few years as mayor of a small town in Alaska, has a bachelors degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho, and has been governor of Alaska for a year and a half. McCain is old. Is Sarah Palin really the best person to be president if he were to die?

He'll probably win Alaska's electoral votes, all 3 of them, which were going to go to him anyway. And he'll prolly get a some women who were on the fence. But really... her?

Again, this says a lot about his judgment and ability to make important, executive, decisions. I'm sure people with his campaign said McCain will win with a female VP because women are idiots and will vote for a woman no matter how qualified they are for the job.

just beautiful

Hillary Clinton did exactly what she needed to do. She swallowed her pride, accepted defeat and called to end the roll-call in the convention and nominate Barack Obama. It was such a moving show of unity, tears came to my eyes. Yay for Hillary Clinton. What a beautiful moment to witness, two strong women, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton, leading the Democrat party to nominate an African American for their Presidential Candidate.

Hillary, if you run in 2016, after Barack's very successful 8 years in office, I will vote for you.

Musician Daddy Yankee Backs Sen. McCain

Puerto Rican performer Daddy Yankee endorsed John McCain at a highschool in Phoenix, with the nominee by his side. Apparently the McCain campaign was so thrilled to have someone under the age of 50 and not white endorse him, that they didn't bother doing any research whatsoever about this guy.

The Reggaeton superstar who endorsed Sen. John McCain yesterday, was accused in 2007 of assaulting a soccer player at his hotel... and took a bullet in his leg during an altercation.

Source: The Atlantic

Not only did they not look into his background, they didn't bother to look into his music before having Daddy Yankee perform live at the highschool.



In Puerto Rican slang, 'gasolina' refers to alcohol, drugs, or some, well, other, innuendos.

Incidentally, Daddy Yankee originally approached the Obama campaign to endore Obama, but they passed. Good call. Is this yet another example of McCain's lack of better judgement?

Anti-War Protesters Meance Intrepid Fox News Reporter!

According to this reporter, freedom of speech means talking to the media when you're asked to. If "leftist" protesters had tvs, they would've loved seeing Fox News broadcasting live the "leftists" flipping off the camera and chanting "Fuck Fox News"
ooops.

its getting ugly out there

Obama has a new commercial that shows McCain forgetting the number of houses he owns. Seems like McCain doesn't want attention drawn to the fact that he lives a multi-millionaire lifestyle. The McCain campaign fired back, accusing Obama of eating arugula (hey, i like arugula) and taking vacations to private beaches in Hawaii. Does McCain really think the public believes that he vacations in a rented house on a public beach in Sarasota? Theres no way the Secret Service would allow the Obama family to vacation in a public area, and why would they want to, they'd be hounded by the press non-stop. As for vacationing in Hawaii, he was born and raised there. Big suprise he'd choose to go back home for a trip, especially when 'home' means Hawaii.

I saw bravo to the Obama campaign. The Republicans have been running ads calling their opponents elitist in the past two presidential elections, its time Democrats remind the country that republicans live pretty cushy lives too.

the hobbit

Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro have decided to write the screenplay for The Hobbit with Fran Walsh (not frank as the article names her) and Philippa Boyens, who adapted LOTRs with Peter Jackson. Yay! This is very good news.

I really really really hope that they don't make as many changes to The Hobbit as they made to LOTRs. I love the movies, but I still can't help but watch them thinking "Why did they change that???" so many of the changes they made were unnecessary and completely opposite of what happened in the book. I understand making changes to make the story fit into a movie time-limit, but come on. Frodo did not need to send Sam away in ROTK. There was no need for them to go to Osgilith with Faramir. Faking Aragorn's death in Two Towers was just silly. I understand they needed a way to let Theoden know that the Uruk-hai army was coming to attack Helm's Deep, but a scout could have given them that news. Tolkien was a very deliberate writer, his Frodo would never have sent Sam away. His Faramir would not have been so easily swayed by his father's wishes to bring the ring back to Minas Tirith. Aragorn, while mortal, would not so easily be killed by a stupid orc on a warg.

ok, enough nerding out for today.

Obama/Biden 08?

it has a nice ring to it. Obamabiden. According to MSNBC, CNN, Salon, and some guy that called it back in January, Joe Biden is the clear front-runner. I signed up to receive email from the Obama campaign when the decision is reached, they're expected to announce the VP choice as early as tomorrow morning.

I think Biden is a great choice. He has the foreign relations experience that McCain has claimed Obama lacks. He's seasoned, respected, and has the backbone to take on the republicans.

