Obama plan for the Arts.

This is quite a plan. I hope it has a chance.

From BarackObama.com:

BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN: CHAMPIONS FOR ARTS AND CULTURE
Our nation’s creativity has filled the world’s libraries, museums, recital halls, movie houses, and marketplaces with works of genius. The arts embody the American spirit of self-definition. As the author of two best-selling books – Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama uniquely appreciates the role and value of creative expression.

A PLATFORM IN SUPPORT OF THE ARTS
Reinvest in Arts Education: To remain competitive in the global economy, America needs to reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has made this country great. To do so, we must nourish our children’s creative skills. In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage the ability to think creatively that comes from a meaningful arts education. Unfortunately, many school districts are cutting instructional time for art and music education. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that the arts should be a central part of effective teaching and learning. The Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts recently said “The purpose of arts education is not to produce more artists, though that is a byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society.” To support greater arts education,
Obama will:

Expand Public/Private Partnerships Between Schools and Arts Organizations: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will increase resources for the U.S. Department of Education’s Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination Grants, which develop public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations. They will also engage the foundation and corporate community to increase support for public/private partnerships.

Create an Artist Corps: Barack Obama and Joe Biden support the creation of an “Artists Corps” of young artists trained to work in low-income schools and their communities. Studies in Chicago have demonstrated that test scores improved faster for students enrolled in low-income schools that link arts across the curriculum than scores for students in schools lacking such programs.

Publicly Champion the Importance of Arts Education: As president, Barack Obama will use the bully pulpit and the example he will set in the White House to promote the importance of arts and arts education in America. Not only is arts education indispensable for success in a rapidly changing, high skill, information economy, but studies show that arts education raises test scores in other subject areas as well.

Support Increased Funding for the NEA: Over the last 15 years, government funding for the National Endowment for the Arts has been slashed from $175 million annually in 1992 to $125 million today. Barack Obama and Joe Biden support increased funding for the NEA, the support of which enriches schools and neighborhoods all across the nation and helps to promote the economic development of countless communities.

Promote Cultural Diplomacy: American artists, performers and thinkers – representing our values and ideals – can inspire people both at home and all over the world. Through efforts like that of the United States Information Agency, America’s cultural leaders were deployed around the world during the Cold War as artistic ambassadors and helped win the war of ideas by demonstrating to the world the promise of America. Artists can be utilized again to help us win the war of ideas against Islamic extremism. Unfortunately, our resources for cultural diplomacy are at their lowest level in a decade. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work to reverse this trend and improve and expand public-private partnerships to expand cultural and arts exchanges throughout the world.

Attract Foreign Talent: The flipside to promoting American arts and culture abroad is welcoming members of the foreign arts community to America. Opening America’s doors to students and professional artists provides the kind of two-way cultural understanding that can break down the barriers that feed hatred and fear. As America tightened visa restrictions after 9/11, the world’s most talented students and artists, who used to come here, went elsewhere. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will streamline the visa process to return America to its rightful place as the world’s top destination for artists and art students.

Provide Health Care to Artists: Finding affordable health coverage has often been one of the most vexing obstacles for artists and those in the creative community. Since many artists work independently or have non-traditional employment relationships, employer-based coverage is unavailable and individual policies are financially out of reach. The Obama-Biden plan will provide all Americans with quality, affordable health care. Their plan includes the creation of a new public program that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees. Their plan also creates a National Health Insurance Exchange to reform the private insurance market and allow Americans to enroll in participating private plans, which would have to provide comprehensive benefits, issue every applicant a policy, and charge fair and stable premiums. For those who still cannot afford coverage, the government will provide a subsidy. His health plan will lower costs for the typical American family by up to $2,500 per year.

Ensure Tax Fairness for Artists: Barack Obama supports the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of the materials, when they make charitable contributions.

Paid for by Obama for America

Right wing jackass misses the point.

I admit this is not a real compelling headline, but Cal Thomas's article about Obama's vision for a prostrate U.S. government in the face of a one world government is patently absurd.

I've read the Audacity of hope, quite recently in fact, and what Barack refers to in the passage Thomas quotes is about working with foreign governments on a more equal basis. We can't expect other countries to disarm if we don't take leadership. And we can't expect trust from foreign governments if we act with an air of American exceptionalism--an idea who's time has long past.

I've also read Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman as well as The Great Experiment by Strobe Talbott (former deputy secretary of state under Clinton). They talk about the impossibility of American exceptionalism in an age where you can get around the globe in less than two days or work virtually in and from nearly any place on earth. This means that the traditional rule of law based on borders is simply not sufficient to tackle the legal, moral and economic issues that we face as human beings. And if we continue to follow the shortsighted, blindly nationalistic rhetoric of idiots like Cal Thomas, then we are bound for marginalization. The world is getting smaller, and we need to learn to play a little nicer. I don't think this comes as a shock to many--except Cal Thomas.

