Biggest Mistake: Dems for Mitt in MI
Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 12:46:40 PM PDT
I've been thinking about this for some time, but today I decided to look a bit more into it. I think the biggest mistake the progressive community has made on this primary cycle was the Dems for Mitt effort in Michigan.
Before the primary, McCain was beating Romney in every poll. Then Markos made the call for clusterfuckingthe republican primary with dems voting for Romney since the dem primary was irrelevant. In the end Romney beat McCain by 80,326 votes. And Hillary beat Uncommited by 90,389 votes.
Probably if there was not the Dems for Mitt effort Hillary would have either lost to uncommited or won by a very thin margin, and now Michigan wouldn't be relevant anymore (and if she had lost to uncommited I doubt she would be still in the race).
Breaking: Two US Soldiers detained in Colombia in an arms smuggling plot.
Wed May 04, 2005 at 11:08:25 AM PDT
I just read this in O Globo, one of Brazil's major newspapers.
I looked for it on Google News and found something about it at Tuscaloosa News:
Colombian police have detained two U.S. soldiers in an alleged arms smuggling plot, Colombian and U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The two U.S. Army soldiers, whose identities or ranks were not disclosed, were arrested during a raid Tuesday on a house just south of the capital, Bogota, where a large weapons cache was discovered, said National Police chief Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman confirmed the arrests and said the embassy "is working to ascertain the facts surrounding the case."
Condi Rice practices her russian skills...
Wed Apr 20, 2005 at 08:21:01 AM PDT
Condi Rice gave a radio interview in Moscow today where she tried to speak russian and ended up in a big
embarrasment:
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried out her rusty Russian in a Moscow radio interview Wednesday, only to get caught out by a question on whether she might run for president.
"Da (Yes)," Rice answered in Russian, before realizing her misunderstanding and hastily adding "Nyet" (No) -- seven times.
Brazil: Election Runoff in São Paulo
Mon Oct 11, 2004 at 12:55:10 PM PDT
I've been a bit busy in the last few days, and with all the hoopla over the debates I didn't post much about the elections in Brazil.
But yesterday we had a new poll about the runoff in São Paulo and I'll be writing a bit about it today.
I found an UPI article in english on Washington Times about it:
Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Sao Paulo mayoral candidate Jose Serra is leading incumbent Marta Suplicy in polls leading up to a runoff election, Estado de Sao Paulo reported Sunday.
Serra -- from the center-right Social Democrat Party - has 51 percent of the vote, according to the Datafolha polling firm, while Suplicy has 39 percent, with the rest of voters still undecided.
PSDB is not actually a center-righ party, but a center-left party, but they are to the right of PT.
More below the fold.
Brazilian Elections: A great grass roots victory
Tue Oct 05, 2004 at 01:12:19 PM PDT
Since the vast majority of people who answered the poll on my last
diary asked for more information about Brazilian politics, I'll be writing a bit more frequently about this topic.
I got some requests of topics to cover but since they are a bit complex I'll leave them to another day, today I want to tell you about a great tale of grassroots in action in a northeat capital elections we had last sunday.
Luizianne Lins, a candidate from president Lula's party that was abandoned by the national party that chose to support another candidate but who ended up beating this candidate and is now on a runoff with a rightist candidate for Fortaleza's mayorality.
The details of the story below the fold...
Results from Brazilian Local Elections
Mon Oct 04, 2004 at 01:03:59 PM PDT
Yesterday we had local elections here in Brazil, the first since Lula da Silva was elected president.
The results were a bit mixed with some great successes for Lula's Workers Party but also some tought runnoffs still to be disputed on 9/31, specially in the city of São Paulo.
From the LA Times:
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's left-leaning Workers' Party posted significant wins in nationwide municipal elections Sunday and expanded its reach into this country's mammoth interior.
...
Up for grabs were the mayoralties of all of Brazil's 5,500 municipalities, from tiny towns in the rainforest to some of the world's most populous cities, including Rio de Janeiro. With most of the vote counted Sunday night, the Workers' Party, or PT, looked poised to make sizable gains in the number of its mayors, possibly even doubling the pre-vote tally of 190.
