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Breaking News CNN: Volunteer tells McCain to get new staff
It was a statement that a McCain town-hall participant said would land her on the campaign's "s**t list." A woman identified herself as a volunteer for his campaign, and said she had come to believe it was time McCain hires a new staff in the state. It was a statement that a McCain town-hall participant said would land her on the campaign's "s**t list." A woman identified herself ... more
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The end of Europe's 'Obamania'? Obama's foreign policy speech in Berlin could risk...
US presidential candidate Barack Obama will speak in Berlin on Thursday. Germans have fallen in love with the man many in Europe have come to see as the anti-Bush -- the man who many hope will steer America back toward the path of peace, love and happiness. Almost three-quarters of Germans would vote for Obama were they given the opportunity to do so; in France, that number approaches 90 percent. Berlin authorities are expecting tens of thousands -- maybe even hundreds of thousands -- for his appearance later this week.
But German commentators doubt the love affair will survive this week's foreign policy speech. The financial daily Handelsblatt looks at what Berlin might expect from Obama's speech. "With the speech at the Siegessäule on Thursday, a new phase is beginning. And there are a number of signs pointing to the fact that those pleasantly anticipating an Obama presidency might not be quite as euphoric should he get elected. The reasons are clear: Obama's superstar status in Germany is based primarily on two factors. One is the fact that he is not George W. Bush…. The second is that Obama has remained quite vague until now: Everyone can see in him what he or she wants. But now the senator from Illinois is beginning to mold a concrete foreign policy."
"Soon, it will be clear what "change" really means. Obama wants to withdraw from Iraq but at the same time he wants to bolster troops in Afghanistan. That increase shouldn't just come from the Americans, but from the Europeans as well."
The paper writes that his speech in Berlin isn't just meant for the American voters. His choosing the German capital for the speech "sends a clear message, even if the charismatic politician has opted for a subtle delivery: 'Dear Europeans, dear Germans, should I be elected, I am going to take you at your word. More international cooperation means more European engagement in crisis regions.' Obama, should he become the superpower's next president, will not suddenly transform into a dove. He too will use the US military to reach his political goals."
(Excerpts / Charles Hawley, Spiegel International) US presidential candidate Barack Obama will speak in Berlin on Thursday. Germans have fallen in love with the man many in Europe have ... more -
Obama makes the moves on M.E.
The New York times just wants you to know that Barack didn't slip up on his trip to Iraq yet. As if most of the media didn't have bets going.
NYT goes on to point out that, "The central tenet of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy is suddenly aligned with what the Iraqis themselves now increasingly seem to want. Not only have the developments offered Mr. Obama a measure of credibility as a prospective world leader in a week when his every move is receiving intensive attention at home and abroad, but it has complicated Mr. McCain’s leading argument against him: that a withdrawal timeline would be tantamount to surrender and would leave Iraqis in dangerous straits." The New York times just wants you to know that Barack didn't slip up on his trip to Iraq yet. As if most of the media didn't have bets... more -
McCain's rejected New York Times op-ed piece
The New York Times has rejected an essay that Sen. John McCain wrote defending his Iraq war policy.
This is his actual first draft.
McCain's campaign sent out fundraising appeals based on the article.
He will be submitting a followup draft, but it will take a little while due to McCain's dependance on the typewriter and ground mail. The New York Times has rejected an essay that Sen. John McCain wrote defending his Iraq war policy. ... more -
Disaboom.com to Webcast National Forum on Disability Issues
Disaboom (OTCBB: DSBO; www.disaboom.com), the premier online community and resource for people touched by disability, today announced that it will webcast the National Forum on Disability Issues, a historic, nonpartisan forum held in Columbus, Ohio, which allows the presidential candidates to present their visions for the future of disability policy in America. The forum will be webcast live on disaboom.com Saturday, July 26, 2008, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. EDT. To view the live webcast, prior registration is required at www.disaboom.com/AAPDSignUp.aspx. A video of the forum will also be available for download at disaboom.com following the live webcast. Disaboom (OTCBB: DSBO; www.disaboom.com), the premier online community and resource for people touched by disability, today announced ... more
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Are cluster bombs immoral?
The moral center of humanity slowly asserts itself. Only the most powerful are too afraid to join.
You may have missed the news: At the end of May, 111 nations, including, at the last minute, Great Britain, showing the world the power of an unleashed conscience, agreed to an international ban on cluster bombs, surely one of the cruelest and, given the nature of war today, most unnecessary weapons in modern arsenals.
Among those not endorsing the treaty and MIA at the conference in Dublin where it was debated were Russia, China, Israel and, to the surprise of no one, the United States of George Bush, that increasingly isolated moral rump state of which so many are so ashamed. Indeed, the treaty is widely seen as a “diplomatic defeat” for the U.S., so identified is the Bush administration with the sanctity of its WMD.
