AP: Bin Laden Says Obama Inflaming Muslim Hatred.

The Al-Qaida figurehead broadcasts a new message on Arab television, claiming US pressure led to a campaign of "killing, fighting, bombing & destruction" in Pakistan's Swat Valley....

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Is What's Good for GM Still Good For The Country?

1973 Chevy truck
Photo by Gilbert Mercier/color infrared
All Right Reserved.


More than 50 years ago, then General Motors president Charles Wilson said: "What is good for GM is good for the country." In the light of GM's chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of today, this quote from Wilson is troubling. It seems that one can say today that: What is bad for GM is bad for the country. Is America on the brink of chapter 11 bankruptcy filing?

Of course there is another way( indicated in president Obama's speech today) to look at it, as any death can be viewed as a rebirth.

Until the mid 70's the Big Three had a comfortable lock on the US market. OPEC's move to jack up oil prices in 1973 changed the parameters all of a sudden. The Japanese car industry was quick to adapt and started building fuel efficient cars. On the other hand, neither GM, Ford or Chrysler had the intelligence to do the same. They just kept building gas guzzlers for 3 decades, and were never able to grab any significant share of the fuel efficient cars market.

In the late 80's GM had a potential winner in the form of the very first electric car available on the market, they failed in seizing this opportunity and stopped the production.

Quite simply the big 3 made cars that consumers did not want to buy any longer.

General Motors was once upon a time a symbol of America's economic success, it has now become a symbol of America's failure. President Obama today said that the US government has "become a reluctant share holder of GM". It is indeed as US tax payers have now 60% shares of the bankrupted company. We should just call it for what it is: General Motors was just nationalized today, and this not necessarily a bad outcome. President Obama claims it is temporary but, in any way you look at it, the collapse of what was once the biggest company in the world, is a blow to the American psyche.

Michael Moore lives in Flint Michigan; both the birth place of General Motors & the epicenter of the economic disaster triggered by GM's collapse. He wrote this touching farewell to GM today. To read it click on the title.

CNN:Obama announced Cyber Czar Position.

President Obama announced on Friday the creation of a "Cyber Czar " position. This person will coordinate efforts to protect government & private computers systems from hackers, criminal gangs, terrorists & spies. Some groups are already raising concerns that it could be yet another way to control activities on the web.

To read the CNN report click on the title.

Torture Photos Show Rape and Sexual Abuse in Iraq Jails.

The torture photographs that Obama does not want released, apparently contain graphic images of rapes & detainees' sexual abuses. The story first appears in the British press and was picked up by Reuters.

Click on the title to read the story.

Judge Sotomayor Nomination: A Very Smart Political Move.

By clicking on the title you will go to today's official press release from the White House.

President Obama made a very smart choice today in his nomination for the Supreme Court.For three reasons.

First, the gender issue:The nomination of a woman was expected by most reporters, the Supreme Court will have two women again. It is still a tilted gender representation, but anything help.

Second, the fact that the Judge is a Latina is a fantastic political move:It will help greatly Obama & the Democrats in extending an even greater support within Hispanics. Latino are, by far, the fastest growing demographic group in America. This additional support from Latinos could literally give the Democrats a permanent majority.

Third, and this probably the strongest argument: Judge Sotomayor remarkable life story offers a great narrative. It is a life story very similar to the one of president Obama himself. She was raised in the South Bronx by her widow Puerto-Rican mother. She succeeded against all odds due to her hard work and great intellectual abilities.

Just like Obama, she is the living proof that ,in America, anything is still possible. In this period of crisis it is a good message to send.

Military Draft:The Way Out Of War Mongering Policies.

Photographs by Gilbert Mercier
All Rights Reserved.

America has been at war for the past 8 years. We have currently 2 wars ( 3 if you count Pakistan) going on, yet most Americans have not been asked for any personal sacrifice to this war effort.

Americans seem to be a lot more interested in mindless distractions such as American Idols or sports as opposed to what truly matter: Why are we fighting so many conflicts with such a heavy toll in human life and at an unbearable cost for a nation in financial crisis?

George W. Bush called himself a "war president " as many times as possible to justify countless quasi dictatorial actions to govern in secrecy, spy on the American people & "legally " torture prisoners detained in US custody. Yet, the very same George W. Bush, and his VP Dick Cheney, when given the opportunity to do their duty & serve their country in Vietnam acted like the cowards they truly are. Bush's father used his political influence to make sure that George junior would not be deployed in Vietnam. Dick Cheney was a 5 times draft dodger.

It seems pretty obvious that the Vietnam war would have dragged on for a lot longer without the draft. It certainly motivated the anti-war movement in America at the time.

Very few countries still have a military draft; among them Russia & Israel. France had a draft up until the 90's. I served in the French military, and my experience made me realized that the military was even worse than what I thought before being drafted. The experience turned me into a peace activist for life. Most armies operate the very same way: At first the hierarchy brakes your will power to make sure you will never put orders into question no matter how absurd and/or criminal they might be.

Obama is yet another "war president " assuming the role of Commander in Chief with absolutely no personal military experience. In football, Obama would be the very definition of an armchair quarterback. Yet, it does not seem to bother anyone in America. Americans are under the false and very dangerous impression that wars should be handled by professionals military men. This is the best way to have endless conflicts for one simple reason: Military men only understand military solutions and certainly not political ones.

It seems paradoxical, but I think that the only way to break with the vicious logic of permanent warfare is to institute a mandatory draft. Unlike the one during the Vietnam-era it should be across board ( for men & women) with no exception. We could have 2 options: A two years tour of duty if serving in the military or three years if serving in civilian capacities.

