The brutality of the Chinese government in Tibet is capturing attention around the world. And, with the Olympics looming, China's government really doesn't seem to get that the world is watching. Today, we had a taste of the fervor here in DC:
Wrapped in multihued Tibetan national flags, more than 1,500 Tibetan refugees from as far as Georgia and Massachusetts rallied yesterday in front of the White House to protest China's recent crackdown on dissent in their homeland and demand that President Bush boycott opening ceremonies at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
The demonstrators, who included a group of Buddhist monks and a handful of American supporters, said the combination of widening protests over Tibet and China's upcoming debut as an Olympic host in August have created a unique opportunity to press for greater Tibetan rights and autonomy after a half-century under Chinese control.
The Chinese embassy is around the corner from my house so I wandered over to get some first hand pictures of the event. It was very impressive. There was a massive police presence because of some minor incident. And, the protest blocked Connecticut Avenue, one of the city's major thoroughfares, at rush hour.
We're going be seeing a lot more anti-China protests -- and the repressive, brutal regime in Beijing has brought this on themselves. Bush is going to have to decide which side he is on. My guess: No way he'll miss the opening ceremonies. He's got no scruples.
This is the fourth consecutive Gallup Poll Daily tracking report showing Obama with a statistically significant lead. It marks the first time since late February that either Clinton or Obama has sustained a statistically significant lead in the race for more than two consecutive days.
Go get 'em. It's about time we come back to planet earth and Dodd is right.
"To talk about overhauling the regulatory system is a wonderful idea. But frankly it doesn't relate to the issues we're grappling with," Dodd said on a conference call.
"I would call this a wild pitch. ... It's not even close to the strike zone," he said, drawing upon American baseball imagery to criticize Paulson's proposal.
My mom was a delegate in Dallas this past weekend. She arrived at 7AM and didn't get to leave until 8PM. She said that it appeared the Clinton delegates were trying to drag things out so long that people would have to leave. She thought they challenged about 3,000 delegates and each of them had to go through the credentialing committee.
One of the Clinton delegates from her group challenged the validity of entire precincts. One of the precincts she challenged was almost entirely African American. Towards the end, after this group was credentialed they came by and shook their fists at the Clinton delegate and chanted "we're still here" in her face. My mom said it was a little tense.
She also said that it was sad to see all of the elderly there having to sit in stadium seats for 13 hours. She didn't know of anyone leaving without an alternate to replace them though. A very pregnant woman in her group had to lie on the concrete floor at times.
I don't know why this didn't make bigger news. She said it was obvious to everyone there what was going on and she thought Clinton had made many enemies from inside the democratic party that day.
There has been a lot of commentary about how confusing the situation in Iraq has been over the past week or so. While there are some unanswered questions -- precisely how much influence the US had on the operational decision, how much control Sadr has over some elements of the militia, etc -- the basics seem pretty straightforward, albeit kind of a disaster.
After months of US and Iraqi Army tensions with Sadrist forces (a.k.a. Mahdi Militia) despite a tenuous ceasefire, increasing anger from Sadrists against Sadr's perceived passivity toward the US, and with provincial elections looming, Sadrists started making noise about ending their months-long ceasefire. At the same time, Prime Minister Maliki, former Sadr ally who has since become a rival due to SCIRI (a competing Shia party) support, decided to exercise some power in Basra, the southern province of Iraq that has the vast majority of the country's oil. The objectives of this move included reducing Sadrist power in advance of this fall's scheduled provincial elections, making the Iraqi Army more loyal to Maliki, and demonstrating to the US that the central government is on a path to self-sufficiency. At least, that was the theory.
In reality, Maliki (et al, including, it seems, US officials) drastically misjudged his ability to project power in Basra against the Mahdi Militia. As it turns out -- and I know you'll be shocked to hear this -- it's tough to fight an indigenous force that is highly motivated, knowledgeable about the battle terrain (especially in an urban environment), and doesn't rely on a strict hierarchical command and control structure. Who knew! I don't know how many times this lesson needs to be learned, but apparently Maliki didn't even take it from the difficulty the US has had in his own country. For another regional example that I think is a relatively close analogy, compare the Israeli operation in Lebanon last summer -- in that case, too, a state-based army drastically underestimated the ability of a militia to defend its own territory in the streets and alleys, leading to a humiliating operation.
And regardless of whatever you read about Sadr suing for peace, this absolutely was a humiliation for Maliki. Sadr doesn't appear to be giving up a single thing, and he never wanted an all-out fight (hence the ceasefire in operation since August). Sadr got to test out his fighters, see who was loyal and who was rogue, and then his forces held their own in the battle -- and as we all know by now, if you're attacking and not winning, you're losing. Then Iran got fed up with the skirmishing in its sphere of influence and told everybody to shut it down . . . so they did! The agreement to stop major fighting was brokered by Iranians, with Sadrists and members of Maliki's government essentially undermining him by agreeing to what is essentially a return to the status quo.
