elections-2008 « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Bridal suite Provision- Course& Contemporary

johanthancalhoungvi — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:31:38 +0000

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26 de Julio and Frank País: setting the record straight.

Rafael Martel — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:20:43 +0000

Rafael Román Martel

Cuban Communists celebrate today the 26 de Julio: The Anniversary of the Attack of the Moncada Barracks, supposedly led by Fidel Castro, who arrived late because he got lost in the streets of Santiago de Cuba. Castro and his followers created a myth around his image that, thanks to the International Socialist propaganda machine, survives today.

He did organize the young men who assaulted Batista’s Moncada Barracks the 26 of July of 1953.

As the assault took place and young Cubans shed their blood for a democratic Cuba, at the time under the yoke of oligarch Fulgencio Batista, Castro's car “got lost” in the streets of Santiago, and he escaped unharmed.

The action would inspire a whole generation of young Cubans to take up arms against Batista’s dictatorship.

The 26 of July Movement was born.

His leader was the young man you see in the middle of the photo above: Frank País. He was a true democratic leader. He would fight on in the streets of Cuba, organizing the underground movement and causing chaos among Batista’s thugs.

Frank became the true leader of the revolution.

Fidel Castro could not tolerate another leader.

Castro would land in Cuba on December 2, 1956. A coordinated effort to support his landing included a rising in Santiago de Cuba the day he was supposed to land, November 30th.

Again, Castro was late.

Young leaders like Pepito Tey fell, fighting in the streets of Santiago. Frank País, the Urban Coordinator for the 26 de Julio Movement, would escape, avoiding Batista’s police for another seven months. As he slept in a different house every night he was caught and murdered by Batista’s henchmen on July 30, 1957.

Only Vilma Espín, Raúl Castro’s late wife, knew his hiding place.

Vilma Espín was a Communist.

It has been reported that Frank, unable to keep up with Batista’s police, asked Fidel Castro for help, so he would be allowed to join the guerrillas in the mountains.

His request was denied.

The Cuban Revolution's starting point was betrayal. Frank País was a young Protestant with democratic ideals. His father founded the Protestant Church in Santiago. Castro wouldn’t tolerate another leader, much less a charismatic and courageous young patriot like Frank País.

Fifty years after the triumphant Cuban Revolution, the country is submerged in the worst social, economic, and political crisis of its history. The ideals of Communism have been replaced by a third world oligarchy: The Castro Klan, now led by his brother, Raúl. The Castro Klan includes his sons, their cousins, everyone's wives and lovers, and special friends. Robbing and murdering the Cuban people, keeping Freedom and Human rights as hostages, they rule the country like feudal lords. They have accumulated immense wealth and power using social justice and equality as a banner.

While Castro professed the end of a class society and the unimportance of money, this week a high ranking Cuban official revealed that Fidel Castro’s fortune in foreign banks and investments could surpass 1.2 billion dollars.

Cuba is a Prison-Island where prostitution and violence have become the order of the day. Where religion and freedom of expression are punishable by the perverse law of Marxist dogma. A gang of international criminals run the country like a medieval farm.

More than two million Cubans live outside Cuba, and repression towards dissent leads to daily human rights violations.

That’s not the government Frank Pais and most of the July 26 Movement young martyrs fought for.

Their image has been used, as it will be used again today, to justify a totalitarian and draconian regime.

Cuba celebrates today 50 years of the most corrupt and authoritarian of dictatorships, yet the ideals of Frank Pais and his fallen brothers in arms live on. The 30th of November Frank Pais Movement has fought on inside and outside the island since 1960. It was the 30th of November Movement that founded the first political party inside the island, illegal under the Marxist regime. The 30th was the first anti-Castro organization that founded a political party in Castro's Cuba, under the name it proudly carries: Frank País. In 1991, the leader and founder of the political wing of the MR30-N, Rafael Ibarra, was sentenced to 30 years and is still in prison just because he dared to challenged the Communist party, the only legalized political institution in Cuba for half a century. All its leaders are either in jail, in exile or constantly persecuted and harassed by Castro's police.

Our day will come, when Cubans will live free from the nightmare of Communism. When our people will not have to risk and lose their lives by the hundreds of thousands to leave. When men like Artúnez and women like Beatriz Roque could express themselves in freedom, without being arrested, harrased, beaten or killed-like it happen to Miguel Valdes Tamayo and thousands of Cubans.

As Cuban Communists celebrate this day, most Cubans inside and outside the island, hope. We hope for the real change, from slavery to freedom.

Obama at Berlin, Germany (Looking abroad)

mysays — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:32:13 +0000

[caption id="attachment_16" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Obama addresses folks in Berlin, Germany"][/caption]

Yesterday we did assist to the speech addressed by Obama to the folks in Berlin, Germany, at the famous Sieggesaeule (The Victory Column). Authorities told more than 200,000 people listing to Obama's statement. He got warmly welcomed despite the Germans didn't never agree with Iraq intervention and relations have been “cold” under Chancellor Schroeder and only “little warmed” during the Merkel administration.

