Rain or Shine

Saturday evening in Fredricksburg, Virginia, despite rain, Obama and Biden join 26,000 people for a rally. The following reports are by an NBC affiliate and a FOX affiliate, respectively, reporting on the rally and interviewing the many veterans for Obama/Biden.





Front-page of Free-Lance Star:


Slideshow:

Science Visualized As Art: 2008 Winning Images

The New Scientist has a gallery of gorgeous images that visualize science as artwork. The images are the winners of the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge: "The awards are given to the best photographs, illustrations and interactive media that visualize science and technology."

Scroll down to see some of this year's winners (see the whole gallery here).

"Squid Suckers: The Little Monsters That Feed the Beast, awarded an Honorable Mention in Photography, is a false-colour microscope image of the suction cups on the arm of the Loligo pealei squid. The 400 micrometer suckers have chitin "fangs" and were photographed by Jessica D. Schiffman and Caroline L. Schauer, Drexel University."

"Mad Hatter's Tea, winner of the Informational Graphics award, is taken from a book called Alice's Adventures in a Microscopic Wonderland. Colleen Champ and Dennis Kunkel, at Concise Image Studios, carefully built scenes from Lewis Carroll's story using microscope images of insects and other small animals."

"The Glass Forest, winner of the photography prize, depicts a community of microscopic diatoms - unicellular algae with a peculiar glass-like cell wall - attached to a marine invertebrate (Eudendrium racemosum). Mario De Stefano, 2nd University of Naples, captured the image with a scanning electron microscope."

Bruno at it Again!

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen caused another security alert when he stormed the catwalk at Milan Fashion Week.

Cohen interrupted the fashion show of designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada in Milan making it onto the catwalk dressed as his Austrian model Bruno. Dressed in a black cloak, and a bizarre bundle of clothing, Cohen strutted down the catwalk past the shows' models.

But the police were called when he refused to leave to restore order.

Scantily clad models screamed and security guards dived on him and several others with him and bundled them away. TV footage screened on Italian TV showed Cohen dressed as his creation Bruno, a flamboyant Austrian fashionista.

Cohen is in Milan working on a new film called Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Male.

Truth Test: Lincoln Diaz-Balart Ad Makes Claims About Raul Martinez

MIAMI -- A new 30-second political ad from the campaign of incumbent Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart makes claims about his opponent that are factually correct, but not the whole story.

The spot opens with images of a mug shot of former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez taken after his 1990 indictment on bribery and extortion charges.

“Convictions from bribery and extortion,” says the announcer over images of 1991 headlines from the Miami Herald and Chicago Tribune.

The conviction headlines are authentic, but the ad does not show the headlines that followed. Martinez won an appeal. His convictions were overturned. And in 1996, a jury acquitted Martinez on one of the corruption charges and hung on the others. Martinez, under U.S. law, is innocent until proven guilty.

The spot alleges Martinez used his public office to become “a millionaire." The context, according to the Diaz-Balart campaign, is back pay and legal fees the Hialeah City Council voted to grant then-Mayor Martinez after his acquittal.

Legally, Martinez was entitled to those. Martinez recently said he also made money during his mayoral tenure from real estate to supplement his city salary.

The Diaz-Balart campaign insinuates Martinez was involved in the drug trade in the 1980s.

"Martinez is featured in the investigative documentary ‘Cocaine Cowboys’ about drug trafficking in South Florida," the announcer says.

The statement is false, according to the dictionary definition of “feature” as “main attraction." Martinez appears in exactly two seconds of the two-hour film in a clip that has nothing to do with drugs. [Local10]

Barack Obama's New Ad

This spot, which lasts two-minutes, takes no shots at McCain. Instead it defines Obama's Plan for Change. A two-minute ad will consume many expensive points to play around the country and as many political strategist know, it takes at least five views to make the ad sticky in the mind of a voter. Well worth it I believe. Lately I've been throwing around the same idea on the premise that a longer ad will catch the voters by surprise and delight that a politician isn't just throwing catchy phrases and potshots, instead taking the time and money to reveal a more thorough explanation of their views and values. 

Hawkish GOP Delegate with His Pants Down

Reported by Pioneer Press

He met her in the bar of the swank hotel and invited her to his room. Once there, the woman fixed the drinks and told him to get undressed.

And that, the delegate to the Republican National Convention told police, was the last thing he remembered.

When he awoke, the woman was gone, as was more than $120,000 in money, jewelry and other belongings.

The thief’s take stunned cops.

“It’s very, very, very rare,” Minneapolis Police Sgt. William Palmer said. “I can think of a couple of burglaries where we had that much stolen, but it’s the first time I’ve heard of this kind of deal.”

The Pioneer Press posted the following video which includes intelligent statements what makes you consider, “How could this happen to him?” Including how the US should “bomb the hell out of [Iran].” When asked how the US would pay for such a strike, he continues, “We should plant a flag, take the oil, take the money. We deserve reimbursement.”

What’s Spanish for ‘Lies’?

Senator John McCain’s truth-deficient campaign hit another low last Friday with a fraudulent new ad, this time about immigration.

The ad, in Spanish, accuses Senator Barack Obama and his Congressional allies of killing immigration reform.

It’s a gross distortion.

Here is an English translation:

Announcer: Obama and his Congressional allies say they are on the side of immigrants. But are they?

The press reports that their efforts were “poison pills” that made immigration reform fail.

The result:

No guest worker program.

No path to citizenship.

