State Of The Union Watch Parties

There were two locations to go to.

1. Dewey's Flatiron – upstairs
   210 5th Ave, between 25th and 26th
2. The Irish Rogue - upstairs
   346 W 44th St, between 8th and 9th Aves

I wanted to go to both. So I did. I first went to the one nearer. Other MYD officers won uncontested. Lee Motayed won handy. She had an opponent. She is of Indian heritage. She looked awfully happy. She is amazing.

Then I took the train to the other site. It started nice. Then closer to nine, the place was so full. I missed the idea of space. I actually stepped outside. I thought I would go back to the other place. Closer to Times Square I turned back. I figured I might miss the speech.

On my way out, I crossed the two DFNYC women Tracey and Heather. I don't think they saw me. They were looking good.

So, Heather, how do you feel about the war in Iraq?

Justin Krebs and Lewis Cohen spoke at the beginning, and the ACT Now guy.

Made peace with Cohen.

"Hello Paramendra, nice to see you. How are you doing?" Is all it takes. I totally want DFA to get behind Barack Obama. That is the original antiwar candidate.

As soon as the speech ended, I went back to the first place. Looks like I missed the rebuttal. CNN was on, but the sound was on for MSNBC upstairs.

I met Jenny from Chicago. I had met her the first time the same place. (MYD Month)

"So you went home for Christmas? To Chicago?"

"Yes. You?"

"I am Buddhist."

I should have asked for an email address.

Also met Kenny Augusto and David Pollak. Kenny was pretty high up in the Fernando Ferrer for Mayor campaign. David is a big shot guy. He runs DL21C. He told me he is now also on the national DNC, Democratic National Committee.

My first conversation with David was months back. We were both strongly for Hillary. I have switched to Obama since.

"It is hard to go against Hillary if you are a New Yorker, especially when she is such a good candidate."

"Oh, she is excellent. What do you think of Obama as Hillary's running mate though?"

David thought the ticket would be heavy enough with a woman on it. I instead got the impression he wants Hillary in for eight years, and then he wants Spitzer to step in.

I am looking at Obama as president, Hillary as vice, and Spitzer as Attorney General, America's Sheriff.

Claire bought me a drink. "I make a lot of money," she said.

I just googled up Lee and emailed her through Friendster. I like it when I can google people up. Works better with foreign sounding names.

JFK, Obama Parallels: Catholic, Black

Somewhere along the way, Barack is going to have to give a speech like this one.

'I Believe in an America Where the Separation of Church and State is Absolute'

September 12, 1960, address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association John F. Kennedy

While the so-called religious issue is necessarily and properly the chief topic here tonight, I want to emphasize from the outset that we have far more critical issues to face in the 1960 election; the spread of Communist influence, until it now festers 90 miles off the coast of Florida--the humiliating treatment of our President and Vice President by those who no longer respect our power--the hungry children I saw in West Virginia, the old people who cannot pay their doctor bills, the families forced to give up their farms--an America with too many slums, with too few schools, and too late to the moon and outer space.

These are the real issues which should decide this campaign. And they are not religious issues--for war and hunger and ignorance and despair know no religious barriers.

But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected President, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured--perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again--not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me--but what kind of America I believe in.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish--where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source--where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials--and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew--or a Quaker--or a Unitarian--or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim--but tomorrow it may be you--until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril.

Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end--where all men and all churches are treated as equal--where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice--where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind--and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.

That is the kind of America in which I believe. And it represents the kind of Presidency in which I believe--a great office that must neither be humbled by making it the instrument of any one religious group nor tarnished by arbitrarily withholding its occupancy from the members of any one religious group. I believe in a President whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.

I would not look with favor upon a President working to subvert the first amendment's guarantees of religious liberty. Nor would our system of checks and balances permit him to do so--and neither do I look with favor upon those who would work to subvert Article VI of the Constitution by requiring a religious test--even by indirection--for it. If they disagree with that safeguard they should be out openly working to repeal it.

I want a Chief Executive whose public acts are responsible to all groups and obligated to none--who can attend any ceremony, service or dinner his office may appropriately require of him--and whose fulfillment of his Presidential oath is not limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation.

This is the kind of America I believe in--and this is the kind I fought for in the South Pacific, and the kind my brother died for in Europe. No one suggested then that we may have a "divided loyalty," that we did "not believe in liberty," or that we belonged to a disloyal group that threatened the "freedoms for which our forefathers died."

