Get Smart’s “Cone Of Silence” - Although there’s no working system described in any articles I can find about this, the patent application that goes with this is filed on behalf of NASA, so it might not be total vaporware. Caption and Image Credit: Get Smart via hojohnlee.com
Cone Of Silence vs The Idiocy Of Pay-Grade
The Main Stream Media is at a loss as to how to defend the lackluster performance of the Junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama at the Saddleback Church’s Civic Forum held Saturday night August 16, 2008.
So, if one can not attack the superior nature of the answers given to obvious questions asked of both candidates for leader of the free world … a very high pay-grade in itself … then why not attack the process.
The questions in themselves were absolute “Christian Forum 101”, from abortion to human rights, from self-reliance to the freedom of process on how religious and civic organizations participate in the giving of aid services, from vouchers and home schooling to merit pay and competition in the judgment of teachers and schools in the education infrastructure – even “Why do you want to become President of the United States?" – really basic fare.
Nothing new in the nature of the questions and nothing that should surprise anyone who aspires to lead. The questioning process was not "gotcha politics" made famous by the Fourth Estate or brain surgery.
So now we are treated to this exercise in insinuation from the New York Times.
This excerpted from the New York Times -
Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn’t in a ‘Cone of Silence’ By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE - Published: August 17, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. — Senator John McCain was not in a so-called cone of silence on Saturday night while his rival, Senator Barack Obama, was being interviewed at the Saddleback Church in California.
The McCain campaign, which flew here Sunday from California, said Mr. McCain was in his motorcade on the way to the church as Mr. Obama was being interviewed by the Rev. Rick Warren.
The matter is of interest because Mr. McCain, who followed Mr. Obama’s hourlong appearance in the forum, was asked virtually the same questions as Mr. Obama. Mr. McCain’s performance was well received, raising speculation among some viewers, especially supporters of Mr. Obama, that he was not as isolated during the Obama interview as Mr. Warren implied.
Mr. Warren, pastor of Saddleback, had assured the audience while he was interviewing Mr. Obama that “we have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence” and that he could not hear the questions. ---- Interviewed Sunday on CNN, Mr. Warren seemed surprised to learn that Mr. McCain was not in the building during the Obama interview. A spokeswoman for Mr. McCain said he was en route to the church.
Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions. “The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said. Reference Here>>
Simple, clear, direct, and philosophically informed answers bespeak LEADERSHIP in the best way.
The simple, clear, direct and philosophically informed winner was ...
... the Senior Senator from Arizona, John McCain.
Definately NOT the Junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.
Even if somehow Senator Barack Obama managed to win the election come November 3, 2008, the office of the President of the United States would still be above Barack Obama's "pay-grade"!
The Democratic National Convention Committee 2008 Logo - Image Credit: DNCC
Obama’s Folly - A Triple Play For The Clinton Democrats In Denver
The political convention for the Democrat Party is to be held in Denver starting August 25-28, 2008. Given recent concessions by Barack Obama in the negotiations for scheduled speakers and events, appears to be an exercise in Clinton political power.
This convention is supposed to be constructed to place the best face on the Democrat Party and highlight the characteristics of their nominee for President of the United States in order to build momentum with the voters across the nation to win the election.
If these negotiations were a pitch in baseball and the presumptive nominee Barack Obama were the batter … Obama just WHIFFED!
The way the schedule is set (for now), Barack Obama has allowed the Clinton’s to be an instrumental part of the main three days that the four day convention will be held with primetime speaking and presentation opportunities. The participation will end on Thursday when Hillary Clinton’s name will be placed into nomination so that delegates pledged to her can stand up and raise their voice.
This gesture is intended to be symbolic as the Democrats officially make Barack Obama their nominee at the Denver gathering … but we, at MAXINE, wonder how strong of a showing will this represent when the Democrat faithful on the convention floor will have been treated in each preceding day with a potential stirring speech by former president Bill Clinton, a Hollywood produced review presentation of the Clinton years as president and Hillary’s historic run for the nomination and to have Hillary be introduced in a speech to be delivered by Bill and Hillary’s daughter, Chelsea.
The way the schedule is set on Tuesday night Senator Hillary Clinton, who is a champion for working families and one of the most effective and empathetic voices in the country today, will be the headline prime-time speaker on Tuesday August 26th. Chelsea Clinton is expected to introduce her with a small speech after a video production put together by the Hollywood producers Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and Harry Thomason. Then on Wednesday, the leadoff primtime slot on the third night, Former President Bill Clinton, "will speak on Barack Obama’s commitment to a stronger and safer America, as well as the history of Democrats making positive change in the lives of all Americans." Lastly, on the fourth night, Hillary Clinton will be mentioned over and over again during the roll-call delegate vote before the assumed outcome of Barack Obama being nominated.
Who thinks this is a great way to introduce a candidate that has NO RECORD of accomplishment that would qualify him to become President of the United States?
Not Dick Morris!
This excerpted from the New York Post -
HILLARY PUSHES WAY ONTO STAGE NAME TO BE PUT INTO NOMINATION AT CONVENTION By MAGGIE HABERMAN - Last updated: 6:12 am - August 15, 2008 - Posted: 4:02 am - August 15, 2008
Hillary Rodham Clinton has muscled her way into formal recognition at the Democratic National Convention by successfully pressing Barack Obama to allow her name to be placed into nomination, officials said yesterday. ---- The announcement came after weeks of wrangling between the two sides over Clinton's role at the four-day event beginning Aug. 25.