I say poo poo to Cal Thomas! He gets a big politica-ca stick in the eye!

Later dog!

Dammit! Why didn't we think of that!

Yer Old-Assed News...

VATICAN CITY, Nov. 22, 2008 (Reuters) — The Vatican's newspaper has finally forgiven John Lennon for declaring that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, calling the remark a "boast" by a young man grappling with sudden fame.
The comment by Lennon in 1966 infuriated Christians, particularly in the United States, some of whom burned Beatles' albums in huge pyres.
But time apparently heals all wounds.
"The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll," Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said.
Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980.

Up next…
The Jews forgive the Nazis…
The fetus forgives Roe V. Wade…
Slaves forgive Whipmasters…
Turk, Armenian, Serb, Croat, Palestinian, Israeli, Shia, Sunni, Shiite, Kurd, Tutsi, Hutu, Janjaweed, Chechen, Tamilese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Sudanese, Niggaplease, etc…all forgive whoever...
Native Americans forgive America by forgiving England, France, and Spain…
Inner-city blacks forgive the blessings of great crack availability…
Samson forgives Delilah for his new butch hairdo…
Tom forgives Jerry and Spike…
Zelda forgives Link (for his D&D obsession)…
The city of Chicago forgives the city of Frozen Bag Asstown…
A Virginian virgin named Virgil forgives vagina everywhere …
Baby Jesus forgives St. Nick’s easy commercial appeal…
Werewolves forgive Wherewolfs…
My left shoe forgives my left sock…
My left nut forgives my left squirrel…
I forgive myself for not enjoying the company of babies…
…or teenagers really…or people with Gay-dar…
…or people bigoted to the rights of Gay-dar owners…
…or people too poor to afford a monthly Gay-dar subscription…
…OR…an antiquated religious institution, with their gall and poor skills in forgiveness time management.
Oh…who am I kidding? Tell‘em Pete Townshend: “You Are All Forgiven!”

31 days in 31 days

Day two- A cause I can get behind

Anyone who was with me at last years Bonnaroo remembers the Kanye debacle. It created such a hilarious vibe the following day at the show. Who will ever forget the original "Fuck Kanye"?

Today I would like to throw my support to the Colbert "Operation Humble Kanye", where as individuals should go out and purchase the Colbert Christmas if for no other reason than to knock Kanye out of first place on the itunes chart. This goes out to all the sad people hanging in the rain at 3:00 am waiting for Kanye to come on stage...while I was sitting dry in my tent drinking white russians. And once again, Fuck Kanye!

31 days in 31 days

In recognition of my birthday month I would like to introduce a new series I like to call, 31 days in 31 days. Everyday I will post a new blog- it could be breaking news, or a recipe for chili, I don't know what the future holds.

Day one- Throw me a freaking bone would you.

President Elect Obama nominates Sen. Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State and (drum roll please) she graciously accepts. This sure gave the press corp something to gossip about in the playground. Of course the party (in this case dems) comes together in the end. Don't we all say things in the heat of the battle? It would have been a rather boring primary if everyone played nice. Was this the first election they covered? And after all the hours and dollars spent, I would be expecting something too. Not a bad gig she picked up either. Oh, those frequent flier miles!

Wonder if they will serve Ham at the Hanukkah reception?

LET SANTA LIGHT THE MENORAH

WHITE HOUSE IN HANUKKAH TREE GAFFE

From the New York Post

Merry Hanukkah from the White House!

The president and the first lady invited leaders of America's Jewish community for a Hanukkah reception at the White House next month - but raised more than a few eyebrows by putting a picture of a Christmas tree on the invitation.

The message reads that the couple "requests the pleasure of your company at a Hanukkah reception," written beneath an image of a Clydesdale horse hauling a Christmas fir along the snow-dappled drive to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

read whole story here

Dig the Dems...

Hello. From time to time, I will be reporting from the roadways of America: truckstops, Wal-Marts, and Applebee's will be thoroughly douched. Their bathroom graffito shows an overwhelming bias against gays and Obama most recently. The Heartland may be unjust, but, in the cold room of comedy, we warm ourselves by a little fire of truth. Cheers.

-Did anyone ever accuse Jimmy Carter of having “pee-nuts” in his pants after he went to the urinal?

-Bill Clinton didn’t inhale? Come on. Liars are common, but BAD liars should be stoned to death.

-Lyndon Johnson donated his body to a 96 ouncer steak house? Who knew? No one? Delicious.

-Michael Dukakis once tucked his junk into his trunk and sat cross-legged on a wooden barstool, rocking from cheek to cheek until well past midnight--all done in the name of Charity. Is she back in town?

-While in ‘Nam, John Kerry supposedly contracted a taste for monkey. Stewed, pickled, or raw…with lots of ketchup.

