Bored in the USA
Dan Kennedy
September 6, 2007 2:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_kennedy/2007/09/bored_in_the_usa.ht=
ml
Time was when you could make a pretty good living imitating Bruce
Springsteen. In the mid-1970s, when post-Born to Run legal problems
were keeping Springsteen out of the recording studio, acts such as
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, John Cafferty and the Beaver
Brown Band, and even the obese yowler Meat Loaf all had some success
in meeting the pent-up demand for Boss-inspired product.
These days, sadly, the most successful Springsteen imitator is
Springsteen himself.
Why are we waiting?
Felicity Lawrence
September 6, 2007 1:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/felicity_lawrence/2007/09/why_are_we_wa=
iting.html
It would be inappropriate to "rush" to control the food additives that
have now been clearly linked, in major new research, to problem
behaviour in school-age children, the government food watchdog's chief
scientist said on the Today programme this morning.
Let's just go over what "rush" means in this case.
Cameron's call-up
Open Thread
September 6, 2007 1:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2007/09/camerons_call_up.ht=
ml
Today the Conservative party unveiled a new initiative which it thinks
will finally solve the growing problem of antisocial youth culture.
The national citizen service will "make people proud about themselves
and proud about their country" according to David Cameron, who will be
launching the scheme with boxing star Amir Khan.
All in agreement?
Iain Macwhirter
September 6, 2007 12:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/iain_macwhirter/2007/09/all_in_agreemen=
t=2Ehtml
The SNP's legislative statement was a model of consensual politics,
and as such told us little about the real character of this
government. It seems pretty much business as usual, with the kind of
health-first, female-friendly measures Labour has been enacting for
the last eight years. A bill to make it easier to convict rapists,
abolition of post-graduation student fees (the graduate endowment) and
attempts to improve health in Glasgow, where life expectancy is less
than in war-torn Iraq.
Labour called it "legislation-lite" a betrayal of manifesto pledges,
like the promise to hire a thousand more police on the beat. "They
promised action, and all we have got are ifs, buts and maybes," they
said. Well, it's exactly what Salmond promised when he said that this
government could only "lead and propose, not dictate and impose". This
was consensus government in action, the legislative embodiment of his
acceptance speech in parliament in May when he promised to act only
with the express agreement of parliament.
Don't mention the A-word
Richard Silverstein
September 6, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/richard_silverstein/2007/09/dont_mentio=
n_the_aword.html
Danny Rubinstein, Arab affairs editor of Haaretz newspaper and a
member of its editorial board, has landed himself in hot water with
the British Zionist community. He had the temerity to say something
outside Israel that can be read in his own newspaper and others quite
regularly. At a UN conference on Palestinian human rights he called
Israel an "apartheid state":
Rubinstein, the Israeli newspaper's Arab affairs editor and a member
of its editorial board, [said] "today Israel is an apartheid state
with different status for different communities," according to sources
at the event, held at the European parliament in Brussels. He went on
to say that Palestinians living in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank
and Israel each had 'a different status'," according to a summary of
his speech by a United Nations website.
We owe it to the victims
James Randerson
September 6, 2007 11:31 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/james_randerson/2007/09/we_owe_it_to_th=
e_victims.html
Thirty-seven murders, 16 attempted murders, 90 rapes.
If you do not believe that every UK resident and visitor to our shores
should have their DNA profile stored on the UK's police National DNA
Database these are the figures you have to argue against. These are
the numbers of victims and families of victims you have to look in the
eye and say: "An 'innocent' individual's freedom not to be on the
database is worth more than the closure you got from seeing your
child's killer put away for life."
Crossed lines
Nathalie Rothschild
September 6, 2007 11:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/nathalie_rothschild/2007/09/crossed_lin=
es.html
One evening nine years ago my cousin flew in from abroad for just one
night and we arranged to meet at King's Cross station. This was before
everyone and anyone had a mobile phone and, because we were waiting
for each other at different exits, we failed to meet. We were both
very disappointed and it was another year before we saw each other
again. I remembered this incident the other week when I found myself
trapped in the middle of the chaotic Noting Hill Carnival. The parade
was coming through and my friends were somewhere on the other side of
it. This time around, we all had mobile phones and so could easily
figure out a new plan to meet up.
Mobile phones have become a central part of modern life. Indeed, it is
difficult to imagine how we could ever have gone about our daily and
professional lives without them. Yet it seems this incredibly
practical piece of technology - which now is not just a machine for
making calls and sending text messages, but can also be an internet
portal, a camera, a games device, a personal stereo, a calculator, a
satellite navigator and more - is at once revered and vilified.
Required reading
Brian Whitaker
September 6, 2007 10:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_whitaker/2007/09/required_reading=
..html
Visit an Arab bookshop and there's a fair chance you'll find more than
a few copies of Shifra Dafinshi and the tales of Hari Butor. In case
you haven't guessed, I'm talking here about Arabic translations of The
Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter.
While titles such as these find a ready market in the Middle East,
just as they do elsewhere, people often lament the poor state of home-
grown Arabic publishing and the dearth of worthwhile books translated
into Arabic from other languages.
Judgment, not jokes
Neal Lawson
September 6, 2007 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/neal_lawson/2007/09/judgment_not_jokes.=
html
Andrew Gilligan can't stop defending Boris Johnson and progressives
shouldn't stop their attack. Of course it is not about the Boris the
person, or for that matter Citizen Ken. It is what they stand for.
Radically different views of what politics and the position of London
mayor is all about.
Or at least it was. Boris seems to have undergone a swift conversion
to everything consensual and cuddly since the publication of the
original Compass report of quotes and clangers just two weeks ago. In
this he is mirroring the journey of his party leader David Cameron.
Both will have looked at the polls and know that they have to look and
feel a whole lot less Thatcherite if they are to win nationally or in
the capital.
