Obama inauguration a muted affair – but why?
Have a bit of fun and then get on with business.
Everything is depressing.
Obama should have one rip-roaring party and then get on with pulling the US out of the dumps.
This story from CNN seems to indicate that he should have the ceremony, say “Thanks for voting for me” and then leave.
The aspect of the history of him being elected, the inauguration, everything about it should be celebrated. And why not – all Americans can join in if they so wish.
(CNN) — Millions of people are expected to go to Washington to celebrate Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, but with a troubled economy and pocketbook issues on the mind, the president-elect must be careful to set the right tone.
Blugh!
[...]and Michelle Obama could opt for something more reasonably priced than a designer dress.
Like Wal*Mart? Cool! Not.
Tickets for the inauguration are distributed through members of Congress, and just 240,000 seats are available for the actual swearing-in ceremony.
The tickets are supposed to be free, but with demand outpacing supply, a traditional giveaway has turned into a thriving online marketplace.
Legitimate ticket brokers — the same companies that peddle tickets to rock concerts and NASCAR races — are selling tickets to the inauguration for thousands of dollars, even for standing-room areas on the National Mall.
Some things never change, though.
MP's arrest not Stalinist, but I will say that what you say is!: Jacqui Smith
She refuses to resign and apologise.
She told BBC’s Andrew Marr that she couldn’t intervene. She told BBC’s Andrew Marr that is would be wrong. She told BBC’s Andrew Marr many things – but not once apologised or had any redress for those who arrested Damian Green – of course, like most things – it was nothing to do with her.
Mz Smith always seems, when she is in the wrong, to invoke some kind of pithy principle that is a vague notion that she is a principled person – what that principle is we have yet to understand – but it is hers to invoke as she pleases.
The principle, this time, is that it would be a Stalinist principle not to condemn the police for breaching parliamentary privileged, ‘nothing to do with her – she is only the Home Secretary and the police are independent’. Really?
OK – so we can just about giver her that one, because we are playing nice and she knows she is in charge of the police – but, as that isn’t enough – who is in charge, the boss of, the anti-terrorist squad?
The Metropolitan Police, being the biggest and best-funded force in the country, is the only constabulary in the UK to have a dedicated Anti-Terrorist Squad.
Anti-Terrorist Branch officers are often sent miles from London in the course of their work and are supposed to work closely with local officers if they discover terrorist activity in, for example, Lancashire.
In December 2001 Scotland Yard officers boarded a cargo ship in the English Channel because of fears that it might be carrying terrorist material. In the end the ship was given the all-clear.
The Anti-Terrorist Branch has years of experience in tackling terrorism, most noticeably that of Irish republicans operating on the British mainland.
They have faced a steep learning curve with Islamic extremists since 11 September 2001 but the lack of a major terrorist incident in Britain suggests they are getting results.
I suppose the anti-terrorist squad has nothing to do with her office either? Hmmm – something is amiss at home.
The point on all this is that it has caused a stink – and a big one. MPs from all sides are condemning this action – not just because the police are involved – the police have to do their job and no one is above the law – but because, for a parliamentary democracy to work – MPs have to do their jobs from both sides of the House of Commons. Just look into the history of G Brown and his ‘leaks’.
Damian Green was even sweeping his offices for bugging devices! How many more senior MPs are doing the same? If that isn’t an indication that something is awry – then what the hell is? This is Parliament for God’s sake!
The Conservative leader, although a twat himself is correct in saying that so far the answers given were not good enough.
This isn’t a matter that an MP was caught with his/her trousers down – that maybe funny and help us all to laugh at the hypocrisy of MPs – this is the very foundation that parliament was foundered on – even with its flaws.
Jacqui Smith MUST take the blame for this for she is the Home Secretary – the buck stops with her! It is plausible that Brown didn`t know about this – he is PM after all and has to rely on his cabinet to do their job – and in this case she didn’t and has rattled the very seat of government and parliament.
She must go, and not only get the sack but be ousted from parliament in shame! This is the fundamentals of Parliamentary Democracy we are talking about – and the press/media must not allow this to go away unpunished.
Reddit please!
Hillary Clinton to be Officially Announced as Secretary of State, Monday, December 1st
It’s finally official: President-elect Obama will appear with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in Chicago on Monday as he names her secretary of state, a remarkable reunion of once-bitter rivals.
The news conference at a Chicago hotel is scheduled to begin at 10:40 a.m. Eastern.
Obama plans to roll out his entire national security team. He’s retaining Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon and is naming retired Marine Gen. James Jones as national security adviser.
During the primary season Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were bitter rivals, there is no question about that. Their rivalry was one for the books and a rivalry so fierce it threatened to tear the Democratic Party apart at a time when the outcome for the election favored a Democratic victory. Somehow I never doubted that Barack Obama would win the Democratic nomination and I never doubted that Hillary Clinton was a team player. She certainly proved that during the Democratic Convention when she called for the nomination of Barack Obama by proclamation, a historic first.
