Editorial on the news of the Day and Review of the Gridlock around the world.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Vice President Should Go Fishing

Sponsored Article

Maybe the Vice President needs a break.  Hunting isn't really his thing any more, so maybe he should take up fishing. 

Our sponsor Northeast Marine Electronics has provided a press release and it describes a number of great high tech electronic devices that can make for a safer and more enjoyable experience on the water.  They provide top of the line GPS chart plotters, regular GPS devices, depth finders and more. 

They also have excellent Fishfinders so that fisherman can find the fish more easily and avoid potential problems that could result in going out on a fishing trip and not finding any fish.  Regardless fishing has to be a less controversial past time than hunting for our Vice President.

Cheney's Aid Called the CIA and NSA to Identify Reporters Working on Wilson Scandal

It was revealed this week in court room testimony that Vice President Cheney's aid (who was candidly examined in court this week during the Scooter Libby trial, called the CIA and National Security Council to identify the reporters working on the story surrounding Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame, the CIA agent compromised by the Vice President's office.

The court proceedings revealed some of the inner workings of Cheney's office.  Its distant ties and closed doors to the press forced them to turn to the Nations intelligence agency to put them in contact with active reporters working the story.  They then drew up a rating system for these reporters to determine which reporters would be the most receptive to their version of events.

Joseph Wilson had provided reports to the President through channels that Iraq did not have and was not pursuing nuclear weapons.  This report appears to have been ignored by the Vice President and not relayed to the President so that the President could make his case to go to war in 2003.  Once the story surfaced the Vice President's office (specific person to blame not yet identified) compromised Joseph Wilson's wife secret identity as a CIA operative, a violation of federal law that has gone un accounted for but did turn up a perjury charge for the Vice President's right hand man Scooter Libby.

More Arkansas Candidates Than We can Shake our Heads At

What is it about Arkansas that turns out Presidential candidates? 

Republican Mike Huckabee the former Arkansas Governor has announced that he is going to run for President.  That will pit him against long time Arkansas resident Hillary Clinton, now supposedly residing in New York via Washington DC, but really camping herself out in her would be home state of Iowa.

The I heart Huckabee's candidate is hoping to be the optomistic candidate for the Republicans, which will pit him directly against John Edwards, the optomistic candidate for the Democrats.  He is probably most famous for losing weight and pushing his constituency to live and eat healthier.  He was named as one of the five best governors by Time magazine, which pegs him in the top 10% (lot of math involved in that one.)

He also favors a flat tax(unlikely) opposes laws allowing abortion(so he is another moral Republican) and to cement that last assessment says that his religious beliefs are central to his life.

So he is hoping to attract the conservative right in the primaries and this will likely push him too far away from the swing voters come election day.

Bottom line, he does have much of a chance in todays political environment, and his Arkansas heralding oponent probably would have him for lunch, whether it was healthy or not.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Full Service Firm Continues To Grow

A word from our Sponsor

Where would you turn to for great legal service?

Our sponsor,  simmons jannace & stagg might be just the right fit for you.  They work with small, medium and large companies.  The have recently release a recap of their growth in a press release.  It details their growth from a smaller firm covering  just a couple areas of the law to a firm offering a broad range of legal services for almost any company. 

They cater to many fortune 500 companies from Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Kmart,  Coca-Cola and Washington Mutual.  That doesn't stop them form taking on new smaller clients as they focus on establishing and then growing long term relationships with their clients.  They encourage their attorneys to think of creative solutions to solve client problems with the least amount of time, conflict and money.

Contrasting US v UK Actions on Privacy Invasions:HP v the Crown

phone tap device A reporter was jailed for 4 months for listening in on phone calls made to and from the Royal Palace in the United Kingdom.  This glares a mirror image reflection of Hewlett Packard a multinational company that hired investigators to get phone records of journalists.

Both events are invasions of privacy.  The UK event has led to jail time for the reporter and the US event has led to congressional hearings and plea deals by lowly private investigators that didn't even know they were working for HP.

Regardless of whether or not the press is spying on someone or someone is spying on the press, the fictional notion of privacy is rapidly eroding away.  It strikes me that as the world advances in technology and simultaneously continues to get more crowded that examples of this nature will become more severe and more prevalent.  At some point privacy will not exist at all.

Ignore the Gridlock Listening to a Walkman Cell Phone

W300i walkman cell phone Our new sponsor Wirefly offers some great deals on cellular products on the internet.  They even offer some great deals on cell phones directly through eBay.

They have a great offer available on eBay right now for the Sony Ericsson W300i Walkman Cell Phone, listed with a buy it now price of only $179.99.

They have lots of other great deals as well, all new phones still in the box.  For people that are not churning through cell phone plans, when it comes time to upgrade the best way to save money in the long term is to buy a phone outright so that you do not get locked into a 2 year plan with your carrier.  Those plans aren't always in your best interest which is why you may pay a little more up front to upgrade but could save hundreds of dollars in the long run.  You can checkout Wirefly's positie eBay rating under Wirefly reviews. Then just pop in those earbuds, catch the train to work and shut the gridlock out of your life for a while.

