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BlueMTexpat
BlueMTexpat's Journal
BlueMTexpat's Journal
April 25, 2016
There are two excellent Dem candidates in this MD Senate race, and it's neck-and-neck. FI: BOTH have endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
Forget Hillary Clinton vs. Bernie Sanders: This Is the Bloodiest Primary of 2016
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/25/forget-hillary-clinton-vs-bernie-sanders-this-is-the-bloodiest-primary-of-2016.htmlUnlike the routine tug of war Democrats get into every four years over whether to be more like Denmark or more like the status quo, the Senate battle between Reps. Donna Edwards and Chris Van Hollen is a slug fest dripping with accusations of sexism and racism.
See, Van Hollens a white boy. That was evident when I followed him as he went on an awkward tour of Baltimores black barbershops on Saturday. Wearing a wrinkled sport coat from the car trip hed obviously taken that morning from the predominantly white suburbs of Washington, the seven-term congressman stood out like, well, a clunky white politician pandering for votes in gritty Northeast Baltimore.
...
The Senate candidatewho is moderate, or at least an establishment deal maker, and by most accounts has had to tack left in the primary, like Clinton, on issues like trade policywas most at ease when discussing Maryland sports.
...
That other member of the House trying to attain new and highly coveted Senate digs is Donna Edwardsa five-term congresswoman who is a black. Her unspoken pitch to voters is that shes, well, black.
...
The congresswoman, who represents the most affluent African-American population in the nation from the suburbs of D.C., seems perplexed the Democratic Party establishment seems to be stacking the deck for Van Hollen in the race to replace Senator Mikulski. The five-term senator was a feisty pioneer and the first female elected to the upper chamber of Congress without an appointment or riding the coattails of a deceased husband or father.
I thought that for us, as Democrats, we say were a party of diversity and inclusion, we believe that its important for all voices to be at the table, a visibly annoyed Edwards said. Im making a very compelling argument that, all things being equal, we know that they are not equal and its time to have the voice of an African-American woman who is highly qualified to be in the United States Senate.
See, Van Hollens a white boy. That was evident when I followed him as he went on an awkward tour of Baltimores black barbershops on Saturday. Wearing a wrinkled sport coat from the car trip hed obviously taken that morning from the predominantly white suburbs of Washington, the seven-term congressman stood out like, well, a clunky white politician pandering for votes in gritty Northeast Baltimore.
...
The Senate candidatewho is moderate, or at least an establishment deal maker, and by most accounts has had to tack left in the primary, like Clinton, on issues like trade policywas most at ease when discussing Maryland sports.
...
That other member of the House trying to attain new and highly coveted Senate digs is Donna Edwardsa five-term congresswoman who is a black. Her unspoken pitch to voters is that shes, well, black.
...
The congresswoman, who represents the most affluent African-American population in the nation from the suburbs of D.C., seems perplexed the Democratic Party establishment seems to be stacking the deck for Van Hollen in the race to replace Senator Mikulski. The five-term senator was a feisty pioneer and the first female elected to the upper chamber of Congress without an appointment or riding the coattails of a deceased husband or father.
I thought that for us, as Democrats, we say were a party of diversity and inclusion, we believe that its important for all voices to be at the table, a visibly annoyed Edwards said. Im making a very compelling argument that, all things being equal, we know that they are not equal and its time to have the voice of an African-American woman who is highly qualified to be in the United States Senate.
There are two excellent Dem candidates in this MD Senate race, and it's neck-and-neck. FI: BOTH have endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.
April 25, 2016
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/photographer-captures-the-breathtaking-beauty-of-mexicos-indigenous-communities_us_5704038ce4b0a06d5807300d
Photographer Captures The Breathtaking Beauty Of Mexico’s Indigenous Communities
Diego Huertas goal is to document all of the indigenous groups in the country.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/photographer-captures-the-breathtaking-beauty-of-mexicos-indigenous-communities_us_5704038ce4b0a06d5807300d
Oaxaca was something that had to happen, it was something that I didnt look for. It simply occurred.
Thats how photographer Diego Huerta describes his work in the southern Mexican state, where he has diligently traveled to for the past four years to document its indigenous communities with breathtaking portraits.
The 30-year-old Mexican photographer began working on this project, titled Inside Oaxaca, after traveling to Oaxaca and inadvertently witnessing the Guelaguetza, its biggest annual celebration and parade that features traditional dances and customs from the States eight regions.
I was struck by all the colors and by the faces of the various delegations, and I wanted to know where they came from, Huerta told The Huffington Post via e-mail. It was at that moment that I knew I had to go to their place of origin to know more about their traditions and customs and document them via my portraits.
Thats how photographer Diego Huerta describes his work in the southern Mexican state, where he has diligently traveled to for the past four years to document its indigenous communities with breathtaking portraits.
