Month: April 2008

Can you feel the love?

Craigslist fires back, blasts eBay actions as unethical (via Business Week)

Craigslist is firing back at its rival and minority owner eBay, scolding the online auctioneer’s actions as unethical and smelling of a hostile takeover.

In a move that pits two of the Internet’s most popular sites against each other, EBay Inc. sued the online classifieds company Tuesday, alleging it unfairly tried to dilute eBay’s stake in it.

EBay purchased a 28 percent stake in privately held Craigslist in 2004.

But in January, eBay says, Craigslist’s board, consisting of founder Craig Newmark and Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster, unilaterally acted to dilute eBay’s economic interest in Craigslist by more than 10 percent.

In an entry titled "Tainted Love" that Craigslist posted on its blog Tuesday night, the company said the allegations are unfounded and the lawsuit came from out of the blue.

Yikes…. So much for the takeover.

The New York Times wants it both ways

I am not quite sure what to make of this. It just strikes me is quite odd that the New York Times, who once endorsed Hillary Clinton, would turn right around and scold her.

After all, on January 25, 2008, the New York Times said this:

This generally is the stage of a campaign when Democrats have to work hard to get excited about whichever candidate seems most likely to outlast an uninspiring pack. That is not remotely the case this year.

The early primaries produced two powerful main contenders: Hillary Clinton, the brilliant if at times harsh-sounding senator from New York; and Barack Obama, the incandescent if still undefined senator from Illinois. The remaining long shot, John Edwards, has enlivened the race with his own brand of raw populism.

As Democrats look ahead to the primaries in the biggest states on Feb. 5, The Times’s editorial board strongly recommends that they select Hillary Clinton as their nominee for the 2008 presidential election.

But now this same board of editors, because Hillary Clinton did not play by their expected narrative, they publish this:

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.

Is there any clearer proof of bias at The New York Times? At the very least, it shows that the New York Times wants Hillary to follow a pre-written narrative. How childish can a newspaper be! The very idea, that a major newspaper would publish an endorsement and then, because that said candidate does not jump through said hoops that the Newspaper wishes her to, that paper puts out a Editorial blasting her.

I can clearly see now why the Conservatives as a whole are rejecting the New York Times as some Liberal rag, which does not have the Journalistic integrity that it once did. The shoddy work on the John McCain story was living proof of that this just confirms it totally.

Others on this:Washington Wire, protein wisdom, Swampland, Balloon Juice, Hot Air, MSNBC, Real Clear Politics, Buck Naked Politics, Guardian Unlimited, The American Conservative, CANNONFIRE, Salon, Comedy Central, The Huffington Post, Top of the Ticket, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Strata-Sphere, American Street, Connecting.the.Dots, TalkLeft, TPMCafe, Marc Ambinder, Hotline On Call, Daily Kos, Commentary, Philly.com and The Mahablog

 

Initial Results from PA: Hillary Clinton Winning – Update: Final results now in

MSNBC is reporting Hillary Clinton is winning.

Score so far, Clinton 52% Obama 47% with 7% reporting

Live Coverage VIA MSNBC:

(feed now down…removed player)

I will try to stay up till the full results are in.

Update: Final Results: Hillary Clinton 55% Barack Obama 45%

New York Sun reports: Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World

Could this be a sign of things to come?

The Article: Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World Via The New York Sun

Quote:

Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing.

Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

(Snip!)

The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.

Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of a new contract for foreign rice sales.

“I’m surprised the Bush administration hasn’t slapped export controls on wheat,” Mr. Rawles said. “The Asian countries are here buying every kind of wheat.”

(Snip!)

Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging against future price hikes or a total lack of product.

“There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don’t realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short,” Mr. Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. “Even if people increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out.”

The Bush Administration, long putting other country over ours is now faced with this sort of a dilemma. What will be our Presidents response, if hurricane Katrina is any indication, we could be in for one of the worst food shortages ever.

I would advise everyone to stock on needed items, as it could get ugly before too long.

Others Bloggers covering this: Raw Story and Bob McCarty Writes

Cross-Posted @ The American Nationalist News Service

Editorial: I just lost all respect for Hillary Clinton

Undoubtedly, you already know what it is that I am referring. The statement by Hillary Clinton that she would obliterate Iran, that country attempted an attack on Israel with nuclear weapons.

Here is the snippet of the interview, that is coming up on Good Morning America.:

She did, however attempt to back off the statement on MSNBC:

 

My friends, this is nothing more than a page out the George W. Bush playbook.  Was it not Hillary Clinton, when confronted by some facts about her policies, fly into a screeching premenstrual rage, about Barack Obama’s tactics being right out of the playbook of Karl Rove?  Now, with the table’s turned and Hillary being under the gun, Hillary herself does the same exact thing, only notches up the rhetoric more.  Yet, she gets a free pass, because she is trailing, because she is the underdog.  Not from this writer she does not.

