]]>Overall, though, the mood was warm, even joyful, a sign perhaps of just how deep the yearning outside the US is to end the current era — and to have an America non-Americans can believe in again.
I just read that in the past week, Hillary Clinton has stated that Bush should boycott the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and Barack Obama has mixed feelings about the US attending these games.
Don't get me wrong, I am a democrat...But right now, Clinton and Obama sound crazy to me.
Clinton and Obama "maybe" think we should boycott to protest China's human rights record. As we all know, there are many, many, many human rights abuses in China. But boycotting the Olympics isn't the answer to fix China's problems. If anything, it will only make the US and China's relationship worse.
Like I've said before, the Olympics is a time for all of the nations in the world to come together, set aside political differences, and celebrate sports. Yes, it's great when your home country wins, but don't you just love watching athletes from other countries succeed? At least I do. Don't get me wrong, I really, really want the US women's gymnastics team to win. But I also want to see other nations' gymnasts do well. They add their own, unique grace and beauty to the sport.
By boycotting the Olympics, you're crushing the lifelong dreams of many young athletes. Some athletes (gymnasts, etc.) only have one shot at Olympic glory. They've trained for countless hours for many years to get to this point. It would be like all of their hard work was for nothing.
Being the most powerful nation in the world, the US should be setting an example by puting aside their issues with China and competing in Beijing this summer. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually respect Bush for attending the Opening Ceremonies and NOT boycotting the Olympics. I don't know what Clinton and Obama are talking about...They sound like poor sports to me.
]]>]]>Overall, though, the mood was warm, even joyful, a sign perhaps of just how deep the yearning outside the US is to end the current era — and to have an America non-Americans can believe in again.
Germans love African goat herders!
Then I left because he got a little boring...
]]>Yesterday, in his second press conference in as many days, this one in Israel, and otherwise known as the Bam Bam and Zippy Show, Obama, with Tzipi Livni (look it up) at his side, attempted to assure Israel that he was with them with respect to Iran and its quest to obtain nuclear weapons. And in doing so, he committed the most serious misstep of the campaign.
Some are calling it a gaffe, but I won't because that assumes he unconsciously stated something he would have known was in error if he'd given it a thought - you know, like his 57 States gaffe, which personally, I also don't think was a gaffe because how delirious do you have to be to not know how many States we have? Let's see, there's solid, liquid, and gas... which best describes Bobo, I know, but stay with me here.
So you probably know by now that Obama said he was on the Senate Banking Committee, which he is not, and he claimed that committee, "which is my committee," voted to impose financial restraints on Iran..
But surely he must know that he's not on that committee, you say? Well, consider that quote again. It was not an afterthought, it was a deliberate statement. in other words, he was fully conscious of what he was saying. So either he doesn't know what committees he's on, or he figured you're so stupid and the media is so in the tank that he was fully insulated from any repercussions.
And indeed, that's the case. My local paper reported the misstatement - inside the paper... with a headline that not only made no reference to perhaps the most egregious error since Gerald Ford claimed Poland was not under Soviet control. The headline actually referred to what I said above - that Obama assures Israel of his support.
So yesterday, instead of addressing what Obama said, CBS online carried a column in which the writers were appalled at McCain's errors. It was blatantly obvious that they wanted to cast doubt on McCain's mental fitness, and it was followed by the latest display of liberal bigotry in the form of many juvenile and hateful comments from their loony audience.
Such a disgrace. This election is showing the true character of liberals and it makes the sickening displays of support for the Clinton-Lewinsky Show look quaint in comparison. And make no mistake, it's not just some liberals. It's all of them. because any that have any principles have now left the building.
Back in the seventies, we used to look at the tension between people in Quebec and the rest of Canada and as it turns out, that was nothing compared to what's happening in America today. Obama could win in the biggest landslide ever, and I would still do everything I could to undermine him. And there is nothing he could do now to change that. He had his chance a while back, and he made another conscious choice - to be the Rottenest Man Who Ever Ran.
* * *
I've seen two take-offs on Kennedy's famous words from his Berlin speech which were themselves a gaffe because Ich bin ein Berliner apparently has Kennedy saying he's a donut, but hey, he was on a roll, ha-ha. Anyway, with Bobo about to speak truth to Germans, it's been suggested that he incorporate either or the following into his speech: "Ich bin ein Berlitzer" or "Ich bin ein beginner."
]]>In spirit, anyway.
Let's hope he doesn't claim to be a donut while he's there.
]]>
Hey,
Want a free Obama button? MoveOn's giving them away totally free--no strings attached. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.
