2008 already?????

Well, it is a little early to begin thinking of the 2008 election but I guess everyone is so anxious to replace Bush (even the Republicans) that they're feverishly busy getting themselves organized.

The Democrats are especially busy because they have so many very good candidates in mind, while the poor Republicans are in a quandary because all they have is the former mayor of New York who is for women's rights of all things, or a fringe senator from Arizona who has never really been accepted in the party because he has always advocated fiscal discipline and reformation of the election process. There really are no good viable candidates in the party who would get the total party vote! But, the Republicans have two years to figure it out and I'm sure they'll come up with someone most of us have never heard of.

The interesting thing regarding the Republicans is the question of whether they'll be able to throw off the albatross of the religious right and present a true libertarian-like fiscal conservative or whether they'll present another anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-birth control, war monger who will assume that God is on our side - or at least should be!

It seems that a certain amount of Democratic self-thinning is being done since Senator Evan Bayh decided not to run last week. I suspect that several others will also decide not to overwhelm the system after they talk to their pollsters.

Now, I was all for Kerry in 2004 - and he had his chance but he isn't smooth enough for many voters. I don't see him running in ‘08 nor will Al Gore who really was involved in the early days of the Internet** and who I respect very much for his stand on global warming. I'm sure that Kerry and Gore will both be active and welcome on the political scene, but in the end, won't run. I would vote for either, but....

Unfortunately, Hillary has been named front runner and best funded for the past year or so. She has two more years to maintain that pace and the public tends to get tired of the same old thing - who wants an old woman? I think she'd make a very good first female president, but I'm worried that the timing is all off. It really isn't her fault either. She's been quiet - and so has Bill, but the media has been promoting her for several years now.

There are a bunch of good Democrats in the field who also unfortunately won't make the grade because of the sheer numbers. It is like being in a candy store - which one to pick - they're all so good!

John Edwards appears to want to throw his hat into the ring again and he has populist appeal - it will be interesting to see what his tactics might be this time beyond being the son of an immigrant textile worker and a spokesman for the other America - I doubt that it would work a second time around.

But there is this one choice morsel named Obama who has caught the fancy of his audiences and the media alike! Being half-black, the non-white racial groups in America should be attracted to him although he has not preached to them as a black. And those who are lukewarm on having a black president can shrug and say, "Well, at least he ain't a Jesse Jackson!"

And the media has already fielded the question of his ‘limited' experience. But he was a civil rights lawyer for five years, served in the Illinois senate for eight years and by the time 2008 rolls around he will have been a US Senator for four years. He certainly is no beginner! He's written two books and has done his homework. Lately, I understand he's been working on foreign policy.

Anyway, it should be an interesting shakeout of Democratic aspirants - and even more interesting who the Republicans might come up with!
-----------------------
**But the real question is what, if anything, did Gore actually do to create the modern Internet? According to Vincent Cerf, a senior vice president with MCI Worldcom who's been called the Father of the Internet, "The Internet would not be where it is in the United States without the strong support given to it and related research areas by the Vice President in his current role and in his earlier role as Senator."
The inventor of the Mosaic Browser, Marc Andreesen, credits Gore with making his work possible. He received a federal grant through Gore's High Performance Computing Act. The University of Pennsylvania's Dave Ferber says that without Gore the Internet "would not be where it is today."
Joseph E. Traub, a computer science professor at Columbia University, claims that Gore "was perhaps the first political leader to grasp the importance of networking the country. Could we perhaps see an end to cheap shots from politicians and pundits about inventing the Internet?"

Lots of space to worry about.....

If you want something more to worry about, perhaps this is it. Now, it seems we Americans also own space! And now we are going to have to defend it from others who think otherwise - at least according to those in the know in our state department.

What puzzles me is why we don't consider arms-control pacts to keep space free of offensive weapons requested by other nations. Is this similar to our lack of cooperation regarding global warming and even the international court?

Speaking of the international court, I find it interesting that Rumsfeld is being prosecuted in a court in Germany for war crimes. http://tinyurl.com/ycfzxa

Grnted, we have a lot of hardware out there which produces a lot of public service and convenience. We certainly wouldn't want to have it compromised by rogue nations who are at war with us - or would like to be, but then, we had the same problems in the past with the high seas and the world now operates quite well with maritime laws. What is wrong with having international space laws? ....but I'll bet this administration wouldn't want anything like that!

I hate to make this partisan, but I'm certain that our nation will not be the supreme nation of the world for many more years - the odds are very much against us. It worries me that the nations we are snubbing might have memories of our international behavior and not look kindly on us from their ultimate lofty perches when they're in positions to make the rules...

U.S. cites growing threat to its space assets
By Jim Wolf Wed Dec 13

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A number of countries are developing ways to knock out U.S. space systems, threatening vital national interests, the State Department's point man on international security said on Wednesday.

Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, did not name any such states but served notice Washington was taking steps to head them off. "We will seek the best capabilities to protect our space assets by active or passive means," he said in elaborating for the first time publicly on a recent Bush administration revision of U.S. space policy, the first in nearly 10 years.

He referred to such possibilities as maneuvering out of harm's way, redundancy, system "hardening," encryption and rapid frequency changes.

In reply to a question, he added that nothing in U.S. policy ruled out basing weapons in space to defend space assets.

At issue is everything from the Defense Department-run Global Positioning System used for precision navigation and timing signals to spycraft systems that track missiles and commercial satellites vital for communications.

"The United States is more dependent on space than any other nation," Joseph said. As a result, U.S. space infrastructure could be seen as "a highly lucrative target."

The updated U.S. space policy, released two months ago, rejected a push by China, Russia and others for new arms-control pacts to keep space free of offensive weapons. It outlined a stepped-up drive to guard space assets in light of growing U.S. reliance on them amid reported growing threats.

Joseph declined to comment on published reports citing Donald Kerr, director of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, as having said in September a U.S. satellite had been illuminated by a laser in China.

"As a matter of policy, we do not talk about specific threats or vulnerabilities," he told a forum organized by the George C. Marshall Institute, a public policy group.

But he said not all countries could be relied on to pursue exclusively peaceful goals in space. "A number of countries are exploring and acquiring capabilities to counter, attack and defeat U.S. space systems," he said.

"Given the vital importance of our space assets, foreclosing technical options to defend (them) in order to forestall a hypothetical future arms race in space, is not in the national security interest of the United States," Joseph said.

In reply to another question, he appeared to discount international efforts to keep the United States from developing what could become the first known weapons in space designed specifically to apply force.

"What normally one finds when you strip away the veil on the issue of weaponization of space ... is a desire to constrain U.S. options for the development of our missile defense capabilities," he said. "I find this quite odd because it is those missile defense capabilities that are designed to counter offensive ballistic missiles," Joseph added.

Laced elderberry wine, perhaps?

This is turning out to be a real live ‘cold war' who-dunnit! Good plot for a James Bond movie!

Radiation poisoning is rather neat because the symptoms happen long after the fact. So, did the master despot, Putin, have it done? Or did Putin's enemies such as the Chechnyans do it? Or perhaps it was done by some of his former co-workers in the East German KGB - either for or against their former boss!

The question in my mind is why Alexander Litvinenko received a lethal dose and his "business associates" only got sick (although severely). Meals served in restaurants are usually individually ordered and served - except for the wine. Hmmm... could it have been homemade elderberry wine served by a couple of sweet elderly ladies?

Illness spreads to third Litvinenko contact: report
By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A second Russian businessman who met murdered ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko on the day he fell ill is now sick from radiation poisoning, local media quoted medical sources as saying on Friday.

Andrei Lugovoy has damage to vital organs consistent with exposure to dangerous levels of radiation, Interfax news agency reported, the same condition that killed Kremlin critic Litvinenko in London on November 23.

Lugovoy's business partner Dmitry Kovtun is also in hospital and Mario Scaramella, an Italian contact of Litvinenko, has undergone treatment in London for the effects of contamination.

Litvinenko, who was buried in London on Thursday, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for poisoning him, a charge the Kremlin denied. The case has revived memories of Cold War spying intrigues and strained London-Moscow relations.

Lugovoy was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying in a telephone interview he was "alright." "The doctors have listed my condition as stable. Today I spent the whole day undergoing necessary medical procedures," the agency quoted him as saying.

Interfax said its information on Lugovoy's condition came from his medical notes. "Disruption in the functioning of some organs affected by radiation nuclides has been found (in Lugovoy)," it quoted a source as saying. "Lugovoy's condition is considerably better than that of Kovtun, but he also has symptoms of contamination."

There have been contradictory reports about Kovtun, who met Litvinenko in London along with Lugovoy. Some said he was in critical condition but a lawyer who was in touch with his representatives told Reuters those reports were wrong.

HOTEL MEETING
Health experts are preparing to check for radiation at the Russian Today television studio where Lugovoy gave an interview on November 24, a broadcasting source told Reuters.

Checks have already been made at two other locations where Logovoy has been in Russia - the Ekho Moskvy radio station and the British embassy. A small trace was found at the embassy.

The Kremlin has expressed displeasure at how British media have given intensive coverage to claims from Russian emigres that Putin was to blame for Litvinenko's death.

Lugovoy and Kovtun met Litvinenko at London's Millennium Hotel on November 1 for what Lugovoy described as a business meeting. He has denied any part in Litvinenko's poisoning and offered to help police.

The hospital where they are being treated has not been disclosed and their representatives were not answering their telephones on Friday.

British detectives were working in Moscow for a fourth day on Friday as part of their investigation into the murder of Litvinenko, a British citizen.

They have already questioned Kovtun with Russian investigators. One of many theories about Litvinenko's death is that it could have been the work of rogue elements in Russia's intelligence services, working independently of the Kremlin.

Ugly Starbucks....?

Well, I guess the following article proves that the "Ugly American" is alive and well! Right?
(The Ugly American - First published in 1958, became a runaway national best seller... Eugene Burdick's other books include Fail-Safe.)

I'm afraid that I can't be of much help since I drink at the most, two cups of cheap store brand coffee per day. I've never had nor do I really know what Lattes are - nor have I ever been in a Starbucks shop. (Truth: ....except for the Starbucks counter at our local Safeway>> but I never sat on one of their stools nor did I inhale!)

However, I find (from TV where I learn all of my culture) that urbian's and suburbian's aren't cool if they don't drink Lattes at Starbucks! Seems to me that is not a very progressive group of civic-minded citizens for an impoverished country to place its economic hopes in. But that is my admittedly unfair and snobbish, anti-snob opinion - that such souls can't see far beyond their own often glittering navels.

{Note that the word "urbian" doesn't exist, although I think it should! As we all know, the word "urban" refers to cities as opposed to "rural". Thus it seems to me that one who lives in a city should be called an "urbian" just as those of us who live in rural areas are called "rustics" (meaning non-white or reddish). Just because it ain't in the dictionary and ain't allowed in Scrabble doesn't mean it can't be used! Now, I could have used the legitimate word, "urbanites" - but that word sounds so ugly - even for ugly Americans, that no one should ever use it - not even urbians or weird people who read the NYT!}

One Dollar a Day Vs. Four Dollar Lattes
Aaron Glantz, OneWorld US Sat Dec 2

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 2 (OneWorld) - Starbucks CEO Jim McDonald traveled to Addis Ababa to meet with Ethiopia's prime minister Meles Zenawi this week in an effort to head off what's becoming an increasingly public dispute over the Ethiopian government's efforts to trademark the country's best-known coffee blends.

"There was no agreement," said intellectual property lawyer and Ethiopian government adviser Ron Layton, characterizing the tone of the meetings.

Human rights groups accuse Starbucks of trying to stop Ethiopia from trademarking its best-known coffee beans Sidamo and Harar, thereby denying farmers potential income of more than $90 million a year.

"It was clear going into the meeting that there was a distance between the two sides and it would have taken some moves on both sides to reach an agreement," Layton told OneWorld.

So far, Ethiopia has successfully trademarked its beans in over 30 countries; in the United States Starbucks has petitioned to trademark the Ethiopian blends.

"This is a rights issue and we deserve to have our rights recognized. We strongly believe that trademarking is the way to go," Zenawi said in a statement. "The right to own our coffee names is the only way that we can preserve our rich coffee heritage; Ethiopia has an obligation to coffee consumers worldwide to protect and preserve our unique coffees."

"It's important to understand that most Ethiopians live on less than a dollar a day," said Seth Petchers, a fair trade campaigner at the human rights group Oxfam America. "Starbucks sells some of these beans for up to $26 a pound."

Fair trade advocates look at the dispute as a clash between David and Goliath. In Starbucks, they see a $6.4 billion giant with more than 10,000 stores in 37 countries; in Ethiopia, they see the impoverished, hillside farmers of Ethiopia's premium coffee-growing regions.

Ethiopia grows more coffee than any other country in Africa. Approximately 50 percent of its export earnings come from the sale of coffee.

"What Ethiopia is trying to do is capture some of the value that's associated with its reputation the same way a company here in the Untied States would trademark the name of one of its products to make sure it gets a fair share of the value associated with it," Petchers said.

Starbucks refused to be interviewed for this story. The company did send an e-mail saying, "Starbucks fully supports the premise that any protection of specialty coffee names in Ethiopia should benefit Ethiopian coffee farmers."

In a statement on the company's Web site, McDonald characterized his meetings with the Ethiopian prime minister as cooperative and said the Seattle-based company is "committed to working with the Ethiopian government to find a solution that supports the Ethiopian coffee farmer."

"Starbucks likes to paint itself as a socially conscious vanguard within the corporate world because they carry some fair trade coffee on their shelf, but when you look at the numbers and you look at what Starbucks does it's not fair at all," Eric Holt-Gimenez, executive director of the anti-hunger group Food First, told OneWorld.

Because of that, Holt-Gimenez believes the Ethiopian government is in a very good bargaining position. He says Ethiopian student groups inside the United States are set to start a campaign against the coffee giant and Starbucks will likely have to cut a deal if it wants to keep its reputation in tact.

"I think Starbucks is beginning to feel the heat," Holt-Gimenez said. "The fact that McDonald went and came back and nothing changed tells me that the Ethiopian government is playing hardball in trying to get something to help its people."

Slippery Slope to Perdition?

One would think that the following would be taking the Democrats down the slippery slope to Hell! But that would be only because, in my opinion, the right-wing fundamentalist Christians have stolen the word, ‘evangelical'.

However, there still remain the humanitarian Christians on the left - you know, the people who lived, went to church, did good things for their communities - the good people I grew up with, the ones who didn't try to forge political policy and create a secular nation from a narrow Old Testament mold of Godly wrath, hatred and fear.

So perhaps it is good that we hear from those other Christians once in awhile. However, it would concern me if the Christians on the left also caught the politics bug. They might have better, socially kinder motivations, but our nation can't afford to shift from its secular moorings in either direction.

An excellent book on this subject is "American Gospel" by Jon Meacham which shows how our founders followed their own individual Christian and/or Deistic ideals yet were able to insist that there was room for all religious beliefs in our new nation. The nation doesn't have to be atheistic to maintain diversity. In fact, our nation is and has been guided by a defacto "public religion" - a generic and tolerant form of Christianity.

Democrats tap religious leader for radio talk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats turned to an evangelical Christian to give their weekly radio address on Saturday, citing a desire to avoid partisanship after last month's elections that gave them control of Congress.

"I want to be clear that I am not speaking for the Democratic Party, but as a person of faith who feels the hunger in America for a new vision of our life together, and sees the opportunity to apply our best moral values to the urgent problems we face," the Rev. Jim Wallis said in his remarks.

Wallis, author of 2005's "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It," highlighted issues that he said required a new direction, including U.S. policy in Iraq. He also called for new efforts to combat poverty and protect the environment.

"We need serious solutions, not the scapegoating of others," Wallis said. "The path of partisan division is well worn, but the road of compassionate priorities and social justice will lead us to a new America."

In a statement, incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he chose Wallis to give the address, usually reserved for politicians, "in the spirit of bipartisanship."

Wallis heads a ministry in Washington called Sojourners and has been widely viewed as part of the religious left. He rejects that label and preaches the need to bring the nation to "a moral center."

Reid called Wallis nonpartisan.

In recent months, Democrats have been trying to reach out more to the religious community in an effort to build up public support for their priorities.

About a year ago, Wallis was one of more than 100 religious activists arrested on Capitol Hill during a peaceful demonstration against health care and social welfare cuts proposed by Republicans.

Arsenic and Old Lace....

I find this interesting because the story seems so sinister concerning polonium 210 coming from Russian power plants, etc. The implication is that the Putin had his former spy assassinated. All of that may or may not be true, but whether or not polonium 210 is of Russian origin is not very relevant. (reminds me of the comedy play, Arsenic and Old Lace)

The truth is, that polonium 210 is quite commonly available since it is used in many anti-static devices. Over forty years ago we used a polonium devices made by Staticmaster Corp. in our darkroom to expell dust particles from photographic films and plates. These hand-held devices are relatively cheap. The positive charge causes dust and lint to be repelled from the surface.

Polonium 210 emits alpha particles (protons) which are essentially ionized Helium. It is relatively safe because the ions are large and can be stopped by a sheet of paper - as opposed to gamma radiation which can pass through virtually anything and usually requires lead shielding to block it.

My point is that anyone wanting to do someone in could buy one of these devices at a photography store, take it apart and spike the victim's soup. It may be more effective than perhaps rat poison because the latter is potentially treatable! ...

Britain finds second case of radiation poisoning
By David Clarke and Mark Trevelyan

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists probing the death of Alexander Litvinenko said on Friday a second man had been poisoned by the same radiation that killed the former Russian spy.

Media reports said the man was Mario Scaramella, an Italian contact whom Litvinenko met at a London sushi restaurant on November 1, the same day he fell ill.

[This should be a lesson to everyone - don't eat sushi because you never know what the fish may have eaten as a result of the dumping of radioactive waste in the ocean! Perhaps ocean fish should be monitored with radiation counters!...AG]

"We are confirming that one further person who was in direct contact with Mr. Litvinenko has been found to have a significant quantity of polonium 210 in their body. This is being investigated further in hospital," a spokesman for the Health Protection Agency said.

"There is likely to be concern for their immediate health."

Police and health authorities declined to confirm the man was Scaramella. Polonium 210 is the same radioactive isotope that poisoned Litvinenko, who died a slow and agonizing death in a London hospital.

The former spy, a British citizen who became an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin after leaving Russia's secret service, accused the Kremlin chief of ordering his killing.

Moscow rejects the allegation as ridiculous and has promised to help the British probe, although Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said no formal inquiries had yet been received.

The case has triggered a complex police investigation and sparked diplomatic tensions between Britain and Russia.

RADIOACTIVE TRAIL
Britain has also faced a major challenge to reassure the public after traces of radiation were found at 12 sites and aboard planes which have carried more than 33,000 passengers in the past month, many flying between London and Moscow.

Authorities say polonium is not dangerous unless swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through a wound.

Earlier on Friday, three pathologists wearing protective suits to guard against radiation carried out a post-mortem on Litvinenko at the Royal London Hospital.

Scaramella, who describes himself as a security consultant, said last week he had met Litvinenko on November 1 to show him emails from a mutual source warning both their lives may be in danger. He said Litvinenko had told him not to worry.

He has denied poisoning Litvinenko himself.

A lawyer representing Scaramella told Reuters on Friday he was waiting for final test results before making any comments on his state of health.

He declined to explain Scaramella's earlier statements that he was not contaminated, saying the tests were "complex."

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso voiced concern about the case. "We have a problem with Russia. In fact, we have several problems. Too many people have been killed and we don't know who killed them," he said on Thursday.

British media reported on Friday that scientists at the country's Atomic Weapons Establishment had traced the source of the polonium to a nuclear power plant in Russia.

The AWE, the body that provides warheads for Britain's nuclear arsenal, was not immediately available for comment.

The head of Russia's state atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, told the government daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta Russia produces only 8 grams of polonium 210 a month. He said all goes to U.S. companies through a single authorized supplier.

Kiriyenko said nuclear reactors like the Russian RMBK or the Canadian CANDU were needed to make it.

However Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the company that makes CANDU reactors, said Kiriyenko's statement was wrong as the plants could not produce polonium. "It's a totally false statement to suggest that," spokesman Dale Coffin said.