The deal was finalized after several furious Clinton boosters pushed for formal recognition of her campaign, in which she came closer than any woman has to becoming a major party nominee.
"I am convinced that honoring Senator Clinton's historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong, united fashion," Obama said in a joint statement with Clinton.
"With every voice heard and the party strongly united, we will elect Senator Obama president of the United States and put our nation on the path to peace and prosperity once again." ---- Several of those Clinton supporters had said they planned to use the convention to make their case while hordes of media were on hand.
Democrats hoped yesterday's agreement would help avert that.
"I think it allows Hillary Clinton's supporters" to feel she's being honored, said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen, predicting, "We end up with a more unified party." ---- But some Democrats privately expressed surprise that Clinton had agreed to have her name entered into nomination, and said she and husband Bill risk overshadowing Obama.
"John McCain's got to be loving this," said one longtime Democratic operative, noting that Clinton and Obama have done a slow and somewhat pained dance toward unity.
"This is a mistake," said another party operative who backs Obama, arguing that a roll-call vote would highlight the fault lines between the two campaigns. The method for the roll call is still being negotiated. ---- Both Bill and Hillary Clinton now have prime-time speaking slots during the convention, meaning that the former first couple will be a major fixture at a gala that Obama boosters had considered to be the end of the Clinton era.
Obama held a 364-delegate lead over Clinton when the primaries ended, according to an Associated Press count. A candidate needs 2,118 to win the nomination, and Obama had 2,254 after the last votes on June 3. With Post Wire Services Reference Here>>
Wake us here at MAXINE when its over and tell us that Senator Hillary Clinton actually received more roll call votes than socialist and Junior Senator Barack Obama … then we will all know that GOD really likes the Clintons.
Feeling blue...the Watercube will change the face of sports architecture. /// Known officially as the National Aquatics Center, the Watercube has been dubbed the "cool" building of the Games. /// The building's design and its translucent, blue-toned outer skin make it look like a cube of bubbles - like "bubble wrap." Caption and Image Credit: dailymail.co.uk
Beijing Olympics – A Four By One-Hundred Relay For The Ages
Small dreams die hard for anyone who ever swam in competition as part of a team.
From Left to Right - Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale of the United States prepare for the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay held at the National Aquatics Center on Day 3 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing, China. The United States finished the race in first place in a time of 3:08.24 and wins the gold medal and set a new World Record. Caption & Image Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Competitive swimming, by its very nature, is a sport of singular and personal pursuit. To draw a parallel, being a swimmer on a team is like being a golfer on a team … one is really by themselves with their own talent and thoughts. There is no place as in, say Rugby, for the members of the team to join arms in a scrum and through the force and effort of the whole … the team becomes the force of one.
The outside and inside skin is made of a Teflon-like material - ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene). Composed of two layers, it's separated by an interior passage that allows the building to breathe like a greenhouse. Caption and Image Credit: dailymail.co.uk
What happened in the “Watercube” watersports stadium at the Beijing edition of the summer Olympics was a relay race for the ages. By any measure, all of the teams that had gathered for the finals of the Olympic competition were the very best to ever gather at any time in the history of humankind.
The proof of this statement was bared out when after the race had been held, all five teams broke the previous world record … and the Gold Metal winner, the team from the United States, bested the record by 3.99 seconds … an eternity of margin in the annals of swimming competition of the 4 X 100 meter Freestyle Relay, where timing margins are measured in one-hundredth's of a second.
The small dream that was vicariously brought to reality is the one lived out by the person who had to swim the anchor leg (the final swimmer of the team) of the race. The Walter Middy moment of the race held on August 11, 2008 came at the turn after the first of two fifty meter legs in the pool ... the final leg.
This is a tale of two stories.
Jason Lezak of the United States poses with the gold medal during the medal ceremony for the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay held at the National Aquatics Center on Day 3 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
This from Yahoo! Sports -
Lezak lifts U.S. in ‘best ever’ relay By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports - 13 hours, 27 minutes ago
Jason Lezak churned like an unstoppable nuclear submarine, redlining to complete an impossible mission.
He pummeled the last 50 meters of water, dilating fans’ pupils and scorching their veins with adrenaline and sucking their torsos forward in their seats. He churned straight for Garrett Weber-Gale, who was cursing and howling and pounding on the starting blocks. He charged toward Cullen Jones, who jumped so frantically that he almost slipped and fell into the pool. And he roared past U.S. coach Eddie Reese, who was being squeezed nearly to death by one of his assistants.
And in the last meter of the greatest relay race in the history of the Olympics, Lezak grazed his outstretched fingertip on the wall just ahead of France’s Alain Bernard, who last week boasted of “smashing” the Americans in this event. When Reese tried to capture the moment later, he thought for a second and shook his head.
“It would have to be in the unbelievable category,” he said. “That’s the biggest word I know.” ---- But this one had the feel of a Hollywood script – the kind that would never make it to the movie screen simply because it bent reality too far. From Phelps’ second gold hanging in the balance, to Bernard’s pre-race boast, to the United States struggling to regain supremacy in an event it once owned, this one had the makings of greatness before the swimmers took to the starting blocks.
And just when it seemed it couldn’t get any better, the Americans and French dueled in an epic final 100 meters. A final leg that pitted Lezak – who was the anchor on America’s disappointing 2000 and 2004 4x100-meter freestyle relay teams – against Bernard, who was the world-record holder in the 100-meter freestyle going into the event. Bernard lost that record in the first 100 of the race when Australia’s Eamon Sullivan opened with a 47.24 leg, grabbing Bernard’s record. ---- United States fell behind in the third 100 meters, with Cullen Jones touching the wall over six-tenths of a second behind the French. By the time Lezak made his final turn, that gap had grown to .82 seconds, a virtual eternity in a 50-meter sprint. But just when the race appeared to be over – NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines actually called the race for the French with about 60 meters left – Lezak pulled off the fastest 100-meter split in the history of the games: 46.06 seconds.