The official U.S. stance on cluster bombs is that they have “demonstrated military utility,” which trumps “the humanitarian concerns of those in Dublin,” which the U.S. nonetheless shares with such passion that, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates explained in a recent policy memo, “by 2018 the military will no longer use cluster weapons with a failure rate greater than 1 percent. In the interim period the U.S. will deplete its existing stockpiles of cluster munitions with a greater than 1 percent dud rate by exporting them to foreign governments that agree not to use them starting in 2018.”
Certainly there is a hellish ingenuity to the cluster bomb, which was designed for use on an open field of battle. A “mother canister,” as it is called, opens in mid-air and releases hundreds of grenade-size bombs that “spew deadly shrapnel over very large swathes of land” when they hit the ground, as explained recently in the Salt Lake Tribune by former munitions researcher Dick Devlin.
And Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer adds: “If they exploded high enough to let the bomblets scatter properly, a few well-placed cluster bombs or shells could destroy dozens of soft-skinned military vehicles and blunt the attack of an entire mechanized infantry battalion. A few hundred could stop an army corps.”
Of course, we don’t use cluster bombs to disable massing infantries. We haven’t fought that kind of war in over 50 years. We use them now in counterinsurgency warfare, against primarily civilian populations, in such places as Kosovo (U.S.), Afghanistan (U.S., Russia), Lebanon (Israel) and, of course, Iraq (U.S.). We use them, in other words, to shred innocent bystanders.
Stigmatizing war
by Robert C. Koehler
July 18, 2008
Read complete article: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/13/2008/31...
The moral center of humanity slowly asserts itself. Only the most powerful are too afraid to join. ... more -
AS THE BANKING BUBBLE POPS IS ANOTHER BUBBLE BURST ON THE HORIZON?
"For the normally staid mining sector, these are heady times. Sector indices have easily outpaced the Dow Jones Industrial Average for five years running (see chart below). Now some industry watchers see signs of a bubble (FT). At the same time, one industry giant, the British-Australian firm BHP Billiton, is attempting a hostile takeover of another British-Australian conglomerate, Rio Tinto. Whether or not the bid goes through—it initially met a sharp response from Rio's board and is currently under EU scrutiny (AFP)—some analysts say it could spawn a period of consolidation that will have geopolitical consequences for years to come...
Perhaps the most dramatic aspect of mining sector's wild ride has been the push toward consolidation it has ushered. A Financial Times article says BHP's bid for Rio Tinto sparked a turf war that could lead to a major sector consolidation in the coming years (a fair amount has already happened—"the volume of mining deals in recent years has actually been staggering," says the CEO of the Swiss firm Xstrata in a recent interview with Reuters). The FT article says Rio may seek to buy up smaller firms, or team up with Vale, to make the firm too large for BHP to buy a controlling stake. But Vale, if it wants to protect itself, might seek a similar strategy, possibly teaming with Xstrata or the U.S.-headquartered Alcoa. Indeed, dozens of global players—even those not directly related to the BHP-Rio deal—might seek similar moves in the next few years.
The impact of such a shake-up would be felt globally. Several smaller U.S. firms could emerge as takeover targets, particularly given the weakness of the dollar. Depending which buyers are interested, such moves could prompt the kind of protectionist reaction seen in 2006 when a Dubai-based company tried to buy a company that ran U.S. ports. Other analysts question whether resource nationalism could increasingly grip the sector, adding unknown geopolitical twists to the rush for access to materials. Even putting these concerns aside, a major sector consolidation would have ramifications for the mining business itself. Investors Chronicle notes that a period of rapid acquisitions isn't necessarily the best way for the sector to boost growth at a time of rapidly rising global demand."
Read entire article at http://www.cfr.org/publication/16753/mining_turf_wars.h... "For the normally staid mining sector, these are heady times. Sector indices have easily outpaced the Dow Jones Industrial Average for... more -
GOP Asks Net For Advice, Paulites Answer the Call ... and Answer, and Answer
When the Republican Party issued a clarion call last week for its grassroots supporters to submit ideas online to build the party's platform, Republican National Committee officials probably weren't expecting a concerted push for the dismantling of the Federal Reserve and a return to the gold standard.
But Ron Paul supporters have made themselves at home on the the GOP platform site, sounding many of the themes that turned the Texas congressman's doomed run for the Republican presidential nod into an internet cause célèbre. When the Republican Party issued a clarion call last week for its grassroots supporters to submit ideas online to build the party's pl... more -
Dr. Paul on Bernanke’s Testimony
Here’s a new video from Dr. Paul, telling us about Ben Bernanke’s testimony. How much more interesting Congress is thanks to Ron Paul, the one truth teller. Without him, it’d be a lot of bootlicking questions and waving of incense before the sacred Ben. (And P.S.: Dr. Paul’s book The Revolution: A Manifesto, which explains all these issues in layman’s terms, will move up on the New York Times bestseller list from #23 this Sunday to #17 on the list for July 27.) Here’s a new video from Dr. Paul, telling us about Ben Bernanke’s testimony. How much more interesting Congress is thanks to Ron Paul,... more
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A Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign Policy - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions, accompanied by suggested answers, that the candidate is likely to be asked about international relations during the day. WASHINGTON — Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mail... more
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McCain Has Worse Afghanistan Hearing Record Than Obama
Shudder --- hypocrisy in presidential election politics? I can't believe it. Apparently, McCain's campaign was busting on Obama for his record of attending Senate hearings on Afghanistan (ABC reports Obama attended 1/6), but McCain attended zilch nada none (0/6). Lots of pointing of fingers on who attended what meetings and when.
"McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers, in a statement to ABC News, argued that McCain's years of previous foreign policy experience make up for his recent lack of attendance at hearings." Shudder --- hypocrisy in presidential election politics? I can't believe it. Apparently, McCain's campaign was busting on Obama for hi... more -
Chertoff: European terrorists trying to enter US
Again we're reminded how we now live in a security state. For years we've been hearing these warnings, but Chertoff shouldn't scare us. Who are these terrorists and what are they trying to do in the US? Why is it reasonable that they would choose now to begin threatening the US again at home?
I'm just speculating here, but moves like this are more in line with the current administration's politics of fear and are directed at a population which is susceptible to irrational rallying. Tony Snow once said in a W.H. press briefing, "Public opinion is not something chiseled in stone. Quite often it's shaped by, among other things, political campaigns." That is exactly what the American people should be weary about and why we should demand more information when we're presented with reality-shifting comments like these ones from Chertoff.
Again we're reminded how we now live in a security state. For years we've been hearing these warnings, but Chertoff shouldn't scare us... more -
Cast of 300 Advises Obama on Foreign Policy
Obama campaign runs a mini- State Department to keep the candidate savvy on foreign policy issues.
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Alive In Baghdad: Life, from Iraqis to you
"Alive in Baghdad is a weekly news program distributed via RSS. Our limited staff is able to post a video every Monday morning, so if you’re looking for more material please look through our archive.
Alive in Baghdad employs Iraqi journalists to produce video packages each week about a variety of topics on daily life in Iraq. Through the work of a team of Americans and Iraqi correspondents on the ground, Alive in Baghdad shows the conflict through the voices of Iraqis. Alive in Baghdad brings testimonies from individual Iraqis, footage of daily life in Iraq, and short news segments from Iraq to you."
(End of excerpt from AliveInBaghdad.org)
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Video from MobLogic.tv with Lindsay Campbell
http://www.moblogic.tv/video/2008/07/14/alive-in-baghda...
"Alive in Baghdad is a weekly news program distributed via RSS. Our limited staff is able to post a video every Monday morning, so if ... more -
Another McCain co-chair resigns after he was caught lobbying on behalf of foreign ...
McCain finance co-chair and former New Jersey congressman Jim Courter, chief executive of telecom corporation IDT, is resigning from the campaign after the FCC slapped IDT with a $1.3 million fine last week for failing to disclose information about its contracts in Haiti.
McCain finance co-chair and former New Jersey congressman Jim Courter, chief executive of telecom corporation IDT, is resigning from t... more -
McCain Helps Allies Find Finance-Law Holes
Allies of Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with Sen. Barack Obama. Allies of Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in h... more
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The Facebooker who friended Obama - The New York Times
“One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up, ” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “And there’s no more powerful tool for grass-roots organizing than the Internet.” “One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up, ” Mr. Obama said in... more
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Newsweek: A Spanish-language McCain radio ad gets nearly all its facts wrong.
McCain's new radio ad, in Spanish, aims to show Florida would benefit from the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which he supports. But every number in the ad is wrong, except one, a prediction of job gains taken from a group favoring the trade deal. And even that number is rounded upward so generously as to flunk third-grade arithmetic.
Hmmm....Just like Bush distorted the facts in Iraq to influence public opinion of the war???
It's the McSame Sh*t McCain's new radio ad, in Spanish, aims to show Florida would benefit from the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which he supports. But e... more -
McCain Battles a Nemesis, the Teleprompter
McCain brought in a new adviser,Greg Jenkins,former Fox News producer,who will oversee the producing and staging of Mr. McCain ’s events. Mr. Jenkins oversaw many of President Bush’s appearances.Even Peter Spaulding, the chairman of Mr. McCain’s campaign, said he recently saw a McCain speech on television that was “just atrocious.” McCain brought in a new adviser,Greg Jenkins,former Fox News producer,who will oversee the producing and staging of Mr. McCain ’s even... more
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Reason Magazine - Conservatives Against Empire
The forgotten tradition of the antiwar right
W. James Antle, III reviews: Ain’t My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism, by Bill Kauffman. The forgotten tradition of the antiwar right ... more
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