What city is this?
Same rules apply. There are running totals on the sidebar. So far, Sid is up.
Maybe I'm just ill-informed when it comes to science and technology, but it seems like this sort of thing would have been invented and in use decades ago.
"The nation's first commercial hydrokinetic turbine, which harnesses the power from moving water without the construction of a dam, has splashed into the waters of the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minnesota."
"The largest test of this new type of power production is under way in New York City's East River, with six 35-kilowatt turbines scheduled to be installed by mid-March in a channel that's off-limits to large vessels. As the 16-ft.-dia. rotors spin, as close as 6 ft. to the water's surface, they'll provide power to a supermarket and a parking garage."One thing in particular struck me here. These giant turbines with 16ft blades will be whipping around only six feet below the surface. Besides the aesthetics of a natural body of water being ruined, I wonder if this is a danger to humans or destructive to aquatic life.
I'm not sure what the hell is going on here. Are they floating? I think the Gulf has enough rigs out there already, but I guess a few more things to ruin the sunset won't matter. Here's one that is in operation near Ireland.
And finally, here is one that is in the works for Korea. Hyundai is footing the bill.
"The scheme will use power from fast-moving tidal streams to turn a field of 300 60-foot high tidal 1MW turbines sitting on the sea floor. This gives the proposed scheme an operating capacity of 300MW. According to the press release, the power produced from the tidal power plant will generate enough electricity for 200,000 homes and will be completed by the end of 2015."
Homosexuality is a strange and underground behavior in Korea. The stereotypical and media-sensationalized ways of identifying a gay man or woman using standard superficial means such as clothing, speech intonation or behavior are useless because of the extreme lengths some go to conceal their sexuality. You won’t see them walking around openly in the streets, but they’ve always been out there in the clubs, sauna’s and parks just like the rest of world. Recently, however, there has certainly been more and more publicity surrounding the LGBT community.
There have been gay pride parades in Seoul, lesbian pies, lesbian radio shows, lesbian parks and several teevee shows and articles written on the subject. Yet despite its plain view presence or its seedy underbelly status, many Koreans still believe that Korea has no gays.
Take Hwang Eun-young, 31. She’s an ordinary straight Korean woman. She’s studying to be a high school English teacher. She likes going to dinner friends, drives with her boyfriend, but most of all likes romantic comedies. She, like many, many Korean people, believes that there are very few "real" homosexuals in Korea. In class we discussed this topic. The original point of the discussion was how Korea treats homosexuals. She seemed to think that people were gay by choice and that most of them are gay only for a few months or maybe a couple of years. Ludicrous to say the least, but I didn’t want to interrupt the flow since it is a conversation class after all.
Of course, it is very difficult to gauge just how many homosexuals are in Korea, especially with the shame that surrounds making such an announcement. Korea Beat had an interesting write up on it awhile back which highlighted a study that claimed that 10% of gay Koreans get married to members of the opposite sex.
So, to continue on with "From Their Mouth"...
“How do you think mainstream Korea treats homosexuals?” I started.
“Well, there aren’t very many at all, so I don’t think there is a specific way they are treated.”
“But I’ve seen a lot of gay Korean men and women in various bars and clubs in some of the foreign areas of Seoul. They seemed to be pretty gay to me.”
“They probably weren’t gay. Western people think any man wearing pink is gay”
“Let’s pretend that the Korean men in the club were gay. Will they still be gay in five years?” I asked.
“No way. They wouldn’t do that to their family. Besides, their mother will get them medicine.”
“Medicine? Is homosexuality curable?”
“Absolutely! Medicine and counseling will cure it.”
"Do you think we can cure these animals with medicine also?"
"No because they're just confused. They can't think like humans can."
"So, humans can think, yet we still engage in this behavior. What does that mean?"
""
Nope, but wanna see what it might look like if my wife and I have 26 year old son?
How about a 26 year old girl?
One of the biggest advantages of teaching adults is that I gain a relatively more in-depth view into Korean mentality and logic. The students feel more relaxed when they're in class with me. The cultural barriers are down. They know that I'm not Korean and I won’t judge them by the same shaming criteria that their colleagues, friends and family do, so they tend to vent a lot and really articulate themselves without any restrictions. I have heard the most incongruous things in my time in front of these classes as well as some really remarkable stories as well.
"From Their Mouth" is their completely candid and unfiltered stories. It's a collection of stories, opinions, experiences and statements with a little research and my take on it. I changed the names slightly.
Kim Dong-jun, 44, is a single, successful man who loves his life. He regularly travels all over the world on both business and pleasure, but really loves to spend time in Macau. He likes to go there for one reason: sex. He loves Chinese prostitutes and takes weeklong trips down to the Southern port more than six times a year. I asked him why he didn't frequent any of the Korean brothels that blanket Seoul and he said that the Chinese girls were "less inhibited". Of course I was interested in what meant by that and he explained it to me as "strong sex". That indicated to me that he could get rough with his Chinese hookers and that was his thing.
