New Dodge Challenger Like The Old Dodge Challenger.

Dodge came out with a new Challenger, which reminds me of the old Challenger of the 70s, but I guess that's the point.

Obama Wins North Carolina; Almost Indiana; Clinton Should Drop Out

After weeks of being bombed with constant Rev. Wright stories and attempts to define Obama as a "Black candidate" we have the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, where Clinton was supposed to win by 10 percent -- she didn't -- and was to come close to Obama in North Carolina by coming within single digits -- she didn't do that either.

Instead, Barack Obama won North Carolina by 14 points, and narrowly lost Indiana by less than 2 point, and vote counting is still not done.

Senator Obama is now about 200 delegates or less from being the Democratic Presidential Nominee and there's nothing Senator Clinton can do to halt his march. Nothing.

Clinton -- with a looming campaign debt -- is finished. MSNBC's Tim Russert gave the monologue that said it all, and it's here in this video:



We do now know who the Democratic Presidential nominee will be and it's Senator Barack Obama.

Native American Superdelegate Endorses Barack Obama

Kalyn Free...

is a superdelegate and at-large member of the Democratic National Committee. Free, who has endorsed Senator Barack Obama's bid for the nomination of the Democratic party today, is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and the founder and President of Indigenous Democratic Network's (INDN) List, an organization dedicated to training and recruiting Native American political candidates. Obama has shown considerable sensitivity to the issues of First/Native Americans, and appears to be the only candidate with a Tribal Leaders Steering Committee actively participating on the campaign.

read more | digg story

Mildred Loving, Who's Interracial Marriage Was Protected In Court, Passes On

Mildred Loving just wanted to marry her husband in 1967, but for reasons that are totally weird, they were blocked. Challenging Virginia's bigotted laws, they won, opening the door to the destruction of anti-interracial marriage laws that should never have been in place.

Mildred passed on to Heaven this week at 68.

Republican Senator Doing the Troops Wrong

Senator Webb, a VA Democrat, has been the guiding force behind this legislation, which has been dubbed the new G.I. bill. The measure is decidedly bipartisan. Mr. Webb’s principal co-sponsors include Republican Senators Chuck Hagel of NE and John Warner of VA, and Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of NJ. Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are on board, but you just might be surprised at who is not supporting the effort to pay for college for G.I.’s who have willingly put their lives on the line. Read Bob Herbert's piece in today's N.Y.Times and discover it's John McCain.

read more | digg story

May Day / Cinco de Mayo celebration in Minneapolis a hit

Perfect Weather as Minneapolis celebrates May Day and Cinco de Mayo

The annual parade to Powderhorn Park was a big hit this year, the weather was perfect, the floats and marchers were festive and lively, and several prominent Democrats walked the route including U.S. Senate candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak who led a "Minnesota for Obama" contingent prior to the Heart of the Beast puppet theater's magical season-welcoming festival.

It seems Minnesota may be more culturally and ethnically open-minded than some folks on the coast give it credit for. They elected Keith Ellison to U.S. Congress, the first Muslim ever to be so honored, and even at the local level they've elected Satveer Chaudhary, and they surprised pollsters and pundits on Super Tuesday by showing overwhelming support for Barack Obama's candidacy - and lately their female U.S. Senator has announced she's in Obama's corner, too. Maybe they're not as loony as the country thought they might be after putting Jesse Ventura in the Governor's mansion? Well, they know how to do a community festival and a parade right.

read more | digg story

Not 10, not 20, not even 50! 200 Economists Denounce Clinton/McCain Gas Tax Plan!

That Clinton or McCain would engage in this type of pure political pandering is not surprising. It’s exemplifies the old Washington gamesmanship that we need to change. This may not be the single most irresponsible policy idea of the year, but it must've been formulated by somebody thinking only about votes, not reality. Let's drive up demand and keep sending money to big oil and middle eastern zillionaires. Obama's honesty makes them both look like old-school politicians more beholden to corporate interests than worried about what's good for the U.S.A. Oh. Right.

read more | digg story

Hillary Clinton To "Stick It" To Black Voters With "Nuclear Option"

Well, it's not like she's got the Black vote, so Senator Hillary Clinton - in a desparate attempt to gain delegates over Senator Barack Obama, is going to use what she calls "a nuclear option" which would certainly detroy the Democratic Party. Clinton wants Florida and Michigan delegates to be counted. Which is fine -- but Clinton herself signed a contract not to count or campaign in those states because they broke the DNC rules.

Even Clinton said a few months ago, that Florida and Michigan don't count. But now here's this nuclear option -- it's all about Clinton and to hell with the party.

These are the scenarios to watch for according to the Huffington Post:

Using the Rules and Bylaws Committee to force the seating of two pro-Hillary delegations would provoke a massive outcry from Obama forces. Such a strategy would, additionally, face at least two other major hurdles, and could only be attempted, according to sources in the Clinton camp, under specific circumstances:

First, this coming Tuesday, Clinton would have to win Indiana and lose North Carolina by a very small margin - or better yet, win the Tar Heel state. She would also have to demonstrate continued strength in the contests before May 31.

Second, and equally important, her argument that she is a better general election candidate than Obama -- that he has major weaknesses which have only been recently revealed -- would have to rapidly gain traction, not only within the media, where she has experienced some success, but within the broad activist ranks of the Democratic Party.