Click this link to get a free Obama button:
http://pol.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?id=-8544403-5S4mSRx
Thanks!
]]>Guy Rundle writes from Corpus Christi, Texas:
Down on the waterfront, 80 km/h winds are whipping the palms. The storm, the outer edge of Hurricane Dolly, rages for an hour and then abates as one arm of the conflagration sweeps past, with another following an hour later. Further south, on the border, Port Isobel and Brownsville are getting hit by the full force level two centre of the thing. It's no Katrina -- at Port Isobel, the surfers have already returned to the waves -- but it's pulling metal off the roofs, and throwing trash down the street.
Your correspondent, hearing that the weather might get interesting, either north or south, flipped a coin, jumped on a bus north, as Dolly headed south. So to speak.
Bad luck, but it doesn't compare to the impact Dolly has had on John McCain. Looking for an opportunity to sharpen the difference between Grandpa and Young Jesus Obama on the issue of offshore drilling, team McCain had lined up a visit to an oil-rig. Great visuals, metal everywhere, grimy workers, everyone covered in the black stuff.
Trouble was, the visit had been arranged for this week, and the rig was off the coast of Louisiana. As the US Navy and Air Force moved destroyers and planes out of the Gulf -- an aircraft carrier is still bobbing in Corpus Christi harbour -- and the whole oil industry shut down, it became clear that the proposed visit had turned into another disaster. Why? Well, the principal objection to offshore drilling, and one currently pooh-poohed by the pro-drilling crowd, has been the risk of a coastal environmental disaster from a ... hurricane.
Poor old John. The bloke can't take a trick at the moment. But worse, the political bad weather seems to be affecting the judgment of both McCain himself and his staff. The most visible sign of desperation has been the usual one -- the campaign is starting to attack the press.
Hot on the heels of a statement assailing the media for being "in love with" Obama, team Mac issued joke press passes to its beleaguered corps, nominating them as the "JV squad" -- the reserves. On the obverse side, the same card was rendered in French, with a pic of a stock Frenchman, a reference to ...well God knows exactly what, but a lot of time and energy that could have been best placed elsewhere went into it.
The "blame the press" shtick looks even worse than usual, because it was McCain that goaded Obama into taking the Iraq trip in the first place, and his media courtiers who then talked up the possibility that Obama would fall apart, and get jammed up on his alleged errors in Iraq policy. The press would have gone along en masse in any case, but the thing was so hyped that it made it look like McCain had wanted them to.
The whole fuss generated a classic remark from former Bush speechwriter David ("Axis of Evil") Frum: "I don't know why everyone says Obama is so fascinating, John McCain's a historic figure, he's the oldest candidate for President ever" which is a lay down misere for the most ridiculous comment ever.
McCain has most of the evangelical vote, but if you were a believer in an interventionist God, you would have to be wondering whether Obama isn't receiving the gift of providence, a candidate ordained to deliver the US from the failure of its decadent ruling class. By this theory, the wildly improbable rise of a half-Kenyan raised in Indonesia to the highest office in the land could only come because God thinks that the only person who can save the country is someone who is essentially outside of it, and not bound by its suffocatingly neurotic self-regard, and endless self-reassurance.
But God realises that we are slow on the uptake, and that he can't afford to be subtle -- so while the providential candidate VISITS JERUSALEM, GOD DESTROYS HIS OPPONENT'S CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE WITH A HURRICANE. If you've got a better explanation for this week past, I'd be happy to hear it.
Meanwhile the storm is whipping through the beachfront towers of Corpus Christi, body of Christ. Something I never knew happened: the wind carried sound for miles and six floors up, I can hear conversations on the street, and music from a bar half a mile away. Fragmentary, coming and going and fighting the furious static of fast air, it is as if the whole city is talking to itself, and listening.
McCain falters on foreign policy and Obama and McCain's Iraq strategy...
Get a taste of the best commentary on the subject from the US Media Wrap here.
]]>1. Barack Obama now has history in his hands with the speech in Germany. The Europeans are yearning for an end to American military adventures, for us to have a more pacifist policy toward the world, and for Obama to lead us there. Obama has said he thinks it is necessary to escalate in Afghanistan and he has made some commitment to continuing a "war on terrorism." That's not what the Tiergarten gathered hopeful want to hear. It has to be a speech of principles. Can he possibly, and with credidibility, espouse principles that serve both? It's been done before; by John F. Kennedy most convicingly, and Kennedy had great, loyal allies in his craft. No doubt Obama and his allies, including, I hope, Samantha Power, have been working on this one for some time. They wouldn't have booked this gig if they weren't ready to play the room. I hope.
