Congratulations to Manchester United and their fans. Manchester United defeated Chelsea on penalty kicks after the game and two overtime sessions failed to break a 1-1 tie. For Manchester United, this is their third European title. For my team, Barcelona, it has been a horrible horrible year.
The New York Times has an article today on Obama’s problems with yet another core Democratic constituency, Jewish voters.
Where once the Democratic Party could count on a 90% Jewish turnout for its candidates in era of FDR through the 1970s, during the last decade these numbers have trended down to generally 60-75% , depending upon the state and specific candidates. Historically, Jews have voted overwhelmingly Democratic in congressional races. Over the last several decades, Jewish support for Democratic congressional candidates peaked at 82% in 1982, according to the New York Times. By contrast, the high point for Republicans was 32% of the Jewish vote garnered in House races in 1988. During the 1990s, Democrats secured at least 73% of the Jewish vote in House of Representatives races. Bush’s strong support for Israel has since pushed the GOP’s share of the Jewish vote to 30% in the 2004 Presidential election. If Obama is the nominee, that number is likely to creep even higher.
Bird brains, aren’t they? The bird’s name is Smokey. You can’t make this stuff up. Too much.
I just love this!
Kentucky, not Oregon. Plus for Hillary. Obama on Iran, more confusion and more criticism of his comments on Iran is “a grave threat” and Iran “doesn’t pose a serious threat.” Plus for Hillary and John McCain. Those who have made up their minds on Iraq are voting for Obama, no question about that but on Iran it’s a different story. If the GOP succeeds in making the debate on Iran and not Iraq, that’s likely to sway independent voters. And the conversation as to why Obama has a disconnect with white voters obscures if not severely implodes Obama’s argument that he is the presumptive nominee. Folks, this race ain’t over. Get fired up!
Willie Colón is a Puerto Rican salsa music icon, el Rey de la Salsa. First and foremost a trombonist, Colón also sings, writes, produces and acts and he is a big Hillary supporter. The above tune is called “Idilio.”
“Hillary has been on the side of our families for over 35 years - she has been with us from the very beginning. I want a President who I can count on, someone who in tough times will be there for me - that’s why I’m supporting Hillary Clinton.” —Willie Colón
To think that Puerto Rico may decide this Democratic nomination is truly wonderful. It’s good for Puerto Rico.
The well-tanned, single and metrosexualesque Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, continues to impress me. Today he signed into law a bill mandating health insurance for autistic children that actually helps families pay for it. Wow! The legislation calls for the state to negotiate with insurance companies for increased coverage for therapy and behavioral analysis - and mandates autism benefits of up to $36,000 a year ($200,000 over a lifetime) from any insurance carrier that does not comply with the compact. Here is more on this new Florida law from the Orlando Sun-Sentinel.
And my friends in Florida across the political spectrum, all rave about him and these are mostly gays and lesbians or Hispanics, not groups traditionally friendly to members of the GOP. So I went looking for interviews of Charlie Crist and found this one from the enviromental magazine Grist Environmental News.
Here’s the introduction to whet your appetitite:
Meet Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a surprising blend of Grand Ol’ Party and bleeding-heart greenie. As a Republican, he defends the Bush administration’s environmental record, but he also counts among his personal heroes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote an entire book condemning Bush as “America’s worst environmental president.”
Crist wasn’t backed by green groups during his 2006 race for the governor’s mansion, but now, after his first year in office, enviros in Florida and beyond are singing his praises. Crist has earned their particular admiration for diving into the fight against climate change and spurning plans for a new coal-fired power plant in the state.
Crist hosted a high-profile climate summit in July, where the motley guests included California “Governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, and environmental officials from Germany and the U.K. At that gathering, Crist set aggressive targets for cutting Florida’s greenhouse-gas emissions 10 percent by 2012 and eventually 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. He also announced plans to adopt California’s strict vehicle-emissions regulations, called on Florida utilities to produce 20 percent of their power from renewables by 2020, and declared that appliances, state government buildings, and state-owned vehicles would have to be more energy-efficient going forward.
Wow! A member of the GOP who actuallys believes in science!
If this is the new breed of the GOP, breed some more please. If he is McCain’s Vice Presidential nominee, that may be enough to get me to vote GOP for the first time ever.