Star Wars Alpacas

hehehe

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

yay!

afl-cio introduces obama to its members

many voters are still uncertain about who Barack Obama is, so the AFL-CIO has created a website to introduce Barack Obama to its members. They also sent out a few flyers to households in Michigan and Pennsylvania explaining his positions and defending the rumors that are still being spread about his patriotism.

goodwill haikus

I posted goodwill
haikus on picasaweb
Here are some, enjoy.

half bottle polish
black is color of the day
nail polish half off!

goodwill torture piece
put hand in clamp and screw down
steal and face the clamp

these are my new friends
they are very glamourous
we hang at beaches

Hilarious video (and I'm in it!)

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more bicycles

since gas has become as expensive as rocket fuel, more people have started to ride bikes. i am one of them. i bought a really cute schwinn cruiser, and like to ride it to work when it isnt raining/too hot/not too tired.
I've noticed while riding my bike or driving my car, that most of the people riding their bikes have no idea that they have to follow any rules, of any kind. I've nearly missed creaming several cyclists b/c they've blown right through intersections i'm trying to drive through. In Indiana, bikes follow the same rules as cars. Which means, bicycles have to stop at stop signs and stop lights too. And - people in cars can pass them on the road.

Indiana Bicycle Rules:

Upon all roadways, a vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place under the conditions then existing shall be driven:

(1) In the right-hand lane then available for traffic; or

(2) As close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway;except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

...(1) A person who drives a vehicle overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the same direction shall pass to the left of the other vehicle at a safe distance and may not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle.

(2) Upon a roadway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width for two (2) or more lanes of vehicles moving lawfully in the direction being traveled by the overtaking vehicle.

..A vehicle may not be driven on the left side of the center of the roadway in overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction unless the left side of the roadway is clearly visible and is free of oncoming traffic for a sufficient distance ahead to permit the overtaking and passing to be completely made without interfering with the safe operation of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or a vehicle overtaken. The overtaking vehicle must return to the right-hand side of the roadway before coming within one hundred (100) feet of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.

Cyclists aren't supposed to ride on sidewalks, there is a law against it in "business districts" but I didn't find one for residential areas. The problem I see with it when I'm driving is that the cyclist then operates like a pedestrian. It crosses the street like a pedestrian, but if it is going in the same direction I am, and I am turning right, the bike is usually moving too fast for me to see it until its out in front of my car. The cyclist assumes it has the right-of-way and I should have eyes in the back of my head and see it speeding up alongside my car.

I'm not interested in killing anyone. really. I'd rather people take the time to learn how to ride a bike in traffic, b/c I think its great that people are getting off their fat butts (like mine) and getting some exercise.

time for some campaignin'

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a real downer of a conference

The world's experts are meeting at Oxford University on Thursday to attend the Global Catastrophic Risk Conference. A few of the happy subjects being covered: "What to do if a large asteroid were to be on a collision course with our planet", "The unintended consequences of new technologies, such as superintelligent machines that, if ill-conceived, might cause the demise of Homo sapiens" and the "Movement towards the merger of man and machine". Oh to be a fly on the wall at their after-conference social mixers.

What up?

Greetings, friends and neighbors! Melissa, in her infinite wisdom, has asked me to be a contributor to her blog. Being an opinionated female, I could not refuse. I was just complaining to her that I am bored. She said, "Post something on my blog!" And so, gentle readers, here we are. I can't think of anything particularly interesting to say at the moment, but when I do, I'll be sure and fill you in. For now, peace out! ---Alicia

The PickensPlan

I don't care for his politics, but I like his plan.

McCain = Bush

John McCain’s campaign is so eager to distance themselves from George Bush that they’re willing to use taxpayer money to have the Secret Service carry out their mission. McCain gave an ‘open townhall meeting’ in Denver, and his Secret Service informed the local police to remove any protesters from the area. The local police removed a 60 year old librarian from public property because she was holding a sign that read ‘McCain = Bush’

Sounds like McCain’s campaign is operating more like Bush’s campaign after all.

Video of the Denver Police removing the 60 year old librarian and giving her a court date

Bush also used the Secret Service to remove protesters

i wish he were still alive today...

I reread an essay by Kurt Vonnegut, Cold Turkey, and came upon a section that reminded me why I loved him so much:

My government’s got a war on drugs. But get this: The two most widely abused and addictive and destructive of all substances are both perfectly legal.

One, of course, is ethyl alcohol. And President George W. Bush, no less, and by his own admission, was smashed or tiddley-poo or four sheets to the wind a good deal of the time from when he was 16 until he was 41. When he was 41, he says, Jesus appeared to him and made him knock off the sauce, stop gargling nose paint.

Other drunks have seen pink elephants.

And do you know why I think he is so pissed off at Arabs? They invented algebra. Arabs also invented the numbers we use, including a symbol for nothing, which nobody else had ever had before. You think Arabs are dumb? Try doing long division with Roman numerals.

