Problem Pastor the Sequel - Obama Goes Catholic

(Hey Craig, I think we kind of agree.)



I think the preachers are getting to much air time. However, that said, I think the religious right empowered the preachers to get the air time, and I also think that Obama has been drinking from same cool aid and is now learning that when you summon a religious demon you can't put it down easily, even when it comes in the form of your pastor or your guest pastor or your spiritual guru or advisor.



To let the media defend themselves, the audio is Tucker Carlson explaining why the media should be looking into this and more importantly why Barack Obama needs to answer.



imho Obama needs to explain why he is receiving guidance and mentorship these guys.



The second thing you mention is looking at things from a different perspective. There is no doubt in my mind that there are definitely problems in the country and some of those are racial, but does anyone other than Obama's last two preachers think that Hillary Clinton feels that she was 'entitled to win the election because she is white' as this latest crack pot claims.



I criticized Hillary a long time ago and on multiple occasions for her entitlement to the presidency actions. It was a stupid political move, but I don't think she felt entitled because she was white. I think she felt entitled because she's been in the White House before and because she thinks she has paid her dues.



Regardless, entitlement is very close to one of the words that I think is very evil, and that is gratitude. Hillary acted as if we the people owed her gratitude for past service and this was enough to put her in the White House. I do not think as this guy claims that she expected to be put into the White House because her skin color matched the paint on the exterior.



This was the same problem with Jeremiah Wright. He turned a critical eye to issues that definitely needed a critical eye. The problem is that he was so subjectively flawed himself viewing a racist bogeyman behind every corner that the arguments that he made that had some merit were then made laughable by the ones that were crazy.



Wright and this last guy are taking the bully pulpit that Obama has given them and they are using it to expose partial truths with a bunch of nonsense. When it comes to actual problems of racism, their actions actually prove more detrimental to improving the country because they sprinkle lunacy on their political cereal for breakfast.

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Problem Pastor the Sequel - Obama Goes Catholic

The title is intended to be a zinger because I'm getting tired of Obama's Pastor problems. I'm starting to wonder why Obama doesn't and hasn't bailed from his church.

Not for the obvious reason that the US was founded on a very strong belief in the separation of church and state and maybe all elected officials should drop out of their church before they take public office just so that they will not be corrupted by the influences of some of the oldest most powerful organizations in the world, churches, temples, mosques etc.

But just because his church and his pastors are really going over the top ridiculous. I mean, does this guy want to be President or does he want to run for President and lose?

That's pretty much the question that Barack Obama, not the press,not the democratic party,not hillary or bill, have forced him to decide and answer.





The Audio



If you haven't already seen or heard this audio on the news, let me give you some background information to put the audio in context:



-the speaker calling Hillary Clinton a white supremacist is caucasian

-the speaker worked on Obama's campaign until he resigned 2 weeks ago

-the speaker is speaking at Obama's current church

-the speaker has spoken at Obama's church many times in the past

-the speaker is a Catholic Priest

-the speaker made these comments 6 days ago on Sunday

-the speaker has already publicly apologized for his own sermon

-the cheering in the background comes from members of Obama's church

-the speaker has been active in defending Louis Farrakhan in recent weeks

-Obama's campaign has called the sermon divisive and backward but has not denounced the claims that Hillary is a white supremacist

So, I ask everyone, do we really want to hear from crazy pastors, ministers, rabbis, preachers, caliph or mullah, or maybe even a scientology leader(not sure what they call their religious leaders, Chief Clear?) that passes through Obama's church on a regular basis.

I think we'd all be better off if Obama went religiously neutral and dropped out of the church. I'm not saying that is good for Obama or his family or anything. He's got to make his own choices. I wouldn't want my kids to have some nut job like this reading a children's book to them, but if that works for the Obama's that is their choice.

However, I think that it would be good for America because I do not think we need more division in this country inspired by the people that Barack Obama chooses to accept into his house of worship and political campaign as spiritual advisors.

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FIght the HATE - Taking Down FAIR

Listen to Eric Ward, Organizer at the Center for New Community, from the frontlines of a war against hate in the US. Eric and the Center are helping to expose the ties of anti-immigrant hate group FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, to white supremacists.



Want to keep FAIR from spreading hate in your community? Listen to Eric's tips on fighting back.

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Just Watched Recount

I just finished watching Recount with Kevin Spacey. It was indeed a pretty good movie. I lived in Palm Beach County during the 2000 election so I did experience a lot of the things in the movie first hand. However, I worked then too, so much of it was experienced at night after work on the news and reading updates on the internet.