Dig a Deep Enough Hole in Rome and You will Find Buried Gridlock

There is a saying in Rome that if you dig a hole deep enough you will find some kind of historical treasure.  Rome is a magnificent historical site for the world and has what almost seems to be a never ending supply of historical treasures that have been accumulated over the ages and with the passing of time, buried.

These treasures are to be cherished and protected as they represent a portion of history that has impacted almost the entire world. 

However, Rome is also a modern day city and has modern needs and concerns.  Every time one of those modern treasures is found it usually creates instant gridlock for the construction of some building or public works project.

Rome is currently attempting to build out their subway and unlike most big cities, they have to do it by hand.  When Rome builds a subway its not only a public works project, but an archaeological dig.  The compromise to build the subway was a hard fought battle between preservationists and city planners, but they are finally proceeding.  At the end of the day Rome's historical treasures were probably in as much jeopardy from physical gridlock and overcrowding as they were from the destruction that would take place to build a subway.

They have found a compromise and they do proceed, but every few shovel fulls of dirt brings a new find, and that brings a slow down and a little more Ancient Roman Gridlock.

 

Will Scooter Libby Get a free Trip to Aruba?

A brief word for our Sponsors

 Scooter Libby might avoid prison but will he be rewarded by Republicans someday and get a trip to Aruba?

I do not have the answer to that, however our sponsor vacations.net has provided a release that gives some great information about their aruba all inclusive resort packages. 

 You can find great travel deals at Vacations.net that cover all of your travel, food, drink and entertainment expenses when you visit Aruba.  That can definitely give you something to sing about while you relax on the beach, drinking a frosty drink and grinning every time that Beach Boys song runs through your head, knowing that you are onto something good.  You probably won't even watch CNN the entire time you are there!

Tricky Dick seeds the Libby Defense and protects Rove with one swipe of the pen

Karl Rove may be called by Scooter Libby's defense, which has indicated this week in court that it will track a defense strategy towards proving that Scooter Libby was a scapegoat.

The notion seems to have come from Dick Cheney's pen, which made a comment that he would not sacrifice one staffer for another.  This comment is being interpreted by Newsweek as an indication that Karl Rove was saved and Scooter Libby was scape goated.

That ploy seems a little to simple to me.  Dick Cheney has a lot of experience in Washington and is probably smart enough not to write something that he knows will likely show up in court.  I would offer the possibility that the Vice President new that this would be read and used this as a way of providing a reasonable doubt for Scooter Libby to escape with an innocent verdict.

Thus the VP saves one staffer immediately and saves another staffer later on in the game with a well placed written comment for defense counsel to subpoena.

From Brouhaha.com

Russians Respond with Non Response on Bomb Grade Uranium Charges from Georgia

Russian officials have anonymously responded to charges from the Republic of Georgia that accused Russia of not cooperating with an investigation of a Russian citizen arrested for attempting to sell 6.5 pounds of weapons grade uranium at the rate of $1 million per 3.5 ounces.

The man was arrested  with 3.5 ounces in his possession claiming to have more.  An anonymous official with the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency indicated that they had received a very small sample to of the seized Uranium, but hinted that this would not be enough.  This claim seems to insinuate that Georgia is acting peculiar in not providing more to test.

The anonymous argument rings hollow however as we are talking about weapon grade uranium which can be tested and compared with very minute samples.  It is after all one of the most highly guarded and tracked substances in the world.

 

Friday, January 26, 2007

Sending Anniversary Flowers

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If you have an anniversary coming up some time in the not to distant future our sponsor Flowershops.com might have some excellent services that will be just right for the event.  They work with local florists around the country to provide flowers to your loved ones. 

You can get great deals through their online website and get the speed, quality and local feel and knowledge from florists close to the recipient, which saves money too!

They recently provided a new press release describing their services.  They can help provide great flowers for many scenarios from anniversary flowers, to Valentine's day flowers, Easter flowers and more.  You could even send George Bush some flowers, maybe it will cheer him up just a bit.  A happy President has to be more effective than a dour and gloomy President, any day!

Senate Confirms Army General David Patraeus as Iraq coalition Commander

Today, the Senate led by Democrats unanimously confirmed the Armies General David Patraeus to lead the coalition forces in Iraq.  This will be General Patraeus' third tour of duty in Iraq.

He recently authored the US Army's new counter-insurgency manual and is considered one of the military's most experienced commanders in the field.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Avoiding the Lemons

A quick word for our Sponsor . . .

No one ever wants to end up with a lemon for a car.  Fortunately, its getting easier and easier to research the good cars before you buy them these days.

You can find great Cars For Sale at LemonFree.com and research the various different makes and models to insure that you do not end up with a lemon.

Lemon Free offers many free reviews on many makes and models.  So if you want some more information about that new Ford Mustang or possibly that Ford Mustang from 2 or 4 or 6 years ago, you can hunt that down quickly LemonFree Classifieds.  They have some great tools and even make it very easy to find good cars in your local area!

Bomb Grade Uranium Sting handed to Press when Uncooperative Russians Upset Georgian Interior Minister

It will come as no surprise to anyone that the Russians are proving to be uncooperative with former satellite state turned independent country the Republic of Georgia.    The two countries have been battling each other over gas and energy for over a year now.