-Did you know that FDR declared war on the Axis powers, not because of Pearl Harbor, but because Hitler had criticized his posture?

-“Joe” Lieberman? More like Benedict Arnold Lieberman.

-“Who killed the Kennedy’s? Well after all, it was you and me.” Mick Jagger should really stop including us.

-Al Gore…his name sounds like a cheap Italian horror film.

-It’s little known that Hubert Humphrey’s tongue was barely long enough to lick his wounds.

-Hillary Clinton is a real stand-up lady, that is until she sits down…on her throne of bitterness.

-John Edwards put his head in-between someone else’s legs, and magically kissed his own ass goodbye.

-Walter Mondale is to George McGovern, what Woodrow Wilson is to an opium pipe.

-If Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton both fell out of an acorn tree, which one would become upset and try to cut its nuts off?

-Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi, we are told, are from this planet. Both represent California in the U.S. legislative branch. So…what if they had a shower scene together in a women’s penitentiary movie? And then while they were knocked out during a riot, a scientist switched their brains, and hearts, and genitalia with those of two skinny hens? And then Gay marriage was only allowed in El Pollo Loco. Delicious.

-Betting dollars to donuts Howard Dean feels like the blunt instrument used in a botched nation-wide prostate exam.

-Sen. Robert Byrd of WV, once a dues paying KKK member (no joke), has been in office since 1-3-59. That’s 50 FUCKIN YEARS!! This year let’s hope he finally passes something…a bill, a stone, some gas, or just away into the clouds with his oldness.

-Someone tell Joe Biden he’s got to stop making so many obscure work-out videos. The Delaware Deltoid was painful to watch.

-From a scientific vantage, it was interesting to observe Gary Hart’s political career implode like a bottle of Viagra ejected into deep space.

-Harry Truman, as vice president, had heard others before him mention the VP job to be unworthy of “warm piss” or “warm spit”. Truman quickly sent out his own rejoinder, “Indubitably droll. Sirs, the piss and spit gab stops here.”

-[Scene 1 (office/DAY)

Boss: I wouldn’t hire Tom Daschle to lick my postage stamps!

Secretary: Well, hows about to kiss your pimply ass then?

Boss: Only if he has soft health-insured lips.

End scene.]

-Who’s left, Barack Obama? Nothing funny about that guy…not unless he has one half of the White House painted black.

Next time...Liberals.

In honor of....

Barack Obama Elementary School....already!?!?!?!?!


In related news....

Voters Flush George W. Bush Sewage Plant Proposition, Ruin Backers’ Plans for Double-Entendre-Laden Victory Speech

By Joe Eskenazi - sfweekly.com

Gathered in front of a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln conveniently sitting, yet leaning forward – not unlike someone in the midst of utilizing the toilet – backers of a proposition to rename a Parkside sewage plant after President George W. Bush waited out a cold night.

While Barack Obama stormed to victory and re-defined the term “blue state,” there was no joy in sewageville. When all the dust – we’ll assume it was dust – settled, they’d lost by roughly a 70-30 ratio.

This came as a blow to Bob Katz, who flew in all the way from Florida to be here for what he assumed would be the Proposition R victory party. Katz had been telling anyone who’d listen how a sewage plant should be named after the president for years, so when he found out such a plan was in the works in San Francisco, he enthusiastically lent his support.

Brian McConnell and Michael Jacinto, the proposition’s co-authors, weren’t ready to retrace their steps yet. But Jacinto noted that the Public Utility Commission’s oft-repeated estimate of $50,000 in city money to accommodate the name change was “pulled out of their posterior,” while both men were surprised at the Guardian and others rationalizing that christening a sewage plant after the president would be disrespectful to its employees – after all, the SEIU Local 1021, the sewage workers’ union, endorsed their proposition.

Peaches Christ, the Prop’s spokeswoman – and a basketball player-sized drag queen – was bummed, but kept things in perspective. “If Prop R passed it’d have been neat and fun, but I don’t think there are any tears being shed,” she said. “If it had passed I had a speech planned. And [now] I’m heading to the Castro to party.”

Not all of the folks gathered near the Abe Lincoln statue voted for the proposition -- or even knew about it. Barbara Coleman said Bush didn't deserve the honor of having anything named after him.

"He done fucked the country up. What I want is for him to pack up his shit and get his ass out of the White House so Barack Obama can move in -- tonight!"

Jacinto and McConnell quietly puffed on cigarettes and sipped from clandestine beers in the shadow of city hall. “We gave it the college try,” noted Jacinto, a city planner when he’s not writing ballot propositions. “We got our message out far and wide to get people thinking about George W. Bush’s legacy.”