No secure borders.

No reform.

Is that being on our side?

Obama and his Congressional allies ready to block immigration reform, but not ready to lead.

John McCain: I’m John McCain and I approve this message.

Block immigration reform? The Democrats?

Mr. Obama opposing a path to citizenship?

Welcome to the night-is-day, down-is-up, world of the McCain campaign.

Some history:

Last year’s Senate immigration bill was a big, fat compromise that had a lot in it to please both sides in the debate. Among other things, it added tough layers of enforcement at the border and in the workplace, and included a (long and torturous) path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

The bill was a right-of-center compromise. Back in the day, Mr. McCain — who once drafted a comprehensive immigration bill with Senator Edward Kennedy — would have led the charge for a bill like this. Back when he was still an independent thinker on immigration.

But by the time this bill came along, Mr. McCain was eager to win over the right-wing base of his party, which has never trusted him on immigration (or a number of other issues). Rather than continue to play the maverick, Mr. McCain largely absented himself from negotiations — and slipped meekly back into the herd.

The bill that emerged from that process was a mess. Advocates of comprehensive reform held their noses and supported it, hoping it could be improved in conference. Republicans attacked it, egged on by talk-radio hosts waging an all-out assault on what they called an “amnesty bill.”

Hundreds of amendments were proposed to kill it or improve it, depending on your point of view, and some were called “poison pills” by the “grand bargainers” who had assembled the unwieldy compromise.

So, here is what that misleading Spanish ad is referring to.

Mr. Obama supported an amendment from Senator Byron Dorgan, backed by unions, that would have phased out a guest-worker program after five years. The amendment passed, 49 to 48, but it was no poison pill.

“Not one member of Congress stood up and said, ‘I’m voting against the bill because of that Dorgan amendment,’” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, an organization supporting comprehensive immigration reform. “It’s preposterous. Not even close.”

In the end, it wasn’t that amendment or any others supported by Mr. Obama that caused the fragile coalition to fall apart. The bill was killed by Mr. McCain’s party. Its supporters were hoping to attract 25 to 30 Republican votes, but they could only round up 12, in the wake of all of those right-wing attacks.

Mr. McCain once was a moderate on immigration — and steadfast. Now he’s slippery. Marching in step with the Lou Dobbs crowd, he talks of border security first and foremost. He says he would have voted againsthis own McCain-Kennedy bill. He leads a party whose convention platform pushes a hard restrictionist line.

But at the same time Mr. McCain panders to Latino immigrants, in Spanish, accusing Mr. Obama of not being on “our side” — the pro-amnesty side.

Does this mean that Mr. McCain truly regrets the demise of the “path to citizenship”? That he really supports it, and will push for it harder than Mr. Obama will? Is he willing to stand up to his own party on that?

If he is, let’s hear him say so — in English, too. [NYTimes]

New Joe Garcia Ad: "93%"

Obama Ad Targets McCain's "Vile," "Truth Be Damned" Distortions

Greenspan: No McCain tax cuts without reduction

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alan Greenspan says the country can’t afford tax cuts of the magnitude proposed by Republican presidential contender John McCain — at least not without a corresponding reduction in government spending.

“Unless we cut spending, no,” the former Federal Reserve chairman said Friday when asked about McCain’s proposed tax cuts, pegged in some estimates at $3.3 trillion.

“I’m not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money,” Greenspan said during an interview with Bloomberg Television. “I always have tied tax cuts to spending.”

Speed-campaigning... all your negative ads in 5 seconds

US Poll Says Miami Residents 'Most Attractive'

As if the nice weather and sandy beaches weren't enough to put Miami residents in a good mood, they were called the nation's "most attractive" by a new poll released on Friday.

According to an online survey of "America's Favorite Cities" by Travel + Leisure magazine, Florida's metropolis has the most beautiful people, while Philadelphia came in last at No. 25.

"I'm not surprised at all, but I'm not in that group" joked Bill Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, about the city's attractive people rating.

San Diego ranked No. 2 on the survey followed by Austin, Charleston and Honolulu.

The online survey of 125,000 people ranked 25 U.S. cities in 45 categories ranging from most affordable to friendliest people.

In 2008, Miami was ranked as "America's Cleanest City" by Forbes Magazine for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and citywide recycling programs.

Travel + Leisure Magazine's Rankings:

1. Miami
2. San Diego
3. Austin
4. Charleston
5. Honolulu
6. Los Angeles
7. San Francisco
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul
9. New York
10. Denver
11. Phoenix/Scottsdale
12. Las Vegas
13. Portland, Ore.
14. Seattle
15. Nashville
16. Chicago
17. Boston
18. Dallas/Fort Worth
19. Sante Fe
20. San Antonio
21. Washington, D.C.
22. Orlando
23. Atlanta
24. New Orleans
25. Philadelphia

[Local10]

The Thrasher Residence in Los Angeles, California

This home sits on its perch among the bird themed streets of the Hollywood Hills overlooking Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.  From its unassuming entrance at 9191 Thrasher Avenue, it welcomes visitors into a 5 bedroom/5 bathroom home of contemporary luxury with features that include polished concrete floors, 13 foot ceilings, and a large terrace with stunning city views.

Back in June, the home was listed for sale at $12.85 million, but according to MLS, it has recently been reduced to $10.5 million. Bennett Carr is the agent, visit his website - here.

More Pictures...

Cuba: Thanks but no thanks.