“It had to be the best ever and it was the best ever,” Reese said. “That’s the kind of anchor you dream of. … When you put the world-record holder in on the end of a relay and you go into the pool behind him, the chance of you beating him is slim and none. There’s never been (a 50 meters like that) in my memory – not running down somebody that holds a world record and that’s on their game. That was incredible.”
(L-R) Matt Targett of Australia, Jason Lezak of the United States and Alain Bernard of France compete in the final leg of the Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Final held at the National Aquatics Center on Day 3 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 11, 2008 in Beijing, China. The United States finished the race in first place in a time of 3:08.24 and wins the gold medal and set a new World Record. Eamon Sullivan of Australia set a time of 47.24 in the first leg, a new World Record. Caption & Image Credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images ---- And when it came down to the last 50 meters, and Lezak had to do the unthinkable and make up a half-body length, Weber-Gale could only think the Americans had found the right person in the right moment.
“I was just thinking to myself, if there’s anyone on this team or in the world that is going to do it, it was going to be Jason,” he said.
Yet for a split second, when Lezak made his final turn and saw Bernard so far ahead, he said he briefly thought “there’s no way,” before deciding to just blow out his remaining energy and hope for the best. He pulled his body as close as possible to Bernard’s lane, drafting behind him for 25 meters, and then swiftly made up the last few inches, digging and kicking and reaching for the wall. And when it was over, the team exploded in unison, flexing and leaping and exorcising eight years of – as Reese put it – getting “spanked” in freestyle relays. Reference Here>>
Did the French choke? By Chris Chase - Monday, Aug 11, 2008 2:22 am EDT
After weeks of bluster, world record holder Alain Bernard had a chance to back up his bravado in the pool this morning in Beijing. Instead, the Frenchman collapsed in the final meters of the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, enabling the United States to win one of the most thrilling swimming races in Olympic history. Did Bernard choke? Yes, but that's not the only reason he lost. ---- There were two main factors in the American's come-from-behind victory.
First, Jason Lezak swam the fastest relay leg of all-time. This is not to be overlooked or underappreciated. Without Lezak (and, for that matter, Michael Phelps, Garett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones), Bernard would have been so far ahead he couldn't have given up the lead even if he was Greg Norman.
Secondly, Bernard swam a poor mental race. Call it whatever you'd like, but it had all the hallmarks of a choke.
It's impossible to know whether Bernard was nervous or overconfident during the race, but it's safe to say he was foolish. After swimming the fastest first 50 meters of any of the 32 competitors, Bernard came back with one of the slowest. By the 70-meter mark, he had slowed considerably.
At that point, Lezak began catching up, and Bernard made mistake #2. Instead of keeping a steady stroke, Bernard increased his turnover, which caused him to break his rhythm and led to the tightness that Rowdy Gaines described on NBC's broadcast.
To his credit, Bernard was gracious in defeat, clapping when the Americans received their gold medals and shaking the hand of Michael Phelps after the ceremony. Or maybe that was just his way of surrendering. The French are pretty good at that one too. Reference Here>>
This was a small dream held by this swimmer, here at MAXINE, that was vicariously brought to reality by Jason Lezak and the rest of the Team USA four by one-hundred freestyle relay leg swimmers.
Small dreams can come true … and in a big way, Walter Middy lives.
Barack Obama is still on the market for a running mate today after veep speculators talked up a surprise announcement in Indiana today. The rumors were rampant because Obama was introduced by Evan Bayh, who is Indiana’s second term U.S. Senator, the state’s former governor, and allegedly on Obama’s shortlist for veep. Image Credit: Bonney Kapp – Fox News
Barack O’Bummer – The Pied Piper Of Contempt
The level of dislike for America and its basic construct by Barack Obama has no boundaries. Factually, he insults us all … and most of all, the Democrat party who deserves a better standard-bearer.
Yesterday, at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, a seven-year-old girl asked Barack Obama in a townhall setting, why does he want to be President (?).
Instead of giving an answer that would actually come from hope and change ... he told her that America has gone downhill … that it isn’t the country it used to be.
Man, what a “Bummer”.
This excerpted from Hot Air –
Obama: “America is no longer what it once was” posted at 11:25 am on August 7, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
[said the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama]
“America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was."
“America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was."
Definitely not the country that sacrificed itself twice in world wars to save the free nations of the world from domination by powers that pursued genocide in the name of purity.
“America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was."
Not the country that provides more in drugs and money than any other country to educate and curb the effects of AIDS.
“America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was."
Not the country all other countries look to for economic leadership and innovation and that foreign born citizens break laws in order to experience the freedoms that exist here.
“America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was."
Maybe he wants to go back to the America that openly pursued segregation or the one before that one, where slavery was a part of the agricultural economic structure.
What country would allow any minority to be able to be freely brought through a democratic process to the highest elected office of leadership?
Maybe he is expecting an America that should be one of entitlement to a group of elite folks and that HE is the top pick of that bunch of people ... as opposed to the broad range of Democrats that have put him into the position he finds himself at this moment before the convention in Denver.