John McCain said he would prefer to address the people in Europe as the President of the United States and not like a presidential candidate. I think this kind of “homeland” thinking is not anymore applicable to a globalized interconnected world. Presidents (even the US one!) need to change habits and cannot continue the “my oval office is the way the world runs!”. McCain is right to focus the campaign inn first on domestic US issues but later as one of the most active global players he should (maybe) consider to watch over the edges of the Homeland border.

Can't Argue with the Facts

Cassie — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:30:19 +0000

¿Qué se va a ganar en Irak?

Dania Abreu — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:42:22 +0000

La guerra en Irak comenzó como consecuencia de un ataque que no tenía nada que ver con las fuerzas opresoras de este país. La tragedia del 9-11 fue provocada por Al-Qaeda y su líder Osama Bin Laden desde Afganistán y fuerzas limítrofes relacionadas al radicalismo islám y el Jihad. Fue la primera vez que Estados Unidos experimentó un ataque terrorista de tal magnitud desde los albores de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, cuando sucedió el ataque a Pearl Harbour. La pregunta que muchos se hicieron dos años después de dolor por la pérdida de las Torres Gemelas y toda su gente fue: ¿y por qué Irak?

Aquéllos que recordaban rápidamente hicieron la relación con la Guerra del Golfo Pérsico y cómo el primer Bush, George Bush, padre, no logró eliminar a Saddam Hussein. La justificación en el 2003 fue distinta: había evidencia de armas nucleares que, aunque no eran para Al-Qaeda o la milicia talibán, eran un peligro para la paz y la primera encomienda de un país que se disponía a eliminar, al igual que el comunismo a principios y mediados del siglo XX, el terrorismo mundial.

Lo que hubiese hecho sentido en aquel momento era que, en vez de enfocarse en el terrorismo en el Medio Oriente, una civilización distante geográficamente e ideológicamente, el gobierno norteamericano se hubiera enfocado en la región latinoamericana. Ejemplos: el terrorismo de los secuestros de FARC y el ELN en Colombia; las pandillas que tienen aterrorizados con violencia al azar las poblaciones de Honduras, Guatemala y Nicaragua; la posible existencia del terror de un grupo de asesinos en serie en Juárez, al otro lado de la verja imaginaria que tienen en México, donde cientos de mujeres han perdido sus vidas y nadie ha podido hacer nada; entre otras situaciones donde la inteligencia y los recursos policiales innovadores y múltiples de la CIA, FBI y otras agencias podrían ser utilizados. (Solamente hay que ver cómo, gracias a la ayuda norteamericana, 15 secuestrados fueron liberados por el Ejército Nacional Colombiano hace tres semanas.)

Pero no. Desde la Oficina Ovalada - mejor sería decir cuadrada, en conjunto con sus mentes maquiavélicas- se enviaron órdenes y evidencia a la ONU, la legislatura y el Congreso que, junto al ánimo vengativo, consiguieron la confirmación e inicio de una guerra que parece no tener fin. Según el documental No end in sight, la planificación de invasión a Irak fue de menos de un año, y el proyecto de reconstrucción de menos de dos meses. La idea era entrar, sacar a Hussein, y ya. Cualquier político, estudioso, persona cualquiera, si compara la cautela con la que Estados Unidos entró a la Segunda Guerra Mundial, se preguntaría: pero, ¿qué plan fue ese?

Obviamente, al cortar la cabeza de la hormiga, el cuerpo se volvió como loco y lo que se pensaba manso resultó ser escorpión. El veneno inyectado por la represión de Hussein se activó, y en vez de ser antídoto-libertad pasó a convertirse en más veneno-libertinaje y, sin ningún plan de reconstrucción o gobierno alterno, el pueblo iraquí quedó desprotegido. Miles de documentos históricos, cientos de obras de arte en museos y colecciones personales, documentos oficiales de educación y finanzas fueron destruidos junto con la burocracia necesaria para comenzar un elemental esfuerzo de renovación del país. El caos comenzó a reinar y oficiales desde Washington enviaban legislaciones que empeoraron la situación.

Así la situación, miles de militares norteamericanos y de los aliados comenzaron a ser enviados y reenviados. El dolor del 9-11 se intensificó y en la desesperación de ver a sus hijos, padres, madres, amigos y parientes morir por unas armas nucleares que nunca aparecieron Irak se convirtió en el nuevo Vietnam.

Todo el gobierno en Estados Unidos, demócratas y republicanos, hablan de "ganar". Pero, ¿qué se va a ganar en Irak? La guerra que se está enfrentando no tiene nada qué ver con la historia estadounidense. Es una guerra legendaria entre comunidades, las cuales ya no recuerdan cuál fue el origen de su pelea, pero que se ha profundizado en la violencia tanto ideológica y física como emocional. Es una situación que no tiene más fin que el que ellos quieran dar.