It was a thought many voters probably shared on a night when Bush and his ideological companions were flushed down the drain.

full story here

Heavy-Metal Attack on China's Venom/Lead Free Society

from BBC News

China has dismissed the new Guns N' Roses album, Chinese Democracy, as a "venomous attack" on the nation.

An article in the Global Times, published by the ruling communist party, says the album, launched this week, "turns its spear point on China".

Made In China?

The title track of the album, which has not been released in China because of the sensitive material, refers to the banned Falun Gong spiritual group. The album's official website has also been blocked in China. Chinese Democracy is the band's first album since their covers collection The Spaghetti Incident? in 1993.

On the title track, lead singer Axl Rose sings: "If your great wall rocks, blame yourself."
Artwork for the album includes the oil painting Red Star by Beijing artist Shi Lifeng - which depicts Chinese people as powerless.

Photographs of the Chinese military and the Hong Kong skyline also feature in the artwork.
When asked about the record, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told the BBC's James Reynolds: "According to my knowledge, a lot of people don't like this kind of music because it's too noisy and too loud."

China frequently bans the release of foreign films and albums, although they often appear in pirated form and are sold in shops and by street vendors. Live performances are also closely monitored with artists forced to supply set lists for approval in advance. In July, the Chinese government said that any foreign entertainers who had attended events threatening "national sovereignty" would be banned from the country. The ministry of culture said that any artists that "whip up ethnic hatred" during shows would also be banned. The announcement came after Bjork shouted "Tibet, Tibet" at a Shanghai concert in March.

Brother George and Sister Sarah are both coming to Thanksgiving dinner!

The sideshow continues to be strung along one injection at a time. The most recent injection occurring on Thursday as Sarah Palin ceremonially pardoned a turkey in Wasilla, AK. This being the intended spectacle, provided a sound foundation for the real, unintended spectacle. The intensional being her mandatory show of light-hearted governing where her words farted out of the corner of her half crocked smile and some witnesses surely played involuntarily in their heads, "All turkeys are created equal, but some are more equal than others...." Palin then injected the MYTH further by fielding questions from reporters as the 'less equal' turkeys were sentenced to the guillotine in the background. *wink* *wink*

What is this MYTH? The myth that she has any shred of competence. A myth that surely only she believes anymore. So now comes the question, with a nation, or actually a world of non-believers surrounding her, why are these injections fueling the buzz of fascination so potent? Her family holds the answer. No, this family is not her snow machine humping husband or the five clones of themselves they've popped out into this world. I'm referring to her political family. And one only has to look as far as her brother, George W. Bush for reference. He too has had his fun with turkeys.

Brother George and Sister Sarah have a little less to be thankful for this year. George will leave the worst presidential legacy in American history. Topping Hoover, topping LBJ, with not only an economy in the shitter–soggy stuffing, but an unpopular war as garnish–sour cranberry salad. Sarah saw her one chance at a national political career slip away by her poor masking of her own incomptence. Think of it as the Brussell Sprout Casserole that lacked all deflecting ingredients leaving all of America with nothing but the after taste of rotten mini-cabbage heads. 

However in January it will be Mr. Obama's chance to put on the bib and pull himself up to the table to dig into the results of right-wing extremists tinkering in the kitchen. Never trust a skinny cook but more importantly, never trust an oblivious religion-exploiting war-mongering cook.

Why do we still pay attention to these folks? Well, with the same fascination that prods us to laugh at relatives who have a little too much Thanksgiving wine resulting in an unfortunate fall down the stairs at Grandma's house, we all love, love, love, with the utmost affection, a good old fashioned family train-wreck. And no matter how much we'd like to disown them, Brother George and Sister Sarah have that same American blood trickling through their veins as we do. Ah, family.

A Time to Invest in Shoulder Pads?