To be honest, we, at MAXINE, liked the concept of the “Audacity Of Hope” ... it almost felt business-like, in that, it came from a place where it had the attitude that we had a good “BRAND” but we could make this “BRAND” better.
What we witnessed yesterday, at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, in an answer given to a seven-year-old girl from Barack O’Bummer, in this latest of unguarded and un-telepromptered statements, is an “Audacity Of Contempt”.
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., reacts to cheering supporters during a town hall-style meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Thursday, July 31, 2008. Image Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
The Insulting Posture Of Barack Obama
It all began with the campaign for Barack Obama and the Democrat Party stating that the junior Senator from Illinois represented the first “Post-Racial” candidate for President of the United States.
Then in March, Barack Obama recites a story about his grandmother ("a typical WHITE person") and her reaction to walking alone on a city street.
“The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know (pause) there’s a reaction in her that doesn’t go away and it comes out in the wrong way.” - Barack Obama, March 20, 2008 - AM610 WIP
Then in June, we have Barack Obama giving a townhall talk where he muses that … “THEY” are going to tell you that I have a funny name, and did you know that I’m Black? (who is the THEY?)
This week, in another townhall type of gathering, Mr. Obama continued with his push to make sure that we know that RACE is an issue with him and his campaign for President. THEY will tell you I look funny … (that he) "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."
I am sorry, but I find this tact (or lack thereof) taken by Senator Barack Obama to be an insult to my intelligence. It is as if the voting public does not have any eyes and do not know from the top that Barack Obama is a human being with African DNA markers in his genetic make-up. It is as plain as the insulting suggestion that by talking about, and making this one fact a voting issue for discussion, no other issue about the election is important.
And just WHO is making this fact an issue for discussion … well, the Junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama himself and the insult comes when he tries to paint his competition as the faction that is making this (one’s genetic make-up) the issue.
It is just this point of order that the campaign for Senator John McCain for President of the United States finally felt the need to respond. After the improper suggestion, in speech after speech by Barack Obama, it was time to push back and call the Junior Senator out on his insulting tactic of injecting RACE into, and making it the major issue in the discourse of the campaign process.
Barack Obama, “Post-Racial”? Yea, riiiiight!
This excerpted and edited by the Associated Press –
Who started it? McCain, Obama camps trade barbs By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer - 54 minutes ago
McCain has accused Obama of playing politics with race for predicting that the likely Republican nominee and others in the GOP would try to scare voters by saying the Democrat "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills." Obama's spokesmen denied he was referring to being black, although all the presidents on U.S. currency are white.
Obama senior strategist David Axelrod said Friday that race became an issue only when the McCain campaign cast a racial slant on Obama's remarks, which were made at a campaign swing Wednesday in rural Missouri.
The next day, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis issued a statement claiming that Obama had played "the race card" and calling the remarks "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."
"We are not going to let anybody paint John McCain, who has fought his entire life for equal rights for everyone, to be able to be painted as racist," Davis said Friday on "Today" on NBC. "We've seen this happen before and we're not going to let it happen to us." ---- Axelrod rejected the charge and repeated the assertion that Obama was talking about his status as a young, relative newcomer to Washington politics. ---- As far as who was responsible for the campaign's negative tone, Davis said on NBC: "We didn't draw first blood. I mean, this campaign has been rough and tumble since the day Barack Obama got his nomination, and we've withered under the attacks of the Obama campaign on a daily basis." Reference Here>>
The plane of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama lands at Berlin's Tegel airport July 24, 2008. Obama is on a foreign tour he hopes will boost his election chances. He will give an outdoor speech in Berlin on transatlantic ties that is likely to draw thousands. Image Credit: REUTERS
A man of the people has a newly, refurbished Boeing 757 campaign plane upon which to transport the adoring members of the fourth estate.
The "North American" campaign plane before the Obama campaign remake. Image Credit: XDTalk Forums
The most interesting change from Barack Obama’s previous campaign plane set-up was the removal of the American flag that flew on the tail in favor of the Obama campaign stylized “O” logo. The previous plane’s graphics actually never mentioned the United States choosing to highlight the phrase “North American” … the plane’s leasing operator.
Image Credit: Fox News
That is just plain weird. A man who wishes to become the leader of the free world and the most powerful nation on Earth … doesn’t care to have the mention on his plane The United States of America.
We, here at MAXINE, have another suggestion for a graphic on the tail of the North American Airlines leasing operated Boeing 757 …
NObama campaign graphic for lawn signs, bumper stickers and … airplane tails. Graphic Credit: Edmund Jenks (2008)
Sally, a nickname bestowed upon Barack Obama’s chartered 757 by some in the traveling press, has returned to service after undergoing a month-long makeover for the general election. ---- There are 69 passengers on board, including 38 members of the press, Secret Service agents, and Obama staffers, including several of Obama’s top foreign policy advisors.
The North American jet that flew Obama and his traveling crew around for much of the primary season was refurbished with new seats and power for each passenger a must on the campaign trail. And the plane that once had an American flag on its tail now sports the Obama “O.” “Change We Can Believe In” and the candidate’s website are splayed across both sides of the fuselage, making this 757 anything but inconspicuous.
Also new to the plane: mesh curtains that divide the press and Secret Service from the staff and candidate’s parts of the plane. While Obama and his staff get first class seating, press and agents are relegated to standard 3 seats-per-row seating. But, staffers advise us that some rows were taken out of the plane to give us more leg room.
Obama staff first class section in the new "O"-Force One Obama campaign plane. Image Credit: Fox News
Prior to getting refurbished, the plane sported hundreds of photographs documenting life on the campaign trail. While her walls are bare now, expect a more personal cabin after the press get reacquainted with the plane on this 14-hour journey to the Middle East.Check out some photos of the new and improved 757 below.