As the exchange continued, I figured out that he was in a long-term relationship (9 years) and he plans on marrying her within the next couple years. Naturally, I was a tad perplexed since this information was discovered immediately after he revealed he frequented China for rough sex with prostitutes.
"Does your girlfriend know what you do in Macau." I asked.
"Yeah, but she can't do anything about it."
"Why not? Couldn't she leave you?" I was undoubtedly taken back by his cavalier attitude.
"Only Korean people can appreciate why a man needs more than one woman. It's our history. Women know, but ignore it."
"How many Korean men IN KOREA participate in this type of thing?"
"I'd say 90%." He replied as he casually leaned back in his chair.
"You mean 9%?"
"No, 90%...at least."
"And you think that's okay?" I was hoping for him to admit that it’s a pretty shitty thing to crow about.
"It's our culture."
"A district court in Goyang, near Seoul, handed Ok a suspended eight-month jail sentence, South Korean media reported, meaning she will not have to serve time. Ok's lover received a six-month suspended term."
"Extra-marital affairs are nothing new in South Korea. In an online survey last year by monthly women's magazine Woman Sense, 79 percent of married men and 15.5 percent of married women in their 30s and 40s admitted adultery."
"But ironically having affairs is seen in a different light in Korea. In fact, my married Korean friends openly talk about girlfriends or boyfriends, moreso of "wanting" a lover rather than confessing to an ongoing relationship. But conceptually an affair is more often considered a rebelliously courageous and romantic act than a morally despicable betrayal. That is assuming that the would-be lovers in question are dutifully playing their roles as husbands and wives -- making money to support the family, taking care of the kids and spending time with the in-laws."
After three months of hiding in the mud, The Clam is back. I have been keeping myself busy though, but being away from the keyboard this long has left me confused about how to get started here again. I was so consumed with the US election that I started my second blog, not to mention the family one and now I don't know what to write on all three.
Regardless, in my three months away, I started a new job, learned how to play guitar, grew a sweet mustache and made some solid plans for the next couple years. You could say it was productive, but in reality I filled it with too many hungover mornings. Still, I'm back now and I figured I'd start out with a couple thoughts on my third Christmas abroad.
As you'll recall, I was in Cambodia two years ago for Christmas. Western holidays aren't widely celebrated in Asia of course and Cambodia is no exception. It's almost like they go out of their way to avoid it actually. Rather than a turkey, ham or figgy puddy (I'm actually not sure what the hell that is, but Brits seem to get excited about it) they brought out their street food staple: fried tarantula.
There was so f*cking way I was eating that arachnid, but there were some expats digging right in. Good for them. I'm willing to try seahorse and scorpion in China because I don't have a lot of first-hand experience with such creatures, so the exocitism of the experience takes over there, but a spider is just way too close to home. All in all, it was a nice Christmas because there was no mention of it. We exchanged presents under the pretext of the holiday, but Camboida itself could care less from what I witnessed. They understood that Cambodia as a nation does not celebrate the holiday. As much as they try to globalize and compete in the region, they know that mimicing the West is not the way to do it.
Korea, on the other hand, tries so hard to celebrate Christmas and, for that matter, mimic everything that the US does. Yet, they claim it to be uniquely Korean. The gaudy trees that are never decorated well come out at just the right time, techno verisions of "Last Christmas" replace the classics and millions of Koreans walk thoughtlessly past the Salvation Army Santa. And of course, the worst part of the whole thing is how Christmas is equated to romance. It's Valentines Day in December. People buy gifts for significant others and usually leave family and friends in the cold. Like Valentine's Day, the absurd Christmas holiday is just another excuse to merchandise more useless crap.
It's unfortunate.
This is just about one the greatest things I have seen...
This isn't the "bully that no one likes". This is the "drunk uncle that stole money from your grandmother". Watch it again.
Simon Rosenberg lays out just how out of touch the GOP has become.
At this point, I really believe there is a strong argument to be made that the GOP is further from power, more discredited and more out of touch with the American people than any time since the days of FDR and Truman. The GOP's challenge isn't a moderate-conservative one, a North-South one, a black-white-brown one - it is a forward/backward one. They succeeded in dislodging the Democrats in the late 20th century. They blew their shot in this decade to build a durable majority. Their government failed at a level that has done grave and lasting damage to their brand, and their leaders seem firmly grounded in an old politics that is simply no longer credible in this new day. They are going to have to go through a total overhaul. They will have to develop a new argument that meets the emerging challenges of the new century head on; a new electoral map; a new coalition that at some point begins to accept our fast-growing, non-white population; and competency in a whole new set of media and tech tools. They will have to shed the exploitation of race that has been at the core of their domestic politics; shed their raging intolerance of people not like them; of their comfort with politics and theater over governing; of the binary simplicity of the Cold War and the limitations of free market fundamentalism; and of a whole generation of leaders from Karl Rove to Mitch McConnell to Grover Norquist, who were schooled and evangelized in this breed of politics. This task is a big and complex one, harder perhaps than anything the right has had to do since the founding of the National Review in 1955.
