Monday, August 14, 2006

Famine In South Dakota



I am no authority on the abortion issue although I have instinctively supported the position since day one, which would be when I was at high school in Kathmandu and Bill Clinton showed up on the radar to run for president.

I personally don't know anyone who has had an abortion. Or noone who knows me who has had one has told me about it.

The Maoists in Nepal have been staunch supporters of abortion rights since their day one.

For me it has been primarily a white women issue. It tickles me as an issue for a few different reasons. One, it is one of those I did my good deed for the day things. Two, I feel like if I am to expect white women to support me on race issues, I should express solidarity on the gender issues. Three, we live in a sexist world. I am delighted when women get together and take offense on at least something. I maintain the agenda is far too narrow. But it is a start. Women should be angry.

Leila Noor has worked on me for this event. The last time I discussed race with her - and she is half black - I might have thrown her a little off balance. But then I cost her so much time overall, I felt like I should go just for that reason. If I was going to express solidarity with white women, it would have to be some other way, I thought. Nepal never tickled them last year. Nepal is Montana to them. They were too busy thinking of my blog as "The Onion" last year. My three main blogs are serious stuff.

But now I am kind of eager to go. I have not been to a DFNYC event in a long time, but I still get an occasional email from the DFA site, so I guess I am still a member. I thought that meant I could go in for free. But I have been told it is $35, as opposed to $50, a discount. The host committee has some of the usual names, some of the political hobbyists at DFNYC. There is an Adam Noor, and going by last name I wonder if that would be Leila Noor's brother. And there is a Farez Qureshi. Someone of that name used to come to one of my Entrepreneur MeetUps. I wonder if that is the same guy. And there is Susan Sarandon. That is a big one. I wonder if she will show, or she just shared her good name.

Help South Dakota Make the Right CHOICE - Special Appearance by Heather Tom! (2 days 4 hours)

But then this is not that hard of a fight. The ban is on its way to getting overturned.

I have actually been to South Dakota. How many people can say that? It looked a pretty harmless state when I was passing through. What did I know? Looked like noone lives there. Hardly anyone. Who says a small group of people can't make a difference? Them back there, they have sparked a national debate.

I find these small population, remote states kind of exotic. Like Montana. Poll after poll there shows the number one issue there is terrorism. I don't think Bin Laden's knowledge of geography is so good that he has ever heard of Montana.