Brown's greatest challenge
Guy Edwards
September 6, 2007 9:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/guy_edwards/2007/09/browns_greatest_cha=
llenge.html
It is a simple fact that governments rarely react to anything less
than a crisis. So while scientists and others have been banging on
about climate change for the last 30 years it has taken the recent
whirlwind of extreme weather around the globe to force governments
into action. The Stern Review may have demonstrated the enormity of
the challenge through hard evidence, but the government can no longer
hide behind empty rhetoric. It must do more, by challenging current
assumptions about the severity of the situation, as well as shaping
renewable energy policy and public behaviour by offering incentives to
change.
How can it be that one man is able to persuade the UK parliament to go
to war in Iraq based on weak intelligence, causing thousands of people
to protest on the streets, and at the same time millions of people
cannot convince their own leaders to take the threat of climate change
seriously when even the chief scientific adviser to the government
says it is a far greater threat than international terrorism.
Homeward bound
Matthew Gandy
September 6, 2007 8:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/matthew_gandy/2007/09/homeward_bound.ht=
ml
House prices in parts of London are now more than six times their
level of 10 years ago. As prices have sped past growth in average
salaries an increasing proportion of Londoners find themselves
effectively excluded from home ownership in the capital. Yet we are
told that acceptance of grotesque private sector pay awards is a sign
of "maturity" whereas for millions of public sector key workers there
must always be "discipline" in the face of escalating housing costs.
Contemporary London is characterised by landscapes of neglect
interspersed with intense areas of capital investment and elite
consumption: earlier waves of gentrification (pdf) in the 1970s and
80s have been superseded by new patterns of consumption that are
transnational in their orientation. Vast managerial remuneration
packages on the back of inflated share values are now distorting the
entire housing market leading to indebtedness for those on average
incomes, increased overcrowding and the rise of far right politics in
working-class areas such as Barking and Dagenham, where children can
no longer afford to live near their parents. The growing market for
exclusive properties has led to a spate of new schemes such as a
planned luxury housing project overlooking Hyde Park in central London
designed by Richard Rogers Partnership that includes penthouse flats
to be offered at =A384m. These flats - the most expensive British flats
ever constructed - may feature bullet-proof glass, specially purified
air and "panic rooms" to protect against intruders.
The Petraeus report
Nicolaus Mills
September 5, 2007 8:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/nicolaus_mills/2007/09/the_petraeus_rep=
ort.html
With General David Petraeus, America's top commander in Iraq,
scheduled to testify before the senate on the sixth anniversary of
September 11, 2001, the media has had a field day speculating on what
the general is going to say. But there is no need to turn the
speculation into guesswork.
We can read General Petraeus. He is the most articulate military
figure in the public eye. He has done lengthy interviews on the
subject of Iraq, a foreword to the US Army and Marine Corps
Counterinsurgency Manual, and written a compelling article, "Learning
Counterinsurgency: Observations from Soldiering in Iraq," which
appeared in the January-February 2006 issue of Military Review.
An Iranian balancing act
Dilip Hiro
September 5, 2007 8:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dilip_hiro/2007/09/iranian_balancing_ac=
t=2Ehtml
Though the election of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as chairman of
Iran's Assembly of Experts is a memorable event, it is unlikely to
lead to power struggle between him and the supreme leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei. The chairmanship was more a promotion for Rafsanjani
than a new position: since the establishment of the assembly in 1982,
he had been its deputy chairman.
Even so, it is remarkable how 74-year-old Rafsanjani - whose religious
title of hojatalislam ("proof of Islam") is one rank lower than that
of ayatollah ("sign of Allah") - has bounced back from his crushing
defeat in the presidential contest by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad two years
ago.
Doublespeak and blurred vision
Peter Kilfoyle
September 5, 2007 7:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_kilfoyle/2007/09/doublespeak_and_=
blurred_vision.html
As President Bush persists in trying to convince an increasingly
sceptical American public of success in Iraq, the British public has
already decided that Iraq is a failure. In the most recent poll, a
clear majority view British withdrawal to their base at Basra airport
as an indicator of that failure.
Meanwhile, in a surprise visit to a remote airfield far to the west of
Baghdad, President Bush remained stubbornly fixed on victory in Iraq.
However, if his advisers are to be believed, such a positive outcome
might require 10 years of American military effort. Even if one
accepts such a rash declaration, will up to three succeeding American
presidents view Iraq in the same way?
A new rebellion
David Wilson
September 5, 2007 6:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_wilson/2007/09/a_new_rebellion.ht=
ml
It was David Cameron on Radio 4's Today programme a few weeks ago who
used the phrase "anarchy in the UK", although I doubt that Cameron -
who was born in 1966 - was intending to pay homage to punk in general,
or the Sex Pistols in particular. Yet, for me anarchy in the UK
brought back happy memories, rather than conjuring up a sense of
impending doom and disaster. This week I have again been refreshed by
the spirit of '76 at the Barbican, where the exhibition Panic Attack!
Art in the Punk Years is in its final few days.
Punk was for me - as it probably was for most adolescent boys in 1976
- a way of connecting some very personal feelings of alienation and
disaffectedness, with a wider, cultural sense of unease and change. It
was a way of seeing anarchy in your bedroom, at school, with your
parents and sometimes even with yourself as part of the ongoing
anarchy in the UK, at a time of economic depression prompted by the
oil crisis, and indeed connected overseas to the east coast of
America, and in particular, New York. It was a time when postmodernism
seemed to be real, rather than simply the stuff of cultural theory
seminars, and when what it meant to be young, British, male, female,
white, black - and all the other modernist labels - were up for grabs
and demanded obliteration.
Keeping it in the family
Seth Freedman
September 5, 2007 6:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/seth_freedman/2007/09/keeping_it_in_the=
_family.html
As the more discerning readers of my last thread will have gathered, I
spent Sunday night firmly ensconced in the bosom of the ghetto,
downing pints of Stella at the Spaniards Inn on the edge of Hampstead
Heath. However, my drinking partner for the evening was, while London
born and bred, to all intents and purposes still an outsider in this
particular neck of the woods. Jews to the left of me, Jews to the
right - and here I was, stuck in the middle with a decidedly Christian
companion.
