Clinton $10 Million Gain Offset By $5 Million In PA Ad Cost; $10 Million Debt

After last night's win in Pennsylvania, Clinton's campaign head Terry McAuliffe is bragging over gaining $10 million in 24 hours from donors. Well, that sounds great until we look at the fine print: Senator Clinton not only had $10 million in past due bills, but spent $5 million in ad buys in the Keystone State alone.

Now that's not upfront cash that was spent, but money will come back to them in the form of an invoice for services rendered and thus a new debt.

And that $5 million does not even include the possible $1 million in staff costs the campaign rang up in the state, so we're at $6 million. The point is, the campaign's net gain from donors is only $4 million and look out, the Guam Caucuses, Indiana and North Carolina are up next.

Like the delegate math that places her constantly behind Senator Obama, Senator Clinton will not be able to raise enough money to totally offset her campaign debt.

NORTH CAROLINA RACIST KOOK REPUBLICANS KNOCK OBAMA

According to Tim Russert, but not his words exactly, a group of RACIST KOOK REPUBLICANS IN NORTH CAROLINA LED BY Linda Daves, who's the state Republican Party Chair, and Chris McClure who's the organizations Executive Director, are going to come out with a racist press campaign against Senator Obama on Wednesday, which is tommorrow.

Want Chris McClure's -- who's the Executive Director -- email to ask them to stop? Here it is:

mcclure@ncgop.org -- for Chris McClure

Obama Still 150 Delegates Ahead of Clinton; Can Erase PA With Indiana Or North Carolina Win

The final PA numbers are coming in and it looks like Senator Clinton will pick up 87 delegates versus 71 for Senator Obama. But with that difference, Senator Obama still has a comfortable 150 delegate margin -- for pledged delegates -- and can erase Pennsylvania with a small win in Indiana and North Carolina, or a big win in North Carolina, according to the handy Slate Delegate Counter.

Meanwhile, Senator Clinton runs out of money. She's $10 million in the hole and this $100K raised in 20 minutes is nothing. Meanwhile Obama supporters like myself are already chipping in money at a amazing rate, and that's after the PA loss.

Watch Out For Racist Republicans

According to Tim Russert on MSNBC, the North Carolina Republican Party is going to issue a racist statement regarding Barack Obama on Wednesday. Well, that plays right into the hand of this culture war; they will be marginalized as kooks.

Clinton Gets Expected Win; Obama Comes Out Of Racist PA With Good Numbers

The polls have closed and the votes are cast, and what we expected has come to pass, a Clinton win in Pennsylvania. But considering that Barack Obama was down by as much as 27 points and survived the Rev. Wright Issue and "Bittergate" with what seems to be just now a 8 to 6 point loss to Clinton and 300,000 new registered voters, it's a win for Obama, too.

Hillary Clinton Projected Winner In Pennsylvania

Although Hillary Clinton was outspent by a significant margin and performed exceedingly poorly time after time in campaign events, she prevailed by a small amount this evening in Pennsylvania over frontrunner Barack Obama.

Seahawks expected to make announcement about Alexander

If the former MVP is released by the Seahawks, it would be important for him to make the shrewd decision to retire, while still accumulating large sums of money. Alexander had a prolific career from 2001-2005, playing in every game and accruing 1175-1880 yards every season with fourteen or more touchdowns each year.

By GREGG BELL, AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE (AP)—The long-anticipated separation between the Seattle Seahawks and former MVP running back Shaun Alexander appears imminent.

Alexander’s agent, Jim Steiner, told The Associated Press Tuesday that “an announcement is pending” about Alexander’s future with the Seahawks. Reports surfaced Tuesday morning that Alexander was about to be cut by the team, but not until after he passed a physical. Alexander had surgery after the season on his left wrist, which he broke last season, and must pass a physical before Seattle could release him, otherwise Alexander could file an injury grievance.

The 30-year-old running back is scheduled to earn $4,475,000 in 2008. He has received $18.8 million in base salary so far on his $62 million, eight-year contract, which Steiner at the time said was the richest ever for an NFL running back. Alexander has also received about $13.5 million guarantees through signing and other bonuses.

Alexander has had two injury-filled and ineffective seasons since signing his deal, including last season in which he ran for just 716 yards in 13 games. That was his lowest total since 2001. So his trade value is lower than ever.

Seattle has remodeled its backfield this offseason, signing Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett.

PA Voting Machine Problems and Fraud With Clinton's Name Not Obama On Ballots!

Is this how Clinton's planning to steal the election? This is from the blog of Philly.com today and is terrible! The Obama campaign should be on the lookout to file a lawsuit.

We continue to hear reports of broken machines. This tale was reported to the Daily News by a very patient voter:

"I just came from voting. Finally got my vote in at 49 ward, 07 division....after waiting for (the only) 2 voting machines to be repaired.

"I was able to cast my vote for Obama after waiting 1 and 1/2 hours. During that time at least 100 voters left without voting.....possibly not to return.

"I immediately called every News channel I could get through to. Persons who answered at the stations informed me that my ward was not the only one with broken machines and 'Paper ballots (as an alternative) without Obama's name on it. These provisional ballots did have Hiliary's name on them."

