Richardson Endorsement

Despite what Clinton's campaign might say, Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama is huge.  Richardson is a western, somewhat libertarian democrat (an example would be his pro-gun views).  Last year, he was the one democrat I was really pulling for.

Richardson is also of hispanic descent (though not an immigrant himself).  He speaks Spanish fluently and will likely help Obama in that segment of the population.  

Furthermore, Richardson is a very close friend of the Clintons and worked in their administration.  While he had never endorsed Clinton, it seems that this is just another nail in Hillary's political coffin.  

California may be our only hope for privacy

A few months ago, I wrote about how Montana had rejected the REAL ID implementation.  This law would create a de facto national ID card, the "papers" that are referred to in the caricatures of a Soviet saying "your papers please."  

California has now said that it does not intend to implement REAL ID.  As Wired's Threat Level points out, its easy for the federal government to tell the several million people who live in New Hampshire, Maine, and Montana that they will need passports to board an airline or enter a federal building, but it will be much harder to fuck with the 36 million Californians.  

Hillary's Bracket Folly?

The two and a half (Hillary barely has a chance anymore) presidential candidates were all asked about their thoughts on the NCAA tournament.  Bloomberg has a nice writeup of their responses here.

 McCain, who is fiercely anti-gambling and would likely shut down every casino in Vegas if he could, allows people to fill out a bracket on his website and compete against him.  The winner will get a McCain t-shirt.

Obama published his bracket but has no contest open to the public.  He said that his campaign staff and he are all in an office pool in which everyone puts in $10 and the winner gets everything (which incidentally is the same kind of game I'm playing at work).  

Hillary said that she doesn't know much about it and will have to ask Bill for help.  While this might seem trivial, I don't think this is the time when she should be saying she needs Bill's help with anything especially in a game that appeals to 90% of men and probably 25% of women.  She desperately needs votes from everyone, including sports fans.  

Dangers of CFL's

Despite the small problem of them containing mercury, I am still a big fan of compact fluorescent light bulbs.  I think it is a no brainer to use them, as it could very well save you $20-$50 per month in electric bills.  If you don't have any installed now, try them out.  

They last each for well over a year and more than make up for their extra cost in longevity and efficiency.  I believe that the average bulb can save something like $50 over its lifetime.  

But do be careful if the bulb breaks and when it burns out do not throw it in the trash.  Click here for some tips on disposal.

Olympic Problems

The Chinese are cracking down on Tibet, months before the Summer Olympics.  Between 16 and 80 (depending on whom you believe) people were killed in riots.  China blocked access to youtube so other Chinese could not see images of the violence.  With the Olympics coming up, China does not its horrid human rights record to be dragged in front of the world stage, which is exactly what is happening.

But we can all rest assured that it won't rain on the olympics.  China says they can now control the weather.

At least he walks the walk

The Obama campaign removed an unsolicited endorsement by the New Black Panthers, a racist group that once went to my school and caused a big ruckus.  

This endorsement was posted in the "groups" area, where anyone (including you and me) can post stuff.  

Obviously, after the speech he gave yesterday, you can't even have this group posting stuff on your website even if you did not ask for it.  

Quote of the Day

Is it just me, or does he sound like Ron Paul?

 

"Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain confuse Sunni and Shiite, Iran and al Qaeda," Senator Obama said. "Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America's enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades."

 

-Obama

Obama's Speech on Race

Probably the best speech I've ever seen a politician deliver.  It was timely, well-worded, and should get American's talking on the issues of race. If you have not yet seen the speech, I recommend that you view it in full below, watching the clips on CNN does not do it justice.

Or you can read the full text here.

Answers

Why is our economy in the toilet?

www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home