NUEVO HOTEL GESTIONADO POR OASIS EN CUBA

Información esta tomada de DTCNews

La Habana.- La cadena Oasis Hotels and Resorts, división hotelera del Grupo Globalia, incorporó a su cartera de gestión un nuevo establecimiento ubicado en el balneario cubano de Varadero.
La instalación, a cuatro kilómetros de la zona comercial de ese destino turístico, operara bajo el nombre de Oasis Turquesa.
Este establecimiento pertenece al Grupo Gran Caribe y anteriormente estuvo gestionado por Riu Hotels and Resorts con la denominación de Hotel Riu Turquesa.
El Oasis Turquesa cuenta con 268 habitaciones disponibles e incluye servicios como un miniclub para los más pequeños, servicio de masajes y alquiler de vehículos.
Además, cuenta con una amplia oferta de instalaciones deportivas y se prevén inversiones con vistas a renovar la decoración y las facilidades gastronómicas de la instalación.
Con esta nueva incorporación, la división de Oasis Cuba suma ocho establecimientos.

A new Fox News/Rasmussen poll shows Barack Obama making considerable gains in battleground states such as Missouri, Colorado, and Missouri. Recent CNN polls also show Obama continuing to widen his lead over John McCain. Paul Steinhauser, CNN's Deputy Political Director, reports that in their recent poll, Obama was eight percentage points ahead of McCain among likely voters, 53 to 45.

McCain had been leading in Missouri in mid-September. Now, Obama is up by three percent. In Colorado, there's been a seven point swing in the last week that has lead to a six percent advantage for Obama.

The biggest change has come in the always exciting state of Florida. In two weeks, there has been a 12 point swing, from a five point lead for McCain, to a seven point lead for Obama.

There are many factors contributing to this. The recent economic crisis has certainly hurt McCain, and perhaps the honeymoon period between the public and Sarah Palin has worn down. Also, Obama may be finally striking a nerve with is continued comparisons of John McCain and George Bush. Right now, it appears it will be an uphill battle for John McCain.

-JP

Today the Dow Jones dropped another 369 points, finishing below 10,000 for the first time since climbing out of the crisis after September 11th. The index fell to 9,525.32, the index hit its lowest level during a session since Oct. 24, 2003.

But if the market is going to keep dropping like this, what, exactly, did the American public pay $700 billion dollars for? "Investors across the board are realizing that the $700 billion U.S. bank bailout was not a cure-all," said Dan Genter, president and CEO at RNC Genter Capital Management. "The package involves the Treasury buying bad debt directly from banks in order to get them to start lending to each other again,"

President Bush said Monday that the purpose of the package was to loosen up the nation's credit markets to "get money moving again." However, Bush said "it's going to take a while," for the program to start working. "We don't want to rush into the situation and have the program not be effective," he said.

But if this is the case, then why this, from a White House spokesman?

"There should be no question out there that this plan will get done this week," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto on a conference call with reporters. "We are very, very confident that it will get done this week. We believe it needs to get done this week. It is unthinkable that Congress would work into next week on the rescue plan. It would be a very, very serious situation for our economy were we not to get this legislation passed," 

Why is it that those who proposed a bill for voting with barely sufficient time for congress to read the bill are now calling for "patience" in "troubling times?"

In the movie The Majestic, Jim Carrey's generally apolitical screenwriter character gets hauled before the House Un-American Affairs Committee in the fifties, on the basis that he attended a left-wing meeting at college in the thirties, which he only did because he liked one of the girls attending. This is what happened to many people of a progressive political persuasion. They were brought before the committee on the grounds that they had either been more radically left-wing themselves or had associated with those who were decades earlier, at a desperate time when many Americans were willing to give socialism a second look.

And now Barack Obama gets similar treatment. Because he wanted to get involved at a grassroots level, it was inevitable he would come into contact with people more radical than himself, because that's where radical left-wing politicos often are - dealing with grassroots urban issues. His association with William Ayers, which according to the New York Times, he did play down, was found by the same paper to be not that significant and really only came about because of a common interest in education. And by the way, since 1987, William Ayers has been, no not a jailbird or a fugitive, but an education professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Does this automatically rule anyone who has attended this school over the last 21 years out of high political office?