Let's hope he sticks to this statement from 60 Minutes:
Kroft: There are a number of different things that you could do early pertaining to executive orders. One of them is to shutdown Guantanamo Bay. Another is to change interrogation methods that are used by U.S. troops. Are those things that you plan to take early action on?
Mr. Obama: Yes. I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And I'm gonna make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world.
It seems the fashionable thing to do if you are a conservative whose political ideology was just given the biggest beating since 1993 is to deny that it was an actual smack-down but rather more of a referendum on Bush. Tod Linberg at WaPo points out that the recent attempts to deny the clear electorate movement away from conservatism is simply ludicrous, but since this is coming from the party that praised Sarah Palin for her know-nothingness, I’m not surprised in the least.
The chant that we are hearing is that despite being handed a devastating defeat in both 2006 and 2008; America is still a center-right nation. If that is true, then why would Americans overwhelmingly elect someone that McCain-Palin called “the most liberal senator” ever or a “socialist”? If America is so staunchly center-right, why would they give full power to the left? How about the McCain attack “Redistributor in Chief” or the fact that 56% of the voters thought that Obama would handle taxed better? The last two months of the GOP ticket was solely focused on painting Obama as a radical left-wing nut job who, along with Pelosi and Reid, would in no uncertain terms, spell the end to “America the Free”. One can only assume that this is their political version of the Kübler-Ross model. And it seems that they are still just at level one of the five stages of grief: denial. That’s fine though. The longer they are living is their disillusioned world, the deeper the progressive roots get. “Here's the stark reality: It is now harder for the Republican presidential candidate to get to 50.1 percent than for the Democrat. My Hoover Institution colleague David Brady and Douglas Rivers of the research firm YouGovPolimetrix have been analyzing data from online interviews with 12,000 people in both 2004 and 2008. It shows an overall shift to the Democrats of six percentage points. As they write in the forthcoming edition of Policy Review, "The decline of Republican strength occurs by having strong Republicans become weak Republicans, weak Republicans becoming independents, and independents leaning more Democratic or even becoming Democrats." This is a portrait of an electorate moving from center-right to center-left.”
Whatever the right punditry wants to call it is fine, but when Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia flipped to blue, the GOP knew that they were going to have to find a way to survive in political darkness they created for themselves.
I personally don't think she should accept this position. Chris Powers at Open Left thinks that it's a gamble, but one that could pay off.
"This is a high-risk, high-reward opportunity for Hillary Clinton. If she accepts, and serves out six or eight years in a popular Obama administration, then she is practically guaranteed the Presidency in 2016."
While progressive apathy or indifference might prove to be a hindrance on a left shift in the electorate, there is no shortage of the conservatives in the nation who refuse to let go of their mindless detestation and narrow-mindedness.
The AP and other news organizations have been reporting on "threats" and "plots" directed towards Obama and his family, but have not really delved into anything beyond catchy phrases like "Racism looms" or "Traces of racism still remain in the South". I guess that's one way to dismiss a serious rift in the American electorate, but when I read stories like this one; I start to think that the media’s handling of these "threats" is actually overlooking the significance of such behavior since they’re choosing to report them with no insight, alarm or action.
Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars. Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America. From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.
“The day after the vote hailed as a sign of a nation changed, black high school student Barbara Tyler of Marietta, Ga., said she heard hateful Obama comments from white students, and that teachers cut off discussion about Obama's victory.”
I'm welcoming myself back from a self-imposed break that was much needed and totally taken advantage of. I understand that the timing was somewhat peculiar. Why would I write about the election for over a year and then stop abruptly right before the election? Well, the morning of October 12th, I sat down to do my usual thing where I rail into the farce that was the McCain-Palin ticket and offer praise to my ticket and it hit me. I had become nearly mechanical in my support for the Obama-Biden ticket. To be fair, Obama ran a watertight campaign and I did and still do ardently support him. Still, I lost all ability to fairly scrutinize the ticket. I looked back at some of my primary posts and the tone was much different then. I couldn't figure out why though and that caused some serious derision within me which of course shattered all ambition to write about the election.
It wasn't until recently that I grasped what my problem was. There was this idea that if Obama won this election, we would be living in a new world. It would be a world where the issues of the past would be laid in their proper place. It was as if an Obama win (not an Obama presidency) would purify the nation of its sometimes malevolent past. I, too, had become so fanatical with an Obama win, that I stopped seriously thinking about his presidency.
McCain's "The One" ad comes to mind. Of course McCain was trying to paint an Obama as the anti-Christ, but there was some precision in there. People seemed to believe that an Obama win would be an end-all to their problems. They were anticipating some gust of wind to blow through the ghosts of their past life and open a new door where "hope" could subsist in the absence of empathy.