Last week the Senate voted for an astronomical supplemental bill ( money we currently don't have) to fund the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. The amount was $ 91.3 Billion, only 3 Senators opposed the bill ( Coburn, Feingold, Sanders), 86 Senators approved the bill with enthusiasm. What I can guarantee, if we had a draft and their sons & daughters could be send to war, is that it's likely that the bill would not have passed.

NPR-Supreme Court: Who Will Obama Pick to Replace Souter?

Reports are trickling out that Supreme Court Justice David Souter will soon be retiring from the bench, giving Obama the opportunity to make his first appointment. But who will he choose?

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Obama's Decision:" Worse Than a Crime, It's a Mistake"

This 200 years old French political saying was 1st used in the case of the Duc D'Enghien. The Duc was plotting to assassinate Napoleon, he was caught and executed on Napoleon's orders. The execution had the effect to energize Napoleon's opposition within the French aristocracy.


The case of President Obama refusing to prosecute the CIA agents for torture is drastically different in appearance but has, as a matter of fact, quite a lot of political similarities.

There is a lack of logic to it from a legal stand point, and further it is a political disaster in the making.

First, if you are not going to prosecute the CIA agents arguing that they were just following orders issued by the upper echelon of the Bush administration; then you have to go after the legal architects of the memos, and even further up the Bush administration's "food chain" to whomever gave the instructions to draft the documents in question. This lack of legal logic is troubling from someone as smart as Obama; especially considering that he has a background in constitutional law.


Second, it is a huge political mistake. The intelligence hard liners are up in arms that the memos were released by the Obama administration. On the left, the liberals & libertarians are even more critical over Obama's decision not to prosecute either the CIA operatives or the Bush administration itself. When the torture memos were released last week Obama said:"We have been through a dark and painful chapter of our history". This is completely accurate, but what doesn't make any sense is to basically sweep everything under the rug of history just for the sake of moving on. Today, Rahm Emmanuel was spinning Obama's decision on Sunday's political talk shows circuit by explaining again that we need to turn the page. We need to do the complete opposite to prevent anything like that to ever happen again under any circumstances.


Third, it is a big International " faux pas". The obama administration was making a lot of progress in their handling of foreign relations. Not prosecuting the CIA agents was strongly criticized by a top UN official. He has charged that " Obama violated international law with his decision not to prosecute CIA agents who tortured detainees". It is sending the wrong message all across the world, as if America is above international laws.

Clinton Scores Points by Admitting Past U.S. Errors.

For a senior American official (someone who almost became president )to declare that the United States had erred, makes a major impact on foreign audiences.....

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Candidate for Change Becomes President of More of The Same.

I belong to what George W. Bush calls the " Radical-angry Left". I supported Obama last year with dedication and spirit, hoping for the best. After almost 100 days of the new administration, it is time for me to recap. Quite frankly, I am not impressed. As far as I am concerned the honeymoon is over.This is why...

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Paris, Berlin Bristle as Obama Backs Turkey for EU

By Kerstin Gemhlich and Mark John PRAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged the European Union on Sunday to accept Turkey as a full member of the 27-nation bloc, in remarks rejected outright by France and met coolly by Germany....

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Hedge Fund Paid Obama Adviser Summers $5.2 million

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawrence Summers, a top economic adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama, was paid about $5.2 million by hedge fund D.E. Shaw in the past year, financial disclosure forms released by the White House showed on...

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Obama Calls Major Economies Climate Change Meeting

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is launching a ''Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate'' to help facilitate a U.N. agreement on global warming, the White House said on Saturday. Leaders from 16 major economies have...

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NPR Poll: More Voters Think U.S. Is On Right Track

A new NPR poll shows that President Obama's job approval rating is high, and despite the economic crisis, far fewer voters think the U.S. is on the wrong track, compared with pre-election numbers. While the Democratic position on issues is favored across the board among likely voters polled, there's some reason for Republicans to hope.

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Obama Is Blaming Bush for Economy Meltdown.

In his inaugural address, President Obama proclaimed "An end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." However,he is no longer doing that, and he is now reminding Americans that he "inherited" our current crisis from Bush.That is perfectly accurate.....

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The Crazies are Wondering if Obama is the Antichrist.

The winning lottery number in Illinois was 666, which is the sign of the Beast.That was on November 15 2008.During the elections we found out that Sarah Palin is a believer in the Bible's "end of days " fairy tale.She also said that it would happen in her life time.I'd love to find out the % of Americans that think Obama is the Antichrist.

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Can the Dems get a foothold on the religious vote?

Both candidates sought a religious advantage with their respective VP choices. McCain with the Evangelists by picking Palin and Obama with the Catholics by picking Biden.This article from The New-Yorker explores how it might pay off.

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Martin Luther King :" I have a dream" speech.

The full version of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech. Today is the 45Th anniversary of MLK most famous speech, tonight Obama will give his acceptance speech. May be Dr. King dream is about to become a reality. America has come a long way since 1963.MLK made history then, Obama is making history now.

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Senator Biden on Foreign Policy.

This is a detail and factual list of Senator Biden's positions on foreign policy. Most political analysts view foreign affairs as Biden's strong suit. If you are more into substance than catchy one liners and spin, you should read this. This link also includes Biden voting record on the issues and numerous interviews from archive press links.

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Obama/Biden versus McCain/?

I am writing this while listening to the inspired speeches of Obama & Biden. It is a great ticket for the Democrats and it shows that Obama has already made a great and critical decision by picking Biden.

A decision not based on political calculation but on finding the right partner to get us out of our present mess.

Obama is showing that he can lead and make decisions.

However, the pick of McCain is a question mark. It shows one thing very clearly. Obama can act, on the other hand McCain just reacts.

Why? Does he need the approval of Bush and the neo-cons to make the most important decision in his bid for the White House or is he just thinking with the logic of politics instead of the common good for American people?

McCain is not a leader...that is why the question mark is still next to his name.