This Nation, for the last 6 years, has been in quagmire called Iraq.  We were lead into this war, based upon intelligence that, in fact, was found to be false.  Yet, this administration has continued to move the goal posts as to the reason we had to remain in Iraq.  Yet our President in his stubbornness and blind allegiance to a totally flawed and poisonous political ideology has almost strained our Military to the point of almost breaking the back of those of whom we entrust our safety, our lives, our well being.

Now we have some so-called underdog Presidential candidate who is attempting to compare herself to Franklin D. Roosevelt, or John F. Kennedy, both paramount leaders in the annals of the history of America, all so she can attempt to appeal to those who think striking Iran might just be a good idea.

The tough reality is, that involving this country in another military escalation of this sort would do nothing more than further strain and possibly destroy what military we have left.  This is outside of the scope of instituting a military draft.  Not to mention, any sort of Military action, outside of the approval of the United Nations would result in further destabilization of that very region.  Not to mention the United States relations with our allies in the region.

I am not sure exactly what Hillary Clinton is attempting to do, but it could spell the very end of her bid for the office of President of United States.

More Coverage At Memeorandum

 

A message from your host….

Just a short note, so my readers will know what the hell is going on around here. Initially, I signed up for a crapload of ads for the Blog here. I ended up pulling them, because the banners were just too stinking huge.

Anyhow, I am going through my list of advertisers that I have available, and I’m selecting stuff, that I think would be of interest to political Blog readers. I am also looking for small, non-intrusive ads. 

I do this full time, so, clicking a link and possibly buying a product helps me out a great deal, also, I have the donation tab, if you enjoy this place and would like to help out a full time, unsigned A.K.A. unemployed writer out, feel free, I’m verified on PayPal, meaning I can accept any donation amount and trust me, any amount helps.

Believe me, when it say this, I hate begging, I don’t do it as a rule, it’s lame. I’m not some sort of a socialist idiot wanting to live on the hard earned dollars of those who are doing well for themselves. That’s liberal stupidity, I don’t believe that anyone who’s better of than me, should have to give up their money for people like me.

I look at this Blog as a business venture. I’ve ran a small business, in my day. The beautiful thing about a small business is a lack of a big overhead. I’m not Salon.com or Slate.com, it’s just me.

I would also like to bring on some other writers, that way it’s not all about me. I do not want right wingers, who are going to repeat the lines of the Republican Party. I want real world writers, people who can critically look at both parties and write articles that are not too liberal or too conservative sounding. I want right of center of guys, who aren’t sold out Republicans or Democrats, Centrists is what I prefer.

I would also like to move this Blog to WordPress or something comparable, I prefer WordPress, it’s just easier to use. I just cannot afford right to pay for hosting out my pocket. Domain’s are not cheap either, I’ve noticed they went up as well. they’re going back up to $10.00 a year now.  Again, it’s up to my readers, if they think this blog is awesome enough to justify to donating, so be it, I won’t refuse any donations.

Either way, I will continue to provide you all with the kind of real world Political Opinion, without the spin and hype, that is found on most of the other blogs in the Blogosphere. I will continue to speak my mind and say what I am feeling, without fear from others being offended or trying to paint me as something that I am not. I did this, when I had next to no readers, and I will continue to do so. I will not venture into Blog wars, I did this once and I ended up saying things that never should have been said, it caused hatred and anger and that’s just not what I am about. I try to mind my own business and if people have a problem with what I write or think, it’s on them, and I’m just not going to worry myself about it.

Anyhow, I thank all the new people stopping in here, where ever you came from, I hope that you will either bookmark the site or sign up for an RSS feed and continue to come around, comments are also welcome, I do moderate them, to keep the trolls out. But I usually always approve all the comment, unless they’re insulting, profane, or spam. Otherwise, I’ll allow them.

Again, I thank everyone for coming and I assure you, the best days are just ahead. We’re heading into the General election and I will be here Blogging all the news, all the angles, and without spin or Bias.

Let’s go, shall we? Big Grin

Your Editor,

-Pat

North Carolina Debate canceled

The North Carolina Democrat Party has canceled their debate.

Hillary agreed to appear, Obama did not, and of course, Hillary calls Obama a coward.

In other news, The Financial Times makes a case for Obama, and basically endorses the guy.

Others on the story: Open Left, Show Tracker, Political Radar, The Trail, The Page, Boston Globe, Newshoggers.com, The Daily Dish, Tales from the Trail, Marc Ambinder, Hot Air, Althouse, and Redstate