I remember when Bill Clinton said that Obama’s message was the "biggest fairy tale [he'd] ever heard” -that being, the idea that bipartisanship and most of Obama's campaign mantras would come to a head. He was right. It was a fairy tale prologue. Everything from the speeches to the supporters to the tears and finally the victory was a Cinderella story. Well now, we have all read the story, fallen asleep, had wonderful dreams and it's morning again.
Take this song by will.i.am. released on November 5th.
It's quite a positive song that highlights the remarkable progress that Americans seemed to have made with this election, but the line "I've been fighting for tomorrow for all my life" is particularly interesting to me. It sums up my fear that people were "changing" and "progressing" with Obama for November 4th and that the "tomorrow" he was referring to might not be the future, but simply the feeling of victory on the 5th. Obama was not calling for people to blindly accept his message and candidacy. He was not asking people to vote for him because of the historic nature of this election either. He was asking people to seriously support a progressive agenda and, in effect, help mark the end or at least diminution of American conservatism.
It is a brand new day in American political discourse. Let's just hope some recovering sheep like me stay focused on the message that we so fervently accepted and truly fight for an open and progressive America.
That Couric interview reminds me of the Mary Poppins bag.
She reads all of them, huh? I guess that's where she got the information that people think Alaska is a foreign country. Couric is getting fed up with her dancing as well.
I'm looking forward to this.
Latest Palin Gaffe: Can't Name Supreme Court Case Other Than Roe V. Wade
She's either creating such low expecatations for the debate or intentionally trying to bury the campaign.
Apparently, it wouldn't be fair if the moderators asked too many foreign policy questions. Poor Sarah.
Personally, I don't think Palin has a strong area or a "fortay", so I'm fine with everything. She's getting training this week, so expect more one-liners than anything else.
From 538,
And here is another scenario breakdown,
Notice the Obama landslide increased 10 points from last week.
According to McCain/Palin, we can't listen to people's "verbage" or words just because someone is "sticking a microphone [in] while conversations are being held."
"She would not…she understands and has stated repeatedly that we're not going to do anything except in America's national security interest," McCain told ABC's George Stephanopoulos of Palin. "In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position… This is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitve policy statement made by Governor Palin."
The Times of London reports that a shotgun wedding is in the works for Bristol Palin.
"Inside John McCain’s campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. “It would be fantastic,” said a McCain insider. “You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."
The trackers will be coming in all week, but here is the first round of reactions from the first debate. It's a clear win for Obama.
And here are some reactions to the issues discussed in the debate.
Looking good to me. Bottom line is that McCain didn't come close to winning the debate that he has been built to win. The rest will favor Obama.
The first debate was an interesting one. Barack Obama was collected, serious, not personable and very informed. McCain was condescending, easily irritated, increasingly tired looking and gave me the impression that was contemptuous of Obama for having the nerve to challenge him on foreign policy and the presidency. Apparently, he feels as if he is entitled to it.
Luckily, most viewers did not. The GOP thought McCain won. The Dems thought that Obama won and, luckily, the Indy's thought Obama won. That's actually pretty impressive. This was supposed to be an easy one for McCain. After all, it's his "speciality". The next two will be Obama territory and Palin might wet her pants.
This writer has an interesting take.
"The first presidential debate was more than a clash of ideology or temperaments. Barack Obama and John McCain did not even wrestle over the $700 billion economic bailout. Theirs was a generational collision, and at times it looked almost like a dramatic rendition of Freudian family tension: an older patriarch frustrated and even cranky when challenged by a would-be successor to the family business who thinks he can run it better."
This guy is right on. Here's the whole article...
Sell! Sell! McCain is tanking!
By Dan Payne
September 26, 2008
JOHN MCCAIN'S move to suspend his campaign and TV spots and to dodge tonight's debate is a panic attack, not cagey tactics. Place your "sell" order now. His poll numbers are tanking, fewer and fewer Americans believe Sarah Palin is qualified, and his campaign manager has been exposed as a well-paid lobbyist for bankrupt Freddie Mac.
From strong to Depression in 10 days. Ten days ago McCain said the economy was fundamentally strong. Now he's decided it's so fundamentally weak he's needed in Washington ASAP. Meanwhile, Sarah Palin told Katie Couric on CBS if a bailout doesn't pass, "We're going to find ourselves in another Great Depression." How's that for a little reassurance?
For whom the polls fell. What changed about the financial bailout that prompted this bizarre behavior? McCain's poll numbers. They've been dropping like last week's Dow. In the key state of Pennsylvania, Obama now leads by 9. In Wisconsin, it's +7, Colorado +4, Michigan +4, Minnesota +2, and Virginia +3. Even in Florida it's +2.
The Washington Post/ABC poll shows Obama now leads the national horserace by 9 points, a turnaround of 11 points in two weeks. The poll found 79 percent of the American people are very worried about the national economy, and 60 percent are worried about their own finances. Obama is beating McCain by 14 points in understanding people's economic problems.