However, races in several big cities were headed for runoffs Oct. 31, including in Sao Paulo, South America's most populous city. There, after a bitter campaign that set spending records for a local election in Brazil, incumbent Marta Suplicy of the Workers' Party will square off with former Health Minister Jose Serra, who lost the presidential race to Lula in 2002.
Its hard to find good sources in english, bellow the fold I'll give you some analysis based on Portuguese papers and websites.
Local Elections in Brazil today.
Sun Oct 03, 2004 at 09:43:42 AM PDT
Thought you'd like to know. Today we have local elections here in Brazil. For mayors and local assemblies.
They'll be the first election since Lula got elected president. This election will shape the way the 2006 campaign will begin, there are a few very interesting races going on.
Tomorrow I'll try to put up a post about the results and how they'll affect the national scenario.
If you want a bit more information about them check on Google News.
I got to go out to vote now.
The subtle exchange that really showed how they diferent they see the world.
Fri Oct 01, 2004 at 04:20:07 PM PDT
Taken from a
NYT article:
But if they clashed, sometimes testily, over Iraq, North Korea and Russia, the candidates found some points of agreement. They both expressed compassion for the hurricane-beset, electorally potent residents of Florida. They had a laugh over the travails of raising daughters.
"I'm trying to put a leash on them," Mr. Bush said with a smile.
"Well, I don't know," Mr. Kerry replied. "I've learned not to do that, Mr. President."
What best way to show how they see the world? Bush wants to put a leash on his daughters, on Iraq, on the media, on the world and on the american people.
Kerry knows that this approach doesnt work. Just compare the daughters. Not only Kerry and Bush's, but also the sons and daughters of most of the wingnuts like Cheney and Keyes.
NYT: Is there a secret South Korea Nuclear program?
Tue Sep 14, 2004 at 09:01:56 AM PDT
What to make of this little bit of info pushed to the end of a NYT
article about Iran's Nuclear Program?
Meanwhile, Dr. ElBaradei gave the board additional information on South Korea's secret nuclear experiments, disclosed this month, calling them "a matter of serious concern."
He said that South Korea had produced about 330 pounds of "natural uranium metal" at three secret facilities in the 1980's and that some of the metal was used in laser-based enrichment experiments in 2000 to produce a small amount of enriched uranium.
The disclosure suggests that South Korea's nuclear experiments had a longer history than previously thought, though South Korea contends that rogue scientists were responsible. Dr. ElBaradei said he would deliver a fuller report on South Korea in November.
Reclaiming the flip-flop
Thu Sep 09, 2004 at 01:36:48 PM PDT
A great
rant by Lee Felsenstein on David Farber's IP List about the original use of the term Flip-Flop on the beginning of the computer age and how we owe most of what he have today to this great invention.
A few quotes:
Invented by Eccles and Jordan in 1919, the "bi-stable latch circuit" came to be called the "flip-flop" at the very beginning of the computer age, in the 1940's, when beach sandals were just beach sandals. The flip-flop circuit has an output that maintains its setting indefinitely - until instructed to change it. Pulse it, and it "flips" - pulse it again and it "flops".
...
But we have moved beyond that, thanks to the flip-flop - the Eccles-Jordan invention which, with its multitudes of offspring, bestows upon us a panoply of machines that remember, that adapt, that empower our thoughts and ideas with global reach via the Internet.
Those who fear subtlety, nuance, dissent and individualism can continue to chant and wave beach sandals. We ask those who value the power of the common flip-flop to reclaim its name from those who would, in a sense, do away with its benefits.
Hudson Institute Study shows that energy independency will be a big hit with voters
Fri Aug 20, 2004 at 01:54:03 PM PDT
There are some very interesting findings on
this study from Hudson Institute.
Voters See Saudi Arabia as Greatest Source of Global Terror
Demand President Offer New Plan for Energy Self-Sufficiency
WASHINGTON - One of the most comprehensive studies of American attitudes toward energy independence and the Middle East finds that energy policy will be a pivotal issue in the 2004 presidential campaign. American voters are genuinely troubled by the rising price of gasoline and America's continued reliance on foreign oil.
The key findings of the poll indicate that:
By an almost 3 to 1 margin, Americans prioritize "reducing our reliance on foreign oil" over "cheaper prices for oil and gas."