So after all the talk of this vital and determinative operation, it looks like the only thing that changes is an increasing intra-Shia rift, a weakened Maliki, and strengthened Sadr and Iran. This huge operation mounted against Sadr, he it doesn't look like he lost anything. Maliki -- and the US -- played this badly, and made greater internal violence more likely going forward, and for basically unnecessary (and political, rather than security) reasons.
Sen. Barack Obama has won the overall delegate race in Texas thanks to a strong showing in Democratic county conventions this past weekend.
Obama picked up seven of nine outstanding delegates, giving him a total of 99 Texas delegates to the party's national convention this summer. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the other two, giving her a total of 94 Texas delegates, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press.
You may recall that pro-Iraq war Senator Susan Collins brought the Stuart Bowen, the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, to Maine for campaign events earlier this year. At a recent Senate hearing, Senator Frank Lautenberg called the visits "inappropriate" -- and it was.
Well, guess who is now facing a federal grand jury investigation for alleged criminal improprieties? Stuart Bowen:
Federal investigators called at least nine current and former employees of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction before a grand jury in Richmond on March 18, and the FBI has summoned others for questioning this week, marking a new phase in the probe of allegations against SIGIR chief Stuart W. Bowen Jr., according to witnesses and other sources familiar with the investigation.
The FBI and U.S. attorneys have been investigating whether Bowen and his top deputy, Ginger Cruz, improperly accessed staff e-mails in violation of federal law. Current and former SIGIR employees interviewed by the FBI and questioned before the grand jury have complained of mismanagement and abuse of authority, including retaliatory firing of staff members.
Wonder if Bowen will be making any more "inappropriate" campaign appearances for Collins. Oh, keep in mind, that Collins chaired the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee when the GOP controlled Congress. She had oversight authority over Iraq and all the other Bush disasters. She and her pal, Joe Lieberman (who endorsed Collins already), rarely used their authority to challenge George Bush and Dick Cheney.
Collins has to go. Tom Allen can beat her, but he needs help. Today's the FEC filing deadline. First, a big thanks to all those who have contributed. Our ActBlue page has hit $8,250. Show Tom some love today. Let's shoot to pass $10,000 today. Every dollar helps defeat Collins and her corrupt GOP cronies. Your contributions will go along way in Maine.
Start holding your breath for the day that Paulson or the Bush administration bothers to use any powers that they already have to provide oversight. While the financial system needs plenty of improvement this is only a CYA by the administration. The Wild West Wall Street actions have been going on ever since the Republicans helped out their financial services lobbyist friends back when they had the majority in Congress. The Administration and the Fed have all ignored the problems because their friends were getting rich. Why should we suddenly believe them now when they say they are going to get tough?
We need reform, but we need much more than Paulson or Bush are suggesting.
One analysis out this morning from the AP spells out the popular assumption that the prolonged Democratic nomination process is upping McCain's chances in the general:
"Every single day, McCain has an opportunity to present himself to the American public as someone with leadership, experience and statesmanship," said Kevin Madden, a veteran of Republican Mitt Romney's 2008 campaign. Meanwhile, he said: "Negative attributes being aired every day are becoming ingrained in people's perceptions about the Democratic candidates and could hurt them in the fall."
I don't like the party infighting any more than the next guy. However, I say never underestimate the short attention span of the average voter. Those of us fully engaged in the race and following the details day-to-day may expect and/or fear the current scandals du jour will stick. However, once we've finally got a nominee, I suspect the superficial wounds will heal quickly, and the party will be just fine.
Let's assume Obama comes out on top. Head-to-head, McCain's going to look old and stale and tired compared to his younger, more vibrant counterpart. We've already seen a preview of how that match is going to play out on TV and online. If Clinton somehow manages to eek (thanks ed) eke out the Democratic nomination, I have no doubt even she could trump McCain. Even the Democrats who claim to hate her may be willing to come around in the privacy of the voting booth faced with the alternative of McCain in charge. Plus, we've now seen her machine in action, and it's vicious.
I think there's a lot of huffing and puffing going on, but come the general - faced with 4 more years of the status quo - Democrats and disgruntled Republicans will hone in on the future and vote with their gut.
I may be naive and doling out too much credit (open can...exit worms), but it is such a long process overall that I can't help but consider that some - if not all - of the petty nonsense swirling around now will be long forgotten by November.
Al Gore just gets better and better. Raising capital to help raise awareness in a professional and cross party manner is such a great idea.
The Alliance for Climate Protection's "we" campaign will employ online organizing and television advertisements on shows ranging from "American Idol" to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." It highlights the extent to which Americans' growing awareness of global warming has yet to translate into national policy changes, Gore said in an hour-long phone interview last week. He said the campaign, which Gore is helping to fund, was undertaken in large part because of his fear that U.S. lawmakers are unwilling to curb the human-generated emissions linked to climate change.
John McCain is introducing himself to America this week, I keep hearing. This morning, we'll be reminding everyone that McCain is a campaign finance criminal. Rev. Yearwood and I will be delivering over 31,000 additional signatures to the Federal Elections Commission for the complaint against John McCain. He's breaking the law. So basically, his trip down memory lane is illegal. We'll see if McCain's pals in the traditional media can get this concept. They don't like to make McCain angry -- he's volatile. And, that might get them kicked off the bus.