My journey through life has been one of self-imposed exile - Jewish
school, Jewish firm of City brokers, relocation to the Jewish state -
hence I haven't spent much time in the company of those outside my
faith. As such, I was taken aback to hear my friend describe her
situation in the northwest London food chain as almost the exact
inverse of how we semites often view ourselves in English society.
Getting the balance wrong
Mike Shanahan
September 5, 2007 5:36 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mike_shanahan/2007/09/getting_the_balan=
ce_wrong.html
So, the BBC has pulled the plug on its Planet Relief television
special on climate change after 18 months of planning because of
concerns over "impartiality".
This is a joke. All the evidence points to climate change being real
and happening already, to human activities being to blame, and to
there being significant threats to people around the world.
Brown: a true son of Thatcher
Simon Jenkins
September 5, 2007 5:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_jenkins/2007/09/brown_a_true_son_=
of_thatcher.html
So Gordon Brown has come out at last. He has been a closet Thatcherite
since the mid-1990s, following hard on Tony Blair's footsteps, but
never dared say so. Blair openly praised Margaret Thatcher, even
denying that she was a Tory as opposed to a "true radical". Yesterday
Brown implied the opposite, that she was the only true Tory while
David Cameron, by implication, was a pale imitation of Brown's pet
hate, Tony Blair. To study British politics these days, it helps to
have a sense of the surreal.
Brown discovered Thatcher at the same time as he discovered that trade
unions were a bad thing, that utilities and the NHS had to be
privatised, that income taxes should be held down and that Europe was
to be avoided at all costs. This was at roughly the same time, shortly
before the 1997 election, that he also fell in love with the Tory
chancellor of the exchequer, Kenneth Clarke, whose fiscal and monetary
policies he would follow to the letter in office. He announced that
all Clarke's spending controls would remain in place for three years
and that there would be no increase in public spending or personal
taxes.
The green way to eat
Peter Melchett
September 5, 2007 4:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_melchett/2007/09/the_green_way_to=
_eat.html
We all know there are things we can do to reduce our personal
greenhouse gas emissions. We should buy low-energy light bulbs, walk
the kids to school and try not leave things on stand-by all night.
Advice on travel is pretty comprehensive: fly less, go by train, buy a
hybrid car, walk and cycle when possible. It seems extraordinary that
governments, industry and the media are happy endlessly to discuss
light bulbs and stand-by buttons while the subject of food rarely gets
a mention.
Nearly 20% of the UK's overall greenhouse gas emissions come from
farming and food. Of the greenhouse gas emissions we are personally
responsible for as consumers, 30% are caused by the food we buy and
eat. True, farming and food is a bit more complicated than light
bulbs, but we know enough to give people pretty simple,
straightforward advice. Climate-friendly food is wherever possible
seasonal, organic, locally sourced, unprocessed wholefood, in a diet
with less but better quality meat and dairy products (and Marine
Stewardship Council certified or organic fish). When Gordon Brown says
that all of us have to take some responsibility for combating climate
change, why is he frightened about talking about food?
Flowers? I shouldn't have
Brian Whitaker
September 5, 2007 4:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_whitaker/2007/09/flowers_i_should=
nt_have.html
Looking at my credit card statement the other day, I noticed a payment
of =A38 to a firm called shopperdisc.co.uk. It caught my eye because I
rarely use my card for small amounts, and I wondered what it was for.
Turning to a couple of earlier statements I found more monthly
payments of =A38, either to shopperdisc.co.uk or shopdisc.co.uk. I got a
phone number from their website and was greeted by a woman with a
strong American accent who informed me the =A38 a month was my
"membership" fee.
Another dent in the wall
Hillel Schenker
September 5, 2007 3:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/hillel_schenker/2007/09/another_dent_in=
_the_wall.html
A lead headline in this week's Maariv newspaper reads "Residents of
Bil'in Defeated the IDF".
The headline refers to the fact that a forum of three supreme court
justices, headed by Israeli supreme court president Dorit Beinish,
ruled that the government must change the route of the wall that is
being built on the land of the Palestinian village of Bil'in, because
the current route "disproportionately damages the lives and rights of
the residents of Bil'in". The judges go on to note that the route is
meant to protect a neighbourhood in the West Bank settlement of Upper
Modi'in, which is being built without appropriate permits, and that
they were not convinced that there are sufficient security reasons to
maintain the current route.
The sticky prints of justice
Laura Smith
September 5, 2007 2:45 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/laura_smith/2007/09/the_sticky_prints_o=
f_justice.html
It is to be admired whenever a judge steps down from their wooden
pulpit to address the concerns of ordinary people. Lord Justice
Sedley, a senior appeal court judge, did just that this morning when
he labelled "indefensible" the storage of four million people's
details on this country's DNA database.
He told BBC News: "We have a situation where if you happen to have
been in the hands of the police then your DNA is on permanent record.
If you haven't, it isn't. It means where there is ethnic profiling
going on disproportionate numbers of ethnic minorities get onto the
database."
Too much of a good thing?
Open Thread
September 5, 2007 2:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2007/09/too_much_of_a_good_=
thing_1.html
Since his relationship with Angelina Jolie began in 2005, Brad Pitt
has graced the pages of tabloids week in, week out.
He hasn't proved too popular with photographers at the Venice Film
Festival though. The paparazzi have nicknamed him "Pitt
Bullo" ("bullo" means bully in Italian) after he refused to take of
his shades and wore an ''indifferent smile''.
Far out on the right
Patti McCracken
September 5, 2007 2:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/patti_mccracken/2007/09/far_out_on_the_=
right.html
Istvan Csurka is perhaps the most outlandish man in Hungary, or at
least in Hungarian politics. As the leader of the far, far, far right
MIEP party, he is so anti-semitic, anti-gay, anti-roma, anti-
capitalism, anti-American, anti-Russian, anti-anything western,
anything Eastern, that the only word for him is neo-nazi, which, by
the way, does not insult him.