2025: the end of US dominance

The United States' leading intelligence organisation has warned that the world is entering an increasingly unstable and unpredictable period in which the advance of western-style democracy is no longer assured, and some states are in danger of being "taken over and run by criminal networks".
The global trends review, produced by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) every four years, represents sobering reading in Barack Obama's intray as he prepares to take office in January. The country he inherits, the report warns, will no longer be able to "call the shots" alone, as its power over an increasingly multipolar world begins to wane.
Looking ahead to 2025, the NIC (which coordinates analysis from all the US intelligence agencies), foresees a fragmented world, where conflict over scarce resources is on the rise, poorly contained by "ramshackle" international institutions, while nuclear proliferation, particularly in the Middle East, and even nuclear conflict grow more likely.
"Global Trends 2025: A World Transformed" warns that the spread of western democratic capitalism cannot be taken for granted, as it was by George Bush and America's neoconservatives.
"No single outcome seems preordained: the Western model of economic liberalism, democracy and secularism, for example, which many assumed to be inevitable, may lose its lustre – at least in the medium term," the report warns.
It adds: "Today wealth is moving not just from West to East but is concentrating more under state control," giving the examples of China and Russia.
"In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the state's role in the economy may be gaining more appeal throughout the world."
At the same time, the US will become "less dominant" in the world – no longer the unrivalled superpower it has been since the end of the Cold War, but a "first among equals" in a more fluid and evenly balanced world, making the unilateralism of the Bush era no longer tenable.
The report predicts that over the next two decades "the multiplicity of influential actors and distrust of vast power means less room for the US to call the shots without the support of strong partnerships."
It is a conclusion that meshes with president elect Obama's stated preference for multilateralism, but the NIC findings suggest that as the years go by it could be harder for Washington to put together "coalitions of the willing" to pursue its agenda.
International organisations, like the UN, seem ill-prepared to fill the vacuum left by receding American power, at a time of multiple potential crises driven by climate change the increasing scarcity of resources like oil, food and water. Those institutions "appear incapable of rising to the challenges without concerted efforts from their leaders" it says.
In an unusually graphic illustration of a possible future, the report presents an imaginary "presidential diary entry" from October 1, 2020, that recounts a devastating hurricane, fuelled by global warming, hitting New York in the middle of the UN's annual general assembly.
"I guess we had it coming, but it was a rude shock," the unnamed president writes. "Some of the scenes were like the stuff from the World War II newsreels, only this time it was not Europe but Manhattan. Those images of the US aircraft carriers and transport ships evacuating thousands in the wake of the flooding still stick in my mind."
As he flies off for an improvised UN reception on board an aircraft carrier, the imaginary future president admits: "The cumulation of disasters, permafrost melting, lower agricultural yields, growing health problems, and the like are taking a terrible toll, much greater than we anticipated 20 years ago."
The last time the NIC published its quadrennial glimpse into the future was December 2004. President Bush had just been re-elected and was preparing his triumphal second inauguration that was to mark the high-water mark for neoconservatism. That report matched the mood of the times.
It was called Mapping the Global Future, and looked forward as far as 2020 when it projected "continued US dominance, positing that most major powers have forsaken the idea of balancing the US".
That confidence is entirely lacking from this far more sober assessment. Also gone is the belief that oil and gas supplies "in the ground" were "sufficient to meet global demand". The new report views a transition to cleaner fuels as inevitable. It is just the speed that is in question.
The NIC believes it is most likely that technology will lag behind the depletion of oil and gas reserves. A sudden transition, however, will bring problems of its own, creating instability in the Gulf and Russia.
While emerging economies like China, India and Brazil are likely to grow in influence at America's expense, the same cannot be said of the European Union. The NIC appears relatively certain the EU will be "losing clout" by 2025. Internal bickering and a "democracy gap" separating Brussels from European voters will leave the EU "a hobbled giant", unable to translate its economic clout into global influence.
Disaster diary
An imaginary diary entry written by a future US president, produced to illustrate a climate-change disaster:
Those images of US aircraft carriers evacuating thousands in the wake of flooding stick in my mind. Why must the hurricane season coincide with the UN general assembly in New York?
It's bad enough that this had to happen; it was doubly embarrassing that half the world's leaders were here to witness it. I guess the problem is we had counted on this not happening, at least not yet.
• Read the full National Intelligence Council global trends review (pdf)

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday November 20 2008 19.05 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/20/barack-obama-president-intelligence-agency

REAL PIRATES! YES!

Here's some back story on the Somali pirates. Whether you are rooting for them or not; whether you believe they are demanding ransom as payment for many years of environmental abuse on their coastline by big corporations or they are just taking the money for themselves or their people; one has to admit this is a fascinating story. And if nothing else good comes out of it, at least this story is raising more awareness about corporate abuse on developing nations.

_____________________________
From Al Jazeera......
Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste.

The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years", Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates, based in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said.

"The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas."

The pirates are holding the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and military hardware, off Somalia's northern coast.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, 61 attacks by pirates have been reported since the start of the year.

While money is the primary objective of the hijackings, claims of the continued environmental destruction off Somalia's coast have been largely ignored by the regions's maritime authorities.

Read the whole story

Riz Khan of Al-Jazeera interviews Howard Zinn about election of Obama

Part 1


Part 2

The National Enquirer = Best News (excluding fox)

Has there ever been some shit like this? Am I super excited that our president is getting the Tiger Beat treatment? For a second, but not really. At first glance, this is hilarious. After that though, i realize that a giant portion of our population is reading this with all seriousness. Holy shit you say? Me too. I do like the idea of calling him "Bam" though.

OBAMA hush-hush SECRETS

What you don't know about Prez Elect Bam will astound you!

Well, for starters, according to the UK Telegraph, he's a FAN BOY!