Democrats calling his bluff. Democrats have told the White House they will not vote for a bailout package unless it's one John McCain supports. They don't want to give him a chance to say no and grandstand as a "maverick" using the rejection as a chance to prove his independence from Bush and Wall Street.
Palin is failin'. In a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 49 percent say Palin is unqualified to be president if needed. By comparison, 64 percent say Joe Biden is qualified.
Palin on Couric. The entire time I'm watching Palin "answer" questions from Katie Couric, I'm thinking, what an airhead. We're in two wars, our financial markets are in collapse, unemployment is rising, global warming is getting worse, and this is who might become president?
Palin loves droppin' them g's. Talkin', takin', gettin', I'm thinkin' we got a grownup valley girl here runnin' for vice president.
Oh, Ricky. Rick Davis is McCain's campaign manager. He is also a highly paid lobbyist for Freddie Mac, the bailed-out mortgage giant. Davis received more than a quarter of a million dollars this year from Freddie Mac -- a firm that you and I as taxpayers now own. Asked when he last worked for Freddie, Davis lied and said it was three years ago. He's a poison pill for McCain.
Multitasking is part of the job. As Obama put it, a president has to do more than one thing at a time. He said we both have our own big jets that can fly us from D.C. to Mississippi in time for the debate.
The hothead. This McCain stunt is consistent with his being a notorious hothead that blows up and demeans anyone who displeases him. Asked by a high school student several months ago if he was too old to be president, he replied, "Thanks for the question, you little jerk."
McCain publicly cursed former GOP Senator Pete Domenici. Last year he blasted Senator John Cornyn over the budget. Cornyn's reply reveals how effective McCain will be with his colleagues on the bailout. "I've been sitting in here for all these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line." McCain struck back with an f-bomb.
Et tu, Cindy? Another semi-famous blowup came during his 2000 campaign when his wife, Cindy, joked about his losing his hair. (For his colorfully gross reply, Google "McCain top ten blowups.")
Respect the people's wishes. A quickie poll done by SurveyUSA shows that 90 percent of Americans want the debate to take place as scheduled.
Obama as president. In his press conference in response to McCain's panic attack, Obama was calm, cool, and collected. If the whole nation had been watching, people would have seen what President Obama would be like. They may get that chance tonight.
Pollster Prez, John Zogby is about 11 months too late on this one...
"John Zogby, president of Zogby International, told a group of businesspeople today that it’s up to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to convince voters to go with him. If he’s not successful, the country will likely vote for “a comfortable old shoe”, that being Republican Sen. John McCain."
Obama has come out strong in his insistence to continue on with the debates. He has been clear, and like always, is far ahead of McCain in popular opinion. People want to hear from the candidates and like Obama said, the President is going to have to deal with more than one issue at a time. McCain has made himself look quite weak.
I'm pumped up for the debates and I know that both McCain and Palin are terrified. I would love it if McCain refused to debate and Obama showed up. McCain would pretend that he was busy in Washington, but it won't work. Since Palin was thrown at the Media, they have been much more vigilant in what they accept as fact.
Again, Schumer says it best:We haven't heard hide nor hair of Sen. McCain in these negotiations," said Schumer, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. "He has not been involved except for an occasional, unhelpful statement, sort of thrown from far away, and the last thing we need in these delicate negotiations is an injection of presidential politics."
Here's McCain's pathetic attempt:
He uses 9/11 as well. Here's Obama's reaction.
It looks like most people are seeing this as a ploy.
He sums it up...
"You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."
"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?"
"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"
Just in case you were wondering where the American people were on McCain's latest stunt, SUSA has the polls.
The first debate between John McCain and Barack Obama is scheduled to take place in two days. Should the debate be held as scheduled? Should the debate be held, but the format changed to focus on the economy? Or, should the debate be postponed?
Hold as scheduled 50
Hold with focus on economy 36
Postpone 10
Is the right response to the turmoil on Wall Street to suspend the campaigns for president? To continue the campaigns as though there is no crisis? Or, to re-focus the campaigns with a unique emphasis on the turmoil on Wall Street?
Suspend 14
Continue 31
Refocus the campaign 48
If Friday's presidential debate does not take place, would that be good for America? Bad for America? Or would it make no difference?
Good for America 14
Bad for America 46
No difference 35
The jokers at the AP and other blind media outlets usually are guided by election time hysteria and narratives come and go within hours. I have seen this AP headline on my YahooNews ticker for the past 36 hours. NEVER have I ever seen the same headline on the ticker for more than 6 hours (and that's even a stretch). This is the same tired article that goes along with the Image of the Week/Useless Poll that I talked about two days ago.
Here's the cached headline that has actually moved from a brief mentioning to a headline.