Now, voting machines malfunction every election. The worry today is that a high turnout will compound those problems -- forcing voters to wait, as in the case above, or turn to provisional ballots (the paper ones) which will take much longer to count.

We'll keep an eye on this today.

Auntie Jan Talks About The Hon Rev. Jeremiah Wright

My Auntie Jan has been a member of Trinity United Methodist Church for years. After some proding, she sat down to talk with me about a man she admires so much, the Hon. Rev. Jeremiah Wright. She explains that he's been misunderstood -- and deliberately because one of his parishioners, Senator Barack Obama, is running for President -- and that America does not understand much of its history. I would add that America does not understand its own culture.

Zennie's Question For Senator Clinton and Larry King

I made this question because Senator Hillary Clinton's supposed to appear on the Larry King Show this evening and with no Barack Obama in sight. I am concerned that Larry will ask her softball questions, so I'm asking about her scheduled testimony as a witness in the upcoming Paul v. Clinton trial and if Larry can tell all of us that he is or is not a Clinton backer and if not, how does he explain the video going around that has him as attending one of her lunch events when she was running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the Late Pat Mohinhan?

Chevron Ecuador Scandal: Did Chevron Pollute Ecuador?

There's a massive scandal brewing regarding Chevron and Ecuador and involved a nasty oil spill that the government of Ecuador's blaming Chevron for, when it appears that their own state-run oil company (not that I have anything against something state-owned) seems to be at fault. The people leading this charge against Chevron are Ecuador's leftist leader, Rafael Correa, and Pablo Fajardo and Luis Yanza, one a lawyer, the other the leader of the Amazon Defense Front.

Here's the story:

Chevron: Ecuador Tests Flawed

REAL CULPRIT: Chevron says Ecuador's inefficient state oil company Petroecuador is to blame for any contamination in the Amazon.

Chevron denounces faulty "evidence" and "expert" bias in the $6 billion contamination case in Ecuador.
BY LATIN BUSINESS CHRONICLE STAFF

They want U.S. oil company Chevron (CVX) to pay for alleged damages in the Ecuador Amazon. But their tests are flawed and they have blocked eight attempts to inspect the laboratory they use for their tests. Welcome to the $6 billion case against Chevron in Ecuador, which the U.S. oil company says is increasingly becoming "a judicial farse".

More than 75 percent of the laboratory data presented by the group suing Chevron in Ecuador comes from the Havoc laboratory located in Quito. However, an independent test of soil and water samples by the laboratory shows results that are seriously flawed, Chevron says.

"This independent analysis verifies what we have suspected and what the plaintiffs are clearly trying to hide – the Havoc lab is incompetent and the reports they have prepared [on] behalf of the plaintiffs cannot be trusted," Ricardo Veiga Managing Counsel for Chevron Latin America, said in a statement last week.

Chevron has presented the results to the Superior Court of Nueva Loja. U.S.-based laboratory Wibby Environmental at Chevron’s request sent water and and soil samples spiked with specific, known amounts of hydrocarbons and metals to Havoc laboratories to determine if Havoc could get the correct results. "The Havoc laboratory’s analysis showed levels of barium, cadmium, copper & nickel that exceeded the concentrations in the samples they were sent," Chevron says in a statement. "Havoc’s analysis for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or “PAHs” (petroleum compounds) was incomplete. The lab's analysis of soil samples showed “unacceptable” results for barium, cadmium."

The source of the samples, and the sponsor of the analysis, was withheld from Havoc in order to ensure an unprejudiced result, the statement says.

HIDING SOMETHING?

Meanwhile, even local Ecuadorian authorities have been unable to inspect the Havoc laboratory. The eighth attempt by the 20th Civil Court of Pichincha since February 2006 was scheduled to occur three weeks ago, but was like the previous attempts - blocked by the attorneys for the group suing Chevron.

"Plaintiffs’ lawyers are afraid that if the truth were exposed about this lab, the Court and the world would see that their allegations against Chevron are made up of nothing but lies and fabrications," Veiga said. "We insist that the plaintiffs’ attorneys and the activist groups that have brought this baseless lawsuit be called to explain the deceit and the fraud they have perpetrated against the Court, their clients, and Ecuador."

The U.S. oil company calls the last-minute maneuvers to prevent a judge of the Civil Court of Pichincha from inspecting the laboratory "a shocking and deliberate attempt to obstruct justice."

The inspection was aimed at determining whether the Havoc lab was qualified and had the necessary equipment and technology to undertake the required analysis of water and soil samples from oil sites in the Oriente region. The Civil Court of Pichincha ordered the first inspection last year after Chevron had noted to the Superior Court of Lago Agrio that the laboratory was not properly accredited by the Ecuadorian Accreditation Organization (OAE) to perform the necessary analyses required in the environmental trial against Chevron.

CHRONICLE OF BLOCKED ATTEMPTS

On the first attempt - on February 17, 2006 - the Civil Judge of Pichincha, Dr. Germán González del Pozo, went to the Havoc laboratory himself on the day of the officially scheduled inspection only to find its doors locked and access to the laboratory's facilities denied. The same happened when he tried to inspect the lab the following month. Thereafter, the attorneys for the group suing Chevron presented him with motions to stop his next two attempted inspections in March and May.

