August 18, 2012

"One Term More" (Pro-Obama parody of 'One Day More' from Les Miserables..Broadway singers) HA!

http://onetermmore.com/video.html

To the barricades!!!!!!!

August 18, 2012

The OAS is holding a meeting about UK/Assange/embassy over the protest of the meeting by the US:

OAS decides to hold ministerial meeting on Ecuador-UK conflict next week
The OAS Permanent Council called for the meeting Friday at Ecuador‘s request in a vote of 23 in favour and only three - the United States, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago - against. Five other countries abstained.

OAS foreign ministers are to meet on August 24 in Washington “to address the situation” between Ecuador and Britain “regarding the inviolability of the diplomatic premises of Ecuador.” Ecuador has accused Britain of “threatening” to storm its embassy in London.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza stressed to the Council that the resolution approved focuses on “the problem posed by the threat or warning made to Ecuador by the possibility of an intervention into its embassy in London”.

“The central issue is not the right of asylum, is the inviolability of embassies,” said Secretary General Insulza, who recalled that last year the United Nations Security Council ruled “very strictly on the absolute immunity that diplomatic missions must have in all the countries of the world”.
<snip>
http://en.mercopress.com/2012/08/18/oas-decides-to-hold-ministerial-meeting-on-ecuador-uk-conflict-next-week

Well, now Ecuador has some support. While they are not addressing asylum, the majority of the OAS has coalesced around the British threat to invade Ecuador's embassy. Ecuador is still the one with the most pressure but until the UK stepped in it, they were receiving varied levels of support. Now the OAS has stepped up.

I for one am glad that the issue of inviolability of embassies will be in the forefront. This possible breach of international law is a dangerous move. And the OAS didn't march to the USA's dubious drummer. The US government will probably have eleventy billion operatives in those areas now stirring up even more trouble.

August 17, 2012

Russia issues warning to Britain over Assange

AFP - Russia on Friday warned Britain against violating fundamental diplomatic principles after London suggested it could arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange inside Ecuador's embassy.

"What is happening gives grounds to contemplate the observance of the spirit and the letter of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and in particular the Article 22 spelling out the inviolability of diplomatic premises," the Russian foreign ministry said.
<snip>
This would challenge a fundamental principle of the diplomatic system, and the threat has left Britain in unchartered legal waters.At the same time, Moscow warned Britain against interpreting the law selectively, stressing that London has given refuge to "dozens of people suspected of committing grave crimes" who are wanted in other countries.

"What to do with a right to refuge for Julian Assange when London turns the observance of this right for this category of people into an absolute principle?" the Russian foreign ministry asked, referring to a number of high-profile figures granted asylum in Britain.

Russia has for years sought the extradition of top Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky as well as several other figures.
http://www.france24.com/en/20120817-russia-issues-warning-britain-over-assange

And the plot thickens.....

August 17, 2012

Funeral director says goodbye to dog that changed his life

Funeral home director Tom Dobies of New Port Richey kisses his dog Lucy in his back yard in March. Lucy was a grief therapy dog at his funeral home. Now, Dobies has planned her funeral.

NEW PORT RICHEY — Tom Dobies dreaded this day.

He had comforted thousands of grieving families in 34 years as a mortician, but nothing could ease the burning in his throat Monday as the doctor arrived at his house.

Dobies had done everything to keep Lucy alive after the brain tumor. He had spent thousands of dollars on sophisticated medical procedures. For a man so familiar with the death business, he pledged to cheat it, to keep Lucy by his side as long as possible, as long as she wasn't suffering.

Lucy, shown in March, underwent brain surgery to have a tumor removed. She died this week in the arms of her owner, funeral home director Tom Dobies.

Friends wondered why he would spend so much money trying to hold onto a 14-year-old dog, a mixed-breed Labrador. His answer: "I love her.'' But it went even deeper.
<snip>
Much more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/funeral-director-says-goodbye-to-dog-that-changed-his-life/1245803

Man, do I have something in my eyes!

August 17, 2012

Voting for Chelsea Clinton

I will stipulate that her career path has been unremarkable in preparing her for office. In addition, the companies she has chosen are not exactly models of civic responsibility.

However, if there is anyone that was schooled in the low road of politics, it was Chelsea. She was old enough and smart enough to understand not only what her parents issues were, she was also aware of the brutal attacks that were leveled. Her parents could shield her to a degree, but when she reached a certain age, she would have to have lived in a bubble to avoid what was going on.