Under that optimistic scenario, some Clinton operatives believe she could overcome several massive stumbling blocks:

-- Clinton loyalists on the Rules Committee would have to be persuaded to put their political futures on the line by defying major party constituencies, especially black leaders backing Barack Obama. Committee members are unlikely to take such a step unless they are convinced that Clinton has a strong chance of winning the nomination.

Former DNC and South Carolina Democratic Party chair Donald Fowler -- a Hillary loyalist -- would, for example, face an outpouring of anger from South Carolina Democrats if he were to go along with such a strategy.

-- A controversial decision to seat the two delegations, as currently constituted, would be appealed by the Obama campaign to the Democratic National Convention's Credentials Committee.

The full make-up of the Credentials Committee will not be determined until all the primaries are completed, but the pattern of Clinton and Obama victories so far clearly suggests that Obama delegates on that committee will outnumber Clinton delegates. Obama will not, however, have a majority, according to most estimates, and the balance of power will be held by delegates appointed by DNC chair Howard Dean.

Regardess, it's clear the DNC Chairman Howard Dean's in danger of losing control of the party. He'd better think of a "nuclear option" of his own.

Indiana's Incredible Shrinking Voter List - Email From Black Box Voting

I posted this as is. It's scary to know that Indiana does not have it's voting records intact. It's even scarier to learn that people don't seem to care. Why? Read below to learn the details of the problem, as to the lack of concern, your guess is as good as mine. This kind of voter records / recording problem hurt Senator Obama before in New Hampshire, with it's screwed up voting machines.

From: Black Box Voting [mailto:blackboxvoting@worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 4:41 AM
To: lpease@gte.net
Subject: BBV report: Exclusive - Indiana's Incredible Shrinking Voter
List

In April 2008 when Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita announced the
release of "record high" voter registration rolls, with 4.3 million
voters set to vote in the Tuesday May 6 primary, he didn't mention that
a whopping 1,134,427 voter registrations have been cancelled.

Now, the voter rolls are supposed to be tidied up prior to each
election. Indiana's last general election was in Nov. 2006, and they
have had a slew of special and general elections since then. So how have
1.1 million voters -- 26 percent of the current statewide list --
escaped the voter registration cleanup squad? Who are these million
voters and where do they come from?

One quarter-million of them come from just two northwestern Indiana
counties: Lake and Porter. Lake County reports purging 137,164 voters
and neighboring Porter County cancelled out 124,958 voters.

Lake County, the home of Gary, Indiana, has spawned the Jackson Five and
a great old musical (The Music Man) and has been referred to as "the
second most liberal county in America." Lake County also has one of the
heaviest concentrations of African-American voters that you'll find
anywhere in the USA.

Nearby Porter County, the home of Valparaiso, is 95% white and went
solidly for Bush in the 2004 election. It's also got a lot of college
students.

For whatever reason, these two counties had ... what ... massive data
entry problems? Exceptionally messy records? Lots of dead people who
climbed back into their graves? I truly hope we aren't going to see a
lot of disappointed voters on Tuesday, when they perhaps learn that they
were among the lucky million people who got purged.

HERE'S WHERE THE HEAVIEST INDIANA PURGES ARE:

Lake 137,164 48% (Gary)
Porter 124,958 115% (Valparaiso)
Marion 68,120 10% (Indianapolis)
Monroe 66,009 85% (Bloomington)
Tippecanoe 53,456 58%
Madison 42,952 47% (Anderson)
Hamilton 42,325 26%

Here's a picture map with the numbers and percentages for the whole
state:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/cancelled-from-indiana-voter-rolls.png

The percentage represents the ratio of the number of purges to the
current voter list. Example: If a location currently has 100,000 voters
on its rolls, and purged 53,000 along the way, we assign a ratio of 53%
to the purge vs. current list.

It would be nice to have the original quantities, it would make for a
cleaner number, but this is not available on the Secretary of State's
Web site, so I haven't got a tidier statistic for you, wish I did. I
also wish the time period for these purges was clearly indicated, but it
is not indicated -- nor can it be derived -- from available information
at Indiana's official election Web site.

TOOLS YOU CAN USE

It's always interesting to look for impossible numbers on election
night, like the "more votes than voters" situation that sometimes crops
up. It speeds things up to have a place to plug the information in. Here
is a spreadsheet -- quick and not too fancy, I'm sure you can improve on
it. It has every Indiana county, along with their official registered
voter statistics for the 2008 primary, and some historical data from
1992 to the present, along with links for the source documents from the
secretary of state:

http://www.bbvdocs.org/IN/state/quickrank-INDIANAreg.xls
(Excel file, 71 KB)

Here are links that may be very good to provide additional statistical
information which you can plug in:

http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/elections/index.html

And here is a link to the source document containing the cancelled
registration information used for this article:

http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/pdfs/Statewide_Voter_Count_by_County5.1.
08.pdf

Here's a quick spreadsheet with the Indiana voting machines by county --
you can get that on the Sec. State's Web site too, but it's not in a
database format. You can cut and paste these into your analysis sheets
if you'd like to get comparisons of results by county.

AND NOW ABOUT THOSE VOTING MACHINES

Another press release on the Indiana Secretary of State's Web site deals
with the $360,000 penalty he's hitting Microvote with for failing to
follow the law. Oh yes, and the Microvote Infinity voting machine, which
will be very widely used in the Tuesday May 6 primary, has been
DECERTIFIED!

That's not going to stop anyone in Indiana from using it, however. The
decision was that anyone who already bought these things gets to use
them -- despite the fact that these machines have been embroiled in
lawsuits in at least three places, one in Pennsylvania for machines that
just didn't work, and two in Tennessee where candidates have asked to
redo elections due to bizarre anomalies -- like vote totals that
wandered away in the wee hours of the night.

