The Mule or the Porpoise?

Before the Council of gods there were animals all lined up. Each god except Neptune  got what he wanted. Neptune found only two animals left to him and he said: Something tells me I am left with nothing but this mule and this porpoise. He was disappointed. “This porpoise hasn’t the face of a lion, it would have added to my majesty. Porpoise is not as magnificent as a leopard. I think I am unlucky”.
Jupiter said,”Tough luck.”
He suggested the mule. The Chief God was sure that the mule was direct. “This she mule is going to say what she says and if you don’t like it, that’s just too bad,”
Neptune hesitated. Jupiter urged, “She’s not going to lie, she’s not going to sugarcoat it — she’s just going to let it rip. I think that’s what she is.”
Neptune scratched his hair and said, “Still she is a mule. What I need is one who I can use under water.”
Neptune chose porpoise and it was a wise choice.
When I read the news item ‘GOP base is wild about Palin,’ I could not help thinking about Neptune’s dilemma.
(Ack:politico-Michael Falcone,Zachary Abrahamson, Sept 29)
benny

The Lok Sabha election held for last few days and in most of the states voting went on peacefully. Now the vote counting starts to decide the destiny of India. In most of the states Congress contestants lead and they put an end to much awaited expectation of billion people of India. They have won most of the constituencies in the alliance name of UPA ( United Progressive Alliance ). Therefore UPA is set to return to power and Dr.Manmohan Singh will work as Indian Prime Minister for second time. The PM candidate Singh didn’t contest in any of the constituency as he has been selected as a candidate for Rajya Sabha.

When we asked about this Sachin Pilot, he said that it is the best positive indication for us to back the power, it all happened because of Rahul Gandhi who has campaigned all over India to bring out the youth power. The Indians have voted us for our successful lead for the past five years across India, not only for Rajasthan.

[ More ]

The last one week will go down in history as the week where in the ‘Black men’   reached a summit, a summit that had taken at least a century to reach. For those of you who still haven’t understood what I am talking about, here goes. Lewis Hamilton (Formula1 driver for McLaren) became the first ‘Black’ and youngest driver to win a Formula1 world title.  Although the race in Brazil had its share of controversies’, Hamilton came out on top. If you thought this win was a one off event in history involving a ‘Black’ person, think again. This was just a trailer of things to come in the following days.  Barely a couple of days after this dramatic win in Brazil comes a man called Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for the race to the White House. Although Obama had his nose in front throughout the election campaign, various polls showed that it was going to be a very close contest till the end. And a close contest it was, not. Obama had literally steam-rolled his opponent (John McCain), winning hands down.

The world was seeing something it hadn’t seen ever before. A ‘Black’ man had just been elected the President of The United States, the most powerful nation on Earth. This was the ‘Dream’ Martin Luther King was talking about; a world where in all people will be seen as one. A world were the color of our skin doesn’t play a role.

The election of Barack Obama in The United States is going to change the world forever. It was great to see the youth of America play a very big role in this election. It was one of the most followed events in recent time, closely followed world over. I have never paid this much attention to an election in India. 

Although America made a lot of enemies over the last decade, thanks to the so called ‘War on Terror’. Come 1-20-2009, things can take a turn for the good.

After all, No Dream is too Big.

Tach… Geburtstag überlebt. Juhuu. Vielen Dank für die ganzen Grüße, hab mich gefreut. Da ich jetzt ein alter Schamane bin und auf 23 Jahre hochkomprimiertes  Erfahrungsmaterial zurückgreifen kann, werde ich hier mal ein bischen den Schlaumeier raushängen lassen und einige Informationen, die ich in einem Gespräch über das US Wahlsystem mit meinem Mitbewohner eingeholt habe, preisgeben.

Heute sind hier also die langerwarteten Wahlen, was mich in erster Linie freut da der Sportteil der Zeitung wieder größer wird, da dieser nicht vom Politikteil verdrängt wird und ich mir nicht jeden Tag die Highlights einer 2 Wochen zurückliegenden Debatte im Fernsehen angucken muss, die Wertvolle “Family Guy” Sendezeit raubt.

Wahlsystem funktioniert hier so (war mir gar nicht so klar, daher hier kurz zusammengefasst):