The Cuban government rejected the U.S. State Department's offer to send a disaster relief team to western Cuba to assess damages from last week's Hurricane Gustav, the Cuban government announced in a statement by the Foreign Ministry Saturday.

   Four days after Hurricane Gustav trounced western Cuba, the U.S. State Department offered $100,000 in aid through nongovernmental groups and offered to send a disaster assessment team. The offer came verbally from Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs to the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, the Cuban government said.

   On Saturday morning, the Cuban government responded: no thanks, lift the U.S. embargo instead.

"Cuba does not need a humanitarian evaluation group to evaluate the damages and needs, since it already has sufficient specialists who have practically concluded said work,'' the Cuban government said in a statement posted Saturday on the Cubadebate web site. "We request that the government allow the sale to Cuba of indispensable materials and suspend restrictions which impede American companies from offering our country private commercial credits to buy food in the United States.''

The statement pointed out that even Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama publicly said that the restrictions on family travel and remittances to the island should be lifted for at least 90 days in wake of the widespread damages in western Cuba.

The only ethical and moral thing to do, Cuba said, would be to lift the U.S. trade embargo, the statement said.

- Frances Robles

[Cuban Colada]

Record 13 Presidential Candidates On Florida Ballot — Let The Confusion Begin

Florida will have a record 13 Presidential candidates on the ballot for this year. Yes, the state of the hanging chad, penalized convention delegations and Democrats who almost failed to put up an Electoral College slate this year for Obama, have now cluttered the ballot as never before. It is as if Florida is priming itself for another fiasco.

One more thing, just so it does not get to easy to vote, an empty slot is open for Gary Nettles and Brad Krones, certified as write-in candidates. Here is the ballot listing:

John McCain and Sarah Palin, Republican

Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Democrat

Gloria La Riva and Eugene Puryear, Party for Socialism and Liberation - Florida

Chuck Baldwin and Darrell Castle, Constitution Party of Florida

Gene Amondson and Leroy Pletten, Prohibition Party

Bob Barr and Wayne A. Root, Libertarian

Thomas Robert Stevens and Alden Link, Objectivist Party

James Harris and Alyson Kennedy, Florida Socialist Workers Party

Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, Green Party

Alan Keyes and Brian Rohrbough, America’s Independent Party

Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez , Ecology Party of Florida

Brian Moore and Stewart Alexander, Socialist Party of Florida

Charles Jay and John Wayne Smith, Boston Tea Party/Personal Choice Party

The previous record was 10 Presidential candidates in 2000. We know what happened that year. Now the ballot is even more complicated. Somehow, I bet we have not heard the last of this. [Foolocracy]

Miami Schools Chief to Leave Amid Discord

The Miami-Dade County School Board and Rudy Crew, the onetime New York City schools chancellor who came here four years ago promising to overhaul education, have agreed to part ways.

Rudy Crew

The board voted Monday to begin negotiations on a severance package for Dr. Crew, the district’s superintendent, capping more than a year filled with racial recriminations and rising tensions over the school budget.

“Right now we have irreconcilable differences,” the board’s chairman, Agustin J. Barrera, said at a special meeting to discuss Dr. Crew. “There are board members that, no matter what the superintendent does, will never support him.”

Dr. Crew, who did not attend Monday’s meeting, declined to comment. In an interview published Sunday in The Miami Herald, he said, “I feel like I did the best I could.”

The departure brings to a close Dr. Crew’s second stint as a big-city schools chief. He spent four years leading the New York City schools, leaving in 1999 with a mixed record after a dispute with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani over Mr. Giuliani’s desire to use tax money to send children to private school.

Dr. Crew went on to become director of district reform initiatives at the Stupski Foundation, a private philanthropic organization, and arrived in Miami in 2004. Promising to raise achievement in the nation’s fourth-largest school district, with 353,000 students, he seized control of the worst schools from local administrators and raised salaries for teachers who agreed to work in them.

He had some success. More Miami students now take Advanced Placement courses, a measure of college preparedness, and scores on state achievement tests have increased slightly but steadily in math, reading and writing since 2004.

The district initially seemed pleased. In 2006, Dr. Crew’s contract was extended through 2010, when his salary was to peak at $360,000 plus as much as $80,000 in a bonus. But over the last year, with Miami-Dade schools struggling under the strain of state budget cuts and declining enrollment, he has increasingly come under fire.

A growing mood of racial distrust has also poisoned the debate. In 2006, two members of Dr. Crew’s staff accused Ralph Arza, a white Cuban-American who was then a member of the Florida House, of using racial epithets to describe the superintendent, who is black. The episode ultimately led to Mr. Arza’s resignation from the Legislature.

Dr. Crew, meanwhile, has been accused of discrimination by several former employees, including a white woman who says she was demoted for the sake of diversity. (Dr. Crew has denied any bias.)

The volatile situation peaked at a school board meeting last week when a Hispanic member of the board severely criticized the superintendent’s proposal to balance the district’s $5.5 billion budget by reducing spending on bilingual education, prompting Dr. Crew to respond, “Do not talk to me like a dog!”

Monday’s meeting was quieter with Dr. Crew absent. But several of the board’s nine members maintained that he deserved much of the blame for what is now a $66 million budget shortfall for the 2008-9 school year. One member, Renier Diaz de la Portilla, said Dr. Crew should be fired or resign, without severance.

“I think we have an obligation to seek every possible remedy that does not involve giving Rudy Crew more money,” Mr. Diaz de la Portilla said. “We haven’t explored any other options other than giving Rudy Crew a golden parachute, and I think that’s wrong. That’s not what I was elected to do.”