Microvote's insurance company declined to cover the firm, according to
yet another lawsuit, because the insurance company alleged that
Microvote was selling defective products. The judge ruled against the
insurance company, saying the product wasn't defective, it just didn't
work.

I haven't plugged this in yet, but those of you who are comfortable with
spreadsheets can quickly add the voting machines by county to your voter
registration spreadsheet, using that voting machine spreadsheet I linked
above, to see how many votes all together will be subjected to
Microvote.

Ah, but we aren't done with Indiana voting machines yet. Indiana is also
fond of the ES&S paperless iVotronic touch-screens, the ones that lost
18,000 votes in Sarasota County Florida and were the subject of a
blistering report by Dan Rather. In Rather's report, he showed shocking
footage of the touch-screens being manufactured in a sweat shop in the
Philippines. Their quality control test was to shake the machine and if
it didn't rattle, it passed the test.

THINGS YOU CAN DO ABOUT INDIANA

1. Do some public records requests to either the state or the counties,
and ask for their VRG-5 form, which is the NVRA tracking form on which
the number of voters purged must be reported.

For tips on how to do the records requests, here's our tool kit, scroll
down to the section on public records:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/toolkit.html

Post the documents and ask for any advice you need here, and report your
front-lines information for both Indiana and North Carolina here:
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/73/73.html

I'm pushing hard right now to get TOOL KIT 2008 done -- it's a
stripped-down model with emergency measures for the fall election.
Unless you tell me not to, I'll let you know as soon as it's ready for
download.

2. Another useful form you can request: The CEB-9 form, which is the
Indiana County Election Report that must be turned in after the
election. Here's one, take a look at the information it contains:

http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/pdfs/CEB-9.pdf

3. If you are a number-cruncher, grab the spreadsheets here and wail on
'em during Election night. You can get additional historical information
from this site:
http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/index.html
(Choose the drop-down menu "general by state" and select Indiana, then
choose the year you want. Confusion factor -- this site color-codes
Republican as blue and Democrat as Red. Has lots of good stuff).

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE: People usually catch things like "more votes
than voters" weeks after the election. The dang Indiana information
doesn't break voter registrations out by party which makes crunching the
primary numbers a little harder. But you may still get the jump on some
red flags if you track this stuff as it's coming in on spreadsheets that
tell you what the stats are going in.

A WORD ABOUT THE TV PROJECTIONS

You'll notice that those projections often change -- sometimes
dramatically -- just an hour or so later. That's because we have learned
that they are paying elections officials (through their associations or
otherwise) to call and fax them the results off the voting machine poll
tape.

In fact, the National Election Pool (used to be Voter News Service) is
getting this stuff BEFORE the election officials and way before the
secretary of state.

The first number they quote is the adjusted exit poll number, and it
comes from asking people about who they voted for. The point here is,
when what you thought was "exit polls" suddenly changes, that is the
impact of those called-in poll tape results. Yep. That's the voting
machines talking, and when they say something different than the people
answering the exit pollers' questions, we should be looking at the
programming on the machine, not the exit pollers, for answers.

I expect to see early projections altered significantly as soon as those
poll tape numbers are called in to NEP.

So to recap, good things to do Tuesday:
1. Public records
2. Number crunching
3. Pray

Good luck to us, all,

Bev Harris
Founder - Black Box Voting

Please help us protect 2008, muster up the "Dream Teams" for field work,
print the Tool Kits...
We are supported ENTIRELY through small citizen donations.

TO DONATE: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.html
to mail:
Black Box Voting
330 SW 43rd St Suite K
PMB 547
Renton WA 98057

Startup Camp - Meetings On Blogs and Social Networks

I'll post videos from this event soon, but now I'm listening to a panel that features Matt Marshall of VentureBeat, noted Social Media expert Brian Solis, and others talking about social networks. Social networks -- er, the conversation about them -- have dominated this conference.

The conference is great for networking and I've met -- already -- a number of people I've either seen at other tech events like VentureBeat's great party last Thursday, to people I will be doing business with.

Sun's Jon Schwartz Getting Hit On Lack Of Java Support For Mac

This is still part of the live blog of the Startup Camp and at this point in the Q and A, and Sun CEO Jon Schwartz is getting hit on the perceived lack of support that Sun provides for Java for the Mac. At first he was combative, but settled down and listened.

It's over now. Yeah!

Sun's Jon Schwartz Presents Startup Camp On Sunday Morning - Live Blog

Ok, I decided to not sleep late or go to Church, which is what I should do, and come to this something that's called "Startup Camp" in San Francisco. I'm late so I missed the breakfast, but I came to meet other entrepreneurs and find out better how to raise money for Sports Business Simulations.

Right now, I'm listening to Sun Microsystems CEO Jon Schwartz talk about why Sun's interested in startups and he's going through a Q andA about Microsoft's failure to aquire Yahoo. Generally, he's happy because it means that there's still competition in the marketplace; acquisition of companies like Yahoo by Microsoft hurt that, which hurts Sun's market for new customers.

On Cloud Computing

Jon says that Sun introduced a way to buy time on high performance supercomputers, but that didn't go well. It's time-sharing. But after conversations with the lawyers of big companies it was found that they -- the companies -- didn't want to share clouds with other firms.

Sun is an infrastructure provider. He says that Facebook is a cloud service -- but not for computing, for social networking.