And in fact this is the kind of America for which our forefathers died--when they fled here to escape religious test oaths that denied office to members of less favored churches--when they fought for the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom--and when they fought at the shrine I visited today, the Alamo. For side by side with Bowie and Crockett died McCafferty and Bailey and Carey--but no one knows whether they were Catholic or not. For there was no religious test at the Alamo.

I ask you tonight to follow in that tradition--to judge me on the basis of my record of 14 years in Congress--on my declared stands against an Ambassador to the Vatican, against unconstitutional aid to parochial schools, and against any boycott of the public schools (which I have attended myself)--instead of judging me on the basis of these pamphlets and publications we all have seen that carefully select quotations out of context from the statements of Catholic church leaders, usually in other countries, frequently in other centuries, and always omitting, of course, the statement of the American Bishops in 1948 which strongly endorsed church-state separation, and which more nearly reflects the views of almost every American Catholic.

I do not consider these other quotations binding upon my public acts--why should you? But let me say, with respect to other countries, that I am wholly opposed to the state being used by any religious group, Catholic or Protestant, to compel, prohibit, or persecute the free exercise of any other religion. And I hope that you and I condemn with equal fervor those nations which deny their Presidency to Protestants and those which deny it to Catholics. And rather than cite the misdeeds of those who differ, I would cite the record of the Catholic Church in such nations as Ireland and France--and the independence of such statesmen as Adenauer and De Gaulle.

But let me stress again that these are my views--for contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters--and the church does not speak for me.

Whatever issue may come before me as President--on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject--I will make my decision in accordance with these views, in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressures or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise.

But if the time should ever come--and I do not concede any conflict to be even remotely possible--when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office; and I hope any conscientious public servant would do the same.

But I do not intend to apologize for these views to my critics of either Catholic or Protestant faith--nor do I intend to disavow either my views or my church in order to win this election.

If I should lose on the real issues, I shall return to my seat in the Senate, satisfied that I had tried my best and was fairly judged. But if this election is decided on the basis that 40 million Americans lost their chance of being President on the day they were baptized, then it is the whole nation that will be the loser, in the eyes of Catholics and non-Catholics around the world, in the eyes of history, and in the eyes of our own people.

But if, on the other hand, I should win the election, then I shall devote every effort of mind and spirit to fulfilling the oath of the Presidency--practically identical, I might add, to the oath I have taken for 14 years in the Congress. For without reservation, I can "solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution...so help me God.