The reality of politics is that those of with progressive views do often, at some point or another, do often come into contact with people more radical than themselves or even espouse radical views themselves. Nelson Mandela's ANC did have an armed wing, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been a great leader and statesman. Martin Luther King did meet Malcolm X on a couple of occasions and it's likely he also met with other factions of the Black Nationalist movement. John Lennon hung out with the Black Panthers. And having watched the first two episodes of HBO's brilliant John Adams, it appears the Founding Fathers were pretty radical in their beliefs.

And on the other side of the aisle, Donald Rumsfeld sold weapons to Saddam Hussein. I'm sure if you look at John McCain's record in the eighties that you'll probably find votes authorizing taxpayer support for certain revolutionary groups in Afghanistan. As for Sarah Palin herself, if she loves America so wholeheartedly, why has she been known to "pal around" (and possibly do more) with the secessionists of the Alaska Independence Party? And if she is so offended to those who espouse political violence, why does she admiringly quote Westbrook Pegler, who called for the assassination of Bobby Kennedy? (see my post "The Small Town Values of Sarah Palin" for more on that.

I guess this indicates that the next 28 days are going to be rough because the gloves are officially off. 

MARTHA: So what do we do now? What are you going to do now to try to fight to make sure that this program works as best as humanly possible?

DENNIS: Hah! Well, you know, that's a big order. I mean, you've got the Treasury Secretary, basically, who's going to pick winners and losers. From a capitalistic standpoint, this thing is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. It actually destroys the idea of a free market economy. The Treasury Secretary can pick winners and losers, we can reward speculators, bail out speculators from all over the globe -- come on, now, America needs real help now. And we can get the money moving at the grass roots by focusing on housing and employment. That will help us. We should be able to get a bipartisan consensus on that.

The U.S. 2008 Presidential Election has been an unprecedented event affecting political art. It is the first time a Woman and an African-American run for the presidency in the Democratic Party. It is also the first time the Republican Party chooses a Woman for Vice President.

Artists have responded to these events by producing artwork dealing with issues like the environment, the economy, and gender and security issues. The art-world's political affiliation is skewed to the left, but it shows that Barack Obama, the Presidential Candidate for the Democratic party, has inspired many in the art, street art, graffiti art, and graphic art world to CREATE art on his behalf. The sale of art inspired Obama t-shirts via Internet vendors is incredible. Obama T-shirts of all kinds of sizes and colors display campaign symbols and slogans like: Obama for "Change," "Hope," "Progress," "Barack the Vote," "Go tell Moma, Vote Obama," and "Obama is My Homeboy."

Some of the best political art sources are http://www.obamaartreport.com and http://jetcomx.com. Both sites show works being displayed on streets and galleries, and introduce artists or say where an anonymous artist's work was seen. Below is my slide compiling some of the works displayed in these sites. Some of the best pieces are: Zoltron's rendition of an Andy Warhol's pop art portrait on Republican VP Candidate Sarah Palin, a print of McCain and Palin playing with toy soldiers at the White House, the transformation of AC/DC's "Back on Black," and finally the street art, which is the roughest critique of the Bush/Cheney Administration and the McCain-Palin Ticket i.e. Billi Kid's Palin Portrait. The work on Obama includes the different renditions of the Shepard Fairey Prints.

The following compilation of art work is organized by: the issues, the Bush-Cheney Administration, the Democratic Primary & Convention, the McCain-Palin Ticket, and the variety of works inspired by Barack Obama.

Works Featured

"It' the economy stupid!"- The Economy not the War in Iraq is the issue of the 2008 Campaign

Even though women candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin have been major contenders in this race, women voters have been split on whether to support a female or a male. Poll results so far (October 2008), have shown that women voters a choosing candidates they feel will support them on their issues, rather than voting for a woman simply because she represents their gender. 

Unite America

Jabba the Cheney

Stackman's Hope

Self Explanatory

A take on Andy Warhol's print of himself with Jean-Michel Basquiat

Sen. Lieberman disappointed that McCain picked Palin as Vice Presidential Nominee at a Prom

McCain & Palin Playing House with Toy Soldiers

The Difference between a Pit-Bull and a Hockey-mom is Lipstick

Palin representing Joe Six-pack

Never happened.

"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund – a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents – to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government...

Because of the Palin administration's opposition to the bill, "We could not get a vote in that committee," he explained. At no point did Palin come out in support of the effort, Gara said.

Say it ain't so.