Everything about this article is absurd. The title, "A New Racial Divide", is a pathetic attempt to make it seem like Obama is somewhat responsible for creating this "New" concept of racism and black-white animonsity. The teaser, "And who's to blame?" makes it abuntantly clear that the AP is trying to heighten racial tensions as the election nears. How about the, "Poll: Racial views may cost Obama". Cost him what? The election? Right.
The wedge the AP is going for is pretty apparent. Now that Obama has a comfortable lead, it's time to bring his race back into it and see if that might scare the numbers into tightening.
The AP really needs to get some new writers or at least come up with some catchier headlines.
McCain criticizes Obama for lack of leadership
That's the best they got. Time to move on, AP.
I guess you have to fill up all of those garages."After the fuss over the number of residences owned by the two presidential nominees, NEWSWEEK looked into the candidates' cars. And based on public vehicle-registration records, here's the score. John and Cindy McCain: 13. Barack and Michelle Obama: one."
I own one car and one motor-scooter, so maybe I'm on my way, too?
Rex Murphy doesn't seem to understand why Obama is acting like a comabative partisan.
"His acceptance speech in the Olympic-style stadium could not gather the inspirational energy of his earlier arias. Of late, the flash supernova of U.S. politics is seen "competing" with a second-on-the-ticket female governor of a remote state. There's more than a gap between the "audacity of hope" and "lipstick on a pig." The mouth that spoke the first phrase should not be capable of the second.
He has shrunk into a combative partisan. He crowds his own screen, leaves less space for projection. Others are not writing his narrative now - he's inscribing his own."
The best way to avoid GOP shenanigans is to vote early. It looks like 1/3 of voters will be doing the same. The AP says:
"Nationwide, about a third of the electorate is expected to vote early this year, thanks to expanded early voting provisions and fewer restrictions on absentee voting, researchers project. In all, more than 30 states allow any registered voter to cast an early ballot, some in person and others by mail."
Well, I guess it was a matter of time until we saw a racist poll like this surface.
From the mouth of the douche himself, Ron Fourier claims:
"40 percent of all white Americans hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks."
Obama has fired a few good ones out there recently. I think this one is the most effective. The economy is what this election is about and now that Palin-McCain McCain-Palin has hit their crest, it's time to get back to business.
McCain and Palin are well equipped to be in the White House. Palin demostrated it with Charlie Gibson last week by lying in every other sentence. Here's my favorite:
Palin says,
"Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States."
"It's simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. "energy supply," a term that is generally defined as energy consumed. That category includes power produced in the U.S. by nuclear, coal, hydroelectric dams and other means – as well as all the oil imported into the country.
Palin would have been correct to say that Alaska produces just over 14 percent of all the oil produced in the U.S., leaving out imports and leaving out other forms of power. According to the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Alaskan wells produced 263.6 million barrels of oil in 2007, or 14.3 percent of the total U.S. production of 1.8 billion barrels.
But Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007, counting both domestic production and imports from other nations. According to EIA, the total supply was just over 5.5 billion barrels in 2007.
Furthermore, Palin said "energy," not "oil," so she was actually much further off the mark. According to EIA, Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production.
And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only "2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes."
Palin didn't make clear whether she was talking about Alaska's share of all the energy produced in the U.S. or all the energy consumed here. Either way, she was wrong."
"Well, I think Americans are going to be very, very, very pleased. This is a very dynamic person. [Palin's] been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply."
While McCain's Health Insurance policy doesn't extend much beyond SPF, at least he is concerned about skin cancer. Palin prefers to be injected with it...
"The governor did have a tanning bed put in the Governor's Mansion," Roger Wetherell, chief communications officer of Alaska's Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, confirmed to this newspaper. "It was done shortly after she took office [in early 2007] and moved into the mansion."
Will more States do the same?
"In an election for President of the United States in Virginia today, 09/15/08, 7 weeks till votes are counted, Democrat Barack Obama defeats Republican John McCain 50% to 46%, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted for WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, WJLA-TV in Washington DC, WTVR-TV in Richmond, and WJHL-TV in the Tri-Cities. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released one week ago, immediately following the Republican National Convention, Obama is up 3 points; McCain is down 3. The movement solidifies Virginia place as America's 2008 battleground."
Give me a break. SNL is calling it as it is: A pathetic last-ditch effort to shore up support and change the story.
This was funny (and the voice was dead on!):
This was pathetic:
"Well, I think that she looked a bit like her. I think that, of course, the portrait was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin, and so in that sense, they were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive, and Sarah Palin as totally superficial. I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful in the extreme, and yes, I would say, sexist in the sense that just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean that she lacks substance. She has a lot of substance."
This might sting.
That's what you get when you drag people around for personal gain.
When Baptist ministers are scared of her, then you know we have a problem.
"She scares me," said Bess. "She's Jerry Falwell with a pretty face.
"At this point, people in this country don't grasp what this person is all about. The key to understanding Sarah Palin is understanding her radical theology."