Jeder Bürger einer Stadt in den USA hat eine Stimme. Jede Stadt wird in mehrere Wahlbereiche unterteilt, die wiederum von einem Abgeordneten des “Electoral Collage” representiert werden soll. Und da geht die Brisanz auch schon los.  Nehmen wir an in einem Stadteil wäheln 48% McCain und 52% Obama, dann ist der/die Abgeordnete zwar “Aufgefordert” mit der Mehrheit zu wählen, muss er/sie aber nicht. Es kann also durchaus passieren, dass ein Mitglied des Electoral College gegen die Mehrheit des Wahlbezirks entscheidet und seine Stimme für McCain gibt und das Ergebnis ignoriert. Hab dann mal den Einen oder Anderen auf den Sinn angesprochen…viel brauchbare Informationen kamen aber nicht dabei rum.  Interessant war wohl am ehesten die Bemerkung das eine Person leichter zu manipulieren ist als 100000, diese Anmerkung wurde zwar mit einem gewissen ironischen Unterton belegt, aber wenn man genauer darüber nachdenkt… naja weiter im Text. Jeder US Bundesstaat wird also, je nach Einwohnerzahl, von einer bestimmten Anzahl von Vertretern des Electoral College repräsentiert. Als Beispiel: Hawaii hat 4, und Kalifornien über 50 (genaue Zahlen sind unbekannt und ich bin zu faul zum Googlen. Mhh, mit Linkeinfügen und dem Kram den ich jetzt gerade schreibe hat das jetzt länger gedauert als wenn ich selbst nachgeguckt hätte. Mach ich jetzt aus trotz auch einfach:Also 55 sinds). Wenn ein Kandidat nun mehr Abgeordete (und das Volk natürlich) dafür begeistern konnte für ihn zu stimmen, also zum Beispiel In Kalifornien Kandidat A 30 und Kandidat B 25, dann gewinnt Kandidat A alle 55 Stimmen . Sprich selbst wenn rund 20 000 000 Menschen (keine Ahnung wie viel ca 40 % der Kalifornischen Bevölkerung sind. Diesmal könnt ihr selber nachgucken, ) für Kandidat B gestimmt haben, so werden die Stimmen einfach verworfen… an dieser Stelle ein Moment des Schweigens. Bin zwar kein Politikologe aber das erscheint mir etwas..ähhh… dumm. Wie die Wahl der Abgeordneten des Electoral College zustande kommt ist im übrigen im jeden Bundesstaat anders, allerdings hört man, dass sich hier und da ein paar Gefallen…. ja Wetter ist soweit gut, gestern war auch gut gewesen, mal sehen ob es morgen auch gut gewesen sein wird.

Viele Grüße der Jan

Now that Sarah Palin has managed to insult half of the nation, perhaps we discover that her wardrobe has been funded by the GOP to the tune of $150,000!
Strutting about her stages as she panders to the mob, her costumed ball is a perfect example of the depths to which John McCain’s campaign has sunk.

John McCain’s leadership is being exposed on an almost daily basis as pure flip-floppery  and Sarah Palin’s divisive speeches are a travesty of hope.
We need all of America to be pro-America; all of America to be real.

Vote Early.
Vote for Change.
Vote for Barack Obama.

Now that Sarah Palin and John McCain have begun their gutter-crawl of negative campaigning we are seeing the ugly side of this election writ large upon the wall. Neither Palin nor McCain show the slightest signs of real leadership as they whip up the baying crowds with words intended to incite. Taunting the crowds, they seem to revel in this disgusting display of crowd manipulation, Fascist-style.

Ordinary Republicans should be utterly ashamed.
But the NeoCons and Right Wing Conservatives are crowing with delight as their tactics blow smoke in the face of Democracy.
America will suffer at the hands of all this: it will suffer irreparable harm.

With under a month to go until the most crucial election in recent American History, McMaverick and the NeoCons have gone negative with Palin nicely in toe. It is a decision likely to backfire pretty soon as the electorate grows tired of sound-bite reductionism and of a candidate who seems to contradict himself with ever increasing frequency.
Now that the Republican boat is headed towards the rocks, McCain and Palin are determined to go down fighting, mavericks to the last.
Of course, Sarah Palin’s eyes are set on a much higher goal. She simply wants to be President.
And the hidden agenda here is that she’s being steered by the shadow masters of the Right, a perfect agent for their version of ‘change’.
Mouthing off about Ayers is, quite frankly, ridiculous and now that the negativity has begun in earnest, it is high time to be reminded about the Keating 5 and other McSkeletons, waiting in the closet.

John McCain pulls his appearance on David Letterman and Sarah Palin meets the press!

You could be forgiven for imagining that we have suddenly entered a parallel universe- somewhere between a rabbit hole and a black hole.

It could all be comical if it were not true.

But, lest we forget, John McCain still found time to skip off to Katie Couric’s show for a modest spot of make up and make believe. And, then, of course we had the spectacle of Sarah Palin’s smug smiles, her lip smacking, finger waving little tease of an appearance on CBS.

Sarah Palin is a vacuous parody of a politician: she is barbie-doll stupid and an insult to any one with half a brain, be it male or female.

Pity the millions of Americans who have been fooled by all this: McCain has lost the plot and Palin is a disaster. No wonder the GOP is a parody of its once grand themes.

Pity the truth as America waits for November 4th and for its future poised on the brink.

A McPalin administration will make America the laughing stock of the free world.

Sarah Palin’s apparent reluctance to meet the press in person, unscripted, is telling.
According to Fox News, she deserves proper ‘deference’ and is waiting for the right time.
But now at last, we understand she is to meet ABC’s Charlie Gibson.
As for the deference, we’ll have to see if Charlie is as sycophantic as we might expect.

Perhaps he’ll fair and impartial, just to show us his journalistic credentials. Perhaps not.
But you can be sure of one thing. The Republican plan is well under way: seduce the media, seduce the voters, bury the truth.

It seems that Sarah Palin hates being scrutinised.
But if she had been fully and normally vetted in the first place, perhaps none of this would be a problem.