On The Web

SD Abortion Bill Takes Aim at 'Roe'
Online NewsHour: South Dakota Bans Most Types of Abortion -- March ...
Daily Kos: SD-Init: Abortion ban in trouble This initiative has a great chance of passing, invalidating the ban and providing a massive setback to anti-choice crusaders nationwide. ...... The poll indicated the ban would have broader overall support if it included an exception for cases involving rape or incest. Those undecided or against the current form of the abortion ban were asked if they would favor the proposed law if it included those exceptions. Statewide, 59 percent said they would support that form of an abortion restriction.
South Dakota Governor Signs Abortion Ban - New York Times Planned Parenthood, which operates the state's only abortion clinic ..... Governor Rounds, a Republican, noted that the bill was approved by the Legislature "with bi-partisan sponsorship and strong support in both houses." ...... The South Dakota law is in the forefront of an effort by abortion opponents to test whether a more conservative Supreme Court will reconsider, and possibly reverse, the Roe decision. .... Governor Rounds noted that the Supreme Court has reversed decisions before. He cited the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision that said states could require racial segregation in public facilities if the facilities were "separate, but equal." That ruling was reversed in Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 school desegregation case.
SD OKs ban on most abortions - US Life - MSNBC.com
BREITBART.COM - Bush disagrees with South Dakota abortion ban Bush signalled his opposition to a South Dakota abortion ban that forbids the procedure even in cases of rape or incest, saying he favors such exceptions. ..... my position has been clear on that ever since I started running for office. ..... A leading pro-choice advocacy group has already vowed to challenge the ban in federal court. But that seems to be exactly what many promoters of the legislation seek. .... a rural and socially conservative state, which even today has only one abortion clinic. ...... they are hoping the bill will offer a full frontal assault on legal abortions now that the balance of power in the Supreme Court appears to have shifted with the confirmation of conservative jurists John Roberts and Samuel Alito, both of whom are seen as pro-life.
FOXNews.com - South Dakota House OKs Bill to Ban Nearly All ...
Oglala Sioux Tribe on the South Dakota Abortion Ban : Indybay
ZNet |Feminism/Gender | SD Voters May Decide Abortion Ban
South Dakota bans almost all abortions - Politics - MSNBC.com
NPR : South Dakota Poised to Pass Sweeping Abortion Ban
NPR : South Dakota Weighs Far-Reaching Abortion Ban
USATODAY.com - South Dakota Senate passes abortion ban
Ban on Most Abortions Advances in South Dakota - Free Preview ...
South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families - Vote No on 6
South Dakota Abortion Ban Sponsor Alleges Harassment -- 07/26/2006
The World Today - US state of South Dakota outlaws abortion
South Dakota Bans Abortion, Setting Up a Battle - New York Times
South Dakota House passes ban on abortion, challenging court's Roe ...
[PDF] State of South Dakota HB 1215
Concerned Women for America - South Dakota Senate Passes Abortion Ban
MTV Think News - South Dakota Abortion Ban Sets Up Supreme Court ...
USATODAY.com - Abortion battle gains new intensity with ban in SD
South Dakota's Abortion Ban
FOXNews.com - Gov. Rounds Signs Bill Banning Most SD Abortions ...
SD abortion ban reverberates in election
Think Progress » South Dakotans reject abortion ban. 47 percent of South Dakotans will vote to overturn the near-total abortion ban passed into law this year, which included no exceptions for incest or rape, according to a new poll. 39 percent said they would uphold the ban.
Abortion Rights Debate Full Coverage on Yahoo! News
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US state tightens abortion laws
Update 6: SD House Approves Abortion Ban Bill - Forbes.com
National Network of Abortion Funds
South Dakota abortion ban has decades-long history - The Boston Globe In the 1990s, South Dakota's Democrats dropped abortion rights from their party platform. .... Republicans enjoy a 51-to-19 majority in the House and a 25-to-10 advantage in the Senate. ..... South Dakota has just one abortion clinic, and it performs about 800 abortions a year.