That battle has now spilled into the international terrorism campaign as Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili of the Republic of Georgia revealed that a sting had occurred that netted a man carrying bomb grade uranium in a plastic bag last year.

Picture of weapons grade plutonium ring

The Sting was conducted by the Republic of Georgia and aided by the US CIA. 

Uncooperative Russians Hiding Information about Scope of Threat

The problem is that the Republic of Georgia is claiming that mother Russia is not cooperating.  They are not providing information of the Uranium's source.  Therefore we still do not know a year after the fact if these potential terrorists had access to a stock pile of Uranium or just a small amount.

Regardless it is enough to trigger a dirty bomb and that is frightening enough, but very strange that the Interior Minister would come forward to the press hoping to score a Russian black eye to move the investigation along.

Condos and Building Specialists

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 The country is filling up with people as evidenced by our recent milestone of 300 million people.  The United States is on track to hit 400 million people within 15 years.  That is a lot of people and there is only so much available water, resources, developed land, social services, and jobs to go around.  It all points to the fact that more people are going to be moving out of houses and into high rises filled with condominiums.

Condos are on the rise literally and in popularity.  CondoCompany.com has recently launched the CondoList which is one of the top condo search sites on the internet as they describe in their recent release.  They offer up a specialty as an example in listing Boston Condos.  Their list allows Owners, Realtors and developers to list available condos in the Boston area.  High end Condos can even be represented by a new breed of super condo realtor referred to as a Building Specialist.

 

Gridlock Lets Child Porn Abuser Go Free

A British man, Derek Williams, had his prison term suspended by Judge John Rogers.  Williams feels like a lucky man.  Prison over crowding in the United Kingdom has led to a dictate being sent to judges to only jail the most dangerous offenders.

Child advocacy groups are deeply troubled by the suspended sentence as it tells criminals that breaking child porn laws is not that bad.  Meanwhile all criminals now have a better chance of not serving prison time, getting out early or possibly something even else.  Judges are having their hands tied by the lack of jail space.  Maybe the United Kingdom and the United States should start exporting prisoners to penal colonies in Iraq to alleviate the over crowding in prisons and reduce the cost.

Maybe the Iraqi's and the Iraqi insurgents might band together for the common good to defend their country against the worst criminals in the west instead of turning their worst criminals against themselves and the foreign invaders'.

Its a dumb idea, but very ironic none the less.

Fund Raising Season

Its Fund Raising Season The Holidays have come and gone and most deer are safe until next year.  With the 2008 election ticking down there is a new game in America.  Its fund raising season!

Now you do not have to be a politician to get into this game.  In fact our new sponsor FundRaising.com actually specializes in helping many types of political and non-political groups learn how to participate in fund raising.

FundRaising.com provides a wide range of fundraising ideas to educational groups, small clubs, private citizens, political groups and more. They provide tips and insights and access to experts and their fund raising secrets. To raise funds effectively, it pays to be creative and it pays more to be experienced. They can help your group in both areas showing you some best practices to help you ramp up your effort and get the job done more efficiently and effectively.

The War on Oil

President Bush in his hour of desperation to find some kind of popular support to cling to is finally starting to notice that Americans want to go to war.  They want to go to war with oil specifically.

After several years of paying too much at the pump, they are finally starting to warm up to the idea that being dependent on foreign oil is bad for them and by extension the economy.  Unfortunately, Richard Nixon has left a wake of destruction in his path following his initiative to rid the US of oil dependence within 7 years.  That was over 30 years ago and obviously never happened.

Bush kind of gets it, but he is so far in bed with big oil as an industry that he is having a difficult time biting the hand that has fed him so long in order to gnaw his way out of his self imposed Iraqi shackles and save his own skin.

It just might be possible that he will finally come around and the US will experience a strong push towards a real solution to our energy needs, maybe including solar energy or biofuels or even hydrogen fuel cells.  Regardless Americans are starting to stand up and fight Oil themselves and that grass roots shift is resonating in Washington.

The Politics of a Tummy Tuck

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Congress as an institution may be in need of a Tummy tuck, but they are likely to find a suitable surgeon.  Fortunately, real people have better options.  People living in Beverly Hills have it the best probably.

In fact Dr. Lloyd Krieger recently provided a press release about a new boutique located in the middle of Rodeo Drive catering to people looking for cosmetic surgery solutions even if that includes a los angeles tummy tuck.  His medical center provides liposuction, tummy tucks, facial rejuvenation and the cosmetic surgery staple of breast augmentations and surgical breast implants. 

Plus, all of these services and procedures are available in a boutique setting almost like a spa.  So even though our political institutions can not shed some of their fat quickly, that does not mean that real people can't surgically tone up and save their cardiovascular system several premature years of wear and tear.

Democrats have McCain and Republicans in Check with Surge

Surge The congressional democrats are making moves to put John McCain's presidential aspirations and the Republicans in general in check.  They realize that the only direction that the United States can move in Iraq is in the direction of sending more troops.  Not enough troops were sent to do the job and the troops that are there are not safe enough even to withdraw.