91% of Americans agreed (74% strongly agree) that "when it comes to energy, we need an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation - not the Saudi royal family."
83% of Americans agree that "reducing our dependence on foreign oil must be a top priority for the next administration."
57% of Americans say that the U.S. government should allow energy companies to explore for oil in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well as in many areas off the U.S. coast.
Very interesting article on PBS
Fri Aug 13, 2004 at 12:00:50 PM PDT
Robert Cringely has a very interesting
article about the interface between science and public policy at the PBS website.
He talks about a study comissioned by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on the early eighties about their new federal sentencing guidelines. The results from this study showed that the new guidelines would not lower the crime rate and would only increase the prison population.
There is no mention anywhere of this study, which was completely buried by the DoJ under then-secretary Edwin Meese. The proposed sentencing guidelines were accepted unaltered and the world we have today is the result. We spend tens of billions per year on prisons to house people who don't contribute in any way to our economy. We tear apart the black and latino communities. The cost to society is immense, and as Block and Nold showed, unnecessary. AND THE FEDS KNEW THIS AT THE TIME.
They buried the study and the results are what we see today.
The myth of the Liberal Media
Thu Aug 12, 2004 at 02:30:47 PM PDT
Today's WaPo OpEd with an about face of their war coverage shows in great detail how the right created the myth of the liberal media even though they keep the media under their control.
When selling the point that the media is liberal, conservatives always come up with numbers showing a greater share of journalists who are liberal or registered democrats than conservatives.
What we never get to see is that even though the majority of journalists are liberal, most editors, owners and media executives are conservatives. And they are the ones that make the decisions about what goes on print/tv or not.
Its time for the dems to start countering those claims with numbers and facts showing the majority of editors/executives being conservatives.
Lowering of Expectations...
Wed Aug 11, 2004 at 05:43:55 PM PDT
Its cw that the rightwingers control the media, but most people only talk about the big movements of the media and let the small details passa unnoticed.
All this pollsters talk about Bush being in deep trouble and needing a miracle to survive sure looks like lowering of expectations prior to the RNC, just like all the chatter bout Kerry's expected big bounce.
I'm just waiting to see the headlines after the convention when a little bounce brings Bush a couple of % points over Kerry: Bush pulls a miracle after convention...
Just hope I'm wrong on this one.
Major international money laundering scandal.
Fri Jul 16, 2004 at 08:30:44 AM PDT
What to make of
this story?
Its Riggs Bank subsidiary, an old-line Washington institution with deep ties to the diplomatic community, has been sanctioned by federal regulators and is under congressional investigation for allegedly helping hide money for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and other lapses.
(...)
Riggs was fined a record $25 million in May by federal banking regulators for alleged violations of laws against money laundering in its handling of cash transactions in Saudi-controlled accounts under investigation for possible links to terrorism financing.
What are those ties to the diplomatic community? Chile's Pinochet and Saudi Arabia are two prime examples of the way the GOP likes to work its foreign policy. Anyone knows who are the owners and executives of this Riggs National? I'd bet these names would ring some very alarming bells.
Did Kerry open the door for a Nader Exit Strategy?
Tue Jul 06, 2004 at 08:07:48 AM PDT
A while back Nader praised Edwards and said that Kerry should pick him as his running mate.
Could Edwards pick be the golden oportunity Nader desperatelly needs to drop out of the race after all the disaproval he is getting, not to talk about the ballot troubles?
It would be a great side effect of this pick...
Brahimi daughter marrying The Brother of Jordan's King
Fri May 07, 2004 at 02:34:46 PM PDT
Its a bit of old news but I haven't seen anyone on the blogosphere talking about that.
It strikes me at a bit odd that at the same time that Lakhdar Brahimi is negotiating the formation of a new Iraqui Government, his daughter, CNN's reporter Rym Brahimi gets engaged to King Abdullah's brother, Prince Ali.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=UTF-8&q=brahimi+jordan+marriage
Its only me or does this really seem a bit weird?
An apartment for the tin-foil people...
Fri Jan 16, 2004 at 11:18:02 AM PDT
A bit OT but I couldn't resist posting this here, check this
apartment that the tin-foil people will love.
