aardbeving землетрясение в Китае terremoto en China terremoto na China 중국에 지진이 Erdbeben in China tremblement de terre en Chine 四川省汶川地震最新情况
With over 15,000 dead and an estimated $20 million in damage, one wonders what the earthquake that rocked to the northwest of Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu on Monday -- the worst in 32 years -- looked like. These videos give an answer. The next question is how will this impact the Olympic Games?
After weeks of hammering Mississipi voters with Anti-Obama commercials that smacked of race-batting in an attempt to have voters select their candidate Greg Davis over Dem Travis Childers, the Republican Party was handed what some call a "stunning loss" and what I call a serious misread of the American Condition.
Look, each state in America is a unique region unto itself and to assume that people will think or act the same way in New York as they will in Florida is silly. But it's also dumb to think that what will play in Georgia will work in Florida. It will not.
Travis Childers beat Davis by a three-point margin, 49 percent to 46 percent.
The reason Childers won is that he's just conservative enough to pull middle-democrats and swing-voters, and he's a Democrat who did not walk away from Barack Obama, which got him the Black and liberal Dem vote, too. Plus, the country as a whole is more "left" than it has ever been and President Bush' low approval ratings do not help the GOP.
In a move as shocking for its timing as it is for its impact, former Senator and Presidential Candidate John Edwards has just officially endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President. Edwards did this at a previously scheduled Obama campaign visit in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but it could not have been better timed.
While Senator Obama was already well on his way to sewing-up the Democratic Presidential Nomination, he'd just been clobbered in West Virginia by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. While Obama did not campaign heavily there, the idea was being launched -- by Clinton herself -- that she and not Obama could win the "poor, undereducated, working-class white vote."
When was the last time you heard that description of a group of people?
At any rate, the next day -- today -- Barack Obama took the media wind out of Senator Clinton's sails with this annoucement. And while John Edwards played it cool in the introduction -- like a master poker player who knew he played the right hand at the right time -- Edwards gave a rousing speech that rivaled the best stem-winders this election has seen and managed to calm would-be Clinton supporters by giving her and them just respect, then saving his best emotion and prose for Senator Obama.
The next most obvious question is will Senator Obama pick Senator Edwards as his running mate? Personally, I think an Obama / Edwards ticket is a winner, not just for this campaign, but for the this generation.
Unimpressed by Tuesday primary numbers, U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky announced his endorsement of Barack Obama for the Democratic Party's nomination for President early Wednesday. The announcement makes Visclosky the 7th Indiana Super to back Obama. "I have confidence that Obama’s energy plan will go a long way toward reducing our dependence on foreign oil by increasing our ability to produce renewable, non-carbon energy sources. I trust that Obama’s healthcare plan will begin moving us toward guaranteeing a minimum level of coverage for all. And I know that Senator Obama will respect the constitution and restore the rule of law," said Visclosky's statement.
"After two terms under President Bush, we are engaged in a calamitous war in Iraq, unemployment is rising as our jobs are outsourced overseas, gas prices are out of control, foreclosures are decimating our communities, and access to healthcare is diminishing by the day. Our country is once again in a dark hour and we need a new President to bring Americans together and change the country for the better."
In a further illumination of his decision to endorse Obama, Viscklosky's statement went on to say:
“Right now, America needs a President who offers a vision of the future comprised of sensible solutions to today’s problems. We need a president who will bring people together, give them hope, spur change, and set the U.S. back on a course toward progress, prosperity, and global leadership.”
While Tuesday's unsurprising outcome in West Virginia will be spun for ratings by pundits even though the actual impact is minimal due to the small number of voters and delegates involved, the support continues to surge in Obama's favor, and fund-raising by Obama's Grassroots Finance Committee continues to outshine efforts by the fading Clinton campaign.
Unimpressed by Tuesday primary numbers, U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky announced his endorsement of Barack Obama for the Democratic Party's nomination for President early Wednesday. The announcement makes Visclosky the 7th Indiana Super to back Obama. "I have confidence that Obama’s energy plan will go a long way toward reducing our dependence on foreign oil by increasing our ability to produce renewable, non-carbon energy sources. I trust that Obama’s healthcare plan will begin moving us toward guaranteeing a minimum level of coverage for all. And I know that Senator Obama will respect the constitution and restore the rule of law," said Visclosky's statement.