More troops are needed for three reasons:

  1. Lock down the country and make it safe
  2. Chase down Insurgents in a locked down environment where they cannot hide
  3. Bring the best of the best trainers in to train the Iraqi troops and police as was originally promised.

The US has failed on all three of these counts in the past.  The Democrats despite their public outcry, know this is the only real option.  However, by making that outcry that this will likely fail, they are hedging against John McCain.  If it does fail or fails enough where its uncertain, then John McCain is finished as a presidential contender.  In the meantime, it only helps the Democrats motivate their own base by lamenting the fact that the surge won't work.  It is only icing on the cake that it makes George Bush look worse.  Its almost impossible for anyone to make George Bush worse than he makes himself look, but this attempt does bury him in a deeper hole.  Regardless don't be fooled by the public commentary, its all part of the Presidential chess game and has little to do with Iraq.

Its not a gamble on the Democrats part, however if the Surge does work, John McCain will stand a much better chance of winning the nomination and possibly the election.

 

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Mail Drops for Poll Results

During the exploratory stage of a campaign, in the middle of a live campaign or after the wind down of a campaign, many candidates need to get good information about what is going on in various areas of the country.

They often result to telephone polls to get people talking, but sometimes a direct mail campaign is much more effective. 

Many people however might not give a completely unbiased answer if they see that the poll is coming from a democrat or a republican or a PAC affiliated with one side or the other.  Therefore, many campaigns will setup can setup a mail drop to receive the results of their direct mail polling campaigns and have the results forwarded to any address they like.  Similarly, this can enable pollsters to have the mail sent to local addresses or semi local addresses in the same state or country such that the people that are polled get a sense of  having a local connection.

We have added MailDropGuide as a new sponsor.  They provide online resources that can help candidates, potential candidates, campaigns or anyone considering establishing a grass roots organization to find and setup a successful maildrop mailboxes with a local participating company. 

Often times some issues are too polarized for a grass roots effort that is running on a shoe string budget out of a basement or garage to provide a return address to their home.  A maildrop address can provide a buffer zone so that issue organizers do not find their home picketed in the morning or worse.

MailDropGuide.com also provides information on setting up remailers in foreign countries such that foreign policy polls can be conducted and consolidated abroad.

 

Obama Fights Against Swift Boating Attack but is the Damage Done?

Many conservative internet blogs and Fox News picked up a story provied on the website of Insight Magazine.  The story contended that Barack Obama had been educated at a radical Muslim madrassa in Jakarta, Indonesia.

CNN and the Associated Press went to the school and found that it is a secular (non-religious) public school and has been since the late 1960's.  Obama did attend school there from the age of 6 untl age ten when he returned to the US to live with his grandparents.

Obama aids swiftly responded that they would not be swift boated like the political attacks against John Kerry that questioned his status as a Vietnam hero.

The problem for Obama might not be the allegation that he attended a radical Muslim madrassa, but instead that he attended school in Jakarta at all as a student. 

In the minds of Americans, will they be ready for a presidential candidate that attended school in Indonesia, especially with the instability and unrest in that country, widely popularized in the US as a hotbed for Muslim extremism.

Americans can accept Clinton going to Yale, but Obama studying in Jakarta? 

 

Valentines Day Gift for Your Candidate

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We all hear about campaigns and candidates receiving campaign contributions, but wouldn't it be interesting if Americans turned out this Valentine's Day to support their candidate with a dozen roses?  Sure that money could go into the campaign coffers, but think how much fun it would be to see a story about Hillary Clinton or John McCain receiving 12 million roses!  Election 2008 could turn into a new War of the Roses.

Its just an idea of mine that was inspired by one of our sponsors GourmetGiftBaskets.com.  They provide great gift baskets, flowers and more for those of you that will be shopping for Valentines Day Gifts.  They recently provided a new release describing how a Valentine's gift really shows that to the recipient that you are thinking of them.  As its the political season, I naturally thought by extension, wouldn't John Edwards or Rudy Giuliani like to know that I am thinking about them . . .   Maybe I should send them a great gift basket, to help them get their day off to a good start on Valentine's day.  A little unadulterated good will might get one of our future presidents off to a good start and tip the world in a better direction.

 

Kerry Isn't Running

So John Kerry announced this afternoon that he will not run for President this time around.  He had poll results according to CNN that indicated a majority of democrats thought he should not run, something like 51 : 47 percent thought he should not run.

As compared to Al Gore who had 59% in favor of him running and Hillary Clinton with I think 75% favoring her running (these are Democrats not country wide numbers)

CNN chalked his dropping out before he began to his botched speech just prior to the mid term election that seemed to call American troops stupid for not going to college instead of into the military.  Kerry claimed he was not calling the troops stupid, but had just botched a joke that was supposed to target GW and ended up backfiring and now possibly costing him a second run at the White House.

The major media outlets were reporting this development, but the Kerry website doesn't mention it yet with any type of official response.

Grass Roots Event Planning Tools

If you are working with a political campaign or planning some grass root efforts to gather information, collect campaign contributions, and help set up informational events for a campaign or speech, then RegOnline could be a very useful online application for you.