So, by comparison, the far, far right Jobbik party, is not necessarily
considered fascist, even though its members carry the Nazi-era
Hungarian flag, and the party recently inaugurated its own militia.
Following in Maggie's footsteps
David Clark
September 5, 2007 1:33 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/david_clark/2007/09/following_in_maggie=
s_footsteps.html
It's hard to think of another British political figure whose legacy
remains as contested and debated as Margaret Thatcher's clearly is.
Churchill probably comes closest, although it took the exceptional
circumstances of the second world war to rescue him from political
oblivion. To find a peacetime leader with equivalent impact on the
national psyche we perhaps need to look across the English Channel to
France and the legacy of De Gaulle, similarly credited with rescuing
his country from chaos and decline. The difference is that both
Churchill and De Gaulle are remembered as unifiers who stood above the
ideological fray, whereas Thatcher governed in a strident and self-
consciously divisive style. That makes it all the more remarkable that
politicians from across the political spectrum want to associate
themselves with her legacy.
This paradox can be explained by the fact that there are two distinct
ways of looking at Thatcher's contribution to British politics. The
first is as the free marketer who reduced the role of the state, laid
waste to British manufacturing industry, cut taxes for the better off
and redistributed wealth from the poor to the rich. That legacy is
still cherished in influential parts of the Conservative Britain (and
perhaps the wilder shores of ultra-Blairism), but not much beyond. For
the most part, Labour has seen advantage in attacking it as extreme
and unpopular; hence the 2001 election poster in which William Hague
morphed into an image of Thatcher.
Risky business
Tim Footman
September 5, 2007 1:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tim_footman/2007/09/risky_business.html
The increased ease of travel and communication over the last few
decades has meant that we are more open to the oddities of different
cultures. Garlic was considered pretty outre in the home counties 50
years ago; now we plunder the cuisines and wardrobes and libraries of
the world for our amusement. If something really doesn't appeal in the
midst of this orgy of cultural globalisation, our reaction tends to be
one of Voltaire-like equanimity: not to my taste, old chap, but
different strokes for different folks.
So when two goats were sacrificed in Nepal on Sunday, it wasn't really
anybody else's business. Sentimental occidentals might feel a bit
sorry for the goats, but the overall feeling would probably be: hey,
that's the way they do things out there.
Caution doesn't pay
Michael Meacher
September 5, 2007 12:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/michael_meacher/2007/09/caution_doesnt_=
pay.html
It's bad enough, if you're a low-paid nurse, rail worker, prison
officer, post office worker, or policeman, having to take a real terms
pay cut this year when City bosses are paying themselves an average of
37% in pay increases, taking them to more than =A355,000 a week, walking
off in two days with what it takes you a year to earn. But why is pay
restraint being imposed on the public sector in the first place?
Gordon Brown says he wants to do nothing that puts the control of
inflation, low interest rates and a stable economy at risk. Hard to
disagree with that. But none of these is at risk.
Gang value
Crystal Mahey
September 5, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/crystal_mahey/2007/09/valuing_gangs.html
With the murder of so many children by children and the rise of gang
violence, it is little surprise that recently politicians have been
jumping on and off various bandwagons all carrying the supposed
solutions. But this week the award for empty rhetoric definitely goes
to Gordon Brown. On Monday he declared that this is the time for "a
new type of politics" - a vision that has about as much substance as
"New" Labour. When are politicians going to start facing up to the
real causes of our youth gang problem?
For once, David Cameron said something that rings true when admitting
last week that "summit after summit has got us no closer to addressing
the causes of social breakdown which are fuelling violent crime". But
is finding the cause really as difficult as the politicians are making
out?
Cyberspace invaders
Chris Dalby
September 5, 2007 11:34 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/chris_dalby/2007/09/cyberspace_invaders=
..html
London, Washington DC, Berlin: in recent months, all three capitals
have been subject to massive and concerted hacking attacks from
sources in China. While frequent surveillance of other world powers'
computer networks in hopes of garnering information is lamentably now
commonplace, this can be condoned and explained by the needs of
today's information age where the binary code of 010 has replaced
James Bond's 007.
However, such blatant and perverse attacks compromise not only the
national security of three major states but also further worsen
already tense relations between China and the west. The frail web of
diplomatic contacts was solidified momentarily with North Korea's
about-face on its nuclear programmes but any positive momentum to be
gained from such cooperative efforts had been all but dashed by the
multilateral trade disputes governing China's food safety standards
and the US and Mexico's protest to the WTO about Beijing's tariff and
subsidy policies. Titan Rain is now the final nail in the coffin for
hopes of seeing relations with China improve.
Don't push it Bob
Michael White
September 5, 2007 11:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/michael_white/2007/09/dont_push_it_bob.=
html
Thanks to the tube strike I've been cycling to and from work these
past couple of days. Nice. It's not been raining and I always enjoy
cycling between rows of gridlocked cars.
The seven-mile journey from west London takes about 35 minutes, five
minutes longer than the London Underground does when it's working
normally.
An unmarked genocide?
Brian Brivati
September 5, 2007 10:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_brivati/2007/09/an_unmarked_genoc=
ide.html
If you are in New York in the next few months there is a small
visiting exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian
called Listening to Our Ancestors, which is worth a visit. It is an
amazing building, the exhibition is free and the layout and structure
is professional and engaging. The content was extraordinary and
something of a revelation to me. The aesthetic of Native American art
has never particularly appealed to me. Many of the masks in the show,
and I apologise for the analogy because these are sacred objects,
reminded me of Mr Punch - the exaggerated facial features and so on.
Others were strikingly original and the images of women flying on the
back of birds and a carved canoe were beautiful. There were, however,
two aspects of the show that stood out.
The first was the notion of songs in the culture of Native Americans.