We’re spreading democracy, are we? Same way European explorers brought Christianity to the Indians, what we now call “Native Americans.”

How ungrateful they were! How ungrateful are the people of Baghdad today.

So let’s give another big tax cut to the super-rich. That’ll teach bin Laden a lesson he won’t soon forget. Hail to the Chief.

I wish he were still around, I think he'd be happy to see this election year play out.

deaths by firearm

an interesting fact has emerged in light of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on Washington DC's handgun ban, according to CNN.com:

Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation's nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I'm personally not comfortable with owning a gun, I try not to judge others who chose to do so, but it is alarming that most firearm deaths are self-inflicted.

summer vacation

Tired of the usual summer vacation trips to the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, theme-parks, etc? Consider these vacation destinations, Beautiful Messes: A Travel Guide to Man-made Disasters.

back from DC

and the domain name is back. i transfered www.melo-online.com to another domain service and I didn't have the forwarding info set up correctly before I left for DC. whoops. If you go to my site via the blogspot address, you probably didn't notice anything.

Anyway, I'm back from DC and i took pictures (what a suprise :) Check them out here: http://picasaweb.google.com/melorenzen/DCCFUnited

Fight the Smears

This presidential campaign is a historic one, but not only because of the Democrat's nominee being a bi-racial man. Its historic because of the prevalence of the web and email's influence on basic knowledge of the candidates. The web played a roll in the Kerry v Bush election, but in the last 4 years the number of people using the web has grown considerably, as it will continue to do.

I've noticed from my own experience that when people are forwarded email, odds are they will believe what they read. I'm forwarded a lot of stuff from family and friends, which are well intended, but usually the email forwards are alarmist in tone. People believe things they read in email forwards that they would never believe if a stranger told them the same thing in person. Anything can be written and forwarded along without any source citations or facts to back them up, yet people still give these forwards credence.

This has become an issue with Barack Obama's campaign. I've received many email forwards questioning Obama's integrity, mostly from people saying 'can you believe people believe this crap?' but I can see from the body of the email that its been forwarded around, a lot. Usually I just roll my eyes and hit 'delete' but now that this is a general campaign, the Obama campaign is becoming concerned, and rightly so. 13% of voters believe that Obama is Muslim. I've gotten several email forwards based on that very notion, even though it was highly covered that Obama's Christian pastor said controversial remarks that were broadcast 24/7 on the cable news networks. While Obama's religion does not matter to me, I would support him whether he was Muslim or Christian, that does scare a lot of people who are still being scared by Bush Co. with 9/11. I've also received email forwards with excerpts from his book taken out of context. Many of the supposedly controversial remarks he made in his books were reflections by other people, or were so butchered they don't look anything like what he wrote. I've read both of his books, and neither of them lead me to believe there was anything about him to be concerned about. It was actually the opposite, I became a believer and supporter of him after reading his books.

His campaign has (smartly) created a new website, FightTheSmears.com to clear up rumors and smears against him, his family and his campaign. If/when you receive an email that makes claims about Obama, check the website and forward the truth to the person you received it from and the people they forwarded the message to. Get the word out.

making mccain exciting

can you tell the difference?

Take The Bush-McCain Challenge. I failed pretty badly.

how will mccain or obama affect your taxes?

If you make less than $161,000 a year, which its safe to say most Americans probably do, you will get lower taxes with Barack Obama as our president. Everyone gets lower taxes with John McCain's proposal, but it leans absurdly in favor of those Americans making more than $603,000 a year. If you make less than $38,000 a year, John McCain only gives you a tax break of $113. If you make less than $19k a year, you get $19. Aren't those the income groups that could use the most help? Barack Obama does a lot more to help those in need. His tax increases may seem like a lot for the lucky few who make more than $603,000 a year, but his proposal just lets the tax cuts for the wealthy, the ones that King George W Bush put into place when he took office, expire.

Both of their proposals increase the budget deficit, and its unlikely that their exact proposal will be passed. But it definitely gives you an idea of their mindset when it comes to taxes.

Here's how the average tax bill could change in 2009 if either John McCain's or Barack Obama's tax proposals were fully in place.

	MCCAIN	OBAMA
Income	Avg. tax bill	Avg. tax bill
Over $2.9M	-$269,364	+$701,885
$603K and up	-$45,361	+$115,974
$227K-$603K	-$7,871	+$12
$161K-$227K	-$4,380	-$2,789
$112K-$161K	-$2,614	-$2,204
$66K-$112K	-$1,009	-$1,290
$38K-$66K	-$319	-$1,042
$19K-$38K	-$113	-$892
Under $19K	-$19	-$567

Source: CNN.com

Fox Ambushes Bill Moyers

Ian posted this video on the comments section of my blog and I thought it was too good not to post here too. Bill Moyers totally pwns Bill O'Reilly's producer.