Lori Sturdevant: Fighting the SD abortion ban, from the grass roots As a native South Dakotan, I'm not accustomed to seeing this state run ahead of too many cultural curves. ....... polls that pegged South Dakotans as some of the most ardent opponents of legal abortion in the country. ....... Nicolay soon found herself the cochair of a coalition of feminist and progressive groups that called itself the Campaign for Healthy Families. By May, it was a group with 1,200 petition-carrying volunteers -- all unpaid. By June, well before the deadline, they delivered more than twice the required 16,728 signatures to the secretary of state's office. ....... What rankled folks wasn't that lawmakers wanted to deprive women of control over their own bodies ... it was that lawmakers showed no pity for women impregnated by acts of rape or incest, or for those whose health would be adversely affected by pregnancy and childbearing. Some people also objected to the use of their state tax dollars on a legal errand for the national right-to-life movement. ......... "They say, this [all-out ban] goes too far." ........ For veteran abortion rights defenders, it's a rush into uncharted territory. ..... "We are writing the textbook" on running a grass-roots campaign to keep abortion legal ...... abortion opponents have been organizing. They've been fearless (and, at times, tasteless) about taking their cause into the public square. They've become masters at networking, fundraising and turning out the vote. ....... they understood democracy, better than the feminists did ..... "This has awakened the Democratic Party in this state" .....
S. Dakota Moves Toward Abortion Ban - CBS News
Daily Kos: South Dakota abortion ban will make the ballot
South Dakota's Abortion Ban: Is It Practical?
SFGate: World Views : South Dakota's abortion ban: Watching the ...
RightWinged.com: South Dakota Abortion Ban Heads To Senate For Vote
Law Librarian Blog: To Criminalize or Not: SD Abortion Ban ...
South Dakota Abortion Ban
Orange Tangerine: South Dakota's abortion ban
South Dakota Abortion Ban | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
South Dakota Abortion Ban
Stories Tagged 'south dakota abortion ban' » Netscape.com
FindLaw's Writ - Dorf: Does South Dakota's New Abortion Ban Cross ...
Tribal Connections - Health News - Secondary Feature - South ...
Move to overturn SD abortion ban gains ground - The Boston Globe Volunteers pushing to overturn the nation's most far-reaching abortion ban are surprised and delighted by the response ....... Even in the most conservative corners of this conservative state, Republicans and Democrats -- including some voters who say they oppose abortion -- are eagerly signing the petition. In two weeks, volunteers have collected a third of the signatures they need to get a November referendum on the ban. ....... ''People here have a sense of morals and ethics," said Darcy Patterson, 40. ..... ''I can't wait to sign," he said. ''I was going to go out looking for this petition." .. Hoel said he is a staunch Republican in a county that twice backed President Bush with nearly 75 percent of the vote. ''You have to be, in South Dakota, or you get extradited," he joked. ....... disliked the thought of politicians interfering in a family's most intimate decisions. ''It's too personal to be legislated" ........ July 1. Women will not face charges for ending pregnancies, but doctors who help them could get up to five years in prison. ...... the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, which is funded by major abortion-rights supporters such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the American Civil Liberties Union. ...... the three high school seniors who had skipped calculus to gather signatures. ...... had worried that their low-cut jeans, chunky necklaces, and silver toe rings looked ''too hippie" ...... If voters reject the law, it will be stricken from the books. If they uphold it, abortion rights activists can still sue to block its enforcement.
uuworld.org : south dakota uus fought state abortion ban
ICT [2006/03/24] South Dakota's abortion ban has sweeping implications
Say Anything: South Dakota Abortion Ban To Be On Ballot In ...
AXcessNews.com - SD Abortion Ban Center of Divisive Campaign
Abortion Fight Heats Up In S. Dakota, Foes of Law Limiting ...
JURIST - Paper Chase: South Dakota abortion ban opponents seek ...
CitizenLink - Features - South Dakota Abortion-Ban Backers Harassed
CitizenLink - Features - Pro-Family Groups Hail South Dakota ...
Indianz.Com > News > Opinion: South Dakota abortion ban goes too far
Petition Filing Could Halt South Dakota Abortion Ban
Battle lines drawn over SD abortion ban - 04/05/06 - The Detroit ... South Dakota is leading a frontal assault that augurs a social prairie fire this summer and fall. ....... a bitter campaign fueled by millions of dollars in advertising from outside the state. ..... Added Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, the proposed ban's chief author: "There is a tidal wave sweeping the country to end abortion, and South Dakota has moved to the center of that." ......Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, are considering bans, and people look to South Dakota for inspiration -- or warning ..... On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Oglala Sioux Tribal President Cecilia Fire Thunder said she might open an abortion clinic on the reservation, "where South Dakota law absolutely does not apply." ....... Fire Thunder is a leader of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families ...... "I think it's going to be very ugly and divisive."
KSFY.com - Stories - Abortion Ban Debate Continues
South Dakota's Abortion Ban Loophole | CivicActions
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | New S Dakota abortion ban on hold

