News: August 2008 Archives

Please take a minute to Digg the MindThrow site launch announcement. Even if you don't have a Digg account, it's easy to make one.

John McCain says he hasn't decided on a VP pick yet.

He told KDKA NewsRadio in Pittsburgh in an interview taped Wednesday: "I haven't decided yet so I can't tell you."

McCain, who spoke with the radio station from his home in Arizona, told people late Wednesday that he wasn't going to make a final decision until after he talked with his wife. She has been in the country of Georgia this week and returned late Wednesday.

Translation: I respect and depend on the advice of women when I make big decisions; vote for me, disillusioned Hillary supporters!

Lots of people have been writing about Obama's temple, and there's a lot of speculation about what it represents. I think the obvious answer though is that the stage is a reference to Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech 45 years ago today.

Obama's temple

Lincoln Memorial

Barack Obama has also included both MLK and Abraham Lincoln as two of his heroes on numerous occasions. Naturally Obama wants to visually recreate that historic speech, staring himself in the role of Martin Luther King Jr. QED.

Barack Obama has picked Senator Joe "Big IQ" Biden as his running mate! Maybe Obama is drawn to Biden's deft touch on race relations, and I guess Biden is so impressed with Obama's cleanliness that he can overlook his unreadiness for the presidency.

Amazing. Has Obama completely lost his mind?

In case anyone is curious, I've compiled a table that shows the number of medals China has won in past Olympics, along with their ranking. It appears that China either did not compete or was not competitive before 1984.

Considering the performance of American athletes at the 1984 Olympics, China's medal count (so far) in 2008 isn't so far out of line that one must suspect them of widespread cheating. (Other than in women's gymnastics, anyway.)

Looks like McCain hit a homerun. Jolly good.

My favorite parts:

• Obama says that Justice Clarance Thomas didn't have enough experience to be nominated to the Supreme Court. Yes, let's make this election about experience!
• Obama says that the question of when babies get human rights is "above my pay-grade". Uh, aren't you trying for the top job in the land? Whose opinion does matter then, if not yours?
• McCain wants to cut taxes for everyone.
• McCain's toughest decision: deciding to refuse an early release from captivity in Vietnam.
• Obama's toughest decision: not supporting the Iraq War. How was that a tough decision? It made him wildly popular. And doesn't it being "tough" imply that he was conflicted over the matter?
• McCain was smart to name the failure of his first marriage as his "biggest moral failing". It's going to come up, and he was smart to address it first.

I'm glad to hear that McCain's appearance tonight has finally convinced some very smart people that he can actually win the election. As I've been saying all along.

Potential Obama VP Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia, credits Obama for the cease-fire between Russia and Georgia. (If there really is a cease-fire.)

It was a bad crisis for the world. It required tough words but also a smart approach to call on the international community to step in. And I’m very, very happy that the Senator's request for a ceasefire has been complied with by President Medvedev.

Just imagine how powerful he'll be if he actually gets elected!

Last week I asked, is Hillary planning a convention coup? If she is, here's one of the many arguments she's making to the superdelegates:

Sen. Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

"I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," former Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson told ABCNews.com.

Clinton finished third in the Iowa caucuses barely behind Edwards in second place and Obama in first. The momentum of the insurgent Obama campaign beating two better-known candidates -- not to mention an African-American winning in such an overwhelmingly white state -- changed the dynamics of the race forever.

I'd say there's only a 5% - 10% chance of Hillary pulling this off, but it's fun to watch.

Barack Obama is a citizen of Kenya. Maybe technically he is, or isn't, or both! I'm sure the mainstream media will be investigating the matter thoroughly.

Chicago-based Internet journalist, broadcaster and critic Andy Martin will hold a news conference Friday, February 9th at 11:00 A.M. to announce that U. S. Senator Barack Obama is a citizen of Kenya and became a citizen of Kenya under the Independence Constitution of Kenya in 1963. Obama has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. He is also a U. S. Citizen.