The tribes represented here were from the north Pacific coast, ancient
peoples closely associated with the sea. Images of whales reminded us
of the movie Whale Rider. The songs were sacred in the sense that they
were given - the songs came. I had never really understood this idea
before. The exhibit, however, made it clear that these songs would
come to the people who wrote them and the act of their creation was
seen as a divine act. The notion of song being given seems to me to be
as good an explanation of creativity as any. The coming of the song,
like the coming of a poem or a piece of music, cannot be explained so
it is turned into a divine act, the coming of a god into the life of
the tribe. These songs are then guarded and protected.
Don't try this at home
Jakob Illeborg
September 5, 2007 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jakob_illeborg/2007/09/dont_try_this_at=
_home.html
Denmark's public service media is in an even worse state than the BBC.
A combination of lack of vision and bad decision-making has led to a
crisis that should be examined by the BBC to make sure that nothing as
bad happens in the UK.
The current British debate about the responsibilities of public
service, the BBC and the future of broadcasting, are just as relevant
in Denmark. Indeed Jeremy Paxman's MacTaggart speech would make
perfect sense in Copenhagen, after swapping the programme titles for
Danish ones.
Iraq's government has failed, but America's isn't doing so well either
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2163013,00.html
Even supporters of the Bush administration criticise its incompetence
and the dysfunctional political system behind it
Timothy Garton Ash in Washington
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
As we approach the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on
the US, and General David Petraeus's report on the "surge" in Iraq,
the question being asked here, even by staunch Republicans who share
the president's goals, is: why has the Bush administration been so
incompetent? Behind that is a larger question about how the American
political system as a whole is failing to deliver consistent policy
and good governance. In the course of three months spent in the US, I
have heard this larger issue raised again and again by people with
intimate experience of the ways of Washington.
It is appalling that it may take 80 years to achieve equal pay
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2163116,00.html
There is no point waiting for tribunals to narrow the gap. The state
must force change through the statute book
Madeleine Bunting
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
The pay gap between men and women is one of those issues that
generates a peculiar amount of wishful thinking, breezy assumptions
and ignorance. Companies insist they don't have a problem, women don't
know if they have a problem, and men just keep mum. The size of our
pay packet is one of the last parts of our lives to remain private -
and it's in too many people's interests to keep it that way. So any
blast of publicity is welcome on this everyday outrage, and the
figures published yesterday usefully explode some myths about the
gender pay gap.
What's added takes away
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2163156,00.html
We barely know about the effects of chemical food additives, and our
governments don't care
Eric Schlosser
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
The overwhelming majority of our additive intake today has been part
of the diet of humans for generations: yeast, salt, sugar, baking
powder. But thousands of other additives, derived from both natural
and synthetic sources, have recently become commonplace in western
eating. What are these substances doing to our bodies and our minds?
We are just beginning to find out.
A study published today by Southampton University, into the impact of
additives on groups of three-year-olds and eight-year-olds, produced
some alarming results. The Food Standards Agency-commissioned report
found a link between hyperactivity among children and certain food
colourings, as well as a preservative used in sweets, drinks and
processed foods in the UK.
Medical use of Afghanistan's opium won't solve the problem
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2163132,00.html
Prescribed heroin for long-term addicts would be a better way of
reducing the drug trade, says Steve Rolles
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
This week's alarming UN reports on the Afghan opium crop, showing that
it now accounts for over 93% of global illicit production, prompted
much debate. A Guardian leader (The drugs don't work, August 27)
acknowledged the futility of eradication efforts, but gave qualified
support to the Senlis Council plan to pilot the licensing of Afghan
opium production for medical use.
Superficially, the idea has great appeal, potentially helping
Afghanistan toward political stability and filling the apparent
shortfall in medical opiates. Yet the Senlis vision is both ill-
conceived and impractical.
Question time
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2163039,00.html
Respect MP George Galloway on why he's glad he went on Big Brother,
why the establishment attacks him, and his feelings on Saddam
Hannah Pool
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
When you were elected to Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005 you said you
would serve only one term, but you are standing again. What changed
your mind?
What I said from the beginning was that I might stand somewhere else
and I might stand for something else, or I might just leave elected
politics altogether. This time I am standing in Poplar and Limehouse.
Hearts and minds
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2163041,00.html
A controversial film about gay Muslims is more a labour of love than a
call to arms, finds Jeremy Kay
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
Early on in the More4 documentary A Jihad for Love, which receives its
much anticipated world premiere at the Toronto International Film
festival on Sunday, a Muslim man and his two daughters are enjoying a
coastal drive in South Africa. It's a happy scene, yet the easy banter
belies the hardship this family has endured. The man, Mushin
Hendricks, is a former imam who was cast out by his community when he
declared his homosexuality. The girls' mother has since remarried, and
when Hendricks asks them what they would do if he were arrested, the
answer comes without hesitation. The elder child, combining filial
love with the lessons of her Islamic education, says she would ask
that officials spare him a protracted death by stoning, and kill him
with the first rock.
Bush and Hu in rare face-to-face talks
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2163542,00.html
Peter Walker and agencies
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The US president, George Bush, and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao,
had a rare face-to-face meeting at a summit in Sydney today,
discussing sources of mutual tension including scares over Chinese
products, trade imbalances and political freedoms.
"He's an easy man to talk to," Mr Bush said following the 90-minute
meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(Apec) summit. "I'm very comfortable in my discussions with President
Hu."
Mr Hu called the talks "candid and friendly" despite their focus on
issues of great sensitivity to Beijing, including recent alerts over
tainted food and poisonous toys made in China.
Israel accused of air raid on Syria
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2163764,00.html
Staff and agencies
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Syrian air defences opened fire on Israeli aircraft that violated
Syrian airspace overnight, a Syrian military spokesman said today.
The Israeli planes broke the sound barrier and "dropped ammunition"
over deserted areas of northern Syria, the official Syrian Arab news
agency quoted the official as saying.
Putin signs Indonesia arms deal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2163584,00.html
Peter Walker and agencies
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Vladimir Putin today signed a major arms deal on a visit to Indonesia,
signalling Russia's intent to extend its influence in another country
with traditionally close links to the US.