The 30-year-old Mexican photographer began working on this project, titled Inside Oaxaca, after traveling to Oaxaca and inadvertently witnessing the Guelaguetza, its biggest annual celebration and parade that features traditional dances and customs from the States eight regions.
I was struck by all the colors and by the faces of the various delegations, and I wanted to know where they came from, Huerta told The Huffington Post via e-mail. It was at that moment that I knew I had to go to their place of origin to know more about their traditions and customs and document them via my portraits.
April 24, 2016
Rhode Island primary poll shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump leading with many still undecided
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/04/24/rhode-island-primary-poll-shows-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-leading-many-still-undecidedWith the 2016 presidential circus descending on Rhode Island, a new poll Sunday shows the two leading primary candidates up in the nations smallest-sized state.
Among 600 registered Rhode Island voters surveyed by Brown University, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 43 percent to 34 percent on the Democratic side, while Donald Trump leads John Kasich on the Republican side 38 percent to 25 percent. Ted Cruz is third in the GOP race with 14 percent.
While Clintons 9-percentage-point lead is the same margin that it was in February when Brown last polled the race, Trumps 13-percentage-point margin is five points less than it was two months ago.
Among 600 registered Rhode Island voters surveyed by Brown University, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 43 percent to 34 percent on the Democratic side, while Donald Trump leads John Kasich on the Republican side 38 percent to 25 percent. Ted Cruz is third in the GOP race with 14 percent.
While Clintons 9-percentage-point lead is the same margin that it was in February when Brown last polled the race, Trumps 13-percentage-point margin is five points less than it was two months ago.
April 24, 2016
http://www.dw.com/en/barack-obama-goes-to-hanover-how-they-made-it-happen/a-19211475
Barack Obama goes to Hanover: How they made it happen
The world's largest industrial technology trade fair is hosting the United States as its partner country. And President Barack Obama has even made a personal appearance in Hanover. So how did organizers make that happen?http://www.dw.com/en/barack-obama-goes-to-hanover-how-they-made-it-happen/a-19211475
The organizers of the Hannover Messe pulled off a real coup this year: Never before had a US president opened the world's largest industrial technology fair. And it seems pretty likely that a visit to the capital of the German state of Lower Saxony would never have been on the agenda for a man often described as the world's most powerful.
More than a few people smiled wearily when Wolfram von Fritsch first suggested the idea. But the head of the international trade fair organizer Deutsche Messe is the person who is smiling now. His plan worked. The appearance of US President Barack Obama hasn't just made Hanover a place of global media interest for a couple of days: It has also lent new prestige to the industrial technology fair.
The increased attention has allowed the world's two leading industrial nations, the United States and Germany, to show - and impressively so - what production will look like in the future. But more about that later.
More than a few people smiled wearily when Wolfram von Fritsch first suggested the idea. But the head of the international trade fair organizer Deutsche Messe is the person who is smiling now. His plan worked. The appearance of US President Barack Obama hasn't just made Hanover a place of global media interest for a couple of days: It has also lent new prestige to the industrial technology fair.
The increased attention has allowed the world's two leading industrial nations, the United States and Germany, to show - and impressively so - what production will look like in the future. But more about that later.
April 24, 2016
Hillary Clinton to address prospective voters at the University of Bridgeport
http://fox61.com/2016/04/24/hillary-clinton-to-address-prospective-voters-at-the-university-of-bridgeport/BRIDGEPORT Hillary Clinton will speak to an audience in Bridgeport as part of a final push to appeal to still-undecided voters from southern Connecticut.
The rally is free and open to the public. Doors opened to the event at 12:30 p.m. and the former Secretary of State is expected to begin speaking around 2:15 p.m.
Dubbed Get Out the Vote, the event is taking place at the University of Bridgeports Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium. The rally is the candidates first large-scale appearance in Connecticut thats open to the public before Tuesdays primary election.
...
Check back here at 2 p.m. for live streaming coverage of Clintons campaign event.
The rally is free and open to the public. Doors opened to the event at 12:30 p.m. and the former Secretary of State is expected to begin speaking around 2:15 p.m.
Dubbed Get Out the Vote, the event is taking place at the University of Bridgeports Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium. The rally is the candidates first large-scale appearance in Connecticut thats open to the public before Tuesdays primary election.
...
Check back here at 2 p.m. for live streaming coverage of Clintons campaign event.
April 24, 2016
An Obama 2008 veteran, whos been on a campaign that was in a position similar to Clintons and that had to reconcile with Clinton, offers his thoughts.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/22/hey-berniacs-i-learned-to-love-hillary-and-so-can-you.html
Jon Favreau has some good advice for BOTH campaigns. This is actually a post that would fit in GD-P. But I WILL NOT intentionally go into that forum so long as its current smear-HRC-and-her-supporters-tone persists. I have actually served on two juries today where I was in the minority for recommending that anti-HRC or anti-HRC supporter slurs be hidden and am really fed up with what is apparently OK on a "Democratic" website that appears currently to be overrun by non-Democrats!