“For our ‘Obama Week’ leading up to Barry O’s announcement on Saturday that he feels qualified to lead the free world, ContrarianCommentary.com unleashed a worldwide team of constitutional law experts to delve into Kenyan law and the question of Obama’s citizenship. They were also participating in our CIA-style psychological profile of Obama that will be released Saturday in Chicago. And what we discovered was amazing, a political blockbuster,” says Executive Editor Andy Martin.

“Under the Independence Constitution of Kenya, Obama became a Kenyan citizen on December 12, 1963. He has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. On his senate web site, Obama tap dances around his own dual nationality when discussing his father. Obama obviously knows, because his father told him, that he also held/holds Kenyan nationality.

The devil is in the details. (At least that commenter knows enough to know the true answer isn't clear-cut. Public opinion will likely rule the day... but which way will it fall?)

(HT: Gateway Pundit.)

A brilliant German businessman created and sold for $999.99 an iPhone application that did absolutely nothing except display a picture of a red gemstone. The point: show off to your friends that not only can you afford the luxury of an iPhone, you can also blow a grand on a useless piece of software. Naturally Apple enthusiasts were lined up to buy the software, until Apple removed it from their online store.

Its function is exactly what the name implies: to alert people that you have money in the bank. I Am Rich was available for purchase from the phone's App Store for, get this, $999.99 -- the highest amount a developer can charge through the digital retailer, said Armin Heinrich, the program's developer. Once downloaded, it doesn't do much -- a red icon sits on the iPhone home screen like any other application, with the subtext "I Am Rich." Once activated, it treats the user to a large, glowing gem (pictured above). That's about it. For a thousand dollars.

Apple apparently had some problems with I Am Rich. After initially approving it for distribution, the company has since removed it from the store. Heinrich, a German software developer, has yet to hear back from Apple concerning the removal. "I have no idea why they did it and am not aware of any violation of the rules to sell software on the App Store," Heinrich said in an e-mail with The Times today.

The "violation" is obvious! Only Apple is allowed to sell overpriced-yet-elegant status symbols!

The Voice of the Martyrs website was attacked by hackers a couple of weeks ago.

On July 24, VOM’s Web site was deliberately attacked forcing us to take the site offline temporarily. Our network engineers say the attack originated outside the United States. We have to believe the intent was to silence the online voice of the persecuted church. ...

We apologize for any inconvenience this interruption has caused, but at the same time we are thrilled our work is so effective that enemies of the Gospel took notice. Please pray for persecuted Christians around the world, especially during this Olympic season as the attention of the world turns to China.

I'd bet anything that the attack was the work of Chinese state-sponsored hackers trying to silence VoM in the run-up to the Olympics. VoM's mission is to publicize the persecution of Christians around the world, and China is one of the worst offenders.

Be in prayer for the Christians who are under constant persecution in China and other hostile lands around the world. Pray that their suffering will help bring the light of the Gospel to the other victims of these repressive regimes.

In a bold and entertaining move, House Republicans have decided to stay in the Capitol after the Democrats adjourned for their five week vacation.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats adjourned the House and turned off the lights and killed the microphones, but Republicans are still on the floor talking gas prices.

Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders opposed the motion to adjourn the House, arguing that Pelosi's refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling is hurting the American economy. They have refused to leave the floor after the adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m., and they are busy bashing Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for leaving town for the August recess. ...

Democratic aides were furious at the GOP stunt, and reporters were kicked out of the Speaker's Lobby, the space next to the House floor where they normally interview lawmakers.

"You're not covering this, are you?" complained one senior Democratic aide. Another called the Republicans "morons" for staying on the floor. ...

This message was sent out by Blunt's office:

"Although this Democrat majority just adjourned for the Democrat 5-week vacation, House Republicans are continuing to fight on the House floor. Although the lights, mics and C-SPAN cameras have been turned off, House Republicans are on the floor speaking to the taxpayers in the gallery who, not surprisingly, agree with Republican energy proposals.

That was four hours ago, and apparently the protest by Republican lawmakers is still in full force. Here are part two and part three of Politico's excellent coverage. Think you'll see this on the mainstream media tonight?

Bravo for the House Republicans.