•••••

Rolling Stone reports on the life and times of John McCain. Some real straight talk is near the bottom where a number of Republican pols, colleagues of McCain, paint a frightening picture of the candidate. The upshot? What McCain says is true, isn't. The man is a flat-out liar.

Just like his VP candidate.

Listen to the Repugs long enough and they'll try to convince you that greed is good, government is evil, and matter is anti-matter.

The truth is that they can f*ck up just about anything. What it took Americans over 200 years to construct Reagan & Co destroyed in less than 30.

"Morning in America"?

More like Mourning in America.

•••••

Hot off the Internets:

•••••

Imprison now. Avoid the rush later.

Here's a short primmer on the Keating 5 for a little background.  Enjoy.

And here's what he looks like after he takes $500,000,000 from American taxpayers and investors and is saved...

(picture)

Okay, get your tissues ready. I've got a sad story to tell ya...

Richard "Dickhead" Fuld, Chairman & CEO of Lehman Brothers, wanted us to feel bad for him today when he was at an investigative hearing by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He wants Americans to know that he didn't know Lehman Brothers was going bankrupt, even though, he was actively trying to find some capital/liquidity a week before the collapse (one would do that when one knows there is no base/foundation to the 'house') and then decided it was a good idea to give millions and millions and millions away to his friends at the top of the company right before the collapse anyways. See? He was in a rut, man! He wants us to know he didn't know when really he did know! Shame on Americans for not feeling sorry for this man!

Oh, and then....

Dickhead Fuld was reminded while on the stand that he received almost $500 MILLION DOLLARS prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers. He was astounded by this "500 number" and decided to correct the record to reflect that he only received $310,000,000! Yep, he wants us to feel sorry for him because he ONLY received $310,000,000 instead of $500,000,000, but when the Democrats told him the '500 number' came from the ACTUAL DOCUMENTS HE SUPPLIED TO THEM, he looked a little shellshocked. Yep, the guy who drove the 150 year old company, Lehman Brothers, into the ground...couldn't believe he had given those papers/documents to the Committee! Oopsie. Let me guess....Mr. Dickhead has like 3 sets of accounting books and mistakenly grabbed the wrong one this morning to show the Committee?

BINGO KAY!

And we wonder why Lehman Brothers went down the toilet! It was being run by a MAFIA-LIKE-CRIMINAL-FASCIST! But don't you worry, there will be no HOT DOG EATING IN THE FULD FAMILY! No way. Mrs. Fuld is set to make $11,000,000 of her own fortune, so if the Fuld's ever get in a rut, they have wifey's measley income to fall back on!

I've got an idea! How about we just round up the Bush Regime, the CEO's of the 26 Wall Street banks that are under investigation by the FBI right now, and all of their supporters (John McCain & Sarah Palin included, of course!) AND PUT THEM IN PRISON, and then ask questions later? Great idea, Kay!

Spit. I'm with Jesus on this one...

Third quarter 401K statements will start to arrive at the end of this week. John Zogbyhas always maintained that the Republicans played to the "investor class" with their laissez faire, low taxes rhetoric. Opening these statements is going to be Halloween Scary and I suspect the investor class is not going to be too pleased with the Republican party.

Did the McCain camp actually think by allowing Palin to open her mouth as she did this weekend that McCain's past would not be brought up?

That is sheer folly on their part.

McCain has been in Washington for 26 years - and he has had his scandals none so worse as the Keating 5.

You can watch a video about McCain's involvement here.

I have blogged about it a long while ago - and I knew then, as I do now, that the McCain camp would go ugly once the polls began to show an increase for Obama.

The McCain camp are going negative - but this time around the swift-boating had better be far, far, far superior than last time. Why? Because McCain has a dodgy past.

Do people really think that the Obama campaign would roll over and die when the accusations began to fly? Utter stupidity to think so.

Many will say that the Obama campaign in going into gutter politics - but you have to remember that Palin and by that, de facto, McCain went down that road first. Obama must stay on message - throwing out the accusations are fine, if McCain wants to keep going there - but the real message must keep coming out and McCain will have to answer it. He is the one in front of the press and camera's and he will be asked. He will, obviously, try to bring any question back to bringing down Obama - but that will resonate with the American voter that he didn't, and won't, answer the questions on the economy.

Obama said a long while ago - "I may be a skinny kid...." To me McCain has asked for this - Palin - well she is still under investigation so she opens herself up, too.

Do they deserve what they are about to get - well, you reap what you sow comes to mind.