This interview is more about Sun and really not about startups at all at this point. It would be nice to get back to the conversation about the Startup market. Just because Sun's the sponsor doesn't mean that we have to hear about Sun and not startups, or only about startups in the context of Sun.

Yes, the conference is free, but that's no excuse.

Maybe when the questions are opened to the audience that will change.

Jon just kind of busted out the interviewer over a question regarding reducing the workforce. When Jon turned the quesrtion back to him, the interviewer said "I'm a capitalist" -- Jon said "Well, 'm not. That sounds like a sweatshop to me." That got a lot of applause. Good for Jon.

Barack Obama , Rev Wright and My Iron Man Suit

I thank the SF Chronicle's Editorial Page editor John Diaz for the chance to write the essay below that appears in the Sunday May 4th edition of "Sunday Insight" and is below this video:



I've been a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama for president for 17 months, and one large reason is that he's like me. We share the same Aug. 4 birthday, and have walked similar paths of racial discovery.
Both of us have carved out our niche as individuals able to walk in different circles and still be ourselves. That's not easy; it comes as those around you tell you what they think your "place" in life should be. It's no wonder that I felt violated by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's National Press Club speech, as much as Obama did.
Wright made me put on my Iron Man suit again.
My Iron Man suit is a carefully constructed armor I created when I was a 6-year-old boy on the predominantly black South Side of Chicago to protect me from the other kids in the neighborhood. See, to them, I was not "black" - I talked "white" and was "smart." I didn't fight or play basketball - and didn't want to - but those were the prerequisites for popularity at the time.
The suit was my knowledge of everything from politics to Chicago architecture to airplanes and cars and "Star Trek." My suit allowed me to tune out those who said "you need to act black to be black."
The Iron Man suit was also used to protect me from anyone white who thought I should fit a common black stereotype. My Iron Man suit has "Repulsor Rays" I use to shoot "protons" of knowledge to prove I was smarter than anyone else in the room. I used the suit to judge anyone as being less intelligent than me if they didn't have a diverse base of friends - if all they had were, for example, white friends.
But a funny thing happened as I grew up. American culture changed such that I needed my suit less and less. More people accepted me as an individual. American pop culture became more diverse. There were more interracial relationships, and no one seemed to care. The guy who runs American Express was black - still is.
But the best thing was that no one was telling me my place; I'd successfully defined it and society - through generational change - kind of "caught up" to me. Or so I thought.
One problem remains, and Barack's dealing with it. In being the first African American who's one step closer to the Most Powerful Job in The World than any black person before him, Obama is faced not just with doing something "blacks don't do" but with upsetting people who wish he would know "his place."
This "placeism" that Barack and I have had to battle with has come back in the face of Wright and yes, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who worked to remind us that whatever we do, we're still just black.
Both represent the old generation. Hey, so does my mom, and I love her to death. She has struggled for years to get me to take off the suit, and finally gave up.
Mom totally understood Wright's anger, but knows why I have the suit, too.
I don't think Wright's outcry came from a desire to show up Barack, but to scream "Hey. I'm black and proud! You're not going to define me!"
What I didn't like - and got into an argument with my mom about - was that Wright didn't think about success for African Americans of the younger generation like Barack or myself; Wright was consumed with his anger.
And in expressing his anger - in his choice to show his "blackness" and insult Barack's integrity - he made me put my suit on. I think mom realized where I was coming from before I went into full suit mode. She's on my side now.
I resent anyone telling me what kind of black person I should be. I will turn away if one says that I'm the only black person in the room. I don't like it when someone works to wreck the success of a black person just because that person's not "stereotypically black." In my view, that's what Wright did and he owes Obama, and me, an apology.

INDIANA INSULTED BY KANTOR - HE DID SAY THEY ARE "SHIT"

Ok, I've went back and forth on this one, but the official word on the street is, yes, Clinton campaign advisor and then (1993) campaign head Mickey Kantor did insult the people of Indiana in the movie "The War Room", and while we can't -- I certainly can't -- make out the whisper, it's clear that he did call them "shit."

This was revealed in the Washington Post today and before that the story spread like wildfire in the brush of the Internet and then finally hit the mainstream media, though for some irresponsible reason CNN's not mentioned the matter, which just goes to show what lengths they'll go to to protect Senator Clinton.

YOUTUBE UP AT 7:31 AM SATURDAY, MAY 3RD

After being down for hours, YouTube's finally came up at 7:31 AM, or that's when I rechecked its status. More on this later, if any news comes in.

YOUTUBE DOWN AT 6:16 AM SATURDAY, MAY 3RD

I do not know how this happened, but YouTube is down and so is my 230 video channel. Centernetworks reports that -- yikes -- the DNS for YouTube has been hacked. Man Chad (Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube) must be going nuts.

Subject: route fully down
Pinging the Youtube DNS shows the route is down at the datacenter:

traceroute to 208.65.152.137 (208.65.152.137), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
...
3 xe-0-1-0-19.lon10.ip.tiscali.net (77.67.64.193) 1.094 ms 10.260 ms 1.101 ms
4 ge6-2-1000M.ar4.LON3.gblx.net (64.212.107.89) 1.392 ms 213.200.77.234 (213.200.77.234) 1.607 ms 1.708 ms
5 YOUTUBE-LLC.tengigabitethernet8-2.ar3.DCA3.gblx.net (208.48.1.186) 80.579 ms 80.300 ms 80.451 ms
6 * * *

IRON MAN | Iron Man Is Excellent; Robert Downey Jr.'s Cool Performance

I just returned from seeing "Iron Man" at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland, and I must say that it did indeed meet my expectations; in fact, it surpassed them. The movie, Directed by Jon Favreau, is tight, with little wasted scene or motion, and it manages to pull a lot of ideas in for you to grasp but it doesn't hit you over the head with it's overall anti-war theme.

The images of the idea of de-militarization are all around us in the film and the biggest one is of Stark as Iron Man destroying the very weapons he made for use by the U.S. Defense Department, which have fallen into terrorist hands. But that's only part of a great movie. There's the love between Stark / Downey and Pepper Potts, expertly played -- really well played -- by Gweneth Paltrow. There's also the family feeling between Stark, Johnson, and General James Rhoades, performed with ease by Terrance Howard, who also gives us the idea that he will be in that Iron Man suit in one of the future films.

I could go on and on about this movie. Yes, it really is as good as the first Spiderman. Yes, the special effects are terrifically real, and the sky scene featuring Iron Man being chased by two F-18s is a classic in movie making. It's better -- far better -- than the Space Shuttle crash-save scene in Superman Returns of two years ago. And the best effects are when Stark is testing the parts and engines that make up the Iron Man suit.

The villian. Well, there are two really, but Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane is simply so good you hate him. He's really the heavy. Indeed, there's much about this movie that's heavy and light all at the same time. A good flick. See it.

Obama on Native Tribal Sovereignty, the Freedmen, & NAHASDA

Obama vs. CBC on the passage of NAHASDA "as is"

In a March 13, 2008 Letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, members of the Congressional Black Caucus stated that “members of the CBC will not support, and will actively oppose passage of NAHASDA” unless the bill contains a “provision that would prevent the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma from receiving any benefits or funding” until they extended tribal membership to the Freedmen. The letter contained the signatures of 35 CBC members, but not the signature of White House hopeful Senator Barack Obama. The Native American community began raising questions about an Obama Presidency that could potentially support CBC efforts to undermine the rights of tribal governments to determine their own membership.

Asked to clearly state his position on H.R. 2824, Obama’s campaign issued the following statement:

"Tribal sovereignty must mean that the place to resolve inter-tribal disputes is the tribe itself. Our nation has learned with tragic results that federal intervention in internal matters of Indian tribes is rarely productive; failed policies such as Allotment and Termination grew out of efforts to second-guess Native communities."

Clinton and McCain websites have no specific links or information for Native American peoples or issues, while Senator Obama’s campaign has a main page link directly to his website for “First Americans.” Further, a look at all three candidates’ campaign teams reveal that Senator Obama has a Native American Community Outreach Coordinator and a 30-member Tribal Steering Committee. If Clinton and McCain have a Native American presence on their campaign teams, it is well hidden.

Obama’s opposition to Diane Watson’s legislation will undoubtedly be met with unrest by those of his fellow members of the CBC that side with the Cherokee Freedmen, but Obama appears to be no stranger to the CBC’s disaffections. Last year, online political publication TheHill.com reported on the CBC’s anger with Obama about rejecting an invitation to debate on Fox News, and added that “Obama has irked fellow CBC members by failing to respond to a request made early last year that he host a fundraiser for the Black Caucus’s political action committee (PAC). [Senator Hillary] Clinton received a similar invitation and quickly followed through by headlining a CBC PAC fundraiser in March of 2006.” Perhaps this is why the CBC recruited Hillary Clinton and not Barack Obama to be the Guest Speaker at their 37th Annual Legislative Conference, prompting the Washington Times to speculate that the CBC was quietly trying to endorse her bid for the presidency.

"Tribal sovereignty must mean that the place to resolve inter-tribal disputes is the tribe itself,” Obama said.

"Discrimination anywhere is intolerable, but the Cherokee are dealing with this issue in both tribal and federal courts. As it stands, the rights of the Cherokee Freedmen are not being abrogated because there is an injunction in place that ensures the Freedman's rights to programs during the pendency of the litigation. I do not support efforts to undermine these legal processes and impose a congressional solution. Tribes have a right to be self governing and we need to respect that, even if we disagree, which I do in this case. We must have restraint in asserting federal power in such circumstances."

read more | digg story

CNN Paints "Blue Collar Whites" As Racist, So Why Did They Vote For Obama?

I've got CNN on in the background and it's funny how they seem to paint people into categories. For example, CNN's "The Situation Room" had a segment which claimed that "Blue Collar Whites" like Hillary Clinton but will not get behind Barack Obama.

That's silly as hell. How did he win 30 states without the support of Blue Collar Whites? And I wonder if this will cause a Blue Collar White backlash? And so Blue Collar Whites know they're Blue Collar Whites?

Geez, this is sick stuff.

Ecuador Blames Chevron For Oil Spill While Petroecuador Gets No Blame At All

In a continuation of what's turning out to be a big fraud, Ecuador's pushing a lawsuit against Chevron that is $16 billion. That's right, $16 Billion. The Minority Report's Steven Foley explains:

Ecuadorean indigenous groups have filed one of the largest environmental class action suits in history against an oil company to the tune of $16 billion and if successful could set a dangerous president.

Ripping off the facade and digging under the surface of what at first glance looks to be nothing more than deserved retribution by indigenous groups who've suffered at the hands of Evil Big Oil one begins to see more clearly the forces behind this fraud are non other than Ecuador's own state run oil company Petroecuador, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, and the powers-that-be who are working feverishly to re-identify and usher in a new socialist South America.