In August last year, the judge requested both parties to appoint the experts for the next inspection. Havoc failed to appoint an expert, and, therefore, once again the judge was forced to cancel the inspection, Chevron points out. Then - in October - another inspection was scheduled, but a few days before, the lab's attorneys filed a recusal claim, which forced suspension of the inspection. The seventh attempt - scheduled for April 24 this year - was stopped when attorney's for Havoc and the group suing Chevron filed a legal motion to stop the court from carrying out the inspection.

Chevron is also denouncing that Richard Cabrera, the court-appointed engineer responsible for overseeing the ongoing expert determination in the suit - is using unsanctioned teams to conduct unsupervised and unapproved field research, in clear violation of court directives.

In a petition to the Superior Court of Nueva Loja, Chevron has detailed how Cabrera has deployed unidentified teams of researchers to search for evidence of environmental impacts outside the scope of his court-mandated obligations without first receiving the necessary judicial approvals. The teams began their work in advance of Cabrera even being appointed to and days before his official inspection began, Chevron says.

NULL AND VOID

The U.S. oil company has therefore asked the court to declare the evidence collected by the teams to be considered null and void. Chevron has previously denounced Cabrera's bias against the company (see Chevron: US Victory, Ecuador Doubts). However, its petitions urging the court to reconsider Cabrera's appointment have gone unanswered, as have its requests seeking that he be required to comply with court orders regarding how his work should be carried out.

Separately, several Ecuadorians have also sued Chevron in the United States alleging they got cancer as a result of Chevron-instigated contamination in the Oriente region of Ecuador's Amazon. Their case was thrown out last month by a U.S. federal court.

Last week an independent study released by Chevron showed that the consensus view of leading epidemiologists and tropical health experts is that there is no evidence to support the claim that the Oriente region is experiencing higher rates of cancer, or that cancer in the region is the result of exposure to oil field sites.

"There is no question that the people of the Oriente face a series of challenges regarding their personal and community health," Silvia Garrigo, a Chevron attorney, said in a statement. "However, these people are being deceived in the worst possible way by the lawyers and activists who have brought this lawsuit."

ECUADOR'S RESPONSIBILITY

The major health concerns in the Oriente region are not the result of oil operations, but the lack of water treatment infrastructure, the lack of sufficient sanitation infrastructure and inadequate access to medical care, Chevron says.

Texaco operated an oil field consortium with Petroecuador from 1964 to 1990, when the Ecuadorian company took over management of the oil field. Texaco continued with a minority stake in the consortium until 1992. In 1995, Texaco agreed with the Ecuadorian government to conduct a $40 million environmental remediation in the area of the former concession. Three years later, the government of Ecuador declared that the remediation was completed according to the terms and parameters agreed upon and released Texaco from any future liability.

In 1993 a group of Indians in the affected areas filed a lawsuit against Texaco in the United States, claiming the U.S. company had contaminated the area. That case was dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit in 2002, but another lawsuit was filed in Ecuador.

Chevron also says Petroecuador - widely considered one of the most inefficient state oil companies in Latin America - has to take the blame for any oil contamination. In the seven-year period from 2000 to 2006, Petroecuador was responsible for a total of 882 oil spills, Chevron points out.

CNN Ads "Upskirt" To Gerri Willis, Morning News; Real Short Skirt On

Remember how I've been writing that CNN would get higher ratings for its "day" programs if it had Campbell Brown wear short skirts and show legs as she did on NBC? Well, someone at CNN's reading my blog, because as of today, CNN has anchor Gerri Willis sitting in a high chair and sporting a real short skirt. Then CNN's producers make totally sure you see it. Day upskirt action for ratings.

What does this say about CNN? Well, it shows that CNN's as ratings aware as I believed, and have decided to turn away from the journalistic strategy it has known for decades and mix in sex. Gerri's blonde and looks for all the World like a Fox News star.

Also, CNN's pushing Senator Clinton -- which I think is unethical as they should tell viewers of their bias rather than show it -- and it seems trying to appeal to a "Whiter" audience, which I think is a total error. The problem is that Gerri sounds a little, well, less than smart which impacts credibility. That's not a good thing.

I'm not writing that she's not smart because I think there are different ways to be intelligent, but it's as if someone told her "project a smiling, sexy, bubby look" and she's doing that.

Uh, you mean like Fox?

Yep.

Pope Benedict XVI In Yankees Stadium - CNN TV and CNN.com

Ok, I'm watching Pope Benedict XVI hold mass in Yankees Stadium before 57,000 people and I'm glad I'm seeing it, because I was going to change the channel at first. I was about to do that because I wasn't interested in it, but then I was overcome by the fact that I'd not been to Church in a few weeks -- escaping some negative energy at Glide Memorial in SF -- and needed to see a religious event.

Plus, it's American Culture, or a part of it, and history. What's interesting is that so many people still turn out to see his holliness, which is a good thing, and a God thing too.