By Imran Anwar

I think it was not too long ago when I had written about the way the American Democratic Party could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, much like Pakistan could find a way to destroy any opportunity to promote itself.

Quite frankly, I was quite aghast at the prospect of the Pakistan People’s Party, cashing in on the death of late Benazir Bhutto, electing Asif Ali Zardari as President of Pakistan. I am not even sure it could be called electing him, as it was more like confirming instructions given to them by the party, and not their own minds and consciences. (Talk about figments of my imagination).

It was my stubborn belief in thinking “I’d rather have a crooked elected leader than a crooked incompetent dictator,” that I continued to cling to, and, sad to say, still do. But, if events of the last few weeks, and most recent days are any indication, Pakistan has provided, and continues to provide, all kinds of reasons to the world to show how bad Democracy can be, in the hands of the wrong people.

I was in Islamabad for the oath-taking of Mr. Zardari. I will not even bore readers with a rehash of the weirdness of the whole event. It was painful to see a person like him take “oath” of office of President, and that too from a “Chief Justice” that by his own previous policies was considered to be not even legal.

Then to have the repulsive, even despicable, behavior of the PPP workers, who were chanting Bhutto and PPP slogans, during the national anthem on that surreal yet historic moment. I know they have no sense, but have they no shame either, is what I thought?

Then to see more PPP jialas and jialis actually phalang-ing the gates to the supposedly most-secure civilian location in the country was too funny even for words.

I recall some American journalists asking me how could it be possible that some totally unidentified, thuggish people claiming to be PPP workers actually climb over the walls to get into an event unhindered, where almost the entire civilian and military top brass were present? All I could do was give a “What can I tell you,” shrug to hide my embarrassment and amazement. I bet AlQaeda was watching that video clip. (The same pathetic and shameless “Party above Pakistan” mentality was displayed by Zardari supporters, in New York, this week).

Anyway, as if that was not enough, for the Government of Pakistan to actually give a seat and joint press conference opportunity to a puppet from next door, Hamid Karzai, who barely rules over his own palace’s dining room, was just one more moment of amazement.

I did tell my friends and listeners that it was not by accident, but by design, that Zardari had Karzai there. The whole idea was to have a distraction, and to find an additional tool, on top of Mr. Zardari’s obvious deflection of EVERY single important question asked of him.

I was still scratching my head wondering if this whole charade of “elections” was worth the country suffering or Benazir being murdered in very mysterious circumstances, as I flew back to New York. (Don’t even get me started on telling you the stories of having flown PIA, the national flag carrier -, OK, OK, if you insist, maybe in a subsequent article in these pages.)

Being an eternal optimist, I decided to ignore all the above observations and give this new government in my original homeland, Pakistan, a chance, to prove me wrong in thinking I was wrong about democracy in Pakistan.

Yes, yes, I know I am using a double negative. But, if I can’t openly disagree with myself, who else can I disagree with! (LOL)

During this time, as you have read my previous columns, my fellow American politicians were not really doing much to make me feel more confident in the kind of democracy that is practiced in my American homeland.

In America I was crying for 8 years at history’s biggest moron, George W. Bush, as President. Pakistan decided to go one up, and elect a President with admitted mental problems.

It was not enough to have to see Bush stealing one election, incompetently watching 9/11 happen, letting Bin Laden continue to roam the wild lands, start a wrong war in Iraq, meltdown the American economy, help oil buddies and Hailburton make Bilion$ in profit with VP Dick Cheney pulling the strings – while melting down America’s global goodwill.

I then had to see Pakistanis elect a man called Mr. Ten Percent to President, riding on the "dupatta­"-tails of his murdered wife, having his shameless supporters dishonor the national anthem at nothing less than the Presidential oath taking.

How much worse could it get, I wondered. After all, Mr. Bush is only in office a few more months. Zardari sahib and his jialas will finally settle down from the indigestion of getting more than they can handle, somewhat like a starving man coming to a dinner buffet at The Village restaurant in Lahore and eating until finally full, or sick.

No, my fellow Americans, especially the Republicans, had to shove the mindless, inane, hypocritical, almost comical, highly-ridiculed Sarah Palin as the VP candidate under 700-year old John McCain. You already read my opinion on her. By the way, I read somewhere that McCain was bottom of his class in his student days (something like #894 out of 899 students) making him even more scarily similar to George Bush.

