From the Hood (as my wife says)

Obama attended Occidental College before Columbia. I wonder if he ever went to Elsa's Bakery or bought some Vans at the Vans Store.

Occidental College is in Eagle Rock, about 2 miles from where I grew up and my mother lives, in Highland Park (yes, the barrio) Weird.

If Only What If....

Mormon Quits Race!

No, not this Mormon,
this one:

For those of you not from the Sacramento area, John Doolittle (pictured above) may not ring a bell. I did not know of him until I moved up here. Mr. Doolittle is a U.S. House Representative of a large area that stretches from Roseville (just north-east of Sacramento) up to Lake Tahoe. He has been the US Rep for this district for some 16 years (may be more). Nikki actually worked on one of his campaigns, (and I think i'm right that my brother in law was a page for him too- Brian, if i'm wrong please correct me).

Anyways, he has decided not to run for reelection. He claims it is time for him to do something new and of course, wants to spend the next chapter of his life with his wife. (see http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/005053.php)

What the statement fails to mention is the following:

1. he is under investigation by the Justice Department in connection to the Abramoff scandal
(see http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/SS/20080102/NEWS/69737972)

2. there is some question of why his wife was paid from his campaign funds
(see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/10/AR2006071001164.html)

3. there is some question about the money he received from Indian casino outside of California
(see: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/27/BAGHRGDHV41.DTL)

4. He won his last reelection by only a few percentage points, in a heavily Republican district
(see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_4th_congressional_district_election,_2006)

There is much more.

Now, what Stinks about all of this is that Mr. Doolittle is a Member of the Church. Why? How does a Member of the Church become so corrupted? It really bothers me that non-member will point to politicians as examples of what is the church(think Romney).

One more thing that really bothered me about Mr. Doolittle. He sent a letter to specifically to Members where he railed against the press for "attacking" him. I thought we are not suppose to do things like that (of course he could have use a list compiled from other sources, other than stake directories, still seems unethical to me to target only members) see: http://solongjohn.blogspot.com/2006/04/doolittle-attempts-to-rally-his-base.html

It was thought that Mr. Dootlittle was going to lose the seat to a ex-military Dem Charlie Brown. But by retiring, the seat became a safe seat for the GOP. What timing, I'm sure none of the listed facts went into Mr. Dootlittle's thinking.

Mormon Politicians: Good or Bad?

Dem Debate

Did anyone watch tonight's debate?

I thought that Obama did a good job of answering Clinton's attacks, though in the end Edwards made an impression.


How I would vote if I could (Tentative):

1. Barak Obama - We need new blood, enough of the baby boomers!
2. Ralph Nader (or Green Party Candidate) - go Green!
3. John Edwards - Could be a good president
4. Ralph Nader - go Green!
5. John McCain - from a border state, understands immigration better than any candidate dem or rep.
6. Ralph Nader - go Green!
7. Ron Paul - a little nutty, but makes some good points.
8. Ralph Nader - go Green!

Michelle's Music Boredom

Michelle try the following:

LCD Soundsystem (latest: Sounds of Silver)



Radiohead (latest In Rainbows)



or

Underworld (latest: Oblivion for Bells)



or

Moenia (latest: Solar)



or

Suzanne Vega (latest: Beauty and Crime)




I love Music!

False advertisement....

Warning: it may offend...

You Must See this Movie - "La Vie En Rose"

Marion Cotillard won a Golden Globe tonight. She totally deserved it. This is a fantastic film. Cotillard's acting is sublime. I hope she wins the Oscar too.



When I rented the film, the video clerk asked me if I knew the film was in French! I was insulted, what, a brown man like me can't watch subtitled movies?

Rent this, fantastic.

Hillary's Macaca Moment?

What exactly is Hillary trying to say? Is she talking about 1963 civil rights act? That King's dream required LBJ to complete? or That all that was accomplished before that was not enough?

I'm not really sure what she was going for. It's a bit wierd.

Of course this quote assumes that King's dream was completely accomplished...was it? - I doubt it...remember the day before King died he said, "..I have seen the promise land, but I might not get there with you..."

You Must See this Film - Now on DVD

Before the war in Iraq began, Nikki and I had a conversation regarding the possiblity of war. I distinctly remember telling her that "we can take over the country, but what happens after is what's important." I was skeptical that take over of the country would be as easy as the Bush adminstration was potraying it to be. What did Wolfowitz say, something about the oil money would pay for the war? Or that we would be out of there by the end of the fall of '03?

Below is a trailer for a documentary that examines the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad. It does not question the validity of the war, but rather looks into the planning of a post-war Iraq. It conducts interviews with some of the major players at the time, including Under-Sect. of State Armitage. Very objective.

There is one telling moment when it is revealed that a recent grad (22-23 year old) is placed in charge of planning traffic control in Baghdad, even though she had no experience in urban planning! Crazy.

It will make you think about the conduct of the reconstruction of Iraq.

The film in entitled "No End in Sight".

Hillary?

(picture from the Guardian)

I believe that Mrs. Clinton is too divisive to be an effective president. Too many people dislike her, as much as those that love her. The problem becomes that if she is elected President she would be ineffective.

Think about it, if you are a Republican member of Congress, would you be willing to work with someone that is so disliked by your core supporters? That is was is going on now in Washington, the Democratic members of Congress do now want to be seen as working with President Bush because of the emotions tied to the President. They do not want to be seen as "traitors".

Look what happened to Lieberman, the last vice-presidential candidate. He lost his own party's primary because he was portrayed as being to close to the President. While he still was reelected, though as an independent, it is indicative of the divisive mood the prevails.

Frankly, I am tired of it.

Here are some links that show the depth of the dislike to Mrs Clinton:

http://www.hillcap.org
http://www.freedomhq.com/antihillary.html

My personal favorite:
http://hillarynutcracker.com/

What's wrong with this analogy?

Father/Daughter Talk


A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of "the redistribution of wealth."


She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she 's too hung over."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican party".

Obama Raggaeton

Check this song out. It is in Spanish. You have to hand it to Mr. Obama, he has a way of insipiring people, in a way that none of the candidates have. It's like he has history behind him.

By the way, President Bush has had the most diverse cabinet in History. The first African-American Sect. of State (Powell & Rice), the first Latino Attorney General, the first Latina Treasurer of the United States (her name is on the US Currency). Is Bush out of step of the GOP? What is the impact/importance of diversity on policy?

LCD Soundsytem Rock!

LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"

One of the best of 2007

What do the pictures say about the parties?

From tonight's debate:

6 White Guys

An African-American, a Latino, a Woman and a White Guy

Why the New Blog

Today is 2 days from the New Hampshire Primary and 2 days after the Iowa vote, as such I am launching my political blog today.

This blog will focus on mostly political issues, though I like films and music too. I will attempt to post interesting discussions and invite comment.

I am an independent voter who dislikes the 2 party system in this country. I have voted for both GOP and Dem candidates as well as Peace and Freedom, Green and Libetarian Candidates. I am registered Green.
Julio