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Friday, August 11, 2006

Middle East: The Final Map


I think you have to begin at the end. The wars have been about territory. All parties have to agree to a final map for the Middle East. And then once they agree on the map, then they can do the political work to get there.

I kind of like the Saudi initiative. It calls for Israel to go back to the 1967 borders, and gets all Arab countries to recognize Israel. Israel could be skeptical as to all Arab state and non-state actors would come around to it, but that would be a second step. First you agree on the final map. And if this not be to Israel's liking, it should put its version of the final map on the table. Maybe there is no agreement on the shape of that final map. This also asks for a comprehensive approach. Israel has so far preferred to deal with the Arab actors one at a time. That can make strategic sense. But peace asks for more.

The Arab Peace Initiative -2002

Palestinian refugees do not all get to return to Israel, instead Jerusalem is shared. I think the best thing to do with Jerusalem is to turn it into an international city that no one country has authority over. Turn it into a Vatican. Perhaps a UN administered city. Something creative has to be thought out, since it is mine, it is mine has not been working.

Maybe something creative has to be thought also for the refugees. How many are there in total? Send some of them to Arizona. Some to Germany. Most to the new Palestinian state. And as things calm down, and the countries in the region realize trade not war is the way to go, living standards will go up across the board, and there will be a regional economic integration. When the world is going global, Middle East is going in the other direction: it has been going territorial.

The Middle East has too many emotional entanglements and too much history for something neat to emerge right away. You do have to think bold thoughts.

The US misadventure in Iraq might be about democracy, but Middle East peace is about land first and foremost. These guys are fighting over real estate.

But first comes ceasefire. The hostilities have to end. The fighting has to come to a stop. As they say at the UN, let's jaw not war.

Israel's skepticism might be something to do with the fact that it does not trust there's any power that can deliver such a comprehensive peace. There are non state actors that do not answer to these Arab leaders. Will they come around to it?

That is where a country like the US comes in. But then Bush has been on vacation. Step in UN.

The cultural differences between Israel and the Arab countries are huge. There are religious differences. There are wealth differences. There is the thick fog of history. Make it smog. The biggest difference is the lack of democracy in the Arab countries. You have these organizations and governments that are not really answering to their own people. They claim to, but they don't in the technical sense of the word. And so they engage in a lot of posturing.
  1. Call a regional summit of all state and non state actors to work out a Final Map. Let that be the starting point.
  2. End all hostilities right away.
  3. Get creative on the sticklers like the refugee issue, and some choice pieces of real estate.
  4. Think long term. Think peace, think trade. Think economic growth.
The hard part for Israel is to be able to focus on the political agenda of the organizations it has deemed terrorist and see the specifics on their merits. Much of it is to do with the idea of a final map. It is a a land for peace formula. The logics are less complicated. The emotional stuff is crazy. Emotion management is what you are looking at. Theatrics are involved. Hopefully they can be talk theatrics, not war theatrics.

Nation Building, Israeli Style?
Lamont Victory
Lamont: The Iraq War Ferment In The Democratic Party
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
Lieberman, Lamont
The Israeli Offensive
Three Pillars, Draft 2

On The Web

MidEast Web - Middle East Conflict and Peace Process Historical ...
The Arab Peace Initiative -2002
MIDDLE EAST: Peace Plans Background - Council on Foreign Relations
How to Bring Peace to the Middle East - Worldpress.org
Israel - Palestine - Saudi Arabia - Peace Plan - Prince Abdullah ...
Dean's World - peace in the middle east
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Arab League endorses Saudi ...
The Saudi Initiative: Fact or Fantasy?