So if anyone wants to post this in GD-P, please be my guest. But please leave me out of it.
Hey, Berniacs: I Learned to Love Hillary and So Can You
To Jury or alerters: that is the headline word-for-word and the article is not intended to be provocative; it has some good advice for both camps.
An Obama 2008 veteran, whos been on a campaign that was in a position similar to Clintons and that had to reconcile with Clinton, offers his thoughts.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/22/hey-berniacs-i-learned-to-love-hillary-and-so-can-you.html
Eight years later, were approaching the endgame of another Democratic primary. For Bernie Sanders to overtake Hillary Clintons lead in pledged delegateswhich, at 239, is more than double Obamas 112-delegate lead in 2008he would have to win each of the remaining contests by about 18 points, a margin he has only reached in Vermont and New Hampshire. If he doesnt, his only other option is to convince a few hundred superdelegates to back the candidate who has won fewer votes and fewer delegates.
Bernie faces long odds, but no good reason to drop out. And why should he? Why not keep running through the final primaries in June, just like Hillary did in 2008? Along the way, Sanders will probably win a few more statesespecially in Mayand continue to build a following that should hearten everyone who wants to see a bigger, bolder progressive movement.
But its also in the interest of the progressive moment for both candidates and their campaigns to begin healing the rifts that have deepened over the course of the primary. Neither Sanders nor Clinton seemed very compelling when they were screaming at each other for two hours at the debate in Brooklyn. And no one benefits from another three months of ridiculous lawsuits, overwrought fundraising emails, and surrogates sniping at each other on cable. Already, this friendly fire has taken a tollin the latest NBC/WSJ poll, Bernie is viewed unfavorably by 20 percent of Clinton supporters, and Hillary is viewed unfavorably by 40 percent of Sanders supporters.
I dont want to exaggerate the challenge. I still think this primary is less nasty and divisive than 2008, and exponentially less so than the cannibalism we may see in Cleveland. Its also true that the percentage of Sanders and Clinton voters who say they wont vote for the other candidate is fairly low. But a year in which Donald Trump or Ted Cruz could become president of the United States is not a year we can afford to have any pissed-off primary voters stay home in November.
Bernie faces long odds, but no good reason to drop out. And why should he? Why not keep running through the final primaries in June, just like Hillary did in 2008? Along the way, Sanders will probably win a few more statesespecially in Mayand continue to build a following that should hearten everyone who wants to see a bigger, bolder progressive movement.
But its also in the interest of the progressive moment for both candidates and their campaigns to begin healing the rifts that have deepened over the course of the primary. Neither Sanders nor Clinton seemed very compelling when they were screaming at each other for two hours at the debate in Brooklyn. And no one benefits from another three months of ridiculous lawsuits, overwrought fundraising emails, and surrogates sniping at each other on cable. Already, this friendly fire has taken a tollin the latest NBC/WSJ poll, Bernie is viewed unfavorably by 20 percent of Clinton supporters, and Hillary is viewed unfavorably by 40 percent of Sanders supporters.
I dont want to exaggerate the challenge. I still think this primary is less nasty and divisive than 2008, and exponentially less so than the cannibalism we may see in Cleveland. Its also true that the percentage of Sanders and Clinton voters who say they wont vote for the other candidate is fairly low. But a year in which Donald Trump or Ted Cruz could become president of the United States is not a year we can afford to have any pissed-off primary voters stay home in November.
Jon Favreau has some good advice for BOTH campaigns. This is actually a post that would fit in GD-P. But I WILL NOT intentionally go into that forum so long as its current smear-HRC-and-her-supporters-tone persists. I have actually served on two juries today where I was in the minority for recommending that anti-HRC or anti-HRC supporter slurs be hidden and am really fed up with what is apparently OK on a "Democratic" website that appears currently to be overrun by non-Democrats!
So if anyone wants to post this in GD-P, please be my guest. But please leave me out of it.
April 23, 2016
Love this term: "Democratic presidential frontrunner" I also love that Hillary is training her fire on the Real Enemy.
Hillary Clinton rallies supporters in Central Falls
http://wpri.com/2016/04/23/hillary-clinton-rallies-supporters-in-central-falls/CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (WPRI) Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton made a campaign stop in Rhode Islands smallest city on Saturday, urging her supporters to head to the polls in Tuesdays primary and largely training her fire on the Republican field.
Speaking to more than 1,000 supporters at Central Falls High School, Clinton rarely mentioned rival Bernie Sanders but repeatedly criticized Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. At one point she said of Trump: Loose cannons tend to misfire and what we have with him is the loosest of all cannons.