First Class for Staff. Beyond the silver curtain is where Obama will sit. The section has just four Lay-Z-Boy style seats, at least one of which is embroidered with the Obama ‘08 logo in its headrest. The roomy section has just one other feature - a table for four. Reference Here>>
Side panel graphics display on the Obama campaign Boeing 757. Image Credit: Fox News
And this excerpted from WELT ONLINE -
Obama arrives in Germany amid high expectations U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama arrived in Berlin Thursday, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high expectations. WELT ONLINE - Europe Tour - 24. Juli 2008, 12:22 Uhr
The German capital is the first stop on a whirlwind tour that will take Obama to Germany, France and Britain in an effort to burnish his foreign credentials as he campaigns against Republican Sen. John McCain for the U.S. presidency. While in Berlin, Obama will meet with German leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
He will cap his day with an open-air speech before an expected crowd of at least 100,000 that his campaign has described as a "substantive address on U.S.-European relations.“ The address has symbolic value because several U.S. presidents – including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton – made significant addresses in Berlin. Former German President Richard von Weizsaecker said that the Obama event could help pave the way for a new trans-Atlantic relationship, according to a newspaper report. "Kennedy said the famous sentence: ’Ich bin ein Berliner’ – Obama could send the Berlin signal: America is counting on Europe for its future,“ he was quoted as saying by the Bild newspaper Thursday.
"We have long believed that nobody in America is interested in our continent any more,“ he said in further quotes attributed to him. "The appearance and the speech of Barack Obama are evidence that this preconception is false.“
After landing at Tegel Airport, his aircraft taxied beside the soon-to-depart plane of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who visited Berlin this week for talks aimed at luring German companies to invest in his country.
Obama met with al-Maliki in Baghdad earlier this week during the Middle East part of his tour. Reference Here>>
Senator Barack Obama and Terry Moran of ABC News - "I've always reserved the right, uh, to say---let's say that ethnic, uh, ethnic fighting broke out once again---I've reserved the right to say---I don't--I'm not going to stand idly by if genocide is occurring.”, said Barack Obama. Image Credit: ABC News via my.barackobama.com
Barack Obama And His Perfect Storm Of Peace In Iraq
In an interview with ABC’s Terry Moran for Nightline (July 21, 2008), Barack Obama showed why he really isn’t ready for “Primetime” let alone “Nightline”.
Junior Senator Barack Obama will not say he was wrong about his assessment of the Bush Administration’s implementation of the military operation that has become known as “The Surge”. This is the operation where an additional 30,000 or so United States soldiers were placed in Iraq in order to stop the strengthening growth of anti-Iraq insurgent (Al Qaeda) combatants and provide security for the newly elected government of Iraq to begin to operate.
Eighteen months ago, it was estimated that there were 12,000 armed combatants working throughout the country to disrupt the newly formed government of Iraq. Today, the estimate is that there may be 1,200 armed combatants holed up in the western provinces of Iraq. One year ago in June 2007, we lost over seventy soldiers to violence and IED roadside bombs throughout Iraq … June 2008 saw that number drop to five.
Moran noted that Obama had claimed that the surge "would not make a significant dent in the violence."
Barack Obama insists that the reason the violence is down in Iraq is due to a convergence of factors that he could not anticipate happening … OH, and some “terrific work by our troops”.
The Perfect Storm of factors the junior Senator sites are disturbing ---
“… but the Sunni awakening in which a whole host of Sunni tribal leaders decided that they had had enough with Al Qaeda, in the Shii’a community the militias standing down to some degrees. So what you had is a combination of political factors inside of Iraq that then came right at the same time as terrific work by our troops. Had those political factors not occurred, I think that my assessment would have been correct.”
Sorry Barack, the Sunni tribal leaders could not have “had enough” and say so if the additional 30,000 troops were not on the ground to provide security and combative strength. The Shii’a community mailtias would not have stood down if there wasn’t a very capable and ready force (bolstered by 30,000 United States military troops on the ground) aligned against their violent power grabbing agenda.
Further, Barack Obama had this to say as it relates to what HE would do if he were President and the military was pulled out of Iraq … and the violence began to increase inside the country ---
"But," asked Moran,"if the country had pursued your policy of withdrawing in the face of this horrific violence, what do you think Iraq would look like now?"
Obama said it would be hard to speculate. "The Sunnis might have made the same decisions at that time. The Shii’as might have made some similar decisions based on political calculation. There was ethnic cleansing in Baghdad that actually took the violence level down," he said.
Obama also told Moran that there were circumstances under which he could revise his instruction to U.S. generals to begin withdrawing combat brigades at the pace of one-to-two per month.
"I've always reserved the right, uh, to say---let's say that ethnic, uh, ethnic fighting broke out once again---I've reserved the right to say---I don't--I'm not going to stand idly by if genocide is occurring. I'm not going to stand idly by if vital United States interests are at stake. Um, so in that sense yes, I retain the flexibility anyone who in the job of commander in chief is constantly reassessing facts, risks, and so forth."
--- So, basically Barack Obama advocates that our military go back to Iraq and start a third war insde Iraq.
This scenario actually would be an insult to Jimmy Carter and the suggestion that a Barack Obama presidency would result in a second term for the Carter Administration.
Actually, a Barack Obama Administration would be of a greater failure than a Carter’s Second Term.