In The News

Kerry will not seek White House in 2008 Jordan Falls News
Kerry places ending Iraq war before '08 run Los Angeles Times he will instead "devote all my energies not to the race for the presidency for myself, but doing everything I can" to end what he called a misguided war in Iraq. ..... 'Iraq was the wrong war at the wrong time in the wrong place.' ..... he felt a special obligation to end a war that he voted for ...... Clinton's decision not to accept public financing also means a more expensive race for all competitors, with an estimated price tag of at least $50 million to match the competition.
Senator Obama Denounces Racist Attacks Prensa Latina is one of the biggest money collectors in the Democrat Party, and perhaps its most popular spokesman
Obama: Name not an advantage in presidential sweepstakes nwitimes.com
Obama Goes On Campaign to Debunk Madrassa Education Allegation ABC News
'Madrassa link' haunts Obama Hindustan Times
Obama’s Religion and Schooling New York Times
Clinton to speak at NH fundraiser in March Boston Herald
Hillary Clinton‘s life pivots once more Jackson News-Tribune
Clinton says spouse will be an ‘asset‘ Jordan Falls News
Nepal:MJF protesters shut down Biratnagar PeaceJournalism.com
John McCain Blames Dick Cheney For Iraq War Cleveland Leader Senator from Arizona has gone on record as a staunch supporter of the Iraq war since the beginning but, as poll numbers plummet, he is now voicing his own displeasure over the war. He called the war Cheney’s "witch's brew" and "terribly mishandled". He also said that our troops on are the verge of a terrible defeat. ..... He added, “"Rumsfeld will go down in history, along with McNamara, as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history." ...... On his ambitions for the Presidency he said, "Most people in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, people around the country know me rather well," he added, "It's not as if I am a blank slate out there. Most of them, I think, have confidence that I have the experience, knowledge and background that, even though they disagree with me on a specific issue, they think I will do the right thing. Or at least what I believe is right."
UK Doctors Find Shocking Diabetes Figures in Bihar Patna Daily a study report in which 451 out of a total of 5000 people screened, were found to be suffering from the debilitating disease. .... 200 of those who were found to have Diabetes were also found to be suffering from advanced retinal changes.
Putin Visit to India Highlights Enduring Alliance New York Times
World's oldest person dies at 115 Telegraph.co.uk
US officials fear war in space by China The Age
China To Have The Largest Internet Population WebProNews
China to overtake US in Internet population size within 2 yrs Hindu
Google to Distribute Sony, Warner Music Videos With Ads E-Commerce Times
Lack of spectrum blamed for WiMax delay in India Computerworld Worldwide WiMax deployments have tended to standardize around the 3-to-3.6-GHz, 2.3-to-2.4-GHz and 2.5-to-2.7-GHz frequency bands, said Lil Mohan, Intel India's managing director for broadband wireless in emerging markets. If India releases spectrum in these bands, it will enable local service providers to take advantage of standard WiMax equipment designed for these frequencies .... India had 2.1 million broadband connections as of Dec. 31 for a population of more than 1 billion people. ..... Wireless broadband was the most appropriate technology for providing broadband connectivity, particularly in rural and remote areas ..... Optical fiber can't be the solution for the last mile of broadband connectivity ...... the emergence of cell phones has removed the requirement to run copper ..... WiMax will need a lot of spectrum because a lot of people will want to connect to the Internet ..... Intel's intention is that over the next two to three years, the two technologies will merge, with Wi-Fi chips supporting WiMax, and WiMax chips supporting Wi-Fi
Google Book Search missing vital ingredient TECH.BLORGE.com It is now starting to talk about making single chapters or whole books available on a rental basis. ..... once it strays away from search engines Google tends not to get it right. It has usable programs on the Internet which people simply are not using.
Microsoft and Google plan to make more books accessible Stuff.co.nz
Is there enough corn for Bush ethanol plan? MSNBC
Health care and energy after all these years OregonLive.com
Dell opens global center in Malaysia Contra Costa Times
Offer from Dell: "Look, Ma, no Windows" NetworkWorld.com
Film's Rape Scene Causes Controversy Playfuls.com
Microsoft's step into Wikipedia prompts debate Computerworld
Microsoft runs afoul of WikipediaMonsters and Critics.com

Clinton and Obama campaigners trade insults Financial Times campaign staff for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton already indulging in sniping contests over the relative merits of their candidates. ....... Campaign workers for Mrs Clinton .. made indirect attacks on the relative inexperience of Mr Obama ...... shaping up to be the most intense and long-running in the party’s history. ..... “Hillary’s Democratic primary support is climbing while others are stalled or falling,” wrote Mark Penn, Mrs Clinton’s chief pollster, in a memo. “She is not just strong, but the strongest in the field.” ....... both Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton had been bounced into declaring their candidacies early by the strength of the other’s campaign. ....... George Soros, the New York-based billionaire, declared his support for Mr Obama the moment the first-term senator from Illinois signed the papers last week. ....... “Both camps were watching the other sign up big-name donors in each other’s cities [Chicago and New York] and realised there was no time to lose,” said Mr Trippi, who is credited with running the most sophisticated internet campaign of its day. ....... At the weekend Mrs Clinton will make her first visit to Iowa, the venue of an early caucus in the Democratic nomination early next year, where John Edwards is already the front-runner. Mr Obama is ahead of Mrs Clinton in New Hampshire ....... All three leading candidates are planning to launch extensive online operations to build campaign “netroots”, which is considered important to their prospects. Mr Trippi, whose 2004 Howard Dean campaign attracted 650,000 internet supporters, says this time each will register millions. ....... one of these candidates will be derailed by some obscure video recording on a cellphone that will be posted on the web ........ Mrs Clinton, who last week returned from a visit to Iraq with a plan to launch a congressional resolution to “freeze” the number of US forces there at the January 1 level of 132,000, is probably the most vulnerable. ...... Mr Obama always opposed the war.
Bush faces highly dissatisfied electorate CNN
Serbia`s Radical Party wins 28% of vote Zee News
Hillary Clinton Drops Madrassa Bomb on Barack Obama FOX News The New York senator has reportedly outed Obama's madrassa past. That's right, the Clinton team is reported to have pulled out all the stops to reveal something Obama would rather you didn't know: that he was educated in a Muslim madrassa.
Forget the Oscars! Hollywood Debates Hillary vs. Barack ABC News
Obama: The Democratic Messiah? Atlantic Free Press
Clinton's still the one to beat in crowded field of Democrats Globe and Mail
Indian origin trader killed in Nepal violence RxPG NEWS
Two dead in Nepal violence, curfew clamped India eNews.com
Nepal transport strike paralyzes nation Monsters and Critics.com
WEB EXTRA: Guilliani, McCain slight frontrunners in 2008, poll finds The George Washington University The GW Hatchet
Activity Picks Up for Mideast Talks Washington Post
Tension in Mogadishu, Islamist leader surrenders Euronews.net
Venezuela drops as Chavez talks takeover MarketWatch
Strike violence rocks Guinea, more than 20 killed Reuters Canada
Google's Library Continues To Grow CIO Today
Speculation Grows Around Google, Adscape Talks ADOTAS
Mobile operators urged to prepare for WiMax threat Computing
A WiMax push in Africa Maroc IT
English player's acceptance could hinge on Latino soccer fans San Bernardino Sun
UPDATE 5-Citigroup CFO Krawcheck returns to old job at bank Reuters
HP leads Dell in global results NEWS.com.au
Why Do Good? Brain Study Offers Clues Forbes
Endurance sports may harm the heart: study Reuters
Two Linux groups will merge San Jose Mercury News
The Age of Vista – does the ‘ow’ start now? iTWire
Network To Meet On British 'Big Brother' Playfuls.com
Idol Contestants Traumatized By Judges’ Cruelty Playfuls.com






Some half a century ago another man stood to speak that this was a great country, and although a Catholic had not been elected to the highest office before, that his Catholic background should not be used against him, and he spoke forcefully to that effect.

I think this is a great country, and although we have had a chequered past, on race and gender issues and other issues of social importance, we have to renew our commitment to the basic principles, and we have to declare once and for all that neither race nor gender should be barriers to the highest office in the land, and the best qualified should win.

This is a brave, new century. We face enormous challenges as a country and so we deserve to throw the best at them. That applies to elected office as to any other endeavor.

We are engaged in a defining struggle with an Islamism that is an ideology perpetrated by a few thousand scattered in an ocean of hundreds of millions of desperately poor Muslims who just want the best by their families. Where military might shall be needed, we will fight hard and smart. We will do everything in our powers to protect this great country. We will foil any plans, disrupt any network. But at the end of the day, it is not about military conquests that necessarily kill innocent lives and offend the proud locals. Rather it is about spreading democracy the progressive way, through nonviolent movements perhaps spearheaded by those from those same countries who are already in America. War can also be waged with communications technology. War can be waged with human networks inspired by the ideals of democracy.

We face an energy crisis. If we went to the moon, we can solve the energy crisis. Optimism is a basic American trait.

Global warming is a looming threat, in the long run larger than the threats posed either by terrorism or nuclear proliferation. And this threat can only be tackled if all countries of the world come together and work together. The benefits of cross-cultural communication, empathy, and collaboration are today like never before tied to our very existence, as a country and as a species.

America has had its dark side, sure. One of them has been racism. Although not as virulent as it might have been 50 or 150 years ago, we as a country and a society still have a lot of work to do. If democracy is about equality, that equality must necessarily cut across racial, ethnic, and religious lines. If confronting racism were such a bad thing, the sky should have fallen for the white population after segregation was ended. The reverse happened. We all became better off. As we might struggle to take race relations in this country to a whole new level, we have to remember that lesson.

By birth I am half black, half white. By upbringing I am probably more white than black. But early in my teen years I learned to claim my black identity more fully for to the public eye I was unmistakably black. And I am proud of that. Yes, I am African American. I relate to the African American experience fully. And so should you claim your heritage, be it African, European, Asian or Latino. We are all better off for it. To those of you who are of European, and Asian and Latino heritages, I want you to know that I understand your heritage must mean much to you, because my heritage means much to me.

But I don't run as a black candidate. I am a candidate who happens to be black. To my mind, I run as the best qualified candidate, as the candidate best positioned to offer a generational change in leadership. The generation that was born right after World War II and came to age in the 60s has served, but for the new challenges we face, we necessarily need fresher perspectives.

There is talk of age and experience. John Kennedy was younger than I am when he was elected president, Abraham Lincoln had less experience. Noone was ready to be president before they became president. Only 43 individuals in history can truly claim to know what it means to be President of the United States. We can not go to them. A new age necessarily calls for a new leadership.

A country that is more comfortable with its racial and gender diversity will be a country more apt to the task of the enormous challenges we face. A multi-ethnic leadership is more suited to the challenges of a globalized world. A more tolerant country will be happier, richer, more productive, and will prove itself braver, bravery defined not only in terms when you flex your military muscle, but also bravery as when you decide not to flex that muscle because you judge military might will cause more harm than good, and in many cases will cause only harm.

The America that I know is the America that has brought me to where I stand, a black man running for the highest office in the land. That America has a good heart. That America will be willing to take a chance on me, although there might be elements in the media, and political spinmasters in the opposing camps who might muddy the waters, and make America look uglier than it is, I trust the American people to do right by me.

I am Barack Obama, a proud family man, and I want to be your president because together we can make a fundamental difference for the next generation to come.

Fox, Barack, Islam

Fox Television Stations Group
Fox News Channel controversies
Fox News Channel
Barack Obama
Islam
Liberal movements within Islam

In The News

Clinton out in front with 24-point lead Guardian Unlimited 41% support among Democrats or Democrat-leaning voters, with the party's fast-rising star Barack Obama, who declared last week, on only 17%. ... John Edwards, who is fighting on an anti-poverty and strong anti-war ticket, is in third place with 11% and Al Gore, the former vice-president who continues to insist he will not stand, is on 10%. ... the nomination campaign still has 18 volatile months to run ..... Asked how they would vote in a presidential election, 49% said Democrat and 28% Republican. The same poll suggested that oppposition to Mr Bush's Iraq policy continues to grow, with 70% expressing disapproval ...... Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, also announced his intention to seek to become the first Hispanic president .... she enjoyed greater support among women (49%) than men (30%). She had a 76% favourable rating even among Democrats opposed to the Iraq war ..... a sign that Mr Obama is building up momentum came with the news yesterday that the billionaire philanthropist George Soros is backing him, and celebrities such as the film-maker Steven Spielberg are planning a fundraising event for him
Venezuela moves to seize US-owned telecom MarketWatch
Barack Obama - a man to inspire America? On Line opinion
Obama needs seasoning before he makes run at presidency USA Today
Democratic Race : HR Clinton vs Barack Obama Kenya London News
Fear and Loathing on Sen. Clinton's Trail FOX News
Clinton: 'One-term senator' Chicago Tribune
Clinton aims to show she is tough and a bit tender Times Online
Why John McCain's More Conservative Than You Think Town Hall
John McCain Panders To Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson And James Dobson Men's News Daily

Hillary Is In

Announcement Video
Another Video
















More ....
Bill Clinton the First Man

John Edwards: Antiwar

Realizing the Dream (1 of 3)
Realizing the Dream (2 of 3)
Realizing the Dream (3 of 3)













Edwards Town Hall NH - Part 1
Edwards Town Hall NH - Part 2
Edwards Town Hall NH - Part 3

Edwards at ACORN - Part 1
Edwards at ACORN - Part 2
Edwards at ACORN - Part 3

An Obama Administration

President: Barack Obama
Vice President: Hillary Clinton
Secretary Of State: Jennifer Granholm
Secretary Of Defense: Wesley Clark
Secretary Of Treasury: Carly Fiorina
Secretary Of Education: Mark Warner
Secretary Of Justice: Eliot Spitzer
Secretary Of Housing And Urban Development: John Edwards
Secretary Of Agriculture: Tom Vilsack
Secretary Of Transportation: Bill Richardson
Secretary Of Health And Human Services: Bobby Jindal
Secretary Of Commerce: James Cayne
Secretary Of Homeland Security: Rudy Giuliani
Secretary Of The Interior: Deval Patrick
Secretary Of Labor: Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary Of Energy: _________
Secretary Of Veteran Affairs: _________

Ambassador to Siberia: George W Bush

Barack Obama
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Jennifer Granholm
Wesley Clark
Carly Fiorina
Mark Warner
Eliot Spitzer
John Edwards
Tom Vilsack
Bill Richardson
Bobby Jindal
Bear Stearns
Rudy Giuliani
Kathleen Sebelius
Deval L. Patrick

Abraham Lincoln - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lincoln was known for appointing his political rivals to high positions in his Cabinet to keep in line all factions of his party — and to let them battle each other and not combine against Lincoln. Historians agree that except for Cameron, it was a highly effective group.