Bam collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics (but we don't know yet if he digs Ditko)

o High School B-ball nickname was "O'Bomber"

o Obama means "one who is blessed" in Swahili -- just like Lt. Uhuru in Star Trek -- Uhuru means "freedom"..

o Bam digs Michelle's shrimp linguini big time!

o He's a Grammy winner for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

o Bam's a lefty.

o GEEK! Bam's read every single Harry Potter book.

o His Hall of Trophies include a set of boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali

o While living in Indonesia, the future Prez chowed down on dog, snake, and roasted grasshopper. YUM!

o El Presidente futuro habla espanol -- perfecto.

o Still got the nic monkey on his back -- promised Michelle he'd quit smoking before running for president - didn't.

o Kreegah bundolo! Bam kept a pet ape, Tata, in Indonesia. Don't know about a pet elephant named "Tantor".

o Secret Service code-name: Renegade.

o Fave book: Moby Dick by Herman Melville about an obsessed seaman's hunt for a great white whale.

Barack on 60 Minutes

Obama is interviewed by Steve Kroft. Even though this is certainly not the reason I voted for him or a reason anyone should ever vote for any elected official, this interview does reaffirm my belief that Obama's the kind of guy I'd actually like to sit and have a beer with.


Watch CBS Videos Online

New Media Obama

The following is an excerpt from the massive Newsweek article about the 2008 presidential campaign. The article is split into seven fascinating chapters. This excerpt is from the end of chapter four and talks about the genius of the Obama campaign's New Media effort.
________________________________________________________________

To the casual visitor, the New Media department at Obama headquarters seemed at once ultrahip and painfully earnest, a touchy-feely, emo sort of place where people talk about saving their souls and use lefty academic jargon like "agency." One reporter described the sentiment toward the candidate as a sort of "Lincoln 2.0." The frat brothers over in Communications liked to joke about whether the geeks in New Media were still virgins.

When it came to what they actually did, however, the nerds of New Media were cold realists. "We never do something just because it's cool," the campaign's official blogger, Sam Graham-Felsen, told a NEWSWEEK reporter. "We're always nerdily getting something out of it." He showed off the Obama '08 iPhone application. With its deep Obama blues, correct fonts and glassy graphics, it looked like an electronic bauble for the well-heeled voter. Closer inspection revealed a sophisticated data-mining operation. Tap the top button, "call friends," and the software would take a peek at your phonebook and rearrange it in the order that the campaign was targeting states, so that friends who had, say, Colorado or Virginia area codes would appear at the top. With another tap, the Obama supporter could report back essential data for a voter canvass ("left message," "not interested," "already voted," etc.). It all went into a giant database for Election Day.

Early that summer, the campaign made the unorthodox decision to announce its vice presidential pick via text messages sent directly to supporters. It wasn't just a trick to do something flashy with technology and attract media attention. The point was to collect voters' cell-phone numbers for later contact during voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. Thanks to the promotion, the campaign's list of cell-phone numbers increased several-fold to more than 1 million. (Among the registrees: one Beau Biden, son of Joe.)

"I don't care about online energy and enthusiasm just for the sake of online energy and enthusiasm," said Chris Hughes, head of New Media's social networking. "It's about making money, making phone calls, embedding video or having video forwarded to friends." There was nothing starry-eyed about Hughes, who had been the Harvard roommate and later partner of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and made his first millions before he was 24. His goal was to make old techniques—like call centers and getting polling information to voters—more efficient. "When computer applications really take off, they take something people have always done and just make it easier for them to do it," he said. "And maybe bigger."

During the primaries, the sight was familiar at vast Obama rallies. Before the candidate appeared, a campaign official would come onstage to urge audience members to pull out their cell phones to call or text their friends and neighbors. By the thousands, people of all ages would spread the electronic word—and dollars and votes would follow. Joe Rospars, the director of Obama's New Media, noted, "We didn't invent the idea of our supporters calling one another. We just made it a lot easier." Rospars had written a blog for the Howard Dean campaign in 2004. Under Rospars, the Obama campaign had basically perfected Dean's 1.0 tactics with an important twist. Dean was all about creating a national network, but in Iowa he failed to build a true grass-roots campaign. In Obamaland, where the sayings of Saul Alinsky resonated ("think globally, act locally"), the emphasis was local—neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend, family to family. Joe Trippi, the unorthodox political genius who created the Dean Internet juggernaut, often said that if the Dean campaign was like the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, then Obama was the Apollo program—in other words, in one cycle skipping over commercial aviation, jet travel and supersonic transport to go straight to the moon. (Asked about this analogy, Rospars replied evenly, "Not really, if you consider that Kitty Hawk was a successful flight, as compared to something that blew up on the f–––ing launchpad.")