2. Little item from the LA Times yesterday:
"The top two floors of a Century City residential tower still under construction have been sold for a record $47 million to Candy Spelling, the widow of TV mogul Aaron Spelling.
"A $47-million price tag may seem like an enormous sum, but this is all about downshifting in the fast lane.After all, the 62-year-old heiress with a reputation for embracing opulence will be moving out of Los Angeles County's largest home -- a 123-room, 56,500-square-foot mansion on six acres in the Holmby Hills neighborhood off Sunset Boulevard.
"Her new home will be less than a third the size of the old one -- just 16,500 square feet -- but with a killer 360-degree view spanning the horizon from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Catalina Island. The condominium building called the Century is going up next door to the Century Plaza Hotel on Avenue of the Stars and will be completed in late 2009.
And another from Boston.com today:
]]>"TAUNTON -- The housing crunch has caused anguish and anxiety for millions of Americans. For Carlene Balderrama, a 53-year-old wife and mother, the pressure was apparently too much to bear.
"Police say that Balderrama shot herself Tuesday afternoon 90 minutes before her foreclosed home on Duffy Drive was scheduled to be sold at auction. Chief Raymond O'Berg said that Balderrama faxed a letter to her mortgage company at 2:30 p.m., telling them that "by the time they foreclosed on the house today she'd be dead."
"The mortgage company notified police, who found her body at 3:30 p.m. The auction had been scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Balderrama used her husband's high-powered rifle, O'Berg said.
"She left a note for her family saying they should "take the [life] insurance money and pay for the house," O'Berg said.
"Neighbors on this forested side street said Balderrama had lived in the two-story, brown-shingled, raised ranch for about four years with her husband, John, who is a plumber, and their 24-year-old son.
If you believe that we have a responsibility to figure out how to share a small world, this shit connects.
And finally, 3. I have no idea how I overlooked this song in my life. It came on Pandora, the John Prine station. Dublin Blues by Guy Clark. It's a perfect song.
In case you’ve been in a deep coma or someplace in the third world where newspapers and the internet are as hard to come by as lunar eclipses, the 2008 Presidential election will be remembered for a lot of obvious reason and one them for me is Barack Obama’s call-to-action “Change We Can Believe In”. Regardless of whether you are going to vote for him or not, his call-to-action has resonated with the American people. Having the right words is even more important than being on-message. Political campaigns are lost equally for having the wrong message as much as having no message. But having a well-defined agenda, program, plan is the core of effective political communication. Even if you don’t agree with the plan or message, finding a politician who will spell out his ideas and agenda if elected, is what voters look for. It’s interesting that human nature being what it is, change is often the one thing we dread the most and yet its the one thing this campaign is going to be won over.................
For More Information VISIT: www.12pointtype.com
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I cannot escape from social media and I must admit, I am not running very fast either. This Presidential campaign season has shown that the internet is now more important than ever when it comes to elections. Barack Obama, part of the first generation to grow up on software, has shown his web chops time and time again. Unlike John McCain, Obama actually uses these social tools and so does his campaign.
This election year, I started to see real political movement and serious campaigning in Second Life. Netroots.............
For More Information VISIT: www.digitalpivot.com
]]>
I witnessed a horrifying spectacle yesterday morning. You may have seen it too. It had a name: the Obama press conference. The longer I watched, the angrier I got.
So there I was yelling at the TV at 7:45am - - a full fifteen minutes earlier than usual, and I was so animated that it prompted my wife to remind me that I was going to have a stroke a full twenty minutes earlier than she usually does.
Well, after I calmed down, words kept running through my mind, so I decided to compile a list of nouns and adjectives that apply to Barama, and you're welcome to add your own should you feel so inclined, unless of course you want to include something flattering. I'm sorry, but that's just unacceptable in describing The Rottenest Man Who Ever Ran.
So let's get started in earnest and see how far we get, shall we...?"
There's "rotten," of course, and ...
I'm going to leave it there.
Disappointed? You shouldn't be, I made the list.
I started out somehow thinking it would be funny, and instead it shocked me. I realized that "rotten" is charitable in describing Obama, and that when I strung together all the words (I'm currently at thirty-nine) together, all that was missing was a Rap beat.
No, seriously, I felt physically sick as I realized what his candidacy really says about America.
I also realized (I don't know it it was the press conference that triggered it or I always had the talent and didn't know it) - I can do a great Jesse Jackson impression. It found that out when a reporter asked Obo if, knowing what he does now, he'd have voted for the surge?