"Things got very intense around here in the '90s -- the culture war was very hot here," Bess said. "The evangelicals were trying to take over the valley. They took over the school board, the community hospital board, even the local electric utility. And Sarah Palin was in the direct center of all these culture battles, along with the churches she belonged to."
Palinless McCain is looking pretty good, huh? 
They were expecting 16,000 and got 3,000.
Newsweek is pretty upset with McCain using "Factcheck.org" in his ad to claim that Obama has been "misleading" people about Palin. Well, Factcheck.org debunked that.
The ad:
With its latest ad, released Sept. 10, the McCain-Palin campaign has altered our message in a fashion we consider less than honest. The ad strives to convey the message that FactCheck.org said "completely false" attacks on Sarah Palin had come from Sen. Barack Obama. We said no such thing. We have yet to dispute any claim from the Obama campaign about Palin.
They call the ad "Fact Check." It says "the attacks on Gov. Palin have been called 'completely false' ... 'misleading.' " On screen is a still photo of a grim-faced Obama. Our words are accurately quoted, but they had nothing to do with Obama.
I have been reading the GI blog, ROK Korea for almost two years now. I disagree with the guy most of the time, but he's a good guy. They have had a few threads going these days and there is one commentor that is a perfect example of the current GOP strategy. He/She has taken every Dem campaign position and turned them into a GOP talking point ONLY because McCain selected Palin based on the sexist assumption that women would vote for her based on gender.
He/She has gotten very nasty in recent days, but I wonder if people like this are really representative of the current state of the GOP.
Here are some of his hits. I am "The Clam".
"I will say it here first “down-low-gate”. This is the blockbuster revelation that Obama has had many gay lover, and they are getting murdered. MURDERED!! Don Young, Larry Bland, Nate Spencer.. how much more innocent blood must be spilt to satisfy the Obama lust for power."
"Its so great that America has a new hero. Sarah Palin. The democrats did what I expected, they backstabbed Hillary to keep her out of the white house. Look at all the Democrats that are running to McCain. Now a new hero has steped forward. SARAH PALIN. Thank you baby Jesus for bringing the world such a great hero."
"Already Democrats want to “bash” Palin because they can’t imagine a world where a woman is VP. Hillary almost broke that glass, but the Democratic machine stopped her. Now Palin is carying the tourch. Palin will be a hero to many for breaking the glass.
The Clam, what do you see when you look into a little girls eyes? I see all the possibilites that GOD can offer. EVEN PRESIDENT OF THE MOST POWERFUL NATION ON EARTH. Don’t crush that little girls dreams because you hate women or wish that women are lower then men. Your wishes will never come true.
Sarah Palin: CHANGE WE CAN BELIVE IN!!"
It’s like a bizarro world with you.“Don’t crush that little girls dreams because you hate women or wish that women are lower then men. Your wishes will never come true.”
Watch it, douche bag. As King Baeksu said, the Dems were there over twenty years ago. Don’t try take credit for something that the Left fought many years for. Having a woman in the VP slot does not allow the swine in the GOP to lecture us about equality. We fought you guys to get where we are today. You might have “forgot”, but we did not.
I know name calling is childish, but you sir are a lying douche.
the Clam-Lets destroy this bitch! We Dems gave a woman a shot! She FAILED!!!!
KB-What right does a women have being conservative!
Sorry gents, your glass wall will come down.
Ronald Reagan-Tear Down this Wall
Sarah Palin-CHANGE WE CAN BELIVE IN!!
“I know name calling is childish, but you sir are a lying douche.”-The words of the clam
What is the lie! Clam! Damn your eyes! You sir have lied!
I looked up the word “douche” the clam.
To douche is to introduce a “stream of water into the body for medical or hygienic reasons”
I dont know why you called me that, but your are right I am pure like water, unless you feel H20 is evil, and I am trying to help you (cure you), and other fools, and sometimes helping simple people makes them angry (and childish).
A douche, is medicine to an “intestinal bacteria in the vagina”. That is what a douche is inteneded to cure, a bacteria like you.
People like you look to other simple minded people who will nod their heads in agreement with your insults. But the strong and honest will stand tall.
Sarah Palin-CHANGE WE CAN BELIVE IN!!
She stands tall! Why do you hate her and the dreams of so many daughters of the proud nation of The United States of America!
Its time for change and CHANGE WE ALL (EVEN WOMEN MR CLAM!!) CAN BELIVE IN!
So, you are a douche? Nice.“She stands tall! Why do you hate her and the dreams of so many daughters of the proud nation of The United States of America! Its time for change and CHANGE WE ALL (EVEN WOMEN MR CLAM!!) CAN BELIVE IN.”
Seriously, stop pretending the the GOP is the champion of civil rights. It’s a pretty bogus and offensice claim.
Who was it that said something like this?
“Lets destroy this bitch.” Hmmmm… Oh yeah, it was McCain’s campaign staff in reference to Hillary. The Palin pick was a political pick and nothing more. Open your eyes and stop flattering yourself and your party.