Middle East Peace Process
Foundation for Middle East Peace
MidEast Web - Middle East Conflict and Peace Process Historical ...
MidEast Web - Middle East Conflict (Palestinian-Israeli Conflict ...
Churches for Middle East Peace
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE & ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Middle East Peace Camp for Children
CNN - Struggle for Peace
Foreign & Commonwealth Office Middle East Peace Process
Colorado Campaign For Middle East Peace
Foundation for Middle East Peace
BBC NEWS | In Depth | Israel and the Palestinians
Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME)
[PDF] The Middle East Peace Talks
ICAMES Middle East Peace Process - Links
ICAS Middle East peace web project
Ariga: Peace: Historic Documents and Treaties: Home Page
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations
middle east wire - middleeastwire - middleeastwire.com
Prospects for Peace in the Middle East
Middle East Peace Network (MEPN)
[PDF] Developments in the Middle East Peace Process 1991-2000
List of Middle East peace proposals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In The News

US-France Agree to Middle East Peace Plan 580 CFRA Radio, Canada
Peace Activists Bear Witness to War in Beirut Bay Area Indymedia
Pope: Disappointed about ignored Middle East peace calls The Tidings, CA
For a lasting Middle East peace, look back to 1967 UN plan Christian Science Monitor, MA Israel remains the dominant military power in the region: It is in no danger of being vanquished ...... even with all the firepower at its disposal, Israel is incapable of imposing its will by force on the Lebanese and Palestinian people who are - and will always be - its neighbors. ....... the region's most urgent needs are to win a complete and fully monitored cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon (and, if possible, between Israel and the militants in Gaza), and to link that cease-fire to an explicit plan to have the United Nations convene an authoritative peace conference within, say, two weeks that aims to find a speedy resolution to all the unresolved strands of the Arab-Israeli conflict........ all the remaining strands of the Arab-Israeli conflict are closely connected, and none of them can be resolved without the others ...... The past 39 years of peace diplomacy have shown what the basic outline of a sustainable "final outcome" will look like. It will roughly resemble what the UN Security Council envisaged in 1967 when it called on Israel to withdraw from territories it brought under military occupation that year, and on the Arab parties to accord full recognition and peace to Israel....... the peace plans discussed intensively between Israeli and Arab negotiators in 2000, and to the one the Arab states all endorsed in March 2002 ......clear majorities of citizens in Israel and neighboring Arab communities all expressed support for such an outcome. ...... Almost exactly 50 years ago, Britain and France - both of which still had significant political influence over the Middle East - allied themselves with an aggressive Israeli military assault (against Egypt) aimed at transforming the regional balance in Israel's favor..... Because of the political miscalculation Britain and France had made in backing Israel's assault, they lost nearly all their political clout in the region. ..... Now, Washington's decision to give strong backing to Israel's assault against Lebanon looks eerily like a replay of the error that the British and French governments made in 1956. Today, only the UN Security Council can play the same role - stressing fairness, deescalation, and nonviolent problem-solving - that the US played in 1956.......

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Thursday, August 10, 2006

Nation Building, Israeli Style?



There were clear signals ..... that Israel was already setting its sights on Lebanon's capital and beyond.
What is Israel upto? How far is it willing to go? I have been asking these questions of myself.

My first reaction was of surprise when this whole thing started. This is the first Israeli military incursion into another country in my active memory. Then there was this feeling that the offensive was disproportionately large. Two soldiers get kidnapped and you invade a country? Then I have been a student. I have been reading the conflict from as many angles as possible. I did not need to express displeasure. There were plenty others more informed than me, and closer to the ground who were doing so.

Now I am really curious as to the details of the Israeli plans. They are so methodical in what they are doing, they must have seen this coming.

Last night I watched a movie, The Bunker, where Anthony Hopkins has put forth a brilliant portrayal of Hitler during his final days. It is so well done, you find yourself giving a newfound respect to movies as an art form.

The Bunker (2001)
Amazon.com: The Bunker (1981) : Video
The Bunker - Movie Info - Yahoo! Movies
The Film Asylum - The Bunker film review
The Bunker - Movie Tome

The Jews have been through a lot as a people. The systematic annihilation they were subjected to by the Nazis is an experience unique to them as a people. Others might have died in larger numbers, like eight million Soviets during that same war, and tens of millions to the bubonic plague, but the Jewish experience still stands out. And it is not that far back in time. And the anti-semitism has not entirely disappeared. It is there in Europe. I have personally seen it in the US South. It is there in New York. Their wounds must be raw.