Obama: No.(then gibberish)
Me: That ******'* crazy!?!
By the way, Barama said today that he was concerned about the high unemployment rate... in Iraq. This is the same Barama who said he was willing to accept a genocide in Iraq if it was the price he had to pay for getting our troops out, the same Barama who would still have Saddam Hussein in power today if he had his way.
So leave it to Ralph Peters to offer something a bit reassuring: "If elected, (Obama) won't let himself be branded as the man who lost Iraq after it had been won. He'd give a speech in February or March to the effect that the reality we face has changed, and we must change with reality."
The question really is: will Obama recognize reality when he sees it? There's been no indication so far, but then he's so very young. My own fear is that he'll make reality conform to his view of it in which case, we're the permanence we seek.
]]>You may know that I like to refer to a study that showed how stupid people not only don't know how stupid they are, but that they actually think they're smarter than smart people.
Well, I started going through old emails, and I'm astonished and pleased at what I'm finding, not the least of which is this article on the study of idiots.
The following reminded me of the day my friend had me read some of his students' compositions...
Unlike unskilled counterparts, the most able subjects in the study, Kruger and Dunning found, were likely to underestimate their competence (but) When high-scoring subjects were asked to ``grade'' the grammar tests of their peers, however, they quickly revised their evaluations of their own performance. In contrast, the self-assessments of those who scored badly themselves were unaffected by the experience of grading others; some subjects even further inflated their estimates of their own abilities.
And in one of the early sentences in the article from 1/18/2000, the writer, Erica Goode even anticipated Obama:
"People who do things badly, Dunning has found in studies conducted with a graduate student, Justin Kruger, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well. People who do things badly, Dunning has found in studies conducted with a graduate student, Justin Kruger, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well.
And here's the biggest unmentioned problem with the study's findings: one might be inclined to feel sorry for stupid people but their own attitudes make that impossible since, as the study indicates, it is they who are looking down on their betters.
Which is one reason why I've been calling for a hunting season on liberals.
]]>The New York Times has refused to print an Op-Ed Editorial (a ridiculously long one) written Senator John McCain in rebuttal to Senator Barack Obama’s article titled “My Plan for Iraq.”
In Response the McCain camp has seized the opportunity to pull a play out of the Senator Hillary Clinton playbook and start crying foul in the media.
For those of us who follow my blog, this is one of those activities that completely put me off when Hillary Clinton did it. Then we had that stupid debate where something like forty-five minutes were spent in an obvious attack on Senator Obama that embarrassed out nation and political system worldwide.
I have to admit that with Phil Gramm’s comments recently about us being a nation of whiners, this sure sounds like a lot of whining to me.
I listened to and read a few debates on this subject over the past few hours and have my two cents to add. As a person who does not particularly believe in either of these candidates, I have to say that I believe that there is a good reason for there being more media attention on Senator Obama than Senator McCain. Senator McCain is dull to watch and even more dull to listen to. Members of the press, please do not suddenly inundate us with boring clips of Senator McCain smugly rambling the same thing over and over again trying to be able to say that you are being fair (particularly if he is in front of a green screen or hiding his face because he does not know how to answer questions about Viagra).
Let’s look at today’s footage. Clips of Senator Obama with troops and world leaders in fancy buildings, playing basketball, waving at crowds and so on. On the McCain side we have Senator McCain (already struggling with questions of his age) with former president George H. W. Bush looking like they are fighting to stay awake long enough for the photo-op and some sound bites of Senator McCain saying exactly the same things (word for word) that he has been saying for a week and a half.
There is an old saying that we all are probably familiar with that I think applies here. Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. What if the media decides to give him equal time, will that really help him. I for one doubt that more media time can help him unless he has a complete personality makeover of some kind. His campaign personality is not made for public consumption. I can take about two to four minutes a day of his personality when he is trying to attack Senator Obama before I find myself irritated.
I am not the only one. Remember that debate from the primaries where there was an approval meter on the screen while each candidate was speaking. Every time Senator McCain would attack another candidate the approval meter would absolutely tank. The American people (according to that meter even the ones in his own party) do not like it when he is on the attack.
Senator Hillary Clinton managed to gain some ground on Senator Obama using the “the media likes him more” tactic, when she also remade herself as the shot drinking, barroom, party girl everyone could relate to.
I think if you are a candidate and the media is not covering you, it may be because you are not a candidate of interest to enough of their audience. It may also be that you are not doing anything that is newsworthy or even video-worthy.
I may or may not believe what Senator Obama is saying and his voting record may not match what he is saying, but I sure do like to see and listen to him more. I do not think that that should dictate who one votes for, but it should dictate who gets the airtime. If you are not good in the media, you have no business crying when the media does not want to cover you.