A settlement seems likely, though. Murray A. Greenberg, outside counsel for the board, pointed out that Dr. Crew’s contract allowed for his firing without severance only if the district could prove “gross insubordination,” a difficult task.

Wilbert Holloway, one of the few members who support Dr. Crew, said the board and the superintendent just wanted to move on. “I think that today’s effort is a material way of stopping and saying, ‘The time has come that we part,’ ” Dr. Holloway said. “Let’s try to stop the attacks and the charges against this individual and move forward.” [NYTimes]

Progressive Accountability New Documentary - 'Third Term"

The McCain-Palin Lies and the Neil Armstrong Principle

By Paul Begala  

If John McCain and Sarah Palin were to say the moon was made of green cheese, we can be certain that Barack Obama and Joe Biden would pounce on it, and point out it's actually made of rock. And you just know the headline in the paper the next day would read: "CANDIDATES CLASH ON LUNAR LANDSCAPE."

Why doesn't somebody call Neil Armstrong? He's been there. Or go to the Smithsonian and open the glass case that contains a piece of the moon. The moon is a rock. That's a fact, Jack.

Facts are indeed stubborn things, but the McCain-Palin lies are more stubborn still.

In the face of demonstrable, provable, incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, McCain and Palin continue to assert that Gov. Palin opposed the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." They do so in their speeches and ads, and their supporters say so on television until their pants are on fire. McCain and Palin also claim the Alaska governor opposes earmarks -- despite the fact that she's gotten her state so much pork she's at risk for trichinosis.

I was in the middle of a Neil Armstrong Moment when I was on CNN Tuesday morning. Rather than let McCain and Palin get away with their lie, anchor John Roberts played a videotape of Sarah Palin in a 2006 gubernatorial debate in which she endorsed the bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island saying, "I'm not going to stand in the way of progress that our congressional delegation and the position of strength that they have right now." Perhaps her supporters, noting Palin's support for banning books, teaching creationism and doubting global warming will argue that for her, calling the bridge "progress" was her way of saying she was against it.) But the Anchorage Daily Newsforecloses that option, reporting, "In September, 2006, Palin showed up in Ketchikan on her gubernatorial campaign and said the bridge was essential for the town's prosperity."

After the videotape ran, I said the media was at fault for letting Palin and McCain get away with "flat out lies." GOP strategist Alex Castellanos manfully tried to shine a cow patty, saying, "The amazing thing about Sarah Palin is when she became governor she actually stood up and said no."

Increasingly frustrated, I pointed out that just was not true, and the "debate" continued.

Most of political debate is subjective: who's more qualified, who's more compassionate, whose experience is more relevant, who has better ideas on health care or energy or global warming or the economy? There is no Objective Truth on those matters, and debate -- even when voices are sometimes raised -- can help voters decide who they agree with. On those matters of subjective judgment it's perfectly appropriate for the media to hold the coats of the candidates and let them fight it out.

But facts ought not be debatable. The media have an obligation to point out when a politician is lying about a matter of fact, but the right-wing attack machine has so cowed some of them you can almost hear them moo. Steve Schmidt, McCain's top dog, is a brilliant and audacious strategist. His candidate has had the most favorable press coverage of any politician of the last century -- fawning, adoring, sycophantic press coverage. And yet he is brutalizing the press, waterboarding them into pretending that whether Gov. Palin supported the "Bridge to Nowhere," or hired an Abramoff-connected lobbyist to secure massive earmarks are somehow debatable.

The real debate is over whether the media will be vigilant watchdogs, sounding the alarm when McCain and Palin lie, or fall back to the role they've played for most of McCain's career: lapdog.

Sarah Palin a Reformer? Simply Laughable!

WHOA, McCain Ain't No Maverick

George Bush In Lipstick

A core Democratic talking point against Sarah Palin is beginning to take shape: she is, critics say, the female counterpart of the current President of the United States, not only in terms of policy and social conservatism, but even personality.

"She's not a pitbull in lipstick," said one female Democratic operative, referencing a line from Palin's convention speech. "She's George Bush in lipstick."

From her hard-right stances on abortion and contraception and the deep affection she engenders from conservative evangelical leaders, to her involvement in a possible "abuse of power" scandal in Alaska and even her charming demeanor, some see in Palin the second coming of the 43rd president.

The Palin-as-Bush theme comes just in time: with less than two months before election day, Democrats have a limited window to define McCain's vice presidential pick in the eyes of voters. Her relatively sparse record, particularly on key national issues, made finding a line of attack more difficult. And the McCain campaign's efforts to paint the media coverage of Palin as sexist, and to link the Obama campaign to that coverage, only complicated matters further.

Obama himself made the Palin-Bush comparison during his Sunday appearance on ABC's This Week, calling her "somebody who may be even more aligned with George Bush - or Dick Cheney, or the politics we've seen over the last eight years - than John McCain himself is."

Later, Robert Gibbs, senior aide to the Democratic nominee, fleshed out the case in an interview on CNN. "Sarah Palin doesn't think climate change is man made. Both John McCain and Sarah Palin want to outlaw abortion, even in the case of rape and incest. I'll let you decide who you think is extreme, but you've got a candidate in Sarah Palin who says she's against the bridge for nowhere, but she campaigned on it. She says she's against lobbyists getting pork for her state when she hired a lobbyist to get pork for her state. And now she stands in the way of an ethics investigation to look into her actions that was approved by the Republican legislature. I'm telling you...she's going to fit in just great at Washington because that's what happening right now."