YAY!

Yes We Did!

Barack has enough delegates to be the Democrat party's nominee. Soon enough Hillary's supporters will lick their wounds and support Barack Obama's presidential campaign. They just need some time to understand that their nominee, who ran her campaign with the assumption that she would be handed the party's nomination back in Iowa, will not be the nominee after all.

I hope and hope that he is not persuaded to pick her as his running mate. She would not be a VP, she would be a Co-President. It just isnt in her nature to play second fiddle. She'd continue to draw up controversy and say outlandish things to get more face-time in the news. It could never be about anyone but herself. She needs to go back to the Senate where she can play a very important role: getting his legislation passed.

our president

This is what Dubya thought being President would mean. Not having to do all that hard stuff with the foreign-guys and being asked tough questions from the stupid reporters.

This is our President, folks. Thankfully, not for much longer. See the rest of the Presidential gallery here, xinhuanet.com

Flight of the Conchords - Ladies of the World

i love these guys.

how i wish i had been right

Why? Why didn't she concede last night? I understand she did very very well in Kentucky, but Obama now has the majority of the pledge delegates. She _cannot_ win in the pledged delegate contest. So instead of conceding, she comes up with a new, ridiculous argument: She's winning the popular vote. Apparently she uses Bush's "fuzzy math".

From Daily Kos:

Aside from the idiocy of the argument itself -- 1) this is a delegate race, and 2) unlike the 2000 presidential election, you can't compare the popular vote from contest to contest since each state has different rules (caucus or primaries, open, closed, or hybrid -- the way the Clinton campaign and its supporters shamelessly stretch this argument is almost embarrassing.
Clinton is "leading" the meaningless popular vote, but only if:
1. You count the unsanctioned contests in Florida and Michigan, where candidates were not allowed to campaign;
2. You give Obama zero votes in Michigan's Soviet-style election, where Clinton was essentially the only name on the ballot; and
3. You don't count the caucuses in Iowa, Nevada, Maine, and Washington.

What next, is she going to tell Kentuckians "Some have said your votes didn’t matter, that this campaign was over, that allowing everyone to vote and every vote to count would somehow be a mistake."? Oh wait, she did say that. Who the hell said that allowing every vote to count is a mistake? Who is she accusing of this? "Some"? The voices in her head?

Now, it’s especially sweet tonight because Kentucky has a knack for picking presidents. This state delivered two terms to a president named Clinton. And it’s often been said, as Kentucky goes, so goes the nation.

Really? Its been said often? That's new to me. Apparently so goes West Virginia, Ohio, Maine, Vermont, Google, and Steve Buscemi

will it be over tonight?

Barack Obama is holding his post-primary rally in Iowa tonight, not in Oregon which he is expected to win. Is this a sign that the campaign believes Hillary is going to concede tonight? It would be a great bookend to a long primary season, the state in which it all began. Hillary will enjoy her win in Kentucky, thank her supporters for a great win, and end her campaign on a high note. She'll go back to the senate with her head held high, graciously accepting defeat.

Sounds ideal to me...

some funny, no politics

this is promising

From CNN.com:

"I'm going to work my heart out for whoever our nominee is. Obviously, I'm still hoping to be that nominee, but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that anyone who supported me ... understands what a grave error it would be not to vote for Sen. Obama."

Yay Hillary! That's the spirit! It's time to be gracious and offer help to repair this lengthy primary season. I predict that she concedes next Tuesday after the Kentucky/Oregon primary. She's looking for the appropriate exit, to leave on a high-note (Kentucky win) but an obvious indication that Obama is the nominee (his Oregon win)

Bush interview unforgiveable

obama-edwards?

This looks like a winning ticket to me.

our heroic commander-in-chief

Watch this video interview of Dubya explaining why he made his sacrifice for the Iraq war.

what a lil' trooper.

This is an ex-candidate

From The Washington Post:

But Clinton, wearing a salmon-colored jacket and dark sunglasses, is all smiles as she boards the jet. She hugs and kisses her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe. Still grinning, she helps herself to a cracker with spread from the snack tray as the plane taxis to the runway. And why shouldn't she be happy? Within minutes, Clinton has crossed the Blue Ridge and is over the green hills of West Virginia, home of what she calls the "hardworking Americans, white Americans." This is Clinton Country.

A steep descent brings Clinton's plane to Charleston's hilltop airport. After an appropriate wait, she steps from the plane and pretends to wave to a crowd of supporters; in fact, she is waving to 10 photographers underneath the airplane's wing. She pretends to spot an old friend in the crowd, points and gives another wave; in fact, she is waving at an aide she had been talking with on the plane minutes earlier.

what a sad way to go.