Bill Clinton
John F. Kennedy
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Abraham Lincoln
Thomas Jefferson

In The News

Second Republican opposes Bush on Iraq Earthtimes.org
Nepal Maoists dissolve 'People's Government' Hindu
Senate plans vote against troop surge Washington Times
Barack Obama takes first step to White House Rediff
Barack Obama’s on Our Side – But is He a Fighter? Bay Area Indymedia
Barack Obama: The Mania and the Mirage Dissident Voice
Hillary Clinton Battles Barack Obama's Surge FOX News
Barack Obama thrills blacks who see shot at history WBIR-TV
Barack Obama's Selling Point for 2008: He's Abraham Lincoln II Human Events
Obama sizing up Abe's old digs Chicago Sun-Times
Ten Things You Didn't Know About Barack Obama U.S. News & World Report
Clinton fails war critics Mail & Guardian Online
Clinton asks limit on troops in Iraq Buffalo News
Clinton Wants To Cap Troops In Iraq ABC30.com
Sen. Clinton takes offensive on the war Chicago Tribune
Clinton, Obama Make Historic Field The Ledger
Hillary Clinton Battles Barack Obama's SurgeFOX News
How Obama's Got Clinton Scrambling ABC News On Wednesday, Clinton went on the attack, calling for a cap on U.S. troops sent to Iraq. Minutes after Clinton released her plan, Obama responded, continuing to provide late-night comics with fodder for jokes and making people wonder whether competition between the two might get ugly. ...... she could appear politically calculating while Obama seems principled. ....... The two diverge at the podium, too. Next to Obama's fluid poetry, Clinton's delivery can seem overly cautious. ....... A devout Methodist, Clinton rarely talks about religion while Obama speaks freely about faith. ...... Obama doesn't have a lengthy career and powerful relationships on his side, but, with his fairy-tale family, he has personal charisma to spare.
Barack Obama thrills blacks who see shot at history WBIR-TV
Anti-war group launches media blitz against McCain Washington Business Journal
$250k TV Ad Buy Criticizes Sen. McCain's Support for Iraq Escalation PR Newswire (press release)
McCain no longer rocks in Granite State Boston Herald
Poll: Surge stance may be harmful to McCain AZ Central.com