The Farm Bill is the most misnamed bill there is. If it were named the Food Bill then perhaps more people might pay attention to it. As it is now, it is largely ignored by the American public. And yet it affects every single American and there arereprecussions well beyond our borders. The Farm Bill encompasses far more than just farm subsidies. Its influence goes far beyond agricultural policy. The bill affects public health, by shaping what Americans eat; what the world eats; the environment, by determining what land gets conserved and how much alternative energies are promoted given the craze for ethanol; and global poverty, by playing a large part in setting U.S. crop prices. The US Farm Bill has far more impact than the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) even though the EU provides more subsidies. That’s due to the fact the what the US grows has more of a global reach. The US produces a greater variety of crops than Europe and thus the impact of the US Farm Bill is more severe on farmers elsewhere.
The $289 billion, five-year Farm Bill, originally slated for completion in 2007, finally passed both houses of Congress by veto-proof majorities last week, despite criticism from environmentalists, some advocates for the poor, and economic conservatives. It deserves a Presidential veto even though it is likely to be over-ridden. It is a pork-ladden, subsidy-filled, environmentally egregious monstrosity of a bill. And it is another reason that I have had it with Nancy Pelosi. She’s no better than Newt Gingrich or Jim Wright as Speaker of the House.
Gay news from around the world that’s heterosexual-friendly.
HIV+ Texas Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Spitting
An HIV positive Texas man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for allegedly spitting in the face of a police officer during an arrest for public intoxication. Willie Campbell, a 42 year old resident of Dallas was convicted of ‘assault with a deadly weapon’ for spitting on an arresting officer after being placed in the squad car. HIV is not spread through saliva- a fact which has been known since the early days of the epidemic. The Texas court system is using Mr. Campbell’s HIV status as a weapon against him- and by extension all people living with HIV.
San Francisco Values an Issue In Missouri Congressional Race
This idiotic ad from GOP congressman Sam Graves, whose seat is being challenged by former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes, is a lowbrow homophobic attempt to smear Barnes by calling her out on her “San Francisco Values”. Does he honestly think we go around dressed like the Village People sipping white wine doing the hustle on cable cars? Geez louise, buy that man a clue.
Portland, Oregon Elects a Gay Mayor
Sam Adams, an openly gay man whose family lived on “food stamps and public housing” as he grew up, has been elected Portland, Oregon’s mayor. As such, he’ll be the first openly gay mayor of a top-40 U.S. city.
Maltese Court: Describing a Person as Homosexual is not Defamatory
The Court of Magistrates in a judgment declared that describing a person as homosexual was not defamatory in today’s society. Magistrate Michael Mallia ruled that a person’s sexual orientation in the current society was not of social interest bar that of assuring that no discrimination is made. The fact that homosexuality was a criminal offence until 1973, said the magistrate, does not reflect the situation in the 21st century. The magistrate’s ruling came after three local papers described a homicide victim as a homosexual and his brother sued them for defaming the memory of his brother. The court sympathised with the man, however, it deemed that the report was correctly based on the fact that the police held the victim’s sexual orientation as central to its investigation. The murder is still unsolved.
Oil prices rose above $130 a barrel Wednesday for the first time, as supply concerns mounted and the US dollar weakened. Light, sweet crude for July delivery hit a record $130.47 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange after closing at $128.98 in the floor session. By afternoon in Europe, it had retreated to $129.77 a barrel, still up $0.79 in the session.
The June contract, which expired Tuesday, settled overnight at $129.07 a barrel. In London, July Brent crude (North Sea) was up $1.17 to $129.01 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. Earlier in the session, Brent rose as high as $129.92.
If you have been reading this blog, you’ll notice that I write a fair bit about oil. It is still a subject that I am learning much about. Most of my spare time reading wise is spent on energy issues because it is the one issue that this planet needs to solve thirty years ago as I like to say.
During my tenure at Goldman Sachs, I had the good fortune of working with some incredibly talented people. One of them was Arjun Murti, the Goldman Sachs Oil & Gas Sector Analyst. I read his reports religiously because they are so annoyingly accurate. Today Arjun, tagged as the “oracle of oi” and who has predicted oil at $200 barrel by YE08, was written up in the New York Times Business Section.