La seguridad que no se tuvo al inicio de la invasión es lo que las tropas norteamericanas y el ejército están tratando de recuperar con dificultad. El desbande del antiguo ejército iraquí, amplísimo al ser obligatorio pertenecer a él si querías seguir con vida en la dictadura, fue más mal que bien, al abandonarlo en el desempleo y la desesperación. Muchos se aliaron a las nuevas guerrillas con el conocimiento de abastecimientos de armas y municiones; otros, ambiguamente, forman parte del sistema de seguridad dirigido por generales norteamericanos.

Ahora, ¿y Afganistán? Las fuerzas talibanas están reagrupadas, atacando nuevamente, tanto a afganos como a norteamericanos. Al igual que en Somalia, Estados Unidos está metido hasta el cuello en algo de lo que no tienen control. ¿Qué se va a ganar en Irak? ¿Qué se va a ganar en Afganistán? Simplemente nada.

La guerra ya dejó de ser guerra. Se ha convertido en una especie de control de guerrillas en el que Estados Unidos es el enemigo común. Ni McCain ni Obama tienen la solución perfecta, porque no la hay. Hace falta tanto un aumento de tropas para establecer la poca seguridad que se ha conseguido, al igual que un itinerario de salida para pasar esta seguridad transitoria a manos de quienes entienden mejor su seguridad: los iraquíes y los afganos.

Nadie en Washington, D.C se ha preguntado qué realmente es la guerra. Ambos países concernientes quieren la salida de los norteamericanos. El destino manifiesto es una filosofía envejecida, que no tiene nada que ver con la historia post-moderna, post-industrial, cibernética y global. Una cosa es querer ayudar y otra cosa ser un entrometido, como decimos los puertorriqueños. EEUU se lanzó sin medir consecuencias y aquí no hay nada qué ganar. La misión se cumplió. Hussein fue ahorcado y, aunque Bin Laden no ha sido capturado, está fuera del panorama afgano y para mantenerse así hay que salir, no sin dejar de ser vigilante, y permitir que los demás resuelvan sus problemas. No hay más qué hacer.

Barack Obama - A Statesman for Gen Y

Cassie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:24:02 +0000

Some say he's become an icon. Others say he has pop star status. And although I'm not one who has drowned in the Barack Obama punch, and I'm not looking for an icon or a pop star to lead my county, I am becoming more and more convinced that this man is a statesman. And we need a President who is a statesman.

As Henry Kissinger once famously said, "The statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between experience and vision." Since the inception of his campaign, Barack Obama has attempted to show the nation (and the world) that he can be that bridge. Even as one whose political and ethical beliefs align strongly with the progressive agenda, I was not at first convinced. Maybe I just didn't want to jump on the bandwagon. Maybe I'm too skeptical. Whatever it was, I had my doubts. But now I am beginning to fully appreciate Obama's ability to be the bridge and fill the gap between experience and vision.

Yes, he fists bumps with his wife. Yes, he knows hip phrases like "Is Chicago in the house tonight?" and "how about the west side?" Yes, he can shoot hoops. Yes, he has over 1,000,000 facebook friends. I argue that these are all GOOD THINGS.

Finally, a leader that can actually relate to, inspire, and lead my generation. Finally, a leader who we feel we can talk to and emulate. Perhaps, if our citizens vote with their minds and their hearts, our young people can, in January 2009, look to their President with admiration, love, and a feeling of camaraderie and respect. Maybe we of Generation Y can stop looking to our hip hop icons and sports stars as our leaders, and maybe we can look instead to this self-made man who educated himself and has pushed himself to the heights of scholarship and service so that he can stand before us with dignity, honor, self-respect, experience, and...vision. Maybe we can move past the desperate pleas for leadership in our communities that moved us to "be like Mike" and instead we can aspire to "be like Barack."

We are at a tipping point, as Malcolm Gladwell would say. Barack Obama will not be able to set us back on steady course by waiving a magic wand. There will be difficult times to come, even if he is elected. With a deficit of over $9 trillion, that alone will keep the next Administration scrambling.

But at this juncture, we as Americans must be wise enough and strong enough to choose a President who will be that bridge between experience and vision and who will be courageous enough to make difficult decisions that will benefit our citizenry in the long-run and not just spoon-feed us short-term quick fixes that will end up doing more harm than good.

We need a President who can inspire the masses again, who can light the fire in our hearts to make small changes that, when combined, will move mountains. We need a President who can make us all proud of our country, proud of our Constitution, proud of our Founders' vision. We need a President who exudes and lives these ideals and who is willing to sacrifice for the common good.

The entire world is watching - in Italy, Germany, France and England, Barack Obama is the favored candidate with over 62% of the vote in polls recently taken. Barack Obama is currently on a tour of the war zones and was greeted by over 3,000 GIs at the US Embassy in Iraq yesterday. They are counting on us to join them in their enthusiasm and hope. The entire world is watching...waiting to see if Americans will choose a statesman, someone who can bring the countries of the world closer together with common visions.