You also cannot have someone call the entire nation a group of whiners and then begin whining this much and think people wont start getting exasperated.
I also have heard a lot of complaints about this really large op-ed article that the New York Times refused to print from people who have never read it. Has it ever occurred to those complaining it may have just been poorly written or structured?
]]>
After beginning a task, life may get in the way while you are completing it. The challenges you face may not be your fault, but you must deal with them anyway. When you are faced with a problem while handling business, you should evaluate the situation and map out a plan to complete your task in spite of your obstacles.
Build your ideas, concepts, and goals as a body. Make sure you have the feet-this is the foundation, the legs-this how you will walk out your plan, a torso-this encompasses your entire system (how you operate), arms-what you will use to reach your goal, hands-how you will touch it (manifest the reality you want for yourself), and a head-your guidance on the journey towards your dream. When you build your goals and dreams based on this philosophy your ideas and concepts enter the world complete.
I have work through a LOT of issues with a LOT of people and there is a single commonality that transcends color, gender, and income and that commonality is that EVERYONE has a basic desire to be a better person.
Once you feel that you can do something, DO IT!!!!! Because you can.
Attack your dream like a roach on the wall when company is over!
See your vision all the way to its completion and don’t doubt yourself! Not even a little bit.
DOUBT BREEDS DOUBT LIKE SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS!
My God-Sister, friend, and colleague Kela Price, marketing guru, life coach, and law student wrote the synopsis on the back of my book Miracles of My Mistakes. What moved me the most was the part when she said, “Don’t give anyone else the power to tell you what your purpose in life is.” That is in itself is so powerful. Statements like you can’t do that or you ain’t never gonna be shyt will choke the life out of life. Stay away from negative people. They will drain your spirit like a bad alternator.
Negative people are simultaneously amazed and envious at the slightest bit of success perpetuated by others because they can’t wrap their mind around the art of achieving. My Naana always told me, if you hang around 9 broke friends you’re bound to be the 10th one.
So the next time you are in the midst of achieving your goals be it professional or personal and some unmotivated, misguided hater tells you that you are wasting your time. Tell them that they are wasting their mind!
Trizah Morris, Achieveologist
]]>The White House today undermined the argument that the John McCain Camp has been making that what the Iraqi government was supporting and Senator Obama’s troop withdrawal plan are not the same thing by publically coming out against what the Iraqi government has stated.
This is clearly no longer a “General Time Horizon” in the eyes of the Iraqi government, but is the actual goal they are pushing for. The fact that an unpopular Whitehouse, is pushing against a timeline to withdraw from an unpopular war, while the government of that country is saying, “thanks, but it is time for you to go,” seems to completely undermine the Republican Parties attempts to help Senator John McCain.
If this had just been left alone by the Whitehouse it might have blown over in a few days, but now with all of the press getting ready to begin discussing how these statements angered the Whitehouse this story is about to begin to monopolize the airwaves.
This stand by the Whitehouse is also likely to start a war of words with the government of Iraq and do even more to convince them that the Americans need to go soon.
Senator McCain had just mounted an offensive on Senator Obama with repeated talk and adds describing how he does not understand how to work with foreign nations and has been repeatedly wrong about Iraq. Just as people were beginning to bite on that line, the Whitehouse begins to assault the government of Iraq and bring attention to the fact that the government and Senator Obama seem to agree.
The feeling one gets when hearing the Whitehouse response today is that they knew all along that the government of Iraq felt this way and were in negotiations about it, but simply wouldn’t tell the American public in support of Senator McCain.
If that is the case, it looks like the Iraqi government has grown weary of playing American politics the Bush Whitehouse way and has decided to hope on Senator Obama and to even support him publically.
I am not one to agree with all of the negative nonsense that is out there about President Bush and his Whitehouse, but this may leave him looking like the person who ticked off the Iraqi’s (again) and who undermined Senator McCain’s run just as he was gaining momentum. I suppose it all depends on how far the Whitehouse will go with this media campaign against the Iraqi government.
I have to wonder, if the government of Iraq wants us out in that timeline, much of Capitol Hill wants us out in some kind of timeline, and a decent percent of the American population wants us out in a timeline, if it may not be a good idea to firm up the “General Time Horizon” and leave room to reexamine the state of the country near that time.
I guess if you are too busy trying to play partisan politics and get the person from your party elected, one may not see this as a reasonable option. But, with all the talk of how well the Surge worked, it seems like the requests of the Iraqi government for us to set a date to leave would not be that far fetched.