I tuned in to watch most of the debates, beginning with debates prior to the start of the primary season. I listened quite intently to both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, both of whom I supported on their positions, although I always supported Barack Obama for president. It was the South Carolina debate where I had made up my mind that Barack Obama was most definitely the better choice. I did not appreciate her performance in that debate, or her husband’s behavior campaigning for her in South Carolina. The debates wore on and the rivalry grew. The more vicious the primaries became the less and less I listened. In the back of my mind I knew that in spite of their rivalry I knew they would come together.
It did not surprise me in the least when she was not vetted for the vice presidential nominations, not because of the rivalry, but because I felt she would probably serve the nation’s best interest in another capacity. There was never a doubt in my mind that Barack Obama would put Hillary in his cabinet. He did not disappoint me either, he did what I thought he would do, he put Hillary Clinton on his cabinet in one of the most prestigious positions there is, Secretary of State.
A deal to die for?
The day after giving thanks, Americans were running around like turkeys behind Sarah Palin looking for the best deal on consumer items they don’t need in order to placate some Reagan-esqe consumer free market sense of loneliness, to prove to themselves and their loved ones that despite the dire economic conditions in which many of us don’t have enough to pay our mortgages, our car notes, our light bills, our grocery tabs, or our medical bills, we can still get an X-Box360.
In the rush to feed that hunger, though, some of the tension that underlies our national and international condition burst through: a Wal-Mart employee was stampeded to death in New York as shoppers (I didn’t know there were still people called that, given the highest unemployment figures since I don’t know when) broke into the store when it didn’t open at 5am so they could get the best deals; several fist fights broke out amongst waiting patrons in line outside a Best Buy in Florida; and there was a shooting at a Toys’R’Us in California. A death, some fights, and a shooting.
Black Friday originated as a pejorative term, though at this point I won’t delve into the subconscious necessity of equating black and negative. Retailers objected to the negative and began to circulate the rumor that it meant they would be moving into the black, and making a lot of money on this day. Wherever the term began, though, in my adult lifetime it has come to mean a gluttonous rush by consumers to sate their ravenous commercial hunger, and with yesterday’s violent accompaniment, the ridiculous lengths to which we as a populace now go in order to prove to each other and ourselves that we are somebody because we can get the latest, the newest, the most flashy things out there, without regard to costs, either financial or social.
President-elect Obama has talked often about the need for individual responsibility as an individual contribution to help alleviate the growing national and international financial crisis. I would argue that since the “me-ism” of the Reagan era began, and that continues in the present day, we have become a lot less cognizant of what we are as human beings sacrificing on the altar of greed.
Yesterday, it seems, we found out.
RIP Jdimytai Damour
RIP Alejandro Moreno
RIP Juan Meza
Wal-Mart death preventable, Union says
Shoppers storm stores; Officers stop fights
Toys’R’Us reopens in Palm Desert after two men kill each other
…and some say that everyone should be armed in the US
“…the right to bear arms will not mean people will just kill each other…”
That was said to me a while ago, what seems like a long while ago now, just after the Virginia Tech murders.
The proponent was quoting the ever used “Right to bear arms” part of the US Constitution – saying, in what she thought was a logical argument – that if everyone was armed that “nut-case” would not have killed as many people as he did. Students should be able to carry concealed weapons ‘just in case.
Of course I disagreed.
What I can see happening is more of this.
The California shootings occurred about 11:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), authorities said.
By the time police arrived, two men were dead from gunshot wounds, Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said. He said authorities are not seeking any other suspects.
Gutierrez said that the men did not appear to be store employees and that the dispute appeared unrelated to shopping.
“There was a confrontation inside of the store. But over a toy? I don’t think that is accurate,” he said.
Two handguns were found near the men’s bodies, Gutierrez said.
I am not saying that these guns were legally carried – not saying that, if you want a gun (I can’t understand why, but hey…) you should not have one in your home for protection, not really bothered if that damn thing is loaded – but carrying guns in public is too bloody dangerous!
The most rational seem to go completely berserk once that have weapons.
It isn’t a matter that you are ‘personally safe’ – one stray bullet kills an innocent – and that goes against the Right to Life, does it not?
As the world dives headlong into possible depression – the Saudis want oil at $75 a barrel
Is someone taking the micky?
As we have known for a very long time – the free market doesn’t apply to the oil producing nations. They have something that the world needs right now – and the world is going to pay for it.
This – in a wider perspective is why the free market is pure tosh! Oil effects everything – so you have high oil prices, you have higher prices, full stop.
From the ridiculous amount of packaging to the fuel that is swilling in the diesel tank – the customer pays! I have said for – at least 20 years, OPEC should be broken up. It won’t be, obviously, but while you have a few nations dictating the price how can a true, free market exist?
Slashing oil production to artificially raise the price, especially now isn’t going to work. If oil goes up – more jobs will be lost. Workers will be expended to bring costs down.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi says that the increase is needed for investment in future oil production – how about taking some of the vast profit and investing that?
Oil needs to be cheaper, not more expensive to help getting out of this global meltdown. Now is the time for the oil producing nations to do their bit.