I'll have a report later this morning on our trip to the FEC.
Because you can never have enough scandal or corruption in this administration. Everything is a personal slush fund in the GOP whether it's Iraq or doling out federal contracts.
Jackson has faced calls for his resignation after lawmakers have said he behaved improperly in awarding federal contracts.
The Federal Housing Administration, overseen by HUD, runs the largest government program to aid home buyers and is seen by many lawmakers as the key to a federal effort to stem foreclosures.
Naturally, Mugabe's government has yet to release polling data. Vote rigging has increasingly been a complaint in recent Zimbabwe elections as the country has spiraled into runaway inflation and chaos. Will Mugabe step down if the results hold? That would be shocking.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) defied a government ban on pre-empting the official announcement of the election results and released the count from polling stations that showed Tsvangirai beating the man who has ruled Zimbabwe for 28 years, even in the president's home territory of Mashonaland.
'We've won this election,' said Tendai Biti, the MDC's secretary-general. 'The results coming in show that in our traditional strongholds we are massacring them. In Mugabe's traditional strongholds they are doing very badly. There is no way Mugabe can claim victory unless it is through fraud. He has lost this election.'
According to the latest FEC filings, the Clinton campaign reported debts of $8.7 million. That report also revealed the Clinton campaign finished February in the red. All of this may explain why efforts to get some of those debts paid isn't easy:
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s cash-strapped presidential campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months — freeing up cash for critical media buys but also earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat in some small-business circles.
A pair of Ohio companies owed more than $25,000 by Clinton for staging events for her campaign are warning others in the tight-knit event production community — and anyone else who will listen — to get their cash upfront when doing business with her. Her campaign, say representatives of the two companies, has stopped returning phone calls and e-mails seeking payment of outstanding invoices. One even got no response from a certified letter.
Their cautionary tales, combined with published reports about similar difficulties faced by a New Hampshire landlord, an Iowa office cleaner and a New York caterer, highlight a less-obvious impact of Clinton’s inability to keep up with the staggering fundraising pace set by her opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
Clinton's campaign did not respond to recent, specific questions about its transactions with vendors. But Clinton spokesman Jay Carson pointed on Saturday to an earlier statement the campaign issued to Politico, asserting: "The campaign pays its bills regularly and in the normal course of business, and pays all of its bills."
There's a big difference between saying you're paying the bills and actually paying them.
And, while Team Clinton may not understand this, $25,000 is a lot of money for a small business. So is $2500 or $250 for that matter.
President Bush just threw out the first pitch at the Nationals v Braves opening night game, and by my estimate, about 1/3 of the crowd booed him.
UPDATE: President Bush just joined announcers Joe Morgan and Jon Miller in the booth. Can you say awkward? Seriously. Bush - not good on the fly. Lots of uncomfortable silences. He did manage to loosen up a little on the flip side of the break, but I'm not sure having him hang out with the guys much longer is a smart call. There's no script. The "oh no he didn't" moment is just a matter of time.
There have also been similar studies about the dangers of wifi, especially for children. Ten years ago when mobile phone studies first started to emerge I was curious but interested in seeing more. Today, I'm glad that I cut back on using one though wifi is another matter.
It draws on growing evidence – exclusively reported in the IoS in October – that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer. Cancers take at least a decade to develop, invalidating official safety assurances based on earlier studies which included few, if any, people who had used the phones for that long.
Earlier this year, the French government warned against the use of mobile phones, especially by children. Germany also advises its people to minimise handset use, and the European Environment Agency has called for exposures to be reduced.
Professor Khurana – a top neurosurgeon who has received 14 awards over the past 16 years, has published more than three dozen scientific papers – reviewed more than 100 studies on the effects of mobile phones.
It never ends for the insanity and proves for the millionth time that no matter how badly you fail in corporate America, you will still be handsomely rewarded. All of the so-called pay for performance talk is nothing more than bull. Corporate America continues to slash benefits not to mention trash jobs for employees but they always take care of themselves.
Worse still is that Bank of America will receive massive tax write-offs for buying the lousy company so BoA will get a nice free ride too boot. Best business environment money can buy. No wonder the US economy has been growing at a slower pace than Europe during the Bush years. It's just like a stinking third world country any more.
I don't have a particularly creative solution for the shortage of ballots that continues to be problematic for states and precincts across the country. I do, however, suggest voting processes become a priority sooner rather than later or we're going to be in big trouble come November.
According to today's AP write, some local elections officials are planning to err on the side of caution while others don't want to print excess ballots "just in case" because it simply costs too much. And in many states, there's no rule or law requiring them to do so.
I say overestimating turnout is a risk worth taking. If you have to scrap a pile of unused ballots, then so be it. That money should be allocated no matter what. Voter turnout is a good thing. This country needs more of it - not less.
You don't invite people to your house for dinner and then turn them away when they arrive claiming you didn't expect them all to show and don't have enough food. It's a surefire way to guarantee they never come back.
Dith is the person who first used the term "killing fields" for the genocide in Cambodia during Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge rule. Somehow he managed to survive those horr