So, I am thinking, OK, this is not so bad. My Pakistani President only embarrassed me by being elected, actually taking oath, breaking signed agreements he has, going back on his word, mismanaging the relationship with China, and others, and so on. Bush and then McCain-Palin, as candidates, means the Republicans have embarrassed me as an American even more.

Phew, at least things can’t get worse or more embarrassing for Pakistan, I assumed.

I said to myself, “I mean, what else could go wrong?”

Part 2: Welcome To The World Of Barafee’s Law ™

By Imran Anwar

In the previous column, I had been discussing about how my two homelands, America and Pakistan compete to amaze and embarrass me with their politicians. First we had the moronic George W. Bush for President here, TWICE.

Then Pakistanis elected a man called Mr. Ten Percent and having medical records showing mental problems. (Well, at least, as they say, "paagal hai, baywaqoof naheen", {'He's crazy, but he ain't stupid!'}).

Then the Republicans among my fellow Americans selected John McCain (aged 72 or something) and Sarah Palin (with an IQ of about 72, which is a step up from Bush) as their nominees for elections in 2008. And, I said to myself, “That’s got to be it. How much worse could it get?!”

Darn! Spoke too soon. As if to prove Murphy’s Law applies to politicians and Pakistan’s reputation Mr. Zardari actually showed up in New York.

This led to my version of Murphy’s Law, which I will call Barafee’s Law. This is based on a new recipe for the sweetmeat (Barfee) and ice (Baraf).

My newly announced Barafee’s Law basically states that “If there is any opportunity to embarrass and harm Pakistan’s interests and reputation, our “sweet” politicians (or worse, Presidents), trying to be “cool” will use it to the fullest.”

I had always squirmed seeing how Dictator Musharaff used to “visually undress” well known celebrities, like Angelina Jolie, if they showed up in Islamabad. Mr. Zardari did one better. He made President Dictator Musharaff look like a refined gentleman.

He came to New York, found himself in the same room as the ridiculed and reviled Sarah Palin, and started hitting on her (flirting, pathetically trying to seduce), again, and again, and again.

That is not done, even in a socially liberated (read, very azaad khayal) country like America, where 50% marriages end in divorce, where secret affairs are also common, where dating is a social norm, where the American “conservative” VP candidate Sarah Palin’s own underage daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. There is one thing no one does, at least publicly – and that is to hit on (to try to charm or seduce) a married woman.

Yes, it happens, but it is highly frowned upon.

Doing so publicly is considered nothing less than despicable, and the lowest of lows. It is not to be done, period. It is especially not to be done in public and, especially, especially, especially not as a head of State of an ISLAMIC Republic.

Yes, it is not done especially as a “grieving widower” whose own wife was murdered supposedly by terrorists (or some other conspiracy that can well be imagined after seeing such behavior).

It seems like Mr. Zardari would get along just fine with the notorious American ex-movie-actor football-star thug O. J. Simpson, who got away with killing his wife and who still claims to be “searching for her real killers”!

But, I digress.

I am not perfect. Far from it.

Yes, I am “Happily Single” (see http://happilysingle.net ) and will never claim to be “mukkamal kanwara” like a well known Playboy cricketer of the same name as me did many years ago. I am not a paragon of virtue. I am not without sin. I am most definitely no moral authority. So, believe me, I am not thumping some faux morality Bible on Asif Zardari’s head (skull!).

I am human, and I have said words without thinking in meetings or conferences. I am certain I must have made more than my share of inappropriate remarks (Sorry anyone who was hurt!!)

But, I am also not the President of my country. And, even after making some accidental, or shamelessly deliberate inappropriate comment, and realizing my mistake, I (and almost no one) has gone on to keep making the same remarks embarrassing the speaker and recipient of the Barafee (being cool and being extra ‘sweet’) gift.

Mr. Zardari left no doubt in anyone’s mind that while he was making speeches about working to avenge his wife’s killing by improving Pakistan and its future, in fact, he is nothing more than an out of control aging desi-Playboy who does not have any sense of decorum.

By making his comments to Sarah Palin, in full view of cameras, political operatives, Pakistan-haters, he showed he was not using his head for thinking but had something else in mind. He embarrassed Pakistan, Pakistanis, and the memory of the late Benazir Bhutto. Maybe he was missing her too much. (I am reminded of a Country Music song from some years ago. It was titled “Honey, I Miss You {But My Aim’s Getting Better!}”).