The Russian president stopped over in Jakarta for a one-day visit, on
his way to the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)
group in Sydney.
The visit - the first to the country by a Russian or Soviet leader in
more than half a century - saw Mr Putin formally agree a =A3500m credit
arrangement for Indonesia, tied in with a deal for the country to
purchase 15 helicopters, 20 tanks, and two submarines from Russia.
German police hunt for terror plot 'back-up team'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,2163361,00.html
Staff and agencies
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
German police were today searching for around 10 more members of a
terror cell suspected of plotting major bomb attacks, after the arrest
of three men and the seizure of explosives materials.
Officials have said the three men already in custody - two German
converts to Islam and a Turkish national - were planning attacks which
could have proved more deadly than those in London or Madrid, with
possible targets including US military bases, discos, pubs and
Frankfurt's international airport.
August Hanning, a senior interior ministry official who formerly
headed Germany's foreign intelligence service (BND), said today that
police were now seeking around 10 more people suspected of acting as a
back-up team to the alleged plotters.
"This is the network that we are aware of at the moment," he told the
ARD TV station, saying that the suspects included Germans and Turks,
as well as other nationalities. The terror cell no longer posed a
direct security threat, he added.
Travellers to Italy warned of deadly mosquito virus
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,2163589,00.html
By James Sturcke
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
European health authorities have warned tourists in parts of Italy to
protect themselves against mosquitoes after the detection of a deadly
tropical virus.
At least 151 cases of chikungunya fever were reported in the province
of Ravenna, in the north-eastern region of Emilia-Romagna, between
July 4 and September 3.
Sufferers experienced high fever and joint pain, headaches, muscle
pain, rash and less frequently gastrointestinal symptoms, according to
the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Group sues White House over email
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2163703,00.html
James Orr and agencies
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
A private firm today filed a lawsuit claiming the White House
illegally abandoned an automatic archiving system for its email in
2002.
The legal move, taken by National Security Archive (NSA), a group
advocating the public disclosure of government secrets, is the latest
attempt to find out whether the Bush administration lost millions of
electronic messages.
Email problems at the White House first came to light during a special
investigation into the leaking of the identity of a CIA agent in 2003,
and the issue was raised again this year during inquiries into the
role of presidential aides in firing US attorneys.
Hollywood actor Thompson to run for president
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/story/0,,2163315,00.html
Simon Jeffery in Washington
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The likely last of the major Republican candidates to succeed George
Bush last night announced his intention to run for the US presidency.
Fred Thompson, a former senator and Hollywood actor, made his
declaration on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno while the other eight
candidates took part in a Fox-sponsored debate in New Hampshire.
"I'm running for president of the United States," Mr Thompson said on
the chat show. "I decided it was time to step up."
Cover-up allegation over Chinese hackers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2163211,00.html
Richard Norton-Taylor
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
Ministers were accused yesterday of trying to cover up the extent of
Chinese cyber-attacks on Whitehall and urged to adopt a more robust
approach to Beijing about the incidents.
The Guardian yesterday reported that Chinese hackers, some believed to
be from the People's Liberation Army, have been attacking the computer
networks of British government departments. The attackers targeted the
network at the Foreign Office and other departments.
The FO declined to discuss the attacks, saying only: "We do not
comment on security issues." However, well-placed government officials
yesterday confirmed the Guardian report, though they would not say
what other Whitehall departments had been attacked by China.
Farewell to a classic design as Jobs unveils the iPod touch
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/sep/06/9
Apple ditches emblematic look with media player based on iPhone
* Bobbie Johnson, Technology correspondent
* The Guardian
* Thursday September 6 2007
With its eye-catching white plastic design, the iPod has become a
landmark of 21st century living in just a few years. But the music
player marked the end of an era yesterday, as Apple's chief executive,
Steve Jobs, finally ditched its emblematic look.
Launching a new range of iPods, Mr Jobs announced the arrival of the
new touch-sensitive, wireless-enabled "iPod touch" and binned the
polished white design that has helped it become one of the most
influential brands in the world.
New Gore book to set out inconvenient solutions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2163550,00.html
Matthew Weaver and agencies
Thursday September 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The former US vice president Al Gore is working on a new book about
the environment as a sequel to An Inconvenient Truth, his Oscar-
winning film about global warming.
The Path to Survival will be published next spring to coincide with
Earth Day on April 22.
According to the publisher, Rodale Books, Gore will spell out a
blueprint for the changes that individuals and governments need to
make to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Shakeup after nuclear missiles flown across US by mistake
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2163007,00.html
Simon Jeffery in Washington
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
As many as six nuclear warheads, each with a destructive potential
almost 10 times that of the Hiroshima bomb, were mistakenly flown
across the US, Pentagon officials conceded yesterday.
The incident last week saw nuclear-armed cruise missiles mounted on
the wings of a B-52 bomber and flown from an airbase 40 miles below
the Canadian border to the southern state of Louisiana. The 1,500 mile
journey from the Minot airbase in North Dakota to Barksdale in
Louisiana lasted three and a half hours, during which time the crew
were unaware of their nuclear load.
Ban Ki-moon defies protests to meet Darfur refugees
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2162988,00.html
=B7 Security fears fail to stop UN chief's visit to camp
=B7 Pledge to help displaced people return home
=B7 Map: Darfur's refugee camps
Jonathan Steele in El Fasher
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, came face to face with the
realities of bringing peace to Darfur yesterday when his first trip to
the region met with protests and fears for his safety.
Rival groups of protesters, some supporting the Sudanese government
and others a rebel group that rejects the UN peace process, disrupted
his visit to meet displaced people and see their overcrowded desert
camps.
The day's drama began when several women demonstrators infiltrated a
UN compound in northern Darfur and shouted Mr Ban down before he could
meet refugee leaders.
UN accuses Rwanda of arming Congo rebel leader
http://www.guardian.co.uk/rwanda/story/0,,2162994,00.html
Chris McGreal in Goma
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
Rwanda is supplying a rebel Tutsi general in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo with ammunition and fighters as he seizes control of
parts of the region and attacks government forces, according to UN
security officials.