The sanctity of The Commons
For those who read this blog I cannot speak of the utter anger I feel over this.
The House of Commons in Westminster is steeped in the history of most democracies throughout the world. Parliament gave much of the democracy that there is in this world – some by force I agree, but it still was a blueprint for so many governances.
With the police entering parliament I am agog that the British PM isn’t calling for the resignation of the top police officers in the land.
Tony Benn is even quoted as saying:
“I may sound strangely medieval, but once the police can interfere with Parliament, I tell you, you are into a police state.”
This sentiment is echoed by many parliamentarians – and I can only agree. The whole of the UK population should be up in arms that such a thing could have happened – all through one department head saying that an MP was not helping him do his job.
That is a bit tough for him – to call in the police is and always will be wrong, whether parliament is sitting or not!
The Monarch cannot enter parliament without being asked and permission granted – why the hell are the police? That is one debating chamber where the essence of complete free speech is allowed – and so may that reign on.
Some heads must roll for this – and let it be Jacqui Smith! She is the Home Secretary so she is ultimately responsible for the actions of the police. The Speaker should resign as his powers are within parliament itself.
I am disgusted!
Well, when I'm wrong I'm wrong – New Labour isn't dead
I blogged that Mandelson’s baby was dying – and then I am proven completely wrong.
I respect Nick Robinson – but his blog piece about the arrest of Damian Green is not, in anyway, up to his standard.
Damian Green is the Conservative shadow opposition minister. That means if his party was in government then he would be the head of that dept.
His arrest, in Nick’s piece, has been described as similar if not the same as when Ruth Turner was arrested. She was arrested in the cash for honours scandal – they are not the same at all. This, and arrest of a member of the opposition is far, far more sinister.
This arrest (by anti-terrorism officers) is indicating that shadow ministers are not allowed to discuss anything that comes across their desk. But what was it that Green did?
* The November 2007 revelation that the home secretary knew the Security Industry Authority had granted licences to 5,000 illegal workers, but decided not to publicise it.
* The February 2008 news that an illegal immigrant had been employed as a cleaner in the House of Commons.
* A whips’ list of potential Labour rebels in the vote on plans to increase the pre-charge terror detention limit to 42 days.
* A letter from the home secretary warning that a recession could lead to a rise in crime.
That isn’t having knowledge that your party is offering honours for donations!
The heavy-handedness of this is fearful. What matters most is not that the police arrested an MP – they raided his offices. There they had access to all and anything that the shadow minister had access to – I am not saying that there was anything decidedly dodgy, but it is a matter that it could have been confidential between MP and constituent.
Yes, I do agree that MP and ministers should be held to account but not in this way. If civil servants are calling upon the police to do a certain job and not informing ministers about it that, I am afraid, is more like a police state then anything else.
You can read more about this story here.
Obama's missile crisis?
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is in Cuba for the final stop in a tour of Latin America
While Bush was taking his eye of the global ball it will be up to president-elect Obama to transfix his gaze – Russia and China are making waves in South America all in the name of trade deals. These, of course, have to be taken at face value – but with the Czech government signing the treaty that will allow US missiles on their soil – you have to look far deeper than just a trade deal.
Mr Medvedev and Cuban President Raul Castro are expected to sign deals on nickel mining and and oil exploration.
The Russian leader arrived in Havana from Venezuela, where he and President Hugo Chavez signed a deal on promoting nuclear energy for civilian use.
Military co-operation also featured in Mr Medvedev’s talks with Mr Chavez.
The argument will come back that the US has to start drilling off the coast of Florida so that Cuba cannot take any oil that could be there. This isn’t the case but that is how it will be played out within the US.
Cuba is unlikely to want to antagonise the US with President-elect Barack Obama taking office in January, says the BBC’s Michael Voss in Havana.
Mr Medvedev’s visit was part of a Latin American tour aimed at boosting both Russia’s presence and trade ties in a region traditionally of strategic importance to the US.
Even before Obama takes office the pressure is mounting both domestically and internationally.
With a lame-duck president for at least 7 years Barack Obama is going to have to be the most proactive president ever.
But isn’t that what the American people voted for?
Now, if you like cars…
You will love these! There is even a Corvette.
Green cars may not be what you thought you would be reading about – but please bear with me.
If you click on this link you will see some unbelievable cars, all green – some more than others, but all a lot better than what we have so far in this day and age.
Some are even sold in the US – and as many know people in North America like their cars and trucks – BIG!
This beauty is, as yet, still a concept car. But this brings me to think about GM, Ford and Chrysler. If Honda can do it – why can’t any of these companies – especially when they are seeking billions of dollars bailing them out.
Something to think about – because it is possible. And with American ingenuity it is very possible indeed. There will have to be a few changes, bosses taking a pay cut – a big one – and workers coming in line with those they compete with. But even when all that is said – these cars, with the right investment will no longer be just concepts, they will be the real thing, on the road, and people will be bragging about them.
Zoom, Vrooooooooooom!
Let others know
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