Sarah Palin has her own action figure! Children around the world are rejoicing!
http://www.sarahpalinactionfigure.com/
America and the world need REAL CHANGE. CHANGE THEY CAN BELIVE IN.
Not the failed politics of GORE-KERRY-HUSSAIN OBAMA.
The Clam, don’t piss on a childs dream.
Hillary said the glass ceiling has 18 million cracks and the Clam is busy tryng to glue that ceiling back to the way it was. The Clam, Palin will bring change to the White house no matter how much you and your haters try and stop her.
Its time for real change: Palin!
There are plenty of smart lefties. Look at Obama, he is full of cunning and trickery.
Back to topic-With McCain on top of the polls, he is looking like a real “comeback kid”. Its good to see the good guys win.
Biden by far is the most anti-woman politician (besides Obama) on the ticket.
Meet Joe Biden: the Anita Hill lyncher! htt p://www.feministing.com/archives/010594.html
Its time for real change people! CHANGE WE CAN BELIVE IN!
WE CAN DO IT!!
Palin for the world!“I wouldn’t even call it a Palin movement, I’d call it a sleeping giant that has been awakened,” Baron, 56, said at a rally here Tuesday. She described its members as a silent majority of women in Middle America who “are raising our families, who work if we have to, but love our country and our families first.”
"Polls say that Sarah is just plain popular. She feels the pain of the common man.
Polls say that Biden is out of touch. A failed man from the past.
36 years in the Senate, Biden is the ultimite insider. Change wont happen with Obama and Biden.
CHANGE WE CAN ALL BELIVE IN! SARAH!"
The latest Obama scandal - lipstickGate.
Charges of sexism leveled against the Obama camp.
"KKKLam has just the kind of `politics as usual` thinking that needs to change in America. Obama and the Obama-bots like KKKlam see everything through the eyes of division. I think McCain and Palin are going to bring well needed change to washington. Its time for change WE ALL can belive in."
So, here am I. A member of the party who has been a champion of civil and human rights; the party who tried in '84 to elect a woman; the party who fights for women's rights at work and behind closed doors; the party that has always supported women and the party who boasts a dramatically higher number of female elected officials than it's counterpart. And I am being called a sexist and a racist.
Lose your house, lose your vote.
“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed."
He took down his Lipstick ad on Youtube, but he still approves this message.
Creepy, McCain.
Paul is trying to get people out and supporting the 3rd-party candidates. I agree. I would love it if we had a viable 3rd-party. In this case, it will help Obama and hurt McCain.
"The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two party system," Paul said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "This can be accomplished by voting for one of the non-establishment, principled candidates."
It's easy to keep lying when no one is allowed to ask you questions.
"More than 40 million people tuned in last week to listen to the speech from Palin, the 44-year-old, first-term governor whom McCain announced as his surprise vice presidential pick just days before. Since then, that basic script is all anyone has heard from her publicly, and her only interaction with the media was a brief conversation with a small group of reporters on her plane Monday _ off the record at her handlers' insistence.
Associated Press reporters were not on the plane, but an aide told the journalists on board that all Palin flights would be off the record unless the media were told otherwise. At least one reporter objected. Two people on the flight said the Palins greeted the media and they chatted about who had been to Alaska, but little else was said."
Wonder why McCain has an edge? I don't.
Huffington has the story.
"In a year in which Democrats have a lead of 11 million registered voters over Republicans, and have been adding to that advantage through a robust field operation, are pollsters over-sampling Republicans?"
"The Lord gave us all the resources, I believe, in this world that we need, but they just don't look like the resources we need. And it would do no harm."
"They don't want use to use the good resources that the Lord gave us."
There you go, Al! You are good enough!!!
"Comedian Al Franken grabbed the Democratic nomination Tuesday for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, setting up a showdown with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman that had been years in the making."
Obama uses a very common analogy and McCain whines.
"You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years."
"McCain's campaign immediately organized a telephone conference call in response and called on Obama to apologize for calling Palin a pig. Obama's campaign said he wasn't referring to Palin; he had been talking about McCain immediately before the lipstick comment."
It's fun to pretend that McCain is leading...excpect when he's not.
Barr and Nader will play a serious roll in this election.
From 538
It's tightening and looks like it's time for Obama to give up on NC and solidify OH and FL. 50 State strategy was a great idea, but now we have got to focus.
Or so you would think.
Obama tries to steal Nebraska electoral vote from McCain!!!
Nice headline, AP.
What do you think?
I love conservative states!!! You know why?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008 the average rate of Forcible Rape in the United States in 2005 was 32 per 100,000 population. 20 out of 31 Conservative States had a higher than average rate of Forcible Rape (65% of Conservative States).
The highest rate of Forcible Rape in the country is found in Alaska with 81 per 100,000 population. The lowest rate of Forcible Rape in the country is found in New Jersey with 14 per 100,000 population.
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