We had always been taught to “Win Friends And Influence People”, by our thoughts and actions, as I had been reading since I was a pre-teen going to St. Paul’s English High School in Saddar, Karachi.

It appeared Mr. Zardari was hell-bent on publicly making a fool of himself and doing maximum harm to Pakistani interests just to get a japhee (hug) from a married woman, who could one day (Khuda na Khasta) become VP or President of the USA.

I am serious. Sarah Palin’s candidacy is a joke but it can be a bigger joke for Pakistan.

Do a Google search for “Tina Fey As Sarah Palin On Saturday Night Live” or use http://tinyurl.com/IMRAN-MAG-TinaFey-SarahPalin to see how she is perceived. This woman herself was the biggest laughing stock in the world – until Mr. Zardari showed up in town, and in her tow, and apparently under her 'sehr' (magic).

We have a serious national crisis in Pakistan, with terrorists intent on destroying the country (and killing its leaders). Obama and McCain both now consider Pakistan, not Afghanistan, the new front in their war on terror. They have their eyes on Pakistan’s nuclear assets, and terrorism statistics. President Zardari is more interested in Sarah Palin’s vital statistics.

She is highly unpopular even among educated and sensible women who supported Hilary Clinton, and there is a good likelihood that McCain-Palin will be an election disaster. But, by making comments about her popularity, Zardari has interjected himself, in a manner destructive to Pakistan, as officially supporting Republican candidates.

It was a lose-lose proposition, and Mr. Zardari not only took it, he played his cards on the same bad bet over and over. If Obama is elected President, his handlers may think Pakistan supported Republicans just because of the Pakistani President having several repeated moments of “tharak”. If McCain-Palin are elected by some remote chance, they will surely not have a high opinion of Pakistan.

With what face can a Pakistani President panting to hug a married VP candidate go to her boss and demand that the US administration not shoot missiles into Pakistan?

All Palin has to do is flash her eye-lids and maybe we will exchange giving them access to all Pakistan’s tactical assets in exchange for a glimpse of her strategic assets.

Is that what our nation’s reputation in the world has come to? Mr. Zardari wrote the book on it… “How to lose friends and be despised by people.”

--

The writer is a New York and Miami based Pakistani-American entrepreneur, Internet pioneer, writer and TV personality. He can be reached through his web site http://imran.com .

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and all, of course, and right now I'm not sure there's anyone in America more desperate than the two people on the GOP ticket.

I get people who support John McCain, though, I'll admit. I did once, too, long, long ago before he let Bush win the GOP primary back in 1999. Before then, I would have said he seemed like a good guy, and I'd like to see him come along after Bill Clinton. The world would be a much different place if we were currently ending a McCain administration instead of a Bush administration, and I'd wager, in fact, that alternate history wouldn't have led us to such a bleak and very real present, with its economic crises, illegal espionage, and unjust wars. Back in 1999, McCain seemed like the kind of guy who would have told the world on September 12th, 2001, that we had been struck by terrorists and would respond swiftly and surely, and then, you know, responded to the right country.

But that's not who John McCain is anymore. He's erratic. He seems to want to believe that America can restores its international image simply by bombing more countries. He doesn't understand the economic crisis, not in any real way; no one who would lose track of the number of houses his family owns could really grok the mortgage crisis.

So I get people who support him, I think, because they're supporting who he used to be rather than what he's done since and what he's running on, now, and really, who wouldn't like to go back to 1999? Well. Okay, I wouldn't, but 2000-2001 would be nice, certainly. I'd dig it.

What I don't get, though, is that the candidates are split at 44% of the votes. Which means, of course, that the tally is only at 88%.

Because 4% are undecided and 8% are voting independent.

I sort of get being undecided. Lots of people seem to feel they need more information concerning the policies and platforms and candidates.

To whom I say: Well what the great goddamned fuck are you waiting for?

I don't mind that people want information, but it ain't exactly like the information is unavailable. Especially in the Internet age. I guess they think there's too much information already, but really, it makes me wonder if they have the critical thinking skills necessary to parse it all.

And then there's that final 8%. Who are voting for other candidates.

Reminds me of this post, "Why does Ralph Nader hate America?" over at Making Light.

Money:

He did indeed “get things done.” He got us the worst president in our history. He made sure Detroit cars guzzled gas. He kept useful drugs off the market, or once they were there, got them removed.