All this talk about how well the Surge has worked has backed the Whitehouse into a corner and may be the boomerang that went up to make Senator John McCain look like the better person on Iraq only to come back in his face when he says setting a timeline is unreasonable.
I mean either it worked or it didn’t. If it worked, we should not need to be there much longer. If it didn’t, work all that well, then a timeline is in fact unreasonable and Senator McCain’s assertions will be seen as lies (when they are in fact simply exaggerations).
I am still left with one huge question: Did the Whitehouse think this through before they made these public statements?
With this (unpopular) Whitehouse on your side, it must be hard to run for president!
]]>We human beings love superheroes. Superman, Spiderman, Batman.. all of them. We just love the concept of sitting at the sidelines while someone else does the job for us. That's why Obama wins the plot, that's how all politicians win their elections.
In modern complex system of work and production, talented people sit through gruelling endless interviews in order to become managers/bosses/leaders of unknown faces that they've never encountered in life. Nobody ever says in a interview "I don't like being ruled over by other individuals, I'd rather rule them all". Why do all politicians answer in similar fashion in all their interviews: "I want to lead you because I want to change your lives". Why do never answer -- "I want to lead you because I want to rule you people.. I want to have power over you all".
It's deemed impolite, too rude to say so. But that's what all governments do to their people.
Golden Quadrilateral is one of the major infrastructural development schemes in India. Its main aim was to connect the four metros across India through four, and wherever possible six lane roads. However, as usual, it ran into problems of land acquisition and sometimes its benefits not matching with those of some vested local political interests. Now, there will always be opposing viewpoints on issue of 'developments vs people' but one thing both sides will agree is that development is necessary and if managed properly, will provide rich dividends to the people in the long run.
Continuing from my last post on stories on India, I'll narrate an incident that happened with a friend of my younger brother. One arm of Golden Quadrilateral(GQ) project runs through Jabalpur(my home town) also. My brother's friend -- Gulaab, owns some land property in Mandla area which is used for farming by his family.
Now, this is how infrastructure projects operate in India. The project is put for auction to private contractors who put their respective bids. In an ideal scenario, the contractor with the best bid and best experience in handling similar kind of project must be given preference. However, as it actually happens, the contractor which promises the highest bribe(lobbying fees) to influential politicians in that area get the contract. And thereafter, the winning contractor has a free hand as far as treatment to labourers, quality of material purchased, etc. is concerned.
And hence, when this winner contractor company came to Mandla, it told all the farmers of the area that Government needs their soil for increasing the height of the road in that area and make it a four-lane highway. Now, since most of farmers are gullible, they accepted the promise of the government officials/private contractors that they'd be given highest quality of 'black soil' for their lands in lieu of this rather *low* quality soil that was sustaining their families till now. However, my brother's friend, Gulaab, wasn't so innocent. When he came to know of this incident, he immediately asked my brother Ankit to search on internet for all the concerned land laws and government norms, took a printout of everything and then went to the engineer who was in charge of whole project.
Gulaab threatened the engineer with dire consequences of his action and told him of every rule of book that his company was violating. Fearing that the boy isn't a fool after all like the rest of villagers, the engineer ordered the workers to put Gulaab's soil back into his fields. Hence, the road got built, Gulaab got his farm soil in the same good condition as before, while the rest of villagers kept waiting in the hope that they'll get soil in their fields -- eventually losing their livelihood means, or selling their land to some land sharks and shifting to city in state of penury.
I asked my brother Ankit that why didn't Gulaab try to create a mass movement amongst his villagers -- the whole village would have benefited. Ankit said that Gulaab has become so cynical that he doesn't even care for his family, leave alone his village folk.
I'd like to leave aside the issue of personal ethics of Gulaab here, since he's just a 19-20 year old kid right now who never gets to buy a single bit of clothing for 6-8 months of year and just manages to scrape through his life till the farm crop gets harvested. Because it's during that time he gets his 6-8 pairs of clothes which he wears for the whole year till the next crop harvest since there is no other source of cash inflow in his house.
My question is: Does the development process has to be so devoid of empathy, that the people whom it's supposed to benefit get run over by the development itself in the process. Probably Gulaab didn't stand up for his own village because making the whole village stand up would have been tantamount to stopping the construction of road, which would be equivalent to creating a political movement. Gulaab didn't want to become a political figure, instead he wanted to concentrate on his engineering studies so as to become an earning member of his family. Why we should blame him?