John Stewart takes on Douglas Feith

Update on the numbers

I got the numbers below this morning from CNN.com a little after 8am. As of 4pm the race has gotten even closer as a few counties still haven't completely reported in. At 4pm Clinton had 643,442 and Obama 629,029. Thats a difference of only 14,413 votes, 1.1%. I found two counties, Hancock and Hamilton are still reporting in, and while it probably won't give Obama the lead, it could tighten up even more. Hillary "won" Indiana, but really its a tie.

good effort indiana

A little over 20k votes seperated Obama from Clinton, out of the 1.25 million votes cast. That means she won by about 1.7%. Not exactly the victory she was looking for. She's going to end up with about 4 more delegates than him from Indiana, but he won 16 more delegates than she in North Carolina, winning that state by 15%.

She can't catch up by delegates alone. She would have to win all 6 of the remaining primaries by 86% to overtake Obama in delegate count. This is excluding superdelegates, which so far have been overwhelmingly going to Obama.

Obama has picked up 83 percent of the superdelegate endorsements since Super Tuesday, narrowing Clinton's superdelegate lead to 259-236, according to the latest tally by The Associated Press. Since Tuesday's primary, Obama has picked up three superdelegates and Clinton has added one.

and released by the AP today:

Since the Pennsylvania primary two weeks ago, Clinton has picked up 11.5 superdelegate endorsements to Obama's 22, according to an Associated Press count.

The superdelegate momentum is decidedly in favor of Obama, and its only expected to continue after last night's huge win for him in North Carolina and mathematical-tie in Indiana.

The only way she can get the nomination is by stealing it from Obama at the convention with a superdelegate rebellion. Is this really how we want our next president to be chosen?

todays the day

Ok Indiana, this is it. Today is the day to matter. I've complained a lot in the past about not having my vote count b/c I live in Indiana. Its a predominantly republican state, in the general elections Indiana is usually the first state called for the repubs. Our primary is so late that the nominee is picked way before its our turn.

Today is the day. Go Vote.

Obviously I would prefer that everyone votes for Barack Obama. Of all the TV commercials, radio ads and political flyers that I have come across his are predominantly positive, on the message and inspiring. Hillary's ads are almost all negative towards Obama or pandering. Ask yourself, who do you want to represent us? A negative, pandering president or a positive, inspiring president?

It really concerns me that people are buying into her Gas-Tax idea. It won't be passed this summer, and even if it were it would save most Americans $20-30 total. And then in the fall it will be reinstated and prices will go back up. Its pandering. Its finding a hot topic and appealing to the voters who are desperate for help. Temporarily halting the gas tax will not help the people of this country like she's letting on that it will. She needs to offer something that will actually help people, not just give her more free air-time.

Barack Obama wants to give the middle and lower-class citizens a $1000 tax credit.

From Obama's website:

Obama will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay.

* Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.
* Simplify Tax Filings for Middle Class Americans: Obama will dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes. Obama will ensure that the IRS uses the information it already gets from banks and employers to give taxpayers the option of pre-filled tax forms to verify, sign and return. Experts estimate that the Obama proposal will save Americans up to 200 million total hours of work and aggravation and up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees.

Just to make this clear $500 > $20-$30. $1000 > $20-$30.

The reason his plan isn't making all the news is b/c he isn't appealing to a hot-topic issue like gas prices. His plan is better for the American people, plan and simple.

Meet The Obamas

Susan Eisenhower Endorses Barack Obama on MSNBC

Colin Powell Doesn't Endorse, But Praises Barack Obama

Ted Sorensen on Barack Obama

Legendary speechwriter and adviser to President John F. Kennedy on why he supports Barack for President.

Barack Obama Endorsed by Zbigniew Brzezinski

Foreign Policy expert Brzezinski discusses his support of Barack Obama.

Tom Hanks endorses Obama for President

for what its worth, indiana.

Barack Obama's running mate

this is so cool!

Yay! Ian McKellen is going to play Gandalf in The Hobbit and the other unnamed project they're working on. I can't imagine anyone else playing Gandalf.

According to studio New Line, the first film will be an adaptation of The Hobbit and the second will be an original story focusing on the 60 years between the book and the beginning of the Rings trilogy.

"As to how it's going to work over two films and what going to happen on screen, well Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yet - I can tell you it's going to be amazing though," Sir Ian said.

Tolkien never published anything based on the time between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, this could either turn out very cool or turn off the die-hards. I hope they involve Tolkien's family in the script, J.R.R.'s son Christopher is still alive and was very involved in his father's work, I hope they use him as a resource.

I was really hoping the second movie was going to be based on The Silmarillion, which is a prequel of sorts, to put it mildly, of The Hobbit and LOTRs, but to make the whole book into one movie would be a tall order...