Does he have a chance in hell of becoming president? No. None at all. Can he play spoiler and get another Republican warhawk in place? He certainly hopes so, or at least his secret backers think he can.

Nader is, largely if not solely, why Gore lost in 2000. Not that I think a Gore/Liebermann administration would have been all that terrific, I've got to say, but then again, Gore certainly came into his own during the past few years. What's he up to, an Academy Award and the Nobel Peace prize?

And meanwhile the other side still struggles to pronounce 'nuclear' correctly and couldn't enunciate a gerund to save their lives.

Still, it's tough to argue that just about anything wouldn't be better than the current administration.

What I like, right now, is that I've heard very little about Nader. I could see that some people in Colorado, specifically in Boulder, which couldn't be more crunchy were it made of granola, might like Nader. But if anyone's going to cockblock Obama, it's not going to be the green party; it's going to be PUMA. That's Party Unity My Ass, the contingent of self-righteous and misogynist "feminists" who have decided Palin is their gal because Obama beat their sweetheart Hillary Clinton.

But I'll tell you why it's not right now a race between Clinton and McCain; Clinton never brought it until she'd already lost. Her speech was the highlight of the DNC, but it was the very first time she had spoken with such sincerity and power. If she had bowed out early on, when it was already fairly obvious she wasn't going to get the nomination, not least because it was literally mathematically impossible, we might right now be supporting an Obama/Clinton ticket, which I've got to admit I would have liked.

(I also have a suspicion that McCain waited to confirm Obama wasn't choosing Clinton as his running mate before he chose Palin. I think he would have gone with Pawlenty or Romney otherwise, and I think the fact that it appears he vetted Palin by shaking her hand seems to bear that out)

I'd like to say that with this, I will probably leave behind the political posts for a while, if only because, as Nick Mamatas so aptly demonstrated with this thought experiment, it's largely useless anyway, but I doubt I will if only because it's everywhere and is going to continue to be. I do promise I'll try to be more balanced, content-wise.

Ainda que não tenham apresentado índices tão ruins, outras bolsas européias fecharam em monstruosas quedas. Paris, baixa de 9%; Frankfurt, -7%; Londres, -7,85%. Na Ásia, as quedas foram um pouco mais amenas: Tóquio registrou –4,25%; enquanto Xangai e Hong Kong tiveram índices negativos em torno de 5%.

No Brasil, o dia, até agora, é o pior de toda a crise. As negociações já foram paralisadas por duas vezes. Às 10:18, a Bovespa atingiu queda de 10% e o sistema circuit-breaker foi acionado, paralisando-a por 30 minutos. Todavia, às 11:44 a bolsa atingiu queda de 15% e, novamente, o sistema foi acionado, desta vez interrompendo as negociações por uma hora. No momento, 15:03, horário de Brasília, a Bovespa opera em queda de 12,20%, com 39085 pontos. Enquanto isso, o dólar apresenta uma grotesca alta, em torno de 6,55%; o valor atingido é de aproximadamente R$2,18. O Banco Central já realizou uma operação de venda de mais de US$1 bilhão, porém não foi suficiente para conter a alta.

A grande incerteza da economia global preocupa os investidores, o que faz desta segunda-feira mais um dia de muita preocupação para todo o mundo. Os bancos ao redor do mundo programam novas medidas para uma tentativa de salvação. Até quando a economia aguentará?

Atualização 15:16: Bovespa opera abaixo dos 39 mil pontos, com queda de 12,69%. Nos Estados Unidos, a Bolsa de Nova York opera abaixo dos 10 mil pontos pela primeira vez em 4 anos e a situação é de muita tensão. A aprovação do Plano de resgate, na última sexta-feira, não foi suficiente para conter a tensão dos investidores.

Atualização 15:47: No momento, a Bovespa apresenta queda de 13,19%, com 38644 pontos.

Atualização 16:02: A Bolsa brasileira sofre uma pequena recuperação e opera em queda de 12,06%, acima de 39 mil pontos.

Atualização 16:15: Uma forte recuperação da bolsa nos últimos instantes coloca a Bovespa acima de 40 mil pontos, com queda menor do que 10%

Atualização 16:39: A recuperação da Bovespa continou nesses últimos 25 minutos e a queda é de "apenas" 7,23%, com 41298 pontos. O dólar fechou cotado a R$2,20, alta de 7,53%.