You see, the fact is, Chevron, through its Texaco subsidiary (which Chevron aquired in 2001) , operated an oilfield joint venture with Petroecuador as a minority partner between 1964 and 1992.
From 2002 to 2007, Petroecuador was responsible for more than 1,000 oil spills, of which 168 took place last year alone. In fact, Petroecuador (through its oil and gas exploration and production subsidiary Petroproducción) accounted for 90 percent of all oil spills in Ecuador last year, according to official government data quoted by local newspaper El Universo. The remaining 10 percent were contaminated by six different private companies. In other words, Petroecuador is clearly a major and serial contaminator.

You can read more here: Steven Foley.

Clinton Aide Kantor Video Was Doctored - Kantor Did Not Make Statement

I just listened to the video that was the source of the first video out and around the Internet which said that Mickey Kantor called Indiana people "White Niggers".

After further review, he did not say it.

Here's the actual video from the movie "The War Room":



Mickey is saying that "they're shitty," and it seems he's referring to pollsters, and not people in Indiana. Then he does say "How would you like to be, but then the rest is not even audible. It would have to be doctored to have one be able to hear him say the words "White Nigger."

As far as I'm concerned, Mickey is owed an apology by bloggers like me. Sorry Mickey.

Clinton Advisor Mickey Kantor Called Indiana Folks "Worthless White Niggers"

In a video I uncovered on YouTube and here, Mickey Kantor, a long time friend and current advisor to the Hillary Clinton for President campaign and Bill Clinton's campaign chairman, is seen high-fiving Clinton advisors James Carville and George Stephanapoulos, and saying "Look at Indiana...it doesn't matter if we win. Those people are shit. How would you like to be a worthless white nigger?"



I don't know where the video came from, but it's an explosive look at how the Clinton camp really feels about people in Indiana, and even though this was 1992, it features the same people who are Clinton supporters and advisors today: Mickey Kantor George Stephanapoulos and James Carville.

UPDATE - Kantor claims that the video is libel and he will take legal action, but someone forgot to tell him that the evidence is here and no one is calling him names and he's a public figure, so good luck fighting this news. If someone diggs up the movie War Room -- from which this came -- and this is confirmed, he can forget any legal remedy.

Obama and small donors: $5 on Cinco de Mayo

Follow the money

Going into the NC and IN primaries the Obama campaign is once again relying on the legion of small donors - and asking for a simple $5 donation. Spread across the nearly 1.5 million people who have already contributed, May just may get off to a big start for Barack. Is it really Cinco de Obama? Follow the money...

read more | digg story

Did Illinois State Police murder a corrections officer?

R.I.P. Lernard "Sandy" Grigsby

Police said Grigsby, 48 struck a sergeant in the head, then attacked the trooper. He then tried to grab the sergeant's weapon, and the sergeant fired twice, authorities said, hitting Grigsby in the abdomen. In an employee dormitory at Stateville Correctional Center?

Troopers were responding to a domestic disturbance in the dormitory. When a sergeant and a trooper found the woman who had made the complaint, Grigsby allegedly attacked the officers.

Lernard's nephew, MN Vikings DE Otis Grigsby isn't buying it. The Chicago Trib can't seem to find anything substantive to say... So Grigsby has taken his story to the public via YouTube.

read more | digg story

Elitist? Hillary Clinton Can't Use A Coffee Maker Or Pump Gas

Elitist? Obama's elitist? Here, we have Senator Hillary Clinton struggling to figure out an every day coffee maker. She just can't do it! How's she supposed to connect with the common person if she can't pour her own coffee -- from a machine?!

I guess it takes "testicular fortitude" to work the coffee machine, but if she can't then maybe these endorsements were a big mistake? Of course they were!

Check this disasterous Indiana episode!

Dr. Barbara A. Reynolds Set Up Rev. Wright To Hit Barack Obama

Many are upset that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright would come to the National Press Club and essentially throw one of his parishioners, Senator Barack Obama under the bus, saying that he would "come after" Barack Obama should be become president and essentially showing the worst behavior one could imagine, stooping to the level of the stupid questions tossed by the media in attendance and insulting even the National Press Club moderator.

But now it seems we have a person -- a Clinton supporter -- who has it in for Barack Obama. A Dr. Barbara Reynolds, who when this is over may just become the poster child for African American fear of success. On her own blog, Reynolds writes:

And it is a sad testimony that to protect his credentials as a unifier above the fray the Senator is fueling the media characterization that Rev. Dr. Wright is some retiring old uncle in the church basement instead of respecting Wright for the towering astute father of progressive social and global causes that he is.

What?! Where she got that from, I don't know. But what I do know is this person who undoubtedly can't stand the idea of Black male success voted for Hillary Clinton in the Maryland Primary, and not Barack Obama. Think about that. She didn't vote for Obama, voted for Clinton, trashes Obama in her blog, then brings Obama's pastor to the National Press Club to make Obama look terrible and less than authentic.

And with all this, the Left Coaster goes out of his or her way -- whatever -- to make it seem that Reynolds was really innocent in all of this. Give me a break. She brought Pastor Wright back to the National Press Club because she knew they would take him this time versus 2006, when she first tried. She also knew it would have an impact damaging to Obama's campaign.

She -- like some other Blacks -- can't stand to see another Black man make it.

Obama / Wright NY Times Editorial Is a Home Run

Today's NY Times Editorial on Senator Barack Obama's angry response to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's appearance at the National Press Club was a home run. I too was not happy with Rev. Wright's presentation, complete with the "dog" pose after he answered one question. While the media questions were also stupid and race-batting, Rev. Wright lowered himself to their level.