IGN.com has come up with some ideas, here are a few:

Sauron Returns to Mordor
First off, the big villain from LOTR. He never actually shows up in the flesh in The Hobbit - he's merely mentioned as 'the Necromancer' – but he's certainly busy behind-the-scenes. The dark lord begins The Hobbit in hiding in his fortress of Dul Guldur, in Mirkwood Forrest, building up his strength and already searching for The One Ring.
Gandalf and the White Council eventually decide to attack the 'stronghold of evil', and the wily wizard ensures that the siege coincides with the mission to kill Smaug (the main story of The Hobbit), to stop Sauron and the dragon teaming up. He is driven from Dol Guldur and returns to Mordor to begin preparing for war. The Hobbit filmmakers could also show the villain beginning to corrupt white wizard Saruman, which lead to the dissolution of the White Council (an alliance of various wizards, including Gandalf, Galadriel and Saruman and IGN UK fave Radagast the Brown).

Aragorn Back-story
A Hobbit/LOTR bridge-film would also give the filmmakers the chance to tell Aragorn's extensive back-story. Around 50 years before the war of the ring began, he was told about his heritage (next in line to the throne of Gondor), and the be-stubbled hero began to rove middle-earth. It was at this time he served in the armies of both Rohan and Gondor, fighting several battles and generally acting as a kind of warrior trouble-shooter for the increasingly embattled kingdoms of men, as Sauron's armies grew.
During this period he also fell in love with Arwen and met Gandalf for the first time, where together they guarded The Shire, suspecting the One Ring may be there. All-in-all, Viggo Mortensen – who has expressed a desire to reprise his role as the character – would have plenty to do.

Incidentally, I kinda predicted this back in December:

New Line and Peter Jackson settled their lawsuit and have agreed to make The Hobbit and an apparent sequal. Im guessing they're going to split The Hobbit into two movies... I suppose they could make a movie about Gandalf and co. chasing out the Necromancer, aka Sauron, from Mirkwood which happens during the timeline of The Hobbit, but Tolkien didn't really give that much back-story. I'd much rather see something taken out of the Silmarillion :) More about Feanor and the rings would be cool. The return of the elves from Valinor, etc..

MSNBC Countdown : McCain : Parsleys bad taste

Why hasn't this been made into a huge issue? Oh right, the republican nominee has been chosen so the media can focus entirely on beating up the democrat candidates.

totally obliterate

From The Boston Globe:

AMERICANS have learned to take with a grain of salt much of the rhetoric in a campaign like the current Democratic donnybrook between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Still, there are some red lines that should never be crossed. Clinton did so Tuesday morning, the day of the Pennsylvania primary, when she told ABC's "Good Morning America" that, if she were president, she would "totally obliterate" Iran if Iran attacked Israel...

While Clinton has hammered Obama for supporting military strikes in Pakistan, her comments on Iran are much more far-reaching. She seems not to realize that she undermined Iranian reformists and pragmatists. The Iranian people have been more favorable to America than any other in the Gulf region or the Middle East.

A presidential candidate who lightly commits to obliterating Iran - and, presumably, all the children, parents, and grandparents in Iran - should not be answering the White House phone at any time of day or night.

Little Giants: Pandas Make You Smile

i want that job!

evan bayh, you're so lame.

Even though Evan Bayh has very publicly supported and endorsed Hillary Clinton's sad attempt to steal the nomination from Barack Obama, he has asked other Indiana Congress-people to hold off endorsing anyone. You've lost my vote in your next run for Senate Evan Bayh. I've always thought the guy is a loser, he's so blatantly hoping Hillary would choose him for a VP. I've always voted for our republican Senator Richard Lugar, and I don't mind voting for a republican running against Evan Bayh. That's one good thing about being an independent :)

Obama Dirt Off Your Shoulder Remix

i love this!!

shaking Hillary off

From Maureen Dowd, NYT:

Before they devour themselves once more, perhaps the Democrats will take a cue from Dr. Seuss’s “Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!” (The writer once mischievously redid it for his friend Art Buchwald as “Richard M. Nixon Will You Please Go Now!”) They could sing:

“The time has come. The time has come. The time is now. Just go. ... I don’t care how. You can go by foot. You can go by cow. Hillary R. Clinton, will you please go now! You can go on skates. You can go on skis. ... You can go in an old blue shoe.

Just go, go, GO!”

Her editorial is pretty amusing and on-point. The NYT wrote a pretty bruising editorial on Hillary's negative campaigning, they seem pretty close to un-endorsing her.