Atualização 16:53: Em apenas 14 minutos, a Bovespa recuperou quase 2%, operando em aproximadamente 42 mil pontos.

We play Iowa State at Ames, and we never play great there.  If Iowa State puts together a full game like they did the first half against Kansas last week, they will beat us.  We should be able to beat Baylor, a home game.  Kansas State does not look particularly good, but the game is at Manhattan.  Kansas showed vulnerability at Iowa State, but they also scored 35 second half points to take the wind out of the Cyclones.  Oklahoma at Norman?  Yeah, right.  When we were great we didn’t win very often in Norman.  Bob Stoops will name the score in this game.  If Oklahoma needs a big win to maintain their spot in the national title hunt, it will be huge.  Otherwise he might have mercy on home boy Bo Pelini.  And finally, Colorado, the day after Thanksgiving.  I guess we’ll see how big of a turkey the 2008 Huskers are.  I see this as being a close game that will decide whether Nebraska goes to a bowl, or stays home again this year.

I know most of us would like to forget the Pederson/Callahan era, but with the exception of a few freshmen, the 2008 Cornhuskers are Callahan recruits, coached by one of the worst head coaches in the long and storied history of the program.  And the defense was coached by Kevin Cosgrove, hands down the worst defensive coordinator in the 100+ years UNL has fielded a football eleven.  Still, I was hoping for something like 35-21, not 52-17, and that only because we scored a last second touchdown. 

My other disappointment?  Well, I lead a rather boring life.  The highlight of my weekend was attending the Cornhusker Vintage Car Nationals at US 30 Speedway near Columbus.  To me these 20’s-30’s-40’s coupes are a big part of auto racing history.  Still, the day was not without a let down.  The McDonald’s in my home town Fremont was torn down six weeks ago, and is in the process of being rebuilt, and probably won’t re-open for another month.  I was looking forward to a quarter pounder and fries yesterday at the Columbus McDonalds.  As I was driving through the home of the Discovers, I discovered a sign that said “Open Soon,” and a new McDonald’s going up there too.  What a crock-and definitely not a Kroc.

I was not disappointed that 5,000 people showed up in Omaha last night to a Sarah Palin speech at the Civic Auditorium.  Heck, over 8,000 people showed up at the Qwest Center for the Nebraska vs. Creighton women’s volleyball match.  I was not disappointed that another light weight governor, Nebraska’s “Photo-Op Dave” Heineman introduced her.  I only know that because I was switching channels after 60 Minutes and there POD was.  It did bother me though when some yokel stated “she’s one of us.”  Speak for yourself.  I have never aspired to be a Republican drone. 

And one more legacy for the Bush administration to hang its hat on-the Dow Jones average fell below 10,000 today, for the first time since 2004.  Add another year to the ever growing list of years I won’t be retiring in.

Thanks for stopping by.

In a despicable attempt to legalize voter intimidation and censorship, they are hoping to prohibit expression at the polls. That’s right, the Republican’s think that the first amendment should be suspended in the voting booth.

How could anyone be so stupid, you may ask. Because they are desperate to keep this election from a landslide democratic victory.

In the presidential primary, Sue Nace went to cast her primary ballot in Pennsylvania for Obama, sporting her Obama tee. Despite a memo to election officials by the Pennsylvania Department of State, clarifying that only non-passive activism (active activism) was prohibited from election facilities to prevent voter intimidation, the Republicans are supporting two lawsuits contesting the memo.

Right-wing nut jobs are lining up, favoring a dress code at the polls. But why? Ask yourself how many people are walking around supporting a certain 72-year old cancer prone former maverick and a rat with lipstick (or something like that). Ask yourself how many people have covered their Bush-Devil ’04 bumper stickers with John W McCain stickers. Now think about how many Obama-Biden shirts, how many Obama bumper stickers and how many Change lawn signs you have seen.

Is it primarily the young or the old sporting their Obama t-shirts and buttons? Do you see a lot of college students in a sweater vest? That is the reason. It is the same reason that Republicans are auditing $450 Million donated to Obama. They just don’t get where they were left behind.

Perhaps they missed the memo about Al Gore’s internet. Being the kid on the ticket (closer to the great-grand kid on the ticket) Palin can visit the Google and figure out why Joe six pack is gonna go fer the guy with the fancy magazines and Supreme court decisions. She’ll just have to get back to ya!

Thanks