But what hurt most was seeing Wright throw Senator Obama under the bus, when Obama took great pains to protect Pastor Wright even in Obama's landmark speech on race, a response to initial criticism about the former leader of Trinity United Methodist Church.

The LA Times is wrong.

This isn't about fitness, it's about character.

The article has the facts about McCain's time as a P.O.W. and his subsequent recovery, and the author suggests that if McCain is "fully disabled" as his pension indicates that he might somehow be unfit to serve as President. That's provocative, and it may help ratings for Vartabedian as he struggles to earn notoriety as a staff writer, but it's a red herring.

Nobody will deny that a retired military person is entitled to a pension. Nobody will argue that physical disabilities would disqualify a person from seeking this high office. Everybody can agree that years as a P.O.W. will require rehabilitative care and support.

So where's the beef?

The issue is character. In describing McCain's career after being released, Vartabedian offers these two facts:

After he was released in 1973, he returned home on crutches and began a painful physical rehabilitation. He later regained flight status and commanded a Navy squadron before retiring from the service in 1981.

Fair enough. The issue isn't about the tax-free status of that $58,000 pension, either. It's the implication about the character of a guy who claims a disability-status pension after he "...regained flight status and commanded a Navy squadron..." What kind of double standard is that?

He's a patriot, he earned a military pension...

...but either he's disabled, or he's not; I'm having trouble reconciling a naval flight surgeon finding an officer who needed rehabilitation fit to lead a squadron yet that same officer retiring with a disability pension based on events before he was re-certified to fly. Robert Schriebman, a senior Pentagon tax advisor and tax attorney who recently retired as a judge advocate for a unit of the California National Guard asks, If McCain can hike across the Grand Canyon, then why should he be getting disability payments from the government...?

Seriously, I don't care if they're tax exempt pension payments, I trust his rehabilitation left him physically fit enough for the rigors of elected office, but can anybody explain that to me how this double-standard fits with the moral character we want in office in Washington?

Senator Barack Obama : The Best Choice For President

Laurie and Awais are two Superdelegates who are the heads of the national college democrats, and have asked for comments on who they should select as President of the United States. My choice is Senator Barack Obama and I state why in this video. More here soon.

Jake Long: Miami Dolphins 1st Round Pick Meets The Media

I'm still uploading videos from the NFL Draft. For more, visit my YouTube channel Zennie62 and our NFL Draft blog.

Here we see Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long get selected "number one" by the Miami Dolphins, then meet the media in the Interview Room downstairs. This is more of a kind of behind the scenes video for those who've never seen the process with the media. I also included his Mom holding up his Dolphins "Number One" jersey.

Sex-Starved Women Out There? Really? Interesting

I mean what can I say other than that? I think the simple fact that the Global Economy has grown such that in America both women and men have to work their tails off just to make ends meet makes most women horny. Yes, even hornier than men.

What's wrong with that?

Well, not much, but then the article I link to refers to sex-starved wives! Yikes. Does that mean they're more likely to cheat?

Hmm....

Memo to America: MONEY TALKS (Cinco de B.O.!)

Memo to the Media:

Follow the money!

Nearly 1,500,000 Obama supporters have given to his campaign for the nomination of the Democratic party. The established media spins the question of "whether Obama is electable" because of his "loss" in PA though he closed the gap (which had been huge.) Let's note: Clinton's campaign is in serious debt while Obama's supporters continue to send in small donations - like the "$5 on 5/5, Cinco de Mayo, Cinco de B.O." concept.

Obama's Grassroots Fundraisers are hard at work, and money is coming from individual donors in small amounts - people who never donated before are stepping into the game. The unprecedented numbers tell the tale: more people are actively supporting this candidate than any other in history.

Memo to Obama: they get it.

learn more about Obama * follow the money * digg story

Caleb Campbell Forgoes Iraq For NFL's Detroit Lions - Video

In the 7th Round of the 2008 NFL Draft a huge cheer erupted from the small-compared-to-Day-One crowd and it was for a little-known cadet who also played football for Army. Caleb Campbell, who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in that last round. As that happened I talked to Dr. Bill Chackhes who gave me the details on Campbell's story. Caleb basically deferred going to Iraq as a officer after he is to graduate with the current Army class of 2008. The Army is allowing him to play in the NFL.

Everyone was enthusiastic to meet the man Bill called "The All American Boy" and this video captures that moment:

CNN's John King Uses Journalism To Express Racial Opinion

CNN's John King is a normally steady hand at reporting, but this night he took a wrong turn into a discussion for which he could not be objective, but uses the cover of reporting objectivity to make an emotional and disagreeable point.

He did this in the AC/360 Blog post he wrote, and I've linked to here.

This is the response I wrote there:

I think the main problem is that the "process" of hearing what Rev. Wright says has been so distorted that some people -- not all -- tune out what he's saying after the original sound-bites have been aired.

I think both John King and Merle Black are very guilty of this "myopic hearing" if you will. John, for actively seeking out someone who's Black to do John's talking for him, and Mr. Black, who's the willing participant in that process. This covers up the real need to hear not just what Rev. Wright has said, but who also said it.

Let's take 9-11: anyone who looks at our history without blinders knows that Somalia was the birthplace of hostilities that led to the World Trade Center attack. It was also a "white" (whatever that really means) Ambassador who said that America's chickens came home to roost.