Israel does have a right to exist.

But what is happening now can not be understood in terms of the Holocaust. The Arabs are a poor, resourceless people for the most part.

Germany and Japan come to mind. Both were invaded and democracy was installed by the invading power. Is that what America is trying to do in Iraq? Is that what Israel will attempt in Lebanon? Are we seeing early stages of nation building? Lebanon has already lost billions in infrastructure damage. Will Isreal make the repairs after the dust settles down? How long before the dust settles down?

I have long argued the only way to conclude the Long War is to ensure a total spread of democracy in the Arab world. How do you do that? Like in Germany and Japan?

Lamont: The Iraq War Ferment In The Democratic Party
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
The Israeli Offensive

The right wingers in power are going the Germany, Japan routes, only they are not being as successful. There has to be a better way.

The First Major Revolution Of The 21st Century Happened In Nepal

In The News

US and French narrow gap on Lebanon ceasefire Reuters
Lebanon crisis: US, France talks on UN resolution fail NDTV.com
France, US at odds over Lebanon draft Indian Express
France, US divided over Lebanon resolution: Chirac Hindustan Times
Lebanon hospitals cut off, running out of supplies
Boston Globe, United States
Lebanon hospitals running out of supplies ABC News
UN Rips Lack of Aid Access in Lebanon Washington Post
Nasrallah vows to turn Lebanon into Jewish graveyard The Australian
Lebanon: Soldier killed by anti-tank missile
Ynetnews, Israel
One soldier killed, two wounded in s. Lebanon Jerusalem Post
IDF casualties in Lebanon Ynetnews
15 IDF soldiers killed Wednesday, IDF reveals Jerusalem Post
Walker`s World: Flawed Lebanon consensus
Monsters and Critics.com, UK
Israeli tanks thrust into Lebanon The Australian
Lebanon civilian toll hits 1000 The Australian
Israel to Put Lebanon Offensive on Hold ABC News
France sees deal on UN Lebanon resolution soon
Reuters
Editorials: Filipino workers in Lebanon
Sun.Star, Philippines
Lebanon relief effort hampered by fears
San Jose Mercury News, USA
LEBANON: LEBANON: Hear Our Voices - Displaced twice take shelter ...
Reuters AlertNet, UK
Hizbollah fights Israeli push into Lebanon
Reuters
Many Pinoys wanted to stay in Lebanon: official
Sun.Star, Philippines

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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Lamont Victory


This is remarkable. This victory really challenges the conventional wisdom. Lieberman almost became Vice President in 2000. In 2006 he has lost a primary in his state.

Iraq is on the verge of a civil war. Iraq is not how you do nation building. The offensive in Lebanon has driven home the point even further. War is not the way to go.

The anti war buildup has been coming a while, but Lamont has shown he can channel it productively and meaningfully. He has been pragmatic. He has stuck to the basics in his campaign.

Some neocons have come out saying now it will be easier for them to paint the Democrats as too liberal, and as too weak on defence. That is wishful thinking on their part. This Lamont victory will energize the Democratic base for November. Lieberman's run as an independent might actually help keep up the energy. Lieberman will lose also in the general. I hope he changes his mind, accepts defeat, and does not run again.

Lamont's job has only now begun. He has to continue with his pragmatic style. He has to give a repeat performance, and win big in the general. This is the beginning of the end of the Bush presidency. Lamont's appeal is national.

In terms of mechanics, I am very impressed with his use both of the netroots and grassroots, what I call screen time and face time. You can not bring only one of the two to the table. Need both. Lamont's victory has been stylish that way.

The blogosphere is not like the issue groups. The blogosphere will permeate through the entire political process. As broadband spreads, the internet will become more and more central as a medium.

This is a sweet victory for the DFA. Dean stands vindicated. Lamont's style was an imitation of Dean 2004.