They make it very easy to setup event registration forms online. Plus, you can accept payments through their tools in the form of contributions or even fees for services or events, like a dinner event or town hall meeting. They also offer some great report management features so that you can keep track of attendees and their contribution amounts.

To take payments, you will need a merchant account. The number can be plugged into their system. If you do not already have a merchant account they can help you get set up with one within about a week.

The service even allows you to follow up with attendees sending confirmation emails along with receipts, plus meeting or campaign materials. This automated emailing service can definitely cut down on physical mailings.

They offer two different pricing levels. You can pay $150 as a flat fee plus $3.50 per registrant or no flat fee and charge $4.75 per registrant. So the break even point is around 120 registrants, but at such a low amount, you can easily recoup that small fee through event charges and fees or contributions.

The service is free to try!

You can get more information on signing up and see video tutorials, or try a free sample demo online through their site. Then you can get running with their event registration forms products and streamline your grass roots campaigning throughout the 2008 election cycle.

Their tools generate very professional registration forms and establish a high level of trust for contributors that might be hesitant about transacting online.

Sponsored Article

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Lebanon Lost the War and falling into Civil War

It was just a couple years ago when strikes were taking place in Lebanon's Beirut to oust Syria from controlling the country.  At the time it seemed like a middle east version of the Berlin wall crumbling down.

Times have changed and Lebanon has made some strange choices since, proving that when you try and please everyone, you please no one.  Today, opposition groups led by Hezbollah have brought a general strike to the capital to oust the government and re-link Lebanon to Syria and Iran.

Hezbollah's failed war with Israel did not bring a Lebanese condemnation of Hezbollah nor a routing of the opposition from the country and now the country is paying the price again.  Many Lebanese bridled at the Israeli attacks brought on by Hezbollah aggression and the country responded with an odd mixture of national resilience aimed at Israel instead of the instigators, Hezbollah.

That short sited national pride is now being attacked by the same instigators from within and threatens to force the country into a civil war unless the current Lebanese government just cedes control over the country.  The current Lebanese government has the support of the US, France, Great Britain and Saudi Arabia.  These absent allies do not want to see Lebanon fall under the direct influence of Syria or Iran, but any action they take to intervene or help will only fuel the fire locally if that help is not decisively enough to end Hezbollah's reign in Lebanon.

Following the Hezbollah v. Israel war, Hezbollah was very quick to provide assistance and support to the Lebanese victims of the war.  Their humanitarian visage captured a great deal of grass roots support despite the fact that their actions brought the war in the first place.

The current international policies of letting the countries of the Middle East work their problems out internally seems to be failing as Iran and Syria are engaged in breaking down those countries.  Countries like Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan are proving that they do not have a true grasp on their Sovereignty when confronted with a foe like Syria and Iran that are able to sew dissent and turn that dissent into action against the sovereign powers of the country.

These hidden attacks by outside forces are rapidly bringing a regional conflict to the area that will ultimately have to be responded to in kind by those countries that oppose Iran and Syria.  The Bush foreign policy has failed to stem the attacks of these countries in Iraq and Afghanistan as an insufficient amount of force was provided to secure the Sovereignty of these countries.  This example has enabled Syria and Iran to repeat the formula and only a massive campaign of military force will now be able to bring peace to the Middle East.

The world is going to find itself choosing sides very rapidly and with oil reserves at stake, these lines may blur and the conflict has the potential to bring China and Russia into play potentially on sides that may oppose other western nations.  The middle east is bring turmoil to the rest of the world and could bring about a new world war.  The world may need to step in and force a peace in the region for the greater good of the rest of the planet.  This is an extremely unfortunate result, but mistakes and missteps brought by all parties around the world are rapidly sucking the world into a fight that it may not survive.

Belisi Brand Designs for Clothing Accessories

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Belisi Brands and designs have become one of our preferred sponsors.  Peter Belisi founded his fashion company and his website beingbelisi.  The company started with a tie collection that would not stop growing.  Peter Belisi worked his way up from bar tending in Palm Beach to running a fashion and design firm.

His Belisi Brand works to merge the fashion, style, character and presence of Palm Beach living with that of Italian simplicity and beauty in design.  Belisi learned early on that completing a great look requires more than putting a few components together.  He found that the devil is in the details and Belisi manages to work out the devil with great accessories including his ties.  His unique styles definitely can work to compliment great clothing.

His website offers up some of his designs and also practical tips for wearing his accessories, from information about handbags to tips on which knot should be utilized with a particular type of shirt.

Now, Who is Running for President?

The question should be "Who isn't running for President?"

Here is the unofficial list which includes a combination of those that have declared, have formed exploratory committees and have expressed serious interest combined.  This leaves no one out and lets us evaluate all contenders now that there is less than a year until the first primaries begin.