Moreover, on a relatively high-profile environmental issue, Palin actually went to court to take on the Bush administration from the right, objecting to the president's decision to list polar bears on the endangered species list. (The UK Independent, in its understated form, noted that Palin "has an environmental policy so toxic it would make the incumbent, George Bush, blush.")

The McCain campaign's reply to this message was summed up by Nancy Pfotenhauer, who responded to Gibbs on CNN: "That is a total crock, Robert, and you know it." McCain staffers say the ethics investigation in Alaska will find Palin did nothing improper, and that she has worked against earmarks as governor.

Unfortunately for McCain, however, it is not only Democrats who see ties between Palin and the current President.

On Saturday, former Bush speechwriter David Frum wrote on his National Review blog, "George W. Bush had very slight executive experience before becoming president. His views were not well known. He won the nomination exactly in the same way that Palin has won the hearts of so many conservatives: by sending cultural cues to convince them that he was one of them, understood them, sympathized with them. So that made everything else irrelevant in 2000 - as it seems again to be doing in 2008."

But in the end, Frum wrote, Bush lacked "important aspects of leadership which is how we got into the mess from which he needed to rescue the country and himself."

Sarah Palin, John McCain and Earmarks

The truth is out. Sarah Palin may have posed as an opponent of congressionally mandated earmarks, but when the slop was in the bucket, she was one of the first at Senator Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) trough.

The Seattle Times reported yesterday that she submitted 31 earmark requests totaling $197 million in the current (FY2009) budget cycle. According to that paper, it was “more, per person, than any other state.”

The Washington Post reports that in 2000, Palin took an extraordinary step as the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town that had fewer than 5,500 residents—she hired a Washington lobbyist to seek congressional earmarks. According to thePost, she won a total of $6.1 million in earmarks for the city of Wasilla in 2002.

A review of the Taxpayers for Common Sense database from which the Post derived that number indicates that 2002 was actually a subpar year for Palin. Over the course of her four years she sought earmarks as city mayor and won an average of $6.7 million a year.

Both numbers need to be placed in some perspective. Fiscal year 2008 was the first year for which there was a complete listing of all earmarks contained in all appropriation bills. That information was loaded into several databases, including the one developed by Taxpayers for Common Sense. According to that data, the average state got about $50 per person in earmarked funds in 2008. Alaska, represented by Ted Stevens, the Senate’s earmarker-in-chief, got $506 per person—about 10 times the national average. Wasilla between 2000 and 2003 was getting well over $1,000 per person—twice the Alaska state average in 2008.

There is nothing particularly wrong with any of these actions. Yet Palin has advertised herself as a reformer and a skeptic of earmarking while maneuvering to become the earmark queen of the earmark state. The energy she has put into finding resources to help solve problems in her hometown and her state is admirable. She didn’t create the rules about how federal money is distributed—by competitive grants, formulas, or congressional earmarks—but once the rules were in place, she used them to the maximum advantage of those she was elected to represent.

That creates an odd juxtaposition between her and the man with whom she shares the ticket. Unlike most of his colleagues in Congress, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has not only tried to change the rules governing the use of earmarks—he has refused to pursue them on behalf of needy constituencies he was elected to defend even when it was clear that the rules would not be changed and millions of dollars that might go to Arizona would be headed to other parts of the country.

While Sara Palin’s constituents in Wasilla were getting about 20 times the national average in earmarked federal funding, McCain’s constituents in Arizona were getting less than half the national average. The data indicates that if Arizona had matched the national average, the state would have, in the current fiscal year, received more than $133 million dollars in additional federal investments in schools, hospitals, roads, and so forth. In fact, the database indicates that Arizona rates dead last among the 50 states in per capita earmarked funds at $18.70 per person. This is despite the best efforts of Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who is also an opponent of the earmarking process, but unwilling to give up earmarked funds to other states just to protect rhetorical high ground.

A review of the earmarks that Kyl and others in the delegation brought home to Arizona in 2008 tells an interesting story. Kyl reached across the aisle to help Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) with a project for the community of Nogales, Arizona—a project intended to resolve a long festering safety and public health issue.

Nogales is a town of about 20,000, or roughly three times the size of Wasilla, but a third of the residents live in poverty compared to 12 percent nationally and 10 percent in Wasilla. Overall, per capita income in Nogales is about a third of the national average. But perhaps the biggest problem facing Nogales is its geography. It is one of the few places on the U.S.-Mexican border where the watershed flows north, and when tropical storms from the Pacific Ocean come raging across the Sonoran dessert as they do every couple of years. Nogales, Arizona, is inundated not only in water but animal waste, raw sewage, and debris from Mexico.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a flood control plan for Nogales, but no money has been included in recent presidential budgets for such an effort. Kyl and Grijalva’s efforts added $4.6 million to the FY2008 budget to begin to address this critical need.

Kyl also worked with fellow Republican Rick Renzi (R-AZ) to add $750,000 to the Transportation and Housing Appropriation bill to repair a road on the Navajo Reservation running from Hardrock to Pinon. The current quality of the road is so poor that it is often impassible in winter months, residents are cut off from the outside world, and food and medical supplies must be airlifted to avert starvation.