In addition, she was able to see what the power of elected office can do. It can be used for both good and bad causes. No matter what the cause, you will have to fight to move it forward.

Many people claim that she has no idea how the poor or even middle class live. Really? Was she in that bubble when she visited her grandparents? The Kennedys never subjected themselves to living with those less privileged. That did not stop them from promoting programs that would help those without means.

It also didn't stop them from trying to at least learn about those they represented. You can never walk in the shoes of everybody you meet in order to completely understand their issues. However, you can make an honest attempt to understand their lives.

Would I vote for Chelsea? In a heartbeat.

Right now she is as qualified as eleventy billion people running for office or already holding some position. Would I vote for her until the end of time? Not unless she could show that she could at least handle the basics and more importantly show a willingness to learn about who she represents and how to actually make progress for them.

After witnessing the reality of her parent's marriage and being caught in the middle of that personal nightmare, at times I wouldn't blame her if she spent her days smoking weed under a bush. To watch the two people she loved and trusted beyond measure go through a brutal reckoning had to be extremely painful. That alone might give her a propensity to understand the unseen trials of others. She lived hers in public to a point.

We vote for people that we really don't know at all. We know who they want us to see. We gamble that reality will match the image to a great degree. Chelsea would be no different. I would take that gamble on her.

August 16, 2012

Assange could be questioned while he is abroad:

<snip>
In October and November Assange's lawyers offered a telephone or video-link interview (because telephone or video interviews with suspects abroad are lawful in Sweden and qualify for the purposes of a preliminary investigation), but the options were denied as Ny insisted that Assange be interviewed in person.
<snip>
http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/11734-uk-supreme-court-denies-request-to-reconsider-assange-extradition-ruling

Why didn't they even take this preliminary step? That would seem to be the logical place to start.
They were hell bent on getting him on Swedish soil.

August 16, 2012

Ecuador offered to send Assange to Sweden:

Ecuador says it offered to send Julian Assange to Sweden, as long as Sweden wouldn't then extradite him to the US, but no deal.

http://twitter.com/AnnCurry/statuses/236093785535299584

Hmmmmmmmmmm......

August 16, 2012

Why does Elvis mean so much to a lot of people?

A lot of people ponder this when many have some fixation of thir own. Granted, some Elvis fans can be over the top.

I watched an episode of 'Designing Women' that came as close to explaining the Elvis phenomena as anything I've seen. It is both hysterical and touching.Fast forward to the point where Julia meets Verne around 15:50 if you want to cut it short.

Charlene has VIP tickets to Graceland and talks the girls and Anthony into going there with her for the weekend. While there, Julia is touched by a trucker's story of how Elvis Presley influenced his life.
EP Phone Home

Always loved that show.

August 16, 2012

If the UK invades the Ecuadoran Embassy in order to capture Assange,

they will be shredding international law and putting all foreign missions in some measure of danger.

Most countries abide by the law that Embassies are off limits. They are considered to be an extension of the countries that they represent. This allows countries to have some official place to conduct business on a lower level. Some problems can be resolved before they ever reach a crisis point. They also provide a place that Americans in a foreign country can get some needed help.

Employees also have immunity. This drives some people crazy. However, this provides a measure of safety to our employees in embassies. They cannot be arrested on some charge and put through the wringer of a completely different legal system. I am beginning to think that it's now a very good protection to have in this country now.

If the UK with the approval if not direction by the US does invade that embassy, there will be not one inch of ground to stand on if our embassies are invaded. It will be a huge hole in the already torn fabric of international cooperation.

The leaders of many countries have lost their minds and broken their moral compasses.

August 16, 2012

Bill Clinton Meets Bill Clinton: Former President Has Lunch With Ugandan Boy Named After Him

In 1998, then U.S. president Bill Clinton met a baby who was named after him in a village in Uganda.

Now, fourteen years later, the former president was reunited with his "Ugandan son."


According to the Clinton Foundation's website, the baby was named Bill Clinton because he was born in the same month the American head of state first arrived in the African nation.

The Ugandan newspaper the Daily Monitor reports that the two Bill Clintons met in Entebbe, Uganda last Friday. The teen, whose full name is Master Bill Clinton Kaligani, was airlifted to Entebbe and sat down with Clinton for lunch.
<snip>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/bill-clinton-meets-bill-clinton-uganda_n_1784500.html?utm_hp_ref=politics