In the 2008 election, we have a chance to elect a President who is a true statesman. After much agonizing contemplation, I have made my choice for President - my vote in November will be for Barack Obama.

-Posted by Cassie

Let's Vote Now...

bwana — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:39:29 +0000

I had the pleasure this weekend of seeing both the Obama and McCain advertisements, and after considering a few things, I have come to the conclusion we should just go on and vote now. Both sides have pretty much laid out who and what they are, and I don't know how much good is to be had by waiting until November.

What occured to me:

First, Wesley Clark is wrong on John McCain. Clark claims McCain's service per se does not qualify him to be president. I think Mr. Clark has spent too much time in antispetic HQ ordering bombing raids and has lost his perspective. It is not that McCain was a POW for 6 years, it is how he behaved. He was the guy that kept the POW'sgoing, who fought not to break, who schemed to escape, and who refused an early release. That speaks of character and toughness, something never out of place in the oval office.

John McCain is a finished product with a record to judge. 20+years in Congress, a record that can be throughly vetted for good or bad. For campaing financing and the various bipartisan votes, you can always toss in the Keating 5. One way or the other, you know what you are getting. His message is not always eloquent, and he carries the burden of the Bush Administration on his back...but he is experienced-and that is the crux of his appeal.

Barack Obama is an unfinished product with a bright shiny message and no real record. Let's face it, if his civic involvement prior to politics is the yardstick by which potential presidents are to be judged, I doubt he is in the first rank. Obama calls for cooperation and looking to better America by Americans working together. It is a message that resonates in these highly partisan and strident times.

However, he has not forged a record in the US Senate upon which he can be judged-unless he is to be judged on his dearth of a record. Obama has voted "present" 130 times, and has not taken the lead on a single bipartisan effort that endangered his position in the Democratic caucus. He has proven himself to be highly opportunistic-he was in favor of public financing...until it became politically advantageous to not do it. Obamadefended his minister of 20 years...until it became politically advantageous to denounce him. I wonder if he would have taken that early release from the Hanoi Hilton. But he is not supportive of the Bush record, he has a wonderful message, and he would be the first minority president of a country with a terrible history littered of racism...and that is the crux of his appeal.

As you might imagine, my preference is for the experienced hand...bright shiny new toys have a way of tarnishing in ways you never imagined. But that is not the real thing on my mind.

This campaign has been going on for an eternity. The records of each candidate have been compared on the web and airwaves for months. There is serious work needed to be done, and the political life of the country is too heavily focused on the "gettin' it" part of politics than the "doin' it" part.

We need to get back to business. Let's just go on and vote.

Yes, I know we cannot do that...but I just wish we could.

Veterans Who Vote

Valerie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:04:24 +0000

This weekend Secretary of State Beth Chapman announced the Veterans Who Vote program - an initiative, partnering with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, "to recruit veterans to register voters, work at the polls, and be poll watchers for the November General Election." The initiative has a web site, veteranswhovote.com, which right now consists of the press release announcing the initiative, and a volunteer form. (It's unclear at this time if there will be additional information available between now and the November 4th election.)

You2Gov to show at NCSL

you2gov — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:25:47 +0000

[caption id="attachment_24" align="aligncenter" width="280" caption="You2Gov Bringing Power to the People"][/caption]

www.you2gov.com

You2Gov CEO Alan W. Silberberg will be attending the NCSL (National Conference of State Legislators) annual meeting in New Orleans this week, and will be presenting new information to the Legislators and their staffs, as well as the Media and Press in attendance.

www.ncsl.org

You2Gov is already linked to all 50 state legislatures, as well as to the U.S. Senate, and House of Representatives and is poised to provide seamless one touch communications with your elected officials at the State and Federal levels, and within weeks will be rolling out additional new features designed to make You2Gov your one stop place for all things social and political on the web.

We look forward to joining with all of the State Legislatures and the hard working people who work tirelessly in them for all of us, this week in New Orleans. Most importantly we look forward to showing these leaders from all across America, how You2Gov is quickly becoming the site to organize around issues and take action.

Can someone explain all this Change Barack Obama is talking about?

moneywinks — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:13:29 +0000

Foreign policy and Obama some times I wonder... (my opinion from May 29th)

kofucius — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:02:07 +0000

Normally I don't swipe whole articles and post them, but after reading this one I am really compelled to do so. It's interesting that for a man who I expect to be broad with his understanding of history to make comments that make it evident that his talk of change is merely rhetoric. Mohammed Herzallah astutely notes that Obama once said "nobody has suffered more than the Palestinian people," because of "the failure of the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel, to renounce violence and to get serious about negotiating peace and security for the region." The American strong stance with Israel is almost protocol but would one agree that the South African Black leaders were responsible for Apartheid? I think not...