Clinton's rules to win by

From Daily Kos:

Listening to Clinton campaign surrogates on television, before the PA votes ever started to trickle in, was truly painful. Suddenly one state was the only state that mattered. All those other states were merely prelude: if Clinton could eke out a victory in this state, trailing in the delegate count would no longer be significant, and it would be a brand new race, and Obama would be on the ropes, and Clinton would suddenly win a billion dollars, a pony, and the moon; attention must be paid. It is not enough for Obama to simply be winning the nomination according to the rules laid out in advance: no, he must win the "right" way, according to the Clinton campaign and surrogates, or it doesn't count. He has to win the "right" states. And he has to win primaries, not caucuses. And he has to "close the deal", shutting Clinton out of remaining wins entirely, or it proves something ominous (the fact that Clinton has not been able to "close the deal" against him, and is instead trailing him badly and irreparably, barring superdelegate do-over, somehow does not count against her own merits.) And he not only has to win the "popular vote", but he has to win that, too, the right way, which is to say by counting only certain states and not counting others.

hillary and her 'big states'

When giving the argument that Hillary wins the 'big states' Texas is always included in her Win column. No No No! She did not win Texas. She barely won the primary, but when the primary and caucus are added up, Barack Obama Won Texas.
The score
Clinton: Primary 65, Caucus 29 = 94 delegates
Obama: Primary: 61, Caucus 38 = 99 delegates

Let's get the facts straight here... Michigan and Florida are also always mentioned as Wins for her, but their elections were not valid, Obama wasn't even on the Michigan ballot.
She also argues that she wins the 'solid Democrat' states. So what? If they're solid, Obama will win them in the fall. The states we should be worried about are the states that he won, like Kansas, Idaho, Alabama, Virginia, Nebraska, Mississippi, states that typically go Republican, but perhaps with Obama as the nominee, could go for him in the general election. Her campaign has argued that you can't win the general election without Pennsylvania, yet Kerry and Gore both won Pennsylvania in the last two general elections, and, wait for it.. they lost.
Her arguments really are sad...

pennsylvania

my summary:

Pennsylvania is full of Old White People
Old White People vote for idiots.

Afterall, they gave ole' Dubya the Whitehouse.

[its a scary world - vote for me!]

Hillary turns to fear tactics to scare people into voting for her.



Her new ad features Fidel Castro and Osama Bin Laden as examples of how hard it is to be president. Apparently she considers herself as capable as FDR, which makes me want to hurl.

And of course a video of her husband addressing fear tactics.

Video Monday

How can anyone think she is trustworthy enough to be our president, she is so deceptive and corrupt!
The video starts out a little slow, but its worth the wait. You can watch part two of this video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMfUajhL24I

BARACKY: THE MOVIE

how did presidential campaigns ever run without youtube? :)

Barack Gets that Dirt off His Shoulders

haha, this is pretty funny

McCain Defined

he is becoming Bush 2.0 I did have a lot of respect for the man, its beginning to wane.

Hillary on Working-Class Southerners: "Screw 'em"

From ABC.com:

...Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, during a 1995 retreat called the "Camp David Seminar on the Future of Democracy had some interesting comments about working-class white Southerners who had left the Democratic party:
"'Screw 'em,' she said, 'you don't owe them a thing, Bill, they're doing nothing for you.' Bill rose to their defense, 'as if rehearsing an old but honorable debate he had been having with his wife for decades,'" as one attendee recalled.

Also on The Huffington Post (the same who broke Obama's "bitter" comments) and The New Republic

Incidentally, Clinton's Negatives at Record High.

Likely Democratic voters, 51-41 percent, say they want Obama to win the nomination — his biggest advantage to date. Obama has also cleared the "electability" hurdle in Democratic minds — 62 percent say he is more likely to win than Clinton.

In more bad news for Clinton, 58 percent of Americans polled said she is not honest and trustworthy. Obama beats her on this attribute by a 23-point margin.
...
A record high of 54 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the New York senator, according to the ABC News/Washington Post poll.

yay indiana!

From CNN.com:

Most surprisingly, the new LA Times/Bloomberg poll shows Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton by 5 points in Indiana (40 to 35 percent), a state with demographics that favor the New York senator and one where other recent polls have shown her with a lead.

The poll also shows Clinton only holds a 5 point lead in Pennsylvania (48 to 43 percent). That margin is among the slimmest measured between to the two candidates and is significantly less than the double digit lead Clinton held there two weeks ago.

Let's hope Indiana gives Obama his victory! :)

Clinton Heckled, Obama Cheered on 'bitter' remarks

Obama, who greeted the crowd at 8:45am, raised the issue and received applause. Clinton, addressing the same crowd later in the morning, brought up the remarks and received mostly silence, with a few audible impatient jeers.

Check out the videos. Will she finally drop it?

From CNN.com:

The latest Gallup Poll conducted during the first 15 days in April, consisting of more than 13,000 registered voters shows Obama and Clinton ahead by 4 points in so called “purple” or swing states with 47 percent to McCain’s 43 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1 point.