The power of the Obama operation could be measured: doubling the turnout at the Iowa caucuses, raising twice as much money as any other candidate in history, organizing volunteers by the millions. (In Florida alone: 65 offices, paid staff of 350, active e-mail list of 650,000, 25,000 volunteers on any weekend day.) The ultimate test would come Nov. 4. In the meantime, there were indications of a great storm brewing. At the end of August, as Hurricane Gustav threatened the coast of Texas, the Obama campaign called the Red Cross to say it would be routing donations to it via the Red Cross home page. Get your servers ready—our guys can be pretty nuts, Team Obama said. Sure, sure, whatever, the Red Cross responded. We've been through 9/11, Katrina, we can handle it. The surge of Obama dollars crashed the Red Cross Web site in less than 15 minutes.

Economic Catharsis: Ode to Julia Boorstin

After a year with non-stop cable network news I find myself in the dark. Of course not totally, there's always the Internet, newspapers and rabbit-ear evening news. So really it's not the darkness, but the loneliness. With two years of election build-up, war and the such, I became close with these news people, a one-sided relationship yes, still I felt a bond. We had disagreements (see Morning Joe) and problems (the sudden disappearance of the World News Hour on CNN.) Though at the end of the day we came through everything together. Now that all of you are rarely in my lives these days I find myself...well,I'll get back to that.


As you may know by now the economic conference conjured up little results over the past weekend. It was more a 'We are the World' vibe that produced few, if none, concrete measures. At least a we are the richest in the world and it's an open bar! (see Brazil/US/China cheers) In fact, the conference has done so much to instill confidence in the world markets that earlier today Japan announced it's in a full scale recession, quickly followed by a similar one from the almighty Euro-zone. It seems to be a full scale Japanese style Godzilla attack across descending time zones. I figure it should hit California sometime after lunch. That is if we're wussy enough to make such a claim!

Should I get to my point though, I mean what I started out with? I have come to rely on these news persons to relate exactly what I related in the paragraph above. I received the news today from a blank, uncaring computer screen, not the friendly faces that I've spent many afternoons with. Now there is no where to turn. The local pub doesn't show MSNBC, CNN...hell give me a little FOX. The surfers who live next door probably don't want to watch it on their cable. If the world's in the WC, I don't want the news from a dot com.

Now that I have no cable I find myself spending my off hours constantly on line. On facebook the other day I typed in Chris Matthews and he's got a fan club, but no personal page. Then I typed in Julia Boorstin, perhaps a lesser known figure on CNBC, but there was no one better to deliver grim economic news. I sent her a friend request to her personal page. From it I could only gather that she had graduated from Princeton in 2000. She had a sweet unassuming picture, in which she was wearing a summer hat. I waited a few days and then grew impatient. I knew that she wasn't going to see my request through, but I decided that we should probably just keep the relationship professional. So I joined her fan club instead.

And In Iraq, The Market Is Up

From CBS News

Down a filthy side street in the Karrada area of Baghdad beats the heart of Iraq’s economic revival.

It takes patience and a skillful driver to weave past trash-filled puddles and between tall walls of concrete security barriers to eventually find the Iraqi stock exchange. Wall Street it ain’t, although the amount of concrete could probably build a few American skyscrapers.

In the lobby of a former apartment building sits maybe the most antiquated exchange in the world. No electronic boards here, no computer terminals.

No worries, either. The Iraqi market may be the world’s only market to post a gain over the last year. Why? A couple of reasons.

The Iraqi market is its own little island of stability.

Mohammed Ismail has been trading here for three years and likes the isolation.

“There’s no investment from our market or our investors in the world market, he said, with a big grin, “so we are a little saved. This is a good stable market.”

Ah, the stability thing. The rise in the market here reflects the recent gains in security. This market’s general index increased 40% in September.

Ninety-five whiteboards list the 95 companies traded. All transactions are done manually and recorded by erasable pen.

READ THE WHOLE STORY

Prop 8 Protests.

I am usually very skeptical of public protests these days. A practice that was once a powerful and respected show of American democratic involvement has been watered down over the years to small, too frequent demonstrations by the lack of reactions from the government targeted by these demonstrations. When I think of demonstrations, what immediately comes to mind is the 5-10 washed up hippies that used to gather every Thursday on the corner of the Courthouse square in Bloomington, Indiana holding up signs saying, "HONK FOR PEACE!" or something else equally benign. In addition, this country is so polarized these days that these demonstrators often are either preaching to the choir or further inflaming the opposition. 