Rev. Wright said that the ambassador made that statement -- but that fact has been ignored by people like John King, who could be accused of fanning the flame of racism for the sake of ratings and using someone African American to make a statement King himself personally believes. That's not CNN's roll. Not at all.

And John King should be more of a professional journalist, and not a pr rabble rouser. He -- and CNN -- can do better.

2008 NFL Draft - Bill Chackhes On Best Teams; Worst Teams

Dr. Bill Chackhes, SBS Personality, and Managing Partner of Football Writers Online.com took time to talk with me about the 2008 NFL Draft. Bill is a 34 year NFL Draft veteran; 22 years as a credentialed media member.

More about Bill here:

http://www.sportsbusinesssims.com/bill-chachkes.htm

Darren McFadden At NFL Draft - Three Interviews With Oakland Raiders RB

I am in New York City for the NFL Draft. As part of our partnership with KRON TV Channel 4, San Francisco, we created these video interviews of Oakland Raiders First Round Pick Darren McFadden. You can see more of our coverage at http://kron2008nfldraft.com



Agent Ian Greengross On The Thursday Before the Draft talks about character and the chance of a holdout should the Raiders draft McFadden.



Agent Greengross after the Raiders pick McFadden and McFadden Press Conference



Darren McFadden Interview after press conference

Laure Manaudou Failed to Qualify for 200 Metres Freestyle for Beijing

Laure Manaudou Failed to Qualify for 200 Metres Freestyle for Beijing

CLICK TO SEE VIDEO HERE

Laure Manaudou's naked photo scandal placed her squarely in the focus of the World last year. Now, with the Olympics in Beijing upon us and the related Torch protests, what she does is of even greater importance in the Zeitgeist.

Thus, her failure to Qualify for the 200 Metres Freestyle for the Beijing Olympics.

Did this happen due to her scandal with Luca Martin, the Italian swimmer? Or was it the media attention? Whatever the case, Laure Manaudou finds herself with an uphill climb and a new problem to deal with: getting into the Olympics.

Peter Paul Trial - Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton Called As Witnesses; Hillary After Election

I just got a call from a friend who's been close to the Peter F. Paul v. Bill and Hillary Clinton Fraud case, and who reported that in the trial, which was to take place today, Judge Aurelio Munoz called for former President Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea Clinton to appear as witnesses, but that Senator Hillary Clinton did not have to appear until after the close of the presidential election.

The judge also called for former presidential candidate and now Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore to appear as a witness. This marks the first bad news for the fomer elected official who's become the father of the battle against Global Warming.

This development, which has not yet appeared in the major news headlines, is a major one in the now nine-year old case and scandal, which has went through various episodes and twists on its way toward today's developments.

It means that the history of Clinton scandals has finally impacted the campaign, because there's no logical way that this bit of important news can not be covered by major news outlets eventually.

But it also causes younger voters who may have broke for Clinton to be forced to look back at the Clinton past, because it impacts events of today.

Carville SLAMS Same NY Times Editorial Board Which Endorsed Clinton

Clinton supporter and CNN commentator James Carville is known for saying what's on his mind, regardless of the results. Recently he called New Mexico Governor and former presidential candidate Bill Richardson "Judas" for endorsing Barack Obama. But in this exchange with the same Governor Richardson this week on "Larry King Live", Carville stuck his foot in his mouth big time, when he said that the NY Times Editorial Board -- the same one that endorsed Senator Clinton for president -- didn't know politics.

Richardson didn't see the opening to call Carville on it, but I did. That was wreckless and certainly shows to what degree the Clinton supporters will go in expressing their anger for any perceived slight. So much so that people and groups once seen as allies are quickly painted as enemies whenever it suits them. If Carville's the poster child for Clinton negativity, he's also the picture of a page in the clipbook of Clinton's failed campaign strategy.

MATT WALSH | STATEMENT BY THE NFL ON MATT WALSH -NFLMedia.com

MATT WALSH | STATEMENT BY THE NFL ON MATT WALSH -NFLMedia.com

Statement By The NFL On Matt Walsh
04/23/2008
STATEMENT BY THE NFL ON MATT WALSH



An agreement has been completed between the NFL and Matt Walsh that will allow Mr. Walsh, a former videotape operator with the New England Patriots, to share with the NFL information about activities occurring during his employment with the club from 1997-2003.



Commissioner Goodell will meet with Mr. Walsh in the commissioner’s office on Tuesday, May 13, the earliest date that Mr. Walsh, who lives in Hawaii, will be available on the east coast.



The agreement also requires Mr. Walsh to return any tapes and other items in his possession that belong to the Patriots. In return, the NFL and the Patriots have promised not to sue Mr. Walsh. They also will indemnify him for any expenses, including legal fees that he incurs in connection with the interview.



Commissioner Goodell determined last September that the Patriots had violated league rules by videotaping opposing coaches' defensive signals during Patriots games throughout Bill Belichick’s tenure as head coach. Coach Belichick admitted to his use of the taping practice on a regular basis as a result of what he said was his misinterpretation of the rule. Commissioner Goodell imposed substantial discipline on Coach Belichick and the club as a result of that practice. The interview with Mr. Walsh will seek to determine whether he has any new information about that videotaping practice or other possible violations of league rules.



Following the meeting with Mr. Walsh on May 13, there will be a news media briefing later that day in New York that will be attended by Commissioner Goodell (specific time and location to be provided at a later date).



# # #

Clinton Gets Only Nine - 9 Delegates Over Obama

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?