As the Republicans have Power, I will start the list off with Democrats:

  1. Senator Christopher Dodd
  2. Senator John Edwards
  3. Senator Mike Gravel
  4. Senator Dennis Kucinich
  5. Governor Tom Vilsack
  6. Senator Joe Biden
  7. Senator Barack Obama
  8. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
  9. Governor Bill Richardson
  10. General Wesley Clark
  11. Senator John Kerry
  12. Reverend Al Sharpton
  13. Vice President Al Gore
  14. Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman

For the Republican Party

  1. Senator Sam Brownback
  2. John Cox
  3. Senator John McCain
  4. Michael Charles Smith
  5. Governor Jim Gilmore
  6. Mayor Rudy Giuliani
  7. Representative Duncan Hunter
  8. Representative Ron Paul
  9. Governor Mitt Romney
  10. Representative Tom Tancredo
  11. Governor Tommy Thompson
  12. House Speaker Newt Gingrich
  13. Senator Chuck Hagel
  14. Governor Mike Huckabee
  15. Governor George Pataki

 

Building up a Credit History has become almost Essential

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It can take a lot of time and work to build up your credit.  Establishing good credit has become an almost essential ingredient for people looking to apply for a job, by a car a home or much more.

Many employers screen credit references and the absence of any credit history for certain positions may be a red flag.  It is almost impossible to get a home loan without good credit and a automobile loan is similarly difficult to get approval unless you have good credit.

There are some great ways to get loans and build up your credit however.   It is possible to start building up your credit with small personal loans or even using cash to borrow money for secured loans for the sole purpose of building up your credit history.

Why did China Shoot Down a Satellite? Its Going to Be War

China recently shot down a satellite orbiting the Earth in a display of technological power.  They did this in preparation for their plans to be able to engage in war with any country in the world including the United States.

China is ascending.  They do not understand that their ascension is fueled by the countries of the world working with them.  Instead they view their ascension as a hard earned right.  They look at their ascension like a destiny to be reclaimed.  The only thing stopping them from achieving this destiny are the country's that have previously ascended further than China.

As such, they will compete with countries such as Korea, Japan, Russia, India, Great Britain, Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and of course the United States.  They have been engaging in total war fare on an economic level for many years and they are using the spoils of their uncontested war to repair weaknesses in their military capabilities. 

China is rapidly making progress in this area however, with better submarine technology and now demonstrating the capability to shoot down potentially any satellite orbiting the earth.

The United States and many multi national corporations that rely on satellites need to take this warning seriously and take immediate actions to address obvious weaknesses in our defense.  First, we need to review are satellites with an eye towards deploying satellites that are capable of taking evasive action.  A satellite is literally a sitting duck in outer space moving around in an orbit that is easily tracked and therefore targeted.  We need to develop into our existing and future satellites the ability to move or change orbits enough to evade an attack.

Second, we need to attempt to find a way to hide our satellites.  Now, this is not as simple as putting radar deflecting tiles on the devices as they often are visible to the naked eye (via a telescope) and more importantly transmit and receive data that can be tracked according to the electromagnetic emissions.  Regardless, we need to find a way to protect them.

Third, the US needs to re-look at the Ballistic Missile Defense concepts and expand their scope to include the protection of extra terrestrial satellites, after all the destruction of satellites could have devastating effects on people here on earth.

Make no mistake about it, China is planning to ascend and this literal shot across the bow is a serious warning.  They have tasted democracy and learned enough to know that in a democracy it is best to control the democracy.  They want to control the democracy even if that includes other countries as well.

Automotive Insurance Research Options

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CarInsurance.com is sponsoring a new press release pointing out to teenagers that they need to pay attention to trucks.  In their release they offer a link to the Geico teen safe driving web site at www.geico.com/auto/safety .

CarInsurance.com provides an online marketplace for automotive insurance enabling people researching their options for auto insurance online to receive multiple quotes for potential new insurance companies.  Some states even allow people to buy their insurance online once they have identified a suitable quote or offer from an insurance company.

CarInsurance.com also offers an excellent learning center with explanations and definitions for many different aspects of automotive insurance such as defining the difference between physical damage and bodily injury, plus they explain why these terms are relevant to shopping for insurance and selecting the best policy to suit your needs.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Chavez tells US and Verizon 'Go to Hell'

The always eloquent President Chavez of Venezuela told the US and Verizon Communications to go to hell this week.  He announced plans to socialize more of the country at the beginning of the year and is starting in part with the Venezuelan telecommunications industry.  Verizon owns less than a thirty percent stake in the Venezuelan phone company and was planning on selling anyway.

Wall Street didn't care much and neither did much of the rest of the US as President Chavez is a blow hard.  Much like the Presidents of North Korea and Iran, he purposefully makes inflammatory statements hoping to stir things up, but at the end of the day he has very little influence over worldly affairs.

Yes he does sit on oil, but it currently looks unlikely that he will attempt to nationalize Venezuelan oil production.

As he told Verizon to go to hell this week, he indicated that the Venezuelan phone company, CANTV, had been used by the US to spy on him since he entered office.  Its extremely unfortunate for the Venezuelan people, however, at the end of the day its their country and they allowed this blow hard to get elected.  Such is democracy and such has been the history of democracy especially in South America.  It would be almost funny if the results were not always so sad, that socialists usually benefit the most from democracy in many South American countries.

More from Chavez:

Friday, January 12, 2007

Great Deals from Wirefly

Sponsored Article

Our new Sponsor Wirefly is offering some great deals on cellular phones.

 The new Motorola Krzr phone (pronounced Crazer, like crazier or Frazier) is available for free after the rebate is redeemed. 