Clinton drew cheers from the crowd as she discussed her support for higher wages, organized labor, abortion rights, immigration liberalization, the Affordable Care Act and tackling climate change. Without mentioning Sanders, she drew an implicit contrast between his more ambitious proposals and what she sees as her realism.
I am not making promises I cant keep, Clinton declared.
Speaking to more than 1,000 supporters at Central Falls High School, Clinton rarely mentioned rival Bernie Sanders but repeatedly criticized Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. At one point she said of Trump: Loose cannons tend to misfire and what we have with him is the loosest of all cannons.
Clinton drew cheers from the crowd as she discussed her support for higher wages, organized labor, abortion rights, immigration liberalization, the Affordable Care Act and tackling climate change. Without mentioning Sanders, she drew an implicit contrast between his more ambitious proposals and what she sees as her realism.
I am not making promises I cant keep, Clinton declared.
Love this term: "Democratic presidential frontrunner" I also love that Hillary is training her fire on the Real Enemy.
April 23, 2016
That's what Politico says. Merkley's office issues a carefully worded statement.
http://www.wweek.com/news/2016/04/22/will-jeff-merkley-talk-bernie-sanders-into-ending-his-presidential-bid/
VERY interesting tidbit ... get the bus ready fast, if true.
Will Jeff Merkley Talk Bernie Sanders Into Ending His Presidential Bid?That's what Politico says. Merkley's office issues a carefully worded statement.
http://www.wweek.com/news/2016/04/22/will-jeff-merkley-talk-bernie-sanders-into-ending-his-presidential-bid/
In the wake of a crushing loss in the New York primary, pundit chatter has turned to whether Sanders will suspend his campaign and concede the Democratic Party nomination to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
On Thursday, Beltway website Politico ran an item quoting an anonymous "Democratic insider" saying that Senators were trying to "nudge" Sanders out of the race. The article named two: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Merkley.
"More likely," the item says, "is a joint effort by Senators Warren and Merkley to help Bernie 'land his plane' with dignity and maximum concessions by Hillary on issues and convention programming."
On Thursday, Beltway website Politico ran an item quoting an anonymous "Democratic insider" saying that Senators were trying to "nudge" Sanders out of the race. The article named two: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Merkley.
"More likely," the item says, "is a joint effort by Senators Warren and Merkley to help Bernie 'land his plane' with dignity and maximum concessions by Hillary on issues and convention programming."
April 23, 2016
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/23/hillary-clinton-historic-woman-president
Lots at the link ... here's some of it:
President Hillary Clinton would be historic. Let's not lose sight of that
For her detractors on the left who say they want a woman, just not this one, I have to ask: how long are you willing to wait?http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/23/hillary-clinton-historic-woman-president
Lots at the link ... here's some of it:
Even those who cant appreciate the symbolism of the first woman president, can surely appreciate the political victories of a candidate whos spent her life fighting for womens rights. And Clinton has, from leading on developments of the Paycheck Fairness Act to carving out a name for herself around paid family leave, and from working at the Childrens Defense Fund early in her career to speaking up for abortion access and minority rights on the campaign trail.
More, her lived experience means she sees the world differently than her white male counterparts and when it comes to sexism, she sees more. She has a visceral understanding of discrimination, an understanding thats colored by her experience as someone whos endured it herself, in politics and in media and in life, for decades and at times to an excruciating degree. Frankly, its a miracle she still wants to run for public office.
This election shes made womens issues central to her campaign to a degree she didnt dare back in 2008 but even now she deploys the message somewhat sparingly: Sometimes, it is choices between people none of whom excite you, but study it enough to figure out. OK, if I vote for this person over that person, Im more likely to see progress on something I care about, she told an audience of female fans at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.
In case you missed it, thats code for shell put womens rights (read: human rights) at the center her presidency. And that should excite you whether youre a man or a woman, or just a sentient creature with a heart.
More, her lived experience means she sees the world differently than her white male counterparts and when it comes to sexism, she sees more. She has a visceral understanding of discrimination, an understanding thats colored by her experience as someone whos endured it herself, in politics and in media and in life, for decades and at times to an excruciating degree. Frankly, its a miracle she still wants to run for public office.
This election shes made womens issues central to her campaign to a degree she didnt dare back in 2008 but even now she deploys the message somewhat sparingly: Sometimes, it is choices between people none of whom excite you, but study it enough to figure out. OK, if I vote for this person over that person, Im more likely to see progress on something I care about, she told an audience of female fans at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.
In case you missed it, thats code for shell put womens rights (read: human rights) at the center her presidency. And that should excite you whether youre a man or a woman, or just a sentient creature with a heart.
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Current location: Switzerland
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 04:01 PM
Number of posts: 15,366