However, the Proposition 8 protests planned for today across the nation, I think will actually have traction. At least, I certainly hope they will have traction. How is it that in 2008 same-sex marriages are even an issue? Why have we not moved passed this? Most western nations have, why have we not? And all Americans should be absolutely ashamed that we have not. I am. This is even our home turf we are debating. One doesn't have to look far into the Constitution to see that these Marriage-defining Amendments being passed all across the nation go against every right supposedly upheld in this country. Every amendment in the US Constitution, through its verbiage, defines the rights of citizens by restricting government infringement. See Amendment 1:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Also see Amendments 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 for further examples. All of these amendments are written in a way to restrict government from infringing on the rights of the people, not the opposite, which would give powers to the government to infringe upon the rights of the people. Marriage-defining amendments by definition seek to do this exact opposing action. These amendments at their base exclude a group of US citizens from rights by way of government infringement. Homosexuals, Heterosexuals, Bisexuals, etc. should ALL be enraged by the powers of these new amendments. Why? Simply put, it goes against the precedent set by these amendments, collectively called the BILL OF RIGHTS. The Bill of Rights, that brilliant set of amendments passed by the guys who birthed this country who realized the importance of setting these precedents as they knew it would be impossible to write a Constitution that would cover all unforeseen issues that would arise in the future of this country.

Now some may say that under the 10th amendment, which delegates all powers to the states, not given to the United States by the Constitution, as a pass to let this issue be solved by the states. Again, one doesn't have to go far to find a precedent that deflates that argument. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 which rightfully killed segregation, created an instance in which broad legislation on a federal level delegated actions to be carried out by the federal as well as state and local governments to reverse 'separate but equal' laws. This Civil Rights act laid the foundation for future federal level upholds of Rights guaranteed to not be infringed upon by state level definitions of citizens' rights. One would be hard pressed to find an American these days who believed that segregation was a right and just way to structure society, much less that it was fair to the minorities that it segregated or that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 wasn't absolutely necessary. But in 1964, if the reversal of segregation had been put to a referendum vote in a state, say like Mississippi, would it have actually have passed? NO. It would have been overwhelmingly defeated. So, by this logic, it can be strongly argued that basic civil rights of the American people should be upheld on a federal level from being defined at state levels.

So all Americans should be happy to know that these redefining amendments are already being challenged in the court system. If I remember correctly from what I heard on the radio earlier today, at least 3 cases are already being heard in California. I can already see a scenario in which some of these cases may reach the federal courts. Then the real debate happens and it seems that past precedents are on the side of equal rights for all.

So unlike some public protests that I've witnessed in the recent past, this one, has traction. This is not about some foreign policy that has created a war that some of us disagree with or any other issue that the ruling administration blindly believes is up to them to be the ultimate DECIDER on. No, this is something that hits closer to home. This is an issue of how our government does or doesn't infringe upon our basic Civil Rights. Gay, Straight or whatever, this is a fight we all should be paying attention to. As for me, I'm just another straight man who's standing up for my and every other American's equal rights.

Neil Young and his Electric Lincoln Continental

As plans for a bailout of the American auto industry are debated, one has to wonder what would have happened if GM had continued to evolve the EV1. Even GM Research & Development admits that if they hadn't killed the project, they "could have had the Chevy Volt 10 years earlier." So would the Big 3 be in the mess they are currently in if they had kept the ball rolling on electric car developments? These are things to ponder as we see what will hopefully be a wave of independent gear heads take on this challenge and develop/perfect new technologies that maybe the Big 3 will stay afloat long enough to incorporate into mass production.

Here's one such gear head, Jonathan Goodwin and his wealthy patron, Neil Young.





lincvolt.com

Say Cheese!....ok, next group.....

Geo. W. Bush announced today that he will ride out the last two months of his presidency with a long series of photo-ops taken with all the people he has f**ked over throughout his 8 years as leader of the free world. The planet's six billion residents will be systematically corralled into groups surrounding Mr. Bush, then photographed. Mr. Bush began this long process today with his first photo-op involving major world leaders under the pretense that they actually had a f**king clue as to how to solve the worldwide economic crisis. After this photo was taken, the world leaders met for 10 minutes in which they started out by all shrugging their shoulders when asked what should be done about this crisis. This process took all of 30 seconds. The remainder of this 10 minute session was filled with a unanimous vote by the leaders that Mr. Bush was the sole cause of this crisis and that he should be tried for crimes against humanity on January 21st, the day after President-Elect Barack Obama takes over as President of the United States. Curiously, Mr. Bush himself voted in favor of this measure. Although it is reported that Mr. Bush believed that the issue he was voting for was who would be responsible for providing lunch for today's meeting. In the margin of Bush's ballot, after checking 'MR. BUSH IS RESPONSIBLE' he reportedly wrote, " As host of today's meeting, I shall take it upon myself to provide lunch today." He then shouted after the result of the vote was announced, "I know a great little BBQ place around the corner!"

Obama's 'Terrorist Pal' on Good Morning America

ABC News' Chris Cuomo interviews Bill Ayers on Good Morning America on Friday morning.

Part 1
here

Part 2
here


Here ye. Here ye. Politica-ca is just in time for the elections. OH! That's alright- we still have a little over two months to weigh in on the current president and the possibilities of the newly elect.

And so it begins.....