This is not to say that everything that Kyl or others in the Arizona delegation do with respect to earmarking is perfect or even laudable. I am certain they directed funds at less urgent needs. But it does demonstrate that Arizona, like many states, has communities that desperately need help, and that McCain, unlike his running mate, has had the power to help those communities and has refused to do so. That is a rather remarkable decision, even if it makes one’s campaign message a little crisper. Perhaps there are things that John McCain can learn from Sara Palin during the course of the coming campaign.[CenterforAmericanProgressActionFund]

Biden Rips McCain Speech

The Sound of Luxury Cars Rev A Woman's Engine

A British psychologist said his study indicates the revving of a luxury car's engine tends to have a sexually arousing effect in women.

Psychologist David Moxon said his study, which was commissioned by auto insurer Hiscox, involved 40 adults listening to recordings of engines from a Maserati, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari along with the more pedestrian Volkswagen Polo, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

He said his team took saliva samples from the study participants to measure levels of testosterone, a hormone that indicates sexual arousal, before and after they listened to recordings of the cars.

Moxon said a full 100 percent of the women involved in the study had a significant increase in testosterone levels after listening to the Maserati engine, while only half of the men marked an increase.

However, 60 percent of the men showed an increase in testosterone after listening to the Lamborghini.

"We saw significant peaks, particularly in women," Moxon said of his study. "The roar of a luxury car engine does cause a primeval physiological response."

However, he noted the sound of the more common Volkswagen Polo led to a decrease in testosterone for some participants.

Top 10 Richest Streets in the World

1 Avenue Princess Grace, Monaco (£9,650 per sq ft)

2 Severn Road, Hong Kong (£6,090 per sq ft )

3 Fifth Avenue, New York (£4,080 per sq ft)

4 Kensington Palace Gardens, London (£3,910 per sq ft)

5 Avenue Montaigne, Paris (£2,740 per sq ft)

6 Ostozhenka, Moscow (£2,030 per sq ft)

7 Via Suvretta, St Mortiz (£1,930 per sq ft)

8 Carolwood Drive, Beverly Hills (£1,520 per sq ft)

9 Wolseley Road, Sydney (£1,420 per sq ft)

10 Altamount Road, Mumbai (£1,270 per sq ft)

[Timesonline.co.uk]

Avila in Tampa

Today's home is located inside Avila, a private country club community. The gated home is on over five acres overlooking the golf course, pond and conservation areas within Avila. The compound is over 28,000 square feet of space and with attached guest quarters it has 10 bedrooms. The home is pretty ornate. Outside it has a grand manor-like look. Inside there is a large ballroom, a library paneled in dark wood , 14 fireplaces, elevator, wine room. The grounds include a pool and spa with cabana and basketball court. This home is listed at $25 million.

Blatant Hypocrisy Exposed!

By the brilliant John Stewart, or as Stephen Colbert describes him, “Jon deconstructs the news and he's, ironic and detached, but I falsely construct the news and am ironically attached. You know I'm not detached at all. I'm passionate about what I'm talking about. Jon may point out the hypocrisy of a particular thing happening in a news story or the behavior of somebody in the news. I illustrate the hypocrisy as a character, that's Jon being Jon and that's me not being me, that's me being the Stephen Colbert guy.”

McCain Refuses to Meet with Anti-War Iraq Veterans

Iraq Veterans Against the War marched to the convention center in St. Paul yesterday intending to present Senator John McCain with a list of demands regarding U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The veterans conducted a similar exercise in Denver at the Democratic Convention and delivered their letter to Senator Obama. McCain, however, refused to meet with the group. The UpTake’s Chuck Olsen reports.

Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy Caught On Tape Disparaging Palin Choice: "It's Over," "Political Bullshit," "Gimmicky"

Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former John McCain adviser, Time columnist, and MSNBC contributor Mike Murphy were caught on tape disparaging John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.

“It’s over,” Noonan said. 

 

When Chuck Todd asked her if this was the most qualified woman the Republicans could nominate, Noonan responded, “The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives. Every time the Republicans do that, because that’s not where they live and that’s not what they’re good at, they blow it.”  

Murphy characterized the choices as “cynical” and “gimmicky.”  

Watch (the dialogue in question starts 38 seconds in, full transcript is below the video):

Chuck Todd: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we’ll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We’ll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she’s the right woman for the job Up next, one man who’s already convinced and he’ll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman. (cut away)

Peggy Noonan: Yeah.

Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys—this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it’s not gonna work. And --

PN: It’s over.

MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PN: Saw Kay this morning.

CT: Yeah, she’s never looked comfortable about this --

MM: They’re all bummed out.

CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this—excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MM: I totally agree.

PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at, they blow it.

MM: You know what’s really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MM: Yeah.

[HuffingtonPost]

CBS News Poll - Released September 1, 2008

Highlights:

-48% Obama/Biden vs. 40% McCain/Palin

-Gained 3% point since the Convention. 

-Obama winning support of independent voters; before convention, McCain had a 12 point advantage.

-Obama's lead among women has grown, to 14 points from 8 points before convention. 50% for Obama-36% for McCain

-67% of Obama voters say they enthusiastically support him; 25% of McCain's backers are enthusiastic about him.

-Post Convention, voters say Obama is 'tough enough," 58% now, up from 48% in early August.

-Palin's selection may have the greatest effect on men. 17% men more likely to vote as a result. Just 10% of women say the same, 77% of women say Palin won't affect their vote.

