Jav_sol wrote:Yes, but it's nothing new that each party has its own political agenda. So it just makes Obama seem naive to promise certain things.
Again, true.
But pointing it out in no uncertain terms to Congress and to the millions of viewers, puts his opposition in the spotlight as the ones impeding progress, IMO...
White House mocks Sarah Palin from podium
2 hrs 16 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Even the White House's top spokesman is getting in on the act of mocking former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for looking to talking points written on her palm during a speech to "tea party" activists.
Robert Gibbs showed the words "hope" and "change" on his hand as he started his daily briefing with reporters on Tuesday.
Many in the room, where President Barack Obama had spoken just moments before about the need for bipartisanship, groaned at the political shot.
Palin spoke Saturday in Nashville and photographs and video show she had "energy," "tax" and "lift American spirits" on her hand. During one question, she looked down at the palm of her hand for a cue.
In her speech she mocked Obama's use of teleprompters.
Sensei may want to re-think her trip to Korea. :sweat:
S. Korea claims sinking of ship by N.Korea 'Obvious'
The Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is clearly responsible for the sinking of a South Korean navy ship and there is sufficient evidence to take the issue to the United Nations, South Korea's top diplomat said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan's comments came a day before the release of a much-anticipated report on the incident and are the first by a South Korean official clearly saying North Korea was behind it.
Speculation has steadily increased that a North Korean torpedo brought down the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26 in the Yellow Sea near the two countries' disputed western sea border. A total of 46 sailors from the 104-man crew died.
The government launched a joint military-civilian probe with help from foreign countries including the United States. It has determined that a "strong underwater explosion generated by the detonation of a torpedo" caused the ship to split apart and sink, Yu said in a speech to Seoul-based European business executives.
Asked later by reporters if North Korea sank the Cheonan, Yu replied, "I think it's obvious." He added that "we have enough evidence" to take the sinking to the U.N. Security Council. Yu declined to provide details ahead of the release of the report.
Impoverished yet nuclear-armed North Korea has denied involvement in the sinking, one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. Vice parliamentary speaker Yang Hyong Sop criticized Seoul earlier this week for "unreasonably" linking his country to the incident, according to the North's state radio station.
The report's release is likely to further increase tensions on the divided Korean peninsula, where the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, rather than a peace treaty. The land border is the world's most heavily armed and the western sea border has been the site of several deadly naval clashes since 1999.
Any reaction from North Korea, however, may take days or even weeks to emerge. The country usually speaks to the world through its state media.
South Korean media have reported that President Lee Myung-bak plans to give a speech on the sinking in a few days. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is due in Seoul next week for talks during an Asian tour. And North Korea announced Tuesday that it plans to convene a rare second session of its rubber-stamp parliament in early June.
Lee has vowed stern action against those responsible for the disaster. He has discussed the matter by phone this week with President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Yu, the foreign minister, called Wednesday for "firm" action and pushed for support from the international community during his speech. He did not give specifics.
Options could include a request to the U.N. Security Council for tougher sanctions against the North, or for Washington to put North Korea back on its terrorism blacklist.
Investigators have collected evidence pointing to North Korea's involvement, South Korean media said.
Fragments of a torpedo propeller found near the disaster site are similar to parts from a North Korean torpedo that South Korea obtained seven years ago, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Wednesday, citing unidentified government officials.
A serial number on the torpedo propeller was written in a font typically used in North Korea, and traces of explosives found in the wreckage resemble those used in the North Korean torpedo retrieved in 2003, it said.
Pentagon dials up pressure on North Korea for Cheonan sinking
By Peter Grier, Staff writer / May 24, 2010
Washington
Sometime soon, US and South Korean warships will conduct two joint naval exercises off the Korean peninsula, the Pentagon announced on Monday. The maneuvers are intended as a response to North Koreafs sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan in March and will focus on antisubmarine warfare and the interdiction of banned weapons shipments, according to Defense Department officials.
.gWe think that this is an area where, working with the Republic of Korea, we can hone some skills and increase capabilities,h said Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman.
It is also an area where the US and its South Korean ally likely will tread with caution. When it comes to responding to Pyongyangfs provocations, the US needs to appear strong and cautious at the same time, says Victor Cha, senior adviser and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Thatfs because the North Koreans appear to respect military strength, but are also highly unpredictable. In light of that difficult geopolitical situation, the proposed US-South Korea naval exercises are a reasonable and necessary response, says Mr. Cha.
gYou want to respond forcefully enough so that North Korea is deterred from doing it again, but you also donft want to start a war,h he says.
Hmm, after all that negative press Meg Whitman got for bashing Jerry Brown in those pseudo-factual commercials, it appears that they've been yanked in favor of more "Hey, look at me and what I did for eBay!" commercials...
Meg Whitman gets called on the carpet for her smear campaign for California Governor: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=72438
bmwracer wrote:Meg Whitman gets called on the carpet for her smear campaign for California Governor: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=72438
Meg Whitman smeared too much peanut butter on bread and made one too many sandwiches as all I know. And she didn't vote in the last six million elections.
Tu_triky wrote:Meg Whitman smeared too much peanut butter on bread and made one too many sandwiches as all I know. And she didn't vote in the last six million elections.
bmwracer wrote:Bill Maher on the Teabaggers (warning: adult language): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvsMFN9P8AU
Too bad you don't have HBO. His show Real Time with Bill Maher is pretty funny and despite his unabashed view point on my subjects he does invite guests from both sides of the aisle. I watch it pretty often.
Tu_triky wrote:Too bad you don't have HBO. His show Real Time with Bill Maher is pretty funny and despite his unabashed view point on my subjects he does invite guests from both sides of the aisle. I watch it pretty often.
I watch the YouTube posts of that show... And he has a Facebook link as well. :victory:
![[image]](http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/597fa0d5-1004-4040-8f4b-3919ef7292dc.jpg){kind=link}