We want Gulaab to become a superhero. We want Obama to become a superhero. Any guesses why one donned the mantle while other ignored it altogether? Because Superheroes are all about power, not about changing our world -- That task was and always will be done by common people through long and arduous political movements.
As a common jingle goes:
Faster than a speeding bullet,
More powerful than a locomotive,
Look! Up in the sky!
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
It's Superman.
May be it's time we stop looking at the sky and start looking in the mirror to search for our superheroes.
It seems to me that the media has selected our next president for us all ready. Every time a race for office occurs in this great country, the media spins the data to favor the candidate of their liking. This race for the presidency is no exception. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that we have come so far as a nation to have had a African American candidate and a female candidate both in the same race, however I am disappointed with the media in their actions attempting to influence the outcome. John McCain has earned his place as the republican candidate and the treatment he receives is frankly ridiculous. Barack Obama is painted as the greatest thing since sliced bread, while McCain is shown as a decrepit old man who knows nothing about the inter-workings of the nation. Surprising (not really) all considered.
My point is this...this mornings paper showed Obama as a leader in foreign affairs, on the ground, in Iraq, while the article about McCain showed him as computer illiterate with emphasis on his being a senior. How ridiculous is that.
Where the media has errored is their lack of unbiased reporting. The media should be presenting the facts...pertinent to the election...about both candidates to allow the people to choose the best person for the job.
]]>Two quotes from the Spiegel Online Article:
When asked in and interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He then continued: "US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."
"So far the Americans have had trouble agreeing to a concrete timetable for withdrawal, because they feel it would appear tantamount to an admission of defeat," Maliki told SPIEGEL. "But that isn't the case at all. If we come to an agreement, it is not evidence of a defeat, but of a victory, of a severe blow we have inflicted on al-Qaida and the militias."
Oh my! G.O.P. presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain just took a quick punch in the stomach from an unexpected source. That source is Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who stated “Those who operate on the premise of short time periods in Iraq today are being more realistic.” He also called Senator Barack Obama’s sixteen month suggestion the right timeframe for withdrawal.
Wow, I guess that the Democrats may not have had a person in the Whitehouse for eight years, but they seem to have a Democrat in office as Prime Minister in Iraq.
Senator McCain has been trying to convince us that Senator Obama does not know what he is talking about as far as what to do with Iraq pretty consistently for a couple of months now. Well Prime Minister al-Maliki seems to think that Senator McCain is the one who does not know what he is talking about.
This is a big change of fortune for Senator McCain who has in polls been repeatedly stated as the candidate that the people think will better handle the war. That idea looses credibility once one realizes that the people in Iran, particularly the government don’t buy it.
The reason that Prime Minister al-Maliki gave for the need for the United States to get out of Iraq quickly was that the U.S. staying to long would “cause problems.” That is no mystery I suppose, as not only do some within that country not particularly like the United States, but the surrounding nations are not the biggest United States fans in the world either.
This is a big blow to one of the huge strong areas in Senator McCain’s campaign. Over the next few days, his campaign is going to have to campaign against the Prime Minister of Iraq as well as Senator Obama to hold that ground. This is compounded by the fact that Senator Obama is on a trip (I think of it more as a publicity stunt because of the timing) to Europe and the Middle East to prove that he is capable in terms of foreign relations. He has been over there one day and already there has been a coincidental statement by a leader that says Obama is right and McCain is wrong.
The trip by Senator Obama may only be a publicity stunt aimed at convincing us of something that cannot happen on a last minute trip, but already it is showing signs of being a success.
I do not see this as Senator Obama doing anything right, I see it as blind luck. Although, I am not convinced that the government of Iran is not secretly more in favor of Senator Obama as president verses Senator McCain and is just hedging their bets in case Senator McCain wins by not letting the world know it (yet).
The thing I wonder is if the Obama camp had any idea that this news would break today when they scheduled this trip???
I suppose that is not probable, but everybody likes a good conspiracy theory!!
]]>WE COULD HAVE…
Every TV channel is sending their News Anchors overseas to broadcast Barack Obama setting foot on foreign soil.
This didn’t happen when President Bush last traveled overseas.
When John McCain ventured to Afghanistan and Iraq, maybe you saw some stock video footage of McCain walking and talking. However, the TV News teams did not send their “top dogs” to cover McCain’s visit.
Why so much attention on this visit overseas from Obama..??
Because this is the first time that a “Black Man” has visited Europe.
I am trying to figure out why so much attention on one man traveling to Europe..??
John Kerry, who is also a democrat, traveled overseas and did not get this kind of attention. Kerry, McCain, and President Bush all share something in common; they are “White.” So party affiliation has nothing to do with it.
