On Monday night, I fell drastically ill with food poisoning that led to a severe bout of vomiting, bloating, a fever, and a general gastrointestinal discomfort. Hence this week, my blogging has been non-existent. I’m on the up and up but still not quite up to snuff. At least now I can walk upright again like any normal hominid. Other than feel quite ill, sleep, drink plently of fluids, consume gelatin, I’ve not done much this week and it will take a bit to recover my normal pace again. Tomorrow will be the big test when I attempt soild food again, most likely a bowl Vietnamese phở tái lăn.

The rare steak actually cooks in the broth so it’s fully done by the time I consume it. There’s a chicken version if I feel my stomach is not quite ready to handle beef. On the plus side, I have probably lost 2-3 kilos or 5-7 pounds.

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Ohio Governor and Hillary Clinton supporter Ted Strickland told National Public Radio that he would turn down Obama if asked to be Vice President on the ticket:

Asked on NPR’s “All Things Considered” if he is auditioning to be Obama’s running mate, Strickland said, “Absolutely not. If drafted I will not run, if nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve. So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.”

I’d say Ted you’re pretty crystal clear. Good for you. (more…)

On June 3, 2008, Jodie Evans, the founder of Code Pink and an Obama Bundler went on the Conscience of Kansas Radio Show with Paul Ibbetson. During the interview, Jody Evans noted that Osama bin-Laden had a valid reason for attacking the United States on 9/11.

From the interview:

Jodie Evans:…”We were attacked because we were in Saudi Arabia, that was the message of Osama, was that because we had our bases in the Middle East, he attacked the United States.”

Paul A. Ibbetson: “Do you think that’s a valid argument?”

Evans: “Sure. Why do we have bases in the Middle East? We totally violated the rights of that country. Why do we get to have bases in the Middle East?”

Here’s the audio from the Paul A. Ibbetson June 3, 2008 radio programme: Conscience of Kansas Radio Program, June 3, 2008. The interview is the second half of the programme.

Here are more highlights from the interview:

Jodie Evans also note that Code Pink’s goal is to “undermine the war effort.” Ibbetson called that “treason.” It’s civil disobedience in my view so I don’t have a problem with it per se, though I think some of Code Pink’s members resort to vandalism and that’s a different story.

As part of that effort, Evans said Code Pink was trying stop recruiting for the Armed Forces because “you can’t go to war if you don’t have any soldiers.” Evans denies being anti-military, saying she come from a military family. Again some of their protesters have crossed the line but generally they are just citizens expressing their view points. Here are photos from March 22, 2008 demonstration in Berkeley, California from Zombietime. Zombietime also profiled Obama’s visit to Billionaire’s Row where he made his “bittergate” comments.

With regard to Saddam Hussein, Evans said she would prefer that Saddam Hussein still ruled Iraq, as does “every Iraqi I know.” She probably hasn’t talked to many Kurds, still no doubt the US invasion and occupation of Iraq has been a disaster but we can’t just get up and go now. The Colin Powell Pottery Barn dictum applies –”we broke it, we own it”– that’s the difference I have with the radical left on Iraq. I opposed the war because I am a Westphalian not a Hobbesian but I am also a realist and in international political theory, realism dictates that you don’t leave countries in a vacuum. We last did that in Somalia and it is still a mess. We broke it, we have to find a way to fix it. Hillary Clinton knows how, pity that we will have to wait until 2012 to start that process now.

She also called Hugo Chávez, “a very nice, jovial sweetheart of a guy…I love Hugo Chávez. . . an amazing person.” She cites that under Chávez Venezuela has cut its illliteracy rates from 30% to under 2%. She has her facts wrong. The literacy rate in Venezuela in 1990 was 96%. It’s true that it is now 98% but the illiteracy rate in Venezuela was last 30% in the 1960s. That’s the problem with the radical left and shared with the radical right, they make up facts. And the fact that Chávez has supported the FARC doesn’t seem to bother her. It bothers me.

She also denied backing Barack Obama. She noted that she gave money to several candidates including Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich, and John Edwards not just Barack Obama. That’s true, she did give $2,300 to each of the aforementioned. But she only bundled money for Barack Obama. That she chose to omit.

