Posted in Uncategorized on August 27, 2008| 4 Comments »
By- Suzie-Q @ 4:30 PM MST
Huffington Post | August 27, 2008 04:49 PM
Hillary Clinton moved to suspend the roll call vote and nominate Barack Obama by acclamation. The motion was passed, and Nancy Pelosi formally extended the nomination to Obama. Obama accepted the nomination, becoming the first African-American to represent a major party for president.
Posted in Uncategorized on August 27, 2008| 4 Comments »
By- Suzie-Q @ 3:00 PM MST
Sen. Joe Biden does his sound check for his speech tonight at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Tannen Maury / EPA
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:03 AM PDT, August 27, 2008
The Democratic running mate takes the stage tonight to begin the job of attacking the GOP. As the first black candidate and a ‘post-partisan’ change agent, Obama hands are tied in that regard.
DENVER — With the vice presidential nomination speech tonight by Joe Biden, Democrats will meet Barack Obama’s bad cop — an attacker who will not hesitate to go hard after the Republicans.
But why is Obama, a gifted orator who has already defeated one of America’s most powerful political families, in such desperate need of the help?
After all, to the frustration of many activists gathered here for the Democratic National Convention, GOP contender John McCain has no compunction about taking after Obama, sometimes with harsh language. And as Hillary Rodham Clinton showed Tuesday night in her own prime time speech to the Democratic convention, she would not have hesitated to go on the attack, either, if she were the Democrats’ nominee.
But Obama has a different, and far more delicate, calculation.
In part, Obama, who tonight will formally become his party’s presidential nominee, is limited by his own decision to build a political persona as a “post-partisan” leader with a conciliatory tone designed to appease independents and Republicans.
Moreover, Obama is trying to convince America to elect its first black president – a task that requires rewriting the traditional playbook that is safe for a white candidate.
“He cannot hit back,” said Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), a close friend and advisor to Obama. “He has to keep smiling. No one wants an angry African American man in the White House.”
Jackson knows that better than most. It was his father, the civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who built a movement with electrifying presidential runs in 1984 and 1988 — but who campaigned by preaching tough, colorful sermons that appealed to black voters but prevented him from being a mainstream candidate.
Obama’s success – his ability to win support from whites and blacks alike – has stemmed from his ability to distance himself from Jackson and other traditional civil rights leaders.
Strategists fear that going on the attack now could upend the very careful balance that has worked so far.
Now, Obama can only hope that Biden does his part.
Biden’s speech is the expected focal point of tonight’s Democratic gathering, which will include two other highlights: the voting in which the party’s delegates formally name Obama as their presidential nominee, and a speech by former President Clinton. The convention concludes on Thursday with a prime time speech by Obama before more than 70,000 supporters at a football stadium.
Posted in Uncategorized on August 27, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized on August 27, 2008| 6 Comments »
anthony @ 19:35 BST
David Edwards and Nick Juliano | Raw Story | Tuesday August 26, 2008
DENVER — He might not have had the marquee billing of a Mark Warner or a Hillary Clinton, but Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) nonetheless whipped his party faithful into a frenzy Tuesday evening.
The Ohio lawmaker and liberal stalwart who earlier sought the Democratic presidential nomination delivered a passionate address calling on those in the audience here in Denver and watching at home to “wake up” and prevent another four years of Republican rule.
“Wake up America,” Kucinich declared from the podium of the Democratic National Convention. “In 2001 the oil companies, the war contractors and the neocon-artists seized the economy and added $4 trillion of unproductive spending to the national debt. … Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid for with borrowed money.”
Though he never mentioned GOP nominee John McCain by name, Kucinich’s address was in line with Democrats’ strategy to take a harsher tone of attack against the Arizona Republican and his party.
“We cannot afford another Republican administration,” Kucinich said. “Wake up, America; the insurance companies took over health care. Wake up, America; the pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing. Wake up, America; the speculators took over Wall Street. … Wake up, America; we went into Iraq for oil.”
Kucinich, a favorite of the party’s liberal base who has led a push to impeach President Bush, enumerated some of the administration’s most egregious abuses but said they would not dampen Democrats’ spirits. As his speech crescendoed to its peak, the audience rose in boisterous applause.
“This administration can tap our phones — but they can’ t tamper our creative spirit,” he said. “They can open our mail, but the can’ t open economic opportunities. They can track our every move, but they lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline, and electricity skyrockets. Now, they have skillfully played our post 9/11 fears, and they’ve allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many.”
This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast August 26, 2008.
Posted in Uncategorized on August 27, 2008| 4 Comments »
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Memory loss. |  |
 Forgetting recently learned information is one of the most common early signs of dementia. A person begins to forget more often and is unable to recall the information later.
What’s normal? Forgetting names or appointments occasionally.
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Difficulty performing familiar tasks. | |
 People with dementia often find it hard to plan or complete everyday tasks. Individuals may lose track of the steps to prepare a meal, place a telephone call or play a game.
What’s normal? Occasionally forgetting why you came into a room or what you planned to say.
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Problems with language. | |
 People with Alzheimer’s disease often forget simple words or substitute unusual words, making their speech or writing hard to understand. They may be unable to find their toothbrush, for example, and instead ask for “that thing for my mouth.”
What’s normal? Sometimes having trouble finding the right word.
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Disorientation to time and place. | |
 People with Alzheimer’s disease can become lost in their own neighborhoods, forget where they are and how they got there, and not know how to get back home.