It MUST be about skin color..!!
People in Europe have never seen a “Black Man” before, so this is an historic visit of a “Black Man” traveling to Europe. Therefore, we must send all of the TV News anchors to cover this monumental event..!!
Except…
Reverend Jesse Jackson, (who by the way, is also Black, and also ran for president) traveled overseas and did not get this kind of treatment. Jackson was lucky if a small child captured his arrival on a home video camera.
So maybe it has nothing to do with “the first Black Man traveling to Europe.”
Could it be that “BIG Media” is actually pushing for a “President Obama”..??
This just can’t be…
I can’t believe this to be true..!!
Remember how angry Liberals get when they think that “BIG Oil” has any influence on republicans..??
So liberals WOULD NOT tolerate “BIG Media” pushing an American political candidate?
Would they..??
I must conclude that Liberals are watching “BIG Media” the same way that they watch “BIG Oil” and no “monkey business” is taking place here.
Because if there was some “monkey business” going on, our liberal “watch dog” friends would report about “BIG Media” pushing a particular political candidate.
So what could it be..??
Why would every national TV channel send it’s top people to cover Barack Obama landing in foreign countries..??
Why would every News channel need to cover Barack Obama setting his foot on foreign soil, when they did NOT do this for Bush, Kerry, Jesse Jackson, or John McCain?
Could it be that every News producer in the business is infatuated with Barack Obama and his “WE COULD HAVE” speech..??
You remember Obama’s “WE COULD HAVE” speech, that he delivered this past Monday?
I am paraphrasing because I do not have a copy of it here handy. (And the Obama people keep changing the Obama Web Site to match current poll results.)
Obama’s speech went something like this:
The famous “WE COULD HAVE” speech, by Barack Obama.
“WE COULD HAVE” paid higher taxes and helped the poor people. People like that homeless man that I stepped over to get into my SUV.
“WE COULD HAVE” stayed in Afghanistan instead of invading Iraq. Then we would be fighting the full strength of al Qaeda in Afghanistan- a country with mountainous terrain that bogged down the Mighty Soviet Empire for eight years. Instead of fighting al Qaeda in Iraq- a flat country in which you can use tanks, trucks, and other modern equipment.
“WE COULD HAVE” hidden in the grassy knoll in 1963 and then we would know who really shot JFK.
“WE COULD HAVE” stopped our friend from eating that greasy bean burrito, and he wouldn’t have puked in our car Saturday night.
“WE COULD HAVE” invested in alternative energy so we wouldn’t be so dependant on foreign oil. (Duhhh)
“WE COULD HAVE” invested in Microsoft when Bill Gates was just starting out. Today we would be filthy rich and I, President Obama, could tax the crap out of all of us.
“WE COULD HAVE” stayed in the Senate a few more years and gain some experience.
Obama’s national government experience- 143 DAYS in the senate. (Then he started running for president.)
McCain’s national government experience- 20 years, plus almost two decades in the military.
“WE COULD HAVE” captured Osama bin Laden in Sudan when the government had him held at the border. Then 9/11wouldn’t have happened, and we wouldn’t be HERE right now. Instead, President Clinton told Sudan to let bin Laden go free.
I believe that is how the famous- Obama: “WE COULD HAVE” speech went. (A couple of those lines might not be totally correct. Remember that I am going from memory.)
Maybe the American TV News teams are on to something..??
Maybe the Europeans will love Barack Obama and his “WE COULD HAVE” speech?
I can just picture it now…
Obama, (standing somewhere in Europe) pick a place. Delivering the famous “WE COULD HAVE” speech…
“WE COULD HAVE” known that the colonists would start a revolution. (English, French, and Spanish colonists) We could have placed more soldiers in the New World to stop this revolution and today we would be getting tax money from America, Canada, and Mexico. Money we could use here in Britain, France, and Spain.
“WE COULD HAVE” known that the “Moops” would invade our land. We could have stopped the “Moops” in their tracks.
Oh, yes…
Obama could be a HIT in Europe.
Maybe we need to call Dan Rather. He needs to pack his bags and get on the next fight overseas.
This is big, people…
“WE COULD HAVE” stopped Hitler and also WW1. “WE COULD HAVE” stopped the creation of the gasoline engine and saved the earth. “WE COULD HAVE” stopped that crazy Monk and his Spanish Inquisition."
“WE COULD HAVE…”
Written by AR Babonie, (who is not blogging much during this GREAT summer) for The Angry Republican
“I always turn to the sports page first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page (is) nothing but man’s failure.” — Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States (1891-1974).