Lamont will have to become a centrist progressive. That means expanding the agenda beyond the anti-war stuff, important as that is. That means maintaining the common sense approach to the mainstream governance issues. But good thing Lieberman is running in the general. Lamont gets to cash his anti-war shriek a little bit longer.

This is an impressive victory. The apple cart has been overturned.

Now take over the Congress in November.

Lamont: The Iraq War Ferment In The Democratic Party
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
Lieberman, Lamont
The Israeli Offensive

In The News


Lieberman Loses In Democratic Primary "People are going to look back and say the Bush years started to end in Connecticut"
The Unmaking of a Senator: How Bloggers Staged an Upset TIME signaled the ascendancy of a legitimate new power center in the Democratic party, the Netroots...... The much-hyped Internet activists of the Howard Dean presidential campaign, liberal blogs like Daily Kos and activist groups like MoveOn.org had generated lots of buzz, but few results at the ballot box until now........ a victory no one could have expected even four months ago. ...... Markos Moulitas of Daily Kos appeared in one of his early ads, former blogger and Internet organizer Tim Tagaris left his job at the Democratic National Committee to work on Lamont’s campaign and bloggers from the site mydd.com headed up to Connecticut over the last several days to call voters and encourage them to support Lamont. And MoveOn.org strongly supported Lamont despite pleas from Democratic leaders not to....... Lamont pour $4 million of his own money ..... Lamont's campaign manager, Tow Swan, is a veteran Connecticut political operative who helped run the strong turnout operation ...... Hillary Clinton has hired a blog outreach adviser and called for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation, two moves that could help her win the favor of the liberal activists ..... there’s an anti-incumbent mood in Connecticut, which could spell trouble for the three House Republicans there.
Did bloggers cost Joe Lieberman an election? CNET News.com, CA Bloggers may have claimed their first victory in a high-profile election campaign....... the routine advertising, speechifying, and door-to-door salesmanship ..... Lanny Davis, a lifelong liberal and President Clinton's former lawyer, wrote this week that he was savaged by his fellow Democrats for defending Lieberman. Davis described how he experienced "the hate and vitriol of bloggers on the liberal side of the aisle" and concluded "the far right does not have a monopoly on bigotry and hatred and sanctimony." ..... war in Iraq .... 89 percent of Dems disapprove of Bush's handling of it ...... his name recognition could easily make it a serious three-way race.
Liberal McCarthyism
Joe Lieberman loses Conn. Democratic Senate primary Boston Globe, United States
Democrats plan unity meeting despite Lieberman's loss to Lamont Boston Globe, United States
A Man of Means, Pushing for Change New York Times, United States When Mr. Lamont, 52, entered the race last March, skeptics wrote him off as a dilettantish limousine liberal. .... a $30 million home in Greenwich ..... Their combined assets total in the hundreds of millions of dollars ..... Mr. Lamont’s wealth was only partly from his trust fund. Much of it was earned by his wife, and some of it came from his own entrepreneurship....... Both he and his wife have made a lot financially during their lifetimes ...... volunteered at a Bridgeport public school, teaching a course on how to start a business ......
Senior US Democrat loses senate primary race CTV.ca, Canada
In Setback, Lieberman Calls for Round 2, Despite Obstacles in His ... New York Times, United States
Suzanne Nossel: Letting Go of Joe Yahoo! News
Support for war weakened Lieberman from start USA Today
Lieberman Loses, Vows Independent Run ABC News
Lieberman loses: Ned Lamont wins Conn. primary Boston Herald, United States
Lamont Defeats Lieberman in Primary New York Times, United States
Lieberman loses Senate race in Conn. USA Today
Shock loss shows US anti-war mood BBC News, UK Washington insiders from both parties have long been muttering that George W Bush's Republican party is going to lose ground in elections in November. The only question, they say, is how much ground. Enough to lose control of one or both houses of Congress? ...... the first man in decades to beat an incumbent senator in a primary race..... "You can't run in Connecticut as Bush and Cheney's favourite Democrat." ..... Bush lost the state by a landslide in both 2000 and 2004. ...... even before the votes were tallied, centrist Democrats who shared Mr Lieberman's positions were tacking to the left to take the party's mood into account. ....... Top Republican strategists may take short-term delight in Mr Lieberman's humiliation, hoping it will enable them to continue portraying the Democrats as weak on defence. ..... as long as Bush and the war remain unpopular, then this will not be a problem for the Democrats in 2006
Lieberman Concedes Connecticut Primary to Lamont Washington Post, United States
Connecticut Democrats oust Lieberman MarketWatch
Lamont Relied On Net Roots -- And Grass Roots Washington Post, United States Almost no one saw it coming. Six months ago, Ned Lamont's name recognition was, within the margin of error, zero. ...... stuck to a simple message ...... blending both new- and old-style politics. He tapped the Net roots to promote his cause -- but the grass roots to win over voters. ....... Lamont's campaign soon came to resemble Howard Dean's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination two years ago. ..... As the hype grew, the campaign stuck to the basics. ..... went from town to town, house to house, for months ...... One early move was to launch a primitive Web page seeking 1,000 volunteers in all 169 of the state's municipalities ....... They began a voter-history project to track down people who voted in every obscure local primary and referendum -- information that was not available in statewide rolls....... campaign relied heavily on "house parties," or small neighborhood gatherings ....... Organizers used the events to build their lists of likely voters and add to the volunteer ranks. Eventually, the campaign put the whole system online....... "Their voting techniques are on the cutting edge of politics" .....
Lamont Beats Lieberman in Conn. Primary Salon
Lieberman Concedes Primary Race, Will Run as Independent Los Angeles Times, CA
War in Iraq could be key issue in race for US presidency Irish Independent, Ireland
Lieberman Loses Connecticut Primary Bid Washington Post, United States
Connecticut Democratic Voters Reject Lieberman After 18 Years Voice of America
Lamont Beats Lieberman in Conn. Primary ABC News
Lieberman loses tough battle over war ABC News
Lieberman Concedes Defeat in Connecticut's Democratic Primary Bloomberg
Top Democrat trails in vote count BBC News, UK
Lieberman trails in tight battle ABC News