What’s normal? Forgetting the day of the week or where you were going.
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Poor or decreased judgment. | |
 Those with Alzheimer’s may dress inappropriately, wearing several layers on a warm day or little clothing in the cold. They may show poor judgment about money, like giving away large sums to telemarketers.
What’s normal? Making a questionable or debatable decision from time to time.
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Problems with abstract thinking. | |
 Someone with Alzheimer’s disease may have unusual difficulty performing complex mental tasks, like forgetting what numbers are and how they should be used.
What’s normal? Finding it challenging to balance a checkbook.
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Misplacing things. | |
 A person with Alzheimer’s disease may put things in unusual places: an iron in the freezer or a wristwatch in the sugar bowl.
What’s normal? Misplacing keys or a wallet temporarily.
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Changes in mood or behavior. | |
 Someone with Alzheimer’s disease may show rapid mood swings – from calm to tears to anger – for no apparent reason.
What’s normal? Occasionally feeling sad or moody.
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Changes in personality. | |
 The personalities of people with dementia can change dramatically. They may become extremely confused, suspicious, fearful or dependent on a family member.
What’s normal? People’s personalities do change somewhat with age.
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Loss of initiative. | |
 A person with Alzheimer’s disease may become very passive, sitting in front of the TV for hours, sleeping more than usual or not wanting to do usual activities.
What’s normal? Sometimes feeling weary of work or social obligations.
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Posted in Uncategorized on August 27, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Sudhan @19:50 CET
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | The Guardian, Wednesday August 27, 2008
Sixty children were killed in air strikes by US-led coalition warplanes in western Afghanistan last week, a UN investigation has found. UN investigators said they discovered “convincing evidence” that a total of 90 Afghan civilians died in the incident.
The toll, potentially the worst since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, could wreck relations between the Afghan government and the Nato-led coalition forces, which were already under severe strain over civilian casualties and strategy in the counter-insurgency against the Taliban.
The government of President Hamid Karzai has ordered that any military operation by foreign forces on its territory will be subject to a new set of rules enforceable under international law.
Kai Eide, the UN special envoy to Afghanistan who ordered the investigation, said the incident could undermine the faith of the Afghan people in international efforts to stabilise the country.
Military sources said the air strikes last Thursday on the Shindand district of Herat province were carried out not by the Nato force attempting to bolster Karzai’s government, but as part of a parallel US mission targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants, called Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).
US officials initially said that the air strikes were aimed at a Taliban stronghold and had killed 30 jihadis. An OEF spokesman in Kabul said last night that an investigation into the incident had been launched last Saturday and was still under way.
In his report, Eide said investigators from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) found that up to eight houses in the village of Nawabad had been destroyed in the raids and many others damaged.
“Investigations by Unama found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men. Fifteen other villagers were wounded or otherwise injured,” Eide wrote.
“This is matter of grave concern to the United Nations, I have repeatedly made clear that the safety and welfare of civilians must be considered above all else during the planning and conduct of all military operations. The impact of such operations undermines the trust and confidence of the Afghan people in efforts to build a just, peaceful, and law-abiding state.”
Humayun Hamidzada, a spokesman for the Afghan president, said Karzai had ordered that all foreign military operations be governed by an internationally enforceable “status of forces agreement”.
“The patience of the Afghan people has run out. We no longer can afford to see the killing of our children,” Hamidzada said.
The incident comes at a fraught time for western forces in Afghanistan, after a week of high casualties and deep splits within Nato on sharing the burden of the Afghan conflict.
Eide was appointed to bring some coordination to the international community’s disparate efforts. But last night he warned that those efforts were in danger of being crippled by public mistrust.
In a harshly worded statement, he said: “I want to remind all parties engaged in the conflict that the protection of civilians must be their primary concern; they must respect their duties under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect the people we are here to serve.”
Posted in Uncategorized on August 27, 2008| 6 Comments »
By- JollyRoger @ 1:17 PM EDT
Those of us who have suffered through 8 years of a moronic monkey’s bloodlust, corruption, and incompetence might be tempted to think that anything would be better than the horrible mistake occupying the Oval Office right now. The PUMA dolts, as one example, seem to think that Johnny McCavein isn’t such a bad guy. The PUMA dolts are being funded, and largely led, by the RNC, and they are too stupid to see it….. but that is a rant for another time. Today, let’s stick to picking Johnny apart.
Why would I believe that McCavein is going to be even worse than Chimpy is? Part of why I believe this can be found by looking at how I inevitably address Johnny. I call him “McCavein” because I cannot find a scintilla of evidence that this guy isn’t willing to change his position on anything, anytime, if he thinks he can suck a few votes out of it. Johnny has flipped on so many positions, and then flipped back, and then flipped back AGAIN, that he has become impossible to track. I know not what the man believes, or even IF he believes anything. The hard right in this country is usually 100% wrong, but on the issue of whether McCavein can be trusted or not, they are 100% CORRECT.
I know what you’re saying….. Chimpy also flipped a few times to grab some votes. This is absolutely true, so we are now looking at two guys who have adopted the same kind of strategy in their quest to be elected. There is no way I can make the case that McCavein would be any worse than Chimpy based on just their campaigning style, and McCavein’s voting record is in alignment with his monkey’s wishes better than 90% of the time, so the best argument I could make using these facts as my criteria would be that Johnny is, as so many have painted him, the “McSame” as Chimpy. Why, then, do I still think he would be worse?