Here is her page on the Barack Obama website:

Senator Obama is about to have another problem. These radical associations that Obama has so front and center in his campaign will haunt him through the campaign.

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This week the By The Fault Weekend Reader looks at the global airline industry and how it is faring.

You Think You Have It Bad
My daily transportation costs for me are pretty much fixed, $45.00 a month or $1.50 per day. I also belong to a automobile co-operative through my business which technically I don’t pay for since that expense is fully tax-deductible. I can rent a vehicle at a moment’s notice for an hour at a time. So my transportation costs are a pittance compared to what it must be costing most people to fill up their tanks. My luck is really borne of a decision I made back in 1998 when I decided to live in San Francisco in part because I did not want to ever own a car. I do drive and enjoy it but I never want to own a car. It’s not a prudent investment vehicle. Now consider what it costs an airliner to fill their tank for a trans-Atlantic flight, $68,948 for Air Canada to fly Toronto-Pearson to London-Heathrow. Here is a story on Air Canada’s fuel woes.

Why Is Singapore Airlines The Only Way to Fly
I am a member of the Star Alliance network. In San Francisco, United has half the gates and thus a bit more than half of daily flights in and out of San Francisco International Airport. I travel to South East Asia fairly frequently and it is always a joy to take Singapore Airlines. It’s a 17-hour flight-time haul from San Francisco to Singapore so comfort is paramount and Singapore Airlines never disappoints. Here is a report on How Does Singapore Airlines Fly So High?

Inside a Singapore Airlines A-380

Airlines in a Post-Carbon World
It doesn’t look good but can they survive? Certainly airline stocks are not something I would be buying for a retirement investment portfolio. The pessimistic view: Saying Good-Bye to Air Travel. The optimistic view: The Future of Travel.

Global Climatic Change and Tourism
In the near-term, there should be a boom as people rush to see things before they disappear, like Florida for instance. Just kidding, but the Maldives for instance, a low-lying archipelago of coral islands off the coast of India. It’s on my to do list as I enjoy scuba. Here’s a short piece on climatic change and tourism: Climate Change Will Alter Tourism Trade.

Aviation News Podcast for Week June 6, 2008

The Best Airline Commercial from Virgin Atlantic Airlines

This is a must-see!

Enjoy the weekend!

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There is in Brazil a very real economic expansion and it has been sustained. The question is it deep enough to lift the 50 million Brazilians who live beneath the poverty line out of endemic poverty. While Brazil is throwing itself a shopping spree, half of all Brazilians still live on $2.00 or less a day.

A lot of this economic expansion comes from favorable conditions beyond the country’s borders. High global liquidity, China’s surging demand for Brazilian exports, and rising commodity prices have boosted the country’s fortunes. But what is going on inside Brazil’s borders?

President Lula da Silva gets much of the credit for strong growth and the 60% (the second highest in Latin America after Colombia’s Uribe) approval ratings that go with it, helping him maintain a strong support base in Brazil’s congress despite a seemingly endless series of scandals involving some of his closest associates. The credit really should extend back to the 8 year Administration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who made significant structural adjustments in the Brazilian economy that are now paying dividends. For starters, Cardoso increased investment in infrastructure and in research & development (sugar ethanol for instance) as well as liberalized the foreign investment regime. Lula, to his credit, did not tamper with Cardoso’s broad macro-economic fixes. And Lula has tried to help the poor but it is just not enough.

Brazil’s $1.07 trillion economy, Latin America’s biggest, grew 5.4% in 2007, the fastest pace in three years and will likely expand another 4.0% this year. Controlled inflation led the central bank to cut the benchmark interest rate as low as 11.25% in September, encouraging people and companies to borrow record amounts and boosting Brazilian bank profits. Lending has increased every month since February 2004 to 992.7 billion reais ($599 billion) in March, 2008.