When oil flows ... freedom grows here in the United States. Image from an animation showing how oil is retrieved through processes used on an offshore oil drilling rig. Image Credit: Still from video provided by the API (2008)
Prices Up Equals Demand Down For 2008
U.S. oil demand was significantly down for the first six months of 2008, API said today in its Monthly Statistical Report. While U.S. refiners churned out record and near-record amounts of oil products, imports – especially product imports -- fell substantially.
What is the most interesting detail in these stats is what is not stated … that this demand fell without any U.S. Government intervention. These figures fell due to the forces of supply and demand when the overlay of a sudden price increase takes effect.
API statistics manager Ron Planting said, “At 20.08 million barrels per day, total demand was the lowest in five years. And the decline in gasoline demand was the first significant one recorded in 17 years. Higher pump prices and a slowing economy were undoubtedly factors.”
This excerpted from a press release from the American Petroleum Institute -
U.S. oil demand drops in first half of 2008 Bill Bush - API (American Petroleum Institute) - Updated:July 18, 2008
Deliveries of all oil products – a measure of demand – fell 3.0 percent compared with the same first-half-year period in 2007, with gasoline deliveries slipping 1.7 percent. For the preceding three years, oil demand had essentially held steady. ---- At 2.0 percent, the second-quarter decline in demand for gasoline was even greater than for the first six months. However, the 1.8 percent decline for all products for the last three months, compared with the same period a year ago, was less in part because of a 2.1 percent increase in demand for distillates, which includes diesel fuels and home heating oil. ---- Overall U.S. oil imports, including crude oil and oil products, sank to their lowest first-half level since 2003, at less than 13 million barrels per day.
Crude oil inventories declined to 301 million barrels at the end of June, down 54 million barrels from last year’s recent-year record and the lowest mid-year level since 2003. Consistent with relatively stronger demand for diesel fuel than for gasoline, gasoline inventories ended June up from a year ago while diesel inventories were down. U.S. crude oil production fell by 2.2 percent for the first half of 2008 compared with 2007. Reference Here>>
If Energy = Freedom … does this mean that the demand for freedom is down as well?
One wonders what will happen to our hard fought freedoms now that our Democrat leaders in Congress have declared their "No-Drill" petroleum policy to coincide with their intended desire to attack the oil companies with a windfall profits TAX.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Il., left, meets with two of his foreign policy advisers, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, center, and former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, right, in Washington in June. This meeting may be the potential foreign affairs advisory board looking forward to Carter’s Second Term. Image Credit: Jim Bourg / Reuters
Messianic Insanity Translates To International Vanity
Today, the presumptive nominee for President of the United States for the Democrat Political Party (technically, no one has all of the delegates needed to actually BE the nominee for the Democrat Party), Freshman Senator Barack Obama is winging his way toward the Middle East and Europe on a taxpayer subsidised, multi-stop trip designed to bolster his credibility on foreign affairs. It is said that he has 300 named advisors to assist him frame his view of America and how it is to relate in “his” vision to the rest of the world.
Next week will show the American people how much the Main Stream Media and Europe are happy to embrace a man who has been treated as though he already is the leader of the free world. A person who expresses the same exact failed leadership policies that the original colonists were running away from when they came to the America some 388 years ago, should be well received.
This excerpted and edited from Real Clear Politics -
The Audacity of Vanity By Charles Krauthammer - Washington Post - July 18, 2008
Barack Obama wants to speak at the Brandenburg Gate.
He figures it would be a nice backdrop. The supporting cast -- a cheering audience and a few fainting frauleins -- would be a picturesque way to bolster his foreign policy credentials.
What Obama does not seem to understand is that the Brandenburg Gate is something you earn. President Reagan earned the right to speak there because his relentless pressure had brought the Soviet empire to its knees and he was demanding its final "tear down this wall" liquidation. When President Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate on the day of his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, he was representing a country that was prepared to go to the brink of nuclear war to defend West Berlin. ---- And what exactly has he done in his lifetime to merit appropriating the Brandenburg Gate as a campaign prop? What was his role in the fight against communism, the liberation of Eastern Europe, the creation of what George Bush 41 -- who presided over the fall of the Berlin Wall but modestly declined to go there for a victory lap -- called "a Europe whole and free"? ---- There's nothing new about narcissism in politics. Every senator looks in the mirror and sees a president. Nonetheless, has there ever been a presidential nominee with a wider gap between his estimation of himself and the sum total of his lifetime achievements?
Obama is a three-year senator without a single important legislative achievement to his name, a former Illinois state senator who voted "present" nearly 130 times. As president of the Harvard Law Review, as law professor and as legislator, has he ever produced a single notable piece of scholarship? Written a single memorable article? His most memorable work is a biography of his favorite subject: himself. ---- In his victory speech upon winning the nomination, Obama declared it a great turning point in history -- "generations from now we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment" -- when, among other wonders, "the rise of the oceans began to slow." As economist Irwin Stelzer noted in his London Daily Telegraph column, "Moses made the waters recede, but he had help." Obama apparently works alone. ---- After all, in the words of his own slogan, "we are the ones we've been waiting for," which, translating the royal "we," means: "I am the one we've been waiting for." Amazingly, he had a quasi-presidential seal with its own Latin inscription affixed to his podium, until general ridicule -- it was pointed out that he was not yet president -- induced him to take it down.
He lectures us that instead of worrying about immigrants learning English, "you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish" -- a language Obama does not speak. He further admonishes us on how "embarrassing" it is that Europeans are multilingual but "we go over to Europe, and all we can say is, 'merci beaucoup.'" Obama speaks no French. ---- His wife assures us that President Obama will be a stern taskmaster: "Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism ... that you come out of your isolation. ... Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."