General Laurent Nkunda's troops have occupied an area along the border
with Rwanda and Uganda. Men and equipment have been observed crossing
into Congo, which has already suffered from a decade of war during
which about 4 million people have died.
Zimbabwe's food crisis deepens as leading bakery forced to shut
http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,,2162977,00.html
Cris Chinaka and Nelson Banya in Harare
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
Zimbabwe's main bakery said yesterday that bread shortages would
worsen after closing one of its biggest outlets due to a lack of
wheat, deepening a food crisis which a UN agency said was "acutely
serious".
The closure followed the government's recent admission that it could
not afford to pay for wheat from Mozambique.
Amid an economic crisis with runaway inflation and chronic food and
fuel shortages, Robert Mugabe's government had planned to buy 36,000
tonnes of wheat from its neighbour to ease the bread shortage.
New generation of 'disappeared' brings anguish to streets of Rio
http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,2162969,00.html
Today's victims are poor residents targeted not by military dictators
but by vigilante gangs and drug traffickers
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
The fireman's cry bellowed across the wasteland. "Over here, over
here! Can you smell it?"
He crouched down on the litter-strewn riverbank and plunged a four-
pronged hook into the murky water, quickly latching on to something
beneath the surface. Grimacing, he hauled the hook back from the water
- attached to a yellowing, apparently human, ribcage.
United States could go into recession, warns OECD
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2163143,00.html
West's leading thinktank urges Federal Reserve to cut interest rates
as housing market crisis deepens
Larry Elliott and Angela Balakrishnan
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
The west's leading economic thinktank yesterday urged America's
central bank to insure against the prospect of recession with an
immediate cut in interest rates as it emerged that the crash in the US
housing market had left real-estate activity at its weakest since the
economy was brought to a halt by the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
Updating its half-yearly forecasts for the global economy, the Paris-
based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development added to
growing pressure on the Federal Reserve to ease the pressure on US
borrowers when it meets later this month.
Mercury scare hits schools' dolphin dinners
http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2163055,00.html
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
Schoolchildren in Japan's whaling capital have been served dolphin
meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, councillors from the
region have revealed, prompting warnings of a potential public health
disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of the meat.
In a rare departure from the official line that cetacean meat - that
of aquatic mammals - is safe and nutritious, two assembly members from
Taiji in the southern Wakayama prefecture broke ranks. They said that
tests on samples of short-finned pilot whales - a type of large
dolphin, despite its name - had found mercury levels 10 to 16 times
higher than those advised by the health ministry.
Scandal senator reconsiders decision to quit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2163082,00.html
John Miller in Boise
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
A conservative Republican senator said that he was reconsidering his
resignation after his arrest in an airport sex sting, and might still
fight for his seat, according to his spokesman.
Senator Larry Craig of Idaho has been under fire following allegations
that he solicited sex from an undercover police officer in the men's
toilets at Minneapolis-St Paul airport in June.
Republicans reeling under the weight of an unpopular presidency and
the Iraq war quickly distanced themselves from him, with the Senate
planning to hold an ethics investigation in relation to his case.
Spain's runaway economy hits the buffers as building boom stalls
http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,2163066,00.html
=B7 Government warns of uncertain times
=B7 Unemployment growth rate highest for 11 years
Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
Spain's 10-year economic boom finally showed signs of stalling
yesterday as the socialist government of the prime minister, Jos=E9 Luis
Rodr=EDguez Zapatero, which faces an election in March, admitted the
country faces an uncertain future.
"We face a period of uncertainty and lack of clarity," Pedro Solbes,
the finance minister, said yesterday. "This is always bad for the
economy."
Mr Solbes was speaking as unemployment figures showed a sharp increase
in workers being forced off building sites, amid claims that a housing
bubble was set to burst. Vicente Mart=EDnez Pujalte, the spokesman for
the centre-right People's party, said the unemployment figures were a
sign that the economy was "running out of gas".
Britain launches plan to improve developing countries' healthcare
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/development/story/0,,2163073,00.html
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
A radical strategy to help developing countries improve their
healthcare and retain desperately needed doctors and nurses was
launched by the prime minister, Gordon Brown, yesterday.
While increasing amounts of money and effort have gone into
initiatives to fight specific diseases such as HIV/Aids and immunise
children against polio, it has become clear that the fight against
disease in poor countries is being lost.
Of the UN's eight millennium development goals (MDGs), the health
targets - such as cutting the deaths of babies and women in childbirth
- are the least likely to be achieved. One woman dies giving birth
every minute and 28,000 small children a day die of largely
preventable causes.
Scientists a step nearer to creating artificial life
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/06/2
=B7 New progress towards synthetic organism
=B7 Hope of fuels, drugs and ways to fight pollution
* James Randerson, science correspondent
* The Guardian
* Thursday September 6 2007
To the untrained eye, the tiny, misshapen, fatty blobs on Giovanni
Murtas's microscope slide would not look very impressive. But when the
Italian scientist saw their telltale green fluorescent glint he knew
he had achieved something remarkable - and taken a vital step towards
building a living organism from scratch.
The green glow was proof that his fragile creations were capable of
making their own proteins, a crucial ability of all living things and
vital for carrying out all other aspects of life.
Anger over call to widen DNA database
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2163227,00.html
=B7 Appeal judge urges all UK residents to be sampled
=B7 No plans to widen records, says PM's spokesman
Clare Dyer, legal editor
Thursday September 6, 2007
The Guardian
A senior judge ignited a row over the use of genetics to fight crime
yesterday when he called for everyone living in or visiting the UK to
have a DNA profile registered on the national database.
Lord Justice Sedley, who is noted for his record as an upholder of
civil liberties on the bench, said the current system, where DNA
profiles are taken only from those who come into contact with the
criminal justice system, was "indefensible".