If you have a taste for chocolate, the new LG Chocolate  phone is also free through Wirefly after rebates.

Wirefly is even offering a Razr through sprint for free after rebates that comes with a free blue tooth headset thrown in!

Wirefly has many other great cellular deals as well with many different carriers that include US Cellular, Tmobile, Nextel,Sprint, Cingular (just renamed to AT&T, Amp'd and Alltel Wireless.  If you are looking for great deals on prepaid carriers, you can also check out Tmobile to go, the Go Phone plans from Cingular, Virgin Mobile and Liberty Wireless.

They even offer one of my favorite phones the Sony Ericson 810(left) for free after rebate and a new Cingular account sign up.

Plus, Wirefly has all the accessories you can dream of at their site.  All in all they have a comprehensive selection and great buys on phones for customers looking to dump that old phone and old plan and move on to something newer, sexier and save a bundle at the same time.

Democrats to Denver in 2008

The Democratic National Committee has selected Denver as the city that will host the Democratic National Convention in 2008.  Three cities made it to the finals:  New York, Minneapolis and Denver.  Minneapolis bowed out after it was selected by the Republican National Committee last fall.

New York worked to get the show, but Mayor Bloomberg ultimately decided that it would not be in the cities best interest as it might require the city to underwrite part of the cost of the show.

As such Denver won by default, even though Chairman Howard Dean has proclaimed that having the convention in the West is good for politics, insinuating that the Democrats need to prove that they can win in any state.  The default of New York City probably hurts Hillary Clinton, the transplanted home town hero the most, but even that is not too much.  Holding the convention in the New York City would have required her to spend more time in the state she represents, and that is likely burden enough on top of the fact that her husband lives and works there.

 

Trendio Can Put Grass Roots Fun into Political Buzz

Trendio is a rather new website that lets people setup a free account.  With the free account they are given $10,000 of fake money, which they can use to bet/invest in keywords or names that are likely to explode in the headlines soon.

Based on how much those names or keywords take off, will predict how much money a person can win/earn in the Trendio Game.  Trendio focuses a great deal on technology, but does have a politics section, so players, pundits, analysts, news hounds and bloggers and more can bet or invest their hard earned fake money on names that might launch into the news stratosphere in the future.

You can also pit your skills against other players.  So if you think you can spot the news trends in politics from the perspective of what will make more news (so buy before hand) or what will make less news (so sell before it falls off) you might even win some real prizes.

I entered a political contest myself to give it an initial try.  I was able to select the words North Korea and John McCain, but not Chris Dodd.  I entered a few others like Iraq, Chavez and Minimum wage.  Will those names spike in the next four days?  Not sure, but I bet they will in the next month.

 I do not know what it takes to get a key word listed yet, but I will continue to monitor and find out.  If nothing else it is just a game, but possibly an interesting way to spot trends in the news according to what really is getting covered and what is not getting covered.

Second North Korea Nuke Test Coming

After the Nuclear test by North Korea in October that seemed like a potential dud it comes as little surprise that North Korea may be preparing for second test.

The first test was thought to have been prepared and taken place on the eastern side of Mount Mant’ap.  North Korea had apparently prepared two tunnels.  One was prepared on the Eastern Side and a second tunnel on the Western side.

DefenseTech.org is reporting that South Korean Government officials have indicated that activity at the Western tunnel is taking place that is similar to the activity that occurred prior to the test on the Eastern side.  A South Korean National Assemblyman indicated that it is likely that the North Koreans are preparing for a second test according to the report.

It is likely that North Korea will perform additional tests if they have the material as the first test regardless of its true effectiveness was considered or at least spun to be somewhat of a failure.  A second test if successful will likely be larger and more pronounced as North Korea will want to shake and impress the international community.

This latest activity by the PRK at Mount Mant'ap may also give either the Japanese or the United States something to target in some form of an attack.  Such an attack on the PRK would be a significant precedent, and would certainly cause an uproar in international circles.  However, the Japanese and American leadership might feel hard pressed to stand by and do nothing through a second round of nuclear testing by the North Koreans, especially if the location is known.

 

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Search Engine Marketing Tools for 2008 Campaigns

The 2008 elections are relatively right around the corner.  As each Presidential campaign begins to ramp up, election campaign managers must turn up the heat in the web marketing department.  They know that they must seek out the best groups to help them promote their candidates and the campaigns effectively.

Apogee Search provides an excellent solution for Search Engine Marketing that can help campaigns get the message out.  In this day and age its not good enough to just list something on a website and hope someone shows up to read it.  Apogee is a Google Adwords certified partner and can provide a great deal of help to a campaign looking to generate buzz across the internet and insure that their press releases and other items of interest can be found in Search Engine results.

Sponsored Article from a Trusted Sponsor

Dodd Skips the Presidential Exploratory Committee

Chris Dodd Image Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd through his name into the ring today to run for the President of the United States in 2008.  He bypassed the practice of running and exploratory committee, which is normally utilized by candidates that are attempting to see if they can gain enough political and most importantly financial support.

Dodd describes himself as a dark horse in the running against Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but neither of those two likely candidates have officially entered the race yet.  Dodd has strong ties with labor and a long history of politics in the family.

