“we’ll be laughing about how we used to smoke,
all those stupid little cigarettes and drink stupid wine,
cause it was what we needed to have a good time”
i am aware that i often post videos without making a greater effort to post some text of substance, but this song is just too good not to post… enjoy!
As Obama and McCain move into the final two months of this longest of elections, white evangelical or “born again” Christian voters are being fought over more fiercely than at any time in modern history. Both parties employ evangelical outreach specialists.
White evangelicals are the most Republican religious group in the country, with 62% of them leaning Republican, compared with 38% of all voters.
Apparently many evangelicals have long been uncomfortable with Mr McCain, a man who cannot decide whether he is an Episcopalian or a Baptist. But Mr McCain’s biggest coup by far was picking Sarah Palin as his running-mate. Mrs Palin is an evangelical convert—she was born a Catholic—who is deeply-rooted in the evangelical subculture.
Read more here.
Love it. The feathered hair may be her only redeemable feature!
Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”
Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”
Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception—I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”
via Reproductive Heath Reality Check
Well I’m confident he can tackle the real issues!
Robert Mugabe retains the presidency and control over the army, and Morgan Tsvangirai, the man who bears the physical scars of his regime, has at last got executive power as prime minister. This will mean that the MDC will be sitting down in talks with members of ZANU-PF, the very people who had ordered for them to be brutalised. For those seeking justice for the hundreds killed, the thousands injured, and the tens of thousands who have lost their homes, this was always going to be hard to swallow. Mr Mugabe has got away with murder, at least for the time being.
Tsvangirai said the deal for him to be prime minister while Mugabe clings on as president required painful compromises after eight years of struggle for democracy – after all, the people voted to make Tsvangirai the president. But it represented “the return of hope” for freedom from fear, poverty, hunger and oppression. ”I have signed this agreement because I believe it represents the best opportunity for us to build a peaceful, prosperous, democratic Zimbabwe. I have signed this agreement because my belief in Zimbabwe and its peoples runs deeper than the scars I bear from the struggle. I have signed this agreement because my hope for the future is greater than the grief I have for the needless suffering of the past years,” he said
Mugabe finally got around to a half-hearted endorsement of the deal. “We will do our best,” he said while giving off the whiff of a defeated man seeing an unwelcome future before him. Outside the convention hall where the agreement was signed, in the shadow of the Zanu-PF headquarters, there was hope tempered by uncertainty and suspicion. Mugabe’s supporters were generally pessimistic, including Willard, 23. “It is not a good deal. We can’t work with these people. Their principles are different. They are violent,” he said, gesturing toward the MDC supporters. ”We need a better life. We need to drink beer every day.”
Full details of the agreement can be found here.
brendan’s gone to play with peter up the back. malcolm’s in. and the bish remains (though perhaps as treasurer?).
read the blow-by-blow account of how the party room ballot went down here, and about the member for wentworth’s performance in his first question time here.
we didn’t used to like turnbull very much but some hints of rudd disillusionment have us softening slightly. we’re definitely watching lateline tonight kids.
ps- stay tuned for a decrease in rudd’s popularity, some small ‘l’ liberalising of the Liberals’ social values, renewed discussions about the formation of an australian republic, and some firey question times.
click here for a little bit of sunshine
opposition leader, brendan nelson, tonight declared that the liberals would face a snap ballot tomorrow morning to determine whether he should continue in his role.
malcolm turnbull, who lost to nelson in the ballot following last year’s disastrous election loss, for the party, has confirmed that he will stand tomorrow.
in what one might call the first shrewd move nelson has made in his 10 months as conservative top dog, the announcement surely catches turnbull off guard; he only returned from two week’s holiday in italy this afternoon and surely would have preferred a more amicable handing over of the leadership than a party room battle. in politics, timing is everything.
but time is unlikely to help nelson and it seems unlikely he will be able to hang on to the leadership – his performance has been average at best and, frequently, woeful.
just quietly, while we’re not into the rudd bashing that many seem to be (symbolism is important, and labor has put some runs on the board), we’re also not averse to having an effective opposition and seeing some of the more significant change we were promised.
read more about the spill here.
and this, for your enjoyment (ps- i wonder if the bish will be out on her arse as well? surely. well one can dream)….
Woah. Keith Olbermann went to town on that shit! To commemorate the 9/11 anniversary, MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann delivered a scathing, scathing attack on the Republican party. You could almost see the venom spewing off his lips. He attacks Bush, McCain, Guiliani….
”9/11 (TM) has sustained a president who long ago should have been dismissed, or impeached. It has kept him and his gang of financial and constitutional crooks in office without — literally — any visible means of support…..”
Undoubtably the bravest thing i have witnessed on mainstream US media. Now if Obama could only use some of this anger and outrage.. he may win the upcoming election.
BURMA- Cyclone, starvation… now rats threaten to destroy Burmese villages. Four months after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma, another natural disaster has struck the country. This time the ruling military regime has had 50 years to prepare for it, yet it has still proved unable and unwilling to respond. The disaster, known in Burma as maudam, is caused by a cruel twist of nature. Once every 50 years or so the region’s bamboo flowers, producing a fruit. The fruit attracts hordes of rats, which feed on its seeds. Some believe the rich nutrients in the seeds cause the rodents to multiply quickly, creating an infestation. After devouring the seeds, the rats turn on the villagers’ crops, destroying rice and corn. In a country once known as the rice bowl of Asia, thousands of villagers are on the brink of starvation. ”We can catch hundreds of rats a night, but it makes no difference,” said Mgun Ling. “They just keep coming. They’ve destroyed all our crops, and now we have nothing left to eat.”
GENEVA- Surprisingly, the sample particle collider didnt result in the end of the world. Who knew?
US Election- The addition of Palin to McCain’s card has resulted in a significant increase in support, according to recent Gallup polls. Obama might have been referring to Palin as he made his now infamous ‘lipstick’ attack. Whatevs. McCain unleashed new ad campaign hits an all new low.