Along with Israeli alliance an American Politian hassssss to be against Cuba, which to me is no different to the Washington politics of today. "Change" ha like my Middle Eastern history teacher from high school used to say politics is "The Art of Make Believe". As an African I will always admire Cuba. During the struggles for Independence and the collective effort against Apartheid, Cuba stood by and selflessly fought with Africans when the world's policemen were absent and for a long time complicit with African oppression. Even to this day Cuba, a nation not necessarily blessed economically, continues to give the little they have in hopes of helping others less fortunate. For decades Cuba has exported doctors to the rest of the "Global South", but I guess that is possible when you country is able to produce excess doctors, which in my mind is quite amazing. Attached below is the article --

My questions for Obama

The brightest and best of the presidential hopefuls seeks to extend a cruel, immoral Cuba blockade

Fidel Castro The Guardian, Thursday May 29 2008

It would be dishonest of me to remain silent after hearing Barack Obama's speech delivered at the Cuban American National Foundation last Friday. I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba and humanity. Were I to defend him, I would do his adversaries a favour. I have therefore no reservations about criticising him and expressing myself frankly.

What were Obama's statements? "Throughout my entire life, there has been injustice and repression in Cuba. Never, in my lifetime, have the people of Cuba known freedom. Never, in the lives of two generations of Cubans, have the people of Cuba known democracy ... I won't stand for this injustice ... I will maintain the embargo."

This man who is doubtless, from the social and human points of view, the most progressive candidate for the US presidency, portrays the Cuban revolution as anti-democratic and lacking in respect for freedom and human rights. It is the same argument US administrations have used again and again to justify crimes against our country. The blockade is an act of genocide. I don't want to see US children inculcated with those shameful values.

No small and blockaded country like ours would have been able to hold its ground for so long on the basis of ambition, vanity, deceit or the abuse of power, the kind of power its neighbour has. To state otherwise is an insult to the intelligence of our heroic people.

I am not questioning Obama's great intelligence, his debating skills or his work ethic. He is a talented orator and is ahead of his rivals in the electoral race. Nevertheless, I am obliged to raise a number of delicate questions. I do not expect answers; I wish only to raise them for the record.

Is it right for the president of the US to order the assassination of any one person in the world, whatever the pretext? Is it ethical for the president of the US to order the torture of other human beings? Should state terrorism be used by a country as powerful as the US as an instrument to bring peace to the planet?

Is an Adjustment Act, applied as punishment to only one country, Cuba, in order to destabilise it, good and honourable when it costs innocent children and mothers their lives? Are the brain drain and the continuous theft of the best scientific and intellectual minds in poor countries moral and justifiable?

Is it fair to stage pre-emptive attacks? Is it honourable and sane to invest millions and millions of dollars in the military-industrial complex, to produce weapons that can destroy life on earth several times over? Is that the way in which the US expresses its respect for freedom, democracy and human rights?

Before judging our country, Obama should know that Cuba - with its education, health, sports, culture and science programmes, implemented not only in its own territory but also in other poor countries around the world, and in spite of the economic and financial blockade and the aggression of his powerful country - is proof that much can be done with very little. Cuba has never subordinated cooperation with other countries to ideological requirements. We offered the US our help when hurricane Katrina lashed the city of New Orleans. Our revolution can mobilise tens of thousands of doctors and health technicians. It can mobilise an equally vast number of teachers and citizens who are willing to travel to any corner of the world to fulfil any noble purpose, not to usurp rights or take possession of raw materials.

The goodwill and determination of people constitute limitless resources that would not fit in the vault of a bank. They cannot spring from the hypocritical politics of an empire.

· Fidel Castro is former president of Cuba. This is an edited version of an article that appeared in Granma, the Cuban Communist party newspaper granma.co.cu

guardian.co.uk © Guardian

This guy Gaddafi and his Pan-African talk...

kofucius — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:47:26 +0000

was always suspect to me!

Once again I've stumbled on another interesting article :). So somehow Gaddafi suggests that Obama has an inferiority complex which steams from none other than Obama's African roots.

Pause, is this the same idiot that for the last 5 plus years has tried to champion the cause of a United Africa and the idea that "we are all Africans" and that "together we're unstoppable" blah blah blah...When I think of a powerful force I think of either an entity with no weakness (inferiorities) or whose strengths vastly overshadows its weaknesses. So in the case of a United Africa would his Arab people's superiority overshadow the inferiority that is found in the "Africans"?? Well Col. Gaddafi go ahead and insert that military boot of your's in your mouth.

Seriously we all know his United Africa talk was good old mouth mouth. The Colonel has done very little to quell the maltreatment of Sub-Saharan Africans that emigrate to Lybia, and we won't even explore his history of destabilization in places like Chad and his funding of Monsters like Charles Taylor. Furthermore was this not the same kat in the 80s that wanted a Pan-Arab union in the Sahel region of Africa?

I guess that Pan-African flavor of ice cream he now chosen is his last attempt at being relevant which unfortunately he no longer is. Anyway I have no problem with Gaddafi criticizing Obama's foreign policy but it has nothing to do with a black inferiority complex, that has everything to do with Obama being an American politician who wants to be President...well on to the article-->

Gaddafi attacks Obama on Israel

Libya's leader has strongly criticised US presidential candidate Barack Obama for saying Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel.

Col Muammar Gaddafi said he was either ignorant of the Middle East conflict or lying to boost his campaign.

Mr Obama was speaking to pro-Israel lobbyists in the US last week.

Referring to him as "our Kenyan brother", Col Gaddafi also said Mr Obama might suffer from an inferiority complex because of his African origins.

The issue of race could make Mr Obama's behaviour "more white than white people", Col Gaddafi suggested, rather than acting in solidarity with African and Arab nations.

The comments came during a speech to mark the 38th anniversary since the US evacuated Wheelus Air Force base in Tripoli.

Israel claims Jerusalem as its "eternal, undivided" capital, but the Palestinians want the eastern half - occupied by Israel in 1967 - as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

The Americans left Libya shortly after Col Gaddafi came into power in a bloodless coup in 1969.

'Campaign lie'

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says the speech was a passionate critique of past US policies towards Libya but emphasised that current relations are not confrontational.

We tell him to be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him
Col Gaddafi

However, Col Gaddafi's defiant and famously politically incorrect rhetoric returned when talking about Mr Obama towards the end of the speech.
"The statements of our Kenyan brother of American nationality Obama on Jerusalem... show that he either ignores international politics and did not study the Middle East conflict or that it is a campaign lie," he said.

"We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites."

"This will be a tragedy," Gaddafi said. "We tell him to be proud of himself as a black and feel that all Africa is behind him."

Conspiracy theory

Mr Obama's epic primary campaign against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton ended in his victory early this month.

The presidential election will be in November.

Correspondents say he has largely avoided playing on past racial struggles in the US and has drawn support among black and white Americans.

In addition, Mr Gaddafi suggested Mr Obama's comments may have been informed by a fear of assassination by Israeli agents, "the same fate as [former US President John F] Kennedy when he promised to look into Israel's nuclear programme".

Conspiracy theories abound about Kennedy's assassination in 1963, which the US authorities say was carried out by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7450000.stm

Published: 2008/06/12 08:23:57 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

New Fairfax poll result in Dominion Post

adamsmith1922 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:58:50 +0000

[caption id="attachment_3318" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fairfax Poll - Dominion Post - Saturday - 19 July 2008"][/caption]

Adam is not surprised. This proves that the result could well be close.

National need to campaign hard. The Greens and NZ First could well hold the balance, unfortunately.

Gone with the wind! ¡Lo que el viento se llevó!

Rafael Martel — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:41:48 +0000

A few days ago, I read a letter from a Venezuelan father thanking Fidel Castro because his daughter had graduated as an M.D. in Cuba. It has been the policy of the Cuban regime to bring students from all Latin America to study in Cuba while Cuban citizens suffer all kinds of hardships, not excluding lacking the most basic things, like toilet paper, or any paper for that matter. I grew up under a system where a pen was a commodity, a notebook or a pencil sharpener luxuries. We all experienced the ration card. It allowed ridiculous rations of coffee, salt, sugar, and so on. The system has deteriorated to the point where more than two million Cubans have escaped, many of them risking- and losing- their lives in the Florida Straight or the Gulf of Mexico. Yet the propaganda machine lives on, feeding on the poor and ignorant of this world. Cubans were recently asked by dictator Raul Castro to "tighten their belts": that means more misery, more humiliation and violation of the most elementary human rights. In today's Cubanet, the following article narrates the poor condition of medicine in Cuba. The Marxist Paradise where Europeans go by the millions to take advantage of the cheapest prostitutes on earth. These tourists turn a blind eye to the suffering of most Cubans to feed their sexual hunger and depravity. While some pay to go, Cubans die to leave the Island-prison where all forms of freedom are suppressed. Homosexuals have been placed in concentration camps (UMAP), dissidents are persecuted and beaten, tortured and murdered in Castro's jails. A general and very real paranoia has taken over the land where any expression of dissent is expressed with hands signs. All this while foreigners study in luxury at the expense of the Cuban citizen. As well as a medical career, these young men and women from Latin America and Africa get a brainwash, thanks to the formidable propaganda machine the Communists have become masters in manipulating. Just look at the picture below and see what a hospital in Cuba looks like- a hospital for Cuban citizens, that is. One day, just like it happened with The Iron Curtain, the Cuban dictatorship will crumble and the truth will explode in the face of those who have supported this regime of terror.

Lo que el viento se llevó

Miguel Iturria Savón

LA HABANA, Cuba, julio (www.cubanet.org) - De los derechos sociales, tal vez el más caro sea la atención a la salud en cualquier parte del mundo. Garantizarlo implica un costo para el Estado, las instituciones sanitarias y para los propios pacientes y sus familiares. El gobierno de Cuba lo sabe y trata de garantizarlo a todos los niveles, pero no dispone de los recursos financieros recibidos desde la antigua Unión Soviética hasta 1990. El problema se acrecienta con la exportación de miles de profesionales que trabajan para el Estado en más de veinte naciones, lo cual desestructura los servicios médicos dentro del país, pues tan “humanitaria tarea” sacrifica a nuestros ciudadanos y multiplica los problemas del sector.