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On the defensive for his willingness to meet global sponsors of terrorism, the Obama campaign sent out Obama and his surrogates to do damage control. Tom Daschle, Susan Rice and Bill Richardson made the rounds on the networks. Daschle worked the morning shift, Rice the day shift and Richardson the evening shift. Obama just dug some more. Let’s just hope none of these people ever get that 3:00 AM phone call.

ABC News reports on Obama’s backtracking:

The Obama campaign is now offering a more nuanced approach that would not necessarily include a presidential meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — and that stresses diplomatic work that would take place before any such meetings take place.

Asked about Obama’s original statement Tuesday morning on CNN, former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., a top Obama adviser and supporter, said top-level meetings would not be immediate — and would not happen without preliminary extensive diplomatic work.

“I would not say that we would meet unconditionally,” said Daschle. “Of course, there are conditions that we [would] involve in preparation in getting ready for the diplomacy. … ‘Without precondition’ simply means we wouldn’t put obstacles in the way of discussing the differences between us. That’s really what they’re saying, what Barack is saying.”

Susan Rice, a top Obama foreign policy adviser, said Monday that Obama’s meetings with Iranian leaders might not include Ahmadinejad.

“He said he’d meet with the appropriate Iranian leaders. He hasn’t named who that leader will be,” Rice said on CNN. “It would be the appropriate Iranian leadership at the appropriate time — not necessarily Ahmadinejad.”

Really? The appropriate leaders? You mean like the Ayotollahs perhaps? Perhaps Iran’s spiritual leader instead, the Ayotollah Khamenei? Who is Rice kidding? The Ayotollah Khamenei may rule Iran but it is the President of Iran who runs the day-to-day government. Unless Obama becomes an Inam, the Ayotollah Khomeini is unlikely to meet him. And do Obama’s advisors think that in any meeting that does place between the President of the United States and the Government of Iran is somehow going to by pass Ahmadinejad? They are more out of touch than I thought. Perhaps no one will catch this, but this is another gaffe by Obama’s surrogates.

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This is the second in a series of reports shedding light on who is financing the Obama campaign. Today we focus on Obama’s oil & natural gas connections which run deeper than any other candidate. Despite Obama’s claims that he doesn’t take money from oil companies, which are frankly among the most duplicitous claims made by any candidate to date since the 1907 Tillman Act prohibits direct contributions to political candidates from corporations. Senator Obama has done quite well with oil & gas executives nonetheless.

Gracie & Robert Cavnar
Both of this Houston-based husband & wife team are bundlers for Obama. Gracie Cavnar does not actually run any oil companies yet she is listed in financial disclosures by the Obama campaign as being the CEO of Milagro Exploration LLC, a privately held exploration and production company. Her husband is actually the CEO. Mrs. Cavnar instead works to combat childhood obesity through a program she founded called Recipe for Success. Both Recipe for Success and Milagro Exploration list the Houston address (1401 McKinney, Suite 925, Houston, TX 77010) as their place of business. Obesity and natural gas, it’s a match.

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Since you were Labor Secretary during the greatest creation of jobs in the history of the United States, you might remind the very junior Senator from Illinois during your endorsement that statements such as this are offensive and not just patently wrong:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And then afterwards you might stand in front of mirror and say to yourself, I am not a hypocrite and don’t stop saying that until you understand that you are. And don’t worry winning in November is not important.

Robert Reich to Endorse Obama

This was originally written as a comment on TalkLeft, the erudite blog by Jeralyn Merritt on the politics of crime and today perhaps the most balanced perspective on the Democratic race on the Internet. I wrote it on April 13th in the wake of the very junior Senator from Illinois’ comments in my hometown of San Francisco. I still think it apt and so I am re-publishing them here with some new colour befitting events since the story broke.

The comments by Obama on Pennsylvania and on life in small town America generally. offend across the political spectrum. But in Obama land, the truth hurts and we should all listen to our would be messiah for his aim is nothing less than to instruct us all on how to live proper lives. While the Obama campaign is defending the comments predicated on the assumption that people are bitter (angry is more like it), they miss the reality that the affront is not the word “bitter” but rather the word “cling” and the items to which these bitter Americans are so jealously clinging to in this land without hope.

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