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Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Free Trade, Social Segregation, Rising Tide, Iceberg





August 20: India Day Party
Cross Cultural Interactions In A Diverse City
The Thing About Racist Comments
Cloud, Pyramid, Glass
Right Wingers In Power In Israel And America
America: Number One
Mumbai Train Blasts
August 16
Barack The Glass Walls, Ceilings, Smash 'Em
Three Pillars, Draft 2
Immigration, Duh
Race, A Few Different Angles

Wealth Creation

There are three ingredients. It is the entrepreneur who spins the wheel and mixes the colors to create the painting. Free trade means more permutations and combinations become possible.

Collective Identities Change Over Time

Each new generation will see it slightly differently. What is the primary collective identity you identify with? That might or might not be true for your children and grandchildren. As political systems mature, the individual becomes the center of the universe. And that is a good thing. Even the collective identity is an individual thing. As people and cultures mix, new identities will emerge from old ones. It is kind of like when you shake up the kaleidoscope. The ingredients are not gone, but they show up in new formats. There is mixing and remixing.

Rising Tide

Put a dollar sign on every forehead on the planet. That is how much that person makes in a year. It is possible to design a political, economic, social infrastructure such that that amount increases on every single forehead moving into the future, more or less. India will get richer, China will get richer, America will get richer.

Racist Comments

Usually when someone makes a racist comment, that is the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the water's surface is the value system from which those racist comments come upto the surface.

Words matter. They are the only things that do. You create social reality with the words you speak. That reality can be created and recreated.

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