Las expectativas creadas por la propaganda oficial parecen un cuento. Los logros de los años ochenta son cosa del pasado. El sistema médico cubano involuciona, aunque las autoridades insisten en presentarlo como estandarte de legitimidad internacional. Basta con asistir a cualquier consultorio, clínica u hospital para percatarnos del caos, a pesar del esfuerzo del personal por cubrir las vacantes y las carencias técnicas y sanitarias.

Ni la solidaridad internacional ni la graduación de médicos emergentes en cualquier rincón del país resuelve el laberinto creado por las carencias y por la estrategia de exportación con fines políticos. Nuestros galenos prefieren cumplir “misión internacionalista” que atender a los familiares y vecinos; se sienten más reconocidos en otros países que en las instalaciones cubanas, donde reciben un salario simbólico y laboran sin los recursos imprescindibles.

Read Full Article HERE.

Iraq Distracting from Obama

Jamfish — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:22:23 +0000

Too much success, I suppose, can distract from a man trying to grab the brass ring. Obama's complaint du jour: Iraq is distracting us from other threats:

This war distracts us from every threat that we face and so many opportunities we could seize. This war diminishes our security, our standing in the world, our military, our economy, and the resources that we need to confront the challenges of the 21st century. By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe.

What opportunities? Capitulating to those that would threaten and/or attack us? And if our focus on Iraq, regardless of what got us there in the first place, "is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe," then what pray tell, is? Withdrawing before conditions are stable enough? Brilliant.

The point is we're there now. Senator McCain sounds off:

And I note that he is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to General Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq, and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time. In my experience, fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: First you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy."

Yet Obama insists:

"I will end this war as president," he said, speaking from a podium that said "Judgment to Lead." Obama addressed the crowd with a line of American flags behind him.

It could be the biggest frack-up of the entire war. Worse perhaps than committing to this war in the first place, depending on your perspective.

The President warns:

President Bush was asked what advice he might give Obama as he prepared to visit Iraq. The president said he would ask Obama to listen carefully to Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

"It's a temptation to let the politics at home get in the way, you know, with the considered judgment of the commanders," Bush said.

And then bravo on the AP, for once, calling this out:

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reported that the Obama campaign altered its Web site to remove a statement that Bush's surge of troops in Iraq "is not working." Over the weekend, the site was changed to describe an "improved security situation" at the cost of U.S. lives.

Campaign aide Wendy Morigi told the newspaper that Obama is "not softening his criticism of the surge. We regularly update the Web site to reflect changes in current events."

Heh.... "change in current events". Kind of like the way the Clintons would lick their fingers and stick 'em into the air every day of the 1990s to ascertain policy positions based on how the wind was blowing that day (via focus groups and opinion polls). I'm not saying one shouldn't digest current events and evaluate your existing world view or position against said events. It was just so very clear LAST YEAR that the surge was working. Now he has no choice to admit that is has been effective.

I agree that it was "at the cost of U.S. lives," but I would also add, "at the cost of even more Iraqi lives." Iraqis that are a part of the Iraq National Guard, the National Police force, and numerous other armed, Iraqi citizens willing to defend and die for their communities.

I want out of there, too, dammit. Yesterday. Last year even. But we have to complete the mission. To not do so is so unfathomably stupid I wouldn't know where to begin. Except maybe with Obama.

Oh, and AP: if you don't like all my story quoting you can blow it out your spotty white asses.

Real Reason Kaine May be VP...

bwana — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:44:58 +0000

In 1920, after the GOP had nominated the Harding-Coolidge ticket, a half drunk new england politico was heard ranting that he would give odds that Harding would not survive his term. When cautioned against this outburst, the inebriated one said,"You don't understand, Calvin Coolidge is the most lucky SOB in the world!"...and, between getting into office during the 20's economic expansion, avoiding the taint of the Teapot Dome scandals, and then leaving office prior to the Great Depression...the guy apparently knew what he was talking about.

There are numerous posts up at Democratic blogs about the possibility of Tim Kaine getting the VP-nod, with some of the better posts at RK.

Having some time last week to contemplate politics in the clear forests of Augusta County, and despite my contention that Kaine brings no unique substance to the ticket, I have come to the conclusion that there is a real reason Kaine may snag the VP nod...

...because politically he is one of the luckiest SOB's in the world. And, as any good poker player knows, when the cards are falling your way you have to press your luck.