-Biden's presence has a greater net positive impact than Palin's. 15% More likely to vote Obama/Biden compared to 13% for McCain/Palin because of VP pick. More interesting, Biden caused only 4% to be less likely for ticket, compared to 11% less likely for McCain/Palin.

-71% of Americans and 63% of Republicans claimed they watched the Democratic Convention.

CBS News Poll (pdf)

New Ad Hits GOP On Katrina Failures

Despite both the Democrats and Republicans taking a break from politics to follow Hurricane Gustav's path on Monday, a progressive group is planning to hit GOP delegates with an ad reminding them of failures in the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Campaign for America's Future put an ad together that will run on news channels shown in more than 5,000 hotel rooms where Republicans will stay for their convention in the Twin Cities.

With Hurricane Gustav on the nation’s mind, the ad reminds viewers of the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, the liberal group said a statement.

The statement adds: "It also highlights skyrocketing gas prices, soaring home foreclosures, the infamous 'Mission Accomplished' banner and tells conservatives, 'You’ve done a heckuva job!'"

The beginning of the GOP convention has been postponed and the Republican Party is taking it hour-by-hour to see the effects of Gustav on the Louisiana coast. It is yet unclear whether presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will accept his nomination in person.

In the meantime, the Democratic response team at the GOP convention has temporarily halted attacks as the nation is dealing with Hurricane Gustav. Democrats know that any attacks on McCain and President Bush, who is overseeing efforts to help the Gulf Coast deal with the powerful storm, could backfire as political opportunism in a time of crisis. So they have been eager to show that they can leave politics aside and are doing all they can to assist the region affected by Gustav.

James Carville v. Rep. Michelle Bachman on Larry King Live

James again shows why he is one of the best political men in this country at 5:55 in the video. He holds up, while exposing Sarah inexistent experience, a picture of the City Hall of Wasilla and says, "It looks like a bait shop in South Louisiana." What response would you expect? You might think Rep. Michelle Bachman would mention Sarah Palin is a Governor and stay on the talking points. But, no. This lady takes it below the belt accusing James of sexism. A man that was a staunch support of Hillary Clinton! 

Now, this is a tactic that we can expect in weeks to come when they don't have a counter-argument, be prepared. 

Joe Garcia is Here to Win

The Miami Herald -- Julio Sanchez Cristo

It's not hard to guess why Mario Diaz-Balart prefers to avoid Joe Garcia these days. He doesn't want to bump into him at social gatherings at the Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana, much less on the radio, television or here in the Herald. Things happen when, after so many years of a family holding political power, all of a sudden, there is fatigue of the repeated speeches, the passing of days, generational shifts or the moment of political realignment in the country sounds several alarms that warn that the trendy word, change, is not only coming to the White House, but to the Congress as well. And this is going to happen to good ol' Joe.

Let's go piece by piece. Nepotism, regardless how nice the brothers of a dynasty may be, creates antipathy, whether it be in Florida, California, Texas, China or Vietnam. You also have to add that the same anti-Castro focus of the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, no longer resonates in 2008. On the contrary, there is a boomerang effect, and you can no longer duck your head or use the same old story that generated votes in the past. Cuban-American voters clearly want change in their homeland, along with liberty and democracy, so they can once again breathe the breeze that stayed behind in Havana's piers. There is no disagreement on this issue, but alongside this exiled voting bloc, there is now a new voter. There is the young Cuban American that was born in the United States, and despite the love he may have for the grandparents and uncles he may or may not have met, he has a different vision of the problem. His origins may be in Cuba, but his school, university, wife, kids and future are in the United States. His first language is English, and he almost doesn't understand the rhetoric that dates back four decades of exiles talking about the death of the tyrant or the fall of the regime.

These young Cuban-Americans are affected by the drama of their peers, and the nostalgia less than 90 miles from Florida, but what they're more interested in is that a young politician, that speaks their language, is ready to solve their daily problems here in the United States. This has been the focus of Mr. Garcia's campaign. Aside from this generational dilemma, the Diaz-Balarts' and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen's problem, is that their Democratic opponents for Congress have surfaced while the country has been inspired by the optimistic change that Barack Obama signifies. During such a political climate, the standard-bearers of exile politics represent the exact opposite.

Some things happen when a candidate arrives that was born on Miami Beach; has longer hair; is known for being a good guy; is linked to the University of Miami; is well prepared; and close to various groups of Cuban Americans, prefers to speak less about the 'Cuba libre' we all want, and focuses more on speaking to voters, whose lives are committed to the country we live in, about pocket-book issues and their daily lives.

I'm not sure if there will be a electoral dethroning of the congressional Republicans, but what is felt in forums, letters to the media and in polls is that change is not only a perception, but rather a real possibility, with a candidate that shows personal respect toward his opponents and thinks they are not efficient and that the time for another option is now. Certain things happen when a veteran politician that follows the line of Diaz-Balart begins to understand that we find ourselves in a year where China changes, and that Florida will not be an island in this cry for change, and that's why he'll find every possible excuse not to be in the same place where he may have to debate, confront or analyze his rival. Joe Garcia is here to win.

Martinez: Diaz-Balart wants to distract

Raul Martinez's campaign says Lincoln Diaz-Balart's new ad is proof that the Republican is feeling the heat of his challenger.

"Now that Lincoln is behind in the polls, he’s resorting to lies that are so outrageous, even he can’t make sense of them," said spokesman Aaron Blye. "On one hand he says the mayor was convicted and in the same ad he cites a Miami Herald news article that says the mayor wasn’t convicted. Twelve years ago, the Miami Herald reported that Raul was acquitted."