In “blue” states where John Kerry won by more than 6 percentage points in 2004, Obama has a comfortable double-digit lead, while McCain leads by a slightly smaller margin in the “red” states where George Bush prevailed by more than 6 points.

Clinton has the same lead over McCain in purple states, but she does not fare as well as Obama in the “blue” states and also trails McCain by a larger margin than Obama in the traditionally Republican “red” states.

So much for Clinton being more electable in the Big Blue states.

the colbert report on obama the elitist

haha :)

the bitter controversy

former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich responded to the press's coverage of Obama's comments on people being bitter on his blog:

We’re heading into the worst economic crisis in a half century or more. Many of the Americans who have been getting nowhere for decades are in even deeper trouble. Large numbers of people in Pennsylvania and across the nation are losing their homes and losing their jobs, and the situation is likely to grow worse. Consumers are at the end of their ropes, fuel and food costs are skyrocketing, they can’t go deeper into debt, they can’t pay their bills. They aren’t buying, which means every business from the auto industry to housing to even giant GE is hurting. Which means they’ll begin laying off more people, and as they do, we will experience an even more dangerous downward spiral.

Bitter? You ain’t seen nothing yet. And as much as people like Russert, Carville, Matalin, Schrum, and Murphy want to divert our attention from what’s really happening; as much as HRC and McCain seek to make political hay out of choices of words that can be spun cynically by the mindless spinners of the old politics; as much as demagogues on the right and left continue to try to channel the cumulative frustrations of Americans into a politics of resentment – all these attempts will, I hope, prove futile. Eighty percent of Americans know the nation is on the wrong track. The old politics, and the old media that feeds it, are irrelevant now.

People are bitter about losing their jobs, they are bitter that the government really doesn't seem to care that their jobs are being relocated to other countries. Are we really expected to be okay with losing our jobs b/c we're americans and are supposed to put on a brave face?

THE BEST DAY EVER

I SHOOK HIS HAND!!! He walked off his bus, walked right to me and shook my hand first! It was amazing. He said 'Its so great to meet you' and I said 'Its my pleasure!' I said real words, a real sentence! I was so convinced Id say something completely garbled and idiotic.

He went to an IU event, came back by us to leave and shook my hand again! I got two handshakes! It was so amazing and surreal to see him, he is so friendly and warm in person, truely, this will be a day I'll never forget.

See the rest of the photos in my picasaweb album

The Obama Franchise

Graphic design expert Michael Bierut of the Pentagram firm marveled at that consistency in a Newsweek interview, and he said it's no accident. The uniform blue signs with their signature "O" logo serve as a reassuring symbol of dependability, just like the familiar interstate signs for franchise hotels and fast-food chains.

"I've jokingly said to my wife, 'Someone who can coordinate all those fonts and make them all match perfectly, I trust them to come up with universal health care, and get us out of Iraq, and turn around the economy and do whatever else it takes,'" Bierut said.

I love that. I've long admired the Obama campaign's beautifully designed website.

Read the full article...

wow.

my bad

50 Cent's sudden shift of allegiance from Clinton to Obama is the real sign of the beginning of the end for H.Cli's campaign.

:)

we matter. we really matter.

Meanwhile, Obama can continue to organize in the two next contests, working to run up the score in North Carolina while building toward what could very well be the knockout blow in Indiana.

Indiana is not Ohio. It may very well be the last truly competitive state left this primary season. If Obama wins it, perhaps Clinton will finally realize what we've all known since the end of February -- Clinton lost this campaign.

The new goalposts -- Indiana! I haven't seen any polls for Indiana since February, and at that time it was 40% Barack Obama, 25% Hillary Clinton, 35% Unsure. I'd like to see what we look like now.

the beginning of the end?

Poll: Obama has double digit lead nationally

I saw my first Indiana-targeted Obama ad on TV last night, it was very exciting for me because for as long as I've been able to vote, Indiana has not mattered in any national election. But now we do, and its pretty nice :) I'm actually hoping Hillary will wait until after we vote May 6th to concede. I want my vote to matter for once!

the "tonya harding option"

Clinton plans to stick it out until the bitter end? Bitter is the key word here, we finally have a viable candidate in Barack Obama, and she's going to whittle away at the party's unity and chance at the Whitehouse because she still thinks the nomination should have been handed to her in Iowa.

Hillary, there will be other elections. You will still be around in the next 4-8 years, hopefully much longer than that. You can run again. You can use the next 4-8 years to make it up to the Democrats and the nation by being an even better Senator and helping President Obama pass the legislation he has been touting on the campaign trail. You could become part of his cabinet, why not Secretary of State? That would give you excellent experience for your turn in the Whitehouse. You would certainly be a more effective Sec. of State than Condi Rice. Think about it.