Consider the following:

a) Kaine ran for the 2001 LTGov nod as the Mayor of Richmond...but at the time this was not a popularly elected position-it was elected by the City council from amongst its members. Nothing wrong with that, but it means Kaine was fortunate enough to be able to run for statewide office from an elected position where he represented (if my math is correct) less than 25,000 people-far fewer than a member of the House of Delegates or State Senate, or the elected at large mayor of smaller cities like Manassas. Remember, there is a difference between the population of the City of Richmond and the population of the Richmond SMSA.

b) He wins that primary with less than 40% of the vote...not a stunning show of strength.

c) Meanwhile, strange things are going on the GOP side in 2001. Highly conservative and somewhat aging Delegate Jay Katzen, denied the LtG slot in 1997, steals a march on Randy Forbes and attends every fish fry, shad bake, bean dinner, and GOP function for three years. Forbes is running behind Katzen, but as the GOP starts to realize that Forbes would be a much stronger general election candidate Fourth District Democratic Congressman Norm Sissiky dies. Forbes jumps into the special election and wins the seat, leaving Katzen as the all but official LtGov nominee.

d) In the general, despte having a very weak opponent, a strong pull at the top of the ticket, the Gilmore administration economic issues, etc., going his way...Kaine wins with just over 50% of the vote.

e) Kaine bides his time as LtGov, staying out of the spotlight. In 2005, he sits back and allows Jerry Kilgore, accent and all, to self destruct with his Hitler advertisement...but until then the LtGov of a very popular governor had not pulled into the solid lead-as one would expect.

f) As Governor, well, not much to report, but his early endorsement of Barack Obama thrusts his name into the VP conversation.

Tim Kaine does not come to the table with claims of having a successful governorship, nor can he claim that his presence on the ticket will carry Virginia. History is full of national candidates who did not carry their home states. As noted by Lowell Feld, Kaine is perceived to have a bunch of soft and/or assumed strengths...which apparently includes that he is neither Dan Quayle nor Dick Cheney. There is this assumption that his elevation to VP would start a GOP bloodbath in Virginia for the top spot in 2009 that would benefit the democrats.

Normally, I would not put much faith in a the nomination of a candidate whose strengths are all assumptions and perceptions. His weaknesses and deficits are clear. But Kaine has one very real thing going in his favor, and that just cannot be disputed...

...politically he is one of the luckiest SOB's in the world, and that kind of luck seems to find the hole card at the dangdest times.

Karl Rove flees the country..

europeanview — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:38:22 +0000

Karl Rove is fleeing the country! Obviously he has claimed a long planned foreign trip is preventing him from testifying before congress, but Congress didn't know.

Well now, I do not really think he is on the run, but what if he is? I am convinced there are a lot of people right now in Washington shivering in their shoes. Why? Because impeachment is probably not off the table anymore! At least not categorically.

Pelosi, who famously declared impeachment to be "off the table" before the 2006 election, now suggests that hearings on the president's high crimes and misdemeanors are a distinct possibility.

I think you will have to thank Dennis Kucinich, Robert Wexler, Tammy Baldwin, John Conyers and some more officials who have doggedly pursued to hold the Bush Administration accountable. And as our fellow critter Zooey has pointed out in a comment on this thread, if the President is impeached, there will be no Presidential pardons.

So maybe he fled the country after all!

: : : : : : : : : :

Minnesota Veterans Launch Union Veterans Council

cornerhousecomments — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:27:17 +0000

The Minnesota AFL-CIO along with rank and file union members who are veterans gathered in St Paul at the capitol today, July 10, to launch the Union Veterans Council. The AFL-CIO Union Veterans 2008 website states:

Some 2.1 million union members, or 14 percent of all union members, are veterans of military service. The AFL-CIO is bringing together union leaders and members who are veterans to speak out to and hold government officials and candidates accountable to the needs of our returning heroes—not only for Labor 2008, but beyond.

The event coincided with similar events in Milwaukee, Denver, Dayton, Ohio; and Charlston, W. VA. WorkdayMinnesota covered the event and has this quote from MN AFL-CIO President Ray Waldron:

Like all working people, veterans are worried about our future and our children's future. Our country is headed in the wrong direction," said Minnesota AFL-CIO President Ray Waldron, who participated in Thursday's event. "The first-ever union veterans council will bring union veterans together across Minnesota on the issues that matter most to veterans, our families and all working people. And we're starting by working to elect leaders who will put working people's concerns first."

Public News Service Minnesota also has this story and audio with MN AFL-CIO Communications Director Diane O'Brien.

[audio http://cornerhousecomments.wordpress.com/files/2008/07/rss-5633-1.mp3]

The AFL-CIO will be running tv ads in selected states featuring Jim Wasser, a Vietnam veteran.

Speaking of veterans issues, Ollie OX at A Bluestem Prairie has two posts up today:

Click on the titles

Wa Times on hearing: “Why Does the VA Continue to Give a Suicide-Inducing Drug to Veterans with PTSD?"

and

House passes Homeless Vets bill; Bush threatens veto

The Veterans Council is a welcome addition to the AFL-CIO and will help bring together veterans to focus on issues and to elect reperesentatives( like 1st District Congressman Tim Walz) who will be responsive and accountable to their constitiuencies.

Peace & solidarity,

CHC