His father served as a senator for two terms. 

Senator Dodd himself began serving in the house in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal and was first elected to the US senate in 1980, only 8 years later.  Dodd was the chief Senate sponsored for the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act, which allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave from work without fear of losing their jobs for reasons that include the birth of a child or personal or family illness.

He speaks fluent Spanish and served in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic from 1966-1968.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Beyond Blossoms Flowers

And a word for our sponsors . ..

Beyond Blossoms provides great flower arrangements  imported from flower farms from all around the world.  They work on marketing and positioning themselves as the Ben & Jerry's of flowers, offering great deals on a dozen roses for less than thirty dollars or providing flowers that are harder to find.

We would like to welcome Beyond Blossoms as one of our sponsors and encourage our readers to consider bookmarking their site in preparation for Valentines day or any occasion.

Beyond Blossoms founders Josh Grossman and Gina Maschek recently provided a this release on their flowers.  Their site offers a great rewards program.  It allows buyers to earn points from buying flowers.  These points can be redeemed with free flower purchases from their website. 

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Gridlock is Back And not a moment too late!

Pelosi swarn in for first day in congress with grandchildren to witness The Democrats took control of the Senate this week and not a moment too soon.  Republicans have shown themselves to be completely democratic in their spending self control(as in spending like a democrat as opposed to spending in a democratic majority rules sort of way, but either description fits).

It is likely that America can trust the Democrats to stop the Republicans from spending up the national debt as frivolously as they have since 2000.  Its not that Democrats have any better sense of self control themselves, but they do have a lot of built up spite and animosity and blocking Republican spending is a sure fire way to seek retribution.

Fortunately, spending retribution brought to us in the form of gridlock is exactly what Americans need.  Not only will it help to keep the debt from getting any worse than it already is, but it will help cool off the economy just a bit, which might make it possible for the Fed to bring us all a nice present by next Christmas if not the summer after that. 

Now all the Democrats need to do is to find a winner of a presidential candidate.  That is going to be difficult as all of their front runners look like losers and the Democrats are likely to take their 2006 win and assume that it will translate into 2008 momentum.  That could be possible, but only if they find a winner of a candidate.  Their 2006 win does not lock them in to a sure fire admittance back into The White House.

 

Whitney Houston Does Not Experience Gridlock in Jersey

Whitney Houston may find the fast processing of New Jersey courts troubling or the best thing in the world if her publicist is to be believed.

Many of Houston's costumes and stage equipment from her 1999 world tour are being auctioned off to pay off $200,000 in back debt resulting from storage fees for the same assets.  Apparently, there was not enough room in her $6 million dollar estate in Jersey to hold the speakers, costumes, fork life, and pianos among other things so she opted to store the goods with a storage company and now can not or will not pay the bill.

The courts are allowing the storage company to sell the goods through and auction house and under New Jersey law any proceeds exceeding $200,000 will go back to Houston's production company.

Now if she can just get her divorce fast tracked through gridlock she might end up a happy camper.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Free Trial for Online Stock Options Tools

An Article for Our Sponsors

Elliot Spitzer may have moved into the governors mansion on the heals of taking on hedge funds and mutual fund companies, but now smaller investors can compete with those big firms that Spitzer felt had too much advantage. 

The laws haven't been changed, but technology is leveling the playing field.

PowerOptions provides online tools and solutions that help options traders maximize the profits on their trades with tools that provide internet-based data that can help traders zero in on the highest possible return on an option.  Plus, their latest press release now indicates that they are offering a 14-day free trial.

Trading stock options is one of the most highly technical investment endeavors that can be undertaken.  If you stumbled over the concepts involved in  Calculus in high school and college, then you will be able to appreciate how complex trading options can be.  Trading options is basically buying a derivative of the value of some underlying asset (or selling the derivative that is).

This is not something that you can jump into through some simple stock program.  Investors in stock options need very good information and even better tools to make the right investment calls.  If they don't they can lose a significant amount of money or miss out on earning an even bigger amount of money.

 

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Video of Saddam Hussein's Hanging Released on the Web

A video has surfaced on the internet showing the hanging of Saddam Hussein.  The video was taken from a cell phone and reports indicate that the owner of the cell phone was a guard on the security detail that has now been taken into custody himself for taking and releasing the video.

The video is graphic and shows the entire event.  The video is available on YouTube and many other services.  We are not publishing an embedded version of the video on Gridlock on Rye due to its graphic nature.  However, we are making the link available of Saddam's Execution.

Iraq executes many people in the name of the government and the society is still in a massive state of flux.  There is some controversy over the loud voices in the background.  The even was not a somber situation, and Saddam appears to be more reserved than a few of the other attendees.

We are covering this in part because many aspects of the Iraq war appear to have been cleansed for mass consumption by 24 hour news services.  Wars and insurgencies and revolutions and civil wars are extremely brutal and nasty affairs.  I personally do not think that we Americans are doing ourselves any favors by not understanding the results of our impact in Iraq.  This video is a direct result of our impact there.   I am not criticizing that impact nor endorsing it, but am accepting that it does exist.