• Hillary vs. Obama: Let the Games Begin
• Obama: New Face in Presidential Race
  

Former Nepal rebels begin giving up arms San Jose Mercury News
Nepal Maoists end parallel governments for peace Reuters
US Backs Nepal's Maoist Inclusion In Interim Legislature All Headline News
Indian papers say racism thrives in India Marlborough Express that while racism appeared to be "alive and well" in Britain, it also thrived in India. ..... "What else explains the quest for the holy grail of fair brides across the country?" ..... Many of India's one billion people still live within a hierarchy imposed by the Hindu caste system that, for example, stops low castes entering some important temples decades after such discrimination was outlawed. .... Muslims face widespread prejudice and have often been seen as the enemy within since Islamic Pakistan was carved out of British-ruled India at independence. ...... If racism is a fact in many interactions in British society, prejudice is a quotidian reality of Indian social life ....... While in Britian there were institutions in place to deal with discrimination and Western nations were alert to racist attitudes, the Express concluded, in India the victims of such abuse often have nowhere to turn. ..... One contestant referred to Shetty as "the Indian" and asked her if she lived in a shack, while another said: "You don't know where those hands have been." Two have mimicked her accent.
Report Says US Military Equipment Gets to Iran, China HULIQ
China May Close Starbucks in Forbidden City NewsMax.com
EU Urges China on Trade Reforms Forbes
Hawking warns world to wake up to impending Armageddon DailyIndia.com
Atomic Scientists Warn World Moving Closer to Nuclear Doom Voice of America Since 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has maintained the so-called Doomsday Clock. The symbolic timepiece measures how close mankind is to midnight, which represents total destruction of the Earth. ...... the minute hand on the Doomsday Clock is being moved forward two minutes, to five minutes before midnight. ....... "Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has the world faced such perilous choices," she said. "North Korea's recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions, a renewed emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia, are symptomatic of a failure to solve the problems posed by some the most destructive technology on Earth." ........ "The dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons," she added. "The effects may be less dramatic in the short term, than the destruction that could be wrought by nuclear explosions, but over the next three to four decades, climate change could cause irremediable harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival." ......... emphasized by British scientist Stephen Hawking, who is paralyzed and speaks through a computer. ...... "As scientists, we understand the dangers of nuclear weapons and their devastating effects, and we are learning how human activities and technologies are affecting climate systems in ways that may forever change life on earth," he said. "As citizens of the world, we have a duty to share that knowledge and alert the public to the unnecessary risk that we live with every day."
Could Wikipedia be the real threat to Google? Blogging Stocks Wikiseek, "a vastly improved search engine for the popular reference site, Wikipedia. ..... utilizes the suggestions of tens of thousands of vertical search engines to deliver more highly relevant searches. The result is a faster, richer Wikipedia search experience." ...... there have been occasions when Wikipedia was faster than regular news. ...... Google depends on Wikipedia to supply it with quality results. Meanwhile, Wikipedia is growing in both traffic -- as it is now the 20th most visited domain in the U.S. -- and in influence, as it is cited extensively by the media.
Wikipedia Gets Plug-In Search Engine Dr. Dobb's Journal
Wikipedia gets a search engine of its own Milwaukee Business Journal
How to Get Google to Notice Your Site DABCC.com (press release) These days, if a company website can't be found on Google, it basically doesn't exist. .. thousands of small-business owners every day as they seek new customers online
WiMAX technology launched in Bangalore Hindustan Times
I say, To hell with the niceties: Amitabh bachchan SantaBanta.com I am after all Bengal's Jamai Babu. I need to look at Bengal a little more compassionately, else there can be serious domestic repercussions!! ...... My father wrote in his biography 'When a father looses to his son, it is his greatest victory!' Subhash, I've lost to my son ! .... intended for use in outdoor environments. This could include construction sites, the military, emergency services and other workers operating in hazardous situations. .... designed to withstand high levels of vibration, moisture and humidity. ..... a brighter display than the standard Latitude, making it more visible in sunlight. The hard drive is shock-mounted and the keyboard is spill-resistant ...... embedded a cellular radio in the device alongside the conventional Wi-Fi option, to ensure multiple forms of connectivity.
SRK to follow Amitabh at Tussauds Times of India
Signing Beckham expands America’s soccer galaxy Gateway.ualberta.ca
Dell's decline is amazing Blogging Stocks HP had 17% of the market to Dell's 14%. .... Shares of Dell have plunged 16% over the past year while HP has soared 33%.
Dell launches its first rugged laptop Crave
Jowell criticises Big Brother Guardian Unlimited
A hard sell Economist he is making little or no headway in selling his latest policy, sending more troops to Iraq ..... joined by a growing army of Republicans. George Voinovich, a senator from Ohio, says that he can no longer buy into Mr Bush's dream of democratising Iraq; Sam Brownback, a senator from Kansas and a potential champion for social conservatives in the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, says he does not think that “sending more troops to Iraq is the answer”. ........ the banner of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq ...... the dream of the party's vocal left wing—they can cut off funding for the war completely. ...... Joe Lieberman, an “independent Democrat”, has come out strongly in favour of the president's plan. ....... The House is much more radical than the Senate: only 190 House members remain who originally voted for the war. ..... the Democrats are nervous about precipitating a constitutional crisis about who has the power to make war—a question which has never been fully resolved. ..... The Democrats are also advancing on the president on another front: Iran. ..... Mr Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declared himself willing to spark a “constitutional confrontation” if the president tried to widen the war. Mr Bush's Republican allies in Congress looked even more nervous than usual.

Blogosphere

Gibson called Obama's long-known cigarette smoking a "dirty little ...
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Candor on Iraq from Clinton and Obama

Iowa

Democrats

Candidate	Support
Edwards	27
Obama	17
Vilsack	16
Clinton	16
Biden	3
Kerry	3
Kucinich	1
Richardson	1
Unsure	13

New Hampshire
Democrats, 1/15-17/2006, MoE +/- 4.5

Candidate	Support
Obama	23
Clinton	19
Edwards	19
Kerry	5
Clark	3
Biden	3
Kucinich	1
Richardson	1
Biden	1
Unsure	22