Back then I was working for Motorola and trying to help Verizon Wireless form. As it turns out, I might have been better off if I had paid less attention to Verizon Wireless (let them fold in their own problems at the time) and paid closer attention to national politics.

Then again, I'm not sure that paying more attention would have helped. I did pay attention and had been paying attention for many years. I thought Gore and Bush were two of the worst candidates that our country has ever seen. Since then President Bush has been able to confirm that I was definitely half right. I suspect that I was actually 100% right, but in this universe I can't confirm that Al Gore truly was the other worst candidate.

In Gore's defense he has been a much better non-President than he ever was a Senator or Vice President. Ironically, he has probably even done more good for the country since leaving politics than he ever did while he was serving in office. His attacks against Twisted Sister during Senate hearings were even more absurd than recent hearings in the Senate covering steroids in baseball that were about as surreal as watching Leslie Nielsen run a reality show featuring a Hydroxycut review.

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Economic Stimulus-Gone Daddy Gone

The increase in the price of oil since the economic stimulus package was signed into law has risen enough to cost the economy more than $300 billion. That means the $157 billion stimulus package has been wiped out by oil prices, in many cases before any of us received a check at all. We may use the actual check itself to buy something, improve the house with vinyl siding even though home values have dropped by 3.7 percent, or maybe even spend the money on gadgets, but as a whole Americans spent the economic stimulus on gas and oil and probably paid interest on it too before anyone saw a deposit hit their bank account.

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Lake Going Up in Steam Everyday

This morning, I'm eating some breakfast, drinking a diet mountain dew and watching the news. In the background I'm watching the steam rising up like fire off the lake.



I was having an idle daydream speculation wondering just how much water we lose every day from steam off the lake. Our lake is heated by a coal power plant. (The lake was actually created with damns to give power plants water to cool their systems.)

The plant couldn't function without the lake, which is why the plant's owner built the lake. Water an electricity often go together like food and people. The plants rarely can get away from the need for water unlike humans that can go several days with out and even a couple days without desiring it if they have some hoodia root handy.

The thing is that before the lake, the water used to flow into a river or sink down into the underground aquifer. Now that we are running into water shortages, I'm wondering if there is something wrong with the system. Maybe the heating of the lake water actually sends more water into the air through some type of super evaporation process (water evaporating both from the water and from the steam in the air).

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How Much Gas Can You Waist to Get Free Gas?

That was the question that many people in Las Vegas found the answer to last week when a local gas give away ended up fueling a gas burn off in traffic jams and gridlock.

Most of these people would have probably been slightly better avoiding the gas give away all together, but in fact with prices as high as they are, burning a half tank of gas to get a full tank of gas does unfortunately make some economic sense. Congratulations Las Vegas you found a way to make the pain at the pump more painful even with free gas.

Maybe next week you could offer some free designer jewelry for anyone that wants to go sweat it out in the diamond minds and fields of Africa. What's a little malaria and enslavement when free diamonds are being offered?

Military Prosecuting Soldiers for Pregnancy

Below is my reaction to a story I read in Stars and Stripes via Military.com at http://www.military.com/…50,00.html

It talks about how the military is slightly lifting the ban on sexual relations between heterosexual unmarried soldiers in Afghanistan. That's basically a lot of double talk for a shift in orders/policy so that unmarried female soldiers that get pregnant in Afghanistan can not be prosecuted for having sexual relations.



Note. this ban is still in effect in the 173rd Division.



Voice Transcript follows:



I was reading an article on military.com and the section article originally written for stars and stripes and talks about a new order that was recently issued by the commander of the combined joint task force in Afghanistan and the this change and orders is interesting and a strange way I say interesting for the perspective that I see some very negative things about this icy and slight positive things about this as well and good that in a minute but the order essentially he is the ban on sex for soldiers in Afghanistan it's was previously established that unmarried men and women were not allowed to have sexual relations in a combat zone that means that a man and woman cannot have sex in a combat zone in and also within the borders it was not allowed for a mail for example to go into the living quarters of the female and vice versa even if it was like public living area maybe you two or three unmentioned in the same quarters and a woman might come in in a just to hang out or talk or watch TV or in a bar or something or whatever the case might be that was banned and same time they were not allowed to have sex either this is just for homosexuals by the way which is still banned even after the change orders but was changed is that it's no longer bands that means that they could have sex in Afghanistan today the thing is they're still not allowed to have sex basically within their living quarters so they could have sex you can do it in their living quarters today another aspect of the change in the bands that they can enter each other's living quarters if they happen to share living quarters with a neo-other people think that remains to remade after the greedy and the door has remained open and their living corkers permitting tent flap or were the case can be there but they basically have removed the ban make it okay to have sex but they have not been possible for them to have sex in a what I would call a safe place so if a man and woman in Afghanistan and this goes for contractors as well not just soldiers if they were to have sex there they would have to find some other place to have sex outside of their living quarters which seems to me to be rather dangerous that would insinuate that the adapter you know via a mop closet or you know go outside or something possibly in a vehicle that seems a little peculiar but what's really at the heart of this is that if a soldier is caught having sex they cannot be prosecuted for previously and does happen many times in Afghanistan soldiers were prosecuted when they were caught having sex with other soldiers now there's two ways that this could happen one of the could literally walking onto soldiers while they're in the act of having sex and two and does work its ugly soldier could be found to have had sex when they become pregnant to become pregnant in Afghanistan and your woman a female soldier odds are you had to have sex is no immaculate conception in Afghanistan for American soldiers or anybody else for that matter is what was happening is that female soldiers might become pregnant while in Afghanistan and they would be prosecuted for becoming pregnant now don't get me wrong for female soldier gets pregnant in a while they're in a combat zone you are not actually allowed to serve in combat but they can wish something I disagree with but they can no service supporting role in risk their lives almost as much in a 99.9% as much as soldier in combat role but if they were to become pregnant and no cause and effect they had sexual relations and that was against orders and they can be prosecuted for that I think that's crazy I think they soldiers should be allowed to have sexual relations when there are no in a situation where you know sick of living quarters may be something akin to apartments or barracks and it's semi private and clean and safe while for Ivan Kersey orders to me restate that they should use birth control with their religion doesn't prevent it so that people don't get pregnant woman when they're serving overseas but the concept that you could potentially targeted a female soldier just because she happened to get pregnant in a to be tried and convicted in the just seems crazy to me so they've made us know quarter step forward in removing the bands that they can't be prosecuted for him having been caught either in the act or with child for they haven't really given soldiers there they're due for being no responsible adults I think that's as good a position that's you know one more screwed opposition can like the don't ask don't tell policy so wanted brings to your attention the title of the article's ban on sex or soldiers in Afghanistan lifted... story by Drew Brown of stars and stripes

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The voice transcripts on this article need a little touching up. Its something that I'm working on with our coders. The verbal recording is the key item here and don't worry too much if you come across text that doesn't match directly, the voice transcripts are entirely a guide to help you search and find the article to listen to. Its not intended for reading. So if you find keywords that tell you to go buy a bus don't be perturbed, we'll get things zinging along and more accurate soon.

$200 Per Barrel Oil Predictions fm Goldman Sachs

Are you ready to pay $10 - $15 per gallon for gasoline? Are you prepared to ride a bicycle to work?

You might need to work on that plan now and plant a garden while you are at it.



AP story http://ap.google.com/…wD90GCJB80

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Bill Clinton on Local Radio Show

Its kind of amazing the pr campaign that politicians are going through from regular appearances on late night TV to regular appearances on local morning radio programs. Next political season, they'll probably show up regularly on podcasts.

here's President Bill Clinton on the Ace and TJ Show learning that Rush Limbaugh accused Bill of flirting with Rush's girlfriend.



Yeah, I was amazed that Rush had a girlfriend too!



(to find the full show see http://www.acetj.com/listen/# )

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NC Election Trumped by Big Bird Arrest!

I have started to regularly write or cover or blog about the demise of our local newspaper. Today they pushed an EMU escape above the NC Primary.

If it weren't so sad it would be funny.

Well, actually, its kind of funny regardless of how sad it is...

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The Final, Final, Final Super Tuesday

Good Morning everyone!

Today is the final, final, final, maybe the last or probable last Super Tuesday. The last time voters will get to play a major role in the Democratic Primary.

After today, there will not be as many delegates left for candidates to claim from voters. Instead the candidates will start the real campaign for the truly important people in this election process, the Super Delegates.

These Uber Delegates are not like you and I. Most of them were born on Krypton a distant planet, far far far away that destroyed itself with war and global change that left most of the planet a barren ice planet before it ultimately blew up sending escape pods and meteorites to Earth dozens of years ago where the proud and few rich and fortunate survivors would work to take control of the Democratic Party of what was once the most Democratic Countries on the planet, the United States of America.

hmmmmmm, he wait a minute. I think my editor is playing with my type. Our Democratic Party can't be controlled by Kryptonites. We just have a bunch of blow hard flunkies that think they know better than your average person in the 'People's Party' established by Andrew Jackson when he wanted to run for President, but didn't want to play by the political rules of the day.

