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May 23, 2008
Quote of the day
"If my politics are wrong, then vote against me because my politics are wrong. If I'm not honest, if I am not truthful, vote [against] me for that reason. But don't vote against me because of who I am -- and I know you won't."
- Barack Obama, speaking to Jewish voters in Florida who raised questions about his background (including one who said, "If Barack Obama would change his name to Barry, I would vote for him.")
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 9:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2008
Digital divide
One of the starkest contrasts between John McCain and Barack Obama seems to be their levels of comfort with technology. Obama is regularly seen checking a PDA in between interviews, and many of his proposals for government reform focus on transparency through technology. He has even promised to have a Chief Technology Officer in his cabinet.
McCain, on the other hand, rarely uses a computer (some reports suggest he doesn't use one at all). He is already going to have problems convincing voters that he isn't too old and out of touch for the job, and his aversion (or unfamiliarity) with basic personal computing may just add to that perception.
Should it? The President of the United States obviously doesn't need to be overly tech savvy, but does it become a problem in this day and age when a candidate doesn't even use e-mail? I think so, but I'm already in Obama's corner and a swing voter may feel differently (or not care at all).
I suspect it would be easier to answer if the question were focused on a similar position in the private sector. How many corporations in this day and age would be willing to hire a CEO with no computer experience? I doubt it would be a deal breaker, but it's hard to believe that it wouldn't matter at all.
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 1:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
McCain's age problem
Politico takes a look at age demographics in the general election and concludes that "McCain is slow to gain young voters."
But to be fair, at his age McCain is pretty slow doing just about anything.
Heyoo!
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2008
West Virginia: No Interviews Please
The Daily Show looks at why Obama might have lost West Virginia but such a large margin:
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May 14, 2008
Colbert pulls an O'Reilly
On last night's show, Stephen Colbert mocked the highly-circulated video of Bill O'Reilly's on-air temper tantrum from Inside Edition. Hilarious:
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 9:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Now watch this drive
From Politico:
For the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families.“I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”
Bush said he made that decision after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. official in Iraq and the organization’s high commissioner for human rights.
“I remember when de Mello, who was at the U.N., got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man's life,” he said. “I was playing golf — I think I was in central Texas — and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, ‘It's just not worth it anymore to do.’"
Gee, I wonder if the backlash over this had anything to do with it:
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May 13, 2008
Tragedy
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How to slow down time
We all know that time seems to speed up as we grow older, but a columnist from The Guardian has dug up some interesting research illustrating just how much it speeds up:
According to studies at the University of Cincinnati in the 70s, this effect is so pronounced that if you're 20 today, you're already halfway through life, in terms of your subjective experience of how time passes, even if you live until you're 80. And if you're 40 - again, assuming you live to 80 - your life is 71% over. Basically, if you're older than about 30, you're almost dead.
Why does this happen? The most convincing explanation I've seen has to do with how our brains process information. Our subjective experience of time tends to slow down when our brains have to learn new information and create new memories. Children are constantly experiencing unique situations and adapting, from how to ride a bicycle to basic algebra. By the time we're adults, however, we become creatures of habit and our brains have developed "shortcuts" for most of these processes. Whereas riding a bike once required a great deal of concentration, it has now become a routine that doesn't require much mental capacity at all.
So the time-slowing secret? Break your routine; seek newness; learn, Burkeman says. People who go on adventurous trips, for example, report longer-seeming holidays than those who choose the regularity and inactivity of a week on a beach.
In a nutshell: Stop taking shortcuts.
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 5:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 8, 2008
The swiftboating of Michelle Obama
In his victory speech Tuesday, Obama warned that Republicans were preparing attacks from the same general election play book that's guided their campaigns for the past several elections. "Yes, we know what’s coming. We’ve seen it already. The same names and labels they always pin on everyone who doesn’t agree with all their ideas."
And he's right. They've already rolled out the "he's the most liberal Senator" meme, which was used against John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004. And they're ramping up another attack that worked against Kerry: Smearing his wife. The right wing noise machine went after Teresa Heinz Kerry aggressively, painting her as elitist, out of touch, "odd" and "self centered."
Now it's Ms. Obama's turn. Michele Malkin recently called her "Obama's bitter half" and claimed she will be his greatest liability during the general election. The National Review called her "America's unhappiest millionaire" and claimed she has a "relentlessly negative vision of American life." Christopher Hitchens implied Michelle was responsible for the Jeremiah Wright fiasco but offered no evidence other than a passing mention of her senior thesis at Princeton.
Other "evidence" presented so far has been an equally far stretch. Michelle Malkin and other conservative bloggers have been pointing to Michelle Obama's speeches about Barack being an underdog in this campaign as evidence of her negativity and bitterness. Every candidate in the race, including John McCain and Hillary Clinton, has at some point portrayed themselves as the underdog, but when Michele Obama does it, it prompts replies like this from Malkin:
So get over yourself already, haughty spirit. Pride doesn’t photograph well. And bitterness leaves frown lines. Which means Botox bills. Which “struggling folks” like you and your husband simply cannot afford.
After seeing Obama bounce back from similar "distractions" recently, you'd think partisan hacks like Malkin would at least try a different approach. Obama himself has publicly told them how predictable they have become and warned that the same tactics won't have the same success this time around. But instead of getting creative in their mudslinging, the strategy is to yell the same talking points a little louder.
Why? Because partisan Republicans (those truly only interested in keeping the party in power and regurgitating talking points) want to talk about absolutely anything other than actual issues this campaign season. They can't let Obama make the election about the war in Iraq or the stagnant economy or the crumbling healthcare system or global warming. That will just remind voters how the Republican party failed to address those issues during six years of majority rule. And it will make this election about George Bush.
Republicans can't win that way, so they'll do everything in their power to make it about Michelle Obama.
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 7:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 6, 2008
Ready BEFORE Day One
So this is why Obama has seemed a little distracted on the campaign trail lately: He's been helping negotiate a peace deal in Niger... and it's working. From the AP:
Rebels who have stepped up attacks on Nigeria's oil industry in the last month said on Sunday they were considering a ceasefire appeal by U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama."The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem," the militant group said in an e-mailed statement.
MEND did not say when or where Obama, the leading candidate for the Democratic ticket for November's U.S. presidential election, made the appeal. It said it hoped the government would use any ceasefire to improve conditions for its detained leader, Henry Okah.
In January he performed some similar behind-the-scenes brokering in Kenya after contested election results led to instability and riots.
The guy hasn't even won his party's nomination yet and he's more respected around the world than our current president.
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 9:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 5, 2008
More food riots
In Mogadishu, Somalia. From the BBC:
Thousands of people rioted, burning tires and throwing stones after traders refused to accept local notes and demanded US dollars instead.The recent printing of local shilling notes on illegal presses has led to spiralling inflation, reporters say. This and the increasing insecurity have seen food prices double.
The United Nations reports that soaring food prices have already forced more than a third of all Somalis to rely on outside assistance to feed their families.
Posted by Elyas Bakhtiari at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack