House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that it would be "harmful" to Democrats if superdelegates were to give the party's presidential nomination to a candidate who is trailing in the delegates awarded in primaries and caucuses.
"If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what's happened in the elections," said Pelosi, "it would be harmful to the Democratic Party."
Although Pelosi offered her assessment without directly referencing Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., her comments lend considerable support to the Illinois Democrat.
Obama leads Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in pledged delegates: 1,396 to 1,241. Because of the proportional system used by the Democratic Party to allocate delegates, Obama is widely expected to remain in front of Clinton in pledged delegates at the conclusion of the primary season. (Source: Excerpt from ABC News, March 14, 2008)
Video 1. Can Hillary Win?
Video 2. On NBC's Meet the Press Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign argued that delegates from Florida and Michigan should be seated at the national convention, despite voting for Democratic Party rules that stripped the delegates in the first place.
When Senator Clinton was campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, she made it clear that states like Michigan and Florida that wouldn't produce any delegates “don't count for anything.'“ Now that Senator Clinton's worried about losing the first Southern primary, she's using Florida for her own political gain by trying to assign meaning to a contest that awards zero delegates and where no campaigning has occurred.
Video 3. Hillary, can’t you see that the fat lady is singing?
Video 4. Kenny Rogers - The Gambler.
You got to know when to hold 'em, Know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Everybody wants to go to Heaven. Why not? For Christians it is the dwelling pace of God and the angels. For those individuals who do not consider Heaven to have a physical existence, it refers to a plane of existence that becomes the abode of the righteous at some point after death, such as Paradise. It is a place of peace and eternal happiness.
Each of the major religions has a different concept of Heaven. Let us consider the Christian Heaven first.
Video 1. Is Heaven for Real? A visual production depicting what Heaven might look like from the description of it in the Book of Revelation.
Video 3. The Jewish Heaven. What is the Jewish concept of Heaven and how does one get there? Here is some information from Yahoo! Answers regarding that question:
Suffice it to say that the difference between "Heaven" and "Hell" is probably little more than the soul's proximity to its source (the Creator, may He be blessed) after death. Jews also believe that in the Messianic Era, the righteous dead will be resurrected (the happy Jesus-y kind of resurrection, not the icky zombie kind). Since God is just and loving, I have a hard time imagining a "Hell" like the Christians have designed. Eternal agony for not worshipping some Jew as God incarnate? No, any "Hell" we end up going through is a result of our own actions, and not just because someone lacked the good fortune of being raised Christian and simply listened to his parents. Actually, the Jewish equivalent of "Hell" bears striking resemblance to the Catholic doctrine regarding Purgatory. It's generally temporary and designed to purge the soul of any impurities its borrower muddied it up with in his or her lifetime.
Rabbi Niles Goldstein on Death. The soul outlives the body. Rabbi Goldstein discusses Heaven as a divine connectedness with God.
Video 4. Muslim Heaven is examined from a Christian perspective - Islamic heavenly paradise. Here is what you get when you die and go to Heaven in Islam as written in Islamic writings. This is only Part 1 of a 4-part series. This video becomes more interesting after the first couple of minutes.
Video 5. Heaven on Earth. Hindu Heaven. In Hinduism, your previous life dictates the quality of your next life up until you reach salvation/liberation. Hindus don't have purgatory and instead use the concept of being trapped in material worlds until the soul reaches spiritual liberation.
Video 6. Buddhist Heaven. Buddhists believe in reincarnation. They believe that as you walk the path to enlightenment that you have many lives in many bodies. After one has finally reached enlightenment, when one is free of suffering, one is released from the wheel of birth and re-birth and comes to understand that which is the true nature of the universe. They then go on to nirvana, which is liberation from reincarnation in samsara (the created world). But they do not think we just cease to exist. Dalai Lama: Where is Heaven? What Will Happen After Buddhists Die?
Video 7. President Bush says that there are many roads to Heaven.
NOTICE: I first posted this view on December 23, 2005. At that time I received some harsh criticism from a few bloggers for posting what they considered such an unpatriotic viewpoint. Here we are 27 months later, and the situation in Iraq shows little improvement. Can we “win” in Iraq? Stay tuned.
(Some of the information in this blog post has been gathered from an article written by military historian William Lind, Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism at the Free Congress Foundation. He has also written many articles on military strategy and war. In essence, the article maintains that the United States will not be successful in “winning” the war in Iraq by “staying the course.” Let us now dwell upon the reasons he offers for that view.)
William Lind states that warfare has gone through four generations from about 1650 to the present:
First Generation (1650-1850): Gather troops and weapons into an orderly formation and attempt to overwhelm the enemy with superior manpower and weaponry.
Second Generation (1916-1930’s): At the beginning of the war, First Generation warfare was employed, but technological advances in weaponry (machine guns, heavy artillery, tanks) made First Generation mass formations of troops and weaponry, as well as frontal assaults obsolete and “suicidal.”
Third Generation (Late 1930s--first employed and perfected by the German army): “Blitzkrieg” (lightning warfare) depended on speed, surprise, and maneuverability.
Fourth Generation(1960s-Present):Wars are fought between troops sponsored by a nation or nations and “non-state” terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah, or a sub-national group such as the Taliban. The United States so far has met defeat in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia by these groups.
When the United States sent forces into Iraq in 2003, we used Third Generation warfare (“Shock and Awe”) in a kind of blitzkrieg to quickly defeat Saddam’s forces with great success. But now, just as it occurred in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia, we are bogged down in our attempt to use Third Generation tactics to defeat those groups that use Fourth Generation weapons and tactics against us.
We still talk about “victory” and “staying the course” in Iraq, as though we are still fighting another nation. We even have trouble finding an enemy to fight; and when we kill members of their groups, they are quickly replaced by other recruits who are only too willing to die for Allah.
An American soldier, when asked who the enemy is replied, “It’s hard to say...the enemy can be any one of them at any time.” Since our troops can be attacked at any place and at any time, they are always on the defensive.
Fourth Generation Strategy and Tactics (used by our enemy in Iraq):
Don’t attempt to defeat any enemy who is better trained and equipped by engaging them in battle; instead, weaken the enemy by entangling him.
Use IED’s (improvised explosive devices) against the enemy. This tactic has been very successful against U.S. troops, accounting for two of every three battle deaths.
Don’t fear death. Allah will give you 72 virgins and permanent residence in Paradise for dying in his name.
Counter the effects of the “shock and awe” of the enemy’s weapons.
Use inexpensive, improvised “low tech” weapons against the enemy’s expensive, “high-tech” weapons.
We might add that we used “smart bombs” against al-Qaeda only after they used smart people against us in the very successful attack on the Twin Towers in New York.
According to military historian William Lind, we say that we must “stay the course,” but we are fighting an enemy who can outlast us--physically, mentally and, in the view of the enemy, morally. They believe Allah is on their side. Even Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said recently that it might take ten or more years to “win” the war. Some other military leaders have said it could require between thirty and thirty-five years to conclude the fighting.
We and the enemy operate with a different concept of time. We operate in a secular world where what happens over time can have an effect on our economy, upcoming elections and such. They operate on “Allah’s time.” They believe the effect of continued stalemate--they don’t have to win-- troop loss, and expense will eventually lead to the withdrawal of our troops.
In other words, if they don’t prevail today, they will prevail tomorrow.
Video 1. Iraq: 5 Years Later -ASK THE EXPERT- Brian Katulis
Video 2. Iraq War - 5 years of success! Let's celebrate!
Video 3. This video reflects the views of an increasing number of Americans.
Video 4. Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & American Empire
Video 5. Government of, by, and for the people? An arrogant Dick Cheney says, "So?" Cheney spent Wednesday, the 5th anniversary of the war, not mourning the dead he killed, but fishing off the Sultan of Oman's royal yacht. Thanks, Dick!
Video 6. BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Buying the War | Excerpt | PBS. Wednesday, April 25, 2007. How the administration marketed the war to the American people has been well covered, but critical questions remain: How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?
A novelty song popularized sixty years ago by The Guy Lombardo Trio is still being performed today. One of the most recent recordings was by Willie Nelson in 2001. The title of the song is “I’m My Own Grandpa”, and it tells the story of a man who by means of a combination of unlikely but still legal marriages becomes his own grandfather.
The origin of the song’s lyrics has been traced back to an article based on a true story that appeared in the London Literary Gazette in 1822:
A proof that a man may be his own Grandfather.—There was a widow and her daughter-in-law, and a man and his son. The widow married the son, and the daughter the old man; the widow was, therefore, mother to her husband's father, consequently grandmother to her own husband. They had a son, to whom she was great-grandmother; now, as the son of a great-grandmother must be either a grandfather or great-uncle, this boy was therefore his own grandfather. N. B. This was actually the case with a boy at a school in Norwich.—London Literary Gazette
Ladies and Gentlemen, please get out your genealogical charts and follow the story.
Video 1. This is a graphical depiction on how it is possible for a man to be his own grandfather. This actually happens and was published in a number of newspaper stories as early as the 1800s. Mark Twain wrote an anecdote about it, which inspired Homer and Jethro to write a song about it.
This is the Ray Stevens version.
Video 2. Another version of the song. Age is a relative thing; you're young as long as you have a relative who is older!
Video 3. "I'm My Own Grandpa" for Willie Nelson fans. A music video made with the Sims 2 game.
I'm back in the saddle again Out where a friend is (more than) a friend… Ridin' the range once more Totin' my old .44
Where you sleep tight every night And lovers never fight Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-oh Rockin' to and fro Back in the saddle again…
March 27, 2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the introduction of Viagra.
The battle is on over who has the best erector set - Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra. Each of these companies has a different way of advertising its product with varying results, with Viagra in first place in sales. Perhaps you have seen the commercial with Rafael Palmero as he degraded himself by whipping a bat out of a bat rack as he bragged about how his low sexual batting average was replaced with, “Batter up,” thanks to Viagra. Then there is latest “Viva Viagra” commercial:
Cialis is in second place in sales. Perhaps as a man, you cringed as poor middle-aged men are taunted by younger women in Cialis ads who can’t stop gushing about how insufficient their partners were sexually prior to taking the medication. Now there is a Cialis commercial with Cuba Gooding, Jr:
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