I suppose if people don't like what happens today in Indiana and my new home state of North Carolina, they will just have to do what Andrew Jackson did, and get up off their lazy butts and form a new party and get someone worth to bits elected to the White House!

So anyway, I'm going to be out covering the election process here in North Carolina. I'm even going to vote and with my single vote work to do just what I did in Palm Beach County in 2000, when I then lived in the Old Age Senile Capitol of the World - Boca Raton, named after the big rats that live there.

That's right, I was one of the few, the proud and the brave that helped screw up the 2000 election and I'm back. This time I'm in North Carolina and I'm hoping to work my voodoo that I doo here too.

I'm going to vote for someone, and this time, I might even know who I voted for after I do it! This time, (if my voting machine isn't hacked by one of those famous North Carolina hacker crackers, the code crackers not that other type . . .) my vote might just be important enough to put someone on the final approach to 1600 Pennsylvania Street.

Or then again, I might just choose to sew a little discord and place my vote on the person that is most likely to help get Americans off their tukus (how do you spell tukus?) and finally get around to creating a new and hopefully useful political party to break this oligopoly of a two party system that is running our country into the ground.

Hopefully turnout will be high. I'm actually a bit concerned about that since, its a brisk 65 degrees here and a slight swirling steam coming off the lake.

I'll keep you posted . . .

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Obama Sends Me an Email to Go Vote in NC Tomorrow

Here's the email I received from Barack Obama.  Note the personal touch, he didn't capitalize my first name. ;)

I've gotten phone calls from his volunteers and a phone call from Bill Clinton and an email from Hillary too.

Something tells me that I'm going to go through a political black out period with all of the candidates starting on Wednesday.

brett --

I wanted to get in touch with you one last time before tomorrow's primary.

We've had a long journey together in North Carolina. For more than a year, you have been dedicated to the idea that when ordinary people come together, we can do extraordinary things.

It's been inspiring to see our movement grow in the Tar Heel State, and it strengthens my faith that the American people -- not just here in North Carolina, but across the country -- are ready to stop settling for what the cynics tell us we must accept and start reaching for what's possible.

Tomorrow's our chance to make history.

But the election is going to be close, and it's vitally important that you vote, and bring your family and friends to vote with you.

Find your polling location and vote tomorrow:

http://nc.barackobama.com/NClookup

When Michelle and I talked about my running for president, one of the core goals we both had for this campaign was to leave the political process better off than we found it.

That's just what you've done in North Carolina. And you refused to let the tired old tactics of the political status quo distract you from building this grassroots movement.

If you get out and vote tomorrow -- and bring others to vote too -- our movement will continue to grow. The world will know that North Carolina stood up for a different kind of politics. And real change will be within reach.

Find your polling location:

http://nc.barackobama.com/NClookup

Let's bring real change tomorrow.

Barack

P.S. -- Here are a few details and rules that will help make the voting process run smoothly. Make sure to share these with your friends:

• Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. If you are in line when the polls close at 7:30 p.m., you have the right to vote.

• If you are a first-time voter who registered by mail, make sure to bring a current and valid photo ID (like a driver's license, student ID, employer ID or government ID), or a document that shows your name and address like a utility bill, bank statement, or paycheck.

• If your name is not on the voter list, first make sure you are at the correct polling place. If you are, ask for a provisional ballot.

• If you moved within the same county before April 6th, 2008, vote at the polling place for your new address.

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Great representation of "pain at the pump"

This image is courtesy of AlterNet. It accompanied a blog post titled: Straight Talk About Gas Prices at the following URL: http://www.alternet.org/…eek/84123/

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Congressional Smack Down

It was a rough day to be a member of congress, or at least a majority member. President Bush wasted no time this afternoon launching political jabs at the left.
Whether it was their general ineffectiveness on issues such as the economy, budget or alternative energy bills, the President was quick to cast responsibility for the countries current crisis’ in any outward direction as he himself does not hold the only franchise on incompetence.
President Bush isn’t in an enviable position at this point. With historically low approval ratings and an economy sinking into recession, President Bush is at least looking for new and creative alternatives to try and stave off the recession. For all of our sakes, I hope he is successful.