For the first few months of the campaign, the question about Obama was: Who is he? The question now is: Who does he think he is?
We are getting to know. Redeemer of our uninvolved, uninformed lives. Lord of the seas. And more.
As he said on victory night, his rise marks the moment when "our planet began to heal." As I recall -- I'm no expert on this -- Jesus practiced his healing just on the sick. Obama operates on a larger canvas. Reference Here>>
Now that all three major network anchors have decided to travel with the anointed ONE … maybe, just maybe, America will wake up and get tired of being told how to think by the ONE who insanely thinks HE hung the moon!
Funny, we, at MAXINE knew that some people love to characterize Senator Barack Obama as an "Empty Suit" ... how empty does a suit have to be in order to be able to fit 300 foreign policy advisors in it?
We thought that the emptiest suit would only be able to fit 100 to 125 advisors ... TOPS!
The New Yorker said the cover by Barry Blitt called "The Politics of Fear" is meant to satirize "the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign," according to a press release about the new magazine issue. Image Credit: Barry Blitt via New Yorker Magazine
New Yorker Magazine – The Audacity Of Smear
Today, the New Yorker Magazine, in an effort to support their candidate, Barack Obama, released a magazine with cartoon cover art depicting Michelle and Barack Obama, giving each other a “knuckle bump” (an understated “high-five”) dressed up in symbols of rumor and fear.
This description offered by the Chicago Tribune -
The cover of the new New Yorker magazine depicts a caricature of Sen. Barack Obama as Muslim, standing in the Oval Office with a flag burning in the fireplace and a painting of Osama bin Laden hanging on the wall. He gives a fist bump to his wife, Michelle Obama, who is pictured wearing military fatigues and an automatic rifle slung over her shoulder. Reference Here>>
What is most insulting about this example of the left’s print production is the magazines excuse for choosing a cartoon art cover such as this.
They believe that this depicts the view of the Obama’s held by people they termed as “Right-Wing”.
It makes no difference that Barack and Michelle Obama met, were married, placed their two children in religious training classes, and spent 20 years in the pews of a church that openly preaches racial bigotry and anti-American Marxist doctrine.
Let’s not mention that Barack Obama has a record rating of being the most liberal voting Senator of the 100 members in the U.S. Senate.
That Michelle Obama, in speech after speech, depicts her home country as hateful and a place with little opportunity. Yet, she has been blessed with support and privilege throughout her life starting with a free ride to attend Ivy League colleges and attain a degree to now, where she has a job in a Hospital that has benefited from “earmarks” (directed funding inserted into appropriations bills) Barack Obama has inserted into the process that has lead to major increases in her pay at the institution.
The rest of the excerpted story in the Chicago Tribune -
Obama campaign slams New Yorker cover The art satirizes right-wing portrayals of the candidate, magazine says. by Katie Fretland - Posted July 14, 2008 6:05 AM
The New Yorker said the cover by Barry Blitt called "The Politics of Fear" is meant to satirize "the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign," according to a press release about the new magazine issue.
The Obama campaign, as well as the campaign of Republican rival John McCain, slammed the cover as offensive:
"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement, reported by Politico. "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."
"We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it's tasteless and offensive," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement. ---- Other covers by artist Blitt have included Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on a toilet reading a newspaper and Bush with a feather duster and an apron, while Cheney relaxes in a chair with beer and a cigar. ---- The cover accompanies an article by Ryan Lizza, which explores "the period that formed [Obama] as a politician"--his life in Chicago and his election to the U.S. Senate.
Lizza interviewed Toni Preckwinkle, a Chicago alderman, who spoke of political maneuvering by Obama.
"On issue after issue, Preckwinkle presented Obama as someone who thrived in the world of Chicago politics. She suggested that Obama joined Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ for political reasons. 'It's a church that would provide you with lots of social connections and prominent parishioners,' she said. 'It's a good place for a politician to be a member.' Preckwinkle was unsparing on the subject of the Chicago real-estate developer Antoin (Tony) Rezko, a friend of Obama's and one of his top fund-raisers, who was recently convicted of fraud, bribery, and money laundering: 'Who you take money from is a reflection of your knowledge at the time and your principles.'
"I asked her if what she considered slights or betrayals were simply the necessary accommodations and maneuvering of a politician making a lightning transition from Hyde Park legislator to Presidential nominee. 'Can you get where he is and maintain your personal integrity?' she said. 'Is that the question?' She stared at me and grimaced. 'I'm going to pass on that.' Reference Here>>
Imagine if you will a magazine cover where … actually we, at MAXINE, can’t imagine any magazine cover (cartoon or otherwise) that would be used to indemnify a negative perception of a Conservative presidential candidate and his family that would create a controversy storm … any complaint would be muffled by the very MSM that is aiding an abetting the New York Magazine in its effort to blunt some of the facts about the Obama’s that would make them unsuitable as “First Couple”.
This whole process is designed to smear people who have a self-reliant, small government, individual rights, assimilation, non hyphenated, "We The People", American ideal view of politics which the Fourth Estate wishes to end in this country. Socialism is their desire and the Left-Wing (and those who support it) are not above promoting a SMEAR upon which to trash the opposition.
Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid – Image Credit: AFP
The Real Survivor Fiji – European Resolve
The USA lite of the European Union, where the Commissioners of a top-down replicate of the United States try to create a meaning for existence beyond economic trade, has finally had enough of the strongman tactics in Fiji.