Martinez Monday will pick up the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union at his campaign headquarters in Hialeah. [NakedPolitics]

On Cuba, Díaz-Balart speaks for McCain

John McCain has designated Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) as adviser and spokesman on matters related to Latin America, the Agence France-Presse reports. In St. Paul, Minn., the Cuban-born Díaz-Balart sat down Sunday with the French news agency to spell out the candidate's stances. Among them:
• In a McCain administration, "there would be an even greater interest on the part of the U.S. president [...] in the need to help the domestic opposition and the civilian society" in Cuba. That would mean maintaining the embargo "until a democratic transition occurs in Cuba" and three conditions are met: "the release of political prisoners, the legalization of all parties, the press and labor unions, and a call for an electoral process."
• The U.S. will maintain "a closer relationship with our friends, such as Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and other, very friendly governments" in the hemisphere.
• "McCain is aware that [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chávez is a threat for the entire hemisphere, that Chávez is funding destabilizing elements throughout the hemisphere. There is a need to counter Chávez's efforts to destabilize the democracies in the hemisphere through the utilization of the economic power given to him by his oil. Much of the problem we have with Bolivia and Ecuador comes from the utilization by Mr. Chávez of Venezuela's resources to expand his influence and anti-American agenda. What we're seeing in those countries is very worrisome."
To read the AFP article (in Spanish), click here. [Photo shows McCain and Díaz-Balart in Miami in May.]
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.

Interesting Comment by Walter Lippman:

Lincoln's father was a fan of Batista:

Mr. SOURWINE. Did you ever hold office under any President other than Batista?

Mr. DIAZ BALART. No, Sir.

Mr. SOURWINE. Were you, then, a pro-Batista Cuban? You were part of the Batista government?

Mr. DIAZ BALART. Yes. I was pro-Batista before 1952, when the party that he founded-he called it a new party, and he called the Cuban youth to join that party in order to fight for order, for progress, and for stability of the Cuban country. And I liked those principles. I joined him in the opposition. I was the leader of the youth party in all the nation while we were in the opposition. And in 1952, when the coup d'etat took place-in 1952, 10th of March-I continued with Batista, because he promised to give the country progress and stability, and I was very much concerned with the terrible situation of my country before those years when the life, the human life didn't have any value at all. And being a Christian, as I am, I have always thought that it is not possible to think in any other human principle in any country if you dont have before anything the guarantee of the human life, and of the human dignity.

Mr. SOURWINE. When did you leave the Batista government?

Mr. DIAZ BALART. I was elected in 1954 a congressman, and I continued within the government of Batista with very definite and peculiar point of view, as head of the youth movement. We were asking Batista in private and in public for honesty in the government, for progress, for stability, for free elections, and there is a matter of record, even in the U.S. magazine like Time, of that time, when we asked in a big rally of more than 80,000 young men and women all throughout the island headed by me, we asked Batista to have free elections.

READ ALL OF HIS TESTIMONY HERE:
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/diaz-balart.htm

Focus Groups vs. Sarah Palin

Another week, another Frank Luntz/AARP focus group of undecided voters--this one in Minneapolis and with some bad news for John McCain: they don't like the choice of Sarah Palin for vice president. Only one person said Palin made him more likely to vote for McCain; about half the 25-member group raised their hands when asked if Palin made them less likely to vote for McCain. They had a negative impression of Palin by a 2-1 margin...a fact that was reinforced when they were given hand-dials and asked to react to Palin's speech at her first appearance with McCain on Friday---the dials remained totally neutral as Palin went through her heart-warming(?) biography, and only blipped upwards when she said she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere--which wasn't quite the truth, as we now know.

Then there was this, from a woman named Teresa, who went to the Democratic Convention as a Hillary delegate and is leaning toward voting for McCain--obviously the target audience for the Palin pick: "His age didn't really bother me until he picked Palin. What if he dies in office and leaves us with her as President? Also she leans toward the rigid right, and I always thought he was a moderate...You know, I change my mind almost every day, but right now I"m wondering where the John McCain I really liked in 2000 went, what happened to the moderate? This John McCain has the look of someone who is being manipulated--probably by Karl Rove."

Teresa still wasn't willing to vote for Obama, whom she considers too inexperienced, but she was clearly wavering. Afterwards Luntz, good Republican that he is, made the case that Palin could win all these people back with a good convention speech, but that seemed far-fetched to me. They really saw this pick as a gimmick--and one that reflected badly on John McCain's judgment. [SwampLand]

Video

Palin's Daughter Pregnant, Campaign Announces

ST. PAUL, Minn. — John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.

A statement released by the campaign said that Bristol Palin will keep her baby and marry the child's father. Bristol Palin is five months pregnant, and the baby is due in late December.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Sarah and Todd Palin said in the brief statement.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family," they added.

Sarah Palin's son Trig was born in April with Down syndrome. Internet bloggers have been suggesting that the child was actually born to Bristol Palin but that her mother, the Alaska governor, claimed to be the mother.

McCain adviser Mark Salter said the campaign announced the daughter's pregnancy to rebut those rumors.

Senior McCain advisers said the Arizona senator and his top aides had known about Bristol's pregnancy before offering Palin the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket.

"Senator McCain's view is this is a private family matter. As parents, (the Palins) love their daughter unconditionally and are going to support their daughter," said McCain spokesman Steve Schmidt.

Said Schmidt: "Life happens."