spoof of larry sinclair video

A glaring double standard

For every 'presidential' and 'charismatic' bestowed on Barack Obama, there are 10 adjectives commentators have used to put down the way Hillary Clinton dresses, talks and emotes. Call this what it is – blatant sexism.

Don Siegelman

Part I:


Part II:

Obamentum

(by Steve Brodner in the current issue of The New Yorker)

CNN Poll: Obama and Hilary in statistical tie in Texas

We are saved!

Nader to run for President

Ralph goes probing for support.

Trying to change the dynamic

Fear is the only option

America is at risk!. GO watch what the GOP has up on their GOP.gov page.

And some video responses:

Ethanol is not the answer

Higher food prices and more CO2

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. plans to replace 15 percent of gasoline consumption with crop-based fuels including ethanol are already leading to some unintended consequences as food prices and fertilizer costs increase.

About 33 percent of U.S. corn will be used for fuel during the next decade, up from 11 percent in 2002, the Agriculture Department estimates. Corn rose 20 percent to a record on the Chicago Board of Trade since Dec. 19, the day President George W. Bush signed a law requiring a fivefold jump in renewable fuels by 2022.

Increased demand for the grain helped boost food prices by 4.9 percent last year, the most since 1990, and will reduce global inventories of corn to the lowest in 24 years, government data show. While advocates say ethanol is cleaner than gasoline, a Princeton University study this month said it causes more environmental harm than fossil fuels.

...

Researchers led by Timothy Searchinger at Princeton University said their study showed greenhouse-gas emissions will rise with ethanol demand. U.S. farmers will use more land for fuel, forcing poorer countries to cut down rainforests and use other undeveloped land for farms, the study said.

The Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists

This take will probably be more harmful to McCain than the NYTs piece on his alleged affair, or whatever. He says that he doesn't take money from anyone, and yet...

McCain's relationship with lobbyists became an issue this week after it was reported that his aides asked Vicki Iseman, a telecom lobbyist, to distance herself from his 2000 presidential campaign because it would threaten McCain's reputation for independence. An angry and defiant McCain denounced the stories yesterday, declaring: "At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust."

Even before McCain finished his news conference, uber-lobbyist Black made the rounds of television networks to defend McCain against charges that he has been tainted by his relationship with a lobbyist. Black's current clients include General Motors, United Technologies, JPMorgan and AT&T.

Viva Obama

Broadcast Him

GodTube.com

Change Congress (Lawrence Lessig)

From here

19% !?

Concerns over Economy Push George W. Bush's Overall Job Approval to New Low

George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.

Now that is getting low, lower than I thought possible.

Fall

Pakistan Opposition Wins Nationwide Vote as Musharraf Rejected

Pakistan's opposition parties won national parliamentary elections yesterday as voters sought an end to President Pervez Musharraf's eight years of military rule.
...

Former prime minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif said he will work with the late Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party and other victorious parties to end ``dictatorship forever'' in Pakistan. The two main political groups will need to woo allies and independent candidates to secure the two-thirds of seats needed to reverse constitutional changes that have kept Musharraf in power since a 1999 military coup.

``There has been an anti-incumbency swing, and it looks like it's of a big magnitude,'' said Haris Gazdar, a Pakistani political and economic researcher at the London School of Economics.

...

With 258 of 268 constituencies reported, Bhutto's party moved into the lead with 87 seats and Sharif's group won 66, according to the independent GEO Television's Web site. Four constituencies postponed the election because of violence or the deaths of candidates.

The pro-Musharraf party won in 38 constituencies, Geo said. The official Election Commission tally showed Bhutto's party with 72 seats, Sharif's party with 57 seats and Musharraf's backers with 26 victories out of 212 parliamentary seats.

Sharif said the decision to seek Musharraf's removal or impeach him will be decided in consultation with other parties.

End of an era

Fidel Castro to resign as Cuba s head of state

Bush said, while in Rwanda, that he hopes that this begins a democratic transition:

"Eventually this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections, and I mean free and I mean fair," Bush said.

And if not, he continued, the US will give them a good Democratizing.

Kosovo

To the amazement of Serbians and Kosovars, Miloijkslav the Kosovarian ManHog emerged from his winter slumber in a car boot and saw his shadow thus declaring independence for the State of Kosovo. Many think that global warming caused him to emerge early while the car was still driving to the underground car park where the Serbian government usually honors Miloijkslav's yearly emergence in early March. Meanwhile, Bush recognized Kosovar's independence, immediately causing many Kosovars to reconsider the soundness of Miloijkslav's judgment.

A Q&A on Kosovo's future

Downer Cows

USDA orders nation's largest beef recall. Hidden video shows sick cows being abused at plant that reportedly supplies meat to US schools.

Fortunately for me I couldn't get the video to work.

Top Democratic Contenders

From Pollster.com

Tasering kids

Now legal in the UK

While I disagree, I must say that I have encountered some of the most unruly kids I've ever met in the UK, so on some level I can sympathize. But not really, because this, I think, is really bad social policy. Putting tasers in the hands of police crowds out the possibility of other, non-violent, techniques to bring order.