Watchdog ends ban on part-human part-animal embryo research
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/06/1
=B7 Go-ahead will aid study of debilitating diseases
=B7 Three-month consultation found broad support
* Ian Sample, science correspondent
* The Guardian
* Thursday September 6 2007
British stem cell scientists celebrated the end of a lengthy battle to
create embryos which are part-human and part-animal yesterday after
the research was approved by the government's fertility watchdog.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ruled that scientists
should be allowed to create the controversial embryos to investigate
debilitating and untreatable medical conditions such as Alzheimer's
disease, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.
Robert Fisk: Lebanon cries victory, but is it too soon?
http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article2934350.ece
Published: 06 September 2007
The victory of the Lebanese army at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp -
the killing of up to 100 al-Qa'ida-type insurgents at the cost of 163
Lebanese soldiers and 42 civilians - is being greeted in the country
with "trumpetings" and "hootings" worthy of the country's greatest
poet, Khalil Gibran.
For three days now, the newspapers have devoted their front pages to
photographs of Lebanese troops astride their ageing US-made personnel
carriers, giving "V" signs, firing in the air and succumbing to the
traditional warriors' reward of rice and rose-water.
Leading article: China and a premonition of combat by other means
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2934299.ece
Published: 06 September 2007
The Pentagon, the German Chancellery, and now Whitehall. If we are to
believe the reports of recent days, some of the Western world's most
sophisticated computer systems have been infiltrated by Chinese
hackers. And the supposed culprits are not just any old Chinese techno-
geeks, but cyber-professionals in the pay of the Chinese government.
Leading article: The argument for hybrids
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2934300.ece
Published: 06 September 2007
Yesterday's announcement by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority that it would allow "in principle" the creation and cloning
of animal-human embryos is to be welcomed. This long-awaited decision
is not the final green light for scientists - that will come perhaps
in November when the first licence applications are expected to be
approved - but it marks a milestone in the long ethical and legal
debate over such research.
Johann Hari: Hatred and bigotry in the playground
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article2934306.=
ece
Published: 06 September 2007
This week it is 50 years - and an eternity - since the publication of
the Wolfenden report, which began to rip up the laws that turned gay
people into criminals.
If you had whisked John Wolfenden and his committee by time machine
into the Britain of 2007, they would have dismissed the country we
live in as a utopian sci-fi fantasia. Openly gay people rising to the
top of every profession, including the government, army and police, a
law banning discrimination against gay men and lesbians, gay people
able to, in effect, get married - and even a Tory party conference
applauding equality for gay people? Nice dream, boys.
Oprah throws house party to aid Obama bid
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2934348.ece
By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Published: 06 September 2007
One of the big political questions of the hour is whether Oprah
Winfrey can help turn Barack Obama into the first African-American
president of the United States. This weekend Ms Winfrey is throwing
open the gates of her 42-acre Promised Land estate in Montecito,
California, for her first political fundraiser. She will welcome about
1,500 guests to her home, sandwiched between the Pacific and the
mountains, and expects to raise about $3m (=A31.5m) for Mr Obama's
already overflowing coffers.
By some assessments Ms Winfrey is already the most influential woman
in the world: her daytime TV show, with 8.4 million viewers, is the
highest-rated talkshow in history. She recently launched her own
satellite radio channel. She is the wealthiest and most philanthropic
African American ever, and her book club is a major force in
publishing. In fact, there are many who wish Oprah herself would run
for president, but she has already ruled it out.
Distortion
http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese391.html
by Charley Reese
The Establishment candidates in the presidential races are trying to
pin the label of inexperience on Sen. Barack Obama. Well, people
should stop and think about that charge. Experience per se is not
always a virtue.
Would you really prefer an experienced killer? An experienced crook?
An experienced con artist? An experienced *****? An experienced
grifter? An experienced politician? An experienced liar?
The Man ....The Myth.... and Soon To Be Legend- Obama
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=3D36879
Camilla Hancock
September 5, 2007
Obama is the democratic presidential candidate with the most charisma
and personal magnetism of all the candidates mentioned in the media.
He is up against Clinton's formidable political machine but Obama is
fighting a good fight. I am a democrat and would not have it any other
way. Either way it goes I am voting democrat during the presidential
elections but I want to plead Obama's case for President.
Obama Tones Foreign-Policy Muscle
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118895877299317784.html?mod=3Dgooglenews_wsj
To Beef Up Platform, Candidate Lures
Clinton Alumni Seeking Fresh Approach
By NEIL KING JR.
September 5, 2007; Page A10
WASHINGTON -- What Democratic Sen. Barack Obama may lack in foreign-
policy experience, he is trying to make up for in sheer numbers of
advisers -- enough, says one of the team, for "his own virtual State
Department."
The political machine vs. the grass roots
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-na-caldems4sep04,1,4=
494776.story?coll=3Dla-headlines-pe-california
In California, a test of Democratic campaign tactics: Clinton chases
big-name endorsements; Obama zeroes in on the little guy
By Scott Martelle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 4, 2007
PALO ALTO -- -- Dana Stewart, 54, spent more than two hours Wednesday
night sitting on a folding chair in a private office-park conference
room here learning how to become a "HillStar" -- part of a program
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign introduced last
week to build a grass-roots get-out-the-vote organization ahead of
California's Feb. 5 primary.
It was a vintage campaign session with a high-tech twist. Clinton
staffer and veteran organizer Michael Trujillo taught Stewart and
about 50 other potential volunteers how to use their own social
networks -- from family and neighbors to e-mail contacts -- to
identify the New York senator's supporters, who will then be entered
into a database for follow-up.
Barack Obama Q&A (Part One)
http://www.vibe.com/obama/2007/08/obama_transcript/
By: Jeff Chang
POSTED: 16:42 EST, August 2, 2007
American Book Award-winning author Jeff Chang interviewed Senator
Barack Obama for VIBE on May 23, 2007. What follows is the first half
of the interview transcript from our September 2007 cover story. Check
back on Wednesday, August 8, for the second half. For more Obama
content, click here ( http://www.vibe.com/obama/ ).
.
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