It has been since December 2006 when the commander in charge of the military forces in Fiji decided that he should be in charge of the affaires of the island nation and staged a coup that displaced the duly elected Government of Fiji.
This excerpted from Wikipedia –
Citing corruption in the government, Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, staged a military takeover on December 5, 2006 against the Prime Minister that he himself had installed after the 2000 coup. There had been two military coups in 1987 and one in 2000 when the military had taken over from elected governments led by or dominated by Indo Fijians. On this occasion the military took over from an indigenous Fijian government which it alleged was corrupt and racist. The Commodore took over the powers of the President and dissolved the parliament, paving the way for the military to continue the take over.
The coup was the culmination of weeks of speculation following conflict between the elected Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, and Commodore Bainimarama. Bainamarama had repeatedly issued demands and deadlines to the Prime Minister. At particular issue was previously pending legislation to pardon those involved in the 2000 coup. Despite intervention to reconcile the parties by the President, Vice President and Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand there was no willingness to make concessions on either side. This therefore failed to resolve the crisis.
Bainimarama named Jona Senilagakali caretaker Prime Minister. The next week Bainimarama said he would ask the Great Council of Chiefs to restore executive powers to President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo.[6] On December 6, Bainimarama declared a state of emergency, and warned that he would not tolerate any violence or unrest.
Following the coup, the Commonwealth of Nations held an emergency meeting in London, where they declared Fiji's membership had been suspended. On December 9, the military rulers advertised for positions in the Government, including cabinet posts, in a national newspaper. They stated people wishing to apply must be "of outstanding character", have no criminal record, and never have been bankrupt.[7] ---- On January 4, 2007, the military announced that it was restoring executive power to President Iloilo,[8] who made a broadcast endorsing the actions of the military.[9] The next day, Iloilo named Bainimarama as the interim Prime Minister,[10] indicating that the Military was still effectively in control.
In the wake of the take over, reports have emerged of intimidation of some of those critical of the interim regime. It is alleged that two individuals have died in military custody since December 2006. These deaths have been investigated and suspects charged but not yet brought to court.
Following ongoing criticism from neighbours, specifically Australia and New Zealand, the New Zealand High Commissioner Michael Green was expelled from Fiji in mid June 2007, in the aftermath of restrictive emergency regulations having been lifted (recognised as a generally positive development by outside observers).
The interim Government set up an anti corruption Commission which have received numerous complaints and allegations, also there have been a number of high profile dismissals from government and associated industry. The anti corruption body however, has yet to successfully prosecute anyone for alleged corruption. Reference Here>>
And so on … and so on … and so on!
It is as if taking over an democratically elected Government through a military take-over wasn't corrupt enough.
Basically, Commodore Frank likes “being the king” and really doesn’t have an interest in free and open elections that a democracy requires. The people of Fiji be damned to the power and will of Frank Bainimarama.
So now we have these revelations on the situation from the European Union.
In May, 2007, Commissioner Michel has renewed his efforts to create a more effective dialogue with Civil Society, starting with an Open Forum with civil society that took place last March 20 th. This resulted in the establishment of a Civil Society Advisory Group, of which Bernard Petit (Deputy Director DG Development) is the chairman. The group has until now held two meetings, on the 4 th May and the 19 th June. Furthermore, on 1st February, Commissioner Michel sent a letter to the EC Delegations and stressed the importance the Commission gives to the reinforcement of the role of civil society in development cooperation which is stated in the Revised Cotonou Agreement and (doc 1 : the European Consensus for Development) . He encourages the participation of a wide range of non state actors as a priority. Image and Caption Credit: ec.europa.eu
This excerpted from the AFP -
EU doubts Fiji commitment to election deadline SUVA (AFP) — Saturday, July 12, 2008
The European Union expressed doubt Saturday that Fiji will meet a February 2009 deadline for democratic elections and said the "absence of democratic rule" was a cause for deep concern.
At stake is the restoration of millions of dollars in EU aid, which depends on Fiji keeping its commitment to return to democracy following the December 2006 coup.
The European Commissioner for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, said the concerns included "the vulnerability of rule of law and respect for human rights" when democratic control is removed.
"I can never condone a military take-over," Michel said in a statement after the completion of a fact-finding report by a European Union (EU) delegation which visited Fiji last month.
"The EU expects the interim government to meet commitments it has taken in these areas and to ensure elections not later than the end of February 2009," the statement said.
"Meeting these commitments will allow the EU to deliver its assistance programme, but there is deep concern that the election time-table is at risk of slipping." ---- Bainimarama also fuelled doubts about meeting the election deadline commitment when last month he suspended meetings with Pacific Forum officials through a working party aimed at facilitating the polls.
A group of six Pacific foreign ministers are to travel to Fiji next week to continue external pressure for a return to democracy.
"Fiji's interim government recently said it would like greater engagement with forum members, and this visit could help Fiji move forward towards elections," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. Reference Here>>
This whole situation between the coup Government of Fiji and the European Union is beginning to feel like a really bad script proposal for the movie, “Team America”. The EU has finally issued its very, very harsh memo ala the Hans Blix character threat to the short little dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-il.
The funny thing about their harsh memo though is that the Commissioners of the EU seem to be more interested in re-establishing the socialist assistance programme than the re-establishment of rights to the citizens of Fiji.
Get Smart’s “Cone Of Silence” - Although there’s no working system described in any articles I can find about this, the patent application that goes with this is filed on behalf of NASA, so it might not be total vaporware. Caption and Image Credit: Get Smart via hojohnlee.com
